Chapter 6 – Tit for Tat

"What was that?" exclaimed the Pyre Squad, for they heard the voice coming from within the basket.

"I'm not really a baby, Pyre Squad!" said Lily as she took off her disguise. "It was actually me, Lily of Cynder's group!"

The Pyre Squad gasped in shock, realising that they have been fooled.

"Why you rotten little schemer!" hissed Ciara. "You really have some nerve to trick us like that!"

"Well, that's what you get for fooling us with that dummy!" said Lily. "Surround them!"

Draco and Darky leapt out from their hiding spots, blocking the way out.

"We've got you cornered, Pyre Squad!" declared Draco. "Give us back the baby right this minute!"

Ciara sneered confidently. "You're going to have to fight us first to get her back, fools!" she said nastily. "And if you know what's good for her, you'd give yourselves up!"

"That's right," said Scorcher. "Surrender to us now, and the baby will not be harmed."

"And besides, Cynder and the others aren't here to help you," taunted Cronk.

"Nice try, but even without Cynder and our friends, we're still strong," said Lily.

"We shall see," said the Pyre Squad, unaware that Flora has woken up and started to wander around, and the trigger for the cage was not set off.

Lily and Draco fought against the Pyre Squad, but found that their combined strength was not enough to subdue the villainous trio, and they would need the rest of the group to help them. The Pyre Squad made quick work out of Draco and Lily, while Darky watched frozen with fear.

"Tut, tut, it's a real pity that you couldn't be able to defeat us that easily," laughed Scorcher. "You should have had your pitiful friends as backup."

"This isn't over yet, you losers," said Draco. "Something will come up and stop you for sure."

"Is that right?" asked Ciara. "I'd like to see what it is! Face it, dino-dragon, you have lost, we have won, and there's nothing that can stop us now!"

The Pyre Squad laughed evilly, feeling very sure that they were unstoppable, but at that moment, Flora charged towards the trio and knocked out Scorcher. Draco, Lily, and Darky were surprised that a baby dragoness managed to take down a full-grown adult dragon.

"Scorcher!" cried Ciara and Cronk as they tended to the fallen Scorcher. He slowly got up, but was still reeling from the blow.

"Flora, this is so incredible!" exclaimed Lily.

Flora turned around and nodded at her cousin. She then turned to face the Pyre Squad.

"So you wanted to play rough, little brat?" hissed Ciara. "Well, then, you're going to wish that you have never been hatched!"

"Let's get her!" shouted Cronk, and together, the Pyre Squad lunged right at Flora. Flora did not flinch, though, and when they were close enough, she spewed a stream of small yet powerful flames that left the Pyre Squad screaming in agony as they were burnt. Then, she cracked her short tail like a whip and struck the Pyre Squad with it, sending them sailing into the spot they left her. The alarm starting blaring, and before the Pyre Squad could act, the cage above fell right down trapping them.

"I can't believe it!" they wailed as they were unable to break out. "Hoist with our own petard!"

"Alright, we did it!" exclaimed Draco.

"We owe it all to my little cousin Flora," smiled Lily. "You are such a strong little baby girl."

Flora giggled and gurgled as she felt very pleased with herself.

"Guess we better head home now," said Darky. "I think we've seen about enough of the Pyre Squad's hideout."

"Yeah, definitely!" laughed Lily. "Come on, everyone! Let's get out of this dump!"

The Pyre Squad looked on feeling very humiliated from their defeat. Ciara was seething with anger as she held and shook on the bars furiously but to no avail.

"WE HATE ALL OF YOU!" she screamed. "ONCE WE GET OURSELVES FREE FROM THIS PRISON, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"

"Oh, shut up, Ciara," grumbled Cronk.

Scorcher said nothing, but shuddered fearfully at Ciara's raving and ranting.

Back at Minabe Village, Draco, Lily, Darky, and Flora have made it to the home of Lily's relatives. Flora had the time of her life when she was riding on the back of her cousin during their return flight. As they went inside, Lily placed Flora back in her crib, and then she, Draco, and Darky got to work cleaning up the house as quickly as they, knowing that Linden and Iris would be back at any minute.

Just as they nearly finished cleaning the kitchen, they could hear the sound of footsteps coming closer, and as soon as they have finished, the door opened, and Linden and Iris entered the house.

"We're home, Lily!" called Linden. "So, how were things with Flora?"

"It went all well, Uncle Linden," said Lily, feeling very relieved that the house was cleaned just in time.

Iris went into Flora's room and saw that she was calm and happy. She had never expected that as she and Linden were used to their baby daughter being noisy and restless.

"That's incredible!" she exclaimed. "Flora seems to be in such a good mood! How do you do it, you three?"

"We just had some playtime together," replied Lily, while Draco and Darky remained silent and looked at each other exchanging gestures in not to reveal what truly happened. "Turns out that all she ever needed was a bit of exercise."

"I'm very impressed with how you took care of our Flora," smiled Linden. "Would you like to come back again another day whenever we have something up that we need to do for ourselves?"

Draco and Darky were alarmed, hoping that Lily would not accept the offer as they have had enough of babysitting for now.

"Oh, I'd love to, Uncle Linden, but I can't," said Lily while Draco and Darky sighed in relief. "I've got very important things to tend to with my friends over at the Ise-Shima National Park."

"That's fine," said Iris. "At least you got to meet your cousin. Maybe someday in the future, you'll get to see her grown up."

"I'd love that," smiled Lily.

After saying their goodbyes to Linden, Iris, and Flora and promising to see them again whenever they could, Lily, Draco, and Darky flew their way to the Ise-Shima National Park. They could only wonder how their friends were doing while they were away. Soon they reached the village, and there they could see Cynder and Torden waiting for them.

"Well, it's about time that you guys have returned!" called Cynder.

"Bowser has returned, Draco," added Torden. "He was wondering where you have been, and I told him that you, Lily, and Darky went to babysit her little cousin."

"Guys, it's good to see you all again," said Draco. "We had quite a day."

"It sure looks like it," said Jakkin. "You guys look totally bushed."

Once everyone got together for some tea, Lily told the group about their ordeal with Flora, how she got kidnapped, and how she, Draco, and Darky rescued her.

"So, those dirtbags are still causin' trouble?" asked Jakkin as he sipped his cup of tea. "They just refuse to learn anything, don't they?"

"Tell me about it," said Draco. "Well, at least they won't be able to bother us for a while as they're trapped in their cage. Talk about ironic."

Just then, Cynder received a call from Blaze.

"Hello, Blaze?" she answered.

"Hey, Cynder," replied Blaze. "Sorry to call on such short notice, but I thought I'd let you know that Cream the Rabbit will be on her way to Japan to visit you guys. She was really curious about your village after hearing about your adventures from us. Please make her welcome when she comes."

"Okay, then," said Cynder. "Uh, I guess, thanks for letting me in on this."

"Not a problem, Cynder," said Blaze. "Well, I'll let you go now. Have a nice night!"

"Good night to you too," replied Cynder, and she hung up.

"So we're getting a visitor, eh?" asked Percival. "This should be very interesting."

"Yeah, very much so," said Cynder. "Ah, well, tomorrow is another day, so we better make the best of what will happen."

"You said it, Cynder," said Draco as he stretched his arms. "Boy, what a day, and I can hardly wait to relax tomorrow and listen to some Nightriders."

"Not so fast, Draco!" said Lily sharply. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Um, forgetting what, Lily?" Draco asked nervously.

"Well, a certain member of our group has a great big balance of returning favours to ANOTHER member in request of her high quality performances as being a baby, you know, tit for tat," replied Lily. "I got a list of chores for you to do while I do my shopping with Cynder, Percival, and this Cream girl we'll be seeing tomorrow."

"Oh, right…" sighed Draco.

"First off, you can clean out the closet in my room and organise my clothing," began Lily. "Then you will vacuum my floors, scrub the bathroom, and I'll be hungry, so you'll have to make lunch for us when we get back, and, oh yes, there's one more thing you have to do."

"What is that?" asked Draco.

"Set up every single one of the souvenirs I brought from Hawaii, and I want them to be in a very specific order, which I shall list tomorrow morning," finished Lily.

Draco was hoping to relax for the next day, but with a list of chores Lily has for him, he realised that the day will be just as busy as today. He knew he could not welch out on the promise he made to Lily, as he was the one who suggested her to go as a baby in disguise when they were trying to save Flora. Now that her part has been done, he had to return the favour so that things can be even between them.

To Be Continued…

My poor Charizard-sona, just when he thought he could relax, he has to repay the favour to his friend Lily for the whole baby disguise she did. Tit for tat, indeed. So, with this story done, another one will be on its way soon, and we'll be getting yet another new character added to the repertoire. Have a nice night, and see you all again next time!