Chapter 9: Cynder's Trial.
Disclaimer: I don't own either series they both belong to their original owners but the OC and descriptions belong to me.
(A/N): I can't believe it already eight chapters and eleven reviews all from the same people. Despite the lack in different reviews I want to keep going with this story apparently a lot of people like it what with the favorite story alerts and the author alerts. Also as per my apology the new story is in the Harry potter Danny Phantom crosser secton.
Here we go.
It was the middle of the day and some of the group were starting to get hungry especially Danny, he hadn't really eaten breakfast as he had slept in a couple of hours and went to see Spyro once he showered and got dressed. He had asked the two dragons if there was a place to eat before they went to court.
Forge looked at him curiously. "Hey no sense in trying to make a heavy argument if all of us had empty stomachs", he told the cheetah. He elaborated "Besides don't people get cranky if they don't eat a healthy meal". He finished. "I can see your point Danny we will fly on ahead and inform the council that everyone else will be along after they get a bite to eat."
Spyro and Cynder led them to a section in the market where they were able to get some food. Spyro and Cynder got a huge meal of venison and fruit. (For those who don't know what venison means, its deer meat.) Danny turned up his nose a bit at the way that the two dragons ate.
He was able to see first- hand that dragons ate meat raw. Hey, even Tucker didn't eat like that. A bit of deer meat was served to him and Forge by a mole waiter.
"Hey Spyro", Danny said speaking to him. He figured since he and Maleforwere both purple that he should be able to use fire. Heck even though he had gotten enough experience from eating in the wilderness before his secret was exposed, he still preferred cooked meat. "Do you think you could I don't know heat this up?" Spyro smiled and nodded in response then took careful aim, let loose a smile fireball and had cooked the meat to the point where Danny found it edible.
He thanked the purple dragon. Danny turned to Forge and proceeded to ask him about Cynder's trial. Forge was looking a little uneasy talking about it. "There's something bugging me Forge," Sparx looked a little offended. "You better not be…" "No its not you Sparx, but Forge why would a lot of people have negative opinions toward Cynder, even after she and Spyro both saved the world together."
Forge looked at him in curiosity, "well some of these dragons still have hard feelings toward her because some of them actually had family members killed by her".
"She was not at fault" Spyro suddenly started, but Forge held a hand up. "I know that Spyro but a good majority of these people still say she is still responsible because whether she was corrupted or not, she was still aware of her actions at the time".
"Geez," Danny groaned "Haven't these people ever heard of forgive and forget. I forgave my friends when they were corrupted by ghosts and ghostly artifacts."
"Tell that to them when we get there, and I don't like it either." 'They got quite an interesting head leading them.' Forge sarcastically said to himself.
Cynder decided to take the conversation in a different direction.
"What are ghosts like back in your world Danny, are they always powerful"? Cynder was a little anxious not to mention curious about the things Danny claimed to have fought in his world. Maybe she could learn a few things on how to contend with them.
"I'll be quite honest with you Cynder, I am not exactly sure how some ghosts can become severely powerful". Danny thought for a moment before continuing. "Generally when people are alive, diet, proper nutrition and proper workouts can make people physically strong. Similar things go for intellect, by reading books."
"With ghosts however, there are a few things that I can think of that would push them to become powerful. One of which is their obsession for certain goals like world domination. Some don't go for that but rather for destruction and chaos." Forge looked at him suspiciously. "but you don't seem evil".
"That was because I was still alive when I obtained my new half. I felt that I was the only person capable of fighting off malevolent spirits". Looking back he had to give some people credit like his family and friends including Valerie as well as his girlfriend and Tucker Foley. "There were others who had weaponry to combat low level ghosts, sometimes I even required help from my friends to combat the higher level ghosts."
"You see I use a certain system to define the power level of the majority of malevolent spirits. The majority of the threatening ghosts there are levels 5 to 20 and these are usually the most common."
"One of which I required help with the first time was what I would rank as a level 45 ghost. I say he's that strong is because this guy had the power to manipulate weather."
Hearing this sentence Forge accidentally choked on the food he was eating, wondering if he heard that correctly. "Weather Manipulation"?
"There are those in a place called the ghost zone back in my universe, the place ghosts live or thrive. These people observe the outside world and attempt to keep higher level ghosts locked up. These people were called observants. They were the ones who had him locked up."
Spyro and Cynder looked at each other after hearing that, both had worried expressions on their faces. Weather manipulation? In Cynder's view even a fully grown purple dragon couldn't pull that off without excessive time spent on practicing it.
Spyro was scared stiff to say the least after hearing the kind of things that Danny had to deal with. No wonder he stood a chance against Malifor.
They paid the bill and made their way to the main building of the city. In Danny's opinion it would probably remind him a bit of supreme court. Everybody then walked inside to find the three guardians and six other dragons.
One red dragon with a brown chest, by the name of solstice which spyro exclaimed was the color of a usual fire dragon but had amber colored eyes, a yellow electric dragon with an underbelly of a greenish blue color named Electros this one had eyes of beige, a black shadow dragon with magneta eyes a white underbelly and gray wings called Umbros (which part of it means eclipse), which in retrospect looked like a dragon who would have been able to fit being a relative of cynders. Danny smirked a tad bit as his form reminded him of his ghostly half. A green earth dragoness with a orange wings and four horns on her head, who had a brown underbelly that went by naturia. 'She seems a little gentle', Danny thought but then again looks can be deceiving. The fifth dragon was an ice dragon with a horn pattern similar to Volteer. He preferred to go by his birth name Blizzaron rather than Blizz. Danny thought this one was a little uptight. The sixth and final dragon which to danny's opinion looked like an ice dragon except for the part of him missing wings and having a fin instead of a tailblade. This one was called Aquarius, "Name actually suits him Danny said to Spyro, with a hint of nobility behind it." Cynder told him to watch out for him as he is usually the most clever of the six.
The six dragons each took their places at a table in the darkness of the courtroom lit by only a lantern in the middle of the ceiling. Danny made a little remark to Forge "seriously even the most frightening courtrooms I have seen have had more light than these people allowed."
Forge rolled his eyes at the comment. "The Council believes in having the defendant left in the darkness helps them to face their fears if they are strong enough." Forge told him.
"I have heard of people being told to face their fears, but after seeing what this council does to defendants it almost seems as terrible as psychological torture." Danny was starting to think these people would be as unfair as Walker.
"I'd think any justice system would have taken that aspect into account. Guess I was wrong about that though".
"Thank you, for joining us today everyone." Solstice said as he had welcomed the group of people. "I trust that you all understand why you are here." "To clear Cynder's name" Spyro said through his teeth. Though thankfully, nobody heard him but Cynder.
She smacked him on the back of his neck with her tailblade gently. He looked at her but she showed a begging look as if to say 'don't lose your temper please?' The council with Soltice began the meeting speaking first.
"It's good to have everybody gathered here. We understand that Cynder has had a lot of accusations against her in the previous day". "Very true Soltice" Cyril reminded commented. "As much as some of us believe that she did not attack Spyro herself, the majority of this council sees that the majority of accusations must be settled first so as relieve the witnesses in the city who say that Cynder walked in after Spyro was brought in hours earlier and that she was in better shape than he was."
"Just because Spyro was in an indignant condition from a fight does not mean that Cynder had attacked him." Volteer the electric guardian spoke in a rapid tone to remind them.
"We have had many experiences in people saying that Maleforhad indeed corrupted Cynder in the past, how do we know that she didn't suddenly attack him?" The blue dragon questioned him.
"Easy Blizzaron" "I apologize for that sudden outburst from my colleague." Umbros said finally speaking up. "He is right on that part though" he finished.
"But Cynder is free from that evil past can't you see that she has tried to put it behind her." Spyro said raising his voice. "Calm down Spyro" the earth guardian reminded him.
Naturia the earth dragoness spoke up, "We have already reviewed the evidence that was provided to us and have determined what is fiction and what seems to be the closest thing to the truth and as much as it pains me to say it the evidence that we have gathered from the people of the city, those who live at the temple and those who went out to search for the two dragons we have reached the conclusion that at the closest to proving itself as Cynder being the one who had attacked Spyro." She finished with a bit of remorse in her eyes.
"Finally the 'Terror of the Skies' gets what she deserves. Electros muttered with victory in his voice and a sadistic smile on his face. Danny scowled underneath his hood despite the distance he heard every word.
That really pressed all the guardian's buttons and Spyro's too as he tried to be quiet but they were closest to him. "Listen Electros, just because your family got killed by Cynder when she was corrupted does not mean that she deserves a life of imprisonment." The electric guardian shouted at him. "I joined up with the council of Warfang to make a difference in the world and to make the city a safer place to live Volteer." He spat back at him.
"Oh come on" Sparx said to the dragon council. I gave the scouting party my testimony on what I saw doesn't that count?"
"Normally we would take any testimony Sparx." Aquarius said finally speaking up. "But I ask everybody to remember what else the dragonfly had spoken about and to ask themselves if it is logically possible… a flying ape taking Maleforon par, sounds a bit too far-fetched."
"Impossible is more like it Aquarius, Umbros added for him. We threw out that testimony based on the fact that it lacked details that make it impossible to even believe his words especially since according to those who were around Spyro and Cynder that you try and take some glory for your self."
"In other words…" Aquarius added what is to say that what Sparx says is true without proof. "We have listened to many things from people on what this dragonfly has said while he was around the purple dragon of legend, and what he says now is impossible to believe" he finished for the group.
Everybody started yelling at each other and Spyro was about to unleash some elemental attacks to protect Cynder from even being sentenced to life in prison, what would have been worse was death. He was about to do whatever it took to make sure that he could protect his future mate from them.
"Are you trying to attack us young dragon?" Solstice said speaking up for the first time since the start of the meeting. "If you attempt to attack anyone in this courtroom anymore you will be charged for treason and thrown in prison yourself." He stated to the young purple dragon.
"I will do what I have to protect Cynder she has been through enough, even if that means risking going to prison myself." "That would be fine Electros was feeling confident as he continued, as we do not want another purple dragon wanting to become power hungry and start another war".
They continued to yell at each other's throats; council versus guardians and heroes. Danny having been told to remain hidden was reaching the end of his patience and finally decided to calm things down by letting some cold air from his body core drop the temperature in the entire room to below freezing point, causing many to shiver. "THAT. IS. Enough". The entire council quieted down as well as the guardians and the younger dragons. He had decided that he had enough.
Walking up to the table where the council was situated he decided to make a statement in order to settle this. Things in his opinion were getting out of hand. "Danny…" Terrador warned him.
Danny looked at him with his eyes narrowed showing he was serious. "Its kind of odd as to how you people handle trials in this city" he said addressing not only Solstice but everyone. "Usually a judge would say 'Order in the Court' just to quiet things down and from what I can tell the six of you are unable to hold justifiable trials even one simple as this."
The majority of the council members knew that he was speaking out of terms yet they decided to handle him at a later time, but Danny had something else planned in mind, though he was hoping that he would never have to play that card.
Solstice questioned Danny as to why he has decided to speak now and not before when they had reached their decision. "Who are you to speak here"? "My name is Phantom" he said introducing himself and allowing his eyes to give off an eerie gleen glow which drew nervous glances from the majority of every council member. "and I am here to make a statement of my own".
"You six council members have handled this trial as if it is nothing more but a discrimination case against her for her crimes in the war." Umbros glared at the newcomer questioning him himself. "who are you to say how we have handled our trials" he asked Danny with a hint of threat in his voice.
"You might want to review the progress or the actions taken during the course of this trial." "if I seem to remember correctly people who took action against Maleforduring the war claimed that it would be impossible for Cynder to redeem herself by helping to kill him." "Was that saying that she wouldn't help at all or was it that she wouldn't be able to redeem herself period?" he questioned the council.
A couple of them actually started to look at each other seeing as to how this newcomer made two valid point. "What are you saying, that we never gave her the chance to right her wrongs?" Electros barked as he was starting to raise his voice at Danny's intrusion.
"I believe a better way to word that would be if you ever wanted to give her the chance to redeem herself for her actions as the Terror of the Skies" he replied to the electric dragon in a cocky manner. Then he continued. "I have heard her side of the story in the war. She was at the point of just letting death take her to make payment on her crimes, instead she pursued Maleforwith Spyro and worked with him to defeat him and save the world."
"Yet you still hold grudges against someone who has done more than enough to be redeemed of such violent actions!" Electros looked like he was about to blow his top, till Aquarius stopped him that is.
Aquarius asked Danny as to what else did he think they should have handled the court. In truth he was trying to get him to say something out of line so that he could be thrown in prison for his actions. Danny saw through that plan and worded his sentence carefully, he crossed his arms and answered with a question of his own. "Did the six of you; throughout the entire trial, give Cynder a chance to defend herself as the accused?" "From what I can see you are forbidding her right as the defendant to speak on her own behalf especially those who want to defend her."
Half of the council look like they have been schooled in terms of politics as the newcomer was actually speaking the truth. Naturia was the first to break up the ice though.
"Alright then why don't we ask Cynder right now". Everybody turned to the black dragoness. "Cynder, do you have anything to say about your current situation?" asked Naturia.
Cynder held up her head in response to her posistion. "I am innocent of hurting Spyro, as of Sparx's story was true I was unconscious during the whole ordeal." "Well if you say that you were out through the entire ordeal, then the only thing to base the evidence on is Sparx's fantasy story…"
"Which is preposterous Natura!" Soltice snapped interrupting her. "If what she says is true then where is this so called hero and why hasn't he shown himself?" As Danny was looking at Solstice he pulled back his hood revealing his face; making the council tense and uptight. "Why don't you ask him yourself Solstice" Danny calmly replied to the fire dragon referring to himself.
"Ridiculous" Blizzaron shouted trying to contradict Danny. "Spyro and Cynder were said to have been nearly killed last time Maleforwas stopped and your saying that you stopped Malifor's Ghost when they failed to?" "The six of us together would be killed by Maleforin a fight and we each can only do so much." "All too true Blizzaron" The Ice guardian reminded him.
"Besides, just by looking at this kid he wouldn't last long against anybody from the dark army let alone any of us".
Blizzaron was about to dismiss the issue till Danny spoke up about that. "Really just so as you know, I could easily attack any of you without even taking a single step from where I stand".
"and also isn't it true that a person's character is determined by their actions in what they do in life and not by their imposed identity?" Naturia pondered for a moment and nodded her head in response.
"Neither of you nor your families decided to come to the aid of others in danger and you're calling me weak"? "Even though I risked my life to save them"? 'Not that I do that kind of stuff on a daily basis, but still'.
The six dragon council members looked affronted by this remark. "Why you…" Umbros started till Aquarius smiled deviously "If you're saying that you can take us then you wouldn't mind proving it." This silenced everyone and got their attention. "I would be interested to know as to how someone so small and not even a dragon was able to fight Maleformore so than anybody else here would." Few looked stunned, but some such as Electros had a sadistic sneer on his face and Solstice seemed to agree with his fellow colleague as it would give him the opportunity to learn about this new person.
"You can't just challenge people to a fight for entertainment while in court" Volteer said to them in contradiction but unfortunately failing in doing so. "It's our verdict remember Volteer"? Solstice said reminding the electric guardian of their current status being short one guardian and not being able to fight it without a present one agreeing did indeed put them at a severe disadvantage.
"Normally I would explain quickly but I doubt you all would listen to words said from a said witness, not to mention actual harm to you by accident would be considered a crime". The fire member of the council stood his ground "You're right as the only other way to demonstrate would be using ones attacks in the court therefore earning you a place in prison".
"Unless of course you think that you could be powerful enough to take all of us on in combat". Aquarius mentioned in a tone of indifference. Danny stiffened a bit before replying "I'll be happy to accept that offer, as I had indeed fought others alongside this Maleforguy's caliber - single handedly I might add." Danny said to Solstice bringing shock to the guardian's faces as they were appalled by his decision to engage all six dragons in combat. "But with a few reasonable conditions" he continued.
Solstice looked stunned that he was actually taking Aquarius's suggestion seriously though he decided to hear him out all the same. "We are listening" Blizzaron said to the teen with confidence in his tone of voice, thinking this newcomer was bluffing. Luck wasn't on their side as Danny decided to set the terms:
"One, the match must be scheduled to a suitable time to have and we must have at least two captains or generals of your army here to give their approval and to supervise to match so that no one shall be prosecuted for the damages" . "I like that idea, but would a chief from a cheetah village be sufficient"? asked Umbros. Danny answered him "If he was chief during the war and would be present himself then yes it will". Aquarius sneered in delight. "I think that Prowlus would love to see this". Spyro swallowed hard. Chief Prowlus, the leader of Hunter and Forge's village had a bit of a grudge remaining against Cynder. There was no doubt that he would be asked to participate.
"Two, we make this interesting" he continued. "How so?" asked Natura. The guardians from the temple as well as Spyro and Cynder did not like where this was going. "A wager, Cynder's freedom as well as my own". He continued. Now Cynder looked frightened. "Should I lose, you have the chance to decide her fate as well as mine." Now everybody on the defendant's side (Cynder) looked frightened. Electros looked as though his birthday just came early. "However, if I win, you must all agree with your words as dragonscouncil members to clear Cynder of all charges; past and present!" Cynder looked as if a little bit of hope had returned to her though everybody else was uncertain. "Your terms sound incredibly steep, sure you know what you're doing: questioned Forge whispering into Danny's ear.
Danny thought for a moment then said "One final condition; the match will only involve us seven and no one else be allowed to participate. That also means no hostages and no assistants from the audience to help the six of you or me." He finished up, though Aquarius added in "Should anyone violate those terms they shall be subject to forfeit their rights in the fight. "Fair enough" Danny said nodding his head with a stern look of his own. "We will be looking forward to that match" Electros said to him smiling deviously. "This meeting is adjourned and we shall send Forge to say when we decide on an appropriate time for the fight. You have no chance as you are severely outnumbered".
Danny countered with a dark glare to the electric dragon that caused him to backpedal a little bit. "Outnumbered? Yes. Outmatched? Far from it motormouth." Electros was now looking to this more than ever. If not to put Cynder in prison then to knock some sense into this kid.
Everybody except for Forge and the council left the courtroom to head back to the temple. Terrador looked as if the blood had just drained from his face after a painful injury and Volteer wasn't fairing much better. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU JUST DID THAT!" Spyro yelled to Danny at the top of his lungs.
Cynder was crestfallen at seeing Spyro like this and seeing her situation now rested in the hands of a stranger she only knew for less than a day. "Look Spyro" he said starting to speak but the purple dragon leapt at him pinning the teen to the ground.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ON WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HER IF YOU LOSE?" "No Spyro I don't and I don't want to guess on the outcome, but let me ask you this, would your actions have made the situation worse than my decision or would it still end up with Cynder still being imprisoned?"
Spyro was left speechless at the rationality though he was still furious with Danny. "I don't like the situation we're in either but from where I was in my point of view, they would have pronounced her guilty right then and there if I didn't do what I did" he told Spyro as calmly as he could.
"I hate to admit it but he's right on that part Spyro, without a fire guardian along with us we can't properly fight it". The ice guardian admitted expressing his concern. "But Cyril" started the young purple dragon, but Cyril interrupted him. "Listen, I am concerned for Cynder not just for her safety but also for you. Ancestors know how you felt after what happened to Ignitus".
For the first time since he saw the purple dragon, Danny actually saw tears in his eyes. He jumped off Danny ran to his room and shut the door. "What happened, who's Ignitus?" He asked the guardians. They hung their heads in remorse, till Terrador spoke up "Young one Spyro has been through a lot, come we will explain to you as best as we can on who Ignitus is." Danny followed the guardians and Cynder to the pool of visions chamber.
