by Onk Beakman
Rocky’s song belted from every speaker in the factory, but the troll had already lit the match and was lifting it to the fuse. Were they too late?
The match swung up to the end of the fuse, and . . .
. . . the troll started tapping his toes.
The tapping turned into a shuffle, and the shuffle turned into a jig, and the jig turned into a prance, and the prance turned into a full-on boogie.
The match dropped to the floor and was extinguished under the dancing feet of the troll army.
Meanwhile, the oversize bomb started to roll back—right over Kaos.
“Waaaaaaaaah!” hollered the rotten Portal Master as he disappeared from view.
“Way to go,” Terrafin whooped, punching the air in triumph. “Now, what are you waiting for, Sprocket? Let’s blow this joint.”
His face fell as he turned to face the Golding. The Tech Skylander wasn’t working on the controls. She was pointing to where Hot Dog had been standing seconds before. Now the puppy was held fast by a metal hand. A metal hand that belonged to the Boom Brothers.
“Forgot about us?” gloated Boom One, the robots’ other hand tucked behind their back.
“Thought we were scrap?” Boom Two said with a sneer.
“Big mistake,” concluded Boom One.
“Biggest ever,” added Boom Two.
Hot Dog wriggled in their grasp but was held tight.
“Don’t worry about me,” he barked. “Just—ruff—get us out of here.”
Terrafin glanced at Sprocket. She had finished her work, and the escape pod was ready to fire. All she needed to do was hit the big red button on the control console.
Terrafin was about to tell her to push it, when Sonic Boom stepped forward. “Wait,” she warned, through clenched teeth. “We don’t know what they’ve got in their other hand.”
The Boom Brothers grinned in unison. It was an evil, oily grin.
“Not as stupid as you look, are you?” said Boom One.
“No one could be as stupid as they look,” said Boom Two, drawing the brothers’ hand out from behind their back.
Sonic gasped, not quite believing what she was seeing.
“That’s right,” snarled Boom One, holding up a large piece of yellow fruit. A large piece of yellow ticking fruit. “We’ve got a pineapple grenade.”
“And we’re not afraid to use it,” added Boom Two. “Surrender, or this entire room goes boom.”
Chapter Fourteen
Bow Before the Boom Brothers
“Surrender?” Sprocket laughed. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
“Skylanders never surrender,” Sonic Boom snarled, moving alongside her gleaming teammate. “We never, ever give in.”
“And don’t you forget it,” added Hot Dog, never taking his eyes from the explosive fruit. “Right, Terrafin?”
“Hey, let’s not be too hasty here, hotshot,” Terrafin said, raising his hands. “Maybe surrendering isn’t such a bad idea.”
“What?” gasped Sprocket, not quite believing her ears. “You’re joking!”
The dirt shark shook his head.
“’Fraid not, Sprock.” He shrugged, letting his hands fall down to his sides in defeat. “This is one Skylander who knows when he’s beat.”
“But . . . ,” Sonic began, then realized she didn’t know what to say, so decided to just say “but” again for good measure.
“I mean it, Sonic,” Terrafin admitted. “I faced some pretty mean opponents in the past, but nothing like these guys. They make Kaos look like a featherweight. They’re the real deal.”
“Finally,” screamed Boom One, metallic chest swelling with pride, “someone who recognizes our genius, brother.”
“I know,” sniffed Boom Two, an oily tear slipping down his burnished cheek. “I’m getting quite emotional.”
“It’s over, guys,” said Terrafin, sinking down to his knees. “Bow before the Boom Brothers.”
The other Skylanders were so shocked that they found themselves doing the same, kneeling in front of the robot. Hot Dog whimpered in bewilderment.
“You might as well stop singing, Rock,” Terrafin said sadly. “It’s over.”
The Stone Golem fell silent, not knowing what to say. Behind them the trolls all stopped dancing, and the Skylanders could hear the muffled voice of Kaos demanding that they get the Extra Explosive Bomb of Explosive Explosion off him at once.
“I do have just one question,” piped up Terrafin, raising his nose to face the brothers.
“Yes?” asked Boom One, intrigued.
“What do you want to know?” asked Boom Two.
A smile played on Terrafin’s thin lips.
“Who comes up with all the ideas for your amazing bombs?”
“That’s simple,” said Boom One. “It’s me.”
“You liar,” spluttered Boom Two. “They’re all my ideas.”
“Don’t be stupid,” retaliated Boom One. “I’m the brains in this family.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Am, too.”
“Are not.”
“Am, too.”
“Are not.”
Terrafin’s smile grew wider. While the Boom Brothers were lost in their argument, he indicated for the others to cover their heads with their hands.
“So, I suppose you think this pineapple grenade was all your own work?” screamed Boom One.
“Well it wasn’t yours, you clog-headed numbskull,” retorted Boom Two. “You couldn’t blow up a paper bag, let alone an explosive device.”
“I’ve never been so insulted in all my days,” hissed Boom One. “Take that back, you pathetic excuse for a piston engine.”
“I won’t,” snapped Boom Two. “The day you invent a half-decent detonator is the day I eat my hat.”
“Eat your hat?” screamed Boom One. “Eat this!”
And with that, Boom One shoved the pineapple grenade into Boom Two’s open mouth. The second head gagged, and Hot Dog leaped nimbly back to the other Skylanders. Boom Two swallowed the explosive fruit, which clanged down into the robots’ metallic stomach.
The Boom Brothers’ jaws gaped at each other as they realized what they had done; they turned to face Terrafin, whose grin had never been wider.
“You do realize this is your fault?” whimpered Boom One as the grenade stopped ticking.
“No, it was—”
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The Boom Brothers exploded in a hail of metal parts.
As the smoke cleared, the Skylanders began to laugh, realizing what Terrafin had been doing all along.
“You knew they would argue,” Sonic Boom said, brushing cogs from her feathers.
“It was all a trick,” said Sprocket, pushing red hair out of her eyes.
“Of course it was,” barked Hot Dog, giving Terrafin a sizzling lick. “He’s the champ. He’d never let us down. Woof!”
“All very touching,” came a voice from the other side of the doors, “but I think you’re forgetting something: KAOOOOOS!”
Terrafin turned to see Kaos glaring through the window, another match in his hand.
“You won’t defeat me as easily as those bickering bucket-heads,” Kaos snarled. “Now open these doors and give me my Earth segment or I’ll blow you into even smaller pieces than the Boom Brothers.”
Terrafin smiled. “No problem. Sprocket, why don’t you hit that big red button and open the doors?”
Kaos smirked the smirkiest smirk in history.
“You mean this big red button here?” Sprocket asked, moving over to the console.
“That’s the one.”
“Consider it done.” Sprocket slammed her open palm down on the button. “Oh, hang on,” she said, trying hard to suppress a giggle. “That’s not the door contr
ol.”
A look of mock panic crossed Terrafin’s face. “You’re right. That was the button that launches the rockets. I must be punch-drunk!”
The room began to shake. In fact, the entire tower began to shake. On the other side of the door, Kaos started choking on the thick, acrid smoke that was billowing around him as the escape pod’s rockets fired.
“Hold on to something,” Sprocket shouted. “Takeoff is in five seconds.”
“You haven’t heard the last of me, Skylanders!” Kaos screamed in rage from the other side of the doors. “I, Kaos, will find the next segment, whatever happens. And then, you shall all be DOOOOMED!”
“Whatever, Kaos.” Terrafin smiled, bracing himself for takeoff. “Just remember one thing.”
“What’s that, fool?”
“You owe me five dollars.”
The rockets fired, and the escape pod shot into the air, high above the Junk Mountains. Beneath them, the Boom Brothers’ Explosive Emporium collapsed into a heap, trapping Kaos and the troll army inside.
Chapter Fifteen
The Earth Segment
“Do you think Kaos got away?” Sonic Boom asked as they walked through the gardens of the Eternal Archives.
“I guess so,” Terrafin rumbled. “That cat’s got more lives than a . . . well, you know.”
“At least we got Rocky away safely,” Sprocket said, swinging her wrench over her shoulder.
“And blasted home in time for lunch,” Hot Dog yapped happily.
“Although I’ll be happy if I never set foot in another escape capsule again,” admitted Terrafin. “That was no way to travel.”
In front of them, Master Eon turned at the sound of Terrafin’s voice.
“Ah, just in time,” the Portal Master said. “Young Rocky is going to sing for us.”
“Then I hope you’ve got your dancing shoes on, Master.” Terrafin laughed, imagining the aged Portal Master cutting a rug.
“That won’t be necessary this time, Terrafin. Watch.”
At a nod from Eon, the Stone Golem cleared his throat and began to sing, the same note-perfect tune as before—but this time it was different. Master Eon raised his hand, and light blared from Rocky’s mouth. The Skylanders shielded their eyes, but when the glare faded, the song had finished. Terrafin looked up and gasped. There, spinning in the air, was the Earth segment of the Mask of Power.
“But I thought Rocky was the segment.”
Master Eon shook his head as the fragment magically floated down into his open palm.
“No, only his singing voice. A light, enchanted tune—the complete opposite of heavy, stony Earth.”
“I was given my singing voice centuries ago,” Rocky admitted, “when I was only a rock-tot. Before then I couldn’t sing a note.”
“By a Spell Punk, I’d wager,” said Master Eon, tucking the segment safely in his robes. “One of the mages who split the Mask of Power in the first place.”
“But will Rocky still be able to sing?” Sonic Boom asked, looking up at the Portal Master.
Eon shook his head sadly. “I’m afraid not. His amazing gift has been lost forever.”
Terrafin gave the Stone Golem a friendly punch in the arm. Rocky flinched a little, but then smiled at his new friend.
“Hey, sorry about that, big fella,” said Terrafin. “What are you gonna do?”
“Oh, I’ve got a few ideas,” said Rocky, his stony smile slowly turning into a wide grin.
With a flash, they were back at Professor Puck’s Fantastic Fairy Fair.
“I don’t get it,” admitted Terrafin as they leaped from the Portal. “Why d’ya wanna come back to this dump?”
“I think I know why,” said Sonic Boom, sharing a secret smile with Rocky.
“There you are,” boomed a voice from behind them. “My number one star. You came back to me!”
The Skylanders turned to see Professor Puck rushing toward them, his mustache bristling with pleasure.
“Hello, Professor. Sorry I’m late.”
“Don’t worry about that, dear boy,” the untrustworthy gnome snapped. “You’ve got work to do. The audience is waiting for your comeback performance. We’ve sold more tickets than ever before. Come on, come on.”
And with that, Professor Puck hurried Rocky over to his tent.
“He didn’t even say thank you,” muttered Sprocket.
“Yeah, that’s ruff,” barked Hot Dog.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Sonic Boom. “I think the professor is about to get everything he deserves.”
Terrafin’s eyes glinted as he got Sonic’s meaning. “Come on.” He laughed, sprinting toward the tent. “I do not want to miss this.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” announced Professor Puck as Rocky shuffled onto the stage of the big tent. “This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. The sensational, the spectacular, the songtastic, ROCKY!”
“But—woof woof—Rocky can’t sing anymore,” yapped Hot Dog, bewildered.
“I think that’s the point,” Terrafin said with a snicker. “Cover your ears.”
“But his power’s gone, too,” Sprocket pointed out. “We won’t dance this time.”
“That’s not what Terrafin means,” explained Sonic Boom.
On the stage, Rocky opened his mouth and began to sing.
It was the worst noise they’d ever heard, like two boulders grinding together. Rocky sounded like someone gargling with gravel.
“What a racket,” one member of the crowd shouted.
“I thought you said he could sing,” yelled another.
“It’s a swindle,” came another cry. “Professor Puck tried to con us!”
On the stage, Professor Puck’s bushy mustache drooped as he tried to calm the jeering crowd.
“Now, let’s not be too hasty, my friends. This is all just a big misunderstanding.”
“Boo!” A squashy tomato flew from the crowd, only narrowly missing the panicking Puck.
“It’s a con!” Another tomato.
“I want my money back!” Puck dodged a rotten egg.
“Run him out of town!”
The professor turned and fled. The crowd tore after him, chasing the fleeing fairground owner off into the distance.
“Oh dear,” Sonic Boom said as she watched them go. “I think the professor’s reputation is in tatters.”
“Oh well.” Sprocket grinned. “Fair’s fair.”
“I think you’ve just performed your last gig,” Terrafin told Rocky as he clambered down from the stage.
The golem smiled, displaying a huge row of shiny stones where most of us have teeth.
“That’s music to my ears, Terrafin,” said Rocky. “Music to my ears!”
Chapter One
The Oncoming Storm
“Oh yeah,” said Zook, reaching for another coconut drink. “This is the life, right, Cynder?”
Beside the Bambazooker, the dark purple dragon shifted uncomfortably beneath the shade of a large umbrella.
“Speak for yourself, Bamboo Boy,” she said with a sigh. “Remind me again why we’re lying on a beach?”
“To soak up the sun, why else?” The green-barked Life Skylander slurped the creamy coconut milk noisily. “This is the Cloudless Desert, the sunniest spot in all of Skylands. Just kick back and relax, that’s all.”
“And you don’t feel guilty that we’re wasting our time when we should be out looking for the next segment of the Mask of Power?” Cynder snapped, her scaly brow furrowing. She glanced around, taking in the countless Mabu out enjoying a day in the sun. Didn’t they realize the danger they were all in? Kaos was trying to reassemble the fabled Mask of Power. If he managed it . . .
“Hey, hey, hey, just chill,” insisted Zook, settling back in his deck chair. “If Master Eon needs us, he kn
ows where to find us.”
The buzz of the happy vacationers was broken by a sharp crack that sounded like the universe being pulled in two. Cynder was immediately on her feet. She knew that sound. It was a Portal!
She spun around to see a column of light blaze into existence. A figure materialized at its heart. It was tall, regal, and more than a little spooky.
Cynder grinned. Zook wanted to chill, and you couldn’t get more chilling than this new arrival: Hex!
The elven sorceress swept from the Portal, her piercing gaze passing over the beach.
All around, there were gasps and even a few whimpers. Like Cynder, Hex was an Undead Skylander—a mistress of dark magic and feared by many. Hex’s ghost-white eyes shimmered as she watched the vacationers frantically pack up their towels and beach chairs, deciding that there was something else they’d rather be doing. Like getting trapped in a spider-infested cave or fed to a pack of zombies.
“What’s up, Hexy?” called Zook in greeting. “You here to catch the rays?” The Bambazooker peeked over his pair of ridiculously large sunglasses. “You do look like you could use a tan.”
Hex’s narrow mouth turned down at the corners. She wasn’t known for her sense of humor. She was known for striking fear into everyone’s hearts, which was quite different.
“Master Eon needs you,” she replied, her voice like wind whistling through a graveyard. “You’ll have to ‘catch the rays’ another time.” Her disgust at the very concept was obvious. Hex was more at home in moonlight than in the warmth of the sun.
“Is it the mask?” Cynder said eagerly, feeling an electric thrill run through her wings. “Has Eon located the next segment?”
But Hex didn’t answer. Instead she peered into the sky, a puzzled look on her ashen face.
“I thought this place was known as the Cloudless Desert?” she commented, floating up from the blisteringly hot sands.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Zook confirmed contentedly. “Not a cloud in the sky.”
“Except that one,” Hex muttered, cocking her head to the side in curiosity.
Cynder followed the witch’s gaze. She was right. A tiny cloud had appeared in the expanse of brilliant blue. A cloud that was growing, and growing fast. A shadow fell over the sands as the three Skylanders gazed up in amazement. In a matter of seconds the cloud had smothered the sky, becoming darker with every passing minute.
