Lantern Power, who owns Isabel, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)

Skylanders belongs to Activision. I own nothing.


Just As Important To Me

Pit Boss slithered away sadly from the Undead Sensei Realm, the harsh words of the Portal Masters ringing in his head. He had come to the Undead Realm to see if there were any Imaginators of the Sorcerer class ready to train, but had come across some Portal Masters who were known to be bullies and had called him names. One even said he'd never have a Portal Master because he was a freak.

While he kept his features schooled, inside he was hurting. It was true he didn't have a Portal Master yet, but he was willing to wait until the time came. He soon met up with Buckshot, who looked a bit forlorn. "You too?" He asked the bowslinger.

"Yeah," said Buckshot. "I don't have a Portal Master yet and it seems that the Portal Masters only want Ro-Bow or Wolfgang to train their Imaginators."

Pit Boss shook his head sadly. "Well, why don't we head up to the Academy?" He suggested. "Perhaps some of the other Skylanders will let us train with them."

Arriving at the Academy, they found Isabel, one of the Undead Portal Masters, training with Funny Bone and Dr. Krankcase. The little dog barked and tried to jump at her, but Isabel used her invisibility to confuse him. Dr. Krankcase twirled his guns in his hands. "You know my goo can still land on you, Izzy, right?" He asked with a smile to show he was teasing.

"Don't you dare," the young girl said, but her voice held no heat, which told Pit Boss and Buckshot that it was simply a joke between the two.

"Oh, I just might," he said teasingly as he held his guns ready to playfully spray goo at her. He suddenly jumped though as he felt fingers on his shoulders and laughed. "Hey! Not fair!" He cried out through his laughter.

"Oh, it's fair," Isabel said, still invisible.

Funny Bone gently clamped down on Isabel's invisible leg and tugged, making her laugh. "Hey! Let go, silly!" She said through her laughter.

Buckshot smiled. "They're certainly close," he said.

Pit Boss nodded. "I've heard many good things about Isabel and her associates from Master Eon," he said. "She accepts all the Undead Skylanders."

"And it looks like she accepts some of the former villains turned good," the bowslinger sensei said.

Dr. Krankcase turned and caught his invisible Portal Master in his arms while Funny Bone continued gently tugging on her leg, making her laugh as she tried to escape and Dr. Krankcase gently poked Isabel's sides to make her become visible again, which she did a moment later and he stopped tickling her, knowing how she felt about being tickled too long.

All of a sudden, Pit Boss yelped at feeling sudden heat by his tail and Buckshot jumped back to avoid getting accidently burned as Hot Dog jumped up and grabbed the Undead Sensei's staff. "Hey!" The snake cried out. "Get back here with that!"

Isabel, seeing what Hot Dog had done, had to laugh as her partners let her up and she whistled. "Hot Dog! Here, boy!" She called out to him and he came up to her, tail wagging happily, making her smile before she became a bit stern. "Drop it," she said in a low, firm voice.

Of course, Hot Dog went to run, but the Undead Portal Master grabbed the staff, resulting in a tug of war with the fiery mutt. Funny Bone jumped in to help Hot Dog, which made it a little harder for Isabel until Dr. Krankcase reached around her and grabbed the staff too, helping her to have a little more leverage against the two dogs.

Buckshot had to smile and remembered dogs could get easily distracted if something caught their attention and he kneeled down, gently scratching both Hot Dog's and Funny Bone's stomachs.

Being dogs, the two loved belly scratches and instantly flopped over, pawing at the air while they panted happily, letting go of the staff suddenly. Not expecting the resistance to suddenly let go, Isabel let out a shout of surprise as she bumped back into Dr. Krankcase, who teetered a bit and tried to correct his balance, but his five legs flailed about as he tried not to get them tangled up, but when the backs of two of his legs hit the arm of a nearby couch and both he and Isabel tumbled back onto it, both still gripping the staff to keep from dropping it.

Pit Boss couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as he went over to them. "Thanks for getting my staff back," he said, gently taking it and holding out a hand to Isabel, who accepted his help gratefully and they both helped Dr. Krankcase to his feet.

Isabel giggled a little. "Those two love to grab anything that looks like bones or sticks," she admitted. "Sorry, Pit Boss."

"Oh, it's fine," he said. "No harm done."

One of the bully Portal Masters then came in and saw them. "Hey, girlie. Watch out. He's a freak," he said.

One thing the Undead Portal Master hated were bullies judging others by their appearance. "No, he's not," she said, standing up to the bully and defending Pit Boss. "He's one of the coolest Undead Skylanders I've ever met."

Her glare hardened. "Oh, and by the way, I heard your conversation with the other bullies earlier," she said. "Pit Boss doesn't yet have a Portal Master because the right one hasn't arrived yet."

"And he never will have a Portal Master," the bully said. "And neither will Buckshot."

Isabel was really ready to teach the bully a lesson. "Yes, they will," she said. "Why, if Master Eon allowed it, I'd be their Portal Master."

"Just shows that freaks will accept freaks."

The girl was now really mad, but goo suddenly splattered the bully and Dr. Krankcase looked equally mad as Isabel. "No one calls my Portal Master names and gets away with it," he said with a growl.

Pit Boss waved his staff, magic crackling at the top and the bully fled. Seeing this, the snake lowered his staff and gently touched Isabel's shoulder. "Thank you for your kindness, Isabel," he said. "It's nice to know there's at least one Portal Master who doesn't judge on appearance."

"You're a good Undead Portal Master," Buckshot said with a nod before the two of them turned to leave.

"Wait!" Isabel said, making them stop. "You know, I meant it when I said I'd be your Portal Master if Master Eon allowed it."

"We know you did," Pit Boss said with a smile. "And it's a nice gesture on your part."

"We'll be alright, Isabel," Buckshot said, also smiling before they turned and left.

But the Undead Portal Master couldn't stop thinking about them and that evening, Rattle Shake noticed his love was deep in thought. "I heard about you standing up for those two," he said. "I'm proud of you, my love."

"Thanks," she said before looking at him. "Rattle Shake, do you think Master Eon would let me be their Portal Master if I asked him?"

"I'm sure he would," he said. "Some of our friends are Portal Masters to more than one Sensei and work closely with them."

"True," Isabel said and then nodded. "I'll ask him in the morning."

Master Eon was more than pleased when Isabel asked him if he'd allow her to have both Pit Boss and Buckshot join her team of Skylanders. "I have been worried that they wouldn't have a Portal Master," he said. "And you stood up for them yesterday."

"I don't like it when bullies think they can say stuff like that without consequence," she said.

He nodded. "Well then, I am happy to grant your request, Isabel," he said.

She smiled. "Thank you, Master Eon," she said.

Seeing she was eager to go find them and tell them the good news, he smiled. "They are near the Golden Arcade," he said.

Isabel jumped up and ran to find the two Senseis, who had just finished battling some mutant turkeys in a surprise attack. They were resting on the wall when suddenly Isabel came down the bridge a bit too fast and tripped, flailing her limbs to try and correct her balance, but the two Senseis saw she was about to take a nasty landing and quickly interfered with Pit Boss catching her and Buckshot bracing his hands against the snake's back to help him not fall over. After a moment, they righted themselves and Isabel smiled. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Pit Boss said. "You looked like you had some good news."

"I do," she said, her smile growing. "I spoke with Master Eon and he said you guys could be two of my Skylander partners."

The snake blinked and Buckshot looked confused. "You…asked him if we could be your partners?" The latter asked.

"Yeah!" She said in excitement. "I think it's high time you guys had a Portal Master. And…if you two want, I'm willing to be your Portal Master."

The two were so surprised they had to sit down, but Pit Boss looked at the young girl. "Isabel, that's very kind of you," he said. "But…why would you want us as your partners?"

"Because you two are just as important to me as my other partners and friends," she answered honestly. "And I know some of my Imaginators would love to learn from you two. Not only that, you two are some of my favorites too."

At her honest answers, they had to smile. "Well, you've convinced me," said Buckshot, gently squeezing her shoulder and was surprised when she hugged him, but he returned the hug happily. "You're definitely a good Portal Master."

"One that backs up what she says with her actions," Pit Boss said, ruffling Isabel's hair playfully and she gave him a playful glare while putting her hair right again.

Master Eon then appeared before them. "Kaos is causing trouble inside the Golden Arcade again," he said.

Isabel smiled up at her two new partners. "What do you say we go kick Kaos' butt?" She asked.

Pit Boss waved his staff around while Buckshot spun his bow around his hand and the young girl smiled, powering up herself. "Let's do it," she said.

Seemed the bullies were wrong. The two senseis did get a Portal Master after all.


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GoldGuardian2418