Snek is a Good Boy [a Worm Crackfic]

[Ack]

yeah i know about the deal that snek has with fuglys

Now that you mentioned it i will totally believe that the US government may do something like that

Also thanks for the chapter

Click to shrink...

Well, as a method of keeping the big goof on side, it's remarkably cheap.

 

[Ack]

Snek is a Good Boy

Part Forty: Rebirth

[A/N: This chapter commissioned by @Fizzfaldt and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]


Later, Dragon could never be sure quite how long she sat there, communing with Sparks. It could have been five minutes or five hours, or anywhere in between. Lacking an internal time-clock—how did people get along with such imprecise senses?—the interval was indeterminate. All she knew was that when she finally looked up, Riley was standing there with a pleased expression on her face.

"We've finished," announced the tweenage wizard's apprentice happily. "Come see."

"Okay." Dragon let herself slide off the bench, or bed, or whatever it was. Interestingly enough, sitting there for more than a few minutes should have cut off circulation to her lower legs then given her pins and needles when she stood up (if her understanding of the human circulatory system was correct) but she suffered no such ill effect. Either my new body is immune to that, or the bed is designed to not permit it to happen. The Master of the Castle never ceases to impress.

The barrier the Master and Riley had been working behind consisted partially of almost-familiar laboratory apparatus (though the Erlenmeyer flask that couldn't seem to make up its mind where in the array it was to be situated was new to her) and partially of things that possessed no analogue to any laboratory equipment she'd ever seen or heard of. When she followed Riley around to the workspace on the other side, she wasn't quite sure what she was expecting, but what she saw wasn't it.

Fully eight feet tall, the insubstantial outline of a dragon towered over a solid wooden chair; in fact, it occupied some of the same space as the chair, which seemed to bother neither one in the slightest. She looked more closely at the form of the dragon, noting that it wasn't registering her presence. In fact, it wasn't moving, blinking or even breathing.

Its scales weren't just two colours, like Sparks' blue and white, or Cirrus' green and gold. There was every colour she'd seen on the dragons outside, plus a few she may have missed, combining in a gorgeous pattern. Every line of its body denoted the majesty and power that she'd seen in the Dragonmark, albeit on a smaller scale.

"Um, okay, wow." She looked the ghostly dragon up and down. "So, what do you need me to do?" Images passed through her mind, of some kind of blood ritual or something similar. She actually had blood now, she reminded herself.

Also, now that she was operating on organic hardware, her imagination seemed to be a little more wild and free.

"Merely seat yourself in the chair." The Master of the Castle was standing beside her, when a second ago she could've sworn nobody was there. "Close your eyes and allow the transformation to happen. I will initiate it and guide it, but it will be your choice for it to take place."

Obediently, she took her seat. The chair was comfortable, and she felt herself relaxing into the cushions—which was odd, because she hadn't seen any cushions before she sat down—but one question needed to be asked. "Can I keep Sparks with me?"

"Pretty sure the answer to that one's 'no', sorry." Riley indeed sounded apologetic. "Don't want his bio-magical field interfering with yours. But I can hold him for you until it's done." For someone who wasn't capable of casting magic, she certainly seemed competent within her niche, but that didn't surprise Dragon in the slightest.

"That'll be appreciated, thanks." She handed the little dragon over—he snuggled into Riley's arms, but kept an eye on her—and settled back into the chair. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's do this thing."

"Very well." The voice came from behind her. She had a momentary impression that an immense electrical source had activated nearby, as every hair on her body felt like it was standing on end, then he began to chant.

The chant was in no language that she'd ever sampled from the multitudes on Earth; nor did it match the best guesses of how any of the dead languages were supposed to be pronounced. Every syllable reverberated through the very core of her being, setting up resonances that refused to die down. Breathing carefully, she focused on this inner turmoil and attempted to go with it, riding it to its natural conclusion.

Initially, the potential energy building up within her seemed to have nowhere to go, and she felt the pressure increasing until her skin prickled and she was sure her hair was crackling with sparks. The chanting continued, pouring yet more power into her until she wasn't sure if she could take any more. With a flash of insight, she realised that there was something she wasn't doing, that might probably help.

She recalled the immaterial form of the dragon, fixing the image in her mind.

It was as though she'd pulled the plug on a huge container of water. Energy poured from her, going someplace else in a direction she didn't understand. The image didn't go away; instead, it sharpened and became more real, filling out with detail she hadn't remembered until now.

Where her skin had felt stretched to its limit before, with no chance of respite, now she felt it expanding with ease. Heartbeat thundering in her ears and her blood pulsing like tides accelerated ten-thousand-fold, her earlier awareness of the organic bodily functions returned dramatically. Her fingernails and toenails extended and sharpened to razor points, and even her teeth palpably grew as her face pushed out into a saurian muzzle.

Lost in the thrumming of the energy within her and the changes it was working on her body, Dragon needed a moment or two to realise that the chanting had ceased. She knew she wasn't sitting in the chair anymore, but the messages she was getting back from her nascent proprioception were inconclusive at best, so what her body was actually doing was anybody's guess. So, she opened her eyes and looked.

Riley was still standing there in front of her, holding Sparks and grinning. However, she seemed somewhat shorter, or perhaps Dragon's point of view was higher. Dragon looked down at her feet … or at someone's feet. She wasn't quite sure that she wanted to claim ownership of the scaly, clawed paws before her.

When she moved one of her hands, a paw shifted. One finger; a clawed digit moved slightly. "Oh," she said. "Oh, my." Or rather, she tried to say that. Her larynx was in no way up to the task, and all she managed to utter was a low, confused-sounding growl.

She tried again, but she only achieved a more authoritative growl. Lifting one of her paws, she stared at it then turned it over and looked at what would normally have been one of her palms (as of just a few hours ago). It was covered in shimmering, iridescent scales, in the same patterns that she had noted on the image of the dragon before the whole thing had started.

"Telepathy." It was Riley's voice, and she looked up to see the girl tapping the side of her own head. "Dragons speak through telepathy."

Oh. Right. So they do. She was irritated with herself at having forgotten that, but in her defense, she'd had a lot of tasks in her to-do queue. How does telepathy work, anyway?

Radio was the closest analogue in her personal experience, so she visualised sending a signal without activating her exterior speakers. Testing … testing … ||Testing …||

"Hah! Yes!" Riley punched the air in triumph. "I heard you that time!"

||You did? Excellent.|| Dragon would have smiled, but from the feeling of her tongue exploring the inside of her mouth, she had a great number of very sharp teeth, and she didn't want to unduly alarm Riley.

It would, she suspected, take a great deal more than a dragon showing its teeth to alarm the Master of the Castle.

<><>​

The Wizard's Apprentice

Riley was still beaming as she watched Dragon examine her new body, from the point of view of being inside it. While this wasn't the first time she'd helped the boss fit someone with a new body, it was definitely the first time with one that wasn't human, on top of another body that was.

Having discovered exactly how flexible her new neck was, Dragon curled her head around to examine her wings, then extended them to the sides so she could admire the pattern of the fine scales covering them. Her tail caught her attention next, and she lifted and moved it from side to side. Finally, she sat up on her haunches and examined her front paws again.

"So, how does it feel?" asked Riley. "Everything working okay?"

||It feels both strange and familiar, all at once.|| Dragon tilted her head to one side. ||Some of my suits also had tails, and they all had wings, so that part is more familiar than I expected it to be. It's actually taking me longer to get used to the whole 'biological organism' thing than the new body shape.||

Riley grinned. "Well, you sure got the hang of telepathy pretty quickly."

||Oh, that part's even easier. I've been communicating inaudibly over long distances since I first transferred into a test body remotely.|| Dragon's expression showed a level of smugness that Riley had only seen before on Finesse and Cirrus.

"Oh, ha ha." Riley wrinkled her nose, but she was secretly pleased that Dragon was comfortable enough in her new lodgings that she could make jokes about it. "Do you want to try changing back now?"

||I think I will, yes.|| She closed her eyes. ||I should be focusing on my human body shape, right?||

<><>​

Dragon

"Don't ask me. You're the first human/dragon hybrid we've ever had. Though it probably couldn't hurt." Riley sounded entirely too unconcerned in the matter.

||Thank you so much for your expertise in the matter.|| She wasn't sure if the sarcasm was getting across properly.

"Oh, you're totally welcome." Yes, yes, it was.

Taking a deep breath (it was amazing how much it helped for mental preparation), Dragon fixed the form of her brand-new human body in her mind and concentrated on returning to it. Nothing happened at first, but she reminded herself that this was not an instant process. Gradually at first, she felt the claws retracting into her paws, then her entire body began to pull into itself.

The sensation that passed over her wasn't entirely unfamiliar, which surprised her. Then, thinking about it, she recalled what it felt like; early on in her existence as a self-aware AI, Andrew Richter had carried out compression routines on some of her less essential functions. It wasn't precisely identical, but the impression of being squeezed into a smaller space inexorably reminded her of that earlier experience.

Bit by bit, her tail and wings either folded into her body or retracted until there was nothing left of them. Scales retreated, leaving smooth skin behind. One of the stranger sensations came when her muzzle shrank back into her face, the extra teeth pulling back into her gums as it did so.

Finally, her hair reappeared, along with her clothing. Oh, good. It's that type of magical transformation. Dragon had seen far too many of the other type, where hapless Changers were forced to keep clothing stashes in case of inadvertent shifts in body form. Narwhal, she had long felt, was a cheaty cheating cheater in that regard.

When nothing else seemed to be about to happen, she opened her eyes, to find herself kneeling with her backside resting on her heels. The first thing she did was put out her arms; without needing to be called, Sparks leaped from Riley's hands and glided the short distance to her. Gathering the tiny dragon close to her, Dragon felt complete once more. "Did you miss me? Yes, I missed you too." Sparks rubbed the side of his head up against her cheek and crooned in agreement.

"Well, that all looks good." Riley pulled her brass-bound goggles down over her eyes and started on a careful circuit around where Dragon still knelt, eyeing her critically. "No magical leakage, no leftover bits and pieces. You didn't even shed any scales."

"That's good to know." Without letting go of Sparks, Dragon clambered to her feet. Frowning, she looked around. "Wasn't there a chair here?"

"Oh, that's from the boss' study." Riley gestured airily. "As soon as you started your change, he let it go back where it came from. Comfortable, isn't it?"

"A lot more than it looked," Dragon admitted. "But hey, if you're so powerful that you can delegate someone else to deal with Endbringers, why put up with an uncomfortable chair?"

"Can't argue with that logic." Riley moved closer, all business now. "Lean down a bit. I want to check your eyes."

Reminding herself that Riley had far more medical understanding than any other three physicians she might know, Dragon leaned down, keeping a careful hold on Sparks. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Riley peered at one eye then the other, a serious expression on her face. "No. It's been a minute or so since you changed back, and I want to see if the transformation did anything to you. How do you feel?"

Dragon blinked. "Fine, I guess. Extremely human. None of my internals feel displaced, if that's what you mean."

"Good. Your eyes look clear, and your pulse and respiration are fine." Riley nodded firmly and stepped back. "Looks like a clean transformation."

"Pulse?" Dragon was confused. "You never took my pulse."

Riley snorted indelicately. "Maybe you've forgotten who I used to be? I can count your heartbeats from across the room."

"I had, a little," Dragon admitted. "So, is it safe to change back while holding Sparks?"

"Sure." Riley shrugged. "It was only likely to be a problem while the boss was infusing you with the dragon form. No, I have no idea how that really works either. He just … well, you know, does stuff on a level you and I can barely perceive, and for him, that's normal." She dusted her hands off. "But it's all done now. If you want, you can go back out and get Finesse to teach you how to fly. Just be aware that every other dragon there will be giving you advice, and it probably won't all be great advice."

"Ah." That was something else that had slipped Dragon's mind. "Do you know, I had totally forgotten that aspect of becoming a dragon. Is this something I should be concerned about? Loss of memory, I mean?"

"That's not memory loss." Riley patted her on the arm. "That's just being overwhelmed with information. It's a human thing. But on the other hand, we have this amazing thing misleadingly called intuition where information you don't consciously recall will pop up and help you make your decision."

"Oh." Dragon had heard of intuition, but she'd never really understood what the term meant. Riley's explanation clarified matters somewhat and put her more at ease with what was going on. "Thank you. That does help." She looked down at Sparks, caressing the smooth-scaled neck with her thumb. "I'm going to change back now, okay?"

She wasn't just saying it for her own benefit. The more she associated with him, the more convinced she was that he understood every word she said. Climbing out of her arms, he scrambled up onto her shoulder, spreading his wings slightly for balance, and gave her an encouraging chirp.

Again, she took a deep breath, but this time she kept her eyes open. Now that she was able to perform the change by herself, she wanted to see what it looked like from the inside. This was mainly for data-gathering reasons, but also because she was just plain curious.

It was easier this time. As soon as she fixed the image of the dragon in her mind and made the first mental push toward it, her body began to change. She wasn't quite sure what the interval between scales appearing all over her body and her clothes vanishing actually was, but it had to be only a few seconds.

She hadn't noticed the gathering of bulk the first time she'd taken on the dragon form, but now it came to her attention, especially as the tail extended from her backbone and the wings unfolded from behind her shoulderblades. Her arms and legs didn't extend in length but bulked out significantly in muscle, while her hands and feet became scaled, claw-tipped paws. Specifically, her hands could still be used as such, though the fingers were thicker and significantly less dextrous.

She'd noticed the reshaping of her skull the last time around, but what she hadn't picked up was how much sharper her vision became once her eyes were those of a dragon. In hindsight, this wasn't a total surprise—making out details at great distance was a useful trait for a flying predator species—but it was definitely something new on the list of 'cool stuff dragons can do'. In fact, she suspected (but could not immediately confirm) that their visual range actually extended into the ultraviolet and infrared parts of the spectrum.

By the time it was over, she was reasonably certain it had taken less time than the initial transformation, but that was probably to be expected. Not that she was any kind of expert on magic, but in the experience she did have, every subsequent iteration of a new process went more quickly and smoothly than the initial run. Neither was she complaining; the less time it took her to assume her new form (or rather, her new new form), the better.

She had also needed to lower herself to the floor partway through, when her legs became her hind legs, and her sense of balance became insufficient to keep her upright. Fortunately, her new body had come with the instincts for how to comfortably sit and stand, so the awkwardness there was minimal. Turning her head on her (now much more flexible) neck, she looked at Sparks, who had maintained his perch on her shoulder throughout the transformation.

||Hi,|| she said. ||Ready to see how hard I can face-plant while learning how to fly?||

She wasn't sure if being a dragon made her more empathetic toward hearth-dragons, or if she was just getting to know him better, but his chirp seemed to combine aspects of 'I believe in you' and 'but just in case, I'm getting popcorn'. And that was hearth-dragons all over, she decided. They definitely had a sense of humour, and weren't shy about sharing it.

"Anything I can do to help?" Riley asked. "The boss basically said I was at your disposal until you've got yourself sorted out here." The grin lurking at the corner of her mouth suggested that she'd picked up on Sparks' deeper meaning, but that was probably because she hung out with hearth-dragons all day.

||Yes, actually, please. If you've got a camera of some kind, I'd really appreciate you getting footage of this. If it takes me more than a few lessons, I'd like to have something to help me figure out where I'm going wrong.||

Riley smirked. "You must really trust me, because that sort of thing's liable to be amazing blackmail material."

||Well, yes, I get that.|| Dragon found that when she grinned, Riley did indeed take half a step back. Her grins were a lot sharper in this form, she decided. ||But I do trust you, so if you could do that for me, I'd really appreciate it.||

"I can totally do that. Head on down, and I'll catch you up." Riley gestured toward the passage that would take them to the Dragonmark's ledge. "I'm certain they'll be thrilled to see you."

||I hope so. They made enough of a fuss over me when I mentioned it the first time.|| Still, Dragon harboured a niggling worry in the back of her mind. What if she didn't manage to live up to their expectations?

Taking a deep breath, she started in the direction of the appropriate passage, with Sparks still riding at the base of her neck. More than she'd ever felt in human form, her dragon body felt like a coiled spring, ready to explode into violent action at a moment's notice. Just padding through the Master's work-room, she was aware of every muscle sliding under the scaled skin, every twitch of the tail.

Is it going to be like this all the time? Because if it is, I am going to be so distracted.

Upon reaching the appropriate doorway, she awkwardly reached up with her forepaw and touched the correct spot on the frame, opening the portal that led out onto the ledge. She stepped forward, conveying Sparks through onto the smooth stone and flicking her tail out of the way just in case the portal had a time limit. (She didn't think it would, but there was no such thing as being too careful.)

Several members of the Dragonmark were sunning themselves on the broad ledge, while others were either flying above or out of sight elsewhere. She made it about ten yards out onto the ledge before one of them—Cirrus, as it turned out—lifted his head and turned to look at her. Her vision was sharp enough to spot the widening of his eyes and the delighted expression that crossed his draconic features.

||Hi!|| she shouted, pushing her telepathy as hard as she could. ||I'm back!||

Cirrus sat up, nudging Finesse, who had been dozing alongside him. ||Everyone! She has returned! And look how adorable she is!||

Even the dragons soaring above must have picked up his mental bellow, because they turned and dived toward the ledge; at the same time, Dragon heard queries coming from within the caverns that had been tunnelled into the vertical rock face. ||What? Who has returned? What do you mean, adorable?||

Finesse was properly awake by this time; leaping into the air, she literally glided over Cirrus, to land with micrometric precision just short of Dragon. ||By the Primordial Egg, you are so very cute! Spread your wings, dear one. I want to see how beautiful they are.||

The sheer joy in the older dragon's expression helped to offset some of the self-consciousness she was feeling as she obeyed. Spreading her wings out to their fullest, she flexed them one way and then the other. By the time she'd finished, dragons were crowding out of the caverns, and the fliers had landed. There was room enough on the ledge for them all and to spare, but to have so many crowding around and specifically staring at her felt more than a little claustrophobic.

||—so pretty—||

||—she has my eyes—||

||—do you see that graceful walk? That's all me—||

||—keep dreaming, those are both mine—||

Having pushed his way to a spot alongside Finesse, Cirrus unfurled one enormous wing and curled it protectively around Dragon. Then he inflated his lungs, appearing to double his size, and let out a mighty roar that was all the louder for the proximity of the vertical wall alongside them. ||ENOUGH!|| he bellowed on the mental channel. ||Do you behave this way around hatchlings? She is new to this! Let her have some air!||

For all that the Dragonmark seemed to be a largely egalitarian society, he had enough authority—or perhaps his roar had temporarily intimidated them—that they backed off a little, making apologetic noises. Finesse smiled and rubbed her flank against her mate's. ||Thank you, dearest.|| Lowering her head to Dragon's level, she confided, ||Do not be afraid of him. He's more bluster than action.||

||I heard that,|| Cirrus protested.

Finesse's tone was serene. ||I know. So, dear one, do you wish to learn how to fly?||

Dragon raised her head and tried to sound as confident as she could. ||Yes, please. I would be grateful if you could teach me.||

||Of course,|| declared Cirrus. ||I will have you flying as strongly as myself in no time.||

Finesse turned her head and gave her mate a Look. ||She was asking me, you overgrown alligator. I am the smoothest flyer in the Dragonmark, after all.||

||Hmph. Very well.|| Cirrus lowered his head alongside Finesse's. ||But once she's taught you the basics, come to me and I'll show you how to really fly.||

||I'll keep that in mind,|| Dragon replied diplomatically.

Fortunately, he seemed to take her words at face value. ||Good. Until then, we will all allow Finesse to show our newest member how to soar the sky alongside us.|| His gimlet eye raked over the other dragons. ||Won't we?||

Variation on 'yes, Cirrus' came back as the dragons backed off a little more, though some seemed set to leap in and 'assist' at the slightest provocation.

||Very good.|| Finesse turned to Dragon. ||So, the first lesson is to be aware of airflow. Come stand at the brink of the ledge with your wings spread, and feel the updraft …||



End of Part Forty

 

[Kanoun2020]

TFTC
I really like the the dragons personality so kind and welcoming with the funny moment her and there

 

[Wintercat]

I like the fun interaction. Snek is definitely a Star quality individual, but the dragons are a fun group to hang around, and I think the shenanigans linked to them are amusing to witness. I think this story has grown from humble beginnings to something that will be remembered quite fondly for a long while, and seeing it still going and proceeding is a delight. All good things must come to an end eventually, but I am hoping this story has a good long while to go.

I even started to think about possibilities of some fan-written Omakes. I could see Snek being approached by some multiversal traveler for help in another world / different setting, and Snek intervening in the no doubt hilarious manner.

---

"Please, we need someone to save us from the bad snake man..."

"You pathetic fools! I am Lord Voldemort, and I-"

<Chomp>

---

I shortened it a lot, but the thought of a Great Big Snake that ignores a Parseltongue command entirely because Snek's friend 'Mione is in trouble and just turns Voldemort's no-nose nonsensical Homunculus body into a mid-fight snack is just too amusing. The baffled confusion of both the Warriors of the Light and the Death Eaters alike would be hilarious.

I think Snek would have potentially a lot of fun in other settings too.

---

"No Snek, even if they are 'yummy', they are not called 'Nomes' because of 'nom-nom' noises of eating many of them in a turn..."

<All for One's diabolical doctor in charge of making the monstrosities pissing himself in a corner in fright after the whole line-up of empowered Hero-Killer monsters meant to take down All Might just became a hastily devoured set of 'fast food'.>

---

Thanks for the new chapter, and just had me wondering what kind of fun side-adventures a Snek in the Multiverse could do on the free time.

 

[Ack]

I like the fun interaction. Snek is definitely a Star quality individual, but the dragons are a fun group to hang around, and I think the shenanigans linked to them are amusing to witness. I think this story has grown from humble beginnings to something that will be remembered quite fondly for a long while, and seeing it still going and proceeding is a delight. All good things must come to an end eventually, but I am hoping this story has a good long while to go.

I even started to think about possibilities of some fan-written Omakes. I could see Snek being approached by some multiversal traveler for help in another world / different setting, and Snek intervening in the no doubt hilarious manner.

---

"Please, we need someone to save us from the bad snake man..."

"You pathetic fools! I am Lord Voldemort, and I-"

<Chomp>

---

I shortened it a lot, but the thought of a Great Big Snake that ignores a Parseltongue command entirely because Snek's friend 'Mione is in trouble and just turns Voldemort's no-nose nonsensical Homunculus body into a mid-fight snack is just too amusing. The baffled confusion of both the Warriors of the Light and the Death Eaters alike would be hilarious.

I think Snek would have potentially a lot of fun in other settings too.

---

"No Snek, even if they are 'yummy', they are not called 'Nomes' because of 'nom-nom' noises of eating many of them in a turn..."

<All for One's diabolical doctor in charge of making the monstrosities pissing himself in a corner in fright after the whole line-up of empowered Hero-Killer monsters meant to take down All Might just became a hastily devoured set of 'fast food'.>

---

Thanks for the new chapter, and just had me wondering what kind of fun side-adventures a Snek in the Multiverse could do on the free time.

Click to shrink...

"Ssnek hass new friend."

"Oh, that's nice, Snek."

"Iss big long ssnake that livess in cave under casstle."

"... oh, really?"

"Yess. Ssnek playss chasse gamess. Friend ssnake triess to turn Ssnek into sstone with eyess, but Masster magic iss better. Iss lotss of fun."

 

[Ack]

Snek is a Good Boy

Part Forty-One: Dragon? Dragon!

[A/N: This chapter commissioned by @Fizzfaldt and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]



Dragon … soared.

Her wings spread wide, flexible tail providing stability and a little steering, nictitating membranes protecting her eyes from the wind-rush, nostrils spread wide to catch all the scents on the air …

It was intoxicating.

She could feel every single tiny fluctuation in the airflow over the taut-stretched flight surfaces of her pinions, as well as the gentle burn in her muscles as she flexed her wings for the best possible gliding angle, then flapped a few times to maintain altitude. It seemed the Master of the Castle had instilled in her the basic muscle memory necessary for flight; after the first few fumbling attempts, everything had seemed to click all at once, her wings had filled with air, and she'd lifted off with little effort.

Now, she was flying strongly, with nothing between her and the farmland far below except thousands of feet of empty air. Where in her previous life, she would've been dependent on altimeters and gyros and half a hundred other electronic measures to ensure that she was flying straight and level, in this body she could feel it. Breathing deeply, she tasted the air, grinning a broad draconic grin as she gazed around with eyes that could pick out individual scales on a hearth-dragon from a hundred yards away.

Sparks, paralleling her just a few yards away, let out a squawk of encouragement. She wasn't sure if it was her new form or just her ongoing association with him, but she was definitely becoming more in tune with his moods. That squawk, if she understood it correctly, meant 'you're doing fine, keep it up'.

||How do you feel, dear one?|| Finesse, gliding a few tens of yards away to her starboard, watched her with maternal pride. ||Not too tired yet?||

||No, I'm fine. It's wonderful. This is the first time I've truly flown, rather than told a machine to do it for me.|| Communicating telepathically was becoming second nature to her, rather than being a conscious switch between one mode and the other. ||Even if that machine was my body at the time. This is so different. There's no comparison.||

The Dragonmark, she could see, were either aloft or perched on the ledge they used for their gatherings, but despite their apparently nonchalant behaviour, she knew every eye was turned her way, and telepathic 'ears' were straining to catch any hint of a call for help. Were she to falter and fall in mid-air, she was sure, every dragon in the region would be arrowing to her rescue before she dropped her own body-length. She was, in a way, a child of them all, and every single one of them was invested in her well-being.

It gave her a warm feeling around what was undoubtedly an actual heart, pumping away in her chest. Friends, she'd had back on Earth Bet, though nobody she'd been able to open up to completely. Family had been much harder to come by, but now she had an entire colony of dragons who were determined to protect her from harm, come what may.

||You are flying very well indeed, little Dragon.|| That was Cirrus, who had slid in on her port side, and was watching her progress with evident approval. ||Finesse is a fine teacher.||

||I barely had to show her anything.|| Finesse was humble-bragging as hard as she could, and they all knew it. ||She was clearly born to it, as befits a child of you and I.||

||Indeed. She already flies better than any hatchling of her size. What say you, little one? Do you feel strong enough with your flying that you are ready for my tutoring?||

Dragon's grin broadened, then she pulled a barrel roll, with Sparks echoing the manoeuvre. As she'd said, flying came far more naturally to her now than it ever had with one of her mecha. Then, it had been engineering and avionics and making sure everything stayed within tolerances. Now, it was a full-body sensorium and a million years of instinct, and every part of her working together more effectively than even her best-designed mecha body had. ||Yes, I think so.||

||Marvellous.|| She could see the gleam of pride in his eye as Finesse sheered off and he moved in. ||Now, you already know how to fly. This lesson is all about teaching you how to fly strongly.||

Dragon nodded, then took a deep breath. ||Okay, let's do this.||

His telepathic voice was warm with approval. ||That's what I like to hear.||

<><>​

New York City

Flechette

Jouster's arm was still bleeding fairly badly, so Lily got the medical kit off her belt and slapped a pad on it, then wrapped a bandage around his bicep. The pad started showing red almost immediately, but at least the blood flow should have stopped. "Can you see them?" she asked, concentrating on the task.

"Give me a second." Leaning his lance against the door, Jouster keyed his radio. "Jouster to Console, Jouster to Console. Come in, Console." After a moment, he shook his head. "God damn it. How the hell are they still jamming our comms? I've jumped frequencies three times."

"This is March." Lily grimaced. "She does this shit. Are we clear, or do we need to keep moving?"

He took a deep breath and leaned out of the recessed doorway they'd taken refuge in, cautiously peering around the corner. An instant later, he jerked his head back, just before something ricocheted off the brickwork. A few stray chips hit Lily's costume, but didn't penetrate. From farther down the alley, a yell of triumph went up.

"We need to keep moving." They said it at the same time.

"Yeah, you do." The voice came from atop the building across the alley from them. Lily's eyes jerked upward, even though she'd already recognised the voice. Fucking March. Sure enough, the rabbit-masked villain stood there in a pose of mocking victory, rapier in her hand. Behind her, she heard Jouster grabbing up his lance.

"Why don't you just fuck off?" Lily was usually more controlled than this, but she was at the end of her tether. "Leave us alone. Jouster's done nothing to you!" Behind her back, her fingers sought out her few remaining aluminium darts. March was usually good at dodging them, but if she could get a lucky shot in …

"Nothing? Really? I should be your partner, Flechette. Not that poser. Think of how much we could get done together." March put a finger to the rabbit's mouth in a faux-thoughtful pose. "But I can leave you alone, right now. Tell all my minions to go home. You only have to do one thing for me."

"Don't do it," muttered Jouster. "Whatever it is, don't do it."

Lily was already on the same page as him, but she had to find out. "What?" she demanded.

"Kill him. You've got six darts left. Murder Jouster for me, and we'll go away." March actually sounded serious. "You can pin it on me or one of my people. We won't even deny it. Just, you know, kill him. Right now. In cold blood. We'll totally leave you alone."

"No." Lily shook her head. "I know what you're trying to do, and I'm not going to do it. Leave Jouster alone. This thing, whatever it is you've got against me, it's between me and you. Leave my teammates out of it."

"You still don't get it." March sounded almost professorial in that moment. Explaining the rules of life to a naïve student. "You having other teammates is the problem that I'm solving here. I mean, if you wanted me to kill one of my underlings so you could take their place, I'd totally do it. Where's the issue?"

She was actually serious. For a split second, Lily was tempted to challenge her on it, to see if she would thin out the odds against them of her own free will. No. Inciting murder is still wrong. "That's the difference between me and you. I know right from wrong. Murder is wrong, no matter who does it, or who it's done to."

"No …" March shook her head, the rabbit-ears flopping back and forth. "Right is whatever I want. Wrong is whatever I don't want. And you've had enough of a rest. Time to move you on again, until you see sense."

"Ssnek sseess ssensse," a new voice intruded on the scene. "Hurting people iss not ssensse." As if it were the most normal thing in the world, a gigantic snake came meandering along the alley, carefully avoiding the overloaded dumpsters and trash cans. One huge gold-rimmed eye swivelled to look up at March. "Rabbit head girl iss bad persson."

Holy shit, it's Snek! Lily felt a combined surge of awe and hope. She'd seen the footage covering most of the oversized snake's exploits, and someone who had eaten three Endbringers would surely not be okay with what March was doing. "She's totally a bad person."

"My name is March, not 'rabbit head girl'!" March was no longer smug. She actually sounded angry and off-balance, for about the first time in Lily's experience.

"Oh, I dunno." Jouster sounded like he wasn't quite sure what was going on. "I think 'rabbit head girl' is a pretty good descriptor. Snek … are you here to save us?"

"Yess." Snek managed to look very pleased with himself. "Purple dart girl and pointy sstick boy need ssaving from rabbit head girl. Ssnek ssavess women and children from danger. Ssnek iss here."

Jouster went to say something, but Lily nudged him. If he wants to call us kids and save our skins in the process, shut up and let it happen! Besides, she needed to pass on a warning. "Careful, Snek. She can cut through anything, and she makes things explode."

"Masster makess thingss exxplode, too." Snek sounded amused by the idea. "Thingss like rogue moonss and tentacle monssterss from Outer Darknesss." He raised his head a good fifteen feet, bringing him eye to rabbit mask with March. "Masster hass improved Ssnek'ss Ironsskin magic since monsster Be-He-Moth."

If nothing else was to come out of this encounter, Lily treasured the sheer level of pissiness and air of pure frustration emanating from her long-time nemesis. March had to know as much of Snek's reputation as Lily did, and while her power was extremely effective, there had to be the lingering doubt: am I good enough to take him down? The fact that Snek was deliberately placing himself between March and her chosen prey could only be making it worse.

"While you're facing off with me," March stated boldly, "my people can hit them, and you can't stop them. Do you want that?"

"Ssnek hass met rabbit head girl'ss minionss." Snek's smile did not lessen in any way. "Bad people. Had bang-ouch weaponss. Put them in not-eat-placce. Will give to policce."

"I said, my name is March! And what's that stupid hat about, anyway?" Apparently determined to snap back any way she could, March pointed at the fedora occupying the top of Snek's broad head. "Snakes don't wear hats!"

"Ssnek doess. Wass pressent from nicce hat lady." Snek fixed his gaze on March once more. "Doess rabbit head girl ssurrender?"

"My name is March, and you can fucking die!" Pissed off beyond reason, March lashed out with her rapier toward Snek. The gleaming steel was a silver blur … right up until Snek's multibranched tongue flickered out and plucked it from her grasp. In the next instant, Snek's tongue was back in his mouth, and the rapier had vanished altogether.

"Pointy metal ssword iss dangerouss," he informed her solemnly. "Ssnek thinkss rabbit head girl iss not re-ssponss-ible enough to have. Sso Ssnek will give to Masster, to put on sshelf."

Beside Lily, Jouster choked with laughter. "Did he just lecture her about responsibility?"

"Well, he's not wrong." Lily decided that her long-held antipathy toward snakes of all kinds deserved a review, at least where it came to sixty-foot-long talking snakes. That particular variety of the breed had captured all her admiration and appreciation. Disarming March with his tongue just put the chef's kiss on all of it.

"Well, I don't need it to kill you!" Infuriated beyond caution, March reached out and slapped Snek on the snout. Lily's breath caught in her throat as energy rippled over Snek from nose to tail and back again, then detonated in a roar of flame. Lily staggered backward from the impact of the blast wave, raising her arm to shield her face.

When the flame and attendant smoke cloud cleared, Snek was still there. The hat wasn't even scorched. The only difference was that his scales looked a lot cleaner and smoother than before. Lily blinked. Holy shit.

If she was surprised, March was downright boggled. "What? No! You should be dead! How are you not dead?"

"Ssnek ssaid. Ironsskin magic protectss Snek." Snek tilted his head questioningly. "Doess rabbit head girl ssurrender now?"

"I'll show you surrender—" March went to lunge forward again.

CHOMP

The giant snake didn't even seem to move, but March was no longer there. Snek continued to look pleased with himself. "Ssnek thinkss that meanss no."

"Well, yeah, you're right about that." Lily took a step out of their refuge. "Thanks. You just helped us out so much. Did you … did you eat her?"

Snek's head lowered to her level, and he turned to address her. "Rabbit head girl iss in no-eat-place. Will take to Masster to have thing-insside-head taken out. Masster iss good at fixxing headss. Doess purple dart girl and pointy sstick boy need Ssnek help?"

Lily only understood about half of that, but she nodded. "Yes, please, if you could help us get back to the Protectorate building, or even tell someone there to come fetch us, that would be good. Joust—I mean pointy stick boy—has been shot in the arm, and we're both pretty beat up."

Snek's smile widened again. He was really good at that. "Ssnek can do that. Purple dart girl and pointy sstick boy get on Ssnek'ss neck. Will take you to sparkly light man."

Wait, did he just refer to Legend as … nope, nope, nope, not gonna even go there. Lily helped Jouster climb on board the gigantic neck, then got on behind him. With one last exhortation to 'hold on', Snek started moving.

And boy, did he move. One instant, they were in the grimy alleyway, and the next they were pulling to a stop in Legend's office. The man himself looked up in surprise, his eyes widening behind his mask. "… ah. Hello, Snek. Flechette, Jouster. Has there been a problem?" As he asked the question, he lofted into the air and landed next to them.

"You could say that, sir." Lily climbed off Snek's neck, then Legend helped Jouster do the same. "March had us trapped. Snek saved us." She patted Snek on the back of the head. He seemed to enjoy it.

"Well, then." Legend nodded to Snek. "Thank you, Snek. You're a good boy." He paused. "Uh … what happened to March?"

"Ssnek iss taking rabbit head girl to Masster. Masster will fixx. Masster iss very wisse."

No matter how many times she heard that, it still weirded Lily out. Just taking a villain to his Master to 'fix'.

Legend frowned. "I think I heard something about that. You captured Butcher and your Master fixed her, didn't he?"

"Yess. Exxplodey sspike lady iss now happy living on Ssnek world. Chassing banditss." Snek's eye swivelled around toward Lily and Jouster. "Purple dart girl and pointy sstick boy are good now?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're totally good." Jouster's tone had an edge of hysteria to it. "Thank you so much, Snek, for everything." His arm wasn't much use to him right now, and he wasn't much of a hugger, but he did his best anyway, wrapping his good arm around Snek's neck as far as it would go. "You're totally a hero, in my book."

"Ssnek iss pleassed to help. Will go now." He wriggled forward, into the second portal that opened up in front of him—the other one that he'd come in by was still open—and vanished, the portals winking out behind him.

"Well." Legend surveyed the two Wards. "As much as I'm very much looking forward to reading your after-action reports, right now I'm just pleased to see that you're both alive and relatively healthy. Are you two good to get yourselves down to the infirmary, or do you need help?"

"We'll be fine, sir," Lily assured him. "I've got this."

Jouster giggled slightly, evidently coming down from the adrenaline high. "Sir, you were at Savannah, weren't you, when Snek ate Leviathan? Did you see it happen?"

"Yes, I was, but I wasn't on the spot to witness it directly." Legend raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"Chomp." Jouster said it dreamily. "Just … 'chomp'."

"March," Lily supplied. "She was there, in our faces, and then 'chomp' and she was gone. It was terrifying and it was beautiful."

"So I see." Legend patted her gently on the shoulder. "Get on down to the infirmary now. I'll let them know you're on the way."

"Thank you, sir." Lily steered Jouster out of Legend's office and toward the elevators. The door closed silently behind them.

Jouster giggled again, and made a snakelike motion with his hand. "Chomp."

"What was that, pointy stick boy?"

"Oh, shut up, purple dart girl."

For some reason, this was hilariously funny to the both of them, and they laughed all the way down in the elevator.

<><>​

Dragon

Her wing muscles were aching by the time she came in for a landing on the Dragonmark's ledge, but it was a good kind of ache. Learning to fly smoothly had been one thing—Finesse was a good teacher—but putting her body through the meatgrinder that had been Cirrus' advanced course was quite another. Like any good drill sergeant, he'd pushed her to her limits and a little bit beyond, and in the process she'd learned just how much more she was capable of.

Sparks came in to land beside her—he'd already been able to do most of what Cirrus had taught her, the little cheat—and gave her an encouraging chirp. She sat up on her tail and held up her forelimb so he could jump and fly onto it. In dragon form, her limbs didn't have the same range of dexterity or motion that she did when human—it was amazing how fast she was getting used to that—but she was still able to hold Sparks close as he snuggled into her.

Cirrus landed alongside her, his wings kicking up a vast flurry of wind. Finesse touched down just a little farther away, though with much less fanfare. ||Well done, young one.|| Cirrus' tone was all pride and congratulation. ||You show great promise. Which is only to be expected, for one of my blood.||

||One of our blood, dearest.|| Finesse corrected him with amusement showing through clearly. ||But his words are accurate. You are making great strides. Any hatchling on their first flight would have given up long before you did. Just be sure to spend a few moments stretching your wings before you change back, so you do not suffer from muscle cramps.||

||Oh, uh, I will.|| This was clearly one of the many minor downsides of being a biological organism, but one that she accepted gladly. ||Thank you both for showing me how to fly properly. I am definitely going to be putting your lessons to use when I get back to Earth Bet.|| Unfurling her wings again, she began flexing and stretching them, feeling the burn start to fade away.

||Be sure to let them know who trained you.|| Cirrus beamed down at her, 'proud father' written all over his draconic features. ||If anyone from your world wishes to take flying lessons, I will be pleased to train them.||

||I'll keep that in mind.|| Dragon didn't personally know of any wing-based flyers, but she figured there must be a few around. Also, she didn't even want to guess at the number of people who would just plain sign up to get a dragon body, given the chance. She was going to have to keep that part on the down-low.

||Also, congratulations on your bonding.|| Finesse sounded pleased.

||Thanks. He's definitely helped me keep on top of things.|| Dragon hugged Sparks again, and flexed her wings one last time. ||Okay, let's see if I remember to change back.||

Cirrus' clarion call echoed out into the open sky. ||Everyone! She's about to change back!||

Immediately, every dragon on the ledge turned to watch, and those aloft swooped in closer. It seemed they all wanted to see their little prodigy perform yet another miracle. Self-consciousness was not an emotion she was used to, but right now it showed up in spades.

Taking a few deep breaths and trying not to be hyper-aware of all the draconic attention centred on her, she concentrated on her human form and pushed. At first it took a little effort—she'd just spent an hour or more focusing on her dragon form to the exclusion of all else—but then it began to happen. Her snout shrank along with her tail, and her body became less bulky overall. For a moment, her vision shimmered, and then she was sitting on the smooth stone in the clothing that had been supplied for her, still holding Sparks in her arms.

||That was very impressive,|| Finesse said as she climbed to her feet. ||It must be convenient, to be able to go inside buildings.||

||Why would anyone want to go inside a building?|| asked Cirrus curiously. ||Everything we need is out here.||

Finesse rolled her eyes. ||When you're a human, buildings mean shelter. Not everything is about dragons.||

||Why ever not? Dragons are majestic.|| Cirrus struck a heroic pose, wings partially unfurled to catch the afternoon sun.

"Yes, yes, you are," agreed Dragon out loud. Her shoulder-blades ached, but that was all she felt from the gruelling session with Cirrus. "And I'll definitely go flying with you again, the next time I'm here." That she would visit again was a given. "But right now, I think I need to get back to Earth Bet. They're probably missing me by now."

Finesse nodded. ||Farewell, dear one. May you have clear skies and wind beneath your wings.||

Dragon felt touched by the benediction. "Thanks. You too."

||Fly strongly, little Dragon, and remember: you will forever be of our Dragonmark. Wherever you may roam, you have a home here if you wish it.||

That warm feeling around her heart was returning. "I will remember, and thank you."

Turning, she headed for the archway that led up to the Castle; just before she reached up and slapped the correct spot, she turned and waved to the assembled dragons. One after the other, with Cirrus leading them off, they bugled a call to the sky then took flight in one massive cloud of wings and sunlight flashing on scales. She blinked back tears and swallowed a lump in her throat—human bodies had all sorts of weird quirks—and activated the archway.

Riley looked up as she entered the work-room, carrying Sparks. "Oh, hey. How'd it go? We saw you flying with Cirrus and Finesse."

"Pretty good, I think. As far as I can tell, I've just been adopted into the clan, or the Dragonmark." She still had trouble getting past that. The sheer amount of positive acceptance that they'd given her was a first in her experience.

"Oh, that's a given." Riley grinned. "They're over the moon that someone from outside wants to be part of their world. So, you ready to go home now, or do you still need a little more acclimatisation?"

"Home now, I think." Dragon skritched Sparks behind his jaw, just where he liked it. "And I'll be taking mischief here with me." She paused. "Um … I heard that bonding gave people benefits. What does Sparks do?"

The Master of the Castle looked up from where he was doing something with tongs, standing over an unconscious costumed teenage girl. A rabbit-head mask sat on a nearby bench. With a shock of recognition, Dragon realised who it was. That's March! What's March doing here?

"Sparks," he said, "provides an immunity to lightning damage and electrocution. However, that will not prepare you sufficiently for your return to your duties. Hold these, please." He handed the tongs over to Riley.

"No problem, boss." Riley accepted them and kept an eye on their prisoner, or experimental subject, or whatever March was to them. Dragon was far past judging, at this point in time.

Moving over to Dragon, the Master placed his hand on her forehead. She felt warmth radiating from his palm, as well as an impression of immense power. "You will henceforth be able to communicate with whichever machines you personally own, from any distance, as though you were still enmeshed within your former embodiment." He chanted a few words, the sounds echoing strangely within the chamber, and she felt her skin crackle all over.

When he lifted his hand away, there was a buzzing far back in her brain, but everything else felt normal. She didn't even bother asking if that was it, because it would've been a superfluous question. The Master of the Castle did nothing by halves.

"Thank you." It felt supremely inadequate, but it was the best she could do at the moment. "I'll try to make you proud."

For a moment, he favoured her with his austere smile. "Do more good than harm, and I will be repaid. Snek awaits, outside that door. He will convey you back to your world."

"Ah." She'd been wondering about that, without being quite sure how to approach the subject. "Thanks. And thank you too, Riley."

"Any time." The tweenager beamed at her, then handed the tongs back to the Master. "Jar?"

"Thank you, Riley."

Dragon made her way over to the door and pushed it open, then stepped through. As she closed it behind her, she caught a glimpse of the Master pulling something angry and crackling out of March's head. Not even going to ask.

"Hello, machine dragon lady." That was Snek, right behind her, where he hadn't been a second ago. He did get around, that was for sure.

"Hello, Snek. Would mind you taking me home, please?"

"Ssnek can do that. Machine dragon lady pleasse ride Snek'ss neck."

She'd seen this. Carefully, she put her leg over the broad neck and settled into place. "Okay, what now?"

"Machine dragon lady hold on."

And they went.



End of Part Forty-One

 

[Mastersgt]

Still think you should do a spin-off story of this. Following the "Master of the Tower" and his rise to power and adventures... Maybe he started as a reincarnator with the Essence of the Archmage?

 

[Rmajere]

Just the story I needed for a better day. Thank you for the great chapter. This story always puts a smile on my face.

 

[Wintercat]

After a rather tiresome day at work, coming home to find this story updated was a mood-booster I certainly welcomed. Thank you for the chapter, it is always fun to find more Snek shenanigans waiting around to be read about.

I figure Fletchette would never let March live that one down, but chances are, March isn't going to be a problem on Earth-Bet anymore. The cluster-trigger kiss/kill reaction might just get taken out if the Master was on the job, and might just be taking the entire power out while at it.

 

[Ack]

Snek is a Good Boy

Part Forty-Two: The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Dragons

[A/N: This chapter commissioned by @Fizzfaldt and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]



Dragon

They emerged into open air, a couple of thousand feet up. Dragon was temporarily puzzled as to their location, though it had to be the east coast, as the ocean was situated in that direction. With a squawk of encouragement, Sparks launched from her shoulder, flapping his wings strongly to keep up.

Why so high up? Shouldn't we have come out at ground lev—oh. Right.

"Okay, I got it from here!" she shouted. "Thanks for the ride, Snek!"

This is definitely one way to make an entrance.

The wind flapped at her shift as she concentrated on the Change, focusing on the dragon form and willing herself into it. It was easier this time than ever before, scales covering her body and wings extending from her back. Almost before she knew it, she was gliding free above the ballistically arcing snake.

He may have said something like 'Ssnek ssee you later' before vanishing into another portal, though her hearing wasn't as good as her sight, so she couldn't be sure. Raising her eyes, she looked around again, picking out landmarks. The city looked familiar, and the force-field shielded construction in the bay confirmed it.

Okay, so if this is Brockton Bay, then the PRT building should be right over … there. Angling her wings in a gentle banking turn, she lined herself up on her destination. Sparks, anticipating her every move, stayed right there alongside her.

A moment later, she had a thought. How will they react when a human-sized dragon lands on the roof? Maybe I should call ahead. He did say I could connect to my systems …

She reached out to the fuzzy static in the back of her mind—

—and suddenly, she was connected. Her systems were just as visible to her as though she'd been plugged in the whole time. They were still working well, though there were a dozen yellow alerts, asking for guidance or clarification.

Part of her mind began attending to the alerts, while another part connected through to her communications network. The protocols worked equally well from a dragon's brain as from a silicon-chip interface, because magic was apparently just that good. Seconds later, she set up the call.

"Piggot speaking. How can I help you, Dragon?" The Director of the PRT Department ENE usually sounded harassed or stressed, but today she seemed calm and collected.

"I'm coming in to visit," she transmitted back. It was useful to be able to do so, even if her current larynx was incapable of forming recognisable words. "Please advise the guards on the roof not to be startled. I'm … trialling a new concept. Also, I'll have a hearth-dragon with me."

When Piggot replied, her voice held an almost eager quality. "You, too? That's … very good to hear. I'll let them know."

"Thank you. Dragon, out." As she glided in, Dragon pondered over Piggot's words. She'd heard a rumour that the Brockton Bay PRT Director had been gifted a hearth-dragon, and Piggot's reaction seemed to bear that out.

Well, this should be interesting.

<><>​

Director Emily Piggot, PRT ENE

Emily had just put down the phone when she noticed that Sapphire was perched on the edge of the desk, staring out the window and emitting a low keen of excitement. "Yes, I know," she said. "Dragon's bringing another hearth-dragon to visit. You are so spoiled, you know that? Yes, you are."

As she spoke, she turned to see if she could spot the Dragon craft on its inbound run. 'Trialling a new concept' was almost certainly something Armsmaster would be interested in, after all. At first, all she could see was a large bird in the far distance, then its wing tilted slightly and sunlight glinted off glorious multicoloured scales.

"What the hell?" she muttered as her perceptions reset. "That's no Dragon craft. Is that what she meant by 'a new concept'?"

Sapphire gave a confident chirp, then launched off the desk and headed for the door. About to follow, Emily grabbed up her phone.

"Duty officer, ma'am. Lieutenant Torres. How can I help you?"

Never taking her eyes off the incoming figure, Emily nonetheless spoke calmly and smoothly. "Lieutenant, please contact the guards on the roof. Let them know that Dragon is incoming, trialling a new concept. No hostilities. I say again, no hostilities. I'm going up there."

"Copy that, ma'am—"

Emily ended the call and moved toward the door herself. It was just swinging closed; she caught it before it shut altogether, and hustled after Sapphire. The little dragon was holding the elevator for her; once Emily stepped inside, Sapphire released the door-open button and flew up to land on her shoulder.

"Now, who taught you that, I wonder?" Emily mused as the elevator travelled upward. Sapphire chose to perch on her shoulder and look decidedly smug. Which, Emily decided, was her right and her privilege.

They emerged onto the roof just as Dragon came in for a landing. Emily's first impression had been correct; it wasn't a mechanical craft at all. Only a little larger than a human being, it looked entirely biological; in fact, apart from its colouring and size, it most strongly resembled a hearth-dragon in all relevant respects. And, as she'd been advised, there was a hearth-dragon swooping in alongside, coloured in blue and white.

Pinions spreading wide, the larger dragon back-winged hard, flapping steadily to come to a stop in mid-air. Sapphire took off from Emily's shoulder and flew in a spiral with the newcomer hearth-dragon, then came back to her once more. She held out her wrist, and Sapphire landed neatly on it.

Emily was impressed by how gently the dragon touched down; the wings spread wide for a moment before furling close to the body. She was struck by the beautiful colours, and how smoothly they faded into one another. Sitting up on its haunches, the dragon looked her in the eye.

"Dragon, I presume?" Emily asked. It was always good to make sure. Had the reclusive Tinker created a biomechanical body to go out into the world for her?

The creature smiled, showing sharp teeth. ||That's correct.|| Its mouth didn't move, but Emily heard the words inside her mind. From their startled reactions, so had the sentries.

"Telepathy? That's different." She'd undergone the training on how to withstand mental domination, for what it was worth, though this didn't feel like it was trying to dig into her head. "How did you manage that?"

||Let's just say, I've had a serious upgrade.|| Dragon's smile widened, and then she began to change. Her snout shrank, her wings retracted into her back, and her scales became skin and clothing. In just a few mind-bending seconds, a young woman dressed in a simple white shift stood before Emily. "Voila." Her face was entirely familiar; Emily had seen it on her computer screen many times.

For the first time in quite a while, Emily found herself lost for words. She raised a finger, went to speak, changed her mind, revised what she wanted to say, lowered her finger, then finally shook her head. "I thought you were a Tinker. Have you always been from Snek's world?"

Dragon chuckled; a warm, musical sound. She tilted her head sideways as the blue-and-white hearth-dragon landed on her shoulder, then stepped forward. "No, but I just came from there. It's good to meet you face to face at last. This is Sparks. What's yours named?"

"Sapphire, but I believe we need to take this to my office. I have … questions." That was the understatement of the century. Every statement and action of Dragon's had raised queries, all of which Emily seriously wanted to get to the bottom of. She nodded to the sentries. "Gentlemen."

Dragon followed her into the elevator; Sparks was looking around with interest, carrying on a lively chirping and squawking conversation with Sapphire. Emily wondered what it would be like if Sparks came along to the next get-together with New Wave, and decided she would have to find out. Dragon seemed to share a little of the wonder that Sparks had, running her fingertips over the interior of the elevator as it travelled downward.

When they got back to the office, Emily guided Dragon to a couple of the guest chairs. She didn't want the desk between them for this. Sapphire landed on the desk and chirped a query to her, and Emily nodded; the level of understanding between them was growing every day.

As they sat down, Sparks comfortably ensconced in Dragon's lap—Emily easily recognised the signs of early bonding—Sapphire pulled open the bottom left-hand drawer and took out two energy bars, then pushed the drawer shut. Flying over to where Emily and Dragon were sitting, she offered a bar to Sparks, then showed her how to open it.

"Huh." Dragon watched, looking somewhat bemused, as Sparks followed Sapphire's lead in neatly opening the paper packet. "I knew they were smart, but this kind of puts the pin in that, doesn't it?"

"I'd noticed, yes. But before we get started, would you like one?" Emily hadn't missed the way Dragon's eyes had lingered on the energy bar, especially as Sparks began crunching down on it.

Dragon brightened. "Actually, if you don't mind? I've been learning how to fly, and I'm starting to feel hungry."

That was a statement that needed unpacking, along with all the others, but Emily decided to roll with it. "Certainly. Sapphire, if you'd be so kind?"

Sapphire rumbled agreeably and handed her the unwrapped (but untasted) energy bar. With every indication of being thrilled to do so, she took off for the desk again and came back with two more energy bars, one of which she presented to Dragon and the other she kept for herself.

As Dragon unwrapped her bar, she looked curiously at Emily. "So, how many of those bars do you keep in that drawer, anyway?"

Emily chuckled. "Oh, I only used to keep a few, in case I had to work through lunch. But now I maintain a whole stash. Sapphire likes to explore the building while I'm working, and if she can't cadge food off someone else, she ducks back here for a snack."

Dragon tilted her head as she took a bite from the energy bar. She took a moment to chew and swallow, then looked at the bar appreciatively. "Well, that tastes better than I expected it to." Pausing, she raised her finger. "Sorry, got sidetracked. I was going to say, you seem a lot more relaxed than I remember you being when we've communicated online."

"That's fair." Emily snorted softly. "I don't remember it that way, but the Deputy Director has said much the same thing, so I can't discount it. On Sunday, Sapphire and I spent a thoroughly pleasant afternoon in the park with New Wave and their hearth-dragons, something I've never even considered doing before." She chose not to mention the deal she'd made with Panacea about her health issues; that was her business and Sapphire's, and nobody else's.

"I can understand that." Dragon smiled. "I spent today learning how to be an actual dragon, which is not something I'd ever expected. Also, I'm currently learning how to be human, which is equally new to me." She finished off the energy bar and stroked Sparks, looking fondly down at the hearth-dragon as she worked on hers.

"I suppose I should be asking what you meant by that." Emily's tone was dry, but she put no venom into it. Sapphire was warm in her arms, and there was no need to raise trouble where none had been offered. "But I can tell you're itching to give me chapter and verse."

"Well, yes." Dragon grinned. "This time yesterday, I was an artificial intelligence. My creator was killed when Leviathan sank Newfoundland. Some would-be treasure hunters must have salvaged the black box with my backdoor codes, and they went into business as villains, stealing my tech and using it against me at every turn."

"Saint and the Dragonslayers." It wasn't a guess; only one villain team had gone up against Dragon and beaten her regularly.

"Bingo. Well, because Snek has been preying wholesale on the criminal underworld and drawing down the major threats …" Dragon paused, inviting comment.

Emily shook her head in grim amusement. "Well, publicly eating supervillains—and Endbringers—alive is one way to reduce crime stats." It had definitely worked for Brockton Bay.

"I know, right? Well, it turns out the Dragonslayers literally had a kill-switch ready to go, any time I looked like posing them an actual problem. And today, they decided to use it. But Snek and his Master were on the ball."

Emily snapped her fingers. "I remember that!" Looking up with mild interest, Sapphire evidently decided that it wasn't that important, so she curled up on Emily's lap and closed her eyes. Running her fingers over the hearth-dragon's smooth scales, Emily went on. "I saw the alert about the arrest earlier today. Snek and some capes stopped them from using the kill-switch. So, what happened then?"

Dragon rolled her eyes. "The first I knew about any of this was when the Master of the Castle showed up in my home base and made me an offer I couldn't really believe. So, I took him up on it anyway, and …"

<><>​

Protectorate Department 01, New York City

Flechette

Since the incident with March, something had begun interfering with Lily's balance and timing. She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but she didn't like it. Has she figured out some way to give me one last fuck-you before she's shoved into cape juvey?

Still, maybe it was a passing thing, so she was chilling in front of the TV while Jouster spent time in the infirmary under observation, an IV dripping antibiotics into him. March's people had been pressing them pretty hard. She was just glad they'd gotten off as easily as they did.

"I heard about the March thing." Prism came up behind the sofa and leaned on it with her elbows. "How are you feeling?"

"More than a little off-balance, to be honest." Lily turned to look up at her. "Either that fight rattled my cage more than I thought, or she's pulling some weird remote power shit to mess with me."

"Remote power shit?" Prism frowned, and came around the sofa to sit down beside her. "I thought your cluster didn't have ranged powers."

"We don't, not like that." Lily had, of course, divulged that she and March were part of a cluster trigger when she joined the Wards. "But she's always been weirdly obsessed with our shared powers, and if anyone could figure out how to withhold powers from someone else in the cluster at an important juncture, it'd be her."

Prism nodded slowly. "Okay, yes. I see what you're getting at. Do you think she's doing that? Any idea how to reverse it if she is?"

"Nope." Lily shrugged and spread her hands to emphasis her lack of understanding. "All I know is that she was really mad when Snek took her away. Mad enough to do something stupid if it meant getting back at me. Even if it wasn't me who did the thing to her."

"Um." Prism looked concerned. "If she died … would you lose your connection to the power she's contributing?"

"Dunno. Don't think so." Lily shrugged again. "Never heard of it happening with any other cluster. But I haven't really researched them in-depth, either. Maybe March has, and she found a work-around."

"Understood." Prism chewed at her lip for a moment. "Okay, I'll kick this upstairs, then—shit!" Abruptly, there were three of her, one clone standing in front of the sofa and the other behind it. All were looking at something behind Lily.

Lily turned fast, coming to her feet at the same time. She stumbled and nearly fell as she did it, mentally cursing her balance and timing problems. But when she saw who it was, she relaxed. "Oh, hi, Snek."

"Hello, purple dart girl. Hello, one-two-three girl. Snek iss Snek." The gigantic snake—ten feet of his body protruding through one of his trademark portals—seemed cheerfully oblivious about the fact that he'd just intruded on one of the most secure places in New York. Not that he couldn't take everyone in the building, individually or all at once, Lily mused wryly.

"Uh … hi." Prism raised one hand in a tentative wave. "Sorry about that. You startled me, is all. What can we do for you?"

"Ssnek iss here for purple dart girl. Masster hass pressent for her. Purple dart girl come with Ssnek?" Another ten feet slithered out of the portal.

Whatever Lily had been expecting, this was definitely not it. "Wait … a present for me?" Lily glanced at Prism, to see if she'd heard the same thing. All three of Prism's clones shrugged in unison, indicating an equal lack of clues. "What kind of a present?"

"Ssnek doess not know. Masster ssayss purple dart girl needss. Purple dart girl come with Ssnek?"

It was clear to Lily that he meant well, and that he was at the end of his understanding of the matter. His boss had sent him to fetch Lily, and every other cape who'd gone to meet his Master had ended up the better off for it. Mouse Protector had posted several videos online about the armour and sword she'd gotten. And that wasn't even counting New Wave's hearth-dragons.

"Okay, I'll come along with you." She gestured toward Prism. "Is it okay if she comes along?" It wasn't that she felt in any particular danger, but she felt the chain of command would be a lot happier if her immediate superior came along for the ride.

Snek seemed unfazed by the idea. "Masster ssayss purple dart girl can bring friend."

"Okay, then." She glanced at Prism. "We ride his neck. You've seen the videos? Exactly like that."

"Sure." The version of Prism standing in front of the sofa stepped forward. "Let's do this."

Snek waited until they were in place. "Purple dart girl, one-two-three girl, hold on."

Lily didn't think she'd ever quite get used to how fast he went through his portal.

<><>​

The Master's Workroom

The Wizard's Apprentice

"Pastry? They're really good." Riley offered the tray to the supervillain sitting on the chair. March's mask sat on the bench nearby, but it wasn't just being unmasked that had the young woman glaring at her. She had a whole host of reasons, most of which were actually valid.

"You can take your pastries and shove them up your—"

Riley was glad she couldn't read lips, because even after she made the gesture that cut all sound coming out of the hold-field, March kept talking at length, and she was sure it was both rude and uncalled for. March also tried to either grab the tray or knock it out of Riley's hands, but the field detected hostile movement and slowed her down to the point that Riley was easily able to evade her. Stepping back, she took a pastry for herself (because they were very nice). "If you're going to be like that, you can't have any."

March kept talking; or rather, yelling, if the way her mouth was opening wide and spittle was flying off her lips was any indication. Riley put the tray down on the bench and moved her hand in a parody of March's mouth movements as she ate the pastry.

If anything, this only enraged March more; she tried again to push herself out of the chair but the hold-field pushed her back into it, like she was being sat on by a very large and very soft troll. Even the hearth-dragons, who were habitually curious about all newcomers to the boss's castle, were keeping their distance.

Snek's distinctive three-bump knock on the door echoed through the room. The boss glanced around from the new apparatus he was setting up. "Enter, Snek, and bring both your friends. Riley, if you can entertain them for a moment?"

The door opened, and the snake of the hour slithered in. "Thank you, Masster. Ssnek bringss purple dart girl and one-two-three girl."

"Hi!" Riley took up the tray again and strolled over with it. "Lily and Sam, yeah? Welcome to the Master's Castle. I'm Riley, the boss will be with you in a second, and you've probably met March a few times. Pastry?"

Lily—Flechette—blinked but took a pastry anyway. "Um … wow. Hi, Riley." She nodded toward March. "Shouldn't she be restrained or something?"

Prism was staring around at the room like she had no idea what to comment on first. She finally settled on, "And why's she yelling in dumb-show?"

That was easy to answer. "Magic. There's a hold-field on the chair, so she can't get out of it. I've got her sound turned off, because she was being rude."

"Yeah, that definitely tracks." Lily took a bite out of the pastry, and her eyes opened wide. "Wow, these are really good!"

"I know, right? I offered her one, and she didn't want it." Riley shrugged. "Oh, well. More for us." She took a pastry from the tray. "Open wide, Snek."

Obligingly, the enormous reptile opened his gaping maw, and Riley tossed the pastry in. It was a very small pastry for a very large mouth, but he smiled and licked his non-existent lips afterward anyway. "Thank you, Riley."

A couple of the hearth-dragons were flying down now to investigate the newcomers (and scrounge pastries). Riley reached up and let one land on her wrist, then passed it off to Prism; Flechette fielded one all by herself. "They're friendly, guys," Riley assured the heroes.

"So I see." Prism had clearly seen the footage that was getting around Earth Bet about the local hearth-dragons; as she carefully stroked the red-and-white dragonet on the head and down the neck, it crooned and leaned into her hand.

Flechette offered her hearth-dragon the rest of her pastry, which was definitely the right move; it accepted the offer, and ate it delicately out of her hand. "So, um, Snek said something about a present?"

"Yes, indeed." The boss emerged from his apparatus and advanced on them. "Riley, the jar, if you please?"

"Sure thing, boss." Setting the tray down on the bench next to the rabbit-head mask, Riley hustled over to the shelf and retrieved the latest jar. Within, the angry-looking wisp of nothingness twisted back and forth.

Prism pointed at it. "Okay, what exactly is that?"

The boss smiled austerely. "That is what the angry young lady there was using and abusing to torment others. I removed it from her head, to place with the rest of my collection." A gesture indicated the shelves with rows of identical jars. "However, young Flechette here was also using part of it, so I will be doing something similar to how I allowed Snek his playmate."

Snek smiled broadly. "Sshadow Ssnek iss fun to play with."

Flechette's eyes lit up with the revelation. "When you removed it, that's when I lost it!"

"Precisely." The boss nodded once, approvingly. "I propose to return it to you, for your exclusive use. Do you give consent?"

Riley spotted March making urgent gestures, mainly scissoring motions with her hands. Still holding the jar, she went over and made the gesture that turned the sound back on. "Sorry, you had something to say that wasn't rude?"

"You can't just give her my power!" March sounded more affronted by that than by anything else. "That's my power! And you never asked consent to take it away!"

"Yes," Riley replied patiently. "But she's the good guy and you're the bad guy. When you used your power to hurt people, you didn't deserve it anymore. So, we took it away from you, and now we're giving it to the person who uses it to help people. I know how that works, and I'm twelve. Why don't you know how that works?"

"Because that's—" Every muscle, vein and tendon in March's neck was standing out, and her face turned red with the intensity of her scream. Riley made a twirling gesture with two fingers, and the volume dropped to ordinary conversational levels. "—not how it works!"

"Rude." Riley shook her head in mild reprimand. "It's how it works here. Now, Imma put you on mute for a while, mmkay? Just raise your hand if you'd like a pastry. They really are very good." She made the gesture to cut all sound from the hold-field, then turned to the others. "Sorry about that. I thought she had something important to say."

"No need to apologise." The boss turned back to Flechette. "I believe you were about to give me an answer."

"Ah, yeah. Yes, please. I would like the power back." Flechette frowned. "How does this work, exactly?"

"You have three options." The boss gestured at Snek's hat. "The easiest way is to imbue the power into something that you wear as a matter of course. The next easiest is to implant it onto your body, such as with a tattoo. And the least easy—but most permanent—is to graft it onto your pre-existing power, in much the same way as the one known as Butcher did."

"Um." Flechette looked to Prism. "What do you think?"

Prism shrugged. "Sorry, kiddo. I was out of my depth five minutes ago. Your power, your choice."

Flechette took a deep breath. "Permanent sounds good. Graft, please."

Grinning broadly, Riley dusted her hands off. "All right! This is always fun."

"What've I just agreed to?" Flechette seemed a little less sure than before.

Riley deliberately made her expression deadpan. "Mwahahaha."



End of Part Forty-Two

 

[Rmajere]

Riley living her best life and I love it. Thank you for the chapter. You always make my day better with these

 

[silentorphan]

Master of the Castle: "I can permanently remove and graft someone else's powers onto yours so you can use them yourself."
Faerie Queen: *seethes with jealousy*

 

[Kanoun2020]

I just love the nicknames that snek give

 

[Ack]

I just love the nicknames that snek give

Click to shrink...

Snek is very proud of being able to count.

 

[Ack]

Snek is a Good Boy

Part Forty-Three: Meeting Again, For the First Time

[A/N: This chapter commissioned by @Fizzfaldt and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]



Prism

Sam had watched most of the footage about hearth-dragons, and she was a follower of Snap's photo-blog—the little guy had a real talent—but she'd never expected to actually meet one any time soon. They were, she quickly discovered, even more personable than she'd thought they would be. It was surprisingly easy—and far less weird than expected—to hold the red-and-white one and share pastries with it. While, it had to be said, standing there in the stone-vaulted laboratory under a taxidermised dragon as a medieval fantasy wizard prepared to perform the impossible.

What she would've considered impossible just months ago, anyway; since Snek's dramatic advent on the world scene, the publicly accepted definition of 'impossible' had undergone several drastic revisions. As had the number of villains and other powers-related threats to life and limb faced by the average man on the street.

The image of Snek slithering out of the surf with Leviathan's leg in his mouth was something she was never going to forget.

"Okay, so what exactly does 'grafting' the power to mine entail?" Flechette was asking the relevant questions. "And what do I need to do to make it work?"

"You?" Riley grinned. "Not much. Just sit down and hold still while the boss literally works his magic."

Riley was an enigma herself; she couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen, but she possessed the assurance of someone twice her age when it came to assisting the Master of the Castle in his work. Even more bizarrely, she wore regular Earth Bet clothing rather than the local fashions—Sam had seen the photos New Wave had put up of the clothing they'd brought back from their expedition into this world—and her speech indicated a deep familiarity with Bet's geography, history, and customs.

Sam was certain that the story of how the girl had ended up as a literal wizard's apprentice at such a young age had to be both long and fascinating. She was equally certain that she would never learn the important details of it.

The Master of the Castle held up a pair of tongs that would've looked mundane if not for the fact that they were made of a delicate silver filigree and their gripping surfaces were almost impossible to focus on. "Young lady, I will be using these to partially extract your power so that I may affix the necessary enhancements to it. As my capable assistant has indicated, you need merely seat yourself and remain motionless. There will almost certainly be unusual sensations arising from this procedure, so if you wish I can place a simple holding spell on you to ensure that you do not move involuntarily."

Flechette blinked. "Will that knock me out? Is this going to hurt?" She looked down at the hearth-dragon she was holding, which gave her an encouraging chirp. It was coloured in shades of brown and grey, which could've been boring but actually looked quite stylish.

"Neither one." He favoured her with an austere smile. "You will remain conscious throughout the procedure. I will ensure that there is no pain; the spell will simply keep your head from turning. The hearth-dragon may also remain, for comfort and reassurance. Do you continue to give your assent, now that you know more details?"

"I, uh, do, yeah." Still holding firmly onto the hearth-dragon—which seemed quite content to stay right where it was—she sat down in the chair Riley indicated and settled herself: back straight, head up. "Like this?"

"That is ideal, yes." Leaving his gnarled wooden staff standing upright by itself, the Master of the Castle moved over to Flechette and made a simple gesture while he murmured something under his breath. Fascinated, Sam watched as an almost imperceptible layer of golden energy settled down over Flechette's seated form. "There," the Master announced out loud. "The spell is in place. You should find that you are not unduly constrained, save for your head and neck. If you are ready, I shall now commence the procedure."

Sam was gaining the strong impression that, had the Master of the Castle chosen to do so, he could have skipped straight past all of this elaborate preparation. Put simply, he was bending over backward to put both of them at their ease, and it was working. She felt no more concern than any other interested spectator, while Flechette continued to stroke her hearth-dragon and await the next development.

This is not how I expected my day to go.

<><>​

PRT ENE Building

Dragon

Stepping out of the small ensuite, Dragon paused self-consciously. "So, how do I look?"

The jeans and T-shirt (the latter bearing a screen-printed image of Alexandria) she'd been supplied with were comfortable, which was good, because it was the first time she'd ever worn any of either. (The underwear was nice too, but she wasn't going to mention that aspect.) Clothing in general was an entirely new aspect to her life, though she knew that if she was going to be spending significant time as a human, it was something she was going to have to get used to.

Fortunately, she had access to the entire internet, where there was a huge amount of information on how to live as a human—and as a woman—that she'd need to know about going forward. Nutrition, for instance. Also, how to put on a bra (and, at some point, take one off). And that was just scratching the surface.

"Does it fit?" Emily eyed her critically, moving around to view her from a different angle. "Nothing's pinching, or too tight?"

"No, it's fine." Dragon ran her hand over the clothing, her other arm still occupied with holding Sparks close to her. "It feels strange, but that's to be expected. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Thank your people again for finding this stuff for me."

Emily chuckled. "Oh, that was the easy part. We have capes coming through here all the time, and occasionally one will be in need of street clothing so they can simply walk out of here and go home. You definitely fit the bill there, so it was just a matter of picking out the right sizes from the storage closet."

"Oh." Dragon blinked. "Makes sense, I guess." It was, however, a side of being a superhero that had never been an issue for her before.

Fortunately, she enjoyed a challenge.

<><>​

Director Emily Piggot, PRT ENE

There was a knock on Emily's office door, and both hearth-dragons raised their heads in interest. Sapphire added a chirp of familiarity; Emily knew what that meant. "Ah, he's here."

"Who?" Dragon looked momentarily taken aback; a flicker of uncertainty crossed her features.

Emily smiled, an expression that was becoming more and more familiar to her. "Armsmaster. He's no doubt heard of your arrival. I suspect he's wanted to meet the real you since before there was a 'real' you."

"Colin?" It was interesting how Dragon's voice rose to a squeak on the last syllable; if Emily had needed more evidence that she possessed genuine human emotions, that would've sealed the deal. "He's here? Now? How do you know it's him?"

"Right outside my office door, to be exact. Sapphire's met him several times; she always chirps like that when he shows up." Emily kept her face bland, hiding the amusement she felt. Far too often, she'd been on the back foot because of something one cape or another had done; here and now, she was the one in control of the situation.

It was glorious.

"Um. I'm not going to be what he expects. What should I do?" Dragon stared at her, wide-eyed. "I don't know how to talk to humans in person! I've only been one for a few hours!"

"Oh, relax." Emily shook her head. "You're better at it than some people I know, including Mr Wallis. I've seen you."

Dragon shook her head. "But that's just pixels on a screen! Anyone can do that!"

"You'll be fine." Emily nodded toward Sparks. "Don't sweat it. Sit down. Cuddle your hearth-dragon. Breathe. It'll be okay. Do you trust me?"

Right on cue, the blue and white hearth-dragon rubbed her head up under Dragon's chin, letting out a soothing rumble. Instinctively, Dragon held Sparks close to her, visibly relaxing as she stroked her draconic companion. Taking a deep breath, she let it out again and sat down. "Okay, yes, I trust you."

"Good." Emily raised her voice. "Enter."

The office door opened, and Armsmaster's armoured form stepped inside. He paused, no doubt having spotted that Emily was not behind the desk, and looked around. "Director." The motion of his head indicated that he'd also seen Dragon. "I'm sorry; am I intruding?" It was evident to Emily that he hadn't recognised her. Not altogether surprising; the change of context had to be throwing him off.

"Not at all. You're here to see Dragon, yes?" Sapphire had found her way to Emily's shoulder, leaving her free to spread her hands in a 'here she is' motion.

"Yes, but—what—how …?" Armsmaster's attention was now wholly upon Dragon. "Ah. It really is you."

Dragon stood up and took a couple of steps forward. "Yes, Colin, it's me." Smiling, she placed her hand on his armoured bracer. "It's really good to meet you at last, in person." At the same time, Sparks let out a friendly chirp of greeting.

"Yes, yes, it is." By now, Armsmaster was thoroughly off-balance. "Wait, you've got a hearth-dragon, too? How did that happen?"

Dragon's smile widened, and she hugged Sparks a little more tightly. "Trust me, it's a very long story."

<><>​

The Master's Work Room

Flechette

Lily felt the whisper-touch at the back of her neck, despite that spot being covered by her hair. It tickled and she had the impulse to flinch away, but the 'holding spell', however that worked, prevented her from moving her neck or head while leaving her arms free. The hearth-dragon in her arms snuggled into her embrace, its very presence calming and soothing her.

The tickle became a gentle but insistent tug, pulling at something inside her head in a way that was both novel and unsettling. However, it wasn't painful, or even overly uncomfortable, and she knew what it was about (even though she had no idea how any of this crap worked, apart from the generic buzzword 'magic') so she didn't voice any objections. Instead, she stroked the little dragon, allowing her fingers to gently caress the delicate membranes that made up the hearth-dragon's wings.

For its part, the hearth-dragon crooned softly to her, its tail wrapping around her arm in a gesture she found thoroughly appealing. Its head rubbed against her chest affectionately, reassuring her that she wasn't alone and didn't need to be, ever again. She wasn't sure how she got all that from being snuggled into, but she was happy to take it.

The immaterial tugging sensation ceased; she could feel an odd void inside her head, as though something had been partially removed. My power. It's halfway outside my head. This must be what March felt before he removed it altogether.

"Riley, the jar, if you please?" From the lack of stress in his voice, the Master of the Castle could have been requesting that his apprentice pass him a pastry from the tray.

"Here you go, boss." Riley sounded as cheerful and efficient as ever; Lily heard the sound of a glass stopper being removed from something.

Her hands were occupied with holding and stroking the hearth-dragon, but she couldn't move her head. If she swivelled her eyes one way, she could just make out Prism, who was observing the procedure with open fascination. Looking the other way, her eyes found March. The supervillain was glaring at Lily—or perhaps her ire encompassed everyone she could see with varying degrees of pissed-off—and trying to yell something that wasn't getting past the sound damper field. Lily was no lip-reader, but she imagined March was trying to say that those were her powers, not Lily's.

Yes, well. Like Riley said, you should've been more careful with how you used them.

While a tiny bit of her felt sympathy for March—it would be horrible to have someone just grab her and yank her powers out of her—she was far more inclined to consider that this was real justice being done. How better to punish cape wrongdoing than to take away what made them a cape? And it wasn't as though March's wrongdoing was a once-off; she'd been pulling this shit for years.

Lily could feel her power being teased apart like the strands of a rope. What came next felt even stranger; flashes of sensation popped behind her eyes like her brain was touching a live wire without bothering to get out of her skull first. With each flash came an awareness of timing and exactitude that she'd never had before, even when she was on top of her form.

The flashes came and went, each appearing sooner and lingering longer than the last. Soon, the intervals with the new awareness were longer than the lacunae without, as if part of her consciousness were somehow blinking occasionally. It was all thoroughly weird and somewhat disturbing, but the hearth-dragon in her arms grounded her, rubbing its head up under her jaw and uttering chest-rumbles that resonated with her heartbeat.

When her new power—or the new version of her old power—had settled in properly, the void within her head began to fill up again. She realised the grafting was done, and the Master of the Castle was putting her power back where it belonged. He'll be done in thirty-one seconds, her newfound awareness told her helpfully.

She was fine with that. As it happened, she would've been fine with him taking twice that time. It was obvious that he knew exactly what he was doing, and the last thing she wanted was to hurry him along. And the more time he took, the more time she would have to cuddle her new friend.

"It is done. The process is complete." With those words, the holding-spell dissolved, and Lily found herself able to move again. Still cradling the hearth-dragon in her arms, she flexed her neck from side to side; everything seemed to work okay.

"Thank you, sir." Standing up, she turned to face him. The new aspects of her power, the enhanced timing and prediction, were unfolding in the back of her mind, opening new vistas and capabilities. More and more, she was seeing exactly how March had pulled off all the bullshit that she had. "I really appreciate this."

He inclined his head to acknowledge her words. "You are entirely welcome. The procedure was useful to my research; I believe my understanding of such matters has been expanded."

"That's good to hear." Prism came closer. "We don't want to waste your time, though. As much as I'd love to stay and explore, we should probably be getting back." With an expression of regret, she scratched the red-and-white hearth-dragon behind the head one last time. "See you next time, little guy." It chirped in reply, rubbed its head alongside her cheek, then took flight to join the others up in the rafters.

Lily looked down at the hearth-dragon she was holding. He—somehow, she knew it was a boy, despite there being zero outward sign of gender—snuggled into her, crooning gently. She didn't want to let him go, and he didn't want to be let go. "Do we have to leave just yet?" she asked plaintively. "Can't we stay just a bit longer?"

"Hah!" Riley fist-pumped. "I win the bet! Pay up, Snek!"

Snek turned his massive head to look quizzically at Riley. "Ssnek not bet. Ssnek agree with Riley. Iss not bet."

"Wait, what?" Prism frowned at them both. "What were you betting on?"

Riley pointed at Lily. "Every time we get people in here from Earth Bet, someone ends up bonding with a hearth-dragon. I bet Snek it would happen this time, too. And it did."

Prism's head whipped around and she stared at Lily and the grey-and-brown hearth-dragon she was still holding. "Bonded?" They both knew the term from watching the footage. "Are you sure?"

Riley folded her arms confidently. "Lily, what's that hearth-dragon's name?"

Before she could stop to think, Lily blurted out, "Einstein."

"Okay." Prism cupped her elbow in one hand and her chin in the other as she surveyed the newly-named Einstein. "Not arguing, but … why that name?"

Lily smirked as her conscious mind put the connections together. "He's really smart, and he looks like he's made of stone."

Prism frowned. "And how do those two go together, exactly?"

"'Ein stein' is German for 'one stone', duh." It was a bit on the nose, Lily knew, but she couldn't help it. "I picked that little pearl up from an Asimov science-facts book in the LA Wards' common room library." She giggled as Prism facepalmed.

"And voila." Riley spread her hands, grinning broadly. "She knows he's a male, and she's already named him. Bonding, my prismatic acquaintance, has commenced."

"And that's all it takes?" Prism glanced up hopefully to where the other hearth-dragons were gathered. "Maybe I could try again …?"

The Master of the Castle spoke gently, but with deep authority. "If you were compatible for bonding with that one, you would already know it. In time, you may bond with another. But that time is not today."

"Oh." Prism nodded, her shoulders slumping a little. "So, what actually dictates whether someone's going to bond, anyway?"

"There's a few factors." Riley ticked off points on her fingers. "Emotional compatibility, emotional need on both sides, and whether someone's actually a good person." She hitched her eyebrows slightly as a grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Just wanting very badly to have a hearth-dragon of your own doesn't quite cut it."

"So … I can take him … with me?" Lily ventured hopefully. If she couldn't, she'd be taking an extended leave of absence from the Wards, Director Wilkins be damned.

"Totally." Riley nodded firmly. "They can't catch anything from humans, and they eat anything we do, plus a few other things. If you need advice and you can't get hold of me, Panacea of New Wave should be able to help you out."

Lily nodded wordlessly, holding Einstein close to her. He's coming back with me! He rubbed his head alongside her jaw with a rising series of chirps, apparently just as thrilled at the development as she was.

"Okay, got it." Prism directed her attention toward the still-captive March. "And what's going to happen to her, now that you've depowered her?"

The Master of the Castle held out his hand, and his staff flew to his grasp. "She may choose to be released into your custody, to serve out whatever term the courts sentence her to, or she may enter the society of this world, to sink or swim as she sees fit." He turned to March, and raised one shaggy eyebrow. "Well, young lady? What is your choice?"

March glowered at them all. "Not much of a choice, is it? First, I want my powers back."

He shook his head, his expression unreadable. "That is not one of your options."

She growled under her breath. "Fine. If I go back to Bet, you can be sure they'll dunk on me every chance they get. I won't get a fair deal, no matter where I go. I'll stay here, so long as you're not gonna lock me up on some bullshit charge as soon as I get up from this damn chair."

Again, he shook his head. "You have committed no crimes here. Your slate is clean. You will be provided with appropriate clothing and some coin to begin your new life. The rest is up to you. Snek?"

"Yess, Masster." The giant snake slithered forward from where he'd been observing the goings-on with interest. March had no time to do more than look alarmed before his jaws closed around her and he slithered out the door with her in his mouth.

Lily blinked, dragging her attention away from Einstein momentarily. "Um, you do know that she's probably going to go straight back into crime, right?"

He bestowed a slight smile upon her. "As I said, that is entirely her choice. But if she does so, she will find that law enforcement is somewhat more robust, here. Others from your world have taken that same option and made good; if she does not, what happens next will rest on her shoulders, and her shoulders alone."

Prism chuckled. "That's fair. However, as much as I've appreciated all this, and how much I would love to stick around for a while, right now we're kind of on the clock. Is it okay if Snek takes us home again?"

"There is no need." The staff tapped once on the floor; without any fuss whatsoever, a portal opened before them. Beyond, Lily recognised the Wards' common room. "You are welcome to visit again at any time, as are any other friends of Snek."

"Thank you, sir." Prism moved forward, leading the way. Lily followed with Einstein in her arms; by the time they stepped through into the familiar surroundings of the common room, they were the focus of all eyes, and some had moved into defensive postures.

There was a stuttering moment of confused recognition, which Einstein broke with a bright, happy chirp of greeting. The portal closed quietly behind them.

"What the hell?" It was Jouster, out of sickbay, though still bandaged here and there. "You're back! And you got a dragon?"

"I did." Lily grinned. As the other Wards gathered around them, she was fairly certain things were going to get more hectic before they became less so, but it was totally worth it.

This is going to be one hell of an after-action report.



End of Part Forty-Three

 

[Kanoun2020]

Nice

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Rmajere]

Thank you, I've said it before but this puts a smile on my face every time I read a new chapter. You do good things for people with your story.

Your A-1 in my book

 

[KamenRaidaOOO3]

Snek continues to be best boy, and I'm looking forward to Colin's reaction to Dragon's new and old states of being.