Skylanders Academy: New Horizon

by andresponceb2002

Just as Peace was within reach for the Skylands, a new threat arrises! New adventures, new chalenges and a new ultimate evil will keep the Skylanders pretty ocupied on their newest adventure yet! Join Spyro and the Skylanders as they throw down with thier newest foes, The dreadful Knights of Solitude! (rated T for violence)

11. Chapter 11

Skylanders Academy: New Horizon

by andresponceb2002

Chapter 11) Bad Omen

There was darkness. Pure and absolute. No sound could be heard.

Spyro felt paralyzed, unable see, unable to move, unable to speak in the darkness. But, Spyro felt at ease, he felt a comforting warmth over him, he felt like someone, someone he couldn't see, but trusted fully, was looking over him. He felt safe.

"What do you think we should name him?" A male voice asked through the darkness. It was rough, but kind, and was heightened with excitement.

"I don't know." Another voice answered. This one was female and it sounded silvery and pleasant. The voice spoke slowly and softly, as if it was trying not to wake someone up. "Buuut, you know? I've always really liked-" The voice paused, as if was thinking its answer through. "Spyro." The voice said in a warm tone.

Spyro felt a rush of warmth shot through him, making him feel fuzzy inside. Spyro… that was his name… he liked his name.

"Oh, that's a good one. I really like that one!" The first voice exclaimed in a quiet tone. "You're so good at picking names."

The second voice then giggled. "What a nice thing for you to say. I just hope you are just as good at picking them because you get to name the second one."

The first voice then gasped and spoke excitedly. "Oh wow. I- I just…" The excitement got the better of the first voice, making the second voice giggle again. However after a short breath, the first voice composed itself and spoke, still a little quickly. "Okay, okay. I've been workshoping this one. You tell me if it's any good. Don't want him getting picked on or anything."

"Of course." The second voice replied warmly.

"Alright, how do you feel about…" The first voice paused. "Cyrus? Is that like a cool name?"

"Cyrus…" The second voice repeated slowly. "Yes, that's a wonderful name."

Spyro then heard the first voice quietly hiss something that sounded like: Yisss.

But then, Spyro heard something… different. The sound wasn't a voice like the what Spyro had heard up to that point. It actually sounded like a heartbeat. Spyro didn't know why, but he somehow knew that it wasn't his own heartbeat, or that of the voices. It was someone else's. It sounded a little far away, but still close somehow. It was a strange feeling, but, it was what it was. Whoever that heartbeat belonged to, Spyro could tell like they were important, someone dear to him, someone he felt close to.

Spyro then felt as he started smiling. He didn't know why, but he felt happy, so very happy. He felt like he was surrounded by people who cared about him. He felt like he was with… yes. He was with his family. Spyro couldn't ask for anything more than this.

"I'll go call the elders, get their names written down on the tree." The first voice said.

"I'll stay here with them meanwhile." The second voice said softly

"Alright then, I'll get going!" The first voice exclaimed excitedly. Then, Spyro heard the sound of footsteps leading away from him.

A few moments passed in a pleasant silence. Spyro could feel that whoever the second voice belonged to, had indeed stayed with him. He could feel them watching over him. Then, Spyro heard a strange and beautiful sound. The voice had started humming delicately, a little song they had made up, just for him. It was a soft melody, soothing to listen to. Spyro could feel himself smile from hearing its pleasant sound.

Then, Spyro heard as footsteps sounded again, returning toward where he was. They started hastily, but slowed down as they got closer, not wanting to interrupt the second voice's humming.

"I wonder which one of us they'll take after." The second voice said suddenly, speaking softly, slowing down it's humming.

"I think they'll get your eyes." The first voice answered.

"Hah, which ones?" The second voice asked again in a playful tone.

"Both." The first answered. "I bet each one will get one of your two colors."

"That's impossible!" The second voice said laughing, making the first laugh as well.

"You'll see." The first voice said, recovering from their laughter. "One of them is going to have beautiful red eyes, and the other elegant green eyes."

The second voice sighed, a short, happy sigh. "We'll see. I just hope this whole War blows over by then." It said, its voice saddening slightly.

"Heyyy…" The first voice said slowly in a comforting tone. "I'm sure Eon will get this whole mess under control. This War will burn out one day- one day soon. Then, we'll all be a big happy family." The first voice said reassuringly. Spyro would like that very much. "Strykore isn't tough enough to beat all of us." The voice stated.

"What a bold statement Darlan." A new voice said suddenly. It was gravely and was smeared with a malevolent edge. It made Spyro suddenly feel really scared. "Mind if we test it's veracity?"

"Strykore!?" Both of the voices exclaimed suddenly.

"What are you doing here you monster!?" Darlan's voice shouted.

"I'm here on a recruitment mission." Strykore's voice stated simply, ending in a low growl. "And you, unbearable lizards, are the recruits!" He said maliciously.

"Did you hit your head on your way here?" Darlan asked in a mocking voice. "We'd never join you!"

"Yes, you purple dragons are quite stubborn." Strykore growled. "That's why I won't leave that choice up to you!" Afterwards, the crackle of magical lightning filled the air around Spyro.

"Darlan! Get the kids out of here!" The female voice shouted.

"I'm not leaving you to fight him alone, Silver!" Darlan shouted back. Suddenly a loud blast sounded, dangerously close to Spyro, followed by pained grunt from Darlan. The darkness made it difficult for Spyro to understand what was going on.

"He can't take me." Silver's voice said, still speaking pleasantly, but confidently, filled with tenacity. "But I can't let him hurt the kids… So get out of here!"

"But I…" Darlan's voice started, but it was interrupted by another blast of lightning. It sounded just as close to Spyro and was followed again by another pained groan from Darlan's voice.

"Just go!" Silver's voice shouted. At that, Spyro heard as what sounded like a jet of flames erupted somewhere nearby, it was followed by a frightened yelp form a gravelly voice Spyro guessed was Strykore's.

After a short pause, Spyro felt like the world around him began to shake. He felt like he was being moved around and lifted off the ground. He also felt like that other heartbeat was picked up alongside with him. It was beating faster, as if it was just as scared as Spyro. It also felt a little further away, but still there. Spyro could also hear a very powerful wingbeat, it sounded hurried as it sliced through the wind.

"Kids." Darlan's voice sounded suddenly after a couple of moments. "I don't know if you can hear me, but..." It paused, and spoke in a strangled voice. "I just want you two to know… that, your mother and I… we lo-"

Before Spyro could hear what Darlan's voice was about to say, Spyro felt like the world shook suddenly. Darlan gave out a loud howl of pain as the crackle of magic filled the air.

"You can't escape me, purple fool!" Strykore's voice shouted. He was back. "You and your putrid kind will be my servants forever more!" He shouted with a malevolent laugh as the sound of magic being fired shot close to Spyro. Then, Spyro felt like he was being laid down somewhere, that second heartbeat still close to him, making him feel a little relieved.

"What did you do to Silver!?" Darlan roared. "Answer me!"

"The same thing I'm going to do to you." Strykore stated sinsterly. "Don't worry. You, your beloved and your lovely children will still be one big, happy family…" Strykore spoke the last words in a derisive and disgusted voice. "While you all help me destroy the Core of Light!"

Spyro then heard a furious, mighty roar. Then Spyro heard an intense struggle, a thunderous battle. He heard fire burn and magic whistle through the air. There were groans of pain, the sound of trees being snapped in half and labored breathing.

"You should already know that you can't beat me." Strykore's voice began. "If you'd simply give up, this would all be so much easier for all of us."

"Hah! I'm too much of a hardhead to do things the easy way, pal." Darlan responded, an undaunted tone in his voice. "And mark my words, you'll have to kill me before you lay a finger on my kids." Darlan stateded boldly.

A short pause ensued, a tense moment where time held still for Spyro, all that sounded was the small, frightened heartbeat beside him. Then, Strykore's voice sounded. "That…" He began. "Can be arranged."

Then, Spyro felt the ground shake. He could feel himself bounce in the darkness as the ground beneath him quaked. He felt as the heartbeat beside him was inching slightly further away from him, little by little. Then, Spyro felt a horrible sensation crawl up his spine. He started to hear something like a cardboard ball, slowly rolling away from him. As the rolling sound got further away, Spyro noticed that so did the heartbeat that had been following him so far.

The further away that heartbeat got, the worse Spyro began to feel. It was like a tiny piece of him was slowly being ripped away. Spyro tried desperately to squirm in the darkness, trying to reach out to the fainter and fainter heartbeat.

"No!" Darlan's voice shouted in a terribly distressed tone. "Cyrus!" He shouted. "No, no, no!"

"My, how unfortunate for such a valuable resource to be lost to an unfortunate fall." Strykore's voice said, no real regret was in his voice. "Oh well, I guess I can spare one servant."

"No." Spyro tried to say, but no sound came. "Brother?" He called, but no one answered, the sound of the heartbeat nowhere to be found. "Cyrus? Cyrus!?"

---

"Cyrus!?" Spyro shouted at the top of his lungs as he flung his eyes open and he stood up suddenly, stretching his wings and tensing up..

"Woah, woah!" Spyro heard someone say suddenly in a startled voice. "Dude you're fine, you're fine!"

Spyro looked around, breathing heavily, cold sweat running down his temples. As his eyes focused and he started to scan where he was, Spyro began to slowly calm down.

The purple dragon was in his room, standing on his bed. As he got his bearings, Spyro looked to his left, to where the voice he had heard had come from. Standing beside his bed, with a very concerned look on his face, stood Eruptor.

"Are you okay, man?" The magma Skylander asked tentatively.

Spyro's memory suddenly kicked into gear. With a splitting headache, that made him groan and knit his brow, Spyro suddenly remembered what had happened, what he had found out about himself… about his family.

"Where is Cyrus?" Spyro asked, not wanting to waste time.

"Dude, you were pretty banged up." Eruptor said in a concerned tone. "You were out cold for a whole day! We were all worried sick and Master Eon and Kaossandra really want to talk to you."

Spyro suddenly felt a sense of dread overtake him. "A whole day?" He repeated to himself, his heartbeat rising steadily. "Eruptor-" Spyro started, trying to keep his voice steady, mostly failing. "Where is Cyrus?"

"He's locked up at Cloudcracker Prison." Eruptor answered. "Why do you need to know?"

Spyro had stopped listening after Cloudcracker Prison. The purple dragon then took flight off his bed, heading for the room's door.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Eruptor shouted suddenly, using his body to block the door. "Why are you so riled up? And what's with the sudden interest in Cyrus? You've been knocked out for a day after Sprocket found you in some creepy cave and he is the first thing that pops up in your mind?"

"Eruptor, please." Spyro asked in a pleading voice. "I just need to see him. There's something we need to talk about."

"Something you two have to talk about?" Eruptor asked in a suspicious voice. "Okay, now I'm definitely not letting you go see him. You're doing that thing again where you bottle stuff up and get yourself hurt."

"Eruptor…" Spyro began. "I nee-"

"No! No way!" Eruptor interrupted, not having any of it. "You're going to talk all of us through this mess and then, maybe Master Eon and Kaossandra can let you go see that, monster." He hissed the last word spitefully.

Spyro growled and clenched his fists. "Don't call him that." He snapped, a little harsher than he meant, which made Eruptor look a little hurt. Realizing this, Spyro himself felt a little ashamed. So, with a short, defeated sigh, he spoke. "Alright. I'll come clean."

"In front of everyone!" Eruptor interjected. "No keeping any secrets!"

Spyro looked at the floor. He wasn't eager, but he knew there was no way around his friends. "Fine, let's just go, then."

---

Spyro walked slowly in front of Eruptor as both Skylanders walked toward the Academy main gates. They passed several other Skylanders who were all having their own day as they reached the large blue gates leading to the Academy common room, where Eruptor had said everyone was waiting for Spyro.

"Look, man." Eruptor began from behind Spyro. "Just be honest, we're your friends, we can help." He said in a caring voice.

Spyro didn't look back to Eruptor, he just took a deep breath before pushing the gates open, allowing him to enter the common room, leaving his friend behind him.

Inside, were Stealth Elf, Pop Fizz, Jet-Vac, Cynder, Master Eon and Kaossandra. They were all standing around the first floor of the room, with troubled looks on their faces.

"Guys." Eruptor called, making everyone face him and Spyro. "He's up."

"Spyro!" Everyone exclaimed, suddenly lighting up. The Skylanders then rushed over to their friend. And bombarded him with questions and caring cometary.

"We were worried sick lad!" Jet-Vac said.

"How did you end up in that weird tomb?" Stealth Elf asked as she knicked him in the arm in a friendly gesture. "Thank goodness Sprocket fixed her tracking monitor, else we all would have been in trouble.

"You should really avoid getting burned with those flames so often, dude." Pop Fizz recommended. "We're kind of running a little low on that Healing Elixir thingy, you know?"

Spyro was a little overwhelmed by the onslaught of words, so he unwillingly took a step back from his friends. "Guys, I woke up like five minutes ago. A little break please?" He said, a little too cuttingly, which made the Skylanders flinch slightly.

"Spyro?" A soft voice spoke. From behind the group of Skylanders Cynder stepped forward, a warm little smile on her face. "It's- It's good to see you up and well again." She said.

Spyro looked at his friend. She was standing a little close to him, which made Spyro's face feel a little hot and made him lips curl slightly up in a tiny smile. Then, Cynder took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Spyro, resting her head on his shoulder, embracing him in warm hug.

"I'm happy to see you're okay." She said in a soft voice.

Spyro then felt something he only seemed to feel when Cynder was near him. He felt like a comforting, tingling warmth spread slowly through his body, spreading from wherever he felt Cynder's body against his. He then raised his arms, slowly, about to embrace his friend back.

But suddenly, something flashed through Spyro's mind. Cold, wounding words that overpowered even Cynder's embrace. "Why?" Cyrus' voice pierced through his thoughts, his face burning through his memories "Why was I never given a chance to be happy?" As those words crossed through Spyro's mind, his arms froze up, midway in the air. Then, Spyro grabbed Cynder by the shoulders and slowly, albeit steadily, he began to pull her away from him.

"I'm sorry." He managed to say in a low voice, refusing to look at Cynder in the eyes as he let go of her. The felt the warmth she had given him faded away slowly, woundingly.

Spyro then managed to lift his gaze, he looked at Cynder, wanting to apologize further. But, when he looked at her face, Spyro felt a cold stab in his heart, stopping him from speaking. Cynder looked at Spyro with a pained expression. Her blue eyes were glistening and seemed very slightly drooped, her lower lip was lightly curled up and trembled slightly as her mouth hung halfway open, as if she didn't understand what Spyro had done.

Spyro felt like he wanted to take what he did back. He wanted to hold Cynder in his arms again, he never wanted to see her look at him like that. So, Spyro tried to take a step forward, stretching out one of his arms to Cynder. "Cynder I…" He started.

But she took a step back from him and then another, staying out of Spyro's reach, still looking at him with the same wounded expresion. Spyro then felt another stab of cold in his heart, making him wince. He never remembered feeling this way. It hurt… it hurt really bad.

Spyro was filled up with regret for hurting Cynder. But with a heavy heart and a furrowed brow, he managed to walk through his friends, toward Master Eon and Kaossandra, who were looking at him with worried eyes.

"Master Eon…" Spyro began, with his head low. "I need to go to Cloudcracker Prison."

"And why is that?" Master Eon questioned in concerned tone.

"I need…" Spyro started. "To help my brother." He thought, not able to say it outloud. Instead, Spyro said what he had said to Eruptor. "I need to talk to Cyrus." That was the truth, so Spyro stuck with that.

"Why do you need to talk to him?" Kaossandra questioned. "He is still dangerous, even in Cloudcracker Prison. He has refused to say anything at all. Not just information about what Omen's plans are, but he literally has not said a single word since we captured him." The sorceress stated. "What could you even have to talk about anyway?"

"I just need to talk to him." Spyro said quickly, trying to keep this brief. "It's important."

"What do you mean?" Master Eon asked. "Spyro, you can tell me." He said warmly.

"Can I tell him?" Spyro thought to himself. "Can I tell any of them? How could they understand something like this?" He pondered fanatically.

"Spyro." Master Eon picked up. "Please, let me help you… I'm here for you. Just tell me how I can help."

"Master Eon." Spyro started up, barely able to hold it in anymore. "No offence but, how would you be able to help me with this of all things?" He asked.

"W-Well, I'm sure if you tell me." Master Eon began. "I could find a way."

Spyro was at the end of his rope. And so, with a short sigh, he let go. "I found out, that I have a brother." Spyro stated. "And I also found out that, this brother is none other that Cyrus."

Silence hung over the air in the common room. Spyro could almost feel like everyone's eyes were fixated on him. He could feel their pity and concern hang over him. He didn't need that, he didn't need any of this. He needed to talk to his brother.

"So? Master Eon?" Spyro mustered. "Can you help? Or are you going to let me go handle this?" He demanded as he looked at his mentor, a pleading but stern look in his eyes.

No answer came from the ethereal portal master, he just looked at Spyro with his eyes wide and mouth agape. However, he composed himself, shaking his head slowly and speaking quickly. "Y-You have a b-brother!? Are you sure!? How on earth did you find out!?"

"That cave I was in." Spyro began. "I held a lot of secrets about my dragon kind. Including a family tree." He continued. "With that tree, I learned who my parents were and that… Cyrus is my brother." He said, the words sounding wrong as they came out of his mouth. Spyro was still not over what he had learned.

"Spyro." Kaossandra spoke suddenly, making Spyro look over to her. "If this is true, then you really do need to go speak with him." She said. "Learning something like this most have certainly been difficult for you both, but, since you learned it together and since it links you together, only you two can help each other."

Spyro ran Kaossandra's words through his mind. She was right. So, with a steady nod Spyro spoke. "I'm going to Cloudcracker Prison. I'll be back." He stated as he raised his wings and quickly took off, flying out of the common room out of the empty clearing behind Master Eon's desk, flying out of the Academy and heading to Cloudcracker Prison.

---

Omen was taping it's fingers on the armrest of his chair. It was slumped down on one of the many armchairs in the circular, black marble room, waiting.

It tapped its remaining fingers on the armrest, still waiting. Omen had still not brought itself to get a new hand since it had lost its original a while ago when that undead dragon escaped it's grasp. It had quite a few spare parts lying around here and there, but hadn't used them yet.

Omen was waiting. Still waiting. Still taping it's fingers on the armrest. But nothing happened. Omen was still no closer to getting its dragons.

"Well, that's just sad." Omen began, getting up from the armchair. "You know, it has always made me so mad-" It continued speaking, even if no one was in the room. Omen then used its remaining hand to draw a circle on the air. As Omen finished drawing it, it turned pitch black and strange purple runes appeared around its edge. Omen then drove it's hand into the darkness, reaching out for something inside. "-That some wise guy from a hundred years ago, gets to be right about stuff that happens today."

From the darkness, Omen extracted what looked like a strange new arm. The shoulder was made of a metallic shoulder pad from a knight's armor. Connected to the shoulder pad, were three intertwined strings, one green, one orange and one purple, like the rags that hung beneath Omen's waist. Connected to these strings was a large, ,metallic claw, that had six sharp fingers. The fingers were divided in three pairs that each opposed the other, like a set of jaws.

Then, the wooden shoulder that was missing part of its red string and it's hand, suddenly popped off from Omen's yellow chest, falling to the ground beside it with a loud clatter. Then, using its remaining hand, Omen grabbed the new arm and connected the shoulder pad to its chest. The limb stuck on steadily and Omen could feel sensation spread across its new arm. Omen then moved its new hand through the air, watching as it floated, leaving the three colorful, intertwined strings behind it while Omen flexed the new hand's sharp metal fingers.

Satisfied, Omen resumed its little soliloquy after a short disembodied sigh. "Well, I suppose I can't blame them for being right." Omen continued as it drew another, much larger circle in front of itself, large enough for Omen to cross through. As the strange runes surrounded the edge of the dark circle, an image shimmered on its surface.

"After all, I guess it is true what they say." Omen continued. "If you want something done right-" It quoted, entonating the last word. "You have to do it… yourself." Omen said as the image of Skylander Academy came into view through the portal's dark mouth.

---

The wind was blowing beneath Spyro's wings, almost as if wanted him to reach Cyrus as quickly as Spyro himself wanted.

The trip from the Academy to Cloudcracker Prison was rather long, but flying at this speed with this wind behind him, Spyro was sure he could get there much faster than usual.

Many things were crossing Spyro's mind as the clouds and isle passed beside him. the thought that was most present in his mind was: "What am I going to say to him?" Spyro had had the urge, the drive to talk to Cyrus face to face since their fight, since they both had their worlds turned around by the truth of who they were. However, Spyro hadn't really thought of what to say to his brand new brother.

"Hey dude, we're brothers! That means we have to love each other right?" Spyro rehearsed by himself. Acknowledging the quality of that awful dialogue, Spyro let out a stressed groan. He would just have to say what came to him in the moment.

The next thing on Spyro's mind was something that he was actively trying to shut out. The memory of Cynder's face, how wounded she had looked when he drove her away from him. Spyro felt his heart ache just from pictureing her looking at him like that.

Spyro could remember having strange feelings for Cynder for a while now, but he never imagined she felt the same, partly because he didn't know how he would, or even should react if she did. But one thing was clear to him, he had hurt her. He never wanted to that to her again.

But despite how bad he felt about it, Spyro couldn't bring himself to completely regret doing what he did. He needed to talk to Cyrus, that much he knew. So he settled for shutting the image of Cynder out of his mind for the moment.

And after a few minutes of flying, as the massive outer wall of Cloudcracker Prison loomed over the clouds, Spyro was about to get his chance. He swallowed hard, bracing himself for his little family meeting.

---

Cynder walked out of the Academy common room opening the large blue doors with her paws. She walked with her gaze low as she headed to her dormitory across the Academy.

"Cyrus is his brother?" She thought to herself, completely dumbfounded by the very idea. "No wonder he was acting so weird." Cynder could only imagine how Spyro must have felt after finding out news like that, after figuring out what something like that would mean.

She then remembered what had happened between them. How she had reacted, how Spyro must have felt. She felt regret at how they had left things, she felt like they should have talked things through. But now, Spyro was gone, off to Cloudcracker Prison to talk to his long lost brother. She guessed now wasn't the best time to talk about… how they felt about…

Cynder shook her head suddenly, pushing her thoughts out of her mind and rubbing her suddenly heated cheeks. Cynder concluded that they would talk things over when the time came. Right now, Cynder was going home for a much needed rest.

"Cynder!" A familiar voice called from behind her, sounding distant.

"Stealth Elf?" Cynder asked as she turned around, looking out for her green friend.

"Cynder!" Stealth Elf's voice, followed by a loud popping noise sounded extremely close to Cynder, startling her and making her jump back in surprise.

"What is it Elf?" Cynder asked her friend, turning around to face the ninja Skylander.

"I just thought." Stealth Elf began. "You and Spyro are really close, right?" She asked unexpectedly.

Cynder tried her best to keep a straight face as she answered. "W-What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"Well, you became friends really fast." Stealth Elf explained. "And ever since this whole Knights of Solitude mess started, you've kind of grown even closer." She added, making Cynder blush slightly. "So, I was thinking, maybe, he told you something? Did he mention anything about this at all to you?"

"No, he didn't." Cynder answered honestly. "I had no idea this whole brother thing was a problem before today. Actually, I think he didn't know about it himself for a while either."

"I guess." Stealth Elf said in a down tone, crossing her arms and looking away from Cynder. "I just wish this whole thing would just blow away already you know? But instead, it just seems to keep getting worse and worse."

"Yeah." Cynder agreed, sharing the sentiment exactly. "We'll just have to wait a little longer I guess." She said, looking down again.

"Man, those are some good tomatoes!" A horrible voice sounded suddenly through the air, not coming from anywhere, yet all over. Its metallic resonance made Cynder and Stealth Elf instinctively cover their ears and wince in pain,

"Thanks dude!" A different voice sounded. "I grow them myself!"

Cynder then turned her head to where the second voice came from, her right, over at the main road to the entrance before the Academy. When she looked over, she felt the blood drain from her face.

Standing on the little bridge that connected the Academy to a large green isle where visitors arrived and left the Academy, stood Food Fight. The little green Skylander was talking to someone in front of him. That person, had a wooden yellow chest, string-like arms and a cylindrical, smoking cage for a head and they were looming over the green Skylander.

Omen was in the Academy. That monster could only be here for one reason and as Cynder realised what that reason was, while she remembered the dark memories of Omen defeating her and her friends single handedly on multiple occasions, Cynder's heart began to race and sweat began to pour down her temples.

"Cynder." Stealth Elf said in a quiet voice. "You need to get out of here." She said.

When Cynder looked over to Stealth Elf, she noticed that she too, looked rather uneasy at the mighty villain's unexpected arrival. Her eyes were wide, focused on Omen while drops of sweat slowly ran down her face as well.

"I can't leave." Cynder said. "He's too dangerous."

"He is here for you." Stealth Elf said as she slowly drew her ninja daggers. "If he catches you, we'll all be in trouble."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Omen's voice sounded agonisingly loudly around Cynder and Stealth Elf, making them cover their ears and hiss in pain again. They had no idea the surreal villian was aware of them.

"Also, If you leave, undead girl-" Omen continued suddenly. "I kill everyone in your little circus here." He threatened in a dangerous voice.

"Hey! I thought you were cool dude!" Food Fight exclaimed suddenly from below Omen.

Then, in a blindingly fast motion, Omen picked up Food Fight using one of his hands by one of the leaves on the Skylander's head, making him exclaim in pain. Then, Omen used his other hand, which looked awfully different from the one he originally had, to draw a large circle horizontally in front of himself. Then, without hesitation, Omen dropped Food Fight inside. The green Skylander gave out a frightened scream that was cut off when the portal closed, sending him who-knows-where.

"Food Fight!" Cynder and Stealth Elf cried at the same time, shocked and frightened by their fellow Skylander's disappearance at the hands of their malevolent foe.

"Hey, what's going on?" A female voice asked suddenly.

Cynder turned her head to her left to see Hex, Skull and Roller Brawl suddenly run up to the Academy main entrance, where they stood, analyzing the situation. Her friends' arrival made her feel a little less frightened.

"Who's that guy?" Roller Brawl asked as she pointed at Omen.

"You know, pointing is rude." Omen stated sheepishly at the undead Skylander's motion.

"I already don't like him." Skull stated flatly.

"Guys, be careful." Cynder warned her fellow Undead Club members. "That's one very powerful villian."

"Yeah." Stealth Elf added. "And he's here to kidnap Cynder." She explained.

"Someone wants to kidnap a Skylander?" A new female voice asked with disbelief. "They can't be very bright." Sprocket stated.

Cynder looked to her right. She saw Sprocket, Chill, Wind Up and Flashwing, all walking up to the Academy main entrance. The fear in Cynder's heart was starting to fade away.

"You can say that again Sprocket!" Yet another voice sounded, this one was male and came from behind Omen. The Skylanders and the surreal villian looked over to the clear isle before the Academy, where Ka-Boom and Bad Breath stood, already in battle pose.

"If this freakshow wants to take one of us." Ka-Boom began, drawing his huge cannon. "He's gonna have to go through all of us!"

"Yeah!" Everyone shouted in unison, in a single voice, determined and unwavering.

The fear in Cynder's heart was completely gone. She smiled confidently as she got into battle pose alongside her fellow Skylanders as they all surrounded Omen, who was looking around him, his glowing purple eyes round with what Cynder guessed was panic.

Then, Omen slowly steadied himself. The villian looked like he had composed himself, as if being surrounded by Skylanders wasn't so much trouble. Then something happened, something that made a little fear creep back into Cynder's heart.

Omen laughed. A short, low snicker that turned into a mild, throaty chuckle. But then, the bizzare-looking villian bent over and let out a full, loud and wholehearted laugh that sounded like metallic cutlery falling loudly on the ground. Then, Omen composed himself once again. Taking a long breath, the villian stood upright and spoke.

"Ohhhh, this is going to be fun." Omen said slowly, looking upward to the skies. "Very… fun… indeed…" He said, slowly lowering his head, his purple eyes lit up with a deranged bloodlust. "Well then!? Come on heeeeroooooes!" Omen dared, entonating the last word mockingly, spreading his arms out and puffing out his chest.

"Let's all die a little!"

---

Spyro was walking down the lower wing of Cloudcracker Prison, being escorted by Snapshot. The Doom Raiders in the lower wing were all giving Spyro and Snapshot dirty looks behind their cell bars, but none of them spoke up or spat any insults. Spyro guessed they were all feeling a little under the weather after Broccoli Guy had conned them out of their freedom.

Meanwhile, Snapshot was taking Spyro to The Hole, the most secure cell in the prison and the place where they had locked Cyrus up in.

"Spyro, I must insist that you reconsider this… visit of yours." Snapshot said as he led Spyro down to The Hole. "If what I've heard about this dragon is true, then he is perhaps the most dangerous prisoner we've ever had in here."

"That's alright Snapshot." Spyro said hurriedly. "I just need to talk to him."

"Well I hope you're a better interrogator than the people I've got here." Snapshot said. "We haven't been able to get even a peep out of him."

"I'll work around that." Spyro said as the two skylanders reached the end of the lower wing and only a large brick wall lay before them. "Ummm, Snapshot, where's The Hole?" Spyro asked confused.

"Right here." Snapshot answered simply. Then, the senior Skylander stretched out his hand and pushed a specific brick in the wall, which then caused a stone archway to slide open, leading down a long, dark stairway al the way down to The Hole.

"Any lights?" Spyro asked nervously as he looked at the darkness before him.

"Oh, well, I have this." Snapshot said as he pulled out a little flashlight out one of his pockets and the handed it to Spyro who took hold of it with one of his paws.

"Thanks Snapshot." Spyro thanked his friend as he began to move toward the stairway. But, before Spyro could reach the first step down, he was held back by the shoulder by Snapshot.

"Be careful boy." He warned before letting go and began to walk away. Spyro assumed he had other prison things to manage beside this.

So, with a hesitant breath, Spyro turned the flashlight on. And while holding his light in hand, he took fight and then dove down the winding stairway down to The Hole. As he landed on the dark grey floor, Spyro noticed a large barred door he guessed led to the actual cell where Cyrus was being held. Spyro felt a sense of unease hang over him as he neared the door. But Spyro steadied himself. He took a deep breath and stretched his paw forth, opening the door as he walked through, faster than his mind could second guess the action.

Spyro now stood in the edge of the large dome-like cell that was The Hole. He remembered the last time he had been here was almost a year ago, when the Doom Raiders were his biggest concern.

"What are you doing here?" A quiet voice asked suddenly, pulling Spyro out of his nostalgia trip.

"You know why I'm here." Spyro answered as he lowered his head to see the shape of an indigo dragon laying down on the floor in the center of the room, facing away from Spyro. "We need to talk." Spyro said in a soft voice.

"What is there to talk about?" Cyrus asked, still facing away from Spyro. "You and I are brothers. That's easy enough to understand."

"Cyrus, please." Spyro said, taking a step forward toward Cyrus. "I know you're hurting, but not facing this isn't going to help you."

"Then what do you want me to do!?" Cyrus roared suddenly, standing up and facing Spyro, his venomous green eyes, fixated on him. "What do you want from me!?"

Spyro was taken back. Once again, he was unaware of just how badly Cyrus was hurting. He had no idea of what to say because fate had been as cruel to Cyrus as it had been kind to him. He had no idea what Cyrus was feeling and as long as he didn't, he couldn't help him. So, Spyro thought of the only thing he though had any chance of working in helping him reach out to Cyrus.

"Help me understand." Spyro said simply, trying to sound as convincing as he could.

"What did you say?" Cyrus demanded, confused.

"Help me understand what you're feeling." Spyro continued. "If I'm going to help you… I need to understand."

Cyrus' gaze softened slightly, ever so slightly. "I thought I told you... to stop acting like you care about me."

Spyro felt like he needed to push a little harder. Cyrus wasn't going to give up anything like this. So, reluctantly, Spyro tired aiming for a nerve. "What does it feel like?" Spyro asked boldly. "When Omen hurts you with the brand?"

Spyro saw as Cyrus' eyes went round from shock. He wasn't expecting this approach. Then, the indigo dragon suddenly took his left paw and started scratching the mark over his left eye slowly. "You… want to know… what it feels like?" He asked slowly.

Spyro simply nodded. Bracing himself for the worst.

"Hoh, how to describe it?" Cyrus began, looking down and away from Spyro. "Do you remember, when you were a kid, and you had this… unnatural fear of the doctor's syringes?" Cyrus continued. "Do you remember how much it hurt? To have that little metal needle poke through your skin? How loud you screamed when it was just buried in you skin, not really doing anything at all except hurting you?"

Spyro began to unwillingly summon several memories of when Eon took him to get vaccinated when he was a kid. Cyrus' description was terrifyingly exact .

"Well... I want you to help me a little bit." Cyrus said, scratching his red mark a little faster as he spoke, a small tremor spreading through his body. "I want you, to take that feeling, that surgically exact pain that you felt in one tiny spot on your arm, and I want you to picture that feeling spread across your whole body. Not a single inch left untouched. A perfect blanket of miniscule needles piercing your skin for minutes on end." Cyrus said, suddenly starting to scratch his chest and neck with his free paw. "Now I want you, to picture how it would feel like… to experience that exquisite sensation every time, you talked back, every time you got back to your home late, every time you used your flames, your wings, the very things that make you a dragon." Cyrus hissed, scratching his body wildly as his shaking grew more intense, almost as if he was trying to get the needles he was talking about off him.

Spyro was speechless, his imagination wasn't vivid enough to picture what Cyrus was describing and he actually felt a little grateful. What Cyrus was describing was horrible. Spyro felt like that alone meant Cyrus suffered more in one normal day of his life than Spyro did in weeks of his. It was agonisingly unfair.

"Then, I want you to picture this." Cyrus picked up, filling Spyro with dread at the thought of more pain. "I want you to picture yourself, after a long day." Cyrus continued. "You feel tired and all you want is to go to sleep, for the embrace of the night to just melt your troubles away. But, as you close your eyes, you wake up, somewhere else, somewhere even darker and even worse than where you wanted to escape from. A nightmare. So, you wake up, screaming and covered in sweat in the middle of the night, every night, three nights in a row, like clockwork until your body finally just gives up and lets you sleep."

"Cyrus." Spyro called, he felt like he had heard enough. He didn't want to hear this anymore, he never thought anyone could be hurt so much and survive. "Please… I'm-"

"Not done!" Cyrus interrupted loudly, his eyes tearing up from the trauma of remembering. "You wanted to know what it felt like!" He shouted. "You kept saying you wanted to help me!" He cried, looking at Spyro rage and sorrow in his voice. "So, help me!"

That was enough. Spyro had just had enough. He couldn't hold it down anymore. Spyro ran through the room, charging at Cyrus who was taken by surprise by the unexpected movement.

Spyro then was just a few inches away from Cyrus, who had still not reacted to Spyro's sudden charge. He was planning on ending this. So, with a quick motion, Spyro took advantage of the indigo dragon's surprise to extend his arms wide and suddenly wrap them around Cyrus back.

Spyro then pressed his forehead against Cyrus' shoulder and closed his eyes, tightening his arms' hold on Cyrus just ever so slightly, embracing him in a hug.

Spyro noticed that Cyrus had stayed perfectly still, perfectly silent for a moment, then another and another, as if he didn't understand what Spyro was doing.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Cyrus asked in a weak voice, still not moving an inch.

"I'm hugging you, man." Spyro answered in a warm voice, tightening his hold just a tiny bit more, afraid to accidentally overwhelm Cyrus.

Then, another moment passed and another before Cyrus spoke again. "Why… Why d-doesn't it h-hurt?" He asked genuinely, his shaky voice mirroring his confusion.

Spyro could feel himself tear up, he couldn't hold back anymore. He pulled Cyrus into a tight hug and let his tears stream down his eyes and fall on Cyrus' shoulder. "Because you are my brother." Spyro answered in a brittle voice. "You might be a sarcastic, apathetic jerk." He said, making both dragons give out a small, sad chuckle. "But you're my family." Spyro continued. "I'm not going to hurt you. And I promise I won't let you get hurt like this anymore." He swore, meaning every word as he cried on his brother's shoulder.

"You... promise?" Cyrus asked, almost sounding more like a plea rather than a question, pronouncing the words awkwardly, as if he didn't know how to react to what Spyro was saying.

"I promise." Spyro answered softly, putting his heart into that promise.

Then, Spyro felt something strange. He felt like Cyrus began to move and for a second, he was afraid Cyrus would pull away from the hug, unwilling to cooperate. But to Spyro's pleasant surprise, Cyrus was moving his arms, which Spyro then felt run up his back and apply pressure, followed by Cyrus' head actually resting on his shoulder. He was hugging back, hugging back tightly.

"I've spent so long looking for my family." Spyro began. "And you're it, man. You are my brother, you're my family."

"I'm… your family?" Cyrus asked genuinely, in a brittle voice like Spyro's.

"Yeah you are." Spyro answer honestly, still hugging his brother tightly. "Yeah you are."

---

Stealth Elf kept her eyes on Omen. She was trying to decide if the strange villian was crazy, foolish or both. However strong Omen might be, there was no doubt in Stealth Elf's mind that, accompanied by her fellow Skylanders, they could defeat the vile enemy in front of them.

"What's so funny trash man?" Roller Brawl snapped suddenly beside Stealth Elf. "You really think you can just beat all of us?"

"I mean." Omen began. "How old are you all anyway?" He asked giggling as he looked at the Skylanders around him.

"Old enouht to kick your but!" Sprocket said boldly, holding her huge wrench tightly.

"Hah! You didn't even say that with the right words!" Omen laughed. "You guys are all like twelve!" He said mockingly.

"That's enough!" Stealth Elf shouted, her hate for the surreal villian manifesting in her voice. "You made a mistake coming here and now you're either going to give up and come willingly to Cloudcracker Prison, or we'll just have to take you there by force."

Omen did not look very impressed. He looked at Stealth Elf with his purple eyes, unmoving and completely silent. "You know?" Omen began suddenly. "You're a bit disappointing in person." He said, making Stealth Elf twitch. "She told me... You were going to surpass her." Omen continued, making Stealth Elf grip her daggers so tight, her hands were getting pale as she figured out who she was.

"She told me: Stealth Elf will grow to be the greatest ninja. She will carry on my legend and defeat you." Omen quoted in a shriek voice, as if he was trying to impersonate Ninjini. "But, I mean, you're a little bit scrawny for "The Great" to fit, aren't you?" He said, doing a picture frame with his mismatching hands and pointing it at Stealth Elf.

Stealth Elf felt like her blood began to boil with anger. She had had it with these villains disrespecting Ninjini's legacy. The genie had put all her trust on Stealth Elf, to the point where she sacrificed herself for her. She wasn't about to let some low-life trash man disgrace her memory.

So, Stealth Elf used what Ninjini had taught her. "Be the ninja." She whispered to herself, getting ready to teach Omen a lesson. "Be the ninja!" She repeated as the world around her moved in slow motion.

Stealth Elf saw as Omen stood in his place, the dark smoke from his cage-like head dispersing much slower than usual, signaling her power had indeed taken effect. So with a deep breath Stealth Elf focused and with a flash of green mist, she teleported toward Omen and readied to kick Omen's cage-like head right off. So, she got in position and gave a swift jump due to the height difference between her and Omen. Once in the air, she tensed her right leg and was about to connect her kick.

But then, Stealth Elf felt something unexpected. She felt as a powerful hand caught her leg midway through her kick, stopping her attack in its tracks. Then, Stealth Elf exclaimed in pain as Omen's new metallic hand tightened like a vice around her leg, the sharp metal finger fingers cutting through her leather boot and burrowing in her flesh.

Stealth Elf had forgotten how fast Omen really was. He had been able to keep up with and even overwhelm Ninjini after all. Then, Stealth Elf felt as Omen's second hand roughly tighten around her neck, stopping the air from reaching her lungs. The pain and shokc made Stealth Elf's power wear off and the world began to move normally once again.

The whole exchange happened so quickly, that to the rest of the Skylanders it seemed to happen over in an instant, and the outcome was something that made them gasp in shock.

Stealth Elf was hanging in midair, held from the neck by Omen's wooden hand.

Stealth Elf tried to look at Omen,l lowering her chin to face him. The villain's eyes were expressing what seemed like smug joy. They were curled upward and looking at Stealth Elf mockingly.

"Ahhh, twelve year-olds are so easy." Omen joked degradingly.

Stealth Elf hadn't thought this through, she had allowed her emotions to get the better of her, just as they had done when Cyrus had baited her the same way. As shame and regret clawed at her heart, Stealth Elf felt like she was being moved through the air at great speeds. The last thing Stealth Elf felt, was the ground rise to embrace her from behind.

---

"Stealth Elf!" Sprocket cried helplessly as she saw her fellow Skylander be brutally slammed into the ground by Omen.

The villian slowly let go of the fallen elf, and turned to face the rest of the Skylanders. "One down." He said. "Ten to go!"

Then, Sprocket saw as Omen stretched out his stranger arm, which had three different color strings connected to a strange metallic vice with six fingers. Then, the whole thing began shaking disturbingly before splitting up into three smaller arms, each made of one of the three strings and connected to what now looked like small metallic pincers.

Then, each of those smaller arms drew a purple ring on the air in front of them, creating a strange black circle in the middle of the air. They all then reached inside the cricle they each had drawn, disappearing into thin air while still connected to Omen's metallic shoulder.

"Guys, stay on guard!" Sprocket heard Cynder yell. "He's gonna try to-"

"What's going on out here!?" Jet-Vac's voice suddenly demanded.

Sprocket turned her head to the Academy main entrance, from where Jet-Vac, Eruptor and Pop Fizz had suddenly walked through. They all looked rather confused at what was going on. Sprocket was about to warn them about Omen but, out of the corner of her eye, she saw as a black circle appeared out of thin air beside her. Then, a metallic pincer erupted with incredible speed from the darkness. Sprocket was too distracted from Jet-Vac and the other's entrance to react in time and so, she felt at the metallic pincer tightly clutched her neck and pulled her into the darkness from which it emerged.

As Sprocket felt herself be pulled through the air, she noticed that as she crossed the dark circle, she suddenly was somewhere else that where she originally was. Disoriented, Sprocket frantically looked around, trying to get her bearings. but before she could, she felt as two impacts crashed against her back. She turned her head to see Roller Brawl and Chill side to side, behind her, both Skylanders being held by the neck similarly to Sprocket herself.

Then, Sprocket felt as something began to tie itself around her waist. She looked down to see the thick red string from Omen's second arm surround her and her fellow Skylanders. Instinctively, she tried to squirm and wiggle free, but the string was unyielding and despite her fellow Skylanders joining her, they were all unable to escape.

But then, Sprocket heard as a low, static hum began to emerge from the string. As the humming got louder, the red string began to glow an intense yellow color. Then, Sprocket felt like she was hit by lightning. She screamed in agony as a massive electrical discharge was released from the arm holding her in place.

---

"Guys!" Jet-Vac cried helplessly.

The senior Skylander had watched in horror as Omen pulled Sprocket, Chill and Roller Brawl through small portals in the air, using a strange new arm. Once he had them all converged, the villian had tied them all together and used the same electric discharge he had previously used against Ninjini. Jet-Vac could do nothing while he saw his friends scream in pain, only to be dropped to the ground by Omen, smoking and unconscious.

"Alright!" Omen's voice suddenly sounded. "Four down, seven to go!" He said cheerfuly.

"Jet-Vac watch out!" Someone warned.

Jet-Vac reacted in time. He ducked, covering his nape and closing his eyes. Then, Jet-Vac heard as something crashed violently against the bricks from the Academy walls. He opened his eyes and looked up to see what had happened. Once he did, Jet-Vac felt really grateful for ducking on time.

Omen had launched his wooden hand at him but missed. And now, as Omen retracted his red strung arm, Jet-Vac understood what was going on.

"He's here for you." Jet-Vac told Cynder. "So I believe it's best that you leave, Cynder." He said, not taking his eyes of Omen.

"I'm not leaving!" Cynder stated with finality. "I can't have you guys to fight him alone!"

"Great!" Omen's disembodied voice sounded through the air. "That just makes things that much easier for me!" He said, laughing malevolently before a high pitched humming began to come from one of his arms.

Then, the red string on Omen's arm began to glow an intense cyan as Omen's wooden chest split away from his waist, which hug stationary beneath him. Then, as a horrible deja-vu hit Jet-Vac, remembering this particular move, he shouted at the top of his lungs, just as Omen's chest began to slowly spin faster and faster.

"Everyone! Look out!" Jet-Vac warned everyone as Omen's glowing arm stretched out and began slicing through everything in its path.

Thanks to Jet-Vac's warning, everyone, including himself, managed to duck or jump over the incoming attack as it cut through the metallic lamp posts, green bushes and other ornaments in the Academy courtyard as Omen's chest spun in circles, the glowing arm following behind.

After a couple of spins, Omen slowed down and retracted his arm, that was now returning to its regular red color. "Man, you guys seem very good at Limbo!" Omen laughed as he looked around at the Skylanders.

"Stop underestimating us!" Cynder yelled, getting up from beside Jet-Vac and taking flight above Omen and the rest of the Skylanders.

Then, Jet-Vac saw as Cynder's wingtips began to glow an intense white as the dragoness seemed to take a deep breath. Then, with a thundering sound, blue lighting erupted from Cynder's mouth as the dragoness released her full might against Omen.

For a second Jet-Vac felt a little hope crawl into his heart as Cynder's attack connected with Omen and the villian groaned in pain and raised his arms in defence. But then, Jet-Vac focused on Omen's arms, and that little hope in him vanished. The villain's wooden hand was glowing with a sinister purple aura as it blocked Cynder's lightning.

Jet-Vac remembered that something like this had happened before. When Eruptor had attacked Omen, the villian had held the Skylander's projectile in his wooden hand when it glowed that eerie purple, only to redirect it with greater power.

"Cynder, stop!" Jet-Vac shouted at his friend above him.

Cynder must have either tired out or heard Jet-Vac, since she did stop her attack. But as Jet-Vac lowered his head to look at Omen, he realized with dread that, it was already too late.

In his wooden hand, Omen held what looked like a miniature thunderstorm. Blue lightning crackled in the villain's hand and a low electric sizzling could be heard emanating from it. Jet-Vac noticed that the lightning was slowly changing color from blue to red in Omen's hand. As Omen looked at his hand with wide eyes he spoke with an impressed voice.

"Wow! Thanks, undead girl!" Omen said in a jolly voice. Then, Omen extended his hand and a massive stream of lightning, almost twice as large as Cynder's original blast and glowing with an unnatural red light, erupted from his hand.

The enormous chain of lightning was aimed directly at Cynder, who desperately tired to dive out of the way, narrowly succeeding as the attack instead crashed against one of the Academy towers. As the impact collided with tower's brick wall, a huge explosion of dust and light erupted, blowing away that entire part of the tower and revealing the room inside.

"You could have killed her!" Jet-Vac roared . He would have never forgiven Omen for taking one of his friends away.

"Oh relax, Captan Caring." Omen began in a casual voice. "I know necromancy, I could have brought her right back." Omen paused. "But it would have been a little inconvienet for her to be a zombie. Can Undead things revive as zombies? They're already undead aren't they?" Omen pondered deeply.

"That's it!" Eruptor shouted suddenly form beside Jet-Vac. "I've had it with you, you monster! Everyone! We need to light him up at the same time! He can't handle all of us!" He said, raising his arms and readying his attack.

"Well said lad!" Jet-Vac said, getting up and taking aim at Omen. "That way, he can't redirect our attacks or hit us with his own, since they leave him vulnerable!" Jet-Vac explained, remembering his previous fights with the villian and noticing a few weaknesses in his formidable power.

"He's right!" Hex shouted. "We need to hit him all at once!"

"Yeah! He really has to feel this!" Skull agreed.

"Everyone!" Jet-Vac began, noticing his fellow Skylander's eagerness equaled his own. "Let him have it!" He shouted as he fired his vac gun at the surreal villain's head.

Then, with surprising coordination to Jet-Vac's command, every Skylander in the area released their own unique attacks, raining them down on Omen, who rattled and yelped as each projectile impacted against his abstract body.

Omen was struck by air blasts, exploding potions, firebolts, lightning, crystalline projectiles, flaming cannonballs and more as the Skylanders furious assault continued.

"We're overwhelming him!" Ka-Boom howled with a low chuckle. "That's what you get from messing with us punk!"

"Yeah! You are never going to hurt our friends again!" Bad breath followed up.

"No one can beat us if we work together!" Eruptor added confidently.

"And you are no exception." Jet-Vac finished with an bold voice.

At that, the Skylanders stopped their attack. They all stayed on guard, not intending on underestimating the villian in front of them.

"Everyone, stay back and stay sharp." Jet-Vac warned as he tried to find Omen's fallen figure. "He could still be dangerous." He said as he aimed his vac gun at the pile of strange trash he spotted.

At the center of a large crater, created from the Skylander's assault, layed a smoking pile of garbage that resembled Omen's body parts. Jet-Vac noticed that the trash was staying completely still, and that the cylindrical cage among the rest of the strange items, was not releasing smoke as it did whenever Omen was conscious.

"Did we get him?" Flashwing asked nervously as she stepped a little closer to the fallen villian.

"I mean." Wind Up began to speak slowly. "No one could have walked that off, r-right?"

"I don't know." Hex began. "That guy was something else. I don't remember ever fighting someone like that."

"Well, what matters is that we beat him." Ka-Boom stated boldly. "He looks pretty knocked out to me."

"What in the Underworld's deepest pits was all of that!?" An angry but familiar voice demanded from behind Jet-Vac. "And what happened to the Academy!?"

The senior Skylander turned around to see Kaossandra at the gates of the Academy, a furious look on her face.

"We had a little bit of a skirmish out here." Jet-Vac said simply. "Long story. But, we have good news." He said, a little bit of excitement seeping into his voice. "We caught him, Headmistress, we caught Omen!"

When Jet-Vac spoke, Kaossandra's eyes went round and her jaw went limp. "You caught Omen? The leader of the Knights of Solitude?" She asked slowly, as if she didn't believe the words as they came out of her mouth.

"We did." Jet-Vac said. "All of us-" He gestured at the Skylanders. "Together."

Kaossandra remained paralyzed for a second, her eyes looking at the Skylanders with pride. Then, she composed herself and spoke in a heightened voice. "I'll call Cloudcracker Prison. Tell then to bring the strongest cage and shackles they have!" She announced before turning around and rushing into the Academy

Jet-Vac then sighed with relief at the thought of this mess finally resolving. He turned around and looked at Omen's fallen body. He wasn't about to let his guard down, but he still wanted to believe that all this mess could finally be over. But then, something nagged at his conscience from one of the corners of his mind. "We should see if the others are alright first!" Jet-Vac stated.

"You're right!" Eruptor agreed, his face suddenly lighting up as he began to look around the scene. "Elf!? Elf!? Where are you!?" He called.

"We need to take everyone else to the nursery." Cynder suggested as she landed beside Jet-Vac, a guilty look on her face. "This was too close a call."

Jet-Vac knew that look. He knew what Cynder was thinking. "This isn't your fault Cynder." He said comfortingly. "If anything, it's this monster's fault this whole mess is even happening."

"But he came here for me." Cynder said, looking down at her paws. "If I wasn't here, he wouldn't have come to the Academy in the first place"

"He can't track you." Jet-Vac began. "I bet he came here on a hunch that you'd be here. If you hadn't been here, if he didn't find what he was looking for…" Jet-Vac continued, putting his hand on Cynder's shoulder. "He would have killed everyone without a second thought. If anything, you being here actually helped our situation, don't you think?" He said in a merry voice, finally getting a small smile out of Cynder.

"You good guys…" A sourceless whisper began. It felt like it was coming right from behind Jet-Vac's neck, making him get horrible goosebumps. "Are so…" The voice continued, slowly growing louder. "Saaappyyyy!" The voice suddenly roared, so loud and with a metallic resonance so horrible, like microphone feedback, that Jet-Vac slumped to his knees and howled in pain.

The senior Skylander noticed that everyone else in the vicinity had done the same thing as him, clutching their ears tightly and falling to their knees or bending over in pain. The hideous sound had seemed to come from thin air, but Jet-Vac knew all too well what was going on. They had all let their guard down.

From the pile of garbage in front of Jet-Vac, three metallic pincers, connected to a green, a purple and an orange string respectively, flew through the air, shooting up to the skies above the Academy courtyard. After they reached a certain height, the pincers stayed still for a second and then began to move through the air, each one spinning clockwise, leaving a glowing purple line behind them as they moved.

When the three pincers traced a massive ring in the air, several meters across and wide enough for a Fire Viper to stick their head through, they all retracted with great speed to the still unmoving pile of trash from where they rose.

Then, Jet-Vac looked up, imitated by his fellow Skylanders, at the purple ring of light in the sky. He noticed that several runes, the same color as the ring started to appear around the rim of the purple shape. Then, the air inside to the ring, became dark, darker than night, absorbing all the light of the sun that fell upon it.

"Guuuys?" Pop Fizz began nervously, as he took a couple of steps back from where he was standing, a very uneasy look on his face. "What is that?"

Then, from the darkness of the massive circle, a strange sound, like several pulleys began to resonate, louder and louder, closer and closer. And then, with no warning, from the featureless surface of the dark circle above them, a swarm of dismembered hands, strung up by strange and colorful strings rained down on the Skylanders.

---

Cynder had seconds to react. She boosted herself off the ground with her wings and tried her best to avoid the barrage of terrifying hands that were flying through the air, trying to grab her and her friends.

Cynder noticed that most of them were roughly similar to Omen's hands and that they all seemed to come in pairs. There were a couple that had a deep blue string behind them. The hands themselves seemed to be made of a coppery metal, and yellow sparks crackled from their fingertips. There were others, that had a dark brown sting behind them. Those hands and four fingers, that all put together, looked like a short silver sword. Those and many other pairs, each a different color and shape, with what seemed to be a different power or ability, flew through the air, chasing Cynder or mercilessly attacking the Skylanders.

Cynder dove and rose, stired and spun in the air, using every trick she could think of to avoid the disembodied limbs close behind her. But as she flew through the air, she could feel herself ge tired, and no such sensation seemed to be reaching the disembodied hands.

Cynder then heard the sound of pained groans and screams come from beneath her. Concerned, she then used her Shadow Dash to avoid getting caught by the grasping hands behind her. They all shot right through her misty figure as she turned around and moved out of the way, solidifying once she was out of danger. She looked down to see her friends, all struggling to fight against the many hands.

Cynder saw as a pair of silver hands, much larger than the rest and that were strung up by thick grey chains rather than strings, were punching Ka-Boom, sending the muscular Skylander sprawling back after each blow. She then saw as the coppery hands she had spotted earlier, grabbed Wind Up by the arms and glowed a bright yellow, releasing a massive electric shock that knocked the Skylander out cold. Meanwhile, a pair of white gloves, strung up by a rather innocent-looking pink ribbon lace, were being attacked by Eruptor and Jet-Vac. But as the two Skylanders fired their projectiles at the white gloves, the limbs simply snapped their fingers and with a flash of white light, the projectiles the Skylanders had fired that were caught in the white flash, had simply disappeared, leaving the two Skylanders confused as the white gloves inched closer and closer to them.

"There's no way we can beat him like this." Cynder whispered helplessly as she looked at her fellow Skylanders be stuck down with impunity by Omen's many disembodied limbs.

Then, Cynder watched as a new pair of hands flew up at her. The hands were a pale purple color and seemed to be made of a smooth, plastic-like substance. The string behind them was a black color that was almost as dark as from the abyss they had emerged from.

Cynder then turned into dark mist, using her Shadow Dash to avoid the incoming attack. But as the purple hands reached her misty figure, instead of going through her like the others had done, they instead managed to grab her by the shoulders with a steady iron grip. Cynder tried to squirm free, but it was no use. Even in her misty state, she was somehow unable to escape.

So she solidified, and then released her spectral lightning on the black string connected to the hands. As her lightning connected to the black stings, it dispersed harmlessly, leaving no damage on them. Desperate and confused, Cynder then tried to use her claws to cut the strings off. To her surprise, the two strings gave in rather easily to her sharp claws and when they were cut, the purple hands holding Cynder went limp, and dropped off her shoulders.

"Omen!" Cynder called at the top of her lungs. When she did, the many hands in the air, attacking her friends and chasing her came to a sudden stop, floating idly in the air and giveing her and her friends a small breather.

"Yeeeesss?" Omen's metallic, disembodied voice asked wryly.

"Please, leave them alone." Cynder begged, looking at how beaten and tired her friends were. "Just take me and let them go."

"Cynder, what are you doing!?" Hex asked, desperately from beneath Cynder.

"Again with the racket!?" Kaossandra's voice sounded from behind Cynder, making her look behind her.

Kaossandra was staining in front of the Academy main gates, contemplating the horrifying scene with wide eyes and mouth agape. "What is going on?" She asked in a weak voice.

"We're having a little talk." Omen's voice answered stridently. "Ta-ta!" It said as all the hands behind Cynder waved Kaossandra away.

Then, with no warning, a small dark portal opened above Kaossandra. As the sorceress looked up, Cynder heard as a shriek, terrified scream got louder and louder, emanating from the portal's mouth. Then, faster than Cynder could properly see, a large green ball dropped from the portal above Kaossandra, knocking her to the ground. Upon closer inspection, Cynder noticed the green ball that had crashed on Kaossandra was none other than Food Fight, who Omen had prevoiulsy thrown through one of his portals. The Skylander's violent crashlanding had knocked him and Kaossandra out cold.

"Now then!" Omen's voice picked up. "You were saying something about coming willingly?"

At that, Cynder notice that the pile of trash that had remained motionless until then, had started to shake and it's pieces began to float in the air, assembling the abstract humanoid shape that was Omen's body. When the cylindrical cage slammed onto the villain's yellow wooden chest, disgusting purple ooze sealed it on. Then, dark smoke erupted from the base of the cage, followed by the villain's glowing purple eyes.

Cynder took a look at her friends. There was no doubt in Cynder's mind that if she didn't do what Omen wanted, he would kill them. So, she swallowed hard and closed her eyes. "If I come with you… will you spare my friends?" She asked.

"Hmmm…"Omen began, putting his wooden hand on what would have been his chin. "You kids are a lot tougher than I expected. And it would be a shame for me to lose any more of my precious hands." Omen continued, moving his eyes around, as he was in deep thought. "Alright! I'm sold! I'm not one to turn down an easy win."

"Cynder don't do it!" Bad Breath shouted from below her. "He's a bad guy! You can't trust him!"

"Hey!" Omen yelled, in a seeming a genuinely hurt. "Just cuz I'm a bad guy doesn't mean I'm a liar!" He stated in an undignified voice. "You know what? I was going to kick you all around a little more, but now? Just because of that, I'm gonna keep all of you untouched, just to prove you wrong, Puke-Wart!" Omen spat, still undignified, but making Bad Breath give a low whimper from Omen's cruel insult.

"Okay, then." Cynder began, landing close to Omen, turning her back to her friends. "I'll come with you." She said, hanging her head low.

"Awww." Omen began in a mocking tone. "You're so sweet." He said, lifting Cynder's chin with his wooden hand, making her growl and nudge it off. "Alrighty then. Before we leave-" He paused, snapping his wooden hand's fingers, which caused all the other hands and stings to return back into the dark abyss from where they came. When all the hands crossed the dark circle, the massive dark shape shrunk rapidly and disappeared. "-I need to leave a message." Omen picked up, a malevolent edge in his voice.

---

Cyrus had could not remember ever feeling something like what he was feeling right now. Every time he was touched by someone, it was painful, unpleasant. But this, this felt completely different. It was a soft touch, warming and gentle. The contact and pressure made Cyrus feel relaxed and get a fuzzy feeling inside.

"We should probably stop now." Spyro said, chuckling awkwardly. "It's getting a bit weird, right?"

"Uhh, yeah, it is getting a bit weird." Cyrus agreed. "Get off me." He said rather gently as he slowly let go of his brother.

"Alright!" Spyro began, an excited look on his face. "We need to go to the Academy!"

"Woah, there buddy." Cyrus said, raising his paws to stop Spyro. "Go to the Academy? When did I finish my inscription?" He asked sarcastically.

"Dude, you were Omen's right hand man!" Spyro said cheerfully. "You know all of his plans! You can help us beat him!"

Cyrus then caught up with his brother. "Yes, yes I can!" Cyrus said, his face brightening up. "But… I doubt your friends will want my help." Cyrus said in a down tone, remembering their... previous interactions.

"They'll get over it." Spyro said simply. "Once they hear you are willing to help, they put their grudges aside."

"Are you sure?" Cyrus questioned. "I've done quite a lot to them. How are you so sure they'll forgive me?"

"I didn't say they'd forgive you." Spyro said, confusing Cyrus. Then, Spyro put his paw on Cyrus shoulder, comfortingly. "The fact is: all of us want Omen dealt with, because he is the one trully responsible for this whole mess." Spyro stated, not doubting his words. "So, with that common goal in mind, and a little bit of effort, we can work together to beat him. We all just need to try." He said determinately.

Cyrus felt a small smile tug at his lips. "Alright then." He said, giving Spyro a small nod. "But…" He cut himself off. "How are we going to get out of here? Me being a criminal and all."

"Oh don't worry about that." Spyro said with a cocky smile as he turned around, facing a specific spot in the large room. "Thanks to an old… friend of mine." Spyro said the word "friend" in a way that made Cyrus think the exact opposite. "I know a way out of this little dump." He said as he walked over to one of the walls in the room.

Cyrus followed Spyro closely and when he came to a sudden stop, so did he. The two dragons were now looking at a what looked like a camouflaged drain hatch.

"Someone used this to escape from here a long time ago." Spyro stated as he tried to open the hatch. "We can use it ourselves to get out just fine."

"Nice." Cyrus said as Spyro opened the hatch and revealed a dark tunnel for them to escape from.

"Hey." Spyro called suddenly. "We can do this." He said, slowly stretching out his paw and making a fist, inviting Cyrus for a fist bump.

Slowly, Cyrus imitated Spyro's movement, punching the Skylander's fist gently. "Let's go." He said, getting a small nod from Spyro before the purple dragon dove down the dark tunnel, inciting Cyrus to follow behind.

---

As Spyro reached the end of the tunnel, Cyrus following close behind him, he could see the bright blue sky out of the tunnel's circular mouth. Then, Spyro felt the wind suddenly press against his scales. It felt liberating as always.

"Where to now?" Cyrus asked suddenly as he caught up to Spyro.

"The Academy is a little far away from here." Spyro began. looking around to find his heading. "It's over this way." He said, pointing in front of him before using his wings to fly as quickly as he could through the sky.

Then, something nagged at Spyro's mind. "Hey, Cyrus?" He called, slowing his flight. He had gotten a little caught up with himself to pay mind to Cyrus. But, as Spyro turned his head, he saw as Cyrus' indigo scales flashed beside him, creating a small draft from how fast he was flying.

"C'mon, slowpoke!" Cyrus said in a prideful tone. "You're the one who knows where we're going."

"Slowpoke?" Spyro repeated incredulous. "You want a race or something, buddy?" Spyro challenged with a wide smile as he picked up his pace, flying past Cyrus.

Spyro then saw Cyrus chase after him, both dragons speeding through the sky, leaving behind clouds and isles as they raced each other to the Academy. Spyro couldn't help but let out a joyful laugh. He was flying through the Skylands with his brother, something he never knew he wanted to do so much. He closed his eyes, enjoying the wind blowing under his wings and the sound of his brother's wingbeat beside him.

"Heeeyy Spyyyyglaaassss!" A hideous, disembodied voice resonated through the air.

Spyro was suddenly snapped out of his little moment of peace by Omen's horrible voice. Spyro frantically looked around him, trying to find the surreal-looking villian. After taking a look to his left, Spyro saw a small mabu village. The whole village seemed to be gathered on the streets, looking at something above them.

"That's his voice." Cyrus stated as he looked at the mabu village.

"Let's go." Spyro said, a bad feeling crawling up his spine.

As the two dragons flew over to the mabu village, staying airborne above the crowd to get a better view, they scanned the area for any signs of Omen. After only a few seconds of looking, they were faced with their answer. A large rectangular projection, rimmed by purple flames hovered above the mabu crowd. On this projection was the face of Spyro's least favorite trash man.

"Spyyyyyglaaasss? Where are ya buddy?" Omen called through the projection screen.

"Wrong number." A male mabu shouted from below Spyro.

"It's still not an app Gary, you still can't can't slide it away." A female voice spoke angrily.

"Who's Spyglass?" Spyro asked Cyrus in a quiet tone.

"That's his nickname for you." Cyrus responded.

"Oh…" Spyro said simply, a new level of disdain for Omen brewing in his heart.

"Heya buddy! Its ya boi, Omeeen!" Omen's voice picked up suddenly, making jazz hands with his strange, now mismatching appendages. "I hope you get this message, cuz… let's just say, it concerns you." He said sinisterly.

Spyro began to get a really bad feeling from the strange situation, but listened in eagerly.

"But, before I get to that." Omen picked up. "I would just like to say that your Academy is a fantastic place! The installations are great, the teachers are so qualified and the students are so welcoming!" When, Omen finished speaking, the image on the projection panned to the right, away from Omen's face, showing an image that made Spyro's stomach drop.

The Academy was battered and damaged. The walls were all bagged up, the lamps, bush hedges, and decor before the main gates were sliced in half and sizzling and one of the towers on the Academy was blown halfway to the Underworld. But what really made Spyro really worry, was the sight of his friends. Some of them were all beaten up, black eyes, deep cuts and burn marks all over them. But they were lucky. Spyro noticed that several Skylanders were unconscious and on the ground. He could see Sprocket, Chill and Roller Brawl all piled up near each other, but something told Spyro there could be more victims.

Then, the image panned back to Omen, who resumed speaking. "Now then, to the important stuff." He picked up. "I have someone here who would like to talk to you!" He said, as the projection panned to the left revealing who Omen was talking about. "Spoilers, they aren't actually going to talk to you."

The image made Spyro react. "Cynder!" He cried, his voice heightened by concern as he saw his friend being lifted off the ground by the back of the neck. She looked physically alright, which made Spyro feel slightly relieved, but she had her head low and hung limply from Omen's grip. Spyro felt himself start shaking, his heartbeat rising steadily.

"That's right! I now have seven out of my eight dragons!" Omen announced proudly. "Now, my mutated purple alligator of a friend-" Omen continued, making Spyro frown. "At the risk of sounding cliché." Omen began, as the projection panned to him once again. "I'll lay it down like it is. Come meet me, alone!" He entonated. "At Breathless Hollow by the end of the day, oooor…" He said, as the projection panned toward Cynder once again. "This-" Omen said, as he lifted Cynder's head to the screen her eyes were closed and her mouth was limp. She was unconscious. "-Will be the prettiest, your friend's face is going to be!" He threatened as the screen panned back to his face one last time. "Now, then. Are we ready to end this little game of ours boy?" He asked, leaning into the screen. "Come meet me, and we'll both know your answer."

And with that, Omen's projection dispersed with a flash of light. Leaving a shocked silence among the mabu crowd.

Spyro was breathing hard, his heart and mind were racing faster than he ever remembered. "He's got Cynder." Spyro told himself, dread clawing at his heart.

"We need to go." Cyrus stated beside Spyro. "Spyro, we need to go now."

"He has Cynder." Syro repeated hopelessly, realising what that meant. This could very well have been the last time he could see her face. And the last time he saw her beautiful blue eyes was when they were looking at him like he was another person. He felt horrible, he felt like he wanted to throw up.

"He won't hurt her." Cyrus said, as he grabbed Spyro's shoulders and turned Spyro toward him. "He needs her alive and as lively as possible for his ritual. She'll be fine." He said not stuttering once and looking at Spyro directly. "What we need to do is get the the Knights of Solitude." Cyrus explained. "If we take away his other dragons, he won't be able to complete his plan."

"But how will we find them?" Spyro asked confused. "We don't know where they are."

"You said it yourself." Cyrus replied with a small smirk. "I was Omen's right hand man. I know where his base is and hence, where the Knights and Cynder will be. I can take you there and we can take him by surprise."

Slowly running what Cyrus was saying through his mind, Spyro spoke slowly. "Alright, that sounds like a plan." Spyro supposed that if anyone knew what Omen would do to next and how to act upon it, it was Cyrus. And realizing that just worrying about Cynder wouldn't help anyone, Spyro began to calm down. "Okay, okay. I'm fine, let's get going." Spyro said, composing himself.

At that, Cyrus let go of him and gave him a reassuring nod, which Spyro returned before both dragons took flight toward the Academy.

Spyro flew fast, faster than he ever flew. He flew as fast as his wings let him. His heart raced as the wind blowed against his face. He wasn't going to let Cynder be taken away and be used as a battery by some maniac, he just wasn't going to let it happen.

"I'm sorry. I'm coming." Spyro said as the image of Cynder appeared in his mind. Her gentle smile, her beautiful eyes, like a clear sky and the warmth of her scales against his, he missed them all so dearly he could feel his heart ache.

"Cynder… just wait for me."

---

Kaossandra groaned. She had a horrible headache and couldn't see a thing. She felt the cold stone floor of the Academy beneath her and what felt like a heavy ball on top of her.

"Are you alright Kaossandra?" The sorceress could hear someone ask concerned. She felt as the big ball on top of her was gently lifted off.

"I'll be fine." Kaossandra groaned again as she tried to get up. "What happened?" She asked as she rubbed her head, still keeping her eyes shut.

No answer came for a moment, but then a voice that Kaossandra recognised as Eruptor's answered. "Omen happend." He said. "He defeated us and… he took Cynder."

"What!?" Kaossandra shouted, flinging her eyes open and standing up suddenly. "What do you mean he took her!?"

"She gave herself up to convince Omen not to hurt us." Pop Fizz, who was standing beside Eruptor and Jet-Vac in front of Kaossandra, explained with a down tone.

"Does anyone know where he took her!?" Kaossandra demanded desperately, dread building up in her heart as the realisation came to her. Omen was now a single dragon away from what being able to begin his ritual. And that dragon was having an existential crisis with his villainous brother.

"Before he left." Jet-Vac began. "Omen projected a message across the Skylands. He told Spyro to meet him in some place called Breathless Hollow." Jet-Vac stated. "Have you ever heard of that place?"

"I have." Kaossandra replied. "If he wants Spyro there it's certainly for a trap."

"But Omen has Cynder!" Eruptor shouted. "If Spyro doesn't go, that monster is going to hurt her! But, if he does go, then we could lose both our friends!"

"Then it's a good thing I'm not going there at all!" A new voice said from above Kaossandra.

The voice made the Skylanders in front of Kaossandra turn around and look up to find it's source. As a purple shape flew with great speed toward the Academy, the Skylanders couldn't help but call their friend's name.

"Spyro!" They all waved, some jumping up and calling the purple dragon's name again.

Then, Kaossandra noticed something. Someone was following Spyro closely, they looked like another dragon. When the the two dragons got close enough, she was able to discern who both of them were. The first was indeed Spyro, the purple dragon waved back at his friends as he approached. The second was someone Kaossandra had only heard of, but his purple scales left no room to wander. Cyrus was following Spyro closely. How that villian had escaped Cloudcracker Prison was beyond her, but she would fix that soon enough.

Calling forth her dark magic, Kaossandra raised her arms and released a chain of purple lightning at Cyrus. As the lightning crossed the air she saw as the indigo dragon reacted, trying to move to the side in order to dodge.

"No!" Spyro's voice howled suddenly. Without warning, Spyro put his wings in front of him and placed himself between Kaossandra's attack and Cyrus. As Kaossandra's attack crashed against Spyro's wings, it dispersed harmlessly off his impenetrable scales. "Everyone, calm down!" Spyro shouted as he landed before the Academy main entrance, Cyrus landing landing behind him.

"Spyro, watch out!" Pop Fizz yelled. "Cyrus is behind you!" He said, pointing at the dragon behind Spyro.

"I know Pop." Spyro said calmly. "Look, we all need to talk." He said

"Talk about what?" Eruptor began. "Talk about how fast we can out that creep back in Cloudcracker Prison?" He questioned.

"Stop calling him that." Spyro snarled suddenly, his arms tensing up and his gaze hardening slightly, making Eruptor flinch.

Then, something snapped into place in Kaossandra's mind. "They're brothers." She remembered suddenly and by the looks on the Skylanders faces so had they.

"Oh right." Pop Fizz began. "You guys are brothers!" He reminded himself. "Does that mean Cyrus is alright now?"

"No! He's not alright!" Eruptor yelled, stepping toward Cyrus. "That guy hurt Spyro, he hurt Elf, and who knows who else! I'm not about to forgive him!" He said, almost face to face with the indigo dragon.

Cyrus however, had his usual, unimpressed expression even as a very angry Skylander was looked down on him. "I'm not here to fight." He said simply. "And if I wanted your forgiveness." He added slowly. "I wouldn't do this." At that, the indigo dragon released a miniature burst of green flames that dispersed after escaping a few inches out of his mouth. But that was enough to make Eruptor give out a frightened yelp and stumble back onto his rear, causing Cyrus to give a low, mocking chuckle.

"That's enough!" Spyro roared after the tense exchange. "Look, we all want Omen taken care off, including Cyrus!"

"Are you sure?" Jet-Vac questioned. "Brother or not, how can you be sure he won't backstab us when the time is right?"

"If I wanted to serve Omen." Cyrus interjected. "I wouldn't have brought you your friend here, instead of Breathless Hollow, would I?" He said in an obvious tone, which made Jet-Vac open his mouth to protest, but stop himself before managing to speak, as if thinking the logic of the argument through.

"Suppose we let you help." Kaossandra began, intrigued by the indigo dragon's sudden change of heart while also eager to have such a valuable ally in the fight against Omen. "What could you tell us?"

"Everything you need to know." Cyrus stated simply. "I know where his base is, how many guards he has and how to beat him." The dragon said, not giving any indication that he was lying. "All I need to help you, if for you to let me."

"Well, that would certainly be useful." Kaossandra said, suddenly liking the indigo dragon a little bit more.

"See!" Spyro began, gesturing at his brother. "With his help we'll be able to save Cynder and stop Omen once and for all!"

"I would certainly like that." Kassandra said with a small smile.

"Kaossandra! You can't trust him!" Eruptor said as he got off the ground. "We can't just let all he's done go unpunished!"

"Eruptor, he already told you he wants to help!" Spyro told his friend. "If anyone has to pay for this, it's Omen!"

"Cyrus." Kaossandra called, making the Skylanders quiet down and the indigo dragon lift his head to face her directly. "Do you really intend to help us?" She asked severely, looking at Cyrus' green eyes. As much as it hurt to meet those cold, pained eyes, she did not waver. If she was going to trust this dragon she had to make sure she could look at him in the eye.

"I do." Cyrus answered simply and without a second guess, his eyes warming up slightly after he did.

"Alright then." Kaossandra began. "Then we will let you help." She stated with a sigh. "After all, you all know what they say." She paused before quoting. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." She said, making Spyro smile with relife and Cyrus give her a small bow, surprising Kaossandra with his mannerisms.

"Words to live by, sorceress!" A new voice boomed across the air. It was a voice like fire, gravelly and rough. The voice was followed by a mighty wingbeat that shook the air.

Then, with a thunderous sound, Kaossandra saw as a massive figure landed on the clearing before the Academy, kicking up dust as it landed. As the dust settled and the masive, winged figure was revealed, Kaossandra didn't know how to react. She had not expected this in an hundred years.

"So…" The gravelly voice picked up. "When do we go kill this, Omen?" Malefor asked with a wide, malevolent grin.

---

Author's notes

Alright! Chapter Eleven! Can you all feel it? The end aproaching? Be on the look out for the last two chapters!

- I still don't own Skylanders Academy

- The king is back, baby!