ACL: 40. To leap the dragon's gate

Preface

For the guy who makes so much art that I felt pressured to write more. You know who you are and your plan is working (unfortunately).

Chapter 40: To leap the dragon’s gate

Brockton Bay, NH, USA
Friday, February 11, 2011
Type: Dragon

Seven tons of scales and muscle crashed into the ground with an earth-shaking boom. The concrete shattered as if a missile had struck it, which, given all my mass, it had. Spiderweb cracks ran along the ground and nearby street lights began to lean from the impact force alone.

My copper crest, so very similar to a crown, gleamed in the light as I glared out at the pair of guards standing outside. The plume of concrete shards and dust shrouded my bulk. The tip of my tail lashed back and forth in irritation, giving them a peak of the king’s majesty.

They froze, their bodies refusing to accept what their eyes reported. 

Then, as the cloud of debris began to settle, I Roared.

Several of my little brothers loved dinosaurs. Which little boy didn’t? They found out that dinosaurs, like reptiles in general, probably didn’t roar. They didn’t sound as intimidating as their forms might suggest, not even as loud as a lion.

Pokemon had no such limitations. Biology was a polite suggestion. The sound of my voice rivaled the crash of my initial impact. A deafening boom overwhelmed the street, a rumbling thunder that I knew would be audible for miles. When pokemon like tyrantrum Roared, seismographs came back with false positives. 

I’d been on the other end of Regis’ Roar often enough. It was as much a force to be felt as it was a sound to be heard. Bones trembled and knees buckled. Eardrums burst and lizard brains took over as a primal fear gripped lesser minds. 

The brothel was a singular building that doubled as a strip club. The building was near the Docks, a repurposed factory or processing plant. I could already hear the screams inside.

Ancient Power welled up from within me as I extended my senses into the earth. The ground was my friend, the stones, my subjects. When I called, they answered. My aura surged into the earth, coaxing it into motion. It was almost as though I was reminding the earth of times long gone, of days when molten stone flowed like water and Land and Sea stirred in fitful slumber.

With another deafening roar, I called that power to the surface. Pillars of stone as thick as a grown man erupted from the ground, launching the guards into the walls. Bones snapped like brittle twigs. Their screams died in their throat as they hung there, pressed into the walls. I’d let them down… maybe.

I then used Ancient Power and Rock Slide to form a wall around the club. The fear caused by my Roar wouldn’t last. I needed to make sure no one escaped before heading inside.

The club was not built with magic t-rexes in mind. At twelve feet tall, my crown ripped through the ceiling tiles. Ceiling pipes, dust, and grime rained down as I forced my way bulk inside. A part of me wanted to atomize the building entirely with Ancient Power, but people I actually cared about were inside.

Were there smaller dragons? Absolutely. But nothing quite drove the point home like a t-rex peaking in on some fuckwit’s sexytime.

I snarled and opened my jaws wide but there was no need to bite anyone. Instead, I used the bony growths on my chin to slam people aside, crunching them against walls and furniture. Some people worked here. Others were customers. It didn’t matter to me so long as no one died.

A rumbling growl welled up in the back of my throat. I was being more brutal than usual. Normally, I was a bit more discerning with my power. Maybe it was the influence of a tyrantrum’s nature, but I couldn’t find it in me to care right now.

Several people dressed in red and green tried to fight back. They drew guns and bats. More than a few had honest-to-Arceus katanas, as if a bargain bin sword was going to help. One of them even picked up a chair and charged, hollering at the top of his lungs like a pro wrestler.

Let it be known, ABB mooks were no cowards. Stupid, but at least they were brave. I shook my head, my crown spearing through the metal chair seat like it was made of paper. The slightest motion of my skull wrenched it from his hands and a swipe of my claws opened up his biceps to the bone.

I snorted dismissively as he screamed. Mark hung out with some junior ABB. Did he know any of these morons? I hoped not, but sometimes, we couldn’t choose our acquaintances.

Draconic energy shrouded my tail in a sheath of azure flames. The heat visibly distorted the air around it as I whipped it around.

It was a dismissive slap, like swatting a fly, but I was a tyrantrum. Men flew like ragdolls, with enough force to put them through the nearest walls. The walls themselves crumbled  as I swiped my tail through them and I could feel my tail snag a load-bearing pillar before it too snapped with an audible crunch. 

I made my way deeper into the club, taking note of the various rooms and booths. Then, with another roar, I called to the stone. The foundations of the building rose up in spires of jagged stone. Floorboards shattered. Furniture exploded. People were smashed and tossed about like toy soldiers in a washing machine.

They rose and speared the roof, taking the place of the load-bearing pillars I’d destroyed. I used them to guide the collapsing ceiling, burying the gang members and customers while leaving room for the trafficked women to leave.

I didn’t want anyone to ever use this building again. When the heroes arrived, I wanted them to have to pick through the mess I’d made here to arrest these men so that they could never claim ignorance again, so that they saw with their own eyes what “peace” brought.

I dallied only long enough to ensure that the women were fine. I wanted to comfort them, to heal them, but there were more places to be. Amy would care for them just fine, and she knew to document every abuse.

I headed to the second place I’d marked, entirely unmolested. Even the densest civilian could tell I was in no mood to entertain today. Turned out, people made way for seven tons of t-rex sprinting down the street. The corona of draconic flame that surrounded me, Dragon Dance, certainly didn’t hurt.

Velocity saw me first. He zipped by, as fast as I was, and dropped a confoam grenade at my feet. It exploded, but a quick application of Dragon Claw tore it to shreds.

“Menagerie! Stop!” he yelled. “What are you doing?”

I didn’t answer. He knew what I was up to today. I’d told the PRT expressly so they could clean up.

“You can’t do this,” he said. “Lung’s too strong! Even if you beat him, so what? You’ll tear apart half the city!”

“He’s not,” I grunted. My voice sounded like boulders grating together.

I’d arrived. A strategic use of Earthquake sent Velocity and the guards stumbling. A swipe of my tail took their legs out from under them; they wouldn’t interfere.

I dug through the building like a grizzly attacking a beehive, with more or less the same effect. Velocity said something in the background but I wasn’t listening. It’d just make me even more pissed than I was now and I was barely holding off an Outrage as things stood.

I found a young girl, even younger than me. She couldn’t have been older than sixteen. Scything fangs that could turn reinforced steel to scrap closed around her tenderly, shielding her from errant bullets and debris. I tried not to think about what she tasted like, and why.

I dropped her in front of Velocity, voice trembling with rage. “Help or leave, Velocity. Don’t quote regulations at me. Not now.”

He looked at the girl, then at the half-demolished building. His jaw tensed as he came to a decision. A hand went to his head, shutting off the earpiece.

He knelt, taking the nude girl by the hand.

“Everything is going to be okay,” he said softly. He pulled a grenade from his belt, one of the lighter models so he could run with them, and placed it in her hand. “I”m going to pop this. It’ll cover you in foam but you’ll be safe, okay?”

She nodded shakily and he detonated the confoam, offering her modesty and shelter. He stood again and offered me a curt nod. “We’re in so much shit.”

“So be it. This ends tonight.”

“Lung is still a problem.”

“No he’s not.”

“Heh. I like that confidence, Menagerie. You leave the girls to me.”

“You’re a good man,” I rumbled.

“And a terrible hero.”

“You and I have very different definitions of that word.”

We worked swiftly. I was truly grateful for Velocity’s participation. It was what I’d been hoping for when I called the PRT. Not him per se, but their cooperation in taking care of the victims.

True, I didn’t need them, but their involvement was an important message. In this case, Velocity’s actions were the tipping point. With that single act, he’d spoken on behalf of the Protectorate. This wasn’t just Menagerie running wild anymore; this was a joint operation to root out sex trafficking in the city.

That there was no such operation meant nothing. The gang members would report otherwise. Director Piggot could order Armsmaster to subdue one of her own heroes, or she could pretend this was all part of the plan. And if she was anything like the bureaucrats back home, she’d do anything to pretend she was still in control, even if that meant patting Velocity on the back for insubordination later.

X

Sure enough, the “operation” expanded in scope. Half an hour and three more brothels later, Dauntless and Lady Photon were in a precarious dogfight against Oni Lee. They could probably handle the ninja together. 

Triumph, Manpower, and Brandish established a cordon around the deepest parts of ABB territory while Miss Militia, Battery, and Mouse Protector did their best to comfort the traumatized victims.

That left Lung. He must have had someone assault him before he showed himself because he was already seven feet tall when he turned the corner.

His body was shrouded in flame. There was a glint of metal beneath the red and orange. He was getting bigger as he closed on me. Just the sight of me was enough to trigger his power.

Then, half a dozen grenades of light collided with Lung, launching the faux-dragon back. Assault and Armsmaster rushed him down in a pincer attack that would have taken down anyone else. The street was a war zone, not helped by Flashbang throwing out even more bombs.

Armsmaster must have wanted to take Lung down before he could ramp up. That was the standard when it came to the gang leader. For all that Lung was said to be invincible, the heroes had managed to force him to retreat on more than one occasion with an overwhelming blitz.

Unfortunately for him, I had no intention of letting that happen. Retreat wasn't an outcome I'd accept.

Truthfully, Lung's arrival put me at a disadvantage. He'd arrived at the worst possible moment for me. I was nearing the tail end of my shift and had no choice but to stall the fight temporarily.

Lung slapped Armsmaster's halberd aside and ignored a hit from Assault. He pivoted around one of Flashbang's grenades, positioning himself so the explosive was behind him. Then, he willingly allowed it to detonate against his chest, launching him in his chosen direction: towards me.

He wasn't an idiot. He wasn't just a berserker. He'd probably been fighting capes almost as long as I'd been alive.

Well, this life.

I Roared. The wave of sound staggered Lung as if it was a physical force. That gave me the chance to strike first.

I held nothing back. Lung was the brutiest of brutes so I’d act with the assumption that he could survive anything I could dish out. Dragonfire cloaked my claws, extending them forward as I lunged for him.

Lung raised his arms in a textbook guard. Metal scales that could deflect bullets met claws of scorching aura, and my claws sheared through as though his arms didn’t exist. The scent of roast pork filled my overly sensitive nostrils and I had to prevent myself from taking a bite. The instincts of an apex predator, one from an age before the contract between man and pokemon, were potent.

Instead, I pivoted, turning my hips with more agility than anything my size had any right to possess. My tail, as blue as my claws and thick as a grown man was tall, snapped around to club the armless cape across the torso.

A tyrantrum’s Dragon Tail was not a whip. It didn’t break the sound barrier with centrifugal force and flexibility. Instead, it was more akin to a bludgeon or mace, an object of unrelenting force rather than finesse.

It was so heavily muscled that even without the benefit of aura, it could credibly be used as a wrecking ball in building demolitions. Regis and I had made good money doing just that during our time in Sunyshore City, back when Volkner made the push to construct all those generators.

 A plume of blue flames erupted from the point of impact, blasting Lung’s own fiery cloak apart and bathing the street with a wave of scalding air. The impact sounded like a missile detonation, and behaved like it, too. The blast of draconic energy launched the armless cape clear past the rooftops, far enough that he looked no bigger than a pencil eraser when he began to fall.

I’d aimed carefully, towards the abandoned trainyard rather than the city. The sea had been another option. But as funny as it might have been, that would have ended the fight. He would have shrunk by the time he swam back.

In the trainyard, he’d start running immediately. The heroes would have eyes on him the whole time. He would only come back stronger.

Good. I needed him at his best.

‘I think you might be letting your draconic side influence you too much,’ Victini said in my mind. ‘It’s always been the most rebellious form of aura dad made.’

‘I’m not,’ I denied as my blood pounded in my ears. I wasn’t doing this just to get a good fight… mostly. ‘Okay, maybe a little.’

‘Take a deep breath, Blake. You’re more than your power.’

I obliged. Only fools ignored advice from a thousand year old demigod. ‘Yeah, thanks. I do need to fight him though. I need to prove that I can protect this city.’

‘To who? Yourself?’

‘The heroes. The villains. The world. Lisa’s not wrong. If this is going to kickstart a Brockton Games, I need to make sure everyone gets the memo. There’s a reason Mount Silver is off limits in Indigo.’

‘Moltres likes to nap there sometimes. Ah, you’re going to be the moltres on the mountain.’

‘Yeah. I need to show everyone that I can beat him at his best. No tricks. No plans. Just overwhelming power.’

I stood there, waiting patiently as the world moved around me. Armsmaster said something but I didn’t respond. I wasn’t listening.

My attention was focused completely inward. I could shift into a new pokemon every minute. It was a crippling weakness to my power, and why I sent Lung away for the moment. I didn’t know if I’d bought myself a minute, but I needed to make use of the time I had.

I took a deep breath and urged my heart to calm. Aura was a power intrinsically tied to will. It was as infinite as Arceus. Its power, as limitless as the will that shaped the cosmos. I truly believed that.

There were restrictions on my power, but I didn’t think Arceus was the one who enforced those limitations, nor were they ever meant to be permanent. He might have set the guide rails, but existence was a terrarium for him to observe, not a sandcastle he destroyed and remodeled at will. So too with my soul.

My aura surged. I shook off the weariness of the day and embraced the draconic. It was the lot of the dragon to struggle, to break the chains that bound it. A “dragon” wasn’t just a magic lizard. It was the eidolon of an apex predator, the entity that sought to dominate the highest peak, whether that peak be literal or metaphorical.

That was why the Draco Plate was the fifth Plate Arceus used to forge the Jewel of Life: Water, for the sea was the cradle of all life. Ground, for it was the bedrock that supported every step. Electric, the primordial bolt that became the catalyst. Grass, the foundations of the biosphere. And dragon, the embodiment of a relentless ambition for more, for domination, for change.

Perhaps this type wasn’t a message from on high to put Lung in his place. Perhaps the message had been for me.

Once upon a time, I’d reached heights only a handful of humans had ever reached before. On that final day, when my family and I faced the Light that Burned the Sky, I gave my life for the world. One life, for the light of my entire reality. That was how brightly my soul had once burned.

I’d come to accept less in this life, to settle. In a world without my family, without pokemon, without a reason to fight, I’d been content to become a bystander. What a mistake that had been.

“Lung’s coming back!” I heard someone scream out.

Not that anyone needed to announce the faux-dragon. His roar had been audible even blocks away.

The earth trembled with his footsteps. The air grew progressively warmer as he drew near. And, when I could feel the asphalt begin to soften beneath my feet, when I could hear the sizzling whistle of the air, I opened my eyes.

The world seemed so clear. My armor was almost unbearably hot but I barely noticed. Old, rusted gears had begun to turn once more. I was far from the man I’d once been, but for the first time in this life, I felt that I was finally moving forward again. Not relying on what I’d been given, but moving beyond, building on what I had.

It’d cost me, but I could force the gears of my soul to move. I could force a shift. I answered his roar with a defiant shout of my own. I dipped below his clawing swipe. He’d regrown his arms and had eyes only for me now.

No one could see my face, but I was smiling. It was Luca’s smile, the wolfish grin of a battle junkie, the smile of a man who’d found himself again. The world became a reflection of my inward reality. Aura cloaked my body, shrouding me in an azure corona that shielded me from the flames. With strength that no human could have otherwise, I punched the faux-dragon.

Metal dented in my hands as old memories flickered in my mind. The days in Canalave, when Luca and I beat each other senseless under the watchful eye of Maylene’s father. The frigid nights I’d trained with Bruno atop Mount Silver’s frosted peak. The days spent in quiet solitude at the Tower of Mastery in Shalour City. 

They were all here. They’d always been. These memories hadn’t gone away. I’d merely distanced myself, thinking that these were but mementoes of a time long past. They’d been trophies and photos to be treasured, but now, they were once again lessons to be learned, a familiar path to be retrodden.

And as I traded blows with Lung, his soul was laid bare before me.

Despite the flames, despite his metallic scales, despite his ferocity, Lung was as much a warrior as he was a dragon. Not at all. He preyed on only those who were weaker. He sought out those he could dominate while fearing the turning of the tides. He’d had but one rival, and he’d fled ever since. He’d never really stopped running from Kyushu, from Leviathan.

I snarled, disgusted by him. Children fresh on their journeys had more spirit than this man. The competition, the thrill of battle, the urge to overcome, these thoughts were as foreign to him as dry sand to Kyogre.

He drew in a breath and I allowed his flames to wash over me. I lunged forward with a palm strike. Luca would laugh at me if I called it a proper Force Palm, but it was what I had.

My aura burst against his chest, denting his freshly healed scales. I reached up and grabbed him by the throat as I roared for the world to hear, “Shift, salamence!”

Author’s Note

Why another cliffhanger? I don’t know. It’s not like I’m in a bad mood or anything. I went out with friends and had Korean fried chicken. It was great. I don’t know why I’m choosing to cockblock you all, but I guess the chapter’s long enough.

Blake finally got rid of his minute timer, yay! If this were still a quest, I’d probably impose daily actions, kind of like certain items or skills in D&D.

I am using the size of the average t-rex here. Just like with tyranitar, I can’t imagine a tyrantrum being only eight feet tall. It’s one of those pokemon that I think should feel like a raid boss.

Animal Fact: Freshwater whales exist. There are five extant species of river dolphins, a type of toothed whale that lives in select river deltas. The Amazon river dolphin, sometimes called the pink dolphin, is the best known, but they can also be found in Southeast Asia.

Because they live in rivers with warm, shallow, brackish water, they do not need blubber and do not rely on their eyesight. They are also smaller than their saltwater counterparts, with the Amazonian variety growing up to eight feet long and the Southeast Asian variety growing only five feet long.