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Well, after endless days of typing, here is the 25th installment of The Spyro Chronicles. This chapter should conclude their journey in Tall Plains and start their final stretch of road to either victory, or defeat at the hands of the Darkmaster...

Chapter 25: Last Stand

"Echo, this is recon, over."

_ "This is Echo, go ahead recon."_

_ "We have multiple contacts moving to the southeast over."_

_ "How many recon?"_

_ "At least 26 heavily armed apes moving fast. A small squad in the middle has rifles, the rest have swords and are wearing heavy battle armor."_

_ "Copy recon, ETA to engagement?"_

_ "ETA: 6 minutes."_

_ "Copy that recon; fall back to position, over."_

_ "Roger."_

_ _ Lt. Wagner clicked off his mike, and motioned the platoon over to get on the ridge line. They had the high ground, a perfect situation for them. He motioned Sgt. Spears, 1st platoon leader, and Sgt. Malarkey, 2nd platoon leader over to him.

"Sgt., take 1st over on the ridge, Malarkey, take 2nd and move to the right. Provide suppressing fire so we can hold the line. They are moving to this area and will have to pass through that ridge to get anywhere." They were positioned on a ridge line overlooking a gully. If they could hold the line there, they could be able to get Fox 1 to move to the temple with little effort.

Lt. Wagner's mike went off as he stood where he was.

"Echo, this is Fox 1, waiting orders to advance."

_ _ "Copy Fox 1. Hold your position; we have multiple contacts moving to the gully. We will meet them and dispatch them, once we do that I want you to take the Atlowa warriors and position them on the eastern side of the temple."

"Copy Echo, Fox out." Fox 1 was made up of the Atlowa warriors and some Marines who went with them. 1st and 2nd Psi Platoons made up Echo while 3rd held position at the Nighthawk so they could have a ride out of there. At that moment, recon, or Spyro and Cynder carrying Karson by the arms, landed near them.

"How far off are they?" Wagner asked as he landed.

"Not to far off sir, just over that ridge. We should see them in a few seconds."

"Sergeants! Get your men into position! Go silent!" As Wagner said that, the Marines unloaded the SM rounds and put regular ammunition in its place. They also placed silencers on the end of the rifles so they could not be detected by the enemy.

As they did this, the first apes appeared in the gully, moving through it. They had no idea of the ambush sitting on the ridge line just above them.

The first coughs were heard as Wagner pulled the trigger, which were joined immediately by more coughs. Spyro froze any apes who tried to escape which blocked the paths for the other apes. They were soon all cut down by the Marines.

"Fox, this is Echo, move! Move!" Wagner yelled into his mike.

"Echo lets go, get across the gully and set up on the other ridge line! Yahade' you're up!" Wagner yelled as the Marines moved their equipment across the gully. As they crossed, Yahade' and his Lakadors appeared from the brush and went into the gully. They ran along its length, clearing the brush and foliage of the area.

The Marines took position on the other ridge line and held there. Wagner saw no opposition coming from the brush and heard his mike go off again.

"Echo, this is Sniper team 1. We have visual on the temple, there is a lot of movement down there, most near the east side of the temple. The western side should be clear though you have a lot of movement coming to cut off your path. I suggest you move fast or they will cut off your path and give away your position."

"Roger Sniper Team 1. Right, Echo, let's move out!" Wagner ordered. The Marines loaded their weapons and there gear. The machine gun they had set up they unhooked it from the tripod and they all grabbed their gear. They jumped into the gully and joined the Lakadors. They moved as fast as they could in the brush to beat the small window they had left. Recon made it sound like a huge force was amassing to stop them and Wagner wanted this plan to go off without a hitch. He didn't want it to be like Coronal Dyke's plan where it was a great plan to end the war quickly but went horribly wrong. He wanted this thing to work. It had to work. If not, then he didn't know.

As they went on, Spyro and Cynder took flight and spotted a large ape army moving to cut them off on the western side of the temple. The clearing in front of the temple was filled with apes, as were the areas around it. Spyro swooped down to meet Wagner and his men on the ground.

"Wagner, there is a lot of apes moving out there; we might not beat them to the temple."

"Shit, let's get as far as we can and see if we can hold them off. Everyone, go loud, silencers off."

The soldiers removed the cylinders from the tips of their guns. They all grabbed their SM ammunition and slapped the clips into the guns. Spyro swooped into the sky and saw a large group of apes, a very, very large group of apes. Spyro was beginning to wonder if they would be able to punch through that many apes. He could fight a lot, but they were talking hundreds all at once.

The Marines continued through the gully, on an intercept course with the apes. Wagner spotted a ridge line that overlooked a valley which lead directly to the temple. He motioned the sergeants to position the men on the ridge. As they set up, Wagner went pale as he saw the apes. Their force had possibly more then two hundred apes, all decked out in armor, carrying swords, rifles, spears, axes, and anything they could get their hands on.

"Good God sir, we can't take them!" Henderson said in a whisper as the Marines saw the oncoming army. Spyro and Cynder looked in awe as the army moved in front of them, cutting them off from the temple.

"He's right sir, we won't stand a chance..." Sgt. Malarkey said, a quaver in his voice.

"What the hell do we do?" Ackmar asked, her face becoming a bit sweaty.

"We can't take them, Henderson's right. We need to get around, distract them, lure them away from the center and sneak us through. Then we'll get the Nighthawk to get us when we have the crystal. We just need the crystal; we don't need to take out the entire ape army." They stared at him and awaited more orders.

"Alright, Sgt. Spears, move your platoon and we will do hit and run tactics to lure them away. Malarkey, take Spyro, Cynder and your platoon, and hit down the center once it's broken up. Yahade', take the Lakadors and cover us from above. Karson, Allison, stay here with Yahade'."

"Yes sir." Wagner keyed his mike as he looked out to the ape army.

"Sniper team 1, what's your status?"

"Sir, we've linked up with Fox 1 and we have taken position on the opposite side of the temple, awaiting orders."

_ _ "I want you to get Fox to hit the apes from the temple, get them to split up and hit them hard. We need to get past them"

Yes sir!" Wagner clicked off his mike and saw small explosions as the Marines with Fox tossed some frag grenades to clear the entrance to the temple.

"Spears, your platoon, on me! Let's distract those apes! Malarkey, Spyro, Cynder, when the apes break up, go down the middle and hit the temple!"

"Yes sir!" Wagner took 1st platoon and they started down to the sides of the ape army. Spyro watched as he went and waited with 2nd. He wanted to help Wagner, but he had to listen to him. For now he had to sit there and wait for Wagner and 1st to create a distraction for them to get to the temple.

Wagner and 1st Platoon came down ridge and got to the lower levels of the forest. He used hand signals to get 1st to move through the forest to get into a good position.

He spotted the apes standing in the forest, hundreds of them. He turned and caught a glimpse of the battle going on in front of the temple. The large army in front of the dispatched apes to go help the battle at the temple. Wagner looked to double check if the men were in position. Once satisfied that they were, he pressed down on the trigger of his M74D. The SM rounds flew out of the barrel and hit a cluster of apes just sitting around. The Special Munitions hit their warm skin and expanded, with lethal force. The apes were torn apart, limbs, armor, and other body parts, flying around as the ammo literally tore them apart.

The other Marines opened up as well; several apes were blown apart as the SM rounds blew through them. It was a gruesome sight, their blood and guts gushing onto the ground as they were torn apart by the ammo. Nevertheless, the Marines kept it up. The Apes finally noticed that they were under attack and all of the apes descended upon the small band of humans. Wagner tossed a frag grenade which blew several apes apart. Though they were wearing armor, it could do little to repel shrapnel or SM rounds. The SM rounds would contract when they hit the armor and sliced right through. A few apes fired rifles, but they were cut down by more gunfire.

Wagner dropped his clip, grabbed another, and slapped it into place. He looked out over his position and saw apes running at them. If they didn't retreat, they would be overrun. He fired off a burst, blowing an ape apart, then stood up.

"Fall back, head to the temple!" Wagner called out as he fired the gun from the hip. The Marines got up from their positions and started to move out of the area. Wagner looked up to the cliff where 2nd was and saw them starting to move, a gap now clearly defined in the apes army; large enough to fit the 2nd platoon through and straight towards the temple. He grinned as he blew apart an ape that tried to slash him with his sword.

As they moved, a large ape commander walked in front of them and blocked their path.

"Where do ya think yer going?" He asked with a smug look on his face. Wagner couldn't stop in time and the ape brought a sword to bear and nailed Wagner in the chest with it. Wagner's body armor had a metal breast plate, which ultimately saved his life. He was, though, flung from his spot and he flew into the brush near by. The Marines gathered in the center and fired their assault rifles, but there were too many. Soon they would be overpowered.

A ball of fire sailed from nearby and impacted a cluster of apes. They screamed as they caught on fire and collapsed onto the ground. The other apes turned to see this new threat, as did the Marines. The Marines thought that it was Spyro or Karson coming to their rescue. What they saw surprised them, to say the least. A large red dragon with an orange underbelly soared just above the tree line. It had two sets of horns, one that had three sections, much like Spyro's and another below that. This set had a nice "hook" effect almost. His large wings blocked the sun for a few seconds and his tail bore an ending which showed he was clearly a fire dragon.

The apes tried to fight the dragon but were either blown apart by the SM rounds, burned by the ferocious dragon breath, or were flung from their spots by swipes preformed by the dragon. One by one the apes fell, a mess of burned cinders and blown apart masses littered the ground. The rest of the apes retreated and the Marines yelled out for joy. They turned to see this new ally, only to find the new dragon gone. However, their CO, Lt. Wager, was just emerging from the brush. He clutched onto his armor where the sword had hit him and he groaned as he stumbled out. The Marines went and helped him walk but he soon took the burden upon himself.

"Sir, you just missed that!" Spears said with happiness in his voice.

"Missed what? What happened?" The officer asked, now noticing the very gory scene before him.

"This new dragon came and kicked their ass, that's what happened!" Henderson said as he walked up to the officer.

"Well where is this dragon?"

"He left right after it happened..." Prozjowski said, disappointment in her voice.

"Well, we'd better get moving; we have to get to that temple."

"Yes sir, 1st let's move out!" After that was said, the Marines were once again on their way to the temple.

Spyro blew a spark of electricity, causing several apes to fly into the air. The were easy targets for the Marines who peppered them with SM rounds. Spyro flinched a bit as he saw a guts and dismembered limbs of apes fall to the ground as the SM rounds hit their soft, warm flesh. Soon however, he noticed that it didn't bother him that much. In fact, he rather liked it after seeing this done a couple of times. He started to make it a point to watch the apes get blown apart.

Cynder almost gagged as she smelled the odor coming from the blown apart bodies of apes. She detested the sight of internal organs but she had to endure them. She would have to take one for the team. She flew into the air and spotted Spyro kicking an ape into the ground. He saw her and she saw him. They both knew what the other was thinking and flew to each other. Spyro grabbed Cynder's fore-arms while she was in mid-air and tossed her like a bullet at oncoming apes. She formed fire energy around her as she speed towards the apes. She turned into a fireball and flew right through apes. Spyro then in turn blew a jet of ice to freeze any that didn't get roasted by Cynder's fire spin. She flew back around and came to Spyro. She had a smile on her face and Spyro joined in on her smile.

"I love you..." He said as she passed him by.

"I know." She replied as she swooped down and gave him a seductive look. The Marines joined them at their spot and they moved onward. As they reached the edge of the clearing, they noticed explosions and balls of fire coming from where Wagner and 1st were. They also noticed the lack of apes trying to stop them. Spyro started to wonder why but he found out the horrifying answer as he looked in front of them. His purple face went nearly pale and he stumbled and fell onto the ground.

"But how... I thought we..."

"You thought, but you didn't." Replied a firm and somewhat chilling voice. The voice came from an ape. This ape wore cracked and shattered shadow armor. The cracks looked like they had been crudely filled by more armor and it had a more menacing look to it. Instead of regular ape eyes, two green eyes glowed at the two dragons and humans.

"Fang..."

"You guessed right you whelp. I must thank you, ever since you and that infernal slut friend of yours tossed me into that pit; I have gained power that I could never have dreamed of."

"SLUT?! WHY YOU-" Cynder exploded as he finished his sentence. He smiled and held out his palm. A sphere of energy exploded from it and hit Cynder. She was blown back and hit a rock nearby. She gasped out as the wind was knocked out of her and a black, smoldering mark lay where the energy had hit her.

"That ought to shut her up." Spyro looked at him with amazement and awe, for about 2 seconds. His face contorted to that of anger and he snorted, rings of smoke blowing from his nostrils.

"You are going to pay Fang! You hear me? PAY!" Spyro yelled as he leapt forward to meet him. His charge caught the ape off guard and he fell onto the ground. He snarled and picked Spyro off of him with his claws. He tossed him onto the ground and thrust his claws at him. Spyro rolled left, nearly avoiding them. He rolled right, avoiding another thrust down onto him. He breathed fire upwards, into Fang's contorted face. He snarled and opened his own jaws, energy erupting from them and spiraling towards Spyro. Spyro used his wings to push him out of the way. He slid out from under Fang and he rolled onto his stomach and back onto his feet.

Fang snarled again but roared in pain as the Marine platoon fired their rifles at him. Unlike last time, the Marines had SM rounds which could go through shadow armor. Fang turned to face the Marines, a ball of energy glowing in his claws. Before he could unleash it, Cynder jumped onto his face and started to bite him. He roared again and tried to get her off of him.

Spyro used his wings again to lift himself into the air and he jetted himself at Fang. He latched onto his back and the beast snarled and tried to get him off. Spyro and Cynder both felt a chill as Fang built up his dark fury and unleashed it. They were thrown off and the Marines were tossed to the ground as the wave of energy washed over them. If it hadn't been for the fact that they were wearing armor, they would have been sliced in half.

Spyro landed next to Cynder and he slowly picked himself off of the ground. Cynder did the same and she flinched as her left fore-arm gave her a jab of pain.

"This is useless... we can't keep attacking like this..." Spyro muttered as he shook off a bit of pain from that fury.

"Wait, remember the last time we defeated him?" Cynder asked, remembering the time before.

"Yeah? Why?"

"Well back then, we worked together, just like we did with the Darkmaster. If we work together we can defeat him!"

"Hmm, I think I got an idea, and we are going to need the Marines to help us."

"Right, what do you have in mind?"

"A bit of stealth, diversion, and a bit of fury."

"She smiled at him and he dashed over to Sgt. Malarkey as he picked himself off of the ground. Fang was sitting on the ground, recovering from the fury. He started to rise though, which meant Spyro had to act fast.

"Sergeant, do you have a few grenades on you?"

"Yeah, why? Do you have a plan to take down that thing?"

"Sure do, can you have them ready?"

"Yeah."

"Right, I want you to hit him with your guns to distract him."

"Right, you do what you do, we'll do our part."

With that Spyro went back to Cynder who was waiting for him. Spyro saw that Fang was on a piece of ground that was higher then theirs. There was a ledge that separated the two land masses, large enough to conceal them.

"Cynder, get over there!" Spyro said to her. She saw this and understood. They dashed for the area and Fang was still standing up. As he finished, he let out a roar and scanned for his victims. He was met with a wall of SM rounds as the Marines fired at him. He staggered a bit, but marched at them. As he walked on, he grew energy in his palms as he prepared to use it.

"You think those pathetic things can stop me?! You will have to do better then that!" He yelled as he walked on. As he came at the ledge, he jumped down to the lower level. As he did, the two dragons that had snuck there attacked. Spyro froze his legs and when Fang landed on the ground, he slipped and fell onto his stomach. As he tried to get up, Spyro and Cynder forced him down by freezing his arms as well.

"Sergeant, grenades, now!" Spyro yelled. Malarkey understood and ran over to the dragon. He placed the grenades all around the fallen ape and awaited Spyro's next phase.

"Cynder, get back, now!" He yelled. She did as he instructed, backing away. Spyro grabbed a grenade in his maw and used his talon to pull the pin. He shoved it into Fang's face and jumped onto his back. Spyro built up a powerful earth fury. The force from it kept them pinned to the ground right up until the grenade detonated.

The grenade exploded right in front of Fang's face. The shrapnel shredded his skin and the force blew his flesh away. The other grenades detonated from the other, causing a powerful explosion. Spyro's earth fury caused all of the shrapnel to stay and get hurled right back at the downed ape. Cynder watched as Spyro and Fang were engulfed in a cloud of fire and metal. The cloud soon began to settle and Cynder looked in fear at the dust.

"S-Spyro?" She asked, almost in a whisper. The dust settled a bit more and she could make out a figure standing atop a fallen heap of armor and flesh. It was Spyro. He was alive.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled as she raced to meet him. He staggered off of Fang's corpse and Cynder had to catch him to keep him from falling.

"I didn't think those things would be so loud..." He said as he stood back up by himself. She smiled and laughed at him.

Malarkey smiled as well. Spyro's plan went off without a hitch. However, Malarkey saw something about Spyro that caused him to go pale.

His back was cut open and riddled with cuts, bruises, gashes and a whole mess of injuries. All from the grenades exploding next to him. Malarkey reached for his med bag and started over to Spyro. He whipped a bead of sweat from his forehead, momentarily blocking his view of Spyro. When he saw his back again, he noticed that the injuries were getting smaller and smaller. The blood wasn't gushing out like it was supposed to, and the skin and scales were slowly growing back.

"What the hell?" He said to himself. He stopped dead in his tracks and watched as the injuries healed. He walked up to the dragons as they were still laughing at each other.

"Hey Spyro, do you feel alright?" The Sergeant asked him.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh nothing, just curios." He passed it off finally, thought it seemed odd to him. He had never heard of this happening, even for the dragons, this seemed odd. But hey, this whole world was weird, just one more thing to add to the list.

"I just can't believe that Fang was still alive this whole time."

"He must have still been the leader of the apes; he must have been the leader of the attack on the temple."

"But how, he seemed too easy that time, like he wasn't even trying. If he had been the one who attacked the temple, then he would have been more of a challenge."

"More of a challenge, my dear Spyro, I'm only getting started!" They all turned to see Fang getting up, his injuries not apparent anymore, brushing off the grenades like they were nothing.

"That was a nice trick Spyro, care to try it again?"

"Ah shit..." Spyro muttered.

"What the hell is it going to take to kill this guy?" One Marine stated.

"What the hell do we do now?" Another said with fear in his voice.

"Running would be good!" Spyro said, they all nodded and ran off to the direction of the temple.

"Yes, run you coward! Run like that fool dragon Ignitus! I enjoyed killing him! That pathetic dragon didn't stand a chance and neither did your pathetic human defenders!" Spyro cringed at the words. How dare he mock Ignitus. He had been like a father to Spyro when he had become a dragon. Spyro skid to a halt and turned to face the monstrous beast as he ran after them.

"How dare you mock him!" Spyro snarled at him.

"Mock who? That old fool? You know Spyro, you could see him again, all you have to do is let me kill you and you can join him, and your stupid dragonfly accomplice! Maybe your human buddies can meet their own friends in hell where I'll send you!" Spyro roared at him. He had spilled Ignitus's and Sparx's blood. He was going to pay. He would pay with his life.

"Spyro no! He isn't worth it!" Cynder yelled, trying to get Spyro to come with them to the temple. Malarkey and Cynder both grabbed Spyro and carried him with them as they ran off to the temple. The Marines fired their assault rifles at the lumbering ape, causing him to roar in pain as the SM rounds hit him. Undeterred, he kept at them. He fired dark energy at them and the ground around them blew apart.

"Ah shit!" One of the Marines yelled as he was hurled through the air and landed on the ground nearby. With the help of another Marine, he managed to get back up on his feet.

"Yes, run you cowards! Run like that old fool Ignitus did when I attacked him!" Spyro roared again and fired a fire ball at Fang. Fang used his arm to block the fire ball. Spyro lunged in their arms, trying to get at the ape.

"No Spyro, we have to go!"

"He has to pay Cynder, he killed Ignitus and Sparx!" Spyro said as he tried to get loose.

"You don't know that Spyro! He could be lying to you!" Cynder said while restraining him.

"Spyro, listen to the girl, you don't know he killed them!" Malarkey said, trying to keep a hold of him.

As they ran, they heard Fang roar louder then before. As they looked behind them, they saw Fang struggling, a wall of fire washing over him. Then they saw Karson, Allison, Yahade' and the other three Lakadors behind him, using their dark energy rifles and elemental abilities against him.

Karson blew a fire ball at him, coating him in more fire. Allison froze his legs, causing him to fall over and Yahade' blasted him with his own dark energy. The Lakadors hammered him with dark energy which caused him to roar in pain.

"Go! Get the crystal! We'll hold him right here!" Karson yelled before blasting him with fire. Fang managed to get up, but they fought him back to the ground. Spyro was about to join in but Cynder grabbed him and they moved to the temple. When they got there they found a large Atlowa army and 1st platoon already waiting for them.

"What kept you guys?" Wagner said with a smug look on his face.

"We ran into an old friend." Malarkey said to him.

"Oh? Who might that be?" The officer asked him.

"Fang, he's back..." Cynder said. Spyro roared when he heard the ape's name.

"Fang, I thought you guys killed him!" Wagner looked a bit pale faced, for he didn't have too fond of memories about Fang.

"Yeah, well he's back and it turns out it was him to lead the attack on the temple."

"That bastard, I knew that was too complex for the apes to do on their own, damn it I should have known..."

"Well, Karson and the others are holding him off; we have to get that crystal!"

"Right, let's go!" Wagner said. They went inside and cleared it out, room by room. Barely any apes were left inside, and the M10 and M74Ds cut down the apes easily in such close quarters. When they got to the crystal room, it was identical to the one they had found on the island temple. Spyro grabbed it with his maw and removed it from the beam of light. The light disappeared and Spyro felt a bit of warmth from the crystal.

"Alright, we got the crystal; now let's get the hell out of here!" Henderson said to the dragon. Spyro nodded and they left the room without another word. When they got back outside, the Atlowa and other Marines there cheered. Wagner was amazed; this plan had gone out without a hitch! They might just win this one after all! Spyro gave the crystal to Wagner and he grabbed his mike.

"This is Echo, Buckman, you there?"

"Yes sir, we are here."

_ _ "We got the crystal, come in a pick us up."

"Copy sir, we're on our way. Buckman out."

_ _ "Right let's hold position here, the drop ship will pick us up in a few minutes."

"Lieutenant, do you know where to go?" Kane asked. Wagner didn't really think of it, they had a vague clue where the Final Solution was, they didn't know for sure where it was.

"Not entirely..."

"Well, in that direction, there is a structure on the top of a cliff. If you take the crystals there, the temple will show you where to go."

"How will we know what this structure looks like?"

"The Atlowa have long spoken of this temple. It is perched on a cliff high in the snowy mountains of Mendobara. Its just north of here, beneath the plains and it is located deep in the mountain pass. You can't miss it. Once there, use the crystals and the temple will show you the way."

"Right, we'll get it done."

"May the gods watch over you Lieutenant. May they give you safe passage so you can banish these abominations from hence they came."

"Thanks Kane, I wish you and your people good luck as well, the apes around here aren't going to be too happy now that we've stirred things up."

"Don't worry about us, we'll manage."

"Alright then, you just take care of yourselves." As Wagner said that they watched as Karson and Allison were flung from the trees nearby. They landed hard and slowly started to pick themselves up. Tamez and Riley were the first to get to them, helping them up. Yahade' and the other Lakadors came out of the forest line at that time, nearly dodging a bolt of energy.

"What's going on?" Wagner asked the Lakadors.

"It's that ape, Fang! He is getting too powerful!" Sondohwa said to the human.

"Damn him, its time I taught him a lesson!" Spyro said, going towards where they had just come from.

"Spyro wait, we need to face him together!" Cynder said as she ran up. At that moment, Fang emerged from the trees, with a look of pure hatred in his eyes. He spotted Spyro and smiled. He saw that Spyro was angry and knew that this was the moment to toy with him.

"What's the matter Spyro? Still sore that I killed your buddy Ignitus? Don't worry, you'll burn in hell with him soon enough!"

"You are the only one who's going to burn in hell!" Spyro retorted.

"We will see about that!" Fang replied. They leapt at each other, Spyro's body engulfed in a torrent of flames and Fang's in a wall of darkness. Cynder watched as they clashed, an explosion of energies blasting outwards. Spyro and Fang were both flung from where they were and hit the ground hard. Fang got up before Spyro. He had a dastardly look on his face. He let out a chuckle.

"Spyro, you know, the Darkmaster has wanted to see you for a long time now. He is glad you and Cynder are together now, because he thinks you two would make great partners..."

"Like hell we will... er... not in his control anyway!" Cynder said, a bit embarrassed at the first part, which got a smile from Spyro.

"Ah, my young dragon, that is where you are wrong..." Cynder was about to yell at Fang when she realized it wasn't his voice. She went pale as she realized who it belonged to.

"Holy Marry, mother of God..." Henderson started doing to sign of the cross as he watched what was happening.

"Oh Jehovah, this can't be happening..." Tamez, a Jehovah witness, whispered as he crouched on the ground and started praying. The rest of the Marines stared in awe and Spyro joined Cynder in her pale state. Wagner let his rifle slip from his fingers.

"That's one big dragon..." Riley commented as he pointed at the enormous dragon that had just swooped in from above.

"Who the hell is that?!" Linburg said with fear in his voice.

"Me, I am the one dragon to end all others. You can refer to me as your master..."

"It's the Darkmaster..." Spyro said with a heavy heart. Spyro didn't like this, the last time he had seen this dragon, it was during the fight in his castle and that battle was one of the fiercest he had ever done. It made the fight with Fang pale in comparison. He had barely survived that fight and he thought he had seen the last of him. Now, he stood before them, more gruesome and evil looking then ever.

"What's the matter Cynder, scared to see your master back?" He asked in a dark voice.

"No... I'm not, because you're not my master."

"Oh how wrong you are, and Spyro, it's good to see you again. You sure have grown up since the last time I saw you. I hope your skills have grown to match your matured look."

Spyro boar his fangs at this statement. He hated the Darkmaster more then Fang. And that was saying something. Wagner quickly retrieved his rifle off the ground and he hefted the light crystal in his other arm. The Darkmaster saw this and focused his eyes on Wagner.

"Ah, and what do we have here? Wagner is it? Curios, Fang has told me all about you... I see potential in you Wagner, you could be a great leader! A General perhaps..."

"No deal..." The officer replied with a bit of hate in his own voice.

"No matter, however, I do require that crystal you have."

"Like hell you are going to have it."

"We will see, Fang, will you do the honors?"

"With pleasure..." Fang smiled before walking towards the human. Spyro and Cynder went into defensive positions in front of Wagner. The Marines woke up from their daze and raised their rifles. Before they fired a shot, however, a rocket sailed from the tree line and hit Fang in the hip. The rocket exploded and blew his hip apart. A strange powder came from the rocket as well, which paralyzed Fang and kept him from trying to get up.

"Fine, I'll do it myself!" The Darkmaster moved in a blur and knocked Spyro and Cynder out of the way. Wagner jumped to the right and dodged his blow. As the Darkmaster came to a halt, they all heard chanting around them. The Atlowa came out, all with their swords looking for a fight.

"So, you have an army? So do I..." As the Darkmaster said this, apes adorned in professionally made armor and other vicious looking creatures with armor poured from the trees. The Apes didn't carry swords or anything like that. They all carried modified M74Ds. They still fired bullets, but they looked like they had been tampered with, designs only the apes could have come up with slapped onto the rifle. The apes fired the rifles, cutting down the Atlowa. The creatures tore through the Atlowa warriors with their claws and dashed this way and that. The Marines fired their rifles, hitting a few of the apes. The SM rounds punctured their armor, but it took a burst to kill one.

"Fall back, fall back!" Wagner yelled as he began to run backwards. He fired his rifle with one arm and clutched the crystal with the other. He ran to a tree and fired a burst. The Marines started to pull back, as did the Lakadors. Spyro and Cynder let loose walls of fire to kill the apes and creatures. This let the remaining Atlowa, including Kane, to retreat into the forest.

"Go! Go! Get to the extraction area, fall back!" Wagner yelled again from his spot. Spyro turned to Wagner to say something. As he did, he saw Wagner turn to say another order, however, when he did, the right part of his hip exploded. A cloud of blood came from his injury, he yelled and clutched onto it, dropping the crystal and his rifle.

"WAGNER!!!!" Spyro yelled as he ran off to him. Cynder saw this too and darted to the fallen human. Linburg, Malarkey, and Mclowsky ran to join them as well. Spyro saw blood flowing from his wounds and grabbed the clothes around his shoulders with his maw and started to drag him. Cynder did the same and Mclowsky helped them. Malarkey fired his rifle, deterring any enemies and Linburg grabbed the crystal.

Malarkey fired his rifle again, trying to keep the creatures off of them, but they were getting too close. He kept it up though. He saw one ape leap from the trees, carrying a modified M74D. It pointed it at Spyro who was dragging Wagner.

"Spyro NO! LOOKOUT!" Malarkey leapt in front of Spyro as the ape fired a burst. It hit the Sergeant and he fell over. As he fell to the ground, his finger spasmed and fired a burst from his own rifle. It nailed the ape and it was engulfed in a cloud of blood as it fell to the ground.

"Mawarkee!" Spyro said, still using his mouth to drag Wagner. He started to go help him when Linburg crouched over the Sergeant and checked his pulse. He pounded the man's chest as he failed to pick up one. He got up and hefted the crystal as he ran to where they were retreating. Spyro looked at Linburg, waiting for him to tell him if he was ok. The answer failed to come.

The Darkmaster watched the scene unfolding in front of him with amusement. They were running. Oh, how he loved a chase. He saw a human grab the crystal from Wagner and run off with it. He needed that crystal. And plus, they couldn't have it. He would have to take it from them. He used his wings to jet himself into the air and straight towards his prey.

Linburg didn't even get a moment to prepare before Cynder let go of Wagner and yelled to him.

"Linburg! Lookout!" He turned sharply before seeing the dragon scoop him up into his paw. He tried to wrestle free but he was in it too tight.

"Now, if you let me kindly have that crystal, I might just let you live..."

"You can go to hell!" the Marine replied.

"Such a little nuisance you humans are. I can't wait to enslave your entire race." Spyro saw what had happened and let go of Wagner. He had to help Linburg. After what had happened to the Marine earlier, he couldn't let him die. He darted towards the Darkmaster and roared. The Darkmaster used his tail to knock Spyro out of the air and onto the ground.

Linburg had to get loose. He had to. He couldn't though; something on him was keeping him pinned. He then realized it. His knife was blocking his arms from moving. If he could unsheathe it, he could throw Spyro the crystal. But if he unsheathed it, it would cut him. He had to take the chance. He used what freedom he could to unsheathe the knife. However, it slipped and cut deep into his leg, near his main artery. He screamed in pain but managed to use his arms to get the crystal up to bear. But, if he threw it, the Darkmaster would just chase them, he had to hold him up. He had to do something.

Thinking fast, he grabbed a flash bang grenade from his pocket and pulled the pin. He tossed it into the Darkmaster's face and it detonated. True to it's name, it made a loud BANG and flash. This temporarily blinded and deafened the Darkmaster. He let Linburg fall to the ground as he clutched onto his eyes, the flash proving too much for him.

Spyro rushed to Linburg and tried to help him move. Cynder ran over and tried to help as well.

"No Spyro, take the crystal. Just leave me..."

"I can't leave you, we all have to go!"

"Spyro... I can't go..." Linburg said, motioning towards the wound to his leg. It had cut so deep that it had hit the main artery.

"That's not so bad we can patch it up and you will be good as new..." Spyro said reassuringly. But at that moment, his thoughts pulled up a moment that he barely remembered while in the hospital. He had overheard the doctors talking while he was asleep. They talked about a Marine who died before they could even bring him in, a cut to the main artery in the leg. They said it was a mortal wound. It was then where he understood why Linburg couldn't go.

"Spyro, you have to leave me. Just take the crystal and go. I'll hold them off for you guys. Just get out of here and get this crystal to the Final Solution."

"But we can't!" Cynder begged.

"No... he's right, we have to leave him..."

"Spyro, how could you say that, we have to take him!"

"We just have to! We just have to go!" Spyro said, clenching his eyes shut, tears coming from them. Spyro didn't want to see anyone else die, but this one was necessary. Even he didn't want to go, but they had to. Spyro grabbed the crystal and started to go. Cynder stared at him in disbelief until Linburg put his hand on her.

"Just go Cynder, I'll be fine. He'll explain later... just go!" She sobbed before finally leaving him. He frowned as she left but heard a roar as the Darkmaster's senses finally came too. His army encircled the human and their master, some of them going after the retreating Marines. The Darkmaster looked down at Linburg and found that the Marine no longer had the crystal.

"What did you do with the crystal? You'd better tell me now!"

"They have it and they are one their way. You'll never catch them..."

"You will pay you pathetic little creature!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it..." Linburg reached into his pack and grabbed a box of C-5, a high explosive meant for taking out buildings. He understood now that he could never get his friends back, no matter how long he sulked about it. But, he could help his new friends live. He was going to do that right here, right now. He set the timer on the charge and pulled the pin. He clutched it close as the Darkmaster picked him off of the ground and raised his talons in a position to strike.

"Any last words you pathetic human?"

"Yeah, I got some. Go to hell..." As he said this he was engulfed in a bright light and he felt his stomach disappear. He felt everything around him getting dimmer and dimmer and saw the look of sheer surprise on the Darkmaster's maw as the explosive went off. Time seemed to slow and he managed a smile. He didn't feel anything, almost like a great burden had been lifted. He finally noticed that he was drifting, drifting away from all his problems and he could feel his mother calling out to him. He could see her calling out to him. He saw Karlos and Powers as well, all calling him to join them. He felt overjoyed. He slowly left the tendons of reality and soared from his former existence to join his new place amongst all of the fallen. Amongst the heroes.

Spyro and Cynder tailed behind the rest, trying to make sure they had no-one following them. They all heard a loud bang and turned to see an explosion in the distance. Cynder let out a small wail and Spyro held her close. He still had the crystal in his maw and tried to get her to go on. They then went to help Mclowsky carry Wagner to the Nighthawk as it soared in and picked them up. As it landed, Jason helped get the men into the drop ship and retrieved the crystal from Spyro. Karson and Allison both made sure no more creatures had followed them and they all got aboard.

Spyro sighed as he thought of how bad that battle had gone. Prozjowski had a minor wound to the chest, Gardenah had gotten a bite wound from one of the creatures to his leg, and Wagner had gotten hit in his hip. Some of the bone and flesh had been blown away during the impact, but the medic had patched him up as best she could. However, Malarkey and Linburg were dead.

As they all boarded the drop ship and it took off, Buckman walked over to Wagner.

"So sir, what are we doing next?" Wagner coughed up a bit of blood before responding.

"We have to go north, to the snowy mountains of Mendobara. There we have to go into the mountain pass and search for a temple perched on a high cliff. There we will learn of the Final Solutions location..." Wagner said, slowly drifting from consciousness.

"Sir, Wagner shouldn't be talking. He needs to conserve his strength for now." The medic said to Buckman.

"So, Wagner's going to be ok?" Cynder asked the medic.

"He needs his rest right now, don't worry." The medic sort of tried to not say that he was going to make it or otherwise. Cynder sighed as she thought of the possibility of loosing Wagner. Ever since this started, especially when Spyro left, Wagner, along with Ignitus had sort of been a father figure. Now with Ignitus gone, she was in danger of loosing the other. Spyro held her close. He too, feared what would happen if they lost Wagner. He was their leader, and he didn't know what would happen if they lost him.

"Buckman... I want you... to take over as company CO..." Wagner slowly said in-between sharp stabs of pain that jolted through his body.

"Yes sir, I won't let you down." Buckman said. Wagner tried to salute him, but his energy was low.

"Sir, just rest, that's what you need. You will have your strength back if you rest." Mclowsky said to the officer as he sat on the chair, his bandages starting to get redder as more blood came out. The drop ship soared down into the clouds and drifted towards a mountain range below. The mountains were covered in snow and trees. Spyro wanted this to be over already. They had gone from one area to the next, and had lost so many friends. Wagner was injured, and he hoped that nothing happened to Karson, Allison or Yahade'. He would avenge Linburg's and Malarkey's deaths. He would make the Darkmaster and Fang both pay for what they had done. He would kill them both, for Ignitus, Sparx, Linburg, and Malarkey. For them all.

The Darkmaster slowly got up, still shaken from the bomb. He growled as he looked around. All of his men who had been around him when it had blown were dead. Fang had bled out from the rocket impact and the powder must have been poisoned for he couldn't regenerate his form. The Darkmaster had sustained an injury from the explosion, a gash on his chest. That damn human had killed himself, but had stalled him long enough for them to escape. He would have to go after them, pursue them, and kill them. He wondered though, Spyro, Cynder, they would make good servants. Maybe he wouldn't kill them. And that human commander... Wagner... He had outsmarted the apes a lot of times and made some of this smartest ape commanders look foolish. And that Karson, and that other girl, Allison. They all were good fighters and would prove to be valuable to him. He groaned as he took flight to his palace. He would have to go there and keep them from the Final Solution. And he knew just how to do it.

End of Chapter 25

This has to be my LONGEST chapter yet! This came out to 15 full pages on word! Now that is a lot. Well, there is still one more obstacle left between our heroes, and the end of their long journey. Though, it seems as though victory is nearing. However, with them taking hits like this, just how much longer can they last? Will Wagner's wounds heal? What does the Darkmaster have in store for them? Just who is this new dragon that helped 1st Platoon fight off the apes? In the words of Dragoune, will I ever let the good guys win? And when will I ever get to use Jason in a fight! AGH, I can't seem to use him! 3rd platoon doesn't get to see action so Jason doesn't get to see action! Also, on the note of Henderson and Tamez, if you don't like the fact that I referenced to religion with Henderson being catholic and Tamez being Jehovah Whiteness, I wont go to much into religion, and please don't bombard me for it.

Also, I have heard that someone is attacking FrostDragon, saying that my story is better then his or something like that. I ask you, if it is you, please, either leave your comment here, or just don't say anything. Frostdragon's story is really good, a hell of a lot better then mine, don't go to him saying otherwise. If it wasn't for RoD, The Spyro Chronicles would never have gotten written so I ask of you, please, leave dear ol' Frost alone. Thanks.