Unicorncob

A loud bark of pain erupted from Jade as her aura sphere shattered like glass within Rokata's grip. Her body was close to giving in, but she still kept trying to force herself free. His arms didn't move, no matter how hard she pushed. No. No, no, no, no. It can't end like this. She felt her power fading, the last ounces of her strength being used up. Everyone... Master Tricis... Master Xiang... I... She opened her eyes, revealing her pupils as the dragon's energy had depleted, returning her to normal. She watched as Rokata's body began to fade away, like cherry blossoms pushed off the trees by the wind. When she was freed, she could barely manage to spread her wings and glide down to the ground, her legs almost giving way as she landed. As the adrenaline wore off, she found her muscles screaming and her body aching all over. Her legs shook trying to hold herself up, but still she managed to bow her head to the cloud of dust scattering in the breeze. Rokata, is this what you wanted? I hope I could give you the challenge you wished for. May you find some form of peace wherever your soul lies. She lifted her head just enough to look toward Topaz's booth -- what was left of it, at least -- and she awaited the official call.

Oliver nodded and stood up, stretching again. "Alright, we'll walk there then. Hopefully nothing will jump out at us from the trees." He walked up to Jenna. "How did you sleep, by the way. You seem to be feeling better."

Oliver nodded, swallowing nervously. "Alright. I'll tell my parents I'm staying at your place for the day or something. I don't want them to worry about me going off to fight things from another world."

Jade felt Rokata's arms around her, compacting her aura. She was protected from his strength for the moment, but she could feel him breaking through. She grit her teeth, pouring on as much energy as she had left. I can't die here. I won't die here. Rokata roared and Jade let out a scream as she gave him everything she had. Every ounce of power she had left to break his defences and finish him. She could tell she was so close. She just had to get through.

"Yeah, trying is all we can do right now," Oliver agreed, nodding determinedly. He felt more confident knowing Jenna was this ready to deal with the situation. "What do you think we should do first?"

"A new vehicle would be a good place to start," Oliver agreed, looking around at the trees. "I don't think we'll find one around here, though. We'll have to see if there are any towns or houses nearby or something."

"I guess so," Oliver admitted, frowning and looking down at his shoes. "I just don't like any of this. Whatever happens, I hope I'm ready for it. I know you will be though," he added, smiling at Jenna.

Oliver nodded and finished eating before putting on his jacket. He smiled at Jenna's reassuring pat on the shoulder. He just hoped he could continue being helpful to her. "Where do we go from here?" he asked.

"Yeah, I don't get it either," Oliver admitted, shrugging. "There's just something about certain appearances that triggers feelings in different humans. I don't really understand it, it's just how it goes I guess."

"Maybe," Oliver said, shrugging. "I dunno, none of it makes any sense. What could we have that they need that badly that they'll create a portal to our world? And how did someone know these portals were gonna show up?"

"I dunno," Oliver said, shrugging. "Humans are just pretty self-conscious on the whole. They find someone they like and they don't want to embarrass themselves and ruin their chances of finding the perfect partner."

"I guess because they knew the army would fight back and try to stop them?" Oliver guessed, shrugging. "I don't know why else they'd be interested in a place like this, apart from the people with powers."

"It's a human thing," Oliver said, shrugging. "Something about chemicals in the brain or something. I don't really get it either." He looked at her, smiling. "Your dragon form is really awesome looking though."

"Who knows what they're up to," Oliver said, biting his lip. "All this already doesn't make sense, so I guess it wouldn't be too out there to assume they're only after people with powers. I mean, why else would they come here?"

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, it's good to watch them from a distance. Maybe we'll find some weaknesses they have or we'll learn what kind of things they can do." He gulped. "Hopefully they're not after people with powers."

"I mean, both your bodies look nice," Oliver muttered, feeling embarrasssed. "You're nice to look at in both your forms, to be honest." He nodded. "Right, if a pretty girl tries to kill me, I'll know who it is," he jokes.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, it's kinda scary not knowing anything about them," he agreed, then looked at Jenna with a smile. "But when we do learn about them, it means we can use it to fight them off, right?"

Oliver coughed quietly as he bit into his food, giving Jenna another look. His face was still red. "Well, there's another reason," he said, taking a deep breath. "You, um... you have a very nice human body."

Jade bathed herself in fiery dragon energy, burning bright and fighting the resistance like a comet entering orbit. She grit her teeth as she fought harder to break through Rokata's defence. It was like a high-power drill trying to cut through a wall of diamond. No doubt anyone still in attendance could feel the heat pouring out of Jade as she kept forcing herself against Rokata. His skin and muscle can regenerate, but his bones can only take so much. Let's see just how much. She burned brighter, the fireball growing to the size of a house as she poured on more power. He wanted to be defeated, and she was eager to oblige.

"No, I'm not all flustered or anything," Oliver assured Jenna, looking back at her. "I just didn't want to be rude. Since you've got no clothes on and I don't want you to feel exposed or anything like that."

"Maybe it's both?" Oliver suggested. "I've read some books where you can put technology and magic together to make some kind of magic machine that can do anythig you want it to. Maybe it's something like that?"

"Yeah, me too," Oliver agreed, taking a deep breath. "Though, if we have powers and they just have swords and stuff, then we should be okay, right? I mean, you can always attack them from a long distance."

Oliver looked over at Jenna and nearly choked on his food when he noticed she wasn't wearing anything. He blushed hard and looked away to give her some privacy. "Sorry," he muttered, "didn't mean to be rude."

You're fine dude, no rush

Oliver snickered at Jenna's joke, starting to imagine the two of them as knights or soldiers fighting evil forces. "I don't see why we're not," he said. "I mean, we're not invading their world in groups."