Jake Long III (Season Two)
Chapter/Episode 4: Darkness Returns
On the Island of Draco, Lin-Lin, her molting cycle having ended, sat at a table in the cafeteria, looking down and minding her own business. However, when Regan arrived at the other end of the table and dropped her food tray on the table, Lin-Lin gasped and jerked her head up. Regan chuckled as she sat down.
"That's not funny!" Lin-Lin said angrily.
"I was only kidding."
"Well, it's still not funny." Lin-Lin crossed her arms.
"Well, I'm sorry." Regan sincerely apologized, reaching down and picking up her sandwich.
"Aren't you supposed to be guarding some old dragon?" Lin-Lin asked as she set her hands back down on the table.
"Yeah." Regan said before she took a bite of her food. "Sillian and I were given the task of being the bodyguards of Haley Harris, the former American Dragon. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Not really." Lin-Lin replied, watching as Regan bit into her food. "So, why aren't you guarding her? You know, doing your job?"
Regan swallowed her food while setting the rest of it down. "I was hungry, so Sillian told me that I had nothing to worry about. Besides..." She smiled. "...Dragon Harris is here, anyway. I don't know why, so don't ask."
"Trust me. I won't."
"So, I'm going to be guarding her house tonight, along with Sillian." Regan smiled again. "What are you going to be doing?"
"Nothing." Lin-Lin sounded bitter. "I'm stuck on this island, serving this Council for a few more months."
"But you have no plans?"
"Absolutely none." Lin-Lin crossed her arms again.
"Well, why don't you have some fun?" Regan suggested.
"How?"
"How about going out?" Regan suggested. "A night off of this island. A night in New York. All to yourself."
"I seriously doubt that the Council would allow that." Lin-Lin said bitterly as Regan picked up her sandwich again.
"Well, maybe they would if you told them you had plans." Regan suggested.
"Doubt it."
"Plans with someone else?" Regan suggested before taking another bite out of her sandwich. "How about a date?"
"A date?!" Lin-Lin's eyes widened with shock, but she seemed amused that Regan would suggest such a thing. "You're joking, right?"
"Not the dating type?"
"I hate almost everyone on this island." Lin-Lin said.
"Do you hate me?" Regan raised an eyebrow.
"No, I said almost everyone."
"I'm touched." Regan said as she set down her food. "Surely, there must be someone else that you don't hate."
"Can't think of anyone." Lin-Lin said. "Like I said, I'll just be staying here tonight."
LINE BREAK
After leaving the cafeteria, Regan turned around a building's corner and started to walk along the side of the building, only to stop after she watched Jake III being thrown into view, landing on his back. Seconds later, Regan could hear a roar and Cherri flew onto him. Fortunately for Jake, he managed to get his feet up and he managed to kick Cherri off of him.
"Wait..." Regan said to herself. "...Doesn't he like Lin-Lin?" A smile quickly spread onto her face. Then, she started to walk over to Jake III, who was now on his feet, breathing heavily as he waited for Cherri to try and attack him again.
"Excuse me?" Regan said as she reached Jake III's side, Jake turning his head to the side to look at her.
"Sorry if I sound rude, but not now." Jake told her before he turned his head back to normal. "I'm a little busy with training."
"I know, but I just wanted to ask you a quick question." Regan said.
"Go ahead!" Cherri said as she slowly stood up, grabbing at her back with her clawed hands, her back to Jake and Regan. "You have time! I think I need a break!" Cherri finished as Jake III turned to face Regan, who smiled.
"Yeah, Regan?" Jake III asked.
"Are you free tonight?" Regan asked.
"Yeah, I should be." Jake put his hands on his hips. "Any reason why?"
"You like Lin-Lin, right?" Regan continued to smile. "Come on, I know you do. On Halloween, you-"
"Yeah, I like her." Jake III told her. "She doesn't like me, though. Why do you ask?"
"Would you like to go on a date with her?" Regan's smile widened.
LINE BREAK
"What?! You did what?!" Lin-Lin demanded angrily as she and Regan stood within a room. There was no doubt about it. Lin-in was furious.
"Come on, I did you a favor." Regan said.
"Regan, I don't know what your parents taught you when you were a child, but you don't do that to other people!" Lin-Lin ranted. "You don't offer them out to creeps for a night of 'fun'."
"He's not a creep."
"I'm not doing it, Regan." Lin-Lin said.
"Oh, yes you are." Regan crossed her arms. "I went out of my way to talk to Jake, and then I talked to the Dragon Council. I told them that you were going on a date."
Instead of reacting negatively to this, Lin-Lin just smiled and put her hands on her hips. "See?" She asked. "I'm not going. The Council would never let me go."
"They said yes, Lin-Lin." Regan said. "You're going."
"They did not say yes." Lin-Lin replied, crossing her arms. "The Council would never agree to that. The last time I asked them to let me stay off the island, they told me no."
"That's because you didn't have a good reason." Regan said. "You were going through your molting cycle."
"Oh, but they'd say yes to a date?"
"Would you like to go and ask the Council yourself?" Regan asked her.
LINE BREAK
At the Long residence, Rosie was lying on her side when the door to her room opened and her father walked in, a smile on his face. "Rosaline." He told her. In response, Rosie slowly rolled over to look at her father.
"What?" She asked bitterly.
"We finally got you accepted by a boarding school." Jake Jr. crossed his arms. "Starting in May, you'll be attending St. Melusine's School for Dragons. It's an all girls school and there will be an opening in May. That's when you'll be going."
"Joy..." Rosie said sarcastically as she rolled over onto her other side.
Without saying another word, Jake Jr. turned and walked out of his daughter's bedroom, closing the door behind himself.
Now alone, Rosie quickly picked herself up and got up off of the bed, hurrying over to her window. As soon as she reached the window, she pulled it up and then carefully crawled out.
LINE BREAK
Now in her dragon form, Rosie flew through the air, going over Central Park. Looking down at the ground, Rosie kept her eye out for her friends. Finally, as she started to near a lake, she spotted them all. All of them were in their human forms, and they were all sitting on the grass, talking to one another.
Smiling, Rosie dove down to meet up with them.
"Hey, guys." She said as she landed right beside them, all of them turning their heads to the side as she reverted to her human form in a bright light.
"Rosie!" Noelia said with a smile on her face.
"Glad to see me?" Rosie continued to smile as she sat down on the grass.
"We haven't seen you in months." Patience said.
"Well, my parents want to make me miserable." Rosie said, her smile vanishing. "They don't want me to see you anymore."
"Did they change their minds?" Essence asked.
"No, I just snuck out." Rosie smiled again.
"So, you've been grounded all this time?" Noelia asked.
"Pretty much." Rosie said. "I'm stuck in my room until they ship me off to boarding school. My dad just told me that I got accepted into St. Melusine's."
"Where's that?" Patience asked.
"I have no idea." Rose replied. "I don't care, either. I really don't want to go."
"Maybe..." Noelia said with a hopeful smile on her face. "...Once you get out of that boarding school, your parents will trust you to hang out with us once again."
"We can only hope." Rosie replied.
However, at that moment, a red electrical light appeared from thin air, in-between Noelia, Patience, Lucero, Essence and Rosie, all five of them gasping before they started to glow with a red mist. Then, they all screamed as they were sucked into the red electrical light, almost as if they were being sucked into a vortex. Then, the red electrical light vanished, as if it had never been there.
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Opening her eyes, Rosie could see that Lucero was laying next to her on the floor. Groaning, she slowly picked herself up onto her feet. Without looking at the building she was in, she turned around to see that Essence, Noelia and Patience were lying behind them, Essence on her side, Noelia on her stomach and Patience on her back.
Turning her head to the side, Rosie watched as Lucero got up, standing next to her. "Where are we?" Lucero asked.
"I don't know." Rosie replied, turning her head back to normal, watching as her three other friends got to their feet.
"Are you all okay?" Rosie asked as Lucero turned around and started to look around.
"Yeah." Noelia replied.
"Where are we?" Essence asked.
"I don't know." Rosie repeated. "Aw, man! This totally sucks! My parents are going to find out and they're going to be so angry."
"Don't worry, Rosie." Noelia told her in a gentle tone. "We're going to get out of here. We'll find our way back to Central Park and you'll be able to get back to your room before your parents even realize that you snuck out.
"Um, guys..." Lucero said nervously. "...I think I know where we are..."
"You do?" Rosie asked as she turned around and looked at where Lucero was looking. She could see that there was an archway that led into the next hall. At both sides of the archway, there were two large statues, both of Huntsclan soldiers that wore the Hong Kong uniform. Above the archway was a large dragon skin, hung up for decoration.
"A Huntslair..." Rosie said as Noelia and Patience walked up to her side, while Essence walked up to Lucero's side. "...Oh, this is bad."
"Look, we don't have to worry about this." Noelia said as she turned her head to the side. "The Huntsclan is dead. They've been dead for almost eighty years. We'll find a way out of here."
"Which way should we go?" Rosie asked.
"Why don't we go straight?" Noelia suggested, turning her head to the side. Then, the five friends all started to walk forward.
LINE BREAK
That night, at Haley's house, Lin-Lin stood in the bathroom, Regan zipping up a grey dress while Lin-Lin stood in front of the mirror. "You look very beautiful, Lin-Lin." Regan said as she took a few steps back, allowing Lin-Lin to look at herself in the mirror.
Sighing, Lin-Lin then turned around to face Regan, who smiled. "Don't you agree?" She asked.
"I look fine." Lin-Lin said, not sounding excited in the slightest.
"Are you excited?"
"No." Lin-Lin put her hands on her hips. "I don't like this guy."
"Give him a chance." Regan told her. "This could end up being the best night of your life."
"I doubt it." Lin-Lin crossed her arms.
"It's what you make of it, Lin-Lin." Regan gave this last piece of advice before she looked down and reached for the belt of her uniform, where she had a piece of folded paper tucked in-between her belt and her clothes. Taking it out, Regan smiled as she looked up and handed the paper to Lin-Lin.
"This is the name of the restaurant that he'll be waiting for." She said. "I also wrote down the address and the directions. You'll find the place easily."
Without a word, Lin-Lin snatched the paper from her and turned, walking out of the bathroom. Moments later, the door to the house opened and Lin-Lin stepped out, closing the door behind her before she walked down the steps.
Unbeknownst to Lin-Lin, from on the roof of the house across the street, Cleo and Kay were watching their mother's house.
"Socorro..." Cleo said before she and Kay turned around, their older sister walking up to them.
"What?"
"It looks like there are people inside her house." Kay said.
Her eyes flashing with anger, Socorro quickly punched both of her younger sisters in their guts, both of them grunting and falling to their knees. "Let me see!" Socorro said as she stepped forward, looking down at the house. She could see that a light was on, and through the window, she could see Sillian, in his human form, walking across the room.
Growling, Socorro spun around to face her younger sisters, who were slowly getting to their feet, clutching their bellies.
"What are we going to do?" Cleo asked.
"Are we going to wait until later to attack?" Kay asked.
"Of course not." Socorro growled as she crossed her scaly arms. "I have a feeling that mother is using them to fend us off. They won't be going anywhere. We're sticking to tonight."
LINE BREAK
Lowering the piece of paper that had the directions on it, Lin-Lin stared at the restaurant. With an apprehensive sigh, Lin-Lin started to walk inside, and once she entered, she looked around and saw Jake III seated at the waiting bench, dressed in an old tuxedo.
Sighing, Lin-Lin turned and walked over to him. "Hey." She said, making Jake lift his head up. Immediately, Jake III smiled.
"Hey yourself." He said.
LINE BREAK
A short time later, the two were seated at a small table, only having had their drinks served to them. "Look..." Lin-Lin said. "...I want you to get one thing straight."
"What's that?" Jake III asked before he took a sip of his drink.
"I didn't want this to happen." Lin-Lin said. "Regan set it all up."
"Oh." Jake seemed slightly disappointed. "Well, that's okay." He smiled. "I bet you're glad your molting cycle is done and over with."
"Don't make me splash my drink in your face." Lin-Lin narrowed her eyes.
"Hey, you've already punched me in the face." Jake III kept on smiling. "I think a soda in my face would be most refreshing." Seeing that Lin-Lin did not look amused, he added: "You look lovely tonight, by the way."
"Thanks." Lin-Lin told him, almost grudgingly as she put her elbow on the table.
"I really mean it." Jake persisted. "Where did you get that dress?"
"Regan gave it to me."
"Oh." Jake said. "Yeah, I got this thing from my dad's closet. My grandfather wore it when he was a teenager."
"Interesting." Lin-Lin said, but then sighed. She knew she needed to be polite. "You..." She struggled to say. "...Don't...look...too bad yourself."
"Thanks." Jake smiled again.
LINE BREAK
Back in the Huntslair, Rosie and her friends continued on. "Do you think anyone lives here?" Essence whispered.
"I don't know." Noelia replied.
At this point, the group of friends came to a stop, having run into a fork in their path; they could either go straight, left or right. "Oh, great!" Rosie was becoming more and more pessimistic by the moment. "Now what? Which way do we go?"
"I don't know, Rosie." Noelia replied.
"Please don't tell me that we're going to split up." Patience replied.
"No." Noelia decided right then and there. "No, that would be a bad idea. What if some of us found an exit while the rest of us didn't? We'll go together. If we find nothing, we'll retrace our path and go down the next hall.
"Where are we going to start?" Patience asked.
"Let's go straight." Noelia replied. So, they did.
LINE BREAK
Back at Haley's house, Socorro, Cleo and Kay stood on the roof of the house across the street. They were ready. "It's now or never." Socorro told her sisters. "Let's go take care of mother."
Inside Haley's house, Regan was sitting at the bottom of the stairs as Sillian exited Haley's family room, just in time to hear Regan's sigh. "What is it?" Sillian asked.
"I just hate sleeping during the day." Regan told him as she lifted her head up.
At that moment, a huge fireball hit the front wall of the living room, blasting it away. Gasping, Regan shot up to her feet, just as the same thing happened to the wall with the front door. A large hunk of the front door flew forward from the blast, and it hit Regan before she could move, knocking her over.
Now in his dragon form, Sillian leapt in front of where Regan had fallen, drawing his Urumi. "Regan, are you okay?" He called, while, from behind him, Regan, now in her dragon form, groaned as she pushed the remains of the door off of her.
"I...I think so!" She called.
"Good." Sillian said, turning his head back to normal, his eyes widening as he watched Socorro, Cleo and Kay all walking in through the front of the house, the wall no longer there. "Regan, listen to me." Sillian said. "I'll handle these three. Go alert Dragon Harris."
"I'm on it!" Regan said before she turned and ran up the stairs.
"Come on!" Sillian challenged. "Bring it!"
"Gladly." Socorro said. The three siblings then charged at Sillian.
Upstairs, Regan threw the door to Haley's room open before she rushed over to where Haley was sleeping on her back. "Dragon Harris!" Regan pleaded as she reached down and put her clawed hand on Haley's shoulder, starting to gently shake her. "Dragon Harris, please!" Regan begged.
Groaning, Haley slowly opened her eyes. "Wh...What is it?" She asked.
"Your daughters are here." Regan said. "We've got to get you out of here. Sillian's fending them off."
"We should help him." Haley was tired, but now alert.
"No, he told me to warn you." Regan said. "That means that my job is to get you out of here safely."
"Can we use the front door?"
"There is no more front door." Regan said before she looked up, spotting the window. "We'll use your bedroom window." Regan decided as she looked back down.
LINE BREAK
Back at the restaurant, Jake III and Lin-Lin ate in silence. "So, how's the food?" Jake suddenly asked, hoping to strike up a conversation.
Lin-Lin must have known that Jake was trying to ignite a conversation, for she rolled her eyes. "Please." She said. "Don't tell me that you're going to talk to me about the food."
"Nah, I'm just curious if you like it."
"It's fine." Lin-Lin replied. "You are paying for it, right?"
"Yeah."
"Alright." Lin-Lin seemed relieved to hear this.
"You don't like to talk much, do you?" Jake asked her.
"Not really."
"Is there anything that we could talk about?" Jake tried.
"I'm more of the ranting type."
"I'm fine with that." Jake invited. "What do you want to rant about?"
"How about the Dragon Council?" Lin-Lin suggested, narrowing her eyes.
LINE BREAK
Running had done little good, for Socorro, Cleo and Kay had caught up with Haley, Sillian and Regan. Now, the battle was taking place in the street. Haley and Socorro were hovering in the air, Haley swooping down in order to avoid Socorro's fireball. Then, she flew back up and slammed into her eldest daughter before Socorro could blow out another fireball.
"Not bad for an old lady, huh Socorro?" Haley bragged as she held tight on her daughter, both of them flying through the air.
"Yeah, one who needs bodyguards to feel safe!" Socorro sneered before she head-butted her mother, making Haley grunt and making her let go, flying back as Socorro managed to stop herself from flying back.
Down in the streets, Sillian had sheathed his Urumi and was now fighting Cleo. Without his weapon, the two were throwing punches at one another; Sillian aimed one for Cleo's head, but Cleo managed to block it with her arm.
"I don't think so." Cleo said as she lowered her arm. She then succeeded in punching Sillian in the chest, but Sillian did nothing more than grunt and take a step back.
"You're going to have to do a lot better than that." Sillian said. In response, Cleo opened her mouth and blew out a fireball, which hit Sillian in the face, throwing him back and knocking him down.
Meanwhile, Regan was using her Katana against Kay. Regan swung it at her head, but Kay managed to duck and respond with a punch to Regan's belly. Regan grunted in response and stumbled back, but she did not fall and she did not drop her sword.
Opening her mouth, Kay blew out a fireball, which hit Regan in the chest, making her grunt and throwing her off of her feet. Grunting, Regan landed on her back, Kay starting to walk over to her.
LINE BREAK
Back at the restaurant, Jake III smiled as he listened to Lin-Lin rant. He was happy to have gotten her talking.
"Those dragons are such jerks." Lin-Lin ranted. "I did nothing wrong, and now I'm getting punished for doing nothing wrong. I have to serve these jerks and do everything that they tell me, and why? Because some little crap-head did something illegal. I threatened them, and now here I am. Talk about disproportionate retribution."
Lin-Lin then stopped to take a sip of her drink.
"Well, you do kind of have an abrasive attitude." Jake told her. "There are people who think that you are a big jerk. Like, Sillian." Now, Jake was going off, having no idea what he was saying until it was too late. "He wanted to know why you were such a jerk, so he, Regan and myself all used my grandmother's dream charm to go into your subconscious."
By this point, it was too late. He couldn't take it back. All Jake could do was gasp at his own foolishness.
Lin-Lin, herself, who had taken a sip of her drink, did a spit-take. Thankfully, she still had the glass to her lips, so her spit-up went back into the cup.
"What?" Lin-Lin asked dangerously as she lowered her glass back down onto the table. "What did you say you did?"
Jake III gulped before he confessed. "We...We went into your subconscious through your dream door."
Angrily, Lin-Lin rose from her chair, clutching her glass. "What did you see?" She demanded.
"I saw your family life." Jake III confessed. "You didn't have a good childhood. Your parents were awful to you."
"Yeah, no kidding!" Lin-Lin shouted before she splashed her drink into Jake's face. Then, Lin-Lin dropped the glass onto the table.
"Lin-Lin, I'm sorry."
"Not as sorry as you're gonna be!"
"No, listen to me, please." Jake III pleaded. "That's why you're so angry. You weren't loved enough as a child and a teenager, so now you're bitter and hateful."
"What are you, some kind of psychologist?"
"No, just someone who understands." Jake said. "It seemed like the only positive presence in your life was your cousin. But now, it looks like you have something nice going on with Regan, and...I don't know you very well, Lin-Lin, but I do know that I like you, and I'd like to get to know you more. I hope...I hope I can be someone who is a positive presence in your life."
Now, the look of anger was gone from Lin-Lin's face, and now, her eyes sparkled as tears started to form.
"No, Lin-Lin. Don't cry."
However, it was too late. With a choked sob, Lin-Lin looked down and grabbed her napkin. Then, she quickly walked around the table and got to Jake, who turned in his chair, allowing Lin-Lin to crouch down and start to wipe his face off.
"I'm sorry..." She told him as tears rolled down her cheeks. "...For drenching you with my soda. And I'm also sorry for hitting you when we first met."
"Don't be." Jake said with a small smile as Lin-Lin took her napkin away from his face, his face still slightly wet.
LINE BREAK
Back on the Island of Draco, Regan, in her human form, turned around the corner of the Main Hall after a meeting with the Council. After walking along the building for a few seconds, she stopped as she saw Lin-Lin, now wearing her Agent uniform again, turning around the corner on front of Regan, carrying the dress in a plastic bag.
"Hey." Regan said with a small smile on her face right before Lin-Lin reached her.
"Hey." Lin-Lin returned, sounding surprisingly cheerful.
"Hey now..." Regan's smile widened. "...Someone sounds happy. I take it the date went smoothly."
"At first it didn't." Lin-Lin explained. "But then it got better. Here's your dress back." She handed the bag out.
"Thanks." Regan said as she accepted it. "So, are you going to give me all of the juicy details?"
"I threw my drink into his face." Lin-Lin said.
"What? Why?"
"He told me that he took you and Sillian into my subconscious." Lin-Lin crossed her arms, although she didn't sound angry, to Regan's surprise. "You saw my childhood memories?"
"Yeah." Regan said sadly. "I'm sorry."
"It's over." Lin-Lin said. "I moved out the day I turned eighteen."
"So, the date got better." Regan changed the subject. "How did it get better? That sounds pretty rough."
"I'll talk it over with you over a walk." Lin-Lin said with a smile, and as the two walked away together, she added: "You know, it actually turns out that Jake isn't as much of a creep as I though."
LINE BREAK
Together, Rosie and her friends continued walking down the hall of the Huntslair. "I'm beginning to wonder if we're ever going to get out of here." Lucero muttered.
"We will." Noelia told her. "We'll find our way-"
"Look!" Patience suddenly pointed out what was right ahead of them, which was a staircase that led down and a staircase that led up.
"See?" Noelia smirked.
"Tell me, smart one..." Rosie turned her head to look at Noelia. "...Which one should we use? Down or up?"
"Well..." Noelia turned her head to the side. "...This probably means that we're on some random floor. We're not on the first. So, I think we should go down."
"Makes sense to me." Patience said before she bolted off. "Come on!"
Down the stairs she went, followed by Noelia, then Rosie, then Essence, and then finally Lucero. However, once they all reached the bottom of the stairs, they all stopped and gasped.
Instead of reaching the exit, they had just ended up in a small prison room. A yellow female dragon who had the cape and belt of a Dragon Council Agent stood against a wooden post, bound tightly to it from feet to shoulders with chains.
The dragon's ear twitched at the girls' gasps and slowly looked up. Rosie's eyes widened as she recognized the dragon. It couldn't be. This dragon was dead.
"Grandma Rose..."
BLACKOUT; END EPISODE
A/N: SURPRISE! Any of you not expect to see Rose again so soon based off my A/N at the end of Future Dragon? I didn't expect this then, either. I only made the decision to do this while writing Season One. Now, if you're confused about how Rose is alive, don't be. It'll all make sense in the next episode, which will be all about Rose. I hope you're excited to read it, because I'm excited to write it.
As for this episode, please review.