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.
Authers notes: Basic bios of the guest villain, Ghoulwyrm and the new char, Stephen can be found at the end of this chapter.
CPS Chronicles: Forgotten Blood
Chapter 10: Monsters, Old and New.
Avalar had an atmosphere and environment just like Earth's. So it was just as inclined to inclement weather as Earth. However, the thunderstorm currently going on seemed a bit more intense than usual.
Any observer would have just passed it off as an unusually bad storm and left it at that. But then they would also have seen how the purple lightning bolts seemed to all hit the same area, making the air ripple. Sadly nobody was near there...and so didn't see the shape shimmering into view...
--
Everyone at Warfang was huddled up inside the buildings. No one would want to be stuck outside during a storm like this. Even the humans were keeping a low profile. The storm's static was messing with the computers on every ship, making flights a safety nightmare.
Techo however was taking this moment to perform repairs on the Nighthawk's comm system that had been damaged a week ago by the wyvern facility's defense missiles. "Sure wish I had better tools to do this with," said Techo, "Though aren't any hardware stores on this planet." He swore as a couple of wires sparked, shocking him. "Son of a..." he said and stopped as beeps began to come from the speaker.
"What the-" He paused and listened to the beeping for a while. Then he activated his comlink and said, "Matt, I think you want to get over here.
Matt wandered in a few minutes later, yawning. "Ok...what's the huge emergency?" he said.
"I think I've found another group of survivors," said Techo, "Or at least their signal."
Matt listened to the beeping. "Yeah...or it could be Anton pulling another trap," he said. "Yeah, I've thought of that too," said Techo, "But I've double-checked it. It looks genuine." Matt sighed. "Fine, we'll check it out, but if I'm struck by lightning again..." he said
Unfortunately, the weather was too severe for them to fly there, so they had to go on foot. But that didn't mean that the clouds didn't mistake Matt for a lightning rod.
Matt glared from under his new layer of soot at everyone's grins. "It's not funny," he said. The fact that the rain had turned the area they were in into a muddy swamp hadn't helped his mood along. "Sheesh, this ground feels like wet cement," said Chip as he tried to trudge through. There was a small pop as one of his legs got stuck and it popped off his body. "Oh, not again!" he moaned. Techo sighed and pulled the leg loose.
Spyro and Cynder were definitely not enjoying things though but given the fact that lightning was lighting up the clouds every few seconds they were not unhappy enough to try their luck. "How much further?" asked Spyro.
"Probably a couple more miles," groaned Techo, "It's not fair? Why couldn't the signal have been picked up on a sunny day?" Matt sighed. "Yeah, but it is us, knowing our luck this is a trap."
There was a click and a 'goddard' plasma rifle, along with its holder shimmered into view, the rifle aimed at Matt's ear. "Yeah, it's like you're psychic, mate," said the filtered voice of the commando as 12 more appeared, surrounding the group.
"Drop the hardware or you're dead." said another commando. "Oh, please tell me this is a joke," groaned Chloe. One of the commandoes sent a round into the ground near Chloe's feety. "I said drop it."
"Fine, fine," said Matt as he dropped his weapons, "At least I know you're NSC, right?" "Move it," said the commando near Matt without another word. Another commando turned on his comm. "Captain. Patrol 13 here. Got the intruders...headed back now."
--
Matt was silently pleased that the commando team hadn't separated them but it was clear they weren't happy with Spyro and Cynder, having placed more of their squad around the two dragons. The group were led along several barely visible paths that formed a maze that put the mini-canyons near where Cynder's tower was to shame, until it arrived at where something had burnt a 30 feet circle out the rock into a clearing. The 'something' was a huge cruiser, landed and surrounded by a dozen tents and vehicles. "Move it," said a commando, pushing them forward when they stared.
"Nice to know there really are more survivors," said Techo, "Though I kinda hoped they'd be friendlier."
"Cut the chatter," said another commando before looking ahead. The whole team stood to attention as a silhouette in the rain came into view.
"Stand down soldiers," said a voice, "They're on our side." "But sir, we've caught them trespassing with weapons," said one commando, "Not to mention they were travelling with dragons. "This planet has hundreds of dragons, not all of them can be unfriendly. Besides, they probably didn't even know where they are."
Matt looked up. "Wait...Stephen?" he said. The voice was definitely the same as the Mythiconian hybrid he'd met a year ago. "Stephen. It's me, Captain Lynch," he said, before being pushed back by a commando.
"Just a second, I want to take a better look at them," said the voice. The silhouette came closer, revealing a young man with brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing the uniform of an NSC captain.
Matt wasn't quite sure if Stephen would know him by appearance, so he picked up Chip and held him towards Stephen. "Surely you remember this guy?" said Matt, "You know, the know-it-all cyborg smartypants?"
Stephen smirked as Chip electrocuted Matt. "Chip. I haven't seen you since Mythicos. Still stuck with the loony?" he said before seeing Chloe. "And who's this raven-haired beauty?" asked Stephen.
"My sister," said Matt flatly.
"You sis...oh..." Stephen looked embarrassed, "Er, sorry, didn't mean to..." Chloe promptly whacked him on the head and said, "Apology accepted." The commandoes all tensed up for a second until Stephen got up, waving them away. "I'm fine, let em go, all of them," he said.
The commando leader looked at Spyro and Cynder, saying "But the general's orders..." Stephen glared, the commando jumping back as he saw something in Stephen's eyes that made him jump.
"This is my ship, not Neilsson's," he said coldly.
The commandos reluctantly walked away. "It certainly has been a while, Matt," said Stephen, "And I see that you've collect some new friends." His eyes glanced over at Spyro, Cynder, NegaMorph, and Contrinus. Stephen's gaze stayed on NegaMorph a few seconds beyond the comfort margin.
"He's cool," said Matt.
Stephen turned back "Well, welcome to the NSS Warlock, newest ship in the fleet. Don't count on calling for help though. See that twisted hunk of metal?" he said, gesturing the ship and more precisely a torn hunk of arials and dishes on top.
"Hmm, I'm surprised we were able to get your signal with your communications being trashed like that," said Techo. "We still have short range, but we've only got a third of our fighters left. Whatever that thing did rebooted the entire base systems," said Stephen, sighing, "I wouldn't have minded the holiday if it wasn't for the company."
"What do you mean-" started Matt when an annoyingly familiar voice was heard. "Well, it's about time you rejects showed up!" "Oh man," groaned NegaMorph, "I was hoping he'd died during the attack. Now I have to pay back some debts." "General assho...I mean General Neilsson. I'm so sorry to see you unharmed," said Matt. Spyro whispered to Chloe. "Doesn't he mean he's happy?" "Trust me, he really meant what he said," said Chloe.
Neilsson glared. "You're still under arrest, you know," he said to Matt icily. He looked at Spyro and Cynder and said, "And I see you've brought vermin with you." "Look, it's been a while since I've been able to take a hot shower, okay?" said NegaMorph. Spyro and Cynder were horrified by the sheer hatred emanating from Neilsson when he looked at them. "Hey, watch it, buddy before I add assault charges to my crime sheet," said Matt.
"You're not in any position to give orders or threats," said Neilsson. "Well, considering the current circumstances, neither are you," said Matt. "How dare you?" began Neilsson before Matt said.
"For heaven's sake, lose the anti-dragon attitude. These guys are the only people willing to give us a break...ok?" he said, angrily.
"I could have you court-martialed right now," warned Neilsson. "Ok...we'll give the NSC council 30 seconds to arrive to do that," said Matt, sarcastically. "Do we really have to let them in?" asked Neilsson, "They'll foul up the air with their stench."
"Hey!" shouted NegaMorph, "Just because you've got a fancy badge, doesn't mean you can call us-" He paused and sniffed his left armpits, "Ok, I'll give you the stench part. But like I said, no hot showers."
"They're dragons, not zombies," said Matt.
"You do realize that we're almost out of food, right?" said Stephen, "You're not saying you'd rather starve than accept their help. That's rather poor leadership quality."
Neilsson looked like he was going to throw a fit but said, "Fine, but they're getting cleaned before getting on the ship." "Now wait a sec-" began Chloe. "You guys are covered in mud," pointed out Stephen.
--
Meanwhile, Avarona and Shard were busy searching a part of the forest under the middle of the thunderstorm. Naturally, neither was very happy about the assignment. "Why do we have to go looking in the middle of this nightmarish weather?" complained Shard. "I think we need more than 'just a feeling' to be sent out here," said Avarona, "Between you and me, I think Malefor's brain tissue is starting to decay."
A lightning bolt earthed on Shard's horns at this point. "Gah! That's it. I vote we head back and say those humans beat us to it," he said."Yeah," said Avarona, "This is just particularly bad weather. There's nothing special about it and I hardly believe it was created by anything more than an accumulation of water droplets."
Suddenly, a large branch hit Avarona on the back. "Ow! What did you do that for?" she demanded.
"Do what?" asked Shard. Shard flew past her, grumbling when a rock hit him in the back. "AVARONA!" he roared, turning. "Oh, so you're blaming me now?" growled Avarona.
"Well, if you're going to smack me, do it in my face," growled Shard. Suddenly, two logs seemed to float up into the air on their own. The two dragons stared at them for a second before the logs hurled themselves forwards and hit them both in the face.
The two generals landed sprawled on the ground. "Ok...that was unusualn" said Shard, mentally interrogating Draco's personality to see if he knew what it was and wincing from the swearword he got as a response.
"So, it's just a poltergeist or something," said Avarona, trying to hide her growing fear. "All it can do is hurl stuff at us." There was an ominous snigger and a disembodied voice said, "Oh, how can I resist a challenge like that?" and an energy blast knocked Avarona down again.
Shard backed up nervously and said, "Y-y-you don't sc-sc-scare me." "I don't? Well, I'll have to up my game, won't I?" said the voice. Suddenly, Shard felt invisible coils wrap around his limbs. Before he knew it, he was being swung around and around, crashing into various trees and rocks.
Avarona came round to see this. However, the hidden figure's actions had caused a mistake. After all, her host had learnt to shoot from the best. She sent a blast of ice at where she predicted the invisible figure was. To her surprise, the blast went through. However, the voice said, "Ooh, that was chilly. I better warm up." Suddenly, purple fire started coming out of thin air and roasting/melting everything it touched.
Luckily for Shard the figure let go. "So, the mercenary chooses to send an assassin," he said.
"Sorry, wrong answer," said the voice. "I don't care who or what this guy is, I am not going to tell the Dark Master we were beaten by some ghostly trickster," said Avarona.
The figure fell silent. "No way..." it said in a clearly shocked voice. Avarona and Shard looked confused for a moment before the voice said in a much friendlier tone, "I hadn't realized that you were in his employ. Had I known, I'd have greeted you much more hospitably."
"Who the hells are you?" said Shard, a bit stunned from the reversal. "Hmm, I suppose I should introduce myself," said the voice. Both Avarona and Shard were on edge, they detected mischief in the voice.
The two just stood there for a few seconds, on edge. "Erm...hello?" said Avarona.
Suddenly, during a flash of lightning, a large figure appeared in front of them. It roared loudly as its head split in half while tentacles squirmed through the grooves on its neck and chest. The two generals screamed in horror, jumping back. "What the hell?" said Avarona. The creature chuckled darkly as it snapped its muzzle back together and its tentacles withdrew back under its skin. "Sorry, couldn't resist," said the wyvern-like monster with an ethereal voice.
"Dammit. I remember you, now. You're the one who let Devina get captured on earth," said Avarona.
"Oh yeah. That was ages ago. Those were good times," said the monster as it tilted his head back, reminiscing distant times.
"Thanks to your bungling we all ended up inside jewelry for the better part of a millennium," said Shard, angrily. "Well, I was trapped in a stone shell for about 3000 years," said the monster, "So who do you think got the most stir crazy?"
"US!" said the generals at the same time. "We were barely out a few months before a damn Shar-khan sealed us away again," said Avarona, as coldly as only she could. "Let me guess, his name was Matthew Lynch," said the monster. "How did you know?" asked Shard.
"That kid's been getting my hair too, figuratively speaking," said the monster, "I'm not the least bit surprised that he's got enemies here." "Look, Zyvar, we don't really care. Master Malefor told us to find you," said Shard rudely. The monster held up its head with dignity and said, "Very well, take me to him. By the way, it's a new millennium, Atlantean's not the common language anymore. Call me 'Ghoulwyrm' now."
--
Matt had finally gotten clean and was looking around. "Hey, where are the two dragons who were with me?" he asked. "The quarantine room," said Techo, "Apparently, Neilsson thinks they could be carrying some kind of disease that could be harmful to humans and he's having the two of them being decontaminated."
"Oh for God's sake!" yelled Matt, "Where's the quarantine room?" he said, angrily, furious at Neilssons paranoia and rudeness towards the two dragons. "Over that way," said Techo pointing, "They're probably on the spin cycle by now." Matt actually went pale and pushed past Techo. Wilson said simply, "Why'd you go tell him that? You and me both know that quarantine isn't like that. He'll probably shoot Neilsso....oh."
Meanwhile, the ship was approaching Warfang. Neilsson was on the deck, looking at the city through the window. "An admittedly remarkable city," said Neilsson, "Though it's got too many scalies for my taste."
"Sir, I'd try to keep those thoughts inward if I were you," said Stephen, "Those would be the equivalent here of saying you were of the Ku Klux Klan in New Orleans."
"...And they're still sore over a colony that was wiped out on the Ancients' homeworld. I had to break up a fight first day there," said Matt. Neilsson just nodded. "Fine..." he said simply. "Incidentally, I think it was a bit extreme to put Spyro and Cynder through decontamination," said Matt.
"Don't be silly, I didn't just put the dragons through decontamination," said Neilsson, "I threw the black blob in there too." Matt stopped. "Ok, that was cruel," he said.
Then they heard a voice say, "And pretty unnecessary too. I may have needed a shower, but I didn't need one that bad." They turned to see NegaMorph, only all of his black skin, claws, and teeth were bright white. They stared at NegaMorph for a few seconds before NegaMorph asked, "What? What are you staring at?"
"You look like Morph...AAAAH!" said Matt, dodging a few fangs. NegaMorph wandered off, muttering darkly. "Personally, I think being white's an improvement over being black," said Neilsson. A couple of African-American crew members seemed to take offense against this.
"He was referring to NegaMorph's bleached skin, not you guys," said Stephen. He muttered to Matt, "It would have been nice to see him get beat up though."
Matt nodded as Spyro and Cynder came in. Both of them were very clean. While the decontamination was rough, it did make their scale shine. However, Spyro's were shining the wrong color. Cynder was trying to stop a laugh and it was clear why.
It was well known that dark colored clothing should be washed separate from all other washing; it also apparently applied to dark colored genetic blobs too. Matt smirked. "Are we in a bit of a dark mood?" he said, unable to resist, causing Cynder to finally crack.
"This isn't permanent, is it?" asked Spyro, looking as black as a coal mine though as spotless as a whistle.
"No, probably wear off by tomorrow," said Matt. "Till then, we're stuck with two Cynders and an albino sickle-backed amoeba," noted Stephen with amusement. "Yes, but on the plus side Techo should be able to jury rig up a new relay. Then you can blast Malefor to the stone age and back," said Matt, happily.
Matt had been a bit right and was happy to see Neilsson was keeping his opinions inside. The dragon population looked annoyed and worried at the cruiser hovering overhead and as usual, Xyphros was leading the crowd.
Matt and Stephen went out first. "Relax, people," said Stephen, "We're on your side. My men are not evil. But don't be confused, they are jerks." Matt pointed a thumb at Neilsson. "Behold, a case in point," he said, smirking as Neilsson glared at him.
"Just how many of you are there in there?" asked Xyphros. "900 surviving crew and 400 marines and pilots," said Stephen promptly. "And you dragons still outnumber us," remarked Matt. "But you have your guns and that huge war machine," heckled a dragon from the back of the group. "Well, it's not like we'll be turning them on you," said Stephen, "Right Neilsson?"
Neilsson was silent for a second. "NEILSSON!" yelled Chloe in his ear, making everyone present cringe automatically. "Gah...I mean, of course not," he said, looking nervously at Chloe. "Did your sister always have that temper?" asked Stephen to Matt. "Pretty much," said Matt.
"Hmm... between the two of you, I wonder if you were descended from berserkers," muttered Stephen.
A well-aimed lightning bolt earthed on Stephen. "I HEARD THAT!" yelled Chloe. Satisfied, all the dragons left, except for Xyphros. He walked over to Spyro and Cynder. "Hello Cynder," he said, looking at Spyro. "Um, she's Cynder," said Spyro in an embarrassed tone.
Xyphros stared daggers at Matt. "What did you do?" Matt, to Xyphros's shock, grabbed his head and turned him to face Neilsson. "That's the guy you want to ask that." "Well don't blame me," said Neilsson, "How I was supposed to know that asymmetrical goblin's colors peeled off in the wash?"
Matt sighed. "General noodle has a point," he said before looking at Spyro. "Have you tried rubbing it?" he said absently. "Oh, I've got something for that," said Chip as he pulled a wax buffer out of his chest compartment. "I use this when I want that nickel-bright shine."
Everyone stared in fascinated horror at it. "No...I don't think we need that," said Matt in a distant voice.. "Spyro...run," he said simply. Spyro immediately ran off, with Chip following right behind him. "C'mon!" called Chip, "You looked like you could have a few dead scales removed anyways." A mole watched the two of them run past. "I gotta lay off the root beer," he muttered to himself.
Banshee Base
Burned Lands
Ghoulwyrm looked around at the construction going on. "I never thought Malefor would set up camp in a NSC base," he muttered before seeing Malefor, "...or steal my thunder," he finished, annoyed at Malefor's new look. Malefor returned Ghoulwyrm's annoyed look. He forced his muzzle into a smile and said, "Ghoulwyrm, you're looking good."
"More than I can say for you," said Ghoulwyrm, "I have to say, your generals are still as rusty as when I last saw them," hearing a snarl from Raptor. "At least we hold ourselves up with dignity," said Raptor, "We are the best of the best. We must be in order to serve the great Malefor."
"Oh, shut up, Raptor. You still keep this guy around?" said Ghoulwyrm. "His prattling can be irritating, but at least he's truly loyal," said Malefor, putting great emphasis on the last word. Ghoulwyrm sighed, "Are you still sore over what happened to Devina? I had no idea those reinforcements would arrive," he said.
Devina growled and said, "I don't see why we have to keep this bag of bones around." "Hey, you keep that bag of bones around," said Ghoulwyrm, pointing at Malefor. Malefor snarled a bit. "Devina has a point. Before you do, you need to prove you can help us," he said. "What with that clown ship of mercenaries?" said Ghoulwyrm, "I can take those easily." "Same old Ghoulwyrm," muttered Shard, "His heart may have stopped beating, but his head's still as swollen as ever." "I know the mercenaries. They are a bit of a pain, but I can handle them," Ghoulwyrm said.
"They are nearly full Shar-khan," reminded Malefor, "I think you should be able to remember what a handful they were." "Oh crap. I thought the ancients stopped doing that to people," said Ghoulwyrm, gloomily. "Apparently, these two were created due to a pack of sentient demonic artifacts messing with a portal from their world," said Malefor.
"Well, uh, I wouldn't know who those demons were," said Ghoulwyrm, looking slightly chagrined.
Malefor looked suspicious before saying, "Well...I'll ask later. First, you will help clear the way for an attack on Warfang. While the Elders work with the humans, we cannot get near."
"Oh, I know how to slip right under their noses," said Ghoulwyrm. "Oh, and I suppose you're going to turn invisible and float through the walls?" said Avarona. "Something like that," said Ghoulwyrm as he turned transparent. Before Avarona could question more, Ghoulwyrm dived straight into her.
The other generals jumped as strange tattoos appeared round Avarona's eyes. She opened her eyes and they were the same as Ghoulwyrm's. "Huh, kinda cramped in here," she commented with Ghoulwyrm's voice, "Can't say much for the view."
Malefor sighed. "Please get out of my General and GET ON WITH IT!" he said, yelling the last part.
"Ok, ok, hang on," said Ghoulwyrm. Avarona's face grimaced for a minute and then Ghoulwyrm said, "Huh, this is odd." Another minute of straining and Ghoulwyrm's transparent head came out of the back of Avarona.
"Uh oh," said Ghoulwyrm, "I think I'm wedged. Can someone give me a push?" There was a white flash and Ghoulwyrm was ejected out and into a wall, sadly turning solid before impact. "Thanks, Kala," he said, wincing. He'd hit the old bases flag pole.
Ghoulwyrm got back up, only for his neck to be stuck in a 270 degree bent. "Ow, hang on a sec," he said. He grabbed his neck and forced back into shape, accompanied by sickening bone-cracking noises. "That's better," said Ghoulwyrm, "I must say Avarona, I'm surprised you let the little dormouse still live in there. I would have thought you'd throw her out on the street."
"I haven't been up at strength since that damn human used an Avalar exorcism spell on me," said Avarona, getting an agreeing hiss from Devina. "So you all have 'roomies'," said Ghoulwyrm, "And judging by the scent, I'd guess Shard has to board with that mongrel dragon-wannabe."
"Oh, he's not that bad company, apart from the death threats," said Shard, "But how will you get inside? Anton managed to get a look at Warfang. A new ship's there, one of their warships." "There's one thing that never changes about a fortress," said Ghoulwyrm, "All defenses stop at ground level." To prove so, he turned intangible and floated down into the ground.
"He does know they'll just hit him over the head repeatedly when he tries to emerge," said Shard.
Devina added, "Yeah, shame we can't watch." Just then, Anton walked in. "What's going on in here?" he asked. Unseen by him, two of Ghoulwyrm's bandages reached out for his belt. The next thing Anton knew, his pants were pulled to the ground, leaving him standing in his underwear. "Although, his sense of humor's improved," said Avarona.
--
It didn't take too long for Ghoulwyrm to reach Warfang. He floated outside the city walls, invisible for safety's sake. "Hmm, now how to slip inside?" he muttered to himself. Ghoulwyrm had to duck in when two troopers walked into view, wearing devices called Ecto-Goggles, special IR goggles used by troopers near Ectonurite areas. "Hmm, invisibility won't help this time," said Ghoulwyrm, "Of course, I could go for the old Trojan Horse trick."
Ghoulwyrm wound bandages around himself until he was completely covered. With a flash of purple light, he was replaced by a grey dragon with purple spines. "This should get me in," said Ghoulwyrm.
The guard above the door didn't look amused. "Hey, Elder Zara told you guys not to play outside the wall," he said
"Pardon me," said Ghoulwyrm, "I wasn't paying attention as to where I was landing. Could you let me in?"
"Just fly over the wall. You're not an undead, get in here," said the guard, angrily.
"I would, but I think I pulled a wing muscle," said Ghoulwyrm, "I won't be able to fly till morning and I wouldn't want to leave claw holes in the wall."
The guard grumbled but moved out of sight. The gates slowly ground open on one side, letting him in. The dragon's eyes briefly glowed purple as he muttered, "Thanks for the invitation, sucker." He was intending to rip the stupid human apart upon entering but stopped when he saw how much were around, and not just regulars. He spotted at least a few commandoes wandering around...and all loaded up for either hunting Godzilla or war.
"Hmm, perhaps a night visit later," said Ghoulwyrm to himself, "But for now, let's see what my old foes are up to." He walked calmly out of range of the soldiers' sight. Then, he disappeared in a flash of purple light to be replaced by a purple bat-like creature with a dragon's tail and wolf-like legs.
He quickly leapt up to the roof of a building and headed along the roofs, looking around till he spotted Matt, talking to someone out of sight. "...think Chip's forgot about the buffer. It's safe to come out," he was saying.
Ghoulwyrm looked down to see Matt talking with a black dragon. "Hmm, that must be Cynder," said Ghoulwyrm. "Look, Spyro, just wait till it rains, looks like another storm's coming. Bet you a gem it washes right off....did you hear a clunk?" said Matt, looking around. The clunk had been Ghoulwyrms jaw literally hitting the floor...being undead had disadvantages.
The two looked around for a minute before Matt said, "Must have been a rat or something." "How's NegaMorph doing?" asked Spyro. "He's fine...got his color back last I saw...but Techo just commed to ask where all the black stealth paint went...so I dunno." said Matt. "He does look rather odd in white," said Spyro.
"Yeah, kinda, but at least he's as threatening-looking," said Matt. He looked upwards to see an odd purple bat-like creature hanging near his head. "Huh, what weird bats you have here," he said as he pulled out a can of riot spray and spritzed the little critter. Five minutes later, Ghoulwyrm was still sneezing. "Smegging cans of Raid," he was muttering.
--
Meanwhile, Chip had taken a break from chasing Spyro around and was talking with Stephen at a local restaurant. "It's amazing how these things pop up so quickly," commented Chip, "You know, I don't know why Spyro ran. This buffer doesn't really hurt on skin, does it?"
Stephen sighed and took the buffer off him and read, "Warning. Only for use on cybernetic lifeforms."
"Huh, you'd think I'd have noticed that," said Chip as he took the buffer back, "Too bad, it'd have really gotten that black paint off of him." "And probably his skin too," reminded Stephen, "We don't all have a choice of skin in the morning, you know."
"True point," said Chip, "Speaking of which, you certainly look better since the last time we saw you."
"I managed to get the hang of that Omnitrix." said Stephen, pulling down his shirt collar to reveal the Drac Omnitrix, still on his neck.
"Well, it's certainly less complex than Ben's," said Chip, "Seeing as it only has one form on it. Two if you're counting your human form. So I guess you've pretty much got that dracopyre thing under control?"
"More or less, Neilsson hasn't got any idea though, so don't tell him," said Stephen just as a roll of thunder signaled that the storm clouds had reached the city.
"Like I'd tell that xenophobe anything like this," said Chip, "You can count on me to keep your secret. At least you can live a normal life now." "Yeah...damn, the weather around here changes fast," said Stephen before seeing a bat-like creature making moaning noises. He picked up a rock and threw it at the thing, scoring a direct hit. He was sure it went 'bleah' before falling out of sight. "The wildlife's weird around here," he muttered.
"You're telling me," said Chip, "I can't even swat at bugs anymore with double-checking whether they're sentient or not."
Just then, the waitress brought them their food, which was a leg of mutton and some garlic bread for each of them. "They're really into...mutton...mmm...mutton," said Stephen, before digging in.
"I guess some parts can't be covered up so easily," said Chip, "Try to act a little civilized. And use your utensils, you've got thumbs you know." "Can't talk...eating," said Stephen.
--
Meanwhile, Ghoulwyrm had flapped over to the city wall, while simultaneously proving it's possible to fly with a limp.
"I...hate...everything," he said landing before being trodden on by a marine. He managed to make it to an alley and turned into an extremely bruised version of his disguise. "Grrrrrrr... I'll show those fools I'm more than capable of disabling these mortals," he growled, "Fear can be used more than one way." Suddenly, his stomach growled loudly. "But first, I need a little nourishment."
He wandered down the street and as a result overheard two dragons talking. "I'm telling you, if any more humans turn up we won't have enough food to support them. Thank the Chronicler they don't eat mutton as much," said one.
"Mmm... mutton..." muttered Ghoulwyrm, his jaws drooling at the mere thought of it, "So, these dragons farm sheep, do they? How convenient."
There was a zapping noise round the corner and a swearword that made Ghoulwyrm pause. A second later, Matt walked round the corner, smoking gently. "I hate storms," said Matt as Spyro walked round the corner behind him. The rain had already started to fall and while it was helping Spyro it was just making Matt more conductive. "Spyro? Is it possible I upset the Fates somehow?" he asked.
Ghoulwyrm watched the black wash off of Spyro, revealing purple scales underneath. "So I was mistaken about that dragon," said Ghoulwyrm, "How fortunate that was cleared up before I made my attack."
Another lightning bolt earthed on Matt, making him judder. "Urk. WHY???" said Matt, yelling up at the clouds.
Ghoulwyrm chuckled to himself. "At least the storm my portal's made is causing a little misery," he said to himself, "Now to find dinner." Ghoulwyrm quite literally followed his nose. He didn't want to buy or wait for his food so followed the smell down to an area in a park-like area of the city. There were a good few dozen sheep herds were scattered around. Ghoulwyrm grinned to himself and said, "I guess I'll play the wolf in sheep's clothing." He turned invisible and started sneaking up the closest group of lambs.
--
The next day, and Matt woke up in his quarters to see the rain still going. Luckily the lightning had stopped for now. "What is it with the weather today?" he muttered. He walked to the mess hall to see NegaMorph mulling over his breakfast. The poor NegaMorph was bleached again. "You feeling well? You look pale," Matt said.
NegaMorph growled and said, "I can't regenerate my skin color for some reason. How is it that I can survive being chopped into bits, but I can't get back my old skin? And that lousy stealth paint's practically like watercolors." "It's for starships, not many rainstorms in space," said Matt. The door opened and Spyro came in. NegaMorph took one look and smirked, "At least I'm not alone."
"Grr, I can't believe this," grumbled Spyro, his skin as black as it was yesterday. "I thought the rain had washed this stuff off." Matt looked between the two and had an idea. "Hold on. I think I know what's going on. Spyro...hold still," said Matt and threw a plasma ball at him, just as Cynder came in.
Cynder saw Spyro's paw fly across the room. "Matt! Have you gone mad?!" she screamed.
"Uh, guys..." said NegaMorph as he pointed at Spyro's paw, which scuttled back over to Spyro and reattached itself.
Spyro was looking the most shocked. "Erm..." he managed before fainting...but who could blame him?
NegaMorph grabbed him. "GIVE ME BACK MY POWERS, YOU LITTLE PURPLE TWIT!" he yelled
"Will you calm down, NegaMorph?" said Cynder.
"That's easy for you to say," said NegaMorph, "Your powers are all together. I'm as vulnerable as a crab during molting season." Matt smirked. "Oh, how tempting," he said as Spyro came round. "Uh...Cynder. I had the weirdest dream," he said.
"If it was about you siphoning my powers and color scheme, it's no dream," said NegaMorph, "Why couldn't I get something from you?" "Oh stop complaining, blob boy," said Matt. "Maybe Lao can take a look?"
--
Lao looked at Spyro. "Hmm...definitely NegaMorph's DNA. It seems you and Morph's regeneration comes from Symbiote DNA...and like the lifeform, the ability was washed off and 'bonded' to the closest lifeform in the chamber...Mr. Spyro in fact."
"Well, that explains how he got it," said NegaMorph, "Now how do we get my skin back where it belongs?" "Oh, your body has the original DNA. It'll regenerate as soon as your body has the sufficient DNA amount, another day at most. As for Spyro, it'll come off eventually, unless you want sonic treatment, though it might damage your hearing," said Lao. "Oh, goody," grumbled NegaMorph, "If anyone needs me, I'll be looking for a giant sea shell to hide in."
"Oh, shut up, NegaMorph. I have body armor you can use," said Matt, cheerfully. "Oh, I suppose you ones that come with three legs and asymmetrical amounts of arms?" said NegaMorph sarcastically. "There's no helping some people, usually people don't even get close enough to hit you," said said, "But what about Spyro? He can't go around like this."
"Actually, I think some basic Symbiote shapeshifting abilities got transferred as well," said Lao, "I'm not saying he can switch forms, but he may be capable of a camouflage alteration." "Worth a try, Nega, how did you do your tricks?" said Matt.
There was a knock at the door at that point. "Matt? We need to tal," said Smoldron's voice, causing a group panic. "I can't let anyone see me like this," said NegaMorph, "I've got a terrifying reputation and I don't want it caving in on me."
"You? I look like a male version of Cynder," said Spyro, prompting Cynder to snicker. "I'll stall him." said Matt. Lao began, "Surely we can just explain..." and was walked back nervously from the glares.
Matt opened the door, in dragon form, blocking the view with his wings. "Smoldron...wassup dude?" he said desperately.
"There's been a rather disturbing discovery made this morning," said Smoldron, "We've found... Is there something going on in there?" "No...what do you say that? Nothing's going on. YOUCANPROVENOTHING!" said Matt, sounding hysterical by the end.
Smoldron looked suspiciously at Matt and said, "You know, Sonya did describe you as being rather odd at times. I'm wondering just how accurate that statement is." "NO, YOU CAN'T COME IN!" gibbered Matt, looking a bit glassy eyed from internal panic. He apparently was hearing something else.
"Erm...ok. Maybe I should just go in and see for myself," said Smoldron as he tried to walk past Matt.
Matt jumped in front of Smoldron. "NOOO...I mean...you can't. Lao is doing something secret," he said.
--
Meanwhile, Spyro was desperately trying to change to his normal color, but he kept changing to wrong ones. He turned blue, then yellow, then orange, then somehow plaid. NegaMorph said, "Try and picture what you looked like..." desperately, overhearing Matt as he started talking to Smoldron...and inevitably began to panic by the sounds of things.
Spyro focused again and his body turned purple. He sighed with relief until he noticed he was purple where he wasn't supposed to be. "Ah nuts, try again, dammit, didn't Matt ever take photo's when he was last here? It's the sorta dumb thing he'd do," said NegaMorph.
"Here," said Cynder as she showed Spyro a photo she had been keeping under her color. Spyro glanced at it and shifted to the correct color scheme. "Ok, he's fixed, now how about me?" said NegaMorph.
Lao shrugged. "Say you're cold?" he said as Smoldron finally pushed past Matt.
"What? NegaMorph's white? That's why you didn't want me to come in?" he said, looking at Matt in confusion. "Hey, it's the opposite color of what I'm supposed to be," said NegaMorph, "Would you want someone spotting you with green skin?"
"So... what was it you came to tell us?" asked Matt. "Several sheep from our flock disappeared last night," said Smoldron. "So? That's all?" said Matt before seeing Spyro's and Cynder's faces. "It IS a big deal?" he said confused. "Well, we keep sheep so don't eat anything that might be sentient," said Spyro.
"But I'm more concerned as how they would disappear inside a city," said Cynder. Matt said, "Because someone ate them?".
"Matt, this is serious," said Smoldron, "Food's short enough already with you humans here. If the dragons start thinking you fleeced their sheep, they may respond in kind." "Any clues as to what caused them to go poof?" asked NegaMorph. "No...nothing...half a dozen vanished overnight," said Smoldron. "Maybe they were abducted by aliens," joked Matt. The others gave him an odd look. "What? They do the same with cows back on Earth."
--
Outside, it was clear from the dirty looks a few dragons were sending that rumors were already bouncing around the city. It would just take one stupid comment to start a fight. "Doesn't anyone else think it's a little silly to be so worked up over sheep?" asked Techo. "Remember when Draco thought Chris had stolen his coconut cake?" said Contrinus.
"Yeah...thank god you're not like that...Chloe?" said Matt, looking over to see Chip having his head bounced off a wall. "NEVER TOUCH MY WEETABIX!" she was yelling. "...Ok then," he said slowly
"Well, they're not in the catacombs. I've checked," said NegaMorph's voice. Matt turned and saw that NegaMorph was curled up in a colossal snail's shell with his head, arms, and legs sticking out. "Ok...first...why? Second...How?" he said, rubbing his head.
"There are a lot of big snails underground," said NegaMorph, "I thought that until I can my regeneration powers back, I can hollow up inside one of these. By the way, escargot's delicious."
"No...Out the shell," said Matt, more or less at the end of his patience. "Spoilsport," grumbled NegaMorph as he crawled out of the shell, "And I was just getting the den set up too."
Just then, a strange dragon walked by. His scales were primarily grey in color, but his spines, underbelly, and spots were purple. His wing membrane, in contrast, was a beige color. He also had a rather gaunt face with sunken eyes, though he look rather well-fed. He seemed fine till he turned to see the group and stopped, looking like he'd seen a ghost. "Urk," he said.
Matt looked at the others. "We're not that scary, are we?" "Well, NegaMorph here practically looks like the ghost of some poor lab experiment," said Chloe. "Oh ha, ha," said NegaMorph sardonically, "If I was a ghost, I'd be haunting your dreams now." The dragon gulped. "What ghost? I don't see any ghost," he said, looking around wildly. "Easy there," said Chloe, "There's no such thing as ghosts." Wrong," said Matt, earning a glare from Chloe.
"Least Ghoulwyrm isn't here. I could do with the stress relief now Neilsson's here," said Chloe. "Heh, like he'd be so stupid as to show his butt-ugly face around here," said Techo, "I mean, if I were him, I'd get a big mask to cover that head of his. What kind of warped freak would look at that puss and not want to throw up?"
To their surprise the dragon looked offended. "HEY!" he said before looking terrified. "What? You've never met the guy. He's the most creepy..." began matt and the dragon started to look proud until Matt continued "...and incompetent villain I've met."
The dragon gave an angry growl and stormed up. "What's with that guy?" asked Chloe. "This place sure does attract a lot of weirdos," said NegaMorph. "Yeah, you would know," said Matt smirking. The smirk was wiped off when NegaMorph tried to shove him into his snail shell.
Ghoulwyrm stomped round a corner before realizing he'd been a foot from his sworn enemies without being recognized. "Damn, I'm good," he said, looking at his disguise. "And might I add that I'm pretty darn good-looking," he added, glancing into a window. He nearly freaked out when he saw that it was his true form reflected. "Hey, get it right!" he hissed. The reflection sulked before changing to resembled Ghoulwyrm's current form.
"Silly mirror fiends," grumbled Ghoulwyrm, "They can make such aggravating familiars." An image of a hand flipping the bird briefly appeared. "...and they're cheeky," muttered Ghoulwyrm. He looked out, sensing the tension in the air. "One day here and already they're an inch from killing each other."
Ghoulwyrm looked thoughtful and said, "You know, nothing really gets someone cranky than being deprived a good night's sleep. And I think it's really hard to sleep through a haunting."
--
A little later and Ghoulwyrm, in his proper form slipped into Matt's room. "Might as well make a star..." he began before a blast hit him in the face. For a second, he thought he'd been runbled, till he saw Matt was still asleep. "zzzz...for the last time, Morph...put down the trumpet...zzzz." mumbled Matt before throwing a plasma ball at the waste paper bin.
"Nothing's worse than bad sleep habits," muttered Ghoulwyrm, "Oh well, may as play Nosferatu with his sister." Sadly, Chloe was worse. It seemed some small part of Silvia was left. In this case, a near-homicidal reaction to rude awakenings as Ghoulwyrm learned 0.7 seconds after accidently waking her.
"Ok...note...Chloe is a light sleeper," he groaned.
--
Later, most of the city woke up with complaints of bad dreams. A very large amount couldn't get enough sleep last night. And to make matters worse, another bunch of sheep disappeared.
Matt woke up yawning and got a bit of a shock of his own. A scream from Chloe's room confirmed she'd had similar. "OK...who's been smegging with our eyes?" he said, when he and Chloe came in. Their eyes were definitely a different color, now the color corresponding to their dragon forms.
"Ugh, I'm still as pale as a sheep," groaned NegaMorph as he walked in. "Morning Matt. Hey Chloe, neat contacts, yellow makes you look wild."
"Hey..." said Matt. "These are not contacts," said Chloe, sighing. "I had a weird dream .I dreamt I beat up Ghoulwyrm." "Sounds like a good dream to me," said Matt. "Yeah, I managed to twist three knots in his neck before he escaped," said Chloe happily.
Just then, Smoldron walked in, bags underneath his eyes. "Boy, you look like you had a rotten sleep. Couldn't count enough sheep?" asked Matt, earning him a jab in the gut from Chloe. "No, I've been having nightmares all night long. The whole city seems to be suffering them." "What kind of nightmares?" said Chloe.
"Mostly ones involving monsters," said Smoldron, "Zombies and ghouls in particular. Anyways, everyone's pretty edgy today so I'd be careful." "Ok, thanks for the warning, and how is Xypros today? Have him and Neilsson attacked each other yet?" asked Matt sarcastically.
"Uh... not quite," said Smoldron.
NegaMorph looked out the window and said excitedly, "Hey, it's Angry Mob Day. I'll go get my megaphone." Everyone stopped and ran to the window to see several dozen young dragons led by Xyphros outside. The odd grey dragon from yesterday was marching besides him. "Shall I nail up the holiday boards?" asked NegaMorph.
"No, let's try talking. It's too early for explosions," said Matt. The group, with Smoldron walked out of the ship to face the crowd. The glares were horrible but were intensified at Smoldron. "Ok...is there a reason for this?" said Matt, calmly. "You've been poaching our sheep!" yelled one of the dragons.
"Bull. I don't even like mutton that much," said Matt.
"I demand proof before you convict us!" said NegaMorph, "Sure, blame me if you can, but at least have some reason behind it."
Xypros pointed to the dragon next to him, "He saw you." "Don't be ridiculous," said NegaMorph, "I've never seen a live sheep in my life. I much more prefer them as hamburgers or ribs."
"Those are cows, you dolt," said Chloe. "See? I don't even know what a sheep is!" "Stop lying. I saw your men taking the sheep," said the grey dragon. Matt glared and took a step forward, stopping as Chloe grabbed him. "Not helping," she muttered. "You know, just saying you saw us doesn't hold up as much evidence," said Techo, "You need concrete proof."
"Huh...and you, Smoldron...why are you siding with them?" said Xyphros, looking at Smoldron. "Why shouldn't I?" said Smoldron, "They say that they didn't do it and you can't truly prove they did." Xyphros glared before turning to leave. "Hey, Xyphos, we didn't do it," said Matt and was simply ignored.
--
The gang met up with Spyro, Cynder, Flame and Ember. "I dunno what got into him, but I bet it's something to do with that grey dragon following him around," said Matt, icily. "Yeah, that guy's a pretty weird-looking one," said Chloe, "Have any of you seen him before?"
"No, never. I knew everyone at the hatchery and I don't know him," said Flame. "Something about him definitely smells phony," said Ember. "And weird..." said Flame, "He smells like he's dead." Matt thought for a second and said, "Say, you don't think he's..." "Don't be silly," said Chloe, "Undead dragons don't just pop out of the ground…Well, they do, but not frequently." "Yeah..." said Matt uncertainly.
--
Later, the group decided to try to find Xyhpros' new friend. Undead or not, they wanted to know where he got his accusations. They bumped into him talking to Xyphros. They couldn't see his face but Xyphros looked completely out of it. "Hey, creepy," said Matt.
The dragon turned and looked at them. "Ah, the poachers are back," he said.
"Hey buddy, there's something rotten about your story," said Chloe, "And I don't mean the teeth they're coming through." "Please, Xyphros doesn't wish to hear your lies," said the dragon in a voice dripping with honey.
"Oh please," said Cynder, "I bet you haven't even told him your name." "I don't need too. Why don't you shut up?" said the grey dragon. "Ok, I can handle having my name dragged through mud," said Matt, "But I don't like smug people who know nothing about what they say being rude to my friends."
"Oh, shut up, captain," said the dragon and ducked as Matt lost it and took a pot shot.
Chloe, Techo, and NegaMorph had to hold Matt back when he tried to grab the dragon by the throat, spouting many untranslatable words at him. The dragon smirked. "See, what I mean, Xyphros?" he said.
"Getting Matt steamed up so he'd look bad?" asked Spyro, "Is that the best you can do?"
"True," said the dragon, "Maybe I can mess up your makeup too."
Before anyone could stop him, the grey dragon sent out a blast of mauve energy that hit Spyro, turning him black again. "Um, this isn't what it looks like?" said Spyro. "But it is..." said the grey dragon.
Xyphros glared at the group and said, "I might have known that you were practicing dark magic."
"Since when is changing skin color considered dark magic?" said Chloe.
Xyphros flew off before anyone could stop him. "You know...I think we're in trouble," said Matt
"I don't mind being on the lam again," said NegaMorph, "But first I'd like to strangle that little- Where did he go?" NegaMorph looked around for the grey dragon that disappeared. Indeed, the grey dragon had done a Houdini and vanished into thin air.
"Forget him. We gonna grab Xyphros before this gets worse," said Matt. "You'd think he'd listen to us?" said Chip, now studying a map of Avalar, "Hmm, the Valley sounds like a nice place to hide." "No...what about Stephen...and Ardanos? They dunno this is gonna hit em," said Chloe "Good point," said Techo, "You think we can leave Neilsson off that list?" "Sadly no, he has a habit of coming back to haunt us," said Chloe.
"Well, we better get to him first," said Contrinus, "With his personality, he'd probably be at the top of the lynching list. Er, no pun intended." The group headed in the direction that Xyphros had gone, sadly missing Ghoulwyrm shimmering back into view and giving a sigh of relief. "Too close..."
As they were chasing after Xyphros, NegaMorph was commenting, "When they get Neilsson, I bet they'll tar and feather him first. Oh, of all the times to forget my camera." "Do they tar and feather here?" said Matt to Flame, more curious then concerned. "That depends," said Flame, "What's tar?"
"That's a no." said Chloe, as the building that Neilsson had claimed at a HQ came into view. Xyphros was already there. Unfortunately, he had brought along a lot of a bunch of angry dragon citizens with him. "Oh boy," said Spyro, "We better break this up before it gets real ugly on both sides."
As they got closer they saw at least two dozen NSC troopers, led by Stephen, stood blocking the way in, wearing riot gear. This looked like it was quickly getting bad. "Flame, Ember, go get the Elders. We might need help if this turns uglier," said Chloe, before the others walked into view.
"Now listen people," called Chloe, "There's a nonviolent way to settle this..." She was interrupted when a stray fireball missed her head and caught her hair on fire. Matt glared and yelled "WHO DID THAT?!!!!" in such a way that even the marines looked nervous. "I mean it...Own up, right now!" Matt said.
"You can't possibly be taking his threats seriously," said the grey dragon, "He's only human."
Matt stopped as this started to dawn on the dragons and they glared at him. "I'm warning you...I am trained in the art of butt whup." He said nervously.
Suddenly, an earth dragon spat a large rock at Matt, which hit him in the chest and pinned him to the ground. "...Ouch..." said Matt as the other dragons began heading for both Stephen and his men and the gang. They hesitated upon seeing Spyro and Cynder however.
"You shall not stop us," said the grey dragon, "Those men are guilty." "Oh please," said Cynder, "You've only your word to go on, and I don't think it's worth much. As far as anyone knows, it was you who took those sheep."
The grey dragon glared. "You don't know that." he said, before looking at Xyphros, his eyes glowing purple. "Kill them," he said in an echoing voice that confirmed the gang's suspicions.
"No...No...it's not fair," said Matt, catching on to the grey dragons identity.
"You know, I've had enough of your smart mouth," said NegaMorph to the grey dragon. "What are you going to do about?" said the dragon, "Take me for a spin around the block?" "Good idea," said NegaMorph before grabbed the dragon's hind legs and started spinning around.
Everyone watched in horror as NegaMorph let go and the dragon went...splat against a wall. "You killed him!" squeaked a young ice dragon in horror. "Oh come on," said NegaMorph, "I'm sure he's fine. He'll just need a band-aid and he'll be as good as new." The dragons growled, one saying, "Dragon slayer…" which seemed to work them into a worse fury...till they saw the apparently dead dragon getting up, a huge gash of missing skin where he'd hit the wall.
"You clumsy idiot!" shouted the dragon, "Why can't you shoot straight? I could have lost a limb with that... What? What are you all staring at?" "I don't know about them," said NegaMorph, "But I think I'm staring at a torn-up mask." He grabbed the dragon's face and pulled hard, causing the skin to rip off from the neck up.
The form that appeared freaked out almost all the dragons minus a few that had similar glowing eyes to Xyphros. "Ghoulwyrm, I thought so as soon as I saw your eye trick," said Matt, angrily. Most of Stephen's men had ran into the building to make sure Ghoulwyrm didn't try to get inside the HQ but Stephen had stayed outside.
"Oh, dread," said Ghoulwyrm, "My disguise is blown. I guess I won't need the rest of this skin then." His body bulged until his forelimbs ripped apart to reveal very long arms covered with bandages with long spikes at the double elbows. The wings on his back fell off as lightning rods popped out. The skin on the other side revealed to be nothing but bandages.
The group backed off as Ghoulwyrm shook himself. "Much better. Well, what to do now you all know, might as well start off this little war Lord Malefor wanted." He turned to the enthralled Xyphros and the other dragons. "Kill em slow."
The group of dragons approached the group growling angrily. "Vampire hypnotism," said Matt, "You know I hate it." "Well, I'd like to stay and fight," said NegaMorph, "But seeing as how I can tear but not mend now..." He quickly dove back into his snail shell.
"You coward!" shouted Chip, "Wait for me!" He jumped into the shell after him and shortly afterwards said, "Say, nice den you've got here." Matt dodged the first dragon lunging at him and clocked it across the back of the head, knocking it out. "We can't fight these guys proper. It's not their fault," said Chloe, zapping a earth dragoness with a low level lightning bolt.
"Say guys," said Flame, "Is it me or are their teeth sharper than normal?" Matt turned to see Flame. "I thought you were going to go get the Elders!" he yelled, before being tackled by Xyphros. Flame was right. The wind dragon's canines looked alot like fangs now and his eyes looked bloodshot under the purple glow.
"I just wanted to help," said Flame as he avoided being bitten by a lightning dragon, "I do need to make up for that Red incident." "Uh, I'm too concerned about being torn to pieces to care about his insubordination," said Contrinus as she tried to stay out of reach, "Is that ok with everyone?"
"You can't possibly defeat me," said Ghoulwyrm, "I hold the tide of battle here. I have the indisputable advantage. You were all doomed from the start. And by the way, I threw that fireball" Chloe was really miffed with the temporary combustion of hair, but now she was furious.
"Will...you...shut...UUUUUUUUPPPP?!?" she screamed, releasing a humongous voltage of electricity in all directions as she roared. The blast knocked almost all the thralls to the ground, them in the process. It also almost flash fried everyone else, Spyro being ok thanks to his current predicament and the others thanks to being able to duck into alleys and open houses.
Of course, NegaMorph's shell got the brunt of the attack. When it had passed over, it was completely burnt black. But then it crumbled into a pile of ash. NegaMorph and Chip were alright, but clearly miffed. "Oh man," said NegaMorph, "I had just gotten the TV set up."
Ghoulwyrm got up to see that the blast had shifted Chloe to dragon form and she looked severely pissed off. "Not bad," said Ghoulwyrm, "But you're not the only with the power of lightning." His lightning rods charged up with purple electricity. Then his long arm stretched out and delivered a thunderpunch to her face. The blast and the blow knocked several feet away, out cold. "Now then," said Ghoulwyrm, "I think I'm overdue to a helping of virgin blood."
He was about to bite into her throat when he heard a cry of "NOOO!" and a negative energy blast hit him in the spine. Ghoulwyrm looked back to see NegaMorph with his hand-mouth still smoking from the blast he shot. "I may be vulnerable," said NegaMorph, "But I'll be damned if I let someone die because of my cowardice. It's you and me now, Glowworm."
"You're going to regret calling me that," said Ghoulwyrm as he flexed his claws. Matt got up to see Ghoulwyrm and NegaMorph charge each other. "...Ow," he said, before seeing the 360 degree scorch marks around the place. "What happened?" he said as the others ran over.
"Oh, NegaMorph just did something very brave and foolish," said Chip. "But admirable," said Contrinus.
"Didn't say it wasn't," said Chip. Stephen looked over at the two. "Who the hell is that guy? he asked. "An undead dragon we met in Wyoming. What fun that day was," said Matt sarcastically. "Why does he look me then?" asked Stephen. "Because he was Echidra's first attempt at making a dracopyre," said Chip, "Of course, she botched it a bit and now he's a dracolich too." "Though wouldn't he have had to have been a little dead already?" wondered Matt.
"Maybe I can take him on," said Stephen. "Uh, I think you'll have to wait your turn," said Cynder.
Meanwhile, the fight between Ghoulwyrm and NegaMorph was getting really violent. "Come here, little cretin," said Ghoulwyrm as he grabbed NegaMorph with both hands.
"You want a piece of me?" shouted NegaMorph, "You want a piece?!" "No," said Ghoulwyrm and ripped NegaMorph in half, "I want two." Matt and Chloe jumped up in horror and anger mixed, readying their own blasts to throw at him. "This has gone far enough," said Spyro as he charged Ghoulwyrm and bashed him in the shin.
Ghoulwyrm snarled and sent a slash at Spyro's throat, connecting. Therefore he was shocked when the cut he'd torn healed up almost as fast as he'd made it. "Hey...no fair," he said. Then Spyro spat out fire at Ghoulwyrm. Ghoulwyrm batted it out and said, "You call that fire? This is fire." He opened his mouth and breathed out purple flames at Spyro.
Again, Spyro healed up almost as fast as he was burnt. "Stop doing that! That's the freak blob's trick," said Ghoulwyrm, now quite annoyed Then Ghoulwyrm noticed NegaMorph's pale skin, which somehow looked paler as his body was futilely trying to put itself together. "Oh, I get it," said Ghoulwyrm, "He lent you his rip and fix trick. But I know how to deal with that." His muzzle split four ways and he unleashed a deafening wave of sonic energy.
Spyro yelled in pain and the black coloring seemed to quiver before falling away, leaving Syro in his normal purple form. "Now then, let's try again, shall we? I tear your throat out...then you die...easy, no?" said Ghoulwyrm blasting Cynder as she lunged at him.
Suddenly, a blast of green lightning hit Ghoulwyrm. "Who threw that?" demanded Ghoulwyrm.
"I think it's time you pick on someone your own size," said Stephen. "And that would be you?" said Ghoulwyrm as he batted Techo and Wilson away. Matt and Chloe smirked at each other. "Long Aim? Have fun," said Matt before he, Flame and Chloe ran over to help the others.
"You really think a puny human's any match for me?" said Ghoulwyrm. "Oh, I'm not just a puny human," said Stephen as he pulled down his shirt collar. He hit the device on his neck and there was a bright flash of green light. When it cleared, Stephen had become a wyvern-like creature somewhat like Ghoulwyrm, only with green scales, no monster parts, and a blue and black uniform.
"Oh come on. I already have two half-dragon enemies," he said before smirking. "Heh, it's not like you'll be very fast like that," he said before sending out a lightning bolt. Stephen surprised Ghoulwyrm by ducking the blast and hitting Ghoulwyrm in the chest with his tail. Ghoulwyrm was knocked backwards, but hardly hurt. "You're going to have to a lot better than that, sonny," said Ghoulwyrm.
"Fine," snarled Stephen, sending out a blast of green fire into Ghoulwyrm's face. Ghoulwyrm yawned and batted the fire back. "Get real, kid," said Ghoulwyrm, "I know every possible move a Dracon can do. You stand as much of a chance as the rest of them."
Stephen hissed, opened his mouth, and let out an ear-breaking screech that was almost unhearable.
Ghoulwyrm winced in pain and said, "What? How did you do that? That can't be done with a Dracon throat."
"He's not just a Dracon," said Chip, "He's Echidra's latest design for her dracopyre army. Of course, he turned against her, but he didn't croak in the end. And you know what that means? You're obsolete!"
Ghoulwyrm's eyes glowed purple. "NO! I AM SUPERIOR! NOT SOME MERCENARY COME LATELY!" he roared and lunged at Stephen.
"Uh, let's let them deal with this for a bit," said Matt. "Ok," said NegaMorph, "By the way, can someone get me a bag of ice? Or a tourniquet?" The black covering was slowly slithering back to NegaMorph, already over his lower half. "Don't think you need it," said Chloe.
The two dracopyres were locked in a pushing contest, though neither side was winning. Stephen seemed to have the most physical strength, but Ghoulwyrm was currently being fueled by jealousy and rage.
Suddenly four roars were heard in the distance, the Elders were coming. "Hey, Ghouly...you're in trouble!" called Matt, helping Spyro up. "You ok?" he asked
"What?" asked Spyro, "I can't hear you over the ringing! Boy, do I have an earache." "He'll be fine," said Chloe to Cynder, who looked relieved. The Elders came into view just as two Sparrowhawks from the Warlock came into view from the other direction. "Ghoulwyrm, however, will be another story," finished Contrinus as she healed Spyro's hearing.
Ghoulwyrm growled and said, "This is not over. Not by a long shot." He faded away, leaving Stephen to fall forward. The Elders landed and looked at Stephen. So this is the creature," said Zara.
"No, he just legged it." said Matt.
"You have proof of this?" asked Cyril. "Well, not quite," said Chip, "I would have taken a picture, but vampires don't have reflections." Flame nodded. "It's true. We all saw him. He was controlling Xyphros and several other dragons. Ask him," he said, as Xyphros stirred with a groan.
"Ugh, what happened?" asked Xyphros, "Last I remember was a pair of purple eyes in a skull-like head and now I feel like I've been hit by a lightning storm." "Erm....that was me," said Chloe, sheepishly.
"And by the way, he was the one who poached your sheep," said NegaMorph, now fully back together and all black again. "How do you know?" said Ember. "Pretty obvious, isn't it? Besides, I found in his mouth." NegaMorph held a large chuck of very soggy-looking wool.
"You know, I don't even WANT to know how you got that," said Matt, gloomily.
"I'm pretty sure a DNA test can confirm whom this saliva comes from," said NegaMorph, "Anyone got a plastic bag?" "No..." said Matt, "Let's just take this as it appears." Chloe nodded. "Least we know he'll be in deep trouble," she said.
--
Malefor was less than pleased when Ghoulwyrm appeared. "Well, well," said Malefor, "It turns out you are just hot air after all." "No, I was unprepared for the appearance of another dracopyre. Give me another chance," he said. Anton and two super battle droids were behind Ghoulwyrm. "Want me to take the trash out?" said Anton, amused.
"Anton, old buddy," said Ghoulwyrm, "You wouldn't cast me out on my ear, would you?" "Hmm...the first time we met, I nearly died...so get lost, loser," said Anton. "I will not be packed off that easily," said Ghoulwyrm as he started charged his lightning rods.
Anton yawned and sent out a sonic blast into Ghoulwyrm's face, sending the dracopyre into a wall. Then he fired 6 more into his chest over and over. "If only he could be killed that easily," said Malefor wistfully, "It'd spare the world from his hideous appearance."
Ghoulwyrm glared at Malefor and said, "Well at least I'm well-preserved. Your flesh is flaking off the bones every day. I bet your eyeballs are getting ready to fall out." "I, unlike you, however can easily regain my body...by taking my enemies'," said Malefor, "Now get out of my sight." "You'll regret casting me out," said Ghoulwyrm, "Trust me, this will come back to haunt you sooner than you think."
"Do you ever shut up?" said Anton, "Your own mother wouldn't want to hear you yap. Not like she'd want a reject like you around." Ghoulwyrm snarled and flew out the hall. "Should I have the turrets blow him to fragments?" said Anton.
"He'd let them go through them," said Malefor, "Of course, it's not like he has anywhere else to go."
"Yes. I suppose...I am happy to report though that I located the Chakra blade...the soul destroyer," said Anton, disappointed a bit.
--
Meanwhile, Chloe was still a little shellshocked from that blast she sent out. "I'm sure that was a fury attack," she said, "That means I'm getting more and more like a dragon. How much of the original me is left?"
"There, there," said NegaMorph, "It doesn't matter what you are so much as who you are."
"No...I remember what happened in Ballan. It could happen again," said Chloe.
"I think that was a completely different scenario," said NegaMorph, "Then again, I was dead at the time. Of course there are a couple of other things to consider." "Like what?" said Chloe.
"Matt's possible fury. He and Techo are discussing what it might be like." "Oh boy..." said Chloe, visualizing a mushroom cloud. "Erm...did they work out the second riddle yet? What was it...'Seek out the gateway to eternity'?
"Clear as mud to me," said NegaMorph, "Couldn't they put something like, I don't know, 'the skull's cave' or 'the twisted forest'?" "Ok...not everyone has Chip powers to access the hacked satellites," said Chloe.
"Didn't need to, it's talking about whatever portal the Ancients used to get here. It's there," said NegaMorph. "Great...wonder what we'll find there this time?" muttered Chloe.
--
Ghoulwyrm flew through the wastelands, muttering nastily. "Throw me out, will he? After all I've done." he muttered, landing in a circle of ruined Atlantean buildings. He became intangible and sank down through the ground, continuing to mutter to himself. "Those other fools must failed him dozens of times, but he still keeps them around. But I make one slip-up and he tosses me out."
He came out at the bottom of a shaft. Pieces of crystal were scattered around the bottom of it, where something had smashed. However, he could sense great power inside these crystals. Not only that, he could sense a dormant consciousness in them as well.
Ghoulwyrm grinned to himself, "They'll all regret dismissing me. They're soon going to realize that was a big mistake. A big, fatal mistake." He homed in on the piece where the consciousness was emanating. "And I'll make a start with this guy...whoever he is," said Ghoulwyrm, before opening a portal.
--
Oh dear. Looks like Reds been found…sadly that's the last we'll see of Red for a bit. Stephen and Ghoulwyrm are property of my co-auther, Cydra and appear in his stories
Now another Chakra device is located, the race is on to get it first…tune in next time.
--
Villains
Name: Ghoulwyrm:
First appearance: 'Omnitrix Ordeal'
He is a Mythiconian dragon turned undead. He is quite skilled at Necromancy and also various dark magic. He also has some vampirism aspects built in. He was originally imprisoned by the atlantean empire for his role in their fall until Matt n co accidently released him from the ancient facility located in Wyoming, Earth. Since then he has crossed paths with the mercenaries many times…
Name: Stephen 'Long Aim' Verdent
First Appearance: Trogs and Wristbands
A young man who had the misfortune of attracting the attention of the necromancress Echidra. She kidnapped him and performed vile experiments that left him a reptilian dracopyre with a Mysticos Dracon as a base for his form. He has learned to control his new body by extensive training on Mysticos but still bears his new curse.