CHAPTER 11- TOUGH LUCK
The missile streaked downward at a blistering pace.
"Um…I am honestly out of ideas…it was an honor fighting along side you guys…" Austin admitted
The missile drew ever closer as the infected also sprinted toward them, thirsty for blood.
Draganta stepped between Spyro and Austin.
"Don't throw in the towel just yet Austin." He said
Draganta put two fingers on his forehead and his hand flat on the ground in front of him.
The missile was 5 seconds away from impact, and the infected were about 10 feet away at full sprint.
"Draganta do something!" Austin said as he and Spyro braced themselves for something they had no chance to survive.
"Protect!" He shouted, and a clear but strong energy shield appeared around the trio.
The infected slammed into it, then the missile exploded. A blinding flash and the rush of a nuclear shockwave and the ensuing fire storm consumed the bubble, but those inside were unaffected.
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Flame watched as one by one, the monitors were knocked out by either the shockwave, or the electromagnetic pulse.
Serevus stepped inside "Well? Is the city destroyed?"
"Aye sir. There is no way anyone survived that.
"He turned to face Flame in his cell, whose face now showed no hope, thinking his friends had been killed.
"The prophet is dead, along with your other friends. Witness our ultimate victory. We couldn't have done it without you Flame." He smiled and said hatefully.
"You bastard…I will avenge them, I swear."
"You are in no position to make threats."
Serevus turned to the soldier still in the room.
"Prep him for the colossus experiment."
"Aye sir!" The soldier walked over to the control panel next to flames cell and pressed a green button.
Gas of the same color poured into his room and he blacked out instantly.
He faded in and out of consciousness, but saw blurs pushing him down a lighted hallway.
He knew he was on his back, on a stretcher or something, but the gas was still in his system, so he soon passed out once again.
He awoke in what looked like the professors lab, but he knew it wasn't, he guessed it was some kind of operating room.
He felt a gas mask get put on his face, but was too weak to do anything about it. He passed out, for the final time.
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The dust finally settled as the city's new form was revealed. Spyro looked out from inside the energy shield.
The few buildings that were still standing were only metal frames, and were still red hot from the radioactive firestorm that engulfed the area only minutes earlier. Fires still burned around the city and almost everything was charred black.
From where they were, Spyro could see clear across to the other end of the city. Nothing was left, but dust and debris.
Draganta withdrew his energy shield, and collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
"Draganta! Are you ok?" Austin said running over to him and turning him onto his back.
"That shield…took…a lot of energy…you need to…get my armor…from our campsite…so I can get my…energy back faster." He said breathing heavily
Austin scanned Draganta and his medical system displayed his information.
NAME- DRAGANTA THE DRAGONLORD
SPECIES-DRAGON
SEX- MALE
AGE-???
BLOOD TYPE-???
CONDITION- CRITICAL
DIAGNOSIS- SEVERE EXHAUSTION
ALLERGIES- NONE
RECOMMENDED ACTION- ENERGY LEVELS AND HEART RATE DANGEROUSLY LOW. BLOOD PRESSURE DROPPING.
"Draganta you aren't giving me a lot to work with!" Austin said as he injected him with a neon red liquid from a syringe he pulled from his pocket.
He threw it to the ground and put one of Dragantas arms around his shoulder.
Spyro was about to grab Dragantas other arm, but then noticed something odd about the syringe…it had a black S on it, similar to all of Black September's equipment.
"Spyro you helping me or what?" He didn't hesitate to pick up the other arm and they began to help Draganta back in the direction of their camp, walking through the nothingness that was the city they were in.
Halfway through the city, they all began to get extremely weak.
"Draganta…there is no way you're this heavy…" Austin said putting him down to rest with Spyro.
"Thanks jerk…" Draganta snapped
"I didn't mean it like that…something is making us tired…" Austin said
"Guys…I cant feel my face anymore…" Spyro said putting a claw to it, and cutting his cheek by accident, due to the numbness.
"Wait…DUH! It's the radiation! We need to get back to camp and out of this city as soon as possible!" Austin said as he spread his wings.
"I thought you said we couldn't fly!" Spyro said grabbing Draganta and spreading his own.
"We're gonna die if we stay here! And besides…they probably think they killed us when they destroyed this place.
"They flew back to their camp to find it looted, and trashed by black September forces.
"What the…how did they know where we were?" Spyro asked
"They must have gotten flame to talk!" Austin said
"No…Flame would never betray us!" Spyro contested
"Black September has some pretty harsh interrogation methods. The heat on us should be off since they think we are dead, so tomorrow we need to make it to Site 21."
"Those bastards took…my armor…" Draganta said wearily
"No they didn't! I hid all of our important items in this hole…" he said as he began digging.
He stopped when the hole was waist high, then strapped Dragantas armor on him, which almost instantly restored his health.
"Ahhh, much better!" he said as they re established their sleeping spots for the night.
"We owe you our lives Draganta. Thank you." Spyro said
"Yeah, we owe you one bro." Austin said as they sat around the burning fire.
They all went to sleep after about an hour.Spyro lay awake under the stars, unable to sleep.
He silently got up, and looked over at where Draganta was sleeping, and saw that he wasn't there.
"Draganta wondered off again?" he asked himself quietly.he looked over to Austin, and saw he was out cold.
"Nothing out of the ordinary there." He said smiling at Austin's position sprawled out on the ground.
He heard the rush of a blade through the still night air, and looked in that direction. Just as he predicted, Draganta was on a cliff overlooking the still radioactive and burning city ruins.Spyro approached him, and he stopped his swordplay.
"Cant sleep either huh?" he asked
"Nope…look at this…I was left here to protect the people of this land…and I let this happen!" he said stretching his arm out over the expanse of destruction.
"Draganta there was nothing you could do, if anything, this should be your own reason for stopping Black September." Spyro said as he stepped beside him.
Draganta just stood there thinking.
"I told you why I was awake, now why are you still up?"
"Well…I don't know…you're probably going to call me crazy for this but…I think Austin…I don't know…"
"What? Come on Spyro, out with it."
"Have you ever wondered how Austin knows so much about Black September?"
"Not really. You must know your enemy, if you are to beat him. Confucius said that. I had a long conversation with him once. He didn't talk much at first, but put some green tea in him and he'll go for hours."
"Draganta I'm being serious! Remember after you saved us? He injected you with something bright red, in a needle with a black S on it, just like the one we found when Flame was kidnapped!"
"So he helped me regain my energy faster, If he was a black September operative, I don't think he would have done that. And besides, black September is after him, if he was with them, then why would he have wanted our help in stopping them?"
Spyro was still a little concerned, but decided to shrug it off and try to get more sleep before sunrise.
Besides, if Austin wanted to hurt them, he would have had plenty of opportunities to do so. Right? Right.
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Austin found himself standing in a squad formation, holding an AK-47, looking at the world through the green colored lenses of the gas mask he was wearing.
They appeared to be in some kind of airplane, with a parachute on his back, just like the man in front of him.
A red light turned green and a door opened. Each soldier jumped out of the aircraft. Soon the soldier in front of Austin jumped out, then he followed suit.
Upon landing, he cut his parachute away, and he followed his squad leader into a small town. They moved swiftly and silently, surrounding the village.the order was given, and Austin and the rest of his squad threw napalm grenades and lit various buildings on fire. Then as the people fled their burning homes, he and his squad did as they were instructed, and drew their weapons. They moved into the village and Austin heard the words "Open Fire!" over his radio. A man of the village hurried his wife and children away from the area, but he tripped in front of Austin, who automatically aimed at the guys head.
He felt his finger put pressure on the trigger…
"Austin!"
He bolted upright in sweat, to see Draganta and Spyro standing over him.
"Get up! We're never going to rescue flame at this rate!"
Spyro said gathering the stuff they didn't need and setting fire to it.
"Right…let's get moving." Austin said
