~Backstage~

Zayril: Hey hey hey!

Richer: Great another update!

Alec: It's good to hear that you finally answered the problem.

Zayril: Yes. I am very grateful for the help I received.

Josh: Enough talk people!

Felix: I want to know what happens next!

Despair: Me too.

Zayril: Okay okay..Disclaimers time!

Alec, Josh and Felix: Viperwatcher owns nothing except his characters.

Richer and Despair: Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.

Zayril: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.

EXTRA DISCLAIMERS: Richer1992 owns the characters Spirit, Krystal, Amy and Despair


Chapter 29

Hindrance No More

Despair, Josh and Felix rested inside their room as they waited; waited for the arrival of information; information about the whereabouts of the Sorcerer. As they waited, Josh's mind drifted and he soon found himself looking at the past events that had happen. He couldn't believe the fact that it has been like what, a day since they arrived and already a lot of things had happened. They got into a fight with Spyro due to a misunderstanding, got locked up, fought once again and was now waiting.

Who knew a lot can happen in such a short time span of twenty four hours.

Wanting something to do, he decided to at least help in gathering the information needed. He wasn't the type to just sit around and wait. Standing on his four paws, he walked out of their room. Despair, which was lying on his back on the bed, shifted and raised his brow.

"Where are you going?"

"I want to help." At this statement, Felix perked up. He was at the corner, playing with his tail.

"I want to come! Sitting in this room is making me edgy."

"Get over here then Felix, how about you Despair?" Despair thought for a moment, but before he could answer, the air between the three of them was disturbed as a rumble echoed through.

"Looks like someone's hungry," teased Felix. Despair snorted and got off the bed.

"Let's get on with it then. I think Hunter has some food with him."

The trio left their room and was soon walking down the path. The Professor, being a nice mole, gave them lodging for the time being at one of the houses at the Dragon Village. Luckily for them, the house was quite near the area they were in earlier and soon found themselves walking at a familiar path, heading back to the Professor's Laboratory where the rest of the gang were.

Along the way, they passed by the Nursery which was, obviously, filled with Dragon Eggs yet to hatch. They even passed by Moneybag's Main Shop, which was filled with items; items that were alien to Despair and Felix whilst items that were nostalgic to Josh.

Before long, they arrived at the steps and were now at the entrance to the Professor's Laboratory.

But what greeted them was an interesting scene.

Spyro was standing at the front, thinking hard, whilst a pink dragoness stood beside him. Josh recognized her quite clear as day. Her name was Ember. She was a small pink dragoness with a gold necklace in the shape of a heart and bearing a red gem in the center. She had light pink wings, large blue eyes, and a heart at the tip of her tail. She even had a purple frill and horns that slightly resemble Spyro's.

Of course, if Ember was there, so was…

Flame.

The red dragon stood at the corner idly, looking at the sky like he had nothing to do. Flame's body was somewhat the same as Spyro except, he had a rounder and longer snout, a larger, lower body, and was a tad bit smaller than Spyro.

'Oh the nostalgia...' was all Josh could say in his mind. Of course, these two dragons were alien to Despair and Felix, such as that, an introduction was needed.

"Hey Spyro! Any luck with the search?" asked Josh, referring to the search for the Sorcerer. He just shook his head. Ember on the other hand noticed the gang and walked up to them.

"Hello, who are you three?" Josh raised a brow but nonetheless answered.

"I'm Josh."

"I'm Felix."

"And I'm Desapir."

At the introduction of Despair's name, Ember noticeably jumped and took steps backward. She even hid behind Spyro, making him slightly chuckle. Flame on the other hand looked at the group warily, his guard noticeably up.

"Relax Ember; he's a…different Despair now," said Spyro to Ember. Ember moved a bit to the side and examined Despair, though, not leaving Spyro's side.

"Really…?" she asked.

"I'm different now," said Despair flatly.

Introductions soon followed after. And as it happened, Despair soon forgot he was hungry.

0 0 0 0 0

Meanwhile, inside the Laboratory, the Professor, Hunter, Blink and Bianca were all busy trying to figure out where exactly the Sorcerer was. The Professor was busy with the computer, with his nephew helping him. Bianca on the other hand was busy looking at the readings in the computer whilst Hunter discussed thing to her.

"Let's get a recap," he said, Bianca looked up from the computer and sighed.

"Okay, that might get us somewhere." Hunter nodded then began.

"What is the Sorcerer theoretically doing right now?" asked Hunter.

"Well, he is messing with the Portal Magic, theoretically making him stronger. But the side effects are the Portal Fluxes, which is why Josh and the others are here. There world is affected by the Fluxes." Hunter scratched his chin.

"With that hypothesis, what can we deduce?" asked Hunter.

"Hmm…good question," said Bianca.

Much to the surprise of the two, the moles overheard their conversation, and came up with their own deductions.

"Well, we can deduce," began the Professor. "That wherever the Sorcerer is, he has to be at a place where he can tap the energy, or magic, of the Portals." Hunter and Bianca nodded.

"And that is the location we're looking for, right?" asked Blink.

Everyone in the room nodded.

"Okay, so the question now is where is…a…place…where there is…a lot of…Portal Magic. Like, it's…strong there…," said Blink, brainstorming as best as he can.

There was silence in the room as the only thing quite audible was the silence cranking of their minds, trying to come up with an answer. Hunter stretched a little as he thought and his eyes gazed up at the monitors in the room, buzzing with life. Then, the idea struck him. How could he have forgotten it when it was just right in front of his face?

"What is it Hunter?" asked Bianca, noticing the glint of hope in his eyes.

"I think I just know how to find the Sorcerer." He then approached the monitors and began fiddling with it.

"What are you doing Hunter?" asked the Professor.

"Well," he began as he typed at the keyboard. "I am configuring the computer to look for a place where Portal Magic had become quite strong recently."

At that point, they just had a breakthrough.

"That…that…might actually work; Hunter, you're a genius!" exclaimed Blink. Hunter nodded humbly.

"I try to be."

"Don't rub it in," said Bianca, bursting his bubble.

Hunter then began to type his search parameters on the computer and crossed his paws.

"I hope this works."

He then pressed 'enter'. Tense moments ticked by as the search began. Everything was riding on this search, because if it didn't work, they'd literally be back to square one. They wanted to stop the Sorcerer badly and this theoretical idea was their only hope. And it was theoretical. The chances of it being correct were a million to one.

But apparently they were…

The computer dinged when it finished its search.

"What does it say?" asked Bianca, looking over Hunter's shoulder.

"Hunter? What does it say?" asked the Professor.

"Don't keep us hanging!" said Blink excitedly.

0 0 0 0 0

"I'm sorry for attacking you earlier the day. I forgot to apologize earlier," said Spyro as he sat beside Despair. He nodded.

"I understand; so…what you going to tell us yet?" asked Despair.

"Tell you three what?" Felix looked at Josh; then answered.

"That you—"

"—And Ember are together!" finished Despair.

Josh tried his best to stifle his laughter, as he already knew what was to come next. But of course, Despair and Felix didn't know this, as they don't know the backstory yet to Ember and Spyro. The four of them were hanging out under the shade of the tree. Flame and Ember left earlier, saying they had to check something out at the Nursery.

"WE'RE NOT TOGETHER!" yelled Spyro at the top of his lungs.

Despair and Felix both leaned back as they felt the ground tremble from Spyro's sudden outburst.

"You're not together?" asked Despair, surprised at his statement.

"We're not." Spyro's eyes were noticeably shining with flames as his expression bore the face of an annoyed dragon.

"They're not together guys. Ember's just…obsessive," said Josh, explaining of Ember's fanatical crush on Spyro.

"Obsessive? That's an understatement. She won't leave me alone!" complained Spyro.

"At least your other half has a better life. At least Cynder isn't obsessive," muttered Josh under his breath.

"What was that?" asked Spyro.

"Oh, nothing."

Josh sighed and looked idly at the sky. At this time, Despair and Felix felt contented to just look up at the sky too.

"Hey Josh?" asked Despair.

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Josh looking back down at him.

"I find something weird…" said Despair.

"What's weird?" asked Felix.

"My…memories…" said Despair.

"What about them?" Josh asked.

"Well, now that I remember a part of my past life, there are still some holes, like how I ended up at the Neo Dragon Realms right?"

"Yeah…but I'm guessing it has something to do with the Sorcerer," replied Josh.

"Understandable but this is what bothers me. Remember what happened when I saw the Orb back at Dante's Freezer?" he asked.

"Yeah…you screamed in pain. Why was that again?" asked Felix.

"Well…I may or may not have told you this but…when I saw the orb…"

~FLASHBACK~

Time Frame: Chapter 17, Enterende

The images that he saw were blurry, hazy, like you were looking into a television screen that had bad reception. Nevertheless…he could make out at least enough to know what was going on. The first image was an image of…a dragon…dragons? He couldn't be sure as the image was lacking in detail. It wasn't enough to confirm it. The next image that flashed was an image…of something tall. The next image...was nothing… but white. The image he saw was white; nothing but white color. He couldn't make anything else out.

Then, as the array of images flashed in Despair's mind, the excruciating pain slowly ebbed away, but it still made him stagger, having him fall down the floor on all fours. He was panting and sweating. Whatever happened to him, it took a toll on his body.

~END FLASHBACK~

"What do you think of the images I saw have any connection to me?" asked Despair. Josh scratched his chin whilst Spyro just listened intently. He didn't exactly know what they were talking about, but at least he tried to relate.

"I'm not sure Despair…maybe will figure it out as we go along." Despair nodded.

Then the silence was broken when the sound of Hunter's voice echoed through the air.

"GUYS! We've found the Sorcerer! We have a lead!"


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