Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Dragoon, nor anything related to it. All characters are the Property of Sony Entertainment. Only the Original Characters and the events which take place are my creation. That being said. Onw tih the story!

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The New Threat:

Part VIII:

The Threat Revealed

The orange sphere whistled through the air, gaining speed as it hurtled toward the girl who kneeled, shaking on the hard ground. Lloyd stood back, an insane grin on his face as he waited for it to make contact. Suddenly, the needle sharp point of an arrow slammed into the back of his knee, breaking the bone. The ball of magic dissipated. He grunted, pulling the arrow out of his leg, as Shana, Furion and Kongol got up and faced him, each with their weapons ready.

"You bastard," Furion spat at him, "we trusted you, and THIS is what you give us?" Lloyd smirked painfully.

"Guess you trusted the wrong guy." Throughout all this, Kongol had been stepping closer to the Wingly, until he stood right up in front of him, towering over the man.

"Kongol want know why, Lloyd do this." With a hand on his chest, Lloyd blasted the Giganto straight back into the canyon wall.

"This is not some soap opera. Nor some romance story where the villain explains all before he kills the hero. No, you will all die at my hand, here and now." He raised his sword, but as he did, he was blown back against the sharp rocks by an orb of dark magic. Kayla stood there, her face tear-stained, in her Dragoon armor, behind her, stood the rest, Haschel, Dart, and Meru. She searched his face for any sign of regret, and, finding none, powered up one of her daggers.

"Lloyd. I can't believe I trusted you. I…loved you. I should have seen you for what you are from the start, a no good, bottom feeding, bastard. I resent you for the love you've taken from me. That's why; I want to be the one to kill you." She said, her voice, low and cold. The Wingly simple laughed, and flashed his sword through the air.

"Come then. I will destroy you."

Without another word, Kayla threw her dagger with all her strength, even as everything in her being screamed at her to stop, that there was some logical explanation. That this was really the man she loved. But she didn't, the dagger flashed in the waning light, on a collision course for his throat as he stood there without moving. It was moments from striking him, when there was a clang of metal, and the dagger flew off, striking the rocks with a clash.

For a moment, they all stood rooted to the spot, thinking the man had deflected the blow, but he hadn't. There was a blade, identical to the one he wielded stuck in the ground, quivering in front of him. And he was looking upwards at the summit of the canyon wall. Following his gaze, the Dragoons looked up; the sun was outlining a figure at the top of the ridge. He stood with a certain confidence that was familiar to all of them.

"I'm sorry," he said, in that all too familiar voice, "But it seems this gentleman and I have a score to settle."

Kayla gasped, staring up at the man who was now revealed as Lloyd, while the doppelganger smirked.

"It seems you have a flair for the dramatic. Lloyd." He said.

"Why don't you show us your real face, instead of hiding behind mine, hm?" The Wingly retorted.

The copy smiled maliciously. And all of a sudden, a rain of spikes flew from his fingertips, flying at incredible speed toward the man on the ridge. Lloyd evaded easily, leaping into the air, and firing a blast of magic at the other, as he landed with a flip before the stunned Dragoons. The copy was slammed back against the rocks again, his sword flying through the air, before landing squarely in Lloyd's hand. The Wingly called his own to his other hand, holding the two identical swords, in a casual fighting stance.

"Now, your real identity, please, or things might get nasty."

That same smirk stayed on the copy's face, as he passed a hand over it, a cloud of darkness descended over the man, and when it dissipated, not Lloyd, but Zackwell stood there. His scythe held casually in his hand, and his great, bat-like wings touching both walls of the small canyon. The grin now turned into a horrible mask of malevolence as the razor teeth curled into a knowing smile.

Kayla watched the events unfolding with an increasing sense of the surrealism, the complete and utter impossibility of the situation. The Lord of Mayfil who had held her captive, tested Lloyd's loyalty to his friends, and who now held Miranda in that terrible city. He was here. All she could do was stare wide-eyed in fear, as Lloyd spoke, his words coming as if from the bottom of a well.

She could feel the scream mounting in her throat, wanting to get out, but she couldn't let it out. Her mouth was too dry. Her throat felt tight. Oh god, she thought, Oh god… oh god…

The others still stood beside her, the shock clearly written on their faces. Zackwell had left Mayfil to attack them. Why?

Lloyd had had enough of talk. The demon had meddled in his affairs for too long. With a shout, he charged, running hard and fast toward the monster, the swords held low. In a flash he was upon the demon, he dodged under a wide swing of the scythe, and slashed at its shaft, letting his spin carry him for a second slash at the demon's head. Zackwell winged high into the air, and Lloyd the hate and anger boiling over inside of him, called on his wings, following easily.

His attacks became wild, but precise; every frenzied movement backed by his centuries of battle prowess. The two swords we mere flashes of light to the others who gazed into the sky at this battle of two gods as it seemed. Sparks rained from every blow the Wingly delivered, and the demon countered, making it look like lightning flashes, in the dusk sky. Magic flew back and forth between the two combatants until finally; the Wingly performed a terrifying move.

Diving toward the ground at incredible speed, he looked back to see that demon following suit. They hurtled toward the earth like two Icarus' on their path of self destruction. But just as the ground jumped up at him, Lloyd reversed his flight, shooting upwards. Zackwell, unable to stop, kept on moving toward the ground, and as he passed the Wingly, Lloyd slashed off his great wings. With a scream, he plummeted to the ground, smashing into it with awe-inspiring force. Lloyd was not finished. Charging one sword with magic, he flung it into the crater formed by the monster's fall. Moments later an explosion rocked the ground, the concussion battering the awestruck Dragoons.

Lloyd dropped gently to the ground, falling to one knee, before using his sword to painfully raise himself back up. He turned to look over his shoulder at the rigid forms of his friends.

"Hello." No one replied. "Guess that's the only reception I'm going to get. Since I am a, what was it? Oh yes, 'no good, bottom feeding, bastard.' Correct?" Kayla stepped forward a shocked, doe-eyed look on her face.

"Lloyd, I…I didn't…"

"Forget it. You know, at least one good thing came of this. Now I know what you all really think of me. I won't be sticking around, then."

"I think you're overreacting," Haschel spoke.

"Shut up, old man."

"We… isn't there anything we could say to get you to stay?" Shana asked pleadingly, when she saw Kayla was close to tears.

"No."

A tear slid down Kayla's cheek as she stared at the stony face of the Wingly before them. She did her best to stop the others that were on the way, but she couldn't there went the second, and the third, and then a whole flood. She stared at the ground, but then she caught sight of something behind Lloyd. A hand caught on to the edge of the crater where Zackwell had fallen, and slowly, the demon pulled himself out, the stumps of his wings already healed. She shouted.

In that instant three things happened, Zackwell flung his scythe at Kayla, the Wingly turned, and Kayla screamed. Lloyd's protective reflexes took over, and he smashed the scythe away with his sword. But that gave the demon time to leap fully out of the crater and unleash another storm of needles at the group. The others, safe in their Dragoon armor were totally protected, but Lloyd got hammered, and hammered bad. The needles dug into his flesh, feeling like a million burning splinters lodging into his flesh; somehow, he endured the attack. Every agonizing moment feeling like a decade

When the attack ended, he stood there, looking like a human pincushion, blood dripping from numberless punctures. Not serious, but exceedingly painful. He spat a glob of blood onto the rocks, raising his sword again, and calling out the Dragon Buster.

"You really need to die." He spoke slowly.

Then, to the stunned amazement of the group he charged the demon, however, the Lord of Mayfil had learned his lesson.

"Now, now. Not so hasty my boy. If you want a fight, I'll give you one." He made a high whistling sound, the echoes reverberating eerily throughout the canyon. Then, far away, there was an ear-splitting roar. All the Dragoons looked up into the sky, and from the sky dropped the Elemental Dragon, surrounded by a hoard of the green, lesser dragons which had attacked them earlier. Lloyd glared at the demon.

"What do you want?" Dart asked.

"It's simple, really. An uncomplicated emotion even you humans are capable of grasping. Revenge. You dealt me a grievous blow when you defeated me. The dead no longer respect me. They roam freely around Mayfil unchecked, unhindered, as if they were alive. You destroyed the sanctity of my kingdom. So now, I shall destroy your world. I will subjugate each race, and you will all bow to me." Here he broke off and patted the snout of the Dragon which had landed beside him. "Say hello to the Elemental Dragon. I'm sure you'll all have a lot of fun. See you soon." And in a dark blur he was gone.

The Dragons roared and charged as one terrible force of nature. And suddenly, all the Dragoons knew what the new threat Lavitz had warned them of was. Never dreaming they were still being played like puppets on a string. However, the current problem was the dragons. Lloyd took a deep, tortured breath, and closed his eyes. He was tired, far too tired. But nonetheless he summoned his Dragoon, and for the first time since the day Doel had unleashed it, used the full power of the stone, his sword becoming the wickedly curved blade of the Diving Dragoon, the stone sliding down over his eye, and the wings sprouting out his back. Not waiting for any of the others to utter a word, he charged the dragon army.

Kayla stared in disbelief as Lloyd's Dragoon took its true form. She had never seen this before. But, judging from the faces of all the others except Furion, they had. She stared in complete disbelief as he charged the hoard of creatures, and almost cheered when smaller dragons began to plummet from the air. Then, without a word to the others she charged in after him.

They all snapped out of the awe that had overtaken them since the fight between Lloyd and Zackwell had begun, and rushed to the aid of their teammates. Soon, the dragons were falling like flies, arrows; slash marks, and burn marks adorning their smashed bodies. The Dragoons worked like a precision machine, littering the ground below them with the putrid corpses of the loathsome creatures.

Dart hacked off the head of a particularly persistent dragon, and watched as Shana killed another with a shot to the heart. Furion swung his scythe furiously, the monsters shied away from his flashing blade as he sliced one clean in half. Meru and Kongol were back to back, smashing their way through a large batch of the things. And Kayla and Haschel fought furiously to cover the others from behind and above. The old master blowing one to pieces with a lightning ball, as Kayla gutted one cleanly from tail to snout. It was then that Dart caught sight of Lloyd. He was charging straight toward the Elemental Dragon, Dragon Buster, and Divine Blade in hand.

Lloyd was seething, the rage and indignation rising up inside him and choking him. He felt as if he wanted to burst out of his skin and destroy the whole goddamn army with a look. He satisfied himself with attacking the behemoth on the ground, however. As he dropped toward the monster, it unleashed a storm of Void energy, mixed with electricity toward him. With a swing of his blade he deflected the worst of it, the rest being stopped by his armor. Reaching the creature's level, he slashed and hacked wildly at its immense legs. Bellowing in pain, it tried to crush him under his weight, but he merely drove the Dragon Buster up to the hilt into its soft belly. The monster howled and pressed down on him, trying even harder to crush him, he merely rammed the Divine Blade in next to the Dragon Buster.

The Dragon screamed and pulled itself off the spikes, swinging at him with its tail, grimly, he stopped the killer blow with his blades, hacking at the tail, before finally rising into the air again and driving both weapons up to their hilts into its main eye. As with their first encounter, the Dragon powered up a blast behind the eye, even as if lifted off the ground. With the force of a hurricane, it released the attack, the powerful beam completely enveloping the Wingly hanging on white-knuckled to the blades in its eye. When the attack was over, Lloyd pulled back, stunned, and hacked off both its tusks for good measure, before the creature finally flew away.

The others arrived in moments, just in time to see the Dragon fleeing toward Deningrad. They all stared at Lloyd who slowly dropped to the ground, resting heavily on his sword as the Dragon Buster disappeared along with the Dragoon armor. He was panting heavily, sweat and blood mixed together on his clothes, the broken stumps of the needles still visible through the torn cloth. Kayla took a step toward him, only to be stopped by his menacing glare.

"Get away from me." She stood stock still, shock and hurt playing over her face as the others dropped to the earth around them, reverting back to their human forms. "You said it yourself. You're sorry you ever loved me. Fine. I'm going; you won't need to worry about it anymore."

The Dragon Knights stood silently around the two, eyes on the ground, shame written clearly on their faces.

"Lloyd…we…" Dart began.

"Save it." The Wingly shot back vehemently. "I don't want to hear it." He glanced angrily around the circle of warriors, hating each one for their betrayal of him, abuse of his trust.

"Lloyd, please." Shana started, only to be cut off by his cold stare.

"I'm leaving. You can all damn well fight Zackwell alone. I don't give a shit anymore."

Slowly, painfully, he stumbled off down the canyon, alone once more, as Kayla stared after him, the tears coming once more, easing the torment she was in inside.

To be continued…

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Sorry I took so long to update. I've been swamped. I've been taking the time to try and improve my writing skills, too. So please Read and Review. All Constructive Criticism is welcomed. Thanks.