(AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following series begins sometime after the events of Episode 53, of the currently-ongoing SSMB Heroes Academy: Resurgence PM Roleplay. As such,some characters and events from the RP that have yet to be adapted into a publicly-readable form, may be referenced publicly for the first time here. Precautions have been taken to avoid spoiling major details of these events and to keep the story relatively straightforward.)

"Uh-oh. This can't be good..."

Somewhere, in an unknown location, a lone figure seemed to be taken aback by an unusual and rather unsettling sight. Many strange purple portals had suddenly appeared in the vast empty regions of space, each one causing wildly different things to pass through them. Toys, weapons, plants, electronics. Even people and other living creatures...

The figure then started to move around his surrounding area in a panic, muttering to himself the whole time. "Okay, think! Those portals have to have an 'off-switch' of some kind. Maybe there's someone who can-" he thought aloud, before recalling something useful. "Wait, doesn't that psychic guy have the ability to do just that? ...Yeah. Yes, he does!"

Having figured out what - or rather, who - was necessary, the figure immediately dashed over to a curious device nearby. "The sooner he can fix this mess, the better. I mean, it's not like one form of dimensional travel is hard enough to manage..." he commented sarcastically, while also searching for the current location of this 'psychic guy' he required. And it wasn't long before he had that location:

Club Penguin.

It may have appeared to be a simple, isolated island to the figure, but the truth could not be any more different. For this once-abandoned winter wonderland acted as the primary base of operations for the Multiversal Division of Skylanders - an ever-growing team of heroes hailing from many different realities, devoted to protecting their multiverse from the forces of evil.

Amongst this colourful cast of characters was Silver, a time-travelling hedgehog with psychic abilities. He too was looking for someone; a friendly scientist named Von Schlemmer, whom Silver needed to speak with about something. The hedgehog soon arrived at his friend's laboratory and knocked on the door, which was quickly followed by sounds of metal crashing from inside.

"Professor?" Silver called out, presuming it was Von Schlemmer causing the noise. "Is everything okay?"

Silver's presumptions were proven correct, as Von Schlemmer soon opened the door for him. The Professor seemed happy to see the hedgehog, at least. "Ah, Silver! Vat brings you here, mein friend?" he asked, to which Silver replied with a look of concern. "Well, I wanted to ask you something," Silver explained, "About the Genesis Portals..."

Judging by the look on the young hedgehog's face, Von Schlemmer already had a thought about what was troubling him. "...Oh. You are concerned zat ve may be ignoring zem?" the Professor inquired to Silver, who nodded in response. "Yeah, exactly. After that latest one showed up here, it reminded me of the danger they posses. And how all those other worlds get affected..."

"I understand, Silver," the Professor replied calmly, exiting the doorway to his lab and closing the door behind him. "Perhaps ve have been focusing too hard on saving ze multiverse one vay, und not ze other." He then started to walk down the pathway towards the nearby town, but not before telling Silver, "Ve should probably speak to Sonic about zis." Silver agreed, replying with a simple "Okay" before following Von Schlemmer along the path.

As the two left, though, a bush next to the lab began to rustle, until the head of a curious young raccoon popped up. That raccoon was Marine, the self-proclaimed 'Great Captain of the Seas', who had been secretly eavesdropping on Silver and the Professor. Though for what reason she did so in the first place was a total mystery... Still, she at least seemed curious enough to want to know more, as she soon tried to quietly follow Von Schlemmer and Silver.

Key word being 'tried'.

Though Marine did her best to try and remain hidden, each step she took in the snow was causing an audible *crunch*, forcing her to find different objects to hide herself behind every few seconds. To any potential onlookers, she probably looked insane! Marine continued to follow, making even more noise and eventually causing Silver and Von Schlemmer to stop in their tracks. They looked behind them, trying to figure out what was going on. Until...

"Yo, Silver!" a voice called from above, the faint sound of a jet engine alongside it. The voice came from Shard, a former Metal Sonic and a close ally to Silver. The metallic hog then flew down to greet his friend properly, as well as point something out to him. "Hey, you know that kid's been following you, right? The little troublemaker?" Shard told Silver, pointing towards a tree Marine was currently hiding behind.

Silver looked at the tree with annoyance. "Alright, Marine! We know you're there!" he called out, waiting to see if Marine would respond. And after a few seconds of silence, the raccoon finally gave her reply. "...Aw! But I was doing so well..." she said, insistent that her stealth skills weren't an issue. With her cover blown, Marine ran over to the three and explained herself. "Sorry, mates. I just wanted to know about those portal things you were talking about, honest!"

Hearing this, Silver could only shake his head. "Trust me, you really don't," he said to Marine rather bluntly. It was evident that he didn't want the young raccoon getting involved. But Marine wasn't so easily dismayed by Silver's words. "Oh, come on! It can't be any crazier than the things we've done 'ere!" she insisted.

While the psychic hedgehog did ponder about this for a moment, he ultimately still didn't feel comfortable with telling Marine about the Genesis Portals. Then Von Schlemmer chimed in. "I'm sure ve can vork somezing out later," he told Silver and Marine, "But for now, me und Silver should-!"

Before the Professor could finish speaking, however, a somewhat-familiar blue vortex suddenly appeared under the four Skylanders, catching all of them off-guard! In an instant, the group was practically swallowed by the vortex, which then vanished just as fast as it had surfaced. A nearby penguin soon waddled by, drawn in by the faint screams he'd heard seconds ago. But there was no-one there. No Skylanders, no other witnesses.

Just snow...