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Here is the thirteenth installment of the Spyro Chronicles. This was a pain in the ass to type so you'd better enjoy it...

lol. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 13: Desperate Gamble

"Please! You have to reconsider!" Cynder yelled to Colonel Dyke. Dyke sat in his chair and turned around to face Cynder, Karson, Allison and Lt. Wagner as he entered the room. They were in his office on board the Archilles.

"No I will not. Spyro has killed several marines so far. He is too dangerous to have around anymore." Dyke said with pure rage in his voice.

"But that wasn't his fault! He just needs help." Allison said.

"What he needs, it to be shot. I will not have my men be killed as I let that damn dragon run amuck." Lt. Wagner looked at him.

"Sir, we have to do something besides resorting to this. It isn't Spyro's fault sir."

"You're in no damn position to talk Lieutenant. I ought to have the lot of you all shot. Karson and Allison, you have both shown dereliction of duty. You two have let your emotions stand in the way of your duty. Wagner, you have let soldiers go AWOL right under your nose. You can't even keep track of your own men let alone a dragon that might be about to attack us at any moment." They all let their heads go low. At this time, another Lieutenant stepped in and saluted Colonel Dyke. Dyke returned the salute and the officer approached the Colonel.

"Sir, a sniper team has located target AP-1S. He has been captured by ape forces and is being moved onto a ship bound towards Dante's Freezer."

"Locate that ship and destroy it. We can't let AP-1S escape." Dyke replied.

"What is AP-1S?" Cynder asked.

"Alpha Priorty-1 'Spyro'." The officer replied. Dyke glared at the soldier.

"Wait that proves it! Spyro didn't go with them willingly. He was forced to go. That means that he is still good. You know it too Colonel." Wagner said.

"What I know is that AP-1S is a threat to all UERMC forces and should be dealt with immediately." Dyke replied.

"His name is Spyro..." Cynder replied giving the Colonel a look of disgust. Dyke paid her no mind.

"Sir request permission to retrieve Spyro. I have reason to believe he is not evil." Dyke glared at the man.

"6 hours. You have 6 hours to prove to me that Spyro isn't evil. If I find sufficient evidence to prove it, I will call off the execution order. If you fail to prove me wrong, consider your friend dead. Now get the hell out of my office."

They left the room and Wagner pulled out a map of the area that they had crudely made to conduct operations.

"There." He said pointing at a land mass out in the water on the map.

"Dante's Freezer. That's where he is. Come on. We have to get to him before those 6 hours are up." They nodded. Wagner formed four ten man squads and they loaded up four Nighthawks and took off to Dante's freezer.

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Spyro glared at Fang as he walked up to Spyro. Spyro charged up a flame breath in his mouth but something was holding him back and Fang knew it. Fang held a dark crystal in his hands. He laughed as he saw Spyro began to look pale at the sight of the crystal.

"What to do, what to do. It seems that you managed to betray your true master. As you may know, he will not be pleased. So, just come back. If you do so willingly, I will spare your life and maybe your friends as well." Fang said while tossing the crystal in the air and catching it.

"I'll never join you. Your pathetic master can go to hell before I join you guys willingly!" Spyro was suddenly hit in the face with the blunt end of the dark crystal. Blood came out of Spyro's mouth and a large black bruise appeared where it had hit him.

"Let's try this again. This time, you won't betray us." Fang placed the dark crystal on Spyro and it started to glow. Spyro let out a loud roar as dark energy pulsed through him. Spyro focused all of his will power on fighting it. He thought of Cynder. He thought on how he had to protect her and how this was a time to protect her. The crystals glow faded and Fang removed it. Spyro gasped for air and looked Fang in the eyes. Spyro had won.

"Why you ungrateful whelp!" He used his fists and punched Spyro square in the stomach. Spyro gasped out in pain as small trinkets of blood flew out of his mouth. Spyro gasped for air as that hit had knocked the wind out of him. Fang grabbed his horns and pushed his head against the wall.

"You will serve the dark master. You will do it and you will do as you are told!" Fang once again put the crystal on Spyro. Nothing happened. Fang roared and used the crystal's blunt end and hit Spyro in the face with all the strength he could muster. Spyro's head was crushed against the wall. Blood splattered the wall and Spyro coughed, releasing blood onto the floor. He slowly turned his head to face Fang once more. Half of Spyro's face was covered in scratches and cuts where it had scraped the wall. Fang snarled and left Spyro alone in the large chamber. A large door shut behind Fang and silence took over in the room. It looked like the interior of a castle with stone walls and a tiled floor.

Spyro sighed. He wondered how Cynder was. He desperately wanted to see her face and to kiss it once again. He felt regret for leaving her, but he had no choice. At least now he wouldn't be able to hurt her anymore. He wondered how she was taking it though. He knew it wasn't easy leaving her and she was probably sad, but he didn't want her to get hurt anymore.

Fang once again entered the room holding onto a tube with a needle at its tip. (a medical needle) Fang laughed as he approached Spyro.

"You may have been able to overpower the dark crystal, but you won't withstand this one." He put the needle in front of Spyro. It was filled with liquid dark energy. Fang then placed it near Spyro's arm and sank the needle into Spyro's skin. He pushed down on the pressure pad on the end of the needle and the liquid was injected into Spyro.

Spyro let out a roar as the dark energy swarmed through him, invading every fiber of his being. He tried to control it, but it was way too powerful for him to handle. Spyro felt his limbs grow numb as a presence began to take his mind and pollute it. Soon, Spyro exhausted all his energy fighting it and passed out. Fang laughed as he saw this. This time, Fang had won.

Fang left the room and retrieved another injection needle. He wanted a powerful servant to the dark master. He returned to find a still knocked out Spyro and smiled. This time, they would win and destroy the dragons and reclaim glory for the apes.

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The four Nighthawks speed across the open waters. The icy shores of Dante's freezer were just ahead. They crossed the shoreline and flew inland. They started to search for any signs of a castle or base or anything for that matter. There was one problem; the whole place was littered with buildings and structures.

Cynder looked at a mountain with a small building protruding from its base. She felt a familiar presence there. It was as if she and Spyro were linked in some way. She could feel that he was in pain. She immediately called Lt. Wagner over.

"What is it Cynder?" Wagner asked.

"He is in there. We have to go get him." Cynder replied.

"Are you sure, I mean, there are a lot of buildings here, he could be-"

"Yes I am sure, I can feel him."

Wagner shrugged. He keyed his mike and ordered the drop ships to change direction and head for the mountain. Two of the drop ships landed at the base and the other two landed at the top. Wagner's group was at the top and Buckman's at the bottom. Cynder, Karson and Allison were in Wagner's group. They found a way in through the roof and they rappelled down into the mountain. They landed in some sort of castle like building. Once all twenty men and dragons were down, they began to move deeper inside.

They moved through encountering little resistance. Their weapons had silencers on them so when they did encounter someone, only small coughs were audible along with the sound of an ape falling to the floor. They continued to push into the mountain. It was then that they spotted several apes standing in a large room wearing shadow armor. Wagner cursed. He knew that the M47D's .22 cal rounds wouldn't puncture the shadow armor. He motioned the men to move to a balcony overlooking the room. He then motioned a soldier over. He pointed to a "shadow" ape standing in the center of the room. The soldier nodded and unslung the M21MP (Mark21 Multi-Purpose) Rocket Launcher. He loaded two HE (High Explosive) rockets into the chamber and pointed the launcher at the ape. A puff of smoke accompanied by a whirling sound happened as the first rocket soared out of the launcher and knifed towards its target. The ape saw something in the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see the rocket just before impact. The rocket detonated blowing the ape almost in half as the heavy shrapnel penetrated the armor and found his skin. The ape fell to the ground with large holes in his armor and blood gushing out of them.

The rest of the apes had gotten to their feet and tried to find where that had come from. By now, a second rocket was screeching towards another ape. This time, the shrapnel caught two apes and they both fell screaming. The marines on the balcony tossed frag grenades down and they exploded with loud Thuds. Apes flew across the room as the grenades blew them off their feet and shredded their skin with shrapnel.

The rest of the surviving apes then picked up their swords and hammers. They approached Wagner and the marine with the rocket launcher. The marine quickly reloaded and fired off two more rockets. The rockets found their targets and exploded with deadly force. When the smoke cleared, there was no more opposition.

Wagner ordered the men to police the area and find why so many shadow apes were huddled around one spot. They found several dark and light gems along with a detailed map of the building. They didn't really know where to start looking, so they went where people would logically put there most valuable objects, or people. The basement.

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The raid on the shadow apes didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the apes in the base. Soft thuds resonated through the mountain and Fang, preparing another injection of dark energy for Spyro, heard this and knew what was going on. He cursed and grabbed the needle and walked out of the store room and into the chamber where Spyro was being held. He approached Spyro and Spyro looked at him. Amazingly, Spyro managed to repel the darkness within him and reverted back to himself. But Fang put something extra in this batch of dark energy. It contained traces of the dark master's energy in it. Fang heard foot steps, shouts and gunfire outside the main door to the room and knew what was going to happen next.

The door blew down and twenty marines, plus Cynder, poured into the room. They all fired their assault rifles and shotguns. Fang tripped a switch and a barrier appeared in front of him and the onslaught of bullets. Cynder looked at Spyro who was hanging from the wall with blood coming out of the wounds on his face and stomach.

"Spyro don't worry! We're going to get you out of there!" Cynder yelled to Spyro.

"Cynder you shouldn't have come! Just go! Leave me here! You will all make it if you just go with out me!" Spyro shouted back.

"Your wrong Spyro, we can't leave and won't leave without you!" Cynder said.

"Well I am afraid you are too late. Your friend is no longer on your side, for he is a loyal servant to the dark master!" With this Fang trust the needle into Spyro and Spyro let out a roar of pain as the dark master's energy coursed through him. Darkness shrouded Spyro and the air around him began to swell with immense energy. Spyro's skin turned pitch black, his chest to a dark orange, and his eyes completely turned red. Instead of the pupils just turning red, his whole eye turned red. Spyro broke his shackles and flew to the edge of the barrier. Fang smiled and deactivated the barrier.

"You two seem like such great friends, why don't you play with her Spyro?" Fang said while laughing and leaving the room. Spyro had an evil smile across his face and he slowly approached Cynder. Cynder didn't know what to do. There weren't any light crystals around, and she didn't think Spyro would be able to fight it this time.

"Spyro I know you can here me in there! Don't do this; you know that this is not you!" Cynder shouted. Spyro just stared at her before he struck. He moved to the side with such amazing speed that Cynder lost track of him. He scratched her with his talons and then followed it up with a tail strike. Cynder fell to the floor with blood starting to drip from her wound.

Spyro lifted his claw and licked some of the blood off of it. He smiled again and took off again. Cynder struggled to keep track of him and managed to block his attack. Spyro then gave her another evil smile and his arms began to glow with intense dark energy. Cynder screamed as the energy burned her scales.

The rest of the marines just watched. They couldn't do anything. If they fired at Spyro, it could hit Cynder. Karson couldn't wait any longer. Cynder needed their help and it was on the way. Karson dashed to the scene only to be stopped by a barrier that erected itself in front of him. He banged on it with his fist as he watched the one-sided fight unfold in front of him.

Cynder pushed herself back from Spyro. Spyro approached her with his claws surrounded with a black aura. He swung at her. She couldn't dodge it in time. She screamed as the dark energy burned her and penetrated her skin. He kicked her in the stomach and grabbed her horns. He swung her like a hammer into the ground. He picked her up and dragged her. He then commenced slamming her into the wall. He did this repeatedly until a pool of blood began to form on the base of the floor and on the wall. He then tossed her to the floor. She landed and slowly started to pick herself up. She then collapsed to the floor. A pool of blood began to form where she lay.

With determination she managed to pick herself off the floor despite her condition. She faced Spyro revealing that her stomach was split open where Spyro had been hitting her against the wall. She had tears rolling down her face and had determined strength to continue. She slowly approached her opponent and former mate. Spyro howled in laughter. He took flight and circled Cynder. Dark energy was forming at his head and chest. He started to dive towards Cynder. Cynder realized this and dove out of the way. He came again.

Spyro sat in a void. He was surrounded in darkness. He sighed. He hoped with all his strength that Cynder had just followed his advice and left him there. He then saw a picture appear in front of him. He let out a cry of despair as he saw Cynder being mercilessly beaten by himself. He couldn't stand it.

"CYNDERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!" His voice called out into the inky blackness.

Cynder tried to dodge the second one but he was too fast. She screamed once again as the dark energy burned away at her scales and flesh. She was knocked to the side, her chest burning. She got back up. Suddenly she heard something. Amazingly, Cynder had heard Spyro's cry even though it was restricted to only his mind and wasn't audible in any way.

When she heard it, she felt hope begin to rise with in her. She knew that somewhere in that polluted and disrupted mind was the sweet purple dragon she loved. She had decided that enough was enough. She charged a fire attack in her mouth and unleashed it. Spyro managed to dodge, but the stream caught up with him and knocked him over. She then dashed up to him and began to claw him. She struck his forearm, his hind leg, his chest, his tail, and his back before being knocked off.

She rolled to the left to quickly regain her foot hold. She then took flight encircling Spyro. Spyro growled and took flight. Cynder fired her fire breath and Spyro fired his dark breath in response. They dodged each others breaths and continued to fire them hoping to hit each other. The two breaths hit each other and the energy exploded. Spyro dashed through the smoke and engaged Cynder in hand to hand combat. She blocked his first two punches and returned them with a kick. Spyro grabbed her leg and she moved it quickly to the right shaking him off. She then dashed and used her horns and struck Spyro in mid air before he regained his balance from the previous attack. He flew backwards and regained his balance.

He spiraled forward and slashed with his claws. Cynder caught the claw on her arm and let out a small suppressed cry of pain. She then shook him off with a claw slash of her own. He flew back avoiding the slash and Cynder caught him off guard with her fire breath. He flew backwards from the hit and Cynder dashed forward and caught him with her talons. She clawed him with her right and balled her left into a fist and struck him in the face. It was then that she noticed something. His pure red eyes had faded to being just he pupils being red.

She continued to punch and claw him. Spyro's body was enveloped in dark light as he unleashed a dark fury. Cynder was thrown to the floor. She then realized that the whole time she had been running on adrenaline and she was too tired to get up. Spyro walked over, his eyes returning to their pure red state.

He then hit her in the stomach knocking her across the floor. He walked over again and raised his talons in an attempt to mortally wound her. Cynder had to reach into the Spyro inside. If not, the battle would end now. She reacted in a way only love could dictate. She raised her head to meet his and locked him into a passionate kiss. Dark Spyro was obviously taken by surprise by this. At first, he tried to break it, but something internally was not making him attack.

Cynder opened her eyes and saw that Dark Spyro was accepting the kiss and he too opened his eyes. Instead of the pure red eyes, just the pupils were red. Soon, light enveloped them both and the black skin faded to purple. Spyro's eyes then changed to purple. Cynder then saw something that amazed her. Spyro's eyes had changed to a brilliant gold color. It didn't last though; it soon faded back to purple. She dismissed this and they got up, gazing into each others eyes.

"Cynder please forgive me! I am so sorry that I hurt you! I-I just couldn't control myself! I am so sorry!" Spyro said crying. Cynder slapped him.

"No! Don't be sorry! I should be sorry. I didn't help you when I had the chance to. And none of this is your fault." She started to cry too. They were then separated by a blast of dark energy.

Fang stood there, his staff glowing a hellish black. He walked over towards them.

"Well, it seems that you have betrayed us again Spyro. Your master will not be pleased." Fang said with absolute hatred in his voice.

"Betray? How could I betray if I was never with you guys?" Spyro said in response. Fang snarled and fired his staff at them. They dodged and started to charge at Fang. Fang blew them away with his staff. Laughing, he approached them.

Karson couldn't sit back anymore. He charged fire energy into his fist and slammed it into the barrier. It rippled and showed signs of weakening. Allison ran up and, seeing his idea, smashed her fist against the barrier too. The barrier weakened until Wagner ordered Karson to move. Karson saw why as a marine clutching a M21MP Rocket Launcher aimed the weapon where they had been hitting the barrier.

The barrier shattered to pieces and the rocket detonated on it. Karson, Allison, and the other 18 marines moved in. Karson and Allison used their ice and fire and attacked Fang. Fang roared as the fire and ice hit him. The ice froze his skin and the fire defrosted him and his skin reacted negatively to this sudden change in temperature.

Spyro and Cynder had recovered by now and joined the fight. The marines also joined the mix and fired their assault rifles at Fang. His shadow armor could only deflect so many rounds. The rounds combined with fire, ice and Spyro and Cynder's attacks, cracked his armor. He roared as the .22 cal rounds hit his skin. He fired his staff at the ground and created a smokescreen. He lumbered out of the room. Just before leaving he laughed.

"I may have lost this one, but you all will perish here!" He left and they heard a clicking sound. The smokescreen faded and revealed Fang's trump card. The wall where Spyro had been chained up came down revealing a cluster of dark crystals. Next to it was the one thing that made the marines go pale with fear. A nuclear warhead was sitting in the center of the cluster. Next to the warhead was some dynamite. The dynamite was lit and the fuses were ticking away.

"RUN FOR IT!!!" Wagner yelled out. The marines rushed out and Spyro and Cynder were not far behind. They ran out of the room and dashed up a flight of stairs. How the hell did they manage to get their hands on a nuke?! Wagner thought as he climbed the stairs. Wagner thought about the nuke. Then it hit him. It was a nuclear warhead that is usually used on board a Raven fighter. They had lost about three Ravens so far so that's three nukes that they could find. Wagner keyed his mike.

"Lt. Buckman, fall back to rally point Alpha!" Wagner yelled into his mike. They cleared the stairs and made their way back to the room where they killed the shadow apes. They got to the roof of the mountain where they had landed. Lt. Buckman and his marines were standing outside loading the Nighthawks. Wagner, along with the rest of the marines and Spyro and Cynder, rushed out into the clearing.

"Get on those damn Nighthawks now lieutenant!" Wagner yelled. They all got on board and took off into the sky. As they accelerated Spyro looked over to Wagner who looked nervous.

"Wagner, what was that thing that was next to the dark crystals? Is it powerful?" Spyro asked. Wagner looked at him.

"Well let's just put it this way: let's hope we are nowhere near it when it blows." A heart beat later, Spyro's questions were all answered. A large cloud blew from the base of the mountain. Smaller puffs emanated from the mountains top indicating that it was holding some of the explosion in. The mountain gave and exploded with tremendous force. A thermonuclear cloud blew away at the area around it and rose into the sky. A large cloud and shock wave blew from the base of the mountain and raced across the frozen wasteland. The shockwave hit the Nighthawk and it shuddered. It managed to remain airborne and flew off into the afternoon. Wagner looked at his watch. They had kept the Colonels promise by 2 hours. He sighed and slumped into his seat. He needed a long rest.

"Sir, take a look at this." The pilot called out. Wagner sighed and got up. He walked over to the cockpit and saw what the pilot was seeing. A fleet of ships were leaving Dante's Freezer. They were headed out to the ocean. They were the ape fleet. They were escaping.

"Pursue them! We'll strafe them." Wagner ordered.

"Sir we are running low on fuel, if we break and engage we might not have enough fuel to make it back." The pilot responded.

"Alright then, keep on present course." They flew off over the waters and back to the Archilles.

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Fang stood aboard the ape ship. He frowned when he saw the four Nighthawks ascend and leave Dante's Freezer. He cursed the humans. They had stopped him from getting the one crystal he needed to bring back the dark master. Now, they were flying off with the only other thing he needed to bring back the dark master. If he could harness Spyro's life force, he could bring back the dark master.

He would have to find another way with that cursed Cynder always finding a way to bring back Spyro. They set said towards their new fort.

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HACO trooper Lt. Hazar stood on a near by island watching the Nighthawks fly back to the mainland. He motioned the rest of the squad back to the drop ship. He keyed his mike.

"Colonel Dyke, this is little bear, we have visuals on the strike team. We believe that they have retrieved AP-1S and are returning to the Archilles."

"Copy that little bear, keep an eye on them for now." The lt. boarded the specially fitted Nighthawk and it took off following the formation ahead of them. They had to keep an eye on Spyro. If he turned one more time, the colonel told them, he is to be shot on sight.

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SSgt. Jason awoke. He was lying on the ground and got up. He felt darkness shroud his memory. He could see what he was doing, but he had no control over his own limbs. He started to move. He was joined by several other creatures. The creatures (the Plague) moved in the brush of the mushroom forest. They spotted two Lakadors walking on a foot path. They were obviously on patrol. The Plague formed an ambush and waited for the Lakadors to pass. Suddenly Jason found himself lunging at the Lakadors. The Lakadors turned in surprise and fired their rifles. The plague next to Jason fell over dead. Jason landed on the back of one of the Lakadors and bit his neck. The Lakador screamed and fell over. Jason then jumped at the other Lakador who was trying to flee. The Lakador never made it out.

The two Lakadors lay there not moving. Jason felt the hunger for more blood. He knew he shouldn't want this hunger, but he couldn't make the decision. Something dark inside of him was making that one for him. Jason and the other Plague continued on the footpath. They saw four Nighthawks fly overhead. The rest of the Plague saw this and they snarled and jumped into the brush in a futile attempt to follow the four drop ships.

Jason felt an itch and scratched it. He mentally stopped. He had just voluntarily issued a command to one of his limbs. He could still have some control. The darkness inside of him didn't seem to notice as it made him follow the drop ships.

If Jason could have seen his eyes at the time, (for the standard plague has purple or pitch black eyes) they were golden. Jason wondered if this would benefit him in the future. For the moment he would have to lay low and figure out how to use this power over the darkness. He knew if he tried to retake his body, he would be killed by the other plague around him.

They continued to pursue the drop ships venturing into the unknown. Jason didn't know what lay ahead of him. He had an idea they would run into the marine phase line sooner or later. He had to be prepared. If he was going to survive, he had to be. He wasn't going to die here, not like this. If he had any control over his face, it would be smiling.

End of Chapter 13

Well that was one hell of a fight. And no, this wasn't the last chapter (dragoune, I am talking to you!) There is plenty more to come.

I just have a few questions: how does Fang plan to bring back the dark master?

Why were Spyro's eyes golden?

What does Colonel Dyke have in store for our heroes?

And just who is this Staff Sergeant Pete Jason?

I guess we will just have to wait and find out.