Endless Sky ~New Beginning~

Chapter Twentyfour

"Oh no," OStar inhaled sharply, turning back to her friends. "We need to- Avaro!" she cried as he flapped into the air and went full dragon, his talons reaching back to the ground.
The past two times she had seen him go dragon, he still had some hair and clothes. Here, he was nearly three times that size, completely and fully dragon with no human aspects to him at all. Avaro could easily crush OStar with a talon if he wanted to, or even Mila.
But she didn't want anyone else to get hurt or die, she wanted to leave. No more fighting.
"Avaro, get back here! We're not staying!" OStar cried out to the large dragon, maybe sixteen feet tall, towering over everyone.
He didn't listen, instead he twitched an ear and ran off, charging at the growing shape in the distance.
"AVARO!" more than one person cried, Lucerne quickly shifting into a different and larger dragon than last time before following his friend.
"This is all wrong! We were supposed to get out of here!" OStar panicked, returning her locket and chasing the dragons. The remaining friends didn't seem to hesitate as they followed her. Charlotte climbed onto Rual's back so as not to be left behind.
As things got closer and more visible, OStar could see their intruder was a large robotic dragon. It was made of remarkably similar-looking metal as Roxxan's, but with yellow eyes instead of dark orange. It was maybe slightly bigger than Avaro and Lucerne, but still a robot. There was no way any claws could scratch it or cause enough damage to stop it.
Avaro seemed to understand that, having his first attack be a quick fireball, direct hit.
It did nothing.
OStar was horrified as the blast only left a black mark on the robot's chest, easily wiped off. Mila's laughter echoed from the beast, coming from some hidden speaker.
"Did you really think it would be that easy? Oh no, no, I made sure my MechaDragon was fireproof," she sneered.
OStar shivered. The dragon stayed expressionless and lifeless despite the voice coming from it. It was nothing like Roxxan. This robot had no life.
"I can't believe that purple lump actually did have backup... Or maybe I am just that unlucky," Mila continued, OStar imagining her shaking her head.
"Doesn't matter now, she's dead, and so will all of you,"
The dragon crouched, some vents on its back opening to release some steam before closing as it leaped at Avaro.
The albino stood no chance, the MechaDragon slammed into him with more weight than a normal dragon its size. OStar could see the air get knocked out of Avaro as he thudded on the ground. Lucerne shrieked and quickly tried to shove the metal beast aside, but it wasn't doing much good.
Now OStar could truly say she couldn't do much. She was a roach compared to these dragons, even if she tried to latch onto the MechaDragon and destroy it with her magic, all she could was maybe make a small hole.
A small hole.
An idea started forming in her mind as Lucerne managed to punch Mecha in the face, shattering one of its eyes.
It made no sound of pain, no motion of pain, it simply pulled back and turned on the celestial.
"OStar, I know what you're thinking," Roxxan suddenly spoke up, grabbing her attention. "Huh?" OStar looked over at the robot, a bit confused.
"Just make a hole and let me in, I don't have a pelt to be shredded like you do," she said, eyes narrowed and serious.
"Are you crazy?!" Estella cried; her voice strained with a sob. When OStar looked over, the princess was wide-eyed and on the verge of tears. Any second now she'd expect her to collapse into sobs.
"I'll be fine, she doesn't have that remote anymore. I'll go in and destroy that thing from the inside out," Roxxan explained.
OStar blinked, opening her mouth to say something.
"It was written all over your face, OStar. Don't think I've forgotten about the magic you have," the robot interrupted. "No more questions now, if we wait any longer, Avaro and Lucerne might be killed!"
Quickly glancing over, OStar saw Avaro on the dragon's back, holding each wing and pulling them. Lucerne was squirming underneath it as it tried to grab his throat and choke him. "Hurry! Move!" Roxxan hissed, making OStar quickly turn and jump into the air.
While the beast was massive, there was no way it would notice OStar on its back. Mila was controlling it. If OStar was correct, all she should be able to see would be what the MechaDragon could see. It couldn't feel anything that touched the robot, it had no nerves.
The vents opened again and Avaro quickly jumped off, giving up and instead rammed his entire body into its side. The MechaDragon's talons slipped as it fell over, letting Lucerne escape.
OStar swiftly flew to its side, landing near the top of its flank, and held on. Using her magic, she instantly ate away at the metal, revealing a complex structure of wires and more metal. Small green and red flashing lights in multiple locations made it fairly bright inside for a place with no real light source.
The mechanical beast started to move, making it hard for OStar to hold on.
"Just a little more!" she thought in panic, trying to make the hole big enough for Roxxan to slip into.
"That's good!" the robot said, appearing through a portal she had opened on the dragon's back. OStar pulled back but was quickly shoved off by Roxxan before she jumped into the jagged hole. OStar gave a yelp as she fell off the beast, turning and opening her wings before she smashed her skull on the ground. Roxxan was gone, now inside the MechaDragon. All OStar had to do now was get out of range.
The three dragons were moving quickly, making the environment dangerous as any one of them could accidentally smack OStar with its tail, most likely killing her on impact.
Estella, Rual, and Charlotte were still a safe distance away. All three watched the white cat, eyes wide as they prayed she would make it out of the mess safely.
Something seemed off as OStar felt herself start to spin, all the recent events catching up to her, the exhaustion, fear, and stress. Her eyes flickered as she passed out, midair.
But didn't fall.
Her eyes stayed open as she suddenly shifted into the next gear, tilting her wings and zipping out of the mess.
Charlotte and Rual looked relieved as OStar flew down to join them, landing carefully on her paws.
"You alright?" Charlotte asked, scanning OStar for injuries.
"Do I look hurt? No? Okay then, I'm fine. Roxxan made it inside, she should be able to destroy that thing from the inside out," OStar replied, glancing at Estella who hadn't looked away from the mechanical dragon.
OStar felt like slapping some sense into the moon-dazed princess, but kept her composure. "You have the box, correct, Rual?" she asked instead, ignoring Estella for now.
"I- uh, yeah. How'd you know I got it?" the shifl replied, turning to Charlotte and handing her the silver box.
"I saw you holding it when I came back. I'm not blind," she answered, turning back to the dragons.
"What is it?" Charlotte asked as she inspected the small silver box.
"I don't know, a box," OStar said, watching the MechaDragon with narrowed eyes.
"Any second now. I want this jealousy-driven idiot dead," she hissed in her own mind, irritated that things had turned out this way. She had no idea Mila was here, she hadn't even known this place was destroyed. OStar had had a hunch that maybe it was, based on the fuzzy memories of her last days before she left home. But not like this. At least something survived though. Something that could possibly give some answers.
Some gut feeling had told her it was here, calling for her, waiting.
All she needed to do now was open it.
Which was kind of hard to do when there is someone trying to kill her and all of her friends.
The MechaDragon managed to pull away and throw off Avaro, as if he were nothing more than an annoying flea. It turned to pounce on him as he fell, but hesitated, freezing up. Lucerne quickly went to his friend; both were pretty beaten up with cuts and bruises all along their bodies. The MechaDragon had only sustained some dents and scratches, along with the hole OStar had made and a broken eyeball from Lucerne. OStar could tell the inside was becoming damaged as well. Roxxan should be acting like a flesh-eating parasite, jumping around and lashing at wires, breaking glass, clawing at everything.
MechaDragon stood there, oddly still, but when the vents opened to release steam, instead they released dark smoke. There was a fire inside. Roxxan was doing her job.
Lucerne and Avaro noticed, both confused as they started to back away from the dragon.
The MechaDragon remained still. One of two things could be going on.
Either Roxxan had done enough damage that Mila could no longer control the beast, or Roxxan had managed to find Mila herself and confront her.
OStar hoped it wasn't the second option. Even if Roxxan was also a full robot, she wasn't a fighting type. Her metal was similar but wasn't the same as the beast's or Mila's parts. Roxxan's was lighter and weaker. She was still stronger than a normal cat, but weaker than Mila.
If they were to fight, it was a guaranteed loss for Roxxan.
"She's not stupid, if anything Roxxan is the most reasonable one of us here," OStar tried to reassure herself, waiting.
Static suddenly started sounding from the dragon, making Estella flinch.
There were snippets of sounds, like crashes and alarms, but no voices.
"W-What's going on?" Estella finally whimpered, shaking.
"Roxxan is being the hero," OStar replied. "Fighting for you," she added, instantly regretting it as it sounded a bit too wholesome.
Estella glanced at OStar, her eyes still tear-filled, but OStar could tell what she had said made her feel a little better.
Charlotte and Rual were talking quietly with each other for a few seconds before falling silent. Footsteps made OStar's ear twitch as the shifl walked over next to her.
"You don't think that thing will explode, do you?" he asked in a hushed voice, making sure Estella didn't overhear.
"Maybe," OStar answered honestly.
Rual blinked in surprise, staring at her for a second before sliding back to Charlotte.
"Who cares if it explodes, that just guarantees Mila's death," she thought, her tails twitching every few seconds. A small part of her seemed to protest, worrying about Roxxan dying as well, but she ignored it. Mystic had already died; death wasn't something new to OStar now. In fact, it may never have been new. There was so much memory still hidden, keeping its secrets.
The MechaDragon started smoking in new places besides the vents, from its mouth, the hole OStar had made, and its broken eye.
Thick dark fire smoke, not OStar's destructive smoke.
Avaro and Lucerne had fled, both returning to human form as they reached the others.
"What's going on? Did something malfunction?" Avaro asked, wincing from his wounds. "Where's Roxxan?"
"Where do you think?" OStar replied, keeping her eyes on the smoking dragon, waiting. It was only moments away.
"She's inside it??" Lucerne exclaimed, eyes widening. OStar only nodded.
"But that thing is smoking pretty heavily, what if it explodes?" he said, worry brimming his voice.
"EXPLODE?!" Avaro and Estella cried.
"ROXXAN, YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF THERE!" the albino screamed out, looking as if he was about to charge over again and try to extricate her himself.
Lucerne noticed and quickly grabbed his arm, preventing him from leaving. "She'll escape, give her some time!" he tried to reassure.
Estella was crying even more now as she watched. OStar knew Estella wouldn't run over herself, so there was no reason to worry there.
Why was she so calm about this?
Everything seemed to be so peaceful to her, as if she expected the worst and had already accepted it. The only other person who was calm was Rual, but he still looked a bit shaken and worried. Estella was crying, Charlotte was horrified, Avaro looked trapped with tears building in his eyes, while Lucerne was scared and shaking.
But OStar...
She watched.
She watched as parts of the dragon suddenly lit up before quickly expanding and exploding, resulting in a shockwave along with heat.
OStar watched it all, her ears numbed to the screams of her friends.