The Masquerades: The Beginning

Zorro and Neko stepped out from the pharmacy, their eyes instantly tracking upward. Looming over the street, its scales the colour of bruised meat and rusted iron, was the dragon. It wasn't just big; it was a localized natural disaster. The beast’s neck snapped toward Zorro, letting out a roar that shattered every remaining window on the block. “Guys, listen!” Zorro shouted over the wind generated by the creature's wings. “A dragon’s weak spot is—” He never finished. In a blur of movement too fast for the human eye to track, the dragon’s head lunged. Its massive jaws clamped shut, and with a sickening gulp, it swallowed Zorro whole. ZORRO!!” Neko screamed, her voice cracking with horror. She reached out, but the captain was gone, disappeared down the throat of the undead titan. Eunsuri didn't hesitate. He sprinted from the wreckage of the shop, his arm transforming into a hammer the size of a wrecking ball. He swung with everything he had, slamming the blow into the dragon’s bloated stomach. THUD. The impact was heavy, but the dragon didn't even flinch—it was like hitting a mountain of solid rubber. From the other side of the street, a hail of sharp spikes and nails whistled through the air, clattering harmlessly off the dragon’s obsidian-hard scales. Mr. H and Michael had arrived, their faces twisted in a mix of terror and fury, but their projectiles were like toothpicks against armour. Neko’s eyes darted down to the chainsaw clipped to her tactical belt. Maybe I can cut through... She gripped the handle with her reinforced robotic hand. As the teeth of the chainsaw began to hum, the dragon’s pupils slit. It let out a huff of green smoke and beat its massive, tattered wings, surging into the air. It knew. It was intelligent enough to recognize a threat to its hide. “Eunsuri, I need your help!” Neko shouted, her eyes fixed on the beast as it circled the rooftops. “I’m on my way! You guys keep him busy!” Eunsuri signalled to Mr. H and Michael, who began a desperate distraction with more spikes. Eunsuri reached Neko, his legs bracing for a massive exertion. Neko looked at the dragon, then at Eunsuri’s boulder-sized hands. “Can you throw me onto that thing’s back?” “I should be able to, but we need to get on top of one of the buildings,” Neko and Eunsuri sprinted back into the pharmacy, their boots echoing against the tile as they located the stairwell. They were about to head up when Blaze stepped into their path, his eyes darting between them. “Where are you going?” Blaze demanded. “To the roof to kill the zombie dragon outside,” Neko stated flatly. She didn't wait for a rebuttal, pivoting on her heel and leading the way upstairs, the metallic weight of her robotic arm swinging at her side. They reached the roof just as the dragon let out a bone-chilling screech. Mr. H was already there, straining to keep the beast at bay. Eunsuri moved with practised synchronization; he focused his energy until one of his hands transformed, flesh giving way to a massive, heavy iron hammer. Neko didn’t hesitate—she leaped onto the flat of the hammer, finding her balance instantly. Eunsuri took aim, braced his core, and threw Neko toward the dragon with explosive force. She sailed through the air, her robotic joints compensating for the wind resistance, and landed firmly on the dragon’s rotting back. Neko reached across her body, her organic hand gripping the interface on her mechanical arm. As she activated the mechanism, to connect to the chainsaw That roared into life, its serrated teeth spinning into a blur of silver. With a powerful, mechanical overhead swing, she brought the saw down into the base of the dragon’s wing. The blade chewed through necrotic tissue and bone until the wing sheared off completely, spiralling away and sending the dragon plummeting toward the earth. Eunsuri rushed back downstairs and burst out of the pharmacy just in time to see the dragon slam into the pavement on its stomach. He watched the creature's throat, but the impact wasn't enough to make the beast throw up Zorro. Neko leaped from the dragon’s back and stood over it, her mechanical arm whirring as she prepared to deliver the coup de grâce. But just as she brought the blade down toward the dragon’s skull, the creature surged with a burst of undead energy. It lurched upward and unleashed a massive fireball, forcing the team to dive for cover. Panic flickered through the group as they realized they had no clear way to knock the dragon off its feet again. The beast’s glassy eyes locked onto Neko, and it let out a concentrated stream of flame breath. Neko immediately summoned her absorption shield from her robotic arm. The blue energy hummed as it absorbed the brunt of the fire, but the heat was overwhelming. As the shield reached its limit and flickered out of existence, Neko was forced to roll to the side to avoid being scorched. The rest of the team moved in to shield her, but the dragon was relentless. With a whip-like crack, it swung its massive tail, knocking the team members aside. Before Neko could regain her footing, the dragon turned its head and launched another deadly torrent of flame directly at her. Zero leaped in front of Neko, his hands glowing with a frigid blue light as he attempted to flash-freeze the oncoming torrent of fire. However, the sheer heat of the dragon’s breath was overwhelming; the ice shattered before it could form, and the concussive force of the blast sent Zero spiralling backward through the air. Seeing her friend fall, Neko gritted her teeth. She knew overcharging her mechanical arm again could be fatal—the power core hummed with a dangerous, erratic vibration—but she couldn't let the others die.