Part I: A Little Extra Help

Chapter I:

Jake

America. Land of the free and home of magical. Well, a lot of places were home of the magical, but the further Jake got into his dragon training over the years, the more it felt like everything that possibly could live in this country, did live in this country. Most countries were so much smaller than America and were geographically similar all over the place, but America just had to be so diverse, didn't it? A good eighty percent of different kinds magical creatures that lived in America could be found in New York City alone – which made perfect sense when it came to his training, now that he thought about it – and that would be totally chill with Jake, except that it was making his training last an eternity.

There were plenty of other dragon kids within a year of his age that had been admitted to the dragon order, and all of them had already finished their training. They were taking up bigger positions in their respective countries. He heard that Fred Nerk over in Australia didn't even have his Dragon Master following him around on the job anymore. But then, here was Jake. Seventeen and counting, finishing up his junior year in high school, and he was still drawing centaurian territory boarders on his map of the states.

He was trying to remember if the east and west border ran through Oklahoma City or the pan handle when the teacher said, "Mr. Long!" Jake flinched so hard he dropped his pencil. "Since you've been staring at that map for so long, how about you tell us about the reasoning behind the boarder of the Louisiana Purchace?"

"Uh…" Jake rolled his finger-tips across his desk top nervously. "I'm sure it had something to do with – the, uh…" Glancing at his map, he took a quick note of where the Louisiana Purchase lined up with the centaur territories (Definitely the panhandle, then) before forcing magic thoughts aside. "Well it was a, uhm, French thing…right?"

Jake's U.S. History teacher just sighed. "You're not going to pass this class with those answers, Jake," she said, using that disappointed tone that Jake had become immune to over almost three years of high school. "I suggest you cut back on riding that skate board around everywhere and start using that time to study. You will all be seniors next year," she continued, addressing the rest of the class as well. "It's time you start thinking seriously about college choices." She spared Jake an extra glance. "Should you go to college at all."

Jake didn't meet her eyes.

"Yo, Jakey!"

Jake kicked his board into submission on the sidewalk and turned back to the school steps. "Hey, Trixie. What up, Spud?"

"Hey, bro," Spud dropped his own board onto the ground and started rolling down the concrete. Jake and Trixie followed. "There's a new skate park opening down town tonight. Are you out, or are you out? …Wait."

"Sorry guys," Jake apologized, shrugging his bag on his shoulder. "Gramps wants me down at the shop all night to get ready for some pixie convention or somethin' going on this weekend. I was actually debating between going to school tomorrow or skipping to get some real sleep for once this week."

Trixie scoffed. "Jakey, if you keep this up, you'll end up repeating a year! Gramps already told you that you're training will end when you graduate, do you really want to spend a whole 'nother year cramped up in that electronics shop?"

"Don't forget college, dude," Spud added. "Repeats don't look so hot on applications, and we've got like, months, before we start those, dude. I'm already freaking out a little!" Spud brought his face close to Jake's and pulled at his face. "Am I getting stress lines yet?"

Jake didn't answer. He swerved down and back up the street curb to avoid a group of freshmen. "Anyway, you guys go have fun without me. I'll catch you next weekend, sound good?"

Trixie sighed. "Whatever, Jake. You have fun at your "pixie convention" or whatever."

"What happens at a pixie convention, anyway?" Spun pondered, scratching the hair under his hat. Jake wondered about that hat sometimes; he hadn't seen Spud ever wash it and he'd had the thing for years. "Is it like, comic conventions? Do their comic books depict dramatized versions of the lives of pixies lost in the strange and awesome world of humans; humans that they make clever costumes for and hold contests do see who does it the best?"

Jake and Trixie shared a tired sigh.

"It's a diplomatic thing, I think," Jake shrugged. "Pixies from all over the country come around for it. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, but the ones from Ohio and the ones from Michigan get into fights all the time."

"Yo, like the ogres at the Red Sox game last year?" Trixie shivered. "Dang, those guys really knew how to use a bat."

"They boldly went where no bat has gone before," Spud said. "I think I still have splinters where there should never be splinters."

"Yeah, I'm still sorry about that one, by the way."

"Don't worry about it Jakey," Trixie gave him a hard pat on the back. "We're used to it. Friends for real, right?" She held out her fist.

Jake gave it a bump. "Friends for life. Thanks, guys."

When they came up the turn to the shop, they waved good bye and Jake continued the last block by himself. When he came up on the shop he kicked his board up into his hand and stood on the sidewalk for a moment, looking through at the windows and up at the sign above the door. He'd been going to this place almost every day after school for years – since middle school, when his powers really came in. When he turned sixteen he'd started actually working for the shop; he even set up a website. The site had made more sales than the store itself had in decades – which was okay, since it was really just a front for a kind of magical headquarters, nowadays. Gramps hadn't even let Jake put the building address on the website. It made money, though, and that got Jake a real, though meager, paycheck, so it was cool with him.

He let out a tired sigh. I'm never getting away from here, am I?

It was a stupid thought, really. In a little over a year he'd graduate and probably never have to come back to the dingy little shop again. He probably would, on occasion, but his duties as the American Dragon promised to take him all over the country. In a few months, Gramps promised to start taking him on jobs and missions out of The City – even out of state. He'd be spending his senior year going on long weekend trips to visit the homes of the pixies that would be arriving tomorrow and borders of the centaur territories in Oklahoma, maybe even a werewolf hide out in California.

He can have all that and more, but step one? Finish high school.

Putting his game face on, Jake swung open the shop door. "Hey, yo, G! What you got for me today?" Jake threw his bag on the counter and slid his board underneath, looking around the empty shop. He took a peak behind the curtain into the back room; also empty. "G?" Jake lifted the curtain as he entered. It was just as cluttered as usual. On the table were a slew of potion ingredients and several books that had been left open. Jake absently flipped a page in one of the books (Magic and Mystic Remedies for the Mind) before searching the room again with his eyes.

"Fu Dog?"

There was a flush from the bathroom and Fu Dog walked out on his hind legs, flipping the pages of yesterday's newspaper through his paws. "Hey, kid, did'ja hear about the bar on 56th – the one with the mermaid tank in the bar counter? Got robbed last night; they won't be opening again for another week."

"Fu, for the millionth time, I'm still only seventeen," Jake said, picking up one of the phials from the desk and sloshing around a purple, jelly, substance.

"Sure, humans have to wait for the big two-one, but the legal drinking age for dragons is two hundred lunar cycles. You could have been partying the night away months ago," Fu told him, snatching the phial from Jake and setting it back in its holder.

"What? Why did Gramps not tell me?"

"Oh, you know the old man. Responsibilities and all that. Actually, just pretend I never told you that. Last thing we need is for your cousin Greggy to find out this summer and – ah bah-ba boo!" Fu Dog shook his head. "Anyway, Gramps has gone with Haley to handle a unicorn stampede in Central Park. He said to tell you to stay put till he got back."

"Stay put?" Jake slumped down in the desk chair. "I could be helping!"

"It's just a couple of pretty, quasi-mortal horses, they can take care of it by themselves." Fu threw himself down on the couch, flipping through more pages. "Y'know, Haley's as old as you were when you started your Dragon Training. She's improved quite a bit, too. Not quite at your level, but, you know, she's doing pretty well."

"Obviously," Jake scoffed. "No one can live up to the expectations of the Am Drag."

"Yeah, you keep that ego, kid." Fu threw the paper onto the coffee table. "Anyhoo, your grandpa wants you reading up on you pixie politics for this weekend." He picked a huge book up off the couch and tossed it towards Jake. Jake caught it against chest with a grunt.

"Pixie politics?" he groaned to himself. "Aw, man." Jake tossed the book down onto the desk. "I could bore myself to sleep, or…" Jake turned his gaze up to the door frame. The place was pretty old, but with the amount of damage dragon training usually did to the place, bits and pieces of the place were fairly new. Including the door frame that looked like it could probably hold a little more weight than just the curtain. Say…five feet, six inches of manly muscle? But pull ups were beyond Jake today, so instead he pulled out his tail, got a good grip on the door frame with it, and pulled himself upside down.

"As much as we all appreciate your workout schedule, big guy," Fu Dog complained, reaching for the remote. "I'm gonna have to agree with Gramps this time. Remember the last pixie convention you went to? I'm still pulling the dust out of my wrinkles." To prove his point, Fu pulled a layer of fur away from his stomach and shook it. Sure enough, little sparkles of dust showered onto the sofa.

"Books have never really been my thing, Fu," Jake argued, lifting his upper body to do a few crunches. "G always tells me to take dragon business more seriously; this is just my way of showing it." Jake twisted mid-air, pulled in his tail, and landed back on his feet. "And it's been a whole year since then. How many more issues could the pixies have possibly have thought up?"

Fu scoffed and clicked on the T.V. set. "You'd be surprised. The little buggers are stubborn."

Jake stretched his arms over his head, popping his back, while the dog flipped through channels. After a few moments, Jake pulled out his cell phone and Fu settled on a local news channel. Jake wasn't really listening to what was being said on the T.V. until Fu called, "Kid, check this out."

"…some sort of stampede in Central Park," the news caster was saying. "People are saying that at least two dozen horses, decorated like unicorns, are charging through the park, scattering tourists, dirt, and chaos, everywhere." The view on screen looked like it was coming from someone's cell phone. It was moving around too much to get a very good look at what was happening, but Jake was able to make out the shimmering shapes of the unicorns cantering across the grass and sidewalks.

Jake squinted at the fuzzy screen. There was something moving between the horses. It wasn't clear enough to quite make out, but Jake caught flashes of green. "Yo, Fu, do you see that?"

"See what?"

"There's someone in the middle of the stampede." Jake stepped closer to the T.V. "It looks like…a person."

"Haley, maybe?"

"No," Jake shook his head. "I think it's a woman. With…is her skin green?"

Before Jake could get a better look, the screen cut back to the news caster's face. Jake stood in silence for a few moments with his arms crossed and one foot tapping on the floor. There were several creatures he could think of with green skin, but none that had any reason to be running around Central Park, panicking unicorns in broad daylight.

"I'm gonna go and help them," Jake declared and about-faced. He was halfway to the back door to the alley before Fu jumped in front of him.

"Hold on, kid!" Fu spread his front paws out. "The old man said they could handle it. I'm sure they'll be fine. Besides, you're sister's a lot better with the goodie-goodie magical creatures than you are."

Jake crossed his arms tight over his chest. "This is your way of breaking it to me that we're bringing her to the pixie convention, isn't it?"

Fu Dog flinched. "Okay, yeah. But at least she's done the reading."

Jake just rolled his eyes and used Fu's head to vault over him and open the door. "Be back in twenty!" he shouted over his shoulder. Before his feet could hit the concrete, he shouted, "Dragon Up!" A flash of fire later, and he was thirty feet above the roof tops, Central Park in his sights.

Fu Dog dropped onto all fours in the doorway and sighed. "Kids."

Back inside, there was a faint jingling noise from the front door that had Fu's head spinning. "Hello?" A call came from the shop. "Anybody here?"

So there's this side (which I'm calling the Beta side) to this story, and then there's the other side (the Alpha side) that features Randy Cunningham, Ninth Grade Ninja, Danny Phantom, and everything that they're at the same time. I'll be posting both sides separately here, and both will eventually be posted on my tumblr (same user) along with all the random art I draw for it.

Reviews are appreciated :)

(Edited 3/2/2015)

-Kinetic