|| Now then, welcome to the second installment into the original and discontinued Skylanders Short Stories, titled "Pop Fizz... of DOOM!" While I can honestly say that it is an enormous improvement on Swappable Stoppable, it's... it's still pretty bad. Other than the awful pacing that's even worse here than it was in Swappable Stoppable, there are also several other problems with the story including characters that serve little to no purpose in the plot and are just there because reasons, as well as the complete and utter stupidity expressed by several of the characters. And by several I mean all of them. Everyone is an idiot in this story. Ech. ||

SKYLANDERS SHORT STORIES: POP FIZZ... OF DOOM!

June 2014 - July 2014

Pop Fizz, feeling neglected by the others, runs into the forest with a crushed soul. But he runs into everybody's least favorite Dark Portal Master, and things get ugly. Now it's up to Slam Bam, Cynder and Jet-Vac to rescue Skylands from an unexpected enemy... Implied Spyro x Cynder. Rated T for mild language. Five-shot.

Chapter One

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"

Pop Fizz stormed down the roads of Woodburrow in the direction of the training grounds. He was holding a couple of books under his arm, and looked frantic.

He ran past Scratch. "Good morning, Pop Fizz," she said.

"Mornin', Scratch!" Fizz called.

He ran past Wash Buckler. "Hey there, Pop Fizz!" he said.

"Hi Wash Buckler!" Fizz exclaimed. "I'm late for my class!"

"I can see that!" Wash laughed.

Pop Fizz was starting to run out of stamina, but he kept going because he was almost there. "If I stop now..." he huffed. "I'll never make it..." then he tripped over the wood. "Gosh darn it..."

"Pop Fizz?"

He looked up to see Spyro and Dune Bug staring down at him. "You alright?" Spyro asked.

Pop Fizz let out a long, deep sigh. "I don't think so..."

Dune Bug helped him to his feet. "Why are you so late?" he asked.

"Well, uh..." Fizz turned away. "I was working on some new potions, and I lost track of time..." he admitted.

Spyro and Dune Bug exchanged glances, then started laughing. "There's no reason to ashamed of that, Fizz!" Spyro told him. "What do the potions do?"

Pop Fizz smiled and scratched behind his ear. "Well, they're supposed to give me the powers or abilities of other Skylanders..."

"Really?" Dune Bug asked. "Do any of them work?"

"Uh..." Pop Fizz sighed. "No. I tried making one that would give me your powers, Spyro, but it just made me sick..."

Spyro flashed a smile. "Just keep trying! I'm sure you'll get it!"

"Spyro! Dune Bug!"

The three turned to see Voodood approaching them. "Oh, Pop Fizz?" he questioned.

"Yeah..." Fizz said. "Sorry I'm late."

Voodood started laughing. "No offense, little guy, but I didn't even notice you weren't here!"

Pop Fizz's ears folded back. "None taken..." he grumbled. "Where's Trap Shadow?"

"Well, I was working with him," Voodood replied. "and Spyro and Dune were practicing, and we noticed they weren't there anymore, so he sent me to find them. He's over there."

"Let's get back to practice!" Spyro exclaimed.

"Alright!" Dune Bug and Voodood chorused.

While they walked ahead, Pop Fizz padded over to Spyro. "There's a rumor going around Woodburrow that you and elf girl switched bodies," he said. "Is that true?"

Spyro sighed. "Yeah, Fizz," he responded. "I swapped bodies with Stealth Elf."

"How?"

"Science... Physics... beats me."

Fizz scratched his head. "How'd ya like that?"

"Not at all..." Spyro grumbled.

Fizz snickered. "Alright, the fact that rumor's true just made my day."

Spyro rolled his eyes.

"Ah, Pop Fizz!" Fizz looked up from the humorous moment to see his mentor, Trap Shadow. "I was wondering when you would get here."

Pop Fizz rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh... sorry 'bout that," he said. "I was working on my alchemy."

"I understand," Trap Shadow told him. "It is not an issue."

Pop Fizz smiled a little. "Alright... if you say so."

Slam Bam and Jet-Vac were standing near the enchanted pool, conversing about who knows what.

"All I'm saying is that a mascot would be pretty cool!" Slam Bam exclaimed.

Jet-Vac sighed. "The Skylanders don't need a mascot, Slam Bam," he said.

Slam Bam snorted. "Ah, what do you know?"

They noticed as a shadow swished across the ground in front of them. "Hey, look who it is!" Jet-Vac said.

"Hey, Cynder!" Slam Bam called.

Cynder materialized from the ground and let out a sigh. "Hello, boys," she said. "What do you want?"

Jet-Vac and Slam Bam exchanged glances. "What, can't we just say 'hi' to our friend?" Slam questioned.

Cynder raised an eyebrow. "It's not like you to do that," she acknowledged.

Jet glared at Slam, who shrugged. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"My class," Cynder replied. "It starts soon."

"Your mentor is Night Shift, right?" Jet-Vac asked.

Cynder nodded. "Yes, why?"

"Oh, well I'm glad we stopped you!" Jet laughed. "Night Shift, Freeze Blade, and Free Ranger were all sent on a mission. The lessons were canceled."

"Oh," Cynder said in a surprised tone. "Well, thank you Jet-Vac. I didn't know that."

Slam laughed. "I guess that means the three of us get the day off!" he exclaimed. "We should do something today."

"Like what?" Jet inquired.

There was a long moment of awkward silence after that, and then Tessa and Flynn rushed over to them. "Skylanders!" Tessa exclaimed. "There's something important that we need you to do!"

"You don't have to address us so formally," Slam said. "See? Slam Bam, Jet-Vac, and Cynder."

Tessa sighed. "Right, sorry."

"Tell them the mission!" Flynn cried impatiently, flailing his arms.

"Okay! Okay! I'll tell them!"

A few meters away, Pop Fizz was walking around, looking down at his book. His class at recently been dismissed, and he was a little disheartened because he was the worst in his class. He looked up to see Tessa giving his friends an assignment.

"A group of Greebles going around destroying air ships?" Jet questioned.

"You have to stop them!" Flynn exclaimed. "I don't know what I'll do if my ship is destroyed again!"

Tessa sighed. "It will put a lot of people at ease," she said. "including Flynn. Please, just do it."

"Sure!" Slam exclaimed, cracking his knuckles. "Since our mentors are out, we've got nothing better to do!"

Cynder nodded. "I'll go. That just leaves Jet-Vac."

Jet scratched his head. "Well, I suppose," he said. "Doesn't sound too very difficult. I've gone on harder Bonus Missions."

"Great!" Tessa cried, as Flynn gave a relieved sigh. "You three get to that, and we'll check in later, alright?"

"Alright," the Skylanders replied, then Tessa and Flynn dashed away.

"Let's get moving, then!" Slam exclaimed.

"Hey, hey guys!" the three turned to see Pop Fizz zooming up to them. "Can I go too? I really could use something to do! Plus, Trap Shadow says I could use the practice!"

Jet and Cynder exchanged glances with raised eyebrows, then Slam Bam burst out laughing. Pop Fizz tilted his head at this, and his ears flattened again. "No offense, little buddy," Slam laughed. "but the last time you battled Greebles, we had to send you back to Woodburrow on a stretcher!"

Fizz lowered his head, shining puppy-dog eyes up at the others. "B-But I..."

"Seriously, they destroyed you!" Slam turned back to Cynder and Jet-Vac with a chuckle. "Remember when the Ironclads came? They crushed him!"

Jet sighed. "Slam Bam..." Cynder growled.

Fizz sniffled. "Oh... Okay then..." he mumbled. "I guess... I'll just stay here..."

Cynder and Jet-Vac just walked away, Jet casting a sorry glance back to Pop Fizz as he left. "Alrighty then!" Slam called as he rushed toward the gate. "See ya later, little guy!"

Fizz stood where he was for a few moments with a pouty face, then dashed out the gate as well. "Guys! Wait!" he called. There was no response. "C'mon, please! I wanna go with you! I can fight! I really can!" He ran all around Cloudbreak in search of them.

But they weren't there. They weren't anywhere. Slam Bam, Jet-Vac and Cynder had left Pop Fizz behind, whining like a puppy.

"Guys...?"

He stopped in his tracks. "Guys?!" he desperately called. He sniffled again, then ran into the forest with tears in his eyes.

(They left me! They left me behind! They think I'm weak... they all do...)

He tripped and fell on his face. His sobs grew louder. (I am weak! I'm no good! They left me behind because I'm no good!)

"Why hello there, Pop Fizz," a rough voice cackled from behind him. Fizz glanced up, his eyes wet with tears and wide with shock. "Fancy meeting you here. Is something wrong?"

(Kaos!)

|| And then he shivs Kaos with a knife. End of series.

Okay, no, that's not what happens. Remember when I said that everyone is an idiot in this story? Everyone is an idiot in this story. Everyone. ||