Ch. 8: Crock and Roll
Spy Rise grappled in concern through the treetops like a mechanical Spiderman. "What the hell was that thing?" he lamented. "It looked kind of like a Greeble, but . . . . what the hell kind of Greeble was that?" he continued in shock, descending to a halt near the felled trees.
A thundering, horrifying roar echoed through the massive foliage the Spyder was clambering through. He winced and pointed his grappling hook upwards without even looking. "That sounded way too close for comfort," he breathed. "Time to get the eye in the sky,"
The grappling hook embedded itself into the bark of a tree above him, and he activated the reeling mechanisms, pulling himself from the ground and into the branches of the foliage above.
Of course, what he didn't expect was that he hit something. Something that fell backwards and started cursing with all the colours of the rainbow. "What exactly do ya think ya playin' at, matey?" Something finally demanded.
Spy Rise looked over and saw a blue anthropomorphic crocodile armed with a thick, strong-looking bow and a quiver of arrows slung over his back. "You were in my way," he blinked in surprise as the crocodile picked himself up. "Oh, for the love of albino cheese, tell me ya ain't concussed," he groaned.
Spy Rise paused, rubbing his head. "Nope, I'm fine. Just about what you'd expect from thr only competent Skylander in the SWAP Force," he growled to himself.
The crocagator grinned. "Skylander, eh? Man, that takes me back. So this is the sort of guy that makes the cut these days," he frowned, then smirked. "Eh, as long as you can kick bad guy butt, guess it's good enough for me. Name's Snap Shot, ex-Skylander. Nice to meet ya,"
Spy Rise blinked. "Spy Rise," the Spyder introduced himself, then paused. "Ex-Skylander? I didn't know anyone quit the Skylanders,"
"Usually we don't. But ah just couldn't resist the thrill of the hunt," Snap Shot winked, snatching an arrow from his quiver, nocking it and drawing it back in a second. "I'm a hunter born and bred, mate. And I'm on the trail of a real prime beaut, so back off," the crocagator commanded, brandishing his bow and arrow.
Spy Rise thought back to the sight of the trees being felled by the roots, and frowned. "Sorry, but based on what I've seen your 'beaut'," he made sarcastic finger quotes, "is a public menace and that makes it Skylander business," he retorted.
The huntsman snorted. "How's about this, then? We team up to take my Peacock down. I get mah baby back and you get your menace out of the way. Deal?" he offered, raising his hand for a handshake.
Spy Rise nodded. "You can't be worse than the last nutjobs I was stuck with," he agreed, and shook the offered hand. "So what are we up against?"
Snap Shot paused, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, hows about I just show ya?"
X
"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Flynn asked Tessa, clinging to her shoulders in nervousness.
The Mabu pilot and the kitsune heiress were perched atop Whiskers, a large bird that Tessa had raised from an egg and was her closest friend and companion. Flynn was extremely panicked. Tessa light-heartedly elbowed him. "Come on, you said you were the greatest pilot in all Skylands! Surely this isn't too much for the amazing Captain Flynn!"
Flynn paused. There was no trace of sarcasm in the kitsune's voice and she seemed to whole-heartedly believe what she was saying. "Well, when you put it like that, I guess I can force myself to grin and bear it. Just a little more used to something with propellers, or doors," Flynn shrugged, carefully letting go of Tessa and outstretching his arms, feeling the wind on his fur. "Hey, this is actually pretty nice. I think I get the appeal," he grinned. "Now that's the greatest pilot in all Skylands talking. Ka-blam!" Tessa grinned. "Y'now, it might be a long flight," she suggested a moment later. "Soooooo?" Flynn gestured for her to continue. "So, I'm sure that the greatest pilot in all of Skylands has some legendary tales to share,"
Flynn nodded, thinking. "Hmm. Have you ever heard of the time that I piloted a stolen Arkeyan Copter through the sewers of the Lost City of Arkus to prevent an army of giant robots from invading Skylands?"
"Flynn, I, uh, live in the backwoods. I've, never heard of anything," Tessa awkwardly responded. "Well, let me tell ya all about it. I was at the helm of the controls. Sure, there were Skylanders manning the cannons, but I was in the driver's seat - actually, there were no seats. I had to stand up and fly, those Arkeyans are crazy! Anyway," Flynn rambled, completely ignoring the awestruck looks Tessa was casting him.
X
"What the hell is that thing?" Spy Rise breathed. "That there's Peacock. My beaut. Ugly li'l blighter, eh?" Snap Shot smirked, clapping his temporary teammate on the back again. The Spyder barely felt it, gazing at the monster beneath them.
It almost resembled a massive dragon with hunched shoulders and a small, squat head with protruding, Greeble ears. It had fleshy pink skin, with patchy scales at random on it's body. Thick, ungainly wings were folded on it's back, and it's thick, stumpy tail had a spiky club on the end. It's eyes were dull and grey, it had extra eyes on it's shoulders, the base of it's wings, and it's tail, and a crown of purple crystals were atop it's head. "Petrified Darkness," Spy Rise cursed. "You mean that stuff?" Snap Shot gestured at the crystalline crown. "Yup. It's an illegal substance. After a syndicate of trolls took over Linagarnix' old mines and started selling the stuff on the black market, the entire Skylander corps have been tracking down the victims of it's influence,"
"Victims?" Snap Shot frowned. "Petrified Darkness evilises things. It basically makes anything it touches stronger and eviler. Any tinpot tyrant could use it to create an army. That's why it's such a problem for us. And it's not fussy about whether whatever it hits WANTS to be evilised or not," the Spyder explained.
"So that's what they did to my Peacock. Light, the nerve of some people," Snap Shot muttered darkly to himself. "How do we get rid of it?"
Spy Rise nodded. "By applying spontaneous pressure at the crystals, we create a reverbe-"
"In layman's terms, techie?" Snap Shot interrupted. Spy Rise decided to coin a term that the other SWAPlanders often used. "We pone on it and it goes back to normal," Snap Shot nodded, understanding. "Why didn't ya just say that?"
"The same reason I'm not with my team right now. Sheer obnoxiousness," Spy Rise muttered to himself. "You sound kinda like my old friend Gear Shift," the hunter mused, nut shrugged. "Eh, let's have at it, then. Crock and roll, mate!" he shouted, snatching Spy Rise by the arm and shooting an arrow that trailed a thick cord into the canopy. "Whoa, wait, what are you -" Once again, Spy Rise was cut off as his comrade wrapped the rope around his wrist and, with a quick tug to make sure it was tight, leapt from his perch in the arc of a giant pendulum.
Dragging the unfortunate Spy Rise with him.
X
"So, I'm going to be your mentor for the next fortnight, then," Spyro said. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah," Star Strike nodded nervously, trailing off. "I'm, uh," Once again, she failed to complete her sentence.
"Can't even finish a sentence, how the hell is she gonna make the cut?" Terrafin muttered to himself in irritation.
"How long until we reach the rendezvous point?" Spyro asked, attempting to take charge. "We'll be at Woodburrow in an hour or so," Star Strike replied, checking a readout dial. "What's Woodburrow at nine in the morning?" Terrafin folded his arms in irritation.
"The same thing it is any other time of day," the cloaked magician frowned. "A town inhabited by kitsunes that the Chieftess and her granddaughter Tessa said we could use as a temporary base as long as we're staying in Cloudbreak," she elaborated.
"Whaddya know, she can finish a sentence after all," Terrafin muttered, and Spyro glared at him. "Everybody else is already there," Star Strike added. "Why aren't we staying with the permanent detachment of Skylanders that live at Cloudbreak?" the dragon asked his trainee, and Star Strike obediently replied, "The SWAP Force? Their HQ is barely big enough for the sixteen of them. There's no way it would fit forty-eight Skylanders,"
"How'd ya figure forty-eight?" Terrafin asked, bemused. "The sixteen members of the SWAP Force, the sixteen Cloudbreak Skylanders and the sixteen rookies. Sixteen times three equals forty-eight," Star Strike recited. "Uh, yeah, I knew that," he sweatdropped.
"Cali gave me the teacher's pet, didn't she?" Spyro whispered to Terrafin. "Only the best for the famed leader of the Skylanders," the Dirt Shark smirked.
"Uh, sir?" Star Strike nervously asked. "Yeah?" her mentor looked over at her from the back of the cockpit. "We're about to collide with a giant bird,"
X
"And right as the massive energy pulse was about to blow me into smithereens," Flynn whooped, getting far too caught up in the moment of his overdramatisation, but cut himself off. "Uh, Tessa, you might want to turn around and look where we're flying!" he gasped, pointing at the Arkeyan Copter bearing down on them. "Tessa, Tessa, pull up!" Flynn shouted. "What! How! I-" Tessa suddenly slumped in his arms. "Oh crap," Flynn gasped.
In panic, he blindly snatched at Whisker's reins with one hand as the bird shrieked in concern and he frantically grasped Tessa's limp form in the other. "Hold on tight, foxy lady," he commanded, pulling the leather upwards. Whisker instinctively ducked down, skimming underneath the copter with inches to spare, and plunging into a steep dive. "Oh no. Tessa! Wake up!" the pilot shouted, lightly slapping her in the face.
The kitsune softly groaned. "Greatest pilot," she sleepily drooled, "in Skylands,"
Flynn paused. "She's right," He strapped his goggles on. "What kind of greatest pilot in Skylands can't even control some oversized chicken?" And with that, he leaned back and pulled on the straps of Whisker's harness, forcing the animal to pull up with all it's might. But after a moment, he spotted a mountain peak looming in front of him. "Oh no, hard left, hard left!" Flynn commanded Tessa's bird, who responded in kind, twisting ninety degrees and scraping past the mountain peak. Which caused Tessa to slip from his grasp and start to fall.
"No!" Flynn shouted, leaning across and reaching out with his free hand, still clutching the rein in the other. His hand found Tessa's slim, furry wist, and he grasped it tight as Whiskers righted himself.
At this moment, Tessa's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Whuh?" she blinked, slowly registering the fact that nothing was beneath her feet. In a panic, she looked up - and registered that Flynn's grasp was the only thing preventing her from plummeting into the abyss. "Oh, good, you're awake. This would have been a lot harder if you were still unconscious," he nonchalantly commented as Tessa grabbed his arm with her other hand and, with a grunt, heaved her back into the saddle. "What happened?" she breathed. "You fainted, I saved our lives. Typical hero stuff," Flynn shrugged.
"Whiskers, can you give me more details?" Tessa cocked an eyebrow, and her bird screeched in response. By the time he finished, she was staring at him in awe. "You saved my life," she breathed in amazement. "Eh, no big deal. I just -"
Tessa wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a kiss on the lips. Flynn's eyes went wide. "Never had that kind of action before," he breathed.
"You're definitely the greatest pilot I know," Tessa winked.
X
"Was that Flynn?" Spyro frowned. "Wouldn't surprise me," Terrafin grumbled.
A/N
A/N
Welp, that went well. I considered putting the actual fight in this chapter, but . . . . wasn't sure what to do. I'm not great with fight scenes. But you gotta love Flessa fluff! XD
Sparkbutt, I already talked to you.
Guest, SCREW YOU. FLESSA 4EVER.
Yes, LiteFox, it was 'Snappy'. And the lack of draconic Trap Masters? I was annoyed at first, but it actually works well. :) So quit laughing, you're playing right into my hands. And mind if I borrow Trek's Clubhouse for a few scenes in a couple of chapters?
utopiaray123, love the YGO reference, and yes, yes it is. XD
Anyways. Now that that's over with, I think this chapter went well and I really want to get it posted, plus I have no comments other than that I love Flessa fluff and really hope I'm not becoming 'one-note' about that.
Next chapter, Snap Shot gets his pet monster back, Spyro and Terrafin return to Woodburrow, and Tessa and Flynn (try to) rout a troll Petrified Darkness mining operation with help from someone who just so happened to be in the neighbourhood. See ya next time 'round, in Ch. 9: Power to the Pilots! Peace!