The Dragon Riders wanted to explore the Fire Realm they had just discovered, but none of them could survive the heat. To that end, Alex began fashioning themselves suits made of dragon scales, but perfecting them was not easy.

She had already made five other suits, and they all failed, but Tom insisted on testing every suit and felt confident about the new one. Tom had small blades on the helmet and a blue engraving of the dragon symbol on the scales that covered the suit was blue.

"All right," said Tom. "This one feels great."

"Fire suit, version six," said Alex as she performed some final checks. "Perfect for the overzealous explore on the go."

"So, how do I look?" Tom asked.

"The fire suit is cool," said D'Angelo. "The fact that you're flying into a Fire Realm is crazy."

"Oh, come on," said Tom. "I'm sure this version of the suit will work perfectly. Right, Alex?"

"I believe that you believe," said Alex.

"I should bring the spearhead with me just in case I run into the person who dropped it," said Tom as he reached into the bag and pulled out the spearhead.

"You sure this is a good idea, Tom?" Jun asked with a concerned voice.

"This is proof that other people have been down here," said Tom. "And if they're still here, they might be able to explain my connection to Thunder. And anyway, someone has to be the fire suit tester."

"Or the crash test dummy," said D'Angelo.

"With emphasis on the dummy," James added.

Tom didn't appear to be listening as he quickly mounted Thunder. "Hit it, Pal!"

Then, before anyone could stop him, he immediately flew straight towards the entrance to the Fire Realm.

"Wait, Tom!" Jun yelled.

"Oh, he's made it further than last time," said Alex.

"He's almost to the outcropping," said D'Angelo. "He might make it!"

They then suddenly heard the sound of screams, and they immediately winced.

"He didn't make it," said Jun.

"Oof! The suit is starting to sizzle," said D'Angelo.

"So is Tom," Alex added.

"I think it's safe to say that this suit is a failure," said James.

A flaming fireball flew overhead with Thunder and Tom inside it. Both of them hit the ground and were smouldering.

"Kullersen!" D'Angelo yelled.

"I feel like a charred brisket," Tom groaned, and then he noticed that his book was still on fire. "Uh-oh—still on fire! H-H-H-Hot!"

He waved his foot around, trying to put out the flames, but thankfully, Wu used an ice blast to douse the flames.

"Oh. Oh," said Tom, relieved, putting out the last of the embers. "Thanks, Wu."

The Dragon Riders quickly rushed over to him, concerned.

"Dude, are you okay?" D'Angelo asked.

"It's a miracle you're still alive," said Jun.

Alex walked up to him and poked him on the shoulder, causing him to wince in pain. "How did the suit hold up?"

"Ow!" Tom cried as she began poking him all over. "Oh, that's tender. Gah! That too."

"Ugh, what is a tender?" Alex asked.

Tom began poking himself, meeting every time you did before finally poking on his right big toe. "Uh… my right big toe?"

"I hate to say it, but the suits don't seem to be working," said Alex.

"Or we figure out what protected my right big toe," Tom suggested. "Glass half-full!"

They all groaned, even the dragons.

Later that afternoon, they returned to Rakke Town, and Tom was still determined to explore the Fire Realm.

"Maybe next time if I fly faster," Tom suggested.

"Or maybe the Fire Realm just isn't meant to be explored," Jun pointed out.

"No. Someone dropped that spearhead, Jun. If it takes me burning through 100 of Alex's prototype suits, I'm going to find out who."

"100 more prototype suits?" said Alex. "If that's the case, you four better learn to sew."

"We don't need a hundred Alex," said D'Angelo. "We just need five suits that work."

"Can we start with one?" Alex suggested.

"Just think about it. That cool new world, you dragons to be discovered… I'm with Tom—I want to see it all."

"And I'm with them," said James. "We know it's possible to survive there of all those fire dragons; we just need to figure out how they do it, and then we have the entire Fire Realm to explore."

"We want to explore it too, James, but safely," said Jun.

"Pretty sure Dragon Rider and safe is a contradiction in terms," said Alex.

"Okay, okay, okay," said Tom, calming them down. "Let's give the safe thing some thought and get right back at it tomorrow."

"All right," said Alex. "But also, let's give some thought to the fact that just hanging out and relaxing in the Lair with the dragons is pretty cool. Maybe we could be content with that?"

The boys merely looked at one another and then looked back at her.

"Nah!" they said in unison and then went to their domes.

Alex looked at Jun, who merely shrugged.

Alex sighed. "No me digas."

Jun then made her way back home.

"Think fast!" said a voice.

Jun turned her head, and a second later, a water balloon struck her in the face. It didn't take long for her to find the culprit as standing there laughing was Eugene holding several water balloons.

"Boom—direct hit!" he said.

"Really?" Jun glared.

"Oh, come on. You used to love water balloons."

"Not when I'm fully clothed, and they hit me in the face!" she said.

Eugene groaned. "But I'm bored! This place is so remote. Might as well be on Mars."

"Ugh! Wishful thinking," Jun muttered as she made her way to the dome.

"You could always let me into Dragon Club," Eugene offered.

Jun came to a sudden stop. "U-Uh… You hit me with a water balloon, then you as to hang out with my friends? You don't even like us!"

"What difference does that make?" Eugene argued. "This whole place is about science and knowledge and other complicated stuff. Pff! I hate it all."

"Go away," said Jun, pushing him to one side.

"Come on, Junbug," Eugene pleaded as she opened the door. "I'm your brother. That's got to count for something, right?"

"Go away!" Jun ordered. "Even if I let you in, you'd just wreck it like you wreck everything!"

"Wait, but I—" Jun slammed the door in his face. "Ugh! Fine. I don't want to join your stupid club anyway."

Eugene paused for a moment, knowing full well that was a complete and utter lie. "This place sucks! Please let me join your stupid club."

The next day, the Dragon Riders were returning to the Hidden World, and Tom had a new crazy idea about testing the five suits.

"Okay, so here's what we're going to do," he said. "We use a fire-breather from the Fire Realm to test the new fire suits."

"Are you crazy?" D'Angelo asked and then quickly pulled out his phone. "Wait. I'm just recording this so I can play back on perpetual loop." He then cleaned his throat and looked at his phone. "Are you crazy?!"

"I don't think it's that crazy," said Tom.

"Of course, you don't think it's crazy," said Alex. "You're missing the self-preservation gene."

"It's not crazy if we train the dragon first. Then, we can control how it blasts the suit. If it gets too dicey, we stop. Simple."

"Okay, so you're talking about working with an untrained dragon, breathing fire all over the suit that you're wearing?" said D'Angelo, holding his phone towards Tom. "Are you crazy?!"

"D'Angelo's phone is right," said Alex. "I really don't think you've thought through the inevitability of certain death."

"Hey, at least I'm telling you before I do stuff now," Tom pointed out.

"Telling us ahead of time that you're going to barbecue yourself isn't a big improvement," said Jun.

"I'm sure we can find a safer way of testing the suits that doesn't involve you getting roasted by a firebreathing dragon," said James.

"You guys are such worries!" said Tom. "You've got to learn to trust my own instincts. Come on!"

He then rushed out of town, and the others looked at one another and reluctantly followed him.

Unbeknownst to them, Eugene followed them and continued to follow them out of town. He watched as they climbed over a large tree and did the same, but then he slipped and hit the ground while climbing it.

When he got back up, he could no longer see the others. "Oh, man! Did I lose them?"

He then removed the tweak embedded in his hair and tried to track them down. However, he wasn't watching when he was going and slammed into something. He looked up and saw a man in a mask holding a hatchet, who then reached out towards him.

"Don't hurt me, please—especially not my face!" Eugene pleaded.

The Dragon Riders had returned to the crystal maze, and Tom had at least conceded to the request of not wearing the fire suit. Instead, he put it on a cardboard cutout of himself and began dropping fish from the entrance of the Fire Realm towards the cutout.

"I've been working on an idea similar to what the trainers taught us when we were teaching my old dog," said Tom. "There are no bad dogs—just scared ones. These dragons don't know people, so they have no reason to be afraid of us if we're nice to them."

Jun frowned. "And your theory is if you feed them…"

"…they'll be your friend?" D'Angelo finished sceptically.

"Worked on Thunder," said Tom, looking at him. "Right, Pal?"

Thunder merely growled.

"Yeah, but didn't you also free him from a landslide," James pointed out.

"Details," Tom shrugged as he put the last fish on the ground.

They waited and watched at the entrance to the Fire Realm, and then they heard something approach. Thunder immediately became very tense, and seconds later, flying through the entrance, was a dragon covered in flames.

This dragon had a very powerful body with a long neck and a pair of horns sticking out of the back of its head. Unlike the other dragons they had seen, this one had no forelegs; instead, it had claw-like wings when outstretched or more than 70 feet in length.

Tom was a little nervous. He had expected a firebreathing dragon but did not want one this aggressive. They watched as the dragon began eating all the fish but then roared at Tom, demanding more fish.

Tom laughed nervously and emptied his bag, which was already empty. He then held out an empty bag to the dragon, and it looked inside it to find it empty.

"That's all I got," Tom smiled nervously, tossing the back to one side.

The dragon then turned towards the other Dragon Riders.

"Oh, wow," said Jun.

"I got nothing," said D'Angelo.

"No fish here," said James.

"Don't look at me," said Alex.

The dragon roared angrily at them, and Thunder quickly jumped in to protect Tom growling at the dragon.

"Okay, okay, okay!" said Tom quickly as he stepped in between the two dragons. "All right, all right. Everyone calm down. Let's just take a deep breath and—"

The fire dragon took a deep breath and exhaled, unleashing a powerful burst of flames. Thunder shielded Tom with his wing, and the others quickly hit behind the crystals. Once it was done, it then flew back to the Fire Realm.

The Dragon Riders sighed in relief and then glared at Tom.

Tom laughed nervously at them. "We, uh… We might need more fish."

Eugene was sitting in front of a fire, looking at the madman with the hatchet. He looked at Eugene for minutes while sharpening his hatchet, which did not reassure Eugene.

"What are you?" Eugene asked.

"People call me Buzzsaw," he said and then pulled out a mug of tea. "Oolong?"

"Uh… sure," said Eugene, a little taken aback.

"One lump or two?" he asked.

"No lumps. I don't lump," said Eugene as Buzzsaw handed him the cup of tea. "So why do people call you… Buzzsaw?"

"Because I tell them to!" he said simply and then sat down in front of him. "Okay. What do you know about that station on the cliff?"

"ICARUS?" Eugene frowned.

"Don't confuse me with your code words."

"No, I'm not! It's just a researchery place."

"That's the cover story. But what's really going on there?" he asked as he sharpened his hatchet. "Experiments? DNA manipulation? Animal hybrids? Lightning birds?"

"Oh, man, don't I wish!" said Eugene. "Nah, it's just rock and tomatoes and fireflies. Occasionally, I have to do laundry."

"Laundry? Is that what they call it?" Buzzsaw asked.

Eugene was starting to think that perhaps Buzzsaw wasn't quite in his right mind. "You know what? I'll go and ask them about the animal thing. Yeah, I'm just going to go and make them tell me for you. And I'll be right back. Okay."

Buzzsaw responded by tossing his hatchet at the large log behind him, missing him by a few inches. Eugene quickly sat back down and laughed nervously.

"What do you know about the lightning bird?" Buzzsaw demanded.

"I think you kidnapped the wrong dude," said Eugene, inching away. "I don't know anything. I float the entrance exam in kindergarten."

"A likely story, but I don't bite! You're lying to keep their secret!"

"Believe me, I only like to keep my own secrets. Keeping track of all those lies is tough enough."

"Lightning BIRD!" Buzzsaw demanded, inching his face close towards Eugene's, then held out a wooden carving. "Big, black bird! Lightning all over its body."

"Look, I don't know any—" Eugene stopped when he recognised the carving; its shape was almost identical to that dragon sketch she saw in Jun's notebook. "Huh? Wait. Black… with lightning all over its body?"

Back in the Dragon Lair, everyone watched Tom attempt to train the fire dragon again.

"Okay. Round two," said Tom, tossing more fish onto the ground.

The fire dragon soon reappeared and continued to eat all the fish, and Tom then dumped all the fish he had in his backpack in front of the dragon. The other dragons licked their lips upon seeing the fish.

"Is it really fair for our dragons that they have to what you feed some other dragon that isn't a part of our group?" Jun asked.

"They'll be okay," Tom assured her. "I'll feed them a little later. I just need to get this one filled up so that he'll be calmer and more agreeable on a full stomach."

"Agreeable?" Jun frowned.

"Yeah. I'm going to get him to unload some fire breath and what's left of the suit here," said Tom, placing the cardboard cutout covered in armour in front of the dragon.

"What he means is he's trying to bribe the dragon again," Alex translated.

"This is going well," said James.

"Okay. Go ahead, big guy," said Tom. "Blast away!"

The fire dragon just stood there and stared at him.

"Right there! You can do it," said Tom encouragingly, pointing at the cardboard cutout.

The dragon still did look interested in attacking the cardboard cutout.

Tom sighed and attempted to imitate a dragon breathing fire on the suit.

"Uh, Tom?" said Jun, looking concerned. "I don't think he's interested in being an agreeable lab dragon."

"No, no, he's fine. He's fine," Tom assured her and looked back at the dragon. "Aren't you, big guy? Come on."

The fire dragon growled menacingly, causing the other dragons to stand to attention.

"Dude, nobody's fine here!" said D'Angelo.

"Just give me a sec, please," said Tom.

D'Angelo then held out his phone and played the recording. "Are you crazy?!"

"Tom, I would listen to D'Angelo's phone and back away," said James.

"Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey," said Tom calmly as he approached the fire dragon. "It's okay. It's okay."

"He's going to miss that air," said Alex.

"Tom, wait!" Jun pleaded.

Tom then touched the dragon's snout and looked at the other smugly. "See? It's fine."

The fire dragon roared angrily at him a split second later, nearly taking his arm off if he had pulled it back in time. The fire dragon then rose onto its hind legs and began shaking, raining a strange gel all over himself and Tom.

"Oh! Ugh, ugh, ugh…" said Tom in disgust.

Thunder realised that something terrible was going to happen, so he quickly launched himself towards Tom. The fire dragon opened its mouth with the intention of unleashing its fire breath and ignited itself. Thunder quickly flew in and grabbed Tom just seconds before the fire dragon released his fire breath, setting the gel on the ground alight.

Thunder rolled over the floor with Tom wrapped within his wings, and then they crashed into the rock wall. Tom nearly blacked out and heard the ringing in his ears; when he came, he saw the fire dragon still unleashing its flames inside the Lair.

"What is this stuff?" Tom asked, noting the gel on his clothes.

Feathers reappeared beside him, with Alex hiding within her wings, who scolded him.

"Flammable gel," she said. "This firebreathing nightmare straight you with it—then ignited! You're lucky to be alive. We all are!"

Feathers then disappeared with Alex.

Tom then noticed the scorched cardboard cutout. "But, hey…" He then quickly rushed over to the cardboard cutout. "…he did it. He tested the suit!"

He then pressed his hand against the suit, which immediately fell apart. "The scales blocked the flames, but…" His eyes then lit up when he finally realised what the problem was. "Oh, man. So that's the problem!"

"Tom!" Jun hissed. "Pay attention to your new friend."

Tom saw the firebreathing dragon flying around the Lair, looking immensely angry. They continued to unleash his flames upon the other dragons, and he landed on the ground and chased after Alex.

"Alex, look out!" Tom yelled.

Feathers quickly flew down and scooped Alex with her wings before vanishing. The fire dragon missed and collapsed to the ground, putting out its flames.

"We've got to get that fire breather out of here," said D'Angelo as he mounted Plowhorn.

He then led the charge, with Jun and James following close behind. They quickly surrounded the fire dragon, and Tom noticed it looked scared.

"Wait! We're just scaring him," he said.

"Well, he's scaring us!" D'Angelo pointed out.

"I know, I know, but we need him to keep testing fire suits," said Tom. "We have to get it right so I can…"

"He's not a machine, Tom," Jun snapped. "He's not at all you can feed fish to and then use. He's an emotional being who's just trying to survive and live his life."

Tom looked at the fire dragon and knew that she was right. "You're right, Jun."

All the dragons landed on the ground, and Tom approached the fire dragon, who looked at him confused.

"I'm sorry," said Tom. "Let's… let's try this again." Thunder purred next to him, and Tom rubbed his head. "I guess I got so focused on exploring the Fire Realm that I forgot the real first rule of Dragon Club. Dragons are our friends."

"I'll adjust the manual," D'Angelo smiled.

"It won't happen again, okay?" Tom promised, looking back at the fire dragon. "I really am sorry. No more suit-testing." He then held out one of the fish on the ground towards him. "It's yours. No strings attached." He then tossed the fish over to the dragon. "Go for it. It's all you."

They sniffed the fish before eating it and watched Tom stroke Thunder's head. Curiously, he moved closer to Tom, who placed his hand in front of him. This time, Tom waited for him to make the first move and watched as the dragon placed his snout on his hand.

"Dude," said D'Angelo, stunned. "You really are the dragon whisper."

"Ha. As long as I never forget rule number one," Tom smiled.

Both dragons then purred.

It was now night, and Tom was examining the remains of the fire suit, which kept falling apart no matter how many times he tried putting it back together. He also tried to remove the gel still on his clothes, but it was so sticky.

His eyes then turned to the fire dragon was playing around the Lair with Thunder.

"It must be like a puppy or something," said D'Angelo. "It's crazy playful!"

"And yet also kind of frightening," Alex added.

"Are you getting anywhere?" Jun asked, looking at Tom.

"Not really," he said. "It was the glue that gave out. I need something else to bind the scales together."

"Something fireproof?"

"Yep," Tom nodded. "Any ideas?"

They all thought for a few seconds.

"Kevlar," said D'Angelo.

"You guys have some lying around somewhere?" Tom asked.

"Oh, we used to have a lot, but we just had that big garage sale and…" Jun joked.

"It's when I look forward to with every garage sale," Tom smiled. "Books, baseball cards… and Kevlar!"

James chuckled. "But in all seriousness, I can't think of anything that's sticky and fireproof; I'm not even sure if anything like that exists."

Before they could discuss this further, Thunder approached Tom and nudged him. He then jested his head towards the firebreathing dragon, who was going to the tunnel that led into the fissure.

"Oh, no," said Tom. "Hey!"

"Hey! Stop!" Jun yelled.

"Hey, buddy," said Tom. "Let's not go there, okay? That leads to the fissure."

Sadly, the dragon didn't appear to be listening and flew down the tunnel.

"And to the outside world," said D'Angelo as they began to follow him.

"This is not good," said Tom.

Meanwhile, Eugene was still with Buzzsaw, but he was questioning him this time.

"Okay, but, like, what else do you see?" Eugene asked. "Was there any lava-spewing things or anything that looked like a unicorn?"

Buzzsaw stared at him. "A unicorn? Don't be crazy!"

"Me crazy? You're the one with a hatchet, dude," Eugene pointed out.

"Yeah, kid, but I'm not the one looking for a unicorn."

"Okay, first, you're like a couple of years older than me, tops. And second, you have been looking for a 'lightning bird.' Why is a unicorn such a stretch?"

"Ugh! Unicorns…" Buzzsaw grumbled.

"Okay, okay, okay," said Eugene. "Where did you see it? The lightning bird—was it around here somewhere? Did it maybe have that wings and a rounded kind of head with big ears?"

"It was dark," said Buzzsaw, starting to look annoyed. "All I saw was something big flying. What flies accept a bird?"

"Okay. Is it possible—I mean, just hear me out—that your bird is actually a dragon?"

"Why a dragon?! Why can't it just be a bird?"

"While you've been out here, have you seen five kids running around this forest?" Eugene asked.

"I haven't really been looking for kids!"

"But they're the ones who know about the dragon. Which you think is a lightning bird! See where I'm getting at? Lightning bird—dragon. Dragon—lightning bird."

"Wait," said Buzzsaw, slamming his hatchet down, which made Eugene nervous. He then rose to his feet and walked up to him. "Where are these kids?"

"That's what I was asking you!" Eugene pointed out.

They then heard a distant screech; Buzzsaw looked at his wooden carving and then immediately went to grab his hatchet.

"Stay here," he ordered Eugene before running off.

"What?" Eugene stared. "No way. Wait for me!"

He then ran after Buzzsaw.

The fire dragon was currently flying through the fissure and was extremely happy; the Dragon Riders were following her and weren't as enthusiastic.

"Oh, man. He's still playing!" said Tom.

"I know. So fun," said D'Angelo and then looked at the fire dragon. "Stop doing this!"

At the same time, Buzzsaw was running towards the screech, with Eugene following close behind and struggling to catch up with him.

"Hey. You must work out," said Eugene, panting. "How much do you bench?"

"Ssh!" Buzzsaw hissed and then ran off.

Eugene groaned and followed him, panting the hallway.

The fire dragon, meanwhile, was still thinking that they were playing some sort of game and then flew out of the fissure. The Dragon Riders quickly followed him, and they flew over the forest.

"Wait up, you silly dragon!" Tom yelled.

The fire dragon finally landed on the ground, but he flew up into the sky again when Tom and Thunder got closer.

At this point, both Buzzsaw and Eugene had reached the small hill that overlooked the forest. Eugene accidentally bumped into Buzzsaw, making him drop his hatchet.

When Buzzsaw bent down to pick it up, Eugene saw the fire dragon, who promptly breathed fire. Eugene was utterly stunned and mesmerised and watched as it flew away.

Buzzsaw stood back up and looked at Eugene, noticing his stunned look. "What? What did you see?"

Eugene was too shocked to speak. He slowly backed away but then lost his balance and, fell off the hill and hit the ground with a massive thud.

"Oh, man!" said Buzzsaw, looking over the ledge, but then looked back towards the sky. "I should help him—but I won't."

He then ran off deep into the forest.

Meanwhile, the fire dragon was still flying over the forest, and the Dragon Riders noticed he was heading towards ICARUS.

"He's heading straight for ICARUS," Jun panicked.

"We've got to stop him," said D'Angelo.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Tom argued.

"We need to come over plan and fast," said James.

"I'll catch up with you guys," said Alex quickly. "You're all doing great. Go, team!"

She then pulled away from them.

"Where is she going?" D'Angelo asked.

Sadly, they had more pressing things to worry about than Alex ditching them. The fire dragon would be directly over Rakke Town in just a few minutes for all to see.

"Come on, Dragon Whisperer," said D'Angelo, looking at Tom. "Get him turned around."

"I'm not magic, D'Angelo!" Tom pointed out, but then he got a crazy idea. "Maybe if I get close enough…"

"What are you going to do?" D'Angelo asked.

"Jump from Thunder onto his back," said Tom.

D'Angelo then pulled out his phone and played the recordings. "Are you crazy?!"

"I think that had been established," said James.

Then, suddenly blocking the fire dragon's path was Alex and Feathers.

"Scream, Feathers!" said Alex.

Feathers unleashed a sonic blast in front of the fire dragon, which stopped dead in his tracks. Using this opportunity, Tom died down, and when you were directly over the fire dragon, he jumped off Thunder and landed on the fire dragon's back.

The fire dragon immediately panicked the moment he climbed onto his back.

"Hey, hey, hey," said Tom gently. "Shh-shh-shh. It's all right."

The fire dragon then began frantically trying to throw him off his back.

"Wh-wh-whoa!" Tom yelled as he hung on. "Okay. Come on, buddy. It's me, remember!"

"Tom!" The Dragon Riders cried.

The fire dragon then set itself on fire while Tom was still riding on his back. A few seconds later, the flames died down, but everyone feared the worst. However, they then saw Tom was completely unscathed on his back.

Thunder flew around them, relieved and joyful, and the other Dragon Riders just stared, stunned.

"Whew," said Tom, was probably more surprised than anyone. "I'm… still alive."

The fire dragon flew around frantically, and Tom had to calm him down. "Ow! Whoa! Uh… hey, hey. Calm down. It's okay. It's okay. It's all right." Slowly, the fire dragon calmed down as Tom/his head. "Oh, all right. Okay."

Tom then looked at the others, looking completely worn out. "Ahh. I think we've had enough adventure for one day. How about we get you home?"

They then began making their way back to the Dragon Lair.

Eugene had managed to pick himself up from his stumble but was alone in the woods at night.

"Hello?" he called. "Crazy woods guy? Jun? Mommy!"

He ran away screaming but got scared off by a squirrel and ran in the opposite direction.

The Dragon Riders had finally made it back to the Dragon Lair. The moment Tom jumped off the fire dragon's back, Thunder tackled him to the ground playfully.

"Hey, Pal," Tom laughed as he picked himself up. "Thanks for always being there."

The other Dragon Riders quickly rushed over to him.

"Dude, that was insane!" said D'Angelo. "You were literally on fire."

"With the fire dragon lit up, I thought you'd been barbecued," said James.

"Yeah. How did you not get burnt to a crisp?" Jun asked.

"I think it's this dragon gel," said Alex, noticing the gel on Tom's clothes. "It's flammable when wet, but now that it's dry, it's fireproof—and it's sticky!"

"Yeah, sorry," said Tom. "Haven't had time to clean up."

"We might be able to use this as the glue to our fire suits," Alex proclaimed.

Tom looked back at the fire dragon. "What you say, big guy? You got a little more this gel to spar?"

The fire dragon answered by shaking his body around, dousing the floor with an abundance of gel.

"Guess that a yes," Tom chuckled.

The fire dragon lit the gel, and they all ran away playfully.