The Dragon Ch01: Always be Yourself, Unless You can be a Dragon

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.

Betad by Atrius, Malcolm Tent, Priapus, Old man of the mountain

The Guild of Gamers: The Dragon

Chapter 01: Always be Yourself, Unless You can be a Dragon

The Dragon system, one of the first ever made and arguably one of the most powerful, was made through the extremely rare cooperation of all four founders (due to Dragons being cool and them not being able to agree on who got to make it).

Unfortunately, it was given to an idiot who immediately got eaten by the hungry, hungry Glutton and absorbed into her system, but if he was honest, many of the early gamers were hit or miss. Picking a gamer was a serious task that required careful thought; it shouldn't be treated as casually as it used to be.

With the system finally pulled out of the Glutton, Kuro smiled to himself and nodded. Kuro trusted him to find the proper user for their system this time, and Kuro never let Kuro down. Heh.

"Hey kid, you wanna be a dragon?" Kuro Dantalion asked, making the random teenager blink in confusion.

"I mean, yeah?" he answered, his eyes widening as he was dragged into the uncaring void. New Gamer get. Man, he was so good at his job.

'Meh, close enough.' Kuro the First said, mentally shrugging as they yeeted the new gamer to his new world. 

Now, after his long and hard day at work, he really needed a nap.

– ??? –

Memories blurred, the chains sting my flesh as I pull against them, trying to work out where I am and how I got here.

Thick golden chains wrap around my four legs, my powerful scaled wings bound to my body to prevent me from stretching them in the somewhat spacious cavern I seem to be imprisoned in. New memories of a purple-haired woman flash through my mind, the woman speaking foreign words as the chains around me glow.

The cave shakes as I fight against the chains that bind me, making them glow all the brighter as my mind grows slow, my eyelids growing heavy, but I push past it as I rage. How dare they imprison me like this, but the momentary burst of anger catches me by surprise. In the brief moment where I wonder where it came from, the magic of the chains overcomes me, and I collapse to the ground, struggling to stay awake as the large doors at the far end of the cavern open slowly. The purple-haired woman walks towards me stopping before my head as I try to stay awake just a little longer.

A fury burns in my chest, demanding I reduce this human to a corpse, but as I try and unleash it, she simply giggles as the chains flare up once more, the power dying in my chest as she places a hand on my scaled snout.

She's so… small, standing before me as I stare at her through barely open eyes, dwarfed by my sheer size as she rubs my glorious blue scales, unafraid despite how close she is to a mouth full of very sharp teeth.

"Still so prideful, beloved? Calm yourself," she whispers, pressing her head against my face, only surviving because I'm too tired to open my mouth and bite down on this worm. "It's not time yet, you aren't ready."

Her accent sounds exotic. I can't place where she could be from, but her words send a spike of futile rage through my body. Prideful?

I am a Dragon; of course, I'm prideful. I will not be lectured by some hu- wait, I'm a Dragon, that's not right, I'm human, right?

Extremely blurry memories flash through my mind, one clear image of a smirking black-haired man approaching me, making my mind race even as I collapse into an unwanted slumber; what did he do to me?

– Later –

Waking again as footsteps approach me, I pause as I see a different purple-haired woman wearing what looks like green fantasy armour standing next to an angry-looking blonde girl, both staring up at me. The blonde also wears armor, though hers is white and gold.

I'm not a fool, not wanting to trigger whatever magic is within the chains as I stare down at the pair who approach me, seemingly uncaring of my attention.

"So this is Tala's pet?" the blonde girl says, looking over me in a mixture of curiosity and rage; I can almost taste the hatred rolling off her, though it doesn't seem to be aimed at me.

"It is. He's quite the majestic pet, isn't he? I can see why Tala is so proud of her new toy," the purple-haired woman says, giving me an admiring gaze.

Pet? Pet? Toy?!

Sparks come from my mouth, making the blonde girl take a step back, her hand going to a sword at her waist, but the power within my chest dies once more, my rage going unsated as I glare down at them.

"Don't worry, Aresia, he is powerful, but Tala has him nice and tamed. She took more precautions after he ate Grodd," the purple-haired woman says calmly, amused at the blonde's fearful reaction. "He will work nicely; Tala won't mind us borrowing her pet as long as we bring him back in one piece."

"Are you sure you can control him, Circe? If we lose control of him-" Aresia starts making Circe laugh.

"I'm a Goddess, girl. Even if I wasn't a Divine sorceress, Tala has done most of the work with these lovely chains," Circe says easily, placing her hand on one of the golden chains covering my body as I feel her magic attune with the chains before I feel her enter my mind. "He will work; if he's half as impressive as Tala boasts, he'll be the firepower we need to get our revenge on her."

Trying to defy the magic I feel flooding my mind, I rage as I try and break the chains, trying to resist the orders I can feel entering my head, to no avail. I don't understand my powers, leaving me utterly unable to fight off Circe's magic as she smirks.

"Now, let's take this poor boy out for a walk. It's not nice of Tala to leave him inside all day," Circe giggles, images of a Hellenic island flooding my mind as my rage is forcibly redirected, an older regal blonde in a white Greek-style dress flashing through my mind as my fangs bare despite my efforts to stifle my reaction.

Circe casts something, a portal opening as many of the chains unravel, leaving only a single golden chain around my neck and allowing me to move freely as I rise onto all four legs, wings stretching. My draconic mind demands I crush these two fools and escape this place; my fading human side just wants to get the hell out of here, and yet both are ignored as my body starts to move, obediently following behind the pair as they head through the portal, Aresia even daring to mount me like I'm a fucking horse as we head through the portal, finding myself flying through the skies high above the ocean, my wings moving automatically as I obediently follow Circe as she flies towards an island in the distance.

With my enhanced senses, I can already hear the shouts of the woman on the island, see them running around and preparing themselves as they see me heading their way, and Circe once more whispers into my mind as she demands I announce us.

I want to eat her, but instead my mouth opens to let out a fearsome roar as we speed up, the power in my chest building up again, and this time, I can actually unleash the rage within me, swooping down despite the bronze arrows being sent my way, opening my mouth as a burst of deep-blue lightning leaves my mouth, raining down on the warrior women below as they try to dodge.

Their armour provides little defence against my might, lightning coursing through their bodies as their screams of pain fill the air, some dying on the spot as they fall to the ground, twitching.

Both my human and draconic mind rage at this violation of my free will, the human horrified at the sight of the corpses left in my wake, the dragon enraged at being commanded like some attack dog, but neither can stop our body from reacting as we head towards the largest building on the island.

I don't know who the blonde woman I saw in the images is. Still, I hope for her sake that she's a strong warrior because if she's not, I do believe I'm going to eat her.

– Queen Hippolyta –

She did not know what manner of beast was currently flying towards her, but she did recognise the filth commanding it, Circe having already broken her word to not come after Hippolyta over her imprisonment in Tartarus.

The beast's eyes were clouded, Circe's magic commanding it as her warrior's arrows bounced off its majestic blue scales, making it roar again and unleash a devastating blast of lightning from its giant maw, killing two of her guards instantly.

She didn't miss that even Circe seemed surprised by the sheer might of the beast, which landed in the courtyard, towering over them all, massive fangs snarling as Aresia jumped from its back and landed in front of it.

"Aresia, I took you in, raised you, and this is how you repay me?" Hippolyta asked, giving the younger girl a stern glare. "What horror have you inflicted upon Themyscira? How many of your sisters have you slain, and for what?"

Aresia hesitated, a hint of shame passing through her body before she gathered herself and glared at Hippolyta and the gathered amazons.

"Queen Hippolyta, you are weak, unworthy of your throne. I challenge you; the beast won't attack as long as you accept my challenge. Decline, and I'll take the throne from your corpse," Aresia said, a hint of madness filling her tone as she pointed the same blade Hippolyta had given her at the queen. Aresia truly hated men, and with the developing world, Themyscira was starting to slowly negotiate with Man's world, so Aresia's actions didn't surprise her.

"Alternatively, we can just put you down, traitor," Artemis said, the Bow of Ra in her hands, an arrow made of pure energy already primed as Aresia scowled. "We have you outnumbered several thousand to three."

Artemis might not be of Themyscira, but the champion of their Bana-Mighdall sisters was a welcome addition during this crisis.

"Is that a refusal, Hippolyta?" Aresia asked, watching as the Amazons gathered around the massive beast, weapons readied. "So be it."

Her confidence seemed entirely misplaced as the Amazons prepared to battle their rogue sister and the cocky Goddess, but as a rift opened behind them, she realised that she'd not been watching Circe while Aresia was speaking, hidden behind the wings of the beast.

Several more rifts opened, warriors clad in black armour charing through as her eyes widened at the symbol on their armour and banners, Ares.

"Dragon, kill her," Aresia demanded, the beast opening its maw as Hippolyta dove to one side, a blast of lightning scorching the spot she had been standing on moments prior, the building behind her collapsing from the force. It was as if the beast was delivering the wrath of Zeus himself, but as Artemis loosed her arrow, the beast moved with surprising speed to put one of its bulky legs in front of Aresia to protect her, the arrow actually managing to sink into the beast's flesh as it roared in pain.

They could hurt it, a fact that made her feel a hint of sympathy for the creature she was sure wasn't attacking of its own free will, but she would protect her island and people, and she watched with bated breath as the beast took to the air once more with Aresia riding on its back.

Calming herself before rallying her people, she glared up at the smug-looking Circe (who had already turned several of her Amazons into pigs), the 'Dragon' raining down on them with its deadly breath as Aresia hid atop it, staying high in the sky.

Storms formed above the island, lightning striking out at any who tried to fly up into the domain of the great beast, arrows barely able to reach it even as Artemis struck the beast's stomach, finding purchase.

Drawing her own sword, she joined the fray against the forces she could attack, Ares' army meeting heavy resistance.

– Cassandra Sandsmark (Wonder Girl) –

Arriving at the island, she paused for just a moment in horror at the sight of her second home engulfed in chaos, bodies littering the ground, both Amazons and Ares' minions alike, the conflict empowering Ares' men further, but they weren't the true threat.

Flying high above the battlefield, the giant fucking dragon soared through the skies, swooping down to indiscriminately electrocute everything in its path, killing more of Ares' servants than Amazons in its rage.

In truth, it was a majestic beast with azure blue scales and a golden underbelly, with a single golden horn. If it wasn't trying to destroy Themyscira, then she might have wanted a closer look, but the destruction it left in its wake made her shudder slightly, not entirely used to such sights even as Diana flew right into the fray, charging towards the dragon with no hesitation.

Several lightning bolts struck at her as she tried to rise, halting her ascent even as she blocked them with her shield, the divine bronze protecting her. She hoped she didn't die here; as a daughter of Zeus, it would be just embarrassing to die to a creature of lightning.

"Zatanna, what kind of beast is that?" Miss Martian asked, making Zatanna shake her head from where she'd been staring in shock and awe.

"It's a Dragon, a real live Dragon. Can you feel the pure magic coming off it?" Zatanna asked, even as she muttered a spell to try and shield them from the lightning. Now that she mentioned it, she could feel something, like its very presence was pushing down on her psyche, demanding she flee or kneel, but she shook it off with disciplined ease.

The rules of Themyscira meant many of the members of the Team and League couldn't join them on this, for no man could step foot on Themyscira. 

"Do Dragons have any weaknesses we can use?" Diana asked, blocking another lightning bolt as the beast circled above them.

"I- none that I know of. Dragons are true apex beings," Zatanna explained, her eyes widening as the beast suddenly changed directions, soaring towards them as its maw opened and revealed some very large teeth, a light growing in the back of its throat. "Su dleihs!"

Zatanna tried, a purple barrier forming as they all spread out, but the barrier barely even slowed down the dragon's shocking breath before it shattered, the dragon getting much closer as Diana charged it.

Cassie quickly realised her mistake as the dragon engaged them in aerial combat, because she'd thought the dragon's presence was easy to shrug off… when it was far above them, and now that it was right beside them, she found herself frozen as her mind rebelled, screaming for her to flee from the beast. Diana did her best to fight it, while Kara uppercut the dragon and actually managed to knock it back, before a swipe of its tail sent the Kryptonian flying back in a wild spin.

"Move!'

The voice in her head made her take action, breaking through her momentary terror, barely managing to avoid the claws of the beast which clipped her side, cutting through her top with laughable ease as they sliced into her side, her blessing doing nothing to stop the beast.

Miss Martian's warning had likely saved her life, and she shook her head and gathered her wits as she clutched her side. Even with Wonder Woman and Supergirl engaged in close quarters, the dragon seemed to have the upper hand, crushing Diana's shield between its teeth as it roared in anger, the lightning intensifying.

The storm grew to such a strength that she was forced to fly lower, the constant barrage aggravating her already nasty wounds, but there was plenty to do here as she quickly engaged the forces of Ares.

– Princess Diana –

Aresia had overreached, and as the battle raged on, the rogue Amazon fell to the ground, dismounted from her beast. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Circe flee the scene as Ares's forces were driven back, repelled by the combined force of the Amazons and the reinforcing League members.

But even with the army routed and the two masterminds bested, this was far from over as the massive dragon raged endlessly.

Right now, she wished her mother wasn't so stubborn. Her rules meant that Clark couldn't come with them and assist, and his strength would be greatly appreciated right now. The thought was an especially irritating one as she glanced toward Kara's unmoving (but thankfully still breathing) body.

Kara had taken a full blast from the beast to protect Diana's mother, confident in her Kryptonian durability, but the breath this beast was unleashing was truly deadly. Were it not for the several blessings and divine items she wielded, Diana herself would be dead several times over.

The first great victory they got over it was when she managed to bind its mouth with her lasso, the unbreakable rope wrapped tightly around its maw, preventing it from biting or breathing its devastating lightning upon them. She'd seen it bite one of her Amazon sisters in half in a single bite, but its claws were no less deadly.

"Oh no," Miss Martian whispered, making her turn to the young Martian. "You poor thing."

"Miss Martian?" Diana asked, making Megan turn to her.

"It- he is screaming. I couldn't get into his head with Circe around, but now that she's gone… he doesn't want to be here. He's not a mindless beast; he's an intelligent creature, and they made him a weapon," Miss Martian explained quickly, her eyes widening as she watched the creature try and bisect Artemis, the red-headed Amazon dodging under the claws. "I can't affect his mind; he's too powerful, but Circe's orders are being screamed into his head over and over again."

"The chain collar is enchanted, though I don't recognise the magic. I can feel Circe's touch on it," Zatanna added. "Something has to be maintaining Circe's control, perhaps if we can get it off…"

It wasn't a brilliant plan, given how little they seemed to have hurt the dragon so far and how much damage it had done. Trying to remove the enchanted metal from the dragon's body would likely be a deadly challenge, but even after all this time, the dragon seemed barely injured.

It was the best chance they had.

– ??? –

If I could, I'd likely be sick from the taste of blood in my mouth. I ate someone, bit them in two and swallowed their upper body as a snack, but all I can do is continue to fight the hordes of warrior women and their strangely-clad reinforcements. 

Aresia fell in battle, taken down by the dark-haired one they call Diana, and I did collapse the building they took her to. Hopefully, she was crushed in the ruins, but somehow, I doubt it, not that I have time to worry about that with another arrow piercing my wing from the redhead. 

I'm actually somewhat rooting for these guys; binding my mouth was a good start, even if the draconic side of me is infuriated, but I really don't want to die like this as I lash out at the green girl, my draconic side annoyed as she goes intangible and my claws pass through her harmlessly.

Something grabbing my tail makes me try to lash out, but I am surprised when the person is able to spin me and toss me away from the others, making me mentally groan at the sight of the blonde in a fairly ruined red and blue outfit. Oh god, not her again; she kept punching me in the face.

And it actually hurt; she hits like a fucking truck.

A flash of magic makes my eyes sting, the girl in the tophat once again fucking with my senses, she can't really hurt me, but she's surprisingly annoying. She's also wearing fishnets, so I hope she survives.

Shaking my head to try and clear my vision, I once again get punched in the face by that goddamn flying brick. Didn't I electrocute her earlier? What does it take to actually put her down?

Getting uppercut, I pause as I feel her dive in and grab at my restraints, and hope begins to kindle in my chest as she tries her best to break them through pure brute force, but my hope fades as she fails to affect these damnable chains.

My body attempts to gore her, even as I mentally encourage her to try again and free me of this hell, the tophat girl chanting something as the chains around my neck glow. They seem to know what they're doing. Even the redhead with her goddamn magic arrows of energy is aiming for the chains, with impressive accuracy at that.

I want to stop fighting and let them try, but my body insists on making this hard for them as a woman with wings and a mace tries her luck, bringing her mace down on the chains with surprising force. She looks a little fried; I think I struck her with lightning earlier.

'Calm, we mean you no harm.' 

The soft voice is barely audible over Circe's demand for me to fight to the end, to slay as many of these fools as I can to buy her time to escape, but I manage to pick it out as I look towards the green girl who has closed her eyes amid the chaos.

She continues trying to soothe my rage, her voice clashing with Circe's, and moments before I slice the bird girl in two, I manage to break free and stop my claws from bisecting her long enough for her to move back.

The two voices warring in my head help me a lot, moments of self-control returning to me, allowing the defenders of this island to strike at the collar with impunity, without me trying to rip them apart for daring to be within claws' reach of me.

It is still a long and deadly fight. My claws drenched with the blood of those who weren't fortunate enough for me to have a moment of control before I was forced to slay them, but as the blonde berserker flies towards me again, her uniform torn and blackened, she grips the chains once more and pulls, and for the first time since I got here, Circe's voice goes silent in my head as the girl tears my collar in two.

The battlefield falls still as the heavy chains hit the ground, watching me carefully as my head snaps around quickly, eyes flickering around as I feel something wrong, the immense power I have at my beck and call rapidly failing.

Run, we need to hide! 

The draconic part of me has a point, my strength fading as I feel myself grow weaker. If they choose to attack me again, they'd be able to kill me! 

Backing away, my eyes move wildly as I try and keep an eye on every threat, the panic I've been feeling since I woke up in this body finally showing itself.

Sands, call on them, cover our escape!

Before I can stop myself, I call on my powers and watch as a thick sandstorm starts to form around me. To the surprise of my opponents, as powerful winds and coarse sand buffet them, and following my draconic instincts, I take flight and head towards the ocean, immediately diving into it as I feel myself start to shrink.

Wait!

That's not the dragon, but the green girl, and while I pause for just a moment, I continue my flight from the battlefield, swimming with surprising grace as I leave them dealing with an island-wide sandstorm.

Quest Complete

[Escape the Light!]

Reward: ???

…what?

Shaking my head, I continue swimming further and further away, determined to put as much distance between me and that island, my mind still racing as I try and work out what the fuck is going on.

– Days Later –

Resting in my hiding place, deep beneath the desert sand, I sigh to myself.

So far I've worked out a few things, but entirely not enough.

I am a Dragon now, a Blue Dragon to be exact, my soul ripped out of my human form and stuffed into this body. I don't know how or why the strange man did this, but I have to accept the truth. I am no longer human.

This is also not my world. While it looks so very similar in many ways, there are so many more in which this world is utterly alien, a world of heroes and villains, gods and aliens. 

In truth, I don't particularly know where I've ended up, but I think I'm somewhere in the Sahara after all my running and burrowing. The sands called to me, and I feel at home here, deep beneath the desert.

But this is far from perfect. I have needs that must be satiated, such as my rumbling stomach. Hunger alone isn't the only thing that I feel a need to sate because something deep within me is demanding I find a lair, that I build a hoard.

Quest Added

[Humble Beginnings]

Objective: Build A Lair

Objective: Acquire a Hoard

Oh yeah, when I don't have my draconic instincts shouting at me, I have a game menu instead, so it's possible I've gone mad. Also, I don't remember my name, so that's fun. 

Much of the power I held faded after the collar was removed, but I see that as a worthy trade for my free will, and I get the feeling I can reclaim it in time, and I am by no means weak, like some squishy mortal. 

So, what am I supposed to do? Well, first things first, I need something to eat and a place to sleep safely. I also need to get a handle on my new powers. Everything I've done so far has been pure instinct, but I know I can do more; I can feel it in the back of my mind.

Once I've got a handle on those, I can worry about building a hoard and working out a long-term plan of what the fuck I'm going to do in this weird world I've been unceremoniously dropped into.

…still, if you're ever asked 'Do you want to be a dragon' and you don't answer 'Yes', you're full of shit. Of course, I want to be a fucking dragon.

— Bonus Scene — Tala

Summoning a dragon from another plane was difficult, especially one with as much potential as her beloved, potential she'd spent so much time and resources in helping blossom. She'd dedicated so much effort to him, and then, mere weeks before he was ready, two of her allies decided to 'borrow' him.

And, of course, they lost her masterpiece in their failed attempt at revenge against the Amazons, but she would not let this be the end. Her time with the Light had been fruitful, but it had come to an end.

Her dragon had fled the battle, lost and confused, but she would find him. No matter what, she would find her beloved. Lex and the rest of the Light would stay out of her way if they knew what was good for them. Nothing would keep her from him.