Chapter 172: The Digital Circus
Everyone was starring at a massive Abstract Heartless hybrid, which it was originally their friend Pomni that turned ito one due to her allowing the darkness into her heart, allowing herself to fall into the darkness. The massive beast opened it's maw and unleashed a torrent of black flames, forcing everyone to run and flee, but Spyro stood in front of Applejack, slamming his foot into the ground as a rock barrier shot out of the ground and blocked the flames, protecting her before kicking the stone, hitting the Abstracting dragon in the head, but it didn't show any pain, a red barrer having surrounded the entire thing as it roared out and it's eyes opened up, unleashing a storm of red lasers everywhere, forcing everyone to find cover.
"Laser eyes!?" Jax asked. "Seriously!? Laser Eyes!? Since when did Abstracts do that!?"
"That's no regular Abstract." Sora said. "That's Pomni."
"Wait, that thing is Pomni!?" Jax asked, looking out. "What the heck happened to cause her to go full blown Godzilla on us!?"
"Spyro told her that you're copies of your original selves and can't leave here." Sora replied.
"Wait, is that all?" Jax asked.
"What do you mean is that all!?" Ragatha asked. "She's going to tear this place apart!"
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Sora said.
He rushed out of his hiding spot, running towards the Heartless and too a swing, trying to hit it, but the red barrier caused his blade to bounce off of it, making Sora look up as the beast tried to eat him, but he rolled out of the way, making it hit her head on the ground before lifting it up, shaking it's head and roaring in rage as it unleashed another torrent of black flames.
"It's got a shield!" Spyro shouted, diving and grabbing Applejack, getting to cover before the flames could reach them. "I know a few Heartless that have shields, but none like this before."
"What do we do sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "We can't hurt our friend."
"AJ, Pomni's gone." Spyro replied. "She allowed the darkness into her heart. There's no turning back after that."
"No Spyro, she can still be saved!" Applejack exclaimed, surprising her. "You proved it many times before. Ya saved Princess Luna from her darkness, bringing her back to her sister and making them happy, ya saved Rarity and Fluttershy from darkness, Maya from Malefors control, ya even saved pieces of Sombra's heart and merged them with your own to allow him to heal. Heck, ya'll even brought Queenie back and it was considered impossible to do that."
"But..." Spyro said, but Applejack put her hoof over his lips, silencing him.
"No but's sugarcube." Applejack said. "Ya'll can save her. Ah know you can. And Ah know that ya'll can find a way to bring Pomni and everyone else back into the real world. Yer smart, ya'll can figure somethin' out. Ah know you can."
Spyro looked at Applejack in surprise, usually it was him giving the motivational speeches to his friends, smiling at the pony as he removed her hoof from his lips and pulled her in for a kiss, though it felt strange to kiss his pregnant girlfriend as a human, it didn't matter to him as he was happy to have her by his side. He ended the kiss and looked out, watching as the massive hybrid was causing major destruction to the tent, but he knew what he needed to do, going out into the battlefield as Sora tried his best to keep it busy.
"Rarity, Fluttershy, to me!" Spyro shouted. Both ponies looked at him and ran towards him, standing by his side as they looked at the massive Heartless going on a full rampage. "Sombra, if you can hear me, we're going to need all the help we can get. Can I ask you for your help?'
"I am more than happy to help you." Sombra replied, an ethereal image of him appearing. "You saved me from my darkness, now I want to help save this girl from hers before it destroys her."
"Thank you Sombra." Spyro said.
He closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest as a golden dome appeared around him, the same dome surrounging the two ponies, which caught the Heartlesses attention as the dome shattered and three ethereal ponies galloped out, neighing as they rushed towards the Heartless and ran into it, doing some damage as the purple dragon flew out, roaring as it hit the beast as well, making it fall tot he ground as the purple dragon flew up, the three ponies galloping around it as they all got faster and faster as they galloped.
[Unknown voice]
Rhyming!
Rising!
Risen!
They soon got closer and closer until they collided with him, creating a flash of bright light that blinded everyone as it went.
All hail the king,
of Light and Darkness!
King Dragon,
MA-JE-STY!
As the light died down, it revealed Spyro was now wearing armor with white on the right side with gems growing out of the armor while on the left side, it was yellow with plants growing over it, butterflies on the armor flapping their wings while in the middle, it was black with a single red gem in the center of the armor, a pair of wings popping out, the botom feathers yellow, the middle black, and the top white while Spyro's eyes were purple, blue, cyan, and green.
"Holy cow." Sora said.
"Is that... normal?" Jax asked.
"Apparently." Sora said. "Spyro can fuse with his friends and become stronger than he already is. You ask me, the dudes overpowered as it is."
Spyro levitated in the air for a moment, the dragon roaring out in rage at seeing the new opponent and charged, ready to attack, but Spyro just flapped his wings hard and unleashed a gust of extremely strong wind, causing the beast to fall to the ground as Spyro flew off, summoning the Keyblades associated with each form and charged forward, slashing at the monster and causing it to roar in rage as it tried to fight back, opening it's maw and sending a stream of dark flames, but Spyro created a crystal shell around himself and blocked the attack. He shattered the shell and raised his hand, creating a powerful root system that shot out of the ground and wrapped around the Heartless, making it roar in rage as it tried to free itself.
"Oh, I really hate having to fight our friend." Fluttershy said, Spyro's eyes turning blue.
"We have no choice little butterfly." Spyro said. "We have to fight her. but if we can save her, we will."
The dragon continued to roar and try to free itself, cutting through the foliage to free itself as Caine arrived, opening the cellar again and lifting Pomni up to send her into the cellar.
"Keep her steady bud!" Caine said. "I can seal her in the cellar! I just need you to hold onto her for a little while longer!"
The dragon looked at Caine, filled with range and hatred for him as the eyes all turned red, the barrier reappearing and unleashing a bolt of blood red lightning at the AI unit, nailing him in the chest and sending him to the wall, makign him crash onto the ground and glitch out.
"Caine!" Spyro shouted.
He looked back at the Heartless and charged, going into a kick and going straight through the chest, making it screech in pain as it clutched it's chest, heavily damaged as it shot a bolt of dark magic to the roof and created a hole large enough for it to escape, flying through the hole and out into the open to have more room to fight in. As it flew away, Spyro and everyone else went to Caine, finding he was heavily damaged as he was glitching out badly, which caused the world to start glitching and makign everyone worry.
"What's going on?" Ragatha asked, looking around. "What's happening to this place?"
"Caine is the heart of this world." Spyro replied. "He's what's keeping this place intact. If he is destroyed, then this world will be destroyed as well."
"What do we do?" Gangle asked. "Pomni is out of control and this place is going to be destroyed."
"We need to find something that can bring her to her senses." Spyro said. "She's only recently fallen to the darkness, but there's still a chance that she can be saved."
"But how can we save her?" Kinger asked. "She's turned into a monster."
"She maybe corrupted, but there's still a chance she can be saved." Spyro said. "Ragatha, she spent some time with you and your friends. Any idea of how to reach her?"
"Well, she hasn't been here that long, so we don't know much about her." Ragatha replied. "But... she did make a close friendship with an NPC back in the Candy Kingdom. His name was Gummigoo and Caine sent him back to the Candy Kingdom. Possibly erasing him memories."
"A self conscious NPC?" Spyro asked. "If she made a close friendship with him, he might be able to help us. Sora, think you can find him?"
"Maybe, but I'm not an expert tracker like you." Sora said. "Maybe you should go."
"But without knowing where to go or how to track him, I don't know what I can do." Spyro said.
"Sugarcube, you can do it." Applejack said. "You'll find him no problem."
Spyro looked at Applejack, nodding his head and closed his eyes, defusing as they seperated into three, Spyro looking down at Caine as he put his hand on his chest, green light appearing in the wound as he healed the damage as best he could, but Caine was still glitching, doing his best to sit up and leaned against the wall, groaning in pain.
"Caine, you still with us?" Spyro asked.
"J-j-j-just barely." Caine said, continuing to glitch.
"Caine, I need to find Gummigoo." Spyro said. "He might be our only chance to get through to Pomni."
"But what if she comes back?" Gangle asked. "She looked really angry."
"Just... try to find a safe place to hide until I get back." Spyro replied. "And try to keep Caine alive. Use your healing spells to keep him alive, for if he dies, this entrie world will fade away."
Caine lifted his hand and a moment later, a portal opened up for them, Spyro running through the portal and arriving in the ruins of the candy kingdom, finding that it had been completely destroyed, houses ruined, the castle devoured, nothing was spared. He walked through the city, looking around to try and find someone who could guide him to Gummy, looking around to find out what he could when he found a poster, picking it up and finding it was an image of Gummy on it, seeing it was a wanted poster.
"So Gummigoo's an outlaw?" Spyro asked himself, looking around. "Did he do this?"
"Help." Someone called, Spyro looking around and finding a lollipop headed being under some rubble.
She was pinned to the ground due to the rubble, so he rushed forward and started to move the rubble, trying to help her, but he found that she was missing half of her body, barely hanging on as she looked up at him.
"Geez, I would ask if you're alright, but I guess that would only be half true." Spyro said, smacking his head and groaning as the world paused and looked at the reader. "Why in the world did I make that joke? That was seriously inappropriate in this situation."
A moment later, the world resumed and he helped her up, getting her to sit up, but she coughed, looking at him as she looked weak.
"Did... did the creator send you?" The woman asked.
"Sort of." Spyro replied. "He sent me to find a fellow called Gummigoo. He's supposed to be somewhere in this kingdom. Have you seen him?"
"Y-you mean the outlaw?" The woman asked. "I-if the creator needs him... he's... in the wastelands. Not too far... from here." She then pointed towards the desert, Spyro looking to it before looking to the woman. "Please... save us... all."
She then passed away in his arms, turning into data as she exploded into bits, Spyro looking at his arms before clenching his fists, feeling like he could have saved her, but knew the damage was too great and data wasn't as easy to heal as flesh and blood. He looked to the desert, knowing where to start looking as he whistled, a stream of data and information coming from the sky as the data assembled into another Light Cycle, getting on and closing his eyes to try and listen for Gummy, hearing nothing but the wind, broken rubble falling down, and the splash of some kind of liquid far in the distance. However, a while later, he heard voices, listening closer to them to figure out who they belonged to and if Gummy was among them.
"Ya sure this'll help everyone back home?" A male voice asked. "The syrup is starting to run low."
"I know, but with that monster about, this entire place is starting to act funny." Another voice said. "Not to mention the appearence of more of these things."
"Keep quiet you two!" A third voice said. "We're almost home. Once there, we can get to work on getting out of this place."
"Sure thing Gummigoo!" The first guy said.
"Gummigoo." Spyro said.
He revved up the Light Cycle and took off, heading straight for the direction that the voice was coming from, hoping he can catch up with them and get Gummigoo's help. Back in the tent, Sora was doing everything he could to keep Caine alive, using his Cure spell to heal him, but Caine continued to glitch out, causing the entire world to glitch out again while Applejack and Jax did their best to try and bust their way through the barrier, Applejack hacking and slashing at the barrier while Jax punched it, hurting his hand in the process as it blew up big and red.
"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Jax said. "How are we gonna get out of this mess with this forcefield blocking the way!?"
"Only other way to lower the barrier is to destroy the Heartless." Sora said, healing Caine.
"Well, why don't you just kill it and be done with it?" Jax asked.
"Because Spyro still thinks there's a chance to save Pomni." Applejack said. "If Gummigoo is really her friend, then by bringing him here, there's a chance he can help her."
"And if not?" Jax asked. "I mean, it's no big deal if we just put her down and end this entire mess right now."
"That thing is much stronger than what I've dealt with before." Sora said. "Besides, you heard what Spyro said, if Caine dies, then this entire world dies."
"And that's a bad thing?" Jax asked. "Believe me, I kinda like this place, but dealing with a massive Abstract? No thank you. I'd rather he bust through this barrier, take the train, and get out of here."
"Can't believe I'm sayign this, but I'm with Jax on this." Zooble said.
"And leave our friends behind!?" Sora shouted. "No way, we're getting everyone out of here!"
"But Spyro said that they can't survive in the real world without bodies." Fluttershy said. "And, what about the world order?"
"You know, as Spyro said, it's just a bunch of dumb rules." Sora said. "We're bringing these guys with us to The Grid. They can stay with Tron until we can figure out a way to get them real bodies."
They were all shocked to hear that Sora was willing to break the rules for them, looking at one another as he kept on trying his best to heal Caine and keep the world stable, but a moment later, the ceiling burst open and from it, the Heartless Abstract hybrid returned, roaring out in rage as it looked at the group, it's gaze set on Caine as it approached.
"She's back!" Kinger shouted. "Quick, into my Impenetrable fortress!"
Kinger then started to throw a bunch of pillows together and opened a door, everyone rushing in to hide, but Sora, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack remained outside, looking at the dragon as it approached.
"Great, she's back." Sora said. "We can't do much without Spyro. He's the only one strong enought o fight her."
"We don't need to fight her sugarcube." Applejack said, calling her blade. "We just gotta distract her long enough for Spyro to come back."
"And how do we do that darling?" Rarity asked.
"Ah don't know, run around or somethin'!" Applejack replied.
She then started to run towards the massive Heartless, sending out a fireball and hitting it in the eye, which caused some irritation for the massive beast and looked down at Applejack, the mare running as the Heartles lunged for her, but a moment later, the eyes flickered and turned red and blue, landing over Applejack and causing her to stop, shocked and scared as she looked up at the Heartless in horror, thinking it was going to kill her. However the massive beast hesitated, looking at Applejack as the eyes flickered, revealing that they were all Pomni's eyes now and they looked at Applejack with a mixture of fear and anger, but mostly fear, looking at Applejack as if asking for help, pleading for her to help her as the eyes returned to being the eyes of an Abstract, lifting it's claw to attack her, but Sora threw his blade and hit the claw, making it roar in rage as he and the other two ponies charged at it, Sora reclaiming his blade as he jumped up and slashed, forcing it to back away as Rarity and Fluttershy helped her up.
"Applejack darling, you alright?" Rarity asked.
"You shouldn't do something like that in your condition." Fluttershy said. "Let us handle it."
"No, girls, don't hurt her." Applejack said. "Didn't ya see her eyes? They turned into Pomni's eyes before Abstractin' again. She's in there. She's wantin' help."
"So there is a chance to help her?" Fluttershy asked, looking at the monster as Sora fought it.
"Exactly." Applejack replied. "Ah hope Spyro can return before it's too late."
A moment later, the world started to glitch out, Caine's condition worsening, so they rushed over to him and Applejack pointed at the glitching AI, casting the cure spell to heal him and stabilize him and the world, looking to the Heartless Abstract hybrid and to Sora who was keeping it busy while they watched.
"Spyro darling, please hurry." Rarity said.
Back in the Candy Kingdom, Spyro was still on his Light Cycle as he rode after Gummigoo, following the tracks that was on the ground and making sure that he was heading in the right direction, looking around for any other sighs of Gummigoo's course, stopping every now and then to check the tracks, finding they were on another vehicle and had a head start, following the tracks until he reached a small canyon made of gingerbread and witha river made of chocolate, Spyro amazed at how it looked and fearing what Pinkie would do if she was there. He looked into the canyon and found a light in the canyon, a small flame deep inside, figuring it was who he was looking for and rode the cycle down, following the same path the outlaws had taken to get there. A while later, he soon came around to the camp, finding that there was indeed a truck there, made out of candy and gingerbread and from the smell, he could smell maple syrup, coming up to the camp where he saw a yellow and green Aligator wearing a hat with a yellow and purple, and a yellow and red gathor, also wearing hats.
The three of them looked up, seeing Spyro approach and got up, ready to flee when he sped up, using the light barrier and cutting off their escape and looking to him as he rode around, coming up to them and stopping, using his leg to prop up the cycle and look at them.
"Sorry for the suddenness of my arrival, but I'm looking for Gummigoo." Spyro said. "Which one of you is it?"
"Depends." The yellow and green gator asked. "Whose asking?"
"My name is Spyro." He replied. "And I need his help. Pomni needs his help."
"Pomni?" The yellow and green gator asked. "What's wrong with her?"
"She's abstracted." Spyro replied. "She's loosing herself to the darkness. She needs your help."
"Wait, you know I'm Gummigoo?" The gator asked.
"Buzz off scum!" The yellow and purple said. "He ain't goin' no where!"
"Yeal, get lost!" The yellow and red gator said.
"No, let him speak." Gummigoo said. "Tell me, how can I help?"
"She needs you." Spyro said. "She may have abstracted, but I believe she's still in there and needs a friend. She formed a strong friendship with you sometime ago and I'm hoping that friendship will help her to remember who she is."
Gummigoo looked at Spyro, looking to his friends who were starring at him, wondering what his next move was before looking at Spyro.
"I'll go with you." Gummigoo said.
"Wait, you can't be serious!" The yellow and purple gator exclaimed loudly.
"Pomni is my friend." Gummigoo replied. "She was there for me when I needed someone. And I'm gonna be there for her now." He walked over to Spyro and got onto the cycle, holding onto him before looking to his friends. "Go on without me. I'll return as soon as possible."
His friends looked at one another, looking back to Gummigoo and nodded their heads and returned to the truck as the barrier disappeared, getting back into the truck and riding off as Spyro turned the cycle around and rode back to the ruined kingom, going as fast as possible to get back before things got worse.
"Tell me, are you one of Pomni's friends!?" Gummigoo asked, raising his voice so as to be heard.
"Sort of!" Spyro said. "I'm from another world and came to the Digital Circus to save my friend Applejack! She's pregnant with my child!"
"Really!?" Gummigoo asked in shock. "Wow, you lucky son of a gun!"
"And I'm lucky to have her!" Spyro replied. "And others in my herd!"
"Herd!?" Gummigoo asked.
"That's a story for another time!" Spyro replied. "Tell me, when did you become self aware of yourself and your surroundings!?"
"Well, when Pomni first visited, we were stealing syrup for my village!" Gummigoo replied. "To help heal my mom! But when we fell out of the world, that was when I realized that my entire world was a lie!" He remembered that moment he and Pomni had fallen through the world, remembering what happened and how he spiraled into despair and fear he felt, but then remembered how Pomni helped him through it, smiling as he looked in the distance and saw the ruins. "Pomni helped me through my shock and pain, helping me to find my own path, one in which I don't have to follow some stupid code or what I was made for!"
"So you grew a heart in that very moment!?" Spyro asked, smiling. "That makes this all the more difficult for you!"
"What do you mean!?" Gummigoo asked.
"You have a heart now, meaning that you can lave this place for good!" Spyro replied. "I didn't tell anyone this, but Caine, the one who created you and this place, he's dying! When he dies, this world will cease to exist, dematerialize and become nothing but broken bits of data in the wind!"
"You mean... I'll never see my mates again?" Gummigoo asked, looking back.
"Afraid so." Spyro replied, stopping right at the portal. "Once Caine dies, this world will fade, your friends, your family, everything you knew will be gone. It must be your choice."
"I already made my choice." Gummigoo replied. "I know this world isn't real. My life was a lie the entire time, and I know my family doesn't exist. But my friend does and I'll do whatever it takes to save her."
"Glad to hear that Gummigoo." Spyro said, revving the engine. "Once we go through that portal, there's no turning back. It's a one way trip. You ready?"
Gummigoo looked at Spyro, nodding his head to let him know he was ready for what came next, Spyro speeding the bike through the rubble and jumping into the protal to return to the tent. Meanwhile in the Tent, Sora was dodging and weaving throughout the tent, doing everything he could to try and keep the Abstract busy while the ponies did everything they could to keep Caine alive, using the cure spells constantly, which it was draining them as they were running out of mana, on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion when the portal opened back up and from it, Spyro rode in on the Light cycle, doing a donut as he stopped, looking to the Abstract as Gummigoo looked, his eyes widening in shock as he watched his friend was fighting Sora, roaring in rage as she attacked him.
"Is that...?" Gummigoo asked, not knowing what to say.
"Yes Gummigoo, that's Pomni." Spyro said, lookign at the Abstract.
"Spyro!" Applejack shouted, getting his attention. "Glad to have ya back hun!"
"And not a moment too soon." Spyro said, looking to the Abstract. "I hope this works. Gummigoo, you're up."
"You want me... to try and talk... to that?" Gummigoo asked, feeling nervous and fearful as he looked up at the monster.
"Don't worry sugarcube, she's still in there." Applejack said. "She hestitated when she trapped me, her eyes returned to normal for a minute. Ya'll can do it."
Gummigoo looked at Applejack, seeing how confident she was in him before taking in a deep breath and hopping off the Light Cycle, and walked towards the Heartless, still feeling nervous as he approached. The Heartless then managed to knock Sora down and into a wall, knocking him out as it approached to finish the job.
"Pomni?" Gummigoo asked. The Heartless then froze, turning to look at him as he stood there, looking at the massive beast as she turned to go after him. "Pomni, is it really you?" The Heartless continued to go towards him, the thousands of eyes on it starring right at Gummigoo as it approached him, giving Sora a chance to recover and look at the Heartless, getting ready to charge again, but Spyro raised his hand, signaling for Sora to stop, looking at the Heartless as it stopped in front of Gummigoo. "Pomni, what happened to you?"
"G-Gummigoo?" The Heartless said, it's eyes turning back into Pomni's eyes. "Y-you're... you're alive!"
"Yes Pomni, I'm alright and alive." Gummigoo said. "Spyro brought me here."
"Spyro!?" The Heartless exclaimed, looking at Spyro furiously. "You! You said you couldn't bring me to the real world! You broke your promise! I trusted you and you lied to me!"
"No Pomni, I didn't lie." Spyro said. "It's true, I said you wouldn't survive in the real world, but you wouldn't survive without a body. But you're right about one thing, thsi world is a prison, one in which you don't need to stay in."
"Pomni, please, you don't need to do this." Gummigoo said. "I remember when we both fell through the world, where I discovered I was just an NPC. You helped me through my grief and shock, helping me to escape that awful place. You became a very good friend to me that day. And i'm here to be a good friend to you and help you now."
"B-but how?" Pomni asked, the Abstract calming down as the symbol of the Heartless started to glow.
"By helping you to return to who you really are." Gummigoo said.
"We both will." Spyro said, walking up. "I'm sorry Pomni. I was focused on keeping the world order in balance that I didn't think about how you felt, like how Caine didn't understand what this place was doing to you and the others." As he said it, everyone in the pillow fort looked out, watching what was going on outside to see what the outcome would be. "I wanted to keep the balance of this world, thus upholding the World order, but it's just a set of dumb rules, rules that don't matter now."
"Y-you mean...?" Pomni asked, the entire thing shaking.
"Yes Pomni, I'm taking you, and everyone else here out of this place." Spyro said. "Screw the rules. You deserve a better place to live in than this world."
Pomni didn't know what to say, looking at Spyro with hope returning to her eyes, but she then started to scream in pain, twisting and turning as the symbol of the Heartless tried to revert her back into her monster state, looking at Spyro with a pleading look as the pain got too much.
"Pomni!" Gummigoo shouted.
"Pomni, hang on!" Spyro shouted.
Spyro rushed towards the massive Heartless, jumping to take a strike at it and get to Pomni's heart, but a dark green flame hit him, causing him to fall to the ground and be pinned to the ground, Maleficent coming down and glarring at Spyro as the flames came from her staff, keeping Spyro on the ground as she levitated down.
"Oh no you don't little prince." Maleficent said. "Not this time."
"Maleficent!" Applejack shouted.
She rushed towards the dark fey to attack, but she unleashed another torrent of flame, pushing the farm mare back, which Fluttershy flew over and caught her before anything could happen. Sora however ran up to her to attack, but Maleficent created another stream and pinned him as well, making them unable to do anything while she smiled.
"You will not interfere with my plans this time little key bearers!" Maleficent shouted. "For too long you have foiled my plans, destroyed many of my Heartless, and now you attempt to rob me of the most powerful Heartless in all of existence!?"
"She's not a monster you old hag!" Gummigoo shouted, running at her.
However, a third stream came around and hit him, pinning him to the wall and making him scream in pain as Pomni looked at him, seeing how much pain he was in as she started to loose strength, loosing herself as the eyes started to turn back into Abstract eyes.
"Pomni... you have to stop her." Spyro said, Pomni looking at him. "You're... stronger than this. Y-you're proving that... even now!"
"Silence fool!" Maleficent shouted, intensifying the flames amd making Sora yell in pain while Spyro hissed, trying not to yell as he looked at Pomni.
"Pomni... you are in control... of who... you are." Spyro said, struggling through the pain while Pomni looked at him. "Maleficent... uses people. Tricks them... like she... tricked you." The dark fey intensified the flames to keep him quiet, but he pushed through. "Pomni... we... need... your... help. Your friends... need... your... help."
Pomni looked at him, then looking at her friends as they hid in the pillow fort, looking at them as the eyes contiued to change back to Abstract eyes, memories of her and her friends going on the adventures, having some fun, and being overall good friends with everyone, closing her eyes as she felt herself becoming lost again. However, as she closed her eyes, a spark of light appeared in the darkness, growing brighter and brighter until she opened her eyes, feeling like her old self again, looking down and finding she was still abstracting, but was no longer in any pain.
"Enough of your talk prince!" Maleficent said, tossing Spyro in front of Pomni, smoking right in front of her as he tried to get up. "Finish him off you pathetic excuse of a jester! Destroy him!" Pomni looked at the prince, Spyro looking up at her, pleading and praying that she managed to fight back against her darkness. "What are you waiting for you follish beast!? Attack!"
"With pleasure." Pomni replied.
She swung around and used her tail to hit Maleficent, sending her flying away and breaking her concentration, hitting the wall while Pomni turned and glarred at her, roaring in rage as she got ready to fight, Spyro getting up and standing next to Pomni as they both looked at the dark fairy, Sora getting up as well and looking between Spyro and Pomni, looking to Maleficent as they all got ready for a fight, Spyro and Sora recalling their Keyblades as Pomni got a flame ready.
"You traitorous fools!" Maleficent said, getting up. "You think you can defeat me!? ME!? The mistress of all evil!"
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, but you got your flank kicked by a fourteen year old back in Radiant garden." Spyro said. "How can you call yourself the mistress of all evil if you got beaten by a middle schooler?"
Everyone laughed at that, lightening everyone's mood, even Pomni's as she laughed, but Maleficent wasn't as amused, lifting her staff up and summoned forth a massive storm of meteors, sending them straight for the group, but Spyro just jumped up, summoning forth his power and unleashed tendrils of darkness, destroying the meteors and giving him a clear path as they ran towards her, Maleficent sending spell after spell to stop them, but Spyro kept on deflecting them, Sora dodging the spells while Pomni wasn't even effected by the magic, spooking Maleficent as she backed away.
"If I can't have her, no one will!" Maleficent shouted.
She raised her staff up and with all the strength she had left, slammed it into the ground, causing massive cracks to appear on the ground, heading towards the group, but they changed course, heading straight for Pomni as the ground erupted and a massive earth spike shot up, impaling Pomni as she screamed in pain and made the two Keyblade Bearers look to her.
"Pomni!" Spyro shouted.
"What will you do, hero?" Maleficent asked. "Destroy me, or save your friend? What will you choose?"
Maleficent laughed as she disappeared into the darkness, leaving the two keyblade bearers looking at Pomni and seeing how badly she was hurt, looking at them with pain in her eyes while everyone ran up to her.
"Pomni!" Gummigoo shouted, putting his hand on her. "What's happening!?"
"Maleficent just severely injured her." Spyro said. "She's about to loose her heart."
"There has to be something you can do!" Gummigoo said. "Can't you heal her or something!?"
"Not with her damaged this severely!" Spyro said, the world glitching out again. "The world's destabilizing."
"What now!?" Kinger asked. "We're all gonna die!"
"We're not going to die honey." Queenie replied, looking to Spyro. "Are we?"
"No, you're not." Spyro replied, looking back to the Light Rail and saw the barrier disappear. "Everyone, onto the Light Rail, now!"
"What about Pomni!?" Gummigoo asked.
"I'll take care of her!" Spyro exclaimed. "Go!"
Gummigoo looked at Spyro and then at Pomni, seeing how weak she was and then to Spyro, who seemed determined that he left, so he turned around and ran for the rail, leaving Spyro and Sora as the two of Keyblade warriors looked at one another.
"You really think you can save her?" Sora asked.
"I can try." Spyro replied. "I only hope I can reach her before her heart is lost. Get Caine onto the train and get out of here. I'll be right behind you."
Sora looked at Spyro, seeing the determination in his eyes before running towards the train, Spyro looking at Pomni as she started to glitch out, so he took out his Keyblade and leapt up, putting the blade against Pomni's chest and turned it to the right, a light shining out of her chest as it engulfed him, bringing him to Pomni's heart, which there was hardly anything left of it. The platform was all but gone, only a small piece of it was left, barely enough to walk around on, so he grew his wings and flew around, looking at the remains of the platform, which he could make out it was Pomni, but she looked content, peaceful, even though she was in bad condition. He flew around until he located her, a large black spike covered in green flames going through her chest and holding her up as she was glitching out, looking to Spyro as he flew over.
"Spyro..." Pomni said. "Wha-what are you doing here? You need to leave."
"Not without you." Spyro said. "I said I would get all of you out of here and that's what I'm gonna do."
"After what I did?" Pomni asked. "You should focus on getting the others out. Leave me here to be erased."
"No Pomni, I won't abandon you." Spyro said. "You deserve a better life than this. You all do."
"I don't know if I actually do deserve a better life." Pomni said, looking up. "I can't remember who I am, what I did in the real world, I can't even remember who my parents are and what they look like." She then looked to Spyro, a tear rolling down her cheek as she looked at him. "What kind of life is that if you can't remember the past?"
"You shouldn't let that hold you down." A voice said.
Spyro turned to his right and a moment later, Sombra appeared from the darkness, looking at Pomni with a warm smile.
"Sombra." Spyro said.
"I was the same way you know." Sombra said. "Believing I don't deserve redemption after what I did back in my home, deserving to be destroyed and my heart shattered, but Spyro didn't give up on me. He helped me to find peace with myself and allowed me into his heart, to heal until my heart is strong enough to return."
"B-but I don't have a body." Pomni said.
"Not yet you don't." Spyro said. "You may only be data right now, but that doesn't mean you don't have a heart." Spyro then held out his hand, Pomni looking at him as he ave her a warm smile. "It may not be today, or tomorrow, but someday, I'll find a way to bring you into the real world. Heck, maybe ya'll could live in Equestria if you want. But I promise you this, I will find a way to bring all of you into the real world, no matter what."
Pomni looked between Spyro and Sombra, the jester girl looking at Spyro's hand and found some strength within her, reaching her hand up and reached over, feeling a warm sensation as she reached for him, taking his hand and as she did, a light shined out from their hands, engulfing the three of them as the light shined out. In the tent, Sora had just reached the train after picking up Caine, setting him down in one of the seats as the girls tried to heal him again, but their spells were no longer working, Caine's glitching only getting worse as it went.
"We need to leave now!" Jax shouted.
"I really hate to say it, but Jax is right." Zooble said. "We need to get out of here now. Who knows how to drive this thing?"
"Don't look at me." Sora said. "Spyro's the one who made this thing."
A moment later, they saw that the tent was about to disappear, everyone bracing for their fate, but a moment later, they heard something crash and looked out, seeing Spyro fly towards them with Pomni in his arms, flying in and crashing into the wall, causing him to be dizzy for a second, but he shook it off and got up, the doors closed as soon as he got up.
"I think it's time for us to leave." Spyro said.
"Way to state the obvious there pal!" Sora said.
Spyro and Sora ran to the head of the Light Rail while everyone helped Pomni up, the world starting to collapse around them as they both got there.
"Let's see, turn the equalizer on, activate the stabalizers, activate the engines... and away we go!" Spyro said.
A moment later, the Light Rail activated, starting off slowly before it started to speed up, taking off immediately as one of the support columns fell down and nearly destroyed the rail, the rail itself tearing through the tent as it got away, everyone turning back to watch the entire world start to collapse, chunks of the world breaking off, the moon yelling out as she burst into data. Everyone looked back and watched as the world finally exploded, turning into bits and pieces of it's former self as they left, a mixture of sorrow and happiness was within the entire train as Spyro walked in, finding that everyone had gathered around Caine.
"Caine, can you hear us?" Gangle asked.
"Caine, please be alright." Kinger said.
"There's nothing we can do for him." Spyro said, walking up. "His data is being corrupted. Unlike most of you, he doesn't have a heart. He's just a program."
"Trons also a program, yet he has a heart." Sora said. "Isn't there anything you can do for him?"
"Without the original code, I don't know if I can save him." Spyro responded.
"Spyro, if anypony can help him, it's you." Applejack said, walking up to him. "You have done the impossible many times, this shouldn't be any different."
"But... but what if I get it wrong?" Spyro asked.
"You won't darling." Rarity said, walking up and putting her hoof on his leg. "You never get anything wrong."
"Well, almost never." Applejack replied.
Spyro just smiled at Applejack, looking at Caine as he was glitching out, so he took a deep breath and walked over, kneeling down next to Caine as he continued to glitch out. He the put his hand on the AI's shoulder and closed his eyes, sending his own magic into the AI unit to try and heal him, feeling all of the pain Caine was going through, the Ai continuing to Glitch out as he did his best to heal him, finding the damage and healing what he could, which it seemed to stabilize Caine as he stopped glitching out.
"There, that'll buy him sometime." Spyro said.
"How much?" Pomni asked, taking Caine's hand.
"Enough for us to get him to Tron." Spyro replied.
"Will Tron be able to help him?" Ragatha asked.
"There is no one else that I trust that has the skill to restore data and code." Spyro said, turning to the pilot car. "He'll help him. I know he will."
He walked to the lead car of the Light Rail, everyone looking at him as he entered the car while they all looked out to the void, seeing how empty it was as they went on, but it wasn't empty for very long as a moment later, a rift opened up and the Rail had entered the Grid, everyone changing into their Tron outfits, everyone from the Digital Circus looking out the window and marveling at the sight of the new world they were seeing.
"Wow." Pomni said.
"What is this place?" Jax asked.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Grid." Spyro said on the intercom. "The digital world that connects all worlds with technology and access to use of said technology."
"Wait, any world?" Kinger asked.
"Any of them with technology that is." Spyro said, Kinger looking to Queenie as she held his hand, nodding at him.
After a little while, they soon arrived at the docking yard, the rail stopping as Tron walked over as the door opened, everyone disembarking as Spyro carried Caine to a small stretcher that Tron brought with him, setting him down on it and looking to Caine.
"It's good to see you're all back safe and sound." Tron said. "Don't worry, you're friend will be looked after."
"Do whatever you can to help him." Spyro said, looking to the others. "And they'll need a place to stay for a while until I am able to find a way to get them real bodies."
"I will provie them with necessary accommodations until then." Tron said.
"Great, going from one prison to the another." Zooble said.
"This is not a prison my friend." Tron said. "I will endevor to make oyur stay as comfortable as possible. If you'll follow me, I'll lead you all to your quarters."
Everyone but Pomni followed Tron deeper into the main control room, the jester girl looking up at Spyro and his friends as they went another direction.
"Spyro, wait." Pomni said, everyone turning to her as she approached. "Thank you... for saving me and my friends."
"Hey, all in a day's work." Spyro said. "And don't worry, I'll find a way to bring you guys into the real world. I promise."
Pomni smiled and ran back to catch up with her friends, leaving the others as they watched her return to her friends.
"You really think you can find a way to give them real bodies?" Sora asked.
"I have a hunch on where to start looking." Spyro said. "But I need to find it first. Or more likely, him first. Crashbug!" A moment later, thre Crashbugs appeared out of nowhere like ninja's, litterally dressed up as them as they bowed. "I need you to find a specific world, get it's coordinates, and send them to me as soon as possible. Code name: Lyoko."
"Crashbug!" One of them said.
They bowed again before tossing some bombs down, a couple of them disappearing into thin air while the other stayed where it was, looking to it's left before looking depressed, walking away while the others just laughed.
"Come on everyone, let's go home." Spyro said.
"Uh, one question darling." Rarity said. "How are we getting home?"
"Oh, right." Spyro said. "Cid, is the machine fixed yet!?"
"You're in luck bud, I just fixed it." Cid replied. "Should be able to pull all of you out of there all at once. And this time, the machine isn't going to blow up."
"Good to hear." Spyro said. "We're ready to come home."
"Hold still, activating the machine... now!" Cid said.
A moment later, everyone started to glow blue and then started to turn into bits of data, flying into the sky while everyone watched them go into the air, eagerly awaiting the moment when they can have bodies again. Meanwhile, in Malefors fortress, Aphara had just gotten back from the Digital Circus and was placing the bits of Abstract shards into the book, the second circle glowing green as the silhouette started to solidify, his arms and body growing a skeleton as he looked at himself, laughing as he looked to Aphara.
"Well done Aphara." Orion said. "Two down, five more to go."
"Glad you're so excited for this." Aphara said. "Getting this one was pretty easy to get. What's the next key?"
"The next one will be more difficult to get." Orion replied. "We would need the blood of a Goetia."
"More blood?" Aphara asked, groaning. "Alright, tell me who it is and I'll get their blood no probem."
"The Goetia's are no ordinary beings little dragon." Orion said. "They're a royal demon family who reside in the fourth ring of hell."
"Wait, we need demon blood now?" Aphara asked. "Why not get it from any kind of deamon? Why a royal demon?"
"Because it was a Goetia who helped to seal me away." Orion replied. "Seven individuals helped the fourteenth to seal me away and each of them hid a key to where it would be safe and sound. Paimon Goetia was one of them."
"Ok, so who do we get?" Aphara asked.
"It must be a desendant of the Goetia family for it to work." Orion replied. "A child, grandchild, anyone with his blood."
"Well, if it's a royal demon, I'm going to need some help getting her blood." Aphara said.
"That won't be an issue." Malefor replied. "I know of a group who could help us. I did business with them before. I'll make a call and we'll get them to help her, but the prince will be a problem if he finds a way there."
"Don't worry, I know a group who can help us there." Orion said, waving his bony hand to make a crystal orb appear, getting in contact with someone.
"Immediate Murder Professionals!" A voice said. "This is Blitz, the o is silent, who do you us to murder today!?"