DRAGON HEROES

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Cynder's Nightmare

Chapter 1 – Horrific Defeat

"Cynder, help me!"

"Hang on, Draco! I'm coming!"

Cynder quickly hurried to rescue Draco who was captured and held hostage in the Pyre Squad's latest contraption. They've been fighting them out in the wilderness. The three troublesome dragons laughed wickedly as she came right in front of them.

"We've got your Charizard buddy, Princess!" taunted Ciara. "Surely you can't be able to beat us all by yourself now!"

"Yeah, you might as well give it up if you know what's good for him!" added Scorcher.

"Stop this at once, Pyre Squad!" shouted Cynder. "I'm not afraid to use my Shadow Brooch so I can change to my Alpha form and defeat you!"

"Go right ahead and do it!" laughed Cronk. "But let me tell you, Princess, you're still hopelessly outmatched! Our machine can dish out anything you deliver!"

"You're asking for it!" hissed Cynder, and with that she took out her Shadow Brooch and fastened it on her coat. With that, the energy of the Dusk Gems contained within the brooch coursed through her entire body. Gritting her teeth as she felt her strength increasing, Cynder's body flashed rapidly before the dark purple aura emanated around her. Soon, her body glowed into a bright pinkish hue, completing her transformation to her Alpha form. She now felt ready to take out the Pyre Squad once and for all.

"Go on ahead," said Ciara. "We await your first move."

"I'll show you what I can do!" exclaimed Cynder, and she desperately charged up towards their machine. The Twilight Storm delivered rapid blows of scratches and tail whips, but no matter how much she inflicted, it did not leave on the machine's heavy armour.

The Pyre Squad laughed maniacally. "Is that all you've got?" they jeered.

"If my claws and tail can't do anything to your ugly machine, then I'm gonna try to incinerate you with my plasma bursts!" declared Cynder.

"Let's see if you can do just that," said Scorcher nastily. "You should know by now that you are just wasting your time and energy trying to defeat us."

Bravely, Cynder delivers a barrage of plasma bursts at the Pyre Squad, but not even that did any damage to their machine. They continue to laugh at her futile efforts.

"Cynder!" called Draco. "Try to ram them with your dive bomb! Maybe that will stop them in their tracks and free me from their grasp!"

Without wasting any time, Cynder resorted to her dive bomb. She assumed a bullet position and rocketed towards the Pyre Squad's machine after charging her attack towards its peak power. The collision caused a massive friction that lasted for several seconds. Unfortunately, not even the dive bomb attack was efficient enough to destroy the machine as Cynder was knocked backwards, and she reeling from the pain in her head.

"Darn it!" she pouted. "What's wrong? I can't give up now!"

"Tough break, Princess!" cackled Ciara. "You just don't get it, do you? We have finally won this fight!"

Cynder struggled with as much strength as she had left. She floated upward to face the Pyre Squad's machine, wondering how she would be able to take it out now.

"There must be another to defeat this monstrosity," she groaned. "But I seem to be running out of ideas."

"That's what happens when you try to take us on by yourself," mocked Scorcher. "You clearly don't have a backup plan, do you?"

"You're wrong," hissed Cynder. "I will soon figure out how to stop you and reduce your contraption to scrap iron!"

"Oh, really?" asked Cronk. He pushed a button which made the giant robot reach out with its left arm and roll it into a fist. In the blink of an eye, it landed a hit on Cynder and she was sent crashing into the ground.

"No! Cynder!" gasped Draco in horror.

It seemed as if Cynder was knocked out, but slowly she strugged to get up. She felt her body aching very badly. The Twilight Storm tried to attack the Pyre Squad's machine, but the robot unleashed a barrage of glue-like substance. Just before Cynder could evade, a giant wad of the slime trapped her. She tried to get out, but found that she couldn't move. Cynder was stuck.

"Well, well, it seemed the Twilight Storm Princess has been swamped," said a voice.

Cynder turned around, and to her dismay, there was Queen Vildouleur standing in front of her with a nasty grin on her face.

"You foul, cruel, evil fiend!" she spat as she struggled unsuccessfully. "I won't let you get away with this!"

"How I love it when you give me such delicious compliments," retorted Vildouleur. "I could really consider you as my personal right-hand dragon."

"I will never join you, Vildouleur!" hissed Cynder. "Not in my whole life!"

Queen Vildouleur. "Oh, but you will," she replied. "For you see, you just don't know it, and even if you did, you will continue to deny it. It is your destiny to join the Obsidian Devourers. Face it, Princess, it's all over! This world is mine!"

"You and the Pyre Squad better let go of Draco right now!" shouted Cynder.

"You have paid the price for your stubbornness and your insistence on working alone," said Queen Vildouleur as she drew closer to the Twilight Storm princess. "For that, you shall join my cause, and I will force you to follow my every whim. Once you're in my power, your first target will be your Charizard friend."

"You wouldn't dare!" shrieked Cynder, feeling very frightened. "I won't do it!"

"Resist it, Cynder!" called out Draco. He tried to get himself out of the Pyre Squad's grasp, but it was no good. Their robot held its grip tightly on him.

"It's too late for you now, Princess" said Vildouleur as she laughed evilly. "Prepare to become part of the master dragon race as I cast my mind control spell on you!"

Queen Vildouleur chants an incantation and then unleashes a torrent of shadowy claws that stream rapidly towards Cynder, who flailed hopelessly as the goo sucked her in.

"CYNDER!" cried Draco.

Cynder could only scream in horror as there was nothing she could do to free herself from the goo trap.

In an instant, the shadowy claws engulfed her.

Then everything went black.


Author's Note: Uh-oh, it looks as if Cynder has been mind controlled by the Dark Queen! Could this be the end?