Chapter 6: Two-Headed Team Test…

In the Dragonland Cloud Factory, Polly Nimbus, the Weather Dragon, was seen managing the factory to try to maintain Dragon Land's weather despite the danger Maligna poses to the land.

A few moments later, Maligna herself arrived in a puff of green smoke and looked around the Cloud Factory.

Polly Nimbus gasped when she saw the evil sorceress. "Maligna!"

Maligna looked around when she noticed Polly. "Ah. You must be the newest weather dragon, eh? A pleasure to meet you." She smirked at the weather dragon.

"I know why you're here Maligna." Polly stood up to the sorceress. "You're not going to take the weather machines' magic way! Not while I'm here to stop you!"

"Stop me?!" Maligna said in false fear. "Did you pitiful little dragons forget that I have far more power than any of you? And that is nothing compared to the amount of magic I already stole from Dragonland and its people!"

Polly Nimbus glared at the sorceress. "I'm not going to say it again, Maligna! Get out of my factory and go back to the hole you crawled out of!"

Maligna smirked. "Oooh! You have quite a lot of spirit for a dragon so small. A shame you won't be able to stop me without your magic!"

Maligna pointed her wand at the weather dragon and suddenly all her magic was drained out of her. She began to feel very weak and a bit dizzy and fell to the ground unable to get up. She is still conscious but too weak to get up and fight back.

Maligna then walked to the now magic drained weather dragon. "You no longer have control of the weather anymore Polly Nimbus." Maligna smirked at her. "I am."

Maligna then walked to the weather machine, pointed her wand at it, and began to drain its magic!

"NO!" Polly Nimbus cried helplessly as the weather machine was destroyed and drained of magic by the evil sorceress. Maligna cackled evilly as she absorbed the last of factory's magic.

"Now if you'll excuse me." Maligna smirked at the weather dragon. "I have a land to rule as Queen."

She then disappeared leaving the weather dragon behind all weak on the floor.

Meanwhile, at Snowy Summit, the snow clouds all disappeared, and the snow began to melt away!

Chilly and Nippy began to melt away too!

"Oh no!" Chilly shouted! "The snow is melting!"

Nippy began making very scared whimpers as Chilly held his snow dog tightly.

"I got ya Nippy!" Chilly shouted as they continued to melt away!

Chilly, knowing it was Maligna behind this, looked at the sky and made a wish. "Max, Emmy. Wherever you and your friends are, please hurry."

That was his final words until he and Nippy completely melted away! Gone! And left with nothing but a puddle of water!

Meanwhile, Cyrus made his way to meet Maligna to tell her his failure again and then endure her painful punishment.

A few seconds later, Maligna appeared in a puff of smoke "Hello Serpent. Have you retrieved the icicle grip?"

Cyrus chuckled nervously. "Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh… It's a long story, mistress."

(A few seconds later)

Cyrus was crying and groaning in pain as Maligna casted another torture spell on the slinky serpent.

"You have failed me again, slinky serpent," Maligna said with a growl before pacing around Cyrus with her hands behind her back. "I ordered you to steal the rainbow cross guard, you got distracted by a bunch of worthless eggs! I commanded you to steal the icicle grip, and you slipped on ice and rolled out of the caverns!"

Cyrus struggled to his feet.

"Now they are closer than ever to assemble the scepter BECAUSE OF YOUR FAILURE!" Maligna bellowed, jabbing her finger in Cyrus' chest with a bit of force pushing him back a bit while green fire was bursting from her body.

"B-b-but mistress." Cyrus stuttered. "We still have one more piece to steal. The golden dragon mouth from the Dandelion Forest."

Maligna then calmed herself down with her fire dissipating. After taking a breath, she spoke to Cyrus.

"Very well, serpent." Maligna spoke up. "But this is your last chance to prove your worth. If you fail me one more time, I will make doubly sure to greatly downsize the number of eggs you eat for supper."

Cyrus gasped! At first, she threatened to break his eggs and his bones, now she was only going to give him very small portions of his egg meals practically leaving him to starve and beg for scraps?!

"B-b-but I need more eggs for a full supper!" Cyrus begged.

"Tough luck, serpent." Maligna scowled. "You should've already known what the penalty is for failure. And you should at least be thankful I gave you a chance to get back at those little brats for all the times they foiled you, otherwise I would've taken matters into my own hands."

Maligna grinned evilly at Cyrus making him shiver in fear. "Now, unless you want me to cast that spell of pain again and have you begging for scraps, you will do what I say and help me claim the scepter so you can get what you want. Am I clear?"

Cyrus gulped in fear. As much as he now realized what he got himself into by serving Maligna, he still had no choice. She had far more power than him and would use it to keep him in line. He endured enough punishments from her and didn't want any more, so he had to serve her.

"Y-yes mistress." Cyrus bowed his head in obedience. "I will not fail you."

"I will believe it when I see you come back with the golden mouth." Maligna said. "Now, make your way to the Dandelion Forest, disrupt Zak and Wheezie's test and steal the mouth."

Cyrus bowed again and slithered his way to the Dandelion Forest…

At the Dandelion Forest, Zak and Wheezie landed in an open area.

"Alright!" Wheezie exclaimed much to Zak's annoyance. "We made it to the Dandelion Forest! Where do we go next?!"

"Well, let's see what the map says. Shall we?" Zak said as he took the map of his and Wheezie's pouch.

They read the map for a moment and saw that the chamber of the golden dragon mouth is underground and the only way to get there is through a knucker-hole.

"Oh wow!" Wheezie exclaimed. "This is an easy way to get to the chamber! And we are experts at knucker-hole travel!"

"Yup." Zak said. "Let's get to that knucker-hole in this forest and get to the chamber."

Zak and Wheezie made their way through the dandelion forest until they reached a large knucker-hole at the end of the path. This must be the entrance to the golden mouth's resting place!

"Alright Zakie! One knucker-hole drop to the golden mouth coming right up!"

The two jumped down the knucker-hole as Wheezie was laughing her signature laugh. Unbeknownst to them, Cyrus was following them.

"One knucker-hole trip for me too!" Cyrus said as he dropped down the knucker-hole.

Zak and Wheezie were seen zooming down the knucker-hole very smoothly while Cyrus was falling down a bit clumsily hitting the walls at every turn.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Cyrus shouted. "Why?! Am?! I?! Hitting?! Every?! Single?! Wall?!"

After a few moments Zak and Wheezie landed in an underground tunnel very smoothly.

"Whoohoo! That was fun!" Wheezie said happily. "I always loved flying through knucker-hole tunnels!"

Zak then took out the map again. "Ok. According to the map, the shrine to the golden mouth should be…"

Zak followed the map before Wheezie blurted out of nowhere, "…that way!"

Zak was unsure at first. "No Wheezie that's…" Zak looked up and saw the path but then saw the map again and they match. "…actually the right path! Nice job Wheezie!"

"No problem, Zakie!" Wheezie said happily. "Let's go!"

Wheezie rushed ahead Zak with her, not that he had much of a choice since they're a two headed dragon, down the pathway that will lead to the shrine.

After a few moments, Cyrus clumsily landed on the ground on his front. "Ow! Ugh! I really gotta learn how to travel down knucker-holes more."

Cyrus then looked around to find out where Zak and Wheezie went. He then heard Wheezie's laugh coming from one of the tunnels.

"Alright" Cyrus said smirking. "Let's see what we have in store for these two."

Meanwhile, Zak and Wheezie made their way to the door which led to the golden mouth's resting place.

"Welcome to the shrine of the golden dragon mouth." The door spoke to Zak and Wheezie. "Here is your riddle: a dragon with two heads makes a great team by having two minds. Two minds make different ideas that make everything work. By putting your two minds and working together shall you claim your prize."

Zak and Wheezie began to think about what the door was telling them. They then formed an idea.

"Hey Wheezie. I have an idea on how we can solve the riddle!" Zak said. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking'?"

Wheezie nodded. "Music! We're both great at music!"

"Uh-huh!" Zak said nodding to his sister. "Let's play a song together to show the door we make a great music team! Then we can get the mouth!"

"LOOOVE IT!" Wheezie shouted her catchphrase. "Let's do this!"

The two then began to take out some instruments a trumpet for Wheezie since she likes loud music, and a flute for Zak since he likes soft tunes.

They began to play the music and were doing well so far, but then Cyrus snuck up from behind a rock and took out a strange whistle from his bag.

"Let's see how they'll play their music if their music is a mess!" Cyrus said as he began to blow in his whistle.

While Wheezie was playing her trumpet, the two began to hear terrible tunes which are also louder than Zak would think she would play!

"Ah! Wheezie!" Zak exclaimed. "Stop playing those bad tunes!"

"I'm not doing this!" Wheezie said as she tried to continue playing but the tunes keep getting worse annoying Zak much more.

"Stop! STOP!" Zak yelled, making Wheezie stop. "What the heck was all that about Wheezie?!"

"ME?!" Wheezie shouted. "I told you I wasn't doing this! And I never play that badly ever!"

"Well, you sure know how to play very loud! Like you always do!" Zak said angrily. "Must be another reason why we messed up so bad!"

"Hey! I like playing loud tunes and unlike you Mr. boring and quiet pants who wants everything to be soft, quiet and slow, I love having fun and making everyone laugh!" Wheezie angrily said to her brother.

"Not when I'm next to you!" Zak said. "I always get pain in my ears when you laugh loud and play loud!"

"Hello!" Wheezie shouted. "We're a two headed dragon! It's not like we had a choice when we were hatched from our egg! This just happened! So why don't you accept this just for once!"

"I can't accept this!" Zak shouted. "And I won't! Maybe things would be better if we were separated when we clashed the two magic stones together when we built that musical slide! I would have a much quieter life for once!"

That last statement made Wheezie gasp in absolute shock and felt her heart shatter into bits and pieces and felt tears fall down her face.

Even Zak gasped in shock after realizing what he said to his sister. As much as he was annoyed by Wheezie's loud, energetic and hyperactive nature, he never wanted to hurt his sister's feelings. And now, he just did and felt so horrible inside.

"Wheezie…" Zak tried to speak. "I…"

"No Zak!" Wheezie shouted. "I'm not in the mood to talk! You said enough already!"

Wheezie turned away and starting to cry, feeling hurt by Zak's statement.

The two then sat in silence as Zak tried to think about what else to say to his sister while Wheezie continued to cry.

Cyrus saw that his plan worked and was about to go get the fragment but stopped and stayed hidden to look at Zak and Wheezie. He decided to really pay attention to them as he began to think about what makes the children and the dragons so special and not him. He also began to wonder what it would be like being with them instead of Maligna.

Zak continued to think about what he did and what else to say to Wheezie. It was then he finally realized that without Wheezie, his life would be completely boring and actually did need Wheezie to help him stay happy just like everyone else.

After taking a deep breath Zak turned to Wheezie who was still crying. "You were right."

Wheezie stopped crying and turned to her brother with tears still down her eyes. "W-what?"

"You were right." Zak answered. "I am a Mr. Boring, quiet pants."

"I really do have a bad habit of making everything and everyone quiet so I can be happy. I thought I would be happy, but I was being selfish." Zak continued.

Wheezie listened to what her brother was talking about. Zak then made a bit of a chuckle. "And you know what? My life would actually be very boring without you around. And I kinda do need you to help me though the day."

Wheezie made a small gasp. "Really?"

"Yeah." Zak then smiled. "Come to think of it Wheezie l, you are one of the reasons why all of us are happy. Your happiness, your hyperactivity, your laugh and even your loud tunes, they do make us happy. Yeah, they can be obnoxious sometimes, but my life wouldn't be the same if I didn't hear any of it from you."

Wheezie then gasped in happiness! "Awww Zakie!" She made a kiss on her brother's cheek, making him blush a bit and made Wheezie laugh too which made Zak smile. "Thank you! That makes me so happy!"

Zak smiled. "I'm happy too Wheezie. And I'm so sorry for what I said to you. I never meant to hurt you like this."

"Awww. That's OK, Zakie!" Wheezie said happily. "I forgive you!"

Zak smiled as Wheezie continued. "Remember all the good times we had working together?"

They thought back on all the memories of them working together such as singing together when counting the Rosie blooms to connect the dots to help Ord find his lost whistler and when they helped Wheezie get her laugh back from Mr. Pop.

"Yeah." Zak answered. "I'll never forget those moments."

"Yup." Wheezie said. "And I need you and your soft tunes too. Like how your tunes helped make the Giant of Nod fall asleep."

Zak remembered that. "Yeah. I remember that and we did great at our performance at Singing Springs after!"

"We did Zak!" Wheezie said as she and Zak did a little "hug" together in forgiveness.

Cyrus was watching this and felt a warm feeling in his heart. It was something he never felt before. It felt like love, and it did feel good inside of him. But he shook it off and went back to focusing on getting the mouth for Maligna.

"I love you Zak!" Wheezie smiled.

"I love you too Wheezie." Zak smiled.

They then broke the hug.

"Come on Wheezie!" Zak said happily. "Let's solve the riddle and get the mouth!"

"LOOOOOVVE IT!" Wheezie said with happiness and Zak was happy to hear it this time.

With their newfound confidence and love for each other, the two headed dragon went back to the door and began to play their instruments again.

Cyrus was about to mess up the tunes via his whistle again, when suddenly…

"Turn it up Wheezie!" Zak said smiling.

"You got it Zakie!" Wheezie made loud tunes powerful enough to blow Cyrus back and made him roll across the tunnel floor.

After a few moments of playing loud Wheezie decided to give Zak a turn. "Alright Zakie! Your turn!"

"You got it!" Zak then began to play soft tunes with his flute. Cyrus had just gotten back up again when he heard the soft tunes and began to feel sleepy.

"Oooohh." Cyrus sighed. "This sounds nice and soothing. I think I'm going to dose off for a while." Cyrus then fell asleep as the sounds took him over.

Zak continued to play until it was time for the grand finale where Zak and Wheezie played together again. Then they did one final tune together which would wow the audience if they played at Singing Springs again and did a pose together in triumph.

"Awesome job Wheezie!" Zak said happily.

"You two Zakky!" Wheezie said before the door spoke up.

"Congratulations you two!" The door said happily. "You have successfully solved the riddle of teamwork! You put aside your differences and used your special talents to work together to play the song perfectly! You two may enter and claim the golden dragon mouth!"

The door opened as the golden dragon mouth was shown on display on a pedestal as Zak and Wheezie looked happy.

"The Golden Dragon Mouth!" The shouted together!

"We did it, Zakie!" Wheezie said happily.

"We sure did, Wheezie!" Zak said happily. "We sure did!"

Suddenly their dragon badges began to glow! "Hey! Our dragon badges are glowing!"

Zak smiled when he turned back to his sister. "We deserve it, Wheezie."

"We certainly do, Zakie." Wheezie said. "Like what we said."

"When we work together…" Zak began.
"Two heads are better than one!" They said together before giving each other a high-five.

"Now let's get the mouth and meet up with the others!" Zak said as they grabbed the mouth and made their way out of the underground shrine.

Cyrus woke up from his nap a few moments later yawning. "That was a nice little nap."

He got up and stretched his limbs. "Now to go get that…"

He was about to get the mouth when he saw it was already gone. "No! They already took the mouth!"

Cyrus shuddered as he thought about his next punishment by Maligna. He stopped thinking about that as he focused on getting out of the underground chamber.