Copyright: I do not own Spyro or anything Spyro related. It is all owned by Sierra Entertainment and Activision. I do own my original characters in the story.
The one hour break had ended, and most of the attendants had returned to their seats. The remaining participants had also made it back to their seats. They were now patiently waiting for the next match to get underway. Volteer and Cole walked onto the stage, stating that they were going to be the enforcers for the rest of the first round.
"Would the participants of the fifth match please come forward?" Cole announced, getting everyone's attention.
"You're up," Rai said, watching as Sypher prepared to fly down towards the field. The dragon placed a paw on his shoulder. "Try not to use your element if you can help it."
"I wasn't planning on using it." He said, flying down towards the field.
"I guess that I'm up." Brox said, getting up from his seat.
"Go take care of one more of them, Brox. Show them that we won't tolerate their intentions, and the type of things they do." Seth said.
"Go show him what you're made of, Brox." Alyssa said, cheering on her friends.
"Good luck big brother." Greg said.
"Thanks for all the support guys." Brox said, opening up his wings. "After I win this match little brother, I'll be waiting for you in the next round. We'll have a friendly fight between the two of us just like old times." He said, looking back at Greg and smiling at him. With his friendly gesture finished the dragon flew down towards the field.
"The second round of the tournament will feature these two dragons. Brox, a dragon from the Earth City." Cole halted, waiting for the cheers to diminish. "And Sypher," he said, pausing for the boos to diminish.
"This should be an easy win for Brox, right Greg?" Alyssa questioned, looking at the dragon next to her, "I mean Brox is a powerhouse, and that dragon doesn't look like he comes anywhere near to Brox's raw strength."
"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover Alyssa. That dragon has shown very little of what he is capable of. Even in the preliminaries he seemed determined to keep his true strength hidden." Greg replied.
"I truly hope that Brox manages to knock another one of Rai's team members out of this tournament." Blaze said.
"From what we've seen so far none of them are as tough as they once were. I'm sure the same applies to this dragon." Seth said, trying to assure them that Brox would come out the victor.
"Still that dragon gives off a different vibe from the others." Spyro said, adding to the conversation. "I fought alongside him during the mission to rescue Alyssa. No offense to Brox, but I believe that it will be a struggle for him to come out the victor."
"What makes you say that?" Seth asked.
"Just a feeling I get from him and the look on Rai's face." He said, making the dragons look over towards Rai. The grey dragon had a sly grin on his face. It was as if he had complete confidence that Sypher would come out the victor.
"Do you believe he will win?" Gen asked.
"His opponent received the number ten trying his best. Sypher received the number six by holding back. There is a four number difference between the two, but just because you are weaker than your opponent doesn't mean it is impossible to win. Sypher knows not to underestimate his opponents. Now watch and behold as Sypher battles it out with his opponent." Rai said, staring down onto the field.
"Begin!" Cole yelled out, stepping back as to not interfere in the dragons' bout.
"I personally don't have a grudge against you guys, but the things you guys do leads me to believe that you are evil dragons." Brox said, stepping towards Sypher.
"Is it evil to follow one's beliefs? The actions we are responsible for might cause others to spite us, but you cannot call us either evil or good, without first understanding the reasons behind our actions." Sypher said, taking a fighting stance.
Brox closed in on Sypher, and threw a punch at the dragon. Sypher easily dodged the dragon's attack. Brox threw another punch at the dragon, but once again he missed. The earth dragon jumped in the air, holding his paws together as he came down. Sypher saw what Brox was attempting to do and stepped back. The earth dragon came back down, smashing his paws down on the area where Sypher would have been. The ground rattled and broke apart, upon his paws making contact with the ground. Small pieces of ruble were sent flying up from the impact. Brox looked around, and saw that Sypher was gone.
The earth dragon looked up, and saw that the light blue dragon had jumped into the air. Sypher was attempting to pounce on Brox. The green dragon jumped into the air towards Sypher. He opened his maw, and caught the multi-eyed colored dragon by the tail in mid-air. Sypher flapped his wings furiously, attempting to escape from the dragon's grasp. Brox bit down harder against the dragon's tail, diminishing the chances of the dragon escaping his hold. Brox swung his head towards the ground, releasing the dragon from his hold in the process. Sypher was sent flying back down towards the ground. He hit the ground, shaking the ground on impact. Brox flew back down onto the field.
"Well that was easier than I thought it was going to be." Brox said, preparing to finish the fight.
"Come on now you should be ready for anything." Sypher said, standing back up.
"I guess you're right." Brox said, rushing towards Sypher. He closed up on the dragon, and threw another fist at him. He made contact with the dragon's cheek, sending him sliding across the ground. "And so should you."
Sypher once again stood back up. He placed a paw on the cheek that had received the hit. He moved his tongue around his mouth, and placed his tongue around the area in his mouth that had been cut up. He received a metallic taste from his investigation. Sypher sucked up the blood that was slipping out from this internal injury. He spit out a glob of blood.
"Sorry about that, I don't like swallowing my own blood." The light blue dragon replied, explaining his actions. "Now that I have an idea of what you are capable of, I can show you what I am capable of." Sypher said, running towards the dragon.
Brox could barely keep an eye on the dragon, as he approached him. Sypher arrived in front of Brox, and began sending punches at him. Brox could not keep up with the dragon's hasty movements. Each of Sypher's fists made contact with Brox over and over again. The earth dragon jumped back, hoping to get a breather. It was no use as Sypher followed up with him, and punched him several times in the gut. Sypher tightened up his tail, and summersaulted in place. He tail wacked Brox at the base of his head as Sypher completed his summersault. The earth dragon's legs began wobbling beneath him, as the force of the attack traveled through his body. Sypher stared in front of him at Brox, who was desperately keeping himself up.
"Still standing are we?" Sypher said, grinning at the dragon. "Earth element type dragons sure are durable." He said, kicking Brox on the side of his head. "Normally it's not advised to go up against your kind like this in a paw to paw battle, because of the strength advantage that earth element dragons have. But my advantage in the speed category evens us out."
Sypher turned to his side, setting up another kick for Brox. He locked onto the dragon's head, and prepared for another kick. Sypher's leg did not move. The light blue dragon looked down at his hind leg, and saw that it was trapped underneath the ground. He looked at the rest of his paws, and realized that they too were stuck in the ground. He looked back at Brox, and saw that the dragon was pulling his left arm back. His eyes widened as he realized that the earth dragon's fist was incased in stone as well.
"Be ready for anything, right?" Brox said, throwing the stone incased fist at Sypher.
The light blue dragon attempted to use his wings as defense, but they could not cover him in time. Brox's fist made contact with Sypher's head, hitting him in between the eyes. The force from Brox's punch tore the ground, which was holding Sypher in place, apart. The dragon was sent flying through the field. The dragon's body impacted the field's barrier, creating cracks along the area of it. Sypher collapsed on the ground. Volteer walked over towards the unresponsive dragon.
"It appears that this dragon can no longer continue." Volteer said, upon inspecting Sypher. "Your winner is…" He paused, feeling something grab hold of his hind leg. He turned around, and saw that Sypher was grabbing onto him.
"It's not over yet." Sypher said, standing back up.
Volteer backed away letting the dragons resume their battle.
"Of course not, but it soon will be." Brox said, punching both his front paws into the ground.
The ground in front of him began to rise, and form into two separate large paws. The new earth formation began travelling towards Sypher. The light blue dragon immediately took off into the sky, avoiding the earth paws from hitting him. He stayed in the sky for a couple minutes, noticing that the earth paws were not following him.
I need to get in close and do something that we'll stop him from controlling earth. Sypher said, examining Brox for any apparent weaknesses. Sypher smiled as an idea came to him, "Yea, that will do just fine."
The light blue dragon began flying down towards Brox, folding in his wings for added speed. Brox was confused as to what his opponent was doing. He figured that the dragon was going to attempt a reckless collision with him. Brox brought in his giant earth paw ready to swat him out of the sky. As soon as Sypher came within the reach of his earth formations, Brox began attacking. Sypher used his speed to dodge the first paw effortlessly, but the second managed to nick the dragon's hind leg. Sypher was impressed by the speed of the rather large objects. He focused on his target, Brox, as he approached the young dragon.
"Your suicide collision will just end up getting us both killed!" Brox yelled out.
The earth dragon began burying his tail into the ground. He was slowly forming an earth dome to protect him. Before approaching the ground Sypher opened his wings, stopping him from colliding with the ground. He continued on flying towards Brox. The dragon saw the dome forming around him, but paid it no heed. He would get their before his opponent would be encased in it. Brox saw the dragon flying towards him. The earth dragon still wondered what he was attempting. If he was not aiming for a head on collision than why was he doing all this? He looked at the dome slowly forming around him. He knew that controlling both the earth paws and now the dome, were slowing down his formation speed.
"It's over," Sypher said, swiping the earth dragon up from the ground.
The unfinished dome was destroyed in the process, as Sypher carried Brox high into the air. Brox struggled to break free from the light blue dragon, as Sypher tightened his grip on the dragon. Once Sypher had gotten the dragon up high enough he threw the dragon across the sky. Brox opened up his wings to keep himself afloat. Sypher quickly passed the dragon, slashing his left wing with his claw. Brox cringed from the pain of having his wing cut. He attempted to turn towards Sypher, but before he could the dragon passed him again. This time Brox felt a pain shoot through his right wing.
"You are out of your element up here." Sypher said, passing Brox once again. "Up here you are out of your element and at my mercy."
A small slash formed on Brox's chest. With the injuries he was slowly acquiring from Sypher. The earth dragon felt himself slowly begin to drift on back down.
"Don't worry, earth dragon. I'll help keep you from falling down for the time being." Sypher said, slashing the dragon upward with his claws.
Sypher continued to fly through Brox, slashing him up in several places as he did. Every time the green scaled dragon would begin to fall, his opponent would hit him back upwards. The earth dragon was in a continuous loop of agony while amidst the clouds. His body contorted from his opponent's slashes, while his blood flew across the sky. As the drops of blood fell down towards the ground the audience had a grim look across their face. The falling blood gave the illusion that it was raining blood.
"What's he doing?" Seth asked, stunned by what he was witnessing. "Brox can no longer defend himself. He should just finish it already."
"Doing this for the sake of winning is one thing, but I believe that now he is just doing it to prove a point." Magmus added, watching Brox get destroyed.
"Shouldn't Volteer and Cole put a stop to this match?" Cynder asked.
"Not if it appears as if both of them are still responsive." Lux said, watching the scene unfold in the sky with admiration. "Besides he's not dead…yet."
"If it is true that he is doing this just to prove a point what point is he trying to make?" Grace asked herself.
Greg stared at the sky, watching as his older brother got torn apart. He could see the dragon's eyes begin to lose their color. It pained him to see his brother going through that kind of torture. By just staring into his eyes the dragon knew that his brother was no longer conscious.
"Greg…" Alyssa whispered, seeing the worried look on his face saddened the dragoness.
"Tell him to stop, Rai!" Blaze said, turning towards Rai.
"He's already won. Brox has just lost consciousness if he continues, Sypher will be disqualified." Spyro added.
"Why the hell is he doing this? Just tell him to stop, or do you guys get off by torturing others?" Seth said in anger.
Rai and Gen both turned towards them and smiled. The cocky smiles on the face of the two dragons boiled up Spyro's friends with anger. Spyro himself felt disgusted seeing the pleasure that what their teammate was doing brought them.
"What happened are we doing something that is upsetting all of you?" Gen asked, feeling the anger coming from the dragons. "What happened to all that talk of beating us? You guys had plenty to say about that after the last three fights. Never forget that we are still superior to all of you."
"That is enough your opponent is unconscious if you continue assaulting him we will disqualify you." Volteer warned Sypher.
"Sure I'll stop." Sypher said, grabbing Brox by his tail. The light blue dragon grinned as he let go of the earth dragon's limp body.
"He won't survive that fall!" Alyssa yelled out.
The crowd went silent as they saw Brox fall down towards the ground. The earth dragon began picking up speed as he headed towards a collision with the field. Greg jumped up from his seat, and took flight. He headed towards his brother, racing against time. Sypher took notice of Greg flying towards Brox. The multi eye colored dragon decided to fly down towards them. Greg made it towards Brox, and caught the dragon mid-air. The momentum that the unconscious earth dragon had accumulated brought both dragons down towards the field. Greg moved his paw, raising an earth platform from the ground. The younger brother opened his wings, slowing down their velocity. The earth platform had arrived under the two dragons. The two brothers crashed onto the platform, breaking their fall. The crowd cheered at Greg's rescue.
"He's still alive." Greg said, noticing that his brother was still breathing.
"Congratulations you saved him." Sypher said, flying in front of Greg.
Greg's anger boiled upon seeing the dragon that was responsible for the shape his brother was in. "You are a sorry excuse for a dragon. Your actions were sick, and your attempt at taking his life just makes by blood boil."
"Oh, I'm sure it does." Sypher said, approaching the dragon. "If you make it pass your fight, I'll be waiting for you in the second round."
"Winner of this fight, Sypher." Volteer announced.
The crowd booed upon hearing the results of the match.
Sypher flew back towards his seat. Upon returning towards the participants' part of the crowd, he saw Spyro's group staring angrily at him.
"You know I took it easy on your teammate, and this is how you repay us?" Seth said in anger.
"Sypher took it easy on him as well." Rai replied, turning towards them.
"He left Brox on the verge of death. I fail to see how he took it easy." Seth replied.
"You used your element against Glacia. Did you notice that Sypher never used his once against Brox." Rai said, reminding them of the details of the battle. Spyro and his friends were shocked at the realization. "If he had used his element, Brox would be dead right now."
Greg stayed with his brother while the medics ran over to help him. Greg watched as they took him from his paws. They carried the dragon off of the field. Greg stood back up and prepared himself for his upcoming match. When he entered the tournament he did not have a definitive reason for participating. He and his brother entered it, because they wished to spend some time with the close friends they had made in Warfang. He did not care about the title that came along with winning the tournament. The dragon still did not care, but now he had a reason to be fighting in this tournament. His motivation now laid in avenging his brother.
"The next round will now begin!" Volteer yelled out, bringing Greg back to reality. "From the Earth City we have, Greg."
The crowd cheered out of pity for the green scaled dragon.
"And his opponent," Volteer said, as Magmus flew onto the field. "From the Fire City, Magmus."
Cheers poured throughout the arena at the sound of the young dragon's name.
"The two of you may now begin!"
"Sorry dude about what happened to your brother." Magmus said, noticing that Greg was not focused on the battle.
"What happened to him is not your fault." Greg said, taking a fighting stance. "Do not go easy on me, because of the event that occurred." If I can't beat him at his best how can I ever hope to defeat Sypher?
"Sure thing Greg," Magmus said, taking a couple steps back. "I'll go all out against you, Lava Element: Ground Eruption." He said, stomping his paws on the ground.
Small holes began to form on the ground they were standing on. Greg felt his paws begin to burn from the heat that the ground was producing. He looked down, and saw that the ground was turning a reddish color. The earth dragon rolled to the side as the ground gushed out lava. He looked around, and saw that multiple holes were spewing out lava. It was then that Greg became aware of what Magmus was attempting to accomplish.
"He must be setting up another attack with that much lava." Greg whispered, making gestures with his forepaws. "Alright then I'll have to prepare for it.
A chunk of ground began to fly up towards Greg. Magmus looked on as the large portion of ground floated towards Greg.
"You figured it out, huh?" Magmus said, as let the lava encircle him. "I heard you were smart Greg, but I didn't know how intelligent you truly were until now. That piece of earth is not going to be enough to defend against this attack. Lava Element: Lava Torrent," He said, as a torrent of lava flew up towards the dragon.
"It'll be enough," He said, kicking the large portion of earth towards the incoming lava.
The attacks collided against each other. Greg was using his ability to push the portion of earth against the stream of lava. Magmus used his control over lava to push his stream even further. The lava dragon looked up towards Greg, and noticed that the dragon had a saddened expression on his face. He saw the dragon whispering a word, and then saw his expression change to that of a determined one.
"Sorry," Greg said, bringing up his free paw. "I wouldn't have used this attack if Brox had not been seriously injured. Earth Element: Stalagmites," The earth dragon said, cringing his talons rapidly.
Several sharp pointed earth figures rose from the ground. They punctured Magmus in several parts of his body. The lava flow instantly stopped, leaving the lava falling towards the ground. The crowd went silent as they tried to comprehend what had just happened. Greg flew back down onto the field, and looked across it. He saw that Magmus had three stalagmites penetrating his body. They were holding the dragon up denying his body the relief that resting on the round would bring it. Upon closer inspection he saw that two had pierced the dragon's abdomen, and a third had pierced the right side of his chest.
"Magmus," Cole let out in a concern tone.
"What…what have I done?" Greg said, hating the actions he had chosen to take. "I let my thirst for revenge get the better of me, and as a result I killed my friend!" The dragon yelled out. "I'm no better than him!"
"Don…Don't say such things, Greg."
Greg looked in front of him at the dragon he had believed to be dead.
"This just shows how far you are willing to go for your brother." The dragon began, pushing his body out of the sharp spikes from the ground. The spikes slowly slipped out as the magma dragon stepped forward. Blood quickly poured out of the dragon's wounds.
"What are you doing?" Greg yelled out, knowing that the dragon would bleed out.
"This is going to hurt like hell." Magmus said, as a gush of lava erupted from the ground enveloping the dragon.
Grunts of pain could be heard from within the lava. The crowd's attention was focused on the lava, wondering what the dragon's intent was. Greg cringed at the pain that Magmus was bringing upon himself. The earth dragon had already made an assumption as to why Magmus had let the lava envelope him. The rushing lava slowly began to disappear, and in the process it slowly revealed Magmus. The lava dragon came into focus, revealing that he was still covered in small traces of ember colored lava. The areas on the dragon that the audience noticed the most were his wounds. The dragon had cauterized them.
"Those weren't cuts that he burnt shut, but large open wounds." Seth said, shivering at the pain Magmus must have felt.
"He has guts I'll give him that much." Grace said, admiring the lava dragon's act. "But it appears that it took more out of him than he believed it would."
"Alright…let's…continue," Magmus said, panting in between words.
He can't go on much further. Greg thought, noticing Magmus's exhaustion. "Fine I hope you are ready, Earth Element: Golem Paw."
Several pieces of earth began to rise up from the ground. They flew in front of the dragon, molding a giant paw.
"I see so that is what you are planning. I'll match your attack with my own version of it." He said, enveloping his paw in lava. "Lava Element: Layered Lava Paw." He said, adding more lava onto his paw.
Once Greg had finished crafting his attack, the green scaled dragon pushed his attack towards his opponent. Magmus's attack detached itself from him, and flew off towards Greg. The two attacks met dead center of the arena. The two dragons were determined to defeat the other. Their attacks were equal to each other neither gave way for the other. Greg had his arm raised towards his attack, mirroring Magmus's stance.
"So this is as far as I can go." Magmus said, smiling. I still have ways to go until I reach your level. Magmus thought to himself, looking over towards Cole.
Magmus's arm fell towards his side as the dragon's body began falling down towards the ground. His attack slowly disappeared giving way for Greg's attack. The earth dragon moved his attack towards the side, avoiding the red scaled dragon. He had heard his opponent hit the ground, and knew that he could no longer defend himself. Cole approached Magmus to make sure that the dragon was alright. After inspecting the dragon for a minute he knew that Magmus was still alive.
"Magmus has passed out, and as a result your winner is Greg." Cole said, announcing to the audience.
The crowd cheered for both competitors in the battle, chanting both their names. Greg smiled upon knowing that the fight was over. He felt guilty for causing Magmus so much pain, and now that it was over Magmus would have his wounds treated. Now that he had gotten through the match he would meet Sypher in the next round. Thanks to Magmus he could go into the next round without the lust for revenge. Instead his goal was to stop the light blue dragon from causing pain to others. Greg flew back towards his seat where he was congratulated by his friends.
"Good job out there Greg." Alyssa said, hugging the earth dragon.
"Yea, you did what you had to do." Blaze added.
"I know it must've been tough taking on one of your friends, but there was no way around it." Spyro said.
"Yea, I know." Greg said, looking at his group of friends. "But at least I was able to learn something from it. I will not bring myself down to their level." He said, looking over towards Sypher.