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Spyro the Dragon, both the game and all related characters (c) Insomniac. They own the Spyro that's in this story, so nyeh.
Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon, as well as all related characters (c) blah-blah, same copyright.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Whip Up a Monster
"Listen carefully, you STUPID girl! I'm only going to ask you ONE MORE TIME. Why haven't you disposed of that infernal dragon?!"
Bianca stepped back nervously, eyes to the ground. Once the Sorceress got wind that a dragon snuck through the tunnels, all of Midnight Mountain shook with her fury. And her rage only continued to grow as reports came in of rhynocs being cleared out of Sunrise Springs and dragon eggs continuing to go missing from their hiding spots.
Of course, this was completely Bianca's fault.
"L-Look, I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Bianca apologized shyly. "I-I've tried to scare him off, but...the dragon's just not afraid of anything!"
"Not afraid?!" The Sorceress banged her staff against the marble floor. "Why have I been training you all these years, you useless rabbit?! USE. YOUR. MAGIC!"
Suddenly feeling a bit faint, the old royal calmed down, putting a scaly paw to her head. She was in no condition to be throwing such fits. (Ugh, just think of the disgusting wrinkles it would put on her brow.) Deciding to give her apprentice one last chance, the Sorceress went to her shelves, then pulled out one of her many spellbooks. "Here, take this," she instructed, throwing the book to Bianca. "Whip up a monster, and eliminate the dragon."
Bianca's eyes lit up. The Sorceress had every magical tome in the Forgotten Realms. It was her personal library, the reason she was the most magical being in all the worlds. They were some of the most prized valuables anywhere, and finally, she had her hands on one of them. She flipped through the pages, almost in awe of the book's grandeur, admiring the impressive script of the old draconic tongue that she spent her whole life studying...
Then she heard the Sorceress' orders. Eliminate the dragon. "Wait, you...y-you want me to, uh..." She gave a nervous gulp. "Kill him?"
The Sorceress gave another frustrated sigh. Being the most studious witch in Midnight Mountain didn't make Bianca the brightest apprentice she could've wished for. "I don't care WHAT you do, you useless brat! Just get rid of him!"
The young rabbit sighed with a slight shake, looking through the spellbook once more. She didn't LIKE the dragon in any sense of the word, but...could she really bring herself to kill him?
Well, whether she could or not, she'd have to give it a try. "Alright, this ought to do the trick."
Bianca peeked down the hall, finding a few rhynocs preparing the penguin cage before shipping it to Midday Gardens. She snapped to get their attention, then pointed out the gardener in the front. "You! Come here."
She dragged the clueless rhynoc back into the throne room, then quietly muttered the incantations before throwing a transfiguration spell at her hapless victim.
SCHING! The Sorceress hung her head as the rhynoc turned into a tiny bunny. "Enunciate your F's, Bianca," she instructed. "And you have to be more aggressive with your gestures. Gemcrafting is high-leveled magic."
"Sorry!" Making sure to correct her mistakes, Bianca repeated the spell. This time, the bunny went up in a huge flash of light, transforming into a wicked, slimy beast. It gave a hungry growl, bouncing as if ready to get into a fight that very moment...
The Sorceress still didn't look impressed. It took Bianca a few looks to notice the bunny ears on its head. "Whoops."
oo00oo00oo
Having added a beautiful hot-air balloon to their team, Hunter, Sheila, and Spyro made the long flight towards the next of the Forgotten Worlds, the Midday Gardens. The seals had said that more rhynocs were pouring into the area, trying to protect a shipment of eggs and other "top-secret cargo", so it seemed the best place to head for some world-saving.
"Huntah, you sure we goin' the right way?"
...At least, that was their goal.
"You said to fly due east, right?" Hunter echoed. "That's where the wind was blowing when we left."
"You don' think the wind started blowin' some other way af'er we left?" Sheila asked, nervously watching the skies darken around them.
"Uhm...why?"
Spyro shushed his co-pilots, gently unfurling his wings to feel the wind under them. It had picked up a few minutes ago, just as the skies began to darken and the air began to heat up. Plenty familiar with wind magic, Spyro could identify the change immediately. "Sheila's right, Hunter," the dragon deduced. "Someone enchanted the current."
"Which means the Sorceress is tryin' ta blow us off-cours-AAH!"
Sheila's accusation, although correct, was quickly interrupted when the wind shifted drastically, a heavy draft of hot air smothering the mechanics of their balloon, sending it crashing down just past the rocky grounds outside of Midnight Mountain, to where a lava-pit lie in waiting for them.
The balloon crash-landed on the edge of an arena - a trap any of them could've seen coming from a mile away - where a large, green beast was waiting for them. It slobbered with a hungry chuckle, scraping its meaty paws against the arena floor in preparation for battle. Its razor-sharp frill glinted in the light of the lava, and its malformed fingers tensed against the hot, smoky air.
"Sahprise, sahprise," Sheila tsked. "An ambush."
"Hunter, Sheila, you two get to the balloon and get it fixed as soon as possible," Spyro commanded, stepping forward to meet the Sorceress' trap. The longer they were balloonless, the longer the flightless heroes were trapped. "I'll hold off the drooling buzz-saw here."
Hunter, easily the most mechanically-minded of the three, jumped straight to his assigned role. (It had been quite some time since their initial scrap in Avalar; the cheetah was much more accepting of Spyro's leadership now.) Sheila, on the other hand, bounded out and slid in front of Spyro. " 'old on jus' a second, Spahro! You ain' fightin' Mr. Big, Green, 'n Scary by yerself!"
"Sheila, this really isn't the time-"
"I know, so get ta schemin'!" she countered, bouncing off in an attempt to distract the monster's attention.
As much as Spyro hated other people being reckless and endangering themselves (come on, that was his job!), now wasn't the time to argue with the feisty kangaroo. Instead, the Artisan turned to the green monstrosity, who paid no mind to Sheila. His eyes were focused right on the dragon as he charged forward, nearly shaking the heavy stone arena with his blubbery footfalls.
Spyro rushed forward to meet him, burying his horns deep into the monster's rubbery flesh when they made contact. The monster tumbled backwards, more thrown back by the dragon's momentum than the attack itself. After taking a second to recompose, it charged again. The pattern continued, two beasts of the Realms in a locked combat, continually nudging the other closer and closer to the ring like a high-stakes game of Dragonsumo...
SPLASH! Finally, Spyro won the match, sending the slobbering beast flying into the lava. It struggled for a moment, not quite feeling the pain through his layers of slime and blubber, but still quite stuck in the lava's dense form. They would need something more, some way to hurt the creature somewhere sensitive enough to attack.
"Look out, Spahro!" Sheila saw her opportunity and jumped in. She leapt off of the arena's edge, landing squarely on the creature's head (being careful not to slice her feet on its frill). With a light bounce, she hopped high into the air, doing a backflip and smashing the monster's face into the lava.
The Sorceress' trap let out a mighty cry as it threw back its head, giving Sheila the leverage to return to the arena. After a flail of pain and burning agony, the monster freed itself from its magma prison, rolling back onto the safety of the arena. With a mighty growl, it curled up into the tightest ball it could manage, letting off a flurry of sparks as it began to spin like a wild saw-blade.
Spyro and Sheila only had a few seconds to react before Buzz took off, staying as close to the outside as they could as the spinning creature chased them around the arena, barely managing to stay a few steps ahead. The dragon slid to a stop when the ear-shattering buzzing stopped, finding that the monster had given up on its trick. However, the heat of the friction gave it a new weapon to abuse: a circle of flame. Noticing its new attack, the creature gave a hearty laugh, then reared back and spat. The flames dispersed into a fan of fire, heading straight in Spyro's direction.
The young hero kicked into the air, gliding down towards Buzz and easily avoiding the flames. "Nice trick, Slimy! I can do that one, too!" Spyro clumsily landed on Buzz's front, just long enough to blast the monster in the face with his own breath of flame. The creature cried out, flailing its useless arms in pain. With the enemy disoriented, Spyro gave it another smash with his horns, sending it tumbling back into the lava.
While it was stunned and unable to squirm, Sheila circled around and jumped over to it again. With a second mighty smash, she buried the monster deep within its lava dwelling. The magma became too much to overcome, and as the kangaroo safely returned to the arena, Buzz slowly sank into a fiery grave.
"That was a little too close fer comfert," Sheila sighed, fanning herself. "But that big lug wasn' so tough."
"I'll say; that was some fancy footwork on your part, Sheila."
"Comin' from someone fast as you, I reckon that's worth somethin'."
"Hey, you guys done playing tag with the Sorceress' goon yet?" Hunter called from the uprighted balloon. The wind also changed pace once the trio was reloaded for take-off, now pointing towards Midday Gardens once more. "Come on, we got some Gardens to save!"
I probably like Buzz's Dungeon more than I should. That fight's so fun compared to the agonizing slug-fests that come up later in the game. x.O Anyway, make sure to tune in next week, and as always, while you're waiting, make sure to check out my profile, my other stories, (oh, and please come vote on my Legacy poll!), and maybe pitch into my multiverse collaboration. :D Thanks for reading, guys, hope you enjoyed!
§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §