Machine or Magic?

City Ruins

The name of the location was obvious, but it was more austere than the name implies. The defunct city ruins, no longer populated by humans, was instead full of overgrown plant life, wandering machines, roaming wildlife and derelict buildings containing rubble and dust. To some, it was a sight to behold; to view the grass growing, feel the wind whisk you away and the freedom of exploration excited the thoughts of some. However, to others, it was a bad omen; a sign that human life is either dead, dying, or worse. It was a symbol of defeat... A reminder of aliens that arrived some centuries ago are still alive and well.

In an attempt to gain a foothold and collect information on how to defeat these machines, YoRHA androids 2B and 9S were deployed from the space station known as the Bunker and were sent on their way to the Resistance Camp near their deployment area. Since then, they've been assisting the soldiers there while fighting against the machines that dared to stand in their way.

Unit 2B took the lead, while her younger Scanner companion, 9S, managed to collect intel. Autonomous machines that follow the orders of 2B and 9S, known as Pods, traveled beside them. Their primary purpose was to communicate back and forth between their Operators on the Bunker, provide cover fire with the munitions that they are outfitted with and provide orders from Command vocally. They traveled as a unit, primarily on the ground, to their destinations marked.

Just recently, they had returned to the Resistance Camp after running a particular errand for the leader, Anemone. While it was a simple matter to the androids, it was a big deal for her. Leaving the Resistance Camp, however, 9S mentioned a disturbance in the air.

"Something's up, 2B," he said. "It feels strange... Feels like something's coming." He walked beside 2B, into a shallow pond of water. The nearby machines paid no mind to them, walking along the pond and staring up at the sky.

"Maybe you hit your head too hard during our last objective," 2B said sarcastically. "I don't feel anything."

"Hey! I didn't hit it that hard," 9S retorted, tapping his head.

"Alert: Anomaly detected northwest of our current position," Pod 042–2B's Pod—had said. "Proposal: 2B must rendezvous to the position of the anomaly and neutralize it."

"Hah, see? What'd I tell you?" 9S vaunted. 2B scoffed and picked up speed before bursting into a full sprint.

"Just keep up already," 2B said, with 9S running not that far behind.

The target objective brought 2B and 9S to a large grassy area, surrounded by an audience of decrepit buildings. The closer they got, the more the world around them shook and stirred about. It drove the wild beasts away, and some of the weaker machines were flying about—with one of them nearly colliding with 2B but she managed to sway out of the way in time. It was as if they were knocked away by a great force. Once 2B and 9S reached their destination, they could see that the reason for this disturbance was combat between machines and another unique humanoid being, who was fighting them off all at once.

"Huh…? Who's that?" 9S asked.

"Analysis: the unit currently engaging the enemies appears to be human in nature," Pod 153, 9S's Pod, had replied. "Unit's vital signs appear to be normal. It has not sustained any injuries of any kind."

"That's… A human!?" 9S said.

"Is it armed?" 2B asked.

"Negative. Unit appears to be fighting the machines unarmed. Further analysis shows that it is emitting a type of energy from its attacks," Pod 042 stated in reply.

As they had finished their brief analysis, the humanoid had slain the last machine, delivering a fatal punch and knocking it into the air where it exploded violently. Parts such as screws and bolts acted as shrapnel, hitting the ground and sizzling with heat.

This momentary break of silence gave 2B and 9S an opportunity to analyze the human. It was a female, sporting a plain white shirt and navy blue jeans pulled at the knees, as well as slightly worn shoes. Her skin was fair, and she had long red hair that seemed to stretch to the back of her legs, and her eye color was about as blue as the sky on a clear day. There was nothing out of the ordinary with her appearance, as she was dressed as a typical human being.

"There's no mistaking it—this is a human," 9S deduced. "I'm not detecting any black box signals from her… And I'm unable to hack into her, so I can't check her data nor her systems. She's all organic, and her information's not in the database."

"But what's a human doing on Earth?" 2B asked. "I thought the humans were evacuated to the Moon. I highly doubt that this one was a stray after all this time." 9S shrugged, as that was his primary response... Confusion.

"Your guess is as good as mine… Even a Scanner like me can't figure that one out." 2B scoffed at his response. As they ended their conversation, they saw the human stretch her arms out, exercising her body slightly as she let out a deep sigh. She then turned her attention to the two androids, who assumed a defensive fighting stance.

"Eh? More? Gimme a break..." The human said. She flexed her fingers as she approached them slowly. "Wait, you guys appear to be more human than these machines..."

"Further analysis is needed," Pod 042 said. "Please state your name and intentions."

"Whoa, and you guys have funny little talking robots?" The human said in surprise. "This place sure is interesting… Wherever I am." She cracked her knuckles and assumed a fighting stance. "No matter! You look like you'd be good practice, after all!"

"Alert: Humanoid being is attempting to engage in combat with 2B. Proposal: Unit 2B must eliminate the enemy."

"Eliminate? Pod, this is a human being," 2B shot back. "I'm not eliminating her. I'll subdue her, then afterwards, I want you to contact Command and let them know that we have a stray human that needs an immediate transport to the moon."

"2B, are you sure about this?" 9S asked. "I mean, she is a human and all, but she took out all of those machines without a single scrape. I'm not sure we should take her so lightly, and—"

"Hey, weirdo with the blindfold!" The woman called out. "I'm giving you a free opportunity to show me, Aoko Aozaki, what you've got!" 2B grunted in frustration at her words.

"Pod, disable NFCS and FFCS, now," 2B demanded.

"Alert: Disabling NFCS and FFCS will result in an inability to use your weapons. You will only be able to utilize hand-to-hand combat—"

"Just disable it already. I'm aware of the conditions. I'll turn it back on if it's really that necessary." 2B flexed her fingers in the same action as the woman had done before her.

"Understood. Disabling NFCS and FFCS. Pod 042 standing down."

"9S, while I work on this, I want you to survey the area and tell me where this human came from," 2B commanded.

"U-Understood, ma'am—er, I mean, 2B!" 9S was quick to depart, leaving the two to their bout.

"Alright. I'll be taking you to Command by force," 2B stated to Aoko.

- WARNING -

Aoko Aozaki

Lv. ?

As Aoko began to inch closer towards 2B, 2B decided to meet her head on and attack her with a rapid punch, one that Aoko had taken without even an attempt to block it. Although the blow did send her skidding backwards a few inches on her feet, she merely chortled. Without letting up, 2B continued her attack, stringing together a combination of blows that Aoko either dodged or blocked successfully, and in an effort to break her flow, she caught 2B's fist and rapidly returned the favor by delivering a punch of her own, striking directly in 2B's stomach. The blow was powerful enough to knock 2B back almost to the nearest building, but she managed to stop herself on the ground with a quick roll.

"Alright, off to a good start!" Aoko cheerfully said. "But you'll have to do better than that to beat me, you know."

"She hits harder than I thought..." 2B said to herself. As she stood up properly, 9S had suddenly contacted her through the intercom.

"2B! I've found some information about her!" He said. "Although I wasn't able to pinpoint an area of origin, she's apparently a Fifth Magician where she's from, and is known mainly for destructive tendencies… I knew there was something about her that seemed off as a human being!"

"9S, did you say that she's a 'magician?' This isn't some sleight of hand we're talking about here!" 2B replied.

"No, no, like she actually knows magical spells and stuff! Like a witch, you know!" 9S clarified.

"Don't be ridiculous—" She cut herself off mid-sentence, as Aoko sprinted hastily towards 2B. In her arm was a glowing blue magical crest of some sort, and through it a power coursed through it that 2B herself couldn't measure. 2B shook herself back to her senses and dodged Aoko's oncoming attack, leaving it to connect to the wall of the building she was in front of. Once 2B had finished her recovery roll, her supple lips instinctively parted in awe. Aoko didn't just miss… Her punch left a huge hole in the structure.

"Oh! Nice dodge!" Aoko said, congratulating 2B. She dusted the rubble of the wall off of her hands. "I'm not sure if you could have survived that or not, but I'm glad you did!"

"9S… Just thinking preemptively here," 2B said, mumbling over the intercom. "Upload my data to the Bunker. Thanks."

"Wait, 2B—" 2B cut the line off with 9S.

"Pod!" She shouted to her Pod.

"Affirmative," Pod 042 replied, knowing exactly what she wanted. "Reactivating Near-Field Combat System. Switching combat weapon to Angel's Folly Combat Bracers. Chipset "C" enabled. Disabling HUD and minimap. Reactivation of NFCS complete." 2B threw her arms out to her sides, and with a brief flash of light, two gauntlets that were shaped like the wings of an angel. They looked a bit outdated, but they were just enough to fight Aoko.

"Ooh," Aoko uttered in surprise. She cracked her knuckles. "I guess this means that I might have to go all out too, y'know." She charged a particle of energy in her right index finger, and it shone brightly. 2B anticipated the attack, assuming a simple boxing stance as she geared up for it. With a sharp-pitched hum, the energy in Aoko's finger was fully charged, and she flicked it out at her opponent—firing a sharp beam of energy. 2B treated it like every other projectile—she quickly darted out of the way, retaliating by throwing her left fist forward. The winged gauntlet flung right out of her hands, flying towards Aoko, who didn't have enough time to dodge as she was recovering energy from her attack. The best that she could do was to block the attack, but it sent her flying backwards. The gauntlet itself, like a boomerang, returned to 2B, reattaching itself to her left arm. Aoko hit her back against a nearby building, falling to the ground on both feet.

"Nice, nice," Aoko said. She dusted her pants off. "But you'll have to do more than that to—" Before she could even finish her sentence, 2B jabbed Aoko with the weapons, proceeding to deliver a swift combination of kicks and punches that could barely be blocked. In an attempt to free herself from 2B, Aoko braced herself for 2B's final blow, retaliating accordingly by taking her energy-infused fist and slamming it on the ground, creating a powerful wave of energy that shot 2B into the air. Leaping up after her, Aoko grabbed 2B by her ankle, throwing her back down to the ground. 2B wasn't quick enough to recover, and landed flat on her back, missing the grass and hitting the concrete.

"...Alright, this has gone on long enough," 2B strained. As Aoko tried to come down on her with a diving punch, 2B clenched her fists as tightly as she could. Aoko impacted the ground as hard as she could, leaving an impact in the ground that actually sank the concrete further into the ground. Once the dust settled, however, Aoko realized that she merely hit nothing more than the ground. 2B was gone, as she left an afterimage of herself that left behind some kind of time void.

With a perfectly executed evasion method, 2B ended up behind Aoko before she could even realize it. 2B rapidly slid underneath Aoko, sweeping her off of her feet and into the air. In the midst of her mid-air suspension, Aoko flashed a surprised look of pain to 2B, as she hadn't anticipated that strike. Following up, 2B blew her opponent back with a double fisted strike before giving chase, pelting Aoko with a flurry of combination strikes from her fists, quick enough to rip the wind between them.

"Go down already!" 2B exclaimed, before spiking Aoko into the ground. The impetus of the strike practically buried Aoko into the grass, past the sidewalk. The dirt from the ground flew everywhere. 2B landed in the street, shaking the winged gauntlets off of her arms, returning them to their sheathed position behind her back. Aoko had stopped all movement, but 2B had collapsed to her knees, trying to catch her breath. She could feel the fatigue taking her over.

"2B!" 9S called out, floating down from a nearby building with, holding onto his Pod as he descended beside 2B. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. She was tougher than I thought, damaged me more than I would have allowed..." 2B staggered to her feet, but nearly collapsed again. 9S held her up.

"Alert: human life form is re-awakening. 2B has suffered critical injuries," Pod 042 stated. "Proposal: unit 2B should commence a temporary retreat."

"She's still here...?" 2B mustered, underneath her breath. She could see the ground starting to rise, and Aoko punched through the ground, slowly crawling out of it like a zombie in a horror movie.

"Aww, man... I think it's in my shoes," Aoko complained. "I might need a shower after this..." She pulled herself out of the hole she was buried in, hopping up to her feet and stretching her arms out. She showed to have some bruises and scuffs, but otherwise appeared to be okay, by her standards. She approached both 2B and 9S, with 9S standing in front of 2B with his sword out and ready.

"St-stay back!" 9S warned. Aoko shrugged.

"Huh? I was just going to help her up," Aoko said. "She fought a good match, so I—"

"How do I know you're not just going to finish her off?" 9S said. "I'll take care of her myself!" 2B placed a hand on 9S's shoulder.

"9S, it's alright," 2B stated. "...It was a fair fight. I'm fine, I still have an extra restore left. No need to freak out." 9S stood down, allowing his weapon to return to his back. "Anyway. I think it's time we went over a few things with you. Who are you?"

"Oh yeah!" Aoko said, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "We only just met, and we don't even know each other, besides our fists... Sorry about that."

"Well, we know that you're Aoko Aozaki, right?" 9S said.

"Maybe, but I don't prefer that name," Aoko replied. "It's a stint on my being. Feel free to call me 'Sensei.'" 2B muttered something under her breath, low enough to be incomprehensible.

"My name is 9S, but feel free to call me 'Nines.'" 9S said, lightly smirking.

"...You can call him just 9S," 2B said, sternly looking at 9S. He could feel her narrow eyes piercing her through the blindfold. "And, my name is 2B. We're both androids, not humans. So, you can understand our surprise from meeting you."

"Letters and numbers, huh? You two really must be some kind of androids..." Aoko said, placing a finger on her chin. "But, I've never heard of you two before. I guess this means I've travelled too far in the future." 2B and 9S looked at each other, then at Aoko.

"...Time travel?" 9S asked. "I didn't know that such a thing existed, not after all these years. What time of year are you from, anyway?"

"Eh? I can barely even remember myself," Aoko replied. "If I had to guess, I'd say... Year 2015?" 9S gasped.

"So, almost ten thousand years," 2B said. Aoko laughed.

"Oh, that's no big deal the—wait, did you just say ten thousand...?" 2B nodded at her response, but Aoko laughed and scratched her head again, in embarrassment.

"A ten thousand year time skip..." 9S thought to himself. "This isn't your ordinary magician..."

"Oh, man!" Aoko continued. There seemed to be a lack of surprise in her voice. "I must have really overdone it this time... This is one hell of a time skip." She ceased her laughter by clearing her throat, dusting off her arms some more. "Well, never gonna do that again. Guess it's going to take a little bit before I can go back home, whoopsie!"

"Aoko... Er, 'Sensei,'" 9S said, trying to get her attention, "It's unsafe here. There's a lot of machines that could try to overwhelm you, maybe we should get you back to our Resistance Camp and sort out your time travel later."

Immediately, Pod 042 rang out. It was an intercom call from Operator 6O.

"Operator 6O to 2B. Come in, 2B," she spoke. There was something frantic about her voice.

"2B here. Go ahead," she responded.

"There's a Goliath-class machine operating off of the Flooded Coast south of the Resistance Camp... It and a few other machines surfaced not too long ago and are planning to reach land, so we need you and 9S there right away. We've prepared some flight units for you not too far off from here!"

"Understood, Operator. We're on our way," 2B walked away from Aoko, making her way toward the coordinates.

"Eh? What's going on?" Aoko asked. 9S received the communication as well, turning to 2B first, then back at Aoko.

"We should get you to safety," 9S said. "Speaking of machines, there's a big one that just showed up and we have to take care of it. It's best if you just stay put for now and—"

"Nines, let's go already," 2B called to him. It was enough to get his full attention.

"Wait, what'd you call me!?" 9S said. But by the time he looked to her, she already broke out in a full sprint, making her way to the target destination. "Hey! 2B!" 9S gave chase after her, and Aoko snickered at the two.

"Hmm..." She thought to herself. "Maybe I could actually give them a hand." Walking in their general direction, she followed closely behind.

Flooded City

The Flooded City was just south of the Resistance Camp, and just like the City Ruins before it, the name defined the place. It used to be a highway of some sort with buildings alongside it, but water has inundated the buildings and is slowly swallowing the highway itself. At the end path of the Flooded City were two ships docked with missiles, ready to fire at any given moment. The waves crashing against the buildings as well as the soft grass made it appear to be more comfortable than it was spoken of.

However, all is not silent. A giant, Goliath-class machine dubbed "Engels" has resurfaced from the vast Pacific Ocean and has made its advance towards land, where it planned to attack the Resistance Camp. It is virtually a gigantic building, made up of machinery and factory devices, with large saw blades for hands, and in its head were large but slow bullets.

YoRHa troops, similar to 2B and 9S, were combating against it, but with precision and timing, some of them were easily swatted away by the Engels' large arms. 2B and 9S themselves arrived on the scene, being intercepted by smaller flying machines that attempted to halt their advance.

"Unit 2B to 4B. We have arrived and are here to provide backup," 2B stated.

"About time you guys got here!" 4B replied. She seemed to be in the mix if battle and her replies were shaky. "The brunt of the enemy machine life forms have been destroyed. The only thing that remains is this thing!" Laying down cover fire, 2B and 9S's transformed their flight units from jet-shaped machines to open, bipedal offensive units, built with energy sabers for close-quarters combat.

"9S, try to hack into this thing and weaken it," 2B said. "I'll circle around and deter its attacks."

"Did you call me 'Nines' earlier?" 9S asked, briefly distracted. "You know, I didn't expect that you'd actually—"

"Just shut up and get it done," 2B replied harshly.

"Yeah, yeah," 9S sighed.

From the distance, standing up on the edge of a high building, was Aoko, watching the giant machine swing its giant arms around as it took down some of the flying units fighting it. In the hopes that the forces that were going down weren't 2B or 9S, she couldn't bear to watch it any further and thought about taking action.

"So, that's the thing that those two guys were talking about," Aoko said. The magical crest around her right arm start to pulse and brighten, and her blue eyes started to glow neon in resonance. "I guess I'll lend a hand or two... maybe even a foot, as well." Turning around, she punched the corner of the building, propelling herself off of it and towards the machine. She did the same thing from building to building, boosting herself closer and closer towards it.

As 2B circled around the Engels, she attacked it with close range bladed attacks, hoping to weaken it down. 9S analyzed the structure of the giant machine, temporarily stopping movement in its arm as he continued weakening it with his gatling gun.

"2B, I've finished hacking the left arm," 9S declared. He dodged another strike from the Engels' right arm, attempting to hack into it as well. "Working on the right now, but we're losing ground by the second!"

"It still feels like we're getting nowhere," 2B said to herself, delivering one last heavy slash before darting back from the Engels, trying to regroup with both her unit and her thoughts. "There has to be a more direct approach." As she scanned the body of the Engels, she could see something small running upon it; the same size as a regular person. "What the hell...?"

It was Aoko, sprinting on the body of the Engels up along a staircase. She made her way to a ladder, which she started to climb up upon it. Scaling the body of the Engels, her goal was to target a direct strike to the head. The crest in her arm still glowed brightly, as if it were charging up.

"Gonna finish it with this… If I can get on top of it, I'll jump onto its head, channel the magic and finish it off!" Aoko planned to herself.

"Wait, isn't that Aoko!?" 9S exclaimed. "She's risking her life climbing this thing right now! Isn't there a way to get her off!?" 2B shook her head. She could see the magical crest surrounding her.

"We'll leave it to her. She seems to know what she's doing. We'll just supplement as a distraction. Move in, 9S!"

"R-Roger! Moving in to provide support!" 9S enabled his boost, moving to the front of the machine. 2B wasn't too far behind him, boosting as well to provide cover fire. Appearing in front of the Engels, they took aim and fired everything they could to retain its attention.

Aoko, having climbed the last ladder leading onto the "back" of the Engels, let out a sigh of relief. However, she was greeted by a crowd of machines who seemed to be anticipating her arrival… Something that she almost knew was going to happen from the start.

"Alright then," Aoko said. "I guess I can get you guys out of my way first, huh?" She took a strong step forward before breaking out to a quick dash, leaping up and drop kicking the first machine. As some of the machines jumped at her, she merely blew them away, one punch at a time. In the meanwhile, 2B used her flight unit to seize control of the Engels' left arm, ripping it clean off of its body and utilizing it like a standard weapon.

"Alright, 2B! Now we just need to weaken it directly so that Aoko can deal the finishing blow!" 9S exclaimed, still laying down cover fire to defray the bullet spread coming from the Engels' face. With a slow yet firm swipe, 2B slashed the chest area of the Engels, dragging the saw-blade hand across its chest. The blade cut deep, staggering the gargantuan machine. Aoko, having felled the last machine, took a running start up along the machine's back, jumping off of the edge, staring directly in its red glowing eyes.

"Perfect timing!" Aoko shouted. The Engels' face spread wide open, as if it was preparing another shot, but it was too late. Aoko already somersaulted into position, and she brought her foot down on a magic circle, kicking it with extreme force. "Severe Break Slider!" She drove her foot into the magic circle, and it fired out an enormous laser that struck the head of the Engels and—with more power than expected—pierced through the body. The molten metal within expanded before the machine exploded violently, the rest of its body sinking back into the ocean. The machine was destroyed, and the remainder of the machines requested an immediate retreat.

"Retreeeeat! Retreeeeat!" Some of the machines wailed, leaving, their fallen brethren behind. All that remained was 2B, 9S, and…

"Wait, hold on, where did she go?" 9S asked.

"She's… Right there," 2B called out. Abandoning her flight unit, she returned to land, which was a dilapidated building floating in the ocean. There, Aoko was laying, appearing to be unconscious. She appeared to have been completely burned out after that attack. 9S, also abandoning his flight unit, knelt down to Aoko, checking her pulse.

"...Let's get her back to the Resistance Camp," 9S opted. "She's still alive, but she'll need to rest a bit more."

Roughly 54 minutes later…

The Resistance Camp leader, Anemone, provided a place to rest for Aoko; a small room with two beds. Uninterrupted, 2B and 9S saw to it that Aoko got the sleep she needed… However, not even an hour went by and she was wide awake, sitting in her bed, fully rested. The androids explained to Aoko what happened after the battle, and how they had to carry her unconscious body out of the Flooded City and back to the Resistance Camp while fighting off nosy machines.

"What? Are you kidding me? I passed out?" Aoko said, blushing in embarrassment.

"Yes," 9S replied. "It happened after you launched that attack against that Goliath-class machine. Which, by the way, was freakin' awesome." 2B punched 9S in his shoulder. "Hey—ow!"

"In any case, we didn't need your support. But we do appreciate it nonetheless," 2B said, attempting an expression of appreciation. "So, how do you plan on returning back to your time?" Aoko stretched her arms out, yawning at the question.

"Well, now that I'm well rested," she said, "my magic should be regenerated by now. I should be good enough to return back to my time period… Or at least, somewhere close to it." Aoko scratched the back of her head. "But at least it was nice to meet you guys and all!"

"I'm not sure if 'nice' is exactly the nice word, considering our original meeting," 2B said under her breath. "Just be careful in making sure you know how far you're traveling before you make the trip.

"Are you kidding?" Aoko stuck her arm out in the middle of the air, and it started to phase and distort, her body slowly vanishing away. "I'll be coming back here as soon as I can! When I get bored, I'll be back to fight you specifically!"

"Wait, before you go," 9S said, briefly halting Aoko. "What's it like in your time...? Living amongst humans?" Aoko flashed 9S a serious look, then smiled again.

"...Despite the use of certain 'arts' that we use differently than you guys, it's much like how you are living here. Tons of excitement, people watching your back, bad guys just waiting to have their blocks knocked off. I know that you guys are androids, but don't let that change your emotions. After all, I'm going back to somebody I cherish. So, make sure you two cherish each other while I'm gone, you hear me?" 2B appeared to be unmoved, but 9S nodded.

Aoko flashed a peace sign with her hands before vanishing into thin air, leaving nothing behind but harmless, short-lived sparks that were created upon her departure through time. The room was quiet for a moment, and 2B turned to one of the beds, laying down in it.

"Glad that's over," she said. 9S took the bed that Aoko had been resting in.

"Did you hear that though, 2B? She said she might be coming back... Maybe she can tell us more about the world where humans still existed! Maybe even have pictures and stuff!" 9S couldn't help but smile a little bit. 2B grunted again.

"...Do I need to call Command and tell them that you're displaying your emotions again?" 2B warned in a strict tone. 9S stammered, turning over in his bed.

"Oh man! Look at the time," 9S said frantically. "Perfect time to be resting a bit, don'tcha think?" He laughed briefly before faking his snores. 2B couldn't help but lightly giggle to herself, smiling.

"...That's what I thought," she murmured.

Meanwhile…

"Whoo-hoo!" Aoko shouted in joy. She was riding a dragon for the first time, although… It wasn't doing so much flying as it was just whipping around back and forth, trying to figure out who the hell was on it.

"Z-Zero!" The dragon shouted, in a childlike voice. "What's on me!? Who is this!?"

"...You've gotta be shitting me, Mikhail..." The woman named Zero cursed under her breath, face-palming. "Just roll on your back or something, you idiot..."

"Go on! Fly! To the skies you go!" Aoko commanded. The dragon, Mikhail, burst into tears shortly after as it was too scared to go anywhere. The original owner merely watched in frustration... Despite how entertaining it was for her.