A/N: So, this was originally going to be part of one longer chapter, but this was as far as I have written on it and since I'm not sure how long exactly the next chapter will take, I've decided to post what I have now. It's short, compared to other chapters. Chapter after this will contain all the real excitement. :P

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Booster.

Preparations

His words were the chill that settled itself now permanently on Artha's back, slowly growing with every word he uttered. Never once did Word Paynn's face take on a different expression than that of his triumphant smirk or his eyes, burning with revelry at their failure. So many years had passed, and in those years lay the feelings of success for every day that they had remained hidden from the Paynn Empire; not so anymore.

"I might have congratulated you for staying hidden from me for so long, if I had not considered it the greatest display of cowardice that I have ever seen."

The dragons bristled at the insult as the humans frowned and glared at the screen. Connor, the only one who had watched it in its entirety, sat silent in his seat, listening to the words and feeling the rising tension in the room, yet never looking at the screen. He watched his eldest son, a look of sorrow and fear on his face.

Artha had his eyes fixed on the screen. Word…he looked like Word. He looked like he did exactly fifteen years ago. Artha couldn't see a hint of change on his features, and that realization alone pummeled away at his courage. What had Word done to himself? How powerful was he? Artha had only seen the wraiths, but images of what else he might have been able to come up with flowed through his mind. What if the wraiths were only the beginning of the legacy of the Paynn Empire? Word had defeated the Shadow Booster, the other boosters, the Dragon Priests and kept the Prophets at bay. The villain Artha once knew was likely an entirely different monster now.

"Your so called Empire, the most pathetic excuse for a resistance if I had ever seen one, has a limited number of days remaining. Even as I speak, your outer defenses have fallen. You are surrounded, and I am most eager to see your entire fledgling of an army burn, along with every citizen that you harbor who does not turn and swear fealty to me."

Artha couldn't believe what he was hearing and his anger intensified by the second. How he hated Word. He looked to his left and his right, to see the looks on his friend's faces, for the absolute anger he was sure to see. Kitt was leaning back with her hands latched onto the arms of the chair in a death grip. Artha could easily imagine worry for Hohp running through her mind. Kitt looked determined, and what Artha had learned about her in the past week was that she never had lost her will to win. If this coming battle turned as ugly as Artha feared it would, Kitt would die, whether in protecting Hohp or simply because Word couldn't afford to have any booster left alive. Parm, on the other hand, appeared pensive and deep in thought.

"Take my word for it, you will all die. But," Word announced, holding up one clawed finger, "only if I wish it. You see, I am in a good mood. And I believe a deal can be made."

"Unlikely," a voice muttered in the room. Artha agreed. He already knew what Word wanted.

Word leaned in closer to the screen. "I will let all of you go, completely free to go wherever you wish, provided my conditions are met. One: Mortis, you will come to the West gate alone and give yourself up peacefully. And two, the last condition: The Dragon of Legend comes to the North gate and gives himself up as well. Everyone else, including those other boosters and Dragon Priests with you, are free to go. My troops will leave with nary a dent in your walls. And yes, Dragon Booster, you are free to go as well. You see, I don't need you. Only Beaucephallus."

"Scales," Artha breathed in utter anger, clenching his fists.

"Meet these two simple requirements, and everyone else lives. As I'm sure, your first thought is to defy my requests and attempt to fight your way out. But, I can assure you, that is impossible. You may boast three boosters and quite a few competent fighters, and I'm sure that you will, in the long run, offer a challenging battle. But you must consider this - you have women and children in there as well. Can you really afford to fight me? I will tear your walls down, and every single person my wraiths come across will be shown no mercy whatsoever. You cannot hope to save them all, and their blood will be on your hands." Word's voice turned to mocking as he finished. "And I'm sure none of you want that."

"If by any chance you keep me out of your city, I will starve you out. If you choose an offensive stance I will destroy you. If you choose defensive you will all die painfully and slowly. If you choose to give up Mortis and Beau, you all live. Think about it carefully. I attack in one hour if these conditions are not met."

When the screen turned off, the room was silent for a moment before it erupted. No voice argued upon what course of action to take, they all vented their anger, fears and suspicions. Artha looked down at the table. Had he led Word here?

Connor, having enough of the yelling, stood up. "Enough. Enough!" he shouted and waited until everyone fell silent. The dragons rumbled their voices in the background. One red dragon spoke, and all the dragons listened carefully, while all the humans waited for a translation.

"Speede wonders how Word has found us, and if that way, whatever it is, can prove to be an obstacle for us in the coming hours," Connor explained.

Artha sat rooted to his seat, realizing that right now they were possibly deciding their own deaths. He felt sick and wished that war wasn't this hard, or this agonizing. His heart thumped away in his chest, the knowledge of what was to come surging through his veins and injecting growing fear.

Artha heard someone clear their throat, and looked at the end of the table nearly directly across from Connor. Staind stood up slowly, looking very guilty, voice wobbling slightly.

"We all know that, other than the scouts, no one has ventured outside the city. All our spies, as I'm told, are completely trustworthy."

A woman to the left of Connor nodded her head. "We know that since their last update with us their missions have been going well. Their last communications, going with the hypothesis that they have been captured since then, does not allow Word enough time to fully organize his troops and travel to us. I find it doubtful that they have disclosed our location, whether by torture from capture or from willing betrayal. Either way, it is improbable."

"Our spies," Parm said to Artha, "were all sent out on their missions with complete trust. Connor would not have let any of them go if he didn't trust them with his life or believe that their skills were inadequate." Then Parm spoke louder. "It is also doubtful that our scouts or outer patrols have disclosed our location as well. When they stopped contacting us is when Word was already enroute. He knew about this from another source."

"And that is where I believe that…I am at fault," Staind replied, shaking his head slightly. "My party was the last and only other group to leave this city when we rescued our fellow member and found the Dragon Booster. I think that we may have been followed somehow."

"Somehow indeed," Thruust mused. "You left the Dragon Eye camp through teleportation gear, and unless the Dragon Eyes had their own gear close at hand to analyze the leftover wavelengths from your trip, it's impossible that they followed you from that way."

Artha sighed as he sensed what was coming next. He knew he was right when Thruust turned to him sharply. "Dragon Booster, have-"

"You can stop right there," Kitt snapped. "Don't go blaming Artha because you don't like him."

Thruust looked affronted at the accusation and Artha knew it was a façade. "I only intended to ask him whether he's had a run in with the Paynn Empire before. Perhaps it's possible he was recognized and followed closely. It isn't that much of a stretch to suppose that Word has been working on a way to detect teleportation more efficiently."

Artha bit his lower lip. Had Word seen the video the wraith might have recorded when he saw him? What if he did? Did he lead him here? The very notion that he had done just that hadn't been more real or seemed so plausible then it did right now.

"Artha?" Connor inquired when he didn't defend himself.

"I…uh," Artha stammered, to ashamed to say anything further, or even the dreaded yes.

Thruust grunted. "Perhaps he did? Is it possible?"

Artha lowered his head. "Maybe."

"Maybe," Thruust echoed, making the one word sound so ridiculous and cowardly.

"Yes, I might have," Artha asserted himself. "It's possible. But I…it was an accident. I had just left the track, I didn't know what happened, and I had no idea it would be so important that I didn't let them see me."

Thruust's mouth twitched in annoyance at what he surely considered Artha's ineptness. Connor chimed in with the blessed voice of calm and reason. "Can you be so confident that you would have done differently, Thruust? We stand here now in a time when we need to band together, not point fingers. There was no intention for Word to find us or to bring down this empire. We need to discuss our course of action." And as Connor predicted, the room became full with the various opinions of both human and dragon.

"We can't let you go; you know Word has wanted to capture you for a long time! It's suicide!"

"We can't lose another booster!"

"But he'll destroy us!"

"We can fight!"

"We won't last long against Word!"

"Silence, silence! We'll use the tunnel!"

Everyone quieted down as Parm closed his mouth and continued in a softer voice. "There's a tunnel in case of such circumstances such as this. Reports say, that as far as we can tell, Word has brought enough wraiths so that a victory through fighting isn't realistic. Word isn't lying; if he doesn't kill us on the battle field he'll kill us by starving us out, if he doesn't overrun our walls first. "

"Parmon's right, we need to evacuate the city," Kitt said, looking for anyone who disagreed.

As Artha listened he was glad that a shred of hope was still left, but worried that something would inevitably go wrong. Connor nodded, having already come to the same conclusion. "It's our only chance. We'll have our elite fighters guarding our walls to keep Word at bay long enough for us to escape. Everyone needs to pack what they can and head to the storage bay besides the armory; the tunnel entrance is in the basement."

Thruust had been rubbing his chin as he listened, no doubt looking for holes in the plan. "If Word is impatient enough he'll attack recklessly and simply storm over our walls and drown us in his wraiths. However since he wants Connor and the Dragon of Legend, alive if my guess is correct, he'll need some organization and control to avoid the accident of killing them. We all know Word is extremely confident in his power and he likes to get exactly what he wants. I think that Word will restrain himself in attacking so he can decide the best way to get Connor, and that will give us enough time to get everyone out. And hopefully by the time he realizes our plan, we'll already be gone."

"In case excitement overrides his reason, we all need to assume the worst and prepare for it," Connor said, clenching his fists at the thought of facing his former friend again. The years of war, death and hatred between them had extinguished whatever bit of nostalgic thoughts they had towards each other. When you were each responsible for killing each other's sons, then as Connor knew, there was nothing but hatred between them now. Relief about Artha almost caused him to smile before he realized that he could still lose him so very easily, and that Word might want to finish what he should've done a long time ago. Artha wasn't safe.

"Connor, you need to stay out of sight," Kitt's voice broke into his musings. "If Word sees you he'll jump at the chance to capture you. The last thing we need is to entice him to attack quicker." Connor nodded without verbally answering, his silence relaying his frustration at the turn of events.

As the conversation quickly decided the battle plans, diversions and evacuations, Artha sat rigidly. In his mind he had caused the war, and he was just beginning to deal with that, to accept it and do whatever it took to right it. But being the reason for destroying what Connor and the others had so painstakingly built all these years…. Artha sighed and rested his elbow on the table with his head in his hand. He couldn't deal with that. All he had done so far was mess everything up. That thought ate away inside him, kept him up at night, and now wouldn't stop whispering in his ear. He was the cause of all their problems.

Kitt sighed and looked at the clock, the usually friendly and familiar clock, the one thing that could be counted on. But today it counted down their lives, and Kitt wondered what time it would be when she died, or when Parm died, or Hohp, or Artha. Word was attacking the city, the one place they were safe. No matter how many battles she had been in, the onset always took a strangling hold on her, smothering out everything except the consequences should she fail. She clenched her teeth and this time, like all the others, she steeled herself for the fight, to do what the others wouldn't and to save those she loved. But now…now there was hope. She glanced beside herself to find Artha looking dejectedly at the table. She sighed. This was too much, too fast for him.

"While I hold the line with squads three, four and five, Kitt will lead the first and second, acting upon any offensive strikes as needed," Parm said, voice level as he stared hard at the map trying to decide a battle plan with as little information as they had about Word's forces to go on.

It was simple and quick. Parm and his men would hold back Word as he tried to break through their defensives. Kitt led the offensive attacks. If Word's forces proved too be too much for the walls, Kitt would rush in and break up his line. It was her job to stop Word from becoming too organized and to assist Parm's team if any of them became overrun with enemies. Because of the speed of her and her team, they were able to get around the battle field quickly, though today her strikes would be less offensive than they usually were. Defense was their strategy and the key to getting everyone out in time.

"And then what?" A man nearly yelled in exasperation, waving his hand about. "Let's say we get everyone out, a best case scenario. Then what? Word will just follow us in the tunnel."

"Not unless we blow it up," Connor said grim-faced. "The tunnel branches out into a maze a few miles in. If we blow up the tunnel before the maze begins, by the time Word manages to dig through that, if he can dig through that, he won't know which way we've gone. If he does manage to track us, we'll have used the teleportation gear and be long gone."

"And by the time he reaches that spot, the wavelengths will have faded," Parm finished with hope in his voice that needed no second thought, for by now it was a habit to strengthen the troops, whether he actually believed it or not.

The man huffed and sat back down. "If nothing goes wrong, that is."

Connor sighed. "Our only chance to evacuate everyone safely is to collapse the tunnel."

Connor turned to Thruust and gave him a responsibility that left Artha with his mouth open. "Thruust, you're in charge of that. If you see too many of his wraiths coming, then blow it up."

Artha's mouth was set in a firm line of disapproval. He stared none too friendly at Thruust, who, to his surprise, looked horrified rather than pleased at the important role he was to play. His face passed through many conflicting emotions before he stiffly nodded his head. Connor nodded back, simply trusting Thruust to do his job.

Parm leaned over to whisper in Artha's ear. "Whatever you do, don't go running around. Do exactly as you're told." In response to Parm's deadly serious tone, Artha jerked his head once in a nod. Appearing satisfied, Parm moved back into his regular sitting position, but gave Artha a deep look to drive his words home.

"Artha." Connor drew his attention with his voice. "Do what Thruust tells you. Do not go searching for a fight."

"Okay," Artha replied.

"I mean it, Artha," Connor said, "if Thruust tells you to follow everyone down the tunnel, you go without question."

"Okay Dad," Artha said, a bit miffed that he was being treated like a baby.

"Don't worry Connor," Thruust intoned. "I'll make sure he's in before the blast." Artha looked at Thruust, who made a point of not looking back when he realized Artha was staring at him.

Artha narrowed his eyebrows in dawning understanding. "You'll wait till my Dad's there too, right? I won't leave-"

Connor interrupted Artha. "You'll leave when Thruust tells you to leave."

Artha stared incredulously at his father's words. "Wha- I'm not leaving you!"

"Artha, if I'm unable to escape before the blast it means that I'm dead, gravely injured, captured or that Word has broken through, and if he has I can't allow the tunnel to remain open. The safety of everyone else comes first."

Artha opened his mouth for a rebuttal that never came. He swallowed thickly as his father now looked to him with pleading eyes. "Artha," he nearly begged, "promise me." Unable to deny his father, Artha nodded his head, but as soon as Connor looked away, Artha frowned. Was he supposed to lose his father again? He balled his hands into fists, promising himself that he wouldn't let it happen again. But he already felt helpless.

Connor looked apprehensively at the clock. "We've been here long enough; we're running short on time to organize the troops and the evacuation. If that's all I suggest we adjourn the meeting."

Chairs scrapped the floor as they were pushed back as everyone, human and dragon alike rose quickly and headed for the exit. Artha paused to look at his father, who sighed heavily and rubbed his head tiredly. Anger at being told that he would potentially be ordered to let his father die was immediately replaced by a wave of sadness as he watched him. He took a step in his direction, hand half raised and mouth half open to speak with his father, but was cut short by Thruust who planted himself firmly in Artha's way.

"There's no time, you must come with me right away," he demanded.

"In a minute." Artha gritted his teeth and tried to sidestep around Thruust.

"No," Thruust said, blocking his path once more. "Right now."

Artha glared at him. "I said-"

"Go, Artha."

Artha whipped his head up to stare at his father. "But Dad…."

Connor smiled tiredly. "Go Artha, we need all the help we can get to guide people into the tunnel while everyone else is preparing for battle. I'll…I'll see you soon."

"Promise?"

Connor paused, mouth half open, clearly wanting to say yes, but terrible reality forcing him to reconsider that option. "I…I promise to do my best, Artha. I'll do whatever it takes to get myself, Parm and Kitt into that tunnel. Now go," Connor finished with a resigned sigh. "There is plenty to do."

"Alright," Artha said glumly, having no other option except to take his father's word. "…see you later Dad."

Connor's comm-link then buzzed and Artha let Thruust lead him away. Relax, Artha told himself. Connor's fought before and so have the others. He wouldn't leave him again.

Artha quickened his pace as Thruust nearly began dragging him along. Sparing Artha only a short look of exasperation, Thruust powered forward, just short of breaking into a sprint.

"You'll need to go and tell everyone of the plan. We can't risk telling everyone by comm-link and have Word intercept it. We've got less than half an hour. I'll head over to the medical and south districts and get everyone there organized. Sylence will get the tunnel opening ready. I want you to go to the north and warn everyone there. Keep them calm."

Artha nodded as he trailed Thruust, noting that the north district was where all the housing and stables were located.

Artha nearly ran into Thruust as he suddenly stopped walking and turned to face him. Regaining his slightly lost balance, Artha was surprised to see Thruust looking a little hesitant.

"Listen, Artha, I…I promised Connor not to let anything happen to you. When our hour is up and Word realizes that we don't intend on giving him what he wants, you get to the tunnel straight away. I don't care if you still have people and dragons to warn, you'll need to find someone else to do that for you. You need to go to the tunnel and stay there. I'll try my best to keep an eye on Connor." At the hopeful and brightening look on Artha's initially confused face, Thruust corrected himself. "Not for you, but it's because Connor is…he's a great leader and I respect him." Artha had the notion that Thruust had been going to say something else, but let it slide.

"But what about the bomb? If you're looking after my father…."

"I can detonate the bomb remotely if it comes to that. When I notice that the wraiths are getting too much to handle, even if Word's forces aren't quite at the point when I would consider detonation, I'll warn Connor ahead of time to make sure he gets into that tunnel. He's our leader and we can't afford to lose anything further." Thruust finished by turning his head from Artha, and Artha knew that he meant the city.

"I just thought I'd let you know," Thruust finished somewhat awkwardly.

Artha smiled. "Thanks Thruust." Thruust merely harrumphed and strode away.

Artha headed in a different direction, already searching for Beau, but paused when he heard Thruust's voice call after him in one last piece of advice and warning. "Just get to the tunnel when the hour is up!"

When Artha turned around, Thruust had already hurried away and Artha knew it was about time he did the same. He strode forward to the north, knowing that Beau would probably be near the large stables there talking with the other dragons.

He smelt it before he heard it. Artha nearly covered his nose at the sudden waft of the smell of something burning. He glanced around, wondering if a building had caught on fire. Though draconium was the dominating materials used for construction, there was still a considerable amount of wood in use. Seeing nothing in his vicinity he grew steadily more confused as the smell grew stronger. Then he heard it.

He heard the roar of the fire as it snapped and cackled, and seconds later he saw where it was. Thick, black smoke was billowing over the walls. Artha stood and watched horrified as flames leapt up meters higher than the wall itself, a testament to its size. Ash and bits of burning debris floating down around him as the massive fire raged on, the wind carrying the smoke right into the city and blotting out the sun. Artha closed his stinging eyes tightly and blindly ran to the north doing his best not to run into anybody. He ignored the shouts of people as they looked for water.

Finding a little relief behind a building he coughed into his arm. Did Word plan to burn them out? No, the hour wasn't up yet. Artha shook his head, took as deep a breath as he could manage and ventured out once again, nearly blind. Looking back on it he would realize that it had been quite stupid of him to do so, considering just how many dragons thundered inches by him.

But he had to get to Beau, and that one thought remained in the forefront of his mind as he raced on.

Slamming his hand hard against the saddle on Abanddonn, Drakkus narrowed his eyes at the VIDDscreen before him, clearly more than a little displeased. "You…are….,"

Skin eyed him angrily as she snarled at him. "Had you told me who this kid was exactly, this-"

"Enough!" Drakkus shouted. "Do not blame your incompetence on me! Had you done your job the Dragon Booster would be in my clutches right now! Instead you had to make a deal behind my back and make things more complicated."

Skin's visible eye widened. "I never would have made that deal with the Shadow Booster had I known that child was the Dragon Booster."

"And now he knows," Drakkus bemoaned as he pressed a hand to his helmet in a subconscious effort to massage his temples.

"Well," Skin sniffed. "You should be able to get him now. Of course, if you can…."

Drakkus growled and shut of his VIDDscreen. As useful as Skin was, sometimes she was infuriating. He let his eyes rove over his army, the very dark purple colours meshing together in a sea of glinting black, dotted here and there by the yellow eyes of the possessed. They stretched around the city now in incredible numbers. Looking behind himself he could see others still coming from the direction in which his teleportation gear lay. This was one battle he wasn't skimping on wraiths for.

He shifted himself on his dragon as they began to move forward, lumbering slowly in no hurry. Abanddonn stopped, crunching charred trees under his foot and raising clouds of ash causing the wraiths closest to him to sneeze and cough. He surveyed the damage.

The fire had been put out quickly, and the last of the wraiths carrying his special foam for just that purpose were leaving the burnt area. Trees had been growing in thick bunches twenty meters from the wall. If one did not breach that wall of trees, the city was easily overlooked. For the twenty meters between the trees and the city walls were fortifications, and mainly as Word discovered, traps. Deep holes covered by tarps disguised as the ground with stakes neatly arranged at the bottom. But the fire had destroyed those and left the traps now visible and their usefulness drastically lowered.

All the trees around the city were burnt to a crisp. When they went into battle, of which Word was certain of, the trees would be a hindrance to his army. For a smaller army they would have provided coverage, but with his numbers Word wanted mobility over cover. Wraiths plowed ahead, knocking the blackened stumps to the ground as they spread in formation.

The walls, impressive considering the budget this 'empire' was on, but in the grand scheme of things didn't present that great of a challenge. The challenge here was the opposing warriors, but Word had just the things for that.

Taking cover with cloaking gear they hid behind Word. He needed to look closely in order to see the faint signs that they were in fact there. Word grinned under his mask; controlled former elite racers. Just yet another battle they would prove their value in.

He looked ahead again, noticing with satisfaction the efficiency of his wraiths as they stood in their positions, bristling with malice. Mortis would be his, and if they did end up agreeing to his terms, Word would be sorely disappointed. He wanted to take it all by force, for nothing could match that feeling of raw victory.

Drakkus looked at the time and noticed that it had expired. Glancing up ahead at the Northern Gate, it remained closed. Drakkus tapped his fingers on the saddle, grinning.

He held up his hand, ready to signal the assault to begin, but lowered it when the gates moved. He was floored, and could only sit in surprise until they slowly opened all the way. Surely they hadn't even considered his terms? Then he laughed at what was revealed.

"Yes, to the…no, near the town hall! No you can't pack, you have to go now!"

Artha groaned as the more stubborn people crossed their arms and demanded explanations. Beau seemed to be having no more luck with certain dragons as they firmly stood their ground with displeased faces. However, most people had gone back in their homes to gather what they could carry, and as far as Artha could tell, the majority of them were headed on their way to the tunnel.

"Look," Artha said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you don't want to be stuck here when the battle starts. You saw the fire? It's going to be like that, except in here. You have a few minutes to grab what you can carry."

Annoyed faces coupled with tinges of uncertainty and fear finally disappeared as they left with a brisk walk. Artha sighed and looked to Beau, noting that he still had quite a few streets to warn personally, but no doubt word had spread already.

With one hand on Beau's saddle, his comm-link beeped. He sighed knowing who it would likely be. He was right.

Thruust eyed him for a moment, leaving Artha to wonder just what went through his mind. But before he could dwell on that further, Thruust's demeanor changed and he professionally stated, "The hour is up. I expect to see you here very soon. You will stay by the bay doors and keep everyone calm. I will notify you when the time comes for you to get into the tunnel." With one last look to make sure Artha understood that he was fully expected to do obey without question, Thruust terminated the connection. Artha sighed, slightly off put by how cold Thruust had been, which was to say the least, quite a difference from when they had last spoken.

Artha pulled himself into Beau's saddle, righted his helmet and glanced around. Noticing a young woman he had kept his eye on since coming here, he headed towards her. As Beau's shadow fell upon her, she stopped from directing people and looked up at Artha.

He smiled down and said in his most diplomatic voice. "Could you do me a favour? I'm supposed to be warning everybody about the uh, evacuation but I've been called to head somewhere else. Could you handle everything around here? Maybe get some other people to help you out?"

"Oh sure, no problem," she said with a strong voice, but the anxiety growing on her face left Artha with a bad feeling.

"Thanks," he said. Beau gave her a smile as realization dawned on her face of who she had just met.

Artha tore his gaze from her and stared down the street towards his destination as Beau galloped along. She had looked so surprised and so…amazed, and it sickened Artha to think that it was directed at him. How many times in Dragon City had he reveled in those expressions, in the looks and words given to him directly and indirectly? But now, more than ever before, he felt undeserving of it. He had told himself days ago that he would become the hero this world needed and fix his mistakes, but leaving like a coward when thousands of innocent lives were being threatened? Riding past them as they walked or rode, knowing that if it came down to fleeing or staying to the bitter end to protect everyone, that he would be in the tunnel, hiding. He felt like he was abandoning everyone.

The giant crowd slowly, that slowly moved forward into the storage bay came into view after a long, quiet ride. Artha gripped the saddle's handles with renewed tension as he let his gaze wander from the yawning gap of the large doors to the skyline beyond the distant walls, praying that everyone would come through all right.

Elsewhere, the battle was just beginning.

A/N: Just to clarify, everyone including Word knows that Parm is the Power Booster, Kitt is the Fire Booster, Lance is the Energy Booster and Connor is Mortis. Likewise everyone knows that Word is Drakkus. The only person with a secret identity is the Shadow Booster, whom no one knows who he really is.

And as always feel free to tell what you don't like about my story or writing. ;) Only way I'll get better. lol