Luke wished he could say that things were going well, but that would make him a liar.
He had done his best to keep his fight with the dragon swarm outside the city, but that plan had gone out the window the second the dragon had managed to swat him midair with its tail all the way through the window of one of the skyscrapers.
He grunted, feeling an ache all over his body. He'd managed to use his telekinesis to absorb as much of the impact from the strike as he could, as well as the impact of hitting the window and then the office desk, but that had only done so much.
He checked his chest wound and was glad to see that it hadn't reopened, but if he kept this up, that could soon change.
"Ok, dragon bastard," he muttered, walking towards the window. "Let's…" He stopped, watching the massive shape coming right for him. "Oh…"
The dragon crashed right into the building, shattering half the floor with one strike with the offices and furniture going flying. Luke shot up into the air as much as he could, doing his best to avoid all the debris. The dragon kept coming, shoving its snout into the building and demolishing the upper floor.
"Hey! This is public property you know!" Luke yelled. He tried to shove it back with his powers but it was too big and powerful. Instead, he grabbed whatever he could with his mind and sent those towards the dragon. An assortment of chairs, tables, water coolers, desks, office walls, computers, and everything else he could grab smashed into the dragon. Luke knew it was basically like throwing candy at a grizzly bear but it was distracting the thing at least.
He reacted faster than he thought he could, hearing the crashing sounds coming from the side and reaching out with his mind to grab hold of the smaller dragon before it could attack.
"Here, go to mama!" he yelled, sending it along with the rest of the stuff towards the big dragon where it was promptly crushed to bits in the giant jaws. The big dragon seemed to know what it had done somehow and roared in outrage, redoubling its efforts to get at Luke. The bottom floors crumbled away under the onslaught of its legs while the spikes on its head tore the upper floors apart.
That actually gave Luke an idea. He took a quick look around, spotting what he needed. He was no engineer, but he was pretty sure when he ripped the support columns away, the rest of the roof would come crumbling down, trapping the dragon in the debris. That should buy him a few minutes at least.
He focused and grabbed hold of the nearest column, tearing it apart with his mind. He moved onto the next one and the next, finding them easier to destroy than he would have expected. Soon, the entire upper floor began to crumble and shake. Just as the dragon was about to close in, the floor collapsed on top of it, which only began a chain reaction as all the other floors above it crumbled down as well. Luke blasted his way to the side, dodging through all the debris and shattering the windows to soar out before he could get crushed.
He breathed out in relief as he made it out into the open air, looking down at the now partially collapsed building. The dragon's bottom half was still on the outside, its feet digging into the lowers floors as it tried to gain traction.
"I'm going to get sued for this aren't I?" Luke muttered to himself. At least no one was hurt. He didn't know why, but it looked like the city had been evacuated in time. Hopefully that meant his family was far away from here. "Alright, well that should buy me…"
He froze, seeing the collapsed part of the building begin to glow and smoke. "Oh no," he said to himself before flying off as fast as he could right before the whole top of the building exploded in a fiery inferno so hot it melted parts of it. The dragon emerged from it, screeching in rage, before flapping its wings and taking to the sky after him.
"So that didn't work. What's the new plan?"
He heard several screeches behind him and turned to see five smaller dragons flying for him. "Oh great, so there were more of you after all. Let's fix that."
He raised his hands and grabbed the dragon on each end before slamming them all together, mashing their stony bodies together with as much force as he could muster. He saw one of them manage to escape, one of its arms missing as well as its tail, but ignored it for now. He got a fierce grip on the dragon pile and then hurled it straight over him and into the big dragon, imagining it as a giant football he was throwing to the end zone, even if that wasn't how the rules worked.
The dragon pile smashed into the big one but Luke added an extra oomph with his powers, completely flattening them and knocking the big dragon off course into another skyscraper, smashing through that one as well.
"Oh," Luke winced as he saw that building collapse as well on top of the dragon. "Yeah, I'm definitely getting sued for that one."
He didn't even turn when the final small dragon attacked, just held it in place with his mind before ripping off its wings and letting it fall to the ground far below. His gaze wandered over to the massive tree, now towering above him, and he growled under his breath. He needed to get up there, now. But the damn dragon wouldn't leave him alone. He needed to take care of that problem first. It was too big and powerful to be taken down by his powers. It wasn't just made of asphalt, there was something else in there that made it hard for him grab hold of. He needed something more. And seeing that it was now breaking free of the latest building, he needed it now.
It lifted off the building and came roaring at him, sending another river of flames his way, forcing him to dive deep into the city. It came down after him, its wings slicing through the buildings around it and sending shrapnel flying.
"So many freaking lawsuits," Luke groaned. He needed to get out of the city before he caused more damage to public property. He spotted the freeway and dove for it, the dragon right on his tail. While it was big, he had to constantly remind himself it was also deceptively fast. He was thankful his powers allowed him to sense it behind him as he just managed to duck before it snapped him up.
"Come on Decker," he said to himself. "You beat this ugly gargoyle." He put on more speed and zoomed forward, outracing its jaws again. It let out a roar and he felt the burning sensation as it let loose another burst of firepower, forcing him to go up as the freeway and all the empty cars on it were engulfed.
As he rose up, he spotted something on the roof of a nearby building. "Wow," he muttered, blinking a little. "Didn't we know we still had those. But hooray for me."
The dragon was rising quickly, clawing its way up the building to gain more momentum. Luke reached out and took hold of the large object, pulling on it with all his strength. For the first time, he felt a strain on his power and he grunted, feeling himself falter.
No! he practically screamed at himself. This was definitely not the time to falter or stumble or anything like that. He needed to help his teammates and in order to do that, he needed to take down this stupid dragon. And to do that, he needed to take this stupid thing down, so that was what he was going to do.
He pulled even harder, crying out from the strain as he yanked on the metal girders. He heard rivets and screws pop loose and then the whole thing came crashing down just in time as the dragon's head popped over the roof, its jaws already smoldering with fire. The water tower crashed down on it perfectly, water gushing all over it and dousing its flames.
"Great, that worked," he said to himself. "Now what?"
The dragon struck fast, faster than Luke could escape. He shrieked and hurled his hands up as the dragon's jaws came down on top of him, forcing them open. He heard the stone jaws shift and groan as he held them apart, panting from the effort.
"I am not going to be your freaking afternoon snack," he growled. "Or morning one."
The dragon just grunted, clamping its jaws down even harder.
"I am not going to…" he began before seeing the familiar orange glow down the dragon's throat. "Oh you've got to be kidding me."
He shot up as fast as he could, his shoes smoldering from just escaping the inferno.
"Ha!" he shouted, raising his hands up. "That'll show yo-"
The tail came up and he only just managed to get his powers to shield him before it smacked right into him, sending him soaring away.
"Not again!" he yelled, trying to control his descent but he was going too fast. He felt the wind stabbing into his face and pushed back as much as he could. His eyes widened as he saw himself entering the residential area, houses all around him with one bearing down on him fast. He pushed even harder, slowing down bit by bit until he came to a stop floating right in front of the doorway.
"Whew," he breathed out. "That was a little too close."
There was large gust of wind and then a crashing sound behind him.
"You really have to be kidding me now," he muttered under his breath.
He instinctively ducked to the side, the dragon's head ripping out the doorway instead.
"You know, it's good manners to knock on the door rather than eat it," Luke told it.
The dragon didn't seem to like that, bringing its claw round to smack him. He flew up between the fingers and tried to get away from behind it but the tail came around like a bullet crane, knocking right into him and sending him crashing through the upper window of the house and right onto the bed in an actually sweet child's bedroom.
Well, it had been sweet before the giant stone dragon head burst out of the floor, trying to snap him up. Luke leaped off the bed before he could be chewed up and ripped the bedroom door off its hinges with his mind and raced down the hallway, looking for any kind of exit as the house was obliterated behind him.
He ran around the stairwell, spotting a small window at the end of the hall. He smashed it telekinetically and then put on a burst of speed, flying straight through it and back outside.
"Now to-"
He barely had time to think before the house exploded behind him, the dragon roaring out madly and then unleashed a white-hot burst of flames right above him. He yelled out, the heat scorching his back, and he dove back down. But the dragon didn't stop there, bringing its flames right down with him. Luke zoomed past another house that swiftly incinerated, trying to outpace the fire, all the while pushing it away with his mind.
Come on Decker, he yelled at himself. You can go faster than this!
He zig-zagged across fences and past houses, all of them getting destroyed by the flames. He winced each time, knowing that was another family home gone and was grateful he was nowhere near his home. Still, he was really beginning to feel the strain. Keeping the shield up while maintaining this fast pace was eating away at his stamina fast.
He wanted to move to the side but the dragon would just follow him and if he took the time to make a sharp turn, the flames would catch up. He just had to keep going until…
The flame attack suddenly stopped and Luke gasped in relief. Though his problems weren't over as the dragon was still hot on his trail and most of the residential area was now on fire. He didn't know why, but he was very grateful that the place was somehow empty right now.
He pushed towards 10th avenue, seeing the exit to the main highway and knowing that he would be back in open country in less than a minute. The only thing standing there now was a…
A gas station.
The idea hit him like a football to the face. "Oh this is definitely going to kill me," he said, but put as much extra speed as he could, aiming right for the gas station. He dodged again as the dragon took another bite, then whirled around and mentally grabbed its head and slammed it even harder into the ground before zooming even faster.
As soon as he got close enough, he concentrated on all the pumps lined up for the cars and grabbed the lever on each one, switching them all on. Small streams of gas began to trickle out.
"Damn it," he muttered and came to a complete stop midair, focusing completely on the pumps, reaching deep beneath the earth. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for so he just ripped everything that he could upwards. Earth, metal, and gas all came flying out. He whirled just in time to see the dragon coming for him, jaws wide open.
"Open wide, you ugly bastard," he growled and threw everything right down its gullet as far as it could go. For a second it appeared like the dragon was surprised by the sudden meal but it fixed that with its fiery breath, which Luke took as his cue to fly as far up as he could.
The explosion rocked him back wildly, spinning him through the air for a full minute before he was able to recover himself. When he did, he grinned as he saw the blackened, crumbled remains of the dragon lying in the street, its upper half completely obliterated.
"That…was so metal," he said before turning to the giant tree. "Now, let's go find the bastard that made you, shall we?" He then glanced down and himself and realized that the dragon had burned away the hospital gown he'd been wearing. "Right after I find some clothes."
Franklin grabbed another stone-crab-thing and crushed it into dust but it was like stopping a fire with one bucket of water. They just kept coming, dropping down from the vine above and swarming all over him. To make matters worse, he was now knee deep in the sinking dirt and couldn't get any leverage to pull himself out. He swiped a whole bunch of the things off his shoulder and tried to grab his knee to pull it out but the second he did, the things swarmed for his face, forcing him to fend them off again. It was a vicious cycle that seemed like it would only end when he was six feet under. Literally.
"I've already almost drowned once today," he said, crushing more of the crab things. "That was way more than enough."
Still, he would need more than words to get out of this. No matter what he tried, they never stopped coming for his eyes and mouth and he really didn't want to find out if those were as invincible as the rest of him was.
But what if he didn't have to?
Franklin sighed at the idea but he was sinking up to his other knee now and he didn't want to know what happened next. He took a deep breath before closing his eyes as tight as he could and pursed his lips closed, trying to shut off any gap. Once that was done, he stopping fending off the crab things and grabbed hold of his knee, pulling on it.
The second he stopped, they swarmed over his head, engulfing it in an instant and making for his eyes and mouth. He could feel their tiny claws scraping around the edges but so far couldn't make any progress. Well, he seemed to be in the same boat as no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't yank his knee free. What made it worse was he was pushing down with his other leg, forcing it to go deeper. Pretty soon he'd be completely stuck. As well as that, the soil was now pulling on his arms, making them feel heavier than before.
Should have known this was a stupid plan, he thought.
He reached down further, going right up to his foot, and wrapped his hands around that instead, pulling heavily. The soil around him still held on tight but this time he felt something give. Or at least he thought it did. Still, he acted on that and pulled even harder. This time, he definitely felt something, the soil beginning to give way to his strength, causing him to smile.
That was when things went wrong.
The slight change in his mouth was all the crabs needed, redoubling their efforts to get inside, their tiny claws sliding right through the gap he'd made and striking his teeth.
Shit! Franklin instantly let go of his foot, ripping, his hands free from the dirt and smashing them into his face, demolishing all the crab things as well as knocking himself back a little. He just managed to recover himself before he could fall into the dirt and when he did, the crabs were swarming again and he had sunk even deeper than before.
"That's it," he muttered angrily. "Time for drastic measures."
He closed his eyes and mouth again and then plunged his back into the dirt as deep as he could. Again, he felt the crabs crawl all over his face and the dirt cling to his arms to keep them there. But he didn't care, reaching even deeper, leaning down a little as he did so. He was sinking faster now but he didn't care.
What do we do when things get tough, dad? he asked. We get tougher.
He could feel the strain and pull on his arms as the dirt began to pull them under, but he ignored all that and began to pull himself. The dirt resisted at first but Franklin didn't give in. He didn't have to hold back here so he went all out, using every ounce of strength he had. The dirt didn't stand a chance, rising up with his hands and going flying. For that split second, there was a gap right near his legs and he used that, freeing them up and starting to run again.
The crabs were still all over his face but it didn't take long to destroy them. His feet were still sinking with every step he took but he had control and momentum on his side again, able to keep moving before they sank too far.
He saw the shadow fall across him and blinked before the massive crab landing right on top of him. He hit the ground hard and immediately began to sink into it. He tried to push himself back up but the crab then pushed him down even further with one of its claws.
Nope, he thought to himself. He was so done with this. He could feel the crab's claw on his back and in one fluid movement, grabbed hold of it with one of his arms. That was all the leverage he needed to yank it off his back as well as pull himself up. Its other claw came to smack him but be blocked it with his free hand and then grabbed that one too.
"Let's see how tough you are," he said, planning to rip the claws off the stony thing. But then he stopped, feeling the resistance. He got a good look at the creature and realized that unlike the others, this one wasn't made of stone, but of metal. "Pretty tough then, huh?" he asked it. "Well too bad. Cause I'm way tougher."
He had no doubt his friends were up that tree and this stupid thing was stopping him from helping them. There was no way he was going to let that happen. He pulled even harder, but this time not to pull it down but to pull himself up. He yanked himself forward out of the dirt and then swung his feet forward, catching the top of the creature's head. He lifted himself up, letting go of the claws to fully clamber onto the head. He felt the metal shift beneath his feet and saw it turn liquid-like, tendrils and appendages growing out of to attack him. But he was able to easily shake them off, lifting his arm up high in a fist.
His friends needed him. This whole city was getting torn apart and his family was caught in the middle. And he was stuck here, fighting off some weird crab things and a bunch of dirt. He wasn't doing a damn thing to help them. He didn't even know how he was going to make it up the stupid tree. All he knew was that he was angry and scared and frustrated and worried that someone else he cared about was going to die, and he still couldn't do anything about it.
"Do you know why this is our family motto?" his dad asked him. "It's because our family has gone through a lot of hardships over the years, but we can always come through them stronger than before. No matter what happens to us, we won't bend or break from the pressure and when we want something done, we won't stop, no matter what until it gets done. You'll face hardships in your life too, so just remember that no matter what stands in your way, nothing has the power to stop you once you get going."
Franklin didn't think his dad imagined a giant metal crab thing when he said that, but it still worked. This thing and its creator thought they were stopping him? Time to prove them wrong.
He'd never really felt for his power before. He remembered back when he was training with Madison and Travis that they had talked about feeling their powers in their bodies, calling on them when they needed to. But he didn't have that since he was always strong, always invincible. It was always there, so why should he feel for it?
He did it now, reaching deep inside for his power. He could feel the power in his muscles and bones and he pushed as much as he could into his arm, into his fist. He felt it tighten up, the power surging through He strengthened that fist as much as he could, pouring every ounce of power he had into it. As he did, he could swear that it was starting to glow a little green, but he ignored that as he threw his fist down with all his strength into the metal crab.
It was twenty times more powerful than his sonic clap, the metal folding in on itself from his blow and collapsing beneath him while a shockwave burst out, sending anything nearby flying back at least thirty yards.
Franklin panted a little, feeling sweat on his brow for the first time in weeks. The metal beneath him looked like a whole parade of trucks had run over it right before Godzilla stepped on it. But that couldn't be it. He was sure it was only a matter of time before it recovered and attacked again. Before that happened, he needed to get out of here. He just had to find a way up this damn tree. But how…
"Nice moves there Carson."
Franklin froze before chuckling to himself, turning to see Luke floating a few feet away from him, a confident smile on his face. "Need a lift?" he asked.
Franklin started to feel the metal shift beneath his feet so he nodded. "Yes, right now please."
"You got it." A second later, Franklin found himself floating in the air, the metal fibers grasping at nothing below him. "Dang man," Luke muttered as he lifted them both up. "You know you could stand to lose a few pounds. You're like a freaking-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence. And hurry up. We've got a job to do."