It is the year AU 1000, 2000 years since Dragonmaster Lou and the original Four Heroes of Lucia defeated Ghaleon’s dark side and the remnants of the evil that was known as Zophar, and 1000 years since Dragonmaster Alex II, a direct descendant of Dragonmaster Lou and his wife, Diana, daughter of Lucia and Hiro, lead the revolution that freed both Lunar and the Blue Star from the tyranny of the Dark Pharaoh who attempted to conquer both worlds and only succeeded at unifying them…
Two new parents are driving down a dark highway in their hover car, coming home from the hospital with their newly-born daughter. Suddenly, a dark demon swoops down from the skies and attacks the vehicle. The child’s father is killed and her mother is mortally wounded. The creature prepares to kill the baby when an enormous blue dragon swoops down and drives her talons into the demon’s neck. The demon dies instantly from the attack. The dragon then changes form into that of a young blue-haired woman…
The dragon/woman, whose name is Teal, cries over the fact she was too late to save the entire family. The baby’s mother, with her dying words, asks Teal to take her daughter, Alyson, somewhere safe. Teal agrees, and the mother passes on. Teal tries to cheer herself up and starts calling the baby “Alys” for short. The little girl likes this nickname, and the two of them teleport away from the scene.
Meanwhile, a mysterious dark man is talking to an equally mysterious dark god. He mentions that all except for one of something has been exterminated. The god seems pleased with this, saying the last one could be used for his purposes. He also mentions finding replacements for the “forgotten ones.” The man says that two of something have been captured so far and that the other two somethings were proving very difficult to find. However, they had gained many allies in this quest, all of them providing valuable scientific knowledge. The god is pleased at this, and proceeds to call Zophar a fool and declare himself the most powerful of his tribe. He also mentions a master he is working for that could give him power Zophar could not even begin to comprehend and that once the “last one” is in his grasp, he will be able to overpower even this master…
It is the date of the annual Unification Festival, a celebration of the end of the war which brought the Silver and Blue Stars together. This year the festival is especially jovial as it is the one thousandth anniversary of the unification. In the join capital of Dragon City, four people, Callie, Scott, Kyoko, and Darken, are spectators in the crowd. Major Sage of the Unified Army is the security chief, and Zigfried Brandl, the most popular musician on both words, is backstage preparing for a concert at the festival. A short distance away, a man in a dark hooded cloak stands and watches the little group.
The president of the unified government welcomes all those to the concert and introduces Sage to the crowd as a bunch of cloaked weirdoes, members of a religious cult called the Neo Pharosians, harass various members of the crowd. Finally, the president announces Zigfried’s name, and the crowd goes wild as he walks onto the stage. As he begins his performance, one of the Neo Pharosians approaches Kyoko and tries to recruit her into the cult, unsuccessfully. Scott mentions to Kyoko about how annoying the Neo Pharosians tended to be, but that they also appeared to be harmless. After this, the man in the hooded cloak approaches the small group, glances at them, and then moves on. Sage walks over to check if the group was having trouble with the Neo Pharosian, and introductions are exchanged just before Zigfried completes his first song.
A sudden scream is heard from the end of the fair grounds, not far from the local slums. The entire crowd is in a panic as gang warfare has spread from downtown into the fair grounds! Zigfried dodges a knife thrown in his direction and ends up leaping next to the group near the stage. As they try to figure out what is going on, they are forced to battle three Crackbots and three Street Punks! They defeat the enemies, and follow the gang members as they retreat back to the slums. Once in the heart of gangland, they come face-to-face with the leader of the punks, the notorious Grim Rapper! The party is forced to battle against this being with poor command of the English language. After a very difficult battle, they finally bring the Grim Rapper to his knees. He is not finished yet, however. He begins to summon his “true power” and is surrounded by waves of dark energy. Suddenly, just as it looks like the party is about to be decimated by the rapper, a distant female voice is heard shouting “I think not! Eat this, punk! Dragon Tear!” An ethereal image of a Blue Dragon followed by ice and lightning proceeds to utterly destroy what is left of the Grim Rapper, leaving nothing but his cloak and a pendant in the same shape as the Neo Pharosian logo.
The voice came from a blue-haired young woman carrying a small infant. She introduces herself to the party as Teal, and the baby as Alyson/Alys. The party thanks her and introduces themselves as well. They tell her how they chased after the “party crashers” to which she replies something about someone named “Lou” being nuts. She then goes on about her mission to try to find a good home for Alys as she doubts she would make a good mother. Scott mentions that he heard Teal was the name of the Blue Dragon, but she denies than and says that the Blue Dragon’s name was really Tina. Teal finally reveals that the Neo Pharosians, in fact, worship Zophar’s younger brother, Nephar! Apparently, Nephar and Zophar had a huge sibling rivalry, and Nephar has come in order to out do his older brother. Kyoko seems somewhat paranoid about the situation, thinking Nephar has that party singled out. Teal answers by saying that is not very likely, however, they are threatened by Nephar as long as Alys is nearby. Nephar wants Alys dead as she is the last descendant of Lucia, Hiro, and Dragonmaster Lou and is destined to become the next Dragonmaster! Apparently, Nephar’s minions have been slowly exterminating the family over the last five centuries in “accidents.” Teal then asks the party if they wished to travel to Redmond in order to investigate the Neo Pharosian headquarters. She leads the party out of the slums and brings them to a hospital to have them healed, but not before she gives Zigfried some dark sunglasses to hide his identity. The party spends the night in the hospital, wondering what lies before them…
The party awakens at the hospital and heads for the local teleport station. They teleport to Seattle, despite the trepidations of some of the group. When they arrive, the shops are closed, so Teal waits for the group at the teleport station as they head down the road to Redmond, where they are attacked by Rain Elementals and Giant Rattlesnakes. After a somewhat difficult battle, the monsters are defeated and the group can continue on towards Redmond. They finally reach an elegant, albeit abandoned, mansion with the Neo Pharosian logo above the door. Underneath a stone altar, the group locates a secret trap door leading to an underground high-tech facility, where the security systems detect them. They are trapped when they are forced to fend off a group of WinBot95s, which they terminate after a brief scuffle. The group presses on, trying to find an exit, and they eventually come across a giant computer console with screens covering a two story wall. One screen of the computer displays a picture of a female android with the caption “Prototype 1: Synthetica.” The adjacent screen has a picture of a male android accompanied by the caption “Prototype 2: Unnamed.” Scott attempts to break into the system to halt production of these androids, but triggers security instead. A door opens, and the party has to battle three Roboto64s! However, their defeat only results in the base activating a self destruct device. Zigfried and Scott jury-rig the teleport pad the Roboto64s used to allow them to teleport outside the base and they escape in the nick of time. They arrive at the Seattle teleport station, much to the surprise of the teleport station girl. A loud explosion is heard in the distance, and Teal runs in wondering what happened. The party shares their findings with her, distressing her greatly. Fortunately, some of the stores just opened and the party is able to do some shopping. They buy some supplies before heading to the local hospital to heal up in preparation for the next leg of their adventure.
After they awaken from a night’s stay at the hospital, the party decides to finish up their shopping, including a visit to the local branch of “Ramus’s of Meribia.” At the magic store, Scott asks the clerk how the Ausas were doing back in Vane. The clerk replies by saying they are all very well and plans are underway to restore Vane to the skies. However, Marina Ausa, the current premier, is dead-set against this for some reason. When they leave the store, Teal meets them and tells them about a disaster in the town of Stow in a region called Genome Valley. Rumor has it that the Neo Pharosians had a research facility there. The group immediately teleports to Genome Valley and heads for Stow. When they arrive, they find three children surrounded by a pack of Jumbo Slimes! The party immediately goes to the aid of the children and make quick work of the monsters. Once the children are safe, the mayor of Stow tells the heroes about a Neo Pharosian genetic engineering research facility from which the monsters came. Not much is known about it except that the lead scientist, who used to do work near Dragon City, passed away. Scott is shocked at this as his family was killed by a pack of monsters outside Dragon City twelve years ago.
The group heads on towards the gene plant, which also appears abandoned. Inside, slime covers most of the walls, however, the lights are still operational. They find an operating escalator and at its bottom they encounter large devices with class cylinders resembling human-sized test tubes on top of them. As they press on in the lab they are forced to battle three Amoeba2000s! After destroying these creatures, they continue to find the scientists’ log book, several “gene vats,” and broken cloning tubes. The rest of the laboratory has been utterly destroyed and covered with slime. Scott reads the logbook he finds out that the former lead scientist did in fact have his monsters attack random civilians outside Dragon City twelve years ago. His current project, however, was to create the ultimate biological weapon by combining human DNA with those of monsters and predators. Later on in the book, in someone else’s handwriting, they find out that the Neos had succeeded in creating this creature named her “Temna,” and sent her off to Dybach, where their leader is overseeing some other Neo genetic research. However, disaster strikes as the scientists are devoured by a giant amoeba-like creature created in a research accident. Suddenly, banging noises are heard from a nearby wall which begins to bulge. As the wall finally bursts open, a large amoeboid creature many times larger than those the party faced before enters and tries to consume the heroes!
The party confronts the giant Megamoeba, trying to destroy it before they are lunch. After a fairly long battle, the monster begins to quiver violently before it explodes, covering everything in the room with slime! Scott finds a Miniporter in a nearby treasure chest, and they use it to escape the lab. They return to Stow, where they are welcomed by the mayor and a police officer guarding a hand cuffed scientist that had somehow managed to escape the gene lab. The heroes interrogate the scientist, who turns out was not even a Neo Pharosian, only someone who wanted to make money to support his family. The scientist does not have much useful information to give, however. He does mention that the Neo Pharosians care little for safety and refers to a magic refinery that exploded near Drachenburg as an example, causing Zigfried to pale for some reason. The scientist is then escorted back to his padded cell. Before the party leaves, however, the mayor recognizes Zigfried and asks for autographs for his kids. Zigfried does his duty for his fans, and the heroes head back to the teleport station, where they are greeted by Teal and Alys. Next, they proceed to Seattle to stop by the hospital to heal (and shower off the Megamoeba’s slime) and pick up some supplies before teleporting to the Arctic Central station, the closest to Dybach. Before they depart, however, Darkside decides he was not cut out for being a hero and leaves the party.
When they finally reach the town of Dybach, it turns out to be filled with Neo Pharosians and their sympathizers. Teal motions the group away from any people and tells them of a plan to figure out what is going on at the Dybach research plant. She tells them that her plan is to distract them at the local security barracks while the rest of the group storms the lab. Zigfried is concerned about Alys, but Teal answers by saying that she should be far enough away for the infant to remain safe. When everyone is in position, Teal Dragon Tears the barracks as the party rushes into the lab.
Once inside, the heroes find cloning tubes similar to those in the gene plant near Stow. As they explore the lab, they also come across the hooded man that was watching them back in Dragon City. His hood is so low that his face cannot be seen, but he seems friendly. He claims his name is “Lou,” and he offers to join the party, mentioning his blade skills with a cocky arrogance. Some members of the party are suspicious, whereas others, such as Kyoko, think he may be the Dragonmaster from long ago brought back to life. He is allowed to join the party, and soon after they come face to face with a group of Monkey-Boys and PowerSentryXs. They fight the monsters, but Lou makes quick work of them with his Poe Sword and Schitzo Blade skills. Lou seems fairly popular with the heroes after this battle, despite some complaining that he made the battle go by too fast. Eventually, the group comes across a shelf with labeled test tubes. The labels are all marked with the names of some of the most infamous dictators, psychopaths, military leaders, and villains of all time. Lou tells the party that the Neo Pharosians are combining the DNA of these people to create the ultimate general. Eventually, the heroes reach the end of the line and find a desk with a document on it as well as a staircase leading to the exterior. The document mentions something about a “Project Nykhan” being successful and about it being dispatched to a rendezvous point for some sort of ceremony. Apparently, Nykhan was the name given to the clone they created. Lou then turns to the party to tell them that he has to leave now, but he wishes them well as he vanishes in a swirl of dark magic.
When the heroes exit the building, they find Teal imprisoned in some sort of magical cage! They also find a middle-aged man in dark armor holding Alys in his arms! The man gloats about how the meddling of the heroes has all been useless and mentions that they had captured three of the Four Dragons, causing Teal to give in and admit she is really the Blue Dragon. After some more gloating, the man finally reveals himself to be none other than Dr. Zachary Oliver Pharos, AKA the Dark Pharaoh, who has been brought back to life by Nephar! Kyoko faints, as the other party members express their shock in their own ways. The group attacks Pharos, but they are no match for him. Kyoko finally regains consciousness as the Dark Pharaoh begins to leave, and Teal tells her to see her uncle Ebony, the Black Dragon, for help. Pharos gloats some more and tells the party to bring the Black Dragon to the Mystic Ruins on Lunar just before he vanishes with Alys and Teal. The party discusses what happened and what they should do now, and Kyoko tells them they have to visit the Black Dragon and Sage mentions that he supposedly lives in a temple near the Aztec Central teleport station. The group rushes to the local teleport station, but encounter some Ice Mutts and Tundra Hawks on the way! They dispatch the monsters, resume their rush, pay the teleport fees, and finally arrive at Aztec Central.
The group arrives at Aztec Central and make haste towards the Black Dragon’s temple (known as the “Temple of the Feathered Dragon”), located deep within a burning desert. On the way, they are forced to fight off a group of Dust Devils and Sandworms. Once this battle is over, they continue onwards and finally arrive at the temple -- a large pyramid appearing to be of either Aztec or Maya origin. The climb the exterior stairs and find an entrance into the temple as well as the remnants of a small onyx altar, the same altar that was destroyed one thousand years earlier by the Dark Pharaoh. Once inside the pyramid, they descend more stairs and enter an underground cave. Eventually, they reach the chamber of Ebony, the Black Dragon, who is sleeping at this moment. The heroes wake Ebony up and fill him in on what happened, however Ebony remains non-chalant about the situation until he hears that Teal has been kidnapped, at which point he does what Black Dragons do best and goes partially insane. Ebony mentions that the power of the altar would be the easiest way to get to Lunar, so he transforms into his human form and leads the party back outside the temple. The Black Dragon uses the altar, and the party appears on Lunar near an ancient monument (Miko’s Monument!). He then returns to his Dragon form and flies off towards the Mystic Ruins with the party on his back. As Ebony approaches the ruins, he is ensnared by a rope of black magic and brought down to the roof of the Mystic Ruins, imprisoned in his own magical cage and separated from the rest of the party. Three other cages are nearby containing Hiro, the current White Dragon; Ruby, the Red Dragon; and Teal. Pharos is also here, as well as a statue of Nephar. Nephar addresses everyone through the statue, mentions his plans for the worlds and for Alys (the usual “get Althena’s power” bit), then passes the ceremony over to Pharos. The Dark Pharaoh introduces the “Four Devils” and proceeds to take the Auras away from the Dragons and give them to the Devils. First is Mechanotron, the White Devil, who was the male android prototype back in Redmond. Next is Temna, the Red Devil, followed by Nykhan, the Black Devil. Finally, an alien-looking humanoid named Zissel appears, and he becomes the Blue Devil. Pharos then goes on about the guaranteed loyalty of these Devils, as opposed to Zophar’s heroes, and mentions a Demonmaster, a powerful human that joins him and Zissel as Nephar’s plan to have the power of humanity on his side. Pharos finally leaves with Alys, and the magical cages disappear. As the group tries to figure out what to do, Teal mentions the six Heroes’ Crests, five of which contain the essence of the power of humanity of the Five Heroes of Lucia, the sixth being a mystery. Now the group has to get to the Star Tower in order to find a way home.
Ruby gets the party inside the Mystic Ruins only to find the same magical recorder on the top floor that she encountered with Hiro (the human) eons ago. Thinking that it may have the scene of Ghaleon destroying Vane, she activates it. However, the scenes are not of Vane’s destruction, but are of the Neo Grindery and the imprisonment of Lucia and the Four Dragons and the death of Azura, Teal’s mother, from the era of Dragonmaster Lou. Teal cries at seeing her mother’s death all over again as Ebony looks away at the sight of his friend’s death. This sad moment is interrupted, however, by footsteps echoing from the darkness.
“That… Was a record… Of my best work…” said the source of the footsteps as he emerged from the shadows. It turns out to be the same hooded figure that called himself “Lou” in Dybach. Teal begins to vaguely recognize the voice, but is unsure until the figure removes his hooded cloak, showing his face and a dark suit of armor, shield, helmet, and sword. Teal finally recognizes the being as none other than Demonmaster Kane, the man who killed her mother two thousand years ago! Ebony goes crazy, trying to attack Kane, but without his Aura he is swatted away easily. Kane then goes on about how Nephar brought him back as well, and that he aided the party in Dybach as part of a trick to gauge their strength and keep them away from Teal while Pharos captured her. Kane and the party battle, but the Demonmaster makes quick work of them, displaying that he is much more powerful than even the Dark Pharaoh. After the entire party is defeated, Kane teleports out and the heroes slowly regain consciousness. The party then tries to exit the Mystic Ruins, battling Undead Warriors and Cave Rats on the way. At the base of the ruins, they find the descendants of the pixies Ghaleon looked over ages ago. The two groups exchange stories, and the pixies mention that Kane claimed Ghaleon ordered him to go to the ruins and watch over them and even brought new ABBA records. The pixies still do not trust Kane, however. One of them heals the party, after which they spend the night in the ruins…