The Legend of Spyro: Shadow of Doom

Prologue

Cynder walked through the halls of the Dark Masters fortress, ignoring the apes and monsters that bowed to her as she passed, her task was to important for her to be bothered by the formalities of lesser soldiers. Soon she arrived in a large chamber that served as a laboratory for Daedalus, the lead scientist of the apes, Malefore had recently approved of a plan proposed by the mad ape, and Cynder had gone herself to give him the news.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though Daedalus was not in his lab, most likely out gathering supplies for his experiments, it didn't matter to Cynder what he was out doing, all it meant was that she would have to wait for him to return before she could get back to fighting the dragons.

Thankfully, Daedalus had left her a cure for boredom, in the form of a young black dragon she had captured that was now chained to a table made of red crystals in the center of the room. Cynder walked over to the young dragon, an evil smile spread across her face, while she was certain that Daedalus would give her an earful if she harmed the young dragon, she was sure he wouldn't mind if she gave it the scare of a lifetime. As she approached the dragon, Cynder noticed the fear in his eyes, it was the fear of a dragon who knew he was facing his death, and there was nothing he could do to fight it.

"Are you scared you little scaled rat, humph, what am I saying? Of course your scared. Your chained to a table and trapped in a fortress with one of the most dangerous beings that ever lived." She said, keeping her voice soft and gently scratching his chin with one of her talons, causing the young dragon to panic even more, "It would be so simple to just end you right now, but fortunately for you there's someone who thinks you could be of more use to us alive."

"Yes, and he would appreciate it if you did not damage the subject."

Cynder turned her head to see Daedalus entering the room, a box of various tools in his hands.

"Ah Daedalus, it's nice to see that you finally decided to show up." Cynder replied angrily, "and don't worry about your precious little test subject, he's just a little shaken up, that's all" she said, removing her talon from his chin and using it to hold his jaw, she then slowly began to turn his head, viewing all sides of his terrified face.

"Why you think this pathetic excuse of a dragon is worth the trouble is beyond me, as soon as he saw me he fell to his knees and begged me to end him quickly, didn't even try to fight back, if you ask me we should just kill this miserable wretch." She said, eager to tear the shivering cowards throat open.

"But Malefore believes my plan has merit, doesn't he, or did you just not want me to come home and see that worms corpse on my table?" Daedalus said with a knowing tone,

"The Dark Master has given you permission to begin your experiment." Cynder answered

"I'll be dropping in from time to time to check on your progress and... Cherish the screams." Cynder finished, a twisted, sadistic smile spreading across her lips as she turned to leave.

"WAIT" the young dragon called to Cynder, his voice trembling, "Don't leave me here, don't leave me to be tortured by that thing." He begged, stuttering over every word.

"Oh don't worry young one," Cynder said, enjoying the young dragons fear, "Your not going to be tortured, your going to be experimented on, you won't die for our amusement." Cynder said.

"Why are you doing this to me? I have no element, no family, I don't even have a name."

Cynder simply said to the dragon "Your name is what you will be to the enemies of the Dark Master, to any who dare oppose the power of Malefore, your name is what they will feel as they draw there last breath, as there last drop of blood exits there veins, as they realize there fight is hopeless, your name is Doom."

"D-D-D-Doom?" The young dragon said.

"Yes,"Cynder replied coldly, "Now I have to go, but don't worry Daedalus is going to stay here and keep an eye on you."

"That's right, now hold still." Daedalus said, pulling a scalpel out of his box of tools.

"Wh-What's that for?" The young dragon asked fearfully,

"Shush now young one" Daedalus said in a soft, almost comforting voice, "Just hold still, and if you feel any pain, just remember that it's only your arm being cut off at the shoulder!" He said gleefully before stabbing the scalpel into the dragon.

Cynder walked out of the room, stopping at the door for a moment to enjoy the sound of the young dragon screaming in, well, saying it was agony would be a gross understatement.

Several years later

Daedalus lead Gaul through the tunnels of Malefore's fortress, talking on and on about something or other that the ape king had no interest in, all he wanted to do was get this over with and get back to the frontline before anything interesting happened,

"I know you are eager to return to the war Gaul." Malefore said, using a dark crystal to communicate with the ape king from his prison in the Well of Souls. "But try to keep focused, what Daedalus has been working on these past years could turn this war permanently in our favor."

"All I know is that there's been a lot of screaming coming out of his room over the years, in truth I thought it was just another torture chamber until I get the order to come all the way back here just to see some half finished experiment." Gaul said, making no effort to hide the agitation in his voice.

"Well my experiment may only be half finished, when completed it will prove even more effective then you pathetic soldiers ever were." Daedalus shot back.

"Silence, both of you!" Malefore shouted, "I'll not have my underling bickering like hatchlings while you show us your progress Daedalus."

"Yes and speaking of which." Daedalus said, opening the door to his laboratory, "Know, let me start at the beginning. Several years ago, Cynder captured a male black dragon, about the same age she would have been if she was not corrupted at the time. She brought him here to me so that I could begin my experiment, which you so graciously approved, Dark Master." Daedalus said, "which brings us to where we are now, BEHOLD." He shouted, pulling down a large curtain in the center of the room.

Gaul gasped at what was behind it, the young dragon, chained to a table of red crystals and nearly mutilated beyond recognition. His wings and tail had been cut clean off, as well as his right fore leg, there where large holes cut into his sides and chest where his still functioning organs could be seen, worst of all was what had happened to his head, his lower jaw and the entire left side of his throat had been removed, as had the top of his skull and the right side of his face, though his snout was still intact. As he looked closer, Gaul realized that he could not see the right side of the dragons brain, then he noticed it inside of a jar on a nearby shelf, and though Gaul held no love for the dragon race, he couldn't help but feel pity for the young dragon, the poor thing had spent most of his life chained to that table being cut to pieces by Daedalus.

"How is that little bastard even still alive?" Gaul asked.

"The table he's chained to is made crystals that have a healing effect on dragons," Daedalus said, "it's been keeping him alive all these years, and he doesn't even need to eat, sleep, drink, or breathe."

"Most impressive, Daedalus." Malefore said, "but tell me, are you ready to begin the second faze of your experiment?"

"The only reason I haven't already begun is to make certain you where satisfied with my progress, Dark Master." Daedalus said eagerly.

"Excellent, Gaul you may go and prepare for your assault on the temple, simply remember that I want Cynder captured alive and brought to the Well of Souls, the purple dragon they call Spyro should no doubt follow." Malefore ordered.

"Thank you sir," Gaul said, all to eager to get out of Daedalus's slaughter house. "I'll head back to the main army and begin the attack." And then he left.

"Daedalus, you may continue with the experiment." And with that the Dark masters crystal disappeared, leaving Daedalus alone with his favorite victim.

"Don't worry little one," Daedalus said, picking up a small metal object, "the hard part is over, now all we have to do is put you back together."

As he spoke, Doom got a better look at the object in Daedalus's hand, then realized in horror that it was a metal replica of a heart with small green crystals on the sides, then he felt the ape moving his hand into one of the hole that had been cut into his chest.

Doom knew what was coming, and he didn't fight it. He didn't struggle as he felt Daedalus's hand close around his heart.

He'd learned that struggling only made the pain worse.

Several hours after Malefore's defeat

With the Dark Master gone, there was nothing to keep the remains of his fortress floating above the Mountain of Malefore, the great fortress began to fall, slowly at first, but it gradually began to pick up speed as it fell, until it finally hit the ground and was reduced to rubble.

Then something rose up out of the rock pile, at first glance it appeared to be a young black dragon, the same age as Spyro and Cynder. But looking closer, it was clear that he was no normal dragon, his wings and tail where both made of metal, as was his right fore leg, there where plates of metal fused into his sides and his chest was almost completely replaced with metal. Worst of all was his head, his lower jaw and the left side of his throat where both completely metal, the top of his skull, the right side of his face, and his horns where also reconstructed in this manner, his right eye was completely red with no pupil or lid, just a red, featureless eye, his left eye on the other hand was completely normal except for the red colored iris, he had two horns shaped like halves of a cresent moon, both curved in the opposite direction, nearly creating a circle above his head, his tail had a spearhead at the end, almost identical to Spyro's.

The strange new dragon looked around, adjusting to his new environment, adjusting to freedom; something he hadn't had in over ten years, "Alright, let's see if I can work the equipment that evil bastard fused into me." He thought, wanting to test his new abilities on a greater level than the times he'd broken out of whatever was being used to restrain him, then a thought came to him, he already knew how to use everything that Daedalus had grafted into him, why not put them to good use and, oh sweet irony, use them to kill the very beings that had filled his life with pain.

The dragon activated a special scanner that Daedalus had grafted into his brain, and set it to search for Malefore, the dragon who had approved the mad apes plans to rebuild him, but to his displeasure he found that the Dark Master was untraceable, and the only way that was possible was if he was dead. The dragon reset his scanner, this time searching for Gaul, only to be met by the same result. Frustrated the dragon began thinking, he knew that Daedalus was dead, he'd seen to that the first time he escaped, so why did he feel like he had some unfinished business. Then a thought popped into his head, he reset the scanner, and was given a sense of satisfaction when it drew a path to the exact location of his target.

The dragon looked down from the mountain, into a forest in the distance, and could barely contain himself when he saw a crosshair appear over a small energy source in the trees. The dragon was filled with a dark joy, finally he would have revenge against the very being who had brought him to that fortress, ordered him experimented on, and then stood bye and cherished his every last scream of pain.

Looking down at his target, Doom loosed an angry roar,

"CYNDER!"