Shaiden and Crocness looked at each other. The croc-woman quickly stood up and followed Gildar out the door. Shaiden forced herself up with a groan, then limped after the two.

The three rapidly marched outside to the moat, where the other Defenders were already waiting. Crocness, Gildar, and Shaiden stopped before the Beastly Battle Axes and looked up in front of them. Standing on the stone structure above the Starting Platform was the cause of all the trouble.

Crocness joined her fellow Defenders in an icy staredown. Moray.

Moray no longer wore a robe. He did, however, wear a long coat over his black pants and a dark blue tunic. His thick, brown boots were stained with colorful chemicals from past experiments. Ballista almost vomited at the sight of his outfit.

He was standing in an arrogant way, as if he thought he owned the castle. He had a smug smile on his face and a wicked gleam in his golden eyes.

"Greetings, Defenders."

Ballista shot her Splatbow at him in reply, earning a few laughs from Kook, Skabb, and Tinkor. Moray wiped brushed himself off, then shot an angry look at his "niece."

"You've got some nerve showing your face around here, Moray!" Ballista yelled.

Moray erased the frown off his face and chuckled, then glanced at each of the Defenders. A minute later, he rubbed his chin. "I see only eight of you...where's the ninth? Is he alright?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Shaiden snarled, then stepped out of the shadows. "You know exactly what's wrong with him! You better fix him, or I'll crush your neck with my bare hands!"

Moray smiled down at the ninja. "My dear little girl, I'm so sorry."

Shaiden bore her gleaming teeth at him.

"I'm so sorry I turned your dear brother into a freak. But hey, don't worry, I'll make everything right."

Crocness stepped forward and growled. "You better. How?"

"I'll make you a deal." Moray put his hand into one of his coat's pockets, then brought out a blue, spiked bracelet.

"What is that thing?" Gildar demanded.

"The young man's cure." Moray held the bracelet up in the air. "It's simple. He puts it on, pushes these spikes in, they pierce his arm, the antidote flows through his bloodstream, and he's cured."

Kook flinched and rubbed his damaged arm.

"I'll give this to you," Moray announced, bringing the device back down in front of him. His eyes sparkled evilly. "And, in return, you give me the crown of Splatalot."

"We'll never give our crown!" the ninja yelled.

The evil alchemist looked at her scornfully. "Do you care more about that crown than your own brother?"

Shaiden seethed at him. That was not true.

"Oh, that's a shame," Moray sighed, shaking his head.

"You have no part of this kingdom, Moray!" Ballista shouted. "Now give us that bracelet right now and we might let you keep one of your arms!"

Ballista's "uncle" twirled the accessory in his fingers thoughtfully for a moment. "Or...I'll take the crown...and your dragon alchemist friend...by force." He smirked. "I can find a use for him. I need a new pet to try some experiments out on. Now how does that sound?"

For a moment, no one spoke. The Defenders quietly glared at the evil alchemist, all thinking hard.

"Or, we could destroy you and then pry the bracelet from your cold, dead hands," Crocness suggested.

"Skabb likes that idea!" the barbarian shouted.

Suddenly, a splat ball flew through the air and hit Moray's hands, making him yelp in surprise and accidentally drop the blue device into the moat.

"Nice shot, Ballista!" Gildar cried.

The other Defenders laughed, then aimed their weapons at Moray. A dark shadow crossed the alchemist's face. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and his hands curled into fists.

"So be it," he growled.

With that, Moray looked up at the moon rising in the night sky. Then, to the shock of all of the Defenders, his arms turned red.

Crocness gaped. "Oh, no..."

Moray's arms maximized in size, and egg-white claws emerged from his hands. The Defenders watched in horror as they realized that Moray was the dragon that attacked weeks ago. He roared as two large wings unfolded from his back.

Knightriss immediately began barking out orders, making Kook, who was standing next to her, cover his ears.

"Tinkor and Ballista, go get those new weapons! Gildar and Skabb, see how far you can push back that monster! Crocness, man the Water Cannon!"

The Defenders immediately obeyed.

"What can I do?" Shaiden inquired.

The knight looked at the blue ninja, at her limp leg, then at her face. "Shaiden, you are in no condition to fight! You'll have to stay hidden!"

Shaiden was aghast. "But-"

"That's an order!" Knightriss hissed.

The ninja rolled her eyes and groaned, then reluctantly disapppeared into the shadows. Knightriss looked at the bird next to her.

"Kook, you help me load this up!"

The bird nodded.

Just before Crocness went up towards the Water Cannon, she stopped on top of the Finishing Platform. She crouched down besides the moat and lowered her best friend into the waters.

"Albert, go get that bracelet!" she commanded.

Albert happily obeyed by diving deep into the murky waters. When she couldn't see him anymore, Crocness dashed for the Water Cannon.

***

Kook cringed when the beast knocked Skabb into the moat. Just as it turned onto Gildar, Knightriss fired four splat balls at it. The dragon roared, then seethed at Knightriss. It was then that Gildar whacked its cheek with his Tenderizer.

Kook laughed mockingly, then glanced at the Splatzooka. "Can I have a turn on that?"

Knightriss looked at his left arm, which was wrapped in white bandages. "No. Your arm's not completely healed." The knight pointed the end of the Splatzooka at the bird. "Load 'er up!"

Kook groaned, but didn't argue. As he dipped his hand into the bucket of splat balls, something splashed. He looked up to see that the dragon had knocked the viking into the moat.

"Load her up!" Knightriss yelled.

"I am!" the green-haired bird replied defensively, filling the weapon with dry splat balls.

Suddenly, the dragon flew towads them. Knightriss fired the splat balls at it, which only made the beast more angry. Just as Knightriss was about to order Kook to load up the Splatzooka again, the dragon slashed its paw across the weapon, destroying it.

"Are you kidding me?!" Kookaburra cried.

Without a second thought, Knightriss grabbed Kook's good arm and pulled him away from the dragon, who was now breathing out blazing flames. It was then that Tinkor and Ballista arrived with real bows, arrows, and catapults.

As the onslaught continued, Knightriss dragged Kook into a dark corner of one of the castle's hidden hallways. (The hallways that the Defenders use to get from one weapon station to the other.)

"Stay here," the English Defender ordered.

And with that, Knightriss ran back towards the moat. As soon as she was gone, the Australian bird crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.

"This is gonna be a long night," Kook groaned.

***

Meanwhile, Crocness was watching the surface of the moat from the Water Cannon. When Albert finally emerged from the waters with a blue object in his jaws, she left her post and ran for the Finishing Platform. She smiled at him as he crawled onto the orange board.

"Good boy, Albert!" Crocness praised, taking the bracelet into her hands and patting her pet.

After Albert climbed back onto her shoulder, Crocness turned and ran back to the Water Cannon. When she arrived up there, however, she suddenly wondered how much time Thorne had left before he transformed into a dragon permanently. How would she be able to get the spiked accessory onto him then?

The water monster, fearing more for Thorne than the crown at that moment, turned on her heels, intending to head for the dungeon. She promised herself that she would just make sure the bracelet was in a safe place and that it would only take her a few seconds.

Suddenly, the dragon flew over and bit down on the Water Cannon, making Crocness turn back around.

The dragon spit the red-colored machinery out of its mouth. "Where do you think you're going, little beast?" it seethed.

For a split second, Crocness was surprised that Moray could speak English in dragon form. Before she could blink, the dragon smacked the reptilian woman's cheek with its whip-like tail, sending her into the moat.

Crocness roared angrily when she emerged. Her cheek stung horribly, and she felt a little dizzy. When the world was still again, she saw that she was near the second Callous Column. She quickly climbed on top of that, then onto a Beastly Batlle Axe. She carefully walked across the Axe and jumped onto the level ground behind it.

The dragon was right behind her. Crocness growled at it, then clenched her hands into fists. She and the dragon then engaged in a fist fight sort of thing. They took turns hitting and dodging at each other. The other Defenders fired arrows at it from the moat. However, they feared that they would hit Crocness by mistake, so the number of arrows that hit the dragon were few.

After a while, the dragon knocked Crocness to her feet, making Albert fall off her shoulder. Before Crocness could stand up, the dragon mercilessly whipped poor Albert into the moat.

Crocness was horrified. "Albert!"

The reptilian woman watched as her beloved pet fell into the murky waters. Rage began to fill the croc-woman's chest. She turned to face the dragon and glared deeply into his wicked, proud, golden eyes.

"Did you just hit Albert?" she growled.

The dragon roared arrogantly in reply. Crocness, enraged, roared back, and before Moray knew it, she was clamping down hard on his snout with her sharp teeth. The dragon whacked her away, crying out in pain. Crocness fell on the dirt ground about fifteen feet from him, rolled over, then stood up. The dragon ran after her, and to his surprise, the warrior was fearlessly running back at him. After the two collided, they were locked in a fight-to-the-death struggle.