I hope you will enjoy the story's finale just as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Final chapter: Fake
Absolute Power is the source of all corruption... and sometimes, the true face of Evil can take on a surprising form.
"I can't believe this! We beat the big evil she-dragon and yet, we STILL have to face more visions of doom and darkness and apocalypse? Does fate hate us or something?"
Spyro looked down, barely hearing Sparx.
Cynder slowly approached the purple dragon, worry rising. Why was he looking down like this? Why weren't they giving pursuit?
"Spyro? We should go after him..."
The male remained still and silent for a moment and then, slowly, raised his head and looked at her. He seemed so hesitant and afraid...
"Cynder... Astrial is right. We are the only dragons of the new generation to be born and both of us are creatures of the dark." His gaze became... distant. "Is it worth it? Is it worth it to save the world if the darkness is to rule the world whatever we do?"
Cynder smiled and slowly, shook her head before pointing at Sparx.
"Sparx is right, Spyro. Power is power, light or dark. Just as the Dark Master used darkness for evil, Astrial used the light for destruction in the end. Likewise, you wield dark power... and yet, you are good, Spyro. Besides, there is more to the world than just dragons. Will you let down everyone because that a different age will begin for dragons?"
Spyro thought about it carefully...
He remembered the creatures he had met through his journey. It's true. There is more to the world than the dragons and their enemies. The Realm is massive, inhabited by countless species, countless civilizations...
...and Sparx is right. The power within him is not important. Even though he has the power that is the same as the Dark Master, he is not the Dark Master. Cynder, too, proved that despite her tainted nature, she was a good soul. If the two of them turned out good... then why would every other dragon turn out evil?
In a way, it was ironic when he thought about it.
It all begun when two creatures, Mortalis and Vermintrax, fell in love and gave birth to the specie of dragons. And now, the specie was basically extinct and is about to be revived. Spyro and Cynder... new Ancestors... a new nature...
From the two, a new era will begin. From them, the dragons will be reborn.
But if Astrial isn't stopped, the Realm will be destroyed.
Spyro chased all of the worry out of his mind and turned to the portal in the sky...
"If Astrial is allowed to unleash the Heaven's Sword, there will be no future..." he commented. But as he tried to step forward, he was painfully reminded of his state as he slipped and fell on his stomach, sighing. He was so tired...
Likewise, Cynder felt so totally drained. The happy rush of their fake victory gone, the three realized just how totally exhausted they were. Sparx, yawning loudly, slowly flew to Spyro's side and hovered there, eyes half-closed, obviously as tired as everyone else.
"Good initiative chief! Really!... but what can we do without power? I mean, we're all dead tired! I'm gonna faint any second, you know..." And well, as much as they hated to admit it, Sparx was right.
"There must be something we can do..." said Cynder, looking down.
What can they do, indeed? They had exhausted all of their energy fighting Vermintrax and now, they were in no state to catch up with Astrial and even less defeat him.
The purple dragon looked down, thinking... and when no idea came to him, he weakly slammed his right paw against the rocky ground in frustration.
The sound echoed, disturbing the silence...
...and then, at long last, it dawned upon all of them.
"Is it me or did the screaming thingies shut up?" asked Sparx, raising an eyebrow.
Both dragons looked around and they noticed it, too.
The entire Dark Realm... had fallen silent.
The souls had stopped falling and screaming. Even the flames no longer burnt, the red light now uniform in the abyss below. Everything was silent, as if time had stopped within the Dark Realm...
"Yeah. Now that you mention it..." replied the purple dragon, confused by this turn of event.
...and then, slowly, Cynder realized what it was all about and turned to the young male dragon.
"...the old mistress is gone," she said.
Both males turned to face Cynder, confused by what she meant.
"Vermintrax was the embodiment of darkness, the ruler of the Dark Realm. Now that she's gone, they await a new master," she explained before pointing at them. "Look."
Now that he looked at all of the souls, he noticed that it was true. All of the lost souls had not only stopped falling and screaming... they were now staring at him as well, as if waiting for him to do something. All of their empty gazes were concentrated upon him...
"They await... a new master..." he whispered to himself, coming to realize it as well.
"Hey, oh mauve one! All of the darkness in the Dark Realm... that must probably be a whole lot of power, ya know!" said Sparx, smirking.
Unsure, he turned to Cynder. She nodded to him... "You have the same power as the Dark Master did, Spyro. If you use your power now... the darkness will obey."
All of the power...
Yet, can he use it? Does he have a right to? Should he? All of the darkness... but also all of the suffering. This Realm contained so much suffering, so much hatred, so much regret... would it consume him, would it overwhelm him? He was afraid of becoming like the Dark Master, like Vermintrax did. The darkness was so powerful... but it was also scary, chaotic, merciless. There were so many ways it could go wrong...
But then, as he looked at the souls, he began to wonder...
Why had they stopped screaming and falling? Yes, Vermintrax was dead but... what about the infernal flames? Weren't they threatening to engulf and burn them?
The streams of darkness remained silent...
Power is power... it's not the power that matters but how you use it. To unleash the darkness one last time so that no more souls may be brought into this cursed Realm... to unleash it so that a world free of terror might exist... if this wasn't worth it, then what would be?
He is not the Dark Master nor Vermintrax.
Slowly, the power begun to gather. He could feel all of the streams being redirected toward him, all of the souls listening... what was his will? As this happened, he felt incredible pain, such suffering, such sadness, such regret... all of their feelings. Giving in would be so easy, so tempting... to become like Vermintrax.
No more! No more shall he let those affect him! No more shall the past weight upon him! It is time for the ancient suffering to be wiped and for everything to begin anew! For it all to vanish and for a new beginning to become reality!
And at this moment, the power begun to gather with such intensity that massive waves of dark power were constantly expelled from Spyro's body, causing ripples through the very air of the Dark Realm.
The dragon hatchling slowly rose, his friends carried by the currents...
"For the new future, I guess?" asked the dragonfly.
"For the new future," replied the purple dragon.
"Savior boy one day, savior boy every day..." sighed Sparx, rolling his eyes.
"Yep. Indeed." replied the dragon as the power reached its peak.
And then, just as the power overflowed, he unleashed it all, allowing it to course through his veins and recharging his powers. In an instant, he felt an incredible rush, all of his powers returning to him...
...and as he did as such, the massive ripples went through his friends, resonating with them, giving them power anew as well.
And then, there was a gigantic explosion of purple energy as Spyro released it all, shooting himself and his friends straight into the portal...
CLANG!
"OW!"
CLUNG!
"OW!"
"Hehehehe! I dunno why but your usual "landings" are even funnier when you have a weird, echoing voice!" mocked Sparx as Spyro slid off the metallic wall.
The dark purple dragon gripped his head, getting a hold of himself. Why couldn't he land correctly just once? Man! What a lousy entrance!... and goodness! Slamming into that metal wall upon landing is even worse than that stupid pillar back at the Dragon Temple! Ugh! He can still hear that metallic impact sound echoing in his head...
"Heeheehee! Yeah, it's true that it's kind of funny!" giggled Cynder, smiling.
"Cynder!" called the purple dragon, visibly annoyed and upset.
"Well, I'd like to sit here, making fun of our dark something mauve guy dude but shouldn't we get moving before Astrial fire this thing and nuke THE WHOLE REALM?" said Sparx, his patience obviously very thin in this case.
But well, he had a point. Cynder quickly calmed down just as Spyro looked around.
They had arrived in the middle of a large room entirely of metal. The place... was quite weird. The floor seemed to be made of glass and yet, it was so incredibly smooth and solid in feel, like metal. Massive networks of cables could be seen on all of the walls, all of them made of pure white metal, streams of red energy going through said cables constantly, like tiny veins. Then, there was the fact that the structure went on so tall vertically that they couldn't see the ceiling. Below the transparent floor, they could see a massive miasma of machines. They didn't know about technology and had no idea what it was for... but they guessed it was related to the cannon and thus, was something bad. The weirdest part? The place was totally bathed in intense light and yet, said light seemed to come out of nowhere...
No doors, only a vertical shaft. Had the portal led them into a dead end, a trap? Where is Astrial?
And then, Sparx noticed him and pointed to the center of the room.
"Hey! Over here!" he yelled, pointing at the creature floating in the middle.
Although Spyro wondered for a moment how he managed to miss him, he quickly chased those thoughts out.
"So... you have come," slowly said Astrial, a confident smirk on his face as he floated in the middle of the room, looking down upon them from his position.
Spyro stepped forward and as he saw Astrial in this position, it saddened him. The way he floated... it was as if he was looking at a mirror. Despite the fact that he was a runt, his traits were exactly the same, considering. One could truly see the similarities...
"Why?" he asked.
The other purple dragon raised an eyebrow, looking down upon Spyro.
"Why are you doing this? I'm not some kind of monster! I am your brother!"
At the mention of this, Astrial's face deformed itself into a huge frown, his eyes almost bulging out from the rage.
"BLASPHEMY!"
The scream of rage was so loud that it caused Spyro to yelp, leaping a bit backward while Cynder let out a whimper, stepping backward. Sparx himself felt as if his heart had stopped beating for a second. In fact, the entire Heaven's Sword probably shook.
"I'm... I'M SICK OF YOU THREE!" screamed the other purple dragon, his rage so intense that one could see the vein on his head bulging. "You know nothing of the dragons' traditions... NOTHING! You live by foreign, barbaric standards of who knows who!"
He pointed accusingly at Spyro.
"Do. Not. Call. Me. Your. BROTHER! I have no family! No dragon ever did! Families... are something made up by other species, by inferior beings! Who cares about the genitor? All dragon eggs were always gathered at temples and then, once hatched, the hatchlings were raised by the Guardians to serve the Ancestors! It has always been this way! Family ties only weaken one's loyalty to the Ancestors! The less you are bound to the mortal plane, the more one can turn itself to the eternal glory of the Ancestors!"
He then pointed at Sparx.
"You... inferior being! The proof of what I am saying! The imposter has turned his back upon his faith in the Ancestors!... what for? FOR A LAUGHABLE MOSQUITOE! Nothing, NOTHING is worth turning our back upon the Ancestors! NOTHING! Everything in this world is finite, weak, temporary, and easy to corrupt! Only... ONLY the Ancestors bring salvation!"
Then, he turned to Cynder.
"Speaking of salvation... Free will is the root of all evil for it brings one away from the Ancestors! All things are weak, all things are drawn by the temptation of darkness! One must accept and follow its fate, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE! Disobedience to the Ancestors is betraying them, it is to serve the darkness! IT IS TO BE EVIL FOR ONLY THEY ARE GOOD! ONLY THEY!"
Then, he turned to Spyro again.
"You hear me? No matter what you do, you will ALWAYS be evil! No intentions can save you... nor anyone! Everyone, everything is sinful, unholy, and tainted in shadows! The light of the Ancestors is the ONLY thing that is TRULY good! To fight for anything else than the Ancestors is BLASPHEMY!"
"Man... I had heard of fanatics but this is just plain ridiculous..." whispered Sparx to himself.
Spyro and Cynder stood there, eyes widened, too shocked to say anything...
"Fanatic... hahaha... fanatic..." Astrial laughed a moment before, slowly, turning to Sparx. At this moment, Spyro almost recoiled from the sight. His face was so... so twisted. He truly, literally seemed insane.
"Astrial... the Ancestors are gone," began Spyro, getting a hold of himself and stepping forward. "They died long ago, when Vermintrax destroyed the ancient civilization. There is no need to be bound to the past anymore."
Astrial's eyes narrowed in rage. "Ar-are you saying that I should give up? THAT I SHOULD GIVE IN TO THE DARKNESS?"
The purple dragon shook his head. "No! It doesn't mean that! Astrial... Vermintrax is gone. The future lies before us. Rather than destroying everything... why don't you help us? Show to the new generations the power of light?"
Sparx raised an eyebrow. "What? You think that lunatic is gonna listen to us?"
Spyro shot a sharp glare at Sparx, making him shut up.
Yes, Astrial was a jerk. He was also a fanatic and maybe a bit insane considering... but he was also his brother. He just discovered he had a brother and now, he must kill him? He has to try, even if it's useless...
"Show them light..." whispered Astrial, sighing.
For a moment, Spyro thought the other purple dragon was really going to give it a chance... but Astrial's face soon deformed into hatred once again.
"The new generation will be born from you and Cynder, dark dragons! They will be darkness! Nothing can be shown to the denizens of darkness. Their only fate is DEATH! This is the only thing they DESERVE! Enemies of the Ancestor! Sinful MONSTERS!"
Slowly, Astrial turned away, once again beginning to laugh...
"Hahaha... hahaha... you're all insane... thinking the world deserves to exist... when we all doomed ourselves. Fools, all of you..." he then turned back to Spyro, grinning evilly.
"The ones you call Guardians... are only a replacement. Maybe the world would have been better if those COWARDS hadn't run away with the eggs. Indeed... for the TRUE Guardians repelled the Dark Armies and protected the holy sanctuary!"
"Hey! If your so-called true Guardians survived and all... why did we find only you, then?" said Sparx, asking the question before Spyro could.
"Because I killed them, of course," replied Astrial.
And at this moment, everyone's eyes widened.
"You... you killed them?" repeated Cynder, horrified.
Astrial smirked. "The ones you call Guardians are weak. Not only did they run away but they refused the full ritual. This is one more reason, excluding the fact that you are impure, why you are weak, imposter! The Guardians are meant to train the Dragon of Prophecy so that he may gain mastery of all elements... and eventually, once mastery has been achieved, the Dragon of Prophecy must prove he has indeed mastered said elements. Full power is never reached during mundane training and thus, a special ritual begins... The Dragon of Prophecy must face the Guardians, one by one, using their own elements... and he must slay them, one by one. These are fights to the death. If the Dragon of Prophecy is unable to do as he must, he is killed, for he is unworthy of his color."
"This... this is horrible... why... why..." whispered the purple dragon, shaking his head. "The Guardians never said anything about that... they never..."
"This is because they are weak, because they lack faith," continued Astrial. "The Guardians, the ones you know, are only novices who were given the title recently, just before the last phase of the war. They lacked the faith to accomplish the ritual. They are... afraid of death. HOW STUPID! Our lives are unimportant! ONLY the Ancestors' will is important! If a dragon must be sacrificed for the will of the Ancestors to be accomplished, then it is a great honor to do so! The ones you call Guardians are a disgrace to all dragons!"
Spyro looked down, shaking his head. He couldn't believe this. His long lost brother... he was completely, entirely insane. There was nothing he could do... nothing...
Cynder slowly approached Spyro and then, brought her right paw to his snout, making him look into her eyes.
"Spyro..." she called, worried.
He looked at her carefully and he also saw Sparx, hovering near, equally worried.
At this moment, he realized it and turned to Astrial, his confidence returning. "Although we might have the same true mother, you are not my brother, Astrial. You are nothing but a shattered soul, a fanatic that believes he can justify everything with his faith."
Astrial closed his eyes. "Very well... I guess it is now time for I to crush all of you then. I will show you what the TRUE Dragon of Prophecy can do!"
"You are not the Dragon of Prophecy. I shall prove it once and for all!" replied Spyro.
And in an instant, Astrial dived straight toward Spyro. The speed of the charge was insane... but he was intercepted by Cynder, who thrown herself into his side and slammed him against the wall.
Annoyed, Astrial tried to shake Cynder off by spinning as he fell back toward the floor but Cynder simply leaped off him... whipping into his side with her tail as she did so, the can opener-shaped blade tearing through his scales as she did so.
Astrial gritted his teeth. The pain was incredible... but he didn't care. He had been raised not to feel pain and thus, it did not stop him.
Seeing the female land on the floor near the two other pests, Astrial opened his mouth and let out a massive stream of flames.
He continued to breath fire for a moment... and then, suddenly, something poked his shoulder. He turned to see Sparx, grinning and pointing upward.
The purple dragon turned to the ceiling only in time to see Spyro curled into a sphere, falling fast toward him, too fast for him to dodge.
SLAM!
"OOF!" gasped Astrial, crushed under the dark purple dragon's weight.
Spyro then jumped off of him, preparing himself for Astrial's imminent counter.
Predictably, Astrial turned around and roared in pain before spitting a massive sphere of green energy.
Spyro easily dodged it by leaping backward but rose an eyebrow when the sphere stopped, not flying into the wall. He then noticed how it was connected to Astrial's mouth via a string of green energy.
And then, Astrial began to run toward Spyro, spinning the sphere like a giant flail of sorts. The dark purple dragon yelped, jumping about as Astrial spun the sphere with great speed and accuracy, nearly slamming it into Spyro at numerous occasions.
Cynder hovered just out of the range of the sphere, waiting for an opening... and then, when Astrial had his back turned, she flapped her wings and leaped...
...but then, Astrial jumped upward, swinging the sphere overhead, straight toward Cynder!
The dragoness yelped as she barely dodged the sphere... but was struck by the shockwave it caused, sending her slamming into the wall.
"Cynder!" called Spyro, losing focus for a moment.
The black dragoness easily got up, shook herself a bit, and adjusted the second bracelet on her tail, near the tip before turning to Spyro.
"I'm okay! Don't lose your focus!" she told him as she begun to run circles around Astrial anew.
During this time, Sparx wondered how to help... and then, saw that stream. Yeah, the sphere is deadly but he guessed that the stream must be somewhat weaker and well, he IS currently infused with Spyro's dark thingy-like power!
Then, just as Astrial managed to corner Spyro and was about to make another overhead swing, Sparx flew for it and unleashed that weird bubble of his, passing straight through the stream, cutting off the connection just as the sphere was above Astrial's head.
Instantly, the sphere fell...
BOOOOM!
...and exploded on top of Astrial, crushing him and stunning him. The insane purple dragon got up just in time to see Spyro run up to him and headbutt his face, causing him to stagger.
Once Astrial off-balance, Spyro chained up with swipes and more headbutts, dealing more and more pain upon the other purple dragon before knocking him into the air. He then leaped and while Astrial was still dazed, proceeded to bite into his shoulders and wings while slamming his tail into his sides and underbelly repeatedly, soon covering Astrial's near, shiny purple scales with patches of crimson.
And then, as he neared the end of his combo, he saw Cynder nearby and moved himself...
"Cynder! Catch!" and with that said, he slammed all of his claws into Astrial at the same time, sending him flying.
Cynder lowered her body and then, did a backflip as Astrial came nearby, slamming all of her claws into him as well as whipping him with her tail, sending him upward again.
Cynder flapped her wings and then begun a combo of her own, using her can opener-shaped tail blade to snatch into Astrial and throw him all around her, each time catching him with her claws before snatching him again. She did so a few times, soon making long cuts everywhere in his body before sending him flying back toward Spyro.
The purple dragon grinned and then, jumped above Astrial at the last second before spinning about and performing a headbutt in mid-air, increasing Astrial's speed further.
BAAAM!
Astrial's eyes widened as he slammed against the wall. The impact was incredibly powerful and to say he had been smacked around a lot by the other two hatchlings was an understatement. Already, his body was covered with cuts, bite marks, and various bumps and scratches.
But as he slid off the wall, Astrial growled. He was NOT going to lose that easily!
The dragon opened his mouth and then called upon his greatest power, firing a MASSIVE beam of light toward Spyro!
...but to his frustration, Spyro effortlessly dodged.
He then directed his attention to Cynder. She gracefully rolled out of the way.
...maybe Sparx? Not only was he a small target but he was even faster, taunting him all the way.
...what kind of monsters are those?!?
And then, he saw Spyro, floating just in front of him, staring at him. That ugly red eye and that other purple one! Those dark purple and light blue scales! Man does he DESPISE him! Just one more being of the darkness...
But then, Astrial was engulfed in purple energy. A constant stream, from Spyro's mouth.
Astrial's eyes widened as he tried to step forward, intend on smacking that imposter's face... but moving was hard. The energy was tearing him apart and he felt so... so slow.
Astrial slowly stepped toward Spyro... and once he made it right in front of him, Spyro ran out of breath and stopped his attack. Astrial remained still for a moment and then, after a loud sigh, collapsed.
"Grrr... why you little..." growled Astrial.
Spyro sat there, staring at Astrial. His expression was awfully serious... and then, he began to shake his head in a disapproving way.
"Too weak... Is the "real" Dragon of Prophecy really this weak?" asked the dark purple dragon.
"Yeah! No offense but that Vermintrax chick was way stronger! Really, you're lucky we weakened her for ya cuz', with that amount of firepower, she would have crushed you in seconds flat! Heck! Considering your strength, it's a wonder you managed to get through that barrage of stupid gorillas back at the scary mountain of whatever!" added Sparx, summarized everyone's opinion.
This, of course, caused Astrial's face to deform even further in rage as he managed to gather enough strength to stand up.
"S-SHUT UP!" he snapped, his expression absolutely horrific. "I am Astrial, the Dragon of Prophecy! I will not be disgraced! The will of the Ancestors will triumph!"
And then, slowly, Astrial stepped backward and then, stood up on his hind legs, spreading his arms toward the ceiling...
"Ancestors! Give me strength!"
And then, the light began to gather.
"Take cover!" yelled Sparx as he went to hide behind one of Spyro's horns, the two dragon hatchlings stepping away from Astrial, bracing themselves for the incoming, obvious Fury attack.
The holy power gathered and soon, it begun to surge through the other purple dragon's body. However, much to Spyro's confusion, Astrial did not release it. Rather, the energy just kept building up, soon forming white flames that covered Astrial's body.
And then, after a long moment, the energy stopped gathered... but rather than exploding outward, the energy imploded and was absorbed by Astrial, his entire body surrounded by a blinding aura for a moment...
Spyro's eyes widened before the horror that he saw. Astrial's wings were literally torn off as massive, feathery white wings pierced right through his back, like humongous tentacles. The very energy turned liquid, coating Astrial's face and beginning to melt his body and cover all of his body, the purple dragon screaming in a mix of pain and berserk rage as it happened. The liquid merged with his body, causing some parts to enlarge, others to shrink...
...and when the horrific transformation was over, Sparx couldn't help but hover there, eyes widened, his face green. "Man... I feel sick..."
Astrial wasn't so beautiful anymore. The energy had now solidified, becoming a new, gooey-like seemingly white hot semi-liquid metal of sorts. Almost all of Astrial's traits were deformed, making him look grotesque. Just like Spyro, Astrial's right eye was now bigger than his left one... except that the size difference was horrible. Wherever Spyro wasn't that bad, Astrial's right eye was swollen, the veins bulging out of the inflated orb. His left eye had shrunk in size, almost reduced to a glowing slit. His entire face had deformed, taking on a shape more akin to Spyro's except that while Spyro's was simply puppy-like, Astrial's felt unnatural, artificial, ugly. His wings had been torn off almost entirely, only connected to him via nerves that connected them to his new wings. Speaking of new wings... Astrial had three pairs of them, all positively over-sized, two of them hanging low and brushing against the floor as he floated, the middle one resting in a horizontal position, the top one pointing upward. A large halo was placed diagonally, above Astrial's head, to his left. Large amounts of the energy had spreaded from his back, covering his face, chest, and arms with bulging white veins and nerves, most of the semi-liquid metal now covering his left arm, turning it into a massive, grotesquely huge hammer-like limb that ended with massive spikes, the remains of his fingers and claws. To finish the portrait, Astrial's limbs had split into pairs of tentacles ending with sharp, hook-like claws while his tail had split into tentacle-like mixes between a feathery wing and a whip, each one ending with a straight stinger.
"Be... beHOLD!" just as his body was deformed, so is now his voice. It was an unnatural, echoing, gurgling voice, as if Astrial had some sort of liquid in his mouth. A mix of intense pain and hatred mixed to his voice, making it every bit as creepy as his body considering... "Th-the THE sublime FORM of the desTINED ANgel, the CHOSEN ONE, the saVIOR OF all draGONS!"
"Wha-WHAT? This... is supposed to be an ANGEL form? Sheesh! And I thought Vermintrax was creepy," commented Sparx.
And well, that is true. If Astrial had supposedly infused himself with the power of the Ancestors, why had he turned into such an abomination? He was barely recognizable! Heck! His eyes were stilled, so devoid of emotion...
"FOOLS! I... I... I HAVE TRANSFORMED INTO AN ANGEL DRAGON! DO NOT MOCK THE GORGEOUS FORM OF THE DRAGON OF PROPHECY!" boomed Astrial, the many veins on his veins bulging even more as rage raked through him.
Sparx leaned forward, raising an eyebrow, staring intently at Astrial... "Hmmm... well, there seems to be a halo... and feathery wing thingies... but I hardly call THAT an angel form!"
"I... I bring RETRIbution! It is your PERCEptions thAT ARE flawed! I shall... burn... away... your SINFUL... NATURES!"
Astrial yelled that last word, unleashing a massive shockwave that took everyone by surprise, sending the two hatchlings and the dragonfly slamming into the wall.
However, they were not going to let Astrial take the advantage like that, transformation or not. Spyro's left eye glowed as the dark power shrouded his body, causing the impact against the wall to be as if he had been sent into a large, comfy pillow. Unharmed, he spun in mid-air and landed on his paws, ready to fight. Right after that, Spyro spreaded his left wing, catching Sparx in mid-air before he slammed into the wall.
"You're okay?" asked the dark purple dragon.
"Just perfect..." replied the dragonfly in a mocking voice.
Likewise, Cynder spun as she was sent flying and kicked into the wall when she came in close, sending herself flying back at Astrial.
However, the deformed purple dragon saw it coming and slammed his hammer-like metal-coated paw into Cynder's face just as she came in close, sending her sliding across the floor.
Although worry rose within Spyro, he managed to get a hold of himself this time and instead dashed toward that bastard. Oh yeah, he will show him!
Spyro jumped to meet Astrial and begun to spin about, slamming his claws into him! Unfortunately, much to his frustration, Astrial simply brought his wings forward, using them to block the strikes. His attacks were not having the slightest effect...
And then, he too received a mighty hit that send him sliding across the floor.
"Man! What are those wings made of? Reinforced steel?" asked Sparx, not understanding how Astrial had managed to block his adoptive brother's strikes.
Both dragon hatchlings quickly got up, more annoyed than really hurt. Astrial had an evil smirk...
Both hatchlings reared back and then, launched their attack at the same time. From the left, Spyro let out a rather impressive cone of flames as well as a serie of small fireballs that flew straight toward Astrial. From the right, Cynder let out a serie of flaming meteor-like projectiles.
Astrial brought his wings together...
FWOOOOSH!
BOM! BOM! BOM!
After a moment, both dragons stopped, preparing to dash toward their probably off-balance, fried foe... but neither of them actually begun their charge, their confidence replaced with shock. Astrial was completely unharmed. His smirk widened further...
"Now that's getting ridiculous," said Sparx, arms crossed... and then, his eyes widened as he pointed at the two. "HEY! Spyro! Cynder! Look alive!"
Astrial had thrown two small spheres at both dragons. Spyro yelped and ducked out of the way at the last second. Cynder wasn't too lucky however. She barely had the time to try anything that the sphere slammed into her... and then... she felt... weird...
In an instant, weird energy tentacles shot out of Cynder's body and wrapped themselves around Astrial's hand. His smirk was seriously creepy now...
In an instant, Astrial pulled on the tentacles, bringing Cynder to him. The black dragoness glared fearlessly at him...
"You will die," said the deformed purple dragon.
"Not a chance," snapped Cynder.
And then, as Cynder tried to beat her wings, trying to break free, Astrial's face deformed as he begun to yell out of pure rage. Then, in an instant, MASSIVE tentacles of light ending with giant, dangerous-looking stingers emerged from his back.
"This... looks bad," commented Sparx.
Spyro felt intimidated for a moment but figured out that there was no time for such things. He charged forward, running as fast as he could toward Astrial. If he could strike him while he's busy making a scene...
BAM!
But then, Spyro smashed headfirst into an invisible barrier. His eyes widened as panic begun to rise. No! He can't let that happen!
...but it was too late. Cynder gritted her teeth, closing her eyes as she braced for the incoming attack. That was going to hurt...
SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH!
Cynder couldn't help it. She opened her eyes and screamed as the massive stingers pierced through her flesh from seemingly every angle, pain raking through her entire body.
Then, slowly, all of the stingers were slowly removed from her body except for the top one, which had pierced her chest, Astrial using it to carry her and placed on eye level with him...
Then, Astrial's eyes flashed and a MASSIVE beam of light was fired from his mouth. Instantly, Cynder was torn off the hook-like stinger and promptly slammed in the closest wall with absolutely incredible force.
The dragoness tried to scream from the pain again but only an incomprehensible sound came out as crimson liquid flooded her mouth and prevented her from letting out her cry of pain. She painfully slid down the wall, a trail of red on the wall...
"I wish... I hadn't watched that..." whispered Sparx, pale, as Spyro ran up to Cynder, sick with worry.
"C-Cynder?" he called, hoping that the attack hadn't been lethal. That attack... that had been awful. Truly awful...
Coughing a bit, blood escaping her throat, Cynder truly looked in a bad shape. She weakly looked up to the purple dragon.
"Don't worry about me... I'll... I'll survive. Take out Astrial..." she whispered.
Then, clawing into the floor, Cynder slowly managed to get up despite her injuries. Although still shocked by her injuries, the fact that she was okay, against all odds, made his worry disappear. In fact, he felt the boost of rage rise up as he turned toward Astrial...
"Astrial..." he muttered, his eyes glowing as he felt the rage rise up.
"Oh! What's wrong, imposter? Worried about your to-be-mate?" asked Astrial in a mocking tone, the tentacles slowly disappearing. "Don't make that face. I know, for sure, that beings of the darkness cannot feel things such as compassion and love. You do not care for her. You are nothing but a twisted soul."
When Spyro stepped forward, his face looked... terrible.
"Well, I just had enough of this guy," stated Sparx, his face now similar to Spyro's. The two looked at each other for a moment... "Say... you got a whole lot of rage in your heart now, don't you? Surely, you must have some kind of awesome technique that could turn it into destructive power to throw at this guy, right?"
Spyro thought about it. Turning hatred into power?
...yes.
Deep inside, he knows he has such a power... the greatest of all powers. But... can he use it? Will it corrupt him? If he use such a power... he will have to let all of his hatred go through him and there is a difference between the cold darkness and the raw rage that fuel it.
"Yes but..." Sparx didn't let Spyro finish what he was saying.
"Hey! You unleashed your full power and still weren't corrupted. You've proven more than enough times that you're above such temptation mumbo jumbo. So... what are you waiting for? Go ahead and blast him already!"
He had used the power more during those last battles than he had ever used it before... and yet, he hadn't lost himself. It was his darkness. As long as he doesn't forget who he is, as long as he remembers why he fights, he can unleash his full power with no fear.
Slowly, Spyro begun to rise...
Astrial brought his wings together to protect himself once more...
"HA! That won't work!" he taunted.
Spyro didn't listen. He reached deep into the reaches of his heart...
"The hopes of all beings... the dreams of the future... and MY ANGER!" said Spyro, almost as if reciting incantations of sorts, the final fury beginning to course his veins.
And then, closing his eyes, the purple dragon allowed the power to resonate with his soul. As the darkness coursed through him, spikes of purple energy begun to rise everywhere around him, the power resonating and pulsating rhythmically with his own heart, as if synchronized with his soul and body...
... and then, Spyro opened his eyes and screamed in rage as he allowed all of his anger to surface, concentrating it all into himself and then firing it out of his body.
In an instant, MASSIVE waves of pure, purple dark power were shot out of the dark purple dragon.
The waves filled Cynder and Sparx with strength. Any injuries they had received were being healed as the power coursed them. In a way, they were surprised... but on another hand, they figured out why the darkness did not hurt them...
As for Astrial, the massive waves slammed against his wings. Surprise filled his face as his wings were completely torn apart, each wave tearing the feathers off them. Then, the waves slammed against his body, blasting his scales and tearing them off, completely consuming his flesh.
Then, after firing about eleven of those waves, Spyro's rage was exhausted. Feeling strangely relieved and calm, he floated back to the floor. The dark power continued to pulse through him as he stood there. Slowly, he looked up...
Astrial's remaining eye were widened as he floated there, trembling from the pain. His face had been torn apart, the right half of his face totally gone, revealing the skull underneath. His chest had been ripped open and his left arm was completely gone. All of his wings, both his real ones and feathery ones, had been reduced to the state of broken shapes with only a few feathers and bones left dangling. His entire lower body had been vaporized.
Then, his power failing, Astrial plummeted to the floor and fell straight on where his lower body used to be, red soon covering the floor near him...
Slowly, the three beings approached the fallen purple dragon...
Looking up to Spyro, an expression of deep shame was on his face, his whole body trembling from the lethal injuries...
"Why? Why did I lose? I... I am the Dragon of Prophecy... I was meant to be... a hero..." he cried, his voice already fading.
"Well, you sure do seem to be a weeeird type of hero, if you ask me! I mean... aren't heroes supposed to SAVE people, not doom them? Blasting them with a big beam-o-death because they don't have as much faith as you do is a strange way of saving the world, if you ask me!" said Sparx, summarizing everyone's thoughts on the issue very well.
Spyro smiled weakly, shaking his head at Astrial while Cynder stepped forward.
"I just remembered something..." she said. "Spyro, although ultimately the imposter, was a hero because he wasn't as naive as you, Astrial. He fought for the sake of the world, for the sake of those who lived, to safeguard good. He didn't blindly follow a few deities, never questioning whenever what he was doing was truly the right thing to do."
"Astrial..." continued Spyro. "It's not the power that is important. Fire, ice, earth, electricity... even darkness and light. They're all just power. It's not what you wield that is important but how you use it. The Guardians used to tell me this... and now, I know more than ever that it is true."
"Yeah yeah! Well, you failed, Astrial!" finished Sparx. "Bye bye, now! We'll add a footnote to the history books about your failure, don't worry!"
Despite his fading strength, even with all of the pain, Astrial's heart still raged, his sole eye glowing with malice...
"No... no... I... I won't forgive you. I'll never forgive any of you. This world will be purified. I'll take down everyone and everything with me!"
And then, there was a weird ray of light coming from the ceiling, illuminating Astrial's shape for some reason.
"Ancestors! Spirits of the holy dragons! I am Astrial, the Dragon of Prophecy, the Last Dragon! I surrender my body and soul to you! Use my body! Infuse me with the power of light! May the Final Prophecy come true! For your eternal glory!"
"What the..." Sparx muttered, all three stepping away as the light begun to intensify, Astrial's body progressively turning into light until...
BOOOOOM!!!
Spyro shielded his eyes as a blinding light filled the room...
...and then, when he could finally see again, his eyes widened.
"What the... What's this freaky thing?!?" asked Sparx, panicking.
Where Astrial used to be was probably the strangest creature Spyro had ever seen. Its head was shaped like a cross and it had a single, red eye in the middle of it, one red eye on the left and right tips of the cross-shaped head. Three halos revolved around said head and an extremely thin and long neck linked it to an armor-like chest. Rather than having front legs, the creatures had a pair of massive, feathery yet metallic-looking wings, adding to its three pairs of metallic-like feathery wings sprouting from the back. Likewise, rather than having legs, it had more pairs of metallic-like feathery wings. The long, tentacle-like tail ended with a huge, cross-shaped stinger. Overall, the creature was midway between the size of the hatchlings and the size of an adult dragon.
"Mortalis?" asked Cynder, confused.
"Nah... its eyes are too freaky and empty. It's some kind of lame, creepy imitation," replied Sparx, hoping that the thing didn't have the same kind of power Astrial had.
Slowly, the incarnation looked down at the three...
"I am the will of the Ancestors. Within me, their spirits and powers live. This world is tainted. The Heaven's Sword shall burn away the sinful nature of all beings. You, dragons, must accept your fate."
"Oh goodie! It's as messed up as that Astrial freak!" commented Sparx, arms crossed, quite a bit annoyed.
Then, before they could say anything, the thing shot itself toward the ceiling...
"Spyro... I may not know anything about this place but if we allow this thing to get away..." Spyro nodded. He knew what Cynder was talking about. Everyone knew.
"Well... looks like this is the final battle..." the purple dragon whispered to himself before turning to the others. "This is my battle. I will understand if you do not wish to follow me..."
"What? Quit at the very end? Who do you think we are? Sane people who don't run up to things that are made of doom and freaky judgement and death?" asked Sparx before looking down, frowning. "Man... I'm as crazy as you are now..."
"Cynder? You..." the female approached him and placed her paw in front of his mouth, interrupting him.
"I'm okay. Let's go," she said, nodding.
The purple dragon smiled as he placed himself in the middle of the room. He was... so grateful to have such friends... so grateful...
"Will of the Ancestors or not... it's just Astrial's body possessed by a bunch of evil tyrant-wannabes who tortured their mother to insanity. If we could defeat Astrial... then together, we shall win this battle together," announced Spyro as he allowed the power to once again flow. There was no feeling of anger, no fear, no sadness... only determination.
The two were slowly bathed into his powers, nodding...
And then, the three of them were shot toward the ceiling, following the incarnation through the tunnel leading to the orbital cannon's core...
Carried both by the power and the wings, the three flew through the tunnels like a purple blur, following the trail of white through the maze that made up the orbital cannon's tunnels.
Turning left, going down, going up, turning right, turning right... a real maze. Yet, they didn't lose the trail. They weren't going to.
Faster and faster... pursuing the incarnation...
And then, after what seemed to be forever, Sparx pointed at the distance as they finally reached the last tunnel, a seemingly endless one leading into the very center of the station...
"Over here!" he called.
Indeed, Spyro could see it. In the distance, the mock-up of Mortalis, the Lunar Dragon. Although it was identical in form, none of his warmth could be felt. It was a cold copy, a weapon born out of Astrial's anger mixed to the fallen Ancestors' refusal to fully disappear.
Even beyond death, Astrial's hatred threatened to consume the Realms...
Finally sensing their presence, the incarnation turned to face then, not even slowing down. Seems like it flies using its powers, the wings seemingly being for show...
The creature showed no signs of annoyance, no signs of frustration, no signs of fear nor anger nor anything. It remained totally empty, totally expressionless, not even a single feeling radiating from it. Even with his power reaching its peak, Spyro couldn't detect any kind of semblance of life in the enemy he was now facing.
Its empty stare was puzzling, going straight toward you as if the creature didn't even see you to begin with.
...but see, it did. That, the three were sure of as the thing pointed one of its wings at the purple dragon and fired a beam of pure light, which Spyro skillfully dodged. Although he wasn't the best at flying, the power helped him, making it feel as if it was more like he was running than truly flying... or maybe that was just his imagination. Regardless, he did manage to do a barrel roll out of the way.
"Not very talkative, heh?" commented Sparx, glad for once that the enemy wasn't blurting out non-sense... although the ominous silence of their foe wasn't much better either.
The creature pointed all of its wings toward each of the three and begun to fire beam after beam. Sparx's confidence quickly vanished as he was soon forced to fly in erratic patterns, dodging the beams.
Cynder and Spyro, them, calmly watched the foe and reacted accordingly. There was no reason to panic, not anymore. If they panicked, they would die for even if the beams didn't kill them, they would probably plummet a fair bit of distance if they were knocked out of the sky. So, rather than thinking of such things, they focused on the task at hand.
Spyro opened his mouth just as Cynder did so, in-between two dodges.
ZWAAAAM!
FWOOOSH!
A large wave of purple energy was shot from Spyro while Cynder breathed a solid sphere of lava toward the foe.
Both attacks disappeared before actually touching their foe, doing absolutely no damage, glimpses of a force field briefly visible for a moment...
"Ugh! Just what we needed! The thing's shielded!" commented Sparx in-between two dodges.
"Not for long," said Cynder as she turned to the purple dragon. Both nodded, understanding what the other wanted. Then, they both turned to Sparx...
"Ha! I get it..." he said before smiling. "Well, that ought to work."
'It must,' thought Spyro as his power reached out to both Cynder and Sparx... and then, in an instant, the connection was established, their powers beginning to synchronize, Spyro once again building up the final Fury just as Sparx and Cynder gathered their own powers.
As the three begun to build up their power, the creature kept firing beams. In fact, it begun to fire more and more beams.
Yet, even as its attacks became more intense and numerous, its face remained as lifeless as ever. But the three no longer cared, totally concentrating, the power building up.
The end was in sight. The core was closer and closer. They could see the end of the tunnel and the massive machine that the incarnation wished to run into. They were running out of time... and likewise, the thing was firing at a scary rate and with increasingly incredible precision.
One time too many, Sparx felt the beams brush against his wings. Spyro barely avoided one more beam, the light brushing against his underbelly and then, a second one going just between his wings, almost catching something. Likewise, Cynder squeezed through three of those deadly streams of white energy, barely avoiding death.
Yet, despite the situation, there was no fear. There was no more need for fear. It was the decisive moment, once and for all.
The power... it overwhelmed them. All of the hope, all of the dreams... all mixed to the anger, to the sorrow, to the pain... and the desire to survive, the will to live.
The creature stopped firing as it felt the core close by. Just a moment now...
"NOW!" yelled Spyro.
And then, in an instant, the combined power of their furies was unleashed.
Slowly, one by one, the giant purple spikes of dark power begun to form as Spyro's dark power surged through his body once again, his soul resonating not only with the power but with the power inside of his friends. Then, once the spikes formed a sphere around him, he closed his eyes and allowed the power to go straight through him, using his body as a cannon as he once again unleashed the massive waves of darkness. One by one, the gigantic waves smashed into the incarnation, shattering the shield into a million pieces...
With Spyro's power unleashed, it was Cynder's turn to unleash her gathered power.
The energy went through her entire body, filling her up entirely, filling her mind with a strange, warm feeling. It felt like malice and yet, there was no evil will inside of her, only a strange, nameless desire. And then, closing her eyes as well, she allowed the power to surge through her, her collar and various rings glowing in a radiant golden light as they reacted to the power.
Soon after that, two massive streams of energy were shot from her and latched into her friends before the same stream linked the two together and them back to her, connecting them all, their souls synchronized.
"Showtime." said Sparx, smirking as he felt the pure power flow through him.
Spyro didn't hesitate. He opened his eyes and then teleported next to the incarnation. The rage raking through him, he vented it out of him under the form of powerful, incredibly fast slices, headbutts, and bites. It was crazy, Spyro unleashing attack after attack without stopping...
BAM!
Then, after a while, Spyro smacked the incarnation especially hard with his head, sending it flying toward Sparx. The dragonfly clenched his fists and stood there, ready... and when the mock-up finally came close, he spun around, sending himself upward, delivering the mother of all uppercuts to it. Before the incarnation could recover, Sparx gathered his remaining power and pointed at it, firing massive spheres of yellow energy at an incredible rate of fire, literally pushing it toward Cynder.
Finally, once he was in range, Cynder spun quickly and latched into the being with her can opener-shaped tail blade just as Sparx exhausted his power and stopped firing. She smirked before beginning to pummel the creature in a way not unlike Spyro had done, making sure that to slice as deep as possible into it with her can opener-shaped blade before throwing it with her tail into the center of the triangle that she, Spyro, and Sparx now formed around their foe.
At last, Sparx unleashed the last of the power.
Sparx's usual yellow aura became a blinding field of light, covering all three and concentrating all of the remaining power into each of the three.
Then, finally, the final attack began, Sparx pointing at the incarnation with both hands, channeling all of his feelings and power into one last blast.
ZAAAAAAAAP!
A pure white-ish yellow stream of energy was shot. It slammed into the incarnation, the energy so intense that little yellow sparks begun to fly out of the creature.
FWOOOOOSH!
Cynder was next. Her own power amplified by Sparx's and Spyro's powers, she opened her mouth and breathed the single most massive stream of dark red fiery energy she had ever breathed, the incredible inferno mixing to Sparx's power. The heat of the inferno was such that it would have molten even the hardest substance on contact and now, it mixed to Sparx's own power.
The incarnation begun to tremble, the energy beginning to overwhelm it...
Then, at last, Spyro opened his mouth and unleashed his own attack.
SWOOOOOSH!
Out of his mouth, a humongous stream of pure purple energy was sent flying. It slammed into the incarnation, the full extend of Spyro's wrath washing all over the incarnation like an unstoppable tidal wave.
BAM! BAM! BAM BAM BAM! BOOM! BAM!
...the combined powers were too much for the creature to handle. Its shape begun to deform as the power was tearing it inside out, the Mortalis incarnation unable to keep it all inside of itself. The energy was escaping its body, making holes in its scales as it pierced through, small explosions rocking its body.
And then, at the end, the three gathered the most intense of their feelings, mixing to their powers, amplified by each others' powers, and unleashed one last attack, all at the same time.
Each of them fired a gigantic sphere of pure, raw, untamed energy. Sparx's was yellow, Cynder's was red, and Spyro's was purple. All of the three spheres brutally slammed into the incarnation, seemingly crushing it before deforming, forcefully penetrating into the incarnation's body.
And then, the incarnation seemed to let out a loud gasp, the power too intense for it to resist it.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The incarnation exploded, the energy completely overwhelming it, sending pieces flying everywhere. Soon enough, the entire tunnel was covered with small feathers and particles of light, the foe finally defeated.
Its body now nothing but a burning hollow shell, the incarnation's life slipped away and it rolled its eyes, its mind becoming one with the void. Its burning remains, still surging with power, slowly floated backward a moment before falling straight down straight toward the core...
BOOM!
The Mortalis mock-up's fall ended as it slammed into the core and exploded one last time, finally vaporized for good. At this moment, the core begun to go crazy, blue thunderbolts shooting like crazy out of it as its damaged systems begun to awry...
"Come on, buddy! That thing's gonna blow! Let's GO!" yelled Sparx, already panicking again.
Spyro shot one last glance at the core before he unleashed the last of his gathered power, sending himself and his friends flying away from the core at an incredible speed, the core exploding just as they escaped, a gigantic ball of fire beginning to spread as the chain reaction begun to consume the orbital cannon...
TO BE CONTINUED
