Scales of Silver

Summary: Daggerlike teeth, steel-rending claws and a lifespan measured in millenia... all of that? Completely meaningless. Taylor was definitely a much bigger fan of the ability to fly. Life as a young adult is very different for a human than it is for a Dragon.

Brockton Bay was coming very close to being renamed Dragon's Bay.

It had all started when the Dragon of Kyushu, Lung, had decided to move over from wherever his former stomping grounds had been to Brockton Bay, following the chaos resultant of Marquis' birdcaging. Soon enough, he had established himself as a power in the city by fending off the Protectorate as well as the racist Empire 88, then proceeding to grab all the small Asian gangs and forcing them all into unity under his rule, solving the issue of their own grievances with each other through sheer force of personality and intimidation. Ironically, under his rule, one could see the Japanese, Koreans and Chinese get along, even if forcibly, for the first time in centuries.

The second 'Dragon' to move semi-permanently into Brockton Bay had been the cape aptly named Dragon herself, the greatest Tinker in the world since the passing of Hero, who justified her name with reptilian mech suits though her projected Avatar was a very human looking woman. It was a very well known secret that she was in the process of courting Armsmaster, leader of the Protectorate ENE, something that clearly required incredible amounts of effort and time, as the man was known to be denser than white dwarf star matter.

It was not uncommon to see Dragon's mechs in Brockton Bay, and it was even more common to see Lung shapeshifting into a half-dragon monstrosity.

However, those two were 'false', for lack of a better term, dragons.

Indeed, there's only one 'real' dragon in Brockton Bay. Fortunately, her kind is always Lawful Good.

My skin is uncomfortable.

I wonder, is this what people with gender issues feel like? As if their body is an ill-fitting sock? You know the kind. I would say a stocking, but I have never really worn those. A combination of psychological torture and self consciousness about my appearance meant that I'd never wear a skirt or anything of the sort to show off my legs, much less wear stockings to highlight them.

On the one hand, that sucks.

On the other, I never had to shave my legs because of that, so I've got that going for me, which is nice, I suppose.

Well, I don't need to shave my legs ever again. Or take care of my hair anymore. I kind of miss it, but it's nothing I can't deal with. Besides, I can always dedicate my free time to grooming something else.

I ran my hands through my hair with clumsy fingers, before I regained full control of them. It takes me a little while to regain perfect motor control, that's good to know. By my estimate, it's been ten minutes... yeah, I can already feel myself adapting.

My skin is still uncomfortable, but I don't think I'll trip by just trying to take a few steps anymore. I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror.

Yeah the eyes are going to be a problem, I reckon. I could disguise them. I know I can.

But... I'll deal with that as it comes.

"I heard that when she tried to offer herself to the football team, they told her they'd rather fuck the cleaning equipment!"

What a droll 'insult'. Then again, teenaged girls seem to measure their worth entirely by how much the men around them want them. That's quite pathetic - there's so much more they could do. So much more they could seek recognition through, but I suppose they don't really want to put in the effort to be something, instead they'd rather coast through life on their looks. Bah, unlike me, they have to spend hours to keep their looks up, if they just put that effort into improving themselves as people, mayhaps they'd be worthy of the time needed to smack them down.

Then again, I mused, girls aren't exactly special. I know for a fact that Greg Veder receives from the boys the treatment I receive from the girls, teased and made fun of because he is a charmless buffoon and a creeper that no girl wants anywhere near close to them. I used to think he was a creepy weirdo, myself, but now I just think him pathetic, like I used to be. It's far easier to be sympathetic of him when I don't allow another's preconceived notions to dictate how I see the world.

I shook my head. Their insults continued, but I merely offered them a smile. I can tell it unnerves them. I know I've fixed all the little imperfections in my skin, and I know that I altered my face just ever so slightly - my lips are no longer too wide, my eyes don't bug out. It's enough that they'll probably think it's just make up, that must be kind of distracting for them.

With books in hand, I moved beyond the useless harpies and went on my way to my first class of the day.

As I rounded a corner, however, I saw Sophia Hess walking in the opposite section.

"Hey there, Hebert. I figured you wouldn't show your ugly face around school," she said, "but you just never learn, do you? Nobody wants you here, so make like a bookworm and burrow out of sight."

A worm?

Hardly!

Sophia is one of the few humans in this building I would take notice of even if she hadn't been my bully. She is evil. She positively stinks of evil and aggression and hatred and anger. Before, I believed this, but I just did because she is a bully and I was a teenaged idiot myself.

Now I can tell. Her rotten self offends my instincts at a very basic level, and her continued existence is an affront and insult to my sensibilities. Every time she opens her mouth to shower insults upon my person, I have the urge to let loose the leash and tear her apart.

A normal cape would likely think to themselves that they need to remain hidden. That they need to keep a lid on their powers. Hide their identity to keep their loved ones safe.

Sophia Hess does not intimidate me, and neither does the possibility of her possibly hunting down or harming my father. And even if she were to out me as what I am, what difference would that make? Nobody would believe her because of her own lies, because she has convinced everyone that I am a worthless worm, so there's no way this worm could be a great Wyrm.

"Even colored contacts, it's almost like you're trying to look respectable!"

Oh, while I was internally monologuing, it appears as if we've gotten Sophia's girlfriend to join in. A being just as rotten and evil as Sophia herself. Perfect.

"Let's drop this farcical fabrication," I said, a too-wide smile splitting my face. My body and form shifted. It's a good thing that I won't need to fight right now, because even this change is making me feel more than a little clumsy. I let my lips curl back into a snarl and brought one of my claws, almost as if to pick between teeth I knew to be razor sharp.

The both of them were stunned into silence.

When it seemed like they were about to bolt, I took a deep breath and let loose a very weak form of my Breath Weapon.

They were both forced to their knees, unable to escape as they wished to.

"Oh, look, a pair of perfectly helpless little girls, face to face with their possible doom," I began, letting my form collapse back into the guise of a human. "Now, I'm going to make something perfectly clear to the two of you. Evil such as you offends me on a basic level," I said. "However," I began, crouching so I met them at eye level, "I am a good and lawful citizen," I explained, "and the laws of this land tell me that I should not destroy your taint where it rots."

"Y-Y-You're-"

It was hard for them to talk, with their muscles seizing and spasming, refusing to obey their commands, causing them to whimper in noticeable pain.

"I think we can come to an understanding, yes? You become good little girls and I don't eat you. How's that for a deal, huh?"

"Well, they had far more balls than I expected them to, I'll admit that much," I said, my eyes closed. "Take a seat," I said, my tone firm.

I was half expecting the Protectorate to show up at home. I was also half... if it's half again is it quarter? fuck it, I'll run with it! I was quarter expecting them to show up when dad was at home.

They didn't do the latter, instead, they seemed to pick a time when I was alone at home. Also Armsmaster cuts a rather impressive figure in his power armor.

"Miss Hebert, I would assume," Armsmaster said, evenly. "I will pass on the seat. I don't think your chairs could withstand my armor's weight."

"You know what they say about assuming," I replied, giving him a disarming smile. "What can I do for you?"

"You threatened two teenaged girls with your parahuman ability to, and I quote, eat them," Armsmaster stated. "And it's clear you were expecting us."

"I had contingencies in case they did," I admitted, freely. "Are you aware that the girls who I threatened, and yes I do admit to doing so, are evil scum who seek their thrills by victimizing those below them in the social ladder?"

"They are teenaged girls," he insisted.

"So am I, but you're certainly not looking at me like one," I said, smiling. I'm trying to turn on the cheek, because lying out of my ass is fun. I should do this more often. "You assumed they were right from the start, and came here for the sole purpose of arresting me. I must admit, I'm honored that someone like myself rates the very leader of the Protectorate in this region."

He raised a hand and tapped the side of his helmet. His face was then covered by a plastic-looking facemask. He tapped it again, and it retracted into his helm. "We're not taking chances here."

"That's adorable," I said, smiling. "That's not how my breath weapon works," I said.

"I'm surprised you're volunteering information, though you will forgive me if I don't trust you," Armsmaster said, evenly.

"Put up your mask and I'll show you," I said.

He frowned. "Is that a threat?"

"It's an offer of demonstration. It should go a long way to prove my honesty. Consider it a proof of character," I said. "Naturally, you are free to refuse it."

"I think you should understand at this point that I have to take you in," Armsmaster said.

"I am a good and lawful citizen, but just because I have no desire to disobey the law does not mean I will be a pawn to unjust and corrupt authority," I said. "You have one chance. Do not disappoint me."

"How disappointing," I muttered, as my bishop put Dragon's King in check.

"Oh?" Dragon's avatar raised one eyebrow. "So confident. You truly think I won't be able to turn this situation around?"

"No," I admitted, "I'm talking about myself. Five moves, right?"

"Indeed," Dragon said, freely. "I'm surprised you see it coming so far ahead. I was told you were a beginner."

"Ever since the event of my trigger," I admitted, "I know that I've been feeling smarter. It's... strange," I admitted. "It's like I've got a completely different perspective on a lot of things. I used to take everything so very personally, and now... It's a bit harder to let personal insults affect me."

"And yet you threatened your bullies with grievous harm, even to... devour them," Dragon said, her tone feigning disgust.

"For you, it looks like cannibalism. Because you still think me human," I said. "But to you, the identity of the Dragon is a disguise that you cast off. All other things aside, I look at you and I can see a human, a daughter of man," I said, evenly. "To me, this skin that I am wearing is a disguise."

"Speaking about such, the Director is ready to see you, so I believe we may conclude the game?" Dragon asked. She clearly wanted to continue the conversation.

How inconvenient.

"We'll adjourn, then."

Her scales gleam. They're of a blue-gray color with silver highlights.

They're beautiful.

From the tip of her tail to the tip of her snout, she's forty feet of carnage, with a wingspan of a hundred and fifty feet from wingtip to wingtip.

I've seen Leviathan, I've seen Behemoth, but this beast dwarfs them not in size, but in presence. She explained why. She possesses an ability called 'Frightful Presence', and those with weaker wills are instantaneously subdued by her very being. Even I, having faced danger and monsters, cannot help but be in no small amount of awe at the monster that stands before me.

This being, this creature, considers me nothing more than an annoyance. With all my strength, with my accumulated power, I could do little more than temporarily annoy her. I would be little more than a morsel to temporarily fill her belly.

This is a Dragon.

I have seen Lung taking his fully draconic form, but he is nothing more than a serpent, nothing more than a mockery of what a true Dragon is.

Her wings folded, her foreclaws rested in front of her chest, her neck arched as she looked at us as if we were mere ants, slit eyes gleaming.

Her voice booms, shakes me to my very bones, and I can feel her frigid breath on me. My armor is working doubletime to prevent the effects of her breath from sticking to me.

"Will you fight me, heroes?" she asked. "Can you muster the will to face me in combat, knowing that surely you will perish? Are you so willing to defend a criminal that you'd throw your lives away for her sake?"

Why? Why is she trying to convince us to back down?

She has threatened Shadow Stalker's life, in her civilian identity. She has made it clear that if we continue to defend her, she will consider us her enemies and the allies of evil.

This monster is telling us, heroes, that we are evil. And yet, her voice is compelling, her words ring true - Sophia is a violent former criminal. I know that she chafes under the restrictions of the Wards. I know that she is responsible for deaths, I know that she acts not out of a sense of justice but out of revenge. I know that Sophia is... I can't help but say it, I know she is a villain wearing a hero's clothes.

So why... why are we defending her? Why do we fight for her sake?

"If you would face me, heroes, then you would die!" the dragon said, standing on all four claws, "for the sake of one who would dance and piss on your graves," she said. "Very well then!" she said, "I admire your conviction and your valor, your dedication towards protecting your allies, but as I told you before, Armsmaster, I tolerate no corruption!"

A single wingbeat.

That was all it took. The gust of wind that her wings created as she lifted into the air was enough to bowl me off my feet and against a wall. The fight was over for me. "Dauntless- are you-"

The comms' officer's words were soon silenced by the sound of Miss Militia beginning to pelt the flying dragon with high caliber gunfire and rocket propelled grenades.

I was lucky, because I could see her, as she floated, unleash her Breath Weapon upon Armsmaster, who had anchored himself to the ground.

Lung is dead.

I need to repeat that.

Lung is dead.

I fell butt first on the couch. "You are a villain."

Oh. Oh shit, shit shit shit!

She's gonna kill me too!

"And yet," she said, "your evil is petty. You do not receive joy from inflicting suffering unto others."

Her form is human, but I know she is not. She chafes under that skin, and her scales gleam and her teeth are glinting and her claws can rend me apart piece by piece.

Don't open, mouth, don't make this worse than it already is! I shouldn't, I can't, I musn't- I can see it.

"T-Teeth, so many teeth," my mouth is running on its own. "p-p-please don't- don't- e-eat me!"

I'm losing all control, I can't help it, this thing, this monstrosity, it shouldn't be!

I felt breath rush into my lungs as her eyes focused on mine.

"I seek not the end of your life," she said, bringing a hand behind herself and shaking her long and curly dark hair. A memento of her mother, my power supplied, kept for sentimental value. She has spared me. "Do not make me regret this decision. You have your lives, you can save them, turn them around. You possess power. Turn it for the service of good, rather than the service of self," she said.

She means it. She's giving an ultimatum.

Become a hero, or I will eat you.

Between a gun and a dragon place, huh.

"I-I can't-" my mouth is running unchecked again.

She closed her eyes.

I'm fucked.

I'm going to die. Or even worse, I'm going to become a basement dwelling, drug-addled slave.

Unless...

Yeah.

That could work. I need... I'm going to do something intensely stupid. I hope it works.

It's time to become the priestess of a dragon! If I get lucky and my power isn't bullshitting, I'll get to learn magic out of this deal, too!

Welp I'm done.

Taylor is a Young Adult Silver Dragon. Because she triggered as a Young Adult, and so when she went Dragon, she turned into the appropriate age class for her 'human' age class.

Also, in case you don't know, dragons in DND are bad-fucking-ass. And while you usually hear of stories of dragonslaying... if your party 'easily' slays anything other than a wyrmling with ease, you're a bad DM. These things are VERY intelligent. They're intelligent enough to outright use magic. A Dragon's gonna take a few attacks of opportunity - it has the hit points to afford it - in order to get to the sky, and once it's flying, it's over - it can just use its Breath Weapon until it runs out, and then just divebomb the party one by one, since it will have made you spread the party to avoid its AoE attacks, and kill them all at its leisure.

Simply put, these things are badass... but not too badass to not fit in the Wormverse in terms of power. The real nightmares out there still present more than enough of a threat to a Young Adult Silver. Hell, give Armsmaster enough time and he'll come up with countermeasures to her.

Also, Tattletale can learn magic from Taylor, but only just barely. Fortunately, IIRC, Taylor can use Cleric spells and she's a fifth level Caster. Also Lung has her somewhat beat in that his fight with Leviathan went far better than Taylor's thank to his regeneration. Taylor takes like a month just to recover from that hit, and she only survives because Contessa knows how to accelerate her development into a Great Wyrm, which Cauldron wants A LOT.

Why?

Because a Great Wyrm Silver is capable of using two 9th Level Spells four times a day. Those spells? Gate, which is unbelievably fucking useful, and True Resurrection, which makes their victory damn near guaranteed if they can keep Zion from killing Taylor. Especially because Hero's Wavelength specialization is probably one of the few things that can actually inconvenience Zion.

Then again, if Taylor rolls a natural 20 and Hold Person lands on Zion, Lily can instakill him, so there's always that.