Future Dragon: Rose Long (Season Seven)
Chapter/Episode 8: Double Betrayal
Sometime later, Rose flew over the roof of somebody's house and swooped down, landing right in front of the steps that led to the porch of her parents' old house. Then, Rose flapped her wings again and lifted into the air.
Mere moments later, the window to her room was opened and Rose flew inside, landing on her feet.
As silently as she could, Rose walked over to her closet. Hoping to not wake her sister, once she reached it, Rose closed her eyes and held her breath as she slowly slid open her closet.
As soon as the closet was completely open, Rose took a step back and listened carefully, trying to see if her sister heard her. Hearing nothing, Rose decided to go out into the hall and check. Reaching her closed door, Rose carefully opened it and stepped out into the dark hall. Once she was standing in the middle of the hall, Rose turned her head to the side and looked in the direction of her sister's room. Staring at the darkness for about ten seconds, Rose turned her head back to normal, deciding that she had not woken her sister. Entering her room again, Rose used her tail to gently close her door.
Returning to her closet, Rose started to fish through her clothes.
Finally, Rose pulled out two racks and turned around, walking over to her bed. Once she got close enough to the bed, she tossed them onto the bed: a black zip-up sweater with a hood and a pair of very loose black sweatpants. Then, Rose reverted to her human form.
LINE BREAK
Sometime later, on the Island of Draco, Rose arrived, landing on the ledge. As she landed, she reverted to her human form. As soon as the bright light faded into thin air, Rose, who had her tail tied up in a bun, reached up and slipped her hood over her head.
"Time to save my friends..." Rose whispered to herself. Then, she moved forward.
As Rose got closer to the jail, Rose could see that there was only one armored dragon standing at the door. "This should be easy..." Rose smiled to herself.
"Hey." Rose greeted the armored guard as she reached the door.
At first, the guard looked rather confused, but then he smiled. "Good evening." He greeted.
"Hey, is it too late for visits?" Rose asked casually.
"Visits?" The guard asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Rose replied. "Visits."
"I would think that you of all dragons would know that visits are never allowed." The guard told her.
"Well, I'd kind of like to make one." Rose smiled sweetly. "So, do you think you could do me a favor?" Then, her smile turned into a joking one and her eyes started to twinkle. "Or I could just knock you unconscious and steel your keys."
Immediately after this, Rose forced herself into a playful chuckle. As she had hoped, the dragon guard started to laugh as well. "Hey, that's a goo-" He started with a smile after he had finished laughing, but before he could finish, Rose jumped up and planted her foot into the guard's face, pushing the dragon guard back as Rose landed on her feet, hitting the back of his head on the door of the jail.
Groaning, the dragon guard slid down the door in a sitting position, finally falling to the side so that he was lying on the grass on his side. Quickly, Rose crouched down and grabbed the guard's ring of keys from around his waist. "Thanks." Rose said before she stood back up.
Rose then put the key into the lock of the steel door, then she turned it. Pushing the door open, Rose, with the ring of keys in her hand, walked inside quickly, leaving the unconscious dragon guard where he was.
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Rose continued to walk down the hall that she was in. Finally reaching a turn, Rose quickly pressed her against the wall and peered around the corner, seeing two armored dragon guards walking down the hall.
"Great." Rose said as she turned her head back to normal. "Well..." She smiled and she cracked her knuckles. "...Better make this quick..."
Then, in a bright light, she started to transform...
...Once she had finished transforming, Rose, in full dragon form, flew around the corner, flying towards the guards, who both froze in shock. "Who is that?" They both asked in unison before Rose flew right in-between them, swinging her tail in both direction, knocking both dragon guards to their sides and onto the ground with a grunt.
As Rose continued to fly, disappearing around another corner, one of the guards groaned as he rolled over onto his back. Grunting as he pulled a communication device from his person, he managed to press a button, omitting a holographic image of a human Councilor Rin.
"Councilor Rin..." The guard said to Rin's holographic, frowning face.
Meanwhile, once Rose had turned around the corner, she landed on her feet and reverted to her human form. Then, she started to run down the hall, finally coming to the end of the hall and turning around the next corner.
Now in the hall where Savannah was being held, Rose stopped running, slowly down to a brisk walk.
LINE BREAK
Outside the jail, an army of about ten armored dragon guards arrived, led by Rin, who was in her dragon form. "Go in." Rin ordered the shocked guards.
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, in her cell, Savannah was in her human form, her wrists locked in shackles above her head. She was sleeping, or at least until she heard clanging against the bars of her cell. Moaning, Savannah lifted her head up and opened her eyes, seeing Rose standing at the cell, taking the keys out of the lock and sliding open the bars. Then, she walked in, reaching up and pulling off her hood.
"Rose?" Savannah asked, her eyes wide. "Wh...What are you doing here?"
"I'm busting you out of here." Rose said as she reached Savannah's side, putting the key into the lock of one of Savannah's shackles. "Oh, and in response to your earlier question..." Rose continued to smile as a click came from the shackle, which opened up, allowing Savannah to lower her hand. "...No, I don't hate you."
Moments later, Rose and Savannah both walked out of the cell, Savannah rubbing her wrists. "Come on." Rose said as she turned and started to run down the hall, causing Savannah to turn to the side in shock. Narrowing her eyes, Savannah then ran after Rose.
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Holly was sleeping in her dragon form, on her side. Unbeknownst to Holly, her blood started to boil in its pot on the stove.
One of the bubbles that was caused by the boiling grew very large before it popped. The popped bubble of blood sent a small drop flying out of the pot and away from the stove, flying over to Holly and landing on her cheek, where it quickly dissolved with a hiss of steam.
However, the drop hitting her cheek was enough to wake Holly up; her eyes snapping open, she gasped as she quickly shot up to her side, sitting up, which allowed her to see the boiling pot on the stove.
Quickly, Holly rushed over to it and looked down, watching it boil and bubble. "Yes." Holly said, smiling with relief.
LINE BREAK
Quickly, both Rose and Savannah stopped at the bars to Cherri's cell and they both looked inside, seeing her also in her human form and also asleep.
Quickly, Rose put the key into the lock, causing a click as she unlocked the door. After pulling the keys out, Rose slid open the cell.
As her ears picked up the sound of her cell door sliding open, Cherri moaned as she slowly lifted her head up, opening her eyes and seeing Rose walk into the cell. "Rose?" She asked.
"Shh." Rose said as she reached Cherri's side, sticking the keys into one of Cherri's shackles. "I'm getting you and Savannah out of here." She said softly.
Moments later, Savannah took a couple steps back, allowing Rose to walk out of the jail cell, Cherri right behind her. "One question." Cherri said softly as she reached Rose's side.
"I don't think we have time for this." Rose said.
"But where are we going to go?" Cherri asked as she turned her head to the side.
"You don't know, do you?" Savannah asked. "You didn't think this out."
"The only thing that's important to me right now..." Rose said. "...Is that you two are free and safe. Now let's get out of here."
LINE BREAK
Moments later, Rose turned around the corner, quickly followed by both Cherri and Savannah. However, all three of them stopped and Rose's eyes widened as she saw the ten guards walking down the hall.
"Oh, crap." Rose cursed.
"Well..." Savannah said. "...This isn't good."
After Savannah said this, Rose narrowed her eyes. "Come on." She said. "We can do this."
"Do what?" Savannah asked, her eyes widening.
"We can get out of here." Rose said. "We just have to fight our way out."
"Rose, it's okay." Cherri said as she reached out and put a hand on Rose's shoulder. "The only thing that you're doing is getting yourself in trouble. You should jus-"
However, as Rose started to transform in a bright light, Cherri stopped talking and quickly pulled her hand off of Rose's shoulder, allowing Rose to fully transform before the light faded away. With a grunt, Rose flapped her wings and flew into the air.
Both Cherri and Savannah watched as Rose landed in front of the guards and lashed out with her tail, several guards being thrown off of their feet.
"Well..." Savannah said. "...We'd better go help her."
"Guess so." Cherri said.
Then, the two of them transformed into their dragon forms in a bright light. Once the lights faded, they ran towards Rose, only to stop once they heard Rose cry out, falling onto her back as she was tackled by two armored guards, two dragon guards flying toward Savannah and Cherri, one for Savannah and one for Cherri.
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
Councilor Rin, in her dragon form, turned around the corner of the prison and walked up to the door, seeing a dragon guard clad in armor.
"You caught them all?" Rin asked as she crossed her scaly arms.
"Yes, ma'am." The guard said.
"Who was the belligerent?"
"Rose Long, ma'am." The guard said, almost sadly. "She tried to break Dragon Rogers and Dragon Solorio out of prison. All three of them are in custody, ma'am."
"Well..." Rin said as she lowered her scaly arms. "...I better go tell Councilor Long."
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, flapping could be heard as Rhys landed on the grass. After taking only three steps forward, he stopped, seeing Councilor Rin walking past, only several feet away. This put a smile on Rhys' face.
Rin was about to turn a corner around a building when she grunted, Rhys tackling her, turning her to the side so she was facing him as he pinned her against the wall, holding both of her shoulders.
"Hello." Rhys said pleasantly, smiling at her.
"What are you doing?" Rin scowled. "I will have you know that you are assaulting a Councilor!"
"I apologize." Rhys said. "I just wanted to know where Councilor Holly Jennings is. Can you tell me?"
"Actually, I can't." Rin said. "She told me to not tell anyone where she is."
"Oh, I think she wants to see me." Rhys continued to smile.
"I don't want to risk angering her." Rin told him.
"Well, she called me." Rhys pushed. "I have a meeting with her. She is expecting me."
"I apologize, whoever you are." Rin said. "But there's no fooling me."
"You know." Rhys said, his smile vanishing. "If you don't tell me where I can find her, you will not only have a very angry Councilor Jennings to deal with, but I will also be very irked as well."
Rin stared at the serious face of Rhys for about ten seconds before she finally sighed. "Alright." Rin gave in. "She should be in the cafeteria."
"Thank you." Rhys smiled as he released Rin's shoulders.
"Don't thank me." Rin told him. "If she's angry that someone found her, just don't tell her that it was me that told you, alright?"
"Don't worry..." Rhys continued to smile. "...She won't be angry..."
LINE BREAK
Back in the kitchen, Rose was smiling as she looked down at the pot of boiling blood.
However, as Holly heard the sound of the doors to the cafeteria opening, her smile faded. Straightening up, Holly turned to the side, only to gasp as she saw Rhys walk into the cafeteria.
"Rhys?!" Holly called out in shock.
"Hey, Councilor..." Rhys said casually as he walked into the doorframe of the kitchen.
"What are you doing here?" Holly asked. "I thought you said that you'd be here in the morning."
"Well..." Rhys smiled. "...I found that I had time to get here early. Why?" His smile vanished. "Is the Pure Dragon potion not done yet?"
"I don't know." Holly said. "If it isn't, I think it's very close to being done."
"Let me see it." Rhys said.
"Alright." Holly said before she stepped to the side, allowing Rhys to walk over to the stove, turn and then look down at the boiling blood.
"Oh yes." Rhys smiled. "It's done."
"Well..." Holly said. "...What do we do, then? There's nothing to put it in. Did you bring something?"
"Don't be absurd, Councilor Jennings..." Rhys said as he reached out with one of his clawed hands and grabbed the glass jar that Holly had put the blood in the first place, while he used his other clawed hand to turn off the stove.
Holding both the pot and the jar, Rhys turned around to face Holly. Smiling, he then poured the blood into the jar. Once it was full, Rhys dropped the pot and then turned, walking over to the entrance to the kitchen.
Holly walked over to the stove and then turned to watch as Rhys turned around to face her. "Just let me finish this." Rhys said with a smile.
"Go ahead." Holly offered.
Still smiling, Rhys placed his free hand on the lid of the jar, and then he shook for about five seconds. Then, he took his hand off.
"Is it done?" Holly asked.
"Well, let's see..." Rhys said.
Then, he put the lid of the jar to his mouth and started to gulp down the potion, every last drop. "Aahhh..." Rhys said as he lowered the lid from his mouth, seeing Holly's horrified look.
"What?" Rhys asked, smiling cruelly.
"Wasn't I supposed to get some of that?" Holly asked in a rather small, timid voice.
"For your brother?" Rhys' cruel smile only got bigger.
"Yeah." Holly said. "To bring him back..."
"Councilor..." Rhys said as he tossed the empty jar to the side where it shattered. "...You really just should have stuck with trying to get the Magical Scarab Beetle."
"But..." Holly pointed out, still in a timid voice. "...We had a deal."
"Councilor..." Rhys only smiled again. "...Do you want to know why I knew about the Pure Dragon potion? Do you know why I was able to tell you how that potion you kept worked?"
"No, you just told me how it worked and to keep it."
"Well, I guess I should just tell you..." Rhys said, his smile only widening. "...My parents were Pure Dragons..."
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
"Wh...What?" Holly asked, her eyes wide as she took a step back.
"You see, Councilor Jennings..." Rhys continued. "...I was born to two Pure Dragons. However, apparently, I had no powers and possessed a human form to boot. Sometimes that just happens. So, I was purged from their world."
"They banished you?"
"They tried to kill me, Councilor." Rhys' smile vanished. "They tried to kill me by dropping me into this hole. Somehow, I survived. I don't know how. My first memory after that is just me lying on my side, panting."
Then, Rhys smiled again. "Well, now I am a Pure Dragon. Do you want me to show you what my power is?"
"Not re-" Holly started.
However, Holly stopped when Rhys grunted softly, jerking his head forward. Holly cried out as she was thrown back, crashing against the counter before she fell to her knees, groaning as she had her arms wrapped around her belly.
"I can hurt you with my mind." Rhys grinned. Then, he grunted softly again and lightly jerked his head forward again. Holly's head jerked back and she grunted. Then, she grunted again as her head was jerked to the left and then her head jerked to the right, Holly grunting again.
"I think I'm going to let you have a breath..." Rhys mocked, grinning.
Panting, Holly fell forward, catching herself by putting her arms out.
After catching her breath, Holly narrowed her eyes and growled. Grunting, she got up onto her feet and then charged at Rhys. However, Rhys just grinned and gave another soft grunt, jerking his head forward.
Grunting again, Holly cried out as she was thrown backwards, and this time, she struck the back of her head against the counter as she came back down.
As Holly lied on the floor, moaning in pain, the chuckling Rhys walked up to her crumpled form. As soon as he reached her tail, he bent down and grabbed it in both clawed hands and then grunted pulling it so that Holly was lifted off of her back and off of the ground.
Holly was thrown out of the kitchen and she grunted as she landed on her belly and chest on the floor of the cafeteria.
Chuckling cruelly, Rhys started to walk out of the kitchen, watching as Holly grunted, slowly getting up on her feet. Just as Holly was fully standing, she cried out as a "kick" to her back made her fall back down onto the floor.
Now, Rhys had reached Holly's tail; once again, he leaned over and grabbed it. Then, he straightened up and pulled Holly off of the ground. Then, he swung Holly to the side, where she slammed into a table.
As the table rolled to the side, Holly fell onto the floor on her belly.
Smiling as he turned to the side to face Holly, Rhys watched as Holly stubbornly, yet slowly, got up onto her feet. Hunched over and panting, Holly stumbled in her step, turning to face her attacker.
"You just won't stay down, will you?" Rhys smiled in amusement.
"No." Holly rasped.
"Well, I'll just have to make sure that you'll stay down with my next few blows." Rhys replied.
Then, he gave another soft grunt as he jerked his head forward.
Once again, Holly was thrown off of her feet, flying backwards. This time, Holly landed on the surface of the table, causing the table to break in half as Holly hit the ground.
As Holly hit the ground, one half of the table spun away from Holly and the other half, getting close to where Rhys was standing.
Groaning, Holly slowly sat up.
Walking up to the half of the table that was closest to him, Rhys picked it up with both of his clawed hands and then started to continue on his way towards Holly.
Holly, who was starting to have trouble breathing, could only sit there, knowing what Rhys was going to do as her eyes widened.
"N...No..." Holly begged weakly as she slowly started to lift up an arm. "...P...Pl...Please..."
However, Rhys ignored her as he swung the half of the table at her, hitting her with it at full force. The blow sent Holly flying up into the air, where the dragon twirled three times in the air like a ballerina before she fell to the floor belly-first, three teeth coming loose, falling out and sliding across the floor.
Still holding the half of the table, Rhys continued to grin as he walked over to where Holly was lying and struggling to breathe.
Then, as Rhys reached Holly, he swung the table into the side of Holly's leg. This lifted Holly into the air ever so slightly once again and she once again twirled in the air, although only once this time before she landed on her belly, only to sob in pain as she rolled over onto her back, slowly trying to lift up her leg, which was now surely broken, just an inch.
Then, Rhys landed down from the air, one leg on each side of her body as he looked down on her, having dropped the piece of the table.
"I surely hope that keeps you down." He said before he grunted and jerked his head forward, causing Holly's head to jerk back. Then, as Rhys grunted again, Holly's head was forced to the right and then to the left as Rhys grunted again.
Then, Rhys grunted and jerked his head forward one final time, causing Holly to cry out and jerk her head up as she received a blow to the chest.
Then, Rhys sat down on his knees, now straddling Holly as he looked down at her, watching as Holly wheezed, bruises all over her body.
"Councilor, that was quite irresponsible of you..." Rhys smiled as he lectured. "...To let Rithisak and Affendi get a hold of that potion you had saved for us."
Then, he reached forward and started to stroke Holly's head as she moaned in pain, tears of pain and distress rolling down the side of her face. "But don't think that this is punishment..." Rhys continued.
"...No..." Rhys smiled.
"...You came through. I gave you a year to think about making a new potion and you really came through. That was very good of you. Perhaps me being patient was actually worth it..."
Holly whimpered as Rhys took his clawed hand off of her head.
"...And now, Councilor Jennings..." Rhys finished. "...I leave you."
Rhys then flapped his wings and lifted into the air, leaving his victim on the ground. As she wheezed, Holly slowly rolled her head to the side and watched as Rhys flew out of the door, getting away with his heinous crime.
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, Councilor Rin, now in her human form, walked down the halls of one of the buildings on the island, the building where Jake lived.
Stopping at Jake's door, Rin quickly reached up and knocked three times.
Inside the room, Jake was lying on his bed in his dragon form, tossing and turning. Groaning in distress as he lied on his side, Jake rolled over onto his back.
However, another set of three knocks woke Jake from his sleep. Gasping, his eyes snapped open.
"Councilor Long?" Rin's voice came from the other side of the door. "We need to talk."
BLACKOUT; END EPISODE
A/N: Man, that was brutal, wasn't it? Poor Holly. What's going to happen to her? For that matter, what's going to happen to Rose, Cherri and Savannah? Only I know. Leave a review and you'll find out too.
And yes, you're not getting the episode on a Saturday. Allow me to explain this, and the halt in posting. If you don't know (which I don't really know why you would), the character of Holly was named and based off of one of my family's dogs. A little less than a week after I posted episode 7.7, my family found out she has bone cancer and had 1-2 months to live. Considering what happens to the fictional Holly here, I thought posting would be in poor taste. However, we're coming up on a month past the diagnosis, and our dog is doing fairly well all things considered. So, considering that, as well as the fact that it might be better to wrap up the season before my family suffers this loss rather than have this be the first episode I post afterwards, I've decided to give you the episode now. I'll also try to post the two-part finale this weekend.