Rathnil swore as he threw himself away from the sparking and flaming terminal, his scales protecting him from the worst of the shrapnel.

Theobold charged, his sword raised, and his mouth opened as he screamed his defiance. Arthur moved towards the dragon as well, before a large puddle of goo suddenly falling to the floor forced him to jump to the side. He looked up and wished he hadn’t.

The tubes above them were cracking; breaks were splintering off from the numerous pieces of debris that had pierced the glass. Augustus moved up beside him, swinging his club at the Dogclops that charged at him. It died, but it made him look over to Jemima.

She fired again, and a group of the monsters exploded, but it wasn’t enough. Each of Rathnil’s new mutants had broken out of its cage. They charged her, and she fired once more before holstering her gun and using her fist, feet, and teeth to attack the creatures.

As she did, Theobold’s charge caught his attention. He’d reached Rathnil, and the dragon had grabbed one of the bigger radiation crystals. He used it like a shield, blocking the sword that aimed for his face. All the while, the doors shook, and two panels opened up.

Arthur stood, stunned and unsure of how best to proceed. Fire burned in his chest, its heat reaching up to his brain. His thoughts focused on getting to Rathnil and helping Theobold kill the dragon. They didn’t know how powerful he was. But the rational part of his mind told him Jemima needed help, and someone needed to take care of the Slagsouls before they caused more problems.

Not to mention whatever the door was doing. If his order to blow up the terminal had acted as a quick release, they were all going to die.

In the middle of the floor, the lights still continued to flicker on. An afterthought now.

“What do I do?” He asked himself as the glass continued to rain down.

Augustus got him out of his funk. His chief of security grabbed him and pointed towards the door. It was minute and slow, but Arthur was sure it shifted. He cursed, and together they hurried forward to check on the door.

Glass rained on them as they went. Most pinged off his scales and Augustus’s armor, but it sliced up his suit. He ignored the new gashes, more interested in making sure none of the Slagsouls falling from the sky engulfed him. The acidic goo touched his scales, but it was easy enough to wipe away.

Once on the way, a rather large Dogclops barreled toward him. Augustus stepped up, his bat flashing as he smashed the creature away. It flew, howling, as it crashed into Rathnil, who was now standing. Theobold slashed at the creature as it barked and bit at both the combatants and the surrounding crystals.

Arthur heard another explosion and peeked long enough to glimpse Jemima blowing up a Dogclops that was in the process of being consumed by a Slagsoul. Then they reached the doors and the two levers that sat on either side.

Heat poured out from the tiny gap, tinged with a feeling Arthur couldn’t place. It made his scales itch, and he had to force himself to move closer. Augustus struggled forward, the rat looking pained with every step.

Even with the rage that boiled his brain, he couldn’t help but fear the thing that lived inside. The gap was too small to see anything, and he was grateful for that. He knew simply seeing the thing would be enough to end him.

The words Emergency Close sat above the levers, and Arthur thanked whoever designed this so they didn’t need to be pulled in synch. With one hand, he grasped and strained as he pulled it down. It fought against him, the sound of grinding filling the air as he tugged. With a roar, he willed the heat to focus on his arms.

He winced at the sound of the metal rod crashing into place. His breathing came hard, and his mind was having trouble thinking as he looked over to where Augustus stood. Their lever hadn’t moved.

“Come on,” Arthur growled at himself as he moved over to help.

However, before he could get there, something hard and fast whipped into his chest. A radiation crystal that bounced away along the ground. He paused, looking over to where Theobold stood. The young mutant was still violently hacking, but this time it wasn’t at Rathnil. Familiar purple smoke surrounded him, and he was screaming something at enemies only he could see.

“Oh, shi—” Arthur thought, suddenly remembering his previous encounter with the dragon.

A sprinting Rathnil broke free of the cloud, destroying his train of thought. Radiation crystals filled both hands, and with a snarl, he tossed them both at Arthur’s face. He brought his arms up instinctively, but that was all the time the dragon needed. Squeaks and roars filled the air, and Arthur lowered his arm.

Rathnil hovered in the sky, gripping Augustus as he flew them up higher towards the ceiling. What remaining Slagsouls were left in the tubes oozed about. His heart stopped as he understood what would happen.

“NO!” Arthur roared as he tossed his cane like a spear at one of Rathnil’s wings.

The roar he received back was gratifying. Augustus dropped with a yell, his face inches away from the goo monsters. He landed on the floor in a cacophony of clattering armor. Arthur ran to him, even as Rathnil landed with a thump nearby.

With desperation, he flipped up the rat’s visor to look into his dilated eyes. While he barely responded, he could tell he was still alive. Fury burned, fire filling him. He looked towards Rathnil, who laughed as he staggered closer.

“You thought her pathetic gift would save you?”

Arthur didn’t respond. He couldn’t. Any words he wanted to say burned up in his throat. They fed the fire, and it grew. Larger and larger, until he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Crouched over the body of his first real hire, he breathed fire.

The gout of flame streamed towards Rathnil, who attempted to dodge. However, he wasn’t quick enough. His lab coat caught fire first, and then his t-shirt and pants. Rathnil screamed, beating at it as he burned. Arthur didn’t relent. He dropped his briefcase, uncaring, as he picked up Augustus’s heavy bat.

It felt good in his arms as he raced towards Rathnil, his tunnel vision blinding him to anything else.

“DIE!” Arthur roared, and Rathnil simply laughed.

“When the door opens and you come with me!”

Arthur didn’t bother to respond; instead, halfway through a swing with the bat. Rathnil half jumped, half fell to get out of the way, stumbling slightly—nose inches away from the swinging metal. With a growl, Arthur shot out another burst of flame, which Rathnil mimicked with his purple smoke.

The resulting explosion as the two collided hurled them both across the room. Arthur hit the floor with a thump, rolling before he got back to his feet. A smile graced his face. Rathnil had fared far worse. His landing spot had left him half buried in the radiation crystals, some of which he was pulling out of his arms.

Theobold turned towards the noise, shouting something about monsters coming from the woods. His sword came down, and Rathnil dodged again, breathing more smoke into the air to keep the ex-knight distracted.

Before Arthur could move to help, a barking Slimeberus attacked, teeth bared. He spun, raising the bat, and caught the lunging bite in the same way he’d used his cane on a multi-pup so long ago. However, this time, he was stronger. Much stronger.

A sharp twist of the bat caused the dog to topple over onto its side, and he stamped down, crushing one head against the ground. He stomped the rest in rapid succession. Arthur didn’t want to play with this thing. Not when he had an actual enemy to fight.

“Help!”

The yell caught his attention, and he turned to see Jemima getting overwhelmed. Slimeberus of all sizes were surrounding her. She looked panicked, and she fired, but all that did was create more enemies to face.

Through his rage haze, he knew he should help her, but he could see Theobold getting driven back. Distracted once again by figments.

Arthur paused, unsure what to do, until Jemima’s disappearance into a mass of goo dogs decided for him.

***

Rage filled him as he watched another one of his employees fall.

With a quick check around the room, he noticed Theobold still fighting off Rathnil. The dragon fought more defensively, as he tried to avoid getting his eyes slashed even as he punched the knight away. Not that Theobold even seemed to notice as he continued to scream about demons and Pit Fiends.

Augustus was struggling to get up, hands on his head, as he scooted away from the slowly amassing goo piles that crawled towards him. He almost moved to help him, but a bark cut Jemima’s cry short.

Arthur roared and ran towards a pile, swinging the spiked club he still held. A Slimeberus that came up to his hip splattered, goo flying hard enough to hit the ceiling. The others in the pile turned, with a few smaller ones moving towards him with yips and growls. He wanted to scream for them to get away, but instead he produced a column of flames.

His fire burned them, sizzling the goo away to nothing. As their companions burned, the others in the pile dashed away. Arthur refused to let them escape. As Jemima crawled away, goo sliding off her scales, he acted as a living flamethrower. Any Slimeberus stupid enough to stay nearby cooked.

With one hand, he pulled Jemima to her feet. She stood, panting and spitting, as she tried to get the taste of the ooze out of her mouth. He waited for her, occasionally launching more gouts of flame.

“Thanks,” she said as she readied her gun and fired at a group of sizeable monsters that were getting too close to Augustus.

“Not now,” Arthur growled, restraining the fire with sheer force of will to get the words out. “We need to make sure they don’t swarm Augustus the same way.”

Jemima nodded. “What about Theobold?”

“He’ll need to fend for himself for now. Stay away from the mist.”

He didn’t wait for her response as he tugged her forward, occasionally letting out a gout of flame at any of the Slagsouls or Slimeberus that came near. Not that many of the former remained. Jemima took another few shots and then stopped firing with a grimace.

“I only have a couple of bullets left. At least of the explosive versions,” she said as she gestured with her gun.

Arthur nodded. “Save them for the dragon.”

They reached Augustus not long after, with Jemima helping the rat to his feet as Arthur burned away anything that came even close. He watched as another plume of purple smoke billowed from Rathnil’s mouth. Theobold dropped to his knees, ripping off his helmet as he coughed.

Jemima made to shoot, but Arthur gripped her wrist. It was a struggle to speak. All he wanted to do was shoot a gout of flame at the dragon. However, he could see the smug look in Rathnil’s eye. As though he dared him to do it.

 “No. No fire,” he growled. “Fists. Bites and claws. Kill him. I need to get to the lever. Close the door.”

“On it, boss,” Jemima growled as she scooped down to pick up a large piece of sharp glass.

As she did, he turned to Augustus. His chief of security looked beat but determined. With a shaky nod, he motioned towards the dragon and let out a squeak.

“If you feel up to it.”

That got him a nod, and Augustus took back the bat, and Arthur watched as both of his employees made their way towards the smoke and the dragon. He wished them the best as he turned and hurried towards the door.

The first lever was still down, and so he ignored it on the way to the second. As he moved past the door, he noticed it was open enough that he could now fit an arm through. Heat poured from the opening, and he swore he saw something green inside. His body itched, as though something moved beneath his scales.

Not that he cared. No. There was a job to do, and he was going to do it.

With a growl, he gripped the second lever and pulled down. It refused to budge. The metal was straining, and for a moment, he was afraid he was going to break the lever before it fell. Then it budged. Only an inch, but he knew he felt it move.

From behind him, he heard a draconic roar. Arthur refused to look; he had to trust that his employees knew what to do. If they couldn’t hold them back, all was lost. A quick check at the door confirmed this. It was opening faster. More glimpses of green flashed through.

Arthur threw himself at the lever, wrapping his arms around it and leaning back, trying to get gravity to do the work. Another jerk as it fell an extra few centimeters. More roars, and he felt something hard hit his back. He ignored it.

Another centimeter. Two more to go, he thought, and it would be done.

Heat continued to pour from the door, and he swore he could feel blisters forming. Tears formed in his eyes. Another centimeter. Something much harder crashed into his back, and he felt hands wrap around his throat before he lost his grip on the lever. Curses died, unable to be voiced as Rathnil pulled him into the air.

“Let this happen, Arthur!”

They hovered in the center of the room, and he could see Jemima fighting off Theobold. Augustus was nearby, leaning on his bat. His vision faded.

“All I wanted to do was do my science.” Rathnil sounded like he was about to cry. “That’s all I wanted.”

“No one cares!” Arthur screamed in his mind as he scratched at the hands that held him.

Together, they hovered in the air. Breaths were harder to come by as he continued to scrabble at purple scales. Then, in his dizzy state, he saw Augustus turn and head for the lever. It was so close to being done—so close to finishing. Unfortunately, Rathnil noticed it too.

“Stay away from that, rat!” he cried, but Augustus ignored him.

Even in his current state, he could tell what a toll simply being near the door was costing his chief of security. His friend. His armor looked like it was melting into him. That didn’t stop him from gripping the handle. However, he didn’t pull. With one loud squeak, he simply dropped to the floor, his entire weight pulling it closed.

The klaxon ended as the door snapped shut.

Arthur couldn’t breathe and couldn’t think. Augustus lay on the ground, his armor glowing from the sheer heat. With one hand, he ripped Rathnil’s arm from around his throat, and they fell. Together, they hit the glowing lights in the center of the room, most smashing under their wait. Not that he noticed.

His entire attention was on smashing Rathnil into the ground. The dragon tried to fight back. Keyword: Tried. No one else in the world mattered as much as destroying the beast in front of him. Rathnil’s head looked almost ready to pop as he smashed it into the ground again. Then the light blurred, and Arthur found himself somewhere else.

He couldn’t focus on the room. Even as Rathnil groaned in pain beneath him, his attention caught a familiar figure. One that caused almost everything else to vanish from his mind. The fat secretary’s eyes widened behind his glasses as he backed up.

“A-Arthur… I...” his words trailed off as he raised his hands, as though showing he didn’t mean any harm. 

The sheer gall of the action did nothing but stoke the flames that filled him. His throat was on fire as he took a thudding step that reverberated around the room. All he could manage was a single word. 

“YOU!”