Big Nate - Dragon Training Time

Unidrake

I walked to the playground after school, as Teddy, Francis, Chad and Dee-Dee followed me. Oh, how dramatic! Dee-Dee cried. A battle between two dragons! A rivalry of the ages! She put her hand on her forehead. Don't be such a drama queen, I rolled my eyes. After hours of enduring Ms. Godfrey (but fortunately no principal, who, thankfully, was replaced by his super-kind father), I couldn't bear to hear Dee-Dee's drama. I stared patting Sing-Song's head. She wagged her tail, but all of a sudden, went pale. Before us was a huge dragon. He stood all fours legs, had keen yellow eyes, a spiked tail, even a spiked spine, and six long wings, each shorter than the other. His entire body was armored, including his eyelids. His head had one long horn on the front, and one shorter horn on the back. His lower teeth looked like fangs, and all the teeth were dripping with venom. And the one leaning over him with a nasty smirk was Gina. Um... This is like a Level 47 boss battle on a dragon game, whispered Francis. Ya sure you don't want your ol' pals with you? Sing-Song whimpered. Gina smiled. My Unidrake will kill all your dragons. Take as many as you like. Chad whimpered, then recited, trembling: D-don't-t. P-poke. The. B-bear. He. M-might-t. EAT YOU! Well said, Gina said, with an all-teeth grin. Her enemies can't withstand that. We all huddled together, except for me. I was flipping through the pages of the handbook Hickey lended me. Unidrake, I whispered. They're drakes... And totally flipping rare! Look at this. There's one Unidrake nicknamed Dukey within P.S 38... And Gina seems to have it! Um... Weaknesses? None! And... Size: Unknown. Speed: Unknown. Habitat: Unknown. Behavior: Unknown. Sheeeeeesh! Francis humphs. This book is no use on Unidrakes. He looked at me. We'll lend you help, though. But not too much. This is mostly your duel. But we're with you! Teddy's Earth Dragon, Seedling, my Frost dragon, Jack Frost, and Dee-Dee's flame wyvern, Flamethrower, and Chad's wind wyrm, Suction. Why did you name him that? I ask Chad. But Chad had stopped trembling, thinking about his own advantages over Dukey. Oh, you'll see, he smiled. It was a sneaky smile, which was typically rare in Chad, but the something-is-going-to-happen-that's-so good-that-I-won't-tell-you sneaky smile, so I returned it, except it was a normal smile. Soon, all our dragons had arrived. The brave Flamethrower flared his nostrils like he was inflating balloons, and let out a puff of smoke, intimidating Dukey. Dukey let out a shriek that almost shattered my eardrums, quite practically. Soon, the battle started. The Unidrake took flight, flying with elegance. I was almost in awe and childlike wonder for a few moments, but then he let out a bloodcurdling roar, and lunged for Sing-Song. Jack Frost leaped into the air, and suddenly started dismembering shards of his body, and they levitated in the air, and were shot at the Unidrake. He dodged with ease so great that it made my inside shrivel, and instead, hit Seedling, who whimpered, and almost fell out of the air. Next, it was Suction's cue. He rode on the air currents, all of a sudden seeming quite weightless. He opened his mouth and roared. I realized that all of a sudden, a hurricane that was sucking the Unidrake into his mouth was occurring! So that's why Chad named him suction! I smiled at the proud-looking Chad. And instead of Gina being worried, she growled and screamed: Stupid dragon! Do better! The Unidrake flinched, but he shook his head. He flew out of the suction trap, and roared at Sing-Song and Flamethrower, who were heading toward him, their wingtips touching. Then I realized the deadly emerald green drops welling in his fangs. I gasped. Watch out! Sing-Song was the first to react. Sooner or later, Dukey lunged for them, his jaws wide open, but Sing-Song had pulled herself and Flamethrower out of the way. Instead, the Unidrake crashed into the ground, it's jaws open so wide with shock, that you could almost see it's esophagus if you looked hard enough. ENOUGH! Gina roared, kicking dust at his eye. All of a sudden, a deep rumble came from his throat. His yellow eyes turned red, and dozen tentacles came reaching out of his mouth. Gina eyes widened. That's no Unidrake! Cried Teddy. It was true. Every feature of him went away, except for the spikes. His body turned red and black, and he became transparent. He stood on two legs now, and there weren't just tentacles coming for his mouth. There were tentacles on every part of him! A faint green marking on his chest turned red, and out came a beam of gamma radiation. Almost everyone was fried, but we ran away just in time. He roared, and his two skyscraper-long wings beat with immense force, and he propelled himself into the air like a fighter jet. And in seconds, he was gone.