Darkened clouds were covering the sun like a mist of black. Floating islands over a world that seemed to have no limitations in how far it would go were decimated in the blink of an eye almost instantly by multicolored explosions and armored trolls invading them on fleets of airships. The blue, skinny horned creature was running for his life, skidding at every corner he could possibly find. A bombardment of white spades the size of his head almost hit him as he quickly avoided them by running towards the right. They weren't the kind of spades that were sharp-edged tools, but the kind that was one of the four suits found in playing cards.

"Alchemo!" a voice called to the young blue creature with the glasses from a far distance. "This way!" The alien responded to the call, dashing straight ahead while he tried his best to avoid pillars of ice erecting off the ground. Pixelated explosions could be heard from all corners, with spinning white hearts floating straight at him. Each explosion contained four hearts each, aligned I to a square shape while rotating at the center point. Alchemo began throwing explosive potion bottles at his target, who was hidden in the ashes, smoke, and dust generated from the abandoned village.

Regardless of the outcome, he managed to survive a barrage of white diamonds raining down upon him and make it over to some sort of creature wearing a platinum astronaut suit with a crystalline head and a laser gun in his right hand.

"There you are!" the peculiar figure spoke. "You could have been killed out there! Why weren't you with the other cadets?"

"I'm sorry, Astroblast," Alchemo gasped, panting for breath as hard as he could. "I was separated from the other Skylanders when we were told to evacuate everyone on the island-" Bombs with a club suit imprinted on them were diving straight for the two individuals, with each projectile exploding into white clubs that each spread out in a three-way pattern. Astroblast quickly reached into his pockets and threw out multiple space rocks. He pulled out his gun and shot lasers at each space rock, which all fired lasers that covered up different sections of the area and decimated the clubs into dust.

"Alchemo, listen to me," Astroblast explained, holding a shield in front of the blue alien only three quarters the size of him. "There's a powerful force inside each vehicle that allows them to travel to distant worlds. Whatever this… monster wants, one thing's for sure: he's not from this realm. I'm counting on you to go out and find help."

"But… Kaos disabled all the portals! There's no way we can go out and get help!" Alchemo objected. Astroblast opened up the cockpit for his vehicle, pressing a few buttons on the control panel before turning on the engine. The veteran Skylander tossed the young cadet into the vehicle, cocking his laser gun as he heard a sinister and malevolent laugh from within the rubble of the island's destruction. Astroblast looked back on Alchemo.

"Once you get the Sun Runner into maximum overdrive, get as far away from the Skylands as you can," Astroblast continued. "Head to another universe, if you have to. Just come back with more Skylanders, okay?" The crystalline alien dashed straight into the mist, his scream going from ferocious to frightened upon entering the thick cloud of dust and going completely silent upon the strange monster shutting his trap. Alchemo quickly shut the window for the cockpit, grabbing onto the yoke and pulling it close to his bare chest. The Sun Runner slowly began to rise in the air.

"Uh… what do I do!?" Alchemo asked himself, trying to press every button and switch on the control panel in complete panic. "Isn't there an instruction manual for this kind of operation!?" Before Alchemo could touch one more knob, the wretch that supposedly ended the life of Astroblast flea into the air, his appearance concealed by the dark clouds. The young cadet gazed, with petrified eyes magnified by the lenses in his glasses, upon glimmering eyes that flashed yellow above a smiling mouth filled with pointed teeth. A small weapon thrown by the creature within the darkness slashed through the glass, and Alchemo felt a sharp pain strike right at his forehead. He only felt himself press the button his finger was over just a split second before his inevitable demise.

"What a shame, what a shame," a cunning voice with an extremely slight lisp spoke, echoing in the darkness that dived into the subconscious of the pain growing in Alchemo's mind. "The little one has left the game. But I won't worry about a thing, thing. You'll come back with more to play with."


*A short while later...

On the spaceship Hat Kid was traveling on, the strange animal was resting on the pile of pillows in the bedroom, with the mysterious weapon still embedded in his head. Hat Kid took out the white pellet she acquired from Mario, squeezing it twice before leaving it in the clawed hands of the creature she rescued. The alien girl watched as the wounded being she took into her ship vanished in a bright write light.

"Now how do I get to that strange realm Mario and the others were talking about?" Hat Kid asked herself. "Maybe that email I got before I flew over Mafia Town might work…" The alien girl ran on over to her computer and turned it on. She opened up the email she marked, where she clicked on the word "RETURN." At first, nothing seemed to be working for the alien girl, as the computer seemed to freeze for a brief moment. Then, the computer began to shake as the lights in her bedroom flickered on and off.

The screen on Hat Kid's computer began to glitch out, opening a blue vortex that seemed to suck her in by the cape. In total panic, the alien girl tried to run away, but the gravitational pull sucked her in completely. Next thing she knew was a bright light flashing over her and her own self ending up on a glowing platform.

Hat Kid opened up her eyes, feeling the clean and advanced architecture of the transporter she arrived in. Her big, blue eyes were amazed by the smooth, cool glow of the futuristic lights above and beneath her, clearly looking far more advanced than any other spaceship she's ever seen. She looked around the darkened room for a while, her mind lost on what she needed to focus on: the strange, wounded creature she brought along with.

She quickly remembered who she brought along here, and she frantically got up and ran over to the unconscious body of the horned alien. Hat Kid pulled his long arms over her shoulders, dragging him off the transporter into the nearest hallway. It was still the middle of the night during this time, so the moonlight was still shining bright in the night sky through the windows. Hat Kid could hear the sound of Banjo's footsteps just a few feet in front of her, making her feel aware she came to the right place.

"Hat Kid… what are you doing here at this time of night?" Kazooie asked, she and her bear partner completely tired as they walked into the moonlight. "It better be a good excuse to-" The Breegull gasped at the sight of the strange thing the alien girl brought on board, and Banjo was just as equally terrified.

"I can explain…" Hat Kid tried to reason. "This guy just showed up around my ship, and I took him in because he's still alive by some miracle. Please help me."

"Okay, okay," Banjo reassured Hat Kid, taking the unconscious creature into his arms. "Let's just… get him in an empty bed and pull this thing out of his head. It could be the reason why he's dying."

"Yeah, let's do that," Hat Kid replied. Banjo carried the otherworldly creature into a nearby hospital room, placing him on his back on top of the patient's bed. The bear looked at the strange, miniature weapon embedded in the scrawny alien's forehead, his paws carefully gripping onto the curved blade.

"Hat Kid?" Kazooie asked. "Can you hook up this thing's arm to a heart rate monitor? If you can find one, we'd be honored."

"How do I know what a heart rate monitor looks like?" the alien girl asked.

"Forget it," Kazooie replied, dismissing the whole request entirely as Banjo was slowly trying to pull the scythe out. "We may not be doctors, but we're clearly lifesavers. I think. Is that how it goes?"

"I'm not sure about that," Banjo replied with complete nervousness in his voice, not wanting to hurt the wounded thing.

"Just pull the scythe out!" Kazooie sighed. Banjo grabbed the green-and-indigo swirled handle, quickly pulling it out of the head. As the bear dislodged the scythe from the head, the weapon itself crumbled into dust in his paws. By the time the little scythe was no more, the young thing sprung up in complete panic like he had just woken up from a nightmare.

"Fire! Eon! Darkness! Kaos! Jevil!" the strange being exclaimed, tumbling around on the bed while bursting out random nonsense he clearly didn't think about through his own fangs and lips. "They're coming! Bad things are coming! I have to warn everyone about-!" The young Skylander stopped panicking for a brief second, his breath calming down as he looked at the three faces gazing back at him in the same amount of confusion plaguing their minds right now.

"Pardon my English, but what was I saying again?" the plucky and eccentric trainee asked, the random words he was spouting out having faded from his memory thanks to the wound caused by the small scythe weapon.

"You were talking about something about fire and darkness…" Kazooie answered.

"Was I…?" the young troop asked, scratching his dark gray messy hair behind his floppy ears. "I don't know why, but I have this strange feeling I'm forgetting things and at the same time… the words I said just recently sound too familiar…"

"I found you floating around near my ship in some sort of sun-shaped space vehicle," Hat Kid explained. "You were almost dead and I had to bring you in. What's your name?"

"Name…?" the creature asked himself. "I don't even know if… Alchemo. Yeah, that's my name."

"Alchemo, huh?" Banjo questioned in personal interest. "Any idea what you are, or where you came from? From the nonsense you were talking about, it seemed as though your world was under attack by something…"

"I… you see, the thing is… oh no…" Alchemo paused between words, just a few seconds before he came to the conclusion that he was a complete amnesiac. "Oh no! My memories! I don't remember anything about what happened to the realm I came from! I don't remember anything but my own name!"

"But… what about the stuff you were spitting out earlier?" Hat Kid asked. "Like something about fire and darkness? Not to mention proclaiming to seek out help?"

"Uh… good question," Alchemo replied, adjusting his big glasses. "I think whatever injured me must've screwed my memory a bit. Maybe some muscle memory triggered those words to fly out of my mouth, also thanks to… said whatever causing my memory loss."

"Hm… this does seem like a problem to us," Kazooie cooed, her expression changing to worrying as though she might know that whatever happened at Alchemo's world would affect theirs as well. "We better figure out where this guy came from, and stat. Maybe the rest of our pals could figure this out."

"Yeah," Banjo replied as he was scooping up the dust that strange weapon crumbled into and placing it into a jar. "I get the feeling something terrible is going to happen unless we figure out what's going on. Hat Kid. Alchemo. You're coming with us. It's time we reminded as many of our pals as we can about this scenario." Banjo adjusted the backpack Kazooie was living in, strutting out of the hospital bedroom before stopping and looking back at Hat Kid and Alchemo.

"Well, come on and follow us," Banjo continued. "We'll be heading to the Smash Fortress, and we can figure out what's going on." Alchemo rolled over to the side of the bed, slipping off the mattress and landing on his face. He quickly pulled himself up on the side of the bed, balancing himself back onto his feet. The scar on the young cadet's head seemed to fade away as Alchemo followed behind the bear-and-bird duo, with Hat Kid running after them.


The pale moon in the night sky was beginning to set, and the morning sun was just about to rise. Banjo & Kazooie were making their way over the bridge to the front entrance, with the alien girl and the horned creature trailing behind them.

"Whelp, we're almost there," Kazooie spoke. "And thanks for waking us up in the middle of the night to get us to drag you all the way out here, Hat Kid."

"Kazooie, don't be too harsh on the girl," Banjo replied. "Besides, if it wasn't for her, Alchemo might have never survived." Banjo pushed open the large doors, their creaking echoing throughout the humongous castle.

"Wowie," Hat Kid gasped in awe at how spacious and decorative it was. "This place sure is big."

"We felt the same way too," Banjo noted. "So far, we've only discovered a tiny portion of this place, and right now a few of us are living in our own rooms. But we're going to have to wait until everyone's awake- where did you get that?" While Banjo was talking, Hat Kid pulled out a megaphone from her cape.

"Oh, don't tell me you're gonna-" Kazooie spoke with irritation before Hat Kid brought her lips to the mouthpiece of the megaphone and turned it on. The initial sound the alien girl was speaking out from began to hurt the eardrums of Banjo, Kazooie, and Alchemo.

"Attention, whoever's living in this big place!" Hat Kid called out, the acoustic feedback ringing through the megaphone and her amplified voice echoing throughout the Smash Mansion. "We've got a strange alien that we saved from death after I picked him up, so would you guys please be so kind as to come on out and help find out where this guy came from? It would mean a lot!"

"Would someone keep whoever's awake quiet!?" Fox asked from upstairs, his voice raspy and dry from waking up in the middle of the night. "We're trying to sleep!" The leader of Team Star Fox was dressed in long-sleeved, striped pajamas with baby blue stripes, with his metallic boots poking out from the openings of the pants.

"I swear to God, if I find whoever made that noise, I'll-!" Fox snarled, growling through his teeth until his expression changed to one of surprise. The mercenary saw Banjo & Kazooie with the likes of a strange child wearing a hat and a skinny, blue alien with straight horns on his head and big glasses. Fox kept his maw shut, unable to say anything about this whole ordeal.

"It's 4 in the morning," Sonic groaned, walking out from the darkness upstairs in some white slippers while rubbing his eyes. Walking behind the blue hedgehog were a tired Pit and Inkling, both of them dressed in their nightgowns.

"Yeah…" Pit yawned, leaning on the railing near the stairs with sleepiness in his voice. "At least be glad Mewtwo's still asleep. Do you know how cranky he would get if you woke him up?" Just when the angel said that, the Genetic Pokémon teleported behind him, "holding" a sleeping Kirby (who was wearing a nightcap) so much as using his telekinesis abilities to keep Kirby beside him.

"I'm not one who needs to sleep in order to regain energy," Mewtwo telepathized, keeping the sleeping puffball around him. "However, I heard the sound of a girl speaking through a rather loud megaphone, meaning whatever is the problem has to be dealt with immediately."

"Gee. Thanks, Mr. Obvious. How could we have guessed?" Bowser growled, marching out of his bedroom past the corner. "I was trying to get my kid and the other Koopalings back to sleep after they woke up from some brat's noise, but thanks for the clarification of who started it." Donkey Kong and Ridley were also following behind the Koopa King, with the gorilla holding a large banana plushie in his right arm and Ridley tiredly dragging his claws against the polished wooden floor.

"I'm gonna tear the arms off the idiot who thought it was a good idea to wake up this whole floor because of… a… skinny blue alien thing…" Ridley snarled, his voice starting to calm down as he looked down on the ground floor and saw Banjo and Kazooie with the Hat Kid and Alchemo.

"What?" Sonic asked with the thought Ridley was mocking him based on his looks, straightening his bushy quills with the utmost snazziness as though he never got tired from waking up in the middle of the night. "I think I'll have you know I'm the most handsomest hedgehog alive, a one-of-a-kind unlike any other… oh. You were talking about the other guy downstairs, weren't you?"

"Who else would I be talking about?" Ridley asked. "To me, you're just the cocky asshole everybody likes for some reason." The Inkling chirped, trying to calm things down before the two fighters even got heated up over a conversation like this.

"Clementine's right… probably," Fox McCloud replied, with Kirby waking up in Mewtwo's telekinesis glow inches off the ground. "First, we all need to head downstairs and… see what's going on, according to Banjo and his pals."

"Guess so," Mewtwo telepathized, setting Kirby down onto the floor. "Since all of us are now awake, we might as well attend to the bear's and Breegull's singular request." Mewtwo floated off the floor and softly landed in front of Banjo & Kazooie, while the rest of the current fighters living in the fortress so far ran down to the bottom of the stairs.

"Wow… This is amazing, guys!" Pit happily complimented the anthropomorphic duo, looking in awe and wonder at the strange beings they brought along. "What are they? Are they more fighters? I kinda wonder if they are fighters, because everyone's welcome here regardless if they're chosen by a Smash Ball or not."

"Doesn't really matter right now," Fox replied. "Anyway: Banjo, Kazooie, why are you here?"

"It isn't about the two of us," Banjo answered. "It's about Hat Kid and what she wants to tell you guys."

"So… do all of you think it's okay if we explain this over at my place?" Hat Kid asked. "It's a whole lot to take in, so I think you'll have to see it to believe it. And by it, I mean the ship… thing… he came in."

"...Can some of us get dressed at least?" Sonic asked. "We can't necessarily go out in our pajamas."

"Sure," the alien girl replied, adjusting her top hat. "But you guys will have to make it quick in… getting into your dresses." Sonic dashed away into his room, instantly making it back down the stairs less than a second later in his signature red shoes. Fox, Inkling, and Pit were the only ones to run back upstairs to change into their regular clothes.

"Alright, so… what are your names, kids?" Ridley asked.

"Hat Kid," the alien girl cheerfully replied. "This creature I rescued calls himself Alchemo."

"Hey there," Alchemo greeted, shyly waving his hand at the new strangers he was standing in front of. "...You wouldn't happen to be Skylanders, would you?"

"Skylanders…?" Bowser asked, wondering where that name came from. "What are those…?"

"I… don't really know," Alchemo replied, scratching the back of his head. "That word just… kinda slipped out of my mouth." Donkey Kong began hollering out noises in complete realization on another word it could be related to. Mewtwo picked up on that, quickly understanding what the gorilla was trying to say in his animalistic language.

"Donkey Kong's trying to tell us that he might have heard that word before, but only when they confronted the Bowser Jr. Primary," Mewtwo pointed out. "Skylands… Skylanders… it all makes sense now."

"Oh wait, we remember now!" Kazooie cawed in sudden recollection. "Joker, Eleven, Byleth, Terry, the Piranha Plant: we've been hearing a lot about those Skylanders, though… it was only for brief passing…" Pit, Fox, and Clementine all ran downstairs, having been fully dressed in their own clothing.

"Alright, we're ready to go," Fox McCloud spoke up. "Lead the way, Hat Kid." The alien girl ran past the door, with the ten Smashers and Alchemo following behind her into the early dawn sky.

"Is that all of you?" Alchemo asked. "All ten of you living in that big castle?"

"At the moment," Pit responded. "There are far more of us, but everyone's either living in the city just a mile across or in their own realms."

"Huh. Neat," the young cadet noted.

"Hey, Hat Kid! Wait up! You don't know the way back to your ship!" Kazooie called out to the alien girl, who was several feet ahead of them in the forest.


With the black moon appearing just as its pale-colored binary twin disappeared over to the land opposite of it, the fighters traveled on foot to the Legacy within the light of the rising sun bringing forth an early dawn. The ten Smashers and the two kids got to a certain location hidden below the Legacy, which was near the backside of the ship. Hat Kid pulled out her megaphone again and yelled into it, irritating the teammates around her.

"Hey!" Hat Kid shouted, hurting the eardrums of her comrades. "If there are any guys up there, please lower the gates! We'd like to get to the dimension-traveling machine so we can get back to my ship!" Fox McCloud snatched the megaphone from the alien child as a way of telling her to shut up.

"You don't have to do that," Fox told Hat Kid. "We're not protestors. They can see us. All we have to do is ask and they'll let us in. It's okay! She's with us."

"Yeah, it's alright!" Sonic called out. "We're just here to head out to another world." The drawbridge to the Legacy's deck lowered, letting the whole group enter the large ship without much trouble. After a couple minutes of taking the elevators to transport them to a special part of the ship, the fighters got back to the transporter.

"So… how does this work?" Hat Kid asked. "How do we all get back to my ship?"

"Oh, that part is easy," Sonic replied. "There's a special doohickey powering the whole thing, and it's connected to a special ring from my world. With something as simple as say… your ship… these same kinds of rings will track down the world you desire and take you there, just the way you imagined it. Because they're basically powered by imagination…"

"Oh… that simple, right?" Hat Kid asked, climbing onto one of the platforms on the transporter. "So if I say something like my ship, it'll take me back?" Just as the alien girl finished, the transporter activated, its lights and platforms glowing bright beneath her. Hat Kid glanced back up at the companions she was inviting, disappearing in a flash of white.

"Everybody know where to go?" Kazooie asked. The fighters nodded, with Alchemo completely confused. Sonic approached the skinny creature, placing his hand on the back.

"Hey, don't worry," Sonic told the young cadet. "This transporter's active for about a minute, so you better step in fast." The blue hedgehog patted Alchemo's back, giving the newcomer the confidence to enter into one of the platforms and transport himself.

"Whelp, be meeting with the rest of you soon," Bowser growled, heading over to yet another platform. Sonic, Donkey Kong, Pit, and Kirby stepped into their own portions of the transporter, disappearing as well. Banjo & Kazooie, Clementine, Ridley, Fox, and Mewtwo followed behind shortly after. Once everyone seemed to vanish in the active transporter, the machine itself powered off for now, having just spent the same time it takes for Sonic's rings to remain active.

Hat Kid reappeared back in the living room on her ship, shaking her head of the trip she went through to get back from Arcus to here. She got back up on her feet, feeling the engine still running beneath her. Alchemo appeared in a flash of light behind her, and so did Bowser, Banjo and Kazooie, Fox, Pit, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Inkling, Kirby, Ridley, and Mewtwo. Everyone except the alien girl, Banjo, and Kazooie, were looking at how spacious and comfortable the place was.

"Wow!" Pit proclaimed. "Would you look at this place? It's got everything!" The angel ran over to the TV, which was currently playing the title screen of a game centered around a dog.

"This kid's got so many games to pass the time!" Pit exclaimed, holding a bunch of game cartridges in his hands. "Oh! What's this?" The curious winged boy entered through the glowing tunnel.

"That's the tunnel to my bedroom," Hat Kid acknowledged, following the angel into her bedroom.

"You've got a computer with a drawing tablet AND a musical keyboard!?" Pit asked, gasping with happiness as he looked behind himself to find a pile of pillows. The angel jumped in with joy, practically swimming in it.

"This place is amazing!" Pit remarked, lying on top of the pile of pillows.

"Yep, it sure is," Hat Kid replied with a smile on her face. Mewtwo teleported himself into the bedroom, glancing at Pit with a serious stare.

"We're not supposed to be goofing around," Mewtwo telepathized. "You were going to show us something, right Hat Kid?"

"Yep," the alien girl replied. "It's located in the machine room. Follow me." As Hat Kid ran out, Pit got off the swimming pool of pillows with a sad look on his face as Mewtwo floated out of the room. Everyone eventually ended up in the machine room, in which Hat Kid would present to them the ship she rescued Alchemo in.

"So there I was, having a good night's sleep until suddenly BAM! That thing just bumped into my ship and forced me to wake up," Hat Kid explained, touching the bright yellow crystals surrounding the exterior of the sun-shaped glider. "The glass was broken by the time I brought Alchemo to Banjo & Kazooie, but still: I have no idea where that strange, horned kangaroo man came from."

"Wow… even I haven't seen anything like it," Fox replied, feeling the metallic plating covering the ship. "Alchemo, are you sure you don't remember arriving in this thing?"

"I'm truthfully honest," Alchemo answered. "I have no clear memory of what I'm doing here, or who any of you are."

"Name's Ridley, and these here are the rest of the confrères I've gotten to know for a while: Inkling, Kirby, Sonic, Fox, Donkey Kong, Pit, Mewtwo, and Bowser," Ridley introduced. "Good luck getting to know these guys, cuz I ain't repeating their names again."

"...Who exactly are Kaos, Eon, and Jevil?" Mewtwo asked the young cadet. Alchemo looked at the Pokémon, all confused and such.

"Oh! Oh! I know who Kaos is!" Pit called out before being interrupted by Bowser, who pushed away the angel with his meaty claws.

"Isn't he the brat that possessed my son under Galeem's orders?" Bowser clarified.

"Sounds like the exact same one," Sonic the Hedgehog added. "But I have no idea who Eon or Jevil are. Sounds like one of these names could be a major threat that we must stop at any cost…" A strange sound began to beep from the vehicle, with a red light flashing from the control panel. The Smashers and Alchemo all gathered around the beeping light, finding a button flashing crimson.

"...So, anybody wanna press it?" Kazooie asked.

"I'm not so sure about this," Fox McCloud objected. "What if this… sun thing self-destructs or something?"

"What? You're suddenly acting all defensive about this?" Ridley questioned, with Clementine chirping in her language with annoyance. "Puh-lease. I'll be the one to press the button. Just to prove that this sun spaceship isn't rigged."

"The Inkling could prove a point," Mewtwo translated, having just read her mind to tell the others what she meant. "After all, we have no idea how this mysterious aircraft functions, and I'll be the one to-"

"Screw it," Bowser growled, quickly pressing the blinking button with his claw. "I'm not one to waste any time." The beeping seemed to stop, and the other fighters all backed away once they saw the hull of the ship begin to glow almost instantly. Mewtwo and Pit quickly pulled up their shields in front of the Smashers, with the Pokémon using his telekinesis to create a barrier and the angel using his Guardian Orbitars.

"Bowser! Alchemo! Get over here!" Pit warned the two.

"What? Why?" Bowser asked. The sun-shaped aircraft rumbled as white noise began to ring from the cockpit, and the Koopa King backed away. Before they could warn the amnesiac cadet to back off, the glowing and rumbling stopped, and a holographic screen filled with static instantly appeared above the aircraft. The static was starting to fade away and establish a better connection with the transmitter, who seemed to be some pink-skinned gal with violet braided pigtails and a tall, steampunk pipe-shaped hat paired with a buttoned trench coat.

"Attention! All Skylanders!" the strange figure broadcasted. "This is a level thirteen-billion, super-red-alert distress call! This ain't another drill or prank call, I swear! This is a serious business that concerns our universe as we know it! Kaos and his minions are ravaging throughout the Skylands, tearing Rifts into our world and disrupting the connection to the portal network. And with the help of a strange new face never before seen anywhere in the universe, he has built a weapon capable of wielding the evil within the Darkness to his own intentions! But fear not, Skylander! You have been assigned to a new group we'd like to call… the SuperChargers. Basically, if you find some sort of macguffin item they call a Rift Engine, then you have found an alternate source of opening a Rift back to the Skylands! For those of y'all who've received the signal, I'll be using your vehicle to get you there, so sit tight!" The transmission ended, and everyone in Hat Kid's machine room was entirely befuddled.

"...What does that mean?" Alchemo asked, just as muddled as the strangers he was with. The vehicle began to shake again, with the lights in the machine room flickering on and off. Everyone in the room was starting to get worried about what's going to happen as the floor underneath them began to shake. A beeping alarm blared throughout Hat Kid's ship, giving the alien girl quite a scare. Soon enough, the sound of a fracture in space began to tear underneath the sun-shaped aircraft, growing wider to the point where the vehicle fell into the widening hole. The rift began to crack, with streams of fissures crumbling across the floor.

"What's going on!?" Hat Kid asked, crying out of fear the second the floor caved below her. The alien girl fell into a spiraling vortex of multiple colors, the likes of which she had never experienced before.

"Hat Kid!" Banjo called out, with the floor easily collapsing under his weight and causing him to fall. Kazooie tried to get the bear back onto the floor as fast as she could, but because Banjo was heavier than her the Breegull was unsuccessful. Alchemo quickly grabbed ahold of Kazooie's wings, trying to pull the duo up.

"Don't worry! I got you! I got- I didn't get you…" Alchemo exclaimed, his voice turning into self-disappointment as the rift grew bigger. Donkey Kong also fell in, and Bowser shortly followed. The Inkling, Sonic, Kirby, Fox, and Pit all dropped down into the rift. Ridley and Mewtwo were the only ones who didn't fall in thanks to their natural gifts of flight, but they dived into the rift to save the rest of their pals.

The rift opened up in another dimension, with the fighters and their two companions falling from the sky. The crew was trying their best not to panic, with Pit struggling to fly.

"C'mon, already!" Sonic called out to the angel. "Use your wings already!"

"I can't! Not without Lady Palutena's guidance!" Pit exclaimed, flapping his white-feathered wings as hard as he could. Ridley swooped in, snatching the angel's clothes before grabbing onto Alchemo. Hat Kid used her umbrella as a parachute, and Fox McCloud swam through the air to get into the vehicle that was falling alongside everyone. He tried starting up the vehicle, the engine inside it powering on as he tried maneuvering through the air to get a safe landing. Bowser and Donkey Kong crashed into the topmost branches of the trees below them, and Kirby quickly used the energy within him to create a Warp Star to slow his own descent onto the solid ground below them. Mewtwo used his telekinesis, trapping Sonic, Inkling, and Banjo & Kazooie in bubbles he generated around them.

Bowser crashed onto the forest floor in a pile of broken sticks and twigs, with Donkey Kong swinging through the vines as though nothing happened. Kirby landed next to the gorilla in a small explosion from his Warp Star, and Ridley descended onto the forest floor before dropping Alchemo and Pit. Mewtwo popped the bubbles containing Clementine, the bear-and-bird duo, and the blue hedgehog when they got close to the forest floor. To add insult to Bowser's unfortunate predicament, the vehicle Fox was piloting crash-landed with the front crystal submerged into the ground extremely close to the Koopa King's crotch.

"Sorry, Bowser!" Fox told the Smasher below him, crawling out of the cockpit and onto the ground. Hat Kid floated down onto the glass of the cockpit, her small weight just enough to tip the aircraft backward the second her feet touched it.

"Woah… where are we?" Sonic asked, looking around the new area he and the gang were stranded in. What they were standing in was a jungle filled with exotic trees, but there were too few to crowd the scenery. A village filled with straw huts was built in a clearing, with dozens of floating islands both big and small filling the sky. Alchemo looked at the place with a sign of familiarity.

"It's like I've been there before," Alchemo spoke, his voice becoming quieter than before. Bowser climbed off the pile of sticks, with small flames flaring out of his nostrils.

"What are you guys looking at?" Bowser asked in his usual angry tone. "Would it have killed you to lend a hand? Or two?"

"I was trying to help some of the other fighters before they hit the ground," Mewtwo responded with his telepathy. "At least be glad with your armor you can withstand a tank shell."

"Oh, so you're the most powerful Pokémon in existence, and yet you can't use your abilities to save my butt!" Bowser growled, stomping towards Mewtwo with a boiling fit of rage. Donkey Kong got in front of the Koopa King, communicating to him in his monkey language.

"At least I'm not one who spends most of his days eating bananas and sleeping in trees," Bowser replied. "Do you know how much radiation you can get from eating all of those?"

"Let's not forget the fact that you're the one who stranded us all here in the first place," Ridley snapped, pointing at Bowser. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going back to Arcus." The Space Pirate pulled out his white pellet, squeezing it twice. However, nothing happened as a result. Ridley squeezed the pellet again in confusion.

"What the-!? This usually works…" Ridley objected.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Hat Kid asked, jumping off the sun-shaped aircraft. "Didn't that lady sending the distress signal say that the portal system network was cut off?" The fighters stared at the alien girl once she questioned that topic.

"I think she's right," Fox replied. "Regardless of who started it and who saved who, we can't even get back to the rest of our pals at the moment. Whatever's cut off this world from the rest of this universe has severely affected these pellets, therefore we're stranded here until we either fix the portal network or use an alternate source of transportation."

"An alternate source of transportation, huh?" Sonic asked. "Maybe we should head over to that village and see what we can find." Clementine chirped happily in her Inkling language, ready to head on over there with her trusty Splattershot.

"Poyo poyo poyo," Kirby pointed out, aware that no one in this group knows about this place.

"I think the pink puffball has a point," Mewtwo added. "Let's stop pointing fingers at each other and try to figure out what's going on."

"As well as try to help me recover my memories," Alchemo replied.

"I don't know about you guys, but Kazooie and I are raring to go," Banjo mentioned, stretching his arms.

"Alright, fine," Bowser huffed, crossing his meaty arms in front of his chest. "But I'm not one to waste any time here. Let's just fix whatever's bugging our pellets and get out of this place. Junior and the Koopalings might get worried sick that I'm not being a good dad and whatnot." The Koopa King marched on ahead towards the village, with his companions following behind. Alchemo and Hat Kid held onto Pit's hands, ready to face whatever challenges come their way in this strange new world.

The fighters walked into the streets of the village, looking around the place and finding out there was no one outside as the fog began to set in. The windows seemed to be barricaded from the inside with planks of wood, giving the Smashers, Hat Kid, and Alchemo a sense of fear… or at the very least suspicion. Mewtwo tapped into his psychic abilities, learning that whoever's living there is very likely locked in their own homes.

"There are people living here," Mewtwo telepathized. "I'm beginning to get a feeling of dread looming over this island."

"Like there's something, or someone, keeping these villagers in their houses," Kazooie cooed. The fighters continued walking through the empty cobblestone streets, keeping their guards up throughout the duration of the first minute of their stay. Kirby began to hear muffled sounds coming towards their direction, and the pink puffball was easily frightened. He hid behind Alchemo, and the fighters readied their weapons as the gagged voices came closer towards them. They saw the silhouette of what appeared to be a strange blob gurgling with frightened sounds, but as it got closer they only saw a small, light-brown badger-like creature crawling towards them with his body submerged in a ball of lattice. His head was the only thing poking out, and his muzzle was gagged by a wide ribbon of web.

"Wait, guys," Alchemo told the Smashers and Hat Kid while walking towards the captive Villager. "Maybe he needs our help."

"Be careful that he doesn't bite you," Fox warned, keeping the aim of his blaster at the creature. Alchemo touched the web blob, feeling how sticky it was. Without thinking, the young cadet pulled out a vial filled with green liquid from his back. He didn't even know that he got the right one and yet he popped off the cork with his mouth and splashed the liquid over the netting, dissolving it and freeing the villager. He squirmed out of the net and brushed the dust off his loose clothing.

"Thank you so much, Skylander! Thank you so much!" the villager spoke in a voice that seemed to be filled with anxiousness and anxiety. "But now you and your friends have to leave this place. You need to get out!"

"Wait, what?" Hat Kid asked. "But we just got here."

"Listen, listen! You don't understand," the mammary creature went on. "This is a fight you cannot win."

"Is it something having to do with the machine destroying your world?" Pit asked.

"Worse!" the villager screamed, grasping the fur on his head as though he was going to tear it out. "It's the monster who helped create the machine!"

"Who? Kaos?" Sonic asked. The resident shook his head, his fear set on something else lurking in his village.

"No," the villager went on. "Even Kaos doesn't understand the true motives behind this guy. While that contraption is sapping the Skylands of its magic elsewhere, this strange little devil is spreading destruction beyond our control. He's powerful and crafty, a complete lunatic who forces others to play his games of death! He's already killed most of the Skylanders, and he speaks of pure insanity. Please! You have to leave!"

"But… we can't leave," Ridley replied. "The portal network's busted, remember?"

"Then hide! Hide like your life depends on it because it surely does!" the mammal cried in fear, tugging on Alchemo's dark blue pants. The villager stopped moving in fear, his breath holding still as he heard the sound of jingling bells slowly approaching behind him.

"... He's here…" the inhabitant whispered. "Quick! Hide! He's coming for us!" The badger-like dweller ran past the Smashers, running into the fog to never be seen again.

"Huh. Wonder if that guy's the lunatic," Bowser sneered. The Inkling girl heard the jingling bells ring closer, hearing soft footsteps in front of them. She chirped in her language, trying to warn her friends about the incoming stranger.

"Who are you calling a clown?! You're a clown!" Bowser roared, storming over to Clementine.

"She wasn't referring to you, Bowser," Mewtwo telepathized, appearing between the Koopa King and the Inkling. "She's trying to warn us about an actual clown."

"Yeah, right," Bowser scoffed. "Like I'm ever gonna fall for that one-" Donkey Kong pushed the Koopa King's body around using his strong front limbs, forcing Bowser to look in the same direction everyone else was. A pair of glowing-yellow eyes pierced through the thick fog, followed by soft laughter coming from the threatening presence of the stranger. As he walked closer to the fighters, they could see his appearance clearly.

The creature was standing at around Sonic's height, wearing a pair of black trousers that reached above his blueish-gray ankles and black slippers with lime-green toe boxes. He was dressed in a purple shirt marked with two darkened stripes that stretched from his shoulders to the bottom of the shirt, with a line filled with black diamond shapes running down his front and a tail shaped like the version of the capital letter J with the horizontal line above the end of the curve. A black cape was wrapped over his shoulders underneath a collar ruff with petal-shaped pieces of lime-green and yellow, with black, poofy sleeves and purple mittens. What seemed to be strangest of all was that the creature had a round, blueish-gray face with elvish ears and clown-like eyes colored completely black, as well as a smiling mouth filled with sharpened, yellow teeth. The last thing to top off what the stranger was sporting was a harlequin jester hat that was purple on his right and black on his left, with the two ends bearing golden bells.

"Why hello there, visitors," the imp spoke as he approached the interlopers who arrived here. "I seemed to have taken a notice that you're not exactly new, new around here, aren't you?"

"Hey! Beat it, clown!" Bowser snarled. "What do you think this is? Some kind of circus?"

"Oh, I'd like to wish, wish! Uee hee hee! And such a strong, fearsome temper coming from a beast of your size as well," the jester proclaimed like he was in a Shakespearian play. "The fact that you're addressing me as though I'd like to join your menagerie by any means is of my utmost uncertainty to do otherwise."

"...That voice… and that smile too," Alchemo addressed, starting to feel a sense of insight with the clown standing in front of the group. The joker heard the young cadet speak as though he knew him, and his row of yellow teeth stretched across his face.

"Well now, well now. If it isn't a surprise," the merryman giggled, literally springing his head with a coil-like neck forward until his face was inches away from the young Skylander. "Why, it's the trainee in front of my eyes! Oh, how right was I when you would come back with more to play with, play with. Such marvelous fun we're going to have together!" Hat Kid and Sonic stepped in front of the jester, both giving the clown a look that forced him to draw back his head onto his body. The stranger floated a few feet into the air, his tail gently wiggling near his legs as he seemed to relax while he was levitating.

"We're not here to have any fun with you," Fox McCloud declared, pointing his blaster at the hovering jester. "State your business around these parts."

"Why, of course!" the jester went on, rolling over himself as he continued defying gravity and swirling around like a merperson. "It would be rude to leave you hanging with the simplest of unanswered questions, questions. Some name me the Madman, others say I'm the Devil, but you can call me… Jevil."

"Jevil, right?" Mewtwo asked telepathically. "I can read through the minds of anyone, and all I'm getting from you is… a tainted cloud of madness in a mind that cannot be revealed to those who can see through them."

"Uee hee hee! And you're aware of how insignificant you are compared to what I have seen," Jevil laughed with lunacy in his voice, his mitten tracing across the rim of his bottom lip. "Ah, you don't know the possibilities you can set your mind to, even with all the power of your world. Don't you see that everything is meaningless?! That the most dire of punishments are non-existent?! That all of you are being played by minds greater than yourself?!"

"Okay, now that sounds like someone who should be locked up in a mental asylum. You're crazy!" Sonic objected in disbelief.

"No… you're the ones who are crazy," Jevil proclaimed. "You arrived from a game you all share where you can bask in the freedom to fight! How banal! How trite! How can I make you feel more comfortable…? Hm…" The Smashers backed away from the creepy jester, aware that whatever he has planned is in no way good.

"I've got an idea," Jevil continued. "We'll play a harmless numbers game. Normally, when anyone else wants to attend, they must abide by the rules that they lose when their HP drops to zero. But from the world where most of you come from, the rules behave far more differently than normal. So, let's mix them up a bit, bit. When I knock you off the screen during your last stock, I win, win! Lives are on the line, so let's begin." The two yellow lights flashed in the jester's black eyes as his long purple tongue stuck out while he was laughing maniacally. He generated a white orb from his chest and tossed it into the air with great force. The fighters jumped back in fear as the orb landed on the ground and took shape, transforming itself into a larger version of the exact same scythe embedded in Alchemo's forehead.

"Kids, stay behind us," Banjo told Hat Kid and Alchemo. "It's all of us against one of him. How hard can he be?" When the Smashers pulled up their fists and drew out their weapons/powers, Jevil grabbed the weapon he tossed and danced with it elegantly. His mittened hands gripped tight onto the striped handle, showing off his vicious grin of pointed yellow teeth.

"Uee hee hee! A circus freak against a circus of freaks," Jevil giggled as the ten Smashers marched towards him. "Now, now! Let the games begin!" The jester flew high into the air, glaring down at the fighters with yellow lights flashing in his eyes once more. Jevil dived straight down to the Smashers, using a powerful swing to cut through. Banjo & Kazooie activated the Wonderwing move, ramming straight into the jester's side. Jevil quickly grabbed onto the Breegull and pulled her out of the backpack, throwing her straight at a small stack of barrels where Alchemo and Hat Kid were about to hide in. The jester tossed the anthropomorphic bear into the air, surrounding him with spades that were about to penetrate him before Sonic jumped high into the air and grabbed Banjo.

Sonic zipped towards Kazooie, grabbing the Breegull and putting her in Banjo's backpack. White diamonds were targeting the hedgehog as he curled up into a ball and charged straight for the insane jester. Jevil teleported onto the ground, leaning forward and keeping his knees apart as he pushed against the charged spindash.

"It's so exciting… I can't take it!" Jevil laughed, tossing the blue hedgehog straight at Banjo and Kazooie like he was a larger-than-normal, electrical baseball. Jevil began to hear the heavy footsteps of Bowser charging straight at him with a flaming mouth. The jester began teleporting in random directions, spitting out volleys of five spade bullets. The Koopa King tucked himself into his shell and plowed through the spades, flying straight at the clown.

"A beauty is joying in my heart!" Jevil laughed, trying to prevent himself from getting crushed as Bowser grabbed him by his springy neck and slammed him into the ground. Jevil stuck out his hand and reached out to the air, spawning a quartet of club shapes that spat out bullets continuously behind the Koopa King.

Bowser was getting hit from behind his shell like it was a barrage of arrows, knocking him off the jester. Jevil quickly got up and kicked Bowser straight at a nearby stone building. The Inkling girl transformed into her squid form and jumped on top of Jevil's shoulders, bashing his head with her Splattershot.

"Feisty, feisty little one, aren't you?" Jevil asked, grabbing Clementine by her arm and suplexing her. Once Jevil was on ground level, Fox rushed in with a flash of blue, tackling the jester with rapid kicks. The Star Fox mercenary quickly pulled up his arms in front of his face as Jevil winded up for a punch, but the punch was so strong he was tumbling on the ground. The jester pointed his mittened hand at Fox, spawning bombs packed with rouletting hearts. The anthropomorphic fox pulled out his reflector so he could reflect the hearts, and Clementine threw a Splat Bomb right at the jester. As though Jevil foresaw this predicament, he quickly teleported behind the Inkling and swung his scythe like a baseball bat, knocking Clementine into the air until she landed next to Bowser.

"Clementine!" Fox called out, dropping his defenses and letting himself get hit by an explosion of orange ink. Jevil used this chance to throw Fox into the air and kick him into the ground. The jester heard something tear through his black cape, and he looked down on the ground to see Pit firing arrows of light at him. Jevil soared through the air and danced around the light arrows, pulling out his scythe and attempting to slash at the angel.

"Nice try!" Pit snapped, splitting his bow into two blades and attacking Jevil's scythe. "You're nothing compared to the Underworld Army and the Forces of Nature combined into one!"

"Oh, you're so right, right," Jevil giggled, slamming his scythe into the ground and Pit dodged out of the way. "I am far more than you could ever predict." Jevil raised his hands, spawning four smaller copies of his scythe around the angel. Before the scythes could chop off Pit's head, Kirby, Hat Kid, and Alchemo pushed the angel out of danger. The pink puffball charged straight at Jevil, rapidly kicking the jester in the face. The impish clown grabbed Kirby's squishy body, ready to impale the pink demon with the swinging mini-scythes. Ridley quickly rushed in and grabbed Jevil's head with his claws, plowing the jester through the ground into the stone wall of one of the huts. The badger-like villagers hiding in the house ran out screaming as it collapsed, forcing Jevil to emerge from the ground and ride on Ridley's neck. The Space Pirate was being ridden like a bull, screeching as he flew high into the air with the jester on his back.

"Wee! I never had this much fun, fun!" Jevil laughed, jumping off Ridley and spawning a bunch of diamonds above him. The creature slammed his hand down, by which the diamonds knocked Ridley straight down. Mewtwo used his telekinesis from the ground, flinging Jevil onto the ground so he could personally attack the jester himself. Jevil laughed as he generated a bunch of clubs to fly straight at Mewtwo. The Pokémon used Confusion, reflecting the clubs back at Jevil.

"Using my own moves to attack me?" Jevil asked, shielding himself from the incoming club shapes by spinning his scythe like a windmill. "Oh, what a fan I be!" Mewtwo didn't realize Jevil literally meant he was a fan until he saw the jester spin his scythe faster and faster. The Pokémon tried to use his telekinesis to stabilize himself midair as he was blown off the ground, but Jevil quickly teleported right behind him and kicked him into another untouched straw hut.

Donkey Kong jumped high into the air and slammed Jevil into the ground. Before the gorilla was about to bash his brains into the road with his strong fists, the jester rolled backwards and spawned multiple hearts behind Donkey Kong.

"My hearts go out to all you sinners!" Jevil exclaimed, slamming the white hearts into the gorilla and weakening him to the point where the jester could grab his neck and suplex him at the stone building with Bowser and Inkling. Jevil watched as Mewtwo got back up in the midst of the small villagers running past him in fear as they escaped their desolated house, and the Pokémon set his sights on the jester with glowing-white eyes as he used his telekinesis to gather up the stone rubble from the house.

Mewtwo thrusted his arms forward, throwing the stones at the jester as his eyes reverted to their normal purplish hue. Jevil began teleporting and dancing around the flying stones as he swung his scythe to cut through the larger stones while using a barrage of spades to destroy the smaller ones. Sonic slammed himself into the jester at top speed, rapidly jabbing at Jevil's chest. The monster clown laughed as he grabbed the blue hedgehog's arms, spinning around like a tornado and flinging him straight through the entrance into the stone building.

"You leave our friends alone!" Hat Kid called out, pointing her umbrella at the maniacal jester.

"I don't know who you are, but you're not welcome here!" Alchemo proclaimed, tossing multiple explosive potions at the jester and missing entirely. Jevil shook his head and flew straight at the two kids. Mewtwo teleported next to Jevil and pushed him aside.

"Get the other fighters!" Mewtwo telepathized, holding the handles of Jevil's scythe and pinning the jester down. "We need to take this clown down!"

"Let's go!" Hat Kid told Alchemo, already running off to get Fox McCloud and getting him back up to run over to his pals at the stone building. Alchemo pulled Banjo back onto his feet, and Hat Kid ran over to brush off the diamonds pinning Ridley. Pit already took Mewtwo's order, and he picked up a bruised Kirby while avoiding all the spades and clubs flying across the village. Hat Kid and Alchemo helped Ridley, Fox, Pit, Banjo & Kazooie, and Kirby reunite with Bowser, Clementine, and Donkey Kong at the cobblestone stairs.

"Any idea where Sonic is?" Fox asked, worried about the safety of the blue hedgehog.

"Hey, guys!" Sonic called out, his head poking out from the inside of the structure as he waved out to them. "You have to come and see this!" While both the Pokémon and the jester were fighting each other 1-on-1, Mewtwo spotted the fighters disappearing into the stone structure. Before Jevil struck him with a deadly blow, the Pokémon teleported to the stairway and flew into the building with the other teammate.

"Do you guys see this? It looks like they're hoarding so much gold here," Sonic pointed out. In front of the Smashers seemed to be a pile of gold and priceless treasures, glimmering bright in the darkness of the building.

"Perhaps as a way to defend their economy," Fox replied.

"But what are those on top of the gold?" Sonic asked with a smuggish grin on his face pointing to the top of the pile. Fox, Kirby, Pit, Mewtwo, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Banjo & Kazooie, Ridley, Clementine, Hat Kid, and Alchemo all looked at the top of the gold pile to see ten strange vehicle engines, each one glowing with a different color. One was colored in a cyan aura with wisps of clouds swirling from it, one had a brown hue with tiny rocks orbiting it, another bore a faint red glow with some fire. The fourth engine was blooming with small leaves in its green hue, and another appeared yellow with a bright saturation. There was one engine with a purple aura and glittering dust, and another that seemed to have a dark-indigo aura with blackened mist and stars. One of the golden motors was covered in an orange tincture with small gears, another was embedded with a gray aura with bones, and yet another was a sapphire blue with water swirling around it.

"Do you think these could help us clobber that Jevil guy?" Bowser asked. The stone at the entrance crumbled as the jester slashed through the door frame in one clean slice, his yellow pupils and teeth piercing through the darkness.

"No time to think!" Kazooie squawked, hiding in Banjo's backpack. "Mewtwo! Get the strange relics!" The legendary Pokémon used his telekinesis to lift all ten engines from the top of the gold pile and lowered them down to the fighters.

"Now I guess it's time for me to win the game, game!" Jevil laughed incomprehensibly, the blade of his scythe dragging across the floor as the golden bells at the tip of the blade jingled. "Time for this charade to end, boisengirls!" Hat Kid and Alchemo backed up to the pile while the Smashers all grabbed onto the different engines without thinking of what was about to happen next.

A burst of newfound energy ran through their bodies, lifting each of the fighters into the air. Jevil stopped dead in his tracks as he, Alchemo, and Hat Kid watched the Smashers be completely surrounded by a new type of energy not a part of their Smash Balls.

"No element detected," a robotic, feminine voice sounded in unison from the engines as the fighters were surrounded by the elements of the motor they each touched. "Prepare for reassignment. Donkey Kong - designation: Life Element. Bowser - designation: Fire Element. Banjo & Kazooie - designation: Earth Element. Kirby - designation: Magic Element. Ridley - designation: Undead Element. Sonic the Hedgehog - designation: Air Element. Inkling - designation: Water Element. Fox McCloud - designation: Tech Element. Pit - designation: Light Element. Mewtwo - designation: Dark Element. You have been chosen. Rift Engine engaged. Commence SuperCharging."

Each fighter was consumed by a glowing orb of the singular element assigned to them: Donkey Kong in glowing plants, Bowser in fire, Banjo and Kazooie in rocks, Kirby in an orb of colorful violet energy, Ridley in a gray mist with humanoid bones, Sonic in a thick orb of wind and thundering clouds, Clementine in swirling water, Fox in gears and cogs mixed with nuts and bolts, Pit in highly saturated light, and Mewtwo in a shadowy ball of black mist. In those orbs, they all donned new looks.

Donkey Kong felt the plants and vines crawl over his body, creating a yellow suit with orange-and-white markings over his body, keeping his head, hands and feet, and iconic tie untouched. The plants then created a barrel and placed it in his strong arms. Donkey Kong felt himself become one with the plants, the trees, and the life living within the soil itself.

Bowser felt the fire around him heat up his iron-tough body, with the flames creating a spiked chestplate, kneecaps, and shoulder pads that donned the look of his spiky shell. A large mallet generated in his hands, with the handle long enough to fit both of his meaty claws and the head replicating the design of the spiny shell in a red hue. Bowser felt a burning passion to take down his enemies blaze inside of him like an ancient inferno.

Banjo and Kazooie were coughing as the rocks and sand swirled around their face, clothing the bear and bird in a brand new look. Banjo was donned with a sleeveless loose shirt colored a darker shade of brown than his fur, and his pants transformed into baggy breeches. A layer of sashes were both wrapped around his waist and his lower legs, and golden brass knuckles marked with Jiggies on top spawned in his fists. Kazooie transformed too, bearing a crystal helmet that looked like a mohawk and stone daggers dangling from her wings.

Kirby felt the energy of the magic around him, and he saw a glowing ball of it floating straight towards him. The pink puffball inhaled the magic, donning a golden crown with crystal spikes and a blue jewel in the center, with a veil of glittering silk the same color as his blue eyes. White gloves with hearts embedded into their design covered his stubby hands, and he was wielding a whip with five barbed ends, each one containing a different element from Popstar: Sizzle, Blizzard, Zap, Splash, and Bluster.

Ridley felt the rotting hands within the gray mist cloak his body, dressing him up in a helmet and chestplate made entirely out of bones. The helmet he wore was reminiscent of the ancient Chozo race, and shoulder pads made out of the hand of one of the avian creatures. Ridley wore a pair of gloves with elongated steel claws, also mimicking the look and feel of the Chozo that raised Samus.

Sonic looked around himself to see the wind blow around him in all directions, and he quickly pulled his hand up in self-defense from a lightning bolt about to strike him. The blue hedgehog watched as his red shoes over his white socks were redesigned into Air Boots, down to the small jets located at the bottom of each sole. The air blew around Sonic as he was wearing dark blue shorts, a white t-shirt, and a poofy, cropped, short-sleeved light-blue blazer with a lightning bolt marked on the back. He felt himself become as free as the wind he was always a part of, except the storm was about to be released through his overhauled sneakers.

Clementine felt like she was about to drown and dissolve in water she didn't know was not littered with toxic chemicals, until she looked at herself and saw she didn't melt. Over-ear headphones with a white skeleton and neon pink cushions covered her pointy ears, with both metal earcups marked with squids surrounded by empty circles that pumped with an EDM beat. Sporty sunglasses popped onto her face, and her shirt was given a color inversion with lights often seen at rave parties flashing on and off to the electronic beat playing in her headphones. A pair of vinyl discs spawned on opposite sides of her ink tank, by which she detached them to find they hovered in midair by spinning while coated in orange ink.

Fox McCloud felt himself stripped of his clothes, only for the cogs and gears surrounding his body to completely dress him up in a skintight, futuristic bodysuit that was completely white with green markings to make it look more robotic and artificial. Black, sci-fi combat gloves with armored metallic paddings coated his hands, and he retained his Star Fox jacket and father's red scarf. His visor received an overhaul design, turning into an advanced bone conduction headset paired with an emerald-green floating eyepiece. His blasters remained the same, just like his jacket and scarf.

Pit kept his wings spread open as he felt the light consume his body. A new kind of fabric and metal plating wrapped around his old tunic, and the olive leaves in the angel's hair generated a light that formed a literal halo above his head. The armor was light enough to give him an upgrade to his initial design, giving him golden feathers on the outside of his sandals and adding a few additional belts to bind the polished shoulder pads to the upper joints of his arms. His tunic was laced with noticeably more gold markings than before, but the ratio of the white in the tunic was still greater. Fingerless, golden gauntlets with the glowing-cyan symbol of Palutena's Army on the back of his hands generated, and the bow Pit uses stayed relatively the same (with the exception of a more heavenly glow).

Under the influence of the darkness around him, Mewtwo was wearing a duplicate of the armor he wore when he was working for Team Rocket. The armor itself had the same looks, but the Pokémon lacked the helmet entirely and the armor itself appeared in a much darker hue. A scythe made out of purely concentrated darkness generated beside him, its handle appearing gnarled and gray and the blade having curved to look like a crescent moon, down to the pale-blue glow and crater markings.

The orbs generated by the engines vanished, landing in front of Alchemo and the Hat Kid. Jevil still kept that Chesire smile of his, but he used it to portray the expression of curiosity as he saw the Smashers in brand new outfits.

"I think this place might be starting to grow on us," Fox McCloud pointed out, feeling the comfortable new design. Sonic shuffled in place, not necessarily knowing how to use his new shoes as the jets underneath his soles activated, launching himself several feet into the air as a storm cloud emerged from a roundhouse kick he performed. As the storm cloud hit the jester and electrocuted him, the blue hedgehog quickly steadied his balance and spun around Jevil like a tornado.

The clown spawned a barrage of diamonds to throw at the now-dizzy speedster, but Kirby quickly lashed his whip out. The barbed ends wrapped around Jevil's leg, giving Kirby the chance to throw Jevil against the stone floor with great force. Jevil quickly rolled to the side as Bowser's new hammer was about to flatten his face into the ground. Banjo slammed his feet into the ground, creating a rocky pillar that launched an unsuspecting Jevil into the air with great force. As the jester kept defying gravity, Ridley flew straight and slashed with his extended steel claws. Jevil was knocked into the ground from the impact of the slashing, pulling out his scythe once Mewtwo warped right in front of him. The jester blocked the incoming attack from the Pokémon's new scythe, but Fox rushed in and began using his blasters.

They fired faster than usual, and they were beginning to burn some holes into Jevil's clothes. As the jester teleported himself into the air and flung out some hearts, Clementine threw her vinyl discs like ink-coated frisbees, which had some sort of boomerang effect as they circled back to the Inkling's hands. Sonic shook off his dizziness and charged straight at Jevil in the air with a homing attack.

When the blue hedgehog landed on the ground, Donkey Kong used his spiky head for a footstool, ramming Jevil into the ground with a powerful force from his barrel. Before the jester touched the ground, Pit knocked him forward with us Upperdash Arm. Jevil was sent flying out of the stone building, his scythe disappearing into thin air as he landed several feet away from the bottom of the stairs. The Smashers ran down the stairs, pointing their weapons at the elf-eared jester. Jevil's mouth began to bleed as he spat out a tooth dislodged from the back of his mouth.

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," Jevil laughed, still retaining his pointed grin even with some red stains on it. "Looks like you newcomers won the game. But the next round won't be so pleasant. You still have two more phases to complete before I leave elsewhere, and each one will be far more difficult than the last as I level up and earn more power." The jester got back up onto his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth.

"You have quite the formidable magic, magic," Jevil continued. "And you're not even from this world too. I guess we are quite similar, me and you. Can you complete the game? Can you finish the task? See the secrets you must dismask? 'Cause if so… I'll be the one who hunts you down. Until we meet again, non-Skylanders!" The jester laughed as he shot himself straight into the air to destinations unknown, with the fog over the village clearing up.

"That's right!" Ridley snarled. "You better run from us! Now that we've got new outfits and weapons to take you down!" Hat Kid and Alchemo emerged from the building, the both of them running down to the Smashers as the badger creatures hiding in the houses were slowly coming out of hiding.

"The… The Skylanders saved us!" one of the dwellers proclaimed.

"They saved us from the likes of that horrifying clown!" another called out with the happiness of freedom. The gratitudes of salvation slowly rose among the villagers in a commotion of joy. Soon enough, the Mabu villagers heard the sound of rumbling engines from behind them.

"Everyone, stand clear!" yet another villager proclaimed. "The SuperChargers are coming this way!" Two vehicles were riding in towards the fighters, with one supposedly a wide motorcycle with molten lava for wheels and another constructed like a buggy but with a panther skull and a roof made out of ribs.

"Um… wasn't that the Jevil guy we were trying to hunt down that just… flew away?" the creature riding the molten motorcycle asked as he got off. The creature looked like he was made entirely out of molten lava, with a helmet and a lance made out of magma on his right "hand."

"Sure looked like it," a pink-skinned vampireress replied, jumping out of her buggy. "But he wasn't running from us. He would have known we would be here, but how would that explain the multicolored light we just… saw..." The vampireress was wearing an animal skull for a helmet, with a short-skirted dress and armor around her arms and chest made entirely out of bones. She had a braided ponytail, as well as roller blades that were supposedly merged with the lower legs.

"Maybe we should ask these guys," the lava creature replied, pointing his lance weapon at the Smashers. "Somethin' about them doesn't fit…"

"They're the Skylanders who saved our village from that awful Jevil!" one of the Mabu inhabitants proclaimed.

"Skylanders, huh?" the vampireress questioned, scratching her head. "They sure don't look like any other Skylander I've ever seen." Donkey Kong gibbered in confusion, looking at Bowser as though he knew the answer to his question.

"Now how would I know what a Skylander is?" Bowser asked. "We've only been here for a couple minutes, and yet I still don't even know what that word means!"

"They're talking about us," Mewtwo answered with telepathy. "To these locals, WE'RE the Skylanders."

"I think I heard Lady Palutena talk about them once," Pit pointed out. "But it's been so long I don't remember when…" Hat Kid ran down the stairs to greet the strange new creatures, amazed by how they looked.

"Woah! A human!? What's a human doing here!?" the magma creature exclaimed, jumping upon the sight of the alien girl running towards them.

"Relax, Eruptor," the vampireress reassured. "She's not dangerous. She just could be another Portal Master summoned here to help us."

"Uh… wrong and wrong," Hat Kid answered. "I'm actually neither a human nor a Portal Master, whatever those are. I'm Hat Kid, by the way."

"Hat Kid… Well, we're kinda used to literal naming. It's nothing new around here," Eruptor replied. Alchemo ran over to the alien child, snatching her off the ground.

"Don't you ever go off like that!" Alchemo spoke to her. "What if you get killed or something? Sorry about that…" The two Skylanders looked at the young cadet in feelings of relief that he was back.

"Oh, Alchemo! You're back!" the vampireress cried, rolling over to Alchemo and hugging him. "We thought Jevil killed you when he got the chance!"

"Oh, no. I just… lost my memory of the whole encounter and… you guys," Alchemo replied, much to the disappointment of the two veteran Skylanders.

"...You mean you don't remember your old pal Roller Brawl?" the vampireress asked. "Me and Pop Fizz used to train you alongside the new cadets, remember? It was months ago since you applied." Alchemo looked away, unable to say anything about the matter.

"Hi there," Sonic greeted from the stairs. "We were, uh… kinda responsible for this whole affair with that jester. In case you didn't know."

"Were you?" Roller Brawl asked. "How exactly did you beat him? No ordinary Skylander could even take him on, not even ten of us against one jester."

"Yeah, but here's the thing," Banjo replied. "We're not from around here. We're from another universe… well, we came here from the same universe. We've all come from separate worlds, but we all came here from a rift that sun-shaped aircraft generated. It's sitting in the island's forest right now."

"Oh, you mean the Sun Runner?" Roller Brawl asked.

"But how were you guys able to take down Jevil?" Eruptor asked. "We know none of you are part of the Skylander Academy since you said so yourself. And now we have to resort to these vehicles for transportation."

"Oh, that we can explain," Pit answered. "We've found a bunch of golden objects, and when we touched them, we found ourselves wearing these fancy new clothes."

"I'm kinda digging the makeover right now," Sonic replied, holding the sides of his blazer and looking down at his new outfit.

"Golden objects…" Roller Brawl replied. "Don't you mean the Rift Engines? We've heard this island has been holding those. You wouldn't happen to have gotten into contact with them…?" Sonic dashed inside the stone building, taking out the stacked golden engines that still held their elemental auras.

"Oh my God…" Roller Brawl spoke in surprise, skating over to the stairs and picking up her legs to climb up the stairs. "You found some. You actually found some! We've been looking for these ancient relics everywhere ever since Kaos disabled the portals with his new machine!"

"To think you guys would actually find those… this is amazing!" Eruptor added, having run up to Roller Brawl to see the new engines. "You have to come back to the academy! It's not much after the events that happened, but Buzz will give you the scoop on the top missions."

"Come along," Roller Brawl replied. "You guys are Skylanders now. Buzz will have a better way of explaining things, just like Eruptor said." Mewtwo used his telekinesis to lift the stacked Rift Engines off Sonic's hands.

"Don't get too comfortable around here, friends," Mewtwo telepathized. "This is still a new world, and they may not be friendly if we're not careful."

"I don't know about you, but I'm sure I can handle this place just fine," Sonic replied as the Smashers walked down the stairs, with Bowser picking up Hat Kid in his free hand. "After all, I can use these hover boots like a pro- woah, woah, woah!" As Sonic performed a triple backflip in the air in front of Roller Brawl and Eruptor, the jets on his shoes activated, so when he stopped, he was losing balance in midair. The blue hedgehog fell over on his back, so now he was hanging upside-down with his jet-boots still activated. He looked up at the two veteran Skylanders with an embarrassed grin on his face.

"Uh… a little help?" Sonic nervously asked.


Some time later, the Smashers, Alchemo, and Hat Kid all went with Eruptor and Roller Brawl to their base, which was an entire island where an academic school was rebuilding itself. Wooden boards were nailed to the holes on the blue roofs, and there were wooden stairs surrounding the place where Mabu workers were rebuilding the walls. An elderly Mabu with a short and wide body was showing the new Skylanders around the place. The mammary veteran was wearing an eyepatch cloak over his right eye, and he was walking with a cane due to the peg leg on his left crippling his movement. He took the Smashers to the main garage found in the academy, where multiple SuperChargers were resting in.

"The Skylanders are a group of the greatest heroes ever assembled; hand-picked to act as defenders of Skylands and to keep the balance between light and darkness," the elderly Mabu explained with the Hat Kid carrying one half of the number of Rift Engines while Alchemo carried the second. "For some unexplained, unfathomable reason, the Rift Engines have chosen you strange folk, over some of our other, more experienced Skylanders, to attend to our topmost priorities. Now I'm not one to object against some ancient whatchamacallit thingamajigs." Sliding across the hood of one of the vehicles towards the newcomers was the girl who sent the transmission, and her face was a whole lot clearer than before.

"Hiya, Skylanders!" the girl greeted, pulling out her hand to shake Banjo's paw. "Name's Mags. I'm the 'ventor in this establishment. Nice to meet y'all."

"Nice to meet you too," Banjo answered, letting go of Mags's hand. "My name's Banjo. The bird living in my backpack is Kazooie."

"We've got Bowser, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Fox, Mewtwo, Pit, Ridley, Inkling, and Kirby," Kazooie introduced. "Buzz told us a lot about you and how you invent vehicles for anyone chosen by a Rift Engine."

"And that I can!" Mags declared, walking over to Hat Kid and Alchemo to take the ten Rift Engines from them. "Lemme just grab 'em real quick…" As the pink-skinned inventor with the Southern American accent took the Rift Engines, she was surprised to find the alien girl with them.

"What the-?!" Mags asked in surprise, taking care not to drop the engines. "What's a human doing here? Never mind that. Just what're you good at, little girl?"

"I'm a bit of a pilot. Ooh! And a collector!" Hat Kid replied.

"A collector and a pilot, huh?" Mags asked. "Well, we certainly can use those around here. Alchemo. Show this girl to the ship where the Skylanders will be traveling around in."

"I would if I could, but… I've got amnesia. I don't really remember anything about this place," Alchemo replied.

"It's okay, Mags," the Mabu veteran reassured, patting her back. "He'll get his memories back eventually. Don't know when, but he'll get 'em back."

"Sure hope so, Buzz," Mags replied, walking off to the other side of the garage. "Nothin' that an anti-amnesia potion can't fix! Once I'm done with them Rift Engines, I'll be helpin' Pop Fizz whip one right up! Shouldn't take long..." Mags ran out of the garage, ready to work on something new with the Rift Engines.

"Anyways, the academy is a sitting duck for the likes of Jevil, the Doom Raiders, and who knows what," Buzz continued. "You can thank Kaos for bringing 'em all together into his army. The fact is: we need all the help we can get to take down that brat and his Doomstation, even with that little kid in the hat. Can we count on you strange folk or not?" The fighters all looked at each other, unsure of what to do here.

"Well, it is our duty to protect other universes from legitimate threats," Fox replied. "Yours sounds rather serious indeed."

"But I really don't feel like some of us are up to the task," Ridley added. "I had been infamous for countless genocides throughout my lifetime, ate Samus's parents, and I'm just overall a messed-up person who still smells the blood of the victims he forgot he slaughtered in his sleep. I'm obviously not the type that goes in the 'heroic alignment.'" Before the other Smashers could shut him up, Sonic quickly jumped up and clamped Ridley's mouth down, in the hopes that the alien dragon wouldn't get kicked out of the academy.

"What he means is there are some battles he doesn't really want to attend to," Sonic replied. "But he's fought alongside us, just like the rest of these guys. We've restored balance and whatnot, so… he's just trying to be a big meanie, like always. It's adorable, really. But in all seriousness, he's trying to repent for the lives he ended."

"But I guess we have no choice," Mewtwo telepathized. "We're stranded here until we get those portals fixed. And we will do whatever we can to ensure you that as Skylanders, we'll be up for the cause and saving your world."

"But I'm not up for the cause, let me tell you that," Bowser growled. "Outside of a few exceptions, I work for my own rules. So I don't think you're talking to the right people, no matter how many fancy clothes you give us." Buzz stroked his white beard, contemplating deeply about the subject matter.

"Well, as best as I can think, you guys got her through a Rift," Buzz noted. "And that Sun Runner conjured said Rift. So whatever Kaos is doing to the portal network affects not only the Skylands… but virtually and literally every one of them universes out there. Things are probably gonna get worse once that spoiled kid finishes us for good. And once he's done here… he might just move on to your realms, if that jester starts to help him catch on. We'll see if you belong in the heroic alignment by then, winged beast." That last sentence was targeted to Ridley.

"So… guess we have no choice, like Mewtwo said," Pit answered, with Clementine nodding in agreement.

"We're in!" Banjo cheered.

"Ugh, fine. We'll help," Bowser growled. "But we'll be needing something cool to sweeten the deal."

"And some codenames too," Buzz replied, limping past the new Skylanders towards the exit. "Luckily, Mags has got you covered with the former. Follow me." The Smashers followed behind, ready to see what new invention Mags built awaits for them.

The new cadets hired into the Skylander team were standing on the deck of a flying airship, where Mags was ready to present the new vehicles she made. They were hidden underneath a long, singular cloak, and she was just about ready to explain the mission. A short, blue furry creature with a toothy grin, yellow sclera, and long ears and wearing leather boots and gloves with a large tuba-shaped bubble blower on his back was mixing a few vials together while adding dashes of other concoctions.

"Now then… we've received a distress call from Hugo, Flynn, and Cali, our three most trusted recruits," Mags explained. "They may not be Skylanders, but they're obligatory to all the future missions. They've been taken captive on one of Count Moneybone's prison ships, which we've relocated them flying just over Motley Meadows. In order to combat that there Sky Eater thing Kaos and his minions have built, I've been makin' designs of the vehicles for every Rift the Skylanders find. When I put yours into each vehicle I designed for y'all… it wielded some interestin' results. Pop Fizz, can you step outta the way please?" The short furry creature stopped mixing when he heard Mags.

"Uh… okay!" Pop Fizz replied, doing as she asked. "I'm not really sure whatcha got under there."

"Just focus on the anti-amnesia potion for Alchemo, aight?" Mags continued, grabbing onto the end of the cloth. "Anyways, behold your new vehicles!" The pink-skinned inventor swiped off the sheet, and the Smashers looked upon them with awe.

"For the gorilla, we've got the Barrel Blaster. Now I made sure to put your Rift Engines in the right vehicles that you folk see fit, but they jumbled up into different elements upon insertin' em in. Case-and-point, this bad boy's of the Tech Element." Mags explained, walking over to what looked like a vehicle with a barrel for a wheel up front, bamboo chainstays, and cannons at the back. "It's got some bonus stage boosters, a steel drum driver, and some of them barrel cannons on the sides." She smacked the side of the vehicle, and two cannons that looked like they were the perfect replicates from Kong Island popped up at the sides.

"Up next is the Clown Cruiser of the Air Element, the spiky shell guy's type," she went on, heading over to what appeared to be a mini-airship shaped like a plane with Bowser's wooden face carved into it and some cannons underneath the wings. "It's got everything you need for a tyrannical ruler of your type: airship planks, a royal figurehead, and some Koopa bombers. Don't know what those are." The following vehicles contained the following from left to right: a jet ski with a bluish-violet hue, a hood containing the face of the Mighty Jinjonator, and large red feathers on each side with blue egg cannons; a small, alien pirate ship with jagged, monochromatic architecture and holographic sails on top and the sides, a hollowed cockpit in the center, and two deep blue harpoons at the back with Metroids imprinted on them; a blue sporty race car with flaming golden rings for wheels, flamethrowers on the sides, and the seven Chaos Emeralds encased in glass tubes on the backside; a glider that looked like the Star Allies Sparkler but arranged differently, such as having been tilted downward with the white insignia imprinted on the top, and a heart-shaped controller seat with glass up front shaped like a star; a peculiar boat that looks like a darker recolor of a Steelhead Salmonid from the Inkling's universe, subwoofers attached to the fins and the sides of its head, and turrets where Octarians would sit and fire; a tank that was just a version of Fox's Landmaster with twin turrets, crystalline armor, and rocky wheels; a winged motorcycle made entirely out of vines that was floating in midair, leaves for the wings and the tail, and flower-shaped cannons on the side; and a four-wheeler that had two Rapidash skulls glowing with blue fire for headlights, an old and gnarled design on the shape and form of the ATV, and cannons that had the jewels of Sableyes attached to them.

"Here, we have the Jinjo Jetski of the Magic Element. Got the toughest Jinjo paint, red feathers, and some egg cannons. Then there's the Phazon Hunter of the Water Element. Chaotic design, state-of-the-art technology, and harpoons to hunt down the deadliest of criminals. We've got the Flash Drifter, burning with the Fire Element. It uses burning rings to reach speeds faster than Mach 1, mythical Chaos Emeralds to charge its power, and some cool flamethrowers to cause massive damage. Then there's the Star Sparkler of the Light Element, with armor forged out of love, tail streaks, and cannons of purely concentrated light. Salmon Devourer of the Dark Element. A vicious beast, some party speakers to keep the beat pumping, and some ink-filled turrets. Land Master, speaks for itself being of the Earth Element. Has diamond-tough armor, all-terrain wheels, and Smart Bomb turrets. Viridi's Voice, Life Element. Spore-engaged defenses, iron-tough leaves, nasty flower guns. Last but certainly not least, Giratina's Quad of the Undead Element. Rapidash skull headlights, tougher-than-bone wood, and soul-sucking mortars. That's all I got, and I built every single one of them in just a couple minutes."

"Okay, you've convinced us on why we should stay here," Sonic replied, zipping over to the Flash Drifter with joy in his heart as he hugged the hood. "I am keeping this one! It's perfect…"

"You mad gal, you actually did it," Fox McCloud responded with an impressed tone, feeling the crystal armor on the Land Master. "You haven't even been to any of our worlds, and yet you nailed the designs perfectly."

"Oh, don't thank me," Mags chuckled, pointing to a short, blue-skinned humanoid shark leaning on the control panel in front of the ship. "You can thank Sharpfin for the designs. He wanted to emulate what he knew felt familiar to you guys, and I helped deliver! Glad y'all like 'em."

"Now THIS is how you sweeten a deal!" Bowser laughed as he fitted himself into the cockpit of the Clown Cruiser.

"Hey, Pop Fizz," Mags asked. "Ya finished with the potion?"

"Yes I am!" Pop Fizz replied, giving a potion bottle with a raspberry red to Mags when he completed mixing and such. "It's a little bubbly, but I can assure you once you drink it you'll be recovering those memories of yours in certain time periods… or you might die from severe headaches." The inventor pulled out a small bag and poured some grounded herbs and roots into the potion before giving it to Alchemo.

"Gee, thanks for the tip," Alchemo chuckled nervously, not hesitating as he quickly chugged down the potion.

"So: about the mission," Fox McCloud asked.

"We all head on over to Motley Meadows, free that Mabu trio, and get 'em off that skeleton's ship," Buzz explained, limping across the wooden drawbridge to the ship. "The other Skylanders tried and failed countless times, but you folks seem to have a good history with this kinda stuff. Let's hope you don't go missin' like Astroblast and Deep Dive Gill Grunt. The plan goes as follows: one of you activates a Rift in your vehicle to the ship, and you break Flynn, Cali, and Hugo out. We'll be flying over to pick you up. This is life-or-death, and the more seconds we waste the more the Sky Eater devours." The Smashers got into their own vehicles, starting up the Rift Engines and warming them up.

"Hat Kid! Alchemo! Hop on!" Mewtwo called out to the two young fighters. Hat Kid climbed into Sonic's Flash Drifter while Alchemo climbed up on top of Fox's Land Master.

"Nice," Sonic chuckled, feeling his vehicle rumble quietly. "Purrs like a kitten too. Wonder how you even use these Rift Engines to get anywhere… Perhaps they might work like my rings, so if I think or say the name of our destination…"

"It'll take ya there in a jiffy!" Mags finished for the blue hedgehog. "Oh: and one more thing. There are Land Vehicles, Sky Vehicles, and Sea Vehicles. Each element seems to belong in a certain category of terrain, so we advise you plan out your strategies while accomplishing your mission. Earth, Fire, Tech, and Undead belong with the Land Vehicles, Air, Life, and Light are part of the Sky Vehicles, and Water, Magic, and Dark fit into the Sea Vehicles."

"Ah, so the Rift Engines DO work like my homeworld's rings in a way…" Sonic added. "So… the ship where some guys named Hugo, Flynn, and Cali are kept prisoner?" As soon as the blue hedgehog said those words, the Flash Drifter rumbled. A red vortex coated in flames opened up in front of the team. Everyone toggled the settings on their vehicles, ready to drive off.

"Better sit on my lap, Hat Kid," Sonic warned the alien girl in the back, tapping the gas pedal to warm up his Rift Engine while Hat Kid squeezed into Sonic's seat up front. "This ride's gonna get bumpy!"

"Let's ride!" Pit shouted, squeezing the gas lever on his Sky Vehicle: Viridi's Voice. The angel flew into the opened Rift, and Kirby piloted his Star Sparkler into the burning vortex with Bowser's Clown Cruiser. Banjo squeezed the gas lever of his and Kazooie's Jinjo Jetski, skidding across the floor with so generating from it alongside Ridley's Phazon Hunter and Clementine's Salmon Devourer. Sonic slammed the gas pedal, and he drove straight into the vortex with Hat Kid. Mewtwo simply used his telekinesis to drive Giratina's Quad, and Donkey Kong's Barrel Blaster and Fox's Land Master shortly followed into the disappearing Rift.

"You reckon they're gonna be okay?" Mags asked Buzz.

"They look like they've been around the block," Buzz answered. "Besides, they've got their own thing going on. How hard can it get for 'em?" A small island filled with a few sheep on it floated by, and one of them was looking down upon the Skylander Academy when no one was looking. The sheep gave off a small but malicious grin on its face, suggesting something was not quite right with that sheep. The wooly mammal poofed in a cloud of black spades and clubs and red hearts and diamonds, revealing that it was Jevil in disguise through his usage of shapeshifting.

"Hee hee… no one will ever suspect a thing as long as I utilize my metamorphosis well, well," Jevil quietly spoke to himself, standing up. "They're still in a game they're never gonna get out of, which can mean the perfect opportunities to mess with them." As Mags, Buzz, and Sharpfin were beginning to take off from the academy, the jester extended his left hand. A small cluster of spiders crawled out of his poofy black sleeve, gathering up in the palm of Jevil's purple mitten."

"You sneak on board that yacht and gather information through analysis of the non-Skylanders and their fighting skills, skills," the jester commanded, still bearing that pointed grin of his. "I'll be taking my leave to Motley Meadows to find the eighth piece before the Sky Eater finishes its meal, meal." The spiders each created several thin web strings, and Jevil blew them off for them to be carried off with the wind. The spiders clinged onto the hull of the ship, and they crawled in through the cracks. Jevil jumped off the tiny floating island, using his levitational powers and teleporting himself away from the Skylander Academy's territory.


The fiery Rift opened up, and the fighters drove onto one of the wooden cages in a dark and spacious prison cell. The bottom of the ship seemed to have vanished in the dark, and there were loads of those cages hanging from chains from the ceiling. A floating TV was broadcasting a message, with the face of a skeleton delivered through the blue static. The skeleton seemed to have a curly mustache and a golden right eye with a purple cape and golden handcuffs and chest armor.

"Greetings, prisoners!" the TV spoke. "This is your captain speaking. On behalf of our supreme and glorious emperor, Lord Kaos, welcome aboard. I'm sure you'll find your stay here… most unpleasant." Fox activated the turrets on his Land Master, shooting the TV screen and obliterating it. He and Alchemo got off the mercenary's vehicle, the both of them stepping onto the flimsy boards. The Land Master vanished completely in a puff of brown smoke and rocks, leaving behind a miniature version of his Tech Rift Engine dropped onto the floor. Fox picked it up, surprised the Rift Engine fitted in his hand as well as how it was glimmering with both an orange aura and cogs.

"You okay?" Sonic asked the Hat Kid sitting in his lap. "Told you it was gonna be fast." The alien girl nodded with a little trauma from the speed, quickly falling out of the Flash Drifter. One by one, the Skylander rookies got out of their vehicles, which all vanished in puffs of smoke corresponding with their current elements and left behind small Rift Engines based on the elements of their drivers.

"Looks like the guy running the place locked those cell doors up tight," Fox explained, fitting his Rift Engine into his pocket. There were a bunch of Mabu and other prisoners of different species on board, locked up, who were all bearing faces of joy that a group of Skylanders had arrived to help set them free.

"So, do we release the guys we need and get out of here? Bada-bing, bada-boom? Like that?" Pit asked.

"Think so," Bowser replied. "But I don't even know which ones the folks back at the academy want."

"Pst! Over here, Skylanders!" a voice straight ahead whispered, with the voice echoing far enough for the fighters to hear. Straight ahead across the cages was a special prison cell with a golden lock, and a key was hung around the neck of an armored troll. Inside the cage seemed to be three different types of Mabu trapped in: a short creature wearing glasses and carrying a large book on his back, a feminine Mabu, and a familiar face from the World of Light. The whispering voice was coming from the shortest of the three.

"Those the guys we're looking for? Flynn, Cali, and Hugo?" Ridley asked. The Inkling girl chirped, nodding as she was talking.

"We'll take it as a yes," Alchemo replied, jumpin across the gap between the wooden cages. The young cadet went ahead, and Hat Kid followed behind. The Smashers followed behind, jumping over cage after cage to get to the trio locked in the cage. The troll seemed to notice the Smashers coming this way, and he quickly pulled out an axe to clobber the intruders. Bowser grabbed the neck of the troll while Hat Kid ran in and tore the key to the prison cell from his neck. The Koopa King tossed the troll into the air and whacked it out of sight with his hammer. The alien girl unlocked the cage and opened the iron-bar door.

"Thanks for saving us!" the short Mabu said. "But there are still other prisoners aboard the ship that could use your help too!"

"Hugo's right," the familiar tall Mabu replied. "We should probably do something about that… right?"

"I guess we should," Pit replied. "That's what heroes are for! Let's get out of here right now, while we're at it."

"Looks like Donkey Kong's already on it," Kazooie cawed, both she and Banjo watching as the gorilla was attacking the exit door out of the detention center.

"There must be a main flagship that's controlling the fleet," the female Mabu explained. "If we can reach it, maybe we can override the controls and save everyone."

"That sounds totally awesome, Cali," Flynn replied. "Let's do it! Boom!" Donkey Kong managed to break down the door barricading everyone in, ramming down the door with his barrel. The Smashers exited outside with Hat Kid, Alchemo, and the three Mabu they had just rescued. The alien girl looked out into the distance of the meadows next to the side of the ship, and she looked in terror at how the islands were being torn apart.

"Woah… what's happening?" Cali asked, horrified by what she saw. Everyone else was concerned in some way about the situation.

"Well, Cali," Flynn replied. "In my expert opinion, that big-head looky thingy is gobblin' up the sky." A gigantic, metallic head from the distance was devouring Motley Meadows with a humongous magenta vortex that seemed to get bigger with every piece of the islands it consumed.

"This is terrible!" Hugo exclaimed, looking upon the horror the colossal machine was creating. "I wish Master Eon was here. He might know of a way to stop this madness Kaos is causing… If we don't act soon, the Sky Eater will destroy everything!"

"Geez," Ridley spoke as a reaction to what was currently happening. "I've done pretty awful things back in the days I remember, but this…? I don't know what to make of it."

"Neither do we," Mewtwo telepathized. Fox looked back at his pals, trying to think of a way to save everyone here, both the residents living on those islands and on Count Moneybone's fleet.

"Hm… well, we are SuperChargers, the only guys to combat your 'little'… ahem… problem," Fox McCloud pointed out. "However, I think there could be a way to rescue everyone before Buzz and his team show up to get us outta here. Those with the Land Vehicles should be driving through Motley Meadows and go about rescuing the people living there before they get sucked in. Anything water-related on board this fleet?"

"I've heard there's a lake of orange liquid at the front of the main ship, which could be the place to override the controls and free all the prisoners on the fleet," Cali answered.

"We could take the SuperChargers that can use their Sea Vehicles, and we can drop them off there so they can get to the place they need to be in," Sonic added. "And maybe once everyone gets off on the evacuation ships around here, the guys who can use the Sky Vehicles can protect everyone from the fleet in the air. Does this place have evacuation ships?"

"I think all the ships do," Hugo replied. "And maybe the rest of us can grab Flynn's ship and get out of here."

"Right," Bowser replied. "Nobody's getting off into the air until we know the prisoners on board are freed. You guys ready?" The Smashers replied in excitement, ready to save Motley Meadows and the captives.

"Well, I was going to suggest an alternate plan by letting us get eaten by that Sky Eater thing, but I guess yours is a little better," Flynn responded. "To be fair, I am delicious, not to brag. Boom!"

"I guess we're off," Mewtwo telepathized, floating over to a nearby dock with the wind blowing on the left side of his face. "Alchemo. Come over here." The young cadet adjusted his glasses, hopping right ahead to the legendary Pokémon.

"I'm ready to be as useful as I can to the team," Alchemo spoke up. "When my memories recover, I can assure you I'll be more helpful to you guys than before."

"Excellent," Mewtwo replied. "I guess you'll be going with the Sea Vehicle drivers. Donkey Kong, Fox, Sonic. All of you activate your Rift Engines."

"Right!" Sonic noted, taking out his Rift Engine the same time the Star Fox mercenary and the gorilla took out theirs. "...How exactly do we get our engines to appear…?"

"Oh, that part's easy!" Hugo answered. "You just toss them onto their coordinated terrain and they'll pop up! Just like that."

"Really?" Fox asked. "Didn't really think of that. Alright, Ridley. Banjo-Kazooie, Clementine. We'll be heading out. So… the biggest ship in the fleet?"

"Shouldn't be hard to miss," Cali responded. "It's big, has blue painting, red spikes on the interior, and basically houses a lot of Kaos's troops under orders of Count Moneybone."

"Gotcha," Fox noted, walking over to Mewtwo. "The rest of you stay behind and get to your ship. Wait for us until we're done." Fox tossed his miniature Rift Engine onto the dock floor, which grew in size and generated the Land Master out of a brown mist. The mercenary hopped in, and the Breegull carried her bear friend onto the tank as best as she could. The blue hedgehog went next, jumping into the Flash Drifter as it generated in with a red smoke and flames. Donkey Kong did the same when he jumped into his Barrel Blaster shortly after, and Mewtwo followed last with Giratina's Quad. Alchemo got onto the back of the Undead Land Vehicle, Ridley flew in and got in a good position behind the cannons on the Barrel Blaster, and the Inkling hopped into Sonic's lap in her squid form.

As the Skylanders drove off into Motley Meadows, they were watching as some of the Dirt Sharks living here were hanging on for dear life and fleeing from the Sky Eater's destruction.

"Y'know, this whole scenario reminds me of the time Eggman took over almost all of Mobius," Sonic pointed out. "Just saying. At least we've got each other to push through."

"Then it's best we drive around and rescue as many as we can until the rest of us get the prisoner ships rolling," Fox McCloud replied. "Let's move!" The SuperChargers began driving throughout the islands in the meadows, snatching the residents in danger of being sucked in. They grabbed some Dirt Sharks holding onto flagpoles and flying towards the giant Rift, and Alchemo and the Smashers with Sea Vehicles were helping drop the people to safety on the islands farthest from the Sky Eater.

"There! The lead flagship!" Mewtwo exclaimed, using his telepathy to alert the fighters about the main ship Cali described.

"Alright, we'll be dropping you guys off at the main ship," Fox told the three Smashers that had the Sea Vehicles for their Rift Engines, as well as Alchemo. "The rest of us will be using our Land Vehicles to rescue more of the residents in trouble. Got that?"

"We got you, loud and clear!" Banjo replied.

"Alright, let's go!" Fox spoke out loud, pressing the button to activate the boosters on his Land Master. The SuperChargers sped off, passing by the houses that were abandoned by the villagers living in the meadow. A common Dirt Shark dweller was peeking out from behind the houses once the vehicles sped by, and he walked to the center of the road where no one was looking. He closed his eyes and drew a circle and an X on a certain spot.

"Jackpot, jackpot," the Dirt Shark spoke in a familiar voice, which confirmed it was the jester himself who shapeshifted into a local villager. Jevil kept his Dirt Shark disguise, striking the marked spot with his hands that were stylized to dig through the ground. The jester clawed again and again, spreading dirt in the wind until he stopped.

Jevil made his disguise vanish, and he reached into the ground with his mittened hands until he dragged out what he was looking for: a spiny-scaled serpent buried in the ground and colored brown with bronze jewels for eyes. The snake seemed to be dead, but the body was still fresh somehow or was entirely fake. Jevil placed the brown serpent in the back of his outfit, flying back to the Sky Eater while everyone else was busy helping the prisoners escape.

Sonic was the only one speeding up his Land Vehicle, with Clementine holding on tight. He was next to the other drivers, and he was ready to stop at the edge of the island next to the lead flagship.

"Okay, guys! This is your chance!" Sonic told Banjo-Kazooie, Ridley, and Alchemo. "Get on board and get ready to jump!" The fighters looked ahead and knew they were going to be breaking into the ship. They all jumped into the Flash Drifter, and by the split-second Sonic was about to drive off he quickly slammed the brakes and drifted. The initial gravitational pull from the force of gravity veered Alchemo, Inkling, Ridley, and Banjo & Kazooie off into the air. They were shot across like bullets in the sky, about to land in an orange liquid lake filled with crates and mechanical junk. The Breegull reached into Banjo's backpack and spat out their Rift Engine in the lake, where it grew in size and transformed into the Jinjo Jetski. Ridley and Clementine threw down their Rift Engines, and they transformed into the Phazon Hunter and Salmon Devourer respectively. The Smashers jumped into their Sea Vehicles, with Ridley catching Alchemo with his tail. Ripples in the liquid grew into small waves, which splashed onto the crates and generated glowing-orange creatures with small bodies, stalk eyes, and large mouths filled with sharp teeth.

"Chompies," Alchemo pointed out as the fighters drove their vehicles through the liquid. "Everyone knows they're the most common and most annoying enemies in Skylands. Even amnesiacs know what they are just by looking at them."

"Well, we aren't attacking them, aren't we?" Ridley asked, speeding between the crates. Several trolls spotted the three Smashers moving through the lake, and they quickly grouped up on the crates to protect the ship's control panel. The glowing Chompies rushed over to the fighters the second they landed on the crates. Kazooie quickly unfurled her wings, tossing darts to kill the incoming Chompies as they exploded in an orange liquid. Their Sea Vehicles transformed back into the tiny Rift Engines, and the Smashers quickly picked them up.

"Let's go!" Kazooie cawed as the Skylanders raced towards the lever to lower the control panel while climbing over leaking pipes and floating crates. Any troll that tried to stop them either met with Ridley's metallic claws or were knocked into the orange liquid by Clementine's boomerang vinyls. The group continued fighting their way through, each one of them just trying to get used to their new abilities as they kept missing their attacks before eventually landing.

"Ah! They're coming back!" Alchemo told the fighters as he threw explosive potions at the trolls and Chompies crawling on the crates up to them. The Inkling quickly reached the lever and pulled it down, lowering the platform with the main control panels.

"Alright… let's get this over with and see what's going on," Ridley spoke, walking over to the platform and mashing a bunch of buttons and switches. As soon as he finished, an alarm blared throughout the ship, and more of the armored trolls were alerted by this.

"Who's messing with the controls on my ship!?" Count Moneybone's voice echoed throughout the main ship. "Don't let the intruders get away! Air troops, attack the escaping prisoners!" The trolls and Chompies had completely surrounded the SuperChargers, and they pulled out their weapons and prepared to fight the incoming enemies.

Inside the smaller ships in the fleet, cages were being opened up and the chains were loosening on the confined aircrafts. The prisoners crawled out of their cells and started up their vehicles, flying out of the ship from below. Pit, Bowser, Kirby, and Hat Kid were helping get the Mabu trio onto their aircraft, which looked similar to the ship Mags, Sharpfin, and Buzz had back at the Skylander Academy.

"Alright, this escape's gonna get a little bumpy, so you better hold onto something," Flynn warned the crew on the back.

"Nah," Bowser replied, standing near the edge of the air boat. "I think we're good with flying." The Koopa King tossed his Rift Engine into the air, which transformed into the Clown Cruiser from a cyan mist. Kirby tossed his, and it turned into the Star Sparkler in a yellow mist, and Pit activated his Sky Vehicle by throwing out Viridi's Voice's Rift Engine. The three fighters jumped into their Sky Vehicles, flying straight down to escape through the hatch below the ship they were currently in. As the prisoners began evacuating from Count Moneybone's fleet, several trolls piloting Shadow Ships flew out into the air and began attacking the fleeing ships.

"Hey, Hat Kid! Mabu things!" Bowser told the alien girl below him, the pink puffball, and the angel. "You guys keep a good lookout for any of those buggers attacking the ship as you get the heck outta here! Us three will help these people escape!"

"Uh, I think we already know what to do should these guys attack," Cali replied. The SuperChargers flew off, using the cannons on their vehicles to attack the Shadow Ships. There weren't many enemies around and the battle wasn't intense as they thought it was, but the fighters in general were still causing some form of major damage to the enemies.

"Bowser!" Pit warned as some Shadow Ships were following the Clown Cruiser when it split up from the other two Air Vehicles. "You got some bad guys on your tail!"

"You don't think I see them?" Bowser asked, flying upward before circling around in a loop until he ended up behind the Shadow Ships attacking him. "I suggest you be doing some barrel rolls before you end up a pile of feathers."

"What?" Pit asked, squeezing the brake lever on his Air Vehicle in fright as he got into the line of fire on some more Shadow Ships. Kirby pressed a few buttons in the control panel of his Star Sparkler, creating two cannons of highly saturated light and firing star-shaped blasts at the minions.

"Thanks, Kirby," Pit thanked. "You're a real lifesaver." The pink puffball replied with a happy "Poyo!" More ships kept attacking the escaping prisoners only to be met by deadly bullets from the Skylanders firing at them, and the ship Cali, Flynn, Hugo, and Hat Kid were on was flying towards the ship to pick up the Smashers over at the lead ship. At the orange liquid lake, the fighters were attacking more of the monsters in their way when they noticed the ship in the distance.

"Hurry, Skylanders!" Hugo called out to them. "We need to get out of here!" Banjo grabbed Alchemo's arm and jumped off one of the large crates, tossing out his Rift Engine and letting it transform back into the Jinjo Jetski through violet smoke that glittered. The bear jumped into the Sea Vehicle and helped Alchemo sit behind him, and Ridley spat out balls of fire at the trolls while Inkling pulled out her Salmon Devourer's Rift Engine. As Clementine and the bear-and-bird duo sped off across the orange liquid, the Space Pirate pulled out his miniature Rift Engine and drove towards the ship where the three Mabu and Hat Kid were waiting for the group.

"Great. Now let's get your friends at Motley Meadows and fly out of here before these Shifty Sticklers grab their Shadow Ships and gun us down," Cali pointed out, with the Smashers and Alchemo setting foot on the deck and their Sea Vehicles transforming back into the small Rift Engines. The ship blasted away from the main ship, and the armored trolls were snarling and growling as the Skylanders and their friends flew off to Motley Meadows.

Mewtwo, Fox, Sonic, and Donkey Kong were busy ramming their Land Vehicles into metallic cannons that were both attacking them and the civilians fleeing from the Sky Eater's destruction as they helped guide them towards the ships driven by the prisoners. Flynn's ship flew in, and Hat Kid beckoned to them.

"Hurry up, guys!" Hat Kid called out. "I've got a bad feeling more of these troll bad guys are gonna be attacking us unless we get moving!"

"You heard the girl," Mewtwo told the other three Smashers with his telepathy. "Let's move." The Pokémon tapped into his psychic abilities to rev up Giratina's Quad and drive straight for the folks they were assigned to help break out. The blue hedgehog, Star Fox mercenary, and gorilla followed behind once they saw that everything in Motley Meadows was cleared and they ran up a conveniently-placed slanted hill in front of them. The four Smashers flew high into the air, and Banjo-Kazooie, Inkling, Ridley, Hat Kid, Cali, Flynn, and Hugo all backed away to make room on the deck. As soon as the fighters landed on the ship with their Land Vehicles, Flynn ran up to the steering wheel at the front of his yacht.

"Alright, so the rest of your pals should be meeting up with us any second now," Fox told the Mabu on board, hopping out of the Land Master and grabbing the miniature Rift Engine that remained as the vehicle poofed alongside the others. "Seems like once Bowser, Pit, and Kirby are done distracting the enemy fleet, they'll be meeting with us soon."

"Good plan. Great plan," Flynn replied, spinning the steering wheel until the flying ship began to turn. "Let's just leave for now and get the heck outta here." The ship flew off into the light piercing through the darkened clouds, and the Sky Vehicles that were attacking the Shadow Ships flew alongside the evacuees. It wasn't long before everyone flew off as fast as they could to escape imprisonment. As soon as everyone was in the clear, Kirby, Bowser, and Pit all flew onto the deck of Flynn's ship, their Sky Vehicles transforming back into tiny Rift Engines as soon as they got off.

"Those were the guys trying to stop us? Please," Bowser scoffed, brushing some of the rubble from his shoulder pad. "They were the easiest enemies ever."

"They may have been easy for now, but Kaos and his minions always have backup plans," Cali replied. "Some of them are highly crafty and intelligent. Count Moneybone is being paid good money to throw everyone in his highly-guarded prison so they would later submit to that spoiled brat as their new emperor. The Doom Raiders, Skylands' most feared enemies banding up together… just sorta vanished."

"Any chance you folks might know about this Jevil guy?" Sonic asked. "We ran into him an hour ago and we kicked his butt after coming into contact with those Rift Engines." Hugo yelped in a shriek of panic, cowering behind Cali.

"Even hearing that guy's name gives me the freaks!" Hugo replied in a timid voice. "If there's one thing I hate more than sheep, it's clowns! When the Sky Eater struck the Skylander Academy, he was the one who left us outnumbered! And none of us have even heard of him! I saw it all happen with my own four eyes. That pointy-eared jester was hacking down Skylanders left and right, and we couldn't even save most of them before we moved the whole place! Jet Vac, Terrafin, Trigger Happy… I've seen them transform into life-sized, plastic husks of themselves in their battle poses shortly before Master Eon, Flynn, Cali, and I were captured by Kaos and his minions."

"...So they transform into trophies upon death. Just like us," Fox McCloud cleared out, aware that this whole scenario is similar to their world in a way.

"Just like you?" Flynn asked in his usual goofy tone, looking back at the Smashers on board. "Now that I think about it, I don't think we've seen you guys around here."

"That's because we're not from around here," Pit replied. "All of us came here with the past knowledge of learning how to fight. How do you think we helped all those prisoners escape, including you? I know you guys might not remember, but Flynn was actually a part of a resistance that drew in Spirits from other worlds, including yours. And we actually came here through one of your uh… Rifts, so you can thank Alchemo for that. Right, Alchemo? Alchemo… are you okay?" The skinny creature was leaning over the edge of the ship, throwing up as a splitting headache pierced through his skull.

"Eeeerragh!" Alchemo shrieked, sitting down and tossing and turning as he was clawing through his hair. "Guys…? I think Pop Fizz's potion is starting to take effect…!" The fighters ran over to Alchemo, trying to comfort him as his eyes widened and he began seeing a piece of his past.


He remembered the day when he was first introduced into the Skylander Academy as a new student. He was walking through the outskirts of the island with the spirit of a tall, robed Portal Master wearing a silver crown and sporting a ravishing white beard which he took full price in. Alchemo was to be given his first task as a new Skylander.

"So… Master Eon," Alchemo asked. "Why exactly was I called here to the academy? They don't even open it to anyone, from what I've heard. Only to extremely gifted people. I'm just a nobody in my village, and there's been a ton of ghosts and spooks invading from the Land of the Undead. When I tried proving anything to anyone, I was laughed out of town for trying to tell them the truth that there are aliens and monsters living among us."

"When I first arrived at your village in the search of new Skylanders, I took an interest in what a gifted mind you had," Eon explained. "Trying your best to master alchemy to get rid of paranormal activity and trying to prove to people that there's more to the world than just the islands they grew up on, even when your concoctions tend to be a bit… explosive."

"Yeah, I get that you hired me here just so I can master my potion-mixing and technicians, but… what's my true purpose?" Alchemo asked again. "Why was I brought into this world?"

"Your job as a Skylander is to learn the essence of teamwork," Eon provided with further information. "You see… There's light and darkness inside us all, and we must learn how to balance both out. Our job is to protect the Skylands from the ever-growing threat of those living within the darkness, even the one which we can no longer name."

"So why don't you just eliminate the darkness altogether?" Alchemo questioned. Eon simply laughed at that remark.

"Again, both sides are needed for complete balance," Eon added. "They are shed in a morally gray area, so we know light isn't always our ally and darkness isn't always the enemy. Take a look at some of the new Skylanders we brought in. Are they evil just because they are of the Dark Element?"

"No, not really," Alchemo answered.

"And what about Luminous, one of the Doom Raiders? Is he good just because he wields the Light Element?" The young cadet shook his head.

"I've heard he had done terrible things in his day," Alchemo replied.

"Now you're getting it," Eon chuckled. "To answer your first question, the time to learn of your purpose will arrive soon, but just know you cannot accomplish anything... without a little bit of teamwork. Now then… I've called you here for a simple mission. Kaos has managed to escape his Trap Crystal prison, stealing a special vial containing what's left of the Darkness to use it for evil. He has allied himself with the Doom Raiders after breaking them out from a newly-reformed Cloudcracker Prison, and they're currently hiding out in the Falling Forest. I can't imagine what horrible things Kaos plans to do with that vial… You'll be going with Eruptor and Stealth Elf, two of the academy's veterans. It's a simple but important task, as it requires you to learn about teamwork." The two made it to the back of the academy, where a green elf with a face mask and glowing-white eyes and Eruptor without having the armor of a SuperCharger during that time.

"Come on," Stealth Elf called out to Alchemo. "Are we ready to go or what?" The young cadet ran up to the two veterans, and they stepped onto their own platforms on the ground, which were gleaming with the color of cyan.

"Hope we can come back soon for lunch, because honestly: I didn't even eat breakfast," Eruptor noted. The three vanished in flashes of cyan, disappearing from the Skylander Academy and ending up in a darker part of the Falling Forest.

"Come on," Stealth Elf whispered, pulling out her daggers as she snuck beneath the twisted branches which were obscuring the sunlight more, but not that it really mattered since the sky was mostly cloudy-gray. The trio snuck through the woods, with Stealth Elf taking the lead. She stopped the two Skylanders behind her as she peeked behind a boulder once she saw a campfire from a reasonable distance.

"Looks like Kaos and the Doom Raiders set up camp here," Stealth Elf quietly spoke. "Looks like that big-headed shrimp's gonna advise his plan." There, they watched as the Dark Portal Master was ready to explain his plan to the likes of the Gulper, the Chompy Mage, Chef Pepper Jack, Dreamcatcher, Dr. Krankcase, Wolfgang, Nightshade, Luminous, and the Golden Queen, all of them sitting around a campfire.

"Alright, Kaos," the Golden Queen spoke, rubbing her thumb over the tips of her fingers. "This better be important. We didn't get dragged all the way out here for nothing."

"Yeah!" Chef Pepper Jack snapped. "Ya better explain your plan fast, or we'll be puttin' that big head of yours in a stew pot!"

"Patience, everyone," Kaos spoke, overly confident in his plan. "After escaping from those miserable Skylosers, I had managed to stumble across a vial containing all that remains of the Darkness that was sealed off thousands of years ago. After my powers have gotten stronger from touching it, helping me to escape my Traptanium prison, I had realized this would be the perfect item to put my plan into action! So… feast your eyes on this!" The Dark Portal Master reached into his black robe, unaware that he was holding nothing in his left hand. The Doom Raiders were confused by this.

"... Isn't there supposed to be something you're holding?" Wolfgang asked.

"Yeah," Dreamcatcher replied. "I was kinda expecting a freaky-looking bottle, but…" Kaos looked back at his empty hand, completely shocked that he was empty-handed."

"Glumshanks!" Kaos shouted on his left. "Where's the vial!?"

"Beats me, Lord Kaos, sir," a tall, troll with a single strand of hair on his head, big, pointed ears, a ragged shirt, pants, and green skin replied, leaning on the trunk of a gnarled tree with a tired look on his face. "I told you to rehearse that part of the reveal, and you blew it. You just had to leave it on that stump for someone to take, didn't you?"

"Someone to take… well, where did you see the robber!?" Kaos snapped.

"I think I saw them run off into the center of the woods," Glumshanks answered, pointing to his left with his thumb.

"The vial…" Stealth Elf whispered. "We better get it back quick before Kaos- Where did he go? Eruptor? Where's the kid?"

"Beats me," Eruptor replied with a quiet tone, implying even he didn't know where Alchemo ran off to.

The young cadet got a head start, seeing a multicolored light in front of him. He hid behind a rock, watching as a strange man wearing makeup on his face and wearing mismatching clothes was getting something set up on the forest floor. He was lighting up a candle that was flickering with a red flame and placing it in the outer border of a circle, which had other candles glowing with different colors: light-blue, orange, blue, purple, green, and yellow. The tall jester pulled out a strange book marked with a dark purple hardcover, bearing the silhouette of a woman with her hair in the style of horns. He opened the book and read through the marked page, by which Alchemo watched him read through while he himself was in hiding.

"Shouldn't be long now until we get the final ingredient for our plan," the joker spoke. "Hey, little one! Do you have the vial?"

"It's Marx!" a strange voice from the shadows of the woods replied. "We went over this, Kefka." A small, light-violet creature with a two-tone hat marked with circles and triangles and wearing a bowtie replied, floating next to the taller jester with golden wings. "Why do you even need this stuff anyway?"

"Why, to call forth our first friend on the list, just like you said!" Kefka laughed, swiping the vial from Marx's claws. "You're pretty forgetful, aren't you? According to the book you stole from Kaossandra, we need at least this amount of darkness to bring him into this world. Once we're done, he'll be staying here for a while to get the last remaining piece we need."

"Yeah, I guess so," Marx replied as Kefka placed the vial in the center of the circle. "Mephiles might be doing well without us at this point. Ugh…"

"Hush now," Kefka spoke, flipping to the page he needed and casting some sort of magic over the circle. "You still have a lot to learn about the benefits of teamwork. Now then…

A legend whispered among the ruins

Speaks of a tale about monsters and humans

From an alternate world where they live in the dark

Seek out a jester who bites like a shark

Bring him out of his little freedom into a bigger one

Let him experience the wonders of having fun!

Alchemo watched as the vial containing the Darkness vibrated, and blue flames coated the circle. A pillar of cyan shot out into the air with darkened clouds covering the landscape. A powerful wind blew from all corners, with Marx completely amazed by the show going on.

"Hahaha! It's working!" Kefka laughed, watching a body form from within the flames. Soon enough, the blue pillar vanished, and the sky slowly returned to its usual gray. The young cadet kept watching as the two jesters opened their eyes, looking at the strange clown in front of them. The circle seemed to have vanished, and all that remained was the vial with the Darkness inside.

"Welcome to the Skylands, Jevil," Kefka greeted, bowing in front of the monster. "My name is Kefka Palazzo, and this here is Marx. You've been called here for a bigger initiative."

"Bigger… initiative?" Jevil asked.

"That vial you see here?" Kefka continued. "It holds the essence of a powerful deity that can only gain sentience and revert back to their true form by a powerful relic from this world and the magic of the world it devours."

"Here's the book," Marx spoke, handing Jevil the book they used to summon him, which was much larger for the two short jesters compared to when Kefka held it. "This is the Book of Dark Magic. It might contain the stuff you'll find useful."

"What's going on over there!?" Kaos's voice echoed behind the jesters. "Who's got my vial!?"

"I'm afraid we have to leave to another part of this realm," Kefka finished before taking a bow. "You have fun now, and don't let anyone find out about that book." The tall joker vanished, leaving Marx alone with Jevil. The smaller jester was trying to use Kefka's advice for teamwork in this scenario, but he had to make it quick.

"Looks like the dorks you'll be staying with might have something to do with that vial," Marx mentioned. "I'll be dropping by for a visit once in a while and suggest some ideas. And it'll all be when this Kefka guy isn't around. See ya!" The cosmic jester vanished, and Jevil was left alone in the area. He slipped the book under his cape, straightening it out so no one suspected what he was hiding. Kaos and his companions had just arrived, and they were staring at the jester with curiosity and surprise.

"What the-?" the Chompy Mage asked. "What's that clown doing out here in the middle of the woods?"

"And what's with the creepy smile?" Nightshade added.

"I feel extremely sorry about my sudden appearance that has seemed to startle you, but I do believe you lost this," Jevil replied, picking up the vial from the ground. "It seemed as though it was important for your mission, mission… whatever it may be." Kaos snatched the vial from Jevil's mitten.

"I can provide an extreme usefulness to your team, and I'm aware of how much fun you want to have basking in the turmoil that follows from the simple folk who don't know the meaning of fun," Jevil continued.

"Usefulness to the team, huh?" the Golden Queen asked, her ruby eyes glimmering with delight and interest. "I like the sound of that. What do you think, Kaos?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kaos replied, paying more attention to the vial than to Jevil. "He's on the team. Big whoop."

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Jevil laughed, swimming through the air like a mermaid. "Oh, I can't wait to bring about some excitement to spice up the boring life of this world! Uee hee hee!" As Alchemo watched the jester follow the villains, Stealth Elf grabbed the cadet's wrist.

"What are you doing here?" Stealth Elf asked through whispering. "You could have been killed out there!"

"I'm sorry," Alchemo answered. "I didn't know I would go off that far…"

"Sorry isn't good enough," Stealth Elf replied, with Eruptor behind her as she pulled Alchemo away. "Come on. Wait until Master Eon hears about this." As Alchemo was carried off from the team, he looked behind and saw the J-shaped tail of the jester disappearing into the Falling Forest.


"Alchemo?" Sonic asked, tapping the rim of the young cadet's glasses. "Alchemo! You passed out on us. Did the potion take effect?" The young cadet cleared his throat, aware of what he saw.

"I remember I went into the Falling Forest with Stealth Elf and Eruptor to spy on Kaos and the Doom Raiders. His vial got stolen by some guys named Kefka… Palazzo and Marx…? I think those were their names. I think Marx said something about… dropping in on Jevil when Kefka isn't around?"

"Marx?" Mewtwo asked with telepathy. "I knew that clown had something to do with this…"

"Whelp, at least we know Jevil's not from this world," Ridley replied.

"But we should still keep our guards up should that little twirp come back again to screw with us again," Bowser growled, placing his fists together. "Now where's Buzz and his ship?"

"Oh! They're here!" Hugo replied, waving over to the ship coming their way. Buzz, Mags, and Sharpfin were on board.

"We've heard word you've stirred up quite a lot of chaos among Count Moneybone's fleet," Buzz called out. "How was it?"

"Awesome!" Banjo replied in excitement. "But… what's our next agenda?"

"Find Master Eon, of course," Cali pointed out. "Only he knows of a way to defeat the Sky Eater once and for all, but… we don't know where to find him, if he's either missing, captive, or DEAD dead…" The blue hedgehog paid close attention to the book on Hugo's back, which had a sock poking out of it.

"Hello? What's this?" Sonic asked, pulling out the sock from the book. Hugo turned around to see the blue devil holding the sock, and his face lit up with an idea.

"That's Master Eon's sock!" Hugo exclaimed, swiping the sock from Sonic's hands. "I saved this with me for good luck. It's what remained of his earthly possessions before he became a spirit. Oh, the worn-out smell fresh from the washing machine still lingers..." Sonic, both he and the other fighters completely weirded out and disgusted by this scenario, took the sock from Hugo.

"Okay, don't mention that ever again," Fox spoke. "Just… tell us what we're going to do with this sock."

"Oh! You would need to visit the Cloudbreather Dragon in Cloudscraper Mountain," Hugo answered. "To summon him, you would need to ring the Dragon Gong. Only he can tell you where Master Eon is kept. Once you get the information you need, come back to the academy." The Smashers nodded, and they pulled out their Rift Engines and tossed them all onto the deck, summoning their vehicles out again.

"I'm coming too!" Hat Kid replied, running over to the Barrel Blaster and hopping into the vehicle with Donkey Kong. "I think if there's any items you need, I'll be the one to collect the stuff!"

"I'll be staying here…" Alchemo groaned, holding the side of his head. "That memory flashback took a toll on me."

"Alright," Mewtwo telepathized. "You stay with the other Skylanders at the academy and get some rest. We don't know when those migraines will take effect again, but get ready by any means. And Hugo… please don't say anything about the smell of old socks. It's disgusting." A Rift from Bowser's Clown Cruiser opened up when the Koopa King simply thought of the name, and the fighters drove straight into the cyan Rift that was swirling with wind.


Inside the Sky Eater itself, Kaos was standing inside the machine on top of the back of his butler troll Glumshanks, looking at the magenta Rift his greatest creation was fueling behind a large glass window.

"Yes, yes! Fear me!" Kaos laughed maniacally. "Bow down before my Doomstation of Ultimate… Doomstruction! Ah, it's a wonderful day, Glumshanks." Kaos hopped off his butler's back, walking over to his throne.

"Uh, yeah, Lord Kaos… sir," Glumshanks replied. "I'm aware the station is powered by the magic it absorbs from the islands… but are you sure it's supposed to rip big holes in the sky like that?"

"Nonsense! Of course I'm sure!" Kaos replied, hopping into his throne. Glumshanks heard the sound of a couple rocks and sheep hitting the window, which were all sucked into the vortex.

"It's uh… not just the holes, sir," Glumshanks objected. "Some of the other trolls have been… complaining?"

"About me!?" Kaos asked, furious that his own minions might be rude at the "generosity" that he pushed upon them."What did they say? No, hold on… I've got enough!" Before Kaos could push the red button to push punishments on the trolls, Jevil teleported into the room in a quick flash of white.

"Kaos, Kaos!" Jevil called out to the Dark Portal Master, which made him jump on his throne. "I believe I should be telling you about the subject matter that occured during my playtime in the farther lands."

"Ah! Jevil!" Kaos spoke, straightening his posture on the seat as he cleared his throat. "Now's not a good time! I was just about to tell my minions to eject-"

"It's not about you, sir. Oh no, not with your… handsome big head and all," Glumshanks assured. "It's about the… thing…" The troll butler was referring to the swirling magenta pillar behind Kaos and Jevil, which was pulsing with raw energy it consumed from every island that was devoured.

"Don't be silly, Glumshanks," Kaos spoke with the utmost certainty. "That's just the Darkness."

"Ah, yes. I can see that. But… have you noticed it's gotten so much bigger…?" Glumshanks continued, aware that the large size of that energy was going to be a huge problem. "Plus… I think it's watching me."

"Oh, you're imagining things, Glumshanks," Kaos replied with disbelief. "Now get me Moneybone." Glumshanks sighed, pressing a few buttons to hook up the line between the Dark Portal Master and the count. Kaos gave an irritated glare at the jester by his side.

"What are you doing here?" Kaos asked as he gritted his teeth. "Can't you see I'm being an evil emperor here?"

"I came to bring you news, news from my encounter, and the tale I tell is not to be taken for a mere fib," Jevil answered. "I came across not more, nor less, a handful of twelve souls. They dropped in from different worlds, but they seemed to have the same goals: escape the game, game they're trapped in by beating it. Ten of them had managed to nab the strength they needed to beat me at my own game by having the Rift Engines they chose for themselves to choose them in return." Kaos was completely confused by what the jester said, not buying into anything he mentioned at all.

"...I don't get it," Kaos replied. "So… if I'm learning this well - trust me: it's very hard to do right now considering you're speaking in a way I can't understand with common sense - you found twelve people, each one from different worlds, who all came here through a Rift, that beat you because they managed to find Rift Engines at the right place at the right time?" The Dark Portal Master burst out into laughter, losing complete belief in what the clown just said.

"The idea… that anyone can just show up from other worlds and become Skylanders through Rift Engines…" Kaos continued laughing, wheezing like a hyena through the hand on his face. "Of course, there's no such possibility! All the portals are disconnected! No one can get in or out of the islands in Skylands! I think you're one that's gravely mistaken, Jevil." The jester flicked Kaos's nose as hard as he could limit himself to, clicking his tongue as he waved his finger in front of the Dark Portal Master's face.

"So quick to lie, the caged little prince is!" Jevil objected, his yellow pupils glimmering through his black sclera. "Did I ask for a lie? I think not. You weren't listening… I was the one who saw the truth with my own two eyes, but I guess you won't believe me until you experience it for yourself. I guess you could say… the future is closer than you think."

"Moneybone on Line 1 for you, sir," Glumshanks sighed, backing away from the control panel. Kaos toggled the stick on his chair to levitate towards a large TV screen, where Count Moneybone was arguing with a small cyclops about what just happened.

"Find out which Skylanders caused trouble among my fleet before Kaos finds out-" Moneybone shouted at the cyclops until he noticed he was on a video chat with his lord. "Ha! Lord Kaos! Since when do I owe the… esteemed pleasure of your sudden and… glorious interruption? And you even have that clown pet by your side. Isn't that adorable…?"

"You're late with your 30-minute status update on my favorite prisoner! Is he suffering?" Kaos asked, raising himself a bit higher with his flying throne.

"Why, yes! Your ghastly arch-nemesis Eon is languishing in his cell!" Moneybone addressed. "Nothing will stand in the way of our total victory!"

"Say… don't you mean MY total victory?" Kaos asked, with Jevil floating up to the Dark Portal Master.

"Of course!" Moneybone chuckled nervously. "How very… bone-headed of me."

"Yes, I thought so," Kaos replied, turning his face on the undead count. "Carry on, Moneybone." The Dark Portal Master pressed a button on his chair, ending the video call with the count.

"Oh, and Jevil," Kaos added, trying his best to calm his temper at the jester by his side. "Why don't you go and have some fun, as usual? That should take your time off these important thoughts since they don't really matter to you…" Jevil bowed before disappearing in a white flash again, and Kaos lowered his throne closer to the floor.

"You see that, Glumshanks? That is how you handle your minions," Kaos spoke, moving his chair around until his back was facing against the swirling Darkness fueling the station. "Soon, all of Skylands will fear and obey me, and the glorious reign of… Emperor Kaos… will begin!" The Dark Portal Master laughed evilly as flames shot up from behind his throne.


Marx was wandering around a large, crystalline prison island composed of the rarest metals around here. The adorable cosmic jester was walking around without his wings, floating over to trophies of the defeated Skylanders filling this place. They were all stuck in their battle poses, each standing on pedestals based around their elemental powers. A smile graced Marx's face as he looked upon these trophies. Just then, Jevil warped into the room, walking past the cosmic jester.

"Hiya, Jevil..." Marx greeted with a bit of a sour tone in his voice to the point where he wanted to gag considering he didn't see friendship as a way of cooperation. "I've been waiting for you to come back. How were the games?"

"They were great, great!" Jevil giggled, getting along well with the little clown even though the two haven't formally met and were just acquaintances during that time. "This realm is a major improvement compared to my little freedom. I've longed to embrace the day, day when the kings would release the bars caging the whole world, unaware there are other realms where I can do anything I set my mind to."

"Ah, so you kinda like stirring up trouble for the funsies, huh?" Marx asked. Jevil walked up to a pedestal in the darkened room, where he pulled out the brown snake he dug out from Motley Meadows.

"I've been having so much fun in this world considering I know no one is real," Jevil continued. "My whole life staying outside from the prisoners locked within has given me a sense of enlightenment: that being... no punishment has any lasting consequences as they aren't real, real." Marx glanced at the clown with a little bit of interest that everything is just a game, but there was still a lot of belief to be had.

There was a light flashing on the pedestal, and what looked like a bunch of multicolored snakes was laid out so the ends of their tails were touching each other, the different colors corresponding as followed from left to right: cyan, green, gray, red, blue, purple, and orange. Jevil placed the tail of the brown snake between the gray and the red, straightening the snake out.

Marx watched as the floating jester in front of him pulled out the Book of Dark Magic, flipping through the pages with his mittens before stopping and reading the ancient text written in the book. Jevil read in a language native only to the Skylands, which to creatures like Marx sounded like nothing but gibberish. However, he seemed to notice that the tails of the right serpents seemed to meld into each other like modeling clay, generating a red-and-violet aura in the process. As Jevil continued chanting, the snakes started to wriggle around and hiss, their jeweled eyes glimmering with the colors they represented.

"The person we need will start to obtain a bit of sentience to the point of speech and some form of manipulation," Jevil told the cosmic jester behind him without looking at him straight in the eye. "Through the power of the Darkness inside him, he will emerge…"

"To give us what we want?" Marx asked.

"Yes… and a bit of mischief too," Jevil replied with a smile on his face, closing the book he was holding. "We only need two more pieces until the Mask of Power is completed. But the Smashers will be out causing chaos, chaos among the villains. That way… once I meet up with them again on the second round, the REAL fun can begin."