SEASON EIGHT

EPISODE 12: HERE THERE BE DRAGONS
PART ONE

By: Elektra

 SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER. THESE ARE THE VOYAGES OF THE WWF TITANPRIZE. IT'S MISSION: TO EXPLORE AND ENTERTAIN NEW SOCIETIES AND NEW CIVILIZATIONS.  TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO WRESTLER HAS GONE BEFORE!

TITANPRIZE CREW:

Captain Vince McMahon
First Officer, Commander Shane McMahon
Chief Engineer, Commander Stephanie McMahon
Chief of Chiefs, Commander Linda McMahon
Chief of Security, Commander Kane
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Taker
Diagnostics Officer, Lieutenant Commander Jericho
Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Austin
Transporter Chief, Lieutenant Commander Debra McMichael
Communications Officer, Lieutenant Commander Rock
Counselor Al Snow (assisted by H.E.A.D.)

... And many more!

WWF TITANPRIZE - CAPTAIN’S READY ROOM

    "Captain's log, Stardate 081220.00. We are in orbit around an un-named Class M planet. Lt. Commander Jericho, and Commander Stephanie are looking for alternative energy sources, Dr. Taker is looking for alternative medications, and Ensign Angle… well... he's with them to help carry supplies," Captain McMahon studied the planet out his window, "Hopefully this mission will be successful. There is only so long we can hold out with our current warp energy source," McMahon sighed, and briefly wondered if there was any life on the planet below them.

    "In other news, it appears we found the culprit to the recent disappearances of the former Degenerates items. Unfortunately, it was another degenerate..." McMahon frowned, "Just what we need... another Ass aboard the ship!" he sighed, "End log," The Captain closed his log and headed onto the bridge.

UN-NAMED CLASS M PLANET - MOUNTAIN CAVERN

    "So Mr. know-it-all... where is the energy source your wonderful tricorder found?" Commander Stephanie demanded.

     "It was SUPPOSED to be in here!" Jericho said.

     "All I see is rocks, rocks, and more rocks!" Stephanie snapped as she looked at the ground in the dim glow of the WrestleFleet issue flashlight. "Weird rocks too..." she murmured.

    "If I didn't know better, Commander... I'd say these rocks looked somewhat scaly..." Ensign Angle spoke.

    "Oh Kurt, you can call me Stephanie! You know that..." Stephanie smiled.

     Jericho rolled his eyes, "I'm sure he can call you a lot of things..."

     "Are you being rude, Lt. Commander?" Angle asked.

     "I would never dream of being rude to Princess McMahon!" Jericho replied.

     The three walked on a bit more, until Jericho stopped in his tracks. "What?" Stephanie asked.

     He looked at his tricorder, "Wait a sec," He knelt down in front of a hole in the side of the cavern wall, and reached in. He emerged with a handful of gold jewels, then held them out to Stephanie, "HERE is the energy source, Commander!" he said.

     "MOVE!" Stephanie demanded, and shoved him out of the way as she reached into the hole, and found even MORE gold. "How the heck did these get here? Goblets! Necklaces! Bracelets! And ... what's this?" Stephanie pulled out a larger object, "This is ... it's a CROWN!" she gasped.

     "Let me see, Stephanie..." Angle said, "I'm very familiar with gold," he held his hands out for the objects and studied them. His eyes went wide, "They're real!"

     "Great! Put them in your bag! We need alternative energy sources other then the power belt. This should be good enough!" Stephanie said. The three turned around and headed back towards the entrance.

     A quiet rumbling sound stopped all three WrestleFleet officers dead in their tracks, "What was that?" Stephanie whispered.

     "Dr. Taker?!" Jericho called out to the emptiness. Had the doctor finished searching for his medical potions and joined them? Dr. Taker had borrowed a motorcycle when the WrestleFleet offices had happened up on a planet called Makota. The Doctor claimed he needed it for away missions and... well, since McMahon didn't appreciate his precious Stephanie being used as a guinea pig in the Makotan's computer program, the Captain hadn't said a word about it.

     The rumbling grew a bit louder this time, "Geez, Taker's bike sure is noisy..." Stephanie said.

     Suddenly, the ground beneath them shook, and Stephanie, Jericho, and Angle went flying.  Jericho was the first to get to his feet, and noticed Stephanie had landed on top of Ensign Angle. The Olympic Ensign was smirking about it too! So much for integrity.

    Jericho went up behind Stephanie and quickly pulled her to her feet. Those negative energy surges were running through his body again. It always seemed to happen when he caught the preachy Ensign Angle being less then virtuous with the Chief Engineer. Surely it wasn't emotion of any sort. That was impossible...

    Angle frowned at Lt. Commander Jericho for a moment, then smiled innocently as he stood up. Jericho glared at him, "Think of something funny, Ensign?" he asked, his voice cold. That alone was enough to wipe the goofy look off Angle's face.

     "No sir... sorry, sir..." Angle replied, then cleared his throat.

     "You can let go of me now, pervert!" Stephanie snapped.

     Jericho looked at Stephanie, then quickly let go of the chief engineer, "We should leave. This cavern is obviously unstable!"

         A loud sound... almost like a snort... echoed in the cave. Stephanie paled. Ensign Angle swallowed the lump in his throat, "What was that?" Angle whispered.

    The ground moved again. Lt. Commander Jericho looked behind him. Was the ground itself bending? How was that possible?

    The strange snort echoed once more, and a cloud of smoke could be seen a few feet in front of them. The smell of sulfur invaded the WrestleFleet Officers’ noses as the ground continued to bend... until it took shape.

    Stephanie screamed as two large yellow orbs appeared in front of them. Each orb had a black slit... and they seemed to be watching the three WrestleFleet officers like eyes! Another snort... and smoke appeared from just below the orbs.

    Jericho held his tricorder out, perfectly steady in front of these... eyes! He scanned the object before him, "Life signs," he said, then slowly turned to Stephanie and Angle, "We should leave now..." he said quietly, "I mean... RIGHT now!"  He slowly tiptoed over the strange, scaly rocks. Scaly....??

     Stephanie's voice was quiet as she spoke, "That's not... that can't be...  I mean... " she shook her head, at a loss.

     "We will sneak out of here like nothing happened. Like we didn't see anything..." Jericho replied, his voice a mere whisper.

     "Sir..." Angle spoke loudly. "May I ask what the heck is going on?"

     "SHUT UP, Ensign!" Jericho hissed.

     The low rumbling in the cavern turned into a loud roar. Lt. Commander Jericho quickly grabbed Commander Stephanie and ran for the entrance. Ensign Angle followed behind, slowed due to the equipment he was carrying.

    Finally, the group made their way out of the cavern into the open field. A horrible animal roar froze them in their tracks as a large object flew out from the mountain. The object was almost as big as the Titanprize, and covered in scales. It hovered in the air above them, it's large leather wings blowing up dirt and sand around the WrestleFleet officers, creating a massive whirlwind -- almost like a tornado!

     The creature opened its mouth, revealing numerous sharp fangs - each the size of Ensign Show.

    Stephanie's screams were drowned out under the thundering of the creature's wings. She was in shock as she stared at the thing before her, it's shadow almost swallowing them whole.

    The Y2J Unit threw Stephanie over one shoulder, and Ensign Angle and his supplies over the other then ran as fast as he could.

    The creature gave chase.

SHUTTLECRAFT METAL1

    Dr. Taker arrived back at the shuttlecraft on his bike... and noticed the Engineers and Ensign Angle hadn't returned yet.

     He went into the shuttlecraft, "Taker to McMahon," he started into the comm, "Have you heard from Commander Stephanie, Lt. Commander Jericho, and Ensign Angle?" he asked.

    "No," Came McMahon's voice, "Haven't YOU?" the Captain sounded worried.

     What was Taker to do? He didn't want to alarm Captain McMahon. He took a deep breath, "I was merely wondering if they informed you that they found a rich source of energy and are currently collecting it,"

     "Oh. No. Thank you for telling me..." McMahon said, "Is there anything else?"

     "No. Nothing else. Taker out..." the doctor cut the comm link.  He wondered where his fellow officers could possibly be... then shrugged. Perhaps they HAD found a good source of warp energy and were busy collecting it.

     Taker shook his head. Why did he have this nagging feeling that WASN'T the case at all...?

UNKNOWN FOREST

    Jericho, Stephanie, and Angle ran into the forest, all three continuously firing their phasers, set on kill, at the large creature hovering over them.  The creature staggered and let out a painful roar. It hovered for another moment, then let out a loud scream as it turned around.... fluttered painfully... and fell from the sky with such a thump that the very ground shook.

    The three WrestleFleet officers caught their breaths as they stood under the cover of trees. The strange creature had collapsed just outside of the forest. It had seemed so much closer when it was chasing them... but it's size had only made it appear that way.

    "What the HELL was that?!" Stephanie screamed hysterically, "What WAS that! What WAS that!"

     "Calm down, Stephanie. Whatever it WAS, it’s dead now... we're fine..." Ensign Angle said, and put a calming arm around her.

    Jericho glared daggers at him... then turned away. Why did he feel so annoyed with Angle's touchy/feely behaviour towards Commander Stephanie? The Y2J Unit was incapable of feeling anything!

    Jericho suddenly stiffened. He had the oddest sensation that someone was watching them.

    "Lt. Commander Jericho..." Stephanie started. He lifted a hand to hush her, and took a careful step forward. He narrowed his eyes, and scanned the area. Something was definitely there... behind the trees a few feet away.

    Jericho slowly pulled out his tricorder. The being’s body structure was much like a human... but there was another signature coming off it that was very UN-human. Jericho tried to make sense of the signature, "Impossible..." he whispered.

    "What are you doing, Lt. Commander?" Stephanie asked. He held the tricorder out to her, and she looked at it, "What is this?" she asked, then grew silent as a wind whispered through the trees... or WAS it the wind? Stephanie raised her head, and shifted her eyes left and right. Something was wrong here, "Um... let's get back to the shuttlecraft..." she started.

    The whispering wind grew louder... and the trees shook. "Perhaps we should just ask Dr. Taker to beam us back..." Angle offered, "Surely he's there by now..." he tapped his comm badge... and received static.

    Stephanie hit her own comm badge, but received the same static.  Jericho held the tricorder up and scanned the surrounding area, "Is there a dampening field around us?" Stephanie asked.

    "Not quite," Jericho replied, "But there is definitely something jamming our communicators... almost as if there's a shield over the forest!"

    More whispering. Now words could be heard, "slayers..."  "could they be?"  "we must
talk to them..."  "No! Father will punish us! They are HUMAN!"

    Stephanie, Jericho and Angle backed against each other and held their phasers ready, "Ok... get out here, whoever you are!" Stephanie demanded.

    The whispering stopped abruptly, "Excuse me, Commander... but since I'm a communications officer in training, perhaps I can help..." Angle spoke, and cleared his throat, "We come in peace... take us to your leader..." he started.

    "Oh shut up, Kirk!" Jericho snapped, then slowly walked to the tree he had scanned earlier. With super-fast android speed, he climbed the tree, and pulled something down. It let out a shriek.

   Jericho looked at what he grabbed. It was a boy... or ... something.  He was no more then 5'0" with long silver hair. He looked up at Jericho with large golden eyes, and his ears were... pointed? "What the ....?!"

    "It's an ELF!" Stephanie screeched.  Three more similar creatures dropped down from the tree Jericho was standing by.  Two females, and one other male. The girls had golden hair and silver eyes, the other male looked much like the first one.

    "We are called ELVEN, m'lady!" one of the girls spoke.

    "You.... TALK?!" Ensign Angle sputtered, "You talk the Universal WrestleFleet language?!"

    "WrestleFleet? We are unfamiliar with that term," the boy Jericho had pulled down spoke, then crossed his arms and frowned, "Surely some fable or fairy tale?"

    "Fairy tale?" Stephanie started, "I wouldn't talk about fairy tales, elf-boy!"

    Jericho groaned. Stephanie was such a good diplomat... ugh! Jericho crouched down to be at eye level with the kids in front of him, "Where are we?" he asked.

    The second boy - the silent one - finally spoke, "You are on Arcadia, he said.

    "Hush, Parn!" the first boy said, and elbowed the other in the ribs. "He is aware of his surroundings!"

    "No he is not! Look at them, Taran! They are not FROM here!" The boy-elf identified as Parn shot back with his own elbow to the ribs.

    "Father is going to be upset we are even talking to them!" the first girl said.

    "But they slayed Goarnar the Gold Thief, Larna! We must, at least, thank them for that!" the second one spoke.

    "Do you think father would want to thank them, Kara? I do not think so! Father dislikes humans!" Larna replied.

    "Was Goarnar the Gold Thief that big flying lizard thing?" Jericho asked.

    "It is called a dragon, sir..." Kara said, "And he has been terrorizing our forest and stealing our valubles for quite a long time. There are more of his kind around... "

    "MORE?" Stephanie sputtered.

    "Yes... there are a fair number of  them. We do not know where they came from... but they have tormented many different lands here on Arcadia..." Kara explained.

    Parn came up to Jericho, "Sir... we cannot take you to our father, but we can lead you into Etola. They shall help you there..."

    "No... that's ok. We need to get back to our..." Stephanie stopped. Did these Elven things even KNOW about spaceships? "We... need to get back home..." she said quickly, then looked at Jericho, "You know how to get back, right?" she said.

    Jericho turned to her, "Actually... while we were running from the... uh... dragon was it?" he asked. Kara nodded, "I wasn't really paying attention to the terrain..."

    "WHAT?!" Stephanie shrieked, "So you're saying we're lost?"

    "If we can get out of the forest, we can contact Dr. Taker!" Jericho said, then looked at
the kids in front of him, "Is there some sort of shield over this forest?" he asked.

    "The only thing over this forest is our magic protecting us against monsters..." Parn then looked down at his feet, "Though it has not been working well lately. Goarnar was able to get through it, he sighed, "My father said that was because there are less and less of us. We are dying ..."

    Stephanie looked at the little boy, "WHAT?! Don't your doctors know what's wrong?"

    "Our high elfs, you mean?" Parn asked, then shook his head, "They do not know what to do..."

    Stephanie took a deep breath. While she would love to stick around and find out what was wrong with his people, she didn't have time for it. It was something best left to Dr. Taker. "Listen... is there anywhere we can sleep?" Stephanie asked. "It's going to get dark soon..."

    "We shall take you into town. They will provide logging and food for you..." Larna said, "Follow us..." She motioned for them to follow as she lead them through the forest.

UNKNOWN FOREST

    Dr. Taker stood before the forest on his bike, looking at the large THING that lay dead in front of him, blocking the entrance. The creature had multiple phaser burns. Obviously Jericho, Stephanie, and Angle had been here.

    Taker tapped his comm badge, "Taker to Jericho!" Nothing but static.

    If he didn't find his shipmates soon, he would have to explain to McMahon that his daughter was missing... and he really wasn't in the mood for another McMahon freak out right now.

ETOLA

    "This is as far as we may go," Larna said, "You should be able to find lodgings. There are many inns in town," she smiled, "Good luck!"

    "Thank you, Larna..." Jericho said, then waved to the four Elven siblings as he, Stephanie, and Angle walked through the empty village. Jericho tapped his comm badge…and still received static. Perhaps they weren’t far enough from the forest yet.  Jericho began to walk on, then looked back at Angle, "What are you wearing?" he asked.

    "I was once King of the Titanprize Ring," Angle replied, "And we all know every King needs a crown!" he said.

    "That's the crown we got from the Dragon's cave!" Jericho replied, "We're supposed to use that to power the ship! Not to stroke your ego!"

    "It looks quite good on a man of my integrity, Jericho, and I would appreciate it if you would remain silent in my presence..."

    Jericho looked at Stephanie, but she just merely shrugged.

    The three WrestleFleet officers stood in the empty street, and looked around.  A large white castle loomed on a hill a short distance away, "Amazing!" Stephanie gasped.

    Jericho watched her. Stephanie was, no doubt, dreaming of how the castle would look in pink! "Come on, Skankanie. We need to find an inn..."

    "What did you call Commander McMahon?" Angle asked.

    "What I always call her!" Jericho replied.

    "How dare you treat your superior officer with such disrespect!" Angle snapped, "You have absolutely NO integrity!"

    "You know what you can do with your integrity, Angle?" Jericho started, "You can stick it up your---"

    Suddenly the argument was interrupted by a scream. The three WrestleFleet officers jumped into action, and ran towards the sound. As they turned the corner, they saw a woman being accosted by three men. Jericho ran up to the one currently pinning the young woman against a wall and pulled him away. Stephanie and Angle went after his buddies before they could jump into the foray.

    The man spun to face Jericho, and held out a large dagger, "Stay out of this, Stranger, or you will be our next victim!" the man threatened, and sneered cruelly.

    Jericho said nothing as he quickly kicked the dagger out of the man's hands.

    The man looked at Jericho, then at his dagger lying on the ground. He quickly reached to get it, and was promptly clotheslined by the Y2J Unit. The man fell to the ground, unconscious, "Ooops... hit him a bit too hard," Jericho said, and turned to see how Angle and Stephanie were doing. Their opponents were lying unconscious as well thanks to the stun setting on their phasers.

    Stephanie turned to Jericho with a smug smile, "Easier then a clothesline..." she said.

    "A lot of good your phaser does when it runs out of energy," Jericho replied, "And right now, we need to CONSERVE that energy!"

   "Hey, I know how to fight one-on-one if I have to!" Stephanie said.

    "Really? Since when!" Jericho asked.

    "YOU'RE the one who's been teaching me! Or have you forgotten?" Stephanie replied.

    "You mean you've actually been paying attention?" Jericho replied, somewhat surprised.

    "Of COURSE! You think I LIKE getting my ass kicked by everyone?"

    "I don't know, Steph, what kind of kinky things are you into?" he asked.

   "Princess Arielle!" A voice called out.  Everyone turned to the sound of the voice.

    "Oh!" the beautiful blonde girl gasped.

    A strange-looking man entered the alley, "There you are, Princess! Your parents are worried for you! You disappeared off the castle grounds! Why?"

    Stephanie gasped as she looked at the frighteningly beautiful man who was currently scolding… what did he call her? Princess Arielle? The man stood well over six feet, skin as white as snow, hair as black as night. He seemed about the same age as the princess… and looked angry.  He reached out and took her arm with one black-clawed hand. CLAWS? The princess shrugged out of his grasp. He reached for her again, and Stephanie stepped  in, holding her phaser up. "She obviously doesn’t want you to touch her!"

    Jericho wondered if Stephanie was being brave, or merely stupid.

    The man turned to the Chief Engineer, "This is none of your concern, Stranger!" he hissed. Stephanie’s eyes went wide. Did this … man… have fangs?

     "Jarren, hush!" The princess demanded. "This lady and her friends saved my life!"

     He turned back to her, his face and voice softening, "Why did you run away, Princess?" he asked again.

     "You know why, Jarren," she replied, her voice quiet.

    "You have no choice, Princess! Your parents demand---"

    "I don’t CARE what my parents demand!" She snapped, then took a deep breath and turned to the WrestleFleet officers, somewhat embarrassed, "Forgive me for my outburst. It must seem quite rude!" then she smiled, and nodded to the pale creature beside her, "This is Jarren. He is my royal minder," she said.  "And he is right… I DID run away. My parents demand I marry some prince whom I care nothing for," she shrugged, and smiled, "But I need not concern you with my problems. My protector has come to take me back to the castle." She frowned at him, "Though sometimes I wish he would not be SO protective!"

     "It is my duty! I cannot let anything happen to you, Arie---!" he stopped and quickly corrected himself with a low bow, "...your highness. Not with Goarnar the Gold Thief hovering about, looking for any maiden to feast on!"

     "Goarnar? The dragon we killed?" Jericho asked.

     The princess and her protector looked at the WrestleFleet officer, "You SLAYED him?"  she gasped, "Well… this is WONDERFUL!" Arielle spoke. "You must come to the castle! My parents must meet you!"

    "We would be honoured, your highness..." Angle said politely, and bowed.

    Jericho sighed. So much for contacting the Titanprize now, "You even kiss up to STRANGERS, Angle!" he muttered.

    "She's royalty!" Angle snapped.

    Arielle brightened, "I've noticed that YOU are royalty too, sir! That is quite the crown!" she said.

    Angle's smile grew wider, as he touched the crown atop his head, "Yes... I am King Kurt of the Titanprize!"

    "Oh for--" Jericho muttered, then shook his head. Why bother?

    "Ah! This gallant Knight is your royal guard then?" Arielle asked as she looked at Jericho. She curtsied to Stephanie, "And I imagine you are King Kurt's QUEEN, yes?"

    Stephanie opened her mouth to protest, then stopped and smiled. Stephanie took Angle's arm, "Yes. I'm his Queen," she said.

    "Stephanie!" Jericho started.

    "That's QUEEN Stephanie to you, SIR Jericho!" Stephanie replied, "You will speak to me with the proper respect!"

    "I am not a SIR anything!!" Jericho snapped, "And you are DEFINITELY not a Queen... unless you consider Queen of the Skan---"

    "Come now, Sir Knight..." Arielle spoke as she wrapped her arm around his, "We must make haste! The castle is a good 20 minutes walk from here!" she tugged on Jericho's arm, and he reluctantly walked alongside her.

    "Princess, we know nothing about these strangers!" Jarren said as he walked on her other side.

    "Does it matter, Jarren? They saved me and slayed Goarnar!" She turned to Jericho, "So tell me, Sir Knight… where is this land of Titanprize?"

     "Oh, it’s far from here, highness…" Jericho said quickly, "VERY far…" How could he explain? And how could he possibly contact the ship right now without frightening the locals?

    Stephanie watched Jericho chatting with his royal arm accessory. "Obviously she has more beauty then brains to be showing any interest in that stupid jerk!" Stephanie thought.

    "Stephanie?" Angle asked, "You seem upset..."

    "I'm FINE!" Stephanie snapped, "Now let's just follow the little blonde princess and see where she takes us!"

STREETS OF ETOLA - later

    Taker came upon the three unconscious men in the alleyway. Two of them had been stunned by WrestleFleet issue phasers... and the other had been knocked unconscious by the Y2J Unit -- as could be seen from the boot imprint on the man's face.

    Dr. Taker had had to travel around the forest  ... though on his bike it didn't take very long.  He looked at the large castle atop the hill and tapped his commbadge, "Dr. Taker to Captain McMahon."

    "McMahon here,"

    "Your daughter, Jericho and Angle are currently in contact with the locals. Do not make any attempts to hail them. It’s unknown if these locals are even familiar with our technology. It could cause problems…"

    "Why are they talking to the locals…?"

    "I don’t know, Vince. But I’m going to get in contact with them down here and report to you later," he said, "Taker out!"

    Before McMahon protested, Taker cut the communication. He turned back to the castle.

    That would be his next stop.

CASTLE ETOLA - the next morning

    "Did you have a good sleep, QUEENIE?" Jericho whispered to Stephanie as she sat at the elegant breakfast table in the great hall of the castle. The moment the WrestleFleet group had arrived at the castle, they had been stripped of their ragged travel clothing (as Arielle so kindly called their uniforms) and been given proper royal attire. Luckily the servants had not taken their comm badges.

    Jericho had been in brief contact with the Titanprize the night before, informing McMahon of the current situation, but he had had to cut the conversation short when a servant came in to turn down his bed.

   "I slept like a Queen, thank you," Stephanie replied, nose in the air as she sat down.

    Stephanie was wearing a flowing pink gown and looked every inch a Queen.  "Make sure you don't trip over your dress, your highness! We wouldn’t want to make a scene now…"

    "YOU'RE more likely to make a scene them ME, Chrissie," Stephanie scowled at him, "Since you're obviously not behaving properly in royalty's presence!"

    "DO NOT call me Chrissie!" he hissed, "And you're no more royalty then I am,"

    "Your King is here!" Angle said as he made himself comfortable at the table... trying not to sit on his royal robes. He was still wearing the crown they had found in the Dragon's cave.

    "Well... King of the 30-year old virgins!" Jericho started, "Don't get too used to this! We still have to get back to the Titanprize! Taker is on his way here," Jericho said as he smoothed out his silver tunic and elegant black tights.

   Sitting regally with his hair tied back ever so neatly, Lt. Commander Jericho looked every bit like the royal Knight Arielle had mistaken him for. Stephanie frowned at him, "You look absolutely ridiculous, " she said.

    "ME? I'm not the one wearing a dunce cap on my head!" Jericho replied, and flicked her pink cone-hat with his fingers. Stephanie stuck her tongue out, "Oh yes. Quite the royal behaviour there, Steph...." Jericho replied dryly.

     In a few moments, Jericho, Stephanie, and Angle were joined by Arielle, her protector, and two older people who appeared to be the King and Queen.  Jericho thought the man looked familiar... but...

    Arielle smiled, "I would like to introduce you to Queen Renita, and King Talmar..." she looked towards her parents, "Mother, father... this is Queen Stephanie, and King Kurt of... Titanprize!"

    "Titanprize...?" Queen Renita asked, "I do not believe I have heard of that land..."

    "This is Sir Knight Jericho!" Arielle continued, and went to sit on Jericho's other side, "He is a Dragon Slayer, mother!" she said with a smile, "He even slayed Goarnar the gold thief!"

    Jericho furrowed his brow. Well, he wasn’t exactly a Dragon slayer… but fine. Let Stephanie and Kurt play their royalty roles. HE would play the role of the brave dragon slayer, "Yes... Goarnar was quite a tough dragon..." he said, "But there are others I have fought that are tougher. There was a most hideously ugly dragon called Skankanie of the McMahon Highlands..."

    Jericho winced as he received a swift kick from Stephanie under the table. He glared at her, "Yes... well..." Stephanie spoke, smiling smugly, "We don't need to hear that story. It's not suitable for breakfast conversation.  We know Jericho is a brave knight. He would make quite a suitor for any deserving princess!"

    Jericho's eyes went wide as he stared at Stephanie, but he said nothing. Surely Stephanie wouldn't try and pawn him off on this princess... would she?

    A young girl brought breakfast to the table. Jericho studied her. She looked like the children in the forest.  He shook his head, and turned back to King Talmar. The man's face STILL seemed so familiar to him. He searched his data banks... and realized why!

    A brilliant WrestleFleet geneticist named Dr. Kelvin Talmar had once claimed he could create new species if WrestleFleet would provide suitable grants for his research. The grants never came, and Dr. Kelvin Talmar was soon exiled by WrestleFleet for conducting unsanctioned experiments.

     However, that incident was over 100 years ago. The man Jericho seemed to be talking to right now HAD to be Talmar's descendant, and most likely knew nothing about his ancestor.

     Jericho glanced at Stephanie and Kurt. They seemed blissfully unaware of who it was they were happily chatting with.

    Suddenly a large roar silenced the royal conversation.

     "No!" Arielle gasped, then turned to Jericho, "Sir Knight, did you not kill the dragon?"

     "We… I mean… I did!" Jericho replied.

     "Then it is his big brother! Ranagar the Metal Eater!" Arielle gasped.

     "BIG BROTHER?" Jericho, Stephanie, and Angle exclaimed in sync.  They quickly ran to the nearest window, to see a large shadow over the village below them. Fires burned wild, and people ran out of their homes, holding their children… screaming for their lives.  The three WrestleFleet officers stared up at the dragon – this one bigger then the earlier one they had slayed.

    Princess Arielle grabbed Jericho’s arm, shaking fearfully.

     "BRING ME THE ONE WHO SLAYED MY BROTHER!" the dragon spoke.

     It SPOKE? Stephanie allowed a very un-Queen-like phrase escape from her lips, though only Jericho noticed.

     In a few moments, the Dragon had gone on its way, "It is asking for you…" Arielle began, "Surely you will slay it, Sir knight. Will you not?"

     Jericho turned to Angle and Stephanie, but their faces remained pale and frightened. The King, Queen, and Princess merely stared at him... expecting something...

     Lt. Commander Jericho cursed silently. He had unwillingly become the official dragon slayer of Arcadia …