During the evening, the skies were very dark. At the academy, Eon and Kaossandra saw the results of the race from its broadcast and were nervous waiting for them to come back.

Eon wondered "What is taking them so long to come back?" Kaossandra also worried about being guilty. "I hope they didn't feel too pressured by me..." Stealth Elf and Pop Fizz then entered the room with depressed looks on their faces, causing them to confirm their fears.

Eon was happy to see them arrived, despite their looks. Kaossandra commented "Guys... I know we counted on you a lot for this mission, but you don't have to feel guilty. We could have other opportunities to talk to Kaos!".

Pop Fizz answered. "Thank you, Kaossandra, but..." The elf then completed. "... that's not really the issue...". As she said that, Eruptor and Jet-Vac entered, holding Spyro's unconscious body. Seeing this caused both to gasp.

"Spyro! Did he got hurt? Were you attacked by the Doom Raiders?" Eruptor answered with the same sad look.

"Unfortunately, it's a worse situation. It turns out that..." He couldn't end up saying it, and Jet-Vac managed to complete, despite how much pain it was to admit it.

"Spyro changed sides...He's been working for Strykore the whole time, so Elfy had no choice but to fight and defeat him..."

The room was in silence and Eon couldn't believe his ears. Kaossandra, after a few seconds, broke the silence to reveal something. "... I had a feeling..."

The whole room was shocked before she explained. "From what you told me, the last you saw of Spyro before his disappearance was being a captive of Malefor. He and Strykore are good friends, so I figured there were high chances that he offered Spyro's body to Strykore in order to remove his light in order to free himself, which would've explained why he turned black and silver. And Stealth Elf had correct suspicions the whole time..."

Eon was in utter shock before Elf asked. "But... Why didn't you tell us that?"

"Well... I was still trying to prove I was trustful, and I didn't think you would believe me. I also wanted to contact Glumshanks to confirm my reasoning, but unfortunately, I couldn't contact him at all. It seems Strykore has thought about that and somehow prevented him from contacting someone from outside the castle..."

Elf was in shock, but reassured her. "That okay... It won't change the situation. Spyro turned into... an evil beast. We'll have to keep him captive!"

Kaossandra tried being positive. "I'll search around the academy if there is a book about how to cure a darkness corruption, with Hugo's help."

Eon, while feeling sad, had to do the logical thing. "We'll need to go to his bedroom and chain him with straps, which will prevent him from using his powers!" The team then brought Spyro to his room, hoping to see something good about him when he wakes up.

A few hours later, Dark Spyro went back to consciousness, slowly opening his eyes. "Ow, my head..." He tried touching it, but then opened his eyes in shock as he saw the situation. "What? What is the meaning of this?" He then remembered what happened at the race and got enraged. "That stupid elf..."

After having heard his yelling, the team went to check on him. This caused the dragon to be rude. "Oh, how nice! I get the whole squad as a visit! But don't think I'll stay around!" He tried to push against the leash unsuccessfully, and stopped as he got aimed at by Jet-Vac. "Stay calm or I'll fire!" Dark Spyro stopped moving, but couldn't resist answering. "Alright, I'll stay immobile for now, birdbrain!"

Eruptor was saddened. "I can't believe it. Our good friend Spyro has turned evil... I'm sorry I doubted you Elfy..." Elf added painfully. "Don't worry, I really wish I've been wrong!"

Pop Fizz approached him to talk. "Spyro, old friend, what happened to you?" Again, Spyro answered being rude. "I've changed, stupid blue goblin! I'm not an idiotic Skylander like you anymore!"

Despite this, Eruptor made a last attempt. "Spyro, good pal! I know you're in there somewhere! Look, I made your favorite meal, pea soup and pancakes!" He approached the food close to him, but his kindness had no effect.

"You stupid Skylanders need to understand something. Your good old friend Spyro is dead! I'm now a fully evil being, and this change was for the best! Also..." Despite being chained, he managed to headbutt the plates, causing the food to land on Eruptor's face. After having a smug smile, he yelled "Your meals are disgusting!".

"Oh, that does it, you..." Eruptor tried to punch him, but the others prevented him too, right before Eon entered the room with a saddened look. "Spyro..."

"Oh, look who's here!", commented the evil dragon. "That situation must be familiar to you, doesn't it? You thought lying about my past and raising me would've reformed you from what you did, didn't you? It was for nothing!"

Eon answered calmly. "Spyro, I promise we will save you." Spyro let out an evil laugh as an answer. "Save me? From what? I needed to be saved from your lies and that parasiting light side! I've been helping the wrong brother this whole time, I won't make the mistake again."

He then took the opportunity to see everyone reunited. "Well, since the secret got out, guess I can tell what I did to give you a taste of what'll happen to you once Strykore becomes king and darkness will be spread all over Skylands! I kidnapped King Pen and tortured him, right before you came to rescue him! Also, remember when everyone went crazy with telling the truth? That was me! I've brainwashed all of you by mistake, because I wanted Eon to tell me about Arkus. Speaking of, I've manipulated Kaossandra and him during their hypnotic state for this goal!"

The group was shocked, but he was only starting. "Then, when you had those mole theories, I decided to get attention away from myself by spreading fake clues for it. And you idiots fell for it! I also told Elfy to go with Flynn so I'd get rid of her for a day, because she was really starting to get annoying." Elfy got angered, but tried not to yell at him, as he continued.

"Oh, and Jet-Vac... When we went inside Eon's body, I took the opportunity to manipulate his powers to get the map to Arkus. But it didn't work!"

The bird couldn't stay calm at this. "So I was right! You were planning something with that! You could've gotten the academy to close, you know?"

Spyro smiled at it. "Yeah, like I'd care! Then I tried to corrupt Stealth Elf to the darkness to join my cause, but I was out of luck and she gave the cursed bracelet to Kaossandra instead. And also, I manipulated Eruptor to go back in time so I could learn about Wumpan puzzle boxes. The end! Did you like it?"

The whole group was silent, torn between the anger of having been duped the whole time, and the sadness of seeing that their longtime friend turned into an evil manipulator.

Kaossandra then called the group to the living room. Spyro realized he'd be alone for a while and commented. "Sure, go mind your business! But know that I'm not done with you yet!"

At the living room, they heard the question: "How was it with Spyro?" Elf did her best not to cry. "Terrible... We couldn't reason him at all..." Unfortunately, Kaossandra also had bad news to share. "I'm afraid I couldn't find anything about the situation..."

Hugo then arrived to share good news. "I found it! I got the book that holds the recipe of a serum that cures darkness!" Eon checked the book and was surprised. "But.. I don't think I've seen this book before!"

Hugo admitted "Well, I used it under my chair, because it was too small for my desk."

Elfy had doubts. "I don't know... Maybe Spyro is gone forever..." Kaossandra then talked to her. "This isn't true! Remember what happened when he tried to corrupt you. He came a long way just to check on you, and save you from harm! Why would he have done something like that if he was purely evil?"

"Come to think of it...", thought Jet-Vac, "when we were inside Eon's body, he ended up using the powers to stop Golden Queen and save our friends! Even though he said he was trying to exploit them for evil!"

"Exactly!", reassured Kaossandra. "Your good friend is still somewhere out there, trying to fight back against Strykore's influence! And that serum will be exactly what you need for that!"

The group was optimistic, but Pop Fizz checked the formula. "Um, guys... I think I can manage to do it, but it says we need venom from a Fire Viper, and I don't have that!"

Stealth Elf commented with a newfound optimist and seriousness given their goal. "Then we will get some immediately, no matter the danger. Our friend needs our help!"

Eon smiled seeing that, before commenting. "Skylanders, this might be a dangerous mission, but I know you can handle it! We'll keep an eye on Spyro while you're away, do not worry about that!"

The group then left the academy, leaving Eon and Kaossandra with Dark Spyro, but they knew it was useless to try to reason him, so they ended up putting ear plugs on so they wouldn't have to endure the long list of insults and threats that he had in store for the light side. The dragon was such a loudmouth that he did that during pretty much the entire absence of the team.

While they don't hear, the dragon muttered to himself. "I have to get out of here, Strykore is counting on my help... Maybe I can dupe them again...? They're idiots anyway..."

Around an hour later, the team came back successfully thanks to an unexpected help. "Hugo, that was amazing!", commented Stealth Elf. Eruptor added. "You were able to stand against three Fire Vipers and take some of their venom, yet, you're terrified of a sheep."

The last word caused the Mabu to panic. "Sheep? Where?" Trying to run away, he ends up slamming against a wall. Seeing this, Jet-Vac concluded. "Well, maybe we should wait before letting him go on an adventure again..."

Pop Fizz arrived and commented. "Okay, guys! I'm all done!" "You're done with the serum?", asked a hopeful Eruptor, although he gets a weird answer. "No, I'm done with my smoothie!" After a little silence, he adds. "But the serum was much easier to do!". Having this great news, the group warned Eon and Kaossandra, who then transported the chained Spyro to the office.

Unusually for him, he had a rather sincere demeanor. "Guys, guys... I was joking the entire time! The whole evil thing was just a prank! You know me, I love to joke around... Got you!"

Eon stayed calm and simply reacted with a question. "What do you prefer between beards and mustaches?" The dragon thought before happily answering "Mustaches!"

This answer had the effect of having Eon feel like his heart was ripped in pieces. "He truly is evil! My dear Spyro would've never hurt my feelings that way..."

The dragon confirmed it by trash-takling the group one more time. "Because I am not your Spyro! I'm a pure evil spirit! Having to be around you pathetic Skylanders, is worse that any kind of torture! But I'm not worried... I'll be rewarded from all those efforts, once I see you all bow down to Strykore!"

He happily checks the worried expressions of the group, before adding one more thing. "And by the way, Eon... That beard of you not only is ridiculous, but the way you obsess over it is creepy! Who else would have a secret room at their office dedicated to his beard, and claim it's the biggest treasure of Skylands? Because, yeah, I went to that room under the Relic room, and it was the most disgusting thing I ever saw! You're a freak!"

Eon, seeing the reaction of this knowledge, had enough and said angered. "Pop Fizz, let's give him the serum!" The dragon wasn't worried. "Mahaha! Good luck! I'll spit anything you'll try to feed me with!"

Pop Fizz wasn't worried either. "Oh, I figured you could do that. Which is why I made sure the serum would be grenadine-flavored!" The dragon lost his confidence to have a terrified expression. "No! No one can resist the taste of grenadine!"

Jet-Vac held his head while Pop Fizz gave him the serum. He had a happy smile at it, but complained. "Why does it have to be so delicious?" He then seemed to have lost conciousness.

Pop Fizz then warned the group. "Okay everyone, stay back! We don't know how the serum will act!"

Inside Spyro's body, the magic of the serum went through the darkness and went to the small part where good Spyro is trapped unconscious in a small bubble. It managed to pass through all the darkness and break him free. This act made Dark Spyro cough.

The gremlin watched and commented. "That's it? I was expecting something more like..."

Before he could finish his comment, the serum continued his effect by surrounding good Spyro and suddenly glowing. From the outside, Dark Spyro's body moved and glowed as well.

When it stopped, what fell on the bed was Spyro, the good and friendly purple and orange dragon. He slowly opened his eyes and realized what happened. "Whoa..."

Stealth Elf, Eruptor, Pop Fizz and Jet-Vac couldn't wait and immediately hugged him. Elf yelled "Spyro! It's really you!" But Kaossandra commented. "Everyone, I hate to interrupt your joy, but... I'm afraid the serum had an unwanted effect..."

The group looked around and saw Dark Spyro, having his own body, free from his light side. Pop Fizz simply commented. "That must've been the grenadine taste. I should've made it mint flavored..."

Dark Spyro looked around with an evil smile, but wasn't really focusing on the ones he's been tormenting the whole time. He then breaks the silence with his deep voice.

"Well..." he flew down next to Spyro's bed. "It's a pleasure to meet my weak side in person!" He violently kicked the bed in order to hurt him, but he managed to jump before. The two dragons kept an eye contact while exchanging.

Light Spyro commented. "I could say the same for you! You're uglier here than in mirrors!" Dark Spyro then started to threaten him. "You'd better give up right now, Spyro!" While talking, he noticed Stealth Elf moving next to him and tried to attack her, but she dodged. But even then, he didn't care much. "The Skylands aren't big enough for the two of us!"

The good Spyro answered with a literal answer. "What do you mean? Skylands are vast enough for an infinity of Spyros!" "You know what I mean, idiot!"

He then charged the purple dragon, slammed him against the floor and threw him against the wall. This caused Stealth Elf to take lead. "Guys, we must help Spyro!"

Dark Spyro heard and took profit that his light side was tired to answer. "Don't even try to waste your time! Your good old friend Spyro will be defeated! And you'll be next, because without him weakening me, I don't care at all about my so-called friends!" He decided to prove it by spitting a fireball at them, which caused Spyro to yell in horror. Thankfully, Eon managed to protect the group with a forcefield.

But regardless of that, Spyro had enough. Even since his dark side was born, he was forced to do terrible things to his fellow Skylanders: kidnapping, torturing, lying, manipulating, brainwashing, corrupting, and physical harm. This act was the last straw for him. And this time, he was able to express it.

"Don't you dare, touch my friends!" He violently grabbed his dark side and dragged him outside on the skies, so the fight would be personal and his friends out of harm.

The dragons kept charging at each other and attacking. "Do your worst, purple boy!" "My worst is my best!" "You don't get anything, do you, Spyrognus?" "If you fight as bad as you find nicknames, this is victory assured for me, Black Scales!"

Meanwhile, the group went outside, trying to see what happened. "Where are they?", asked Eruptor. "We just got our friend back, we can't lose him again right now!"

Dark Spyro yelled of rage at this remark and fired purple fames that were homing at his light side. The latter managed to beat them with his own fire, but while he tried to attack by charging, his dark side repulsed him with his forcefield power.

The black dragon then talked and gloated. "Do you see how much cooler the dark side is? You can do pretty cool stuff. Like this!" He started concentrating energy that caused his claws to glow purple and he had dark electricity around his horns. Seconds later, a Supercharger went after Spyro, which he grabbed. His evil side then let it spin endlessly.

"See? This is sick, right?" Spyro did his best to keep hold. "Yeah, I might get sick..." He then managed to throw it away by focusing his strenghts. Seeing this, his evil side stayed calm.

"That was impressive! But look at you, you can't face a Spyro fueled by the power of darkness!" He punched him very violently as he spoke. "I'll always win, because I'm a pure evil being, my dear!" The last kick made him land violently on a floor.

Spyro was in pain and thought. "... Is it over...? Am I... that weak? Will evil... win...?"

His thoughts were interrupted by familiar voices. "There he is!" The whole grouped talked in close unison. "Spyro, you can do it! Don't give up!" Spyro thought. "Guys..." He then took a confident smile against his opponent.

"You're completely wrong! That's because you're evil that you'll lose! The true strenght reside in the power of friendship! My friends risked their lives in order to save me! The power of light will always be the strongest!"

Dark Spyro got irritated. "Why can't you just be defeated, like you're supposed to?"

"Because I'm Spyro! Doing what I'm not supposed to do is my thing!"

That was the last word the black dragon would want to hear and decided to finish him by firing a powerful dark fire, which Spyro tried to fight back with his own fight. The effect of the collision left a very powerful blast that cleared the sky.

Spyro was catching his breath and angrily looked in front of him. But his opponent was nowhere to be seen. His dark side seemed to have left. He couldn't help but wonder if the explosion killed him, or if he just took the opportunity to escape.

But it didn't matter much to him. What mattered was that he'd finally be away from harming his friends. Speaking of, Spyro sighed in a saddenen way. "I guess it's time..." He then went close to his friends, not hearing what they were saying.

Eon commented "No one could survive a blast of energy this powerful."

Eruptor deduced: "So it means that Spyro is..." "Dead?" Stealth Elf was close to crying until she heard a voice. "Hey guys! What's with the depressed looks?" "SPYRO!"

The whole groupe rejoiced, but Spyro seemed unconfortable with them touching him so suddenly. "But... You guys... forgive me?" Pop Fizz answered. "Of course we do! Do you owe us money?"

Spyro had a small giggle before confessing. "No, but I mean... I was there, deep down the entire time I was evil. I saw all the terrible things I did to you..." He started tearing up. "I thought you would never give me another chance... Especially Elf..."

Stealth Elf felt pain and confessed too. "Spyro... Thinking that I'd lose my best friend to the side of evil was the worst experience of my life! Well, alongside puberty... But..." She started holding his paw. "I knew deep down that it wasn't OUR Spyro who's like that! Of course, I forgive you!" The other Skylanders were quick to agree.

"Totally!" "We missed you and were worried when we learned!" "Welcome back, Spyro!"

Eon saw the whole thing and talked to the group. "Skylanders, we still have work to do! Strykore is now in possession of the map to Arkus, and he's plotting to destroy the Core of Light! We still have to go and stop him! But for now, I only have one thing to say... Skylanders, unite! For a group hug!" The four partners of Spyro went hugging him with smiles, alongside Eon, while Kaossandra watched the heartwarming scene.

Spyro still had tears in his eyes, but left out a breath. "I can't believe I'd say this, but..." He blinked and teared up, said tears having turned into hot tears of happiness. "... I missed these!"

He then kept a happy smile the whole time. He was finally himself again, he didn't lose his friends or his job as a Skylander, and had the opportunity to prove it by stopping Strykore once and for all.