If you don't follow my Dragon ball story...the reason for the delays later are because of my stupidity. Twenty years of smoking has caught up, and two weeks ago...I had a stroke. I will be fine, but I lost vision in my right eye. It is taking a while to get used to this, and I am praying it is not permanent.
Please...I beg you all...don't smoke.
Back to the story which I wanted to keep a bit light-hearted in this chapter, but believe you me, this fight gets good very soon.
I wanna give a great big amount of love out to my beta, Not Marge, whom is dealing with issues herself...and still took the time to fix my faux pas.
Chapter 36 The Second Wave
Two sets of purple eyes stay focused on the view screen, showing more and more fear with every passing second. The planet of Raptoria, once a small dot upon the screen, now takes up the entire viewer, and yet, the Arwing IV continues to increase speed.
"Umm!" Spyro remarks, looking back at Commander McCloud, but saying nothing else, as the panicked fox is busy working the problem.
"ANYTIME NOW!" Fox barks into his intercom.
"I've tried closing the injectors, Captain..." Gnasty Gnorc replies with anger, watching the engine he has cared for over the past five years begin billowing black smoke uncontrollably, as the power output exceeds one hundred and forty percent. "...whatever those two idiots did has fused the damn things open!"
"SHUT THE ENGINES DOWN COMPLETELY!" McCloud barks into the intercom, allowing the engineering section to hear the seriousness in his voice.
Tibbers and Riven, literally trying to yank several lines from the power plant, answer back with the same seriousness in their voices.
"WHAT DO THINK WE'RE TRYING TO DO HERE, STUPID, ORDER A PIZZA? I MEAN, CAPTAIN!" is replied by the former pirate, putting a slight smirk on the fox's face, especially hearing their success come only a second later. A loud snap of electricity fizzes in his ears, and a yelp of pain comes from the speaker before the power completely shuts down.
"That had to hurt!" Fox remarks very sarcastically, just as the emergency lights kick on, and he looks up at Spyro and Sparx. "There's a lot more than two hundred and twenty volts coming from that thing!"
The Commander then looks over at his navigator, who has not stopped working his controls. However, seeing the frustration on his face, McCloud knows they are not out of the woods.
"Report!"
"We have a bit of a problem, Captain!" the navigator replies, pushing buttons faster than McCloud has ever seen. "I cannot control the Arwing's trajectory, nor can I slow her down. And we are going to enter Raptoria's atmosphere any moment."
"Oh, that's all!" Sparx retorts, looking up at his father, then rolling his eyes. "A heck of rescue mission this is turning out to be."
Spyro chuckles, looking down at his boy, then turns his attention to the Captain.
"Yes, we appear to be in need of rescue ourselves, so this mission is successful already!"
"You two are not that funny!"
Fox stares at both dragons, who stand before the main viewer on the bridge, showing his rage at their sarcasm and jokes at such a crucial time. However, he is shocked to see how well both generals are acting around each other, as they normally would never be this sociable together. But, for once, they are acting more like father and son.
The ship suddenly lurches again, and Fox, who is still standing, loses his balance and falls forward on his face. Both Spyro and Sparx also struggle to keep their feet, but it is a bit easier on four paws. They quickly stop their friend from smashing into the view screen, as he slides forward with the increasing force of the slowing ship.
"REPORT!" McCloud barks, holding his bloody nose after breaking it on the steel floor.
The navigator, who still works his controls while under the strain of this hard stop, answers the only way he can.
"I haven't the foggiest clue!"
"Captain!" Gnasty's voice returns over the intercom, just as the power returns to the entire ship. "...I don't know what these two are doing to my engine, but the reverse jets just came on full power."
"And they're not going to last..." another voice is heard barking in the background, then suddenly the engine shuts down again, allowing everyone to hear Riven a bit better as he finishes his thought. "...and then we will be dead in the water for a minute or so before we can try restarting it."
Several alarms begin blaring, and quickly the navigator lets this reason be known to the captain.
"Well that's a huge issue," he remarks out loud, allowing both Riven and McCloud hear some troubling news.
"We are already in the atmosphere, Captain, and gravity has taken it's grasp of the ship..." The navigator taps a few more buttons, then answers the question Fox has on his mind. "...We are currently at one hundred and six thousand feet. I estimate two point four minutes until we impact the surface."
"Well, at least we're over an ocean!" Sparx remarks sarcastically, seeing the giant blue body of water on the viewer, and McCloud snaps his head back to the young dragon, showing a look of disgust in his eyes.
"We'll be moving well over five hundred knots when the Arwing hits the water, you nut job, it would be like impacting on concrete."
Spyro smiles this time, and opens his gold wings wide.
"Well, then that really sucks to be you!"
McCloud smirks himself, as these two dragons are sounding more like father and son then he's ever witnessed before, and he shakes his head.
"If I survive the day, I am gonna break both of your asses for this," The Captain of the Arwing IV remarks with his own sarcastic tone, knowing the two dragons before him will do what they can to keep the ship from hitting the ground with people inside.
Suddenly, a loud bang comes from the Engine Room, followed by a few smoke induced coughs across the intercom.
"Captain McCloud..." Several more coughs halt Riven's voice, before the sarcastic tone of this bear can be heard clearly. "...I got good news, and bad news!"
Fox, who is not in the mood for sarcasm, fearing the safety of his crew, replies with hostility, but asks for the new that most concerns him.
"WHAT'S THE BAD NEWS?!"
"The Arwing's unmaintained engine has ceased, and there is not a chance in hell of getting it started in two point four hours, let alone two minutes and..." a short pause is made as Riven looks at his watch. "...three seconds."
Fox stares at Spyro and Sparx, who already begin devising a plan of action, and rolls his eyes with anger.
"I take it back...I'm gonna kill those two morons if we live..." he remarks silently to the two purple drakes, then returns to his louder voice, asking the inevitable second question.
"...AND THE GOOD NEWS?!"
A momentary pause is made, as Riven looks down at his watch again and finally replies with,
"We got one-fifty-five to get the hell off this P O S before it pancakes on the surface, so we should be fine if we abandon now!"
The anger that fills McCloud's eyes, the shit-eating tone in Riven's voice, and the pure sarcastic value of what was said, force both purple dragon's to lose it in the fox's face.
"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"
"In all fairness McCloud...you did incinerate his ship..." Sparx begins saying, and Spyro stops laughing to finish his son's thought.
"While he was still standing on it no less!"
"HEY...DAMN IT!" Riven retorts, still hearing the conversation on the bridge. "I DIDN'T DO THIS ON PURPOSE!"
Meanwhile, about eighty five thousand feet below, and moving around five hundred knots themselves, Black Claw and his guests are homing in on the armada of Raptorian ships.
"We will be in range within ten seconds, Sir," Damian remarks, targeting the lead vessel with a full spread of the pirate ship's weapons.
"Very good, Damian," Black Claw replies, then looks upon the blue dragoness who still stands by his side on the bridge.
"Your Majesty...would you care to give the order to fire?"
A slight smirk fills Danielle's face, and she gently turns her head towards the black pawed Kodiak captain. She would love nothing more than to call this shot. However, as a small paw is felt upon her side, Danielle decides, at this very moment, her fighting days are done. She then looks down at her daughter, who shows a very confident smile, as Mya already seems to know what her mom is going to say.
"No thank you, Captain..." The former Queen replies, lifting her daughter up in her arms, holding Mya tightly as they watch the end of this war from the sideline. "...I have what I need, and I no longer have an interest in revenge, my friend."
"Very well, Your Majesty," he replies, then returns his attention to the brother of Lord Cypher. "Damian...Fire!"
"NO!" Danielle calls out emphatically, keeping the large brown haired bear's paw from the flashing red button, and getting his attention to her. "Don't do it, Captain! There is no need to wipe them out..."
Black Claw is stunned to hear her words, and cannot understand why she would not want to repay this race ten fold. Danielle had time to talk about the Great Purge with the Captain, and the rage in her broken voice was enough to let him know her passion for revenge.
However, as she gently holds her daughter, the peace she needed is felt by the Captain and his crew members.
"...we have what we came for, and will be long gone before that group of bastards arrives," she continues, lowering her head in the truth of what she has learned in the last week. "This was never our home, and we do not belong here, Captain, so lets get our friends and get off this miserable rock."
"Ma'am?"
The questioning tone in his voice draws an angered response from her lavender blue eyes, which suddenly flash white, then back to solid purple.
"I said we leave them be, SO DO IT!"
Black Claw suddenly shows his own rage, and quickly replies with a raised voice as well.
"YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF MY SHIP...YOUR MAJESTY!" he barks, returning his eyes to the viewer. "They will be a threat to our mission if we have any delays, and we cannot chance them reaching the beach before we leave."
Danielle stares at him with anger, but again her daughter's paw is felt upon her chest, and mom calms down. She says nothing, conceding by only lowering her head and nodding, then kisses her daughter gently.
Black Claw places his own paw upon the thin blue and white dragoness' side, drawing her left eye to see his sympathetic look.
"I'm sorry Danielle...but I don't want anything to interfere with the most important mission I have ever taken part in."
She smiles through the pain in her heart, hearing the genuine tone in the captain's voice. Danielle does not want anyone else to die, but yet her family and friends are very important to her, and the reasoning of the Kodiak captain gives some comfort.
However, before the order to fire can come from Black Claw's mouth, an alarm begins blaring.
"What the Fu..." Damian holds his tongue, remembering a woman and her child stand behind him, but yet his bewilderment is still strong in his next sentence.
"...Captain, you better take a look at this!"
Damian changes the tactical display, showing the Arwing IV that is now a few thousand feet above, and falling recklessly fast.
"OH SHIT! They have no power, Sir!" He barks out, not caring about who hears his potty mouth now, as the sensors show the predicament within the large cruiser that's falling directly upon them.
"ALL BACK FULL!" The captain orders just as Cynder and Malefor enter the room.
"Where is Spyro?" She barks out, feeling his Spirit getting closer and closer, and sensing the mounting tension in his pulse.
Black Claw points at the screen, then straight up towards a small window directly above his chair.
"That's not good, Captain!" The black and red dragoness remarks emphatically, feeling the emotionally stimulating situation now unfolding for her son and husband. "They have no control of that descent!"
"Tell me something I didn't know, Cynder..." Black Claw barks back, feeling his ship begin jostling hard to retreat. "...I'm trying not to let that damn thing fall on us right now, so if you don't mind!"
Black Claw takes a fast reading from his tactical, then with a visual through the small window above, calls out another order.
"PORT ENGINES TO FULL! DIVERT ALL REMAINING POWER TO THE DORSAL SHIELDS!" The captain then pushes a few buttons on his control panel continuing his orders, alerting everyone to the peril they have suddenly found themselves.
"ALL STATIONS PREPARE FOR IMPACT AND EMERGENCY WATER PROTOCOLS"
Seeing the size of the Arwing IV in the tiny window, and noticing the lumbering Pirate ship is not moving fast enough to clear it, a thought confirmed by the captain's panicked voice, Danielle becomes very concerned.
I have to do something, she says, holding her daughter tightly, and knowing an embrace will not be good enough.
"NO!" she barks out with heavy emotion. "I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!"
No one hears her yell, except Mya, who still resides in a strong embrace near her mom's heart. And as a purple dragon like her mother, and also having the ability to move faster than can be seen, Mya remains within Danielle's hold of Dragon Time.
"Where the hell did she go?" Black Claw remarks, but Cynder digs her talons into the steel floor, knowing what is going to happen. She has seen her husband and sons disappear with time's hold, and along with Danielle and Mya, Malefor is also no longer by her side.
She then braces for the inevitable.
"HOLD ON!" the black dragoness barks just as the ship lurches violently to the port. Everyone hits the ground, including Cynder, who couldn't hold her feet as the ship buffets with extreme force.
Only a second earlier, Danielle opens her eyes and looks up at the inevitable death of herself and her child, however, for some reason, the Arwing IV is no longer falling.
Her shock brings her eyes down to Cynder, whom is also frozen in position.
"What the hell's going on?" Danielle remarks, having felt this sensation during her life once or twice before, but not fully understanding what had happened then either.
"We're moving really fast, Mom!"
Mya's voice startles the already shaken dragoness and she quickly releases her daughter, backing away with a brief moment of fear.
"Wh...What are you talking about?"
"It's called Dragon Time..." she says, then looks over at Malefor, who suddenly begins moving as fast as the mother and daughter pair.
"...and my boyfriend told me that all purple dragons can use it," she continues, just as he realizes they are using the same technique.
"Oh good!" Malefor yelps with a hope in his voice, looking up at the small window and seeing a rather big problem, one he was going to need some time to think about. He knows he can't do much, as his power to hold time is limited, but seeing two others, he quickly feels their situation is less grave.
Mya looks up at the large ship, now only about two thousand feet from impacting the roof directly above them. A rather wry smirk crosses her face as she asks the young Skylander what his plan is.
"So...Sweetie..." her voice is very soft and seductive sounding. "...how is my hero going to save me this time?"
Malefor blushes heavily, then looks up at the window again.
"I don't know!" He retorts then pauses looking at the massive cruiser that will defiantly impact the ship they are standing on. "I can't stop that thing from falling, nor can I push this one from its path before losing my hold on time."
"Well, the three of us can do it now!" Mya returns enthusiastically, and Malefor's eyes pop open wide.
"We need to get outside!" the young son of Spyro replies with his own enthusiasm, and quickly he runs to the door.
"Oh crap!" Malefor remarks, just as his nose smashes into the solid steel, as he is moving too fast for the mechanism in the door to work. He looks back at Mya, whom cannot contain the laughter that squeaks out the side of her muzzle, and his face turns even more purple.
"I hate when I do that!" he says with a nasally voice, and then an uncontrolled sneeze. Malefor snorts some icy mist from his nose, cooling the pain of his idiocy. Trying to salvage what little respect he can, the young dragon uses extreme prejudice in opening the door that he ran into.
Meanwhile, above the doomed pirate ship, and getting closer to it's own peril, the Arwing IV continues plummeting to the ocean below. However, aboard the condemned vessel, no one is showing signs of panic. They know they will not die, as the two purple and gold dragons have devised a plot to rescue them all in plenty of time.
"I swear I didn't mean to destroy your ship, Captain McCloud..." remarks a very humbled Riven, whom explained what he did to produce such power in detail. "...that shouldn't have happened!"
Riven's eyes focus to the crew, whom have all gathered in the cargo bay as instructed by Spyro and Sparx, and he shows them a look of sincere regret. His voice, somber and broken, shows how fearful he is of what he and his friend have done.
"...we truly wanted a chance to be a part of this crew, Captain, and I hope you understand that."
Suddenly, and with a wicked crackle of lightning and thunder proceeding, another dozen of Fox's crew members disappear. This leaves only a handful remaining aboard the doomed cruiser, along with her captain and the two pirates.
"The engines were not ready for the kind of power boost you two tried to pull off..." the leader of this mission returns without any real anger in his voice, knowing the only thing that will be lost in this accident is just a five year old ship.
"...and I am not upset at what you guys tried to do...in fact, I'm kinda happy about this, cause now I can get the Skylanders to build me the Arwing V."
Suddenly both Riven and Tibbers, along with McCloud and the remainder of his crew, disappear from the Arwing IV, reappearing the blink of an eye later upon a life raft nearly a mile from the impact area. Though startled for a moment, the three remain in conversation, as if they didn't just move to safety in a tenth of a second.
"Good luck getting Gaven to OK that!" Spyro remarks, suddenly emerging from his hold of time, as he and his son, with the help of the other two dragons aboard, have removed everyone from the doomed cruiser.
Volteer and Monsoon, who were pulled into this time frame with a Master's touch, also emerge from super speed. However, his Skylander son, whom Spyro was waiting to make a snide comment himself, does not reappear at all.
"SPARX!?" he cries out with the voice of a concerned father, looking back at the Arwing, now only a few hundred feet from impacting the water hard. He notices his son's pulse is coming from that direction, and is worried he forgot someone. But that is when he also notices the ship that was carrying his wife and youngest son is directly under the Arwing IV as well.
"STOP!"
Spyro's body, already stressed from holding time for he and two others over a near ten minute period, disappears again. However, the purple dragon quickly reappears as his boys are already on the job of saving their mother.
"Nevermind! They got thi..." he begins to say, then pauses watching the pirate ship being moved to fast.
"EASY!"
At this exact moment, Sparx, who is now directly over his brother and also in his time frame, begins yelling the same thing.
"STUPID..." He barks, quickly flying down to tackle his brother from the ship. He then gives Danielle and Mya a very stern look, but understands they know very little of the technique only a purple dragon can perform.
He points at the sky with a very sarcastic look, forcing both females to stare up at the Airwing IV and notice it is still a few minutes from smashing into them
"Please...don't move it that fast, we have time..." He then looks down at his brother, whom is rubbing the spot on his head he just clocked. Big Brother's voice becomes a little more hostile, making Malefor realize the error in his way. "They, however, are not moving as fast as we are, and are all rolling upon the ground by now!"
The young dragon shows great embarrassment, recalling now that one hard push from all three dragons could easily splatter everyone against the walls of the ship.
"I'm sorry, General..."
Sparx put his paw up in front of his brother's nose, stopping his apology.
"I'm telling Commander Cynder you did that," the older brother remarks, moving his paw over to Black Claw's ship, gently moving the small spacecraft with a softer paw.
He then looks up at the falling cruiser with no concern.
"Damn shame about the Arwing IV...that was a nice little ship..." he remarks and quickly Danielle, who cannot see the eyes of this dragon, as his helmet blocks his profile, asks the question that is foremost on her mind.
"Who, in the name of the ancestors, are you!?"
Sparx just smiles at the thin blue dragoness, as her voice is filled more with shock than anger. However, his smile remains as she notices the purple irises that are very familiar to her from his brother. He remains silent, and listens as her question is answered with a very honorable tone.
"He is Sparx, Son of Spyro and Cynder, General of the Skylanders Avalarian Guard, and my big brother."
Danielle's smiles as well, seeing the other son of Cynder finally, and with a slight nod of her head, places her paws softly upon the hull of the pirate ship.
"I suppose I will soon be meeting your father as well?" she asks, and Sparx chuckles before shaking his head no.
His purple eyes focus hard to the sea, and his dad, whom sits in the rescue raft about a mile away, waiting.
"Not until the heavy lifting is over!" Sparx replies very sarcastically, shocking his brother as he pokes fun at his father. "In fact...he will probably wait until we move the ship, rescue the refugees, and fly home before he lifts his wings now...especially with both of his sons to do the work."
Malefor cannot contain his joy and quickly notices his brother's aura is just as bright as his own.
"Wow Sparx...I mean, General Sparx, you and General Spyro really seamed to have sorted a few things out since I left."
The older brother can see the joy in his little brother's eyes, but also the pain of keeping rank, as Malefor looks as if he wants to burst. However, being the Skylander he is, Sparx simply nods head.
"Thank you, Private..." he replies, patting his smaller sibling upon the head with one paw, and easing the Dark Claw further from the Arwing IV's path to the ocean. However, the inevitable sarcasm pours from Sparx's mouth as he continues his sibling batter.
"...and it appears you have met your girlfriend's mother already, so when should I expect the wedding invitations?"
Rank or not, Malefor's tail is quickly across his brother's chest.
So, Spyro and his family are back together, and its time to wrap this up...Yes folks, only a chapter or two to go. I hope you will enjoy, and please...don't smoke!