"Just shoot the kids. If you find the little bitch, shoot her twice just to be sure!" Lung shouted. He was was standing in a parking lot in the northern end of town, right on the edge of ABB territory. The parking lot was surrounded by tall buildings and the only way in or out was an alleyway that was only just wide enough for a car to fit through.

Around Lung were gathered nearly two dozen men. Most of them were holding bats, metals poles, and who knew what else. I didn't doubt for a moment that many of them were also carrying guns.

Hiding behind a nearby dumpster, I was having a minor panic attack. This was my first night out, I barely had control over my powers, and I didn't know the first thing about fighting.

Oh God, he's going to kill kids?!

The smart thing to do would be to run. To get away and call for help. But I didn't have a cell phone and the chances of me finding a working pay phone in the area were low and even if I did, would the PRT get here in time?

Kill, kids. The idea sat on my mind like a lead weight. I didn't have a choice, if I wanted to stop Lung, I would have to do it myself. I only hoped my power was stronger than his.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I let go of my power and slowly stood up. Stepping out of my hiding place, I appeared behind Lung.

"I-I won't let you kill anyone!" I said, not quite keeping my voice from trembling. Oh my god I'm going to die!

Lung didn't quite jump, but his body tensed and his head spun to face me with an audible crack.

"Who the fuck are you?"

His voice was deep and heavily accented, making him sound slow, but I wasn't fooled. I could see the intelligence in his eyes.

"I-"

"Leave. Now," he warned, drawing himself up to full height. He turned his back to me and walked away. His men had spread out while we were talking, forming a semicircle. They parted quickly, letting him pass. A number of them had drawn their guns.

"No!" my mouth said, sounding much more confident. Oh god, shut up! Even so, I could feel my power expanding, rapidly filling the lot.

Lung's mask flexed as he looked over his shoulder, following his expression as he smirked at me.

"You think you can stop me?"

"Yes." There goes my mouth again.

His arm moved so fast it seemed to blur, driving itself deep into my stomach and sending me flying. I hit the ground so hard that I bounced twice before slamming into a wall. I was still seeing stars when he gave the order to kill me.

His men raised their guns and fired.

Eyes wide in terror, I pulled myself off the wall and ran, jumping and ducking randomly as I tried to get away. I wasn't quite dodging the bullets, I was simply one step ahead of them. Spotting a nearby manhole, I jumped as high as I could and dove for it. I hit the cover, causing it to flip end over end like a bin lid before slamming closed after me with a clang.

I reappeared inside the same dumpster I'd been hiding behind earlier and carefully lifted the lid. In the distance, with their backs to me, the ABB were struggling to lift the manhole cover. Even Lung couldn't make it budge.

Smirking to myself, I could feel my power building. The fear from earlier was giving way to excitement. I could do this.

Climbing out of the dumpster, I walked calmly up to the group, stopping at the edge of the crowd and tapping one of the thugs on the shoulder.

"What's going on?" I said with total sincerity.

The thug didn't even spare me a glance when he answered.

"Some crazy cape just tried to jump the boss."

Despite everything I'd done at home with my power, I couldn't believe this was working.

"Crazy cape? Was she tall?" I said, holding my hand in the air to indicate height and the man nodded. "Wearing a hoody and jeans? With long hair?"

The man nodded absently, but I could see realisation starting to dawn. 3...2...1

Eye's wide, he turned to look at me, "Hey-!"

Before he could finish his shout, I shoved a fizzing red stick into his hands, kissed his forehead, and ran off so fast I left a me-shaped dust cloud.

He barely had time to realise what he was holding before it exploded. The blast knocked the gathered people flying and created a mushroom cloud that could be seen from the far side of the city.

When the smoke cleared, everyone but me was covered in soot. In one perfectly-timed movement, they all slumped to the ground unconscious. Even Lung was left in a tangled heap of limbs. Sighing in relief, I was just about to start zip-tying people when Lung exploded.

I wave of fire swept across the lot with Lung at its center. The only reason Lung's men were still alive was because of my power.

"GOO ITCH! I KEEL OUU!" Lung screamed. Scales were rapidly covering his skin and his face had started to stretch forwards, becoming more maw like and slurring his speech. Before I could move, he sent a burst of fire at me. There was nothing I could do but close my eyes and hope for the best.

When the fire finally stopped I was nothing more than a vaguely human shaped piece of charcoal. Swaying on the spot, I coughed, breathing out a small cloud of smoke.

"Did you order original recipe, or extra crispy?" I said weakly as Lung advanced on me.

Snapping out of my confusion, I shook the dust off me like a dog shedding water. Giving Lung a weak smile, I bolted. Lung was between me and the only exit, so I ran towards a nearby fire escape and bolted up to it.

Leaving nothing but a blur in my wake, I reached the roof before Lung could stop me. I found a door on the roof and, without pausing to check if it was locked, pulled it open and ran inside. Locks were for other people.

Outside, there was a crunch as Lung landed on the roof. I was fairly sure he'd jumped; there was no way he'd made it up the fire escape already.

The door rattled twice before Lung was able to wrench it open with a growl, his neck lengthening as he continued to transform.

Faced with an enraged Lung, I let out a high pitched scream and turned away quickly, desperately trying to hide my body from view. My clothes had vanished, leaving me in only a towel that was far too small for my suddenly curvy form.

Lungs blush was visible though his scales. He quickly pulled his head back and propped the broken door against the frame with an embarrassed "Gooury!"

Two seconds later and with a roar of rage, Lung tore the door off its hinges, but I was already gone.

I stepped out of a rooftop door on a building on the opposing side of the parking lot. I suppose I could have just ran away, but there was no guarantee Lung would stop looking for me or that he wouldn't just carry on with his original plan.

"Yoo-hoo! Are you looking for me?" I called to him with a cheery wave. Lung's head snapped in my direction and I quickly ducked back through the door. Lung cleared the distance between the buildings in a single jump, landing on the roof with enough force to shake the building. He tore the door open, but again I was already gone.

"Over here!" I yelled, from another roof. I wasn't sure I could keep this up. For one thing, I was running out of doors. For another, Lung was only getting bigger.

Leaving him on the roofs, I stepped out of a door on the ground floor, walked into the center of the parking lot, and let out a high pitched whistle.

Lung crashed to the ground behind me, but I refused to turn around. Instead, I kept my attention on my finger nails. I could feel him though, standing right behind me, heat rolling off him.

At some point, my hood had fallen down, exposing my long hair. It was the one thing I took pride in and I realised it was starting to curl up from the heat Lung was giving off.

Turning around, I shoved him backwards. "Hey! Stop messing up my hair! Do you know how hard it is to keep it looking like this?"

Lung looked more surprised than I was when he slid smoothly backwards, even as the tarmac was starting to melt under him. He looked more dragon than human at this point. He was nearly ten feet at his hunched shoulders. His face and neck had elongated and his feet were claws.

"Now listen here, you! You can't just go round setting things on fire and killing people!"

Lungs eyes narrowed and he took a step forward, growling menacingly. Too drunk on adrenaline and my own power to be scared, I pulled a rolled up newspaper from my pocket and hit him over the nose with it.

"No! Bad dragon!"

Shocked, Lungs eyes crossed as he stared in bewilderment at his snout. My power was singing in my veins, this entire area was drenched in it and there was almost nothing Lung could do against me now.

I pointed to a nearby garage that had been smashed open at some point in the fight.

"Bad dragon! Now go to your cave and think about what you did!" I said, using the same tone of voice I'd heard people use on their dogs.

For one incredible moment, it worked. Head down and tail between his legs, Lung slunk over to the garage, grumbling and stomping his feet like an unruly child. He was halfway there when the spell broke and he came to his senses.

Bursting into flames, he spun around and sent a massive gout of flame towards me, but it was too late.

While his back had been turned, my clothes had switched to a firefighter's uniform, complete with hose that led back to a fire truck that had appeared behind me. The truck was manned by a team of me, all in identical uniforms.

Turning the valve on the hose, I sent a jet of water towards Lung. The water met his flame halfway and the two elements battled for supremacy. Lung roared, putting more effort into his flame and it started to push my water back.

"More pressure!" I screamed, squaring my shoulders and bracing my feet. One of my copies quickly ran to the side of the fire truck. Grabbing a giant red lever labeled 'old faithful' she held on tightly and slammed the lever down.

Alarms sounded and the truck rattled and screamed as the hose I was holding bulged. Then the torrent was unleashed. A geyser surged forwards, overpowering Lung's flame and hitting him with the force of a speeding freight train.

Flying backwards, Lungs clawed feet carved grooves into the ground as he tried to stop himself. Slamming into the building behind him, Lung continued to roar and thrash even as the water, and more importantly my power, overwhelmed him.

I fought to keep the thrashing hose pointed at Lung even though I'd long lost sight of him. At the truck, one of 'me' manned the pump controls and watched as water level drained away. By the time the water cut off, my power had forced Lung back to human and rendered him unconscious.

That's how it was supposed to go right? The big finish and now he was beaten. As long as I wanted it to happen, my power would do it.

Not wanting to risk Lung getting back up, I pulled a long length of chain out of a pocket and wrapped Lung up in it. I used a dozen padlocks randomly dotted throughout the chain to keep him secured and put a pretty pink bow on top.

Now all I needed to do was call the PRT…

Noticing one of Lungs followers out the corner of my eye, I realised one of them would probably have a cell phone I could use. Besides, I needed to make sure they didn't get away. As I carefully checked them over for injuries and any remaining weapons, I could feel my power slowly shrinking.

I had just finished zip-tying the last man and was debating whether I should use the phone I found when I heard a motorbike pull up sharply behind me. Oh now what?!

AN: Some of you might remember me posting the original of this two years ago (bloody hell, where did the time go?) but I decided to clean it up and possibly even continue it.