Jake Long III (Season Two)
Chapter/Episode 14: My Heart To Slay Part 3
Melissa was running right towards Jake III, who nervously backed himself into the wall. "I won't hurt you!" Melissa told him as she got closer and closer to him. "Weren't you liste-?" However, before she could finish, Councilor Dingane's tail wrapped around her neck, while Agata's tail wrapped around her right arm, Yara's tail wrapped around her left arm and Asil's tail wrapped around her waist. Melissa grunted as she was pulled back, and as soon as she reached the hovering Council, they tossed her to the side. Melissa landed as she landed on the large table that the Council usually sat at.
LINE BREAK
Back in 2033, Mrs. Jennings held a communication device with the holographic image of her daughter being projected as she walked down the hall. "In just about a minute, you'll see that your friend is quite fine."
At this point, she reached the dungeon door. "She's right in here." Within seconds, she opened the door and stepped inside.
"See for yourself, Holly." Mrs. Jennings said as she stepped inside the dungeon, turning around the communication device so that Holly could see. However, Mrs. Jennings' smile vanished and her eyes widened as she saw that the shackles were empty. Rose was gone. Rosie was gone. Essence was gone. They had escaped.
"Nice try, mother." Holly said, crossing her scaly arms before Mrs. Jennings turned around. "I knew you were lying."
"I wasn't, you brat!"
"Then where is she?"
"She got away..." Mrs. Jennings growled.
"I have nothing more to say to you mother." Holly said.
"Hang up and she's dead!" Mrs. Jennings shouted at her daughter's holographic form.
"It won't be that easy." Holly told her, pointing at her. "The second I hang up, I'm going to assemble an army of Dragon Council Agents. They'll be at your location within moments. They'll rescue Rose and they will capture you. You have nowhere to go."
Seething, Mrs. Jennings gritted her teeth as Holly's holographic image appeared. Roaring with rage, Mrs. Jennings spun around and threw the communication device out of the room, where it broke into two pieces once it hit the wall before falling to the ground.
After letting out her anger, all Mrs. Jennings could do was breath heavily. That was, until...
"Master!" The sound of Creed's voice could be heard from outside the dungeon. Her eyes wide, Mrs. Jennings watched as Creed stepped into view, turning to face her. "Master!" He started to enter the dungeon, but he froze when Mrs. Jennings roared:
"YOU'RE ALIVE?!"
"Affendi tried to kill me, but yes."
"He tried to kill you because I WANT YOU DEAD!"
Swallowing hard, Creed started to back up as Mrs. Jennings advanced toward him. "H...Hold on there." Creed said as he back up against the wall.
"You only have thirty seconds left to live..." Mrs. Jennings growled angrily as she passed through the doorway of the dungeon.
"Wait!" Creed held out his clawed hands, making Mrs. Jennings stop in her tracks,
"What?" She asked impatiently, putting her clawed hands on her hips.
"The girl is alive." Creed said. "The one that you thought my doppelganger had killed. The one that that Agent summoned here."
Mrs. Jennings' face twitched before she turned back around, staring at the empty shackles. "It must have been her." Mrs. Jennings crossed her arms. "Congratulations, Creed." She smiled mockingly as she turned back around to face her minion, who swallowed hard again. "We're going after those three. Do you know what that means for your life?"
"Um..."
"It means you get to live just a little bit longer." Mrs. Jennings told him. "Now come on." She ordered before turned and started to walk down the hall. Nervously, Creed started to follow her.
BLACKOUT; PLAY THEME SONG
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Rose still wore the shackles around her wrists and the chains attached to the cuffs hung down as Rose led the way, her granddaughter and her granddaughter's friend following her. Together, they reached the end of the hall. There was only one way to go now. Taking a deep breath, Rose turned to face Rosie and Essence.
"Stay where you are." Rose told them. "I'm going to see if it's safe to continue on."
"Okay." Essence replied.
Rose then turned back around and peered over the corner, seeing no one in the next hall. "Okay." Rose said as she turned her head to the side. "It looks all clear."
"It looks?" Rosie asked.
"It is." Rose said before she turned her head back to normal. Then, she quickly turned around the corner, Rosie and Essence quickly following her.
"You should have just left me." Rose said as Rosie and Essence reached her sides.
"Well, we didn't." Essence replied.
"I have no idea where we're going." Rose said. "This place is huge. We won't find a way out in time."
"Wh...What do you mean by that?" Essence turned her head to the side. "You mean we'll get caught and killed by those evil dragons?"
"That's not what I meant." Rose said. "Although it could happen. I meant that we'll still be looking for a way out of here by the time your time runs out and you're sent back to your time."
By this time, the three dragons turned around another corner and started to walk down the next hall, where they could see a flight of stairs that led up and a flight of stairs that led down next to the flight of stairs that led up.
"Maybe the way down will lead us closer to a way out!" Essence smiled.
"Or..." Rosie crossed her scaly arms. "...It will just lead us down into another holding cell."
"Well, there's only one way to find out, right?" Essence asked. "What do you think?" She turned her head to the side to look at Rose.
"I think..." Rose stalled as she tried to make her decision. Finally, she smiled. "...I think I agree with you. We should go down there. If it's just another prison room, then I have a plan."
LINE BREAK
In 2085, McClellan managed to get the shackles off of Gussie's wrists. As McClellan pulled them away, Jake III was kneeling at his side, watching from a safe distance as Melissa continued her fight with the Council.
The fight had been going on for far too long, and now only Asil, Yara and Dingane were still in the fight; Agata was lying unconscious on her side a foot or two back and to the side of where Melissa was fighting. Melissa had only three minutes left to live, the watch swiftly counting down from there.
Pulling back her fist, the tired Melissa tried to punch Councilor Asil, but Asil managed to grab her wrist while Dingane and Yara grabbed her from behind, pulling her back and grabbing her arms, pinning them behind her back as they tried to subdue her. Of course, Melissa struggled against them, but Yara and Dingane were able to keep hold of her.
Breathing heavily, Asil turned around to face McClellan. "Agent, help subdue Dragon Owen!" Asil ordered. "I'll protect your daughter and Mr. Long!"
"No!" Melissa exclaimed as she managed to free herself from Yara and Dingane, knocking both Councilors to the floor as she rushed forward, making Councilor Asil grunt as he was thrown to the floor, Melissa on top of him.
"I'm not going to kill him!" Melissa told Asil. "Get that out of your head. He won't be hurt, so just STAY DOWN!"
After saying this, Melissa got to her feet, but as she looked up, she gasped as she saw Agent McClellan flying right up to her, slamming his tail into her with all of the force that he could muster.
Melissa grunted as McClellan's tail hit her in the chest, throwing her far back. As Melissa spun through the air, she reverted to her human form in a bright light. Finally, she hit the large table and bounced off of it, grunting again as she hit the ground on her back. Unbeknownst to Melissa, she had only one minute and fifteen seconds to live.
Grunting, Melissa managed to get to her feet, where she could see that Asil, McClellan, Gussie, Yara, Dingane and Jake III were all walking up to her. "Are you done, Dragon Own?" Asil asked as they reached the table.
"If he'd just kill me, then yes!" Melissa said as she pointed at Jake.
"I told you before." Jake III narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to kill you."
"Don't think of it as murder." Melissa told him. "Think of it as mercy. That's what all of this is about. I don't want to kill you. I don't want to kill any of you. The only people that I killed were the people who made it so that I had to.
"Look..." She continued. "...Just kill me! Use your claws and just kill me. It'll be easy. Easy for you, but most importantly, easy for me!"
"I hate to break this to you." Jake told her. "But I can't do that. I can't use claws to kill you."
"Yes, you can!" Melissa told him. "The first American Dragon was your grandfather!"
"Yeah, but I don't have his powers." Jake said. "The powers skipped me. I'm not a dragon."
"What?" Melissa asked, her eyes widening in shock. This was a heavy hit for Melissa. Her world and all of her hopes for a quick death were shattering, just like her dreams for life had been shattered when she had been given a cursed heart. She had frozen all of the dragons on the island, she had been betrayed, she had gone to prison...all for nothing. Now, to make matters worse, her time was up. Her watch reached zero.
Grunting with pain, Melissa staggered back a step before she hunched over. When she lifted herself back up, she was screaming in agony, looking up at the ceiling with eyes closed shut.
"Dad, what's happening?" Gussie asked as she clutched on to her father's side.
Continuing to scream, Melissa backed up into the wall where he screaming ended. Instead, she gritted her teeth and moaned, starting to squirm against the wall, even lifting her leg up. Watching this with terrified looks on their faces, Jake, McClellan, Gussie and the Council all heard one last sound that was a mixture of a sob and a scream before Melissa moaned, lowering her head to reveal that blood was coming from her eyes, her nose and from her open mouth. With a final groan, Melissa Owen fell forward onto the hall floor, dead.
LINE BREAK
Back in 2033, Rose, Essence and Rosie reached the bottom of the stairs. As Rosie had suspected, it was just another holding room. "Okay, what's that plan of yours?" Rosie asked as she crossed her scaly arms.
"Just a second." Rose said as she started to walk across the room.
As soon as she reached the wall, Rose brought her hand up and knocked on the wall. "What are you doing?" Rosie asked.
Rose smiled as she took her hand away from the wall. "Yes..." She said to herself as she took a few steps back.
However, Essence and Rosie heard what Rose had said. "What?" Essence asked.
"I think I can break through the wall." Rose said as she turned her head to the side.
"Why don't we just go back up the stairs and go back the way we ca-?" Essence asked, but before she could finish, Rose turned her head back to normal and blew out a torrent of fire that hit the wall.
Essence and Rosie both watched as Rose continued to blow fire against the wall. This lasted for about ten seconds, and once that time was up, Rose closed her mouth, cutting off the fire and allowing her to see that she had blown through several wall layers, leading them right through several rooms.
"Wow." Essence was shocked.
"Come on." Rose said as she turned her head to the side, starting to walk out, Essence and Rose following her.
"How did you do that?" Essence asked as she and Rosie followed.
LINE BREAK
A short time later, Rose, Essence and Rose turned around a corner, finding themselves at the staircase that Noelia, Patience and Lucero had flown down while still being chased by Creed's doppelgangers.
"This is where I last saw them." Rosie said as she, her friend and her grandmother continued to walk down the hall.
"Maybe they're at the bottom of the stairs." Essence said hopefully.
"I highly doubt that." Rose said.
"Well, I thought that the doppelgangers were called off." Essence said.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that they'll be there." Rose replied. "Hopefully, they found a way out."
As the three reached the stairs, they started to walk down them, finding that, just like Rose had predicted, Noelia, Lucero and Patience weren't at the bottom of the stairs. "I hope they found a way out." Essence said.
LINE BREAK
In 2085, Melissa was lying in a wooden coffin; the cloak she had been wearing had been removed and her face had been cleaned of all blood. She was inside the Main Hall, on the large table, with Dingane and Yara, in their dragon forms, guarding her.
Seconds later, the doors were pushed open and Asil, in his human form, walked inside, followed by the distraught-looking Julius and Willow Owen, both parents holding onto each other as they followed Asil.
Asil reached the table before he turned to face the Owens, who stopped once they got close enough to Asil and the table, letting go of one another.
"I'm..." Asil started. "...Sorry that it had to end this way. A parent should never have to see their child dead. They also shouldn't have to be the ones to bury their child."
Willow Owen sniffled before she spoke: "Well, I guess we deserve this. The Rodrigos had to bury their boy, all because of Melissa."
"You can't blame yourselves for what she did." Yara said.
"We don't." Julius said. "But we're also having trouble blaming Melissa. If that creature hadn't hurt her, she never would have had reason to do all of this."
"She made her choice." Dingane said. "That's all she did. She made a choice to do wrong."
"She did it all to avoid her fate..." Asil shook his head sadly. "...And in the process, she failed to make a difference. All she did was kill people, hurt people, make enemies and ruin her good name."
Then, Asil turned back around to face Melissa's coffin again before he continued: "I know you just lost your only daughter, and I know you probably don't want to hear me criticize her."
"No." Julius insisted, his tone full of sadness, but also acceptance. "You are right. She was at fault."
"We can't expect you to be kind to her anymore." Willow added.
"Good." Asil said as he turned back to face the Owens. "Because after what your daughter did, we as a Council have decided that we will not allow her to be buried here. Do you know of a place where she can be laid to rest?"
Both Owens looked like they had been punched in the gut. Their daughter was dead and was now being denied a burial on the Island of Draco?
"Mr. and Mrs. Owen?" Asil asked them, trying to get them to respond.
"Oh." Both Owens said as they snapped out of their trains of thought.
"Well?" Asil asked.
"I...I suppose we could just have her buried in the local cemetery." Willow said. "That way...we can visit her more often."
"Okay." Asil said, but when he saw how sad the couple looked, he forced a smile onto his face. "May I say something?" He asked.
"Certainly." Julius said.
"Your daughter might have done wrong..." Councilor Asil put his clawed hands on his hips. "...But she was still a living being."
"Thank you." Julius said softly. "We needed to hear that."
LINE BREAK
In 2033, Rose, Essence and Rosie all turned around another corner, but at the end of the corner, Rose could see a flash as someone ran around the next corner. Gasping, Rose, Rosie and Essence all came to a halt.
As they all stared at the end of the hall, Rosie was the first to speak. "I bet that's at least one of those two evil dragons."
"Do you think so?" Essence asked Rose.
"I...I can't be sure." Was Rose's reply as she brought up a clawed hand and brought it through her hair. "I...I'll check it out."
"What about us?" Essence asked.
"Stay here." Was Rose's reply before she started to walk forward.
"Still think your grandmother is evil?" Essence asked softly, turning her head to the side to look at Rosie.
"Shut up." Rosie growled, crossing her scaly arms. Turning her head back to normal, Essence was unable to see the unsure look in Rosie's eyes.
Meanwhile, Rose reached the end of the hall. Briefly, she stopped in order to prepare herself for whoever was in the next hall. Taking a deep breath, Rose lifted up her clawed hands, preparing for a fight.
Grunting, she jumped around the corner, keeping her fighting stance. "Alright, who's ther-?" Rose started, but before she could finish, she grunted as a tail swung down from the ceiling and slammed into her chest.
Both Rosie and Essence watched as Rose grunted, flying back into view, hitting the wall. "I guess we were right." Rosie said.
"Yeah." Essence agreed. "I don't think she'd want us to help her."
As Rose tried to move away from the wall, she grunted as her attacker slammed into her and pinned her against the wall, pinning her hands by her head. However, as she panted, Rose did not fight back, for she found that her attacker was none other than Noelia.
Within seconds, Noelia realized her mistake and her eyes widened. "It's you!"
"It's you." Rose returned, much more calmly than Noelia.
"I'm...I'm sorry." Noelia apologized as she released Rose, taking a step back and allowing Rose to step away from the wall.
"It's okay." Rose gave the younger dragon a smile.
"Noelia?" Essence asked, making Noelia turn, seeing Essence and Rosie walking up to her and Rose.
"Essence! Rosie!" Noelia's face lit up before she rushed over to her friends, Rose turning to watch as Noelia reached her friends and grabbed them in a big hug. Seeing this, Rose smiled.
"Thank goodness you two are okay." Noelia said before she released her friends, letting them take a few steps back. "Essence, how did that happen?" Noelia asked about the dried blood on her chest and belly, as well as the slash marks.
"Don't worry." Essence told her. "It stopped bleeding. I'll be okay."
"Where are the others?" Rose asked as she walked up to Noelia's side from behind, Noelia turning her head to the side to look at Rose.
"Noelia, are they okay?" Essence asked.
"Of course they are." Noelia said, turning her head back to normal. "I hid them in a room. Come on." She said as she started to turn around and walk away. "I'll lead you to them."
Seconds later, the four dragons turned around the corner, where they could clearly see that there were two doorways in the hallway, one on each side.
"I'm sorry that I attacked you." Noelia told Rose. "I was afraid that you were-"
"I know." Rose cut her off. "I told you. It's okay."
"There in here." Noelia said as she opened the door to the room that she had put Patience and Lucero in. Walking in, she was followed by Rose, then Rosie, and then Essence. They could see that Lucero and Patience were standing in the back of the room, looking up at the ceiling.
"Hey." Noelia said as she, Rose, Rosie and Essence stopped in the middle of the room. Noelia put her clawed hands on her hips as she continued: "Guess who I found?"
"Who?" Patience asked, she and Lucero not even bothering to look down.
"Rosie, her grandmother and Essence." Noelia said.
"That's great." Lucero replied. They still didn't look down from the ceiling.
"'That's great'?" Noelia narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Really? That's it? That's all you have to say?"
"What else do you want them to say?" Rosie asked.
"Oh, I don't know." Noelia said sarcastically. "I was at least hoping for a little more enthusiasm. Geez, you two! What's got you attention?"
"We didn't know that the rooms had one of these." Lucero said.
"What?" Noelia asked.
"An air vent." Patience said.
While Noelia face-palmed herself, Rose's face lit up. "This is great!" She said as she took a few steps forward and then turned around to face Rosie, Noelia and Essence.
"How is that great?" Noelia asked.
"It's a safer way to travel through this place." Rose said.
"There's just one problem." Noelia said. "Traveling through the vents won't help us find a way out."
"You'll never know if that's true or not until you try." Rose smiled and winked.
Rose then turned and walked over to where Patience and Lucero were standing. Reaching them, she put her hands on their shoulder and made them look down at to the side. "Do me a favor." Rose told them with a smile. "See if you can get the case off its hinges."
As Rose turned around to face Rosie, Noelia and Essence again, Patience and Lucero flapped their wings and flew up to the ceiling. "You can't be serious." Noelia said.
"I am." Rose said. "We're going through the vents."
At that moment, the sound of the case hitting the ground could be heard. Rose then turned around to see Patience and Lucero land on the floor. "It's off." Patience said with a smile.
"Okay." Rose said. "Follow me."
She then flapped her wings and flew up to the large hole in the ceiling. Putting her hands on both sides of the hole, Rose lifted her head up into the vent. "Okay..." Noelia said as she, Essence and Rosie walked up to where Lucero and Patience were, all of them looking up. "...Now how are you going to fit in there?"
"Simple." Rose said. "We have human forms. Now's the time to use them."
In a bright light, Rose reverted to her human form. Then, she grunted as she managed to pull herself all the way up into the vent.
"Okay!" She called a few seconds later. "Now you!"
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, Mrs. Jennings and Creed turned around a corner and started to walk down the hall that led to the front entrance of the lair. The statue was still lying on the ground and all of the dead bodies were still in the room as well.
"There's no sign of them." Creed said. "Do you think they got out?"
Growling with anger, Mrs. Jennings lashed out and grabbed Creed by his left ear, slamming him against the wall. With his weak spot in the clutches of his master, Creed whimpered like an abused puppy.
"No." Mrs. Jennings growled. "No, I don't."
"Then why are you punishing me?!"
"Because your question was stupid!" Mrs. Jennings told him. "Listen to me, you imbecile, and listen carefully. Those dragons don't know their way around here, and we have to use that to our advantage. In case they do wander their way to the exit, I'll be out here, waiting. You...You are going to go look for them."
"We're splitting up?"
"That's what I just said." Mrs. Jennings growled before she tightened her grip on Creed's ear, making him cry out in pain. "I told you to listen carefully."
Then, Mrs. Jennings released Creed's ear and allowed him to cry out in pain and clutch his battered ear.
"What are you waiting for?" Mrs. Jennings asked impatiently, extending out her arm in the direction they had just come. "Go looking for them."
Without a word, Creed turned and walked away, the two parting ways.
LINE BREAK
Up in the vents, Rose, then Patience, then Lucero, then Noelia, then Rosie, and finally Essence, all in their human forms, crawled through the vents.
"Do you know where we are?" Patience asked.
"No." Rose said as she turned her head to the side. "I have no idea where we are."
"So what?" Noelia asked. "Are we just going to keep wandering around these vents until we all suffocate?"
"Nonsense." Rose said as she turned her head back to normal. "We'll be fine."
LINE BREAK
Moments later, as they continued to move along the vent, Rose pressed her hand against the lid to the air vent of a room in the lair turned home. Stopping in her tracks, Rose looked down into the room, finding that it was a torture room.
"Um, why did you stop?" Patience, who was right behind Rose, asked.
"Need some air?" Rose looked back up, turning her head to the side. "Have the need to get out of this vent?"
"Sure!" Noelia said.
"We're right above a room." Rose said. "The lid's right under my hand. All I have to do is knock it down into the room and we can drop in."
"Sounds great." Noelia said.
"What room is it?" Patience asked.
"The torture chamber." Rose said as she turned her head back to normal. "Or at least one of them."
"There were dragons living here and they didn't get rid of a torture chamber?" Rosie asked, appalled.
"Or at least refurbished." Rose smile.
"Yeah, whatever." Noelia said. "Let's go down there and get some rest. I feel the need to stretch."
"Alright." Rose said before she looked back down. She started to work on the lid, but when she saw Creed walk into the room, right underneath her. Freezing, Rose's eyes widened.
"Well, what are you wai-?" Noelia started, but Rose cut her off with a sharp "Shhh!"
"What is it?" Patience whispered.
"We have company." Rose whispered. "He's right under me. He looks up and we'll be caught. Come on. And be silent." She finished before she slowly and carefully started to continue along the vent, the others starting to follow her.
Down in the torture room, Creed finished looking around. "Not in here." He said to himself before he turned and started to walk out of the room.
Back up in the vent, Essence was the only one left to pass over the lid. She had almost completely done so, but as she put her knee down on the lid, it gave way under all of the weight that had been put on it and fell to the room below.
Yelling in shock, Essence started to fall into the room, frantically clutching onto the floor of the vent to keep from falling into the torture room.
Hearing her scream, Creed stopped in his tracks and turned around to see Essence's kicking legs for a few seconds before she shrieked, falling into the room, landing on her back with a thud and a grunt.
Groaning, she opened her eyes to see Creed walking up to her. Gasping, Essence could do nothing to stop Creed from reaching down and picking her up by her armpits.
"Hello, my friend." Creed said with an evil smile. "Looks like you got a little separated from your friends." Then, Creed turned Essence to the side and ran her right into the wall, making her cry out in pain.
"We have to save her!" Rosie declared.
"I know!" Rose said. "Just...just let me think of a plan!"
"There's no time!" Patience insisted.
"We don't need a plan!" Rosie said. "We're all dragons! We just transform, this vent breaks and we go down there and beat the living snot out of that punk!"
"You're..." Rose said before her eyes widened. "...You're absolutely right."
Within seconds, the vent shattered to pieces, leaving the five dragons hovering in the air.
Meanwhile, Creed smiled evilly as he slammed Essence against the wall again. "So..." He mocked her. "...Does that mean that the others are in there?" He slammed her against the wall again. "I don't care much about you and your friends." Once again, he slammed her against the wall. "I just care about the Agent." Again, he slammed her against the wall. "So..." He smiled evilly at the dazed girl. "...Are you going to answer my question or am I just going to have to keep hurting you?"
However, a second later, Creed's smile was wiped off of his face when he grunted in pain, a sharp shard of the steel air vent bursting out of his stomach.
"Does that answer your question?" Rose asked. She was standing behind the evil dragon and was the one who had impaled him. The sharp piece of metal that had come out Creed's belly was only an attachment to a much larger hunk of metal, one that nearly went up Creed's entire back. "Let her go." Rose growled.
Creed did as he was told, dropping Essence to the floor; Lucero then used her tail to pull Essence to the side before Rose ripped the hunk of steel out of Creed's body, making Creed grunt in pain. Dropping the metal to the floor, Rose quickly stepped to the side as the dying Creed unconsciously walked up to the wall, his belly, hands and cheek colliding with the wall as he groaned, blood coming from his mouth. A split second later, Creed fell back, landing on his rear end before he quickly dropped to his back, dead.
With Creed dead, Rose and the others, Essence the only one in her human form, started to leave the room.
"I guess using the vent wasn't a good idea." Rose said as they all left the room, leaving Creed's lifeless body behind.
BLACKOUT; END EPISODE
A/N: So ends the "My Heart To Slay" Trilogy. Only one episode left of the season, and it includes the 2033 arc. Excited? Hope so.
Please review!
