Ben was now straight in the path of the angry dragon, and his Omnitrix was still on cooldown. He yelped and jumped behind a tree on the side. His eyebrows furrowed. Then he pulled out the grappling hook and the guitar, holding one in each hand. He had to fight the dragon some way until the Omnitrix came back on.

He decided that in the absence of a real weapon, he would have to try and hit it with the guitar, Quick Draw McGraw style. When Vendral flew past the tree he would shoot off the grappling hook to try and pull up to the dragon's back. Then, as Cole suggested, he'd try and batter the wings so that it would, if not stop flying, slow its speed so the others could catch up. This was a crazy plan, he knew this, but he felt like he had to do something.

Plague Knight failed to hear Ben's response, as the knight was currently running to quickly to help the boy after his wipe out. Soon the dragon came into view. The knight muttered to himself as he made various calculations in his head, preparing bombs having a metal casing with a viewport and surrounded by five pointing ends that looked like the ends of bubble wands with Component Powder and Impact Fuses.

As soon as he was running directly underneath the dragon's belly overhead, he wait for an opening in the tree tops, and then tossed three bombs, one after another. Each bomb immediately was engulfed in a large bubble, causing it to float into the air like a balloon. If the bombs hit, each bomb would explode upon impact with the dragon, creating a bigger explosion with each one that hit, the final launching pink fireballs in different directions as well.

MANA REMAINING: 68%

edited 11th Feb '16 10:33:11 PM by UdtheImp

This was a rather persistent dragon. Twilight was too slow to outrun it, so she would have to take advantage of her agility to keep herself and Tairee safe until the others had the dragon occupied.

"Hang on!"

Twilight, attempting to keep the dragon busy, stopped trying to specifically outrun it, and instead started to try zigzagging away and flying in circles around the dragon to try and stay out of danger. All the while staying as close to the ground as possible (admittedly not easy due to the fire the dragon had left) in order to give the grounded allies clear shots.

Dragon Velocity Zone/ Act 1

Sonic saw Ben ran into a tree root.

Not bad for a rookie. He might get used to it.

Sonic saw the dragon. He looked at Ben, who seemed like he had a plan.

He then saw some kind of unicorn fly circles around the dragon. Thinking a bit, he decided to try and keep up with the dragon. He won't try to attack it, but rather, instead, he would try and run with the dragon. In case whatever Ben had in mind didn't work, He would make sure that the dragon wouldn't escape.

So, Sonic ran out, and positioned himself beneath the dragon, running at it's pace.

Grimlock; Dragon form

Top of the Plant Thing

He tilted his head. He was confused. "Of course ya don't. ...So you just wanna...stay up here...by yourself? 'cause I wanna head down to the library."

Then Morty looked at his leg. He took a piece of the dead spriggan and asked if a splint was the right thing for the situation.

"Uh... I don't know," he said. "Fixit would just use some tools to fix me up." A moment passed. He didn't really knew what a split was or what it was for. "But I'm organic now, so uh...maybe?"

Mary - It's My Knife

Sadness' request caught Mary a bit off-guard, and she hesitantly pulled the dagger out once more. On one hand, the blue emotion was right: it could slip while she was climbing and it could hurt her or someone below if it fell down. But on the other hand...

The fabricated girl had almost extended her whole arm forward to give Sadness the knife, but she suddenly retracted it back.

"But what if someone else tries to hurt me? she asked, taking the time to point at Sawyer. "She said there could be other dangerous things up there, so shouldn't I keep it just in case?"

edited 10th Feb '16 2:39:54 PM by Katarsus

Oh. Mary was smart. Sadness had considered that, but also tried to pretend she wasn't considering it...if that made any sense. At any rate, now she had to counter that too. Looks like she'd have to make some personal sacrifice.

"I could go up with you and protect you," Sadness said, quite reluctantly. "Like a bodyguard. I know this whole princess thing didn't work out..." (It was safe to bring that up again, right?) "...but princesses have bodyguards all the time. So, um, you wouldn't have to do any of the hard stuff like walking in high heels or sending lots of armymen out to fight in wars and die - everyone would just be like, 'hey! That girl has a bodyguard with a knife! She must be royalty!'"

Sadness laughed nervously. "If anything, I look fancier than you do right now." She tugged at her hennin hat. "So I'd probably draw away the dragon's attention. Especially if I looked really dangerous."

Cole had suggested a major part of Lune's plan. Guess strange minds, especially minds from different walks of life, think alike. However, that suggestion is incomplete. How are they going to get on the dragon's back without it noticing? Will a two-pronged attack work?

Koishi and Rex listened intently for Lune's plan. "We're gonna break into two groups. One group will attack the wings, and one group will distract the dragon. I will lead the distraction group. Anyone willing to lead the group going to attack the wings?"

edited 10th Feb '16 3:08:33 PM by josh6243

Cole was silent a moment, tilting his head to one side as though listening again, then offered an unusually meek statement. "If we...distract the heads in two different directions...would that perhaps make the dragon slow down? If that were the case, if someone can get me onto its back, I should be able to get one of the wings. I'm not afraid of falling."

Top of the beanstalk

Lune revealed her plan: It involved splitting into two groups to distract the dragon and cut its wings.

"I'm your man. I can fly and I have my own chainsaw"

Cole added that using two targets to distract the dragon could make things easier and he could cut the wings with his dagger.

"So, Lune and Koishi will distract one of the dragon's heads while I carry Cole to its back and distract the other head. Does that sound good?"

"Huh, y-you know, that makes sense," said Morty, who had no idea who or what a fixit was. "I mean, c-cause, you know, the name's Fixit... so, uh, real probably good at... fixin' things up, huh?" When Grimlock mentioned that he had no idea if a splint would work - and his tone of voice suggested that he probably didn't even know what a splint was - Morty shook his head and tossed the sticks over his head.

"Y-yeah, you know, that's probably a dumb idea. I, uh, I took a first-aid class once... b-but, you know, I dunno how to make a splint... or heal a dragon." Morty rubbed the back of his head. "Ma-maybe we should just go back to that library, huh?"

Rick grappled for a position on the dragon's back, slowly and painfully clawing his way up toward the leftmost head. It wasn't easy going; his suit was shedding bits and pieces with every movement; gears and bits of jury-rigged armor shearing off- although the basic framework was still holding steady. By the time that he had reached the top of the body, his machine was leaking steam from several vents, with his right leg reduced to a pile of struts. Rick chugged back another round of alcohol, gritted his teeth, clenched both levers forward, and stabbed his suit's sword-arm into the base of the monster's neck - keeping his other arm up and ready to intercept the other head in case it decided to interfere.

edited 10th Feb '16 7:03:36 PM by Locoman

Lune listened to Cole and nodded. He seemed pretty bold if he wanted to lead the attack on the dragon's wings. It almost reminded her of Masaki when he took charge of a group of lost people during the confusion caused by the mass-summoning of her fellow surface dwellers to La Gias.

Rex asked her if she was fine with this arrangement. She nodded and said, "I'm perfectly fine with this plan for now. Let's get going!" With that said, she clenched her hand and raised it in triumph.

Koishi Komeiji, normally, had troubles getting anyone to notice her at all. Distracting a dragon from noticing someone who is trying to kill it wasn't going to be easy for her, especially considering she wouldn't be able to fire a barrage of colorful rose petals and hearts to blind it. She always was more of a "shoot opponent" person instead of a "dodge opponent" person, anyway.

However, Brave Samurai Koishi-chan wasn't aware of that! She raised her sword in the air to mime Lune's fist pump, and said "Of course!" She then tried to put her sword away, before realizing that this weapon had no scabbard. Furrowing her brow, she tried to hand it off to Lune, saying "Carry this. I'm gonna keep it."

She went behind her, and tried to awkwardly position her arms to get a stable hold on Lune's arms. "I...I guess I'm going to carry you, alright?" She had no experience with carrying living things heavier than an Orin, so it must've been very uncomfortable for this lady.

It was pretty uncomfortable for Koishi, as well, but perhaps it was best that she was a distraction instead of a combatant. She didn't realize it, but she had absolutely no idea how to use a sword. Oh well.

edited 11th Feb '16 11:44:26 AM by wikkit

Cole looked at the others, seeming a bit startled, but then just nodded slightly to Rex, clearly not looking forward to flying again. "Yes. I am ready. If you can get me to the dragon's back, I can do the rest."

Asgore seemed downright horrified that Sawyer would suggest torture as a viable option "Let's... Let's please not sink that low. Besides, I would not want to risk making the being who brought us here angry, those two must have some sort of connection to each other and I do no think her boss would be very pleased if we did something like that to her and considering how powerful he seems to be, angering him looks unwise," he said, although he couldn't possibly know if Miss Tairee's boss actually cared about her or not, still, he was hoping his argument was good enough to dissuade Sawyer from considering using such a method to get information from her.

He then looked at Sadness and Mary, getting increasingly concerned about their safety the more they seemed to be intent to flee from the dragon by climbing the beanstalk.

"You two should simply head back to the library, I doubt the dragon would pursue either of you as it seems to only be hostile if you provoke it."

But Torture Is Fun

Sawyer seemed unimpressed with Asgore's argument. "Would his dragon kidnap her and drag her around in abject terror?" She offered a counterpoint. Of course, the dragon didn't necessarily have to be his, whoever he was, but given that it appeared mostly for the purpose of kidnapping Miss Tairee, Sawyer wouldn't give it any chances.

Base of the Beanstalk

Spectre Knight listened to Asgore and the headswoman debate on whether to torture Ms. Tairee as soon as they were able to get their hands on her. Personally, he didn't particularly care either way, although it would feel nice to take his anger out on someone. He spoke up.

"Most likely, Ms. Tairee will eventually die. If she's really so important, than she'll respawn like the rest of us. Besides," he looked at Asgore, "you don't have to torture her, if you don't wish to do so."

edited 11th Feb '16 6:53:10 AM by astrokitty

Beanstalk

"I can do the torturing." Sawyer offered with a shrug. "I'm adept in it so that they don't die. Comes with the job."

She looked at Asgore again. "And if her boss wishes to come down here himself, well, we won't have to torture her any longer." The implication seemed to be that he would take Miss Tairee's place on the operating table. (oh, having an operating table here would be a boon)

edited 11th Feb '16 7:49:23 AM by FergardStratoavis

Top of the beanstalk — About to take down a dragon

"Let's waste no more time then!"

With that, he created a pair of mechanical wings that thanks to the day conditions were partially made of wood.

"Come on Cole, hold on to the wing. It's gonna be a bumpy ride"

Cole grimaced, but tucked away his dagger and held on tight with both hands, squeezing his eyes shut. "Tell me when we're close. I...do not think I enjoy this activity...flying. But I am ready."

Lune was grabbed by Koishi. She was rather calm even though her life was in Koishi's hands. A slip up on Koishi's part can be rather fatal for Lune. She just nodded back to Koishi.

Grimlock; Dragon form

Top of the Plant Thing

Morty just threw away the sticks, saying it was probably a dumb idea. He mentioned something about first aid class. He then suggested going back to the library. ... Isn't that what he tried to say to him?

"Sure," he said anyway. He lowered his neck to the ground, making it easy for even Morty to climb on, whether at the base of his neck or just behind his head. "You wanna go down on me? Or you wanna go down yourself?"

Mary - Master of Manipulation Indecision

"Hmmm... okay," Mary finally replied with a nod, handing over the knife without a hint of hesitation. "But I guess if the dragon does come after you, then I'll have to do something about it. Hopefully it won't."

She would've knelt down to let Sadness climb onto her back, but then Asgore stated that they'd be much safer in the library. Sawyer said something about kidnapping (which was a thing that princesses went through quite often, according to what she'd read) and the topic simply became "torture"... whatever that was.

She glanced back at the library. Wasn't that where the dragon had come from in the first place? She definitely didn't want to go back there as long as the thing was still flying free, because if it'd come from there, it could definitely return. Other buildings? Maybe. The library? Definitely not.

But she also started to hesitate somewhat about the whole climbing idea. It was already quite dark, so it'd be hard to see where she was stepping.

"Hmmm..." Mary pondered for a few seconds, then turned towards Sadness. "Maybe hiding inside a building is a better idea. The dragon doesn't look like it'd fit inside one."

edited 11th Feb '16 2:42:15 PM by Katarsus

As Kouta ran, he noticed Marcus was back. He simply glanced to him.

"Hey... You want to work together to take out the Dragon?" Kouta asked. He knew that the guy tried to kill them earlier that day, but he could probably try to get him to ally up. As he asked that, he took out his Musou Saber and fired at the Dragon.

Chasing after the now zigging and circling Twilight, Vendral's flight path became too erratic for Plague Knight to get a solid hit on; even the largest phase of his explosive only grazed the underside of Vendral, dealing superficial damage to his armored scales. Vendral's pursuit was eventually halted as Ben and Rick both climbed into position on Vendral's body and attacked. Ben's guitar made a loud noise as he struck, just like the electric guitar would if hooked up to a speaker and someone yanked on all the strings at once; it also dug into the scales with surprising ease, the red body of the guitar cutting as if it were an axe blade. An incredibly strong axe blade, at that. Ben's cut along with Rick's stab into the left neck made Vendral roar out in pain. As his left head spotted more people coming his way via flight, the dragon decided it was time for a change in battle plan.

Vendral's wings started flapping with even more intensity as he started to climb in altitude rapidly. His right head swung around to deal with Rick's machine, meeting and biting into the arm of the machine just as Rick had planned for. What Rick had probably failed to account for though, was the fact that the head was about as big as his mech, and the neck held far more strength than his machine did. Though the arm did stop the teeth, Rick could do nothing as the right head pushed his machine off the left neck and hoisted it into the air. Then his arm block proved to backfire even further, as it provided the perfect handle for Vendral to hold the machine in place with, as flames appeared in the back of its mouth. Giving the machine a quick dousing of superhot flames for good measure, Vendral then tossed the contraption into the open air to fall towards the city. (If Rick was not lying to Morty earlier, the machine then presumably exploded somewhere in mid air underneath Vendral.)

With Rick's machine taken care of, Vendral continued to climb until he entered a large cloud bank. He had done nothing to deal with Ben yet, but now the aspiring hero was being pelted by a barrage of sheets of paper, smacking onto his body and delivering some really painful papercuts. As for those who were following Vendral via flight, well, if Vendral thought he was being hidden in the could bank he wasn't doing a very good job; they could clearly tell where he was hovering in place from the turmoil his flapping of massive wings was causing among the sheets of paper. They could easily move in and reach him.

Down on the ground, Brother Marcus did not take his eyes off of the large dragon, but did respond to Kouta nonetheless. "Do not think that this makes us 'friends', heretic" Brother Marcus said, the scorn clear in his tone, "cross me and I will make you know firsthand the Emperor's wrath, dragon or not." the space marine continued to watch with a calculating eye as Vendral flew into the cloud bank, then turned his gaze on the people flying through the sky, recognizing some as others that he had fought earlier. "Hmm" the space marine stated with both indignation and curiosity, as he waited to see how events unfolded.