Episode 2

Dark Pasts

"This is Jake Triwel, on an open broadcast to any surviving members of the crash. If there is any other survivors out there, please respond! I repeat, this is Jake Triwel, on an open broadcast to any surviving members of the crash." Jake said to his intercom holographically displayed on his arm. But there was nothing but the sound of static and no response. "If anyone is out there, send your coordinates to me!" Still nothing. Suddenly, a familiar but distorted voice came from the radio. "J*ke? Ja*e i* **at yo*?" The voice said. Jake recognised that voice. "Claire? Claire is that you?" He asked. "*h th*nk Go* y*u'r* aliv*!"

"Where are you?"

"I'm b**k a* th* sh*p. But ther* i* too m*ch *nt*rf*renc* fr*m her*. Ju** get bac* *ere a* *oon a* yo* ca*." The signal then got cut off. "Claire? Claire?! Damn it!" Jake exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the hood of his vehicle. "What is it?" Spyro asked. "We're going back to the ship."

"The what?" Cynder asked. "That big giant metal ship that you saw coming down the sky?! I came from there! And I'm not letting someone else die there." Jake got into his car along with Xar-Reth and started the engine. The tires ignited and the engine roared loudly. "You coming?" Jake asked the dragons. They just stood there thinking about what to do next. "Spyro. It's okay. You can see us again, if you like." Nina said to her adoptive son. "Thanks, mom." Spyro said. "Well, I'd join in as well, since we're buddies." Sparx said. "Alright, it's settled." Jake said. He pushed the accelerator and the vehicle blasted away from the group in three seconds flat while the dragons and Sparx flew after him. "They grow up so fast." Nina said to Flash.

With the team racing back to the ship, Xar-Reth kept an eye out for any surprise attacks on the passenger seat with a large alien cannon. "Anything yet?" Jake asked. "No. Nothing." Xar-Reth answered. Jake focused back on the road in front of him. When he turned to his left he could see a faint red blur through the bushes. Then out from the bushes, the same black and red super car that was chasing Jake last night rammed into them and caused Jake to spin out and crash at a nearby tree. Jake and Xar-Reth climbed out while the driver of the black and red super car got out. He had a huge scythe on his back, along with a missile launcher and a semi auto shotgun. "Surprise." The driver said. "You. I knew you'd pull off something like that." Jake said. The dragons landed next to Jake and saw the unknown adversary. "Who is that guy?" Sparx asked. "Hell if I know. He calls himself Reaper. As in the Grim Reaper. He's been hunting me for years, he said." Jake answered. "Care to introduce you're new friends to me?" Reaper asked. "Y'know what? Doesn't matter. I got something you don't." Jake said. His eyes suddenly glowed reddish orange and he lifted himself off the ground. He then roared loudly and demonic energy surrounded him and he fully transformed into his demonic form. But Reaper didn't seemed to be that surprised, in fact he didn't look surprised at all! "Wanna dance?" Jake said as he aimed one of his gauntlet blades at Reaper. "Gladly." He said as he pulled out his scythe. Jake started running toward him and lifted his blades up and then down toward Reaper but was stopped by him with his scythe. Reaper pushed Jake away and then swung his scythe at him. Jake quickly jumped out of the way and aimed his two pistols at Reaper. He fired at Reaper as fast as he can, as the bullets came out at blistering speed. Reaper was swinging his scythe round and round as a shield, blocking the bullets. As Reaper stopped, he found Jake running up to him and Reaper lifted his scythe at Jake but he blocked it with his gauntlet blades. Jake then brought out his strength and pushed the scythe away with so much force, it slipped out of Reaper's hands. As the scythe was flung into the air, Jake brought out one of his pistols but so did Reaper at the exact same time. They both aimed at their heads. As soon as Reaper's scythe landed back on the ground, the two of them pulled the triggers. Blood squirted out from their foreheads as they flopped onto their backs. For a few seconds, it looked like they were both dead but then Reaper started to laugh and soon Jake was laughing as well. Jake then quickly sat up and pulled out his pistols and fired away at Reaper as he began to sit up. Reaper flopped back on the ground again but he brought out his pistol again and began firing at Jake as he jumped back up. Jake then began to think about something. "He's not even whatever I am and he's still alive. Is he indestructible? Everything has a breaking point." Jake thought. He dodged a couple of bullets from Reaper as he stood up. There was suddenly an explosion. Everyone turned to where Reaper fired and found a pile of scorched trees. "A pistol...did that? Damn..." Jake said. "Your strength and reflexes have improved as we last met." Reaper said. "Who are you, really?" Reaper stared at him in concern. "You've been hunting me like you know me from long ago. Over the years, I begin to think that you know about my past. So tell me, who are you and how do you know me?!" Jake yelled. There was an uneasy silence. Reaper then began to laugh. "You have no idea about who you really are, do you? Alright, if you want answers, then I shall give them to you." He then said. Reaper slowly picked his scythe and suddenly everything around him and the others surrounding him turned into an image of what lied inside Reaper's scythe. It was a prison. No...it was a demonic asylum for all the souls he had taken from all the people he killed, yelling and screaming out to him to release them! Everyone was shocked as they looked around the image of the cells of the bloodied people holding to the bars, screaming out, begging Reaper to release them. The image of the prison disappeared and everyone turned back to Reaper. "Now it's time to see your brother." Reaper said. He then slowly took his helmet off. Jake and everyone else surrounding him was even more shocked. Reaper WAS Jake's brother! He had the exact same eyes, nearly exact same face, same hair, everything! He then smiled and suddenly, a dark red aura surrounded him. His eyes glowed bright red and suddenly, near exact same demonic tattoos as Jake's glowed under Reaper's armour. Dark energy surged through Reaper's body from his demonic scythe. He suddenly bursted out a large blast of dark energy and everyone shielded themselves for cover. When Jake looked at Reaper, he instantly stood back in shock. Reaper had a demon form of his own! He was black and red armour and skin, his armour was more rugged and serrated than Jake's armour and the scar from Reaper's left eye glowed red. "How?! I thought I was the only one that can turn into this...thing!" Jake said. "You were wrong. You were all harmonisers from the beginning." Reaper said. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your father was an elemental demon, while your mother was human. She was the first to die. You weren't easy. I was just about to put the killing blow to you, until you gave me this." Reaper pointed to his left eye. Memory flashes as Jake as a ten year old stabs Reaper in the left eye with a pair of scissors then cuts to when Jake ran away from home with his father. "It is why he wiped out your memory of him and sealed away your power, so that you won't realise the danger you are in and that I won't find you and kill you." Jake suddenly began to see flashes viewing everything from what his brother said to him. He remembered everything about his father now. He looked like a normal human from one image but then turned into a demon similar to Jake's demon form. Then he saw a flash of his father absorbing Jake's power and sealing them into the same crystal that stabbed into him. "I have been looking everywhere for you ever since you escaped from me. I could sense where you were. Your fear...it was so...ripe." Everything around Reaper, Jake and the others turned into a modern city and there was Reaper standing in front of a hospital, looking upwards. "This would be fun." Reaper said. The floor then levitated and viewed from different windows, either being smashed or covered in blood after hearing screaming from inside. It then viewed to see Reaper choking a doctor and nurses try to rescue him. "It was like Christmas morning." The window was suddenly covered in blood when there was a scream. It then viewed to a different window with a dead corpse hanging over the edge of the window. "Every hallway, filled with little gifts!" It then turned to a window with Reaper holding a rocket launcher and fired it about ten windows further until it hit a medical staff and caused a large explosion. "Little. Tiny. Blood filled. Gifts." It then viewed a window being smashed as a person on a gurney is thrown out. "They all tried to fight back. I think they were just making it fun for me." It then viewed with Reaped preparing his scythe at a patient with doctors trying to stop him until there was another scream and the window was covered in blood. "I think they were happy for me." It then viewed the hospital at a full view with windows shattered and screams in pain and fear and it showed large blood stains from the dead corpses which made Reaper's skull paint. "Looking back, I was so glad I decided to take the stairs." It then zoomed toward the top middle floor window with two police officers armed with their firearms until Reaper slashed them all at once with his scythe and one of them smashed through the window. It zoomed further to doors with the words "psychiatric ward" on top of it. Reaper kicked the doors open and looked around. He saw a doctor, removing a name plate from a door. The doctor slowly turned around with fear in his eyes. Reaper turned to the name plate and it said, "Triwel." "Oh, that name. How I hated that name." The view then turned to the Triwel family taking a family portrait with the mother, father, the 23 year old brother and 10 year old Jake. "It reminded me of how I hated him." Everything turned into flames and the Triwel family had skulls painted on except for the 23 year old brother. "How I hated being him. His stupid, little, life." Scene changes to the 23 year old brother with the marines fighting against Qrax-Eux. "That stupid, little, "army". It took me years of screaming and clawing him, trying and breaking him down. Years of calling out to him, trying to get him to set me free! But he was such a coward." The scene shifted to the 23 year old brother in what appears to be a basement. "Then one night it happened. One night I called. And he answered." The 23 year old brother is revealed to be painting Reaper's skull on his helmet. "And after I got him to carve me. I killed him." It then viewed the 23 year old brother with the black and red armour and putting on the helmet and then everything around him looked like it went to hell. "For my first murders, I chose the perfect targets. The perfect family. I chose...his family." It then shifts to where Reaper is inside, threatening his mother. "Marcus, no!" The mother called. "Marcus doesn't live here anymore." Reaper said. "Please, no! Marcus, wait!"

"Shut up and BLEED you motherf-!" Reaper's sentence was cut off as the mother screamed to death. "She died so easily." It then shifts back when Jake stabbed Reaper in the eye. "Except for you." Jake stabbed Reaper in the eye and shattered his visor and ran with his father. "You were a...surprise." Reaper pulled the scissors out from his eye and screamed in pain. "That...and that damned picture." Reaper is holding the family photo with blood drops on the older brother and the mother's faces. The scene shifts back to the hospital where Reaper is holding the name plate and walked away. The doctor sighed in relief until Reaper yelled: "Where did he GO!?" The name plate was suddenly thrown all the way across the room and as soon as the nameplate hit the the doctors head, the visions ended. "Now...after all these years. I finally found you." Reaper said. "So you were the one who blew up the ships thrusters!" Jake said. "Of course."

"Well, if you want him, you're gonna have to get through us." Spyro said as he stood up in front of Jake, protecting him. Reaper laughed. "Really now? I've heard a lot about you, legendary purple dragon and his so-called, Terror of the skies. You don't look that much of a challenge. I should kill you all easily and painfully." He said as a large amount of dark energy flowed through his body. "Not if we're in the way!" A voice said. The red dragon and pink dragoness jumped out of the bushes and moved in a fighting stance, in front of Spyro and Cynder. "We're not going to let you hurt the purple dragon!" The red dragon said to Reaper. "Yeah, we will protect him at all costs!" The pink dragoness said. Spyro and the others were a bit confused about what the pink dragoness said until she turned and whispered to Spyro: "Hey there hot stuff. My name's Ember." Spyro and Cynder were dumbstruck. Reaper stood there and then suddenly he change back into his human form. "I would kill you all in ten seconds, but that'll be too easy. That would be just a waste of my time." He said as he grabbed his helmet and started to walk back to his vehicle. "Wait. So you're just gonna leave us?" The red dragon asked. "Marcus wait!" Jake said as he ran up to Reaper. He suddenly grabbed him in the throat. Jake then turned back into his human form. "Don't. Call. Me." Reaper tightened his grip on Jake's throat. "That. Ever. AGAIN!" Reaper yelled as he then threw Jake to a nearby tree, smashing it. The others ran to him to see if he's okay. Reaper put his helmet back on and drove away in his super car. "Next time, I won't go easy on you all." Reaper said as he drove off. As Jake got up, he turned to see Reaper drive into the distance until he wasn't in sight anymore. Jake couldn't believe that the man that was hunting him throughout his life was his own brother and he is a harmoniser after all these years. But then again, the whole thing started to add up. Jake then lowered his head in thought and grief. "Jake? Are you okay?" Alpha asked as he appeared over his shoulder. "Now that I think about it, it all makes sense. It explains why he knew all about me this whole time and why I always felt something familiar in that crystal." Jake said. "The crystal that imprisoned your powers?" Cynder asked. "I remember back then that I had a strange feeling with this crystal, like it was connected to me somehow. Now I understand now. My dad was no ordinary demon. He was special. Different from the others. He had the power to turn into many different ones at will. My brother, Marcus or Reaper did so to. And now, I have that power."

"So what do we do now?" Spyro asked. Jake raised his head. "We're going back to the ship. That's the only thing we have to do right now." He said. He got back in his car with Xar-Reth and raced through the forest with the dragons on his tail. "Now that I remember everything, I know what I have to do. Protect all those who I love and slay all those who I hate. The brother I once knew is gone now. Now, it's just me and Reaper." Jake thought.

The group reached a dead end after entering the valley of Avalar. Spyro, Cynder, Flame and Ember landed and looked around as Jake and Xar-Reth got out of the car. "Spyro, does this place looks familiar to you?" Cynder asked. "Yeah, but I don't remember where. Unless..." Spyro said. "Wait, don't tell me." Sparx said. A sudden old and raspy laughter came out of nowhere. Jake and Xar-Reth didn't know what it was as they aimed their weapons at multiple areas but Spyro, Sparx and Cynder recognised it as Cynder lowered her head. "What? What is it Cynder?" Alpha asked as he appeared over Jake's shoulder as Jake then turned to Cynder. "We know where we are." Spyro said. "Jake, we got a contact on your 12!" Alpha said. Jake and Xar-Reth aimed their weapons at the shadows in front of them and the dragons. A pale blue furred cheetah standing on his hind feet with a long dark green cloak, yellow eyes and holding a staff with a blue orb stepped out from the shadows. It was the Hermit. The thing that freaked Jake out was that he was seeing an anthromorphic cheetah. "So, the Dark Master's puppet has returned?" The Hermit asked with a smile on his face. "The Dark Master's gone now. He's defeated. By me and Cynder." Spyro said. Jake clearly had no idea what these guys were talking about. "True, yet, remains of his army are now hiding within the shadows, fuelled by vengeance over their fallen leader." The Hermit said. "We noticed." Cynder said angrily. "Uh, guys? Care to explain what the hell you're talking about?" Jake asked. Suddenly, there were sudden deranged and awkward giggling and voices coming up from above the dead end. Grublins. Jake and Xar-Reth aimed their weapons high up in the air but didn't fire. They all jumped down and charged at the group. One Grublin lunged at the Hermit but he suddenly whacked it away with his staff and then jumped up from the ground to a Grublin Fly in mid air, then onto another and finally landing on the top of the cliff. He then turned and looked down to watch the fight. Everyone else was dumbstruck over what they saw. "Since when can he do THAT?!" Sparx exclaimed. No one was able to talk right now as they were holding off all of the ambushing Grublins. Spyro and the dragons were using their elements to burn or blow them away, while Jake and Xar-Reth were firing away. But more and more Grublins keep emerging from the ground. "I'm really starting to hate these things!" Jake yelled. A Grublin Fly began to fly away. "Don't let anyone of them get away! Or else more will come!" Spyro called out to Jake. "I think I get the idea!" Jake yelled. He aimed his assault rifle at the Grublin. "Spray and pray." Jake said as he the pulled the trigger. He completely mauled away the fly into a lump of rotten dirt as it flopped onto the ground. Xar-Reth brought out his hammer and whacked away any lunging Grublins as they splatted in pieces on impact. Then there was a large rumble on the ground and a Hero Orc emerged behind Xar-Reth. It lifted it's mace and swung it at Xar-Reth but he countered it by whacking his hammer with the Orc's, creating a large shockwave. It nearly sent everyone flying as they were flung to the rock walls, even the dragons, Jake and Sparx. "Jesus, Xar-Reth! Go easy with the shock waves!" Jake yelled. Xar-Reth was too busy with the Hero Orc. He rolled to his left to dodge the Orc from stomping onto him and then used his hammer to whack the Orc's mace from it's hand as it was swinging it. Xar-Reth then jumped on it's shoulder, pulled out his cannon and fired straight into it's head, leaving a large smouldering hole on it's head. He jumped off as it collapsed to the ground. The group kept on fending off the remaining Grublins until an even larger rumble below the ground erupted. Suddenly, a Troll bursted from the ground, which sent Flame and Ember to the rock wall, knocking them out. Jake fired at the Troll with his full auto shotgun but it was no good. It swatted Jake into Xar-Reth and were flung to the trees like a pair of flies. "Good thing that wasn't me." Sparx said to himself. Spyro ran to tackle it but it was swatted to Jake's super car and was knocked out. Jake's car suddenly started by itself. The troll then stomped toward Cynder which found herself trapped by the rock wall. Spyro slowly opened his eyes to see the Troll stomping toward Cynder by the rock wall. It then lifted a fist and was about to crush Cynder. Spyro was fully awake as he realised what was about to happen. "CYNDER!" Spyro exclaimed. He had to do something fast or Cynder will be killed. But nothing came into his mind but grief and worry. His eyes then flared blank white and his scales darkened to a faint black. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Dark Spyro yelled at the Troll. It turned to see Dark Spyro glaring at it menacingly. "Spyro?" Cynder quietly asked. Jake and Xar-Reth woke up to see dark aura rushing through the ground. Flame and Ember found the dark aura rushing through the ground as well. The dark aura was surrounding Dark Spyro and he began to lift off from the ground. The dark energy circling Dark Spyro began to form a tornado and purple electricity erupted from the ground to Spyro. Flame and Ember ran to the forest for cover with Jake and Xar-Reth. "This is not gonna go well." Sparx said as he flew to the trees. "What's he doing?!" Jake asked. "You don't wanna know." Sparx said. The dark aura then formed a sphere with Dark Spyro inside it. Then, the fury was unleashed. An explosion of Convexity erupted everywhere, with waves of dark energy exploded from Dark Spyro and flares of Convexity meteorites exploding everywhere. The Troll was caught in the waves of darkness and it was slowly turned into stone and blew up into dust. The dark fires ceased as Dark Spyro slowly landed on the ground after his dark fury. Dark Spyro looked around to see the destruction he caused. He then turned to Cynder, which was taking cover from the fury, and gave a worried look. Cynder uncovered herself from her wings and turned to see Dark Spyro. "Cynder..." Dark Spyro said as he then turned back to his normal state. "Are you alright?"

"Spyro? You...but how did you control...?" Cynder trailed off. Spyro realised about what she was talking about. "I...I don't know. It's like...after we defeated Malefor...all that darkness inside me...just withered away." Spyro and Cynder realised about the others. They ran to the trees to see the guys sitting silent and still, breathing heavily. "You alright?" Spyro asked. Jake slowly turned to Spyro. "Yeah." Jake said and turned away. "Is something wro-"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Jake suddenly exclaimed out loudly in Spyro's face. "Jake, calm down!" Alpha said as he appeared over his shoulder. "You almost got us killed!"

"I'm sorry! I had to save Cynder!" Spyro said. "Okay, okay! ...I'm sorry I yelled at you, it's just... God, you scared the crap outta me." The sound of Jake's car came up on everybody's mind. They ran up to it to see it flashing it's headlights and revving it's engine. "Jake, is it just me or is your car trying to tell us something?" Alpha asked. Then there was a faint explosion up in the air. They turned to see a crimson red cloud in the air. "That's a signal flare! Alpha, can you locate where that flare leads to?" Jake said. "It's only about 15 miles from here." Alpha said. "That must be where the ship is! Patch the coordinates of that flare to our GPS."

"Already taken care of."

"Thanks." The Hermit's laugh came up from the rock wall. "The Dark Master's army will find you." The Hermit laughed. "Alright, that's it. You have 15 seconds to tell me what the hell were those things, or I'm gonna put a bullet through your head." Jake said angrily as he stomped toward the Hermit with a pistol to his head. "The Grublins were loyal to the Dark Master-"

"WHO the HELL is this Dark Master?!"

"He was a powerful purple dragon, like him." The Hermit pointed to Spyro. "What does that mean?" Jake asked. "The purple dragon is a legendary and powerful creature that is born every ten generations. They contain raw power far greater than any other dragon in all of the Dragon Realms. Able to master more than one element. The Dark Master, or Malefor, became consumed by his own hatred and malice, and for years, he had hoped for the destruction of this world but because of those two dragons, Malefor's plot has now been thwarted, yet remains of his army survived, hoping to avenge their fallen leader."

"And one more question: why are you so obsessed with getting under Cynder's skin?"

"Because, she was once Malefor's greatest soldier."

"What?" Jake turned to Cynder. "You're joking."

"Am I? Go on Cynder, tell him." Cynder was reluctant to tell Jake, since she is filled with grief over what she has done. "It's true." Jake could tell she wasn't lying. "You gotta be kidding." Jake pulled his pistol away from the Hermit and walked up to Cynder. "Jake, I can explain." She said. "This innocent looking dragon is this guy's strongest lieutenant? That is such bull."

"I was tortured. Corrupted when I was just a hatchling. Controlled by Malefor for his own purposes. I killed a lot of innocent lives, but now I am regretting it. All thanks to Spyro. He was the one who saved me." Cynder explained. It explains a lot to Jake. He always hated how it was like for a child to be tortured or hurt. Even when they deserved it. He then walked back to the Hermit. "I guess that explains a lot, doesn't it?" The Hermit asked. "Yeah, it does." Jake said. He clenched a fist and suddenly violently punched him unconscious, as he flopped down to the ground, eyes looking dim, which shocked everyone but Xar-Reth. "Douche." Jake quietly said. He walked back to the rest of the group. "He deserved it. Let's move." Jake said as he got in his car. Cynder looked at the unconscious Hermit. "Yeah, he did deserve it." She said to herself. The soldiers raced through the forest to the coordinates of the flare with the dragons on their tail.