Chapter 5 – Hero Takes a Stand
Cynder glared angrily at the Pyre Squad. "You let go of Lily and the phoenix right now, you tiresome lot!" she hissed.
"Who's going to make us, princess?" laughed Ciara.
"My team and I will!" declared Cynder.
Scorcher sneered. "Well, we shall see about that, won't we?" he said.
"Hold on a minute, Cynder!" called Hero.
"What is it, Hero?" asked Cynder.
"Please let me take care of the Pyre Squad," said Hero. "I am determined to give those three a piece of my mind!"
"So you have figured it out, haven't you, Heronix?" grinned Ciara.
"Figured out what, Ciara?" asked Hero.
"That we were the ones who shot you down when you were on your way to Japan with the escaped prisoner," said Scorcher. "Thought you could have fooled us that easily by stealing one of our aircrafts, didn't you?"
"You were very easy to gun down," laughed Cronk.
Hero seethed with fury. "So you're the ones who shot me down!" he hissed. "Thanks to you, Jimmy Lionheart is dead! And to think that I helped him escape from your evil regime! From what I heard back there, you were planning to execute him once you've got enough information on the Anthro League! Don't you even realise how barbaric that is?!"
"Oh, boohoo!" mocked Ciara. "I never imagined that our own troops would have such a bleeding heart! You are a disgrace to dragonkind, just like Cynder! None of you would ever comprehend what it means to have true dragon pride and feelings!"
"For your information, I have developed my own point of view what disgraces the name of dragon," retorted Hero. "It has become clear to me that you're nothing more but a bunch of cowards that want to hide from the realities and stick to your romanticised make-believe ideals of where we originated from, and that is absolutely pathetic."
"I beg your pardon?" asked Ciara as she was simmering with anger. Scorcher and Cronk look on nervously, knowing all too that when their partner gets angry, she meant business.
"You heard me right!" said Hero. "I'm beginning to see the Obsidian Devourers for the heartless, delusional, hatemongering psychotics they truly are!"
"Hero!" called Lily. "Please help me!"
"Why you insolent blood traitor!" snapped Ciara. "I am going to silence you if that's the last thing I do! No one disses the Obsidian Devourers and gets away with it!"
With that, Ciara furiously set the robot to fighting mode, while Hero readies himself to take them down.
"Um, Ciara…?" asked Scorcher, meekly.
"Boys, let's get those punks!" shouted Ciara, angrily.
"Yes, Ciara…" replied Scorcher and Cronk, feeling very terrified.
The robot advanced towards the dragons, but Hero stood firm, flew upward and began his battle against the Pyre Squad. The two fought fiercely as they tried to take each other out. Hero nimbly dodged the robot's punches and laser blasts, while he tried to dent it with his fire breath, but to no avail. The robot's alloy was fireproof, which rendered his fire breath attacks inefficient.
"Do you honestly think you can be able to toast our Super Mecha Mangler?" laughed Ciara. "It is designed with the purpose of resisting dragon firepower, so there's no way you can be able to destroy it that easily!"
"Give it up, Heronix," said Scorcher. "You can't win against us, especially since you've decided to pick the wrong side."
"The Dark Queen would have rewarded you for turning those dragons over to us," drawled Cronk.
"My name is no longer Heronix," said Hero. "That's just what I was called when I was in your wretched group. I am now Hero the Dragon, and I intend to defend non-dragons and hybrids from the likes of you."
"So you think you're a hero, eh?" asked Cronk. "That is so pretentious of you!"
"Yeah, well I'm going to show you what this dragon can do!" declared Hero. He charged towards the Super Mecha Mangler and tried to dent it with his claws, wings and tail. But no matter the effort, it was unscathed and he was left hurting as a result.
"You're just wasting your time, traitor!" laughed Ciara, very overly confident. "This robot's metal is made by some of the hardest substances, ensuring nothing can be able to dent it."
"Looks like you got nothing left," said Scorcher. "Best that you call it quits now."
But Hero was not one to give up just yet. He continued trying to wear down the robot while it tried to knock him down with its arms.
"Come on, Hero!" cheered Draco. "Don't give up!"
"Hurry and save Lily and the phoenix!" urged Torden.
The battle between Hero and the Pyre Squad still raged on, but then, the Super Mecha Mangler managed to hit the dragon with its laser. Hero let out a sharp yelp as he struggled to recover, but then, he got struck by the robot's fist, which then sent him crashing to the ground. Hero was badly hurt and battered. No matter how much he tried to get up, he felt very exhausted from the fight.
"No, Hero!" exclaimed the dragons, and they rushed to his aid to make sure he was still okay.
"What a pity," said Scorcher, disdainfully. "To think that he was once was one of the Dark Queen's promising troopers, and now he's absolutely nothing."
"How could you?" growled Cynder as she turned to face the Pyre Squad after inspecting Hero's condition. "He was critically injured because of you!"
"It's his own fault that he decided to abandon our cause!" retorted Ciara.
"You guys are through!" declared Cynder. She turned to her friends. "Draco, you and Darky tend to Hero! Percival, Jakkin, Torden, and I will take care of them and rescue Lily and the phoenix!"
"Okay, Cynder," said Draco. He knew perfectly well why Cynder chose the other dragons to fight alongside her.
"You guys ready!" Cynder asked the three dragons.
"We are ready!" they shouted in response.
"And just how do you think you'll be able to beat us?" asked Ciara, confidently.
"Um, Ciara, you have forgotten that they have their brooches," warned Scorcher.
This made Ciara suddenly realise her mistake of taunting the dragons, and sure enough, Cynder, Jakkin, Torden, and Percival used their brooches, which powered them up. Auras emanated around them as they felt their strength increase tenfold.
"Uh-oh," said Cronk. "I know what's coming next."
"So, Pyre Squad," began Cynder. "Let's see you try to take us all on as we battle together! None of us are fighting individually! It's the four of us against the three of you!"
"Bah!" snorted Ciara as she regained her composure. "That doesn't really scare us! It will be a great pleasure to defeat you all!"
Lily and Firestorm watch as Cynder and her friends gather in a group, ready to thwart the Pyre Squad once more. They waited for the first move as they had made a plan. As the Super Mecha Mangler advanced on them, they nimbly dodged the arms that attempted to grab them. Soon, they managed to get the arms bounded together by dodging all around it. The robot tried to free itself, but to no avail. Cynder and Torden then charged at the robot, and as they managed to knock it backwards, it lost grip of Lily and Firestorm. Luckily, Percival flew in to break their fall. As he brought the two to safety, Cynder, Jakkin, and Torden grouped together and let out a powerful breath attack that struck the robot on its glowing red orb in the centre, which was its weak point.
"Oh no!" moaned the Pyre Squad as the robot started to collapse. "Here we go again!"
Electrical surges zapped all over the Super Mecha Mangler, and then parts of its body started to ignite. Finally, it let off a devastating explosion, sending debris flying all over the place, not to mention the Pyre Squad as they are blown away into the horizon.
Cynder sighed in relief as she and her team felt their powers return to normal. "We did it," she remarked.
"Well done, you guys!" cheered Lily as she gave the four dragons hugs and kisses.
Firestorm squawked as he ran towards Draco and Darky who were still tending to the fallen Hero. The other dragons hurried to them as well. They looked on with great concern.
"Hero…" whispered Percival. "Is he okay?"
"I don't know," said Draco slowly. "We could only hope."
Just then, Hero started breathing, which left the dragons very relieved that he was alright after all.
"So, you guys have stopped the Pyre Squad," said Hero as he weakly managed a smile.
"Yeah, they're gone for now," replied Cynder. "But we must get you medical attention right away!"
Firestorm jumped excitedly to be noticed. Lily could tell what it was trying to say.
"Perhaps if we take him to Kyoto to get healed, we might be able to find the Anthro League at the same time," she said.
"In that case, Kyoto shall be our next stop," said Cynder. "Let's get going, guys!"
