Well, here's my first Skylanders story. Sadly I haven't played in a few years since my Wii and everything but my traps were stolen a few years ago. So I'm a bit behind, and my memories aren't the best but I have watched a walkthrough of Superchargers and am currently doing the same for Imaginators. I might make this an SYOC. For now it's a self-insert. Hope you all enjoy!

Here on Earth, lots of people love the Skylanders games. Skystones, the characters, the laughs, the puzzles, the history and plot, the Skylands themselves. And for most, the Skylanders. Pretending to be one of the great Portal Masters, leading the Skylanders into battle. And some say if only it were real. They'd love to go through the portals themselves. But as Glumshanks reminded Kaos in Giants, Portal Masters aren't supposed to use the portals on themselves. For good reason.

Darkness. That's what surrounded me. Not the evil darkness, like the kind Kaos uses for power, but the gentle kind, like your shadow, or the kind from closing your eyes to sleep. And when I opened mine, the darkness faded. I sat up, holding my head. It hurt a bit, not a huge amount though luckily. "What in blazes happened to me?" In a video game, someone like Flynn or Eon would pop up, give a bit of an explanation, then I'd have to fight off a bunch of weak enemies. Instead only silence met me.

I stood up, looking myself over. The new jacket my mom had just got me a few days ago, dark gray with several pockets and a double zipper was on me, along with my shoes and a pair of basketball shorts. I took off my jacket, one of my sleeveless shirts underneath giving me a clear view of my arms. Lightly tanned and freckled, several small scars on my hands, same as normal. I looked around, noticing I was in a small space, a dusty piece of metal behind me next to a door.

I picked up the metal and rubbed the dust off with my arm, seeing myself in the metal. Thick black hair with the bangs cut off meant I could see my entire face just fine, brown eyes with bursts of gold making a sun like shape around my irises, a birthmark that looked like it was made of countless freckles put together made it look like I always had a black eye on my left side and on my temple, which made a lot of people think I got into fights a lot, wrongly. Another birthmark was below it, aboout at my jaw, though harder to see. A light stubble from needing to shave and a scar on my chin from my clumsier days. I guess at 18 years old I could be mistaken for a thug or something, though that's far from true. Again, nothing different from normal though. "Nothing obvious, that's good." I pocketed the piece of metal, my scavenging habits at work, and opened the door a crack, looking around. Everything was dusty, really dusty. There was practically no light, making me glad I could see fairly well in the dark. I walked out into what looked like a hallway. "Seriously, where in blue blazes am I?" To my left I heard something and turned around to see a small bit of stone breaking off from the wall. I picked it up and realized there was some sort of inscription, the details too minute for me to make out in the dark. I placed it back in the space it had broken off from, then stepped back. It was still dark, and the images were worn down by time, but it looked like people mostly. But other things looked more mechanical, and lots vaguely familiar, one towering image in particular. "Maybe I've seen some of this somewhere..."

I looked both ways down the hall, both looking the same. Finally I closed my eyes and spun, opening them when I stopped and walking that way. I don't know how long I walked before I finally saw a hint of light. What looked like a broken door had a small crack in it, barely there, but with the slight bit of light in a place so dark made it look like a door thrown open wide. I tried to open the door but it was stuck. Growling, I went back several feet, glaring before charging at it shoulder first. The impact threw me back "Stupid Newton's laws!" and I landed on my back, clutching my shoulder. "Geez that hurt!" A sudden flood of light and the crack of stone striking stone got my attention. I looked up to see the door had fallen over, made of stone like the walls. "Explains why that hurt so much."

It wasn't very bright in the room, only a few electric lights barely clinging to life. And in front of my feet was something I'd seen hundreds of times before. "No way..." I picked it up and looked at it, seeing energy crackle on the oversized mace head of the weapon. The mace used by some of the Arkeyan robots in Skylanders Giants. "...OK, I'm dreaming. This isn't one of my FanFiction stories." But looking around the place sure looked like it was full of Arkeyan stuff. I noticed a fully built Arkeyan robot strapped to a wall, a little flickering button saying READY next to it. I hefted the mace. "What've I got to lose? If he tries anything funny he's scrap."

I took a deep breath and used the bottom of the mace to press the button, keeping the head close to me before holding it so I could smash him quickly if need be.

The button quit flickering when I pressed it, lighting steadily as unseen machinery began humming, the Arkeyan's eyes lighting up, looking at me before the straps were removed. It kneeled and I relaxed, a bit. "What are your orders?"

I thought back to Drill Sergeant's back story, how Terrafin had activated him accidentally and his programming made him obey Terrafin. Until Terrafin told him not to anyway. "You'll do whatever I say?"

"Affirmative. I will serve you, as I was programmed to do Master."

I flinched. "First order, call me Aadyn. Not Master."

"As you command Aadyn."

Phew. "Next, you can stand up." It rose to its feet. "Where are we?"

"Allow me a moment to access the necessary data to answer your question." It went silent for a minute. "According to my data, we are in an Arkeyan laboratory dedicated to the research of elements. I am in fact a prototype meant to be the result of this research. However, it appears this facility has been inactive for-"

I held up a hand. I could hear the rest later. "That's enough for now. I'd like to know more about the research though."

"As you command. The research pertained to the 10 elements that make up Skylands. The intent was to create new robots which could harness the abilities of these elements. There are special rooms in the facility with power and research for each element. The rooms for Dark, Light and Earth seem to be destroyed by cave-ins." I held up a hand to stop him again and nodded. This was pretty cool!

"Is there an intact exit?"

"Affirmative. There are currently three intact routes by which we may vacate the facility." Great. In the meantime...

"Seven of the element rooms are still intact right? Can you lead me to the nearest one? I want to see more."

"Affirmative. Allow me a moment to calculate a safe route." He was quiet, then turned to look out the door I'd smashed in. "That way."

"Heh. Funny." He cocked his head clearly not understanding. "That's how I got in, I chose this room at random. Lead the way, umm... Let's give you a name first." I looked him over. Arkeyan... Ark? Eh, no. Proton? Nah. Umm... "I can't think of anything yet. You have any preferences?"

"I will accept whatever title you give me." Of course.

"New order, I want you to develop some of your own thoughts as well. Don't defy me or anything, but you'll be more helpful if you have a will of your own."

"I'm afraid with my programming I will be unable to do so. However, I cannot disobey you." It was obviously messing with him.

"Calm down. With my permission, can you reprogram yourself to fit my specifications?"

He paused for a bit, and I could literally hear the gears turning in his head. "I can."

"Then I order you to do so." And once he's got enough of a mind of his own, he'll be my friend too.

He was silent a while, then his eyes flashed. "I have been successfully reprogrammed. Do you wish for me to lead the way as requested before?"

"Yep. And if you have any name ideas you like, tell me." He began walking down the hallway, the faint lights of his eyes making it easier to see. We passed by the image I saw before and I paused, now recognizing the Conquertron and the Iron Fist of Arkus on the Robot King's arm nearby. "I'm not sure if this is real or not."

Eventually we reached another door, this one metal with the Undead symbol on it. "There is also an exit nearby this room. I recommend leaving the facility to acquire food and water from the surrounding area." I nodded and he pulled open the door. I walked in, looking around. There was a dark purplish gray orb inside a case I had a feeling I shouldn't touch given it resembled the Eternal Undead Source. A few shut down Arkeyan robots were in the room.

"Can they be reactivated?" I nudged one machine's arm.

"Negative. All the other robots were damaged beyond repair when they shut down. I was not because I hadn't been activated yet. Most of the machinery here could be reactivated, but the robots themselves would have to be disassembled and rebuilt."

"I see. Maybe you can just download any data in this place before we head out to find me some supplies." He walked over to a computer, turning it on despite its flickering and revealing some sort of USB sorta thing on his finger. I walked around, and slipped when something rolled underneath my foot. I tried to recover but the unbalanced weight of the mace messed with my balance. I dropped it and overcorrected, throwing out my left arm. Big mistake, it touched the container in the center and instantly something went rushing into my hand, making me scream, but my hand was stuck fast. My robot grabbed my arm and pulled but it didn't help until he placed his hand on mine. Instantly whatever it was quit going into me, some even leaving, and I remembered what he'd said before, about being a prototype that could be infused with the elements. He was drawing it into himself.

I collapsed onto the floor, my hand finally free, panting. "Aadyn, are you still in pain?"

I shook my head and got back on my feet. I noticed a hatch had slid open on my robot's chest with the symbol of every element on it, the Undead symbol now glowing the same color as what used to be in the container. Suddenly fearful, I looked at my hand. Some of my knuckles now had bone visible, and the Undead symbol was on my palm. "No way."

"The Undead energy that had been harnessed and contained for the research is now present in your DNA, though it is only affecting your hand and does not seem to be spreading."

"That's a bit of a relief... Get me out of here, now." He led the way without a word. After a couple minutes I saw sunlight and ran ahead of him, hearing the clanking as he tried to keep up. Finally I stood outside, the sun shining on me and tasting the fresh air, which I could tell was much cleaner than at home. That one detail, how clean the air tasted, convinced me. This was real. "I want a moment to enjoy this. Could you look for food and water? Prioritize water." He walked off and I sat down, watching islands float above me. "Skylands... How did I get here?" I looked at my hand. "And how do I find a way home?"

And here's the start folks! Wrote this in a few hours which tells me I'm over my writer's block, YES! So, I'm stuck in Skylands, how will be explained later. I have played the first four games, and again I am watching walkthroughs so I know some stuff about Superchargers and Imaginators, the plot being the most important. This won't be set in Giants or anything, I intend to use elements from every game. I do not have Netflix nor can I get it, so I haven't seen the Skylanders show. So nothing from that sadly. I need name suggestions for my Arkeyan robot. And I'd love input on what I did right and wrong. Later! Oh, and real important: I do not own Skylanders!