"Jyuji distracted the hydra for us," Billy said harshly while hovering beside Mika. "Isn't that enough to change your mind?"

Mika looked at Brandon, who lay still on the sidecar with his eye closed and his mouth open. His chest rose and fell quickly. Blood oozed out of the ruptured blisters and the stab wounds on his body.

If she hadn't been driving a motorbike, she'd have reached out a hand to stroke his head and whispered, "Everything will be okay," to his ears. Luckily, no microorganism on Earth could infect someone with a Methuselah folk in the body.

"The dragon is messing around with us," Orion spoke through her hand. "We must slay him."

"Shut up, pesky alien!" Billy yelled. "Mika, do you still remember the Seed outbreak last year? Who had brought the seriously wounded Brandon to the trailer, so that he could get an immediate care?"

Mika gulped, her eyes growing wet as she returned her focus to the road ahead. Mr. Jyuji...

"I know you were mad at Jyuji for further injuring Brandon and holding him hostage, but if he hadn't done so, you wouldn't have wanted to talk peacefully."

"It's not just that, Billy," Mika replied. "I need to impress the faculty's staffers."

"Exploring a misty area and coming out alive are impressive enough. Besides, Brandon's wounds are the proof of your journey. Nothing can injure him so badly. Not even one thousand orgmen."

"He has a point, Mika," Orion spoke in her head, "but I am sure that the faculty will ask you to slay the dragon after taking care of Brandon."

I know. Mika flashed a small smile at Billy. "You're right. There's no reason to kill Mr. Jyuji."

"Indeed!" Billy gave her a thumbs-up. "He'll also make a great ally as a dragon, you know?"

Mika nodded. Luckily, she could hold back a mischievous grin without a fuss.

"Clever," Orion commended in her head.

Years of growing up with Brandon and months of working as a night patrol at the slum had taught Mika one thing: dishonesty could solve a problem that honesty couldn't. Cheating had also helped maintain her grades at school; her mother wouldn't have liked that, but she was gone and Mika now had to work to take care of herself and Brandon.

Darkness befell the slum as the sky blackened. Now, the illumination only came from the full moon above and the motorbike's headlight. Mist crept around the dead street lamps and the shoddy tenements, raising the hair on the back of Mika's neck.

She felt it. Someone was watching them, but she accelerated instead of looking around.

Soon, Mika spotted a street sign that said, "Metaslica Region, 2 km ahead." She let out a sigh of relief, and when she noticed the spherical radiance of yellowish lights among the clumps of mist in the distance, she drove even faster.

"I guess it is our time to part, Mika," Orion began. "Now that you are leaving the misty area, I will have to hide again."

Mika's heart skipped a beat, and she nearly stepped on the brake pedal. "C-can I still use your power if you hide?"

"You can, but everything will be weaker."

Mika's hands went cold in an instant, their grip on the handlebars wavering. Beads of sweat trickled down her temple as she gulped.

"I swear you were braver before I surfaced," Orion scolded. "Mika, I am just like Brandon. I cannot help you all the time with all my strength."

"But-"

"'Protecting Brandon is too much for me?' I am sure that Brandon never thinks like that when he protects you."

Mika winced as if an expanding bullet had just struck her heart. Pain radiated in her chest and brought tears out of her eyes.

"C'mon, it's not like we'll meet Seed monstrosities in the town." Billy twirled his guitar in the air. "Even if there are, I can zap them."

Mika nodded and rammed through the fuzzy clumps. As she emerged on the mist-free area with a squint, the patch of glossy blue on her hand vanished and left behind tan skin; now, the stench of exhaust gas filled her senses. Her heart pounded as she silently prayed for a safe journey to the faculty.

Lit street lamps and abandoned housing estates stood around Mika; in the distance, the colossal silhouettes of tower mills loomed. Orgmen in suits and shades roamed the pavement like street patrols, eyeing her briefly before resuming their duty. Billy saluted the classy ogres as he glided beside Mika's motorbike, which made Mika grin.

"You know something about the Metaslica orgmen?"

"Yep. They're a bunch of nice guys."

Billy smiled, but Mika noticed the drooping of his eyelids. Curious, she asked, "Do these orgmen remind you of something sad?"

Billy looked down with trembling lips. After a moment of silence, he finally replied, "Maybe next time?"

"Okay, Bil-"

Roars and screeches cut her off. Mika slowed down and looked around; the orgmen were running along the pavement, against her direction.

"It's Jyuji!" Billy glided away from the motorbike. "Hey, stop it! Jyuji, what are you doing?"

Mika glanced over her shoulder and gasped. A fiery drill head rocketed through the large swarm of orgmen and towards her, sending silver dust and burned fabric everywhere.

Without a second thought, Mika returned her focus to the road ahead and sped up. Her heart hammered against her chest so hard and wildly that she almost couldn't breathe.

A deafening boom echoed, and a shock wave sent the motorbike flying. Mika slammed into a street sign headfirst and smashed into the ground along with it. Nothing hurt, but Mika could feel something trickling down her temple. It reeked of rusty iron.

Mika got up and scanned the surroundings for Brandon. Upon spotting his sprawled figure on the pavement, she drew her gun and aimed at the incoming dragon. Her hands quivered, but her father would die if she didn't do anything.

"Stop!" Guitar in hand, Billy bolted towards Brandon and the dragon. He hovered between them and spread his arms. "Jyuji, you said-"

The dragon swatted the guitar away. The instrument pulled the ghost along as it whooshed over Mika's head and crashed into a building behind her.

Mika's pistol glowed, and with a loud cry, she pulled the trigger. A flurry of radiant needles tore through the air and entered the dragon's body without leaving a single trace.

The dragon kept going as though nothing had happened.

Mika trembled. The urge to take a leak was strong, but she kept firing until her gun stopped glowing. The dragon didn't even bother to dodge the needles; after taking them all in, he gave Mika a mischievous grin. It pushed her a few steps back and made the gun slip out of her shaky, sweaty hands.

Laughing, the dragon shot up into the sky. Then he dropped down and landed a scaly foot on Brandon's face. Blood burst out of the undead man's ears. Cracks spread across the pavement.

Mika's eyes widened at the sight. Father... My dear father...

Something erupted within her. Roaring with her fists clenched, she lunged at the dragon. Both of them crashed to the ground.

"You bastard!" She grabbed one of the dragon's tusks and snapped it off. As she brought it down as an oversized knife, the dragon thrust his claws into Mika's stomach and drew blood.

Mika pressed on anyway, pushing the makeshift dagger into the dragon's eye and through his skull. The beast shrieked and thrashed, and when Mika ripped the tusk out, a scaly palm struck her side. The blow sent Mika rolling across the road, but her grip on the bloodstained tusk remained firm.

The dragon rose to his feet, his eye and tusk regenerating. Mika got up and charged again, only to plant the makeshift knife into the wall.

Something whirred above her. When Mika looked up, her grip on the tusk loosened. The dragon dived in and spun, his body burning with blue flame.

The very thing that sent her motorbike flying was coming at her and Brandon.

Tears rolled down Mika's face. She should've known it; no matter how hard she tried, she would never beat the dragon without Orion's power. The absence of Brandon and Billy only worsened everything.

With the last bit of strength in her, she ran towards Brandon and grabbed both of his charred legs. "I'm sorry, Brandon." She sobbed, dragging him away from the incoming drill head. "I've done my best, but-"

Suddenly, her feet no longer touched the ground. Around her waist was a furry arm. On the other side was Brandon's limp body held in place by another furry arm.

"You did well, girl," a woman praised in a deep voice. "Now, listen to me."

Mika looked up, and her jaw dropped. Whiskers. Prominent incisors. Long, upright ears.

"The name's Katrina Hopkins. Jyuji and I are rebels among the Seven Disciples of the Mist." The rabbit woman hopped from one rooftop to another. "Unfortunately, just as predicted, Hydra's poison messed up Jyuji's breathing rate and caused the folk within him to take control of his body."

Questions arose in Mika's mind. Was Katrina speaking the truth? Why did she help them? What would she get from fighting against the mist? However, Mika's instinct told her to keep quiet and trust the rabbit woman. Perhaps it was because of her mentioning Jyuji's breathing rate; last year, Jyuji had told everybody about how maintaining his respiratory rate under fifteen per minute - the Kutaba Ryu Meditation - would keep the Methuselah folk in him from going wild.

"I doubt I have enough time to bring you to the faculty and negotiate with the staffers," Katrina said. "We must act fast to restore Jyuji."

Mika blinked. "Restore Mr. Jyuji?"

"An aggressive Methuselah folk such as Jyuji's Draco will slowly lose its power in a mist-free area. If we stall the dragon long enough, Jyuji will regain control and side with us."