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Chapter 10: Skin Deep

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Five Years Ago…

Night was swallowing Manhattan, and Jake Long was going insane.

"It's not real."

Bedsheets clung by his sweat as he shifted again. He'd already ripped off his clothes, but still his head burned. He kicked off the covers and clung to his last sheet - no difference. He flipped over his pillow and rolled to the other half of the bed. The ceiling fan rattled and shook overhead. A half-chilled ice pack poked at the exposed skin of his back. It didn't matter. Heat streaked over his skin, unrelenting. All that was left was the last thin sheet. Maybe, if he took that off too…

No. Then he might see it, if it was still there. But it wasn't…it couldn't be…

"It's not real." Jake's voice, barely a whisper, trembled. "It's not real."

He turned again, the sheets twisting around him. His illness was the problem, it was all the fever's fault. Three days ago he'd barely noticed the warmth on his forehead. Two days ago it bloomed in earnest, enough for his mom to keep him home. Jake had welcomed the blessing at first. Who wouldn't be stoked to trade a few days off school for a little flu?

Reality struck yesterday. All the cough medicine and bitter teas in the world only made the burning torture worse. Lao Shi seemed unconcerned - nothing fazed his grandfather in the slightest. The profuse sweating, lack of sleep, insatiable thirst, none of it earned more than an annoyed wave of the old man's hand. It was probably why the family had dumped Jake on him for the day. Better to make the stern grandparent deal with their dramatic teenager.

And that's all it was, drama. Jake had the flu. Give it time and it goes away, everything goes away.

Why wouldn't it just go away?

Absently, Jake reached to scratch his right arm and froze. He felt it. Instead of skin, his fingers brushed over hard, smooth plates.

Hallucinating. Jake was hallucinating, he knew. An hour ago, when he'd heard Lao Shi leave and thirst had driven him to find another glass of water, he'd seen it in the fading light of dusk. His arm was deformed. Red, bulging, gnarled, like something from a nightmare. In a flash he was beneath the covers again, trying with all his might to either fall asleep or wake up from this twisted dream. He couldn't forget it, though. Try as he might, he couldn't get the image out of his burning head. It projected on the back of his clenched eyelids, and just now he…he'd…

He'd felt it. His brain was boiling and his eyes were playing tricks, fine. But why could he feel it?

"It's not real." But he could feel it! "It's not…"

Slowly, terrified, Jake relaxed one eye. Further, further, until it was just barely-

Light. Jake could see.

Shock snapped his eyes open. The shades were drawn, the sun had set, and every light was off. Yet his grandpa's spare bedroom flared with red-tinged light. Every crack in the wallpaper, every stain in the ceiling, every drifting mote of dust was visible in impossible detail. Jake gaped at the sight, scanning the room until he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a standing mirror. Here too every detail was impeccable - the sweat-matted hair, pale complexion, clammy skin, and his eyes…

Jake reached to his face. "Aw man."

Gold had replaced his dark irises, shining with a faint yellow glow. It was…entrancing. Jake slid out of the bed and stood in front of the mirror, turning his head about. The reflection copied him, eyes locked with his own. He reached out to touch the strange figure and met its dusty surface with his monstrous paw.

Reflexively, Jake pulled away. One of the black claws on his hand gouged the surface, leaving a long scratch in the mirror. Jake looked from the mirror to his hand and back. If it could do that, if it could touch, break, feel, then…then…

"It's not real." He clenched the clawed fist and pushed at the leathery skin with his other hand. "It's not real," he insisted, gripping and twisting at his forearm. It was like wearing a glove, he was sure. Beneath the scales, somewhere deep down, was his normal hand. If he could just tear off this…thing, he'd be fine. He was fine! But the scales wouldn't budge. They persisted, glued seamlessly to his skin and impossible to move. Not only wouldn't they come off…had they always gone past his elbow?

Creak. A bell tinkled.

Jake froze. Footsteps echoed from below, followed by the bang of the front door. Lao Shi had returned.

His grandpa was going to see him like this, mutated, like a freak.

Jake spun back to the disheveled room, searching for something, anything. The sheets were still scattered about - he could hide under them again. But his eyes, how could he hide those? And the room, God, why was it so hot? He had to hide somehow, but where? How? The sweltering heat made it impossible to focus. If he could just cool off for one second-

The window.

Jake rushed to the shades and threw them aside. Light flared from outside and blinded him, forcing him to cover his eyes with the deformed arm. Working the latch was difficult while squinting, but with enough fumbling he managed to release the lock and slide open the pane of glass.

Fresh air drifted in and Jake drank it in. But the breeze wasn't enough. The fire raged on, his scalp burning and pouring sweat like he faced the Sun itself. It reached into his chest, searing his throat and crushing his lungs.

Beyond the bedroom, aged wooden stairs creaked with more footsteps.

Jake gasped for air. Dizzy and fogged as he was, there was only one escape. He reached to the floor, grabbed the shorts he'd torn off hours ago, and hurtled through the open window. Bare feet met the cold steel of the fire escape outside, and it felt so good that Jake couldn't help pausing to enjoy it. Yet it only lasted seconds. Looking down, he saw wisps of steam trailing from between his toes.

Knocking came from the bedroom door. Lao Shi's voice called, "Grandson?"

Panicked, Jake stepped one leg through his shorts and bounced as he tried to fit the other. His heel caught on fabric and suddenly the back of his legs met the railing. For a moment he flailed, helpless, and then fell backwards into the red night.

Jake tumbled silently, shocked and breathless. All sense of direction was lost. He could do nothing. It was quite surprising, then, when he didn't smack into pavement below. Instead he alighted with a steady, clumsy, descent. His feet met gravel, and he spent precious seconds debating if this really wasn't some lucid fever dream. The seconds after that were used wondering why he suddenly felt like he was struggling to carry a fifty-pound backpack.

A glance behind answered that - two great, leathery wings had sprouted from his shoulders.

"Grandson?" Lao Shi repeated, now more distant. "Are you well? Grandpa has fresh tea."

Jake finished pulling on his shorts and ran.

His chest was a furnace, every rattling breath drawing out more searing pain. Running was taxing with the weight on his back, but he pressed on. Time passed strangely as he moved from alley to alley. Direction quickly lost importance, as did his goal, whatever it was. All he knew for sure was that he had to keep moving and to avoid the main streets - the lights still stung his eyes, and he couldn't risk someone seeing him like this.

So, Jake stuck to the shadows, his body slowly betraying him. Reaching up to climb a fence, he found his other arm had changed as well. He tried slipping into a subway tunnel, only to cower away when the roar of the trains erupted his now pointed ears. For a while he drifted through dark, destitute neighborhoods, dragging a weighty tail behind him through mud and filth. That was about when he tripped and fell, unable to balance on the warped shapes his legs had taken.

And that was it. Jake was broken. It was all he could do to shamble into a quiet side street, find a sizable dumpster, and curl up in its cold shade, lost but alone.

"It's not real."

"It's not real."

"It's not…"

"…not…"

"…"

Something pressed on his hand - small, cold, wet. It slid to his arm. Then it moved to his shoulder, his face, his leg, huffing little breaths as it went.

A different feeling cradled his face next, something calloused but warm.

"Young one!"

Jake's eyes drifted open. They slid upward, finding a familiar face. "Gramps?"

His grandfather watched with a critical gaze, his pet Shar Pei panting patiently beside him. The man ran his hand over Jake's cheek and behind his head, examining him closely. "Are you alright, Jake? Are you injured?"

"Injured?" He reflected. Actually, he felt pretty good - the fever, at least, had receded. And this drowsy feeling - had he fallen asleep? Or was he waking up? "No, I…no…"

Jake scrambled away from his grandfather. It was a pathetic attempt with his feet scrabbling aimlessly over gravel. He'd glanced at his body and saw it just as he remembered - misshapen and horrendous. The nightmare refused to end.

"Get away!" he barked. "Don't look at me! It's…I'm…!"

"Like me."

He calmed. The last thing Jake expected was for Lao Shi to smile as he did. As if he was…proud.

Then he did something Jake really didn't expect - spontaneously erupt in a cloud of blue smoke. In his place appeared a blue, serpentine creature, straight out of one of his grandfather's storybooks. It dominated the side street and peered at him with wizened eyes. Eyes that Jake, somehow, knew.

"You will be fine, grandson," it spoke before vanishing in another puff of smoke. Lao Shi returned in all his stature and ignored Jake's rude gaping. "All is as it should be, but I must apologize. Grandpa should have been there when you transformed, not shopping for herbal tea." He turned to the Shar Pei with a wilting glare. "Perhaps if someone had listened and watched you instead of the television-"

Fu Dog glared back. "Hey, I keep my yapper shut for thirteen years and this is the thanks I get? Do you know how hard that was?!" The Shar Pei huffed, stood on his hind legs, and walked over to Jake. He rubbed his front paws together with his jowls pulled back in a sagging smile. "Oh man, have I been lookin' forward to this! How's it goin' kid? The name's Fu Dog, but you already knew that."

Jake stared at the animal. "The dog is talking." He turned to his grandfather. "You're a giant snake."

"I will answer all of your questions, but first we must leave." Lao Shi walked closer and grabbed Jake by one of his warped hands. "Dawn is approaching. Let us go home and rest."

It took several wobbling attempts for Jake to stand. When his legs finally stopped quivering, he looked at the sky above their street and indeed found warmer shades of blue bleeding into the horizon. The light wasn't so bad now.

"Gramps," sighed Jake. "What's happening to me? What the heck is this?"

"Listen closely, young one. This," he stood on his toes and poked a finger at Jake's scaled chest, "is who you are."


Present…

Waves of brilliant blue fire fanned out in a circle. The light raced outward to lick and nip at the rectangular wall's edges. It was like lying at the base of a waterfall and watching the water rushing to crash over you, only to hit a pane of glass and dance away at the last moment. In a way it was almost beautiful. Almost.

The flaming torrent died, and in the darkness that remained shone two savage eyes.

"This isn't him, Jake."

"Give it up, G. You're not gonna convince me that isn't Nerk in there."

"Grandpa cannot convince you of what you already know."

"Keep sayin' it all you want. I'm not leaving."

Jake met the creature's stare. Its gaze was fearsome, beckoning. It dared him to cross the bars of its cell and the barrier they created. It wanted the challenge. But most of all, it raged. Parks were ashes and streets in shams by the time dragons from the Order had managed to subdue it. And still, after hours of wild destruction, it was unsatisfied. Rage was all Jake could find in those eyes, no matter how long he searched. Nothing of his friend remained.

He felt his grandfather's hand on his arm. "Come, young one. There is nothing to be done here. Other matters demand our attention."

"Then go."

"Not without you."

"But without Nerk? All of a sudden he doesn't matter, 'cause you and everyone else are cool with just locking him up down here and forgetting about him?"

"This is the safest option for everyone. You saw what happened, young dragon. The destruction-"

Jake jerked his arm away. "Nerk wouldn't ditch me if it was me in there. No way. I'm gonna get him outta there. There's gotta be a way."

Lao Shi's next reassurance was interrupted by an approaching pink glow. Faint as it was, the color brought vibrance to the dreary cavern's walls. Its floating source appeared around the corner - a messenger fairy. The palm-sized creature flitted over to Lao Shi and handed him a small roll of paper.

"My thanks," he bowed.

The fairy waved cheerily. Then it turned to the cell in front of them. Two eyes gleamed hungrily inside, and the fairy shot away like a glowing bullet.

Lao Shi unrolled and skimmed the message. "Counsellor Andam asks for our presence. It seems the Council has finished collecting evidence from the scene. Hopefully there will be answers to this mystery. But…take your time," he said, tone softer. "Grandpa will wait for you outside. Hope is not lost, but there is much to be done if we are to save Fred."

He turned and left the torchlit cavern. His crunching footsteps echoed between the rough walls, gradually fading into the distance. Now, only the faint rumble of burning torches kept Jake company in the miserable place. It was thankfully rare that the Dragon Order had to cage magical creatures in this dungeon. Yet intentional or not, it also made imprisonment here a cold, solitary ordeal.

"Fred?"

The creature held its lethal stare. Sandy scales, orange stripes, branched horns, slender maw - there was no question it was Nerk's dragon form. And yet it wasn't. Where was the proud, chest-out posture? This thing was hunched and predatory. All four paws on the ground, it waited with its flank against the far wall, ready to strike. And where was the sleek form that sliced through the sky like an arrow? It was lumbering and, quite plainly, bigger. The dimensions and ratios were roughly the same, but Jake dared to guess his rival had grown twice in size. Even with the barrier between them, some deep instinct urged him not to take his eyes off the beast.

Jake stepped closer. "Nerk?" he called again. "You in there?"

Steaming wisps drifted from its nostrils. Nerk, the dragon, whatever it was, gave no sign of having understood him.

"C'mon, man." Another step and Jake was at the bars. "Quit playin'. If this is a joke, it ain't funny. No…I bet you're just too chicken to say something. That's it, right?"

It slid a huge paw forward, then the other. The creature inched closer out of the shadows. Wavering yellow light from the torches outside flashed over its scales and shimmered in its large, orb-like eyes. Then its jaw cracked open. It stuttered, opening and closing in tiny movements, almost like it was trying to…

"Yes." Jake looked from its mouth back to its eyes, gaping. "YES! That's it, you can do it! C'mon! Call me a wuss! Tell me how short I am! Say I'm-"

An ear-splitting roar shook the cavern. Dust shook from the ceiling and pebbles rattled on the stone floor. Jake stumbled back and smacked his hands over his ears, cringing at the sound. The creature soon shouted its lungs out, only to then charge forward and slam its mighty head against the bars. The same magical barrier from before appeared, flickering as it repelled the brute's aggression. But it retaliated, again and again. Head, tail, flank, shoulders, it bludgeoned the barrier with every inch of its body. And when it grew tired of ramming the prison, it found its breath again and doused the cell in writhing blue flames.

It wasn't right. Nothing about this was right. Jake backed away and left the way they'd come, chased all the way by the roars of a monster.

He found Lao Shi at the base of a long stone staircase. Without comment his dragon master fell in step beside him, and the two began the long climb back to the surface. Thunderous echoes hounded their ascent. They dragged Jake's feet on the worn stone steps, reminding him of what they'd abandoned below.

"You really think we can fix him?" he asked.

Lao Shi hummed, "It may be possible. But remember, Jake, that creature is not the same Australian Dragon you knew."

"How? What else could he - it - be?"

"A shadow." They reached a short, level hallway with light ahead. Lao Shi led the way and stepped ahead of Jake through a high arched doorway. "A demon unmasked."

Jake followed his grandfather through the dungeon's entrance. An overcast sky and chilling air greeted them, the Isle of Draco cast in an unusual gloom. They stood outside beside a shear wall at the base of the volcano. The earth here was cracked and bounded by smoldering crags. No temples or architecture livened this barren valley.

Once they'd cleared the verge, two massive doors groaned and creaked closed behind them. A heavy wooden bar slid into place across them both, and a metal gate slammed down after that. Unseen gears and locks rattled for a moment until all fell quiet in the harsh valley. The prison had sealed itself tight. It was telling that each of the contraptions was exposed and easily accessible from the outside. Invaders were of no concern. Anyone foolish enough to seek those within would only make that mistake once.

Blue smoke enveloped Lao Shi and he emerged in his dragon form. "Come."

"But I don't - ugh." Jake transformed in a blaze of fire and followed him into the sky, heading in the direction of the island's greener hills.

"The council will be expecting us soon." His grandfather's snake-like body undulated through the air, his white main and whiskers trailing in the wind. "Magical creatures will be scared, and humans will feel betrayed. This is the first great loss in the magical community…and I fear it may not be the last. Times are dire indeed."

"Not if we can get Nerk back to normal," Jake called over the wind. "Rescue the Australian Dragon, do some press conference to calm everyone down, and we're good! Things can go back to normal."

"Temper your hopes, young one. The path forward will not be so easy."

Jake swept forward and flew beside Lao Shi. "How can you know?" he asked, recognizing a feeling he'd come to dread. Something in his grandfather's tone hinted at a deeper knowledge. "You know something, don't you? Something about what's going on?"

Lao Shi neither confirmed nor denied. Together they banked around the volcano, the grand temples carved into its sides appearing before them. "I have a suspicion," he finally answered. "A dark and disturbing one. But it would be wise to confirm with the Council before spreading rumors."

From there they flew in silence. Jake contemplated his grandfather's words, fighting the sick feeling brewing in his insides. Even by Lao Shi's standards, this behavior was deeply ominous. The unnerving quiet of the island around them didn't help either. Even when there were no major events or celebrations one could expect a decent number of dragons to be present for training, administrative business, sometimes relaxation. Yet they passed few others in their flight, an eerie lifelessness encompassing the grounds.

The main training hall proved to be an exception. When they landed, Jake and Lao Shi found several dragons hurrying about writing on scrolls, trading letters with messenger fairies, and hotly debating with one another. Above them all loomed the statues of their enemies, their ever-threatening visages standing vigil. Jake looked between the sculptures and wondered which if any were to blame for his friend's demise.

"Councilor Andam."

The Ethiopian Dragon, standing tall in his usual flowing robes, turned from the group of fairies hovering before him. Seeing them, his expression grew darker. "Dragon Long, American Dragon," he nodded. "I presume the Australian Dragon is-?"

"Unchanged," said Lao Shi. "Have we learned anything new from the Council's investigation? Is it…as we feared?"

"There is still much to be done," intoned the counselor. "Unfortunately the kidnappers, whoever they are, left little behind in their departure. Their masks make identifying them from video footage difficult, and there was a conspicuous lack of any hair or fingerprints in the park. Most of the equipment vanished along with the kidnappers, and what remained belongs to a local theater group that was robbed just yesterday. Their members are being questioned by police, but for the moment it seems unlikely that they had any connection."

"So, we've got nothing?" asked Jake. "Who they are, why they attacked Nerk, none of it? How are we going to fix him if we don't even know what they did?"

"If their message is to be believed, these villains are radicals. It stands to reason, then, that they targeted Dragon Nerk because he was the first dragon to reveal himself. Exposing him would guarantee publicity. As for what they did…" Councilor Andam closed his eyes and sighed slowly. Then he turned to Lao Shi, his calm demeanor cracked by a grimace and a clenched jaw. "The Council agrees with you Dragon Long. How they accomplished it is truly baffling but reviewing the footage…there can be no mistake."

"No mistake of what?" Jake looked from one's forlorn face to the other's. "Anyone gonna fill me in? What'd they do to Nerk?"

"Put simply," said Andam, "they stole his soul."

The sounds of conversations around them clouded the air. They were a whirl of instructions, questions, fears, much like those now jostling in Jake's head. "They did what now?"

Andam, about to speak, was interrupted by Lao Shi. "Counselor, allow me to explain. No doubt there is great demand for your attention at the moment."

The Ethiopian Dragon nodded. "Indeed there is. The Council will let all the Order know when we learn more. For the time being, it is best for us all to maintain a low profile. Especially the two of you," he whispered urgently. "It goes without saying, but if these people are in fact targeting those of us with the most notoriety-"

"They'll come for us next," said Jake, understanding dawning. "We went live right after Nerk!"

Lao Shi nodded. "Haley and Gregory must be warned as well. Any one of us may be their next victim. We must all be prepared."

Jake smacked his fist into his hand and cracked his knuckles. "I dare them to try and mess with me. Those goons won't know what hit 'em."

Andam's hand weighed heavy on Jake's shoulder. "I'm sure Fred would have said the same. Caution first, American Dragon. Losing more of our number won't bring him back."

Sliding his hands into the folds of his robes, Andam bowed once more and left. Lao Shi guided Jake toward the far end of the hall where there were fewer wayward ears. Jake followed absently, his eyes on the councilor's retreating form. His words had left a distracting anger in Jake. The wisdom was true, but caution wouldn't bring their enemies to justice. Caution wouldn't fix what they'd done to Nerk. And irrational as it was, the promise of them trying to do the same to Jake wasn't worrying - it was tantalizing.

"What's Andam talking about?" huffed Jake, trying to collect himself. "Taking Nerk's soul? Tell me he's joking? The guy's so straight faced, I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or metaphorical."

"This time, he means as he says." They stopped beneath the statues. Lao Shi's whiskers still drooped with his dark grimace. "Our dragon chi," he hummed, adopting the sagely tone that defined his many lectures. "It is the source of our power, yes? Where does it come from?"

Jake shrugged. "We're born with it, right? Everyone in the family inherits it - except for moms, for some reason. She never got her dragon powers."

"Correct, for the most part. From the moment we are born, we each have this core of magic within us. Your mother, however, also has this same core. Next question." His grandfather held up a single claw. "Why is it that our powers take so long to present themselves? For you at age thirteen, for Haley at eight, and not at all in your mother's case?"

Jake's maw opened, paused, and closed again. Huh. It wasn't something he'd considered before, at least in that way of thinking. "Moms always said Haley got her powers earlier because she was a girl, and girls mature faster or something. But if we're being real right now, I always thought that was a load of-"

"Do not disrespect your mother's words!" snapped Lao Shi. He coughed quietly and continued, "Though yes, that explanation lacks some nuance. The truth is, we are but one physical body inhabited by two competing hearts. Our human half," he raised one paw, "and our dragon half," he raised the other and intertwined his claws. "Both are always in conflict, fighting for dominance over the domain they are forced to share. Two eggs hatched in the same nest; two seeds sown in the same soil.

"Fortunately for us all, the human half is far stronger. And so we are born and raised as humans. With time, however, our dragon chi grows stronger and stronger, until the day comes when it can finally overcome the humanity suppressing it and force itself to the surface. Often this occurs while our bodies are weakened or fatigued-"

"Like when I was sick, right before I transformed for the first time!" Jake shrunk at Lao Shi's stare. "Right, interrupting, my bad."

"There is a caveat to this," his grandfather resumed. "Our chi never truly dominates, even when we take our dragon forms. Our minds, our instincts, even our physical forms in part are still human. As with much of life, there exists a balance. Though," Lao Shi glanced to the side and scratched his chin, "grandpa thinks of it more like marriage - two sides compromising, which is to say one usually gets its way."

Jake looked at his paws, watching the movement of his scales and the pulling of the tendons beneath as he opened and closed them. "Nerk…he can't talk, he doesn't recognize us, he even looks different…"

"Because it is no longer Nerk," frowned Lao Shi. "As I said before, young one, that creature is not your friend. It is a dragon in its purest form. An animal unchained and without restraint. The real Fred Nerk was captured by that device."

"But how could they even do that? Like, literally, how? I've never seen that kind of power before, and how in the heck did a bunch of random humans figure it out?"

"All important questions. And I fear," said Lao Shi, stepping closer to Jake, "that I may know some of the answers."

He reached out and placed his paw over Jake's chest, palm resting over the place where his new heartscale had finished growing in. The scale itself was readily identifiable from the others around it, sporting a slightly darker shade of yellow, but it was just nice to not have a soft, fleshy chink in his armor. It was here, however, that Jake now felt a tingling sensation. It pulled like a line of string tied around the ball of chi within his chest, tugging the warmth towards his grandfather's claws on the surface.

Slowly, Lao Shi lifted away his paw. It trailed a shining wire of blue light, like a fishing line tethered directly to Jake's heartscale. Jake stared at the line wide-eyed. A feeling of great loss rumbled in his subconscious, as if a dear friend were about to say goodbye.

"My chi," he whispered.

His grandfather nodded. "Where our human halves are firm and stubborn, our dragon chi is flexible, a winding river bending to the canyon's walls." With a wiggle of his claws the thread detached. It slipped back beneath Jake's scales, vanishing along with the awful sensation. "Though it takes the combined focus of several dragons, this chi and all its powers can be removed entirely and with relative ease - as I'm sure you recall."

Jake groaned, "Don't even start, gramps. It was one exploding cake, okay? And I get where you're going with this, but since when can you do the same thing to a human soul?"

Lao Shi looked above and off to the side. "Since him."

Jake followed his gaze and realized for the first time the statue in whose shadow they stood. It was the largest and most imposing of all thirteen. "The Dark Dragon?"

"Indeed. It is impossible to harvest souls from normal humans, but for a creature with two souls in a single body…" The blue dragon grew solemn. Then he growled and spat something in Mandarin at the statue. It sounded particularly vulgar to Jake's naive ears. "By sacrificing nearly his entire human half, the Dark Dragon was able to amplify his dragon powers. But it wasn't enough. Like a lion offered scraps, his hunger only grew. So, he captured his opposers and in exchange for their life force was given untold strength. Several members of the Order fell to his lust for power. The magics necessary for the ritual are dark and forbidden. Only the most deranged would stoop so low."

"But G, this is awesome!"

Lao Shi whipped back to Jake. "Awesome? AWESOME? Were you not listening to grandpa?! This is an omen of pure evil, of-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, dark magic and all that," said Jake, waving off the notion like a pesky fly. "But it's like you said - the same thing happened to me, twice, and I turned out fine. Sure, it wasn't the human half of me that got sucked up but it's the same point. If we can track these peeps down and get Nerk's human half back," Jake raised his arms with wings outstretched, "then we can shove it back in his body and bam - normal Nerk again!"

His grandfather closed his eyes in thought, a claw combing through his whiskers. "We don't know that for sure - none of the Dark Dragon's victims ever survived for us to try before. Your logic, however, seems sound. There is but one problem. To find Nerk's soul, we must first find his captors and we have no leads."

It was hard for Jake not to deflate. Encouraging though these realizations were, realistically they were still right where they started. "So we don't have their faces," he acknowledged, "or their names, or any evidence. What do we have?"

Jake turned away from the gargantuan stone dragon and looked back to the crowd scattered around the hall. His mind was split in two - one half glanced about, idly observing as dragons conversed, messenger fairies fluttered about, and birds hopped between the rafters high above. The other half was in the past, trying to remember every word and detail of the broadcast that had started all of this. "The one leading them had a speech prepared. I didn't hear some of it, but it sounded like they were mostly just bashing on magical creatures. And…I didn't hear it at first, but I think they were calling themselves 'The People'? What's up with that?"

He heard Lao Shi grunt behind him, "Grandpa cannot say."

"At the start, it sounded familiar…like, really familiar. Almost like they were reciting…" Jake paused and turned back to his grandfather. "What accent did he have? The guy with the mic?"

Lao Shi cocked his head. "I would have to watch it again to be certain…but none that I can recall."

"Definitely not Australian, right?" urged Jake. "They sounded like us! Between that and their plagiarized speech-"

"You think they're Americans?"

"Exactly!" Jake ran his claws over his head and paced in front of his grandfather, his eyes squeezed shut. "It's just a hunch - but it makes sense, right? On second thought, maybe it doesn't. That tech they had - that vacuum-thing that sucked up Nerk's soul, and whatever they did to zap themselves out of there. It didn't all just come out of nowhere, so where did they get it? Who has access to that kind of equipment, and why would they…?"

Jake paused mid-stride, eyes widening and staring in the distance. He'd been thinking of the attackers' escape, of the energy that had appeared and swirled around their group. It looked like a ball of lightning, brimming with a neon green light.

"What is it, Jake?" called Lao Shi. "Have you thought of something?"

Like waking from a daydream, Jake shook his head and found his grandfather. "Maybe," he breathed, his heart racing in his chest. "I need to go talk with some people. You head back to Chicago and spread the word to the others - we're gonna treat this like an EXCON 4, prepare for discovery. If they were able to figure out Nerk's human identity, who knows who else they already know about?"

He was bent and about to leap into the air when he felt his grandfather's hand. "Caution first," reiterated Lao Shi. "Promise me you will not do anything reckless? At least, not without letting us know first?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, G," said Jake, eyes forward. "I'll let y'all know if anything comes up."

Again he made to take off, and again Lao Shi's claws held firm. "And another thing…"

"Seriously gramps, you don't have to worry about-"

"I am sorry, Jake. Truly and deeply."

Jake allowed the grip to pull him back. "Say what now?"

"It is not only my duty to protect you, but also to trust and support you," said Lao Shi. "When I gave you the tracking charm, and when I replaced your scale with my own, I failed in that duty. There is no excuse. You are the American Dragon, my dragon student, and my grandson - and in each role you have earned and deserve my respect." Lao Shi bowed his craning head until his whiskers trailed along the stone floors. "I will not fail you again."

It was a difficult and clumsy thing to do, but Jake managed to maneuver himself beneath his grandfather's winding neck and embrace him. There wasn't much of the slender blue dragon to embrace per se, but he managed. "That wasn't easy for you, was it?"

Lao Shi returned the gesture. "Grandpa is out of practice - the price of rarely being wrong."

"Thanks, G."

They parted and Lao Shi nodded to Jake, his scaly mouth pulled back in a grin.

Wings carried Jake into the air at last. He aimed for the sky beyond the hall and the pavilion housing the magical elevators beyond that. There was no time to waste. Every second spent was another free for their enemies to escape, and halfway around the world a certain wizard was about to have an unexpected guest.


"Yes, yes, American Dragon. Mr. Pandarus has been expecting you."

"Oh…really?"

"He has an appointment scheduled with you this afternoon," droned the stiff secretary, fingers flying over her keyboard. She had yet to look away from the computer, and she didn't seem keen on doing so any time soon. "I'll let him know that you've arrived early."

"This afternoon?!" he gagged. "No way I'm sitting around this place all day!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but Mr. Pandarus is a very busy man. It's possible that something might open up sooner than that, but-"

"Not good enough." Jake reached into the inner pocket of his vest and pulled out a square of leather. He flipped the badge open and reached over the desk, dangling the golden shield in front of the woman's preoccupied eyes. "This ain't some brunch date. I'm here on official DMC business, ya heard?"

Her fingers paused over the keys. Disdainful eyes drifted from the badge to his sour grimace. "I hear you," she droned, reaching for the phone beside her. "Let me make a couple calls and see what I can do. In the meantime, feel free to relax. We have complimentary refreshments next to the sitting area."

They stared for a moment, Jake hovering and her pouting. It was an impasse of stubbornness - until Jake's stomach rumbled audibly. "Fine," he growled, snatching the badge back and stuffing it into his vest. "But you let him know that it's been a long night and I ain't exactly feeling patient right now."

With that Jake stalked away, eager to leave the woman behind. Charisma and charm were traits he normally prided himself on. Perhaps the exhaustion was getting to him - or, if Margaret was any indication, maybe he just had that effect on secretaries.

"Refreshments," he grumbled, spotting two decorated tables across the lobby. The first floor of Pandarus's headquarters was a bright, cavernous reception area. Windowed walls provided ample natural light, the ceilings stretched at least two or three stories above, plush couches and chairs were clustered throughout the room, and covering it all was that stereotypical smell of business - like a laundromat next door was reaching peak business hours.

Jake waded through the chairs and couches in the direction of the tables. It was here he realized human bodies weren't the only ones he had to avoid. Goblins were by far the most numerous of the non-humans, but a few leprechauns meandered about as well. Several dryads lounged by the far wall, men who must have been some kind of wizard or sorcerer laughed raucously on a couch with some regular humans, and a pair of particularly pasty pygmies were taking their turn at harassing another secretary. Many of these turned and watched Jake skirt around the room. Most of the humans had that look of intrigued curiosity he'd come to expect, yet some seemed more…suspicious, following him with narrowed eyes and hushed whispers.

Hunger kept Jake from interpreting those glances. Instead he focused on the tables he'd finally reached. Napkin unfolded in his paw, he went down the line and plucked morsel after morsel. Blueberry muffin, strawberries, pineapple, grapes, skip the bagel, half a banana…on second thought, that bagel didn't look half bad.

"Ah, Mr. American Dragon?"

Jake groaned, a ripe berry half-way to his maw. "Want a pic?" he guessed to the voice behind him. "Listen, normally I'm down with that kinda stuff but I'm really beat right now."

"I was told you had an urgent matter with Mr. Pandarus?"

"Oh!" Jake whipped around, half of his bagel launching from the napkin and toppling to the ground. "Yeah, it's urgent, an urgent butt kicking-" The site of his greeter deflated what little energy Jake had been able to summon. He groaned again, much more loudly and dramatically than before. "Nigel? What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? Delegating, of course." The young sorcerer spared a moment to brush off his sleeves and adjust the cuffs. His tutelage, apparently, was going well. "Had your fill I hope?" he added with a glance at Jake's cradled treats.

Jake answered by popping the muffin in his mouth and devouring it in a single bite. "Not even close," he muttered between chews. "Where's your boss? The Am-Drag's got a bone to pick with him."

"Currently indisposed, I'm afraid." Thrall stepped up to the buffet, grabbed a cup, and held it beneath the spout of a large metal urn. Finger on the spigot, steaming black liquid poured into the cup as he continued, "Ever since going public, Sorcery Services has seen quite the spike in business. Why, new offers and projects come in faster than we can expand. It's quite the marvel really." He held the cup out for Jake. "Care for caffeine?"

Jake took it, but he wasn't happy about it. "So how do I make him un-disposed? I don't have a lot of time, Thrall. Every second counts."

Nigel held his hands out apologetically. "I do apologize, but he's in a very important meeting at the moment. Perhaps once he is finished in an hour. Or, since you're in a hurry, maybe I can be of some-"

"You're telling me you can't just teleport us up to his meeting room?" Jake hummed a laugh into his cup as he sipped the awful drink. Yup, still terrible. "And here I thought you actually had some skills."

"If you'll recall, I transported you and your friends across the country without breaking a sweat."

"Yeah, with your fancy wizard string. Guess you can't even go up a couple stories without your training wheels, am I right?"

"I'll have you know that task was exceptionally difficult even with the amplifying thread!" the red head countered, knuckles on his hips and cheeks aglow. "Going thirty floors straight up is a breeze by comparison. The real issue is - uh, no, no thank you. I'm not hungry."

The sorcerer fumbled the napkin of food Jake dumped in one of his arms, the cup reluctantly taken by the other. "Mmm, don't care," said Jake, popping the banana into his open maw and tossing him the peel as well. "You might wanna let blondie know his fancy meeting's about to be crashed."

"What are you - oh no, wait, no no no-"

Jake strode away from Nigel. More heads turned at his passing, the apprentice sorcerer floundering after him no doubt adding to the attraction.

"Just hold on a moment! We can talk about this!"

Automated glass doors slid open for Jake. "What was that?" he called over his shoulder. "Can't hear you all the way out here, gonna have to speak up."

"If you would just listen for a second-"

"I think you're cutting out." Jake stopped beside the building and craned his neck skyward. "Hang on, maybe if I get some altitude I'll hear you better!"

"Please don't-"

Three stories in a single beat of his wings - not bad, Jake thought. He kept on flapping, climbing into the sky with invigorating speed. The polished finish of the glass exterior reflected his ascent, his copy soaring upward in front of him. In the moments it took to reach the top, Jake appraised the image, adjusted his jacket, and checked his toothy smile for any leftovers.

"Twenty-eight…" Another windowpane came and went. "Twenty-nine…and, bingo. Thirtieth floor, penthouse and dirtbag conference rooms." Jake pressed his face against the glass and cupped his hands around both eyes, peering inside. A large office was inside, but its inhabitant was a rather elderly woman that stared at Jake with an expression suggesting she was currently occluding all her coronaries simultaneously.

Jake winked at her and sped off along the side of the building. The floors were large, but he was fast. If Nigel's directions were to be believed, it shouldn't take too much searching for him to find-

"There!"

The wavy hair stood out like a mustard stain, even through the mirrored glass. Pandarus's back was turned to the window as he faced a captive table, pointing and gesticulating to a floating presentation board. He spoke with animated movements, straight back and raised chin emanating superiority. A flick of his wand and the board flashed a new diagram. The figures and labels were meaningless to Jake, who in the few seconds hovering here already felt himself dozing off.

So instead he knocked, or rather pounded, a fist on the glass.

The room turned to him. Eyes uniformly widened except for Pandarus, whose only reaction was to flash his choreographed smile. The wizard stepped closer to the glass and waved his wand at Jake in a broad oval. A thin line of light followed his tracing on the window. When the two ends met, the glass vanished and left a gaping hole that assaulted the conference room with a roaring wind.

"American Dragon!" Pandarus yelled over the buffeting gale and his colleague's cries. "So good of you to join us! Please, do come in!"

Jake obliged, perching on the hole's rim and stepping into the room. He watched as Pandarus tapped his wand twice against the glass, the missing material suddenly reappearing. Papers, pens, and hair, all whirling about the room, settled once again. The blustered expressions of their owners, however, weren't so quickly assuaged.

"What a pleasant surprise!" laughed Pandarus, patting Jake on the shoulder with one hand while the other stowed his wand in his suit jacket and combed his hair back into alignment. "Are you here to hear about our latest expansions into the European and South American markets? I wouldn't blame you, these are some very exciting opportunities."

"Cut the act, Pandarus." Jake reached into his vest and flashed his badge for the wizard. "You know exactly why I'm here."

At that moment, a sweating Nigel came running on the other side of the room's glass wall. He pushed into the conference room and stood straight, trying and failing to mask the fatigue from his voice. "My apologies, Mr. Pandarus. I tried to-"

Pandarus held his hand up. "No need for explanations, Nigel. Would you kindly show everyone back to the waiting area for a moment?" He then turned to the rest of his still bewildered group. "Why don't we all take a quick break while the American Dragon and I have a quick discussion?"

The observers, whoever they were, offered no resistance. One by one they filed out by Nigel and off down the hallway. Thrall himself gave Jake a last passing glare and let the room's door close, tightening his tie as he walked out of sight.

"I know you won't believe me Jake," Pandarus began, "but I am really, truly sorry. For the scheduling, I mean. You arrived here even sooner than I anticipated, a full," he glanced at his watch and chuckled, "four hours early! My, my, it seems I've once again underestimated you. But rest assured, Sorcery Services is eager to help in any way we can."

"You're right, I don't believe you." Jake folded his arms and stepped to the side, placing himself between the wizard and the door. "But since you're offering, sure. You can start by telling me where those psychos that attacked the Australian Dragon are."

"And how should I know that?" he asked. "Even magic has its limits, Jake. I can't just summon answers out of thin air."

"That magic they used sure looked like it came straight out of your playbook."

"Any spellcaster in the world can do the same, my boy. It's hardly a smoking gun. But we are the leading source of sorcery expertise, so it's only natural that you'd call on us for-"

"We both know even I'm not that dumb. Americans with advanced magical technology and teleportation," Jake stepped closer to the wizard, "and on top of that you just happen to be in charge of that federation of magic-types. And you're telling me you've got nothing to do with it?"

"And here I thought you were coming to ask for guidance. You really think I personally had a hand in this? Why would I?" countered Pandarus, still wearing that annoying grin. "Our relationship has done nothing but benefit me - quite enormously, I might add. Sorcery Services, the FUSS, my own personal fame and glory," he embellished the last part with a whimsical sigh. "Why would I risk all of that by sparking panic in humans and attacking the Dragon Order? What do I stand to gain?"

"You know, I've been asking myself that same question." Jake studied him, another step closer. "It's like you said, y'all have been raking in the dough by cornering the market on magic for humans. And sure, the Dragon Order gave the go ahead for all of it, but we're also the ones keeping you in check. Making you apply for research through the government, dealing with all the laws and regulations, it must be pretty frustrating for someone trying to turn a profit."

"Well…you aren't entirely wrong," he conceded with a smirk. "But it's nothing new. Just a part of doing business with mortals, I'm afraid. And as for the politics of it, well, I'm not suited to public service like you dragons."

"Public service, definitely. But don't try and tell me you wouldn't like being the one in charge. Calling the shots, being top dog, that's your MO. Winning's always been your game, Pandarus, and it's a lot easier when you're the one making the rules."

"I'm perfectly capable of winning our little games as is." Pandarus sighed and glanced back at his watch. "And as fun as ruminating over my supposed schemes is," he droned, "I've told you all I can. Your other accusations are all wild and circumstantial, and I have business to attend to. So, unless you plan on arresting me-"

He paused and glanced at the paw Jake pulled out of his vest pocket. A gleaming pair of silver handcuffs dangled from his claw. The wizard's eyes narrowed the slightest bit.

"Don't try it," said Jake, glancing at Pandarus's coat pocket. Only a couple feet separated them now. "I'm faster. You won't win."

"I didn't-"

"Last chance." Jake raised the cuffs higher. "Tell me what I want to know, and I won't take you in. We can just forget this ever happened. The only thing I care about is saving the Australian Dragon."

Pandarus watched him a moment longer, the wheels in his mind turning. His eyes flitted between Jake and the cuffs. "I'm not lying," he said. "I don't know anything about them - who they are, what they want, I don't even know what they did to that young man, I swear."

Jake's grip tightened on the cuffs. "Turn around."

"Jake-"

"Turn around."

He was ready. Any second now Pandarus would reach for his wand and try to escape. Casting any spell took time, though, no matter how simple. There was a good chance Jake could get to him first and tackle him into the wall or pin his arm down. But if he knew anything, it was that the wizard was not one to be underestimated. There could be another wand in a different pocket, or some enchantment already active that Jake didn't know about. He'd have to be careful…

"Fine." Slowly, Pandarus raised his open hands and turned away from Jake. "As you said, American Dragon. You're the one in charge."

Jake stepped forward and clipped one ring of the cuff around his wrist. Then he grabbed the other, pulled both down behind Pandarus's, and locked it beside the first. In theory the cuffs were enchanted to inherently stretch and extend to fit almost any body size, from ogres to brownies. On Pandarus's wrists, however, they looked perfectly ordinary.

"C'mon." After reaching into his jacket to retrieve the wand, Jake guided his captive out of the room. "We're heading to Underdown."

"Whatever you say. But trust me, Jake, you're making a very big mistake."

"Yeah, yeah. Add it to the list."


"There is still no word from the Dragon Order regarding the Melbourne incident, or the current state of the Australian Dragon. Though some…"

"…and look, we all saw it. He's just a young boy! I'm not suggesting it's a good thing these people attacked him, but maybe this was a wake-up call. Regulating magic that we don't understand is a matter of life and death. Can we really trust a child to hold that much…"

"…while the group identifying themselves as The People have yet to make any additional statements, other individuals and organizations around the world have begun to defend their actions and…"

"…are confirming that there were no casualties. As for the damages to the city, current estimates are placing the losses in the millions, raising concerns of who will be responsible for repairs as…"

"…but no one's asking about the humans that were attacked in broad daylight! What about them? What about any of us? If dragons can use magic to look and talk just like a human, who's to say other micks can't too? None of us are truly safe until we know for sure what these creatures are and exactly what they're capable of!"

Images and voices changed from screen to screen, but the picture they painted together wasn't a comforting one. Nevertheless, Jake scanned the chandelier of televisions once again. He didn't know what he was looking for exactly. Maybe hope, or comfort.

If a distraction was what he wanted, he found it on a smaller screen near the bottom of the lumpy mass. Whether it was a talk show or newscast Jake couldn't figure out, the narration lost under the louder channels around it. What he could see, however, was a short recording of himself playing on repeat. It showed him in his dragon form just hours ago, guiding a handcuffed yet smug Pandarus through the lobby of his building. Nigel was following close behind, sharing none of his mentor's nonchalance.

The click-clack of claws on stone joined Jake at his side. "Word travels fast, huh?"

Jake glanced at Fu Dog, then back to the screens. "No one's even worried about Fred," he said. "They're all acting like it's his fault he went ballistic!"

"It's only been a day, kid. Plus, they don't know any better. Heck, we barely know what's going on. All we can do is try and figure this all out pronto. Speaking of…" The Shar Pei jabbed his nose at Jake's screen. "You really think Pandarus's got his greasy little fingers in all this?"

"I don't know, but those jokers used magic, Fu. If anyone could give us a lead on where and how they got their hands on it, it's him. We just gotta get him to play ball with us."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that? You already tried squeezin' him, and he ain't exactly gonna be sweet on you after throwin' him in the slammer."

"Calling the boiler room at the back of the DMC a 'slammer' is a bit of a stretch." Jake turned away from the central pit of Underdown and the screens dangling above it, heading back along the tier in the direction of the DMC. "And don't worry. Someone's coming that just might be able to put Pandarus in his place."

At least, Jake hoped she was coming. Otherwise he wasn't sure what to do next. A day had passed since the attack, and it was hard not to feel discouraged. The world was a big place, even bigger with magic transportation on your side, and the search for Nerk's soul was only growing more difficult by the minute. And that was only the start.

Underdown felt more like the underground shelter it was - cold, dark, and desperate. It was just like when President Danvers was making his speech about the existence of magic. The tiers were crowded with magical creatures glued to the screens, nervous apprehension uniting the jumble of unearthly shapes and sizes. The crowd moved aside as he and Fu made for the DMC, everyone doing so with pointed stares. Jake knew that kind of fear well, but there was something else mixed into the looks he received - anxiety, dread, accusation.

All except one, and it was just the person Jake was looking for.

"Rose! Hey, Rose!"

Jake hurried the rest of the way to the DMC's front steps, waving at the blonde standing out front. Arms folded and eyes wary, much was unchanged about her. If anything, her discomfort was far more obvious than that of the Underdown denizens. She held herself close and kept her gaze low. It was the stature of someone expecting to be attacked who had accepted it, who would rather be anywhere other than where they were right now.

Hearing her name, she looked up to find Jake and for a moment brightened. The relief pulled at Jake's chest in a way he hadn't felt for some time, but it left as quickly as it came.

"Hey there," she answered, expression falling.

Fu Dog sat on his haunches. "Well if it ain't Rose - good to see you, doll face! Been a long time comin'."

"Thanks for coming on such short notice. I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't important." Jake looked at her with renewed concern. "Everything okay? You look a little-"

"It's an emergency?"

Jake nodded. "As real as it gets."

"Alright." Rose took a slow, deep breath and unfolded her arms. "What do you need?"

Waving for her to follow, Jake led their group up the stairs and into the DMC. The lobby inside was relatively empty. Recent events, thankfully, had yet to cause too much mayhem in the magical community. If only that was the end of it.

"The job is straight forward, but one thing first." Jake paused outside a door in the recesses of the building. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. No pressure. I know you're at college on a scholarship, and this might cause some trouble-"

"Don't beat around the bush, Jake. You said it was an emergency." She shrugged, and Jake almost thought he could see an old glimmer hidden in her tired eyes. "What kind of friend would I be if I left now?"

Jake smiled. "You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that. We need your help getting some info," he pushed the door open, "outta that guy."

Beyond was an old utility area in obvious disrepair. Half the concrete room had been partitioned off by a sloppily erected chain link fence. On the other side, Pandarus stood in front of a large metal pipe, picking his teeth in its grimy, pathetic reflection.

Rose leaned in, closed her eyes, and closed the door again. "You're joking."

"I wish," Jake laughed half-heartedly. "We're thinking Pandarus might know something about what happened to the Australian Dragon."

"Never met him. Are you friends?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Jake chewed on his lip, clenching and unclenching his hand. "I tried picking Pandarus's brain already, but he was pretty tight-lipped with me. I was hoping you might be able to…I don't know…"

"Beat some answers out of him?" she guessed dryly.

Fu chimed in, "Well if it ain't too much to ask-"

"No, nothing like that!" said Jake. "Don't go wailing on the guy, just talk to him. See if you can get him to slip up or something. I don't know if they ever taught you anything about interrogation in…you know…the Huntsclan," he muttered reluctantly, hand rubbing the back of his neck. "But it doesn't really matter. You've always been way smarter than me, and more charming, and…and…"

"Persuasive?" she offered.

"Seriously persuasive!" Jake smiled sheepishly. "So, what do you think?"

The corner of her lips perked into a smirk. It was the first time Jake had seen something on her face other than pained melancholy. "Good choice," she said. "If you'd asked me to get rough, I probably would have said no. To be honest, I don't know if I have any fighting left in me. But talking…sure. I'll give it a shot."

"Awesome, and thank you, Rose. For real." Jake waved for Fu Dog and they turned to leave. "Take all the time you need, and whatever you do don't let your guard down around him. He's crazy dangerous, even without his wands, you feel me?"

Hand on the doorknob, she sneered, "Easy there, dragon boy. Remember who you're talking to." With that she brushed inside, the door easing shut behind her.

Just before it closed, Pandarus's voice carried into the hall, "Ah! Well if it isn't my favorite beneficiary!"

The rest was blocked by the chipping wall, and part of Jake hoped that was for the better.

"She seems a little…off," commented Fu. They passed cubicles side by side, heading in the direction of their offices. "Something's different about her. New haircut?"

"To be honest, I still don't have a clue. But at least she's here - baby steps, right?"

"Ain't nothing baby about this place. You really think she can get something outta Pandarus?"

Jake reached for the handle on his office door, pausing for a moment before pushing through. "What have we got to lose?"

The office was as he expected, busy but manageable. The full baskets on his desk promised a solid afternoon's work, and if they proved easier than expected then the boxes along the walls would remedy that problem. His three tall mirrors still stood to his left and pinned to the back wall was his map of the country, a boring grid of lines and curves. But if he wished, a quick scratch would cover it in a field of dots. Each was a community whose future had now grown a little grimmer.

Exhaustion was catching up with Jake. Rubbing his eyes, he moved to the chair behind his desk, plopped down, and rested his head on a field of sticky-notes. It was a testament to his fatigue that it took him a few seconds to notice the paper poking his skin.

"What the…" Grimacing, he leaned up and plucked one of the small squares stuck to his face. A name, time, and row of numbers were written in black pen. Dozens, maybe hundreds more were layered over his workplace. It was like his desk had spontaneously grown a coat of flimsy lemon scales, and all of them were marked by the scrawled writing of a single, tiny hand.

That same hand then appeared beside him unannounced, pressed another note onto the overlapping pile, and shuffled away.

"Yo, Marge," Jake called after his secretary's small back. "The heck are all these things?"

The gnome turned on him with a bored, wrinkled gaze. "Messages, Mr. Dragon. Reporters have been calling all day with questions and asking for comments." A faint ringing echoed from the hall and she sighed. "There's another one. If you want, Mr. Dragon, I can bring you the phone-"

"No! No, thanks Marge." They watched the gnome hobble from the office, sighing as she turned the corner. Jake glanced over the many notes. His eyes bounced from name to name, the numbers coming and going in an aching blur until he gave up and started collecting them in a single pile.

Fu Dog's collar jingled as he trotted up and rested his front paws on the desk's edge. "Need some help, kid?" he asked, sniffing the notes closest to him. "I can take some of these off your hands if you want, knock 'em out in a couple hours if we're lucky."

Something in Jake wanted to snap at Fu. It was nothing the Shar Pei had done - he just happened to be the closest living thing at the moment. Thankfully Jake wasn't so delirious as to voice the frustration, but it reflected on his mental stability all the same. It was in recognition of this that he plucked the last few notes from the desk and sighed, "Not today, Fu. I need some time to get my head straight."

Fu watched him, then pushed away from the desk. "Hey, you've had a long day. You deserve a break," he said, heading for the hallway. He paused halfway through closing the door behind him. "If you need anything…or something comes up…you let me know, okay?"

Jake nodded, and the office door closed.

He set the stack of sticky notes aside. The quiet of the office surrounded him, yet just as he found peace so too did the will to rest leave him. Restless thoughts made sleep an impossibility. And as hopeless as that felt, getting any work done felt equally daunting. So he sat there motionless, reclining in his chair and staring at the ceiling. Inaction gripped him. But what was he to do? All that was left now was to wait, either for a lucky break or worse news. Blind action now was as likely to hurt as to help.

Frustrations aside, it was probably best to do nothing.

"How's Fred?"

The voice shocked Jake awake. His first thought was to find his phone, but the unexpected shine from the side of the office drew his attention. Mild light emanated from the middle mirror of the three, its surface now a window into a neighboring office thousands of miles away. Its occupant observed Jake with a worried eye, sitting at a desk of her own with a single lamp lighting her from the side.

"Hales?" Jake pushed himself to a stand. "What happened? Is something wrong?"

She waved him back down, leaning on her desk with her head in her hand. "Relax, we're fine. Just called to check in."

"Oh." He fell back in his chair. "What're you still doing at your DMC? Isn't it like-"

"Way too late, yeah," she simmered. "You see the problem is someone put us all on EXCON 4 a day ago and never bothered to say anything."

Jake smiled to himself. "Sounds like a real jerk."

"Very accurate," she shrugged, "but we put up with it."

They sat in silence for some time. No ready topics of discussion came to Jake and Haley seemed similarly complacent. She looked off to the side of the mirror at nothing in particular and played with the end of her sleek ponytail. Jake idly wondered about how mature she looked. It was strange to think about how much she'd grown in just four years - and not just in height. Even slouching she was confident, even daydreaming her gaze was intense, focused. And he could remember her half his size. It somehow made him, everything, feel so isolated and distant.

"I talked to gramps," she said, still twirling with her hair. "Sounds like things aren't going well."

"That's an understatement."

"Any news about the jerk-faces that did it?"

"Not yet…but I'm working on it."

More silence. It wasn't awkward, though. If anything, Jake had missed this, having time for comforting quiet with his family. It made him glance at the next mirror over, at the glass already collecting dust, the tape peeling off, the long, thin scratch in its surface, and wonder where his grandfather was right now.

"I've got a bad feeling, Jake," said Haley. "Those amateurs in dollar store ski masks…something's off. I have no idea what, but something's coming." The hand that had been playing with her hair slid downward to wrap around her torso. "I never liked your plan, you know that. Because it was a very, very stupid plan. But I'll be the first to admit that we've somehow made a lot of progress these last two months. I don't want to lose that, but the things they're saying on the news…I don't know. I'm just…scared."

She focused on the mirror. "I'm really scared."

Jake scowled at his right forearm, palm up as he rubbed over it with his other hand. Fingers clenched and relaxed, tendons pulled, fingers slid over skin. A thought tugged in his mind, obsessing, wondering if beneath it all were scales and claws waiting to rip their way out.

"Me too, Hales," he said. "Me too."

O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O