(SHIRO'S POV)

"Is it just me, or is it getting warmer?" I asked.

"We're nearing the Dragon's Den. It's the place where the legendary dragon Ashamir resides." Tazorac said.

"Woah…" I said in awe.

We continued walking until we reached a large cavern the was being guarded by two anthropomorphic dragons holding large swords in their hands. Tazorac walked up to them with a cold look on his face.

"Sorry gentleman...but we need to go through that cave and meet up with someone."

"Stand down human! If it is the Dragon Slayer that you're here for, then you're outta luck! He's to be sacrificed to our master Ashamir." One of the dragon men said.

"Goddamn draconians...I suppose that we'll be doing this the hard way." Tazorac said.

I jumped next to him and whipped out my daggers. "I'll back you up Tazorac!" I said with a grin.

"Beat it kid!" He said with a glare.

"Foolish human filth. You'll both die where you stand." Said one of the draconians. He charged at Tazorac, ready to swing his sword.

Tazorac unsheathed his large broadsword and blocked the attack. Tazorac used his might to push him back giving him enough time to block the sneak attack from the other.

"Get off of him!" I shouted before running and jumping up and send one of the draconians back with a divekick.

"I told you to beat it kid!" Tazorac yelled.

"No way! I'll show you what I've got!" I vanished from sight

"Where'd the child go?!" One of the draconians asked.

"You might want to look up top." Vengeance said nonchalantly.

"What?!" The dragon looked up to see my foot crash down onto his skull, planting him into the earth.

"How dare you! You shall tremble at the might of the draco-"

~WHAM~

The dragon man dropped my to the floor with Taz standing over him. His sword covered in blood.

"We'll be going now…" Tazorac said.

We all ran in to dark cavern. Clyde and Xena using a basic fire spell in order to light our path.

Vengeance lifted his hand up and glared at the deep cavern. "Chill out. I sense something approaching." Just then, a gang of smaller flying dragons flew out at us, ready to attack.

Xena thrusted her hands forward and narrowed her eyes. "Ward of Lightning: Chain Static!" A small stream of electricity webbed around all of the small dragons.

"Ward of Lightning: Static Discharge!" Clyde yelled. A large bolt of electricity surrounded the dragons, knocking them all out.

"Excellent work Clyde." Xena praised.

"Thank you." He said.

Just then, a large purple dragon stepped forward. A large warhammer was gripped in his hands. "You're journey ends here, humans. You will not survive my wrath." He said.

"Do you all feel that?" Clyde asked. "He's hiding some kind of strange energy."

"It's his dragon essence. It's what every draconian possess when they get to a high enough level. He's of an adequate skill level." Vengeance said.

"Impressive that a mere human has such knowledge of my species." The purple dragon man said.

"I know an awful lot about this world. I also know that you're not strong enough to kill me when I'm fighting." Vengeance said.

"Fool! Your arrogance will be your undoing! I am Shulk! The brutalist!" The dragon roared. "Now you die!"

"Hmph…" Vengeance closed his eyes. "Trickster Technique!" He shouted. He opened his eyes wide and she glared daggers at the dragon. He promptly teleported in front of the dragon and punched him in his abdomen. When Shulk tried to swing his giant hammer down on him, he teleported behind him and sent him a nasty kick to the back of his head.

"Fight me face to face you coward!" Shulk yelled.

"Fine then…If that's what you wish..." My future self said. "Fanny Pack style!" Vengeance reached his arm out and a strange looking red portal appeared. He reached his hand inside and smirked. "Molten Shiranga!" He pulled out an orange bow with a flaming red string.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

"I got this old thing from killing a fire elemental in the deep pits of hell." He said.

"Where are your arrows?" Clyde asked.

"Let me show you." Vengeance took aim and pulled back the fiery string. I bright orange orb charged. "Fire…" He muttered. He released the string and propelled the fire forward. As the fire blasted forward, it took the form of a sharp, flaming arrow. The arrow pierced the dragon's leg.

"GAH!" Shulk shrieked with pain.

Vengeance pulled the string back with three fingers. This time, two flaming arrows formed and blasted at Shulk. The Dragon lifted up his hammer in order to deflect the two fiery projectiles.

"Not bad...but see if you can block this." Vengeance said as he pulled the string back fiercely. "Now you'll become nothing but ash…" Vengeance muttered. He released the string and propelled a large fire arrow towards the dragon. Shulk attempted to block it but it only resulted in his hammer getting destroyed along with him.

"Holy shit!" I said.

The older me made another portal and put the bow back inside. "Let's move on." He said.

We ended up walking to a large room. Waiting for us was a large red dragon, Dredge, a few hooded figures and a man dressed in red. I noticed that my future self was glaring at the man dressed in red.

"So we have guests... Lovely…" The man in red said with a chuckle.

"You red bastard! I'll kill you this time around! I won't fail like I did before!" Vengeance said angrily.

"Have we met?" He asked.

"You will die!" Future Shiro yelled. "Stardust Style!" He began to glow.

"Excuse me?" The red man said.

"You piece of shit!" Vengeance held out a bright hand. A beam of white energy was blasted towards the man in red.

The man chuckled and swatted the beam away. "What a waste…"

"Waste this, bitch!" Vengeance screamed as he pushed forward. "Ward of Time: Clock Work Slow-mo!"

Time slowed down for all but my future version. He sprinted at the man in red. He slammed his fist against his chest. A second later, a flash of green energy swarmed around him. As the energy faded, my future self was once again inside of the same black and green outfit as the one that I saw in my dreams. The Vengeance suit.

"With the spirit of all those that you've killed in my timeline and this one, I will kill you!" Within the blink of an eye, future Shiro was in front of him. "This is the power of vengeance!" His black and green scythe formed in his hands and he slammed it down on the red man.

The room was silent as time began to go back to normal. Not only did the scythe not connect, but the man in red also managed to catch blade in his hands.

"So close Mr Tatsugami…" The man in red placed a hand on his chest. "Yet so far…" He blasted a pur beam of energy energy through his chest and then kicked him back over to us. "I knew you'd come back in time...My future self already warned me about you. I've been waiting for you to show your face. Hell, you've even brought the little bastard from this timeline. This is perfect! I now have the opportunity to eradicate you both right here and now."

"Fuck that! I'm not dying by you! You killed my people and you're gonna pay for that!" I sneered.

"Said the level 18 shit stain. Face it kid, you're the least threatening one here. I took out the strongest person in your little group. It's over!" I hated that he wasn't lying.

"N...no... It's not over until I say it's over!" Vengeance said. He said started to glow again. His wound held instantly. "Angelic Sun Style!" Angel wing sprouted from his back and his eyes glowed brightly. An angel halo also appeared above his head. "You can't beat me when I'm like this and you know it."

"...Hmph. Very Shiro... Another day…" He slashed the air creating a portal to an unknown location.

"You won't get away!" Vengeance lifted his hand and created an orb of light.

"Don't worry people. I left my new pets with you...now...Ta-ta!" The red man stepped through the portal with the group of hooded figures and left us with an enormous red dragon and a collapsed Dredge.

"... Amora, Isabel, go help Dredge. Xena, Clyde, Gabby and Isabel, I want you to back me up. That dragon is pissed. We can't have that thing running loose." Tazorac ordered. We all assumed our positions. Amora and Isabel both ran towards the fallen dragon slayer. "Xena, Clyde, I want you both to use your best binding spells. Gabby and…both Shiros, I want you to attack head on with me. Can you guys handle that?"

"Yeah! We got this." I said.

"Great! Now let's do this-"

~WHACK~

Before our very eyes, Isabel was sent flying back. She was knocked out cold and had a large gash on the side of her check.

"Holy shit!" Gabby said.

"ISABEL!!!" Clyde shouted with anger.

We all looked in the direction that she came from. We could all see Amora getting choke slammed into the ground by a strange looking Dredge. His helmet was off and his black hair was wild. Ominous purple eyes and an evil smirk decorated his face.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Xena shouted. "Ward of Wind: Gale Force Blast!" A large gust of wind pushed Dredge back a few feet. Xena ran up to her fallen friend and held her tightly. "Amora! Are you ok?!" She asked.

"Don't worry about me. I must tend to Isabel." Amora said back.

I looked at Clyde. He was staring at Isabel with wide, broken blue eyes.

"Clyde... She's gonna be alright." I said trying to ease his rage.

"The motherfucker! I will kill him! I WILL KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH!!!" Clyde flared up mana and blasted forward. He cocked back a flaming fist and threw his fist into Dredge's face. The corrupted man skidded back. As he tried to regain his composure, Clyde blasted a ball of fire at his face. The you mage dropped down and leg sweeped the former dragon slayer and followed up with an electrically charged fist. He buried his fist deep into the man's stomach. "Ward of Lightning: Fist of Five Million Volts!!!"

"...Goddamn…" I muttered. The gap between us just keeps widening. It low-key pisses me off but now was not the time for that. The large red dragon roared at me, other me, Tazorac, Gabby and Viz.

"Shit... I gotta go stop Clyde from killing Dredge. I need you three to distract that damn dragon before it rips us all apart." Tazorac ordered.

"What?! We gotta fight a dragon like that?!" I said surprised.

"How the hell do we do that?!" Gabby asked.

"Relax, you've both got me!" Vengeance said.

"And me!" Viz barked, feeling left out.

"That is true... Alright then! Let's do this!" I let out my soul energy. Purple static surrounded me and I pushed off of the ground and sent the large beast an uppercut.

Gabby ran up with her long sword in her hands. He she front flipped upwards and began running up it's tail. As she was closing the distance, future Shiro was charging up another one of those angel blasts. Viz was keeping the the creature at bay with his high frequency sonic howls.

As soon as I landed, Gabby had managed to stab the beast in it's left eye. The dragon roared with pain and anger. It swung it's head around violently flinging Gabby in the air.

"I got this!" I shouted. Using my soul energy, I jumped up high into the air, catching her in my arms. Once I landed I promptly put her down next to me.

"Thanks for that." She said with a grin.

"Anytime!" I grinned back.

"Alright, it's ready!" Vengeance shouted. I was starting to think that calling him Vengeance when he's out of his vengeance suit was kinda pointless. "You ready for this ya red prick? HOLY SPHERE!" The future me, chucked the large white and yellow orb of light at the beast. The sphere engulfed it completely and exploded on contact.

"That was awesome!" I shouted.

"You're so much cooler than present Shiro!" Viz barked happily.

I kicked him and glared. "You're on thin ice, mutt!" I snapped.

We looked at the fallen dragon. It was still breathing...barely. "You know... It's not so bad when it's not trying to kill us."

"That was hardly even a challenge." Future me said.

"We should probably kill it. Who knows what it might do when it recovers?" Viz suggested.

"Please don't. Spare me humans. I promise you that I have no intentions of laying waste to your land." The dragon spoke.

"You can talk?!" Gabby asked with confusion.

"I dunno… What if you're just lying?" I asked.

"I swear it on my honor. You must spare my life. You see, I am the protector of the Dragon Realm. If you kill me then billions of my kind will suffer. Our home will be exposed to those that wish to harm it. You must show some kind of sympathy. Not for my but for my race." The red dragon begged.

"What's in it for me?" I asked.

"Shiro?!" Gabby said with shock.

"That is messed up dude…" Viz said.

"Hey! He tried to kill us!" I said.

That was only because of the cruel treatment you humans have given to my species!" The dragon snapped.

"...No comment. Now state your offer... What's your name again?" I asked cluelessly.

"Ashamir…" He spoke.

"Oh yeah...Well Ashamir, whatcha got to give?" I asked.

"I can offer you a power that no mere human can possess on their own. It's a power that only those that have a special bond with a legendary dragon can achieve." Ashamir said.

"...and that would be..?"

"The power of an Elemental Dracomancer." The dragon said.

"Oh shit! For real?! I don't know what that is, but it sounds cool as hell." I said with his excitement. "Give me power!"

"Very well. Keep in mind that you will have to train this new ability in order to achieve its full potential. It may seem underwhelming at first, but it will soon grow to be a very powerful-"

"Blah, blah, blah! Just give me the stupid power already!" I yelled.

The dragon sighed. "I can not believe that it's come to this…"

"Neither can I! This day sure was something…" I muttered.

The red dragon placed one of his large claws.on my chest. I began to glow multiple different colors. First red, then orange, then yellow, green and finally, blue. "Now child…You have been give.the power of the elemental dragons."

"Yes!" I shouted. Another thing I can use against Clyde!

"NO!!!" Said Clyde in the the distance. We all looked back. All of us except my older self. He just sighed and held his head down.

"Oh...Oh my God... TAZORAC!" Gabby pushed past me and ran over to her uncle who had a large blade lodged in his chest. He was currently standing in front of a fallen Clyde who held a look of panic on his face. The man that stabbed him was staring at what he had just done. Dredge's face no longer held malicious intent. He held a sorry look on his face.

"Tazorac... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I... I wasn't in my right mind... please…" Dredge tried to say.

Tazorac coughed up a spew of blood as he yanked the sword from his chest. "No... don't be sorry…The red man should be sorry…" Tazorac dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Tazorac!" Xena shouted with alarm. "Amora, help him!"

The white haired woman healer ran to the fallen warrior. She examined the gaping hole in his chest. As if on instinct, Amora began hyperventilating. Tears started falling down her face.

"What's... What's the matter?!" Gabby asked with her own set of fresh tears.

"He's... He's untreatable... I can't close the wound. He's... losing too much blood. I... I don't know what to do!" Amora said, breaking down.

"Amora please! Do something! Anything! I need him alive!" Gabby begged.

"I'm... I'm sorry...I can't do anything about it. Tazorac is dead... He's gone Gabby…" The white haired healer spoke.

"N...no... please don't tell me that Amora... PLEASE!" Gabby said.

Amora turned her head away from her. "Forgive me…"

"Goddamn…" I muttered sadly.

Gabby sniffled a bit. Once she wiped her tears away, she gave a deathly stare at the shook up man before her.

"You did this... you're the heartless bastard that did this to my uncle!" Gabby shouted. "He was the last bit of family that I had in this goddamn world! He was everything to me... even if I didn't always show it…"

"I... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry...You have to believe me, it wasn't my fault!" Dredge shouted.

"It too late for that...you have to pay. I will watch you bleed you rotten piece of shit!" Gabby grabbed her recently discarded longsword. She stomped over to the terrified dragon slayer.

As much as I understood her intentions and everything, but this was still a little extreme. I mean, it wasn't technically his fault. The real killer was once again, the fucking red man. Either way, I had to stop her from doing something rash.

Gabby kicked the man to the floor. She loomed over him with a horrific look of malicious rage. She raised her sword, ready to stab him. She would've to I had ran up to her and hugged her tightly from behind.

"Don't…" I whispered in her ear.

"He killed him! I have to avenge him Shiro!" She yelled while trying to get outta my tight hold on her waist.

I wrapped my arms around her even tighter. "Listen to me. Your hurting the wrong guy. He's not to blame. Killing him won't solve anything. It won't bring Tazorac back."

"..." She grew silent.

"Gabby listen to me clearly. Don't kill him-"

~WHAM~

I dropped to my knees and held my sore ribs. She ended up swinging her elbow deep into my ribcage. I sank to my knees and held myself.

"Shiro!" I heard Viz call out to me with concern etched in his voice.

"I'm sorry Shiro... I have to do this. You wouldn't understand…" Gabby said darkly.

"Y... you're wrong... I understand completely...which is why I want you to make the smart choice." I choked out. Damn did this hurt like hell.

"...No... I'm sorry Shiro." She muttered.

She raised her sword again. I closed my eyes and turned my head away. Dredge's screams of pain mixed with the blood curdling sound of flesh being ripped and shredded in such a grotesque manner haunted my ears.

-On The Ship-

We decided to bring Tazorac's body back home with us in order to give him a proper burial. His body layed underneath a blue sheet. Gabby had finally stopped her sobbing but decided to continue looking at him sadly. The mood of the whole crew was just plain depressing. None of is were supposed to die, let alone Tazorac. It was complete bullshit.

I had been looking out at the vast ocean, stuck in thought. That's when something hit me. I looked over at my future self and gave him a threatening glare.

"You son of a bitch! You knew this shit was going to fucking happen the whole time and you didn't say shit about it! You're a grade A prick!" I snapped at him.

"Yes I knew...but I couldn't intervene." He said.

"Why not?! You've already changed so much shit in a timeline that you don't even belong in! Why not change that part of history? You were so ready to kill me and fix this shitfest of an world, so why couldn't you just step in and save Tazorac?!" I asked angrily.

"Why...You wanna know why? HERE'S WHY! IT'S BECAUSE I'VE BEEN FUCKING THINGS UP FROM THE START! I CAME BACK IN TIME TO KILL MY PAST SELF, BUT I DIDN'T! HE KNOWS! THE MAN DRESSED IN FUCKING RED KNOWS WHO I AM AND WHY I'M HERE! I DON'T KNOW HOW AND I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT THAT IS A BAD THING!!!" Future Shiro yelled with infuriation.

"Why is that?" I asked with little interest at all. I was still pissed.

"... He's one step ahead of me...Of us! All of us! I don't know how but I think that the red man from my timeline is somehow able to communicate with his past self. He's feeding him information! This mean that the more I changed right now, the more vulnerable you all are. I've already messed with so much shit…"

"Then just kill me and get it over with. If I die, then the whole world will just be a better place!" I yelled at him.

"No! You're needed in more ways than one. I'll figure something else out but for now, I think you should go and talk to someone right now." He said gesturing towards Gabby.

"...Fine but this ain't over...Not by a long shot!" I growled at him.

"I don't expect it to be." He muttered.

I walked over to the brown haired girl that I was crushing on. She looked so broken. It hurt me to see her like this. So fragile and distant. She was disturbed. I had to do something.

I sat down next to her and looked at her. She didn't even bother making eye contact. "Hey…"

"... I'm sorry…" She said.

"Amora says my ribs will be fine so does worry about it-'

"Not for that. You told me not to kill him...and you were right...It didn't help. I feel even worse right now. I'm depressed Shiro...only this time, I'm alone without my Uncle here to encourage me." She said in a broken voice.

"Gabby... It might feel like your alone...but you're not. I know what you're feeling right now. Before I joined the House of Mentors, I was confused and lost in the world even before the Red Death. When. I didose my family, I had nobody to get me through those dark days...At least until I met you guys. You all got me through a lot of emotional shit just by making feel like I was apart of a family. For that, I thank you sincerely. Now that you feel that way, I want to make you happy. I want you to give me that rare smile. The one that you finally showed me the other night. I want you to feel safe with me. I know I'm not the strongest, but I swear to every god that I will, from here on out, bust my ass in order to get the power to keep you all safe... especially you." I placed my right hand lightly against her cheek. I let the other one clasp hers. "It may not be today...It may not be tomorrow...but I swear to that I'll make you smile like that again!" I said to her.

"Shiro…" She said my name so softly. So brokenly that I to felt as if I'd shatter at any moment.

I leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Get some rest. I'll check on you later." I said to her. As I went to get up, she grabbed my bare arm. Her hands warm against my skin. What happened next blew my mind. In one motion, she spun me around and pressed her lips against mine. A wave of emotions hit me. I froze up. I couldn't move. She moved her hands to my face and cupped my cheeks, effectively deepening the kiss. I noticed a single tear roll down here face. Once I saw that, I was snapped outta my trance. I slowly pulled back and looked at her.

"W... what's wrong-" She started.

"It's nothing. I want to kiss your lovely lips more than you know, but...Not like this Gabs. I want you but only when you're absolutely sure that you want me. I'd be happy to do this if and when we do become a thing, you know?" I spoke with my honest feelings.

"Oh…" She said, trailing off.

" Look, you've got a lot on your mind so just give your thoughts some time. I will wait my ass of if it means I get to kiss you for real next." I said with a grin. I noticed her cheeks redden at my words. "Goodnight Gabriella." I said to her before walking off.

"... Goodnight Shiro…"