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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-FOUR: Trouble on the SS Seashell
"Come on, it's over this way!"
After meeting Sebastian at the portal to Seashell Shore, the young seal recruit was quick to escort Spyro through the Seashell Reef, bringing him into the underwater labyrinth that was the seal hideaway. Which, as the Artisan noticed, was overrun by sailors and scubanocs.
Sebastian led him to a small bone cage, where the rest of the seal recruits were trapped. Sheila gave strict instructions to find the seals as soon as possible, as they were some of the best and brightest rhynoc resistance in all of Sunrise Spring. However, it seemed that the rhynocs had finally struck back.
Spyro shot a look to Sebastian. "They stole a rhynoc submarine," he explained. "We're trying to develop our sub technology, so we took one of theirs to get a look. Unfortunately, they wrecked it into our hideaway. The rhynocs weren't too happy about that."
The Artisan swam over to the door, inspecting it with his claws. "No good, Spyro, I've tried to blow these doors down every way I know how," Sebastian tsked. "We need our big ammo for taking out the rhynoc stronghold up on dry land, so we don't have any to spare for this. The only way ta get 'em out is to beat back the rhynocs and see if we can find the key. Or at least another submarine to wreck!"
oo00oo00oo
Sebastian and Spyro made their way through the rhynoc-infested Shore, fighting back sailors with metal barrels of gunpowder and ramming down every scubanoc that tried to stand in their way. Finally, they made their way into the back of the aquatic labyrinth (as much as Spyro was hoping that they could finish the fight on dry land), where they found the rhynoc hideaway and a guard octopus keeping watch.
...Keeping watch while spinning one of the seals around by his head.
The Artisan hero rushed into the fray, bashing the octopus straight in the head and scaring it off after it surrendered the young seal. "Ha, it worked!" Stanley cheered. "All according to plan!"
Spyro gave the young seal a confused look. Stanley snickered, pulling out a ring of seashell-embroidered keys. "I got the octopus to drop the keys to the cell while he was shaking me." The seal waved for Spyro to follow, then swam through the small tunnel system connecting the two hideaways, using the ring of stolen keys to open the door and free the captive seals.
Spyro also noticed a dragon egg in the tunnel and swam to retrieve it. "Oh, yeah, I stole that out of a rhynoc's lunchbox," Stanley explained. "Why? You hungry for breakfast?"
Spyro shook his head, then clumsily tried to pantomime that they were dragon eggs. "Oh...so you...need those?" The Artisan nodded suspiciously, giving Stanley a demanding look.
"Well...Let's just say you need to go see Sandy..."
oo00oo00oo
Some breeds of dragons can breathe underwater just fine. However, being able to survive doesn't mean those dragons are fully aqua-capable. Dragons can't use their breath abilities underwater (unless they're water dragons, who can use their bubble breath just fine), and they can't speak.
Imagine Spyro's frustration as he kicked and screamed in the watery tunnels of the seal labs, only having a flurry of bubbles to show for it.
Sandy, the seal engineer, carefully peeked out from behind their machines when the raging dragon began to calm down. "H-Hey, Spyro, look at the bright side! T-The egg's not broken, right?"
Spyro gave a bubbly huff, then paddled over to the ultra-high-speed-super-fluidity tunnel. In hopes of perfecting their submarine designs, Sandy decided to experiment on the hydrodynamics of an egg, launching it through a high-speed water current loaded with sea-mines. Not realizing that the "pelican egg" they launched was actually a dragon egg.
The Artisan scratched at the door to the tunnel. "You wanna go in after it?" Sandy echoed. Spyro nodded. "You sure, Spyro? It could be kind of dangerous - t-this tunnel wasn't designed for living creatures to-"
The dragon gave a silent snarl, blowing Sandy over with a wave of bubbles. "Okay, okay, I'm opening it!" the seal jumped, rushing to the computer and throwing open the aqua-lock.
The doors rushed open, revealing a dark tunnel with rushing jet streams covering the walls. Spyro tried to be cautious, but the second his paw passed into their ultra-speed...fluid, eh, whatchamacallit tunnel, the dragon was rushed off into the darkness. The jets immediately filled his wings, pushing him forward at an uncontrollable pace.
Which almost spelt disaster as he turned a corner and found one of the aforementioned sea-mines. Spyro threw himself to the other wall, just barely sliding past the sea-mine's spines, and ducked his head down at the next straightaway. The only way to gain control was to rush straight for the end of the tunnel, so Spyro tucked back his wings and swam, trying to keep his head down and legs tight to stay as hydrodynamic as possible.
So Artisans were good at aquaphysics. Who knew?
Ducking and dodging the sea of mines, Spyro eventually slid into a dark area where the current gave way. He shook his head, not realizing how loud the rushing water jets were until he was on the other side of them, watching the wall of bubbles at the spot where the jets collided and fizzled out.
Looking around the area of calm, Spyro saw a glint of white in the corner. He rushed to its aid, immediately checking the precious treasure for any kind of damage. There was no way he was going back to the Dragon Realms with only 149 eggs. Luckily, the egg didn't have a scratch on it - fairy magic at its finest, of course. (Good thing dragon eggs were enchanted to be nearly-indestructible. This year's herd would need as much help as they could get.)
Spyro grabbed the egg and swam through the calmer waters until he returned to the testing lab, not bothering to address Sandy on his way out. Which allowed the engineer to start his plans for the new batch of egg-shaped submarines.
oo00oo00oo
While Spyro was rescuing seals and dragon eggs, Sheila had bigger fish to fry. Okay, so they weren't really fish, they were rhynocs, but you get the drift.
The kangaroo took a long breath of the beachy Shore air. "Man, there's nothin' I love more than the smell'a singed rhynoc in the mornin'!"
"Calm down, Sheila," Snappy laughed. "Don't worry, they'll get what's comin' to 'em! We just need a way to get inside that fortress with our bombs..."
"Need a way ta get inside?" Sheila echoed with a raised eyebrow. "C'mon, Snappy, jus' run up ta the doors 'n pitch 'em inside! What's the deal?"
"THOSE are the big deal," Snappy argued, pointing to the patrolling scubanocs and their army of cannon turrets. "With that kind of heavy fire, we'd never get inside! We need to find some way to take them out first!"
Sheila kicked up a little sand as she bounded out into the battlefield. "If 'at's all ya needed, Snappy, ya should'a jus' said somethin'!"
The kangaroo bounced up to one of the scubanocs, who happened to be patrolling extra-close to a cannon turret. "G'day, mate!" she introduced cheerily. "Fancy cannons ya got there!"
The scubanoc gave a smarmy smirk, giving the turret a tap with his shovel. "Yep, these bad boys are built to last. We had to make sure the whole castle was dragon-proof - Sorceress' orders."
"Dragon-proof, eh? Mind if I try ta knock it down?"
"Huh?" KA-POW! Sheila reared back and smashed the scubanoc, both feet first, sending it flying backwards into the sand-castle, where it crumbled the blocks protecting the turret. Once the cannon was exposed, Sheila hopped on top of it, flipping mid-air before crashing into it with her mighty weapons of mass kicking. In a hot explosion, the cannon exploded into smithereens.
"Dragon-proof, eh?" the kangaroo snickered, bouncing off towards the next turret. "Next time, spring the extra fer some kangaroo-proofin'!"
After Sheila did her rounds, the delta squad moved in. Snappy and his back-up seals ran inside the fortress, each armed with a ticking box of explosives. The seals scattered the bombs before running out of the building...
Except that Snappy noticed something hidden at the center of the base. Something white and shiny. With only a split-second to recognize the item and react, Snappy ran back for it, diving on top and holding it tight. There was no time to grab it and run. He would die, but at least the egg would-
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! The fortress filled with clouds of fire as the bombs went off, crumbling its sand walls and steel doors. Snappy could feel the scorching flames lick at his delicate skin, but while he felt the heat, he didn't feel the burn. The dragon egg beneath him pulsated with a comforting chill, like an ice cream on a hot day. Its magical energies rushed through Snappy's veins, keeping him cool and calm as the explosion shook the Shore.
Sheila and the rest of the delta squad rushed over to the debris as soon as the danger had passed. "Snappy, what were you THINKIN'?!" Sheila scolded. "Sittin' in a buildin' full'a live bombs, 'r you a rhynoc short'a the full paddock 'r what?!"
"Yeah, not one of my smarter moves," Snappy laughed nervously. Once back on his flippers, he pulled out the egg. "But, uh...I think Spyro's gonna be lookin' for this."
oo00oo00oo
With the rhynocs defeated, the seals rescued, the eggs found, the fortress downed, and the dreaded KP duty avoided, Spyro and Sheila could finally return to Sunrise Springs.
With all of the homeworlds saved from the rhynoc menace and thirty-three of the eggs recovered, it was time to work on their next big plan: building something that would get them to the next realm so they could get back to Sorceress stomping!
I love Sunny Shore. XD Hope I did it justice. Anyway, join us next week! Those of you playing along at home know there's excitement to be had on the Sunrise balloon ride. :) And as always, while you're waiting, make sure to check out my profile, my other stories, and maybe pitch into my multiverse collaboration. :D Thanks for reading, guys, hope you enjoyed!
§ Tucker's Mayflower, signing off! §