Angels with Newfound Hope

Prologue: Malfunction

Underground Hideout - Onyx, Terra

April 31st, 2019: 10:19PM

Deep underground, in a secret bunker stood two humans. One was a brunette fiddling with his watch. This was Alex Thompson. The other was a friend of his. She was known only as Mongoose. The latter was working on the portal they'd discovered some months ago. Alex himself went through a complicated UI, inputting coordinates to use.

"I hope this thing doesn't go screwing up again." The brunette recalled the major malfunction and the month he spent in a completely different world. The portal finally flared to life, casting its ominous whitish glow on their faces.

"Doubt it. I've been tweaking the calibrations for this thing since you got back. It should spit you out wherever you want now." The hispanic woman clacked away at her keyboard as her companion observed. He couldn't see the specifics, but understood what was going on. She was completing stabilization so nobody gets killed when they're halfway through. He'd heard that happened to a volunteer once in a public program.

"So I should be out in San Gregario if I confirm the coordinates?" Alex finished inputting said coordinates. Mongoose hummed and nodded idly as she continued typing.

"Exactly. Just make sure you have what you need in case of another malfunction. You got your bag?" Mongoose finished with her commands and spun to face the man, who patted the aforementioned item.

"Right here. So, what exactly did you pack in this? It feels a bit heavier than before." Alex inspected the sealed sling bag. The bright gray Urban Explorer logo practically glowed in the semi-darkness.

"Just the usual: food and water, your rifle, a spare pistol clip, and a few other things. You'll find out when you're on the other side." Mongoose listed off the bare-bones basics he survived on last time. The brunette immediately felt a bad omen from the choice of equipment.

"Hopefully, I won't need it. I take it, this is it now." Mongoose had a grim look when Alex faced her.

"Point of no return. Contact me as soon as you're on the other side. And stay safe, Viper." Mongoose gave the vigilante a quick hug goodbye before he entered the portal...

Falling. The next thing Alex knew, he was falling through an endless void. Blue beams of light zipped past him towards... something. the familiar feeling of being torn apart and reassembled ravaged his entire body once more.

Just when the human thought it wouldn't get any worse, whispers started filling his head. Multiple voices assaulted his ears with 'Save them' and 'No escape'. They only got more and more maddening the longer Alex fell. Was this it for him? Was he going to die in this place? Only time would tell as he wrenched his eyes shut...

Alex arrived atop a hill with another portal about three times his size behind him. The whispers lingered in his head as he tried to contact Mongoose to no avail.

"Dammit. So I'm stuck in another world again." He closed out the call, pulling up his coordinates. They read as errors yet again. He slumped against the portal in defeat.

A twig snapping nearby tore him from his thoughts. Getting up, he swiftly found himself in a vice grip. A knife held itself against his throat.

Alex grabbed his attacker around their neck and threw them over his back. They hit the grass with a soft 'thud' as he drew his pistol. The cloaked figure drew their own gun, a 19th century model revolver.

"I'd drop that if I were you." The brunette growled, to which they aimed for his head. A single glowing projectile sunk itself into the ground beside the attacker's masked face. He'd fired a warning shot, and he won't miss next time. They swept Alex's legs and made a beeline for the woods. The human fired off three more rounds as they disappeared.

"Dammit. Not five minutes and someone already wants me dead." Alex cursed. He lay his head against the soft grass for a bit before lumbering footsteps approached him. A quick glance up told the human this visit would be worse than he thought.

"Are you- oh! In the name of my people, I bid you... welcome?" It was a pure white dragon wearing a burgundy tie. His ears seemed a little malformed, as if the egg wasn't quite incubated properly. The dragon held a confused look as Alex pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Great. Just fucking peachy. Not only am I lost again, but there are more dragons to boot. Thanks a lot!" The human yelled to the sky. The dragon padded softly over to him. He caught it mid-step and sighed.

"Let me guess. You want me thrown in jail." He grumbled. The dragon took on a look of shock. Never before had he heard someone imply such a thing.

"No, not at all! I was just going to ask if you were the person Reza asked over." Now Alex was shocked. Did this dragon mean the same Reza he used to go to school with?

"Reza Izquierdo? My fifth grade classmate?" The dragon nodded. "Oh now I have to figure this out. I take it he's asleep, though." The brunette checked his watch's time. It read close to midnight. He sighed in relief at its working condition.

"I'm afraid so. We have some accommodations for you if you'd like them" Alex was stunned yet again. These dragons can't have been related to Spyro's kind.

"You're offering me a place to stay? You've got to be joking." The dragon shook his head.

"No joke. You two may stay as long as you need. I'm Remy by the way." The dragon, now Remy, held his hand out for a shake. The human took it hesitantly.

"Alex. It's good to meet you. So quick question." He requested. Remy motioned for him to go ahead. "How'd you guys find out about us humans?" The larger male thought suspiciously deeply before replying.

"I thought you knew everything already. Well, if you don't, we'll have to catch you up another time. There's just a bit too much ground to cover in such a short walk." The pair reached the edge of a quaint looking village. What looked to be cute, tudor style houses dotted the roads they walked through. He just wished he could see better now.

"I wish I had my nightshades on me. I can barely see where I'm going." Alex groaned. Remy looked back apologetically.

"I'm sorry about this, but there's a good reason your arrival is this late. We didn't want you to be ambushed by a crowd like Reza was. So we scheduled you for late at night and kept the details secret to everyone." Remy explained sheepishly. The smaller human only nodded, taking what few details he could in as he listened.

"I take it humans are celebrities of a sort here. It makes sense to a degree. It would be a similar case if a friendly dragon suddenly appeared." He commented passively. His eyes darted to a cluster of trees they had just passed, hand zipping to his pistol.

"That's quite the understatement. Some people here are rather superstitious. They might regard you, or any human, as kind of... divine." The dragon replied in an unfortunate tone.

"Divine? How so?" The brunette kept his gaze focused everywhere that could be a hiding spot, whilst also passively listening.

"Well, we have certain myths that involve humans and as such- oh, that was a shorter walk than I expected. Here we are." They had arrived at a smaller apartment building. It looked to have about four or so units. Remy led him to the rightmost unit and opened the door for them.

With the flick of a switch, Alex was blinded by the lights. The pain wouldn't even subside with his eyes shut tight. He felt around for a bit, placing his hand on something scaly.

"Make yourself at home. You'll find the place is fully stocked as- ah!" Remy jumped at the sudden touch. "What are you doing, Alex?" He then noticed the human rubbing his eyes.

"Just stay still for a moment. I'm kind of blind right now and have to feel around." The human complained with his palm still resting on Remy's hide. The dragon carefully led him over to a sofa and sat him down.

"There. At least now you can let your eyes to adjust without worrying about getting hurt." Remy sat next to him and waited until he could at least squint without being hurt. It took a solid minute, but eventually, the human could see again.

"Okay... I think I'm good now. Thanks for that." Alex grumbled. All he wanted to do was sleep now.

"Only if you're sure. It's getting late now, so I have to get going. The place is fully stocked and you'll find numbers for any service you'll need on the table in front of you. Feel free to call me too if you feel like it. I'll see you later, Alex." With that, Remy shut the door behind him.

"Guess I'm playing ambassador now. I wonder how the hell Reza got here. He did take part in that thing, but I didn't think... Maybe I should just take inventory and go to sleep." Alex contemplated aloud. Some footsteps outside startled him until he remembered who just exited. That damned paranoia was going to kill him if he didn't calm down.

The brunette went to remove his bag and... nothing! He immediately ran for the door and checked all the way up to the portal. That sling bag had all his weapons inside, and now an absolute stranger had it! He suspected the mysterious person who had attacked him before. They did bolt after he fired that warning shot when they had the advantage. Maybe that was why. Either way, he wasn't getting his bag back anytime soon. The human made his way back to the apartment and passed out on the sofa...