I got Spyro Reignited to reignite my Spyro experience. Back when I first played Spyro, I was going through a hard time mentally, not to mention the 2nd game wouldn't load a level, so it feels nice to revisit Spyro with a fresh new look. And honestly, I feel like Spyro is one of the weaker 3D platformer titles. It doesn't have the same juice that other platformers do.
Post-3: Girls' Day Out
Los Angeles Mall
The social atmosphere of the mall was a welcoming sight to the teenage operatives as they crossed the parking lot. "Ugh, look at that car hogging two spots." Haylee said with disgust. "What a dick."
"Hey, if Stickybeard gets away with what he does, no one has a right to complain." Melody remarked, the duo cutting between the parked cars along the parking lines. "Shit!" she cursed when her sarong got snagged on a license. "Dammit. No one's looking, are they?"
"Don't worry, I don't see anyone." Haylee assured, glancing around as Melody fixed the clothing. The blue-eyed bird had landed on a light pole, overlooking the girls. This seemed like an awkward time to approach them, so it decided to fly ahead.
"Say, did you hear about that Cooking Fest they're gonna hold on Aquaria?" Haylee asked.
"I think, but I'm surprised it wasn't cancelled after what just happened."
"Cooking Fest is way too important to cancel!" the Gilligan argued as they set foot on the mall's porch, walking between a line of stone pegs. "But you know Augustus? He's planning to take part in some kind of universe-wide food hunt and he wants me to join him."
"That sounds fun. Are you gonna take Sheila?" As Melody spoke, the bird went to fly onto a power line connecting to the building.
"Well, I was actually thinking-"
"ZZU-U-U-U-U-U-U-UH!" With a jump of their heart, they whipped up at the power line to see a figure being electrocuted. They fell off upside-down into a patch of bushes, and- "UUH!" crashed on their head, their legs hanging bent from over a bush.
"…" Melody's and Haylee's mouths were half-agape, trying to form a context in their minds. Still, Melody couldn't ignore an injured person, so she decided to cross the grass and approach, her friend accompanying her. "Owww…the other birds landed on it just fine, why did I…" the girl moaned.
"Hey, are you alright?" Melody asked.
The girl pushed herself out of the soil and back upright. She was clothed in a short white top with blue jean shorts that matched the color of her gem-like hair. Her feet were propped up on light-brown heeled shoes, and she had what looked like gold feathers on her hair. She was also about the same height as the operatives. "Telephone wires aren't as comfy as they look. But hi!" She greeted spritely. "I'm Sitasphira! You can call me Sphira!"
"Uh, nice to meet you?" Melody replied, still trying to process this sudden introduction. "Are you hurt anywhere? I'm a waterbender, I can heal you if you want."
"No, don't worry, it goes away pretty quickly!" Sphira replied modestly. "But I appreciate the offer. I actually flew here 'cause I wanted to meet you, Melody!"
"What, are you a fan?" Haylee asked, cracking a humored smile.
"I'm more than just a fan. Don't you guys recognize my hair~?"
Melody glanced upward a bit. "Oh, you're one of those Phoenix guys, aren't you?"
"Yep! But I guess this isn't your first time, is it? Since you already met my brother!"
"Yyyyyeah…" Melody glanced away with melancholic eyes.
"Uhh…" Sphira was confused by her response. Haylee also looked to her friend with a quizzical look. "Oh, and you probably read about our info, right? Plex told me that he gave it to your leader and…"
"Yeah, I skimmed it a bit… Look, I'm sure you're a nice person, but I honestly have no interest in the multiverse whatsoever. It was three years of stress and bullshit that I never want to deal with again. Especially after the sudden and rude arrival of whatever you guys are."
"Oh…" Sphira's beaming expression fell. "But that wasn't our fault, that was the…" She stopped herself, remembering what Dimentia told them. "Actually, that's another reason I'm here. I wanted to apologize for… my brother's bad impression. He's had a complicated childhood, so he isn't the best with people. But all we want is to make friends."
"Don't you have anyone in your own universe to be friends with?"
"Well, we do, but… it's complicated."
"Sigh…well, I accept your apology. Is that all you wanted?"
"Actually, I…I was hoping to hang out with you." Sphira smiled and blushed sheepishly. "Dimentia talks about you guys all the time, and The Chronicler often shares us copies of your adventures. And I just really think you're a cool girl!"
"What about me?" Haylee asked.
"Yeah, you're Haylee, the carpenter, pilot, and… navigator, too, right? I remember reading you were really talented."
"Okay, I dig this girl." Haylee shrugged.
"Hmhm." Melody cracked a smile. "Well… I guess you can hang with us. You want me to wash that dirt off, at least?" She bent some water out of her bottles.
"That would be appreciated…" Sphira blushed once more.
The floor of the mall had triangular, light-brown tiles, along with clusters of four blue tiles, made of a posh, patterned marble. It seemed to consist of three floors, sunlight shining down from the rooftop windows. "So, any particular reason you guys came here?" Sphira asked. "Is this where you buy your equipment?"
"Nah, we just come here to goof off." Melody replied. "Every time we have a crisis, it's nice to come here and see that everything's still normal with the world."
"We've had our share of crises ourselves, so I can feel you there. Speaking of which, thanks for beating The Thirteen! They were making a real mess of our multiverse."
"Yep, they messed up ours quite a good deal, too." Haylee replied. "Our everyday villains mess it up enough already."
"Just be thankful it isn't much worse! Other universes have WAY worse outcomes, like-"
"I'm sure they do, but I don't really wanna compare crises." Melody said. "I just wanna be thankful that they're done with."
"Okay…heh, you wouldn't wanna hear about those, anyway."
The group approached an intersection of the mall, marked by a fountain with a waterfall on the other end. There was an upper floor above the waterfall. "Oh yeah, Haylee, weren't you going to say something?" Melody asked as she flipped a coin into the fountain.
"Huh? Oh, you mean about Augustus and the Cooking Fest?"
"Yeah, I asked if you were gonna take Sheila?"
"Oh yeah. I don't really think I'll take her. It's nice to go for a different change of pace once in a while."
"You getting tired of Sector V?" Melody cocked a brow.
"I mean, not tired per se," Haylee shrugged, "but it wouldn't be the first time I traveled with Augustus. Besides, I feel like he and Sheila would just be clashing the whole time, saying stuff like, 'No I'm the captain!' or whatever, ya know?"
"Are you and Augustus an item?" Sphira asked in a teasing way.
"What, no!" Haylee blushed, earning a chuckle from Melody. "Well… okay, when I was little, I kinda crushed on him. But then he disappeared and the feeling sort of went away. I still like traveling with him though."
"Or is it because you started crushing on this cute prince?" Melody smirked as they walked away from the fountain.
"Ooo, a prince, really?" Sphira perked up.
"I don't like him for being a prince!" yelled a flustered Haylee. "I just think he's pretty smart and cool. Besides, we aren't really dating."
"Is he older than you or younger~?"
"Actually, he's five years younger than Haylee." Melody mentioned. "Like, Haylee's about to turn 16, and he's gonna be 11, was it?"
"Yeah, that is a problem…" Haylee replied awkwardly. "But that's the thing, he just sounds maturer than he actually is!"
"Gilligans do have a habit of dating older women." Melody shrugged. "Unless you're the girl and you date younger men~"
"Well, the point is I don't like him for his money! And honestly, I can't even imagine living in a castle, having servants waiting on me, treating me like a princess… like, look at this." Haylee jogged forward and turned to them, leaning her rear to the side with a hand on her hip. "Does THIS look like royalty to you? This girl who looks like she's covered in sawdust all day?"
"I can always get my cousin Morgantianite to make you something cute!" Sphira said.
"I mean, I don't really wanna look like a princess, I'm just saying I would look super weird as one. Then again, I guess a god from another dimension would at least have a castle, huh?"
"Well, not my own, but Beris does have one, but she mostly stays with us, and my dad used to live outside somewhere for a bit a while back until he moved in permanently with us, so his place is kinda like a summer castle or something now. As for me, I just have my own area at my mom's palace now, I also have this other door connected to the Court of Mind since it's much easier rather than having two rooms in different places."
"I see…" Melody wasn't sure how to respond to such a casual notion of castles. "I get a little tired of my palace sometimes, so I just crash at Eric's palace, or maybe Emily's Death Star."
"Ha ha!" Haylee laughed. "Our treehouses are basically castles, anyway!"
"I always thought your treehouses were cool!" Sphira beamed. "I've seen some of their designs and they look really fun from outside. How do you even design them?"
"We basically harvest seeds from the Treehouse Roots and plant them wherever they work." Haylee replied. "Afterwards, we hollow them out and construct them to our liking. The roots originated from the Firstborn, Celebi, so the trees really hold up. …Unless, y'know, villains."
"I bet the new operatives ask for your help a lot!"
"Yeah, they do." Haylee said modestly. "Of course, some of the locals don't appreciate giant treehouses blocking their sunlight, so lately, we've been cautious on where to put…hm?" She glanced down at the floor near one of the support poles. There was a small, yellow pack, so Haylee curiously went to pick it up. "'Blow-and-Bounce. Blows up like gum, bounces like rubber. Fun for all ages.' Someone must've dropped this."
"Is it a candy?" Melody observed.
"It sure looks like a candy, but I don't think it is. I guess it's supposed to be like Bounce Gum."
"It doesn't really seem safe for small children." Sphira said. "They'll easily think it's candy."
"Yeah… Well, I'm officially hungry." Haylee quickly jumped to the topic. "Let's head up to Hunger Burger."
"You're paying for everything." Melody stated.
"Sheila's a bigger glutton than I am! Heck, you would probably eat more."
The girls rode an escalator up to the second floor and visited the restaurant, set up near the intersection with various round tables set up. "Hmmmm, should I get the Fluffy Cookie…" Haylee thought aloud, noticing a large, fluffy chocolate chip cookie in a display case.
"You're gonna blow up." Melody teased.
"No I won't!"
"Blow up?" Sphira asked. "Why, is it explosive?"
"No, it's just a reference." Haylee laughed. "From Spongebob. Hey, speaking of which, wanna guess what me and Melody have in common?"
"You both like Krabby Patties?"
"Well, yeah, but I'm talking about our lineage~"
"Hmm…I think you two are half-Black and half-White…"
"Yeah, but what else?"
"And Melody is part-mermaid… are you also part-mermaid?"
"Bingo!" Both Haylee and Melody sported grins and thumbs up. "My great-great grandma was a Fishwoman! She was a witch named Ursula, and she would marry a human mage called Jafar. That's where my Uncle Facilier got his magic."
"You must be a great swimmer then!"
"Eeeeehhh…" Haylee moaned awkwardly. "Not as well as you'd think. We borrowed more from our dad's side of the family, so our merpeople traits are kinda washed out. …And that right there was a Gilligan pun."
"Hehehe!" Sphira giggled.
"Anyway, I reckon I'll order my usual." Melody said. "Whaddo you want?"
"Oh, I packed a lunch from home." Sphira held up a lunchbox with an image of her smiling face. "Hehe, sometimes I steal from Cules' kitchen. Don't tell her."
"I reckon it's healthier than fast food, anyway."
"It's not that, but I don't really have the right money to afford your food." Sphira blushed. "And even if I could, we don't technically need to eat, so I would just be taking it from someone else."
"Get her the Fudge Pyramid."
"Right on!" Haylee cheered.
The Fudge Pyramid was a small, chocolate cake in a pyramid shape; the top and bottom were chocolate while the middle was vanilla ice cream, with fudge and a cherry at the top. "Well, I can always save Cules' stuff for later!" Sphira said, proceeding to dig her spoon into the pyramid.
Haylee ordered a chili burger while Melody ate some fish sticks with tartar sauce. "Say, since you're going with August, anyway, would gourmets eat this shit?" Melody remarked, spitting bits of sauce out.
"Who knowsh, who caresh~" Haylee replied through chews, chili dripping from her mouth. "I think one of the Gourmet Codes is to never let food go to waste, and to respect all meals, so we're doing the right thing by eating this."
"Just don't get too reliant on fast food!" Sphira said. "It'll really mess up your body."
"At least we get our exercise's worth. Plus, we have Yuzu's food to fall back on, anyway."
"Yuzu should totally compete in that Cooking Fest thing!" Melody expressed.
"She definitely should! …" Haylee looked to her empty plate and messy fingers. "Wellp, time to wash up. You should never put on gloves with messy hands." With that, she proceeded to the bathroom.
Melody bent some water to wash off the residue of fishsticks, then wiped off on the napkin. "Hey, wanna see what I can do?" Sphira asked, waving her hands as clouds seemed to form around them. She shaped them into a whale that flew around the air. It stopped beside Melody and squirted water from its hole.
"Oh, neat! So, you're a cloudbender?"
"Well, technically vaporbender, but cloudbending sounds prettier! But I'm basically a waterbender like you."
"I never really tried cloudbending myself…" As Melody considered this, she bent the whale into a turtle shape… though she couldn't get the shape right, so she tried stretching it like a snake, but still couldn't get the proportions right. "Well, I sure ain't an artist. …But anyway, Sphira, can I ask something?"
"Yeah?"
"How come you guys are hanging around here, anyway? Like, I know we saved the multiverse and all, but I feel like gods should focus on their own worlds or something."
"We just really admire you guys. Our universes don't really have mortal heroes, so we think you're really inspiring."
"You don't have heroes?"
"No one besides us Phoenios. It's just the way our world works…"
"That explains why you think so highly of yourselves."
"No we don't!" Sphira argued. "I know my brother didn't make a good first impression, but we just want to be friends. We never thought we were above you guys or anything like that. The whole reason our leaders first came here was to make friends with the gods and the eventual inhabitants. We never wanted to take anything or cause anyone trouble… I mean, I guess we did end up taking Dimentia, but that was an accident. We really didn't mean to…"
"Okay, I believe you…" Melody sighed, feeling the truth in her words. "I'm sorry I've been so sour. I'll admit I was pretty unsure of you guys, but I guess under that flashy hair of yours, you're people like us. And I'm honored that a group of phoenix gods are looking to us for inspiration…" She made a light smile.
"Heh heh, just don't let it go to your head~" Sphira blushed. "But thanks for letting me hang with you guys. I hope we can do it again sometime, when we're not busy with important things…"
"That would be pretty cool…"
"Hoooo-kay!" Haylee cheered upon her return. "Definitely gotta meet MaKayla later… might need some yoga. So, what'd you guys talk about?"
"Nothing much." Sphira replied. "So, what do you wanna do next?"
"I just thought of something." Melody smiled wryly. "This is your first time here, isn't it? You haven't really seen the Cloud Hearts."
"The Cloud Hearts?"
"You don't know about the Cloud Hearts?!" Haylee exclaimed. "Hah, I guess there's a first time for everyone!"
After paying their bill, the girls headed toward one of the ends of the mall, where a flight of winding stairs led up through the roof. A ray of light shone upon them as they followed it to the outside world.
The stairs led onto a pleasant balcony with patches of flowers, but those weren't the most wondrous sight. There appeared to be small clouds, the size of pillows and the shape of hearts, floating about the air. There were families and couples staring at the clouds, with some kids trying to catch them. "Wow… you don't find this every day at a mall." Sphira said.
"That's kinda why they built here in the first place." Melody replied. "They saw these strange Cloud Hearts floating in the air above this land, so they built this mall and set up this balcony as its main attraction."
"Pretty sights can make a hefty profit." Haylee noted. "On some days, they even go down to the parking lot, usually on cool days."
"Hmhm, I remember the first time I brought Eric here. He was so giddy, trying to catch one to give to me, hehe!" Melody giggled. "Speaking of, is there anyone you got your eye on?"
"Well, not exactly…" Sphira replied. "But this would sure make a good gift for someone. This would be easy to make with cloudbending, but these are natural formations."
"Why don't you keep one as a souvenir?" Haylee asked.
"I-I can? Are we allowed to take them?"
"They're constantly forming, so no one's going to miss one. But you would need a tether or something to keep them down, plus I don't really know how long they last."
"She could probably pull it off with her bending, anyway."
"Oh, she's a bender?"
"Yeah, cloudbending."
"Then… I will!" Sphira jumped up and grabbed a passing Cloud Heart. It felt as soft as a cozy, misty pillow, and it even made her own heart feel soft. "Hee hee…I can't wait to put this in my Cloud Collection."
"Your Cloudlection?" Haylee cocked a brow.
"That one's not even clever!" Melody remarked.
"Big deal! C'mon, let's hit the arcade next!" Haylee raced to the stairs on that note. Melody joined next, and Sphira safely stored the heart away before following them.
Sphira is Sarstar's character as well. I wanted to make something of Melody and Haylee hanging out, since they would be great girl friends, and I also thought Melody had to meet with a friendly Phoenios to clear her head a bit. In fact, Sphira is Plex's sister.