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Well, I triumph ovr my schedule again to bring another chapter of Spyro and Cynder to YiffStar. New dilemna--it's late at night and I'm falling asleep here at the computer.

I apologize for the relative shortness of this chapter, but rearranging chapter breaks or adding stuff really detracted from the intensity... the next chapter is just a bit longer, but...well, you'll see.

If you're under 18, I advise you to leave and avoid any potential hazards that could stem from your current activity.

Chapter 19 -- Truth Revealed

The next day was clear and somewhat warm, but as they flew, the direct sunlight on them warmed them.

"Where is this portal?!" Cynder shouted in frustration after nearly three hours of searching.

"Are you sure it's even around here, Solar?" Spyro asked. Solar didn't respond as he stood there in the snow, feeling the air. It was practically right next to them, but what direction? Spyro waited briefly for an answer, but when he didn't get one he slumped off through the deep snow to search.

"Solar? You sure you're not feeling something in the mountain itself?" Cynder asked. Solar jumped and shook his head as he snapped out of his daze.

"Huh? Oh...no, I don't think so. The darkness of the crystals has a distinct feel to it, and that's what I'm getting here." He looked around. "Problem is, I can't tell what direction."

"HEY! OVER HERE!" Spyro shouted excitedly. Cynder and Solar raced over to Spyro, and he pointed out a small cavern, whose entrance he had just excavated from the snow piled up against the rock face. They went inside, and in the midst of a frozen lake stood a small hill of rock, on which sat the portal. This one was silver, and the field in it was a gross blue color. Cynder shuddered as she looked at it, then yelped as she felt something reach out for her. Spyro was at her side in a heartbeat.

"He's grabbing at you again, huh?"

Cynder nodded, shivering. Spyro draped his wing across her back and watched as Solar examined the portal.

"They've only recently activated this one," he said to himself, but the echoes in the cave amplified his voice. "I wonder..."

"What?" Spyro asked.

"I have a suspicion about this next area...but no way to tell unless we venture in." He walked in after some hesitation, and Spyro and Cynder followed.

* * * *

"What is this place?" Cynder asked. It was really warm and humid in this metal-walled tunnel as they stood by the portal. Spyro cautiously stepped forward as he followed Solar. The white dragon was looking around uneasily.

"Why do I get the feeling I know this place?" he asked. For some reason it seemed incredibly familiar. He stopped and they saw his face in the dim light; he was recalling something way, way back in his past. He had seen these halls before...Eventually he shook his head with a growl and continued. The hallways twisted back and forth, branching off, joining other hallways, but Spyro and Cynder followed Solar as some strange memory guided him to the heart of the underground facility. They stepped into a huge, well-lit but dusty metal room, lined with strange machines. Solar went up to one of them and blew the dust off it. The lights were still going. Some of the machines had been recently dusted off, and every which way on the floor were footprints and tail-trails in the dust.

"These computers...these models were decommissioned years ago..." He stood up on his hind legs and tapped on a few keys, and Spyro and Cynder jumped as a translucent image appeared in the center of the room. It was the video results of the last trial. Solar gaped as he looked at the date flashing near the floor on the holographic display. "Why are they still using these things?!" he shouted. "The last run was hardly even six days ago!" Spyro and Cynder watched in horror as a green dragon was being barraged by dark energy and slowly mutating. Solar couldn't speak as he watched the log entries whiz by, his mind just barely registering the words as they faded into the next entry.

"Solar...make it stop..." Spyro said in agony as the tranformation reminded him of that of Cynder and the elders a while back. But Solar didn't hear him--he was frozen in shock. He recognized the dragon as one of his closest associates in combat...Solar gasped faintly as the result displayed. Spyro and Cynder couldn't read it, but Solar faintly muttered "Project subject...terminated..." The hologram died and Solar remained there, frozen in place, his wings quivering. Before Cynder could ask what was wrong, Solar roared and whipped around to the computer, his white fingers flying over the controls. He looked up at a screen nearby and quickly flipped through the other test subjects, his knees sagging with each one.

"Oh...my..." he said faintly. He bowed his head briefly, then went back to the controls, pulling up old files and quickly scanning their headings. One stopped and went full-screen, and Spyro and Cynder stared: it was Solar. Solar read the entire file entry and the two young dragons could almost reach out and touch his emotions of rage, confusion, and total disbelief. With a sudden roar he punched the computer, his fist going clean through the metal into the circuitry inside and causing a display of sparks.

"They were in all this time..." he whispered, shaking with rage. "They used me...they were only using me...studying me..."

"Solar?" Cynder asked timidly. Solar didn't hear her.

"The Dark Master...my slavery...the rescue...it was all a ploy...an experiment..." He sniffed, but one more idea came to his mind. He went to the next computer, his claws shaking so badly he kept having to redo the key-presses. A file opened up on the screen, and Solar's knees buckled--Flare. He scanned over the data entry and sighed with relief mixed with rage as it read "Project subject: released -- cannot be used."

"Solar? What's going on?" Cynder asked, upset and confused. Solar gripped the computer's sides so tightly the metal caved in with a sharp cracking sound as he stood there, looking down as his mind raced. His silver claws clove the metal with a snapping sound.

"It was all an experiment..." Somehow containing his outrage he turned to them, and they backed away from the gleam in his eyes. "They kidnapped me, but they were in full league with him...they practically sent me in there for the experimentation and covered it up with a planned rescue...I was the original test..." He looked at where the hologram had been, shaking again. "They killed them all...all those I knew...everyone who could have discovered their experiments...I was heading right into a trap..."

"Solar, please, what's going on?" Cynder asked, scared. The tone of her voice shot through Solar's head with a sudden vision of Flare, and he almost instantly calmed down. He miserably shook his head and looked at them without turning his head to them.

"They were using us in the military to test and study light and dark fusions, and they started the first of us young. We weren't captured by the Dark Master, we were sent there and brought back under the cover of kidnap...I remember these tunnels now because I was carried back from your realm through these very halls..." Spyro and Cynder gaped at him. "They succeeded with me, but...what did they do?" He raced back to the computer and pulled up his file again, scanning through it. "Those idiots! They didn't write down the procedure or anything!" He ran a search and came up with one other entry. "Basic reflexes and musculature enhanced, preliminary trials successful... elemental powers enhanced...successful... elemental binding...unsuccessful... light-power readings alarming... trials called off... request for remote supervision authorized..." He sighed heavily, paused for a second, then turned back to his two friends. "They used us to experiment for the Dark Master..."

"On what?" Spyro asked, curious but deeply concerned.

"These crystals gave them the dark energy needed to transform dragons into stronger beings. Those other fortresses we were in were abandoned laboratories...they used me to see if their basic theories were on target, but couldn't bind other elemental forces to me as they'd hoped. After my rescue they apparently monitored the rest of my life, and tried a few things with Flare but didn't succeed. Now they're taking all of us soldiers that they experimented with and are trying to both super-power us and get rid of us before their schemes are potentially uncovered..." He looked at the floor and snorted, the dust clouding up near his face. "I don't think it was mere coincidence Flare got pulled into your realm, or that vengeance made me follow that troll...I know now I was meant to meet you two and survive this genocide..."

"Genocide?"

"The scientists are killing off whoever they use for their experiments, but there's no doubt in my mind that the Dark Master is destroying those he experimented on so there's less potential opposition when he makes his move. I think now that I was banished from the city because I stopped the enemy from getting the crystal..." He thought back. "Actually, we weren't even supposed to be there...our general sent us in seeing the enemy as a threat, but now that I think about it, we stopped them from doing what the researchers wanted--to retrieve the crystal in the lighthouse." He started shaking again, his rage bubbling up again. "I fought so hard for something we weren't even supposed to see..."

"And you won't see anything else," came a gruff voice behind them. Solar whipped around, and Spyro could feel Solar reaching boiling point as he saw the dark red dragon before them: a cold-faced fire dragon, a little bigger than Ignitus, covered in thin white-painted armor. The wall closed behind him and he looked over the bristling white dragon with an amused glance. "Ah, Solar...the first success...and the only surviving one." He looked over at the damaged computers and whistled. "Our experiments truly were a success...those were reinforced against potential outbreaks of subjects."

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!?" Solar screamed at him, jets of ice breath flying from his mouth. The red dragon winced as a jet hit his unguarded shoulder and ice appeared, but flexing his muscles he shattered it.

"Solar, Solar...your emotional instability, sadly, was one of the downfalls of our experimentation. But no matter." He sighed and paced around Solar, and Spyro and Cynder backed away against the wall. "Our most powerful ally gave us everything we had dreamed of in our search to further draconic power...and we were so sure you'd be the pinnacle..." The dragon stopped in front of Solar with a satisfied grin. "The perfection of the purple dragon genetic code."

"You traitor," Solar said smugly with an evil grin. The dragon stopped and glared at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You traitorous excuse of a waste of flame," Solar said, advancing on the researcher. "By falling for the Dark Master you've betrayed everything our science has aimed for." With that he swiftly stood up and backhanded the scientist's head with his clenched fist, sending the red dragon flying and crashing with frightful force, leaving a heavy dent in the metal wall. Cynder whimpered and Spyro held her close, covering her head with his wing as she buried her face against him. Solar remained standing, slowly bringing his paw back to his side as he walked on his hind legs and stood over the pathetic researcher sprawled on the floor. "How'd ya like that?! Huh?! ANSWER ME, LIZARD!!" The red dragon groaned faintly, opening his eyes at the insult. "I've had far worse than that multiple times over my whole life and you treat me--not me, ALL OF US PROTECTING YOUR SORRY HIDES--like USED LAB CHEMICALS?! You throw away innocent lives simply to advance knowledge!! You're a complete disgrace to Paralos and all dragonkind!" The controlling tone of his voice was now in full flare as the red dragon cowered before him, yet somehow he was holding back the swearing that was bubbling up in his throat. "You and all the others!! Paralos means nothing to you; you gave up everything by siding with the enemy!! Paralos is lost now, gone beyond repair, and you can thank yourself and all your cohorts!! My mate and I were thrown out of the city because you idiots tried to cover your sorry tails with that raid on the lighthouse! And now she's lost!!" He fell onto all fours again, his face no more than two inches away from that of the dragon researcher. "Like you, I'd kill you now without remorse because you're a failure, but unlike you, I'll let you go. Go home to your mate--if your pathetic life even gives her any meaning--and never speak of this to anyone. Never lay a claw on your dark work again. NOW GO!!" he ordered, picking the dragon up with an amazing burst of strength, kicking the wall-door in, and roughly setting his victim into the hallway outside. The dark-red researcher stumbled off down the hallway. Solar panted with the rage welling up in him, and to Spyro and Cynder's surprise, instead of walking back in and doing something else, he simply flopped to the floor, exhausted from the emotional stress. Spyro and Cynder lay there, Spyro slowly petting Cynder as he felt her fear.

After a while Solar slowly picked himself up, trembling, torn between rage and pain. He forced his emotions back and sighed, then turned to them. Tears ran down his face when he saw them hunkered against the wall.

"Please...both of you...I'm so sorry you saw that..." Before they could reply he rushed off with a loud wail mixed with rage. They stayed there briefly until Spyro stood up with a determined air.

"Cynder, we need to help him."

Cynder stared at him. "WHAT?!"

"He's still our friend," Spyro said with an odd fire in his eyes. "I'm going after him."

Cynder watched him in shock as he walked out into the hallway, following Solar's despairing yells. She sat there, undecided, but finally chased after Spyro and silently walked by his side. He sighed and looked at her as they walked.

"Cynder, I feel your confusion, but he won't hurt us. We need to help him before he goes out of control." She nodded in reply, though she was now terrified of their icy friend. They heard him crying like a lost child, and followed the sound until they found him in a dark chamber, curled up in a corner. Without even thinking about Solar's reaching distance, Spyro walked right up to him. "Solar...it's me, Spyro."

"Go away," Solar choked. "I don't want to hurt you...please, just go before I lose it again..."

"I won't go away," Spyro said, and he felt Cynder's fear rise again as Solar turned his head. "Solar, you're my friend, and you're hurting me right now. Settle down."

"I can't," Solar replied, looking away, and Spyro heard his tone become fearful. "I can't...I've been trying so hard but I can't do it anymore..."

"Do I need to yell at you again?" Spyro asked. Cynder screamed as Solar whipped his tail back, but to her surprise Spyro caught it without flinching. He was surprised as well but he maintained his composure. "Solar, I want to help you."

"Nothing can help me now..." Solar said, crying again. He was shaking as he tried to restrain his rage. He suddenly jerked around and stared at Cynder. "Oh no...not again!" He shuddered, and she backed away. "No...he's back!" He started writhing as he stood there. "Both of you...go...I can't hold it back..." Spyro ran to Cynder and hid her eyes as he watched Solar whip around and drive his fist home through the wall and pulled out a large chunk of rock, crushing it between his paws. "I'm a monster now...that's all I've ever been..." he said in despair, falling back to the floor again. "Flare...I'm so sorry..."

"Please, Spyro...I want to leave," Cynder said, and he sensed her beginning to cry. He released her and looked her in the eye.

"Wait for me," he said, and she ran out into the hallway. She ran down the hallway a bit and stopped, listening to Spyro trying to comfort Solar. There was another loud cracking sound as Solar knocked another hole in the wall. There was silence for a while, and she was afraid Spyro was hurt, but soon Spyro emerged from the room, followed by a depressed Solar. Spyro rushed to Cynder and held her close. "I'm so sorry for all this..." he said, and she hugged him back, upset and confused and scared. Solar slowly shuffled towards them and he sighed.

"Cynder...I'm so sorry for my actions...you must hate me now..."

She hesitated. "Well...you really scared me back there..."

A tear fell from his eye. "It was my rage that sent me over the edge and gave me that strength..."

"But why did you say he's back?"

Solar grunted; he didn't want to answer, but knew she should know. "I can see that field around you again...I thought we defeated his hold over you before..."

Cynder's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, sirens began going off. Solar looked up, his military skills coming back. "Follow me," he said quickly, and led them through a series of complex tunnels. They came to a maximum security area, and Solar engaged the heavy doors. They were now in a long, dark stone tunnel below all the labs. "These areas are used for emergencies."

"And this is definitely an emergency," came a voice in front of them in the darkness of the tunnel. Some strange gas filled their lungs and they all blacked out before they could react.

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Again, I'm sorry for the overall length...oh well. More to come.