„Come on Chill, we're gonna be late!" Roller Brawl shouted while skating with a cup of soda and a bag of popcorn in each of her hands.
"I told you not to stop for the popcorn!" Chill tried to keep up by running behind the speedy vampire. "But you insisted to wait in the line for ten minutes!"
"Because you can't watch the Multi-Terrain Race without popcorn and soda!" The roller jammer responded.
The two were heading to an enormous arena, featuring each of the three terrains in one track. Almost every Skylander and thousands of creatures were there to observe the exciting competition which only happens once every year. As usual, Pandergast was hosting the spectacle and soon greeted the audience.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the most amazing, most fascinating and most expensive race in all of Skylands! The annual Multi-Terrain Race!" The crowd was clapping and cheering while eagerly waiting for the race to begin.
Spitfire and High Volt were in a room inside of the arena. The Superchargers used it to prepare their vehicles and themselves for the big race. The participants change each year, the two Skylanders were among the first chosen racers when the tradition started and after many years it's finally their turn again.
Spitfire stood next to High Volt, who didn't move in the slightest and was ready to enter his vehicle and reach the finish line first. "You ready to watch me win again?" Spitfire smirked and reminded the goldling of his victory last time.
"It won't be that easy this time." High Volt kept staring at the gate in front of them, which was about to open up any second. "You won't have Hot Streak to win this year for you."
"I can win inside any vehicle." The fire spirit didn't allow the robot to discourage him. "I have waited too long for this day to fail! You need a bunch of luck to defeat me, Volty!"
"Don't call me that." High Volt hissed at the spirit without giving him a look.
The enormous gate finally opened, the light filled the dark place and blinded everyone inside. The Superchargers could see the entire stadium with the race track right in front of them.
Three separate tracks all portrayed the multiple Vehicle Classes. One track for Land, one for Sea and one for Sky. One vehicle for each class were already present and the drivers could be seen approaching them.
Pandergast saw the Superchargers and began announcing each of them. "On the first track for the Land terrain we have the captain of the guard, the Tech Skylander High Volt with his highly defensive Shield Striker!"
Applause could be heard from the crowd as the Supercharger stopped next to his vehicle with a stern expression.
"Next up we have the dashing fire spirit Spitfire, piloting his… borrowed vehicle the Sky Slicer!"
Spitfire already hopped into the jet before Pandergast finished his sentence and waved proudly. He could see two small Mabu fans dressed up in shirts and hats with his face on it nearby the tracks. The racer didn't hesitate to point finger guns at them and wink, which caused them to swoon over him even more.
"And lastly we have the dark and dangerous dreadwalker Nightfall with her terrifying Sea Shadow!"
Nightfall entered her vehicle and closed the shuttle without even looking at the audience, leaving some of them disappointed and irritated.
Pandergast waited for everyone to turn their vehicles on before continuing. „Now that all participants are buckled up and ready to go, we can start the countdown!"
The crowd calmed down before the countdown was displayed on a giant screen inside of the stadium. Everyone was yelling the numbers from three to one before the three Superchargers started the race.
High Volt was following the floating track in front of him and carefully accelerated his vehicle. He soon noticed Spitfire flying oddly low above him, until the Sky Slicer suddenly dropped right in front of him and forced High Volt behind it.
"What are you doing Spitfire? Stay in the air!" High Volt exclaimed as he looked at the back of the jet angrily.
Spitfire smiled and looked back at the unamused Skylander. "Well, I can't just let you get ahead of me like that! And I can't do much about it in the air!"
High Volt sighed annoyed. The weapons of their vehicles have been disabled to allow a fair race, so he didn't have a lot of possibilities to get ahead of Spitfire. The Tech Supercharger thought for a second before he got an idea. He increased the speed of the Shield Striker and rammed it into Sky Slicer's turbines. Spitfire turned around in surprise and didn't understand what he was trying to achieve.
"Do you want to get me to the finish line faster?" The spirit asked confused. "This sure is a strange way to do it."
"Sorry Stormblade." High Volt mumbled to himself before charging forward one more time and damaging a turbine.
That caused the jet to fall from track, which was meant for Land vehicles. The Skylander smiled in satisfaction underneath his armor and continued to follow the track at high speed. However, Spitfire soon hovered next to the shielded car, struggling to keep the Sky Slicer flying straight.
"Are you fucking insane!? We're not supposed to attack each other, you broke the rules!" Spitfire was furious and didn't even focus on the race.
"It's against the rules to attack each other with our weapons!" High Volt possessed the superior knowledge about rules. "As well as constraining other racers in favor of your victory!"
Spitfire clenched his teeth and piloted his vehicle closer to High Volt. He used the dangerously sharp sides of the jet to damage a row of Shield Striker's gear wheels, even tearing one off in the process.
High Volt looked at his broken wheels in disbelief and then back at his opponent. "You never learn, do you?"
Spitfire stared at the robot with a cold, dead serious look. "No, I don't."
High Volt proceeded to charge across the track while Spitfire was flying above him. The speed demon attempted to drop his vehicle directly onto the Tech Skylander, but he was able to dodge it by charging forward. He then steered his wheel sharply to the right, doing a 360 spin with the Shield Striker and hitting the peak of the Sky Slicer. That caused the jet to spiral out of control and stay behind for a few seconds, which gave High Volt the opportunity to win. As he was driving, Spitfire soon appeared next to him again and hit the Shield Striker from the side. The Fire Supercharger leaned in, attempting to push High Volt off the road, who prevented that by steering in the opposite direction. That went on for some more moments, before High Volt was able to push the Sky Slicer aside and carry on. Both vehicles were damaged and began to effuse smoke.
They both decided to stop sabotaging each other and instead concentrated on crossing the finish line, which was already within reach. The bickering Skylanders leaned forward inside of their vehicles and squinted their eyes. They were equally fast and it was a head-to-head race. Finally, both of them dashed through the finishing gate and braked their vehicles. Spitfire immediately jumped out of the Sky Slicer and headed to High Volt, who just got out of his vehicle as well.
"I clearly won, you arrived after I already hit the brakes!" Spitfire expelled in an angered tone.
"You won? You have to be kidding me!" High Volt walked towards the spirit and got closer while towering over him. "Your jet is covered in the dust I swirled up after crossing the finish line!"
Spitfire gasped offended. "That's not the dust! That's from all the dirt of the track you were on!"
"Which you shouldn't have been on!" High Volt countered immediately after Spitfire's statement.
Both then turned around to see their finish on the screen, but instead saw Nightfall waving at the crowd, which cheered at her rather than Spitfire and High Volt.
Spitfire stopped for a second before being struck by realization. "Wait a minute did-"
"Nightfall win?" High Volt finished the Supercharger's sentence and they looked at the dreadwalker, who seemed to be slightly happy for once.
Pandergast soon approached the rivals, who were still in shock. "Seems like your gloomy friend over there reached the finish line before you. I mean, it's no surprise after the intense battle which occurred on the track!"
The Superchargers looked at one of the big screens which repeated the dangerous argument they were having during the race.
"But don't worry!" Pandergast ensured them. "You're both in second place!"
The screen then showed the final seconds of the race, where both vehicles crossed the finish line at the exact same moment, thus leaving a shared second place. Spitfire and High Volt looked back at Nightfall, who was receiving the trophy for winning the race.
Spitfire looked at the ground for a second and thought about what just happened. "Wow, we really screwed up, didn't we?"
High Volt glanced over to the Fire Skylander, who was smiling nervously. "We really did." The guard crossed his arms and looked at Nightfall again. "But hey, it's only fair that she won if we're so busy fighting each other."
"You're right." Spitfire admitted. "What were we thinking back there?"
"I don't know." High Volt laughed at himself for being so immature. "What I do want to know is what Stormblade's going to think when she sees her vehicle."
Both Skylanders looked at the Sky Slicer, which was heavily damaged from the race, before Spitfire showed a panicked expression. "I should probably go now." The fire spirit quickly dashed off. "See you at the next race, Volty!" He said before disappearing.
"I told you not to call me that!" High Volt yelled after Spitfire, but couldn't keep himself from smiling underneath his armor.
Meanwhile the crowd was still cheering and applauding for the winner of the Multi-Terrain Race. Among them were Roller Brawl and Chill, who were just as excited as everyone else. The vampire even managed to spill her entire soda and popcorn onto the people in front of her during the race. Chill however, kept on holding her drink the entire time. She tried taking a sip from the straw but was unable to. When she opened the lid to see what was wrong, her entire drink was frozen.
"Woah, you got a little too excited it seems." Roller Brawl said while looking at the frozen juice in awe.
"Seems like I did." Chill responded blankly. The Water Skylander didn't bother to think about it anymore and simply threw the frozen cup away after the crowd has left.
During the big race, the Academy was nearly empty. Golden Queen took that opportunity to sneak to Cloudcracker Prison. While the guards were away, the crystalized building was surrounded by a magical field, which could not be passed by anyone. Golden Queen stopped right in front of it and whistled a specific melody again, which summoned Dreamcatcher who was hiding in between some pillars.
"Do you have it?" Golden Queen asked the imprisoned Doom Raider.
Dreamcatcher used her powers to pull a small blue button out of her giant bow and hold it in the air. "As promised, your majesty."
"Perfect." Golden Queen then took a piece of Traptanium, which she chipped from one of Snap Shot's arrows and hid in her sleeve. "This should do the trick." The Goldling then carefully touched the barrier with the piece and created a small hole in it. Dreamcatcher guided the button through it and right into her leader's hand before the hole closed again.
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Dreamcatcher asked the Earth Sorceress with a tone of impatience.
"Not much longer." The queen responded. "Soon I will free all of our allies and together we will take over the Skylands piece by piece!"
Dreamcatcher smiled sinisterly. "I can't wait!" The floating head then headed back to the prison and returned to her cell.
"I can't either." Golden Queen said to herself before heading back to the Academy.