"Now, for an explanation."
"Yes, PLEASE!" Crusher hissed.
"Well... I'm actually the pure phoenix," Flame began to explain. "I was raised and born in a magical village full of enchanted beings-- fairies, unicorns, mermaids, and me and my family... phoenix shifters."
"Phoenix shifters??" Crusher was more confused now.
"It's someone who can turn into a phoenix whenever they want," Blaze said.
"Okay… but what does THAT have to do with what's going on at the carnival?" Pickle asked, tilting his head.
"Ice dragons and phoenixes are opposites, like fire and ice, and they've hated each other ever since a phoenix had a child with an ice dragon."
At this, Flame looked down sadly, and Phoenix wrapped a tire around him while their kids didn't seem to notice.
"An ancient fairy declared that a war between the two species would be held many years after the incident," AJ said. "But no one knew when it would be."
"Now we know, but how do we stop them?" Pickle asked.
"Yeah, how do we stop them from wrecking the city??" Crusher cried out.
"We need the Rainbow Unity Stone!" Blaze told them.
"The what…?"
"It's a magic gemstone that will show the two species that there's no need to fight, and it'll bring them together again," said Phoenix.
"Great! Then that's what we have to do," AJ said. "I can pull up a map to it on the control panel, and we can be on our way!"
"Wait, kids," Flame stopped them. "There's... something about the history of the two species that... you don't know about yet."
"What do you mean, Dad? We all know the story of the phoenix and the ice dragon," Sparkle said.
"Yeah, what else is there to know, Dad?" Blaze wondered.
"The identities of the phoenix and the ice dragon who fell in love and had a baby boy together. A baby boy who... was taken away by his cruel mother and raised in the bitter cold by her and his evil stepfather. All he had in the way of family is his loving and warm grandmother."
Crusher froze at how accurate that description was.
It was HIS description.
"Crusher, you okay?" Pickle asked, turning to his best friend's frozen expression.
"No..."
"Dad...? What are you trying to say?" AJ asked.
"Yeah…" Blaze himself started to feel nervous. "Who… Who are the phoenix and ice dragon…?"
Flame sighed. "The phoenix… is me,"
"Say what now?!" Sparkle gasped. "But... then who's the ice dragon?"
"It was my mother..." Crusher said with a hiss.
"So... if your mother gave birth to you with our father," AJ managed to say, "doesn't that mean...?"
"YOU'RE OUR BROTHER?!" Sparkle cried out with a gasp.
"Yes, Sparkle," Flame said with a nod. "He is."
"Dad... why didn't you tell us?" asked Blaze.
"I... I wanted to wait till the right time," Flame hesitantly admitted. "I wasn't sure how to tell you, either."
"You… I…" Crusher looked shocked and in disbelief, hyperventilating as he drove back from them. "No! I refuse to believe you! Why... why did you never come for me if you were really my dad?!"
"I wanted to. I really did. But if I was caught in the Ice Dragon Lands, there would be severe punishment." Flame sighed. "I couldn't,"
"Then when did you find out that I was… me?" Crusher asked. "That… That I was your kid? Did you know when you first saw me?!"
"Crush, Crush, calm down," Pickle told him gently.
"No! I won't calm down! I WANT ANSWERS!!"
"I knew since we beat you in the race we won as a family, but I was so afraid to tell you. I felt... in a hard place." Flame sighed. "I'm sorry,"
"…" Crusher hissed and shook his head, turning away.
"Dad didn't mean to hurt you," Blaze said. "But we need your help to stop this feud,"
"Fine... I'll help, but I won't like it." Crusher huffed.
"I'll help too!" Pickle beamed.
"Great!" Blaze smiled. "So, Mom, where do we need to to?"
"Through the forest and over the Misty Mountain range. There lies an enchanted forest that has the Rainbow Unity Stone inside a crystal cave." Phoenix told them.
"Maybe we should go before the phoenixes and ice dragons find us," Pickle spoke, glancing at the cave entrance over and over.
"Good idea, let's go."