Chapter 14: Freezes and Festivities
Loni strolled into the cafeteria. "Okay, who should I take with me to Molekin Mountain?" she wondered, reaching around with her left wing and using it to scratch the scales underneath her mouth. "Times like this I miss having a chin," she absent-mindedly commented.
Looking around, the Portal Master wasn't exactly thrilled with her options. The Life Skylander Shroomboom burped after swallowing a slice of meat-lovers pizza, and Boomer followed suit after downing a cup of coffee. "BOOM-BOOM!" the psychopathic troll shrieked, pulling out a stick of dynamite.
Suddenly a hulking figure placed his hand on the Tech Skylander's shoulder. "Nu-uh, Boomer. No boom-boom," Hot Head admonished him. Loni smiled, maybe the Fire Giant would be a good person to take with her.
"Not withoutta healthy dose o' oil to fuel the flame!" he suddenly grinned, dousing the stick of dynamite in oil and setting it ablaze. The Portal Master groaned in disappointment, surely there had to be someone around who'd be responsible enough to take to meet Eon's friend without shattering their faith in the Skylanders forever?
But a moment before the dynamite exploded, it froze solid with a thunderous clap of four solid, blue hands. "No one's blowing anything up on my watch," Slam Bam demanded, snatching the frozen explosive and throwing it through the open window of the cafeteria. Loni smiled. Slam Bam was a good figure of responsibility. A good figure of responsibility that was being stared down by an incensed golem of oil and lava. "Ya sure ya wanna face-off with the Giant that got the element built to beat yours up?" Hot Head demanded. And in an instant, another, equally massive figure arrived to back up the yeti. "Are YA sure ya wanta stare down the biggest hammer this side o'the multiverse?" Crusher roared at his fellow Giant.
"The multiverse theology is little more than a theory. The potential existence of designational 'alternate universes', so to speak, has and likely will never be proven," Drobot logically pointed out. "Ah don't give a hoot!" Crusher glared at the Tech dragon. "Utilise your personally designated methodology as you see fit," Drobot shrugged, unconcerned. Loni frowned thoughtfully, Crusher was rather rough around the edges, but his heart was in the right place and no one was better with a hammer. Especially one that large. Maybe she should take him too?
Hot Head stared daggers at the Earth Giant, who returned the favour with the menacing blue gems that served as the golem's eyes. "Boys, take it outside," Flashwing derisively commanded. "I don't want the cafeteria ruined,"
"Common, Boomer. Let's take Mr. Maker downna peg," Hot Head glared, walking towards the door. Crusher followed, menacingly brandishing Crusher, his hammer.
"Oh wow, Flashwing, that was so incredibly amazing!" Warnado gushed in unrestricted awe. The crystal dragoness glared at the turtle with severe annoyance. "Lay off already, you big windbag," she groaned, flicking her tail in irritation and turning away with a snort. "But I live for my beloved! Why does she reject me so?" Warnado overdramatically sobbed. "Because you're a lunatic lover who doesn't know when to quit!" the crystal dragoness snapped at him. Loni winced. "Maybe I should get the poor guy out of here," she muttered. "There's typically three Skylanders to a team, and I doubt I'll need more, so if I'm taking Warnado and Slam Bam, who else?" she wondered, continuing to look around the mess hall. Suddenly, she winced yet again.
Brock and Thumpback were having an arm-wrestling contest. "By tha Twin Spouts of Ocea-Major-Minor, ya going down, ya old geezer!" Thumpback glared at the reformed Goliath. "WRONG! I'm winning this fight!" Brock retorted with equal intensity. Both simultaneously increased the pressure, and a splintering noise was heard as the table cracked underneath the supersized fury. "You can do this, Thumpback!" Wham-Shell cheered. "No way, mon, Brock has it in da bag!" Zook angrily glared.
"I'll have to remember to ask Sprocket to make a new table when I get to Cloudbreak," the Portal Master sighed, until her eyes alit on a hooded elf levitating in the corner. "Maybe I should bring Hex?" Loni considered, until she imagined what sort of impression Hex would make on Eon's friend. "No way!" she squealed. "Okay, I need someone honourable, upstanding, impressive, and noble. Who have we got like that?" she finally decided to ask herself. "Chop Chop isn't here . . . of course! Ignitor!"
She immediately ran over to the fireproof table constructed specially for beings of the Fire element who couldn not extinguish their flames, like Ignitor, and found him feasting on pickled plums. "Ah, such sweet sorrow. Why must something that tastes so good be tinged with such sadness? I am certain that your unpickled family shall miss you dearly, plum," the Fire knight told the plum he was holding, before popping it into his mouth and swallowing. "So unfortunately delicious,"
"Ignitor?" Loni interrupted his musings on the atrocities he found himself forced to commit in order to survive, and he immediately stood to attention. "Yes milady? I am at your command," Loni grinned, Ignitor was the perfect example of honour, duty and loyalty. She couldn't think of anyone better to provide a good impression of the Skylanders. "I need your help. I'm, ah," she remembered to talk 'olden times-y' to suit Ignitor's preference, "I am finding myself in need of a suitable escort to transport me to the, ah, domain known as the Molekin Mountain, and naturally I could think of no braver a knight that yours truly. Would you do me the honour of providing me with your services to this end?"
Ignitor nodded and his fires flickered brighter. "I will do whatever I must to aid the plight of a fair damsel such as yourself, milady," he agreed. "Oh great," she sighed, before addressing the knight. "Excellent. Follow me, kind sir. We must be off,"
"As milady wishes," the knight agreed, dutifully following his 'damsel'.
She approached Slam Bam next. "Hey, Slam Bam! I got a job for you, I need a team of Skylanders to escort me to Molekin Mountain to pick up a new Portal of Power. I'm meeting a friend of Eon's and I need people who would make a good impression. Interested?" she rapidly explained to the yeti, who grinned and donned his goggles. "Not like I had anything planned, so why not? Cowabunga, let's go!"
"We just need to get Warnado, then we can leave. MG's still here, right?" Loni asked Drobot off-handedly. MG was the Artificial Intelligence product of Ermit's modifications to his Arkeyan Robot. "Affirmative. I calculate high likelihood of his presence," the Tech dragon replied. "Thanks,"
With the Fire and Water Skylanders in tow, Loni walked towards Warnado. "Warnado? Do you want to come on a mission to escort me to Molekin Mountain?"
The turtle blinked. "You need an escort?" Loni frowned. "It's standard procedure for Portal Masters travelling on business to take an escort of three Skylanders with them -" Warnado interrupted her. "I know that, but what I'm saying is, you, need an escort," The Skylander made a valid point. Loni was by no means a gladiator, but she could hold her own in the sparring ring and as a Portal Master, had dominion over what was referred to as the 'warm' end of the Elemental spectrum - the Elements of Fire, Life, Air and Magic. Scott, as her opposite, could use the 'cold' end of it - Earth, Water, Undead and Tech. In addition to those, admittedly limited, elemental abilities, she was capable of using her ability to create Portals offensively as well as passively. For example, what might happen if a portal were to open in front of a charging Goliath Drow and then transport him to five metres from the wrong side of the edge of the island? Or a portal opened in front of a tank's barrel and then reopened inside the tank's cockpit?
Loni sighed. "It's more for the sake of appearances than any practical need," she elaborated. Warnado shrugged. "I ain't got anything better to do, and maybe if I do this, it'll impress Flashwing enough to accept my love for her!" he grinned broadly. Loni awkwardly sweatdropped. "Uh, yeah. Sure. Let's go," she suggested.
X
Roller Brawl yawned as she woke up. "Morning," Cynder greeted. "Like, what time is it?" the vampire yawned, strapping on her skates. "Pretty early," Cynder told her. "It'll be sunrise in a couple of minutes,"
"Cool," Roller Brawl nodded. "I'm going outside to watch the sunrise," she decided, pulling her helmet on and skating towards the door to the balcony. "Aren't vampires, allergic to the sun or something?" Cynder frowned.
"Naah, that's just an old legend, the sun doesn't hurt me any more than it does you," Roller Brawl snorted.
Cynder yawned. "Okay then, enjoy. I'm going back to bed,"
Roller Brawl smiled, closing the door behind her, and surreptitiously peered through the window. She was rewarded with the sight of Cynder curling up and going back to sleep. Once she was certain her mentor was asleep, she pulled out a device that looked a lot like a miniature animal's skull wit several buttons on it, and, holding it up to her ear, made a call.
"Hello? This is Pinwheel. Thunderstorm, do you read?" Roller Brawl whispered into the device. There was a burst or static, before a disguised voice was audible. "Pinwheel. Good to hear from you, I was getting worried. Do you have something to report, or are you just checking in?"
"I'm fine, chill. Jeez. Gotta be quiet, though, my 'mentor' is in the other side of the wall I'm leaning on. How's my cousin?"
"Don't worry, Quick Step is totally fine. He's heading back here now. Any sign that the dragoness has been influenced by him?"
"Nope. She seems totally clueless about what's going on behind the scenes. Hey, has Smasher finished the new Portal?"
"Ages ago. Sneak away and get back to HQ first opportunity, there's something here for you that you'll just love,"
"Thanks, Thunderstorm. Hey, so if I'm watching the west of Cloudbreak for any moves he might pull, who's watching the north, south and east?" she asked.
"I'm en route to the north as we speak, but I can't risk telling you more. The line's been encrypted pretty good, but god knows what kind of code-cracking tech he's got working for him. Sorry. But suffice it to say that we have it covered," Thunderstorm told her.
"Got it. Pinwheel out," Roller Brawl grinned, closing the phone and looking at the rising sun on the horizon. "You gotta admit, that's sweet," she grinned, before turning around and swinging the door to get back into the room - and coming face-to-face with Terrafin, who had a pleasant grin that showed every last one of his menacing teeth on his face. "Who was that you were just talking to?" he asked, the epitome of politeness.
Roller Brawl didn't hesitate and punched him in the soft flesh of his face. Terrafin was caught off-guard and flopped backward, falling onto his back and wincing as he crushed his own dorsal fin. "What was that for?" he moaned, before Roller Brawl stabbed him with a needle. "Sorry," she whispered as Terrafin closed his eyes and softly moaned. "Thunderstorm says hello," she whispered with a maleficent grin, before dragging the Dirt Shark back into his own room with obvious effort and lifting him onto the bed. "Lose some weight, you big lug," she hissed in irritation.
X
"Finally! We're here!" Whirlwind grinned, leaping out through her door and landing in a pile of soft snow. "Man, I missed the cold and snow," she sighed.
"I know what you mean, I like the heat but the cold is cool too," Scratch agreed.
"Are you gonna play in the snow too, Jet Stream?" Pop Thorn asked with a sweet smile. "No, and if you know what's good for you, you won't either. We're here on business, not to play," Jet-Vac pointedly glared at the two female quadrupeds, strutting past them with Pop Thorn following at his heels like a kicked puppy. "But I wanna!" the Pufferthorn whined. "We can't always do what we want to. I for one want to leave this island and never see it again, but as honourable Skylanders we have to make that sacrifice, as it is our duty," Jet-Vac told Pop Thorn, still looking straight ahead. "Fine," Pop Thorn sighed, following his mentor.
Another door seung open and Dune Bug, thankfully back to his normal size, burst out and collapsed to all fours, shuddering and heaving, before vomiting all over the snow. "Eew," Whirlwind gulped. "Whoa, I didn't know you got motion-sickness," Pop Fizz commented. "I have been lying, ill, on your couch for the entire journey, clutching my stomach," Dune Bug protested. "I thought you were just sleeping," Pop Fizz frowned. The scarab moaned.
"Dune Bug's morionsickness strikes again," Star Strike sighed with a little amusement as she and Spyro disembarked. "This is a regular thing, then?" Spyro asked. "Every time he leaves solid ground," the magician sighed. "Note to self, don't send him to rout any sky pirates," the dragon noted with a concerned glance at the beetle.
"Whirlwind? Ach, it's good te see ye, lassie!" a voice suddenly called, and Whirlwind looked up in excitement. "Avril? Is it really you?" the hybrid asked in curiosity. The Skylanders looked over to see a short elf with light blue skin and wearing armour, casually carrying a halberd that was longer than she was tall. "You bet ya furry rump it is, lassie! Ye should come to tha museum, we've all missed ya plenty!" the elf exuberantly declared.
"Why are you at Winter Keep? Where's Duff?" Whirlwind asked in confusion.
"Eh, e's in the hospitul. They called me in to replace him. He broke his toe and don't wanna walk. It's kinda pathetic, but any excuse tah quit starin' at frozen old bones be good enough for this lassie," Avril winked. Whirlwind looked up towards the massive tower in the centre of the Keep, at the top of which was a massive statue of her with a glowing rainbow of light at the tip of her horn. "Did they build that in honour of you?" Scratch asked in awe, and Whirlwind nodded. "Ya got that right, lassie. This gal 'ere gave us the Illuminator, which banished the curse o' darkness from the Keep several years ago. We built tha' statue an' mounted th' Illuminator on top'o it in honour of 'er," Avril explained, and Scratch was suitably awed.
"Do you think I'll get a statue of myself someday, Jet Stream?" Pop Thorn asked hopefully. "A little squirt like you? No way," Jet-Vac snorted, and Pop Thorn pouted.
"Come on, y'all, let's show ya to what ya gonna be guardin'. The ship's on the other side of the Keep,"
"Wait, if the Ancient we're guarding isn't in the Keep, then why were we told to come here, eh?" Jet-Vac demanded. "Cause the Keep's a much nicer place to spend a fortnight than the Frostfest Mountains," Avril nonchalantly told him. "Now, let's get moving afore y'all freeze ya tootsies off,"
X
Grilla Drilla moaned as he woke up and looked around. "Freeze Blade? Boom Jet? Where are you?"
The ice cat skated in. "Grilla, I can't find Boom Jet. He wasn't in the toilet,"
"Maybe he went for an early-morning stroll?" the ape suggested. "Maybe," Freeze Blade frowned. "But wouldn't he be back by now? It's, like, nine in the morning," he sighed.
Grilla Drilla frowned. "Wait, nine in the- we only rented this room until nine! We were supposed to have cleared out by then!" he panicked, rushing around and packing up everyone's bags in a frantic flurry of activity. "Thanks for packing up my stuff, Grilla," Freeze Blade conspiratorially grinned, taking a seat on one of the beds. "Where is that blasted Skysurfer?" the ape demanded.
X
Terrafin groaned as he woke up. "I had the weirdest dream last night. Someone was telling me, 'Lose some weight, you big lug,'," He bared his arms and pectorals. "This is all muscle! I don't need to lose weight! Right?" he asked with an appealing glance at Slobber Tooth. "Nu-uh, boss. You doing fine," the dino-like beast toothily grinned. Terrafin smiled, until the word 'boss' registered, and he groaned, remembering the fiasco with Drill Sergeant. "Oh, don't you start too," he sighed in irritation.
A/N
A/N
This chapter's a little shorter, but hey. Two updates in the same week, woot!
Warnado's behaviour towards Flashwing was kind of based on Juvia and Gray from the anime Fairy Tail. "Oh, my beloved Gray, why will you not accept my love?" I just thought it was so funny I had to use it. XD Come to think of it, I would imagine the Skylanders mess hall to be a lot like the Fairy Tail guild hall's main room. Lots of eating and drinking and fighting and an old man with a beard and a lot more power than you'd expect from his appearance watching it all but rarely getting involved. Does that make Loni Lucy? Then who's Natsu? XD
Seriously, come to think of it, the parallels I've accidentally created are ridiculous. Eon and Makarov, Loni and Lucy, Scott and Laxus, Natsu and Spyro, Terrafin and Gray (ish, Terrafin doesn't have a Juvia fawning over him . . . . yet. :P), Hugo and Levy, Natttybumpo and Prett, and . . . . okay, I do not imagine Hoh as a little girl like Mavis, but not a bad similarity there either.
Just for clarification, all of the Cores from Swap Force are still rookies at Cloudbreak, and the Cores from Trap Team have not been recruited yet. So I was stuck with only being able to use the eight Giants and the twenty-four Cores who were not selected to go to Cloudbreak as Cloudbreak Skylanders. And while I'm at it, MG is an abbreviation of 'Machine Ghost', which is who the NPC version of the Arkeyan Robot in question was known as during the fifth level of Giants.
And for the record, EVERYBODY who reviewed guessed that Eon's Portal-making friend was the Oracle, so you all win the grand prize of . . . . An imaginary box of nothing! Feel proud. :)
Oh, and 'Quick Step' is also a codename for a character. 'Pinwheel' would be too, but we all already know that Pinwheel is Roller Brawl. :P
LiteFox, knowing you, you're gonna love Avril. ;) What happened to Chill's other arm? And sorry, but no more shoe sales. Mesmeralda is more of a joke character - she's a leglGess spider lady that dresses like a schoolteacher, of course I'm gonna have fun with that. No offence to spiders everywhere.
"Oi! I am not a schoolgirl! Sure, I'm hardly an adult, but I ain't never been to school and I don't plan on it!"
Guest, yeah. Exactly. Not like I've never read Eon's backstory and only know about Nattybumpo from that Spyro's Adventure Story Scroll or anything.
Sparkbutt, I honestly can't remember. I know I got the concept that special Portals were needed around Cloudbreak for some reason or other from somewhere, ages ago, but can't remember whom where or when. Oh well, probably isn't important.
Also, remember back in, like, Chapter 2, I asked if anyone could guess who the mystery man and his daughter were? Someone finally responded with the right answer to one of them in a review! Woot!
Next time, the Frostfest Mountains, the Molekin Mountains, and the Mancave which is probably underneath a mountain. Hey, I'll call the next chapter 'Making Molehills out of Mountains'! Whaddya all think of that? Peace!