The Dragon Riders were currently doing a favour for Chief Baker, stacking some boxes near the station.
Eugene was exhausted from all the heavy lifting and looked at Webmaster. "Why is this taking you so long, Webs? You have eight legs. It should take you half the time."
"That's not really how math works, Eugene," said Alex.
"Then math is wrong," said Eugene.
"Or maybe you should pay better attention during maths in school," James suggested.
"Come on, guys," said Tom. "We're almost done."
"Ugh, fine," said Eugene and looked at D'Angelo. "But why are we even doing this?"
"My dad needed the extra help," said D'Angelo.
"But, like, what do we even get out of it?" Eugene asked. "Hey, is your dad going to throw us some cash, at least?"
"Sometimes, Eugene, you do things just to be a good person."
"Yeah, tens of thousands of people do volunteer work every day and don't expect anything in return," said James.
Eugene looked at him blankly as if helping for free; it was an entirely new concept.
"Forget it, guys," said Jun. "You're wasting your breath. Eugene cares about Eugene."
"And my hefty bank account," Eugene added. "Cha-ching."
James rolled his eyes while D'Angelo sighed.
"That's it, Pal," said Tom as Thunder stacked a box on top of the pile. "Perfect."
"You've already done enough dragonsite research, Wilma," said a voice.
Tom turned and saw Director Wong and Sledkin talking close by. Tom quickly looked at the others and told them to be quiet as they listened.
"Unauthorised research that put animals in harm's way, I might add," May continued. "No more."
"This is groundbreaking work, May," Sledkin argued. "You know I'm right. I won't stand for this."
"Well, you're going to have to because I am putting you on suspension," said May firmly.
"What?!" Sledkin stared, looking completely outraged.
"I think you need some time to examine your ethics and align yourself with the team's vision, which means no more mining dragonsite."
May then walked away, leaving behind a fuming Sledkin.
"Fine," she said and then noticed the Riders.
Tom couldn't help but smirk triumphantly, which aggravated Sledkin even more, and they watched as she stormed off.
"Did you guys hear that?!" Tom beamed.
"I can't believe Mrs Wong finally laid it down on Sledkin!" said D'Angelo.
"Which means she won't be messing with dragons or the Hidden Realms anymore," said Tom.
On that cheery note, they began to fly the Nature Realm, taking in the peace and quiet.
"Things have been so nice down here since Sledkin was punished," said Tom.
They then noticed that two Gronckles were fighting over a boulder.
"Spoke too soon," he said.
They quickly swooped down and landed in front of the two Gronckles.
"Okay, buddies," said Tom, dismounting Thunder and approaching them. "Okay. No need to argue. Let's just calm down."
The larger Gronckle, who currently had the boulder wedged in its jaw, snarled at him.
"You sure this is a good idea, Tom?" D'Angelo asked.
"I feel bad for the smaller one," said Tom. "It looks like the bigger ones might have stolen her dinner."
"Hmm. Probably the older brother," said Jun, looking at Eugene.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Eugene asked.
"Oh, nothing."
"Uh, fine!" Alex groaned. "We'll be the mature ones and handle this. Come on, Feathers."
They quickly swooped towards the Gronckles, snatching the boulder from the larger one. However, the boulder was far too heavy for Feathers to carry, and she began to struggle before they collapsed to the ground.
"Okay…" said Alex. "Heavier than it looks."
She then saw the two Gronckles rushing towards and she quickly screamed. Feathers then quickly hovered above the hungry Gronkcles, who began to wrestle for the boulder. Sadly for the smaller Gronckle, the large one won the match and hovered out of her reach. Angry, the smaller one began to charge up for a lava blast.
"Look out! They're going to blow!" Tom warned.
The smaller Gronckle fired a lava blast at the large one, making him drop the boulder. D'Angelo then took advantage of this, and he and Plowhorn flew at the boulder and used her horn to smash it in half. The two Gronckles then grabbed half of the boulder and began eating them.
"There you go," said Jun.
"Eat up," said Tom.
"Gross," said Eugene.
"Talk about a Dr De-escalation!" D'Angelo smiled. "Am I right?"
Everyone just groaned.
"I thought we agreed that you would with the jokes; they're terrible," said James.
"And these you appreciate my humour, girl," said D'Angelo, stroking Plowhorn.
Plowhorn merely rolled her eyes, indicating that she, too, thought his jokes were terrible.
"Problem solved," said Tom, mounting Thunder.
"Great. Now we can we do something… Oh, I don't know more fun," said Eugene.
Plowhorn then growled, and they saw she was picking up some scent.
"Guys, something's up with Plow," said D'Angelo.
Suddenly, she took off, and everyone soon followed, much to Eugene's annoyance.
They continued to follow Plowhorn until she came to an abrupt stop.
"Is this it, girl?" D'Angelo asked.
Plowhorn then flew down towards the ground, and everyone else followed. When they landed, they saw a cave that had been burst wide open by some explosion.
"What happened here?" Tom asked.
"Whatever it was, it wasn't natural," said James.
"What could have done this?" Jun asked. "You think it was a dragon?"
"It would have to be a dragon with a heck of a blast," said Alex.
As they began to examine the rubble, D'Angelo saw some movement and what appeared to be a tail.
"Did you see that?" he asked the others. "It was definitely a tail."
They then heard a deep growl within the rubble.
"Okay. Great," said Alex. "What was that again? Let's leave? Yep. Mmhm. I like the way you think."
D'Angelo, however, approached the source of the sound.
"Watch yourself, D," said Jun cautiously.
D'Angelo nodded. When he turned round the corner, he found the dragon. It was a particularly large dragon, but it lacked wings and resembled a crocodile but with much taller and more powerful-looking legs.
"Oh. What kind of dragon are you?" D'Angelo asked.
He began to approach her, but she snarled at him. That's when D'Angelo noted some burn marks on her hind leg.
"Oh, no," he said. "I think she's hurt."
"Hurt or not, watch out," said Tom. "This one does not want us around."
"We can't just leave her," he said, slowly approaching her. "Don't mind me. Just overhear, minding my own business. Definitely not trying to sneak up on you."
D'Angelo slowly and carefully made his way towards her wounded leg, then gently placed a hand on it. "There you go. See? I'm not going to hurt you."
He then bent down and examined her scorch marks. "Looks like she's got some pretty nasty scorch marks."
"That doesn't make any sense if she caused the explosion," said Tom.
"I don't think she did," said D'Angelo as he pulled out some cream and rubbed the wound with it. "This should numb any pain she's feeling."
The dragon instantly began to relax as D'Angelo administered the cream. She then gratefully walked away.
"You're welcome," said Eugene.
"So, if she didn't cause all this damage, who did?" Jun asked.
Tom noticed Thunder sniffing the blast zone and approached him. He then sniffed the area and could definitely smell something.
"It smells like a firecracker," he said.
"Or perhaps dynamite," said James.
Tom then noticed something within the rubble. "Over there!"
There, they saw mixed in with the rubble or shards of dragonsite.
"A huge deposit of dragonsite was removed, and I think we all know who did it," said Tom.
Sledkin was in her dome when she heard a knock on the door. When she answered it, she saw May, Olivia and Clara with the Riders, all of them narrowing their eyes at her.
"Olivia and friends," she said. "Can I help you?"
"This was extremely irresponsible, not to mention insubordinate," said May furiously. "Setting off an explosion to mine dragonsite? You were warned about this."
"What are you talking about?" Sledkin asked innocently.
"Wilma, come on," said Olivia.
"Well, it wasn't me," she said. "I've been in my dome working on reinvigorating my plants." She then noticed something behind. "Ah. In fact, here comes Linda with the suppliers I ordered now."
They turned and saw Linda had just arrived with the van.
"Mom, she's lying," said Tom.
"Am I?" said Sledkin innocently, gesturing to the security camera pointing at her dome. "Check the security footage if you don't believe me."
"Okay. Look out," said Linda, carrying a rug and a pot plant between them.
"There are plenty of cameras around Rakke Town that will prove I haven't left my dome," said Sledkin. "You can also check the inventory to see if any of our explosives are missing."
Linda then came back out carrying a pot and all the rocks. "Sorry. Kind of heavy, guys. Here we go. Kind of heavy."
"I'm a world-renowned scientist, and I do not deserve this kind of harassment," said Sledkin.
She then slammed the door shut, hitting Lind in the face as she stepped on the threshold.
"I guess I'll just come back later," she said, walking away.
Olivia, May and Clara then began to leave.
"Wait, you're leaving?" Tom stared.
"There's nothing we can do," said May. "She said she was in her dome."
"Tom, I don't like Dr Sledkin either, but we have very little proof that she is responsible for that explosion," said Clara.
"But that explosion had to be her," Tom argued.
"You may be right, boyo, but right now, all we can do is keep an eye on her," said Olivia.
The Riders watched, defeated, as the adults left, but they were determined to expose Sledkin.
They returned to the Lair, and Alex began looking through surveillance footage.
"I say we set a trap for her," said Eugene. "Prop up a box with a stick, put some food inside, then the second she walks in there, bam, the box falls, and we got her!"
"She's a scientist, Eugene, not a raccoon," said Jun.
"Doesn't make her any less of a pest, though," said James.
"Observation deck, helipad, hangover…" Alex mumbled as she looked through the footage.
"Anything?" Tom asked.
"Uh… okay, here we are," said Alex, putting up the footage of Sledkin's dome. "Sledkin's dome."
"Wow. This is just riveting," said Eugene sarcastically and then grabbed Tom. "You're right, Tommy. We better do something about this quick."
"Just wait a minute," said Tom, pushing him off him.
"Here, I'll fast forward," said Alex, speeding up the footage.
"Wait. Go back," said Jun abruptly.
Alex rewinds the footage, but it only showed Linda at the door with supplies.
"Oh, it's just Linda," said Jun and then they saw Sledkin opening the door and taking the supplies. "And there's Sledkin at home, like she said."
"And that's the end of it," said Alex. "It's not Sledkin."
"This doesn't make any sense," said Tom. "There's got to be something after that. Maybe she tampered with the video files."
"Nope. I checked the metadata," said Alex, shaking her head. "It's legit. Not edited."
"And my mum did check the supplies and made sure they were not missing any explosives," James added regretfully. "Though I'm very certain that Sledkin can easily make her own explosives, but again, we don't have any proof of that."
"What if Sledkin was telling the truth?" said D'Angelo. "Maybe she really didn't leave her dome."
"Or maybe we can use one of those rope loops on the ground, and when she steps into the loop, she gets yanked into the air by a tree branch," said Eugene.
Jun groaned facepalm in herself.
"Well, if the cameras can't capture her, then I guess we'll have to," said Tom.
The Riders soon began their stakeout with Tom, Jun and James monitoring Sledkin's dome.
"You know what this reminds me of?" Jun asked.
"It does have a familial feel to it," James admitted.
"What?" Tom frowned.
"Agent Jun and Agent James to Agent Tom," Jun smiled. "Come in, Agent Tom. Meet us in the treehouse for snacks."
Tom laughed. "Secret agents! I haven't thought about that game in forever."
"Even then, I felt like a third wheel, and sometimes I still do," said James.
Tom and Jun looked at one another awkwardly.
"We had fun together when we were little," said Jun.
"Yeah, we totally did," Tom agreed. "It's still fun hanging out, right? Even though we don't have juice box grenades?"
"No, we've gone upmarket with firebreathing dragons," James chuckled.
Jun laughed. "Totally."
Tom and Jun looked at one another.
Tom quickly cleared his throat. "I mean, you know, being Dragon Riders and stuff, it's a… it's fun.
Jun smiled at him.
"If you two are done staring at one another, we are on an important mission here," said James, looking rather awkward.
Tom cleared his throat again and pulled out his binoculars.
"You think she's going to sneak out?" Jun asked.
"She has to at some point," said Tom.
"If she does, we'll have," said James.
Meanwhile, the other Dragon Riders kept tabs on Linda, following her as she drove out of Rakke Town in her van. She soon stopped and got out of the van; she checked her teeth wing mirror and made her way to the back of the van.
"Oh, man," Eugene moaned. "Why did we get stuck following her?"
"Shh!" D'Angelo and Alex hissed.
"She was Sledkin's sidekick when they kidnapped the Terrors," Alex explained as they watched Linda walking out with a pot of rocks. "If anyone's going to be an accomplice, it's her."
Eugene watched as she dumped the rocks on the side of the road and kicked them. "Kicking rocks? Uh, what a criminal mastermind. Who knows what she might do next? Spill some milk or trip over her own shoelaces?!"
Eugene then walked off, and D'Angelo and Alex began wondering why they were stuck with him.
Regardless, they kept on following Linda, but she wasn't doing anything one would call criminal. She just loitered around with her van, eating cheesy loops, dropping supplies at Sledkin's dome and talking to her new boyfriend on her phone.
Eugene was so bored with this stakeout that he had actually fallen asleep on top of Alex, much to her annoyance.
Tom, Jun and James were having much better luck. They had been watching Sledkin's dome for a while, and she hadn't even stepped outside.
D'Angelo and his group then arrived looking just as cheery as they were.
"See anything suspicious?" Jun asked.
"Nothing. You?" D'Angelo asked.
"Only if you think Sledkin blasting show tunes is suspicious."
"I consider show tunes to be a crime against humanity," said Alex.
"I do find the fact that she has left her dome suspicious," said James. "I mean, normally, she pokes her nose into everything going on in ICARUS."
"True, but I doubt that our parents will see that way," said D'Angelo.
They then heard the screeching of tyres as Linda's van came into view.
"Sh. This could be it," said Tom as Linda stopped in front of the dome. "I bet this is where the whole plan comes together."
They watched but to their disappointment and, only dropped off a number of plans at the door.
"Nice one, Kullersen," said Eugene. "You caught red-handed. Guilty of gardening."
Alex's tablet then beeped. "The sensors! It's the same area as the explosion."
"How?" said Tom, confused. "Sledkin hasn't left her dome."
They quickly got to their dragons and returned to the Nature Realm without waiting a moment. When they got to the blast zone, they could see smoke and more rubble than before.
"What?" Tom stared as they landed. "How did she set off another explosion?"
"We were watching her the whole time," said Jun.
"This doesn't make any sense," said D'Angelo.
"Unless it's not, Sledkin," said Alex.
"Of course it is," said Tom stubbornly.
"Tom, we have to look at the evidence in front of us, and right now, it isn't pointing to Sledkin."
"But who else would be in the realm setting up flashy explosions with no regard for the safety of the dragons?" D'Angelo asked.
A name sprung to Tom's mind. "Sounds like we've got to pay, you know who, a visit."
"Yeah, totally," Eugene nodded and then frowned in confusion. "Wait… Who?"
Everyone immediately groaned at Eugene's stupidity.
"Well, I can tell you this: it's not Voldemort," said James, rolling his eyes.
Buzzsaw was currently in his camp with his two underlings cooking a meal.
"Is the bread ready?" Winston asked as he reached out to touch the pot.
Buzzsaw immediately slapped his hand away. "Don't touch. You'll ruin the artisanal pillowy texture."
They then heard the sounds of dragon roars, which made them jump.
"What's that?" Ford asked.
They looked up and saw the Dragon Riders descending upon them.
"Get your dragons," Buzzsaw ordered them. "Hurry."
Both Winston and Ford ran off just as the Dragon Riders landed in front of the camp.
"Here to pick a fight?" Buzzsaw asked. "We're ready."
He then turned to Winston and Ford, who were attempting to mount a pair of muzzled Gronckles. However, they just tossed them off their backs.
Buzzsaw groaned and blew his whistle, and Jack appeared out from behind the trees. Winston and Ford then mounted their dragons properly and joined up with Buzzsaw. Thunder growled at them, and his mouth began to spark electricity.
"Buzzsaw, I just want to talk," said Tom, quickly dismounting Thunder to calm him down. "Thunder, hey, ease up."
"If the Little Leaguers make one wrong move, take them out," Buzzsaw ordered Jack. "Got it?"
Everyone watched intensely as both Buzzsaw and Tom approached one another.
"Lucky for you, I was just going over battle plans," said Buzzsaw.
"And baking bread," Ford added.
"Yeah, we can still smell it," Winston nodded.
"Shush," Buzzsaw hissed and then turned back to Tom. "What do you want, Shrimp?"
"Someone set off an explosion in the Nature Realm, stole a bunch of dragonsite and injured a dragon," said Tom. "Was it you?"
"I don't need any stupid rocks," said Buzzsaw. "And even if I had done it, I wouldn't have to explain myself to you. I am the Dragon King. Everything down here is my, including the sourdough."
His eyes then turned to Ford, who was reaching out for the pot, and he quickly put the lid back on.
Alex's tablet then beeped. "Uh, Tom, I think we ot-gay another-yay explosion-ay."
"You sure?" Tom asked.
"Well, what do you know?" Buzzsaw smirked. "Turns out it wasn't me after all. What a huge surprise. Not!"
"Tom, whoever set that off could still be there," said Jun.
"If we hurry, we might be able to catch them in the act," said James.
"They're right," D'Angelo agreed. "We got to go."
"Hey, I thought we were going to fight this oser-lay!" said Eugene, gesturing to Buzzsaw.
"We'll deal with him later," said Tom as he mounted Thunder. "Right now, we've got more important things to take care of."
They then immediately took off.
"Nothing is more important than me! Nothing!" Buzzsaw yelled, outraged. "Well, lucky for them, it's panini time."
"Mmm. Smells good," said Ford as he sniffed the pot.
"Thank you, Ford," said Buzzsaw.
"Can we try some?" Winston asked.
"No."
The Riders had just arrived at the blast zone, and a massive cloud of dust came from the entrance.
"Whoever set off the explosion can't be far away," said Tom.
"Wait…" said Jun as she heard the sounds of pickaxes. "Do you guys hear that?"
They listened carefully and could definitely hear the sound of pickaxes hitting hard stones as well as familiar voices.
They entered the cave, followed the long dark tunnel, and heard electronic beeping noises. They soon found the source when they entered the chamber and found the place rigged with explosives.
"This place is wired to blow," said D'Angelo.
"Normally, I would suggest we leave, but we never do," said Alex.
Tom instantly rushed towards the explosive, and then they saw Sledkin and Linda coming out of the side tunnel.
"This final blast should loosen the deposit from…" said Sledkin and gasped the moment she saw them. "You!"
"Sledkin," Tom glared. "I knew it!"
"Phew," said Linda with relief. "At least it's not the thing with the beady yellow eyes."
She then shuddered in horror.
"We caught you red-handed," said Tom as the other Riders gathered around him.
"And when everyone at Rakke hears about this, you are so fired," said Jun. "You'll never harm another dragon again."
"Who cares about those cave-dwelling mongrels when this place is packed with what will soon be the most rare and sought-after resource mineral on earth?" said Sledkin.
"You can take that up with Rakke, but your time down here is over," said Tom. "You're coming with us."
"Not so fast," said Sledkin and pulled out the detonator. "There's a chunk of dragonsite in that wall the size of a basketball, and I'm not leaving until it's in my hands. Now, step out of the way."
"I don't think so," said Tom as their dragons backed them up.
Jun then noticed that Eugene was missing and glared at him. "Seriously?"
"Okay, fine," Eugene muttered and joined up with them.
"Ooh, a stand-off," said Linda.
Sledkin groaned impatiently. "Listen, I'm a very busy woman, and I don't have time for this." She then brought her finger closer to the button on the detonator. "Now move, or else."
"Okay, okay," said Tom calmly. "I guess we could…"
He suddenly jumped Sledkin, and they began dressing the detonator.
"Tom!" Jun cried.
In the scuffle, the two of them accidentally dropped the detonator and watched, horrified, as it fell to the ground. They desperately tried to grab it, but it was too late as it hit the ground, activating the detonator at the same time.
Thunder quickly pulled Tom back, and suddenly, there was a huge explosion. The explosion caused the ceiling to collapse, and the dragons quickly surrounded the riders, shielding them as the rocks fell on top of them.
Sledkin and Linda were out of the blast zone and were more or less unscathed, but they saw that the Riders were now buried alive.
"The kids… I…" said Sledkin horrified. "I didn't mean… They shouldn't have even been here." She then looked at Linda. "That little brat set it off. You saw him!"
"We have to do something!" said Linda.
"Help me!" said Sledkin as she rushed over to the rocks.
They desperately tried to move the rocks to free the Riders, but it was too heavy, and there were too many.
"It won't budge," said Sledkin.
"Now what?!" Linda asked.
"You saw it," said Sledkin. "They… did this to themselves. There's nothing we can do. Now, let's get out of here."
Sledkin then instantly walked away, but Linda just looked at the piles of rocks.
"Now!" Sledkin ordered.
Linda then quickly followed.
Amazingly, the Dragon Riders were still alive but were now trapped under several feet of rock. The only source of light they had was from their phones.
"Help!" Eugene cried.
"Can anyone hear us?" D'Angelo yelled.
"Help!" Eugene yelled and looked to the others. "What are you guys waiting for? Make some noise!"
"Making noise isn't going to do anything," said Tom. "That wall is too thick, and we're alone out here."
"Plus, the only people nearby are Sledkin and her accomplice Linda, who I'm willing to bet have abandoned us," James added.
"And screaming is going to make us run out of oxygen real fast," said Alex.
Eugene quickly turned to Jun. "Jun, you're smart. Figure something out."
"I'm looking for an opening, but…" said Jun as she felt around the rocks.
"Thunder, think you can blast us out?" Tom asked.
Thunder got up and began charging for a lightning blast.
"No, don't!" D'Angelo yelled. "A blast at this close range could create another cave-in or toast us all."
Thunder then dissipated his lightning blast.
"Digging might be the only way out," said Jun.
"Come on, everybody," said Tom.
Everyone attempted to move the rocks but were too heavy and wedged in together. After a little while, they started to get really tired and found it difficult to breathe.
Eugene was so worn out that he eventually gave up.
"Come on, Eugene, keep going," said Jun.
"Is it getting harder to breathe, or is it just me?" D'Angelo asked.
"Not just you," said Alex.
"I think we're running out of air," said James.
"Even I'm too tired," said Eugene. "And I'm way stronger than all of you."
Eventually, the Dragon Riders were too exhausted to move and sat down with their dragons.
"It's useless," said Jun. "There's no way out, and with no oxygen…"
"Didn't think you would end like this, Junbug," said Eugene, looking at her.
"Got any last-minute insults?"
"Nah… Wait… Nah."
Jun smiled and clicked her mouth while pointing a finger at him, and he returned the gesture.
"It'll be okay, Plow," said D'Angelo, stroking Plowhorn. "It'll be okay."
"If this is the end, I'm glad I'm here with all of you," said Tom and Thunder licked him.
"Me too," Jun added.
"Same," said James.
Everyone embraced their dragons, waiting for the end, but D'Angelo heard a scraping noise. He looked around and saw the injured dragons, then encountered earlier looking at them.
"Ah!" he screamed, jumping back.
"What is it, D?" Tom asked.
"That dragon we helped earlier," he said, and when he looked back, he saw the dragon disappear. "She was just here."
"That's impossible. We're sealed in."
"It looks like the lack of oxygen is messing with you, D," said Alex.
"I'm sorry that I led us here," said Tom apologetically. "This is all my fault."
"It's not your fault, Tom," said Jun. "you were just trying to protect dragons. It's what we do."
"And we all knew what we were getting ourselves into when we started this," said James. "If anyone is to blame for this, it's Sledkin."
D'Angelo then saw some rocks falling from the ceiling, and when he looked up, he saw the dragon again.
"There it is again!" he yelled.
Alex looked up, and she saw the dragon as it walked away. She quickly removed her glasses and began cleaning, thinking she was seeing things. "Oh, man, now I'm seeing it too."
"I told you," said D'Angelo as he rose to his feet. "Guys, don't you understand? If that dragon can get in, that means…"
Then, suddenly, there was a loud rumbling noise, and everyone stared as the injured dragon broke through the cave. Everyone gave a sigh of relief as they welcomed the new fresh air.
"Yeah!" D'Angelo cheered.
"All right!" Jun cried.
"A way out!" said Alex, hugging Feathers.
"And I think I know how," said James. "I recognise this dragon from my ancestor's memoirs. It's called a Cavern Crusher. The original Dragon Riders encountered one and discovered that it was able to collapse its skeleton, enabling it to squeeze through cracks."
"That sounds wicked," said Eugene.
"Yo, you saved us!" said D'Angelo, stroking the Cavern Crusher.
The Cavern Crusher then walked away.
"Oh, I get it," said Eugene, approaching D'Angelo. "You helped that dragon earlier, so it would save us now."
"No, Eugene, that's not why I did it," he said. "I did it to be nice. And she just happened to return the favour."
"Let's get out of here," said Tom, placing his arms around their shoulders. "There's someone we have to confront."
Sledkin had returned to her dome unnoticed and began practising what she would say to the Riders' parents.
She was pacing up and down when she heard a knock on the door.
"I am so sorry they're missing," she said in a concerned tone but then switched to an over-egged tone. "I am so sorry they're missing." She then took a deep breath and began speaking in a drawn-out tone. "Oh, I am so sorry that… Yeah, that's it."
She then made her way to the door and answered it. She was shocked to see the Riders there with their parents.
"You have gone too far, Wilma," said Olivia as she and the others stormed inside her dome.
"I don't know what these children told you, but as I stated before, I have not left this dome," she said, folding her arms defensively.
"Except when you set off that explosion that sealed us in a cave," said Jun.
"That was messed up, even for you," said Alex.
"We were lucky to get out of there alive," said James.
"Nonsense. Check the surveillance footage," said Sledkin.
"The only thing we can't figure out is how you got down there," said Tom.
"You can't figure it out because I've been here the whole time," said Slekin. "This is getting tiresome. Director Wong, I'm a world-renowned geologist and was hand-picked by William Rakke Jr himself. I have been stung by one of your dragons, my experiments cancelled and finally put on suspension for no reason." While she was talking, Tom examined a dirty garden lattice that was leaning against the wall behind her. "And now I'm being accused of…"
"Why would you bring a dirty garden lattice inside?" Tom asked.
"Uh… Um…" said Sledkin, taken completely by surprise.
"And now there's dirt on your new rug," said Tom, looking at the dirty rug in the middle of the floor.
Everyone then looked at Sledkin, waiting for an answer.
"What difference does it make?" she said. "Rugs get dirty. And, you know, I've always loved plant life and other green things."
"And where did those rocks come from?" Tom asked, pointing at some pots filled with rocks.
"We saw Linda dump a planter full of rocks all over the ground, but now it's back on form again," said Alex, picking up one of the rocks inside the pot.
Linda then stepped on top of the rug while she ate some cheesy loops and began to sink.
"Linda, no," said Sledkin, rushing towards. "Get out of there!"
She pulled Linda out, but it was too late. Tom pulled the way, revealing a tunnel that went straight underground.
"Oh, my…" said May.
"What?" Olivia stared.
"It's a tunnel!" said Clara.
"Now, that is not up to code," said Philip.
"And this is how she did it," said Tom. "We never saw her leave her dome because she tunnelled her way right down into the Dragon World. It's over, Sledkin."
However, everyone then noticed that both Sledkin and Linda were nowhere to be found, and then they heard the sound of an engine. They rushed outside and saw the two driving away in the van.
"Hold it right there, Wilma," said Philip, chasing after them.
The Dragon Riders were about to do the same thing, but Olivia stopped them.
"No, you are not going after them," she said.
"But, Mom, what if she tells the world about dragons?" Tom asked.
"Wilma will keep the secret," Olivia assured him. "She'll want all the credit for discovering Dragonsite."
"It's the reason why she went behind everyone's backs in the first place, but even I didn't think she would go this far," said Clara.
Olivia sighed. "I blame myself. I shared my findings with her. The dragonsite's strange oxygenating properties, its potential value."
"Hold on," said D'Angelo. "If dragonsite is an oxygen source, removing it could make the Hidden World uninhabitable for dragons."
"You're right," said Olivia. "The presence of dragonsite oxygenates the realm. No wonder there's such an abundance of life down there."
"There won't be if Sledkin returns and continues to mine it all out," said Tom.
"Well, we're not going to let that happen," said Jun.
"Yeah," said Eugene. "Nobody messes with Eugene and gets away with it. Boom!"
Everyone just narrowed their eyes at him.
"And, you know, the Dragon Riders," he said.
"We'll keep our eyes and senses peeled," said Alex.
"And if he does come back, we'll be ready for her," said Tom.