TLoS: Shadow of Doom
Chapter 6
"I can't believe I'm going to see the dragon city!" Doom said for about the twelfth time. The guardians dreams had told them there were six fire guardian candidates, three were in small villages and towns scattered around the the world, the others were in Warfang. Since Spyro and Cynder already knew how to get to the dragon city, and Doom repeatedly stated that he always wanted to see Warfang, they were sent there.
"The way he's talking its like he's been waiting for this his whole life." Spyro chuckled,
"He said he was afraid of his own shadow before he got captured, maybe he wanted to go but he was too scared." Cynder replied, "Although its defiantly not going to be as pleasant as he imagined."
"Why do you think that?" Spyro asked,
"Ever notice that you don't see a lot of metal dragons running around."
"Oh, right."
"Hey, don't worry you guys." Doom said, "I know there's most likely going to be an incident when people see me, but I'm gonna do my best to enjoy my visit despite the mean looks."
"We just want you to be prepared, that's all." Spyro said as the dragon city came into view.
No surprise as soon as the three of them set down people started staring, if Sparx were there Doom would have made a bet with him over who most of them were staring at, the Legendary Purple Dragon, the Terror of the Skies, or the metal freak show.
"Hold it right there!" A voice called, the three of them turned to see an earth dragon approaching, wearing full battle armor. "You with the weird armor, I need to have a word with you."
"It's alright, he's with us." Spyro said,
"And it's not armor, it's part of me." Doom added, earning some gasps and suspicious looks from the crowd,
"What are you?" The guard asked, hostility in his voice,
"My name is Doom, and as for what I am-" he let his voice trail off as he raised his metal leg and looked at his reflection in his paw, ignoring the guard as he tensed, "The best thing I can call myself is a dragon who's had a hard life." The anger left the guards face and was replaced with understanding,
"Alright, you can go, but don't cause any trouble."
"Only if someone attacks me first." Doom promised,
"Alright." The guard said, then he turned his attention to the crowd, "Move along folks, nothing to see here, go back to your lives citizens, shows over." He called, and with that the crowd slowly began to disperse, "Good luck to the three of you."
"Okay Doom, who are we here for?" Cynder asked, Doom sighed, ever since he told her about the capabilities of his mechanical brain she'd been testing his limits, still, it would be quicker to just go with it then argue. He searched his memory and activated the recording of when the guardians told them about the candidates they were looking for.
"There are the twin brothers Blake and Drake, who spend most of there time pranking people and admiring statues of the previous fire guardians in Warfangs upper levels." Doom said, using the same words as the guardians, "And there is a dragoness named Inferna, she lives in the slums of Warfang, she has a rare birth defect that caused the a lack of development in the fingers of her right wing." Doom finished the recording, "I think you two should get the brothers, I'll go look for Inferna." Doom suggested,
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go off alone." Spyro said, "Besides, if you want to get a good view of Warfang, you going to want to see the upper levels."
"You two work better together than you do with me, and you've been to the cities upper level, you to handle the twins, I'll find the dragoness." Doom said, he knew he'd have time to see Warfang later, and he hoped that giving Spyro and Cynder some time alone then maybe they'd be able to see how much they cared about each other,
"Are you sure?" Cynder asked,
"Yeah, it'll be faster this way, and I can see Warfang another time." Doom said, "Don't worry, I won't get into any trouble."
"Alright, we'll meet you back at the temple." Spyro said as he and Cynder walked off, Doom chuckled as the two moved closer to each other while they walked, how they didn't know they were in love was a total mystery to him, then again, he'd never been in love.
Warfang Slums
"How can this hell hole be a part of Warfang?" Doom thought, the slums were an assault on his senses, the place looked, smelled, and sounded horrible, and it left a foul taste in his mouth. He pushed the thought out of his head and was about to go back to focusing on tracking the fire guardian candidate when something caught his ear.
"Your pathetic, you know that!" Then there was the sound of someone grunting as they were punched, a female someone.
"I wonder." Doom thought, he glanced around the corner and saw four electric dragons taunting a dragoness, she was about his age, bright red scales, two small horns on each side of her head, her tail-blade was shaped like an arrowhead, she was wearing a necklace with small wooden carving of a dragons fang on it, though the most interesting thing was her wings, her left wing was normal, but her right wing was missing its fingers and membranes. "Matches the description perfectly." Doom thought, then one of the dragons punched her in the face, "Did you hear me? Your pathetic, not to mention a deformed freak, I really don't see why they don't just get rid of you Inferna." He hit her again,
Doom let out a low growl, he understood someone getting beat up in a place like this, but a dragoness who wasn't even fighting back was going too far, and judging from the fact she was covered in bruises and electrical burns, this happened a lot, the only reason he didn't try to kill those guys was because he'd promised the guard he wouldn't cause trouble unless someone hit him first, so he had to, grudgingly, sit back and watch. "They should just find a hole somewhere and toss you in it, lock you up like the monster you are!"
"You want to see a real monster," Doom called, stepping out from his hiding place, "Take a look over here!" The heads of all five dragons snapped over in Dooms direction, there mouth hung open and there eyes filled with fear,
"Hey, listen man." The apparent leader of the electric dragons said, "I don't know why your here, but there is no way we have anything to do with it."
"Then get out of my way." Doom said, he turned to Inferna, "Are you Inferna?" He asked,
"Y-yes." She replied,
"My name is Doom," her eyes widened, "The guardians sent me-"
"So those old men finally decided to get rid of this pathetic, freak excuse of a dragon." One of the electric dragons cut in, clearly recovering from the shock of Dooms appearance,
"Shut up. Inferna, did you have a strange dream last night?" Doom asked,
"Yeah, I saw some old ice dragon dragon but that was it." She replied,
"Then you are the one I was sent here for. Inferna, yesterday the guardians performed a ritual that would reveal the identities of dragons worthy to become the next fire guardian, and that dream is a sign that you are one of them."
"WHAT?! You have got to be kidding!"
"No, I'm not. Inferna, you are a candidate to become the next fire guardian."
"Wow, I-I can't believe it," then she looked over at the electric dragons, "Well, Volt, looks like your finally getting rid of me." She seemed to change when she said that, there was strength in her voice and a fire in her eyes,
"Yeah, good riddance, just don't forget to give me something to remember you by." The gang leader, Volt, shot back, then Inferna punched him in the nose,
"There you go, remember that the next time you think of beating someone up, asshole." She said, shocking everyone with her sharp tongue,
"So the rats got teeth huh," Volt said, rubbing blood off his nose, "That wasn't quite what I was thinking of," then faster than anyone could see, he grabbed Infernas necklace and ripped it off, "This is more like it." He said, staring down at the small piece of wood,
"GIVE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW, OR I'LL-"
"Oh, I don't think you'll be doing anything." Volt said, electricity began crackling in his other hand, he held the necklace threateningly above the sparks,
"STOP!" Inferna cried, she suddenly seemed to shrink, courage leaving her body, defeat filled her voice, the fire in her eye snuffed out and replaced by fear, "please don't, just give it back, I'll do anything." The electricity in Volts claw dissipated, there was an unsettling gleam in his eye, "Anything?" Volt asked in a sinister voice,
"Alright, that's going way to far!" Doom said, "Give her the necklace back or I'm gonna break something, more specifically, you!"
Volt just chuckled, "Listen metal mouth, since your working with the guardians I'll let off with a warning, don't mess with us."
"You know what, I was wrong," Doom growled, "You don't need to look at me to see a monster, all you have to do is look in a damn mirror!"
"Jumper, show this ugly piece of metal who's in-charge." Volt said,
"Sure thing boss." One of the other dragons said, then he sunk his talons into Dooms shoulder and sent an electric current into him, "You feel that?" Jumper asked, "That's thousands of volts of electricity ripping through your nerves, it's the most painful thing you'll ever feel!"
Doom just chuckled, "Pain is one of my oldest friends," he said, "If you think this is the worst I've ever felt, then your sorely mistaken." Then he grabbed Jumper and threw him into a wall. "Who's next?"
"Taser, put this crazy beast down."
The next dragon, Taser, blasted Doom with a bolt of electricity, Doom could feel his muscles locking up, "So he's trying to paralyze me." Doom thought, "Lets see how he handles this." Doom extended the cables in his shoulder, grabbed Taser, and threw him into the still recovering Jumper.
"Bolt, take his breath away."
"Sure thing bro." The last dragon said, then he started running circles around Doom, creating a vacuum.
Doom wasn't worried in the slightest, he timed Bolts movement, then grabbed him while he was making another pass, "I'm guessing you know what happens now." Doom said, Bolt just nodded yes and Doom threw him into Taser and Jumper. "You ready to go?" Doom asked Volt,
"Yeah, I'm ready to go alright." Volt said as he tried to make a run for it, Doom just trapped him in an energy sphere.
"Your pathetic, you harass and assault some girl who doesn't even fight back, then when things get rough you hide behind your gang, then when that fails you run away, tail between your legs." Doom reached into the sphere and grabbed Infernas necklace, "You disgust me." Doom said, then he electrified the inside of the sphere and knocked Volt out cold. "I believe this is yours." Doom said, handing Inferna her necklace.
"Thanks." She said, quickly tying the string back around her neck, then rubbing the wooden dragon fang against her chest, "It's about time someone put those assholes in there place."
"So are you ready to go? I'm sure you want to say goodbye to your family."
"I don't have one, not anymore." Inferna mumbled, "So how far to the temple?"
"Actually, I'm going to have to carry you there." Doom replied,
"Why?"
"Well, seeing as how you can't- ya know." Doom gestured to her wing stump,
"Oh, yeah, right." Inferna said, "Well, lets go."
Doom lifted into the air, then gently wrapped his arms around Inferna. "Too tight?" He asked,
"Don't worry about it, I'm tougher than I look." She replied.
"Yeah, I guessed that much." Doom chuckled.
Well, things are certainly getting interesting now aren't they, a new fire guardian, a mystery from Terradors past, and a necklace that apparently means a lot to one young dragoness, what more could you ask for?
Just a quick warning, the next few chapters may be a little shorter than usual.