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The Mechanist

By DragonBooster500

Origionally posted here: The Mechanist

Chapter One

It was another cloudy, ordinary day in Squire's End. Rivett was giving some gear to a friend. He had gotten the gear through a little luck and a lot of thievery.

He was talking with a local shopkeeper named Feyns. Feyns was a gear seller but he had run out of merchandise and relied on Rivett to get him the goods. "Here Feyns, the goods have arrived," said Rivett smugly.

"Drac! Is that Black Shadow Gear? And level 6 Thruster?" Feyns marveled at the awesome gear commenting on each piece.

After a few more minutes of this he paid Rivett. "There you go buddy. 2000 drakkals as promised."

"Thanks" Rivett replied. He left Feyns and went back to the Mechanist hideout where his crew buddies were waiting.

At the hideout, his friends Haarth and Shyft were impatiently awaiting his arrival. Shyft spotted him and ran up to him. "Hey Rivett! What’s up? Where have you been?" he asked.

"Well...I was just with Feyns and I got paid rather handsomely for the gear I stole for him," Rivett said. He showed Shyft the sack of drakkals. Shyft's happy grin turned to a scowl of envy.

"How come you get paid for everything? I get paid nothing!" Shyft complained. Rivett ignored the complaining and went over to a big vault in the wall. The vault was made of solid steel and the lock was tight. Rivett entered a complex series of numbers and the vault door slid open with a clunk. He put the bag of Drakkals inside and closed the door.

Rivett then saw his other Crew member who was his girlfriend. Her name was Machina. Machina was a pretty girl with blond hair like Rivett's and bright baby blue eyes. She smiled at him. He smiled back. He came up to her and said "Wow. You are looking good today," Machina blushed and giggled. She kissed Rivett lightly on the cheek which made him happy.

He was chatting with her for a moment when someone yelled "Hey lover-boy! Over here!" He turned to the voice to see Mari, his final crew member. Mari was a total brat and happened to be Machina’s younger sister. Her hair was jet black with pink streaks. Her eyes were like her sister's. She loved to taunt Rivett and Mechina particularly when she saw them flirting with each other.

"Buzz off you scale scraping brat!" Mechina yelled.

 "Rivett and Mechina sitting in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Mari taunted some more.

"I said BUZZ OFF!" Mechina bellowed this time and gave her sister the Death Glare, the one glare that even scared Rivett sometimes. Mari instantly stopped and sulked off.

Rivett laughed. He enjoyed watching the girls get into little cat fights like that. It was pure entertainment and helped him to not get bored. He said goodbye to Mechina and went off to the Dragon Stalls.

The Dragon Stalls contained the Mechanist Crew's mighty Grey Bone Dragons. One of these was Libris. Libris looked like a skeleton and in fact he was one. He was taller than any building and was pretty scary especially at night. Rivett patted his dragon and spoke to it "Did you hear those girls fighting? It was funny." Libris grunted in agreement.

Libris was one of the last Gray Bone Dragons. Since he was WAY too big to use on the track, he acted as a guard for the hideout. Libris had the power to use opponents’ draconium colors against them. This made him very dangerous. He only came when Rivett blew the Horn. The horn was silver and gray and looked like a long serpent-ish dragon. When blown the mouth would open and vibrate and loose a horrible sounding screech which was Libris's call.

After hanging out with the dragons, Rivett went back into the main area of the hideout. Haarth and Shyft were looking at a computer with worried expressions.

"What is it guys?" Rivett asked "Why the long faces?"

"W… well....there have been a string of gear thefts across the city and Dragon City Security has placed you as their top suspect."

"Typical.....typical.....DCS always suspects little old me...will they ever stop?" Rivett said.

"There's more," said Haarth. "They have evidence this time." Rivett was walking off when Haarth's words stopped him in his tracks.

"Evidence!? What sort of evidence??" he said in alarm.

"Um...they used Feyns as a witness....he told everything about your recent visit and he would have gone to jail otherwise..." Shyft spoke.

"Rrrrr...." Rivett growled "That SCALE-SCRAPING, THICK HEADED, PIECE OF DRAGON DUNG! I am going to SCALE HIM!" Rivett bellowed the last words for emphasis. He was definitely pissed off.

Everyone backed out of his way or cowered as he passed by. They didn't want to irritate him further. Even Mari was a bit nervous now. He went to the Stalls and grabbed Libris's gear and climbed onto his back. "Okay Libris. Its time to pay a visit to a little friend of ours".

 

Chapter Two

Rivett was now atop Libris and they were thundering down the back alley to Feyns' shop. Rivett jumped off Libris and banged on the door. There was no response. He banged again, still no response. He finally kicked the door down. He walked inside but saw no sign of Feyns. The shop was dark and looked empty. "Feyns are you IN HERE?" Rivett yelled.

He then heard Feyns' voice, "Yeah...I...I'm here Rivett. No need to shout… heh." Feyns seemed a bit flustered and nervous The shop lights flickered on.

As soon as Feyns went quiet, Rivett went on the rampage. "Feyns you GOD DAMNED IDIOT! What were you thinking?? Telling DCS EVERYTHING?? I cannot BELIEVE you would do that!"

Feyns was now very upset and flustered. Tears welled up in his eyes. "I...I'm sorry Rivett but I had to...I would have been put in jail! JAIL! Do you know what its like behind bars? It’s horrible..." Feyns spoke.

"I TRUSTED YOU!" Rivett began ranting again “TRUSTED YOU! And what do you do? You tell DCS and RUIN my thieving career! RUIN IT! I've been through jail already! I WILL NOT go through it AGAIN!"

Feyns was now crying, tears streaming down his face. He tried to apologize "I'm REALLY sorry Rivett! Please forgive me! Please!"

Rivett looked into Feyns' eyes. "I...I forgive you...I'm sorry." he apologized.

"Oh... its okay." Feyns replied. Rivett left the store slamming the door behind him.

He got back on Libris and remembered something. He remembered when he had gone to jail for. He had stolen a set of Level 10 Black Shadow Gear from the Paynn Inc. Warehouse. He didn't count on the alarm going off as he left. DCS was on the scene in a flash. They arrested him and plopped him in the Level Six Block. Level Six was the High Security cell block which was reserved for the most notorious criminals and thieves. He had been beaten, bruised, and bashed against the walls in there. It had scared him like nothing else could. He even still carried the bruises from the fight he had with Krush, the guard.

He shuddered. Jail was not the place for him. He broke out after 24 hours through a secret passage in the floor. He had traveled through the sewers in his cloak until he had found the Mechanist hideout. Nobody had found him since. DCS was actually still looking for him and now he was probably Public Enemy #1. He didn't want to think about jail anymore and pushed the thoughts out of his mind.

As he and Libris stomped their way back to the Hideout he noticed the Paynn Inc. Warehouse. He used to nick stuff from there all the time. He marveled at the updated security. "Man...Paynn REALLY revamped the security on this place" he commented. Lasers crisscrossed the door and two burly Wraith Dragons stood guard. They looked pretty menacing even from a distance.

Libris and Rivett finally made it back to the hideout. It was now pitch black outside and Rivett was having problems finding the keypad on the door. He groped around the door for a moment and then found the keypad. It glowed with an eerie green color in the blackness. Besides it being pitch black outside it was also SUPER cold. "Brrr....its cold enough to freeze your scales off out here" Rivett remarked. He pulled his cloak around himself. Then he entered the key code but something was not right. The door would not open. He entered the code again. Still no movement from the door. He tried every code he could but he finally resorted to kicking and punching the door as well as spewing a stream of curse words.

Rivett had the sneaking suspicion that Mari had bolted the door shut on him again. "MARI! Open this door NOW you little brat!" He heard Mari's giggles of glee and then felt the ground vibrate as the door slid open. He and Libris shot inside.

Mari was laughing her brains out. "Hahaha! I saw you kicking and punching the door! You said bad words too!"

"Will you SHUT UP??" Rivett yelled at her.

Mari was still persistent. She taunted him some more "You got locked out! You got locked out! ha ha ha ha!"

"That does it!" Rivett yelled and jumped on Mari. They wrestled around on the floor for a moment. Mari was pretty good at combat but not as good as Rivett. "Now you see me now you don't!" Rivett activated his Invisibility Gear and vanished.

"NOT FAIR! CHEATER!" Mari yelled at Rivett. She then noticed his footprints moving toward the dragon stalls. This gave her an idea. She grabbed her Mag Staff and walked over to where Rivett was headed. Then she held it out at his ankle level.

*WUMP*. Rivett tripped head over heels on the Staff. "Wha!? Whoa!" Rivett exclaimed as he fell on the ground. The fall short circuited his Gear and he was visible again. "Oh Scales!" He cursed. "I hate you". Mari giggled again.

He looked up and also saw Machina standing over him with a grin on her face. "Hello down there" she said.

"Hi Machina" Rivett smiled and got up.

He kissed Machina on the cheek and walked over to the stalls. "Yeech! Boy germs!" Mari said with disgust.

Machina laughed dryly, "You'll be kissing boys when your older so you shouldn't say that."

"Eeew! no way! That’s gross!!" Mari said. Mari walked off to her room and sealed the door.

Rivett had seen Mari gross out about him kissing her big sister. He rolled his eyes. He then locked Libris into his stall and went to his room. He got into his pajamas and plopped into bed. He was pretty tired and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow on his bed. Tomorrow was another day.

 

Chapter Three

It was early morning. Rivett was still sleeping and unaware of anything happening around him. He didn't know that a certain little someone was preparing to pull another prank on him.

Mari's usual prank target was Rivett. This morning she had prepared her best prank yet. She had snuck a few Drag Box lizards out of Rivett's stash and slipped them under Rivett's covers. She quietly snuck out of his room trying to stifle her giggles of glee. She stopped outside Rivett's door and murmured "3....2....1...." to herself. She listened and waited.

Rivett was half awake. He felt some.....things rustling in his sheets. He lifted the sheets and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.......

Mari finally heard what she had been waiting for.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

Rivett's scream echoed through the halls. Mari was soon rolling on the floor with laughter as she saw Rivett sprint out of the room with the Drag Box lizards all over him. One was on his head, another had its jaws clamped on his ankle, and the others in various places. Rivett was yelling "OWWW! GET OFF! GET OFF! GET OFF!" The lizards were nipping him now. Mari was laughing so hard that her sides hurt.

When Rivett managed to get the lizards off, he was in the Main Room. He was now covered head to toe in bite marks and one stubborn lizard refused to get off his head and was chewing his hair.

Machina and the others spotted him. They too were laughing their heads off. Rivett was NOT amused. "Yeah, yeah, yeah....laugh it up guys....just keep humiliating me," he said.

Machina smirked at him and said 'I just know this is another infamous Mari prank". Rivett had already known Mari was behind this one. Only she could come up with something like that.

Mari walked into the Main Room and saw Rivett giving her his Death glare. For the first time in a long time she actually cowered at his gaze. "H...hi...Rivett....silly lizards....I didn't mean for them to bite you....heh".

"Don't pull that innocent crap with me Mari....Don't EVEN try. If you EVER do that again I swear I am gonna STRANGLE YOU!" Rivett yelled at her with all his anger pouring out.

Mari was now almost in tears. She ran off to her room and Rivett heard the door slam. Loud. He sighed and rolled his eyes. He hated Mari. Hated her. But he couldn't help feeling a bit guilty. He had been a little harsh after all.

Pushing this morning's prank aside Rivett went to his room and donned his usual attire. He exited his room and went to the Stalls. He put Libris's saddle on and mounted Libris. Together they thundered out of the compound and out into the sunlight. For once actual sunlight was touching Down City so he was happy about that.

As he and Libris tromped through the back alleys, he stole lots of gear and lots of Drakkals. This was what he loved to do. Stealing was his life and he considered himself a master thief. He had earned a good reputation with Dragon City Security since they couldn't ever catch him. He chuckled at that thought. He felt unstoppable.

Rivett was really bored. He had nothing to do except steal. He couldn't race because Libris was too huge and he already had stolen lots of gear. How about stealing a dragon? he thought. Now there is a challenge. A good challenge.

Rivett knew that to steal a dragon was by no means an easy task. He had the necessary gear but he wanted to steal a prime dragon and he knew just the one. He wanted to steal the dragon belonging to Word Paynn. He had heard of Abandonn being one of the fiercest dragons in the world.

With Abandonn he would be able to stop Word and topple his empire once and for all. With the dragon decided, it was time for Rivett to prepare himself to steal the prize.

 

Chapter Four

It was 1:00am. Rivett was awake and dressed in his usual outfit with his cloak on. He was preparing to steal Abandonn, the dragon belonging to Word Paynn.

He had prepared a deadly arsenal. He knew he would need his most powerful stuff to capture a beast like Abandonn. In his pack was:

Purple Trapping Gear

Black Control Gear

Green Capture Gear

Light Green Deactivation Gear

Purple Penning Gear

Black Psi Gear

That gear was his most powerful set. He rarely had used it. But now it would be used to its full potential.

After preparing his gear, he got on Libris. They quickly and quietly left the compound making sure nobody was awake to hinder them especially Mari. Thankfully, she was sound asleep.

They thundered through the Drag Ways and finally made it to Paynn Incorporated's dragon stable. The security on the stable was tight and very advanced. Nobody could get in there except an invisible person. That’s just what Rivett was. Rivett jumped off Libris and activated his Shadow Gear. He snuck past the many security cameras that dotted the outside of the stable and climbed over the retaining wall. Once over he crept to the stalls. The dragons in these stalls were creepy Wraiths. He looked all over and then struck gold. Metaphorically speaking. In the last stall was Abandonn, sleeping with one eye half open.

Rivett was cautious about directly approaching Abandonn. He knew that dragon was very fierce and even more temperamental. Before even getting near that stall he made sure to first disable the mag-locks on the door and disable any other booby traps.

Once he was satisfied that all traps were deactivated, he slowly, carefully went up to Abandonn. He did NOT want to scare the dragon. Once he was close enough he nervously reached out a hand and touched the dragon itself. Abandonn's scaly hide was rough and dry like an alligator.

Rivett however had forgotten to check the inside of the stall for traps. There was an almost invisible trip laser along the bottom of the stall door that activated an alarm when the beam was broken. Once that beam was broken, all hell would break loose.

The alarm was very loud. Loud enough to wake the sleeping Abandonn and send him into a frenzy.

"Whoa!" Rivett exclaimed. He jumped back as Abandonn rose on all fours and then reared. Abandonn was screeching and roaring madly. Rivett quickly thought for a moment and knew he had two options: One, he could run like the wind and get out of there or Two, he could stay and get killed by an enraged dragon that was 15 times bigger than him. He chose the first option.

As he bolted out of the stall and into the Stable corridor he saw his only exit blocked by the previously asleep Wraith dragons. They snarled and gnashed their teeth at him. Drool dripped from their jaws in ribbons.

"Heh...heh....nice dragons" Rivett spoke nervously. The Wraiths stepped closer to him, still drooling and snarling. They occasionally nipped at each other as if they were arguing over who would get to bite his head off first.

Rivett suddenly had an idea. A good one as it happened. He knew that with Abandonn in his enraged state, it was the perfect time to snap the Control Gear on him. Once he had control of Abandonn he could use him as a living battering ram to smash the Wraiths out of the way and be free. The only problem was getting the beast calm enough to snap the gear on.

He had no gear that could calm Abandonn down but he did have gear that could weaken him a bit. Rivett rushed back to Abandonn who had surprisingly stopped rearing but was now pacing around his stall in hysterics.

"Easy big guy" Rivett tried to reassure the dragon. "Easy boy". Abandonn was somewhat calmed by the words. He stopped and started to lay down again. Rivett took his chance. He ran over and slapped the Control Gear on the dragon's thick legs.

Then when Abandonn was forced to his knees, Rivett slapped the Psi Gear on Abandonn's head. Once that gear activated, Abandonn stiffened. His eyes turned pupil-less and neon yellow. His skin turned jet black. Now he was at Rivett's mercy.

"Finally. Abandonn is mine!" Rivett exclaimed aloud. He looked up at his new dragon. Abandonn screeched loudly and then bowed low to allow Rivett to climb on.

"Okay big boy, let's see what you can do". Rivett spoke as he grabbed the Psi Gear Controller. The controller is what made the Psi Gear unique. It controlled the dragon's every movement, action, thought, and even emotion. The dragon itself was rendered completely powerless.

Rivett expertly maneuvered the controller. He made Abandonn get into a charging position. Once that was done. He pressed a button and Abandonn charged full force.

*KABLAM!* The Wraith dragons that were blocking the door were tossed over 20ft. into the far retaining wall where they were knocked unconscious instantly. Before Rivett left the Paynn Stables, he got off Abandonn and went to place a very life-like Abandonn hologram in Abandonn's now empty stall. Word Paynn would never realize his dragon was gone, unless he inspected the hologram closely which would be very unlikely.

After completing his task, he got on Abandonn and sped off to the Mechanist Compound. He had left just in time because a dim glow was starting to creep into Down City. The glow was the first rays of morning sunlight.

Once Rivett was back at the Compound he quickly put Abandonn in a spare stall and also put Libris away. He then dressed back into his pajamas and went back to bed so nobody would know that he ever snuck out and stole a dragon at 1 in the morning.

 

Chapter Five

It had been only a few hours since Rivett had stolen Abandonn and took him to the Mechanist compound. He didn't count on Machina finding Abandonn in her dragon's stall the next morning.

Once she found out, she went straight to Rivett who explained the whole story. He paused to let it all sink into her.

"you WHAT!? you stole WHAT!?" She was now in a state of total shock. Her own boyfriend stealing the most fierce dragon in the City was unbelievable. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and then gave Rivett her death glare. Rivett cowered this time.

"I only stole him because I needed a challenge! I put a hologram in the big brute's place anyway" Rivett said.

"A Hologram!? A hologram is NOT going to fool Word Paynn. You know that. Do you realize what you've done Rivett? Do you?" Machina spoke with worry in her voice.

"I put the entire Crew in danger didn't I?" Rivett said.

"Oh no Rivett, you did worse than that. When Word finds out his dragon is missing he's gonna go on an all out attack on every Crew until he finds which Crew has his dragon! Then the other Crews will eventually retaliate and possibly start a Dragon-Human WAR!" Machina was now more worried and nervous than ever.

"A war?" Rivett scoffed "like that will ever happen"

"It will happen Rivett!" Machina said. "I know it will! Word Paynn has the mind to plan a war and the ambition to carry it out! If you think you're going to get away with this then you are very much mistaken. If I were you I would return Abandonn before things get out of hand"

"I don't think so Machina! That dragon is a powerful force! Think of how much respect we would get, and how much power we would have!" Rivett said.

"Rivett, we don't need power to be great! And as for respect....respect is something you earn over time....not something you get in an instant. Don't you know that? Please....return Abandonn and don't start a war....don't let history repeat itself" Machina said.

Rivett didn't reply. He thought about what Machina had told him. He knew he didn't want a war and it would be his fault if one started. Questions floated through his mind: What’s the point of stealing a dragon? Why steal Abandonn in the first place?. Answers came just as quickly: The point is for power and respect. Steal him because he is the best to steal, the greatest prize for any thief. But then his not-so-stone hearted side burst through: Perhaps stealing Abandonn was a stupid idea hmm? Returning the dragon would stop a war before it starts you know.

He thought some more and then decided "Okay, Machina. I'll return the dragon. It’s for the best". When Machina heard those words she smiled for the first time in a long time.

"You made the right choice Rivett. Good job. Go return that beast so Paynn doesn't have a stroke" she replied.

Rivett donned his cloak and gear and went to return Abandonn. When he got to the stalls to get him out, something was wrong. Normally the stalls were full of noise and dragon sounds but there was only silence. ‘It’s quiet,’ Rivett thought. ‘Too quiet.’ He also noticed that the other dragons were gone as well. This sent Rivett into a state of alarm. He ran down to the last stall where Libris was kept and stopped dead. Libris was gone as well.

 

Chapter Six
9:00pm, Paynn Citadel

Word Paynn was in a state of utmost happiness. He had successfully retrieved not only his dragon Abandonn but had also stolen the powerful Gray Bone dragons from the Mechanist Crew! This would help him start his war much earlier than he had ever anticipated. With the powerful Gray Draconium in Libris's bones, he could make enough Gray Assist Gear to power a thousand Wraith Dragons! He just needed to get it first.

Word had been able to keep Libris contained by using special Energy-Lock pads on the floor. The pads simply used the dragons energy to lock its feet on the pads and immobilize it. Word had also placed a few energy drain pads on Libris to drain the Gray Draconium out of him. After only an hour, every drop of Gray Draconium had been drained from Libris. He was now very weak and powerless.

Even though Word had the other Gray Dragons, why did he only drain Libris? Because Libris's Gray Draconium was actually pure. Pure Gray draconium was extremely strong and just as dangerous. Pure Gray draconium could increase a dragon's power tenfold and make it a deadly machine of destruction. Perfect for a Dragon-Human War.

Word was saving the other Gray Dragons to use as weapons in his army. He had outfitted them with Psi and Shadow Gear. The gear however had concocted a strange side-effect with the Gray dragons. It had morphed them into strange Gray Bone Wraiths. The newly formed wraiths had the appearance of the Gray Dragons but jet black. Also sharp spikes protruded from their shoulders and tail tip. And to add to their menacing appearance, a neon purple glow would course down their bodies every few seconds. And if you thought they could be any spookier then you were wrong. The dragons were no longer just bones. They now had flesh to cover them.

These new additions to Word's wraith family were the most powerful yet. The only way to keep these vicious beasts contained was in a stall made of solid steel over six inches thick. However even that couldn't seem to keep them from roaring and screeching like mad.

Word hoped these beasts would prove useful somehow. He realized that they were nearly untamable and one had already tried to bite him. Another had also mag-blasted him against the Citadel wall with enough force to crack the thick steel in all directions. He would have to be more careful with them in future. He also wondered how the Mechanists were faring without their precious dragons or their defender Libris.

9:00pm. Mechanist Compound

The Mechanist Crew was in complete disarray. Without their Gray dragons they were nothing. Everyone was upset and sad especially Rivett. Rivett was perhaps the saddest of all. Libris was his dragon and Rivett felt like a part of him had been torn away. He and Libris had done everything together from thievery to racing.

Machina was also very upset. She was unable to lead her Crew very well without her dragon Sylvr by her side to keep people calm. Sylvr was her pride and joy; she loved that dragon with all her heart.

"What are we going to do now Rivett?" she asked him.

Rivett heard her question and had an answer. He wanted to rescue his dragons no matter what it took. He wanted the dragons back more than anyone else. He gave her his answer.

"We’re going to rescue our dragons!"

"How? It’s almost impossible to get into his Citadel let alone get near it!" Machina said.

"Impossible?" Rivett laughed "Nothing's impossible with the Dragon Booster helping us out!" Rivett said.

When Machina heard what Rivett had said she went from sad to glad in seconds.

"The Dragon Booster! Of course! Rivett you are a genius! I love you!" she said and kissed Rivett on the cheek.

Rivett blushed for a minute and then spoke "Yeah, I love you too but now I have to pay a visit to the Dragon Booster".

He waved goodbye to Machina and ran out of the Compound. He was just out the door when Mari stopped him.

"Hey! Let me come!" she yelled.

"No Mari. This is too dangerous for you" Rivett said to her.

Mari pouted for a moment and then put her cunning brain to work. She gave Rivett her ultimate puppy face.

"Ack! The---cuteness!" Rivett yelled trying to look away but couldn't. Mari's puppy face had done it again.

"Okay...you can come with me but stay close and be careful!" Rivett said to her. Mari jumped for joy. She was happy now.

The pair were on their way to the Dragon Booster....and to potential hope for their dragons.

Chapter Seven

Mari and Rivett were headed to the home of the Dragon Booster. Rivett had found out through sneaky research and some computer hocus-pocus that the Dragon Booster currently resided at Penn Stables. He also found out that the Dragon Booster was really Artha Penn.

After some more walking and Mari complaining, the pair finally made it.

"Well, we're here!" Rivett exclaimed.

"Drac! This place is just drac!" Mari exclaimed in wonder as she stared awestruck at Penn Stables.

"I'll go get Artha...er.....Dragon Booster. You just stay here, got it?" Rivett spoke to Mari.

"Got it!" she replied.

Rivett went up to the large front door of the Penn residence. He knocked a couple times. On the second knock, he heard someone come to the door.

"Hello? Who is it?" the person asked. That person was Artha Penn, the 16 year old leader of the Penn Racing Crew and rising star on the All City Circuit.

"Artha! It’s me, Rivett!" Rivett said.

"Rivett!? What are you doing here?" Artha asked.

"I really really need your help Artha! If you let me in, I'll explain everything!" Rivett replied.

Artha let him inside. Rivett went in and Mari followed.

"So....you're here because?" Artha asked.

They sat at a large table in the kitchen.

"I'm here because....well, because Word Paynn stole ALL of the Gray Dragons from the Mechanist Compound including Libris! Can you help me get them back?? Please??" Rivett asked with a desperate look on his face.

"Hmm, I'll try my best, but can you tell me what happened in detail?" Artha asked.

"Sure," Rivett replied. He explained everything that had happened from beginning to end. He was in tears by the end.

"And...and.....now that....Word....has them.....he could do....well.....oh...I just don't know!" Rivett spluttered.

"Rivett....your dragon will be okay....we'll rescue him! I promise!" Artha said trying his best to comfort Rivett.

Rivett grabbed a tissue that Artha gave him and blew his nose and dabbed the tears from his eyes. He then sighed and spoke, "That’s about all I can tell you Artha. I'm sunk without you're help as Dragon Booster. After all, the Dragon Booster was the only person that defeated Word Paynn before...."

"You've got a point there," Artha said. He then noticed the young girl sitting next to Rivett.

"Um....who's that??" he asked.

"My name is......MARI! Pleased to meet you Artha Penn!" Mari replied with sudden glee.

Artha was taken aback slightly. He had never seen a girl that spontaneous before.

"Well....uh....nice to meet you too...heh," he replied.

"That little scale scraper would be Mari, my Crew Leader's sister" Rivett said.

"Shut up Rivett," Mari retorted.

Rivett rolled his eyes. He then talked some more, "So now that you're going to help us, I think we'll have a real chance of rescuing our dragons right?"

"Yes we will, but how exactly are we going to get into the Paynn Citadel? We can't just ring the doorbell can we?' Artha said.

"Obviously. Before we can do anything we need the schematics for the Citadel. You wouldn't happen to have those would you?" Rivett asked.

"Actually I do have them...or my friend Parmon has them...I'll go get him," Artha said. He went off to get Parm and minutes later returned with him at his side.

"Okay....Rivett, Mari, meet Parmon Sean-technical consultant for the Penn Stables Crew and resident genius," Artha said.

"Hello" Parmon said. He smiled nicely and took a seat across from Rivett and Mari. He then said, "It seems that you need to find a way into Paynn Citadel right?"

"Right" Rivett responded.

"Well, I happen to have obtained these schematics for the inside and outside of the Citadel and surrounding complex...I studied them and unfortunately can't seem to find a way inside....and even if you managed to make it inside it would take something short of a miracle to get past all the security Word has..." Parmon said.

"What about a back door? Some sort of hidden entrance?" Rivett asked. He felt confident that there was a way in.

"Good question..." Parmon studied the map for a moment and then smiled jubilantly.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. "Perfect! There happens to be a large steel door that leads straight into the Citadel....you're so called "back door" " He pointed to it on the map.

"Hey! I remember that door! I passed by it all the time when I would ride Libris around the area....That door leads into a small warehouse which is connected to the Citadel by that door" Rivett said.

"So we can go through that door, rescue our dragons and kick Word Paynn's butt right?" Mari asked.

"So now that we know how to get in, we need to get past security as well.....seems a tad challenging but I always like a good challenge" he said.

"I can help you get past the security" Parmon said.

"How?" Rivett replied.

"Look at these devices here" Parmon said. He pointed to the devices.

"Whats this one?" Mari was examining a small black wire that had a cylinder attached to it.

"That is a loaded Jakk-Box. Allows for remote hijacking of any security system"

"Sweet" Rivett exclaimed. "What about this item?" he was looking at a piece of cloth that seemed to change colors.

"That is one of my newer inventions. Camouflage-Foil or Cam-Foil for short. It can change color to completely blend into any environment however it wouldn't work on camera" Parm said.

"Why not?' Mari asked.

"CCTV cameras have better eyes than humans and they break down an image pixel by pixel....to put it simply you would look like you were standing behind a projector screen" Parm said.

"Oh" Mari said.

Parmon continued explaining about his gadgets. When he was done he assembled a pack of gadgets for each person.

"Nice packs...they're so light" Rivett said.

"Yes...the pack is feather light and is pretty cool. Also I have made you all some weapons in case you get into combat" Parmon said.

"What sort of weapons?" Rivett said.

Parmon started by first twirling what looked like a baton. "This is obviously a Mag-Staff but its modified to be able to send a 1000 volt shock into whatever it hits"

"Cool" Mari said.

"These" Parmon said as he pulled out sets of gear "are sets of Stun, Ramming, Tandem, and other capturing Gear"

"Nice" Rivett said.

Parmon explained all the weapons too. Once everyone was outfitted with weapons, it was time to break into the Citadel.

"Everybody know the plan?" Artha said.

"Yep!' Everyone else said simultaneously.

"Then lets go!" he said.

The gang was ready to rescue the dragons.....would they succeed or would they fail?

Chapter Eight

Now that everyone was ready to break into the Paynn Citadel, it was time for the break-in itself. First, Artha, Parmon, and Lance readied their dragons. They equiped all sorts of gear to them so that they could have a fighting chance. Then they got on their dragons. Mari was able to borrow Wyldfyr and Rivett sat with Artha on Beau.

They thundered down the Dragways to the Paynn Citadel. Since it was around 10:00 at night the area was very dark and it was hard to see anything.

"Turn on your nightvision" Artha whispered. He turned his on and everyone else followed suit.

"Can you guys see me?" Artha said.

"We see you!" Mari and Lance said.

"Good" Artha replied. He then took a minute to transform into the DragonBooster.

"Release the Dragon" he whispered. A flash of gold light and the DragonBooster had appeared. Also Beau had turned into his Black and Gold form.

"Okay everyone....here's the plan" Artha explained the plan to everyone.

"Rivett, You and I will enter first and take out the security dragons. This will buy Mari enough time to place the fiber-optic clip to one of the cameras. Once Mari has placed the clip and given us the all-clear, Parmon and Lance will enter and make their way to the office in the warehouse and hack into Paynn's system and locate the Gray Dragons. Once the dragons have been succesfully located we move on to phase two"

"Quite the plan you have there Artha!" Rivett exclaimed. "Lets hope it works!"

The gang prepared themselves and went to work.

DragonBooster and Rivett went up to the security dragons.

"Hey you big ugly brutes!" Artha yelled to the dragons. The dragons responded with snarls and hisses.

"Come and get us boneheads!" Rivett yelled. This made the dragons even angrier. They pawed the ground and came closer. One of them roared loudly. The other charged at them head on.

"Woah! Heads up Artha!" Rivett yelled.

Artha maneuvered Beau out of the way just in time. The charging dragon couldn't stop himself and ended up ramming into the wall of another warehouse. The dragon was knocked out cold.

"One down, one to go" Rivett murmured. He then spoke to Artha "Let me take this one".

Artha nodded and Rivett jumped off Beau. He pulled out his Shock Staff. He flicked the switch and felt it vibrate in his hand fully charged.

"Bring it on bone breath!" He yelled to the remaining dragon. This dragon was already angered and went for Rivett.

"Hiyaaaaah!" Rivett exclaimed as he swung the Staff. It slammed the dragon and sent the 1000 volt charge straight in. The dragon roared with surprise and pain. Then it collapsed in a heap.

"Nice job!" Artha commented. He turned to Mari "Go! Go!"

Mari, who had the loaded Jakk Box carefully made her way to one of the security cameras.

"Okay Parm...do I just wind this around any old cable?" she asked via comm-link.

"No! This is a complex piece of machinery! For it to work properly it must be clamped around one of the video cables coming from the camera and it must be wound tight" Parm responded.

"So....which ones are the video cables?" Mari asked.

"Well....all of them" Parmon said.

Mari sighed with annoyance and shook her head. She then picked a cable and wound the Jakk Box on.

"Is it working?" Mari asked.

"Yes! We now have eyes and ears. Now you are going to be blown away by this....I am about to wipe all moving images from the cameras inside the Citadel....however to make sure you stay invisible you must keep moving! Move anything, even if its your toe" Parmon said.

"Got it Parm" Mari said. She gave Parm the thumbs-up. Parmon and Cyrano charged into the warehouse. Parmon dismounted from his dragon and walked into the office.

"Okay....I have made it to the computer terminal and I am now hacking into the system....there we go.....perfect! The Gray Dragons are located....here in the Control Center of the Citadel" Parmon spoke to everyone via the Comm-Link.

"Great job Parmon!" Rivett said via link.

"Thanks" Parmon responded.

"Parm! Look at this!" Lance exclaimed. He had managed to load up the data on the Gray Dragons. What he was looking at scared him.

"Oh...my...goodness...." was all Parmon could say about the images that met his gaze. The Gray dragons had been mutated into horrible, bloodthirsty beasts by Word's wraith and psi gear array.

"Artha! Rivett! You have to see these images! I'm sending them to your CommLinks now" Parmon said with worry.

When Artha and Rivett saw the images it blew them away.

"NO!" Rivett exclaimed. "What has that....that....monster done to those dragons?"

"I have no idea....all I can see is a bunch of scary animals.....not Gray Bone Dragons" Artha said.

The sight of the images made Artha and Rivett want to complete their mission even more. They went into the warehouse and through the now unlocked door into the Citadel. Mari followed close behind. It was time to free those Gray Dragons.....no matter what the cost.

Chapter Nine

The gang was ready to rescue the Gray Bone Dragons from Word Paynn's clutches. They had already gotten into the Citadel itself but there was still a chance that they could get stopped somehow.

'So how do we get to the Control Center from here?" Artha asked Parmon.

"I'll send you a map now. It should show up on your Comm-Screen" Parmon said.

Artha saw the map appear on his screen. A red line traced the appropriate path.

"Just follow that red line Artha! That path is foolproof. I guarantee it!" Parmon said.

"Okay Parm...thanks" Artha said.

Artha sent the map to everyone else's Screens. Now they could find the way too.

"So now can we go rescue the dragons?" Mari said.

"Yes we can!" Artha said.

The gang went through the steel door into the main floor of the Citadel. They all had their shock-staffs out in case they were ambushed.

"I hope our dragons are alright" Mari said.

"Same here" Rivett said.

As they made their way through the corridors, it seemed like nobody was there but hiding in the shadows was a certain Moordryd Paynn preparing to give those stable brats a surprise....

"Wait!" Artha exclaimed. "I think I hear something!"

"What?" Mari asked. "What do you hear?"

"I don't know...." Artha said.

Suddenly as if out of nowhere, Moordryd Paynn and his Crew mates stepped out of the shadows to greet them.

"Well, Well, Well, what have we here? The Dragon BooBoo and his little army. How pleasant!" he said.

"What are you doing here Moordryd?" Artha said.

"What do you think Dragon Blunder? I'm here guarding the place on father's orders" Moordryd said.

"Guarding what exactly? Gray Bone Dragons?" Artha said with a smirk.

Moordryd's devious smirk turned to a face of disbelief. "How did you know about that?"

"I have my sources Paynn" Artha said.

"Doesn't matter. Father ordered us to guard the Gray Dragons and that's what we're gonna do....right boys?" He looked first at Cain then at Rancyd. They laughed menacingly and stepped towards Dragon Booster.

"Right" They said simultaneously. They both grabbed their mag-staffs and attacked Dragon Booster.

Artha dodged their attacks and dealt a few of his own. He managed to slam Cain against the wall and knock him out but Rancyd was still standing.

"Hey Dragon Bum! Over here!" Rancyd yelled.

Artha turned to him and lashed out with his mag-staff. Rancyd went flying and landed next to Cain unconscious.

"Who's next?" He said. He stepped toward Moordryd, staff raised. Moordryd, without his lackeys was now outnumbered 3 to 1. He still however chose to fight. He pulled out his Energy Drain Whip and cracked it on the ground a few times to try and intimidate Dragon Booster.

"I'm not scared of that Paynn" Artha responded with a laugh.

"Maybe so....but you will be afraid of these!" Moordryd responded. He ran over to a lever on the wall and pulled it down. Behind him a large steel door opened and three GIGANTIC creatures lumbered out. They roared loud enough to make the ground shake.

"What are those things?" Artha said.

"Those are...." Rivett said "the Gray Dragons!"  

"Gray Bone Wraiths....ATTACK!" Moordryd yelled. The transformed Gray Dragons obeyed without hesitation. They charged, roaring and screeching.

"Everybody run! Through the door!" Artha yelled and pointed to the steel door that the dragons had come through. Everybody got on their dragons and shot through the door.

When they got through the door they appeared in a large room full of computers and machinery. The Gray Bone Dragons were following them, getting closer with each giant step.

"What are we gonna do Rivett?" Mari said with a hint of fear.

"This" Rivett responded. He jumped off of Beau and quickly searched for anything that could contain and stop the Gray Dragons. He then saw the large steel pen. The gates to the pen were wide open.

"Hey Dragons! Over here!" Rivett yelled to the dragons and they turned towards him. They charged at him but Rivett was too fast for them. They couldn't stop charging and ended up running right into the pen. Rivett quickly closed the gates and locked them.

"That takes care of them" Rivett said.

"You rock Rivett!" Mari exclaimed happily. Everyone celebrated but their happy moment was sadly cut short by the appearance of Moordryd and Word Paynn.

"Well what have we here Moordryd? The Dragon Booster and his little friends? How sweet" Word said.

"It seems that they stopped the dragons by locking them back into their pen....clever" Moordryd said.

"Yes....clever indeed....Dragon Booster, you defeated those dragons very well.....but you will not be able to defeat my Wraith Army when it is finished! You see I have taken the energy from the Gray Bone Dragons and transferred it to these Wraiths and replaced the Gray Dragon's energy with Black draconium! My Wraith Dragons will be unstoppable!" Word said with an evil laugh.

"You're a monster Word!" Mari yelled at him.

Word just chuckled at her words. "I suppose I am a monster now aren't I?"

"What have you done with Libris?" Rivett yelled.

"What have I done with Libris? Oh, you will soon find out....." Word said. He pressed another button on the computer and Rivett stared wide-eyed as a huge steel cage was wheeled out with Libris inside.

Libris looked horrible. Large steel bands were clamped onto his ankles that kept him chained standing up. He couldn't move at all. He however looked at Rivett and groaned as if to say ‘Help me Rivett’.

"Libris! You alright boy?" Rivett ran up to the large cage and looked up at his dragon with glee.

Libris simply groaned with pain in response. The steel bands had dug into his legs causing great pain.

"I'll get you out of there boy! Don't worry!" Rivett said.

At those words Libris had a sudden surge of energy. He pulled and strained, trying to snap the chains that bound him but they wouldn't budge. He lashed his tail and head butted the bars of the cage in a fruitless bid for freedom.

Rivett watched as his dragon tried to escape. He had an idea. He knew that the other Gray Dragons would come him when he blew the Horn. They couldn't resist it even if they had Wraith and Psi gear attached to them.

He pulled out the Horn and blew into it. The screechy, metallic sound was painful to the ears. But to the Gray Bone Dragons, it was a call for aid. The wraith gear that was placed upon them vibrated and shook. The dragons shook and tossed their heads up and down trying to get it off. They finally managed to get the gear off and roared loudly at Word in defiance.

"NO!" Word yelled as he saw his Wraiths turn back to their normal forms. "This cannot be!"

The Gray Dragons smashed their way through the pen and came over to Rivett and Libris. Libris seemed to perk up when he saw his friends.

"Okay Dragons....free your leader!" Rivett spoke to the dragons in a commanding tone. The Dragons obeyed him. Their eyes turned the color of Black Draconium and they blasted the bars of the cage with their Mag-Blasts. The cage fell apart easily and the chains clamped to Libris went limp.

Libris snapped the chains and rushed out of the cage. He turned to Word and roared so loud that the entire Citadel shook. He then aimed a mag-burst at him and raised him off the ground.

"Ack!" Word exclaimed "Put me down you beast!"

Libris didn't put Word down. Instead he blasted Word Paynn towards the wall and when he hit it a few somethings cracked but not the walls.

Artha winced as he saw Word hit the wall. "Oooh....that had to hurt" he exclaimed.

Moordryd was now very frightened. His father had been smashed against the wall by Libris, the other Gray Dragons were freed and his lackeys were unable to help him. He bolted out of the Citadel as fast as his legs could carry him.

"We DID IT!" Mari yelled happily. She ran over to Rivett and gave him a big hug. Rivett hugged her back.

"Okay Libris....lets get out of here" Rivett said to his dragon. Libris charged and smashed a wall down that left a hole big enough to allow them to go out.

Now that the dragons had been successfully rescued, it was time for them to be taken back to their home.

 

Chapter Ten

After the gang had rescued the Gray Dragons they quickly got out. The Citadel was in shambles and was definitely in need of repairs.

Everyone was happy about the dragons being rescued especially Mari and Rivett.

"We rescued the dragons! Yay!" she cheered. Rivett cheered along with her.

After a bit more cheering and celebrating, they made their way to the Mechanist Compound.
At the Compound

"Oh I hope Sylvyr is okay....and Twylyte and Libris....." Machina murmured to herself.

Suddenly one of the Crew members ran into the room.

"Machina! You've gotta see this! The Dragons are BACK!" he yelled happily.

"What!?" Machina exclaimed. She rushed over to the window the other Crew members were looking through with shocked faces.

When she looked through the window she nearly fainted with surprise. There, walking towards the door of the Compound was the Dragon Booster along with Rivett and Mari. The Gray Dragons followed behind.

"RIVETT!" Machina yelled happily. She ran to the Compound door and opened it. Rivett waved to her from atop Libris.

"RIVETT!" she yelled again.

"Hello down there!" Rivett yelled to her.

He carefully dismounted from Libris and ran over to Machina. He grabbed her in an embrace and held her close.

"I was so worried about you Rivett!" Machina said.

"I bet you were....." Rivett said.