Authors notes: See how many pop-culture references you can spot in this chapter! And also, Consort, your OC makes an appearance in this one.
"RUN! OH MY GOD, RUN!"
The creature came bounding after them, their owner laughing sadistically.
"C'mon, Succotash, where are they?!" The woman screamed.
The creature, named Succotash, snuffled before pawing at its face. It could literally smell where they were.
"One...named...Chro...mie...that...way." It struggled to say. It pointed its misshapen paw towards a stone pillar.
"Oh, sandnuggets…" Chromie whispered, and wiped her forehead.
"Forward, Succotash!" The brute woman howled. The creature knocked the pillar down and pounced on Chromie, its yellow teeth snarling in her face.
"I didn't want to have to do this, in fact I'm banned from using it on battlegrounds. But since you and your pet insist…" Chromie said, a smile tugging on her tiny face.
There was a blinding flash of light, before a large ringing sound nearly deafened everyone in the room, and shortly after horribly low growls pierced the air. A ginormous bronze-colored dragon was towering over the woman and her pet, making both them and Chromie's hidden teammates shake in their boots. Chromie lunged her clawed dragon hand downward, shoving the woman and her pet into a wall, breaking a few of their bones.
"Ah, damn it, my ribs…" The woman croaked.
"One question before I inevitably crush you." Chromie said, lurching forward, her voice deep and creaky, as she rarely spoke in dragon form. "What's your name?"
"Oh, thanks for askin'! It's Ichigo!" She said, all 13 of her rotting, disgusting teeth showing.
"Oh, how pleasant…" Chromie muttered, fighting the urge to vomit. She shoved Ichigo and Succotash into the wall a bit more, and soon blue dust was flying out from under her hand.
"Okay, guys. Any way out of this room?" Nova asked, leaning on her gun.
"Brightwing sees a window!" Brightwing exclaimed. She pointed a tiny finger at a giant hole in the wall, literally anything BUT a window.
"Oh wow. Sorta stupid how we didn't see that." Nova said, her eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Brightwing thinks we should ride on Chromie!" Brightwing cheerfully said.
"Uh, I don't think that's going to be a good i- Oh my gods, they're doing it anyways." Chromie sighed.
Once the whole group was on, Nova leaned into Chromie's ear and yelled "Giddy up, little dragon!"
"First of all, I'm really ticked off that Sgt. Hammer's still in her medical jeep while on me. That's just not safe. Second of all, there's no saddle. Anyone with nothing covering their legs are going to have a nasty surprise when they get off. Third of all, screaming 'Giddy up, little dragon!' is really not inspiring me. Leave inspiration to Raynor. Fourth of all-"
"ONWARDS, AOSHIMA!" Sgt. Hammer yelled from her slanted jeep.
"Alright, ready or not, which I'm not, here we go!" Chromie growled. She took flight, leaving the others going "Woah!" and scrambling to grab a scale to find some stability. She drifted effortlessly through the hole in the wall, the cold night air rushing on their faces.
"Look! There's a hatch at the top of that roof!" Nova yelled, trying to scream over the wind.
Chromie landed with a loud THUD! And the group dismounted.
Chromie shifted out of her dragon form. She silently opened the hatch and climbed down a ladder, motioning for the group to follow suit.
They looked around the room, a white lab with half-finished gizmos on every table.
"Friend Gazlowe would love this room!" Brightwing said.
A door behind them slammed open.
"Ah, good, the kids have come to play!" A high-voiced man in an oil-stained, oversized lab coat said. He was short and thin, with black hair that instead of growing down, grew outwards, sort of defying gravity.
"Kids? How dare you, I am thousands of years old!" Chromie scoffed, obviously peeved by the comment.
"Whatever! Just prepare to meet your maker!" He yelled. He pulled out a mini rocket launcher…
...and shot a missile directly at the group.
Lucario: He won't be in combat himself, but it will be in a combat situation.
You did influence a few things. Not a lot, but a few.