Reticence Saga
Wings of Change
Chapter 1: Matt's Diagnosis
After the unexpected craziness in dealing with the Marvelverse, particularly a very, very extended attempt to catch Megan so they can rescue her from her dark side, the crew of the Bladestorm hoped that they would be able to rest a while on Avalar. Of course, certain news was spreading fast.
The gang gathered in the cafeteria, watching a newscaster. "-and reports are now verified. The Emperor is dead. The Hamstervielian Empire, which cut a swathe of destruction through the border territories under General Silvia, has had its leadership decapitated by Virk elements..." the reporter was saying.
"Well, that's one less thing to worry about," said Kala in feigned-sounding hopefulness.
"Tenebra'll take the Empire's tech. Bet you anything," said Matt grimly, sitting in the corner.
"And she can retrofit all their EXP virus dispersal tech to disperse Virk virus," said NegaMorph.
"Thanks...makes us all feel better," said Techo bitterly.
"Not to mention she'll use the Empire's superstructure to totally revamp the Virk's presence and be a bigger menace than that gerbil could ever be," said Chloe.
"Yeah, all I need to worry about is a trial cause. You know, I went nutso," said Megan bitterly.
"Relax, we have friends in high places," said Kala, "I'm sure we can get you a fair trial."
"Yeah...yeah," sighed Megan.
New Warfang shuttle port...
"Ok, Spyro...what the fuck?" snapped Chloe, in her rare dragon form, pointing to a sullen dragon Megan between two guards with her wings and muzzle cuffed.
"Well, we need to take precautions against an extremely dangerous criminal," said Spyro in a cold tone.
"If you were paying attention, it was her Virk side that was responsible and she has already been removed," said Chloe.
"And doing life in the New York City Zoo's reptile house," said Matt.
"You put her WHERE?" snapped Chloe.
"Well, it would have been silly to put a garter snake on trial here," said Matt.
Spyro glared. "She's dangerous. She's already snapped once," he said icily.
"Which was why she was brought here to get training," said Matt, "Every Shar-Khan has to deal with it. And you're one too, remember?"
Megan said, "And I got the beginning of an antidote too." before yelping as one of the guards cuffed her across the horns.
Matt twitched before he said, "Reign in your boys, Dragonfly." in an equally cold tone.
Spyro glared before a female voice said sharply, "Spyro, we discussed this." Everyone turned to see Cynder, wearing a red robe, say "Spyro, let Megan go." in a voice that promised a night on the sofa if disobeyed,
"All due respect, ma'am, but someone this powerful and unstable shouldn't be allowed to roam unchecked," said one of the guards.
Cynder glared at the guard and asked, "Do I look like a 'ma'am' to you?"
"Classic mistake," muttered Chloe.
"Honey, she almost destroyed a planet. We can't trust her or her friends," snapped Spyro before pausing.
Matt was now standing snout-to-snout with Spyro in dragon form. "You will let...your friends go...now..." growled Matt.
"I don't see any friends that need letting go," snarled Spyro.
"Gee, how quickly you forget," said Matt.
"I've forgotten nothing," said Spyro, "Especially what your incompetent mishandling did to my daughter."
"Spyro!" yelled Cynder.
Matt shifted to human. "Ok, you hold me responsible for Mina. Take your best shot...Dragonfly," he said, Spyro snarling and swinging, Matt ducking the blow and grabbing Spyro's wrist, pushing him to the side and sweeping at his feet.
"Matt, stop it!" yelled Kala.
Spyro glared, getting to his feet and turning in time for Matt's boot to contact the side of his head. Anyone else would have spent the day counting the birdies circling around their head and the teeth knocked out, but Spyro was still mostly dragon, and a dragon of destiny at that and he was already getting up, grabbing Matt by his armored vest and throwing him into the wall before lunging, months of anger coming out.
Cynder and Kala quickly rushed in to pull their respective mates away from each other. Spyro wasn't listening, punching Matt in the face before he felt a doubling pain. "That's...low..." wheezed Spyro.
"Just a little something I picked up from Megan," said Matt.
"Will you just let that old thing go?!" snapped Megan.
Spyro snarled, drawing his fist back and hearing a yelp, turning to see Cynder, who had been about to grab him, a hand over her left eye. "Uh, sorry, Cynder. I didn't mean-" stammered Spyro before there was a loud 'clang'.
Spyro fell over sideways, everyone looking at Morph, who said "He needed a nap" still holding a now-dented frying pan.
"Ok, now we have to bring you in," said a guard.
"No you don't," said Cynder, "I'm in charge here while my mate is out and I say we let them go."
The guards looked at the group, which included two werewolves, two pissed Shar and a Morph. "Right you are, ma'am. Shall we take the councildrake to the healer?" said one, proving he was smart enough to one day be a sergeant.
"Yes, and I want to be informed when he wakes up and before he tries to pull any 'official' acts," said Cynder.
"Yes, ma'am," said the smart guard.
The other proved he was dumb enough to be a captain by saying, "What about the prisoner? Her friends assaulted him."
"He won't be pressing charges," said Cynder in a flat tone.
The guard looked at Cynder and at the mercs before realizing that he might vanish for a few days if he disagreed. "Yes, ma'am," he gulped, the two helping the dazed Spyro up and leading him away.
Cynder sighed and turned to the others, "I'm sorry about that. Spyro's...been nursing some anger for a while."
"Mina," said Kala glumly, helping Matt up.
"Yes, well, she's moved up in the multiverse, hasn't she?" asked Cynder dryly. Matt's head hung at that, Chloe and Kala glaring. "I'm not yelling right now," said Cynder, "But you can understand I've gotten a lot of ribbing for this."
"Ribbing?" asked Chloe flatly.
"You know, things like 'She really takes after her mother, doesn't she?' Or 'Looks like she's continuing the family business.' Trust me, a bad reputation is very hard to shake," said Cynder.
"I can't believe Spyro was gonna use Megan as revenge. He's...not going evil is he?" said Draco.
"Trust me, if there's one dragon everyone has been monitoring for signs of going Shar-Virk, it's Spyro," said Cynder, "But please tell me you have something to fix this Virk virus."
Megan nodded. "Lady Nega kept working on it. She was the sort of villain who has a cure for her minions in case they turn on her. I got a treatment," she said, nodding to Chip.
"Treatment? Not cure?" asked Cynder.
"It should prevent Virk personality manifestation for at least a few months," said Chip, "I'm afraid there's not much to be done for the physiological changes."
"Well...I suppose these changes aren't too bad." said Cynder.
Megan said, "If I had a sample of the first strain, I could make a proper cure..."
"I think it's the 'turning evil' effect we're more worried about than the 'standing on two legs' effect," said Cynder, "We were a rather primitive race compared to the people of Nullspace beforehand. Now we're on the evolutionary fast track."
"It's not all it's cracked up to be. Now you share the same evolution level with McNeil," said Chloe.
"Right, him," said Cynder, now looking like she had something bitter in her mouth, "I suppose he's trying to kiss up to my daughter now."
"No idea..." said Matt.
"So for all we know, Lumina is heading straight for Avalar to announce she's now the Dark Mistress," said Cynder.
"Probably not," said NegaMorph, "She'll need to set her house in order first. You can't just dethrone an emperor, take his spot, and expect the empire to just keep running like it always has."
Chloe said, "Didn't the news say she ate him?"
"Oh, I'm sure the official news didn't go into details," said NegaMorph, "But the Hamsterviel Empire was already falling apart at the seams. She's gonna be busy getting back into working order."
"Stop JINXING IT!" snapped Matt.
"Let's try to stick to priorities," sighed Kala.
"How much trouble am I in?" asked Megan at that, nervously.
"That depends on how powerful your new other will become if we don't do something about it," said Cynder.
"My other is currently in a reptile house as a garter snake and I gave myself the treatment on the way here so I'm not relapsing any time soon." said Megan
"Ah, less to worry about," said Cynder, "Assuming someone doesn't spring that serpent."
"Oh don't worry. We left top men," said Matt before he said, "What are we gonna do about Spyro?"
"Well, I'm going to try to reason with him," said Cynder, "Though I don't think it'll be any easier than it was during the months you were away."
"How bad was it?" asked Kala
"You could have had the whole army here waiting to arrest every one of you," said Cynder.
"Oh joy..." said Matt gloomily.
"I'm hoping his temper will improve with your treatment," said Cynder, "But I wouldn't expect it. Not to mention others are wanting to scapegoat you, Mina or not."
"Aw...is the Fire Guardian still annoyed?" said Matt sarcastically .
"Zara has been...spreading her influence since this started," said Cynder, "And given Spyro's current mood, he's a little more susceptible to her coaxing."
"Great...the bitch is back. Bet she really took to Virkiness," muttered Kala nastily.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," said Cynder, "As unpleasant as she is, she's never seen supporting the Virks."
"Could be a front," muttered Chloe.
"Well, if she's the main obstacle, our path is clear," said NegaMorph, "The Three B's ought to work here: Bribe, Blackmail, Beat 'Em Up. Personally, I'm in favor of blackmail. I bet she's got plenty of dirty laundry for us to dig up." Then he noticed the others' stares and asked, "What?"
Cynder said calmly, "I know I didn't hear that." in a sing-song voice.
The others followed her example. "I'm sure there's a level head that Spyro can console," said Matt, "How about Ignitus? He always had a cool head even before he became the Chronicler."
"His island can't be found if he doesn't want to be found." said Cynder.
"Really? I thought he had an open door policy," said Matt.
"Well, he does want to be involved if it's a matter of the safety of the world is at stake," said Cynder, "But apparently the Chronicler wants to keep completely out of politics."
Matt thought it over and said, "I can relate to that." Matt shook his head at that. "That said. He was like a dad to Spyro. We need him to talk Spyro off the ledge," he said.
"A little easier said than done," said Cynder, "Unless someone's mastered lucid dreaming."
"Which I'll be doing from a cell once Zara hears about this," muttered Matt, before wincing.
"You ok?" asked Kala with concern.
"Just another headache." snapped Matt, waving her and Chris off.
"I think we could all use a checkup," said Chloe, "We've been through a lot lately."
"Yeah, especially you," said NegaMorph.
"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Chloe.
"Well, you've changed your furry britches at least three times," said NegaMorph.
Chloe twitched as Cynder said, "She seems the same to OH, GUARDIANS!" as Chloe went Gamma Wolf and began beating NegaMorph up. "Hospital for checkups! All of you! Go, go, go!" she snapped.
The hospital has upgraded considerably since the last time they were there. Of course, with most of the population changing, the Atlanteans had to be prepared for anything.
They indeed had thought they had been prepared...until the gang came in. Two doctors were looking at bent injector needles as Gamma Wolf glared at them, while Silvana had just eaten the medibot, thinking it was her lunch. Megan was sat being scanned as guards glared at her, while the gang's resident water elemental had taken one look at the needles in the medical bay and escaped up the taps.
However, there were others who were easier to diagnose...though not for good news.
A dragon doctor and an Atlantean doctor, the dragon being one of the ones who had not been infected, sat opposite Matt, looking at some results before the Atlantean said "Have you been exposed to any XK class artifacts?" in a serious voice
"How would I know them?" asked Matt.
"Something of significant cosmic power," said the Atlantean doctor.
"Oh...oh yeah, I, er, broke one of the Infinity Stones," said Matt.
The two doctors looked at each other before the dragon said, "You have Krieger's syndrome...caused most likely by an oversaturation of cosmic energy."
Matt twitched. The multiversal species of Nullspace had conquered most diseases, it was why his diabetes and autoimmune syndromes were a thing of the past for him. But there were some that were impossible...and Krieger's syndrome, named after its first victim, was one of them.
In layman's terms, it was magical radiation poisoning...always fatal.
"So...how long?" asked Matt.
"3 months, tops. You've been getting headaches...that's stage 1," said the Atlantean, adding, "Is there anyone we can inform?"
"My sister's my only family," said Matt, "And Kala..."
"We can inform-" began the dragon.
Matt snapped, "No...don't tell them anything."
The Atlantean said, "Mr. Lynch. I don't think you understand how serious this is. When you reach the final stage, your own genetics will be breaking down."
"They have more than enough to be worried about right now," said Matt.
"You can't hide this from them for long," said the dragon doctor.
"I'll tell them," said Matt calmly
"This isn't something you can put off," said the Atlantean doctor, "Krieger's syndrome is unpredictable in its later stages with regular genetics. And, to be quite frank, there are few things you haven't been."
I said I'll handle it!" snapped Matt, slamming his hands into the desk, the two doctors looking at one another before the Atlantean pressed a button on his desk, a drone coming in with a blue jar.
"Inhibitors, they'll slow the condition, but this is just a stopgap," he said, passing the jar to Matt.
"Fine, anything I can do to avoid aggravating my condition?" asked Matt.
"Stress." said the two doctors. Matt twitched and downed one of the pills.
"Also, avoid shapeshifting if you can," said the dragon doctor, "It could lead to emotional and personality changes."
Matt paused, before the two doctors had to tackle him to stop him eating the entire jar of pills...
Zara was in a good mood...a very good mood. By now, Spyro would have locked that Virk up, maybe even Matt too if he reacted like Zara expected. After that, it'd be simple to either lock him away in Warfang Cavern Prison or banish him from Avalar.
As much as she was outraged by the Virks spreading their plague on Avalar, she had to admit some of the changes had been vast improvements. And she rather liked the changes that had affected her. A noticeable change in her rooms was that mirrors were much more apparent.
She turned the corner to her room to see Spyro coming the other way, nursing a black eye. "By the stars, what happened to you?" she asked with a little mirth.
"Matt's back," said Spyro tersely.
"And I assume on his way to a cell for that," said Zara, gesturing to Spyro's black eye.
"Cynder says otherwise," said Spyro.
Zara glowered and said, "Are you really going to be told what to do by your own mate? What kind of dragon are you to let yourself be bossed around by a female?"
"One who doesn't want to sleep on the sofa for the next few full moons," said Spyro.
"You're the Purple Dragon!" snapped Zara, "You're supposed to be in charge around here! How can you let any female show you any disrespect, you spineless noodle?"
A second later, Zara was pinned to the wall, staring at Spyro, whose eye sclera was now yellow. "You don't get to call me spineless," he hissed before he let go and his eyes turned back to normal, though he was still glaring.
"I'm sorry, I was out of place," said Zara.
"I'll deal with Matt myself," snarled Spyro before stalking off.
Zara sighed. She was rather worried that Lynch's mercenaries would do something to undo all the progress their new society has made. The sooner Lynch is behind bars, the better.
A small group of Khan dragons scattered as Matt walked out of the hospital, looking at him with a mix of fear and disgust. Matt expected that. Lumina had practically been a celebrity from the start and she'd been lost on his watch. Still, Matt wasn't about to start fights for no good reason. His doctors specifically told him to avoid stress. Besides, it's not like they're about to do something stupid.
A second later, he was pulled into an alley.
Matt's voice was heard saying, "Guys, really, this is a bad time. I have a note from my doctors saying I shouldn't get in scuffles."
The smirking black Khan dragon sneered, "That'll save time when you go back to the healers." aiming a punch
However, the punch was caught in a hand that had a lot more strength in it than it should have. "Who's going to the healers?" asked Matt, his voice becoming a lot deeper as his eyes glowed.
It was an hour later, Spyro and Zara looking at the bandaged black dragon, who was staring and gibbering. "Zara, you expect me to believe Matt did this?" he said skeptically.
"Would you really put it past Lynch?" asked Zara.
"Well, that may depend on what this particular dragon was doing," admitted Spyro.
"He...he turned into a monster," gibbered the dragon.
"What sort of monster?" asked Zara, "Was it a horrible hairy dog monster like his sis-"
Spyro quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. "There's no call and no safe way for saying that," he said.
"Good point," said Zara before she said to Spyro, "We should take some guards and contain him...and his sister too."
"Now Chloe has done nothing wrong," said Spyro.
"You do know what they've found out about her, right?" asked Zara, "She's a literal hellhound now." Spyro paused at that. "And she's apparently radioactive to boot," said Zara.
"Now you're exaggerating," said Spyro.
"Look at these scans," snapped Zara, passing over a report crystal.
Spyro looked at them with a raised eyeridge. "What does it mean by the demonic energy feeding on the gamma energy?" he asked.
"No idea...but the result should be contained," snapped Zara.
"I think this is getting exaggerated," said Spyro, "I want a second opinion on this."
"Does that look exaggerated?" snapped Zara, pointing to the black dragon.
Spyro sighed and said, "We can keep an eye on them. But I don't think they're walking bombs or whatever you think they are."
"Yes...it's not like there's still not some hatchlings he could harm," said Zara smugly.
Spyro glared and snapped, "Don't bring hatchlings into this!" Then he calmed himself and said, "Anyways, the Lynches would never harm hatchlings."
"Not on purpose...but...still," said Zara smoothly.
Spyro felt a swell of paternal rage inside that he just barely fought down. "I'll just go...remind him how precious our hatchlings are," he said in a stern tone.
Zara watched as he left before she activated her communicator. "Captain...have a squad follow Councildrake Spyro. If he's attacked, detain his attacker."
The last thing Matt recalled was catching that dragon's fist. He had trouble remembering what happened afterwards. "Oh, I hope I'm not going Jekyll and Hyde," said Matt, "That's the last thing I need."
"Uncle Matt?" said a voice .
Matt turned to see a young red and blue dragoness. "Hey, Therma," said Matt, "You're getting bigger."
"Hiya Uncle Matt." said Therma, the little dragon the size of a German Shepard as she bounded up to Matt with a happy grin. "You ok? Your shirt and shoes are gone," she said, Matt noticing that small fact.
"Oh, how about that," said Matt absently.
"You'll get cold," said Therma, before concentrating, her scales glowing and a pleasant warmth radiating out from her.
"Must be convenient to have fire and ice powers," said Matt.
"My mom says I'll make a great Shar-Khan someday," said Therma, "I can't wait to start working on your ship."
Matt froze at that, before he said in a small voice, "Your parents didn't tell you what happened to your friend, Lumina, did they."
"They say she'll be back someday," said Therma, "And you'll be bringing her."
Matt couldn't help but smile at the childish optimism before he was nudged, Therma headbutting him again. "You're coming home, it's almost dark," she said.
"Yeah, I should be back home this time of day," said Matt.
"You're on the other side of the city from the spaceport," said Therma.
"Oh, I'm further away than I thought," said Matt.
"Yay...my uncle stays the night," said Therma happily.
"Right, maybe your dad has clothes I could borrow," said Matt.
"Lost something, have we?" asked a voice.
The two turned to see Spyro, his arms crossed with a couple of guards. "Uncle Spyro, Uncle Matt's coming over for tea," said Therma.
Spyro glared at Matt before he said, "Well...he's gotta come with my…friends."
"Why?" asked Therma.
"He...just needs to talk to my friends here," said Spyro carefully.
Therma sat down and said, "Matt's not broken any laws so he doesn't need to go anywhere with the guards." Everyone stared before Therma said, "Mom said I'll be an awesome guard one day."
"Man, they grow up so fast," said Matt. Spyro snarled at Matt at that. "Oh, bad thing to say," said Matt with chagrin.
"Therma. Go home," snapped Spyro, glaring at Matt, who said, "She's not your hatchling..."
"So? You think I wouldn't take good care of her?" snapped Matt.
"You can ask Lumina just how responsible a caretaker you are," snapped Spyro.
Matt glared before saying, "Low blow, Spyro."
"No, this is!" snapped Spyro before punching Matt in the gut.
"Uncle!" yelled Therma, running forward and headbutting Spyro back, before yelling as one of the guards hit her with a bola, Matt twitching, his eyes slowly bleeding red into the sclera.
"What the hell are you doing?" snapped Spyro, pushing the guard back to untie therma before saying to her "Therma, stay out of this!".
"You started it!" snapped Therma.
Matt meanwhile was making gargling noises, two thick horns ripping out the back of his head, a row of sharp spines shooting down his spine.
The guards aimed their weapons at Matt. "Stop right there!" snapped one guard.
"Can't...stop..." growled Matt, his voice getting deep. Grey, almost black scales were covering Matt, his eyes squeezed shut as it pushed into a sharp muzzle, sharper than a normal Avalarian's before bat wings burst out his back, his form growing with the sound of creaking bones.
"What's happening to him?" asked Spyro.
"Whatever it is, it must be your fault," said Therma, sulkily.
The black scales were all over the growing Matt who was starting to get as big as the alley, almost Malefor size before a tail with a nasty spine at the end finished forming, the dragon Matt had turned into not looking like any Avalarian breed, a crown of horns around the back and side of its head.
The adult dragons looked at Matt with shock. Therma just said, "Cool!"
"Matt?" said Spyro, carefully.
The dragon responded by opening almost glowing coal red eyes.
"Sir, take the hatchling and run!" called one guard.
The two guards threw elemental blasts as Therma cried to them to stop, the blasts exploding and engulfing the dragons head in smoke, before it cleared to show all it had done was apparently piss the dragon off.
"Stand back!" commanded Spyro, "I'll deal with this!"
One of the guards grabbed Therma and flew for it, the other following, the dragon following them with narrowed eyes before spreading its wings, before a convexity blast shot out and curled round one of its forelegs like a chain.
'Matt' pulled hard on the chain. The chain held firm, but Spyro wasn't so securely anchored. Spyro yelped, digging his claws into the street just in time. 'Matt' glared and snarled in a deep voice that seemed to vibrate the soul "Weakling." before pulling, dragging Spyro off his feet and into Matt's swinging tail.
Spyro quickly erected an earth shield around himself. It probably saved him from several broken bones. As it was, the shield shattered when the tail hit, sending Spyro flying into a closed stall. "Urgh...what the heck?" groaned Spyro, looking up to see the dragon's mouth open, a glow going up its throat. "Oh crap," he muttered, flying up just in time as a crimson blast of flame shot in, blowing the building he'd been in front of apart.
"That...was not plasma power..." said Spyro with growing worry.
Lights were already coming on in the block, dragons and humans peering out to see Spyro, shifted to his dragon form hovering before a dragon the size of a small ship, grinning before spitting another blast of the mysterious flame that Spyro barely blocked.
Half of the spectators had the common sense to get to a safe distance. The other half were too interested in a free show.
Spyro dodged a third before yelling, "Matt...for star's sake, calm down!"
The dragon chuckled, the tone giving Spyro the shivers. "Not till I knock some sense into you," the dragon sneered, before its claws flashed out, apparently short and so fast it was leaving lines in the air, lines that suddenly shot towards spy-oh eggshells.
Spyro yelped, managing to dodge the energy slashes. "What kind of dragon are you?!" snapped Spyro.
The dragon sneered, "The dead don't need to know." before backwinging into a curve.
The Purple Dragon ought to be the most powerful dragon on Avalar, but even Spyro could see he was over his head here.
The other dragon seemed to sense it, sneering, "What's wrong, Spyro? No longer the biggest fish?"
"Don't be silly. Everyone knows whales aren't fish," said Spyro. In desperation, he had resorted to his last line of defense; the sharp tongue.
"Oh, there's the Spyro 'wit'. The same wit that got...Ignatius...killed," sneered the dragon. .
"You don't know what you're talking about!" snapped Spyro.
"Oh please. I was there when you let him burn!" cackled the dragon, backwinging into the dark, before suddenly blurring at Spyro, jaw open to snap him out the air.
"That wasn't how it happened!" snapped Spyro, suddenly flaring with convexity energy.
The dragon paused in the air before winging back into the darkness, before its voice sneered, "Ah, there's the real Spyro. The one who listens to a supremacist like Zara. Who tries to imprison an innocent girl just to get back at someone."
Spyro tried to spot his opponent, though it didn't help that the voice seemed to come from every direction at once.
"Wait...that isn't me..." said Spyro doubtfully.
"It was you at the spaceport," laughed the voice cruelly.
"You're not even Matt. You can't judge me!" snapped Spyro.
"No? Well, the only person who can fairly judge you is...yourself." Suddenly, energy crackled in front of Spyro before forming into a translucent copy of Spyro.
The Spyro clone said in the dragon's voice, "I'm still learning. I wonder where my limit is?" before he grinned, made chilling to Spyro that it was on his face. "The younger you would be so ashamed..." taunted the doppelganger
"Ok, you are getting way too personal and creepy," said Spyro before blasting at the doppelganger.
The doppelganger exploded into glowing mist before reforming, laughing. "You know what's funny?" this time using Spyro's voice.
"Probably not what you think is funny," said Spyro.
"Imprisoning someone for petty revenge," said the doppelganger before changing shape to Malefor and saying in the Dark Master's voice, "Its what I would have done."
"ENOUGH!" yelled Spyro before sending another, stronger blaster.
The doppelganger was destroyed this time, growing into the dragon who was knocked back to land in one of New Warfang's squares.
"Whatever's going on with you, Matt, it ends now!" snapped Spyro.
The dragon didn't seem to be moving as Spyro landed, normal and Shar dragons approaching nervously.
"Is it dead?" asked one dragon.
Spyro strode forward, glaring. A dark part of him gleefully saying how he could take blood revenge for Lumina and say it was self defense, Spyro pausing at that.
One dragon was already poking at the giant dragon's claw. "Ok, that's just asking for it to crush you," said another dragon.
Spyro shooed the dragons away, before the dragon's paw shot out, grabbing him before slamming him into the ground hard enough to crack it, the dragon getting up and growling, slamming Spyro into the ground again as the crowd scattered. Only a split second earth energy shield had saved the purple dragon from being pancaked.
"Too slow," hissed the dragon before wincing, the glow in his eyes faded, before he slammed Spyro one more time and took off.
The flickering green shield around Spyro soon faded apart. It revealed Spyro was still intact, bruised but not broken. But that still didn't keep him from letting out a weak 'Ow'.
A minute later, several anthro dragons landed, led by Zara. "Spyro...what happened? Where's Lynch?" she snapped.
"Lynch? Was Lynch here?" asked Spyro.
"The guards came to the council hall after dropping off Miss Therma," said Zara with what seemed like honest concern.
"Well, I hope Matt didn't run into...whatever that was," said Spyro.
"Spyro? The guards told me EVERYTHING." said Zara.
"Zara, I have been thrashed, blasted, and pancaked. I just barely avoided having bones broken, let alone much worse. I do not want to lie and talk about what guards might have seen while they were panicking. So unless Matthew Lynch has been caught in the act or confesses, I want you to just leave me alone!" snapped Spyro.
Zara glared at that, though she backed up a step, "I know he's somehow behind this." before she took off, the guards looking nervous, the same ones who had evacuated Therma.
"If it helps, milord, I managed to tag your attacker. We can find him," said one nervously.
"Do you think something that big will be able to hide so easily?" asked Spyro scornfully.
"Well...things that transform can transform back." said the other guard.
"If we can track it later, it can wait," snapped Spyro.
"Sir...with respect. What if something else pisses him...it off?" said the first guard.
"If that was indeed Matt, then we had better call the only people capable of calming him down," said Spyro.
Kala was...unhappy to say the least...
Kala may be a Shar-Ekta now, but she was still an experiment at her core. And as such, she was stronger than she looked. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" snapped Kala as she throttled Spyro.
The guards were trying to pry her loose...I say prying as the other experiments were kinda convinced Spyro had it coming and had hogtied them when they'd tried to grab Kala.
"I...don't know...what...caused it..." managed Spyro, Kala snarling before Spyro managed "I...know...where he...is...gotta...find him...before...Zara..."
"What's Zara got to do with this?" asked Kala, easing the pressure on Spyro's throat.
"If she finds Matt and realizes what's wrong with him, he'll be thrown in Warfang Cavern Prison," Spyro managed, coughing and rubbing his neck.
"What's to keep her from doing that anyways?" asked Kala.
"No proof. Matt flew off and he didn't sound like him and that...no dragon can do that sort of breath," said Spyro, turning on the holoview, showing a drone view of the square, one of the destroyed buildings, one Matt had blasted, already covered in green growth.
"Ok, that's definitely not like Matt's usual blasts," said Chip.
"He's oversaturated with energy from the Life Stone," said Chloe, "He's just as capable of creating life as he is inflicting death."
"He took a convexity blast to the face. We have to find him before he goes nuts again," said Spyro.
"I don't think he'd hide just anywhere," said Draco, "He'd go somewhere he knows will be safe, with people he trusts."
"And yet he hasn't shown up here," said NegaMorph.
"He was with Gherma when it happened," said Spyro, before everyone paused. "Oh God, if he relapses there." running for the door with the experiments, Kala and the two guards.
Spyro hammered on the door. "Sonya, Smoldron, open the door! We gotta get out of here." he called.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?!" snapped Sonya.
"Come on...get Therma and we gotta go!" snapped Spyro.
"Let me guess, it has something to do with the big monster that appeared at the city center?" asked Sonya's voice, sounding peeved.
Kala glared, looking at her wristcomp before snapping, "No time for doors." kicking the door aside, a muffled yelp indicating Sonya was now behind it. "MATT! MAAAATT!" she called, running in. "Maa-" she began only for Smoldron to cover her mouth, nodding to a more normal avalarian sized black dragon, faint blue runes glowing on his scales asleep in front of the fire under a cloak with Therma curled up next to him.
"He practically collapsed on our doorstep. Therma told us what happened," said Smoldron.
"Looks like Lynch got a sorely-needed upgrade for his looks," said NegaMorph.
"That's nice," said Sonya, getting out from behind the door and rubbing her snout. "Ok...so when did he try and eat a cosmic class artifact?" she said nastily.
"Who said anything about cosmic?" asked Spyro.
"I was a NSC merc long before I was a dragon," said Sonya.
Smoldron rubbing his head against hers. "And all the better for it." he said.
"Cosmic energy's dangerous: unknown genetic changes, magical overload, Kreiger's syndrome. How'd he get exposed?" Sonya snapped, glaring at the group
"Well...there was an Infinity Stone..." started Chloe.
"Oh, Lord, he doesn't tamper with the small stuff, does he?" groaned Sonya, "Which one?"
"The Life Stone. He grabbed it and smashed it," said Kala.
"You have any idea how catastrophic that could have been with any of the other stones?" asked Sonya.
"I think we're better off not thinking about it," said Chloe.
"Krieger's Syndrome woulda been the least of his worries," snapped Sonya angrily, the air around her cooling as her anger threatened to set off a fury.
"Krieger's Syndrome?" asked Draco.
"You know how people just fall apart when they're exposed to a large dose of radiation?" asked NegaMorph.
"I've heard of that," said Draco.
"Krieger's Syndrome is the magical equivalent," said NegaMorph.
Sonya nodded. "No cure, not even the Combine have one. Still, you don't usually get mutations and Krieger's at once so he's probably ok..." she said.
"Still, I wouldn't feel comfortable with Matt having the power over life and death itself," said NegaMorph.
"You'd rather he have the power over time or space?" asked Chloe.
"Please end that particular line of thought," said NegaMorph in a weak voice.
Draco, meanwhile, was twitching at the thought before he said, "How do we get it out?"
"Energy can't just be siphoned or dispersed that easily," said Sonya, "Not unless you want to make a Big Bang for a new universe."
"Great..." muttered Draco, before Matt began to stir.
"My...head..." groaned Matt, Therma mumbling in her sleep as Matt nudged her before he said weakly, "Whose pants are these?"
Smoldron said, "From my anthro form. Don't worry, Therma was asleep when you arrived."
"Have I been going Jekyll and Hyde?" asked Matt.
"If by 'Hyde', you mean 'Hulk', then yes," said Chip.
"Oh Lord..." muttered Matt, before concentrating, a thrumming noise more felt than heard before nothing happened. "Er...guys?" he said.
"There a problem?" asked Chloe.
"I can't turn back," said Matt with a gulp.
Kala said "Oh thank God..." before, as everyone stared at her she said in an unconvincing voice, "I mean...Oh no."
"Well, I'm sure I've got I've got a holocloak around here somewhere..." said Chloe, feeling through her pockets.
She tossed a device over to Matt, who turned it on, the holocloak glowing before it blew out, his body runes glowing slightly brighter for a second. "Oooooh crap," he muttered.
"Ok, this may make things a bit awkward to explain," said Chloe.
Spyro paused. "Wait...the rest of you all got changed at your last mission...man, I guess Matt did too," he said, one of the guards opening his mouth to speak and shutting it again as the dragons present all growled, except Matt who looked ready to freak.
"That's true. In fact, Matt's change is still the mildest compared to the girls'," said NegaMorph, "All he got out of it was a dopey superhero name and the Vibranium armor they're looking at in the lab."
"And this new look," said Spyro pointedly, through gritted teeth.
"Oh, yeah, sure, new color scheme," said NegaMorph.
"So it's not that flashy. Better than just one solid- THEY HAVE MY ARMOR IN THE LAB?!" shrieked Matt.
He chose that moment to jump to his feet, the blanket falling away to reveal that he was indeed in just trousers, revealing a rather well-defined muscle set, Kala twitching before making a burbling noise and falling sideways with a sigh.
"Classy," said Chloe.
"THEY'RE GONNA MESS UP MY MEMORY DRIVE!" snapped Matt, "And I just got it working for me!"
Chloe's communicator buzzed at that, Chloe listening before she said, "I don't think that's a problem."
Matt had been lent a small robe when they were called to the lab, though Kala was still just babbling happily, her eyes literally little hearts and her tail wagging at Matt. The lab itself was sealed, an Atlantean scientist in a blackened suit waving them over. "You could have warned us it was Wakandan tech," he snapped.
"It was brand new and I had finally gotten all the bugs worked out," said Matt, "If you messed it up..."
"The AI's co-opted our computers and the defenses and won't let us in till its partner arrives...ie, you," snapped the Atlantean, looking Matt up and down. "I thought you were blue?" he said accusingly, adding "And more weedy."
"Hey, I'm still blue," said Matt.
"But you were-" started the Atlantean.
"Black with blue accents, quite clearly," said Matt, "Memories get details wrong over time."
"And I suppose you weren't thinner," said the Atlantean.
"I've been bulking up," said Matt.
"Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah!"
"I thought Kala was still out of it," said Matt.
Chloe whispered to Spyro, "Close to the full moon?"
Spyro nodded. "It's just due to an exposure on his last mission," he said.
"Ok, ION, you still there?" called Matt.
One of the cameras turned to aim before the door into the lab opened. Matt shrugged and walked in, the door slamming shut behind him and resealing before anyone could follow. "Hey there boss..." said ION's voice over the internal intercom, "Man, you do not look well. You people call it Krieger's, don't you?"
"Will you keep it down?" hissed Matt.
"They can't hear us. It was that Infinity Stone, wasn't it. Body isn't made to store about...3/4 of an Infinity Stone if my armor scans are right. Though this look explains why Kala was giving you the lovestruck puppy look," laughed ION.
"Don't mention it to her especially," said Matt, "I'm not going to be around much longer."
"3 months, 20 days, 5 hours and 14.2 minutes judging by the genetic degradation. It seems the Infinity energy's trying to repair it by itself, hence your upgraded powers. It's made you everything it thinks a dragon should be," said ION thoughtfully as Matt walked into the lab and saw his armor, waiting for him. "Don't worry. I'm size fits all," said Ion.
"Yeah, but it'll just mean I'll leave a good-looking corpse," said Matt.
"Well, the later stages will probably-" started ION.
"ION!" snapped Matt
"Well, I am programmed to always be honest to you," said ION.
"I'm ordering you to tell nobody about my condition!" snapped Matt.
"Easy there," said ION, "High stress levels are not good in the short or long term."
Matt's hands were starting to shake, his claws lengthening a little before ION said "Aaaand unexpected mutation as well." a drone shooting a dart into Matt's neck.
"Huh...not feeling dizzy," said Matt.
"That was just a suppressant," said ION, "You're lucky I got you early enough. But you could develop an immunity to them. So you better learn to keep your stress levels flat. My guess is, the Infinity Stone musta been near a gamma hotspot or it's just a mutation from the severe overdose. Man, if you'd gotten anymore. You gotta stay calm otherwise the dragon that nearly murdered that Spyro guy will come out. Now THAT I am gonna tell about. It's too dangerous."
"Ok, but let's try to make it sound not as bad as it is," said Matt, "If Zara thinks I'm a ticking time bomb, I get locked up for life, which will be shorter than she thinks, and you'll be kept as contraband for who knows how long."
"I'll only tell people you can trust," said ION, as the door blew in, Kala standing in the doorway, looking a little dizzy...mostly as it seemed the security system had fired enough tranq darts into her to make her look like a dragon shaped sea urchin.
"Ok...now I win...hey Matt...how are you managing to be three people and that wobbly dance in a circlllleeee…" she manage before falling on her snout
"Oookay, did I miss something?" asked Matt.
Chloe walked in next, "Kala got bored waiting."
"Right, well, we're gonna need a cover story to put past Zara," said Matt.
"Mutation from the Marvel verse, the dragon attack, some sorta leftover weapon of Malefor's, a magical construct that broke apart," said Chloe, counting the reasons off on her fingers.
"And just in case that doesn't work, I found some dirty laundry," said Morph cheerfully.
"Morph, I can't believe you would-" started Chloe before seeing that Morph was holding a full laundry basket. "Scratch that, I can totally believe that," said Chloe.
"Morph, you nitwit! This isn't what I mean by dirty laundry!" snapped NegaMorph, smacking the basket out of Morph's hands. But as the clothes scattered, which included more than a few undergarments, a photo fluttered out among them. NegaMorph picked it up and looked at it. "Oh-ho-ho, paydirt!" he said excitedly.
Morph looked at the photo and said, "Boy, I would try to hide that too if that were me."
The others leaned in to look, the boys blushing and the girls cackling. "That's perfect," cackled Chloe.
Zara glared at Spyro. "You're telling me to leave Mr. Lynch alone? I thought you were finally being sensible," she said coldly.
"Listen, Matt has been through a lot and I might have been too harsh," said Spyro, "Can't we just move on?"
"Not a chance. His idiocy and his people got Old Warfang destroyed. His ancestors used our DNA to make monsters. One of those monsters just tried to kill you," snapped Zara.
"I didn't think we judged people by who their ancestors were," said Spyro, glaring at her.
"Oh please, we're dragons. We're better than those humans," sneered Zara.
"Better, are we?" asked Spyro.
"Well of course. We've been a noble species for years, very respectable, but since these humans have been flooding our streets with their vices, their mindless rubbish, their-" Zara probably would have gone on for some time but then Spyro whipped out a photo for her to look at.
The photo showed Zara, her head buried in a tub of ice cream. "Looks like you're snout deep into a 'vice'," sneered Spyro.
Zara calmly said, "Ah."
"You know, this may not be considered too bad a thing by others," said Spyro, "Though I do question why you're wearing a bikini in this one."
"Er..." started Zara.
"But I'm sure you don't want to reveal the answer to that. Or me to reveal it either," said Spyro.
Zara growled. "And I'm sure the council would like to hear how you tried to lock Miss Roph up before she could be confirmed as Virk," she sneered.
"All water under the bridge now," said Spyro, "She passed her safety inspection quite cleanly." There was a pause before he said, "Ok, not quite cleanly, but she's NegaMorph's adoptive niece. What more would you expect?"
"I'll get you back for this, Spyro," snapped Zara angrily.
"Now you're really sounding like a human," said Spyro.
"How dare you!" snapped Zara.
"I dare because I am the Purple Dragon," said Spyro, "And I should be standing up for my friends instead of letting others tell me who those should be."
Zara glared, getting to her feet, as if ready to attack. "I'd consider my next move carefully if I were you," said Spyro in a stern tone. Zara glared, before sitting back down.
"Zara, I think it would do everyone on the council some good if we all get the treatment they've brought back. We can't allow emotions to run too high," said Spyro.
Zara glared at that, before nodding, "As you wish."
Matt didn't want to remain a dragon for the rest of his short life, so he was trying to concentrate on changing back to human. So far, he wasn't having any luck.
"DAMMIT!" he snapped, tossing another drained holocloak against the wall, before counting to ten, his eyes closed. "I need a long-term solution. I'll even settle for a short-term solution," said Matt.
He heard the door opening behind him, before saying "Kala?", turning to see her in her dragon form, twitching a little.
"Hey Matt, how have you been?" asked Kala.
"Ok, this is weird. I can usually turn back," said Matt.
"Well, there are worse things to be stuck as," said Kala.
"I suppose. I kinda hoped one day I'd get to see my old home..." said Matt with a sigh.
Kala scratched her head and said, "Didn't someone send copies of you and Chloe back to Earth right as you disappeared so no one ever noticed you were gone?"
"Where did you hear that?" asked Matt.
"Oh, you've told me," said Kala, "After all, you'd tell your girlfriend everything."
"Sorry, it's been a weird and eventful day," sighed Matt.
"Then how about a relaxing and memorable night?" asked Kala.
"Yeah...we could order pizz-" began Matt, turning and seeing Kala's twitching pink eyes, "Oooooh nooo...full moon?" he said.
"Take a wild guess," said Kala.
Matt dashed over to where he kept a lunar calendar. "Let's see here...Saturday, Sunday, Monday... Yep, full moon," he said.
He frowned at that. "Wait...why aren't I affected?" he muttered before he was tackled by a giggling Kala and, for a few hours, he could forget about the Sword of Damocles over his head.
Here is the first chapter of a short story. Unlike the door stopper that was the last fic, this one is going to be brief, only 7 chapters, one for each day of this week. Keep an eye out for the rest and please review.