Chatper Five: Beaten, Broken, and Blind

The Black Dragoon flew fast and flew hard. It took him a couple hours to reach his destination. He descended, landed, and fell onto his face.

A soul floated nearby. With some unseen guidance, it reached the body and reentered. A dark force surrounded the Black Dragoon's body, restoring him. Soon, it subsided. His Dragoon armor disappeared.

He began breathing once more. His eyes opened.

"What…" He whispered. "What happened?"

"You were struck down."

The Human-Dragoon looked up and around. He knew where he was.

"Frankly," the voice continued, "I am disappointed."

The Black Dragoon took himself over and found he was really alive.

"What did you do?" He asked.

"When you were killed, your soul was sent here, so I kept it until the dragon could bring you back. Then, I returned it to you."

He gritted his teeth. "I'd almost rather be dead." He pulled the Dragoon spirit from his pocket and threw it at a wall. "I quit! I'm out! I don't want to do this anymore!"

"Why not?"

"Because all I've done is hurt people."

"And…?"

"Listen, I don't know who or what you are, or what problems you have with the Dragoons, but they're your issue, not mine!"

"You feel guilty." The voice translated.

"What do you expect?"

"Then why did you do those things to them in the first place?"

He shook his head. "It wasn't me. It was the dragon, your dragon. Not mine."

"Then why do you feel guilty if you did nothing?"

"Because I was the one who released him."

"Uh-huh." The voice seemed unmoved. "Tell me. When you were the Black Dragoon, what did you feel when you did those things?"

What kind of a question was this? "What do you mean?"

"I mean did you feel bad about what you were doing? Did you feel guilt?"

He hesitated. "Not really…"

"Do you know why?"

"Because the Black Dragon has no emotion." He guessed.

"And neither did you. You see, when you are a Dragoon, you two are one in the same. Why wander around with eternal regret over what you have done?" The spirit shimmered on the ground. "Take it back…forget the emotion…forget the pain."

The voice was sinking deeper and deeper into his skull. He was right. He took a small baby step, then another.

"That's good." The voice encouraged. "Take another step…and another…yes…"

His strides became longer. When he got close enough, he fell to his knees. He could hear the dragon inside his head, beckoning him. He could feel the dragon…and his own feelings began to falter. He reached out his hand and the sting of regret subsided even more. Finally, he shot his hand out and snatched the dragoon spirit. His veins bulged with dark energy as the power traveled through his hand, up his arm, and deep into his heart. His breath rate increased as the black energy swarmed within him, tainting his soul.

"How do you feel?" The voice asked.

The human's hand twitched as it clutched the Dragoon Spirit. A smile slowly slid onto his face.

"Good…" he whispered.

"Good. Now…you must hurry for your next assignment."

Ulara was already visible when the Dragoons got there. Magical beams lit up the sky.

"Now what?" Robert groaned. They picked up the pace.

"Let me guess." Ben grumbled as they drew nearer.

Melissa suddenly shot past them and Ben didn't try to stop her. She flew to the uneven dark spot that her dragon detected and stabbed at it. The Black Dragoon moved and ducked under her next swipe.

"You're going to pay for everything you've done!" Melissa struck thrice more. Finally, the Black Dragoon blocked one and grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back. He grabbed her other arm and held it still as he whispered into her ear.

"You should have come to me I asked you…you can still come, if you wish." He nipped her earlobe lightly. Melissa cringed, disgusted.

"You're sick."

"Nah, I'm just more than you're used to."

Suddenly, a strong wind tore him from Melissa at a great speed and slammed him into a building. Robert flew over to Melissa.

"That is the most pathetic pick-up attempt I have EVER seen!"

Melissa had to chuckle and looked over to where the Black Dragoon had landed. He was gone!

"Where is he?"

The Black Dragoon hopped from shadow to shadow to escape the winglies. He'd already been damaged rather well by their surprising show of force. He ran to the long-range teleporter, a yellow pad circle on the ground with three curved spires each about eight feet tall. He grabbed one of them and pulled with all his might.

During this, he was exposed and the winglies jumped him again, firing rapid magic blasts. The Black Dragoon pulled harder under the force of the barrage and finally ripped the spire from its foundation and jumped to the sky. He fired one more blast from his Dragoon Spirit and flew away as fast as he could, blending in with the night sky.

Melissa flew to Charle's home, where she knew Ben had taken Mike. There, they discussed everything that had happened.

"Why would he attack this place?" Ben wanted to know.

"Perhaps he knows this is like our safe house." Robert shrugged. "Or he knew that he weakened dragoons would be here."

"Well, maybe, but attacking this place is just not smart! I mean there are tons of winglies here; they'd surely kill him."

"It appears the long-range teleporter was his goal." Charle explained to them. He took one of the spires that concentrate the transporting power."

"So…it doesn't work anymore, does it?" Robert translated.

"I'm afraid not, and it will take some time to repair."

"We'll just fly back then." Ben sighed. "Wonderful. Well, while we're here, how are the others?"

"Bradley is steadily recovering, Brittany is still in a coma, and Christie's handicap is making her restless. She actually tried healing herself, but in her state, the mental strain knocked her out. She'll wake in the morning, though, and try again, no doubt."

Ben chuckled. "That sounds like her…so I can't see her?"

"I'm afraid not. She needs her rest, as do the other Dragoons."

"And Sean?"

Charle sighed. "No status changes thus far."

"Nothing?"

"I'm afraid not."

Ben rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How does Sean do this all the time?" He muttered.

"Where is Melissa?" Charle wanted to know.

Robert spoke up. "Out wandering the city somewhere."

"How is she?"

"Her boyfriend is in a coma, her best friends are badly hurt, and her brother nearly died. What do you think?"

Charle nodded. "I think we need to stop underestimating this foe of ours and destroy him quickly, whoever he is."

"That's another thing." Ben sighed, sick of all the bad news. "Our dragons can't sense his."

Charle raised a brow. "That's odd."

"Yeah, and apparently, he can merge with any darkness. Thus, he has a great stealth advantage."

"This is not good."

"Heck no." Rob scoffed. "Every night, he can just come right up and kill us and we'll be helpless to stop him."

"We're not entirely helpless." Ben attempted.

Rob walked past him. "Tell that to the Dragoons lying in wingly beds right now."

Ben sighed. He was very right.

With the current circumstances and lack of sleep, Thursday was a very bad day for the last three Dragoons.

Robert was tired all day, thus he missed many important notes in one class, so he had no clue how to do the homework. He also near-failed a test in another class. He hoped to regain some energy at lunch, but he had no money to buy food with. The lack of sustenance made his basketball performance even worse. Throughout the whole practice, his coach was on his case. The semifinals were tomorrow and Rob's performance was pathetic.

The cheerleaders weren't around this time, either, so Rob felt even more alone. He wondered if that girl would be there. What was her name? Marian? But no, she was nowhere to be seen. Robert grabbed everything and headed out.

As he walked home alone, his eyes on the ground, his brain replayed everything once more. So much had happened all at once, and it only looked like it would get worse.

With his eyes on the ground and his mind not where it should have been, Robert strayed off course a little. He was walking beside a small road and didn't even see the speed limit sign before he walked right into it. Robert fell backwards and landed in the grass and mud, wet from an early rain.

"What next?" Robert grumbled.

Just then, a car drove by and hit a puddle, splashing the water onto Robert.

A small smile was upon his face. "Nope," Rob said. "Didn't need that."

He lay, staring up at the sky, wondering what to do now. Should he get up and keep going or just lie here and take whatever came next. Then, a figure loomed over him. It was Marian!

"You okay?" She asked.

Once more, Rob's macho instinct kicked in. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine." He reeled his feet back, catapulted up, and flipped right into the speed limit sign that was still in front of him and fell back down.

"You okay?" Marian asked in the exact same tone.

Rob sighed. "It's just one of those days."

"What days?"

"You can't save the world right, your friends are being picked off one bye one, you're being watched by an invisible enemy, your grades suffer, you can't eat, so your coach yells at you, you run into a sign you pass every day, and you can't impress a girl to save your life. You know, one of those days when life knocks you down, then kicks you around for a little while?"

Marian nodded. "I know those days."

They both had to chuckle, for a reason they could not decipher.

"So it just hasn't been your day?"

"Not been my week, actually." Rob said.

"What's up?"

"Long story." He shook his head and pulled himself back onto his feet. Quickly, he began looking for something to say. "So, uh…you live out here?"

"Nearby, yeah."

"Can I, uh…Can I walk you home?"

Marian seemed stunned, but delighted. "Yes! Erm…that would be nice."

Rob chuckled and walk alongside her. He needed times like this to help him overcome the difficulties of being a Dragoon.

Melissa had received nearly no sleep at all. All night she tossed and turned, trying to get the images out of her mind, but they stuck to her like glue. She was itching for revenge against the Black Dragoon, but it would not come. After nearly a week of this madness, Melissa was ready to crack at any moment.

It was after school. She and Adam were in the school computer lab typing up a lab report, the most boring and irritating part of the whole experiment.

"Uh, it's 'Cu', not 'C.' Adam pointed out. "Cu is copper. C is Carbon."

Melissa's eye twitched. "Okay." She whispered.

Adam had noticed her situation, but thought it wise not to pry.

"Um…" Adam began, "You, uh…added wrong there."

Melissa went back to fix her error, pounding on the keys. "I really don't need this right now."

"You want me to do it?" Adam offered.

"No!" She said it a bit more forcefully than she had intended. "I can handle this."

Adam sensed a double meaning, but again knew not to bug her about it. Soon enough, another situation came up.

"Um…" He was very hesitant this time. "You, uh…you put Carbon again."

Melissa needed an outlet. With a curse, she slammed her fists down on the keyboard. Suddenly, the screen became fully blue. Melissa stared at it.

"What…happened?" She seethed.

Adam gulped. "Well, it, uh…it looks like it kinda…crashed."

Melissa grinded her teeth. They'd been working for half an hour without saving any data. Melissa began randomly typing away at the keyboard, hoping to regain the regular screen. Nothing worked.

"C'mon." She ordered. Still nothing. "C'mon!" Finally, she pounded the keyboard again, and then shoved it to the side in frustration.

Melissa rested her elbows on the table and put her face in her hands.

Adam was shocked. "Are…are you crying?"

She wiped her face so he wouldn't see, but still tried not to look at him. "I don't cry…I'm the tough girl, remember?" her voice was cracking.

Adam looked around. They were the only ones in the computer lab. He leaned over to her.

"Well…nobody's looking…"

Somehow, that seemed to work. Melissa let it out and wept right then and there. Not sure of what to do, Adam rubbed her back. To his surprise, she turned to him and buried her face in his chest as she cried. Still unsure, Adam put his arms around her. She held him tighter.

The two of them stayed like this for a good while as Melissa unleashed her emotions upon Adam.

When it was finally over, Melissa pulled herself away. "Gosh…how embarrassing." She chuckled. She now knew how Sean felt when he unloaded his feelings in Ulara.

Adam scratched the back of his head. "Well…everyone cries now and then."

"I'm supposed to be the tough girl, though." Melissa muttered.

"I heard somewhere that crying actually makes you stronger."

Melissa smiled a little. "Thanks, Adam…I really needed that."

"No problem."

"But it's funny…you didn't even ask me what was wrong."

"Well, I figured that if I asked, you'd gouge my eyes out with the mood you were in. Overall, I figured it was better not to ask. I mean…does it matter?"

Melissa smiled brighter, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You're sweet."

Adam was shocked.

They went to another computer and finished the lab report, and then they headed out.

"So…you coming to the game tomorrow?" Adam asked.

Melissa nodded. "Yeah, I think I will."

"Cool." Adam said. "I'll see you there."

Melissa waved. "Bye." And she turned and left.

There, you see? The voice said when she had gone. Adam pulled the Black Dragoon Spirit from his pocket and looked at it. You're getting just what you wanted.

Adam felt that he should be happier than he was. In truth, he was pondering over whether or not it was worth it.

All week, Hank had been going over Anna's old things, now finally being able to understand most of them. She had several notebooks in code that he was no able to decipher. She kept many records of her adventures in the world. She had been traveling for quite some time before she met him.

Hank remembered how it happened. Hank was very into the baseball game, but the woman next to him just seemed confused. She finally expressed her confusion and Hank tried to help her understand why the players made more money than the government.

"Everybody loves entertainment," Hank had said, "But who likes politics?"

With that line, he had her attention. They got to talking through the game. Anna told him she was a vagabond, wandering from place to place, never really staying in one place. She apparently was going to leave the next day, so Hank asked if he could "properly show her the city" that night. She agreed.

Hank saw her thoughts now. She had found herself at a dilemma that evening. She knew she should go on and try to find the bearer of the Divine Dragoon Spirit, which was the whole reason for her leaving Ulara. But then again, this Hank guy was…pretty amazing. Anna decided to stay and see how things went.

Hank had been afraid that Sean was the only reason she had stayed, but he found he was wrong, quite wrong, so his hopes were renewed. Sean was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Hank continued reading.

I told Sean today that we'd be flying a good distance. He swore he was ready. He later discovered he was wrong. The poor boy was wiped out!

I wanted to show him a few things from the forgotten worlds that still remained, such as the ruins of wingly cities and famous places where the Dragoons of old had been.

The last place we went was Seles. I wanted to show this to Sean because it was where the last Divine Dragoon, Dart, lived centuries ago. Here, I discovered the most remarkable thing since the Divine Dragoon Spirit: The Dragon Buster! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it! It took it with me so that it could not fall into the wrong hands, for Sean is still learning…

Hank looked up. Dragon Buster? What was that?

Before leaving Ulara, Hank had also obtained an old wingly book of historical records so that he could familiarize himself with the history of Dragoons and such. It also helped him understand some of Anna's notes.

Hank flipped through page after page until he finally found the Dragon Buster. It was a sword made by Melbu Frahma nearly twelve thousand years ago. He used it to gain an edge in the Dragon Campaign. It was a sword specially designed to kill dragons; it could through their scales like a razor blade through hot butter. Because a Dragoon's armor is fashioned from a dragon, the sword worked the same for them.

Suddenly, Hank began thinking.

Ben came home after school, walked upstairs, dropped his backpack on the ground, and fell down onto his bed. He felt very beaten from the whole ordeal. Under his rule, the Dragoons had lost four of their members.

"Sean wouldn't have lost anybody." Ben muttered to himself. He strained his brain to think of a plan, but nothing seemed to overcome the advantage of stealth that belonged to the Black Dragoon. He needed sleep right now, though. Maybe that would help him think better. Ben closed his eyes and dozed off.

Ben awoke not long after in a world of fire. He'd been here before. The Red-Eye Dragon was connecting their minds so they could speak feely. Technically, Ben's mind was now inside the Red-Eye Dragoon spirit.

The ironic thing is that the Red-Eye Dragon actually had green eyes. His skin, however, was red. He was of average size for a dragon, but had a much smaller appearance in this realm to talk to Ben easier. He was about Ben's height now, if you didn't count the large wings. His head was long and came to a point at the nose. His shoulders were like thick spikes coming from his legs and the knees on all of his legs had points to them. The Dragon was built for any kind of combat.

"What's up?" Ben asked the dragon.

"You shouldn't blame yourself." Red-Eyes told him. "It wasn't your fault."

"Somehow, I think Sean could do a much better job."

The dragon scoffed. "Probably, but that isn't saying much. I mean Sean is a born leader, no doubt about it. That doesn't mean you have to be too far behind, though."

Ben wasn't convinced.

"Look," Red-Eyes continued. "We're up against a much stronger enemy than we could have imagined. None of us would ever suspect a Dragoon going against us. He took most of us by surprise. We're slowly starting to understand our foe, but until then, we have to play it by ear."

Ben shook his head. "If we knew who he was…"

"But we don't. What I'd like to know is just what dragon is giving him all his powers."

"And you say you can't sense it?"

Red-Eyes shook his large head. "No, I can't. We were right in front of him last night and I felt nothing. The Golden Dragoon said he was completely taken by surprise last night. Even the Dark Dragon can barely sense him and that's by feeling the darkness, not the dragon itself."

"And Melissa said that she stabbed the Black Dragoon in the heart and the head and he didn't die. What dragon can do that?"

"None that I know of, but this worries me."

"Why?"

"This is obviously a power of darkness, but not all dark powers can do such a trick. Only the highest of powers have that ability."

"What exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying that that this dragon may be more powerful than we think. If he can restore fatal wounds, he must have some demonic dealings of sorts. That means he is both very powerful and very evil."

Ben sighed. "All eight of us could quite possibly tackle him, I think, but just three?"

"You'll think of something."

"Ben?" A voice called. Ben's mind left the dragon realm and returned to the real world just as his mother entered the room. "Oh! Sorry. I didn't know you were sleeping."

"No, it's okay. What's up?"

"Someone's on the phone for you."

"Okay, thanks." She left and Ben picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Ben? It's Hank."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Look, I think I may have found a clue to defeating the Black Dragoon."

Ben raised a brow. "You do?"

"Yeah, ever heard of something called a Dragon Buster?"

"Dragon Buster?"

Suddenly, the Red-Eye Dragoon spirit glowed mightily in recognition of the term.

"Come over here and I'll explain everything." Hank said.

"Uh, okay. Later." He hung up and was quickly sent back to the dragon realm.

"Did you say Dragon Buster?" The Red-Eye Dragon asked.

"Yeah, Hank said something about being able to defeat the Black Dragoon and then asked if I knew of something called a Dragon Buster."

The dragon seemed very excited. "This could be a turning point!"

"Why? What's the Dragon Buster?"

"Do you remember back during the last battle with Melbu Frahma, when Sean came back and helped kill him?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember the sword he used?"

Suddenly, it came back to Ben. "The Dragon Buster!"

"Yes, the sword used for killing dragons. Oh, but I feel so foolish for not thinking of this before!"

"Me too, but don't worry. Everything's alright now. The Black Dragon may be demonically powerful, but it's still a dragon." A smile appeared on Ben's face. "Let's go talk to Hank."

Hank explained everything.

"If we could find the Dragon Buster, we could have an edge on this guy. He could die in a single stroke!"

"Yeah, Dragoon armor becomes useless against it." Ben said.

"Not just useless, but worse than useless! It actually becomes better to have no armor on at all than to have the Dragon's armor on."

"This is good. This is very good."

"But how do we find the Dragon Buster?"

"Don't worry." Ben smiled. "Sean has it somewhere. He used it in our battle against Melbu Frahma. I haven't seen it on him for a while, so he might have it in his room somewhere. Let's check it out!"

They rushed to Sean's room and began searching.

Robert was able to pull a full 180 on Friday evening. He received much enthusiasm and encouragement from Marian and found himself with a renewed energy. Plus, he had the home team advantage. The fans were cheering their hardest the whole evening and Rob couldn't remember ever feeling more alive.

In the very end, they were only one point ahead. If the opposing team got a single shot in, they won. A time out was called and Robert conversed quickly with Adam.

This was a rare circumstance in which Robert felt uncomfortable with the jump ball situation. This guy was actually taller than he was. The ball went up and the opponent was able to smack the ball away.

Adam bolted. The opponent soon found himself in a bind and passed the ball. Adam jumped up and smacked the ball high into the air. Robert jumped up and grabbed it. Adam got up and bolted once more. Robert went a bit, and then threw the ball as far across the court as he could. Adam caught it and planted an easy lay-up. The home team crowd went wild as the buzzer sounded a second later.

Ben and Melissa went to wait for Rob after it was all over.

"So this thing can really cut through a dragon's armor that easily?" Melissa asked yet again.

Ben sighed. "For the millionth time, yes! Stop worrying!"

At that moment, Robert ran up from the locker room. "Guys, start worrying!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, now what? The Dragoons finally have a plan, but how will it fair? Please review!