The Great Fiend's palm finished extending and a bolt of blue energy flew away from his fingertips and made its way to the princess. The Dragon Princess recognized she had no chance to stand up to this energy bolt. She knew at this moment all she could do was wait for death. Everyone knew the Princess's fate was sealed. No one here could save her!
Unexpectedly, a shadow flashed in front of the Dragon Princess. The shadow stood in front of the energy bolt and let it strike his chest. Nothing happened!
"Sorry Miss, it looks like I was a little late getting here." The shadow said as it turned around slowly to face her. To her shock, a young Dragon Man around her age with gold horns turned to face her. The Dragon Man wore a blue and white suit with a cape.
He looked dashing and powerful. Women were always attracted to confidence. The more confident the male, the stronger the female's attraction. The man before her exuded endless confidence. Even standing before the Great Fiend, he seemed totally confident as if he were invincible.
Of course, this Dragon Man was Lorne, who was training in the new universe for the last few months. Lorne grew up while he was in the new universe. Long ago he grew out of being a Dragon baby. His adult mind now matched with his adult body.
All grown up, Lorne exuded a powerful aura. He had trained diligently and relentlessly in the new universe under Master River's guidance. The suit he wore was a gift from his brother Big Bear. It represented the invincible power Lorne gained over the period of his training. It also represented the hope he represented.
Lorne was named the Invincible Hero by the humans of Earth. He even believed himself to be invincible. Then, Lorne faced the invading forces of members of his own people. They threatened everything Lorne loved and wanted to protect. However, it was at the moment when he needed to be invincible he learned just how weak he was.
Lorne experienced this feeling of weakness many times even after his reincarnation. Even after he grew many times more powerful, he was still plagued by the feeling of being helpless. Master River changed that. Lorne never had a true master before he met Master River. His uncle Heken or BS42 instructed him but that was just training for using his powers. Master River offered a path of knowledge and wisdom allowing him to grow far beyond the limits of power Lorne previously conceived.
He felt he was so powerful he wondered if even his father could match his strength. Lorne normally wouldn't have the guts to think he was stronger than his father, but BS42 commented several times recently he had never seen strength equal to the strength Lorne displayed! This was high praise as BS42 typically liked to insult Lorne and undermine his confidence. He believed this praise helped drive him forward. Maybe it did.
Allowing his thoughts to travel to this point he looked at the Dragon Princess he had saved once more. The feeling of saving her as an adult was much different from saving her as a Dragon baby. She was very beautiful, and he became interested in her as he learned from Kal how brave and capable she was.
"If you don't mind miss, I think you should retreat from the field of battle. It's my turn to fight for the people of the Dragon Empire," said Lorne.
"Ying Xiong, is that you? You've grown up." The Dragon Princess said with surprise. The last time she saw the true form of the invincible seeming dragon before her, he was still a baby.
Lorne was shocked, how did she know his secret identity? Was it a wild guess or did she gather secret intelligence somehow? He didn't look anything like the Dragon baby.
The Dragon Princess could tell Lorne's thoughts as she gently laughed.
"Don't blame your friend too much, he was very excited about how great his brother was and let things slip." She said as she glanced at the unconscious Big Bear.
Lorne looked at Big Bear's collapsed body and sighed. That's what he gets for sharing his secret with a Bear Man. They are too honest and can't help but get confused when trying to keep secrets. It was as if they didn't get how secrets worked. Oh well, what could he do? He was about to enter the final battle of the Fiend War and what did a secret identity matter when it wasn't clear whether he would survive the day.
"Princess, we can talk later but if you don't mind, I would like to secure your safety before things get more intense." As he said this he tossed a look towards the strangely patient and waiting Great Fiend. The Princess seemed to suddenly remember they were in the middle of a war.
"Of course, good luck Xiong," said the princess.
"If you don't mind, please call me The Invincible Dragon!" Lorne insisted with a dashing smile.
"Uh, ok?" The Dragon Princess responded to Lorne's strange request. This title seemed a little shameless to her. Who goes around calling themselves 'invincible?' Of course, given how powerful he was, it seemed the term 'invincible' wasn't too far off from the truth.
Even though she found Lorne to be a little full of himself, at the same time she couldn't help but feel attracted to such confidence. A strong Dragon was what every young Dragon girl desired. The Princess was no different. Who didn't want their very own Dragon Charming?
"Thank you for waiting," Lorne said to the Great Fiend.
"It's nothing much, I'm very curious about you. You seem to have a lot of confidence. I've never met someone call themselves 'invincible' before. Even among the strongest and most shameless Fiends none have dared to call themselves 'invincible.' Yet, I guess you're shameless enough to do it." The Great Fiend laughed.
"It's not a name I gave myself. Besides, it's more of a goal. I want to be invincible so I can protect others. I don't truly believe I am invincible. However, I know right now, even if I'm not 'invincible,' it doesn't mean I'm weak. I think the two of us have no others in this realm who can match us. We have no choice but to fight otherwise fighting wouldn't be much fun," said Lorne as he realized his comment made it sound like he thought fighting was fun. It could be fun, but given all of the death around him, it probably wasn't the most appropriate thing to say.
"You sound like a Fiend. You also think war is fun? Even with the death of family, friends, and brothers in arms, you don't mind admitting you find fighting to be fun." The Great Fiend complimented Lorne.
"I didn't mean it like that, I just meant you and I are the strongest here and fighting anyone else would be pointless. Everyone should just surrender." Lorne amended his comment but still felt he wasn't articulating his meaning correctly.
"Oh, so you actually think me fighting you isn't pointless? Fascinating, I wonder if you're a fool or you have some ability. I suppose we should find out." The Great Fiend said as he disappeared from his spot; intending to take Lorne by surprise and end him early.
Lorne wasn't fooled, and he could see the quick movements of the Great Fiend. Many were shocked they couldn't even see the Great Fiend. However, if they thought about it, wasn't this what happened with the battle between Big Bear and Captain Mobux?
The Great Fiend was gone, but Lorne also disappeared. Only the topmost experts were able to observe the fight. Even Master River had hidden nearby to watch the fight. He was impressed with the capabilities of both fighters. It was too bad one of the duos was a Fiend, otherwise, Master River might have offered to take him in as a disciple.
Fighting back and forth with just their bare fists, Lorne and the Great Fiend were two agents of destruction and chaos. Seeing they were about to flatten everyone around them, Lorne flew up into the sky as fast as he could.
This fight was too much for this world. Lorne took the fight up through the atmosphere into space. In space, Lorne was freer to battle. Lorne wasn't going to hold anything back. Lorne rushed forward and led his attack with his laser vision which surprised the Great Fiend.
With the break in the Great Fiend's defenses, Lorne rushed forward and shot a series of super speed punches into the Great Fiend's chest. He followed this with a right and left hook and finished with a front kick to the chest. The Great Fiend was blasted backward.
However, Lorne didn't let up! As he was flying as fast as he could to catch up to the Great Fiend's body; he continued to blast the Great Fiend's body with his laser vision. Drawing close again, Lorne started to throw out front punches alternating between his left and right hands. His third dragon hand released a vicious blast which caused the Great Fiend to fly backward once again. Lorne repeated his action of hitting the Great Fiend with his Laser Vision while getting into striking distance.
Lorne drew back his right hand to punch the Great Fiend, but just before the fist connected, it was captured by the Great Fiend's left hand. The Great Fiend's grip strength was so powerful Lorne was made immobile.
"ENOUGH!" The Great Fiend yelled, at Lorne.
"You think your puny attacks can hurt me? All you're doing is ticking me off!!!" The Great Fiend yelled out as he punched Lorne with a hard right cross. Of course, the Great Fiend aimed so Lorne's body shot toward the throneworld.
Lorne's body created a huge "Ka-BOOM" sound as it struck the earth. Lorne was knocked deep into the planet. A canyon like crater was created and at the center of it was a hole traveling through the planet in the shape of a person.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO POWERFUL, BUT YOUR PUNCHES DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A BLOODY NOSE! Get a clue kid, you and this Dragon Empire are about to go extinct.
A light burst from the hole as a glowing figure ascended into the air.
"Oh, is that what you think?" Lorne asked derisively.