2 I FIGHT USING A 100-YEAR-OLD DANDELION

"Defendant Steven, what do you plead?"

"Guilty to trespassing."

"Then, you will be sentenced to life in the security guard's stomach."

That pretty much summed up how Steven felt at the moment. Of course, weird stuff wasn't new to him, but it usually came and went in a flash. This non-stop, non-approved school museum trip was more than he had signed up for. No, it was his fault. He should have known better than to listen to a talking flower. 

Of course, the security guard said that Steven smelled really tasty. When Steven did a quick self-sniff, he was like: pft, no way… 

…wait, why did he actually smell so good?

"Are you sure you don't want pizza instead?" Steven said, running. "They're pretty cheap in New York."

"No," The security guard chased after him, his legs extending impossibly long. 

Steven ducked behind a cabinet. Luckily, the museum had many. 

"Where are you?" The security guard's voice echoed through the hall. His footsteps, unnaturally heavy. 

Steven held his breath. One step, two steps.

The guard's shadow loomed and then passed by. Exhaling in relief, Steven tried not to make a sound.

Just then, a flutter caught his eye. The dandelion wiggled on his hoodie.

"Hey buddy, any tricks up your... leaves?" Steven whispered, eyeing the dandelion. 

That's when the guard spun around, his eyes narrowing. "I can smell you, kid. You can't hide forever."

Steven's heart skipped a beat. Time for Plan B, which he hadn't actually thought of yet.

But as if answering his silent call, the dandelion perked up slightly. The stem straightened, shimmering faintly. Was it... glowing?

In a split second, Steven grabbed the glowing dandelion. "Okay, let's see what you can do."

He darted from behind the cabinet, the dandelion stem in hand, now glowing like a beacon. Steven gave a good look at the security guard, his hands shaking. 

The security guard's eyes were glowing like fluorescent lights. His fingers stretched, turning into wings. His uniform melted into a large, feather coat. Was this guy even a security guard? He looked more like a shriveled bird with wings, claws and a mouth… or a beak, and… 

The security guard, a monster with an unfortunate appetite for little boys, lunged towards him.

"Dandelion, do your thing!" Steven shouted, more out of hope than expectation.

And to his amazement, the stem transformed into a shimmering blade, just as the security guard's claws were inches away.

He blocked it, just in time. 

Unfortunately for him, he never had sword training. 

"A hundred-year-old flower spirit thinks it can stop me?" The security guard snarled, continuously attacking with his beak, "Unfortunately for you, I have millennia of cultivation ahead of you."

Steven parried its attacks, but it knew the monster was just playing with him, kinda like a little snack. Aw man, did this guy never learn not to play with their food?

Think… think. 

"What are you?" Steven asked, fumbling to block the attack.

"Why do you ask?" The security guard said, poking Steven's head playfully, giving it a little cut. 

"Um," Steven tried to ignore the stinging pain, "I'm just curious about what type of great monster is trying to eat me."

"Flattery won't do you any favors." The security-guard-monster said, "but I suppose I'll tell you. I'm a moguai."

"A moguai?" 

"Yes, think of us as destructive spirits, or monsters. The name is pretty on the nose." The security guard said. 

"So as a moguai, are you more powerful the older you are?" Steven slowly turned his body as he talked. 

"Smart boy," the monster said. "Yes, and luckily for me, mother has sent me to deal with you. But enough talking, It's time to eat."

Steven ducked, and the monster pecked into a glass cabinet, eating a mouthful of glass. 

The monster turned, its face looking even more scary than before.

"I suppose you don't value your life," it said quietly. 

It lunged forward in a move that Steven couldn't perceive and snapped the sword in his hand in half. The sword, half-broken, turned back into a dandelion. Steven could hear the dandelion scream… the pain.

It must have been unbearable.

"As for you…" The moguai spat out the remnants of the dandelion from its beak-like mouth. Its ugly face loomed over him, the features looking more creepy in the dark.

"No, dandelion," Steven mumbled softly, looking at the half broken-flower on the ground. The stem all mangled up and broken. He knew what he had to do now. 

With a burst of adrenaline, he ran straight at the security-guard, feeling a sharp pain tear across his back. It hurt like hell, but he managed to pick up the fallen dandelion, cradling it in his hands as he ran. 

The window was just ahead. It was close.

"You can jump out and I'll still be able to get you." The security guard laughed, watching the boy reach the open window. 

There, Steven blew the dandelion seeds away, making a quiet wish.

Turning around, he faced his pursuer again, murmuring to the flower in his arms, "Still got something left in you?" 

The dandelion stem, half broken, nodded. With a last ditch effort, the flower struggled and turned into a fractured sword. 

The moguai unfolded his wings, and a flurry of feathers shot out, stabbing the boy in almost all of his limbs. Steven didn't know how he did the next part… It was almost a blur to him.

He jumped and stabbed the security guard using all of his strength, straight into the mouth.

"Hah?" The thousand-years-old security guard let out a mocking laugh. "That felt like a little tooth-pick." 

But then, the dandelion stem began to expand, each splinter piercing the monster in different directions. 

"Oh no," the security guard said, glancing down at its crumbling body. A terrible sound started to ring out, like boiling water. 

Slowly, the moguai disintegrated into dust. 

Steven limped, each step painful, and sifted through the remains. There, the weak stem of the dandelion greeted him.

"No, no, no," Steven said, breathing raggedly. 

The dandelion wiggled its leaf, as if saying to not be sad. 

"But your children," Steven said mournfully. 

The dandelion wiggled its leaf, as if it was saying that it was okay.

"A gift?" Steven said, clenching his fists. "Come on, I don't need a gift. Don't worry, I'll get you bandaged up."

He jumped out of the window, his legs shaking from the impact. The wounds were starting to stick to his clothes, but he continued to walk, his legs shaking. 

"No. It's not okay." Steven said, trying to ignore the dandelion's words. 

But he tripped over the concrete, his face scrapping on the ground. It started to rain.

Come on, children needed their moms. He could do this. Even though he couldn't relate… "You're gonna be a great mom." He deliriously ranted into a puddle. 

"Moms… cook lunch for their children. But what do flowers… eat?" Steven's breath grew weak, the dandelion's last words entered his ears softly. 

"Thank you," it said. 

In his hands, the dandelion stem turned into a flute. It never talked again. 

Steven passed out.