Chapter 14: Dragon Boy

I had heard that line before, said by that same gentle voice…

I wasn’t going crazy, I knew I had seen Dessi before. Why couldn’t I remember her?

I was distracting myself, keeping my mind preoccupied as my team headed back to Serva to meet with our commander in the debrief hall. According to Pamela, the mission was a success. After we had contained the threat, Aster cursed him into sleep, and we transported him to The Brother’s Code. I felt terrible though, Fire Ant’s end filled with shrill cries for his captured mother. It made me think back to those dark days in Sigma-RE, of how I cried out for freedom, or death, whichever allowed me to escape my eternal hell. I sympathized with him, and the fact that he was with The Brother’s Code made me question the entire mission.

I did my job anyway, as ordered. With the help of Dessi, I hadn’t detonated, making me think that I had some control over this madness. But while everyone went to our ward after debrief, I decided to stay behind.

I was fighting the decision to ask Pamela about Fire Ant or not. My mind was telling me I shouldn’t get involved, but my gut was telling me to look for answers. So I got up, and headed to Pamela’s office about a few minutes after the girls had left. Her invitation to come in followed my two knocks on her door, and I opened it to her stuffing our report into a file on her desk.

“Oh, it’s only you, Liam,” she said.

“Were you expecting someone else?” I said lightheartedly.

“I might have,” she said with a smile, taking a seat on her office chair. “It’s pretty late. Whatever this is must be important for you to visit me after hours.”

“I wasn’t aware that your office had business hours.”

“Standard for any.”

“Seems like you’re always here, though. Ever take a break?”

“Why? Are you worried I’m working too hard?”

I chuckled. “Not at all. I’m sure your higher ups appreciate the effort you’re doing here. I can’t imagine orchestrating this entire operation being easy.”

“It isn’t, but I appreciate your concern. So, enough with the small talk. What’s on your mind?”

“Fire Ant,” I started, “he is a TBC supe. I think that would have been worth mentioning. I know we didn’t have a brief, but—”

“He isn’t associated with The Brother’s Code. I’m not sure what led you to that assumption.”

My eyes narrowed on her. “He had an SESB installed. I saw his stats.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Pamela, there’s no reason for me to make this shit up. He is from the Delta Region.”

“Warhead, I’m not sure what you saw out there, but his part in this organization isn’t one of them.”

No, I know what I saw. She was lying…

“The child was distressed, and running rampant from what I’d been told. Wherever he came from, he landed too close to our base. Which is why I deployed your squad out there. And your team captured the threat, just like you were instructed to, effectively and quickly with no casualties. I believe congratulations are in order,” she said with a straight smile.

 

“No casualties? Are you saying there are people in those abandoned looking buildings along the border?”

“Don’t concern yourself about that, Warhead. That doesn’t matter. What you should be worried about though, is your team’s training tomorrow. With every successfully executed mission and training, your team will progress in the Power Ranking System. So far, you’re still in the bottom of our tier’s list, classified as the lowest ranking: Omega. You are the founder of these super powers, Liam. I know you are destined for great things. Prove to me that you can do better, and do well tomorrow morning.”

She was evading my questions. There was something Pamela didn’t want to tell me…

“Now, if that was all you wanted to discuss, I suggest you return to your ward and rest up. I am proud of you, Liam. You may wean out of those injections yet.”

 

++++

I didn’t tell my team that Fire Ant was associated, because I didn’t want to get them bottled up in my theories. Before I had left Pamela’s office, I suggested she give me an injection just in case. She had one in her desk, and gave me the box with the serum already loaded in the syringe. I wasn’t planning on using it any time soon, but it was always good to have it ready just in case.

As for what I was going to do with all of this information, I had no idea. Pamela had lied about Fire Ant being enlisted with The Brother’s Code. She also dodged my direct question about those buildings functioning. It was strange though, because I couldn’t recall seeing any light. Maybe an underground operation? That would explain it, and the lack of energy output I was getting from that side of the forest. Problem was, I couldn’t move around much with a tracker in my goddamn neck. If I left campus, they would know it.

Shit, I needed more time to think this through and strategize. Because what would be the reason for Pamela to reject Fire Ant? Even if he went crazy out there and fled Serva, what good would lying about it do?

Hell, I guess now I had another reason to stick and snoop around. But not tonight. I needed to catch some Z’s. And in the morning, I’d go to the field for training.

 

++++

Morning came too damn soon. I was exhausted, and had no idea why. Maybe it was because of the strain I had put out from keeping myself from going nuclear last night. It could also be the thermal energy I had packed on at the same time. My muscles were tight, and my mind was muddied, where the conversation I had with Pamela was still running through my head.

I went through my morning routine in an empty apartment, the rest of my team scheduled early for training. Now it was my turn to go do my round of Take-Down, a training session where we were graded by the amount of times we could take down our opponent. And by opponent, I meant my fellow TBC heroes. Of course, rules were established to make the training non-lethal, with repercussions intact to enforce safety measures. I laughed at the thought of The Brother’s Code thinking they’d be able to regulate a bunch of supes who were still learning about their powers with threats, but I guess it was working, because according to my Wizket, no instances of fatalities had been reported.

I slipped on my uniform, burned a piece of toast, then rushed out of my ward and into the courtyard for training. My time block was packed, the last slot for Take-Down practice if I had to guess. In the field of freshly-cut grass were a few craters, some cosmetic damage, and rookie supes ready to initiate training. We had a drill sergeant of a skin-head barking out assignments, pairing us off one by one, and prepping our ring. I was on the very end of line, admitting to myself that I was a few minutes late, standing right next to Draco, one of two supes that Gunwin had warned me about.

“Ah, seems like you finally decided to show up,” he addressed me, winding up his arm with a hand on his shoulder. “What happened? Had to get over the training jitters?”

I chuckled to myself. “More like I overslept a bit.”

“This thing is structured to have us go one by one. So we get to watch in the sidelines how bad these noobs fuck up. Real nerve racking, don’t you think?”

“There’s nothing to be worried about. You can either do it, or not. And if you can’t, that’s just something you have to work on until you perfect it.”

“Well, that’s an optimistic way of seeing it, but I doubt TBC would give two shits about slow-paced learning. They are out to make warriors, not rejects. If you can’t cut it, they cut you, and I doubt they’d toss you right back into civilization if you can’t make it in here.”

He had me interested. I should know better than to hear someone like him out, a condescending prick who was only out for himself, but I was curious as to what he was getting to.

“So, what do you think they do with those super humans who can’t make it out here?”

“Beats me. But if I had to guess, they’d probably shut them down, stick them in permanent sleep or something. Maybe worse. These are business people, after all. Money grubbing pocket thieves in the long run. That bit about them wanting to serve humanity is just a cover to their master plan. And, it works. Because there’s no better customer to feed than a desperate one, willing to take anything they could get. Especially when that thing is something as valuable as survival.”

He might sound like an asshole, but he was onto something…

“Liam!” someone called out, her voice stretching out beyond the field. I turned to my left, noticing Dessi rushing toward us.

“Hot hell, who is that?” Draco purred, eyeing my approaching team mate like he was interested.

“She’s Dessi.”

Strange how he was just now noticing her. She had been sitting by me in the inauguration event.

“Dessi. Cute name for a cute girl. Hey, why don’t you introduce us? I wouldn’t mind having me a piece of that every morning, if you know what I mean,” he said, curling his lips into a greedy smirk.

“Dessi’s not—”

“Good morning, Liam!” she beamed, holding a tray of what looked like chocolate chip cookies.

“Morning Dessi,” I said with a smile. “Good to see you looking back to normal.”

“Yeah. It wore off a few hours ago. Good thing too, because I would have felt like I was cheating with Fire Ant’s powers in a training session!”

 

Draco nudged my arm, prodding me to introduce him to her.

I sighed internally, turning my head over to him. “Hey Dessi, this is Draco. Draco, Dessi.”

“Alpha team bound captain, at your service.”

She gave him a sweet smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Draco. That’s your hero name, isn’t it?”

“Ugh, yeah…” he said sheepishly, and I jumped on the opportunity to ask.

“So, what’s your actual name?”

“Eh, it’s Eugene Wiltman.”

Well shit, I could see why he didn’t want to disclose such a cheesy name to his new crush.

“Now I feel properly introduced, Eugene!” Dessi smiled.

“Please, don’t call me that.”

“We try to keep personal names out of the battlefield,” I said, turning to Draco. “Go by our supe names instead. It’s easier that way. But out here on campus, it’s pretty much free game.”

“There is no reason to be ashamed about such an adorable name, really.” Dessi chuckled. “But if you insist, I will address you as Draco. They are both appropriate.”

Appropriate might be stretching it.

“I brought these for Liam, but I’m sure the both of you can share it.”

“Huh?”

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“Freshly baked cookies! My specialty.”

“Cookies for breakfast?” Draco asked, scratching at the side of head sheepishly. “Or actually, for brunch, seeing as it’s late morning already. Either way, that was really sweet of you, Dessi.”

“When did you have the time to bake this?” I asked her.

“Before I left for training! Thankfully, my round was quick, so they didn’t sit in the oven for too long, I promise! They are still very chewy and quite delicious!”

“Heh, I appreciate this, Dessi. Really.”

“If you aren’t opposed, I can make us lunch too,” she volunteered. “I expect you may get tired after Take-Down practice.”

“Hmm…” Draco hummed to himself, while crossing his arms over his chest, looking at me funny.

“Y-yeah, that’d be great, but you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Oh? Are you sure? Because I don’t m—”

“Nah, he’s good! Can’t you tell? He’s going to have his fill of my fists in about a second…” Draco whispered over my shoulder, my eyes going wide at his statement. I pivoted to him and his threat, before he pointed his thumb behind him, where I noticed we were the last two to pair up. “I’m talking about the training, Liam.” He grinned impishly. “Try not to get rocked by the dragon king.”

Yeah, there was no doubt he noticed that Dessi was more interested in me than him. And he was ready to fight me for her admiration. Too bad I wasn’t about petty jealousy. This wasn’t a competition, because Dessi had her eyes on me from day one.

“All right! Last team, step forward!” our instructor barked at us, the field nice and clear for the last fight of the day. Draco flicked his thumb against his nose, giving me a confident smirk as he backed himself into the ring, Dessi taking her position with her tray of cookies along the sidelines.

“Good luck, Liam!” she beamed, and Draco vengefully sucked his teeth at me. The rules were mentioned, but I couldn’t care enough to listen, staring Draco down to counter that hideous death glare on him. I wanted to see what I was up against, so I subconsciously opened his stats, thinking Open Power Ranking System Screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Power Ranking System Screen

Name: Draco

Association: Delta Region [Beta B Team]

Class: A

Strength: 188

Fighting Exp: 144

Speed: 78

Agility: 57

Intelligence: 50/100

Powers/Abilities:

Incinerate

Ash Armor

Fire Stare

Fire Embodiment

Fire Flight

Fire Source

Flame Heal

--

Strength wise, I had him, but his fighting skills and his speed might be a problem. In no time, we were prompted to fight, and a bell went off in my head as I mirrored Draco’s circling fight stance around our large field ring.

Draco had his upper body low, extracting his claws full length. Those claws, I wondered if they’d be a problem at close range. I had invulnerability, but I didn’t see anything about melee attack enhancements on his stats screen. Still, I couldn’t assume they weren’t a special type of powerful on a supe, something that could slice through my invulnerability power. I was planning on how I’d approach, or I could wait for him to spring at me and study his move-set. He seemed like the impatient type, and I might be able to use that to my advantage.

“Let’s go!” our observer shouted. “This isn’t a dance recital, it’s a fight! So start swinging!”

“As you wish!” Draco grunted slamming his two fists together and sending a rapid swirling fire projectile at me. I wasn’t banking on it being so quick, so when I step-dodged it, I was nipped at my ankle. I couldn’t stammer, not if I didn’t want it to be counted against me. Take-Down worked in a way that once anything but your feet touches the floor, you were giving your opponent a point against you. We had to maintain upper body balance at all times, so the tuck and roll I just did gave Draco a point.

But I was determined on getting it back.

I figured for every point I gave him, I would be able to take two back. That was a solid plan; all I had to do now was execute it. I was caught off guard with that first strike, and told myself that I wouldn’t let it happen again.

 

Energy absorption was going to be my ultimate ally in this fight. I could prep myself to take on this next fire stream, but I was selfish, wanting to go for the source—Draco himself. So I had to get close enough to reach him for it to work, and that was where the true test began.

In terms of agility, I had him by a small margin, and it was wide enough for me to dodge his fire streams. If I had stopped and absorbed them, I wouldn’t get any closer to my target. It was crazy sacrificing free energy like that, but I had a bigger goal in mind, running toward the dragon king who managed to summon his ash armor just in the nick of time.

Draco drew an X with his arms and intercepted me with an orb of ash. It looked like a tornado whipping around him, spinning from the ground up and encasing him in an egg. My first thought wasn’t to absorb it; there was little power to be had here. So I didn’t hesitate to punch right through it, although that approach backfired on me quickly.

He solidified his ash armor just as I pierced through it with my punch and it caught my arm, the ash particles making my muscles rigid. I couldn’t move, more ash particles grabbing me by my leg and circulating around my thigh. I stomped to break the hardening into pieces, but Draco caught me off guard again while I was distracted. “Incinerate!” he cried out, pointing his finger at my forehead about two inches away.

He had a method here, releasing the ash just in time for me to get enveloped by the wind of hellish flames. Of course I came out of that unscathed, trying to absorb all I could with one hand out, but he still managed to send my ass on the floor, giving him another point against me.

Shit, this is where the lack of fighting skills was going to kick my ass…

We were on a time constraint, which meant I was the one who had to keep moving. If Draco wanted to, he could wait for the three minutes to wind down, and win off the two points he had. Fortunately for me, he was hot off jealousy, and wanted to take me down as many times as he could.

I sucked my teeth, getting off my ass to avoid his retaliation. Another incinerate shot dead center. I wasn’t the type to bob and weave like a helpless chump, so I gave into his pressure, pivoting my body to catch him in a high side-swing kick.

He didn’t have enough time to harden his skin with ash, but I saw him try, the grey sheath along his arm growing where he blocked my strong kick from landing right into his head. I shattered his bone, but I didn’t take him down, Draco’s foot placement keeping him from tipping over.

He winced, then took flight with his flames to gap himself from me again, the heat from under his feet radiating over my head.

“I’ll give you that one, bastard!” he said with a wide winning grin on him.

“Sixty more seconds!” our observer hollered, making me chase Draco in the skies.

In the amount of time it took for me to charge up to him, he used his flame heal to seal his wounds, bringing his arm back in action. I guess he couldn’t tap into his flame powers to heal and attack at the same time, because I finally got close enough to him without his ash and fire abilities, Draco gripping me hand to hand. His claws tried breaking through to my skin, but it didn’t work—I couldn’t remember the last time I had bled once I left Sigma-RE’s laboratory.

“You got a lucky shot in. Savor it, because it’s the last one you’d get!” he grunted. “Now tell me, why would a girl like Dessi be interested in someone like you?” He smiled wickedly, glaring at me dead on. “Everyone else might not see it, but I can sense power levels, thermal power to be exact. And yours are minuscule compared to the heat I am packing.”

I grinned. “I’m a lot stronger than I look. And besides, I don’t know what you’re getting all heated about. You’re not even Dessi’s type. She’s not into egotistical pricks like you. Also, she’s in my team, and she already has eyes on the warhead.”

“You piece of shit! Your fighting skills are laughable at best! Dessi needs someone strong like me on her team! Hey, tell you what, we can trade. You can have that slimy squid girl in exchange for Oracle. I heard that she could be a real monster in bed.”

“Heh, I already have a frisky vixen on my team. Don’t need another one. But it was bold of you to ask. So how about I give you a reward for your bravery?” I crushed his hand in mine, Draco biting down on his tongue so he wouldn’t say a peep. Either way, I could see the pain on his face when I switched the table on him, sending us both rushing toward the ground.

“I’m not letting go, so you can toss all types of shit at me. Or at least, the little you’ll have left after I absorb your energy,” I taunted, Draco’s back pointing downward as we rapidly sailed south. Draco went hysterical, trying to pry me off of him, incredibly desperate once he noticed that his heat was decreasing. “Don’t worry, you’ll get it back. You can’t kill thermal power, am I right?”

“Fucking shithead! Get off of me!” he roared, then engulfed himself in flames. Yeah, he was panicking all right, because why on Earth would he decide to feed me more energy?

 

Finally, his back slammed against the ground, creating yet another crater in the field. That had to hurt, my energy absorption trait tapping dragon boy out. He cried out in agony without a flame shield to protect him, and if it wasn’t for the rules, I would have really given him the work. I secured one point, and would secure a dozen more in the seven seconds I had left.

Body slams all around—I was tossing him left and right like a damn rag doll. One point, two points, three, four, five—I was racking up points like crazy, until the buzzer went off, and I released Draco’s torn body, leaving him in the dust of my victory.

“Take-Down win goes to Warhead of the Omega A Team!” the observer called out with his arm up to signal the end of the training, my head turning around to Dessi who rushed up to me happily.

“Liam, you did it!” she beamed.

I gave her a gentle, confident smile. “Hey, did you ever have a doubt in your mind?”

I bet now that prick won’t ever ask me about Dessi again, not after his embarrassing defeat.

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