Chapter 2: Of Dragons and deceit

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here and I'm not making money off this so please don't sue.

I awoke the next morning, or what I would suspect was morning, to find a curious weight on my chest, and the mumblings of a sleepy young girl. Apparently Britanny thought that I was as a good a bed as anything else and had snuggled next to me.

"Hey, finally awake huh?" Gina replied as she looked at us.

"Uh Gina this..."

"Please, this is a one-room guestroom. I don't care how my sister may feel about you, she isn't going to actually fuck you in front of me." Cleaning her glasses and smirking smugly, the genius decided it was time to rub it in a little. "But I will be recording this, for purely historic reasons of course."

"Bull, I know you like to tease Britanny any time you get a chance." I say as I try to stare her down. "And anyone else you can for that matter so don't dare tell me that you are doing this for anything more than pettiness."

"True. So smile." She grinned as she whipped out a camera and snapped a photo of us.

"Giiinaaaa." I heard someone growl right in my ear.

"Oh well look at the time. Best get up and to work on the time raft. Come on Igor, no more sleeping in." She merrily skipped off to look at her new toy.

"Um yea...uh Britanny why ah..." I asked as I tried to sit up.

"What, the sleeping on top of you?" She smirked. "That was just because you were a lot more comfortable than the bedding was. I like you...but I'm not ready to do that just yet. Especially not with someone I just met. No offense"

"None taken." I said as we sat up.

"So lets go track down my genius sister before she blows herself up." The slim blonde said as she trod off towards her family member.

"Now that I would find interesting to see." I joked as I followed behind.

We found Gina sitting before the time raft a few minutes later with a brown leather bag in her hands.

"Great you two are here, now you can help me. Here Britanny take a look through this and see if there is anything that will help us here." Gina said as she handed the now smaller sister the bag.

"And you can change into one of those forms of yours with some level of genius like mine and we can get to work." She said pointing to me.

"I notice she isn't familiar with the word 'please'." I said to Britanny.

"Welcome to my world." She said as I figured that Reed Richards would be as close to a fit to what we needed here as possible, but really didn't think I would give any insight as really this was more of a high-tech bomb than a time machine.

"Good now, any idea where we should start my good doctor?" She said to me while looking the device over with her microscope.

"Yes, but I don't have access to the any of the technology of Stark Tech or S.T.A.R. labs so why not start with a simple external examination of the material the device is made of?" I replied as I stretched out one of my arms towards the bag and held my hand out.

"Cheetah, would you be so kind as to hand me one of those items please?" I asked her as I stretched my fingers over the surface of the Time Raft.

"Sure anything particular?" She said going through the bag.

"Any will do thank you." I replied. She placed one of the silvery diode things in my hand as I brought my limb back to it's original length.

"Fascinating. It seems to be composed of some carbon nanocrystal material similar to the basic design concept of Kryptonian building material." I said as I noticed how it glistened in the light from above. "However it possesses several distinct differences as it is not completely crystalline, but rather seems an amalgamation of the crystal lattice and other, non-carbon, material." Okay so I became a complete and total geek when Richards, so sue me.

"What?" Britanny asked as she browsed through the other components in the bag.

"Um yes, well, how about you and I exchange notes on that...sometime later maybe?" Gina pleaded.

"Yea ah...later." I answered. The hours passed as we tried to figure this thing out, which was in itself interesting, but I knew ultimately futile.

"So Britanny, found anything in that bag that can help us?" Gina asked, not bothering to take her eyes of her specimen.

"Just a bunch of junk." This was accompanied with the gurgling sound of someone's tummy rumbling. "Is it lunch time soon because I'm starving."

"How can you think of food at a time like this." Warning super genius rant ignoring obvious priorities here. "We are in the middle of an archeological, mythological, and inter-dimensional breakthrough." The sister continued to not care or notice that now two of us were beginning to want food asap.

"Who would have thought that our expedition would have led us to a real live dragon cave to solve the mystery of an ancient time machine, or that we would find a living being from another reality which would help us."

"What was that?" Britanny retorted, rather annoyed and very very perturbed voice. "I can't hear you over my...tummy rumbles."

"Just look and see if you can find any tools. Dread...I mean 'Swiftwing' said all the things we needed were these things from the compartments."

"Hum, yea."

"And if you see anything that looks like a Philips head screwdriver, let me know Igor." Gina teased her sister.

"Sure thing...what did you just call me?" Britanny's level of aggression was great as her voice sounded like she was about ready to have a throw-down with Gina.

"Gina don't." I warned.

"I said if you find a Philips screwdriver let me know...Igor." Oh boy.

"IGOR? Igor huh? I still owe you from yesterday." Britanny's fury was most obvious, and not something I wanted anything to do with.

"Gina, if I were you I would apologize asap." I warned.

"Oh please Alex don't worry. I do this to Britanny all the time."

"You think you would have learned."

"Yea...you think that I'm going to forget this? That you can get away with this just because I'm in puny mode? That my memory is just going to fade away when I'm back to normal?" Britanny said standing up and looking her sister dead in the eyes.

"Oh come on you two. I think it's a cute nickname for my cute little assistant." Gina tried to smile this off as a joke, which was not working one darn bit.

"Yea, uhhuh. Cute little assistant." Britanny looked like she wanted to bite Gina's head off, which I didn't blame her at all for.

"Here." Britanny thrust a sheet of paper into Gina's face. "I found this in the bag."

"What is it?" Gina asked looking at it, Britanny, and then me.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing it's one of those instruction manual things."

"Now that's ridiculous." Gina said in response. "An instruction booklet for an ancient...time-traveling bo...Holy cow these are instructions!" The genius exclaimed.

"Who's the Igor now?" Britanny said. "Maybe I did see one of those philpshead screwdrivers around."

Gina sat indian style as she looked over the piece of paper, studying it carefully.

"This language is very cryptic, but I think I can decipher this." Gina rose to her feet in making this analysis. "Britanny, Alex, lets go back to our room."

"Here Cheetah, let me carry that for you." I said returning to normal and slumping the bag over my shoulder.

"Awe thank you." She smiled. "You know I can't remember the last time a gentleman actually offered to carry my bags for me."

"Probably because most guys see you lifting several tons on a regular basis and think 'this ain't happening'." I joke with her.

"Maybe, but I take it you could carry that easily with one of those hunks you become."

"Maybe, maybe I could treat you to a demonstration?"

"Oh? and what demonstration would that be huh?" She smiled.

"I'll spot you when we get back to Atlanta." We continue our conversation as we walk back through the large hallway to the guest room.

"Really?" She jokes. "Just so you know, I regularly bench press trucks when the hydraulic press is broken."

"Oh I know. And I can juggle fully loaded semis and tanks if I want." She blinked at me.

"Now that, I would like to see."

When we finally got to the room, I finally learned why they do scene shifts in movies: the time between action scenes and plot development takes forever. It really was hours before anything really happened and so Britanny and I had the start of several games of cards, thanks to Gambit having a nearly endless supply of them...that and chewing gum.

"You sure you don't have anything beyond gum in those pockets there pal?" The young werecheetah asked as she drew 18 to my 20 in a game of black jack.

"Sorry my fair le'petie, but your pal Remy don't have none but a few sticks a gum and a lot of cards." I say as I deal out the next hand. "But to make it up to you, I promise that I gonna fix you up a fine Cajun cuisine, and that I garoontee."

"You know, you are quite the charmer." Britanny said going back to her watch as Gina was busy doing her observations. "So any special lady friend waiting for you back in your world?"

"Oh now that a personal question, but I guess I don't have no qualms answering." I say. "See now chere, your friend ain't so smooth on his own now and not many fine femme like you where I live, so there not a special lady waitin' for me back there." Visible card two of hearts on her side, I had the three of spades and the jack of clubs. "But I do have someone awaiting home I gonna have to see soon."

"Oh? So you have a friend or...?" Britanny poked.

"No petie, I have a cat." I respond, with a roguish grin. "Dealer has a three and a jack, player has a two. Want a card?"

"Hit me." She saids.

"Now why would I go an hit a pretty thing like you, but if it's a card you be wantin'." I joke as I put down the eight of diamonds.

"Okay so you like cats, that's good." Britanny smiles. "What about werecats?"

"If they all be as sweet as you my dear petite, then I be feelin' I be falling in love with a werecat just fine. Player has ten showing, want another card?"

Gina more or less ignored us as she was messing with what looked like the remote for my old stereo.

"One more minute, and then it's tiiiime." Britanny smiled as she glanced at her watch.

"Yea." Gina said half dreaming. "One more...minute...to solve..." In a flash she was busy looking at the strip of paper in her hand and the jotting down every thought she had.

"Wow this is tight. But it doesn't make sense, unless...that's the coefficient for time space continuum...The formula for perpetual motion and the perfect guacamole recipe. Jenkies." I really wasn't paying all that much attention, as Britanny put her cards down and held her stomach.

"I wish it was close to lunch time." Britanny commented. "You sure you don't have a can of tuna or somethin' in one of those forms?"

"Sorry petie, I looked. Not a crumb be in site."

"Damn." Britanny cursed.

"Who wrote this thing? Where did it and the Time Raft come from?" Gina was so in rapture with her studies that she failed to notice that Britanny's watch went off.

"Alright." the lithe female who was playing cards with me said. "It's morphn' time." With one arm reaching towards the heavens and a look of absolute badassness on her face, the once adorable and cute little lady instantly transformed into a statuesque and voluptuous cheetah woman with only a gust of wind to show for it.

"Okay ms Igor." The now very threatening woman said to her now shorter and fearful sister. "In the name of the moon I'm going to punish you."

"Uh oh..." Gina commented as she knew what was about to happen. I did too, which is why I started rummaging through Gina's things for her camera.

"Oh no not the noogies." Gina commented as I just had to add to it...I really couldn't resist and I changed from Gambit to myself, and then to Moon Knight.

"Another victory for you Kogtsu." I said as I started filming. Britanny was laughing her head off while rubbing her sister's head with her knuckles so she didn't notice.

"Oh come on Britanny." Gina cried.

"I'll only let you go if you get me a can of tuna." Britanny commented as she continued to nooggie her sister. I, still as Moon Knight, was just laughing it up.

"Forgive my intrusion." I heard a very polite, formal, and perhaps English sounding voice call from the door, thus distracting. "But...there is an urgent matter that must be brought to your attention."

I lowered the camera and could sense the spell around Tark, and remembered that this was when the elves wanted to turn Gina to there side. "Oh crap."

Yep as I thought the look on Gina's face was one of pure desire. She was probably enamored with the magically enhanced image of the male body before her just as every other time the movie ran.

"If you're seeing what I'm seeing Brit?" Gina said, "Because if you are...he's mine because you got Alex." Gina said as she.

"If I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing, then I'm seeing the most yummy thing I've ever seen."

Damn, not doing this. Not letting this scene play out.

"Tark drop the damn disguise! Britanny isn't seeing what you think she's seeing!" I yell as I get between the two of them.

"But what? Who are? How?" Tark said as held out my bow staff.

"Do it now."

"Hey Alex what gives?" Gina said teary eyed. "My sister not enough for you that you think you have to try and get me too?"

"Hey pal you want some of that, just let me have my fill and you can have the rest." Cheetah said.

"Oh for the love of..." I changed as fast as I could, knowing Britanny's speed, from Moon Knight, to myself, and then to Dr. Strange.

"Incantation, disperse." I said as the Sorcerer Supreme.

Tark was in shock as he felt the incantation drop around him and was staring into the face of the most powerful magic user on Earth and two confused women.

"My apologies friend, but while your incantation was working as intended on young Gina Diggers, the voracious Britanny was filled with a desire beyond lustful gratification." I explained. "While I have no doubt you would have been able to find a way out of this, I didn't wish to risk what would happen had you not."

"Uh what's going on here now?" Britanny asked. "Where did that yummy tuna holding the milk go?"

"Tuna holding...what are you talking about sis?" Gina sighed. "Where did that yummy hunk go?"

"It was a simple, but powerful desire enchantment my dear. To cause this man to seem as the object of your greatest desire." I explained. "For you Gina, you wanted more carnal interests, while Britanny, you were after a meal."

"Ah dang, now I'm even hungrier." Britanny cried. "You sure there's no tuna around?"

"But that hunk, I..." Gina said as she was on her knees.

"Tark call your wife. You have no need to fear us as we are all really on the same side." I changed back from my more...outlandishly garbed identity.

It was a few moments later that Mesha, Tark, and the rest of us were all gathered inside the room.

"So it's true, his name is actually Dreadwing." Gina said.

"Yes it is true, and he would probably kill you all if you had succeeded Miss Gina."

"Forgive us Miss Gina, Miss Britanny, and Mr. Alex, but we are desperate. But after what we attempted to do, you are owed at least an explanation." Mesha said with a heavy heart.

"And yes Dreadwing is a powerful dragon Miss Gina, powerful and evil." Tark added. "But without the Time Raft, without it's mysterious control over the flow of time, he is vulnerable."

"So if he has this Time Raft working what happens?" Gina askes.

"Long ago, after Dreadwing first found the Time Raft, he enslaved Tark and me." Mesha started. "His power was greater then. He had entire kingdoms pledge themselves as his slaves. Any who opposed, were crushed." The elf continued.

"He had the Time Raft, but he craved more power." Tark continued the tale. "slaves...armies...nations."

"Is Dreadwing just a power mad freak or somethin'?" Britanny asked, very thankful that the elves were able to conjure up something for her to eat.

"We don't know why, but in the centuries we have known him we sense that there is something he fears...something he can't face alone, even with the Time Raft" Tark replied. I knowingly looked at Gina and smiling.

"So if he had this Time Raft working, what happens?" Gina asked.

"If he is as obsessed with conquest as dragons are, I'm guessing that he would probably get back to the business of pillaging, plundering, and demolishing." I add.

"Yes, there is not doubt in my mind that he would attempt to restart his conquest." Mesha said, very heavy hearted.

"Wait, where did Dreadwing find this time device? And how did he get his hands on it in the first place?" Britanny asked while looking back and forth between the elves and myself.

"Don't look at me Cheetah, that's a plot hole I don't think was ever answered in the whole 15 years of this comic's run." I replied, the elves looked at me like I was crazy...well maybe I was but hey it works for Deadpool.

"We don't know either Miss Britanny." Tark answered as he and Mesha looked very down in the mouth, or more specifically down in the ears as those had dropped like dogs with their tails.

"I've got it." Gina sprightly commented. "I've solved the puzzle. Dreadwing isn't strong enough to take over the world without the Time Raft right? Right. So here's what we do, that is if you don't have anything to add Alex."

"Go ahead, I'm waiting till we hear your plan."

"Alright good. Well we fix the Time Raft so that it never can be used again, and then slip out of here. Simple." She said very proud of herself.

I gave her such an incredulous stare at that. "Simple? Yea right. Look Gina great idea in concept, but that's the overall objective, not a battle strategy."

"Oh like you could come up with a better idea." Gina quipped at me.

"Yes, but not without blabbing it that Dreadwing hears us." I say.

"Well then, lets go." The genius of the group said as Britanny led us out of the room and down the hallways, making sure to watch for traps and such.

I decided to fall behind everyone to act as the rear guard and shifted into a white garbed being with black arm and leggings holding a approximately 6-7 inch metal tube. Silently we tried to make it to our objective, but while Britanny was thinking of things around the corner ahead of us, I expanded my senses to see if I could detect anyone that was unseen by the lead of our squad.

Low and behold there was one of those stone beasts silently watching us out of view of the rest of the group. Faster than a snake striking I thrust out my unused hand and grabbed out at it as the beast found itself lifted by unseen power concentrated on it's throat. I clenched my fist hard and the beast's head and neck crushed and crumbled to the ground as a pile of sand.

"Got your back." I whispered as Britanny smiled and indicated that the pathway was clear. We rushed ahead, or as fast as we could rush and Gina was moving more like a light trot.

We avoided a few more close calls and finally Mesha cried out. "Gina, this way out."

The darker skinned elf said as she pointed to the seemingly unguarded Time Raft. "We can leave as soon as you have disabled the Time Raft."

"Right." Gina said as she started to move closer to it. "I think I know just what to do." The genius was walking head long right into a trap. I grabbed her wrist and stood between her and the Time Raft.

"Hey what the?" She said to me in a hushed tone.

"Don't you know a trap when you see one?" I berate her. In an instant a mighty clawed hand dropped from the sky as I grabbed Gina, ignited my lightsaber and sliced into the dragon's claws while force jumping several feet back.

"AAAHHHHH!" Dreadwing cried out as my green energy blade had cut him deeply. "I had hoped that we could avoid any unpleasant confrontations Gina Diggers, but it seems that you have picked up a curious new friend. One who I wouldn't get too attached to."

"Dreadwing, you are nothing more than an insignificant wyrm drunk on power." I retort back to him. "If you release your prisoners, forfeit the Time Raft, and let us live in peace. I will let you live."

"Let me live? HAHAHAHAH." The beast chuckled. "You amuse me Alex. You really think that you merely shape shifting will be able to save you from my wrath?" The Dragon boomed with laughter. "What possible magic could you possibly posses that could rival that of myself and my Time Raft?"

"The power to destroy an entire planet is insignificant to the power of the Force." I reply, waiting for him to strike. Gina was laying behind me choosing the wiser of the concepts and staying protected from harm as best she could.

"AHAHAHAHA." Dreadwing laughed at my reply as he made himself fully appear. "You amuse me, but no one threatens my life and lives." The monster's size was great, but for a jedi, size is irrelevant. "None may harm Gina, as she is my new slave, and the elves have been of great service to me, but for the other two: Kill them."

Britanny, very insulted by this said as such "Hey I'm smart too."

The beast's cruel laughter was all I could hear as he summoned a series of those stone beasts and sent them launching towards Britanny and myself.

"CHEETAH!" I cried as I threw my lightsaber at the first beast, slicing it in half.

"Protect Gina!" My tall friend cried as another one of the beasts launched itself at her and slammed Brittany into the wall. The beast unleashed punch after punch to Britanny's gut before she smashed the thing's head in with a hard kick and sent it flying. Recovering quickly Cheetah rushed the thing, grabbed it by the neck, smashed it's head in, and then proceeded to slam it into peices followed by a massive explosion of magic.

I couldn't watch all of what my new friend was doing as I was busy trying not to get killed myself. Dreadwing was summoning more and more of those stone beasts imbued with his power and I was getting sick and tired of taking these things one by one. I grabbed Gina by the collar and used the power of the Force to rush out of distance from most of the beasts.

"Everyone get away from me!" I cried out as I concentrated the pure raw energy of the force in my hands. I held it back for as long as I could, feeling it grow in magnituded between my hands. As the things got closer, I couldn't help but smile. It didn't take long for the charge to complete as I let loose with the Force Push I had been saving. Scores of them, the whole assembled force against me, went flying back and proceeded to smash to pieces as they impacted Dreadwing's magic shield and the stone fortification surrounding us.

"So you are a powerful sorcerer. A pity I must now destroy you." Dreadwing smiled. "For I could have used someone like yourself."

"You had nothing of any value to offer." I spit at him as I see the monster summon another legion against us. Tark drew his own energy sword and Mesha enraptured herself with enchantments as I began to execute the dreaded sith slash and smash attacks on my stone foes.

Britanny was occupied wrestling with these things with her bare hands and continued to smash and hammer them with her fists and feet. Gina, unable to think of what to do to aid in the attack, stood back in fear allowing Mesha to shield her. While Tark's blade and Britanny's firsts were making some progress taking out the troops little by little, I decided to play the number's game.

The force lightning of the sith slash sent blue arcs of energy through these things instantly debilitating them while using the sith smash crushed their numbers while holding a good number of them back. I used this time to jump over their heads and hover for a moment or two deep within their protected wall. I once more summoned the force to me, concentrating it's great power near my chest, and then...WOOSH. The stone forces not absolutely crushed to pieces on the ground, were thrown just as before every which way.

"Stay close." Mesha warned Gina as the female elf conjured a powerful spell of protection for her and our friend. Using this defense, Mesha hurled several energy blasts at the monsters, destroying the foe upon impact. One brazen attacker did launch itself on top of the defense, but couldn't get to the girls.

"We can attack them, but they can't attack us." I heard Mesha exclaim as Gina pulled out her pistol and blew the stone monstrosity's chest out.

Tark was busy too, as he whirled his energy sword in the same manner as my own, slicing his opponent's heads off and setting loose the blade as a spinning disk of death. It impacted hard into the head of one creature and Tark used his magic to lift the thing up and draw it towards Britanny who clobbered it right at the neck.

I would almost claim Tark a jedi as he continued his brave assault. I saw him take out two more foes, but was smacked hard across the face by a clawed hand and fell to the ground. Britanny was at him in a flash as she grabbed the aggressor and hit it with supersonic punches. The stone matrix of the thing's body cracked and shattered as before.

"Watch your back." Britanny said to Tark, who had still not gotten up from the blow her received.

I had hated to leave my friends, but I was too occupied with facing Dreadwing himself and drawing as many of the fiend's remaining stone forces as I could away from my friends.

"What bravery, or foolishness you seem to posses." He said to me. I ignored him as I was letting loose the raw power of the Force with near reckless abandon as Star Killer is known to do. "Tell me do you really think you stand a chance of beating me oh little wizard? Do you really think 'you' and your friends are any match for me?" It seemed that dragons truly are full of themselves as much as the legends say.

"Oh just SHUT UP!" I yell as I double jumped high above the fray, pulled back my arm, and let fly my light saber. The green energy beam struck hard into the dragon's maw and was imbedded into his skull.

"RAAAAA!" Cried Dreadwing in more pain than he probably felt in a long time.

"You STUPID FUCKING LIZARD!" I landed softly with my back to him, channeling the Force again, but unlike before I didn't push anything; I set him ablaze with the terrible power of pure Force Lightning. From clenched fists to outstretched hands, I felt the cascade of electrical discharge fly unabated from me, to my saber, and through that the dragon. Dreadwing's body lit up like the night's sky of a great city. After a few minutes, I could unleash no more of that power, and stopped. I relaxed and telekineticly summoned my blade from the great beast, who was now smoldering from my attack.

"Did you just see, what I think I just saw?" Gina asked as the stone beasts seemed to be loosing their aggression.

"Damn..." Brianny said in awe, the stone foe in her hands almost going lifeless. But then...

"INSUFERABLE INSECT!" the vast purple abomination cried out. "YOU THINK YOU CAN DARE CHALLENGE ME!" He rose again, this massive foe, this unholy monster of pure evil and selfishness.

"I AM DREADWING!" The roar of his voice shook the very ground and brought me to my knees trying to get better footing. "YOU ARE NOTHING!" I was trying to ready myself as he pulled back one of his great talons and backhanded me to my friends, beyond, and into a wall.

"Now see oh pathetic sorcerer that a little lightning is no match for me."

"ALEX!" Britanny cried out as she saw the hole I had made. Before the monster in her hand could do anything, she crushed it like a bug. "You BASTARD!" The werecheetah's pure feral yell of unleashed emotion was accompanied by the foolish and brash attack right at Dreadwing himself.

The lady was barely noticed as the dragon indulged himself on feeling her pain and suffering. "So much the better than you cared for him, now I shall enjoy seeing your pain on your face as I kill you." The beast's toothy grin was sickening as he was about to swipe Cheetah out of existence, that was if it weren't for something that flew out of that hole and bashed out his teeth.

"YEAAAAA!" Dreadwing cried out, grabbing his mouth in shear pain trying to hold his teeth in. "What was that?" The object in question happened to be a very large metal hammer with runes carved in it that shot back towards the hole and into the outstretched hand of a 6.5' tall blond man as big around as a boulder dressed in chain mail, wearing a winged metal helmet on his head, and with a long flowing read fur cape.

"Alex...is that...you?" Gina asked as I flew out of the hole, holding the hammer tightly in my right hand.

"It can't be..." Tark said.

"But is that..." Mesha commented.

"Foolish and foul beast of Midguard." I said in a booming voice. "Though hath threatened life for the last time." I felt the great magics of the uru hammer embolden me as I could feel faster, stronger, and more powerful than ever. "Taste the uru hammer Mijouner's might and see what a 'little' lightning can do."

Faster than I could imagine I soared to the monster, twirling the hammer above my head as I did so. Electricity arched through the air far greater than any of that I could unleash with the force as I prepared my attack.

"Now prepare to face the Odinson!" stricking hard ontop the beast's temple, Dreadwing head buckled.

"No way." Gina said in shock.

"Wow..." Britanny said as she blushed in awe. "And I thought his other forms were cute." She chuckled a bit at that.

"Miss Britanny, please get back here." Tark cried out as the stone foes were beginning to attack again.

"Damn." Britanny muttered a small curse as she rushed back and aided Tark and Mesha.

Said female elf was still concentrating her power, but this time she used a series of rapidly spinning balls of magic. Each one coursed through the tunnel and exploded upon impact with one of the monsters. Gina, finding great courage in herself, fired again and again and the not-so-concentrated attackers. Plasma burst after plasma burst burned through the sky as the super genius pulled the trigger. Taking only a moment to reload, she stood her ground almost begging for them to attack again.

I was more focused on Dreadwing though as each swing of my hammer sent lighting tearing through him and the air like no storm every seen on Earth since the flood of Noah.

"Tark, do you honestly think that Mr Alex could have?" Mesha asked.

"Aye, it is possible, but how could he..." Tark answered his wife.

"Okay what are you two going on about now?" Britanny asked as she crushed one more stone monter's head with her foot.

"It seems your friend has summoned the power of the gods, or a god." Mesha said.

"Wait what now?" Gina asked as she two couldn't believe what was just said.

"Ms Britanny, Ms Gina, if what he said is right then Alex as turned into Thor himself." Tark said as he sliced another beast in half.

"Wait Thor? God of Thunder of Norse mythology, you're joking right?" Gina said, looking at Tark and Mesha like they had lost their minds.

"See what you see Gina and tell me if I truly am joking."

"Dang, guy pops out of nowhere, says he's our fan, starts changing into crazy super guys, and turns into a god? Wow, definitely going to see about keeping him." Britanny smiled as she licked her lips.

Romance was the last thing on my mind as I was laying blow after blow upon Dreadwing. Arching smashed to his head one way and then the other, radiant bursts of electricity flying in such a way that he was struck in multiple places at once, and direct bashes to his forehead causing radiating quakes of power were being laid upon my foe as led a relentless assault on him.

"Thus thou now surrender beast, or thus thou still crave the taste of uru?" I say as I stand ready to attack again.

"No oh thundering one. I still 'crave' the taste as it were." His wicked grin was not nearly as threatening as before since my first attack had removed most of the teeth he had, but in one instant I found myself grabbed within his mouth and swallowed whole. "Terrible, but let us see you get out of that fool."

It was dark, damp, and not-at-all where I wanted to be. I could feel myself sliding down a wet expanse as the beast body rumbled as he chuckled. I was near panic as I found myself once again human, and thought only one thing...escape. I didn't care if I was going to have to claw my way out, I was getting out of here.

"So, now that he is taken care of, I'm sure you realize you have no chance of actually succeeding in destroying me." Dreadwing arrogantly said to the remaining 4 of his attackers.

"You fucking bastard." Britanny growled.

"Well yes, I suppose I am, but still I shall saver this moment for...rahhhh!" Dreadwing's new cry of pain was from something he continuously was forgetting about: me.

You see when I said I would even claw myself out, I was being literal. As the dragon grabbed at the pain in his side, three metal blades trust out and cut clean through his skin. Then another set of blades sliced the other way, and then...

RAAAARRR!" Out tore one really freaking pissed of 5'3" tall blue, yellow, and black garbed Canadian.

"Alright bub, you just pissed me off bad." Once more I took to the air, landing on Dreadwing's exposed flank. "And I don't like it when I get pissed off." I tore into him as I climbed up onto of his back, slicing at his flesh all the way.

"What...but how?" The monster could not comprehend what had just happened to him. He thought he was done with me, but I was sure as all get out not done with him.

"You attacked my friends, hurt them, threatened Britanny and Gina, and then tried to kill me. Bub you are DEAD!" I let the Berzerker rage take over as red energies seemed to just flow off of me. I was diving, slashing, stabbing, dodging, and cutting with rage I could never have imagined feeling before.

"You didn't like uru much, so lets see you taste adamentium" I twirled myself around on one foot and acted as a buzz saw as my claws sliced through dragon skin, muscle, and right through bone. Unable to reach me, Dreadwing couldn't stop my assault as I cleaved one of his wings right off. It fell to the ground in a pool of blood with a great crash, causing a massive gust of wind to blow with it.

"AAAAAA!" The monster was caught between being in shock from my initial assault, and the fact he now lost one limb that he didn't even attempt to retaliate.

"Gina quickly, the Time Raft." Mesha said.

"What?" Gina said, still watching the fight. "Oh yes right. Britanny, Tark buy me some time." The genius was running as fast as she could towards the device, dedicated to the sole goal of deactivating it.

"On it sis." Britanny said, cockily attacking the last remaining stone opponents. More or less thinking this was in the bag. Tark too was feeling that victory was assured, but didn't take this as lightly as Britanny did.

"Lets see how these guys like a real werecheetah kicking their butts." Cheetah smiled as she almost promenaded through them.

"Britanny don't be so cocky, we aren't done yet." Tark remined her.

"AHHHH! YOU ACCURSED VERMIN!" Dreadwing screamed as I was holding onto his massive back with my blades. "You shall pay for this." I was too busy tearing at his spine and preparing to take off his other wing to notice what was going on in the area to his front.

"Bub you talk too much." I flatly said to him as the indestructible claws of Wolverine sliced Dreadwing's other wing off. "And now you got to change your name yeh stupid punk."

The beast didn't think that was funny at all as he finally shook me off his back. Covered in dragon's blood and other such mess, I still landed to the floor without missing a beat and was ready to leap at him once more.

"You have proven yourself to be an impossible opponent...but I think that there is one you care about who isn't so resourceful." Amid the falling teeth, massive bleeding, and overwhelming damage to his head, back, and the loss of his wings, Dreadwing still was able to mount an attack on us.

"Oh no..." I thought as the beast raised up on his hind legs and unleashed a burst of flame from his mouth. "BRITANNY!"

I tried to reach her, I did...just the flame was faster. I could barely look to see it as the woman I had been so enamored with lately, who had made me a friend, who was so nice to me, was now blasted with dragon fire. I was too late. I couldn't take the smell of her burning flesh anymore and was again just me, just me to see her face in such a state of innocent shock. Her flesh and skin burned and the reek of overdone steak filled my nostrils...I could help myself as I just held her and cried. Tears ran down my face and onto her's.

"Ah so now I see. You do care about the young lycan bitch." Dreadwing addressed me. "If I had known that I would have done this earlier." This was about to be one very dead, very smashed, very very dead piece of salamander squat.

"Bri...Britanny...?" Gina cried, as her eyes filled with rage. "You Bastard, you killed my sister." Dreadwing's glea at hearing that was phenomenal. He began to make magical circles in the air, but never got the chance to use them.

"Dreadwing." I said very quietly. "You have just made me very, very angry...and you...will not like like me...when I am ANGRY!" Britanny's head felt smaller and smaller to me as I roared with fury. My cloths ripped from me like damp paper, my body grew and expanded, and before I could even think it was so, I was cradling her head in the palm of one very big green hand.

"Pretty kitty lady Hulk friend, now Hulk loose friend." I wept. "Evil lizard thing take friend from Hulk, so Hulk take life from EVIL LIZARD THING!" Dreadwing never knew what hit him, or could comprehend what a 12' tall green monster was doing as I slammed down hard on his already wounded head.

"HULK SMASH!" I bounded off of Dreadwing's bleeding noggin and came down like an asteroid with two fists right on his crown.

"Gina quickly, while he's busy." Tark said as the last stone beast fell to his emerald blade.

"Right." The remaining Diggers sister said as she busied herself with the Time Raft's controls. "Give me a little time Alex, then we will make this jerk off pay."

"Blonde lady work on silver thing, Hulk have smashing to do." I said jumping off Dreadwing's massively damaged head. "Hulk will make bad guy pay."

Dreadwing's wrist was my landing spot, and I landed hard. Two solid punches broke the bones in his talon, while I twisted over his wrist and brought him down to his knees.

"How is it...how could you possibly be so...strong?" He whispered in pain, barely able to mutter a word.

"Hulk is strong, HULK IS STRONGEST OF ALL!" Not even thinking, which really the Hulk is not known for, I broke his wrist and moved to one of his digits. "And Hulk no like you, no like...bad guys..." I pulled on his digit with all my might, finally ripping the thing off of his body. "So Hulk make you PAY!"

I reared back and let fly the clawed finger not caring wear it hit, only that I let it go with all the strength I had. It was the last thing Dreadwing saw out of that eye.

"AHHHH...You demon." The vile monstrosity pulled his head back, and was able to yank me off of my footing. "You dare...you dare to do this to ME?" No more was he the powerfully intimidating foe of earlier. Dreadwing was now a mass of bleeding, broken, decimated reptilian matter who was lost two wings, one hand, and one eye. He was only bairly able to swat his digit away and out of it's lodged socket, tearing his great red eye out as he did. "Me the great Dreadwing?"

"You no great anything...you are just another piss-ant excuse of a dictator. Dragon or no dragon." I lost the Hulk form, tired from what I had been doing. But I wasn't done yet.

"Alex what are you doing?" Gina asked, as she completed her work on the Time Raft.

"Hahahaha." Dreading laughed as he spat up blood. "So you do have a limit to your power. Fitting that now I still can win after all that pathetic attempts to destroy me, you still don't have the power to do me in."

I looked at Britanny's body, I looked hard at my friend laying there, and all I wanted was...Vengeance.

"No you peice of crap. That's not it." I didn't just want to kill this monster, I wanted him to suffer for all eternity. "You have acted as if you, you...nothing are more than an overgrown and insignificant excuse of a reptile beyond all judgment. That you could get away with everything just because you are powerful, because you are strong..." I knew I was taking a chance while talking, knowing that he could blast me at any time...good.

"That I am!" He boldly stated. "I am Dreadwing, fear me." He again unleashed a blast of fire, but this time it wasn't going to do him any good.

I had already changed before the flames hit my body, already had decided who it was who I was going to use to do this monster in once and for all. It shocked everyone to see I wasn't blasted away by the flames, but that I was walking through them. Well not me, but rather a humanoid being with muscular build, wearing black biker leather, and holding a very big chain.

As the flames, dissipated before the dragon stood not a man, but a flaming skeleton. The chain, long, cold, and wrapped around my body like a bandoleer, I pulled out to full lenght and let it drag on the floor for a moment before I swung it over my head letting the power of the Ghost Rider flow through it. It spun around in ever widening loops till suddenly it sparked with infernal red energy and blazed to life. I snapped it hard onto Dreadwing's kneck and let it sear into his flesh for a second.

"Dreadwing." My voice was calm, direct, airy, and would send shivers down the spines of the bravest soul. "Your soul is stained with the blood of the innocent." I yanked down hard on the chain, pulling his head to the ground as I moved one hand over the other. "You have ruined countless lives, taken from everyone for yourself without a care, and ended every life you come across till now."

One hard final yank and his head came crashing to the ground with a loud thud. "You guilty." I pointed right at him as I glared into his remaining eye. "Feel their pain." I could actually taste the fear of this dragon looking at me. It was great and vast, unending, and he shivered seeing me.

"Look into my eyes." I commanded as I felt the flames jet out from my sockets and into this monster's soul. I saw civilizations burned to the ground, innocent lives of humans, elves, lycans, dwarfs, and many more cut down. I saw so much true Biblical evil that day, I shall never forget it.

I couldn't tell how long I held him there, how long it took for the eons of time to pass as the vile monster's soul was burned to a cinder, but it did eventually pass. It was probably the most joyful moment I had felt lately, to be over with that necessary but still gut-wrenching ordeal.

"It's over Gina." I said turning back into a human. "He's done for, but still alive." The three remaining friends of mine looked to see the blacked eye of the dragon and it's seemingly lifeless body remain there. "Do it."

I walked over to Britanny and held her as Gina nodded. Pressing a button on the control unit she explained. "This is a warp field...a paper thin singularity...a controlled black hole." I knew what was coming, and looked forward to it.

"Nothing can escape it, not even the super massive explosion of the Time Raft's self destruct sequence." I could hear her tears as she said this. "You killed my sister. Die bastard."

Dreadwing, burned raw by the penance stare, gave no words in the brief moments that it took for the time raft to open and the device to go off. His organic tissue instantly incenerated in a bright flash of white-blue and nearly blinded us all. Only the dragon's skeleton remained, and that wasn't holding together well at all.

"Gina we..." Tark said as Gina took Britanny from my arms and hugged her.

"No Britanny." She said as she looked at the stunned face of her beloved sister. "You said that we were comic characters, you said that we were..." Gina slapped me before getting off of her sister's body. I just took it.

We both were too...too hurt to look up as the object of our mutual mourning sat up and spoke.

"Somebody killed me?" Came the shocked and airy statement.

"Britanny!" Gina cried out as she wrapped her arm around her sister and I yelled "Cheetah" as we both hugged her.

"Owe...no hugs please, trying to regenerate." We both let go of our injured friend.

"What the matter with you two? After all this is supposed to be the first comic right?" She joked, but only barely.

"Oh right, duh, sorry." I slap myself in the face.

"Yea I think I have some ointment in my backpack."

"Gina, Alex, we owe you two our lives." Tark said kneeling.

"If there is anything we can do for you..." Mesha continued.

"Well for one you're kneeling days are over." Gina said.

"Yea, rise and enjoy the sweet taste of freedom. It's just what heroes do." I smile as I try to relax a bit.

"When we get home I'm going to soak in a bathtub full of aloe." Britanny said. "Unless you got someone there that's good at healing others there sweet stuff."

I will never take that smile for granted. "Give me a while Cheetah, I'm sort of out of it right now." I reply as I didn't do much for a while.

"I'm afraid that we don't know any holy magic." Tark said as he and Mesha stood up.

"But we will use our magic to help you transport Dreadwing's treasure."

Treasure was a bit of an understatement. The vast riches this horde held could not be counted. Gold coins, bars, plates, and slabs several yards in size littered the ground like a series of gleaming hills.

"Sweet, first thing I'm going to buy is some new skin." Britanny smiled as she walked forward to see her prize.

"Hey, why don't you all join my science team." Gina said as she adjusted her glasses and stared at us. "We could use some experts like yourselves."

"You don't have a science team." Britanny pointed out.

"I do now." The genius in mini shorts said. "We'll call ourselves the Fantastic Four, or five, or..."

"Oh no." Britanny and I both said.

"First of all that name is taken, and Marvel would sue your butt off for that. And since Marvel is owned by Disney, the mouse would be suing you too." I tell her. "Didn't you remember what we went over before we went through the cave?"

"Yea look, make with the Tylenol. First thing I'm buying with my treasure is a shower." Britanny said as she chided her sister greatly.

"Oh come on you two, where's your sense of fun?" Gina said as we began to move the treasure.

"Right about where my sense of self-preservation is." I respond. "and don't think you are going to try and use me to get into even more dangerous situations for personal gain. I know you Gina and as much as I think you're awesome, I'm not using my powers that way."

"Oh come on, what's wrong with making a little cash off of what you can do? It's just good sense." Gina tried to persuaded me.

"Ask Spider-Man about his uncle Ben next time I turn into him for that one."

"So you aren't sticking around?" Britanny asked looking very sad at this. "I thought that you really..."

"Like I'm dumb enough to walk out on you? Please." I smile at her. "I'm staying with you as long as I can Cheetah. Only a dullard would even consider not being around you as often as possible."

"Good, because if you were leaving I'd have some words with you." She mock threatened me. "Now lets get this treasure out of here and back to civilization. I need a shower."

Thus it started, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

To be continued...