Skylanders: Second Leaf

Chapter 10 ~ Preparation

The weapon switched on with a loud, rumbling, whirring noise that was growing increasingly louder by the second. Wolfgang held his breath, waiting for what was about to come. The whirring then stopped abruptly. A second passed where nothing happened. Then, a blast of blinding white light engulfed the two frozen figures. The two cried out in agony as their souls were torn from their bodies, their icy prisons melting away to nothing but a few wisps of steam. Skeleborg just looked on with an emotionless look on his iron visage. Once the screaming had died down to silence, and the light had faded away to nothing, the villains leaned in to see what had become of the two prisoners. Kaos and Higgor's bodies lay on the ground, looks of immense agony plastered across their faces. Their wide eyes were lifeless and glazed over white. Floating above their dead' bodies were two glowing orbs of energy. Souls. Before the souls had time to react, Wolfgang had sucked them up in the vacuum he had used before.

With a grin on his face, Wolfgang turned towards his boss. "I do believe it works, mate."

Wolfgang twisted off the jar at the lid and handed it to Skeleborg, who took it with great relish.

"Excellent." Skeleborg hissed, "I will use my father's spirit as one of my most powerful troops. As for Kaos, I will make him a mere cleaning bot. It's what the little rat deserves."

He turned to face the others, "Rejoice, my allies!" Skeleborg commanded, "Skylands' reckoning will soon be upon us! As will our victory!"

One by one, his companions began to laugh evilly. Skeleborg wasn't one to laugh maniacally, but he was happy at the sign of victory, nonetheless. War was coming. And they would win.

"Sure..." Shoria mumbled. Her voice sounded light and airy now, far from her bright and full voice she usually had, "Come on in..."

Mammagma thumped over to Shoria and sat down beside her, making the bed sag and bend under his weight. Shade just stood off to the side.

"You know that it's probably for the best that Kaos was captured, right?" Shade sighed. He didn't want to damage Shoria's feelings any more that they were already hurt, but he needed to state what he thought.

"I'm going to kick Skeleborg's steel butt to kingdom come after all this anyway." Mammagma added.

"You guys don't understand. Kaos and I... we have a connection. A very important one. You remember that story I told you of the great warlord attempting to to conquer Skylands with his machines? I know, I said it was a legend, but I lied... a bit. It's real. It all was real. I'm not kidding. I'm the little girl who was kidnapped in the story. And the whole 'darkest of Portal Masters' part? Kaos. He saved me."

Stealth was wandering around the grounds of the Academy aimlessly. She had told Spyro all she had gotten out of Golden Queen, and now she was just trying to put two and two together. Trying to fix a puzzle that didn't have a set picture. Without warning, Stealth stumbled to the side, her vision blurring and the edges turning a mix of black and blood red. She clutched at her pounding head, immense pain flooding through her like a freezing river of rushing rapids. It felt as if a part of her, deep down inside, was being torn from her body and she was too overwhelmed by the agony to do anything about it. Inside the Villain Vault, in Golden Queen's cell, the Egyptian goddess was undergoing the same excruciating pain.

Shade was so surprised at this that he almost burst into laughter at the thought. Thankfully, Mammagma spoke for him.

"Kaos... saved you? I hope this was before he turned evil." Mammagma commented.

"Yes, it was before he became the Kaos we all know and completely loathe. But my rescue was his turning point. His mind became corrupt after he saved me, but couldn't save my parents, as the tale said. This turn of events lead him to believing he wasn't good enough to be a hero." Shoria explained, holding back the tears that had come once more. She didn't want the two to see her completely break down over someone who was evil.