Chapter 26.1: Super Effective

In a dimly lit room filled with various toys and action figures, a soft sigh echoed through the air. Shara yawned loudly then blinked. She was back in her room, her real room.

“What’s going on?” asked the confused deity. She placed her hands to the tiara atop her head then gently lifted it up. Directly before her there resided a large monitor that was split into two separate screens, though only half of it was in use.

Shara stood up then looked around briefly. She had not chosen to log out, so why was she in her room in the divine city?

It took several minutes before she found the reason. She had a small package on her bed. The red haired goddess trotted over to her overly large bed then pulled the lacey curtains aside so that she could take a better look at what someone had left for her.

“Weird, I thought that I locked my door.” said Shara before she picked up the small box. There was a message on the side that caused her heart to race slightly.

She read it twice before she could truly believe it. “Dad wants to meet Scott? Mine and not just the version Rhea is dating?”

Shara shook her head. Why would her father, want to meet her Scott? She could understand the fact that he wanted to meet her sister’s fiancé, but he had never taken that much of an interest in her friends and associates before. Was it because they were different iterations of the same soul?

“One month, huh? That’s not a lot of time to get Scott to start a faction, and prepare him for a meeting with dad...”

She opened the box and after a moment, a slight red color rose upon her cheeks. It was a new plush toy. “Dad... you goof.”

Shara held up her black dragon plushy, an item that looked suspiciously like Scott’s dragon form, and then smiled. He was not around a lot, but sometimes he did sweet things like this to remind his youngest daughter that he does pay attention. At least, that was how Shara often saw things.

The red-haired goddess gave her tiny plush dragon Scott a tight hug. Surprisingly, the plush toy gave off a cute little growl. Her eyes lit up with joy. “That’s just too cute!”

***

The long night had come to an end, and the world had begun to grow brighter as Scott reached a familiar stretch of woods near his home. There was no way to know where the girls were at the moment, except for Sonja. He did not want to summon her to his side until he had checked the local area, however. She could be hiding nearby, or there might be a nasty trap waiting for him. He had enemies now. He had to be more careful of such things.

Of course, there was another reason that he had been reluctant to call her. She might not be able to answer. He strongly believed that she was alive, but if he called out to her and she did not come he did not know what he could do.

Scott was tired, he had run all night and despite his decision to stay near the road, he had lost his way a few times. It was not a straight shot between the compound and his home, and the distance had been considerable. Still, with his superhuman physical ability he had managed it.

He walked through the woods for another few minutes then found an area that he knew well. It was a small glade in the woods where the trees had been cut down and had never grown back. Grass and wild flowers ruled the area. “Almost home, huh?” asked Scott softly.

It was not like he could stay there, but he still had to check to see if there was any clue there as to where the girls might be. There was at least one item that he had to retrieve if it had not been confiscated.

Scott dragon-waddled through the glade and the dawn grew brighter. He stopped moving when he heard voices up ahead. Curious, he stood up on his hind-legs and peeked over the top of the thick grass. Near a small pond up ahead, two people were fishing. It was a man, and a little girl. How they had escaped his notice before, was something he could not fathom. Still, it would be important to go around them. He could not risk being seen.

While Scott slipped through the grass, he strained to listen in on their conversation. They were discussing various things, but none of them were too interesting. Mostly, he just needed to know where they were. Everything went well until he heard something new, something quite disturbing.

“Oh god! What the hell is that thing!” screamed the man.

Scott immediately thought that he had been spotted, but that was not the case. The screams continued, followed by a loud outcry that made his stomach churn.

“Let go of him!” screamed the girl.

Scott rose up to look over the top of the grass and his eyes widened. The pond almost looked like it was boiling. Tentacles rose up out of the water and bubbles shot to the surface in many different locations.

One powerful tentacle had captured the man by the leg and now steadily dragged him toward the water. Scott’s pupils narrowed to serpentine slits. The monster was underwater so he could not determine its level, but it did not matter. He could not just walk away from this.

He raced forward through the tall grass then leapt outward toward the bank of the pond. Strangely, the moment he did so an odd background noise began to echo through the area. Scott ignored it initially, but soon it became clearer and more distinct. The sound of drums, brass instruments, and an electric guitar now played in the background despite any means of such a sound being played.

“Dad!” screamed the girl as she tried to pull her father free from the tentacle that had him.

Scott took a deep breath then roared out a tiny but effective challenge. The tentacle stopped moving immediately and then released its prey. The other tentacles slid back into the water. The creature had been forced back by the power of the infant dragon’s roar.

It was not a high level monster, Scott was certain of that now. The man and the girl scrambled back and away from the water, and then eyed Scott fearfully.

“What the hell is going on...?” asked the man to the air. It was obvious that he did not expect an answer.

Scott blinked at him. What indeed?

The man and the small girl seemed to be absolutely terrified, and rightly so. They stared at Scott like he was a wild animal about to eat them. The fear in their eyes did not sit right with the little dragon.

He glanced at the little girl then back at the tall grass that he had just come from. A silly thought occurred to him then he loudly proclaimed, “Black! Thorne-Blackthorne black!”

Sleep deprived and more than a little frustrated, he had taken the time to diffuse the situation. Scott guessed that the kid would know the reference.

The little girl picked up on what he was doing immediately. A cute monster had popped out of the tall grass to chase away another monster. There was only one obvious answer! “No way! Dad! It’s a Pokémon!”

The kid’s father glanced at his daughter then over to the cute little monster thing and blinked. “Seriously, those things are real now?”

Scott snorted then turned back to the water. The father and daughter duo were fine for the moment, but he could not leave that monster alive in the water. He ran toward the edge of the bank then shifted into his shadow form.

“Wow! It can change form. I wonder if it knows Pikachu?” asked the kid curiously. Her fear had dissipated greatly in the face of one of her dreams coming true.

Shadow form Scott slid down into the water and began to search for the monster. It did not take long before he found the culprit. It was a creature that looked like a weird cross between a turtle and a squid.

Scott flowed toward the slow swimming monster and enveloped it in his cloud of darkness. The creature became terrified by his aura and immediately tried to escape. It did not take long to drive it up onto the bank of the pond. Once it was well outside the water, the cloud of darkness returned to dragon form then grabbed one of the thing’s tentacles while chanted his most basic spell.

~ Anger of the disquiet soul, become my weapon and strike down my enemy...~

As soon as the chant ended, Scott cried out, “Jolt!”

The dark lightning spell traveled through the tentacle and caused the monster’s entire body to spasm wildly out of control. Steam began to rise up from it and it dropped dead. It was only strong in the water, and even then it was a low-level creature.

“What... what just happened?” asked the recently rescued man.

The little girl next to him blinked and then her mouth opened and formed into a cute little ‘o’ of surprise. She slapped her tiny little fist into her open palm and then nodded. “I know what happened, dad!”

“Yeah?” asked her father.

She nodded once then smiled brightly and her innocent and enthusiastic eyes gently reflected the light of dawn. “Blackthorne used Jolt and it was super effective!”

Scott checked the monster to see if it was actually as dead as it appeared. His jolt spell was not particularly powerful as such things go, but his spirit stat was high enough that it could do considerable damage now. He still used it as his primary attack spell since the vitality drain had not increased in the slightest.

The squid-turtle monster did not move in the slightest as he poked and prodded at it. As far as he could tell, he had killed it.

Scott left the dead monster on the bank of the pond then walked slowly over to the two people waiting nearby. The father moved forward and stepped in front of his daughter in a protective manner.

However, the little girl leaned to the left and peeked at Scott from around her father’s back. “Thank you Blackthorne!”

Scott nodded to her then rose up on his back legs. He pointed at them and then pointed at the forest. “Blackthorne!”

“What?” asked the father.

“Thorne! Blackthorne!” said Scott emphatically while making a gesture that bespoke moving away.

“I think it’s telling us to leave, dad.” said the little girl sadly.

“It’s probably right....” said the man while he eyed the tiny dragon.

“Yeah, no kidding.” said Blackthorne, breaking character. “Go home and stay safe.”

“What? It can talk!” exclaimed the father.

“Wow, it’s like Meowth only it looks cool.” said the little girl, her eyes sparkling softly in the light.

“Look, I have places to be. Take your little girl home. If you haven’t got a sanctuary field up at your house, go somewhere that does and stay there for a few days.” said Scott to the man.

“Sanctuary field?” asked the man.

Scott shook his head. “You need it to keep monsters from spawning in your house. Go home and don’t leave till things settle down if you don’t want to be eaten alive.”

He took off toward the grass once more, but the little girl called out to him. “Blackthorne! Wait!”

Scott stopped then turned toward her. The little girl took a few steps forward then loudly called out, “Thank you!”

The corners of his draconian mouth lifted slightly in a dragon’s smile. “You’re welcome. Now go home.”

She nodded then said, “OK! I will but...”

Scott saw the look in her eyes and suspected what she wanted. He’d played the part of a Pokémon for laughs, but she had bought into it completely. He thought of a way to let her down easy. Softly he said, “I’m sorry, but you don’t have enough badges...”

Her eyes closed gently for a moment, but then opened quickly. “I understand! I haven’t earned it yet, but just you wait! I’ll be the best trainer ever!”

Scott nodded to her then started to turn away again, but she called out one more time. “Someday, I’ll be good enough to train you, too!”

Scott decided to humor her. He turned his head and looked back at her before he lifted up his right claw. He raised up his thumb then flashed her a toothy grin. “Blackthorne!”

The little girl squealed excitedly and rapidly stomped her little feet up and down. That was a good sign as far as she was concerned.

Scott raced off into the tall grass and left the father and daughter duet behind, never realizing that his desire to alleviate the terror instilled in the heart of one small girl would cause ripples in the world that would possibly change everything for the better.