Okay, this story is a sequel to my other story "The Words Of A Friend Are Truth". Jamie belongs to pokemonsora01 and I only own Rachel and the song Rachel and Jamie sing at the concert part. Skylanders and its characters belong to Activision.
A True Partner Always Sticks With You
Jamie grunted as he practiced a kick he had been working on for soccer. He was alone in the field and practicing for a big game. He had just made a goal when someone grabbed him from behind, making him jump. "You're getting better, Jamie," said a familiar voice.
Jamie looked up and saw a familiar face. "Enigma!" he said happily and hugged the Skylander, who returned his hug. "What's up?"
"Master Eon needs us," said Enigma. "The Golden Queen has escaped from Cloudcracker Prison."
Nodding, Jamie grabbed his stuff and braced himself as Enigma teleported both himself and Jamie to Skylanders Academy where Eon was waiting. "Good timing," he said to both of them. "I'm sorry to call you back here so soon, Jamie."
"It's okay, Master Eon," he said. "Enigma told me the Golden Queen escaped."
"Yes," said the guardian of Skylands. "But she's gotten too powerful now. I'm afraid it will take two Skylanders and their partners to defeat her."
Jamie looked up at Eon. "Who is available to help us?" he asked.
Eon smiled. "She'll be here in a moment," he said.
Soon, Bouncer, the robot Giant Skylander, came in with a familiar girl on his shoulder. "Jamie!" said the girl with a huge smile.
"Rachel!" he said happily as they hugged. Although they were cousins, they were more like brother and sister to each other. "I didn't know you were a Portal Master too."
"Sure am," she said. "Bouncer came and got me after Master Eon sent the alarm about the Golden Queen escaping."
"Sure wish I could help you," said Bouncer. "Magna Charge is worried about you, Rachel."
"I wish you guys could help too, but the Golden Queen's too powerful now. Not only that, we need you guys to protect the academy while we go find and trap the queen," said Rachel gently as Magna Charge came up.
"Are you sure you're up to it, Rach?" he asked.
"I'm sure, Magna," she said. "I remember the stories you told me about the Golden Queen. Those will no doubt help when we fight her."
With that, she hugged Magna Charge, who returned the hug with another cautious note to be careful before both he and Bouncer took off to help guard Skylands. Rachel turned to Master Eon. "Which Trap Master is available to help us?" she asked him.
"Krypt King," said Eon. "He is the only one right now besides Enigma."
Rachel swallowed as she felt a little freaked out at that and that freaked-out feeling grew a bit when the Undead Skylander came out. The reason she was a bit scared was because he was basically a walking skeleton, although she then realized she had no problem with Chop Chop, since he was a skeleton too, but for some reason, Krypt King's clothes made him much spookier. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Jamie.
"Ready to give the Queen the royal escort back to Cloudcracker?" she asked, holding up an Earth elemental trap.
"You bet!" said her cousin and they headed out.
Rachel glanced back at Krypt King, who was surprisingly quiet. He hadn't even said one word to her, Jamie, or Enigma. She moved to Jamie's side and indicated ahead. Jamie nodded, recognizing the gesture that his cousin wanted to talk about something out of earshot of their Skylander partners. They were soon ahead of them, but not by too much. "Krypt King's awfully quiet," said Rachel.
"I noticed that too," said Jamie. "He hasn't said a word since he joined us. You'd think he'd at least say 'hi' to you, since you're his partner."
"Maybe he doesn't trust me," she said.
"But you're a Portal Master," her cousin pointed out. "Why wouldn't he trust you?"
"True," said Rachel in agreement. "So, why is he so quiet?"
A gentle swish of a robe alerted them that someone was behind them and they saw Enigma had caught up to them. "It's not that he doesn't trust you, Rachel," he said. "He's simply unsure of you."
"What do you mean, Enigma?" she asked.
The mysterious Skylander was quiet for a moment and saw Krypt King was still a good ten feet behind them. "Krypt King had a partner once. Not too long ago, actually. Master Eon had chosen another girl to help fight the villains and she was King's human partner. They got along and did well until one battle that turned the tide, as you humans say," he said and paused a moment.
"What happened, Enigma?" asked Jamie.
Enigma let out a sigh as if he didn't like recalling the memory, which gave both the cousins a hint that the memory was a bad one. The cloaked Trap Master then straightened to his full height and continued his story.
"Cucko Clocker had escaped and was causing trouble. Master Eon sent Krypt King and his partner to stop him. But during the fight, King unleashed his swarm attack to stop Cucko Clocker. While it worked, the Portal Master saw that her Skylander partner had no face and that fact made her lose her mind and she ran off, leaving King to trap the evil bird. Once he did, he returned to the Academy, but she was gone. Master Eon had no choice but to send her back after she had told him Krypt King had frightened her and that she didn't want to be his partner anymore. Well, her actions hurt him very deeply."
Enigma paused again and looked at Rachel. "The pain Krypt King feels from his former partner's betrayal is still fresh," he said gently. "And because of that, he doesn't want to get his hopes up that you'll be different from her."
Rachel glanced back at Krypt King and then looked back at Enigma. "The one thing I'll never do is leave a friend behind, no matter how scared I am," she said. "Because my friends matter the most to me, even if they are annoying, like Jamie."
"Hey!" Jamie protested, but he was grinning when he saw her grinning, so he knew she was only teasing, but he looked at her with mock offense. He lunged at her and she jumped back, but he still grabbed her arm and they playfully wrestled with each other, both laughing hard.
Suddenly, just as Jamie lunged playfully at Rachel again, they both lost their balance and with cries of surprise, they fell into a nearby pool of cool water. Both surfaced after a moment and Rachel started splashing Jamie, who did the same as they started a huge water fight.
Krypt King shook his head in disbelief as he watched them. "Why couldn't the Portal Masters be more mature?" He asked himself.
Enigma chuckled in amusement as he watched the two kids having fun. Rachel then saw him and went over to Jamie, whispering something to him. He grinned and nodded and they swam up to Enigma, who was standing near the pool's edge. Suddenly, before he could react, they sprang up and grabbed his cloak and pulled him into the water. He sprung out of the water and then jumped in, creating a huge splash of water that doused both Rachel and Jamie, who yelped in surprise and then started laughing as Enigma joined them in the water fight.
Rachel then decided that they needed one more to join the water fight and looked over at Krypt King, who was standing there and watching them. "Hey, Krypt King!" she called. "Come on in!"
He shook his head in silent refusal. "Oh, come on!" Rachel called out. "Even kings can have fun, you know. Join us!"
He shook his head again. "You do realize this is a waste of time," he said a bit sharply and turned away.
But Rachel didn't give up and silently got out of the water, sneaking up behind Krypt King and moving carefully when he moved, so that he wouldn't catch her. Enigma saw what the girl was doing and decided to help a bit.
"Hey, King!" he called. "You might want to join us."
Rachel moved so that her partner didn't see her as he turned to look at Enigma.
"Why would I want to join you and those two children?" he asked a bit sarcastically.
That was when Rachel jumped on the Undead Trapper, causing him to fall forward and they both tumbled into the water. As the Undead Trapper got up, he got splashed from all sides with water as Rachel, Jamie, and Enigma playfully splashed each other and splashed Krypt King, who was starting to get very upset, but before he could do anything, Rachel splashed some water at his helmet.
"Man, Krypt King, you are slow," she teased him.
"Oh, really?" he asked as he climbed out. "I accept the challenge!"
With that, the skeleton did a cannonball that doused his three companions with a deluge of water. Both Rachel and Jamie let out squeals of protest that turned to pure laughter. Their laughter had an effect on their Skylander partners and Krypt King couldn't help laughing and Enigma started laughing too.
Finally, the foursome got out and dried off. "Oh, man, that was awesome!" said Jamie.
"I can't remember the last time I got in a water fight," said Rachel with a smile. "But I agree that it was fun."
"I believe we all enjoyed it," said Enigma. "It was a good way to burn away negative energy."
"Cause we need to be positive to fight the Golden Queen," said Jamie.
The other three nodded in agreement, although King was surprised at the kids' positive attitudes. He only hoped those attitudes would stick when they fought the evil queen.
They soon came to the desert and trekked through it, reaching the temple and going in, being on the lookout for the transport devices that scoured the temple. Thankfully, they succeeded in not attracting attention until they reached the throne room where the villain was sitting on her throne.
"Well, I was wondering when Eon would send in his pathetic minions to try and fight me," she sneered.
Rachel and Jamie looked at each other, both knowing that this was not going to be an easy battle. "We need to distract her," said Rachel.
"If she has her attention on us, our partners can fight her," said Jamie.
Both nodded at each other and started on distracting the wicked queen, calling out true facts that made the villain angry as she tried to get the cousins, but kept getting hit with attacks from both Enigma and Krypt King. Finally, she faced the Skylanders.
"You're persistent," she said. "But that's only because of your Portal Masters, isn't it?"
She then turned to Krypt King. "You know you're a loser because of your element," she sneered at him. "No one will want to be your partner because no one can stand you. You're old partner was certainly truth of that."
The hurtful words cut into Krypt King, but all they did was make Rachel mad and without a second thought, although she was a little scared when she saw the queen's huge fist start coming down towards King, she jumped in front of him to shield him and felt the heavy blow from the queen's fist hit her hard and she fell to the floor as her legs gave out from the pain.
"Rachel!" Jamie and Enigma called out in worry, seeing from the girl's facial expression that she was injured and they saw her try to stay awake, but her eyes closed.
"No!" said Jamie, about to run to his cousin when Enigma grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"Jamie, we can't do anything," he said as he glanced back at Rachel, who was breathing heavily as if it hurt to breath. Then, he heard a loud growl and pulled Jamie back. "Back up," he said urgently.
As they backed away a bit, they saw Krypt King get very angry and his helmet opened up, unleashing swarm after swarm on the queen. "Rachel is better than my last partner because she didn't back down when things got tough!" he said. "Her selflessness just now has proven that!"
The Golden Queen let out a roar and went into Mega-mode. "We need to get out of here!" shouted Enigma as the queen started chasing them. Enigma grabbed Jamie and ran to find a safe route through the temple to escape while Krypt King grabbed Rachel and followed after Enigma, carrying Rachel and doing his best to shield her from any attacks the queen threw at them. Although they all ran fast, she was gaining on them.
Just as she was about to get them, they saw the door to outside up ahead and ran through it. Jamie jumped down from Enigma's shoulders as King set Rachel down gently. "Stay with her, Jamie," he said. "Enigma and I will stop the Golden Queen."
Jamie nodded and then had an idea. "Enigma's Paradox Power and your Broadsword should do it," he said.
Nodding, both Skylanders stood protectively in front of their Portal Masters and battled the Golden Queen. The battle was swift as their attacks weakened the villain quickly and she was soon trapped in a force field.
"Jamie." The boy turned to see Rachel slightly awake and she held out her hand in a fist as if she was trying to hand him something. He held out his hand and the Earth trap fell out of Rachel's hand into his own hand before she passed out again. Without a moment to lose, Jamie raced up and inserted the trap into the force field, trapping the Golden Queen for good. He then looked at the Trappers and then at Rachel, who was now passed out once more. Krypt King scooped her up and went over to Enigma, who held Jamie protectively and teleported them all back to Skylanders Academy.
Krypt King immediately carried Rachel to one of the medical berths and set her down on it very carefully. "Rachel," he said softly, worry in his voice for her.
Master Eon suddenly appeared. "I see you have succeeded," he said and then saw Rachel. "Jamie, your cousin was very brave to face the Golden Queen and stand up for Krypt King."
"She's brave just like you, Jamie," said Enigma, a note of pride in his voice before they both grew solemn and King turned to Master Eon.
"Is Rachel…going to…make it?" he asked.
Eon looked sympathetic. "I'm afraid we'll have to wait and see," he said. "Hopefully, she will recover."
Krypt King turned worriedly to his partner and took her hand. "Rachel, please, come back," he said softly as his voice cracked a bit.
Jamie was surprised by this and felt Enigma's hand on his shoulder. "He's being there for her as she was for him," he said.
"Can we stay with them?" asked the boy.
Enigma nodded and they both stayed to not only keep Krypt King company during his vigil, but to also wait for Rachel to wake up. They certainly hoped she would.
A rough few days passed and and she still didn't wake up and Krypt King grew desperate. He looked at Jamie. "Watch over her. I'll be back," he said and ran out, returning only a few moments later with Tree Rex, who explained he had heard what had happened and after hearing Rachel had been hurt while protecting her Skylander partner, he had come to the Academy to help and had been about to head in when Krypt King called out to him, as he had been hoping to find the Life Giant Skylander to ask if he could help Rachel.
"Jamie, we need you to make a medicine for Rachel. Can you do that?" asked Tree Rex.
"How?" he asked.
"I'll guide you," the Life Giant promised and carefully removed a bit of bark from his arm and gave it to the boy, directing him to grind it down into a powder and mix it with just the right amount of water to make it a potent medicine. Once it was ready, Jamie handed the bowl to Krypt King, who was supporting Rachel's upper body with one arm wrapped behind her back as he gently lifted her head and supported her head in his hand and carefully poured the medicine down her throat. After doing so, he laid her back down gently and took a step back. They all waited, but nothing happened.
"No," Krypt King whispered, feeling the last bit of hope in him shrivel and he bowed his head.
Suddenly, Rachel's body jerked as if she had been shocked and the reaction made the others jump a little and jump slightly again when she sat bolt upright, gagging and coughing as she rubbed her throat. Realizing that the medicine had left an unpleasant taste in Rachel's throat, Jamie ran to the kitchen and asked Ghost Roaster for some orange juice. The ghostly cook didn't hesitate to give the boy what he was looking for and Jamie quickly headed back to Rachel and handed her the drink. Accepting the glass of juice from him, she gave him a grateful look. "Thank you," she rasped out before quickly drinking down the juice, which thankfully took away the bad taste in her mouth. She sighed in relief. "Thanks, Jamie," she said, her voice sounding better. "For a moment, I felt like I had swallowed tree bark."
To her surprise, Eon, Enigma, Tree Rex, and Jamie all laughed heartily. "You did, actually," said Tree Rex. "The medicine you were given was from my bark."
Seeing that he had done it to help her heal and she felt one-hundred percent, Rachel thanked the Life Giant with a smile. Suddenly, she let out a gasp of surprise and some pain as Krypt King grabbed her and hugged her tight. Before she could even ask, she saw a few tears run down his helmeted face. That stunned her into silence and she looked at Eon, who saw her expression.
"You were out for a few days, Rachel," he said. "Krypt King was worried about you and didn't leave your side. Enigma and Jamie stayed to keep him company while we waited for you to recover."
That made Rachel smile and she hugged Krypt King, her head resting on his shoulder. "Thanks, Krypt King," she said. "I'm lucky to have such a great Skylander Trapper for a partner and friend."
He returned the hug and gently pushed her back to look at her. "And I'm lucky to have a partner who is willing to stand by me in fighting evil," he said. "You proved yourself to be a partner I can trust when you jumped in front of me to protect me from the Golden Queen. That was not only brave of you, but it was also selfless on your part."
"Like I said before, I'll never leave a friend behind, no matter how scared I am," she said.
"And your actions back up your words," said Enigma, a smile in his voice. Rachel then hugged him and Jamie, thanking them for being there for her.
"Hey, y'all!" called Mags as she came up. "Good to see you're back on your feet, Portal Master!"
"Thank you, Mags," said Rachel, smiling at the peppy inventor.
"The Skaletones Concert is about to start," said Mags. "Come along!"
"The Skaletones?" Rachel asked excitedly. "Cool!"
"Totally cool!" said Jamie as he grabbed Enigma's arm and pulled him to the elevator like floor that would take them to the concert. Rachel grabbed Krypt King's arm and pulled him along too. They soon made it down to the concert.
The concert was going on strong as both Enigma and Krypt King each did a showdown with Mags, answering her song beat for beat. Then Mags called Rachel over.
"You want to throw down a challenge?" she asked in a friendly way.
Rachel grinned and grabbed a mike. "Sure do," she said and turned to the skeletons behind her. "Hey, guys! Can you give me a catchy beat? A little rap mixed with some rock?"
"Sure can!" said Crossbones, leader of the Skaletones and they started a very catchy beat and Rachel started singing.
"The Golden Queen tried once more
Just like she had done before
To take over the Skylands and rule
But she should have known she was a fool
And that her evil plan would fail
Cause there was no wind in her plan's sail
Because the Skylanders are always strong
Yeah, they're stronger than evil and all wrong.
She should've have learned from Kaos, that evil one
Who sought destruction of Skylands for fun
But did he win? No, he didn't and never will now
And he wonders to himself: why and how?
Cause the Skylanders beat him once, twice, three times
And stopped his every evil plan on a dime."
Jamie was shocked that his cousin could sing and rhyme like that and saw her motion him to join her. He quickly got a mike and started the next verse.
"Cause those Skylanders never give up,
When the way and path gets tough,
They keep fighting to keep the peace
You think villains would know that, at least."
Rachel then joined Jamie and they pumped it up together.
"We Portal Masters also don't give out
And we don't leave anyone in doubt,
When we heard Master Eon's call, we're there
Hey, come on, it's only fair.
A few beats followed and they heard the cheering crowd and came together to finish the song.
"The Skylanders have kept us safe and sound
Now it's the Portal Masters' turn on this round
Showing Kaos and those villains who we are within
And that helps us and our partners win!
Cause us Portal Masters and the Skylanders are always strong
Yeah, we're stronger than evil and all wrong!"
That last flourish got the crowd going nuts over them and begging for another song. The cousins looked at each other with big smiles and answered the crowd with another song.
Krypt King and Enigma were both surprised, but also proud of their partners, who kept the crowd going until they looked literally ready to drop. By then, it was almost time for the concert to finish and the Skaletones kindly took over for the kids, seeing how tired they were from singing and each band member congratulated the kids and began playing one more song to finish the concert, which ended on a high note that made the crowd go crazy.
Rachel and Jamie walked over to their Skylander partners, or rather, shuffled over, looking ready to fall asleep. Both Enigma and Krypt King chuckled as they each picked up their Portal Master partner and went back up to the Academy, watching the two humans fall asleep on the way up.
Master Eon smiled and showed them the sleeping quarters that had been set up for the Portal Masters and the Skylanders. Thanking the guardian of Skylands, the two headed in and Enigma crashed down on one of the very large, comfortable sofas with a sigh. Jamie woke up a little bit but then settled down again to sleep and Enigma let the boy sleep on him as he fell asleep too.
The scene made Krypt King realize how strong the bond of friendship was between Jamie and Enigma and he smiled as he sat down on another couch. When he did so, Rachel stirred in his arms and hugged him in her sleep, murmuring something that surprised Krypt King.
The word she had murmured was 'protector'.
That one word filled him with both pride and protectiveness of her as he leaned back and closed his eyes, letting Rachel fall asleep on him as he wrapped an arm protectively around her, the one word she had murmured echoing softly in his mind and helping him fall asleep as he realized she was a true partner who would always stick by him.
And that kind of partner is the best one to have.
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GoldGuardian2418