Season 4 Episode 18: RESCUE KNIGHTS AND THE FIGHT FOR THE DRAGON'S TOOTH! THE TERROR OF A DISGRACED KNIGHT!
August 8th, 2030
As Claw snuck through the castle, he saw a newly commissioned stained glass mural of the PAW Patrol dressed as knights. It had replaced the mural of HIM being knighted. It infuriated him more than words could ever describe. Just because he had made one mistake for the right reasons, they had not only deemed him a VILLAIN and EXILED him, they had gone the extra mile and rubbed salt in his wound by REMOVING him and his name from their history!
Foaming at the mouth in fury, he stealthily walked through the castle. He knew every single nook and cranny of the castle, just like Sweetie had. The two of them had spent many days and evenings traversing and exploring the secrets of their home. The Princess had also read them stories from the royal storybook on several occasions, and he knew where it was kept. There were several relics in that room, and he knew one of them HAD to be the Dragon's Tooth that she had used to calm the dragon he had brought to the castle. He dove behind one of the knight armors and hid as he heard footsteps coming. From his concealed spot, he saw the Princess and that pirate pup pass by, the peg leg clacking against the ground as he took each step. "Arr-mazing! This place sure had a lot of knights back in its day, Princess Bethany, ma'am!" Arrby exclaimed.
"And now you're one of them, Sir Arrby!" Bethany chuckled in response.
Claw seethed at this. A pirate who had stolen from countless others, was WORTHY of the title of knight? He had to admit that this Dachshund was somewhat adorable, though. Then he felt his face redden and sweat form on his head as he pushed those thoughts away. His heart would always belong to Sweetie, he told himself. "I don't know if I'm worthy of being a knight, Princess Bethany, ma'am. Sir Claw did a much better job than I could ever do." Arrby murmured.
Claw felt his heart swell up in pride. Bethany crouched down and stroked Arrby's fur comfortingly, a somber expression on her face. "I know you want Claw back… believe me, I want him back just as much as you do. He didn't mean anything bad when he brought that dragon to the castle." Bethany sighed.
"And he was only protecting his home when he attacked me, and he was just doing what he thought Sweetie wanted. Sometimes, like right now, I can still smell him…" Arrby added, referring to Claw's earlier misdeeds.
Claw gulped as he feared he would be detected. Bethany nodded her head. "Alas, I cannot overrule a decision from the Earl. I'm only a Princess, and he outranks me. We'll keep Claw alive in our memories…" She lamented.
"Princess Bethany, with all due respect, I think the Earl is a big stinky dummy. The rudest person I've ever met!" Arrby sighed.
This lightened the mood, earning a snicker from both Beth and Claw. "Oh, Arrby, you're so charming. Anyways, back to the task at hand: returning the royal storybook to the reliquary room." The Princess smiled as she stood back up. "This castle has many booby traps and surprises to protect our treasures!" The Princess whispered as she pulled a torch on the wall, opening a passageway to the reliquary room. Claw kept quiet as he stayed completely still.
"Wow, there's a ton of old timey stuff here!" Arrby gasped as they entered the relic room.
"And this is the most important of them all, the enchanted Dragon's Tooth. Only to be used in the event of a draconic emergency." The Princess stated.
"Shiny!" Arrby commented, seeing the light reflected off of the golden string and section.
"Don't let anyone know where it is." The Princess insisted.
While they talked, Claw snuck into the reliquary room.
Arrby nodded his head, knowing they needed to keep it a secret. "I won't let anyone steal this! It won't happen on Sir Arrby's watch!" The pirate knight promised.
The Princess left to go get tea and crumpets as Arrby admired the other assorted artifacts. When the sound of a mechanical device was heard, though, Arrby turned around and saw Claw standing in the middle of the room with his pup pack's pincer malfunctioning. "CLAW!" Arrby exclaimed, running forward and giving the former knight a big furry hug. "I missed you so much! I was so worried! Are you okay?" Arrby asked. Claw was taken aback by Arrby's kindness towards him.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Claw grumbled. "We'd better get you out of here before the Earl sees!" Arrby anxiously said.
Claw started sweating as he realized he'd have to get physical in order to steal the tooth. "Just one thing." Claw growled.
"What is it?" Arrby asked.
Claw grimaced before tackling Arrby, sending him flying into a suit of armor. With his pincers, he broke the display case and snatched the Dragon's Tooth from the mannequin.
"Claw… please stop! Why did you steal the Dragon's Tooth?" Arrby sadly said.
"That's SIR Claw. I'm not stopping. Not until I make that earl pay for what he did to me!" Claw snarled as he ran off.
As Arrby pursued the fallen knight, he contacted the others over his pup tag. "Ryder, Ben, Claw's stolen the dragon tooth!" Arrby shouted.
"Claw!? That naughty pup! We're on our way!" Ryder promised.
Arrby ran as fast as his stubby little legs could take him. "I'm sorry, Arrby, but I can't let you stop me!" Claw yelled, jumping up and hitting a red button on a painting. Arrby was then trapped in a cage that fell from the ceiling. Arrby whimpered and sank to the ground as Sweetie came across him. "I let Claw trick me and get away! I'm sorry Queen Sweetie…" Arrby sighed.
"It's fine, Arrby. I've been tricked by that dastardly knight a few times myself." Sweetie comforted him as she pressed the button and freed him. "Come on, we can't let him escape with the tooth!" Sweetie insisted as the two of them started running off.
They ran down the stairs, and ended up crashing into Marshall, who was walking towards them. "Oops. Sorry." Marshall apologized.
Sweetie groaned in response and got back on her feet, running after Claw. The disgraced ex-knight Doberman swung from the chandelier with his pincer arm, only for it to give out and he fell. Curling into a ball, he rolled across the floor and uncurled before continuing to make his way towards the front castle exit. By this point, the rest of the Paw Patrol were chasing after Claw as well. He started lowering the drawbridge, and the pups barreled forward to try and tackle him. Sidestepping them with his honed agility and grace, the eight pups all slammed into the drawbridge lever, which caused it to jam. This allowed Claw to make his escape. By the time that Rocky managed to get the lever unjammed, Claw was long gone. It was clear what his intentions were: he was going to go back to the Dragon Highlands and reclaim his dragon. "This is all my fault. If I had been quicker, if I had been more firm, maybe Claw wouldn't have gotten the Dragon's Tooth." Arrby bemoaned.
"This is not your fault, Arrby." The Princess angrily said, before giving the Earl a glare.
The old man snorted, as if to deny any wrongdoing. "Don't feel bad, Arrby! Rescue Knights always stand together!" Zuma reassured the pirate pup.
"And don't worry, pups. We've been preparing for this. It's time to take our stand, and prove to Barkingburg that we're worthy of being their knights!" Ben spoke.
"I'm with you every step of the way. But it will take some time for Claw to get back with his dragon. Can we have cookies while we wait?" Sweetie asked.
This caused Ben to chuckle. "Of course we can have cookies in the meantime." Ben laughed.
Everyone else giggled as they headed to the kitchen, while the Princess and Earl began working on issuing a dragon warning.
Dragon Highlands
"My brave and noble ally! It is I, Sir Claw!" The Doberman bellowed as he approached the cave that he had gone to the night of the Duke's attack. The red beast emerged from its cave, spreading its magnificent wings and snarled, before softening its expression upon seeing Claw. "Yes, yes. You remember me, don't you?" Claw softly said as he approached the dragon. The sun's glint off of his armor suddenly blinded his dragon, causing it to roar out of being startled and let out a stream of flame at Claw. The knight quickly rolled out of the way of the fiery assault, and stomped his foot on the ground angrily. "That was close… Well, it's given me an idea for your name." Claw murmured.
Gnashing its teeth, the dragon leaned forward with an angry expression on its eyes. "No. NO. SPARKS. You will NEVER breathe fire at your master again! Treat me with the loyalty and respect befitting the greatest knight of Barkingburg, and I will treat you with the same attitude." Claw snarled, the Dragon Tooth he wore around his neck glowing. The aura encased his entire body, infusing him with some of the enchantment's power and placing Sparks under his control. After running through some simple commands, Claw climbed on Sparks and set up his harness securely this time. "Now, fly, my mighty friend! Let us show Barkingburg our POWER!" Claw howled. Sparks growled in agreement as he flapped his wings and elevated him and his rider into the air.
Barkingburg Castle
The Paw Patrol was in the kitchen, eating some of the cookies that the royal bakery had made when Ben received a notification on the Pup Pad. "Radar shows a dragon approaching. Princess, Earl, sound the sirens." Ben ordered.
Warning sirens akin to a tornado siren in Adventure Bay would then blare outside the castle. "A DRAGON IS HEADING TOWARDS BARKINGBURG. EVERYONE PLEASE HEAD TO THE CASTLE FOR YOUR SAFETY!" The Princess's voice urged.
"No dragon is too fiery, no pup is too small! Rescue Knights… to the Castle Lookout!" Ryder exclaimed.
The pups all howled as they all headed to the front entrance of the castle. Standing on the cylindrical subsection of the floor, the pillar began to rise, elevating them to the halfway point where the mechanical arms all emerged and dressed them in anti-dragon defensive knight's armor, before continuing to rise until they were in a room with a round table. Outside, the castle's mechanisms activated, transforming it into a fortified base of operations. The team all assembled, sitting down at the round table with each of them having a chair with their pup tag's symbol on it indicating where they should sit. "Res-!" Chase started to say, but Sweetie interrupted him. "Rescue Knights ready for action, Sir Ryder and Ben, sirs!" Sweetie exclaimed.
"HEY! I'm the leader, that's MY line!" Chase protested.
"Well this is MY home and MY kingdom!" Sweetie growled.
"YOUR kingdom!? You're the ruler of jack diddly squat, Sweetie! Besides, you're one of the newer members, you don't have anywhere near enough leadership experience to lead the team!" Chase argued.
The two of them growled at each other, locking gazes until Arrby stepped in. "Hey, cut it out! This is no time for fighting! Captain Boss Mister Chase Sir, Your Highness Miss Sweetie Ma'am, there's a dragon on the loose, remember?" Arrby interrupted.
Ben sighed as he put his palms to his head. "Sweetie, Chase, you two can lead the team together. Show Sweetie the ropes of how to be a good leader, Chase." Ben relented.
Ben knew Sweetie would throw a fit about it later and he didn't want to have to deal with that, especially when it was likely that Claw would return and attack again if the Dragon's Tooth wasn't retrieved. "Thanks for coming to the round table pups!" Ryder greeted them.
"Don't you mean hound table?" Skye joked, earning laughter from everyone except Sweetie and Ben.
"Is this really the time for jokes?" The white west highland terrier groaned.
"A bit of humor helps take off the edge before battle. Take it from a former pirate captain." Rubble told her.
Sweetie was taken aback. "Since when were you a pirate captain?" Sweetie scoffed.
"Since the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, lassie! In another time, another era, I was THE Captain Blackfur, yarrr!" Rubble giggled.
Ryder clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of the pups. "We Rescue Knights have one fiery mission. Claw and his dragon are flying towards the castle. It's up to us and us alone to repel them and their attack. Everyone else is inside the castle, and they're depending on us to protect them." Ryder solemnly spoke.
"You've all been granted Rescue Knight vehicles, which are designed to combat dragons with the weapons that they've been equipped with. They can also transform into mechanical dragons, if need be. Each dragon symbolizes one of the mystical elements. In addition, the vehicles in their dragon modes can combine together into a fearsome weapon should the situation get truly dire… the Rescue Knight Warriorzord." Ben revealed.
All of the pups gasped at this. It was a huge responsibility… "Everyone will be on standby in their vehicles. Marshall and Arrby. Your vehicles are able to extinguish the fires that the dragon starts, so you will be in charge of stopping any fires that get lit." Ryder instructed.
"Skye, you'll distract the dragon with your copter mode. Everyone else, stand ready to defend the castle. If it is breached, then everyone inside will be in danger. We also need to try and either retrieve the dragon's tooth, or take down the dragon." Ben added.
The team nodded. There was no time for catchphrases, no chance for any more banter. It was now or never, do or die. Hopefully, they could do this without hurting the dragon… too much. As Marshall, Skye, and Arrby headed towards Claw, he commanded his dragon to breathe a concentrated small burst of flame that incinerated a cake that a baker was pushing. "Get to the castle!" Ben yelled from his Dragon Cycle. Fearing for his life, the baker nodded and ran towards the fortified base of operations.
"HAHA! You pathetic phony knights are nothing compared to me!" Claw sneered before he guided his dragon up into the air.
"This is all my fault…" Arrby murmured.
"Don't feel bad, Arrby. We'll stop Claw." Skye reassured him.
"Come on, we have to defend the castle!" Marshall exclaimed, taking charge of the situation.
"Your brother is right, Skye. The castle needs our protection." Ben agreed, and the four of them rode back to the stone fort.
"Rocky, Zuma, Rubble, Chase, Sweetie, prepare for an attack. Claw is heading your way." Ben's voice radioed over the pup tags.
"YOU THINK WE CAN'T TELL THAT?" Chase growled as he saw the dragon approaching. Activating his megaphone, he spoke into it. "CLAW, KEEP YOUR DRAGON AWAY FROM THE CASTLE OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO RETALIATE!" Chase shouted.
"This is NOT the sort of behavior that a knight would do!" Sweetie added.
"That's it. No more nice knight. Sparks, burn their banners and flags down!" Claw commanded, and his dragon unleashed a powerful volley of fireballs.
Arrby screamed as he saw the purple fire, forcing him to relive a memory that had been long buried.
The flames flickered and swirled around him. "Liberty, go! Get to safety! Don't worry about us!" The voice of a elderly male shouted.
"We'll… cough… we'll be okay… please, daughter, go!" A frail female voice pleaded.
"Ma… Da… Bwuddah..." A girl toddler sobbed.
"SID, TAKE THE PUP AND GET OUT OF HERE!" A young adult man's voice shouted, this one human.
"NO! I CAN'T LEAVE YOU BEHIND!" A seven year old boy protested.
"SON, PLEASE, IF YOU STAY THEN NONE OF US WILL MAKE IT OUT OF HERE ALIVE!" A young woman's voice begged.
Arrby remembered the sounds of his own sobbing with the cries of everyone else as hands scooped him up and carried him away from the inferno.
Marshall was stunned as Arrby froze up and started screaming. He had no choice but to handle this on his own. Streams of water shot out from his hydro lance, but he missed one of the fireballs that was headed right for Chase and the others. Sweetie transformed her cruiser into its dragon mode, and flew directly into the fire blast, the magenta titanium absorbing the attack without much damage.
"WHAT?! A mechanical dragon!?" Claw hissed in outrage.
The disgraced Doberman then spied the Earl at one of the castle pillars. "Shoo, you wretched beast! And go away, Claw! You're exiled!" The Earl bellowed.
Claw smirked before he landed on the pillar, and had Sparks snatch the Earl in his arms. "YOU'RE MY PRISONER NOW, YOU LOATHSOME OLD HAG!" Claw cackled.
"SKYE! GET THE EARL!" Ryder yelled worriedly.
Setting her copter to autopilot, Skye leapt out of the cockpit and used her dragon wing jetpack to soar over to Claw and Sparks. "You glory hog! I'm the only flying pup knight around here. Go back on the ground with the rest of the rubbish where you belong!" Claw snarled.
"Not until you give back the Earl- woooahhh!" Skye started to say, but Sparks beat his wings, creating a powerful gust of wind that knocked her backwards.
"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!" Chase shouted in anger as he saw his mate get blown away, and he fired a dragon bolas, attempting to entangle Sparks with it.
To his horror, Sparks simply caught the bolas in his mouth and tossed it aside. "Pesky simple tricks won't work on me and my dragon. I picked Sparks because he was the smartest and most powerful!" Claw boasted as the dragon flapped his wings and took off into the skies.
"You little turd, I should have never admitted you into the royal guard!" The Earl shouted, flailing around in Sparks's grip.
"And who's acting unbecoming of their title now, hmm? I would never resort to such rude and vulgar language." Claw mocked the Earl. "You want the earl back so badly, then you can have him! IN PIECES!" Claw suddenly announced, before Sparks threw him towards the ground.
The Earl shrieked as he plummeted to the earth at a high velocity, knowing he would be dead upon impact. "I got you, dude! BUOY!" Zuma exclaimed as he fired off a buoy from his boat, catching the earl just in time.
"Rocky, it's time to use your high power magnet to get Claw off of his dragon!" Ben suggested.
The recycling pup barked out his magnet from his Rescue Knight pup pack and aimed it towards Claw, dragging the disgraced knight towards him due to the metallic armor he was wearing.
"Skye, try grabbing the tooth from Claw now!" Ryder proposed.
The cockapoo nodded and soared towards Claw's harness on Sparks's back, but yelped as she was caught in the pull of the magnet. While Sparks had the mass and body strength to fight off the magnetic pull, Skye was too small and the jet engine in her dragon wing jetpack was nowhere near powerful or fast enough to resist. "ROCKY, STOP OR ELSE I MIGHT BECOME A SMEAR AGAINST THE CASTLE WALLS!" Skye screamed fearfully.
As all of this was going down, Sweetie flew her mechanical dragon over to Arrby, where she exited the control seat and ran up to the pirate pup. "Arrby, what's wrong!?" Sweetie demanded.
"The f-f-fire…" Arrby whimpered.
Sweetie's eyes widened as she recalled how Arrby had lost his parents in a terrible fire. He was still scarred mentally from the ordeal. Sweetie wrapped her tiny arms around Arrby in a hug. "Arrby, I know you're scared. But you have to swallow your fear, we need you. You and Marshall have to work together to put out the fireballs that Sparks is breathing. Please." Sweetie told him.
"I'm… I don't know if I can." Arrby whimpered.
"Dammit! Okay, everyone, new plan. Rocky, turn off the magnet now! Everyone else, get inside the castle to protect the citizens of Barkingburg!" Ryder cursed before giving new assignments to the team. The pups all nodded as they drove their vehicles inside the castle, excluding Skye, whose copter returned on its own after Skye remotely commanded it to.
"We can't just let Claw run rampant!" Marshall protested as the other team members went into the castle.
"I can't either. We gotta stop him!" Arrby affirmed.
"As the royal pup, there's no way in hell I'm going to let Claw keep on terrorizing Barkingburg!" Sweetie growled.
The dalmatian, dachshund, and white west highland terrier locked eyes with each other and nodded in a silent agreement. The drawbridge closed up as Ryder rode his ATV inside. "Worry not, good people of Barkingburg! The Rescue Knights will protect you!" The Princess promised.
"Everyone inside?" Ben asked as Skye flew in through the window and landed next to the rest of the pups. The human co-leader of the PAW Patrol then did a head count, and his blood turned to ice as he realized some of the pups were missing. "MARSHALL?!" Ben shouted.
The Princess gasped in horror as she realized that her beloved pet was also gone. "SWEETIE!" Bethany yelled.
"ARRBY!" Sid screamed as he discovered Arrby was nowhere to be found.
Ryder and Ben huddled around each other as they got the pup pad out and called the three absent pups. "Arrby, Sweetie, Marshall. You disobeyed an order. Get into the castle." Ryder sternly said.
"NO." Marshall harshly responded, shocking the rest of the team.
"What are you doing, Marshall? This isn't like you at all." Ben asked.
"I'm doing what's right. If we all go inside the castle then we're sitting ducks for Claw and his dragon to come and get us. We have to protect the exterior as well as the people inside." Marshall replied.
"I'll be damned if I let that former knight invade my home!" Sweetie hissed, baring her fangs.
"I'm not gonna let Claw win because of my mistake, Sir Ryder and Sir Ben!" Arrby vowed.
The call ended as the three of them saw Claw land his dragon in front of the closed castle drawbridge. "The armor on this section of the castle is weaker. Sparks, burn it down with the hottest dragon fire you can muster, so we can storm the interior!" Claw cackled.
Sparks unleashed a stream of fire that started to make the door glow from the inside. "...I knew we should have replaced the drawbridge with a metal one instead of reinforcing the wood with armor!" Rubble yelped, berating himself for his construction mistake.
"EVERYONE, GET BACK!" Ben shouted.
"STAND BEHIND US RESCUE KNIGHTS, AND WE WILL FIGHT WITH OUR LIVES TO PROTECT YOU!" Ryder declared.
"SAVING ONE'S LIFE MEANS SAVING THE FUTURE!" Ben, Ryder, Chase, Skye, Rocky, Rubble, and Zuma all chanted.
Every pup pack and PAW Patrol human drew shields out, prepared to guard the people from a fire blast. As Sparks continued his flaming assault, it was interrupted by a stream of water from Marshall and Arrby, though Arrby almost missed his shot. Outraged, Claw turned to face the three of them. "Turn off your water, Sir Soggy and Sir Trips-a-lot. The two of you losers could never hope to best me." Claw sneered at them.
"WELL THEN MAYBE I CAN!" Sweetie shouted as she and her mechanical dragon barreled forward, slamming into Claw and Sparks suddenly.
This took Claw by surprise as his dragon stumbled backwards. "Oh, please, love. You seriously think those two are knight material? The clumsy oaf who constantly makes jokes, and the lanky long dog who's shivering and shaking as if he just pissed himself?" Claw jeered.
"HEY! I DO NOT WET MYSELF!" Arrby yelled in protest.
"Is there any level you won't stoop to? You were once Barkingburg's greatest knight! Why are you attacking the kingdom that gave you everything?" Sweetie growled as she had her mechanical dragon slash its claws across Sparks's chest.
"Because I have NOTHING LEFT! This kingdom gave me everything, but just as quickly, it TOOK ALL OF IT AWAY! I had a home, I had a place to eat and sleep, I had a family, a job that I took great pride in, AND A LOVER… YOU, SWEETIE! But I made mistakes, mistakes that were not forgiven when they were made with good intentions, and when I tried to be a hero and save the day, I was exiled! I LOST EVERYTHING because of this kingdom, and now I'll TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY from it!" Claw screamed, lashing out in pure anger.
"I WON'T LET YOU DO THAT!" Sweetie roared, her own mechanical dragon headbutting Sparks.
"Sparks! Vice grip her phony imitation!" Claw spat through gritted teeth. As Sweetie went in to bite Sparks on the neck with her dragon mech, Sparks suddenly clamped his jaw down on her own dragon's head. Sweetie was now effectively trapped and powerless, as the jaw strength of Sparks was too powerful for her to free her dragon vehicle from. "NOW BURN!" Claw's voice boomed, and a stream of purple dragonfire blasted Sweetie's dragon mech head. Sweetie let out an agonizing yowl of pain as the cockpit became scalding, blazing hot, with the edges of her fur beginning to catch fire. They hadn't accounted for the magical properties of dragonfire when they had made the vehicles… Sweetie ejected from her pilot's seat before Claw tossed her vehicle into the sky, and it landed in the castle moat, creating a large billow of steam.
Arrby squealed in terror as he saw Sweetie roll across the grass, parts of her fur charred and ashen black due to the flames. "SWEETIE!" The pirate puppy cried out, and he got out of his vehicle to run over to the fallen magenta knight.
Her eyes fluttered open and shut as she let out a battered moan, and Arrby sobbed in relief as he saw she was still alive. Quickly, Arrby used the little bits of medical training he had been given from Sid and Marshall, checking her pulse by putting his paw on the inside of her rear leg around the middle of the thigh, making sure not to go any higher to respect her. It was weak but still beating. "Pity. I didn't want to have to fight her. But she made the foolish decision to stand in my way. She could train for a hundred years and never be as good of a knight as me." Claw sighed.
There was a genuine hint of affection and sadness in his voice, as if he was truly sorry for hurting her. That hint of affection in his voice was what drove Arrby over the edge. The dachshund turned to Claw with a broken look in his eyes. "You… are NOT… A KNIGHT!" Arrby shrieked.
"Please. What do you know about being a knight, pirate? All you know how to do is steal. You stole my kingdom, and my lover!" Claw scoffed.
"KNIGHTS ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THEIR KINGDOM, YOU'RE TRYING TO DESTROY IT! YOU'RE NOT A KNIGHT… YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Arrby howled, running to his vehicle.
"M-MONSTER!?" Claw yelped, unsettled by this. For a moment, he looked like he was about to cry. Then he recomposed himself. "You want to make me the bad guy, then fine! Sparks! TEACH THEM A LESSON!" Claw ordered.
"NOW!" Arrby shouted. Marshall nodded his head and agreement. As Sparks opened up his mouth, Arrby and Marshall drove their vehicles forward, spraying their water blasts directly into Sparks's mouth and down his throat. This filled the dragon's lungs with water and stopped his fire breathing, forcing Sparks to hack up the water. Claw started to fly Sparks away. "Marshall, your ladder!" Arrby suggested.
The dalmatian barked, and his ladder rose up. Arrby sprinted up it, leaping off of it and using the jet booster in his artificial leg to boost himself onto Sparks's back. Arrby ran at Claw, kicking the Doberman in the head from behind. Claw yowled in pain as the metal connected with the back of his skull, and turned around to see Arrby standing in front of him. "You think you can defeat a knight on the back of his own steed?! I bet you don't even know the proper fighting stance..." Claw started to sneer, before Arrby stood up on his hind legs and threw a punch with one of his stubby little arms. The Doberman staggered backwards before standing up on his own hind legs and leapt at Arrby, snarling. The stubby little pup responded by headbutting Claw, bashing in his nose. The two howled at each other, barking and gnashing their teeth as they circled around the dragon's back before lunging towards one another, grappling as they pressed their paws against one another as if they were sumo wrestling. "You… little… runt. Run back… to your pirate ship… and sail away." Claw snarled through gritted teeth.
"Sorry, mister… but I… don't take orders… from MONSTERS!" Arrby roared as he gave Claw a shove, causing him to stumble a few steps back.
Arrby then delivered an uppercut to Claw's jaw, sending him sprawled out on his back. Arrby stood over Claw, the disgraced former knight pinned beneath his foe and fearing for his life. With a yell of fury, Arrby brought his paws down, with Claw closing his eyes as he accepted his fate. A sickening crack was heard, but Claw felt no pain. He felt awash with newfound strength and power… why? Cracking one of his eyes open, he gasped as he realized what Arrby had done. The Dragon's Tooth had a crack in it. Arrby then brought his paws down on the Dragon's Tooth again… and again… and again. Continuing to attack the artifact until it was broken into dozens of tiny little pieces.
Claw let out a primal sound as he put every ounce of his fury and anger into a kick that connected with Arrby's groin. The sheer raw force of the kick sent Arrby flying off of Sparks's back, the sea faring pup flailing his limbs as he freely fell through the sky. He felt paws grab him by the belly, and looked up to see Skye had grabbed him. The cockapoo grunted as her dragon wings helped her safely fly him to the ground quickly.
Skye panted as she set Arrby down in front of all the other pups. "Phew…! That armor might not slow us down, but it does weigh a lot to carry for a pup like me…" Skye sighed.
"Sorry that I disobeyed your orders, Captain Bosses Ryder and Ben." Arrby apologized over their communications.
"You and Claw fought on the dragon's back for several minutes. What happened up there?" Ryder questioned.
Arrby sniffled as he recalled the fight between him and Claw. He started to sob. "I… he was my friend… and now he hates us all…" Arrby whimpered. The other team members gave the dachshund a few minutes to cry. When he was finished letting out his tears, he softly smiled. "At least we won't have to worry about Sparks anymore. I broke the Dragon's Tooth." Arrby then remarked.
"You disobeyed orders… but you did the right thing. I'll listen to all of you more now." Ben acknowledged. They then started heading back to the castle for a celebration of their victory and having ended the threat of Claw and his dragon companion.
Dragon Highlands
Little did they know, the war had only begun. Sparks had not left Claw after the Dragon's Tooth had been destroyed. "Sparks, help me start this fire." Claw pleaded as he gestured to the pile of firewood. The drake nodded his head and breathed a small puff of fire onto the stack of wood, and the fire ignited. A hooded man suddenly walked out of the woods, startling Claw. "Who goes there?" Claw demanded.
"Calm yourself. I'm not your enemy." The hooded man told him, removing his hood to reveal his identity as the Duke of Flappington.
"What do you want, Duke of Lip Flapping?" Claw groaned.
"An alliance, pup. Word of your legendary skills have spread through England and reached the country of Flappington. After that, it was child's play for my drones to search out draconic and canine biometric signatures, which led me to you." The Duke scoffed.
Claw tilted his head as he looked at the Duke of Flappington with curiosity. "An alliance, you say…? Tis' most intriguing. I won't have Sparks burn you to a crisp for intruding on our solitude. Go on." Claw mused.
In response to this, the Duke of Flappington threw his head back and let out a merry, amused laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You've got spunk threatening me like that, pup! I like that. You know for a fact that Flappington has no royal knight from the times you've visited. I was thinking that I could use one with courage, tenacity, and power. That would be you." The Duke chuckled.
"You want ME to be your royal knight? Even though I'm exiled from Barkingburg?" Claw asked, mystified.
"Why, that's part of the reason why I want you in particular! We've both been wronged by the kingdom of Barkingburg. You and I are both exiles, when we are meant to be in roles of power there. Don't you want to reclaim your old home?" The Duke smirked.
Claw nodded his head, expression hardening. "Of course I would. I love Barkingburg with all my heart and soul. Every fiber of my being longs to be there." Claw longingly sighed.
"My heart and soul hold the same desire. We're perfect for each other. I propose that we form an alliance with one another and combine our forces to take Barkingburg, make it grovel at our feet, and then take over it! You've got the Enchanted Dragon's Tooth, and I have the technology and brains. We'd be an unstoppable duo!" The Duke excitedly said.
"Uh… about the Dragon's Tooth… it broke." Claw quickly revealed, and told the Duke about what had transpired earlier that day.
The Duke rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he thought about this. "Your body must have soaked up the enchantment of the Dragon's Tooth, and that allows you to control your dragon still. Fascinating!" The Duke remarked.
Claw puffed up his chest in pride. "Let's do it. For vengeance on Barkingburg!" Claw yelled.
A new alliance of evil had been born, and it would cause havoc…