DRAGON

Barabas the Terror awoke from his slumber atop a massive mound of gold. He sniffed at the air. His eyes snapped open, vertical pupils sharpening into daggers as it sensed an intruder approaching its horde.

Barabas' treasure had a thick coating of dust, and cobwebs hung like curtains from the ceiling. A quick puff of fire had his horde gleaming once more. He rearranged the gilded sets of armor, dug out his largest emerald to serve as the centerpiece, and artfully draped himself over his pile.

Footsteps echoed down the long hallway. The torches roared to life as the stone doors swung open. A single human stepped inside. Barabas had never seen one outside of their thick metal shells before, and thus took a moment to indulge in the novelty of seeing his meal already peeled for him.

"Who dares enter my lair?" Barabas said. He frowned, as the echo bounced unevenly in the room. He discreetly checked his pile and found he had moved it in his sleep. A displeased hiss escaped him as the hard work he put into the acoustics went to waste.

"Hello. My name is Izuku Midoriya. What is yours?"

Barabas narrowed his eyes. The human had picked the perfect spot to reply, using his own lair's acoustics better than he did.

"Mine?" Barabas sneered. "You are unworthy of it. You may know me by my titles and achievements. Scourge of man, terror of the western isles, Ashmaker and Deathbringer, slayer of kings and devourer of princesses, bringer of crimson rains and blackened fields. What titles have you, Izuku Midoriya?"

"I am a pro hero."

"A hero?" Barabas laughed. "I've used stronger heroes as toothpicks. Is it stupidity that sees you standing before me unarmed, or a lack of finances? I could lend you some gold, so you might come back with a nice sword for my collection."

"Oh, I can have some? Thank you."

Izuku chomped on a coin. Barabas gaped in shock and outrage.

"If you think keeping my gold inside of you shall spare you my wrath, you are sorely mistaken. Perish, fool!"

Barabas made a quick puff of fire. No sense turning his food to charcoal, after all. Yet, as the fire parted, Izuku's skin sloughed off, showing metal underneath. Barabas reeled back, shocked to see the hero had armor after all.

"What trick is this? Did you skin another human to make me think you were unarmed? Well, no matter! I shall crush you beneath my claws!"

Barabas swung down. Izuku grabbed Barabas by the leg, swung him around over his head, then flung him head-first into the wall. Barabas roared, lunged, and chomped down on Izuku. Izuku pried open his mouth with an arm and a leg, and aimed a plasma bolt down the dragon's gullet.

"I win. Is this the part where I roll for seduction?"

Barabas hissed in terror. "Anything but that! Kill me!"

"Your eyes are like camera lenses, your scales like ceramic plating."

"Nooooo!"

499

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? You are approximately five hundred degrees Celsius warmer."

"Just take my treasure! Anything to put this suffering at an end!"