The sun had barely risen over the mountains when the training dome began to vibrate. Not from impact. Not from enemies. From power—raw, rising, ancient power.
Danny lay on his back in the grass, chest rising and falling unevenly. Golden fire flickered beneath his skin in pulses that made the air tremble. His breath came out in shimmering waves of heat.
He had barely slept.
He had barely eaten.
The Ancient Golden Dragons whispered ceaselessly now.
"Awaken, child of creation…"
"Rise with the dawn…"
"The storm approaches…"
And Danny couldn't shut them out.
He pressed a hand to his forehead, eyes squeezed shut.
"Quiet… please, just… quiet for a second…"
Golden fire rippled from him and scorched the ground.
Swift and Jake had seen this before—Danny fighting the resonance. But today felt different. He wasn't just hearing them.
He was feeling them.
Their memories.
Their power.
Their fear.
And their hope.
Jake stood nearby, cracking his knuckles anxiously. "Uh… Danny? Buddy? Want me to get Oro or… a fire extinguisher? Both, maybe?"
Swift elbowed him. "Jake. Not helping."
Jake shrugged. "Just saying, the dude is literally glowing like a toaster."
Swift knelt beside Danny, keeping a respectful distance from the heat. "Danny. Look at me."
Danny's breath stuttered.
"I… can't turn it off…"
His eyes snapped open—blazing gold, but not like fire. More like the surface of a newborn star.
Swift inhaled sharply. "Master Oro must know what to do."
Jake nodded quickly. "Yeah. Before Danny accidentally turns into a sun."
But Oro was already walking toward them, staff tapping softly against the ground.
"You cannot stop the resonance," he said calmly. "But you can learn to ride it—like a wave."
Danny sat up, trembling. "How? Every time it hits me… I feel like I'm going to explode."
Oro crouched beside him. His voice softened.
"Because you are no longer aligning with normal chi. You are aligning with creation. With the first dragons ever born. The Golden Ones were not warriors, Danny."
Danny blinked. "Then what were they?"
Oro smiled faintly.
"Architects."
Danny stared at him.
Experts in shaping.
In forging.
In building worlds.
Not destroying them.
Oro tapped Danny's chest.
"You feel fire because your body is not yet ready to carry what your soul already knows."
Danny swallowed hard.
"So what do I do?"
Oro stood.
"You stop fighting your ancestry. And start accepting it."
Another resonance pulse rippled through Danny, golden light cracking across the dome walls. Jake shielded his eyes. Swift grit his teeth as the pressure made every silver nerve vibrate.
But Danny didn't scream.
He didn't collapse.
He closed his eyes.
And breathed.
In.
Out.
Like a wave.
Swift watched, amazed. "He's controlling it."
Jake squinted. "Or he's about to explode for real. Hard to tell."
Oro chuckled. "Give him a moment."
Danny's aura shrank from a raging inferno to a steady glow, warm and powerful.
He opened his eyes again.
This time, the gold was gentle.
Steady.
Ancient.
"I… think I'm okay."
Jake exhaled in relief. "Dude! Nice! I was totally ready to tackle you or something."
Swift shot him a look. "And that would've helped how?"
Jake shrugged. "Moral support?"
Danny laughed weakly. The sound helped steady him further, grounding him in the present.
But the moment didn't last long.
A low hum filled the dome.
A distress call.
Danny, Swift, and Jake exchanged glances as Oro tapped his communicator.
Jimmy's frantic voice burst through:
"Oro! Emergency briefing! Right now! And bring the kids—especially Danny!"
Oro straightened.
"It begins."
Bronze AwakeningBut before they left, Oro turned to Jake.
"Mr. Brooks. Stay behind."
Jake blinked.
"Uh…what? Why?"
Oro tapped his staff against the ground.
"Because your time has come as well."
The ground beneath Jake cracked.
Bronze energy burst upward, swirling around his legs, arms, chest—runes glowing deep reddish-brown like molten earth.
Jake staggered. "Wha—hey—what's happening?!"
Oro smirked.
"Your Bronze Titan lineage has been waiting. You suppressed it with humor. With insecurity. With fear of being left behind."
The bronze aura rose higher—thicker, stronger, grounding itself into Jake's bones.
"And now," Oro continued, "it refuses to stay dormant."
Jake's muscles tightened.
His stance widened.
His heartbeat echoed like a drum.
The air grew heavy, dense, almost metallic.
Swift whispered, "He's evolving."
Danny watched, impressed.
Jake's aura erupted in a burst of bronze flame—raw, physical, powerful. He rose into a humanoid-dragon form faster than ever before, scales forming instantly across his skin.
He roared—not from pain, but from a primal awakening.
Oro nodded.
"The Bronze Titan is awake."
Jake dropped to one knee, panting but grinning.
"I… I feel… solid. Huge. Like I could punch a mountain."
"You will," Oro said. "Later."
Swift's RefinementSwift stepped forward.
"Oro. I felt my fear break in the Silver Trial. But something is still missing."
Oro touched the tip of his staff to Swift's forehead.
"Strength is not your path, Swift. Precision is. Insight. Balance."
Silver flames danced elegantly around Swift—not explosive like Jake's, not overwhelming like Danny's. Beautiful. Controlled.
"Your task is not to grow louder," Oro said, "but sharper."
Swift inhaled, and the silver aura folded inward until it became a thin, lethal line of moonlight along his arm.
Jake whistled. "That is terrifying in the coolest way possible."
Danny smiled. "You're getting stronger, Swift. Fast."
Swift nodded. "We all have to."
Jimmy's Emergency Defense PlanWhen the dragons arrived at Buddies HQ, chaos hit them like a physical wave.
Agents rushed everywhere. Screens flickered with dimensional disturbances. Jimmy stood at the center, sweating through his shirt.
He spun toward Oro.
"Okay. We have big problems. Massive ones."
Oro crossed his arms. "What kind?"
Jimmy pointed at the largest monitor.
A map of the multiverse glowed there.
And on it…
a burning crimson dot.
It was moving.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Directly toward the tournament.
Jake's jaw dropped. "Tell me that's not—"
Jimmy snapped:
"THE WOLF KING. YES. CONGRATULATIONS ON FIGURING THAT OUT."
Swift stiffened. "He's marching."
Danny inhaled sharply, golden aura flickering.
Jimmy nodded rapidly.
"He's traveling across the dimensional wildlands. His pack is growing. And every universe he walks through sends us the same warning: the Wolf King is preparing for an unprecedented level of combat."
Danny swallowed.
"Because he wants… dragon blood."
Jimmy pressed his fingers against his forehead.
"Yes. And if you three aren't ready before the tournament—he will crush you."
Danny clenched his fists.
"We'll be ready."
Oro put a hand on his shoulder.
"You must be."
Bones WatchesAcross distant space, Bones drifted between shattered stars. The Sealing Stones chimed around him, mocking his endless failure to break them. But today, his hollow eyes narrowed.
He sensed it.
Bronze awakening.
Silver refining.
Golden rising.
And the Wolf King marching.
All threads converging.
A grin crept across Bones' skeletal jaw.
"Let the tournament begin."
Green fire consumed the void around him.
The Dragons Stand TogetherBack in the dome, Danny, Swift, and Jake stood in a line, each radiating their unique dragon power.
Golden.
Silver.
Bronze.
Their eyes steeled. Their breaths synchronized. Their destinies entwined.
Swift whispered, "Two months."
Jake cracked his knuckles. "Two months to get strong enough to not die."
Danny stepped forward, aura gently blazing.
"Two months until we face him."
The Wolf King's howl echoed faintly across dimensions.
"Two months… until the feast."
Danny's golden flames flared.
"We won't be prey."