Big Nate - Dragon Training Time

Destroyer Hundred

It took some time airborne before realizing I didn't have a clue about the Creator Dragon's exact whereabouts. Shoot! I screeched, taking Pop N' Rock by surprise. She wobbled in the air, and started at me accusingly. I was about to respond, when the ground started to shake. Sing-Song, against her will, swerved to the right against her will, against a flurry of of devastating, rhythmic  gales, almost in sync with a dragon's normal wingbeat... That's when I found out that Jack Frost, Seedling, Flamethrower and Suction were passing by me. The Gem Dragon was with them, only passing through blood-red portals. Once it appeared out of one, it went back into another one, and appeared gain. I frowned, trying to think why it would do something so useless. It was only then that it came to thought that it was practicing its ability. I remembered a quote from Gems of Mystery: The Gem Dragon has only unlocked a hundredth of its power. When it reaches the ultimate goal, Destroyer Hundred, it can rival the power of it. I gasped. "It" was probably the Creator Dragon! I had to stop the Gem Dragon before it reached Destroyer Hundred. Pop N' Rock seemed to understand my thoughts too, but looked up and spoke to me with my eyes. What about your friends? They asked. No, no, I don't know what you're talking about... Wait... OH, YEAH! My friends! I looked around for any sign of them, and I did see one sign. Multiple hands, all of them unmoving, stuck out of their maws. No... I gasped. Rainstorm was right... They're all gone. They've all perished. I shut my eyes tight. Principal Nichols had sent me on a nightmarish task. So nightmarish, it seemed as though nobody could handle it. Gina's loss still stung less, but for some reason, my heart cracked a bit more over her death as well. Sigh... Wait... What was that? Their hands wobbled, and they slowly crawled out and met my eyes. Its just an act, Nate! Francis and Gina hissed carefully. We do have our hands tied, anyway! Tears of relief warmed and flooded my eyes. Even Pop N' Rock sniffled a little. I'm rescuing you guys! I whispered back to them. Then shook their heads frantically, but it made no difference. I lured Sing-Song near them, but Suction's tiny eyes turned, and he faced me. He caterwauled resoundingly, and made me clamp my ears shut. All the dragons turned their heads, and snarled at me. As for Pop N' Rock, she was suffering from zeusophobia, and the Gem Dragon was the second closest thing to a god we'd ever seen, after a literal god, the Creator Dragon. She backed off slowly, as the beam of great energy started at the Gem Dragon's chest. Don't back off! I cried at Pop N' Rock. Do you really want to lose to some stupid dragon-god again! You may be some kind of god due to your excessive rarity yourself! You reach Destroyer Hundred! Pop N' Rock, half-heartedly, started a faint beam of energy in her mouth, but seemed like a couple of fleas in front of the Gem Dragon's  mighty lion. Better! I yelled forcefully, making the beam shine with exceptional radiance. Brighter! I yelped, and it shined as bright as a star. Now fire! I roared, and she did. It collided with the Gem Dragon's beam, and they clashed in the air for a minute. I held my breath. The Gem Dragon's beam seemed to be dominating ours, but just when I was losing all hope, our beam twinkled and exploded in something like a supernova, knocking the Gem Dragon back. I quickly dived for my friends, heaved them onto Pop N' Rock, who managed with all the weight. Then, while the Gem Dragon was stunned, Sing-Song hit it with its own flurry of energy balls. We all grinned, but then, the Gem Dragon scales started to glow, and it regained strength. The balls hit it, but it seemed to chortle instead of screech. It'd only tickled it! I gasped, and the Gem Dragon seemed to have a nasty smile on its face. A portal appeared in midair, and grew. It grew and grew, and engulfed as all. Everything was mute as we were sucked in, and the blood-red light grew lighter and lighter, until it was pure white. Then not the background, but everything for me, had went black. The Gem Dragon... I rasped, subconsciously, as the black wavered slightly. Has reached Destroyer Hundred. Then everything had went everything black. This was getting kind of old.