Spyro, Cynder, and all other Spyro related characters are property of Sierra studios.
Draco, Contrinus, Chip and Cydra are property of my co-author, Cydra.
Matt, his merc team, the NSC and related tech, the ancients/atlanteans and malefors dragon generals are mine.
CPS Chronicles
Soulless Abyss
Chapter 6: Dead drakes tell no tales
Personal Log of Capt M, J Lynch
Man, its been a while since I last used this...well...from my perspective. All I can add to my last entry is that life has got...interesting. Malefor's heartless are laying low and Red's dropped off the edge of the world...hopefully literally. I don't wanna bump into him again anytime soon. Anyhow...There is one more problem that needs attention...
NSC ships were built to withstand intense firepower from enemy starships. Seeing as how Matt's ships have been attacked with lasers, missiles, and energy beams, it was almost an insult to be fired upon with cannonballs.
And it wasn;t just the bladestorm's compliment of Starfuries being used. Chloe and the other crew had been told what the pirates had done when Matt, Spyro and Cynder had been 'guests' of the pirates and as such had sent in everything from infantry to scorpion tanks.
Matt jumped as two starfuries blew the ports gate to splinters. "Does 'overkill' ring a bell?" he said weakly to Draco. "Look who's talking," retorted Draco. "I mean...it was years ago by this worlds clock...and the guy responsibles dead...I should know...I was there." said Matt, watching as two of the tanks rolled through the new hole, firing their coaxial guns as they went.
"Well do you want to tell Chloe to lay off?" asked Draco. "Oh, hell no." said Matt with a hint of terror. The machinegun and explosive fire had stopped for now and the radio crackled as the teams reported that the remaining pirates had legged it as far as they could.
"You feel sorry for the mangy mutts?" asked Draco. "Not really...but there is such a thing as fair..." said Matt. A trooper talking on his teams channel commented "Hey guys...we hit the motherload...there must be several million creds in jewels in this ship." Matt and Draco looked at each other. "...On the other hand we should be paid for our work..." said Matt innocently.
"Dragons are known for hoarding treasure," pointed out Draco. "Its our...duty to check to see that the jewels are safe and to...confiscate...any...un...safe items." said Matt, as if reading from a script.
"Just take the treasure and stop lying to yourselves about it," said NegaMorph, who was passing by. Matt and Draco looked at each other before realising the first person would get first picks. Negamorph smirked to himself as he heard the two start to fight to get there first. "Sometimes this job shows off the perks." he said to himself.
Chip passed by Matt and Draco struggling to get to the treasure hold first. "I hate to burst your bubble, but there's another pirate ship coming up," he said. Matt stopped trying to knot Draco's necks up and Draco stopped trying to freeze Matt's foot off. "They're attacking US?" Matt said, almost amused.
"So they're thinking," said Chip, "I think they want the treasure back. Shall we blow their engines out?" Matt put a hand over the radio. "Nah...lets have some fun..." he said.
Captain Lugclaw was furious. He'd heard that the newcomer humans had been hitting supply ports for the last week but this time he'd show em what a pirate could do.
Lugclaw marched in front of his men and said, "Alright boys, we'll show them what real pirates are. We'll board them, we'll cut their throats, we'll have their guts, we'll butcher them, then we'll throw them in the drink, the whole lot of them." The pirates cheered and several threw their daggers against the mainmast. Lugclaw nodded and said, "Same old drill, boys. Wait till I give the word, then board em!"
A few pirates who could see the huge form of the Bladestorm were not so sure, given how big its cannons were. They could also see several shapes flying towards them from it. "Erm...captain?" said the lookout, nervously.
Suddenly, Matt, Draco, and NegaMorph swept down onto the ship. "C'mon, let's board them!" shouted Matt. "Did you say board us?" asked Lugclaw confusedly. Matt landed and then punched the captain down the stairs into the hold.
The other pirates looked in confusion before they got a good look at Negamorph. "DEMON!" they yelled and turned to either run or charge at Negamorph. For the ones that ran, they ended up in the clutches of Chloe and the ones that charged Negamorph...well...it was a good show of darwinism in action. Lugclaw staggered back up the steps to see his crew more or less being bounced around the deck.
"Did you say 'board us'?" he asked in a dazed voice. Matt was leaning against the wall in human form. "More or less...oh...du...ooh too late." he said as a thrown pirate sent Lugclaw back down the stairs.
One of the pirates was running away from Chloe when he heard a voice in front of him said, "I'll be right with you." The pirate looked ahead to see NegaMorph slapping another pirate silly. The pirate immediately backpedalled and scurried up the mast to the yard arm. He panted for breath until he noticed NegaMorph sitting beside him. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting," said NegaMorph.
The pirate yelped and tried to run only to fall down to the deck with an 'oof'. "My turn." said Matt happily. The pirate saw Matt and shrieked. "ITS DRACONUS!" and tried to run, only to hit Lugclaw and send the poor captain down into the hold for the third time.
Draco and Chloe were playing volleyball, using one of the smaller pirates as the ball. "You know, we really ought to wrap this up," said Chloe as she batted the small pirate to Draco. Draco caught the pirate and froze him in an ice ball before rolling him towards ten other pirates. The ice ball knocked them all down. "Ok," said Draco, "But there's still one pirate up there."
He pointed up to the crow's nest where the lookout was cowering. Matt pulled out his ion staff. "He's mine...I haven't had any fun." he said and started slicing bits off the mast, gradually lowering it.
The lookout cowered at the bottom of the crow's nest until it was resting on the deck. Chloe peered in, showing all her fangs in a toothy grin. "Hello, little guy," she said. The lookout looked from the teeth of chloe's dragon form to the same look from Matt who had turned dragon as well before fainting dead away.
"Ok, I've had my fun," said Matt, "Time to scuttle this tugboat." Matt turned back to human and pulled a grenade out his wrist comps storage system before strolling into what he thought was the engine room before stopping. "Draco? You remember what the Ohana's engine looked like?" he said.
"Don't look at me, I don't know a boat engine from a car engine," said Draco. "Well...just have a look here." said Matt casually. Draco and Chloe looked in to see a very large and modern looking engine hooked up. "Now that...that's a bit out of badger boys level of expertise." said Matt, pointing.
"Well, those guys are scavengers," said Chloe. "Yeah...thing is...that looks factory fresh." said Matt. Their comm crackled. "That's not all, guys...we found something interesting in the port. You'd better get back here." said Techo's voice.
Back at Warfang, Ex-Captain Lugclaw and his not-so-merry crew were being marched into the dragons' prison. "Well, we got to emasculate a shipload of pirates," said NegaMorph, "I say this was a pretty good day."
"Mhm...and we stole one of their ships. Maybe we can work out where their camp is from the logs?" said Matt. Techo came in "...and we can find out how they got these?" he said, showing a scroll and what looked like a jade crystal. "An atlantean data crystal...Morgan confirmed it when I called him. He also says this was a scroll that should have been in the archive." he said.
"That's weird," said NegaMorph, "That's like finding a priceless painting hanging on the wall of a mole's den. The moles here are blind, aren't they?" "More or less." said Matt, looking at the crystal. "This is interesting..." he said. Morgan had taught him some atlantean in his stay and this said the words 'Osiris shipyards' on the side. "This is some kinda data log..." he said before clicking it into his wrist comp. Rows of atlantean runes appeared. "These are shipping records, orders...hmm...'special project'?" said Matt.
"Personally, I'm more worried about what's on the scroll," said Techo, "I can't read a word of it, but I bet it's bad news. Not to mention the runes are similar to what the Chronicler uses in his scrolls."
Matt and Chloe exchanged a glance. "Oh great...pirates, heartless, cyborg nutcases and now something that worried even the chronicler...this planet has all the best fun." said Matt, sarcastically.
The scroll was immediately brought to the Elders. Hopefully, they'd be able to read the ancient script and tell them what it told. The eldars obviously did not like what it said judging from their grim expressions. Zara looked at Matt. "Where did you find this?" she said in her usual 'you are something on the bottom of my foot' tone of voice.
"Believe it or not, it was among a pirate's treasure hold," said Matt, "Is it really important?" Zara made a snorting noise of disbelief as Terrador said "This is an old prophecy...back when the atlanteans and our people had just met...when they were at war."
"Is it still of relevance or has it already come to pass?" asked Chip. "Oh, it still has yet to fulfil," said Cyril, "It says 'When the reign of utter darkness is nigh, the purple dragon, aided by beings from beyond the stars, shall step through the maw of shadow and seal it forever'..."
"So? That don't sound too bad..." began Techo as Cyril finished "...sacrificing themselves to save the many." Techo stopped mid sentence then said "Oh, bugger." "Still a lot cheerier than some of the prophecies I've heard," said Draco. "Name one..." said Matt darkly.
Draco thought for a moment and said, "What about that one regarding the Dark Dragon?" "That doesn't count. Nobody died." said Matt sulkily. Chloe however said. "Its probably nothing...the HQF are a week away and the heartless are busy hiding." Techo then earned a small award for good timing. "Why not see if the pirates have any more pages of that scroll? Look, the last few lines are missing."
"Even if the scroll were kept in good condition, which is doubtful, those pirates are less likely to show us their treasure hold than Zara," said NegaMorph. Zara glared before Matt said "Oh, come on...the pirates make morph look like genius of the year...a brick could infiltrate them and we have one of their ships."
"Oh sure, the pirates are just going to let a bunch of humans and aliens waltz in and browse through their ill-gotten collection," said Chip sarcastically, "They're not military tacticians, but they aren't that trusting."
"I managed to infiltrate them despite having two destroyer droids as escort." said Matt simply. Chip glared and muttered something in tantalog about being a smartarse. "And as I recall, it ended with your capture and being forced to fight against Raptor," said Terrador.
Matt blinked and turned to the smirking group. "Smegheads." he said and walked out when Chloe burst pout laughing. "Yeah...I can imagine that happening." she said. Techo said "If they're as dumb as Matt says, they probably wouldn't even blink if we turned up in their ship...and I can disguise our gear real easy."
"Yeah, but they'd probably see who we really are in a heartbeat," said Chip. "That, dear Chip, is why we will practice the age-old art of disguise," said NegaMorph. Chloe added "...and my brother will play no part in the disguises" which seemed to cause a lot of tension with the plan evaporate.
Techo added "We'll need something to convince em to let us dock though...prisoners? Fake ones of course..." "Oh no, you don't," growled Zara, "The last time you had Spyro and Cynder involved-" "Yes, that is true," said Volteer, "But unlike the previous occasion, Matt's abscense in the formating of this plan will make it more guaranteed to end with a favorable result."
There was a distant 'I heard that' but the gang ignored it. "Unlike my brother, my plans work." she said.
Spyro and Cynder were not as convinced. The last plan was still fresh in their minds. "Don't worry about it," said Chloe, "Malefor isn't a factor in this at all. And even if the pirates cotton on to us, what's the worst that can happen to you compared with Malefor?"
"We could end up back in the arena." said Cynder. Techo shrugged "So? We'll have the bladestorm blow a hole in their roof and you can fly out again. No biggy." Spyro and Cynder thought for a moment and Cynder said, "Was this Matt's idea?" "No," said Chris. "I'm good with it," said Cynder. "Me too," said Spyro.
Matt who had been there looked crestfallen. "Not all my plans go pear shaped." he said and blasted Negamorph when he said "Yes, they do."
Matt's mood had not improved with the disguise he was wearing. "I feel like an extra from pirates of the Caribbean." he said gloomily. "Oh don't be such a party pooper," said Chip, "I've been looking for an occasion for wearing this bicorn hat."
"Oh, shut it, you tin can." said Matt sulking. His disguise at least looked like it belonged on a mercenary...albeit one from the 1800's. Spyro and Cynder's disguise wasn't much better, someone having had the idea a eyepatch suited Cynder.
"I don't even know why we have to wear a disguise," said Cynder, "We're going to be the captives, we don't need to dress as pirates. Plus this eyepatch makes me keep walking into things." "Zara said no captives...said with Matt on the crew that it's tempting fate." said Techo.
"Like anyone is ever going to believe that there are pirate dragons," said Spyro. "Well...you'd be surprised." said Matt. Techo said "I got a look at the engine...no way those idiots put it together...and someone must have put together the mecha-scorpions you encountered the first time."
"Yes, and I doubt that they commissioned them from the moles," said NegaMorph. "Of course not, they kidnapped a bunch and-" Matt paused when he looked at NegaMorph. "How comes you're not wearing a disguise?" he asked. "This is my disguise," said NegaMorph, "I'm making my coat look leather instead of cloth. And you have not noticed how my fedora's now a tricorn."
Matt looked at him. "It really does not suit you." he said simply. Lao came up on deck. Given the track record of any plan the gang had ever implimented he had insisted on coming as a medic. "I went over the course...this area is well known for disappearances...but also appears to be the destination."
"Oh goody, we're heading for Avalar's version of the Bermuda Triangle," said Matt. Matt sighed. "It could be worse...it could be Malefor's lair." he said as the fog ahead began to clear a bit.
As the fog cleared, they could see tall thin spires stretching before them. On the top of each tower was a rod that flashed every few seconds. "Wow..." said Techo simply as the rest watched the rest of the fog cleared.
A large irregular oval shape could be seen, covered on more of the spires as well as squat buildings, small tunnels leading into the interior from which pirate ships emerged and sitting on top of the main structure, what could only be described as a half-finished ship that had probably sat there since the atlanteans had first been chased from avalar.
"Uh, what's our current altitude?" asked Chip. "1000 feet. No wonder the dragon council never found this place." said Techo, after checking. Closer, the gang could see items the pirates had added, most notably cannons and berths for their bat steeds.
"So their hideout is on a mountaintop?" asked Draco. "Nope...I don't think that's a mountain...look down." said Techo, pointing down. Draco looked down to see that the rock suddenly cut off just before entering the clouds.
"A floating island," remarked Chip, "That certainly explains a lot. Of course, most of the land below is mostly floating islands now." Another pirate ship, probably a small gunboat was coming alongside. "Uh oh. Here's the welcome wagon." said Matt, worriedly.
"Ok, everyone be cool," said Techo, "We're all blackhearted buckaneers coming to port and..." Techo spotted Morph who was wearing a vest, a sash, curly-toed shoes, and a turban, all in the Arabian style. "Except for him...he's an exchange student." finished Techo lamely.
"Morph, how could you possibly screwed up 'dress-as-a-pirate'?" said NegaMorph, "Everyone knows what they dressed like. They don't live in deserts!" "Remember who you are talking too." said Matt out the corner of his mouth. The pirate gunship was now in view and the people in view were definitely not badgers.
The crew was largely made up of wolves, snarly bad tempered-looking wolves with plenty of battle scars. Chloe however was looking at the island. "Draco? Call me old fashioned but isn't it a bit unusual to aim defence towers at each other?" she said in a conversational tone. The wolves were waving for the ship to come within hailing range.
"Now remember, don't do anything that could blow our cover," said Matt. "Oh don't worry," said NegaMorph, "I'll leave that up to you, strangling crewmates probably isn't that uncommon among pirates." Matt glared and proved Negamorphs point. The wolves then were quite impressed as the unusual alien began kicking the crap out of a fellow crewmember, though the insane laugh made them a bit nervous.
"Think that's the captain?" asked one of the wolves. "Course not. He's probably the crew's loony. The dragons are the captains."
"Two captains?" said the first wolf. The second shrugged. "Probably mates." before wincing as the 'loony' twisted his victim into what could only be described as 'painful'.
"Hey...you'd better keep your bezerker on a leach...we don't want him interrupting the workers." yelled one of the wolves at Spyro. "Right then," said Chip. He walked over to Matt, who was forcing NegaMorph's head into his own butt, and held up a spray bottle. He squirted Matt in the face a few times and said, "Bad Matt, drop him."
Matt turned and hit Chip in the head with the closest thing at hand...which was Negamorph before realising he had an audience of amused wolf pirates. "Erm...avast?" he said. "Odd fella, isn't he?" said one of the wolves. "Hate to have him against me in a bar fight," said another.
Matt almost snapped again at this, yelling "I'll bite your arm off and hit you with it..." until Chloe and Techo jumped on him and pulled him out of sight. "Wonder where they picked him up?" said one of the wolves. "Wherever it is, I hope they're not out of stock," said the other.
The captain of the gun ship turned to Spyro. "You're late anyhow...the meets starts in 30 minutes." he said, adding rudely "...and you're heading for our entrance...use your own." pointing to another hatch higher up in the side.
"Well... that went well," said Draco. Matt managed to pull himself up. "I thought I was gonna be the captain." he wailed. Chloe sighed "Just be glad we're not being shot at...guess its not just badgers who are pirates." she said.
"I'm just glad our disguises worked," said Techo, "No thanks to Morph." "They had a sale on Arabia stuff and some pirates were from the Sahara too!" snapped Morph. Negamorph sighed before noticing one of their 'crew' was missing. "Hey...where's Megan?" he said.
"Still below deck," said Chris, pointing at the hatch. NegaMorph walked over and tapped on it. "Megan, are you still down there?" he called. "I'm not coming out!" came Megan's voice.
Matt had wandered down too. "Oh come on...the disguise can't be that bad. There were female pirates...some of the most bloodthirsty marauders in Nullspace are female." he called through the door.
"Really? Like who?" demanded Megan. "Darzinia...300 Mill bounty...and we charge a extra 400 mill to make sure she stays dead." said Matt promptly. "C'mon, Megan, you're among friends, no one's going to laugh at you. And if the pirates do, we'll show them a new place to bury their treasure," said NegaMorph. "With interest." added Matt, cheerfully.
"Oh, alright, but no laughing." The door opened and Megan stepped out. She was dressed up as a typical 18th century cabin's boy, complete with bandana. However, one part of her outfit that stood out was the corset that was squeezing her torso into a more appealing but less comfortable shape.
Matt's face went poker standard and he was obviously biting his tongue to prevent him laughing, helped along as he was trying to 'accidentally' stamp on his own foot. NegaMorph eyed the corset suspiciously and said, "I thought Chloe was going to be wearing that."
Chloe said sweetly. "I never knew you had a death wish, Negamorph." apparently to herself. Negamorph gulped and said "On second thoughts...it wouldn't have suited her." "I don't get it, what's the big deal?" asked Spyro. "It's a human thing." said Techo, who had a similar poker face to Matt.
"Well, we need to blend in so we can take a look at their treasury," said Chip, "So nobody show any unusual powers." "...ok..." said Matt innocently. The other merc members all suddenly looked innocent as they probably had about 12 different concealed weapons on them...each.
"And don't forget, pirates have few rules and they rarely play by them," said NegaMorph. The mercs all suddenly grinned as basically, in many cases, neither did they.
A little while later, the gang was docking 'their' ship inside the harbour. The docking bay was much larger than they had anticipated. Several ships were moored there and the crews from various ones were walking around the bay. Matt immediately noticed that there was a large variety of species here.
Surprisingly, contrary to the gangs expectations, none of the different species of pirates were trying to kill the others. Matt spotted avians, reptilians, more of the wolves, badger pirates and he was sure he spotted a dragon walking deeper into the facility. He then saw the reason for the peace.
A mechanical spider whirred and clicked at him from an alcove before skittering away. "Ok, there's no way they could make their own spiderbots," said Chip, "They have got to be getting their tech from somewhere else."
"They look different...our spiderbots aren't made from crystal." said Matt. The group walked down the gangplank, following Cynder and Spyro. Several of the pirates on the dock glared and gripped various weapons of choice but a skittering noise from various alcoves and hiding places made them look around nervously.
"Why do I get the feeling that these spiderbots don't have the wacky sense of humor that ours have?" said NegaMorph. "Cause I doubt they do..." said Matt. Chloe said to Spyro. "Guess the badgers you met were the exception. This is pretty..." she began and stopped as they left the dock area and got a good look at the scene in the next area. "...peaceful." she finished weakly.
Apparently someone had been questioning the freshness of someone else's fish and had started a large fish fight. Trouts, tunas, mackerals, and salmon were being tossed everywhere by edgy pirates.
"I like this place." said Matt with a grin, side-stepping a dagger that hit the wall between spyro's horns before pulling out his pulse pistol and shooting a pirate in the butt. The other pirates paused to look at him before carrying on the fight.
"They certainly know how to stave of boredom," commented NegaMorph before catching a swordfish before its snout could impale his head. He then grabbed a nearby pirate and slapped his face a few times with the swordfish before shoving its tail down his throat and booting him into another group of pirates.
Chloe, Spyro, Megan and Cynder watched as the other members of their band started to join in the fight. "You know...this is actually going well." said Chloe weakly, absently pulling the dagger out the wall.
"Don't you think that this is a little dangerous?" asked Spyro. "Spyro, you're a purple dragon. If they really threaten your life, you can zap them with lightning or something," said Cynder.
A second and third dagger both shot out and missed them. Chloe took them too. "This reminds me of the last Mercenary company alliance chrismas party." she said, pulling the jewel off one of the dagger hilts and throwing the dagger back, bringing an 'OW...WHAT IN THE ELDARS?" from the group fighting.
"So what do we do now?" asked Spyro. "Wanna go check out a bar?" asked Megan. Chloe said "You're too young...erm...you dunno what they drink here." she said lamely. "I think I saw some of the others go into that one," said Cynder, indicating a pub called 'The Rusty Dagger'.
Chloe turned in time to see the three others wander into the pub. "No...Contrinus? Little help." she said, running after the trio. Contrinus quickly flew besides Chloe. She was eager to get away from the fish fight as some of the pirates had been trying to pluck off her feathers.
Chloe and Contrinus reached the door in time for it to burst open and a pirate fall backwards with a cutlass in it. "Oh boy...definitely not 5 stars." said Chloe, stepping over the pirate and going in. There was another fight going on in here as well as singing. "MEGAN ROPH!" yelled Chloe, spotting the aforementioned person looking at a half-filled mug of whatever the singing pirates were drinking.
Megan turned and gave Chloe a goofy grin. "Hey Chloe, thisssss ssstuff tastes pretty *hic* good after the first three gulpth," she said in a slurred voice. Chloe stared at the mug and took it from the unresisting megan before sniffing it. "ACK...this stuffs worse then kr'ta...wait...THIS IS KR'TA!" she said, before glaring at Spyro and Cynder.
"Well, Matt did give some of it to us," said Spyro. "We thought it would be safer than whatever they're serving here," said Cynder. Chloe said "He did tell you no other lifeform can drink it safely right?" Megan proved the point as she burped up a fireball and clutched her throat.
"Well, she's part NegaMorph, she should be able to take it, right?" asked Spyro. "Don't be shuch a wet blanket," said Megan, "I'm, I'm just fine." Just then, her right ear grew black and pointed before splitting into two.
The others stared. "That answer your question? Lets get her outta here before Negamorph arrives." Chloe said. A second later Negamorph DID arrive...via the window, flying across the room and landing in an open rum barrel, followed closely by Morph.
"Oh, look, it's Uncle," said Megan pointing with her right hand as jaws grew from her wrists and her hand turned dark grey. Chloe pushed Megan out of sight and a second later the barrel exploded outwards as Negamorph burst free. However something was amiss with his expression.
NegaMorph's head was practically split in half by his wide grin and both he and Morph were singing, "For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow..." Chloe, Spyro and Cynder stared. "Ok...now I know how my brother feels." said Chloe.
Then NegaMorph noticed Chloe and said, "Hey, Silvia, how comes you never take me clubbing? *hic*" Chloe glared but Negamorph's self preservation had been shut down by the wonderful world of alcohol. "I am NOT Silvia." she snarled and winced. A avian pirate had just pinched her on the bum. "How bout we go somewhere, matey?" slurred the about to be very unlucky pirate.
Spyro and Cynder, sensing what was about to happen, covered their heads with their wings. As an afterthough, Cynder also wrapped Megan up inside her wing. "Awww... I wanna seeeeee it," moaned the half-human teenager. Contrinus also dived for cover behind the bar.
Outside, Matt was bouncing a pirate on his head via the ankles when a lightning bolt blew the entire front off the rusty dagger and a blackened pirate staggered out of the hole and fell forward. All the pirates stopped and stared at the charred front of the pub. "Hey, I got a buddy who owes me some drinks in there," said one of the badger pirates.
Techo and Draco exchanged a glance. "Someone made a pass at Chloe." said Matt. The group watched as Chloe peered out the bars new 'window' with a smug look.
"Well, that takes care of that lout," said Chloe dusting her hands off. "Yeah, way to show him," said Morph, "What'd he do?" "I don't know..." said NegaMorph. Suddenly, one of Morph's eyestalks fell off and landed on the floor in a puddle. Morph and NegaMorph stared at each other for a second before they started laughing their heads off.
Matt looked at Draco and Techo. "No more alcohol for those guys...and someone pick up Morphs eye." said Matt. "Oh, don't be such a party pooper," said NegaMorph just before one of his left hands melted off. "Oh look, there goes my hand. Ha, ha, ha..." Three seconds later, NegaMorph's lower jaw slid off.
Matt grinned. "Hey Draco. I think Nega needs to 'pull himself together'. Hahah...ARGH!" said Matt, cut off as Chloe zapped him. "Hey, we're melting into puddles, whee!" said Morph's entire head as it slid off his shoulders and down into the growing puddle of white and black slime on the floor. "Ah, dammit. Is there a bucket in the house?" said Techo.
"I didn't know they could do that," said Megan. Matt looked at Megan. About half of her face was changing to Lady NegaMorph and most of her limbs were transformed as well with her clothing being a hodgepodge of the two forms. Matt sighed, before gently turning her to a window to show her reflection. "It runs in the family." he said.
"Hey, that's really weird..." said Megan before leaning forward against the wall. "Better get her out before we got more explaining to do that we need," said Techo. Chloe glanced at Morph and NegaMorph, who were basically just giggling puddles of slime at this point. "And can we get a mop over here?" she asked. Matt looked around. "I think we lost our audience when Negamorph melted." he said.
Elsewhere, in a darkened cavern, Malefor was laying still, his eyes closed in concentration. After a minute his eyes opened. "Very good." he said and jumped a bit as Darkans said "What is good?" Malefor spun to see that Darkans had assumed a human form...the only thing betraying his true species being the eyes...which were pure black.
Malefor raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated humans," he said. "Their forms have their uses..." said Darkans in a clipped tone. "What have you found out?" he added in an irritated voice.
"One of my...agents is currently inside the pirates' hideout," said Malefor, "Apparently, there is a scroll among their treasure that tells of a prophecy regarding the purple dragon and the dark ones." "Hmm...we have no uses for prophecies...but we cannot have these humans using the information...I will inform my superiors. You will take a force to their location...kill everything alive and burn it to ashes." said Darkans.
"Very well," agreed Malefor, "I've been wanting to unleash the new Heartless anyways." "Let us hope you command them better this time round otherwise I will be forced to find someone more competent." said Darkans, cruelly. Malefor growled slightly and muttered, "I'm as compotent as you'll ever find."
The next morning was a lot more peaceful on account of Morph. It's not so much of what he was doing but what he wasn't doing. His drinking last night left him with a monumental hangover which even an unplugged brain could not help. NegaMorph was in no better condition and would groan at the slightest noise.
"All clan members to the pirate lord chamber...NO EXCEPTIONS!" yelled a pirate on a speaking trumpet in the square outside the inn they had slept the night in. "Negamorph...no shooting the messenger." whispered Matt, pulling Negamorphs fang hand down.
"Shuuuuuuut uuuuuuuup..." groaned NegaMorph. Megan had been the most fortunate of the three. She wasn't suffering from any headaches. Of course, that was because she was currently in an unwaking sleep. The group left her sleeping anf followed the other pirates into a large chamber.
As they were looking for seats, they notice a large lizard-like pirate shouting at a smaller and flimsier lizard who didn't seem like the privateering type. "The new engine didn't work, ya idiot." yelled the pirate, backhanding the smaller lizard and pulling out a blade before a shot knocked it away. "Hey...leave it." said Matt, holding the smoking gun.
The big lizard snarled and said, "None of your business, you bald monkey!" "I know...I just hate cold blooded cowardly scumbags, thats all." said Matt in a casual voice. Chloe said "Easy...look...my bro's had a hard day. We don't wanna start anything."
"Eh, I knew the hairless ape would back down, all talk, no bite," said the big lizard. Matt shrugged and looked at Chloe. "I think those be fighting words from the walking handbag." he said.
Chloe rolled her eyes and said, "Must you pick a fight with every-" "You taking orders from a wench, that's pathetic," said the pirate. "Ok, go ahead," said Chloe. The pirate lizard pushed his previous victim roughly aside as Matt pulled out his ion blade. "Call that a sword? THIS is a sword." said the pirate, pulling out a sword that was closer to a chainsaw before flourishing it at Matt. "Oh...this is a gun." said Matt, drawing and shooting the pirate in the kneecap,
The lizard cried out and clutched his bleeding kneecap. "Hey, we're pirates, remember?" said Matt. Matt turned and helped the smaller lizard up. "Hi there..." he said cheerfully before hearing a cry. He turned to see the pirate lunging at him before an lightning blast from up high hit the lizard in the back hard enough to vaporise him. "That is enough...save it for the arena." said a voice.
Matt looked up to see an electricity dragoness. She would have been quite lovely if she weren't covered with tattoos, battle scars, and jewel studs all over her body. Very clearly, she was the battle-hardened, no-nonsense type.
"Erm...live long and prosper?" said Matt and was zapped. the dragoness said "Where is your captain?" Matt's eyes were crossed "They're off to see the wizard of oz...can I take a message?" he said dizzily.
"Uh, technically, that would be him," said Chloe, pointing at Matt, "He's just... having a short circuit right now." The electricity dragoness took one look at Matt before saying, "Seriously, where is your captain?" Techo prodded Cynder forward with his foot.
The electricity dragoness peered closely at Cynder and said, "Do I know you?" Cynder gulped. "No...I don;t think so." she said. Usually she would not be afraid of this dragoness but usually a small army would not be there to back the opponent up all at once. "Erm...I'm Captain...Silvia." she said, remembering the name Negamorph had called Chloe.
Chloe was about to say her name was not Silvia out of habit, she bit her tongue at the last second. The dragoness stared suspiciously at Cynder and said, "I don't recall having a 'Captain Silvia' among our ranks." Chloe said quickly "She's new."
The dragoness's suspicion did not ebb any, but she had more important things to attend to. "Don't start any fights, we've got more important things to do than bust some rebel-rousers' heads." She then turned around and flew off.
The lizard that Matt had saved however walked up to Chloe and said "You know...a wierd hat does not make a pirate. I gotta get back to work." before heading off. "We better keep a lower profile," said Chloe. "Relax," said Matt, "As if anyone will know who we really- QUICK! GET DOWN!" Before giving any more warning, Matt pushed the others out of sight.
Several other pirates, obviosuly more pirate leaders had come in, standing at several small balcony's but that wasn't what had caused Matt to push everyone down. It was the two parrots that had landed at the empty balcony that had caused him too. "What is it?" said Chloe trying to get back up as Matt peered at the parrots. "Its Mr T's parrot." said Matt darkly.
Chloe gave Matt an incredulous look. "You're joking, right?" she said. "I've never been so serious." said Matt. Spyro peered up to see them. "I thought we'd seen the last of those two." He said.
"Those two don't look like any kind of threat," said Techo. "Yeah, they look more like owls than parrots," said Chris. "They were the brains behind the pirate that locked us up." said Cynder. Matt added "Literally...Skabb made morph look like chip."
"You're kidding, those two featherdusters were the leaders of those pirates you fought?" said Chip. "Yup...had a whole fleet..." said Matt, saying the last bit smugly. "So, why are we ducking out of sight again?" asked Draco. "Cause when we parted from their company...My ship blew away their fleet and we kinda dropped Skabb down 10 floors...and then Sparx punched the purple one, sniff." said Matt.
"No way, Sparx?" said Contrinus. "Yup." said Spyro. "Good right hook too." added Matt, before listening. Scratch was saying. "Since the arena ship was destroyed 3 years ago, we have not been able to hold a arena tournament." There were criers of anger from the crowds as well as threats of what would be done to whoever was responsible. Matt and Spyro shrunk down a little more out of sight at hearing them.
"But we ain't outta business," said Sniff, "We're holding the tournament right here." There was a cheer then and Spyro and Matt slowly stood up. "I think we might be off the hook." said Matt cheerfully and stopped as Scratch said "...The lords will choose their nominated captains who will take part alongside their crews...the winning lord will be our leader for the year...with our guidance of course." The pirates all turned as Matt yelled 'GODDAMN IT!"
"Looks like some sucka's volunteering," said Sniff. "No I'm not...bugger off." replied Matt before Chloe 'accidentally' pushed him over. Then the electricity dragoness named Teslia spoke, "I think I'll volunteer Captain Silvia's crew. I'd like to see what this newcomer can do."
Cynder gulped and Matt said "What happens if we can't take part?" Scratch said "You and your crew are fed into the furnace." Matt gulped "Just asking." The reptilian pirate lord, Cylus pointed to the lizard pirate Matt had shot a few minutes ago. "I nominate Captain Vorkan." Matt gulped as Vorkan turned to glare at him and do a throat slitting mime. The avian lord, Sanido pointed to a hawk pirate "I nominate Captain Garuda."
Scratch and Sniff remained quiet during the pirate lords' nominations, but their single pair of eyes never left 'Captain Silvia'. The wolf pirate lord, Skyfang, pointed to a pirate called 'Captain Luponic'. Scratch grinned as the last selection was given. "Now we've chosen everyone we can begin..." He turned to look at Cynder and co. "...to the death."
After the other pirates had left, Scratch and Sniff, and their new 'boss' were left alone. "Damn...those foo's were bad enough the first time...now there's more of them." said Scratch, in an annoyed voice. "Patience, Scratch," said Sniff, "They wouldn't dare do anything to us. Not so long as we'll be able to reveal who they are."
Their new figurehead was sadly more intelligent then Skabb had been, this one actually capable of limited speech. "Vat 'reveal meanink?" he asked in a deep voice. "Never you mind," said Sniff, "You don't have to think about it at all." "Yeah, we be doin' all the thinkin' here," said Scratch. "Yaa, okay...Vat 'thinkink' meanink?" asked the pirate after a minutes pause.
"Takes a bit too much from old Skabb, doesn't he?" muttered Scratch. "Which is precisely why he's the ideal captain to run: he'll do anything we tell him to do," said Sniff. The pirate, called Clunker, nodded with a dumb grin before looking puzzled. "Who you guyz?" he asked, causing the two parrots to faceplant.
Scratch glared at Clunker and said "Quiet foo. Sniff...we can't have those guys runnin around." "Not to worry," said Scratch, "After all, so many combatants die during the tournament." Sniff smirked and there was a coughing noise from Clunker, signifying a new thought had turned up. They turned to look expectantly. "What the plan again?" causing the parrots to faceplant again.
The next morning the gang with Captain 'Silvia' had been told to report to the rusty dagger. "Unusual place for a game." said Matt. "We are NOT taking the plasmoids along," said Chloe. Techo grinned. "Don't worry...someone accidentally welded their door shut last night...dunno who it coulda been." he said innocently. Chloe nodded "Good man, I mean...oh dear, they'll miss the game."
The group headed to the Rusty Dagger, which was still repairing from the hole Chloe blew through its wall. The pirates doing the job took one look at Chloe and ran for it except for one who nervously opened the door for her. "It's good to get respect," said Chloe smugly.
"Looks like bare faced fear to me." said Matt. "Same thing." said Chloe as they walked in. There were several tables set up. The pirate lords and the captains they'd nominated were present. "You're late," growled the electricity dragoness. "Sorry, Captain, er..." said Cynder. Teslia snorted before saying. "This is a simple contest to start...last one standing wins. Choose one of your crew to represent you." she said.
He gulped. He'd seen star wars but he was confident that vorkans representative didn't have a blaster under the table. He did jump however when a pint glass was dumped in front of him and Vorkans. "Last one standing wins for their faction." said Sniff who was perched with Scratch on the shoulders of a badger pirate who looked brain dead.
"What? A drinking contest? That's all? Piece of cake," said Matt, genuinely sounding excited and relieved. His relief faded when a drop landed on the wood of the table and ate through it. "Oh boy..." he said and started drinking.
An hour later, and Scratch and Sniff were silently amazed. "I thought you said that stuff we found in the ruins would work?" said Scratch. "It should have," said Sniff, "It was said to act as an acid to the systems of all the weakest creatures." "Damn." said Scratch as Matt started on his 12th mug, looking a bit distant-eyed and sniggering at things...like the wall.
"How long could they go at it?" asked Draco. "Well, by my calculations," said Chip, "They should be dead." Matt grinned faintly, matching the faint grin on his opponent, alcohol having allowed to them to forget they were supposed to get each other. "Hey duuuudey...try a bit." said Matt, offering the last dregs of his drink to his opponent. Teslia said "Can they do that?"
"Well, bottoms up, *hic*, buddy," said the other pirate before downing Matt's drink. Suddenly, his face froze in a grimace and he fell over. "Yay...I win...I want the car." said Matt, before getting a funny look before burping a blue tinged fireball across the room, hitting Scratch, Sniff and their 'perch'. Clunker grinned. "Yaa. Dat vas good trick...do again pleaze." he said clapping.
The two parrots just stared at Matt. "Me thinks we underestimated our opponent's nature," said Sniff as he put out a flame on Scratch's head like a candle. "Lets...not use that again." said Scratch, coughing out a smoke ring before falling backwards off Clunkers shoulder.
"We have a winner," said Teslia smugly. "Yay...I want the car..." said Matt, before taking a deep breath to start singing. That's when his friends all dogpiled on top of him.
Teslia looked at Cynder/Silvia as Matt was dragged off with a pint mug stuffed in his mouth. "Ok...why?" she said dully. "Trust me, that's one guy you don't want to hear a sailing song from," said Chloe. Teslia sighed. "I think we can safely declare my clan the winner." she said, glaring at Scratch and Sniff.
"Yes, I suppose this victory is yours," said Sniff. "But it's only the first, foo," said Scratch, "Ya gotta do a lot more to get the crown." Matt had been left at the ship until the Kr'ta wore off...in a sound proofed room. However the next one was worrying. The gang watched as two of the other clan representatives did what looked like a normal duel...except it wasn't with pistols.
"Uh, aren't cannons kind of ungainly?" asked Chris. "I can improve our chances." said Techo, smirking. "I'm pretty sure using radioactive materials is a bad idea," said Chloe. "Its not always radioactive...just because there's still a glow behind Jumba's ship..." said Techo, sulkily. "No warheads," said Chloe sternly.
"Fine...how long till our turn?" said Techo. "We're next." said Cynder. "No problem." said Techo.
Scratch and Sniff had done an upgrade of their own to the cannon for the dragon clan, along the line of plugging the cannon muzzle. "At least we'll get rid of one of them." said Sniff. "I can't wait to see that foo get blown to bits," said Scratch.
Clunker chuckled. "Wierd guy go boom?" he said as Techo and the badger pirate clan representaative wheeled their cannons onto the field. "Hey...is that the cannon we gave him?" said Sniff, confused.
Chris looked at Techo's 'improvements'. "Why is a food mixer attached to it?" he said slowly. "Erm, it's technical," said Techo. "You're not supposed to modify your cannon." Sniff called out, common sense supplying to the parrot that something bad would happen if the human fired it.
"What was that?" called Techo who was already lighting the fuse. "The dragon clan forfeits this contest for illegal modification..." called Sniff. Techo glared. "Git." he called back and extinguished the fuse...or at least tried too. "Uh oh." he said in a small voice and tried to put it out again.
"Hit the deck!" yelled Contrinus as she dived for cover. Everyone did except for Clunker who was about 5 minutes behind everyone else and as a result, Scratch and Sniff. The cannon fired so loud the windows shattered. A minute later, everyone got up to see a large hole through 5 walls...and through the holes... "THATS OUR SHIP!" wailed Sniff, looking at the ship that Techo's ammo had hit and subsequently blown to pieces.
"Er, my bad?" said Techo before getting hit by Chloe. "I TOLD YOU NO WARHEADS!" she shouted. "S'not a warhead...its a anti-tank round." said Techo sulkily.
A little while later, the next fight was about to begin. "This competition is for captains only," called Sniff, "All competing captains should prepare to fight." Matt and the Morphs had been let out. It sadly turned out that Matt had been locked in with the morphs...it also turned out Matt's singing was very sobering as was confirmed by the bruises he now had...probably the first time Morph was ever violent.
"Well, I better go on out there now," said Cynder. "No, you've done enough already," said Spyro, "I'll handle this one." "They said captains." said Matt. A avian pirate said. "Usually the captains take their first officers in too." before noticing their gazes. "What? I read the rules."
"Uh, do I qualify as a first officer?" asked Matt. "No...you're the on board idiot." said the Pirate and was knocked flying by a twin blast of plasma and lightning. Negamorph said "We're supposed to be in the dragon pirate clan...why not Spyro?"
"He does have more experience fighting in the arena," said Cynder. "And I don't?" said Matt. The group all went silent remembering the 'fun' they had experienced the last time. ""Yeah...but I think its the wrong type of experience." said Chris. "It's, uh, a dragon's honor thing," said Chloe, "and you're not all dragon." Matt glared. "I have to go get an urge to explode things out my system..." he said, walking off. "Well, I better get out there then," said Spyro.
The two dragons walked down into the arena. The sight was not comforting, given the large amount of craters.
Scratch and Sniff looked at the small reptile pirate. "I assume this will deal with the dragons as well as the others?" said Sniff. "Absolutely," said the pirate, "There's not a creature of this world that stands a chance against it." "Except for Clunker...I assume you modified it correctly?" said Sniff. "Yes, it'll go easy on him," said the pirate.
The three looked down to see Spyro and Cynder walking into the arena. "Oh, this'll be good." said Scratch evilly.
Spyro and Cynder looked at the craters before seeing a hatch opening at the opposite end. "This ought to be a tough one," said Cynder. "Isn't it always?" said Spyro. A large machine walked out. It had a normal looking torso with four legs. It had several cannons on its shoulders and its left arm had a nozzle with a pilot light at the end and the other ended in five nasty looking claws that were spinning.
"Well, they've been certainly working on upgrading their robots," said Cynder. The machine turned to look at them, before aiming its left arm and firing a blast of flames at them.
The two of them narrowly dodged the flames. "That's a definite improvement," said Spyro. The machine then aimed a slash with its spinning claw arm, slashing a hole in the wall between the dragons. "Definately improved it." said Spyro. The robot then aimed its cannons and started firing several missiles at Spyro and Cynder.
On the stands, Chloe was watching in minor horror. "How did you beat these things last time?" she said. Matt said "Spiderbot." Chloe looked at Negamorph. "Well...we can improvise...Negamorph?" "I'm not sure if I can get a good shot from here," said NegaMorph. "Who said anything about shooting?" said Chloe, kicking Negamorph into the arena.
Spyro and Cynder glanced sideways as NegaMorph landed in the arena, face-first. "Ow," he said. The machine turned to look at Negamorph before making a few motions with its slasher arm. Negamorph said "Hah...is that the best you've...oh." he said as he fell into cubes.
"Double ow," said NegaMorph. Matt smirked at Chloe. "Well...it distracted the robot." she said innocently. "Ok, we should probably try to find its weak points," said Spyro. A cannon blew a hole in the wall before Spyro spat a ice blast at the machine, freezing its left shoulder cannon.
However, the cannons simply fired through the ice, shattering them. The machine seemed smug before aiming a slash at Cynder, barely missing her. Matt winced as Cynder barely dodged it before hearing a growling. "Chloe?" he said, looking at Chloe who shrugged before they looked to see Teslia looking furious.
"Um, is there a problem, ma'am?" asked Matt, moving several feet away from her. "That was being made for me...bloody parrots." snarled Teslia. "Yeah, don't you hate it when people rip you off?" said Matt, getting even further away from Teslia. "If it wasn't against the code to vaporise other lords subjects I'd be having roast parrot." said Teslia, angrily.
Chloe thought for a moment and said, "So, you wouldn't mind getting back at them, would you?" "I would rip them apart if I could." said Teslia, practically foaming at the mouth. "Then what would be the best way to defeat that robot?" asked Chloe. "There's a weakpoint at the nape of the neck...I had it added just in case it threw a screw or two." said Teslia.
"Good to know," said Chloe. Matt ran to the edge. "Shoot it in the back of the...wow." he said as a cannon shot fired from Clunker hit him.
Scratch and Sniff were impressed...right up until Clunker said "Sorvy...mine bad." he said waving in a friendly way and the semi-concussed Matt. "DON'T APOLOGIZE, YOU DUNDERHEAD!" yelled Sniff. "Shoot him for reals, foo," said Scratch.
"But dat nasty." said Clunker. Scratch face planted and Sniff said "We could have just taken over personally but nooo...we had to have a figurehead pirate again." "No one takes parrots seriously," said Scratch.
Spyro and Cynder dodged another blast from the bot. "What did Matt say?" said Cynder, sending a shadow blast at the bot to little effect. "I think he said 'Aim for the back'," said Spyro. The two dragons took off to swoop round the bot, sending several blasts at it. this time it had a partial effect, causing the bot st stagger before its torso spun round to fire another fire blast at them.
"We need to split up," said Spyro, "I'll distract it from the front while you get its back." Cynder flew behind the bot while Spyro landed in front of the bot. "Hey, tin can." he taunted. The bot turned to stare at him, before aiming its cannons.
Spyro had to keep moving about to avoid being hit by any of the robot's missiles. Cynder swooped down and latched onto the back, sticking her claws into the bots back and ripping a panel off to find a red gem powering it.
"Huh, this won't be hard," said Cynder as she smashed at the crystal. The bot shuddered but didn't stop until Spyro used a earth flail to smash it in the chest.
Then the robot fell onto its knees before cracks started covering its body. A few clicks later and the whole thing fell apart. Scratch and Sniff might have taken that had Clunker not said "Bravo...dat vas beink very good fight." "No it wasn't, foo," said Scratch, "We just lost!" "Yay...ve are lozers." said Clunker Clapping his hands together...which was sadly where Scratch was hovering to chastise Clunker.
Sniff winced and said, "It looks like, once again, I have to do everything." "Yeah...foo." rasped Scratch from the floor.
NegaMorph slowly put himself together and got back up. "Did we win?" he asked. Pirate lord Saniko stood up and she said "Teslia's champions win this..." and was interrupted as Scratch and Sniff flew in. "Stop everything...Teslia's representatives are fakes." said Sniff, landing on the seat balcony.
"What are you talking about?" demanded Saniko. Scratch pointed at Matt. "That foo's the one who wasted Skabb with those two dragons." he accused. "Do you have any proof of this?" demanded Teslia. Scratch glared. "Of course...we were there...we watched that...human talk his way aboard Lord Skabbs ship."
"A parrot's word doesn't make good evidence," said Teslia. "What? How dare you...?" began Sniff and yelped as Teslia snapped her jaws close enough to ruffle Sniff's feathers. Skyfang just snorted and said, "You're just saying that because you lost." "What?" said Sniff, in shock. Cyrus added "It's just the sort of thing you two would try...talk about a bad loser." he said.
"We are tellin' the truth, you foo's!" snapped Scratch, "Those two dragon punks down there are Spyro and Cynder!" "Oh please. The purple Dragon and terror of the skies have better things to do then chase us." said Teslia, in a taunting voice. "It's true," said Sniff, "Don't you recognize them?" "Please...we've known for years about you two and 'Skabb'. It's only because you brought treasure into our alliance that we left you alone...that and Skabb was amusing." said Skyfang.
The two parrots were besides themselves with anger and indignity. "Now go away...your 'lord' is drooling." said Teslia, pointing to where Clunker had a vacant expression. "Oh, you gonna get it now, foos," said Scratch, "We ain't gonna play no more." "You will deeply regret this indiginity," said Sniff before they flew off. "Oh, shut up." yelled Cyrus, throwing a dagger that parted Scratches tail feathers.
A little later, the gang was celebrating their victory, though Megan, Morph, NegaMorph, and Matt were kept far away from the liquor. "Ok...the 'reward' is tomorrow. We have a good sift through to find any data crystals and then get out of here before someone has second thoughts about the parrots evidence." said Techo, sniffing suspiciously at a glass of rum.
"I wouldn't worry about that," said Chris, "Those guys don't look like the kind that would be taken seriously on anything." "How do we know that for sure?" said Techo darkly. "Would you take a parrot seriously on anything?" said Chris. "We're not pirates..." said Chloe.
Just then, there came a knock on the door. Chloe opened it to see one of Teslia's crew. "Lord Teslia wishes to see you," he said. Cynder stepped forward and the dragon pirate said "All of you."
"Aw, but I haven't got any punch yet," said Morph. "I would not keep Lord Teslia waiting if I was you." said the pirate darkly, adding. "Follow me."
Meanwhile, several arrowhead shaped fighters were flying towards the pirate fortress. They had all assumed human forms but were wearing strangely organic full cover body armour. "Lord Malefor. We approach the stronghold..." said the leader.
"Excellent," said Malefor, "Make sure they don't notice us until it's far too late." "There is no need for concern...there will be no witnesses." said the leader. Malefor smiled and said, "I haven't had this kind of fun in ages."
Meanwhile, The gang had followed the pirate into what looked like the main treasure room. "We're getting our reward early?" said Matt, before a lightning bolt hit him with enough strength to get past even his own earned immunity and knock him out. Several dozen dragons with Teslia came out of hiding.
"Er, is there a problem?" asked Chloe. "Yes there is. Miss Cynder. Please tell your friends to stand down. I'd hate for my men to need an excuse to kill them." said Teslia, with a smirk.
Cynder stiffened and said, "So, did you know all along or did you need the chicken brothers to point it out?" Chris chuckled and said, "Chicken brothers, I need to remember that one."
Teslia said "It wasn't too hard. Every dragon knows you and the purple dragon. A eyepatch does not make a pirate. I played along because I needed to beat those parrots challenges. I am now Pirate queen...unfortunately I can't let you simply leave." She said with a chuckle.
"Uh, surely there's a civilized way to settle this," said Techo. "Not really...we are pirates after all...though I might spare Spyro..." she said with a faint smile before a dull boom was heard and the floor trembled.
"Um, was that a good thing or a bad thing?" asked Megan. A faint horn like sound began to repeat and the pirates looked around. "What did you do?" snarled Teslia, readying a lightning bolt before there was a screaming. Several of the base spiderbots had jumped on one of the dragon pirates and were stabbing him.
"I think this is our cue to run for it," said Chloe, picking up Matt. Teslia roared and blasted several spiderbots as the group fled. As they headed for the docks they could see more victims of the now rampaging spiderbots, some with spiderbots still on top of them, glaring. Others as they got closer had what looked like wounds from weapon fire.
"Ok, definitely not the same kind of spiderbots we have," said Chip. Cynder checked round a corner before walking round it. As a result she saw the armoured figure march around the far corner and look at her.
Spyro and Chris ran round the corner to see Cynder, apparently frozen in terror before the mysterious trooper. "Uh, Cynder, this is no time to be shellshocked," said Chris.
"There it is...get it." was a yell behind them. Chris and Spyro turned to see a dozen pirates running into view. The creature calmly raised to aim its wrists and a storm of black orbs shot out, cutting down the pirates before looking at the crew. The mercs all opened fire on the creatures, sending up a storm of sparks as the bullets bounced off.
"Ok, definitely not your run-of-the-mill raid," said Matt. "Shoot the bastard." Chloe yelled, sending a blast of lightning that was harmlessly absorbed by the armour followed by more bullets. Techo managed to aim one of the positron rifles and fired. This time there was a shower of sparks and the trooper flew back onto his back, apparently dead.
"Oh great, not more Heartless," moaned Chloe. "Heartless with super armour...what fun." said Matt as the body dissolved. Spyro ran over to Cynder who had fallen over when the warrior had been cut down.
"Cynder, Cynder, are you alright?" asked Spyro, shaking Cynder. Cynder snapped out of it and said. "Of course I'm fine." a bit sharply before saying. "Urgh...my head." "Take it easy," said Spyro, "Just try to recover." "Uh, this place is gonna come down around our ears," said NegaMorph, "I don't think 'taking it easy' is an option here."
The group ran for it, eventually reaching the docks where the crew left with their ship were fighting against a mix of the spiderbots and pirates who had tried to take the ship for themselves.
"Ugh, you can't trust the valets for anything," said Matt. "Uh oh." said Chris, pointing to two of the new warriors walking out of corridors and firing on everything in sight. "Don't worry, I think I know how to get rid of these guys," whispered Chip to Draco. Then speaking loudly, he said, "Oh dear, I think they're going to scratch the ship's paint job."
Matt twitched at this. "What...DIEEEEEE!" he yelled, pulling out his ion blade and charging one of the troopers, only to be sent flying by a backhand. "Ok, didn't expect that," said Chip. The trooper turned and started firing at the experiments. The experiments dodged to avoid being hit. "Looks like we need a new battle tactic," said Draco.
The trooper managed to get in among the experiments, picking up Draco by the throat and aiming its wrist weapon to his head. "You will surrender the crystal or this primitive perishes." it said in a hissing voice.
"Let go of my mate!" snapped Contrinus before her feathers started shining brightly. As the trooper turned to look, Contrinus suddenly burst into solar flames. The trooper calmly raised his blaster to aim before a blast of flame evaporated his head. The trooper stood there for a few seconds before falling down.
"Um, thanks for that," said Draco, rubbing his neck, "Uh, if you wouldn't mind using it on the other-" Contrinus turned to glare at the other trooper and sent a fireball they weaved safely past the fighting crew members to burn a hole through the troopers chest before splitting up into smaller fireballs and shooting through the various pirates.
The pirates quickly scattered when they felt their backsides being lit on fire. "Go...lets go." yelled Matt. The group ran onto the ship and Matt just sliced the ropes through. "Lets get outta here." he yelled. The ship sailed out and they saw how the fortress was on fire...with a major difference...the half built atlantean ship was pulling away. "I hope that isn't be piloted by someone who'd hold a big grudge against us," said Matt.
Aboard the ship, Teslia looked in wonder as the burning fortress got smaller and the clouds gave way to inky black dotted with stars. "I take it there's a reason you saved me and my crew." she said, turning to Scratch, Sniff and the vacant grin of Clunker.
"Well, to be frank, our crew lacks the... initiative that yours does," said Sniff. "In other words...you need crew that have functioning brains." said Teslia amused. "Well...that is one way to put it..." said Sniff. "Well...here is another. I am not some badger you bump off because he learnt that that vegetable..." she said, nodding towards Clunker "...is just a figurehead...and if you try...I will eat you...ok?" She leaned forward and said "I am in charge of this little field trip." "Er, right, of course, ma'am," said Sniff.
Teslia smiled coldly. She had won a much bigger prize then simple rule.
The gang soon returned to Warfang, but in less than cheerful spirits. "I can't believe we went through all that for nothing," said Chloe. "I didn't even got to see their treasure hold," moaned NegaMorph.
Matt glared "FOR THE LAST TIME...oh forget it." he said, gloomily. Lao actually looked smug. "I would not say the mission was a complete failure." he said, reaching into his armours chest pocket and pulling out a small green quartz crystal. "How did you get that?" demanded NegaMorph. "I saw it on a pile of treasure in the hold." said Lao smugly.
"And you got there how?" inquired Chip. "I... really found it in negamorphs things when he came aboard...along with...this...this...this...oh, and this." said Lao, pulling out various expensive looking jewelry.
"Uh, I never saw those before," said NegaMorph shiftily. "Yeah...right...Morph...on;t turn into fibber...you'll get a sore throat from over-buzzing." said Chloe.
Contrinus gave NegaMorph a suspicious look and said, "You wouldn't have taken anything else from the treasure hold, have you?" "Uh, no, of course not, I'm above the want for material wealth," said NegaMorph.
Chloe sighed and turned dragon before picking Negamorph up by the tail and shaking him from side to side. Many pieces of gold, silver, jewels, goblets, bracelets, rings, crowns, and other valuable items started falling out from NegaMorph's coat, creating a rather sizeable pile on the floor. "Ok...did you leave ANYTHING?" said Matt.
"Um, well, I didn't have a chance to look at the armoury," said NegaMorph. Matt was about to yell at Negamorph when he realised the treasure was probably double the amount that his credits had been beforehand. "Well done." he said with a grin.
"What are the chances of those pirates coming to reclaim their treasure?" asked Megan. "Would it matter if they did?" said Matt.
The gang have recovered the data crystal...but why did the dark ones want it destroyed? Find out next time.
