Chapter 24 : Fighting a "Dragon" I

After yapping for about 10 minutes led by Erac Wilson, the 'Dragon Busting Crew,' as O'kuyo dubbed it, split up to tackle their tasks.

"Sounds a bit fancy, eh? 'Dragon' Busting?" Ryland said to O'kuyo. O'kuyo just grinned and said, "Nah. We're literally dealing with a dragon, so it fits."

Ryland grinned back and nudged O'kuyo. They both chuckled as they headed to their spots. "Good thing we're starting from the same place. Otherwise, I'd be shittin' bricks," Ryland admitted to O'kuyo.

"Yeah, but the real reason Wilson put us here on the ground, with Betty up above us, is to keep our asses safe," O'kuyo explained. "Betty, the Earth Lady up there, can control these earth walls and keep an eye on everything."

He added, "We're the young ones here, with raggedy-ass clothes for armor compared to them. We'll join the fun once shit settles down."

"Got it," Ryland said. Then, he tapped the button on his earpiece to reach Erac Wilson.

"Mr. Wilson... Mr. Wilson," Ryland's voice crackled through the earpiece. Wilson replied, "Yeah kid, what's up? Better be somethin' important. I gave you those earpieces for coordinating, not for shootin' the breeze."

"Shootin' the breeze? Oh, come on Mr. Wilson. That was.... When I asked about Ms. Betty's age before, it was to suss out her power," Ryland defended.

"Yeah, sure. I've been eyeing her ass since day one. I know what you're thinkin'," Wilson joked.

"Hey, dickheads! I can also hear you, you know?" Betty interrupted.

"Oops, sorry Ms. Betty. Mr. Wilson here is just bullshittin' as usual," Ryland explained. "Okay, back to my question. Why are we not asking Grandpa and Mr. Lambda to join us beat this thing. With Grandpa's power and skill I'm sure this will be settle in a blink of an eye," questioned Ryland.

"Kid.. I told you that this Komodo Dragon is gonna be my gift to you. If Shadowstrike and Lambda take it down, we're missin' the point."

Ryland glanced at O'kuyo, seeking his opinion. O'kuyo nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's do this," Ryland said through the earpiece.

"Alright boys, listen up," Betty took over. "Our mission is to take down Rey for Ryland. I need you all to follow my orders at any given time. A stupid mistake might cause you or the person besides you to get injured."

"Got it, Ms. Betty," O'kuyo replied.

"Got it," Daoist chimed in.

"Okay, but remind us about timing, Ms. Betty," Ryland requested.

"Roger that, My Love. Muuah!" replied Wilson, smooching a flying kiss from afar to Betty.

Betty wave a middle finger to Wilson, then continued talking into the comm piece. "Alright. Remember what your tasks are, guys. I will do my best up here to open up your way in and shield you guys accordingly."

"Alright," said Daoist, cocking both guns in his hands, "let's do this!"

"White Boy! Razor!" Ryland called out to both of his summons. Razor immediately climbed up onto Ryland's shoulder, and White Boy hovered behind them.

Ryland told White Boy and Razor about the plan and their positions. White Boy was going to stick around Ryland, while Razor would be joining O'kuyo.

Razor jumped to O'kuyo's shoulder, startling him because it was the first time he had any physical interaction with Ryland's summon. O'kuyo pulled two simple knives out of his sash and imbued them with his Blade Aura.

Wilson adjusted a barrel containing lots of Mercurial closer to the side of the wall in front of him.

Betty spoke up on the comm piece again, "Alright, guys. Get ready... On the count of three..."

"One..."

O'kuyo took advantage of the count to say something to Ryland, "Bro, we're really going to fight a dragon!"

"Two..."

Ryland responded to O'kuyo's statement, "It's not a real dragon, though, but it still counts." Then they both fist-bumped each other.

"Three!"

With that count, Betty immediately created a door on the walls allowing Daoist to open fire with his guns on the Komodo Dragon. But the bullets didn't damage the hard scales of the Komodo Dragon.

As the Komodo Dragon turned to him, Daoist took cover behind the door. The Komodo Dragon quickly ran towards the door, but Betty waved her fist in a motion, and the door closed while another door opened in front of Wilson.

"Alright, my turn!" shouted Wilson. Unlike a normal Komodo Dragon, this Mutated Komodo Dragon was not deaf. In fact, it had better hearing. Wilson's simple shout already attracted its attention, which in turn made it shift its target to Wilson right away.

"Fuck! I didn't get a chance to strike him yet!" said Wilson.

Betty talked into the comm piece, "That's what you get when you shout every time you want to attack, Boss." Betty waved her fist again as Wilson passed the door to close it.

"All right, guys. Remember, this thing has sensitive hearing. Be as quiet as you can because we're doing ambushes by turns to confuse it," said Betty into the comm piece.

"Should have told us that sooner, love. You almost lost your future husband just now," replied Wilson.

"Yeah, right. You want me to turn down the whole wall in front of you, Boss? Just a wave of my fist, and then it's gonna be just you and Rey, one-on-one, how 'bout that?" responded Betty.

"Whoa, easy... Okay. Let's do this again, shall we?" said Wilson as he morphed the Mercurials inside the barrel into a large tower shield and a lance.

"Well, someone is getting serious now," said Betty into the comm piece, "Daoist, Boss is going 'medieval'. So, there's gonna be a minor change in our plan. Kids, you are coming in after Daoist. Don't worry, we'll provide cover for you both."

"Medieval?" asked Daoist, "Alright. So, I will change to a higher fire rate." Daoist ran to his duffel bag just around the corner and took out a piece of sub-machine gun.

Ryland and O'kuyo could only wonder what was happening to their ally right now. They shared a glance and then focused back on their tasks ahead.

Daoist shouted into his comm piece, "Alright, Betty. Now!"

Betty waved down her fist and opened up a door for Daoist. This time, Daoist was running into the Komodo Dragon's soil cage with remarkable speed. The Komodo Dragon turned and started to give chase to Daoist.