Kade appeared in the vast tracts of the open sky, orange surrounding him everywhere he saw. Clouds floated in diverse places, casting shadows on the islands beneath them. A group of islands just ahead of him had many wooden buildings on top of it, with a small castle set in the center. Balloons floated away from it, their passengers desperately escaping from the raging tornado that drew near their home.
The bubble surrounding Kade dissipated, leaving him with only clouds beneath him. He began to fall down the eternal sky, screaming his way down. The Portal fell alongside him, the light-blue light growing stronger. A whir sounded from within, and it exploded with light.
"Full Scream Ahead!"
From the Portal a black griffin shot forth, the swirling white surface rippling. She screeched loudly, swooping downward, going underneath Kade. She held out her wings, catching Kade and flapping toward the village, the Portal of Power's leather cord hanging off the Portal Master's wrist.
Kade clutched the griffin's neck tightly, desperately wishing to not fall. He opened his eyes, seeing that he was on the back of the griffin, carrying him with little issue. She flapped her wings once more, swooping down. Kade cried out in fear, clutching the griffin's neck tightly. She screeched hoarsely, dropping for a moment.
She shook off his arms and said, "Don't hold me with that iron grip you have there, young one! Do you want us to go down?" She turned her head, looking back at the Portal Master. Her green eyes pierced right into his, a reprimanding look. He scooted slightly away from the griffin's neck, the Portal bumping against his hip.
She looked down at the Portal, making a screech of delight. "How lovely! You're the Portal Master that Master Eon was hoping to find. I'll tell you, that Portal of his is very mysterious, keeping me and the other—" She stopped, seeing that Kade was constantly looking downward, clutching her sides desperately. She turned her head back to the village, saying, "Sorry about how I acted earlier. I can understand that you being from somewhere that only has earth below you can make this place a bit…scary. Don't worry though, I'm an expert flyer!" She stretched her paws out, the ground of Galewind Village growing closer. "My name's is Sonic Boom, and I'd love for you to meet my little darlings!" She cheerfully exclaimed. She turned her head back again, her eyes full of motherly compassion. "What's your name Portal Master?"
Kade secured himself on her back once more, replying, "My name's Kade. How close are we to the ground?" He thought he could feel himself slipping down Sonic Boom's back, the whipping lion tail growing fearfully close.
Sonic Boom looked down, seeing an island connected by a bridge below. He saw a mole-like creature wearing a green vest and glasses sitting in front of a balloon, reading from a large book. Inside the basket of the yellow balloon was a yellow cat-like figure wearing an aeronautical jumpsuit and helmet, posing with his arms and saying 'Boom' constantly.
Sonic Boom said, "We're nearly there, Master Kade! Friends are waiting for us down below!" She dove downward, causing Kade to slip toward her neck, grabbing her back to make sure he didn't land there.
The mole looked up, seeing the dark feathers of a familiar Skylander. He gasped, putting the book back in his hood, scrambling towards the cat. He grabbed his arm and exclaimed, "Flynn, Sonic Boom's here! The Portal must've made it to Earth!" Flynn took his arm back, throwing back his red scarf.
He dusted himself of and said, "It's no doubt thanks to my awesomeness that the Portal made it to Earth, Hugo, and I helped them out by saying 'Boom!' thirty-two times in a row. You're welcome! Boom!" He thrust out his arms, winking at Hugo. Hugo sighed, setting his face into his palm.
"What does saying 'Boom' have to do with anything? Nothing exploded or anything." He said. Flynn crossed his arms, grinning stupidly.
"But Sonic 'Boom' appeared after I said my thirty-second 'Boom'. Right?" He asked. Hugo groaned, looking back at the sky. Sonic Boom drew closer, her human cargo in tow. He squinted his eyes, seeing Sonic Boom was now having trouble with the young Portal Master. He dove into the balloon, quickly pulling up the gate of the basket.
"Get this thing in the air! Those guys are coming in hot!" Hugo cried. Flynn grinned, pulling on the rope. The balloon slowly rose into the air, leaving the little island free for the incoming Skylander.
Sonic Boom screeched loudly, a sonic wave echoing from her mouth. The wave hit the balloon, blowing back Flynn and Hugo. The balloon spun round and round, driving them away.
Flynn held tight to the balloon, laughing. "This is like the spinning-cup ride from that carnival! Yahoo!" Hugo agreed wholeheartedly, turning greener than his vest from the motion.
Sonic Boom landed on the island, skidding on the ground, allowing Kade to flop on top of it, hugging tight to the levitating earth. Sonic Boom tucked back her wings, looking at the swirling tornado that towered into the sky.
She ruffled her feathers, shivering at the sight. "My oh my, tornadoes like that don't come around every day. So close to a village too! Oh Portal Master, we have to-' She stopped, seeing Kade huddled in a ball, saying things to himself.
"This is only a dream, only a dream, that's right…" He said, shutting his eyes tightly. Sonic Boom sighed, pawing the ground mindfully. She squawked, remembering what Eon's projection said to her while inside the Portal. Her silver leg bands glowed, and the Portal attached to Kade's wrist glowed with white light. She leapt into the air, and brown egg flew through the sky, landing right in front of Kade. It cracked open, a tiny griffin popping out of it.
It jumped on top of Kade's head leading him to pen his eyes and look up. The chick squawked, biting hi ear. "Gah! Let go!" Kade cried, leaping upright. The griffin released its hold, flapping into the air. It squawked again, flying to its mother, who tucked it under her wing.
"Isn't he just adorable! Oh, if I could just have them like that forever!" Sonic Boom sighed, fluttering her eyes. Kade rubbed his ear, hoping that the chick didn't break skin.
Kade replied, "They'll be downright terrors when they get older." Sonic Boom stopped swooning, her eyes saddening. The chick chirped, hugging tightly to his mother.
"That's how I'd like it to be, but sadly my three little ones were cursed by an ancient wizard. After a few minutes, they return to their shells, to hatch again in an unending cycle." She sighed. Kade stopped rubbing his ear, sorry for the mother griffin. Seeing his sympathetic expression, Sonic Boom added, "It's been years since that happened, and I've grown used to it. I try not to dwell on it too much." She looked to the sky, seeing the descending balloon of Flynn and Hugo.
Flynn waved his hand, exclaiming, "Hellooo down there! You miss me?" Sonic Boom rolled her eyes sighing in annoyance.
"Yes Flynn, it's nice to see you after being stuck in Eon's Portal. Is Hugo with you?" She asked. Hugo's face poked above the basket, the transport too tall to look over properly.
"I'm here. I'm here!" He cried, jumping. He stopped doing so, exclaiming, "The new Portal Master's with you, right?" The balloon landed on the ground, and the basket's exit lowered. Flynn and Hugo ran over to Kade, the teen standing at least a foot above them.
Flynn whistled, crossing his arms. "Pretty tall ain't he, just like old Eon. He was pretty awesome with his beard and all, but my awesomeness can beat his any day." The griffin chick flew from his mother towards Flynn, pecking him rapidly on the head. Flynn covered his skull, exclaiming, "Hey, I never said anything about you!"
Kade stood next to Hugo, seeing how comparatively short he was. Hugo stood a little above his waist, the books in his hood being the size of a standard work from Earth. Flynn stood slightly taller, standing to around Kade's chest.
Hugo took Kade's hand and shook it graciously, exclaiming, "Oh thank goodness Eon's plan worked! We were waiting for you here since the Citadel-"
"Holy mackerel! Look at the size of that twister!" Flynn yelled, pointing at the swirling vortex, the griffin chick stopping his assault. The emptied village stood in the way of the massive tornado, wood and stone being torn from the vacant island. Sheep could be seen within, flying into the distant skies.
A stone the size of an orange flew past Kade's ear, narrowly missing the young Portal Master. He cringed, exclaiming, "We have to get out of here!"
Flynn ran to the balloon, looking at the tornado. He laughed half-heartedly, saying, "While I'd love to say 'Boom' and be off, I'm afraid that's a no-can-do. If I try drifting off without any sort of propeller, the balloon will just go into that thing like an enchilada into my mouth." He mimed eating the food whole, shaking his head. "While I am a legend, I'd rather be a living legend than not."
Sonic Boom screeched with indignation, ruffling her feathers. "I can't fly all of you out of here either; Kade was a bit much, and having you two along wouldn't make anything any easier. There has to be another way." Kade looked into the tornado, considering his options. Eon's restrictions prevented him from summoning more Skylanders, so he couldn't do that. The balloon would drift away, Sonic Boom could lift them, and there was no way they could wait the tornado out.
He groaned, bringing his hands to is face. The Portal smacked against his chin, the rough stone surface scraping his skin. He lowered his arms, studying the Portal, the runes surrounding it glowing all-different colors. He saw the leather strap connected to the Portal, seeing a metal piece that kept two pieces of leather together.
He held the Portal in both his hands, then with one he pulled away the connecting joint. The Portal glowed a rich green, stating, "Transport mode deactivated. Returning to normal size." It began to grow in his hands, going from roughly half a foot in diameter to a foot, then two feet, eventually growing too heavy to carry.
His three companions saw the growing Portal, stepping away from Kade. The Portal Master dropped the Portal, the stone relic continually increasing in size.
As it grew, Hugo noted, "That's right! Eon wanted a Portal he could easily go where he went, so he made it shrink and grow!" Flynn grinned, pulling the basket of the balloon towards the cylinder.
"And that's our ticket out of here! Boom!" He clambered on top of it, setting the basket on top of the swirling white surface. Hugo came up next to it, attempting to pull himself up, his little legs flailing beneath him. Flynn pulled him up by his hood, the Portal stopping its growth at four feet high and ten feet across.
Kade knelt next to the device, a rune pulsing with blue in front of him. He figured that the Portal could transport other things but how? He didn't know anything about Portals outside of how to select a Skylander, and that very well couldn't apply here.
Flynn cringed and cried out, "Hurry up with the magic, that twister's going to tear us apart!" The winds picked up as the tornado grew closer, the great stones of the small castle within the village pulled away as easily as wooden blocks.
Kade sheepishly said, "I'm, uh, sort of new at this, so I don't really know how to use the Portal." Sonic Boom crouched next to him, her griffinlet sitting on top of her head.
"I saw Eon do this dozens of times. Just call out the place you want to bring them to, and poof! They'll be swept away there." She stated. She held up a claw and added, "Don't forget that you can't use the Portal on yourself; another Portal Master would have to activate the Portal for you, or else all sorts of bad stuff could happen."
Kade looked to her and asked, "And... how many Portal Masters are there left?"
Sonic Boom flapped her wings and said, "Oh, just you and Kaos really. Eon passed away after the Hydra attack, and all the others were lost in a bygone age." She looked at the tornado and screeched, exclaiming, "Well, hurry it up! I can fly you out of here! Just bring them to Eon's Citadel!"
Kade, unsure of what else to do, set his hand on the rune and exclaimed, "To Eon's Citadel!" The Portal flashed with white light, and Hugo and Flynn were surrounded with Portal Energy. A hole began to form below them, and in an explosion of light, the two were gone, and the balloon with it.
Kade felt a surge of energy from the Portal, then began to laugh. He never realized that he could control such a power before now, and he thought of what wonderful things could be done with this Portal.
Sonic Boom squawked worryingly, the griffinlet closing its eyes, popping back into an egg. It rolled down her head, her paws catching it before it fell. She sighed, setting it on top of the Portal, the surface rippling as it fell into the abyss. She spread her wings and said, "Connect the portal to the cord, and let's be off! The longer we stay, the more danger we'll be in!" Kade nodded, scrambling upright and ducking down where the connection was. The metal joint didn't grow with the rest of the Portal, lying on the ground.
Kade quickly wove the strap into his belt loop, not wanting to have the Portal hanging off his wrist again. He then pulled on the Portal's length of cord, connecting it to the length he had. It immediately began to shrink, stating, "Transport mode activated. Shrinking function initiated." The cord retracted, the Portal now hanging off his waist, glowing with its many colors.
Kade grinned, his face quickly falling as he saw the tornado drift closer toward them, and the funneling of the wind beginning to pull him towards it. He hopped on top of Sonic Boom, saying, "Let's get out of here!" Sonic Boom screeched, a shockwave of sound coming from her beak, and with a mighty gust, she rose into the air, leaving the ruins of Galewind Village behind them.
Kade grabbed hold of Sonic Boom's feathers, the fright of air travel still setting him off. Sonic Boom turned to him and said, "You did fairly well today, but it won't be this easy in the future. Kaos sent that tornado to get rid of Flynn and Hugo, and us with them. We must be on our guard, for the Darkness is beginning to spread everywhere, and wherever it is, Kaos can see us." She turned away, flapping once more. "The Ruins of Eon's Citadel lies not too far from here. While leaving Skylands, I saw Kaos drift away in his accursed castle, roaming Skylands for one thing, and one thing only: The Eternal Sources.
"The Eternal Sources are what remains of the Core of Light. It was originally crafted by the Ancients to repel The Darkness thousands of years ago, after they supposedly allowed it here. Due to its nature, it cannot be destroyed, but only separated, and the Eternal Sources and the components that hold them together were blasted to the distant parts of Skylands. With them, the Core of Light can be rebuilt, and The Darkness driven from this place once more."
She turned back to Kade and said, "That is our mission, to restore the Core of Light. I may not be able to help you any more after we reach the Ruins; that is unfortunately where our mission ends. I am so glad to have met you, Portal Master Kade." Kade, still overwhelmed by the new world, said nothing in reply, only sitting on the back of the great griffin. After a moment of silence, Sonic Boom turned back, saying, "So, how's life on Earth? I never heard of the place until Master Eon explained it to us Skylanders, so I wonder how it is. Do they have daycares?" The discussion continued, the orange sky shifting to dark purple as the day ended, the griffin and boy soaring toward Eon's Citadel.
Kaos Intermission:
In the middle of the sky, Kaos' castle, which he affectionately calls Castle Blackthrone, hovered in the air, the dark master within contemplating his schemes. The vast hallways of the structure extended to many areas: The Hall of Torture, the Calamity Kitchen, the Bathroom of Doom, etc. His most prized room was the Chamber of Darkness, where he kept one of his most prized relics: His Portal of Power.
In the center of the room was the dark Portal, similar in design to Eon's but not quite so advanced. Eyes stared down from the columns of the room, the devilish images keeping watch all throughout his castle. The shutters lay shut, The Darkness in Skylands not enough to justify the ritual of opening them. The shutters lay opposite of the massive door, which lead to the hallway that connected his dark desires together.
Kaos stood on the rim of his beloved Portal, the surface glowing with crimson light. He tapped his fingers together thoughtfully, studying red-tinted sight within. He saw the black griffin soaring through the sky, with the young Earthling riding on top of her.
Kaos growled and cried out, "Glumshanks! Come here this instant!" From the massive wooden doors came a lanky troll, wearing nothing but pants and a worn brown vest. His ears drooped down and his eyes came to a sad expression. His teeth were rectangular, unlike his other troll relatives, and unlike other trolls he had three wisps of black hair on his head.
Glumshanks said, "Yes Lord Kaos? Are you needing another cup of tea?" Kaos groaned, pointing at the image in the Portal.
"You know that tornado I made that you suggested?" He asked. Glumshanks came closer and peered into the Portal, leaning on the edge.
"You mean the tornado that you made and I said wouldn't work?" He replied.
Kaos waved him off, saying, "No difference. Either way, it didn't work!" He roared. He pointed to the corner and said, "Go to your Feel-Bad Corner! You know exactly why!" Glumshanks sighed, sitting on the creaky wooden chair.
He then looked to the ceiling and said, "'So I can feel even worse about myself than I already do.' Why didn't you name it something more, I dunno, evil-sounding?"
Kaos hopped off the Portal and said, "Irrelevant! I need to figure out where the Eternal Air Source is before that cursed Portal Master does. I don't know how Eon brought him here, but I'll show him who's emperor of all Skylands! Hahahaha!" He threw his fists into the air, continuing to laugh wildly, his high-pitched voice reverberating throughout all of Castle Blackthrone.