by DRAX and TheTimeTrust
A huge but graceful shape circled in the air above the island of La Perdita. Drax, you may want to be a bit less obvious.
"I'm a fifty-foot-long dragon, Drake, I don't DO subtle."
That's what I mean, Drax. Being a giant monster circling around in the air above an island full of metas is a VERY good way to get yourself attacked.
"I'm not a monster, I'm a mythological creature. There's a difference."
I doubt they'll wait for you to explain the difference, big guy. Why don't you set down someplace isolated so I can make an introduction?
"Just a little while longer, please? It's such a beautiful night for flying. "
I guess it's late enough that no one will really notice. Just try to look as non-threatening as possible.
"How would I do that?"
I don't know, fly casual.
Chance decided to step back outside after walking Charley Montoya back inside.
"I am such an idiot sometimes," he said under his breath as he realized that he'd just passed up an opportunity to be with a beautiful woman who obviously wanted to be in his company tonight.
Yet his sense of honor demanded that he remain loyal to the Shirley Francis of his timeline, no matter how futile or even misplaced that loyalty may be. It wasn't something he wanted to think about too much right now, anyway, though he'd have to make that choice someday.
"What the--?!" he said as the silhouette of what looked like nothing less than a dragon passed across the face of the full moon. "Now that is just strange..."
He stood there in open-mouthed wonder for a few moments before he realized that what he was seeing was very real.
He ran back inside. Ignoring all the cat-calls of the women inside who admired his well-toned physique and Scandinavian good looks (not that it went to his head or anything), he ran over to one of the few at MBL Consulting who could fly under his own power.
"Raptor!" he called as he ran up to Edulcore Cicciotto. "Ed, we need Raptor right now. There's something you've got to check out for me."
"Chance, I haven't seen you all evening! Where have you been? The countdown to midnight is about to begin!"
"Hurry, Ed, while there's still time!"
"All right," Edulcore replied, setting down his drink and following Chance at a casual pace.
Reaching the doorway, the two looked out and saw... nothing.
"I could've sworn there was a winged dragon up in the sky."
Edulcore laughed. "It's just your imagination, my Swedish friend. A little too much to drink on a night like this can produce many illusions." He continued to laugh as he went back inside.
"Perhaps," Chance said, though he hadn't had a drop all night. He stood there on the steps and scanned the horizon once again. There were villagers walking all around below.
Inside, someone had found a television set and had turned it on to watch the countdown. The entire room was full of excitement, and nearly every woman in the room was next to someone as the ten-second countdown began.
"Ten!"
"Chance!"
"Nine!"
He turned around. "Charley?"
"Eight!"
"Alone?"
"Seven!"
"Yeah."
"Six!"
"Mind if I..."
"Five!"
"...join you?"
"Four!"
"Not at all."
"Three!"
"Hey..."
"Two!"
"...you see that?"
"One!"
"What?"
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
"That!"
Charley pointed up as the winged dragon flew by once more. At that moment, cheers erupted from within the Fish Factory, and all over the village firecrackers and fireworks were set off, illuminating the sky in a multitude of colors.
Up above, Drax was disoriented by all the fireworks exploding around him. He screamed, a roar that sounded more menacing than it did frightening, and began to swoop down to the ground in what looked like an attack despite his best intentions.
"Look out!" Chance shouted and pulled Charley to the grass just as the dragon swooped over them, crashing into some bushes just outside the factory.
Charley was laughing giddily as Chance asked her, "Are you all right?"
"I'd tumble for you," she said with breath that smelled like champagne and began laughing a bit more.
Chance smiled in confusion and got up. By this time, the sound of the crash had been heard throughout the whole village, as well as by everyone inside. Chance walked carefully over to the dragon, waving back all the children carrying firecrackers. It wasn't long before the rest of the MBL members were right behind him.
Drax opened his eyes and attempted a smile. "Uh... happy New Year?" Needless to say, he had some explaining to do.
If that's all you can come up with to say, I'm taking over.
Drax did his best to whisper, "Be my guest."
There was a sensation that Drax was falling, and then he was replaced by Drake Marshall. He leaned heavily on his cane to get to his feet. "Wow, some fireworks display, huh?" Drake put on his friendliest smile. "The guy in charge must be a big Lord of the Rings fan, huh?"
They either don't get the reference or they don't believe you, Drake.
"Shut up, I'm thinking." Drake realized that he'd been speaking out loud and smiled even bigger. "Uh, hi. My name's Drake Marshall. I'd heard that the MBL was on this island, and I thought it might be a good idea for my partner Drax to join up with with. As you may have guessed, Drax is an extradimensional dragon that I've been magically linked to."
Are you sure it's a good idea to tell them all of that?
"When all else fails, Drax, go with honesty."