There were . . . so many of them.
Frozen in place, Jaye didn't know exactly what to do. These things were robots, it knew, but the sheer number of them was enough to put it on edge.
Hilarious, a dragon afraid of a bunch of metal primates.
Curling its tail around the branch which it and its best friend perched on, Jaye lowered its head and bared its teeth, the stares of these monkeys awakening a dormant monster inside of its burning heart.
Clearly Artemis felt more exhilarated than her dragon companion, because she had that smirk on her face — that smirk which the wyvern knew all too well. She was all for the thrill of what was to come.
In the blink of an eye, the primates lunged, some onto Jaye's back and the others grabbing for its friend's limbs, and the beast would admit that, in that very moment, a rare sense of panic engulfed its entire body. Its first instinct — which it followed in a rather aggressive manner — was to destroy those who believed they had the audacity to even touch its tail by smashing its fifth limb against the tree, watching the metal bits and wires fall to the ground below.
Taking that as a signal to fight, Artemis pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it, taking careful aim before releasing the tension of her bowstring quickly. Such a manner sent the arrow spearing through the air and right into the metallic eye of one of the monkeys.
It spiraled down, sparks flying from the face before it crashed to the ground among the remains of those Jaye had decimated moments prior.
Now this was a fight.
Lunging off the branch with its wings spread, the wyvern captured two of the mechanical primates in its powerful jaws, crushing them to nothing with its terrifying teeth and letting their remains disappear among the gathering metals below. From the corner of its eye, it caught sight of its friend slinging her bow back over her shoulder, electing to go instead for the crossbow which was tucked away at her hip.
The bronze dragon snapped its head around as one of the monkeys slammed into its face, tiny metallic hands grabbing at its horns and eyes. Violently, it shook its head, flinging it off into the wall of the school, where it knew those younger heroes were still fighting whatever robot was under the control of Artemis' father's associate inside. It didn't have time to check on their status as more of the primates swung onto its body, aiming for its face and wings and using their tiny hands to claw at its weakest points. It took everything it had not to let out a roar, for fear of alerting those inside the school of its presence and then getting into an even weirder position than it was already in. So instead, it dropped heavily to the ground , grinding its wings into the grass and sinking its back talons into the cobblestone walkway. Bracing itself, the wyvern jerked and slammed the side of its head against the lower trunk of the tree, feeling those that weren't crushed instantly loosen their hold on it. It repeated the action a second time, and then those cold hands left contact with its rough scales, freeing its movements up at last.
Looking up, it watched as Artemis fired multiple arrows from her crossbow in rapid succession, hitting her mark each time in an admirable fashion. The blonde might have held no love for the trauma her father brought onto them, but Jaye had to admit that he had taught her well. Perhaps even better than he had trained the young dragon shifter itself.
It shifted size to become smaller and slithered up the tree freakishly quick, coming up beside Artemis just in time to steal a glimpse at one of the untouched monkeys as it swung overhead, snatching the crossbow from the hand of the blonde. For a moment, a look of surprise flashed in those gray-blue eyes, though it was gone before Jaye could even question it. The archer slung her previously discarded bow back into her hands and nocked an arrow, taking quick aim and spearing the thief straight through the chest.
No sooner than such an action had occurred did Jaye feel light pressure on its back, and it snapped its head around just soon enough to see a flash of bright green before its vision was obscured by another of those nasty creatures. It had come down on its head and now clawed violently at its eyes, causing it to rear backwards in an attempt to throw it. For a moment, it released, and it caught sight of its best friend in a similar, yet much more dire, situation, with one monkey seated upon her shoulders and covering her eyes, though it noticed with dread that its tail had wrapped tightly around her throat and she was gasping to breathe.
It had no time to even try to help its friend, as the single monkey that was assaulting it regained grip and began to claw at its eyes again, letting out that obnoxious laughter it was beginning to hate with all of its being.
Enough was enough.
After this experience, Jaye would eliminate monkeys from its list of animals to study. This was something it never wanted to experience again.
All you have is your fire.
Lawrence had spoken those words to it countless times during its years as his protégé, and those same words came forward as it realized there was no way to get this stupid rodent off its face before Artemis was strangled to death. It parted its jaws, feeling the heat build up in the back of its throat as it tossed its head back and released a burst of bright golden substance from the depths of its soul. Not pure fire, but more similar to liquid rock spewing into the air. The position of its neck allowed for the magma to fling upward , striking leaves and its own body. Thankfully, it could not be harmed by its own embers, but the monkey couldn't say the same as it felt it begin to melt under the heat of its fire.
It whipped around, growling deeply in the back of its throat as a warning to the primate who was strangling its best friend before it realized that Artemis had taken care of it, reaching into her quiver to pull out one of her arrows and stabbing her attacker straight through the eye. It dropped, and she grabbed a branch to catch herself before dropping the wretched thing to the ground below and swinging herself onto the window ledge to peer inside the school. Regaining itself, Jaye slithered over to join its friend, arching its neck to watch what the young heroes did.
The wyvern noticed right away that things weren't going too well for them. As it focused, its gaze caught upon the robot, which seemed to be crushing Kid Flash with incredible strength. No one seemed to be competent enough to do anything, so Jaye turned and caught Artemis' eye. A silent agreement passed between the two of them, and its friend pulled out another arrow before nocking it into her bow.
Snorting, Jaye opened its jaws slightly and spit a small droplet of magma onto the tip, watching it turn red with the heat. Artemis released her arrow and sent it down toward the robot.
To its dismay, it snapped its head around and saw the arrow, speaking words which Jaye was too far away to make any sense of before it phased, allowing the fire-tipped weapon to pass right through it — though it was forced to drop Kid Flash as it did so, so it seemed the plan was not a total failure. The tip of the arrow struck the ground near Robin, who turned toward it with a surprised twist of his lips.
The two friends had no time to bask in their moment of glory, because ominous laughter drew their attention once again away from the fight in the school. Two monkeys flew overhead, but a third one swooped low toward the archer and the wyvern, hands outstretched, eyes glowing before it shot what looked to be lasers from its head.
Oh, great. They have lasers. Jaye bared its teeth with a rumbling snarl building up in the back of her throat, though it didn't need to do anything.
It seemed as though Artemis had been waiting for a moment to end this, because without warning she reached up, snatching the primate by the tail and giving a downward jerk of her arm. The movement dazed the metallic creature, and the blonde began to swing it violently as she locked eyes with her dragon friend. However, the monkey didn't register the idea that it was being assaulted, and continued to shoot the bright green lasers from its eyes like some maddened beast from a sci-fi movie.
Once her arm began to tire, Artemis hurled the monkey into the tree with all of her strength, smashing it before letting it drop. Her breathing had gotten heavier since the fight began, though Jaye didn't necessarily blame her. This had escalated quickly into a fight neither girl nor dragon had been prepared for.
Jaye peered back through the tinted window just in time to see the defeat of the master robot, which phased to avoid Robin's birdarang just as the boy — the same boy which had brought the two of them to this very spot — threw his fist forward and right into its skull. The moment the robot became solid again, its body closed around the fist, causing the head to completely blow off and knock the boy backward, sprawling at the force of the explosion.
The dragon let out a breath, smoke spilling from its nostrils in what it felt was something close to relief . They'd done it. Those kids who were certainly no older than it had defeated a robot bearing the powers of their mentors.
"Help me disassemble him! Now!" It snapped her attention to Robin as the Boy Wonder sprinted toward the fallen robot.
Kid Flash, who seemed to be nursing an injured shoulder, frowned. "Dude, the guy has no head."
"Don't take any chances!" Two more entered the gym — one of which Jyotsna didn't recognize. There was Aqualad, protégé of Aquaman, and then a young girl with greenish skin who immediately flew over to the boy who had managed to blow up the robot's head.
"Superboy!" She gasped, landing beside him.
The dragon turned its gaze toward Artemis, who seemed to have changed her stance now as she watched the interactions of the team below. She could understand — Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy, the martian girl — they were a team. A real team.
Something that Artemis had always wanted.
Nudging its friend, it managed to gain the blonde's attention, and a silent exchange between the two was all that was needed before Artemis climbed onto its back. Jaye silently took to the sky, allowing the night to swallow up its body before anyone realized they had been there in the first place.
They weren't too far from home, so it wasn't long before the wyvern landed perfectly on the roof of their apartment complex, allowing for Artemis to slide off and swing into their bedroom window using Jaye's tail. A moment later, the dragon followed, entering through the window and at last clamping down on the power that flowed through its veins naturally. A moment later, it had returned to human form and was walking to the bed it had slept in for the last few months.
"I know what you're thinking," it glanced toward its friend as Artemis sat down heavily on her own bed, pulling the mask off her face with a sigh.
"Oh?" Those gray eyes slid in its direction, and the redhead crossed its arms.
"I saw that look in your eyes when you saw those kids. You wanted to be one of them."
Artemis lifted a brow, before she dropped her head. "Relax. It was only a split-second thought. It's not like we can join them."
"Exactly," Jaye confirmed. "They'd never accept us. Even if we did get far enough so they'd consider us, they'd want to know who we are. Who are families are. Once they know that I was trained by the Shadows and you were born of them, do you really think they'd trust us?"
The blonde let out a choked chuckle. "Not even a little bit."
Sitting down beside the girl who had been its best friend for a while, Jaye set a hand on her shoulder. "The world isn't kind to people like us. This is reality," it gestured to the posters which littered the wall of bedroom, posters that depicted a children's tale that Artemis had only ever adored, "there are no wonderlands for people like us."