DRAGON HEROES

Season finale! This story picks up from where the cliffhanger in the last one left off, and it looks like we're in for one intense fight! Hope you enjoy the first chapter, as this will be one big story of epic proportions!

Battle on Obsidian Tower

Chapter 1 – Giant Bowser Attacks

"How much farther are we from home, Draco?" asked Darky.

"I think we might be nearby the village," replied Draco. "But before we do, let's rest for a while longer. We had quite a day exploring that strange cave. That bike ride and snake pit climb sure has taken a lot out of us!"

Darky laughed as he agreed with his Charizard brother. They looked up to the sky while lying on their backs, thinking about all the good things that happened to them. With helping out so many nice, peace-loving people, thwarting the Pyre Squad's ploys, and finding all the six brooches, what could possibly ruin their happiness?

The answer to that was waiting at a nearby ledge. As they continued to enjoy their rest, Bowser readied himself to attack the unsuspecting dragons.

"I solemnly vow to obey your every command, my Queen," he droned to himself as he raised his claws.

In an instant, Darky picked up a scent, and sensed that danger was nearby.

"Draco!" he panicked. "Someone's coming, and I have a feeling that this means trouble!"

"Huh?" asked Draco in a daze. He sat up to see what Darky was distraught about, and saw the source. Bowser leapt off the ledge and started running towards the two dragons.

"It's Bowser!" they screamed in alarm. Hesitantly, yet bravely, Draco and Darky launched out fireballs that stopped the Koopa halfway on his tracks.

"Run for your life!" shouted Draco and he with Darky dashed deep into the woods, using the trees to hide. Darky could feel his heart racing as they sensed Bowser searching for them.

"Draco, I'm scared," whispered Darky, hiding behind one tree next to Draco. "I never imagined that I would afraid of Bowser."

"He's usually kind and gentle," assured Draco, quietly as he hid behind his tree. "We need to find a way to break the Dark Queen's spell that made him mean again."

"That's easy for you to say," said Darky. "He's just so big and strong!"

"And you got more to worry about!" declared a voice from behind.

Draco and Darky turned around, and to their horror, they saw the Pyre Squad. Darky squealed and tried to run, but Scorcher grabbed and gagged him.

"You guys again!" hissed Draco as they ran out to the opening.

"You've interfered in our plans for the last time, Charizard! Now give yourself up and come right here to face us or the baby dragon gets it!" threatened Ciara.

"Draco, help me!" cried Darky as he struggled to get himself free from Scorcher's clutches.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on my little brother!" shouted Draco. But at that moment, Bowser sliced the tree behind him with his claws.

"I have been commanded by my Queen to destroy Cynder's group!" growled Bowser as he raised his claw to deliver a fatal blow on the Charizard.

Just then, a fireball flew through the trees, causing Bowser to jump out of the way.

"Hang on, Draco!" called a familiar voice. "I'm coming to help you!"

"Jakkin!" called Draco, feeling happy that he has been saved. "You have arrived in the nick of time!"

Jakkin, who has already powered up with his Earth Brooch, ran over towards Draco and checked on him to make sure he was not hurt.

"Talk about a close shave," he said.

"Yeah, you got that right," agreed Draco.

"Let me deal with Bowser," said Jakkin. "He and I seem to have the same strength by now."

"Okay, but remember that we need to get him back to normal," said Draco.

Jakkin went all out against Bowser, but the Koopa pushed him through the forest and out into the opening.

"Alright, that is it!" hissed Ciara. "Say goodbye to your precious little dragon!"

But when Scorcher checked his grasp, Darky had disappeared.

"Where is that little runt?" he wondered.

"He is safe with me!" called Torden, who was also in his powered form and he had Darky close by his side.

"Darn, another one of you meddling kids!" said Cronk. "We're going to teach you to dis on the Obsidian Devourers!"

"Oh, sure, like that's going to scare me!" retorted Torden. "Get a load of this!"

Torden unleashed a lightning bolt at the Pyre Squad, but they were quick enough to dodge the attack.

"Nice try, fool!" snorted Ciara. "Are you seriously trying to zap us out of here?"

"Who do you think we are? The bumbling trio that couldn't catch a yellow rat from that cheesy anime show?" laughed Scorcher.

"Do something more original, copycat!" taunted Cronk. But Torden rammed them with a charge attack and then knocked them down with his tail.

Just when it seemed as if there was hope for winning, a black mist descended from the sky and seeped straight into Bowser. The Koopa grunted as the mist continued to enter his body.

"What's goin' on?" wondered Jakkin, but he could sense that something bad was about to happen.

Once the black mist had finished settling inside Bowser, he let out an agonising roar as he started to expand, followed by his skin and mane fading into darker colours. At last, Bowser stopped growing, and he was twice his normal size.

Jakkin flinched as the Koopa King towered before him. There was no way he would be able to beat him now as he has grown exponentially strong in that form.

"This isn't good!" exclaimed Jakkin. "Not even my powered form is strong enough for that!"

With his eyes fixed on Jakkin, Bowser let out a fully charged fire breath. Jakkin was not quick enough to dodge the attack, and the collision sent him crashing towards the cliff wall, critically damaging the Surian dragon. Then, Bowser looked to the other direction and let out another charged fire breath towards Torden.

Torden was so distracted fighting the Pyre Squad that he didn't notice the fire breath coming his way. By the time he turned around and saw the attack, it was too late. The fire breath struck Torden right in the face and he was knocked backwards, crashing right at a pile of boulders. Torden was severely hurt and unable to move.

The Pyre Squad had seen everything. "Serves you right!" they jeered at the fallen Torden.

"I command you to kill Cynder's friends, starting with the Charizard!" Queen Vildouleur ordered in Bowser's mind.

"I am your loyal servant, my Queen, and I shall obey your every command," droned Bowser as he faced Draco. "The Charizard… he must die!"

Bowser started to make his way towards Draco, who stood frozen with fear.

"Draco, you gotta get outta here right now!" shouted Jakkin as he struggled to get up.

"What about you and Torden?" Draco asked.

"Don't worry about us!" yelled Jakkin. "Hurry up! Get Darky and flee as quickly as you can!"

But Draco could not leave his friends behind. He was feeling regretful that he had to attack Bowser, but he knew that he had no other choice.

"Flamethrower!" shouted Draco as he let out his attack to stop Bowser, but it did nothing. "Oh no, that didn't work!"

Bowser was already close to Draco. The Charizard attempted to flee, but Bowser managed to grab him before he could.

"Draco!" called Jakkin, Torden, and Darky.

Draco screamed in pain as Bowser squeezed him tightly, ready to crush him at any moment. All he could do was look at his friend and mentor. Tears started to come down his eyes.

"Please, Bowser, snap out of it," sobbed Draco. "I know you're somewhere in there… You have to fight it! You have to!"

All seemed hopeless for Draco, Jakkin, Torden and Darky. Just in the nick of time, Lily appeared in her powered form, and she slammed Bowser to the ground, causing him to release Draco.

"Lily!" exclaimed Jakkin. "You made it!"

"Nobody hurts Draco as long I'm around!" declared Lily, and she helped the Charizard up who was still hurting from Bowser's tight grasp. "Are you alright, Draco?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," gasped Draco. "Thanks for saving me Lily."

Jakkin, Torden and Darky hurried to check on Draco while Lily tended to him. They were relieved that he was not injured.

"I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so, Draco," said Jakkin. "You should have fled when you had the chance!"

"You're right, I'm sorry," said Draco, feeling very ashamed.

"Hey, there's no need to apologise, buddy," said Jakkin.

"I just wanted to help you guys out while you were down," continued Draco.

"You tried your best back there, so don't beat yourself up," assured Jakkin.

"Hold on, guys, I'm coming!" called another voice.

"Over here, Percival!" shouted Torden. "We're so glad that you made it!"

In no time, Percival arrived, and he was in his powered form. He could tell by his friends' looks that they were quite beat from their fight with Bowser.

"I have the solution to how we'll be able to reverse the Dark Queen's spell," he said.

"That sounds totally killer, but how are we going to do it exactly?" asked Torden.

"The solution is right here," answered Percival as held out his Elemental Brooch.

"I don't understand it," said Torden. "While I know that our brooches have other powers aside from making us transform, what makes yours so special, Percival?"

"Blaze the Cat had spoken privately to me about this," said Percival. "It isn't called the Light Brooch for nothing, you know. It has the ability to purify anyone that has been corrupted by a spell, like mind control, for example. Now I know what Alex Brimstone meant with the bringing those exposed into the light, and it all fits with how Bowser reacted when my brooch first lit up in front of him."

"In that case, let's get you to expose Bowser to the full blast of the light!" declared Torden.

"Before I can do that, however, I will need someone to distract Bowser so he won't be able to flee like last time," said Percival.

"I'll do it," said Torden, confidently. "If that's the only chance we have to stop him, then we must do it right now!"

"Be careful, Torden!" warned Draco.

"Relax, Draco," said Jakkin. "I'll be here to protect you."

"Me too," said Lily as she stood by Draco's side.

"I'm going to stay here with you too, big brother," said Darky.

"Alright, time to do this!" exclaimed Torden, and he flew straight to Bowser. "Want to have some of us? Well, then, come and get us, you great, big bloated gasbag!" he taunted to the Koopa.

"Torden, what are ya doin'?" asked Jakkin. "Are ya nuts?"

Bowser roared furiously as he set his sights on Torden. "I must do as I am commanded!" he growled. "Come right here, you little insect! I'll crush you all!"

Torden waited for Bowser to come forward. The Koopa started to attack him with a flurry of punches, but he dodged the blows with little to no effort. This was the right moment for Torden to execute his plan.

"Now's the time, Percival!" he called.

Percival rushed towards Bowser as he continued trying to bring down Torden. He pulled out his brooch and fixed it on the Koopa. With that, the light started to shine on him. Bowser screamed in pain, but was unable to flee.

The other dragons watched anxiously at the sight. Jakkin suddenly noticed something happening to Bowser. "Look, guys!" he exclaimed as he pointed his claw for them to focus their attention on Bowser. As they did, they noticed the streams of dark mist pouring out of the Koopa's body. It was clear to them that Percival's Light Brooch powers were taking effect.

"Uh-oh," muttered the Pyre Squad. "We're losing him! Damn those miserable misfits!"

"We're right here, Pyre Squad!" called Lily. "Now we're going to show you the real power of teamwork!"

"We're dead," gulped Ciara, knowing that she and her teammates are in trouble, and even more once they face Queen Vildouleur.

Lily used her brooch to unleash a stream of water on the Pyre Squad that shot out like a cannon. The force of the water blast propelled the trio high up into the sky.

"This isn't the end, you fools!" called Ciara.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with!" called Scorcher.

"And you will find out sooner than expected!" called Cronk, and the three disappeared into the horizon. The Pyre Squad were defeated once again.

As the last of the dark mist emerged from Bowser, he started to return to his normal size and colour, and then he collapsed to the ground.

"Bowser!" cried Draco as he rushed towards the fallen Bowser. The other dragons came along with him.

"Whoa, that was bitchin'!" remarked Torden. He landed on the ground to join the rest of the group.

"Do you think he's truly back to normal?" asked Lily.

"I could only hope so," said Percival, though he was completely sure that Bowser was cured and freed from the Dark Queen's mind control.

"Bowser, say something," said Draco. He nudged Bowser's body, trying to get a response. Just then, the Koopa started to stir. The dragons backed away cautiously, hoping that Bowser will not attack.

"Ohhhhhhh," he groaned in his normal voice. "Where am I? What happened?"

"Bowser, you're back!" exclaimed Draco, and he hugged the big Koopa. He could see that his eyes no longer had black outlines and the pupils have reappeared.

"Draco," smiled Bowser as he hugged back, drawing Draco closer to him. "I'm here, my sweet Charizard."

"I missed you so much," whimpered Draco. He was so happy that he could feel the tears coming back. Darky joined in with Draco to hug Bowser as well. Even he was overwhelmed with tears of joy as he happily embraced his bigger brother.

The other dragons sighed in relief that they were not in danger for now. Percival was especially feeling very pleased that his Light Brooch's purification powers have worked after all. They watched as Draco and Darky hugged Bowser tightly.

"Still, I wonder what the Pyre Squad meant about who we'll be dealing with," said Lily.

"I think they were referrin' to the Dark Queen," replied Jakkin. "So we should be prepared for when the time comes for us to confront her."

Author's Note: Bowser's back to his good self! However, as the Pyre Squad warned our heroes about what they'll be up against, this is certainly the beginning of what is to come as the story progresses!