Author's Note: Here I am, presenting you to this epic chapter. After this chapter there will only be the final battle and the epilogue so enjoy as I conclude Trial of the Heroes.
Chapter 7:
Castle Assault
Both Hellcat fighters landed in the airship as it continually circled Cortex Castle. Both bags of Gems and Crystals found their respective place, the Crystals in storage while the Gems were aligned in the power generator for the laser. As the airship was flown towards Cortex Castle, N. Brio gathered everyone into the main hangar.
"Everyone," the nervous doctor began, "even once the shield is brought down it will take all of our skills to bring down the Villains." Crash and Coco looked at each other in surprise for the fact that N. Brio did not stutter at all. "We may not succeed but that does not mean that we shouldn't try. It is up to us to fight for our freedom and the freedom of the universe! And because of that we absolutely cannot fail, so let us fight and try to win!" All the anthros looked at each other in confusion as to whether or not that was supposed to encourage them. Tiny started clapping unintelligently, then followed by many others until everyone was clapping and N. Brio bowed down in embarrassment.
"Let's do this thing!" Crash shouted energetically as he turned away from Kendra and walked towards the Hellcats.
Both Hellcats and the two dragons flew down towards the battlefield. At the proper altitude, Crash and Jak dropped down from the ships (Jak having also dropped his guise as an anthro) along with the two dragons down towards the area in front of the giant dome. A large dome on the front of the airship opened up to reveal the laser dish as it began charging its blue laser. In the control room, N. Brio rolled up his sleeve and slammed his fist onto the activation button. The giant laser erupted out of the end of the ship and began chiseling away at the shield. The green dome waved hypnotically before electricity started arcing everywhere and suddenly… BOOM! The shield generator in the lower levels of the castle exploded in a great fireball as the force on the shield became too much. Jak drew the Eco Sword as an army of beefed up Lab Assistants and Elite Krimzon Guards erupted from the castle towards the Heroes and a force of anthros with various weapons. Red Eco charged in the weapon, making it glow brighter and brighter red until it began resembling a sith lightsaber. Jak ran, leapt high, and swung the Eco Sword down as he fell so that a gigantic red shockwave flew towards the large attacking force. Those unfortunate enough to be in the direct path were completely obliterated while their comrades were simply blown back several feet. One of the beefed up Lab Assistants (which was now several feet taller and wider than everyone else) ran up to Jak. Two flaming Wumpa fruit sailed into its side so that its attention was drawn away long enough for Jak to slice it in half with a spin attack.
"Thanks," he grinned to Crash and ran towards another group of enemies. Crash grinned back, switched to Nitro Crates, and began firing at the approaching groups of Elite KGs.
The two dragons were also holding their own very well. Cynder would pick several groups of enemies in a cyclone so that Spyro could fry them with a great cloud of fire. Electricity and Dark Fire arced through groups of Lab Assistants, big and small, frying them both inside and out. KGs were faced with the sting of Poison, the chill of Fear and Ice, and the deadly pounding of Earth. Not to mention, many of all types of enemies felt the score of dragon teeth and claws in their flesh.
Even in the skies, all seemed good. Coco and Keira's able hands behind the controls of both Hellcats rained fire on various Villain fighters, bombers, and drop ships which would otherwise be dealing massive blows to the fighters on the ground. Some familiar faces greeted Coco from behind the windshield of their fighters: Dingodile, Ripper Roo, both Komodo Brothers, and Pinstripe Potoroo among others. However, known or not, all met the same barrage of Yellow Eco bolts that would send them flying to bits and scorched.
All seemed too easily tipped in the Heroes' favor, but usually whenever something seems too easy the other side probably hasn't thrown all they've got at you yet. This was proven all too true as something roared to life from behind the castle. It was another giant mech but this time bigger and with Dark Eco Crystals crackling on the sides. It trained one arm on the airship and fired so that a giant explosion erupted through the corridors.
"Kendra!" Crash shouted as his mind immediately conjured the picture of her being engulfed by flames. A communicator crackled for a moment before his sister's voice came through.
"Don't worry Crash, I'll get her!" she promised. The green Hellcat did a U-turn towards the airship and quickly entered the hangar door. Coco leapt out of the Hellcat and ran through the hallways towards the control room. Various other anthros were buffeting past her going the other way towards their ships in fear. She eventually entered the control room and was Kendra with soot and blood covering her hair and fur trying to lift and unconscious Dr. Brio. Coco helped her to lift the ex-evil scientist and carry him through the hallways. Various other explosions erupted through the ship as they eventually made their way towards the Hellcat in the hangar. Dr. N. Brio was shoved gently into the back of the ship and Coco and Kendra leapt into the seats at the front. The Hellcat slowly started forward as the greatest explosion of all tore through the airship and propelled the ship forward at an alarming speed. It flipped around while falling at an alarming rate towards the battlefield below. Just as it seemed that they would crash, a grappling hook grabbed onto Coco's shirt and pulled her, Kendra who was holding onto her tightly, and N. Brio whom Coco just barely managed to grab out of the ship and into the air. Looking up, they were relieved to see that the tether extended from the back of Jak's blue and yellow Hellcat with Samos behind the controls of the grapple.
"Great shot Daddy!" Keira cheered as her father grinned back.
"I've still got it."
Meanwhile, down on the ground, the Heroes were slowly and laboriously making their way towards the mech. It towered high above the castle and shot its deadly Dark Eco bolts around the battlefield. Cynder doubled back to help Coco, Kendra, and the unconscious doctor get to a safer area so that the Heroes were left alone as they began to climb the large mech. Different machinery made up useful platforms for them to jump onto and when there were none, destroying a nearby Dark Eco Crystal would make parts of the armor fall off and reveal more. But as the Heroes were slowly going up the legs of the machine, a new threat came to the fighters in the form of Dark beasts that served Malefor. These creatures were fast and hard to hit and dealt much damage to the fighting force. Samos pulled out a communicator and grinned.
"Time to call for backup!" he shouted, followed by: "Ashelin, Torn, Hunter, NOW!" Portals appeared behind the ranks of the heroic fighters and from these portals erupted blue clad New Krimzon Guards, Kras City mobsters, and a fierce mixture of anthro cheetah warriors, the Guardians, and even Ignitus the Chronicler himself. The tide tipped once more in the Heroes' favor but with less of a dramatic incline as Malefor's forces still proved extremely powerful.
The Heroes finally made their way up to the head of the mech and blasted through a door into the head and control room. Erol and Cortex turned around to see the three Heroes facing them, all battle ready. Erol was wearing a new set of powerful looking black armor with Dark Eco blades arranged like claws.
"So, time for the final confrontation already?" he asked, crouching into a battle position. Shields went up around Cortex to protect him while he piloted the mech.
"You're all going to pay for what you've done!" Jak swore. Erol laughed back.
"What a 'Hero' thing to say. Personally I don't care if we take over the Universe or not. I've said it before Eco Freak, I don't want to win I want you!" And with that, Erol charged forward and slammed Jak into the wall. Jak dodged his head to the side to avoid it being punctured by Erol's "claws". Crash spun his fists into Erol's side and sent the man into the other side of the room. Erol kneeled on one knee and conjured a shield so that Spyro's attack would bounce off. A quick dash was then launched at the Heroes but stopped as Spyro used Dragon Time to slow Erol down and nailed him in the stomach with a Fire Dash. The Villain rolled to a stop, stood up and switched to a sort of gun on his wrists. Spyro and Crash distracted him with dodging and taunts as Jak dashed forward and nailed Erol with a hit from the sword and Red Eco. The armor shattered and Erol slumped to the ground in seeming defeat.
"Cortex, now!" Erol shouted, followed by an evil grin in the Heroes' direction. Without warning, the head rocketed straight off of the mech and high up into the atmosphere where it passed through a portal into the dark swirling world of Convexity. The sides of the head opened up and allowed the two Villains to jump out into two smaller mech suits side by side with Malefor himself.
"Welcome Heroes, welcome to your doom!"
Author's Note: Tune in next… sometime for the epic finale to Trial of the Heroes!