Alright now, before we begin, I just need to get something out of the way before I forget.

Disclaimer - I own NOTHING of the Spyro franchise. All rights belong to whoever the heck owns them (Activision?). I do, HOWEVER, own any characters I make and/or concepts that I add.

Now, before we begin, I would recommend that you read "Mergence (book 1)" if you haven't already, otherwise you might get a little lost... Anyway, let's begin The Legend of Spyro Mergence: Deception chapter one, everybody. Hope you enjoy. : )

Landing on the ground, it felt as if I just done a belly flop into a pool.

"Can't I go through a portal once without falling?" I moaned in slight pain as I lifted my gaze to look at my surroundings.

No way...

I was back at my school, back in the same place where this whole thing had started. I looked up at the sky. It was about midday; sunny with clouds. Just like last time, I found myself wearing the same clothes that I had left with. At least now, unlike my previous visit, I wouldn't have to constantly wear the same thing every day. I'd done a lot of washing when staying with Scorch...

"Look out!"

Not even having a chance to react, I felt the owner of the voice land on top of me. Even though she wasn't heavy, it felt as if her small weight was trying to hold me down.

"You mind getting off, Ember?" I groaned as I tried getting up, not enjoying the extra weight.

Ember giggled apologetically. "Sorry about that, Haze."

"Geronimo!"

Once again, because I had no time to react, I was helpless as something heavy landed on Ember, adding to the weight and causing me to collapse again.

I merely looked forwards hopelessly. I had to go through the portal first...

"Incoming!"

"Oh boy."

"Watch out!"

I lay pressed to the ground as I felt, one-by-one, Krystal, Cynder and Spyro land on top of each other...on top of me. I whimpered.

"Is everyone alright?" Spyro asked, looking down at everyone.

"Yeah," Cynder answered.

"I'm fine," answered Krystal as well.

Flame and Ember looked upwards. "Ditto."

"Guys..." I wheezed.

"Yeah, what's up?" asked Cynder.

"Crushing lungs...can't breathe..." I found myself barely able to speak.

As the weight on my back quickly reduced, I was able to turn onto my side. I moaned in relief, hands now pressing against my back.

"You okay?" Flame asked.

I felt my eye twitch. "Yeah, back's just broken."

I rolled over onto my stomach so I could look around once more.

"So where are we?" asked Cynder.

I looked at the black dragoness. "My neighborhood. Though, to be more specific, this is the spot where I was originally sent to the Dragon Realms."

"And who is that?" Flame asked with a pointed paw.

Facing in the direction of Flame's paw, I found myself looking at an old friend of mine. My eyes went wide in surprise. "Nick?"

Nick's eyes just scanned the dragons around me, looking as if he was trying to believe what he was seeing. After a moment, his gaze fell to me. "Trent... Where have you...?"

So surprised by what he was seeing, Nick found himself unable to finish his question. I looked at him understandingly. "Uhh, yeah... Long story."

Nick nodded his head very slowly, knowing that it probably was a long story. Though, for the most part, I could tell that he didn't even know what to think right now.

Getting myself up, I turned in the direction of my house before looking back at Nick. "Alright, honestly, I will answer any questions that you have, but first we should probably get to my house before..."

My gaze shifted to the left as people in the tennis courts began to stare at us—or rather, at the dragons. I watched as they each, one by one, starting pulling out their phones.

I sighed in disbelief. Perfect. The one thing that I actually wanted to avoid.

Not wasting any time, I grabbed Nick's arm. "Come on, we need to move."

Luckily, since Nick and I had been friends for so long, he trusted that I knew what I was doing and was okay with tagging along. He nodded.

I looked at Spyro and the others. "Come on, we need to get to my place as quickly as possible."

XXX

Luckily for us, my house wasn't even that far away, and because we ran, it took under a minute for us to get there.

After everyone stepped inside, I immediately shut and locked the door. I leaned against it, eventually sliding down until I was on the floor. Not even two minutes into my world with Spyro and the others, and already around fifteen people had seen us. The thought of it aggravated me.

"Trent, you alright?"

Gazing up, I found Nick with an expression of concern on his face. He knew I was thinking about the people who had just seen us.

I stood back up. "Yeah, fine, was just hoping that we wouldn't draw much attention." I sighed in disappointment. "And what about you?"

Nick smiled in relief. "Honestly, I'm just glad to find you alive after all this time. When I last saw you, you told me that you were headed home, but no one ever saw you again after that. You just...vanished."

I laughed slightly in response. 'Vanished' was an understatement. "That's one way to put it."

Nick crossed his arms as he looked at me curiously. "So...what happened?"

Once more, I leaned my back against the door. "Ignitus happened."

"What do you mean?"

"That day when I was walking home... Ignitus teleported me to the Dragon Realms. He told me that I was needed to help Spyro prevent the resurrection of the Dark Master."

Nick turned and took a quick glance at Spyro and the others. They were curiously exploring their new surroundings. He faced me once more. "Alright, then... So...should I assume that, because you're here along with them, that you succeeded?"

Lowering my head, I felt a wave of depression wash over me. "No, we actually failed to prevent his revival, but fortunately, not long after that, I was able to defeat him."

Not getting any response, I looked back up to find Nick in disbelief. "Alright, so you're telling me that you single-handedly defeated Malefor, aka the Dark Master?"

"Well, I wasn't the only one who fought him, but in the end, yeah, I was the one who beat him," I remarked.

Nick merely raised a brow in response. I could tell that he was curious as to how I was able to beat Malefor. Though to be perfectly honest, if I had been in his position, I would have probably asked the same thing.

I scratched the back of my head. "It's a long story..." To be honest, I didn't even know where to begin.

Nick opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey, Haze!"

We both turned to Flame, who was looking out the living room window. "What are those things outside with the flashing red and blue colors?"

Quickly making my way over to the window, I looked out to find three or four cop cars in the driveway.

I looked at the cars nervously. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." Pulling away from the window, I threw my hands on top of my head. "For fuck's sake!"

"Who are they?" Spyro asked.

I looked at Spyro before sitting down on a nearby chair. "Police... People who help maintain the law."

"They're probably here because you're finally back," Nick reasoned.

Leaning forwards, I looked at my friend unconvinced. "Yeah, or they're here because fifteen people saw walking, talking dragons!" I fell back into the chair.

Nick held his hands up in question. "Maybe not."

"Trent Silver, this is the police. We just want to talk. We've received reports that you have brought some unknown animals into your house. We just want to confirm if they are dangerous or not."

I glared at Nick, pointing towards the window, proving my point. He looked away. "Or they could be here for the dragons..."

With a heavy sigh, I looked at the ceiling, trying to figure out what to do.

"Aren't you going to talk to them?"

I gazed over at Flame. "Can't."

"How come?" Ember asked.

Shifting my focus to Ember, frustration filled my mind. "What am I supposed to tell them? That the unknown animals I have in the house are dragons from another world who can control elements?"

I watched as Ember's face turned sad. "Look, I'm sorry, alright. I'm just frustrated that this happened, and I guarantee you that this won't end with a simple conversation."

"So what's the plan?" Nick asked.

Standing up, I found everyone except Cynder looking at me. "Can only think of one thing to do right now... Go out the back door and hope not to get caught."

Once more, I found my gaze drawn to Cynder. "Cynder, come on, we have to move."

"But there's someone out there talking to the police," Cynder replied.

Curious, I went over to the window to see who was there with the police. They had on a red sweatshirt and blue jeans.

What's he doing here?

XXX

The man grinned. "Officer, look, those things which people have been calling animals are nothing more than stuffed toys that I gave him to try and get his mind off it. Kid was kidnapped for over a month and he's just trying to cope with it. You being here is not going to make things any better."

The police officer looked at the man skeptically. "Can you promise us that he will talk within the next few days?"

The man nodded. "Not a problem. Just, all he needs right now is to forget about it."

The officer sighed hesitantly as he got into his car along with the others. "Well, if anything, thanks for helping him out."

The man grinned. "Anytime."

XXX

I watched as all the cop cars began to exit the driveway one-by-one and leave. Once they were all gone, the man in the red sweatshirt turned around and looked at us through the window, putting his hands into his jean pockets he walked to the front door. "It's alright, Trent, the baddy bad cops are gone."

I smiled in sheer amazement as I went to open the front door. "Do you have to make an entrance, Scorch?"

Walking past, Scorch looked at me, amused. "Hey, why the heck not?"

As he entered the living room, his gaze wandered to the creatures that stood in front of him. Like Nick, he had never seen Spyro and the others before. "Talk about a full house," Scorch commented before turning to Nick. "And you are?"

"I'm Nick."

Scorch looked over at Krystal. He'd never seen her before, either. "And you?"

"Krystal," the white and blue dragoness answered.

Scorch stared at the two for a moment before going over and sitting down on the living room couch. Like before, he didn't really seem to have a care in the world—well, aside from wanting to protect Avalar.

I made my way to the couch opposite of the one he sat on and sat down, eying him curiously. "Not that I object to you being here, but...why are you here?"

Scorch leaned forward. "I'm here to help you track down Archer and Reaper."

Nick approached the both of us with a puzzled face. "Archer and who?"

"Archer and Reaper, the two dragons who killed Malefor," Scorch answered.

Nick now looked at me, confused. "I thought you said you defeated the Dark Master?"

I gazed at Nick. "I said I defeated him, never said I killed him."

"Oh... Well... Then why did they kill him and then come here?" Nick asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Scorch beat me to it. "They didn't just kill the Dark Master, they stole his power."

Surprised by his response, I shifted my focus back to Scorch and gave him a curious look. "So, I'm guessing John told you?"

Scorch nodded as he leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms. "Yeah, he told me."

"So... Why would they steal his power?" Nick asked.

"You think it has to do that thing they were talking about? The thing that belonged to the Original as they called it?" I added.

Scorch looked down at the carpet beneath his feet. "From what John has told me, I can only conclude this... They said that, in order to revive the Ancient One, they need to get back what was taken from him, but they also took Malefor's power. It's like a toy that lost its battery and without it, it won't work."

I leaned forward anxiously, following his train of thought. "But the battery they're looking for must not have juice, hence why they stole Malefor's power."

"Because Malefor's power can energize the battery, which, in turn, can revive the Original," Nick finished.

Scorch only nodded in agreement.

"Sorry, but I've never heard of the Original before." The three of us turned our attention over to Spyro and the others, who were now standing around looking lost.

"I'm not at all surprised by that," Scorch replied.

Cynder stepped forward. "Why's that?"

Scorch simply turned away and looked out the window without giving a response. Flame scowled. "So, what, you're not going to tell us?"

Scorch didn't move at all. "There's nothing much to tell, and besides, it's not really something you would be glad to know about."

I had to admit that I was a little taken back by Scorch's statement, but then I remembered how John hadn't been overly excited to talk about it, either. I stared seriously at Scorch. "Alright, before I left back to Avalar, you told me that I would be able to ask questions later. So, tell me, who is the Original?"

Scorch closed his eyes before sighing deeply. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it but he knew we wouldn't let it go. Getting off the couch, he looked me straight in the eye. "You really want me to tell you? Fine, I'll tell you tomorrow."

With that irritated response, he left into the next room.

XXX Timelapse XXX

After Scorch left, it was pretty quiet over the course of the next two hours. Scorch stayed in the kitchen while the rest of us stayed in the play room, main room and so on, watching TV. During that time, Nick and I got most of our entertainment from Spyro and the others, who were mesmerized by the moving pictures on the screen. I laughed silently as they each tried talking to the characters who were on the screen, though the enjoyment soon ended when Spyro almost blasted the TV with fire after seeing the villain in one of the shows.

"So, there's nothing we can do to help them?" Ember asked.

I shook my head. "There's nobody to help. It's all acting; part of a story to entertain people."

Cynder frowned. "I don't see how people find another's suffering entertaining."

I scratched the back of my head, trying to figure out a response that wouldn't lead into an argument. "It's not so much for entertainment as it is for building tension and suspense, since, in the end, the good guy does usually win."

Krystal looked at me, puzzled. "Usually?"

"Yeah, depends on the story and what he or she is fighting for and what they have to lose. In some stories, the good guy wins but sacrifices their life to do so," I answered.

Krystal smiled, intrigued. "I get it. So it's like to keep people interested in the story, right?"

I smiled back. "Yeah, pretty much."

Not much later after we had been watching TV, Scorch ordered Pizza for dinner, saying it would be simpler than trying to cook everyone a meal, which surprised me since I never knew he could cook. Once more, Nick and I couldn't help but silently laugh as we watched the others try to eat their slices. I could only guess that Scorch forgot that Spyro and the others didn't have opposable thumbs. To my surprise, though, they eventually began to use the stems of their wings to lift the pizza slices to their mouths. Really had to give them credit for creativity.

Flame fell backwards, full. "Wow, for something that's not meat, that sure was good."

"Yeah, just wish that it didn't grease up my wings," Cynder complained as she rubbed her wings against the carpet floor.

Spyro looked at Scorch and me curiously. "So, should we start moving? To try and find Archer and Reaper?"

I also looked at Scorch, since I got the feeling he already had plan.

"There's not much we can do right now, so for tonight we'll rest here and head out in the morning. Since humanity is big with sharing news through media, it's only a matter of time before someone spots those two and begin talking about it," Scorch explained.

"So, basically, we're going to use the news channels to find out where they are and where they're going," I simplified.

Scorch took a sip of beer. "Exactly."

I stood up and stretched. "Well, if that's the case, then I'm going to get some sleep. Lord only knows how much we might be traveling around tomorrow."

Going up the stairs, I found Nick following behind me. "You want the spare mattress?" I asked.

"Do you even have to ask?"

My bed was actually two-in-one. There was the main bed, which was on top, and a second bed which could be pulled out from underneath.

XXX General POV XXX

Cynder watched as Nick entered Trent's room along with him. She turned to Ember and Krystal. "Don't know about you, but I'm also going to bed. Found another two beds upstairs; anyone want to come with?"

Ember stood up. "Yeah, I'm beat. Goodnight, Flame."

Flame looked at Ember and smiled. "Night, Ember."

Cynder leaned her head against Spyro's. "Night, Spyro," she said softly.

"Good night, Cyn," Spyro replied as he watched her start up the stairs.

Krystal followed as the two dragonesses went up the stairs. Once at the top, she stopped for a moment and looked over into Trent's room before turning back towards Cynder and Ember. They had walked down the hallway and entered the left room.

"You alright, Krystal?"

Turning around, she found Trent standing in the doorway. He looked tired.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, just wanted to say goodnight," she quickly replied, feeling embarrassed.

Trent smiled. "Sweet dreams, Krystal," he said before going back into the room.

Hearing those words, Krystal felt her spirits lift as she turned and went down the hallway to join Cynder and Ember.

Flame yawned and followed it with stretch. "Well, I'm hitting the couch in the main room. You coming, Spyro?"

Spyro nodded as he too yawned. "Right behind you."

As Flame went off into the next room, Spyro shifted his gaze to Scorch. "You getting sleep too?"

Scorch grinned as he stared out the window at the night sky. "In a little bit. You go on ahead."

Trusting his word, Spyro shrugged before going to join Flame in the next room. After he left, Scorch took another sip of his beer. "Maybe if I'm lucky, they'll forget all about the Original..."

Well, I have to say that I'm actually very happy with how this chapter turned out. The first chapter of this book actually ended up being longer than the first chapter of book 1. : D

Now I'm going to say right now that Deception will be shorter than book 1. As of now, I only plan to have about 8-9 chapters max. Though, considering how many characters I need to voice for...that itself might make each chapter pretty lengthy, but we'll see.

Few things before I go:

- In honest god, thanks Riverstyxx for beta(ing)

- PLZ Review X )

- Like in the previous book, you can check progress of future updates on my profile

- Am working to try and get a cover for Deception... hopefully it won't be as long this time...