Edited 3/6/16

"Alright, class dismissed!" Rotwood stood by the door. "Single file, so I can collect your- single file! Single fi-!"

Jake hung back from the pushing and shoving. They waited until it was completely empty before gingerly picking their way over the groaning teacher; Rotwood hadn't looked this bad since the skiing trip.

A hand reached out and gripped Jake by the foot, which made them jump a mile. "Neine, you stay here, Mr. Long."

"Principal Rotwood!" Jake smiled nervously as the teacher picked himself off the ground. "I-I didn't do anything, yo! I swear!"

Professor Rotwood rubbed his back, scowling at Jake. "Follow me to my office, please." They started walking.

"But... I have-"

Rotwood half turned to look at Jake. They didn't look all that stern; in fact, Jake could swear he was trying not to laugh. "Do you want a detention, Mr Long?"

"No," Jake mumbled, and followed the principal into their office.

"Take a seat." Rotwood crossed the room and sat behind their desk, leaning back and intertwining their hands across their chest. They appeared to be studying Jake with a half-smile on their face, which was quite eerie. It wasn't like them to not be comically shouting and dishing out detentions all the time.

Jake cleared their throat. "Nice... uh... weather outside, don't you think?"

Rotwood did not answer.

"So... uh, what's up?" Jake shrank in they seat.

Rotwood then spoke. "You're a decent kid, Mr Long, despite all your obvious flaws. If there was any way I could have done zis differently-"

"Are you reading this from a script or something?" Jake blurted out, craning their head over Rotwood's desk.

Rotwood spluttered.

"You memorised it?" Jake's tone was pleasantly astounded when they did not see a script. "That's so cool, yo!"

Rotwood cut Jake off. "Enough! Stupid boy. Why did I bother trying to make amends anyway?"

"What... what are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?" Rotwood demanded. "Is it not obvious?"

Jake frowned.

"I am no longer working at this stupid little highschool any longer!"

"You're fired?" Jake's grin stretched a mile.

"No."

"You... quit?"

"No! No! Stop it with ze interruptions!" Rotwood waved their hands at Jake."What I am talking about is the great reveal of all magical creatures!"

Jake's eyes lost their excitement and they sank back in his chair. "Oh. Okay."

Professor Rotwood frowned. "'Oh, okay?' Zis is not an 'oh, okay' situation! There is nothing you can do; I have already sent zis evidence to the news reports. It has made national headlines!"

"Oh, yeah?" Jake challenged. "So why hasn't G called me?"

Their conversation was cut off by a well-timed buzzing in Jake's pocket. Rotwood smirked.

"Go on, Mr. Long. Answer your phone."

Jake reached into their pocket and grabbed their phone. It was Fu Dog. Putting the phone to their ear, Jake managed a half-casual hello.

"Hello! There isn't time for hello, kid!" Fu sounded very, very agitated. "Somebody's managed to get a hold of... dragon stuff... all over the news! The sphinx is outta the bag. You've gotta- you've gotta do something!"

"Yo, where's G?"Jake shot a look at Rotwood, who shrugged innocently, one hand on the desk.

"Out. I'm not gonna be the one to tell him the news, kid."

"But-"

"Listen, you get your dragon butt over here, pronto. W-wait, not a dragon. No flying, got it?"

"Got it." Jake hung up, and looked to Rotwood. "I'm... I'm gonna go now."

"Oh, really?" Rotwood arched an eyebrow before pushing a button on their desk. A massive steel cage dropped down around Jake.

"Wha- hey!" Jake rattled the bars, but nothing moved. "You can't do this, Principal Rotwood!"

Rotwood wheeled a crate mover into view. "I am sorry, Mr. Long. Unfortunately, there are some questions in ze assembly that I cannot answer without definite proof."

"This is exactly what got Brock fired, yo!" Jake protested. Rotwood paused.

"I sabotaged Brock's plan, if I remember correctly. My version?" Rotwood slid the crate mover under the cage. "It's completely foolproof!"

Rotwood placed a camera taped to a hard hat on their head. "Just in case you feel like giving me any more evidence while we go to the stage."

"Aww, man." Jake was too preoccupied to even point out how stupid the hat looked. They gripped the bars of the cage. "I gotta call Trix and Spud!"

The mentioned friends were sitting near the back of the assembly hall, a seat between them reserved for Jake. Spud, in Jake's absence, had positioned their back against the far armrest and their feet against the one closest to Trixie. They was wearing a small pair of half-moon glasses that were a little too narrow for their face.

Trixie wasn't paying attention, but as soon as the stink from Spud's toes reached their nose they quickly spoke up. "Move your feet, Spud! They're nasty… and why are you wearing that?"

"You know something else Rotwood has in their personal collection of Harry Potter memorabilia?" The half-moon glasses had bent to accommodate Spud's wide were slowly creeping back down the bridge of the boy's nose, so they pushed them back into place.

"Uh huh?" Trixie felt their phone buzz

"Two Dumbledore costumes. And my doctor said that I was s'posed to wear glasses, so, why not Dumbledore glasses? Right, Trixie?"

Trixie didn't reply. They were reading a very disturbing text from Jake.

"Trix?" Spud repeated. The lights dimmed and the crowds quietened.

Trixie finally spoke up. "Spud, Jakie's in trouble. Rotwood's got them in a cage!"

"A cage? Where?"

A single spotlight illuminated the centre stage, harshly bathing two figures in light. Jake, who was in a cage, was easily identified by their red jacket and jelled hair. Rotwood was even more identifiable by their yellow hard hat.

The overstretched half-moon glasses Spud was wearing broke in two. "Oh, snap." Spud breathed. "That hat is really stupid looking."

"Spud!" Trixie hissed.

"Sorry, it caught my eye. What do we do?"

"Ladies, and gentlemen!" Rotwood straightened up and adjusted their monocle. "I have been dreaming of zis day since my brilliant scientific ideas on magical creatures had me kicked out of Hoboken Science institute." They paused, and then continued.

"My brilliant scientific ideas, specifically my theory of dragons with the ability to shapeshift into human form. Zis is why I have this boy up here."

A snicker spread through the assembly hall, concentrated around the spot Brad was sitting in. It was common gossip that Jake thought he was a dragon, and to see it being discussed in front of them was even funnier. The only ones who weren't finding it all so funny were Trixie and Spud.

"Do I think zis boy is a dragon? No, I do not think that zis boy is a dragon." Rotwood paused for dramatic effect. "I know that zis boy is a dragon, and I can prove it!" They held out a vial of blue liquid. "Behold, the substance – discovered by me – called Rotium™! It reveals dragons for who they are, like this!"

Without further ceremony, Rotwood poured the vial of Rotium onto Jake's head. For a moment, nothing happened. The room was dead silent, like an empty graveyard.

The next second, Jake's form was engulfed in fire, and with fire came a cloud of dark smoke, covering Jake, Rotwood and most of the stage. Trixie and Spud exchanged fearful glances.

A smash was audible.

"Ah-ah, you are not moving, Mr Long!" Rotwood's voice could be heard through the smoke, and as it cleared, one could perceive Rotwood hanging onto the end of a red dragon's long tail, the vial of Rotium lying in a puddle to the side.

There was a collective gasp.

The dragon was about the size and a half of a grown man, with glittering, deep red scales and a yellow underbelly that perfectly matched the colour of Jake's jacket. The audienca looked and saw Jake's large, bone white teeth. They saw bat-like wings, inch-long, curved black talons, and the scratches scored on the stage by their inevitable scraping on the floor.

A camera flashed, and Jake recoiled instinctively. Rotwood jumped off the dragon's tail.

"As you can see, this is indeed a dragon. From what I have gathered from my extensive experience, they are a peaceful, sentient species that mean no harm to-"

"What measures must we put in place to protect ourselves from these beasts?"

Snap.

"No, no, no, you don't understand..." Rotwood started.

"Are they safe to display in a zoo?"

"They are sentient beings-"

"Is this creature the culprit of the many mysterious arson attacks, killing thousands every year?"

Flash.

"Are they the result of these real-life dragons?"

People were beginning to get up from their seats, crowding the stage. The TV cameras were trained on the dragon, the creature, the animal, Jake Long. On and on went the questions.

"Are they classed as lizards, or some sort of modern dinosaur?"

"How can we tell a real human from a fake dragon? Could they be hiding in our very homes?"

Jake backed away as the news reporters and others clambered on stage, brushing off a protesting Rotwood. Spud and Trixie tried to get a look in, but it was hopeless.

"Wait! Wait! This isn't how zis was meant to go!"

There was a sharp sensation in Jake's leg, like somebody was tearing one of their scales off. In all likelihood, they could indeed be doing so.

Questions, cameras, advancing upon them like vultures around a carcass. Jake could take no more; their hypersensitive eyes were clouded with fear and bright flashes; their powerful ears deafened by a team of people who didn't seem to be interviewing anybody at all. They certainly weren't asking the creature Jake had been degraded to in their eyes.

They spread their wings, causing a general panic. Flapping their wings once, they ascended into the air before busting through one of the skylights on the roof, flying away until they were well out of sight of the cameras.

They could fly, but they couldn't hide forever.