Work Text:
One of the dragon's heads is blown back into a pillar by the strike of his sword. Susanoo bites his lip as the support begins to crumble.
Man, Sis is gonna kill me.
He falls back to the ground, straightening himself up and looking at Takemikazuchi standing beside him. It's the first time he's seen the older deity look tired; their beautiful face is creased with exhaustion, worry and to Susanoo's surprise, concern.
"You know this dragon then, Takemikazuchi?"
They nod. "It's the first time I've seen her angry, though. She is usually very calm."
"Oh. ...wait, 'she'? Didn't you call her a dragon king before?"
"All the dragons want to be kings," Takemikazuchi replies, leveling their sword at the dragon's silver hide once more.
Clouds gather in the sky above them, crackling dangerously with Takemikazuchi's power. They leap into the air, dwarfed by the sheer size of the dragon king, aiming to strike her with both sword and lightning at once. Susanoo readies his own blade at his side, prepared for any retaliation. But as had happened before, Takemikazuchi's clouds begin to dissipate as quickly as they had gathered, one of the dragon's heads turned skyward with her eyes glowing. The lightning fizzles out, and the hit that Takemikazuchi lands is backed by only a crackling spark rather than the fierce bolt they were aiming for. Their blade leaves a charred line along a single scale plate, but Susanoo knows that Takemikazuchi does not really want to hurt this dragon.
They land beside him again, and Susanoo feels the faint pull of Stride between them. It's odd to think about how his strength is the only thing grounding this much more powerful being to the current time, but the two of them get along well, and he's been informed that that makes it easier for them to remain here. He'd felt stronger with them around, but at this moment the both of them were proving next to useless against the confused and irritated dragon king.
"Shoot. If even Takemikazuchi's lightning is useless, what are we gonna do?"
There's a barely-audible clicking of claws on tile behind him, and Susanoo turns to see the form of a much smaller, lithe dragon covered head-to-toe in golden armour. Takemikazuchi shifts, slightly wary, but turns away as the dragon king roars, briefly stunned but recovering.
The new dragon stares down at Susanoo, judging him. Susanoo feels his cheeks heat and resists the urge to pull a face. Now was not the time to be antagonising anyone else.
"Perhaps I should help you," the dragon says in a smooth voice, higher than Susanoo expected. He raises a hand, and Susanoo can see the clock face embedded into his gauntlet. "We have to prevent any tragedies."
"Oi, hey! You're a Gear Chronicle guy! Have you been here the whole time?!" Susanoo urges.
"I'm Nixie Number," the dragon responds, a flickering power gathering around his claws. "I'm here to help, you know, you don't need to be so rude. I've been here for only--"
A sudden, distorted warping sound cuts Nixie Number off. A shockwave echoes through the buildings around them, shaking the ground. From the center of the wave, a massive black dragon in gold-trimmed armour rose, its weapon already poised to strike the nine-headed dragon. The blue light emanating from both blades of the black dragon's weapon is almost blindingly bright.
Susanoo gapes, eyes wide. Takemikazuchi visibly shudders, their voice cracking when they speak.
"Who in all the worlds... is that?"
A flurry of blades leaves cracks in the dragon king's armour and scales, backing her into the wall of the closest skyscraper. The great black dragon attacks wordlessly, one powerful swipe of a blue blade finally striking the dragon king upwards into the sky with a deafening cracking noise.
Susanoo glances up at Nixie Number. His claw was raised to his eye, a small device clicking between his fingers, speaking quickly to himself. When Susanoo looks back to the battle, the silver dragon is falling back to the ground, and the black dragon--
"Ah."
--has vanished completely.
Takemikazuchi swiftly reaches over, grabbing the entranced Susanoo and distracted Nixie Number under their arms and dragging them away just before the body of the defeated cosmo dragon crashes into the open space they had just occupied. Debris and dust flies into the air, settling slowly to reveal that the dragon was no longer moving.
As Takemikazuchi releases them, the two nobles and the small gear dragon gather around the unconscious body of the dragon king. Nixie Number snaps out of staring first, muttering information to himself and calling over a Worker from its hiding place nearby.
"Well, Nixie," Susanoo mutters down to the crouching Nixie Number, "what are we meant t' do 'bout this?"
Nixie Number shrugs, his armour clinking as he busies himself attaching the camera to the Worker. "I was originally just meant to report. Chronojet will be here to fix it soon. Probably."
"'Probably?!'"
Takemikazuchi rubs their temples.
-------------------
Outside the Think Tank's walls, Blaster Dark grips his left wrist and stares to the darkening sky. His eyes faintly shine bright blue.
He whispers to himself.
"Mordred...
What's going to happen to you?"