"What in the world were you thinking, Leon?! Fighting Tria when she's as tired as she is! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?! You weren't hoping you'd win more easily with her exhausted and starved, were you?!"
Leon glared at Penny, taking her over-protective lecture head-on. The Asian Wardens were standing in front of the mechanical dinosaur in the middle of the Fossil Square, Penny with her hands on her hips and Nate and Roland standing at her shoulders, ready to restrain her if necessary. Leon stood in front of Penny, his arms crossed and his posture annoyed. Lucky stood off to the side, wincing at the tongue-lashing his idol was receiving. I sat on the ground, leaning against the wall of the Fossil Shop while stroking a clawed hand over Nibbles' head. I sighed tiredly, earning me a sympathetic glance from Nibbles and a concerned one from Roland.
"I already told you, Penny." Leon growled at the girl in front of him, "Tria insisted we spar now. I'd offered to wait until she had rested. I'd've preferred to face her at full power, though this makes it even clearer that I have more training to do. Also, she hadn't told me she hadn't eaten in a day, so how was I supposed to know that?"
"It doesn't matter!" Penny barked back, "If you knew she was tired, you shouldn't have fought her! You know she has no common sense when it comes to her health! She'll keep going 'til she drops if we let her!"
"Sometimes I wonder if you know I can hear you." I mumbled. I must have spoken loudly enough to be heard, because she then turned on me.
"You need to hear what I say!" she snapped, glaring at me now, "You left before I could talk to you about your reckless training with Mei Lian, skipped dinner, then got up early and fought Leon, despite knowing you were weak!"
"I don't know how you had enough energy to fight in the first place…" Roland muttered, shuddering at the memory of what the calorie-burning engine had done to him.
"I know my limits, Penny." I replied, my voice calm and confident, "I've been known to push them, but I won't push them far enough to endanger myself. That is what I've been trained to do, after all."
"You push your limits when you have to!" Penny retorted, facing me directly now, "You push your limits when you have no choice! Putting yourself at risk for no reason is stupid, and it always ends with you like this!"
"Who said I didn't have a reason?" I mumbled, but I was spoken over.
"Lay off, Penny." Leon told the Asian Warden, "Tria can take care of herself. She did live before meeting us, ya know?"
"With Elric to keep her from hurting herself." Penny responded, turning on the taller male again, "You know Tria as well as we do, Leon. She doesn't hold back, and she has a clear disregard for her own safety. That's why we have to look out for her!"
"But we can't keep treating her like she's fragile!" Leon argued, "Tria's strong. We all know firsthand just how strong she is." He cringed despite himself, all of them still sensitive to their battle with the dark energy when it controlled my body. "We all take care of her, and we always will, but we can't baby her! It's insulting, and it won't help any of us get stronger!"
Penny looked about to argue further, but a chilling chuckle sounded from behind Leon, the lone wolf tensing at the voice that followed.
"You haven't changed a bit, Leon." the voice said condescendingly, "You always were blind to everything around you. How someone like you got into the Wardens, I'll never know."
Leon turned around slowly, his teeth clenched, to face the blond boy from the bus. The boy's smirk was still in place, and his two friends were standing on either side of him, looking too much like bodyguards. The rest of the tour group stood by the Fossil Stadium, oblivious. The Wardens faced the trio.
"Oh, hello." Penny greeted pleasantly.
"You're from the tour, right?" Roland asked somewhat-rhetorically.
"You know Leon?" Nate asked innocently.
"Oh, we know him." the blond chuckled, looking up at Leon smugly, "Probably more than any of you do."
"Mikasi Acerbi." Leon snarled, his voice vicious, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm on a tour, Leon." Mikasi replied easily, "Surely you know they give tours here." He looked around, as if admiring the scenery, "This is a lovely Park. Do you work here?"
"I'm an American Warden." Leon replied, trembling with the effort of maintaining his composure.
"Hm, interesting." Mikasi just about purred, "Maybe you can give us a tour sometime."
"Sorry, Mikasi. I'm very busy. I don't have time for tours." Leon replied with remarkable control.
"Yet you have time to challenge the world's savior, huh? Heh heh." Mikasi chuckled again, "You never did have your priorities in order." He smirked at the Warden as his companions laughed. "Maybe I should join the Wardens. I'd make a better one than you."
Leon snarled, now visibly quaking with the restraint needed to keep himself from knocking the other male's lights out. With my lack of energy, I did not have that level of control.
"Now hold on! Mikasi, was it?" Penny snapped at the boy, standing beside Leon, "We are always happy to have more Warden recruits, but we won't accept anyone who is so disrespectful to our comrades. Leon is a very accomplished Warden, and while he has his flaws, we wouldn't be where we are now without him, and we won't have you insulting him like this! If you really want to join the Wardens, you'd better take care of that attitude, first!"
"Penny…" Leon muttered, slightly shocked that the girl who'd just been scolding him for being irresponsible was now defending him.
"Yeah!" Nate added his voice, must to everyone's surprise, "Leon's one of the best Wardens from our class! He's right up there with Tria!"
"I'm not that good." Leon protested, glancing at me with a slight blush at the praise. His gaze then returned to me when I didn't respond, noticing that Nibbles was no longer at my side.
"The Wardens support each other." Roland finished for his friends, stepping up to stand with them as they faced Mikasi and his companions, "We won't take anyone who intentionally hurts his fellow Wardens. You have to rely on them! One your friends!"
"On my friends?" Mikasi responded, his cockiness unfazed by the Asian Wardens' words. He glanced at the two boys at his side. "I can beat that. I already have a team prepared. Our teamwork is top-notch. In fact…" He looked at all of the Wardens challengingly. "I'll bet I could beat any of you in battle, us versus any team of your choosing!"
The Asian Wardens growled, getting ready to accept Mikasi's challenge, but then Penny noticed something press against her legs.
"What's wrong, Nibbles?" she asked, kneeling down next to the quaking vivosaur, "I thought you were looking after Tria?"
Nibbles didn't seem to hear the girl, his green eyes locked on me, wide and fearful. Leon was also looking at me, his face unusually pale.
"Tria?" he asked hesitantly, "Are you all right? Talk to us."
I just sat there, processing all that'd been said since Mikasi showed up. The rest of the tour group had gathered behind the blond male, watching the scene with interest, though the teachers looked ready to drag their student away from the Wardens if necessary. I wasn't about to let that happen.
"Heh heh heh heh heh." I chuckled, dark and sadistic, startling everyone in the Fossil Square. I looked up, facing the challenger confidently. "You think you could make it with the Wardens, eh? Think you'd do well here? Is that right?"
Mikasi, not seeming to care about the change in my tone, answered easily, "Of course. I can work in a team, unlike the 'lone wolf' here." He gestured to the American Warden. "And unlike these three." He gestured to the Asian team. "I can fight with and without my vivosaurs. I'd be a better Warden than any of these people. I could even be named Captain someday! You ought to be begging me to join you!"
"Is that so?" I asked rhetorically, rising from my spot against the wall. My hair created a veil over my eyes as I glared at the creature that dared to challenge me. "I'll be the judge of that. All four of the Wardens you just insulted have overcome a great challenge in their careers. I'll give you a taste of that trial. If you can pass this test, I'll make you a full-fledged Warden, no further test required. Deal?"
The Wardens gasped, protesting the offer I'd just make, but Mikasi laughed and spoke over them, "All right, Commander of the Vivosaurs, you have a deal! If these losers made it though, it'll be no problem for me!"
"What are you doing, Tria?!" Leon exclaimed, starting to approach me.
"You can't do that, Tria!" Roland yelled.
"Can she?" Nate asked.
"That's not the point!" Penny barked at the male Warden before addressing me, "Haven't you heard what Mikasi has been saying?! Do you really want him in the Wardens?!"
I laughed again, quickly becoming hysterical as I lifted my head to the sky. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw more of the Park's residents gathering to observe this spectacle, and at this point, I couldn't be bothered to give a damn. If they got in my way, that was their problem.
"Oh yeah, one more thing, little human." I purred, calming down just as spontaneously before grinning, my eyes glowing in the shadow of my hair. I looked at the group of mammals gathered before me, the bloody red that bathed them only heightening my rage. "If you fail this test…" I focused my glowing white iris on the blond that had challenged me, gaining immense pleasure from his quaking in the face of my far superior power. "You die."
With that statement, I lunged forward, extending my wings and baring my claws. I saw three Dino Gears get thrown into the air, glowing with the release of the vivosaurs within, but I didn't register what the vivosaurs themselves were, for they retreated back the moment my claws made contact with them. My wing-claws then shot out, grabbing the two humans standing at the blond's side by the throat and holding them in the air, while I caught the challenger itself with my hand claws. I chuckled at the rodent's desperate gasping, baring my razor-sharp teeth at the squirming creature as my claws tightened. It seemed to be trying to say something, tears streaming down its face, but I couldn't care less what it was. I opened my jaws, preparing the flames that would end its miserable existence.
Suddenly, I heard more screaming, this time coming from the mammals behind me. I then registered the sound of their foot-coverings hitting the ground as they rushed toward me.
"Foolish creatures." I snarled, extending my wings to their full span with the other two struggling rodents still flailing in my claws. Without even turning around, I swept the massive limbs backward, the membranes catching the wind and throwing the light-weight creatures back. I started chuckling again when I heard other voices rising from the gathered crowd. The cacophony hurt me ears, and I dropped the thrashing rodents to jump onto the roof of the shelter covering the wheeled contraptions to escape the noise. I then looked around, attempting to assess the situation.
The tiny mammals were now scattering, their panicked screeches equally pleasing and painful. But those voices were shooting off in random directions. The voices that got to me were the ones clearly being thrown at me. There was the group that I had thrown backward, which had gotten back up and was now calling to me. They all seemed to be saying the same thing, but I couldn't derive any meaning from it. There was a little mammal hiding close to the weird mechanical dinosaur in the center of the area, also screaming the same thing. Two other creatures had appeared, one with its hair tied up and one that was much older than it looked. The younger one started screaming the same thing as the group, while the other one seemed to be addressing the rest of the crowd. Looking toward the large building behind the place the little one was hiding, three more mammals were rushing toward me; a tiny one, a large one, and one with long hair. They were screaming that same word. What did it mean? I roared at them, warning them not to interfere, but they disregarded my words. I snorted and shook my head. If they really wanted to die alongside this foolish challenger, I would grant them their wish. The challenger came first, though, and I turned my attention back to it.
I snarled again, watching the creature try to scramble back to its group, its so-called packmates having already abandoned it for the safety of the larger group. I opened my jaws again, readying the flames that would seal the creature's fate. As I released them, the screams increasing in volume as I did so, two bright flashes entered my peripheral vision.
The howling winds swirled around the area, catching my flames and diverting them. Growling, I focused my gaze on the two large silhouettes standing on either side of the smaller silhouette standing in front of my prey. A member of the group that'd tried to stop me at the start of the battle, the one with a single spike on its head, stood between me and my prey, the two pterosaurs allied with it facing me as well, their wings extended. I looked between them, my gaze lingering on the smaller one as my hatred increased. How dare that wretched creature show itself to me again?! I shrieked, enraged, and leapt into the air, diving toward the intruders with claws gleaming.
The two pterosaurs flapped their wings, summoning the winds that had stopped my flames, but I would not be so easily deterred. My wings sliced through the fierce gale with ease, only increasing the speed of my dive. Through the bustling winds, I caught the scent of three more newcomers, two of whom shared a scent not dissimilar from mine. I darted upward, out of the galestorm, to get a better look.
One mammal was sitting on the roof I had just vacated, its dark eyes locked on me with a look of fear, though its nose and mouth were covered. It did not have the scent that resembled mine. That was coming from the other two that were rushing out from underneath the shelter, their gazes holding dreadful recognition as they looked up at me. The taller one with the long hair trembled and reached for a Dino Gear, moving closer to its companion as it did so. Its companion was intriguing, familiar in scent but not in sight, and I glided down to examine further. It looked like a mammal and partially smelled like one, but its scent also held significant similarities to a vivosaur, and its eye held the same predatory gleam that mine did. My confusion deepened and became wary when the strange creature unsheathed its hidden claws and took a battle stance against me. I narrowed my eyes at it, but I had no interest in fighting the creature that was so much like me, yet was not me. My first priority was my escaping prey and the intruder that dared intercept my attack.
Climbing back into the air, I returned my focus to the two pterosaurs and the mammals they guarded. No, there was only one rodent left, my prey having fled while I was distracted by the newcomers. I screamed my rage to the sky, my eyes scanning the bloodied ground for any sign of where the group may have escaped to. That's when I noticed that many of the rodents that had been calling out to me were now standing in front of the other building, the small vivosaur standing with them, as if guarding it. I narrowed my eyes and dove, screeching my rage to them as they continued to defy me.
As I neared, the larger pterosaur lunged at me, as if attempting to skewer me with its beak, but I evaded easily. I was then caught by the familiar scent of rotting flesh and turned on the large carnivore charging toward me, baring its silver teeth. I snorted at the pitiful attempt to grab me and unleashed my mist, bringing it down. I then caught a glint of metal out of the corner of my eye and blocked the oncoming attack from the strange rodent-not-rodent. It was glaring at me, but there was hesitation in its movements, and I took advantage, striking it down with my own claws. I heard another rodent call out, which meant nothing to me at first, but then the strange rodent looked up at the source and seemed to respond, making me curious. I didn't have time to investigate, though, as my current opponent charged at me again. I sighed in annoyance as we continued to clash, its hesitation rendering it unable to land a blow as I continued dealing damage. I soon became frustrated; it was like it wasn't even trying! It was just dodging my blows and half-heartedly retaliating. My eyes then widened as I heard a shriek from above me. It was only then that I realized the smaller pterosaur had disappeared, along with the long-haired rodent that had come out of the center building. I looked up to see the pterosaur hovering over me, the rodent on its back. It screeched at me, taunting me as it had before. I screamed back at it, climbing to meet it. It wasn't until I got too close that I noticed the light glowing in the mammal's clenched fist. And by then, it was too late.
The human launched himself off the pterosaur's back, slamming the light-filled device against my forehead. I cried out in pain as the light pierced my senses, overcoming the cold burning of my hatred and washing away the bloody glow that covered everything. I closed my eyes as I fell, barely registering my tail knocking something away from me. I did, however, register the voice calling out to me, the meaning in that one word the humans had been screaming finally returning to me.
"Tria!" Elric's voice reached my ears, the panic in it now obvious, "Tria! Wake up! We're gonna crash! You have to fly!"
I shook my head, the light from the sun blinding me, but a slight shift in the direction I was looking showed that I was approaching the ground at a terrifying rate. My eyes widened in shock, as did my wings on reflex, and I twisted around to grab my childhood friend as I sped toward the ground at a slant. I knew I couldn't land gently; I hadn't the strength. So, as I sped toward the ground, I tilted my wings upward, catching as much of the wind as I could and slowing my speed as the ground closed in. Then, once I got close, I turned my back to the earth below and enclosed Elric in my wings, shielding him from the impact as I'd had to do so frequently when we were younger, just learning how to fly together. I felt the crash, felt myself slide across the ground as our momentum was lost to the earth, but I felt no pain. I simply sighed as I slid to a stop and calmly observed my surroundings with what little energy I had left.
Elric was leaning over me, the worry and guilt in his eyes making them shine. I could also see the rest of the Asian Wardens, along with the two American visitors, rushing toward us. I must've made a lot of noise to have gotten Mei Lian out of bed and summoned Liu Ren, Hanzo, Stryker, and Little. I still don't know how Olga and Kowloon had known to be here, but I looked back toward the Garage to see Kowloon limping back to Olga's Rock Crusher, Olga herself helping support him. I must remember to apologize to him later. I also noticed Leon's Ptera and Coatlus were missing and concluded that I had hit Ptera with my tail and he in turn had crashed into his Fire-type brother, which would explain why neither of them could've caught us when we were falling. I also saw some of the tour group starting to peak out of the windows of the Fossil Stadium, although Mikasi and his friends were nowhere in sight. That was all I could gather before I lost consciousness, soothed by the voices of my friends, the stroking of someone's fingers through my hair, and the nuzzling of a small reptilian muzzle against my cheek, the whimpers being emitted from it sympathetic and apologetic in equal measures.
Yet, even behind my closed eyes, I couldn't escape the sight of the jet-black flames still burning in several places, cold and without light as fire never should be.