Gauntlet of the Fake Dragon

"I won't accept this!!!" Park screamed while slamming his claws against what was left of the floor of the gymnasium.

Kurt and Trevor just ignored him while climbing down from Hugh's head with the help of Nala.

The red-horned reptilian creature continued to scream at the prince while glaring at him, "I will not accept this!! You can't just change how the rules work!! You're not a real dragon!! You're just an outsider wearing a mask of our kin and making a mockery of our culture!!"

Kurt rolled his eyes while stretching his shoulders from all the jumping and fighting he had to do, "What rules?? The rules that those who are weak should be sacrificed for the strong? The same rules that led to a group of innocent kids being killed? Those rules? That culture?"

"Yes!!" the scaled beast shouted while picking up a piece of rubble and throwing it at them.

Kurt smashed it away with his claws and began to glare back at the black dragon.

"Why do you think we even have a ranking system in our class? Why do you think everyone keeps fighting with the number one student?? It's because they know that those at the bottom will be the first to go!"

The small red-haired prince was then reminded of Gaby's words from when they first engaged in battle <You guys are all the same! All jealous of what you don't have and taking out on me because I'm an easy target! Because I'm a reminder of everything you're not! Of everything you wish you could be!>

Kurt began to think back to all the times the students of his classroom showed hostility towards Gaby, "Is that what this is all about? You did all this because you are afraid to be at the bottom? Afraid to end up like those kids? To end up like Evans? You would throw someone away just to save your own skin?"

"It's the only way to survive!!"

"NO, IT'S NOT!!!" Kurt shouted while stomping his foot down and causing all the clouds of smoke around them to vanish.

Park became frozen at the sight of the boy's enraged gaze.

"There was no reason for Evans to die! There was no reason for those kids to be sacrificed! There is no reason for this system to be the way it is!!

We just proved that if we work together we can be just as strong as a supposed 'true dragon!'" Kurt claimed while pointing at the fallen Hugh.

Trevor and Nala watched as the floating recording devices began to circle around Kurt and focusing on his words.

"Do you seriously not see the problem with this way of living? You really think it's okay for the weak to constantly worry that they might wake up one day and realize that today will be the day that they will die unless they do what they can to take down those on top?

Does everyone need to live their lives constantly watching over their shoulder worrying that someone might appear and stab them in the back, just because they don't want to be stabbed themselves?"

Park began to glare back at Kurt, "We need this to stay alive!!! It's the only way!! You either stay ready to kill or you stay ready to die!!"

"Oh, would you just shut the hell up already!!?? There is no such a thing as 'the only way!' A week ago I didn't even know I could grow metal claws, and look at me now!

We are growing up all the time and evolving all the time! Every day we find something new about ourselves we didn't know was there before! But we only find those things if we don't stop looking!

You are the problem! You are the ones that keep latching onto these outdated methods because you are afraid to look for something new! You wanna attach to what is safe instead of taking a risk! Except this thing that is safe for you is still causing harm to plenty of others!! You're just being selfish!!"

"Shut up!! You're just an outsider!! You have no right to speak about our ways!"

"It's exactly BECAUSE I'm an outsider that I can speak about your ways! Before coming here, I was just a regular human living a safe life in the comfort of my home for fifteen years!

Meanwhile, I've been in this school for barely one week and I've already lost count of how many times I almost died! And I was born into the royal family with the power to heal myself! I'm one of the lucky ones! If it's that hard for me I can't even imagine how hard it must be for others!"

Kurt began to walk towards Park with the floating devices still following him around. Even though at that moment he wasn't using his metal claws or his flames, he still looked more intimidating than the black dragon right in front of him.

"The weak shouldn't be afraid to live and forced to suffer in silence! And the strong shouldn't be allowed to abuse their power to hurt others without any consequences!

Anyone can be strong and anyone can be weak! This system you all are using makes no sense!"

"Shut up!!!" Park shouted while raising his claws.

Kurt saw the attack coming and easily dodged it out of the way by lowering his lower half.

"You're not a real dragon!! You're just a fake!!"

"So what?" Kurt replied while delivering a punch into the reptile's nose.

"Guaagh!"

"This fake just managed to beat a real dragon! All with the help of two other fakes, according to you! If being a real dragon is so amazing, then why is he down there knocked out while I'm still standing?"

Park leaped towards Kurt with both arms raised and his jaws wide open, but Kurt simply dived under him and smacked his stomach.

"Blaargh!!"

"Just look at you, Park... You're so afraid of being weak that you don't even want to face me with your first form. Are you scared that you might end up getting killed if you show weakness for even a second?" Kurt asked while staring down at him twitching on the floor hugging its belly.

"I'm not... Afraid... I have nothing to be afraid of!!"

"Yes, you do!" Kurt corrected, "No matter how big and strong you are, there will always be someone bigger and stronger. Stop being afraid of looking weak! And stop using others to make yourself look strong!"

"I said I'm not afraid!!!"

Kurt grabbed the lizard by the throat, "Then why did you kill Evans, you coward!!"

Park stayed silent while Kurt continued to hold him down. Trevor and Nala also remained watching everything unsure of what Kurt was trying to do accomplish.

"Because... Because I wanted to be-"

"Strong?" Kurt assumed, "Nah... You didn't want to be strong. You just didn't want to be weak... because in this world, being weak means having no value, being disposable."

Kurt continued to talk, but he felt he wasn't directing his words at Park, but at his former self.

"You felt like if you weren't amongst the best, it meant that you were automatically amongst the worst. That you were not needed. And that soon, life would take its natural course and get rid of you.

So you tried to escape that! You tried to change your weak self into something strong, by completely discarding those around you!

I know you did! Because I did the same thing!

I also run away scared! And you know what? I shouldn't have! I shouldn't have given up on the things that mattered just because it was hard! I should have tried to improve myself before running towards the first option that appeared just because it looked easy!

That's what this was all about, right? You wanted the easy answer to all your problems!

You could have tried harder like Gaby, used a different and new approach like Sarah, or relied on others around you like Trevor... There were plenty of ways! There were many other paths and answers!"

Kurt then paused for a moment and began to think about the family he left behind when deciding to remain in the dragon world.

"And you chose the only one that would make you happy while others got to suffer..."

Park finally couldn't resist anymore and began to shift back into his original form, and small kid with curly black hair and a look of complete defeat on his face. The same look Kurt would have before being reborn.

"It's time to grow up, Park... You don't live alone in this world. Your problems don't matter more than those of others."

"But..." Park still didn't seem fully convinced, "The faction games! If we are not at the top... If we are not the strongest ones... The other races will destroy us!! We need this power to survive!! Can't you see that!?"

Kurt released the boy, and began to stand up, "I told you... We will just have to create a new path. We all evolve every day. All I have to do is discover a new way to survive that doesn't require sacrificing those at the bottom.

That includes the other races as well!"

"""What!?""" Park, as well as Trevor and Nala gasped at his statement.

"I'll find a way to make sure things work out for everyone," he continued.

"You're an idiot!!" Park shouted while standing up and angrily poking the boy with his index, "You think this is some fairy tale?? There is no such a thing as a solution that makes everyone happy!!"

"Why not?" Kurt bluntly asked, "We clearly have a solution that makes everyone sad. Why can't the opposite be true?"

The kids began to stare at him speechless. They could not believe what they were hearing.

"You said I'm an idiot... And yeah, you're right, I am... I am a complete ignorant when it comes to really important things around me...

I don't know how to enhance my senses... I don't know the names of the other races around us... I don't know the rules of the faction games... And I didn't even know there were others like me also living in this world, or that I had brothers and sisters! I couldn't even notice that my own friend was suffering right next to me...

But...

It's because I'm so stupid and ignorant that it's easy for me to believe in anything!

I can believe that it's possible to set myself on fire without getting hurt. I can believe that we can grow three times our size after turning into a lizard. Hell... I would even believe if you told me that there was a giant octopus living inside the sun eating popcorn while watching the news...

I'm ready to believe anything in the place where I am right now!

And because I'm such a big dumb and ignorant idiot... I can also believe that it's possible to live in a society where the weak don't have to suffer just so the strong can be happy!"

Park stared at Kurt's eyes. They remained still and unphased. The prince wasn't joking or lying about anything he said.

"It won't work..."

Kurt sighed, "Maybe... But would it be so bad for me to try?"

"And how are you gonna do that, exactly??"

Kurt clenched his fist and began to cover it with metal scales once again, forming a gauntlet and raising it for all the devices to see.

"Dragons follow those who are the strongest, right? That's how we choose our leaders. Then... I'll just become the next emperor... And change the rules!"

"Change the rules!?" Trevor gasped.

Nala also nearly choked, "Is... Is he saying he will aim to be the strongest dragon on the empire??"

Kurt simply nodded at the two, "That's the plan!

With my father's flames... And my mother's claws... I'll be the dragon that will destroy the way this society works... And from the ashes, I'll build a new one!"