Danny's return from the Phoenix Planet had shifted something in the dojo's air. The wind moved differently. The shadows leaned toward him—even the sunlight drew brighter when it touched his skin. It wasn't dramatic or explosive; the changes were subtle, almost reverent.
Like the world itself understood who he was becoming.
Danny sat beneath the cherry blossom tree again, cross-legged in the grass, breathing in slow, disciplined intervals. The golden marks over his shoulders pulsed faintly, shifting patterns like a living script.
Kael'ar watched from beside the stream. "Your flame has found its cadence," the Phoenix murmured. "You are stabilizing."
Danny exhaled once more. "It feels like trying to balance sunlight with muscle."
"Good," Kael'ar said. "Because soon you must balance sunlight with instinct."
Danny opened one eye. "Instinct?"
Kael'ar's wings rustled.
"Stage II of Ascension. When the flame begins to reshape your instincts, not just your chi. When the Golden Dragon inside you stops being a memory… and becomes a reflex."
Danny swallowed.
"Will it hurt?"
Kael'ar gave a sad, proud smile. "Only if you resist."
Danny inhaled slowly, pushing fear aside.
Less than five days remained.
Jake wiped his brow, panting as he stared at what used to be a solid basalt boulder and was now a pile of rubble the size of a small house. His bronze aura flickered violently around him, like molten metal threatening to harden.
Sedge Hat floated nearby on his hover-chair, sipping tea casually. His long white beard blew in the breeze.
"Oh ho! You're cracking the Titan Core!"
Sedge Hat clapped once. "Excellent!"
Jake slumped over. "I'd be more excited… if my arms didn't feel like they're about to fall off."
"That just means it's working," Sedge Hat said brightly.
Jake groaned. "That sounds like terrible medical advice."
"Advice? Oh ho! I thought I was offering narration!"
Jake flopped back onto the grass and stared at the brightening sky.
"Danny's glowing. Swift's meditating like a laser. The Wolf King is… plotting evil things. And I'm over here punching rocks."
Sedge Hat leaned forward, beard swinging. "Titan Cores are awakened, not gifted. Bronze Dragons must suffer the earth to become the earth."
Jake stared.
"That sounds poetic and abusive."
Sedge Hat winked.
"Yes!"
Jake wanted to argue, but another boulder cracked behind him—because his aura reached out and crushed it accidentally.
He blinked. "Wait—did I just—?"
Sedge Hat nodded, pleased.
"Oh ho. You're closer than you think."
Jake grinned slowly.
Swift knelt in the moonlit dojo interior, breathing softly as silver chi spiraled around him in thin, whispering sheets. His staff lay across his lap, pulsing with faint moonlight.
Master Oro paced behind him.
"You must not force the moon into brightness. You must let it reveal itself."
Swift's brow tensed. "I know. It's… hard."
"Because you are using it like a weapon," Oro said. "But Silver Dragons do not wield moonlight. They conduct it."
Swift exhaled.
He tried again.
This time, the light around him didn't flare or sharpen—it flowed, curved, curled. It became soft.
Oro nodded slowly.
"That is the beginning of Moonform. The moon is gentle… until it is not."
Swift inhaled deeply.
"I'm ready."
"No," Oro murmured. "You are becoming ready."
Silver light doubled in brightness.
And Swift smiled.
The Wolf King stood in the molten cavern again, surrounded by the ashes of Hallowjaw and Red Howler. New hybrids knelt before him—ten of them—each stronger than normal, modified with dark chi enhancements stolen from captured Buddy tech.
Shadeclaw bowed before his king.
"The agents you requested have been assembled."
The Wolf King looked them over.
These were the first of the Dark Buddies under his personal command.
Not Bones'.
His.
Their armor was darker. Their eyes burned with consumed energy. Their postures were predatory, not disciplined.
The Wolf King stepped closer to one—the largest, with claws dripping corrupted flame.
"You," he said quietly. "Do you know why you are here?"
The hybrid rumbled. "To serve the King of Ruin."
The Wolf King shook his head.
"No. To hunt gods."
The hybrids stiffened.
The Wolf King's voice dropped lower.
"The sun rises in the east. The golden dragon awakens. Swallow the fear that tries to bite you."
He lifted a claw.
"And swallow the fear you feel for me. Because soon… you will need your hunger for greater prey."
The hybrids growled reverently.
Shadeclaw stepped forward hesitantly.
"My king… should we inform Bones of your… adjustments?"
The Wolf King smirked.
"Inform him nothing. Let him believe I shape these for his cause. Then let him see whose cause is stronger."
His flames curled higher.
"Prepare them. In three days, they will test their fangs."
Shadeclaw bowed deeply.
"All hail the Shadow King."
But as Shadeclaw left, the Wolf King whispered:
"Not shadow. Not yet."
He stared toward the dimensional horizon where Danny's golden flame glittered faintly.
"I will become the storm that devours the dawn."
Bones drifted between dimensions, watching the afterimage of Jade Killington sending his agents flying. The memory amused him.
"A stubborn one," he purred. "A flame of willpower. A delightful ingredient for chaos."
The sealing stones around him pulsed irritably, sensing the stirrings of his ambition.
Bones tapped one with a bony fingertip.
"Soon," he whispered. "Soon I will find the crack in your perfection."
He turned, eyes narrowing with interest.
Danny's golden pulse was everywhere now. Echoing. Expanding.
"Oh, young dragon," he murmured. "You are the brightest thorn the universe has grown in ages."
He raised his hand.
Green fire twisted in his palm.
"And when the time comes… your flame will open the door I need."
He floated backward into darkness.
"And I always enter open doors."
At the edge of the multiverse, the Celestial Stage of the Tournament of Champions began to stir.
The arena was a drifting island the size of a continent, constructed of starlight, bound with dimensional threads, glowing like a crystal city on the sea of eternity.
Its gates had been sealed for centuries.
Now they cracked open—slowly—releasing showers of cosmic dust.
Fighter sigils flickered to life across the galaxy.
Invitations updated themselves.
Worlds trembled.
The tournament would open fully within days.
Across the dojo, Jake instinctively sat up as a bronze sigil flared across his left forearm.
Swift touched his chest as a silver sigil pulsed once.
Danny opened his eyes beneath the cherry tree as a golden sigil circled over his heart.
Kael'ar's wings rose slightly.
"It has begun."
Danny looked toward the sky.
The entire world felt louder.
Sharper.
Tighter.
Swift approached. "Danny… are you alright?"
Danny didn't answer immediately.
For a moment, his pupils flickered—
Not round.
Slitted.
Draconic.
Then he blinked them away.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Just… noise."
Jake joined them, cracking his knuckles. "Tournament's calling."
"It isn't calling," Kael'ar corrected. "It is demanding."
Danny stood slowly.
The three sigils glowed brighter, resonating with each other.
Swift breathed in.
Jake exhaled.
Danny steadied.
Master Oro stepped forward.
"The time has come. The next sunrise will illuminate your final preparations."
Danny nodded.
"Then let's be ready."
The golden flame inside him pulsed once—
a heartbeat made of stars.
Only a few days remained.
The universe was bracing.
And destiny was almost at their door.