So remember when I said I hated school dances. This was not on the reasons why. Then again it was also on the list of things I was not expecting to happen ever.
There in front of me and Rachel, Tyler, captain of the soccer team and oh so loveable scumbag had turned into a FREAKING SKYLANDER. And a Skylander that was about to attack me at that. No weapons around me. Not one normal human knowing what was going on. Just me, Rachel, hopefully the gang would notice, and the teenagers that were currently panicking at their peer morphing into a grungy elf and magically bring a polearm from the ground.
"I'm gonna bring you down" Fright Rider said.
My jaw had been open for a solid minute before Rachel took her finger and closed it for me. "Well, you could do that. But I have an idea." I stammered trying to form some sort of plan in my head.
"As long as it involves me pummeling you" he said. His voice was now an almost British accent. It made his threats that much more intimidating.
"Okay, so here's my idea. And just here me out. What if instead of pummeling me…you ready? What if you didn't?" I shrugged.
Fright Rider laughed. "Not happening" he lunged.
Quickly, I flung to my back and used my feet to push him up and over me. He flipped in the air and slid on his feet to a halt. "Would you quit attacking me for one second and listen? You barely even know her! Why is it so important?"
No answer. He took the polearm and took a wild swing at me which I dodged by kneeling backwards matrix style. A swipe at my legs made me hop over the attack. Then I grabbed the staff end of the polearm and yanked it out of his hands. It skidded to a halt by Rachel. Fright Rider growled angrily. His voice had become echoed with an eerie darkness behind it. A punch raced past my face as I felt the wind brush my ear. His other hand chopped at my side which I blocked with my knee. I used an open palm to push him back. Unfazed he leapt at me with his head forward. I side stepped as he rolled past me.
"Did you just try to head butt me?" I frowned at him.
Rachel was astonished. "I think he just tried to head butt you."
"SHUT UP!" Fright Rider growled. His normal white eyes had become a dark red. He then put his thumb and pointer finger in his mouth and whistled. The ground rumbled as a crack began to form in the tiled floor. At this point the crowd of rowdy teenagers had disappeared. From the crack in the ground, the ostrich counterpart immerged. A skeletal mess of bones and dust smelt like sulfur. Which if you don't know what sulfur smells like, imagine the worst rotten egg smell times one hundred.
The elf leapt on its back and the two burrowed underground. An evil laugh engulfed the cafeteria. "Now you can't see me. How can you defend yourself if-"
Dan had final arrived on the scene and felt the floor for a second with his Earth power. "Found him." He punched the ground making it shutter. Fright Rider popped out of the tiles rubbing his head. The ostrich was on his belly and it sighed. I imagined it had just said "You summoned me for a petty fight? I'm done. Time for a nap."
"Okay, would you chill please? You could have any other girl. Why are you attacking?" I said.
Fright Rider roared. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE GIRL! I have my orders. Prepare to be destr-" He was cut off by a solid whack to the head, knocking him out cold. Teryl stood over him shaking her wrist.
"Has a thick head that one does. Quite annoyin wouldn't yah say?" she said as if it was nothing. Fright, the ostrich disappeared back into the Earth and the dark elf had transformed back into Tyler. The black eye was still there but any sign of him turning into the undead Skylander was gone.
The five of us, along with Teryl next to Dan and Jet-Vac on the screen, discussed the event that happened the night before. Murmurs of the attack had flooded school with not a single person unable to forget it. The only person who had no recollection of the night was Tyler. The last thing he remembers was getting punched in the face by Rachel. He even flinched when she had asked him about it the following day. Regardless, it was the biggest news that hit the school and really put a damper on keeping things on the down low. Not to mention Fright Rider saying he was following "orders". That really kept me thinking at night. If he had orders that meant there was someone higher up. Also it meant said "higher up" knows who we are.
"This is not good" Jet-Vac, or Jason, responded to the news.
"Yeah, no kidding. If we aren't in our Skylander bodies why does some random kid at my school suddenly become one?" I implored with an aggravated tone in my voice. Rachel grabbed my shoulder to calm me down.
Sam spoke up. "How are things looking with the other five? Maybe we can help them complete their mission so we can speed things up."
Jason frowned. "Well they've become Skylanders and are on the way to Toys for Bob. But that's a no go on helping them. Eon says they have to do it themselves. That's the only way you'll regain your bodies."
"This is a load of crap. We went to the tomb, I did what Eon said and I'm still human!" I yelled.
"Hey man, cool it" Dan said.
"Am I the only one who's angry about this? We were lied to! And now we just have to wait around for some strangers to complete something irrelevant to this massive war that EON HIMSELF warned us about? Our two worlds are about to collide and if we aren't ready darkness is going to rule both of them."
There was silence. These were things that I have been thinking for a while but had just brushed them off as Eon being his mystical old self. Try to crack my old man talk. I am a good Portal Master. I'm not just messing with your emotions! Was Eon trying to play God or something?
Paul lifted his hand. "You know what I think is weird? That our home, our very real home, is just some fantasy video game world to Earth."
I exhaled and smiled. "Yeah, that is kinda weird Pop"
"Umm, Paul" he corrected.
I stood firm. "No, you're Pop Fizz. You are a Skylander. We can't forget that that's who we are. Snap Shot, Dino-Rang, Roller Brawl, you can't forget that you are defending your home. We can't forget why we came to Earth in the first place.
"What about you?" Sam said.
I had to think. I was a normal guy. A human. I went to Skylands from Earth and became a Skylander. Was I one of them? Why was I the one who had to defend the two worlds? Why did I become Chop Chop and get involved with this mess?
Rachel read my mind and answered my own question. "You are a Skylander too. It doesn't matter where you came from. So maybe you 'became' Chop Chop. Well buck up Nancy, you are Chop Chop. That other one wasn't a hero. He was corrupt. But you defend the innocent, you help when there's no gain for yourself. You are Chop Chop. You are a Skylander. You are one of us."
The rest nodded in agreement.
"That being said it's only been a few weeks and I'm getting restless" Dan said. "What do we do in the meantime?"
I thought for a second. "In the meantime, we lie low. If people ask us about last night, we say Tyler got angry and started a fight. We let it blow over. Believe it or not weirder things have happened at school."
"Weirder than a crazed undead elf and a skeleton ostrich run rampant at a school dance?" Paul teased.
"I dunno. One time my friend hypnotized two jocks and made my principal confess his love for his employee" I reminded him making everyone laugh. It lightened the mood which I felt better about.
"Oh don't think I won't do it again!" Paul bellowed.
"OH GOD PLEASE NO!" everyone moaned. Jet-Vac and Teryl exchanged a glance, wondering what we were talking about.
Dan leaned over to Teryl, "Remind me to tell you about it"
The weekend was coming to an end. Tomorrow was another day and for the life of me I could not sleep. When I thought everyone was asleep I got up and went to the roof. I have my orders. Those four words kept ringing in my head. We aren't ready to fight a war. Not until we get our Skylander bodies back. Yet the big bad boss was already making his move. In the news apparently sightings of other Skylanders had become more common all throughout the U.S. And from the looks of it none of them were good. Crimes were being committed all over the place by evil people and criminals all in the bodies of heroes.
And the prophecy I had in that dream kept running through my mind. Collide the blades of dark and light. I had asked Jet-Vac what Skylanders the other five had turned into. Kyle had become Ignitor. Then there was Wind-Up, Whirlwind, Stink Bomb, and Night Shift. There was one other thing I couldn't shake. If there was one thing in common between me and Ignitor it was our swordsmanship. Me being undead, him being made of fire and the symbolism with dark and light blades was beginning to connect. Were we going to battle? Aren't we supposed to allies in this prophecy? There has to be some other explanation. Also those were the same Skylanders whose masks were in the tomb. That couldn't be a coincidence.
"Couldn't sleep?" I turned expecting to see Rachel. She was good at comforting. Instead, Paul had come up from the treehouse wearing his footie pajamas. It made me chuckle. Pop Fizz will always be Pop Fizz. I could always rely on that.
"Nah, there's a lot on my mind. You?"
"Actually I drank a soda today. I wanted to treat myself and now I can't even blink I'm so wide awake!"
"Well as long as you're up come on and pop a squat." I extended my hand next to me and patted the empty roof.
"Gladly fearless leader" he said and sat next to me. "So tell me what's on your mind. Dr. Pop Fizz is in the house and todays science is psychopath!"
"Psychology?" I asked.
"Whatever, same thing right?"
I lied on my back. "Well, it all started with my mother" I joked.
"As it always does. Tell me more" Paul mimed jotting notes down.
I exhaled. "Well, the prophecy is splitting my mind into a bunch of pieces. I can't rap my mind about what death's den could possibly be. And somehow it's going to separate us and the other five. I can't figure out who the warrior of the night is. And I'm worried that maybe me and some other blade of light are going to fight. Which is not something I do not need right now. I dunno what do you think?"
Paul put his hand to his chin. "You know, I bet death is a person and he has two different obstacle courses. So he's gonna separate us to go through the two of them. And once we're done we will win"
"Win what?" I played along.
Paul looked into my eyes with the most intense focus I had ever seen from him. "Everything man. We're going to win everything."
Man had it been a while. Sorry if you've been waiting for some update from me. I actually have a lot of inspiration right now. I plan on rewriting the Trilogy from the ground up. Same plot, but a lot better development, better characters, and I'll do my best not to rush stuff. That being said, I'm in college so getting these things out will be kind of a challenge, but I will do my best! Also as the great Caddicarus says, if today is your birthday Happy freakin Birthday to you and stay beautiful. -Raptor