I'm not owner of the personages of Dragon Booster, this fics was written in order to offer awhile of diversion. Some words (Like which they appear in the vocabulary section) are invented by me or some one else whose allowed me use them. Every similitude with a real word is a coincidence.

OPPOSITE FACTIONS

By

Airshadow

CHAPTER II

DECLARING THE WAR

"I'm very sorry that you have to go back to Draconia City," said Silvanna. "I'll miss you very much."

"Business calls, little sis," replied Sehanmus "Still I can't understand why you have to study here in Dragon City. Draconia City University is excellent. And why did you have to choose that career?"

Silvanna watched her brother who was seated on a sofa in the living room of her luxurious apartment. It wasn't a secret that the Diamath siblings were very close, in spite of their different nature. Several painful events in their childhood had only helped to unite them still more. But even so, it was a little difficult to be agreeable with Sehanmus. He didn't understand much outside the business world, nor did he wish to.

Rain stroked the window of Silvanna's apartment. She had done a magnificent job with the decoration: simply styled furniture, excellent illumination, which together with the terrace and her flowerpots and plants, created harmony for the senses.

The apartment building was located in one of the more exclusive zones of the city, and consisted of several floors where the well-off inhabitants could enjoy the best views of Sun City. Only the most powerful of them had terraces and ample hanging gardens that delighted their sight. When viewed from a distance, the gardens appeared to form a helix with inclined vanes.

Silvanna Diamath was one of those privileged people. Her apartment consisted of two quite ample levels. The second floor was the apartment itself, and the dragon stables as well as a hanging garden were on the first floor. As the building was near the edge of the residential zone, Silvanna could see the main highway that connected Sun City with Mid City from the second level balcony.

But it wasn't only due to the location that the place had been chosen. Several years ago the building had been the powerful Diamath family's official residence in Dragon City. The Diamath siblings and their closest and faithful collaborators knew the building's layout, secret passages and the hidden rooms. The renovations it had undergone when it became the home of several other prominent families after Adabert Diamath had left had not altered much of its underlying structure.

"You know, I'm not happy when I think that I'll be leaving you alone in this city with that hypocrite Paynn," said Sehanmus at last.

"I am sure that to him I'm not worthy of his attention," replied Silvanna remembering the invitation to dinner they had accepted from Word Paynn several days ago. "After all, I don't represent the majority of Diamath Corp."

"Then already you have gotten the attention of somebody in less than two weeks here, little sis," said Sehanmus with an amused smile as he watched the efficient Elsie, with her usual hair style and her usual gray clothes, enter the room with an enormous bouquet of roses.

"Aren't they beautiful!" said a delighted Silvanna as she walked towards Elsie and took the bouquet to smell the roses. "Who sent them, Elsie? Wulph? Khatah?"

"In fact," answered Elsie whose tone showed that the reply was difficult to say, "Moordryd Paynn sent them."

"WHAT? DISGUSTING!"

A pile of roses fell on the elegant blue carpet with an orange old style dragon design. Sehanmus couldn't avoid an outburst of laughter while Silvanna watched him reproachfully.

"What's the matter, little sis? Do you reject another peace offering from Moordryd?" said the boy still laughing, while Elsie gathered the roses without showing emotion. "He will feel very offended."

"Moordryd is so hypocritical, just like his father! And you know it!" replied Silvanna. "He's a worm!"

"Excuse me, Silvanna," interrupted Elsie, "Where do you wish me to place the flowers?"

"Where I always put the things that Moordryd sends, Elsie," answered a calmer Silvanna. "In the garbage can."

"By the way," added Elsie before she left the room with the flowers, "Ghemins has reported in."

"Thanks Elsie. Could you ask Jhanus to be ready for the race coming up in three days?"

"I will," answered the girl as she left the room.

"Remember Silvanna, come back and visit me often in Draconia City," said Sehanmus, who would begin his return journey in a few hours. "I will be back in to Dragon City from time to time in order to supervise my projects. You already know that my objective is to get rid the senior Worm as quickly as possible."

"And will your plans also include getting rid of Worm junior as well?"

"Obviously. Although, on second thought, he could be useful at the start. You know what I mean. Just use the feminine touch: You convince him to help us and whenthe time comes he will also be destroyed."

"Don't even dream it. I consider that too down and dirty."

"As you wish… But, I think it would be a good idea to get aid, don't you?"

"It's not a problem, Word Paynn has many powerful enemies. And we have a list of them, thanks to the smart and precise Rhamius."

"That pleases me, particularly his intelligence. I can't stand idiots" answered Sehanmus. "What does Rhamius have for us?"

Silvanna took a mini compact disc and inserted it in a spherical device that was on a small table in front of her. After she pushed a button a feminine voice said "Projector, activated". The lights turned off and a series of images, some of them in motion and others still, appeared on a nearby screen as Silvanna pressed another button.

"Word Paynn's list of enemies, according to Rhamius's observations," said Silvanna. "At the top of the list is The Dragon Booster. Everyone in Dragon City knows that he has prevented several potential catastrophes. And it's rumored that Paynn was behind them."

"He can be useful." Sehanmus smiled scornfully. "I guess that he won't be very difficult to convince. Guys with delusions of heroics will do anything, no matter how stupid, if you just convince them."

"Next one: Kawake," added Silvanna. "Gossip says that Daddy Paynn irritated the Will of the Dragon Crew in general and particularly Kawake."

"Bad to the bone, Paynn easily makes enemies. It will be effortless to find allies, the problem is that we have a lot of people to choose from."

"And it's getting better. Do you remember the Down City Council leader, Phistus the powerful?"

"He may be powerful, but not very smart, what's up with him?"

"The junior Worm challenged him to a joust for the Down City council's control, and he won with a little aid of the Wraith Dragons. The good news was that he was discovered cheating and the bet was nullified. Most suspicious of all is that those wraith dragons don't bother the Dragon Eye Crew."

"Which is led by Worm junior, right?"

"Right."

"Good," exclaimed a pleased Sehanmus "That's a lot of raw material for us to work with. Anything more?"

"Well... Apparently, there is a racer who has clear resentment against Moordryd," Silvanna said, hesitating a little before she pressed the gadget again to display a picture of Artha Penn riding Beau. "And it's personal, if you like…"

"We don't have time for childish things, Silvanna," replied Sehanmus, a little annoyed as he watched Artha's picture. "This is a very important project and it's time to act seriously. More over, how could this looser help us?"

"Sehanmus, I..." said Silvanna vacillating while she turned off the projector and the lights came on. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea. The situation is very tense, if something goes wrong many innocents will suffer. Another war could start. It could be more terrible than the one three thousand years ago."

"Ah! My sweet, tender and ingenious little sis!" said amused Sehanmus while he burst out laughing. "We are in a business war! Paynn Inc. versus Diamath Corp. And you should remember that the big dragon eats the smaller one. But don't be afraid, I will not unleash another war; only Paynn and his son will be the ones that will suffer." Sehanmus fixed his gaze on his sister and added in his most charming and persuasive tones, "I promise you, little sis, that nobody beside them will be hurt."

Silvanna wasn't very convinced.

------------------------- o0o -------------------------

Cain left the exclusive residential zone where Silvanna lived, his mission was fulfilled and now he had to meet with Moordryd, who waited in the highway that lead to the Word Paynn's citadel. Both of them began to ride towards Paynn's citadel.

"So?" said the young Paynn.

"They received the little gift," answered Cain "What are you trying to do, Moordryd? Have a date with Miss Congeniality?"

"Not exactly," the boy responded. "You could say that I want to manipulate Miss Congeniality and the present situation to my favor."

"Remember that your father told you to leave the Diamaths alone... For now, at least."

Moordryd laughed in a sinister way, and when he could control himself said, "Oh! Just think! She knows many secrets of the company and with a little manipulation and kindness; it'll be as if I had those secrets in my hands. And my father would be proud of me."

"But, what if things go wrong..."

"What can go wrong? Silly-vanna isn't smart."

"Every time that you say 'What can go wrong' it's a guarantee that it will go wrong."