Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios.

Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra.

Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.

The flashback was inspired by the 'battle of the line' from the movie, Babylon 5: In the beginning'

CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood

Chapter 6: Origin of Madness

Chloe sat with her head in her hands. The others had all arrived five minutes ago. Even Flame and Ember had turned up, though several guards were keeping an eye on her and Cynder. "You, I don't get it," said Chip, "I always thought Matt's hinges were a little loose, but I thought it was because his brain got fried because of that Splitter liquor."

"That helped a bit...but the medical nanites can fix that type of damage...no...this happened awhile later." said Chloe, looking up.

"She's got a point," said NegaMorph, "Brain damage doesn't affect a person's psyche like this. This is the result of past trauma, right Chloe?"

"Worse...Remember the combine?" said Chloe

"Well, I certainly noticed that Matt wanted to keep a clear distance from them when we went to look for Kala," said Chip.

"Well...it began a few year ago...we'd got a lot of good press in exposing Executive Genetics' illegal weapon program...and we'd landed a huge contract with an NSC fleet...running escort for a deep range research ship near the Combine border..."

--

NSS Achillies

Badlands/combine confederation border

2 months since exposure of Executive Genetics

"So... what kinda of research is supposed to be going?" asked Matt as he was juggling his wristcomp, an empty coffee mug, and his old digivice.

"Oh...some wormhole's been found...NSC want to claim it before the Combine do." said another merc speaking with an Irish accent, called Damian "We get the fun job of flying recon in the area."

"Goody, goody," said Matt, "Well, at least this isn't as strenuous as my last job."

Another merc, a lionness anthro said "Yeah...I hear Exo-Gene's had to promote a whole new board of directors...apparently half of the old directors were in on this Kurata guys idea."

"That's the trouble with having a corporation," said Matt, "Too many of the people who get on the board are usually corrupt."

"Or are too dumb to call for outside help...they were trying to deal with it themselves." said the lioness anthro. The P.A sounded. "Approaching destination...all pilots to briefing room 2."

Matt stopped juggling and put the juggling materials away. Except for the coffee mug, he was planning on filling it up again later.

--

The briefing was as Matt and Chloe had expected...check the surrounding area for marauder ships before the rest of the fleet flies into range. Nothing extravagant. Matt was personally happy when they were allowed to take their fighters, S-41 Starfuries out for the run. "Ok...how many marauding asteroids do you think we'll see?" he said over the squadron comm channel, getting a few chuckles.

"You need to take this more seriously, Matt," said Chloe, "I don't think you realize how potentially dangerous this could be."

"Like what? The combine never come out of their little homemade empire...and the marauders give the border a wide berth...this is easy money," said Matt

"Famous last words," muttered Chloe.

The only area of interest was a moon that seemed to have been smashed by some unknown cataclysm in the distant past. As it was the only place a marauder fleet could hide he squadron flew towards it. "Like I said...rocks...eeevil rocks." said Matt in a taunting voice

"Let's not take any chances," said Chloe.

Matt yawned and said. "Ok...do a sweep, guys." The search turned up nothing, as expected but as they flew back out the rubble to call the 'all clear' signal, Matt noticed a blip, just for a second. "Wha...did anyone else see that?" he said.

"See what?" asked Damian.

Matt sighed. "Nothing...Chloe's got me jumping at nothing...Achillies. This is Delta 1...all clear for the fleet to jump in."

Then the rest of the fleet came through the warp. "Ok then," said the captain of the Achilles, "Let's land on that moon and then..."

Suddenly a bright green beam hit the bridge tower on the Achillies, blowing it to junk. At the same time the sensor readout for Matt's fighter went crazy and several warp points opened around the fleet, spewing forth a dozen Combine vessels and hundreds of their insectoid looking fighters.

"SCATTER!!" screamed Matt as he started flying away from the Combine fleet.

The Starfury was made to fly around in zero gravity with all the grace of a dolphin in the sea...but compared to the Combine fighters hey were standing still. The first volley sliced two fighters in half and caught another on its yop-left booster, sending it spinning into the side of a combine ship. The NSC fleet was being systematically erased from existence in a hail of laser fire.

Matt was trying his best to avoid being hit by the laser blasts when he saw Damian ship head straight for a cruiser. "What do you think you're doing?!" shouted Matt.

"I got a clear run...I can take this guy." said Damian. Matt all but screamed. "DAMMIT...ITS A TARP...BREAK OFF...BREAK O..." and stopped as a beam from the cruiser blew Damian, screaming out of space

Matt didn't have time for grief seeing as how he was apparently next on the demolitions list.

All around him he could see delta squad valiantly...but ultimately futilely trying to do any damage whatsoever. One after the other they were blown away till barely 3 were left.

"I don't think we're going to get out of this one," said the lioness anthro. "No," said Matt, "But we're sure as heck gonna make sure we leave some damage before we go out." "Why not?" said Chloe, "Nothing else to do."

The three pilots formed their fighters into a small V formation and began flying full tilt at the lead combne ship. "Lets go park down their throats." said Matt angrily

"I'd rather fight and die than live with the knowledge that I ran," growled the lioness. "Uh, running's not an option here," said Chloe. "Chloe, dramatic moment, please," chided Matt in an attempt at his usual humour.

The Combine ship seemed to finally realise the danger and began firing at the small group, hitting the lionesses fighter dead center. "DAMMIT!" swore Matt before a different beam hit Chloes ship, being a translucent white in colour

"Matt, they're not zapping me, it's a tractor beam!" called Chloe as her ship started being pulled forwards.

Matt turned to shoot at where the beam was emerging when a second one hit his. "Bugger." he said, hitting buttons to no effect.

"Since when do the Combine take live prisoners?" asked Matt. "When they want someone to interrogate," replied Chloe. But then whatever further conversation could have followed was stopped by a pulse that the tractor beam gave off, electrocuting and knocking them both unconscious.

--

There was a long moment of silence after Chloe finished her description of the battle. "What happened after that?" asked Techo.

"They did interrogate us," said Chloe. "They thought we were a scouting party for an invasion fleet. They tried to force the 'truth' out of Matt. They didn't hurt me, for some reason they don't like harming females but they made me listen to Matt's screams."

Chloe slumped into her hands again. "Finally, we were rescued when an NSC fleet managed to catch up with the ship we were on. Matt spent 2 months in stasis recovering from whatever they did...and he just...shut it away." she said

"So he's been keeping all that trauma simmering inside him all this time?" said NegaMorph, "It's a wonder he hasn't cracked sooner."

"Oh...he has...more then once...remember back on the space elevator?" she said, gloomily.

"He did go berserk that time we were escaping the caverns." said Spyro.

Chloe nodded. "He never really got over it...blamed himself fpr what happened." she said before adding "And judging from Draconus's boasting, he's being made to face reruns of his interrogation...no wonder he's caved."

"So how is it we're going to treat him?" asked Techo, "I don't think anyone here has a degree in psychology."

Wilson added "And the dream amulets back in New York...so no way in to help him out that way."

"Actually, I think Volteer has some kinda dream-visiting spell thingy," said Sparx, "He mentioned it once, but there was a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo threw in with it."

Chloe sighed. "I'm not going to leave my brother in this nightmare Draconus cooked up..." she said by way of deciding.

"So it's settled then," said Wilson, "We ask Volteer to send us into Matt's head, we snap him out of his nightmare redux, and he goes back to normal. Plain and simple." "Uh, do you have any idea what it's like inside Matt's subconscious?" asked Chip.

Wilson shrugged. "Can't be that bad." Chip said flatly "We were chased by an economy size massacrate." Wison and Techo looked at each other. "We'll erm...guard Draconus." said Techo valiantly ignoring Chloes faint.

--

"Certainly," said Volteer after the gang had approached him about their idea, "Subliminal visits into the sub consciousness are a matter of achievable ability." The group just exchanged glances. "Good?" said Chloe after a minute. "I think he said it would be easy to get into Matt's mind," said Chip.

Chloe sighed. "He did complain about some amulet once...something about he might as well imagine a revolving door or something." Cynder turned to Chip and said, "You're the only one here that can give a reliable description of what the inside of Matt's head's like. How bad is it in there?" Chip considered his words carefully for a minute before saying, "Expect...weirdness."

Chloe however was not as confident. Matt had mentioned his first encounter with Volteers spells...more precisely a teleport spell that had dumped him in a frozen waste for 2 hours. "You sure this won't go wrong?" she asked. "Not to worry," said Volteer, "The probability of a mishap regarding this spell is virtually nonexistent." Chloe gulped. She got a feeling that somewhere, whatever lifeform was in charge of murphy's law was rubbing its hands together.

"I should mention that for full effectiveness the mind that is to be infiltrated must be in a state of little to no activity as well the body to be unable to retaliate," said Volteer. Chloe shrugged. "So...someone has to brain Draconus till he's out cold?" she said. Volteer nodded. "Yes...sufficient blunt force trauma would be effective." he said. Chloe sighed. "I had a feeling it might be."

She activated her comm and said, "Guys, I've got good news and bad news. We can get into Matt's mind, but Draconus has to be out cold first." "Oh, that won't be a problem," said Contrinus, "He's already out like a light." Chloe looked at the comm. "Ok...I know I probably won't like the explanation but...why?" she said, sighing.

"Well," said Contrinus, "he said I wasn't worth being the mate of a warrior like Draco and I didn't take that comment too well. Next thing I knew, I was slamming him against the walls by his tail." Chloe stared at the comm in shock. "Ok then...well...if he starts groaning...hit him again."

--

In due time, a small 'rescue party' was put together. Chloe was leading with Cynder, Flame, and Ember accompanying her. Spyro chose to stay behind in case Draconus needed to be subdued again. NegaMorph had to stay since his negative aura could cause even worse dreams for Matt.

"So...how will this work?" said Chloe. Volteer looked over from his preparations and said "Well...your minds will have to be in a similar state of inactivity to Draconus." Chloe looked at Volteer. "Well...I'm not having Contrinus swing me around."

"We have some nitrus oxide around here, right?" asked NegaMorph. Chloe turned her glare on Negamorph. "Go guard Draconus." she said. As a result she didn't see Volteer mutter a sleeping spell at her. Negamorph sighed with relief as she crumpled, snoring. "Ok...she isn't in a laughing gas mood then."

"One more thing," said Volteer, "Unlike that other dream infiltration device you had mentioned before, this spell has considerably less safeguards so termination within the infiltrated mind will cause corporeal termination." Cynder looked over at the sleeping Chloe. "So basically, die in dream, die here." she said and gulped as Volteer nodded in confirmation.

"You'd better pass that onto Chloe when you meet up with her," said Spyro, "We'll keep an eye on you too. If things look like they're going too bad, we'll pull you out."

--

Chloe opened her eyes to find herself on what looked like the bridge of the Nighthawk. She looked around to see Cynder, Flame and Ember waking up as well. As she got up, she noticed that the bridge was in great disrepair. There were scorch marks everywhere from where blasts had hit and several parts of the walls, floor, and equipment were either cracked or completely ripped open.

All the screens that, from Chips description of what they should expect, should have been showing memories were all displaying the same red screen or were flickering. Chloe tapped one and a image of one of Delta squadrons exploding starfuries could be seen, the view moving around rapidly to see another. It was apparently from matts point of view.

"Hmm, I don't like what Draconus has done with the place," said Chloe, "I'm no expert on the matter, but this just screams bad fung shua." The door out of the bridge was jammed shut but was forced open by all four. The corridor wasn't the usual one. Chloe looked both ways in worry. "Chip never said Matt had a corridor decked out like a Combine cruiser." she said. The same damage was evident, fallen panels showing the usual look underneath the panels.

"You don't think that Draconus was expecting us, do you?" said Cynder, "Because if he was, than he'd be trying to psyche us out." As if on cue a agonised scream sounded down the corridor. "You mean like that?" said Flame.

"Oh, if only my hubby were here," said Ember, "He'd make sure nothing bad would ever happen to me." Cynder glared at Ember and stopped as Chloe sighed and said "Leave it...vent it on Draconus when we find him."

--

Meanwhile, Draconus, still in dragon form, was being closely observed. "Would Cynder be in trouble if Draconus woke up?" asked Spyro. Negamorph said "Apparently if he wakes up they can't get out till he falls asleep again." Wilson added "Which is why Contrinus has hit him over the head twice already."

NegaMorph glanced towards Contrinus and said, "You know, I've heard about women hitting people with frying pans and rolling pins, but she's the first one I know that actually makes it look scary." Admittedly, Contrinus wasn't using a frying pan. She had a fire extinguisher in her hand, a large dent already knocked into it. Draconus seemed to be out cold or at least currently had the common sense to pretend to be unconscious.

"Remind me to think twice before ruffling her feathers," muttered Wilson. Wilson and Techo yawned. "We're gonna dig up some food...who knows how long they'll be in there...we'll be across the corridor."

However, Draconus wasn't as unconscious as they thought he was. He knew when was the best time to play possum, especially where fire extinguishers are involved. He already had a plan and now the only two people with plasma rifles had left, he put it into action, faking a fake groan and opening his eyes to look at Contrinus. "I meant what you said...maybe he'll be better off with Devina?" he said.

Contrinus gave a raptor-like shrill and flew straight at Draconus. But then Draconus whacked her with his tail and sent her flying straight into NegaMorph's head-mouth. It was a rather funny sight with Contrinus's legs and tail sticking out of NegaMorph's stuffed mouth.

Draconus jumped up and smirked at Negamorph. "You got something in your throat...let me HELP!" he said and headbutted Negamorph in the gut. The impact sent NegaMorph sailing backwards and made him hit a wall in a non-cushioning way. It had also caused Contrinus to be expelled and she hit a wall too. They both slid to the ground, both looking dazed. Draconus turned to see Spyro. "One more then I'm outta here..." he said.

Spyro growled and said, "You won't get by me so easily. I'm on my guard." "So am I...I tend to wise up...and I know this ship as well at Matt." Draconus said with a sneer before spitting a plasma blast at an energy relay in the wall next to Spyro.

Spyro threw himself out of the way as the energy relay exploded. However it gave Draconus the opening to head out the door, knocking a surprised Techo and Wilson down. "Oh hell...tell me that wasn't who I think it was." said Wilson, heading in to see the others. Contrinus looked a bit out of it and was coated in black goo stains from her trip into Negamorphs throat. Negamorph himself was still wheezing a bit from Draconus's sucker punch. "Dammit...is everyone good?" he said.

"Not for long if we don't stop Draconus," said Spyro as he got back up. Wilson nodded. "Is she ok?" he said, looking at Contrinus. "She had a rather... uncomfortable experience," said Spyro, "I wouldn't ask too much about it." Techo sighed. "Lets just hope there's nothing lasting...specially after that shade a few months back." he said.

NegaMorph coughed and said, "Ugh, I really need something to drink. I'm going to be spitting feathers for a week."

--

Back in Matt's brain, the gang had decided against all natural common sense to follow the screams. The corridors were utterly deserted of all life and were getting darker as the group went on. "Uh, who else is getting creeped out by all this?" asked Flame.

"Everyone...don't let it bother you." said Chloe, looking into a room to see nothing...just empty space...including no floor. "Ok...unusual." she said. Another scream, now very close sounded from a door at the end of the corridor, followed by a aristocratic voice saying. "Please, Corporal Lynch...all these lies are getting you nothing."

"That must be where Matt is," said Cynder, "We just need to go in there and tell him this is all in the past, right?" "Not easy...I know its been a day for us...but in here it could have been years..." said Chloe. Despite this she walked over to the door and kicked it open. A Reptillian alien looked over in shock.

"What the hell? Guards!" he said before Chloe punched him. She then saw Matt. He was strapped to a chair making a pitiful moaning noise. He looked like he had flu, pale and sweating. His eyes were almost red from bloodshot and he was slumped in the seat, two electrode devices on his forehead making a humming noise that seemed to be the cause of his discomfort.

"Ok, if anyone around here is causing my brother mental discomfort, it's going to be me," said Chloe, her hands becoming covered with electricity. Matt made a noise and looked up. "No...he's going too far now..." he said in a dry voice before slumping back down. "Fuck off, Draconus."

"Matt, I'm real," said Chloe as she blasted the Combine alien just as it was getting up, "We broke into your head and we're to break you out. Well, metaphorically speaking of course." "Oh please...now you're just pushing it." said Matt and was shocked when Chloe slapped him across the face.

"Is that enough evidence or do I need to get rougher?" asked Chloe in a 'I'm-not-kidding' tone. "We'll see...let me out of this." said Matt in his same dull voice. Chloe unclipped him and made a horrified noise when he simply slumped forward. "...ouch," said Matt weakly. Whatever had been done to him had taken its toll.

"Ok, Matt, since this is your mind, you call the shots in here, right?" asked Cynder. "Not at the moment...he's in charge right now." said Matt as Chloe helped him to a sitting position. Everyone could guess who 'he' was. Suddenly the lighting changed to red emergency lighting and a klaxon began wailing. "Speak of the devil..." said Matt.

"This is the part where we start running, right?" asked Ember. "Matt's not running anywhere...not in his condition." said Chloe angrily. Matt sighed. "You got in here once...get out my head and come back later." he said. "Not until we're sure that it'll be you controlling your body when we get out," said Chloe. "Uh, by the way, how do we get out of here?" asked Flame.

"My brain...my rules...get out before Draconus turns you into lizard skin boots." said Matt. "But you'd right back under his power," said Cynder. "So? I know you'll be along again later." said Matt. "Alright, fine, if you insist," said Chloe. She tried to will herself awake, but the scenery didn't change at all. "Ok, this is a problem," she said. "What is? Get out my head." said Matt, not even bothering to conceal his own worry.

"I'm trying," said Chloe, "but I can't wake up. Something must have happened in the real world." "Like what?" Matt said, getting up. Suddenly a cry came from down the corridor. Two guards, holding combine pulse rifles, came into View. "There...commander Draconus wants them dead." said one.

"'Commander Draconus'?" said Chloe questionably, "Isn't that a bit egotistical?" "C'mon...you have met him...run?" said Matt. Chloe helped him up and put a arm round him to help him move. "That'll work." she said. The first guard began shooting at the group. "HEY...CAREFUL WITH MY BRAIN!" yelled Matt, despite the situation.

As the group ran away from the 'guards', Chloe yelled, "I'm really considering sending you to a psychiatric ward after this!" "Comfy foamy walls and no psycho's taking pot shots at me? Count me in!" retorted Matt as the group ran round the corner.

"But this is your head, isn't it?" asked Cynder, "Can you do something to give us an advantage like, I don't know, turn the guards into shrimps or give us superpowers or something?" "Erm...not in charge?" said Matt.

"Well, how do you get back in charge?" asked Flame. "Usually the inhibitor mod on my wrist computer dies it...obviously it needs a software update." said Matt, peering round to look for pursuit...surprisingly there wasn't any for now.

"So what do we do? Knock Draconus off his control throne?" asked Cynder. "We could try just beating him to a mushy pulp...then jumping up and down on it...usually works in most cases." suggested Matt. "Anything that'll work," said Ember desperately, "I just want to get out of this creepy place."

"Oh, but I like it creepy," said a dark voice, "I think it's rather appropriate." The group turned to see what looked like Matts spitting image...till you saw the eyes. They weren't the harmlessly mad, friendly eyes of Matt...these were cruel cold eyes without an ounce of warmth in them. "You're not leaving without saying farewell are you?" said Draconus.

"We're not leaving until we put you back in your cage," snapped Chloe. "Not like we could leave if we wanted to," muttered Flame. Draconus smiled. "Oh good...torturing the same guy over and over get bored." he said.

"This is Matt's brain, you know," said Cynder, "Just because you're able to control his body doesn't mean you can completely control his brain. Matt's the original and you're just a copy." Draconus sighed. "Wrong...dead wrong....let me demonstrate." he said and waved a hand, causing a cluster of shards to shoot down the corridor at Cynder.

Everyone dived out of the way to avoid being hit. "Why can't you do that sort of thing?" said Ember to Matt. "Because his willpower's inferior to mine," said Draconus. Matt glared. "Get stuffed...EEP!" he said as a blade almost took his head off.

"Matt, I realize you're tired right now, but CAN YOU GET US A WAY OUT OF HERE?!?" shouted Chloe. Matt gulped and closed his eyes, wincing with effort. It seemed to work as another klaxon sounded and a blast door lowered between the group and a shocked Draconus.

"Good job," said Chloe, "Now, how about some automatic weapons to..." She stopped when she noticed Matt had fallen over from exhaustion. "Great...I hope the others are having luck on the outside." said Chloe.

--

Back in the real world, Draconus was making the most of his escape. The only problem was that his head was a bit crowded at the moment. "Right...kill those idiots real world bodies...steal the ship...leave a few nukes behind. Problem solved." he muttered.

Draconus finally reached the temple and knocked on the door. "Think like that goody two-shoes...right till that stupid tin can opens the door...then blast him into the next area code." he muttered.

--

NegaMorph, Spyro and Contrinus had not given up the fight yet. They had been pursuing Draconus and were just a few feet behind him when Chip opened the temple's door. Draconus smirked toothily. "Psyche." he said and blasted Chip in the face, jumping over him and into the temple.

"You know, I'd love to play 'kick the can' with you," said Draconus to the greatly-burnt Chip, "But I've got a few voices in my head that I really need to shut up." He then charged up some powerful plasma orbs in his mouth and pointed towards Chloe and Cynder's bodies.

"That is it!" snapped Contrinus, "I can stand being mocked, I can stand be shoved into a small, dark, wet place, but I will not stand by and let that bastard slaughter our friends!" Suddenly, her body let out a brilliant flash of light which caused NegaMorph to scream, "My eyes!"

Draconus hissed in discomfort, turning his head away. He finally turned back to see Contrinus's outline. "What the hell? A flying lightbulb." he said, before spitting the orbs at her. Draconus's jaw dropped rapidly when the orbs actually burnt up before they reached her. That was because Contrinus was now covered in nova flames, like a small star, accompanied by the intense heat, light, and UV rays.

"Impressive...now get out the way or your friends are toast." he hissed before jumping to avoid a fire blast from Spyro. "You're the one who's going to be toast!" yelled Contrinus, her voice oddly echoing through her solar aura. Draconus didn't look convinced. "Doesn't matter how many of you there are...kill me and your friends are all dead..Lynch included." he sneered.

"Not if we stop you first!" shouted NegaMorph. He lunged forward and missed Draconus by several feet. And Draconus didn't even have to move. Draconus looked over at Negamorph, amused. "I'm so scared." he said, barely stopping himself from laughing.

"I'll wipe that grin off your face," said NegaMorph and started shooting fangs in every direction he can. After a minute, Negamorph said "Did I get him?" Draconus did start sniggering at this. "Not exactly." he said. The fang darts had hit everything but a living person.

"NegaMorph, are you okay?" asked Spyro, worried about NegaMorph's sudden lapse of aim. "Well, my eyeballs do tingle a bit," said NegaMorph, "…and I kinda wished didn't Contrinus didn't turn out all the lights."

"Erm..." said Spyro. Negamorphs eyes had been fried by Contrinus;s flash bang impression and had not regenerated yet. A plasma orb got Spyro back to the world in general as Draconus lunged at him, claws out.

"Looks like you're out of useable friends," said Draconus. "Aren't you forgetting Contrinus?" said Spyro. "Oh please," said Draconus, "I can pluck that little firebird any day of the-" He was cut off as Contrinus landed on his back and dug her now yellow-hot claws into his back. "GRAAAH!" roared Draconus and stopped as Spyro blasted him in the chest with an earth shot.

"You wouldn't dare kill me," said Draconus, "If I die, Matt goes with me. And I doubt your dream-travelling friends would survive either." Spyro and Contrinus looked at him. "No...just shut up." said Contrinus, grabbing Draconus's face and slamming his head into the wall, knocking him clean out.

As soon as Draconus was out, Contrinus shimmered down to her regular appearance. "That was pretty impressive," said Spyro, "I didn't know you could do that." "Well, actually, I didn't either," said Contrinus. Negamorph nodded. "Nice work, Contrinus...he was pissing me off." he said. "Erm...Negamorph? We're over here." said Spyro from behind Negamorph.

"Oh, right," said Negamorph, "You think you could do something about my eyes?" "I think Chip needs healing more than you do," said Spyro.

--

Back in Matt's brain, the gang had managed to hide in the deeper part of Matt's mind....where Draconus should have been sealed. The area was run down, the lighting all smashed, circuitry exposed or covered in dirt. Most clear were the torn apart security bulkheads that were meant to signify the mental blocks. Naturally they were all torn to shreds.

"No wonder he doesn't like it in here," said Chloe, "and yet I can't think of a better cage for him. Except maybe at the bottom of an abyss." Matt sighed. "I keep my worst memories here." he said gloomily.

"I know how that feels," said Cynder. Suddenly a angry roar sounded from behind them. "I think Draconus is in pain." said Flame. "Good." said Chloe and Matt at the same time. "But, if he's hurt, won't that just make him angrier?" asked Ember. A shadow came into view at the end of the corridor...it definitely wasn't human shaped anymore and was a lot larger.

"I'm gonna take that as a big yes," said Flame. "Right...since it seems you're not going to do the decent thing and give up...so...I'm just gonna kill you all...messy...but simpler in the long run." said Draconus, his voice deeper and a hell of a lot more creepy.

"Uh, wait, if you kill Matt, won't that that have some huge effect that would wipe you out too?" asked Chloe. "Nope...this body only needs one person." said Draconus and by emphasis, sent a blast of dark flame down the corridor, causing the group to scatter.

"Ok Matt, if you have any sort of 'home advantage' you can use, use it now," said Chloe. "Like what?" yelled Matt angrily. Draconus actually ripped a piece off one of the broken emergency bulkheads and threw it at Matt. "You could have had all this power...you're a weak fool...and thas why I'm going to be in charge." he snarled.

"Power isn't everything you know," said Ember and she blew a big cloud of soot into Draconus's face. Draconus coughed before rounding on Ember. "Oh well...you volunteered to die first." he said and sent a plasma orb at her.

Before it could hit her, Flame dove in front of her and blasted at the plasma orb with his fire breath. The orb still went through and hit Flame, but it's speed and power had been decreased. Nevertheless, it was hardly painless.

Ember ran over to where Flame had landed as Draconus laughed manically. "Oh well...not what I aimed at...but lets pick up the spare." he said, readying a second one to shoot at Ember. He was buffeted backwards when Cynder performed a strong Shadow Strike. Given the darkness of the cell, her power was given an extra boost.

"Gah...you little worm." he hissed, getting back up and lunging at her. Flame coughed a bit and looked up at Ember. "Are you ok?" he said to her. "I am, thanks to you," she said, "You didn't have to take that hit for me." "Hey, that's what friends are for," said Flame. Draconus however was fighting with Cynder. Her small size however was making Draconus's life difficult. "Stay still, you idiot."

"You're not the boss of me," said Cynder as she gave him a poisonous slash with her claws. Chloe however was shaking Matt a bit. "COME ON...You must have something here that can stop him." she yelled at him.

"I told you, Draconus is in charge here..." started Matt but he was cut off when Chloe slapped his face. "That's a load of baloney and you know it," she snapped, "This mind and body doesn't belong to Draconus, it belongs to you. You were the one born with it. Draconus is just acting like a parasite. The only reason he's controlling it now is because you're not really trying to stop him. You're letting him walk all over you!"

Matt glared, eyes glowing in a similar way to Draconus. At the same time, Draconus winced in pain. "Wha?" he said and Cynder hit him with another blast. Matt turned on Chloe. "What did you say?" "I'm saying that if you actually put real effort into it and stopped quitting, you'd have been able to stop him taking over in the first place," snapped Chloe, noting Matt's growing anger and hoping that would give him a boost. "I could take him out easy!" growled Matt, his hands sharpening into draconic claws.

Meanwhile, Cynder and Draconus were still fighting each other. Cynder sent out several wind blasts, but Draconus knocked them away with a snap of his wings. "You're a fool to challenge me here," said Draconus, "Here, I am all-powerful."

Suddenly a second draconic shape smashed into him, both of them rolling across the floor till Draconus threw the newcomer off. "Matt...you grew a spine." he said, recognising the almost double dragon who just growled.

"You've forgotten, I'm all-powerful here too," growled Matt. "Oh really?" said Draconus, "I think we both know that I am the superior personality. I'm smarter, stronger willed, and a lot more mature than you are." "Yeah...but I'm more hands on." said Matt, sending a plasma blast into Draconus's face.

Draconus was hardly hurt. "You'll never be able to defeat me," he said, "No matter how thoroughly you'd try to 'destroy' me, I'll always linger in the dark corners of your mind, waiting to spring out." "Yeah...I know...everyone has to put up with a dark side...even jerks like you." snarled Matt before lunging at Draconus and landing a slash to his chest.

Draconus laughed and said, "You don't get it, do you? I don't have a dark side, because I AM a dark side. I'm YOUR dark side. I've been building up all these years. All those attempts that others have made to brainwash you over the years just made me stronger. I've collect various aspects from your many journeys. You even gave me my name the last time we were here."

"Yeah...personally I think the name could use work." sneered Matt, dodging a claw swipe. "I think it works well," said Draconus, "It's certainly a lot more menacing-sounding than 'Angela Silvia'." Chloe glared at this. "Little jerk." she muttered.

"You'll never stop me," said Draconus, "I'm as mighty as the legendary wolf Fenrir. When I crush you all, I'm going to unleash Ragnarok on this pathetic world and any other world whose inhabitants would get in my way." "Hey...Now I know whats missing from your look..." he said and used plasma control to force Draconus back into one of the cells. "What the hell is this?" said Draconus, looking around at the chains and metal on the walls...An old memory of the Juggernaut fortress.

"Oh, just a memory from Nifspell," said Matt. Suddenly, the chains on the wall lifted up and started wrapping around Draconus. "You think mere metal links will hold me?" said Draconus as he tried to break free. To his great surprise, he found that he couldn't. "Well, it worked pretty well for me," said Matt, "And since we pretty much have the same physical form, it should work for you."

Draconus suddenly looked worried as Matt turned back to human, smiling coldly. "Wait...wait...what are you doing?" he said. "Leaving you here...you left me in my own personal hell...now you can enjoy your own." said Matt. "You can't do this to me!" roared Draconus. "My head, my rules," said Matt, "And don't think you'll be let out early on good behaviour. And no one will be sending you any cakes with files in them."

Draconus snarled and strained on the chains. "I'll rip your mind apart when I get out." he hissed. Matt smirked. "Yeah...best of luck with that...have a painful time." said Matt and slammed the door, which faded to a wall.

--

"Now can we go?" asked Chloe. "I think so," said Matt, "Try waking up now." Chloe tried and immediately she disappeared from Matt's mind. Cynder, Ember, and Flame quickly vanished after her. "Well, I think I'll go join them," said Matt as he tried to wake up.

--

Matt woke up to a world of personal agony. "Ok...what the hell happened to me? I feel like somebody hit me with a mallet then shoved me in a microwave." he said. "Yeah, I think I did go a little overboard in keeping Draconus down," said Contrinus, looking particularly guilty.

Matt winced and noticed he was in dragon form and noticed he'd more or less had the tar beaten out and then some. With some effort he managed to resume human form just as some groans signified the others were waking. "Thank you for visiting my brain...we hope you make an appointment next time." said Matt.

"Glad to hear you're back in control, Lynch," said NegaMorph. "I'm happy to be back-" Matt's voice trailed off when he saw that NegaMorph had black blindfolds over all his eyes and had a white cane in one of his left hands.

"Ok...what happened? I know Draconus didn't do that otherwise he'd have done it months ago during other fights." said Matt. "It wasn't him," said NegaMorph, "It was Miss Solar Flare over there."

Matt followed Negamorph's pointing finger. "The dragon statue did it to you?" he said. "DAMMIT...I MEANT CONTRINUS!" snapped Negamorph. Apparently Matt's position as a professional pain in the butt had been filled in while he'd been put out of action.

Matt gave Contrinus an incredulous look. "Well, it turns that when I get really, really angry, I got into this star-based firebird mode. That's how you got those burns on your back," said Contrinus, looking embarrassed. Matt winced, feeling the cauterized claw cuts on his back. "Nasty..." he said.

Meanwhile, Spyro had noticed Ember and Flame walking off together. It didn't look like they were plotting anything together. In fact, they looked like they were going 'out' out. Matt was helped up by Chloe and he saw Chip. "Oh damn." he muttered, seeing the damage.

"Don't worry," said Chip, "It was mostly the exo-structure that was hurt. I'm gonna need a new one now. But I think I need to put my organs in a regeneration tank." "I did this." muttered Matt and walked out before anyone could stop him.

Spyro walked out after Matt. "Matt, it really wasn't your fault. It was Draconus. You don't have to blame myself. If I let myself feel down about the times I lost control, I'd never feel good." "Yeah...but you never hurt anyone...I almost fried chip...and I nearly killed my own sister." said Matt, dully.

"I could have done much worse," said Spyro, "Consider the fact that you have friends who would directly face your inner demons a big blessing." "That's not the point...they shouldn't have to...what if Devina does the same thing again? Next time we may not be so lucky." said Matt.

"Well, isn't that what Mr. Black wanted you to come here to deal with?" asked Spyro. "Who knows? That business suited git never gives me a straight answer...the only thing close was when we were on the white isle...he said I was 'early'." said Matt.

"Well, is it time for you now?" asked Spyro. "Oh, I don't know," said Matt sarcastically, "I guess I could just dial him up and ask, 'Hello, I've got an appointment for lessons on taming my inner psychopath. Is it at four o'clock or five?'"

Spyro laughed a bit. "Heh. I'm sure you'll find out." he said. Matt shrugged. "Well...least we found some survivors so something good came out of this fiasco." he said.

--

Something else was coming out of the fiasco too but the verdict on if it was good or not wasn't out yet. Techo had been using his wrist-comp to decode the information crystal they had seized at the archive and now it was beeping.

So Draconus's little joy ride is at an end, some dragons are rescued and the archive crystal has been partially decoded…but whats in it?

Please R&R!