[center][h1][color=lightblue]Donnie[/color][/h1]
Word Count: 1004
EXP: (8/60) + 6 = [b]14/60[/b]
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It took a while for Donnie to process what he was seeing, once he made his way to the large island by Disc anyway.

That “boss.”

That was no ordinary raid boss.

That was a [i]Light-forsaken [b]dragon.[/b][/i]

Dragons, on Azeroth, might as well be gods. Azeroth had pantheons within pantheons, on top of other pantheons, where almost every religion was true to some extent.

Dragons were powerful enough that they had their own worshippers, known as the Sect of the Dragons. And this was for one reason: The TItans.

Primordial Azeroth was ruled by the Elemental Lords of fire, earth, water, and air. Then the Old Gods, Y’ssarj, N’zoth, Yog-Seron, C’thun, and others invaded from the Great Dark Beyond (also known as outer space), defeated and enslaved the Elemental Lords and their underlings, and made Azeroth the seat of their so-called “Black Empire,” an empire of Voidspawn and eldritch creatures. They created several species that persisted to this day, such as the mantid and the qiraji.

The Titans, mortal enemies of the Old Gods, saw this infestation, and could not allow Azeroth’s world-soul to be corrupted. So they invaded the Black Empire, destroyed it, defeated the Old Gods and imprisoned them beneath the planet’s surface.

The Titans seeded Azeroth with their own brand of mechanical life, creating numerous installations and machines designed to keep Azeroth from becoming corrupted, and oversee this new world. 

To watch over Azeroth, they took several proto-dragons--animalistic dragon-like creatures from the Elemental Planes--and empowered them with intelligence and incredible power. They divided these new dragons into five “Dragonflights,” ordered by color, each led by a Dragon Aspect, who had mastery over a specific natural domain. The Black Dragonflight protected and watched over the earth. The Red Dragonflight was charged with controlling and restoring life, capable of regrowing the land in the event of mass death, conflict, and strife. The Blue Dragonflight was given mastery and control over all magic, including Azeroth’s network of leylines. The Green Dragonflight were the protectors of the Emerald Dream, the spiritual realm of life itself. And the Bronze Dragonflight were the protectors of time.

The conflicts Azeroth faced could all be traced back to the Titans and the Old Gods in some way. And the dragons were massively influential on Azeroth’s history as a result.

And granted, this dragon didn’t look like any member of the Black Dragonflight [i]he[/i] knew of. This thing was far too purple. But it was the lord and master of this dimension. He knew that by context alone. This realm of floating islands in an endless void was this dragon’s purview. It was its guardian, just as the Dragon Aspects were the guardians of Azeroth.

So, he stood for a while, intimidated, unsure. You didn’t just blindly run at and punch a [i]dragon,[/i] especially one you knew nothing about. 

He observed his allies going ahead to attack. The dragon [i]regenerated[/i]. Oh joy. But those four crystals seemed to be the ones empowering it, judging by the purple beams they emitted.

And then Donnie ran for his life, even using a Chi Torpedo, to avoid a bomb heading his way, which exploded into acid when it hit the ground. Thankfully, he wasn’t hit, but that had been a close one! But he had to admit, it felt good spiraling through the air like a missile for the first time since he got here.

But that did it. He needed to get into the fight.

He drew an orb and held it high, the containment spell within becoming undone, revealing the Dwarven Flying Machine. It was damaged by the electric shocks, sure, but it was largely mechanical rather than electronic. It would work fine, for the most part. But he couldn’t account for Tora’s modifications, since he didn’t know how computerized they were. Except for the holographic targeting system, which...was that magical or electronic? He wasn’t sure which, it could be either.

Either way, it didn’t matter, as long as the Flying Machine shot straight.

He got in, powered up the engines, and drifted off into the air. He kept an eye out for the dragon as he flew. His life literally depended on it. Wait, why was he trying to multitask? This was what Strikers were for! He summoned Vivi again to make his life easier. “Vivi!” he said. “If the dragon comes anywhere near us, tell me! If it tries to shoot us, tell me! And if it tries to eat us, tell me!”

“Understood!” Vivi replied, sitting on his lap again.

...Donnie really needed to get a second seat for this thing.

He aimed carefully at one of the four crystals. Really, it was just a hunch on his part based on the available evidence, and he had no idea what this thing’s magical properties were. But if it contained enough magical energy to cause near-instant regeneration in a creature that size, he did [i]not[/i] want to be on the receiving end of what would happen if that much power was released all at once. Such as a Boom Biter blowing the crystal to kingdom come. So he was pretty far away from it, though he wasn’t stupid enough to get near another crystal or fly over the void.

He lined up the holographic arc with the crystal atop the tower, his finger curled around the trigger...and he squeezed it three times.

Three Boom Biters soared towards the target in a majestic arc. He did [i]not[/i] want this thing to survive the explosion. If his hunch was right and it would explode on a shatter, the same logic dictated that it would vent magical energy along a crack. And a jet full of cosmic eldritch void energy to the face was not something [i]anyone[/i] wanted.
Barring Vivi hadn’t screamed bloody murder and interrupted him, or the dragon didn’t suddenly take offense to his continued existence for firing explosives at the thing keeping it alive, he would get the hell out of dodge and move on to the next crystal.