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Superverse - Journey Home

By Wolfrider

3-R14/Eria, Ankhata, Shade, Vengy, Jazel/Scarlet Blade, Shaid/NightShade & Emanuela belongs to :icondragonmaster2653:

All other characters and lore within this story are apart of Superverse, which is owned by :icondragonmaster2653:

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Eria’s towering twelve foot frame shifted as she looked towards the general direction of the city’s central business district, her synthetic brow furrowing as her internal sensors picked up a ping from that direction; one that only the android dragoness herself could pick up. She was used to these pings by now, having been granted access to Scarlet Blade’s personal communication network after her arrival in the techno shark’s universe. It was a world filled with wondrous superpowered beings, along with dastardly and diabolical supervillains, many of which Eria herself had the displeasure of encountering herself since appearing here.

She remembered the incident back at the manor in her own universe; how she had offered aid to Vengy, a vixen-like individual who she’d later learn was the embodiment of vengeance, as she had somehow become trapped in the dragoness’s own plane of existence. She had utilized a recently learned ‘planeshift’ program in order to help Vengy get back to her own world, but despite her best efforts, she couldn’t quite get it to bring her home, always missing the mark every time. So until she could figure something new out, she simply accepted that she was in another world, and did her best to help those that had helped her within it.

She shuddered internally, recalling how she and Vengy both ended up in the clutches of Vechno, a cybernetically enhanced villain, when the pair had emerged right inside her lair. Seized and captured, the pair was relentlessly tortured by Vechno’s robotic equipment, with Eria herself having been hacked and experimented on as the villainous feline sought to break her and see what made her tick.

Had it not been for Vengy breaking free and fighting off Vechno, Eria would have ended up being cooked alive by the villain’s devilish attempts to break her mind and body. She was eternally grateful not only to Vengy, but to Nightshade and Scarlet Blade for assisting in getting them both to safety, and making sure nothing malicious was left behind within her systems. Upon allying herself with Scarlet Blade and her friends, Eria had handled many a superpowered crisis since her welcomed stay within what she dubbed the superverse. While it appeared that this one was no different, she could tell by the digital map forming in her mind that she’d be entering the scene alone.

Scarlet Blade and Nightshade were responding to another disturbance two cities away while Vengy was handling what appeared to be a riot at the city prison. Eria could understand that even with powerful and noble heroes that dotted the planet within this universe not everyone could be everywhere at once; some calls were answered and some sadly were not with the notion and hope that someone else available would respond as quickly as possible.

Despite this the towering dragoness of synthetic materials and metal knew that she had a job to do. Someone was in trouble and it was her duty to come to their aid as she set off on foot, her large frame and heavy footfalls making the ground shake with each stomp as she ran towards the scene. Being a massive robotic dragon had its advantages, her gate being long and far reaching as she pounded her strides into the asphalt. She thought about possibly using the jetpack affixed the armor on her back, but felt it was probably best to save the fuel, never know what she might be running into. That, and she enjoyed the jog as she passed by bewildered citizens gazing upon her as she bolted past them down the footpath. Some had to quickly get out of her way to avoid being squished, yet Eria’s sensors were already predicting and mapping out the quickest and least damaging path for her to take.

She knew she was drawing near when the sounds and flashing lights of police sirens made themselves known in the distance, as the low frequency rumble of their audible alerts could be picked up from a distance by her audio input sensors. Her eye visual lenses zoomed in on the path ahead as she saw that a roadblock was set in place, one designed to prevent civilians from getting through but a piece of cake for her to get past. She could see one of the officers had noticed her running full speed towards them, and he attempted to flag her down to turn around. She then smirked as his expression changed from blank annoyance to wide eyed panic as he realized she was bull rushing through and getting much bigger as she drew closer.

The cops tried to get any amount of cover as she rushed forward, only to be struck in awe as the dragoness did a running leap over the blockading patrol cars and barriers. She seemed to glide over them a good couple of meters before stomping back down and hitting the road running, her heavy weight cracking the asphalt under her slightly as she looked over her shoulder at the stunned police and citizens. Smiling and throwing up the peace sign, she continued ahead down the now cleared street, drawing even closer to her destination.

The lack of traffic heading to the central business district aided in her travel time as she entered through the outer edge. Towering skyscrapers and commercial buildings composed of steel and glass dominated the skyline as she ran between streets that were starting to narrow, with parked and stalled vehicles dotting the lanes in front of her, causing her to slow down to a walk as she scanned the area. What was in front of her looked to be straight from a warzone; overturned and crushed vehicles, some of them appearing to have been tossed into storefronts, with building debris and damaged road ripped out of the ground, dotting the urban scenery.

“What could have done this? Some villain with unbelievable strength…or maybe a monster…” Eria thought to herself, before quickly looking in the direction of the unmistakable sound of gunfire, which seemed to echo out among the tall building and barren streets. Within milliseconds, her systems pinpointed the loudest source to be right around the corner, so she rushed ahead, leaping over damaged vehicles while noting that so far no casualties appeared to be in sight. She rounded the corner and entered a large avenue that led to a plaza square. Upon doing so, her eyes widened as she quickly put her arms up and hands outstretched, grunting as she caught a military style armored car, her frame sliding back a couple of feet as she steadied it before lowering the crumbled up wreck to the ground. She observed to her shock as hatches on the wreck opened up, with crew members wearing military-like gear scrambling out.

“Why would the military be doing here?” Eria questioned out loud to no one, only to hear a loud hissing sound coming from further up the street. She gazed up to see a very large white colored lamia woman with what appeared to be a pair of angelic looking feathery wings, long black hair going down the length of her back, blue horns with matching body tattoos, and a fiery blue ball of flame atop of her head. Eria took note that the snake appeared to be wearing very little, her bare breasts and nipples exposed as her top was pulled down, with crudely made armored shoulder pads that appear to come from vehicle and metal parts, along with a very large leather belt around her waist seemingly taken from one of the soldiers.

The serpent was thrashing her massively thick and long tail about as she sent several armored soldiers flying down a nearby street, their panicked and pained cries briefly bouncing off the surrounding structures. As armored fighting vehicles rushed in to take up position, blasting away at her with automatic fire, Eria could see that the soldiers were trying to put up a fight as energy blasts and bullets impacted against the massive snake’s body. Some just bounced and ricocheted off her scales, while others appeared to impact and dig in but do no real if any visible damage to the serpent herself.

Another row of armored soldiers rushed ahead, this time armed with shotguns and rocket launchers, only to be smashed and sent tumbling down the road by yet another harsh whip of the serpent’s tail. One soldier staggered to his feet and shot off a rocket towards her, only to gaze in horror as she smacked the projectile out of the air, sending it spiraling into one of the armored personnel carriers, which exploded upon impact and sent the turret cartwheeling skywards across a full city block. As the serpent turned her gaze to the soldier that had just shot at her, she began to advance as his panicked cries and struggles muffled out from under his encased helmet.

Eria knew she had to do something. Whoever this woman was, she was going to continue wreaking destruction and potentially death upon everyone in the district, if not the city itself. Rushing forward with big striding steps, the massive dragoness came to a stop right before the snake, who hissed loudly and reared up in sudden surprise at a now towering figure before her.

Eria glanced down at the soldier and spoke quickly, “Get out of here! I’ll handle her, get the wounded to safety and stay out of my way!” she said in a commanding voice, which earned her a quick nod from the soldier. As he staggered up and rushed to get his wounded comrades up and a safe distance away, the individuals in military uniforms and their vehicles began to pull back and block off the surrounding streets. Eria then returned her focus back to the serpent, who stared at her, tilting her head then narrowing her eyes and hissed loudly as she spoke.

“You!” She snarled out with venom and what the dragoness could detect as bitterness or hatred. “You have some nerve coming here! This is all your fault!” She said as she suddenly lunged forward with extended wings and clawed hands swiping at the dragon.

Eria’s eyes widened as she quickly began to step back and put her gauntlet coated arms up, feeling the pressure of the snake’s impacting claw strikes, as sparks erupted from metal meeting hardened nails. The dragoness put up a defense as the words from the snake bounced around in her crystalline mind.

“I don’t know who you are! And I’m pretty sure I’d remember someone, or something, I’ve met!’ Eria grunted out a reply as she dodged and blocked a few more strikes before managing to grasp and lock hands with the serpent, growling back as the two pushed back against each other in an intense display of strength, testing to see who would break first.

“Oh but I remember you…I remember what you did!” She shouted with more venomous intent, as she suddenly reared back her head and lunged to bite the dragon’s head, causing Eria to pull back out of the way as she shoved the serpent back while staggering away herself in order to get some distance.

“Who the hell is this lady?” Eria thought to herself as she tried to make sense of the situation, only to meep and half gasp in surprise as she felt something wrap and squeeze around her, looking down to see that the snake had managed to sneak in her long thick tail and coil it around the dragoness’s waist. As she tried to free herself from the grasping coil, she felt her weight shift as she was suddenly lifted off the ground, hearing the snake hissing out frustrated pained grunts as she hoisted her up and then swung her once and tossed her across the street.

Eria crashed and rolled across the asphalt, letting out grunts and cries as she smashed into a parked car, crushing it completely under her weight as she groaned and slowly got back to her feet. “Damn she’s strong…I gotta end this quickly…” she thought, then noticed the serpent was now coiling her tail around another parked vehicle, watching as she used her powerful muscles to squeeze, crush, and then rip the car apart before she started grabbing and hurling the broken pieces towards the dragon.

Eria quickly raised one of her gauntlets as a pulse of blue hard light energy projected instantly from the glowing panels on her wrist piece. It formed a glowing energy shield that buckled and absorbed the impact of the car’s engine and hood smashing against it, sparks and molten melt fragments dancing midair as they flew and spiraled past her.

“Foolish dragon of metal! I am Ankhata! And you will feel my wrath!” The serpent hissed out before letting out a loud roar, which echoed throughout the surrounding area that sent what civilians still remained bolting from their hiding spots and fleeing in terror.

“Ankhata huh? You may be strong…But I’m not going to let you trash the city! I AM going to take you down!” Eria boasted as she stood up tall and took a combat stance, staring down the winged serpent. As her eyes scanned the snake she registered a build up of an intense level of energy from within Ankhata’s form. Not wanting to see what the snake had planned, Eria bolted at full speed, pushing off the cracked asphalt as she bull rushed towards the snake who’s eyes went wide, her glowing blue irises displaying her shock as the dragon’s sudden acceleration gave her little time to react.

Ankhata’s wings flapped rapidly as she lifted off the ground, her tail catching the dragon’s charge as she hissed and tilted forward from the impact. She managed to maintain some degree of control as she tumbled upright, her massive tail swinging like a wrecking ball and taking out the second floor balconies of a nearby apartment building; the bricks and mortar crashing down as the building’s structure integrity was partially compromised.

Eria turned around to check the serpent's energy levels again and her eyes cocked as she noticed that while Ankhata hovered off the ground, she was expending a fair amount just to keep herself in the air. That was something that the dragoness could take advantage of as she ran forward again, leaping up into the air and launching herself into a powerful roundhouse kick. Her armor clad foot impacted with Ahkhata’s side, making her gasp in pain as air was forced from her lungs. As her large and elongated frame was sent down the avenue her body dug up the road and sent small vehicles tumbling upon impact.

As Eria landed back down with a loud thud, she stood back up and began to walk over to the snake, who grunted and hissed as she slowly sat back up while clutching her side, one eye closed as she glared at the towering dragon.

“Had enough?” Eria said with arms crossed as she stood before her with confidence.

“Hardly mortal!” Ankhata replied as she began to raise herself up on her tail. She then groaned as her wings outstretched briefly before slowly retracting and absorbing back into her body, cracking her neck and bringing up her arms in a stance of her own. Eria noticed instantly that the serpent's energy levels changed the moment the wings disappeared, showing she was conserving and refocusing her reserves.

Ankhata’s hands glowed a deep tinted azure blue, with blue flaming orbs forming in her palms. Then out of nowhere similar colored floating hands began to appear around her; full hands with digits and a forearm that at first appeared to be pairs of the snake’s own, but upon closer observation they appeared to belong to a variety of different species with their own textures and differences. Eria tensed as she watched and tracked their movements and motions, while trying to also make sure her attention wasn’t drawn away from the massive snake lady before her.

As if that same lady could read her mind, the floating ghost hands suddenly darted at the dragon, swiping and striking at her as she was assaulted by a swarm of the spectral limbs, causing her to step back as she tried to dodge and block the attacks. She grunted as she took several hits to her midsection, with Ankhata working her over as she chuckled and smirked, rocking the dragoness with more strikes than she could defend against before focusing on the robotic woman’s gap in her belly armor.

A sudden three strikes at once impacted against Eria’s side and lower torso, making her cough and double over. As she collapsed to one knee while clutching her gut, one of her eyes half closed as she tried to counteract the pain that was exerted upon her. “Uggh this is what…Scarlet Blade…meant about getting hit in…the solar plexus…ow….” Eria growled to herself as she continued to clutch her tummy, while at the same time trying to force herself back up.

What she got the moment she did was a flight of four ghostly fists racing at her and striking her face for a quad uppercut. She was nearly knocked off her feet from the impact, her big feet stomping against the ground as she staggered backwards. Another group of four fists, this time strong right arms, swooped in to crack into her armored jaw with a brutal four piece cross. This was followed by the group of left fists jabbing in at her nose, further rocking and disorientating the larger powerhouse as she was momentarily dazed.

Then the strikes started to come in hard and fast, as fist after fist after supernatural fist struck her in a flurry of palm strikes, crosses, jabs, and uppercuts, all comboing against her as her body jolted in multiple directions. Ankhata was laughing and enjoying the spectacle as her ghostly hands pummeled and dented Eria’s armor, slowly beginning to wear it down as internal systems blurred out alerts and warnings about integrity percentages and armor compromisation.

As if out of nowhere, Eria’s eyes flashed as she suddenly raised her forearms up, her gauntlets flashing with light as her hard light shields kicked in, quickly forming and breaking apart some of the hands as they impacted against the holographic barrier. In anger she then threw her hands up to grab two of the nearest spectral hands, gripping and crushing until they shattered and puffed into misty smoke. Ankhata’s laughter suddenly ceased as she gazed somewhat in disbelief that her fun was interrupted.

She then almost half screamed in panic when the big dragon proceeded to squat crouch then launch herself at the serpent, giving Ankhata no time to escape as she was shield bashed in the snout by one of Eria’s gauntlet projections, followed up by the dragoness grabbing and wrapping an arm around the snake’s neck and taking hold of one of her hands to control her. As Ankhata struggled she gasped for air and spit out pained coughs as the armored knee of the dragoness slammed into her just below her chest, following it up with several more knee strikes. Each one earned Eria a hissing pained cry escaping the snake’s mouth.

Rattled for the moment, Ankhata didn’t have a chance to react as Eria maintained her hold, transitioning from a headlock to locking up one of the snake’s arms in a hold. Then, with a quick and fluid motion, she violently turned and pulled as she used her weight and momentum to judo toss the serpent over her shoulder with onlookers amazed as the big snake woman was lifted up end over end before being slammed onto her back. Ankhata’s mouth and eyes opened wide, her pupils shrinking as the throbbing and stabbing pain of the impact shot down the length of the serpentine spine.

Eria grunted as she stood over the snake, almost crouching down as she looked her in the face. “I think it’s best you yield…I can already tell your energy levels are dropping…You fought well but it’s time to give up…” She said to Ankhata in a somewhat soothing and motherly like tone, only to get an insulted hiss and glare back from the serpent who didn’t seem to appreciate being talked down to.

Eria barely had time to notice one of Ankhata’s hands was glowing with that familiar flaming orb before a slightly larger ghostly webbed hand suddenly grabbed ahold of her face, obstructing her vision as she roared and shouted out in surprise. She struggled and staggered backwards as she fought to free herself from the pesky and annoying spectral limb. She clutched at the hand, trying to pry it off her as it squeezed and maintained its grip, covering her muzzle as her nose scrunched up at the pungent odor from the webbed palm which smelt like long dead fish and decay.

In doing so she left herself open as Ankhata took the opportunity to slowly slither backward, trying to suppress a pained cry as she gripped and rubbed her upper back as she coiled up and began conjuring up larger ghost hands. By the time Eria managed to tear off the one attached to her face, proceeding to aggressively toss it to the ground and stomp it until it turned to mist, she was accosted by two larger hands, each with palms and fingers as wide as her torso. She quickly punched back one of the hands with force, causing it to tumble backwards before the second hand rushed up behind her and grasped her tail.

“Let go!” She shouted as she turned and thrashed to try and shake free, only to be tugged backwards with a meep as the hand tried to lift her up off the ground by her tail. Eria rapidly stomped her foot against some of the digits to force it to release, the dragoness smiling as it did so. Her victory was short lived however as she felt the grip of the first large hand closing around her arms and large chest. She roared in shock and instantly tried to struggle free, but large ghostly fingers and thumb locked around her, before continuing to apply growing pressure and force.

“Grrrr I said let go!” She shouted out as she continued to struggle. Her arms tried to flex free, but the hand squeezed only tighter, mimicking Ankhata’s own hand movements as the serpent smirked and gestured for the second hand to make its move. Eria tried to run, but the ghostly grasp encasing her wouldn’t allow her to move, and soon her legs were locked in the vice grip of another giant hand, trapping the dragoness in the ghostly clutches of Ahkhata’s spectral puppertiering.

“Foolish Lizard! Did you really think this would be so easy? I’m Ahkhata! High Priestess of the Undead! And you are nothing but a little doll in my clutches!” The serpent mocked with a boastful heavy laugh, before making a hard squeezing motion with her glowing hands as she applied further pressure upon Eria’s body, rendering her almost completely immobile as she was held still and squeezed. “I’m going to squeeze you until you pop!”

Eria grunted then cried out in pain as the hands squeezed and squished her in their holds, twisting at an angle to put more pressure and strain upon her as her body shivered and shook in agony. She was only able to move her head and thrash about her tail as she went from gritting her teeth, to shouting and roaring out in frustrated pain and torment.

The squeezing soon went from a consistent crushing motion, to a pulsing one as Ahkhata squeezed her own hands and compelled her conjured minions to follow suit. The dragon fought the urge to tear up or sob from the compression being forced upon her, her pain receptors and internal systems were struggling to compensate and dull the sensation sparking across her body and mind. Further pressure forced her into near whimpering cries as the serpent began to twist her squeezing hands in two different directions. This in turn caused the ghostly hands to do the same as they treated her like a candy wrapper, contorting and bending her in different directions and putting further strain on her suit and body.

“Too….Much….Aaaahhhh Graaahh!” Eria whined out cries as she again tried her best not to show any weakness as she felt air being forced out of her synthetic lungs. Her chest and bust were jiggling and pressed up between the large fingers as she felt like she was about to pop. “No…I’m not…going out like this!” She thought to herself as she tried to formulate an escape plan. Then she remembered her jetpack, the one she had saved and not used to get here, and was fully fueled and ready to just maybe give her the edge she needed as she focused and mentally fought against her own sensitivity sensors to activate it.

Ports on her back shot open, with thruster nozzles sticking out and glowing with an orange flame before erupting into a blue jet as she pushed herself to full power. The intense thrusting force and heat of the flames caused part of the upper hand to crack and break apart, beginning to weaken the grip. She took advantage of this by flexing and straining against the hand, pushing back with her arms as she gritted her teeth then roared out in defiance as she finally broke free, causing the spectral appendage to break apart and fade into mist.

Ahkhata was again in disbelief that a once assured victory was being taken from her again as her dumbfounded stare turned into an angered growling hiss. She focused her grip into the remaining ghost hand to squeeze and try to hold the dragon down by her legs. But Eria had other ideas, as she bent down and aimed herself at the serpent, her thrusters flashing at full power as she accelerated forward.

If the hand was doing anything to hold her back, it was failing miserably as she closed the distance within seconds before spreading her arms wide then brought them together just as she reached Ahkhata; slamming both of her open palms against the sides of the snake’s head in a harsh bell clamp that discombobulated her and caused the remaining ghostly hand to break apart into mist.

Stunned and going cross eyed from the impact, Ahkhata barely had time to register that Eria was maintaining a grip on her head before the armored snout of the dragon reared back and slammed into Aknhata’s forehead for a followup headbutt. She was released in a heavily dazed and agonizing state, clutching for her head as she hissed out a pained cry of rage.

Pressing the advantage, Eria powered up the jetpack again as she reared back a fist and rocketed at the snake as she threw and connected with a rocket assisted right cross, smashing into the side of Ahkhata’s face and rocking her hard. She followed with a left cross, then a couple more rights and lefts as she worked the serpent over, causing her body to jerk and shudder from side to side, her mind only dazing her further.

Eria then boosted herself up into the air, hovering a good 30 feet away as she did a quick backflip, then accelerated downwards with her right foot extended out in a flying kick. Roaring out a battle cry, she propelled downwards at an angle and slammed into Ahkhata’s midsection as a cloud of dust and debris flew up in all directions upon impact.

It took about a minute for the dust to settle as the android dragon stood with a foot pressed onto the serpent’s chest, both women looking rather rough and worn out with the snake breathing heavily and hissing out a groan of struggling strain. Her hands attempted to glow and form conjuring flames, but quickly died out, the flame between her horns becoming barely a flicker as she tried to crane her head upwards.

Eria’s chest raised and lowered as she took in deep breaths, cooling her internal systems as she pressed down further with her foot to keep Ankhata down, sensing she was victorious as her sensors scanned and confirmed that the snake’s energy had dropped much lower. She was eager to finish the fight, as she took her foot off Ahkhata’s chest and squatted down to pick her up.

As she did so, Ankhata suddenly reached up and wrapped her arms around the dragon’s shoulders and neck, which puzzled and confused Eria until she noticed the snake’s sharp quad fangs as she spoke. “Stupid Dragon!” She hissed before opening her mouth wide and chomping down right on Eria’s neck, causing the dragon’s eyes to shoot open as she roared and screamed while the fangs sunk into her synthetic skin and flesh, puncturing into her mechanical muscles as Ankhata hooked herself in.

Eria tried to pull free but she soon found the serpent wrapping her thick long tail around her body, the dragoness getting pulled on top of the serpent, thick muscular coils slithered over her form as she was held and constricted tightly. Eria could barely move an inch, arms locked to her sides and legs pinned together as she was secured in place, with only her struggling and kicking feet and thrashing head moving about as the sensation and suction of Anhkata’s fangs and mouth muscles suckled and gulped at her neck.

The dragon began to feel lightheaded and weak, as she detected that energy from her own body was being sucked out and transferred into Ankhata’s via the serpent’s mouth. As she looked up she saw that the flame was starting to flicker back up and grow between the snake’s horns. She cried and struggled with all her might, trying to activate her jetpack, but feeling the nozzles being pressured back into the housing by the crushing coils and the energy drain robbing her of her mechanical strength.

It felt like a good minute or so of intense sucking and gulping as the dragon’s body grew weak and limp in the serpent’s embrace before Ankhata finally had her fill, pulling her jaw free from Eria’s neck with a pop. She then hissed with a satisfied smile upon her face. “Your essence…it's most unusual dragon!” She stated before adjusting her hold and positioning as she forced the robotic dragon into a kneeling position, while having layers upon layers of thick snake coils that wrapped her up from neck to toe and made her face her current captor.

“While It was hard to tap into, given your seeming mechanical make up, I was able to siphon it as if you were fully alive! Seems that crystal of yours is rather special…to bad all it’s done is give me a nice little boost to ensure your demise in my clutches!” Ankhata boasted as she made Eria grunt and almost whimper as the tail coils squeezed and pulsed the constriction around the big dragoness, keeping her held as the serpent continued her monologue. “Admit you are at fault! Let me hear it! Let me see you squirm and beg for mercy! After I’m done with you, you will be drained of essence and mummified to be my property for all eternity!” She laughed out while holding her hands out wide, reveling in her perceived triumph over the synthetic dragon woman.

Eria growled and shut her eyes as the squeezing got tighter on her, knowing it was now do or die. If she didn’t act fast, she was going to end up as this snake’s dinner. A thought crossed her mind, as she glanced down at a coil just under her chin, not sure if what she was formulating in her mind would work or not, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Using what strength she managed to regenerate, she struggled and pushed against the constriction, just enough to give her a bit more room to move her neck and upper torso as she shifted her head sideways. Then, in one swift motion, she lunged and bit hard onto the coil.

With dragon teeth sinking into her body, Ankhata let out a panicked and surprised scream as the sharpness of the chomp dug in, enough for her to briefly relax her hold on Eria. The dragon took advantage of this as she grabbed the snake by her neck, holding her at length to prevent her from sinking her fangs into her again or pull her coils back around her. Ankhata replied in kind by still wrapping her tail around the dragon’s right leg, while also forcefully deploying her feathery wings from her back, the bones in her wings cracking and setting as she spread them out to give her any kind of leverage or advantage to counter from.

“You…You bit me! Only I can bite! I DO THE BITING HERE SYNTHETIC LIZARD WRETCH!” She shouted out in anger, only for several projectiles to whizz by her head. As she turned her gaze she saw a fast approaching armored fighting vehicle, its engine roaring, treads clattering against the road, and its autocannon turret firing away at the two giant women.

The fact they were being fired upon annoyed and frustrated Eria, the shells whizzing by her just as much as Ankhata, making her self preservation protocols to kick in as she reached down and grabbed the barrel of the AFV, straining as she tore it off its turret ring and lifted the armored weapon system up like a massive club.

“Sorryyyyy, I got this now, please stay out of this.” She grunted, briefly looking down upon the dumbfounded crew who gazed up with looks of fear and bewilderment. She gave them the briefest of apologetic smirks, before not wasting any more time as she angry focused back on and shoved Ankhata away from her. She pulled her left arm back, the serpent blinded by rage hissing in response before being belted with a massive whack as she was clubbed right in the face with the heavy gun turret, causing her to drop her tail wrap against the dragon’s leg.

She floated back, trying to stay in the air but was heavily dazed and bleeding black blood from her nose. The dragoness swung the turret again and cracked her in the side with a swing worthy of a baseball player, sending the serpent sailing across the street as she crashed and crumpled to the plaza pavement. Pieces of tile flooring, dirt, and debris dug up as she slid a good 40 or so feet before coming to a very painful stop.

Eria followed her while keeping the turret at the ready, watching Ankhata as she twitched and struggled to move, but her body was limp and weak. What energy she had was now very low as the dragon noticed that the serpent’s tail seemed to fade in and out of existence, with a bony skeletal structure appearing briefly before reverting back to faded scale.

As she reached her and held the turret at the ready, Eria could see the soldiers from before coming out from their hiding spots, guns drawn as they slowly advanced towards the downed snake.

“Please….Don’t….let them take me…” A soft, tearful whimper escaped Ankhata’s mouth. Tears flowing down her battered and bruised face as she looked up at Eria, the snake’s once venomous demeanor now replaced with that of fear and uncertainty.

Eria was somewhat taken aback by the sudden change in mood and emotion from Anhkata. As she looked to see more soldiers getting closer, the big dragon held out the turret like a stop sign while growling at them. This had the desired effect as the armored infantry stopped, aimed at her briefly, before deciding to pull back while keeping guns at the ready.

She turned back to the whimpering serpent and knelt down to speak with her, her voice softening back to a motherly tone as she began to question. “What do you mean…are you saying these men were chasing you?”

“Ye…yes….after I ended up in this world….they attacked me…these mortals and their cruel weaponry and bondage implements sought to imprison me…torture me…experiment on me like some kind of animal….I’ve been without essence for so long….it hurts….it hurts so much…” Ankhata pleaded as she whimpered and tried to sit up, but had very little strength to do so. “I’ve been trapped here ever since you and that purple thing…entered my graveyard….”

At first Eria didn’t understand what the snake meant by graveyard as she was too fixated on the soldiers, who appeared to be massing more troops and vehicles nearby. One of the men spoke into a radio, likely to their superior in order to receive new orders. But when her mind caught up with the words being spoken by the snake a memory was jogged; the dragon remembered the night she and Vengy snuck out of the manor and into the graveyard, seeking to planeshift back to Vengy’s universe.

She remembered when she and Vengy were sucked into the swirling wormhole that she felt like someone was watching them. Thinking at first it was merely some animal…but…then it clicked as she looked towards the big serpent on the ground. “You…you were watching us in the graveyard!” She exclaimed in surprise.

Ankhata nodded slowly in reply, “Yes…that graveyard is my home…my territory…I had detected you both entering it and went to see who was disturbing it…” She hissed while managing to prop herself up on one elbow, still shaking from the soreness. “I was about to pounce on you both…maybe have a bit of fun with these new strangers…when the portal opened I was sucked inside with you….next thing I knew…I was in this dimension…dumped in an alleyway out in the cold…At first it wasn’t that bad…I found this rat with wings…she was quite tasty and gave me a good amount of essence…it lasted for a while…”

“You must mean Rhyza…I heard a report that a woman matching her description was found heavily energy drained, cursing some monster for ‘taking her like that’…” Eria thought to herself before asking. “But then the soldiers came right?”

“Yes…I put up a good fight, took a lot of them down…but in the end…their weapons, machines and those damn collars they put on me…it robbed me of my powers…they made me helpless…weak…scared…Electrocuted me into forced obedience…I was certain it was for their own enjoyment and sick pleasures…You know what it’s like dragon of metal…to be put in a compact cell, unable to move, any attempt to resist met with a painful shock, and mocked and made fun of….” Ahkhata’s tears flowed bitterly as she sobbed and tried to wipe them from her face, but couldn’t muster the energy to do so. “Look at me now…I was trying to use what energy I had left to escape ... I never wanted to hurt anyone…but I’ve been without essence for so long…If it continues…I’ll…I’ll..” She sobbed and hung her head low as she began to cry in anguish, her tears pooling on the ground in a slick puddle.

Setting the turret down to the side, Eria reached over and wrapped her arms carefully around Anhkata, hugging her closely which confused and stopped Ankhata’s sobbing for the moment as she was taken aback by the sudden kind hearted gesture. She then felt the dragon’s big but soft hand reach up to cup and rub her serpentine face and muzzle, brushing and wiping away her tears carefully.

“I’m…truly sorry to have gotten you into this mess Ankhata…Had I known you were in the graveyard…I would have picked a safer location to open the wormhole….And I’m sorry for what has happened to you since then….I can’t imagine the pain and suffering you have gone through…but I’m going to do everything in my power to not only protect you…but make things right…You're not alone anymore…” The dragon said softly, also on the verge of tears herself as she expressed her own feelings and emotions, something that greatly touched Ankhata. She’d then let out a little chuckle, finishing with, “Just, maybe next time lead with the explanation, hmm?”

“H-ha…Eria…I ... .I…Thank you…..I don’t know what to…” Ankhata began as she sobbed and tried to put on a brave smiling face, only to shut her eyes and scream out in pain as she clutched herself and collapsed to the ground, her body starting to fade in and out of existence as a bony skeleton version of herself briefly formed again, only to change back to normal; but doing very little to quell the agonizing feeling coursing through her entire body.

“Ankhata! What’s wrong?” Eria asked as she rushed to embrace and aid the serpent into a sitting position, almost cradling her in her arms like a mother guarding a child, as she caught a glimpse of more soldiers trying to draw closer, only to be forced back as she growled at them.

“It’s…starting….When…I run out of essence for too long…become famished….I lose control of myself…to the hollowing…slaying all…draining life force completely…from all around until I’m sated….I…need….to go home….I…want it to stop….I want to go home…” Ankhata sobbed and whimpered as she was battling her own internal suffering and the bitter fear overcoming her.

“All life around her consumed….But that means…everyone….Jazel…Shaid….Vengy…everyone potentially in this city, and maybe even beyond it, are all at risk….No….I can’t let that happen…” Eria processed in her mind as she realized the gravity of the current situation, and swiftly knowing that time wasn’t on her side. What she needed to do, she needed to do it right now! She focused as she opened the comms link to Scarlet Blade, NightShade, and Vengy all at once, as she heard grunts and sounds of a struggle coming from her newer friend’s lines.

“Eria!! Can you give me a sec? Let me just, hay, heads up!” Vengy shouted as a loud crash followed by a man screaming in pain was heard.

“H-ha, I apologies, but this is urgent” Eria said, which seemed to instantly get the attention of the trio.

“What is it, what's going on Eria? Do you need help?” Scarlet Blade asked.

“Not, exactly. Well, you remember that tether I mentioned while I was trying to get back home? Well, I found one..someone came with us when we jumped, someone I just now found.” Eria stated.

“That's great news! What about that could possibly be urgent?” NightShade called out.

“Well...I only found her after we had quite the tussle...and turns out, she's a ticking time bomb of sorts. I don't have time to explain, but let's just say there's a large amount of 'military' personnel that really want to contain her, and I need to make this jump now or else things might get really bad. So...this has to be goodbye...”

“W-wait, no..NO! I...you can't go yet!” Vengy shouted out in shock.

“It’s fine Vengy” NightShade interjected.

“B-But..” Vengy tried to continue but was cut off by NightShade again.

“It's fine!...She made the jump here before. Sure she had you, but now she's been here right? I'm sure with the friends she has over there, she'll figure it out.” NightShade said.

Eria noticed that scarlet had been quiet all this time, worried that she wasn’t taking it well until she heard the shark speak. “R-right, right that's right. You'll get back, we'll see you again. And when we do we'll laugh about how stupid it all was when we were sad about it.” She said, with Eria sensing a tone shift and a slight hint of both sadness and hope coming from her.

“You guys…” Eria said, now it was her turn to be on the verge of tears as her eyes welled up.

“Y-yeah!” Vengy replied, sniffling coming from her comm link, as she tried her best to hold back the sobbing, as a wave of emotions overcame her. “CAN YOU GIVE ME A MINUTE!” She shouted out at first, a loud sound of something detonating in the background could be heard with further loud pained cries and grunts echoing faintly, before heavy breathing could be heard as Vengy composed herself somewhat before continuing. “B-but they are right. You’ll be back! T-tell me you’ll be back?” She stated as if it was a question, to Eria it felt as she heard more of Vengy’s sniffling over the call.

“...I’ll be back, I promise..” Eria said as tears flowed from her eyes, dripping down from her armored mask, as she struggled to express her feelings through the still active combat filter software.

“Y-You better!” Vengy replied, Eria could only picture Vengy’s teary eyed face, her friend and savior from this world.

“Yeah, you better,” Nightshade stated as well, but with a soft knowing chuckle in his tone.

“This is goodbye, but I’m marking it as a ‘so long’, see you, Eria” Jazel chimed in, a cold calculated tone in her voice, one masking all the feelings pressing at the edges of her eyes.

“Y-yeah, Yeah! See you all later…Eria out.” Eria said, before cutting the communication link, a heavy shuddering tremble in her chest as she let the tears flow down from her face. Ankhata looked up at her the whole time as she saw the raw emotions of someone who cared very dearly for those close to her and around her.

The moment however was forcibly pushed past as a gunshot echoed out in the street and a round whizzed by them both. The pair slowly turned their heads to see that while the soldiers were not marching towards them, additional armored fighting vehicles and at least two main battle tanks had arrived, all with their guns trained on them. Among them an officer holding a smoking pistol leading the cohort.

“Attention! You are interfering with an active military operation! Cease your actions at once and surrender, this will be your only warning!” The officer shouted out from a megaphone in his hand, his voice filled with arrogance and malice.

Eria quickly knelt down as she pulled her arms under Ahkhata’s body, quickly and carefully bundling the serpent up into her embrace and scooped her up bridal style, a slight blush forming on the snake’s face as the dragon looked to her. “You ready?” Eria asked, getting a slow nod in reply as the serpent’s form was fading in and out; clearly focusing all her might on keeping it together.

Eria gave her a reassuring smile, before closing her eyes and focusing on her past, her mind racing and trying to recollect as many memories as possible, as she used Ankhata as her anchor to act as the connection between this universe and their own. As she did so, the crystal in her chest glowed bright, as a swirling mass of energy began to form around them, their hair flowing upwards with the updraft caused by the surge as memories of the manor, of shade, of Emanuela; all the pleasant memories of her friends she could muster. Eria then trained her mind on that paracausal moment in her past, the moment that her crystal knew, the moment that in it’s recollection, gave her the power to jump between worlds.

The officer was getting more hostile as he fired another warning shot at them, only for the bullet to be arched skywards by the force of the swirling energy. Ankhata held onto Eria tightly, assisting as best she could to remember her own home. “Stop now! You are in possession of government property!” The officer shouted, but got no reply as the glow around the pair grew ever brighter.

“Take them down!” He shouted as the soldiers and vehicles trained their weapons upon the two women, only for a bright flash to erupt, causing many of the soldiers to panic and open fire. Their volleys of bullets and cannon fire traced down the street, impacting buildings, kicking up dust and debris as the area became bathed in a thick cloud of gunpowder scented haze.

“CEASE FIRE!” The officer shouted, as one by one the soldiers and tanks eased up on their triggers, as the street became silent. It would be another minute or so before he shouted orders to some men to advance ahead and check it out. Some volunteers marched in and searched the area. Minutes later he got the news that he very much didn’t want to hear.

“They’re gone sir…completely disappeared. A planar jump, at least per the readings.” One of the soldiers stated, as the officer growled and threw the megaphone hard onto the asphalt, shattering the plastic frame into many pieces as he let out several curses.

[b]In another universe…[/b]

Eria and Ahkhata blinked into existence in the main lobby of the manor, the bright blue light of their entrance flashing across the inner walls and grand lobby staircase as the dragon looked around with shocked amazement and happiness. “Ankhata..we did it…we’re home!” She shouted out, as the serpent opened her eyes and looked around with wonder, still in pain from having to suppress her hollowing, but internally she was grateful to be home.

“Home…Yes…That means….Essence!” Ankhata shouted out as she suddenly bolted out of the dragon’s embrace, making her meep as she staggered backwards, observing the large snake woman making a beeline upstairs as she hissed and moved at a scarily fast pace. “I’m sorry Eria, but I really need to feed! Come here little dragon! I know you're up there!” She shouted out as Eria cocked her eyebrow, then remembered that she wasn’t the only dragon in the manor.

“Oh good graces she means Emanuela…” Eria thought to herself before hearing a loud meeping cry of said green dragoness, followed by the joyful hissing and some crashing of furniture upstairs, indicating that Ankhata had indeed found her source of essence. What followed was the loud moaning and groans and what she could only detect as the squeezing rubbing sound of Ankhata’s tail coils somewhere upstairs, as the synthetic dragoness blushed a little and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

“Well….At least I’m back home.” she said with a chuckle.