|| And here we have chapter 4 of The Birth of Dark Spyro, AKA "the part where we get to know Maverick Chaosdragon McEdgelord".

Chapter Four

Dark Spyro slithered up to the very top of Kastle Kaos. From there, he could see over the entire area. There was a lot to see, but it looked extremely... depressing, to say the least. Under Kaos' rule, this small (very small) area in Skylands was completely covered in darkness.

...but, it could be darker.

Skylands is a great world full of powerful magic, and guarded by the greatest defenders ever known. But it also has an offender just as powerful, and I'm not talking about Kaos. From the bloody red eyes of Dark, who was quite possibly one of the strongest creature in all of Skylands, it was vulnerable. Vulnerable, but threatened only by an incompetent child who couldn't defeat a hyperactive gremlin with a gun.

It was time for a new and improved villain. One who was actually capable of causing fear and destruction. Someone who was smart, strong, looked rather dashing in black, and knew the secrets and weaknesses of each and every Skylander.

There was no better choice than the shadowy dragon with crimson eyes, standing with a menacing smirk at the top of Kastle Kaos.

On the brighter side of Skylands, the heroic Spyro of whom we've come to know and love was watching over Woodburrow from the top of the mushroom staircase as the sun rose off in the distance. Freeze Blade had decided to start off his class at the crack of dawn, much to his three students' annoyance. They had gathered in their normal place by Snagglescale's arena and were working on projectile attacks.

"Slam Bam, Chill, and Zap..." Spyro spoke his thoughts aloud. He smiled. "Sometimes I question Master Eon's choices." Then his somewhat cheerful expression faded. "That thing... it was really something else. Kaos could cause some real trouble with that machine. Real trouble."

He paused as the sound of footsteps echoed from the staircase, and soon Sunburn made a not-so-grand entrance. "Spyro?" he questioned. "What... uh, what're ya doing?"

Spyro shook his head. "I don't even know anymore, Sunburn..." he grumbled in response. "What... what are we even doing? How are we supposed to fight this guy if... if he's me? He's me, Sunburn!"

The phoenix tilted his head. "Fighting some powerful crap never stopped us from beating up the Hydra. Or Kaos. Or his mom."

"This is different!" Spyro exclaimed. Sunburn flinched. "This is... I... I don't know what this is..." Then the air was momentarily silent, aside from the hushed crickets chirping below. "What do you think it is?"

The words were caught in his throat. Spyro had a tendency to feel all of his emotions very drastically. For example, he got... er, abnormally angry (enraged is a better choice of words) when Stealth Elf switched bodies with him. He's normally pretty docile, because he's confident in himself and his team. But this kind of situation, where the stakes are high, the anxiety and frustration were getting to his head.

"Spyro..." Sunburn managed to say. "Sir, you're over thinking this! There's one of him and, like, a hundred of us!"

"There's seventy-two of us," the leader grumbled. "Fifty-six of us normal Skylanders and sixteen Swappers." A scowl came across his face as he muttered, "Sure would be nice if those Trap Masters hadn't ditched us and taken another half of us with them..."

Sunburn growled at this remark. "The Trap Team didn't ditch us, they had to watch over the Cloudcracker Prison! And that half of us that went with them made that choice themselves."

A low growl formed in Spyro's throat.

Sunburn flinched.

"Whatever." That's a word that the mighty dragon rarely said. "Just... do something. I have to go think."

He flew off, leaving his second-in-command to wonder whether he should be sympathetic or infuriated. "He's... going crazy."

"Sure is." Sunburn sighed. It totally wasn't a surprise anymore. Stealth Elf appeared behind him, leaned against the tree trunk. "Hiya, hot stuff."

"What in Eon's name urged you to say that?"

"Dunno." They approached the edge of the staircase, where Spyro had been sitting before. "Y'know, if he does go crazy, you'll be the leader of the Skylanders."

Sunburn nodded. "I know." he responded. "Quite frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about that."

Stealth gave a chuckle. "I could never be the leader of this sorry group of freaks."

"No kidding."

She smacked him across the beak. "Ha ha. You're hilarious."

"Owie..."

"But seriously. Fix Spyro."

Sunburn shook his head. "Easier said than done, elf girl," he glumly remarked. "I think the only way to... er, 'fix him' is to destroy that clone.

"Well then," Sunburn sometimes wished that he could tell if Stealth was smiling or not. "what are you waiting around for? Go beat up the jerk, tough guy."

Well, he sure knew that he was smiling. "Your right. Spyro's counting on me." He looked out over Woodburrow again and saw Chill accidentally hit Slam-Bam in the face. "They all need me."

"Great! Keep up that good attitude."

That kind of sentence was usually Stealth Elf's cue to leave. Sunburn knew that. He whipped around. "W-Wait! Stealth, I've been meaning to ask you-" Too late. She had already vanished. He grumbled. "...something..."

Dark Spyro slunk into Kaos' throne room, so silent that nobody noticed at all. He saw that Kaos was growling about the best way to destroy the Skylosers once and for all, while Glumshanks provided some thought-out suggestions that his master spat back in his face. Dark hid himself in the shadows for a moment or two to eavesdrop.

"But sir, wouldn't it be best for us to come up with a tactical strategy-?"

"Foolish servant! Everybody knows the only way to win a war is through the use of sheer, brute force!"

Kaos is an idiot.

Dark gave a very low grumble. It was shameful to be surrounded by such lame excuses for "evil villains." Hell, Dark is literally a clone of the leader of the most perfect team of heroes the world has to offer, and he was far more diabolical than this bald lunatic. No wonder the Skylanders defeat him at every turn. He's. An. Idiot.

He slithered into the light, still not drawing any attention. At least, until he firmly stated, "Hey, baldy."

Kaos and his butler winced, only to ease up when they realized it was Dark. "Oh, it's you," Kaos growled. "What do you want, Dark Spyro? Can't you see I'm busy?"

Dark gave him a crimson glare. "Busy with what? Constructing bloody schemes that will end in your own demise?" He smirked. "I find that interrupting your little plotting session may have saved your life."

Kaos pulled himself out of his throne in order to frown down upon his creation. "I find it best you not criticize me, slave."

The dragon kept a steady gaze. "I'm no slave. I could capture and sell you if I wanted to. Problem is, I wouldn't make much loot off of it."

Glumshanks watched with wide eyes as his master clenched a fist and conked his minion in the head. "Kneel before Lord Kaos, fool, for it is I who could capture and sell you!" He pulled out the remote that he used to operate his machine. "Not to mention destroy you with the push of a button!"

Half a second later, Dark thrashed the remote with his tail, smashing it into a million little useless pieces.

Kaos gaped at this. "Um... uh-oh."

Dark, feeling rather pleased with himself, turned his head upwards and shot a blue fire blast at the ceiling. The inferno spread quickly. Very quickly. "Now, I'm going to give you a choice; you can leave before I count to three... or burn."

Glumshanks grabbed his master arm and tugged. "Sir, I think this is a good time to flee."

"One..."

"What?!" cried Kaos. "And leave my castle to burn?! I could never!"

"Two..."

"Sir, it's the castle or your life. Which one is more important?"

Kaos paused for a moment. That moment was a bit too long.

"Three!"

"Life. Definitely my life."

So they escaped the building in a small airship before they could become charcoal.

Dark sneered as he crawled past his flames, broke through the roof and perched back on the top of the castle. All of Kaos' minions were evacuating. Perfect. "Attention, miserable creatures both organic and mechanic..." All gazes turned to him when he spoke. "You should know that your terrible leader Kaos is no longer is command here." He grinned. "I am. And you will bow before the all-mighty Dark Spyro... who will finally lead you to victory in your war against the Skylanders."

|| Jeez, Kaos. Get your priorities straight.

Nothing especially terrible to point out in this chapter. Ey, did you catch that? A Trap Team reference! Nice! That's probably the most noteworthy thing that happens here. ||