It was a night like any other, but a massive earthquake suddenly shook the entire town. Tom woke up in one of his books fell on top of his head and seconds later his mum opened the door.
"Tom, come on!" she yelled, gesturing to approach the doorway. "Come on, come on!"
Tom didn't need to be told twice and quickly joined within the doorway, they had earthquakes before, but this one was the most powerful one yet.
"This one's got an attitude!" he said.
Everyone in town took precautions; Jun and her mother were currently hiding beneath a table. Alex and her mothers were in her room using one of her inventions, an inflatable tent, to protect themselves.
The quake kept on going for a few seconds until it finally died down.
"Thankfully, domes of the strongest substance on Earth," Olivia smiled.
They then heard the sound of the alarms.
"What's that mean?" Tom asked.
The next morning everyone gathered around in the visitor centre for a briefing.
"Unlike most quakes, the epicentre of ours moves in a line, activating faults as it goes," Olivia explained, demonstrating with a hologram. "Usually down the fissure, away from ICARUS. But this last quake shifted the ground directly beneath us, and another quake could fracture the wall, dropping an ICARUS and Rakke Town into the chasm. And all of us with it."
Everyone gasped and looked at one another as Olivia demonstrated by having the hologram crumble.
"So what do we do?" Philip asked.
"We blow it up," she said simply.
"That's crazy," said Linda. "You're crazy. She's crazy."
"Linda, Olivia's last crazy idea predicted this fissure and gave us all jobs," May reminded her. "Crazy away, Olivia."
"Thanks, May," Olivia smiled and then showed another hologram to illustrate her solution. "We send a manned probe a couple of miles into the fissure, near the end point of the last quake. Then, we deploy explosives to blast that spot, and I believe that will stop whatever is creating these tremors."
"Seems to me that's just a faster way to collect everything," said Philip.
"There are no caves under the station," Olivia reminded them. It's why we built ICARUS on this spot. So I believe it will remain stable. Some of the caves in the area will collapse, yes, but that won't affect us."
"The Dragon's Lair," D'Angelo gasped and then quickly covered his mouth.
"They said at Corporation, 'Olivia's planning on decimating the fissure,'" said a new voice. They all turned and saw a black-haired woman wearing dark shades entering the room. "I didn't believe it. I should've known better."
"Oh, man. Not her," Tom moaned.
"Doctor Sledkin," said May. "I know you were coming."
"That makes two of us," said Sledkin moving her shades.
"They sent her in case I fail," Olivia assumed.
"Or talk some sense into you before you fail."
"Olivia has never steered us wrong," said May. "If she says it will work, I trust her."
"I do, too," Philip added.
"As do I," said Clara.
"I hope everyone's sake that you're right," said Sledkin.
"When can you be ready, Doctor Kullersen?" May asked.
"First light," said Olivia.
"Then you drop in the probe at dawn."
"Uh-uh. We drop in the probe at dawn," said Philip gesturing to himself and Clara.
Olivia smiled at the two of them.
"Okay, everyone. Back to work," May ordered. "We have a mission to plan."
"Fingers crossed," said Sledkin as everyone walked away.
"Okay, this is crazy," said D'Angelo. "Our folks are going to blow up the fissure! How is that a good idea?"
"Tom, this is crazy," said Jun.
"If my mom says it's the only way to save ICARUS, it's the only way," said Tom. "Come on. We've got to go check on the dragons."
There were just about to walk away when Tom noticed his mother talking with Sledkin.
"Sledkin. I'd figured you show up eventually," said Olivia. "You always loved the spotlight."
"This isn't about me, Kullersen," said Sledkin. "We're not in college any more, competing for lap time, dreaming of winning the Vetlsesen Prize. This is about ICARUS falling into the fissure and all the Rakke Corporation's money with it. This is about the people who will die and all the lawsuits that will follow."
"The people are my only concern," said Olivia narrowing her eyes.
"You work for the company now," Sledkin reminded her. "It should all be your concern."
She then walked away, and Olivia shook her head.
Tom then approached and raised his fist. "You got this, Mom."
"Thanks, boyo," Olivia smiled, bumping fists with him.
Tom then left with the others.
Later they reached the Dragon's Lair and called other dragons as they climbed down.
"Plowhorn!"
"Feathers!"
"Wu! Wei!"
"Blade!"
When they got down, they saw quite a large piece of rubble in the middle of the Lair.
"Whoa! The earthquake do that?" D'Angelo stared.
"I'm glad nobody was standing underneath it," said Jun.
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "This is another good reason to never leave my room."
"Wait! Wait!" Tom panicked. "That's where Thunder sleeps. Thunder? Thunder!"
Thunder then appeared, growling rather softly, clearly still shaken up by the earthquake.
"You okay, Pal?" said Tom hugging him.
"Plowhorn?" D'Angelo called. He then saw her, just as shaken up as Thunder and quickly rushed over to her. "Aw! Come here, girl! That means earthquake freak you out?"
Jun looked around and saw Wu and Wei appear.
"Wu ad Wei are shaken up, too," said Jun
Blade then appeared, looking just shaken.
"Look, the earthquake rattled all the dragons a bit," said James as he stroked Blade.
"Where's Feathers?" Alex asked, panicking. "Feathers!"
Feathers then reappeared behind Alex looked rather excited to see her. Before she knew it, Feathers stuck her head between her legs and tossed her onto her back.
"Whoa! Feathers! You're alive!" Alex cheered, hugging her.
Feathers were so excited that he flapped their wings, making them hover above the ground.
"Uh, okay. Too much too soon," said Alex. "I am a walker, not a flyer."
She then slid off Feathers and landed calmly on the ground.
"Tom, what are we going to do?" Jun asked. "Your mom said blasting the fissure could collapse the case around here."
"If the explosives don't do it, these constant earthquakes will," James pointed out.
Tom was silent for a moment, but he knew what they had to do. "We send them into the Hidden World. At least temporarily. They'll honestly be safer there."
"Are you sure?" Alex asked.
"Of course, I'm sure! It's certainly safer than here. And when the explosion stabilises the fissure, we can go and get them back."
"Why don't we go with them?" D'Angelo asked. Everyone then looked at him in silence. "Oh! Because of the caves do collapse…"
"But they won't," Tom assured them. "This is just a precaution."
Everyone looked at their dragons, not sure whether this would be the last time they would get to see them.
Tom made his way to the exit and looked at Thunder, who looked rather reluctant to go.
"You have to go," said Tom softly. "You have to lead Wu, Wei, Plowhorn, Blade and Feathers back to the Hidden World. It's not safe for you here."
Thunder then nuzzled him sadly.
"Yeah. You know, don't you," Tom nodded. "Things are falling too close for comfort, buddy. So, take the others just for a little while."
Thunder purred softly, and Tom hugged his head.
"Yeah. Just for a little while," Jun agreed, stroking both Wu and Wei, who then had her with their heads and tail.
"Just for a little while," D'Angelo nodded. "And while you're gone, you watch yourself, girl, because sometimes you're just too sweet and gentle for that crazy world out there."
"You just look after the others, boy," James smiled at Blade. "We'll be okay."
Alex looked at Feathers. "I wish I could disappear with you."
Feathers then hugged her with her wings.
Thunder looked at Tom, who gestured towards the exit, then he took off, and the other dragons followed. They looked back at their human friends one last time before diving down into the exit that would lead them to the fissure.
Afterwards, they left the Lair.
At ICARUS Station, a helicopter had arrived to replace the landing area that had been destroyed during the earthquake earlier that week. Olivia, May, Philip and Clara observed but then turned towards the hangar when they heard it opening.
They then watched as a huge machine carried the manned probe onto the landing area. Olivia, Philip and Clara looked at one another and nodded.
It was late afternoon by the time Tom and the others exited the Lair.
"I can't believe we just said goodbye to our dragons," said D'Angelo as he helped Alex out.
"Yeah. Maybe for good," Jun nodded.
"Hey! Hey, guys, come on," said Tom. "My mom's plan will work. You'll see."
Then suddenly, they felt another quake, but moments later, they saw a huge dragon flying out of the fissure. They then watched as they dived back into the fissure and quickly approached the edge.
They only got a quick glimpse of it, but it looked like one of those classic Western dragons with dark scales, and its head was the same shape as Blade's. Then suddenly they saw it's been a and began drilling its way through the surface of the canyon.
"It's a dragon," Tom gasped and looked at the others. "This whole time, a dragon has been causing the earthquakes!"
"Of course!" Jun gasped. "The giant hole in the wall, the collapsed crystals, the moving epicentre…"
"That's why my mom couldn't figure it out," said Tom. "No one knows it exists!"
"And our parents are about to plant explosives in the fissure," said James.
"We got to tell our parents now," said D'Angelo. "If they go down there and start blasting the fissure, that giant Fault Ripper Dragon might keep them alive!"
"Yeah. The secret's not as important as your parents' lives," Jun agreed.
"Wait, wait, wait!" said Tom. "What if there's another way? A way to chase off the Fault Ripper, save our parents and keep the secret, but we're going to need our dragons."
"Didn't we just send them back?" said Alex.
Tom then gave them a cunning smile.
"I think I know where this is going," James sighed.
It was late at night, and the Dragon Riders began to put Tom's plan into action.
"All right," said Alex earpieces. "I'll be your eyes and ears. You guys get to the probe and go down and get our dragons back."
Alex had hacked into the security system and switched off lights as the others made their way to the station.
Tom and the others had just reached the landing zone where the probe was stationed, but as they suspected, a security officer was guarding it.
"Alex, we need help with the guard," said Tom.
"Copy that," she said, then set off an alarm on the other side of the station.
The guard herded immediately dashed over to investigate.
Once he was gone, the fall of them made their way onto the landing zone. D'Angelo manned while Tom, Jun and James boarded the probe.
"I've just uploaded instructions to your main screen," said Alex to D'Angelo.
D'Angelo looked at Tom and the others, who were smiling at him. "Yeah, you look all happy now." He then began to operate the crane. "Okay. Down to dragon land."
He then attempted to lower the probe but caused it to jostle a bit; he gave a nervous chuckle. "My bad. Wrong button."
He then moved the claim closer towards the fissure and began to lower the probe. "Oh, yeah. This is more like it."
"After we get the dragons, we'll meet back in the lair," said Jun. "Then we'll all chase away the Fault Ripper."
"Roger that," said D'Angelo.
"Good luck," said Alex. "Like, seriously. I'm not being sarcastic, even though it sounds like I am. I hope to see you at the Lair… with Feathers. Don't forget about Feathers!"
"We won't," Tom assured her. "See you at the Lair."
At the same time, Philip heard someone knocking on the door to his dome, and when he opened it, he saw Linda standing there.
"Blackout and another false alarm, Chief," she informed him. "There's a virus in our system."
Philip frowned suspiciously.
In the probe, Tom, Jun and James had reached lava falls.
"We've reached the lava falls, D," Jun informed D'Angelo.
"Wow, you got down there fast," said D'Angelo. "How's it look at night?"
"Even more amazing than during the day," said Tom as he looked through the windows. "What an incredible place we live in."
"Let's hope we get to keep on living here," said D'Angelo. "And, yes, I meant that both ways."
"Don't worry, we plan on doing both," James assured him.
Jun then noticed they were picking something up on the senses.
"Uh, guys. What's that?" she asked.
Tom leaned towards the monitor. "I don't know. But it looks like it's coming right at us."
"And it appears to be rather big," James added.
"Sh…" said Jun quietly as we looked ahead of them.
Then suddenly appearing of the smoke was the Fault Ripper heading straight at them. It flew directly beneath the probe, and all three of them tensed up.
"Can it see us?" Jun asked.
"I don't think so," said Tom. "It's a burrower. It doesn't need good eyesight."
"That's good, I guess," said Jun.
"But in my be able to sense vibrations in the air, so let's perceive with caution," James suggested.
Jun then screamed as the Fault Ripper flew past the window next to her, and Tom quickly covered her mouth. They then watched as it passed by the window in front of and Tom noticed its large ear holes.
"Look at the size of that ear holes," said Tom. "It must hunt by sound."
"Then maybe we should shut up," Jun advised.
"As long as we don't perceive as a threat to it, we should be fine," said James.
The Fault Ripper disappeared momentarily, but then they saw it coming straight at them from behind. They quickly brace themselves, but at the last moment, it will beneath the probe. Then began spinning around, unleashing the flames, and dug through the wall like a drill.
At the same time, Linda was with May, Philip and Sledkin as she began to isolate Alex's virus.
"I took out the virus, but it did its damage," Linda informed them.
Suddenly all the power in the control switched off.
"Then that gives you something to do, doesn't it, Linda?" said May.
Philip pulled out his torch and looked at the monitors. "Cameras are down on the platform. I'll go and check it out."
D'Angelo was still lowering the probe down into the fissure.
"Hey, you guys? We're almost out of cable," he said, but then the probe suddenly stopped. "Correction. We are out."
Tom looked out the window; they weren't too far away from the cave. "We're going to have to jump for it. The dragon world is just around that corner."
"But we're too far from the wall," Jun pointed out.
"There's no way we can jump all the way to that ledge," James agreed.
Regardless the three of them put on their helmets and climbed out of the probe.
"D, use the crane to swing the probe," said Tom. "We're going to jump for it."
"Are you nuts?" D'Angelo yelled and remembered who he was talking to. "What am I saying? Of course, he's nuts."
Despite his reservations, he began to swing the crane, shifting the probe closer to the ledge.
"It's still too far!" said Jun.
"D! Swing us closer!" Tom yelled.
D'Angelo did the best he could, but then he saw his father making his way to the platform with his security team.
"Keep your eyes open," said Philip.
"Uh-oh," said D'Angelo, quickly reaching for his comm. "You three are on your own. I got a bug out. Over!"
Philip and his team had just reached the landing pad. The first thing he noticed was the fact that the probe was dangling in the fissure.
"Hey! Why isn't the probe secure?" he asked.
One of his officers then pointed towards the engineer, who had operated the crane early this evening.
Philip made his way to the cockpit of the crane, which was empty, and pulled down on the lever to bring the probe back up.
Tom and the others nearly fell over as it jostled.
"Somebody's bringing us back up! It's now or never!" said Tom.
Three of them brace themselves, and just as they swung towards the ledge, they quickly jumped and were just able to grab it. Sadly bidding got a good hold of it and slipped, losing their helmets; Tom quickly grabbed Jun and then both he and James slammed their pickaxes into the surface of the fissure, slowing their descent.
They then quickly pulled themselves back onto the ledge, a little shaken but otherwise fine.
"Okay. Yeah. That was nuts," Tom agreed.
"And that's agreed never to do something like that ever," said James.
"So, let's get to the cave and the dragons," said Jun. "We're losing time."
They pressed themselves against the ledge and began to shimmy towards the cave.
Back on the landing pad, Philip was able to retrieve the probe, and he was extremely annoyed.
"Somebody is messing with me, and when I find out who it is, I'm going to squash 'em," he promised, then returned to his security team. "Secure this thing! And stand watch until morning!"
Unbeknownst to him, D'Angelo was hanging on the bottom of the landing pad. He sighed in relief and began making his way back to town using the underneath the landing and as a bunch of monkey bars.
It was now dawn, and both Philip and Clara were prepping the probe.
"We're locked and loaded," said Philip as he loaded the explosives. "Ready to blast this sucker."
"And the probe isn't damaged from last night's joyride," Clara added.
"Coordinates have been set," said Olivia.
Then she and Clara began climbing their way on board the probe, and Angela made her way over to her husband.
"You come back to me, Philip Baker. You hear?" she ordered.
Philip smiled at her grasping her hand. "Always."
He then went to join Olivia and Clara, and once they were strapped in, they were lowered down into the fissure.
At the same time, Tom and the others managed to lower themselves on the ledge that looked into the cave to the Hidden World.
"That was a lot further than I remembered," said Jun. "Of course, last time, I was flying a two-headed dragon."
"Come on," said Tom as they made their way to the cave. "The dragon world is right in…"
He stopped in his tracks as the three of them noticed that the entire cave had caved in.
"This complicates matters," said James.
"Is this the wrong case?" Jun asked hopefully.
"No. It just collapsed!" Tom panicked. "The Fault Ripper dragon." He then quickly reached his comm, but all he got was static. "D'Angelo! Alex! Come in!"
Jun and James tried the same thing with theirs, but they, too, only received static.
"Guys! Can you hear us?" Tom asked.
James shook his head. "We're too far down for a signal to reach the surface. Don't forget these were only designed for short-range communication."
Jun looked at Tom. "Tom, we can't possibly move these boulders alone, and nobody can get to us."
Tom looked at the fissure. "This… is bad."
Olivia and her team were already descending down into the fissure.
"We're almost there," said Olivia. "Ready with those rockets, Phil?"
"Just gimme something to shoot at," said Philip.
"All systems are good," said Clara.
They then start directly in front of the new tunnel the Fault Ripper had dug.
"This is the fault line where the rock has shifted," said Olivia.
"Proves your theory?" Philip asked.
"Makes me feel like it's less crazy."
"Less crazy is good," said Philip.
"So what you say that we blow this sucker up and rub Seldkin's face on it?" Clara asked.
Philip nodded and looked at Olivia. "Do I get to press the red button?"
Olivia smiled at him. "You get to press the red button."
Philip carefully aimed into the tunnel and then pressed down the red button launching the rocket into it. Just a few seconds later, they heard the explosions erupting inside the tunnel and could see the place rumbling.
At the cave, Tom was hacking away at the boulders with his pickaxe. He knew he couldn't move the boulders, but he was hoping that funding would be able to hear him.
He only stopped when he heard the rumbling and quickly rushed towards the ledge where he saw the explosion.
"The probe is back?" said Tom.
James looked at his watch. "Oh no, the sun rose half an hour ago. We're too late."
Jun then looked down and gasped. "Tom! Look out!"
She quickly tackled Jun to the ground; moments later, the Fault Ripper shot out of nowhere. When he got back up, he saw the dragon flying straight towards the probe.
"It must've heard the explosion! It's heading for the probe!" said Jun.
"It must think it's some sort of threat," said James.
"Mom…" Tom gasped.
"Tom! We need our dragons," said Jun.
Tom ran back to the boulders and continued hitting them with his pickaxe.
"Come on, Pal. Please," he pleaded. "Hear me! Thunder!"
Unaware of the danger approaching them, Olivia and her team continued to look at the tunnel.
"You think that worked?" Philip asked.
"We'll only know if the quakes stop," said Olivia.
Then suddenly, the entire probe shook violently as the Fault Ripper slammed into it. The probe began to swing around violently into it and hit the wall, almost knocking the three of them out cold.
"I guess it didn't!" Philip groaned.
The Fault Ripper struck the probe once more so violently that the three of them knocked their heads against the consul, knocking them out cold. The probe's cable then got wedged between some rocks against the wall trapping it in place.
On the surface, everyone could see that the cable was shaking rather violently, and they knew something was wrong.
"Bring it up. Bring it up!" May ordered.
The crane operator tried to bring the probe back up, but the cable was snagged. "No, go! It's stuck on something!"
Tom was hitting the boulders relentlessly with his pickaxe.
"Thunder! Thunder!" he yelled frantically until he collapsed with exhaustion.
Both Jun and James rushed over to him and tried to comfort him.
"He's gone…" said Tom. "I can't get to him. Mom… Mom…"
They then heard a muffled high, pitch buzzing sound just behind the rocks, which grew louder and louder. They then saw shooting out of the rocks with sparks of electricity, and then they suddenly blew apart. They are standing before them or their dragons, standing proud, strong, and ready to fight.
"Thunder!" Tom cheered, rushing over to hug him. "No time for joyful reunions, Pal. We got work to do."
He then mounted the Thunder, and Jun and James mounted their dragons.
"Go and get D and Alex from the Lair," Tom ordered them.
"On it, " said Jun.
"We'll be back as soon as we can," said James.
"We're going to save the parents," said Tom.
Tom then flew towards the Fault Ripper while Jun and James led Plowhorn and Feathers to the Lair.
The Fault Ripper was about to attack the probe once more, but then it was struck by a lightning blast.
"Get out of here!" Tom yelled as he flew past it.
The Fault Ripper roared at them angrily and began chasing them down, and Thunder fired another lightning blast at it. The Fault Ripper continued to follow them and tried to bite, but thankfully they were a little further ahead of it, and Thunder hit it with yet another lightning blast.
They continued to fly around, and Tom looked down at the trapped probe and could see his mother lying there next to the window.
Olivia, semiconscious, looked up and saw Tom riding Thunder past the window.
"What the…" she said before losing consciousness.
"Mom…" said Tom looking at her.
He then flew above the probe.
"Break 'em free, Thunder!" said Tom.
Thunder then fired a shot at the rocks that snagged the cable, destroying them and freeing the probe. Once it was freed, it began to be lifted out of the fissure.
"Nice shot, Pal," said Tom.
The Fault Ripper roared and began shooting flames at them.
"Go, go, go!" Tom yelled as they danced around them.
The Fault Ripper continued to chase after them shooting flames at them.
"I'm open to ideas," said Tom looking down at Thunder.
Thunder then suddenly turned around and flew straight at the Fault Ripper in a head-on collision.
"Chicken?" Tom yelled. "That's your idea!? I didn't say I was open to bad ideas!"
Thunder then fired another lightning blast at the Fault Ripper, who then counted performing a flaming corkscrew. Thunder flew around the Fault Ripper at the last possible moment, just narrowly getting burnt and crushed.
Sadly a few seconds later, the Fault Ripper turned back around and was chasing them again.
"I know, I know," said Tom. "It's nobody's fault, but we've got to be smarter about this."
The Fault Ripper then blasted him with more flames at them, missing them, though only just.
"Or lucky!" Tom yelled as they swirled around to avoid getting burnt. "I'll settle for lucky! You got any more speeding you?"
Thunder tried to speed up, but the Fault Ripper was already practically on top of them. It was just about to attack them when suddenly he was hit by an ice and heat blast. Tom looked up and was relieved to see Jun flying down with James and D'Angelo following just behind.
"Yeah!" D'Angelo yelled.
"Woo!" Jun yelled.
"Tally Ho!" James yelled as Blade fired fire missiles.
"Hey there, Kullersen! You mess us?" D'Angelo asked as Plowhorn provided loopie bombs.
"Lucky it is," Tom smiled.
Together the three of them were able to push the Fault Ripper back, and Tom quickly joined up with them.
"No, Alex?" Tom asked.
"She's a walker, not a flyer, remember?" Jun reminded him.
"All right, well, we can chase them off without her," said Tom.
The Fault Ripper recovered from the surprise attack and charged them, flames shooting out of its nostrils.
"If you say so…" said Jun, not looking at all confident.
"I say so," said Tom.
"So what's the plan?" James asked.
"Jun freeze blast! D, loopie bombs! James, fire missiles!" Tom ordered.
"You got it," said D'Angelo.
"Come on, Thunder," said Tom. "Let's get this guy a reason to leave."
The Fault Ripper then shot out flames at them, but they dodged it. Wei then suddenly blasted him with his heat blast.
"Ice him up, Wu!" Jun yelled.
Wu then struck the Fault Ripper with his ice blast, which formed a solid ring around his mouth. Thunder then flew, hitting him with a lightning blast, and Balde fired a fire missile at his underbelly. Wu continued with the ice blasts, and Plowhorn fired her loopie bombs, igniting his wings. Thunder then turned around to fire another lightning blast, but the lightning fizzled out before it exited his mouth.
"Wait, what's going on?" Tom asked.
Thunder then growled, telling him he couldn't fire another shot.
"What, you can run outta juice?" Tom stared incredulously.
He and Thunder then got hit by the Fault Ripper's tail. The two of them were sent flying and crashed into the wall, but fortunately, they landed on a large ledge.
Wei fired another heat blast at the Fault Ripper, but as he flew away to get away from the blast, eats accidentally struck Wu and Wei knocking Jun off of Wu. She would have fallen to her death if the two-headed dragon hadn't grabbed her; Wu grabbed her leg while Wei one of her arms.
They then watched as a very angry Fault Ripper turned to face them, but James and D'Angelo placed themselves in front of Jun. Their dragons tried to fire their fire attacks, but they, too, were out of ammunition.
"Huh? Plow's outta ammo, too!" said D'Angelo.
"As it is, Blade," said James. "I guess creating all that firepower must take a lot of energy; unleash it constantly. I'm betting they need some time to recharge before they can fire more shots."
To make matters worse, the Fault Ripper was able to shatter the ice muzzle covering its mouth. It then looked at them and prepared to fire, but then suddenly was struck by a sonic blast which was strong enough to put out its flames and then collided with the wall.
Then to their amazement, flying right past was Alex riding Feathers.
"Woohoo!" Jun cheered.
"Go, Alex!" D'Angelo cheered.
"Way to go!" James yelled.
"Is it over? Did we win?" Alex asked, clinging onto Feathers.
Sadly the Fault Ripper recovered and flew straight back at them.
"Not yet, Alex," said Tom as he quickly mounted Thunder and took to the air.
The Fault Ripper then started to attack Jun, D'Angelo and James with its breath attack, causing them to fly away.
"Hit it again!" Tom yelled, chasing after the dragon.
"Again, Feathers, again!" Alex yelled.
Feathers then blasted the Fault Ripper with her sound attack, and it seemed to have much more effect than the other dragons' attacks. Tom used this opportunity to slam into the Fault Ripper, pushing it away from the others.
"Keep at it!" Tom yelled. "Something about sound is… is messing it up."
The Fault Ripper came after Tom but was stopped by Feathers' sonic attack.
"I'm betting that since it burrows underground, it uses the vibrations in the earth to navigate, making it vulnerable to sound," James theorised.
When Feathers stopped attacking, the Fault Ripper became disoriented and unable to fly and began falling into the fissure. However, before it fell, it grabbed Thunder, dragging him and Tom down into the fissure.
"Tom!" the others cried and quickly followed.
Jun flew ahead of the others and reached out for Tom, but she was unable to reach them in time.
"Tom!" Jun yelled.
They all watched as the Fault Ripper fell into the cloud of poisonous gas, leaving everyone completely stunned.
"Was that… my fault? Did I… do that?" Alex asked.
"No, Alex, no," said D'Angelo softly. "It was nothing that anyone did. Or could do."
"This can't be happening; it just can't," said James stunned.
"Tom," Jun cried.
Then suddenly, they saw a purple flash and seconds later, shooting out of the cloud, was Thunder with Tom still on his back.
"Yeehaw!" he yelled at the top of his voice.
Everyone beamed upon seeing him and flew up to them excitedly.
"That… was insane!" D'Angelo yelled.
Jun then flew up to Tom and elbowed him hard in the arm.
"Ow!" he said, rubbing his arm.
Jun crossed her arms and glared at him. "That's for scaring me to death."
"But what about everything else?" Tom asked, smiling.
Jun just smiled as she shook her head.
"So, what happened to the Fault Ripper dragon?" Alex asked.
Tom looked down into the fissure. "I don't know, but I hope he's okay."
"Speaking of okay, let's get to the surface and see if our parents are okay," said James.
On the surface, they managed to bring the probe back onto the landing pad. Olivia and her team had regained consciousness and got out of the probe a little shaken but otherwise fine.
Once he jumped down from the landing pad, Philip immediately hugged his wife, lifting her out of her chair.
May quickly approached Olivia and Clara.
"You did it, Olivia!" May beamed. "The fault appears to have stabilised!"
Olivia sighed, rubbing her forehead. "All I remember is one very big boom."
"It was quite the boom," said May.
"The explosives must have been more powerful than we anticipated and only came into contact with some sort of flammable gas," Clara theorised.
"Mom!" Tom yelled as he and James rushed over to their mothers.
"You're okay!" said Tom hugging his mother.
"I am. I am, honey," Olivia assured him.
James had his mother. "We heard a rumour that you were trapped down there."
"We were a little stuck, but we're safe now," Clara assured him.
"We're all fine," said Olivia. "Just a little groggy." She then winced in pain. "It's so weird. I… thought I saw something flying around down there."
D'Angelo then laughed with an unconvincing laugh.
Philip facepalmed himself and sighed. "Not this again."
"Congratulations, Kullersen," said Sledkin. "This time, crazy worked."
Tom and Olivia merely hugged one another.
"This time," she added as she walked past them.
Later that day, they made their way back to the Dragon's Lair to meet up back with the dragons.
"In almost every ancient story, the heroes mark their territory," said Jun as she placed a handprint on the wall of the Lair. "This is ours."
"Our base of operations," said D'Angelo inserting his handprint on the wall.
"Our hidden sanctuary," said James doing the exact same thing.
"My home away from dome," said Alex adding her own print.
"Our Dragons' Lair," said Tom putting his handprint on the wall.
"We are the holders of the secret and the protectors of the dragons and humans alike," said Jun.
"And this…" said Tom as Thunder purred. "This is finally our new home."
Thunder growled in agreement, looked at the handprints, and fired a lightning blast at the wall. Everyone jumped back in surprise, but when they looked at the scorch mark on the wall, they saw that he had the shape of a dragon.
Tom looked at it closely and remembered seeing something just like it.
When he got home later that night, Tom looked at his old Viking helmet, which was a family heirloom. There he saw the exact same mark engraved upon it, and he just stared at it, stunned.