Authors' notes: TiC: So this is the final chapter of the Ninja Storm arc of the fic. We'll be moving on to Wild Force next. So far this was my favorite chapter to write. And even though I hate WF, I think it'll be fun to help Katie write it. If I can find interest in writing characters I don't tend to care for, that's a victory. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. Peace out.
Chapter 8: Justifying the Means
1"We'll be landing on planet Formicidae in a few minutes, sir," the giant green creature bellowed from the ship's control panel.
"Excellent work, Chuubo," he uttered softly from behind his mask.
"May I ask, sir, what exactly we are looking for on this planet? The system says that it's known for brilliant scientific minds, not fighters."
"I do believe that you just answered your own question." Lothor arose from his throne, moving gracefully near his current second-in-command's position. "With people like you and the limitless army of Kelzaks I plan to acquire, I will have all the brute force one could ask for. But the intelligence to formulate the weapons and battle plans I need? Ah, there's the catch. The greatest minds in the universe are on planet Formicidae and I plan to steal the greatest of the great for myself."
A few thousand feet below the space fortress Zurgane sat alone on the steps of a coliseum. He knew this time would come, he just never thought it would be so soon. But at least he had rid the world of these soft people. Granted, they were his own race and by committing genocide he ensured that after he was gone, the Formicidians would become nothing more than a memory; a footnote in children's history books.
He heard the ship land nearby and soon after the approaching footsteps. Two men. The one in front was covered head to toe in form fitting black armor with a hint of Earthling ninjetti garments. Behind him was a larger man, all green and grunting the whole way. Clearly he wasn't in charge.
"You there!" the man in black demanded of Zurgane. "Where are the Formicidians? I don't see any around. They can't be that good at hiding."
Zurgane's faceplate popped open, revealing his tiny ant-like body. Lothor's eye's widened quickly. "Actually, they all could have hidden from you if they so desired, Earthling. But you're actually right, in a way. You won't find anymore of them besides me."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Because I killed them all."
Lothor didn't skip a beat as he chuckled and moved in closer. Zurgane responded by closing his faceplate, his robotic body stood forward. An outstretched hand greeted him.
"Well then, congratulations. I think the last Formicidian is also the best Formicidian. Natural selection, indeed. Welcome to my crew," he didn't ask but instead declared like there was no choice. Not that it mattered to Zurgane. The choice was clear.
The robotic face was stoic as he shook hands with the devil. But inside, Zurgane's smile couldn't be brighter.
-----
Zurgane wasn't smiling now. His tiny appendages maneuvered the delicate equipment of the self-propelled chair that he now sat in, gazing inside the window of this dilapidated house. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Formicidian's were a naturally peaceful people. His parents had always told him that he wasn't like everyone else. On the day he used his first set of robotic arms to strangle them both to death when he felt like they were holding back his genius out of jealousy, he was inclined to agree. Positioning himself on the window ledge, Zurgane attached a receptor to the pane of glass to listen in.
Inside Lothor was leading Dustin -- followed closely behind by Chuubo and the two nieces -- into the living room where sensei was propped up on a bed. His face was sunk in, having been able to eat only so very little, living mostly on fluids. He coughed as his eyes opened in tiny slits. The beginning of a smile formed on his lips at the sight of one of his pupils. He reached his hand up. Dustin eagerly took hold.
"Sensei! You're alive. Thank God. The others will be so pleased to hear it."
Lothor placed his hand on Dustin's shoulder. "He can't say much but from what I've pieced together he wants to know what happened to his son, my nephew, Cameron."
Dustin bit his lip and stood up, turning away from sensei for a moment. He looked Lothor in the eyes and shook his head back and forth. Both their hearts sank in remembrance.
"I... I understand..." Lothor choked. "Do you know... how?"
"The attacks," Dustin's teeth clenched together hard. "Those Thunder Rangers slaughtered him alone with the other students like animals..."
"No."
Both men bolted around and faced sensei once again as he choked the words out. Dustin was about to tell him to stop trying to talk but sensei waved him off in contempt.
"Dustin, it was Zordon. Zordon's forces. Destroyed both Wind and Thunder. You five rangers. A team."
"What are you talking about sensei? That's nonsense. They are the enemy." He clutched the old man's hand who held back as weakly as he could. The limpness in his hold made the Yellow Wind Ranger wince.
Sensei slowly reached into his pocket and Lothor did the same from his own. They each produced a tattered, spooled up ream of paper. Sensei handed his to Dustin and instructed his to hold it up next to Lothor's. With a faint golden glow, the torn ends fixed to one another. "Sensei, what is this?"
Lothor spoke up on behalf of his brother. "Dustin, this is the Scroll of Destiny. It's an ancient ninjetti relic. It was once whole but a long time ago it was split between the two main academies. Your sensei held onto his during the attacks and I'm sad to admit that I stole the other half from the Thunders many years ago and have carried it ever since. All of the things that have happened between the academies have been foretold on the scroll. But it can only be read when the two pieces are whole again. Look here. Does that etching look familiar? It's of Shane, Tori and yourself. And here is Blake and Hunter."
"No!" Dustin turned his head away. "I won't believe it. This scroll is a fraud. Why would those two pieces of garbage have any great destiny?"
"Dustin, look. It is the truth," sensei murmured through a violent coughing fit. Chuubo approached his side and held him forward to continue the conversation.
Dustin turned his attention to the middle of the scroll at his master's request. The visage of a large head surrounding an army as it ransacked the two academies was shown. Zordon. Then directly below that scene the scroll was filled with darkness; blackened and charred. "So what does that mean? Zordon destroyed our academies and then nothing? It's over? What sort of destiny is that?"
"Ah, young Dustin," Lothor smiled. "There is one more image in the bottom corner. Take another look."
He was right. There is was. Standing side by side were the forms of the five rangers sans their helmets: blue, crimson, red, navy and yellow. Lothor spoke over him. "As the legend goes, 'The might yellow earth will shake, the fiery red temper of the air with blow and the light blue waters will slosh. The crimson red sky will erupt with thunder and crash down with navy blue lightning. Only when these five elements are combined with light and dark intermingle and give forth to the clearest day."
"I never knew," Dustin gulped. "I never knew there was a second half to that. My friend Kouta told it to me while we were training. The earth, air and water. But that was it. I never knew there was more to it than that."
"You have to realize something, my boy" Dustin was in a trance, staring at the scroll as Lothor spoke, gently placing h is hand on Dustin's shoulder. "The Thunder Rangers have gone through many of the same tragedies that you have. They lost everyone who was important to them as well. The five of you are more alike than you'd care to admit. But in this darkness you five are the light. Your battles against one another are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. The only way that the rebuilding process can begin and your hearts can heal is if you five are one. Dustin, you have to convince the others. You can bring them together."
Dustin nodded uneasily and looked over to his sensei, kneeling again at his bedside. "For you, for everyone we lost and for Cam, I won't let you down."
"Like hell you won't," Zurgane snapped to himself, sickened by the whole affair. "I'm out of options. There's no way I can convince this brat that was all a lie. His companions will follow suit. I don't have the tools to stop him with just my real body. But I can definitely beat him back to his base. I have to stir the pot before then." His body began to take off back towards the Wind Academy. Zurgane made a few adjustments to the console in front of him. "Better make sure the only frequencies that pick up on this distress call are ones that I hand pick." He smiled after a moment, having successfully jammed the communication line into Shane and Tori as he spoke his message. "Help! This is an SOS from Zurgane to anyone who can hear this. I have been attacked by the Wind Rangers and am severely outnumbered. Transmitting coordinates now. Please respond!"
-----
Hunter slammed his palm down in frustration. Nothing. He had tried for five minutes straight but Zurgane's signal was cut off. Blake was eyeing Conner and Kira, mouthing something about trust. Turning away, Hunter slid his jacket on. "I wanted to send a return message but no such luck. We're going." He glanced at Conner. "We're ALL going."
"What?" Kira stood at attention.
"I want all the help I can get," he commanded. "We calm the situation and then we'll try talking to them. No promises."
Conner nodded. "Thank you."
"Conner," Kira spoke coolly out of the side of her mouth. "Why are we going with them?"
"This could be our chance to rescue Ethan and Trent. We can't do anything unless the four of us are together."
Kira sighed and rolled her eyes at the mention of Trent's name but Ethan was a good kid and she could image his fear. Who knew what the other rangers were doing to him? "Hey," the Crimson Thunder Ranger snapped. "Remember you two, I said no promises. But we'll try it your way." He tossed them each a sword. Conner held it like a bomb. Kira swung hers around a bit. She wasn't a ninja by any stretch of the imagination but she definitely had a handle on it.
"Not your first time?" Blake stammered.
"I've dabbled with a few different bladed weapons, if that's what you're referring to. When you spend everyday hiding out preparing for war with a giant reptilian freak of nature, you tend to pick up a few things."
"Oh really?" Blake's interest was peaked but as usual, Conner butted in.
"Um, no offense Blake but why do we need these? We have morphers."
"Do you know how to USE the morphers?" Blake grinned.
Conner paused, defeated and began to march towards the door. "Shut up."
-----
"...been attacked by the Wind Rangers and am severely outnumbered. Transmitting coordinates now. Please respond!" The message played again. She had it looped and every time it got to the end she giggled and squirmed with glee. She had to end her fun eventually thought and used her white-gloved hand to motion for the foot solider to take the radio away. He bowed and complied. She reached over towards another man, calling his forward.
"You." He stood firm. "Tell the emperor that I've learned of some remaining rogue ninja academy students and that I'm going to personally snuff them out. Can't have any extra pockets of resistance springing up, now can we?"
"Yes ma'am," he saluted his commanding officer and began to walk away.
"And," her voice froze him in his tracks. "Have some pikes sharpened outside the emperor's palace. His birthday is coming up next week and I plan to bring him some human candles."
-----
The explosion rang throughout Ninja Ops. Tori had easily subdued Ethan with a Japanese katahajime hold earlier so it was a simple matter to drag him over to the computer while Trent and Shane were still locked in a battle, both men morphed and not even noticing the outside disturbance.
"Find out what that was Ethan," she released the hold but before he could even think of rubbing his painful neck she quickly jabbed her middle and index fingers into his carotid artery. "No funny business."
He gulped and hit a few swift keystrokes, bringing up the main cameras. "It's the black robot thing. What's his name? Zurtan? Zoltar?"
"Zurgane. What's he doing?"
"Right. Well, simply put it looks like he's attacking the remains of the old base. Must be trying to find a way in here. He appears to be alone. I don't see either of the Thunder Rangers."
"Could be an ambush," she mused. "Either way, we need to go check. She whistled at the two men currently locked in battle. "Shane! Trent! Both of you stop! We have bigger problems right now."
Their swords clanged against each other, erupting in sparks. Both men don't want to give pause yet they both momentarily relented, keeping one eye on Tori and the other on their opponent.
"What is it?" Shane panted between each heavy breath.
"Zurgane's attacking the base."
Shane sheathed his sword. Trent did the same and Tori morphed into the Blue Ranger. "Okay, we're all going out there. Be on your toes."
"Whoa, hold on. I'm not going out there." Trent held both of his hands up, motioning helplessness before crossing his arms on his chest. "What's in it for me?" We're trying to kill each other one minute because you won't let us leave and now we're suddenly supposed to help you fight? That guy is your problem. The way I see it, if he kills you two then Ethan and I are free to go."
"We?" Ethan added with a hint of fear that no one noticed or at least bothered to acknowledge if they did hear it.
Shane pitched forward, helmet to helmet with Trent. "If he can beat the two of us alone, he can definitely beat the two of you alone. So help us and at least have the hope that you might find your friends, or don't help us and die."
"Fine, fine." Trent relented and gave Shane a hard look before turning his attention to Ethan. "Hey, you better morph."
"Um..." Ethan was sweating as his face turned red.
"You do know how to morph, right?" Trent was taken aback by utter disbelief.
Ethan wrung his hand over the bracelet on his right wrist. "Not really. You did it so fast and didn't actually teach the rest of us."
Trent sighed as he positioned himself in front of Ethan, acting as an inverted mirror. "Okay, pay attention. You summon the morpher with your own willpower. It's a part of you now and forever thanks to the gem's bonding. There is no call word for that part. Just think of your desire to use the power and the bracelet will become the morpher..."
Tori nudged Shane in the shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Bonding? Willpower? Are you sure we wouldn't be better of on our own?"
-----
"Where are those Wind Rangers?" Meanwhile, just outside and a hundred feet above Ninja Ops Zurgane had held true to his word and sped back to the ruins of the Wind Ranger's academy and reattached his real body to the mechanical one. His eyes fired lasers with pinpoint precision on anything he deemed to be suspicious. It was only a matter of time before he located the rubble that covered the hidden back entrance to the base. "Rangers! Come out. My sword hasn't tasted blood in a very long time and it hungers. Please feed it."
"Hawk Blaster!"
"Sonic Fin!"
A steady stream of red energy and rippling blue waves hit the robotic body on both sides. Zurgane was able to deflect the brunt of the attack with his swords but the impact still almost brought him to his knees. "Wind Rangers! You two can't possibly beat me on your own."
"You mean they can't beat us on their own."
The Navy and Crimson Thunder Rangers appeared via ninja streaks on either side of Zurgane. They sat both Conner and Kira down behind them. Conner tried hard to stop spinning and hold back the puke that wanted out from his stomach. Kira was more concerned with the sharp sword still in his hand, swinging violently as he tried to regain his center of gravity.
"Ah, my friends," Zurgane sounded cheerful. "Thank you for answering my distress signal. Now we can take the Wind Rangers out together while they are underpowered."
"Not a problem," Blake chuckled. "What are friends for?" He paused. "Hunter. Do it."
The older brother nodded as he jumped forward and slashed Zurgane with his Thunder Staff, sending the robotic body backwards. "What? Why? Why have you betrayed me?"
Thud. Thud. Thud. The ground shook beneath the rangers' feet. Zurgane was about to get his answer. The hums of machinery were approaching faster and growing louder. The Lion zord slowed its pace and crawled to a stop in front of the group. "Hey guys," a voice called over the speaker system as a door on the machine's left paw opened up. Five people stepped out. Or was it six? No, five people walking but one was helping a sixth who used a walking stick. Dustin walked in front, flanked slowly behind by Lothor who was holding sensei up. Chuubo, Marah and Kapri brought up the rear.
"Sensei!" Shane and Tori ran to meet him. "What's going on here? How are you still alive and who are these other people?"
"It's alright Shane," Dustin spoke in such a matter of fact and calming voice. His partners had never heard such determination echo from his voice. It was oddly unsettling yet they believed his reassuring tone. "Blake and Hunter are not our enemies. They didn't destroy our academy and we didn't destroy theirs. But," he glanced at the brothers, "you two already know that, right?"
Blake grinned. "Of course. I'm just surprised that Zurgane never figured it out. Wasn't it odd to him that we never questioned him and just took him under our wings? The Thunder Ninja Academy has a great and rich history but due to our pride we don't let many outsiders into our inner circle. Even then, there's a long grace period in which they have to prove themselves. The very first night when he shut his systems down for sleep and repairs, I implanted a tracking device with an undetectable speaker into his body." We heard every word that Sensei told Dustin. Zordon is the one who attacked both academies. But you," He pointed in accusation at Zurgane, "you were willing to let us all die as long as you got your fix. Your bloodlust is disgusting and you have no honor. You had your heart set on continuing this battle, even if it meant taking out those four strangers."
"Hey," Tori looked around. "Where are they anyway?"
"Right here," Conner smiled as he led Ethan, Trent and Kira out from the Wind's base. "Kira and I went in to get the others and we explained the timeline to them."
"Timeline?" The Wind Rangers and Lothor's group were both unsure of the situation.
"We're not from this time," Conner continued. "We're from one year in the future. I know it sounds unbelievable but thanks to a device we found in our time we were able to go backwards trying to find a disturbance in the time stream. Something went wrong and we have been charged with the task of trying to fix it. The Earth is supposed to be a peaceful place instead of being under the thumb of Zordon. And the Wind and Thunder Rangers are supposed to come together and be a team."
Lothor and Sensei both smiled at those words.
"So anyways," Ethan finished Conner's speech. "According to this device, it's scanned this era and the disturbance isn't around here so we need to make a job. There's some sort of a counter on this thing. It says we have about twenty minutes left."
"Excellent. That's more than enough time to kill you all."
There were five highly training ninja students and not one of them was able to react in time. Lothor stood in horror as the sickening liquid coughs filled the air beside him. His head jerked around only to be met with a saliva and blood combination of fluids in the face. It wasn't even until a full half a minute later that he even noticed the source of all this: Zurgane's sword.
The robotic body stood forward and laughed while examining his work. "Clean through the heart," he laughed his sick, soulless laugh, "not a bad shot." Lothor tried to catch his brother as he fell. The five ninja rangers ran up to him. It was too late. Sensei was already gone. Marah and Kapri both fainted. Chuubo missed catching them both.
"Zurgane! You bastard!" Dustin screamed and charged his opponent. His ranger suit materialized on him in mid-charge. He called forth his Lion Hammer. Zurgane braced for impact and readied a counterattack. There was no need to as a dagger flew gracefully through the air, hitting its intended target and piercing Dustin's armor. The dagger lodged itself in his left shoulder. The young man let loose a guttural, agonizing scream.
"My my my," a feminine voice mused. "What do we have here? A male Yellow Ranger. You don't see that every day."
The DinoThunder Rangers turned their attention towards this intoxicating woman. Ethan was sure he had seen her costume somewhere before. The form-fitting yellow suit was definitely that of a Power Ranger. Her white gloves and boots with diamond designs seemed classic, if not somewhat outdated. She held her helmet under her left arm. Ethan also noted the tiger-like shape of it. Her black hair was chopped off at the shoulders. It looked like a hatchet job, probably the result of the other dagger in her left hand, he concluded. She was oriental but her eyes looked slanted more from being battle tested.
Ethan saw the Thunder Rangers run to Dustin's side. Blake checked on him while Hunter stood guard, drawing a bead on her with his Crimson Blaster. "Who are you lady? I'm getting sick and tired of rangers coming out of the woodwork today."
"You and me both, little man. What are you supposed to be anyway?" she taunted. "The Maroon Mantis?" She chuckled, not waiting for a reply. "Brigadier General Trini Kwan of Emperor Zordon's Royal Guard, at your service. Now in my eleventh year of loyal service with over two thousand personal kills. In fact, a few hundred of those," she turned her gaze to the battlegrounds around her, "came from these very ninja academies."
Shane and Tori snapped out of their trance and rose to their feet. "You're the one responsible for this?" Shane spit with each syllable.
Trini laughed. "Yes, that would be little old me. Guilty as charged. What's wrong officer? Are you going to spank me?" He body bobbed back and forth as she spoke with a singsong tone.
"We're going to do a lot more than that," Dustin fought to feet, ignoring Blake's help. Trini placed her helmet back on.
"Oh lookie! Aren't I just the most popular girl in school? Four boys and some strung out bitch in an ugly light blue suit all want my attention. Well boys," her voice dropped. "Are we going to fight or are we going to dance?" Her body snapped into a fighting stance.
Ignoring their regular predisposition, the five charged as one, weapons at the ready. Trini jumped, kicking Shane's sword out of his hand with ease and dodging Blake and Tori's weapon swings so that they would hit each other. Hunter launched an attack but she avoided each blow, landing a kick square in his neck. Despite their ninja training, the Brigadier General was easily holding her own against all five attackers.
"We've got to help them," Kira cried out.
"Help yourselves first," Zurgane held his other sword at the ready and launched lasers from his eyes at the four time traveling teens. They all barely jumped out of the way in time.
"Let's morph," Trent commanded. "White Ranger, Dino Power!" His body leaped into the air and spun around, touching down and fully covered in white.
"Um, yeah. I can do that," Ethan stammered and the others watched with great interest. "Let's see, he said that I can will the bracelet to become the morpher." He closed his eyes and concentrated. To his surprise it worked. "Oh my God, it actually did it. Okay, next thing, um... White Ranger, Dino Power." He pressed the button. Nothing happened.
Trent shook his head in disgust. "You don't copy EXACTLY what I said. I'm the White Ranger. You're the Blue Ranger. You know, Tricertops." He extended his index fingers on either side of his head to mimic horns. "Not Drago."
"Well what kind of motion do you do for Drago?" Conner questioned.
"Better yet," Kira mused. "What's a Drago?"
"I asked the exact same question," Ethan chimed.
"I don't know!" Trent yelled. "Do we really have to discuss this now?"
"No, I think we've got it... Drago, yeah right," Conner got in the last word while taking a position in front of the others. "Ready?" He called.
"Ready!" the other answered.
"Red Ranger, Dino Power!"
"Blue Ranger, Dino Power!"
"Yellow Ranger, Dino Power!"
Much like Trent, the other three twisted in the air, only to land fully clothed in their ranger uniforms. Ethan and Conner momentarily admired their costumes while Kira complained that she wanted a shield too because it wasn't fair that Trent was the only person that got one.
"Call your weapons," Trent commanded, stinging Conner's pride.
"How?" Ethan asked. Almost immediately corresponding lights glowed from their belt buckles, bringing forth the Tyranno Staff, Tricera Shield and Ptera Grips.
"Cover me," the White Ranger continued as he made a pass at Zurgane, falling ahead to miss a blow and sweeping his legs out from underneath him. As the robot fell Trent slashed his across the chest with his Drago Sword.
The other three stood with their weapons in disbelief as Trent was single-handedly defeating him. "Cover him?" Conner asked. "How the heck are we supposed to do that? He's fighting the battle on his own."
Instinctively Ethan suggested that they combined their three weapons. Kira nodded in agreement and Conner seemed a bit let down by his entire first experience as a Power Ranger.
"Z-Rex Blaster!" At least, he finally got a chance to take charge. Conner's finger was wrapped around the trigger, waiting for an opening. Trent noticed them poised and ready. He turned around Zurgane and held him from behind.
"Now!"
Conner nodded. "Fire!" He yelled and pulling back on the trigger sending a multi-colored blast directly at the other two men. Trent ran away at the last possible second using the same quick attack move that he had to attack Kira during her assassination attempt on Mesogog. An explosion engulfed Zurgane.
Meanwhile, Dustin clutched his shoulder in pain, using his one free arm to take wild swings at Trini with his hammer. She merely laughed off each attempt. "Come on! You're making our color look bad."
The Thunder Rangers moved back from the fight, having noticed the DinoThunder Rangers they combined their Crimson Blaster and Navy Antler into their own combo weapon. "Shane!" Hunter cried out. The Red Ranger looked over at his darker companion and nodded, running over to his side with Tori. They combined their weapons.
"Toss your weapon over here, Dustin!" The Yellow Ranger complied and in one steady motion drew his sword so he could continue the battle. Shane locked all five weapons into place while the others steadied it.
"That's some pretty impressive hardware," Trini cooed in Dustin's ear, making sure he was fully aware that she had properly surveyed the situation. "It's a shame they won't get a chance to use it. Not as long as I'm this close to you." She swung her dagger, knocking the sword out of his hand. Her prey was defenseless. "Now what? She leaned in, their helmets touched. "You're all out of options."
"Wrong!" Dustin cried out as he tore out the other dagger that was still lodged in his shoulder. He flipped it around with his good arm and jabbed it with all his strength into her stomach before crawling away and yelling at the others to fire.
Trini staggered backwards in shock, examining the wound. She looked up just in time to see the energy blast begin to engulf her body.
Ethan jumped with excitement at the sight of the victory. The seven rangers gathered next too one another, shaking hands. "Man, that was such a rush," Ethan squealed. "The power was amazing."
Dustin opted to walk over to the fallen enemy instead of his friends. Trini was on her knees, gasping for breath and barely hanging on to life. She looked him in the eyes as best as she could through her burnt face. She sputtered for a few words. "So that's it?" She laughed with a hint of delusion. "Taken down by amateurs. What a joke. Congratulations. You get to send me back to my master like a dog with her tail between her legs."
"No." Dustin held out three shiny objects. They were the shuriken she had planted on Kouta's corpse to frame the Thunder Rangers. He dropped them in front of her and picked up his sword. "You're not going back to anyone."
They all heard the thud as the Yellow Ranger's head dropped to the dirty, bloodstained group. The limp body followed suit. Kira shielded her eyes but she had already seen what she thought would be the worst part.
Dustin calmly wiped the sword clean on his leg and placed it back in its holder. Conner was about to cry foul when he was interrupted by a mechanical scream.
"You won't bother these or any other people again either," Trent waxed and he leaped up and came down with a mighty slash, his Drago Sword cutting completely through both Zurgane's real and mechanical body, lengthwise. The two halves crumbled to the ground before exploding. Trent turned around and walked towards the group, demorphing along the way. His real mouth was as expressionless as that of his helmet.
Kira cried out in horror again.
Trent walked by Conner, addressing him but not stopping to look the man in the eyes. "Drago. An abbreviation of Dragon. A creature of unparalleled, fiery wrath. Unrelenting and unstoppable. Any other questions?"
To be continued...
