Voyagers Saga

The Sundered World

Chapter 1: Rude Re-Entry

Janeth walked through the halls of the Shar-Virks' new ship. "That idiot's going to get us all killed," he muttered, arriving at Taleth's quarters, knocking.

"Go away," said Taleth's voice, not putting as much force into it as usual.

"Sir, she's gone again. This time she took one of the shuttles," said Janeth through the door.

"Does it sound like something that warrants my concern?" asked Taleth's voice dryly.

"Yes...if she's caught, she could lead any number of enemies to us. The crew still haven't got the weaponry online," said Janeth with a sigh.

"Do you know where she's gone this time?" asked Taleth tiredly.

"We have the shuttles all tagged. She's headed for Avalar." said Janeth

Taleth sighed before saying, "Yes that is concerning now. Find her before she does something foolish that we'll all be paying for."

"Sir...are you sure? It might be easier to cut our losses with her..." began Janeth, only for Taleth to snap. "AND GIVE THAT TRAITOR ANOTHER NOTCH ON HIS BLADE? NEVER!"

"Alright, alright, I shall recover her as quickly as possible," said Janeth.

"Be quick about it," said Taleth darkly.

...

The gang's new ship's shields flared as a plasma beam bounced off it, the few remaining Starfuries the gang possessed firing at the closing NSC cruiser.

A second beam perforated one of the fighters and smashed into the main ship.

On board everyone grabbed onto something. "We gotta shoot back or we'll never get to make the last jump!" yelled Techo.

"We can't just fire back on our old comrades!" yelled Matt before the ship shook again as the shields took another volley.

"They don't have any problems with that!" snapped Chris.

"Warning...shields offline...armor at 56 percent…" said the computer, causing Matt to sigh.

"Chris...fire rear guns," he said gloomily.

...

The gang's ships rear turrets blazed. Phase cannons hadn't been used since before the NSC began...as such, the pursuing cruiser's defenses didn't stand a chance, the cruiser shuddering under the impacts before exploding.

...

Matt simply walked out of the control center as the bridge crew began to send recall orders to the remaining fighters. "Hey Techo. You ever meet Stephen Murphy? Gunnery trainer at CPS?" asked Chloe, watching the last of the pursuing cruiser break up.

"Any relation to Slughead Murphy?" asked Techo.

"Brother, guy retired, last we heard he was given command of a NSC medium range cruiser..." said Chloe, nodding out the window to the ship.

"You don't think that was just any other cruiser, do you?" asked Techo morbidly.

"Not a chance," said Chloe grimly as the nameplate of the destroyed ship floated by.

Techo sighed and said, "That's the thing about civil war. Often you'll be fighting family of friends, old friends, or even just plain family."

"Ready for jump to...hey this can't be right, the computer says it's got a clear run to Avalar...no wormhole...this junkpile's got a rip engine!" said Chris, swearing as he realized what the readout meant.

"As in we could have zipped straight to Avalar without having to stop and fight?" asked Techo, sounding more morbid.

"Don't think so, think it's got a range," said Chris, Chloe saying darkly "Use it."

"I assume you're all familiar with basic rip engine safety," said WARDEN over the comm.

"Incoming jump points," said the ship's secondary AI, several NSC cruisers warping into vision.

"Never mind!" yelped Chris, hitting the confirm bottom...and reality seemed to become unhinged at the seams for a second, the view outside the ship seeming to melt into a kaleidoscope of color before solidifying into a fractured planet's orbit.

"Destination reached," said WARDEN, "I shall wait for a few minutes while you recover from the quantum whiplash."

"That tingled," groaned Chloe, before an Atlantean ship flew past the viewport.

"I think Zara's gonna yell at you again," said Techo cheerfully.

...

Matt would have hoped that Zara would have stepped down from her position as Fire Guardian during the time they've been away. But she was still at her job and hadn't mellowed one bit.

"I saw the news. They're saying you're terrorists...and given you appeared with wreckage around you from your own ships I'm willing to believe them!" snapped Zara angrily.

"Hey, they were the ones who joined sides with the Empire," said Matt, "That wreckage was caused by self-defense."

"They made peace with an enemy, that's politics," snapped Zara angrily.

"Peace with an enemy? Are you forgetting that it was those creeps that set Malefor and his generals loose after they were sealed up in the core?" asked Matt, "How could anyone possibly make peace with them?"

"Just what I'd expect a warrior to say. Needless to say, the Council is debating what should be done with you and your fellow rebels," said Zara loftily.

"Please tell me this someone's horrible idea for a joke," groaned Matt.

"It is not. We just got out of a war with Malefor, we do not need another. We're still rebuilding Warfang," snapped Zara.

"This might not seem like the right time, but I have an offer that should increase the rebuilding speed dramatically," said Chip, "My team of expertly-skilled construction robots can have your city rebuilt, refortified, and upgraded to the highest available standards in no more than a week. And we have a very special discount of 60% off for the first month and 40% off for the second month."

Matt glared. "CHIP! THIS IS NOT SALES PITCH TIME...what's with the discounts though?" he asked.

"The Constructions were stuck on a barren moon for months," said Chip, "They're all but completely stir crazy and practically begging for any work they can get."

Zara glared at Matt before saying, "Leave your little robot here and we will discuss such a deal. You can leave."

"I'm a cyborg," said Chip, a tiny bit annoyed.

"I don't care," said Zara calmly.

...

Matt stomped out of the room and ran into Spyro. Since the Dark Ones had annihilated Warfang, most of the dragons had moved into the Atlantean colony with Morgan and the remaining Atlanteans. "Er, I guess Zara didn't have anything nice to say," said Spyro.

"Nope, the Council's having a vote on if they should giftwrap me to McNeil or not," said Matt bitterly, looking around.

"No Cynder?" he asked curiously, shifting to dragon form to meet Spyro eye to eye.

"Well, no, she's back home," said Spyro.

Matt raised an eye ridge as he realized. "Well, well...you sly dog, you," he said with a grin as they walked away from Zara's quarters.

"Yeah, shame you couldn't be here for the mating ceremonies," said Spyro.

"I've had my own share of problems. We found Kala by the way," said Matt.

"Oh great, er, she's not still Kai, is she?" asked Spyro.

"Nope, all cured in that aspect," said Matt happily.

"Great, so, have you two done your mating ceremony yet?" asked Spyro.

Matt nearly choked at that. "Dude...really? Humans don't ask that sort of thing," he managed.

"Well, you're not completely human, are you? You're part dragon," said Spyro before sniffing Matt and said, "And part something else apparently."

"Is there a neon sign over my head?" said Matt gloomily.

"Well, your magic level has increased pretty dramatically," said Spyro, "Any dragon or magic user could pick that up."

"Wonderful. Anyway, Kala's having to go through the same mental tests I had. Dunno when she'll be finished but I was told no visitors," said Matt.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," said Spyro, "So, if you're not too busy, you wanna come by my place?"

"Sure, I don't think we're going anywhere. We're gonna wait, see if anyone else makes it here," said Matt, cheerfully.

...

As they were flying to Spyro's home, they were joined by Chloe. She seemed in a right cheery mood now that she was back on Avalar. After a few minutes, Matt said "Ok, who's injured? You're grinning so that means someone else is unhappy."

"Who says that I have to hurt someone to be happy?" said Chloe, "I'm just thrilled to be back here and among dragons who appreciate us."

"Xephros tried to hit on you, didn't he?" said Matt bluntly.

"He bit off more than he can chew, so I gave him enough of a toothache to discourage that," said Chloe happily.

"Ouch," winced Matt before Chloe looked at Spyro.

"So...how have you and Cynder been?" she asked.

"You'll see in just a minute," said Spyro.

The trio flew round to see they'd crossed the city's perimeter wall to see several Warfang style houses just outside the city. "Interesting digs," said Matt cheerfully, looking down to see dozens upon dozens of dragons of all sizes walking or flying around

"We've had to expand quite a bit with all the new dragons," said Spyro, "I believe there has been talk about sending off some dragons to found a new city to keep Warfang from overpopulating."

"How is the rebuilding going? Those things did a number on it," said Matt casually.

"Well, the Atlanteans have been helping out a lot, but they've also been busy with their own construction," said Spyro, "It might take quite some time until Warfang's completely restored."

"Chip might help with that," said Matt carefully as the trio began to descend towards a home near the outskirts

"Chip? How so?" asked Spyro.

"I'll tell you later," said Matt, "First I wanna see Cynder."

"Oh?" said Matt, as they landed on the house's balcony.

"Just give me a minute to let her know you're here," said Spyro, "She tends to be a bit...overprotective when surprised."

The Lynches waited as Spyro went inside as Chloe looked out at the dragon homes. "This feels a little wrong. I can see at least one species not being represented," she said carefully.

"Would that be the cheetahs or the moles?" asked Matt.

"No...the wyverns," said Chloe looking around.

"Those guys? I thought they would have moved to the mainland by now," said Matt.

"Me too," said Chloe darkly.

"We'll have to check up on them once things have calmed down a bit," said Matt.

Spyro came out at that "You can come in now." he said

Matt and Chloe walked in and soon found Cynder crouched in front of the fireplace. At her side was a straw nest with a single large purple egg in the center of it. "Matt, Chloe, it's good to see you again," said Cynder.

Matt nodded "Good to see you two are ok as well." he said cheerfully as Chloe went up to the egg. "Aw…so cute..." she said getting a goofy smile, Spyro rolling his eyes

"Yes it is and I think it won't be too long before it hatches," said Cynder proudly.

Chloe just smiled happily she and Cynder starting to chat while Matt said "Hey...Spyro. Could we talk outside? Something Chloe mentioned is bugging me."

"Certainly," said Spyro who looked a bit relieved to get away from the girl talk.

Once outside, Matt asked "So...where are the wyverns?" Matt asked bluntly once they were outside, a couple of passing dragons pausing at that

"The wyverns?" asked Spyro, "As in those two-legged dragons?"

"Yeah," said Matt.

"Well, they don't live here," said Spyro.

"Why? There's plenty of room here," said Matt.

"Well, the other dragons don't really like them," said Spyro.

"Oh...why?" asked Matt.

One of the watching dragons glared at that, "Why are you talking about those monsters like that?"

Matt turned and asked, "When did they get categorized as 'monsters'?"

"When they went around murdering innocent normal dragons," said the second dragon loftily.

"When was that? When your parents were telling you to be good little hatchlings?" asked Matt skeptically.

The two dragons growled angrily before backing down at a glare from Spyro. After the dragons left, Spyro said, "The wyverns weren't completely unknown to us before we found them. There have been unpleasant stories about them that have been passed down for generations."

"Given they tried to toss us down into a reactor. Some of it's probably justified but it was all a misunderstanding though. They listened to that crazy AI like it was a god," said Matt.

"And since then they've been leaderless," said Spyro, "They won't work with anyone who isn't like them. It's not their fault that they're the way they are, but they aren't making any effort to move past that."

"Won't or can't? You saw those two," said Matt, a little too harshly.

"You knew how hard it was for dragons to accept humans," said Spyro, "And humans didn't have as bad a place in legend."

"Damn...that sucks," said Matt gloomily.

"I'd like to be able to help the wyverns too, but the council's decision about whose side they'll be taking is of a more immediate concern," said Spyro.

"Yeah...what is with that council? I thought a vote between 4 dragons would be quick," said Matt.

Spyro smiled, "New council. It was Morgan's idea. An Atlantean and Avalarian combined council. 12 people, 6 from each side. They offered me a position."

"Well...it's not like you haven't earned it," said Matt, "So that'd be you and the guardians, who's the sixth?"

"Xander," said Spyro, referring to the dragon form locked Shar-Khan.

"Wouldn't he technically count for the Atlantean side?" asked Matt.

"Nope, full Avalarian," said Spyro

"Good for him, means one vote for our side," said Matt.

"Not exactly, he abstained," said Spyro.

"Oh, I guess he'd be a bit too involved to give a fair judgment, even if it would have the right one," grumbled Matt.

"Yeah, Morgan's not voting either," said Spyro gloomily.

"Do I know any of the Atlantean councilmembers?" asked Matt.

"Just Morgan," said Spyro.

Matt sighed and said, "Looks like I'll have a lot of convincing to do. Fortunately, I don't have anything to keep me distracted from that."

Spyro nodded before a small darkness dragon phased out of the shadows behind them and yelled "MAIL!" causing Matt to shriek and fall over.

Spyro gave the shadow dragon an annoyed look and said, "Void, why can't you just fly through the window like a normal dragon?"

"Where's the fun in that?" said Void in a hyper voice before looking at Matt who was twitching, "Is the wuss ok?"

Chloe walked out and asked, "I heard Matt scream, what startled him this time?"

Void spotted Chloe at that and shot up next to her "Hey there, hot stuff? Wanna join the dark side?"

"Been there, got a T-shirt, tore it up, also you're a creep," said Chloe before zapping him.

Void was sent flying Spyro facepawing before grabbing the scroll that Void had dropped. "Ignore him. He's hooked on human coffee," he said calmly, before looking at the scroll, "Well, it says it's for 'Lynch' but you scorched off the first name." Spyro unrolled and read it, "Please come to the temple so that we may go over your upcoming mating ceremony. Signed, Councilor Zara. P.S. Before I forget, congratulations about your engagement. I'm sure you'll appreciate your mate when you've met."

Matt looked at it before getting a goofy look that Chloe sighed at seeing. "Kala must be out of lockup," she said as Matt shot off in the temporary temple's direction.

Spyro and Chloe followed. "I hope Matt's not going to be too disappointed if Kala's not out yet," said Spyro.

"What do you mean?" asked Chloe.

"Well, there's an old law that a dragon can claim a mate while they're absent if they've been away long enough," said Spyro, "Of course nobody uses it anymore."

Matt, who was a little ahead slowed down at that, "Sorry? You mean this could be a complete stranger?"

"Well, possibly, yes," said Spyro, "Of course, it might not have been your name that got scorched on the scroll. Given her popularity, I wouldn't be surprised if this scroll was meant for Chloe."

Chloe glared, "I wasn't engaged to anyone."

"No, but someone could have basically taken the first place in line to, well, court you," said Spyro.

"If I kill them, does that discourage anyone else?" snapped Chloe, causing Spyro to yelp.

The trio landed outside the temple to see Zara looking annoyed. "It's about time you showed up," said Zara, "Now then..."

"I can't believe you've set me up to be married off to some complete nobody!" snapped Chloe, "I don't care who he is, who he's related to or connected with, I'm not being handed off like that!"

"Oh, you're not the one whose claw has been asked for," said Zara, "Your brother is."

Matt sighed happily. "Finally. I'll want some peace and quiet with Kala..." he began only for Zara to say "Kala is still in her studies with Councildragon Xander." causing Matt to gulp.

"Wait...then who is..." he began before a high pitched 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' was heard and a blur tackled him down.

Matt's eyes were still spinning after the impact so he couldn't quite tell who was saying, "I've been sucha long to see ya again. I bet ya missed yer bonny lass, didn't ya? We're gonna make such music together."

That accent quickly got his brain working again...and Matt trying to drag himself free. "GET OFF ME, YOU NUTCASE!" he yelled.

"Now that we're back together again? I'm never gonna let you out of my sight," said the albino dragoness as she hugged Matt closely.

Spyro just stared in confusion as Chloe laughed her herself breathless. "What's with that girl?" he asked confused as Matt started trying to strangle his attacker.

"She says her name is Keenai," said Zara dully, "I'm not quite certain where she's from but she says she's a fear dragon."

Chloe managed to get her breath back. "Oh we've met...she's one of Taleth's pet idiots," she managed before starting to laugh again.

"What? She's a Shar-Virk? How could she have gotten here? What could have possibly convinced Zara to allow her in the city? And why is she calling Matt 'my beloved earbreaker'?" asked Spyro.

"She has broken no Avalarian laws. Taleth and his other followers set in motion events that destroyed Warfang and nearly the whole planet, one of them helped Malefor. She has done nothing. She will be allowed to make her challenge," said Zara loftily.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR SMEGGING MIND?!" screamed Matt as he was trying his way out of Keenai's embrace.

"Well, if she is a fear dragon, she's apparently very good at what she does," said Spyro.

"Keenai, for the final time, I hate you. I wouldn't be your mate if we were the last people in the multiverse!" snapped Matt, trying to push her off.

"Ah, you're just nervous right now," said Keenai, "But we'll have centuries ta get used to each other."

Matt glared. "Don't make me si-oh wait, you like that," Matt said angrily before getting a gloomy tone as he realized his usual threat to deafen someone with his singing would have the opposite desired effect.

"Oh yes, sing to me. Show me how you've mastered cacophony. Teach me to inflict as much audial pain as you do. Sing and show the universe why we were meant for each other," said Keenai wildly and starry-eyed. Matt glared before grabbing a rock and clonking her on the head. "That's a good start," Keenai gibbered before passing out.

Matt quickly crawled away from Keenai before snapping at Zara, "I refuse to go along with this. I don't care what I have to do, there has to be some way out of this arrangement!"

"Oh, I'm afraid you can't get out on your own," said Zara delightedly, "You'll have to have a contender for your claw challenge her."

"Where's Kala?" snapped Matt furiously.

"Still at her studies. But she won't be able challenge her yet," said Zara, "She hasn't been officially registered yet."

"Tough cheese. I refuse to marry her. What are you gonna do about it, eh?" snapped Matt.

"Well, you can always choose abstinence," said Zara.

"I choose neither. I'm not marrying the psycho bitch!" snapped Matt angrily.

"Well, you have time to change your mind," said Zara, "Keenai's only been here for less than a week. I'm sure Kala will be able to challenge her before the allotted time runs out."

"There's a time limit?" snapped Chloe.

"There's a week after the claim's been made for contenders to make a challenge with the betrothed's claw," said Zara, "After that, the arrangement is set and the betrothed is either mated or takes on a life of celibacy. Though there have been times when the betrothed prefers to take their own life."

Chloe twitched at that, "That's the most medieval, barbaric and backwards law I've ever heard."

"It isn't that backward," said Zara, "A few centuries ago, only male dragons can stake claim to mates. Those were the betrothed most likely to kill themselves. Most males prefer celibacy."

Chloe's twitch got worse at that. "What a modernized law," she said sarcastically before looking at Spyro, "Do something or die!"

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to reform or repeal a law?" asked Spyro, "Because I certainly don't."

"Think of something!" snapped Chloe.

"Well, I could arrange for Kala to challenge Keenai in absence. That'll postpone the whole thing until she's able to finish with her studies and registration," said Spyro.

"Do it," said Matt darkly.

"Ok, ok, I'll make the arrangement," said Spyro.

"Of course, that doesn't keep Keenai from courting you in person," said Zara smugly, "She can't be sent away and you're required to accept at least one invitation from her a day."

Matt glared. "What the penalty for attempted incineration of a dragon guardian?" he asked evilly.

"Death," said Zara dryly, "And don't even try it. I'm a lot more skilled than you think I am."

"It'd be worth it," said Matt, only for Keenai to tackle him and glare at Zara "Doncha dare touch me darlin'."

Matt rolled his eyes and said, "I just got back from months among Scots, can you please not talk like them?"

Keenai gave Matt a hurt look and said, "I'm not Scottish, I'm Irish, can't ye tell?"

"No, you still suck," said Matt, Keenai pouting before crushing Matt's brief hope by saying "I'll be anything ye want."

"I want you to be gone!" snapped Matt before flying off, Keenai close behind him.

Chloe sighed before saying, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you, Zara?"

"Yes, but they still make a cute couple, don't they?" said Zara sweetly.

"He'll find a way to get his revenge, you realize that, right?" said Chloe dully.

"He's caused me enough headaches. The headache he suffers from this will be worth it," said Zara.

"You're a piece of work," said Chloe scornfully only for Spyro to say "That's why she's not on the combined council." causing Chloe to start grinning

Zara snorted and said bitterly, "Like I don't have my own claws full enough to have to deal them," before flying off.

Spyro sighed. "We'd better go find Kala," he said before there was a crash as a living fireball landed in front of them, revealing Kala, wearing a new dragon amulet necklace.

"WHERE IS SHE?" she said manically, glaring at the two

"Kala, you passed your exam, that's terrific," said Chloe conversationally.

"SCREW THAT! WHERE'S THE BITCH HITTING ON MY BUSHI BU?!" roared Kala.

"They went thatta way," said Chloe pointing.

Kala roared angrily, causing Chloe and Spyro to fight to get behind each other before Kala said "Oh yeah, congrats on the egg, Spyro. Now then, where was I?" before roaring angrily and taking off.

Once the shock wore off, Chloe said, "We have to go quickly."

"To warn Matt?" asked Spyro.

"No, to not miss the show," said Chloe before flying after Kala.

...

Matt peered from a rooftop before taking off again as he spotted Keenai, finally ducking into a half-built building.

"She couldn't possibly follow me around all day, can she?" he muttered to himself.

"Hey, who's there?" said a high-pitched voice above him, Matt looking up to see several wyverns in the rafters of the uncompleted roof.

"Oh, hi there," said Matt, "Didn't know anyone else was here."

"I know you. You were there when the Great One sank," said another wyvern sternly.

"Er, that might be me," said Matt, not certain if that would be a good thing or not.

Several of the wyvern landed around him before one of them said, "Have you been sent to throw us out?"

"No, not at all," said Matt, "Why should you be thrown out?"

"The dragons and humans do not want us here. They chase us and hound us and invent laws that we have broken," said another wyvern

"The humans too?" asked Matt sternly.

"Yes, they fear that some of the dragons would act anyway," said the biggest wyvern.

"Well, I'm going to have a stronger word with the dragon council," said Matt.

Just then, a voice above echoed, "Oh precious destructor, where are you?"

"As soon as I've shook off my banshee stalker," added Matt.

The wyverns watched as Matt flew off through the roof before a fear dragon smashed through the wall. "Where aaaare yooou?" she called.

"Think it's time to move again?" asked a wyvern.

"I think so. A guard is probably following those two," said the leader sadly.

The fear dragon ignored the wyverns and called, "Darling, if ye keep playin' hard ta get you're goin' ta make me edgy!" The last word kept out a lot shriller and louder and made all the wyverns cover their ears in pain.

One wyvern however snapped, "Hey! Shut up!"

Keenai turned and gave the wyvern a predatory grin. "Did I hear that quite right? Did ye tell me to shut up?" she asked.

"Yeah...I...I..." began the wyvern before starting to wince, blood coming out the wyvern's ears and eyes before it keeled over dead, Keenai ceasing her ultrasonic blast

"Now then, how about I put the fear of Keenai into all of ye?" said Keenai to the other dragons before letting out a loud banshee wail that caused all the wyverns to start fleeing in terror.

She smirked as the last ones fled before the door was knocked down by several dragon guards. "What happened here?" one of them said, seeing the dead wyvern.

"Oh, those overgrown bats thought they could attack little ol' me," said Keenai, "I quickly proved them wrong."

"Fine, they're nothing but vermin anyway," said the first guard.

"Quite so," said Keenai.

"What were you doing here, if you don't mind the question?" asked the second guard.

"Been tryin' to find me mate, he's been rather coy lately," said Keenai.

"Ah, Zara said something about that," said the second guard.

"Yes, you wouldn't happen to have seen him, have you?" asked Keenai.

"Who is your betrothed?" asked the guard.

...

Matt decided the best place to stay at would be the one dragon Keenai wouldn't want to tangle with. Cynder was trying not to laugh at the story. "So...this 'Keenai' is some sort of proto-Shar Virk?" she managed.

"I dunno. Taleth apparently uplifted a banshee," said Matt.

"Wow, finally someone who can appreciate your singing," joked Cynder.

"Kala likes my singing..." muttered Matt.

"Of course she does," said Cynder carefully before she noticed her egg wobbling. Cynder quickly moved back to her egg and began muttering soothing things.

Matt watched until Cynder had finished before saying, "It's not going to explode, you know. No need to be a mother hen."

Cynder glared at Matt and said, "Spyro and I were taken from our homes while we were still eggs while all the other eggs were smashed. I will not let anything like that happen to my egg."

"That was while Commander Nutty Brain aka Malefor was on the loose. He's dead and buried...twice," reminded Matt.

"They say that when a villain is struck down, it leaves an opening for another to take their place," said Cynder.

"True, but that's why I always have a spare bullet," said Matt.

"I'm worried about your war," said Cynder, "If McNeil got free range here, you can bet that our child would be one of his first picks."

"We're making our case to the council tonight...and I got all the evidence," said Matt.

"I hope you can convince them. This planet has been literally torn apart by war. Even if it's for the right reasons, there are many who wouldn't want to start another one," said Cynder.

"I know...I know…" said Matt, gloomily, adding, "I was there."

"Oh precious destructor..." called a voice outside. Cynder was rather surprised at the speed at which Matt was able to hide under the bed with.

Cynder sighed before walking to the balcony and peering out to see an albino dragoness. "Can I help you?" she said scathingly.

"I've come to see me darlin' devastator," said Keenai.

"Devastator's not here! I haven't filled in the form!" yelled Matt.

"There he is!" said Keenai happily, floating up with hearts for pupils.

"Go away! There's a big purple dragon here who'll blast you to next century!" yelled Matt.

Keenai peered in. "Spyro's not in here," she said cheerfully, Cynder glaring as Keenai flew past her and peered around. "Come out, come out…aw, an eggy..." she said, peering at the egg closely, only for it to wobble and bash her on the snout, making her eyes spin.

Cynder gave a proud look at the egg before saying, "Even if my mate is not here, it's still my house and I'm ordering you to leave."

Keenai glared before trying her ultrasonic blast. However, before Keenai could open her mouth, Cynder hit her with her own Fear Scream. Keenai found her voice dying in her throat, shaking in terror

"Now then, I'd like to demonstrate which of us has really mastered the fear breath, but I'd rather my egg not be exposed to it," said Cynder, "You will leave now and you'll leave Matt alone as long as he's here."

"Fine...fine. He'll have to come out at some point," said Keenai, managing to keep her voice steady. Keenai left out the balcony and Matt crawled back out from under the bed. "Would you like me to sing you a song?" called Keenai's voice, causing Matt to yelp and zip back under the bed.

"NO! GO AWAY!" yelled Cynder.

After a bit, Matt said, "If she hasn't left yet, tell the council I'm gonna be delayed."

Cynder smirked before saying at first jokingly, "She's setting up a temporary nest outsi...she is setting up a temporary nest! GET LOST YOU...YOU SMEGHEAD!" Cynder yelled, going wide-eyed as she realized her joke was indeed happening.

"I'm starting to wonder if her being here when I'm supposed to be helping your council isn't a coincidence," said Matt darkly.

"It's just probably luck," moaned Cynder, nodding as Keenai sulkily flew away.

"Or maybe it's fate," growled Matt.

"No, the universe isn't that cruel," said Cynder harshly.

"Wanna bet?" said Matt sarcastically.

"Yes, if it was I'd not have a family with Spyro now. Yes, your life's been hard but you've met friends and allies...and Kala too as a result," Cynder continued.

"Right...speaking of which, I wonder if Kala's finished with her exams yet?" asked Matt.

On cue, a crash was heard on the balcony and a familiar and angry-looking fire dragoness stomped in, leaving little molten puddles where her rage melted the rock. "Kala, honey, your ears must be burning," said Matt, backing up a bit.

Kala turned to glare before her eyes softened and she ran towards Matt, nuzzling him. "Good, that little dragon slut didn't get you," she said happily.

"Of course not, I was just too fast for her," said Matt.

Kala nodded before saying, "It's official. Xander said I was all clear. He was surprised that I didn't have that split personality thing."

"Probably because you didn't live a life of angst and nerve-grinding torment before you got the upgrade," said Matt before his eye twitched a bit.

Kala laughed. "I've heard you sing, that's enough," she said, Cynder bursting out into hysterics at that.

Matt looked crestfallen. "But I thought liked my singing," he said disappointedly.

"Honey, nobody does, even you don't," said Kala, Matt opening his mouth before closing it and shrugging in defeat.

"It makes one wonder how Keenai could possibly like it," said Cynder.

"She said she wanted me to teach how to sing like that," said Matt, "Also I think she's a bit of a masochist, she's certainly sadistic.

"If she tried to steal you away…" snarled Kala, accidentally strangling Matt in her hug

"She hasn't...got a chance..." wheezed Matt.

Kala let go, sheepishly as Matt gasped before saying, "Zara said that Keenai had rights on you...tried to hook me up with that annoying dark dragon postman."

"Did you burn him badly?" asked Matt.

"He landed in front of me. Something had tazered him," said Kala.

"That'd be Chloe," said Matt, "Where is she anyways?"

"No idea. I saw her with Spyro earlier," said Kala.

Cynder shrugged and said, "I'm sure they're fine then."

Meanwhile, in a deserted area of the wyvern slums, a dark portal opened, Ghoulwyrm sticking his head our cautiously before hopping out. The dracolich looked around and said, "This is where the wyverns live? I'm rather disappointed. But I can still use this to my advantage."

He walked forward and yelped, ducking back as a trio of spiderbots went by. "Why, why, why?" he whimpered before sighing as the spiderbots ignored him.

After he calmed down, he said to himself, "Ok, Zyvar, if you're to be the next Dark Master of this world, you need make a spectacular impression and deal with those who would stand in your way. Yes, Zyvar, you've faced a lot of setbacks, a lot of humiliating defeats. But the playing field is open for you now. There's a void for a new stronger evil to fill and you're going to be that new evil. The time has come for Ghoulwyrm to be the most feared named in the cosmos. Soon all will shudder in terror at the very sound of...the Imperial March?" Ghoulwyrm paused in his self-motivation as he noticed the theme music building up wasn't just in his head.

Several spiderbots, the three that had passed him a few minutes earlier were bobbing up and down to the tune. "Oh no," groaned Ghoulwyrm before the spiderbots jumped on him...

...

A few minutes later, people would have seen a tin can bouncing down the street before the top finally popped off and Ghoulwyrm phased out of it, groaning. "Stupid technology," he groaned, "Third order of business after I take over Avalar: dismantle all spiderbots. Now then, let's catch up with current events."

He looked around before seeing a pillar with several holograms on it, an Atlantean news terminal. "Better then nothing," he muttered, assuming his 'Zyvar' form and padding over.

"Please select preferences," asked the system.

"Current events," said Zyvar.

"Top story: NSC council dissolves all current mercenary government contracts...CPS employee, Capt. M.J Lynch declared terrorist. Avalar council to debate extradition demands on Lynch's team," said the system calmly.

"Huh, I guess it was a good thing I left Earth when I did," said Zyvar before asking the news terminal, "What is the current state of Avalarian politics?"

"With the destruction of Warfang by Ashen battlecruisers, refugees have been given temporary dwellings outside New Capella. An allied council consisting of 6 Avalarians and 6 Atlanteans, including a guardian and a Shar-Khan is being created. Spyro Fly is slated to be the final Avalarian councilmember," said the system.

Zyvar snorted with laughter and said, "His last name is Fly? Oh man, there are way too many joke potentials with that. But embarrassing name or not, he could still pose a threat. What is the latest news about Spyro besides his political nomination?"

"He and Miss Cynder recently filed for parentship...warning...the remaining information has been declared classified by order of the Shar-Khan order," said the system

Zyvar walked away from the news terminal and said, "Well, that's as much information I'm going to get from that. I still need more though. Where does find out more about the personal lives of famous people? Oh, wait, right, in gossip magazines."

"Term 'gossip magazine' not recognized," said the terminal.

"Search for 'gossip'," said Zyvar, though not sounding thrilled.

"Note...the term 'gossip' refers to the method of illegally breaching individuals' privacy for the point of monetary gain. Request denied," said the terminal warningly.

Zyvar sighed and said, "Looks like I'll have to find out the old-fashioned way." He peered around to see a dark dragon wearing a mail bag and snoozing in the shade. "Meh, he'll do," said Zyvar, turning into smoke and going into the dragon's ear

The process was, well, not delightful. The main problem was picking through the relevant information among all the useless trash. He winced as he went through memory after memory before he paused, an interesting memory of Cynder next to an egg. "Well...that's one thing," he muttered.

Then Ghoulwyrm shifted up to the newer memories and found a particularly shiny nugget. Apparently Lynch was in more trouble than just with the NSC. "Ho hooo...so the rumors that Taleth's tried to make more Shar-Virks are true, a banshee at that too," sneered Ghoulwyrm before he felt the mindscape shake...his 'host' was waking up.

Having gotten what he needed, Ghoulwyrm vacated the dragon's head. "The opportunity is ripe," he said with an evil grin, "It's time to show Matt and Spyro what true heartache feels like." Ghoulwyrm reformed to see the dragon coming round, taking a deep breath to terrify the guy for fun when he felt something tie round his leg and he was dragged into an alley by a spiderbot's netgun.

Void shook his head to get his vision working to say "Wow, weird dream, almost thought someone was there," he said.

...

The next morning, Matt and Kala were cuddled up with each other when their sleep was interrupted by the sound of a loud jackhammer.

Matt's eyes shot open, looking bloodshot. Keenai had serenaded him 5 times during the night till the guards had dragged her off. He stomped to the windows and opened the door to scream "STOP THAT SODDING-" before pausing, seeing the Constructicons at work. They were laying down a lot of power lines, not to mention remodeling a few houses to be of sturdier material than just stone.

Matt yelled or them to cut it out, only for nothing to work given the noise. Matt finally gave up and slammed the window shut, going back to Kala, muttering. "How can there be road workers on Avalar?" moaned Kala.

"Chip brought them here," said Matt dryly, "All oil-guzzling six of them."

"Let's go blast Chip before breakfast," said Kala darkly, Matt nodding in agreement.

"First let me check if she's still out there," said Matt before sticking a flag with his face on it out the window and waving it around.

A happy squeal that made Matt and Kala wince was heard and they both said "She's out there."

Shortly after that, they heard Keenai trilling outside for Matt. Unlike Matt, she could sing on-key if she wanted. But it wasn't buying Matt in the least. Kala turned to see Matt trying to smother himself with pillows as a mirror shattered as Kenai hit a particularly high note

Then there was a 'splut' sound and Keenai's singing was cut off. Curious, Matt and Kala looked outside to see Keenai mostly covered by a blob of cement. Mixmaster could be seen shifting his cement cannon back into his arm. "That chick's got worse singing than you," he said before going back to work.

"How about we blast Chip only if he does something that annoys us?" said Matt.

"Knowing you, that wouldn't take too much," said Kala.

"True that," said Matt before a knocking was heard. Matt went to the door and opened it, showing two guards outside. "I know she's been disturbing the peace but I can't get her to shut up," said Matt without missing a beat.

"Not that, she says you have been avoiding her date," said one of the guards.

"What date?" asked Matt.

"By law, you have to go on one date a day with your chosen," said the second guard calmly.

"I never heard her actually say the word 'date'," said Matt.

"Tough," said the first guard, grabbing Matt, who should be noted was in human form at this point, by his shirt collar and walked out with Matt swearing like crazy the entire way.

"There's no rule against me coming along, is there?" called Kala.

"No, challenges can only be made on the third courtship day," said the guard, before shutting the door on her rudely.

Kala gave the door an annoyed look and said, "Fine, I won't join Matt and Keenai. I'll just follow them around until their little date is over."

...

Ghoulwyrm groaned weakly as he staggered through the streets, a tin can, probably the same one from last time, stuck over his front paw. He'd given up trying to remove it ages ago and was trying to ignore the weird looks he got as he clanked his way down the street. "Ok, dismantling of spiderbots has been moved up to second order of business once I rule Avalar," grumbled Ghoulwyrm.

His common sense reminded him that he should have added 'attempt' to that rule before he ignored it, ducking in to see Kala trying to get a meal and failing.

...

"Look, I have enough money. Just take it and give me my breakfast!" snapped Kala.

"And I'm telling you that, in the words of the humans, I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, especially those who wrecked Warfang," snapped the cafe owner.

"C'mon, you allow Matt to eat here and he's probably wrecked a lot more here than I did!" snapped Kala.

"He's a hero and one of the friends of the Dragon of Destiny," said the cafe owner loftily, causing Kala's eye to twitch from barely contained fury

"And why don't I count as that?" growled Kala.

"You released the monsters that destroyed Warfang," said the owner coldly, adding "Now go away before I make you."

Kala snarled and was just about to burn the cafe to the ground when a calm voice behind her said, "He's not worth it, Kala." She turned to see Spyro glaring daggers at the cafe owner who was suddenly looking sheepish. "Kala, if you want, we can go to someplace more open-minded," said Spyro.

"I'm actually trying to catch up with Matt so I can deep fry Keenai," said Kala calmly.

"You have nothing to worry about," said Spyro, "I don't care what kind of dragon she says she is, you're a lot stronger than her."

"Good. That means I can kill her quickly," hissed Kala, causing the cafe owner and Spyro to back up

"Maybe you ought to get some stress relief," said Spyro.

"I'm not stressed, I'm just hungry!" snapped Kala.

The cafe owner nodded rapidly. "On the house," he whimpered, having a waiter bring two plates of mutton over

"Thank you," said Kala sweetly. As the two ate, Kala asked, "Ok, did Keenai try to bother you guys today yet?"

"Asides from asking where Matt was, no," said Spyro, "She's worse than Ember was when she had a crush on me."

"Yeah, first person to like Matt's singing," said Kala.

"But I'm certain she doesn't stand a chance against you," said Spyro, "I bet you've only become closer since you've been reunited."

"Yeah...except for that time I was turned into a Night Fury," said Kala thoughtfully.

"What's a Night Fury?" asked Spyro.

"Local dragon for an uncharted dimension we found," said Kala calmly before snapping "EATING MUTTON!" before turning her attention to her much-needed late breakfast

"Er, okay then..." said Spyro nervously.

...

Ghoulwyrm glared from his own position. 'Man, she's got issues,' he thought before grinning to himself. "Well, well, well. Nothing says revenge like some forced marital conflict," he muttered before muttering something in ancient Avalarian, a silvery orb appearing in his hand before floating over and phasing into Kala's mutton. "If she has even half the passion that I think she does, this is going to be a spectacular show," chuckled Ghoulwyrm.

He then realized that he should probably get some distance to get an alibi, running off and getting several funny looks as he clanked away and round the corner, swearing a curse on spiderbots everywhere as he went.

...

After breakfast, Spyro and Kala decided to take a walk together. Kala's stomach felt a bit peculiar. Something didn't seem to be going right with that mutton.

After a minute, Spyro seemed to ask her something, his voice sounding distorted like it was from a long way away. "I think those jerks poisoned me," groaned Kala.

"No, they wouldn't dare, let me check," said Spyro, peering into one of Kala's eyes, "Maybe you're allergic to some of the herbs? It's your first Avalarian meal since you got Shar powers."

Kala's vision started to swim a bit, everything getting blurry. Except for Spyro for some reason. If anything, his image was getting sharper. "Erm...maybe I should take you to the healer?" said Spyro slowly as Kala got a goofy grin.

"Actually, I'm starting to feel a lot better," said Kala with a giggle.

"Yeah...I think you need to see the healer," said Spyro slowly.

"I don't need to see anyone except you," said Kala, somehow blushing enough to be able to be seen with her red scales.

Spyro gulped at that. "Yeah, you'd better come with me," he said.

"Oh, I'd go anywhere with you," said Kala, getting uncomfortably close.

...

The Atlantean doctor said calmly, "I've worked out what's wrong with her."

"She's just having a delusion because of an allergic reaction, right?" asked Spyro hopefully.

"No, she has moon fever as your people call it," said the doctor.

"How is that even possible?" asked Spyro, "It's not even mating season, let alone a mating moon."

"It looks artificial. Some sort of magi attack. Did she eat anything out of the ordinary?" asked the doctor.

"Just some mutton," said Spyro, "It couldn't have been caused by unfamiliar herbs, could it?"

"I doubt it. The city computers had all the herbs catalogued. None should have any effect," said the doctor calmly.

Spyro sighed and said, "Matt's not going to like this. I'm pretty sure he's not ready to handle an egg."

"That depends. I also detected a targeting matrix in the spell. The first male she saw was locked onto by it. Congratulations. You have a stalker," said the doctor calmly.

"You have got to be joking," said Spyro.

"I'm a doctor. I never joke. The matrix will wear off once it...finishes its mission. Maybe take one for the team?" said the doctor.

Spyro growled and said, "That's not funny."

"I think it's hilarious. The spell doesn't care who…uses it. Maybe convince her that her mate is you?" said the doctor before saying, "That said, that is your only choice. Now if you will be so kind, I have other patients waiting."

"Are you seriously suggesting that I have an illegitimate egg with Kala?!" yelled Spyro.

"That is your problem. The matrix is decaying as well but it could render her nuts if she doesn't do something. So find a way. Now please let me see another patient or I will charge you rent," said the doctor coldly.

Spyro growled before stomping out of the doctor's office and immediately getting glomped by Kala.

Spyro just sighed as Kala made happy 'nom nom's' on his horns. "The sooner you snap out of it..." he muttered

...

Meanwhile, Matt was trying to bide his way through his lunch date. At least with this one, they were in a human-sized restaurant so it wouldn't be quite so awkward.

Morgan had also apparently convinced the council to have a couple of newly-christened Shar-Khan watching Keenai from across the street at a cafe, one of them a psychic dragon variant. Matt knew this cause he had sadly communicated via telepathy that they in fact couldn't kill him as he was desperately thinking.

"So I hear ye got ancestry in Ireland," said Keenai.

"What makes you say that?" asked Matt dully.

"It's in your name, silly," said Keenai with a giggle, "The name 'Lynch' is of Irish heritage. It mean 'lynx'. It certainly fits with how much of a vicious top tier predator ye are."

Matt went a little wall eyed as he daydreamed about the aforementioned big cat mauling Keenai before he realized she was asking him something. "It's about half past two," he said desperately

The junior Shar-Khan all sniggered at that, especially the psychic who knew what Matt was daydreaming about.

Keenai glared. "I said, maybe we should go for a flight," she said shortly before Matt said absently "Can't...scared of heights." causing Keenai to go walleyed herself as her brain ran into the sheer wall of non-logic in that statement

After a brief second of confusion, Keenai said sternly, "Ye know, I can tell what you're really afraid of. It's part of me nature as a fear dragon."

"Ok then, tell, what am I afraid of?" asked Matt, obviously expecting amusement.

Keenai glared closely at Matt, so closely that Matt saw his two 'escorts' getting up threateningly before she said sweetly, "Yer scared of being the one left alive, ye're scared of all the friends ye made bein' killed cause of ya. It could happen..." she began only for Matt to lash out, his hand morphed to claws. Before Matt could really slash Keenai, she out a soft trill which quickly Matt's nerves turn into jelly, but it barely soothed his anger. "Now then, dinnae ye mommy ever teach ye not to hit a lass?" sneered Keenai before going rigid as a red ion blade ignited near her throat.

"I think this dates gone long enough for today," said the psy-dragon Shar-Khan, holding the blade.

Keenai gave the Shar-Khan an annoyed look before saying, "Fine then." As she got up to leave, she said to Matt, "See ye tomorrow. I'm sure little Kala will be all fired up ta meet me."

"Let it be known, Virk. If you come near Shar Kala, we are authorized to dismember you. Even Guardian Zara agreed to those terms," said the other Shar khan coldly, causing Keenai to pout.

"Spoilin' me fun," she complained, walking off

Matt growled and said, "How could that witch possibly think I could have the least bit of affection for her?"

"All that creature has to do is wait till the time is up. Even if she fails to get you, she succeeds in making you miserable," said the psy-Khan.

"You're right, I can't let her get to me," said Matt, "Besides I know Kala won't let me down. I know how much she really cares about me."

The psy-Khan nodded before shuddering. "The law of murphy has stirred," he said weakly.

...

Spyro was backing up from Kala who was still acting like she was drunk. "Kala, you need to get a grip. It's Matt you're...friends with, not me," he said desperately before flying over her head as she lunged.

"Matt? That thoughtless loser? Why should I care about him?" asked Kala before lunging for Spyro again.

"Ok, that was only your, erm, moon fever talking, not you," said Spyro, "Just try to think. What would Matt say if he found you with me?"

"Um...lucky dragon?" said Kala before managing to grab Spyro's leg.

Spyro yelped, pulling his leg free, his own mind thinking "Cynder's gonna kill me," before he sent a low level ice blast at Kala, hoping to discourage her

Kala shivered only slightly before her body temperature melted away the ice. "Hey, what did you do that for?" asked Kala, sounding normal for a second before she went goofy again and said, "You're supposed to be giving me flamey kisses."

Spyro yelped before dealing out a bigger blast that definitely overdid it, freezing Kala solid. Sadly this was just as Matt came in with a sigh. "Matt, er, how was your date?" said Spyro, quickly stepping front of Kala.

Matt hadn't noticed, looking at the floor. "Keenai's worse than Ember when she saw you for the first time. I may have to destroy her," he said gloomily, Spyro gulping when he couldn't tell if Matt was joking or not before Matt looked up. "What's with the ice block? I thought it's close to winter here," he asked, Spyro gulping.

"Er, well, it's for the, uh, ice box," said Spyro, "Can't let it run out and let the food spoil."

"You don't have ice boxes. I lived here for a year and would have noticed otherwise," said Matt bluntly.

"Oh, we recently had them installed," said Spyro.

"I never saw them, plus why are you in my room?" said Matt, his brain finally locking onto the obvious question as he tried to walk around Spyro to get a look.

"Oh, this was your room?" asked Spyro, "I guess I was so busy thinking that I didn't notice where I was going."

"That's good, get out please," said Matt when Spyro just stood there grinning desperately. Just then, the sound of cracking ice was heard. Spyro glanced over his shoulder to see that the ice was starting to melt.

"Spyro, you know me. So trust me when I say I will explode, literally IF YOU DON'T GET THE SMEG OUT RIGHT NOW!" snapped Matt, his eyes going a little bug-eyed.

Spyro gulped and said, "As you wish," before he left the room, quickly building up speed and flying out as fast as he could. Matt blinked as Spyro fled before his eyes fixed on his deep-frozen girlfriend...

...

Spyro winced as Matt proved he hadn't been joking as every window and door on his house exploded outwards. "Just keep flying. It'll get worse if I came back and Kala glomps me," he said to himself.

...

Ghoulwyrm had chosen one of the taller buildings to watch from because he was certain that Matt's temper would give out with a spectacular explosion. He was not disappointed.

"Oooooh..." he said appreciatively, summoning some popcorn to eat. "Oh, this is the most fun I've had since I met that Bram Stoker guy," he said cheerfully before saying, "That spell worked better than I thought...uh oh." He turned invisible as Spyro flew by...and rammed right into Chloe who wasn't looking where she was going.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" demanded Chloe.

"Sorry, I just had to get away from your brother," said Spyro.

Chloe sighed and said, "What did you do to tick him off?"

"Something's given Kala moon fever and she's after me," explained Spyro in an embarrassed voice.

Chloe stared before saying in a dull voice, "You are so dead."

"You think I don't know it?" asked Spyro, "There's nothing that can tick off a dragon more than another dragon going after his mate."

"Except maybe having another dragon go after his sister," said Ghoulwyrm quietly.

Chloe's head shot up at that, snapping "HEY!"

"Oh smeg," said Ghoulwyrm realizing that he's just rumbled himself. He quickly focused another moon blast but barely had enough time to get one going before he was zapped by Chloe. A blast narrowly missed him at that. "HAH! EAT MOON, LOSE-FHFHFHFHFHFHFHFHFH!" he yelled, shuddering as two lightning shots earthed in his horns and his shot flying wide. Ghoulwyrm staggered backwards before falling off the edge of the building.

Chloe grinned. "And that's probably who gave Kala the moon shakes, Spyro," she said smugly before pausing as she didn't get a reply. "Spyro?" she asked, turning slowly, dreading what she'd see.

Spyro's eyes seemed to be unfocused, but he seemed to be focusing on Chloe. "Chloe, you need to go, quick," said Spyro, "It's starting to build up and you don't want to be here when it takes hold."

"Oh no," said Chloe dully, facepawing before saying, "Don't take this the wrong way. It's just for a headstart." before sending a blast into Spyro's horns and then taking off. As Chloe flew off, she said, "Ok, I just have to keep lover boy away from me until whatever's affected him wears off. Should be easy with him too love-dazed to really focus."

...

Meanwhile, Matt was glaring at Kala. "You WHAT?" he snapped for the fourth time.

"I keep trying to get him to start the fun, but he kept giving me the cold shoulder," said Kala with a pout.

"WHAT?" snapped Matt, his eye twitching, "You're dumping me? Why?"

"Because you don't turn me on," said Kala simply.

Matt just twitched as his dragon side happily supplied what he needed to do: jump up and down on Spyro till the little girlfriend thief was the width of a piece of paper. "I'm gonna kill him!" snapped Matt.

"Oh, no you won't," growled Kala.

Matt glared before shifting to dragon and roaring in her face. Kala snarled and would have likely attacked Matt if he hadn't swatted her head with enough force to knock her out.

With that he turned his head and blasted a hole in the wall, his furious brain having decided there was no time for doors. He flew out of the hole with a thunderous roar. Though he wasn't the only one roaring in anger right now.

...

Cynder raised her head in surprise as she heard a couple of roars. One she didn't recognize but the other was easily recognizable. "Spyro? What is he roaring about?" asked Cynder before taking off.

She paused in place, looking back nervously at her egg before another roar got her attention. She stopped before landing on the balcony, not confident to leave her egg alone and still able to see, to her horror, Spyro flying above the roofs, roaring angrily as well as a familiar, except for a metallic front leg, blue dragon headed for him She turned to her egg and said sternly, "Don't go anywhere" before flying upwards.

...

Matt glared, homing in on Spyro before stopping to a hover. "OI, THIEF!" he roared. Spyro, however, flew right past him, not even paying attention to him. Matt paused for a second before his eyes narrowed. "Don't you turn your back on me..." he snarled, turning and sending a plasma blast at Spyro

Spyro did notice the blast and dodged it before snapping at Matt, "I don't have time for you. She's getting away!"

"Enough! You get your claws of Kala or I'll bite em off!" snapped Matt.

"Who cares about Kala? Chloe dared to turn down my claim and I need to catch her," snapped Spyro.

Matt's eyes went wide at that before he growled, "That's not any better. Get back here!"

"Try and make me," snapped Spyro before spitting a fire blast at Matt.

Matt rolled in the air to avoid the blast and spat a triple blast at Spyro, one after the other. Spyro was likewise able to avoid Matt's attack before shooting out an even bigger fireball which was met by Matt's equally big plasma orb, creating a colossal explosion in the air.

...

Ghoulwyrm winced from the blast before grinning from all the negative energy just from the two fighting before spotting Cynder closing on them.

...

The two male dragons were getting ready to attack each other again when Cynder flew in between them and snapped, "Enough! What has gotten into you two?"

"Out the way, Cynder. This little purple pest is hitting on Kala AND my sister!" snapped Matt.

Cynder gaped in shock before turning to Spyro and saying, "Please tell me it's not true." Spyro just growled at Matt and lunged at him, the two being sent sprawling downwards and into the street below, scattering pedestrians.

Cynder just hovered in shock before Chloe flew up to her and said, "Listen, Cynder, I know this looks bad, but it's not as it seems." Cynder snarled before whipping her tail out, the blade catching Chloe's cheek. Chloe winced in pain and said, "Ok, maybe I came in too early. But now is a really bad time to get jealous over something that isn't even real."

"You took Spyro!" snarled Cynder, her eyes getting a white glow before Chloe yelled "IT WAS GHOU-" before Cynder tackled her as well.

"Ok, since you're not going to listen to reason until I smack the rage out of you..." said Chloe before letting of an electric charge over her body.

Cynder yelped as the charge forced her back as well as into coherent rage rather than incoherent. "You thieving wretch!" she snapped, "We open our home to you and this is how you repay us!?"

Chloe sighed. "I'm not going to fight you. I have zero interest in Spyro. So please, just calm-" Chloe began only to be tackled by Kala who then leapt at Cynder.

Chloe took a moment to clear her head and asked, "What is..." Then she saw Kala and Cynder fighting each other very heatedly. "Oh, you've got to be kidding," she said.

Another explosion was heard from down the street where Matt and Spyro were, reminding Chloe that this fight would result in more than hurt feelings. Even if Matt survived, Spyro was one of the dragons at the moment that was deciding if they should be thrown to McNeil or not.

"I have to break this up quick," muttered Chloe, "But I can't do it alone." She activated her comm and said, "NegaMorph, have you noticed the big fight going on?"

NegaMorph's voice said, "Hell yeah. It's all over the local news net. Couple of drones are watching. Not that I need it, I can sense the emotions from here."

"Yeah, and some of it's artificial," said Chloe, "Ghoulwyrm sent some false love arrows at Kala and Spyro so that she's fixed on him and he's fixed on me."

"Damn. Think I read about something like that," said NegaMorph.

"Well he ought to be somewhere around here, laughing it up," said Chloe, "Find him, get Megan if you have to. Also, get anyone who can stop these guys from tearing each other's throats out."

"Got it," said NegaMorph before signing off.

Chloe sighed before looking at Kala and Cynder. "I supposed I'd have better luck dealing with them," she said before firing a lightning bolt at them. The two paused in shock as the bolt shot between them. "That's enough!" snapped Chloe.

However Kala and Cynder before turned and snarled at Chloe, "Spyro's mine!" before spitting a fireball and wind blast at her respectively.

Chloe yelped, managing to raise a static field in time to avoid any serious injury but she still ended up against a far wall. "This sucks," she muttered. As Cynder and Kala closed in on her, Chloe said, "Those reinforcements better not take long."

On cue, four anthro dragons landed on surrounding rooftops, led by a familiar water dragon, Morgan. "Ok, that's enough. Break this up!" he called. Unfortunately, the response they got was another fire blast and a fear screech. "Ok, shut them down," he said, nodding to two of his men who were holding modified staff blasters.

Chloe managed to pull herself up and called, "Wait, don't hurt them. It's not their fault they're acting like this."

"They're causing too much damage," snapped Morgan before the staff holders fired what looked like orbs at the feet of the dragons, which blazed into light, a shrieking noise echoing out that caused Chloe's head to swim even though she was far down the street.

When the light faded, all four of the warring dragons were knocked out. Chloe gave a sigh of relief and said, "Thank goodness. They would have leveled the city if they weren't stopped."

"We'll get them back to their quarters to sleep it off, but you need to tell me what happened out here," said Morgan, hopping down from the roof and looking up at Chloe

"It's complicated, but the shortest version is that Ghoulwyrm caused Kala to fall in love with Spyro and Spyro to fall in love with me. Well, 'in lust' is more appropriate and the other two got crazy jealous."

"Urgh...this is all we need," muttered Morgan, turning to two of his fellows and saying something in Atlantean, the two nodding and transforming to dragon form to fly off. "One of those is going to Miss Cynder's quarters, to look after her child. The other will inform city security to watch for our undead friend," he explained.

"And how are we going to deal with our two lovebirds when they wake up?" asked Chloe, "Matt and Cynder might be able to calm down, but those two are ensorcelled."

"It would be easier if they were locked onto one another. Spells like these are one-use only," said Morgan thoughtfully, earning a slap across the back of his head from an angry Chloe.

"That might not be such a bad idea." The two turned to see Megan.

"You do realize what you're suggesting, aren't you?" said Chloe in the warning tone she gave before she electrocuted someone.

"Not what you're thinking," said Megan, "I might be able to shift Kala and Spyro's attention to their correct partners, but it's going to be tricky."

"How difficult?" asked Chloe.

"About as difficult as redirecting a river," said Megan, "I think Ghoulwyrm's used a spell that's mean to transform a werewolf into its most savage form and attack a particular individual, but in the case of Kala and Spyro, well..."

Chloe glared. "Would you be able to do it?" she asked.

"In the words of Archimedes, 'give me a lever long enough, a fulcrum high enough, and I will move the world'. Though I'd settle for just a river," said Megan, "And by 'river', I mean Ghoulwyrm's spell, and by 'lever', I mean my magic, and by 'fulcrum', I mean a large moon crystal."

Chloe nodded, "Ok...what's a fulcrum?"

"It's the base on which a lever rests," said Megan, "Just get me a moon rock."

Chloe nodded, glaring at Morgan who said, "I'll make the call."

After Morgan walked away, Chloe asked, "And what are we to do with them after you've redirected that spell?"

"Well, we'll have to pair them with their respective mates, preferably in a soundproof room, and let the rest of the spell be, er, expended," said Megan, looking a little squicked.

Chloe glared at that, Megan making an 'eep' noise. "Can't you dispel it completely?" asked Chloe, clearly annoyed.

"Well, with werewolves, it's already complicated enough," said Megan, "In fact, the best way to deal with it is to isolate the afflicted one until the spell wears off. With its effect on dragons...I don't even know where to start."

Chloe snapped, "Fine, we throw Spyro and Kala in lock up till it wears off, end of trouble." before Megan snorted "Yeah. That'll end well."

Chloe glared at Megan which quickly made her be quiet. "I'm going ask this only once and I want a straight answer: is there no better way to deal with this?"

Megan gave Chloe a straight look and said, "No, not with my current abilities."

Chloe sighed. "Kala's gonna kill me and then Cynder's gonna kill Spyro...do it," she said.

Megan nodded and said, "I'll try to leech off as much of the...craze as I can, but I'm pretty sure it won't be enough."

Chloe nodded, "Just try."

...

Ghoulwyrm was a little sore on two things. First, he was disappointed that those meddlesome dragons hadn't killed each other and that irksome witch had managed to redirect his spell. He was also sore from being electrocuted. He looked at a newsfeed, saying how Kala's challenge had been postponed due to magic related trauma.

"Well, this is certainly annoying. But I must look at the positive side," said Ghoulwyrm, "For one thing, it's given me more time to inflict misery on that multi-breed wench. For another, I did collect quite a payload from that conflict."

He looked down to a glowing black crystal in his paw. "Yeah...one hell of a payload," he said.

...

After the spell wore off, Morgan insisted on a medical examination on the two dragonesses. The actual examination didn't take place until the afternoon due to both pairs being rather exhausted from yesterday's activities.

Chloe watched as Kala freaked out. "Look, it's probably nothing. It wasn't a real full moon so we'll be fine," she said.

Spyro and Cynder, on the other hand, were handling a bit better. "I'm looking forward to being a mother, but I'm not certain if I'm ready to handle two hatchlings," said Cynder.

"I was the one in season, not you," said Spyro, "There's a good chance it didn't take. And if it did, it won't be hatching immediately."

"That doesn't make me feel better," said Chloe venomously.

Cynder looked at Chloe and said, "Chloe, I can't help but notice that you seem a lot more agitated about this than any of us. Are you really that concerned or..." a tone of teasing entered her voice at this, "Are you feeling some jealousy?"

Chloe glared at that. "Next person to speak is electrocuted," she said.

Just then, Morgan walked into the room with a datapad. "That include him? Oops," said Matt before Chloe zapped him.

Morgan walked back in after the lightning stopped sparking and said "Spyro, Cynder, I'm afraid your egg will have to wait for a fellow sibling. The tests are all clean."

Spyro and Cynder both gave a small side of relief. "And I'm guessing it's the same for us, right?" asked Kala.

Morgan sighed sadly and said, "Yes, but it wouldn't have worked even if the circumstances were optimal."

"What?" said Chloe as Kala seemed to go white.

An Atlantean next to Morgan said, "I'm afraid your tests revealed heavy genetic damage, beyond what even our nanotech can repair. Maybe if we had access to one of our class 1 medical facilities...but no...it can't be done..."

"What, but how is this possible?" demanded Kala.

Morgan sighed and said, "I knew Alayshia back when the Atlanteans were in power. Not closely, but enough to understand his methods. Alayshia may be morally ambiguous, but he knows when it's not prudent to take risks. When the Shar-Khan was first designed, he made sure they wouldn't multiply too quickly before he was certain that the Shar-Khan design was the way that he wanted. He did so by basically locking the female's reproductive system and it's not too hard to imagine that he's done the same with the first batch of Shar-Ekta as well."

Kala and Chloe looked horrified at that, Kala looking ready to burst into tears. The other Atlantean said, "Once Morgan revealed you had been near the good doctor. I found evidence that your new nanites were programmed to damage certain genetic strands...I'm very sorry."

Matt grated his claws in anger as he snapped, "There has to be some way to undo it! What can be locked must be able to unlock!"

"Only Alayshia would know how to do that," said Morgan, "The only other option would be a total system hard reset and the odds of surviving that aren't normally good."

Matt glared at that before leaving, Kala running out after him.

"There's nothing you can do at all?" asked Spyro, "There's no way for them to have a child?"

"Well, nanites can't be...transmitted from males. The embryos only get them from the mother's womb," said Morgan, "So Matt may still be viable but I know that doesn't improve options in the slightest."

Cynder sighed sadly, "I can't believe that's happened to them."

...

Contrast to the dark pall that has fallen over our heroes, Ghoulwyrm was feeling quite chipper. And it wasn't just because he was enjoying the last bit of blood from out of a human, but it was from the guard that Morgan had placed to guard Cynder's egg while she was gone.

He dropped the lifeless body and strolled towards the egg, reaching for it...and finding himself against the far wall from a burst of convexity energy from the egg.

Ghoulwyrm winced before glaring at the egg. "You have inherited much of your parents' strength, I see," he said as he peeled himself from the wall, "You have great potential in you, but that is potential I cannot allow to happen." He charged up his lightning generators before firing a blast at the egg.

This was perhaps a mistake as the lightning flowed over the egg before gathering back on the side facing Ghoulwyrm, who groaned "This is turning into one of those days..." before the lightning was returned with interest as the protective enchantments did their job.

Ghoulwyrm nearly dropped as he was electrocuted again. "It appears that I may have to be blunter," said Ghoulwyrm before raising a fist. He was about to bring it down when he paused a moment to consider. Then one of his bandage tendrils reached out and grabbed a hammer that some carpenter had apparently been using. "This should do it," said Ghoulwyrm before wandering up to the egg and aiming a blow. "One omelet, coming up!" he snapped, bringing it down.

There was a flash of light, a bang and he found himself imprinted against the wall again, a hammer shaped hole in the wall next to him and his hand that had been holding it missing. "OH COME ON!" he snapped before looking out the hole, "Gotta admit though, that's impressive."

...

Matt had taken flight as soon as he was outside so Kala had to work a little harder to keep up. "Matt...wait...this isn't going to solve anything," she called. Matt ignored her and kept flying.

"Matt...please…" called Kala before jumping as Matt seemed to roll in the air before careening down to the ground. Kala immediately swooped down and caught Matt before he hit the ground. "Matt, what were you thinking?!" snapped Kala.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star..." sang Matt disjointedly.

Kala raised an eye ridge in confusion before a hammer bounced gently off her head...followed by the far creepier draconic hand that landed on her snout. Kala's eyes crossed as she looked at the draconic hand. It hung limply across her snout before it started to twitch. She shrieked and slapped at the hand yelling, "Get it off me! Get if off me!"

A thud below her a second later made her realize that she'd just shed some important cargo, Kala looking down embarrassedly to see Matt out cold in the street below, a part of her proudly noting he'd landed on the rude cafe owner dragon from before.

Then her attention returned back to the zombie hand that she held in grip. She was about to roast it before it turned translucent and phased out of her claw. It then started flying back to one of the buildings. "Huh, never seen a zombie ghost hand before. Wait a minute, yes I have," said Kala with growing concern before noting that the hand was heading for Spyro and Cynder's house. "Oh no," she said weakly, heading off after the hand at high speed.

...

Ghoulwyrm was glad he took the time to pick that 'severed body part retrieval' spell. It saved a lot of time than just scrambling for the pieces himself. "Right, what have we got left?" he said, his head still smoking from the rebounded fireball spell that he had just tried.

He thought for a bit and said, "Well, I could always lay a curse, but it's going to have to be more subtle to get through the defenses."

He summoned his spell book and flipped through, muttering "No, no, no," as curse after curse proved too violent or not enough before he finally found one. "Perfect," he said, evilly.

However, as he was about to start, he heard an angry roar from not too far away. "Oh, not now," growled Ghoulwyrm. He sighed, readying a combat spell before he noticed a communication crystal. "Perfect, when in doubt, call the cops," he said to himself.

...

Kala was closing in on Spyro and Cynder's house when a pair of dragons wearing police bands appeared in front of her. "Hold it right there, miss," said one of the dragons.

"Get out the way, you morons!" snapped Kala.

One of the dragons spoke into his radio, "Suspect is showing aggression, seems to be willing to resist police."

"There's a zombie in that house!" snapped Kala, facepawing.

The police dragons gave each other disbelieving looks before the first dragon said, "Miss, please calm down."

"I'm not crazy! He's right there! You could open the door and sniff!" Kala snapped.

"Should we check on that?" asked the first dragon.

"She has presented no actual evidence supporting that," said the second dragon.

"Still, Councilor Spyro would have our hides if we didn't check on the safety of his egg," said the first dragon.

"Yeah, he'll have your hide," said Kala pointedly.

"Fine, you go check on the egg, I'll stay here with the suspect," said the second dragon.

The first dragon floated up and was about to open it before saying "This is stu-" before the door exploded. The police dragon was thrown back, stunned by the blast. The second one immediately started speaking through his radio for backup.

Kala however could see a shape rising rapidly on a column of smoke, a scream of 'MUUMMMYYYYYY!" vanishing skywards before it began to curve down, going to land far outside the city.

"Well, at least whoever tried to attack the egg only got a backfire for their trouble," said Kala.

The second police dragon peered in and said, "Egg's fine, you're coming with us though,"

"What? What for?" demanded Kala.

"We want to know how you knew someone was in there," said the first dragon dizzily before Matt staggered into view.

"Officers? We're under attack by hammer cannons," he gibbered, holding the hammer from earlier.

The two dragons gave Kala a suspicious look. "Uh, there's a funny story behind that," said Kala nervously.

"It flew out of nowhere, officer. Arrest this tool," Matt said dizzily, tossing the hammer at the first officer who was knocked out.

"Assaulting an officer, you're both coming with me," said the second police dragon.

"Yes, take that hammer to jail," snapped Matt. Kala sighed before smacking Matt upside the head.

Cynder and Spyro were next up, Cynder literally bowling the police dragons over as she shot inside. "What happened here?" demanded Spyro.

"Someone attempted to attack your egg...and failed spectacularly," said the second police dragon getting up unsteadily before Cynder came out, sadly carrying the ex-guard's body.

"And I got a good idea who that was," said Cynder, putting the body down so everyone could see the puncture wounds in his neck.

Spyro nodded before saying to the officer, "I can safely assure you that these two have nothing to do with the attacker,"

"Perhaps, but I need to gather up all the evidence I can," said the officer.

"Evidence? There's a guy with all his blood sucked out and a zombie ghost hand landed on my face. What more evidence could you want?" asked Kala.

"We have procedures, me-" began the police dragon only for Spyro to cover his mouth.

"I wouldn't," he said warningly.

"Yeah, besides, the defenses you guys left were more than enough to blow him away," said Kala.

"What defenses?" asked Spyro.

"Uh, the security spell to blast Ghoulwyrm off like a rocket," said Kala.

"Eggs usually have a little inherent defense from their element but...wow," said Cynder, looking at the damage with an impressed eye.

"Sounds like you're gonna have your claws full raising that kid," said Kala before looking a bit disheartened.

"Kala, it'll be fixed," said Cynder kindly, before a cracking nose got her attention.

Everyone's attention immediately focused on the egg, which was wobbling and making more cracking sounds. "Oh my, it's hatching, it's hatching!" said Cynder with panic.

"You two, go get a healer, quick!" snapped Spyro at the two police dragons who quickly took off.

"What can I do?" asked Matt, who was now more focused.

"Uh, go boil some water," said Kala.

Matt nodded, headed out the door, before pausing. "Hey, you just don't want me in the-" he began before what was left of the door slammed in his face.

"Ok, Cynder, try to calm down," said Spyro, "Take deep breaths."

"Right, you need to relax your muscles and...wait, this is an egg we're talking about," said Kala.

The egg was starting to crack, glowing faintly. "Erm, if it managed to blast Ghoulwyrm out, how much power is it going to let out when it hatches?" asked Kala, backing up.

The egg was now shaking violently before Kala ducked down...and a faint 'crick' was heard, the egg falling apart to reveal a dazed-looking, violet-colored baby dragoness.

"Oh, she's beautiful," said Cynder tearfully, quickly going over to nuzzle her baby.

The hatchling made a happy cooing as Cynder nuzzled her before Kala peered up. "No boom?" she asked.

"Of course not," said Spyro, "Our eggshells aren't that tough."

"Oh thank God," said Kala happily before a knocking was heard and the hatchling turned to look.

"Is that the crazy one?" it asked in a small voice, causing Kala's mouth to fall open with an auditable clunk.

"Probably, don't be too rough on him," said Cynder.

Matt finally opened the door. "Ok, why'd you smash the door on me?" he snapped before seeing the baby dragoness, "Oh...cute."

The dragoness turned to Spyro and asked, "Is he supposed to be my godfather?"

"Maybe. We're not sure yet," said Spyro with an exasperated sigh.

"She talks? Already?" asked Matt, sounding a little freaked out.

"We learn in the shell," said Spyro, "My dad said he was surprised when I popped out talking."

"How convenient for you," said Matt before falling over in a faint.

Kala looked embarrassed and said, "Maybe it's a good thing we can't have kids yet."

Meanwhile, in a faraway location, the last vestiges of an old power was trying to build up strength. Unlike the rest of dragon society, these small few were not content with the way the world was running. They believed that a superior power ought to be leading and they had gathered together to try and raise that power up.

"I'm sick of the wyrm always putting us down," complained one teenage dragon, charcoal dubbed under his eyes.

"Yeah, always thinking they know what's best for the rest of us," said another teenage dragon, "Who gives them the right?"

One, wearing glasses, pointed out, "They did save the world several times."

"Shut up, nerd!" snapped a slightly older one, "Why'd we have to bring him along?"

"Because mom would ground me if I didn't spend more time with him," said another.

"That's right. Though I still think this human drink...coffee's not well. Look what happened to Vipra," said the brother, pointing to a poison dragoness wearing a mad wide-eyed grin.

"Humans, don't get me started on humans," grumbled the first dragon before there was a pause and he asked, "Well, isn't someone gonna get me started?"

"No, you tend to whine," said a fourth dragon, smirking before they all heard a descending whistling noise.

"Oh boy, the coffee machine is coming," said Vipra before twitching.

The other dragons looked at her confused before something crashed through the roof and down through the floor, screaming the entire way, before screaming something else.

"What was that?" asked one of the dragons.

"Whatever it is, it's spilling a lot of garlic seeds all over the place," said another.

A more agonized scream came from the bottom, sounding like something yelling "OH COME ON! NOT EVEN I'M THIS EVIL!"

"Wanna go check it out?" asked a dragon.

"Sure, why not?" said another.

The group headed down before wincing, seeing what was clearly a corpse of a dragon inside one of the garlic seed silos. "Ew, gross," said one of them.

"Guess we'll need to start hanging out somewhere else," said another.

They were about to leave when the body twitched and a muffled voice said, "Let me out before you go."

The dragons jumped back at that. "He's still alive?" asked one of the dragons.

"Let me out of here, you cretins!" snapped the voice angrily, the legs thrashing.

"What do we do with him?" asked one of the dragons.

"Well, we can't just leave him here. Let's take him back to the lair. Maybe those guys will know what we can do with him," said one of the older dragons.

"Lair...as in dark lair?" said the voice hopefully.

"I think it's pretty dark," said the dorky one.

"Shut up, nerd!" snapped another dragon.

"LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU LITTLE MAGGOTS!" screamed the voice, adding, "It smells horrible in here."

"So who's gonna be grab him?" asked a dragon.

"Ew, not me," said a dragoness, "He's probably got worms in him."

Just then, the silo burst into purple flames and the voice roared with demonic fury, "TAKE ME TO YOUR LAIR NOW OR I'LL TURN YOU ALL INTO WORMS!" He stopped and looked miserable when the dragons burst into applause. "I hate this planet," he moaned.


There's the newest story. It's connect to my co-author's earlier Spyro stories so you might want to read them for some context. But as you can see, there's gonna be quite a bit of a rough road for the gang from various angles. This isn't going to be as long a story as some of my other stories, but there's definitely things in here that you don't want to miss. I'll be updating at least once a fortnight, but I'm hoping on making this a weekly thing. Keep an eye out for the next chapter and please review.