A/N: this chapter includes a bonus scene from the battle between Yin and Blaze. :)
Chapter 2
The battle had been one of the worst because it wasn't just an outward enemy they were facing, but an inner demon, which is one of the worst enemies to battle. Rachel grit her teeth as every effort they did to heal Blaze and keep him from dying was being stopped by the wicked Portal Master standing before him and she had had enough when he made the Fire/Undead/Water Portal Master's body disappear. "Who are you, demon?!" The Tech Portal Master demanded to know.
"Ah, so you sense I'm not really Yin, do you, girl?" He asked with a smug smile, one that made her want to punch him so bad she'd wipe that look off his face. "Very well. My real name is Bolton and I am a rare Portal Master."
"A dark one I sense," Tae Kwon Crow growled, sensing the dark energy from the evil being.
"You are correct, bird," Bolton said. "I am the Thunder Portal Master of the Air and Dark elements."
"Thunder Portal Master?" Rachel asked, having never heard of such a title before.
"Yes," he said. "I was once one of Master Eon's Portal Masters like you, girl, until the day I went into battle with my associates against Kaos' mother at Master Eon's request to protect the Core of Light. I fought alongside my associates, but it cost me my life."
Despite what he had done, the Tech Portal Master was slowly beginning to understand that somehow, Bolton had changed after that day and now saw his face contort in a snarl. "Master Eon is responsible for my death and the death of my associates who lost their lives defending the Core," he growled. "Master Eon was a coward who only cared about the Core of Light and only used us as weapons to protect him like his pawns and minions."
Hearing the hate in his voice, Rachel didn't believe for a second that the guardian of Skylands didn't care about his Portal Masters. She had seen proof that he did many times and trusted him as a friend and mentor. She now decided to perhaps move onto another question that was bugging her. "If you died, then how are you alive now?" She asked, having a hard time not losing her lunch as she remembered him showing that he was a black skeleton. Normally, skeletons didn't freak her out, but the dark presence of Bolton made her very uneasy.
"Claire and Daniel went to the cemetery and dug up my body and the girl used her magic powers while the boy used his undead powers to bring me back from the dead and help me become what I once was," Bolton said. "And I am both grateful and loyal to them for giving me a second chance in life."
"Yeah, right," Roller Brawl snarled. "You don't know the meaning of loyalty."
"Ah, but I do, vampire," he said.
"But then how are you also Yin then too?" Rachel asked.
"Daniel gave me a portion of his dark Yin energy to destroy the demon from the inside," the dark being said. "He only had one shot, but it was a success.
"I then met Kaos, who told me if I got Roller Brawl and got rid of two people, I'd get more power to control Yin. I have already killed one demon. Now, where is the daughter of the demon?"
His answer came in the form of Rachel trapping him in a telekinetic bubble and throwing him back into the ground harshly. He grunted as he got up, but about eight shuriken hit him as the older girl continued to battle him and Roller Brawl, who wanted to join in but was unable to due to her pregnancy, sent skateblades along the ground to help the Tech Portal Master out. Although Bolton tried to use his lightning to gain energy or attack, the two countered it with their attacks, especially when Rachel trapped the lightning in a telekinetic orb and then sent it at him, turning the attack against him.
It wasn't long before Bolton fell to one knee and was about to be defeated when Claire and Daniel suddenly stepped in and grabbed him. "Not today, Tech Portal Master," Claire snarled just as Bolton snapped his fingers and Blaze's body appeared in front of Roller.
"Mark my words, you three," Rachel said, her voice having an undertone of anger to it. "You will never succeed."
"We already have," Daniel said with a smirk before they vanished.
Rachel couldn't get that battle out of her head and she was still greatly disturbed that the two evil Portal Masters had dug up the skeleton of the Thunder Portal Master and he was after Flare. When hearing the monster was after his daughter, Blaze made sure his room was secure all the time and Roller Brawl and Flare stayed in the Academy at all times with either the other Skylanders or Portal Masters and Master Eon even used a bit of magic to create a shield around the Academy so the three could never get in.
She sought out Master Eon. "Master Eon, I'm worried about what happened," she said. "And I don't like how that creep's after Flare."
"I know," he said softly. "It is worrisome."
Rachel finally decided to find out a bit more about the now undead Portal Master. "Who is Bolton anyway?" She asked. "And how is he a Thunder Portal Master? I've never heard of such a title."
"Bolton was one of the first Portal Masters, before you and the others," the guardian of Skylands said. "He was a brave fighter, but like Blaze and Daniel, he too had Yin and Yang balanced evenly. In the battle where he and the others lost their lives, he had led them into the heart of a dangerous machine created by Kaos' mother and when he tried to escape, he was badly injured and on the verge of dying."
As he paused, the Tech Portal Master remembered something. "He blamed you for his death," she said. "Claiming you used him and the others as weapons and didn't really care about them."
"That isn't true," Master Eon said gently. "I care about everyone, including my Portal Masters. Bolton unfortunately blames me because I didn't help him when he was on the verge of dying."
"Why not?" Rachel asked curiously.
"He was corrupted. Far too corrupted for me to help him," was the soft answer.
"His Yin got out of control?"
Master Eon nodded. "Yes," he said before looking at her. "You met Maria the other day, didn't you?"
She nodded. "She was the one that warned us that Blaze would need Roller's help," she said. "She even showed us a memory of the dojo where she, Blaze, and Daniel trained."
"What did she show you?"
"The three of them were strong and the best warriors in the dojo," Rachel answered. "Part of the memory was the three of them practicing katas and training hard, even sparring with each other to help each other get better."
She paused. "There were even a couple bits of the memory that showed her and Blaze, when they were a couple. Him kissing her under the stars on her birthday and giving her a bracelet on another occasion and even the two of them doing slow free fighting. They were really close."
The guardian nodded. "Her death was hard on Blaze," he said quietly.
She nodded in return. "It was kind of like a movie, watching those memories," she admitted. "We even heard the dojo Master's warning about the Yin and Yang in Daniel and Blaze. If Roller hadn't come up to me the other day and showed me the note of Blaze saying he'd be out for a bit and then coming to me again when the Yin started to try and control him, I would have passed Maria's visit as nothing more than an unsettling experience, but because of what had happened, I couldn't brush it off. Her visit wasn't coincidence."
She then let out a small sigh. "Roller Brawl was really excited because she had found a wonderful dress to wear that would allow her room for the baby while she and Blaze enjoyed a romantic evening in the Cloud Kingdom," she said. "But then that battle happened and now I'm worried about that creep being after Flare. If it hadn't been for Maria, we might have lost Blaze for good."
Master Eon nodded solemnly. "Rachel, I strongly urge you to let the others know about what happened," he said. "I doubt Blaze will have to battle to keep his Yin and Yang balanced again, but if Bolton does return, all of you must be ready to face him, especially with him joining forces with Claire and Daniel and having was seems to be an alliance with Kaos."
The Tech Portal Master nodded and wasted no time telling the other Portal Masters, but waiting until she, Blaze, and Roller Brawl were alone before speaking with the Fire/Undead/Water Portal Master. "The others know what happened," she said. "And with Bolton having returned and joined with Claire and Daniel…,"
"We need to be ready to face him," Blaze said. "He's not getting my daughter. Or my unborn child."
"And you know the rest of us will do everything to keep Flare safe and to keep Roller Brawl and the baby safe too," Rachel said.
"Thank you," he said gratefully to her. "I just hope we don't have to face him anytime soon."
"Believe me, I feel the same way," she said in agreement.
But both knew the dark Portal Master and the other two would come back to fight them, just as Kaos always did.
The only question was when, but whenever it was, they wouldn't be caught off guard.
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GoldGuardian2418
