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Tales from the Nexus: Dawn of the Dragon

Dawn

Drake Mason let out a loud grunt. With sweat dripping down his brow, he racked the bar sporting an incredible hundred and eighty pounds. His chest was aching and with a grunt, sprang up to his feet and grabbed his towel from where it rested beside the bench press. He wiped his brow, panting loudly. A quick check of the time and he realised that he this was his ninetieth minute at the gym.

It was time to leave or he'd be late.

The 6'8'' second year college student picked up his impressed two hundred and twenty pound weight off the bench and headed towards the showers, strutting his lean, muscular frame. Thick veins pushed up against his arms, his barrel chest pushing up against his tank top. A light dusting of brown-blonde hair crested his impressive pectorals, matching the dirty blonde that stood in spikes on his head.

There was no time to take a shower so he just opened the locker he had been assigned, tossed a jacket over his broad frame and replaced his gym shorts with some running sweats. He was out the door of the college gymnasium a moment later, guzzling the protein shake that he had prepared to make sure his muscles got the nourishment that they needed after such an intense workout.

Though he was on the bulky side, Drake enjoyed some cardio here and there and jogged all the way back to the apartment he shared with his roommate off campus. He caught the gazes of some students wandering the streets, flashing them his million-dollar grin and even flexing for them a little. He loved his body. It had taken him years to get to the sort of muscle structure that he could only be defined as 'bodybuilder'. But he still wanted more.

He wanted to be huge.

A real monster.

Perhaps he would go back to the gym after dinner if there wasn't anything else to do but he did promise his roommate that it was movie night tonight. Though Ken, knowing his tastes, probably picked some weird vintage movie from the obscure past. Drake was tempted to slow down and be intentionally late but he was never one to just stand around and waste time when he could be doing something. Besides, Ken would never forgive him if he was late after hitting the gym. Apparently he spent too much time working out.

He reached the apartment, a little two bedroom place in an apartment complex. As he stepped through the door, he could already smell the popcorn being made. It was just a little after three in the afternoon but there was time before Ken went to work; he worked as campus security. The job kept him up late at night and the two best friends only really had moments like these to spend with one another. During the mornings, Drake was off on his morning run and then heading to class. Ken studied engineering while Drake was pining to become a personal trainer. They rarely saw each other and that was not the sort of relationship life-long, childhood friends should have especially if they were roommates.

So they made a promise that every second day, they would sit down in the afternoon between classes, workouts and work to watch a movie. Choice of movie alternated between them.

Ken Nakamura was already parked in front of the couch and had their video service positioned at the latest _Kaiju_remake.

"Really, bro?" Drake laughed. "Don't you think you're being a little racist watching that crap?"

Ken gave him an exasperated look, black, slightly squinted eyes rolling in the process. "Just because I'm Asian, you think it's racist for me to be watching a_Kaiju_ movie. A western-oriented _Kaiju_movie, no less. Come on, Drake."

Drake sat himself down beside his friend. "Just as long as you don't start screaming your head off because the big lizard monster scared you."

"Dick." Ken shoved the bowl of popcorn into his hands and started the movie.

The opening credits were played and just like every Kaiju movie, it began with the old legend of the Dragon King. Drake had seen this particular movie before, and not too long ago in fact, so he still remembered the voiceover speaking of how the might Dragon King always came down to 'cleanse the land' in what was known as a 'Dragon Descent'. The movie tried to explain mass extinctions in history to Dragon Descents. Ice ages were a Descent. The event that killed off the dinosaurs, a Descent. To make things more ominous, the narrator said that they were now overdue for another Descent.

"So what did you end up doing at the gym today?" Ken suddenly asked.

"Chest," Drake grunted, flexing his pectorals. "I'm feeling pumped man! You should join me one of these days!"

His friend rolled his eyes again, it was something he liked to do. His scrawny frame, while far from malnourished, was nowhere near the size of Drake. Ken waved Drake's comment away with a dismissive wave of his wrist in an almost effeminate gesture. "What? And be a big oaf like you with all muscle and no brains? One of us as to remember to pay the rent and not spend it on protein shakes and steroids."

"I forgot to pay the rent once!" Drake held up a finger. "And I'm serious about being huge! I want to make a career about it. It's just like you killing yourself over your projects, assembling those robots or some shit. You pull all-nighters. I do in my own way."

Ken gave him a sceptical eye. "And your reason for drag me down with you?"

"Just trying to make sure you live long enough to see me become Mr. Olympia!" He flexed his bicep, the definition somewhat hidden by his jacket but the bulge definitely stretching the fabric.

"You just want be to be big and huge so you can have a muscle man bend you over and plough your ass."

He laughed at the tired old tease and gave Ken a hard shove. "Fuck off, bro!"

"You know it to be true! All big muscle guys are secret homos!" Ken jabbed Drake's chest with a bony finger. "Admit it! Some part of you believes that if you get some bigger guy's cum in you, you're going to 'absorb their testosterone' and become bigger!"

"Dude, working out is a science! There's nutrition, calorie counting and rotations you gotta think about! If you're all top heavy and your legs are like twigs, you'll look ridiculous!" He lifted his legs, pulling at the rims of his pants.. "Look at these calves, man. They're refined machines of steel and careful crafting! You can't just lift weights! You got to lift weights right!"

Again, Ken rolled his eyes and waved him to silence. "Whatever, man. It's starting."

Drake laughed and agreed to remain silent as the movie he had seen before played before him.

It was a typical summer blockbuster. Big explosions, big stars and big budget. The special effects were great and the big monster, the Kaiju, was really well rendered. The plot was a little thin though. At first, the defence force thought the monster was some sort of experiment gone awry. Then perhaps a biological weapon. Of course, throughout it all there was the 'crackpot' who kept claiming it was a Dragon Descent. Eventually, it didn't matter. One massive military operation later and the Kaiju was killed.

But not before reports came streaming in from all over the world that 'dragons' were coming in from everywhere and started destroying civilisation as they knew it. Thus, the movie ended with a sort of cliff hanger and the possibility of a sequel.

"Well that was fun," Ken said, kicking up his feet onto the coffee table. He stretched his spindly arms and let out a loud yawn. "I really don't want to go to work today."

"If you don't who'll pay the rent," Drake teased, giving him a nudge. "Besides, I need the apartment to myself."

"What? Having company over?"

"Nah! You know me. Just going to furiously masturbate!"

Ken winced and that comment got him off the couch. "Gross. Just promise me you'll clean up afterwards. And not in the public areas. Especially nowhere we eat."

Drake let his friend get ready for his job. He mulled over the movie for a little while longer while surfing through the channels for something good. Whenever he'd pass through the wrestling channel, his attention would be at its peak. A bit of envy bubbled up from his stomach seeing those enormous, bulky bodies ramming into one another, sweaty flesh colliding in clearly choreographed moves.

He wanted to be that big.

No, he wanted to be bigger.

He wanted to be huge, a monster.

The idea of him being as big as one of those Kaiju would certainly be entertaining this evening.

Ken emerged from his room, buckling his campus security badge to his chest. "I'm off. Leave some dinner for me. And remember what I said about leaving your cum everywhere."

"Yeah, yeah," Drake said, waving him away. "Go act tough and kill people's party buzz. I might hit the gym again."

"That's about the only thing you do," Ken joked. "See you later."

"Later, bro."

Ken left a moment later and Drake found himself alone in the apartment. As tempted as he was to make good on his promise to masturbate, he wasn't feeling that aroused. Two hours and a half of eating popcorn, lounging on the couch and watching giant lizards get blown up caused his testosterone levels to drop dramatically.

Though he was loathed to think about it, he realised he should take the opportunity to follow up on some of his homework. He was still a student, after all. The walk to his room was made all the harder with the upcoming mental exercise he would have to endure. Drake Mason was, if anything, someone who pushed through pain and did the best he could no matter how much his body begged him to do otherwise. He slumped onto his desk, opened his anatomy book and began reaching through the chapters that he knew would he would be tested on.

Time just seemed slip him by, every word blurring into the next until his head felt fuzzy and heavy. He wasn't always the most studios of people. The stereotypical jock, he had always been the muscle to Ken's brains. They were always partnered up for school projects, he always protected Ken from any bullies and Ken always helped him whenever he had trouble with his classes. Now that they were striving for different vocations, he could no longer rely on Ken's brains to see him pass his classes.

Thinking about Ken made him rather nostalgic. Time were so much simpler five or ten years ago. Get up, take the school bus, sit down for classes, look forward to recess and then lunch break then goof off until it was time for dinner. He remembered fondly those years when he and Ken would just find some imaginary world to play in or perhaps they'd go to Ken's house and play whatever console that he had.

Even as they grew older, Ken's imagination never ceased to amaze him. Brought up in a family that valued physical accomplishment and the material aspect of life, Drake had always found it a little difficult to catch up to Ken's wild speculations and conspiracy theories. Perhaps that attributed to his less than enthusiastic approach to his studies.

He chuckled softly at Ken's multiverse theory, something he touted over and over again. Apparently, Ken studied with a guy who skipped two school years and was studying string theory, whatever that was.

"There are a whole bunch of worlds out there, Drake!" his brainy friend would exclaim. "Not just our own."

"Of course there are," Drake would said with a shrug. "Mars, Jupiter, Neptune. Uranus." He'd chuckle at the last name. "Lots of worlds. I know this shit."

"No, no. Not just planets_. Dimensions! Entirely new existences beyond our own. Parallel dimensions. There could be another Drake Mason out there with a slight difference. Maybe in another dimension, you're the smart one and I'm the muscle head! Or maybe we're both girls!"_

Drake would just laugh and pat Ken's head given that he was about a head and a half taller. "Sure, bro. Sure."

Drake sighed softly and regarded the textbook that he had been poring over. In his daydreaming, he had drawing a little heart on the margins of the pages with 'Ken' and 'Drake' inside.

"Fuck... Now I can't sell this shit back to the school..." He slammed the book shit with a huff. "No homo," he told himself like the many times he had pinned over Ken before.

That was when he realised his phone was vibrating. During his workouts, he kept it on silent so that he would never be interrupted while he was in the 'zone' especially when he usually had it plugged to his earphones. Getting a phone call while he was in the middle of a set was distracting and potentially dangerous, after all.

"Must've forgotten to switch it back on..." he mumbled and picked it up from his desk. To his surprise, there were fifty missed calls. Ken was ringing him. "The fuck...?"

He answered it. "Ken?"

"Drake! Fucking finally!" There were screams in the background and Ken sounded panicked. "Why weren't you picking up?"

"I was studying. What's going on?" Images of some drunken party gone wild filled his mind.

"Look outside damnit! How can you miss what the fuck is happening!?"

Drake pulled his head back in surprise. "What are you talking about?" He headed towards his window and froze. "Oh..."

The sky was draped in black, acrid smoke for countless fires all over the city. The apartment was far enough from the main city that whatever was still far enough that it wasn't affecting them... yet. He could see big, black figures zooming through the smoke. Planes maybe? Were they under attack?

"What's going on?"

"Switch on the fucking news, Drake! I'm heading home! Start packing!"

"Why won't you just tell me what's going on?"

"Because after watching a Kaiju remake, you won't believe me."

"What does -?" He got cut off as Ken quickly told him that he was on his way and hung up. "Ken?" He shook his head and quickly went back to the lounge room, having to dodge past the weight set that he had there and his Workout Master 7000.

A moment later, the TV was on and a news anchor, eyes wide and fear written all over his face was trying to tell them calmly about dragons attacking the city.

"I don't know what else to tell you, folks,"_the man said, shaking. _"We've got 1000 foot tall dragons coming down on the city!"

Images flashed on screen. An enormous dragon with red scales ploughed through entire buildings with ease, a torrent of flame blasting from its huge muzzle. High above, a silvery, lithe dragon of a different build zoomed through the clouds, a sonic boom blasting entire windows and shattering them. Deep purple and blue tentacles erupted from the ground, each one possessing a draconic head. They snapped up at people and dragged them beneath the city.

"Holy shit!" Drake exclaimed. "This can't be happening!"

"We're getting reports that military forces are scrambling to come to our city's aid. All citizens are advised to get out of the city limits as soon as possible and to make their way to your local shelter." The anchor paused as a stage hand suddenly arrived and handed him a print out. His eyes widened in terror. "Folks, I've just been told that miniaturised versions of the dragons have begun sweeping through the streets, stealing people from their homes and attacking anyone trying to defend themselves. Shelters are no longer safe. We-"

The transmission suddenly cut off.

On screen was a man dressed in a black suit and guarded by two burly security guards. A strange emblem was drawn on the wall behind him. 'NexCo' it said.

"Citizens," the man said calmly, "We at the Nexus Conglomerate have been preparing for this eventuality. What you are experiencing now is indeed the legend come to life. This is a Dragon Descent. The Dragon King has unleashed his forces and are now attempting to purge your very livelihoods from this world. They will spread across this entire planet and rid it of all life.

"The Conglomerate have known about this for a while. Our forces have now been mobilised and are making their way to your residences to extract you from you danger and bring you to our safe houses. Please cooperate. Your best chances of survival lies with us. That is all."

The screen switched back to the rather stunned anchor. The man pressed a finger against his ear.

"We're just getting reports now that black military-like vehicles are now mobilizing throughout the city and the surrounding suburbs. These 'Conglomerate' forces are bringing people to safety. We've got reports that they seem to be holding back the dragons."

Again, the anchor was dropped from screen as a video brought from the field showed black jets zooming across the sky, firing at the enormous dragons. The weapons seemed to affect the enormous beasts, momentarily forcing them back. The camera man swung back to ground level and ran into a black APC with the same emblem drawn on the side. A tall guard was there, ushering the cameraman, dressed in thick, black armour and wielding a rather futuristic helmet with a 'V' shapes visor that emitted a soft, blue glow and an odd gun with glowing lights.

The door to the apartment suddenly burst open and Drake jumped in surprise.

Ken bolted in and stopped when he saw Drake. "Why haven't you started packing yet!?"

"I just..." He looked back towards the television as the anchor was suddenly hurried off screen. The news crew didn't even bother shutting off their equipment, leaving the screen with the image of an empty table. "Is this really happening?"

"Apparently so," Ken said, bolting towards his room. "Go and grab your stuff! Essentials only!"

Drake hesitated for a moment and then bolted into his room. He seized his suitcase that he had never opened since he moved to this place and threw as much clothes as he could. He wrenched his laptop from its socket and stuffed it into the bag, barely caring if it would be safe or not.

"Food," he thought aloud and bolted for the kitchen, grabbing as much dry and non-perishable food as he could. He stuffed it into his bag, his panic rising with every passing second until. A few cans dropped from the pile in his hands but he ignored it.

When his suitcase was filled to the brim, he zipped it up and charged out of his door. He banged on the Ken's door. "Ken! Are you ready yet?"

He charged inside and his eyes widened.

What he could only describe as an eastern dragon with its long, slim, almost serpentine body had Ken wrapped in a constricting grip. The dragon's bright orangey-yellow scales glistened in the dim light, its fiery red mane waving even despite the lack of wind. The beast's bright orange eyes switched towards Drake, its muzzle splitting wide in a sinister grin. Ken couldn't speak, his mouth had one of the dragon's coils wrapped around him. Drake realised that the coils were just the magical reptile's tail alone.

The dragon flashed him a grin just as Ken desperately reached out for him, pleading for help.

"Let him go!" Drake shouted, hefting his suitcase like a hammer.

But the invader suddenly leapt for the open window. Even without wings, somehow the dragon managed to fly through the air and took Ken with him.

"Ken!" Drake screamed and charged after them. He froze at the window, screaming for his best friend as the dragon disappeared into the night.

He heard a loud bang and spun around. The front door was visible from Ken's room so he saw the men in black armour charge in, guns raised.

"Hey!" shouted one of the men, beckoning at him. "Come with us. We'll bring you to safety."

"My roommate was just take by one of those... dragon... things!" Drake exclaimed, pointing out the window. "We have to do something to help him!"

"Sorry kid. Once they're taken, there's nothing we can do except keep you from also getting kidnapped and turned."

"Turned? What are you talking about?"

The man stepped forward and grabbed his forearm. "Just come with us."

"No! I've got to save Ken!"

The soldier shook his head and pointed his gun at him. "We don't have time for this."

A bolt of energy erupted from the barrel of the gun, striking Drake. The young bodybuilder was suddenly hurled halfway across the room, bright blue bolts of electricity dancing all over his body. Consciousness left him before he hit the floor, his eyes wide open in shock.

"Take him," the soldier said. "We can't let a single one get turned even if they don't want to come with us."

******

Drake awoke to the sound of soft beeping.

A jet black ceiling was the first thing he saw followed by the oddly white equipment around him. The groan that left his lips was muffled by the dryness of his throat. To his right and left were beds similar to the one he was lying upon. Each one was occupied by another person in varying degrees of consciousness.

"What...? What's going on?" he mumbled.

A man dressed in a white labcoat or perhaps it was a doctor's coat came into view, adjusting his glasses as he regarded Drake with a frown. "You're in a Nexus Conglomerate facility. You've been under sedation for the past few hours due to your exposure to an Eastern Dragonling."

"Ah... a what...?" Drake mumbled.

The doctor looked to the left, pressing a finger to his ear just like that news anchor from before. Slowly, Drake's mind began to catch up with his memories.

Ken.

"I've got to save... Ken," he grunted.

"You might get your chance," answered the doctor. "I've just been advised that the Director would like to speak with you."

He frowned. "The who?"

"The head of the Nexus Conglomerate." The doctor snapped his fingers and two of those guards in black materialised out of nowhere. They immediately helped Drake out of the bed. Drake, still dressed in his workout clothes, was escorted out of the rows upon rows of unconscious people. Doctors were milling about.

As they passed one particular patient, the man suddenly sat up and let out a bloodcurdling roar, certainly inhuman. Doctors immediately scrambled to him with the black guards springing into action. Drake realised that the armoured men were everywhere, it just so happened that due to their mostly black attire and the dark surroundings, they were nearly invisible. The guards immediately shot the man with a bolt of electricity from their guns, throwing him back to the bed, unconscious.

"What's happening?"

"A Dragon Descent," answered the doctor as they left the area. "The Dragon King's great harvest."

"Harvest? What are you talking about?"

"The Director will explain, I'm sure." The doctor stepped up to an elevator and pressed the button. A moment later, the elevator doors let out a soft ding. He swiped his access card and pressed one of the floor buttons.

One of the guards suddenly shoved Drake inside the elevator.

"Hey! Watch it!" Drake growled.

"You'll be taken directly to the Director," said the man. "Try not to piss him off."

He remained silent as the elevator doors shut tight. Eager for answers, he tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator carried him higher and higher through the facility. There were no floor numbers so he had no idea where he was going or how far he had gone. All he knew was when the door sprang open, he was greeted with what he likened to the inside of a Rubik's Cube if every tile was black. Square, black tiles covered every inch of the room save for the elevator. The divides between each tile glowed an eerie blue.

Still a little drowsy from having just woken up, Drake stepped forward out of the elevator. The moment he did, the doors shut behind him.

"Fuck..."

The lines between the tiles suddenly began to glow, colourful lights spilling out of them. Right before his eyes, those very same lights began reshaping to display wooden bookshelves, colourful books, a jet-black desk and black carpet. An entire office unfolded in front of him, lavished with rather expensive looking furnishings. He gawked, swiping his hand through a chair. It passed right through.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Drake."

He spun towards the desk. There was a man sitting at there, the high backed chair casting a shadow of his features. It was impossible to see his actual face for some reason.

"What is this...?" Drake asked.

"Interdimensional Telepresence," answered the man. "The full-room hologram you are now experiencing comes to you from another reality, the one I am currently occupying."

"Another...?" He inclined his head to the side. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

With infinite patience, the Director waved a hand towards him. "You must be thirsty. Here. Have a drink." There was suddenly a little pedestal beside Drake with a glass of water. Drake cautiously picked it up, surprised that it was real. He drained the glass immediately. "Are you familiar with the idea of string theory?"

"My best friend, Ken, wouldn't stop going on about it. Something about infinite possibilities and infinite realities."

"Your friend Ken was correct. There are indeed infinite possibilities and infinite realities. Your universe is just one of countless. But it is one of the many created by the Dragon King." The Director lifted a hand, beckoning Drake to silence before he could interrupt. "I know you have many questions but let me explain first."

Drake crossed his arms and grunted. "Okay... fine. Talk."

"Thank you." The head of the _Conglomerate_cleared his throat. "Gods by their very definition are empowered by their believers. If a god doesn't have a follower or if they are forgotten in the past, then they cease to exist. The more faithful a God amasses, the more powerful they are. This is the basis of the Dragon King's existence. He created countless dimensions, built along the same template, all with the goal of making them his followers.

"Sadly, the thing about belief is that it spawns religion and religion is a mortal construct that tends to twist the directives and teachings of the God. Give it a couple of hundred years, and there will be schisms in belief. People will kill one another over technicalities in the God's worlds. Even the constant presence of a God will cause disruptions as there will be heretics, blasphemers and whatever else. It is in every mortal's nature to change and evolve, after all.

"Knowing this, the Dragon King opted for another solution. A sort of way to ensure undying loyalty and faith, thus empowering him for all eternity. He effectively transforms every mortal into a creature that we call a 'Dragonling', basically a replica of another dragon but more... average sized based on the world in question. He supressed their free will and individuality almost completely. He enforces a sort of filter through their souls, forcing only what will meet his desires to enter the body that he has forged for them. With but a whim, he can order them to do whatever he pleases and they will do so happily. At the same time, his soul consumes their own, digests it and then regurgitates it back into the body in question, reforged into his liking. There is still some spark of that person deep inside there somewhere but a constant link to the Dragon King forged by this link constantly feeds this back to him. In this way, he creates an infinitely loyal minion, suppresses any chance of ever rebelling and feeds on the soul's attempt to recover, constantly keeping it in that blissful stupor."

Drake shook his head with a grunt. "You've got to be shitting me..."

"I am not. This is how the Dragon King operates. He creates entire universes with the express purpose of harvesting them at a later date in events he calls his 'Dragon Descents'. He and his 'sons' descend upon the unsuspecting populace and convert them all into Dragonlings. His 'sons', the enormous dragons you saw, are just like him but have a modicum more individuality than the Dragonlings. They are twisted with ideas of love for the Dragon King, wholly completely and devoted to him. They convert people into Dragonlings, feeding them and the Dragon King in turn, feeds upon them to further empower himself."

"But why even bother with this shit? Why not just create followers like he always wanted?"

"He tried that. But what he feeds upon is the spark of the soul that grows from experience and living. Every memory you make, every event you experience, every emotion you feel all contribute to your soul's strength. The Dragon King takes these from you, leaving you effectively a husk of what you were but still with the capacity to amass more. In effect, a Dragonling is merely a container for rainwater. The world gives them the rain and when full or whenever the Dragon King feels thirsty, he drains it for himself."

"Like a fucking tax collector..."

The Director chuckled mildly. "I suppose you could make that comparison, yes. Every time the Dragon King feasts, the individual is returned to their base state, undyingly loyal, empty and perhaps even unquestionably in love with the King or one of his sons.

"As to your question why he would create entire worlds for his Descent, think of it as a meal plan. What he devours from his existing Dragonlings is like a snack. Something that gets very stale very quickly and one that he uses to sustain himself. But to grow even stronger, he needs an entire world full of new experiences, new individuals and new souls. It is like a buffet. It has a new taste, a new world. Just like his individual Dragonlings, he lets the world grow enough that its container is full of rainwater before he drains it."

Drake rubbed his temple with a hand, unable to fully comprehend this. "Okay... fine. So he's come for us now. And you say this is how it's always been? How the fuck do you fit into this?"

"Let us just say that the _Conglomerate_doesn't like seeing potential resources wasted like this. We value individuality, creativity and a person's personality. If you have a trillion robots doing exactly the same thing over and over again, they will just do as they're told and never come up with a new solution to better the process or even come up with something new. We've watched the Dragon King perform these Descents over and over again and we have always endeavoured to stop them."

"But failed."

"Yes and no." The Director waved a hand across his desk. "As you can see, we are fully capable of interdimensional travel. "Entire worlds fall to the Dragon King's Descent but not everyone becomes a Dragonling. We evacuate the world."

"You evacuate a whole fucking dimension?"

The mysterious head of the Conglomerate laughed. "Despite his 'godhood', the Dragon King is somewhat narrow minded in his resources. He always attacks one inhabited planet at a time and it takes him at least a decade or so to purge an entire planet. The Conglomerate has far more resources than he does. _Far_more. We go from planet to planet, get our roots set up and then proceed to evacuate people when the Descent comes. We've been successful in doing it a little sooner more than once but you can understand if most people are rather hesitant to leave their homes behind."

Thinking about Ken and his apartment, Drake could understand. "Yeah... I suppose."

"The technological advancements of this particular planet weren't far enough that we could openly come out and say we're here to evacuate you all. Seriously, if this mysterious company suddenly came up, telling you about the Dragon King and offering to bring you to safety, would you take it?"

"I suppose not..."

"And that would just pre-empt the Dragon King to make a Descent and thus cause more loss."

Drake took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "So... what now? Are you going to evacuate us? Are you going to try and save those people that have been taken?"

"You're speaking of your friend, Kenneth Nakamura." The Director paused for a moment. "I am sorry, Drake. But no matter the will of the individual, no one will be able to resist the power of the Dragon King or his sons for long. By now, your friend will have turned into a Dragonling."

"That's bullshit!" Drake roared. "Your men didn't even try to save him!"

"Because even mild exposure to the Dragonlings or the Dragon King's sons begins the transformation process into a Dragonling. It's why we have all those people isolated from everyone else. At any one time, the dragons could reach out with their powerful mental powers and start the transformation. That would endanger everyone. We have procedures that will sever the link but it is time consuming. I gave my men the directive to save anyone they could but anyone already taken were to be left to their fate."

"You have infinite resources! You could have saved them!"

"At the risk of endangering my men," countered the Director. "Remember, every person transformed into a Dragonling is more power to the Dragon King. I will not risk my men for one soul especially if they, themselves, are at risk of being turned."

Drake balled his fists and shook in fury. "So what then? You're just going to take us and leave!? Leave all the people of this world - my world - to their fate!?"

"Not exactly."

He started. The Director was leading to something... and he wondered why he of all people had been called to this place.

"We have created a serum, Drake. Something that will elevate the individual injected with it to the same power as the Dragon King at his most basic level. They will obtain the power to make Dragonlings of their own and thus grow in power. I have a large number of volunteers who are more than willing to surrender their own individuality to become a Dragonling and end this conflict once and for all."

"Why would you bother?" growled Drake. "Aren't you just making another Dragon King?"

The Director chuckled. "This individual will _not_have the ability to traverse realities nor will he have the ability to create more. He will be bound to this world and all its limitations. My people have already created an embargo on this reality, preventing interdimensional travel save for evacuated individuals. Communication, as you can see, is still allowed."

"So you've trapped the Dragon King. Why not just keep him trapped? Let him starve here!"

"Because he can still create worlds, remember? He'll just escape into the newly created one and slip through there to the others. This isn't like building a box inside a box, Drake. Once he makes a new reality, it isn't inside this one."

Drake sighed and shook his head. "This is going over me." He made a slicing motion through the air. "Cut to the chase. What do you want from me?"

"After some consultation, I have learned that you_are rather special. Events will unfold that will empower you to defeat the Dragon King. I would like to believe that the power is given by the _Conglomerate."

"You want me to defeat the Dragon King."

"Yes."

"Why me?"

"A myriad of reasons," answer the Director with a shrug. "The fact that your best friend was taken right before your eyes. Your almost dogmatic determination. Desire to be big even to monstrous proportions. And your latent homosexuality."

Drake flinched. "What the fuck!? Have you been spying on me!? And how do you know about...?" He choked a little. "...that...? I mean, why does it even matter?"

"Simple. All the Dragonlings and Dragons are male. The Dragon King is homosexual. Every Dragonling he makes, be they male, female, hermaphroditic or miscellaneous always become male."

He gave the Director a bewildered look. "Miscellaneous...?"

"He once created a reality where the creatures evolved the ability to evolve asexually. Lots of tentacles in that one."

"Eew..." Drake shook his head. "Wouldn't it be better to find someone who is... I dunno... painfully straight? Hell, hire a chick to do it. Turn them all straight so they stop loving the Dragon King and start loving her or something."

"We don't want another Dragon King, Drake. We want someone who will stand up to him and bring him down. You seemed the best candidate at the time. But if you do not want this opportunity, I will not force you. There are always other options."

Drake raised his hands and took a step back. "Look, I'm... honoured and shit but I can't do this. It's too much. If you had saved Ken, maybe he wouldn't done it but not me. He would've been all over this shit. I'm not your hero. Sorry, man."

The Director nodded and strangely didn't sound at all that disappointed. "I understand. Incidentally, the passcode into the weapons storeroom is 133769. You'll find the guard rotation schedule there as well."

A frowned crossed his lips. "Why are you -?"

The Director and the entire office began vanishing from view, leaving Drake back in the darkness and in silence. A soft ding told him that the elevator had arrived to take him back.

"What the hell...?"

******

The elevator dropped Drake off in what could only have been the major residential area where all the refugees were staying. He had to admit, the Nexus Conglomerate knew what they were doing. In this sort of situation, he expected some sort of tent city but instead, everyone was given spacious apartments in a vast complex. When he peered out of the window of the apartment he was given, he could see the college where he went.

The hive-live facility was something he was sure he would've noticed before but he could never recall seeing it before. When he asked around, he learned that the area had a sort of 'cloaking device' cast around it. To the casual observer, it looked like a whole suburb, Newind. There was also some sort of 'repulsion field' around it that convinced people that Newind was a place where gangsters ruled the streets, drugs flowed as easily as water and the inhabitants were generally unsavoury. Drake recalled rumours of Newind and had to agree that he heard those very same words said about the town. He gave the place a wide berth because of them.

Despite all the technological wonders around him, he couldn't help but question why the_Conglomerate_ couldn't have done more? They had cloaking technology that had an entire suburb-wide facility shown as the worst neighbourhood in town. There was a 'Food Creation Kit' in his kitchen that could give him a T-bone steak at an instant, appearing in a dazzling array of lights. Hell, the bed he lay on was apparently some sort of bio-organic material that would reshape itself to fit the contours of his body.

With all that, why couldn't they have stopped the Dragon King sooner? Why were they focused on evacuation and not fighting?

"Why couldn't they have saved Ken...?" he whispered to himself softly.

His thoughts drifted to their last moments together and he instantly regretted them.

Maybe if he hadn't been so dumbstruck with the news and started packing before Ken arrived then they might have made it out sooner. If he hadn't zoned out while studying and daydreaming about his roommate, maybe he would've managed to get out of there and meet Ken at campus. Maybe if he had told Ken how he felt...

He let out a mournful sigh and reached for his phone. There were Ken's messages but there were also messages from his adoptive parents. He scrolled through the messages. They increased in panic over as time went by until they abruptly stopped.

There was one message that came from an unknown number, however, and it came well before the others. He put his phone to his ear and played the message.

"Drake... This is your father. Derrek Mason."

He started in surprise. The esteemed Derrek Mason had abandoned preteen son years ago when his wife died, going through a sort of early-life crisis. The next thing Drake knew, he was being dropped off with his mother's brother while his dad went to gamble, drink and do drugs on the other side of the country. Drake used to ask his uncle when his dad was coming back and Uncle Damien would just give him a sad look and tell him that Derrek would come back when he was ready. But that day never came. Not in the thirteen years since that day.

Drake never heard from his biological father since then. He was raised by his sporty Uncle Damien who never married but always wanted kids. Drake became like a son to him instead of just a nephew and it was Damien who set Drake on his path to bodybuilding. If ever there was a real father figure in his life, it would be his uncle and not the man who was sending him a message just before the end of the world.

"I know you may not want to speak to me right now but you need to listen to me right now. This is... this is important. You may not understand it and you may not trust me but if you want to live and stay who you are, you need to get out of that apartment you're sharing with Ken Nakamura and head straight to Newind. You don't have to go anywhere specific. Just go into the area. You'll understand when you get there."

He pulled the phone from his ear and held it out at arm's length, his brow furrowing in confusion. Did... did his father know about the Dragon Descent? How did he know about where he was staying and Newind? Was... Was his dad actually working for the Conglomerate and was that why he could never contact his son?

"Dad...?" he murmured softly, bringing the phone back to his ear.

"For what it's worth, son... I love you. I always have."

Then the message ended.

Drake stared at the phone for a long moment, dumbstruck. Then he began to laugh.

"It takes the end of the world for that bastard to fucking contact me... Great."

He tossed the phone absently onto the bed and lay back, his chest feeling heavy like there was a tonne of weight on it. Evacuation wouldn't begin until the morning, or so he'd heard. Refugees were still being rescued and briefed on what was happening. It would take some time for people to process what was happening. Drake still wasn't sure he understood entirely despite being told by the Director himself.

Thinking of the Director made him wonder about what the mysterious, shadowy man had said at the end of their encounter. Something about a weapons storage and a guard schedule...

Curious, Drake got up from his bed and wandered out of his apartment. Like everything else in the Conglomerate building, everything was black, shiny and had a mirror-like quality. It was easy to get lost but all Drake had to do was ask loudly where the weapons storage was. A blue light sprung up on the ground, tracing a line through the hallway.

He followed it quietly, his curiosity rising. The line led him to an elevator which was already open and waiting for him. There were no buttons in this elevator and when he stepped inside, the doors immediately closed and began carrying him to his destination. A short trip later, the doors sprang open and the blue line was back, leading him straight down a hallway. The words 'weapons storage' glowed in blue above the far door, a keyboard panel barring his path.

Drake stepped up to the panel and shrugged. As soon as he hit the last key, the door let out a soft ding and sprang open. Rows upon rows of lockers - all black, naturally - met him. There was no one else in the room besides himself and he was rather surprised no one had come rushing in to stop him. Warily, he stepped inside and noted the display panel marked on the far end of the row of lockers. It showed the guards schedule, just as the Director had said.

There was a patrol heading out into campus in half an hour.

This was an opportunity. He turned towards one of the lockers and pulled it open, surprised that it wasn't locked at all. There was a uniform in there and he tried it on. Sadly, it was too small for him so he went from locker to locker, looking for one that did fit. He found one on the fourth try, jamming the helmet onto his head to hide his features. Once he was ready, an electronic HUD appeared in his vision, asking for a password.

On a whim, Drake tried the door password as well.

"Universal password accepted. Logging in as a guest."

To his surprise, the HUD lit up with displays and even a targeting reticule, just like he was playing a first person shooter. With a grin he asked his HUD to get him to the garage where the soldiers were meeting. An arrow appeared in his vision, guiding him.

"This is so awesome," he laughed softly to himself.

Drake followed his guide, one of those bulky rifles in his hands. A short while later, he was in the garage with an entire army_worth of _Conglomerate soldiers. No one batted an eye at him as he was ushered into one of the black APCs with five others. They were off back into the streets, looking for more survivors.

What he hoped to do, he wasn't entirely sure but maybe he could find Ken... or at least some sign of him. He wasn't sure what he would do if what the Director said happened to be true. If Ken's soul was... devoured... he just wasn't sure...

His thoughts were interrupted be a briefing from 'command'. Apparently, they were heading into the territory of the 'Eastern Dragon'. Just looking at the Dragon or any of his Dragonlings was cause for infection and would start the transformation but there were filters applied to their visors that prevented that from happening. They were warned that if someone had a dumbfounded look on their face and looked like they were partially braindead, they were to leave them. That was a sure sign that they had fallen to an Eastern's beguiling body.

He hoped Ken was still alive and himself somehow.

The APC came to a grinding halt and the soldiers immediately filed out in a practiced manner. Drake followed them out, trying to look as professional and militaristic as possible. The group split up in various directions, apparently not needing to stick close together. When no one was looking, he bolting off towards the north where he knew his apartment was located. He just asked his HUD to get him to his address and that helpful arrow appeared again.

He didn't get too far before he caught sight of his first Dragonling.

It was another Eastern type. The long, athletic body, rippling with lean muscles and with a long serpentine tail as long as his body flew through the air, suspended on some sort of magic. Its tail was curled around a struggling man, old and grey. The man pleaded for mercy but the Dragonling just ignored him and flew between the buildings, heading elsewhere.

"I hope that's not you, Ken..." Drake whispered softly from where he was hidden behind an overturned truck.

Once the Dragonling was gone, he bolted for an alleyway. Running out in the open was a bad idea so he decided to take the back routes. The HUD compensated for his new direction which was helpful. A horde of Dragonlings flew through the air and he was forced to duck into an alley with a dead end, praying that they wouldn't spot him. He watched the Dragonling dive quietly into open windows of nearby buildings and skim through the sky. A scream from a building attracted them all to the fourth floor apartment. Gunshots echoed in the night and Drake wondered if mortal weaponry was even useful against the creatures.

He sighed and curbed his fear. Regardless of what weapons he had, he would never be able to take on so many Dragonlings.

"Got to be careful. Can't get caught."

A deep, sultry voice whispered in his ear. "But I already have you."

Drake immediately spun around, his gun raised but a powerful clawed hand seized the weapon and wrenched it clean out of his hands. That hand belonged to a rather stunning figure. Royal purple scales covered the majority of his body save for his bright, yellow underbelly. Muscles pushed the armour-like scales to their limit, veins pressing up against his arms like wriggling worms. A serpentine tail curled playfully behind him with a pair of bright, red wings sprang from his shoulders. The creature's draconic face was broad, handsome and oddly welcoming, purple eyes glistening with human emotion. Short, spikey red hair sprang up between two leaf-like ears and two, golden horns.

"Oh shit!" Drake exclaimed.

The Dragonling tut-tut-tutted and waggled a finger at him. "Such language. So unbecoming."

"Y - Y - You can talk!?"

The beast laughed, a bright musical noise that shook Drake's very soul. "Of course we can." The Dragonling licked his lips with a long, thick tongue. "We all speak the language of life." The creature's hands wrapped around Drake's waist and pulled him close. Drake became aware of the Dragonling's exposed genitals, looking surprisingly human even if it was jet-black and his balls were covered in soft, yellow scales.

The beast's lips hovered over his ears. "Sex."

Drake pushed away from the Dragonling and put up his fists. "Don't you fucking touch me, you fucking homo!"

The Dragonling laughed. "Oh but Drake, you are a fucking homo too, aren't you?" A strangely warm smile touched his lips. "You've been in love with your best friend for ages. You've been pushing yourself to become even bigger so that you could impress him. You flex for him all the time, hoping one day he'll touch you in that special way. You moved all your workout gear to the lounge room so that he could watch you working out. You invite him to the gym all the time just so that you could see his cock again and maybe fool around in the showers."

His heart constricted in his chest. "H - How do you know that...?"

"Why, because you're one of my sons, Drake," chuckled the Dragonling. "A Dragonling touched your mind and I was given access to your soul. You've spoken with the Director. You are all my creations, my sons. I have chosen to elevate you to become one of my chosen sons."

Drake's eyes widened in shock. "W - w - wait... Y - You're the...?"

"Yes. I am the Dragon King." The beast bowed towards him. "Raziel." He smirked at Drake. "But you can just call me 'dad'."

This was it! This was his opportunity! If he could defeat the Dragon King here, the Descent would be over! No more people would suffer against the dragons! Maybe Ken would even be brought back to him!

The King laughed softly. "Oh that is what I admire about you, Drake. You are such a fierce fighter! I love it!" He appraised Drake shamelessly, licking his lips in the process. "And such a hot body too. Why don't you take off that silly armour and we can get to know one another better, father to son?"

"I am not your son!" Drake shouted, throwing a punch.

Despite his size, the Dragon King was surprisingly fast. He easily avoided Drake's fist, grabbed the young man's wrist and then twisted it behind Drake's back. Before he knew what was happening, Drake was being shoved towards the nearby brick wall, the King right in front of him, nose to nose.

"Oh but you are," cooed the Dragon King. "And you will love it."

"F - F - fuck you!" Drake growled, struggling against the might of a god.

"Perhaps one day," laughed the King. "It is one of the many rewards I give my chosen sons when they please me. And they _do_please me." He reached forward with his free hand and tore of Drake's helmet. A strong, musky scent instantly hit Drake's nostrils. A glance downwards revealed the Dragon King's enormous member was already fully erect, a jet-black rod about fourteen inches long dripping precum all over his armour.

He winced and tried to squirm away but the King held him down in place.

"The_Conglomerate_ has been so clever these days," sighed the King, his sweet breath wafting into Drake's nostrils. It was oddly calming. Drake's eyes suddenly felt heavy. Even though his heart was racing, he felt a sense of comfort and contentment wash over him. He fought it, struggling against the pull of the Dragon King's influence.

"They found a way to counter each and every one of my sons' powers," sighed Raziel. He gently stroked Drake's hair. "Visual filters, air purifiers and even this chafing armour. All in an effort to keep me from what is rightfully mine." The King sighed mournfully. "Why do they do this, Drake? Why do they try to take from me what I have created...?"

Drake could barely manage a mumble. The Dragon King's eyes were so beautiful. With what little strength he could muster, he pulled his gaze away from those beautiful, amethyst orbs, letting his head twist to the right. "Because... because... you're a... a monster. You take their individuality... their... souls..."

"Is that what they told you?" Raziel laughed softly and leaned down, his lips pressing up against Drake's neck. The gentle touch of those wet lips sent a shiver down Drake's spine. "You know the story of the Apocalypse, right Drake? When the final battle between good and evil begins, God will rapture those who are worthy and bring them into paradise? Well, God is forgiving and merciful." A smile touched the Dragon King's lips. "I will bring everyone into the folds of my wings, give them bodies that truly mirror my own, bring them eternal bliss and immortality."

"I... I... Immortality...?"

"Why yes, Drake. My Dragonlings and my chosen sons are immortal. All the Conglomerate can ever do is stun them. They cannot kill them. That is why they strive to evacuate people from my worlds because they know they cannot defeat me. They cannot stop God." The Dragon King's lips pressed up against Drake's ear, nibbling at his earlobes gently. "In the story of the Apocalypse, they are the force of evil. I am good. I am God. I am love. And I love all my creations. I love you, my son."

Drake's eyes fell shut. "I'm not... your..."

The Dragon King chuckled softly and ran his hands through Drake's hair once more. "Oh poor, poor Drake. Never satisfied with your appearance and always pining for someone you think you cannot have. You know what I think? I think I can make you infinitely more sexy. I can make you big. I can make you a real monster."

A moan left Drake's lips and his cock rose to full mast, pressing through his armour and greeting the Dragon King's dick.

Bigger. He wanted to be bigger. Be a monster.

"You always wanted to be blonde, didn't you?"

He felt the Dragon Kings fingers caress his hair. A strangle prickling sensation tickled his scalp. Even with his eyes firmly shut, he could tell that his hair had turned from its brown colouration into a golden blonde. His hair grew thicker, denser, a mane that started crawling down the back of his neck.

"Hmmm... yes..." the Dragon King chuckled softly. "Now why don't you tell me what makes a real man, Drake? What would turn a boy into a man? What would turn heads on the street, make every man spray their load on their pants and make fathers proud."

Drake couldn't resist. The words just came pouring out of his soul, through his mind which automatically ordered his vocal cords to give voice to them. His eyes snapped open, the blue irises turning a bright gold and his pupils contracting into slits. "Arms... Big, fucking, meaty arms..."

"Yes." Raziel kissed his exposed neck. "Flex for me."

He instinctively lifted his arms, no longer restrained by the Dragon King. He gave his king a double bicep flex. His muscles pushed up against the hard armour, fabric and metal stretching and groaning in protest. Raw power like he had never felt before being pumping straight into him. Every vein along his arms felt hot like iron, molten metal pumping through the blood vessels into his muscles. His face grew red with effort until -

Riiiiiip!

His biceps ripped right through the armour, ceramic plates and fabric splintering apart to expose his enormous arms. His biceps alone were as big as his head, triceps half still. His forearms were like hams with thick veins crisscrossing their lengths. Drake panted loudly, a wave of relief wafting through him. The night air cooled his arms, now much longer and bigger than they had ever been. The Dragon King then leaned down and kissed his biceps, running his tongue along them.

Drake's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he moaned.

"Delicious," Raziel said. "But you need more. You need to be bigger."

"I need... I need to..." He opened his eyes again, the golden colouration fading back to blue and his pupils dilating back into their human shape. "Ken..." he moaned.

The Dragon King ran his hands down Drake's chest. "Don't you want to be bigger for Ken?"

His eyes widened and again, his pupils became golden and reptilian. "Yes..."

"Then you need a bigger chest, don't you?"

"Fuck yes!"

That rush of power returned and this time, it was focused in his chest. He groaned loudly as the pump pushed into his pectorals. Like taking one, big, long breath, his torso inflated until it tore right through the remnants of his armour, shards of cloth and ceramic plants flying in all directions. His massive, exposed flesh glistened with sweat, each pectoral many times bigger than his head and his shoulders so far apart from another and wide that he would never be able to fit through any door.

Then he felt the Dragon King's fingers on his erect nipples and that rush of power was tempered by lust. He inadvertently bucked his hips, grinding into the Dragon King's groin.

"What makes a man?" asked the Dragon King.

"Hair," Drake grunted without hesitation. "Sexy fucking body hair!"

A prickling sensation danced across his chest. Long strands of golden blonde hair began springing all over his skin, quickly covering his pectorals in a lush, gold forest just as thick as his mane. As this happened, his back broadened and shredded the rest of his upper body armour, leaving his entire torso exposed. The golden main that had started crawling down his back spread all the way down his spine, nearly vanishing between the folds of his lats and the hills of his massive back muscles. The moment his pectorals were covered by his chest hair, a trail of golden fur spread down his abdominals. Every slab of muscle bulged, giving him an enormous ten pack perfectly outlined by the golden trail that vanished into his crotch.

Like wildfire, the hair spread over his legs, filling them with the transformation. Drake groaned as his legs and spine stretched. His thighs erupted from his pants and his feet blasted right out of the big, black boots that he wore. A loud groan left his throat, several octaves deeper than his voice had been. His cock ripped through the remnants of his pants, leaving him completely nude. The massive eight inch tool was already at its full length but with every passing second, it grew bigger and thicker, dripping precum all over his furry body.

The Dragon King's cock pressed up against his own and Drake felt the source of that power finally come into contact with him without any barrier. It was a new flood of power and every muscle in his body surged with strength and mass. Inch after inch was added to his every dimension, height and width increasing. Any shred of body fat vanished from his body replaced only with rock hard muscles.

Drake snapped his jaws in a very animalistic gesture. Another moan rose from his throat and with it, his jaw jutted forward, a new draconic face emerging. His ears were pulled back by another force, losing their lobes and contours to become large and triangular almost like a dog's. A dull throbbing began pumping out just behind his ears and he felt his horns breach his skin. The same throbbing emanated from just behind his shoulder blades and at the base of his spine.

"Yes. That's my boy. Grow big and strong for your dad."

Drake swivelled his eyes towards the Dragon King. At the mention of a father, he remembered that message he got from Derrek Mason. His eyes shifted back to their human state.

"You're... not..." he began.

Raziel suddenly leaned down and pressed his muzzle against Drake's armpit, taking in a good, long whiff of the thick, golden blonde hair there and even giving it a little lick. Drake's eyes sealed shut again.

"You know what would make you more than just a man, son?"

"Wh - Wh - what...?" Drake whimpered.

"How about a second pair of arms?"

He could only whimper as that flood of power blasted into him again mercilessly. His spine surged upwards again and he could feel that same inflating pressure pushing up against his chest only this time, it began just below his pectorals. With every inch that his spine grew, that pressure grew bigger, broader. He forced his eyes open and glanced down beyond the crest of his pectorals to see another set of huge, square pecs pushing themselves out below his first one, just as big and juicy as the first. He let out a tremendous, unearthly roar as another dull throbbing burst from his flanks. Bone grew and muscles appeared out of nowhere. Two growths sprang out from his flanks, pushing up from his flesh and growing bigger and bigger. Veins pumped across the shapeless mass as it grew. Blood rushed into each one, a pressure like that moment before orgasm building at their bases. Drake's eyes contracted into their yellow, reptilian shape and with a roar, two new, huge arms sprang from his side. He flexed them immediately, feeling the rush of power through them.

Immediately, ivory claws jutted out from the tips of his knew fingers. Black scales spread quickly from the base of the claws, spreading all throughout his arms like wildfire. He didn't want to stop it. He wanted it to spread all over his body so that he was just like his dad, like the Dragon King. He wanted it so badly. Drake flexed his muscles, pumping blood through them and carrying the power throughout his entire body. He even made a show of bouncing his pectorals so that those muscles were stimulated.

"Oh that is hot," growled the Dragon King, pressing his hands against the bouncing pectorals. He licked his lips. "Yes, keep doing that for daddy, son. That turns me on."

"Okay dad," Drake answered with a grin. His half-formed draconic muzzle surged forward, completing its transformation into a broad, handsome, square muzzle just as the black scales spread all over them. The scales covered every inch of his body, leaving a stark contrast against his golden yellow chest hair.

His dad squeezed their dicks together and the Dragon King suddenly pressed their lips together. In that moment, Drake Mason was lost to the Dragon King's power. He fully accepted the transformation. His cock surged into a new, enormous sixteen inches long, its human shape vanishing. The mushroom shaped glands faded into a sharp pointed tip perfect for penetrating the tightest of asses. A crown of fleshy, sensitive spikes grew around the base of his glands and another set grew down the underside of his dick like its own, spiky spines. An immense pressure built up in is balls but he refused to let himself cum, not yet. He was not done yet. The Dragon King was not done with him yet. The pressure instead pushed up against the space _beside_his dick, pushing up against the flesh. Just like how he grew a second pair of arms, a fleshy nub emerged from beside his dick, growing bigger and bigger, turning a jet black just like his dick. An opening appeared on the nub, precum pouring out of it. The second member rose up to match its brother and with its appearing, Drake's wings and tail sprang into existence.

The enormous, black, Muscle Dragon tore his lips away from his father's and let out a roar of triumph, spreading his wings in pride.

The Dragon King grinned, squeezing the Muscle Dragon's pectorals. "That's my boy."

Drake growled in appreciation at his father's approval. His sharp ears perked, however and twisted to the right. He glanced in the direction of the alley opening just as two _Conglomerate_soldiers turned the corner.

"Holy shit!" one of them cried. "It's the fucking Dragon King!"

"And what the hell is that Dragonling!?" exclaimed the other.

The Dragon King chuckled and gently pulled away from Drake. "Why don't you make them yours, son? You still need to be big and strong to take over this world."

Drake grinned and pushed off the wall. "You got it, dad." He stepped forward, facing the soldiers. "Hey boys! Check out these guns!" He flexed his upper arms, showing off their enormous mass and curled his lower arms as well. "Bam!"

The soldiers never stood a chance.

Just_looking_ at him was enough. They both moaned and doubled over, dropping their guns. The soldier on the right clenched his hands, shaking. His fingers were forcibly pulled apart and white talons erupted from the fingertips of his guns. He held himself tightly, his entire body shaking with those claws shredding through his armour. His hunched figure was wracked with spasms. A third arm erupted from his right flank, throwing him to the left with the force. He quickly balanced once more when a fourth arm, covered in black scales, shot out of his left.

The one on the right jumped back as his wings shot from his back. He arched his back as two, big, black, draconic dicks erupted from his crotch, spraying precum in a rain in front of him. He tore his helmet from his head, face scrunched up as he desperately tried to fight the rush of arousal and the cocktail of euphoric drugs his brain was feeding him. All the fight instantly left him when his expression turned to one of bliss and his jaw jutted forward, black hair transforming into a shining gold. His eyes snapped open, golden and slitted just like Drake's.

"Yeah!" Drake roared. "Pump it! Feel the burn, bro!"

He could feel their power flooding him and just like the strength the Dragon King gave him, it filled his form. His entire body stretched and grew, his wings brushing up against the sides of the alleyway. Then, he felt a hot tip press up against his ass, and he instinctively lifted his tail to let his father enter him like he had always done. He loved his dad's cock deep inside of him. That was how it had always been. He lived for the days when his dad's dick penetrated his ass and filled him with his royal seed.

His tail curled around the Dragon King's waist, eagerly pulling his dad into him. That huge, dick slipped into his ass with practiced thrusts, waves of pleasure shooting through his entire body. The hot pole of meat belonged there. The connection was more than just physical. Drake could feel the Dragon King's mighty soul envelop his own like a warm blanket in in the middle of a blizzard. That sensation radiated from his chest and flooded the rest of his body, pulsating outwards with his heartbeat. With each second, that heat pushed his body outwards in all directions, power flooding his muscles, bones and limbs.

Raziel thrust into his newly made son, loud primal grunts rising from them both. Drake's already formidable form put on mass rapidly, growing taller, wider and beefier with each drive. Naturally, the Dragon King grew with his son. Within second, they were breaching ten feet, in the next, twelve and then fifteen. They didn't stop growing not even when the alleyway became too small to contain their mass. Before either of them could grow uncomfortable, Drake used his monumental muscles to push at the walls of the buildings. His four arms, hands growing to the size of trucks, shoved against the hard brick walls and caused them to crumble. A tremendous roar escaped his muzzle as his wrecking ball sized testicles pumped out gallons of precum out of his twin, towering cocks.

Both dragons rose above the buildings around them. Their precum flooded the streets, Drake's enormous wings spreading wide and blanketing the sun a whole block. Another roar escaped from Drake, his voice shaking the very ground and shattering windows. Cars were overturned and thrown against buildings just by the sheer force of his voice. Droplets of sweat poured out of his glands, caught in the thick hairs that coloured his body. The heavy stench of his arousal hung in the air like a thick miasma.

The heavy cloud was like a sixth sense to Drake. He could feel where it was moving like it was his skin completely with nerves spreading with the wind. The moment he found a hapless human trying to flee from the growing dragons, he shoved his scent right down their throats, suffusing them with his scent and his power. Just like they were being inflated with his power, they erupted into masses of twitching muscles and scales, becoming his Dragonlings within mere moments.

At the same time, the moment they transformed, he could feel their power flooding into him, joining the Dragon King's. As his head rose high above the building around him, he could see tiny, ethereal threads starting to emerge from the area around him, each one tied to a human he had touched. On a powerful mental command, he tied each of those threads towards himself, pulling them instinctively towards his dick where all that strength seemed to be liquefied into his cum. His balls were reaching breaking point but then he would grow another ten feet and then there would be room again for more.

Sadly, the suburbs had been mostly evacuated and he could only get a hundred or so Dragonlings under his command. His growth peaked at a tremendous thousand feet but he wasn't satisfied. He hadn't cum yet and he still had so much more room in his balls to fill.

His dad had the solution.

Raziel licked his ears gently. "Take me to the _Conglomerate_facility."

Of course! The facility! There were hundreds, maybe thousands there. "You're a genius, dad," he responded with a grin. Though he was loathed to pull off the Dragon King's cock, he knew he would be rewarded with that sweet dick the moment he brought all those people that the 'Conglomerate' thought they had saved into the one true God's welcoming embrace once more.

He spread his gargantuan wings, each one at _least_as big as he was and perhaps a little more. They had to be to carry his tremendous weight. Of his brothers under Raziel, there was no contest that he was the most muscular and perhaps the heaviest. And all that weight was muscle, after all.

Drake launched into the air with practiced movements, somehow knowing exactly how to fly, flap his wings and use his tail like a rudder despite having the form for just a few minutes. He flew right beside his father, his cocks dripping happily and raining down his precum onto the streets below.

It was a short flight to Newind.

With a grin, he dove for the 'suburb' and passed through the threshold of the cloaking field. Conglomerate guards and countless civilians all scurried away from him as he landed. He hit the ground with a thunderous crash, the concrete and earth splintering around his feet. People were thrown into the air by the beating of his wings, his scent carried by the winds and immediately infecting them.

"Hey fuckers!" Drake roared, crossing his meaty arms. "Show some respect! Your God is here!"

The Dragon King landed with a little more poise, descending from the air with the grace and elegance of a true God-King. He regarded the facility and all its cowering people with some mild amusement. "The Director certainly was creative keeping so many from me. But it is all futile. I am the God here. Not him." He turned towards Drake, placing a hand over his shoulder. "They're all yours, Drake. Make your father proud."

Drake grinned. "Thanks dad."

He then turned... and went to work.

******

Drake found himself sitting in a vast empty white space. The chair he sat on was made of some strange, pure white material that almost vanished in the endless plane of emptiness. Looking at his human hands, the tank top and sports shorts he wore... it all felt wrong. Something told him that he should be... different. Bigger. More arms.

"What...? Where...?" he began.

"I believe it was the Director that told you that there are always options."

Drake lifted his gaze. There was a figure standing a short distance away from him. The being, whoever it was, was dressed in head to toe in white armour with gilded edges. A cape hung from his shoulders, the cosmos seemingly passing within the folds of the fabric. The only features visible beneath the heavy helmet with three spires like a three-pronged crown were two, sapphire-blue eyes with pupils shaped like eight pointed stars.

"Who are you...?" Drake began.

"A visitor. Occasional writer. These days, more of a consultant." The entity stepped forward coming to stand directly in front of Drake. "Do you know what you've done?"

He frowned at the question. "I don't know what...?"

Then all the memories started coming in.

The power. The muscles. The growth.

And getting his anal virginity taken from him by the Dragon King.

His eyes widened and he gripped his temples. Suddenly, he felt his claws digging into his temples and he immediately pulled his hands away. They were no longer human. They were covered in black scales, ivory claws jutting out of the tip and many times bigger than his had originally been.

"Oh god!" he cried rising out of the chair. He stumbled and fell to his hands and knees in front of the figure. His weight was so strange. The wings on his back and his tail were so odd. The second pair of arms were also so alien. "What... What happened!?" he demanded. "What...?"

"You were elevated to one of the Dragon King's 'sons'," answered the mystery stranger. "You grew into a 1000 foot four armed dragon. I believe the Dragon King has taken to calling you his 'Muscle Dragon'. You then attacked the Conglomerate facility and proceeded to transform each and every one of the people there into your Dragonlings, absorbing their souls and tying their strength to your own."

"No!" Drake cried, shaking his head in defiance. "No! I couldn't! I wouldn't!"

"Yes you did. And you wanted to do it. That is who you are now."

Mustering his strength, Drake got up and seized the creature's cape. "Turn me back! Make me human again!"

"You never changed. The creature that attacked the facility is the same person who attended college with hopes to become a personal trainer." The being raised his hands, gesturing at the area around him. "This is all you. The part of you that you've locked away in a desperate attempt to deny what you've become."

"What are you talking about?" Drake looked around at the vast, empty whiteness. "Is this all that's left of my soul?"

"It's what the Dragon King finds most appealing about his 'sons'. He finds the biggest closet cases in the universes, sorts through the ones that are the most interesting and transforms them. This spark of your essence, this little bit of rejection over what you've become is like the icing on top of the cake. Whenever he mates with you, he will touch this little part of you, relishing at the irony that he dragged you out of the closet and you are now free to be as homosexual as you want and yet there is still a part of you that rejects the idea. A little like a reverse closet case."

Drake fell back onto his haunches, jaw open in hopeless terror. "I thought the Conglomerate cured me!"

"Who told you that?"

"The Director..."

"Did he really? Think about it. All that was explained to you was why those people were sitting in that medical ward. They never said anything about you being cured."

Drake's heard began to constrict in his chest. "But... why?"

"It was part of his plan to transform you into a dragon that would stop the Dragon King. Only way his serum would have worked otherwise. He let you loose to find the Dragon King on your own terms because it is another one of his insane schemes." The entity chuckled softly. "I don't know whether he knows I'm here or not. I do wonder if he'd be rather annoyed that I intervened in some way."

His eyes widened and struggled to his feet. Drake had to grip the chair to fight to his feet. "So you can let me out? You can free me; let me take back my body?"

"No. I can't."

"But... I thought..."

The figure pressed a finger against Drake's forehead. "The only one stopping you from taking control is you. As one of the Dragon King's lieutenants, he has given you the capacity to grow and maintain your soul. The only time he ever truly feeds upon your soul is when he mates with you but this little space, this little 'closet' you've created for yourself is the part of you that rejects the affection you felt for the Dragon King, the gratitude that he made your wildest dreams come true and the fact that you yearn for his company."

"I don't -"

"Exactly," the man interrupted. "You are fragmented, Drake Mason. It's all part of his mind games. The part of you that wants to fight him is the same part that's been compartmentalised in this plain because you hate what you've become despite the fact that it is exactly what you've always wanted to become. If you want out, you can let yourself out. No one else can do it for you."

Drake balled his fists, all four of them. "I need to make up for what I've done." He bowed his head, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. "I failed Ken... and now I turned so many people into... into those things. I can't let me... my body... I can't just keep following the Dragon King from world to world doing to people what he did to me!"

The strange being crossed his arms and inclined his head slightly. "This is a far flung change from the man who rejected the Director's offer to save the world not too long ago."

"This is different!" he shouted, pounding a fist against the chair. The strange material remained sturdy despite the force applied. "The Dragon King turned me into one of his fucking pawns, the asshole! I remember changing. I remember him telling me things and everything just getting... hazy." He grit his fangs together and a growl rose from his throat. "He's not playing fair! And I'm not just going to sit down and take this! I want out!"

"Why didn't you just take the Director's offer if you were going to fight back anyway?"

"Because I didn't want to be a monster!"

The stranger shook his head. "Stop lying to yourself Drake."

"Not_this_ kind of monster!" Drake shouted, gesturing at his scaly body.

"Stop lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"Do you deny that you do not like what you've become?"

He grunted and avoided his gaze. "I..." His voice trailed off and he squeezed his eyes shut. Drake swallowed loudly, downing both his pride and his shape. "Okay, alright? I... guess it comes from Ken's love of monster movies. I sort of... imagined being one of those big, huge ass monsters just so I could get that sort of adoration from him... But it was always stupid. How could he ever love a monster...?"

"Stranger things have happened. What else?"

"What do you mean what else?"

The strange being's blue eyes twinkled. "You know."

Drake shut his eyes and sighed. "Fine... I'm a big, raging homo, okay? I've always loved big guys. I've always loved becoming a big guy. I have to work extra hard at the gym to keep myself from popping a boner so that all the blood goes somewhere else. I've fantasised about getting a big guy mounting me or licking some other guy's abs and worshiping his muscles...

"But... really, the only guy I ever wanted to be with is Ken. I... I love him..."

The being nodded and Drake suddenly felt like his chest was lighter, like he could breathe for the first time in his life. He blinked a couple of times and looked up at the stranger.

"Wow... is that it?"

"That's it," answered the man with a bit of mirth. "Amazing what just a little acceptance can do, huh?" He then chuckled softly. "I'm not sure whether or not the Director will be pissed that I've finally shown my hand. Regardless, I certainly know that the Dragon King will be stunned to know of my existence. Nevertheless..." He locked gazes with Drake. "You've got quite the story ahead of you, Drake Mason. Just remember, you aren't alone in this."

The strange being lifted a hand, opened his palm to reveal a little golden key. "Here, take this."

The Muscle Dragon plucked the artefact from the comparatively small hand. "What is it...?"

"Every door needs a key. You're not the only closet case that the Dragon King has preyed upon. You'll need allies if you are to defeat him. After all, he draws strength from his worshipers. If you were to deprive him of those, you might stand a fighting chance."

Drake clutched the key in his hand. "Thank you."

The creature suddenly sprung a pair of skeletal wings, each 'finger' of the wing made completely out of silvery chains. The Muscle Dragon took a step back in shock. He dripped onto the chair, falling back into the white seat.

"Conquer the dragon, Drake. I know you can do it."

******

Drake Mason the Muscle Dragon woke. Dawn's early light streamed in from the horizon and assaulted his eyes. He winced and lifted an enormous arm to block out the golden rays. His ears began to pick up the familiar sound of weights being lifted and racked, the grunts of men working out and the huffs of a good cardio routine. For a moment, he thought he was just back at the gym... then he realised that he was lying in an ocean of cum in the ruins of what had been the pseudo-suburb of Newind.

All around him, countless Muscle Dragonlings were exercising. Each of them were hefting their enormous muscles, flexing all four of their arms and pumping their massive legs using makeshift workout equipment. Bars had been made out of twisted metal poles and concrete slabs. Dumbbells made out of bricks or cinderblocks lay littered everywhere. His footprints formed large pools filled with his cum where the Dragonlings swam for their cardio. Some even did laps in the air using their enormous wings. Those that couldn't find any equipment or an activity to work on shamelessly fucked one another out in the open, roaring and rutting while cum spewed out of their twin dicks.

Regret instantly filled him.

He had turned every single person in the facility into his Dragonling. Man, woman or child, all were mirror images of himself.

All because he had been too weak and fell for the Dragon King's allure.

Drake growled and started to rise from the ruins of the facility. He looked towards the rising sun.

"I swear, you're going down," he snarled at the phantom of the Dragon King. "Whatever it takes, I'm gonna end you."

Drake spread his enormous wings, embracing the dawn.

First, he needed allies and he had an inkling he knew where to find them. He glanced at his hand, at the open palm. The feeling of that golden key pressing up against the leathery surface of his palms was still there.

He leapt into the air, flapping his wings to keep himself aloft.

Then he headed out.

Headed out to conquer the dragon.