Future Dragon: Rose Long (Season Eight)
Chapter/Episode 2: The Sickening Search
"So..." In the Underworld, Mrs. Jenkins stood alone, a scowl on her face. "...Rose Long has uncovered the identity of her parents' killer. She had the chance to slay him! Yet...she did not." Turning around and walking along the darkness of the Underworld, Mrs. Jenkins thought out loud to herself. "Instead, she wishes to take him alive...
"...I'm tired of waiting." Mrs. Jenkins concluded as she once again came to a stop. "Rose Long's soul belongs to me rightfully. Perhaps it was unwise of me to think that Rose Long could earn her way down here." Then, after a pause, she smiled. "I think it's time to strike at her...and show no mercy."
Then, Mrs. Jenkins continued walking.
LINE BREAK
"Savannah and I shouldn't be gone for very long." Rose said. She was walking in-between Jake and Savannah, who were both in their dragon forms as well.
"Rose, I don't know how I feel about this..." Jake said.
"Come on, Jake." Rose told her husband. "Don't be a hypocrite."
"A hypocrite?" Jake asked, turning his head to the side.
"Yeah." Rose said as Savannah smiled in amusement. "You trust Savannah but you don't trust Cherri or any of the others."
"I didn't say that I don't trust them..." Jake said as he, Rose and savannah stopped at the edge of the island. "...I said that I don't know how I feel about this."
""Trust me." Rose said with a smile as she turned to the side. "Cherri's a good friend. You even offered her a chance to become a Dragon Council Agent."
"I know." Jake said as he turned to the side as well. "She turned it down."
"Just trust me." Rose told her husband.
"What?" Jake smiled playfully. "Does it look like I have a choice?"
LINE BREAK
Mrs. Jenkins walked down a steep hill that led into a dark cave. Walking into the cave, Mrs. Jenkins stopped at a hole in the cave, which led to a "room" that was lit in a bright red color. Turning, Mrs. Jenkins walked into it.
"Mother." Mrs. Jenkins said, staring at a Dark Orange-colored dragon with flaming fire that made up her long hair that went down her back; the dragon's wings were also made out of fire.
Hearing the sound of Mrs. Jenkins' voice, the fire turned around. "Mother." Mrs. Jenkins repeated, taking another step into the "room".
"My daughter..." The dragon said, an evil smile appearing on her face. "...What a pleasant surprise..."
"I need you to do something for me, mother."
"Hmm..." Mrs. Jenkins' mother smiled as she walked to her daughter, starting to circle her. "...Why are you telling your mother what to do?" Having finished circling her daughter, the Dark Orange dragon faced her.
"I'm not telling you what to do, mother." Mrs. Jenkins scowled.
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I said that I need your help."
"Does it have to do with a soul?"
"Of course."
"Then why don't you go and get it?"
"This woman has evaded me long enough." Mrs. Jenkins crossed her arms. "She's good. You...are better."
"Give me one good reason why I should go up to the mortal world and claim a soul for you, my daughter."
"Because there will be others." Mrs. Jenkins smiled. "She's traveling with a friend at the moment and she is going to receive more friends. I don't want them, but you..."
As Mrs. Jenkins paused, her mother smiled evilly.
"...You can have them."
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, both Rose and Savannah landed on the docks in their dragon forms. Rose immediately walked over to the very edge of the dock and looked down at the water.
"Um, Savannah?" Rose asked as she turned around.
"Yeah?"
"You did call Cherri and tell her that we were coming, right?"
"Yeah, I called her before we even left." Savannah said.
"Maybe you should call again." Rose suggested. "Because I don't see any way to get down there."
"Maybe you should just be patient." Savannah told her. "Give them a few more minutes."
"Savannah, with every minute that passes while we just wait around..." Rose argued. "...It's possible that Apep is getting farther and farther away."
"Rose, just give Cherri another five more minutes." Savannah reasoned. "If the submarine isn't up here in five minutes, then I'll call her and tell her that we're here."
"Savannah, we-" Rose started, but she stopped and her eyes widened when she heard the sound of bubbles coming from the water below her. From behind and below Rose, the transparent submarine emerged from the water.
"See, there it is." Savannah said with a smile on her face as she walked up to Rose's side as Rose turned around, looking down at the submarine.
LINE BREAK
"That's her..." In the underworld, Rose could be seen descending down into the submarine, closely followed by Savannah.
"...The blonde one." Mrs. Jenkins said as she stood next to her grinning mother.
"She's the one?"
"Yes." Mrs. Jenkins herself started to smile. "Her name is Rose Long. She's mine. The other one, as well as any other dragons that are with her, are all yours."
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Cherri, in her dragon form and with the medallion around her neck, made her way to the elevator, just as it opened and Rose stepped out, quickly followed by Savannah. "Hey, guys." Cherri said with a smile on her face as Rose and Savannah stopped in front of her.
"Rose was beginning to think that-" Savannah started with a smile on her face, but before she could finish, she grunted as Rose elbowed her in the side.
"Did you talk to the others?" Rose asked.
"About what?" Cherri asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" Rose asked. "Savannah called you and said that we were going to search for the killer of my parents and that I wanted you guys' help."
"Um, no she didn't." Cherri said.
"But you knew that we were coming." Rose said.
"Yeah..." Cherri said.
"Wait." Rose said, turning her head to the side to look at Savannah. "You said you called her."
"I did." Savannah said as she turned her head to the side so she could meet Rose's gaze. "I told her that we were coming. That's what you wanted me to do."
"Actually, Savannah..." Rose said as she turned her head back to normal. "I wanted you to tell Cherri why we were coming."
"Well, she knows now." Savannah said as she also turned her head back to normal. "Sorry about that."
"It's alright." Cherri said as she took a step back. "I'll go call them all together. I'm sure that the answer will unanimously be yes. Come on." Then, Cherri turned around and started to walk away from the elevator, both Rose and Savannah following her.
LINE BREAK
A short time later, Rose and Savannah stood at the table in the dining room. Gilda, Arkadi, Lexy, Lista and Maverick were all sitting at the table, in their dragon forms and with their medallions around their necks. They were also all staring at Rose and Savannah.
"So..." Rose said as she placed her clawed hands on the surface of the table.
"So what are you doing here?" Gilda shot. "I was actually happy. I thought I'd never have to see you again."
"Well, then you are exempt from this offer." Rose narrowed her eyes. "How does that sound?"
"Offer?" Maverick asked. "What kind of offer?"
"Well, while I was with you all..." Rose said. "...We all spent time trying to find the dragon that killed my parents. I am happy to report that I have finally found that dragon."
"That's great, Rose!" Arkadi smiled, speaking in his Russian accent.
"How'd you do that?" Lista asked.
"If you all agree to help me out here..." Rose said. "...Then I'll tell you all about it on the way to the Island of Draco. Right now, though, I'll tell you that his name is Apep Kerberos and that he managed to evade capture."
"The Council is going to start a manhunt." Savannah took it from Rose. "We've got plenty of Dragon Council Agents, but..."
"But we'd like your help." Rose finished, giving Cherri's team a smile.
"Are we going to get arrested if we go back there?" Lexy asked nervously.
"Nope." Rose answered, her smile widening.
LINE BREAK
Arkadi stepped out of the room that he shared with Gilda, using his tail to close the door behind him. "So, you're going?" Gilda, who was standing about a foot away from Arkadi, said after Arkadi had taken only one step forward.
"We all are." Arkadi said.
"I'm not." Gilda scowled, crossing her scaly arms.
"Think of it this way, Gilda." Arkadi said as he walked up to her. "After this, you will never see Rose again."
"If I stay here..." Gilda said. "...I'll hopefully never see her again."
"Yeah, I guess so." Arkadi said, crossing his scaly arms as well. "But you know what else? You'll also be completely alone here. You'll be the only dragon."
This seemed to resonate with Gilda; at first, her eyes widened as she realized that Arkadi was right. Then, she gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes.
LINE BREAK
Sometime later, Rose and Savannah landed on the grass back on the Island of Draco. As Rose and Savannah both walked forward, Cherri and Maverick quickly landed and followed, they were followed by Lista and Lexy, who both followed the others. Finally, Arkadi and Gilda landed and started to follow the others.
Sighing, Gilda shook her head. "Why did I let you talk me into this?" She asked.
"Just think, Gilda..." Arkadi told her. "...Once we catch the killer, you'll never see Rose again."
The doors of the Main Hall opened, allowing Rose and Savannah walked inside, where they saw Jake, Rin and Callum all sitting at the table in their human forms as Cherri, Maverick, Lista, Lexy, Arkadi and Gilda all followed them inside, all in a straight line.
"We've got them." Rose said as she and the others stopped near the table.
"Good, I guess..." Jake said.
"Then we have the team ready." Rin said.
LINE BREAK
Sometime later, Jake, Rose, Savannah and Cherri were all flying in the air, with Lexy, Lista, Arkadi, Maverick and Gilda flying behind them, along with an entire army of twenty Dragon Council Agents.
"So how are we going to find this guy?" Cherri asked as she turned her head to the side.
"Just hope that we get lucky." Jake said.
"What?" Cherri asked, her eyes widening.
"There's no way for us to know where he is." Jake continued. "The only thing we can do is just search."
LINE BREAK
Sometime later, Rose, Savannah, Jake, Cherri and the others all landed on the street where Rose's parents were killed.
"Alright." Jake said as he took a step forward and then turned around. "This is where her parents died."
"Yeah, so why are we here?" Rose asked.
"I thought that maybe we could all just hope that he did something stupid and returned to the scene of the crime." Jake said as he put his clawed hands on his hips.
"Yeah, I don't think so, Jake." Rose said after sighing.
"Who knows, Rose..." Jake shrugged, giving his wife a smile. "...Maybe he lives here somewhere. Maybe he's hiding out in one of these buildings."
"I hope so, Jake." Rose said
"Alright." Jake said as he put his clawed hands on his hips again. "There are a lot of us. That's good. Let's use it to our advantage and split up."
"How many?" Savannah asked.
"Does four in each team sound good?" Jake asked. Then, he pointed at Rose, Savannah and Cherri. "You three will all come with me. Gilda, Arkadi, Maverick and Lista, you're all one team."
"And me?" Lexy asked.
"You'll be paired up with three other Agents." Jake said before he started to walk towards the Dragon Council Agents. "I'll sort these guys out right now..."
Unbeknownst to any of the dragons in the street, Mrs. Jenkins' mother was standing on the roof of one of the buildings, staring down at all of them.
"This..." The Dark Orange dragon smiled evilly. "...Should be simple..."
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL
BACK TO THR STORY/SHOW
The door to one of the builds was kicked open, allowing Jake to run into the first room, followed by Rose, Savannah and Cherri, Rose stopping at Jake's right while Savannah and Cherri reached his left.
The three then stared at the room in front of them. They had broken into a house and were in the very first room. They could see the stairs and to the side was the family room. It looked like no one was home.
"Okay..." Jake said. "...Rose and Savannah, you two go upstairs. Cherri and I will be down here."
"Got it." Rose and Savannah replied together.
A few moments later, Rose reached the top step and she slowly pushed herself up, turning around a corner and finding herself at the start of a long hallway that had four doors: one at the end of the hall, one on the left side and two on the right side.
"Do you think he could be in one of these rooms?" Savannah asked in a hushed voice as she reached Rose's side.
"I doubt it." Rose said, equally as quiet. "But it can't hurt to check, can it?"
"That's the spirit!" Savannah smiled.
"Yeah, I know." Rose said as she extended her arm and pointed at the door all the way on the other end of the hallway. "You go in that room."
"Got it." Savannah said, starting to walk toward the door as Rose lowered her scaly arm. As Savannah passed by the first door on the right side, the door slowly started to open.
Meanwhile, Rose reached the lone door on the left side of the hall. Before opening the door, Rose turned her head to the side, watching as Savannah opened the door at the end of the hallway and stepped into the room.
Then, Rose turned her head back to normal and opened the door, stepping inside. After Rose had entered the room, the door on the opposite side of the hall fully opened, the grinning mother of Mrs. Jenkins stepping out and as Rose got down on her hands and knees to look under the bed that was in the room.
After looking under the bed, Rose pulled her head out from under the bed and sat up on her knees.
Sighing, Rose slowly started to stand up. As soon as she was standing, Rose started to walk forward, but after only one step, she froze and coughed once. After stopping for only about three seconds, Rose squeezed her eyes shut and put a clawed hand to her mouth as she coughed four more times, this making Mrs. Jenkins' mother's cruel smile only widen.
As soon as Rose finished coughing, she shivered, wrapping her scaly arms around herself. "Wh...What's going on?" She asked herself before her knees started to shake.
"My dear, are you okay?" Mrs. Jennings' mother spoke up, still smiling cruelly.
Gasping, Rose spun around as quickly as she could. However, her movement was too fast for her body to handle. Rose became dizzy and her vision blurred. Before Rose knew it, she let out a moan before she fell to the floor.
Chuckling evilly, Mrs. Jenkins' mother strode into the room, making her way over to the moaning Rose.
Kneeling down at Rose's side, Mrs. Jenkins' mother reached down and put a clawed hand on Rose's belly, making a hissing sound and making Rose, who now had sweat on her forehead, cry out in pain.
"Rose?" Suddenly came the sound of Savannah's voice from the hallway, making Mrs. Jenkins' mother jerk her head to the side, gritting her teeth just as Savannah turned into the room, immediately gasping and widening her eyes.
"Who are you?!" Savannah demanded as Mrs. Jenkins' mother slowly stood up, turned and started to walk toward Savannah.
Staring at the Dark Orange dragon with wide eyes, Savannah suddenly coughed softly, making Mrs. Jenkins' mother chuckle evilly.
"What so funny?!" Savannah demanded, right before she went into a coughing fit, coughing three times before she grunted the tail of Mrs. Jenkins' mother slamming into her chest.
Savannah was thrown off of her feet and flew back into the room that Mrs. Jenkins' mother had been hiding in, finally smashing through the window of the room.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Jake and Cherri were still side-by-side, slowly making their way across the family room. Suddenly, they both heard the crash. Both of them whirled around, their eyes wide.
"What the hell was that?" Cherri asked.
"It sounds like it came from upstairs." Jake said as he looked up. Then, he looked back down and ran, making his way to the start of the stairs.
Narrowing his eyes, Jake started to walk up the stairs, but he stopped as he felt a presence behind him. Turning around, Jake could see Cherri. "I'm coming with you." She said.
"No you're not." Jake said.
"What?!"
"You heard me." Jake pointed a clawed finger at her. "Stay down here and keep looking. I'll go up and see what happened."
Back up at the window, Savannah moaned as she held on, looking down into the alley below her. Lifting her head up, she looked at the window of the building to the side of the one she was dangling out of, and to her surprise, she could see Maverick.
"MAVERICK!" Savannah shouted at the top of her lungs. To her relief, Maverick heard her and turned to face the window, quickly walking up to it, just as Mrs. Jenkins' mother reached the window.
Slowly looking up with wide eyes, Savannah stared at the Dark Orange dragon's sadistic smile.
Groaning, Savannah felt her fingers slipping. Then, she was falling. As she fell, she looked up and could see the window to the building that Maverick was in shatter, Maverick flying out and swooping down. Speeding down like a bullet, Maverick managed to pass by Savannah. Then, he was able to swoop up, grabbing Savannah by her armpits, making her groan as her fall was stopped.
"Rose?" However, the sound of Jake's voice tore Mrs. Jenkins' mother away from the window, making her turn around. She could see Jake standing in the doorway of the room that Rose was lying in. "ROSE!" Jake shouted as he ran inside.
Meanwhile, outside, Maverick sat down on his knees, holding the weak Savannah in his arms. "Savannah, are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah." Savannah said weakly. "I...I don't know what just happened. Th...Thanks for saving me."
Meanwhile, back inside the house, Jake fell down on his knees, right at Rose's side. "Rose?" He asked, his eyes wide with fear.
"Jake..." Rose whispered weakly. "...Watch out..."
"For what?"
"For me." Jake suddenly heard the sound of the Dark Orange dragon's voice. Turning his head to the side, Jake could see her standing in the doorway.
"What is going on here?" Jake asked after he stood up and turned to face the new arrival. "What caused that breaking sound? And why is my wife-?"
However, before Jake could finish, he stopped and coughed. Mrs. Jenkins' mother grinned evilly as Jake broke out into a coughing fit, coughing six times as he fell to his knees. "What's-What's going on?" Jake managed weakly after he finished coughing.
"You're fine." Mrs. Jenkins' mother said as she crossed her scaly arms. "I just seem to have that effect on just about everyone I meet."
"What?" Jake asked.
"They all get awfully sick." Mrs. Jenkins' mother said as she lowered her scaly arms.
By this point, Jake had sweat rolling down his face and he was panting. Suddenly, he squeezed his eyes shut and moaned in pain before he fell face-first onto the floor.
"Don't worry..." Mrs. Jenkins' mother said as she started to walk over to the two dragons, passing by Jake. "...You should feel better after I'm gone." By this point, she stopped at Rose's side and turned, kneeling down.
All Rose could do as Mrs. Jennings' mother scooped her up in her clawed hands was cry out in pain, Mrs. Jenkins' mother standing up.
"Well, it's been real and it's been fun, son." Mrs. Jenkins' mother said as she turned and looked down at Jake. "It's been a while since I've caused a mortal pain. And let me tell you that it's been real fun."
As Mrs. Jenkins' mother talked the weak Jake moaned as he managed to wrap his tail around the Dark Orange dragon's ankle, ignoring the hissing sound. "Since I've had my fun with you, I think I'll just let you live. This one on the other hand-"
However, before the Dark Orange dragon could finish, Jake grunted as he pulled with his tail, tripping Mrs. Jenkins' mother and making her fall back onto the floor, letting go of Rose, who managed to flop down onto the bed.
Grunting, Jake slowly pushed himself up onto his feet. Taking a deep breath as soon as he was on his feet, Jake then narrowed his eyes and growled: "No one touches my wife..."
Then, he grunted as he slowly turned around, facing the dragon who hurt Rose...
BLACKOUT; END EPISODE
A/N: Please review!