Ghost of the Lioness

Ghost of the Lioness is the 6th story in the Claus and his Skylanders series.

= Prologue =

Riverik was sleeping inside one of the puddles he could use as a portal. He was unable to see, and completely hidden. He was breathing heavily in his sleep, cuddling his top hat next to him. Suddenly, there was a large screech. Riverik’s eyes opened. He roared loudly and emerged from the puddle.

Right there, right in front of him, was the dead body of Porky.

“I thought I got rid of this thing!”

Suddenly, the corpse went away in the blink of an eye as a ghost-like figure of Porky in his mech flashed in front of him. The mech exploded, not even having a small affect on Riverik, went up into a little capsule, crashed, and Porky got killed by an invisible claw, screaming.

“I swear, this is the exact same thing that happened a few days ago! Minus that scream…”

The ghost-like figure reenacted Porky’s final moments. Riverik tried to go back to sleep, but the loud screams that came every few minutes kept him up. Eventually, Riverik had enough, and rammed through the figure, only to find out it just screamed again, as if it was indestructible. Suddenly, the ghost disappeared. Riverik breathed heavily.

“What the heck just happened?!”

= Chapter 1: And Then There Were None =

Count sighed, sipping coffee from a mug. He looked through his to do list.

“go bak 2 jamaa LLLLL”

“tel da boanz uv blakmuun u luv hur LLLLL”

“finully pley mother 3 JJJJJJ”

“kill urself LLL”

Count squinted. “Agh, for some reason I spell terribly when thinking about Blackmoon.” He growled. He walked over to the TV, grabbed the remote with his claw, and turned on the news.

“PORKY FOUND DEAD CLOSE TO FORBIDDEN LAND”

Count gasped, and then smiled. “Finally. Sweet, sweet Blackmoon… Your killer is now gone…” he told himself. He crawled up and stared into the mirror. “You’ve been doing nothing but crying since Blackmoon died! Go and try to find out something about Skylands! Wait, no! Blackmoon was your friend, and your only one!” he argued with himself, crying. He knocked down the mirror, watching the glass shatter on the floor. He walked out of the room and outside of the house, looking into the sky.

“Blackmoon… I never forgot you... I’m so sorry… I should’ve protected you in the battle against Porky… But I just watched you die instead… I’m such an idiot. I will admit something right now; I went into the portal opened by Claus because I thought you were there. That’s why… I never… Forgot… You…” He held his claw up to his heart, holding back tears. Suddenly, he felt a paw on the back of his head. He turned around.

It was the ghost of Blackmoon.

Count blushed, and started to cry. “Blackmoon… You’re back…” he looked sincerely into her ghostly eyes. She smiled, putting her paw around Count. Count hugged the phantom lioness tightly.

“I… I love you. I always have.” He whispered.

Blackmoon closed her eyes and nodded, hugging Count back. The cold chill of the ghost’s arms wrapping around Count didn’t bother him, he was purely happy to see Blackmoon back. He smiled, putting his snout up to the skull that covered her face.

“I love you too.” She replied in her cold spirit voice.

Count tipped his top hat. He blushed intensely.

Blackmoon took off her skull mask, revealing her face. Count smiled. The skull mask seemed to become less of a phantom and more “real”. He touched the mask, and noticed it felt less cold than when Blackmoon wore it as a phantom and more like how it felt before her death.

“Keep my mask… Hopefully we will meet again… Goodbye, Count.” She whispered.

Blackmoon’s spirit disappeared.

Count started to cry again. He picked up the skull mask, threw his top hat onto the ground, and put on the skull mask.

It fit perfectly.

“No, I shouldn’t be impersonating the one I love… I shouldn’t wear this… No, I know what to do… I know… What… To… Do…” Count took off the skull helmet and put back on his top hat. He walked over into his bedroom, putting the skull on the bed, directly across from Count, who was sitting on the floor. He whimpered quietly. He picked up a blade under his bed, and held it directly between him and the skull.

“I’m coming for you, Blackmoon.”

He took the sword and swiftly swiped off one of his front legs. He fell down, blood flooding out. Fangrr looked through the window and gasped. He broke off the door with his fangs and ran towards Count.

“C-Count, please don’t do this… You’re one of the few of us from 2012 left… Almost everyone else has been thrown into the Galactic Generator or is dead…” he sobbed. He looked at Count’s detached claw. On the claw was his purple spiked wristband. “Count… You mean a lot to us…” Fangrr told him, crying. Count growled. “That’s a lie, Fangrr… It’s just a huge lie…” Fangrr put his paw on Count’s remaining hand.

“Some of us just aren’t famous. Do you see ‘FANGRR 4 PRESIDENT’ posters everywhere? I don’t recall Charger being that popular, not even in 2012. Magiciano has gotten a bad reputation due to being friends with Vecoline. Fritus was never big, and Grifflin was barely a thing.”

Count started to cry.

“It’s not because of fame… It’s because of the loss of my love and best friend...You know, I sort of miss Vec, and Leo was one of my friends for a while, but Blackmoon... Holy phazon... Don't remind me, please, that loss was the size of the My Little Pony fanbase... But yes, I miss Blackmoon… You’ll laugh… H-her spirit came to me and…”

Count put his single claw on the skull mask. Fangrr nodded. “I know what I can do.” He whispered to him. Count slowly closed his eyes. “Too… Much… Blood… Lost…” he whimpered.

“Once a Life Skylander…”

Fangrr looked down at Count.

“Always a Life Skylander…” He completed Count’s sentence.

Count smiled.

Count took a deep breath, and then slowly shut his eyes completely.

“Just remember I was smiling.”

= Chapter 2: Spread the Word! =

25 minutes later…

Fangrr flew around Skylands in a hot air balloon. “COUNT DESERTSTONE HAS KILLED HIMSELF!” he shouted into a megaphone. He flew across Dragon Island. Drago was sitting in his treehouse, with the UC right next to him. He was playing Tetris, like usual. “COUNT DESERTSTONE HAS KILLED HIMSELF!” he shouted into the megaphone, close to the treehouse. The Ultimate Chimera groaned. “Oh, come on! My first day in months away from Claus’ house and back in Drago’s treehouse, only to get THIS news?!” he complained. Drago threw his Gameboy into the UC’s paws in shock. He poked his head outside, noticing Fangrr in the hot air balloon. “Fangrr! It’s been a long time!” he greeted. “THERE’S NO TIME TO TALK! YOU NEED TO TELL CLAUS! SPREAD THE NEWS!” Fangrr scolded into the megaphone directly at Drago. “Oh, come on, Drago! Photoshop is a thing, you know!” The UC grunted.

Drago flew out of the treehouse. He quickly knocked on Claus’ door, and Ridley opened it. “COUNT KILLED HIMSELF!” he screamed at Ridley. “Yeah, I heard the news as well! Fangrr posted it on his Skybook page!”

Meanwhile…

Fangrr jumped out of the hot air balloon and ran into Count’s house, only to notice cameras flashing. He sprinted into the bedroom. Fangrr couldn’t see the carcass at all, as tons of creatures were around the room taking snapshots of the disaster. Fangrr sighed and jumped behind the TV.

1 hour later…

Every single guest was gone. Fangrr slowly walked away from the TV. He slowly walked towards Count.

The skull mask of Blackmoon was on his bloodstained clover blanket.

= Chapter 3: Night of the Funeral =

2 days later…

Many Skylanders gathered around Count’s grave, which was in the middle of the grassy pastures that replaced the crocodile kingdom that was thrown into the Galactic Generator he used to live in. Fangrr stood behind everyone. The Mecha-Drago, who was right in front of him, turned around. “Why did Count do this…?” he asked. Fangrr put his hand on the Mecha-Drago’s large snout. “He really missed Blackmoon, or at least that’s what he said.” The Mecha-Drago gasped. “I thought he forgot about Blackmoon because of the whole 2012 time travel incident!” Fangrr shook his head. “Maybe it wasn’t past Count who saw Blackmoon die. Maybe it was present Count.” He told the Mecha-Drago. Claus walked towards the Mecha-Drago and Fangrr. Fangrr’s eyes widened. “Wow, this is the first time I’ve ever seen Claus!” he thought out loud. Claus smiled a bit.

“I don’t know why, but I get the feeling you started something huge. But, strange feelings aside, I have noticed a lot of people have died lately… Blackmoon, Vecoline, Mother Brain, Porky, and now, Count…”

Fangrr sighed. “The only few of us from 2012 left are me, Charger, Sobek, and Grifflin.”  Fangrr walked towards Count’s grave.

“STARCLAW ‘COUNT’ DESERTSTONE

???? – AUGUST 18, 2014

MAY HE REST WITH BLACKMOON FOR ALL ETERNITY.”

The Ultimate Chimera sat next to Fangrr. “Starclaw? That name sounds AWESOME! Why did he change it?!” he roared. Fangrr sighed. Suddenly, he remembered something. “Wait here, guys…” he told Claus and the Mecha-Drago.

Fangrr ran away from the grave, and into Count’s abandoned home. He looked through the bed and found the skull mask Blackmoon wore. He put it in between his horns, stiffly holding it up. He carefully ran back to the grave, and slowly placed the skull mask right next to Count’s grave, crying.

The Ultimate Chimera sat with the Mecha-Drago, playing Pokémon White. “Doesn’t Route 10’s theme sound like Run, My Dog, Run! From our game?” he asked. The Mecha-Drago nodded.

Claus looked at the time on the built-in watch on his arm cannon. “It’s getting kind of late.” He assumed. Fangrr’s hot air balloon appeared behind him. “You guys can take my hot air balloon… I’m staying here…” Fangrr said. Fernstar rushed into balloon, with the UC and Mecha-Drago shortly after running in. Claus, Ridley, and Drago flew off onto Dragon Island. Fernstar poked his head out of the hot air balloon. “Thanks, Fangrr!” he cheered. Fangrr nodded. The hot air balloon lifted off of the ground and into the sunset.

Fangrr sighed, looking at the grave. Suddenly, he heard a voice.

“So, I heard Claus was here…”

= Chapter 4: What is the Pork Incident? =

The Ultimate Chimera looked out of the hot air balloon and saw the land under him. The balloon tumbled from side to side. “Um, guys…” Fernstar and the Mecha-Drago looked at the UC. “Look…” They were all in the forbidden land.

Suddenly, some lightning hit the hot air balloon, and it fell to the ground. The Mecha-Drago roared in midair as Fernstar and the Ultimate Chimera grabbed onto his hands.

Suddenly, they all landed in what seemed like a land of endless concrete, rain, and thunder. Fernstar poked his head out and looked around. “Oh phazon, I’m HERE again…” shortly after, the chimera fainted. The Ultimate Chimera jumped out of the Mecha-Drago’s arms and walked around.

“Man, the rain here is heavy.”

The Mecha-Drago got back on his feet and walked slowly towards a puddle to look at his reflection. He sighed, and then suddenly, the reflection turned into a sea serpent. Not just any sea serpent, but a large Maskian Sea Serpent with a top hat. The Mecha-Drago gasped. The Maskian Serpent flew out of the water and right behind the Mecha-Drago.

“I AM RIVERIK! NOBODY IS ALLOWED HE-“he turned his head around, and caught the sight of Fernstar, the first nice person he met in 12 years. “Well, I guess I’ll let you live. After all, you have the Snivy with you…”

The Ultimate Chimera gasped. “Hey, I heard rumors that Porky’s body was found around here…” he explained. Riverik sighed. “Don’t tell anyone this, but I killed Porky right in front of Fernstar. I buried the body, but I made the rain a tad bit too heavy… Heh heh… So the dirt was pushed near the entrance.” The Mecha-Drago’s eyes widened. Riverik sighed. “Please don’t tell anybody. Also, you are actually close to the Drago Pit and Claus’ house. Just go south and you’ll eventually leave.” Riverik explained. The Mecha-Drago put the unconscious Fernstar in between his eyes and walked south. “Goodbye, Riverik!” The Ultimate Chimera said, walking towards the Mecha-Drago, smiling. Once the three were out of sight, Riverik sighed and went into another puddle, poking his head out.

“They better not phazoning tell anyone.”

Once the UC returned to Claus, house. He headed straight for Claus’ room, but he wasn’t there. “Huh?” he growled to himself. Ridley walked into the room. “I think he’s in the basement”. The Ultimate Chimera gasped. “OH PHAZON, HE’S GOING TO FIND OUT ABOUT MY POKEMON CARD OBSESSION!” he roared, running straight into the basement.

In the basement, there was a large flatscreen TV connected to a Wii. Across from the TV was a large and old couch with Giegue-themed covers. Pillows the same color as the couch were on both of the arms and three large classic Spyro-themed pillows were on the back.

Sitting on the couch with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk was Claus, playing Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

The Ultimate Chimera giggled a bit. “A Metroid-obsessed basement dweller, eh?”

On the walls, there were tons of Metroid-themed posters around Claus’ area. The UC was relieved that this was in a different part of the basement than the part he kept his Pokémon cards in. On the floor was a bunch of figurines of the Omega Metroid, Kraid, Crocomire, Arachnus, Nightmare, and other Metroid bosses. Next to Claus was a Ridley plush. The Ultimate Chimera walked towards Claus and sat next to him, holding the Ridley plush.

Claus felt heavy breathing next to him. He looked next to him, and gasped at the sight of the UC before focusing on the screen again. “So, uhh, what are you doing…?” he asked. “I’m doing that annoying fetch quest at the end of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. I’m trying to move onto Corruption. I’m playing the trilogy on the Wii, if you don’t notice. Also, I forgot to tell you, Ridley is ‘going after his dreams’ and downloaded a Mother 3 ROM on his laptop last night.” Claus smiled. “Well, it’s a ROM, but okay. He’s going to cry for the first time in ages.” The Ultimate Chimera smiled. “He said it looked fun.” Claus nodded.

In the corner of his eye, the UC noticed his diary titled “DEEP THOUGHTS ABOUT EMBER”.

Claus reached his hand out to grab it, and before he could grab it, the UC took it and ripped it apart.

“Phew.” He sighed in relief after biting it.

Suddenly, Ridley flew downstairs.

“CHIMERA! DUDE! THE PATCH DOESN’T WORK! I’VE TRIED EVERYTHING, INCLUDING GETTING HELP FROM RAYMAN USING JOIN.ME!” he complained. Claus continued playing Metroid Prime 2. “PLEASE MAN, YOU’VE GOT TO HELP ME!” Ridley screamed. Claus groaned and picked up a remaining page of the diary the UC ripped into shreds.

“Still better than the Commander’s diary about Rayman.”

= Chapter 5: Obsessed Basement Dwellers =

The UC walked upstairs and sat next to Ridley, who was on his laptop. “NO MATTER WHAT I DO, NOTHING WILL WORK!” he complained. The UC sighed. “I’m an emulator expert. I can help with this.”

The UC got on the computer.

2 hours later…

“SORRY BUDDY, I CAN’T HELP YOU!” The UC roared, returning to the basement to watch Claus play Metroid Fusion. Ridley sighed, staring at the screen. He threw the computer onto the ground and destroyed the remains. “I NEED TO PHAZONING PLAY MOTHER 3 BEFORE I DIE!” he screamed. Drago flew in and grabbed a book from the bookshelves. “Hey, there’s this fanmade guide of it with awesome illustrations and stuff!” Ridley took the book out of Drago’s paws and flipped through the pages. “Wow, this is really nice! I love it! Thanks a lot Dra-WHY DOES CLAUS HAVE THE COMMANDER’S EYES IN THIS?!” he complained. Drago sighed. “Don’t pay attention to the last page. Just flip through the other pages.” Drago instructed. Ridley sighed, looking through the book’s clay models and art. “Besides, it’s made by the Mother 3 fandom, so of course it’s going to have Claus with the Commander eyes. They ALWAYS draw him that way.” Drago explained. Ridley looked at the first few pages.

“AGH! THIS SEEMS SO AWESOME! Fun gameplay, Dragos, a fire in the forest, a Mole Cricket that is basically the reincarnation of Portal Master Tarantula… AGH, THIS GAME SEEMS EXCELLENT!” he gushed. The Ultimate Chimera returned from the basement.

“You know what I just realized?”

Drago and Ridley turned around to pay attention to the UC.

“Ridley is a Metroid character who is a Mother 3-obsessed basement dweller while Claus is a Mother 3 character who is a Metroid-obsessed basement dweller. Drago is a Pokémon and appears to also be a Mother 3 –obsessed basement dweller, and I’m a Pokémon-obsessed basement dweller. Pretty ironic, I know.”

Drago sighed. “I’m a Tetris-obsessed basement dweller.”

= Chapter 6: Tragic Reconstruction =

Fangrr sat at the grave. The spiderlike ghost around him was moving from side to side, around the grave.

“Have you ever thought maybe the other Skylanders left because they were… Jealous?” the ghost inside the phantom spider mech said. Fangrr sniffled, wiping the tears off of his face.

“They are jealous as you have been here since January 2012 and they are new to this…?”

Fangrr cried harder. “Well, I don’t know… Count wasn’t though…” he sniffled. The figure leaned towards him.

“I can become one with you. Become one with the pig king.”

Fangrr’s eyes widened.

“You will become the strongest of them all. You will never be overshadowed again.”

Fangrr looked up at the spirit of none other than Porky Minch, who was now hovering shortly above him.

“I… I don’t… I feel unneeded…” Fangrr sighed.

“Would you like some help with your life?”

Fangrr closed his eyes and tried to block the tears flowing out of his eyes.

“I will unlock your true power. Never deal with the sad truth the world is ever again.”

Fangrr didn’t know what to do anymore.

Sobek flew towards the grave and landed right next to Fangrr.

“Please, Fangrr, don’t do this! You’re not going to be Porky’s machine!”

Fangrr opened his crimson eyes as if he realized something.

“Please, Fangrr, don’t!”

Fangrr hissed at Sobek.

“You know who you are! You are Fangrr, not Porky!”

The ghost of Portal Master Porky slowly moved towards the monitor lizard.

“No...” Fangrr softly said. One of the legs of the phantom mech touched one of the jade scales on his back.

“Goodbye, Sobek. I’m sorry. I have no choice.”

Sobek held his wings tightly against his body, trying to hold back tears.

“No… Please…”

Fangrr took a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry.”

The red ghost of Porky was sucked into Fangrr’s body. Fangrr gasped, and started panting and pleaded as if he was hanging on to his life and these were his last few seconds. A red aura surrounded him, getting smaller and smaller, slipping into his scales. As the last bits of the aura fell into his rough membrane, he inched closer to Sobek.

“Goodbye.”

When the aura disappeared, Fangrr collapsed.

Sobek pressed his wings hard against his sides, knowing Fangrr was now dead.

Fangrr’s eyes opened again, this time glowing. He lifted himself off of the ground.

Fangrr laughed as the thunder crackled behind him. “Fangrr is gone forever. He left you. All of those that believed in him and deeply knew him have been betrayed. His body is simply a vessel for me now. Forget Fangrr. Forget him. He isn’t Fangrr. He is Porky. Why must you all cling onto life with such pitiful minds and feeble hearts? I am ashamed to have ever been associated with this dreadful world. One thing Riverik didn’t realize is that I am not going away. No, a simple demise will not finish me off.” The green Life symbol on Fangrr’s collar transformed into the pink Pigmask logo as the remaining bits and pieces of Fangrr’s former self died, left to rot in the past.

Sobek spread his wings and lifted off of the ground with his antenna blowing in the wind.

“I miss you, Fangrr…”

He flew off to Dragon Island.

= Chapter 7: The Water’s Great =

The Ultimate Chimera stood in Claus’ backyard. Ridley held his iPhone five feet away from him. Above the Ultimate Chimera was Drago, flapping his wings, holding a bucket of water with cold ice. Ridley tapped the record button on the camera. “1… 2… 3!” he counted. Drago dumped the bucket of water and ice on the UC as the UC screamed. Ridley stopped the video, laughing. Drago stayed outside to get more water and ice as the wet UC and Ridley walked in. Ridley ran up to Claus’ room.

“Hey, Claus, have you ever heard of the ice bucket challenge?” he asked.

Claus shook his head.

Ridley got in front of Claus and played the video.

“Okay, whatever. Now get out of the room, because I don’t phazoning care.”

Ridley sighed.

“Oh, fine!” Claus reached from behind his bed, and picked up a Mother 3 poster. “This was for your birthday, but I forgot to give it to you, so…” Before Claus could finish his sentence, Ridley took the poster out of his hands, roared happily, and ran out of the room. Claus sighed. He continued typing on his computer.

so porkee just came in and was like “OGM DID U HEER ABBOWT TEH ISE BUKKET CHALLUNJ???”

Downstairs, the Ultimate Chimera sat on the couch with a Pokémon-themed towel around his back. Ridley flew next to him, wrapping his right wing around him. Suddenly, there was knocking on the door. Claus ran downstairs and looked through the window.

Sobek was there, knocking hardly with the ridges of his wings and slapping his tail against the door. He bit off the doorknob.

“Ah! The doorknob! Why did you have to come off at a time like this!?”

The door opened and Claus was in Sobek’s line of sight. Flapping out of fear, the doorknob flew right out of Sobek’s wingspans.

“Claus! Claus! This is really important! Porky’s spirit took over Fangrr’s body and now Fangrr IS Porky!”

Claus moaned. “Great, Sobek! Another idea for my new story, Ghost of the Lioness!”

Sobek slapped Claus with one of his wings. “I’m completely serious!” Claus picked up a newspaper Sobek held in his wings and took off his mask to read it clearly.

“FANGRR GAINS PERSONALITY OF PORKY AND INEXPLICABLY GAINS A PIGMASK COLLAR”

Drago flew into the room.

“Hey, Claus!”

Claus didn’t know what to listen to; Sobek, the newspaper, or Drago.

“Ice bucket challenge!”

Ridley started filming Claus as Drago dumped a bucket of cold water and ice onto Claus. Claus simply stood there, sighing.

“Claus… Why are you sane?”

Ridley stopped filming.

“Phazon you, Drago, now my hair is wet.”

Drago left the room.

Claus ran upstairs. Loud hairdryer noises were heard. Claus walked back downstairs, his hair completely dry and normal again.

“Now, what were you saying, Sobek?”

Drago flew into the room

“Hey, Claus!”

Claus didn’t know what to listen to; Sobek, the newspaper, or Drago.

“Ice bucket challenge!”

Ridley started filming Claus as Drago dumped a bucket of cold water and ice onto Claus. Claus simply stood there, sighing.

“Claus… Why are you sane?”

Ridley stopped filming.

“Phazon you, Drago, now my hair is wet.”

Drago left the room.

Claus ran upstairs. Loud hairdryer noises were heard. Claus walked back downstairs, his hair completely dry and normal again.

Drago flew into the room.

Ridley started filming again, laughing.

“Hey, Claus!”

Claus groaned.

“Ice bucket cha-“

Claus flipped the bucket and made Drago pour the water and ice on himself. He fell down, screaming and cursing violently. Ridley couldn’t stop laughing. Drago got off of the ground. “Sorry Mr. Masked Man…” he apologized. Ridley stopped filming. “Holy phazon, I am putting this video on EVERYTHING!” Ridley cheered as he uploaded the video to many websites.

Drago walked into the living room, shivering, and sat next to the UC, who was now dry. He was watching the news.

“5 seconds ago, a video went viral! This video is about Claus getting ice bucket challenged two times by Drago, and the third time, Claus flips the bucket and gets his unfounded revenge on Drago. This video is 10 seconds old, yet there are already billions of memes and fansites surrounding it. Why? That’s just the way this world works.”

Claus groaned.

“Can we get the plot moving already? We’re just talking about this stupid ice bucket challenge inside joke-one that isn’t even funny- that came right out of phazoning nowhere.”

Sobek covered his face with his wings.

“Claus, stop breaking the fourth wall.”

Claus nodded.

= Chapter 8: Fate =

Suddenly, Fangrr leaped from the front porch and landed right next to Claus.

“Ah, when you watched the news and it turned out those rumors of a serpent killing me were true, I bet you felt safe, huh? Well, TOO BAD. The body of this insignificant monitor lizard is now my vessel for travelling Skylands and killing you for real.”

Fangrr leaped towards Claus, his fangs shining, but before he could strike him in the heart with his fangs, the Ultimate Chimera leaped in front of him and pushed him away.

Two reptilian Skylanders that both relied on their teeth for attacking swiped their claws at each other, hissing. In the middle of the battle, the Pigmask emblem in Fangrr’s collar flashed back into a Life symbol for a few seconds, as if the old Fangrr tried to come back. Fangrr started to cry, but Porky still had control of him, and Fangrr swiftly clawed the UC.

“I… I don’t want to do this do you… I don’t want to hurt you…”

Fangrr’s Life symbol transformed back into the Pigmask logo and his eyes started glowing again.

“YES I DO!”

The Ultimate Chimera threw Fangrr into the wall. Some cracks on the Pigmask logo were visible. Phazon! If this piggy emblem breaks, Fangrr is revived! Fangrr… Errr… Porky thought to himself. He covered the Pigmask symbol with his claw and slashed his teeth across the UC’s face, leaving a red mark across his forehead.

Sobek’s wings flared open as he quickly soared towards Fangrr. He bit Fangrr’s tail spade, holding him back. He tried to let out a Platinum Heart to defeat him, but he just couldn’t do it. Fangrr turned around, and his cracked Pigmask symbol turned into a normal Life symbol. “S-Sobek… Use the move… It’s the only way…” As the Pigmask emblem returned, the Ultimate Chimera pounced on Fangrr, scraping some of the tiny scales off of his horns with his teeth. A vine was unleashed from the ground, pushing the Ultimate Chimera and Sobek away. Fangrr yelped as he felt a pain in his tail, and he looked behind him, noticing Sobek had to hang on tightly.

“I don’t want to do this…”

Fangrr sliced his long fangs across Sobek’s face, freeing him. Fangrr rammed into the Ultimate Chimera, but the Ultimate Chimera grabbed one of his horns and threw him into Sobek. Sobek cleared his mind as the monitor lizard tumbled towards him, and as Fangrr was about to slam into him, he let go of a Platinum Heart, causing a large explosion.

Ridley and Drago got back up. “Is Fangrr gone…?” Ridley asked. The house was in ruins. The floors had soot all over them, the stairs were burning, the windows were all broken, the chandelier dropped onto the ground, and large chunks of the walls were gone. Claus was lying against the door. Drago crouched down. “Oh phazon, Claus is unconscious. He’s not dead, but he’s unconscious.” Ridley grabbed Claus and headed for his living room. Drago sat on the floor, worried.

Sobek flew towards Fangrr. He wasn’t breathing. The Pigmask symbol started to crack, and eventually, it broke off of the collar. A red, steam-like being came out of the Pigmask emblem, and it grew a face, and started to scream.

It became clear who this was.

It was Giygas.

“Oh, I make the world so h…a…p…p…y… Taking creatures, putting them into the Chimera Lab and making them into one of my…

F…r…i…e…n…d…s…”

Giygas suddenly transformed into the red ghost of Porky which Sobek and Fangrr saw earlier. Fangrr rested motionless on the ground. The phantom Porky let out an ear-piercing scream and disappeared into the shadows, hopefully gone for the last time. Sobek tried not to cry.

“Thank you, Ultimate Chimera… Fangrr would get a terrible status if it wasn’t for you…” Sobek cradled the corpse of the monitor lizard in his wings. The Ultimate Chimera nodded. “Oh, it’s all right. It wasn’t Fangrr’s fault, it was Porky’s fault.”

Suddenly, another spirit appeared.

It was Blackmoon, with a new phantom mask with blue gems around the holes for the eyes.

“I… I’m so sorry. I made this happen. I admitted my love for Count, making him kill himself because he missed me even more. This lead to Fangrr sitting at Count’s grave, which Porky’s ghost roamed. Porky seemed to have become fully corrupted by Giygas as a ghost, having many qualities… And what just happened solidifies my theory. What I mean is that Porky IS Giygas. Porky corrupted Fangrr, taking full control of his body… Leading to this… I’m so sorry… Here’s something to say I’m sorry…”

Blackmoon handed over a small gem.

“It allows you to go into alternate futures. Maybe you can find a more fortunate future…” Blackmoon sighed. “Goodbye.”

In a flash, Blackmoon was gone.

Sobek’s antenna drooped. He softly held Fangrr in his wings. “I’ll see if there’s anything I can do about poor Fangrr. See you later.” Sobek then left the house, closing the door, which lost both doorknobs now.

= Chapter 9: Metroid-Obsessed Basement Dweller =

Claus’ eyes slowly opened. “Agh… What happened?” he asked. Ridley, who was above him, sighed. “Well, you were knocked out. I mean, your bedroom is fine, but take a look downstairs…” Claus got up and looked down at where the stairs would be. He hovered down using his jetpack and gasped.

“MY HOUSE!”

The hallway to the living room was blocked by debris. He moved the remains of the material that made the wall and looked in the living room. The couches were flipped, the TV was broken, the lamp was in pieces, and the carpet was ripped into shreds. Worried, Claus ran to the basement.

“Thank Arceus my Metroid stuff is still here…” he picked up the cover of Deep Thoughts About Ember and read the back.

“Agh, she’s just so cute! Why must she be so far away?! I dream about her every night!

~Ultimate Chimera 2014”

Claus sighed and put the book under the couch. The Ultimate Chimera, Ridley, and Drago came into the basement and sat next to Claus. Claus ignored them and picked up his GBA. He took out the Mother 3 cartridge, which Ridley instantly grabbed, and put in the Metroid Zero Mission cartridge.

“Okay, guys, here we go!”

= Chapter 10: It’s Chimera Research =

Sobek stood near the remains of the Chimera Lab. He replaced Count’s missing arm with a robotic claw with lava-like structures. He studied Count’s DNA structure, which was displayed in a tiny box which he read off of. He picked up one of Porky’s old needles. This one wasn’t baby Drago DNA- it was dragon DNA. He injected it into Count, and then put Count in a large tank filled with a green liquid. In the tank was a tube which connected to Count’s nose as if he needed to breathe. Sobek pressed a button, causing curtains to fold around the large tank and surgery to be performed by robotics.

Count was getting a robotic heart.

His corpse was going to be reanimated.

He would be a Mechanical and Biological chimera.

Sobek picked up Fangrr, and studied his DNA structure, and found out something nobody knew.

Fangrr already was a chimera.

In the DNA stream, there was Monitor Lizard DNA and saber-toothed cat DNA, resulting in Fangrr.

“Not much has to be done.”

He ripped open some of Fangrr’s scales on his chest, adding a metal frame to his ribcage. He carefully sewed back up the hole and put Fangrr into another tank, just like Count’s tank, with the breathing tube connected to his nose. He pressed another button, causing the curtains to fold. Sobek’s antenna drooped.

“I am a master of chimeras…”

The Platinum Dragon slowly slithered towards a needle labeled “DO NOT TOUCH”, with the words “Space Pirate Dragon DNA” under in tiny text. Sobek sighed and held up the needle in one of his wings.

“I am in desperate need of power.”

Sobek put the needle in his chest and slowly took it out. He felt his scales get rougher, his teeth get sharper, and most of all; he felt one of his eyes pumping as if it were his heart. He looked into the water for his reflection.

He had one platinum dragon purple eye and one space pirate dragon yellow and orange eye.

With the powers of two rare dragon species combined, he now felt unbelievably deadly. Suddenly, the curtains on Fangrr’s tank started to fold. The green fluid, which was now mixed with blood, was drained from the tank. Fangrr’s eyes opened.

“Hello there, Fangrr. I thought you were a goner.” Sobek greeted. He opened the lid to the tank, and Fangrr crawled out. Fangrr wrapped his arm around Sobek.

“I’m sorry for not telling anyone I was a chimera earlier. It was a meaningless secret. I’m so sorry…”

Sobek wrapped his wing around Fangrr. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”

Suddenly, the curtains folded around Count’s tank. The green liquid and blood were drained from the tank, however, unlike Fangrr; Count didn’t look pleased at all he was revived. He ripped off the lid. The crawled out, hissing.

“I WAS PERFECTLY FINE DEAD! I WAS FINE WITH BLACKMOON! THEN YOU JUST REVIVE ME! WHY?! WHAT’S THE POINT?! IT JUST MAKES EVERYONE MAD! WANT TO KNOW WHY? BECAUSE I’M ALIVE AGAIN. EVERY EMOTION THEY HAD FROM THE INCIDENT HAS BEEN PHAZONED OVER. NOBODY CARES ABOUT ME AND NOW I’M ALIVE AGAIN. ARCEUS. OH NO, NOT ONLY DID YOU REVIVE ME, BUT YOU MADE ME INTO A CHIMERA! I WAS PERFECTLY FINE AS A CROCODILE! I NOW I’M BOTH A DRAGON AND A CROCODILE! OH, AND I HAVE FIRE POWERS, WELL GUESS WHAT?! I WAS INCREDIBLY USED TO THE LIFE ELEMENT! FIRE RIVALS LIFE!” Count bit Sobek, but due to the fact he was half Space Pirate Dragon, it didn’t affect him much. Sobek grabbed Fangrr and flew away from the secret underground room.

The secret underground room where the Chimera Lab was rebuilt.

= Epilogue =

Riverik slept in his puddle. He was having a strange dream.

“Pork E. Minch’s: Where a pig can be a pig!” a sign read. Pigmasks ran and played games on the sidewalk. A large building titled the Empire Porky Building was in the distance. In front of Riverik was a large banner that read “WELCOME TO NEW PORK CITY”. Porky teleported in front of him.

“Riverik… Riverik… R…I…V…E…R…I…K” he spoke.

Riverik squinted.

“I am h…a…p…p…y in the state you left me in. I can c...o…r…r…u…p…t other beings… I took c…o…n…t…r…o…l of Fangrr, but stupid S…o…b…e…k ruined it… I can travel through your dreams… D…r…e…a…m…s… D…r…e…a…m…s… D…r…e…a…m…s…”

Riverik woke up, screaming.