Vogt let out a viking battle cry as he shved Alec out of danger ad then, uszing Moonlights head as a rpingboard, he launched himswelf into the air into the invisible dragns back, punning its mouth shut and kicking its sides.

Moonlight roared and fired more blasts on the dragos wings and face, not missing a shot sicne theyre very accurate.

(me too lol)

Between the mix of dirt, grime, and blood in her mouth and the weight of a dragon rider slung over her, Alec would say that she and Vogt don't work well together.

As much as she appreciates the sentiment, the Reader did have a plan. Of course, having a few tricks up her sleeve has never hurt but-

Well, she doesn't actually have any more now, does she? Because for whatever reason, the ecosystem that belongs as a series of sentiments under her skin has vanished, leaving a single, dim light to fill it.

That light rouses as the announcer lets out a delighted noise when Vogt tackles the dragon in a hold and sends it spiraling towards the ground with a few well placed blasts of plasma. "Have ever seen something like that before? A man wrestling a dragon with his bare hands?"

Said dragon is currently thrashing around the dirt of the arena, smoking wings stretched out like battering rams in an attempt to beat Moonlight into submission despite its plunge from the sky.

Moonlight stayed in the air, peppering the enemy with blasts along its wings, body, and tail.

Vogt made sure to keep the dragons mouth closed, then with a battle cry, he punched the dragons eyes.

HARD.

Alec makes a mental note to not underestimate the teen as the dragon crumbles with a ground-shaking crash while the crowd screams with unreserved delight; a loud, sharp noise that finally rouses her companion from the last vestiges of slumber.

Those two will prove useful for our escape if they can take down a drake with such ease, Gwyneth notes, quick to catch on despite their... unfortunate circumstances. The sensation of the bond feels foreign, though the Reader does her best to ignore the incongruity.

The workers make it easy, quickly clearing out the arena though they do nothing for the bloodied floor. Their drake from before is injected with what she assumes to be an sedative, needle slipping into a man-made gap between solid scales, before being wheeled out; Alec wonders if they'll treat the plasma burns before throwing it back into whatever cage it came from.

The thought does little to sharpen her gaze, though the employees continue to give her and Vogt a large berth; likely because they'd been attacked by previous participants before. Alec doesn't, assuming that the organizers have better sense to trap valued assets with fighters on adrenaline highs.

Moonlight growled in anger and proceeded to blast the workers and audience to kingdom come, making sure to not miss a shot.

Plasma ricochets off of quickly emptying stands as onlookers begin to flee. The announcer ducks behind his podium as the crowd shrinks back like a lake during dry season.

It's in the midst of this commotion that guards begin to descend into the area, dressed in armor and crouched behind heavy shields.

Monlight roared and kept firing, aiming at the guards befre focusing on the announcer by blasting his podium, causing it to crumble and break so it would squish the guy.

(i wanna see how the crowd reacts to the announsers death.)

Vogt knocked out a guard with his fists before grabbing the sheild and any other wrapon the guare had (like a hand tazer or a baton) and let out another battle cry of defiance.

(alright, lets make this even more exciting!)

suddenly, the guards exit sudenly snappes shut by a malfunction, while another gate in the arena malfunctioned, allowing a massivge, growling monster to crawl into the arena. it roared, staring at the huumans and creatures hungrily, before beginning to attack and eat nearby guards.

(if youre familliar with Skullcrawlers from Kong Skull Island, its that. if not, theyre massive, alwaysz hungry reptiles with two front limbs, no rear limbs, a massive prehensile tail, a smaller, but still prehensile, tongue, and while the have thick skin, they can survive almost any injury (even slit throats) and have incrdibly durabl heads, sine its, you know, a skull. they can only be blown up or disemboweled to kill it. look up a pic if you dont know what it is. also, this one is masive, about the size of 2 school busses in length and as tall as a large houze.)

( well, they just had to find the largest skullcrawler on skull island and pluck it using their multiverse-traversal beam, didn't they? :< also, ask and you shall receive! )

Another blood splatter joins the multitude drenching the bleachers, shocked gazes finding old, fainter stains previously passed over on a background of dark plastics, metal, and stone. The newcomers react with ample distress to the death of their energetic host by screaming, collapsing, and fainting; the experienced in the crowd navigate the chaos with perturbing ease.

This arena has always been built on bloodied foundation for all that the owners try to sweep accidents under the rug. At this point, the adrenaline rush that comes with survival in this chaotic crush must be part of the draw. Even so, the sudden release of a massive reptile, all clinging shadows and too-sharp bones, causes a stampede that's surely made more stain than all of the plasma blasts combined.

In the fray, Alec lets out a poignant sigh, eyelids lowering into a disdainful stare. Gwyneth remains pointedly quiet on the topic of her previous comment, though their bond flares to life as the Reader begins to shape.

"Light is energy," the Watched explains, thoughts glistening with an undercurrent of something ethereal. "It bends and twists and flows. If you must shape it, then let it move." Something reaches out and loosens Alec's fingers, pulls all but the edges of the light from her mind's grip.

The hard-light sword that shimmers a faint gold in her hands dissipates into something hazy, but when she pulls the blade to block stray viscera from a guard being set upon by the Skullcrawler, it holds - with a waver, yes, but it holds.

Moonlight growled and looked upward, blasting at the chain link ceiling, making an opening. Once they had a large opening, Vogt hopped onto his dragon. *Alec! Time to go!* he yelled, holding out a hand for her to hop on to Moonlights back.

(Time for them to escape. But dont worry, the arena is gonna return into the story. I just find it funny that they leave as the world is ending in the arena.

( villains never wait to see the chaos their actions cause! maybe this is a sign that we're not the good guys ;D )

Alec's blade vanishes in surprise before her hand curls around Vogt's, letting herself be dragged upward by a powerful beat of Moonlight's wings before the dragon spins, giving Alec enough momentum to throw herself behind the rider with a grunt. The impact nearly sends her sliding off, halted by a death grip around the teen's shoulders. Her own twinges in response, and the Reader spares a glance to make sure that hasn't been dislocated.

It hasn't, but that doesn't make the scream of sore nerves any better.

Moonlight leveling out from his erratic flying does however, and the Reader pauses with a hand fluttering down to cup the moth crushed into her chest. "Any more evasive maneuvering?" she asks, tone weary.

This is much harder than her imagined perception of a motorcycle.