It was just another day in the Dragon World, and the Dragon Riders attempted to put trackers on all the small dragons. Tom, D'Angelo and James had found one of these small dragons nestling next to those strange green crystals.
"Target acquired," said Tom.
"Tracking tag activated and ready," said D'Angelo.
"Now, let's tag this dragon," said James.
"Okay, Dr D, it's all you. We've got your back," said Tom.
They then slowly crawled towards the dragon, keeping as low to the ground as possible. Their dragons looked on from a distance, ready to jump in, and they needed to.
D'Angelo then slowly rose to his feet and slowly approached the dragon. However, it turned around, spotted him, and took off before it could grab it.
"I got him!" Tom yelled as he jumped in.
"No, I've got him!" said James as he did the same thing.
All three of them ended up colliding with one another and collapsed to the ground.
"So close," said Tom.
The dragon flew off, and their dragons flew overhead after it. The three of them quickly jumped over the ledge and from the back of their dragons and took to the chase after the smaller dragon.
"Come on! Come on here, little fella!" said Tom. "No, don't…"
They began flying in all different directions trying to grab the little dragon.
While this was happening, the girls sat calmly on the ground.
"Isn't science fun?" said Jun as boys flew overhead.
"Get him!" D'Angelo yelled.
"We're trying!" James yelled back.
"Sadly, no amount of scientific observation can explain the behaviour patterns of those three," said Alex.
A split second later, the three of them ended up colliding with one another, and then, to add insult to injury, a little dragon flew down towards the girls.
"You're such a sweet dragon, aren't you?" said Jun in a babyish-like voice as Alex placed a tracker on it. "Aw! Hi!"
"How did they…?" Tom stared.
"Well, that's embarrassing," said James.
"Tracker is paired," said Alex.
"You know, we make a great team," said Jun. I think we're mind melding. Two are becoming one."
"Mm, I think we're still two," said Alex.
"Jun and Alex," said Jun. "Ooh, Jalex! Or wait. Aljun."
"Oh boy," Alex sighed.
The boys landed next to them, and Alex grabbed the little dragon.
"Not too shabby," said D'Angelo as he took the dragon away from her. "Now we can track your migratory habits to better understand your health needs."
He then released the dragon, which then flew away happily.
"And hopefully get an idea of how big this world actually is," Tom added.
Jun then noticed a massive hole in a wall that led towards a dark cavern.
"Hey, isn't this the area we found the Bubblehorns?" Jun asked.
"Here we go in three, two, one," said Alex.
"Nibbles!" Jun yelled excitedly and ran towards the cave.
"Careful, Jun! Remember, bubbles are no joke!" Tom warned.
"And Nibbles may not be too happy to see us," James added.
Jun didn't appear to be listening as she reached the mouth of the cave. She was just about to pull herself inside when she suddenly screamed at the top of her voice.
"What is it?" D'Angelo asked as they rushed over to her. "The Bubblehorns?"
"No! I got webbed!" she screamed, holding a strand of webbing in her hand. "There's a web on me! There's a web on me! Is there a spider?"
Everyone just stared at her as she hyperventilated.
"The great Jun Wong is afraid of spiders?" Tom grinned.
"Of course, because I'm normal!" Jun snapped and then showed her back to them. "Quick, is there one on me?"
"Nah, you're clean," said D'Angelo. "Not sure about normal."
"Spiders are just solitary creatures who built their homes in dark, quiet places," said Alex calmly. "What's not to love?"
Jun looked at her perplexed. "Seriously, Alex? You're afraid of everything except spiders?"
She merely shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a hacker wrapped in a mystery, stuck inside a matrix."
Tom then went to investigate the cave. "There's a lot of webs, but I don't see any Bubblehorns."
"I'm sure they're smart enough to hate spiders, too," said Jun hugging herself.
"Should we check it out, Pal?" Tom asked, looking at Thunder.
Thunder approached the cave, sniffed the air, and snarled, clearly not liking what was inside.
"I got your back, Kullersen," said D'Angelo placing a hand on his shoulder. "Let's do it."
"Room for one more?" James asked.
"Three boys stared doom in the eye," said Alex looking at Jun. "What could go wrong?"
"Tom, listen to your dragon," said Jun. "It's a bad idea. Let's go home."
Thunder snarled, and Tom got the hint. "Yeah. Maybe Jun's right."
"Uh, there's no maybe about it," said Jun crossing her arms.
"It's getting late anyway," said Tom as he mounted Thunder.
All the other Dragon Riders followed suit and took off, unaware a giant spider was watching them.
It was afternoon, and the boys had just entered Rakke Town.
"You know what this place could really use?" D'Angelo asked as he stretched. "A chiropractor."
Tom and James laughed, and then they heard a chirping sound. They looked around and saw a little bird and made its nest on one of the wind turbines very close to the blades.
"Oh, man," said Tom. "That the built its nest right near the blades. We got to do something before it gets chopped in half."
"I'll call my dad," said D'Angelo as he reached for his phone.
Tom, however, was already climbing up the ladder. "Come on, D! We don't need him! We've got this!"
"Oh, man," D'Angelo groaned.
"There he goes again," James sighed. "I'll go find some help; you try to ensure he doesn't get himself killed."
D'Angelo nodded, in the two of them split up.
Tom had already reached the top of the turbine and reached out for the little bird. "Come on, little birdie. Come on."
Tom then suddenly slipped, but D'Angelo managed to rest his right foot on his shoulder and grabbed his left boot.
"Don't worry! I gotcha," he said.
"Thanks, D," Tom smiled.
D'Angelo then looked at him back onto the ladder, and Tom was able to grab hold of the bird. Unfortunately, D'Angelo lost his balance, and he was still grabbing hold of Tom's boot. He, too, was losing his balance.
"Not good!" he said.
Tom suddenly found himself falling, but then he felt someone grabbing his hoody. He looked up and saw that Philip had arrived in time to grab him, who didn't look too pleased.
"Chief Baker," he said, laughing nervously.
"Seems like I'm making a career out of catching you, Tom," said Philip.
Once they were back on the ground, the two boys joined up with James while Philip narrowed his eyes and while holding the little bird.
"Let me explain, Pops," said D'Angelo.
"There is no explanation," he said, looking at him disappointed. "Both of you could've fallen to your deaths. You're lucky that James found me and told me what was happening."
D'Angelo sighed.
"This is not a playground," he continued. "It's a billion-dollar facility, and you should've followed protocol." He then narrowed his eyes at Tom. "I had expected this from you, but…" He then looked back at his son. "…you, I taught you better, son."
"I know, Pop, I tried…" said D'Angelo.
"Trying isn't good enough, D."
"Chief Baker?" said Tom, his eyes turning towards him. "It's my fault. I made him do it."
"You made him do it," said Philip narrowing his eyes. He then looked back to his son and sighed in disappointment. "I have nothing else to say to you right now, D'Angelo."
He then walked away, leaving very disappointed D'Angelo behind.
"Don't listen to him, D," said Tom.
D'Angelo sighed. "I always listen to him."
"That's your mistake. Come on, man. We saved the bird. So what if your dad's ticked off?"
D'Angelo stared at him. "So what if my dad's ticked off?"
"And by the way, why did he take the little guy with him?" Tom frowned.
"Forget about the bird, Tom. Look, I appreciate you trying to take the heat for me, but my dad's right. We should have called security."
"Security?" Tom stared. "That's not what we do! Our mission is to protect… animals."
"Yeah! Down there, not up here," said D'Angelo firmly. "Here is my dad's domain, and we follow his rules."
James could see that things were starting to deteriorate between them and tried to calm things down. "Guys, let's not make a fight out of this."
Unfortunately, neither of them were listening to him.
"I follow my own rules, whatever world I'm in, not your dad's," Tom spat.
"Yeah?" said D'Angelo moving closer to him. "That's why you almost killed yourself every other day. Newsflash, Tom! If it weren't for me, James and my dad, you would be lying on your face underneath that windmill!"
"That's enough!" said James putting the two of them away from one another. "Let's not say something we'll regret."
"I regret nothing!" Tom glared.
"Neither do I," said D'Angelo and walked away. "So from now on, you do you, and I'll do me."
James looked at Tom. "Say something; you know he does have a point."
Tom narrowed his eyes. "So now you're taking his side!"
"Not taking any one side," said James. "The situation is different here than down there. Down there, we have dragons to protect us; up here, we don't."
Tom said nothing and merely walked away, and James sighed.
Later that night, D'Angelo was having dinner with his parents, and there was a rather awkward silence between him and his father.
"May I be excused?" D'Angelo asked.
"Aren't you going to finish your potatoes?" Angela asked, noting he barely ate anything.
"Not very hungry."
"Well, there must be something wrong because those words have never come out of your mouth."
"You do realise there are hungry kids all over the world?" said Philip.
D'Angelo just sat there in silence.
"Just go," Philip sighed.
D'Angelo then began making his way to his room and closed the door behind him.
Angela narrowed her eyes at her husband. "He was trying to be heroic, Philip."
"He was being careless," he said, slamming his fist on the table. "Both of them could have been seriously hurt or worse."
"Hm, reminds me of some of the stories you've told me about your teenage years," she said.
"Yeah, that's what worries me. I wish he'd stay away from that Kullersen boy. He's a bad influence."
D'Angelo was able to hear every single word within his room and felt even worse.
The next day the Dragon Riders were back in the Dragon World, but tensions had now risen between Tom and D'Angelo.
"You mind?" said D'Angelo narrowing his eyes at Tom. "You're a little close. Plowhorn needs her space."
"No problem," Tom spat. "Thunder would rather fly next to Wu and Wei anyway. Right, Pal?"
Thunder flew over to Wu and Wei, but that didn't stop them from bickering.
"Careful, Wu and Wei. Guy's a bad influence," D'Angelo warned. "Might get you in trouble."
"Ha! That's very funny," said Tom half-heartedly. "I bet they didn't have any problems standing up to their dad, and he was a two-headed dragon."
"Do you two really need to do this because this is not helping anyone?" James asked.
Tom and D'Angelo fell silent.
The girls were rather confused with all this bickering.
"What's up with you guys?" Jun asked. "You were all bro-y yesterday, and now you're all broody today."
"Yeah. Broody is my thing," said Alex.
"Nothing! I'm fine," said D'Angelo.
"Me too. Perfect," said Tom.
James looked at the girls. "The two of them just have differences of opinion, and they're being rather stubborn about it."
Fortunately, the bickering was interrupted when they heard the screeching of an unfamiliar dragon. They flew down to investigate and saw a spider, except it had scales hand, a set of wings and a long tail.
"That's a new dragon!" said Tom.
"Uh, a very spidery-looking dragon," Jun shivered.
"Guess was a matter of time before we encountered the dragon that resembled an insect," said James.
"Actually, spiders aren't insects," said D'Angelo.
"You know what I mean."
"Whatever it is, I need to get a closer look just in case it's hurt," said D'Angelo.
Tom gave a small laugh. "Just wait a second, and we'll all go."
"Seconds are precious when you're dealing with a medical emergency!"
"We don't know if it is a medical emergency."
"Oh, uh, right."
"Ugh! Okay. Time out," said Alex stretching her arms out. "How about you two stop bickering before I have a medical emergency?"
"Alex is right; bickering amongst ourselves is not going to help," said James, looking at D'Angelo. "Tom's right; we don't have a medical emergency, and better if we all go together. We have no idea what this dragon is capable of."
Before he waited for a response, he led the others down towards the ground and began watching the spider dragon scuttling around.
"Yep, it's all spidery," said Jun.
"Doesn't look injured. Probably lost," Tom observed.
"You can't tell if it's injured without giving it a proper examination!" said D'Angelo. "And just because your dragon's lost, doesn't mean every dragon's lost."
"I thought we agreed to stop bickering," Jane snapped.
"Am I the only one who thinks that dragon came from the spider cave we saw yesterday?" Alex asked.
Jun immediately became horrified. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no."
"Good point, Alex," Tom nodded. "We should take it back there. It's part of our mission."
"Yeah, only if it's lost," said D'Angelo.
Tom glared at him. "So, you're saying you don't want to fulfil our mission down here?"
"I'm saying you have it twisted," D'Angelo snapped.
"Forget it. We don't need your help," said Tom, looking at the others. "You guys in?"
"I can sympathise with a dragon who wants to get back to its room," said Alex.
"This isn't its natural habitat out here; it is in danger of running into predators," said James.
Jun then quickly backed away as far as she could. "I'll just supervise from over here. Way over here."
"Thunder," said Tom gesturing to him.
Alex and James did the same with their dragons, and they all mounted. They began making their way to the spider dragon, but D'Angelo then blocked their path while riding Plowhorn.
"Dude, what is your problem?" Tom snapped.
"I don't have a problem! I need to examine my patient!" D'Angelo snapped back.
The spider dragon immediately reacted to all the yelling and flew into the air, firing a firebomb straight at D'Angelo. He ducked just in time, and when the fireball struck the ground, it created a web.
"See? You made it mad!" said Tom.
"It's aggressive because you're messing with it!"
"Maybe it's aggressive because the two of you are raising your voices," said James
"James is right!" Jun yelled. "Your negative energy is rubbing off on the dragon."
The spider dragon then landed on the ground.
Tom then hopped off Thunder. "Come on, Pal. Let's take this care of this and get this guy home."
"Oh no," said D'Angelo pushing him back. "He is staying right here where we found him!"
Tom pushed D'Angelo's arm away. "No, he's going back to his cave."
The spider dragon kept hissing and looking at the two of them fearfully.
"Guys, stop it!" Alex pleaded. "You're scaring him!"
Sadly neither one of them was listening and immediately reached out to grab the dragon.
"No, don't!" James yelled.
Too late, the dragon launched itself into the air and headed straight towards Jun, and she screamed.
"Jun!" Tom yelled.
Jun felt something clamped down on her head, and she slowly looked up to see the spider dragon sitting there like it was a helmet.
"It's on me! It's on me! Argh, it's on me!" Jun screamed. "
"Now look at what you did!" said D'Angelo glaring at Tom. "Should've left it alone."
"Me?" Tom glared, turning on him. "You're the one who jumped in!"
"Argh! I don't care whose fault it is!" Jun snapped. "Just get it off!"
She tried to pull the legs off, but every time she tried, the dragon wrapped its legs underneath her chin again. She began screaming and running around like a headless chicken until Wu and Wei blasted her. While this calmed her down, the spider dragon continued to hunker down on her head, causing her to scream again.
"Okay! Okay! Just relax," said Tom gently.
"Relax! I have a spider dragon on my head!" he snapped at him.
"If it's any consolation, you wear it well?" Alex smiled.
Jun slowly turned her head towards and glared at her making Alex wince.
"Thunder, give it a little zap," said Tom. "Just enough to get it off."
"What?!" Jun stared.
Thunder then fired a tiny bolt of electricity at the spider dragon, but this caused it to clamp its legs more firmly around her chin.
"Ow! Ow!" Jun winced. "Argh, that's making it worse!"
"Here. Let me. The doctor is in," said D'Angelo. He then approached Jun and began walking around, examining the dragon. "Huh. I don't think it's mad. I think it's scared. Okay, calm down, little Spider Wing. I'll get you off."
He then suddenly turned towards Plowhorn. "Prepare for surgical removal. I'm going to need a little loogie."
Plowhorn then opened her mouth, revealing a pool of flaming spit. Unsurprisingly, Jun didn't want a single drop near her head.
"No! No. Stop it," she said. "No one is zapping or loogie-ing my head. Find another way."
"Maybe if we bring it back to its home, it'll detach on its own," Alex suggested. "It's probably solitary, just like a spider."
"Bring it to familiar surroundings would make it relax," James agreed.
Jun looked up at the Spider Wing and sighed.
Within moments they returned to the cave they encountered yesterday; once they dismounted their dragons, Alex guided Jun to the cave. She moved her head towards the cave, but the Spider Wing didn't want to detach.
"Oh, why isn't it getting off?" Jun moaned.
"I think our dragons might be making it nervous," said D'Angelo.
Jun looked at Thunder, who was grinning at her showing his razor-sharp teeth. "Can't imagine why."
"Maybe you should take it inside; let it calm down," Tom suggested.
"Inside that web-filled cave?" said Jun.
"I'll go with you, Jun. Come on," said Alex guiding her into the cave. "It's probably those bickering boys making it nervous."
"Hey, don't mix me in with these two," said James.
Both Tom and James made their way to the cave bumping into one another.
"After you," said Tom.
"No, please," said D'Angelo.
"I insist."
"You always do."
James facepalmed himself and looked as if he was resisting the urge to strangle the two of them.
While the two of them were bickering once again, Alex and Jun were making their way deeper into the cave, and Jun felt slightly anxious.
"Alex?" Jun whimpered.
"I'm right here," said Alex placing a hand on her shoulder. "Just a little further, and we'll…"
Jun then collided with some webbing and immediately panicked. "Argh! Web! No, no, no, no!"
Her panic attack caused the Spiderwing to fire more web bombs.
"No! Jun!" said Alex trying to calm her down.
The boys heard the screams coming from the cave.
"Jun!" they yelled.
Unfortunately, one of the web bombs hit the mouth of the cave, blocking them from entering.
The Spiderwing then began to crawl all over Jun's face causing her to panic even more.
"Wait! No, Jun!" Alex pleaded.
Jun immediately began to run, and Alex chased her, but they suddenly tripped over some crystals. A split second later, they found themselves trapped on a giant web and couldn't break free from it. If that wasn't bad enough, the Spiderwing reattached itself to the top of Jun's head.
"Jun! Alex! You guys okay?" Tom asked.
"Define okay," said Jun.
"Is anything trying to eat you?" D'Angelo asked.
"No," they said in unison.
"All right. Just hold tight," said Tom. "We'll get you out."
"I've never felt so at ease," said Alex with dry sarcasm.
"Thunder, get us in there," Tom ordered.
Thunder fired a lightning blast at the web, but it had no effect.
"Move over, Sparky," said D'Angelo and turned to Plowhorn. "I know you got this, girl."
Plowhorn then fired one of her loogie bonds of the web, but it, too, had no effect.
"Let's try a different approach," said James and looked at Blade. "You know what to do, boy."
Blade approached the web and then slashed it with his blade-like wings, but they just bounced off.
Feathers, Wu and Wei looked disappointed and slightly frantic for their riders.
"These things are dragon-proof!" said D'Angelo.
"Chances are they are made to ensnare dragons that would attack them," said James.
"We need my Pop's bolt cutters," said D'Angelo. "They cut through steel."
"Dude, your pop is not the answer to everything! Besides, Blade was unable to cut through it. What makes you think bolt cutters can?" Tom argued. "My mom's blowtorch will melt right through it."
"Oh, my dad's not the answer, but your mom is? And how is her little torch going to melt through something Plow can't?"
"Do we really have to do this now?" James snapped.
Feather, Wu and Wei agreed with James. Frustrated by their behaviour, they unleashed their breath attacks at the two boys. James had just ducked in time to avoid getting hit by sonics, heat and ice.
"Okay, okay, we'll try both," said Tom, relenting.
Meanwhile, in the cave, the girls just sat there waiting to be rescued, though neither of them had any confidence in the boys.
"Ah, say something to make me feel better," Jun pleaded to Alex.
"Like what?" she asked.
"Anything. Something positive."
"Positive? Mm, that's not really my speciality."
"Okay, well, try!" Jun snapped. !I'm freaking out!"
"Okay, okay. Um…" said Alex trying to think of something positive. "I'm mostly confident the sun will rise tomorrow."
Jun rolled her eyes; that wasn't exactly what she had in mind. Surprisingly the Spiderwing on ahead detached itself and moved back down to the ground.
"See? It worked," said Jun relieved. "The power of positive thinking. Say something else."
"The dragon's probably not even venomous," said Alex confidently. "Most spiders aren't. They're just misunderstood creatures like me. Totally harmless."
"Are you sure?" Jun asked.
"Well, one can never be too sure about anything."
"Okay, pump the brakes," said Jun quickly. "You're heading back in the wrong direction."
"Seriously, Jun, I don't think anything in here is going to hurt us," Alex assured her. "It's just a spooky cave."
However, that theory fell apart when they looked down. They saw the Spiderwing nestling with a bunch of eggs, and a realisation dawned on them.
"Unless… that's the mother," said Jun slowly.
"And those are the babies," said Alex.
"And we're the first meal," Jun gulped.
Instantly the two girls did everything they could to wiggle free from the web.
Alex quickly looked at Jun. "Say something to make me feel better!"
At this point, both Tom and D'Angelo had returned from the surface requiring their parents' tools.
"There is no way a blowtorch can have as many users as a good pair of bolt cutters," said D'Angelo as he dismounted Plowhorn.
"I'm glad you guys are back; I think something bad is going on in there," said James.
"Jun, is everything all right?" Tom asked.
"Tom, Tom, you got to get us out of here!" Jun cried.
"Or we're going to be baby food!" Alex panicked.
"Did she say, 'baby food'?" said D'Angelo looking at them.
The Spiderwings slowly began approaching the girls, causing them to scream.
"Jun!" Tom yelled.
"Alex!" D'Angelo yelled.
"We need to get in there now!" said James.
D'Angelo used bolt cutters to cut through the web, but it was too strong. Tom then used a blowtorch on the web, but it, too, had no effect. Wu and Wei then pushed them aside and unleashed their combined breath attack upon the web, but it also had no effect. The other dragon unleashed their breath attacks upon the web, but it had the same result.
In desperation, D'Angelo tried whacking the web with the bolt cutters, but unsurprisingly this also had no effect.
"We've got to get through this," said D'Angelo.
"We've got bigger problems," said Tom looking up.
They looked up and saw that not all the Spiderwing were inside the cave; an entire colony was outside and beginning to swarm them. Thunder fired a lightning blast at them, stunning them, but they quickly recovered and retaliated.
Tom ran over to Thunder to get on his back, but a Spiderwing fired some webbing at him, forcing Thunder to take off. The Spiderwing followed him and continued to fire webbing as he flew around, trying to sap it.
D'Angelo climbed onto Plowhorn, but the moment they got off the ground completely swarmed by Spiderwings. Plowhorn had to perform some harsh manoeuvres causing D'Angelo to fall off her back.
James tried to mount Blade, but he, too, was also swarmed by Spiderwings. He fired his flaming missiles at them, but there were just too many, forcing him to take off to put some distance between himself and them.
The boys were now completely defenceless and saw a Spiderwing flying straight down towards them. They quickly rushed to their feet and began running as it fired webbing at them. The three boys ran towards the crystal formation, but the Spiderwing fired some webbing at the entrance trapping them inside.
"Would have been nice to know about the sentries," said D'Angelo.
"We gotta get out of here," said Tom.
"Okay, let's cause a tactical distraction," said D'Angelo. "Scenario 43-A, on my signal!"
"I don't even know what that means!" said Tom.
D'Angelo rolled his eyes. "Of course, you don't. Why should I expect you to memorise the Dragon Riders' Tactical Playbook?"
"Seriously, Alex and Jun are in trouble, our dragons are being swarmed and were trapped, and you think now is the best time for an argument!" James snapped.
Tom could see that the dragons were indeed being overwhelmed by the Spiderwings, and there was nothing they could do to help.
The situation wasn't much better with Jun and Alex. They watched as a Spiderwing was making a new web, one there was just as big as the one they were stuck in.
"Bet that web's for the boys," Alex assumed. "At least we'll all die together."
"Stay positive, Alex. We're not dead yet," said Jun began thinking of an idea. "Think, Jun, think." She then suddenly got an idea and looked at Alex. "Anansi! Do you have anything to eat in your pack?"
Alex stared at her. "I don't think now is the best time for a snack."
"It's not for me!" she said. She then reached into Alex's back and grabbed some cheesy loops. "In West Africa folklore, Anansi is a well-known spider character and a trickster!"
"We're a long way from West Africa," Alex pointed out.
The dragons were still battling against the Spiderwings, and the boys were still trapped, which annoyed them greatly.
"I can't believe I'm stuck in here with you," said D'Angelo glaring at Tom.
"You think I want to hang with a guy who can't even enjoy his life?" Tom snapped.
"I used to love my life. Then you came along and ruined it!"
"Your dad's the one remaining it."
D'Angelo noticed one of the Spiderwings reaching out for Tom and quickly moved him away from it. "You just don't get it, man!"
"Why?" said Tom as he repaid the favour and pushed D'Angelo away from another Spiderwing. "Cos my dad's not around? I can't possibly understand a father-son relationship?"
"You said it!" D'Angelo yelled at the top of his voice. "It's not my fault he took off and let you and your mom!"
"That's enough!" James yelled, and they quickly turned to look at him. "We're only in this mess because the two of you have been bettering all day! If you hadn't been so busy trying to protect your pride, you would have seen that already!" He then narrowed his eyes at D'Angelo. "And I think you took way too far with that last comment."
Tom and D'Angelo looked at one another and instantly felt ashamed.
"I didn't mean that," said D'Angelo looking at Tom.
"No. I crossed the line," said Tom.
"We both did."
James took a deep breath and looked at them. "Look, we've been working so well before now because the two of you brought up the best in one another. This argument only happened because neither of you truly understood one another because you live in opposite households. The only way to sort this out is to talk."
Tom nodded. "James is right; we should've talked about this instead of arguing."
D'Angelo nodded. "You just don't understand what it's like being me, Tom. My dad's a military. He expects me to walk the straight and narrow, follow every rule, no matter how small. And I love him for it."
Tom stared at him. "You love him for it?"
"Yeah," D'Angelo nodded.
"Then what's the problem?"
"Problem is, I also love being a Dragon Rider. But in order to do that, I got to break every rule, no matter how big."
"That is a conundrum," Tom agreed.
D'Angelo smirked as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look, you know I've got your six down here. I need you to follow my lead and have my back up there."
"Roger that, D."
"Thanks, man."
The two of them shook hands, and D'Angelo pulled Tom in and gave a big bear hug.
"Ooh! Forgot you're a hugger!" said Tom gasping for air
"And you think a bunch of spider dragons was ensnaring all it took for you to have a heart-to-heart," said James shaking his head.
"Thanks for knocking our heads together," Tom smiled.
"Just don't make me do it again; much any of us will be able to survive another argument between the two of you," said James.
They then turned their attention to the dragons, who were blasting at the Spiderwings, but there were just too many. No matter how hard they tried, none of them could break through the web. Then all the dragons landed in front of the web, and Thunder roared at the other dragons, who nodded in agreement with him.
Thunder then charged himself with electricity while the other dragons stepped forward beside him. The boys had no idea what would happen, but they suspected it would be big and decided to back away as far as they could from the web.
The dragons then unleashed their combined breath attacks, unleashing a powerful blast that struck the web. It had enough power to scatter the Spiderwings and break through the web freeing the boys.
"Did the dragons just figure out how to combine their powers?" D'Angelo asked.
"Yeah," said Tom amazed. "By working together. Come on."
They then quickly rushed the dragons in order to rescue the girls.
Jun was now tossing cheesy loops down upon a Spiderwing, which began eating them. She kept sourcing the loops closer and closer towards her so the dragon would follow the trail she was making for it.
"Yeah. Come on, Spiderwing," said Jun encouragingly. "Who doesn't love a good cheesy loop?"
She then tossed the cheesy loop onto the web wrapped around Alex's chest.
"I hope you're right about this," said Alex as the Spiderwing climbed onto her chest.
"The trickster's being tricked," Jun smiled.
Meanwhile, the boys were returning to the cave, now planning to break through the web. They still had to avoid getting shot by the Spiderwings guarding the cave.
However, now that they had stopped bickering, they were working together. Tom was trying to avoid getting webbed when D'Angelo flew down and fired a loogie blast at the Spiderwing, knocking it to the ground.
"D, look out!" Tom warned as the Spiderwing fired at him.
D'Angelo quickly swirled out of the way in order to avoid getting shot, and then Tom flew in and blasted the Spiderwing with a lightning blast.
"Woohoo! Yeah!" Tom cheered.
"Finally, we're working together," said James.
There were now heading straight towards the cave, which was completely swarmed with Spiderwings.
"Hit it with everything!" Tom ordered.
Just like before, the dragons combined their attacks and blasted the web melting through it and scattering the Spiderwings. With the way now clear, they quickly flew into the cave to rescue the girls.
In the cave, the Spiderwing was still eating the cheesy loops and chewing the web surrounding Alex. Seconds later, she suddenly found herself free, and the Spiderwing then flew over to Jun and began doing the same thing.
"It worked! You're a genius!" said Alex.
They then saw the Spiderwings flying down towards them, and they quickly ran as they fired more wedding at them.
"Hold on! We're coming!" said Tom as they arrived.
"Tom! D'Angelo!" Jun yelled, relieved, as Wu, Wei, and Feathers landed in front of them.
The girls quickly mounted their dragons.
"You guys okay?" Tom asked.
"Yup. Let's get out of here," said Jun.
"All right. Let's go!" said Tom, leading them back to the entrance.
Unfortunately, they found that the entrance was now completely swarmed with Spiderwings.
"No way we're getting through that," said James.
"We've got to find a backdoor, girl," said D'Angelo looking down at Plowhorn.
"Lead the way, D," said Tom.
Plowhorn then soon led them down another tunnel, but they still had to contend with a large number of Spiderwings.
"Move it or lose it!" said D'Angelo as the Spiderwings fired webbing at them.
They had to perform some fancy manoeuvres to avoid getting hit, and D'Angelo saw that a few of them had attached themselves to the crystals. He quickly flew down and had Plowhorn smash through the crystals knocking the Spiderwings to the ground and creating a path for the Dragon Riders.
"Freeze 'em and steam 'em!" Jun yelled at Wu and Wei.
Wu unleashed his ice breath, freezing the ground beneath the Spiderwings, and then Wei hit them with a steam blast.
"Sing 'em to sleep, Feathers!" said Alex.
Feathers then unleashed her sonic blasts upon the Spiderwings.
Sadly there were still too many of the Spiderwings, and then they came to a fork in the road.
"Go right!" said Tom.
"I'm thinking left," said D'Angelo.
"Okay, let's go left!"
"No, no, right, sound right," said D'Angelo.
"You, too, can't not fight even when you're not fighting!" Alex groaned.
Regardless they took the right turn, and the Spiderwings followed them continuously to find their webbing. They then saw another cave that led back into the main crystal cavern, but it was blocked by a massive web covered in Spiderwings.
"We can do this if we do it together!" said Tom.
Their dragons then combined their attacks once more, and just like the previous times, they were able to break through the web and scattered the Spiderwings. They then quickly flew through the cave and entered back into the main crystal cavern, and they cheered triumphantly.
"That Plowhorn ramming move was awesome," said Tom looking back at D'Angelo.
"It's all about the teamwork, baby," said D'Angelo as he raised his fist towards him, and Tom did the same.
"I'm glad you guys finally made up," said Jun.
"Yeah, I can take much more of the, 'I don't like it when you do this.' 'Well, I don't like it when you do that,'" said Alex.
"You? I'm the one that was caught in the middle of it," said James.
"You got a learned from the best," said Jun smiling at Alex and resurfaced. "Aljun."
Alex then raised her fist towards her. "Aljun."
"Well, if it weren't for Thunder, Plow, Blade, Wu, Wei and Feathers, none of us would have made it out of there," said Tom.
"Who would have guessed that five dragons would instinctively know how to work together better than a couple of teenage boys?" said Alex.
Smilingly began to make their way home.
It was night when D'Angelo returned to his dome with the bolt cutters. He was about to enter inside when his father appeared around the corner.
"Borrowed my bolt cutters, huh?" he said.
"Yeah," said D'Angelo.
The two of them looked at one another awkwardly.
"Look, uh, D'Angelo…"
"I'm sorry for breaking the rules, Pops, but you've got to give me some slack," said D'Angelo.
"I blame Tom more than you," said his father." It is everyone's that got you—"
"No! You're wrong about him," said D'Angelo firmly. "He's my friend, and he's got my back."
His father smiled as he took the ball cutters from his hand. "Well, it seems like you have his back, too."
"Yeah. Just like you always taught me, Rider—" D'Angelo quickly caught himself. "—I mean Ranger Code."
His father chuckled. "You're going to be all right, D." He then placed his hand on his son's shoulder and that guy to the dome. "But next time you want to borrow my bolt cutters, you better ask."
"Yes, sir!"