The Stand
I apologize for not including the part where Moordryd has the furox in the last chapter, it was already rather long and I didn't want it to be too much. So he has the furox now and plans to use it.
Please read, favorite, and review if you wish. Enjoy this chapter, thank you all so much for liking this story!
"She's certainly looking much better than last week," Gwen commented as she stood beside Prisma, checking her injuries a week later. So a total of two weeks had passed since she came into the Penn siblings' lives. Gwen was at the stables to do her daily checkup on Prisma.
Iris stood beside the pack/psi-class with a smile as she watched Gwen remove the bandages around Prisma's ankles where the chains she'd worn for her whole life had rubbed painful and sore against her dark purple scales. Thanks to the cream Gwen left for them, Iris had been rubbing it daily over the scales, then wrapping it with a bandage to keep out infection. The scales were now pretty much healed, but they would scar like the rest of her body.
"That's good to hear." Iris grinned as she patted the tri-coloured dragon's neck and Prisma leaned her head down for a pat. The two's relationship had gotten stronger as the week went by and Prisma could now safely call Iris her best friend. The two have shown each other nothing short of patience and space, which Prisma greatly appreciated.
Gwen had a good look at the rest of Prisma's wounds, declaring them mostly healed, but warned Iris about letting her overexert herself too much. "So, she can go for a run around the track?" Iris questioned, glancing at the blue track located around the outside of the stables. Gwen nodded. "So long as she doesn't overdo it, I think she should be fine." she permitted.
"You hear that, Prisma? You can go for a run." Iris said with a grin as Gwen packed up her medical supplies and put them in her bag, giving Iris some instructions to help Prisma get stronger, yet warning her not to let the dragon go too hard with herself and slowly ease into her freedom.
The teen thanked the older woman, who was happy to help out before she left with Soundwyve, bidding the two goodbyes and when she would be back to do another checkup. Iris looked at Prisma, who whuffed softly and the violet-haired girl walked out of the stall. "Want to go for a run?"
Prisma nodded her head. "Of course, I do, Iris." it was only the two of them here today as Artha was at another race with Parm and Lance. While it pained Iris that she wasn't there, it was for the best since Prisma's former owner could easily find her and try to steal her away again if she was left alone at the stables. So until she was fully healed, Iris had volunteered to stay with her.
Prisma followed her friend outside as Iris led her to the track located around the stables. Every stable in Dragon City had a track built around it for dragons to practice on for speed and skill. Opening the gate leading out onto the track, Iris held a stopwatch in her hands. "Ready to see how fast you can go without overdoing it?"
The hybrid gave a grin. "Absolutely!" she hadn't had a proper run in two weeks and was hoping for a good run. With most of her wounds doing better and the doctor permitting it while making sure she didn't overexert herself, she was ready!
"Okay. Ready, set, go!" Iris pressed the start button and Prisma took off, racing down the track as the teen looked down at the speed. Prisma closed her eyes as the wind rushed past her scales, her legs feeling a little sore from not running for two weeks. But as she rounded the first bend, her legs worked faster to bring her more speed! She let loose a roar of joy as she rounded the second corner, her footsteps loud and thumping against the steel of the track!
She arrived back at the start and skidded to a halt, breathing slightly for the run, but extremally happy from the thrill. Iris stopped the watch. "Wow, you were fast, girl. 15.4 seconds around the track. But I think with time, you can be faster." Iris said as she patted the dragon's side. "Did you want to go again?"
Prisma went another round of the track, this time a little bit faster than the first. The pair headed back to her stall where Iris made sure she hadn't overdone it with her injuries before feeding her and leaving to go eat herself.
That night, Iris walked over to Beau's stall with Lance and Parm as Artha was inside, leaning against Beau. The two had recently returned from stopping Moordryd and his crew from stealing ten dragons for Word Paynn to make into wraiths. Artha as Dragon Booster had thwarted the plan and released the dragons. Word had ordered Moordryd and his crew to retreat for the time being and both heroes had returned to the stables, exhausted.
When they had returned from the race earlier that day, Iris had told them the good news about Prisma being allowed to run again and declared the multicoloured dragon was doing so much better in regarding her injuries. Artha, Lance, and Parm were very happy for her as Beau, Cyrano, and Fracshun gave Prisma their congratulations before Artha was made aware of a dragon heist from Mortis, and the pair left to go stop the heist.
"I think it's very strange the way Moordryd and Cain just ran off without a fight. But thank the magma draconis we managed to defeat their awful plan!" Parm stated as he walked into the stall with Lance and Iris beside him.
"Yeah, well right now I've got my own plan, Parm."
Parm raised an eyebrow. "Plan? What plan?"
"I plan to sleep."
"But there's a race tomorrow! We have to practice." Parm insisted they practice for tomorrow's race.
Artha slid down Beau's side, landing on the floor with a groan. "I'm tired, Parm. The Dragon Booster's tired. No practice. No racing. Not tonight."
"He's right, Parm, he may be the Dragon Booster, but even he needs time to rest." Iris said, giving Parm a slight look that said 'Try to wake my brother and I will let you have it!'
Lance held out the vid-game he had been holding. "If we're not racing, I'm playing Battle Ground Dragon. Who's with me?" his game dragon roared.
Artha smiled tiredly. "I'll play you. In my sleep." he leaned back against Beau.
"Oh fine, everyone can just sleep and play the night away. I have work to do." Parm huffed and left the stall. Iris rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, Lance. Let's go inside, I'll play a round with you." Iris offered and Lance grinned happily at her before he dashed towards the house. Iris grabbed a blanket hanging by the door and walked over, covering Artha with it so he didn't get cold during the night.
It wasn't a shock seeing him sleep in Beau's stall, as he used to do that when he was younger and wasn't very interested in gaming till he reached 13 years old. "Good night, Artha. Beau, keep him safe." Iris said before she left the stall.
Artha blinked tiredly and his eyes closed as Beau curled himself around his rider, resting his head on Artha's lap. "I will, Iris. Good night, Artha."
Meanwhile, at the citadel, Moordryd was complaining to Word about the Dragon Booster. "What do you expect me to do Father? He's getting harder and harder for my crew to battle."
Word sat in his chair at a table. "I have a plan that will deliver me the Black and Gold dragon once and for all. It begins with the most powerful wraith dragon ever created." there were videos of Beau in his red and blue form racing and walking with Artha in different places playing on different screens.
"You mean Artha Penn's dragon?" Moordryd questioned as he watched the screen.
"Yes. He is powerful and skilled. One of the fastest dragons I have ever seen. I will turn him into my personal weapon against the Black and Gold dragon."
Moordryd studied his nails. "Hmm, the Penn brat has lots of friends and is popular on the street race circuit. Even his sister is crazy protective! That dragon would be hard to steal, even for me."
"Not if he lets me steal him." Word puts his fingers together in front of his face with a sinister grin.
At the crew racing tents the next day, Iris stood with Parm, Artha, and Lance. Two dragons screeched at each other while their riders attempted to break them up with mag-staffs. The dragons dodged their riders and head-butted each other!
Iris was at the track today and Prisma was back at the stable. Mortis had summoned her to the temple and told her she should be with Artha and the others today. She had tried to protest about leaving Prisma, but Mortis had assured her that he would watch her for the day. Iris finally relented and went to bring Prisma down to the temple so she wasn't alone.
Mortis was another human Prisma was starting to trust. Since their first meeting, she had seen him a handful of times when she went down to the temple with Iris and the gang for Artha to practice. So Iris had said that she would be back later and Prisma had whuffed gently at her, nudging her towards the elevator that would take her back up to the stables. While she had been grateful for the company, she had also wanted Iris to be by Artha's side while he was racing and not always be with her. So here she was with her team, watching a few dragons go out of control.
"Did you see that?" Artha asked, alarmed by the display of rebellion from the dragons.
Lance, however, was grinning. "Yeah! It was drac!"
Parm shook his head. "No. Not drac. Very bad."
Iris had to agree, she'd never seen dragons act out like this before with each other. "Parm's right, Lance. That is not good at all."
"The dragons are getting harder to control, Parm. Everybody's talking about it."
Another dragon roared, rearing up on its hind legs with its rider in the saddle. Iris winced at the loud noise.
"Looks like even the dragons are talking about it. I told you we should have taken the day off, Parm. These races are getting tougher than crime fighting." Artha said, facing Parm with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah, these races are your training for crime-fighting, remember?"
"Yeah, I know." Artha nodded his head in agreement. While it was hard balancing racing, looking after his brother and sister, and fighting crime, he knew that if he didn't get better at racing, he wouldn't get better at crime fighting either.
"Let's just get ready for the next race. We need points and gear or we'll never get to the level two competitions!" Parm explained as the group began to walk away, passing Cain, who was disguised wearing a different outfit and carrying a helmet.
After the teens walked passed, he activated his wrist comm. "Moordryd, I'm in position and going in."
"If I enter a level three competition we'll get a lot more gear and dracals. And way more points!"
"Level three? And just how are we going to do that? You don't have the gear! Or the training!" Parm asked with a raised eyebrow., hands on his hips as he regarded Artha.
A person wearing a helmet with a Dragon Flare symbol on it made their way over to them. "Hey, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. If you need new gear, why don't you just get a sponsor?"
"A sponsor? Me?"
"Artha Penn! The rising star! The son of the great Connor Penn! Hey, anybody would sponsor you!" the rider stated, arms crossed. Iris narrowed her eyes, she had a bad feeling about this.
"Yeah, a sponsor. Free stuff!" Lance exclaimed happily. Iris rested a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head.
"We already have your father's gear. And we've got each other as a team. And, excuse me, but who is this guy?" Parm whispered the last sentence.
"Parm's right, Artha. You don't need a sponsor. You just need us and Beau." she tried to persuade her brother to not accept this strange offer.
"Hey, I'm just saying. A sponsor would make your life much easier. You wouldn't have to work so hard, or practice so much." the so-called 'sponsor' explained.
"Do you know a sponsor?" Artha asked, looking interested.
"Artha!" both Parm and Iris snapped, folding their arms. Neither of them likes this one bit! It just didn't feel right!
"Just so I can talk to him," Artha assured his best friend and sister.
The sponsor handed Artha a business card. "Sponsor Road. Building 1985." the rider left turned and walked off. Artha took the card and turned to head off in the direction when Iris grabbed his arm.
"Iris…" Artha started.
"Don't do this, Artha. I said that you don't need a sponsor, you just need Beau and yourself. You're both stronger together, you just need each other. Please, don't do this?" she begged him to reconsider as her gut was telling her something was very wrong here.
Artha patted her hand gently. "I'll be careful, iris. I'm just going to talk to him. I'll be back." he left them to go to the place where the sponsor was. Iris sighed, hugging herself as Beau nuzzled her shoulder. She turned and hugged his snout. "Oh Beau, what is he doing?"
In an alleyway, Cain spoke into his wrist-comm. "Moordryd, this is Cain. Tell your father Artha Penn is on his way."
As Artha went to speak with this so-called sponsor, Iris, Parm, Lance, and Beau waited for him to return. "I hope he knows what he's doing?" Iris sighed, looking worried with her arms folded while leaning against Beau, he was happy to let her lean against him if she needed to.
"Me too, Iris. I'm glad you know something isn't right like I do." Parm noted, standing beside Lance. The two of them may not be close friends, but they both were the voice of reason when it came to Artha and their instincts were pretty much screaming that something was wrong about this so-called sponsor.
Half an hour later, Artha returned with some green ramming gear in his arms.
Lance, who was playing his vid-game, looked up and saw Artha walking towards them. He noticed the gear in his brother's arms. "Drac gear! Is that ours?"
"It's level six green ramming gear, now I can enter a level three race!" Artha explained with a proud grin.
"You've got a sponsor? I thought you were just going to talk to one?" Parm questioned as Iris glared at Artha.
Artha handed the gear to Parm. Let's just try it out Parm." Parm looked at it as Iris scoffed, drawing Artha's attention to her.
"Iris, I know…" he was cut off by her. "Save it, Artha. I don't care! You went against what we said! You didn't just talk to them, you got new gear that looks very suspicious to me! When will you learn!" she snarled, the boys all backed away from her. When her temper flared up, they wisely backed off to avoid her rage.
Artha opened his mouth to say something, but she shook her head. "Do whatever you want, Artha. I will not be a part of this!" she stalked past them, her body vibrating with rage.
"Where are you going, Iris?" Lance questioned his sister. She faltered for a second before answering. "I'm going home. I won't help Artha if he decides to use that gear on Beau. Good luck, brother!" she sneered the last words before leaving the racing crew tents, heading back to the stables by taking a taxi dragon back.
Artha hung his head, he felt bad that he had gone against his own words by not just talking but having new gear. He sighed, then looked at Lance, who looked worried and slightly scared by their sister's rage. "Come one Lance, let's go home. No more racing today bud. Let's play some Battle Ground Dragon."
Parm was left with Beau as the two brothers left to also head home, but knowing Iris, she would likely go down to the temple to be with Prisma and try to calm down with Mortis. "I am not liking the look of this," he said to Beau as the red and blue dragon looked at him. He too, had a bad feeling.
"So do I, Parm. So do I."
Later on, Parm was waiting anxiously for Artha to show up near the race track with Beau, who wore his saddle, red thruster gear, and white aero gear magged to his body. "Where is Artha?! The race is in ten minutes!" Lance was leaning against a mag-rack, playing the battle-ground dragon. "This is a street race! Not a vid-game! Oh, I wish Iris was here." the teen worried, tapping his fingers together. It wasn't the same without her, but she was back at the stables, likely still angry with Artha.
Artha then walked up to them holding his helmet. "Where's my new gear? Why aren't we using my new gear?" he questioned.
"Precisely. It is new gear. We can try it out tomorrow so that both you and Beau can get used to it. You know, like a practice run?"
Artha scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Practice run? Who needs a practice run?" he took a few steps and Beau tripped him over with his tail. "Whoa!" his helmet flew from his hands and hit him on the head.
Lance and Beau laughed. "Maybe you should start with a practice walk!"
"Good one, Lance." Beau laughed as Artha picked himself up and brushed his clothes off. Artha shot his dragon a glare. "Laugh it up, dragon-breath."
"Dragon-breath?! I'll show you dragon-breath!" Beau said, burping right in Artha's face. The teen fell to the ground, stunned and grossed out by the smell.
Later, the racers were at the starting gate, waiting for the blocks to lower and the race to start. Beau narrowed his eyes as Wyldfyr scrapped his clawed foot against the ground, ready to run! The track lit up red, then green and the blocks lowered. Beau started to run as the crowd cheered.
Artha's eyes were narrowed with determination and Parm popped up on the screen. "I think we have made the perfect choices in gear for this first run."
"We'll see."
Parm and Lance stood in the stands. "If not, on the next lap, when the course switches, you can mag some other gear."
Artha gave a mischievous look. "Or maybe some new green ramming gear?" Parm gave him a dirty look. This is why Iris got mad with Artha in the first place.
Another racer, his dragon, and Artha entered a tunnel. The other racer activated his white aero gear, cutting Beau off. The dragon growled, pushing against the gear, sparks flew as the gear strained before they exited the tunnel, the gear snapping. Beau and Artha fell to the ground as the other racer ran off. Artha glared at the rider.
Picking himself back up, Beau took off. "What is going on out there? Beau's draconium coefficient is down thirty percent already!" Artha looked down at the screen showing Beau's energy levels dropping.
"I told you these races are getting tougher! I need to mag-pit on the next lap."
"I'm guessing that the final course will include obstacle and maneuvering sections, so, mag the blue turning and brown bashing gear." Artha rolled his eyes as Parm listed the gear he would need. He didn't need those gears, he just needed the green ramming gear!
Lance pushed a mag-rack onto the track. Artha grinned as he spotted the green gear. As he passed the rack, he had Beau mag the green gear onto his head. Beau's eyes widened as the gear was magged onto him, he didn't like this!
"What are you doing? I told you to mag the blue and brown gear!" Parm snapped as Artha continued the race, furious that Artha had ignored him.
"I'm the dragon racer Parm! The sponsored dragon racer!" Beau tried to activate the gear, but he did not like it at all and magged it off. Artha caught it.
"What are you doing, boy? Come on! Mag the gear!" Beau growled, refusing to mag it.
"I won't mag it, Artha. It doesn't feel right!"
Beau snarled and Artha rolled his eyes. Stubborn dragon! He pressed a button on his controller and forced Beau to mag it on. The dragon groaned as the gear rested on his head.
In his citadel, Word was watching the race on the screen. "Now I will control your dragon and soon I will use him to help me catch the dragon of legend." he pressed a button and the screen changed to Moordryd.
"Now all I need is some kind of emergency to lure the Dragon Booster and his dragon. And Moordryd, he better show up, so make it a big emergency."
Back on the track, a racer riding a green bi-pedal dragon was heading for a massive jump, he pressed a button on his control, and white aero gear was activated in preparation for the jump. In his lair, Word activated the gear, it expanded, covering Beau's eyes and he screeched as the gear took hold of him, lowering his head in slight pain.
"What are you doing, Beau?" Artha questioned as Beau lifted his head back up with a snarl, the gear at his eyes glowing briefly before Word activated his green ramming gear, shooting a mace ball from the gear on his chest, breaking the other racer's aero gear. The rider noticed and forced his dragon to a halt just before the jump, saving them both from a nasty fall!
Beau's white aero gear was activated and he leapt over the other dragon into the air. "Just what do you think you're doing making insane moves like that?" Parm questioned on the screen.
Lance popped up, holding his vid-controller showing the racer's positions. "Jumping into second place!
Parm blinked in disbelief. "Se-second place?" he gave a half-smile.
Word activated Beau's thruster gear. Artha noticed he hadn't pressed anything to activate the thruster gear. "Hey, what… Beeaauu!" he screamed as they zoomed past the other two dragons on the track and landed just in front of them, gaining first place. Beau crossed the finish line and both Lance and Parm cheered for him.
"How about first place guys?"
Despite the win, Parm was a little annoyed by the moves out on the track. "I'm not happy about the gear and how you used it. But, at least you won."
Artha grinned. "Yeah, thanks to our sponsor, I'm gonna go get our prizes," he said in a smug voice.
Back at the tents, as Artha walked to where Beau, Lance, and Parm were, the racer whose gear got broken by Beau walked past with his dragon. "Great win." the racer congratulated him. Artha smiled as they passed.
Pained roaring was heard and Artha grew alarmed. "Beau!" he took off running towards Beau and the others at their tent.
"What's wrong, Parm?" he asked.
Lance looked concerned. "Something's the matter with Beau!"
"He won't de-mag the new gear!" Beau groaned in pain, trying to de-mag the gear off his head, but it wouldn't work, he tried again and a piece of the gear snapped off.
"Did you see that? He broke that piece off! It's like he's trying to mag the gear off, but can't!" Beau lowered his head as Artha walked over and rested a hand on his cheek.
"Hey, what's wrong, Beau? What's wrong boy?" Beau just whimpered in pain, the gear would not come off no matter how much he tried.
Artha mounted his saddle. "Beau not being able to de-mag the gear is just plain creepy!" Parm shuddered.
"Maybe I should talk to Mortis about this. You guys clean up here and meet me back at the stables." Artha held up the broken piece of gear in his hands. "Come on, boy." Beau groaned and turned to leave.
(I know there are some parts I skip, but I don't want it to be too long and drag out. i hope everyone is alright with that.)
Down in the temple, Iris, now calm after her fight with Artha, was seated beside Prisma as the multi-coloured dragon lay beside her, giving her human friend as much comfort as she needed. Iris was still sour about Artha getting that green ramming gear and had told Mortis all about it. He had agreed that what Artha had done, talking and taking some supposedly new gear from a stranger posing as a sponsor was rather foolish and reckless!
"Mortis!" Artha came running out of the elevator, holding a piece of gear in his hand. He ran past the two girls, coming to a stop in front of the priest. He opened his mouth to speak, but Mortis spoke first. "I know what you did, Artha. Iris told me everything."
Artha's mouth opened in shock, but then again, he knew that Iris would explain everything to Mortis if she was angry enough. "Beau's run away!"
"What?" Iris gasped, rushing to her feet as Prisma did the same. "What do you mean, run away? Artha, what happened?"
"I put the gear on Beau and he started acting weird," Artha explained as Iris walked over to him and took the piece of gear from his hand. She inspected it, turning it over before running her finger over it. Her brow furrowed and she showed it to Mortis, who scraped it with his staff. The green draconium was actually revealed to be paint, covering up black draconium gear underneath!
"It is paint!" Mortis stated.
"That's black draconium! That means my sponsor was controlling Beau!"
"Paynn!" Mortis said grimly, knowing exactly who was behind this.
Artha was horrified. "If he gets Beau and experiments on him as a wraith, he'll find out he's the Black and Gold dragon! Everything will be lost!" Artha realized just how badly he had screwed up.
"And who's fault is that?" Iris asked, folding her arms and giving Artha an' I told you so' look. Her brother hung his head, feeling lost and awful for not listening to Iris, again!
Alarms went off and Mortis waved his hand, activating his vid-screen, which showed a massive dragon stampede in the city. "Mid-City is in panic at this moment as a huge dragon stampede has just thundered past the intersections of dragways 11 and 05 through 55. Damage to the city is immense. Security is powerless. The people need help. They are asking for the hero that they call, the Dragon Booster."
Iris quickly pressed her wrist-comm. "Guys! There's a huge dragon stampede in Mid-City!"
"We are right smack dab in the middle of it!" Parm answered her. Her eyes widened. If Parm and Lance were right in the middle of that stampede, they could get seriously hurt if their dragons ran out of energy!
"Hang on guys! we're on our way!" Artha called to them.
"We?" Iris asked, regarding him with a skeptical look. Artha turned to face her. "I can't do this without you, Iris. You part of the team. I was wrong about trusting that sponsor, I was wrong about not listening to you when you told me not to do it. I was wrong to use that gear of Beau. I'm so sorry, Iris. Please, will you help me save Beau?" Artha apologized for being a dork and not listening when he should have, now Beau was in trouble and he needed Iris's help in getting him back.
She stared at him for a few moments before sighing. "You're forgiven, Artha, but listen to me next time I think something is wrong, okay? Years of abuse made me trust my gut no matter what. Of course, I'll help you get Beau back."
Prisma whuffed, leaning her head down and nuzzling Iris's shoulder. The teen rested one hand on her cheek. "And I shall help too."
"It appears that Prisma wishes to join you," Mortis noted, causing Iris's blue eyes to widen and she looked at the lavender dragon. "You do, girl?"
Prisma nodded her head, nudging Iris again. The teen looked into her eyes and she knew what the dragon wanted. "You…want me to ride you?" she asked, mystified.
Prisma confirmed it with a whuff, and nod. "Of course I do, Iris. You have been patient and done nothing but help me. Now it is my turn to help you."
Artha grinned. "Wow, looks like she's ready for you to ride her, Iris."
Mortis watched the scene with a smile before he switched the screen from the news to an overview map of mid-city. "The stampede is headed toward the old aqueduct station, go out the main exit and follow the pipe north. It will put you where they are headed," he explained to the duo and Prisma.
"I gotta find Beau." Artha pulled out his star amulet. "Release the dragon!" he transforms into the dragon booster and the trio leaves the temple. They arrived at Conner's gear shed and Artha grabs out a saddle from the gear shed. "Here, try this." he held it out and Prisma magged it to the back of her head as Iris grabbed her purple helmet she had worn when she and Beau had gone grocery shopping two weeks ago and Prisma had crashed into them.
She slipped it on and Prisma glowed purple-black, a uniq colour given she was half psi, grabbing the teen with a mag stream and lifting her off the ground and into the saddle. She then magged Artha up behind Iris. The violet-haired teen gripped the handles tightly, her body not used to being in a saddle.
Artha noticed her tense stance. "You okay, Iris?" he asked, resting his hands on her shoulders gently. She nodded her head. "Yeah, just not used to being in the saddle."
"You'll get used to it, right Prisma?"
"Right Artha. Now let's go stop this stampede and save Beau!" Prisma roared and took off out of the stable, heading for the direction Mortis had shown them!
In a street, people were crossing the road when they heard the stampede approaching, they stared in shock for a few seconds but ran off, some of them climbing up light poles as the stampede ran past below them.
Word was watching Beau running in the stampede on the screen. "Slow down my boy and wait. Wait for the Dragon Booster and his dragon." he pressed a red button and the wraith gear on Beau fully activated, he turned black and purple and became invisible.
Artha held onto Iris tightly as Prisma raced along the rooftops and between buildings towards the stampede. Iris kept looking at Prisma's energy on her saddle, making sure it didn't go down and she became exhausted too early. But she knew her dragon was determined to save Beau as they were good friends!
Prisma leaped from a rooftop and landed on an over bridge with the stampeded heading their way. "There's the stampede!" Iris said as Artha dismounted the saddle. "Prisma, get Iris to safety, I'll get Beau," Artha ordered the hybrid, who snorted and ran away to get her rider to safety.
As Artha stood up on the bridge, the vibrations from the stampede as it ran towards him caused cracks in the bridge to form and it began to break. He saw the danger and started to run to safety as the bridge began crumbling beneath his feet. He jumped across a piece of the bridge as it fell, nearly making it, but falling to the top of the rubble, unconscious.
The dragons smashed through the rubble, sending bits flying everywhere and trapping Artha under some rubble.
He woke up and struggled to get out of the rubble. "This is all my fault. We didn't need anybody else's help. We needed each other's." Artha sighed. "Beau, I need you." his hand was resting on the ground and his gauntlet glowed brightly, sending four gold draconium strands through the ground toward where Beau was. "Beau! Beau, I need you! Beau!" Beau could hear Artha calling him and his color began to shimmer as he fought the gear, roaring and smashing it against the side of the building.
The screens in Word's lair fizzled out from the gear breaking. "What?"
Beau magged off the remains of the gear, glowing brightly and roaring as he returned to his natural colors. His chin frill grew as he roared.
Word pushed buttons, trying to gain control again, but it was no use. "I've lost Penn's dragon? My trap is ruined!" Roaring again, Beau sent four golden streams of energy back to Artha, who looked up and saw him running his way, with Prisma beside him, who had gotten Iris out of danger, but when she saw Beau again, she ran down to greet him before they headed back for Artha.
"Beau!" Artha grinned, happy to see his dragon. Beau grinned and crooned happily. "Artha!" rushing past him, Beau sent out a mag-stream and picked up his rider. "Whoa!" Artha was placed on Beau's back, laughing.
"I'm all the gear you need, boy! Let's go!" both dragons spun around and chased after the stampede, catching up to them.
Iris spoke into her wrist-comm. "Hang on, guys, we're on our way!"
"Iris, are you riding Prisma?" Parm asked when he saw her, momentarily stunned to see her with her helmet on. "I'll explain later. For now, let's stop this stampede."
Artha began to think. "Okay, if we just had a way to scare them off the trail!" his eyes lit up with an idea. "Oh, wait, like the level 12 Battle Ground Dragon from the game!"
Parm smiled. "Great idea Artha!" he looked over at Lance. "Lance, quick, give me your Battle Ground Dragon Game and your flash-stick. Hurry!" Lance handed him the game and flash-stick as Beau, Artha, Prisma, and Iris ran along a wide pipe just above them.
"Here! Throw it to me and I'll do the rest!" Artha called, holding out his arm.
"You've got it!" Parm threw the modified flash stick to Artha, who caught it. He and Beau ran on ahead of them as Prisma slowed down. Beau jumped onto the side of a large pipe magged Artha up onto a pipe above the track and planted the stick, activating it. Beau magged him back down to his back. The flash-stick turned on, showing a hologram of a massive dragon that roared and screeched. The stampeding dragons skidded to a stop briefly, then took off in another direction, a bit slower this time.
The four teens stood with their dragons. "Drac! You used the vid-game to slow them down!" Lance said with a grin.
"But not stop." Artha sighed, patting Beau's chin. "If only I could talk to them like I called to Beau!"
"Wait, that's it!" Beau said and he ran off, leaving the others confused as to what he was planning. He stood on a ledge overlooking the stampede and roared. His roar was enough to make the dragons stop and they all looked up at him.
(Now I have no idea what Beau says here, so I'm just gonna give it my best shot!)
"Dragons of dragon-city. You don't need to run anymore. You are safe, no more running!"
To the other dragons, that's what he said, but to the humans, it was just musical roars.
"What's Beau doing?" Lance asked.
"He's talking! Oh, talking to the other dragons!" Artha realized with a grin.
"The Dragon Booster and I will make sure no harm comes to any of you, this I vow!" Beau said and the dragons all bowed to him.
Moordryd and Cain saw the whole thing from above. "Did you see that?" Cain asked, bewildered.
"Yes, I saw it! My father is right. Control that dragon and you control the world. Beau stood proudly on the ledge, happy the dragons were now heading back to their homes or wherever they lived, the city was saved!
That night, Lance, Parm, Artha, Iris, and the dragons were all sitting in one of the stalls, talking about what happened today. Parm lay on a sleeping mat while Artha and Iris were leaning against their dragon's forelegs.
"Unbelievable!" Parm sounded happy." We did it! We stopped the stampede! And you got Beau back!"
He then pointed to Iris. "And you rode Prisma! How did that happen?" he asked, wanting to know how Prisma let her ride.
Iris chuckled, stroking her dragon's neck. "She wanted to help when she heard that Beau was in trouble and I could tell she wanted me to ride her. I was nervous at first, but I was able to remain calm." she smiled as Prisma nuzzled her cheek, purring.
Artha smiled. "We all did it. As a team! No sponsor required."
Lance grinned. "Yeah, with Beau, the talking dragon!"
Artha touched Beau's chin with a grin. "Yeah, well, I'm glad he really doesn't talk, or he'd be telling me what a dork I am."
"Yes, you're lucky, you don't understand me, Artha. I'm just glad we're all okay and safe." Beau grinned and nodded his head.
"Now I know why Mortis wants me to race so much. I need to practice!"
"That's right, you do. You need the practice." Iris said with a smile. She would support her brothers, no matter what, they were her family, the only one she had and she would not let anything happen to them!
Parm yawned as he lay down on the mat. "Yeah, well, can you keep it down? Can't you see that I need to sleep, I'm beat." the three siblings exchanged disbelieving looks, just last night, Parm was telling Artha they needed to practice for the race and Artha had told him I needed sleep, not it was the other way around!?
Lance's face then lit up as he got an idea. Iris grinned, she knew that look well and got up with her brothers. The Penn siblings tiptoed towards Parm.
"He saw them approaching. "No, oh, no!" they tackled him and started to tickle him, all of them laughing as Beau and surprisingly Prisma joined in the laughing, everyone was in good spirits, just what they needed after today!
Here you are, guys. I hope you all like this one! Enjoy!