The air is intense - so thick, your blade might leave a visible mark. It's flowing by you so fast, you feel more alive than ever. A thought enters your head. *Time to finish this.* You shift your weight, allowing your Line to curve around the various buildings in The City. From here, they look monolithic, but so too does the dragon. You hear it roar uproariously, starting to breathe fire, but your allies - no, your *friends* are dodging it with ease, on their own Lines. You feel a little proud. Now's not the time to be proud. Now's the time to *fight*. You're waiting for just the right moment... Toby's laying on the heat from the side, while Edgie is casting some visual illusions to dazzle the dragon, and Mako is... trying to go for the eyes?! You know she can do rash things, but you don't know if she can handle it. You're too far to be able to call out to her, so you continue your lurk from afar... The dragon saw her. The fear that once overtook you starts to creep its way into your mind again. Was it a mistake to bring her along? Your fears are answered all at once - through the mage's illusions, Mako is whacked out of the air, off her Line. You made haste, leaning your whole weight into the Line, trying to make it go as fast as you can. You're going fast, maybe too fast, but your lover is never too much. You'd rather yourself than her. Gravity pulls you down, down, and you feel like it might not be enough, like she might falter and splatter on the ground at any moment now-! ## "Gotcha!" Just in the nick of time, mere seconds before the ground, you catch Mako, holding her in your arms as you slow down a bit. Faintly, she opens her eyes. "I-Ika...? Am I... beyond?" You chuckle a tad. "No, but you could say I'm in heaven." Mako laughs somewhat, not really getting the joke - right, "Heaven" isn't a concept here. In any case, you rise up to the top of a nearby building, and lower her onto the roof. "No Line?", you ask, not caring about the answer. "No Line... I'm alright, thanks for asking." "Sorry... Look, you stay here, I'll take care of the rest, okay?" Mako nods. "One more thing, sweetie, can you come here a bit?" You approach closer. With a spark between her antenna, and between you and her, she draws you in for a kiss, passionate as ever, savoring the moment. You unlock lips extremely flustered, and a little bothered. "I love you!", Mako says, smiling once again. You would guess that she just hadn't stolen your breath away based on her expression, but you recompose. "I love you too. This won't be long, I promise." With another few breaths drawn, you hop back on your Line. The other two are still encircling, but you can tell they're getting worn out. There's no time to lose. Once again, with feeling, you let the line move you upwards on a steep angle. Your footing is good, but you still fear the heights below you. You press on - now is *not* the time to let fear control you. You say nothing as you approach the dragon. it's flapping in the air, knocking away buildings, shattering them into pieces, occasionally taking a couple of people with them. You can worry about casualties later. By now, the mirages in front of its eyes start to fade, and soon, you see its snout, eyes, and body, directly face you. It roars again, this time at you, spitting fire once again. You take a drastic move, twisting your heel, instructing the Line to go directly *up*, which it does, and you just barely manage to grab a hold of the platform, using it as a handlebar as it lifts you up. From here, it's all about your movement - you hold onto the handlebar like a motorcycle, as it propels you so fast, your body keeps up in the air. You swiftly dodge right as the fire gets very close to you, just barely burning your shirt. You whip around, circling the dragon's head, trying to get it, too, to spin, and it does, following you, twirling around and around with its flamethrower of a mouth, until that sputters out, and it starts to get a little dizzy, slowly descending downwards. You take the opportunity, rushing over to the top of the dragon's head - it's always best to strike at the brain, in your opinion. Instead of descending, though, you forcefully pull the handlebar *off* the Line, pressing a button on it to get it to transform into a sword, before hurtling yourself towards the sweet spot, in freefall. You reach into your pocket. You pull out a polaroid - the photo you took of Mako, from all those aeons ago, in the desert. She's such a lovely thing, isn't she? Always been so supportive, kind, and loving... In your heart of hearts, you know that your future will *no longer* be defined by the chaos of the war you partook in, but instead, what you choose... And you choose **her.** You point your sword downward, aiming for the head, bracing for impact. ... With a burst of energy, you dive right though the skin of the dragon, but inside, you don't find the blood and guts you were worried about being encased in. Instead, you find the night sky, surrounding you on all sides, the stars being the occasional shapes and colors and swirls you seem to remember from your first moments in the forest... As you descend, you notice someone - a small girl, crying, weeping, her tears falling further than her. She's wearing naught but a sundress, with flowers printed across it. You eventually fall to her level, and she speaks - clearly a much younger version of your treacherous rival. "H-hello?" You sit down next to them, cross-legged, a little worried, but still confident. "Hi. Do you know who I am?" "You're that big meanie...", she replies, trailing off near the end. "I hate you! I just wanted everything and you ruined it!" You raise an eyebrow, trying to be understanding. "Everything? You can't have everything, you know." "But I could! They gave it all to me! The casinos, the businesses, They gave most of it to me, and told me I would get the rest!" The child wipes a tear from her eye. "That's what they told me, anyways." You give your thoughts pause. Would it really make sense to try and comfort someone you intend on killing? You start to feel sympathy, but still, you know it must be done - whatever she's causing, it's clearly angering The Knights. In the end, you can't bring yourself to do it - this is a child, after all, even in an adult's body, that's still kind of weird. You trap yourself within the Dragon forevermore. ``` --[Notice!]-- Non-Canonical Ending reached. Given Title: Slayer of Dragons GAME OVER! ``` ``` YOU: She... didn't go for the kill? JE: i dont think your waifu wants to kill a child YOU: It's a metaphorical child, jerk. JE: the name is jane YOU: ...Right. YOU: Anyways, I guess my theory of "don't do what she wouldn't do" applies, I just... didn't think there would be a child involved. JE: theres always a child involved YOU: There is? JE: yah its you JE: nerd YOU: Can you at least take this somewhat seriously...? JE: whatever YOU: Anyways, I'll start it from the beginning. ``` ### -> [[Play]]