Summary: When rumors spread that wild creatures have invaded the Human World, unrest riddles throughout the Wizard World and the only surviving monster hunter is called. But, Justin's not so sure he can handle capturing hundreds of baby dragons.
Scoundrels on the Loose
Justin paled as the call ended and sank into the orange couch. "Why did I choose monster hunting as my independent study, again?"
His sister flipped a page in her magazine. "Because you're a dork?"
"Alex," he snapped, grip tightening on his wand. "Baby dragons have invaded this world. Dragons."
"They're just babies." She dismissed and dug her hand into the bowl of corn. "How hard can catching them be?"
His voice rose in pitch. "Pretty hard when their mothers show up!"
"Sounds like a personal problem." Alex tacked on a laugh.
Justin shot to his feet with a choked screech. He stormed out of the living room and up the metal staircase. If his sister couldn't see the danger they were now in then he had to solve the problem before it became an even bigger problem one his own. Gritting his teeth, he suited up in his recently redesigned monster hunting outfit. Now his clothes were padded with shock-absorbent material for extra protection and absolutely covered in pockets. With said pockets filled to the brim with nets, he tightened his belt and adjusted his coat.
Time to catch some dragons.
Double-checking his outfit one last time, he pulled out his new tracking watch and attached the metal around his wrist. Checking the device, he fiddled with the controls until the electronic located the nearest creature.
"Alright," he scrunched his eyes shut and crossed his fingers. "Here goes nothing."
Snapping open his eyes and rushing out of his room, he ignored the taunts of his sibling and sped out of the building. He had a ton of little monsters to corral.
"First stop," he inhaled, "the train station."
Weaving through the packed streets, he followed his tracker to the closest train station. After paying for a ticket, Justin jogged down a set of steps and entered the station. The teen swiveled his gaze about the place until his focus landed on a dense crowd. Rolling back his shoulders with a sharp inhale, he hurried to the group and made to shove himself through but only succeeded in bouncing off the crowd's backs and falling to the ground.
He bit his lip. "Not a good start."
The teen pushed himself to his feet. He had to get through. There was a dragon in their midst and if he didn't catch the beast then someone could get hurt!
"Uh, uh," he stammered to himself, mind whirring. "I need to get the monster's attention. But how?"
A roar shook the building and a boom reverberated as the ceiling collapsed. Justin's eyes shot wide as the concrete plummeted towards the screaming crowd. He whipped out his wand.
"Crashing ceilings are unjust, crumble their existence into dust!"
The hurtling pieces disintegrated into ashes and were blown away with a gust of air. The screaming commuters scrambled around massive claws and out of the station, leaving Justin alone with the towering mother dragon and her chirping delinquent.
He swallowed. "Oh dear…I didn't bring big enough nets for this."
The beast swung her head to snarl at the shaking teen. Deciding to pick his battles and maybe return with backup, he pivoted and scrambled towards the stairs. A monstrous crimson claw descended in front of him, smashing the tiled floor and sending him tumbling to the ground. He shrieked.
"Uh–uh–" His mind spun, desperate, and he raised his wand. "Help me out of here, send me–"
Fire erupted behind him and he flinched. A high pitched yelp rang in his ear and rolled away from the sound. He made to stand when a rough texture banged against his side and he dropped to the tiles, dangerously close to the fire.
He jerked his gaze to find the baby dragon wagging its tail and approaching. He looked up to see the mama dragon inhaling for another blast but he waved his wand and screamed.
"Fire, fire, everywhere, take me home where I can care?"
His wand fizzled and he cursed just as the baby dragon leapt atop him. Pinned to the ground, the baby monster snatched his wand. He struggled to retrieve his only way of escape but the dragon just seemed to laugh. All the while, the fire crept closer.
"Give it back!" He shouted. "Your mom's gonna kill me!"
The baby tilted its head then turned to its mother. Justin directed his gaze to the gigantic creature too and stared as the mother beast closed her jaw with a venomous glare at the wizard. Justin sucked in a breath.
"Fire's getting close enough to kill me too." He added in a rush. "Can I have my wand back now?"
The little dragon jerked its head and tossed the wand. Justin shrieked and the baby monster grasped the front of his coat with its toothless mouth and dragged him away from the flames. Just as the baby released him, he hustled to stand and sprinted away from the confused beast and around the fire. He dived for his wand.
"Got it!" he cheered only to freeze when a claw thudded over him.
The force knocked the wand out of his hand and he gasped as the wood rolled out of reach.
"No no no!" He screamed, terrified.
A chortle vibrated his cage and Justin thinned his lips, fear receding as he was struck by the realization that the mother was laughing at him. The baby beast rushed over and picked up the wand with a wag of its tail. The teen scowled.
"Very funny." He crossed his arms. "But now that you two have found each other could you all kindly go home?"
The laughter darkened into growling and Justin tensed. "Uh, not that it hasn't been fun with you guys around, it's just, uh, wouldn't you rather, I dunno, go home?" He then added a whisper to himself. "I am so dead."
The claws curled, slicing into the floor and rose to lift him and a bunch of broken tiles. The mother dipped her head to give the wizard a flat stare. Justin tried for a smile but his lips formed a grimace instead.
"Uh," he started. "Please don't eat me?"
The red creature snorted and stretched her enormous wings, in turn destroying more of the ceiling. Leaning back down, she grasped her baby in her mouth and flapped her wings to take flight. Justin whined in the back of his throat and looked to the ground where he could barely make out the speck of his wand shrinking in the distance.
Unbeknownst to him or the dragons, a teenaged girl rushed after them with a red wand in her hands.
"Justin!" She yelled. "A dragon took my brother, return him to our mother!"
Her wand flared but nothing seemed to happen. She shook the defective device and cursed. Justin had been right of course and now saving her brother from being eaten would be really hard now that the mothership had arrived. She groaned.
"So much work." She sighed and lifted her gaze to watch the massive creature descend.
She frowned as the dragon disappeared behind the skyscrapers. An idea began to form and her lips stretched into a smirk.
"If she's the dragon's mother and she's collecting her babies, then to get her attention I just need to catch a baby dragon."
She glanced at the mother rising into the sky and raised her wand.
~oOo~
Justin had a very bad feeling.
Nevermind the fact he was being reserved as dragon chow for the baby monstrosities, his Alex-is-plotting senses were tingling. If he wasn't around to interfere with her plans then his younger sister could get into serious trouble! He sucked on his lips as his warden rose back into the sky after having placed another one of her children onto her back with her mouth.
The babies chirped and cooed atop their mother's back, delighted. Justin thinned his lips and shifted atop the mess of former flooring, wishing they'd quiet so he could think.
And then they did.
Justin jerked, startled by the abrupt silence when a rumble thundered. Hastily, he grabbed a part of a claw for balance as the sound vibrated throughout his entrapment. He leaned between the claws as much as he dared to search the ground for the source of the dragon's distress.
"Alex," he hissed when he spotted flashes of light and fire. "What is she trying to do now?"
The mother dragon swooped to the ground, landing with a resounding boom. The crash pulverised the remains of the tiles into bits of dirt that fell through the claws. In that moment, Justin became very grateful that the beast had picked up part of the station's floor to absorb the blow.
He exhaled, hands and knees finally on the ground when he noticed the claws were spread apart...just enough for him to fit through. Scrambling forwards, he squeezed between the obstacle and resisted the urge to cheer. Instead, he returned his focus to the problem at hand.
He had to save Alex from...whatever she'd done!
Whirling on his heel, he spotted his blanching sister wave her wand at the massive mother then the infuriated baby with wide eyes. He sprinted forwards, fighting back panic, and snatched the wand out of her hands.
"This mother dragon is enraged, calm her fury and rampage!" He shouted.
Wind flowed from the wand and a jazzy tune seemed to play with the breeze. The music encircled the red creature and the tension within the beast visibly vanished. The constant, earth-shaking, growl smoothed into a contemplative hum.
"Let's…" he breathed. "Let's talk this out, okay?"
Something rumbled behind him
"Justin..."
"Shoot." How could he forget the angry baby about to kill them?
He pivoted and grabbed his sibling's arm, backpedaling as the cake-covered beast prowled closer. He readied the wand, searching for a possible spell.
"What did you do?" He snapped. "Why's there cake on it?"
"I had to get its attention somehow!" She exclaimed.
"By throwing a cake at it?"
"Uh–" she stammered the ploughed onwards with, "just fix this already!"
"I'm trying!"
"Use the spell you used before!"
"If I do that then it'll remove the spell on the mother dragon!"
The baby lunged.
"Do something!" Alex screamed.
Justin waved the wand. "Animoza Espinoza!"
Light encompassed them and their forms shifted into a scaled beast with wings. With his new form, Justin spun and swung his tail, successfully batting away the angry creature. He exhaled.
"You turned us into dragons?" Alex shouted.
"I panicked!" He retorted.
The little monster paced in front of them, tail swaying until a deep growl rumbled and all parties halted. Justin and Alex lifted their heads to observe the mother dragon utter a series of sounds. Justin glanced at the mother's child and exhaled, the baby had calmed.
"Huminoza Espinoza!" He recited.
His sister and he returned to their original forms and craned their necks as the mother retrieved her child and placed the little demon atop her back. The dragon seemed about to take flight until Justin shouted.
"Wait! I'll summon your babies and then you all can go home together!" He inhaled, mentally sifting through his vast array of spells then settled on one. "This dragon's babies are in this state, return them here and don't be late."
Hundreds of baby dragons appeared in several flashes of light. Justin exhaled as they swarmed their mother. The mother lowered a wing and the dragons clambered atop her back.
The massive dragon cast the wizards one last glance before she took to the sky, debris flying in her wake, and with a screech a blue swirling portal appeared in front of her. With her children on her back, she dived through the vortex and the portal closed behind her.
"Huh, that was fun. Terrifying, but fun." Alex acknowledged. "Now who's hungry? I am, ha ha ha!"
Justin rolled his eyes but allowed. "I could go for pasta." He shook himself. "But what are we gonna do about all this destruction? And the risk of wizard exposure!"
"That's your problem." Alex grinned and strolled away.
Justin huffed and flailed his arms in frustration, giving chase. "Alex!"
"Wonder what went wrong with the first spell I casted." Alex mused to herself.
~oOo~
"So, Max, what happened again?" Jerry prodded in disbelief.
"Well there were these dragons, see, and one of them caught me and broke my wand but then all of a sudden I was here! Weird, right?"
Jerry just sighed and left to get some pudding. "Of course, Max."
Later that day he'd learn that Max's story wasn't just a story.
Fin
Notes:
Taking a break from Gravity Falls while I fandom hop!