Happy New Year everyone, I hope everyone is sticking to their resolutions. Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I didn't expect to get a new computer for Christmas, and it screwed me up on my writing. And I also thank you for all the reviews I got for chapter nine; it really does help me write.
I was in the garage looking down at the table. I was looking at information of an art gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After contacting a few people within the FBI who owed me a few favors I was able to learn that Bash was taken by a man named James Rison. I received the call shortly after Amber sent me the text message that she would arrive soon. Earlier I did a background check on him. I learned that he was an upcoming artist that lived in the state. He went to Ohio about a week ago for a family reunion and he must've found the toy on the trip. I've seen a few of his works on the internet and he mostly dabbles in paintings and does a few sculptures. In a few days I learned that he is going to reveal a new painting at an art gallery called Castaway Gallery. If I can find him there I might be able to convince him to hand over Bash to me.
The garage door is open and I could see out into the entire neighborhood. At the end of the street I saw a dark, red Charger turn into the neighborhood. There are four people in the car, each carrying a submachine gun. The car backed into the driveway, and out came Amber and other members of Eagle Force. "I thought you were the only one coming," I said as Amber exited out of her car. Out of the car came her, Domino Knott, Scarlett Avrett, and Riley Journey. Scarlett is our explosive expert. She has an extensive knowledge on explosives knowing everything from defusing bombs to making makeshift bombs out of household objects. Riley Journey is a very confident forger. She has the ability to give us perfected fake identities for missions. She also can take control of other people's identities. She has the talent for copying signatures that could even give some of the best handwriting analyzers a run for their money.
"When you're driving around across the country with the kind of hardware you tend to be a little cautious," she said. I stared at Domino as he came out of the car; he glared back at me with eyes filled with sorrow and regret.
"Aren't you supposed to be in London with Dylan?" I asked Domino.
"When you confronted him about the mission I took a long look at what we were doing. Dylan didn't want me on the team in the first place; I only got in because of Dayton said I was ready. I didn't like going behind your back, and when you found out I dropped out of the mission. I figured it wasn't worth losing the trust of my leader," he said. I was a little surprised that he backed out the mission. Domino has been asking to go on bigger missions. So far the ones he has been have been small, low risk jobs. Although, he is improving, but it takes a while for me to make sure if he can take the risk of such an operation.
"Domino I'm going to admit that you going behind my back lowered my trust in you, but you admitting your fault and backing out the mission did gain some of it back," I said in a forgiving tone. One of the reasons I added Domino to Eagle Force was the trust I had in him. I knew since I was in the first grade. He always had my back even when I returned from Green Lightning, which was when barely any of my old friends wanted to have to do anything with me. I kept off adding him for so long because I didn't want to see him get killed because of me.
"Thanks Jack," said Domino.
Amber opened up the trunk and began to grab all the weapons that she brought. She brought more firearms than I had asked for. She sat three more assault rifles onto the tables in addition to the ACR and M4A1 that I still had. Scarlett continued by bringing in a couple of large containers each filled with different ammunition for my guns. "I asked for a resupply, not a freaking arsenal," I said to Amber.
"There's more," said Riley who was standing right next to me. Amber and Domino brought in two MP5 submachine guns and a few handguns. "I can see why you decided to bring extra security," I said in amazement. These guns are expensive and it makes me think how difficult it was to acquire them. You can't get these weapons on the civilian market. That's why Ray is such a key member of Eagle Force; he has methods that help us gain access to these kinds of guns.
"I appreciate the work you did Amber, but I'm not going to war. I only need a resupply on ammunition for the guns I brought and some more cash for—"
"Damn it, I forgot to pick the money. I didn't want carry around a pile of cash with the guns so I made a wire transfer to a local bank. Scarlett take my car and go the bank and pick it up," she said as she tossed the keys to her car to Scarlett. "Bring Riley with you," Amber added.
Riley and Scarlett left the garage and drove the red Charger out of the neighborhood. Above me I heard a crash come down on the floor above me. Domino and Amber looked up with me. "What was that?" asked Domino. That didn't sound good. I wondered what Spyro and Drobot were doing. I told them to keep quiet, but instead they decided to do the opposite. "We should probably check that out," said Amber. She made her way towards the door, but I quickly grabbed her arm. "I'm pretty sure it was nothing, and the person I'm renting the house from said he didn't want anyone to go up to the second floor," I lied to both Amber and Domino. She yanked her arm out of my grasp. Amber went over to the table and noticed the information on Castaway Gallery and James Rison. She picked up the assault rifle that covered the information, and then grabbed the files I had on the gallery and Rison.
"Is this what you're doing?" she asked as she looked over it.
"Sort of. It found itself onto my plate of work," I said. I began think over the amount work that I still have to do. I have to get the Skylander from this artist, steal the portal to Spyro's world, and find a place to house the giant portal. Plus the work in the unforeseen future.
"What exactly are you doing?" asked Domino.
"I think it's safer for all of us if you don't know," I said.
"Since whenever have we been safe," jokingly said Amber. She did have a point; no one in Eagle Force is ever completely safe, even when we're not on a mission. I saw a subtle, angered grimace starting to protrude onto Domino's face. "Jack I drove a 1000 miles to give you a resupply. I figure we deserve at least an answer," Amber said with a tint of animosity in her voice. I didn't know what to tell her. I don't want her to tell the truth, but I also don't want to lie. But I also can't break Spyro's trust.
"Amber, remember when you called me a few days ago and I said you didn't want to get involved with this. Well trust me; you really don't want to be involved with this."
"I never asked to participate in your mission, I asked what you were doing. I hear from Dylan that because of the information I gave you back when you were in Santa Fe got you involved in a bank robbery. Stop being so secretive with us."
"Amber's right, whatever you're doing you don't have to have to do it alone. We're a team for a reason," Domino sternly added.
"Domino, I appreciate you wanting to help, but both of you wouldn't believe a thing I would say. So can you please just drop it?" Abruptly, I heard another crash from above, but this one was much louder. Domino and Amber gawked at me with eyes with anger and concern. "Jack what are you hiding from us?!" shouted Amber. I didn't know how to respond, there was no logical answer I could give them. I stood there for a few moments glaring into their eyes.
"I'm not hiding anything."
"JACK STOP LYING!" they both shouted.
"I love the fact that you get mad at Dylan for lying about the London mission, but it's completely okay for you to leave us all behind and go across the country and do whatever you want like nobody would notice," complained Domino.
"Shut up Domino. When you lead Eagle Force you can make all the decisions you want, don't make me regret adding you onto Eagle Force," I yelled.
"Lay off him Jack. He backed off a mission that would've betrayed your trust, and traveled 1100 miles with me to give you a resupply for some mission you haven't told anyone about. You talk about how you hate betrayal and dishonesty of your friends, but you're doing exactly that right now," challenged Amber. The atmosphere of the room changed. I felt like I fell from the top of a building and crashed hard on the ground. They had every right to criticize me. "Why are you acting like this?" questioned Amber.
"Because Jack is helping me!" I turned my head towards the doorway and what I saw was the purple dragon standing at the threshold with his held up at the anger of my distrust.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
Spyro's POV
15 Minutes Earlier
I woke up at the sound of a large crash from Drobot's room, I ran over to his room and bashed into it to see the problem. I saw Drobot next the wreckage of a broken lamp. "What happened?" I asked as I walked towards him. Drobot's eyes were filled with rage and exasperation.
"I don't understand it Spyro."
"Understand what?"
"How can you keeping trusting Jack?" Here we go again; this was the subject that Drobot kept bringing up over the past few days.
"I trust him Drobot so stop trying to make me change my opinion of him. He's done more for us than anybody else on this planet; he's even going to help us steal a portal back to our home. What does he have to do to earn your trust?"
"For starters he could be honest with his team."
"What do you mean?"
"How can you trust him even if his own team doesn't trust him? Remember a few nights ago when he was talking to his friend, and how Jack got irate when he discovered he was going behind his back even though he's doing the same thing. Teammates don't betray their own unless they don't trust their leader," he said. Drobot did have a point. It never had occurred that Jack is going the back of his team, Eagle Force. The sad thing this is partially my fault. Jack is taking a big risk in trusting me. I might've saved his life, but in return he freed me and Drobot from our frozen states, risked his life by retaking Drobot, and giving us shelter. He is also taking another risk in attempting to get Bash, and then taking another risk in helping us by stealing the Portal of Power.
He's doing so much for me that he's damaging the relationship he has with his team. What is going to happen after we get back to Skylands? Will his team even trust him, will he still lead, or will he get killed because of the actions he has done to help me. I hated the idea of me being responsible for his death. This shouldn't his battle, it should be mine, but he's the one taking all force. He needs to tell them the truth or at least a few of them so they can understand what he's doing for me and Skylands. For all the crap that he has put through in his life, he deserves the trust of his friends.
There was a long period of silence between me and Drobot. I stood there looking down at the floor contemplating on what I should do. I raised my head up to Drobot and stared him directly in the eyes. "Fine, I'll go down there and talk to them," I said in a lowered tone. I turned around and went towards the door. As I was about to exit a large force fall onto my tail, I turned my head and saw Drobot's foot on it. I tried to yank it out, but he is determined to keep me from leaving.
"What are you doing?" he said with a deathly tone.
"Drobot I'm going down there to tell whoever came the truth."
"Are you insane? What do you think is going to happen once you they see you? I wanted Jack to tell them, not you."
"Well there's only one way to figure that out. Drobot you just complained on how his team is becoming wary of him, and the reason it's like that is because of us. Do you honestly think Jack will tell them? I highly doubt it; he's been keeping us in hiding ever since we met him. You might hate Jack, but guess what; you and I wouldn't be standing here right now if it wasn't for him. No matter how you look at it; without Jack, Skylands wouldn't have any hope. Because of him, we have a fighting chance," I stated. Drobot didn't respond; all he did was tighten his grip on my tail.
"Let go of me Drobot."
"No, Jack has to be the one to tell them."
"Jack will never tell them, I need to go done there and tell them who we are."
"And what if it doesn't go the way you plan?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I gulped. I wasn't sure what the future would hold if I went through with this, but it has to be done. Maybe if a few more people know, they would be inclined to help us get back to Skylands.
I tried pulling my tail out of Drobot's grasp, but it wouldn't budge. "Drobot let go of my tail," I demanded. He stared at me with defiance in his eyes. "No," he sternly said. He wasn't going to let me leave the room without force.
"You know what I'm going to do if you don't let me go," I warned.
"I'd like to see you try."
"I warned you."
I headbutted Drobot and he fell back onto the ground. He got up and tackled me onto the floor. He wrestled me onto my back and attempted to restrain me. I used my hind legs and I threw him into the end table next to the bed. He crashed into it causing an earth shaking sound and he gave up on attempting to keep me from reaching my goal. I might've won, but he stared at me as if I am about to do the wrong thing. This is something that has to be done.
"I hope you're doing the right thing Spyro," Drobot said as I exited the room.
"I am Drobot."
I walked down the stairs and passed through the living room. I could hear the sounds of shouting and anger as I progressed to the garage. What is going on in there?
"Jack what are you hiding from us?" said the sounds of a girl. This must've been Amber. I remember Jack calling her when we were traveling to Tucumcari. I became alerted when she said us signaling that there is more than just her and Jack in there. They must've become aware that Jack was hiding me and Drobot, but, from what I can tell, they don't know we're foreign to this world.
"I'm not hiding anything," he responded.
"JACK STOP LYING," Amber and another voice shouted.
"I love the fact that you get mad at Dylan for lying about the London mission, but it's completely okay for you to leave us all behind and go across the country and do whatever you want like nobody would notice," complained the second voice.
"Shut up Domino. When you lead Eagle Force you can make all the decisions you want, don't make me regret adding you onto Eagle Force," shouted Jack. So Domino is the name of the second person. I hated this feud between Jack and the others. He's even using his position of power to try and keep them at bay. I contemplated on what I should do.
"Lay off him Jack. He backed off a mission that would've betrayed your trust, and traveled 1100 miles with me to give you a resupply for some mission you haven't told anyone about. You talk about how you hate betrayal and dishonesty of your friends, but you're doing exactly that right now," defended Amber. She made me think of how hypocritical Jack is, and how the only reason he is like that is because of me. I couldn't stand it anymore. I started to open the door, none of them noticed me.
"Why are you acting like this?" asked Amber.
"Because Jack is helping me!"
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This chapter was difficult to write, and I had gotten writers block on it. So if you like it I definitely would appreciate a review for it.