Chapter 17

Summary: Modern AU! The Big Four...Guardians of the World. They say that they protect they protect the world from Darkness. So where were they when it took over? Without them, we were the last line of defense if they disappeared, but even we weren't enough and we were forced into hiding. But now that time is over. It's time to fight. For our hopes. For our dreams. AND FOR OUR DRAGONS!

(A/N: Rated T for death, swearing and teenagers)

(Story Begin)

*CLING!*

*CLANG!*

*CLING!*

The sound of metal clashing metal rang throughout the training arena. Two pirate swords slammed into a sword with bandages wrapped around the hilt.

The wielder of the pirate swords was- surprisingly- a jolly man with a snow white beard and rosy red cheeks. This man is known as North. But he is commonly known as Santa Claus.

He was G.M.A.D's greatest swordsman and teaches all who wish to master sword forms. For example, he was training G.M.A.D's newest recruit, Shawn Kaijira.

And right now, he was getting beaten.

Shawn crashes into the ground with a grunt before flipping back to his feet. But before he could move, North was already on top of him.

Letting his instincts fill his body with adrenaline, he raises his blade to block the double strike. Countering, Shawn parries the pirate swords to the side before shoulder rushing into to North's balloon gut.

That proved to be useless as the old Guardian simply 'belly bumping' him away. Shawn soars through the air before flipping himself right and quickly landing on an invisible platform he purposely made a few feet off the ground.

North gave a booming laughter, "Excellent! Excellent! HAHAHAHA! Your body's reacting much quicker without your Dragon's Eye!"

Shawn simply sighs, "Yeah, I guess"

"What's wrong" North asked.

"No" he lies.

"Dude, are you seriously trying to lie in front of Santa Claus?" Magnus asked as he and Dave were sparing.

"The Loki Spawn's right" Dave agrees as he throws knives at Magnus. The blue clad Guardian twists his staff and deflected all of them before spinning around in a full circle and balances the staff on his shoulders.

Out of one end, a lightning bolt shot out, hitting the dragon trainer square in the chest. Dave was sent sprawling into the ground.

"Lying to Father Claus is like lying to lie detector" Dave continues as he got up from the ground and dusted himself off, "you lie and you'll be in for a shock alright"

"Now tell me what is wrong" North asked concern.

"Well...I was thinking about getting a dragon" Shawn says.

Magnus looks at Dave with an unreadable expression, "Is that really a good idea? For as long as I can remember, dragon's were always violent around Shawn"

"But you've only know him for a week" Dave says, "how could you know?"

"Well Spike nearly killed him when I asked him to test him"

"Whispering Deaths are dangerous, ya know"

"A Night Flame nearly barbecued him at his grandfather's house"

"If somebody pulled a sword out of your abdomen, wouldn't you want to barbecue them?"

"The first day he got here, he was crushed by Spike and Thane"

"It was your fault for tripping me"

"And on that same day, Stripes put him in a three day coma"

"...Stripes would do that to anyone Rebel meets"

"Let's not forget about the dragons going crazy the other day"

"Dragons are dragons"

"A Speed Stinger blew up your forge" Magnus depanned, "a newly born Speed Stinger the size of Nadder. That was in Shawn's bag. Blew up your forge"

"...I see your point" Dave says before turning his attention back to Shawn, "Maybe later"

"Why later?" a voice asks from atop the support beams of the ceiling. Looking up, the Guardians and saw Thoron sitting up there with Storm by his side.

"I'm pretty sure Shawn's more than capable of training a dragon" he says as he hopped down and lands right beside them, "And I've got the perfect one just for him"

"Seriously?!" The trio asked their leader.

"Walk with me"

(Line Break)

Shawn and Thoron walked through the Circle and watch people enjoy themselves. Children were chasing Night Terrors, adults were riding dragons. Heck, even some were using magic to levitate rocks.

"I can't believe I've been missing out on all this" Shawn says. Thoron smiles as he takes off his fedora and tilts his head to the clear blue sky.

"Yeah, this is amazing" Thoron says, "however, this isn't real"

Shawn looks at him with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"To them, the Circle is their home full of laughter and happiness" the leader of G.M.A.D. continues as he kicked a ball back to a group of kids, "but the truth is that this is an illusion"

"We try to make sure they don't experience the pain we've seen, the suffering we've experienced, and the deaths...we'll never forget"

Shawn didn't know what to say. He was crying like a baby when his grandfather died. But his new friends have probably been through much worse than he could ever imagine.

"I see that look in your eye, and I'm only gonna tell you this once" Thoron says seriously as he grabbed Shawn by the shirt tightly and pin him against the wall.

"Don't ever give us Guardians that look" Thoron threatened as his eyes glowed dangerously white along with his scar, "cause we hate it when someone pities us. Do you understand?"

Shawn nods his head vigorously, causing Thoron to smile and drop him as if nothing happened. He puts his fedora back on and calls over his shoulder, "Good, now let's go get you a dragon"

Shawn sweats nervously and thought, 'These guys are insane'

(Line Break)

Jokul stood at the head of a ship as his and twelve more sail across the Pacific Ocean. He looked up at the black sky and scolds slightly.

"Sir" a scientist brought Jokul back to reality, "the magic power is glowing brightest it's ever been. It must mean we're here...but there's nothing"

"Tell me something doctor" Jokul began, "do the clouds look...odd to you"

The scientist looked up and answered, "No, sir. Why?"

"A minute ago, the clouds were so dark you couldn't see anything, right?"

"Sir?"

"Well now look forward, can you see the water clearly?"

The scientist took out a pair of binoculars and looked far out to see if the water looked clear. And he was shocked to see that it did.

"What could this mean sir?" The scientist asked as he turned to the asset, only to find that he wasn't there, "sir?"

(Line Breaks)

Jokul places a hand on the cylinder holding the piece of Random's magic power.

"A piece always wants to be whole" he said before punching the glass, shattering it. From the container came a flaming orange wisp.

Then suddenly, it tried to zoom off. However, a black rope made of black sand caught it. Jokul was surprised that he was slowly getting dragged by the wisp.

With a grunt, he creates chains made of black sand and wraps it around the ships. He then connected the rope and chain together and let the wisp pull all the ships.

"A piece always wants to be whole" the asset repeats, "and it will do anything to be whole again"

(Line Break)

"Incredible " Shawn whispers as he watches dragons fly around a the cave he and Thoron was in. Dragons of all classes, colors, shapes and sizes flying in harmony in such a small space.

"Oh this is nothing" Thoron says as he flipped a switch. The sound of machine works rang in Shawn's ears and the roof of the cave opens up like a blossom blooming in spring.

The dragons roared and flew out of the once concealed cave. Thoron tips his fedora and says "Good luck!"

Shawn blinked a we times, "Wait, what?" But before he could get an answer, he grabbed on to a Nadder's tail and took off with the rest of the dragons.

A growl was heard from behind Shawn, making him tense up. Turning slowly, he was met with a familiar pair of burning red, reptilian slit eyes. Shawn backed up slowly, accidentally tripping over a bucket of water. The said bucket of water flew in the air and landed on his head, drenching him and his clothes.

The dragon gave a warbled laugh, making Shawn grit his teeth in annoyance. Looking around, he grabbed another bucket of water and pours the water on the Speed Stinger.

The grey speedster gave an evil chuckle as the dragon stopped laughing. Grabbing the bucket, he smashes of on Shawn's head, breaking it in the process.

Shawn wines comically and rubs head before smashing a bucket on the dragons head. The dragon whines the same way. The two clash heads in comedic rage before they attacked one another.

(Line Break)

Meanwhile, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout sat on the beach, watching the artificial sun set.

"Hey guys" Tuffnut started, "do you ever notice why the new kid's flames are grey and not any other color?"

"Who cares?!" Snotlout exclaimed, "his flames can't even burn anything"

"Yeah, but he still manage to knock you on your ass" Ruffnut chuckles evilly as her twin joins in. Snotlout huffs in annoyance, "His flames are useless! If I actually see his flames burn anything, then I will personally eat my own helmet!"

*BOOOOOOMMMM!*

The entire Circle shook, forcing everyone to stop what they were doing and look to the sky. Dave and Magnus stoppers sparing, Magic, Silver and Shira looked up from their books, Rocks and Rebel looked from playing with children, and Thoron, Midnight, Astrid and Bunny looked up from patrol spots.

The citizens stopped and gasp in a mixture of shock, awe and horror as the sky literally burn away. And not just by any flames, by familiar cold grey flames.

The sky slowly became covered by a black blanket, darkening everything. People started backing away slowly as they saw multiple a fleet of ships make their way towards the beach the three trouble makers were on.

"Would you like some salt for that helmet?" Tuffnut asked his shocked friend.