Chapter 9: Wrath of the Ape King

I hated patrols.

I've told Spyro this a million times but he never listens to me, I hate flying around the surrounding forests for hours looking for apes and other evil creatures that weren't there.

'But Cynder!' he'd say, 'It's our duty to protect Warfang! You never know what might be out there!', ancestors, sometimes I just wanted to squeeze his little purple neck until his head popped! It was even worse now that The Shocker was still out there somewhere! Spyro was worried he'd attack The Guardians again, so now we had him on top of everything else we normally searched the surrounding forests for.

My wings were getting tired, it was cold, I just wanted to go back to the temple. "Spyro there's nothing out there, can we head back now?" I asked.

Spyro shook his head, "Not yet, I want to make sure Shocker isn't making another attempt on The Guardian's lives," He said, dammit Spyro! Look, I want to keep The Guardians safe too, they were the closest thing I had to family in this world, but that didn't make the soreness in my wings magically disappear.

However, Spyro noticed something, "Hey! Down there! What's that?" He asked me, I looked around for a bit, before I noticed a lone figure limping down a dirt trail, "The look hurt! They might need help!" He said before flying towards the unknown figure. I followed closely behind, landing on the dirt trail as I saw Spyro huddled over an injured human.

He was young, a teenager if I were to hazard a guess, his hair was orange and short, his eyes a deep blue, he was bleeding all over, his clothes were stained with dried blood, he looked terrified by whatever it was that had happened to him. Spyro helped keep him on his feet as the boy's knees began to shake, "Are you alright? What happened? Where you attacked?" He asked the boy.

The boy quivered, "He… he killed them… all of them… Mom… the villagers… everyone," He said with a shaky voice, leading me to realize some of the blood on his clothes wasn't his, he had just survived a massacre from the sound of it.

Spyro being the caring dragon he was, wrapped his wings around the boy in an attempt to comfort him, "It's alright, you're safe now," He said, trying to reassure the boy.

I walked over to him, "You got a name?" I asked.

The boy stuttered for a moment, as if debating whether he wanted to answer or not, "H… Harry… Harry Osborne," he said with a stammer, I knew the name Osborne, they were a family of rich human nobles from the far off city of Glimmer, one of the few remaining human cities… well… it was it seemed. "E… Everyone's dead… he just… he just… slaughtered them… ancestors! I can still hear them scream! Make them stop! MAKE THEM STOP!" He screamed, holding his head and whimpering like a frightened child.

Spyro turned to me, "We need to get him to Warfang, treat his wounds, then maybe when he recovers we can find out exactly what happened," He said.

It was a good idea, Harry was clearly in no condition to answer our questions. I knew that look on his face all too well, the look of a traumatized, broken person, I've caused that look to appear on far too many faces during my time under Malefor's control, the look of a boy driven to the very brink of insanity by the horrors he had witnessed. I tried not to let the memories flood back into my head, the pain I'd caused, the horrors I'd inflicted, it was something I wishI could forget… but I'd never forget… no… never.

Spyro and I lead Harry back into the city, to get him the help he needed, although I doubted poor Harry Osborne would ever fully recover from whatever it was he had seen in Glimmer…

Meanwhile…

"Come on, there's gotta be a way outta here," said a thief as he scanned the area for any guards, a sack to stolen treasures slung over his massive shoulder. This was a thief I had become all too familiar with over the past few days, Flint Marco, a complete joke even by random thug standards. Though you wouldn't know that by looking at him, Marco was a huge guy, very muscular, his clothes were green rags, typical of a thief in Warfang, his hair was short and brown, his eyes small, blue, and beady.

Well, time to ruin his day for, what is it? The sixteenth time? "Oh hey Marco! Long time no see ol' buddy!" I called as I landed in front of him, startling the inept thief.

His expression dropped, "Oh no… Spider-Man! Not you again!" He whined before turning tail and legging it, with a bored sigh I shot a web right at his back, the webbing sticking to his hulking mass with an audible splat. You know, knocking Marco down over and over again really was getting boring, the guy never put up a decent fight and was dumber than a sack of hammers, never thought I'd miss the likes of Shocker, at least he could fight.

With one rough tug of the webline, Marco fell like a sack of bricks, the stolen items in his sack spilling onto the stone paved streets of Warfang, "Oh no! My money!" he whined as he tried to gather the trinkets back into the sack.

Of course, that just left him wide open for a kick to the dome, sending him flopping across the ground like a fish. "Seriously Marco, how many times do I have to bust you before you realize, maybe this whole crime thing isn't for you?" I asked as I started to wrap the hapless thug in webbing, leaving him for the city guard to collect, again.

I heard an applause from behind me, seeing a few Warfangians (That the term? I think it might be) applauding my latest thug nabbing. I noticed Mary Jane among the crowd, her eyes sparkling as she gazed upon her super hero crush. Man, I've waited my whole life for Mary Jane Watson to look at me like that, but all it did was break my heart knowing her eyes were for Spider-Man, not Peter Parker.

With a feint wave and a shot of a web, I left the scene. I can't believe I'm still not over this whole Mary Jane thing, you'd think I'd be happy she was finally noticing me, but it was the wrong me. Maybe if I just told her my identity I could fix this? No, I can't, even if I did, she'd probably lose her affections towards me knowing the only thing that laid under that mask was a loser nobody named Peter Parker.

I slumped down onto a rooftop, laying on my back staring up at the sky, right arm and leg drooping off the side. "Why me?" I whined, this whole thing was so stupid, I was jealous of myself! How does that even work?! Why can't she love me? Why can't she love Peter Parker? "Because I'm a boring nobody," I answered myself with a sigh. Face it Parker, the only way you're getting with Mary Jane now is with the mask on… life sucks, wear a helmet.

However, my self loathing was tabled when I saw Spyro and Cynder flying overhead, Spyro had a human cradled in his front legs, however, I recognized the human. "Harry?" I questioned.

Remember when I said I had no friends in my old human school? Well, that wasn't entirely true. Back when we were little kids, Harry Osborne was my best friend, we grew up together, however his father had moved him and his family out of Warfang five years ago in hopes of making it big in a human built city.

It was obvious even from where I was that Harry was a bloody mess, something in my gut told me something horrible had happened to him, I had to know what happened, so I got up and followed the two dragons to the temple, they were probably looking to get him some medical attention. I swung as fast as I could, it kinda bothered me to learn that Cynder and Spyro were faster flying than I was web swinging, that didn't bode well if I ever found myself having to chase a dragon.

Spyro and Cynder landed in front of the temple, I landed softly behind them, I got a better look at Harry as Spyro let him go, he was covered in blood, some dried and brown, something told me that wasn't just his blood. But what terrified me the most was the look on his face, he looked horrified, his eyes slightly twitching nervously, his pupils shrunken giving him an almost manic look. Whatever happened to him took it's toll and then some on poor Harry, which was upsetting for me, since when I knew him, Harry was always the happiest guy in the room, a big ball of sunshine, so seeing him like this was really hard for me.

Spyro looked Harry over, "Are you okay Harry? Can you walk?" He asked Harry, Harry said nothing, simply shrinking inwardly, sobbing softly. Harry... What happened to you?

I couldn't sit here anymore, I had to know what happened, "Hey guys, who's your new friend? He looks kinda… freaked out," I greeted, I had to pretend I didn't know Harry, ya know, secret identities and all.

Spyro and Cynder turned as I walked over, "He says his name is Harry Osborne," Cynder answered, "Spyro found him limping along a trail outside the city, we think he might be a survivor of a village raid," she explained.

Ancestors… no wonder Harry was freaked, there's no telling how many people he watched die. "By who?" I asked, Spyro and Cynder looked at each other, before Cynder spoke, "We don't know, Harry's too traumatized to speak," She explained.

However, Harry just shrunk more inward, "The ape king… it was the ape king… they… they just… killed everyone! The bodies… the blood… ancestors I can't get them out of my mind!" Harry cried, tears welling up in his soft blue eyes.

I felt a strange ping in my brain, as if feeling a past trauma coming on, but it passed as quickly as it came. Spyro and Cynder on the other hand, "That's the fourth human settlement they've knocked down this month," said Cynder.

Wait, hold up, "What do you mean fourth? This has happened before?" I asked, despite wearing a mask, I was still obviously a human, you'd think they would have maybe mentioned this to me before?

Spyro sighed, "The apes have been attacking human settlements for years, they're trying to rebuild their empire by re-enslaving the humans, and killing those who refuse to serve the ape king," he explained. Why did this sound so familiar? I mean, Aunt May had told me our village had been sacked by the ape king, but there was something else about it that I just couldn't grasp at. "If the apes have taken Glimmer, The Guardians need to know, Warfang may be their next target," He said.

I looked back to Harry, I doubt he cared about that as much as the fact he just lost everything in that city, his mom and dad, whatever friends he had made there, I just wanted to hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay, but Spider-Man didn't know Harry Osborne, Peter Parker did.

We all lead Harry to the Guardians chambers, the poor guy was probably never going to recover from what he saw in Glimmer, and I doubt all this questioning was going to help him any either. But if the apes were planning on attacking Warfang next, we needed to know.

We soon found the guardians, Volteer's leg was still injured from The Shocker's attack, as it was fastened in a sling, a bandage wrapped around his body, but despite all this he still wore his signature smile as if nothing were wrong at all. Terrador was a bit dinged up too, as he had a few bandages on his shoulders, but otherwise seemed fine. The three dragons looked to us, their faces awash with shock when they saw Harry's condition.

Volteer being the tender heart of the group was the first to faun over the injured and traumatized human, "My word! What happened to this hapless youth?! He looks downright dreadful! Traumatized, frightened, afraid, scarred-" Volteer said, playing the synonym game again.

Cyril cut him off, "We get it Volteer!" He said dryly, stopping the electric guardian in his tracks, "What happened to this boy?" Cyril asked.

Harry began to mumble to himself, hugging himself so tightly I could see blood begin to trickle down his frail arms as he shook violently. "His name is Harry Osborne, I found him outside of the city, apparently his city Glimmer was attacked by the ape king's forces," Spyro explained.

The Guardians looked worried, "Glimmer isn't too far from Warfang," Terrador said gravely, his fellow guardians knowing exactly what he meant by that.

If the pattern was going the way we thought it was, Warfang was next on the list, "Are we prepared for such an assault?" asked Volteer, the other guardian's faces answered for him with a resounding no, I felt a chill run up my spine, I couldn't bare the thought of Mary Jane or ancestors forbid, Aunt May getting caught in an ape invasion.

Terrador looked to the three of us, "Spyro, Cynder, I want you two to patrol the outer perimeter of the city, make sure no one gets in the city," He ordered the two dragons, he then looked to me, "Spider-Man, I know you aren't exactly of our employ, but I want you to keep an eye on the city's human populace, I want someone there in case Spyro and Cynder are unable to keep the apes out of the city," He told me.

Can I say right now it was weird being a part of Terrador's battle plan. Admittedly, I wasn't used to being on The Guardian's good side, but ever since The Shocker's attack, Terrador at least had changed his tune about me completely, Cyril still called me a menace though just in case you were hoping some of the status quo remained. "You can count on me sir," I said.

He then turned to Volteer, "Volteer, I want you to take Harry to the infirmary, he needs treatment and since you're the most injured among us, I want you out of harm's way if at all possible," He said. Volteer looked sadly to his injured arm, it must have been killing him to be sidelined like this, but he understood that Harry needed help, so he agreed, and lead Harry to the infirmary.

Terrador then turned to Cyril, "Cyril and I will scout the southern border of the city, I don't want them sneaking up on us," He said. With that, everyone left to carry out their little tasks.

Despite how dire the situation was, I couldn't help but feel a bit excited, this was the first time I'd been included in one of The Guardians big battle plans, I really felt like I mattered, but that wasn't important right now.

I knew that everyone I loved was in danger right now, I swung through the parts of the city with the most dense human populations, I kept at this for what felt like hours but found nothing, everything seemed to be in order on my end. I found myself hoping that maybe The Guardians were worried over nothing, I mean, it seemed kinda dumb on the apes part to attack Warfang so soon after sacking Glimmer, but then again, apes were notorious for being kinda dumb, animal like brutes so it was still a real concern regardless.

Meanwhile…

I knew the apes too well to think they wouldn't attack Warfang, I used to command them, they were always hungry for conquest, their hunger for bloodshed rarely sated, there's a reason Malefor once allied with them after all.

Spyro and I flew across the northern wall, looking for any sign of the ape king's armies. I knew that the fact we had humans in our city irked the ape king, after all, according to the apes, the humans were their property. But I wasn't about to sit by and let those damn primates attack my city!

Suddenly though, I saw it, the ape armies battle flags waving in the breeze, a platoon of a thousand apes at least charging into battle, their king at the rear.

This ape king was not the one I knew from my childhood, if you could even call it a childhood, no Gual had died during the Eternal Night, this was a new king, Klaw, he was every bit as hideous as his predecessor, a gnarled, musty looking ape with dark gray fur and wart covered skin. A mangled crown sat upon his head, covered in blood naturally, probably stolen from whatever poor soul had ruled over the human city he massacred beforehand.

Spyro and I quickly landed in front of the charging army, ready to waste every single one of these nasty creatures, however, the army stopped, Klaw stepping in front of his army to "talk" with us no doubt. "Ah… the "legendary" purple dragon, and our former general Cynder, how nice to finally meet you in the flesh," Klaw greeted so sickly sweet I had to resist the urge to vomit.

Spyro glared at the ape king, "We know why you're here Klaw, you aren't getting anywhere near this city! Let alone the humans inside! So you'd best just take your army and leave now," he threatened them, I knew the apes too well to think they'd take him up on it though, they were sick, twisted creatures who thrived on death and suffering, I better than anyone knew that.

Klaw's face scrunched with anger, "The humans are ours dragon! You stole them from us over a decade ago and we've come to reclaim them! Either they come live under my glorious empire, or they die, don't fool yourself into thinking you can protect them dragon, by day's end there will be no human left in Warfang, one way, or another," He threatened.

I snarled, baring my fangs, "You'll have to get through us first Klaw, and we both know you don't have what it takes," I said, apes were violent savages, but they were also hapless cannon fodder under Malefor's command, and I doubt over a decade of time had changed any of that.

Klaw laughed, "You think this is the only army I brought to Warfang?! As we speak my brothers are underneath your city, crawling within it's darkest sewers, ready to spring out of the undergrowth and ravage your precious city! Even if you slay me, you'll still lose!" He cackled.

I never expected planning from the apes, usually they just hurled themselves at their enemies until they either all died, or managed to overwhelm their foes, but he didn't know we had someone in the city too, I just hoped Spider-Man could take them.

Meanwhile…

I was just about to give up and go home when I noticed a sewer cap pop open like a cork, apes began to funnel out of it like locusts, immediately attacking anything with a pulse. "Time to do that hero thing Spidey," I said to myself before leaping into action, cracking an ape right in the skull with a dropkick. "Really guys? You make that kind of grand entrance and not one of you cracks an "out of the rabbit hole" joke? Talk about your missed opportunities!" I quipped before webbing another ape to the ground.

The apes quickly swarmed me, obviously seeing me as an immediate threat, "Kill the masked human!" One shouted.

I quickly dodged a sword swipe by an ape, spinning myself into a roundhouse to the back of his head, "Kill me? But I love me!" I joked before bopping one right in the nose. "Seriously guys, I know getting over your ex is hard, you write them all the time, begging them to give you another chance, buy them flowers and chocolates, but sometimes, if you really love them, you need to just let them go," I quipped and I used one ape as a spring board, landing on his buddy, before webbing him up in a nice little cocoon. "We're just not good for each other, we're hard working humans, you guys are homicidal maniacs with a god complex, it'll never work!" I said as I backhanded an ape who was trying to sneak attack me.

However, they just kept coming! It seemed like, for every ten I knocked down, ten more rose from the ether to take their place! "Wow guys! You really know how to throw a party! You even brought all of your friends!" I joked, "Come on now, don't push, I have plenty of webs for everyone!" I added as I tried to thin their numbers with concentrated web shots.

However I bizarrely began to feel… tired… maybe I was just getting overwhelmed? I don't know, but I suddenly found it harder to shoot webbing consistently, the strands began to get thinner and weaker with every shot. "What's going on?" I asked, looking at my hand as if it had the answers.

Bad move, that few seconds allowed the apes to swarm over me like wild dogs on a carcass, teeth and claws scratched and bit down on my body, this must be what a deer feels like when it's hunted by dragons! I tried to punch and kick my way out but they just kept coming. Oh man, I'm going to die here aren't I? I couldn't even see anything anymore, the pile of apes too vast to see beyond, this really is it for me isn't it? I'm sorry Aunt May, MJ, Harry, I tried…

No… I can't give up now! This city was counting on me! I had to fight! I began to flail my limbs wildly, smacking a few apes away, the sounds of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the city streets as I fought desperately to free myself. "I'm… not… dying… HERE!" I cried as I forced my way out of the pile, my body ached, even simply breathing hurt, but I had to keep on fighting, can't… let… the apes take Warfang…

I began to toss the apes aside to free myself from the pile, clocking a few in the jaw just to get them off me. "This is… the worst… group hug… EVER!" I joked as I fought my way to freedom, in more ways than one come to think of it.

However, suddenly a stream of fire flowed over the ape pile, setting several apes merrily ablaze, my first thought was that Spyro had found me and decided to come to my aid, but the dragon that I saw fly overhead wasn't purple, he was red. "Flame!" I called out.

Flame flew over to me and pulled me out of the pile, have I mentioned how much I appreciate having a friend like Flame yet? Because right now, I really do! "You didn't think I was going to sit here and let my friend get swarmed by these losers did you?" Flame asked half jokingly.

Flame set me down outside of the horde of apes, "So… think you can take out more than me?" I playfully challenged Flame.

Flame smirked, "Pfft! Watch and learn hero boy," he said with a playful grin, Flame and I both launched ourselves at the horde, fire, webbing, and ape blood flew through the air as Flame and I tore through the pack of apes.

Meanwhile…

The dragons were easily fighting off my men, I expected that, but I hoped my unit underneath the city would get the job done while those dumb lizards were busy with the platoon outside the city…

However, some of my men can out from the hole they had dug under the eastern wall, some looked badly beaten, others bizarrely covered in webbing for some reason, I angrily stormed over to them, "What are you bumbling baboons doing?! The battle is inside the city!" I screamed at them.

One of the soldiers fumbled, trying to explain himself, "Sir, I… I don't know what he is… some… some spider-human thing is in the city, he shot webs out of his hands! We couldn't fight him!" He tried to explain.

I smacked him across the face, "I don't care what they have in that city! I want those humans! No… "Spider-Man" is going to rob me of my property!" I growled, the soldiers cowered, they knew not to defy the ape king! "Move! I'll deal with this, human spider thing myself! You bunch of yellow bellied cowards!" I growled as I climbed into the hole, I don't know what kind of freakish creation those dragons had in that city, but I'd break it along with anything else that got in my way!

Back in Warfang…

Soon the hoard began to thin, good thing too because my body was really starting to tire, I had no clue what was going on with my powers right now, it was almost like they were weakening with every blow. "I have three hundred and ten, how many you get so far?" I asked between breaths.

Flame began to breath heavily too, no doubt he was running low on mana from all the fire he'd been throwing, "Four hundred and eight!" He said proudly, I had super powers! How the hell was he winning?!

However, the horde stopped fighting, turning in the direction of the manhole they had crawled out of, suddenly a rather large and very ugly ape hoisted himself out of the hole, "Where is he? This "human spider" you idiots keep whining about? I'll break him in half!" he barked.

I raised a hand, "Uh, that would be me! And just fyi, the name is "Spider-Man" not "human spider"," I said, it didn't take a genius to realize this guy was in charge, given how the other apes reacted to him, probably a general or something.

The large ape grinned, "You?! A tiny little human like you frightens my men?! I'll crush your tiny body like a twig!" He laughed.

I took a fighting stance, "And who are you huh? The poster boy for smacking your face over and over with a frying pan? How do you even get to be that ugly?" I joked.

The ape snorted, "Oh we have ourselves a little comedian! Well human, let's see how funny you are once the Ape King breaks you in half!" He snarled.

My heart sank, he was the ape king? THE ape king? Oh boy… it seems his majesty himself has decided to try to kick my spidery butt. How swell. "Your majesty..." I said in faked reverence as I fired two weblines at him, "Allow me to give you your royal webbing," I said trying to tangle him in a web cocoon.

However, the ape king simply caught my web shots and yanked me towards him, the second I came within range he slammed his fists into my back sending me into the ground hard. I coughed and sputtered as I tried to get to my feet, only to be slammed back down by the king's foot.

He then leaned in close, his rancid breath assaulting my nostrils, "Not so funny now, are you "Spider-Man"?" he asked, I simply whimpered in response, "I think I'll keep your mask as a trophy after I kill you, you should be honored human," He said before stomping on my back, pain shot through every nerve in my back and down my limbs.

I heard Flame cry out, he apparently had tried to come to my aid only to get blindsided by another ape, "Give me a weapon, I'm going to end this little twerp's miserable existence," He said. One of his little friends handed him a cutlass, he twirled it in his hands before pointing it right at me, the blade was chipped in places, but still razor sharp, "Any last words Spider-Man?" He said.

I couldn't move, my body was in too much pain, this guy was strong, too strong… but if I didn't move, he'd skewer me! Come on body! Move! DAMMIT!

A/N: Oh hello, did I interrupt again? Don't you just HATE cliffhangers? I knew you did… I'm not sorry.

Will Spidey be able to get out of this one? Or will he be the latest victim of the evil Ape King? Well you're just going to have to wait for next chapter to find out!