A story robotman25 and I have done together. :)

Skylanders belongs to Activision. Blaze, Flare, Solaceon, Nebulus, and Viola belong to robotman25. Jamie belongs to pokemonsora01. Isabel belongs to Lantern Power. Bree belongs to SkullyBoyFanGirl83. Kairi belongs to antaurilover685. Katie belongs to KatieMae77. Drew belongs to Card-Golem. Elliott belongs to Purple27GameLord. Sage belongs to Steelcode. Rachel, Crystal, Amelia, Slate, Autumn, and Speedlight belong to me.

A Trial Unlike Any Other

Chapter 1: Too Quiet

"It's been too quiet," Rachel said to herself as she studied a map of Skylands in the library. Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Spellslamzer and Nebulus enter the room. "Hi, you two," she said in greeting.

"Hello, Rachel," Spellslamzer greeted her.

"Hello, Tech Portal Master," Nebulus replied.

Rachel smiled. "You can call me Rachel, Nebulus," she said before her smile faded and she looked at the map, a frown coming to her face.

"What is it, Rachel?" Spellslamzer asked.

She took a deep breath. "Is it just me, or has it been really too quiet since Nebulus joined us?" She asked.

"Now that you mention it, ever since Nebulus schooled Kaos, that little creep hasn't shown himself around here," the tall spell punk said.

Nebulus giggled. "He should have known better than to try and charm a giant," she said. "Besides, Solaceon had my heart long before that little creep tried to turn his charm on me."

They all chuckled, but Rachel was worried. "I don't know," she said. "It's been about two weeks since then and it's been peaceful, but that usually means Kaos is either back at his castle licking his wounds or…planning something really bad."

They heard the worry in the Tech Portal Master's voice. "Have you said anything to anyone else?" Spellslamzer asked.

"Not yet," Rachel said. "But I am going to call in the other Portal Masters. And I might even call in and speak to the Skylanders too. Call it a gut feeling, but something tells me that whatever Kaos does next…it'll be something we've never gone through before."

Nebulus was now worried as she recalled what she knew was coming. She hadn't told anyone, not even Master Eon, because trust was very fragile right now between her and the Portal Masters, despite them seeing she could be trusted. She knew something was coming, but she couldn't say what because she knew then if she did, the future would have a different outcome. Secretly, she still held hope that they would triumph in the coming battle.

But while she knew it was going to be bad and who was possibly coming, she couldn't tell anyone for sure because of the future being changed or what had been prophesized might not happen. She knew there had been a small, little-known prophecy about the Dark orb that had held her until recently and under that had been a prophecy that almost no one knew about. Taking a deep breath, she looked out the window, her gaze far away as Rachel and Spellslamzer spoke for a moment longer before the Tech Portal Master called in the Skylanders, who came at once and some of their with their children. Rachel looked worried as she spoke with them.

"It's been very quiet lately," she said. "Something tells me Kaos is planning something big."

"Bigger than the Skyeater?" Roller Brawl asked, holding her daughters, Flare and Viola, close to her.

"Possibly," Rachel answered, seeing her fiancée come up with Autumn and Speedlight, who looked a bit scared. "We've never gone two weeks without hearing from Kaos. The most has been at least a week."

Jet-Vac nodded. "That little creep does come back no matter how many times we've stopped him," he said.

"And he keeps getting strong it seems," Enigma pointed out.

"And that strength just makes him more stupid it seems, but somehow, he manages to almost pull off his plan," Golden Queen said.

"One of the reasons we stopped working for him," Dr. Krankcase said, referring to long ago.

Spyro looked worried. "And then…Master Eon showing us the same mark," he said.

A few days ago, Master Eon had revealed that he too bore a mark just like Kaos, but had said nothing about why he had it or if it meant he was related to Kaos. Rachel had been pondering it with Blaze and both had agreed that it made sense that both Kaos and Master Eon had almost the same powers, but Kaos used the darker side of the power while Master Eon used the justice side of the power.

Rachel placed a hand on Spyro's shoulder. "I know," she said, her voice soft but still carrying around the room. "We've got a lot of questions and not a lot of answers."

Ambush spoke up. "We've known Kaos is powerful, but we've always thought Master Eon was more powerful than that little punk," he said. "But…with Master Eon having the same mark on his forehead ask Kaos…,"

"It serves to assume that Kaos is just as powerful as Master Eon," Starcast finished.

"That's what scares me," Knightmare said, which was something because nothing could scare the centaur, but she looked very worried now. "If Kaos can match Master Eon's powers blow for blow, then he has a chance to win and take over Skylands."

"And with no offense to Master Eon, Kaos is much younger," Hood Sickle said. "That little creep might use that to his advantage."

Rachel nodded, all those fears were foremost in her mind too. She had had little luck finding out more about what they had known for so long to be Kaos' mark. Skylands' history went only as far back as the Arkeyan Empire and there was nothing on the history before that. The male Portal Masters had even gone to the Archives and the Spell Punk Library, but also had little luck finding out more. The Tech Portal Master now took a deep breath. "Everyone," she said, getting their attention. "I know this a lot to ask, but I beg each of you, keep your eyes open and wary for anything. Until we know what Kaos is up to."

"Can we help in that too, Auntie Rachel?" Flare asked.

"Yes, Flare," Rachel answered. "If you see anything that looks like Kaos' work or Kaos himself, run to the Academy and sound the alarm."

The little one nodded. While she was still young and not ready to face off evil, she could at least keep watch and make sure everyone was alerted if Kaos did try anything. "We could ask some of the Mabu to stand as watchers too," Ninjini said. "They'll surely want to help."

"That would probably be best," said Solaceon. "If we can have volunteers offer to watch over their towns and sound the alarm if they spot anything, Kaos won't be able to surprise us, hopefully."

"Not a bad idea," Rachel agreed. "The more eyes, the better."

"We Skylanders can head out and ask the Mabu and other inhabitants if they'd be willing to do so," said Tree Rex and everyone nodded in agreement. Before they all left, Rachel called the other Portal Masters and they all came in, those that had children accepting them from their spouses and sitting down as Rachel wished the Skylanders luck and the children sat down quietly, knowing their aunt was about to give a very important meeting.

"Any luck finding out more about what the mark really is?" Kairi asked.

"No luck," Blaze replied. "We combed all over the Archives and the Spell Punk Library. Even Spellslamzer and Hugo helped us."

"And Kaos has been way too quiet," Drew said.

"When Katie and I scouted over at his lair the other day, it was very quiet," Elliott reported and Katie nodded.

Rachel bit her lip. "That doesn't sound like Kaos," she said.

"No, Kaos wouldn't give up on trying to destroy us and Skylands," said Isabel.

"Then what is he planning or doing?" Jamie asked.

"Guess we'll have to wait and see, though I don't like that idea," Sage said.

"Unfortunately, we've exhausted every avenue to try and figure out what Kaos is up to and trying to figure out what the mark we've known for so long as Kaos' mark really is," Bree said quietly.

"Then what else can we do?" Amelia asked, holding her son, Slate.

Flare and Viola clung to their father and Speedlight and Autumn clung to their mother, who held them close to her. Even Crystal clung to her older sister. "Rach, what do we do?" She asked.

The Tech Portal Master took a deep breath. "Wait and ride out the storm," she finally said.

They all knew this meant to wait and see and they all nodded while mentally preparing themselves for more training and being more watchful until they knew for sure Kaos had either given up or his latest plans ruined.

Deep in Kaos' lair, the evil Portal Master laughed. "Soon," he said. "As soon as I unleash this evil, those Portal Masters' will be under my control and Eon will be crushed."

A dark, slowly moving tornado was in front of him. "Are you almost ready, my dear?" He asked.

"Yes, Kaos," came a voice that sounded like the best voice one could ever hear, smooth and enticing. "Soon, I'll be free and you will be the greatest Portal Master of all."

"Yes," he said before laughing evilly.

Who is Kaos talking to and what is he really up to? Stay tuned to find out.

And please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418