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Dresden Oakland and Alexis Jones were exploring a new fantasy/modern-themed universe. From what Alexis was told by the Reaper rings and what they heard of the locals, there were very strange things happening, likely being the work of one of the Archon Demons.What made it even stranger was that not much was seen from these demons but a whole lot of dust, blood and debris from some fights. With a bit of examination and asking around, it became clear very quickly that the dust were once some of the demons that used to terrorize these lands. One of the locals the duo questioned pointed them in the direction of where some of the demons escaped to, warning them of a furred dragon-like beast which it fought and chased after. Dresden kept an eye out, yet found himself lost in thoughts he couldn’t easily get out of, like a black void swallowing him whole. Why was he not focusing? Those thoughts were irrelevant, so stop. Stop thinking and focus! What was even the problem? He started focusing on the fact that he wasn’t paying attention so much that he couldn’t actually focus on his surroundings.The older man massaged the bridge of his nose, as he felt a migraine creeping up on him.“Dresden?”Finally, Alexis’ voice ripped him out of his spiral.“Yes, Ms. Jones..?”He was still fighting through the migraine he just gave himself. Alexis stopped walking.“Is it just me, or is there something wrong here, like… I can feel my mind just- fogging up. Do you feel it too..?”The woman's face read wariness and tiredness, so whatever Dresden felt, she might have felt too.“So, you are experiencing a migraine paired with a difficulty focusing on simple tasks as well?” The man asked, monotone as ever.“Something like that.” The other replied before trying to look through the canopy.“Maybe if we fly out, it’ll get better. Here, climb onto me, Mr. Genoci-” Before Alexis could finish her sentence, the duo hears an ear-shattering roar not that far away, followed by what sounded like the breaking and falling of several trees and rocks. Without even exchanging a look, both dash towards the racket activating their respective powers once they arrive at the scene.A flock of six moth-dragon hybrids about the size of a horse flew around a bigger, furred dragon-esque creature.The moth dragons’ hide was dark gray to black with blood red patterning. They had six limbs and glowing, red eyes on their heads and their wings.The furred dragon which the local warned the duo about was slim and aerodynamic in build with big wings and a singular curved horn on its head. Its fur was a night-sky-blue, nearly
black. The underside was a sunny-day-light-blue, the eyes an ocean turquoise.The moth dragons dived and flew around the big blue one, leaving deep cuts, scratches and bite marks all over its form. The dragon protected itself with its tail and wings before. finding an opening, batting away two of the moth dragons and biting into another, killing and turning it into dust.Alexis and Dresden found their demons.Using her mineral magnetism, Alexis launches some broken boulders towards the two demons the dragon hit with its long tail, one was dead and the other grounded. Dresden gives Alexis a signal and is launched at one currently in the air which was just about to attack the blue dragon once more, tackling it down to the ground before breaking its neck with his corrupted flesh, giving him a bit more strength.In the exact moment of where the former Overseer turned around to help take out more, he saw a pair of black, two-clawed appendages going right for his clavicle.One claw dug into his forearm as Dresden shielded his chest from a killing blow and the other between his right shoulder and ribcage. The demon pinned him to the ground like an insect, ready for a dissection. Despite his best efforts to free himself, Dresden was stuck. His corruption wasn’t enough to move this thing!“Ms.- Ms. Jones!"-” He called out to Alexis, who had finished off the one under the rubble and just struck down the fifth of the flock. She now saw her allie's predicament. “I’m coming, Dresden! Just hang on-” All of the sudden, the demon looked over to Alexis approaching and took flight, taking Dresden with it.
Dresden started to panic, the claws now dug deep into the underside of his arms, near the joints. He was losing plasma and couldn’t free himself. Even if he did, the height alone could kill him.A bit strange to think about, a few months ago, he would’ve cherished the sweet release of death. But there was no time for thoughts, let alone dying.Dresden needed to get out of this literal death grip before passing out.Maybe he could pull himself off the claws-? The gray man grabbed the arms of the demon to pull the claws out and- * CRUNCH * A sharp pain was felt in his left shoulder as the moth dragon bit into him, the creature’s spiked tongue wrapped around his joint and sawed into his flesh. He didn’t even hear his own cry of pain as Dresden merely tried to stop the beast from severing his arm for daring to try an escape.As the creature switched to holding him in its toothy mouth, the world of the wounded man started to fade and his grip weakened. The last thing the former overseer still caught up was an intelligible yell of Alexis Jones, the sensation of falling and… a thought..?No, a voice… A woman. Strong, calm and direct.
"Stay alive.”
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Meanwhile on the other side
For a moment Alexis was stunned to even speak. The thing flew away with Dresden. The thing. Flew away. With Dresden!
WHY???? WHAT WAS THE POINT?!?!
The new reaper forced herself to move, flying after the demon and its prey. Strangely enough, the blue dragon that they helped followed suit, flying about the same speed as the woman.They both caught up quickly with the demon, now only being about 10 feet away.Suddenly, the voice of a woman filled the front space of her mind, strong, calm and direct: “You take out the creature, I can catch your ally.” Thus the dragon flew down and into a position to presumably catch Dresden. Alexis was just about to fly down and ask something until-
"AAAAARGH-!"
A bloodcurdling, pained scream was heard from the captured man…Without giving it any more thought, the reaper sprung into action.“Hang in there, Dresden!”She called out while summoning her weapon.The short woman flew onto the moth dragon, stabbed its throat for Dresden to fall down and went back into flight mode. The slain demon turned to dust mid-air, dispersing through the wind. The entire flock was dead now.Alexis turned to the dragon who was now gently carrying an unconscious Dresden within her(?) claws.Alexis looked at her in awe, unsure on how to react.The voice spoke into the woman’s mind again: “I understand that you have questions, Reaper. Though I suggest postponing those, for when we have taken care of your friend’s injuries.”“Ah- right, y-yeah. Okay. So-”“Y- you know a good doctor for humans with special physiques? Cause we’re gonna need one for him.”
“.. I believe I know a good place..”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As Dresden Oakland came to, his body rested on something warm and fuzzy. Still feeling a bit dazed, the man tried to get up onto his elbows, ignoring the stinging in his arms but the pain was overwhelming. Dresden would have to just turn his head for now to take in the scene around him. He would definitely ask for painkillers.His bare chest was wrapped in bandages, just like his arms. The room was strangely big, the left side had shelves with various bottles, towels of all sizes and a couple pillows. If this was a massage studio then he laid on what he assumed to be a massage table with a towel underneath him. The right side had a window to the outside, it was dusk already? Dresden was surprised that he was knocked out for this long.Then again, that damned demon really did a number on him. The man’s eyes still looked out, when was the last time he was injured to the point, he couldn’t move? Something about it felt wrong, his stoney exterior wasn’t unbreakable, of course.But that thing clawed and bit into him as if he was made out of normal flesh!Dresden thought back to the sensation of its tongue digging into his shoulder, he couldn’t help but shudder. A few moments later, he could hear steps, one, two… Perhaps three people came in his direction. The wounded man slowly got up one elbow this time, careful not to move his left shoulder. A familiar voice could be heard outside the room: Alexis Jones. “Thank you again for all your help. I still can’t believe how that demon just tore into-”Alexis made eye-contact with the other. “Dresden, you’re up!” She hurried over to him. “How’re you feeling? You think you can get up?”
“Hello to you too, Ms Jones. And I am not sure, it has been a while since I was this injured-”
A Hand was laid on his good shoulder as Alexis gave Dresden a menacing look and pushed him back down.
“Then stay down and
don’t move.”
The elder wasn’t going to challenge that order, it was not like he really could.
“If I may ask then,-” He started, slightly turning on his side to face the door. “What have I missed?”
Dresden looked straight at the blue furred dragon from before, standing in the doorway. The voice he heard before fainting filled his head again.
“My apologies, I had not been given the chance to introduce myself to you.”
Shock and confusion overcame the man’s features.
“That- voice..It is..Yours..?"
They spoke once more:
“Yes, it is. I use telepathy to communicate with other beings.”
“My name is Ylthar, I am the new overseer of the Universe HS-2015, in which we are currently standing.”
Ylthar stepped into the room while talking, her form fitting a bit tightly through the door frame. As the overseer sat down before the two humans, it became clear why the ceiling was that higher than one would expect for a massage room.
As her tail wrapped around her claws, Dresden could now also see the unmistakable Overseer runes near the bushy tip of the tail. How did he not notice those before?
Alexis chimed in:
“She’s been fighting the demons we’re after for the last 2 weeks and managed to keep them at bay. But she hasn’t been an overseer for very long yet.”
She continued: “That being said; She will help us fight demons, if we teach her more about her powers.”
“That proposal sounds like a fair deal. Now, I assume you will want me to teach Overseer Ylthar due to my extensive knowledge and experience within that field?”
Dresden assessed, still laying down. Alexis nodded.
“And you have a ton of wrongs to right. See this as a side hustle for when you’re not with me, killing demons.”
“I see.”
Dresden agreed, not really because he wanted to or because it did not bother him, moreso because he was in no position to decline. He was helping the Sharp Gang, they were treating him well, but he was still their prisoner and Alexis his Warden, who was going to make sure he atoned for the lives he took. They were his allies at best.
After the deal was made, Ylthar healed Dresden so he could stand and walk; it would take a day or two for him to be completely healed though.
Allegedly, she could not do so sooner, since she was quite tired herself and needed to ask a retired medic for help, thus Dresden Oakland woke up in a wellness resort’s massage studio.
“How does a retired medic even become a masseur, moreso how do you even know eachother?”
Dresden asked a grizzled Orc veteran with a confused and curious tone. The orc who introduced himself as Gresh Skullcrusher simply gave a hearty laugh and responded in a jolly voice:
“Trust me, friend- If someone told me ‘bout 20 years ago, I’aint gonna die as a warrior but have kids with a half-elf and massage people and
like it,
I woulda thought they’re crazy and gone ‘bout ma day!”
Dresden had no idea how to respond and merely answered: “I see.. Well, thank you for your service, Mr.. Skullcrusher. Ms. Jones and I will be going then.”
They said their goodbyes and went outside the resort.
Before Alexis and Dresden parted ways with Ylthar, they agreed it would be best if she met the rest of the gang and proposed a date and time for a full introduction.
Within a few moments and a couple calls with the split group-
The meeting was scheduled for next Monday and with that, The stone duo left HS-2015.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
While it may have been a mere week, for Dresden it felt like an eternity being torn between feeling absolute dread about these lessons he’s supposed to give to the Overseer of HS-2015, Ylthar; As he still had quite a bit of hate towards Overseers.And the slight feeling of pride for being seen as a suitable teacher.Looking at the difference in ideals he had from the group, he would’ve guessed someone such as Tayrun Jaanavar, the Overseer of T905 also called “The beast world”; would be the one to take the reins for this.At the very least, he did not strike Dresden as someone who would be bad at teaching.Aside from him, no one else within the Sharp Gang in general seemed like they’d be equipped for it. Certainly not Benny Sharp, the mecharmor maker; Or Astraa, the Overseer of A-016.Though if there is one thing they did right, it is the way these Overseers treat their worlds and people.Especially Tayrun- He was not looking down and watching over his home, he was living in it and being a part of it. He was not “above his creations'' and treated them like playthings as so many others did. He was treating them like the living beings they were, life and balance between the natural forces that were humans and beasts was important to him, sacred even.Something which even the elder himself seemed to have forgotten sometimes.If Dresden wanted to teach anything about Overseeing, it is those Ideals he had witnessed within this man the moment he was let into his world. So that maybe, just maybe- Dresden could perhaps save a world from a horrid future with an even worse Tyrant, unlike he could when he started 6000 years ago.
Until next Monday, Dresden Oakland prepared as much as possible, writing down as many abilities as he remembered, sorting them in categories like Attack, Defense, Utility, etc. as well as the difficulty of using these. And his hard work was not going unnoticed.
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It was a Sunday morning at the Sharp Tank, 8:30 AM. Most of the crew took it slow and relaxed on Sundays, often wearing more leisurely fitted clothing, due to the nearly multiversal agreement not to work but rest on Sundays.This was because of the common theme of Religion, mainly of biblical origin.What of course helped this social code to take greater hold within the group was the fact that the group’s Leader, Alexis Jones was very religious and keen on making sure everyone took proper time to care for themselves.Though as mentioned, only most did so, not everyone and most definitely not Dresden. The former overseer stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a cup of Joe, reminiscing about a file he read during his work at the SCP Foundation. He did not remember much of the file itself, but there was something about someone getting a cup of bodily fluids from a Coworker named Josef by accident.Staring into his cup for a moment, he questioned how that could even happen. It was whatever though, his world was gone and so were most files, except those he needed for his daily tasks. Aside from that, it was at a different site.Dresden looked around the still quiet Headquarters, closed his eyes and took a deep breath- It rarely was this quiet, this peaceful. It did not happen often that he could have these quiet moments since he turned himself in. It was nice-“Good morning Dresden!” There it was. “...Good morning, Engeal.” Sterling Engeal, possibly the most optimistic member of the Sharp Gang and the person who tried the hardest to stop Dresden from blowing up the Backcells Prison, came into the kitchen with a dark blue shirt, a pair of sweatpants, slippers and a grin that could only be of an early bird.Dresden pulled out the Tablet he still had from his time at the SCP Foundation; from his belt.Perhaps if he looked busy, he would not be forced into a conversation. Dresden wanted to do another onceover of the learning Material for Ylthar anyway- “What are you looking at?”Of course the plan backfires. Sterling was now behind the kitchen island which Dresden was leaning against, watching over his shoulder like a hawk.“I am merely going over the learning material for Overseer Ylthar from Dimension HS-2015, in other words: Nothing of interest to you.”A chuckle escaped Sterlings mouth “Wow, you’ve been really looking forward to this, haven't you?”Dresden did not even need to look to know that Sterling had a smug look on his face.“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re excited to teach someone.”“Indeed, you do not know any better, Engeal. Even if it is a task I did not choose, I will do what I can to do it properly.”“Ehhhhh, not sure If I believe that..”Sterling’s grinning was audible.“Come on, Dres, just say how it is! You like being the most knowledgeable in the room.”Dresden said nothing and tried to ignore the younger man, reading through the notes he made, taking a sip of his Joe. “Or are you excited to see this Ylthar again?”He barely managed to spit his drink back into the cup, away from the electronic device, coughing a bit.
“What?”
Dresden looked at Sterling as if he just proposed the most lunatic, Dr. Bright-Level plan to him while Sterling could barely contain his laughter.“*Pfft* Heheh-hey I’m just saying- Nice gal saving your life and then having to teach her; Sounds like a good opportunity to make friends, right?” Before Dresden could even consider dumping his leftover coffee on the other, Heath Hurricane Reynolds, a Kaiju Slayer from a Kaiju-infested world and (former) powerhouse of the group, came into the Kitchen in full armor, stretching his arms behind his back. “Mornin’ fellas! What are you two talking about? Sounded like rubbing Dresden the wrong way.” He laughed, boisterous as ever.Sterling was the first to answer: “Just talking about the new Overseer Ylthar and Dressy’s possible motivation for putting so much work into his future lessons.”The blonde spoke with a grin.Dresden redirected the conversation.“Why are you wearing your Armor, Reynolds? It is Sunday.”“I’m going to my world, I got a distress call from there. Some powerful Kaiju are causing trouble near a Shelter with thousands of refugees.”Heath responded in an uncharacteristically serious tone, this must’ve been bad.“Will you need backup?” Sterling inquired. “Nah, a lot of other Slayers were called and are already on their way to give aid, it’ll take maybe a day or so. I should be back in time for the meeting tomorrow, no worries!”Heath assured the others.“Well, if you say so. But do call tomorrow and say how things are going. Then we can help and make sure that you can indeed make it on time.” After Heath ate some breakfast with them, Sterling and Dresden bid him adieu.Most of the day went smoothly and surprisingly quiet, which was likely because Benjamin Sharp wasn’t around.However, Alexis Jones did take away Dresden’s tablet for the rest of the day, due to Alexis fearing he would “work himself into a coma” since he hadn’t taken any actual breaks that week and already did not sleep as much as one should. After a brief scolding from his Warden, Dresden decided to take a walk outside around the forest as he felt quite explosive and was not about to throw a temper tantrum over an old device for work. The weather was nice, birds were singing, flowers were blooming, He could feel his heart rate going down, his breathing slowed. Taking a break was quite nice and may have been what he needed, though he would never admit it out loud to anyone.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Monday has arrived, the Sharp Gang funneled in to get the meeting started. Only there was one problem, Heath wasn’t back yet and Benny Sharp was also not around.There was no call for backup yet, nor did Heath answer the call of anyone in the group. A part of the crew decided to go to the Kaiju World to check on their friend, those being Alexis Jones, Coșmara Noroi, a woman from a demon infested world, who was cursed by its Overseer, Fear Herself;And Tayrun Jaanavar.Dresden was left behind this time as he could not do much against the Kaijus and so he could greet Overseer Ylthar, when she came to the Headquarters.Left with him were Vasilia Kuznet, a warrior and armor maker from Tayrun’s world, Sterling Engeal, Champagne McGregor, a former Dinosaur geneticist and Astra, the Overseer of A-016.Sterling was chatting with Champagne about Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures while Astra was flirting with Vasilia who reveled in the attention.Mikayla Maclel aka. Biomech-Kayla from world B167 and her biomech-enhancement friend Charlie from C284; came into the main hall with Kate Blakecour aka. Unkillable Kate, who was once a prisoner of Backcells Prison. They were talking about training.Skinner, a once supervillain who was lobotomized and also held within Backcells, he later fused with a symbiote to allow him to speak again. Now Skinner was sitting on the couch with his friend Archibald, the talking Gopher Overseer and former enemy of Benny Sharp.Suddenly Astra spoke out to everyone in the room: “Guys, someone came in through the Nexus point!”The room filled with an air of anticipation almost immediately. “I will go to meet her.”Dresden walked out of the building and to the Nexus point. Standing there, he saw the furred, sleek body of Ylthar, her dark fur had an iridescent blue, turquoise shimmer in the sunlight. It was genuinely beautiful.She looked into the surrounding forest, even though there seemed to be nothing, was she not paying attention or was she waiting for him to say something?“Greetings, Dresden Oakland.”Dresden nearly jumped out of skin at the sudden call out, though did his best not to show it.Ylthar turned around now, looking right at him as he took a breath.“Greetings, Overseer Ylthar. The others are waiting inside the building, though there are some currently missing from our ranks, due to another member not having answered any calls for updates.” “I see.. So what is your group’s course of action?”The dragon inquired.“So far, the order is to wait and to introduce you to who is present at the moment.”Dresden led the way, finishing the conversation with: “This way.”Ylthar followed, her wings spread enough to touch the ground before her feet. While walking the man noticed a lack of motion from the other’s head. Normally people look around and at their surroundings, but she did not even move her eyes, which now that looked at them more closely, they didn’t have any pupils.Strange…They were now by the entrance of the Sharp Tank, Mech-Kayla and Kate Blakeour looked out through a nearby window to get a look at the new ally.Dresden turned to Ylthar and said: “Welcome to the ‘Sharp Tank’, the name was chosen by Benjamin Sharp.”“I see, though I thought the Reaper was your leader?”“Alexis Jones is the Leader, yes-” Dresden pushed open the door as he kept talking. “However, Mr Sharp kept calling them ‘the Sharp Gang’ until they all just accepted the name, since no one had any better ideas.”He held the door open for her to walk through.Ylthar paused. “One moment, just in case I may not fit through-” She took a few steps back.“Let me change my form to something.. smaller.”“I don’t believe that should be a prob-”Before he could finish his sentence, Dresden witnessed the dragon-body shrink and shape into that of a human woman
with lavender skin, feathered ears and a star on her forehead instead of her horn. Gray-ish blue hair went down her back in a feathered cut. She wore a dress, the same color as the coat of her dragon body and shimmered blue and green. A turquoise shawl was wrapped around and over her shoulders, the color matched her eyes.The Overseer runes were now on her right arm.Dresden was rendered speechless for a moment.“You- You are able to do that..?”“Just because I have become an overseer recently, does not mean that I am not able to use any powers inherent to my world.” She now actually spoke through the physical means of her new form. She talked. “I.. see… Let us go inside then…”Dresden stepped inside the doorway still holding it open for Ylthar as she followed.She seemed strangely careful and deliberate with every step she took, always following the other like a second shadow.Still no head or eye movement.. Why? They stop in the main hall and hangout spot of the Sharp Tank.Dresden called out: “Everyone, this is Ylthar the dragon and Overseer of Dimension HS-2015. She just turned into a human form so as to not accidentally damage the interior by merely moving around.”Ylthar gave a polite bow “It is nice to meet all of you.” Within the next five or ten minutes everyone introduced themselves to their new ally.Naturally, Astra tried to flirt with her, as the other was quite attractive as a human, only to be rejected almost immediately.Kate, Biomech-Kayla and Sterling seemed to get along just fine with her, Skinner and Harold seemed to make Ylthar feel a bit uneasy, perhaps because of their background… ?While there did seem to be any problems between the new ally, Vasilia and Champagne, there were some cultural differences that caused some tension. “You make armors.. from dragons and you make creatures to serve as entertainment for others..?”Champagne defended himself first: “Alroight listen, bafore ya go think the obvious- I didn't make sentient beings that can tolk like ya do, those were jus’ animals an’ I quit doing that work quite a bid ago anyway.”Vasilia chimed in: “Yes, and vhile I do kreate armors from dragons and other kreatures, they are also not so.. human-like, do not speak and very animalistic, some even aggressive!” Ylthar did not seem to believe them very much, though left it at that.“Very well, I will take your words on this. So-” She redirected the conversation, much to the relief of Champagne and Vasilia.“Now that I have met all of your team here, where is the rest? Should they have not been back by now?”Sterling spoke up: “Well, maybe though they haven’t been gone very long yet either. Perhaps we should give them some more time?”Vasilia chimed in again: Perhaps, though ve could also give call and ask if they need assistance, yes?”“Alright, let’s do that then.-” Kayla said, already calling her boyfriend, Tayrun Jaanavar. In the meantime, Dresden turned to the lavender skinned woman next to him to ask a question."While this is happening, may I ask you a question, Overseer Ylthar?"The other perked up, "Of course, this is what this meeting is about, is it not?""Indeed it is. So my question is- Do you happen to be blind?"
To be continued...
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tayrun Jaanavar stood on an old skyscraper, far away from the conflict. He was controlling a creature from his world known as the Tyterragon, a dragon made up from plants and vines; to help his friends during the battle against the old and new Kaijus. Normally this wouldn’t have taken so long to finish them off since Alexis was there, but so was Kaijagrex, the Archon Demon of Kaijus.
Alexis was battling Archon Kaijagrex alone while Kate, Heath, Mara and Tayrun held off the Kaiju demons.
Heath lunged at a smaller red and blue spider Kaiju with a humanoid torso and two long appendages which reminded him more of spider legs than actual arms.
It stood in a threatening pose, leering at its incoming opponent with pale, pupiless eyes.
It waited for the attack, blocked and threw the slayer off to the side, ready to stomp on him with one of the Kaiju’s sharp pointed feet.
But Heath Hurricane Reynolds was not out of the fight just yet and dodged it in time. Even if the wall-crawler was smaller than most other Kaijus, the earth still shook with every stomp it made. A hit like that could certainly be deadly.
That being said, Heath had no intention of being an easy target and laughed boisterously: ”You really think you could get Heath Hurricane Reynolds out of the picture that easily?! You gotta try harder than that, monster!!” He mocked.
The man sprinted under its abdomen, went to one of its back legs, activated his powers as he jumped- “Hurricane HAMMER!”
And tore through the creature’s carapace and flesh, severing its right back leg as it screeched in pain!
A yellow, viscous liquid bled from the leg-stump as it looked around furiously for the Kaiju Slayer, still laughing enthusiastically while he ran across the Spiders behind:
“You and your master are going down today through the Sharp Gang!”
Heath ran to the front left leg of the Kaiju and charged his ability again-
“FIST OF THUNDER!!”
Another shriek, another leg lost. The creature stumbled back and forth struggling to keep balance. Yet so did Heath as he fell to the ground.
Tayrun’s Tyterragon caught him in its vines before he would’ve split his head on a rock. Quickly, he ordered his creature to bring his friend to him so he could rest safely, while the spider still regained its balance.
Suddenly, he got a call on his Multiversal Wrist Watch from his girlfriend Biomech-Kayla, the man tapped the screen, accepting the call.
“Hey Babe, how’s it going for you there?”
Yelling could be heard through her microphone, there wasn’t much to make out, though it sounded like Kate, Astra and Sterling talking over each other.
“Hello Kayla, what is going on your side?” He asked in confusion.
“Dresden asked our new Ally if she was blind. You didn’t answer my question by the way.”
The Tyterragon now arrived with a barely conscious Heath in tow and set him down gently onto the roof.
"Ah,sorry! It could be better..” He stated while checking in on his friend. “Heath, are you alright?” Who was merely giving a thumbs-up, catching his breath. He was very tired.
“We ran into the Archon Kaijagrex, Alexis is fighting it right now while the rest of us are holding back the Kaiju Demons.”
Tayrun sent out his dragon once more to help the rest of his team.
“Heath is already out of the picture, since he already fought a lot of them and so are many other Kaiju slayers.”
The rest of the sharp gang within the headquarters now finally stopped hounding Dresden and listened to Kayla’s call.
“Do you guys need backup? Ylthar needs to meet the rest of you anyway. You need us to come to you?”
Tayrun’s Tyterragon was still keeping the Spider Kaiju busy, entangling it in vines and roots. The green-leafed dragon could withstand a lot of physical damage, thanks to its body not being made of flesh. And while that physical resilience also extended to Tayrun in a way, that did not mean both of them couldn’t be killed.
As Tayrun was contemplating his partner’s proposal of assistance, he yelped as the Spider Kaiju bit into his beast’s wing, leaving a giant, bleeding bite mark on the beast summoner’s back. He ignored the pain as best as he could.
The man spoke with pain lacing his voice:
“Y-you know, I think a bit of help wouldn’t be wrong…”
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Back at the Sharp Tank, the rest of the Sharp Gang who had access to a Mech suit or other means of extra protection was dispatched to help out in the Kaiju world. All except Harold, Archibald and Skinner, who were to “hold the fort” so to speak. Meanwhile the preparations were being wrapped up, Mikayla asked came into the room where Dresden and most of the others were to ask: “So why did you ask if Ylthar was blind, Mr. Genocide?”Dresden inconspicuously rolled his eyes at the regrettable nickname before turning around, facing the suited up woman.“Ms. Maciel, do you think now is the time for such questions?” Ylthar, who theoretically stood out of earshot, now chimed in: “I firmly believe that there’s always time for questions, aside from that- I am curious myself.”Dresden gave a defeated sigh from himself, after he saw the rest of the group look at him expectantly. Obviously, Mikayla and Ylthar weren’t alone in their curiosity.“When Overseer Ylthar first came to A-016, I noticed a lack of head- and eye movement as well as the fact that her eyes lack pupils.” Those who haven’t noticed it yet, now took a closer look at the dragon’s eyes and lo' and behold- They were indeed pupiless. Dresden continued, now talking directly to the subject of conversation: “Aside from that, you used your dragon wings to presumably feel the ground before you, then you insisted on changing into a smaller form, even though you would’ve fit through the door frame either way.”“And even after going in, where most would look around at their surroundings and the people, your head and eyes remained static. Almost as if it would make no difference.” All the while, Ylthar simply leaned against a wall and listened, smiling with intrigue and seeming a bit baffled. Once the explanation was over, she couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.“You are correct!” She grinned with a certain glee, as if Dresden just solved a riddle of her own making.“I am indeed very blind-” She pushed herself off the wall and walked over to the rocky man.“I can only differentiate between light levels and vibrant colors. For the rest of my sight, I use my sense of smell, hearing, touch, as well as my Overseer powers to fill in the blanks. Hearing people’s surface thoughts through telepathy is also quite helpful at times.”She continued: “Most people need quite a bit longer to figure out this little detail about me. I am impressed!” The room was silent. “Anyway- Should we not be helping your friends?” Ylthar redirected everyone’s attention like a toy car, as now everyone briefly chose the coordinates for the Kaiju world.Dresden showed her which world it was and they were off. They entered through the coordinates given by Tayrun, seeing what they were dealing with.
The moment Ylthar entered, she felt the soul energies of powerful entities within a radius of 10 km (6,2 miles), two of which stuck out to her. One she recognized as Alexis Jones, the Reaper- The other felt unfamiliar, yet still she felt like should know them. She figured that may be the Archon demon Kaijagrex that was mentioned before. Kayla and Astra were already swarming out to assist their friends, only Sterling and Kate stayed for a moment.Dresden looked around and asked Ylthar: “How much are you actually able to tell without your sight? Would I need to describe some details to you?”The new overseer changed into her dragon form and responded: “I can tell there are multiple creatures involved within this conflict. There is a large, multi-legged beast with approximately eight legs. Its steps are heavy but it seems weak.-” She gestured to the red and blue Spider Kaiju that was barely standing.
“There is another, much smaller one. two clawed feet, compact body and incredible strength of breath.”And indeed there was a small, round and pink Kaiju with two sets of eyes, two were blue and those below were red. It had tentacle-like arms, short legs and red, clawed feet.Its mouth was toothless and a gullet went deep into its body to seemingly nowhere.And just like the dragon said, it let out all air and then sucked the air back in with such unrelenting force that it lifted up and sucked in anything in its wake, rocks, debris, cars, broken buildings. Dresden filled in the details as he observed the creatures himself. “What is your skill set exactly, Overseer Ylthar?” The elder inquiredBut before the dragon could answer, Kate called out: “ROCKS!”And Dresden felt a long, strong tail yank him out of the way from a few boulders with the sizes ranging from a basketball to a person. Sterling and Kate managed to dodge it themselves.Ylthar had wrapped her tail around his waist and sprinted away about five meters, still holding him aloft. “Well, as you can see, I am built for speed-” She felt a large entity looming over them from behind and both turned their head to a massive Kaiju of stone and debris.
It had a tall, humanoid figure, its floating head had five crown-like, broken spikes, two piercing green eyes, a large green gem in its chest and a smaller one in its torso. It was floating as its pointed legs formed from debris and stone. “Though it seems we will not get to chat any more than that!”Ylthar’s tail quickly moved Dresden onto her back and the both of them took flight just as the rock kaiju used its version of mineral magnetism again and aimed for the now air-born duo. Dresden looked over his shoulder, saw the oncoming attack and called Ylthar to fly down, from 3 massive pieces of building debris, not even a single pebble hit them as the dragon went into an air-dive opened her wings again and shot up even higher than before with incredible speed, now flying at the height of the Kaiju’s chest. More rocks and debris launched towards them but was barely dodged through teamwork. “Oakland, can you spot any weak points?”“I am unsure, though I believe that the big crystal within its chest may be a good place to start!” He yelled out through the rush of wind.“Very well, time to see how close we can get!” The duo shot towards the green glow while they dodged more projectiles under Dresden’s instruction. A blue glow developed in Ylthar’s chest, traveled up her neck and a hot, blue ball of fire formed as she opened her jaw, ready to fire and-
*WHACK!*
A loose brick hit the pilot in the side of her head, causing the both of them to plummet. Dresden, who still managed to hang on, crawled forwards and saw his partner was unconscious. Without any better idea, he grabbed the dragon by the neck, sent out every piece of his corrupted flesh to hold open the wings and tried his best to change their course from a fall to a glide.The ground got closer and closer as they started to get from a vertical angle to a horizontal and eventually landed a few hundred meters away from the Rock Kaiju, Dresden shielded his ally’s head from getting more injuries. It didn’t get them far but potentially far enough to gather themselves and try another attack. But first Ylthar had to wake up. “Overseer Ylthar, can you hear me? Overseer Ylthar, you need to get up!”The man shook her by the head and she slowly opened her eyes. “..Oakland? What-?" “The Kaiju knocked you out for about a minute and if you do not get us in the air right now, getting knocked out will be our best-case-scenario!”Dresden looked up at the Kaiju that now pulled a building in half, ready to throw. She got up on her claws and shook off the dizziness. “Then it should be time to take flight. I will need you to be exceptionally vigilant now, I cannot tell how much I can perceive at the moment.”He nodded, got on her back once more and they took off, barely dodging more rubble. They needed a plan to take it down, but what kind? At this moment, Dresden spotted Unkillable Kate hacking into the pink Kaiju and saw how it sucked up surrounding rubble without a problem…His eyes widened as a plan started to form. “Overseer Ylthar, fly down towards Katelyn Blakeour and the pink Kaiju, I have an idea!”
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Kate Blakeour hacked and slashed into the Pink Kaiju as it fought her with a kind of vicious playfulness, jumping and speeding around her while giving out blows that any normal person might’ve not got up from. She dodged another hit by jumping back from it, only for the Kaiju to use its suctioning breath again with the intent to swallow her whole. Kate dug her big sword into the ground and gripped the handle tightly. Yet it was not enough, Kate Blakeour lost her footing and her grip not long after. The woman was swept up by the suction and was halfway on her way to be eaten until-
*BWOOSH!*
A blast of blue flame hit the small Kaiju right in the eyes, making it stop sucking in air as it stumbled backwards and groaned in pain!Just before Kate could really see what was happening, a set of furred claws caught her mid-air and let her back down on the ground. She stumbled forwards to stop herself from falling and once Katelyn looked she saw her group’s new Ally, Ylthar with Dresden on her back, flying back up and around the Kaiju.Sterling, who focused on helping injured and tired Kaiju slayers off the battlefield with Biomech-Kayla, briefly stopped and asked: “Kate, you okay? What was that Dresden riding on- What’s her name- Ylthar?” She paused. “Yeah.” “Ah, so he is making friends!” The blonde man replied cheerfully. Now that Blakeour was out of danger, the duo focused on their plan.
“Just how certain are you that this plan will work, Oakland?”
Ylthar spoke into his mind. “Quite, Mr. Engeal had mentioned a video game character which looked like this one. And if there is one constant within the multiverse, it is that worlds love to parody theother!” Dresden spoke against the rush of wind. Ylthar fired another blast at the pink Kaiju, fully drawing its’ attention onto them as they began to lead it to the Rock Kaiju that was now fighting the Tyterragon and Vasilia in her Jaguar form.Tayrun stood on a building which had a good view of the whole fight, Heath sat up next to him. They both already looked quite beaten and bruised.Vasilia just dodged another blow from the giant mass of rock and debris and the Tyterragon went in for a hit to the green crystal in the chest with thorny vines, only to be batted away and against a wall. Tayrun felt a sickening CRACK in his back and fell backwards. Paralyzed by the pain, his summon disappeared. Tayrun Jaanavar was out of the fight. Ylthar and Dresden needed to put their plan into action before any of their allies could be harmed in this vulnerable state.With the pink Kaiju right on their tail the duo flew faster and higher into air to the point that their pursuer had no other way of catching up but by leaping up into air-And with that, right into the Rock Kaiju. Just as Ylthar and Dresden were caught in between them, the dragon closed her wings and made a barrel roll to go into a dive.The Pink Kaiju leaped too high for its own good. It readied its’ suction ability, but instead of swallowing the air-born duo- It sucked itself onto the Rock Kaiju’s face like a face hugger, making it blind.The Rock Kaiju who was now visibly panicking, threw rocks into all directions, including a still prone Tayrun and Heath. “Overseer Jaanavar and Mr. Reynolds are still within the Kaiju’s range!”Oakland warned. But instead of moving from her spot, Ylthar remained, concentrating as suddenly Dresden once more felt her presence in his mind for a moment, almost asking for entry. The elder had no idea on how to decline. And for a short moment, he felt his sight being shared…Two, three, four blasts of blue flames were fired, effectively disintegrating the rocks that came for the two exhausted men, The bigger one now had regained enough strength to patch up the smaller. Heath had shielded Tayrun who was barely awake. Once he saw the danger had been dealt with, he held a thumbs up towards the duo paired with a big grin. Now it was time to deal with the Kaiju. Ylthar and Dresden dove for the green crystal of the Rock Kaiju just as the pink Kaiju separated from its face.The blue dragon held her breath, charged her blast and with mere seconds away from crashing into the rock and debris-She fired multiple shots in quick succession through the crystal and to the other side of the Kaiju’s chest!Rock Kaiju collapsed to the ground burying the pink Kaiju with it. Ylthar landed on the building top where Heath Reynolds and Tayrun Jaanavar were still recovering. She was out of breath from that last attack.“WOW! What was that? That was incredible!” Heath was quick to gush over the attack as usual. Dresden quickly leaped off of the dragon’s back, sensing something was off. “Overseer Ylthar?” Clearly inquiring for any updates on her physical state. “I am alright.” The telepathic voice said. Her breath sounded like her lungs were working over-time. “I am merely a bit out of breath, it is likely I will not be able to perform a stunt like that again for today..” "O-oh, well Uhm." said the burly man. “That’s a shame… Because it doesn’t seem like our rocky friend is out of the game just yet.” Heath nodded to what was behind them.And he was right, the Rock Kaiju they just defeated slowly got up again, though now it was significantly smaller, perhaps a fourth of its original size. The smaller, still functioning crystal from its stomach was now in the chest instead.The whole body was more compact and looked a bit like a child, compared to the previous form. There was a beat of silence. “...You know it’s actually pretty cute looking!” Heath was the first to say it, and it would be the last of that conversation as the shrunken Kaiju roared in a low bass tone and proceeded to hurl more rock and debris at the group.Dresden got back onto Ylthar as she took off into the air. Heath picked up his friend and jumped off of the building just in time to dodge the barrage of rocks and to be caught by a set of furred, dark blue claws.
The dragon struggled a bit to keep hold on the giant man within her grasp, let alone dodge all of the debris thrown at them. Dresden kept watch, warning Ylthar of any upcoming hits and giving instructions to dodge them, the elder even helped deflect some of the smaller rocks using pieces of his corrupted flesh.But it wasn’t enough.The rock and debris that were thrown got bigger and bigger. While Dresden was busy keeping smaller rocks from hitting Ylthar’s head, a piece of broken building, twice the size of the dragon flew right in front of them! Before either Ylthar or Dresden could react, Heath pulled himself free from the claw holding him and onto Ylthar’s shoulder. Within seconds, Tayrun was more or less thrown into Dresden’s arms and Heath jumped off of the beast’s shoulder with his fist cocked back-“HURRICANE HAMMER!” The debris fell apart and plummeted down along with the man.Just as Dresden was about to direct his Ally down, a flash of green zipped by, catching the unconscious body.The voice of the Mech-armor Maker was heard on the comms. “Ayy, what’s up? Sorry I’m late guys, kinda got busy in my world!” Benny Sharp set down Heath further away from the fight to recover safely and returned the flying duo dodging more boulders from the small Rock Kaiju, all the while the dragon whom he assumed to be Ylthar; kept firing on the green crystal. “Mr. Sharp, where have you been?!” The walking ashtray sounded livid as he yelled into his watch’s microphone, still helping the dragon not get hit anywhere vital. “Well, technically- the writer gots no plan what to do with me and left me out until now- “The mech-armored man blasted away some oncoming debris that Dresden couldn’t have dealt with in time.A few rocks came for him as well.“In practice- I jus’ overslept and got caught up in a fight with the local authorities.”Benny flew in front Ylthar, facing Dresden and merely shrugged as he spoke. The now-trio kept dodging and trying to land any hits, though the Kaiju now seemed more wary than before.Ylthar seemed to be in thought for a moment until she spoke into the minds of the two men:
“Oakland, go with your ally, I have an idea to try and cannot have more weight on me than myself.”
“What?-” The elder now spotted Vasilia Kuznet, still as a were-jaguar as she got closer and closer to the Kaiju without it noticing.He now understood the plan.“I understand, though I recommend flying directly towards it in a zigzag motion to make your movement less predictable.”He jumped over to Benny as he flew by.Without any extra weight on her back, Ylthar dove towards the Kaiju as Dresden instructed, the majority of stone and debris never even came close to hitting her. Just before reaching the mass of minerals, Ylthar barreled to the side and looped to the back of the creature, digging her claws into the rock and covering its eyes with her wings. The Kuznet saw the created opening, gained momentum and dove for the crystal with her claws forward while Rock Kaiju tried to get the dragon off of itself with no avail.
Vasilia barely reached the creature’s chest and dug her claws into the stone, cracking the green. The Rock Kaiju roared in pain and was going to slap her off, if Benny didn’t have anything to say about that.With a green bolt of energy, the Kaiju’s hand was only more debris on the ground and the rest of it soon followed as Vasilia Kuznet pulled out and broke the Kaiju’s crystal. The Rock and the Pink Kaiju were down for the count, along with the rest of them. Kaijagrex soon left the field after it noticed all its pets had been killed.Alexis Jones was understandably frustrated by this. But there were other things to take care of for now.The injured, the dead and the last bit of introductions.
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Ylthar lent her aid in helping Tayrun Jaanavar back onto his feet or at least until he was lucid again. “If I overuse my healing magic, it would have major consequences for my health and render me useless for an entire day or more.” “Alrighty, cool to know- We jus’ gonna gloss ova the fact that you’s can do telepathy to talk or what?” Benny inquired in a half-amused, half-amazed tone of voice. “Trust me, I had the same reaction.” Kayla chimed in with a grin.“Oh yeah she actually did! Kayla even said the exact same words within that order as well! And to be fair, it was very much just mentioned and not really elaborated on, so maybe that’s something to do in the Sharp Tank once everything here is taken care of!” Charlie ranted along as the light of his lens darted around as usual. “I can certainly answer a few questions once, as your Biomech-friend had mentioned, the people here are cared for.” Ylthar answered. Alexis Jones arrived at the scene at this point, along with Sterling and Coșmara. “Well then we can get back, the Kaiju Slayers got everything under control here.” The short woman announced.“And speaking of asking questions-” She continued, “Mind filling me in some things?” In the following minutes, the Sharp Gang informed Alexis of what transpired while she was busy dealing with the Archon. Including the fight with the two Kaiju, Dresden’s and Ylthar’s plan, Heath’s involvement, Benny’s appearance and Vasilia’s final blow with the help of the dragon and the Mech-Armor Maker. Not long after they made sure their help wasn’t needed anymore, the group went back to the Sharp Tank to both rest and continue their introductions. They exchanged information about themselves, their strengths, their weaknesses, how they joined the team, some also wanted to share their origins, though Ylthar declined that topic altogether and merely stated: “ I am… uncomfortable to talk about my past, it would be unfair to you to not hear my story, after you just shared yours.”Everyone was on some levels suspicious of this but left it there for now. After everything else was sorted out, such as meeting dates and the new Overseer’s lessons, Ylthar was about to leave through the door before- “Ah, Oakland-” She turned to the ashen-skinned man. “May I speak with you outside for a moment?”He seemed caught off-guard with the request, but obliged nonetheless. After they were outside, Dresden inquired:“What did you wish to discuss with me?” “I wanted to apologize for forcing myself into your mind during the battle. I did not have your consent and you did not know how or if you could even go against it.” The confusion in the elder’s mind turned to understanding and understanding turned to… more confusion? “One moment," He started. “You mentioned that you read the minds of others constantly to know where they are. How did that… moment on the battlefield differ?” Ylthar elaborated: “The difference is that I passively read surface thoughts and emotions, like reading a face. What I did then, was forcing myself deeper in to look through your eyes. That is equivalent to breaking into someone’s home and going through their belongings.” She seemed repentant about it and Dresden now fully understood why.He took in the information he was given and then responded:“There were very few options in a very short timeframe, in which a wrong decision would have been made, it would have had grave consequences for two other people.”Dresden continued-“To put it in other words, I forgive you for using my sight without my consent and you have my permission to do so again, if it means saving the lives of others.”
Ylthar’s face read relief and gratitude, “Thank you, Oakland.” And with that, the dragon went back to her world that was HS-2015.
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It has been about a few weeks since Dresden Oakland had started to work with the Overseer named Ylthar, a black and blue feathered dragon from the fantasy-modern world that is HS-2015. The Sharp Gang made the deal with her that she would assist in the war against the Archon Demons and in return be trained by Dresden.At first, Dresden had the worry that her blindness may be a big hurdle, but after the fight against the Kaijus in Heath “Hurricane” Reynolds’ world, those doubts disappeared very quickly. The shape-shifting dragon seemed to have good intuition as well as being quite powerful, further proving Dresden wrong and showing just how much potential she truly had.Ylthar was, intelligent, strong, and most important for Dresden- She actively showed empathy towards others, Overseers and mortals alike. A trait far too many Overseers smother and extinguish, something Dresden was guilty of doing himself, a fact he still struggled to accept.Either way, Ylthar’s training didn’t just go well, it went great! Ylthar did her best to understand and adapt the former Doctor’s lessons, just like Dresden did his very best to be a good and helpful teacher, working tirelessly to teach his student and of course, keep up with the Sharp Gang’s missions.But this amount of work did not have any positive effects on his health, quite the opposite.He already didn’t feel very good throughout the week. Though after one particular mission, he found himself even more tired than ever before and even a little short of breath. Dresden didn’t have time to rest though, he had a lesson to give so he teleported into HS-2015 with his Multiversal jumping wrist Watch to their usual meet-up spot.The Overseer was already waiting in the clearing by a tree in her human form. Her feathered ear flicked as she heard the sound of the warp and she smiled. “You are late, Oakland.” “My apologies for the ill-manner, the last mission took quite a bit more time than anticipated.” He responded dryly in a rather raspy voice. The dragon chuckled. “You are alright, Oakland, I was simply making fun. I already figured that It was something along those lines.” “I see, shall we begin today’s training then?” “As always.” She retorted in a polite tone and dashed towards the man. And thus the long and rigorous training began, a mixture of theory and practice interrupted by two 30 minute breaks. Or at least that’s how it was supposed to go. In the first hour of training, Ylthar somehow managed to get a lot hits on Dresden.After sending him stumbling with a tail whip in her dragon form, she jumped the man and pinned him to the ground with a claw. She laughed out the words: “Come on, you are normally far more of a challenge than this! Are you simply- going… easy.. ?” The normally stone-cold man didn’t feel very cold, instead his body felt hot, almost boiling, his breath was a bit raspy and shallow.Ylthar turned into her human form, still on top of Dresden and felt his temperature. As she delved deeper into his mind with her telepathy, it became very clear that he felt uncharacteristically exhausted. Something was very wrong. “Oakland- Dresden, are you sick?”; Feeling tired, dizzy and a bit flustered, Dresden got on his elbows.“I am fine, the last mission just seemed to have taken more energy than even I antici-” His sentence was cut short as he realized just how close Ylthar was.The woman was on all fours right on top of him, her face was now perhaps only about ten inches away from his with a hand on his cheek.Dresden’s face went as red as someone with molten rock for skin could become.“Y-ylthar, you are very close to me. P-please get off.” She did as asked. “My friend, I believe you should take a rest.” “I am fine. Let us just continue with the- hrgh!” But his body wouldn’t let him continue, as soon as Dresden got up, his vision went white and his legs gave in so quickly that he had to grab hold of Ylthar’s shoulder to steady himself. The concern of the Overseer only rose higher, as she needed to catch her Teacher from falling onto the grass. As Ylthar was holding the obviously sick man, she thought about how this might’ve happened, too much work, cold weather, perhaps? Though no matter how it did, he needed treatment either way. So she turned into her dragon form once more, carefully dragged the elder on top of her back and took off towards her home.As soon as Ylthar landed, Dresden got off of her back, stumbled to the nearest shrub and vomited his guts out. Since he normally had no problem with flying around, it was now more obvious than ever that he was ill. The worst part of all this for the sick man wasn’t even that he felt this terrible.It was that someone else was there to witness it, someone else to see him in this miserable, pitiful and in a frankly, helpless state.Ylthar silently scolded herself for delving deeper into his mind than surface level.Dresden could feel her presence creep in and quickly pull back, feeling remorseful.Though even without her being directly within his mind, he felt her concern and her pity?- No, sympathy. She felt sympathy because knew what it was like to feel weak and to need help. Speaking of help, Ylthar was once again carefully pulling Dresden onto his feet by his arm, turned human to support him without him feeling nauseous and brought him inside.“Ylthar I am fine, I may have a bit of a cold, but you do not have to carry me. I can walk.” “I am not risking it.” She stated. While the house looked to be a medium size, built into the side of a mountain, with an entrance big enough to go through as a dragon, the inside of it was closer to that of a mansion with a ceiling high enough to fly up several meters. Arches and columns were supporting the structure as well as platforms and hallways connecting doors that were large enough for a dragon bigger than Ylthar to pass through comfortably. They both walked a bit through the big open hallways, meanwhile:“Dres- Oakland, how do you believe you might have gotten this sick?” He responded in a drowsy tone, “I assure whatever treatment you have in mind is redundant, but if it will calm you- I do not remember being in cold water or any cold environment last week. Aside from that, I am not as susceptible to the cold as a normal person is.” “Perhaps, though that does not mean that you are unable to get a cold.” The dragon said. Not long after the exchange, the duo stood in front of a large door. “We are here.”Ylthar turned the handle of a smaller, human-sized door within the large one ; something all doors seemed to have; and they stepped into a laboratory of sorts. A woman of a plump stature, pointed ears, black and purple hair and purple overalls paired with a white shirt stood by what seemed to be a brewing stand, mixing some kind liquid.Ylthar greeted the woman: “Hello Kaylenn, my friend here is quite sick, do you have anything to help him?”Kaylenn turned around at the mention of her name. “Hm? Oh, of course!! I’ll be with you in just a moment!”The dragon nodded and then turned attention back to her sick ally.“How are you feeling, Oakland?” Dresden was barely listening, he gripped his head as a sudden migraine washed over him, his already weakened state felt to be getting worse and his head seemed to get hotter as he struggled to keep his eyes open.“Ylthar, I think.. I may be-”The man fell forwards as he fainted, the sound of panicked voices faded into the void. When Dresden came to himself, he was laying in a bed with a cold, wet towel on his head and Ylthar was talking on the watch in her human form. Judging by the voice, it was Alexis Jones, the Multiverse’s new Reaper. She was likely being let in on what transpired during training hours. He slowly got up on his elbows, careful not to cause any more dizziness.
“-Either way, thanks a ton for helping him out, AGAIN.”
“-Of course, it is part of being allies. I will leave a voice message once he is conscious.”
“Okay, gotcha. Oh and once he’s awake, send my regards and say that the idiot is banned from work for the next month, AT LEAST!”
Ylthar chuckled, “I will let Oakland know, I will see you tomorrow.” She hung up. Dresden sighed. “How is a month of not working supposed to accomplish anything, except falling behind on important tasks?”Ylthar turned to the bedridden man with a smile, “Ah, you are awake already. You are supposed to give your body time to rest up properly, which means no work.”“A cold is normally gone within a few days, Ms. Jones is overreacting.” “Heya, Kaylenn here! For your information, you’re not suffering from a cold, you are overworked.” Kaylenn, the elven woman from before, came into the room. “The several weeks of constant movement and little rest put too much stress on your body so during that training session, it basically said: ‘Yeah, we’re not this anymore. You will rest, whether you want to or not!’ and thus you collapsed in my laboratory!” She briefly turned her attention Ylthar: “Sorry for just barging in by the way, I heard in walking by that you ended the call and I still wanted to check on our patient here.”Kaylenn pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Dresden. “Anyway,-” She addressed the man once more. “So yeah, a couple weeks of rest are very much called for because if you tried to keep going like this, you’d be exactly at the same point you were at before we started treating you, or worse!” Dresden was silent and avoided eye contact. Ylthar spoke up: “I know from your past that is likely.. very difficult for you to take the time for yourself to rest, but you have to. You are not an Overseer anymore, which means you do not have that kind of stamina anymore. Thus you need to take better care of yourself, as you said yourself in a lecture once; ‘Both mind and body need care.’ Now was that a lesson you actually cared to teach or was it merely something you preached without meaning?” His eyes and body shot up at the sound of the accuse as he wanted to protest- Yet the man’s breath stuck in his throat and he just sighed, letting his head down. His head was now throbbing in pain from the sudden movement. He slowly sat down again and massaged his temples. There was a pause. “You are correct, I was being a hypocrite.”. His heterochromatic yellow and pink eyes still avoided her blues. “I… apologize for trying to hide my sickness. …Thank you for both of your help.” The dragon’s stern mimic softened, she spoke once more “While your apology and gratitude are welcome, it is not the hypocrisy that causes my concern.”The Overseer stepped closer to the bed and sat at the foot of the bed.“It is your lack of self-care that is worrying. You pushed yourself over the brink of sickness and for what? A couple more days of training for me?” “Your point is that I cannot keep going like this, correct?”Dresden interjected. “Correct, which is why I talked to Reaper Jones. You are going to stay with us for now and focus on your recovery, while making sure this doesn’t happen again. After all, you cannot help others, if you require help yourself.” Dresden’s head was filled with various thoughts and emotions: Disappointment, Anger, shame, pretty much all of them were directed at himself. He understood the reasoning for their decision, though mostly he wished they didn’t care so much for someone who didn’t deserve it. Yet at the same time, that care was one of the few things he craved more than anything. The connection that the group had to one another, the comradery.Another migraine paired with sickness creeped up on him, causing Dresden to grip his head.Ylthar put a hand on his knee, “You should rest, I can feel you’re still exhausted.”“I can get you something for the pain. Migraine, correct? I’ll make you some herbal tea, I got a few greens in reserve that should help with your symptoms.“Kaylenn walked out of the bedroom, leaving Ylthar and Dresden alone. There was a moment of silence “I did not know that you lived with other people.” The man tried to start a conversation.“Kaylenn is an old friend. She helps me maintain the building, along with some others. You will meet them in time.”The dragon responded. “I will leave you so you can rest a bit more. Gods know you need it.”She smiled kindly, got up from the foot of the bed and walked out of the room. Aside from Kaylenn who came to check up on him and bring medicine and tea, he was mostly alone for that day and slept. Not even the usual nightmares were enough to keep him awake for more than twenty minutes. Still, this would be a long and difficult month for him…
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Amaury Bloodthorne, was a teacher for chemistry, history and a newer, optional subject, magic. Or Arcane science as it was called. The purple half-demon walked through the halls with his red cloak hung around his shoulders as usual, though he might take it off because of the unusually hot weather today. School was nearly over for most of the students and while he knew he still had things to do here, he did want to leave as well.Especially after that one parent Amaury needed to have a talk about messing with her son’s homework about magic theory and how she wrote things on the paper such as “LIES”, “DEMON MAGIC”, “WITCHCRAFT”, etc.Amaury had to genuinely explain to a 30 year old, very stubborn and religious woman with an attitude that would make a 15 year old look mature, that vandalizing her child’s school material and property was against school policy and not okay for anyone to do, no matter the subject on the paper.Likely the worst thing about the whole thing was that the paper merely discussed what kinds of magic even exist. It was the equivalent of learning about the elements of the periodic table! The half-demon sighed in defeat. He still had a meeting to attend…The old man got out his tablet from his teacher's locker and made his way to the meeting room across school grounds, saying goodbye to students and greeting those he did not see during class; they likely skipped them.Halfway to the other building, his red eyes spotted one of his students walking towards the forest. It was Judy, a small, yet strong teen on the girl’s sport’s team and a known delinquent.Strange.His mind nagged him to check on her, so he did. “Hello Judy, where are you going? Your district is the other way.” No response. “Judy? Is something wrong?” Silence, highly unusual for her. She normally would've already told him to go away.Amaury stepped in front of the young woman, “Judy, what’s going on with you? Hellooo?” Judy’s eyes were devoid of reaction, as if in a trance. Her mentor tried snapping his fingers in front of her face.
Nothing, not even blinking.
After Amaury shook her by the shoulders and still got no reaction, he used his last resort, magic.“Listen Judy, I don’t know if you can hear me, but in case you can-” He stated, laying his hands on the temples of her head. “I will be using some magic on you to see if I can help you with.. whatever may be going on with you.” The elder started to focus his mind, closing his eyes and carefully delved into her mind, but something was off. There was almost nothing there.No personal thoughts, no personality, only orders. “Walk towards the woods. Follow master.” Suddenly it all felt clear as day- It was mind control! Bloodthorne got out a small sack of enchanted smelling salt and held it under her nose. He didn’t need it very often, but for situations like these, when someone was under the influence of something, it was very useful to get them to be at least responsive. And thankfully it worked with her as well. Judy smelled the salt and started to cough away as she backed away. “What- *cough* Bloodthorne?! What the f## is that?!” “Enchanted smelling salts. What is the last thing you remember, Judy?” “I don’t f##ing know! I was just-” She stopped in her track of rage and thought for a moment as she struggled to remember. “I was… F##, what was I doing here?”Amaury’s theory was proven. “You were mind controlled, as I suspected. Let’s get you to the nurse’s office for now-” But before the man could even finish his sentence, a new person walked out of the forest, a human in a gray trench coat, a black fedora and a white face mask paired with reflective sunglasses. As they approached, something deep within the half demon screamed: “ D a n g e r . ” The person seemed male and spoke in a rather feminine tone.“Good day to you, friends!”On reflex, the old man got in front of the girl and went into what his class dubbed as ‘guard dog-mode’.“This area is school property, either leave immediately or go to the front if you have business here.”Their following chuckle made Amaury’s skin crawl, he was so close to just hit them and tell Judy to run and call the police.But he waited. A mistake…The stranger started talking as more people appeared around the teacher and student.“We only have business with Judy’s mother, though she sadly doesn’t seem very willing to chat with us.” A realization started setting in with Amaury as to who the man was facing. The stranger continued talking and their friends continued to get closer.“We hope that we can.. convince her with Judy’s help.” Of course, Judy’s mother, Margaret Jamison was an ex-convict who turned herself in after her husband died in a gang fight. She was working with the Stone-Oak coven, a mafia group of witches who did anything magic-related in return for money and power. Be it something as small as shipping illegal items or as despicable as selling body parts of magical beings and enslaving people for the black market. “If I were to give her to you, what would be in it for me?” He asked. “Don’t you f##ing dare!” Judy protested, trying to cover her fear. “I didn’t talk to you, Judy.” Amaury shut her down, leaving her slack-jawed and scared. He felt bad. “So?” “Ah, so you are willing to bargain!” They smiled with a certain maliciousness he didn’t like. “Well then, let’s say- You give us the child and you will see another sunrise.” “Hard pass, I’m a night owl.” Amaury flexed his hands and two flames appeared in his palms. His tail pulled Judy’s legs from under her, making her fall onto her chest and arms as he swiftly spun in a circle with his hands thrust outward to scorch their attackers!One half was screaming in a panic trying to put out the flames on their clothing. Some having clothes made from polyester fabric melted onto their bare skin, the others who dodged the flame-tornado in time were now seeing their targets booking it towards the nearest building. Amaury noticed some getting up chasing after the duo. He couldn’t let them get Judy, who knows what they’d do to the girl! He stopped the young woman for just a moment and handed her a spare protective charm made from a unicorn horn.“Put this on, never take it off. Run to R-15 and tell them everything that’s happened. Then call the police and ask to speak to the dragon ‘Ylthar’.” “Y-yl-what?” Judy was on the verge of tears. “Ylthar. Y-L-T-H-A-R. She will help. Now go!”Amaury pushed her towards the building, but stayed behind.He wouldn’t let them do anything to her.The elder took off his red cloak, handing it to the other and stood with his back to the girl“w-What the f## are you doing, man?!” Judy still didn’t leave, tears now streamed down her face.“Someone has to teach these hooligans some manners.” he retorted. The old man turned around one last time with a reassuring smile and said: “Go on ahead, I have faith in you.” She looked into the eyes of her teacher, one of the people she likely showed the least amount of respect to and broke the most rules of; and only nodded with a “Yes sir.” and ran the last stretch to the door, finally out of reach from the coven. Amaury looked after her- And felt a projectile nearly hit his cheek, the shock knocked him back a few steps. It was from the gun of the leader. The stranger smiled disappointedly, “*tsk tsk tsk* You should have chosen better.”Their henchmen surrounded him once more guns trained on him.
“We could have been friends, ya know~” Amaury’s face contorted into snarl, showing his sharp canines as he moved into a fighting stance, flames in-hand once more. “Call me a friend one more time and I will help you make friends with death.” "Ooh feisty old man! It’ll be a shame to kill you but at least your blood and organs fetch a good price.” “Get him friends.” This would be no easy fight…