Tom was patrolling the Ice Realm for any sign of Buzzsaw on the back of Thunder.
"See anything?" he asked Thunder.
Thunder roared.
"I'll take that as a no."
They kept on flying for a bit until he noticed something. "Hold up. We got another one. Down there, Pal!"
Thunder flew down and landed on the ground, and Tom hopped off his back. In front of them, they could see one of Buzzsaw's cages, but thankfully, it was empty.
"Buzzsaw. Looks like we just missed him," he said and turned to Thunder. "You want to do the honours?"
Thunder was happy to do so and immediately fired a lightning blast, destroying the cage.
Tom then stroked him. "Good job. Let's head home."
However, Thunder tensed up as if he sensed something else. Knowing something was wrong, Tom quickly drew his newly forged silver sword from the sheath attached to Thunder's saddle.
"What is it? Buzzsaw?" he asked, but Thunder suddenly dashed off without warning. "Whoa, whoa! Wait up!"
Tom quickly ran after him and soon into the clearing. In the middle of the clearing, he could see that Thunder had found what he was looking for, and he seemed quite happy. A second later, he saw exactly why he was so happy, because by his feet was a baby lightning dragon.
"Is that what I think it is?" he asked.
Thunder stepped aside, showing that it was indeed a baby lightning dragon, who was currently tethered to a trap no doubt belonging to Buzzsaw. Tom then embedded his sword in the snow and slowly approached the little dragon, freeing its leg.
Once freed, Thunder nuzzled the little dragon, and they began to play. It soon became clear to Tom that Thunder and this little dragon knew each other.
"You do all the sin know each other, don't you? Wait, is this your little brother?"
The way the little dragon was cosying up to Thunder implied they were close.
Tom laughed. "Yeah! Yeah, I see the resemblance!"
The little dragon then immediately tackled Tom and began licking his face. "Whoa, whoa! Okay, okay! You're friendly. Nice to meet you, too."
The little dragon then hopped off Tom and quickly grabbed Tom's sword as if it were some chew toy.
"Whoa!" said Tom and immediately pulled it away from him. "Hey! Oh, no, no, no, no. No, that's not a toy!"
Once he finally retrieved the sword, the little dragon tried to walk but winced in pain. Clearly, the trap had injured him, which meant it was now difficult for him to fly.
"Uh-oh," said Tom, seeing the problem. "That snare got pretty good. We should take him back to the Lair. Be a good idea to have Doctor D check that leg."
He grabbed the little dragon in his arms and placed him on Thunder's back. While he was doing this, Thunder heard the distant roar, which did not sound friendly.
However, his little brother then rested himself in his head, turning his attention away from the sound. Tom laughed as he mounted on and soon took off, not knowing that a dragon was watching them and began to follow.
Tom soon returned to the Lair with the little dragon, and D'Angelo immediately began to examine him.
"Uh-oh. This is serious," said D'Angelo. "I'm afraid he has a severe case of—adorable!"
The little dragon was on his back, playing with his tail and making baby growls. Tom shoved him for scaring him like that, but he couldn't help but laugh with D'Angelo.
"Oh, just look at him!" said Jun. "The cutest baby!"
Wei then gave a jealous growl.
Jun then stroked him for reassurance. "I said 'baby', Wei."
The little dragon ran between Feathers' legs and brushed against her tail.
"He is cute, but is he Lair-trained?" Alex asked.
"I doubt it," said Tom, folding his arms. "I found in the Ice Realm all alone."
"The Ice Realm?" D'Angelo frowned. "Strange. Thunder doesn't seem like an Ice Realm dragon."
"And as far as we know, dragons don't abandon a young like most reptiles," James added.
Jun then began to stroke the little dragon, which he liked. "Did you get lost? Did you? Did you wander from home? Poor thing!"
"Maybe you should wash it. We don't know where it's been," Alex advised.
Jun ignored her. "Don't listen to Auntie Alex. She's glad you're here."
The little dragon then ran off towards Webmaster and jumped onto his head.
"What's his name?" Eugene asked.
"Uh, I was calling him 'Little Pal'," Tom smiled awkwardly.
Eugene blew a raspberry. "Lame. You can do better than that, Kullersen. He's cool. He needs a cool name—like Blood Shadow! Or Death Shadow—or Blood Death Shadow!"
"Okay. That dark, even for me," said Alex.
"Ooh, wait a sec," said Eugene as the little dragon hopped onto Plowhorn's horn. "How about we call him Shadow of the Dark!"
"That really rolls off the tongue, doesn't it," said James, rolling his eyes.
"Maybe just Shadow," Tom suggested.
Shadow then jumped onto Thunder's back and grabbed Tom's sword again.
"Whoa! You finally finished a lightning sword!" D'Angelo gasped.
Tom nodded. "Yeah! Shadow thinks it's a toy."
Shadow then sneezed, sending a lightning bolt through the sword straight at D'Angelo.
D'Angelo quickly ducked to avoid getting electrocuted and looked at Tom. "Maybe that's not the best toy for him."
"Okay. Come here, Shadow," said Tom, approaching him. "Hand Uncle Tommy the dangerous lightning sword."
He then tried to grab Shadow, who jumped out of the way and scampered off. However, Thunder blocked his path and looked down at him sternly as he growled at him. Shadow then quickly turned around and gave Tom his sword back.
Tom picked the sword up and smiled at Thunder. "Thanks, Pal."
Shadow then attempted to grab Alex's tablet, much to her distress. "No! Stop it! That's mine!" She then looked at the others. "How long are we planning on keeping him here?"
"I don't know," said Tom honestly as he witnessed Shadow wincing due to his leg wound. "I just want to make sure his leg is okay."
"Yes. I agree," said Jun enthusiastically as she stroked Shadow. "And that could take a while. His leg is so cute!"
"If he's going to stay here, we need more supplies," said D'Angelo.
Tom nodded and looked at Thunder. "Think you can keep an eye on Shadow while we're gone?"
Thunder roared, telling him it would be fine.
Tom looked to the other Riders. "All right, everyone. Time for supply run!"
They soon made their way to the surface and grabbed food and medical supplies from the general store.
"Everybody got what they came for?" Tom asked.
D'Angelo held out his medical kit. "Medical supplies, check. No boo-boo is too big."
"We got snacks," said Jun as she and Alex held out several packets of cheesy loops. "Okay. We overdid it."
"There are more for us," Alex admitted. "Parenting is hard work, and self-care is vital."
Eugene then arrived with a tyre for some unknown reason. "Never fear, Eugene is here!" He then saw the strange looks everyone was giving him. "What? It's a chew toy."
"That's actually a really great idea, Eugene," said Tom.
"Sure, but where did you get a tyre?" Jun asked suspiciously.
"Don't worry about it, Jun Bug," said Eugene dismissively. "It's all good."
Eugene had got it from one of the cars, and a security officer had just noticed the missing tyre.
"But we should probably get going," said Eugene, noting this.
They then began to leave, hoping no one would spot them.
"Tom?" said a voice behind them, making them jump.
Tom quickly spun around and saw his mother. "Mom! Hey!"
"Where are you guys going with all that stuff?" she asked.
"Oh, we're, uh, we're going…"
"Birdwatching!" said Jun quickly. "Yeah. Going to watch some birds."
"That sounds nice."
"Yeah, yeah, it's fun," Tom nodded. "Going to see what the old birds are up to."
"Why is Eugene rolling a tyre?" Olivia asked suspiciously.
"To hide behind!" said Alex.
"Yeah, so the… birds can't watch us back," said D'Angelo.
"So we don't scare them and watch them in their natural setting," said James.
They all smiled at Olivia, but she looked suspiciously at them, especially Tom.
"Okay. Be home by curfew," she said.
"I will!" said Tom, and they ran off.
Olivia, however, still had her suspicions.
They soon made it back to the Lair without any trouble.
"We're back!" Tom called.
"And we brought…" said Jun as she placed her bag of cheesy loops on the ground, only for Shadow to land on top of them, crushing them underfoot. "… treats."
Shadow just grinned innocently.
"Shadow! You stepped on Jun's bag of cheesy loops," Alex scolded. "Luckily, mine are still intact."
Shadow then flew off towards the exit, but then he was herded back by Thunder. Shadow was still determined to get outside and was looking for the perfect opportunity to get past his older brother, but Plowhorn flew in and grabbed his tail with her mouth.
She then dragged him over to Wu and Wei, and when Wei lowered his head towards him, he fired off a small lightning blast in his face. Wei didn't appreciate it and growled down at him and the other dragons when looking particularly amused. Shadow tried to run off, but Thunder placed his foot down upon his tail, preventing him from running.
"Is he a handful, Pal?" Tom asked, chuckling slightly.
Thunder just gave Tom an unamusing stare as Shadow struggled to free himself.
"Wow. He really wants to get out of here," said Tom.
"Well, he has just a baby," D'Angelo pointed out. "He probably misses his family."
"Aw, you want to go home?" Jun asked, looking down at Shadow.
"I think you're right," said Tom, looking at D'Angelo. "Hold on a sec. His family is Thunder's family, right?" He then looked at Thunder excitedly. "So, if he knows the way, he can lead us to your home!"
Upon hearing this, Thunder smiled down at Shadow, who looked more than willing to guide them.
They all began to follow Shadow back to the Ice Realm, now fully healed.
"Baby Night Lights are fast!" said D'Angelo.
"I think he's just extra excited," said Tom.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. So let me get this straight," said Eugene, looking slightly annoyed. "Nobody wants me to leader, but you're all cool with following a baby?"
Jun nodded slightly. "Yep. Totally accurate."
Eugene groaned.
"I never got the baby thing, either," said Alex. "Cute, but useless."
Eugene smiled at her.
"Well, that useless baby is actually leading us to Thunder's family, which is more than we've ever done," James pointed out.
Shadow soon landed on the ground near where Tom and Thunder had found him. He then suddenly began shooting off towards a cave close by. The moment Tom landed and dismounted him, Thunder jumped excitedly at the prospect of seeing his family.
"Whoa! Whoa!" said Tom, trying to calm him down. "Hold on, Pal. We're just going to jump in some whole?"
"Don't we always?" said James as he and the other Riders landed.
"Point taken."
D'Angelo then made his way to the cave and looked inside. "It looks like a burrow."
Tom looked inside and could see some glow. "Something's glowing down there. This is more than just a burrow."
Shadow then returned and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the cave, and Thunder quickly followed them.
Jun looked to the other Riders. "You heard the dragon."
The Riders then flew into the cave, unaware another dragon was watching them.
As the riders pulled deep into the cave, they found the source of the glow; it was coming from some massive mushrooms.
"Whoa. What is this place?" Eugene stared.
"It's another realm," Jun gasped. "Completely different from all the others."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure danger is lurking in every corner—just like all the others," said Alex confidently.
Eugene looked at them in disbelief. "An entrance to another realm, and nobody spotted this before?"
"It's a big realm, Eugene," said Jun.
"Make excuses if you want, but you should expect more from your dragons," said Eugene, stroking Webmaster. "You totally knew about this, didn't you, Webs?"
D'Angelo just stared at the glowing mushrooms. "Okay, are you guys clocking this? Bioluminescent fungus?!"
"These plans look like the ones Tom, James and I saw growing at the bottom of the fissure," said Jun, examining them.
"Wait. Are you saying we might be underneath the bottom of the fissure right now?"
"It's possible; there's truly no way to know how deep we are in the Dragon World," said James.
"Guys! Over here!" Tom yelled.
They all rushed over to him and saw, sitting right in front of him was, a chest.
"It's some kind of chest," he said.
"Another Viking artefact?" Jun asked.
"Maybe. But I don't see any symbols on it. Something feels off."
Eugene was rubbing his hands greedily as he looked at the chest. "I bet it's full of gold or diamonds!"
Shadow then squeaked, looking a little anxious.
"Is Shadow okay?" D'Angelo asked. "He seemed agitated."
"He's just anxious to get home," said Tom.
Shadow then squeaked again.
"Don't worry, little guy. We'll go on a minute," Tom assured him.
"After I score all the riches!" said Eugene, rushing over to the chest.
"Wait, Eugene!"
Too late, he had already opened the chest, but he was extremely disappointed when he looked inside because all he could see were just a bunch of gears turning.
"What? Just a bunch of gears and turny things," he grumbled. "Lame."
"Gears?" D'Angelo gasped.
"Turning?" James stared.
"Booby-trap!" Tom yelled, and they quickly jumped away.
"Booby, what?" Eugene frowned.
A split second later, Eugene was lifted up into the air by a net and now dangling about 6 feet.
"What the heck, Kullersen!" he yelled as he tried to free himself.
Tom stared at him. "Me? You opened it!"
"How was I supposed to know it was a trap? What kind of idiot puts a trap in a treasure chest?"
James rolled his eyes, "Considering that you got caught in the trap, what does that make you?"
Thunder then nudged Tom, warning him it wasn't quite over yet. Everyone started to hear a rumbling sound and saw a boulder heading straight towards them.
"Boulder!" Tom yelled, and Thunder quickly shielded him with his wings.
"Look out!" D'Angelo yelled, and Plowhorn knocked the boulder back with her horn.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the only boulder as more appeared, and Plowhorn quickly began knocking them aside.
"More like bould-ers!" Jun yelled.
More boulders flew past Eugene, causing him to spin in the net he was trapped in.
"This whole place is rigged with booby traps!" said D'Angelo, hopping on Plowhorn's back.
Wei quickly swatted one of the boulders away with his tail before he and Wu dodged another.
"Uh, hello?!" Eugene yelled. "Most important member of the club here!"
"Ugh! Eugene!" Jun groaned, looking as if she wanted to strangle him.
"We've got this," said James as he and Blade rushed over. "Okay, boy, do your thing."
Blade rose onto his back legs and began using his razor-sharp wings to cut the net, freeing Eugene. The moment he was freed, he quickly mounted Webmaster, and with everyone on their dragons, they flew away from the following boulders.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" said D'Angelo once they were far enough away. "Hold up, Plow."
"What is it, D?" Tom asked as they landed.
D'Angelo hopped off Plowhorn and saw on the ground a trip wire, now down to trigger another booby-trap.
"Looks like another booby trap," he said.
"Who do you think set this up? Buzzsaw?" Jun asked.
"These tracks are far too elaborate for him," said James.
"Whoever built them, I don't think we should cross them," said Tom.
Alex then noticed that Feathers was walking towards one of the tripwires. "Feathers, no!"
The moment she tripped the trip wire, it activated some mechanism, and they saw several catapults built into the wall aiming straight down at them.
"Incoming!" D'Angelo yelled.
Thunder and Feathers quickly protected the riders with their wings as the catapults began pelting rocks down at them. Fortunately, the rocks merely bounced off their hard scales. Unfortunately, Eugene wasn't with the other Riders and ran around, avoiding the pelting rocks.
When they finally stopped, Eugene stood proudly until a rock struck him on the head and caused him to topple over, making the other Dragon Riders wince.
"Ooh, that looked rough," said Jun as he got back up.
"Let me check you out," said D'Angelo, checking Eugene's head wound. "I have an ointment…"
Eugene then pushed to one side. "Don't touch the merchandise! I'm fine. Let's just keep going."
He then walked away but ended up triggering another trip wire, and then a dart struck him in the neck.
"What the…?" said Eugene, pulling the dart out. "Huh! Going to take more than a net and some rocks and a tiny dart to take me out."
He then suddenly toppled over and began cringing.
"You okay, Eugene?" Alex asked as she and the others looked down at him.
They kept on moving, but Eugene was having a few difficulties as the left side of his body was completely numb.
"What are you talking about?" Eugene asked in a muffled voice as his tongue was sticking out. "Talking's hard."
"Okay. Can you feel that?" Eugene asked, poking his left arm.
"Feel what?"
"That dark must have had a numbing agent."
Jun looked at the dart that it struck Eugene. "Think this came from some kind of ancient dragon hunter?"
Tom shook his head. "No. I don't think these traps were meant for dragons. The dart can break their scales, and the slingshot can hurt them either."
Eugene was still wandering around when he suddenly fell into a pitfall trap.
"Eugene!" Jun yelled, rushing over.
"I'm okay," Eugene moaned as he lay there flat on the ground.
"He's really having a rough day, isn't he?" said James as Webmaster pulled him out.
"See? Dragons can fly out of that pit," said Tom. "These were meant to keep humans out."
"Out of what?" Jun asked.
"Uh, guys—probably this," said Alex.
They approached Alex, who was standing at the entrance of a large opening, and there they saw something absolutely amazing. It was a whole new realm, filled with large mountains covered in grass and other kinds of plant life.
Tom looked at Thunder. "This place looks familiar, Pal?"
Thunder roared happily as Tom mounted him and flew off towards the nearest mountain.
"Any sign of Shadow?" Tom asked.
Thunder then growled, pointing his head down towards the mountain where Tom could see a cave.
"There!" he pointed and immediately flew down towards it.
The other Riders followed and slowly began to approach the cave.
"Could be another trap," said Jun.
They moved steadily closer towards the mouth of the cave when suddenly Shadow flew out of it with two more baby lightning dragons. Tom and D'Angelo had to jump out of the way to avoid getting run over by the two new arrivals.
The two little dragons then tripped and landed right next to Thunder, who roared at them happily. The two little dragons immediately jumped onto his head and began playing with him.
"Two more babies!" Jun beamed with excitement.
"Twice the cuteness, twice the destructive power," said Alex dryly.
Tom approached Thunder, astonished. "You didn't tell me you had two more siblings! You are holding out on me?"
Tom then went to greet the two little dragons, who had jumped off Thunder's head and gathered around Shadow. However, suddenly landing on the ground were two fully adult lightning dragons, who didn't look particularly pleased to see him.
One had rather ragged features and appeared to be male with a claw marks scar on his right front leg. His scales were mostly black but had white scales on his back and around his legs. The second one was clearly female with smooth scales and was mostly white with black scales on her wing tips, back and underbelly.
"Whoa, hey!" said Tom gently as he slowly backed away. "We mean no harm!"
Thankfully, Thunder jumped in front of Tom and greeted his parents; they immediately calmed down upon seeing him. Thunder's mother sniffed him and, upon recognising him, immediately nuzzled him affectionately.
"Look… His whole family," Tom gasped and looked at the others. "Don't worry, guys! Situation de-escalated. Come here, Shadow."
Tom began approaching Shadow, but Thunder's mother rushed over so fast he fell over. She then began snarling at him aggressively.
"Okay! Not de-escalated," said Tom, quickly backing away.
Both Thunder's parents began circling them, looking at them suspiciously and aggressively at the same time.
"Whatever you do, don't make any sudden moves," said D'Angelo. "Remember, they're not like Thunder. They're not used to humans."
"Everyone, just take it easy," said Tom. "Show them that we mean no harm."
Thunder's father then leaned in towards D'Angelo, who noticed the scratch on his leg.
"Hey, big guy. You got a scratch." Thunder's father snarled at him suspiciously as he pulled out a tube of ointment. "Here."
He sniffed it and growled at D'Angelo. "Oh, it's okay. Look. I got something for that."
He then unscrewed the lid and rubbed the ointment on the scratch. At first, Thunder's father thrashed about as the ointment stung his wound.
"Give it a sec!" said D'Angelo calmly. After a few seconds, he finally calmed down and realised that his wound wasn't hurting as much. "Feels good, right?"
Thunder's father couldn't help but agree.
Jun meanwhile was showing her shield to Thunder's mother; she had painted a Mist Twisters symbol on the shield itself. Thunder's mother looked at the shield and saw her own reflection shining off of it.
"See that? That's you!" Jun smiled.
Thunder's mother nudged the shield, finding it rather interesting.
Meanwhile, Shadow's two younger siblings were playing around with Alex, trying to snatch her tablet from her hands.
"Huh? What do you want?" she asked, soon realising they were looking at her tablet. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no."
Unsurprisingly, the two little dragons ignored her and tackled her to the ground, trying to get to the tablet.
"You don't want this. Bad dragons!" Alex yelled.
"All right, you to get off Auntie Alex," James chuckled as he freed Alex from the two little devils.
Thunder ran around Tom, excited that he was finally reunited with his family.
"They're beautiful, Pal," said Tom, stroking him. "No wonder you wanted to come back so badly. I'm sure you missed them."
Thunder rushed over to his parents, spreading his wings out and telling them he wanted to fly with them. His parents agreed, and pretty soon, they were in the sky, flying around the mountain and were soon joined by Thunder's younger siblings.
Tom looked on and could see just how happy Thunder was, but that also made him sad.
"He's so happy," Jun smiled but stopped when she saw Tom's expression. "But… you're not. What's wrong?"
"Thunder's home," he said with very little emotion.
"Yeah. I thought that would make you happy."
Tom looked at her. "I did, too. But what if he chooses to stay?" He then looked back up at Thunder. "I just realised that this… this might just be goodbye."
Back on the surface, Olivia tried calling Tom but only got his voicemail.
"This is Tom's voicemail," said the recording. "But why are you calling me when you can text? Get with the times!"
"Tom is way past your curfew," Olivia warned. "Where are you, and why aren't you answering back? Call me back."
Olivia then put the phone down and knew that something was off. Her eyes then turned towards Tom's drone; she made her way towards it and decided it was time to find out what was happening.
Thunder soon returned with his family and was soon greeted by Tom.
"Hey, Pal. Have a good flight?" Tom asked.
They then heard a roar above them, and Thunder's family immediately flew up towards the mountain peak.
"What's going on?" Jun asked.
"I don't know," said D'Angelo. "It's like something is calling them."
"Then what you say that we can find out what that is," said James.
Everyone nodded in agreement, mounted their dragons, and immediately followed Thunder's family towards the peak. Once there, Thunder's family immediately landed in front of the cave near the mountain's peak.
Once the Riders dismounted their dragons and joined them, Thunder instantly bowed, as did the rest of his family. He then used his tail to force Tom onto his knees, telling him that he had to show some respect whatever was in the cave.
"Guys!" Tom yelled to the others.
"Why are we doing this?" Alex whispered as she, their dragons and the other Riders, minus Eugene, knelt.
"We're just doing what they're doing?" said Jun.
"Why?" Eugene asked.
Tom narrowed his eyes at him. "So whatever is coming out of that cave doesn't kill us."
"Ugh, fine," said Eugene, reluctantly knelt.
They then heard slow and large footsteps from the cave and saw her lightning dragon emerge from the cave. This one looked particularly old and was even larger than Thunder's father, and every step he took sent a wave of authority across the ground.
He said he approached Thunder and his family, and when he saw Thunder himself, he quickly approached him. He leaned towards him, sniffed him, recognised him and nuzzled him affectionately, welcoming home.
Thunder then shoved Tom forward and introduced him to the Elder, who didn't look particularly pleased to see him.
"Hi. I'm Tom," he waved. "I am the one who's been taking care of Thunder. Or, I guess… I guess he's been taking care of me."
The Elder she knew looked at him questionably and leaned in towards him suspiciously.
"Tom!" D'Angelo hissed.
"Now is not a good time, D," said Tom.
"Look!"
Tom turned his head and saw what D'Angelo was getting at. Shadow then removed his lightning sword from the scabbard on Thunder's saddle and was now playing with it.
"Shadow! No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he said, rushing over to him. "No, no, no, not a toy, remember? Not a toy!" He then quickly removed the sword from Shadow. "That was close. Sorry! Don't worry, I'll…"
The Elder then growled at him, looking a bit more furious than before.
"…I'll get rid of this," Tom promised.
Unfortunately, Shadow then sneezed a small lightning bolt that entered the sword, and it shot right through the tip, getting the Elder in the face. Everyone gasped in horror, and Thunder's father rushed to the Elder and quickly turned on Tom, thinking he attacked him.
"No! No! I'm sorry! It was a mistake," said Tom.
Sadly, Thunder's father was looking for excuses and quickly struck Tom with his claw, knocking him to the ground. Jun, James and D'Angelo mounted their dragons and quickly surrounded Tom to protect him while Thunder's parents growled at them threateningly.
"It's okay! I'm fine!" Tom yelled, rushing to his feet and placing himself between the two parties. "Everybody, relax. They are just protecting him. It was a mistake!"
Thunder's father then shot a lightning blast at Tom, forcing Jun, James and D'Angelo to fall back, and Tom tripped and fell flat on his face.
"Don't do anything to provoke them!" he said to the others.
"Us?" Eugene yelled. "Those things are killers! Look at 'em!"
Tom picked himself up and looked at everyone. "Just a play of their blasts. No matter what happens, do not fire back!"
There was a little easier said than done as Thunder's father began flying around Plowhorn, making D'Angelo more than a little nervous.
"Whoa, whoa! Plow, move!" D'Angelo yelled.
Plowhorn tried to move out of the way, but then she was struck by Thunder's father. Thunder's mother was now flying around Jun and James.
"Wu! Wei! Watch out!" Jun yelled.
"Blade! Grace yourself!" James yelled.
Thunder's mother then suddenly tackled them, knocking them to the ground.
Tom quickly turned to Thunder. "What you want me to do, Pal?"
Thunder had absolutely no idea, and then things got worse as Shadow's two siblings attacked Eugene and Webmaster.
"Help! Get off me, you little monsters!" Eugene screamed.
Thunder's parents were now attacking Alex and Feathers, hitting them with lightning blasts. Feathers were able to dodge lightning blasts, but Thunder's mother then tackled her, throwing Alex off her saddle.
"Feathers!" she cried.
Tom approached the Elder, who was particularly happy to see him as he began charging for a lightning blast.
"Stop this!" Tom yelled.
The Elder then fired a lightning blast, and Tom barely had enough time to jump to safety. Tom rolled across the ground, quickly grabbed his lightning sword, and began knocking the lightning blasts away with it.
"Get out of there, Tom!" Jun yelled.
"I'm not going to fight," said Tom, looking at the Elder and dropping his lightning sword. "See? Look! I won't hurt you."
Sadly, the Elder didn't believe and fired a lightning blast directly at him. Everyone screamed as a massive dust cloud hid Tom from view when they feared the worst.
"Tom!" Jun gasped.
"No…" D'Angelo stared.
"This can't be happening," said James.
However, when the dust cleared, they saw that Tom was all right and very much alive. Thunder had jumped into the path of the lightning blast in time to shield him.
"Thanks for having my back, Pal," Tom smiled at him.
The Elder then growled at Tom, but Thunder growled back. The Elder only calmed down when the Riders and Thunder's parents rushed over to them.
"Tom!" said D'Angelo, hugging Tom with his famous bear hug.
"Thank goodness!" said Jun relieved.
The Elder looked down at Shadow, who ran over to Tom and the others. The Elder then growled at the Riders, telling them he was willing to stop hostilities but wanted them to leave immediately.
"What do we do now?" Tom asked.
D'Angelo then placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think he's saying we're cool, but we're not cool. You know what I mean?"
Tom nodded. "Yeah. I get it."
"We should probably go," said Jun.
"And soon," James added.
Shadow growled and smiled up at them.
"See, ya, Shadow," Tom smiled back and rubbed his head. "Be good."
"You're so precious," said Jun, stroking him. "Come visit again, okay?"
"Or don't," said Alex
"You're cool," said Eugene and then glared at Shadow's two siblings. "You two suck."
The two little dragons flew back to their parents, and Thunder joined them. He looked at Tom sadly, telling him he wanted to stay with his family.
"Time to go," Tom nodded. "And I guess you're not coming?"
Jun placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Say what you need to say. We'll wait."
Tom and Thunder approached one another, and Tom began to remove his saddle as Thunder purred.
"I'm going to miss you," said Tom, grasping Thunder's head. "You're where you belong now." The two of them then placed their heads against one another. "You're the best friend I ever had. You always will be."
When they broke apart, Tom brushed the tears out of his eyes and smiled at Thunder. "Still visit sometimes, okay?"
He then began to walk away, but he couldn't help but look at Thunder one last time. However, the Elder roared at him impatiently, telling him to leave now. Tom and Thunder looked at one another sadly for one last time before Tom mounted Wei.
"Take us home, Wu," said Jun.
Thunder joined his family as he watched his friends fly away before his parents blocked his field of vision.
Meanwhile, Olivia was now reviewing Tom's drone footage to find out what exactly she was hiding. She saw the early footage of Tom, Jun and James playing with his drone and losing control of it.
She gave a small laugh, not seeing anything unusual, but the next piece of footage caught her eyes. It showed an image of the edge of the fissure and saw the drone moving out until it hovered over a cave, and she saw a flash of light emitting from it.
"What's that?" Olivia frowned, playing the footage back.
She then closed the laptop and wondered what she had witnessed.
Tom and the others had now re-entered the Ice Realm, and he was already missing Thunder.
"I'm going to miss him so much," he said.
"I know," said Jun.
"At least you know that he is with his family," said James gently.
"So, uh, since you don't ride a dragon any more, you can't be a Dragon Rider," said Eugene. "Which, I guess, means you can't be our leader."
"Eugene, this is not the time," D'Angelo scowled, and Alex nodded in agreement.
"I'm just saying, I'm the oldest; I have a dragon," said Eugene, gesturing to Webmaster. "I support the takeover, effectively immediately. Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you, Webs? Yes, you would!"
Tom just continued looking at the cave.
"Don't worry about Eugene," said Jun.
"Yeah. Just remember all the happiness Thunder brought you," said D'Angelo. "That's what matters."
"And I'm sure once they've calmed down a bit, Thunder's family will allow us to visit them," said James encouragingly.
They then began to walk away from the cave, but then they heard a dragon roar coming from it.
"Hold on," said Tom, looking back to see Shadow rushing out of the cave. "Shadow!"
Shadow roared at them anxiously and pointed his head back to the cave.
"He looks upset," said Jun.
"What's the matter, little guy?" D'Angelo asked.
Shadow roared at them and ran back to the cave.
"We've got to go back," said Tom.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on," said Eugene. "Let's have the Riders who actually have dragons make that decision."
Jun then slapped his wrist.
"Okay, okay! We will go back," he said, rubbing his arm.
They quickly followed Shadow back through the cave and headed to Thunder's home. However, when they arrived, they gasped in shock as they saw the entire mountain covered in snow.
"What happened?" Tom stared.