I looked in the mirror. “Game face,” I told my reflection, making my toughest face. I noticed that I’d gotten a bit tanner in the last week from being outside so much. My dark eyebrows were pinched, creating rifts on my forehead as I tried to look tough. My nose crinkled. My eyes narrowed. My purple, purple eyes. It was crazy since I used to have blue eyes but now they were definitely an insane shade of purple. When I looked closer I could even swear the rivets of different shades of purple were swirling, sort of like a kaleidoscope.

“Meep meep!” Caedmon reminded me, stomping his paw on my shoulder. On his fat little chest he wore a sort of jacket initially made for puppies. It had a sensor emblazoned on the front and back. If he got hit by a lazer, immediately my corresponding sensors would go off. My jacket seemed to weigh a ton as I zipped it up. “Ready for this buddy?” I asked, looking at him in the mirror. He bowed on his forelegs and pulled his lips up in a challenging snarl, revealing blunt baby teeth. “Grrr..”

“No fair, your game face is better than mine,” I grumbled.

Before he could stick out his tiny pink tongue at me the bathroom door opened and a lanky guy I never even knew was in there pulled up his zipper. “Dude I’ve been waiting for you to leave for like.. twelve minutes..” he drawled.

I turned a bit red. Dang- he’d been listening to me singing ‘TKO’ by Justin Timberlake. “Why did you wait?” I sputtered.

“Well.. I was waiting to take a launch man.. my stomach is feeling kinda-“

I waved a hand. “Nevermind. Nope. Too much.” I said quickly. Caedmon sneezed. And that’s when I realized this guy’s eyes were.. yellow? Yeesh, now I was totally glad that my eyes were purple. I’d hate to have yellow eyes. “What kind of.. dragon do you have?” I asked.

He wiped his nose on his sleeve before washing his hands. “Uhh.. moss dragon.” He said.

Welp. He was going to lose. I grabbed my lazer gun as I heard the loudspeakers blaring for us to get to our groups. I trotted out of the bathroom, looking all kick-butt with a black dragon on once shoulder and my gun resting on the other.

“Hey man!” Merman waved me over from our little group. As usual, Rihanna was bossing everyone around. “So here’s the plan. Split up and take down as many people as we can.”

“Wow, what a smart plan,” I said sarcastically.

Everyone’s eyes were on me. I could tell most people knew her plan was stupid but didn’t want to say so. I cleared my throat. “What we should do is fight to get the higher ground and snipe people from above.” I said as I adjusted my knee strap.

“Hmm.. guess you’re right,” I was shocked when she said that.

“You guys even know what you’re dealing with here?” deep green eyes glittered in the semi-darkness as Jesse Lewis, second-year forest dragon Rider spoke. He chuckled, white teeth glinting. “Let me give you advice- just run. And hide. People here take lazer tag very seriously.”

I grinned at the way he said ‘very seriously’. Oh so this was like the real thing? Pshh, this would be no problem. I have broken into and escaped several government facilities so far. A bunch of kids would be no biggie.

“Meep,” Caedmon said and I could imagine him saying. ‘Remember Justin, we gotta stick together.’ In a little baby voice.

“I know,” I replied before my eyebrows pinched in concentration. Ever since Avery’s training I’ve been trying to contact Caedmon- on and off because if I tried to hard it would give me a good thumping headache. I could feel the faint buzz of static, his mind on the corner of mine. As I pulled at it mentally, he turned to look at me curiously, like asking a question. He looked heavy duty with his black puppy jacket. Like a real puppy soldier. I couldn’t help but smile at him and kiss his forehead.

“Hey get your butt over here!” Rihanna called as she waved me over to the starting line which seemed to just be an indent in the wall we stand in. I trotted over and slid into place between Merman and Rihanna. Immediately above our heads I could see a green, digital number flash. 3. Then 2. I inhaled, getting my mind focused.

Then I let that breath out with a scream.

The floor totally went out beneath my feet, sending me reeling into darkness with Caedmon clinging to my jacket for dear life. I could dimly hear the others yell and laugh and Merman even gave a ‘woohoo!’ before I felt the slide curve and send me propelling up, flat on my back. Caedmon squeaked in fear as his talons raked the slide, sending sparks down his back paws and wearing his tiny talons down, making him yelp. I quickly managed to grab him and pull him to my chest before I found myself stumbling forwards, lazer gun pressed to Caedmon’s body.

One thing I noticed first. The darkness. I blinked once and it seemed to clear. Twice and I could see everything as clear as day, but with a bluish hue and the whites of my team mate’s eyes were a glaring blue. Then I looked around. We were in a small city, complete with everything from the streetlights to the cars parked on the street. The buildings however, were three to four stories high and I could tell they were scantily furnished, with stairs going up to all the floors to aide snipers. Overhead, a domed surface spread out and I could tell by the curve this was one big city. One we were at one end of it. How they got all this underground? Out of tax payers wallets my foster parent would say.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a figure shift his weight by the dumpster alone with the strange shadow cast by someone pressed against a wall. Time to get a move on.

I waved to Merman, who was looking around blindly in the dark before tapping his shoulder. He seemed to focus on me somehow and snuck after me as I crept for the large red building nearest. We needed cover. And fast.

I dashed inside just as I saw a flicker of red, then flashing lights, revealing Pizza boy- our sand dragon was gone. Merman paused to look but I tugged on him. “Come on,” I said, rushing up the stairs. We didn’t want to be caught on the lower level. The second floor was about the size of my old room. I stepped off, seeing the window to the next house wide open. Scanning inside with my personal night vision eyes, I could tell no one was inside.

A shuffle of boots below.

“Come on,” I hissed to Merman, getting on the window sill and hopping easily to the next house which was five feet distance. Caedmon jumped off and extended his wings to slow his fall as I rolled over the floor in a sumersault before jumping easily to my feet. Caedmon was practically invisible to the human eye as he sidled up next to me, his little ears flicking back and forth. I made sure to keep an eye on him as I crouched by the opposite window sill to snipe.

“Wow.. you some kind of ninja or something?” Merman whispered hoarsely as he looked out the window on the corner of the building, his gun at ready.

“Hey- I’m not as wimpy as you all think,” I said between gritted teeth, all business now. I could see a glint of gold- electric kid. Too bad their eyes shone like targets. A flash of red and I sent his chest plate going off like an ambulance. Then I ducked behind the window.

“Nice shot,” Merman whispered before he sighted down his scope and shot a guy in the leg.

Suddenly I saw Caedmon stiffen out of the corner of my eye, slinking back in a hiss, his eyes narrowed on the stairs.

That was my cue! “Jump out the window!” I whispered as I swept my arm across Caed, barely brushing his scales. He hopped on my forearm before crawling up my shoulder, his talons locking on my shoulder pads. I jumped up, sliding my legs out, before dropping to the pile of trash bags under the window. I realized my mistake because as soon as my weight hit the bags, a loud string of pops followed. Dang it! Bubble wrap! And to make matters worse, Merman jumped right on my legs, making a horrible banging noise as his combat boots hit the metal sides of the trash can.

I heard him cuss as he jumped off, me following with a wince. “Over there!” I could hear someone holler and I immediately jumped into a crook connecting the building to the giant wall surrounding the building. Merman hid behind the trash can.

I took a deep, steadying breath, my gun on my chest, sticky fingers sliding up and down the trigger. I could hear them walking closer. I held my breath, not moving a muscle as I could see Hayden, the fire Rider creep towards us, gun drawn. His scarlet eyes looked like a demon’s in the dark, especially if I squinted and let my night vision down. Figures.

He stepped closer and I could see he was backed by a girl with pigtails and a wicked sneer along with an Asian guy with his gun pointed to the ground. I could tell he was nervous. Their lightly glowing eyes darted about our hiding place as Merman stopped breathing, copper eyes closed tight. Hayden’s glance lingered on me for a tantalizing moment. Then they passed. He hadn’t seen me!

I could see them sidestepping like a crab, trying to get an angle to aim behind the trashcan. Hayden had his focused on the trash bags while the girl’s was trained on where Emmit was hiding. I knew I had to act quick.

Suddenly the girl screamed as something bit her leg and I saw a flash of black and knew who it was. As the others were distracted, I shot three times, and all three of their chests lit up in red. I saw Merman jump up and dash to the nearby window, sliding in and I followed, Caedmon jumping on my arm at last minute.

“Yeah buddy,” I whispered with a big grin to him as I looked around the house with narrowed eyes. Merman had shot a kid who had stationed himself in here and he was gasping on the ground, holding his flashing red chest.

“Attracting too much attention,” Merman whispered. “We gotta get out of here.”

I agreed by nodding before peeking out the window, trying to find a good look out. Across the street I could see what looked like a bakery, and beside it a jewelry shop. A guy was crouching above the jewelry shop and as I watched he ‘shot’ down a kid trying to cross the street. There was a yelp. Further on I could make out more buildings, and a town park complete with a few trees and a fountain of a man on a horse.

Hmm… Merman was actually looking to me for help. “The jewelry shop?” he whispered.

“Someone’s ready to snipe us down from above it,” I whispered back. “We should head down towards the park, capture a house, and make a stand there.”

Behind us, the red lights on the guy’s jacket continued to flash, outlining our silhouettes. We better move fast. I waved before jumping out the window and rushing to the next window, which was closed. I panicked as I tried to open it and nothing happened. I could hear Merman’s boots behind me as I struggled with the window. Caedmon smacked the glass as if he expected he could actually break it with his tiny paw.

A telltale flash of read and I knew that he had his sights on us. “Run!” I yelped, dashing away with all the force I had as a red dot flashed on the wall right where I had been. I dashed onto the street and ran zig zag to make it  a bit harder for them to aim at me. Six lazers flashed across my vision. We needed cover soon!

“Agh!” Merman grunted. “I’ve been shot!” he said as he ducked behind a park bench. I jumped into a bush. “Where?”

“My leg, man. The straps tighten.. I can hardly feel my foot,” he whispered back.

“Dang it,” I whispered, seeing the Ventus Rex team sneaking up on us, their green straps showing in the dull light. They were hiding behind the fountain, watching the bushes for any sight of movement. “I’ll take them away from here. You get cover,” I whispered to Merman.

“You’re gonna get killed out there!” Merman whispered.

I could feel the adrenaline kicking through my veins, giving me that jolt of adrenaline that I could never get used to. It’s what I lived for when I was out rummaging through government crap, stealing random files- just for the kicks. This almost felt like it. Except that these kids weren’t near as trained as the people I’m used to working with.

“Caedmon- diversion,” I whispered, hoping he could understand.

In a split second he nodded and was gone.

I laughed to myself as I heard him squeaking and banging his wings against the trash can twenty feet to my left. I saw them divert their attention for just a moment, so I could dash across the street, my swinging arms giving me more leverage. I gasped, realizing the alleyway I thought led to the other part of the course was only a dead end. I swung around, seeing if I could hop back  out of my failed hiding place but found that the Ventus Rex team were all aiming their guns at me.

I ducked behind a mail box for feeble cover as little lazer lights lit up the wall behind where I had just been.

“Ah.. Shadow Boy,” Fiery metallic silver eyes lit up the darkness. “Bout time we found you.” He lowered his gun and so did the rest of his group. “Wasn’t cool what you did back there- squealing on us.”

The whole Ventus Rex pack circled around me, their grins like that of a school of piranhas before they devour a cow.

I raised my hands. “Hey.. I don’t want trouble.. really.” I said, trying not to sound scared. I could see a couple of them had their little dragons on their shoulders or growling at their master’s ankles.

“Sure you do, kid,” the metal-head said, kicking my hard enough in the shin to make me fall and my eyes water. I bit my tongue, my eyes narrowing. “Should have thought of that before you went and squealed like a little rat!” He said, grabbing the front of my shirt and his fist hurtled straight towards my nose as his goonies prepared to join in on the fun.

In that moment something crazy happened. It seemed like everything sort of.. slowed down.

I could see Caedmon looking at me with his huge, kitten-like purple eyes from the corner of the building, his deer-like ears perked forwards.

Next second he was sniffing the metal-head’s pant leg and looking around warily.

All the while the guy’s fist came closer and closer, filling my whole vision before I felt that buzzing connection that connected me and my little dragon start to tug painfully at me. For some reason, I gave in to that mental pull and suddenly I found myself reeling backwards.

You know when you go to a lake, and someone pushes you in? When you plunge into that arctic water and you’re just so shocked, you don’t even feel anything for a split second? That’s what it felt like. Cold, confusing, and too incredibly fast.  I could see flashes of my surroundings, like I was watching seven TVs at once. A building window, the street, shocked faces, a wall, Caedmon’s violet eyes, and then myself collapsing on the floor inside some strange room.

I gasped for air and opened my eyes. Caedmon was patting my nose with a concerned expression wrinkling his snout.  

Outside I could hear voices; “Where did he go?” “I swear he was just here. Didn’t you-“ “How could he have left? Is there some sort of trap door?” I could hear them derping around down there, scuffling their boots.

And that’s when I realized and a slow smile spread across my face. “I did it didn’t I-just like you. Disappeared?”

He gave me a look like ‘uh no, it was totally me.’ Then he nipped at my trigger finger.

“Eh!” I whispered, before it hit me. Aha! The voices seemed to be coming from below. I was at the perfect spot! Crawling over to the window, I slowly eased myself to my knees, aimed my gun, and found one of the guys looking up at me, his nose all scrunched up. He raised a hand just as I shot him on the chest. Red lights erupted as the others looked around, trying to find cover. I grinned maniacally. “Pah pah pah!” Three more down. “Pah pah pah!” I caught another in the leg as he dove for safety. Within a span of thirty seconds all the high and Mighty Ventus Rexes were down. "Oh... yeaaah," I drawled, kissing my gun and blowing on it like it was hot.

 I jumped up and leaned over the stairs before discovering this was the jewelry shop.

Caedmon had already beaten me to it and was scratching at the wall by the stairs trying to get my attention.

“We’ve got another stop on this one, don’t we buddy?” I whispered as I offered him my arm to scamper up before I charged up the stairs.

Then I raised my hands as I was in the cross’airs of the sniper’s gun. “Drop the weapon,” he growled.

By this point, I honestly didn’t care and just “pah!” shot him right in the chest.

He gasped, clutching his suit as slowly, the town buzzed to life, the overhead dome like a huge lightbulb that made me groan and cover my eyes.

“I knew he would win,” I heard Merman call from where he was in the park. “Woohoo! Go Justin!” He pumped his fist.

“Justin… Timberlake,” came General Landin’s hilariously confused voice over the loudspeaker. “You have won the lazer tag tournament for your team, the Avengers. Please gather at the post office to be collected.”

I was shocked. I knew that this wouldn’t be terribly hard for me but still- I had never expected to win! My heart swelled with pride and I grinned at Caedmon who snarled back at me. Well- that was his version of smiling. I guess.

When I headed out from the jewelry shop, smirking at the backs of the Ventus Rex group, I could hear a familiar voice. “Justin Timberlake, eh?” Avery sounded sarcastic. She punched my arm. “Love the sound effects. Pew pew pew? You really are a three year old in a sixteen year old body, you know that?”

Wait, was she being nice to me? I stopped in my tracks.

“Stop gaping like a fish you idiot- I don’t have time to wait all day,” she called to me before trotting over to fish a kid out of the trash cans I tangoed with earlier.

Caedmon purred and nuzzled my cheek, peeping happily. I’m betting he could probably sense my emotions. I ran a hand down his spiny back, kissing his forehead. “You’re such a smart little buddy. I know I can count on you, can’t I?”

He tilted his head, his purple eyes unblinking. He licked my chin before I could hear a single word, distinct and childish. It was; Justin. His tiny, leathery paw settled on my cheek. And… me.