86 Falling

The ground gave in beneath them as the walls started to fall apart.

Hugh's platform, what was left of the jail cell, the wide circular arena surrounded by spikes, the dangling axes, everything started to crumble and lost itself into the darkness of the pit down below.

"Prince!!" Nala shouted while grabbing Kurt by the hand and dragging him upwards by phasing both their bodies through the falling objects.

By decreasing her density, she was able to turn herself immune to the force of gravity, allowing one simple jump to basically enable her to fly.

Trevor noticed her actions and did the same while hearing the sound of Park losing himself in his laughter, "Hahahahaha!!! See!? I knew it!! Now, THIS is a true dragon! All of you fake ones were nothing but a joke, just as I thought! Hahahaha!"

The boy was so lost in joy that he didn't even care about the floor beneath him getting destroyed.

"Park, you maniac!! Get out of there before you fall as well!!" Trevor warned him as he continued to rise.

"Silence!! This is an important moment! Don't taint my memory of this scene with your sickening voice!"

Trevor could not believe how crazy the boy had become just by witnessing Hugh's transformation.

It was truly a sight to behold. Trevor himself, being the obsessed with dragon biology boy that he was, almost wished he could take his time to give a good look at his physiognomy, but his desire to escape this deathtrap screamed louder in his ear.

However, he ended up having to stop anyway as he saw the unconscious body of the shaved-head lad starting to slide down as the ground started to decline.

"Park!! Look! He's gonna fall! You have to help him!!"

The kid with curly black hair didn't even turn around and just kept gazing at Hugh's gigantic figure.

"Park!!!" Trevor yelled again.

"Shut up!! Let him fall to his death for all I care! The weak should die to make way for the strong!! If you were a true dragon you would know that by now!!"

"Unbelievable..."

Trevor gave up on trying to talk with Park and turned back to rescue the kid himself.

Hugh simply ignored the three boys having their little moment. He was solely focused on his younger brother who was desperately trying to escape from the dungeon.

"Where are you going, little dude??" he whispered as his centipede-like body began to rise upwards by climbing up the walls.

Even though he was being hit by several pieces of falling debris, his hardened dragon body and healing flames completely negated any possible damage on him.

Kurt dared to look down and saw the red behemoth approaching while letting nothing get in his way.

"He's turned into a bulldozer! How are we going to stop him!?"

Nala finally finished rising upwards and reached the ceiling while still holding onto Kurt before being moved by curiosity and turning around to see what he was talking about.

"Can your claws hurt him in this state?" she asked.

"I'm not sure! Didn't get a chance to try yet."

Nala turned their density back to normal as she noticed she was about to reach her time limit and landed on a pillar that had managed to avoid falling apart.

She then began to look worried once she realized her brother was nowhere to be seen, "Wait a minute!! Where is Trevor!? Where is my brother?? Where is-"

"LOOK OUT!!!" Kurt screamed while pushing her out of the way as Hugh's immense body nearly swallowed them both.

The two avoided him just in time and began to fall once again while sliding through his massive tail.

His head ended up opening a hole into the ceiling through the impact, causing the place to collapse even more.

Kurt grabbed onto Nala and shoved his claws on one of Hugh's legs, causing him to scream in pain.

"Wraaaaghh!!!"

"Oh, okay. So it does still works! Mom's scales are seriously amazing..."

Hugh began to climb even more and dragged both Kurt and Nala that were hanging onto him out of the dungeon hole.

"Wait!! My brother is still down there!! Trevor!!!"

Once they were out, Hugh raised his fist and smacked his own leg in order to get the two intruders off of him.

Kurt was forced to jump out of his body and landed with Nala on a bench before realizing that they were inside some sort of gym.

"Wait, what...?" the boy mumbled while looking at his surroundings. This whole time they were fighting under the dragon academy's arena of self-defense lessons, "You gotta be kidding me!! The dungeon was under the school!??"

He had no time to be amazed as Hugh started to drop down his gigantic fist right above him.

Kurt jumped out of the way but was sent flying due to the shockwave of the impact and ended up rolling on the ground like a barrel.

"You see now, little dude??" Hugh shouted while opening his arms wide as if he was hosting a show, "This is what a dragon's power should be like!"

All of the devices that Hugh was using to film everything and transmit to the other students began to fly out of the dungeon hole and started to circle him to continue to capture his moment.

Kurt wondered where all the students were by that point but he looked out the windows and noticed that it was already dark outside. Everyone must have gone home by now, he assumed.

"Don't you want this, little dude? Don't you want to be like your brothers and your parents? This! This is what awaits you in the future!!"

"This...?" Kurt mumbled while trying to stand up, "You want me to turn into something like this?"

It was true that Hugh indeed looked powerful, but something about his appearance didn't really sit well with Kurt. Even when he saw his father in his dragon form many years ago as a child, Kurt still kept thinking that this wasn't something that should be aimed for.

Both Hugh and the emperor looked like monsters, hideous beasts consumed by a power that had taken over their beings.

But strangely enough, though, he didn't felt that way when looking at Saramin in her transformed state. She didn't look like she was consumed by the power, and more like she was one with it.

It could be because half of her appearance still looked human in that state. Maybe that was it. Maybe Kurt just didn't want to feel like he had to give up all his humanity.

"Doesn't matter how many times you ask, Hugh... The answer is still the same! I don't want this kind of power!"

Hugh smacked his fists against each other, "You really are one stubborn little brat! Maybe a few broken bones will help you open your eyes!!"

Kurt assumed his battle stance and readied himself.

***

While the two brothers continued their standoff, Nala went on to search for her own brother inside of the dungeon hole.

"Trevor!! Trevooor!!!" she kept screaming, looking everywhere for her sibling who still hadn't come out.

The collapsing was starting to get even worse with Kurt and Hugh moving around high above. She was running out of time.

"Nala!!" Trevor's voice finally appeared.

The girl landed on a boulder and looked down before noticing the boy phasing through the air just like she did while carrying someone on his back.

"Trevor! What are you doing!?"

"He can't escape on his own! I had to do something!!"

"Just leave him behind! He's with those idiots that set this whole thing up! You don't owe them anything!"

"I know!!" he shouted with an angry tone, "I know I don't have to feel bad about him... But I still do, okay?? So just let me do this!!"

"Trevor..."

"You two make me sick..."

Park suddenly teleported behind Nala and kicked her down from the rock.

"Kyaahh!!"

"NALA!!!!" Trevor shouted before dropping the boy and going after his sister.

Park saw the shaved-head lad falling and teleported next to him in order to stop his fall.

He noticed Trevor rescuing Nala by grabbing hold of her hand and shoving his fist with increased density into the walls to stop their fall.

"Park!! I'm gonna kill you for this!!" Trevor threatened while glaring at him.

"Oh, please... As if you had the guts to do that... A fake dragon and a sellout... Someone like you that brings so much shame to our race's name would never be able to kill someone..."

"You... Just what is your deal with this whole 'fake' thing anyway?? Why does it matter if Kurt is a dragon or a guest in a dragon's body?"

"It does matter!!" Park shouted, "Dragons are meant to be a symbol of strength! Gaby used to be the best proof of that! She was an untouchable queen that ruled over everyone in the school with an iron fist!!

But ever since that ponytail brat showed up, she began to look pathetic while following him around everywhere! The other students are even starting to lose their fear of her!

Those on top should always be feared!! Always be respected! She was going to be beautiful! And that kid ruined her!!"

"Have you lost your mind!? Do you have any idea how miserable Gaby's life was before Kurt arrived?"

"Haven't you been listening to Hugh!? Misery makes us strong!! But that boy arrived and now everything we stand for is being insulted and defiled! Even that Saramin! She turned into some abomination that shouldn't even be possible to exist! To try and look like a dragon without going through the challenges we all have to face... How can you not feel disgusted by that??"

"What does it even matter!!? A dragon is a dragon regardless of how they become one!"

"WRONG!!!!" Park shouted while stomping his foot, "That's NOT a dragon!! I will never accept that as a dragon!! It was wrong! Wrong! Wrong!!"

Nala began to roll her eyes, "Just leave him be, Trevor. We have more important things to deal with... Some overgrown baby obsessed with telling others how they should live their lives is not worth our time."

"An overgrown baby!!!??"

"What else?? All you ever do is scream at people while repeating 'I don't want it this way! I want it MY WAY!!' all the time! How is anyone supposed to take you seriously??"

Park began to twitch as he felt this last insult was the final drop over how much he could endure. He glanced at some of the remains of the platform and noticed a couple of the fallen axes were still there.

"Mmmm... Wha... What happened...?" the kid with shaved hair finally opened his eyes after hearing all the commotion.

Park looked at him and saw that one of the devices that Hugh had set up to broadcast their situation had remained down there and was aimed directly at him.

An idea began to blossom inside his head. A way to prove to everyone that his mindset was the superior and the correct one.

"You think I'm a joke??" Park stated while raising his arm that was still holding the boy.

Trevor noticed his line of sight and began to lose all color on his face, "Park...? What are you..."

"Hugh is trying to teach us all something for our own good... But all of you are too stubborn to listen!"

Nala glanced at Trevor and finally noticed what Park was planning as well, "Oh, no..."

"You might think I'm a joke! But I'll show you!! I'll show every single one of you!!"

"Park, stop!!!" Trevor tried to jump after him but the boy had already engulfed himself with his usual golden light and moved to the arena that was falling down.

He was standing right in front of one of the axes with the boy's back inches away from the blade.

"Park!! Don't do it!!"

"If you die it's because you're weak... And if you live it's because you're strong... The weak should make way for the strong!! I will not be weak and fall like the rest of you!! I will be strong!"He turned around to make sure the device was capturing everything and raised his voice so he could be heard loud and clear, "BEHOLD!! THIS IS WHAT A TRUE DAGON LOOKS LIKE!!! WATCH ME AS I RISE!!!"

Nala rushed to her brother's side and hugged him in order to cover his eyes and ears as the scream of the young lad getting pierced echoed through the chamber.