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Dragon Booster: Year of the Black DragonsIf you wish to see the full, visual designs of the dragons from Dragon Booster, Google is your buddy. ~

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dragon Booster, its characters, locations or

anything associated with it.           ~ Warnings: Situations of a graphic and extreme nature.  Chapter #1 - The Shadow's

Presence A young rider and her energy-class racing dragon were making

their way back to their stables through the outskirts of Dragon City's smoggy

and cluttered Work Town district.The rider perked as her four-legged steed came to a halt and

raised its head, alert."What's wrong, chump?" she asked, but then caught herself. A

peculiar sensation had come over her - an uncomfortable prickling sensation,

like they were being watched. She looked nervously around at the surrounding

deserted blocks of warehouses, factories and industrial sites."Is there someone, or something?" she whispered to her

dragon, who nodded in affirmation."Let's get out of here as soon as possible," she muttered,

and urged her dragon on.As they enlivened their pace through the empty and lifeless

street, she chanced a backwards glance and noticed the flitting silhouette out

of the corner of her eye of something moving quickly behind them.Passing a dank alleyway on the left that connected with the

next street parallel to theirs, she caught a fleeting glimpse of a similar dark

shape through the opening between the buildings that told her that there was

more than one, and whatever they were, they were both flanking and tailing

them.Her unease elevating into terror, she pleaded once again

with her dragon, who broke into an open run. Tearing down the avenue, they

neared the end when something flung off a ledge above them to land in the

middle of the road, squarely in their path, forcing her dragon to come skidding

to a stop.She opened her mouth and a small, petrified gasp came out, like

the escaping wisp of a person's dying breath.Blocking their way was an enormous, bulky and sinister-looking

dragon of the blackest shade. It turned its face toward them: frighteningly

brutish with blank eyes that blazed with a ghoulishly scarlet glint, and when

those bloody jewels locked with hers, its thickset jaw curled into a wide sneer

that lowered the very temperature of the immediate vicinity.As she was about to scream, a heavy blow caught her in the

back of the neck and at once, all her fear dissolved into non-existence.* * *Artha, Kitt, Parm and Lance entered the Gold Draconium

Temple hidden beneath Penn Stables at the summons of their close friend, the

Gold Draconium Priest, Mortis, who was awaiting them in the antechamber."Another seventy-nine dragons have fallen to the taint since

yesterday," Mortis announced.The trouble had started about five months ago, when people

all over Draconis had begun reporting sightings of a new species of Black Draconium

dragon. As if that wasn't alarming enough in itself, the reports further

revealed that this particular species possessed the unique ability to spread

the dark substance like an infection by tainting other dragons with it.When the Penn Stables crew had been informed of the situation

by Mortis, they were flabbergasted."How do they taint other dragons with the Black Draconium?"

Artha had demanded to know.Mortis cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We do not know the

full details, but from what all the reports so far have indicated, dragons that

become tainted are themselves transformed into new vessels for the Black Draconium

and become compulsively driven to spread it as much as possible, thereby

multiplying the number of Black Draconium dragons and the Draconium itself at

an exponential rate with each victim.""Is there any good news in all of this?" Parm asked,

hopefully."Well...at the current rate that the Black Draconium is

spreading, there's still three weeks left before nearly every dragon on the

planet will become infected by its taint," Mortis said brightly."You're not very good at this, are you?" Parm guessed."I am not," Mortis reluctantly conceded. "In any case,

several of the new Black Draconium dragons have been spotted right here in

Dragon City, up in Work Town," Mortis said. "You should go check it out, but be

careful." * * *"Alright, so where do we start?" Artha asked, reining his

red and blue styled dragon, Beau, in to a standstill as the group, following

Mortis's suggestion, came to arrive at the edge of Work Town during the early

afternoon.    For a racing dragon, Beau was relatively unremarkable

appearance-wise, apart from his elongated chin and strong jawline. However, as

the dragon of legend blessed with Gold Draconium that ran through his very bone

and veins, he was able to transform into his spectacular and flashier true

form, which was rarely seen by most others who weren't a part of the crew. "Well, this whole place is pretty damn big," Parm piped up.

"I say we split up to cover more ground.""Good idea. Kitt and I will take South. You and Lance head

in the other direction.""Why am I the one who gets to be stuck with babysitting

him?" Parm whinged, prompting Lance to scrunch his face up and stick his tongue

out at him in retort.But Artha had already turned Beau around in order to

continue along. "Look, if you guys find anything, just call us," Artha said.

"And at least try to stay out of

trouble." And with that, they took off."Have fun," Kitt teased, smirking down at Parm before

bursting after Artha atop Wyldfyr, her own red Magma-class dragon. Unlike Beau,

Wyldfyr was a bipedal dragon. His sturdy hind legs, ideal for sprinting, spoke to his fearsome speed and nimbleness coupled with a terrific balance. * * *"A sun?""Nope.""Oh, I know! A post!""Double nope.""...the moon!" "Hat trick." "Fine. I give up, mister smarty pants. What is it?""The letter 'R'."Parm was momentarily dumbstruck by the revelation, and then

he exploded."That's stupid!"  "No it's not," Lance insisted. "You're the one that's stupid

for not knowing the answer." But Lance had already worked himself into a

tantrum that had been in the making ever since the two had been paired off. "That's stupid! And this

is stupid. We've been looking for three straight hours and we still haven't

found anything! There's nothing here! Everything is stupid, today!...Lance?"Parm had glanced around at the lack of reaction to his

outburst and subsequently realized that Lance was suddenly not with him

anymore.  Spinning around to look behind, Parm saw that Lance's small

blue and yellow dragon, Fracshun, had stopped in his tracks about ten metres

back and that Lance was staring intently at yet another dilapidated factory

like many others they had already passed by. Work Town was bloated with

buildings such as these."Lance, what is it?" It's just another ugly factory." "Since when did abandoned, broken down buildings have

state-of-the-art Ultralocks on every entrance?" Lance observed. "What?"Parm joined Lance at the towering mesh wire fence that

cordoned off the factory from public entry and followed Lance's outstretched

index finger with his eyes. Sure enough, he glimpsed one of the heavy, rusted

metal doors on the side of the building bolted shut by a gleaming, brand new

Ultralock with a sophisticated design the likes of which he had never seen

before.      "...Huh," mused Parm. "Well, would you look at that." Simultaneously, they gazed together up at the large sign

that fronted the fence. "WARNING! HAZARDOUS

AND UNSAFE - DO NOT ENTER! "The two looked at each other, exchanging conspiratorial

smiles. * * *"So...how's Beau been, lately?" Kitt asked Artha conversationally

during the midst of their yet uneventful search. "Still loves showing off," Artha sighed. "I think he's

getting cockier and cockier by the day.""Well, he is pretty strong, and quick, and the Dragon of Legend," Kitt chuckled. "So there's that." "But still, I keep telling him that if he gets too

overconfident, he'll start becoming lax and lose races that way-OW!" Artha

exclaimed indignantly, for at that very moment, Beau had suddenly given a sharp

jolt that nearly dislodged him from his saddle.Kitt stifled a giggle behind her hand.  "I'm just sayin'!" Artha addressed Beau directly, who had

craned his neck sidewards to eye his rider unapologetically. "It wouldn't kill

you to learn a little bit of humility." Artha turned back to Kitt and countered with his own

question, "What about Wyldfyr. How's he doing?" "Not behaving well either, I'm afraid," Kitt answered. "He

keeps picking on Fracshun by playing tricks on the poor thing. I think it's

because Frachshun's a lot smaller and younger than he is. I had to break them

up just yesterday before they got into a tiff.""Sounds like Wyldfyr can be a downright pest, sometimes,"

Artha commented. "Kind of like an annoying older brother.""Never mind Fracshun, Wyldfyr drives even me nuts,

sometimes. Last week during a race we hit a fork and I clearly told him to take

the left because it's pretty much a straight line to the finish and what does

he do? He takes the right with the hairpin in it at the last second instead and

laughs about it."At that moment, Artha's phone went off with a high-pitched

thrill so he took the call."What is it? Did you guys find something?""Oh, yeah. We definitely

found something," Parm's voice blurted through the phone.* * *Artha and Kitt arrived at the location of the site, which

Parm had relayed to them, to find Fracshun alone and waiting patiently outside

by the tall fence with the large warning sign. With a single swipe of his forepaw, Beau struck the entire

front side of the gate down allowing them to enter the property, Frachsun

trotting after them in tow.Lance came dashing around the corner and spotted them. "Geez, you scared me! I was wondering what that loud crash

was...oh," Lance added, seeing the flattened gates. "We climbed over that but I

guess your way works too." Frachsun ambled up to him and glowered resentfully

at his rider. "Hey, buddy. Sorry we had to ditch you for a minute back

there," Lance cooed.      "Lance, where's Parm?" Kitt said. "Inside," Lance replied, rolling his eyes and jabbing a

thumb at the factory that was overshadowing them all. "I tried to go in too,

but he pushed me back out and told me that it was probably better if I stay

outside and keep watch."Rounding the building, Artha and Kitt found a wide doorway

with the iron shutters raised and rolled back. Dismounting, they ducked inside,

with Beau and Wyldfyr following after. "Parm?" Artha called out as Beau plodded cautiously behind

him into the bowels of the building. "Over here!" echoed Parm's voice from somewhere up ahead,

sounding a little strained. They found him standing an the heart of the open floor of

the factory and they stopped dead in their tracks at what they saw.   Dragons. A lot of

dragons. Dragons of various species and colours.All of them neatly lined in columns upon columns; each

suspended from the lofty ceiling's rafters by metal chains that wrapped around

their bodies, trussing their folded legs together behind their arced backs so

tightly that their undersides were pushed outwards in a way that, whether

intentionally or not, drew attention to the male markings below their huffing loin

slats.  A peculiar tang of tropical saltiness hung in the air, so

heavy and perceptible that Artha could smell it.Beau let out a quiet, outraged hiss whereas Wyldfyr backed

away a little. Artha was eerily reminded of a butcher's backroom where cuts

of meat would dangle from racks by steel hooks. He was startled to hear soft

noises emanating from the unnerving assembly which made him realize that these

dragons were actually alive and whimpering piteously, unable to move at all due

to the disturbing way that their limbs had been twisted."What the hell is this?" Kitt said faintly, looking as if

she were ready to throw up.    "I don't know, but

I've already called DC Security," Parm told them, looking uneasy and shaken

himself. "They're on their way."  "They're all tied up..." Artha said slowly. "This wasn't the

work of the Black Draconium dragons, this was done by humans." "Gee, I wonder how many people we know have worked with

Black Draconium Dragons, before," Kitt remarked, sarcastically.Beau moved to the imprisoned dragon closest to them, an aqua-skinned

sonic-class, and snatching the hanging chain above it in his maw, he gave a

powerful jerk off the head and the bale that fixated the chain to the rafters

cleanly broke. Wyldfyr followed Beau's example and set about freeing the other

dragons. Artha and Kitt decided to help Beau and Wyldfyr as well

while Parm returned outside to check up on Lance.    "What is it? What did you find? Can I see?" Lance bubbled

excitedly."No," Parm snapped. "You're to stay outside and wait for

us." "Not fair! This sucks," Lance grumbled and turned to

Frachsun. "I'm starving. What say we go grab something to eat, buddy?" Fracshun nodded eagerly and waited as Lance clambered up

onto him. "You coming with?" Lance asked Parm. "No, I think I'm gonna stay behind and help figure out how

to stop these new dragons from spreading their Black Draconium taint and, y'know,

find a solution to this whole 'end of the world' problem since you're clearly not going to," Parm shot back,

testily."Psht, whatever," Lance said, unmoved and rolling his eyes

again. "You're the one who won't let me go in and help." Fracshun spun around and they set off, leaving Parm behind

in a cloud of dust. "You could at least offer to bring something back for me!"

Parm called out after Lance, while coughing and waving his arms in the air

angrily. "InconSIDERATE!" As Lance and Frachsun pelted their way towards the tempting promise

of a hot meal, they failed to notice a pair of fierce and muscular, dark-toned

dragons that had up until now been patiently surveying them from the rooftop of

an adjacent building above but now moved, surefooted and agile, to follow them.