Chapter 3: Estate Of Affairs

"And arrived!" Roll declared as she pulled the Tomb Buggy to a halt. "All in one piece!"

Josh let out a sigh of relief, one hand over his heart as he continued to sit there in the passenger seat for a long moment, just trying to calm down. In truth, the ride hadn't been that bad, but there was something about travelling down a bumpy old dirt road bordered by gnarled, ominous-looking trees in a magic car made of bones that didn't exactly leave one feeling profoundly relaxed. The young human then glanced up, taking in his surroundings… and his rapidly beating heart sank.

A large house stood before the parked Tomb Buggy, many of its windows broken, bordered up or both. The exterior was positively entangled in vines and covered in moss. The placed looked like it had been abandoned for at least half a century. It was old. Creepy. Possibly haunted. The mere sight of it made Josh uneasy, as did the thought of venturing inside.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Roll said as she shut off the car's motor and slid out of the driver's seat to stand on the property's withered lawn. She beamed up at the house, her smile most genuine.

"Where are we?" Josh dared to ask as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car, wrapping his arms around himself as a strong breeze suddenly blew past, a few dried leaves being carried on the wind.

"This," Roll said as she turned to face the young human, never once losing that contented smile, her vampire fangs poking out of her mouth, "Is the place where I grew up." She then twirled on the spot before throwing her arms wide in dramatic fashion, looking like some over-the-top showman. "Welcome, Josh, to Brooding Brook, home of the Brawl family."

"Brooding… Brook?" Josh repeated, glancing from Roller Brawl to the foreboding estate. "I'm… not sure I get it."

"C'mon, I'll show you," Roll said, skating swiftly over and taking Josh by the wrist.

"Claws! Claws!" Josh yelped worriedly. Too late. He cried out in alarm and pain as he felt the derby vampire's melee weapons cut into his wrist, drawing crimson fluid.

"Ohmygosh! Sorry! Didn't mean to do that!" Roll cried, quickly withdrawing her hand, staring with a mixture of horror and shame at the long, thin gashes she had left on the young human's arm. She quickly wrenched her prized weapons from her wrists and tossed them onto the driver's seat of the Tomb Buggy. She then lifted up the passenger seat and pulled out a rectangular white case with a red cross symbol on the lid - a first-aid kit. "Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've gone and nicked someone with my claws by mistake; I made sure to keep a med kit handy after the first couple of times. Here, you just take a seat there," she went on, hastily ushering Josh back into the passenger seat before placing the first-aid kit on the somewhat bewildered boy's lap, opening it and starting to rummage through it. "I'll never forget the first time I got Stealthie with my claws. She actually cried, can you believe that? One of the toughest girls I know cried." The derby vampire was clearly babbling, trying to distract herself from how ashamed she felt at having injured Josh. "But that smile," the Undead Skylander continued as she pulled out a roll of bandages, a sterilised cleaning cloth and a bottle of rubbing alcohol, "That adorable little smile on her face after I'd patched her up warmed my literal cold, dead heart," she said, smiling fondly at the memory, going about cleaning and dressing Josh's wound as she spoke, the boy hissing in pain as the rubbing alcohol met his wounds, screwing his eyes shut for a moment.

"Gah!" the boy gasped, visibly tensing up for a moment. Then he let his breath out in a long, deep exhale, just glad that the worst part was over. He said nothing as Roll started to wrap a bandage around his arm, just listening politely to her recount of days gone by.

"I think that, in that moment, we both knew," Roll said, making the final few wraps and securing the bandage in place as she spoke. "We knew that we'd each found our best friend." She sighed happily, a wistful look in her glittering purple eye. "I remember gently fastening her kerchief around her neck, but before I could help her with her leather mask, she suddenly hugged me, weeping softly onto my shoulder. It was…" She shook her head, momentarily closing her eyes, her smile so pronounced. "I don't think I have the words." She reached up and wiped a tear from her eye. She then noticed that Josh was staring at her and she chuckled, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Heh. Look at me, going all soft just 'cause I got a buddy of mine a little dinged up." She sighed again, this time sounding glum. "I'm really sorry," she told the boy, averting her gaze, her smile fading to be replaced by a look of guilt. "I know I should've been more careful, but…"

Josh surprised both Roll and himself by placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, saw how warmly he was smiling at her, saw how kind his azure eyes looked… and it was all she could do to refrain from following Stealth Elf's example and just throwing her arms around him and crying onto his shoulder. Instead, she straightened up and cleared her throat.

"That should keep it in check for now," she told the young human. "If it's not healed over within the next couple of days, ask Mags for a healing elixir. She's got whole crates of the stuff stored away at the Academy for emergencies."

Josh gave a short nod in understanding, sliding out of the car and standing at the ready, offering the hand of his non-bandaged arm to Roll. She blushed, averting her gaze for a second, and then she playfully slapped his hand away.

"Alright, don't start getting cheeky on me, Sneakers," she told him, but she was unable to look the young human in the eye as she spoke. "Wait 'til you see the inside. Of the house, I mean. It's a real scream."

Josh chuckled knowingly as Roll started to skate away, soon approaching the front door of the estate. The boy's expression then turned solemn as he gazed up at the old house, hoping that Roll hadn't been literal when she'd said that the building's interior was scream-worthy.

The living room - or the 'un-living room', as Roller Brawl called it - was decidedly gloomy. Much of the furniture was concealed underneath white sheets, only the couch and the coffee table before it currently uncovered thanks to the combined efforts of the derby vampire and the young human, the two of them having moved the dusty covers aside shortly after arriving, Josh having struggled somewhat due to operating with only one arm. In truth, his bandaged arm wasn't so worse off that he was incapable of using it, but Roll had insisted that he not put any unnecessary strain on it, the Undead Skylander no doubt still feeling guilty about having injured her friend's arm to begin with. In any case, the pair had ultimately managed to get things sorted to the point where Josh was now seated upon the time worn couch, a somewhat hastily made mug of tea devoid of any milk or sugar in one hand, said mug chipped in several places. The boy took a tentative sip of the beverage, keenly aware of how the liquid was lukewarm at best. He wasn't sure if this was due to Roll's haste when making the drink, or some overbearing attempt on her part to ensure that he wouldn't burn his already injured arm should he spill any of the tea on himself. Regardless, the drink tasted fine enough, and Josh would happily drink it not just to quench his thirst, but also to distract him from his current surroundings.

Perhaps it was partially due to having arrived here in the dead of night, but the interior of Roller Brawl's childhood home was not doing any favours for Josh's nerves, which had already been stretched right to their limits for one day. Even with the light of the full moon flooding in through the nearby window, the un-living room wasn't exactly the epitome of cheerful. The fact that much of the furniture remained concealed under sheets gave the place the air of a house that had been abandoned, not least because of how much dust had settled on top of those sheets. It hadn't really occurred to Josh back at the Academy, given how busy Mags and the staff kept him on a daily basis, but Skylands did not seem to have the typical entertainment systems he was accustomed to - televisions, home computers and the like. He certainly hadn't overheard any of the Skylanders in the Academy's cafeteria discussing the rates of subscription fees for streaming services, or talking about the hottest new video game releases. No, it seemed that the people of Skylands relied on more old-fashioned forms of recreational distraction, like books and board games. Josh had actually seen Grim Creeper and Torch playing a card game that they called 'Skystones' late one evening after the young human had finished his rounds for the day, and he had been curious about the game, wanting to ask the pair about the rules, or even if he could play too, but the respective Fire and Undead Skylanders had seemed pretty serious about the game, intensely focused on such to the point where their answers to Josh's enquiries were short, curt and dismissive, the pair not even looking up from their game as they played. Josh had quickly surmised that it would be best to just leave them to it, deciding that it wasn't worth antagonising the pair, not least because each Skylander still had their respective signature weapon sheathed on their backs - a flamethrower in Torch's case, and a decidedly ominous-looking scythe in the case of Grim Creeper.

GONG.

Josh yelped in startled surprise as a sudden loud noise echoed throughout the un-living room, making him jump and slosh his tea everywhere. Several more unnerving GONG sounds followed, one after another at a steady rhythm, ringing out no less than eleven times before stopping. It wasn't until the fifth GONG that the young human managed to piece together that it was coming from a tall, rectangular shape concealed under a sheet in the corner, the obscured object no doubt some sort of grandfather clock. Josh put a hand to his heart, letting out the breath that he hadn't realised he was holding in a low whoosh, feeling both relieved and a little foolish; imagine, a fifteen year old boy being spooked by something as trivial as the sound of a clock striking the hour. He was glad Roll hadn't been in the room to see that. Presently, the derby vampire was in the bathroom, having a well-earned soak in a bubbly tub after a long day of Skylander patrols. Josh would've liked to follow suit - after his host had finished up and left the bathroom free, of course - but without his spare set of clothes, there was no point. He'd just have to wait until he returned to the Academy tomorrow.

Come to think of it, Josh could distantly hear the sound of water sloshing; was Roll getting out of the bath? A more deviously curious side of Josh bubbled to the surface for a brief moment, making him wonder if he should dare to take a peek through the bathroom door keyhole and see if he could get a glimpse of… well, anything, really. Josh mentally scolded himself at the thought immediately, however; that would be a fine way to repay the kindness of his host. Besides, he didn't want a repeat of what had happened at his cousin's house that one time.

Just after his thirteenth birthday, with the effects of his newfound puberty in full swing, Josh had dared to peek on his cousin, who was two years older than him, while she was in the bath during a visit to his aunt and uncle's house. He had been caught in the act by the subject of his spying, who had of course been less than thrilled to find the boy outside the bathroom door, the front of his pants having formed a makeshift tent in response to what he had seen. After some begging on Josh's part, his cousin had agreed to not tell her parents or his… on the condition that she could spend the remainder of Josh's visit practicing her makeup application skills on him. The rest of that day was something that Josh dearly wished he could forget, and the thought of getting caught in the act again, this time by a vampire with sharp fangs that could surely pierce the skin of one's neck with minimal effort, was more than enough to convince the young human to let sleeping dogs lie this time around, wisely choosing to down the remainder of his tea in silence.

A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened with a distinct creeeeeeeak that made the hairs just above the back of Josh's neck stand on end, light pouring into the un-living room through the open door. Josh made sure to keep his gaze fixated on the aforementioned grandfather clock on the far side of the room, making an allowance for the possibility that Roll might've stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in nothing more than a towel. The thought made him blush profusely, and a pang of shame washed over him. A strong smell of raspberries then reached his nostrils, almost making him swoon. He tried to ignore it, only for a gasp to escape his lips as he heard Roll take a seat beside him, feeling the weight of the couch cushions shift slightly as she sat down.

"Heh, heh. You alright there, Sneakers? You must be real interested in that wall over there," the derby vampire teased, putting a hand on his shoulder, the boy bristling slightly at her touch.

"Please tell me you're dressed," he said without looking at her. He heard a dumbfounded vocal sound leave the girl's mouth.

"No, Josh, I'm stark naked. I always run around in my birthday suit at eleven o'clock at night," she told him sarcastically. "How else d'you think the sailors would bring in their sky ships without me standing nude on the rocks to give the moonlight something to reflect off of?"

"That's not very funny, Roller Brawl."

"Well, neither are you with your dumb questions!" Roll retorted without missing a beat. "Now c'mon, look at me! …Unless you're afraid you'll catch cooties just by looking at me?" she went on teasingly.

Josh sighed wearily. "I was only trying to be respectful of your privacy," he said as he turned to face her at last. "I didn't want you to think I wuhhhhhhhhhh…" The boy trailed off into an incoherent, continuous syllable that went on for several long seconds as he gazed upon Roller Brawl, the derby vampire sitting there clad in what appeared to be pyjamas consisting of a short-sleeved black shirt with a white skull insignia on the front, with matching black shorts that looked comfy and easy to wear. Her feet, which were considerably smaller than the bulky roller blades she wore on a daily basis would suggest, were now adorned with black slippers patterned with a pink spiderweb design, worn over pink socks. What really caught Josh's attention about Roller Brawl's current appearance, however, was her hair:

Silky stands of bubblegum pink flowed long and free around the Undead Skylander's shoulders, appearing shiny and glossy to the utmost, no longer bound by the clips that typically held Roll's hair in a braid formation, having been freshly washed and allowed to, for lack of a better word, breathe.

It took Josh a second to register that Roll had reached forward to gently push his chin upward, effectively closing his mouth, which had still been gaping. He then shook his head as if to clear it, earning him a knowing giggle from his host. "You, um…" he began, struggling to find the words, or indeed any words. "Y-You look quite different without all your derby gear, R-Roll," he managed at last.

"What can I say?" Roll said, beaming at him. "I clean up pretty nice when I want to. Bet you wouldn't look too bad yourself after a little soap and water… and maybe a haircut. Just an offhand suggestion."

Josh chuckled. "Yeah, I was… I was actually thinking about that earlier," he admitted, running a hand along the back of his head absent-mindedly, chuckling awkwardly. His shaky laughter faltered as Roll gently put a hand to his right cheek, tenderly stroking the side of his face.

"Y'know, you're kinda cute when you're all embarrassed like this," she told him.

"N-Not at cute as you are r-right now," Josh babbled before he could stop himself, his entire face flushing bright red as he realised what he'd just uttered. 'Aw, man, why'd I say THAT?' he thought to himself. 'She's gonna think I'm a total…!'

The boy's thoughts stopped dead in their tracks, however, as Roll very suddenly leaned in and planted a very brief but unmistakable kiss on his lips, the sensation wondrously tender.

"You're gonna make me go all soft with that cheesy, sappy stuff, Sneakers," she told him in a soft, breathy whisper, Josh's eyes wide with shock and disbelief. "C'mon, I'm not that cute, am I? Not with these itty bitty biters poking out of my mouth," she said, indicating her vampire fangs, which did indeed protrude out of her mouth in a very standout manner.

Josh didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything - not after what had just happened. Roll chuckled softly, beginning to stroke Josh's cheek again.

"What's the matter, little human? Vamp got your tongue?" she teased, her words soft, tender and like honey.

Josh could feel his entire face flushing with colour once more. It felt hot. Almost sizzling, even.

"Hey, c'mon, chillax, will ya, Sneakers?" Roll went on a little more casually. "Don't tell me a quick little kiss is enough to totally fry your noggin?"

Josh continued to sit there in silence for several long, awkward seconds, swallowing nervously. Finally, he found his voice and started babbling at a speed that bordered on absurd:

"Roller Brawl, I am very grateful that you were willing to share this experience with me, but if it's all the same to you, I'd like to go to bed now!" he all but squeaked at a breakneck pace. "My OWN bed!" he went on in a panicked yelp. "I wasn't saying that I wanted to…! I mean, I…!" He swallowed once more and then put on a very meek, very clumsy smile that managed to make him look both terrified and terrifying. Roll's eyes widened slightly.

"Okay…" she said slowly. "Note to self: Don't kiss human boys who aren't prepared for it. It makes them all jittery… apparently." She exhaled deeply as she got to her feet. "It is getting pretty late, now that I think of it. C'mon, I'll show you where the coffins are." On that note, the derby vampire filed out of the room without another word. Josh made to get up and follow after her, but then he hesitated.

"Hang on. Did she just say 'coffins'?"