*Cynder's House, The Skylands, a month later, Dark Spyro's POV.*
I yawn as I walk to the desk in my dimly lit room, I don't even need a light to tell that it's four in the morning, I rummage through the drawer and eventually find what I'm looking for.
I grab a small square device with a plug in slot and a strap, I grab a headset from my desk and plug it in, I smirk as I sling the strap over my neck, the strap shrinks down and rests comfortably around my neck with the device being completely still, I put on the headset and leave my room quietly, I soon reach the front door as well and leave the house.
Getting used to life in the Skylands has by no means been easy for me, Sunset or Tempest, while it was merely an adjustment period for my friends, I had to deal with the brunt of the repressed anger from locals and other Cadets and even some Trainees, all because of my servitude to Strykore when he was around.
Lately though, Stealth Elf, Jet-Vac, Pop-Fizz, Eruptor and Spyro had been on vacation, and they earned it, I mean, they did go nonstop on peacekeeping for a long time and even saved the Skylands, and while there are still bad guys like the Doom Raiders out there, it has been quiet enough to allow a vacation.
The problem though, is that with Team Spyro gone, a lot of hostilities rose up among the Cadets, Eon and the other teachers often had trouble trying to calm them down or break up the fights, so Eon came up with a solution, a tournament that would take place three days out of a week, I had signed up along with Sunset and Cynder while Tempest stayed out of it.
I fly silently to the teleport pads and enjoy the cool air in the dark town, I smile at the painless flight and land easily, I step into the teleport pad and soon teleport to my destination, a place I have been visiting for two weeks now every morning in secret.
This place was obviously the obstacle course, I smirk and turn the course on, I then turn on the device and soon enough I hear music playing.
I grin and charge towards the obstacle course, I duck and weave out of the way of the swinging axes and spinning blades, I dodge with practiced grace as I make my way all around the course.
I roll when a jet of flames shoot out and I move out of the way as one of the axes swings towards me, I soon finish a full cycle of the course and with the same level of skill I reach the other side, I then do the same but in reverse, I run the opposite way towards the start which has far more resistance as I'm moving against the course, but I don't let it stop me as I dodge the traps and blades, and before long I manage to complete the first reverse cycle of the obstacle course.
I move again towards the beginning of the course and jump over a spinning blade, I land easily but am quickly forced to dodge a swinging axe when I feel my back leg cramp up, but just as I do so a jet of fire shoots out from one of the holes, I roll out of the way instantly and quickly finish the course before another close call could happen, I shut down the course and move on to the next part of my routine.
And that was a flight exercise, I fly off at high speed towards the Academy itself, I circle any trees I pass and I loop around a few smaller islands as I race down my own mental race course, I rapidly approach the Grand Library and I circle it three times before finally landing at the teleport pads, I take a deep breath and fold my wings as I step onto the teleport pad.
I walk back to Cynder's house and enter the house quietly, I silence my music and make my way upstairs, to my relief I hear nothing so I enter my room and carefully put my things away before climbing back into bed, leaving no trace of my absence, I mentally congratulate myself on my sneaking skills before closing my eyes to get some extra sleep.
*Two days later, Skylanders Academy, Dark Spyro's POV.*
"Alright everyone gather around!" Shouted Spyro as all of the Cadets approached the designated arena, a huge island with gray stone ground in the shape of a circle in center of the island, the stone circle was almost as large as the island, which in itself was about the size of a mansion. "Today is the first day of the tournament, every match will take place here and nowhere else!" He warned.
Spyro let his words sink in for a moment before continuing. "If there are ANY fights outside the arena, the participating Cadet or Cadets will be immediately disqualified, this includes sparring, training outside of class and straight up brawls, so be mindful and keep to yourself outside the ring." He stated with a clear tone, indicating that he would not tolerate a fight outside the ring no matter what. "As for the rules, the only rules are no fatal blows or attacks that cause permanent damage, the fight ends when you concede or can not continue." He added.
I am standing with Sunset, Cynder and Tempest, nearby is Tinker, Marx and Chen, I keep a mental note to keep my eyes open just in case.
Nearby and watching with interest is Stealth Elf, Eon, Eruptor and Jet-Vac, Pop Fizz being nowhere in sight, I turn my attention back to my other half and listen.
"Now then, let's get the first round underway!" He said enthusiastically, causing a huge portion of the crowd to cheer, he then looked up at something, we all do the same and look at what Spyro sees, and we all notice a large screen with a huge tournament ladder set up. "The first match of the day is Chen versus Ugmal." He states before stepping out of the stone ring.
Chen the Elf steps out onto the ring, wielding his bow and arrows, he wore a brown tunic over a plain brown shirt and he wore brown trousers along with black boots.
Ugmal is a large bipedal creature with pale green carapace covering his body and large yellow eyes, his face was angular and he had a large fang protruding from the right side of his mouth, he wore no clothing and had two arm blades, one on each of his forearms.
"Begin!" Spyro called out.
Ugmal immediately charged rapidly, moving with speed that had to be enhanced magically, Chen recoiled at the speed and grabbed an arrow, he quickly prepared it and aimed.
Chen fired off his arrow just a little to the right of Ugmal, trying to lead him but the insectoid simply dodged and closed the distance within a second, he swung his arm blade and Chen just barely dodged, his tunic recieving a large tear in the process.
Chen grabbed another arrow and charged it with magic, I watch as the arrowhead changes to a familiar one, a small head of stone that packs a surprising punch, the Elf aims and fires the arrow but Ugmal simply swung his arm blade, deflecting it easily before charging at high speed again.
I watch as Chen's eyes narrow in thought. 'What is he thinking?' I ask myself.
Chen quickly prepared another arrow and let loose immediately, though this time he also grabbed another arrow and fired off another and another in quick succession, Ugmal dodged one and deflected another that was coming his way that he otherwise couldn't have dodged, he once again closed the distance and swung, Chen dodged a little earlier and fired off another few arrows.
Ugmal once again dodged and deflected the arrows and charged at Chen once more, the Elf reached for an arrow and he tensed up as he grabbed the last arrow, he grunted and prepared the arrowhead, I watch with interest as it starts to glow a faint yellow.
Ugmal did not have to dodge a single arrow as Chen waited, the Elf took a deep breath and closed his eyes, I look at Marx to see his reaction and see both confidence and concern on the Salamander's face.
A few seconds later and I find out why, Chen opened his eyes just as Ugmal neared, the Elf readied his now bright yellow arrow in an instant and fired it point blank at Ugmal, the arrowhead impacted the insectoid and launched him straight up into the air screaming for several seconds.
We all watch in a tense silence as we waited for Ugmal to return, Spyro declared that since Ugmal technically did not leave the ring, he was still in the match, though he did say that if the insectoid did not return within the minute, he would end the fight.
I look at Marx and see that he has a look of relief on his face, I hum in thought and look back up, and within a few seconds we all watch as Ugmal plummets from the sky and crashes down on the stone ring, I wince at the sight and glance at Chen.
Chen watches with a tense silence which changes to horror as Ugmal gets back up. "Next time you do that, don't add an enchantment to soften the fall." The insectoid speaks in a flat tone, his voice even and calm,
"That fall would have knocked anyone out." I hear Marx say quietly in disbelief. "Enchantment or no." He added.
'It must have been his carapace, it must be really tough to let him get back up after that.'
Ugmal took the opportunity and charged at his enhanced speed, Chen hesitated and glanced around, to his dismay there was only one arrow still in the arena and it was too far away to reach, the Elf holds his hand up into the air. "I concede." He says.
Ugmal halts his charge and nods out of respect or understanding for Chen's decision, both the Elf and the insectoid leave the arena and Spyro returns to the center. "Ugmal is the victor of the first match, now let's move on to the second match!" He states before looking up at the screen,
"The second match is between Tempest and Tinker!" He declares, I visibly tense up at the matchup and look at Tempest in shock.
"You said you didn't enter." Sunset says.
Tempest laughs sheepishly. "Surprise?" She says before moving into the ring along with the four armed Tinker.
Tinker looks the exact same as the day Marx and Chen teamed up against me, though this time she is fighting and has a series of boxes on her back, I glance at Tempest out of worry but see a look of determination in her eyes.
"Begin!" Spyro ordered, and in that moment, Tempest took to the air and dive bombed towards Tinker who grabbed a small handheld device in two of her arms and rapidly pushed buttons with her other two, as a result, her body was covered in a kind of gray shimmer and three small robots floated out of the boxes before putting distance between themselves and Tinker.
The robots were gray in color and were spherical in shape with four small prongs jutting out and a single blue light on each.
I ponder what the four armed girl is doing before Tempest delivers her attack, it hits but Tempest is the one recoiling and she stares with clear confusion, and it is now that I realize something concerning.
Tempest cannot beat Tinker, no matter what she tries for one reason alone... she doesn't understand technology and has no magic that I know of, the griffon takes flight once more, going for another dive bomb which is apparently her kinds preferred method of attack.
Tinker pushes some more buttons and the small robots open fire, shooting small green bolts of magic that Tempest manages to dodge with surprising agility, I watch as Tempest nears the end of her dive but instead of going straight for Tinker, I watch as Tempest aimed for the robots.
Tinker watches with clear surprise and pushed more buttons, two of the robots break away from the third and continue firing from different angles, Tempest takes a few hits but does manage to hit one of the robots to the ground before being hit by a large beam of magical energy from behind and being thrown out of the ring, I look at Tinker who had called out a single large robot that was quadruple the size of the others, it shrunk down and fit itself inside one of her boxes as did the others.
I watch as Tinker gains a look of concern and ignores the declaration of her victory as she walks towards Tempest, the four armed girl reached a hand out and Tempest when she reached her and the griffon begrudgingly took it, I smile at the knowledge that Tinker wasn't faking being nice, the four armed girl walked to her downed robot and picks it up, she immediately started working on it and barely acknowledged Marx who congratulated her on her victory.
'Damn, she really focuses on her machines.' I note.
"Hey, you alright Tempest?" I hear Sunset ask.
Tempest grumbles, I look at her in surprise, I didn't take her for a sore loser. "Hey, you aren't upset for losing are you?" I ask.
"It's a griffon pride thing, still working on it." Tempest mumbles.
I nod slowly out of slight understanding and turn my attention back to the ring where Spyro was once again standing. "Let's move on to the Third match!" He looked up and I do too, I see a magical screen of some kind and all I can see is images, the images enlarge and I visibly tense up once more.
"The third match is between Sunset Shimmer and Marx!" Spyro declares.
I look at Sunset who takes a deep breath and steps into the ring with Marx, the Salamander gets into the familiar crouch that I believe is his fighting stance, both of the two combatants look determined to win.
Marx is wearing the exact same thing he was when he picked a fight with me.
"Begin!" Spyro orders.
Marx begins by spitting out a high speed fireball and charges, and I watch with curiosity, mostly to see how he fights without Chen to back him up.
Sunset fires a few magic bolts towards Marx, two of the bolts dissipated the fireball and the last two hit Marx who didn't seem to care, he continued his charge and just like with me, he skid to a sudden stop and used the momentum to propel a fireball at ridiculous speed towards Sunset, who was unable to dodge it in time, she was thrown back and hit the ground hard but was quick to get up.
Marx didn't bother with gloating and charged immediately, I raise an eyebrow, remembering that Marx seems to enjoy taunting and messing with his opponents, and while I don't know him very well, this does seem out of character for him, I glance at Chen and Tinker and notice the concern on their faces.
'So this relentless assault really isn't Marx' style, what is he up to?'
Sunset quickly teleports away and Marx looks around the arena, he spots Sunset and stands still for some reason, but he doesn't remain this way for long as he charges once more.
I watch as Sunset prepares a powerful spell and quickly releases it the next few seconds, revealing a huge sphere of flames that moves towards Marx who skids to a stop and backs away slowly.
"Marx wins." I hear Chen say the moment the fire spell is used.
I look at Chen with curiosity. "What's that supposed to mean?" Tempest asked with irritation.
"It's obvious that Sunset is skilled, but she is a Fire Element isn't she?" Chen asks, more like a statement, I ponder the meaning of his words and it hits me like a sack of bricks.
"So what? she's also Magic Element." Tempest says defensively.
"Every single spell that Sunset uses will be partially Fire Element even if they have nothing to do with fire." I say with clear understanding.
"And Marx is a Salamander." Cynder noted as the flame sphere nears Marx, who now appears to be grinning.
Chen nodded. "Correct." The Elf looks at Tempest. "Salamanders are nearly immune to fire and flame spells, and Marx is an Alpha Salamander, which means that he has the power to absorb direct flames and fire spells, not very useful against water or other spells with Fire Element influence, but right now?" He trailed off, knowing that he didn't have to continue.
Marx was soon engulfed in flames, a few moments later and the flames faded, revealing Marx who was glowing a brilliant orange and was literally on fire, Sunset however had a look of pure horror on her face. "But... how?" She asked with fear in her voice.
Marx chuckled. "You really should have known that fire can't defeat a Salamander." He taunted before he raised both his fists into the air and slamming them into the ground, unleashing a massive torrent of flames that rushed towards Sunset and diminished his own flames, the Unicorn quickly conjured a magical shield that she clearly struggled to maintain.
The flames faded quickly and Marx started to charge at Sunset who was clearly getting worn out by her use of magic, her horn quickly flared up and Marx was soon caught in a turquoise light, his movement halted and he growled as he forced himself to move, it was clearly difficult and exhausting but he kept on moving towards Sunset who struggled to hold him back.
I ponder what Sunset's plan here is, I watch the struggle take place as Marx moves closer and closer, moving faster every second, it is then then I noticed that he is sagging.
"Is she trying to pin him to the ground?" Cynder asks, voicing exactly what I was thinking.
"Yea, I don't think it'll work though." I say.
Marx roared and promptly spat a fireball at Sunset who was forced to dodge, the effort allowed Marx to break free and she began to fire a near unending barrage of magical missiles at Marx who took them all head on as he continued his charge.
Sunset continued to back up and before she knew it she had stepped out of the ring. "Marx wins by ring out!" Spyro declared, both Sunset and Marx returned, the former completely dumbfounded and the latter with a smirk.
Tinker glanced at Marx before returning to fixing her damaged robot. "Nice one Marx." She said absently.
"Don't say that, it'll go straight to his head." Chen scolded though I can sense amusement in his voice.
I roll my eyes, remembering a time where a very similar interaction happened with Stealth Elf and Eruptor.
The next few matches that took place were kind of interesting but I didn't know anyone who fought in them, so I may have tuned them out, finally though I heard Spyro call out. "Dark Spyro versus Trigger Happy!" He declares.
I step into the ring and face down my opponent, Trigger Happy is a peculiar individual, he has brown and white fur and carries twin guns, I also remember that he has a bad habit of-
*bang!* I jump out of the way as a bullet flies past me and past the crowd watching and into a tree, I look at Trigger Happy who blinked. "Sorry!" He called out.
Spyro looked at me and I shrug. "Alright...begin!" He called out.
Trigger Happy immediately aims at me and starts shooting rapidly while moving around, I form a dense magical shield that takes the hits and I take a deep breath.
I lower my shield and spit out a pair of purple fireballs that spin as they fly, Trigger Happy dodges it and continues his barrage, I take flight and charge up some lightning, my horns crackle with electricity and I release it, Trigger Happy gets electrocuted but to my surprise and confusion, he begins to shoot even faster than before, effectively doubling the amount of bullets, I groan as I form a shield to take the damage.
I ponder my next move and after a second I come up with an idea, I fly back down to the ground and charge up some more lightning, I then expand the shield and turn it into more of a dark mist, I then release the lightning as a nova and the mist becomes electrified.
The mist obscures my vision but it also blocks Trigger Happy's vision, but what it doesn't conceal is sound, so I take advantage of my opponents electrified hysterical shooting and fly, I prepare to shoot a fireball and I take aim, I pause as I hear no gunshots and I wait.
I hum in thought and I quickly throw a single bolt of lightning down to the ground, it impacts and immediately I see bullets flying to where I hit, I look in the direction of the bullets and spit out the twin fireballs, moments later I hear the shots stop.
I land quietly and use my magic to disperse the electrified mist, I look in the direction I shot the fireball in and see Trigger Happy getting up but to my relief he was outside the ring. "Dark Spyro wins by ring out!" Spyro declares, I look to my friends and see them smiling at me, I walk over to them and I notice that Tempest is no longer sulking.
"That was cool!" Tempest says eagerly.
"It was alright." Marx mutters, I look at him in surprise. "I did better though." He added and I calm down, knowing he's back to normal.
"Why did you electrify the mist?" Cynder and Sunset both ask, I stifle a laugh as they roll their eyes.
"It prolonged Trigger Happy's electrocution, I used his guns to find him which let me win." I explain, Cynder nods and Sunset looks thoughtful.
"The final match of the day is Cynder versus Coreba!" Spyro declared, Cynder stepped up but was not joined by another, Spyro looked around the crowd. "Coreba?" He asked.
Soon enough one of the Cadets who already fought walked up to Spyro and whispered to him, my other half sighed and spoke up a moment later. "Coreba is unable to fight so Cynder wins by default!" He declared.
I look at Cynder who has a look of disappointment on her face as she walks up to us. "You alright Cynder?" I ask the dragoness.
"I was just looking forward to my fight is all." She says simply and with a sigh.
"Don't worry, you'll fight tommorow, I know it." I say encouragingly, Cynder smiles and nods, clearly in a better mood already.
*Skylands, The next day, Dark Spyro's POV.*
The excitement was building today as everyone waited for the second round of the tournament to begin, I am once again standing with Cynder, Sunset and Tempest, Marx and his friends were on the opposite side of the ring today but everyone was here to watch.
Soon enough, Spyro stepped out to the center of the arena again and started to speak. "Alright everyone, welcome to the second round of the tournament!" He greeted, everyone cheered and Spyro waited a little for the excitement to drop so he could speak. "Same rules as yesterday, now let's begin!" He said before looking up to the magical screen, a moment later and he declared the combatants.
"The first match is Cynder versus Tinker!" He declared.
Cynder steps into the rings eagerly and Tinker enters as well. "You got this Cynder!" Tempest cheers, I look at her and I can tell she is eager for Tinker to lose, I nudge her and she looks at me. "What?" She questions.
"It's just a game Tempest, you and Tinker might end up working together one day, believe me when I say that you don't want animosity in a team." I advise truthfully, remembering some of the times that having any form of grudge in a team made more problems than necessary, the griffon opens her mouth to speak but resorts to grumbling under her breath as she watches.
"Begin!" Spyro orders.
Tinker immediately formed the shield that she used against Tempest and called up her robots, Cynder reacted by letting out a breath of lightning that arced past Tinker and electrocuted the robots, shutting them down and making them fall to the ground instantly.
Tinker looked over her shoulder in surprise and quickly called out the large robot that blasted Tempest yesterday, it grew to its huge size and loomed menacingly behind Tinker.
Cynder dodged frantically as the large robot opened fire, it fired numerous smaller magical bolts at Cynder, the dragoness was hard pressed but she managed to let out another breath of lighting, it hit the robot hard and it momentarily faltered before firing its massive beam at Cynder who flew up to avoid it.
Tinker pushed a few more buttons and the final two boxes on her back opened up, they revealed two objects that floated down to the ground, one next to each of Tinker's legs, the four armed girl stepped on the one on the left and four small disks flew out of it and attached themselves to the robot.
Tinker's robot then aimed directly at Cynder and started firing once more but at a greater speed, Cynder dodged in the air and let out a few lightning breaths that gave the robot pause for the first breath but seemed to actually damage it with the second.
Tinker looked visibly hurt and I ponder why when Cynder breathes more lightning but it simply bounces off her shield and to the robot.
Tinker moves her right leg over the object on her right but misses, her shield fades and the robot shuts down, I watch with curiosity as Tinker drops the device in her hand and falls to her knees, her breathing labored, Cynder hesitates but doesn't drop her guard.
"I give up." Tinker says through ragged breaths, much to Marx surprise.
"What!? Tinker come on you had that!" The Salamander snaps.
The four armed girl looks at Marx and then away from him as Spyro declares. "Cynder wins by forfeit!"
Tinker retrieved her device and recalled the large robot, she then picked up the three smaller ones and walked back to Marx and Chen.
"Why did she collapse like that?" Sunset asks.
I stare at Tinker who was now sitting and working on her robots. "I... don't know." I admit quietly before grinning at Cynder who was walking over to us. "Nice match Cynder." I congratulate.
"Good one." Tempest says.
"You did great." Sunset adds.
Cynder grins at our words. "Thanks guys." Her face then turned contemplative. "I wonder why Tinker gave up though? Marx seemed sure that she would win." She said and I nod in agreement, not understanding the reason as well.
"Speaking of." Sunset says, we look up and see that Marx is fighting someone named Yuza, a tall Gecko creature with green scales and eyes.
Yuza attacked with some kind of slimy projectile and avoided direct conflict by turning invisible for as few second and appearing elsewhere, Marx seemed to be getting annoyed by the gecko but did eventually land the winning punch when Yuza slipped up. "Marx is the winner by knockout!" Spyro declared.
I look to the magical screen and watch as fight after fight goes by... and to my shock, all of them ended in a draw. "Dark Spyro versus Wicket!" Spyro declares finally and I enter the ring.
Wicket is a pale red creature with barkskin and stoic yellow eyes, he stares at me for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I cannot win this fight, I forfeit." He declares and I immediately understand Cynder's disappointment from the previous day.
"Dark Spyro wins by forfeit!" Spyro states before looking at the screen. "Our final fight for the day is Ugmal versus Ordan!"
Ugmal enters the ring and stares down Ordan, who was of the same species as him but gray in color instead of pale green.
Both of them glare at each other fiercely. "Begin!" Spyro declared, though the exact moment he did so both insectoids charged and clashed blades within seconds.
Ugmal threw a punch that was blocked, Ordan swung his blade but it was parried and countered by another punch.
The two insectoids were evenly matched in skill and this seemed to greatly anger Ordan far more than Ugmal.
Ordan broke away and charged at high speed, though instead of going straight for Ugmal, the gray insectoid circled him, building up speed at an alarming rate, I watch wide eyed as Ordan somehow manage to run straight through his circle and punch Ugmal in the jaw, all the while returning to the speed circle without it ever stopping.
Ugmal looked back and forth and then he did something odd, he closed his eyes much like Chen did in his fight, he waited several moments before throwing a lightning fast punch in the air, though just as he did so Ordan was hit and was sent flying, his own momentum caused him to be knocked out of the ring.
"Ugmal wins by ring out!" Spyro called out, and several spectators cheered.
Spyro soon stepped out into the ring and spoke loud enough to be heard. "That's all for today everyone! come back here same time tomorrow for the last of the tournament." He stated, much to the dismay of the crowd.
I look at Cynder who looks determined. "Best of luck to you tomorrow." I say encouragingly.
Cynder nods silently and with that we head off to her house to get some sleep, that night I was up for a few extra hours, unable to sleep as my nerves got to me, I felt dread form as I realized something terrifying.
There are only four contestants left, myself, Cynder, Marx and Ugmal, above all I dreaded fighting Cynder first, not because I'm scared of her or scared I'll really hurt her, it's more like my nerves and my mind don't want to fight her at all.
I eventually close my eyes, praying that if I had to fight Cynder, it would be as the final match.
*The next day.*
I take in a deep breath as I stand with my friends at the ring, everyone was here again to watch the fights, I glance towards Eon and Team Spyro, they were all talking amongst themselves and I feel a pang of hurt, I push that away, knowing it's just guilt resurfacing.
I look around and see that everyone is talking amongst themselves, even my friends next to me were talking.
"So guys, I was actually hoping that one of you could... help me out a little bit?" Tempest asks and I look at the griffon in shock along with Cynder and Sunset, we all figured out quickly that Tempest hates being helped if it can be avoided, but for her to actually ask was a surprise.
"Uh, sure... what do you need help with?" I ask out of curiosity.
Tempest sighs and forces the words out. "I need help with my essay on Elemental Magics." She said quickly.
"No problem." I say calmly before glancing to the ring, I see Spyro look at me for a second before returning to his conversation. "How long do you have?" I ask.
"Till the end of the week." Tempest says.
"We've got plenty of time then." Cynder says. "We can work on it when this is over." She added.
The crowd suddenly fell silent and I look to see Spyro walking to the center of the ring. "Welcome to the final day of the tournament!" He greeted. "The same rules will apply today as the other days, no fatal blows and no permanent damage, the match ends upon a ring out, a knockout or a forfeit." He explained.
"With that out of the way, let's begin!" He declared before looking to the magical screen, I look as well and watch with worry.
'Please not Cynder, please not Cynder.' I close my eyes and wait for the inevitable.
"The first match of the semifinals is Cynder versus Dark Spyro!" Spyro called out, and I curse mentally as I enter the arena with Cynder.
As I stand opposite Cynder, I see hesitance in her eyes for a second before they gain a calm determination that I've seen in her only a few times. "Don't hold back you hear me?" She said and I nod slowly.
"Alright." I mutter.
"Begin!" Spyro ordered.
Immediately I took to the air as did Cynder, we both readied breath attacks and released them at once, her lightning and my fire clashed and merely exploded, I fly towards Cynder and she does the same, we collide and we both land a few punches and swipes before breaking away.
Cynder lets out another lightning breath immediately and I can't react in time, I grunt in pain as the lightning courses through my system and electrocutes me.
I feel intense anger burning in me but I force it down as Cynder continues her attack, I silently praise my friend for her ability to keep the lightning going but I don't appreciate the fact that I'm the target.
I channel my magic into a spell and hold my right claw out, it glows with an intense dark purple magic and Cynder pauses her attack, I then hold out my left claw and slam my claws together, a loud boom rang through the air and a massive shockwave of magic flew towards Cynder.
The dragoness dodges at the last second and lands, I fly down and land as well, I watch as she prepares a lightning breath and I charge my lightning spell, as I do so I feel that same anger rise up again for some reason, I force it down once more as I feel the electricity start to get to me.
I fire off the spell just as Cynder unleashed her lightning breath and the result was a light show of lightning arcing out violently, it damaged the ring and even threatened to harm the bystanders, I grit my teeth, I feel a strong pull to the spell and find it hard to stop, I pull back and the lightning clash ends with a deafening crack, I pant as I stare at Cynder who was also out of breath.
I look around and my eyes widen out of shock at the damage to the arena, I look at Cynder who also just realized this, I take a deep breath and get back into a fighting stance.
Cynder drops low and we start to circle each other, she kept her eyes trained on mine and I do the same, we circled for a short time before I take off, once in the air I take in a deep breath.
Cynder immediately blasts me with lightning and I struggle to deal with the pain but I do not cease, a moment later I release my breath which ended up being a large wave of fire, seeking to end this quickly, I also fired a rapid barrage of twin fireballs to the ground.
Cynder dodged the wave and the first two twin fireballs but was hit hard by the third, then the fourth and fifth, and then finally the sixth and seventh, I stop my barrage out of fear of hurting my friend and I fly by down to the ground.
I silently pray that Cynder stops the fight by giving up, but if I know her correctly, she isn't one to give up like this, and to both my dismay and my joy, the dragoness gets back up, albeit shakily, she soon calms herself and stares at me before dropping to a fighting stance.
I drop low as well and we both charge at the other, we keep on going until we finally ram heads and I recoil slightly, Cynder does as well but she quickly lunged forward, I block and dodge to the best of my ability but I can feel my anger bubbling again. 'Why am I getting so angry?' I contemplate while dodging. 'Is this a dragon thing?' I wonder before deciding to end the fight before I do something I'll regret later.
I retaliate and throw a quick swipe at Cynder, it hits her hard, and promising to apologize for it later, I quickly ram her in the chest as hard as I could and she tumbles to the ground, sliding and rolling away, I spit out a twin fireball which propels Cynder out of the ring, and as she landed outside the stone circle I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Dark Spyro wins by ring out!" Spyro declares, his voice filled with disbelief and shock.
I hurry over to Cynder as she gets up, she looks up at me and I hesitantly hold a claw out. "Uh... no hard feelings?" I ask.
Cynder chuckles and let's me help her up to my relief, though she does give me a playful shove which promptly knocks me on my butt. "I deserve that." I say.
Cynder and I share a quiet laugh before we head off to our friends, once we are with them I look around, and to my surprise quite a few Cadets were passing around money. "Did they really bet on these fights?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course." Sunset replied. "Only us losers can bet." She added with a smirk.
I look at the unicorn. "And for our fight?" I ask out of curiosity.
Sunset smirked and recieved her money as Wicket passed it around, Tempest did as well. "Thanks for the confidence guys." Cynder remarks.
Tempest and Sunset both passed half of their winnings to Cynder who seemed surprised. "Um?" The dragoness trailed off, unsure of what to do.
"Dark Spyro has more combat experience, I merely made an educated guess as to who would win." Sunset said with clear logic as Cynder took the money.
"Actually, she flipped a coin about seven times." Tempest corrected and Sunset grumbled.
Spyro stepped out into the middle of the ring and spoke up. "Alright everyone, the last semifinal match is between Marx and Ugmal!" He declared, the crowd cheered as the two Cadets stepped into the ring and stared each other down.
I watch as Marx and Ugmal stare each other down, and I find myself wondering along with everyone else as to why neither of them charged yet, though I hear Cynder sigh. "Great, two charge focused fighters, this should be boring." She said quietly.
"Any of you betting? except for you Dark Spyro, losers only." Wicket asked.
"Yea." Cynder said. "Twenty coins on Marx to win." She replied.
"Ten on Ugmal to win." Tempest added.
"Ten on Ugmal to win." Sunset agreed.
Wicket wrote it all down and then nodded before continuing through the crowd.
I look back at the ring just in time to see Ugmal start it off with his head on charge, Marx retaliated by spitting a large fireball but it was dodged, the Salamander then tried a new tactic and charged right towards the insectoid.
Ugmal swung his blade as he neared and Marx narrowly dodged, but he did skid to the side and spat out a fireball that hit the insectoid Cadet hard in his side, I watch with slight confusion as Marx quickly spaces himself away from Ugmal but does not attack.
'Ugmal easily beat Chen and deflected every attack, so why didn't he try to defend himself from Marx' attack just now?' I question.
Ugmal shakes off the attack and looks at Marx who has a knowing smirk on his face like he just figured something out that no one else did, the insectoid shook his head clear and charged again.
This time Marx let Ugmal get close before he struck, just before the insectoid could swing his blades or throw a punch, the Salamander spat a fireball which exploded point blank, Ugmal was thrown back a few feet but that was enough, Marx leapt in and punched Ugmal three times, in the face, then in the left shoulder, and finally he punched Ugmal in the gut before spin kicking the insectoid.
Ugmal was powerless to defend and when we landed he was slow to get up before Marx rammed him and knocked him out of the arena, everyone in the crowd was speechless save one. "How did he lose so easily!? he must have thrown the fight!" An angry Ordan accused.
Marx huffed. "He lost because of his speed magic." He explained calmly, he stuffed his claws into his jackets pockets. "Ugmal is legitimately tough and he did fight for real, but he relied too heavily on his speed magic, what I learned is that there is a brief cooldown period between the first charge and the next, during that brief time he cannot move his legs, which is why he always faced his opponent head on, so they would not have time to move to his side or back to attack." He explained rationally.
I look at Ugmal who stood up, he had a slight glare aimed at Marx but he did not deny anything, instead he returned to the crowd.
"So guys." Cynder says with a smirk in her voice. "It would seem you have to pay up." She teased.
"Have mercy." Tempest begged but to no avail as Wicket came by and divvied out the bet money, handing Cynder her original twenty and another twenty on top of it.
I chuckle at their antics and watch as Spyro steps up into the ring, followed by Master Eon? "Before we begin the final match between Dark Spyro and Marx, Master Eon has something to say." He stated and everyone grew silent.
Eon looks at me and motions for me to come forward, I do so and stand next to Marx. "First, I would like to congratulate the both of you for being our finalists." He began and I inwardly grin, Eon looks at the Salamander next to me. "Marx, you have proven to be not only a skilled fighter, but also a keen observer, not many here noticed that Ugmal was using a speed spell or even that it had a weakness." He praised and Marx grinned widely in response.
Eon then looked at me and I tense up a little. "Dark Spyro, you have also proven your skill in battle, but you have also shown a great deal of resilience in your fight with Cynder, and that mist tactic in your fight with Trigger Happy was most impressive." He stated, and I nod slowly.
Eon then raised his voice. "As for everyone here, I hope you have learned from this tournament, I hope you have learned more about not only yourself, but also more about your future teammates, it is my hope that this first tournament will not be the last, and that we can continue this as a new tradition here at the Skylanders Academy." He stated, and excited murmurs broke out amongst the crowd.
"Now, no more words, it is time for the moment you have all been waiting for, let the final match between Marx and Dark
Spyro begin!" Eon declared and the crowd cheered once more.
I step a good distance away from Marx who does the same as we wait for Spyro and Master Eon to exit the ring, moments later the Salamander smirks. "Ready for this dragon?" He taunted.
I grin out of pure excitement. "You know it." I reply before charging at the Salamander.
Marx for once stays still and once I am half the distance he spits a few fireballs which I dodge, I retaliate by spitting my own twin fireball that Marx absorbs at once.
Marx spits another fireball at me and it zooms by me as I leap into the air, I then dive straight for the Salamander and he rolls out of the way as I land with a crash, I feel a strange anger rise up again and I shake it off.
Marx spits another fireball and I spit out my own, the two fireballs explode on contact and I charge back in, this time Marx does as well.
When we get close, I half expect Marx to move to the side and tackle or skid to a stop and throw a fireball my way, but to my shock he skids to a stop and throws something at me, it looks like a potion filled with red smoke and it explodes in my face.
I recoil and cough as the smoke enters my lungs, despite my efforts I do inhale some of the smoke, and in mere moments I feel... different.
I open my eyes and look around, Marx is standing, ready to attack and everyone looks curious as to the potions effect, I look at Marx and feel my anger rising instantly. "Come on dragon, where's the lightning? you afraid of it now?" The Salamander taunted.
I felt my anger bubbling but while I feel the desire to push it aside, I don't do it, instead I just act on it as a maniacal grin forms on my mouth. "You want lightning?" I ask with a dark chuckle. "I'll show you lightning!" I snap as I take to the air and charge up some lightning, my horns quickly crackle with intense electricity and it starts to course through me, I don't even acknowledge the pain as I release the lightning at full force to the Salamander.
Marx dodged to the side and the lightning impacted the ground, obliterating the stone and revealing scorched grass, the Salamander either didn't notice it or didn't care as he spat a series of fireballs at me.
I easily dodge and all the while I funnel magic to my hand, it glows dark purple and I reach out to the skies, almost instantly storm clouds formed and blanketed the arena in a gray light, I hear murmurs and panicked whispers below but I pay it no mind, I then throw my hand downwards and lightning began to strike down on the ring, I fly at high speed towards a now very panicked Marx. "Having fun yet!?" I cry out mockingly as I impact the Salamander with ramming speed, the force and speed I hit him with would have knocked him out of the ring if not for what I did next.
'Whats going on?'
I hold my hand out and Marx is enveloped by a dark purple light, I drag him back into the arena and I let him get to his feet, the Salamander growled and charged, he spat fireballs as he ran and I dodge most of them but a few do hit me to little effect, Marx spat one last fireball before he skid to a stop and jumped to the side, he then tacked me and I throw my wings open.
I grin madly as I clutch Marx and fly into the air, I fly up for about thirty feet before dropping him, I then fly back down at high speed after him and charge my magic.
'What am I doing?' I ask myself.
Marx lands harshly but he ignores the pain, he grabs a nearby chunk of the stone circle and hurls it at me, I laugh maniacally as I release my spell, which was a huge nova of dark magic that hit Marx full force, I land and wait as Marx gets back up shakily, I charge in and punch the Salamander, I then hit him with a flip kick that I use to launch into the air, once I land I use magic to boost my jump, I leap towards Marx and cackle as I charge intense magic into my hand, forming a crackling sphere.
Marx' eyes widen as he scrambles to get away, I use my wings to propel myself forward and as I get close I drive my claw into the ground, the Salamander manages to jump forwards which made me miss, I frown as a huge pillar of lightning strikes where I punch with a deafening crack, the force of the lightning was so great it created a hole in the ground clean through to the other side.
'This isn't right.'
I grin widely at the power and I look at Marx, I march over menacingly, taking great pleasure in his fear, I charge my hand with lightning once more, intent on hitting this time, though to my surprise the Salamander spoke. "I forfeit!" He cries out.
I hesitate before continuing my slow march, the Salamander backs away but is not able to get away as I grow close enough to attack, but before I can finish him off I am knocked to the ground and pinned down. "Get off me!" I cry out, I catch a glimpse of Spyro, revealing that he's the one holding me down, I grin madly. "If it isn't my other half! come on you goodie two shoes! let's have that rematch right now!" I laugh as he glares at me. "Come on then! didn't you say you would take me down? then get off me and fight me you coward!" I demand with both anger and excitement in my voice.
'No.' I tell myself.
I feel intense anger flowing through me as Spyro continues to pin me down with someone else, I manage to look over at who the other one is and I see Tempest, I glare at her. "You traitor!" I shout with nothing but pure anger in my voice. "Get off me!" I order with clear hate.
"You need to calm down, please Dark, please." The griffon pleads shakily.
I roar and a fireball shoots out. "I should have let you die in those mines!" I shout out, Tempest freezes up out of shock, I see tears forming in her eyes but I use the opportunity to break free, I manage to shake off Spyro and I lunge at my other half. "You won't kill me! I won't die!" I shout before I feel something in my head which makes me pass out.