Jake Long III (Season Three)
Chapter/Episode Fourteen: All Dragon's Dance Part 2
The next morning, at St. Melusine's, November had fallen asleep on her bed, lying on her stomach, as Rosie moaned while she tossed and turned on her bed. "No!" She cried out. "Why can't you...leave my mind?! Stop haunting me!"
FLASH
Slowly, Rose turned away from Creed to see that Mrs. Jennings was holding Rosie hostage, pinning Rosie's arms behind her back. "Strike him and I will kill this one." Mrs. Jennings warned.
"Don't!" Rose begged.
"Surrender." Mrs. Jennings said. "Surrender...or I will kill her."
"If..." Rose reached out, trying to reason with her granddaughter's captor. "...If...If I surrender, will you promise to let her go?"
"We've already been through this before, Agent." Mrs. Jennings rolled her eyes. "There is no way on this green Earth that I will let her go."
"Please!" Rose continued. "Please, I beg of you! She's my granddaughter! Please!" Slowly, Rose got down onto her knees. "She's my granddaughter. She can't hurt you."
"Yes, I can!" Rosie snapped, angrily defending herself.
"She hasn't even been born yet and I doubt I'll ever truly get to know her properly." Rose continued. "But I love her. Please, in twenty minutes, she'll be sent back to her rightful place in time. Please let her go back there with her life. You can do whatever you want with me. Just don't hurt her."
Mrs. Jennings' nostrils flared with anger. She had had enough of this. At this point, she just wanted her enemies put in their places and she wanted to find her son. "Fine!" She exclaimed. "If you come quietly and don't put up a fight, I will spare the life of your future granddaughter."
"And her friends." Rose quickly added.
Smoke came out of Mrs. Jennings' nostrils as she exhaled. "AND HER FRIENDS!" She bellowed in agreement. "JUST STOP YOUR PITIFUL PLEAS!"
Grinning, Creed got to his feet and walked over to Rose, forcing her to her feet and pinning her arms behind her back.
FLASH
Rose led Rosie, Noelia, Patience, Essence and Lucero all exited the lair, where they could all see the bodies of Schober, Zajicek, Oquendo and Czeberwinski. "Man..." Was all Noelia could say.
"Those poor dragons." Essence added.
"I know." Rose said sadly. Then, she took a step forward and turned around to face the girls. Once again, she forced a smile on her face. "At least we made it out. Those who have taken their lives either have already faced justice or soon will. And now...you all are safe to go back home. I...I'm sorry...that I brought you here."
"It's okay." Noelia said. "You needed help."
As Noelia said this, Rosie shook her head. "No." Rosie said, taking a step forward so that she was right in front of her grandmother. "I'm the one that's sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for?" Rose asked.
"I was so mean to you." Rosie said. "I thought you were a bad person. But after we were put in the dungeon together, I started to doubt that. Now, I see. You're not a bad person."
"Thank you." Rose said softly, smiling happily.
"Thank you." Rosie said. "Thank you for bringing us here."
The second after Rosie said this, the same red, electrical light that had pulled Rosie and her friends back in time appeared out of thin air, and once again, Rosie, Noelia, Patience, Essence and Lucero all started to glow red.
"Rosie!" Noelia said happily as she looked down at her glowing red body. "Rosie, we get to go home!"
However, when she heard a scream coming from Rose, Noelia's smile vanished and she looked up. She, Rosie, Essence, Lucero and Patience all watched with looks of horror on their faces as Rose fell back onto the ground.
"Grandma?" Rose asked worriedly, but before any of them could do anything, they all got sucked into the red electrical light once again, all of them screaming.
FLASH
Finally, Rosie awoke from her troubled slumber, sitting upright at a ninety degree angle. She was screaming.
BLACKOUT; PLAY THEME SONG
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Meanwhile, on the Island of Draco, Lin-Lin entered the cafeteria. As she walked by the tables, she had no idea that she was passing by the table that Haley, Regan and Sillian were sitting at. "Hey, Lin-Lin." Regan said with a smile on her face, making Lin-Lin stop in her tracks and slowly turn her head to the side. "Come sit with us." Regan offered.
Quickly deciding to take Regan's offer, Lin-Lin turned and walked over to the table, sitting down next to Haley. "So..." Regan continued. "...Have you asked Jake to the dance yet?"
"Have you asked that Andy douche?" Lin-Lin retorted.
"I asked you first."
"And I asked you second." Lin-Lin rolled her eyes. "Are you really going to try that on me?"
Sighing, Regan replied: "No, not yet. I've got a plan, though." She smiled again. "I'm going to do it after breakfast. You?"
"Not yet."
"When are you going to do it?"
"I don't know."
"So, Dragon Harris..." Sillian said, leaning forward. "...Are you going to the dance?"
"I don't know." Haley replied, sounding rather sad. "The whole going with someone is the problem I have. I don't have anyone to go with." She then smiled. "If only my husband was still around."
"I understand." Sillian replied softly before he smiled.
"What?" Haley asked as Lin-Lin got up from the table.
"Where are you going?" Regan asked.
"I'll go ask Jake to the freaking dance!" Lin-Lin said as she turned and hurried off.
"Eh, maybe I should go and ask Andy to the dance..." Regan said as she turned her head to the side to look at Sillian, whose smile slowly faded. "...Is it okay if I go for a few minutes. I'll be back soon."
"Be my guest." Sillian held up his hands.
Smiling, Regan turned her head back to normal and put her hands on the surface of the table, getting up from the table and leaving, leaving Sillian alone with Haley.
"Why were you smiling?" Haley asked.
"Oh, um..." Sillian replied, putting his hands down on the table. "...Well, I...I was just thinking, um...if you'd like, I could...I could accompany you to the dance." He smiled again. "I mean, it is my job to protect you. So...it'd only make sense, right?"
Not being able to help herself, Haley smiled. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"So, what do you think?"
"Okay." Haley told him. "Sure. Who knows? I might have a nice time."
LINE BREAK
Back at St. Melusine's, Rosie was sitting up in her bed. She had bags under her eyes and she had red lines in her eyes. She looked exhausted, like she could collapse at any second. Sitting on the side of her own bed, as she poured more of Geri's anti-depressants into her clawed hand, November could only watch with a sad look on her face.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door to the room, startling November and making her drop the bottle of pills onto the floor where most of the pills spilled out onto the floor. "Who's there?" November asked as she turned her head to the side, staring at the door.
"It's me." Came the sound of Amity's voice. "Blossom and Enfys are with me."
"What are you doing here?"
"Mrs. Weaver came in our class for the second day in a row and told us that Rosie was sick." Amity answered. "We just want to come in and wish her well. Can we come in?"
"Yeah, I think the door is open." November said as she turned her head back to normal.
The door to the room opened and Amity walked into the room, followed by Enfys and Blossom. All three of them stopped at the foot of Rosie's bed, staring at the exhausted girl. "Dang." Enfys said. "Poor thing. She looks really bad."
"No wonder she didn't come to class." Blossom agreed.
"I'm not sick." Rosie croaked out.
"You're not?" Blossom asked.
"No." Rosie replied. "I know I look awful, but I'm not sick. I'm just tired. I can't sleep."
"Insomnia?" Enfys asked.
"No." Rosie weakly shook her head. "Nightmares. About my grandmother. She won't stay out of them. The last one I had just this morning was the worst one yet. We were actually getting along and I respected her. I understood her."
"That's a bad thing?" November asked.
"It is when your grandmother was an evil slayer." Rosie growled, narrowing her eyes. "She served the Huntsclan before it was destroyed, and look what she passed on to me." She finished as she held up her hand with her birthmark on it so November could see.
"I don't know what to say, Rosie." Amity said sadly.
"I don't think there is anything to say." Rosie dropped her hand back onto the bed. "I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever be able to sleep again."
LINE BREAK
Back on the Island of Draco, Jake III stood beside the dragon-formed Gussie. Both of them had their arms up as the dragon-formed McClellan stood behind them, shackling their wrists together with a pair of shackles. Jake had a blindfold tied over his eyes while Gussie was smiling.
"Okay." McClellan said as he dropped their hands, walking around them and stopping right in front of them. "Jake, I know you've done a trust exercise with Gussie before, but this is a new exercise. Jake, you've been captured by the enemy. Gussie is your rescuer. Your blindfold symbolizes how you are blind in a situation where Gussie is more aware than you, and your bonds symbolize the absolute trust you must put in Gussie to get you to safety. All you can do is trust her, whether she leads you to safety or leads you astray."
"As long as she doesn't walk me off the edge of the Island, I don't care where she leads me." Jake replied.
McClellan smiled at the remark. "Put trust in her and find out." He said. "Now, let's be-"
"Lloyd!" Came the sound of his wife's voice, and a few seconds later, Lucile stopped right behind Jake and her daughter.
"Hey, Mom!" Gussie smiled as she turned her head to the side.
"Doing a trust exercise?" Lucile asked.
"Yep." Gussie replied as she turned her head back to normal so that she was looking at her father. "We're about to start."
"What are you doing?" McClellan asked.
"I'm having Dikeledi take a break." Lucile replied. "We're having lunch and I'm giving her some time to go and ask out the boy she selected."
"She hasn't done that yet?" McClellan asked.
"Neither have I." Gussie replied.
Lucile smiled. "Exactly." She said. "That's why I was wondering if it'd be okay if Gussie and Jake had lunch with us."
"Right now?"
"Of course."
McClellan groaned. "But I just set this exercise up."
LINE BREAK
A short while later, Jake and Gussie, now in her human form, were seated on the grass with Lucile, her husband, Dikeledi, Rodney and Sadie. "So..." Jake said as he held an apple in his hand. "...Apparently, what's going on is that the girls are asking the guys to this dance that's tonight?"
"Pretty much." Sadie said.
"Did you ask your guy?" Jake asked.
"Yes, and he said yes." Sadie smiled. "I think I'll have a good night tonight. What about you, Gussie?"
"I haven't asked yet." Gussie replied as she picked up a handful of french-fries. "I'll do it after lunch. You been asked yet, Rodney?" She smirked.
"No." Rodney replied, sounding rather bitter about that fact.
"Well..." Jake said before he took a bite out of his apple, starting to talk with his mouth full. "...I haven't either. I'm sure it'll all be fine."
"Yeah, unless one of the girls decided not to go to the dance." Rodney said. "And said girl leaving made it so that I don't have a date."
"Don't sell yourself short, Rodney." Sadie said as she put a hand on Rodney's shoulder. "I'm sure some girl will ask. Just give it some time."
Gussie quickly picked up the remainder of her hotdog and popped it into her mouth, quickly chewing it to pieces and swallowing it. Then, she smiled. "I think I'll go find and ask out my date." She said. "Dikeledi, we can do it together. You want to come with?"
"I'm still eating." Dikeledi replied.
"Alright." Gussie said. "Do you mind if I go?" She asked her parents, who both smiled.
"Now's the time, Gussie." Lucile said.
"I'll be back in time for us to actually do the trust exercise." Gussie quickly promised as she got to her feet.
"Take your time." McClellan assured her.
Now on her feet, Gussie turned and started to walk away. However, after only three steps, Gussie stopped in her tracks when she saw a white dragon with silver glitter on her neck and forehead, as well as on three different places on her tail. The dragon had long red hair that was in a pony-tail and had an Ear Dagger attached to her belt. She appeared to be about seventeen years old. She was staring at Gussie and the rest of her family/friends.
"I'm not interrupting anything important, am I/" The new arrival asked.
"Oh." Lucile and her husband both smiled upon hearing the new arrival speak. "Good afternoon, Junie. Of course you're not interrupting anything. Gussie was just leaving to ask her date to the dance."
"Good for her." The new arrival, Junie, smiled shyly as Gussie walked by her.
"Have you done the same?" Sadie asked with a smile.
"Actually, I was just going to do that now." Junie replied.
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Quickly, both Rodney and Jake III got to their feet, and in Jake's case, turned around. "Oh..." Junie smiled. "...I guess you two are anxious."
"You could say that." Jake replied as Rodney walked up to his side. "Who did you pick?"
Junie smiled. "I'm here to ask Rodney McClellan to the dance."
While a look of disappointment spread over Jake's face, Rodney's face lit up. "That's me!" He said.
"Really, I couldn't tell." Junie continued to smile before she walked over to him. "So, what do you say? Will you go to the dance with me? I'm sorry I don't have something more special planned out, but...but I just don't."
"I'd love to." Rodney told her, still smiling.
"That's great!" The others heard Junie said, both Lucile and her husband smiling proudly. "I'll see you tonight! I hope we have a great time!"
"Where should we meet?" Rodney asked.
"Um, here." Junie shrugged. "I guess."
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, inside the Main Hall, Holly, Dingane, Asil, Yara and Agata were all sitting at the large table, blowing up balloons. There were already dozens of blown up balloons on the floor, but there were still a good 100 balloons left on the table that still needed to be blown up.
As she finished up filling a balloon half-way up, Holly took her lips off and started to pant, trying to catch her breath, causing Dingane to turn his head to the side to look at her as he tied up his blown up balloon. "Are you okay, Councilor Jennings?" He asked.
As soon as she had finished catching her breath, Holly smiled and nodded once. "I'm fine." She said. "I just got tired from all the blowing."
"Maybe you should take a break." Dingane suggested, letting his balloon roll off the table and onto the floor. "Why don't you let me take it?" He offered, shifting in his seat and holding his hands out to take Holly's balloon.
Her smile widening, Holly allowed him to take it. "Thank you, Councilor Dingane." She said.
"Don't mention it." Dingane said right before he turned back in his chair and started to finish what Holly started.
Now with some time to relax, Holly sighed as she sat back in her chair, just as Stennis and Carmela, both in their human forms stepped into the building. Seeing them, Councilor Yara stopped blowing up her balloon. "Councilor Jennings, it looks like you have company."
Sitting forward in her chair, Holly watched as Carmela and Stennis stopped right in front of the dozens of balloons on the floor. "Do you really need this many balloons?" Stennis asked as he and his sister looked up at Holly.
"All I can say is 'sure, why not?'." Holly told him before she smiled. "So, I take it you're here to tell me something important. Are you going to come to the dance?"
"Well..." Stennis started, but Holly cut her off.
"It'll be fun." Holly said. "There will be dancing and food and music. The four of us can spend the night together as a family."
"Actually, Aunt Holly..." Stennis forced his hands into his pockets. "...We came here to tell you that we're not coming to the dance."
"Huh?" Holly's smile faded.
"Mom doesn't want to go." Carmela said. "She doesn't feel up to it."
"Oh." Holly sounded disappointed. "Well..." She tried to convince her niece and nephew to come anyway. "...That doesn't mean you can't come to the dance."
"Actually, we're going to stay with Mom and keep her company." Stennis said.
"Oh." Holly sounded disappointed again. "Are...Are you sure that you can't come for just a few minutes?"
"We doubt it." Stennis replied. "Sorry, Aunt Holly."
Even though she was disappointed, Holly still forced herself to smile. "Hey." She told them. "Don't apologize. You don't need to apologize to me. You don't have to come to the dance if you don't want to. I can't force you and your mother to come. Yes, I'm disappointed, but I'll get over it. I'm just happy that the three of you are here on the island."
Stennis smiled. "Glad you understand, Aunt Holly."
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Reacting in the exact opposite way of her brother, Carmela found herself needing to ask this.
"Actually, no." Holly told her in a forced, pathetic-sounding voice. "I'll never forget this. When I'm on my death bed, the last thing to ever cross my mind will be: why didn't Storm, Carmela and Stennis come to the dance that I put so much hard work into? Why did they break my old, fragile heart?"
"You are the most melodramatic dragon I have ever met." Stennis told her.
"Really?" Holly smiled. "Well, I try."
"No, but really." Stennis promised. "We'll do something together. We'll make up for not coming to the dance."
"On one condition." Holly made him promise.
"And what would that be?" Carmela asked.
"We only do it when your mother feels like it." Holly made them promise.
"Of course." Stennis said.
"So, what's this dance for?" Carmela asked, changing the subject. "You said that everyone would learn more at the dance, but we're not going. Do you mind telling us now?"
Holly smiled. "Do you think your curiosity is enough to get you to come to the dance?" She was only kidding, but the response from her nephew and the response from her niece were the same: a glare.
"Okay, okay." Holly gave in. "The dance is in honor of the new South African Dragon. We found one. She's young and she's still going through training, but that's okay. With her master's guidance, she will learn quickly and become a great dragon."
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, McClellan, back in his dragon form, stood behind Jake III and the dragon-formed Gussie, shackling their hands together. "I'm glad he agreed to go to the dance with you, Gussie." McClellan told his daughter.
"It's going to be great!" Gussie grinned while her father walked around her. "He's really cute!"
"Okay, well right now I'd appreciate it if you'd wait until tonight to focus on the dance." McClellan said as he faced his daughter and pupil. "Jake, blindfold."
Sighing, Jake III used his free hand to reach into his pocket and pull out the blindfold. "Gussie, I'm going to need you to not move your hand, okay?"
"Got it." Gussie replied as Jake used both his free hand and his cuffed hand and started to tie the blindfold over his eyes. However, he suddenly stopped when he heard the sound of Lin-Lin's voice from behind him:
"Jake, there you are!"
Gasping, Jake III dropped the blindfold and quickly spun around, taking Gussie with her (Gussie exclaiming "Whoooaaa!" in response). Together, they could see Lin-Lin walking up to them and stopping a few inches in front of them. Sighing, Lin-Lin put her hands on her hips.
"What's up, Lin-Lin?" Jake asked.
"I, um-" Lin-Lin started, but her eyes quickly fell upon the shackles that locked Gussie and Jake together. "Um, what's with the chains?"
"Trust exercise." Gussie smiled. "I'm going to lead him around and he has to trust me."
"Yeah, we did one of those together." Lin-Lin acknowledged as she crossed her arms.
"So, what do you want?" Jake asked.
"Look, I..." Lin-Lin started, but as she stared at Jake III and Gussie, she froze. To her shock, she couldn't come out and say it. She thought it would be easy, but now she realized just how hard it was. It was as if a cat had gotten her tongue.
"Yeah?" Jake asked.
"I picked your name." A voice in Lin-Lin's head said. "Go to this stupid dance with me!" However, it just didn't come out. "I...I..." Was what really came out of Lin-Lin's mouth.
"Agent Clark, I don't want to be rude..." McClellan said politely. "...But this exercise has already been disrupted once before. You're holding my pupil up."
"I...I..." Lin-Lin tried, but it still just wouldn't come out. An angry look on her face, she growled as she spun around and stormed away. "Oh, forget it!"
"She's so angry." Gussie could only say as she watched Lin-Lin storm away. Jake III, on the other hand, had a look of disappointment on his face as he watched her leave.
LINE BREAK
Lin-Lin gritted her teeth in her anger as she stormed away. Passing by the Main Hall, Lin-Lin turned her head to the side to see Asil, Dingane, Agata and Yara, all in their dragon forms, hovering in the air and attaching some of the balloons to the outside of the Main Hall.
"Stupid dance." Lin-Lin grumbled, turning her head back to normal while continuing to storm away. As she seethed, Lin-Lin had no idea that Regan was creeping up behind her, catching up and walking alongside her.
"Hey." She said, making Lin-Lin gasp and turn her head to the side.
"Oh, it's you." Lin-Lin grumbled as she turned her head back to normal.
"Did you expect it to be somebody else?" Regan asked with a smile. "So, did you find Jake yet?"
"Yes." Lin-Lin grumbled as she looked down at the ground, watching as her feet allowed her to travel around the island.
"And did you ask him to the dance?"
"Hey, here's an idea!" Lin-Lin blurted out as she lifted her head up and turned it to the side, staring at Regan with a look of anger in her eyes. "Why don't you stop asking me questions?"
"You didn't ask him, did you?" Regan asked.
"No, I didn't." Lin-Lin said bitterly as she turned her head back to normal.
"What, did you choke?"
"What do you think?"
"Aw, come on." Regan said. "It couldn't have been that hard! You've been on a date with him before!"
"Oh, well aren't you so high and mighty!" Lin-Lin retorted, turning her head to the side so she was looking at Regan again. "Let me guess: you found that Andy douche and you asked him to the dance and he said yes."
"Actually, I haven't found him yet." Regan smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, that's convenient." Lin-Lin said as both she and Regan turned their heads back to normal.
"That's what happens when we all stay on one gigantic island." Regan said. "It's hard to find people you don't know very well."
"You know this guy?"
"No, not really." Regan said. "I know who he is, and I have seen him around, but we've never really m-hey, there he is!" She stopped and exclaimed when she saw a young Agent with fairly long black hair and a Pugio dagger attached to his belt turn around the corner of a nearby building. "I'm going to go ask him now!" Regan declared before she hurried off, leaving Lin-Lin alone.
Lin-Lin just smirked. "Let's see how well she does." She muttered, her dragon ears appearing with a flash of light.
"Hey, Andy." Regan said as she reached the Agent, making him stop in his tracks.
"Um, hi..." The Agent said uneasily. "...Do...Do I know you?"
"We don't really know each other." Regan smiled. "I have seen you around from time to time, though. My name's Regan Wido."
"Well, hi, Regan." Andy said. "It's a pleasure to meet you." However, just after he said this, Andy smirked. "Wait." He said. "This is about tonight's dance, isn't it? You're trying to ask me to the dance, aren't you?"
"How'd you guess?" Regan said.
"I was wondering when some hot girl would ask me out." Andy continued to smile as he put his hands on his hips. "I guess my waiting paid off."
"You...You...You think I'm hot?" At the prospect of being called "hot", Regan's cheeks reddened. "So, does that mean you'll go to the dance with me?"
"You've got yourself a date." Lin-Lin could hear Andy say. Shocked at how easy it had been for Regan to ask her dare out, Lin-Lin's jaw dropped.
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, Kefilwe, in her human form, stared at the piece of paper she had pulled out of the hat the night before. Lowering it, she stared at the closed door she was standing out. Taking a step forward, she lifted her hand up and knocked three times against the door. Then, she took a few steps back.
About five seconds later, the door to the room opened and Agent Dönges stepped out, pulling a cigarette out of his mouth. Seeing him, Kefilwe smiled warmly.
Dönges put his cigarette back into the pack. "I never thought I'd see you again. Fancy that...I'm proven wrong..."
"I didn't think that I'd see you again, either." Kefilwe replied. "Yet here we are."
"Is there a reason why you're here?"
Instead of answering his question verbally, Kefilwe held out the piece of paper with his name on it. Dönges looked down at it quickly before he looked back up at her. "Is this about that dance?" He asked. "Is that what happened? They asked you to pull a name out of something and the person with the name you pulled becomes your date?"
"That's...my understanding..."
"And you pulled my name?" With a smirk, Dönges crossed his arms. "What are the odds? Must have been destiny."
Kefilwe opened her mouth to say something else, but then she closed it before saying something entirely different. "Can I have another cigarette?"
"Sure." Dönges smirked before he held out his pack.
"Thank you." Kefilwe said softly before she put her hand into the case, pulling out a cigarette. "I...I..." Kefilwe stalled as she put the cigarette into her mouth. "...I don't really know where to go from here."
"Why don't you tell me your name?" Dönges smiled. "You never did tell me your name."
"Oh." Kefilwe smiled. "My name is Kefilwe. I'm Kefilwe Okafor."
Hearing this, Dönges' smile vanished and his eyes widened slightly. "Is...Is that so?" He asked.
Kefilwe raised an eyebrow as she took the cigarette out of her mouth. "What's wrong?" She asked. "Your reaction to my name was strange. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No." Dönges told her with a smile. "That's a beautiful name. I love it."
BLACKOUT; END EPISODE
A/N: Please review.