Only moments after Whiplash had snapped at Ezra to stay away from the fight, had he been attacked relentlessly by the agitated felines.As a unit, the pack of cats lunged and struck, not holding back in the slightest as they threw claws at Whiplash. Deep gashes and bite marks cut across the blue scales, scarlet staining the dragon's skin. 

Whiplash panted, teeth gritted as pain throbbed everywhere. It didn't matter how many barbs he threw at them or how many swipes his talons made. These bloody space cats wouldn't back off. His low growls or sharp snarls didn't make a difference. His tail swung in agitation, pupils diluted, eyes trained on the cats circling him. Blood pounded in his ears, his breathes becoming shallow, everything were too damn loud! His senses were going into overload, the lack of oxygen causing him to slip closer to a panic attack. He didn't hear the cat from behind him, or Ezra's scream of warning, but damn he felt the consequence of not paying attention. His roar rung through the cavern as he felt razor-sharp claws slice through his back. Knees buckling, Whiplash collapsed to the floor, barely holding back whimpers as he felt the warmth of blood sweep down his back, dripping onto the uneven floor. A shrill hiss pierced made his horns flatten against his head at the close proximity.  Copper filled his mouth as a hard force slammed into his face, throwing him sideways. Whiplash grunted as he connected with the earth, dust flying. 

"Whiplash!"

The dragon winced at his friend's shout, fear for Ezra's life making him lift his head to see the boy staring in horror at the scene before him. He was tense, ready to leap into action as soon as possible. The thought of Ezra going up against these cats when Whiplash could hardly fend them off...

"Ez-Ezra" Whiplash coughed roughly but made his voice firm and even. "Stay out of this-" 

A paw thrusted into the open, and still blood pulsing wound in his back. Whiplash cried out against the burn of agony, lips rolling back in a snarl but it didn't even make the cats flinch. The feline's fangs dug into the skin behind the dragon's skull, clamping tightly and throwing Whiplash across the cave. His spine struck the wall, knocking the air out of Whiplash's lungs. Slumping to the ground, Whiplash let out a shaky groan, his conscious begging to be released from the world. To slip into sleep...it sounded so peaceful....so nice.....all he had to do was close his eyes and his pain would cease......it would be over......

Over.........

"Whiplash!"

The dragon's drowsy thoughts jolted as his exhausted and pained gaze flicked over to Ezra. The boy was backed up against the walls, the cats slowly turning their attention to him. 

"Use your lightning! It'll ward them off!"

"There...." Whiplash coughed harshly taking in a shuddering breath, "there's too many mushrooms....they'll explode." He could barely recognize his own voice.

"Whiplash there's no other option! Do it!"

"B-But" Whiplash stared, his tiredness slowly fading as he tried to argue with Ezra, "you could die from the fumes-"

"Both of us will die unless you create heat!"

The cats yowled, closing in on both Ezra and the dragon.

"Whiplash come on! Just do it!"

Whiplash's tail twitched. "But I-"

"Whiplash!"

SCREW IT.

The Shadow Wing forced himself up on trembling legs, his angry roar catching the attention of all the space cats. Whiplash's barbs flung from his tail, spinning in the air and sharply locked together with a snap to form a pentagon. It fell till it hovered in front of Whiplash's face.

"PISS OFF MOTHER KRIFFERS!" Whiplash roared. 

The middle of the shape sparked with yellow light before a bright flash erupted across the room. Lightning exploded in the cavern, the felines screamed in alarm, turning tail and scrambling to their holes in the ceiling. Sharp crackles bounced off the halls, chasing the space cats far. The energy pulsed for a few more seconds before dissipating. Whiplash gave a soft growl, letting his barbs fall back to their places on his offered appendage. He collapsed heavily on his haunches, head tipped up as he collected himself. The lightning attack helped fuel his energy again, which he was extremely grateful for, but man was it draining after expelling so much energy before.

No pun intended  he thought to himself with a small smile of amusement. After a moment or two, he shook himself, allowing his head to fall forwards to rest on his neck. 

"Well" he sighed. "That's that. Good riddance to those little kriffers. That move was Abstract Lightning by the way, little trick I came up with a few months ago-"

Whiplash cut himself off as he picked up a fowl stench. "Oh gods," he clamped his talon over his nostrils. "Jeez a wheeze, Ezra, I hope that wasn't you."

He waited for a witty comeback from his provoking line, but the only answer he got was the sound of something heavy hitting the ground and sharp coughing.

"Ezra?" Whiplash turned to look at the boy but felt his heart leap into his throat at what his gaze settled on. "EZRA!" He bolted to the boy's side, hissing curses under his breath.

Ezra was curled up on the ground, shaking as he hacked on air.  "W-Whip-" he tried to speak but cut himself off with rough coughing. "I-I don't know w-what's happening-"

"Shhh, don't say anything," Whiplash did his best not to panic, wincing as the teen was overtaken by another coughing fit. "Goddammit I freaking knew this would happen!"

His eyes scanned the area and quickly located a few patches of mushrooms with tops had been blown open.  

"Goddammit" he hissed again, he returned his gaze to the sickly boy, voice lowering for Ezra's sake. "Ezra? Can I pick you up?"

The teen gave the weakest of nods, only making the dragon want to freak out more. Not even two minutes after being exposed to the poisonous gases and he was already lacking energy to respond. Carefully as he could manage, Whiplash gather Ezra into his front paws, mentally hating how the blood on his body stained the teen's clothing.

Hera's not gonna forgive me for that one he thought, that's gonna make laundry extremely difficult for her 

"Alright short stack, comfortable?" He asked gently, feeling the need to use the nickname to keep the mood light.

"It's nice" Ezra slurred. "'minds me of old times...before you left..."

Damn this kid knew how to stab hearts. Whiplash swallowed the lump in his throat that formed without his permission, and forced himself to smile, though he knew it must have looked like a grimace. 

"Hang in there bud, I'm gonna get us outta this."

"'inky 'omise?" 

Whiplash's eyes watered as Ezra held up his little finger, eyes half lidded, but hopeful. Cradling the boy like a baby, Whiplash lifted a paw to curl his smallest claw around Ezra's finger.

"'inky 'omise buddy" he whispered, a tear slipping down his face.