Disclaimer: I do not own AD:JL

Jake groaned in dismay as Brock ripped the cover off the cage. His hands gripped the bars so tightly his knuckles turned white. This was it, he was finally exposed. Brock uncapped the blue liquid and proceeded to lecture everyone about dragons. How can you lecture at a time like this? Thought Jake. Brock turned around.

"And now, I give you the dragon!" Brock threw the potion on Spud. Jake laughed out loud in relief, earning himself a few strange looks. However, he jinxed himself.

A drop sailed right over Spud's head and landed on his ear. Jake pulled up the hood of the jacket he was wearing for the robbery and tilted his head downward.

Thank God. But again, he thought too soon.

"Ah," said Brock, smiling and rubbing his hands together. "It seems I was mistaken on the identity of the dragon. Rotwood, my vial." Rotwood glumly placed another bottle of blue liquid in Brock's hand. "My little creation. I made it while trying to identify the dragon." He walked over to Jake and stared straight into his eyes. "Say good-bye to your little secret."

Suddenly, a voice called out from the crowd. "Jerk Long, actually a dragon? You're kidding me, right?" It was Brad, leaning back in his seat and laughing hysterically. Jake tightened his grip on the bars even more, if that was possible. Brock looked up.

"Quiet boy! Now, the real dragon." And Brock poured the potion on Jake's head. The effect was immediate. Jake began vibrating very fast, driven to his knees by the force of being shoved into his dragon form without wanting to be a dragon. He could feel his back tingle as chi ran down it. In moments, his dragon chi had exploded around him, and fire was running up and down his body, disintegrating his parts and replacing them with new ones. There was a collective gasp from the crowd, followed by a girlish scream, which amazingly, was emitted from…Brad. As he went through a slow and rather painful transformation, he looked up and smiled at Brock, exposing sharp teeth far too large for his head.

"Hey, Brock, were you smart enough to think of dragon proofing the cage?" Brock paled and jumped off the stage.

"Duck and cover!" Jake fully transformed the rest of the way and bent the bars, blasting off the top of the cage as his wings unfurled. He grabbed Trixie and Spud and flared his wings, soaring up to the ceiling, then proceeding to say his next to favorite thing.

"From the J to the A to the K to the E, I'm the mac-daddy dragon of the NYC, ya'heard?" He flew low over the heads of everyone and singed Brad's hair for good measure as he flew to the door, storing in his mind the picture of darkness seeping along the bully's pants.

As he neared the door, a man in a cape and skull appeared, holding a glowing green staff. Jake turned his wings and crashed into the surprised Huntsman with his tail, a new move he had learned from Lao Shi. The Huntsman jumped up and fired bolts at Jake, who threw off his attack to doge them. A stray green bolt from behind the Huntsman hit him square in the back, and he fell, skull wobbling wildly on his head. Rose stood behind him with her mask on, clutching another dimly glowing staff. "Jake, you are so lucky," she said.

"Why?"

"The Dragon Council…"