Chapter 1: Prologue

Author's Note:

== [Unpublished Stories]
Original ADGTH Timeline == Flight of Villainy == *The Face of Evil*
== The Sodor Incident

Somewhere in the Mojave Desert...

Shuck. Shuck. Shuck.

This was the sound of the shovel as it dug into the cold, sandy ground. Cold, of course, because this was at night - it would have been far too tiring to do this job in the blazing sun that the Western U.S. is known for - even though the summer was a month away.

"What are you boys playin' at?" barked a loud, harsh voice from behind the holder of the shovel. "If she were still alive, my grandma could dig faster than any of you. Geo-phys says there's one hell of a find down there - come on! Hut-hut-hut!"

In fact, there was not just one man digging, but a five-strong team of shovellers all working on this single hole.

"We really should have brought more water, sir," said one of them, as he unclipped his canteen from his belt. He unscrewed the cap, before pouring what little remained of it down his throat.

In response, the archaeologist took out his own canteen, before saying, "Which one of you is the most thirsty?"

"I am, sir," replied the youngest of the team.

"Well, here you are, you magnificent bastard."

Once the youngest shoveller had had his fill of liquid nourishment, he continued to work the ground.

The shovelling kept on for another half-hour, until...

"Sir! We've hit something!"

"Well, bless my darned soul. It's about time!"

It took another minute to fully reveal the artifact. After that, the six men all peered down into the hole. The archaeologist almost let a manly tear run from his left eye as he carefully lowered himself in.

"At last," he said. "It's finally been discovered..."

He plucked the artifact from the surface, before holding it firmly in both hands. As he stared at it in wonder, however, the object seemed to eerily stare back at him.

"What is it, sir?" the shovellers asked.

"Come on, boys, you know what this is," their boss replied, adopting a more friendly tone as he turned to show them the artifact. "The museum will pay big bucks for this."

Upon hearing this, the team could not help but stare either.

Two weeks later...

One final time, the brown mole in the white coat scratched his head as he peered through his glasses at the schematic on the clipboard. "The last two capacitors go here... and there."

The floor on which he stood, was that of a fairly spacious laboratory, which was situated on a remote tropical island. The lab complex included a hi-tech observatory, and the beaches were dotted with giant pineapple trees. The island rested in an ocean, composed not of water, but of blue, blue sludge, which would drown anyone unfortunate enough to fall into it.

The mole then turned his attention towards the exit archway, which led to the beach outside. The opening had been stacked high with a ring of large, black generator modules, each one fitted with a Tesla coil which pointed towards the centre of the arch. Climbing down from the assembly, was the mole's lab assistant - a monkey wearing a green, tight-fitting suit, with grey boots, red gloves, and a purple helmet. Additionally, he possessed a small laser-blaster, which he kept holstered to his waistband.

"Got any more 'caps' to put in, Prof?" he asked, speaking quickly.

"Yes, Agent 9," the Professor replied. "A quarter-farad for number 2, and another for number 6."

He then walked over to the control desk, and heaved back a pair of blue, over-sized capacitors. The monkey, carrying them one at a time with his prehensile tail, climbed up to fit them into place.

"Nice work, Agent 9," the Professor continued. "Now, could you please go and find our friend, and take him inside? Thank you."

Outside the laboratory, a juvenile purple dragon was sat on his haunches, on a raised rocky surface, overlooking the slimy ocean. A small yellow dragonfly was hovering beside him, and together they watched as the sun slowly sank below the horizon.

"Hey!"

The dragon shuffled around, to see who had spoken.

"The portal mechanism is ready now," Agent 9 continued. "Come on."

Reluctantly, his reptilian friend jumped down from the rock, and, along with his dragonfly companion, followed the suited simian into the laboratory.

Once the Professor had carried out some vital final checks, the experiment was ready to commence. The mole made sure everyone was stood well back, before stepping over to a large power lever.

"Ready?" he said. "Three... two... one... HEAVE!"

The lever clunked heavily into place, and the apparatus steadily began to whir. The capacitors started accumulating charge, and small sparks were now jumping from one Tesla coil to the other.

Soon enough, a small sliver of blue light faded in in the centre of the archway. Within a matter of seconds, the sparking had developed into a blinding ring of arcs, which produced an almost-deafening buzz. After that, the sliver had spread to cover the entire archway, becoming a deep, swirling portal. Unlike the portals that this small company of creatures were familiar with, this one looked more like the eye of a vortex, the coils of the generators still sparking violently as it rotated about its navy-coloured centre.

"Whoaaa..."

As Agent 9 muttered this, the Professor observed that the monkey had moved from his safe spot.

"No, don't! The portal has not stabilised yet!"

"Whazzat?!"

But, just as Agent 9 looked back, a rogue spark shot out, catching him unawares.

"Eeyaaaargh!"

"A-9, no!" said the dragon. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

However, he had spoken too late. By the end of that sentence, the monkey had been swarmed with arcs, which were slowly pulling him in. In response, the reptile charged forward, and grabbed him by the rubber of his boots.

"Mzzz!" ("Nooo!") the dragonfly called behind him, before quickly hiding behind one of the lab's generator domes.

After that, all that could be heard was the grating din of the Tesla arcs. A bright flash then filled the room, and lingered for a full ten seconds...

Once the noise had quietened down, the insect slowly peeked out from his hiding place. Making sure that it was now safe to come out, he did so, and looked towards the archway...

... But it was now empty. There was no sign of the portal, and the coils no longer carried a current.

Hurriedly, he buzzed over to the power lever. He tried to push it, but he was too weak to make it budge.

"Mmmm, mzzzr..." ("Oh, dear...") "Mrr-zrr! Mz-z-zrr! Zrm-zm Mrrm!" ("Spyro! Professor! Agent 9!")

When Spyro, the dragon, opened his eyes again, he was in total darkness. Once he had roused himself, he felt around, but all he could feel was a mound of fabric, and a hard wooden surface.

"Wh-... Where am I?" he said to himself. "Guys? Err... hello?"

After taking a small gulp, he spoke again, louder this time.

"Sparx? Professor? A-9? Can you hear me?"

"What was that?"

Upon hearing this unknown voice, Spyro clasped his clawed front feet over his mouth.

Oops, he thought. Too loud!

"Huh?"

A few seconds later, the dragon could see a small column of light appearing in front of him. He could only watch, rooted to the spot, as the column grew wider and wider.

By the end of it, Spyro knew where he was. He was in a closet; the heap of fabric had been clothing. He could tell that the light was natural, rather than artificial - due to an apparent difference in time zones, it was now the morning.

Spyro looked up at the figure, who now stood between the doors of the closet... and then...

"Aaaaahh!"

"Aaaaaaahhh!"

Author's Note: So, what happened next? Find out in the next chapter!