Time to die, again and again.

The nameless man walks nonchalantly about the large throne room, seemingly uncaring for anything but the floor; which he kneels down to examine. The floor itself is strangely dry, consisting of white sand; most likely brought from the surface just outside the dungeon.

As he scoops up the pearly grain, he permits it to fall from his hand; as he does so, he whispers so quietly that only my ears can register his words. "Do you trust me?"

How did he know about my name, or my hearing...

Suddenly, a butterfly forms from the sand gliding down his palms, which flutters about aimlessly around the room.

Once more, an inaudible whisper. "Follow my lead, ol'chap, and we both get to leave..."

All of a sudden, one of those sewing needles is in my shoulder; the only audible noise being the *click* of the man in the tan-suited man's stopwatch.

"Hahaha! My champion takes first blood!" Howls the siren queen, now reaching down with her tentacles to grasp her anchor; passing it to her own hand, and holding it aloft like a scepter

The sewing needle is plucked from my shoulder by the string it's attached, the pain meaningless compared to having three fourths of my mind burned away days ago.

"I've fought you twelve times so far, each time, I've died at the end." This puzzling man says aloud, bravado in his voice unlike anything I could gleam from his whispers. "I wake at the start of the week, and wait until today; on Yox, the day of Light and Dark, to fight you once more... it's getting tiresome..."

What is he talking about?

"What will it take to get you to trust me?" He says, whispering again.

He's doing an act... I'll play along, for now.

"What is your name!" I say, circling my possible enemy; or ally.

"As if I would tell you, Assassin, one of your spells requires it, I found that out in our fifth fight." He proclaims for the sirens to hear as he circles around as well, before whispering again; his lips unmoving. "I'm Scott... please, trust me... this isn't an act..."

Scott charges, but something is strange about him; its as if he's in two places at once. I attempt to swing the blunt end of my shortsword into his gut, but that version of him fades into sand once struck; the other makes a noise as if he had been the one struck, but continues anyway, plunging the other two needles into my side. A click of the stopwatch is heard, and suddenly, Scott is back at the other side of the room, holding the strings to the sewing needles, and yanking them free from me.

"I'm afraid it's pointless, traitor scum. I know your movements by heart; your spells, your powers, even that strange little creature you call Wriggles..." Scott announces, whispering once more. "Your hearing... did you know sirens are half deaf? Its how they resist their own song..."

Twisting my hook around, I have the bulk of its outer weight pointed towards him; its point facing myself. This was one of the 'Non-lethal' uses of the weapon described in the writings I had been gifted, meant for capturing targets alive with blunt trauma. When next he runs towards me, I intended to hit him in the gut once again, but the click of his stopwatch happens again; with three sewing needles stuck into my back before being pulled free. These wounds are adding up, and I recognize the intent of his fighting style; to bleed me dry.

"How are you doing this magic without casting a spell..." I ask, confused as to what's even happening; and without the aid of my favorite red-cloaked encyclopedia.

"As if I would tell you!" Announces the tan suited man; whispering afterwards. "I'm a Barbarian, the butterfly is one of my spirits... along with other things... I'll tell you once we're out..."

Once more, I hear a click, but then I feel one of the needles being plunged into my right leg, with Scott there in the flesh; his other two needles in my right arm, and in his hand. I slam into his side with the blunt end of my hook, sending him across the floor; but that appears to have been his double, as it turns to sand. The real one is already sprinting around me, holding the strings of his needles. I try to break free from the entanglement, but the threads seem to be invincible

"Trust me... don't kill me when I do this..." He whispers again. "In the second-to-last fight... you said that if I knew your real name... you'd trust me... if I say it... don't kill me..."

How would he know? Second-to-last fight? At this point, I just want his plan to hurry the hell up! I'm beginning to feel a bit faint from bloodloss...

I nod, accepting his terms.

"Damian!" Scott shouts aloud as the click of the stopwatch rings out; I look down...

And see the final needle, piercing my heart...

I begin to shake violently; the Cosmic Vibrations now tearing into my body. No! This can't be how this ends!

I fall backwards... into the void of my dying mind...

...

I find myself on the hill, with none of the other three around. Of course they aren't around. They're not real. I find the cracked box of memories... If I'm dying, I want to remember more.

I open the box.

...

I lay in my hospital bed, Dad holding my hand.

Tears stream down his face as he speaks. "Please... don't leave me... I can't do this alone, Damian..."

"I won't leave you, Dad." I lie, trying to keep my old man from giving in like Mom had...

"I just... I can't bare the thought of burying my own son... I've already lost a wife..." He weeps, cleaning his face as best he can with the tissue in his free hand.

"I won't leave you." I repeat; trying to **** the lie into reality.

"I won't leave you."

...

I'm on the hill again, imagining what it must be like back in the land of the living.

I see it, my body, dead on the ground; my scales becoming a ashen shade of grey.

I can see it now... Cilla mourning another failed recruit... mourning a friend...

I see Ashes crying a river, her sunshine dimmed. I see Zana hiding away in her hat, never to emerge again. I see Gabriella giving me whatever the last rites are in this world I've found myself in...

No.

No!

I won't leave them!

...

I open my eyes, back within the throne room, my body shaking as the needles are pulled from my body. The vibrations have stopped, but something else has taken over my body. A swirling storm of shadows, pulled from the darkened corners of the room, absorbs into my being; while hiding it from view. I feel my body begin to shift and change, as bones widen and lengthen, muscle enlarges, and scales envelop my skin. My knee's buckle, shifting backwards to fit their new form. I feel my wings expand, growing out to envelop the entire room. My head changes, shifting into a lengthened maw and snout. I grow, and as I do so, I see Scott, below me, muttering to himself; something about 'working this time.' I feel the straps to my hook snap, and drop my shortsword; my clothes tearing asunder. Once the transformation is complete, the shadows disipate, and I look to the stunned siren queen; so far beneath me that I must be at least twice my previous size.

Ow, somethings poking through my forehead...

"Dragon!" The siren queen screams; she and her foul kin in full retreat towards the entrance to the chamber; favoring their chances with my friends rather than with me.

But I would rather deal with this myself...

I open my maw, and release an enormous blast of shadow-flame, which envelops the remaining sirens and their queen; all of whom don't even have the time to scream or shout before being reduced to mere ash.

"Hey, ol'chap!" I hear Scott shouting out, pointing at something. "The Dungeon Core is in the throne!"

Not even bothering to look, I swing my tail at the stone structure, shattering it into pieces; revealing the object within. The click of a stopwatch is heard, and suddenly, three sewing needles are deep within the orb; only to be yanked free, shattering it. Finished with this deed, the man jn the tan suit quickly gathers my hook, shortsword, my pack, and the golden form of my charm of vanishing... I hope Fawks isn't looking for me by any magical means right now...

Scott, now holding my things, calls out to me. "Let me on your back, then breath through the ceiling! We're below the first chamber!"

I seem unable to speak... damn.

I permit him to climb my enlarged scales by leaning over. I feel him use them as one would use cracks in a cliffside, before finding himself at my back.

"Oh, didn't expect this much fluff up here. Rather cosy..." I hear him say, his voice dry and depressive getting a bit warmer. "I'm most sorry about nearly killing you, by the way."

Walking about on all fours felt strange, as did my legs; or hind legs, being hinged the other way. I reach the center of the room, and open my mouth once more, and directly blasting the ceiling. After several spouts of direct shadow-flame, I've melted a reasonable hole through the rock; its molten drippings gliding off my scales harmlessly. A beat of my newly enlarged wings accompanies a leap upward, where I claw to get into the main chamber.

Where I'm met by Marrow, escorting her fellow crew-members towards the exit... while I look like some sort of evil being of destruction incarnate...

Not good.

"They have a dragon!?" I hear Darrin shout, as Scott jumps off of my back, throwing a needle into a nearby cavern wall, and swinging to the ground.

"Don't attack! It's you're ally! The strange one with the scales!" He shouts, then recognizing the other prisoners. "Oh, hello Darrin, Phil, Charles..."

"It's the pet!" Says the crewmember named Charles. "Get the bastard!"

All it takes to dissuade such action is a loud 'huff' from my new snout.

I see the other fighting members of the rescue party, Thrusk, Marrows, Whuthran, Osil, Ehur, and my friends, rushing in after the commotion I had caused.

"Big fluffy lizard!" Says Whuthran, acting like a child finding a puppy; oh good, his wounds are all closed.

Ariel appears in a flash of golden light and, you guessed it, feathers; calling out. "Monster!? Hey! Try thinking small!"

"That's Monster?!" Cilla yells, most likely worried about how to handle a twelve foot tall dragon.

Think small? Like... imagine being smaller? Think on a small scale? Ugh... just... just try everything. Eventually, something begins to happen, as I visibly see the floor becoming closer and closer; until I'm back to my old height. I even feel my knees snap back into place; a feeling most unsettling to be sure. Looking at my body; and feeling around it, it's now essentially the same as before, but scales now coat nearly every inch of me, rather than just sparse areas where body hair once lay when I was human. My face is free of them, thankfully, as it was rather strange having scales protrude from that part of my body all of a sudden; however, I find two horns protruding from my forehead, just below my hairline. The horns protrude outward in the direction of my ears for two inches, before curving back towards my front in another four inches. My wings are large enough to wrap around me as a cloak would; an action I take as soon as I can to hide my shame, seeing as my clothes... exploded...

It's now that I see something utterly terrifying; more so than my near **** experience mere moments ago...

An infuriated Priscilla.

"Um... Hi?"