The air was tense and still, the only sound being that of the helicopter blades; it was a long time before anyone moved or spoke.
"Alright, area is secure. Creature is down. Sending out personnel to retrieve the hostages."
There was movement among the police cars; a few officers stood up, still holding their handguns, and began to approach the fallen Danny. As they got closer, Sam could hear them talking to each other, muttering. Once within range, they directed their attention to the two teenagers who lay trapped underneath the creature's arm.
"Calm down... It'll be alright... We're here to help you."
One of them lifted his arm toward Sam; it was then that she found her voice.
"No!!"
The man flinched, but the others continued to advance upon Sam and Tuck. Sam wrapped her arms tightly around Danny's arm, looking the officer straight in the eye. Tuck followed suit, despite his inner judgement. Somehow or another, this unusual display of devotion and resistance had its effect; the officers halted before them. The one who stayed his hand before, middle-aged with dark brown hair and a mustache, turned to speak to one of the other men.
"What do you think? Maybe they're just in shock..."
Before they could come to any conclusions, Sam spoke up.
"Leave us alone... He's not dangerous!"
Tuck looked to Sam, then back at the officers, feeling a sweat coming on.
"Yeah... What she said... Uh..."
Sam silenced him with her hand across his mouth.
"Look, I know you think he's a threat, but he isn't..."
She was interrupted by a voice coming over a megaphone from the street.
"What are you waiting for? Get them out of there!!"
One of the men sleeved his gun, turning to face Sam.
"They're obviously out of their minds. We need to get them away from here as soon as possible..."
"NO!!!"
Sam let go of Danny's arm, wrenching herself free from his embrace, getting up on her hands and knees, then rising to her feet, standing up on Danny's chest. Her legs shook underneath her; she was still very weak. Somehow she was able to stand upright, however, and she looked down upon the men in uniform, her arms at her sides.
"He's trying to protect us... He saved everyone... You had NO RIGHT to shoot him!!!"
The men fell silent. Tuck looked up at Sam. She glared down at the men.
"He was taking us to the hospital... He had already brought down the real menace... The other dragon you saw... Or do you even care?? You think that just because something is huge and... not human, that it's some kind of monster, hellbent on destroying everything, and you don't even care where it came from or why it's here or anything, you just wanna bring it down like the bunch of... of... spear-chucking cavemen that you are, like it's some kind of big trophy, just to prove... what? That you can kill, that you can destroy? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!?? It's this very attitude about... that... which you don't understand... that's going to get us all killed in the end!!!"
The scene fell hushed, like a stadium after a sermon, save the helicopters that remained overhead. Somewhere, someone started clapping.
The semi-silence was given a more noticable interruption by the sound of communication radios going off on belts. Sam looked over at the police commander, a white-haired man in a long coat, who had his radio to his ear. His expression changed as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line; suddenly he appeared to be troubled by something, and he looked up at the sky, toward the south. Sam looked to her left, down the street, then up at the sky. In the distance, there was a dark shape, something resembling a spider in mid-air. Judging by its speed, it was miles away, yet it was heading in their direction. Sam could see wings moving slowly up and down.
The commander put down his radio and picked up his megaphone, even though several people were already scattering; the helicopters rose up, turned, and headed away before he even began to speak.
"Everyone evacuate! There's another monster coming, on a direct course through this area!"
A few of the officers turned and ran back toward their cars, but the two closest to Sam and Tuck quickly turned to them, raising their arms in a somewhat hurried gesture.
"Come on, now, we can't leave you here..."
"Yeah, but you'll just leave HIM here!!"
She pointed toward Danny's head. Feeling a hand grasp her leg, she jerked it back; she looked down and noticed that Tuck was the one who grabbed her, not one of the men.
"Sam... Let them take me. I'll only get in the way."
"Right... Right. You go. You need a doctor... Can you guys call an ambulance?"
"We already did, when we found out that your friend was injured. Come on, we'll get you to a hospital..."
With Sam's help, the two men were able to lift Danny's limp arm off of Tuck. Carefully, one of the men took Tuck unto his arms, then bodily carried him away, toward a white van in the street with a red cross on its side. The other officer held out his hand to Sam, as though expecting her to come down.
"No! Not until you get someone to get those darts out of his leg, and then do something to wake him up!"
Sam had absolutely no idea what anyone would be able to do in order to revive Danny, but it seemed to be worth a shot in asking. She certainly didn't want to leave Danny helpless in the face of whatever was coming for them. However, she was assured in that her first request was answered; the officer called over a number of soldiers who had yet to get into their vehicle, who had left off their packing up and instead proceeded to pluck out each dart by hand, throwing them into a metal box they carried with them. Another group of military personnel climbed out of a different vehicle, carrying a number of small black boxes with them and running over towards Danny's head, surrounding him there. One of the soldiers, a blonde woman, opened one of the boxes and pulled out a hypodermic needle. Whatever chemical was inside it was clear and yellow in color, as Sam noticed; she jumped down from Danny's chest, running over to watch what the woman was doing.
"What is that?"
The woman pulled off the protective sleeve on the end of the needle, pointing it upwards and ejecting a small amount of the fluid to remove any air that may have been in the cylinder.
"A modified amphetamine. Used to counter the effects of a tranquilizer without causing too many harmful side effects. We're going to need more than one injection for this thing."
"He's a he, not an it."
"Right."
Sam knew what amphetamines were; she felt a little uneasy at having to witness her friend getting a shot of speed, even if it was meant to help him. The woman put one hand on Danny's neck, feeling around behind his ear-fin. She finally pulled the flap of green skin back, and introduced the injection underneath the scales behind the flap, into the back of his head. She let the flap go and put her hand back on his neck again. She was checking his pulse. After a few seconds, she held out her hand to one of the other soldiers; he handed her another prepared syringe. She pulled back the flap, administering the drug into the same area, apparently where a major vein ran.
She was interrupted in the middle of the third injection by an ear-splitting scream; everyone's attention turned to the sky. Not too far away was the flying creature, an absence of light in the broad sun.
Sam gasped when she saw it. What looked to be a large flying spider in the distance was now very clearly a gigantic spidery black two-headed dragon, at least ten times Danny's size. The two spiked heads hung from the ends of two long, stalk-like necks, which stood out from the great body like the suspended arches of an ancient gothic building. The two wings, large compared to the rest of the body, resembled giant thin-fingered hands; there was sparse membrane stretched between the long, pointed ribs. A long, thin, whiplike tail streamed behind the dragon as it flew toward them. Two powerful legs hung underneath it, razor-like talons protruding from its feet. Its body was as black as the starless night. Once more from its crimson maws came the spine-chilling cry.
As the creature descended upon the scene, people found themselves frozen in place by some unknown force; no matter how hard they tried, they could not move their legs, and their eyes could not help but remain fixed on the demonic being that plagued their vision. The woman dropped the needle that lay in her hand, the glass shattering as it hit the asphalt. Color drained from her face.
Now only a hundred feet away, the dragon slowed to a hover, sending cars and firetrucks flying in the street with the gusts coming off its wings. The spell broken, the soldiers sprang to their feet and dashed away to safety, terrified out of their minds. Sam, finding herself able to move again, dove for Danny's head, wrapping her arms around what she could of his scaly face. She held his head tightly in her embrace, burying her face in his white hair.
She did not look up to see the dragon as it opened its mouths once again, this time with a bright red glow shining from each mouth, the lights growing brighter as it prepared to unleash its attack. She could not bear to watch.
"Alright, area is secure. Creature is down. Sending out personnel to retrieve the hostages."
There was movement among the police cars; a few officers stood up, still holding their handguns, and began to approach the fallen Danny. As they got closer, Sam could hear them talking to each other, muttering. Once within range, they directed their attention to the two teenagers who lay trapped underneath the creature's arm.
"Calm down... It'll be alright... We're here to help you."
One of them lifted his arm toward Sam; it was then that she found her voice.
"No!!"
The man flinched, but the others continued to advance upon Sam and Tuck. Sam wrapped her arms tightly around Danny's arm, looking the officer straight in the eye. Tuck followed suit, despite his inner judgement. Somehow or another, this unusual display of devotion and resistance had its effect; the officers halted before them. The one who stayed his hand before, middle-aged with dark brown hair and a mustache, turned to speak to one of the other men.
"What do you think? Maybe they're just in shock..."
Before they could come to any conclusions, Sam spoke up.
"Leave us alone... He's not dangerous!"
Tuck looked to Sam, then back at the officers, feeling a sweat coming on.
"Yeah... What she said... Uh..."
Sam silenced him with her hand across his mouth.
"Look, I know you think he's a threat, but he isn't..."
She was interrupted by a voice coming over a megaphone from the street.
"What are you waiting for? Get them out of there!!"
One of the men sleeved his gun, turning to face Sam.
"They're obviously out of their minds. We need to get them away from here as soon as possible..."
"NO!!!"
Sam let go of Danny's arm, wrenching herself free from his embrace, getting up on her hands and knees, then rising to her feet, standing up on Danny's chest. Her legs shook underneath her; she was still very weak. Somehow she was able to stand upright, however, and she looked down upon the men in uniform, her arms at her sides.
"He's trying to protect us... He saved everyone... You had NO RIGHT to shoot him!!!"
The men fell silent. Tuck looked up at Sam. She glared down at the men.
"He was taking us to the hospital... He had already brought down the real menace... The other dragon you saw... Or do you even care?? You think that just because something is huge and... not human, that it's some kind of monster, hellbent on destroying everything, and you don't even care where it came from or why it's here or anything, you just wanna bring it down like the bunch of... of... spear-chucking cavemen that you are, like it's some kind of big trophy, just to prove... what? That you can kill, that you can destroy? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!?? It's this very attitude about... that... which you don't understand... that's going to get us all killed in the end!!!"
The scene fell hushed, like a stadium after a sermon, save the helicopters that remained overhead. Somewhere, someone started clapping.
The semi-silence was given a more noticable interruption by the sound of communication radios going off on belts. Sam looked over at the police commander, a white-haired man in a long coat, who had his radio to his ear. His expression changed as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line; suddenly he appeared to be troubled by something, and he looked up at the sky, toward the south. Sam looked to her left, down the street, then up at the sky. In the distance, there was a dark shape, something resembling a spider in mid-air. Judging by its speed, it was miles away, yet it was heading in their direction. Sam could see wings moving slowly up and down.
The commander put down his radio and picked up his megaphone, even though several people were already scattering; the helicopters rose up, turned, and headed away before he even began to speak.
"Everyone evacuate! There's another monster coming, on a direct course through this area!"
A few of the officers turned and ran back toward their cars, but the two closest to Sam and Tuck quickly turned to them, raising their arms in a somewhat hurried gesture.
"Come on, now, we can't leave you here..."
"Yeah, but you'll just leave HIM here!!"
She pointed toward Danny's head. Feeling a hand grasp her leg, she jerked it back; she looked down and noticed that Tuck was the one who grabbed her, not one of the men.
"Sam... Let them take me. I'll only get in the way."
"Right... Right. You go. You need a doctor... Can you guys call an ambulance?"
"We already did, when we found out that your friend was injured. Come on, we'll get you to a hospital..."
With Sam's help, the two men were able to lift Danny's limp arm off of Tuck. Carefully, one of the men took Tuck unto his arms, then bodily carried him away, toward a white van in the street with a red cross on its side. The other officer held out his hand to Sam, as though expecting her to come down.
"No! Not until you get someone to get those darts out of his leg, and then do something to wake him up!"
Sam had absolutely no idea what anyone would be able to do in order to revive Danny, but it seemed to be worth a shot in asking. She certainly didn't want to leave Danny helpless in the face of whatever was coming for them. However, she was assured in that her first request was answered; the officer called over a number of soldiers who had yet to get into their vehicle, who had left off their packing up and instead proceeded to pluck out each dart by hand, throwing them into a metal box they carried with them. Another group of military personnel climbed out of a different vehicle, carrying a number of small black boxes with them and running over towards Danny's head, surrounding him there. One of the soldiers, a blonde woman, opened one of the boxes and pulled out a hypodermic needle. Whatever chemical was inside it was clear and yellow in color, as Sam noticed; she jumped down from Danny's chest, running over to watch what the woman was doing.
"What is that?"
The woman pulled off the protective sleeve on the end of the needle, pointing it upwards and ejecting a small amount of the fluid to remove any air that may have been in the cylinder.
"A modified amphetamine. Used to counter the effects of a tranquilizer without causing too many harmful side effects. We're going to need more than one injection for this thing."
"He's a he, not an it."
"Right."
Sam knew what amphetamines were; she felt a little uneasy at having to witness her friend getting a shot of speed, even if it was meant to help him. The woman put one hand on Danny's neck, feeling around behind his ear-fin. She finally pulled the flap of green skin back, and introduced the injection underneath the scales behind the flap, into the back of his head. She let the flap go and put her hand back on his neck again. She was checking his pulse. After a few seconds, she held out her hand to one of the other soldiers; he handed her another prepared syringe. She pulled back the flap, administering the drug into the same area, apparently where a major vein ran.
She was interrupted in the middle of the third injection by an ear-splitting scream; everyone's attention turned to the sky. Not too far away was the flying creature, an absence of light in the broad sun.
Sam gasped when she saw it. What looked to be a large flying spider in the distance was now very clearly a gigantic spidery black two-headed dragon, at least ten times Danny's size. The two spiked heads hung from the ends of two long, stalk-like necks, which stood out from the great body like the suspended arches of an ancient gothic building. The two wings, large compared to the rest of the body, resembled giant thin-fingered hands; there was sparse membrane stretched between the long, pointed ribs. A long, thin, whiplike tail streamed behind the dragon as it flew toward them. Two powerful legs hung underneath it, razor-like talons protruding from its feet. Its body was as black as the starless night. Once more from its crimson maws came the spine-chilling cry.
As the creature descended upon the scene, people found themselves frozen in place by some unknown force; no matter how hard they tried, they could not move their legs, and their eyes could not help but remain fixed on the demonic being that plagued their vision. The woman dropped the needle that lay in her hand, the glass shattering as it hit the asphalt. Color drained from her face.
Now only a hundred feet away, the dragon slowed to a hover, sending cars and firetrucks flying in the street with the gusts coming off its wings. The spell broken, the soldiers sprang to their feet and dashed away to safety, terrified out of their minds. Sam, finding herself able to move again, dove for Danny's head, wrapping her arms around what she could of his scaly face. She held his head tightly in her embrace, burying her face in his white hair.
She did not look up to see the dragon as it opened its mouths once again, this time with a bright red glow shining from each mouth, the lights growing brighter as it prepared to unleash its attack. She could not bear to watch.