Chapter 2: Some New and Old Rivals

Note: I do not own ADJL. However, the characters not staged in the show, are my imagination. :)

The next morning, Jake Long woke up super early, early for him being on vacation, and packed up. He grabbed a whole closet full of red jackets and half pants half shorts shorts. He had told his mother about the competition, just so she would know where he was at. However, he had to tell his dad he was going on a trip with his grandpa to…Canada. Which him being so gullible, he believed.

After he was done packing, he walked over to his Grandpa's shop. When he walked in, he looked over to see Gramps meditating, waiting for his grandson.

Aylonn was right there, and approached Jake. "American Dragon, are you ready?" he asked. Jake nodded his head. He then handed Jake an orb that was grey. He touched the orb, and it started to glow. "Take this. Press it when your ready, it will take you right to your destination. I will meet you, when you arrive." He said, and left the shop.

Jake walked over to his grandpa, and saw Fu dog coming out of the room, holding a bag in his mouth. "Fu, you comin' too?"

"Yeah… as an animal guardian, it is my duty to watch over you guys." Fu dog lied. "And… Gramps doesn't trust me alone with the shop." He laughed.

"You ready G?" he dropped his things and woke his grandpa from his trans. Gramps nodded his head. Jake held up the orb, "So how does this thingy work?" Jake looked around the orb to find it had no button to press.

"These are voyage orbs, used to travel long distances. You just hold it up in the air, and squeeze it really tight. But I'm warning yah, the first time I used one of these babies… let's just say you could see the chili dog I hate earlier that day…" Fu dog joked.

The group grabbed their things, and got ready to leave. Jake held the orb in the air, and squeezed it tight. Suddenly, a giant bubble appeared below their feet. It picked up the group, and lifted them away into the air. Jake looked down, at the world below them.

He then looked over at his Grandpa, who hadn't said a word to him since his arrival. "You okay?"

"I just don't know, if you're strong enough for this competition," he shifted his head down.

"With these mad skills? Come on Gramps," Jake made a pose.

Lao Shi lifted his head back up. Actually, Jake was right. "But I have great faith in you young dragon. You have been through a lot, more than most dragons have done in a lifetime. You have faced the Dark Dragon twice, and survived. And defeated the Huntsclan, you are a great warrior grandson." But his, appreciation disappeared. "But from now on, we have to work twice as hard on your dragon training, just to get you to the level of most of these dragons…"

"So what is this, competition anyways?" Jake wondered, as he was clueless about what he was just about to get himself into.

"It's the World Dragon Games, WDG for short." Fu dog explained to Jake. "It's an ancient competition between dragons below the age of 25. Every 6 years, 6 young dragons from each part of the country are selected to take part in it. They compete against each other in 4 dangerously hard tasks, to see who the best is and to gain respect to their continent."

"That's it?" Jake's jaw dropped. "No cash, no prizes!"

"Kid, this competition is more for respect."

"Awww man," Jake's hopes had been put down. Jake had still one more question to ask though. "But who are those dudes… you know Aylonn and his crew?"

This time, Master Lao Shi could answer this question. "Aylonn, Querdis, and Bailatic are ancient brothers. The three were born just after the world was born. Each holds powerful magic, one equivalent to a god. They used their powers to create their own planets. No one knows much about them, and it is still a question to why they started these games 1000 years ago."

A few hours later, the bubble starts to flow over a giant planet. This planet looked mostly deserted. The whole planet was clear; through the ground you could see the solar system below.

The bubble popped, and the group landed onto this planet. "What is this place?" Jake wondered.

"This is the planet Triraia, the planet Aylonn created." Fu added.

Suddenly out of know where, Aylonn came toward the group. "Ahh American Dragon, I've been waiting your arrival." He spoke. "Right on time too, the preliminaries start in 30 minutes. Here is you're the hotel you will be staying at," he pointed to an empty lot of land. With one point of his hand, a hotel appeared. "You may pick a room, and put your things there. Then please return for the opening events…" He said and then walked away from the group.

The three set into the hotel, and returned back to the platform. There, there was a giant stage with a couple of spectators waiting for the event to start. Jake went up toward the stage, when suddenly Aylonn appeared to him again.

"Onto the stage Jake. The preliminaries are just about to start." He pushed Jake onto the back of the stage. Aylonn then approached to the center of the stage, announcing over to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to honor this year's World Dragon Games!" As Aylonn spoke, his brothers translated what he said into different languages. "I am also glad to announce for the first time ever, we have 7 dragons representing our 7 continents. But for now, let's introduce your 2006 WDG competitors!" He announced. As he yelled out their names, the person walked onto the stage and stood next to Aylonn.

"Representing Asia, Kakiri the Japanese Dragon! Representing Africa, Taromo the Zambian Dragon. For Europe, we have Joris the Danish Dragon! For Antarctica, we have Hazlin, the… South Pollen Dragon. And for South America, we have Aldo the Ecuadorian Dragon!" Jake made his way by the stage, and waited for Aylonn to call his name. "And now from North America, we have Jake, the American Dragon!"

Jake looked over at his competition. A lot looked way older, and more experienced than him.

"And for the first person representing Australia, we have Fred Nerk, the… Australian Dragon!"

Jake looked over to his shoulder to see a familiar face. An old rival of his, back at Isle of Draco.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" The two simultaneously said.

"As you all know, the World Dragon Games is an anicent tradition, where 7 of the strongest young dragons are chosen to fight against each other, to win the repect of their country! The WDG is broken down into 4 tasks, each very challenging. The last dragon to be alive is the winner!" Aylonn yelled to the crowd. However, this news brought a bit of the a shock to the crowd. "-Cough, it's just a joke everyone." Aylonn smiled to the crowd. "The competitors have three more days until the first task begins, till then!" Aylonn waved to the crowd, and exited the stage.

Still from shock, Jake jumps down off the stage after the crowd disappears, and stands by his grandpa. "Gramps, what the heck is he doing here!"

"Well, we must have a dragon to represent every continent. And for the longest time, we had never had a dragon born in Australia, until Fred Nerk. Since he is the only one, it is his duty to take part here for Australia."

"You know what…" Jake looked over at Fu and gave him an evil smile, "suddenly, this vacation just got a whole lot better."

Suddenly, Aylonn walked over to Jake, who was still in the middle of the stage. "Jake, since you weren't here earlier, let me introduce you to your opponents." Aylonn signaled people to walk over as he introduced them. "This is Kakiri, age 17, the Japanese dragon."

Kakiri was a tall, very tall girl. She had long black hair, and deep black eyes. She pulled out two swords she had in the back of her backpack. Then she stared down, and looked at Jake. "This is my competition; this year keeps on getting easier and easier."

"This is Taromo, age 22, the Zambian Dragon." Taromo had one a traditional African outfit. Complete with a hat, that covered his bald head. He stared down evilly at Jake.

"Next, is Joris, age 18, the Danish Dragon." He had blue eyes, and blonde hair. He also stared down at the site of Jake.

"And here's Hazlin, age 16, the Antarctica dragon."

Hazlin was wearing a furry brown sweater. She had long brown hair, and was very tall as well. "Why is this years competition so short!?" She rudely said at to Jake.

"Aldo, age 19, the Ecuadorian Dragon." Aldo came from behind, and walked right up to Jake. He had short black hair, and brown eyes. "Hola, American Dragon. Es muy great to meet you!" He spoke, as he rapidly shook Jake's arm.

Jake gave a faint smile to him, as so far he was the only person to actually be nice to him.

"And finally, Fred-"

Jake folded his arms, "Yeah, we've met already."

"Aye Jake, this 'competition' is for mature dragons only." Fred ignorantly joked to Jake.

"They why are you in it?" Jake dissed Fred right back.

"May the best dragon win?"

"I'll be glad too…" Jake shook hands with his rival. Jake gave an evil grin as he was thinking of plans to prank Fred Nerk while on the planet. Jake turned around to see Lao Shi staring right at him. And he knew what Jake was up too…

"Jake, this is an important competition. Do not let your feud with Fred Nerk get in the way of this!" Gramps scolded him.

"Gramps please, I would never thing of doing anything such as that." Jake gave an angel smile, to his lie. Gramps rolled his eyes.

After, the three made their way to their hotel. They went in and went to sleep, as they only had three more days until the actual games start. This meant three extra long days of dragon training.

Sorry if this is long... just didn't want to half it into two chapters. :)