Chapter 5 – Cynder Goes Alpha

Cynder makes an attempt to take out the giant robot with her plasma bursts, but they just bounced off and didn't leave a scratch. Torden even tried to knock it down with his wings, but not even did they dent it. The robot continued to assault them with its barrage of laser blasts.

"Had enough?" asked Ciara.

"We are not going to let you get the better of us!" said Cynder.

"That is too bad," said Scorcher with disdain. "You are only asking for more."

The robot closed in on the two dragons and was about to deliver the finishing blow, but just before it could open fire, a fire blast knocked its arms to the side, causing it to fire upward. Cynder, Torden, and the Pyre Squad wondered where the shot came from, and as they turned around, they saw a pink dragon girl and standing next to her was a black baby dragon. Immediately, Cynder and Torden realised who they were.

"Lily! Darky!" they exclaimed.

"We just finished packing up camp," said Lily. "Then we decided to look for you."

"Well, you have come at the right time," said Torden.

"Where's Draco, Percival, and Jakkin?" asked Lily.

"Those three have captured them and are holding them hostage inside this behemoth right there," replied Torden.

"Oh no, not the Pyre Squad," groaned Lily.

"So there's another one waiting for some whooping," said Ciara. "It won't make any difference as our mecha will make mincemeat out of all of you."

Cynder stood bravely as Torden and Lily sided by her. "I believe the three of us will be able to stop you!"

"We shall see," said Scorcher. "But you are all wasting your time."

"Resume the fight!" shouted Cronk.

The three dragons battled hard against the Pyre Squad's mecha, but even with the collaboration of Lily, they found that they were unable to defeat it, and it continued to keep them dodging from its laser blasters. Finally, the three dragons found themselves nearly worn out.

"Time's up, fools," said Ciara. "All of you will be eliminated, and we'll be taking the baby dragon along with us."

This made Cynder alert. "No, you will not do anything to Darky!" she hissed, and she was about to lunge straight for the mecha, when suddenly, it started to act strange.

"What's with the robot?" asked Ciara. "Scorcher, do something!"

"I'm trying, Ciara!" said Scorcher as he pushed tried pushing the controller's buttons. Then, it tipped over, shattering the polycarbonate glass window. Smoke seeped from the top of the robot. In a few moments, Cynder, Lily and Torden could see Draco, Jakkin and Percival crawling out of the robot.

"That was some quick thinking, Draco!" exclaimed Percival. "I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Way to go, Draco!" smiled Jakkin. "For a pansy Charizard like you, you seem to be quite alright."

Draco blushed and smiled back. "It was nothing really, guys," he said modestly.

"Draco!" shouted Cynder as she rushed towards. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're all okay," said Draco.

Lily focused on the eastern dragon and noticed that he looked very familiar. "Jakkin, is that you?" she asked.

Jakkin nodded. "No time to explain, we got company," he said as he saw the Pyre Squad drawing near.

"How could you?!" shouted Ciara. "That mecha only had one more day to retirement and you ingrates have wrecked it!"

"For that, you are going to pay!" declared Scorcher.

"I wouldn't count on it," said Jakkin. "Now that we're free, we'll trounce you dirtbags once and for all!"

Ciara smirked. "You honestly think that you have won?" she laughed. "This is only the beginning!"

To the surprise of the six dragons, the downed robot slowly got up. It may have been damaged from the fall, but it was still far from destroyed.

"Uh-oh," said Draco nervously. "Now what do we do?"

"Relax, Draco," said Cynder. "There are six of us, so if we battle together, we shall be able to destroy the robot and send the Pyre Squad running."

"Time to say goodbye, suckers," jeered Scorcher and he pressed the button on his controller which made the robot proceed the attack.

The dragons fought together as they tried to take down the robot, but it still proved to be very resilient and it attacked them with its arms, which were now shaped like pistons strong enough to crush anything.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Draco as he barely dodged a swing from the robot's piston arm. "That thing's much deadlier than before!"

"Not even our combined efforts can take it down," said Cynder. "There must be a way to destroy it for good."

Just then a voice spoke to Cynder's mind. "You'll have to use your brooch now, Cynder…"

Cynder was stunned. "That voice," she said. "It sounds like…"

"This is King Kurotsuki speaking in your mind," said King Kurotsuki. "To put a stop to the Pyre Squad, you're going to have to use your Shadow Brooch for this battle."

Without wasting any time, Cynder fumbled for her brooch. "This will be the last resort," she whispered to herself.

"Good, now fasten the brooch on your coat and you'll see what happens next."

Doing as King Kurotsuki has said, Cynder fastened the brooch on her coat, and suddenly she was flashing. Everyone was stunned as she flashed brighter and faster. In a minute, a dark purple aura was emanating around her, and when she opened after shutting them upon fastening the Shadow Brooch, she was astonished when found parts of her body glowing a pinkish hue. "This is… my Alpha form…" she said slowly.

"So you're glowing now, big deal," scoffed Ciara. "That will not scare us."

"My strength and powers have increased, I can feel it," she continued. "Now I know what I have to do next, and that is to put you three in your place!"


Author's Note: Looks like the battle against the Pyre Squad will be another victory for our heroes! It appears that the Shadow Brooch enables Cynder to transform. How about that?