Roller Brawl, Cynder and Hex have just arrived at the Darklight Crypt. The self-proclaimed Undead Club used a portal at the Academy to get to the gloomy island. They are supposed to find an airship in the nearby village and use it to travel further in hopes of finding the Doom Raiders. The stop at the crypt spared them a lot of time, and it was a rather distant location as well.
"Let's see…" Roller Brawl held a map of the huge island and turned it in every possible direction while trying to figure out how to get to the village. "It looks like we're right here, so we have to go there and then-"
"RB, we know the way." Cynder sighed. The dragoness and Hex both visited the location before and didn't need a map to find the town.
"Hey, don't be like that!" Roller Brawl rambled while still figuring out her map. "It's my first time being here, I want to find it myself."
"We shouldn't waste anymore time, the Doom Raiders are not going to wait for us." Hex wanted to find the villains as soon as possible and make sure that there aren't anymore threats in Skylands.
The heroes looked up in surprise when they heard a screaming citizen in the distance. "We have to help!" Cynder didn't hesitate to flap her wings and soar towards the distressed person.
Roller Brawl and Hex made their way through the fog, looking for the one in need. "There!" Roller Brawl pointed at Batterson, who was being attacked by small floating creatures.
Cynder charged at the foes with her lightning breath and managed to get one of them away from the baker. Hex conjured two orbs from her hands and aimed them at the monsters. Meanwhile Roller Brawl skated at the remaining enemies with high speed and slashed them with her claws, slicing them into multiple pieces.
As soon as the threat vanished, Batterson removed his hands from his face and cherished the Skylanders. "Oh, thank you Skylanders! Thank you so much!" He proceeded to shake Roller Brawl's hand as a sign of his gratitude and then repeat that with Cynder. The molekin's smile faded as soon as he saw Hex. The small creature gulped and carefully backed off while looking at the sorceress with fear. "T- thank you too, miss."
Cynder and Roller Brawl were confused about his behavior towards Hex, but the Skylander herself didn't seem surprised in the slightest. She looked at one of the monsters that Roller Brawl disaggregated and realized that they were made from wood. "Are those… puppets?"
"They are." Cynder looked at the lifeless beings as well and wondered where they came from. "They look familiar."
"These things started to appear here a few days ago." Batterson sounded scared and didn't want to get any closer to the wooden figures. "They are terrorizing the whole town."
Finally, Roller Brawl picked a puppet which was still whole up. The Undead Skylander gasped after recognizing the look of it.
Cynder directed her sight to her ally. "What is it Roller?"
"I know who sent those puppets." The vampire skater gave the thing in her hand a worried look before staring back at her companions. "Mesmeralda."
Soon, the Undead Club started to look for the wicked puppeteer Mesmeralda in order to stop her tyranny over the Darklight Crypt. They were met with many closed gates and had to take multiple detours which lead them to hordes of enemies. They finally arrived in front of the town gates, unfortunately they were blocked as well.
"Darn it! How are we supposed to get in?" Roller Brawl attempted to open the heavy steel door with violence, but it wouldn't move an inch.
Cynder already tried flying over the entrance, but the entire town was protected by a powerful forcefield, which prevented her from entering it. The only way to get in was through the main gates.
After a hopeless search, Roller Brawl discovered something which caught her attention. It was a mystical shrine with dark features and a moon symbol on top of it. The vampire approached the peculiar ornament and saw something which resembled a button on top of it. The Skylander wasn't sure about it at first, but after realizing that there might not be any other way into the town, she finally pressed the button. The shrine emitted a circular wave which spread across the entire island. The dark night sky became light blue, the fog covering the place disappeared, and the entire atmosphere shifted from dark and spooky to light and inviting.
Cynder and Hex looked around themselves wondering what happened, until they saw Roller Brawl on top of the world shifting shrine. "Roller, what did you-"
Cynder abruptly ended her question after seeing the spunky vampire, only that she wasn't a vampire anymore. Her hair went from neon pink to a chocolate brown color and instead of glowing purple irises, the Skylander gained natural green eyes. Her fangs were gone, and her skin was a tanned color instead of the usual pale pink.
Roller Brawl looked at her arms and hair with disbelief and couldn't recognize herself. "Woah! Did that shrine turn me into a human?" Her assumption was right, and the Skylander had difficulties balancing herself on her roller blades now that she didn't have her undead nature anymore.
Her shock was refreshed as soon as she laid eyes on Hex. "Hex, you're-"
"A mortal." The witch finished her friend's sentence after she examined herself as well. The sorceress transformed back into her old self before becoming an undead. Her skin was a minty green color, her eyes shimmered in an icy blue tone, and her robes went from dark ashy colors to pale blues. Strangely enough, her headdress disappeared as well, revealing raven black hair which would go a little further than shoulder length. The purple cloud of smoke underneath her dress wasn't there and the Skylander couldn't float either.
Cynder however didn't change in the slightest. She never truly was an undead, only her spectral powers allowed her to become a Skylander of the Undead Element. The dragoness looked over to the gate next to them and noticed that it was open. "Hey guys, the gate opened up!"
The two transformed Skylanders looked over to the entrance as well and decided to enter right after Cynder. The townspeople greeted the heroes happily, as they knew that they arrived to save them. Even Hex received smiles and hopeful eyes, which was unusual for her since normally everyone was afraid to death when they saw her. The trio walked for a short distance until they heard an echoing laughter filling the entire town. The Skylanders readied themselves and watched out for any dangers.
A cloud of pink smoke appeared in the middle of the town, out of which the villainous Mesmeralda emerged. "What do we have here? The Skylanders decided to visit my show!" The show woman summoned her loyal puppets and controlled them to attack the innocent citizens. The Undead Skylanders immediately attacked the wooden creatures to protect the people. After attempting to rid themselves of the puppets, the team noticed that their powers are noticeably weaker than before.
"I can't fight them off! My attacks aren't working properly!" Roller Brawl complained while dodging an incoming dash attack.
"It must be the transformation!" Hex created a wall out of rocks from the ground instead of her regular bones to shield herself. "We're not undead anymore, our powers are weakened!"
"Well then change it back!" Cynder shot a rather weak burst of lightning at the minions of the spider-like villainess, but it wasn't enough to destroy them.
Mesmeralda enjoyed the show she set up and couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, poor little Skylanders! Seems like you haven't properly prepared for my act!" The puppeteer proceeded to create giant hands resembling her own to attack the heroes herself. The team took heavy hits and had to retreat.
"What are we supposed to do?" Roller Brawl grabbed the top of her injured arm with her other hand. "She's too powerful!"
"We have to activate the Spectral Shifting Platform, so we become undead again." Hex explained to the others while looking out for danger nearby.
"I'm on it!" Cynder already ascended into the air after spotting the platform which Roller Brawl used earlier. The dragon was about to land and activate it until Mesmeralda noticed her attempt.
"Not so fast!" The diva created another giant hand and used it to crush the platform.
Cynder was able to avoid being hit, but the shrine was destroyed and couldn't be used anymore. "No." Cynder looked around herself and saw countless giant hands appear all over the island. Mesmeralda used them to get rid of every shifting platform she could find and thus make it impossible for the Skylanders to get their powers back.
Meanwhile the puppets kept on messing with the townspeople. Roller Brawl and Hex tried their best to fight them off, but their decreased powers made it far more difficult. As she was creating weak bursts of light magic, Hex noticed a frightened little girl in a corner. She started to scream as soon as a puppet dashed towards her. Hex quickly used her magic to shoot the doll and slam it against the wall. She walked over to the terrified girl to make sure that she wasn't injured.
"Are you okay?" The witch asked with a much lighter voice than in her undead form.
"Yes, thanks to you!" The little girl smiled and was overly grateful for Hex' help.
Hex didn't experience gratitude from someone she rescued for a long time and felt happy yet also strange to receive such a reaction.
The Undead Club assembled once again and worked together to fight off Mesmeralda's incoming attacks. The trio soon started to realize that they stood no chance against the puppeteer and that they had to find a way to switch to the ghost world again. For a short moment, Roller Brawl didn't focus on the fight and instead saw a familiar symbol representing the sun in the distance. The transformed human soon realized that it was a shrine which hasn't been destroyed yet.
"Guys, look!" The Skylander pointed at her discovery and the others were filled with hope after seeing it. "We have to get to it!"
"But what if Mesmeralda sees it?" Cynder sounded unsure and didn't want to waste their last chance. "She will destroy it before we can get to it!"
"Not if you distract her." Hex looked her teammates dead in the eye while slowly removing herself from the battle. "Make sure she doesn't look into my direction!"
Cynder and Roller Brawl nodded before getting back to defending themselves against puppets and giant hands. Hex was holding her dress, so it wouldn't get in the way of her running. The Skylander hasn't used her legs to walk for years, but that didn't stop her to head for the shrine. As she was only a few moments away from reaching the platform, Mesmeralda noticed her absence and turned around with fury.
"You're not going to ruin my show!" Mesmeralda yelled in rage and was about to smash the platform with another giant hand.
Before the puppeteer could reach it, Hex already pressed the button of the platform and shifted everything back to the ghost world. Roller Brawl became a vampire again, the sky turned dark and everything was back to its cryptic design. Hex was able levitate again, leaving purple smoke underneath her. She turned around and immediately shot a rain of skulls at Mesmeralda.
The panicking sorceress used two of her giant hands to dodge the attack, but nevertheless took direct hits. The villain was thrown to the ground and coughed from all the smoke the attack created. "The show is cancelled!" The host exclaimed before disappearing in another smoke cloud.
Hex returned to the village, but instead of cheering, she was greeted with terrified faces moving backwards with caution. Even the little girl she rescued earlier hid behind her mother with greater fear in her eyes than ever before.
Hex didn't seem to care about the town's reaction and instead floated towards her companions. "She escaped, I suggest you two go back to the Academy while I look for her."
"Are you sure?" Roller Brawl was uncertain about leaving Hex alone after seeing the faces of the people they just saved.
"She's not here anymore." Hex directed her speech at the citizens of the town. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."
The people remained to cower in fear, even though Mesmeralda and her puppets were gone. They only stared at Hex and wondered what a witch with her amount of power could do to them.
"You should go." Hex turned her back to the town and the Skylanders to begin her search for Mesmeralda.
Cynder and Roller Brawl felt bad for their friend, but they knew that they couldn't change the way others looked at her.
The Undead Skylanders used the portal to return to the Academy. Roller Brawl immediately speeded to the hospital of the Academy while Cynder approached a crowd of Skylanders nearby. They all formed a circle around something and the dragoness wondered what it could be. After she rose into the air to see what the fuss was about, Cynder was shocked to see Sprocket surrounded by her allies and seeming like nothing happened.