Dan woke up with a start. He looked at the clock next to his bedside; 7:00. Oh, crap, late for school. He looked at the four other beds that belonged to his friends and they were all empty. They're all gonna be so mad. He leaped off his bed and hurriedly put on his red t-shirt and green button up. He climbed the ladder up to the control room where they all met before school. Dan pulled up the last pant leg to his jeans as he fell into the control room. Rachel, Paul, Sam, and I were there waiting for him.
"Alright, we ready to go?" he said as he buttoned his pants. He then noticed that the four of us were in our pajamas. "Umm, why aren't you guys ready? I thought I was being late"
Rachel yawned, "It's Saturday, Dan"
Dan stared at the four of us. He shrugged, unbuttoned his pants, and dropped them, leaving him in his boxers. He tossed his green button up and his pants down the ladder and sat on the table in the middle of the control room.
"So why are we up here so early anyway?" Dan asked.
Sam sighed at the sight of Dan in his boxers, then answered, "We got a transmission from Jet-Vac and the other Skylanders that came here."
"You got here just in time. We were about to answer back" Paul said.
I tapped a button on the control panel and rather than our beaked Skylander friend, a rather bulky and tall standing human appeared on the screen.
"Ah, you're all here I presume. I'm glad the transmission got through" he said.
I stared at him in confusion. "Uhh, Jet-Vac?"
"The one and only! Although, now I suppose I go by Jason Mack. Quite an odd name, but I was accepted into the police force here."
"So where is everyone else? Drobot? Boomer? Terrafin? Marvin and Gizmo?" Rachel asked.
"Teryl and Daryl?" Dan added, a small emphasis on Teryl reminded everyone of the small fling they had in Winter Keep.
"Ah they're all here, of course some of them needing to change their name. Drobot know goes by Drey Boxly and Terrafin goes by… well, Terra Finn."
"He didn't think it through very much, did he?" Sam asked.
"Nope"
"Well, I suppose Boomer is really the only other one that would need to change his name" I assumed.
Jet-Vac (err… Jason) gave a small laugh, "Actually, he kept his name. No last name either, simply Boomer. He managed to secure a job with a demolition company nearby. Also Gizmo has turned into a large dog that Drey identified as a golden retriever."
"Huh, I figured if he turned into anything, it would be like, a pet snake or Gila monster." Paul mentioned.
"So where are you all staying?" Rachel wondered out loud.
"We actually are staying in an apartment complex near the school you all are attending."
"Are you guys at Sunshine Plaza?" I asked.
"That is the one! Have you ever been here?" Jason asked.
"Not really, but our choir sings there every Christmas so I knew of the place."
"Ahh, I see, well the apartments are quite roomy. Drey, Boomer, Terra and I share one place, and across the hall are Teryl, Daryl, Marvin, and Gizmo."
"I have to admit, it's good hearing from you guys since we got separated." I told him.
Jason tapped something into his monitor. "Actually, I contacted you because there was something you needed to see"
Another screen showed up on the monitor. There were five kids sitting at a table in the library. One was playing on a 3DS and the other four were discussing other inaudible matters.
"Who are they?" Sam asked.
"These, are the five humans that will be joining you on your quest to save the world" Jason answered.
One of them, a slightly muscular kid with a medium build and dark blonde hair, looked familiar to me. "Hey, I think I know that blonde kid. His name is Kyle I think, and he goes to Glendale. I knew him all throughout elementary and middle school"
"Wonderful, so you will already be connected" Jason said excitedly.
"Wait, but I thought that the other five would already be Skylanders and then we'd save the world?" Rachel wondered.
Jason exhaled, "Yes, well Eon has informed me that they have their own journey to make before meeting you all"
At that moment, a red light flared in the control room. "What is going on?" Jason asked from the other screen.
"Well we all kept some of our powers so we decided that in our down time we'd still help others out around town. That's the alarm that someone needs help"
"Wow, that is a good use of time if I say so myself" Jason said. "I'll leave you to it. Jet-Vac out" and with that, he disappeared from the screen.
The table in the middle of the room was built in with a monitor in the middle. It turned on to show a building on fire. We all had wrist watches that would guide us to the location.
"So do we put on masks and become vigilantes for this? Or do we go in guns blazin' and everyone knows who we are?" Dan asked.
I looked at Rachel for an answer and she shrugged. "Well…being a vigilante is kind of against the law… so I suppose we just go in and help out how we can"
Dan gave as a thumbs up and jumped down the stairs to the bottom floor. We all heard the sound of shuffling and then a thud followed by "Gyahh!"
Sam chuckled. "Next time, put your bloody clothes away mate"
We could feel the heat from the fire a block away. It had started in a neighborhood home with smoke being able to be seen miles away from the actual fire. We agreed that Sam and Dan would probably have the best bet of controlling the fire with the water extinguishing it and Dan getting chunks from the ground to absorb the heat while Rachel and I headed inside to get anyone that was trapped in the fire. Paul stayed behind fixing up some potions to help heal any burns or get out the smoke in someone's lungs and then he would be at the fire site as soon as they were done.
By the time we got to the house in flames, any sign of fireman or an ambulance had not arrived yet. A single man was rubbing his head in fear on the front lawn.
"What's going on?" I asked as I approached him.
He turned and had black soot lightly smothered on his face. "It's, it's my wife and kids, I don't think they even knew the fire started before it got out of control. The firemen are on their way but they don't have a lot of time left"
I turned to Sam, Rachel, and Dan. "You know what to do"
The four of us ran towards the front door. The sound of the man yelling at us to stop was the last thing we heard before our ears were engulfed by the sound of crackling wood and dry wall.
"Sam, Dan, start getting the fire to ease up. Rachel, you're with me." I said. She nodded and we got to work. Sam started shooting water streams from his hands at the fire and steam immediately dissipated from the fire. Dan lifted stones from the floor and smothered the fire, making it go out in corners of the house.
Rachel and I started traversing the two-story house, listening for any sounds of crying or yells for help.
"Hello?! Anyone there!?" Rachel shouted.
A faint voice replied, "We're over here!"
We followed the voice to a bedroom. The door was clearly in front of an incoming flame and any attempt to open it would end in getting a serious burn.
"Stand to the side" I told Rachel. She stuck to the wall as I prepared to kick the door down. I leaned back, got a small start, and kicked at the door with all my might. I felt the blow of the kick was enough to knock the door and rolled to the side as soon as my foot made contact with the door. Rachel grabbed me and pulled me to the side as a column of flame slammed against the wall where I had been.
After the doorway had been cleared we entered it. Crouching in a corner was a girl; no older than ten, next to her older brother possibly, he looked around fifteen or sixteen. "This way!" I shouted.
The two kids ran towards us. Before the two went down the stairs the boy looked at me. "My mom, I think she's down stairs and there aren't any windows to escape. What are we gonna do?"
Rachel gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get her out. Your dad is outside. Go to him" she said and then he followed behind his sister.
"How are we gonna get to the basement. The fire has spread too much at this point" I said as I coughed slightly from the smoke build up.
Rachel grabbed my hand and led me downstairs which honestly made my heart flutter slightly. Slightly, hey, we connected a lot in Skylands and who knows? Sam and Dan had done their best to calm down the fire but it continued to grow at an ever alarming rate. "Guys! We need to get to the basement"
"Kinda busy right now mate!" Dan shouted, continuing to smother the fire in earthy materials.
Then Paul suddenly popped up next to me. "I heard about the basement and I got this" he said. He removed a bottle from his fanny pack and drank it.
Sam stared at him. "Ok, two things, when did you get here, and…really? A fanny pack?"
Paul, grabbed the door to the basement and opened it wide.
"Paul wait!" I shouted, but the fire engulfed Paul in an instant. Except instead of burning the small nerd alive, somehow, the guy was breathing in the fire and it went into his stomach.
"Did, did you just inhale fire?" Rachel asked.
Paul burped and then said "Oh yeah, I knew that one would come in handy"
Rachel and I practically dove down the stairs where the mother had earbuds in doing the laundry calmly. I tapped her shoulder. She turned startled and took out her earbuds with a gasp.
"Who are you, what are you doing in my house, and why did it get really hot all of a sudden?"
Rachel exhaled, confused how this woman had somehow managed to not notice a fire in her own home. "Ma'am, your house is on fire"
The woman looked at her and then said without any fear in her voice, "Oh…I better leave"
And with that she headed up the stairs.
I laughed slightly as we exited the house. "And I thought Eruptor was oblivious to things"
Sam and Dan had taken out the entire fire, leaving everything black, charred, and burned. The five of us exited the house as soon as the first firetruck appeared. The head captain exited the vehicle and approached the family of the house who were now hugging.
"Umm, sir, would you like to explain the situation?" he asked.
The man turned to him. "Oh, of course, my house was on fire and my family was trapped inside. But these five kids suddenly came out of nowhere extinguished the fire and saved my wife and kids. I can't really explain it. It was like magic"
The captain looked at him skeptically. "Magic huh? So where are these five kids?"
The man scanned the area around him. We were already hidden in the trees, not wanting any press to follow behind us.
"I know I might sound crazy," the man said, "but those five people are heroes."