Chapter 4 – Prepare For Trouble!
It was Blaze the Cat.
"Blaze!" exclaimed Cynder. "I can't believe you're still here in China!"
"I wanted to stay a little longer and admire its beauty," replied Blaze. She turned around to face Cynder. "So, you have made it to the ancient ruined mountain village."
"Yes, I have," said Cynder. "You see, we have something important my group and I must tend to."
"Oh?" exclaimed Blaze. "What is that you're dealing with at this moment?"
"Come and see for yourself," said Cynder. "We found two kid dino-dragons who are in distress."
Cynder and Blaze hurried to the building where Draco and others were waiting. They were quite surprised yet pleased to see Blaze again.
"Hello, Blaze!" called Draco. "How is Tails going?"
"He's doing alright," said Blaze. "He's just working on his experiments and inventions, as usual."
Draco chuckled, knowing all too way that is like Tails to be busy with his work all the time. He could only wonder when he finds the time to take breaks like he did yesterday.
Blaze cleared her throat. "Anyway," she said with a serious tone. "Show me the kids, Cynder."
"Will do," nodded Cynder. She went upstairs and then returned with Zippy and Salem. Blaze took a close look at them. Cynder, Draco, and the other dragons waited anxiously.
"So, you have found a Yoshi and a Charmander," said Blaze. "Can you please tell me the deal with them?"
"Well, you see," began Cynder. "Zippy the Yoshi came from Australia after losing his family to the Obsidian Devourers, and Salem the Charmander is hiding from the Pyre Squad trio."
Blaze the Cat pondered over the situation. "Seems to me that the Obsidian Devourers are targeting dragons that are cross-bred with dinosaurs," she said solemnly.
"I don't understand it, Blaze," said Jakkin. "Why would the Obsidian Devourers be after dino-dragons?"
"It's quite simple," replied Blaze. "The answer is blood supremacy."
"Say what?" exclaimed Torden.
"There are many dragons across the world who fancy themselves as superior, just because their bloodline is pure, you know, full dragon."
"And what does that have do with the two kids?" asked Torden.
"You see, hybrid dragons like Zippy and Salem, which includes Draco, have dinosaur ancestry," explained Cynder. "If I recall correctly, Yoshis came from a dragon species called Terrible Terrors and tiny dinosaurs known as Compsognathuses."
"Compso-what's-it?" asked Jakkin.
"We'll just call them 'compies' to make it easier," said Blaze. "But even so with the whole blood supremacy nonsense, there's nothing a pure-blood dragon could do that a hybrid couldn't."
"It really is nonsense," agreed Cynder. "Most of the dragons you see nowadays aren't even full-blooded, and if hadn't for interspecies relationships, our kind would have died out."
"The most important thing now is to protect these children from the Obsidian Devourers," said Blaze. "Goodness what would happen if they get their hands on them!"
Jakkin was about to say something, when suddenly, they felt a very strange trembling around them, almost as if it was an earthquake.
"What's going on?!" exclaimed Percival.
"I don't know, but we all got to get out of here!" shouted Blaze. "This place could fall apart in any second!"
Everyone rushed out of the building just in time as it collapsed. Then, without warning, a gigantic dragon-shaped tank burst out from a rock wall. The dragons froze in horror as they looked up to the huge monstrosity that loomed above them.
"What is that thing?" asked Lily. "It looks ugly and disgusting!"
"Ugly and disgusting?" a familiar voice cackled from within. "You shall see how ugly and disgusting it really is!"
"I knew it to be true!" exclaimed Cynder. She could already tell that it was the Pyre Squad up to no good like always.
Ciara, Scorcher, and Cronk emerged from the hatch of the tank. "It looks like you already have our baby hybrids gift-wrapped!" laughed Ciara. "And for that, we should give you our thanks!"
"Oh, no, you won't!" hissed Cynder as she stood in front of Zippy and Salem. "We know you're after the Charmander, and there's no way you'll be getting him, or even the Yoshi!"
"You foolish princess!" mocked Scorcher. "Kidnapping hybrids is part of the Obsidian Devourer code, as it's the only way we can be able to cleanse this wretched world of such scum!"
"Absolutely!" grinned Cronk.
"You three are absolutely awful, foul, and loathsome!" shouted Percival.
"Why, thank you!" smiled the Pyre Squad deviously.
"What you're doing is absolutely cruel!" added Blaze.
"That's music to my ears!" laughed Ciara. "Now we're going to continue our cruelty by capturing the Charmander and the Yoshi!"
The Pyre Squad went back inside their tank and the tank reached out with its two mechanical claws to grab Salem and Zippy.
"Help us!" screamed the two kids.
"You three better let go of them right now!" yelled Cynder furiously.
Cronk sneered. "Sorry, can't do that," he said. "But we'll be making sure you'll be having blast with this!"
The dragon tank opened its mouth exposing its series of laser cannons, and it started firing streams of lasers towards the dragons. They dodged the blasts which destroyed several of the ruined village huts. Debris of stone scattered everywhere.
"Are you insane?" bellowed Blaze. "You're damaging a historical landmark! Stop this madness!"
The tank aimed its cannons toward Blaze. "So you're the Dragon Master Blaze the Cat," said Ciara. "You should really leave the teaching to actual dragons, because they are far more effective and really show dragons to have proper feelings instead of this namby-pamby wishy-washy love for riff-raff like yourself!"
"Time to say goodbye, Dragon Master!" laughed Scorcher. The cannons began to charge up for attack, and Blaze could only watch in horror as they begin to open fire. Cynder dashed forward and pushed Blaze out of the way at the last moment. The laser exploded, and everyone gasped in horror when they saw Cynder badly hurt from getting hit. She found herself unable to get up.
"Cynder!" cried Draco, and he rushed to her aid with Darky, Percival, and Jakkin behind him.
"Are you alright, Cynder?" asked Jakkin.
"Yes, I'm fine," choked Cynder. "Ouch, that really stung!"
"What a fool!" laughed Ciara. "The Obsidian Devourers surely could benefit from having you join our cause, and now you've crippled yourself due to your own bleeding heart."
Draco was seething with fury. "You monsters!" he shrieked, and he hastily charged towards the tank hoping to destroy it, but he only got shot down by the tank's lasers.
"No, Draco!" everyone shouted. Draco crashed right next to Cynder, dazed and bruised.
"Truly pathetic," mocked Scorcher. "There's no way you can be able to destroy our latest mecha."
"Those bastards are going to pay dearly for that!" growled Torden. "Come on, Lily! Let's go stop them!"
"Yes, let's do it!" exclaimed Lily.
But as the two dragons were about to attack the Pyre Squad's tank, their Elemental Brooches started to glow brightly. Shocked and confused, Torden and Lily examined the glowing brooches.
"Oooooh, this is so pretty!" marvelled Lily.
"What is happening now?" wondered Torden.
"Lily and Torden, I think the Elemental Brooches are calling to you," said Blaze. "You should put them to use right now!"
Author's Note: Don't you just love those references and homages to the Pokémon anime? So let[s see what comes next when Lily and Torden start using their Elemental Brooches to power up!