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Ep 6. Control

9/9/22

Later, in a cafe, Dragonscale and Ghost Pepper sit across from each other with their respective drinks. Dragonscale is sitting on a pillow to boost her height. Unamused, Ghost says, You're not drinking it. Dragonscale says, Light ice is about flavor. Ghost says, Whatever, mine tastes funny anyways.
With her tail wagging and eyebrow raised, Dragonscale props her elbow against the table and asks, Hey, would you say this is like a, Demon's Diner? Her pose accentuates the gold wedding band on her finger. Ghost answers, It's a cafe. She is propping her cheek against her fist in a way that accentuates her own silver wedding band. Playfully, Dragonscale sticks out her tongue, revealing her tongue piercing as she says, What? You don't miss home? Dragonscale is distracted by a bump and crash from the kitchen as Ghost answers, Moving to the rings was my idea, Dragonscale.
Something shatters in the kitchen. Dragonscale says, I guess I kind of hated Demon's Diner, too. The rings get so cold, though. From the kitchen, someone shouts, Woah! Dragonscale says, And the lawless, before being interrupted by a gurgling sound and saying, Uhm. What the fuck is happening back there? Ghost?
There's another crash from the kitchen, and someone shouts, Oh no no! No! When Ghost doesn't respond, Dragonscale looks at her, repeating, Ghost? The next panel shows Ghost scraping her nails down the tabletop, an empty look in her eyes, a line of drool coming from her mouth, and sweat dripping down her face. The colors shift to stark black and white.
The background darkens to pitch black as Ghost's body twists, crunching and cracking. Her fingers lengthen as they clench, deepening the scratches in the tabletop.
Then, suddenly, Ghost's body explodes upwards with a crack and a howling cry, skin and upper body tearing away to reveal pointed teeth and exposed muscle over twisting ribs. Pepper seeds fall from Ghost's ribs as they crack open, her arms growing larger and longer. Her wedding band is at once too small for her finger.
Outside, the night is starry and quiet, the window of the cafe tinted dark. Dragonscale crashes through the glass in a panic, Ghost's gnarled hand curling around the window's edge as she shrieks.
Safe flying in the air, Dragonscale pants, looking around. Below, she notices a mutated object chasing a reporter, who throws a camera at it.
For a moment, Dragonscale looks nauseous. Then, opening her mouth, she blows a stream of fiery breath over the mutant object. The mutant object roars in pain.
Dragonscale thinks, What's going on? The mutated object swerves and runs off in another direction while the reporter escapes. Dragonscale flies up to a rooftop, sinking to the ground with her hands over her eyes. The next panel zooms in close to her crying and panicking as she thinks, Did I just lose everything?
The page goes a murky red, with a dark vignette over the borders. A white text box reads, No.
In the daylight, Dragonscale stands on the edge of the rooftop, wings spread. It zooms in closer and closer to her as she first stares blankly outward, then suddenly grits her teeth. As she does, sparks fly off her teeth, smoke billows out of her mouth, and tears well up in her eyes. Determined, she thinks, I didn't run from home just to lose it again.
Bathed in a fiery light from below, Dragonscale glares outward, standing on top of a car with her wings spread and a makeshift spear in hand. Text boxes say, From this moment forward, this city, and everyone in it.
Dragonscale, suddenly half-bathed in shadow, thrusts out her free hand, commanding her group of bandits. Red text over the scene finishes her thought, saying, Belongs to me.
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