KA-BLAM!

"DARK SPYROOOOOOOOOOOO!" cried everyone currently in the mess hall as a mass of berry-splattered pancake batter flooded out the door and into the island's heart!

Dark Spyro slapped his knees as he cackled so hard that his sides hurt. This was it, this was his masterpiece of pranking! The looks on everyone's faces when those pancake bombs exploded the moment they stuck a fork in them couldn't possibly be matched!

"Holy crap!" Dark howled between strained gasps for air as he opened an eye bleary with tears of joy. "You should see the looks on your faces right now, it's priceless!"

When he said that, he really meant it! After all, everyone's jaws dropped as the pancake batter slipped from their faces, while their eyes were so wide that they'd practically pop out of their skulls!

Dark Spyro let out another round of cackles, and grinned as he turned back to Sunburn with an expectant smile. After all, he did do this to show Sunburn the glory of a true prank! The guy was pretty new, after all, and when Dark heard that Sunburn had only ever done small-scale pranks before, he was determined to show Sunburn the glory of a large-scale gaff! Surely, he'd be just as happy as Dark was!

"Right, Sunburn?"

Dark smiled even wider, but his smile faded as he looked back to Sunburn—because Sunburn didn't seem happy at all! He looked just as shocked and horrified as the rest of the Skylanders did!

"This was your idea of a prank?" Sunburn exclaimed as he stepped back.

Dark chuckled and shrugged a hapless shrug. "Well, yeah! You know what they say, go big or go home!"

Sunburn blinked a few more times in quiet shock, but his gaped beak turned to a snarl as he lowered his head.

"Dude, this isn't funny at all!"

Eh? Dark Spyro blinked and shook his head a bit, just to make sure he wasn't seeing or hearing things, but nope! Sunburn was still furious as his feathers glowed with a warm light that heated up everything in the room.

"Pranks are just supposed to be for good fun, not stuff that's actually dangerous!" Sunburn exclaimed as he stepped forward. "You could've gotten someone hurt!"

"What, what are you talking about, Sunburn, old buddy, old pal?" Dark Spyro chuckled as he backed off, all while his eyes darted in fifty million directions. "This is fun!" Dark's grinned stretched from horn to horn as he looked back to the others. "Right guys?"

"NO!" everyone else cried as they trudged their way through the batter flood.

"Sunburn's right, you know!" Spyro cried as he flew up to Dark and stuck a claw in Dark's face. "What if someone actually ate one of those things? You'd have killed them!"

Dark Spyro sniffed as he looked aside and pouted. "But I didn't!"

"That doesn't matter!" Ghost Roaster exclaimed as he yanked his ball and chain out of a patch of melted blueberry. "Look at this mess! It'll take us all week to clean up!"

"Oh, who cares? It's just a little batter!"

"Of course you'd say that!" Ghost Roaster snarled as he tore through the batter. "You're not the one who has to stick around and clean it up!"

"Yeah, Dark!" Spyro added as his eyebrows dug so far down in his face it practically hid his eyes. "I swear, if I knew I'd end up dealing with stuff like this on a daily basis, I wouldn't have let you come here at all!"

Dark Spyro's pout turned to a snarl as he looked aside and crossed his front legs.

"You guys just don't get me, that's all!" Dark Spyro proclaimed as he flew towards the open kitchen doors. "All I wanted to do was have a little fun! If you want to be sticks in the mud, you can do it without me!" Dark Spyro snorted out a bit of smoke, but before he left the mess hall, he grinned and turned back to Sunburn. "Come on, Sunburn, let's ditch these guys!"

"Actually," Sunburn said as he shook his head and walked away, "I think I'm going to stay around here and clean up."

Sunburn snorted out some fire of his own as he glared back at Dark, and huffed as he flew over the pancake batter mess. What was Sunburn doing? He was Dark's buddy, his partner in pranking crime, right?

"Sunburn?" Dark shook his head and frowned as he flew up to Sunburn and tugged on Sunburn's wing. "Why are you taking their side? I thought you said I was cool and funny!"

"I did—" Sunburn flapped his wing with such force that it broke Dark's grip on it "—but that was before I saw how much of a jerk you are!" Sunburn snarled as he looked away from Dark. "If you're going to tear this place apart and get beings busted up, do it without me!"

Dark's heart cracked in two. Why would Sunburn say something like that? Dark was just trying to have a little fun and lighten things up, how did that make him a jerk? It's not like he was trying to kill anyone; he was just doing what he felt like, and what he felt like was making pancake bombs! Before he even knew it, tears poured down Dark's eyes as he sniffled and dashed for the door.

"FINE THEN!" Dark cried as he zoomed outside and slammed the door shut. "I DON'T NEED YOU ANYWAYS!"

Dark Spyro sniffed a few more times, and finally, he fell down to the ground as he wiped his tears away. He hadn't really felt this weird, gut-punching feeling in a while, but it hurt just as much as it did the last time he felt it! He hate, hate, hated it! As his tears started to dry, Dark Spyro sulked and swatted away a pebble as he trudged around the island's heart. All around him, the rest of the Skylanders gave him dirty looks and scorning frowns that sent chills down his spine, but he didn't bother to give them the attention they desired. So, instead, he camped under the shade of a particularly large tree.

"What's with everyone, anyways?" Dark lamented as he massages his temples. "I mean sure, I played a couple pranks, broke a few things, got Eruptor laid up in the infirmary for a few days, but it wasn't that big a deal! I'm sure pancake batter isn't that hard to clean off kitchen walls!"

"Yeah it is!" shouted someone in the distance.

Dark Spyro promptly stuck his tongue out at this mystery person, but as he caught sight of everyone's glances, he winced and turned around. A kind of lonely pit opened up in his heart and sucked away the frustration he felt, and he sat back down and groaned with a sigh. After all, it was just all for laughs, right? He got a kick out of it, so why didn't they laugh along with him? He might've caused some trouble, but it was all for kicks and giggles and that's all that mattered! They just didn't get him and his sense of humor! Well, that's what he told himself, but it didn't necessarily make Dark feel any better. After all, no amount of surprise bombs and dumping ice-cold water buckets on others’ heads could ease the pain of isolation.

"What on Skylands do they have against me, anyways?" Dark asked aloud. "It's always 'Dark, stop that!' and 'Dark, no!' and 'Dark, get out of my hair!'" Tiny stinging pains hit Dark Spyro's eyes yet again as he sniffed and laid down. "I mean, I'm a Skylander too! They said I could stay on their island cause Kaos kicked me out and everything! Why can't they just give me a break?"

"Well, you haven't exactly given them a reason to," pointed out a harsh, raspy voice that seemingly came out of nowhere!

Dark jumped to his paws and whipped his head around.

"Who's there?" Dark asked, before he veered his head right just as a violet and red dragoness stepped out from the shadows.

Now that he thought about it, he was sure that he saw her around the island before, lurking in the shadows like she did now, but he couldn't remember her name for the life of him. Nevertheless…

"What are you doing here?" Dark asked as he scrambled back and scowled. "Did you come here to yell at me to?"

"I'm just passing through, nothing more." The dragoness shook her head. "I heard your question, and gave you an answer."

The dragoness turned around as if she was leaving, but for some reason he didn't want her to leave just yet.

"Well, can you answer my other questions, then?" Dark asked as he jumped to his feet.

The dragoness tilted her head, then sat down on the grass and raised an eyebrow. "If you're willing to listen."

"I am!"

The dragoness nodded, and Dark sat down and looked aside.

"What do you mean by not giving them a reason?" Dark tilted his head and frowned. "I mean, what's wrong with a little prank here and there?"

"That's the thing, with you, it's not here and there!" The dragoness flicked her tail, "It's all the time! And it's not just kind of annoying harmless things, either. If it's not secret bombs, it's poison ivy in the potted plants or pitfalls that drop you six feet under, the kind of stuff that gets beings actually hurt! With how often you're pulling the stunts you are, we might as well be on a battlefield!"

Dark Spyro just froze and stumbled back. The dragoness's words pierced through his heart like a knife, and yet, something couldn't let him bring himself to turn away. He never really thought of it that way; all he thought about was how funny it would be to see someone fall for it.

"The fact of the matter is, you don't care at all about how your actions affect others, and if you do, you don't show it. All you care about is what you want." The dragoness glared him down. "That hardly gives any of them reason to enjoy your company."

Dark winced and looked aside as he opened and clasped his paws, all while a searing, burning feeling scorched his heart. It's not that he didn't care about others, he did! He enjoyed being with Sunburn, well, before Sunburn ditched him anyways, and he liked it when the others seemed to kind of tolerate him. He was just doing what he always did! In all the time since Kaos created him, it was practically his nature to pulls his pranks and liven things up, it's not like he was doing it to be mean or anything!

"But I can't help it!" Dark Spyro spat out without even realizing as he flared his wings. "That's just how—"

"You've always been, right? Born from chaos, created to cause trouble and all?"

Dark Spyro crept back and stood up tall. How did she know what he was going to say?

"Listen, I get it! Of all dragons, I'd be a hypocrite if I got on your case for what you were made for or where you came from." The dragoness turned around. "But you shouldn't use it as an excuse. In the end, your actions are entirely your own. You were the one who chose to do those things, you gave into your impulses and did what you pleased, even if it got others hurt or worse, and that doesn't earn you points in anyone's books."

The dragoness flapped her wings and prepared to fly off. "If you really want them to appreciate your company, then stop making excuses for yourself and do better."

Dark Spyro just frowned as he watched the strange purple dragoness leave. By all accounts, he should've been enraged that she chewed him out like that, but at the same time, he couldn't help but get an itching feeling that she was right. If anything, it was less like rage and more like a solemn contemplation.

Now that he thought about it, he was sure he heard something like that somewhere else, but where?

That's it, you no-good dragonfly! Kaos cried from within the confines of Dark Spyro's memories. I've had it up to here with you and your nonstop ego! What good is an evil minion who only does what he pleases and doesn't listen to his evil overlord? Get out!

That's right, now he remembered! Kaos let him go for that exact same reason, and now, if he didn't shape up, the Skylanders would probably do the same as well! Dark Spyro bit his lip in panic. Once they finally got fed up and kicked him to the curb, he'd have nowhere else to go! What was he supposed to do now? It's not like they'd listen to him if he apologized; he already got on their bad sides so many times.

Dark Spyro frowned and beat his tail against the dirt as his eyes lit up. He'd just ask that dragoness! Surely she'd know the answer! So, he traced the path he was sure she went down, until the sound of flapping wings confirmed his suspicions.

"Hey, hey, don't go yet!" Dark Spyro shouted as he bolted down the path.

From around the bend, he caught that purple dragoness right as she flew off. She stopped in her path, sat down and turned around.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You, you said that I needed to do better, right?" Dark asked as he bit his lip and looked aside. "Well, how do I do that, then?"

"Well, making up for your mistakes is a good place to start." The dragoness flicked her wings. "Not just giving a half-hearted apology, either. Try actually fixing the problems you make and helping out the people you hurt. Actions speak louder than words."

Dark wanted to ask the dragoness more, he really did! But before he could open his mouth and speak, she already dashed her way into the shadows. So instead, he just sat there in a sort of silent thought spell. He was never fond of cleaning things up, and didn't really see the purpose in fixing things, but, if that's what it would take, he supposed it was worth a shot.

So, Dark Spyro flew out of the dreary woods he followed her into and back to the heart of the island. He was quick to find the mess hall, for it still had the pancake batter stains from his latest mishap—though at least the batter mass was cleaned up to the point where the door could be closed. As he flew towards the mess hall's door, Dark couldn't help but slow down. Would they really want his help after all he did? Dark Spyro looked down and hesitated for a moment, but nonetheless flew up to the doors and gently pushed them open.

Unsurprisingly, a good number of their forces were still inside and worked hard as they wiped off pancake batter, shoveled away gum, and scrubbed particularly stubborn berry stains from the walls; now that Dark looked at them, those stains definitely seemed bigger than when the mixed berry pancake bombs exploded earlier. All eyes immediately turned on Dark as everyone gasped and dropped what they were doing, surely fully prepared for another prank or careless gesture…

But, Dark wasn't here to do that, and he would show them! So, he grabbed a wet rag nearby and gently scrubbed the berry stains off of the floors. They were stubborn, true, and he was sure this would be easier if he actually had mastery of the Water Element and could manipulate water to the fullest. But, he did want to help, so he just scrubbed in silence.

Slowly, the gazes of shock and panic from those around Dark Spyro turned to more gentle, awestruck look, kind of like if they just saw a pig fly or a chompy sing karaoke. They all seemed a bit hesitant to approach him, but finally, Spyro himself took the first step as he dropped the shovel he held and padded over.

"Hey, Dark?" Spyro asked as he tilted his head. "Just what are you doing?"

"Cleaning!" Dark Spyro proclaimed maybe a bit too mechanically as he jumped to all four paws. Dark sighed and scratched his head. "I, well…" Dark Spyro heaved a sigh as he gazed around the room. "I just wanted to make it up to you guys for messing things up earlier."

For a while all went silent again, but finally the quiet broke from Ghost Roaster scoffing and crossing his arms.

"Dark Spyro? Actually wanting to do something nice for once?" Ghost Roaster snarled. "Are you sure you don't have anything up those wings of yours?"

Ghost Roaster promptly let out a pained cry as Gill Grunt elbowed him and shot him a glare. While Ghost Roaster crossed his arms and withdrew, Gill Grunt turned a gaze warm and sweet like honey towards Dark Spyro.

"Good on you for wanting to make it up to us, kiddo!" Gill Grunt said as he grabbed a water bucket and dropped it off next to Dark Spyro, a moment of pause taken to gently ruffle Dark's head. "Now, we've still got a lot of work to do, so—"

"I'm on it!" Dark chirped as he went back to scrubbing, as did everyone else.

Though they were all silent as they scraped hardened pancake batter and gum off the walls, or scrubbed berry stains off the floors, something about them seemed warmer and friendlier than the usual air of coldness they seemed to have around Dark. It almost made him forget what he did as his eyes fell on Spyro and Gill Grunt smiling at each other while Gill Grunt used his water cannons to hose down the floors, or Ghost Roaster grumbling to himself while he jumped up towards a patch of batter that got itself particularly high up. Wait, Dark could handle that!

"Let me get that, Ghost Roaster!" Dark chirped as he flew above Ghost Roaster.

Dark dug his claws into a part of the batter patch that was still gooey and loose, and grunted as he yanked it off and dropped it on the floor beside Ghost Roaster! Ghost Roaster looked up at Dark while his skeletal jaw dropped, but Dark just grinned and flew off.

As he patrolled the, well, lack of skies, Dark's eyes fell on Spyro as Spyro unsuccessfully tried to scrape off a large wad of batter from the table. Maybe, just maybe, Dark could help with that too? So, Dark swept down beside Spyro, cleared his throat and shot a fireball right at the batter wad! The flames hardened the batter until it was hard and cracked like a rock, and those flames vanished just as quickly as they came!

"Now try it!" Dark chirped as he wagged his tail.

Spyro raised a wary eyebrow, grabbed hold of his shovel, smashed it against the hardened batter rock, and grinned as it smashed into a bunch of itty-bitty pieces! Yep, it definitely worked!

"Thanks, Dark!" Spyro said as he grinned back at Dark.

Dark himself chuckled back and flapped his wings and took back to the skies. After all, he promised to work, so work was what he would do! Dark's flight brought him over to a corner of the kitchen that was still coated in pancake batter and busted berries and—oh.

There was Sunburn, right at the heart of it all as he fruitlessly tried to shovel the batter away. Just the sight of his bright, burning orange feathers was all Dark needed to know that Sunburn was still mad. That pit opened up in Dark's heart and he wanted to turn tail and run, but, he did say he wanted to help everyone, and that definitely included Sunburn. So, Dark landed beside Sunburn, much to Sunburn's shock as he turned around and dropped his beak wide open. For a moment, Sunburn scowled as if he was about ready to chew Dark out again.

"If you burn the batter, it gets harder and easier to break." Dark breathed in, exhaled, and unleashed a torrent of purple fire across the batter until it turned dark and hard like rock, all while cracks formed in its surface. With his job done, Dark grinned and turned back to Sunburn. "Try it!"

Sunburn frowned, grabbed his shovel and smashed its head right into the center of the hardened batter where the most cracks resided. Like a wall with its keystone removed, all the other cracks in the batter grew bigger and more massive before the entire batter covering shattered and unveiled a perfectly normal kitchen wall! Well, perfectly normal save for the remaining berry stains, that is.

Sunburn beamed as he looked back at the freed wall, but Dark didn't have time to linger, not when he had things to do! So, Dark grinned as he went back to flying around the mess halls and looking for things to do. For a moment, Dark really did feel like he had a place where he belonged, even if he had to spend hours scrubbing berry stains with aching legs to get it! Everyone else's tense faces grew smiley and happy as Dark cracked goofy puns, scrubbed out tough berry stains, and got some of the hard-to-reach places taken care of. Even Ghost Roaster, who surely had Dark at the top of his mortal enemies list from all the times Dark messed up the kitchen, gave a tiny nod of approval as Dark helped him mop up gooey batter!

Better yet, most of that pancake batter was gone! Talk about a pain it was to get out; he scrubbed so much that his legs started to ache from all the scrubbing he did, and even then, there was still more work to do. But, before he did…

"Hey, hey guys?" Dark sputtered as he lowered his head and scratched his neck. "I, I, I'm su, su, sor, sur—" Dark Spyro grimaced and shook his head "—I'm sorry for making such a mess with those pancake bombs earlier!"

All eyes turned to Dark Spyro, and with the floor being his, Dark's hesitation melted away.

"And everything else too. I was more concerned with having fun, that I guess I didn't think about whether or not anyone else was having fun!" Dark forced a smile and looked aside. "So, I'll try to stick to stuff that everyone can laugh at, alright?"

Everyone stayed as frozen as they did when Dark first announced his change of heart, but this time, it was a simple pat on the back that earned Dark's attention!

"Well, I don't know what started this, but," Spyro said as Dark looked into his eyes, which seemed a bit friendlier than the usual scorn Spyro gave Dark, "seeing as how you did come back and fix up this place, I'd be glad to accept your apology!"

Dark gasped and a familiar warmth crept down his back. Dark lifted up his head, and found that now, it was Sunburn who stood beside Dark with a smile on his beak and a warm look in his eyes.

"Same here," Sunburn said as he wrapped his wing around Dark Spyro's back.

Dark let out a soft, excited gasp as he beamed back up at Sunburn, but a cough brought his gaze over to Ghost Roaster and Gill Grunt. Though Gill Grunt beamed and waved back at Dark, Ghost Roaster couldn't meet Dark's gaze—instead, he just hung his head and crossed his arms.

"Now, you've still got a long way to go before I can let go of you ruining the kitchen five times in a week," Ghost Roaster said before he heaved a sigh, "but it's a start. I suppose I can forgive you for this."

Dark sputtered a bit, for he was so overjoyed, and also so shocked that he could barely make any words. That dragoness's advice worked! They actually forgave him, and they actually seemed to accept him for once, too! And that, that made him feel better than any prank ever could!

"Th, tha, er…"

Dark sputtered and winced as he looked aside, and his eyes fixed on an empty bucket on the floor. Yes, the perfect diversion! "Oh, looks like this bucket needs more water!" Dark shouted as he swept down and yanked the bucket off the floor. "I'll go fill…"

Right as Dark Spyro flew off, though, he caught someone watching him from the corner of the kitchen—that violet dragoness from earlier! She jolted up and tensed as Dark locked eyes with her, but loosened up as Dark beamed right back.

"Hey!" Dark Spyro called as he flew over to her side. "Thanks!"

The dragoness frowned, took a step back and folded her wings. "For what?" she asked as she looked back at Dark.

"Your advice! It really worked!" Dark Spyro grinned and tilted his head, then chuckled and looked aside. "Seriously though, you, you really helped me out so, thu, thanks?"

"You don't need to thank me." The dragoness looked aside. "I was just telling it how it was."

"But you were the first one to hear me out!" Dark Spyro flew closer until his face was thrust into the dragoness's. "Why is that?" Dark Spyro pursed his lips and looked aside. "I mean, everyone else just kind of gets mad or yells at me, but, you didn't do that. Why?"

The dragoness made a low mumble as she looked aside, and just barely shrugged.

"I guess I just, kind of understood what place you were in." The dragoness flapped her wings and took off. "I need to go, now."

"Wait, before you go!" Dark Spyro crossed the skies and followed after her. "What's your name, anyways? I haven't really seen you around all that much."

The dragoness paused in mid-air, then turned around and looked back at Dark Spyro.

"It's…"

"Cynder," Dark Spyro whispered as his eyes gently drifted open.

Was he dreaming? For a moment, he could've sworn he was back in Ancient's Peak, all that time ago. Hah, thinking about it made him a bit warm in the face. To think, they met way back then, but, Dark couldn't reminiscence on the past, he had to figure out where he was!

His vision cleared and showed that he laid on a worn, rotted wood bench in a stone room with silver bars that blocked off the outside world, almost like a dungeon cell. Wait, a dungeon cell? When exactly did he get in a dungeon cell, had he done something to pi—oh. As a faint memory of his earlier fight with those creepy minions of Kaos's came to mind, Dark Spyro snarled and pounded his paws against the cell bars.

"Hey, let me outta this thing!" Dark Spyro demanded as loud as he could. "I'm not gonna stick around here, you know! If you don't, I'll, I'll burn the cell bars down! No, this whole place! And I'll, I'll—"

"Shut your yap! You could wake the dead with all that noise!"

Out of nowhere, several deathly-looking dragon guards all flanked the dungeon cell that Dark Spyro sat in, their blank eyes trained in him and ready to kill!

"Actually—" Dark Spyro crept away from the cell bars and winced "—forget all I say about burning the place down, I'll—"

"If you wanted out, you could've said so earlier!"

One of the dragon guards yanked a badge from their armor and held it up to the side of the outer wall, and in response, the cell bars immediately sank into the floors!

"His Majesty wanted an audience with you as soon as you came to," the dragon guard explained as they stowed their badge away and turned around with a slight nudge of their head, "follow me."

Well, that was convenient. Admittedly, an audience with a power-hungry evil overlord probably would've sounded like a bad idea to most people, but after dealing with Kaos for most of his formative months of existence, Dark Spyro was sure he was prepared for anything at this point. So, he crept after that very creepy-looking dragon guard and winced as he tried to avoid the weird looks the other guards shot him.

Dark Spyro went down endless corridors and alleyways, winding roads and paths, up a few stairs, down some more, through a janitorial closet by accident, and all of them stood painted in the same shade of dull, stained bluish-green stone that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. It was so gloomy and tiring that he couldn't help but nearly fall asleep! His head nodded off as he stumbled forward, but he jolted back awake as he bumped into the guard's leg.

"We're here."

Dark Spyro shook himself awake and grinned as he examined the room around, which had none of the dreariness of earlier! It was all marble statues and fancy pillars and withered vines that, admittedly, stuck out like sore thumbs compared to the rest of the decorations. The crown jewel was a massive, gold and sapphire throne with bright, amethyst wings carved behind it! It probably would've looked more impressive if not for how empty it was. Where was this guy he was supposed to meet, anyways? Dark Spyro tilted his head as he walked up to the throne, but rolled back down as a puff of blue smoke manifested from the throne's seat!

"So this is the Skylander born of malevolence?" hissed a snakelike as a pair of beady, cyan eyes poked out from the smoke.

Dark Spyro shook his head and shuddered like a chill blew through the area, but the dragon guard was hardly fazed as they knelt down and shot a glare at Dark Spyro.

"Bow, you lizard!" the dragon guard hissed. "You're in the presence of the great king Vathek!"

Dark Spyro winced and warily bowed, and as the smoke cleared, he poked his head up and clenched his teeth. Ancients, this Vathek dude was creepy, and if this was coming from Dark Spyro, that was saying something!

This Vathek dragon, he looked like a wyvern of some kind, or more accurately, the withered corpse of one! His scales were black, or maybe just a really dark blue; it was kind of hard to tell with the lack of light. Holes were torn in his body and wings at every angle. His cold as ice cyan eyes were blank, and the large gaps in his body glowed silver with no sign of bones or organs while sickly silver fog beamed out the gaps and cast a thin layer of mist around the area.

"Thank you for your service, guard," Vathek hissed as he nodded towards the guard, "you may be dismissed now."

The guard nodded and flew back down the stairs, which left just Dark Spyro and Vathek in the entire open space of this weird throne room. For a moment, Dark Spyro understood what it was like to be a sheep trapped in a den of lions. Just the sight of Vathek left him sick to his stomach! It was like staring death in the face! Wait, feeling sick to his stomach, plus that silvery light and that sickly undead energy that poured from Vathek's body; wasn't that what happened when people who weren't undead were around the Eternal Undead Source? Could it be?

Dark Spyro cringed and collapsed as Vathek stepped off the throne and examined him. He really did feel like he was on death's door, but Vathek didn't attack or do anything.

"Stop panicking on the floor and face me," Vathek replied as he raised his head, "I have no intention of hurting you, after all."

"You don't?" Dark Spyro asked as he poked his head up to Vathek.

"No, it's the exact opposite!" Vathek grinned and unveiled jaws with a stunning lack of teeth. "I've been quite interested in you, after all!"

Dark Spyro warily pulled himself back to all four paws and stood in silence as Vathek paced back and forth, all paired with dramatic wing gestures.

"To think, another dragon such as myself would be within the Skylanders' ranks—"

"Can it, buddy!" Dark Spyro spat up as he leaned down and flared his wings. "I'm nothing like you!"

But even thought Dark Spyro put on his most intimidating front, Vathek just cackled like Dark was nothing more than a dragonbunny!

"Are you sure?" Vathek leaned down and looked at Dark Spyro with those creepy glass eyes and equally-creepy grin. "After all, I can sense the level of malevolent magic oozing out of you! You and I, we were both born within its grasp!" Vathek's smile turned to a frown as he raised himself to full height. "And surely, we were both outcast for it as well."

Vathek hung his head as he bit his lip, and for a moment, Dark Spyro could've sworn he saw misty tears leak out of Vathek's eyes.

"When I was young like you, my dragon peers shunned me for wanting to explore my birthright, for wanting to better understand myself and to know more about the malevolent magic that would make me more powerful." Vathek lifted his head and looked back at Dark Spyro with those same teary eyes. "Surely, you understand the pain of isolation and mistreatment as well?"

For a moment, Dark Spyro's heart stung as the sight of his fellow Skylanders' piercing glares and snarls flared into the front of his memories, but Dark Spyro shook his head and stood his ground. Vathek was definitely trying to manipulate him, so he couldn't let his guard down!

"Ah, you do!" Vathek remarked. "You keep lying and telling yourself that surely they'll understand one day, but in the end—" Vathek frowned and looked aside, his eyes now filled with some kind of contempt "—they'll just abandon you at the drop of a hat! You know why?"

Vathek crept up to Dark Spyro, lifted up Dark's chin with his claws as those suspicious chills ran down Dark's spine.

"Your so-called friends don't understand you like I do! We're born allies, cut from the same cloth! If you work with me, we can leave them all behind and rule this place together!" Vathek grinned as he placed his wings beneath his back and walked back to his throne. "Of course, I won't force you if you don't wish to work with me. The decision is entirely yours."

Dark Spyro gulped and bit his lip as the sweat dripped down his back. His head was dizzy from all that strange, undead energy, and yet he still couldn't bring himself to look away from Vathek—or more specifically, that strange, ghastly glow that surrounded Vathek.

"So, what'll it be? Will you join me and rule, or go crawling back to those that want nothing more than your ruin?"