Dragon-Man #5

DRAGON-MAN

Issue #5

Part 2

CITY OF TERROR

By: Michael Wydock

Deep underground in the tunnels of Paradise City, Hot-Shot was standing next to a big hulking man with ash grey skin wearing a sleeveless black and red tarnished trench coat.He wore a sleeveless undershirt that bared a skeletal pattern on it.His face was hidden behind a golden horned skull helmet with red eyes, much like the one that Drake saw on the screen of his laptop.However, it wasn’t just the two of them in the tunnels.In front of them hiding in the shadows stood a man in hooded robes.All that was seen of the man was a single red eye and a steel mask covering his mouth and nose underneath that dark purple hood.

“You are certain of this?”Asked the mysterious man in a rather nightmarish sounding voice.

“Yes, the one you have been seeking has been found.And it was this young man who led me to him.”He pointed to Hot-Shot.

“The one who can shapeshift into a dragon is within my grasp.You two have done well.Now, onto phase two of the plan.Break him!”Who was this mysterious man?And why was he obsessed with finding Dragon-Man...?

Dragon-Man woke up moments later in a daze and in the middle of the street.Blue-Flame swooped down from a nearby rooftop and helped him up.He looked down upon her.

“You stayed?”

“Well, I couldn’t let my big boy have all the fun without little old me.”She winked.They both looked around and noticed that the cityscape around them was black and the sky a blood red.

“What the hell is going on?Last thing I remember was.... AHH!”There was a sudden pain throbbing inside Dragon-Man’s head as he covered his forehead.Blue-Flame looked at him in shock.

“Dragon!Are you alright?”Suddenly, his eyes started to glow red as he turned to Blue-Flame and clawed her.But with her quick reflexes, he managed to just rip a hole in her unitard, almost breaking the strap.She placed her hand on her hip and smirked.

“Whoa, down boy!”She said playfully.But Dragon-Man didn’t respond.He just paced toward her like he was possessed.She backed away in fear.She was afraid of him now.She turned the other way and tried to run.But he grabbed a hold of her cape lifting her in the air and slamming her into the ground.He slammed his fist to the ground, but she flipped herself back up as his fist hit the ground creating a crater.

“What the hell’s gotten into you!?Why are you attacking me!?”But once again, he didn’t say anything.He let out a loud roar before spitting out a huge fireball at her.There was enough distance between them that she created a wall of blue fire to block the incoming fireball.However, she slid on her feet until she could stop herself.Dragon-Man flew straight at her through the fire and punched her aside.She stood back up as she was starting to bleed.

“That’s not you in there is it?”She realized.She ran up and jump-kicked off him.When she landed, he threw a mighty punch at her.But she jumped over his fist and kicked him in the back of the head.He stumbles forward and turns to face her again.She threw her punches left and right, but he was blocking her punches.He grabbed her by the face and slammed her down onto the pavement again making another crater.He then lifted her up and kicked her so far away from him.

He let out a stream of fire.Blue-Flame saw the fire and used her bracelets as shields to block the fire.The fire burned most of her unitard off and her hood letting her long red hair down.Her mask was partly damaged too as she was covered in bruises and scars from the fight.But she would not give up.She had to get her friend back.She knew that he was still in there somewhere.... Or so that was what she thought.

Dragon-Man opened his eyes, but it seemed that he was not in the same place.He was back at the place where he was swarmed by the P.C.P.D.A light from a helicopter shined onto Dragon-Man as the cops circled around him and aimed their guns at him.Dragon-Man stood up slowly.Detective Wydock was with them.He stepped out of his car as he was awestruck seeing the mysterious dragon up close.

“OPEN FIRE!”The cops opened fire on Dragon-Man, but the bullets just bounced off of his scales.However, some of the bullets managed to graze parts of his underbelly that his breastplate wasn’t covering.Dragon-Man covered up his small wounds as he started to bleed.He looked and stared angrier at the cops.When the bullets stopped flying, Dragon-Man let out a stream of fire as he made a ring of fire around himself.He flew up into the night sky and away from the cops.Detective Wydock wasn’t going to just let it fly away.

“Shoot it down!”The cops fired up into the sky, but the dragon was long gone.Detective Wydock pulled out his walkie.

“Send in a chopper to go after that thing.”Dragon-Man flew with the speed of Hermes with a P.C.P.D. attack chopper right on his tail.No matter how he maneuvered or how fast he flew, he could not shake it off.The pilot of the chopper carefully took aim until Dragon-Man was locked onto him and fired.Dragon-Man tried his best to avoid the bullets but some of them managed to graze him.He didn’t want to hurt them, but they were not giving him a choice.He flew up and over the chopper.The pilot was looking all over for him.Dragon-Man was now behind the chopper as he spat out a giant fireball hitting the tail of the chopper.The chopper was going down, but he knew that the chopper had ejector seats.Dragon-Man flew through the smoke as the chopper fell from the sky.

Before hitting the ground, the pilot engaged the ejector seat and was sent flying in the air.He watched as the dragon flew off and disappeared into the clouds.Dragon-Man had to hide, he was so confused as to what was going on.He found a clearing in a park with no one around to see him.He transformed back into Drake so as to not alarm anyone else until he finds out what was really going on.

“What the hellfire is going on?Why is Michael attacking me now?He was on my side one minute and then the next he....Wait, this can’t be real.Somethings not right.I better lay low for a while until I can figure this out.I should get back to the temple.”Drake made his way back to the temple as fast as he could.Along the way, he stumbles upon a Newspaper Dispenser and the front article which caught his attention.The headline reads:

CITY OF TERROR:

HUMANOID DRAGON RAMPAGING THE CITY

And beneath the headline was an image of Dragon-Man himself burning down buildings and people running in terror.Drake couldn’t believe it; it was himself in that picture.After everything that he had done for the city, people were afraid of him now.But this didn’t add up he thought.One minute he was their hero and the next he’s public enemy number one.But maybe this was all just a bad dream he thought.If anyone would have an answer to this, it would be Thorax.Drake hesitated no longer, he had to get to the temple, and fast.

Moments later, Drake was within the ruined temple.The whole building was still intact, but it looked different somehow.

“Thorax!” He called out.But there was no answer.

“Master?”As he walked, Drake entered a room and discovered something horrifying.Drake’s eyes grew big at the sight of Thorax dead.His skeleton and armor were all that remained of him.Drake fell to his knees in remorse.

“No, how could this have happened?What monster could’ve done this?”He said sobbing.But his mourning was interrupted.His dragon hearing kicked in and could sense that something was coming, something with wings.Drake found a hiding spot and took it.What he saw next was truly disturbing.Another version of Dragon-Man came swooping down into the temple.But there was something different about this one.His eyes were glowing a blood colored red as horns grew out of his head.This demonic Dragon-Man appeared to be carrying someone in his massive hand.

An unconscious Blue-Flame.This demon dragon proved to be too much for her.With her damaged mask and long loose red hair, Drake knew exactly who it was now.He had his suspicions before but now they were confirmed.

“Alison!I knew it!”He said quietly to himself.The demon dragon threw her onto the ground to do whatever to her later.He walked into the other room.Drake could not risk showing his true identity to her so he transformed before going in to check up on her.Dragon-Man held her head up.

“Blue-Flame, wake up!Come on!”Her eyes slowly opened and saw him.But at first glance she freaked.

“No, get away from me!”

“No, don’t freak!I’m the good one.”

“Dragon?”She placed her hand upon his cheek as he smiled.She then placed her hand on her own face and realized that her mask was damaged.

“Oh shit!My mask!”

“Yeah, looks like you took quite the beating Blue.”He snickered.Blue-Flame hugged him tight as she cried.Dragon-Man hugged her back.

“I’m just glad you’re okay.Let’s get out of this dump.”As they both stood up, something happened.

“DRAGON, LOOK OUT!”The demon dragon came flying at such speed, tackling Dragon-Man in the process.The demon dragon kicked off of Dragon-Man as he was sent flying, crashing into the wall almost breaking through it.The demon dragon let out a stream of fire as Dragon-Man used his wings as flame shields.As the demon dragon was attacking, Blue-Flame shot a fireball at the demon to get his attention.The demon dragon turned to her, pacing toward her towering over her.She got scared and backed away.

“ALISON!”Before the demon could attack her, Dragon-Man swooped in and punched the demon as hard as he could.The demon dragon was sent flying back.

“You need to get out of here!”

“No, I am not letting you fight this thing alone!”

“Just go!I can handle it!”Seeing how much Dragon-Man cared about her, she took his advice and fled.The demon dragon bursted out of the rubble roaring.Dragon-Man flew, tackling the demon dragon as they broke through the walls and out of the temple into the night sky.The two dragons fought in the air.Dragon-Man kicked off of the demon dragon as the two were still flying in the air.Dragon-Man went in with a mighty punch, but the demon dragon flew up and got behind him.The demon dragon let out another fireball as Dragon-Man shielded himself with his wings.

The demon dragon then dashed toward Dragon-Man and slammed him down and out of the sky.Dragon-Man crashed onto the pavement, creating a massive crater.The demon dragon came down after him.As the demon went in for a punch, Dragon-Man jumped out of the way as the demon dragon punched a hole in the crater making it bigger.The demon dragon then tried to claw him, but Dragon-Man used his speed to get behind him.He grabbed a hold of the demon dragon’s tail and threw him high in the sky.

Dragon-Man then flew after the demon.However, the demon saw him coming and quickly flew out of the way.He managed to cut Dragon-Man’s underbelly as he passed.The demon dragon licked the blood off of his claws as Dragon-Man stared at him disgusted and shocked at the same time.The demon dragon then flew with such speed towards him.However, Dragon-Man was quick enough to get behind him and grab a hold of the demon dragon’s wings.Dragon-Man used all of his might to pull the demon’s wings off as it screamed in pain.He then grabbed the demon’s tail again and flung him into the ocean below making a huge splash upon impact.The demon dragon couldn’t swim so it drowned as it’s blood filled the ocean.Dragon-Man then touched down onto the ground exhausted.

Sirens came whaling down the street.Dragon-Man looked back and saw the flashing red and blue lights.Cops came out of their cars and aimed their guns surrounding Dragon-Man.Detective Wydock arrived on the scene in his 1971 Cuda that he loved so much.He spoke into a megaphone.

“You’re surrounded demon!Surrender now!”But Dragon-Man did not comply.But then he saw something that only trained eyes could see.There was a quick glitch on the cops.It’s like they just glitched for a millisecond.Dragon-Man then knew that these cops were not real, he didn’t have to hold back.

“Last warning demon!”Dragon-Man then blew out a stream of fire, creating a wall of flame.But instead of retreating, he decided to fight.He leaped forward through the fire as he punched one of the cops with such force that his whole fist went straight through him.Fear and shock came across their faces.

“OPEN FIRE!”The remaining officers fired as Dragon-Man used the dead cop as a meat shield.He then kicked the dead cop off of his fist and into the others.The remaining officers kept shooting as the bullets bounced off of his scales and breastplate.Dragon-Man then punched, kicked and clawed every remaining officer until Detective Wydock was left.Seeing everyone else dead, Detective Wydock backed up in shock with his jaw dropped.He then turned and fled, but then Dragon-Man flew blocking his path.

The detective then punched Dragon-Man as he caught his fist.Dragon-Man held onto his fist and lifted him up into the air.He then balled up his fist and punched the detective in the stomach with much force that his fist came out of the detective’s back.Blue-Flame showed up and saw the whole thing from a safe distance.Fear and shock came across her face when she witnessed Detective Wydock’s murder.As the detective coughed up blood onto Dragon-Man’s arm, his eyes grew large as if he could not believe that he did that.Detective Wydock was always so nice to Drake.Looking out for him and taking him in after his mother died.

Dragon-Man pulled back his fist as the detective’s body fell onto the ground.Dragon-Man then fell onto his knees as to comprehend what he had just done.He looked at his blood covered hands as he shook in fear and shock.Tears rolled down his cheeks.Not wanting to approach him now, Blue-Flame backed away and fled the scene.Even though none of this was real, it still felt real to him.Whoever put him in the scenario had a lot to answer for.He stood up and stared up at the sky.The blood red sky glitched for about a millisecond.Dragon-Man then flew up into the sky as far as he could.He flew until he reached the barrier.

His suspicions were in fact correct.He was stuck inside of a giant simulation.But who, who put him in this thing he thought.Dragon-Man then tried punching the barrier until the grid was blinking red.He threw one final punch until he broke through and shattered the grid as if glass.

Dragon-Man woke up.He was lying on a huge slab with some sort of device attached to his head.The device was hooked up to a giant computer which powered the simulation.Dragon-Man took off the device on his head as he sat up.He then hopped off of it and looked around to see where he was.The building he was in was dark but a single light shined upon him.Tiled floors and walls was all he saw.A ticking clock was up on the wall as it read 3:45.To avoid suspicions in case anyone was watching, he decided to remain in his dragon form.He walked through a door and into a hallway, wondering if there was anyone else here.

Maybe there were other people hooked up to the simulation in the other rooms.The lights were flicking and buzzing as he walked through those corridors.As he was walking, he thought to himself…. Was that demon dragon even real or was it just an avatar?A twisted, nightmarish version of Dragon-Man.Why was this simulation even created and who programmed it?What was it’s purpose?Questions and even more questions were going through his mind.He sees Detective Wydock stepping out of the room.The detective turns to him as he quickly pulls out his gun.Dragon-Man backs up, throwing his hands up into the air.

“You killed me!Is this even real?”

“Relax, you’re out of the simulation.”Detective Wydock then realizes that and lowers his weapon.

“Thank god.Where the hell are we?” He says approaching Dragon-Man.

“I don’t know.But we’ve got to find Blue-Flame and get out of here.This place is giving me mad scientist vibes.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”They continue on through the dark corridors.Moments later, they find the room where Blue-Flame was trapped in.But something else had caught the detective’s eye.He just got a quick glimpse of someone walking down one of the corridors, someone wearing purple.

“Dragon, you get her out of there.I’m gonna go see what that was.”

“Right.”Detective Wydock held up his gun as he snuck around the corner.He was up against the wall as he peeked.Laying low and following the mysterious figure down the corridor.The mysterious figure was cloaked in dark purple robes and a hooded cape with his hands behind his back as he walked.Detective Wydock was sneaky and hiding behind every corner he could find, but it was no use.

“I know you’re following me detective.”Detective Wydock aimed his gun at him as the figure turned to face him.That single red eye accompanied with that steel mask made him look mysterious.

“There’s no need for that little toy detective.You can do no harm to me.”

“LIKE HELL!”The stubborn detective pulled the trigger and fired.However, the mysterious man slowed the bullet down and caught it in mid-air.He then threw the bullet aside as Detective Wydock was awestruck.

“What do you hope to accomplish with such a useless tool anyway?”Detective Wydock then tried to tackle him, but he just phased right through him like he was a ghost.The mysterious figure turned to him again.

“You’re not even here are you?”

“Correct.But it’s not me you should be worried about.At least not yet anyway.”The mysterious man disappeared and in his place stood a huge, hulking man that stood eleven feet tall as he overshadows the detective.That man with the golden skull horned helmet and red eyes.He lifted up the detective and threw him out the window of the building and out onto the streets.The hulking man broke threw the bricked wall like it was nothing.He was a human wrecking ball.The detective whipped out his gun and fired as the bullets barely even hurt him.

As the hulking man was about to pound the detective into the ground like a pancake, Dragon-Man swooped in and punched the man in the head as hard as he could.The man stumbles and turns to face Dragon-Man.This hulking man matched Dragon-Man’s size.Maybe he even matches his strength too.Hot-Shot came flying out of the building not wanting to miss out on the action.The man turns up to him.

“Take care of the detective!The dragon is mine!”

“Got it!”Hot-Shot flew down and tackled the detective.The man turns back to Dragon-Man.

“Just who are you Mr. tall, dark and scary?”The man said nothing at first.He dashed and tackles Dragon-Man as if a quarterback.Dragon-Man was sent flying back and hit an oil tanker behind him denting it.Dragon-Man looks up at him.

“Whoa, such power!This is gonna be fun.”He flies towards the man as the man goes to punch him again.But Dragon-Man flies up and lets out a stream of fire, trapping the man in a ring of fire.

“That’s a neat trick, but pointless!”The man leaps up, grabbing Dragon-Man’s tail and pounding him down into the ground.But before the hulking man could do anything else, Detective Wydock leaped onto his back and placed him in a choke hold.The man grabbed a hold of the detective and threw him off.Detective Wydock flipped himself in the air as he landed on his feet.

“Detective, I thought you were busy with Hot-Shot.”

“I was, but I can’t let you have all the fun.” He smirked.The man came up to them and raised up his fists.As his massive fists were coming down, they both jumped aside as the hulking man pounded the pavement, making a crater.

“Whoa, this guys strong!”Detective Wydock pulled out his gun again and shot, but the bullets were ineffective.Dragon-Man then swooped in with a kick and bashed his head.That kick just made him angry.He took Dragon-Man’s leg and tossed him aside like a rag doll.Dragon-Man then saw Hot-Shot as he threw fireballs at him.Dragon-Man got up and flew up missing them.Dragon-Man then bashed him aside with his tail.Hot-Shot then crashed into the hulking man as he turns to Hot-Shot.He picks him up by the vest.

“Get back in there and fight!”He threw Hot-Shot up into the air giving him a boost.Hot-Shot used his fire as thrusters and hovered in place.He turned and saw Dragon-Man coming and avoided his next attacks.Hot-Shot went in for a punch as Dragon-Man got behind him.He kicked Hot-Shot’s back as he fell from the sky.Hot-Shot landed hard as he slid onto the pavement knocking him out.

“Hmph, disappointment!”Said the hulking man.Detective Wydock fired his gun to get the hulking man’s attention.The hulking man then swung as the detective ducked his punches.The man went to punch again, but Dragon-Man swooped in and grabbed the detective as the man punched a gaping hole in the side of the building taking out a chunk of bricks.The man then took a brick in his hand and chucked it as hard as he could at them.

“DRAGON, WATCH OUT!”Dragon-Man turned around and avoided the flying brick.As soon as they both landed, the hulking man leaped up and pounded the ground creating a massive earthquake.The two jumped aside and avoided the upheaval of road which in turn also flipped his car upside down.The man then dashed towards Dragon-Man and punched him as hard as he could, almost breaking his snout.He then upper-cuts Dragon-Man sending him flying off the ground.The detective got his quad-barrel shotgun out from the trunk of his flipped car and blasted the hulking man which got his attention.The shotgun shells manage to hurt him.He shot again as the man blocks the shells.The hulking man dashes towards him and tackles him, sending the detective flying back.

The detective hit the wall behind him as he was knocked out for a while.The hulking man then turns back to Dragon-Man trying to fly away.But the hulking man grabbed his tail and slammed Dragon-Man onto the ground behind him.

“Had enough dragon?”The hulking man then walked up to the beaten Dragon-Man and kicked him hard in the chest.

“By the time I’m done with you, you’ll know fear!”Dragon-Man stands up and goes to punch him, but the hulking man caught his fist and head-butts him.Dragon-Man stumbles back.

“And then once you know fear, terror will fill your heart!”The hulking man then punches Dragon-Man again and upper-cuts him.Dragon-Man falls back and onto his stomach.

“You may call me…. Terror.And I’ll make sure you’ll never forget it!”Terror then stomped on his back and grabs a hold of his wings.

“A little something to remember me by.”Terror pulled as Dragon-Man screams in pain.Terror used all of his might to rip Dragon-Man’s wings off like picking wings off of a fly.Dragon-Man screamed as loud as he could as if the pain was too intense.Terror tossed his wings aside and lifts Dragon-Man up and over his head.He threw Dragon-Man clear across the parking lot.Dragon-Man was too weak to get up.Without his wings, he felt helpless.But before Terror could finish him off, massive bolts of electricity came and hit Terror directly in the chest sending him flying back, crashing into the building.Energizer had come to Dragon-Man’s rescue and quickly teleported him away.Terror got up and saw that Dragon-Man had disappeared and so did the detective.Terror looked furious.

Energizer had teleported the injured Dragon-Man and Detective Wydock to the temple where Thorax was waiting.Thorax saw what had happened to Dragon-Man and rushed to his aid.

“By the gods!What happened!?!”

“Thorax, he’s losing a lot of blood.You need to save him now!”Thorax agrees to help him.Thorax got down on his knees and used his knowledge of healing magic to try to patch him up.But will it be enough?Is this the end of Dragon-Man…?

TO BE CONTINUED….