If it ain't Broke
Sorry I didn't update the last few weeks, I was taking a break. Thank you all for sticking with me, I truly appreciate it.
D'J Scales: Thank you for your review of the last chapter. As for your question as to why Gwen does not know about Artha being the Dragon Booster, she will know eventually, just not yet. I promise it won't be too long.
Since Gwen became their guardian, she had visited the stables more often when she wasn't working at the clinic to check on her wards and see how they were doing. She had told Iris that when she wasn't there, she was in charge since she followed the rules better than her brothers did. Iris accepted the responsibility and promised Gwen that she would call her if anything happened in the meantime when she wasn't there.
Iris narrowed her eyes from her place in her saddle as Prisma raced towards the spinning mace balls in the underground temple below the stables, she was practising for the gauntlet race that was happening in a few days. She'd been practising for the last week since the race was announced. She'd never wanted to enter in the first place, but Artha, Mortis, as well as Kitt, all had managed to convince her to give it a try. She'd been very reluctant to enter since she wasn't a fully-fledged racer like her brother or Kitt, but her family and friends had shown their full support and Mortis had told her it would be a good idea for her to try out at least, so that is how she was now pratising for the race.
She ducked as her dragon ran under a swinging ball, keeping her eyes ahead of her never straying! She saw another mace swinging towards her and she jumped up, leaping over it and landing back in her saddle. Prisma grinned at her. "Well done, Iris, you're doing so well!"
The teen smiled lightly at the praise as the hybrid jumped over the second mace ball and the dragon and rider leapt clear over the last ball, coming to a halt in front of the others. Prisma panted from the run but looked proud of herself and her sister. "How did we do?" Iris asked, taking in a gulp of air as she breathed a little hard from the workout.
"You did well, Iris, you and Prisma are very focused, which is what you need to do in this race, it won't be easy on you." Artha complimented her as Mortis stepped forward. "You have come a long way, Iris, you have been doing very well, but you need to keep practising if you are to at least finish the gauntlet." the dragon priest advised her, she nodded. "Okay, come on girl, let's go!" they ran off to do another round.
After two more rounds of the course, Mortis called it quits for the day and Iris dismounted the saddle, leaning against Prisma as Artha handed her a bottle of water while Lance handed her a sandwich he and Artha had made for her up in the house. She smiled in thanks for the food and drink, eating the sandwich while sipping on the water. As she was, Parm came up to her with a smile on his face. She noticed.
"What's with the smile, Parm?" the geek tech brought his hands out from behind his back, he was holding some type of makeshift gear. "Here, Iris, I want you to try this, it's my new homemade draconium channelling gear."
Kitt frowned. "She doesn't need more gear, professor, she just needs more practice with the gear she already has."
Parm merely smiled once more. "Ah, but this will allow Prisma's mag-lift to form a magnetic spin energy sphere that deflects all objects that enter the electron fringe. The gear takes the hits for you."
Kitt rolled her eyes as Artha shook his head at his friend. Iris finished her lunch, drank a bit more water and stood up from where she'd been sitting on the floor. She walked over to Parm, eyeing the gear in his hands, being homemade, she was not 100% sure it would even work.
Prisma lowered her head for her to mount the saddle and she did so. "What do you guys think? Should I give it a try?" she gazed at her brothers, Mortis and Kitt for their input on whether she should give Parm's gear a try.
"It's your choice, Iris, whatever you decide, this is your moment, not mine," Artha told her, she thought on it for a moment, before asking Parm. "Have you tried it yet?" he just gave her a dirty look, she rolled her eyes and Prisma magged the gear onto her nose.
The pair took off back onto the course and as they approached the first mace ball, Iris pressed a button, she activated the gear, and it glowed and extended out, forming a grey-coloured shield that formed around them. "Well, colour me orange and call me a cat, it works!" she exclaimed in shock as the gear took the hit of the mace ball meant for her and Prisma.
But unfortunately, she spoke too soon as the gear malfunctioned and deactivated, she yelped as the ball swung towards her and she jumped over it just in the nick of time as Prisma caught her and the hybrid's orange eyes winded as she saw the last ball heading for them way too fast. Iris cried out as the ball slammed hard into her chest, knocking her out of the saddle and onto the floor, everyone cringed as she landed hard on her back. Artha and Kitt ran over to assist her as Lance spoke up.
"So much for taking the hits. Can it take the falls too?" the boy asked as Artha and Kitt helped Iris to her feet as Prisma wandered over to her, wanting to make sure she was unharmed. A hit from the mace balls at a certain speed was only enough to knock the wind out of you, but if you had them up any higher, you were at risk of having your ribs broken!
Parm looked a bit frazzled by the outcome as Iris glared harshly at him. "Oh dear, must need tweaking."
"Perhaps it would be better if you stopped worrying about the gear you don't have and the skills you already do have." Mortis offered. Iris looked a bit uncertain. "But I'm not like Artha or Kitt, I'm only entering this race cause everyone, including you, wanted me to have a chance, but what if I'm not good enough or I get Prisma hurt." Iris began to doubt herself now, looking down as Artha hugged her tightly.
"We make new things, new things." a voice spoke up and everyone turned to see Stewardd coming out from behind a rock.
"Stewardd? Hey, what are you doing here?" Artha questioned excitement in his voice at seeing his little friend in the city. "How did you find us?"
"The Keepers know all about the ancient temple, Artha, they helped the original Dragon Booster," Mortis explained as Iris waved to Stewardd, who happily waved back to her.
The Keeper nodded with a smile on his face. "Yes, yes!" he pulled out some light green gear from his pack. "Here, a gift for a special friend, Iris Penn." he held the gear out to her, and she was shocked, light green gear was very rare as many racers never used it much, but if Word or Moordryd were to know of this gear, they would surely try to take it for themselves.
"Drac, what is it?" Lance asked excitedly.
"That's the ancient light green deflection armour," Mortis said, seeming to recognize the gear.
"Yes, yes, one named Mortis is right!"
"I don't think using the gear would be very wise, Iris, true Keepers gear has not been seen around Dragon City for over three thousand years, if Word were to see this gear, he would certainly try to acquire it…" his gaze moved to Stewardd. "...And the person who made it."
Stewardd looked around nervously, he knew it was a risk coming up to Dragon City, but he wanted to see his friends and give the gear to Iris, as he had heard about her entering the gauntlet. He had arrived in the city late last night and had stopped a robbery by Moordryd and Cain, using a flash stick to scare their dragons off and using barrels to smash into the two crooks before taking his leave.
"Iris, entering the gauntlet will be tough enough without you putting a target for Word Paynn on your back," Kitt advised her friend against using the gear.
"Kitt is right, it sounds dangerous." Parm agreed.
Artha, however, was a bit disappointed that she might not use the gear, as far as he knew, light green draconium gear was rare, so for Iris to have some did make him just a little envious. "Aw, come on, Iris, you're not going to try the gear just this once for the race? Stewardd can stay out of sight, so no one will notice."
One second Stewardd was beside him, the next he was gone. "Yes, yes, Stewardd good at hiding." then he popped up behind Artha, startling the teen.
Iris decided to take the gear to the gear shed and leave it there for the moment. Later on, while everyone else was sleeping, Lance snuck into the gear shed, looking around, it didn't take the boy long to spot the gear hanging on a mag-rack. "Drac!" he looked around to make sure no one was lurking about before he reached up towards the gear, but due to being a bit too short, he couldn't reach it. He looked to the side and grinned, seeing the mag-rack controller. "I'll just reverse the mag and catch it." he twisted the nob the other way, but twisted a bit too much and the gear flew off the rack, slamming onto the ground and a piece broke off.
"Oh no." Lance gasped when he saw the broken gear, his sister would scale him if she knew about him messing with her new gear. "Scales! I broke it!" he pushed a box under the rack, stepped up onto it, reattaching the gear and placing the piece that broke off back into its place. "Iris will never let me touch anything again," he muttered to himself, turning around to see Parm in the doorway.
The boy froze. "What's going on? I thought I heard something." Parm advanced towards Lance. The boy hid his hands behind his back. "I don't know." he dared to look at Parm, who just eyed him suspiciously before the boy blurted out. "I didn't touch anything!" he legged it out of the shed.
"Where are you going, Lance?" Parm questioned, rubbing his head. "Hmm, such an odd child." he turned to look at the gear and his face lit up. He approached the gear. "Whoa, would you look at that? Smashing piece of work! Just smashing!"
He took the gear off the rack and the piece Lance broke fell off, Parm yelped at seeing the piece on the floor and not with the rest of the gear. "Oh, but not that kind of smashing!" he gasped. "Oh, Iris will think I broke it on purpose. What do I do? What do I do?" he looked around frantically before he saw his homemade gear and a bucket of green paint beside it, he looked down at the gear in his hands, then his homemade one before he got an idea. "Aha!"
He got to work painting his deflection gear the same shade of green and purple as the original, a replica. "There, my homemade deflection gear will do nicely for now, then I'll fix the real gear and replace it here tomorrow," he stated, not knowing that he was being watched by Moordryd Paynn.
"Hey, look at this. Light green deflection gear, with the Penn brats." he and Cain stood on the roof of a higher building watching the stables down below. Moordryd looked over at Cain.
"Tomorrow during the gauntlet competition, we'll take that gear." Cain frowned. "But your father wants Stewardd."
Moordryd snarled. "And I want that gear! We'll substitute a decoy in its place, one that's rigged to backfire. I'll win the gauntlet competition, then we'll find that little mouse, Stewardd. I'll have a little fun, and my father will be more than pleased."
In the gear shed after Parm left, Lance went to find Stewardd. "So then, I…I broke it," he confessed to breaking the gear, looking ashamed.
Stewardd couldn't say he blamed the kid for wanting to have a closer look at the gear, but he gave it to Iris as a gift, knowing she would do her best with it if she chose to use it. "Ah to fix, Stewardd needs tools, tools from Keepers, must go. Stewardd be back tomorrow."
"Okay, okay. But I'll have to sneak it in, meet me at the track, early. And promise you won't tell anybody, especially Iris?" Lance begged the Keeper to not say anything lest he gets a real tongue-lashing from Iris about sneaking around and touching things that weren't yours. Stewardd just zipped his lips and winked at the boy, his way of promising Lance's secret was safe with him before departing the stables.
The next day, Parm was in the crew tent, fixing the real gear he'd brought in while his homemade one hung on the mag-rack beside him. He's snuck the gear in since he knew Iris would be against bringing the gear with her today for the race. He muttered to himself as he used his tools to fix the gear, his leg bouncing anxiously before the gear glowed and the piece merged back with the rest of the gear, back to its normal self. "There, I think I fixed it."
He removed his gear and replaced it with the real one, he just hoped that Iris didn't wander into the tent and see he brought the gear in, she would not be happy at all! "There, now the Keeper's gear is back where it belongs."
Suddenly hearing footsteps heading this way, he began to panic, hoping to magma draconis it wasn't Iris, he grabbed his gear and quickly stuffed it under a box just as Kitt walked into the tent. "What are you doing, professor?" she wondered why he looked so flustered.
He sputtered out a short answer and took off, Kitt frowned, what was with him today? "Professor Parm, you are one odd guy," she said to herself before her eyes caught sight of the gear hanging on the rack. "The deflection gear. Why is it here? Iris didn't bring it with her." She summarized that judging from Parm's hasty retreat, he was the one who brought the gear in, but why was the million-dollar question?
Then her eyes saw the box and she lifted it, revealing Parm's deflection gear, painted like the original. "Oh, Parm's wacky gear. He must have been planning to replace Iris' with it. Hey, that's a good idea." she took the gear and put Parm's in its place, and she dropped the real gear into the trash bin.
"You don't need this gear, Iris, it's too dangerous. You just need yourself, Prisma and the skills you've learned, my friend."
She left the tent, unaware that Cain was hiding behind the tent, once she was out of range, he snuck inside the tent and grabbed the gear, not knowing it wasn't the real gear, replacing it with the decoy rigged to backfire.
"Moordryd, this is Cain, I got the gear and the decoy is in place," he spoke to his friend via wrist-com, letting him know the plan was on!
In another part of the crew tents, Lance and Stewardd peeked out from behind a trash can, the pair snuck towards the tents, peeking around a corner to see Cain sneaking out of the Penn crew tent with Parm's gear, unknowing that the gear he held was not the real gear, but neither of them knew that, they only knew what they saw, and seeing Cain with the gear worried Lance deeply. But why was the gear even there in the first place, he'd snuck to the gear shed to grab the gear, but hadn't found it.
"Oh no, Cain's got the gear. Mortis was right, we've got trouble!"
The two entered the tent after Cain left and Lance managed to grab the decoy gear, he held it out to Stewardd. "We'll take this to the Dragon Eye race pit, and switch it with the one that Cain stole. Then you and the gear have to hide."
Stewardd held up a finger. "But there will be no gear, here." he was right, even though Iris hadn't wanted to bring the gear in the first place, it was here now and Cain just stole it, so they had to improvise. Lance thought before he got an idea and went over to a brown box that held all kinds of junk before he pulled out a piece of metal that looked like the original one. "Ah, this should do the trick." he placed the metal on the bench as Stewardd worried. "Oh, this plan, is not good. This will never work! It is wrong colour!"
Lance walked over to the other side, pulling out a bucket of pain with a triumphant grin on his face. "Uh, why not just tell the truth?"
Lance stared with a deadpan look on his face. "Are you kidding, Iris will not just scale me, she'll kill me!"
A little while later, the piece of metal was painted like the original, but the paint job was less than satisfactory and the paint was still wet.
"There, it looks…"
"Bad." Stewardd finished, looking wide-eyed before Parm's voice was heard calling Lance's name. Stewardd yelped and shoved the decoy into Lance's hands. "Hide this! Hide this!" he dove under the tent flaps and disappeared. "Lance?" Parm called again as the boy quickly hid the decoy under the box and the brush behind his back, he turned to see Parm walk into the tent.
"Lance, what are you doing?" Parm questioned, hands on his hips as he eyed the boy. "Nothing," Lance answered.
"You wouldn't be trying to have a look at the new gear, would you? The gear Iris forbid you to touch?"
"Uh uh, it's right there," Lance said, splashing some paint against the wall, he cleared his throat as paint splattered behind him. "Right there." He pointed at the metal painted like the gear with a finger stained in paint. Parm had a good look at the gear, either he was oblivious or just not thinking clearly about the fact that the paint job was terrible.
"Hmm, okay then. The gauntlet is starting and we need to get to the crew area, we'll come back for the mag-rack during the repair period.." Parm explained, turning and leaving the tent. Once he was gone, Lance slumped in relief. "That was close."
Stewardd crawled back into the tent from under the flap and Lance grabbed the decoy. "Come on, we gotta get the gear back from Moordryd right now!" The boy and Keeper left the tent.
"WELCOME COMPETITORS TO THE GAUNTLET!" Budge announced over the speaker as the crowd cheered with a large group of racers lined up in chutes, Iris was among them, trying to keep her breathing steady, but inside, she was panicking, big time!
"YOU HAVE THREE RACE PERIODS TO SURVIE, AND REPAIRS ARE ONLY ALLOWED FOR FIVE MINUTES BETWEEN EACH ONE! bEST TIME WINS, GOOD LUCK!"
Iris closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath to calm herself down. Then she felt Prisma's presence, calming and soothing her frazzled nerves. "I'm right here with you, Iris. I promise no harm will come to you, my heart."
The teen let a smile blossom across her face at the words her sister spoke. Then Moordryd, who was beside her in his chute, looked over at her, while it wasn't Artha Penn, he would still make it hard since he knew Penn's sister wasn't much of a racer. But he saw how her dragon was eyeing him with those orange eyes of hers. He let the bottom of his helmet slide up as Budge hit the gong he held and the race was on!
Prisma charged out of her chute once it was down, bypassing all the other dragons for the time being as Iris narrowed her eyes. Come on, Iris, you can do this, you've trained for the last week.
Moordryd then pulled in front of her, angering the hybrid as they approached the gauntlet and Iris' eyes widened upon seeing the many mace balls swing horizontally and vertically through the course. "The gauntlet!" she gasped as they moved further in.
Prisma leapt over a mace ball as many of the riders were hit and knocked out of their saddles. Iris kept her focus as Prisma made a sharp turn and Moordryd came up beside her, he sneered as she glared back at him before Prisma growled. "Iris, up ahead!"
The teen saw a massive hole in the middle of the track, why it wasn't patched up, she'll never know. Both dragons leapt into the air and Moordryd activated his thruster gear, flames shot out, singing Prisma's side as she roared in pain. "Prisma!" Iris cried out as her dragon fell towards the hole, acting quickly, she activated her aero gear, they opened up and she steered them clear of the hole somehow.
Landing on the track again, Iris deactivated the gear as Moordryd glared at her, he would not lose to some loser. Activating his thruster gear again, he sped past the pair, bypassing them as Prisma snarled. The hybrid picked up speed as they raced towards the finish line for the first round. Moordryd passed the line first, followed by Iris and Prisma, then two other riders and their dragons.
"MOORDRYD PAYNN TAKE THE FIRST HEAT!"
The boy laughed as he stood up in his saddle, arms open wide as the crowd cheered for him. Iris glared harshly at him, how dare he put her life and Prisma's in danger like that! He saw them walk past and couldn't help but mock them. "Oh, looks like I won the first part of the gauntlet, Penn brat, you don't have the skills or the gear for this race, you're nothing but a loser!" Iris flinched at those words and Prisma, despite being in a bit of pain, spun around, approached Decepshun and roared right in her face, startling Moordryd.
"How dare you put our lives in danger like that, you have a reckless and stupid rider, Decepshun!" the hybrid snarled, and the black psi dragoness hissed back.
"Moordryd is not reckless!"
"Yes he is and if you can't see that, why are you even here?" Prisma spun around and walked off.
Meanwhile, Lance and Stewardd snuck into the Dragon Eye tent to switch the gear Cain stole earlier. Lance had a box covering him while Stewardd had a trash can, he bumped into the boy, making a loud clang. "Let's do the switch and get out of here!" Lance threw the box off and approached the mag-rack. He took down the gear and Stewardd replaced it with the decoy.
"Look what we have here." a voice made both turn, Cain stood in the doorway of the tent. Lance dropped the gear he'd grabbed and slid it under the tent flap quickly to hide it from the older teen. "If it isn't the famous Stewardd and the stable brat's brother, brother-brat. Trying to take back your gear, huh?" Cain sneered, pushing his balled-up fist into his palm, looking for a fight.
Steward looked at Lance, knowing that he had to get the boy out of there and fast. "Run, Lance!" he urged and the kid took off, Cain tried to go after him, but Stewardd used a smoke bomb to cover his tracks. Lance made it outside the tent, grabbed the gear and ran off, Steward tried to follow, but Cain grabbed hold of his ankle, dragging the Keeper back inside the tent and holding him upside down. "Word will be very pleased to see you, you and soon the rest of your secret crew."
Lance peeked inside the tent to see Cain and Moordryd interrogating Stewardd, who hung by the mag-rack. "If you don't wanna tell me where your crew is, fine. After the race, we'll pay a little visit to my father. I'm sure you'll both be very 'happy' to see each other." Steward looked very nervous and Lance felt guilt crawl up his stomach like bile, he had caused this!
"REMAINING RACERS, PREPARE FOR THE SECOND PERIOD, SAME TRACK, SAME OBSTICAL, BUT TWICE THE DANGER! ON YOUR MARKS…"
Iris narrowed her eyes as Prisma hissed, tail lashing, she'd been seen too after the first round by Iris, who contacted Gwen, but she couldn't make it here since the clinic was swamped today, but Iris had shown her Prisma's side, which Gwen concluded was not too bad and just required some cold water, which Iris did with help from Artha and Kitt. The hybrid was thankful for such a wonderful rider and loving friends, but she was still angry with Moordryd after what he did in the first round and seeing how Decepshun put up with him.
She, Moordryd, and four other racers waited in their chutes, Budge hit the gong and the gates were down. Prisma took off, her stride even and precise as Iris kept her eyes open. Moordryd saw a blue bi-pedal dragon and its rider in front of him, the boy cackled and pulled out his drain whip, sending it flying at the dragon, the whip latched onto the dragon, who screeched in agony. "Out of my way!" Moordryd pulled the whip back, dragging the dragon and rider down as the rider screamed. Decepshun jumped over the downed dragon and rider as Iris and Prisma entered the gauntlet for the second time.
Budge had been right about the obstacle being even harder, the mace balls were swinging much faster this time round. But she knew that she needed to stay focused, otherwise she was out. Prisma navigated the course, leaping over some as Iris ducked and dodged the balls aimed to hit her. "So far, so good," she muttered to herself.
She dodged another ball and smiled slightly. Huh, I'm not too bad at this. She thought to herself. "Iris, look out!" Prisma's panicked voice screeched into her head and she saw a ball coming towards her, she ducked, but didn't see the other one till she was knocked out of her saddle and onto the floor. She groaned as Prisma nudged her shoulder. "Iris, are you alright?"
"Yeah, just need to keep my thoughts cleared, is all," Iris explained as she got to her feet.
"OW, THAT'S GOTTA HURT! AND IT LOOKS LIKE MOORDRYD WITH THE BEST TIME! NOW WITH A NEARLY INSURMUTIABLE THIRTY-SECOND LEAD!"
Iris growled as she climbed back into her saddle, it would only be her and Moordryd in the next round and she was seriously considering going back to the stables to grab the gear, but she also knew it would be a huge risk bringing it out in public.
"Iris, what is it?" Prisma asked as they raced past the finish line.
"I'm seriously considering going back to the stable to grab the gear, Prisma, but I also know it would be risky, what should I do?"
The hybrid could hear the conflict in her sister's voice. Iris followed the rules, not wanting to cheat, but because she was losing like this, she could see how Iris would want to use it just to keep from getting seriously hurt. But would it be the right call?
"Let's go back to the tents and tell your brothers and friends, see what they have to say before you make a decision."
Iris liked that idea and they headed for the tent where Artha, Kitt and Parm were waiting. "Guys?" she called as Prisma approached and she dismounted the saddle. Artha walked up to her. "Hey, are you okay? We saw you fall."
She nodded. "I'm okay, a little bruised, but fine. Look, I need to speak to you guys about something. I know Mortis said not to bring the gear here, but I'm getting pummeled out there because of Moordryd, so I was thinking of going back to the stables and getting it. I know it's a risk and I may be grounded for the rest of my life, but…"
Kitt cut her off. "If you think you need some new gear, Iris, you're just kidding yourself. Besides, the gear isn't at the stables." she walked over to the trash bin and pulled out the deflection gear. "It's here. I think Parm brought it in and I hid it in the trash to keep it safe."
Iris stared at them, the gear was here all along? She looked over at Parm, who smiled awkwardly at her. "Why is it here when I told you all to leave it at the stables?" she demanded an explanation.
Parm sighed. "I brought it in cause I went to check it out last night, but when I touched it, a piece broke off. So I brought it here to fix it."
Iris narrowed her eyes at him, a piece broke off. Did he break the gear, or was it… She closed her eyes. "Lance, he must have gone to see it last night, and likely broke it." she summarized, since Lance wasn't here at the moment and she knew her brother was notorious for touching stuff that wasn't his.
Parm looked down. "I'm sorry, Iris, I only wanted to fix it."
She sighed, shaking her head. "Look, I don't normally do this, but, can I use it for the last round?"
Artha, Kitt and Parm looked amongst themselves before Artha took the gear from Kitt and handed it to his sister. "Be careful, Iris, please?"
She nodded and headed out of the tent, Prisma magged the gear onto her nose, then magged Iris into the saddle and headed for the track.
"You'll have to finish 31 seconds ahead of me or you lose." Moordryd taunted. Iris scoffed. "I think I can manage, Paynn." The boy saw the gear on Prisma's nose and smirked. My decoy, this will be fun. He thought to himself, unaware that the gear he was using was the decoy.
"ONE MORE PERIOD AND ONLY TWO RACERS LEFT, GET SET, GO!"
Both dragons took off and Moordryd activated his green ramming gear, urging Decepshun into shoving the hybrid up against the wall, dragging them along the wall before they dashed off as Prisma recovered from the shove, snarling and growling. Iris groaned from the shove, her injury from the blue star gear was now nicely healed up, but she was warned against any hard activities as it was at risk of reopening.
Pulling up alongside Moordryd, Iris opened the cover of the button that activated the gear, but her eyes zeroed in on the gear on Decepshun, it was the same gear. Moordryd has deflection gear too? How is that possible?
As they approached the obstacle course, Moordryd called out to them. "Mag your new gear, Penn brat. I hear it's a real blast!" he cackled as he pressed his button, but the gear he had was the decoy and it exploded, sending him flying out of the saddle as Iris watched, mouth hanging open in disbelief that she'd just seen that. His chute opened up, but as he floated down to earth, a mace ball struck him right in the face. Iris cringed, that would likely leave a mark.
Iris yelped as she dodged a mace ball as they entered the course, she thought about using the gear, but already, she began to see just how dangerous using it in public was since light green gear was rare.
This whole thing is a bad idea, I'm such a fool! She chastised herself for bringing the gear with her into the race. "I can do this, without the gear!" she said, removing her finger from the button. Prisma smiled. "That's the spirit, my heart!"
"We can do this together, Prisma!" Iris declared and both dragon and rider worked in tandem to dodge the balls. Seeing one coming at her, Iris jumped from her saddle, doing a handstand as the ball went up while Prisma ran ahead of her. Twisting around into a crouch, Iris leapt from the ball and Prisma magged her back into the saddle.
The scarred dragon jumped and ducked as she evaded the balls. "You've done it, Iris!" Prisma praised her as they passed the finish line.
"IT'S OVER, IRIS PENN HAS BEATEN THE GAUNTLET WITH AN AMAZING RUN!" Budge announced as Iris held up her trophy with Prisma smiling beside her. She was so proud of what she'd done and there was no doubt that her brothers and friends would be proud of her too.
Heading back to the tent, Iris was tackled in a bear hug by Artha. "You did it, Iris! Without the gear! I'm so proud of you!" he grinned as he released her from the hug, only for Kitt to move in for a hug. "Congratulations, Iris."
The teen smiled before running footsteps headed their way. "Artha, Iris, help!" Lance came running up with what looked like the deflection gear in his hands.
"Stewardd was caught by Moordryd and Cain!" the boy cried out.
"They must be on their way to Word," Artha said.
"If Word gets Stewardd…" Kitt began, worry in her tone.
"I know," Artha said, turning to face her and Parm. "The Keepers are in big trouble."
"Well, at least they don't have the gear, I've got it!" Lance held up the gear as Iris frowned, looking between the gear Prisma had still magged to her nose and the gear in Lance's hands.
"Alright, everyone just hang on," Parm stated. "Prisma has the real gear, and this is my gear."
Iris raised an eyebrow at him. "Your wacky deflection gear. Why is it painted just like the real one?"
Parm froze. "Oh, well, let me explain."
"No time, Parm, give that gear to me." Lance handed the gear to Artha. "Time to release the dragon!" he and Beau transformed and left the area. Lance looked back at the others and took notice of how Iris was glaring at him. "You are in big trouble, Lance Penn." the boy cringed, knowing he was in serious trouble.
Later at night, Moordryd and Cain, with Stewardd riding with Moordryd, were on their way to Word's citadel when they came to a skidding halt, for in front of them was the Dragon Booster. , blocking the path.
"Going somewhere?"
"And you're not invited." Moordryd snarled.
Dragon Booster folded his arms. "Let's make a trade?" he bargained.
Moordryd tilted his head. "Trade? My father wants this little mouse. What could you have that could possibly interest me?"
"Give me Stewardd and I'll give you the real deflection gear." Dragon Booster offered.
"It's a trick," Cain spoke in a sing-song voice through clenched teeth. Dragon Booster activated the gear, it expanded, surrounding him and Beau with a light green shield. The two teens were slightly stunned by the display as Dragon Booster deactivated the gear.
"I've been protecting it all along."
Moordryd looked like he was considering the offer. "I-I'm not sure." would his father be angry if he traded Stewardd for the gear?
Beau magged the gear into his rider's hand. "With this gear, you'll be way more powerful against the other down-city crews."
Cain looked over to Moordryd. "He's got a point. What the old man doesn't know, won't hurt him." while they were conversing, Dragon Booster secretly traded the real gear for Parm's wacky version.
"I guess I could let my father worry about the little mouse." Moordryd looked at the Dragon Booster. "You've got yourself a deal, Dragon Booster."
Let's hope they don't realize this is your wacky deflection gear, Parmesan. Artha thought to himself before he tossed the gear at Cain, who caught it with a grunt as Moordryd had Decepshun mag Stewardd over to Dragon Booster, landing in his saddle.
With the gear in their hands, Moordryd spoke one last mockery. "See you later, Dragon Blunder!" the two raced past the gold-clad hero.
Steward looked up at his friend. "Oh, thank you, thank you Dragon Booster. But my gear?" Artha just grabbed the real gear and Stewardd smiled at him.
Moordryd, Decepshun and Cain entered Word's citadel. "Ancient Keeper deflection gear. Perfect! For once, you have done something right." Word grinned, at last, he could finally use something rare.
"Yes, father, watch. Activate the citadel defenses." Moordryd requested as he activated the gear. Word pressed a button on his control panel and two poles with green trapping gear popped up. "It takes the hits for you."
The green trapping gear was fired as Moordryd sat in his saddle, looking smug. The gear sparked and the shield went down, he opened his eyes in surprise before he was hit with the green trapping gear, wrapping around him and Decepshun. Word pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration while shaking his head.
Moordryd lay on the ground, little dragon eyes circling his head. "Does it take the falls too?" Cain sniped.
"Must need tweaking. Moordryd groaned.
Back at Penn Stables, Iris, Artha and Lance were inside the house, Iris was overseeing Lance as he was washing the dishes as part of his punishment. He was grounded for a week, no vid-games and he had to clean out the stables every day with either Iris or Artha present.
There was a knock at the door and Artha went to see who it was, he opened the door and saw Gwen standing on the other side. "Hello Artha. How are you?" she asked as he invited her inside the house. She'd come by and Soundwyve was settled down in a stall beside Prisma.
"Good, Gwen. Iris won her first race today." Artha smiled as Gwen took a seat at the dining table. Iris poked her head out of the kitchen. "Hi Gwen." she came over to hug her guardian as Artha took her place to keep an eye on Lance.
"Iris, congratulations on your win today." Gwen praised with a smile as she hugged her ward.
"Thanks, Gwen, will you join us for dinner?"
The vet smiled warmly. "Of course, thank you."
"We'll get dinner done once Lance finishes up the dishes, then he can do them again," Iris smirked.
"Ah, of course." Gwen chuckled as Lance grumbled to himself.
She'd tried to give Stewardd his gear back earlier, but the Keeper had insisted that she keep the gear, so this time, she gave it to Mortis for safe-keeping.
What do you guys think? Too harsh with Lance's punishments? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you all later!
