Meanwhile, the group had reached a river of rainbow colors.

"Wow... this is beautiful!" Blaze gasped.

"The River of Rainbows, a river of magic and amazement," Gallano dipped his hand into the rainbow water and released bubbles into the air.

"Wow!" AJ gasped.

"Hey, guys," Stripes frowned as his ears caught something. "Do you hear that?"

"Uh oh... something is coming this way!" Watts panicked.

"The Fire Pride!" Gallano gasped as fiery lions approached them, growling.

"The Fire Pride? What's that?" Darington asked.

"Shapeshifters that can shift into lions with an element of flame," Gallano explained. "They are powerful and very dangerous,"

"So... how can we get rid of them? The same way as before?"

"No," Gallano shook his head. "We need something that opposes to fire to defeat them,"

"Like... water?"

"Yes..." Gallano stared down at the rainbow water. "YES! Exactly like water!"

"So all we need to do is splash the water on the lions!"

"I'll handle this!" Starla turned into her elephant form once more, taking the water into her trunk before spraying it towards the lions.

The lions hissed as they were all hit, some of their fire turning into smoke with a hiss.

"It's working!" Blaze cheered.

"Keep going, Starship!" Watts let out a cheer.

"Uh, guys, there's more incoming!" Darington cried as he, Crusher, Stripes and Pickle backed up from the fire lions approaching from the other side.

"Hmm..." Blaze thought for a while before shifting into his fox form then he used his tail to swish the water towards the lions, causing them to roar out in pain.

"Nice one, Blaze!" Stripes grinned.

"Zeg want to splash lions too!" Zeg shifted into his crocodile form and splashed into the river. "ZEEEG!"

The rainbow water splashed everywhere as he did so. More of the lions got hit and were hissing as they backed up and whimpered.

"Good one, Zeg!" Pickle exclaimed.

"But it isn't enough!" Gallano shook his head as more lions surrounded them with a snarl.

"What do we do now?!" Gabby cried as they all backed up against one another.

"Crusher, can't you transform again?!" Starla shouted.

Crusher was about to nod when he felt Gallano turn to him, eyes narrowing in observation. He glared down at him before turning away to ignore him and growling at the lions as he slowly shifted into his dragon form.

But this time, the form was different. No longer electric blue, Instead, it was aquamarine as he flew up with water-like wings.

"Woah..."

Everyone gasped as Crusher spun around and used his wings to flap water towards all the lions.

"It's working!" AJ let out a cheer.

Crusher suddenly turned and flew off to follow the river's flow. He then called on the rainbow water to grab the group and sail them down the river.

"Whoa! This is what I call flowing in style!" Darington joked with a giggle. "Get it? Floooow?"

They all laughed as they kept on sailing through the river, with Crusher flying above them protectively. He glanced around and found the nearest land free of lions and called on the river to toss the group towards the land.

"WOAH!" they yelped as they landed on the grass with a thud.

"Maybe try a softer landing next time, Crusher?" Starla hissed, shifting back to her truck form.

Crusher snarled down at them and threw a big drop of water towards them, soaking them with water.

"Hey! Watch it!"

Crusher huffed and shifted back into his normal form. He drove past them and crossed his tires.

"Well, I would if YOU watch what you're saying,"

"Guys, now's not the time to fight," Blaze told them off as they all picked themselves up.

"Come, this way," Gallano pointed over to the purple mountains nearby. "Just through the mountains!"

"Let's go!"

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Percy frowned as he watched the group still travel towards his kingdom.

"FIrst lightning then water...? These creatures that Gallano brought sure are strange... and very powerful," Percy raised his staff. "I must get rid of them. Ice Flights, come to me!"

Shapeshifters of white hair and white skin came forward and bowed. He pointed his staff towards them.

"Freeze Gallano and his allies and make sure they never set foot here on our kingdom!"

"Yes, sire!"

With that, they shifted into ice phoenixes and flew out of the windows. They soared down towards the group, who were hiking up the purple mountains.

"How high ARE these mountains?" Pickle panted.

"Just a little further up, and we'll be- YIKES!" Gallano yelped as a blast of ice came from above, nearly hitting them.

"Where did that come from?!" Darington cried out.

"Up there!" Gabby pointed up. "Gallano, what are those?!"

"The Ice Flights!" Gallano gulped.

"The what?" they all looked confused.

"Shapeshifters of ice and snow that can turn into ice phoenixes and blast cold ice," Gallano hissed. "They are so powerful that they can freeze an ordinary mortal in seconds alone!"

"What do we do?!" Pickle asked.

"Maybe someone could fly up there and knock them out of the sky!" Blaze suggested.

"Crusher, you have to transform!" AJ exclaimed.

"Of course I do," Crusher grumbled as the ice phoenixes got closer to them.

His eyes glowed a bright red as he levitated to the sky, his form shifting and slowly turning into a dragon, but this time, his wings were red and fiery, while his whole body was orange and lit up in flames.

"Now he's a fire dragon?" Darington asked.

"Looks like it," Watts nodded.

"Wow!" Pickle gasped in amazement. "Go, Crusher!"

Crusher glanced down at them before flying up to face the ice phoenixes. He blasted out his flames towards them, causing some of them to cry out and swerve away in pain.

"He's doing it!" Stripes gasped.

Suddenly, one of the ice phoenix let out a shriek before blasting one of Crusher's wings with it's ice. The dragon hissed in pain and swatted him with his tai before falling to the group, unable to fly.

"Uh oh..." Zeg gulped as they all rushed over to the dragon.

"Crusher! You okay?!" Pickle cried, gently stroking the iced wing.

Crusher whimpered and tried to get up to fly, but the wing was too stiff, and he fell back down with a thud at his attempt.

"Easy, Crusher," Blaze assured. "The wing looks really bad. We need to come up with another idea."

"And we better hurry!" Starla swallowed as the ice phoenixes got closer.

"AJ, Gabby, perhaps you two could distract the phoenixes while I try to melt the ice on Crusher's wing," Gallano suggested.

"Got it!"

AJ and Gabby nodded before shifting into their bird forms and flying towards the ice phoenixes to distract them. Gallano then approached Crusher, who growled at the sight of him and moved back a bit.

"Easy... I'm just gonna thaw your wing."

Crusher gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes, but didn't move any further as he let the shapeshifter take his iced wing into his hands. He took out some fire crystals from his pockets and slowly set it down on the ice to melt it.

"Hey, it's working!" Blaze gasped.

Slowly but surely, the ice melted, and Crusher's wing was free from the stiffness.

"There you are." Gallano smirked. "Now you can destroy those ice phoenixes,"

Crusher stood up but growled when he saw the slightly-viscious look in the other's eyes. He snarled at him before taking flight, into the sky just as Gabby and AJ flew back in a hurry, with the ice phoenixes chasing them.

"Hurry, Crusher!" they cried.

Crusher nodded and flew to confront the ice phoenixes. He raised his fiery wings and flapped the flames towards them, causing them all to shriek and screech before melting and falling into the snow, unconscious.

"He did it!" Pickle cheered. "But... will the phoenixes be okay?"

"Let us not worry about them," Gallano waved it off. "It's not that they cared about us, anyway. Let us just keep going,"

"But... that doesn't seem right," Blaze interrupted. "Even if they are the enemy."

"Oh, you are far too good for your good, Blaze," Gallano gritted his teeth as he led them forward. "They'll be fine. Shapeshifters are tough beings, after all,"

"Still..."

Blaze looked unsure, but Gallano ignored him and just went forward. The lack of care seemed to make the others just as concerned.

"Guys, something feels off..." Stripes shuddered.

"You think?" Crusher huffed as he shifted back into his normal form.

"I know..." Blaze agreed. "He didn't wanna help them. And... the look in his eyes and what he said... it's like he didn't care."

"But then why call for us for help if he doesn't care?" Watts wondered.

"I don't know..." Blaze shook his head. "but you guys go ahead. I'm doing the right thing and helping those phoenixes."

The group nodded and drove off to follow the shapeshifter. Only Crusher stayed and watched as his rival made it to the phoenixes. He sighed and drove over to see one of the phoenix shapeshifters shaking as Blaze helped him up.

"Don't worry. I wanna help you."

"Th-Thank you," the shapeshifter spoke with a bow before his gaze caught Crusher's eyes, which flashed gold, causing him to tremble. "D-Dragon...!"

"You don't have to be scared," Crusher told him bluntly.

The shapeshifter didn't seem to listen and bowed low towards Crusher. "Almighty, dragon!"

"Uh... what is happening here?" Crusher whispered.

"No clue," Blaze shrugged.

"Almighty dragon, return, you have, to our kingdom!" the shapeshifter kept bellowing out.

"Return?" Blaze questioned.

Crusher seemed to stiffen before his eyes glared down, eyes flashing red. The shapeshifter gulped and kept his head low, muttering an apology under his breath. The dark blue truck sighed and grabbed the red truck before dragging him off.

"Come on, the phoenixes are fine, so let's go and catch up to the group,"

"Whoa!" Blaze was caught off-guard by the dark blue truck. "Why the rush?"

"Blaze, let's GO." Crusher growled, turning to glare at the red truck as his eyes flashed red.

"O-Okay, okay," Blaze shuddered and waved to the phoenixes. "Bye, phoenixes! Be safe- WHOA!"

Crusher dragged the red truck to the group, who were waiting for them down the mountain. Gallano looked unamused as he crossed his arms and glared at the two.

"And... where were you two?"

"We, uh..." Blaze struggled to find the words.

"Why are YOU so affected when it's OUR business?" Crusher challenged, narrowing his eyes at the shapeshifter. "Blaze wanted to make sure that the phoenixes are okay. So what?"

"He is like that," Pickle shrugged.

"I TOLD you that those shapeshifting phoenixes don't CARE if you help them!" Gallano snarled. "They're cold and cruel, just like their king. They don't care about anyone but themselves! Why did you have to check?!"

Blaze flinched at his snapping, but he remained calm nonetheless. "They didn't seem cold and cruel. They seemed... more afraid of me and Crusher than anything."

"They fear Crusher because of his dragon form," Gallano huffed. "You, however, they fear you because you're with me,"

"I... don't wanna be feared..."

"Don't be so sensitive, Blaze," Gallano rolled his eyes and turned away. "Now come, the more we argue, the more innocent shapeshifters will suffer with the illness,"

"Rawrr, that guy's getting on my nerves." Stripes growled.

"Blaze...? You okay?" Darington asked. "That guy is not only mean... but it looked like he was mocking you for being the kind self you are."

"I... I don't know..." Blaze sighed. "Gallano seemed so nice earlier... I don't know how to react,"

"I don't trust him..." AJ shuddered. "I... I have a feeling we're on the wrong side."

"I've always not trusted him." Crusher growled.

"But do we do?" Watts asked. "What if we're wrong? Or if there really is an illness?"

"We take his lead for now," Blaze shakingly sighed. "But once we see a sign he's not who he really is, we turn."

The group nodded then they all followed after the shapeshifter. They went through another field of grass and through another forest. Gallano was silent the whole way as he led them through the lands.

Soon, they made it to golden gates at a silver arc.

"We made it."