Ignatius, Fenris, Neptune, Percival, Isolda, Tatsu, and Sunbeam had all set out towards the shadow kingdom. As they flew, they bickered. 

"Can't  believe we let two more girls join the defenders..." Ignatius snorted. 

"Excuse me Ignatius? I'm a girl and I've been a defender since the beginning!" Isolda growled angrily. 

"Yeah, you're already a pain. Now there's two more!" Ignatius hissed back. 

"Hey, STOP IT!" Sunbeam roared. "Iggy, why would you say that? You love me, don't you?" 

"I do, Sunbeam. I'm sorry"

"Well then you've got explaining to do, Iggy" Sunbeam growled. 

Tatsu whimpered and wrapped her golden body around Percival. 

"Me no like dat red dragon. He mean. Me very Kowai..."

"Aww Tatsu, I know you're scared. I'm sorry about Ignatius. He's been very cranky ever since that incident at the restaurant, where we lost Ezekiel..." 

Neptune cleared his throat and spoke up. "We all  need to stop this. We won't succeed if the defenders are divided against themselves. Right?" 

"Yes, master of the sea" Ignatius snickered. 

"I agree with Neptune. Let's calm down and focus on our mission" said Percival. 

"Indeed. I was just thinking, I don't think the defenders are enough. Do you think we should recruit others?" Neptune suggested. 

"Hmm, perhaps. The shadow queen is strong. So that might be the best course of action" Percival answered. 

"Well who else would want to ally with us?" Isolda asked. 

"There's gotta be someone" Neptune shrugged. 

As they looked down to the ground, they saw what looked like a red humanoid metal machine. 

"Say, I wonder what that lonely thing is doing here" Percival wondered. 

"It's just some dumb machine. Who cares?" Ignatius glared down at it. 

"Hold on. It's a robot." Isolda said as she looked closely. 

"Ro-WHAT??" Ignatius looked at Isolda. 

"Yeah. They're humanoid metal machines created and designed to carry out orders. I read about them in dragon world history."

"Very interesting. Is it hostile? Could we ask it for help?" Neptune asked. 

"I hope we could. We've got to try" said Percival. 

Fenris looked nervous. "What if it aims it's big scary weapons at us and tries to kill us?!" 

"Relax Fenris. We can't assume the worst right now. Let's just be slow and cautious" Percival said. 

With that, the dragon defenders all slowly descended to the ground, near the isolated robot. Percival bowed towards the robot. "Hello, sir" 

The robot jumped and turned to them. "Hey you startled me! I nearly touched my guns!" 

Fenris got scared and hid behind Neptune, and Tatsu got scared and clung to Percival. "Hey relax. We aren't going to hurt you. We're the Dragon Defenders. Surely you've heard of us"

"Dragon Defenders...I will have to scan you all to see if you fit my memory banks. is that okay?" 

The Defenders all looked at each other, then nodded. "Yes. you may."

"Wait, will it hurt?!" Fenris clung to Neptune. 

"It won't hurt at all. I'm just going to shine a light on all of you"

The robot shined a web of lights over all the dragons. Then the robot closed its eyes for several seconds and opened them. "Ah, Dragon Defenders confirmed! Except for two..."

"Oh yeah, we added two new defenders. Tatsu and Sunbeam" 

"I see. May I scan the two individually and add them to my Dragon Defenders memory bank?" 

"That's up to them" Percival looked at Tatsu and Sunbeam. 

"Me will do it" Tatsu said as she laid there. 

"Me too" said Sunbeam, as she laid down in a sexy pose. Ignatius growled at her. 

"Stop that, Sunbeam! You're supposed to flirt with ME! Not this hunk of metal!" 

"Sorry Iggy. You called girls stupid. Learn to respect girls and maybe I'll flirt with you again"

"She's got you there, Ignatius" Neptune chuckled. 

"Rrgh. Fine." 

Maverick quickly shined his web light over them. 

"Tatsu and Sunbeam as Dragon Defenders, confirmed"

They both got up and regrouped with the defenders. "Great. So, we wanted to ask you a favor. But first, tell us more about yourself."

"I see. I assume you'll want my name. I'm Maverick. I command a robot army. But at the moment we're having some R&R since there weren't any battles to be fought"

"Well, nice to meet you Maverick. Our favor is indeed a battle of sorts. You see, our best friend named Ezekiel has been kidnapped by the shadow queen. And we need additional help if we hope to stand a chance against her. Will you help us?" 

"I see. My memory banks recall Ezekiel. He's the dragonboy of prophecy. Prophecy is a big part of our memory banks" 

Percival chuckled. "Good to hear. So will you help us?" 

Maverick grinned and reloaded all his weaponry. "Would I be a good robot if I said no?" 

"Excellent" Percival smiled. "Welcome to our team!". Percival held out a paw for Maverick to shake. Maverick looked confused. 

"That's your paw. You're holding it out to me" 

"Yeah. I want you to shake it. It's just how acquaintances are made". 

"I see" he said as he shook Percival's hand rather roughly. "I like this custom of yours!"

"Whoa, big guy. Not so hard and fast now" Percival chuckled. Maverick then chuckled too and let go. 

"Sorry." 

"That's okay Maverick. Can you fly and keep up? We've got to fly some ways before we get there. And maybe find more recruits along the way."

"Sure. I'll use my jet packs" 

"I hope we can trust him..." Ignatius mumbled 

"Relax Iggy. He's a little goofy but he's trustworthy enough in my eyes" Neptune said. 

"I concur" said Percival. "Now we can't dilly dally. Let's get going!"

"Right!" the rest of the defenders said in unison, as they took off into the sky. 

"Hey now, wait for me, dragons!" Maverick said as he powered up his jet pack to follow them. With that, they all continued on their journey to find recruits and save Ezekiel. What new friends would they meet on their journey? Only time would tell...