Chapter 8 – Answers

"Welcome to the Citadel, Elite Masters," exclaimed Eon in a joyful manner, "where the Portal Masters and the Skylanders have looked over our world and kept everything in balance and harmony for many centuries. Of course there's still a ton of work left to do on it after Kaos destroyed the Core of Light two years ago, but please feel free to gaze upon its glory and magnificence." Everyone stared in amazement as they walked around the inside of the main tower as the sunlight shined through the tower's glass roof and waves of magic coursed through the concrete walls; even Yurei was impressed as while he didn't express it physically he simply thought to himself, "Impressive…" "This is absolutely amazing," said Daniel and Sue at the exact same time. The two looked at each other and briefly smiled with Sue giving a tiny giggle. Daniel and Sue then noticed that their hands were getting closer and closer to each other and realized that Wordsworth and Brad were slowly pushing their hands together in an effort to get the two of them to hold hands. Sue's entire face turned red as she proceeded to turn around and slap the two of them across the face, and nearly causing them to fall onto Hugo who screamed out of fear. "Sorry Hugo," said Sue with a regretful look on her face, "I didn't see you there." "No problem Master Sue," said a slightly shocked Hugo, "I was just about to return this little bird to Master Clay over there." A grinning Sue smiled and said to herself, "Master Sue? I like the sound of that." "Yeah," added Daniel, "it has a nice ring to it." "You can call me whatever you'd like D," whispered Sue to Daniel. Daniel just slightly blushed and didn't reply while Wordsworth was helping Brad off the ground. "I bet you 100 bucks they'll never kiss before graduation," whispered Brad to Wordsworth. "You're on," replied Wordsworth to Brad as the two friends shook hands to seal the deal.

"Here's the bird you asked me to look after Master Clay," said Hugo as he handed Clay the bird. "I really appreciate it Hugo," said a relieved Clay, "I'll be sure to find him a new home until we can find his parents, and don't worry, I owe you one." The bird then flew over to Miles and started pulling one of his dreads with its beak. "Ouch," exclaimed Miles in utter pain, "my hair is not a worm!" Everyone laughed while Clay gently pulled the bird from Miles's hair. "Sorry about that Miles, I'll be sure to hold onto him for right now." "Alright Eon, it's time to explain everything you know," said Ricky. "Yeah mate," added Mike, "ya still got me scratching me head over here about a few things. For starters, how did we get sucked away here into Skylands?" Eon nodded his head and began explaining everything to the best of his knowledge. "It all started two years ago after Kaos destroyed the Core of Light and the Skylanders were banished to your world. As you already know, the Skylanders shrunk and were turned into motionless toys as a result of Earth lacking any real magic; somehow the magic from the Skylanders left them as they shrunk and were transferred into the Earth as a result, and causing a little bit of magic to build up over time as more and more Skylanders were discovered. Along with the Skylanders, a Portal of Power had coincidentally appeared as well, and many more were found later on causing even more magic to build up within the Earth. Finally, the eruption of Mount Cloudbreak replenished all of the magic in Skylands and a large portion of that magic found its way to Earth." "But how," asked Brad, "isn't Skylands lightyears away from the Earth?" "Indeed Brad," answered Eon, "and because of that the replenished magic found an alternate way to your world, through the Portals. While the Portal of Power may look like a simple piece of plastic in your world, each one truly possesses a strong amount of magic that empowers the Portal Masters and their vast armies of Skylanders." Yurei interrupted and asked, "So what does the recycled magic coming through the Portals have to do with us exactly?" "It all has to do you with you young Portal Masters," replied Eon, "the Skylanders, the Portals, and the replenished magic all served important roles in bringing you all here today. The replenished magic was strong enough to reawaken the spirits of the original Elite Masters within all of you, and that magic is slowly starting to grow inside you all as we speak. However, all of that magic was simply too much for the Earth to handle at one time, causing a massive chain reaction that reverted some of that magic back to Skylands." "Let me guess," said Ricky, "that's when the trippy acid neon lightning came in." "Exactly," replied Eon, "and because you all possess powerful magic of your own, your Portal of Power sucked you all in along with any other leftover magic it could return to Skylands." "I guess that all makes sense in one way or another," said Daniel, "and now I'm guessing when I saw Terrafin's toy glow with a dim aura it was because of the leftover magic as well?" "Precisely," answered Eon, "while the Skylanders may look like regular toys in your world, they possess magic just like you nine. However, they don't possess magic on par with that of a Portal Master as you've seen with Kaos being able to free himself from his toy prison." "But that doesn't mean we still can't put up a good fight," added Jet-Vac with a valiant smile. "Whenever you need us we'll be there," said Stealth Elf. "Remember," continued Spyro, "we may be frozen on the outside, but we are very much alive on the inside." "One last thing," said Sue, "if Skylands is real, then how is it a video game franchise in our world?" "I honestly don't know about that," answered a slightly confused Eon, "I'm still trying to figure that one out myself. For the time being, I believe that's everything we have time to cover today." "Now go home and get some rest Masters," said Gill Grunt, "there's a big day ahead of you tomorrow, which equals to about a couple of weeks in our time." "Don't we get any kind of training first," asked Daniel. "Well we were gonna train you today," answered Spyro, "but we say that little clash with Minotaur is good enough for right now." "Indeed," agreed Master Eon, "and now I want to show you all something that I believe could serve some importance to you in your journey." "Hold on," interrupted Daniel, "where is Minotaur?!" "Don't panic Daniel," said Eon, "he is under the watchful eye of General Robot until reinforcements arrive to take him away." "Wait, I was supposed to be the one to watch him," asked General Robot who was standing right behind the group. "I was in the men's room changing my oil," added the general. "Okay, now we can panic," exclaimed Eon.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah," exclaimed Iron Will as he threw what remained of his Minotaur suit into Flynn's old hot air balloon, "It's time to make my epic getaway suckas, but don't worry, I'll be back for Round 2 sooner than you think!" Spyro then flew up to the hijacked hot air balloon as it was taking off and attempted to stop Iron Will from escaping by unleashing the full power of the Daybringer Flame, but with no success. "Did Captain Flynn forget to tell you," shouted Iron Will as he ascended into the sky, "this hot air balloon is fire proof baby! I should know, cuz I'm the one who originally built it! Peace out suckas, and I'll be sure to give my regards to Kaos!" "We can't let Iron Will escape," exclaimed Spyro to his allies, "c'mon Skylanders!" "Another time Spyro," said Eon, "he's not worth it." Spyro watched on as Iron Will disappeared into the clouds before sighing and saying, "I guess you're right Master Eon, there's always another time." "Besides, we can always track him down if we need to," added Brad. Everyone looked confused until Brad brought out what appeared to be a GPS. "I used a peashooter to shoot one of my homemade tracking devices on his balloon, now we'll be able to see wherever that balloon goes just in case it's necessary." Daniel grinned and then asked his best friend, "You continue to amaze me Brad, but where do you find the time to work on all of this?" "Before you answer that question please take these," said Eon as Hugo brought a chest full of nine different colored crystals. "These are Elemental Gems," said Eon, "they have been passed down to different veteran Portal Masters from generation to generation for safe keeping in case the Elite Masters ever returned, and that time has finally come. Now everyone, please pick the gem that matches the color of your respective Element." The group then picked their respective Elemental Gems and watched as the gems glowed brightly for a few seconds and then went almost completely dim. "Cool," said Ricky, "but what do they do dude?" "That I'm afraid is another thing I am unable to answer," said Eon, "as no one knows for sure what they're capable of and the last known book about them is said to have perished a long time ago." "In other words, only time will tell," added Spyro with a confident smile on his face. "Alright everyone," said Hugo, "just stand on Master Eon's Portal of Power and you should be transported back home. It's a little old and dusty, but it should still be able to get the job done." Brad cautiously asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea? If I remember correctly, Portal Masters aren't supposed to use the Portal of Power on themselves." "Yet Kaossandra used it on herself three times in a row without any consequences," said Eruptor. "Yes Eruptor, but she was a highly advanced Portal Master like Eon," said Jet-Vac, "these kids are still new to the whole Portal Master thing so there's no telling what could happen." "I'm pretty sure we can handle it mate," said Mike with a cocky expression, "but Miles goes first." Mike then threw Miles onto the Portal and the latter was immediately teleported away. "Well at least we know it works," chuckled Mike. Sue then punched Mike extremely hard in the shoulder with a very angry expression on her face as she nodded her head from side to side replying, "Not cool mate… Not… cool…" Sue then pushed Mike onto the Portal as he was teleported away, followed by herself and everyone else excluding Daniel. Daniel then turned around in the direction of Eon and the Skylanders and said, "I still can't believe everything that just occurred today, and there are still so many things on my mind that I wanna ask." "We'll be sure to answer those questions next time Daniel," said Spyro, "but right now your team needs you." "And that's just it," interrupted Daniel, "what if I'm not meant to lead this team? What if I let everyone down? I could never forgive myself if anything happened to them." "Daniel trust me," said Spyro putting his hand on Daniel's shoulder, "leading a team won't be easy at first, but once you get further down the road you'll become one of the greatest champions Skylands has ever known. I just know you will, and I'm sure your father would say the exact same thing if he was here." Daniel then looked down at his Elemental Gem and then back up at Spyro before giving out a smile. "Well alright, I'll try my best," said Daniel, "thanks Spyro. Daniel, still looking at his newest group of friends, stepped backwards into the Portal of Power and gave a thumbs up to the group before vanishing into thin air. Just then, another hot air balloon arrived on the island and the Skylanders prepared for an attack believing it was Iron Will coming back for more. However, the hot air balloon was carrying a blue crocagator and a golden lion wielding crystal weapons. "So where's the convict," asked the lion. No one replied and Eruptor simply gave a facepalm.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Daniel had awoken to find himself laying on top of Sue just as she had woken up with a loving smile on her face. Daniel quickly got up and apologized while Sue giggled and gave him a wink. Daniel then blushed as Sue slowly walked towards him and whispered, "Quick, while we're alone, close your eyes. There's something I wanna show ya." "Okay," Daniel whispered back, "but how can you show me something if I'm not looking?" "You'll find out," chuckled Sue, "now shut those eyes please." Daniel closed his eyes as Sue said as she closed her eyes as well and puckered up her lips. However, Daniel quickly opened his eyes and said, "Wait, we're all alone? Where are the others?! They should all be right here with us!" "Do you think they got trapped in the Portal," asked Sue. "No," said Daniel, "I think we came out of the wrong Portal. Just look around us!" The two surveyed their surroundings to see that they weren't in Ricky's entertainment room, as the walls were red instead of white, the furniture was made of 100% leather, and the TV was twice the size of Ricky's. "I don't think we're in Drago anymore Sue," said Daniel. Suddenly, the double doors leading out of the room opened, and a familiar figure wearing a black suit and purple tie stood in the doorway. It was Hank Zimmerman, the legendary founder and CEO of Petrichor. Daniel and Sue stood motionless as Hank stared at them with a raised eyebrow. "Daniel? Sue? What are you doing here?"