|| Heyo! Welcome to the fifth installment in the Skylanders Short Stories series, which has been discontinued and rebooted. This one is called "Sunburn and Stealth Elf". On-point title right there. A little too on point. ...Why the hell did I make the fifth story in this series a prequel? I mean, okay, it was meant to be a wind-down between The Birth of Dark Spyro and Sidekicks. That would have been fine if there had been some sort of huge over-arcing subplot leading up to The Birth of Dark Spyro, which there sort of was, but... there were only three stories before it. Ugh, whatever. ||

SKYLANDERS SHORT STORIES: SUNBURN AND STEALTH ELF

October 2014 - February 2015

Sunburn is fun-loving and arrogant. Stealth Elf is serious and uptight. When these polar opposites are paired up for what could quite possibly be the most important mission in Skylanders history, what will happen? Will Sunburn drive Stealth to the brink of insanity? Or... will this adventure lead to something more?

Chapter One

"Stealth Elf? Hey, Stealth Elf!"

Whirlwind was bounding about the yards outside Master Eon's citadel. Judging by her calls, she was looking for Stealth Elf, the newest recruit to the Skylanders. She had only been on one mission thus far, and it was alongside Whirlwind. The unicorn hybrid was the only friend she had made. At least, the only one she knew about. Whirl turned her head in several different directions. "Not in the building, not in the courtyard, not on the beach... Where are you, Stealth Elf?"

She caught the eye of Trigger Happy, one of the original three Skylanders, who dashed over to her and said, "Hey, Whirlie! What's up?"

Whirl sighed. "Nothing, really. Just trying to find Stealth Elf."

Trigg blinked. "Who's Stealth Elf?"

The girl shook her head. "The new girl. I went on a mission with her the other day!" Trigger Happy still didn't know who she was talking about. "The forest elf girl with the mask."

"Oh, that Stealth Elf!" Trigg exclaimed. "Couldn't remember her name."

Whirlwind shook her head. "Yeah, you never remember the girls' names. I know you couldn't remember mine when I first joined."

Trigg laughed. "He he! I'm just bad with names, don't think I have anything against girls!"

"You better not." Whirl glared at him playfully. "I'll talk to you later, Trigg."

"Hasta la bye-bye, Whirlie!"

Whirlwind left him and approached the grove of trees not far from the Core of Light. "If I was raised by an Ent in Treetop Terrace," she said to herself. "this is where I would be." She narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the woods. "Let's see here..." She nearly missed it, but a shadow swooped between the treetops, barely making a sound. "Ah ha! There you are!"

Stealth Elf was indeed the shadow in the trees, leaping from branch to branch. Eventually she stopped and took a good look at the ground below. Seeing that there was nobody down there, she jumped off and sat down at the base of the tree. It was bright and early in the morning, but she was sort of nocturnal. You could tell from her droopy eyes that she had been awake all night, and probably figured that she could finally sleep. Oh, how wrong she was.

"Hey, Stealth Elf!" Whirlwind hopped out of the brush without warning, startling Stealth and causing her to fall over. "Oops, sorry. I figured you would have heard me coming."

Stealth sat back up and rubbed her head. "So did I..." she grumbled. "How did you do that?"

Whirl shrugged. "Uh, don't know! I know you have strong senses, I really did think you would have heard or smelled me."

"I do not think I would have been able to smell you with my nose covered by this mask."

"You know what I mean," Whirl said. "By the way, why don't you use contractions?"

Stealth looked at her blankly. "What is a 'contraction?'"

Whirl blinked. "Oh boy. I'll explain that some other time, if somebody else doesn't get to it first."

After deciding that wondering about what Whirlwind had said was hurting her brain, Stealth Elf settled back down and closed her eyes. "Why are you here, Whirlwind?'

Whirl tilted her head. "What do you mean, 'why am I here?' Is there something wrong with just wanting to talk to you?"

Stealth opened her eyes. "Nobody has ever wanted to talk to me before... nobody with good intentions."

"Really?" Whirl questioned. "Nobody at all?"

Stealth paused. "Well... my Master..." She sniffled.

Whirl set a paw on her friend's back. "Let's not talk about that, sweetie. Too soon."

Stealth nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Too soon..." she parroted. "You know... I don't think I've ever met anybody else my age..."

Whirl smiled faintly. "Actually, I'm a little older than you. Supposedly, since you don't know your own birth date." Stealth's ears drooped. "Er, let's stop talking about the depressing stuff!"

"There is a lot of depressing stuff."

"I know, sweetie."

Stealth tried to think of something that wouldn't work herself up. It took a while, but eventually she said, "I think you are the first girl I have ever met."

Whirl couldn't help but laugh. "Wait, really? I know you grew up in a forest, but you were really the only girl there?" Stealth nodded again. "Dang." She wrapped her tail around Stealth's waist affectionately. "Well, now you know another girl who you can talk to about girl things."

Before Stealth had the chance to ask what she meant by "girl things," they got a surprise visit. "Heyo!" ...from Trigger Happy, who appeared in a tree branch, hanging by his legs. Stealth yelped and fell over into Whirlwind.

"Oof. ...until he shows up." Whirl pushed Stealth Elf off of her. "Trigg, did you follow me?"

"Maybe." He fell out of the tree and on his head, then stood back up completely unfazed. "Hey there, uh... elf girl."

"'Stealth Elf,'" Whirl reminded him.

"Yeah, I'm sticking with 'elf girl.' Hey, it's a nice bright morning! Who wants bacon and eggs?"

"I am a vegetarian," Stealth declared.

"Thanks anyway, Trigg," Whirlwind said.

Trigger Happy shrugged. "Hey, I can make a vegetarian breakfast! Anybody up for toast?"

Stealth turned back to Whirlwind. "What is 'toast?'"

Whirl facepalmed. "Poor, ignorant, grew-up-isolated-from-technology Stealth Elf..."

"What is 'isolated?'"

Trigg frowned. "And, apparently, three syllable words."

Stealth's ears drooped again. "What is a 'syllable?'"

"We need to get you into a school," Whirlwind laughed. "but not right now. It's not that important."

"Hm..."

Trigg scratched his head. "I'm pretty sure there was something I'm supposed to tell you... oh yeah! Master Eon is lookin' for ya, elf girl!"

"Eon?" Stealth asked.

Trigg nodded. "He should be just outside the citadel. I bet he's gonna give you your first assignment!"

"Yeah, technically we weren't 'assigned' that one mission the other day," Whirlwind noted. "Won't that be fun?"

Stealth shrugged. "Mm. Maybe."

Whirl and Trigg pulled her to her feet and pushed her towards the citadel. "Okay, go get a mission!" Trigg encouraged. "Go go go!"

"We'll be right here when you get back!" Whirl told her.

Stealth sighed. "What does this place have against sleep...?" She walked grumpily in the direction that they had pointed her. A few of the Skylanders waved to her and said hello, except for Chop Chop, who glared at her angrily (she did the same).

"Ah, Stealth Elf!" Master Eon greeted her when she arrived. "How are you doing this fine morning?"

"I am tired," Stealth growled. "Trigger Happy said that you wanted to see me."

"Ah, yes." Eon nodded. "You see, I have decided to give you your first assignment."

Her eyes widened. "Really?" she asked. I thought they were kidding around. "Um... what is it?"

Eon knelt down. Forest elves are... short. "Well, it's a very important mission, and since you've only been a Skylander for several days, I'm going to assign you a partner."

Stealth narrowed her eyes. "It is not the skeleton with the sword, is it?"

Eon chuckled. "No, it isn't Chop Chop. It's... oh, here he comes now!"

"He-e-e-ey, Stealth Elf!"

Stealth cringed. "H-He is almost as bad as the skeleton with the sword!"

Her partner was Sunburn.

On the far side of Skylands, a flying palace strolled through the air. But this wasn't just any flying palace, no... this flying palace belonged to the most evil dictator in the world: Kaos.

"I just can't stand this anymore, Glumshanks!" Kaos roared. Like usual, he was complaining to his butler about how many times he gets defeated. "That miserable Loser Eon has been stopping evildoers for centuries! Ceturies, Glumshanks! Even I- Kaos! -can't bring an end to this madness!" He turned to face the troll, who was drinking a cup of tea and sitting in an armchair. "Allow me to ask you, why is it that Eon always completely and utterly humiliates your magnificent leader?"

Glumshanks set down his cup on the plate he was holding. "I think you do it to yourself..." he muttered.

Kaos frowned. "Wrong answer," he growled. "I'll tell you why. It's because of those stupid Skylanders! They're the ones that Eon sends to do his dirty work." He smirked. "But, what would happen if he didn't have those Skylanders to do things for him?"

Glumshanks shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not bother us. Er, you."

"No!' the Dark Portal Master snapped. "Well, maybe. But more importantly, he wouldn't be able to stand in my way! There would be nobody left to stop me from taking over Skylands! So, I've devised a plan so fiendishly perfect... that I didn't consult anybody before starting it."

The butler shook his head. "I see. This outta be good." He set his cup down on a coffee table and stood up. "Alright sir, what is this brilliant, fool-proof plan of yours?"

Kaos smiled a toothy, evil smile. "Kidnap the Skylanders."

|| Oh my god. Okay, okay. This entry is of much higher quality than the previous four. However... this dialogue is garbage! Oh my god!

Wow, this... this chapter ended on a double-cliffhanger. Cool.

And hey, Whirlwind and Stealth Elf have a really cute friendship! Have I mentioned that I really like Whirlwind and Stealth Elf's friendship? ||