Complications 2.2B

Taylor Hebert

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a princess, like most little girls dream of.

Like most little girls and their princessy dreams, I wanted a palace, fancy dresses and jewelry. Shiny, shiny jewelry.

But more than all of that, I wanted a prince. In the inevitable instance that a dragon kidnapped me and tried to eat me or roast me alive and then eat me, as dragons are wont to do, my prince would be there to save me from the big bad dragon. He would have flowing blond hair, blue eyes, muscles and he would be charming, handsome and the perfect gentleman. The hero holding me in his arms was close...but not exactly what I had hoped for.

"Don't worry, bug lady. I got your back. Once I let go of my shield, you distract him with your bug buddies and I'll take him down! Superior Style!" The golden haired figure stood above me, a soft aura of yellow light surrounding him in this opaque golden shield that protected us from Lung's flames. I felt relief. So much relief that my knees gave out and the unfamiliar glowing hero had to hold me up.

I looked up at him. His hair was golden, yes, but it was covered in dust and partially frizzy and a bit burnt. His face was covered in soot and blood and so were his teeth. His costume was ripped open at the chest, where Lung had stabbed him but I couldn't see a wound, showing that he truly was muscled. I really didn't care. Lung was a monster, a literal dragon, and he had saved me...even though just a few minutes ago I had thought he was dead. He was amazing.

"Hey, lady. You alright? Oh no, please be alright. I can't really get you to a hospital right now. Please don't die on me," he rambled in a tone that sounded more like a worried kid than a professional hero. Where was the bravado that I saw against Lung? The charisma he had when he was joking around with the most dangerous villain in town like they were bodies? The contagious level of confidence he had as he traded blows with Lung? It had vanished. Something else caught my attention.

That voice was familiar. Really fucking familiar.

"Pleasedontdiepleasedontdiepleasedontdiepleasedontdiepleasedontdiepleasedontdiepleasedontdiepleasedontdie"

And really fucking annoying.

'What.'

That's Greg's voice. That's Greg's annoying little voice. Wait...'GREG'S A HERO?!'

I looked closer and noticed the same awkward nervous look on his face that he always seemed to have.

It was Greg.

Greg...Greg Veder. I don't get it. This makes absolutely no sense. Greg Veder is a lot of things. Greg Veder is a nerd. Greg Veder is annoying. Greg Vader has bad skin. Greg Veder rambles like an idiot even if you're doing your best to ignore him. Greg Veder stares at you when he thinks you're not looking. Greg Veder is this close from being a creepy stalker.
Greg Veder is a follower, unnecessary, a background character, a creep. Greg Veder is a wimp.

Except...he wasn't. At least, anymore.

Today, he had fought the biggest guy in school and knocked him out. He had used his powers, obviously. A normal person does not take that many hits from a guy like that and walk away without even a bruise. Sophia and Emma didn't even bother me after Greg left. Sophia had run off while Emma followed her, a weird look in her eye. Madison had stayed behind, shock etched on her face.

I had gone home, glad that the Bitch Trio forgot about me and Greg's fight still on my mind. I couldn't help but go over it in my head. 'How could Greg have powers?' I had eventually come to the conclusion that he had been so scared of the raging big guy, Malcolm, that he had gotten powers or something. It made as much sense as anything else I could come up with. If Greg had gotten powers earlier than today, I didn't see how someone with his personality could have kept it a secret for longer than a day or two. If I knew Greg, he would be shouting it from the rooftops.

But...if he had only had his powers for a few hours, where did he get this costume from? And how is he already fighting Lung?

"Hello...hello...say something, please."

Huh? He was still talking. Of course he was. This was Greg we were talking about.

I didn't need to hide my voice. With all the smoke in the air, my throat was so hoarse that it would make no sense to.

"What's your plan?", was all I said.

He smiled at me, a stupid goofy Greg-ish smile that I honestly didn't mind. It was nice. He was no prince but...he did save me from a dragon.

The confidence seemed to slide back onto his face and his smile became self-assured, almost arrogant. His eyes began to glow a bright gold and two glowing, golden...blades grew from the back of his hands.

Lung roared and circled us, his flames still crashing down on the shield above us.

" You distract him with your bugs and I stab him with these. The two of us, we're gonna slay a dragon."

What had happened to him? This confidence...this strength...this wasn't the Greg I knew. I could get used to this Greg.

I stood up straight and I looked at him.

"Okay. When do we start?"

Greg glanced up at the dome surrounding us.

"As soon as I take down this shield."

There was a few awkward moments of silence between us, interspersed with roars from Lung, of course.

"And...when are you doing that?"

The confidence dissapeared from Greg's face and that awkward look appeared again.

"I don't really...know...I didn't...really know I could even make...shields...so...heh" Greg said, smiling awkwardly.

My mind froze as I tried to wrap my head around this new development and I ended up realizing something. "So..if you didn't know that you could make shields, what were you trying to do when you grabbed me and shoved my head into your chest?"

Greg's face made odd movements and I realized that he was actually thinking about what he was going to say. 'First time for everything'

"I was trying to...protect you...using my body," he finally said.

" So you were going to protect me...from a giant blast of flame...using...your...body." Honestly, that was really nice...but extremely stupid. He doesn't even know me. I could be a villain. He did know me and he probably thought we were friends, for some reason. If it was anybody else, I'd call it sweet. I couldn't let him know that, though. "That's stupid."

He spluttered and his face reddened. "Well, I'd like to see how you could have survived if I hadn't showed up and made this!" He waved his hand at the dome and it flickered and dissapeared...while Lung was directly above us. Lung noticed this and pivoted his extremely long, snake-like dragon body in the air, opening his car-sized mouth wide.

I freaked out. "PUT IT UP! PUT IT UP! PUT IT BACK UP!"

"I'm trying!" Greg said, waving at the air furiously like a third-rate magician. "It's not working! IT'S NOT WORKING! Uhhhhhh...Jump on my back!"

"What?"

He looked at me with a manic expression. "Do you want to be Lung's dinner?! Jump in my arms and put your arms around my neck!"

I did so and Greg's arms locked around my legs and waist like a vise, definitely cutting off some of my circulation.

"Hey, that h-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

And then Greg jumped off a twenty story building.