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"Dragon Learning"

Night had fallen in the house still occupied by too many dragons, the canine brothers and the Weregarurumon. Dranzer silently walked through the small corridors leading from room to room as he poked his head in to investigate those within. First the living room, where Duo and Dragor slept, draped over the couch and an armchair respectively. As he walked past the kitchen, he spotted Umi sleeping with his head on the table, his arms folded over his face a bit. Making his way into the den just at the foot of the stairs, he saw Drake slung out on the floor next to Donell who was sleeping at the base of a recliner filled by his brother Arnold; snoozing loudly as he turned his head over to one side, half glancing at the dragon king before falling back into his slumber of unconsciousness. As he made his way up the steps, Dranzer had to duck down some as he passed under the cross beam that hung a little too low on the top of the staircase. Looking into the first room on the left, he spotted Shiron and Ranshiin sleeping on the bunk beds while Greedo snored on the floor, his head hidden underneath the beds above him. Voltaire and Patro took up the room on the right and as he stepped forward through the last door to see his mate lying awake in their bed. Scanning her eyes up from the book in her hands, Relena passed a half-smile to her husband.

"Find everything in order, love?" She asked.

Dranzer smirked as he slipped out of his robe, hung it on the hook provided by the door and slipped under the covers with her. "What are you doing up?" He asked.

"Can a woman not find a moment to read in peace?" She asked, earning a nervous look from the male. She smiled. "I woke to find you gone, so I figured I would wait for you to return."

"And how did you know I would?"

"I have my ways." She said knowingly.

"Everyone is asleep." Dranzer answered. "But I am concerned."

"About living in such cramped spaces?" Relena asked, putting her book down and looking at her mate.

"Oh, no." The king shook his head dismissively. "I have lived in smaller spaces, but what I am concerned about is that Dragor and Duo are not doing their proper duties as heirs of our bloodline." He sighed. "They look at Donell not only as a little brother, but as someone who could possibly lift the weight of their responsibilities as princes from them."

"Oh, I wouldn't be surprised at that." She said as she seated herself closer to Dranzer, wrapping her arm around his waist. "They have always cringed at the thought of their responsibilities..."

"Well no more!" Relena almost jumped at the king's sudden bark. "I am not going to have sons of my blood shrug their responsibilities off onto Donell. He has much more to worry about than shouldering their mistakes. Tomorrow, I will make it clear to them that they must pass their rite to combat against me."

"Are you so sure this is a good idea?" She asked. "They haven't had any proper training since arriving on Earth."

"That is precisely the point, my dear." He said. "Testing them in the fact they have retained their combat prowess is a father's sworn duty..."

"Or a king's sworn duty." She corrected with a slight curl to her lips. "They are boys..."

"I need to test them, Relena." Dranzer said with a snuffled growl. "I will speak to them of this tomorrow."

"Which would you test?"

"Both." He answered. "There cannot be weakness in our family. Both Dragor and Duo must pass these tests. They will no longer rely on their adoptive brothers to take up the slack."

"Very good." She said with a slow nod as she then pushed the king down into the bed a bit further. "But that will be a task to accomplish tomorrow." She said, her smile broadening as she planted her lips against his. "Tonight, I think your queen needs you more."

***

It was dawn when Dragor awoke from his sleep. His eyes flickered at the light peering in through the crack between the curtains and the window to the front room. Yawning, he reached both of his muscular arms into the air and kicked his legs outward to try and stretch the kinks out of his body. Looking sleepily at his still sleeping brother, he resisted the urge to pick up a magazine and slapping Duo's face with it. He lurched forward and practically fell out of the chair, standing up so quickly that he felt a crack pop in the lower portion and making him grunt. He was hungry, his stomach made a gurgling noise. His footsteps thundered a bit as he moved from the carpeted living room to the tile of the kitchen. Yawning again, the dragon scratched his shoulder as he pulled open the refrigerator and he could feel the cold rush off its contents as the chill escaped into the larger room.

He grabbed a large chicken leg that he'd put in the night before to store and took a chunk out with his teeth as he turned and almost choked when he saw Dranzer standing only a few feet away on the edge of the kitchen. Gagging a moment he managed to swallow the piece of meat in his mouth before speaking. "Oh, jeeze dad. It's rude to sneak up on someone like that."

"Is it." Dranzer maintained a deadpan stare as his eyes shifted to the leg. "And it's more traditional to consume chicken leftovers so early in the morning?"

Dragor shrugged a bit and took another bite. "I didn't really think about it. I was hungry and I remembered I had some leftovers."

Dranzer's eyes narrowed. "I see." He said. "Such is lost on you, Dragor. Too many years in the human world, I see you've forgotten a great deal of your manners."

"Dad..."

"Such as calling me by that infernal and informal title." Dranzer growled. "A disgrace for a prince to have fallen so far."

"I am no prince on Earth." The dragon argued. "Nor should I be treated like one, that's what's wrong with our society--"

"Enough!" Dranzer's sudden bark was enough to still his son's tongue. "I have had enough of this. You and your brother have squandered your rightful places, and now it is time to prove that you still possess the spirit of warriors. Duo! Get in here now!"

It took a few seconds for the second dragon to enter the room, but he did so with such a wild-eyed and exhausted look that it barely phased Dranzer when he nearly stumbled to answer his call. "Wh-what is it? What's going on?" He asked.

"You two will be challenged to battle." Dranzer said pointedly. "I will not have my sons be my shame."

"Father..." Dragor said with a stunned look on his face. "You can't be serious--" The glare he received was enough to cut off his sentence. "--or maybe you are."

"If you lose your fights with me, you will be sent off to train with the others and not allowed to return to Earth until you are able to pass this test"

"Y-you can't--"

Duo's words were cut off by yet another glare from his father that silenced him. "I will do so without this test if you keep questioning me. I must be sure that my sons are not going soft in their world, and if you continue to argue, I will order you to remain here indefinitely." There was a long pause as the king awaited his sons to speak up again, when no interruption came, a smug grin crossed his lips. "Good. Dragor, I challenge you first to combat. You have fifteen minutes to prepare yourself and meet me outside. Once our fight ends, yours will begin against me Duo. I suggest you make the best out of your time."

There was little pause now, as Dragor quickly departed from the kitchen. Duo stood for a moment with a perplexed look on his face before he too left the kitchen and followed his brother to the stairs.

"Dragor!" He called as he caught up to his brother, already rushing into one of the storage rooms. "What are we going to do? You're not really going to fight him, are you?"

"Do we really have a choice in this?" He asked. "Duo, you heard him. If we don't, he will refuse to let us return to--"

"Our home?" Duo asked. "He can't do that!"

"I'm not going to risk it." Dragor said. "DO whatever you want, brother. But I will face him for our right to return to Earth."

Minutes ticked by as Duo waited in the downstairs area for his brother to return from getting ready in the upstairs room. As the dragon emerged, Duo looked up at the sky-blue drake, dressed in his open red button-up shirt, his gold necklace that dangled down between his pectoral muscles. The similarly glinting buckled belt and brown cargo shorts. He didn't say a word as he descended the stairs and tried his best to avoid direct eye-contact with his brother.

Duo stood up and followed Dragor through the living room, into the kitchen and the pair realized their father was standing outside. As they exited into the cool afternoon, they noticed that all the other dragons, were present. Only Arnold, Drake and Donell were notably absent now as their father strutted shirtless to the center of a claw-marked ring, He turned his eyes toward the pair exiting the house and stood a bit more rigid. "Ah-ha. My sons have come at last to test themselves and their rights to defend their status as adults and princes of my lineage."

"I, Dragor. Son of Dranzer, accept your challenge and wish to stake my rights."

"Good."

Dragor stood opposite of his father and Dranzer stared coldly back at him. There were no sounds, only a palpable feeling of tension in the air. Both dragons charged in at once, each slamming the other hard on the shoulder as their impact caused a blast of air to shock across the yard. Immediately, Dragor reached to grab the king by the shoulders, but Dranzer was one step ahead, wrapping his arms around Dragor's neck and sending him spiraling away with a mighty throw. Dragor hit the ground, but almost immediately bounced up to his feet, only to be suddenly impacted by a punch from Dranzer that almost sent him back to the ground once again. He rebounded and kicked his leg, sweeping it through the air, but Dranzer quickly caught it, bent it back and kicked the other dragon's opposing leg out from under him. Dragor hit the ground but kicked Dranzer away as the king moved in on him once again. Dragor rolled and returned to his feet, bringing his arm back, both father and son swung their fists against each other with a thunderous crack. Both grunted and fell back for a moment.

"Come on, Dragor. Show me your vigor! Your warrior's spirit! Give me your best shot!"

Again, and again Dragor moved to strike his father down, but Dranzer was just as easily able to deflect his son's attempts. A strong sweeping punch narrowly avoided a connection when Dranzer expertly swung his own arm between the crook of the younger dragon's elbow, pulled it back almost to its breaking point, then kicked him away as hard as he could.

"Nnnh!" Dragor grunted as he hit the ground for the umpteenth time, rolling to a stop next to his brother. "I won't--let you win!" He cried as he jumped back to his feet. Another explosively powerful blow from Dragor's shoulder was enough to crumple the larger dragon and sent him several feet backwards.

Dragor cried out and he could feel a physical popping within his chest. That strike had cracked a rib or two, but instead of giving in he simply tried his best to lock his father's head in an attempt to bring him down. "Pathetic." He could hear his father's taunting under him as the king punched him in the chest, making it much more difficult for the older dragon to maintain his pain levels. His body shook in pain, Dranzer was merciless in exposing his son's weakness and punched again.

"AHH!" Dragor cried out, clasping his chest as Dranzer broke free.

"You have lost your touch, Dragor." Dranzer growled as he wrapped his arm around Dragor's neck, then punched him in the chest once more. "You are weak! You are not able to represent our bond, our blood, our kind!" There was another elbow that made the audience cringe in pain. "You are not worthy of the right to be on your own!" He roared and finally heaved Dragor sideways over his shoulders and onto the ground five feet in front of him. "You have lost!"

"My king! Stop!" Relena's voice shouted suddenly, forcing the dragon to glance up at her. His eyes, glassy from the battle soon began to shine a more-or-less amiable light as he looked down at Dragor. "You are the victor, your son's death would suit you little comfort."

Dranzer was breathing so heavily that his shoulders rose and fell, his chest expanding and contracting deeply with each breath as Dragor slowly began to recover from the beating. "You are now the student of Umi and Voltaire." He said. "They will train you in the areas of combat that you've failed..." He looked at them. "You will train him as you would any student." He said. "No favors, no friends. Just hard study. Do you understand?"

The pair glanced at Dragor, then almost simultaneously nodded in response with a quick "Yes, your majesty."

"Duo. Step forward."

Everything in Duo's mind was in conflict as the green dragon took a step forward. A defiant glare in his eyes as he watched Dragor be slowly lifted to his feet and practically carried off by his own best friends. He watched as Dranzer stepped toward him, the hint of sweat gleaming off his thick frame as he stared at his son. "You will be tested." He said. "But I am tired from the battle and need some rest. One hour, return here and we will also begin the test."

"But--" Duo started, but Dranzer ignored his objection and started to walk away. With that, the remainder of the dragons who had gathered also began to go their own separate ways, and eventually, the dragon was standing on his own in the middle of the lawn. He furrowed his eyes into his hand. "But... I don't want to fight..."

The sun was starting to go down as Duo returned to the house. The green dragon tugged up his brown glove before stepping through the front door. It seemed so much bigger than it was earlier, likely the type of effect that Greedo's magic had on this realm. His house seemed much larger than it normally would have, but maybe that was just to give Dragor a bit of extra room away from the king.

As he turned the corner to head up the stairs, the dragon spotted the green Weregarurumon exiting one of the bedrooms. "Hey, Drake! Haven't seen you in hours. Where's Donell at?"

"He's resting." The canine responded as he softly closed the door. "Not feeling well today, and I don't like it when he starts feeling like this, his energy levels start to rise and suddenly I feel charged like a static ball of fluff."

Duo snickered, noticing the slight puff of the digimon's fur and the wincing pull of his paw as the door shocked him. "It's really odd." He added.

"Well, maybe he's just getting used to this place." Duo suggested. "He's not used to it anymore."

"I'm not used to it at all, I don't understand how this dimension works."

Duo nodded somewhat dismissively. "Yeah..." His voice trailed off with the thought of having to compete with his father.

"Is something wrong?"

Duo shrugged and looked at the wolf. "You've all missed a lot."

"Yeah, I heard." Arnold's gruff voice startled the dragon as he came up from behind him. "Our benevolent king wants to insure that you and your brother fill your princely duties and he's challenging you guys to fight him, right?"

"I-In a nutshell." Duo nodded. "While I don't want to lose face, I also don't want to fight him. I've never wanted to compete with him in anything."

"Welcome to a monarchy." Arnold said. "You'll do fine."

"Yeah. I know." He said with a sigh. "I just--"

*THUMP* A noise echoed from the bedroom Drake had stepped out of, turning their attention to the door.

"What was that?"

"Donell." Drake sighed. "He's been restlessly kicking the wall in his sleep, I think we just need to give him some time to feel better is all."

"Are you sure?" Arnold asked. "Sounds worse than he was last night."

"I'm sure it's nothing, he just hasn't been feeling well, I was heading downstairs to get him some water."

"We'll go with you." Duo said. "Anything to put off dad's chance to challenge me, I don't really need that right now."

The three of them walked down the stairs again and made their way into the small nook that Greedo had fashioned into a kitchen, it was just as small as the three remembered, but it was a bit brighter somehow, as if the tiles were lighter in color, or the wood was a more almond color than its normal mahogany tone. Duo leaned against the center counter and watched as Drake went to fill a glass with water from the tap. His fingers tapped somewhat loudly against the countertop and the subtle buzz that often overtook silence filled the air. After a few moments, Arnold turned to him and pondered. "So what are you going to do?"

Duo shrugged, put off some by the question that had been swimming around in his head. "I'm not sure. I don't want to go into training like he's making Dragor do, but I'm not going to fight him just to save face. It's not my thing."

"Well, I know him about as well as you do." Arnold said. "He's going to want some sort of a follow through, you know?"

Duo groaned and buried his head into his arms on the counter. "I know. I know."

"Look, we'll walk you out there. Maybe we can talk to him for you."

"I can fight my own battles." Duo answered after a moment. "But thanks for your support."

"Duo!" The king's voice barked from outside, but his voice was powerful enough to shake the house and make all three of them cringe in surprise. "The time has come to meet my challenge!"

Duo huffed and stood upright. "He said an hour, it's been like twenty minutes."

"He wouldn't be king if he didn't try to overextend himself." Arnold said snarkily. "Maybe you can take that to your advantage?"

Duo was silent as he pushed open the door to exit into the back yard. He noticed that not only Dranzer was standing there, but the other dragons were also filing out into the yard, having heard the roar themselves, they knew something was going down.

At first, Dranzer didn't meet Duo's eyes as the dragon walked out onto the yard, tightening his glove before opening his eyes and shooting his glance toward his son with the command he was so accustomed to. "Are you prepared to defend your right as prince?" He asked.

There was a long pause as Duo stopped his walk and stood within ten feet of his father; long enough for Dranzer to look back at him with an air of curiosity. "I can't fight you." He said finally.

"Is that so?" Dranzer said, rubbing his chin. "Then you'd rather return to training like your brother?"

"I am not the warrior I was once." Duo said, taking a step forward to his father's defiant stare. "Proud, strong. Willing to lay down my life as your eldest son. But that time is over, I am done fighting to prove myself." He pondered. "In fact, the thought occurs to me that I've never stood out more than I needed; I was considered the strongest of your sons, but never lowered myself to show it to everyone. I was basically unknown to anyone outside the family, and I think I prefered it that way. My brothers, they were my only friends; Dragor, Arnold, Donell... they were all I cared about protecting."

"Duo..." Arnold said to himself, but Duo continued.

"And then I was sent to Earth to live with them, I'd lost contact with Arnold, but I lived with Donell and Dragor, and I promised to protect them, no matter what until Donell was ready to begin his journey as a dragon prince. But I didn't expect to meet so many friends here, find more people that I could love and protect... being on Earth was probably the best thing to happen to me, and you think you can mandate us being there as being softened up?"

"You dare question my methods?"

"I don't." Duo said. "I just question our place in it, what right do you have telling us what we need to do to satisfy your needs? Can't we have merit without fighting all the time?"

"I have the right of a king."

"And what about having the right of a father in trusting your children's decisions?"

Dranzer's eyes narrowed, a sneer appearing on his lips as an anger began to rise. "You think this is all about me? All about you? What you want?"

"The thought had crossed my mind, yeah." Duo admitted.

"You have no idea."

"Okay, so put it into words for me." Duo said.

Dranzer's grimmace turned to a smirk. "Actions speak louder than words."

Duo barely had time to process his father's sentence before he saw the dragon charging at him. On impulse, Duo blocked a forceful strike aimed toward his stomach, Dranzer caught Duo's blocking arm and flung him over his shoulder. Duo hit the ground hard and suffered a powerful kick to his shoulder. "Get up!" Dranzer roared. "Face me!"

Duo was thrown for a loop, he never expected Dranzer to force a conflict. He got up to his knees and then stood, growling defiantly as he stood facing his father. "You really want to force it, don't you?"

"It is your duty to face any opponent. Even me." Dranzer said, stepping forward, forcing Duo to take a step back defensively.

Again, Dranzer rushed forward a couple steps, but Duo was ready this time. He struck Dranzer's impeding shoulder with his own, landing a dull thud that knocked both of them back a step. Duo saw a punch coming, he ducked and felt the air of the dragon's first sweep across the top of his head and he punched upward. It was clear Dranzer hadn't expected this as Duo's knuckle impacted the king's lower jaw with an impressive strength that made his head jerk upward. He spun and swung his tail, knocking Duo backward for a moment. The dark dragon chuckled a bit and ran his hand across his mouth, seeming surprised to find that the punch was enough to draw blood. "Very good." He said before stepping toward Duo again. "Very good..."

"I don't want to fight you!" Duo said; raising his arms, ready to defend himself. "Don't make me!"

"You are not weak Duo, and I will prove it!" Dranzer stormed toward Duo and thrust both of his arms at him, the green dragon caught his father's fists and was met with the force of the dragon king. Enough force that caused him to dig his feet into the dirt under him and made him slide back before finally coming to a rest.

There was no movement, Duo's muscles flexed to resist the dragon from taking another step forward and a look of disappointment flashed through his eyes. "Certainly you can do better than that."

There was a clutch and a twist that Duo felt as his father attempted to swing him hard off his feet. Duo tightened his left leg to keep from being knocked off balance and there was a twisting feel that hit his back, Duo's wings spread in his attempt to maintain his balance and there was a brief look of surprise on Dranzer's face, and Duo suddenly was able to pull his hand free and struck it hard across the king's face. "Stop this!"

Dranzer's look of surprise faded some he smiled and returned the blow across Duo's face with enough force to nearly knock him off his feet. Duo growled and grabbed the other dragon's shoulder and punched even harder, nearly toppling Dranzer. "That's it... that's my son!" He laughed triumphantly as he tackled him.

They hit the ground hard, Duo almost immediately burying his feet deep into the dirt. "AHH!" He cried out as his legs folded under him while he struggled to push the king off of him. He swung wildly at first; but as his body rolled backward, his legs freed and he continued the roll, kicking Dranzer in the abdomen to flip him further over his head. Dranzer grunted as he hit the ground behind him and Duo expertly leaped back to his feet.

"Good. Good!" Dranzer said with a grin as he got up. "That initiative in battle, that's my warrior son."

"That's all I've ever been to you." Duo growled as the pair clasped arms again and thrust against each other with a mighty thud. "A warrior. You sent me to Earth, away from my friends. I've had to adapt to life here, and make new friends." He slung his fist into Dranzer's chin once more, then punched him in the stomach. "Now you threaten to take them again because you aren't happy with that decision?"

"Allies are essential to any king. Friends are a novelty, you need to know that everything you've sacrificed was for the greater good!"

"BULLSHIT!" Duo roared even louder as he raised his fist to hit him again.

*KRAKABOOOOOM!*

There was a shattering explosion overhead as everyone's attention turned toward the house just in time to see the top part of the roof blow apart, the shrapnel flying apart causing the entire group below to scatter to avoid being impaled by large chunks of debris.

"Look!" Relena pointed out as she spotted a scant view of a shape blurring through the sky before it wheeled about in the air and came crashing down with enough force to make the ground split under his feet.

The dragon was purely black and white with long, pointed ears, his spike-tipped wings drooped around his sides as shadows swirling around him barely covered his nude body as he opened his eyes. The amber pools shimmering in the light of the afternoon as he looked at the embattled Dranzer and Duo as everyone else gathered around them to stare at the dragon. Quickly, the dragon's eyes darted between them, then back to himself.

"Who...?" Dranzer spoke, narrowing his eyes in his confusion. "Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm... not sure." The dragon spoke. "Who I was... is not... who I am... is it?"

Relena stepped forward. "Your name. What is your name, dragon and why do you attack our haven?"

"I..."

Realizing it, Drake stepped forward slowly. His walk slowed as he approached the dragon and lifted his head to look at him. "D-Donell?" He asked, and the dragon turned his glance away. Everyone stared in awe as Relena stepped forward as well.

"Donell? How... how could this be!?" She asked.

"I'm not sure." He said then glancing at his hand as if realizing for the first time how he looked now. No longer a dog, he seemed to have been transformed into a full fledged dragon. "I--I wasn't feeling well, and I kept having nightmares... then I felt the shadow creep in and... suddenly I was this..."

"A dragon?" Arnold spoke, moving closer to examine the former canine. "Your power has got to be off the charts for this kind of change to take place.

"I don't know." Donell shrugged.

"Well! This is the time for a celebration!" Dranzer announced. "One of my sons have finally grown up!"

Relena turned a scornful stare at the dragon. "Not now, my king." She said with a hushing word. "But we should get Donell some proper attire. I don't want him catching his death a cold."

Without another word, she took Donell by the claw and began to lead him inside. Soon, Drake and Arnold, then the rest of the dragons began to file into the house, leaving Duo and Dranzer in the yard on their own. After a bit, Duo looked at Dranzer. "So... are we good?"

After another pause Dranzer spoke up. "Yes. We're good."

"So, what now?" Duo asked.

Dranzer huffed in amusement as he put his hand firmly on Duo's shoulder. "Well... I suppose we will see, now won't we?"