|| And here's the third installment into the discontinued Skylanders Short Stories series, titled "Blank Out!" Primary example of just how bad I am at titles right here. Hold onto your hats folks, because we're not quite out of the frying pan yet. This story, just like its two predecessors, is still complete and utter garbage. I will say that it's a lot better than Swappable Stoppable and Pop Fizz... of DOOM!, though. However, I'll let you form your own opinions. But this story was the least popular, which doesn't surprise me at all. ||

SKYLANDERS SHORT STORIES: BLANK OUT!

July 2014 - August 2014

Jet-Vac wanting to be a leader, Trigger Happy wanting to be insane, and Stealth Elf wanting to prove herself. Combine with a powerful explosion, a hit to the head, and Kaos, and you've got a recipe for disaster! One-sided, circumstantial Trigger Happy x Stealth Elf. Rated T for mild language. Five-shot.

Chapter One

"C'mon! C'mon! Hurry it up!"

Trigger Happy was rushing ahead of everybody else in the patrol. He was probably chasing a butterfly and discovered how far behind the others were. "We're coming, Trigg!" Sunburn called.

"Maybe you could move a little slower...?" Whirlwind sighed.

The patrol was Trigg, Sunburn, Whirlwind, Spyro, Jet-Vac, Chop Chop and Stealth Elf (who's left arm was in a cast). Why they needed so many for a border patrol is a mystery, but it's best not to question Spyro's actions as leader.

Chop Chop groaned. "Will someone please remind me why we're still here?"

"Aw, quit whining, metalhead," Stealth growled. "Your scratchy voice is hurting my ears."

Chop Chop snorted. "Hmph. Spoken like a Drow..."

"Excuse me?!" Chop Chop blinked and turned to see Whirlwind, practically on fire. "Stealth Elf is not a Drow."

"Yeah, Chop Chop," Spyro scolded. "How many times do we have to tell you? Now quit fighting!"

Chop Chop fumed. "She's a double agent!" he exclaimed. "She works for Kaos! One day you're all gonna regret not listening to me!"

Stealth roundhouse kicked him in the face. "Spoken like a metalhead."

Chop Chop got back up and roared. "See?! If she were really a Skylander she wouldn't do things like that!"

"Would you quit yapping?!" Stealth grumbled.

"Drow!"

"Metalhead!"

"Will you two shut up?!" Jet-Vac pushed them away from each other. "I've never seen two Skylanders go at each other like you do!" He sighed. "You guys were both part of the original thirty-two! I thought you were supposed to set a good example!"

Stealth walked away. "I was the last of the original 32."

Jet frowned and Chop Chop folded his arms. "If it were up to me," the arkeyan said. "she wouldn't be a Skylander at all."

"C'mon, guys!" Jet cried as Chop Chop joined up with the rest of the patrol. "Aren't we all supposed to be friends...?"

"Don't worry about it, Jet," Whirlwind said. "They just... didn't meet on good terms."

Jet nodded. "Alright..."

"Come on, guys! Let's go!" Trigg called.

"We're coming, Trigg!" Whirl replied, and the two Air Elements dashed ahead.

Spyro sighed and walked over to Stealth Elf. "Maybe it would be best if you just ignored him, Stealth..." he suggested.

Stealth shook her head. "It's not that simple..."

Spyro clenched his teeth. "Alright, I guess... Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why were you all over Trap Shadow, anyway?"

Stealth stared at the ground. "He... he reminds me of my master."

"Oh," Spyro said. "Sorry I asked..."

"It's been two years, Spyro," Stealth replied. "It's fine..."

"Spyro, I found a log!" Trigger exclaimed.

"Really?! Let me see!" Spyro didn't really care, he just wanted to escape the awkward moment.

With a sigh, Stealth continued walking. "Can't we go back yet?"

"Nope," Whirlwind said cheerfully. Stealth yelped because she hadn't known she was there. "I think it's nice to get out every once in a while."

"Stealth gets out too much, if you get ask me." Sunburn had decided to join them. "Tessa is nice enough to give all of us houses and she sleeps in a tree."

"Give her a break, Sunburn!" Whirl exclaimed. "You know she came from Treetop Terrace."

Stealth raised her pointer finger. "Ah, technically it was below Treetop Terrace."

"Whatever." Whirlwind gave a shrug.

Sunburn sighed. "Stealth, you probably shouldn't have come," he said. "You should be resting your arm."

"What?" Stealth questioned.

Whirlwind clenched her teeth. "He's not wrong, Stealth," she said.

Stealth Elf grumbled. "Why?! My arm is fine."

"Your arm is broken," Sunburn corrected.

Stealth was going to get mad, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself. "You know what? I give up. There is no reasoning with you two."

Whirl whimpered as the elf wandered away. "She's the unreasonable one..."

"Don't worry about it," Sunburn said. "She'll come around."

Whirl nodded. "I just don't want her getting hurt any worse than she already has..."

Sunburn chuckled. "Oh c'mon, Whirl, it's Stealth Elf! She can take out seven Goliath Drows in one foul swoop! Camo tells stories about her wiping out armies of Trolls! And she's the guardian of Treetop Terrace."

"Below Treetop Terrace," Whirl giggled.

Sunburn rolled his eyes. "Whatever!"

"Guys, come 'ere!" Spyro called. Sunburn, Whirlwind and the others joined Spyro and Trigg.

"What is it?" Jet asked.

"Shhhh!" Trigg scolded.

"Stay down," Spyro whispered.

Sunburn and Whirlwind exchanged glances. "What's down there?" Sunburn asked.

"See for yourself." Spyro and the others glanced over the cliff edge they were hiding on and the dragon pointed down. It was a gang of goons, mostly Boom Friends and Spell Punks.

Chop Chop grumbled. "An ambush..."

"They probably want to reclaim Woodburrow!" Whirlwind gasped.

Trigger pulled out his guns. "Well, we'll just have to ambush them first!"

"Good idea, Trigg!" Spyro concurred. "But it's not a big group. Only a couple of us should go down there."

"I'll go," Jet volunteered. "I haven't been in action since Pop Fizz pulled that stunt a few weeks ago."

Spyro nodded. "Alright, but who else?"

"Viva el Skylanders!" Trigger Happy leaped out of their hiding position, guns ablaze.

"Trigger Happy!" Spyro exclaimed. He groaned. "Jet-Vac, help him out, would you?"

"Yessir!" Jet hopped after Trigg, dodged a bomb and blasted a Spell Punk in the face.

Strealth was muttering something under her breath. "I hate Spell Punks..." Spyro was telling the other three the plan, but Stealth was watching Trigg and Jet fight. She glanced down at the cast on her arm. "I hate being handicapped..." She stood and adjusted her glove. "I can still fight."

With very little hesitation, Stealth jumped into the action. Sunburn flinched when he saw this. "Stealth Elf!" he exclaimed.

"What?!"

"What did she do?!"

Sunburn dashed to the edge so that he could observe Stealth's shenanigans. She smacked an Earth Spell Punk with an uppercut, swept a Boom Friend off it's feet and hook punched another in the nose. "I can fight with one arm! Ha ha! Take that, Whirlwind and Sunburn!"

"H-Hey! Get off!" Stealth spun around to find that an Undead Spell Punk had conjured up a Rhu-Barb and sent it after Jet-Vac. "Uh... I have a blaster!" The Rhu-Barb grunted and swatted Jet's gun out of his hands. "Okay, so now I don't have a blaster!" Stealth growled and somersaulted between Jet and the undead monster, then hit the monster with a back thrust kick, causing it to disappear. Jet sighed. "Thanks for the save, Stealth Elf." Stealth nodded. "But should you be engaged in combat with an injured arm?"

Stealth roared, then calmed herself like before. "Calm, calm." She looked back up at Jet, still with a somewhat angry spark in her eye. "Why shouldn't I be in combat?"

Jet sweatdropped. "Spyro handicapped you."

Stealth fumed. "I can fight even with a handicap!" she declared.

"Look out, ya bozos!" Trigg appeared from out of nowhere and blasted a Boom Friend who was about to explode Jet and Stealth. "Pay attention you crazies!" the gunslinger exclaimed.

"Sorry, Trigg," Jet sighed. He turned back to Stealth Elf. "Go back and hide with the others. I'll discuss with Spyro about limiting how far from Woodburrow you can go later."

Stealth scowled. "Why you..."

"Uh... guys?" Trigger directed their attention to a large super tank being driven by an ecstatic Boom Friend. "That is not good."

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Stealth grumbled, her ears drooped.

Jet stood in front of his teammates. "Alright, I've got this."

Trigg gave him a sarcastic look. "What are ya gonna do, blow puffs of air at it?"

"Trigger Happy..." Stealth growled.

"C'mon elf girl, you know it's true!"

"Call me that again and see what happens!"

"This thruster does a lot more than blow air!"

The Boom Friend shrugged and pressed a bunch of buttons with its tongue lolling out like an idiot. It waved goodbye as a giant missile emerged from the tank.

"Did you hear something?" Trigg asked, his ears perked.

Stealth tilted her head. "Uh, my vision's not that great, but is that a death missile?"

Jet and Trigg whipped around. "Oh, joy," Jet sighed.

"Uh-oh," Spyro gasped. The others were at a loss for words.

Trigg latched onto Stealth's arm and started crying. "We're gonna die!"

Stealth swallowed. "Think we have a chance in hell?" she asked Jet.

"We're not gonna die!" Jet exclaimed. A loud sound built up and the missile started shaking. "Okay, so there's a sixty-seven percent chance we're gonna die."

"Why aren't they moving?" Chop Chop questioned.

"Paralyzed with fear?" Spyro guessed. "They'll be fine."

"Can the Drow not be fine?"

"She's not a freaking Drow!" Whirlwind exclaimed.

Sunburn winced. "Alright, let's stay calm and try counting to ten..."

The Boom Friend raised it's and and waved it tauntingly, then slammed it down on a red button. The missile launched. The Skylanders didn't move, except for Whirlwind, who lunged forward. "No!"

"Whirlwind!" Sunburn pulled her back.

There was an explosion.

There was yelling.

But Spyro saw something the others missed.

The discharge didn't kill them.

It sent them flying.

|| Cliffhangers, cliffhangers everywhere! While they are an important part of writing, I feel that kind of abused them in this series.

Did... did you see that? Look. Look again. Look at the way that I completely dismissed the fact that there was an unnecessary amount of Skylanders on this border patrol. Then... look! Look again! Look at the way that I complete dismiss Spyro bringing Stealth Elf along despite the fact that she was on a medical! Wow! Absolutely beautiful plot convenience right there! Ten outta ten! That's not even to mention Chop Chop, who does literally nothing in this story and is only here to poorly establish his rivalry with Stealth Elf. Also that completely irrelevant callback to Swappable Stoppable.

This story is garbage.

I will give it props, though. For one thing, this story actually takes place over the course of two days instead of one. Huge improvement there, I know. For another, I really love Whirlwind and Stealth Elf's relationship. We didn't get to see much of it in Pop Fizz... of DOOM! but it's in full effect in this story. Sort of. Although... there are some points when Whirlwind kind of reminds me of a yandere. Is that just me? I hope that's just me.

Also "Hey Spyro, I found a log!" "Really?! Let me see!" is one of my favorite exchanges in this entire series. Keh. ||