Connected to 'To Borrow a Sceptre' I do not own any characters except Jaq.
Invitation Only Party
Jaq should have known that Hunter wouldn't react well to the float. Sometimes he felt he ought to be around when the fun happened; he never met the Sorceress, but he supposed she was at least a tad bit scarier than Ripto. Given the fact that the giant balloon replica of her scared Hunter shoe-less.
"Whoaaaa-"
The spotted cat stared, mouth gaping in horror like a beetle exposed to a bird. Spyro regarded him from beside a suspiciously similarly coloured table cloth. He didn't look impressed, but then again he wasn't impressed with anything that didn't resemble a hammock or deck chair in Jaq's opinion.
"It's just a float you scardy cat."
"What's with it anyway?" Jaq inquired. Spyro and Hunter turned their heads. The small dinosaur swung his legs back and forth from where he sat on the table; a slide of cake in his hand, a fork in the other. Spyro had a hairless brow up. "Making a balloon out of the lady that wanted to murder all of 'um?" For the little dragon's party?
"Victory parade style. She's the last thing they oughta be afraid of." Spyro shrugged. A small teal dragon trotted past his leg, ambling along without a care in the world. Jaq watched all of the hatchlings curiously. He supposed they where cute, in a way. They reminded him more of puppies than little kids.
"They sure look happy." Hunter was beaming at them as if they where the most precious things in the world compared to Jaq's indifference. Spyro gave a lazy have-grin of the knowing purple dragon, and it grated Jaq's nerves a little.
"Well it's not every day a dragon gets his dragonfly." Bianca was steadying a stack of plates nearby, flatting down her ears.
"And it's not every day they gain so much responsibility." She noted, perhaps rephrasing Spyro's words. Jaq could have sworn he'd seen her glance at him and Spyro. Says her, she got herself swallowed by the very same monster she conjured.
Then again, he did freeze his own foot to a tree once.
"Uh, right Bianca." Spyro shrugged, avoiding her eye – he'd acted awkward around her ever since she and Hunter had that smooching session up on the castle tower. Jaq wished he'd left out that detail of the story; it nearly put him off his cake recalling it now.
Well, almost. He lifted his fork to his open mouth, legs swinging happily.
And then lightning happened.
The ground it struck was just by the table; the scolding smell of burnt grass making him gag. Spyro, Hunter and Bianca wavered but didn't fall; the impact hadn't been strong enough. Jaq dropped his plate, though, slipping off the table.
An unframed portal spread through the grass like a puddle of water, and a familiar orange figure strode out; purple fabric whipping in the stirring air caused by the portal's magic. The stomps of heavy feet followed, and two bulking figures of blue and green followed him. Ripto had just waltzed out of the portal-puddle like walking up from a cellar; and Gulp had heavyweight guns on his back.
Jaq scuttled around Spyro, peering past his leg up at the hulking beasts. Then, he looked at Ripto. Their last encounter hadn't been a good one. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot; and then having a crazy tyrant trying to remove said foot along with pretty much any other body part you had.
Ripto had an oddly calm look on his orange mug; his sceptre glinted in the sun. He tapped it against his other palm like an executioner wielding his axe. "We meet again, little dragon. I said I'd be back – and this time I'm stronger than ever!"
He lifted his sceptre and swiped the air between him and Spyro. The dragon scoffed, unimpressed. "Who're you callin' little, Shorty? Nobody invited you! This is an invitation only party." Jaq saw Spyro's foot slip further in front of him, obscuring him a little more from Ripto's line of sight and thus line of fire. Jaq tried to think of it as unintentional; Spyro barely gave any indication he'd done it. His body was lax but his wings flapped in annoyance.
Ripto's pale green eyes narrowed. "Very clever, Dragon. Maybe you should sign up for university with that amazing stating of the obvious..." Jaq felt unnerved, and this was Ripto. Ripto was being far too calm. He almost wished he'd get angry.
Wish granted, Ripto spotted him peering from behind Spyro's leg. He drummed his fingers on the gem of his sceptre, teeth poking into view as he sneered, half snarl and half smirk. "Well, well, here we are again little Hatchling. Two birds I hate most in the same place." Jaq grinned nervously.
"Hiya Ripto...I don't...suppose you want some cake?"
Gulp and Crush looked so hopeful that Jaq almost felt sorry for them. Spyro rolled his eyes, impressed levels below zero on his meter. "Whadda you want this time, Ripto?"
Gulp tilted his head, nodding vigorously. Jaq's brows flew up. "Did you seriously come here without a plan?"
Ripto smacked Gulp about the nose with his sceptre; he stumbled back dejectedly. Ripto's burst of rage nearly reassured Jaz; normality at last. The orange dinosaur forced himself to turn back to the spectators, huffing, "Now where was I? Ah, yes, what do I want this time...?"
His eyes scanned his surroundings and locked on the small dragonflies hovering around. Jaq felt his chest sink.
"Dragonflies...I'm glad that you asked, Purple Pest, Since I've had enough to do with dragons...I thought...perhaps..." His voice almost became light-hearted as he lifted his sceptre – and brought it down like a judge's hammer, "Dragonflies!"
The sceptre sparked; and Jaq's head whipped around – all of the dragonflies vanished, and Sparx whipped from view with a short buzz of alarm. Even Spyro's eyes widened now. Bianca looked at the smallish dinosaur in disgust,
"You're terrible! What do you have to gain from this?"
"He'd do anything to mess with the dragons." Jaq commented. Ripto sent him a look that wished him total pain and death, right before the sparks in his power gem...shortened out, dimming and poofing into smoke. He hit the sceptre against the ground in indignation. "Blast this useless thing!"
"...We get the idea." Jaq commented, glancing at – or rather not glancing at the dragonflies as they'd all vanished. Ripto scowled at him, before a light grin made its way onto his maw.
"You see, without the dragonflies the dragons are nothing, Hatchling. A little lesson in magic for your little mind." He seemed pleased with himself again; Spyro too gobsmacked by the total lack of Sparx to but in this time. Jaq frowned lightly, trying not to be stung too much by the patronizing tone.
"What're you gonna do with a bunch of dragonflies?"
Ripto scoffed, grinning in malicious glee, "Perhaps cook up a nice batch of dragonfly stew. Either way, the dragon homelands will be mine..." Jaq stepped away from him, feeling unnerved. Ripto gave a short bark of a laugh, turning away. His minions stomped behind him, Hunter and Bianca eyeing him hatefully. Spyro looked like a deflated balloon; head and wings drooped. All they could do now was hope he'd leave as soon as possible.
However, as Gulp and Crush ambled clumsily into the portal, Ripto looked back at the group, eyes locking on the small dinosaur in particular, "Oh, and Hatchling...?"
Jaq chewed on his lip.
"When the dragon homelands become mine and that floppy purple rag doll beside you is dealt with, you're next."
Jaq wasn't afraid. He didn't get afraid as in...afraid afraid. But he did feel wary. He placed his hands behind his back, "I'll keep that in mind."
"Don't listen to that jerk." Spyro muttered. Ripto slipped into the portal, and it dissolved from sight. Hunter decided to state the obvious, as if his brain had shut down from shock.
"He just totally stole all of the dragonflies! Even Sparx is gone!"
Spyro didn't need to be told. Jaq felt slightly disturbed that dragons could be rendered...well, weak without their...bug friends. It wasn't reliable, was it? One frog spots their fluttering chums and its bye -bye magic?
"Ripto's spell..." Bianca murmured, a hand to her chin, drawing attention to her from the three around her, "It opted out, failed by the looks of it...maybe Sparx isn't as far as we think."
She turned her head, pale blue eyes watching the land cautiously. Hunter shrugged. Then she broke into a semi-confident, "Follow me!"
She ran off, and Spyro and Hunter followed with a shared glance of uncertainty. Jaq found himself very much alone.
...Oh well. He raced after them, hoping Ripto was being preoccupied with something else for the time being.