It pained Tony’s heart to see the kid in pain. The look of terror on his face confirmed that the kid wasn’t ready for this sort of thing yet, and yet Cole insisted that he was fully capable of handling himself. As he followed Spyro and his entourage, he saw the exact opposite of Spyro being able to handle himself. As he got to the door, that weird bandage guy chucked a hexed knife at the young boy. Its glowing aura was still in Spyro’s back as the boy trembled, his vision blocked off by his arms. Bandaged-guy, or that’s what Tony was going to call him, swiped his arms as a blast of ice sliced into his flesh. Despite this, the kid refused to scream out and silently grunted his pain; the sight was too much to bear. Sneaking behind the tall guy, he recalls the Bandage-guy naming him Jacko, Tony kept surveillance on the kid and shape-shifted into a cat to keep a steady pace. 'I wonder where Boss and Damian are?’he thought as he trotted behind the light of the tower. Damian was incredibly fast, faster than most cars Tony has seen, so they should be here quickly. Skulking out to a space in between the door and room where his charge and targets were, Tony shifted back and shot a message out to the two in an effort to hurry them along.
“Well, looky here,”Tony blanches at the guy’s ‘cat-got-mouse’ tone,” it seems we were followed. Hey, Jacko, How’d you let this guy slip in? You’re supposed to be super alert, remember?” At this, he sent an array of icicles raining over Tony’s form, coupling them with a few knives from his coat to add to injury. Tony shrunk down and watched as the knives whizzed past, but barely got away from the icicles. He watched as Spyro got up once more and tried to form a weapon to aid his teacher.
He got close. He really did…
The poor boy got so excited when he finally managed to get the weapon to stick, but got smacked by Jacko as a result. Tony could only wince as he saw Spyro collapse on the ground and hold his arm. Deciding he should act now, Tony transformed into a chimera and pounced onto Jacko while ramming his horns into the man’s side. Bandage-guy tried to support him but was cut off by Tony’s viper tail as its fangs dripped venom onto the steel floor. He turns a steely gaze on the two, daring them to take another step, and watches when Spyro tries to tell him something. Taking advantage of the distraction, Jacko pulls a vial and tosses it into the air as Bandage-guy breaks it with an ice shard. Before Tony can react, he finds himself encased in a hard shell of liquid nitrogen than freezes his paws and tail to the ground; which effectively traps the shifter and seals off any ability to change forms. Tony roars at the two men as they casually walk to where the kid is trembling, looking to the sky in a last minute effort to see if Damian and his boss had arrived yet.
~~~~~
I can only watch as my teacher is trapped in Noah’s ice. Everything happened too fast for me to understand where Tony started to lose. How the two were able to effectively get the better of the man, especially with his speed, was lost on me. I see them approach me and try to formulate a plan. Looking around, I spot a loose shard of ice from when Noah attacked Tony earlier and pick it up. Despite my effort to liquefy it, it stays solid and shines innocently in the moonlight. Looking up, I squint in the bright light and sigh. It seems I’m going to have to use it after all.
“Oh, look at that Jacko,” Noah exclaims,” the kid seems to be giving up. Such a shame. I thought he would have been more fun. Looks like its the end of the road for you kid, why don’t you come to Uncle Noah and Jacko and we’ll wait for the client. In the meantime, we can get rid of this shape-shifter. He super annoying!” With that he kicked up one of his dropped knives and chucked it into Tony’s torso, eliciting a pain-filled roar from the man-turned-beast. Shaking with anger, I decided that now was better than never and chucked the icicle at the glass windows, streaming in a bountiful of moonlight. “Hahaha! you missed boy-o! What kind of shot was that?” Dammit, I actually thought I could graze him a little.
Ignoring his taunt, I feign innocence,” but Uncle Noah, I thought you wanted to hear me scream?” Dodging the man’s array of ice and ducking underneath Jacko’s waiting arms, I run to Tony and break the ice over the front parts of his paws, allowing him to transform back into his semi-humanoid shape.
“What the everlasting Hell! Why didn’t you run outside? Damian and Cole are on their way, you could have left me here,” the irritated man scowled,” Now this nutjob and his pep squad have what they want. Did you even have a-” Holding my hand up, I signal him to shut up.
“Just cover your ears really good, okay? The last thing I need is for you to go to the hospital as well…erm, more than you’re already going to have to. He got you pretty good with that knife.” Noticing the growing bloodstain on his chest, Tony’s eyes bulged in surprise.
“Okay, here goes nothing.” I take a deep breath and soak up as much moonlight as my space allows and feel my body swelling with coolness. My nerves relax and I clear my mind; just as my father taught me all those years ago. When I see the terrible twosome get within striking distance, I give Noah exactly what he wants.
For the first time in years, I properly scream.
~~~~~
“Okay, Boss.” Damian shouts over the wind,” we’re getting close. I see the lighthouse up ahead.” Squinting further, Damian caught a glimpse of what seemed to be Spyro in front of an injured Tony.
“What the heck-” Cole cuts the Brit off and yanks on his arms causing the two to tumble out of the air and crash in the bushes around the lighthouse. “Boss, why’d you do that?!” the man exclaimed irked at being forced to make such a terrible landing.
“Shut up and cover your ears. NOW!” Cole bellowed. If he remembered correctly, Spyro’s dad-Grant- had warned him of one of the abilities Spyro had that was capable of crippling an entire army in one blow. His “Hollow Soul” as he remembered the man explained. Anyone who immerses themselves in the medley will definitely land themselves in the hospital; or worse, go insane. The two men gritted their teeth as the deafening sound filled the area. Taking cover, they waited it out as the boy literally screamed his problems away.
~~~~
This was the freakiest thing Tony has seen in his entire life, and he’s seen some things. Spyro’s body went from its usual look to transparent and glowing. His eyes were closed as if he were singing a song and his hair elongated and spread out from his being towards the two men. Frozen in their spots, the two men crippled down on the steel floor and seemed to thin and hollow out. A large stream of light connected the boy to their supine bodies as the men thrashed around before going still. When the boy opened his eyes, they were empty and devoid of any emotion, as if he were used to this outcome and had accepted the results. Not wanting the kid to live with such a trauma as killing someone, Tony swiped his tail around Spyro’s leg and tugged it hard; or at least, he tried to. Despite his ears being covered, the man felt like he was losing his strength. Spyro looked at the man as if puzzled for his distraction and snapped his mouth shut with a thundering click. The eerie light and his luminescent appearance quickly disappeared and the boy’s knees buckled. Before he could hit the ground, Tony scooped him into his arms and launched himself out of the window. Unfurling his wings, he placed himself and the boy on the grass, where the boy laid asleep. Cole and Damian rushed over to the two and inspected the boy. In the moonlight, there were some remnants of his ability as his hair lay strewn across the grass. His eyes, though closed, held some of the glowing aurae that had illuminated the room they were captive in. He appeared asleep and despite his initial experience with the boy, Tony sort of wished he would stay that way for a while.
“Right…so let’s go home?” he pressed, the injury in his torso reminded him of its existence and he grimaced in pain. Cole looked thoughtful as he gazed at the boy, but he also looked relieved. Despite the boy’s ability running wild-just a smidgen, but looking at Tony’s face he won’t say that aloud-he was proud to see that he hadn’t forgotten one of his more “helpful” abilities. Looking around to see the dead grass and plants, Cole shuddered at the thought of what Spyro’s captors looked like. For now, they’d need to return home and rest up. Maybe even talk about increased security and awareness for the boy and other Mythicals in the area. Scooping the boy in his arms, he asked Tony if he’d be able to transform once more for the night; to which the man stifled a groan but nodded. Tony shifted into a griffin and allowed his partner, boss, and charge onto his back. As he was about to take off, the little imp shifted and opened his eyes to peer at the man’s wary eyes. 'Was he still in the trance?' Tony thought.
When Spyro chuckled and ran a hand through Tony’s fur, ruffling some of his feathers in the process, the shifter relaxed. He took off and thought about how much explaining the boy would have to do when they returned to the manor, but first, he’d like to get his torso looked at. It was hurting like a b****. Spyro (who was now sitting upright) remained quiet for the remainder of the trip, but one thing Cole noticed was the fading of a certain flower from the boy’s shoulder.
Oh, there will definitely be some questions answered later.
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