Hello, my little dragonlets! Alright, guys, I can't put it off any longer - who's ready for a boss fight up in this house? Then what are you standing around, reading author's notes for! Go, get reading! On with the show!

You found a disclaimer!
Spyro the Dragon, both the game and all related characters (c) Insomniac. They own the Spyro that's in this story, so nyeh.
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage / Gateway to Glimmer, as well as all related characters (c) blah-blah, same copyright.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Clash with Crush

Finally, the moment had arrived. The talismans blew through Ripto's sealing magic, throwing open all of the doors and revealing the dark path to the Summer Arena.

"You sure you're ready for this, Spyro?" Elora asked, nerves clearly present in her voice.

Spyro, however, was ramped up. "Of course! This is the whole reason you guys brought me here, right?"

"Right. ...Uhm...I-I know it's probably a dumb question, but...anything I can do to help you down there?"

"I don't want you coming after me," Spyro was quick to reply. "It's just too dangerous." He pondered for a second, recalling the herd of sheep that lived near the Aquaria portal. "...Could you go chase down some sheep and throw them down for me?"

"Sheep? Why?"

"Just trust me. It might come in handy."

"Alright, I'll do what I can." Elora gave Spyro a nervous wave. "Good luck."

Spyro returned the gesture with a Peacekeeper salute. "Thanks, but I won't need it."

oo00oo00oo

Spyro flapped his wings as he approached the bottom of his descent, finding himself in a well-lit arena. As he somewhat-expected, Ripto and his cronies were waiting for him. The tiny sorcerer was up above the battleground, while his blue lumbering muscle Crush was down below, swinging about his weighty club.

"Hope I'm not late to the party!" Spyro shouted up to his true target, the little orange dino.

Ripto gave a smarmy laugh. "Oh, no, dragon, you're just in time! We've been expecting you!" He waved a hand, still scepter-less thanks to Gulp's handiwork. "Alright, Crush! Lunchtime!"

Hearing the command, Crush finally came to life, storming after the tiny dragonlet with his club in the air. However, while Crush was several times Spyro's size, Spyro was several times faster. The Artisan easily ran circles around Ripto's clunky muscle, giving Crush a swift torch in the tail before he even realized what was going on.

Crush was unaffected, which caused Spyro to retreat (...after a tug from Sparx) and rethink his strategy. More irritated than afflicted by the tiny torch, Crush gave a massive growl, smashing down on the ground as if to seem more threatening.

This plan backfired quite spectacularly when a piece of the ceiling fell, crashing straight onto Crush's head. Spyro stumbled, fighting to stay on his feet while laughing at the hilarious failure. "Hey, Ripto! Next time, invest in toys that don't break themselves, okay?"

"CRUSH!" With a snarl, Ripto used his magic to discard the rocks, causing the spots on the floor to illuminate as a dizzied Crush got up to his feet. "What are you DOING? DESTROY THAT DRAGON!"

Noticing the flicker of lights on the floor, Crush instead moved to one of the blinking spots. He jumped up and down on the magical light, sending bright blue shockwaves throughout the arena.

Now Spyro had suffered through more than his fair share of electric shocks during his time in Summer Forest, so one could imagine a reasonable amount of panic on his part. However, Crush's shockwaves were low to the ground, so Spyro gave an exaggerated yawn as he simply hopped over them. "Come on, Ripto, is that the best you've got? I was expecting a fight, now I'm just bored!"

The hot-headed sorcerer waved his arms again, turning the dots from blue to red. "I'll show you a fight, you smart-mouthed dragon!"

With a dull laugh, Crush pounded down on the glowing red spots on the floor, sending out red-hot fireballs that fired straight for the young dragon. If Spyro were a bit older and a bit taller, dodging the deadly projectiles would've been nearly impossible. However, with youth came agility (though all those hours on the speedways probably helped), so Spyro could easily tumble out of the way. "Really, Ripto? Fighting a fire-dragon with fire? Get creative, would ya?"

Ripto let out a frustrated yell. "CRUSH! JUST CHASE HIM DOWN AND SMASH HIM! GRIND THAT DRAGON'S BONES INTO DRAGON DUST!"

Forced to obey his master, Crush attempted to chase down the dragon again. Deciding to have fun, Spyro turned around, still managing to outrun the clunky Crush even while running backwards. "Come on, Crush! What, do I have to hold still for you or something?" After a bit of a run, the Artisan slid to a stop. "Come on, take a shot!"

Crush wound up his swing and smashed the floor. Not realizing that Spyro had lured him into the spot he smashed the first time. The deft dragon easily ducked out of the way, leaving the ceiling to crack and crumble further. A few more large rocks fell from the elaborate ceilings, nearly burying the behemoth after knocking him unconscious.

Spyro gave a yawn, approaching Ripto's platform. "Well, that was a fun warm-up. You ready to come down here and get your butt kicked yet?"

Ripto gave a growl. "CRUSH! Ugh! You may have been able to defeat that simpleton, but Gulp will be MORE than a match for you, dragon!"

The Artisan laughed. If Crush were any gauge, Gulp was probably not much smarter. "Bring it on, shorty!"

Ripto fumed, shaking with pure anger and snorting like a wild dinosaur. "GULP! Get out here! NOW!" The door behind Ripto slid open, and Gulp's footsteps shook the arena as he approached. "DESTROY that dragon! And make sure it's PAINFUL!"

Thunk! The dungeon door snagged, though that didn't stop Gulp from trying to force his way through. The green giant's bulk jamming against the faulty door dislodged a few more rocks from the ceiling, shaking the entire arena in a way that panicked dragon and dino alike. "Augh! Now the roof's caving in?!"

Ripto shoved Gulp back through the door, but not before sliding through himself. "Gulp, let's get out of here!" Before they fled, though, the dino turned back to face his dragon foe. "I'll deal with you later, dragon."

Once Gulp fell away from the door, the quakes stopped...though that didn't make Spyro any more comfortable, looking at how little was left to hold the roof up. "Man, what a wuss," he said with a laugh and a shake of his head. "Come on, Sparx, let's get-"

The dragon paused when he saw his dragonfly over by the pile of debris that crushed Crush. "Sparx?"

"Spyro, come here." The Artisan approached his fallen foe, joining his dragonfly-brother. "You notice anything...familiar about Crush here?"

Spyro gave Crush a closer look. Up until now, he had only exchanged passing glances with Ripto and friends, so he had never stopped to take in any details. Crush was an even bigger brute up close, covered head to toe in beaten blue scales. He also had mighty black claws, which contrasted against the spiraled gold horns on his head...and the tiny, broken wings on his back...and his misplaced fang...and his broken stump of a tail...

Upon closer examination of Crush's giveaway traits, Spyro understood the point his partner wanted to make. Still...could it be true? "No way, Sparx. He works for Ripto."

"So?"

Hard to argue that logic. Spyro swallowed as a pit dropped into his stomach. "Yeah, but do you really think Crush is a...?"

He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

Dragon?

oo00oo00oo

"Goodness me, I'm glad that's over! Ugh, Ripto's caused MORE than enough damage!"

Moneybags took a long, exhausted sigh. Now that Ripto was gone and the Avalari flags flew over Summer Castle once more, the bear could return to his beloved home, the Autumn Manor. After spending so long chasing Spyro throughout the hot and humid forest, it was a delight to return to the crisp and clean air of the Autumn Plains.

But of course, he couldn't return without repairing all of the damage Ripto had done to the Summer Castle. The entire arena was nearly destroyed! (Likely no thanks to that meddling dragon...) "Ugh, all of Ripto's handiwork is costing me a fortune! And to think, all of that time, and I still haven't managed to wrestle that dragon treasure from Spyro!"

The bear stretched, taking a few playful swipes at the air to relieve his frustration. "Ooh! If that Ripto were here, I'd give him a piece of my mind! In fact, I'd give him a lot more than that! I was a championship bantamweight boxer at university, after all! I'm sure I remember some old moves..."

Moneybags' faux fight sent him spinning, where he came face to face with an orange sorcerer on the back of a large, green dinosaur. "Boo," Ripto laughed quietly.

The bear gave only the manliest of shrieks, and in his panic to back away, tumbled off of the balcony. "Why, you...YOU! OOF! Ow..."

Ripto couldn't help but laugh. (Especially after that bear tried to charge him for the pipes he used to drain the water from Aquaria into his park at Sunny Beach.) Taking over Avalar was like taking candy from a riptoclet!

World 1 complete! Whoo! Thanks for reading, guys! Join us next time, here on Legacy, as Spyro prepares to take on the Autumn Forest!

§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §