Here's my first Dragon Booster fanfic!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Booster.

Chapter One

The Accident

It was another day at the All-City track for racing. The huge crowds had gathered to watch and cheer on their favorite racers. They cheered loudly, standing up and raising their arms in the air, waiting to see the competition begin. Artha Penn came in, riding on his dragon Beau. He badly wanted to win this race and show that he and his dragon were something special. Sure, he was the Dragon Booster, but as himself, he's just a boy who worked in the stables before he began dragon racing. Beau, however, didn't really mind if he himself won or not. He just liked the feeling of racing and wanted to show the other dragons that he was full of potential.

Kitt Wonn appeared with Wyldfyr and positioned at the starting line beside Artha and Beau. She and the red dragon was always expected by many to win. She was skilled in speed and manuvering and Wyldfyr was just the dragon for the job.

Then Moordryd Pain arrived on the sly Decepshun. Boos came from the crowd as he came to view. The Dragon Eyes crew have always had a bad reputation, due to their tendency to cheat in competitions. And again, Moordryd is probably planning to cheat on this race. He had that Orange Drag Box equipped to Decepshun, the gear that tended to cause plenty of trouble.

More racers came in and the crowd got wild. Pyrrah and her agile Magma-Class dragon, Phorrj, walked to the starting line, followed by Khatah and the swift Shock-Ra. Sixth, arrived Marianis and her sleek Nautilus-Class dragon, Poseidos and seventh was Chute and wild Turbulance. Chute was already an Elite racer, but came to participate for the heck of it and Turbulance was way more excited about racing than all the other dragons. They were a reckless, yet fair team.

The crowd waited for the eighth racer, Wulph and and his dragon, Hyve. Hyve was heading to the starting line with his human. He was walking unusually slow today and Wulph didn't understand why. The purple dragon was deep in thought at the moment. Racing with no partner other than his rider was his weakspot. He and Wulph usually finish last or even sometimes never finish at all. He hated to be seen like that, even though Wulph took up most of the pressure. When Hyve positioned at the starting line, the crowd cheered as the announcer, Race Marshall Budge, was giving the usual speech.

Kitt seemed to notice Hyve's strange behavior and whispered to Artha,"Is there something wrong with Wulph's dragon. He looks...gloomy."

Artha shrugged casually."He's probably a little tired. Maybe he didn't sleep so well."

Beau looked over at Hyve. He had never seen him like this before and it worried him. The other racers have also noticed. Turbulance gazed at the Pack-Class dragon and cocked her head, confused. She thought he'd be excited to race and be able to improve his skills on the track. Pyrrah and Khatah, too, looked over at Hyve and then at each other and shrugged it off for now. They wondered if Wulph had noticed his dragon's odd behavior today...and apparently he did.

Wulph patted his dragon on the side of his head."What's wrong, Hyve?" Wulph, as leader of the Army of the Dragon crew, would immediately know when something's wrong with his teammates, humans and dragons alike. If his dragon didn't want to race, he'd let him know, but the purple dragon wasn't the one to backout.

Hyve didn't respond much. He really wasn't in the mood to race, nor was he in the mood to move at all. He didn't dare to look at anyone in the eye and he kept his head down a bit. And he barely even noticed himself being a little moody lately. His eyes were drowsy, lacking the sleep he skipped last night just because he was paranoid about the result of the race might be.

Race Marshall Budge was finished with his speech as the track underneath the competitors glowed red and the gears to open the gates turned slowly. The dragons readied themselves, growling and clawing the ground. Their eyes focused on the track before them as it glowed yellow...and Hyve didn't seem to notice. Wulph got a little worried than usual. When track turned green, the gates slammed down and the dragons brust foward with great acceleration. Kitt and Wyldfyr passed them all and was ahead as usual, but Chute and Turbulance easily caught up seconds later, neck-to-neck with them. Moordryd and Decepshun sped up behind them. The Dragon Eyes leader grinned evilly, wanting to bash right pass them and take the lead, but he first had to deal with his number one target, Artha.

Artha and Beau raced foward, passing Moordryd and catching up to Kitt. Pyrrah, Khatah, Marianis and their dragons followed behind Moordryd, keeping a close eye on him to make sure he wouldn't go about sabotaging other racers' gears and bring about his next devious move after that. In last place was Wulph and Hyve. Wulph tried not to put pressure on his dragon. He gave Hyve time to adjust and run at a steady speed before catching up to the others. A minute later, they were racing side by side with Pyrrah and the others.

"Is there something wrong with your dragon, Wulph?" Pyrrah asked him as she looked at Hyve again. She was pretty much always alert, helping others whenever they needed it.

"Uhh...he's fine!" Wulph insisted, still worried. He tried not to let get to him. All he needed was to concentrate on the race.

"Your dragon don't look too good," Khatah pointed out, agreeing with the Dragon Flares leader.

"He'll be fine!" Wulph said again a little louder, keeping his eyes foward on the track before him.

"Seriously, Wulph!" Marianis said to him, making sure he heard her."There's something going on with him...Maybe you should--"

"I said he's FINE!!!" Wulph yelled at them, but he knew they were right. Hyve indeed didn't look too good at all.

The others backed away a bit from Wulph, giving him space as they came around a right turn. Wulph was upset about having Hyve questioned and the Pack-Class dragon himself was upset as well. He shouldn't be like this during racing, for it made him look like a whimp. Thoughts of losing flooded his mind as always and he tried to fight them off. He sprinted faster, leaving the others in his dust. Pyrrah, Khatah and Marianis looked at one another and continued racing.

Kitt and Chute, however, were having problems with Moordryd already. He had Decepshun ram against Wyldfyr, breaking the Speed Burst gear and almost causing Kitt to fall off the saddle. Decepshun then bashed into Turbulance, sending a few gear parts crashing to the ground. Turbulance growled at them. She hated to pushed around like that, especially in races. Chute, however, tried not to lose her temper.

Moordryd simply smirked and was now in second place. He then looked at Artha. This should be easy, he thought as Decepshun dashed in front of Beau, taking the lead. He was about to press the button on the saddle handles to activate the Drag Box when Wulph and Hyve past him and Decepshun. Moordryd grumbled. He wasn't going to lose his spot in first place that easily.

Wulph was surprized at what Hyve was doing--without a dragon partner. For pretty much the first time in a long time, they would win a race together. Hyve couldn't help smiling himself. The finished line was far away, but he was currently in the lead. But Moordryd was planning to change that. He press a button the handles and activated the Red Thrusting gear, making his dragon run twice as fast and surpassing Wulph. Hyve growled. He was now willing to fight for the lead, no matter what. This was his chance now.

Moordryd was just planning to get rid of him and any method would do. Cheating was his thing...and it never really helped him at all much, either. Cain was always there to set traps on the track while Moordryd did the rest. The Dragon Eyes leader wasn't hesitant to do these things and it didn't bother that much, unless it was for the spot in the Academy. He activated the Orange Drag Box, shooting out a spinning blade at Wulph and Hyve. The blade seperated into four orange-headed little dragons with maroon-colored bodies, jaws chattering as they shot in their way.

Wulph immediately reconized the tiny creatures. Where did Moordryd get a hold of that kind of gear, anyway? The tiny dragons landed on Hyve's muzzle, climbing on the gears he had equipped. "Ah, great!!" Wulph spatted as he tried to reach one from destroying the Ramming gear, but the little nuisance was already biting down onto the parts, sending sparks flying. Two other ones were tearing at his Red Thrusting gear as the fourth one was on the saddle, biting the surface and the wires. Wulph was becoming a little frantic by the second, but Moordryd didn't think it was enough. He pulled out a Fire Grenade from his pocket and looked behind. The Army of the Dragon leader was too busy dealing with the little drags to bring back his attention to the track. Moordryd pressed the button on the grenade and threw it behind him, landing on the saddle in front of Wulph. Wulph heard a clanging sound near him and saw the Fire Grenade before him. His eyes widened. In a split second, the grenade exploded. Smoke and fire burst into a great mess in the track. It sent the little orange dragons flying into the air, where they'll probably never be seen again for a while.

Kitt and Chute heard the explosion and it didn't sound distant either. They looked behind and saw a mass of smoke covering the track. Wonder what happened? They were too busy in racing to have known what Moordryd just did.

Pyrrah was in shocked as she and the others approched the smoke before them. She screamed and tried to make Phorrj screech to a stop, but Poseidos accidentally smashed into her dragon, sending Marianis flying over Pyrrah and landing on Phorrj's front paws. Khatah gasped as he saw the pile they were in as Shock-Ra jumped over them, but slipped as landed and fell hard on his side in front of the girls.

Khatah held his head, dizzy."What happened?"

Marianis groaned as she got up, using Phorrj's muzzle for support."Moordryd..."she replied, arching her back a bit backwards.

Pyrrah growled as she shook her head."Errrr! That insolent boy!" She got off the saddle as she walked up to Khatah and Shock-Ra."Where's Wulph and Hyve?"

A loud roar of pain and someone's yelling was heard nearby. As the smoke started to clear away, they saw Hyve at the edge of the track with his front claws dugged deep into the metal and Wulph was holding on tightly to his dragon's tail. They were hanging for dear life! Hyve's body was partly charred by fire and nearly bruised up all the way. His once turquoise eyes were now slightlt shaded with deep red. Wulph looked banged up, too. His helmet was dented and the windshield was cracked.

"Wulph!!" Pyrrah cried.

The Dragon Eyes leader merely laughed. He could care less whether someone got hurt or not."Heh! All I got left to deal with is the Stable Brat!" Moordryd sneered as he looked at Artha.

Artha and Beau had also heard the explosion and screeched to a stop. They saw Pyrrah and Khatah at the edge of the track where a familiar purple dragon was holding on to the ledge. Wulph was out of his sight. He immediately knew that Moordryd did this "Beau, we gotta go back!" Artha yelled. Beau growled and rushed over as quickly as he could. The green vid screen appeared in front of Artha on the saddle. It was the "Professor" Parm and little brother Lance.

"Artha! What are you doing?!" Parm asked hysterically."You should be finishing the race!"

"Someone needs help, Parm!" Artha cried as Beau neared Pyrrah and the others.

"Artha's going to save the day again!" Lance cheered as he took a bite out of his candy bar. His dragon, Fracshun, was behind him, reaching out his neck in an attempt to take a bite out the candy bar, too.

Moordryd watched him and his dragon dash off to save Wulph and Hyve. "Aw, forget it!" he said as he and Decepshun reached the finish line. The crowd cheered as the black draconium dragon slowed to a stop as she passed it. He won the race. Kitt and Wyldfyr came in second and Chute and Turbulance arrived in third.

As Artha and Beau came up to them, Artha asked,"Where's Wulph?"

"He's down there, holding onto Hyve's tail!" Khatah said.

"We could use some help here, please!" Wulph called out. He looked down. There was nothing beneath them that they could safely land onto. A bottomless pit was all he could see. And could he forget his parachute? Probably his attention was drawn to Hyve earlier made him forget. But even if he had it, he wouldn't leave his loyal friend like this. He took another look again back down. If they fall, it would be the last thing they'll ever do, other than screaming to their deaths.

Hyve was so exhasted, but he held on. He tried lifting his tail a bit closer to the ledge of the track for his human to grab onto. His rider's safety was far more important to him than his own.

Artha was grateful that Beau had the White Rappling gear equipped. Heck, he was the only in the group here now who had Rappling gear. He pressed a button on one of the saddle handles and activated the gear. A white, metal claw shot out and latched onto a piece of what's left of Hyve's Ramming gear. "Pull, Beau!" Artha commanded. Beau took a step back, trying to reel in the purple dragon and his rider.

"C'mon! Let's help!" Pyrrah insisted as she grabbed hold of the cord of the rappling gear and pulled it.

Phorrj walked up next to her rider and took part of the cord carefully into her jaws to help. Khatah, Marianis, Shock-Ra and Poseidos joined in this group effort to save the two leaders of the Army of the Dragon.

Hyve tried to climb up onto the track, his legs struggling to grab hold of the ledge. He groaned as he was almost on soild ground. The others pulled harder, taking steps back as they reeled them in. Hyve then used up all his strength to pull himself all the way onto the track. The group cheered, mixed with yays and gleeful roars.

Wulph let go of his dragon's tail and walked to his friend. He patted Hyve's head as the dragon panted, worn out and shaken all over."Thank you, Artha,"Wulph said to him,"Beau and the rest of you...I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough!"

Pyrrah walked up to him and laid her hand on his shoulder, smiling."Aw, don't worry about, Wulph!"

"It's best for us to know that you and your dragon are alright!" Khatah said as he patted Wulph on the back.

Phorrj, Shock-Ra and Poseidos approched Hyve. The Pack-Class dragon looked scared for some reason. He was lying down, still panting and trying to be as quiet as possible.

"What's wrong?" Phorrj asked him as she nudged him.

Hyve didn't replied. He suddenly felt embarressed being around anyone now. The three dragons exchanged looks, confused.

"He's tired..."Shock-Ra said.

"Hey, Wulph?" Artha asked as he looked at the dragons gather around the injured Hyve."Is something going on with your dragon?"

Wulph looked at Hyve. There was something wrong."I...I don't know..." he said.

"Well, he's hurt pretty badly," Marianis said, concern was present in her voice."We should finish up the race and get him some help."

"Right..." Wulph said worriedly.