Wings of a Lion, Roar of an Eagle by Eris00 & HyperSonicOne

    As we register what Lionel had said, a boom shakes the cottage. With a low roar, Lionel arches his back, and great feathered wings, like mine, come from his back.
    "Call me Avian," he grins. Who HADN'T heard of the mythological winged lion? Even I have. As a young kid, I heard about an outcast that looked kinda like me. When he pulled that stunt with Strainor... I've always dreamed of meeting him.
    Another shake rocks the house. Lionel jumps out the window, circling back just in time to dodge a streak of red. King Hot Head and Co. had arrived. Swearing words that even impress me, Lionel rapidly tells us the problem.
    "When I revealed myself, the magic somehow attracted the impostor." His voice is drowned out by the chandelier falling. "We need to move! Now!"
    Complying, with a snarl of effort I jump up, spread my wings...and get totally trucked by a piece of plaster. Brilliant. Crashing to the ground, I lay stunned for a second, making sure nothing is too badly broken. Finally, after a lot of trial and error, I arrive outside.
    Lakota looks fine. Not even a little plaster dust? Come on. Not fair. Lionel is flapping a few feet off the ground, glaring at a figure, a black silhouette against the sun. It's Pretty Boy himself. And he is fighting with Lionel. I can see it. Their eyes are locked, narrowed, and 100% cold.
    Pretty Boy...magic? That makes our job a LOT harder! He could be from any tribe...brick, he could be a she!
    Suddenly, Lionel crumples. His wings disappear, and he rises towards Pretty Boy. Upon landing, Lionel is swarmed by red vines of CHI power, and held down. Triumphantly, the impostor plugs CHI. I run. Over my shoulder, I watch in horror--which turns to shock. The impostor's CHI avatar is not a lion. Not even close. It's an eagle.

Editor's note: Okay, so, Eris00 explained to readers that Lionel and HyperSonicOne's character, Avian, are two completely separate characters. I'm not sure why Lionel called himself Avian in that one chapter, but ignore that part, I guess. Also, Lionel either wasn't actually captured, or escaped capture, and is now back with the group, apparently. (Trying to fill in the gaps here... )


So, there are three gryphons in this story: Lionel, Avian, and Gail; all aiming to stop the FAKE Lionel, who is an eagle disguised as a Lion King.

Editor's note: The writing style switches to past tense in HyperSonicOne's chapters, but remains first-person. Also, since he isn't given context here, I'll explain who Dark is for anyone interested: an eagle inventor with extremely dark blue feathers, sometimes stated to be an eagle-raven hybrid, created by HyperSonicOne's friend speedorzmaster (who doesn't appear to have ever been on LMBE  ).

Additional trivia: speedorzmaster submitted Dark for multiple stories that were accepting character "submissions" on the original LMBs, which included both this and my own story, "Legend of the Time Chi". Dark became a prominent character in my Chima stories after that, as you'll see if when I finally get around to doing the partial rewrite of "Beyond the Beyond".  

In fact, Gail also appeared in "Legend of the Time Chi", but with a different backstory, heritage and appearance to fit into my series' lore, and with her named spelled "Gali" the whole time, since Eris00 had misspelled it on the submission, and I'd assumed it was supposed to be spelled that way.  Anyway, enough reminiscing about the days of old...

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(By HyperSonicOne)

Avian's PoV (Point of View):

    Something moved in the bushes behind Gail.
    She turned instinctively, but I said, "Don't worry, it's just Dark." Dark stepped out of the bushes.
    "Whoa," Gail said.
    "Don't worry, the shock wears off after a while," I said, smirking. Gail grinned at me.
    "Alright, we need to get back to the Lion Temple," I said. "I have a plan. Lionel, disguised as Telan, will distract as many guards as possible. I'll push through the front entrance, while you guys take the roof."
    "But how will you even make it close to the front entrance?"
    I walked outside and fired a golden chi blast that knocked three trees over. "Does that answer your question?" I grinned.
    "Alright, lets get moving," I said, and we all left towards the Lion Temple. It only took a couple minutes, because we were all flying, and we split up once we saw the Lion Temple. Gail and Dark disappeared over the top of the roof, and Lionel/Telan did a great job distracting most of the troops.
    I took a deep breath, and plunged down towards the bridge...



End of chapter.

Editor's note: No, back to present tense...  A bit confusing, but oh well.

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(By Eris00 - Avian's POV)

    Gail is a streak of black, dropping into the throne room. I run up to the main door, and knock out a few guards on the way. The impostor sits on the throne, lazily draping over it. I feel Lionel stiffen beside me. Glancing over, I see the disguise melting off until only dark blue wings are left.
    "Copy Cat," I grumble to myself. Looking back to the impostor, a sight fills me with horror. While we had been waiting for Dark, the impostor had silently risen from the throne, and is now holding Gail in his fist. She struggles, but needs air.
    "Hey! Loser! Over here!" Dark plunges from the chi-falls he was supposed to come through, and bravely calls out.
    The impostor turns, dropping Gail with a thud. She curls on the ground, still clawing at her throat. I rush over and prop her up as she takes deep raspy breaths. Lakota breaks out of her trance, and runs lightly up behind the impostor. His full attention seems to be on Dark, whom he is treating like a fly, swatting at him with a giant eglaxxtus. It makes me think of what Gail described when we first met--how the impostor's avatar was one of an eagle.
    Suddenly, the puzzle pieces all fit together; how the tribe has been in disarray; the 'rouge prince.' He is insane for power, some said. He has had a way of getting what he wants, others added. I can't believe I didn't see this before. From my spot couched on the ground, I whisper to Gail.
    "The impostor. It's Erik."

Editor's note: I don't think it was mentioned before, but it seems Erik had created clones of himself as well.

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(By HyperSonicOne - Avian's POV)

    "Graaaaah!" I shout, sending my double spinning into a nearby wall. Seeing Gail lay there, doing nothing, was the last straw. All bets were off. I run toward the other me and send a golden chi blast at it, sending it flying through the wall and outside. Lakota and Lionel are handling the other Eriks--This one is mine.
    I dive outside after it, and hit it with another chi blast, sending it flying down into the ground. I pulled out my dual scythes, and they started flaming with golden chi energy. I throw them both at my double, and then there is a small explosion, and he is gone.
    I fly back in to the main room, where Lakota and Lionel finish up. I now see Erik for who he really was, for the first time. Then I remember Gail. I run over to her, and pick her up. Lakota and Lionel looked over to me, and I shake my head. Then, a small golden ripple of energy moves across her body, and she opens her eyes...

End of chapter.