The dark Thumpback followed Frygus through the halls of this building. It seemed almost like a catacomb of some kind – maybe like some kind of an underground palace. Peter certainly didn’t see any windows, and he certainly recognized bones and skulls that seemed to make up the walls of some areas. Strange, some of them certainly didn’t look very human.

“Sae Frygus, whaur ye taken’ me?” Peter asked.

“To meet your new master. You may have not turned into a simple shadow to me, but about to the Dark Master himself?”

“Ah hope ye dorn’t mean Malefor.” Peter responded.

“You are correct.” The dragon turned around, gazing into Peter’s eyes with his own cold stare. “Very few of your kind can stand in the presence of the Dark Master without transforming.”

“Aam nae ‘at weak, ye underestimate me.” Peter said.

“Actions speak louder than words.” The ice dragon said, as Peter was lead to a rather ominous set of doors.

The Giant looked up over the doors. They were far too tall for a dragon the size of Frygus to open… but not for Malefor, if he remembered the dragon correct. Peter looked down over his own arms, then smiled down at the icy dragon.

“Ah got thes wee dragon.” Peter boasted, “Ah am a giant efter aw!”

Peter immediately placed his large hands against the door and pushed with all his might. Giants were strong enough to throw boulders after all – he even imagined Jet-Vac speaking about how the giants could throw a boulder and pull islands around.

“Peter.” Frygus said.

Peter ignored the dragon as he pushed again. The door was a lot heavier than it looked. It didn’t even budge when he pulled it.

“Peter.”

The dark thumpback ignored him as he finally pushed against the door with his shoulder.

“PETER.” Frygus shouted.

“Yeah?” Peter turned to the dragon.

“PULL.” Frygus instructed.

Peter immediately looked around for some kind of doorknob or a bar. Grabbing onto a giant femur, Peter immediately yanked with all his strength. Surprisingly, the door budged, finally starting to slide open towards him. As soon as Peter had enough room, he grabbed onto the other side of the door itself and pulled.

He didn’t say anything, as Frygus waved his wing to order the thumpback to follow. Peter lumbered in after him. Finally, he would get to meet this Dark Master up face to face. And maybe he would get to learn a little more about Frygus as well.

The room seemed to be pitch black. He couldn’t see very far into the room – apart from two lights that seemed to pierce through it… and into him, as well. He didn’t flinch – if this was the Dark Master he knew and loved, he wouldn’t want to back down for a second.

A loud bang was heard as soon as the dragon entered behind Peter. They were both thrown into pure darkness. Even those lights that must have been the Dark Master’s eyes seemed to go out. Peter didn’t move – maybe his eyes would eventually adjust to the darkness.

“So, you have survived Frygus’s corruption. Not many who have used those foolish portals have done it. But tell me, what is your real power?”

Peter recognized that voice. He bit his cetacean lip to keep from blurting out the master’s name. Fake obedience – then maybe he’ll let his guard down around you. He held still, looking to where he remembered those eyes.

Then, he was lifted up off of the ground. He felt something hard against his skin. Peter almost dropped his anchor – but at least it was chained to his back so he couldn’t lose it. He was hefted up off of the ground – quite an amazing feat given how much a giant weighed.

Finally, he got some light. Right in front of him was a very draconic looking face. He could make out purple scales illuminated by the yellow light from his eyes. They looked to be glowing – solid yellow. As Peter’s eyes adjusted, he could make out those familiar sets of horns.

Some steam arose, covering Peter. He held his breath for one moment – he didn’t even want to imagine how bad a dragon’s breath was. As soon as the smoke touched him, he felt his body tingling. A shiver ran up the thumpback’s spine, like he heard the sound of nails on a chalkboard.

“Good. You aren’t a mere shadow. You will do nicely.” Malefor said, a smile coming across his face.

“Ah tauld ye Frygus, aam nae a weaklin’!” Peter finally spoke.

Malefor didn’t respond. Neither did Frygus – wherever that dragon was.

“You will do nicely. I can see your potential already. You’ve been hiding it all this time.” Malefor said, “Allow me to finish what Frygus started on you, Mymic.”

“Mymic? Mah nam is Peter!”

“That outrageous accent will have to go.” Malefor said.

“Wot accent?” Peter said.

Malefor seemed to grow in Peter’s eyes. But then Peter felt his anchor vanishing, as well as the greaves around his legs. He was being turned back into a human.

“Hey! I liked that.” Peter said, immediately dropping the faked accent.

“I can’t believe I have to explain to my own subordinates how their powers work.” Malefor huffed to Peter. “But alas, it seems I have to. You are Mymic. Do you understand me, Mymic?”

Peter figured he had no choice but to nod… no way he’d be able to face Malefor without some kind of powerup.

“Good. And you have the power to, what else, mimic the Skylanders using your own powers over darkness. Frygus hasn’t fully awakened you. Only I can do it.”

Malefor’s eyes seemed to glow a little more, as Peter was nearly blinded. He shut his eyes, and then felt himself falling. He hit the ground painfully, right on his bum. He jumped right on up, rubbing over it.

As soon as he did, he felt something large. It wasn’t his bum, thankfully – it was something above it. With one loud “RIIIIP” and one loud THUNK, it slapped onto the ground. His spine seemed to jerk all of a sudden, as pins and needles spread across this new appendage.

While Peter couldn’t entirely see, he knew just what this was. The new limb responded to his mental commands, immediately wrapping around his lower legs. He knelt down and stroked it gradually – A tail! A thick reptilian tail, complete with scutes on the bottom.

Then Peter’s skin itched and squirmed. It was like he was feeling someone drawing small circles on his body – those were the scales. He felt over his arm, just as all the hairs vanished. Smooth, scaly skin. Dragon scales. If only he could see, accursed Malefor wasn’t nice enough to give him any bit of light.

Peter thought maybe he was being turned into Dino Rang, but he was proven wrong when he lost his balance. Peter’s feet extended massively, knocking him right off balance. He fell down onto his hands, somehow managing to stand on his feet. His spine cracked, as did his legs.

The changing human took a few experimental steps – it felt surprisingly natural. A grin spread across his face – just like Frygus he was becoming a dragon! Claws erupted from his fingers, scratching the bone and stone surface beneath him. His toes gained a similar set of claws. He scratched them across the ground a few times.

His neck stretched, arcing perfectly and letting him look forward. (Though in this inky darkness, it was hard to tell.) He clenched his eyes shut as soon as the changes engulfed his face. He felt his nose sinking into his face, as his mouth seemed to expand. Draconic muzzle – there it was.

Teeth poked out of his mouth, as his head felt a little heavier. There they were, horns. He couldn’t see them, but he knew they curved upwards, much thicker than Cynder’s. Thick enough that he could charge someone like a bull and possibly impale them. (Maybe if he lit them on fire, first.)

Small spiky ridges emerged from his head, replacing where his hair had been. They ran all the way down to his back, where his tail spike remained. Peter – or rather, Mymic wagged his tail excitedly, ignoring that his ears were gone. Finally, there was a squirming sensation at his back.

His wings emerged with a triumphant spread. First his left, then his right. He flapped them a few times, lifting his draconic body off of the ground. But that wasn’t it yet – he needed the breath. How could he conquer Malefor if he couldn’t breathe?

Finally Peter inhaled. He sneezed – but instead, fire emerged from his mouth. When he opened his eyes, he finally saw light. A yellow flame stood in front of him – he must have lit something on fire. Peter smiled, and finally looked over himself.

He most definitely was a purple dragon – at first Peter, or rather, Mymic wanted to say that he looked like Spyro. But there were a few small differences. His tail didn’t have a small little conical spire, it was a set of spikes. Rather than rough plates like a stegosaurus, he had sharp looking spikes.

Most notably, Mymic seemed to be a darker purple overall than Spyro. And he still had yellowish looking scutes. But no, they weren’t a bright yellow. they were a darker yellow, just like… the Dark Master himself.

“Shouldn’t I be mimicking Spyro?” Mymic asked, looking around for where Malefor might have been. He didn’t see any lights indicating the master’s eyes were looking at him.

Despite that, he knew that the dragon was still there.

“That is because that is your normal form… as a purple dragon that is. We purple dragons are rare. Why, Frygus is even a purple dragon over there.”

“Looked kind of icy to me…” Mymic said.

“His own power are linked to those gauntlets. I should not have to be explaining everything, Mymic. Now, your orders are to follow Frygus back to the portal.”

Mymic heard the door behind him open up. He turned around, noticing someone who looked strangely human leaning on the frame. (strange, when did he get there?) Mymic smiled and happily walked to the door – hoping that Malefor hadn’t caught onto him already planning the dark master’s downfall.

He got a closer look at the human. Dark hair, pale skin, black shirt, blue jeans. Strange, where had he seen somebody like that before? The human hid his eyes behind his glasses, seeming to be paying attention to his fingernails. At first, Mymic assumed this person was somebody different, until he saw something covering the back of his hand. The same colour as those gauntlets that Frygus wore.

“Alright Frygus, let’s go.” Mymic said, “You going like THAT?”

Frygus didn’t respond as he gestured for Mymic to leave the master’s chamber. The dragon stepped right on out. The heavy door closed behind him.

“This should be opportunity to train as a dragon… You know, humans are much easier to shift from.” Frygus said.

“Good. I really want to hail to the fucking whale again.” Mymic smiled. “Come on, show me.”

Frygus slid up one his left sleeve, showing the gauntlet on his hand. Mymic noticed the four glass-like stones on his gauntlet. Red, brown, green, and and orangeish yellow. Mymic immediately guessed what each of those coloured stones meant.

“Fire.” Frygus commanded, as the human was covered in a bright light.

Mymic watched the human’s shape change, a smile spreading across his face. At first he wanted to see if the human would become a fire-breathing dragon. But then, he noticed Frygus’s shape contorting in ways that didn’t suggest a dragon.

Frygus seemed to stand in a ‘t’ shape with his arms spread. His arms seemed to widen massively, getting larger and larger. His shoe-covered feet gained a surprising amount of detail – Notably three larger toes meant for gripping onto surfaces emerging. A fourth toe emerged from where his heel was.

Frygus’s body widened a little more, as a long ‘tail’ seemed to grow from the changing human’s rear. As soon as Mymic noticed Frygus’s wing-like arms finishing their growth, he turned his attention to his head.

He couldn’t make out the details specifically – not under this magical light. But, he got to make out the overall shape of Frygus’s modified face. A beak emerged from where his mouth and nose used to be, and a feathery crest emerged from the top of his head.

Just like that, they finished. Mymic looked over Frygus’s changed body. The human was most definitely a bird. Bright red and orange coloured feathers covered the bird’s body, with the exception of his yellow talons, and those gauntlets.

Mymic looked behind at the long tail feathers emerging from Frygus’s rear. They were quite long and majestic looking – various shades of red, orange and yellow. Finally, he looked up at the phoenix’s eyes. The yellow crest on his head definitely reminded him of his favourite Fire Skylander.

“You done checking me out?” The phoenix said.

“I’m just impressed. Say, I wonder if I can become dark Sunburn… wouldn’t that be good.”

“I’m sure you can. Now come, Mymic. We’re headed back to the home reality to continue the night.”

Frygus walked down the hall, followed closely by Mymic. The purple dragon smiled even more… he had it all planned. Maybe he could get Frygus to defect and they could stop Malefor together. After meeting the Skylanders of course. Wait until the real Skylanders saw him as their dark “other”. Not that dark was evil, of course. What kind of evil dark ‘other’ would be plotting his Dark “Master”’s demise?