Private/Closed Sky dragons

[Sky_]

If you're not @CrunchyCucumber, get the hell out!

Anyway, welcome to the city of Atlantis, named after the legendary underwater city. Built in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, it is home to a few superhumans. Anyway...

Sky felt a small jolt go through him. What was that? He wondered, unsure why it felt like he'd just been shot down a tunnel

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Rio groaned from her place laying on the ground. She wanted to rub her eyes with a hand, but even then it felt like lead, and extremely unappealing to move. Aurrea floated to gently rest herself on Rio's chest. "...You've been wheezing again." her voice was soft spoken, and the usually glowing dragon (who actually still glowed like she was radiating heat) seemed to dull. "I... have a theory. But I hope to whatever gods there are left here that I'm wrong... we can test it but it involves going... back..." she finished lamely, knowing very well how much Rio hated the place she hadn't even thought about in over 50 years.

 

[Sky_]

Gathering his energy, Sky managed to fly upwards. "Ohh, God, that really hurt. Sparks, you all right?" Sky asked, hovering in front of her face.

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Rio looked at Aurrea like she grew eight heads and told her she was actually a male. "Why." She croaked out. Although, there was an edge in her tone that betrayed she was in pain, both mentally and physically, although from what was hard to pinpoint since her breathing wasn't too hot either. She didn't bat an eye at the annoyance of a nickname, but she rolled her head to the side to shake 'no', honestly, now it was beginning to get hard to find energy to speak. Her voice didn't hurt but her mouth felt full of cotton and glue.

 

[Sky_]

God, she really doesn't look very good. And honestly, I don't know many people who actually answer 'No' to a question like that. Huh. "Any idea why? That link I've got it telling me you should be jumping off buildings, but you don't sound like you should be out of a hospital. Although, I do doubt you know." Sky was speaking half to himself at this point, trying to figure out what had happened to her

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"Mrrpph..." Rio groaned, closing her eyes and scrunching them up. Aurrea suppressed her own whimper, but looked to Sky. "Do you have enough energy to help me get Rio to where I want to go?" And hopefully the building is still there Aurrea thought to herself, but dispelled the negative thoughts quickly. Her amber eyes looked at the wind spirit hopefully, full of worry.

 

[Sky_]

"I... I'm not sure. Being in contact with the air does help me recover energy, but I'm not sure if I have enough. How far do you have to go?"

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"Not terribly far from here, this abandoned part of town was build close to where we want to go. They built over the dirt road going there, but it should be easy travel. No one's gone there since Rio purposefully let one of the mutants destroy it years ago." Aurrea answered, sounding sure of herself. She floated up and swirled around Sky, "I'll help out as much as I can, but I don't have a lot of power anymore, not since I was turned into this imp. I'll lead you where we're going." She then floated back to Rio, who was trying to breath deeply, thankfully she was successful. A few light golden orbs of light pulsed, barely visible around Rio's body, but Aurrea could only lift her companion so much.

 

[Sky_]

"Well, yeah, I should be able to." Focusing, Sky sent a strong burst of air under her, pushing her upwards. He then flattened it out, creating one big sheet, moving quickly enough to become almost solid. He sent his own form into the sheet, not wanting to waste energy keeping himself together, and started to float out the door, and towards the place Aurrea had told him about. He'd visited nearly all of Atlantis, so he knew the location she was talking about. "Hey, if I'm going to make it, I'll have to fly higher. Can she breath up there all right? Can you breathe up there?"

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Aurrea looked nervously at Rio, "We'll have to be quick... I don't know if she'll get worse if we go higher, and technically, I'm being kept alive by this curse, which means no eating or drinking or pulse required to live, so I'll be alright." She concentrated a little more to help relieve the burden on Sky, before she shot off a little ways, heading along the rocky coasts of Atlantis and sticking to the shoreline, her eyes scanning for the old parking lot that was always in front of where she was heading.

 

[Sky_]

"Don't stress yourself. I can feel that, and you really don't need to use up your own energy. Let me." Flying upwards to just below cloud level, Sky accelerated, following the tiny dragon to an old building. Landing, he asked, "Is this the right place?"

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Aurrea looked at the metal face, it's small windows dark from the lack of power on the inside. Not a problem, the generator was water powered. "This is the place." She floated towards the doors of the building set into the black, volcanic rock. Finding a crack in the middle, she slipped through and raced through the placid hallways. She found the power room and struggled with the master switch, but at least some agonizing minutes later she managed to turn the power back on. With the white lights flickering back on, she raced back to the door to forcefully open them up for Sky.

 

[Sky_]

"Thanks." Floating inside, Sky detached himself from the 'stretcher', and hovered just inside the doors. "So... What is this place?"

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"Well, it used to be the entrance to the ancient temple where my heart was sealed away until some bozo decided to come and build a biogenetics lab on top of it." Aurrea bluntly replied, motioning for Sky to follow. After turning through a maze that made clear sense to Aurrea she floated into the medical wing. "Put her on one of the stretchers in here, I'll go find anything that isn't spoiled." The imp floated off through the racks of well stocked medical supplies, the room in itself was a large place fit to be a private hospital, separate with operation rooms.

 

[Sky_]

What? "Okay." Sky flew over to one of the stretchers laid on the floor, and merged the one he'd made with the physical one. Breathing a sigh of relief at having the weight gone, he lay down on one of the medical tables, still in his natural form (for just about all of this thread he's been in his natural form. Just in case you thought he'd solidified at any point)

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"Thank god for Atlantis stealing away the brightest minds in the world without letting anyone else know," Aurrea chirped in a cheery tone. Obviously it was a mask, but she floated over to a half conscious Rio, whispering something to her in a foreign tongue. Quickly, the little dragon poked a needle attached to a compact device into the vein on the inside of her elbow, drawing a little blood and withdrawing. The machine whirred, and Aurrea watched the text flying across the screen in apprehension.

 

[Sky_]

Sky simply stayed on the table, not knowing how to react. What in the sky?

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Aurrea flinched at the tiny ping from the machine, but when a little red light lit up her face dropped. Reading the text, she cursed, yet didn't drop the machine. She actually clutched the screen closer to her, curling in on herself. "Gods..." she whispered, unable to speak anything else, still struggling to process what she had discovered. She fluttered down to lay beside Rio, who had fallen completely out of consciousness.

 

[Sky_]

"At a risk of sounding clichéd, what is it?" Jesus, Sky. Don't ask stuff like that when you know the answer already.

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"How does stage 3 lung cancer and tumors in her liver sound." Aurrea snapped. She finally dropped the test machine, which had the little red light still lit. "It hasn't gotten worse than the absolute worse it could get because of my powers, but it's been growing in her for 50 years." She won't make it She wanted to scream, but chose not to. She deflated, laying in a heap beside Rio's head. They had the technology to try and cure her, but with no doctors and no experience, and a slimmer than slim chance of her surviving, Aurrea simply couldn't think of anything.

 

[Sky_]

"..." Sky was speechless. "Well... There is a possibility that if I removed the barriers I made, the magic might be able to delay it. I would try to help myself, but she's a fire elemental. Granted, she can fly, but I can't heal her. There must be some way to stop it, right?"

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"Releasing the barrier will stop it, but that means there is no way of stopping her from absorbing the rest of my power and dying... and I can't ask her to go vent a lot of it out in hopes of taking the edge off, even if she wasn't in this state. Y'now, maybe I was right years ago... she shouldn't have been born. If she wasn't she wouldn't have her mothers stupid genetics and inherit this goddamn disease." The imp was close to tears, wiping at her cheeks and eyes furiously. "I wish we could find someone who knew their way with this stuff that wasn't so freaking against her. Any medical attention has to be self given because every hospital is oh so luckily convinced she's a villain."

 

[Sky_]

"No, I'm referring to the barrier I made a little while ago. It just means the amount of power she is receiving with go back to your default. Man, I feel so bloody useless. Quite literally, all I can do is lend her strength at this point. The only way I could think of that could possibly save her is my Core, but I'm not planning on using that any time soon."

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"Then don't use your core." Aurrea blankly replied, sighing again. "I guess default is safest, but keep in mind her heart had been giving off a sudden excess in energy... you might be able to help if you absorbed the extra a little... but... ugh I feel like I know a possible solution and I'm forgetting again." She growled, making a motion as if kicking a rock or can. "Why do I never pay attention so when something important comes up I don't know important things?!"

 

[Sky_]

"It's a problem everybody has. Don't worry. And I'd be happy to absorb a bit of energy, thanks." Sky allowed the barrier between her heart to disappear, and instantly attempted to pull some of the energy from it, in an attempt to loosen the amount coming into her body.

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Aurrea cast a worried glance at her companion, "I'm sure if we kept what we're doing up she'd last a few more years, but I doubt you'd be able to absorb that much energy without consequence." She floated around as if pacing. "I remember that it had something to do with an alley... I think we stopped a mugging... something after that happened that I know will help but I can't remember what!" She whispered to herself.

 

[Sky_]

"I'm guessing absorbing too much dragon energy can't be very good for me. We should be good for now though."

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"It's never good unless you're another fire elemental or dragon. Unless you were Viiper, but he was a special case since most of the magic he absorbed was pumped into the mutants he made... even then he withstood dragon magic by using dark spells from my home." She groaned at the first villain Draco had ever fought, right in the beginning of her career fifty years ago.

 

[Sky_]

"Doesn't sound like a nice guy. I suppose you could say I'm part dragon, since they fly, but I've primarily though of them as Earth and Fire creatures."

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"They are primarily fire... although some have branched into other elements, at least in my world. Here they only seem to be fire based creatures." She scrunched her eyes up in thought, until all at once the little dragon seemed to light up. "I remember! You know that boy Draco rescued from becoming black and blue from a bunch of school bullies? He was researching cancer and apparently was close to a breakthrough!" She swirled, "Maybe if we find him we'll have a chance! He won't be against it, since he was saved by her and all, at least there's a little hope in that!" She landed next the shimmer on the hospital stretcher where Sky's natural form had gathered. "Although, I can't go far, not without Draco. You might be alone in finding this kiddo, you know what he looked like, right?"

 

[Sky_]

"Yeah, I do. Having memories stored in the 'Cloud' means I don't forget much. And by that, I mean that just about all of the atmosphere is storage for me to hold stuff, mentally. Sadly, it doesn't affect my IQ. Anyway, I'd better go and find him. Goodbye." Sky shot through the building, slipping through a crack in the door, and back towards the alleyway he'd seen the guy last. Supposing he took the same route from school to his home, he waited.

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

The school bell screamed through the hallways, drowned out by the din caused by the anxious students inside that rushed to get home. One of them was a small kid named Kimberly, and despite his appearance he was the oldest in his class. And the tallest, but his hunched over, shy nerdy air made it hard to tell. He raced out the doors, clutching precious research papers and equations to his chest. The years of work in his arms probably should be in his backpack, but he was more worried about getting home before his usual tormentors made it to the alleyway he passed. Soon enough, his heavy footsteps and long strides helped Kimberly reach the halfway mark, which was that same alleyway he got beat up in, a lot. He was unaware of the new occupant in the alley, only beginning to simply race by.

 

[Sky_]

Grunting slightly, Sky materialised next to the boy, floating a few feet above him. "Hi. I come in peace. I was with Draco, that girl you saw a few days ago, it's just you couldn't see me. Anyway, pretty much, we discovered she has some form of lung cancer, and is in a bit of trouble. She told me to find you, since apparently you've been doing research on cancer treatment. You wouldn't mind helping us out, would you?"

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Kimberly jumped in surprise, dropping his precious work onto the ground. Normally he would have stooped down to pick them up, or cower awaiting the beating from the bullies who tormented him so, but today was different. Looking up, his mouth gaped like a fish at the superhuman floating above him. At least he thought superhuman, because despite wearing street clothes no one simply floated. He completely missed what he had said in his shock. "U-u-uhm... what?" he wisely stuttered.

 

[Sky_]

Sky sighed, and repeated what he had said earlier, whilst blowing the papers back into his hands

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

"O-o-h, Draco's ill? That's... unfortunate. I guess I'll help out in any way I can." Kim shifted in place, it was odd. The anti-hero known as the villain Draco needed the help of a civilian. She seemed indestructible since she once fought for hours after being shot sixteen times at once. She seemed to disobey all known laws of science too, not to mention, being in such a fragile state and also being one of Kim's idols, the entire situation was odd and nerve wracking.

 

[Sky_]

"Right. Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I think it'd be best if I took you there as quickly as possible." Sky thrust his hand out, creating a platform similar to the one he used with Draco earlier, and slid it underneath the boy. Wrapping a single band of air around his chest to keep him steady, Sky then shot back to the laboratory, dragging Kim behind him.

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Kim yelped in surprise, making the smart decision to hold onto the loose papers as he was dragged through the air. "Couldn't we have taken a bus like normal people!?" he yelled over the wind in his fright. Yea, not a bright moment for him, but he couldn't think straight with all the fear and adrenaline coursing through him.

 

[Sky_]

"I'm not a person. Or normal. And we need to get there as quickly as possible." Sky said, landing outside and opening the door, back in his solid form.

 

[Crunchy-Cucumber]

Kim groaned to himself, shaking out his tousled red hair. After straightening himself out, he looked to Sky. "Didn't this place get shut down by the government ages ago? And moreover, where the heck is Draco in this place?" He looked into the dusty halls, examining the rusted doors, and flickering lights. Honestly, this place gave him the absolute chills, and he'd have to go heavens know far inside the building.