Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING! How to Train Your Dragon belongs to DreamWorks, and Amphibia belongs to Disney.


The silence was all that could be heard at the Wu residence. And Mr. Wu was seen pacing across the living room for what seemed to be for the past thirty minutes. Usually, he would have other things to do in his time, but he had been so wrapped up in a troubling subject. The subject revolved around his daughter. It had already been a few hours since she left for the party, and he couldn't stop thinking about her the whole time.

Or rather, he couldn't stop thinking about whether or not his only child was safe because he had just got her back. He knew he wasn't always on good terms with Marcy. But in the months since she has finally returned home, he has tried to be better in terms of having more faith in her. And to trust her to make her own decisions, regardless of the consequences. She was old enough to make her own decisions despite being only 13 years old. And she has proven to be very independent with the many trips she made to the library or walking from school to home by herself.

Then again, on top of all that, this little semblance of doubt crawled in the back of his head. Maybe it was his overprotective instincts kicking in. After all, raising a teenager can be a handful from time to time, especially after your child runs away after a few unfortunate circumstances. That's the basic cons for any parent when their children reach that certain age. Even if they did everything in their power to ensure they had never gone through that moment. It was just something he had no control over, no matter how hard he tried to contain it. And it was all just a sign that Marcy was getting older. She was not that little girl he had nurtured a lifetime ago and was in the process of being an independent woman. Well, she still may have a few more years to go to be considered an independent woman, but regardless, she was still growing up.

Yet even then, he still had that feeling in his head that something was wrong without him knowing it. And that perhaps he should probably do something to make sure his daughter is okay. But at the same time, that would mean he would betray her trust. Something he and his wife had sworn that they would not do the moment their little girl came back to their doorstep. He declared he had to do it to keep his daughter safe and happy. It was the only way he would keep his relationship with her intact. Despite the many conflicts he had with her in the past.

But even after all that, his paternal instincts would not go away. Thus making the man of the house entirely and utterly restless as he continuously checked his phone to see if Marcy would finally give him the green light. However, this display of uneasy behavior didn't go unnoticed. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his wife observing the scene from the living room couch.

"You okay, honey?" she asked her betrothed.

"Yeah," he answered with a sigh. "I'm just worried about Marcy."

"I'm sure she's fine," she reassured.

"I know, I know," he tempted to sway. However, he didn't seem very convinced. "I just have this feeling like if something bad were to happen to her."

"Like what?" Mrs. Wu asked curiously.

"Like, what if her phone dies, what if she gets kidnapped, or what if she needs us?"

"Oh, relax," Mrs. Wu tried to reassure. "She's probably having the time of her life."

"How would we know?" Mr. Wu questioned rhetorically. "She never comes around anymore. And when she does, she's always rushing off with her friend to who knows where."

This left the Taiwanese woman confused.

"What are you saying?" she questioned.

"I'm saying, how do we know if they're right for us," he answered. "Or for her?"

"Us?"

"You know what I mean," he ranted, going more into depth with a specific pair of girls considered their daughter's only friends. "She's always getting into trouble with them. That Waybright girl is impulsive and reckless, and that Boonchuy girl is just as bad. I'm going to say it; I don't trust them."

"Whoah, slow down, Warden," Mrs. Wu commented. "She's not on lockdown. And besides, they're her friends. She trusts them. And they're also the only kids she ever has."

"But what about this party? He then questioned. "How do we know that they're keeping her safe there?"

"I'm sure it's just where the kids hang out," she attempted to soothe again. Yet the man of the house remained unconvinced.

"No, no, it's a gateway hangout," he denied. "First it's this, then she's piercing her nose, and then next thing you know, she's gonna get addicted to..."

Mrs. Wu got up from the couch. She cut him off midway before he could finish his sentence.

"Honey, you're overreacting," she chuckled. "She's not going to be your little girl forever. Someday, we'll have to cut our apron string and let her stretch her wings. And just...let her be who she is."

Mr. Wu responded with a sigh, knowing that his wife was right. He watched as she approached him, softly grabbing his hands and bringing them to her own. He then looked into her eyes through his huge glasses, seeing her pupils gleaming into his own. Afterward, he looked down to the floor, giving in to his wife's words.

"I know," he sighed. "That's what worries me."

The two parents then looked over to a family photo, which was sitting on a small desk across from where Mr. Wu stood. They were with their little girl in the picture, celebrating her 13th birthday. Their eyes were fixated on their only child as they stared into it. She was so pure and innocent. And they'd never seen her so happy. Then again, why wouldn't she be? It was her birthday. And birthdays were meant to be unique, especially for her.

In the two months, they had her back, Marcy had been more open to them about her problems. And in return, they both have been better at listening to her and understanding her needs and concerns. They've done their best to be more open-minded about what Marcy needed, and Marcy understood the situation that would require the action of moving, which will happen inevitably.

At the same time, though, they've both started noticing something wrong with their daughter. Something that she would refuse to tell them, despite their many pleas. It was so bad that they would have nights where they both barged into her room after hearing her screaming in the middle of the night. Or when she would have panic attacks at dinner.

At one point, Mr. Wu considered calling a psychiatrist to figure out what was going on but refused when he realized, one: how expensive it would be the hire a psychiatrist, and two: that it was best that some things just be left unspoken. But even then, they could tell that Marcy wasn't herself lately. And there were times when Mr. Wu blamed himself because of it. Yet that didn't stop him or his wife from trying to help her in whatever way they could.

"I hope we're doing the right thing with this move," Mr. Wu commented. "Especially after everything that's happened."

"Me too, honey," Mrs. Wu added, leaning against the crook of her husband's neck while eyeballing the picture. "Me too."

However, the moment was rudely interrupted when the lights went off. Thus rendering the house into complete and utter darkness. Ten seconds later, the lights went back on, and a series of sirens went off outside. And two parents stood there in the living room, slightly worried expressions smeared all over their faces.

"We should probably go check on her," Mr. Wu suggested.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Probably."


Marcy didn't know how long she ran for. Nor did she ever stop to think. All she could think of now was running away and not looking back. She wanted to run for as long and as far as she could. It was the only thing that would deprive her of the heart-wrenching shame cast upon her. The humiliation she had endured back at the party was insufferable. She had been bullied before, but nothing could ever surpass this. This will probably go down in the history books as the worst kind of bullying she had ever been through in her life. And she had fought everything from giant bug monsters to killer robots and an entire moon.

Tracy might have played her card too well if she aimed to try to break the Taiwanese girl. But she didn't want to think about her right now. She tried to get as far away from that lying-heartless witch as possible. She wanted to get away from all this. The bullying, the stress, the relentless work, and the expectations that she is practically forced to uphold. She wanted to escape it all.

She practically wished she was back in Amphibia at this point because it was the only place where she could be herself without judgment, without being called mean things like freak and nerd. But of course, she couldn't do that. Amphibia was history, and she couldn't do anything to go back to it. Thus forcing her to deal with the real world. It was an outright shame, though. Cause she had been looking forward to this night for a while. Since Anne put the idea in her head, to begin with. She thought tonight would be one of the bests nights she could ever have. And for the first half, it was. She had already made a new friend and was having a good time. But as usual, life had to rear its ugly head and slap her in the face.

However, as she continued running down the street, she didn't seem to notice the street lights going off suddenly. Thus, rendering the entire block to absolute darkness. Yet that didn't stop her as she kept going. She was refusing to stop even to take a quick break. Only a few seconds later, the lights turned back on when she was spooked. And by that point, Marcy panicked and tripped over herself, sending her body rolling until she came to a screeching halt, landing solely on her face as she clumsily tripped over.

Marcy groaned as she slowly picked herself up, and she got up to her hands and knees before staring at the ground. Even though she couldn't see through the dark, she got a glimpse of herself through a puddle that was conspicuously right in front of her. She could see her ruined image, her hair all messy, and her face covered in fruit punch. She looked hideous. And that's a lot coming from a girl that never really paid much attention to how she looked. She could see that she was still soaking wet, her outfit still ruined, and the only positive thing would be that her phone didn't get soaked like the rest of her.

However, as she continued to stare into her reflection mopingly, she saw a familiar image. One of which she had hoped not to see for the duration of the night.

It was Darcy.

The same spiked-headed, ten-eyed abomination that still haunted her revealed itself through the reflection with a creepy yet sinister smile. With all of its eyes fixated solely on the only girl on the block. Like many things, the sight of this damnable monster surprised Marcy to the point where she leaped back, letting out a squeak as she slid back a few feet before jumping up on her two legs.

As she took a couple of steps back, to her dismay, she saw the reflective image rise up from underneath the puddle before facing her like some haunted ghost. What was more disturbing was that when it did move, it did so in a creepy, unorthodox manner. That almost reminded her of that weird creature in War of the Warlocks. But only taller and a lot more pleasant to look at.

It was nerve-wracking to witness, especially since she remembered being inside that monster's head. Or, instead, it was inside hers.

"Why do you keep fighting it, child?" it asked her. "You know it's only going to get worse."

Its daunting voice slithered through Marcy's ears like a serpent. Yet even though she was practically wetting herself, she tried to stand her ground, telling herself that this wasn't real. It was a figment of her imagination, trying to haunt her for mistakes she had already made. If only it were ever true.

"Go away!" Marcy demanded. "You're not real!"

"Oh, but I most passionately disagree," the imposter, Darcy, spoke. "I am very real. And I must say, that was an astonishing performance at the party."

Marcy shuddered. It was bad enough that she had to deal with the humiliation of the party scene but to be mocked by her nightmares made things worse.

"Like how you froze when all those people picked on you," Darcy taunted, trying to get a rise out of her. "And how you let them call you names. What were they again?"

"Leave," Marcy demanded for a second time. "Now."

"Freak, nerd, dummy," the Core listed. "It's all just child's play."

The Taiwanese girl covered her ears. She was attempting to shut out the Core's disgusting bigotry toward her. But even then, she wasn't able to escape its taunting.

"Stop it!" she implored. "Stop it right now!"

"But you know what the best part about it was?" Darcy asked rhetorically yet again. "The best part was when your friends stood helplessly as you.."

"SHUT UP!"

That scream was enough to do her in. Shortly after that, Marcy collapsed on her knees. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, her break became more irregular, and a soft whimpering was faintly heard. She was practically breaking at this point and could say nothing more. As she continuously started panting, with her eyes glued to the ground, she could hear the footsteps of that abomination approaching her.

She heard the imposter chuckle before its ghastly hand touched the bottom of her chin before lifting her head so she could face it.

"You can keep denying it all you want," Darcy taunted. "But in the end, it changes nothing."

Marcy looked to the ground. She was still refusing to listen to the ghost that still haunted her. Yet to her dismay, the shadow did not seem to care.

"You are still that worthless runt we took under our care so long ago," the Core continued. "You are nothing without us! And your friends don't care about you anymore. They practically enjoyed watching you suffer."

She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to consider the words coming out of that terrible creature's phantom mouth. But no matter how often she tried to ignore it, it came to no avail.

"And no matter how many times you want to run from it, there's one truth you will never escape," it carried on, its venomous breath touching her skin. "You cannot change. In time, you will always be what you've always feared would happen. You will always be; alone."

That final word. That last syllable that left the Core's mouth and slithered its way into Marcy's ear rang like a gong. And before she knew it, Darcy was gone, vanished before her very eyes before she could even have a second glance. Half a heartbeat later, everything was quiet. And Marcy was left as the Core said she would be: alone.

In the dark, with only one street light shining above her head. Without a single sound being made or heard for miles. She stared back into the puddle before her and began to weep. Small tears ran down her cheeks again, dropping into the pool like raindrops and a drizzling day. The Taiwanese girl found it hard to breathe and started to sniffle. Until finally, she broke down into a sob.

The Taiwanese girl covered her face with her hands as she felt her body nearly collapse. And all the negativity in the world had crashed upon her like a meteor. She felt terrible about herself. She had to deal with the Core's constant bolstering for two months, and it finally got through to her. Even on Earth, the pain she had received from it was everlasting. And she would never forget the day it decided to torture her in that chair and fill her head with lies. Never to leave her be to live her own life and make her own choices.

Though what was worse about it was not because of Darcy's constant torment but because of how right it was about her. Or at least about how pathetic and worthless she was. She looked like a joke at that party. And all it took was one humiliating stunt pulled by her school rival. It was something to be pathetic about. Not that it wasn't her fault.

Of course, none of the other stuff it spoke of was true. She knew very well that her friends cared about her. Heck, Anne practically died for her at some point. Though technically, she did the same. And she was very well aware of the bond that they shared. It was something she was most proud of in her lifetime. But what broke her the most was that Darcy was right about one thing.

She was going to be alone.

The moving away bit would suffice. Whether she was ready for it or not, Marcy knew she would have to leave the only two people she ever cared about. And she had already come to terms with it. But after this, she now felt more unprepared than ever. Not because she cared too much about Sasha and Anne but because she knew that other people like Tracy would be out there. And Tracy had already destroyed whatever confidence she was building up at that party.

And now she had felt more unprepared than ever before. At that moment, it made her feel worthless and contemptible. She thought she would live alone her entire life because everyone would see her as a good-for-nothing geek. And that the world would shun because of that simple fact. Though what made it worse was the mere thought that she would never make another friend out of fear that they would humiliate her as Tracy did. She knew there were people like her here. There are people like her everywhere. And she would have no one to protect her because she would be alone without her friends. And this, she could never escape. She knew it too well.

It was so bad it made her want to weep harder than she already had.

However, as she sat on her knees, hands over her eyes, she heard something. From which almost sounded like a considerable booming noise exploding from above. Following that was a high-pitched sound, a feral roar howling through the wind. When she looked up toward the sky, she saw a faint yet unclear image descending from the Earth.

The young Taiwanese girl watched as the unknown image plummeted north of where she was. As she turned her view in that direction, Marcy continued to witness it fall until it came in contact. It was creating a rattling sound that shook the ground for a bit.

Once the ground stopped shaking, Marcy was left puzzled. A bit of confusion crossed her mind about what she had just witnessed.

"What was that?" Marcy asked herself.

She spent the next few seconds trying to think of answers. Everything ranging from meteorites to falling helicopters to crashing airplanes, etc. She thought of more, but there were so many possibilities. Every single one of them refers to something falling out of the sky. It could be the only logical explanation for this. But many didn't fit into what she saw. For it was way too small for any of what she thought of.

Envy slowly plagued her current thoughts, and she, unfortunately, could not think of anything else. Or at least any other explanation that could be the result of this. And at that point, she could only guess that she had to assume that it was something new and out of the ordinary. But then that could only mean one thing. If it was something new, could it have come from somewhere other than Earth?

Amphibia perhaps? No. That couldn't be true. The Calamity Box was destroyed when they left the frog world for good. And that was the only device she knew that granted people the ability to travel through worlds. Maybe there was another one? And she didn't know it? She couldn't entirely be sure.

At that moment, she had only two options for what to do next. One, she turns back and goes home, possibly having her parents and friends see her like this. Or two, she could go to the crash sight and investigate the scene for herself. Both had two different outcomes. One had to deal with the embarrassment of having her parents see her all messy and mortified. And the other was having the risk of unveiling a discovery and risking the chance of sudden death.

A more intelligent person would've picked the option where they walked away and went home. It was an easier choice, after all. But the more Marcy thought about it, the more she wanted to know. That inquisitive side of hearing had nearly taken over her entire body. Plus, she couldn't go back home like this. She didn't know what her parents would do if they saw her.

They'd probably ground her for all she knew. She didn't want that, especially after everything she'd been through. Then again, it would be worse if she didn't return, considering the last time she left them and didn't come back. But either than that, the more she thought it through, the more she had this feeling of just going out there and dealing with whatever it was that was out there.

This feeling turned into ambition, which soaked her desire to take action. And considering she didn't have anything else, it was worth the risk. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and then went straight to the direction where the object had landed. Ready to face whatever it was that was there. And no matter what the stakes were, she was determined to face the dangers that lay ahead. And hoped to see through it till the end.

Before taking off, Marcy looked back to the street, wondering if she shouldn't at least wait until Anne and Sasha came to find her and accompany her on this. But she quickly decided against this, not wanting to risk them dragging her back home or reminding her of the party's events.

Plus, she didn't want to risk putting them in danger. Not like she did with Amphibia. And besides, she had to prove to herself that she didn't need their help. She was a big girl and had faced far worse. Again, Anne had already talked to her earlier about building confidence, which she had utterly lacked.

And what better way to build confidence than to make a discovery? Let alone discover it yourself. So she had to do this alone, for their sake and her own. So Marcy, without thinking about it, had started her journey toward the site of whatever had crashed from up there, which she figured was 2 to 3 miles away from where she was.

For half an hour, she traversed the street that led up to the crash site, which to her surprise, was not far from where she lived. She figured her house was probably right around the corner from here. As she moved on, Marcy continued to ponder the numerous possibilities of what she may find. Let alone what to do after she sees it. That is, if she even lived to tell about it in the long run.

She didn't have either Sasha or Anne to back her up; without any weapons, she would be alone and defenseless. Then again, Anne always considered herself the girl who could quickly escape situations. From which she did fancy herself to be a quick study. Someone good at improvising whenever things get tough, something her mom taught her. She'll probably have to thank her if she survives before this is over.

As Marcy continued to move, the path to the crash site led her to the edge of what she could see as the entrance of a junkyard, which had two barb-wired fences for wide open doors. Inside it, there was a foggy mist that pretty much covered up the place's interior. It almost reminded her of that weird, creepy, and haunted horror movie sense that gave her Saw and Friday the 13th vibes.

Marcy shuddered at the very sight of it. But because she felt she had to do this, the Taiwanese teenager struggled to get herself to stop the shuddering. By the time she did, she had attempted to put a confident look on her face, convincing herself that she had to do this. Yes, the thought of encountering something possibly dangerous inside. But she reminded herself that if she was ever going to get any confidence in the eyes of her friends, her parents, and that heartless snake Tracy, she had to start by overcoming things like this.

Even though many would say this would be an extreme start. But if this ever turned out to be what she thought it would be, Marcy knew it would be worth it. She just wished she didn't have to do it alone. And with that, she took another deep breath before heading straight into the junkyard, unaware of the dangers lurking within it.

As she continued to make her way across the scrapyard, Marcy's eyes darted around and around, despite not being able to see very well through the fog. Her biggest pet peeve was being jump scared without even knowing it, especially in dark and creepy places. It almost reminded her of that scene in War of the Warlocks, where the main character gets attacked by that considerable spider, which was surprisingly disturbing.

The deeper and deeper she went into the barren ruins of the junkyard, the more nervous she grew. Not enough to turn back, but edgy enough to make Marcy anxious. In retrospect, this may not have been the best idea she had thought. Yet there was no turning back now, despite how unsettling it was starting to get.

Though what made it more unsettling was how quiet the place turned out. The only thing that she could hear as of now was her footsteps. Why was that? She couldn't entirely be sure. But for whatever reason, the quiet didn't help Marcy's nervousness. And the growing darkness didn't necessarily help the situation either, for the further and further, she went in, the darker her surroundings started to get.

But she continued to will herself on through the bowels of the ruined scrapyard. The hope of discovery is still held in the back of her head. Though as she did, she began to lose track of how long she was in there. Most likely, 5 to 10 minutes. To make herself feel better about this, she pulled out her phone, which had still been untouched, and turned on her flashlight. And in an instant, she could see the path ahead, which revealed the center of the junkyard.

To her surprise, Marcy was standing before a large scrap pile with trash and broken cars scattered across it. The mound itself was around eight feet tall. And the moonlight began to reveal itself, filtering through the broken glass and breathing a silver beam that lit the top of the pile, where a small gleaming object was covered in the center of the stack, unmoving and untouched.

As the Taiwanese girl stared at the massive heap of discarded stuff, with the glinting object at the top of it all, she started to have a bad feeling about it. The same feeling she had when she and Anne went inside that creepy crypt back in Newtopia. Yet she was still intrigued by the sudden thought that she may have found whatever it was that she saw the crash from the sky. After all, it seemed like this was the place, considering the estimated time she calculated and the length from which it descended. Plus, this was as far as she could go since this was at the center of the junkyard.

The only downside was that the glimmering object was buried in scrap, making it harder for Marcy to see it in this light. Thus leaving her to make the ultimate yet risky choice. She would have to get closer. That is if she wanted a better view of the object, which would be at the top of the pile. Though if she did that, she'd further the risk of getting jumped or scared the living daylight out of whatever was up there.

She gulped. The feeling of doubt crossed her mind before she cautiously moved forward. Her breath frosted in the cold night air as she continued to traverse the yard and inch closer to the scrap pile. With every step she took, her instincts screamed at her to turn back while she could. But Marcy's curiosity and ambition trumped her instincts, thus causing her to wander even closer.

The darkness continued to cloud her vision, but the light from her phone and the moonlight was enough for her to see where she was going. By the time she reached the bottom of the pile, she had started climbing up the discarded materials. Her vision was solely focused on the glowing object that was atop the eight feet tall scrap pile. Since she began to her approach, it hadn't moved. Nor did the light reveal what exactly was up there.

By the time she was near the top, Marcy had stopped short upon coming close to the glimmering object poking out in the middle of the mound. Marcy tilted her head; her curiosities continued to spike as she loomed over the thing. She bent down and carefully picked it up, revealing something she had never seen before in her entire life.

It was a scale.

Or rather, a piece of it. One half of it was cracked, while the other was still in a pile. Instantly, Marcy brought up the scale to the light on her phone to get a better look at it. As she examined it, she saw that the scale was all black with bits of gray in the middle. When she brought up a finger to it, she felt the surface of the scale, which was a combination of rough and smooth. And it didn't match any scale of any reptile she had ever seen. Very interesting.

But then there was the bigger question. If this didn't match the scale of any lizard or snake, then what exactly was it that it originated from? Marcy thought about it for a moment before returning to the scrap pile. Her gaze was deeming at the black object that remained hidden from her. She then thought of the best course of action to take next.

She would either dig through the scrap pile and see what else she could find or head home and come back to look through it another day. And it didn't take her long to come to a decision.

"Maybe you shouldn't push your luck, Marce," she told herself. "I'll just have to come back in the morning."

And with that, Marcy started to turn around and descend the pile. Yet the Taiwanese girl was stopped only seconds after that when she heard the sound of what turned out to be a low growl. She looked around for the source of the growling when it came again all of a sudden. Followed by another, and another, and another. Until it became sure to her that she was not alone. Marcy gasped as she looked in the direction she thought she had heard it come from, which turned out to be in the order where she came in from. Her heart suddenly froze over in hear as she saw two red, demon-like eyes appear out of the darkness of the junkyard, along with two sets of razor-sharp canine teeth.

Then, Marcy's eyes widened when she saw a large Doberman pinscher dog appear out of the fog. Its mouth drooled with saliva as the canine snarled at the teenage girl with vicious intent. Her vision darted to the sides as she saw two more dogs spawning out of the mist. To the left was a rottweiler, and to the right was a french bulldog. Five more appeared, coming from all directions except behind the pile. Many took the form of mixed breeds and mutts.

There were ten of them in total. And all of them were roused, angry, and ravenous. Then it became evident to Marcy that she had not come across just any pack but a particular one she was all too familiar with. It was a pack that was common around this side of the city.

It was a pack of Junkyard dogs.

While not as aggressive as the average stray dog, these dogs were highly territorial. They were known for attacking humans and other animals and chasing them out of various junkyards across the country. She learned this the hard way when she stumbled upon a puppy that belonged to a pack of angry junkyard dogs and almost bit her when she followed it home a couple of months back. Her parents grounded her for a month as a result of that. And that was after she had to go through an entire week of seeing a therapist.

While normally, junkyard dogs would normally run at the sight of humans in pairs or groups, this pack seemed to be extra aggressive, which probably meant that they were extraterritorial. And because she was alone, she wasn't surprised that they would reveal themselves at this present moment. Though she was much more afraid of the fact that she stumbled into their help, which by the looks of things, they were not very happy about.

The pack started to encircle and surround their helpless prey. Four other dogs covered all escape routes, cutting off Marcy's chance to flee. Yet despite the circumstances, she was in, Marcy's first impulse was to find anything she could use to defend herself against the ensnaring dogs. She looked around the pile and spotted a metal pipe long enough for her to use as a weapon.

The Taiwanese girl picked up and turned back toward the junkyard dogs. As they continued to bare down on her, the Doberman began his approach much sooner than all the others. From the looks of it, the other dogs were looking back and forth between her and the Doberman.

Though Marcy didn't have time to think about it, she guessed that the Doberman was the pack's alpha. And then it hit her; if she could have her way with him, he and the other dogs may leave her alone. Determine, she swung the pipe at the approaching dog. The alpha canine jumps back at the first strike but keeps his stance and returns with a snarl.

"Back!" she shouted. "Back up!"

As the girl continuously swung the pipe, the other dogs started barking. The agitation started slowly spreading, causing the dogs to tighten the circle further, with the alpha getting dangerously close to biting range. As Marcy glared at the alpha, she could see the gnarly expression on its face. He was a bold one. She would have to put a lot of effort into getting back off.

The Taiwanese teenager swung again and again. Both times the Doberman dodged. When she brought the pipe up again to strike, she was surprised when the dog grabbed it with its vice-like jaws, growling as it held on tightly. Marcy tried to yank it out of its mouth, but it wouldn't budge. Finally, the Doberman jerks his head back, snatches the pipe out of Marcy's head, and throws it over his shoulder. Before turning back to the nerdy teen and snarling yet again.

Marcy began to panic when she lost the only thing she could use. Slowly backing up against the scrap pile, the dogs closed in on her. They were barking and snarling, with the alpha inching ever so closely. She tried to put up as much distance from her and the dogs as she could, but there was nowhere else to go.

As she took the fourth step, she felt herself trip against a part of the pile and hit the ground on her backside with a thud. Yet the dogs kept coming regardless. The Taiwanese girl tried crawling backward to keep her distance but went to a short stop when she felt her back against a broken car behind her. Her fear escalated when the Doberman began to loom over her, raising its head high above while growling with murderous intentions.

Its low-humming snarl sent an unspeakable chill up the girl's spine. And it was there that she knew that death was inevitable at this point, considering that she had lost her only weapon and was vastly outnumbered. So even if she managed to fend off the alpha, the rest of the pack was still there, making it impossible for her to fend off all at once. Weeping, Marcy could only close her eyes, tears pouring out as she silently prayed her death would be swift through the jaws of this vicious canine.

However, to her surprise, yet again, it never came. For it had seemed fate had other plans in store. Before the alpha dog could be given a chance to deliver the final strike, it paused. The alpha canine lifted its head and began to sniff the air. The other dogs shortly followed. Marcy opened her eyes, looking puzzled at the startled mongrels.

Half a heartbeat later, the alpha dog looked up. And then started to back away from the downed girl. His ears were pinned behind his head, and she could hear the hound whining. As he withdrew at a reasonable distance, Marcy slowly rose to her feet. With a raised eyebrow in confusion. As far as she was concerned, the Doberman seemed terrified. Or at least that's what it looked like as she watched him change his view from her to behind her. She looked behind her shoulder and only saw nothing but the top of the scrap pile.

It became abundantly clear to her that the alpha dog was afraid of something. Not of her, of course. But of something else, which bewildered her even further when she wondered what it was. Since the dog wasn't looking at her, maybe it was afraid of something that was close by. She couldn't say for sure.

Shortly after, the Doberman turned and fled back into the darkness, whining as he disappeared with his tail between his legs. The other junkyard dogs followed as soon as their alpha disappeared. Their howls and whines could be heard in the wind, and then they went straight into complete silence seconds later.

By the time they were gone, Marcy had stood there, looking more puzzled than ever. She did not know what made the dogs so edgy and tense, but she was at least grateful that the alpha didn't seize his chance to end her life.

"Huh," she thought. "What's up with that?"

However, a second later, Marcy found her answer when the ground beneath her started to rumble. And judging where it was coming from, the Taiwanese girl could guess it was coming from behind her. Out of fear, she spun around, barely able to catch a glimpse of an alarming image that rattled her entire skeleton. For starters, the scrap pile began to move upward. It was sending enormous amounts of scrap and junk sliding down the bank.

After that, Marcy gasped as she caught a glimpse of a head coming out from within the pile. Then her eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of their sockets as she saw two emerald eyes staring directly at her, followed by a reptilian growl. Seconds later, she felt the pile around the head move until two massive wings emerged from underneath. Propelling chunks of scrap all over, Marcy had to shield herself with her arm.

As the dust began to clear, the Taiwanese girl turned her gaze back only to find herself standing before a massive beast. Who began to raise itself above the ground. At first, she mistook the creature for a giant bat. But it turned out to be much worse than that. As the beast continued to unveil itself, Marcy noticed that it had a thick scaley hide, black as night, along with a long tail, four limbs, and two large wings, from which she had already caught a glimpse.

It almost reminded her of a scaly salamander. But as she began to notice the horn-like protrusions twitching atop the creature's curved head and snout, which started to exhale a frosty breath from its mouth, Marcy began to realize what exactly this creature was.

It wasn't a large bat or a giant salamander. And as the beast began to lift its head to let out a mighty roar, only one thing came to Marcy's mind.

It was a dragon.


And that's the end of the chapter! Wow, what a suspenseful way to end a chapter like this. Sorry if it's a bit shorter than usual, but I'm actually saving up for the more exciting part in the next one, which should be out sooner than you guys think. Anyway, here are a few things before I end this: 1)I may come back to this chapter to make a few changes, so stick around for that. 2)Shoutout to Fanreader123456 and OMAC001 for your reviews from the last chapter. It took me a while to put that section together, and I feel very impressed with it myself. And 3) I highly encourage you all to leave a review for this story. As I have said a thousand times, I appreciate the commentary. It makes me feel like this story actually means something. And that's pretty much it. Stay tuned for the next chapter. It's gonna be a good one!