Chapter 4 - Black Magic

The Skylanders escorted Kaos, Glumshanks, and Dreamcatcher to Cloudcracker Prison in order to make sure they got there safely and without causing anymore trouble. Stealth Elf had even convinced Eon to let Black Ice tag along, not that it made the said dragoness feel any safer.

"Here you are, jerks! Cloudcracker Prison, your new home!" Spyro announced sarcastically as they entered a yard in the middle of a large stone castle, and there was a large fenced area where the inmates waited outside.

"Word of advice: Don't drop the soap," Eruptor warned grimly.

"Why?" Glumshanks whimpered.

"Because prison soap is expensive," Stealth Elf scoffed.

"That's not what I was told," Black Ice mumbled under her breath.

"This is going to be a nightmare, Sir. Locked away behind bars of steelium and chromium and several other kinds of 'iums'," Glumshanks rambled on with fear, as the other inmates taunted them. Most of the male inmates even cat calling and wolf whistling at Stealth Elf and Black Ice.

"Hey, girl. You ninja may be fast, but I'm faster."

"You got a fine tail, gurl. Why don't you come and be a part of my dragon hoard?"

Those were just a couple of some of the lewd calls. But something in Black Ice once again wasn't going to let her just stand down and take their insults, so she glared at every inmate who dared look at her with her demonic eyes, growling at them and making them back off.

"This is magnificent!" Kaos suddenly called out, "Some of the vilest villains in Skylands, AKA my soon-to-be associates, are imprisoned within these walls. And I can't wait ta cause chaos—the C-H kind—with all of them!"

After leaving the new prisoners with the other inmates, the Skylanders headed to the warden's office, where none other than Snap Shot was giving them the rundown of their new assignment.

"Welcome to Cloudcracker Prison. As you know, all new Skylanders are required to serve a day of guard duty here, at the prison. Master Eon believes it's the best way to expose you to the worst of the worst you will face in our universe."

Black Ice couldn't help but gulp and shrink back in fear. "That, uh, wouldn't include me, would it? 'Cause, um, I, uh…I didn't graduate, so I'm not a real Skylander…so can I go home, please?"

"Aw, c'mon, Ice! It won't be that bad. Besides, we're here too," Spyro reassured while pulling Black Ice close with a comforting arm, "Bring on the bad guys!"

"Soon enough, Spyro. And the best way to keep them all in line? This beauty." Snap Shot then pointed a claw at a shiny golden pin clipped to his chest.

"A shiny, commemorative prison broach?" Eruptor asked in disbelief.

"No, it's a badge! And they're all equipped with a chip that emits a powerful freezing ray. Give it a tap, and an inmate is rendered completely immobile." Snap Shot then began handing out a badge to each of the Skylanders, but by the time he reached Black Ice, she quickly handed it back.

"That's unnecessary. Part ice dragon, ice breath." The blue lizard only grumbled and rolled his eyes, but put the last badge away anyway.

"Ooh, can I try it out, Snap Shot?" Spyro inquired with excitement.

"Be my guest."

But when Spyro pushed the button, he had no idea that he had frozen an inmate on the other side of the prison, who was in the cafeteria eating lunch, and the other inmates stole his food when he could no longer move to eat it.

"Ok, that's enough, Spyro. If you happen to slip and give your badge a double tap, it will administer the toughest punishment we have," Snap Shot cut in to stop Spyro from pushing the badge once more.

"What's that?" the said purple dragon asked out of curiosity.

"If you encounter someone who is really causing trouble, tapping twice will send a prisoner straight to solitary confinement; otherwise, known as—The Hole."

"Whoa! Scary!" Spyro cheered sarcastically.

"It is, isn't it? Especially when I say it in my scary voice. But luckily for you four, the prisoners rarely act out enough to deserve going there. Now, remember! Cloudcracker Prison is a hornet's nest of nefarious villainy! Guard duty is no walk in the park. To do the job right, you must read the prison rules and regulations guides!"

The Skylanders certainly didn't expect the warden of Cloudcracker Prison to pass out some thin brochures.

"These are coupons for Bird Bath and Beyond," Black Ice simply pointed out.

"Yes, and they're twenty percent off. I get, like, nine of these things a week," Snap Shot babbled with a smirk, and then he pointed at a stack of thick old books on the shelf, "Those are the guides."

"Yeah…I'm more of a film adaptation type," Eruptor pointed out with shock, but the others couldn't take their wide eyes off the abnormally large books either.

"Now then, while every prisoner here is dangerous, there are a few here that are the cream of the crud," Snap Shot continued menacingly, "First up, there's Wolfgang; his evil bone harp can turn anyone who hears its rocking tunes into a mindless drone to do his bidding. Next is Pepper Jack. He was once the finest chef in all of Skylands, until he decided to use his culinary powers to try and destroy his enemies from the inside out. Then there's Broccoli Guy; he wields the power of healing and being highly annoying, which is quite lethal in its own right. Then we have Chompy Mage, a deranged wizard who thinks he's, well, a Chompy—best not to get any digits too close to his or his puppet's mouth. And most dangerous of all, the Golden Queen; she can turn anything or anyone into gold. Never let her out of your sight, as she is the shrewd and cunning leader of this motley crew, who call themselves the Doom Raiders. They are always up to no good, believe you me."

After Snap Shot was finally finished explaining everything to the Skylanders, he let them go so that they could study the rules and regulations. The four of them each headed to the prison guard locker room.

"Alright, guys, let's crush these rules!" Spyro cheered on, "I know we'd rather be out in Skylands taking down evildoers, but I'm sure if we're on top of our game, this will be an easy, uneventful day."

"I hope so. The inmates here sound pretty hardcore," Stealth Elf said with worry.

"Yeah, we should really read all these rules…just to be safe," Black Ice pointed out while sharing a book with Stealth Elf.

But out of the blue, an alarm started blaring along with a red light flashing, all throughout the building.

"What's that?! Fire drill?! Prison riot?! Emergency exit door ajar?!" Eruptor called over the alarms.

"Nope! Page eighty seven, article fourteen, code seven-a, says 'No inmate shall refer to the color orange as the new black without authorized written permission…huh? Oh, whoops! Sorry, wrong alarm page. It's actually page five hundred and sixty eight, article-."

"Get on with it, Elf!" Black Ice snapped.

"It's the siren that alerts the prisoners it's time for yard duty," Stealth Elf finished.

"Ok, team! Let's get out there, and, um…" Spyro began and opened the door for the others, but he couldn't find the right word.

"Guard the inmates," Black Ice flatly finished for him while waiting behind.

"Yeah, that's it."

By the time the day was over, the others had already gone through with their guard duties, but Black Ice would occasionally leave them to it, as she didn't have a badge and didn't really read much of the rules.

But when she returned to the special set of cells that contained the Doom Raiders, she found the others all in Broccoli Guy's cell, just as they had sent him down a glowing blue hole in the floor.

"What are you guys doing? What happened to Broccoli Guy?"

"We sent him to the Hole. He and the other Doom Raiders were all sent there because of their totally uncalled for misbehavior," Spyro explained.

"The Doom Raiders are all in the Hole? But Snap Shot said they rarely acted out…" Black Ice pondered aloud, as something smelled fishy about this.

"Well, aren't you Skylanders just the smartest?" came a seductive voice, and the others walked up to Golden Queen's cell.

"Yes. And you'd be wise not to get on our bad side," Spyro warned, but then Golden Queen burst out laughing.

"Oh, puh-lease! You're here for one day, and that day is almost over. You four snot-nosed rookies can't intimidate the most dangerous villain in this entire prison," Golden Queen taunted.

"Are you trying to get sent to the Hole?" Stealth Elf asked in annoyance.

"Do you think that worries me in the slightest? I am the Golden Queen, I rule this place. And as soon as my Doom Raiders and I are free again, I'll rule all of you too, turning you into golden trophies forevermore."

The tall golden female started laughing maniacally, which finally pushed the Skylanders' buttons, and they wasted no time in double tapping their badges and sending the Golden Queen down to the Hole.

"Down the hatch," Golden Queen chuckled darkly before she disappeared, and her reaction only frightened Black Ice even more. Something was definitely wrong.

But then there was another alarm ringing throughout the prison, and a second set of heavy stone doors came crashing down in front of the cells.

"That's the prisoner alarm!" Stealth Elf shouted.

She and the others quickly ran to find the source of the trouble, and they soon found out it was Kaos, who was holding a guard hostage in the cafeteria, and he threatened him with a badge.

"Stay back, or the prisoner gets it!" Kaos warned with an evil smile.

"Whoa, calm down, Kaos," Spyro demanded softly while creeping forward.

"No dice, dragon! I'm in on the Golden Queen's plan, so I'm helping out my new Doom Raider buddies, no matter what it takes!" Kaos protested angrily.

"Good luck. They're all down in the Hole, thinking about their poor life decisions."

"W-what? But…but…but they were supposed to meet me here when I took this guard hostage!" Kaos' words of surprise finally helped Black Ice realize that the situation was far worse.

"Change of plans, fat head!" Stealth Elf mocked while teleporting behind Kaos and snatching the badge away.

"Can you send me there too?" Kaos begged with puppy eyes.

"You got it!"

"NO, DON'T!" Before they could react, Spyro had already double tapped his badge, sending Kaos down but Black Ice suddenly jumped in after him.

"Black Ice! Oh, no!" Stealth Elf exclaimed with fear, leaning down to find the hole, but it was already gone.

"W-wait a minute…did you say you sent all the Doom Raiders to the Hole?" the prison guard asked meekly once he regained his strength.

"Yeah! That a problem, other than the fact that our friend's trapped down there with them?!" Spyro questioned hysterically, but the guard was too scared to answer.

When Kaos and Black Ice woke up from the fall, they found themselves in a large underground chamber, and it was dimly lit by a few torches. They also soon realized that they weren't alone in the chamber, as the Doom Raiders(and their new recruit Dreamcatcher), were all down there too.

"Kaos? What are you doing here?" Golden Queen sneered.

"Well, I was doing just what you asked of me, Your Queen-ness, by taking that guard hostage in the cafeteria. But then the Skylanders showed up, and they were able to somehow foil my plan. Oh well, better luck next time, am I right?"

"No, Kaos! They tricked you!" Black Ice snapped.

"You stay out of this, little dragon! You're in the presence of royalty, so watch your tongue," Golden Queen hissed at Black Ice, towering over her and backing her against the wall, "You're both fools! And you were supposed to stay up there to distract the Skylanders while we enacted our escape plan!"

Kaos was truly taken aback by the Golden Queen's harsh words. "But I thought I was going to be part of that plan!"

"Oh, you were, as the decoy who keeps the guards busy while we get away," Pepper Jack taunted.

"The queen's idea was ta get those new guards ta send us all ta the Hole," Dreamcatcher added with an evil grin, "This is the only place where no one can see or stop us."

"That's not true!" Black Ice protested and stood her ground, "I'm not letting any of you go without a fight!"

The baddies all responded with laughter, laughing at her pitiful attempt to stop them.

"You and what army, little dragon? You're all alone down here, and if you think you're going to stop us—think again." Before Black Ice knew it, the Golden Queen brought back her golden claws, striking her so hard that it sent her flying across the room and crashing into a wall.

The others all laughed at her again, as she shook while trying to pick herself up and failing many times. Blood poured from the four deep gashes across her chest, and she continued to lie there, breathing heavily and her eyes were about to role back into her head.

But when she touched her chest and then raised her paw to see the blood on it, something was triggered again. Something dark and evil.

The Doom Raiders' laughter was brought to a halt when Black Ice herself began to laugh maniacally, and they watched as she sat up on her haunches.

"I am not the fool here—you all are. You think you've found another foe, when you have really found a force to be reckoned with. For you see, you were all merely gifted with dark power—the same dark power I was born into." The black and white dragoness finally turned to face them, and they were all surprised when they found that her round pupils had turned into slits again, and they remained thin with evil.

She then stood up and slowly began approaching them. "You have no idea what I've been through! I've been broken, raped, and left alone! NONE OF YOU will ever know fear and anger better than me!"

As she came closer, her once flawless white scales quickly turned into a shimmering black; and her black horns, back spines, wings and underbelly turned silver. Even her bandages came loose, and her once broken left wing was now fully healed and usable.

"Because there is not a single person who is more misplaced, more forgotten—or more unloved than me. So, you want to fight me? I dare you to try."

The black and silver dragoness stood amongst the bad guys, and she let out a deep growl while glaring at them all with her bright green demonic eyes. And when she got no answer, she took slight and hovered in front of Golden Queen's face.

"I can either kill you all right now, or you can let me be a part of this. What do you say, Your Highness?"

The Golden Queen only stood there in silence, and the other Doom Raiders all stared at her, fearing what she might do or say next. But she soon hummed and smiled at the dragoness.

"What do you call yourself?"

"Black Magic."

"Well, Black Magic—you're now an official member of the Doom Raiders. Care to help us escape?"

"I'm not helping you, you're helping me," Black Magic growled threateningly.

"I like your moxie," the Golden Queen chuckled, "We're going to combine our dark powers to create a hole in space and time, which will allow us to teleport out of this hellhole—and I imagine with your help, this just got a whole lot easier."

"It better be, and it better work."

"Believe me, it will. Doom Raiders, combine your magic!"

The Doom Raiders wasted no time in following Golden Queen's orders, as they started focusing all of their magic into the middle of the chamber. Even Black Magic was doing her best to combine her dark magic, opening her mouth wide to let loose a cloud of shadowy fire more powerful than ever before.

"It's happening! Space and time are being torn asunder, and our gateway to freedom is upon us!" Golden Queen cheered as a large org of dark energy was forming and growing before them, and she was really surprised at how much faster it was growing than he had expected. Black Magic really must be making a huge difference.

"How are you helping?" Kaos asked Broccoli Guy with a sneer, as he and the said vegetable villain waited on the sidelines.

"Well, my true super power is the ability to heal. But in a situation like this, my role is served best as the gang's support system. Go, team, go! Doom Raiders rule!" Broccoli Guy cheered on.

"Please, Queen, take me with you! I can't stay here amongst common thugs and riffraff! Besides, I…I thought we had something," Kaos begged, but the last part was too faint for the Golden Queen to hear.

"What was that?! I can't hear you over all my not wanting to listen to anything you have to say!"

"W-well, I-I guess you don't want to know where the map to the Core of Light is then, eh? Because that is something I totally know." Something Kaos said had finally gotten Golden Queen's attention, even if it was still very little. "You see, I thought we could get the map and destroy the Core together, along with the rest of the Skylands. Ya know, a very casual first date?"

"The Core of Light, you say?" Golden Queen cooed with a smirk, and then she chuckled, "Oh, Kaos, I was just teasing you before. You know, playing hard to get, as it were. You know what I mean."

"I truly have no clue," Kaos simply admitted.

"So…that, uh…map? Uh, where did you say it was?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I'm not just going ta give that information away—not unless you take me with you!"

"Of course. Nothing would please me more."

"May I?" Kaos chuckled darkly, and Golden Queen nodded and referred to the black hole the other Doom Raiders were building, so he quickly combined his magic with theirs, slightly increasing the growth as well.

But just when Golden Queen joined in on combining magic again, Spyro, Stealth Elf and Eruptor suddenly appeared in the Hole with them.

"Skylanders? Get them!" Golden Queen ordered.

Black Magic was the first to focus her attention on the Skylanders, and her glare grew even more intense as soon as she saw Eruptor. Each of the Skylanders gasped when they saw how their friend had changed and what she was doing.

"Black Ice?" all three of them asked in unison, but then she suddenly pounced on Eruptor, which sent them both into a tumble, but he somehow landed on top of her and held her down when they finally stopped.

"Ice, what the hell are you doing?!" Eruptor scolded the dragoness, but she snarled and suddenly flipped them over.

"Black Ice is gone now, and it's all because of you, Eruptor. Think about that when we rule the Skylands," Black Magic hissed, sending chills down the lava monster's spine when she slowly licked the side of his face. But then she suddenly jumped off of him, and took flight once more.

"I lost hope in becoming a Skylander long ago, so now you can all forget about saving your precious Skylands from us!" she roared at the top of her lungs before turning back to the black hole once more, and she sent another huge blast of shadows at it, finally opening it enough for the Doom Raiders to escape.

"Well done, Black Magic! Let's go, Doom Raiders!" Golden Queen ordered and the Doom Raiders quickly jumped through the dark portal, but the three Skylanders tried once more to stop them.

"Don't even think about following us!" Black Magic grunted before breathing a stream of dark ice, freezing the Skylanders and stopping them in their tracks.

But after Black Magic had jumped through the portal, Kaos was unfortunately the last one through when it started to shrink, and it caused his big head to get stuck when the portal got too small.

"No! Help me, fellow Doom Raiders, please!" Kaos pleaded while trying to pull himself free, but to no avail.

"Hmm…think of this as payback for throwing me off the island, you big-headed bastard," Black Magic growled before following the Doom Raiders to freedom.

By the time Snap Shot and most of the other prison guards had shown up in the Hole to help, the Doom Raiders were already gone, and Snot Shot was devastated.

"It's been years since a prisoner has escaped. But with all the recent unrest in the prison, I should've known someone would try something like this one day," Snap Shot sighed sadly.

"Those damn Doom raiders! They took advantage of us and played us for the fools we are…and they took Black Ice too!" Eruptor grunted as he punched the wall angrily many times, but he was still very steamed.

"No, this is my fault, Skylanders…and I'm very sorry about what happened to your friend," Snap Shot admitted in defeat.

"Should we go after them, Snap Shot?" Spyro asked.

"They could be anywhere by now, Spyro. All you can do now is be ready when you return to the Skylander Academy. Because, if you thought the Doom Raiders were a handful today, you haven't seen anything yet."

"They've preyed on our inexperience today…especially mine...I couldn't save Black Ice," Stealth Elf sighed when she couldn't hold back her tears anymore, blaming herself for what happened with Black Ice.

"Aw, c'mon, Elfy. It's not your fault," Eruptor tried to reassure.

"You're right…" Stealth Elf sniffled, but then she snapped, "This is all your fault, Eruptor!"

"What?! Mine?!"

"It's because of you that Black Ice left us and joined the Doom Raiders! What you did to her is unforgivable, and now she's let her anger take over!"

"It wasn't my fault she couldn't control herself!"

"BUT IT WAS YOU WHO BROKE HER WING, AND YOU WHO RAPED HER!"

The room fell silent, as Stealth Elf glared daggers at Eruptor, who could only stare back in complete shock.

"How…how did you know that?" was all he could say.

"I didn't," Stealth Elf replied grimly and crossed her arms, and Eruptor realized he had just been tricked, "But I also didn't fail to notice her weird behavior. The Doom Raiders may have gotten away, but I still see one more villain."

It didn't take lone for Eruptor for figure out who Stealth Elf was referring too, and he felt truly heart broken by what his best friend had just said to him…or at least, who he thought was his best friend.

"And whether or not you even care about Black Ice, I'm going to save her, no matter what it takes," Stealth Elf added before teleporting out of sight.

Wow...that was...intense0.0

Sometimes, I scare even myself.

Also, I just noticed that all the chapter titles before this one began with the letter n. Weird, huh?

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!