|| And here we have chapter 4 of Blank Out! AKA "the part where Stealth Elf says 'yeah' a lot". ||

Chapter Four

"Now this is more like it!" At Kastle Kaos, Trigger Happy was dressed with sports tape around his hands, feet, and forehead. "This feels right!"

Jet, Stealth, and the Stump Puppy, which Kaos let in for some reason, were sitting on a couch in a spare room that Kaos had (Actually, he had several). Jet was examining Stealth's arm. "Still hurt?" he asked.

"Yeah," the forest elf replied.

"It'll heal," Jet reassured her. After a moment's silence, he sighed. "Lord Kaos said that those 'Skylander' fellows did this to you... He said they did everything."

"Yeah..."

"They sound like bad people."

"Yeah..."

"Is that all you have to say?"

Stealth blinked, then looked down sadly. "Yeah..."

The dog, who was wearing a black bandana with Kaos' signature symbol, climbed onto Stealth's lap when Jet stood up to talk to Trigg. "Do you think I'm worthless?" she asked. The dog whimpered.

"She has to fight, Silv" Trigg said when Jet came up to him.

"I know," Jet replied. "Wait, what did you call me?" He shook his head. "Never mind. She's timid! We can't work with timid." Trigg was tightening his tape. "Lord Kaos will want us to confront the Skylanders soon, and I can't imagine that we can fight without all three of us." Trigg didn't appear to be paying attention. "Blaster!"

"Eh? I've got an idea," the gremlin replied.

"Shoot."

"She doesn't want to go near the bad guys," Trigg said. "so give 'er a weapon."

Jet tilted his head. "I guess that's a better idea than what I was thinking..."

"What were you thinking?"

"Turn the Stump Creature into an Attack Dog."

Trigg gave him a funny look. "Yeah. My idea is better."

"Saki!" Jet called. Stealth and the dog approached the Sky Baron and Trigger Happy.

"Yeah?" she asked. The puppy sat down next to her, it's tail swishing back and forth.

Trigg was holding a laser pistol. "Catch!" He tossed the gun at Stealth Elf and she flinched. The Stump Dog sprung up and caught it in it's jaws for her. Stealth took the weapon from it and patted the canine on the head. "What's this?" she asked.

"A gun," Jet-Vac replied.

"What do I do with it?"

"You shoot it," Trigg replied, using his fingers to symbolize shooting something.

Stealth examined the gun. "How?"

Trigg looked aggravated. "You pull the trigger!" He exclaimed.

Stealth pointed it at the wall. "Like this...?" She shot a hole clear through the wall. She blinked. "Uh... was that supposed to happen?"

"Nope!" Jet exclaimed.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea..." Trigg grumbled.

"Okay, maybe this one will work better." Jet was attaching an arm cannon to Stealth's good arm. The blaster itself sat on her forearm, and all of the mechanics were strung along up to her shoulder.

"This thing looks weird," Stealth said.

"Machines usually do," Trigg replied.

"Alright, this one is easier to use," Jet reassured her. "Just aim and fire. See? Easy! And you don't have to be anywhere near the target."

"Try not to blow up the wall this time," Trigg instructed.

Stealth gave the cannon a weird look, then freaked out when it started glowing. She pointed it at the wall. Then, you guessed it, she shot an even bigger hole through it.

Jet and Trigg stared at her in complete and utter exasperation. Trigg facepalmed and turned to you. Yes, you. "This girl is an idiot," he told you. Yes, you.

Jet glanced in the direction he was facing, then looked back at him. "Who are you talking to?"

Trigger blinked. "I have no idea."

With a sigh, Stealth slumped to the ground. "I suck." The Stump Dog barked and climbed into her lap.

"She's hopeless," Trigg growled.

"Nobody's hopeless," Jet returned. "She'll learn. Besides, how hard can it be to work a gun?"

Stealth accidentally shot a hole in the floor. "Ah!"

"Apparently, pretty hard," Trigg grumbled.

Jet shook his head. "Let's call it a day."

"It's three in the morning."

"Let's call it a night."

Woodburrow, two hours later

"Wake up! Everybody, up! Up up up!" Whirlwind was shouting and hitting a stick on a Pan Hat. "Everybody awake! Nobody asleep!"

"Whirlwind!" Sunburn groaned, rubbing his eyes. "It's five o'clock in the morning! What the hell?!"

"I could say the same to you!" Whirl exclaimed. "We have to find Stealth Elf and Trigger Happy!"

"And Jet-Vac."

"Whatever!"

"Whirl, we don't even know if they're still alive..." Sunburn glumly reminded her.

Whirlwind shook her head. "Spyro said they are, and I believe him! Now we have to find them!"

"But Whirl-"

"They're probably alone, and hungry, and homesick! And if it's raining, they're probably all wet! And I know they miss us!"

Sunburn sighed. "You're right," he admitted. "As soon as Spyro's up, we'll go back out. Now could you please-"

Whirl started banging on the pan again. "Up, up, up!"

"Whirlwind! Whirlwind!" Sunburn snatched away the stick. "Cut it out!"

Whirl grumbled. "Spyro better get up soon..."

Trigger Happy was beating on a punching bag, which Kaos had so "graciously" hung up for him. Although technically, it was Glumshanks who did so. "Right hook... roundhouse..." He muttered the names of each attack he used. "Stupid Skylanders, brainwashing us, breaking Saki's arm..." He growled and whirled around, bashing the bag so hard that the chain broke and it flew across the room.

In the doorway, Stealth took a step back as the punching bag landed at her feet. She was dressed in blue fleece pajamas, but still wearing that ninja mask. "That was a tornado kick," she said.

"Yeah, I watched an instructional video online," Trigg replied. "How'd you know?"

"Not sure..."

Trigg huffed and dragged the punching bag back to where it was supposed to be. "What are you doing up?" he asked in an attempt to make conversation.

"I was hungry," the girl responded.

"What about that mask?"

Stealth sighed and her stomach growled. "That's why I'm hungry." Trigg chuckled and hung the punching bag back up. "What about you? You should be getting some sleep."

"Bull," Trigg said. "I should be training. Silver says that Lord Kaos is going to want us the face off with those Skylosers soon."

Stealth giggled. "Skylosers?"

"I heard Lord Kaos call them that," Trigg explained.

Stealth stared at the ground as silence filled the air. "If he wants us to fight," she eventually got herself to say. "then I'm going to fight."

Trigger raised an eyebrow. "You are?"

"I'll need some help," she added in determination. "Please. Teach me how to use the arm cannon."

Trigg paused, then smiled. "Grab it and come back down here."

Stealth looked surprised. Apparently that wasn't the response she was expecting. Her astonish faded and she nodded. "Of course! T-Thank you!" With that, she rushed out the door to get the cannon.

After hooking up all the gizmos to Stealth Elf's arm again, she and Trigg were ready to try again. "Alright, it fires in the direction you point your arm," the gremlin said. "so try to aim at that X on the wall, okay?"

"Was that X always there?"

"Don't ask questions."

Stealth blinked, glanced at the gun, then back at him. "How do I shoot it?"

Trigg sighed. "Here, look." He stood behind the elf and grabbed her arm, causing her to blush. Despite the fact that they were about the same height, Stealth felt very small in this situation. "See this lever near your hand? You hold it down to charge it." He took her hand and showed her how to hold the lever. "Don't let go."

"Okay..."

"Now, aim it at the target." He directed Stealth to the X on the wall. She was shaky. "Calm down," Trigg instructed. "The longer you hold down the trigger, the more powerful your shot will be. Let go, and it will fire." Stealth didn't respond. "In other words, you can let go now."

Stealth released the trigger and yelped when it fired. The laser blasted right through the center of the X. "Bull's eye!" Trigg exclaimed.

Stealth blinked. "I... I did it..." She cheerfully threw her good arm into the air. "I did it! Alright! Woo hoo!"

Trigg watched her celebrate. "Maybe you aren't as hopeless as I thought."

Then she shot the ceiling again.

|| I love that the pairing in this story is listed as "one-sided, circumstantial Trigger Happy x Stealth Elf". I think that certainly turned a few heads.

Ha. I remember when I still had enough room left in my summaries to list pairings... good times.

You know, I specifically remember writing this chapter in my notebook during my family's annual camping trip two summers ago. Wow. Reading this now feels oddly nostalgic. ||