Chapter One

One of the many thing that the Skylanders did - besides defending Skylands from evil and darkness, educating new Skylanders in hopes of them becoming heroes and standing up for what is good and true, and trying to convince Hugo that sheep are not going to take over the world - was escort missions. Most Skylanders did not really like this part of the job. Some found these missions rather boring, as adventuring and exploration were kept to a minimum. Some found that constantly having to protect another person that could hardly defend himself rather stressful, and some dislike escort missions because of both reasons. But everyone agrees that whatever has to be done, has to be done, even if escort missions usually are boring and tedious.

Sometimes people request certain types of Skylanders for certain types of terrains. This was usually a fairly reasonable request, but only on one occasion did someone ever request specific Skylanders for escort.

It all started when Master Eon called the five Skylanders into the Academy library to inform them about their new mission. He told them to meet there at noon. At 12o'clock sharp, Sprocket, Wham-Shell, Echo, Riptide and Nightfall entered the room, and patiently waited for the revelation of their new mission. Five minutes later, Hugo walked in, looking flustered and holding a small letter. Master Eon's spirit followed suite.

'Good afternoon,' began Master Eon. 'Nice to see that all of you are here right on time to receive your new mission.'

'It's an escort mission,' began Hugo, he ignored the disappointed murmur as he continued.

'The king of the Siren Kingdom Of The North has requested the five of you specifically to escort his twin daughters to the Annual Aquatic Royal Child Convention, or AARCC for short…'

'He requested for us specifically? Why us?' asked Nightfall.

'Well, his majesty said that you five were who his daughters requested. He said that they had not provided any reasoning as to why they chose you five, so I do not know. Although I do have my theories…'

'Unfortunately Hugo, now is not the time for you to say why you think this situation is so.' Said the great portal master.

'Yes, Master Eon. Anyways, moving on.' He continued, 'He said that in two days, his daughters will arrive at the Academy as it will reduce the total travelling distance. You will be provided with a submarine to escort his daughters. You guys would have to find your own transportation back, though. You have roughly a week to get to the destination, which according to him, is plenty of time.'

'And one more thing, there were sightings of a jellyfish migration going on in the South waters, where you guys will be travelling. So please do be careful.' Added Master Eon. 'You are all dismissed.'

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'So, you prepared to go on your first escort mission?'

Low grumbling noises.

'I'll take that as a no.'

Nightfall sighed as she pulled herself out from underneath the Sea Shadow's control panel. She pulled out a book of maps with her and clutched it near her chest, then slid herself out of the submarine. The dreadwalker looked Sprocket in the eye and replied to her question properly.

'Not at all.' She sighed, 'All the stories I've heard about escort missions are usually about how they are as dull as rocks and stressful due to constantly having to look after someone.' She placed the book down on a nearby workbench, sat down, and opened the book.

Sprocket slid into the chair right beside her, watching Nightfall unfold a large map of the north waters. She herself pulled out a pencil and a small notebook, and had begun sketching a prototype for a water-efficient Betty Mine. 'Well, if you don't mind me sharing my two cents, I never really found escort missions to be all that bad.'

Nightfall directed her attention away from the maps and towards the golding. 'Oh, really? What do you mean?'

'Well,' she stopped sketching, 'Most of these missions are pretty low-key, that's true. But low-key doesn't necessarily mean boring. Most of these missions are actually pretty quiet, usually with only one or two small attacks from some minor mooks. It's actually kind of peaceful. Good for clearing your thoughts. The ones you always hear about are usually the worst case scenarios, but they're actually quite uncommon. Like, only about forty percent of escort missions are like that.' She resumed sketching the prototype.

'Mm hmm…' The dreadwalker studied the map intensely. 'The girls will be from the Siren Kingdom Of The North, so brace yourself for obnoxious behaviour.'

'Why?' Sprocket looked up from her notebook.

Nightfall took a few seconds to think about how she would explain why the North Siren Kingdom royal family was low on the list of people whom she wanted to meet. Finally, she spoke up. 'Everyone has a lot to say about the siren kingdoms under the sea. Mainly because these four kingdoms are pretty awful places in their own ways. I could go on for hours about each one but let's keep it simple. The North Kingdom is the richest of the kingdoms, most of the villagers live in the lap of luxury and are happy with life that way. It's a generic bustling city. Unfortunately, there is an unwritten rule that absolutely cannot be broken: To be lawful and perfect is the most important virtue. For perfection is the key to success.

'This rule has led to the kingdom being a super controlled place. Since no one can do anything without approval from a higher authority figure, and everyone believes that the 'imperfect' are useless, pretty much everyone in that place looks down on someone. There are a million people there who are condescending, arrogant snobs. You know the type. The ones that look down on people who are "unusual" or "stupid", or they ignore them like they don't exist, or think you're crazy...'

'Or they condescend towards you about how "what you're doing is not proper" and since they don't do it that automatically makes them way better than you?'

Nightfall sighed, 'Yeah. People like that.' She shook her head, that got rather personal. 'There really are a million people out there like that. I really hope that the princesses won't be one of those, but I'm a little worried that they will. I'm just warning you because, you know, they might see a goldling and a dreadwalker in the Skylanders and try to probe. Ask us what are we doing here, and if they found out… Well, you know the drill, I'm sure.'

Sprocket tapped her pencil against the workbench, thinking about how to reply to that. 'Well,' she began, 'they could always be an exception. There usually is. I mean, I was one, you're one, let's hope that the princesses are.' She placed the finishing touches on the sketch. 'And if they aren't, we could always just squeeze the two of them in the Sea Shadow and rift the two of them to the AARCC, that would give us a few days to change our names and take new identities to avoid the wrath of their father.'

Nightfall gave a good-natured eye-roll (Which was rather impressive, considering that her eyes were blank). Sprocket returned that gesture with a good-natured shrug, and they both resumed with their work.

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'So, you've met these girls before, Wham?' Asked Echo.

Echo ran past a simulated Squidface Brute. The Brute lunged himself at the water dragon, but Echo jumped up before he could touch her, and sent a sonic slam that knocked him off his feet. Echo then sent a myriad of bubble bombs towards him, knocking the Squidface Brute out. Wham Shell then ran up to the knocked out Brute, and did the finishing blow. The simulation flickered, and disappeared. Behind him were several Blastaneers, pinned down by dozens of starfish that Wham had shot from his mace.

'Yes, I have.' Wham Shell motioned for the dragon to duck, and shot down the Squiddler that was about to shoot his friend. 'It was a long time ago, when I was a young prince, the girls could not have been more than eight at that time. I can recall that Oceana was more willing to do her royal duties at a social event, namely to socialise and be diplomatic. Marina was socialising too, and she did look like she was enjoying it. But I could have sworn that she was half lost in thought-'

'How old are they now?' Asked Riptide, as he slammed an orca into the Blastaneers. He had a look on his face that finished his question for him: at least eighteen, I hope?

Wham Shell snickered behind his hand when he saw Rip's face. 'The two of them should be at least eighteen by now. But I'm not sure if either of them would be into your type.'

'Right, North Kingdom sirens. And royalty to boot.' He chucked a herring at a Squidface Brute a few feet in front of him. 'Don't tell Hugo I'm using what's supposed to be dinner as ammo.'

'My lips are sealed, I don't like herring cooked by Hugo either.' Echo chuckled as Rip practically buried the Brute in fish. 'New method of battle?'

Riptide grinned, 'Yup! Been waiting for the right moment to try it out.' He finished off with a stab to the gut, causing the Brute simulation to disappear. It left a pile of fish in it's place. 'Well, I think that's the last of them.'

Wham Shell pulled the leaver signifying the end of the training session. Immediately, the doors swung open, and the Skylanders exited.

'I wonder if the girls have changed at all since I last saw them.' Pondered Wham Shell out loud. 'If they didn't, Marina would not be hard to escort, but getting Oceana to listen to and respect us would be quite difficult.'

Internally, he kicked himself. He was worrying too much about these girls. He knew that he should worry about them when the time came, but there was a small part of him that wondered if the girls would still treat him with the same amount of respect as they did when they first met…

'Why? Aren't you supposed to be a king? And besides, Sprocket's a golding. Don't the north sirens have it in their culture that they have to respect people like that?'

Wham Shell shook his head. 'It's not that simple. The unwritten law is in such a way so that if anybody were to, in any way, shape or form, rebel against their duties or the laws of their land, they would be deemed unworthy of respect. Even if it was for a greater good. The punishment is more severe for people of higher statuses. For example, since I went to deal with the trolls that invaded my homeland myself instead of sending guards or something similar, I would technically be deemed unworthy of respect, and I would have my title of heir revoked, and on top of all that, I would be estranged from my family. I have personally known royalty in that kingdom who have been estranged because of this way of life. Frankly, most of the other underwater royal families find this type of thinking rather stupid. But, what can you do? You can't change a city in a day.'

He sighed, 'I suppose this is a stupid thing to worry about, but considering most of our histories, I wonder if this escort mission would go as well as they usually do.'

'To be fair, I did try to be quiet in my old home. I didn't try to be loud. I just couldn't help it.' Echo said with a small grin on her face. 'Besides, it's a quick escort mission. If we don't draw attention to ourselves and our past, it should be relatively drama free, right?'

'To be honest Echo, I'm not sure just how worldly our princesses have gotten. Or how perceptive. The two of them were very curious to the world around them the last time I met them. We will just have to wait and see.' Wham Shell watched as his two friends made an expression that could be described as "worried and impatient". 'It's only two days guys, be patient.'

'Says mister "Knock Harder At The Castle Gates."' Echo replied. 'You don't exactly have the best track record for patience Wham.'

Wham Shell chuckled, 'That was a different context, Echo. Besides, I paid for the damages, which is more than I can say for some people.'

Riptide shrugged. 'Well, I'm not the rich one. Almost eternally broke, in fact! I do community service instead, but for some reason they wouldn't let me coach child sports teams anymore…'

'Almost eternally broke?'

'Yup! Haven't lived in a proper house since I was a kid!'

'Then where did you sleep before joining the Skylanders' Asked Echo.

'In some pretty weird places.' Replied Riptide, in his usual boisterous tone. 'Like in random peoples' homes, amusement parks, one time in an abandoned dungeon that I went down all by myself. Apparently other fishes died down there, I saw their skeletons and all.'

'…'

'…'

'Sweet.' Echo smiled at the fish man.

'I know right?' Riptide grinned back.

Wham Shell smiled. It was somewhat amusing how the conversation had derailed. Maybe I should stop thinking about the twins. He thought. Maybe the conversation derailing was for the best. I should worry about them when the time comes.

Wham Shell walked towards his friends. It was the evening, and almost time for dinner. In the distance, the doorbell ringing could be heard, showing that Hugo had given up and ordered pizza. The three Skylanders exchanged one final friendly look, one that said: the reason why he ordered pizza today will be our little secret. Let us all agree not to tell anybody about this. And then they took off, in hopes of getting a good slice of pizza; one that was not too greasy or too small. They would worry about the princesses in a couple of days. But right now, they were hungry, and the best part was that Hugo did not manage to cook herring.

To be continued

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Okay, second story. This one will be multi-part. I'm aiming for five chapters. Watch this space for more updates. Once again, I hope you enjoy this story. Comments are appreciated as long as they are civil. And I will see you in the next update.

-Tabbyluna