Genesis of a Dragon pt. 9
Author's Note: Hi! L1701E here! I'm currently running a little low on ideas to continue, so include any suggestions in your reviews. They are greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!
Dear Journal,
Man, what a weird night! Lance, Kitty, Marie, and I went out to the new 1950's-style diner in town. Rogue was not happy with the double date idea, but she played along after I promised her that the next date would be just her and me. Anyway, afterwards, when we were all heading back home on my truck, a big ape-like thing attacked us! We then got ambushed by two...well...real-life, honest to-God dragons! Add on the weird parrot-man and we had one wild night! The two dragons kept referring to me as "The Chosen One." What did they mean? The female dragon said I was destined to save two worlds. What's going on? And why did they try to kill me?
-- Jake "Dragon" Wildfire
"WHAT?" Fadora dropped Jake as the shadow tackled her. Bladus and Praktor tried to attack, but two more shadows dive-bombed out of the night air and tackled them.
"You shall not harm the Chosen One, traitor!" The shadow that tackled Fadora called out in a gallant voice. The light revealed that shadow to be a dragon with bright yellow scales, brown eyes, and long brown hair. The dragon's muzzle was very sleek, like his body had evolved only for flight. His wings had small claws on them, and his sleek arms contained powerful, yet small muscles, which had some scars on them. He wore a silver chestplate with a short-sleeved black shirt underneath it, and a short black cape was attached to it. His armor was completed by a leather-and- metal skirt-like garment. A scabbard and holster was attached to the sides. The most unusual feature of this dragon was that he had no legs. His lower body was snake-like, bright yellow scales with a pale yellow underbelly. The yellow dragon wrapped his tail protectively around Jake.
"You are a fool, Windrazor!" Fadora snapped at the yellow dragon.
"The insults of a traitor do not register in my mind." Windrazor retorted. Meanwhile, Bladus and Praktor recovered from the attack of the other two mysterious shadows. The two mercenaries recognized them.
"Rancor..." Bladus growled. The taller of the two shadows stepped into the light. His powerful light blue-scaled body shone in the moonlight. His face and blue eyes shone with a combination of youthfulness and wisdom. All his long blue hair, except for the bangs, was tied in a ponytail. Around his head was a golden headband encrusted with jewels, like a crown. He wore a black bodysuit, adorned with a silver-and-gold chestplate, shoulder guards, gauntlets, and boots. His chestplate had a silver cape with a royal seal on it. He also had on a belt with a futuristic-looking buckle with several pockets, as well as wing armor. He had two scabbards crossing his back. "The Prince of Dragons has arrived." Rancor snarled at Bladus, then looked at Windrazor.
"Windrazor!" He called out, his voice in a gruff, yet very melodic style. "Protect the Chosen One at all costs!"
"He shall be safe!" Windrazor responded. "If I have to die to ensure his safety, then so be it!"
"What about a Prophet?" Fadora smiled evilly as she picked up an unconscious Rogue, and held her sword to the southerner's neck. Suddenly, the third shadow moved and twisted Fadora's arm, forcing her to release the sword.
"Not today." The third shadow, a female, snarled. Her scales were pink, and her purple hair was shoulder-length. Her green eyes indicated she was an experienced fighter, and she was never to be taken lightly. She was clad in red boots, blue pants, and a black top, revealing her light pink underbelly. Her chest was crossed by a pair of metallic sashes. Her silver belt carried the same buckle as Rancor's. A scabbard and a holster were on the sides as well. Her left wrist had a metal band, and her right had a watch-like device, but the face had no numbers, and it glowed red.
"Guinevere, we meet again..." Fadora smiled.
"The pleasure is not mine." The pink dragon growled, pulling out her sword. Unbeknownst to her, Krodor was slowly awakening. He saw Guinevere and pulled out a small white cylinder from his loincloth. He put a poison dart in it, as was about to fire when a fourth dragon kicked him in the head, knocking him out again. This dragon was clad in brown and white robes. It made him look rather like a Jedi Knight. He carried a long wooden staff, with a sharp gold-and silver jewel-encrusted teardrop-shaped head. Guinevere looked at the robed dragon, and smiled. "Thank you, father." The robed dragon pulled back his hood, revealing his dark red scales and green eyes. His long red hair was streaked with gray, as was his beard.
"I am getting too old for this." He sighed.
"Help the humans, Tralos!" Windrazor cried out to the old dragon. He and Rancor were facing Bladus and Praktor, while Guinevere and Fadora were getting ready to fight. Tralos looked around at the unconscious Lance, Kitty, Rogue and Jake. The three heroic dragons and the mercenary trio drew their weapons and started to battle. Tralos carefully lifted Rogue, Jake, and Lance to Jake's truck, and gently propped the three mutants against the side of it. He calmly walked to the energy field Kitty was trapped in, and pulled what looked like a key out of his robes, and put the end to the field. In a flash of light, the field disappeared, and Tralos caught the knocked-out Shadowcat. He propped her alongside Lance, and her head fell on his shoulder. With a smile, the dark-red dragon put the key back in his robes and pulled out a tiny canister. He shook some dust from the canister, and chanted something in some odd language. The dust in his clawed hand glowed, and he gently spread it over the four mutant teens. They all slowly awoke. Jake's face went into an expression of shock.
"Are you alright, Chosen One?" Tralos asked the wrestler.
"Who are you?" Jake angrily got to his feet, Rogue, Kitty, and Lance with him.
"I am Tralos, Chosen One." He bowed respectfully. "I see you have one of your Prophets with you."
"Like, Prophets?" Kitty asked the old dragon.
"Three guides for the Chosen One. They aid, support, and protect him." He then saw Rancor and Bladus battle with their swords.
"Wait a minute!" Rogue demanded. "Ah've got some questions. Who are these Prophets? What's with this Chosen One business, and why can't Ah absorb Jake?" Tralos looked confused by Rogue's last question. "The blue dragon lady called me 'soulsucker'. Ah can't touch anyone, or Ah absorb their life force, and abilities. But Ah couldn't absorb Jake. Nor could Ah absorb her."
"Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere else." Tralos reminded the four of the battle.
"Who are these things?" Lance asked angrily. During the conversation, Rancor, Windrazor, and Guinevere had battled Bladus, Praktor and Fadora. The three mercenaries found themselves cornered by the three heroic dragons.
"We have succeeded!" Windrazor cheered. "Tell Tyrannis that the Chosen One is alive and well."
"You can also tell him that now we have found him, his days are numbered." Guinevere added. Bladus snarled. Rancor threw them the unconscious Krodor.
"Get out of here." Rancor growled dangerously.
"We will return, Rancor. You can count on it." Bladus pulled a tiny device out of his pants and pressed a button on it, and pointed it behind them like a remote control. A swirling blue portal appeared. Bladus, carrying Krodor, Fadora, and Praktor jumped in the portal, then it shrunk and disappeared. The three dragons sheathed their weapons.
"We'll be waiting. Gwen, Windrazor, all of you alright?" Rancor asked concernedly.
"You worry too much, Your Majesty." Guinevere, or Gwen as she was simply known, smiled.
"My health is unimportant, unless the Chosen One is safe." Windrazor bowed.
"The Chosen One is fine, Windrazor." Tralos called out.
"Then I am in good health." The legless yellow dragon smiled. "Are you hurt, Your Majesty?"
"Please, my friends. I do allow you to refer to me by name." Rancor smirked as he walked to the teens. He then bowed respectfully to Jake, and to a second person.
"Lance, they're also bowing to Rogue!" Kitty noticed.
"Now I am confused." Lance scratched his head.
"We humbly apologize for frightening you, Chosen One. We hope you and the Prophet are safe."
"Prophet?" Rogue was confused. "What is going on here?" Rogue scratched her head as the dragons rose.
"I am Rancor, Sovereign Ruler of the Dragon Kingdom. This is Guinevere..." Rancor motioned to the pink warrior.
"Call me Gwen." She said.
"Windrazor is the Dragon Kingdom's greatest knight." Rancor motioned to the yellow dragon.
"Why don't you have any legs?" Lance asked.
"I was born without legs, like all dragons in my home province." Windrazor explained. Suddenly, the X-Van drove in, and Logan and Storm jumped out.
"Oh my..." Storm looked at the four dragons.
"Do not fear, Chosen One!" Windrazor quickly slithered in front of Jake and Rogue, sword brandished. "These villains will not harm you."
"Wait!" Jake called out, putting his hands on Windrazor's sword. "They're friends." Windrazor nodded and put his sword away, but he still gave an untrusting look to Wolverine and Storm.
"Forgive Windrazor. He tends to be a little overzealous." Rancor sighed.
"Who are you?" Logan unsheathed his claws. "Some answers would be greatly appreciated."
"Perhaps we should talk somewhere more comfortable." Rancor suggested. "I will explain everything then." The X-Van, Jake's truck, and the dragons all drove/flew to the Institute. There, Rancor made good on his promise. In the Institute's common room, the prince and his team met the X-Men, then he told his story.
"You see, the four of us are among a group of warriors that have been fighting to save our dimension from a tyrant named Tyrannis." Rancor pulled a small pad-like device out of his belt. The device displayed the face of a black-scaled, red-eyed, blue-haired dragon. "I am the sovereign ruler of the Dragon Kingdom. Tyrannis was the Royal Guard Captain under the rule of my parents. Six of your months ago, Tyrannis took power. He slaughtered my parents in front of me. He tried to assassinate me, but I fled to hopefully take the throne back from him." A small tear left his eye as he told the story. Gwen and Storm consoled the warrior prince.
"How horrible." Storm said.
"Indeed." Rancor agreed. "Under my parents, the Dragon Kingdom was a utopia. Dragons could live in peace and serenity without fear or hatred. We lived in harmony with the parallel dimension which we have become to know as home."
"Parallel dimension?" Jake asked.
"You see, we dragons originally lived with humans on Earth, but our existence has faded into legend. During the time you know as the Dark Ages, humans turned on dragons. Actually, the humans living in Western Europe turned on us. The religion called Christianity painted us dragons as servants of Satan, and pure evil. (A/N: I believe this is true.). A powerful wizard managed to banish all the dragons into a parallel universe. This is part of the reason why Tyrannis took the throne. As soon as we found a way to traverse dimensions, Tyrannis's hatred for humanity was revealed. He wanted to invade your world. Naturally, my parents refused to allow that to happen."
"And they paid with their lives." Lance added.
"However, I hope that someday, humans and dragons will live together in peace once again."
"But humans must learn to understand each other. And mutants." Professor X explained.
"Keeping your mutations secret is not helping that." Gwen smirked.
"Enough of this." Windrazor groaned. "Tell them of the legend."
"Right." Rancor nodded. "You see, when Tyrannis took over, an old dragon legend played out. It said that when the greatest of evil took over the kingdom of dragons, a Chosen One shall arise from the world of humans. Born a man, but having the power of a dragon, he shall be aided by three Prophets. One will fight alongside him, one will protect his life, and the third will give the Chosen One the confidence he needs to face his destiny."
"So Jake is the Chosen One, and Ah am a Prophet?" Rogue wondered.
"Yes." Rancor smiled. "In fact, you were the one that boosted his confidence."
"Jake was a very shy guy before we started dating." Rogue remembered. Tralos sighed, remembering when he first met Gwen's mother.
"Now we need to find the other two." Tralos sighed.
"Do you have any idea who they are?" Storm asked.
"Well, according to the legends, one has a fox's cunning and no fear. The other is like a toad, possessing deep inner strength under a weakling body. Fate brought these three and the Chosen One together. One by love, two by friendship." The others quickly figured out the other two Prophets.
"Oh no..." Scott groaned. "If that egomaniac hears about this, he'll either disbelieve it, or brag about it."
"Not to mention..." Lance started.
"Foxfire and Toad." Jean grumbled. "Those two idiots are destined to help Jake save two worlds."
"No offense, but zose two are morons. You are doomed." Kurt sighed. Windrazor roared and pointed his sword at Kurt's neck.
"How dare you insult the Prophets!!" Windrazor roared. "I should kill you for that!" Rancor and Tralos quickly rose to their feet.
"Calm down, Windrazor!" Tralos ordered sternly. "He didn't mean it!"
"These two must be around!" Rancor ordered. "If those four clowns found Foxfire and Toad..."
"Hey girly men!" A voice cried out. Foxfire made his appearance. He looked over at the four dragons and burst out laughing. "What is this, a renaissance fair? WAHHH HAHAHAHAHA huh?" He saw the four dragons bow towards him. "Hey, these clowns have taste. They worship me." Rogue slapped her forehead.
"Prophet, you are needed to battle a great evil." Foxfire looked at Windrazor strangely.
"Why do you have no legs?" Foxfire wondered.
"I was born without any, Prophet." Jake sighed.
"Lance, get Toad here, now." Jake simply said. "This is gonna be a looooooong night." After Lance and the rest of the Brotherhood arrived, the four dragons did the same thing. Pietro got furious and the other mutants were amazed.
"I CAN'T STAND IT!!!!" Pietro stood up angrily. "This lousy dragon has it made! First, he grievously insults me..."
"Ah'm not going out with you, Pietro!" Rogue snapped. Pietro ignored the remark.
"Then we find out that he, Rogue, Jason, and Toad are part of an ancient prophecy! What's in it for me?"
"Whoever wrote that prophecy had taste, Quicksilver." Foxfire grinned. "I ain't complainin'."
"You wouldn't." He growled. "I think this whole thing is just crock!" He ended up with a sword pointing at his neck courtesy of Windrazor.
"If you even dare to harm them in any way, shape, or form, I will kill you. That is a promise."
"I can move at superhuman speeds, Lizardman!" Pietro smirked. "You won't be able to catch me." Windrazor smirked. In a flash, he was across the room. Quicksilver's jaw dropped, as well as the other mutants. "What?"
"Catching you would not be a problem." The yellow dragon smiled evilly. Rancor laughed.
"As a hatchling, Windrazor accidentally drank a magic potion, gifting him with his speed." Rancor explained. "It was a funny incident."
"Why do you think he is known as Windrazor?" Tralos laughed. "He is so fast, he cuts the air."
"I hate to interrupt the fun boys, but we do have more important matters. You see, Professor..." Gwen sighed. "Tyrannis is inhuman."
"Literally." Toad quipped.
"Anyway, he is insane." Gwen said. "He has destroyed our world. He has killed mercilessly." The pink dragon started to shake, and a couple tears fell out of her tightly closed eyes. "I lost my mother thanks to him." Tralos wrapped an arm around his daughter.
"I lost my beloved mate thanks to Tyrannis."
"I had a brother named Axton." Windrazor sighed. "Like me, he was a noble, good-hearted one. A pride to dragons everywhere. During a supply raid, Axton and a group of dragons attacked a supply convoy. Unfortunately, Tyrannis himself was there. He fought the dragons there, and Axton distracted him while the other dragons fled. When they found him, all that was left of my noble brother was a few charred bones, his sword through the ribcage, and a few tattered shards of cloth."
"All four of us have grudges against Tyrannis." Rancor said.
"But now that we have the Chosen One and the three Prophets together, we can return to the Dragon Kingdom and face Tyrannis! We can avenge our lost loved ones and let them rest in peace." Windrazor cheered.
"Calm down, Windrazor!" Gwen sighed. "They are young. They aren't exactly ready."
"My concerns exactly." Xavier agreed. "I don't think it would be a good idea for them to go to another dimension when we have no idea about what dangers are there."
"Professor, they must face Tyrannis! Both our worlds are in danger!" Windrazor insisted. "The Chosen One and the Prophets are the only ones that can stop him!"
"We can find a way to lure him here." Scott offered.
"No, he's too smart for that." Rancor shook his head. He reached into his bodysuit and pulled out a semi-circular object that looked like it was part of an amulet. The outer semi-circular edge was silver, engraved with ancient writing. Three gems were arranged alongside it, a yellow garnet, a white diamond, and a black diamond.
"Like, what is that?" Kitty pointed at the amulet half. "It's beautiful." Rancor smiled.
"The Amulet of the Gods. One half of it anyway." Gwen answered.
"It is an ancient artifact, created by the six Dragon Gods." Windrazor explained. The mutants looked at him strangely. "What?"
"In our religion, there are six Gods. The story goes that there were two Dragon Gods at first. Lectrana, the Goddess of Light, and Shanos, the God of Shadow. They created the whole universe. In that universe, four elements arose." Rancor started telling the tale.
"Let me guess. Earth, Fire, Air and Water." Beast guessed.
"Correct." Rancor smiled. "They had four children, and each of them was put in charge of an element. Gaira became Goddess of Earth. Hydrus became God of Water. Cytora became Goddess of Wind, and Pygor became God of Fire. The four gods are like children. Sometimes they cooperate, sometimes they battle each other. These four monitor the elements here. Lectrana and Shanos let their children play with the young planet Earth, making it the way it is." Rancor smiled. "However, the four children were watched by their parents in the sky."
"Lectrana rules during the day, and Shanos rules in the night." Jake reasoned. Rancor nodded.
"What's so special about the amulet?" Toad wondered.
"Maybe it has magical powers." Blob suggested.
"Indeed." Tralos sighed. "Rancor has one half, Tyrannis has the other."
"I took it to protect the Kingdom as I fled from the throne." Rancor said. "You see, if Tyrannis can reunite the two halves of the amulet, he will...in essence, become a god."
"Is that possible?" Wolverine's eyes bulged.
"Yes." Gwen sighed. "If Tyrannis get his claws on it, nothing can stop him."
"That's also why Tyrannis is after me." Rancor sighed. "I cannot carry the amulet half on my person much longer. I have to put it somewhere safe."
"Why not allow us to hold on to the amulet half temporarily?" Xavier suggested. The four dragons appeared to like the idea.
"Of course!" Gwen snapped her clawed fingers. "That monster would never expect a dragon artifact to be in the hands, or in the care of humans."
"What a minute!" Pietro cried out. "How do you know the X-Geeks won't just give it to this 'Tyrannis' person? You can trust the Brotherhood with it." Jake had explained the 'X-Men vs. Brotherhood' thing to the four dragons.
"Unlike you, we care about this world!" Scott snapped.
"Since when?" Lance smirked.
"Yeah Scooter, we know all you care about is your social standing!" Foxfire agreed.
"Shut up, Fox!" Scott yelled.
"And you accuse Foxfire of having a big ego." Lance laughed.
"Shut up, Alvers!"
"You shut up, Summers!"
"Lame-o!"
"Dork!"
"Punk!"
"Nerd!"
"ENOUGH!" Jake leapt to his feet, and he knocked Scott and Lance's heads together.
"OW!! What was that for?!?" They both yelled at Jake.
"Two worlds are at stake, and you two are arguing amongst yourselves!" Dragon snapped. "And you've wondered why I chose to stay neutral! Listen up. We all have talents that we must put together on this one. Scott and Lance, as well as Evan and Pietro. I know that you guys have old rivalries, and quite frankly, I don't care right now!"
"Dragon's right, yo." Toad stood up with a sigh. "This is more important." He walked over to Nightcrawler. "I know we have a rivalry ourselves, Fuzzy. But unlike Avalanche and Quickie, I'll put it aside for the world." Toad outstretched his hand to Kurt.
"Might as vell...Prophet." Kurt quipped, shaking the hand of the toad-like mutant.
"The Prophet is right." Windrazor agreed. "You all must now dispense of your old rivalries. They are meaningless. Tyrannis will conquer this world if you allow these petty quarrels to continue. He will turn them against you. If he conquers this world, human, mutant, and dragon will suffer equally."
"We must all battle Tyrannis as one force. I know that will be tough." Rancor reassured.
"Ha!" Pietro scoffed. "The X-Geeks will turn and run!"
"That sounds like something you would do, Maximoff!" Spyke snapped. The two old enemies stood up, fists raised. Jake gave them the same treatment he gave Scott and Lance.
"OWW!!!" They cried out. Windrazor whispered something to Rancor.
"I don't trust the silver-haired one." Windrazor told Rancor. "His lust towards the Prophet called Rogue may cause him to turn traitor."
"We'll cross that bridge if we reach it." Rancor whispered back.
"Are we going or what?" Blob asked. "I wanna see what the food is like."
"Typical Freddy." Foxfire laughed. Rancor laughed in a friendly manner.
"I see you are willing to try some dragon cuisine. When we get to the Kingdom, I will see that your taste buds are satisfied."
"Sounds great!" Freddy smiled, turning to Jake. "Thank goodness Pietro isn't the Chosen One."
"HEY!! I'd make a better prophetic hero than that moron." Pietro smirked.
"You mean a more idiotic hero." Foxy grinned.
"I hate you." Pietro whined.
"So let me get this straight." Storm said. "Jake, Rogue, Toad, and Foxfire are supposed to go to this parallel universe and battle an evil dragon warlord, because a prophecy dictates they are destined to do so."
"I understand your concerns." Rancor said sadly. "Unfortunately, Tyrannis will not wait for the Chosen One to grow to adulthood. If he becomes aware that the Chosen One is..."
"Call me Jake." Dragon interrupted.
"Of course. As I was saying, if he becomes aware that Jake knows his destiny now, Tyrannis will not care about age, just as long as the Chosen One and the Prophets are dead."
"No one has answered mah question!" Rogue snapped. "Why couldn't Ah absorb the life force of the dragon that tried to kill me? Ah know that Jake is connected to this somehow." Gwen smirked.
"Because dragons have a very unique life force, that's why." Gwen explained. "The life force of all creatures is different. Our life energies are shielded by a natural psychic barrier."
"Barrier?" Rogue wanted a further explanation.
"I never detected a psychic barrier from Jake." Jean was confused.
"Neither have I." Xavier added.
"It can only be detected by a certain telepathic technique that neither of you have mastered." Tralos explained further. "It reduces the severity of injuries, and it reduces chances of death by severe injury. We discovered it also has the effect of preventing our life force from being stolen."
"Like when Ah touch someone."
"Exactly." Tralos nodded. "When you do touch someone, your mind creates a link with the mind of the person you touch, and the link sucks their life force into you. However, when you touch a dragon, your mind runs into the barrier. The barrier stops the linking, therefore, your mind cannot absorb the life force."
"Oh my stars and garters! Jake's dragon mutation must've given him the same mental shield! That's why Rogue can touch him!" Beast realized.
"I believe so." Tralos scratched his beard. "I think that's how your powers work, Rogue. I based it on how a creature in our world called a soulsucker does it. Only instead of touching, it bites."
"Beautiful!" Pietro groaned. "Just beautiful. Jake was born Rogue-proof."
"Ah wonder why..." Rogue smirked evilly at Jake, making the wrestler blush. Gwen let out a giggle.
"Yep, fate wanted you two together." Gwen giggled.
"I hate dragons." Pietro muttered. "I really hate dragons."
Can the red-haired wrestler live up to his divine expectations? What will happen to Rogue, Toad, and Foxfire? Can the X-Men, the Brotherhood, and the dragons defeat Tyrannis and save both their worlds? Find out on Genesis of a Dragon pt. 10!
Author's Note: Hi! L1701E here! I'm currently running a little low on ideas to continue, so include any suggestions in your reviews. They are greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!
Dear Journal,
Man, what a weird night! Lance, Kitty, Marie, and I went out to the new 1950's-style diner in town. Rogue was not happy with the double date idea, but she played along after I promised her that the next date would be just her and me. Anyway, afterwards, when we were all heading back home on my truck, a big ape-like thing attacked us! We then got ambushed by two...well...real-life, honest to-God dragons! Add on the weird parrot-man and we had one wild night! The two dragons kept referring to me as "The Chosen One." What did they mean? The female dragon said I was destined to save two worlds. What's going on? And why did they try to kill me?
-- Jake "Dragon" Wildfire
"WHAT?" Fadora dropped Jake as the shadow tackled her. Bladus and Praktor tried to attack, but two more shadows dive-bombed out of the night air and tackled them.
"You shall not harm the Chosen One, traitor!" The shadow that tackled Fadora called out in a gallant voice. The light revealed that shadow to be a dragon with bright yellow scales, brown eyes, and long brown hair. The dragon's muzzle was very sleek, like his body had evolved only for flight. His wings had small claws on them, and his sleek arms contained powerful, yet small muscles, which had some scars on them. He wore a silver chestplate with a short-sleeved black shirt underneath it, and a short black cape was attached to it. His armor was completed by a leather-and- metal skirt-like garment. A scabbard and holster was attached to the sides. The most unusual feature of this dragon was that he had no legs. His lower body was snake-like, bright yellow scales with a pale yellow underbelly. The yellow dragon wrapped his tail protectively around Jake.
"You are a fool, Windrazor!" Fadora snapped at the yellow dragon.
"The insults of a traitor do not register in my mind." Windrazor retorted. Meanwhile, Bladus and Praktor recovered from the attack of the other two mysterious shadows. The two mercenaries recognized them.
"Rancor..." Bladus growled. The taller of the two shadows stepped into the light. His powerful light blue-scaled body shone in the moonlight. His face and blue eyes shone with a combination of youthfulness and wisdom. All his long blue hair, except for the bangs, was tied in a ponytail. Around his head was a golden headband encrusted with jewels, like a crown. He wore a black bodysuit, adorned with a silver-and-gold chestplate, shoulder guards, gauntlets, and boots. His chestplate had a silver cape with a royal seal on it. He also had on a belt with a futuristic-looking buckle with several pockets, as well as wing armor. He had two scabbards crossing his back. "The Prince of Dragons has arrived." Rancor snarled at Bladus, then looked at Windrazor.
"Windrazor!" He called out, his voice in a gruff, yet very melodic style. "Protect the Chosen One at all costs!"
"He shall be safe!" Windrazor responded. "If I have to die to ensure his safety, then so be it!"
"What about a Prophet?" Fadora smiled evilly as she picked up an unconscious Rogue, and held her sword to the southerner's neck. Suddenly, the third shadow moved and twisted Fadora's arm, forcing her to release the sword.
"Not today." The third shadow, a female, snarled. Her scales were pink, and her purple hair was shoulder-length. Her green eyes indicated she was an experienced fighter, and she was never to be taken lightly. She was clad in red boots, blue pants, and a black top, revealing her light pink underbelly. Her chest was crossed by a pair of metallic sashes. Her silver belt carried the same buckle as Rancor's. A scabbard and a holster were on the sides as well. Her left wrist had a metal band, and her right had a watch-like device, but the face had no numbers, and it glowed red.
"Guinevere, we meet again..." Fadora smiled.
"The pleasure is not mine." The pink dragon growled, pulling out her sword. Unbeknownst to her, Krodor was slowly awakening. He saw Guinevere and pulled out a small white cylinder from his loincloth. He put a poison dart in it, as was about to fire when a fourth dragon kicked him in the head, knocking him out again. This dragon was clad in brown and white robes. It made him look rather like a Jedi Knight. He carried a long wooden staff, with a sharp gold-and silver jewel-encrusted teardrop-shaped head. Guinevere looked at the robed dragon, and smiled. "Thank you, father." The robed dragon pulled back his hood, revealing his dark red scales and green eyes. His long red hair was streaked with gray, as was his beard.
"I am getting too old for this." He sighed.
"Help the humans, Tralos!" Windrazor cried out to the old dragon. He and Rancor were facing Bladus and Praktor, while Guinevere and Fadora were getting ready to fight. Tralos looked around at the unconscious Lance, Kitty, Rogue and Jake. The three heroic dragons and the mercenary trio drew their weapons and started to battle. Tralos carefully lifted Rogue, Jake, and Lance to Jake's truck, and gently propped the three mutants against the side of it. He calmly walked to the energy field Kitty was trapped in, and pulled what looked like a key out of his robes, and put the end to the field. In a flash of light, the field disappeared, and Tralos caught the knocked-out Shadowcat. He propped her alongside Lance, and her head fell on his shoulder. With a smile, the dark-red dragon put the key back in his robes and pulled out a tiny canister. He shook some dust from the canister, and chanted something in some odd language. The dust in his clawed hand glowed, and he gently spread it over the four mutant teens. They all slowly awoke. Jake's face went into an expression of shock.
"Are you alright, Chosen One?" Tralos asked the wrestler.
"Who are you?" Jake angrily got to his feet, Rogue, Kitty, and Lance with him.
"I am Tralos, Chosen One." He bowed respectfully. "I see you have one of your Prophets with you."
"Like, Prophets?" Kitty asked the old dragon.
"Three guides for the Chosen One. They aid, support, and protect him." He then saw Rancor and Bladus battle with their swords.
"Wait a minute!" Rogue demanded. "Ah've got some questions. Who are these Prophets? What's with this Chosen One business, and why can't Ah absorb Jake?" Tralos looked confused by Rogue's last question. "The blue dragon lady called me 'soulsucker'. Ah can't touch anyone, or Ah absorb their life force, and abilities. But Ah couldn't absorb Jake. Nor could Ah absorb her."
"Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere else." Tralos reminded the four of the battle.
"Who are these things?" Lance asked angrily. During the conversation, Rancor, Windrazor, and Guinevere had battled Bladus, Praktor and Fadora. The three mercenaries found themselves cornered by the three heroic dragons.
"We have succeeded!" Windrazor cheered. "Tell Tyrannis that the Chosen One is alive and well."
"You can also tell him that now we have found him, his days are numbered." Guinevere added. Bladus snarled. Rancor threw them the unconscious Krodor.
"Get out of here." Rancor growled dangerously.
"We will return, Rancor. You can count on it." Bladus pulled a tiny device out of his pants and pressed a button on it, and pointed it behind them like a remote control. A swirling blue portal appeared. Bladus, carrying Krodor, Fadora, and Praktor jumped in the portal, then it shrunk and disappeared. The three dragons sheathed their weapons.
"We'll be waiting. Gwen, Windrazor, all of you alright?" Rancor asked concernedly.
"You worry too much, Your Majesty." Guinevere, or Gwen as she was simply known, smiled.
"My health is unimportant, unless the Chosen One is safe." Windrazor bowed.
"The Chosen One is fine, Windrazor." Tralos called out.
"Then I am in good health." The legless yellow dragon smiled. "Are you hurt, Your Majesty?"
"Please, my friends. I do allow you to refer to me by name." Rancor smirked as he walked to the teens. He then bowed respectfully to Jake, and to a second person.
"Lance, they're also bowing to Rogue!" Kitty noticed.
"Now I am confused." Lance scratched his head.
"We humbly apologize for frightening you, Chosen One. We hope you and the Prophet are safe."
"Prophet?" Rogue was confused. "What is going on here?" Rogue scratched her head as the dragons rose.
"I am Rancor, Sovereign Ruler of the Dragon Kingdom. This is Guinevere..." Rancor motioned to the pink warrior.
"Call me Gwen." She said.
"Windrazor is the Dragon Kingdom's greatest knight." Rancor motioned to the yellow dragon.
"Why don't you have any legs?" Lance asked.
"I was born without legs, like all dragons in my home province." Windrazor explained. Suddenly, the X-Van drove in, and Logan and Storm jumped out.
"Oh my..." Storm looked at the four dragons.
"Do not fear, Chosen One!" Windrazor quickly slithered in front of Jake and Rogue, sword brandished. "These villains will not harm you."
"Wait!" Jake called out, putting his hands on Windrazor's sword. "They're friends." Windrazor nodded and put his sword away, but he still gave an untrusting look to Wolverine and Storm.
"Forgive Windrazor. He tends to be a little overzealous." Rancor sighed.
"Who are you?" Logan unsheathed his claws. "Some answers would be greatly appreciated."
"Perhaps we should talk somewhere more comfortable." Rancor suggested. "I will explain everything then." The X-Van, Jake's truck, and the dragons all drove/flew to the Institute. There, Rancor made good on his promise. In the Institute's common room, the prince and his team met the X-Men, then he told his story.
"You see, the four of us are among a group of warriors that have been fighting to save our dimension from a tyrant named Tyrannis." Rancor pulled a small pad-like device out of his belt. The device displayed the face of a black-scaled, red-eyed, blue-haired dragon. "I am the sovereign ruler of the Dragon Kingdom. Tyrannis was the Royal Guard Captain under the rule of my parents. Six of your months ago, Tyrannis took power. He slaughtered my parents in front of me. He tried to assassinate me, but I fled to hopefully take the throne back from him." A small tear left his eye as he told the story. Gwen and Storm consoled the warrior prince.
"How horrible." Storm said.
"Indeed." Rancor agreed. "Under my parents, the Dragon Kingdom was a utopia. Dragons could live in peace and serenity without fear or hatred. We lived in harmony with the parallel dimension which we have become to know as home."
"Parallel dimension?" Jake asked.
"You see, we dragons originally lived with humans on Earth, but our existence has faded into legend. During the time you know as the Dark Ages, humans turned on dragons. Actually, the humans living in Western Europe turned on us. The religion called Christianity painted us dragons as servants of Satan, and pure evil. (A/N: I believe this is true.). A powerful wizard managed to banish all the dragons into a parallel universe. This is part of the reason why Tyrannis took the throne. As soon as we found a way to traverse dimensions, Tyrannis's hatred for humanity was revealed. He wanted to invade your world. Naturally, my parents refused to allow that to happen."
"And they paid with their lives." Lance added.
"However, I hope that someday, humans and dragons will live together in peace once again."
"But humans must learn to understand each other. And mutants." Professor X explained.
"Keeping your mutations secret is not helping that." Gwen smirked.
"Enough of this." Windrazor groaned. "Tell them of the legend."
"Right." Rancor nodded. "You see, when Tyrannis took over, an old dragon legend played out. It said that when the greatest of evil took over the kingdom of dragons, a Chosen One shall arise from the world of humans. Born a man, but having the power of a dragon, he shall be aided by three Prophets. One will fight alongside him, one will protect his life, and the third will give the Chosen One the confidence he needs to face his destiny."
"So Jake is the Chosen One, and Ah am a Prophet?" Rogue wondered.
"Yes." Rancor smiled. "In fact, you were the one that boosted his confidence."
"Jake was a very shy guy before we started dating." Rogue remembered. Tralos sighed, remembering when he first met Gwen's mother.
"Now we need to find the other two." Tralos sighed.
"Do you have any idea who they are?" Storm asked.
"Well, according to the legends, one has a fox's cunning and no fear. The other is like a toad, possessing deep inner strength under a weakling body. Fate brought these three and the Chosen One together. One by love, two by friendship." The others quickly figured out the other two Prophets.
"Oh no..." Scott groaned. "If that egomaniac hears about this, he'll either disbelieve it, or brag about it."
"Not to mention..." Lance started.
"Foxfire and Toad." Jean grumbled. "Those two idiots are destined to help Jake save two worlds."
"No offense, but zose two are morons. You are doomed." Kurt sighed. Windrazor roared and pointed his sword at Kurt's neck.
"How dare you insult the Prophets!!" Windrazor roared. "I should kill you for that!" Rancor and Tralos quickly rose to their feet.
"Calm down, Windrazor!" Tralos ordered sternly. "He didn't mean it!"
"These two must be around!" Rancor ordered. "If those four clowns found Foxfire and Toad..."
"Hey girly men!" A voice cried out. Foxfire made his appearance. He looked over at the four dragons and burst out laughing. "What is this, a renaissance fair? WAHHH HAHAHAHAHA huh?" He saw the four dragons bow towards him. "Hey, these clowns have taste. They worship me." Rogue slapped her forehead.
"Prophet, you are needed to battle a great evil." Foxfire looked at Windrazor strangely.
"Why do you have no legs?" Foxfire wondered.
"I was born without any, Prophet." Jake sighed.
"Lance, get Toad here, now." Jake simply said. "This is gonna be a looooooong night." After Lance and the rest of the Brotherhood arrived, the four dragons did the same thing. Pietro got furious and the other mutants were amazed.
"I CAN'T STAND IT!!!!" Pietro stood up angrily. "This lousy dragon has it made! First, he grievously insults me..."
"Ah'm not going out with you, Pietro!" Rogue snapped. Pietro ignored the remark.
"Then we find out that he, Rogue, Jason, and Toad are part of an ancient prophecy! What's in it for me?"
"Whoever wrote that prophecy had taste, Quicksilver." Foxfire grinned. "I ain't complainin'."
"You wouldn't." He growled. "I think this whole thing is just crock!" He ended up with a sword pointing at his neck courtesy of Windrazor.
"If you even dare to harm them in any way, shape, or form, I will kill you. That is a promise."
"I can move at superhuman speeds, Lizardman!" Pietro smirked. "You won't be able to catch me." Windrazor smirked. In a flash, he was across the room. Quicksilver's jaw dropped, as well as the other mutants. "What?"
"Catching you would not be a problem." The yellow dragon smiled evilly. Rancor laughed.
"As a hatchling, Windrazor accidentally drank a magic potion, gifting him with his speed." Rancor explained. "It was a funny incident."
"Why do you think he is known as Windrazor?" Tralos laughed. "He is so fast, he cuts the air."
"I hate to interrupt the fun boys, but we do have more important matters. You see, Professor..." Gwen sighed. "Tyrannis is inhuman."
"Literally." Toad quipped.
"Anyway, he is insane." Gwen said. "He has destroyed our world. He has killed mercilessly." The pink dragon started to shake, and a couple tears fell out of her tightly closed eyes. "I lost my mother thanks to him." Tralos wrapped an arm around his daughter.
"I lost my beloved mate thanks to Tyrannis."
"I had a brother named Axton." Windrazor sighed. "Like me, he was a noble, good-hearted one. A pride to dragons everywhere. During a supply raid, Axton and a group of dragons attacked a supply convoy. Unfortunately, Tyrannis himself was there. He fought the dragons there, and Axton distracted him while the other dragons fled. When they found him, all that was left of my noble brother was a few charred bones, his sword through the ribcage, and a few tattered shards of cloth."
"All four of us have grudges against Tyrannis." Rancor said.
"But now that we have the Chosen One and the three Prophets together, we can return to the Dragon Kingdom and face Tyrannis! We can avenge our lost loved ones and let them rest in peace." Windrazor cheered.
"Calm down, Windrazor!" Gwen sighed. "They are young. They aren't exactly ready."
"My concerns exactly." Xavier agreed. "I don't think it would be a good idea for them to go to another dimension when we have no idea about what dangers are there."
"Professor, they must face Tyrannis! Both our worlds are in danger!" Windrazor insisted. "The Chosen One and the Prophets are the only ones that can stop him!"
"We can find a way to lure him here." Scott offered.
"No, he's too smart for that." Rancor shook his head. He reached into his bodysuit and pulled out a semi-circular object that looked like it was part of an amulet. The outer semi-circular edge was silver, engraved with ancient writing. Three gems were arranged alongside it, a yellow garnet, a white diamond, and a black diamond.
"Like, what is that?" Kitty pointed at the amulet half. "It's beautiful." Rancor smiled.
"The Amulet of the Gods. One half of it anyway." Gwen answered.
"It is an ancient artifact, created by the six Dragon Gods." Windrazor explained. The mutants looked at him strangely. "What?"
"In our religion, there are six Gods. The story goes that there were two Dragon Gods at first. Lectrana, the Goddess of Light, and Shanos, the God of Shadow. They created the whole universe. In that universe, four elements arose." Rancor started telling the tale.
"Let me guess. Earth, Fire, Air and Water." Beast guessed.
"Correct." Rancor smiled. "They had four children, and each of them was put in charge of an element. Gaira became Goddess of Earth. Hydrus became God of Water. Cytora became Goddess of Wind, and Pygor became God of Fire. The four gods are like children. Sometimes they cooperate, sometimes they battle each other. These four monitor the elements here. Lectrana and Shanos let their children play with the young planet Earth, making it the way it is." Rancor smiled. "However, the four children were watched by their parents in the sky."
"Lectrana rules during the day, and Shanos rules in the night." Jake reasoned. Rancor nodded.
"What's so special about the amulet?" Toad wondered.
"Maybe it has magical powers." Blob suggested.
"Indeed." Tralos sighed. "Rancor has one half, Tyrannis has the other."
"I took it to protect the Kingdom as I fled from the throne." Rancor said. "You see, if Tyrannis can reunite the two halves of the amulet, he will...in essence, become a god."
"Is that possible?" Wolverine's eyes bulged.
"Yes." Gwen sighed. "If Tyrannis get his claws on it, nothing can stop him."
"That's also why Tyrannis is after me." Rancor sighed. "I cannot carry the amulet half on my person much longer. I have to put it somewhere safe."
"Why not allow us to hold on to the amulet half temporarily?" Xavier suggested. The four dragons appeared to like the idea.
"Of course!" Gwen snapped her clawed fingers. "That monster would never expect a dragon artifact to be in the hands, or in the care of humans."
"What a minute!" Pietro cried out. "How do you know the X-Geeks won't just give it to this 'Tyrannis' person? You can trust the Brotherhood with it." Jake had explained the 'X-Men vs. Brotherhood' thing to the four dragons.
"Unlike you, we care about this world!" Scott snapped.
"Since when?" Lance smirked.
"Yeah Scooter, we know all you care about is your social standing!" Foxfire agreed.
"Shut up, Fox!" Scott yelled.
"And you accuse Foxfire of having a big ego." Lance laughed.
"Shut up, Alvers!"
"You shut up, Summers!"
"Lame-o!"
"Dork!"
"Punk!"
"Nerd!"
"ENOUGH!" Jake leapt to his feet, and he knocked Scott and Lance's heads together.
"OW!! What was that for?!?" They both yelled at Jake.
"Two worlds are at stake, and you two are arguing amongst yourselves!" Dragon snapped. "And you've wondered why I chose to stay neutral! Listen up. We all have talents that we must put together on this one. Scott and Lance, as well as Evan and Pietro. I know that you guys have old rivalries, and quite frankly, I don't care right now!"
"Dragon's right, yo." Toad stood up with a sigh. "This is more important." He walked over to Nightcrawler. "I know we have a rivalry ourselves, Fuzzy. But unlike Avalanche and Quickie, I'll put it aside for the world." Toad outstretched his hand to Kurt.
"Might as vell...Prophet." Kurt quipped, shaking the hand of the toad-like mutant.
"The Prophet is right." Windrazor agreed. "You all must now dispense of your old rivalries. They are meaningless. Tyrannis will conquer this world if you allow these petty quarrels to continue. He will turn them against you. If he conquers this world, human, mutant, and dragon will suffer equally."
"We must all battle Tyrannis as one force. I know that will be tough." Rancor reassured.
"Ha!" Pietro scoffed. "The X-Geeks will turn and run!"
"That sounds like something you would do, Maximoff!" Spyke snapped. The two old enemies stood up, fists raised. Jake gave them the same treatment he gave Scott and Lance.
"OWW!!!" They cried out. Windrazor whispered something to Rancor.
"I don't trust the silver-haired one." Windrazor told Rancor. "His lust towards the Prophet called Rogue may cause him to turn traitor."
"We'll cross that bridge if we reach it." Rancor whispered back.
"Are we going or what?" Blob asked. "I wanna see what the food is like."
"Typical Freddy." Foxfire laughed. Rancor laughed in a friendly manner.
"I see you are willing to try some dragon cuisine. When we get to the Kingdom, I will see that your taste buds are satisfied."
"Sounds great!" Freddy smiled, turning to Jake. "Thank goodness Pietro isn't the Chosen One."
"HEY!! I'd make a better prophetic hero than that moron." Pietro smirked.
"You mean a more idiotic hero." Foxy grinned.
"I hate you." Pietro whined.
"So let me get this straight." Storm said. "Jake, Rogue, Toad, and Foxfire are supposed to go to this parallel universe and battle an evil dragon warlord, because a prophecy dictates they are destined to do so."
"I understand your concerns." Rancor said sadly. "Unfortunately, Tyrannis will not wait for the Chosen One to grow to adulthood. If he becomes aware that the Chosen One is..."
"Call me Jake." Dragon interrupted.
"Of course. As I was saying, if he becomes aware that Jake knows his destiny now, Tyrannis will not care about age, just as long as the Chosen One and the Prophets are dead."
"No one has answered mah question!" Rogue snapped. "Why couldn't Ah absorb the life force of the dragon that tried to kill me? Ah know that Jake is connected to this somehow." Gwen smirked.
"Because dragons have a very unique life force, that's why." Gwen explained. "The life force of all creatures is different. Our life energies are shielded by a natural psychic barrier."
"Barrier?" Rogue wanted a further explanation.
"I never detected a psychic barrier from Jake." Jean was confused.
"Neither have I." Xavier added.
"It can only be detected by a certain telepathic technique that neither of you have mastered." Tralos explained further. "It reduces the severity of injuries, and it reduces chances of death by severe injury. We discovered it also has the effect of preventing our life force from being stolen."
"Like when Ah touch someone."
"Exactly." Tralos nodded. "When you do touch someone, your mind creates a link with the mind of the person you touch, and the link sucks their life force into you. However, when you touch a dragon, your mind runs into the barrier. The barrier stops the linking, therefore, your mind cannot absorb the life force."
"Oh my stars and garters! Jake's dragon mutation must've given him the same mental shield! That's why Rogue can touch him!" Beast realized.
"I believe so." Tralos scratched his beard. "I think that's how your powers work, Rogue. I based it on how a creature in our world called a soulsucker does it. Only instead of touching, it bites."
"Beautiful!" Pietro groaned. "Just beautiful. Jake was born Rogue-proof."
"Ah wonder why..." Rogue smirked evilly at Jake, making the wrestler blush. Gwen let out a giggle.
"Yep, fate wanted you two together." Gwen giggled.
"I hate dragons." Pietro muttered. "I really hate dragons."
Can the red-haired wrestler live up to his divine expectations? What will happen to Rogue, Toad, and Foxfire? Can the X-Men, the Brotherhood, and the dragons defeat Tyrannis and save both their worlds? Find out on Genesis of a Dragon pt. 10!