Chapter 2: Missing Portal Masters
Enigma raced into the Academy, searching everyone for Jamie, but was unable to find him. Knightmare burst into the Academy, looking frantic and stopping just in time before she crashed into the Magic Skylander. "Enigma, have you seen Drew?" She asked frantically.
"No," he said, sounding worried. "Have you seen Jamie?"
"No," she replied, her voice tinged with fear.
Echo came racing in. "I can't find Ink!" She exclaimed.
"And I can't find Sage!" Whirlwind said, looking frantic.
Roller and her two daughters arrived and noticed how frantic the others looked. "Auntie Knightmare, what's wrong?" Flare asked the centaur.
"We can't find your uncles, little one," Enigma said.
"Funny you should mention that," Roller Brawl said. "I can't find Blaze."
The Skylanders looked frantic. "All the male Portal Masters are missing," said Echo. "Something's wrong."
Whirlwind instantly knew what to do. "Find the female Portal Masters," she said. "Then we all seek out Master Eon."
Quickly, they all took off. Echo ran to find Isabel and Bree, telling them that Elliott was gone. Whirlwind found Kairi and Katie and told them the news. Knightmare found Amelia and quickly brought her up to date while Enigma found Rachel and Crystal, who were instantly alert upon hearing that their cousin was missing.
They headed for Master Eon's office and entered and he faced them, looking worried. "Nearly half of the Portal Masters are missing," he said.
"But only the male Portal Masters," Isabel said. "That sounds a bit weird."
"Did they go on a mission?" Katie asked.
"No, there are no missions," Master Eon said.
"Then where are they?" Bree asked.
Katie then recalled something she and Rachel had learned recently. "What about the books that can reveal what happened?" She asked. "Like the ones the Skylanders used when searching for the Mask of Power."
"That just might give us the answers we need," Isabel said.
"Master Eon, where would those books be?" Rachel asked.
Tapping his staff, Master Eon made the books appear and they gathered around to watch. The picture shifted to Blaze's room and they saw him standing there with Roller Brawl and she was in a bikini and looking at him lovingly. Roller Brawl blushed but then noticed something. "Wait, when was this?" She asked.
Master Eon checked. "A few nights ago," he said.
"I was with my brothers then and my parents were watching the girls," she said.
They watched as the girl who looked like Roller kissed Blaze and a dark mist suddenly appeared and looked to hypnotize the Fire/Undead/Water Portal Master before he disappeared. A potion bottle was left in his place. "A potion bottle?" Rachel said.
"I saw that and brought it to Pop Fizz and he couldn't figure what had been in it," Roller explained.
The scene shifted to Jamie's room, where he was sleeping and a figure quietly moved, the dark hiding who it was as a dark mist surrounded the boy and he sat up, looking hypnotized as he disappeared too. "A hypnotic mist?" Bree asked.
"Looks like it," Kairi said. "Jamie's eyes were glassy, like Blaze's eyes."
Again, they saw the scene changed to reveal Elliott's room. He was also asleep, but suddenly woke up, reaching for his scimitar, but the dark mist overtook him and his eyes became glassy before he disappeared. "I don't like this," Crystal said with a whimper.
"Did the same happen to Drew and Sage?" Rachel asked.
The picture split in two, revealing both Portal Master's rooms with a figure hiding in the shadows before the dark mist covered them and they were hypnotized and also vanished into thin air. "What was that thing?" Katie asked.
"Could it have been Kaos?" Amelia asked.
"Unlikely," Rachel said. "He's not one for stealth, but…whatever that was knew exactly where to find their rooms."
"We've searched for them everywhere," Echo said. "Can you help us find them?"
"You don't even have to ask," Isabel said and they all nodded.
"Portal Masters, let's head out and find our friends," the Tech Portal Master said.
They headed out and searched, but four hours later, they had had no luck. Not even a clue to tell them where their friends were. "This doesn't make sense," Kairi said. "They wouldn't just walk off. They looked hypnotized."
"A hypnotizing mist," Katie said. "Who would have that kind of power?"
"No enemy that we know," Amelia said.
"Ami's right," said Bree. "No enemy we've faced has had a hypnosis mist."
Isabel nodded. "Paralyzing mist, damage mist, sneezing mist, and coughing mist," she said. "But no, not a hypnosis mist."
"It was like they were sleepwalking, only worse," Crystal said.
Rachel paused. "I hate to say it, girls, but we may be facing something we've never faced before," she said. "This doesn't sound like Kaos. This may be something worse than Kaos."
"Like Nebulous?" Katie asked.
"Maybe," the older girl said. "But I hope it's not him. Facing that creep once was enough."
"Rachel!"
Hearing the familiar call, she turned to listen, hearing it again. "Blaze?" She called and the other girls listened, hearing him again.
"Blaze!" Crystal called out as they began running toward the spot where they heard their friend. Suddenly, they found themselves deep in the forest and something felt off, but before they could react, a cage dropped around them, a cage they recognized all too well because Kaos had used it once when he had trapped the Imaginators and the Portal Masters had run into Kaos' lair to rescue them.
A laugh sounded out and someone stepped out. Rachel quickly got in front of the others, glaring at the being. "Who are you?" She asked angrily.
The being laughed and came out into the light to reveal she was a tall, beautiful woman with quite revealing armor on. Her eyes glowed a solid purple like the Magic Giant Ninjini's eyes glowed, and she had two fangs in her mouth and horns on her head. Long red hair that was on fire and pointed ears completed her facial features while part of her body had some vines wrapped around her while her waist and hips were made out of ice. One of her arms and shoulder was made out of a tar like ink while her other arm looked like the starry night sky and both her hands were made out of pure light. One of her legs was made out of bright pink crystals and her other leg was robotic. A pair of undead demon wings and a devil tail completed her look. "Hello, Portal Masters," she said in a voice that sounded very pleasing to here, almost like a siren's voice. "I've been waiting for you."
"What are you?" Amelia asked.
"She looks like a succubus," Isabel said, having read up on mythology.
"Very good, Undead Portal Master," said the being as she walked around the cage. "I am Hydrana."
Katie decided to ask a question. "Why have you trapped us?" She asked.
"Are you the one responsible for our friends going missing?" Bree asked, trying to use her telepathy powers, but the cage was preventing that.
Hydrana chuckled. "First, you must understand who I am," she said and stood before them. "As I said, I am Hydrana, a succubus, as your friend pointed out. I am also the sister of Nebulous and Nebulus."
A gasp rose from the girls, shock on their faces. "You're…the Darkness' sister?" Crystal asked.
"And the sister of Nebulus, the female Dark Giant?" Isabel asked in horror.
"The youngest, yes," the succubus said. "But more powerful now than my siblings."
"So where have you been hiding?" Kairi asked.
"I was trapped like my brother," Hydrana said. "But then, Kaos found me and freed me, but in the process of freeing me, I was mutated into this form. Such a shame, I had to steal most of his power to gain this form."
Isabel looked at Rachel. "Rach, I think you were right about this being something we've never faced before," she said.
"I'm beginning to wish I had been wrong," the older girl said ruefully.
Hydrana continued. "I've been waiting so long to take over Skylands and now, I shall do so, with you Portal Masters," she said.
"No way!" Crystal said. "We'll never betray the people of Skylands! Nor will we betray Master Eon and our friends!"
"You will," said the evil being. "Because like your friends, you'll have no choice."
She held out a hand and the girls gasped at seeing mutated people who looked all too familiar. "You monster!" Katie cried out.
Another chuckle left Hydrana. "These cuties certainly didn't think so when they fell under my spell," she said as the five mutated male Portal Masters appeared and they gazed at the trapped girls.
Rachel recognized her cousin among them. "Jamie! Snap out of it!" She cried out to him.
"Blaze! Fight it!" Katie cried out.
"Drew, don't let her do this!" Amelia cried out.
"Come on, you guys can beat her!" Isabel said.
Kairi, Crystal, and Bree noticed something. "I don't think they can hear us," Kairi said fearfully as the mutated Portal Masters all stayed still, not saying a thing.
"You're correct, Water Portal Master," Hydrana said. "They have no free will of their own."
"What did you do to them?!" Rachel asked angrily.
"Stole their memories and their souls," the evil being said. "They're in a safe place, trapped like you."
"No," Bree said in fear.
Hydrana then turned to them. "These cuties are now my slaves, which you girls soon will be too," she said. "And then, I'll get what I need to complete my plan."
With that, she stretched her arms towards the girls and lightning struck them while a dark mist surrounded them. Screams erupted from the girls as they tried to fight it, but it was overwhelming. Crystal was the first to fall, being the youngest of the group, and she was quickly followed by Bree, Katie, and Amelia. Kairi, Isabel, and Rachel put up a strong fight, but Kairi soon fell and Isabel looked at Rachel. "Rachel, you've got to get out of here!" She said. "Use your powers! Get help!"
Rachel focused and tried using her telekinesis, which began slowly working and she managed to gain some freedom of movement. "Isabel! Your invisibility!" She said.
The Undead Portal Master tried and Rachel used her telekinesis, noting that if Hydrana was using her powers, then the cage's power was nullified for the time being. She managed to use a shuriken to cut part of the cage and she and Isabel got out, managing to get free of the dark power, but just as they got free and began running, Hydrana raised her hand. "Stop them!" She said.
The two tried to get further away, but Drew caught Rachel, pinning her down as Blaze caught Isabel, who struggled hard, but was soon pinned like Rachel. "Well done, my slaves," said Hydrana, now hitting the girls with her power. "Now, all the Portal Masters will be my slaves."
Isabel and Rachel put up one more fight, but then, their minds went blank as they lost conscious before their heads lifted up slowly and they were released, but it was too late, for they too had been mutated just like the others. Hydrana laughed evilly as she saw this. "Perfect," she said. "Now, come, my slaves. We have a lot of work to do."
The mutated, hypnotized Portal Masters followed her, like puppets being controlled and she was their puppeteer.
Uh-oh! Looks like big trouble for the Portal Masters and Skylands.
In case you're all wondering, according to Wikipedia, a succubus is a seducer of men and a very dangerous creature of mythology.
Next chapter: As word spreads the Portal Masters are missing, two unlikely people come to offer their assistance to stop Hydrana, but it's not going to be easy.
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