Chapter 1: A dragon, a snake and a cat wake up in a forest

"Ugh... My head..." Spyro the Dragon groaned as he opened his eyes and took note of the area around him. The small purple dragon stood up and gulped. "What the... Where the hell am I?" He exclaimed. "Cynder?! Sparx?! Hunter?! Anyone?!" Charging through the thick, lush forest, he kept calling out, hoping to find someone or something to tell him where he was, when suddenly, his legs went as he tripped over something small and long, and was sent tumbling into a tree. "Ouch!" He grunted as he shook his head, wondering what he had fallen over.

"Hey? Are you okay dude?" Came a voice from somewhere nearby. Spyro looked down to see a blue snake, specifically a cobra with a strange gem-like device in his forehead, looking up at him. It seemed friendly, and spoke in an exotic accent.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks." He replied, sitting in front of the snake. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

"Nah. I'm good." The snake smiled, coiling up a little and rising up so his head was the same height as Spyro's.

"Who are you exactly?" He asked, secretly happy he had found another creature, although he was a little saddened that it wasn't someone he knew.

"I'm Ajar. Who are you?"

"Spyro. Spyro the Dragon. Do you have any idea where we are, Ajar?"

The snake shrugged. Well, as best as a creature without shoulders can shrug. "I haven't a clue. Last thing I remember was being in the desert with my family and then I woke up here."

"That's weird. The same thing happened to me." Spyro replied, looking around.

The quiet between the two creatures was broken by a sudden feminine scream. Both Spyro and Ajar jumped up and headed towards the noise, only to be confronted by a naked cat-girl, with bright crimson eyes, smooth brown skin and a mouth full of sharp teeth, not to mention the same device as Ajar in her chest.

"Oh my~" Spyro giggled, blushing slightly as he eyed her curvaceous body.

"Ahhhhh!" The cat-girl squealed, ducking for cover behind a bush. "Don't just stand there staring at me!"

"Why not? You have an amazing body~" Ajar grinned, blushing as well.

"Because it is rude, you perverted reptiles!" Came the reply from the bush. "P-please help me find my robe. It must be nearby."

"Okay. Just calm down. I'm Spyro by the way."

"And I'm Ajar."

The cat-girl poked her head out of the bush. "I'm Taokaka..." She replied.

Just as Spyro and Ajar started looking around, a hologram appeared suddenly in front of them. It was of a rather fearsome looking creature, pitch black with glowing blue eyes and an evil smile on his face. "Ahhhhhh..." He said in a cold, raspy voice that sounded almost reptilian. "You're all together..." Then the smile disappeared from his face. "Took you long enough. Hehehe..."

"And who the fuck are you, freak?!" Spyro bellowed, snarling at the creature with such ferocity that Ajar backed up a little.

"Hehehe... Such anger... Understandable for a creature of lower intelligence like you... My name is Alset. And I am the reason you are here." He grinned.

"Where the hell exactly is here?" Taokaka asked, still hidden behind the bush. Only her head was visible from outside the foliage, a leaf perched on her large pointed ear.

"You are inside what is basically a computer game. Potentially the most advanced computer game in existence." Alset replied, smirking.

"And how do we get home then?" Ajar asked, clearly angry at the mysterious creature..

"All you have to do is beat the game. Simple as that. You must travel across this world, rescuing the other people stuck in this game with you, and reach my lab, which is hidden on the other side of the world." Alset explained.

"Sounds simple. What's the catch?" Spyro replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Hehehe... The catch is that if you die in the game, you die for real. Anything that happens to your Cyber-body will happen to your real body, and vice-versa."

"What?!" Ajar exclaimed, his jaw open in shock.

"How do we know you aren't bluffing?!" Spyro yelled, his rage growing.

"I'm so glad you asked. Observe." Alset smiled, walking across his room to what looked like Spyro in some kind of chair, with arm, leg and tail restraints keeping him down and a very futuristic looking helmet atop his head. Alset pressed his hand down on the throat of the real Spyro, and insantly Spyro started coughing and spluttering.

"Agghhh!" He choked, falling to the floor and clutching at his throat as Alset increased his pressure on the dragons throat.

"Stop it, Alset! You're going to kill him!" Ajar yelled, rushing to the helpless dragons side.

"Hehehe..." Alset laughed, increasing the pressure even more, causing the dragon eyes to roll back in his head somewhat. Only when Spyro's eyes were practically popping out of his head did Alset let go, leaving Spyro coughing and spluttering as he clambered back to his feet.

"You sadistic bastard!" He growled, rubbing his throat. "When I find you, I'm gonna show you the true meaning of pain!"

"Im guessing you now see that this isn't a joke. The devices on your bodies act as your inventory and your guide. If you have any questions, consult those devices." Alset added, before disappearing. Ajar was checking Spyro's throat for damage as the hologram ended.

"You sure you're okay? That looked pretty bad..." Taokaka said softly, inspecting her device.

"Yeah... I'm good. Alset has just made an enemy..." Spyro seethed, before turning his attention to the device on his chest. They were all identical, looking like a small crystal, only flat and unimaginably shiny. Spyro tapped his with his claw, and made no mark on it at all.

"How do we use these damn things? There's no menu or anything." Spyro remarked. The second he said Menu, a small hologram appeared in front of him, showing a menu with Spyro's name, species, status and a load of other information.

"Whoa!" Ajar smiled, examining his own menu. "Map. Inventory?"

"The Inventory im guessing keeps track of our items. There's also a couple of sections that are greyed out. Missions and Shop." Spyro added, reading the names aloud, before looking at the map. It showed only the tiny area they had travelled along, and had three icons on it, one for Spyro, one for Ajar and one for Taokaka.

"No duh." Taokaka remarked, still hiding in her bush. "If you two are done faffing around with those things maybe you could FIND MY GOD DAMN CLOAK!"

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Sorry Taokaka." Ajar smiled, closing the menu.

"It's gotta be around here somewhere." Spyro smirked, looking around. "Let's go, Ajar. We'll be back soon, Taokaka. Stay here and stay safe."

"Okay... Please hurry... It's getting cold..." She replied, watching them disappear out of sight, before receding back into the bush.