Uhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmm, ok... So that was a comment I suppose... Not sure how to respond to that Spamton neo? Lmao. but anyway this one was something I looked forward to quite a bit and I did take much more time on it than the other chapters so far, so hope you have a good read and please be sure to tell me what you all think ;)btw with Christmas coming up it's likely there won't be another chapter until next month due to irl plans but I intend to get work done nonetheless wherever I am, little by little if need be.
"Raised by mole's? Really?" Malefor asked incredulously, having never heard of a dragon being raised in a mole household. Crystal simply chuckled at the disbelief. "Well that's a new reaction, but yes I was in fact raised by a kind family of mole's, I have no idea how it happened but Mom told me that when they found my egg, I had been sitting in a blackberry bush in the middle of nowhere. Said I was a miracle to them when they couldn't have kid's of their own." She explained giggling at the luck she had to be found by who would soon become her family. "That is quite a suprise I must say, though what is so odd about hoe I reacted if I may ask?" Malefor queried recalling how the ice dragoness had laughed at his suprise.
Crystal's brief smile became a slight frown as less than pleasent memories began to rise. "Well being raised by mole's wasn't a bad thing, I learned a lot about their culture and my own as a dragon. But the problem was a lot of people looked down on me like it made some difference as to who I was. Other kid's called me mole-ness or burrow girl." She muttered as she recalled mutliple other children teasing her for having such a unique upbringing. Quickly shaking off the troublesome memories they arrived at a large door, big enough for a dragon the size of the guardian's. "But enough about that, this is it." She said as she entered the dimly lit room. Upon following the ice dragoness inside Malefor found himself within a torch lit room with what appeared to be a large portcullis style gate leading outside on the opposite end of the wall's lined with varying sizes of armor.
"This is one of our armory's, the other is where Midas will be getting ready at the opposite end of the ring." Crystal explained as she stepped over to a nearby shelf and grabbed something from it before quickly approaching the purple dragon. Before he understood what was going on, the ice dragoness had something held against his left side from his shoulder to his flank, before moving said object to his arm as he began to fidget at the odd feeling of having something cold pressed up against his scales so suddenly. "H-hey what is that? What are you doing?" He asked confused as Crystal flicked the former tyrant on the nose with singular talon. "Shush, I'm taking your measurements." She muttered as she just as quickly withdrew a small tape measurer from his scales, before stepping over to pluck one of the many set's of armor from the nearby wall.
Balancing the assorted pieces upon her wing's she placed them down before the purple dragon with a metallic clatter. "Here let me help you, wanna make sure you go out there prepared after all..." The ice dragoness muttered with a slight frown which did not go unnoticed by the purple male, her paws placing a small bronze wrist guard on his left paw before moving on to the next. "Is something wrong?" He asked tentatively to which Crystal answered by ceasing her movement's for a moment before she continued this time speaking while she fastened a relatively simple looking chestpiece to the former dark lords torso. "You could say that..." She muttered not making eye contact with the purple scaled warrior. Upon waiting a few moment's for the dragoness to continue, Malefor pushed for an answer. "You...wanna talk about it perhaps?" He suggested his own maw twisting into a very small frown.
The white dragoness glanced at him for a brief moment before sighing as she tightened the final piece of armor to the purple dragon's body. "Look just be careful, ok?" She requested as she began making her way toward the door they had entered from. "Midas is allergic to failure, he ain't a cheater but he won't go down without a fight. I suggest you not hold anything back." In return she received a silent nod from Malefor before she left the room and the purple dragon within it alone for several minutes before Malefor heard the sound of grinding metal. Stepping forward toward the raising gate he steeled himself for the fight to come, a plan already forming in his head on how to combat the electric dragon.
"You think he'll win?" The purple dragon asked his dark scaled companion. Cynder rubbed a claw along her chin in thought before responding with a shrug. "I wanna say yes but that would be a lie. Truth is we don't know what this Midas guy is capable of." Spyro nodded in agreement "He is a champion of the arena so he must be a skilled and capable fighter." The purple dragon mentioned recalling the word's of the earth guardian before they had departed. "Midas?! As in one of the arenas strongest champion's?" Before he could get lost in thought he decided to cast a quick glance across the packed stands of the colosseum, everyone muttering amongst themselves as they awaited the next match of the day. Suddenly the slight commotion was silenced by the loud bang of what Spyro believed to be a gong.
As all eye's in the rows of seats were directed toward the viewing booth above the stands where Spyro and Cynder had been seated, a pale white ice dragoness made her presence known to the crowd as she approached the edge of the balcony. Standing upon her hind legs and spreading her wing's as she raised her claws to the sky Crystal yelled out. "WELCOME FRIEND'S OF OLD AND FRIEND'S OF NEW!! YOUR ALL EAGERLY AWAITING THE NEXT BATTLE ARE YOU NOT?!" The ice dragoness shouted out to the crowd before going silent with a large grin upon her face as the stands erupted with a cacophony of shouts and screams of many dragon's replying with a loud "YEAH!!"
"WELL THEN I HAVE SOME NEWS FOR ALL OF YOU!! WE DON'T HAVE JUST ANY OLD MATCH!! RIGHT HERE AND NOW IS A BATTLE THAT IS SURE TO BE FILLED WITH EXCITEMENT AND TENSION!!!"
Gesturing a paw to one large gate on her left within the ring she continued her yell lowering into a still relatively loud speaking voice. "In one claw we have a dragon like never before seen in this ring. A master of all element's!" As she spoke the portcullis began to lift. "He is a mystery to many, but I assure you many have heard of him, and yet so few know what he is truly capable of. He is the former dark master and a purple dragon like the hero of our city! Malefor!"
As his name was spoken the purple dragon in question had begun to take slow and calm steps out of the gate only to be greeted by a reaction he had been expecting from the overall crowd. A resounding symphony of slurs and booing was thrown his way as several other dragon's yelled at him for being a murderer, though much of it was somewhat distressing, he allowed the negative emotions to wash off his back and leave his mind with no effect. They were all swiftly silenced as Crystal spoke up once more, this time gesturing with a claw to the gate on her right opposite Malefor. "And how could anyone forget about his challenger? He is one of our most well known and skilled combatants. A natural when it comes to his element and one of our two champions here. The second dragon in all of history here at our little arena to attain the level of platinum. MIDAS THE LIVING THUNDERSTORM!"
As the yellow male leapt from the darkness of the armory he landed with an exaggerated flair his whole body giving off electrical discharges to awe the crowd. Midas was greeted by a roar of applause and cheers. However he didn't bask in the glory for long as he quickly stood up straight, the smile that was normaly adorning his face was nowhere to be seen. All of the crowd soon quieted their cheers as the silence between the two male's was palpable. Now that he had a moment to see the yellow dragon's attire, Malefor realized that instead of a bronze colored armor the electric dragon was adorned with what appeared to be silver plates where his were bronze.
Soon Crystal raised a paw high up in the air above her head she began to speak once more. As the white dragoness spoke, Malefor widened his stance in preparation of dodging any attacks that might be thrown at him, while opposite him Midas was standing up straight with his talons scratching at the dirt beneath them. "Ready everyone? If so then let's..." She went quiet for a split second as her eye's glossed over the two combatants down below, ensuring everything was as it should be before her talon descended as she called out. "BEGIN!!"
The moment the word left Crystal's maw, Malefor could barely comprehend the flash of yellow that had sped toward him faster than an arrow, and he had even less than a second to throw his whole body back in order to avoid the swipe of a large yellow talon. As the purple dragon leaped he used his wind element to slow and control his landing so he landed a few feet away from the space he had just been standing, leaving behind large claw gashes made by Midas talons digging through the stone. Before he could have a moment to think the larger male was upon him again, Malefor having to continuously leap and dodge his vicious claws. After ducking below an extended arm and dashing to the opposite side of the arena, Malefor turned back and immediatly began to channel his mana pool into his maw, a deep blue glow shining forth from his open jaws as a chilling mist seeped out of his throat.
The realization of an imminent attack hit Midas rather quickly as the large yellow warrior quickly raised a wing to block the incoming icicles which soon fell to the ground having crumpled againt his scales. When Midas returned his gaze to his opponent, the purple dragon was still exhaling a slight amount of mist as he continuously filled his jaws with a ready to fire ice attack, the blue glow very much present in his throat. The purple dragon then began to crawl with his chest low to the ground as he circled the electricity user. Attempting to get a hit with his axe headed tail, the purple dragon charged at Midas with lowered horns as his opponent did the same before he twisted his body at the last moment to slide under him and upon finding his footing in the yellow male's current blindspot, swung his tail directly at the larger dragon's shoulder only to be blocked by a quick arm rising up in the blades path, the tan blade bouncing off the shining arm guard.
As Midas turned to face his adversary his jaws widened, a yellow glow emanating from his throat, before a large blast of constant energy was shot forward at the purple dragon. Seing the attack coming a mile away, Malefor leaped away leaving an ever growing cloud of icy fog trailing from his muzzle. This went on for a few more minutes with Midas usually attempting to hit Malefor with his talons or a quick burst of electricity. "GAAAAH!!!!" Midas roared out in fury as no matter how hard he tried to hit the smaller dragon, he couldn't land a single hit, he would lunge for him and the smaller dragon would manipulate the earth to bounce himself out of the way, he tried blasting him and the purple male started to counter with an equal charge of energy and cancel his out. "HOLD STILL YOU LITTLE SHIT!!" He snarled out causing Malefor to smirk as this is what the purple dragon had been trying to do. "If he gets angry he'll more than likely slip up and make mistakes, he might be a little bigger, but he can't quite match me in speed." The purple dragon thought to himself before his inner monologue was silenced by the shock of a large current of electricity being fired in his direction, nearly missing him as he ducked down. Casting a quick glance behind him at the surrounding stone wall, Malefor was able to glimpse the large scorch mark left behind by his opponents attack.
As the fight continued Malefor's body began to constantly output a cold mist, the chill air emanating from his entire body rather than just his maw, which left his jaws free to use other attacks. Pumping mana into his talons he reared up and tensed his whole body before with a grunt he slammed his front paws down upon the stone, a spiderweb of cracks appearing in front of him reaching all the way to right beneath his electrical opponent's feet. Midas quickly attempted to jump out of the way of whatever attack Malefor had planned, but unfortunately the purple dragon's manipulation of the earth was a decoy meant to put Midas in a position that would prevent the large yellow dragon from dodging.
The yellow male only realized this as a large stream of fire engulfed his body, the source of the burning hot flames being Malefor's wide jaws. The purple dragon was visibly sweating bullets despite the cold air still wafting from his extended wing membranes. "Damn...why does it feel like my insides are being burned inside and out, is this because I used three element's at the same time?" Malefor allowed the train of thought to continue as some of his attention briefly drifted away from the cone of fire he was letting loose. "But that makes no sense I never had a problem using all four at once back when I was the dark master. Why is this happening...?" The purple dragon continued to put all his mana into keeping his opponent contained within the flames, planning to wear Midas down and finish this battle as a contest of stamina and endurance. Yet as he continued to fill the surrounding ring with chilled fog, he could feel something deep inside, almost like a primal instinct and it was causing the lightning he wielded to act up and crackle between his talons in small arcs. It felt as if his body and soul were telling him to strike with everything he had at once, but Malefor ignored this feeling as best he could and kept the inferno going. As he continued the feeling that coursed through him began to diminish as he maintained the flow of ice cold wind and roaring flames. "Looks like two is my limit then..." He thought to himself.
"I know I should really open up at somepoint, but I'm sure the restaurant can wait one more day..." The wind dragon Ventus thought to himself as he internally debated on why or why he shouldn't reopen his small restaurant. He was just drying his claws of the grimy dish water from his sink with the use of his wind element when he was broken out of his thoughts by a rather noisy group of dragon's running past the front door outside. "WHY ARE WE RUNNING TO THE ARENA RIGHT NOW!?! WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT WE CAN'T JUST GO THERE SOME OTHER TIME AND SEE SOME OTHER FIGHT???" One green earth dragon called after to his much faster friend's, to which a bright orange fire dragon female turned to yell over her shoulder at him. What the dragoness said next caused Ventus eye's to widen. "BECAUSE MIDAS IS FIGHTING, AND HIS OPPONENT IS THE DARK MASTER!!! WHEN ELSE WILL WE GET TO SEE HIM BEAT DOWN A PURPLE DRAGON?!?" She called out before resuming her pace and taking off up into the sky her two friends in tow. Quickly snatching up his satchel and rushing out the door Ventus made his was about to make his way toward the arena before he had a thought. "Crap, I gotta tell Flame about this..." Turning to rush toward the dragon temple the wind dragon took off flying to tell the red fire dragon of what was going on as a single thought rushed through his mind. "I can't wait to hear what that purple dumbass has to say about this when I told him not to try and fix my problems for me..."
Hot. It was boiling hot within this torrent of flames, that was all Midas could think about at this moment in time. His opponent, Malefor had trapped him in a sort of flaming vortex, unable to muster enough strength to break through the fiery wall's without getting seriously burned, Midas had only two options now. "Option one is I lose most of my strength trying not to get burned by the fire, and option two is..." With no further thought needeed as to his course of action, the yellow dragon closed his eye's for a moment before reaching to hold his own arm's over his chest, his wing's curled over his body only briefly as his body began to tense up before the blue lightning bolt pattern adorning his body began to glow with a bright cyan hue. With a furious roar his marks grew even brighter before in a single burst of speed he lifted a crackling talon coated in blue arcs of electricity and charge forward to the center of the cone of fire.
Malefor heard his opponents roar just in time to be snapped out of his inner thoughts, only to bear witness as a large yellow figure burst through the top of the flames and rushed toward him coated in a blue arcing light. Barely having the time to dodge he avoided what could have been a match ending blow to the head, but did not escape unharmed as a jolt of electricity arced off the extended arm and jolted right into his chest. Gasping in pain as the jolt rushed up his spine straight to his brain, he saw several images flash before his eye's. A dragon cloaked in shadows with piercing red eyes, The well of soul's, Concurrent skies, Warfang, and a white dragoness who he didn't recognize. As Malefor fell to a heap on the ground his body kicking up dust when he landed, his mind was erratic at the thing's he just saw. "What...what was that? WHO Was That? Why did I see those thing's? This doesn't make any se-" before he could finish that thought he had to leap out of the way to dodge a massive stream of blue lightning being emmited from the open jaws of Midas who now that Malefor got a good look at him, despite glowing like a walking lamp, and shaking off any fatigue he may have relatively well, was covered in small minor burn marks as well as standing on slightly trembling legs.
Seeing this as a prime opportunity to move on to his next plan, the purple dragon flared his wing's open as his body gave off a blue glow and the mist which had ceased flowing began to appear once more. This time however it was much more present than before and within seconds the plume of fog had grown to encompass the entire ring, causing Midas to lose sight of Malefor and adopt a defensive stance as he without realizing it began to take a few steps back until he had found himself in what was the center of the ring. The fog was swirling around him in a slow controlled maner, the mist being manipulated by Malefor through the use of wind. Meanwhile up in the stands Cynder found herself somewhat confused as to why the yellow male didn't use his element as he had been so much until now. "Why isn't he using his element to attack, electricity is good for hitting a wide area isn't it and why is Midas glowing like that?" The black dragoness questioned her purple friend, who in turn while keeping his eye's on what little he could see of the yellow dragon through the cloud, repsonded.
"He can't. Ice has a lot of moisture just like water, because of that it ends up being a real good conductor for electricity, you following?" He asked casting a quick glance at Cynder who had just realized what the purple dragon was trying to say. "So he can't use his element, but Malefor still has four elements he can use. He has the advantage." Cynder was captivated by the sight of the arena being filled with icy fog, to the point she could no longer see the purple dragon maintaining it. "What is he doing? Trying to catch him off guard?" The purple hero asked his companion, both dragon's unaware of the frown on Crystal's muzzle. "That won't work..." She sighed catching her friend's attention. "What do you mean it wont work? Midas can't see a thing." Cynder replied, confused as to what the white dragoness was talking about. Crystal only shook her head in response as she watched the battle below. "It won't work cause he isn't the first to try this kind of move on Midas. Midas is playing him at this point, he might be a meat head but he lives for the fight, Malefor has already lost." The white dragoness muttered dejected.
This caused the black dragoness to gasp in shock as she whipped her eye's back to the sight of the swirling cloud of frost. "Not to mention, the glow is one of his power's, it's called thunderstorm just like his title here, his body essentially supercharges itself with lightning, he gets physically stronger and faster, no one has beaten him since he gained that ability." She explained to the two dragon's of the reason behind the slight transformation the yellow dragon had undergone. Meanwhile down below in the shadows at the back of the stands there were three new set's of eye's that had arrived on the scene and two of them, one a calming green and the other a vibrant red were veiwing the scene with concern, while the third watched on, amber irises gazing down below with anticipation.
Back down in the arena Malefor was stalking closer and closer to the electric dragon who was unaware of his enemy's presence behind him. Preparing to jump and latch onto the back of the larger male, Malefor began to direct a large amount of mana toward his jaws. Waiting until he was certain his target would not step out of the way, the purple dragon leaped up and emerged from the cloud of chilling mist, his jaws alight with crackling yellow volts. "I can't match his physical strength, but he should be worn down enough that all this electricity will knock him out!! Resistance be damned!" The thought raced through his mind as fast as the lightning arcing off his teeth. Malefor had filled the arena with icy mist in the hopes it would conduct enough of a charge all round to bring the larger male to his knees or even finish the fight.
Midas was in the perfect position for Malefor to latch his teeth onto his neck and unleash as many volts of electricity as his body could handle, meanwhile everyone was silent and watching from the edge of their seats with anticipation. Alas as the purple dragon extended his claws and widened his maw, the yellow muzzle of Midas gained a vicious smirk. Suddenly Malefor realized that Midas was onto him and was about to dodge back into the mist by using wind to push himself back through the air. However when the purple warrior attempted to channel his mana this time, he suddenly felt a surge of pain shoot up his chest, as it seemed the numbing effects of the crystal he had drained were already begining to ebb away. He didn't have time to comprehend this thought however as before he could overcome his issue, he was suddenly snapped out of thought by a loud crack, and he felt incredibly numb for a moment, hearing another loud crack as he could barely tell his body had slumped to the floor.
Within moment's of trying to blink off an odd dizzying sickness, he was suddenly hyper aware of something very wrong with his body. His right side stung, and he couldn't move his left hind leg. Slowly craning his head to see what the problem was, he nearly vommited. His leg had been twisted nearly the opposite direction it should be facing, not to mention his own bone had snapped as it managed to pierce his hide and was currently jutting out of an open bleeding wound in his thigh. He could now comprehend the immense physical pain coursing through his body, his leg was broken, bone split, flesh torn. His ribs felt like they have also been cracked or worse, and normally these wounds are not fatal as long as they are tended to, due to the regenerative factor of a dragon's body. However he couldn't possibly continue to fight in his condition any more, and speaking of the battle he was now aware of the large yellow dragon walking toward him, ever so slowly, able to see the injured male clear as day as with Malefor's injury, he had been unable to maintain the dense cloud that hid him from view.
He closed his eye's as he waited for the final blow, the purple dragon accepting his defeat with clenched teeth and with anger filling his mind, anger at himself for being so hasty and foolish. "Shit, Shit, SHIT!! WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I'M NOT SOME HERO... I don't help people, I can't even help myself..." He began to put himself down even in his own mind. Up in the booth with Crystal and the saviors of Warfang, the ice dragoness was wearing a solemn expression as she witnessed the sight of Malefor being knocked out of the air by one of the electric dragon's large paws, likely snapping a few ribs in the process, before the smaller dragon was smashed into a wall by the force of the blow causing a vicous break in his hind leg. The ice dragoness was preparing to announce the victor, when she began to notice the shouts and curses being thrown toward the wounded purple dragon. Ranging from simple demands of death, to cursing the injured dark master's very existence.
It came as a massive suprise to not only her, but many other's in the arena when a single voice shouted out above the crowd. "GET UP!!" It yelled, causing all eye's in the arena to be drawn to it's source, even Malefor shot his head up to look up toward the stands where he heard the shout come from. He was baffled by the appearance of the wind dragon who he had hoped to assist today, Ventus. The wind dragon was not alone either, the red fire dragon Flame was beside him. Even Midas had stopped in his pace to glance at the furious wind user. "WELL?! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? ARE YOU JUST GONNA LIE THERE AND GET YOUR ASS KICKED BECAUSE OF A FEW BROKEN BONES!?! I DOUBT THAT STOPPED YOU IN THE PAST!" The wind dragon planted his claws upon the rim at the edge of the ring to leer down as he contiued. "DON'T GO SPOUTING ALL THAT CRAP ABOUT TRYING TO BE A TEACHER WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN BEAT THIS ASSHOLE!! GET THE FUCK UP AND SHOW EVERYONE HERE WHY YOU WERE SO FEARED! THIS IS A FIGHT, STOP HOLDING BACK!"
Before Malefor could begin to process the word's of the angry wind dragon, Flame was the next to call out, taking advantage of the stunned silent crowd. "It might hurt, it might feel impossible to win, but you know what else used to be impossible?! Until a purple dragon was born, no one ever considered the possiblity of using more than one element! Stand up on three legs if you must, hell hop around on just one if that's what it comes to but don't give up yet! You are a living breathing example of the impossible! Your stronger than you let on, you just have to have faith!" Crystal was mentally rooting for the purple dragon as well but due to her position as referee she had to appear neutral and thus could not call out. As the word's reached Malefor, Midas had decided to end the battle, using all of his strength the large electric wielder kicked off the rocky terrain and into the air with a roar, his entire body now alight with bright blue sparks.
It almost seemed as if time was slowing down for the purple dragon, though despite the pain he was in, he knew for certain it wasn't dragontime. He inhaled a deep breath of fresh air, forcing himself to forget about the fight, forget about Midas for what seemed like hour's when in reality it was only a second. His mind flashed with image's of his past life, in the city with his friend's, Him, Anise and Terrador all together, laughing the day's away. Then the image cracked and shattered like glass before it was replaced with an endless ocean benath an open blue sky. He was once more face to face with the same shadowy figure who had visited him in the past, he could remember the dream he had the night Ventus had sliced him clean across the chest, or rather he could recall a piece of the dream. He saw himself and a yellow dragon he now knew to be Midas, both of which adorned in armor. However he was not able to view this image for long as it was ripped away once more.
This new scene was a very familiar one, it was the day of his trial, he could see himself standing in this strange place once more, holding him to the ground by his throat was the spectral visage of his former friend, Anise. The sight of her brought a tinge of pain to his chest, his heart sobbing. But what happened next gave him an idea. The image of him suddenly began to shine with a violet glow before it became too bright to handle, the light bursting forth and blinding the purple male. In a bright purple flash the wounded dragon was shoved back into the real world with a large yellow dragon about to slam his electrified body into his own. Going with his gut instinct, Malefor raised his left talon up at the larger male, his mind still flashing with the good memories of the almost long forgotten past, aswell as the new one's he had begun to form with his new friend's. "It might not be much to fight for, BUT IT'S A START!" A glow surged forth from the purple dragon's extended claw, a much brighter hue than his very scales for which he was known.
Far away from the city of Warfang, a black furred wolf and a large red dragoness are currently trekking through what appears to be a snow covered tundra, a vicious blizzard bearing down on them from all side's. As they walked up a particularly steep slope, the red dragoness suddenly felt a strange pull on her body, her heart skipped a beat as she whipped her head around to look behind her. Though it should be impossible to have any sense of direction in such a vicious storm, she was staring directly in the direction of the city, more precisely the arena. A small frown crawled across her snout. "That's not supposed to happen..." She muttered under her breath before her furred partner in crime caught her attention with a shout from a few feet ahead. "HEY!! ITAMI!! PICK UP THE PACE, FUR ISN'T AS EFFECTIVE AS YOUR INNER FIRE YA KNOW?!" Shouted Ruka, Though the dragoness merely ignored him and turned to resume her previous pace, her mind worried by this new turn of event's.
Midas didn't know how to process what just happened, he had been sent flying by some sort of invisible force, blinded by a bright light. Malefor had thrown his paw out toward him, his claws had been inchs away from the purple dragon, but now he was sent flying in the opposite direction, only able to regain his footing by digging all four claws into the ground and skidding to a screeching halt. Having regained his balance, Midas looked back to where his opponent lay wounded, only to be stunned in place when the purple dragon was standing once more, albeit on three legs. Malefor had his rear left leg lifted off the ground but that purple glow was covering it, the light seemed to move along his body traveling through his veins to reach the wound. In mere moment's the leg began to crack and shift, bone returned to it's rightful place beneath the flesh and scale, severed muscle reattached itself. In a few seconds the glow subsided before the purple dragon wiggled the toes of his now healed hind leg to test it's functionality before slamming the recovered limb into the ground below with a satisfying crunch of stone beneath his leg. The eye's of the dark master were alight with a light unlike any other, sparks of enegry crackling behind his irises.
Meanwhile up in the booth with a stunned silent ice dragoness, Spyro and Cynder immediatly recognized the telltale purple glow of Convexity. The duo were concerned about the use of it due to it's corruptive influence in the past, but from what they could see their friend down below had yet to change in any way, and his eye's were once more fiery and determined, his gaze locked onto the electric dragon before him. "Spyro, that was Convexity..." Cynder whispered to her purple companion, her tone laced with worry. "I know, but something is different, can't you tell? He hasn't changed a bit, even his eye's are the same." He attempted to assure the black dragoness that everything was fine, despite his own slight concerns.
Midas growled as he took up a defensive stance, begining to circle the purple dragon like a predator closing in on it's prey, soon Malefor began to mimic the action, neither male taking their eye's off the other. "So this is what Convexity is really capable of? It felt different from before... It used to feel cold and...alien. Now it feels warm and familiar." Malefor thought to himself recalling the presence of convexity in his veins in the past. Realizing any previous discomfort and pain was gone he felt more than just healed. "It healed my wounds, but more than that I feel...something else. I feel..." With that thought the purple dragon lunged forward toward his opponent, claws outstreched, left purple eye now visibly glowing with what could only be described as a colored flame wafting from his violet iris. Midas leapt forward to meet him, their claws clicking against one another as they collided and were soon locked together with their head's butting and their talons clenched. "I FEEL STRONGER!" The purple dragon finished his previous thought as now he was matching the slightly larger dragon in terms of physical strength, whereas before he was almost certain he wouldn't be capable of such thing's. It felt as if his whole body was alight with newfound strength and power, power he had never truly known before.
Gritting his teeth, Midas leered down at the purple male, finding himself struggling to hold the smaller dragon back. "What the hell...did you do? Where did this strength come from?!" He grunted out before mustering enough force to shove Malefor back a few feet, the yellow dragon jumping back in the process as well. Malefor simply smirked and replied. "I barely know myself at this point, but what I do know is I'm about to end this fight!" He grinned before his one purple eye glowed once more as the same chill mist began to fill the surrounding area once more. This time however it covered the entire ring in a matter of seconds, Midas unable to do anything but watch on as his opponent disappeared from sight. Grinning to himself he called out to his opponent, the yellow dragons eye's joyful and excited. "Well I'll say this much, it's no fun if it's not a challenge! But I hope you don't think that trick will work on me! It didn't work before and it won't work now!" Midas called out, presently unaware of Malefor's exact location until a voice spoke up from a few feet behind him. As he turned to face his enemy, he noticed something strange happening.
"The mist is...moving??" The yellow dragon thought briefly confused by the fact the surrounding cloud was flowing toward the direction he had the purple dragon speak up from, until suddenly he could see again. However he was overcome with confusion as to what Malefor was planning when he saw the purple dragon holding an open talon up above his head, the mist having condensed into a swirling ring above him. The smirk on the purple male's face was bigger than ever. "Then it's a good thing I'm not trying to hide!" He shot back at the yellow dragon, before he reared back on his hind legs and unleashed a torrent of electricity into the swirling cloud above him, the cold mist being swirled about conducting the electricity perfectly. Slamming his talons upon the ground with a grunt, Malefor channeled his mana into controlling the wind and keeping the cold air from fading. As the mist began to spin faster and faster, it was being directed toward Midas, who could only widen his eye's in amazement and surprise at what had become a massive electrified twister, before the force of the spinning winds slammed into him.
Midas was sent off his feet, spinning and tumbling so much he had lost all sense of direction, not to mention he was struggling to stay conscious as his body was attacked from all sides by a seemingly endless stream of electricity. Just when he thought he might attempt to escape the vicious attack, he had the air knocked out of his lungs as his body collided with what he could only guess was the stadium wall. His eye's rolling up in his head from the sheer force of the impact as his vision went dark, one thought running through his mind before it all went black "Is this...what a purple dragon is capable of? Incredible." Malefor ceased his attack the moment the yellow dragon had collided with the wall, as the winds came to a stop, the champion of the arena was still upright back against stone, partially embedded almost two inches in the cracked rock, before his body slipped and fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.
Crystal had been rendered speechless by the display of power and control, momentarily caught with her jaw wide open as if she were attempting to catch flies and it seemed many spectators were also in the same predicament. However she quickly closed her jaw and regained her composure as she spoke up to address the conclusion of the match. "Midas has been rendered unconscious! Malefor is the victor!" The ice dragoness declared. Said purple dragon was once more being subjected to the feeling of multiple glares burning into his mind, however it quickly became irrelevant when his armor began to glow with a bright assortment of colors. "Because you beat Midas, a champion of the ring you have gone up two whole ranks, normally combatants would remain bronze for quite some time before being able to ascend the ladder, however since it was Midas who issued the challenge, and you accepted, this victory has qualified you to take on the rank of gold, fully surpassing silver in the process."
As the ice dragoness spoke, Malefor's once bronze armor plates had ceased glowing, only to be replaced with a bright shimmering gold, that accentuated his purple hue very nicely.
Malefor found himself outside the arena rather quickly, currently being chewed out by Cynder as well as a somewhat grateful Ventus. "That was a really risky thing to do while you were still hurt you know?" The black dragoness hissed at the purple male while yanking on one of his curved horns, causing Malefor to yelp in protest. "H-hey I know, I know. But it all worked out in the end... R-right." He stuttered out, somewhat shocked by the rough grip that Cynder had on his horn. "That is true but either way, I told you explicitly not to involve yourself in my problems, didn't I?" Ventus asked rhetorically quirking a brow as he did so. In response Malefor, having finaly freed himself from Cynder's grasp sheepishly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with a paw. "O-oh, right. My bad. Sorry for not listening by the way." He apologized as the wind dragon sighed before a small smile came to his face. "But still, thank you Malefor... Ugh, it feels really weird to say that... No offense." Ventus insisted not wanting to come off as rude in this scenario, more grateful than anything that this purple dragon who had no reason to help him, much less speak with him, had gone to great lengths to defend him.
For a brief moment the whole group had a small chuckle at the harmless comment, before Malefor suddenly noticed someone was approaching them from the arena entrance. It was none other than Midas, his face was unreadable, so the purple dragon was unsure as to his intentions. The other dragon's were all silent as well when they noticed the behemoth of a dragon approaching. Stopping when he was face to face with the short wind dragon, Midas stared eye to eye with Ventus. It seemed they were all silent for minutes before Midas spoke. "I'm sorry for how I treated you Ventus, just make sure you take care of my brother alright, and also... Make sure to get your troubles sorted out please, you clearly make my brother happy, I don't want him to suffer because your afraid to talk about your past." He stated the smallest glint of pity in his blue eye's, before he without waiting for a response walked away, leaving a stunned Ventus in his wake. Before he left though he craned his head to glance back at Malefor. "And one more thing. Malefor don't think for a moment this is the last time you and I will fight..." A small grin came to his face as he contiued. "I don't really care what you did in the war, all I care about is getting the chance to have a rematch with you, for the first time in a long while, I actually had to fight for real, and I lost for the first time since I became a champion of the arena, so I suggest you train hard and come up with more of those fancy tricks because I expect you to give it your all in our next match, you got it?" The yellow dragon asked, seemingly awaiting confirmation.
Malefor was briefly stunned by the revelation of Midas desiring a rematch simply for the sake of a good fight, but he found himself grinning back at the larger yellow dragon, finding a little bit of himself in his opponent now. "Of course, and I would expect the same from you of course." He shot back to which Midas scoffed. "Malefor I'm hurt, when have I done otherwise?" He chuckled placing a paw to his chest in mock hurt before taking off to the sky with a bellowing laugh.
Meanwhile in an unknown location an adult blue dragon was sitting amongst a spiraling wall of book's, each one filled with pages, that looked as if they could burst open at any moment. The male dragon was currently examining one such tome which was hovering in front of him, suspended midair by unknown means. "Hmm, good to see those young one's getting along more and more, it warms my old heart." He muttered to himself before he was broken from his thoughts by a deep and familiar voice from behind. Turning to face the source he was met with the sight of the large blue crystal which functioned as a sort of centerpiece for this little room of his, beginning to glow with a strange red hue, before the gem was suddenly enveloped in shadows which cut out all but the candle light in the room. "Ignitus..." It rasped to the blue scaled fire dragon.
Ignitus was soon face to face with a shadowy figure in the shape of a dragon emerging from the darkness which had coated the crystal. "Malek? What brings you here if you don't mind me asking?" Ignitus asked somewhat suprised at seeing his only real company nowadays so soon after he had just visited with a request for him to watch over a small crystal containing the dark master's sealed power. "We are running out of time Ignitus, event's are happening quicker than I originally believed, we don't have long before they make their move. We must be ready..." Malek spoke his concern prominent as his red eye's met Ignitus's brown.
We have work to do... my friend
HOOO BOI I don't know how some people manage writing so much so often but I do see the appeal, Anyway I should likely mention this now, but with Christmas coming up I likely won't finish the next chapter until sometime next month, in other news if for whatever reason it seems my writing style shifts at all mid chapter, it is due to some slight sleep deprivation caused by some stuff going on irl, as I tend to write these chapter's in increments but lately things have been going on irl that make my already long nights even harder, so if for whatever reaosn you notice a small change mid chapter that is why, anyway in case i don't post again until after christmas. I hope you all have a wondeful holiday and a happy new year ;)