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.

CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood

Chapter 9: Crimson Darkness, pt 2

Anton was grumbling to himself about how much indignity he had to put up with the dragons when he got a summons from Malefor. He walked over to the throne room and asked, "You wanted to see me, boss?"

"I am not your 'boss'." said Malefor coldly. "Your actions damaged the most important Chakra device...so you will find me a device that will make sure that Warfang will fall." he added. "And what would that be?" asked Anton sarcastically, "A giant gorilla?"

"The atlanteans left plenty of weapons behind...some that rival even my old teacher...you are going to find me one." said Malefor. "I don't suppose you have a treasure map to show me where it is," said Anton.

Malefor glared. "You will find this device or you should try your luck with the dragon of legend." he snarled, making Anton fall backwards. Anton quickly got back onto his feet and ran out. "If nothing else, it will at least get me away from scale-rot for a while," he muttered.

--

Meanwhile, back in Warfang...

Our heroes were planning how to capture Red and the human members of our heroes were planning how they would...'explain' their grievances to him in as painful a way as possible. "That guy's going to get the laser zapping of a lifetime," said Techo. "Forget lasers," said Matt, "I say we rip off his ass, kick it around, and then stuff it down his throat."

Chloe, despite her usual approach to Matt when he was coming up with crazy plans added her own. "We could shove him into the Nighthawks engines and hit afterburn." she said. This met with general approval.

"Ooh, wait," said Wilson, "We'll shove NegaMorph into his stomach. Then he can give Red both indigestion and stomach piercings." The dragon members of our heroes were sitting aside from this lesson in psychosis with Negamorph. "Is this usual? When we last met Matt his plans actually had a chance of success." said Sonya.

"Eh, it's a crazy multiverse out there," said NegaMorph, "It's best to let the craziness you soak up out every now and then. Besides, it allows them to be creative, don't put a lid on creativity." By now Techo, had suggested that they send Red an apple with a grenade in it. "But not all the time." finished Negamorph.

"How about we figure out what to do about Flame," said Ember. "For once, that's actually a good idea," said Cynder. "Good point...but we don't know where they went though." said Techo. Matt added "Plus we threw everything at them and they just laugghed at us...and hit us."

"Well, maybe if we stole Red's staff and snapped it in half," said Chloe. The others gave her an odd look. "What? It works in the movies." "Yeah...and what shall stop him snapping us in half before we grab it?" said Wilson. "Well, he can be frozen, can't he?" said Techo, "That's how we was jailed last time, right?"

Matt looked at the scroll from the library. It had been written by a atlantean general, called Atlas. "Yeah...says they used a stasis field which we do not have...the only guy who can pull that trick is Spyro...but he hasn't used time powers since that time he froze Me, Sonya, Cynder and him." "Froze you guys?" asked Chloe. "Yeah, the Mountain of Malefor was collapsing on us, so he used his time freeze power to encase in this crystal," said Matt.

Chloe sighed. "Hmm...we just wanna freeze Red...not everyone." she said, annoyed. "says here Red tried to use something called the 'Destroyer'." she added and saw Matt and Sonya pale and Spyro and Cynder look grim. "We know that." said Spyro. "But the Destroyer was destroyed," said Cynder, "He shouldn't be able to use it. At least not for a couple more centuries."

Matt nodded. "Yeah...we don;t really have to worry too much...but he could still cause meteor impact grade mayhem if we don't slow him down." said Wilson. "That's why finding out where he's heading is our top priority," said Techo, "and I highly doubt he's heading for a vacation spot." "There's alot of ruins near the badlands where we found him." Chloe said. Matt sighed "Yeah...he'd go right into sight of the A.I's his enemies made."

--

Meanwhile, Red and Flame were flying towards the long-abandoned facility. Though the landscape had changed, Red still recognized the landmarks enough to know where he was going.

"What are we looking for, master?" said Flame, looking don at the badlands below.

"There should be something metallic here," said Red, "Or at least somewhat crystalline."

"But all thats here is useless metal..." started Flame as a selection of half-collapsed buildings came into view. "Yes, but one of these scrapheaps is over the entrance to a cavern series beneath it," said Red, "This may take longer than I thought."

--

Flame and Red were not the first here. Anton and a few destroyer droids were checking one of the said scrapheaps. "Sir...objective located." said one of the droids, pointing to a half, covered cargo lift set into the ground. Faint lights showed it still had power. "Bingo." said Anton, reading the sign on the lift.

"'Humbaba'? What kind of name is that?" asked Anton. "I believe it is a referal to a Mesopotamian..." started a robot. "That was a rhetorical question," said Anton.

"I remember seeing a few anyway...always thought it was a crap name." he said, opening a sevice hatch and turning dragon to fly down and see. The huge war machine, a gigantic robot armed witha lethal array of energy weaponry was still intact. "Malefor'll like this." said Anton, looking at it closely, checking for damage. A crash from the service got his attention and he flew up, curious.

He saw a pair of dark red dragons severely smashing apart the robots. "Ah, so that's where it was hidden," said the large one, "You've saved us a lot of searching, Shar-khan. Allow me to... thank you." "Who the hell do you think you are?" said Anton, turning back and drawing his ion blades. "I need to know so I can put it on your GRAVESTONES!!"

"Oh, I'm sure you've heard my name," said the large one, "Here's a hint, it's in the color." Anton wasn't convinced. "Oh yeah...the old has been, Red. Didn't Malefor kick your ass?" he said. Red glared and said, "My apprentice may have overwhelmed me last time, but I plan to stack the odds in my favor. Now I suggest you move before you learn what it's like to have crystals for skin."

"Sorry...the bot is Malefors property so get lost." said Anton, sending a sonic pulse at Red. Red erected a red shield around himself, which blocked the attack easily. "You should have left while you can," said Red, "Now I'll have to teach you a lesson in pain."

"Oh please..." said Anton, still confident. As a result he wasn't expecting it when Flame, who had circled him, jumped on his back. "Hey, get off, pipsqueak," said Anton as he tried to grab Flame. He yelled when Flame dug his claws in. "GAH...YOU LITTLE SHIT!" yelled Anton, turning and swiping at Flame with his ion staff.

"This should prove an amusing spectacle," said Red as he sat down on a dismember robot. "Proceed, Flame, show Anton how much you've learned." Anton backed up, holding his injury. "You're that brat who hanged around with the others..." said Anton before a dark fireball hit him in the chest, knocking him into a half-collapsed wall.

"I don't hang with them anymore," said Flame darkly, his claws suddenly glowing with dark flames. With that, Flame clawed Anton across ther chest, causing Anton to make a gurgle and slump down. Flame added "...And the names Fang now." before slashing Anton again.

"Well done, apprentice," said Red, "But I think he can take more damage, don't you?" Anton lifted his head as Red said "Cut his throat." The beaten Shar-Virk managed to reach into his combat armours pocket and pulled out a small canister, rolling it in the dragons direction.

"What amusing little trick is this supposed to-" Red was cut off when the canister suddenly let out a blinding flash of light. The dragons roared in pain as the flashbang assaulted their senses. When their eyes cleared, a small trail of blood was the only trace as to where Anton had gone. Flame, or Fang now snarled annoyed.

"It doesn't matter," said Red, "He won't last very long, not with all the wounds bleeding." Fang smirked. "Shame we won't see it.

--

Anton didn't know which direction he was heading. Flames/Fangs heated claws had cauterized his wounds but he was still badly injured. He doubted that the generals would lift a claw to get him and even then he had no idea where he was. His vision was blurring up. "Dammit...I should...have told Taleth to...stuff his mission." he muttered.

With that, he shifted to dragon form in the hope that his dragon forms stamina would help him get further...it just made the pain worse. "Ugh...who would have...thought it'd...end this way?" groaned Anton, trying desperately to stay conscious. He saw a blurry shape in the distance and faintly realised he'd been moving for hours.

--

Captain Ardanos had put his troopers on the wall on guard duty. This was mostly as most of the mercs were busy planning insane revenge plots for Red and it was creeping them out. One of the guards suddenly spotted a shape. "Hey, Sarge...over there." he said, pointing to a small shape in the distance.

"Really? Where?" asked the sarge as reached for a pair of binoculars and brought it to his eyes. "Dang it," he said, "These binoculars must be defective. I can't see a thing." "That's because that's my head, you idiot," said Chip's voice.

Chip moved aside and the binoculars picked out a grey scaled Dragon staggering along the grasslands outside the wall. "Oh shit..." he said.

--

Anton was passing out when he heard footsteps and voices. "Damn...get some nano-packs on those cuts." "Give him an adrenaline shot." "Corporal, Get him inside...his attacker might be nearby." "Be sure not to bring him past the others." "Get the medical bay ready." Then Anton passed out.

--

Matt and the others had finally started coming out with a normal plan when one of Ardanos's men came in on them. "Excuse me...we're plotting revenge..." said Matt. The trooper sighed "Captain Ardanos wants to see you all...we found someone outside the wall...a dragon."

"Is it Flame? Did he break free of Red's control and escape?" asked Chloe. "No such luck," said the trooper. The group walked along, following the trooper. When they arrived at the medbay, they saw two guards in full combat gear. "Ok...why the guards?" said Chloe. "You'll see...you'd better hold your brother." said the trooper, opening it.

The air was still for about 10 seconds as Matt and Anton stared at each other. On the eleventh second, Matt screamed, "DIE, SCUMBAG!!!" He lunged at Anton, who screamed like a little girl. Chloe tackled Matt who fell, inches from Anton who, despite his injuries was trying to claw through the wall. "Ok...get him away from me." said Anton.

"Now, Matt, you wouldn't strike Anton when he's down, would you?" said Contrinus. Matt thought about it. "Yes...yes I would...give me a gun." he said. "Allow me," said NegaMorph and he aimed his hand-mouth at Matt. He shot four blobs of black goo that fastened Matt's limbs to the ground. "Probably won't hold him long, but at least it'll give breathing space," he said. Anton settled down a bit. "Well...now we're all comfortable...I suppose I'm under arrest." he said, back in his smug voice, though it sounded weaker.

"Definitely," said Chloe, "but first, how did you get here and what mangled you?" "Whoever it was, I want to shake their hand," grumbled Matt. "His name was Fang...though I suppose its better then Flame." said Anton, settling back. "Ok, I take that last remark back," said Matt. Chloe gave him a 'shut up' look and asked, "Where did he and Red attack you?"

"Why would I tell you? As a prisoner I practise my right to remain silence." said Anton. "Because we'd release Matt on you if you don't talk," said NegaMorph, as he started pulling at the goo on Matt's left arm. Anton smirked. "And how will that help you when Reds new toy comes out and stomps you to the tarmac?" he said.

"What new toy?" demanded Chip. "Oh...looks like both Red and Malefor are moving with the times...given I hear you wrecked the Destroyer for the next few hundred years." said Anton. "You'll have to be more clear than that, Anton," said NegaMorph as he started peeling more goo off Matt.

Chloe smirked. "Negamorph? Do you have access to ALL the clone forms?" she said. "Yep," said NegaMorph, "Every single one." "Ok then," said Chloe, "Make sure that Anton's powers are disabled and let's leave. NegaMorph, can you go with Plan 110-N?" "Oh, sure, gotcha," said NegaMorph, an evil grin on his face. Anton looked worried. "What's plan 110-N?" he said.

"You'll see," said Chloe as she pulled Matt off the floor and carried him out. Matt seemed to have a good idea what the plan was, grinning like a loon. Everyone started filing out except for NegaMorph. Anton looked at NegaMorph and said, "I am resilient to torture." "Probably," said NegaMorph, "But no one's got an endless wit."

With that, he shimmered and became a small experiment that began shooting off his mouth at intense speed. Antons eye twitched nervously as Negamorph carried on. Matt was still fuming. "I still say you should have let me at him," he said. "Now Matt," said Chloe, "We needed him alive to tell us what happened. Besides, isn't mental torture more effective than physical torture?" Matt glared at her and Chloe said, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

The two wandered over to a security station and waved Spyro, Ember and Cynder over. "Now then...this should help cheer us up for a bit." Matt said, turning on the security cam in Antons room, luckily muting it.

Matt looked confused at the tiny experiment NegaMorph had become, who was apparently talking rapidly. "Who's that?" he asked. "Experiment 110, Squeak," said Chip, "Designed to drive people mad by talking their ears off." Contrinus peered at Anton and said, "I think he's trying to eat his own face."

"I wonder what is he's screaming?" said Spyro. "Probably something along the lines of 'Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!'," said Cynder. "How do you know?" asked Ember. "Eh, it's what I used to think whenever I heard your voice," said Cynder. Matt turned on his comm and said "Ok...give him a breather, Negamorph...before he tries to cut his ears off." The group opened the door.

"So, Anton," said Matt, "You wanna talk now or do you need a little more quality time with NegaMorph. You know, there are more annoying experiments he can turn into." Anton stared in horror at Negamorph, who smirked evilly. "No...thats impossible...ok...what do you want to know?" he said.

"First off, what was it that Red and Malefor are after?" said Matt. Anton sighed. "Malefor had me checking some of the old atlantean facilities for abandoned weapons...I found one...Red and Flame interrupted me." he said.

"And what kind of Atlantean weapons was that place holding?" asked Chloe. Anton sighed. "Siege class droids...stuff that makes the Destroyer look like a bad dream...I'll say this...the atlanteans know how to make weaponry." he said.

"I doubt Malefor would have the technical know-how to operate it, though," said Chip. "True, but I was only after its power crystal," said Anton. Anton continued. "But Red was around when the atlanteans were here in force...he'll know how to power it up."

"Ok then, tell us where this thing is hidden," said Matt. "No...I'll lead you there...cause I don't trust your crew." said Anton, simply, adding "Take it or leave it." Matt looked hesitant. "Matt, you know how destructive those old weapons are," said Contrinus, "Think how much devastation Red could create with it?" "Fine...but you aren't getting away." said Matt, coldly.

--

The group were flying over the badlands, headed for the facility Anton had told them about. Chip was being carried by the others and Techo and Wilson had stayed behind in case of trouble. "I certainly hope we have enough firepower here," said Chloe. "What more could we ask for besides this?" asked Contrinus, trying to keep the mood up. Matt thought for a second and said, "A scorpion tank."

Sonya glared. "Well, we don't have a Scorpion tank so there." she said. Anton noticed te expressions of the other dragons and couldn't help but laugh. "You've got a joke to share with us, Anton?" said NegaMorph, his claws flexing in warning. "Oh nothing...you can change a human body but you can't change their attitude." said Anton.

"True enough," said NegaMorph, "But I think you need to keep your mind on the road, so to speak." "Look...this place is dead...my team took out the defence systems." said Anton before looking over at Spyro, Cynder and Ember. "Should they come? We may have to kill Flame you know."

"Not necessary," said Chip, "We've dealt with Draconus, and he's got to be a lot harder than Flame." "No...Flame...I mean, Fang makes Draconus seem stable." said Anton.

"You forget that Draconus has been deeply rooted in Matt for years now," said Chip, "'Fang' only 'sprouted' yesterday. Granted, straightforward talking may not be enough, but if we tire him out first, we may have a better chance." Anton sighed. "I dunno...he was pretty super-charged." he said before pointing down. "There...any closer and we may be seen." he said.

The others started circling downwards. They made sure not to be within easy sight of anyone looking from the ground. The group headed through the ruins. "Ok, Anton...I don't see any Red or Flame...explain." said Matt. "Wait, they are here," said Spyro. "They're really close," said Cynder, "I'm surprised you haven't sensed it until now."

"Ok...they must be around here somewhere..." said Matt, looking around at the old buildings. The shadows all looked a lot deeper now. Suddenly, dark fireballs shout out of the shadows towards them. The group scattered to avoid being singed.

Anton managed to duck into the shadows. Matt, Chloe, Smoldron and Ember were forced into a building while the others were blocked outside. Red and 'Fang' shimmered into view. "I don't remember inviting you." said Red, in an amused voice. "Yeah, we like to crash bad guys' parties," said Matt. "Your evil plan will end now," said Smoldron.

Red sighed. "Fine...Fang...kill them. I'll deal with the purple dragon." he said. Spyro growled at Red and said, "If you're even considering trying to twist like you did Malefor, you can forget it. I won't use my powers for destruction." "Fine...then you can watch me kill your friends before you die." he said.

--

Meanwhile, Flame/Fang was easily handling the group with ease. "Is that all you have?" he said. He'd shown no sign of recognising Ember at all throughout the battle. "Just getting warmed up," said NegaMorph as he morphed into Yang and fired a blast of lava at him. "Uh, we don't want to kill him, remember?" said Sonya. "I highly doubt this stuff will kill him," said NegaMorph.

"HAH!" said Flame/Fang, blasting the lava back at Negamorph before tail whipping Sonya as she lunged at him. "Ok, lava was a bad idea," said NegaMorph as he shifted to Phoon, "Let's try wind." He then stared blowing a gale at Flame. Flame/Fang backed up a bit before sending a feedback pulse of dark energy into Negamorph before sending a shard of metal into him. Matt looked up to see a old crane above Flame. "Sorry, Flame." he said and shot it, making it fall on Flame.

Flame looked up and blew out a blast of flame that melted the crane into molten metal. He then sent another blast out that sent the metal hurling towards NegaMorph. NegaMorph had just gotten out from behind the shard when he saw the molten metal heading towards him. "Oh, this is gonna burn," he said.

Matt winced as Negamorph vanished in the pile of molten metal with a hissing noise. He and Chloe turned in time to receive a fireball between them from Flame who then turned to Ember. "One left." he said, batting aside Xyphros aside with ease as he tried to stop him.

"Listen to me, Flame, you're a lot better than this, I know," said Ember, "If you weren't you wouldn't have stood by my time all those times. You don't have to be leader to prove anything to me." Flame stopped for a second. Something about the dragoness seemed familiar...no...his master wanted them all dead. "No...you're not her...she's dead." he hissed.

"No, I'm not, though Red tried to see to that," said Ember. "No...no...they put you up to this...NO!" said Flame, backing up. Suddenly, Matt sneaked up behind Flame and grabbed him. "Ok, no more chilli peppers for you," he said. Flames eyes focussed again and he superheated his body, making Matt stagger back before Flame blasted him again. He turned back to Ember. "My master will decide what to do with you."

--

Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder were busy with Red. While he only had one breath ability, he was just as tough as Malefor, thanks to the many spells he could produce with his staff. "It seems the eldars don't teach as well as they did when I was on the council." said Red, evilly, sending another blast out, nearly hitting Cynder.

"Anything you would teach can't be worth knowing," said Cynder before she sent out a poison blast at Red. Red stopped the poison shot in mid-air and sent it back into Cynder, laced with dark magic.

Cynder hurriedly got out of the way. Good thing too, as the enhanced poison blast caused the rock to melt where it hit. "There's only one way to beat me, young dragon." taunted Red. Spyro glared and said, "I won't give in to darkness. I may not do it this time, but I will defeat you without resorting to dark magic." "Then your friends will all die." said Red, sending out an arc of black lightning that hit Cynder.

Spyro gave a roar of anger and looked like he was about to do something drastic when he paused and said, "No. Unlike you, I have withstand temptation." "Fine...I can work on it." said Red, sending out another blast into Spyro, knocking him down. Just then, Flame came in, bringing Ember along with him. "Master," said Flame, "What shall I do with this one?" Red turned and went wide eyed. 'How in hell did they manage that?' he thought.

"Er, um, it is such a relief that your friend is back to normal, Fang. Yes, I had hoped it would happen," said Red mechanically. Flame didn't look convinced. "You said Spyro and Cynder did this...and it wasn't reversible." he said.

"Well, er, I had thought that it was irreversible," said Red, "Apparently I was mistaken. But that didn't mean Spyro and Cynder didn't do it. They're responsible alright." Ember looked over at Red, angrily. "You liar...you did it to me...not them...and then you used Flames pain against him." she said. Red glared. "SILENCE!" and shot her with a blast.

Flame glared at her and growled, "You shouldn't have hurt her." "Apprentice, here's an important lesson," said Red, "Forget about love, it'll only weigh you down." Flame glared. "No...I don't want to hear it...you leave her alone." he said, stepping in front of Ember, the flame on his spines blazing as he got angrier.

"That's right, Flame," said Spyro, "You don't have to listen to him anymore. You don't need dark magic to earn respect from anyone. You could do it all on your own." Red turned to blast Spyro again to find his blast blocked by a energy field that Flame erected. "Oh...so again my apprentice wants to fight me." said Red.

"I'm not your apprentice anymore," said Flame, "and I'm going to make sure you'll never twist another one again." Red smirked. "I've definitely heard that before." he said and levelled his staff at Flame. "I'm not afraid of your stupid stick," said Flame and he promptly picked up a rock and threw it straight at the gem part, which cracked on impact.

Red staggered back as the staff began to glow. "The hell? No...what have you done?" he said in horror as energy began to crackle from it. A arc grounded in his arm and he winced as it became encased in crystal.

Just then, the others came back, having come back to their senses. "What's going on here?" asked Smoldron. "We're about to learn the reason why magically infused atlantean tech shouldn't be broken." Red turned and glared at Ember. "You ruined everything...DIE!" he said. With what was probably the last of his magical power, Red zapped Ember, turning her into an ice statue.

There was a blast of light that blinded everyone. When it cleared, Red could be seen, trapped in a stasis crystal. "Good riddance." said Matt, before seeing Ember. "Oh no." "I don't think Bianca will be able to fix this," said Contrinus. "Well, we can at least keep her from melting," said Chip, "Sonya, keep her solid." Flame glared at everyone. "Leave her alone." he said.

"I never should have let that jerk try to manipulate me," said Flame, "I was his puppet from the start. He thought he could just twist me into another Malefor. He gave me this dark power so I could be more like him. But I won't keep it any longer!" Suddenly, a bolt of magic came out of him and struck Ember. There was a flash of bright light and when it cleared, both of them were back to normal. Ember looked a bit out of it. "What happened?" she said and was knocked over as Flame hugged her.

"Ember, I promise I'll never get too jealous of anyone again," said Flame. There was a loud beeping noise and the others looked to see NegaMorph had become Fibber. He shifted back and said, "Couldn't resist." Matt sighed before grabbing Negamorph. "Come on...letsleave these two alone...Negamorph...a word please." he said.

--

Flame led Ember to a more private area to talk. "Ember, I'm sorry for everything," said Flame. "You don't have to apologize," said Ember, "You couldn't have possibly known who Red really was."

"But I should have been suspicious from the first," said Flame, "It was my fault that he used you to get to me. If I hadn't let my anger and jealousy cloud my judgment, I wouldn't have been so twisted by him. I guess Spyro really deserves to be leader more than me."

"Flame, since when have I ever desired for you to be leader?" asked Ember.

"Well, when you went gaga for Spyro, I just thought you thought authority to be more appealing," said Flame, deeply embarrassed.

"Flame, I admit I did like Spyro for being strong and brave, but that was only a passing fancy," said Ember, "I've known you for as long as I can remember. You don't have to be the leader to prove anything. Just knowing you'll be by my side is enough for me."

Flame smiled and said, "Oh, Ember, I've been such a fool."

"So, even if I'm not the leader, can you still consider me the boss?" asked Flame.

"Don't spoil the moment," said Ember.

"Sorry."

--

Later, Anton was looking through the facility when he stumbled across Red's crystalized form. "Well, well," said Anton, "Looks like one of Mr. Red-Death's spells backfired. Don't worry, old chum, I'll give you the burial you deserve."

He walked around till he found what he'd been looking for...an open service lift shaft. With a little effort he pushed Reds form over to the hole. He looked over to stare Red in the face. "I hate being hurt...goodbye, red...mind the first step...its a big one." and with that, he pushed Reds form into the shaft...a good 40 feet drop.

Anton thought for a second and said, "You know, a big ruby statue like that might have been worth a lot of money..." A pleasant tinkling sound of breaking crystal reached his ears. "Eh, spilled milk," said Anton as he took the power crystal out of his pocket, "Now to bring the important crystal back to the boss." He smirked a bit. "One thing I love about the lynches...much too trusting..."

So flame is rescued and reds gone...for now...who knows?

Please R&R!