The Spyro Chronicles Ch. 39

Chapter 39: Who Dares Wins
Dragon Realms, Uncharted Systems
May 8, 2204
0422 Hours
Approaching the Final Solution

Spyro stared out, his neck elongated as the gondola slid along the track, blue lights illuminating their passage. Every once in a while they'd see a crack in the roof, a window into the outside world. They could see all four keys firing into the clear night sky, no clouds in sight as it was the blackest night Spyro could have ever remembered.

A loud thunderous roar echoed down the halls as they could now begin to see the Final Solution itself. The "relay" as the shadow called it, was four large triangular towers that sprang forth from the ground, flat on the inside and angled on the side that faced out. The metal was a bright white as it pulsed blue slightly. Energy leapt from one prong to another as it sat, pointing directly into the sky.

"Sounds like the battle's already under way!" Karson yelled over the sound of the gondola.

"I can see some of it... yeah!" Allison ducked slightly as a wyvern flew over a large gash in the ground that opened up and revealed their passageway to the outside world, pursued by the large black profile of a UERNF Raven.

"Woah!" Karson said as he ducked as well, turning his head to track them.

"Things are definitely getting hairy out there!" Allison said.

"You think Malefor's reach the relay?" Zephyr asked.

"I don't doubt it." Wagner muttered lowly. Spyro turned his head to see Wagner before turning back towards the tunnel.

"Hey, I can see the end of the tracks!" Aaron yelled. Everyone turned now to the end of the tunnel, it illuminated more then the rest. The gondola wasn't slowing down.

"Brace yourselves!" Wagner yelled. Everyone grabbed a hold of something, expecting a violent crash. The only thing they felt was a sudden yet gradual stop. The gondola slowed, just like it had suddenly accelerated. A few hisses were heard as it came to a stop and docked with the platform.

"Everyone off, go, go!" Wagner yelled as he grabbed his rifle and stepped off onto the platform. The others followed quickly, moving towards the station.

Beyond the platform was a tunnel that went inside, different angles and designs permeating the walls along the way. Along the entrance to the tunnel, there was a large room with what they guessed were tables and chairs, knocked over and left in a state of chaos. The hallway was short, and came to end where several more hallways branched off. Some headed up and some headed down while several side rooms looked like waiting areas. Spyro grew curious about the purposes of the rooms. He could almost imagine hordes of panicking creatures inside these halls, trying to escape certain death...

Spyro was brought back to reality as the structure shook from a nearby blast.

"Come on Spyro!" Cynder yelled as the group went down another hallway that ascended upwards.

Lights that had been dim for millennia were now coming online all around them as they could see some hallways that were dusty while others were pristine- left just the way they were when the weapon was last used.

It was then that they saw something interesting in one of the side rooms.

They saw what appeared to be remains of creatures behind panes of glass, looking in fear at something in the hallway. The room was filled with at least a dozen beings- all of which alien to the group. One figure standing in front of them defensively was a dragon. They were all frozen in time.
"Remains of the council?" Allison asked.

"Possibly. What killed them though?" Wagner asked.

"The weapon?" Zephyr inquired.

"But the Shadow said it wasn't a weapon, it was a relay station." Roxy corrected.

"But, then what killed them?" Zephyr repeated Wagner's inquiry as he turned to face her.

"Whatever it is, we can't let this happen again. Come on guys!" Spyro said.

They moved further down the stairs and up a flight of stairs. The stairs lead to a door just beyond the landing which hummed with a low light before opening. Beyond that door there was a large room that looked like it was ten stories tall. Large beams extended from the slanted ceiling that was angled out towards the other side of the room and connected with the opposing wall. Above where the slanted ceiling met the flat ceiling there were several holes where the sky could be seen. The structure shook again as another blast rocked the area.

The group fell to their feet as the blast was powerful before standing back up.

"Come on, let's go!" Spyro yelled as he ran to the other side of the large room. He entered a large door way which went back down towards the core of the relay. The others followed in tow as the lights flickered from another impact.

"I'm surprised neither the Apes or us have gotten in already!" Karson yelled as he scanned the area with his assault rifle. They reached the bottom of the sloped floor and two large double doors opened. Inside the double doors there was a suspended walkway that surrounded an antennae-like structure that pulsated with blue energy. A single terminal sat in front of it, and a large purple dragon stood just beside it, looking ominously at them.

"Malefor..." Spyro said.

"Ah Spyro. I'm very amazed that you got here just in time." He turned around, pressing a few keys on the terminal's display. It didn't seem like he was touching anything though. It seemed like he was just tapping air and the system was responding in corresponding clicks and beeps.
"No!" Spyro leapt forward, trying to take his paws off of the terminal.

Malefor sneered at this, leaping back, which caused Spyro to press his paws against the console. As he did this, it lit up green and flashed. Blue light emanated from the terminal and went towards the antennae that was suspended in-between the circular catwalk. A large sphere below the antennae glowed blue as it sparked with great amounts of energy.

"Congratulations Spyro, you've just activated the weapon for me." Malefor laughed as he swooped up and flew down. Spyro looked in shock at the terminal then to his paws as he realized his grand error.

"No, Spyro! Snap out of it! We have to stop him!" Cynder yelled as she ran over. Malefor flew down into a beam that was firing a small blue beam into the suspended antennae, causing the beam to turn purple. The sphere below started to rotate as it was now turned a dark purple color, firing a full on burst into the antennae which now itself began to spin in conjunction with the sphere below. The entire facility began to shake as everyone looked up, seeing the four large towers starting to separate and part, giving way to the clear night sky.

Suddenly a bright beam fired from the antennae and into the sky, piercing through it and going on as far as they could see. Just as it did this, the other four beams from the keys slowly drifted towards the single beam in the sky, combining at one single point. The excess of energy washed over the area as it caused the relay to shake even more.

"My God... it's happening..." Wagner muttered lowly as he laid on the ground from one of the many energy waves that washed over them.

Then, as they thought the worst was happening, they saw the beams part again and return to their original positions. However, unlike before, they now seemed to be tearing a hole in the sky. The single beam pulsed once more, causing an image to be cast into the empty space the other four beams seemed to be carving into the sky. As the beams locked back in their original positions, they could see this huge circle in the sky. Within this circle sat what looked like black mountain ranges and a purple sky. Black energy emanated from the rift that sat suspended above them. Creatures of indescribable blackness flew throughout the scene above them, but staying in it.

"The great rift has opened, and the harbingers of your destruction have returned once more!" Malefor yelled loudly as he floated beside the antennae.

"Soon, the weapon will fire a powerful beam into the heavens, and crack open the rift. It shall be glorious..." Malefor sneered, seemingly overtaken by an almost religious sense of obligation to this.

In anger, Spyro shot up, ramming himself into Malefor directly. Malefor grunted as the smaller dragon sent him several feet up. They both collided in a support beam and Malefor kicked away Spyro, who tumbled for a moment before gaining himself.

"Go, go!" Aaron ordered, and all the others flew up to assist their friend. They all soared up and met the Dark Master, blasting him with unrelenting beams as they collided and scarred his scales, the force of the beams slamming him into the wall once more.

Finally, he repulsed them with a wave of energy which sent them back several feet, but they continued their assault. The Dark Master sneered and took off to the gap in the ceiling. He emerged above the relay and hovered, Spyro and the others in hot pursuit.

As they exited the relay, they stopped for a moment. Upon seeing the rest of the landscape, they realized for a moment just where they were.

They were in the Burned Lands. The relay had been here the entire time! How stupid could they be?! It was right under their noses!

All around they could see lava spewing from the ground and several figures down below. What was left of the UER and Lakador forces united with every surviving dragon, mole, cheetah and creature in the surrounding landscape as they battled against hundreds- if not thousands of Apes, Orcs, Grublins and several of those drone creatures. Tanks rolled across the rocky landscape, firing shells into clusters of hostiles as Cheetahs dashed beside the bulking behemoths and slashed their blades into anything stupid to stand in their way.

Above, Nighthawks and Ravens swooped, dog fighting with Wyverns and Dark Wings as they battled for control of the sky. Spyro turned, seeing off in the distance Krypto and a single Nighthawk joining the battle too as it swooped low and deployed its payload at the base of the structure. Spyro could see the HACOs and other Marines from Buckman's group dash into the structure to assist Wagner and the others. Krypto flew in low, firing a beam of heat at Malefor, who deflected it with ease. He captured the beam in his claws and fired it back, Krypto swooped to the right to avoid it.

Spyro took this chance, swooping in after Malefor. He charged up a powerful convexity beam in his maw, firing it at the larger dragon. Malefor growled as it impacted, sending him several feet down before he flapped his large, powerful wings to regain himself. He snarled and swooped around the large towers of the relay, firing powerful beams at them each chance he got. One of the beams hit Zephyr, sending him back down as Krypto swooped up and caught him.

"Thanks!" He said as Krypto released him back into the air. Spyro swooped in after the large purple dragon, dodging in-between the towers as he and Cynder both fired beams each chance they got a sight of Malefor. Beams danced in-between the three, impacting pieces of the towers and when they scored direct hits, each shook it off as they continued their dance of death. Two Raptors from the humans pulled off and streaked in from nearby, locking onto Malefor and firing missiles at him. He turned, getting distracted by this just long enough for Spyro and Cynder to grab onto each other and supercharge an energy field around them before swooping in at breakneck speeds to impact Malefor headlong. The impact sent Malefor right into one of the four prongs, he yelling loudly before using his claws to latch onto the tower, firing a beam at them which caused them to break apart and hover before they could retaliate.

"Don't you get it Spyro?! It's over!" He yelled at them.

"No! I refuse to believe that!" Spyro yelled back.

"The darkness cannot win! Light will always prevail!" Cynder yelled as well.

"You're all fools... You think you can stop this? You think you can stop this cycle?!" Malefor leaped forward off of the wall and engulfed his body in darkness, sailing towards the pair.

"Look out!" Spyro yelled as they were both hit, slamming into the opposing tower. Energy pulsated from this tower as Malefor backed up, charging a beam at close range.

Spyro acted quickly, closing his eyes and breathing a jet of fire which caused Malefor to back up. Cynder detached herself from the wall and created a massive whirlwind around the Dark Master. He snarled, canceling his beam as he flapped his powerful wings to escape the raging winds. Ice shards pierced through the air as Spyro flew forward, flapping his wings with great vigor. Malefor wasn't about to let him have the upper hand, however.

Malefor countered Cynder's whirlwind with one of his own, canceling it out just in time to fire a beam of dark energy at Spyro. He flapped his wings to the side so the beam smashed into the tower behind him, Spyro adjusting himself so he could strafe Malefor with fire bombs.

Malefor flapped his wings so he ascended upwards. They followed close behind, sailing like missiles in the air. They were soon above the structure before Malefor brought his wings out to provide air brake as he spun around and sailed back down at an alarming speed. Spyro deployed his wings, as did Cynder to slow down as he blew right past Cynder and grabbed Spyro by the neck, bringing the full force of his claws down.

"This is where you die young dragon!"

Spyro could only gag in response as he kicked at Malefor's chest.

"No! Spyro!" Cynder flew in hot pursuit, opening her maw as she charged her own shadow breath.

"Go, go!" Wagner ran along one of the several side passages that routed through the gigantic relay station, finding what they guessed was a maintenance access way up towards the four towers themselves. They ran to a ladder which ascended above towards the top of the wall that surrounded the center of the relay. This wall is what the actual towers sat on, and they'd have a bird eye's view of the battle beyond.

Wagner was the first up the ladder, followed by Hunter, Karson and Allison.

"Look! There they are!" Karson pointed up, seeing the dragons dueling in the air.

"Damn, there's no way we can hit him from here!" Allison panted as Wagner watched, going into a sprint as he made for the nearest tower to try to climb it.

"You crazy sir?! Those things must go half a mile into the sky!" Karson yelled as Wagner ignored him.

"Crazy bastard, come on!" Karson muttered as he tapped Allison's shoulder so she'd follow.

A Nighthawk swooped in low from behind, applying its breaks so it could hover nearby. Wagner flagged the aircraft down towards them, one of the Crew Chiefs opening the door so Wagner could board the aircraft.

"I'm going to try to give those two a hand from the air, here, you guys try to provide suppressing fire from here!" Wagner grabbed a rifle sitting along interior of the craft, tossing it to Karson. Karson caught the weapon, it being one of the newer magnetic powered rifles. Those slugs traveled at a much higher velocity then traditional gunpowder, meaning it was more effective at longer ranges.

"We have to get the Dark Master off of their back, as much as we can!" Wagner yelled at them. Karson nodded, powering up the rifle.

"You can count on us!" He replied. As the drop ship sailed up, Wagner grabbed one of the side-mounted machine guns and pulling back on the charging lever. It flew high and out of sight, Karson motioning to move down the pathway so they could get a better shot.

"There they are!" Allison yelled, pointing up at the Dark Master and Spyro as they were locked in a free fall.

"Spyro is in trouble!" Hunter yelled as he grabbed his bow and arrow. Karson aimed at them, peering into the attached smart scope which calculated the distance, windage and several other variables, plotting a point where Karson should aim to compensate for all of these. He waited for the computer to give him a solution, he immediately firing when it did give him one, putting the round's trajectory right on Malefor himself. He hoped the scope was right...

The weapon let out a metallic CLANG sound as the round left the barrel, streaking at near super sonic speeds towards the dragons. The slug impacted hard, knocking Malefor back and releasing Spyro from his grasp. Spyro undid his wings, catching air immediately and breaking him several dozen feet above one of the large towers attached to the relay. By this time, Wagner's Nighthawk had ascended to a better altitude, he now able to fire right onto them.

Malefor let out his own wings now, letting the air catch him before he impacted the ground, swinging around to see the human aircraft sail by, bullets streaking every which way past his head. Malefor growled, opening his muzzle to unleash a beam of darkness, only to get caught around the neck by Cynder as she came down hard, shoving him into the side of one of the towers.

Spyro had recovered by now, swooping up to join Cynder as they streaked in to hit Malefor again. He wouldn't have any of it.

From where he was, he braced against the cold metal and fired a series of beams that split the air, searing anything they touched. Spyro and Cynder dodged.

To the right, the left, up, down, they angled themselves to avoid each of the beams, every one of them replaced by a just as equally deadly beam, only adding to the chaos they had to navigate. Instead of trying to close the gap, Spyro shot off several spheres of fire, Cynder adding her own poison attacks as they deflected off of Malefor's thick hide.

Rounds pinged along the metal, Wagner's Nighthawk making another pass, dipping between the towers to limit exposure to Malefor's attacks. He snarled, firing a beam nonetheless, clipping the tower as the drop ship slipped behind the metal structure, reemerging a few seconds later on the opposite side, Wagner opening fire again.

Malefor launched himself off of where he was, flying at the dragons again. This time they flew to the side, letting Malefor sail past. As he did so, they unleashed fire and shadow on him, the attacks causing Malefor to recoil back. Spyro took his chance now, swooping in and striking hard at the Dark Master's chest. He grabbed Spyro and tossed him away, only to now have Cynder throw in her own attack to the back of his head. Spinning around, he took a swipe at her, missing and instead only striking air.

Malefor was rewarded with a blow to the back, curtosy of Karson's rail gun. The impact sent him several feet forward, just in time to catch another blow from Spyro who bought his powerful claws to bear on his side. Malefor spun around, just in time to avoid a blast from Aaron as he flew by.

"Take that!" He yelled, narrowly avoiding a Wyvern that was chasing him. Zephyr swooped in behind him, catching the Wyvern and throwing it onto one of the relay towers nearby.

"Thanks!" Aaron yelled to him, Zephyr smiling in response but swooping back as a Dark Wing flew by, Krypto in hot pursuit. Another Dark Wing swooped in-between the towers, chased by two heavily armed UERMC Raptors, both firing their machine guns at the creature. Aaron and Zephyr moved now to engage the Dark Master.

Spyro and Cynder had both maintained their position, hitting Malefor in short engagements, letting Wagner and Karson distract him long enough to land another blow. It was starting to work, he was starting to falter. Malefor snarled in rage, spotting where Karson was down on the catwalks below and swooping down to take him out of the equation.

"Karson! Look out!" Allison yelled.

"Hold on, I almost have a firing solution!" He replied, backing up slowly while holding up the rail gun.

"Screw that, come on!" She grabbed his arm, ushered forward by Hunter who leapt from cover to cover.

"Here, behind here!" He yelled, moving to a structure that came out of the catwalk, just enough for cover. Karson and Allison rolled behind it just as Malefor made a pass at them, unleashing his own shadow fire onto them. It scorched the metal as he flew by, Aaron and Cynder both right on his tail. Aaron grunted as he swooped up then immediately down, catching the Dark Master and ramming him into the cat walks, the impact throwing Aaron off and skidding further down as Malefor rolled on the metallic walkway before skidding to a stop before one of the large relay towers. He growled, getting back up and forming a dark barrier to halt Cynder's attack. Her blast of energy that she had hoped would catch him by surprise deflected off and slammed harmlessly into the tower.

Spyro landed nearby Karson who had gotten up from their cover.

"Go, get out of here!" Spyro said.

"No, we can still fight! I'm a chosen one remember?" He flexed his hands, fire coming off of them as Malefor shot the barrier away from himself, sending Aaron and Cynder back several feet. Aaron made the first move, swooping in to attack Malefor in hand to hand combat, only to have the enraged dragon grab him by the neck and throw him headlong into Cynder. The two collided, flying down and back towards the atrium of the Final Solution down below.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled, seeing this.

"I got them!" Zephyr yelled as he swooped down to catch them.

"Come on, keep the Dark Master off of them!" Karson yelled. He threw his fists forward like a punch, only this time shooting a ball of fire that connected the distance of several yards towards the Dark Master who was now bolting towards them. Spyro flew up, firing several balls of fire, changing them to cracks of electricity as the fire proved harmless against the Dark Master who was charging like a bull.

He impacted, throwing them to the ground and throwing Allison off of the catwalk. She screamed, grabbing onto a pipe that protruded from the walkway, Hunter leaping down to help her back up.

Wagner flew in low now, firing the machine gun right into Malefor's back. He snarled, feeling the sharp rounds starting to penetrate his tough hide. He turned, firing a beam right at the exposed drop ship as it had no way to reach cover at its current speed. The beam sliced right through one of the engines, detonating it and sending hot metal flying through the air. The aircraft sputtered, swooping in low as it went into a dive.

"I've lost lateral control!" One of the pilots yelled. Wagner held onto the aircraft, trying not to fly out of the troop bay as the aircraft spun around. Malefor only snickered in amusement.

"Hold on! Grab my hand Lieutenant!" The Crew Chief held onto one of the straps in the troop bay, reaching out to help Wagner over to where he was so he wouldn't fly out the door. As he let go of the wall to grab his hand, the Nighthawk's nose hit against the catwalk, the force knocking him off from where he was and right out of the doorway. He tumbled out, slamming right onto the large wall beneath the catwalks that acted as a protective shield against the outside world to the Atrium and the Final Solution itself.

He slid down, hitting against an obstruction in the wall that sent him rolling onto the rocks below. He finally came to a halt against a few jagged rocks, grunting as he could feel his entire body stinging with pain. It felt as though he had broken everything, except his nerves.

The Nighthawk by now had stabilized itself, sputtering off as it was badly damaged, the other engines flaring to compensate for the loss of one of the two main ones.

Wagner tried to get up, reaching out and grabbing one of the jagged rocks, trying to pull up his aching body. God damn it hurt so much.

He let out a gasp, falling back down onto the ground as it proved to difficult.

"Fallen so easily warrior?"

"W-who said that?" He asked, his eyes clenched from the pain.

"Oh nobody important."

Wagner opened his eyes now, sitting up as he clutched his stomach, seeing the dragon from before, the Shadow.

"You... you're that Shadow guy right...?"

"Yes, I am he. More importantly, you're you."

Wagner sat back down, clenching his eyes once more.

"The hell's that supposed to mean....?"

The Shadow walked over, looking down onto the Human. Wagner opened one eye, looking up at him. He couldn't tell if the Shadow was seeing him as pitiful or pathetic. Maybe it was both.

"I say that because I've been watching you for some time now, Lieutenant John Wagner of Earth. You display some... interesting attributes."

"What, am I a chosen one, like Karson and them?" He closed his eye again, feeling a spike in pain along his side.

"No, I think you're of greater importance than that."

Wagner didn't answer, he only listened.

"You seem to be using your powers already, though you don't even seem aware of it. You are of great importance Human, whether you realize it or not."

"What... makes me so special eh...? I'm just a human... Spyro and them... they're the real deal..."

"You ever wonder why you, Karson, Allison and Yahade' came to be here, you think it's by chance?"

"There are a lot of coincidences..."

"There are no such things."

"Then why?"

"Because, you are supposed to be the Vanguard of all this. You have been placed here, along with the other chosen ones to initiate these events and you are supposed to see them through. You must ensure the Foretold One is able to perform his tasks as spoken in the prophecies.

"Foretold One? You mean Spyro...?"

"You must ensure that everyone survives today Wagner of Earth. You will all need to be at full strength. You need to tap into your powers that you've been using unconsciously and play your part in the grand scheme."

"How... do I do that?"

"You just need to focus inside..." The Shadow tapped a claw on Wagner's face, causing a small amount of energy to be transferred. Wagner's eyes shot open immediately, he sitting up as if all the pain had gone away.

"Commander!" Wagner turned, seeing Karson and Allison slide down the rocky slopes, having come down to investigate where Wagner had landed.

Wagner opened his mouth to say something but doubled over, gripping his stomach as he felt something wash through him, even more so then when the Shadow had placed his claw on his face.

"Woah! What the hell did you do to him?!" Karson drew his side arm, the Shadow not reacting to it one bit as he just watched Wagner.

"He is feeling the transformation. I'd step back if I were you."

Karson and Allison backed up, watching their commander writhe in pain on the ground. Finally, a bright light materialized around him, blinding each of them as they were forced to step back even further, shielding their eyes.

When they were finally able to remove their arms, they saw a great dragon standing before them, bright silver and grey scales mixed with his old red color, creating a mix of interesting blends, now reflecting the light that was being emanated from the Final Solution. It was the very same dragon they had chased in Valliyor and that had been mysteriously assisting them all these times. Wagner was that dragon! The only difference was that now he was silver, instead of red like before. Did that mean something?

The Shadow didn't say a word now, only walking away from the relay. Karson and Allison both stood up now, looking over what had been Wagner up until now.

"What the...? Wagner is a chosen one...?" Karson asked, completely confused.

"Why can't we turn into dragons, that's badass!" Allison dusted herself off, Wagner shooting her a sort of amused look. He didn't say anything though. They wondered if he was capable of speaking in this current state. Probably not from the looks of it.

He lowered himself, inviting the two to get on. They obliged, sliding onto his back as his massive wings came undone and spread outwards. He flapped the two wings, propelling them high into the air.

---

"Cynder are you alright?" Spyro stood by Cynder who shook herself off, Zephyr having helped her and Aaron back up.

"Yeah, I'm alright." She turned, seeing Malefor getting back up as he snarled at them.

"Come on!" Spyro ushered them forward, the Dark Master looking like he was already ready for more. Spyro was for sure going to let him have it.

This time, however, Malefor charged his body with dark energy, charging into them with great force and knocking them over with ease. Spyro rolled on the catwalk and came back to his feet, firing an arc of electricity that connected with Malefor, causing him to recoil as he formed another barrier to protect against elemental attacks.

Spyro charged another shot, adding more power to it this time. The attack sparked off of his shield, though the force was enough to knock him back more this time.

Malefor dropped the barrier, charging up his own attack. This time they could see sparks of black lightning emanating from his attack though they were unable to react once he unleashed this new blast. This new attack arced towards Spyro with no ways to dodge. It was like a homing attack, and it hit with lethal precision. It suspended Spyro in the air for a few seconds while the energy transferred through him, causing the young dragon to yell out in tremendous pain.

"Spyro!" Cynder rushed in to help. Aaron right behind. They found out though, that they attack transferred between creatures. The attack sparked off of Spyro, passing through Cynder and into Aaron, immobilizing both of them as the energy ripped through every nerve in their body.

"Aaron! Cynder!" Zephyr watched helplessly as his friends were being so horrifically besieged by the attack, Hunter growling as well as he stood by too. He readied an arrow, shooting it at Malefor to try to get his attention away from the dragons. His barrier was down, so Hunter's arrow smashed against the dragon's head, near his eye. Malefor shook his head as the arrow snapped against his scales, the attack broken. He turned to Hunter and Zephyr, both back pedaling slightly as they could see him charging another attack.

Suddenly from behind, a bright blue beam contact with his back, blowing the larger purple dragon onto the ground.

Zephyr and Hunter looked, seeing Karson and Allison sitting atop a large silver dragon, it bearing a strong resemblance to one Spyro had told them about, and one that had apparently been following them.

Karson pulled up his rail gun, firing a shot at Malefor as he tried to get up, blowing him back a bit. Allison's rifle was on her back, she flinging her arms forward and unleashing ice shards with each graceful swipe. The shards smashed against Malefor's scales, causing him to snarl at the two.

Wagner didn't give Malefor time to react. He reared his head back and unleashed a bright blue beam at Malefor. The Dark Master brought up a shield to protect him against the blast, but the energy blew right past it and impacted him head on. Malefor was sent flying right off of the cat walk and down into the Atrium down below.

By now, Spyro had gotten back up along with Cynder and Aaron, seeing their new ally.

"That's him! That's the dragon!" Spyro said, seeing the dragon in his full scope now. Both Karson and Allison sat on his back, both at ease. But, where was Wagner? Spyro was confused. The dragon flapped his mighty wings, landing on the catwalk and letting the two off. He waved his head down towards the Atrium, as if telling them something. They both nodded and headed back down.

Spyro had no clue what was going on.

"I see you've gained a new friend young dragon, you won't last either..."

They all turned, seeing the Dark Master pull himself back up, panting.

"Dark Master, you're at the end of your ropes!" A new booming voice said.

They looked up, seeing Terrador, Cyril and Volteer swoop in at this time, all hovering above the catwalk.

"Terrador! Cyril! Volteer! You guys made it!" Cynder exclaimed with great glee in her voice.

"It's good to see you too young one. We barely made it out of Warfang. His blasted armies kept their attack up, but we ultimately prevailed." Terrador said with a huff at the end, as if to smite Malefor. He only snarled in return.

"Yes, and now I do believe it is time to end this, once and for all." Volteer added in.

Spyro smiled and nodded. With their combined force, Malefor had no chance of winning.

"You will all fail! I conquered these realms two times over and I shall do it a third!" Malefor reared his head back, firing another crack of dark lightning. Volteer countered with his own powerful attack, deflecting it. Terrador landed, slamming his two front feet on the ground, sending a powerful shockwave that blew Malefor off of his feet. Malefor flapped his wings, trying to regain himself, finding his wings frozen by Cyril as he made a pass. The large dragon crashed hard on the catwalk, getting back to his feet and shaking his head.

"My turn..." He said.

He dashed forward, sending a blast into Cyril as he flew low. Cyril flew back to avoid it, though this opened him up for a follow up attack that nailed him right in the chest. Terrador flew over, firing a blast of energy that send Malefor back a bit. He snarled, grabbing onto Cyril who was now in a free fall following the blow moments before and tossed him directly into Terrador.

The two almost hit Volteer head on but the Guardian leapt back to avoid the impact, firing another crack electricity Malefor's way. Spyro and the others joined in by now too, Spyro unleashing a searing jet of fire onto Malefor. Cynder and Zephyr combined their efforts to create a tremendous tornado which snared Malefor in its snares. He tried to escape like he did before, though was open for attacks. Terrador and Cyril both got up now, rushing back over. Wagner fired several bolts of the blue energy at Malefor, the impacts fierce and violent each time they hit.

Finally Malefor broke out, sending a wave of dark energy at them. He flapped his wings to gain more open air for maneuverability. He had to move to open air where he wouldn't be so susceptible to their numbers. Spyro saw this, racing to stop him. Another dark beam pierced the air, narrowly avoiding the dragon as he had to dodge, giving Malefor the few moments he needed to break out from the area between the towers where they had been fighting this whole time.

He flew high, hovering several hundred feet from them as each of them flapped their massive wings in pursuit. The dragons formed an attack formation, each firing their elemental breaths to hit Malefor. He deflected each, trying to repel each one with one of his own. He flew backwards, using one paw to generate a protective shield while using the other to try to use dark energy to catch their breath attacks and fire them right back. This left him free to also fire his dangerous dark energy attacks from his muzzle in addition to his defenses.

The group, spearheaded by Spyro, pushed their assault chasing him all around the edge of the relay. Malefor decided to break off from the relay, flying out towards the jagged peaks that lined the area, swiping his powerful claws and using dark energy to manipulate the rocks around him, shattering them from the mountains and in some cases, suspended a chunk of mountain itself before flinging it at the group.

"Heads up!" Aaron yelled as they dodged the rocks.

"Keep up the pressure, don't let him escape!" Cynder yelled back, using her claws to latch onto an incoming rock and push herself away with her momentum. Wagner broke through several, forming his own shield similar to Malefor's that shattered the rocks on impact. He fired his powerful beam of blue energy, shattering the mountain peak that Malefor had chunked their way, allowing the others to pass in-between the gaps.

The Dark Master waved his arms, more rocks flying from mountains at them. Terrador called upon his power of the Earth, shooting large pillars of rock out of the ground to hit Malefor, he now put on the defensive as he flew from spot to spot, trying to dodge attacks.

Malefor would land on a pillar leaping up, then use his powerful claws to propel himself off of it and towards another, now trying to avoid the elemental attacks that flew in from the formation of dragons. Finally, he sliced each pillar as he passed by, grabbing it with his claws and tossing them at the group.

Spyro flew by Wagner as the two danced in formation, avoiding the rocks as Wagner fired off another beam of powerful energy. Malefor broke formation, however, and swooped low through some mountains straddling the edge of the Burned Lands and the forests that went on for miles until they reached the Mandobar mountain range to the north. Malefor flew low over trees now, narrowly avoiding blasts from Volteer and huge ice shards from Cyril. Aaron and Zephyr tried to pelt him as well but they were dwarfed by the Guardians.

As they continued flying, they noticed Malefor had disappeared.

"Where did he go?!" Aaron asked as the sky was black, almost too black to see one another.
"He's hiding, waiting to spring an ambush. Everyone, scatter, don't cluster together. We'll be easy targets..." Terrador instructed, the others nodding as they drifted away from one another. Wagner was restless however, flying around the group, stopping periodically to scan his surroundings.

What was Malefor up to...?

Spyro continued to scan the ground as well, not seeing anything.

A blast of purple energy exploded behind them, blowing several trees down. They all turned to the source, seeing the fading purple cloud.

At that instant, something hot and piercing hit into Zephyr from behind, causing him to yell loudly as he fell to the ground.

"Zephyr!" Aaron swooped down to catch him.

"Diversion, don't let him fool you!" Terrador spun on a dime, looking to where the beam had originated from.

"There, I see something there!" Cynder pointed to a shadow lurking in the trees, instantly zipping away into the darkness.

"He's playing illusive, trying to divide our numbers. Don't let him overtake us."

"Our prominent numbers is proving to be our liability..." Volteer muttered lowly.

Spyro growled, scanning the ground more furiously now. He could see movement, but it looked like it was all over... but how was that possible?

Wagner did the same, his head jerking from side to side as it appeared he was scanning something before he stopped and reared his head back, firing a blue beam into the tree line, splitting several trees in half.

It didn't appear to have hit anything.

He fired again, in a different area, receiving similar results.

This time, however, a beam fired back.

A crack of black lightning shot forth from near where Wagner had fired, striking Cyril in the chest, the electricity arcing off and impacting Aaron who was nearby.

"Break apart! If we huddle together, one attack will doom us all!" All of them flew farther from one another, firing their attacks to the source of the lightning attack.

"There, I see him there! He is fleeing!" Volteer fired his powerful lightning attack, illuminating the forest and showing Malefor zipping in the tree line.

"There! After him!" Spyro yelled as he flexed his powerful wings before shooting off in pursuit.

They continued to give chase, flying low over the trees as they saw Malefor spin around and fire his powerful beams once more at them. The beam was intended for Spyro and Cynder, who were flying close together. They both dodged the beam, retaliating with their own as Malefor used a nearby tree to avoid the blast. He flexed his powerful claws and winds from above swooped down, slamming a few of them into the ground hard. The Dark Master called upon powerful prevailing winds to halt their advance before he retracted his claws them sent them forward again, red wailing energy searing towards them. The energy collided onto the group, who was dazed from his last attack.

Spyro opened his eyes, seeing a much more massive Malefor before him, snarling as he overtook the entire sky, threatening to crush him like a tiny bug. He clenched his eyes but reopened them, snarling. It was a trick. Spyro let off a discharge of his own energy, which caused the image of the Dark Master to fade back to his regular form that stood in front of him, snarling. Dark lightning sparked from his muzzle as he threw his head forward, unleashing the crackling energy towards him. Spyro leapt to the side, rolling as he discharged some electricity off his body, creating a magnetic shield to protect him from the arcing energy. Sure enough, the black lightning arced his way and contacted his strong magnetic field, causing the black current to split off and slam into the ground around him.

Malefor was undaunted. He instead followed it up with a powerful beam of dark energy. Spyro rolled again, trying to evade. He retaliated by hurling a fireball Malefor's way, only to see the larger dragon stand his ground and shrug off the attack. He was playing with him...

A blue beam split the night around them, slamming into Malefor and sending him several feet back. The dragon from before, Wagner walked over, energy sparking from his muzzle.

Who was he...? Spyro had not witnessed the scene as Karson and Allison had. He still had no idea it was Wagner. Wagner leapt forward to engage the Dark Master, only to have Malefor leap back and unleash his own shadow breath onto the silver dragon.

Cynder flew in now, using her shadow attack on Malefor as she performed a dive bomb attack, swooping high over them and coming back around for another pass.

Malefor tried to swat her from the air but Wagner slammed himself into his side, leaving him open for Cynder's attack. Terrador and Volteer were back up by now, and Aaron and Zephyr were right behind.

Malefor growled as he flapped his wings to fall back once more. The overwhelming firepower from all directions was challenging, even for him... He had to break them up somehow...

He took off again, back towards the relay station as the beam had gotten brighter, replacing the twin moons of the Dragon Realms as the dominant light source in the sky as it had given everything a slight purple hue, even out here miles away from the Final Solution.

The others took off again, in hot pursuit of the Dark Master as he would stop to send an attack their way once in a while. Spyro stayed close on him. He couldn't let him get away... not while they were so close.

As they passed back over the Burned Lands, and were approaching the Final Solution site, Malefor banked back around and used a jagged mountain nearby as cover to launch a retaliatory strike against the group. The others charged head first, but Spyro was surprised Malefor was charging directly at them. He could see the larger dragon cover his body in dark energy before bringing his wings in for a dead bolt charge.

"Scatter! He's going to ram us!" Terrador tried to break with his massive wings but it was far too late. Malefor slammed into the group with the force of a cannon ball, sending all of them tumbling.

Spyro had managed to evade but he watched as the others were sent in an aerial dive down to the ground.

"Cynder! Aaron!" He moved to help them but felt his body lock up. His motions were... slowed. As hard as he tried, he couldn't move anything. Everything around him seemed to slow as well. He managed to turn just enough to see Malefor over him.

"Surprise." He said before slamming his powerful claws into Spyro.

Spyro hit the ground hard, so hard the wind was knocked out of him. The bastard... He had used Dragon Time... His head hit the ground as lost consciousness.

//Error// Connection Lost

-Intermission-