Ladies and Gentlemen, hold onto your butt cheeks and smack the nearest Brick-

Boomer- (glances at Brick)

Brick- Don't even think about it.

-Because it is time to show YOU- (points at Butch)

Butch-... Me?

-To chose the next Maiden and heeeeeere they are!

Blossom- (randomly shows up) What the-!?

Mate no. 1 is pretty little number who was voted Townsville's Most Likely to Dominate Whichever Career Field Chosen. She's a confident gal who enjoys long walks through the park, winter mornings cuddling in bed, and kicking butt.

Bubbles- (appears) Okay, this is happening.

Mate no. 2 is sweet gal who captured the hearts Of America (eagle screech here) and spends half her time volunteering at charities and the other half of her time painting nature pictures to sell for money to donate to worldwide crisis foundations. She's a softhearted lady who enjoys nice dinners, visits to the zoo, and sonic screaming enemies into submission.

Bubbles-I thought I had no powers in this story, th-

Bell- (she's here) What in the-

Mate No. 3 is a spunky diva with a pension for style and luxury. Her fabulous looks are matched only by her sass! She enjoys shopping, shopping, and draining Blare's bank account-

Blare-(sobbing over credit card bills)

Buttercup-Here we go.

And finally! Mate no. 4 is a saucy babe with a tough exterior but a pretty face. She spends her days beating the social standards for women into mulch and loves every minute of it. She enjoys fighting, sports, avidly avoiding all things girly, and beating enemies into the ground.

So, what's it gonna be, Butch?

Crowd-(shouts numbers as Butch gulps)

Butch-Ok! OK! Ummm... Number 4!

YOU'VE CHOSEN BUTTERCUP!

Buttercup- Someone please kill me.

Trial By Fire

When she was small, her mother used to tell her stories in the night. While her father slept and the crickets chirped in the world outside, Buttercup would be wide awake with large, gleaming green eyes as her mother whispered tales of adventure and awe. Like ink on paper, the stories would take form in her mind as she listened to her mother's words of pirates and pixies and goblins and gods. She'd hold her close and tell her of the many princesses and princes and warriors of the world. She'd whisper of dragons and druids and dancers of flame. She'd stroke her hair as Buttercup begged for another story.

"One more story, Mama! One more before bed!" Her mother would chuckle lightly, bop her gently on the nose, and lay her back to bed.

"Now, now, my little jade bird. Now it is time for you to dream of your own stories," and then she'd kiss her goodnight and Buttercup would slip into her own dreams. Dreams where she was no princess and she did not have to wear dresses or worry about getting mud in her hair. Dreams where she was a warrior, who battled monsters and protected the innocents. She'd babble in the morning about her dreams, some in which she sails across the horizon and some where she rides horses through the trees. Her father would laugh, such a notion. Her mother would smile her world weary smile as she remembered her own dreams of glory.

And they were happy then.

Then tragedy struck in the most horrific of ways. Buttercup had been playing in the kitchen with her new ball when the doors flew open and men dressed in black swarmed in, stabbing and slashing at all who moved with their swords and daggers. Buttercup screamed, eyes widened in horror at all the blood that covered the walls and floors...and her. Her parents were dragged out and savagely beaten before one of the men spoke. "Which of you is Tennoji Haruto?" Her father trembled before standing, glaring at him.

"I am. Whatever your quarrel with me is, I ask you leave my wife and child out of it. They are no part in our business," the men laughed evilly.

"I am not so callous to kill these two girls with my sword. No, my sword only accepts the blood of men. and we have no quarrel. My lord, however, does and has demanded that you are killed."

"For what reason?" Buttercup's mother began to sob, trying desperately to crawl to Buttercup, who was snatched up and held away. Buttercup began to scream and kick.

"Simple. Lord Jinnoya was dishonored when you stole his betrothed and fled to this village. He has demanded that you and your wife pay for this insult with your lives," at the sound of the man's master, her mother began to cry even harder. "He is not so bitter, though, to kill your daughter. No...he will spare her and raise her as his ward. When she is sixteen, she shall take her mother's place."

"NO!" Her mother was slapped and Buttercup cried out.

"MAMA!" In horror, Buttercup watched as the men tied her parents down and began to set their home on fire. She was carried, screeching and biting as she tried to run back to them. To save them and get away from these monsters. But Buttercup was only seven years old. She had no strength of her own.

As the flames grew higher and higher that autumn night, she watched her home burn and listened to the screams of her mother and father. Tears slid down her face as she felt a numbing coldness. She could only cry as she was carried further and further into the dark woods. These woods had once offered numerous opportunities for adventure and intrigue.

Now they seemed to only offer assurances of death or worse. The men walked, laughing as they congratulated themselves on a job well done. Some even leered at her with looks that had once made her mother snarl at the offenders.

Her mother... Buttercup began to wail again, wanting this to be a horrible nightmare. She wanted to wake up and have her mother cradle her tightly. "Quiet, you stupid brat!" One of them hit her.

"Careful! Lord Jinno said no harm is to come to her. Look at that face. She'll be as beautiful as her mother one day and he wants to make sure she stays that way."

"Crazy old man, wanting to marry her at sixteen. Hopefully he won't be dead."

"I may have lied about him waiting until she is sixteen. With how pretty she is now, it's more likely she'll be his wife at twelve." Buttercup screamed and wailed louder.

Then something answered in the form of a loud roar.

The men froze, faces slowly draining of color. The woods around them were deep and ominously black. Birds began cawing louder and louder as animals ran for shelter. The moon was beginning to rise a bit higher now. They formed a circle and the man carrying Buttercup pushed her into the center as they drew their swords.

Silence.

"What was that," one of them whispered.

"I...I heard something like that before...it sounded like a lion?"

"A lion is not that loud."

"Quiet! If we keep quiet, maybe it won't happen again." Buttercup kept quiet too. The silence stretched for longer now as the birds began to quiet. The men began to relax before another roar tore through the air, much higher pitched than the last one. They tensed again, searching the woods. Buttercup clutched her arms, she was so cold. A loud boom was heard over and over as the men began to tremble.

Once again, silence.

Then Buttercup caught sight of something between the trees and screamed.

Two eyes, larger than anything she had ever seen, stared at their group. They were acid green with slits for irises. The men spotted them and shouted, huddling together to in a show of fake courage. The creature grunted repeatedly, a sound that sounded strangely like a chuckle. "Once again, the moon is full, and each villager sleeps in their bed. Once again, when the morning comes, someone will be dead. I see my newest sacrifice is not a young woman nor a courageous man. But a band of villainous bandits who kill and kidnap...that is whom have fallen into my trap." Buttercup's throat constricted as she remembered one story that her mother told her on the eve of this night.

Every fifteen years, a dragon comes into the woods. Before he used to burn the village, in revenge for stealing his land. The village then made a deal, they would sacrifice one person for the lives of the village.

In all the excitement, Buttercup had forgotten why she wasn't allowed to play in the woods today. The dragon had come to collect his meal! But, why here? His alter was on the other side of the village. As Buttercup's brain racked for an answer, the men growled. "Away with you, demon! We have no fear of you!" He said this, but his heart said something different.

Again the dragon chuckled, "no fear, you say? Not an issue, human...I simply have to teach you to fear." With that, the dragon rose to his full height. He blocked the moon and towered over the trees. Scales covered his body and two horns jutted out from his head. Spikes trailed down his back in three rows while massive wings, tipped with claws, lay tucked into his side. His paws were tipped with ivory claws and his teeth gleamed white as he opened his mouth and let out a roar that shook Buttercup's bones and chilled her soul.

This dragon was nothing like the ones her mother described.

This dragon was fear incarnate.

The men thought this too as they screamed and ran in different directions, like rats. The dragon wasted no time, stomping forward and swiping them up into the air. Once airborne, he'd opened his jaws and snatched them into his mouth, tearing them apart. Blood and limbs sprayed through the air as Buttercup also ran for it. She headed deeper into the woods, the screams of her kidnappers echoing until all was silent. Still, she kept running and running as she heard loud booms behind her.

Footsteps, she realized. Those were the beast's footsteps. And he was getting closer and closer. Then Buttercup was snatched up into the air and she screamed, louder than when the men took her.

"...So you're the one whose cries lead me here." The dragon sat down and stared at her, "strange little thing, aren't you?"

"Let me go! Put me down!" She struggled in his claws as he chuckled, knowing her kicks were futile.

"No human has ever commanded me before, Little Maiden. What's your name?"

"...Tennoji Buttercup..." She grumbled, glaring at his with tear soaked eyes. He purred, sniffing her.

"You're much braver than those men were, Little Maiden...I like you. I think I'll keep an eye on you from now on." With that, the dragon lifted himself into the sky and soared through the stars. Buttercup stared below in awe. The world had never looked so tiny before, so serene. She couldn't even tell where the dragon had eaten her kidnappers. Finally he began to land where his alter was situated and Buttercup saw one of the girls from the village, chained between two poles as the ceremonial fires flickered. Her name was Himeko and she was one of the wealthiest girls in the village and she was Buttercup's age. She let out an earsplitting scream.

It seemed her name was the one that was drawn out.

The dragon cast Himeko an uninterested look before looking at Buttercup. "I've eaten my fill, so she is safe. But rest assured, my Maiden. We will meet again...soon." He placed her on the ground and took a step back before launching into the air, blowing dust in his wake. Himeko gasped in shock.

She was alive?

The dragon spoke!?

What was the village tomboy doing here!?

Why was she covered in so much blood?!

These questions were asked by the village as well when they came to collect Himeko's remains, only to find her alive and with company. Buttercup's house had been burnt to the ground, her family was destroyed... And now she was known throughout the village and the ones surrounding as the Dragon's Maiden. And for ten years, Buttercup stayed in that village.

Then he came again.

Butch- That was not romantic in any sense of the word.

Buttercup-Why are we talking differently?

Brick-When did Princess get there!?

Boomer-Where have you been?

(sleep)

Butch-...ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?

Brick- Great...