Skylanders Universe - Eruptor Meets the Nightmare King

by Onk Beakman

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

  Penguin Young Readers Group

  An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

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  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Written by Cavan Scott

  Illustrated by Dani Geremia—Beehive Agency

  © 2016 ACTIVISION Publishing, Inc. SKYLANDERS UNIVERSE is a trademark and ACTIVISION is a registered trademark of Activision Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

  eBook ISBN 978-0-451-53307-4

  Version_1

  Contents

  Copyright

  Title Page

  About the Author

  Chapter One: The Frozen Seas

  Chapter Two: Cyclops Attack

  Chapter Three: A Chilling Discovery

  Chapter Four: The Nightmare King

  Chapter Five: All Change

  Chapter Six: The Forest of Fire

  Chapter Seven: The Last of the Portal Masters

  Chapter Eight: Big Bad Ice Bomb

  Chapter Nine: The Stony Stone Golems of Doom!

  Chapter Ten: Buried Alive

  Chapter Eleven: The Wailing Walls

  Chapter Twelve: Cell Break

  Chapter Thirteen: The Throne Room of Terror

  Chapter Fourteen: Total Kaos

  Chapter Fifteen: The Mask of Power

  Chapter Sixteen: A Final Message

  Special Excerpt from The Mask of Power

  About the Author

  Onk Beakman knew he wanted to be a world-famous author from the moment he was hatched. In fact, the book-loving penguin was so excited that he wrote his first novel while still inside his egg (to this day, nobody is entirely sure where he got the tiny pencil and notebook from).

  Growing up on the icy wastes of Skylands’ Frozen Desert was difficult for a penguin who hated the cold. While his brothers plunged into the freezing waters, Onk could be found with his beak buried in a book and a pen clutched in his flippers.

  Yet his life changed forever when a giant floating head appeared in the skies above the tundra. It was Kaos, attempting to melt the icecaps so he could get his grubby little hands on an ancient weapon buried beneath the snow.

  Onk watched open-beaked as Spyro swept in and sent the evil Portal Master packing. From that day, Onk knew that he must chronicle the Skylanders’ greatest adventures. He traveled the length and breadth of Skylands, collecting every tale he could find about Master Eon’s brave champions.

  Today, Onk writes from a shack on the beautiful sands of Blistering Beach with his two pet sea cucumbers.

  Chapter One

  The Frozen Seas

  Anyone who has ever traveled to Skylands knows that it’s a magical place. It’s made up of an infinite number of floating realms; there’s an island for everyone. Do you like sun-drenched golden sands? No problem—head to Blistering Beach. Prefer the dark? Then you’ll love Moonlight Mountains. There’s even an island where volcanoes spew sweet popcorn high into the sky. Perfect if you’re feeling a little hungry.

  Of course, not every island is popular. Take the Frozen Seas, for example. As the name suggests, it’s a chilly, unforgiving place. Massive waves of ice hang in the air, frozen in place since an everlasting winter fell upon the island millions of years ago. It’s so cold that visitors eat ice cream to warm themselves up!

  Only people who really, really like the cold go to the Frozen Seas—which is why a Skylander by the name of Eruptor started this adventure in a particularly bad mood.

  Eruptor is a lava monster, born in the bowels of a volcano. The kind that gushes red-hot magma, not popcorn. He’s hotheaded in every sense of the word. Scalding lava bubbles beneath his rocky skin, ready to erupt at any moment, and he has a temper to match. Most of the time he keeps his bad moods in check, but he can’t help boiling over every now and then. Such as when he’s cold, for example. And on this day he was very, very cold.

  Eruptor gritted his teeth as he appeared on the top of one of those gigantic frozen waves. The wind had cut through him as soon as he leaped from a Portal, chilling him to his molten core.

  “N-not g-good,” he stuttered, teeth chattering like castanets. “N-not g-good at-t-t all!”

  “What are you talking about, Eruptor?” said the hulking four-armed creature who appeared beside him. “This looks cool to me!”

  “That’s the problem,” snarled Eruptor, turning to face the newcomer. “It’s all right for you, Slam Bam. You take an ice bath every night!”

  It was true. As a yeti, Slam Bam loved subzero conditions. In fact, before he became a Skylander, he had lived on a floating glacier. He’d spent his days carving ice sculptures and eating snow cones. His arctic existence only came to an end when an evil Portal Master known as Kaos blasted Slam Bam’s glacier, sending him adrift. Luckily, the yeti washed up on an island that belonged to Master Eon, the greatest Portal Master of them all.

  Master Eon had invited Slam Bam to join the Skylanders, the brave band of heroes who protect Skylands from villains like Kaos and his menacing minions. That is how Slam Bam had met Eruptor. Despite their differing temperatures, the two Skylanders became firm friends, united in their fight against the forces of The Darkness.

  Slam Bam had always wanted to visit the Frozen Seas, but had never managed to persuade Eruptor to join him—until today. Master Eon had received a cry for help from the Frozen Seas’ icy wastes and quickly dispatched the two heroes to investigate, along with a third Skylander.

  “It’s fright time!” Grim Creeper said as he appeared through the Portal, swirling his super-sharp scythe in excitement.

  “Hey, watch what you’re doing, Grim.” Slam Bam chuckled, raising two of his arms in fake alarm. “I don’t need a haircut right now.”

  Grim Creeper grinned. “Sorry, Slam. I’m just excited to be here.”

  Master Eon came across Grim Creeper after the young ghost saved the prestigious Grim Acres School for Ghost Wrangling. At first, Grim had been turned away from the academy. The Scaremaster in charge thought that the young spirit didn’t have what it took to be a reaper. Then Grim Acres was attacked by a gang of galloping ghouls. The other pupils turned and fled in terror, but Grim Creeper stood his ground, saving students and teachers alike from the pesky poltergeists. Grim Creeper was welcomed into the school and, after he graduated, went on to join the Skylanders. This was his first mission, and the Undead Skylander was itching to get started.

  “So, what do we do now?” Grim Creeper asked.

  “Go home?” Eruptor grumbled.

  A look of shock passed over the phantom’s face. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Of course he is.” Slam Bam laughed. “Eruptor never gives up, no matter how much he moans. Ain’t that right?” The yeti nudged Eruptor in the ribs, causing the hair on his elbows to sizzle slightly against the lava monster’s red-hot sk
in.

  Eruptor couldn’t hide a sneaky smile. “Cool it, Slam. I’ve got a rep to protect!”

  Before Slam could reply, a scream sounded across the icy ocean.

  “HEEEEEEELP!”

  “Sounds like someone’s in trouble,” Grim Creeper said, clutching his scythe tighter than ever.

  “That’s why we’re here,” rumbled Eruptor, peering over the edge of the huge wave. “But how do we get down?”

  “We slide!” Slam Bam whooped, throwing himself forward. Grim Creeper’s eyes widened as he watched the yeti zoom down the near-vertical drop of the frozen wave, arms outstretched like a surfer.

  “That looks like fun,” the Undead Skylander said, taking off after Slam Bam. “Come on!”

  Eruptor shrugged and leaped into action behind the other two Skylanders. The ice beneath his feet hissed as he picked up speed.

  “Last one to the bottom’s an icicle!” he shouted as he steamed past his friends.

  Chapter Two

  Cyclops Attack

  Eruptor skidded to a halt at the bottom of the wave, throwing up a thick flurry of snow.

  “Okay,” he said, grinning wildly as Slam Bam appeared at his side. “I admit it. That was pretty cool.”

  “Nice sliding, bro,” Slam Bam said, fist-pumping the lava monster. “You’re a real natural!”

  “I’ve always told you I’m hot stuff!” Eruptor quipped, before turning his attention to the frozen landscape in front of them. “Now, who needs our help?”

  As if in answer, another terrified scream echoed across the ice:

  “HELP US!”

  “This way,” Grim Creeper cried as he slid straight past the others and started scurrying toward a campsite in the distance.

  As the Skylanders drew closer, it became obvious what danger awaited them. Small figures scampered between the huts and tents, waving sharp spears and heavy shovels.

  Eruptor’s mouth curled into a snarl. “Cyclopses,” he growled. “Those one-eyed weirdos make my blood boil!”

  “Don’t worry,” replied Slam Bam, his hands already curled into fists. “They’re about to face a cold snap!”

  “Yeah,” agreed Grim Creeper. “Let’s give them the fright of their lives!”

  On the edge of the camp, a cyclops saw something out of the corner of his only eye. He turned and let out a tiny squeak of terror. You see, cyclopses are basically cowardly bullies, happy to rampage as long as no one rampages back at them. The campsite that the cyclopses were attacking belonged to a bunch of Treeman archaeologists, thoughtful walking twigs who wouldn’t know one end of a rampage from the other. Attacking them was easy. They just rolled over and gave up.

  Skylanders were different, though. Skylanders were powerful. Skylanders were brave.

  Skylanders never gave up.

  Panicking, the cyclops raised his spear in the air and yelled, “Incoming!”

  All around him, his fellow cyclopses stopped terrorizing Treemen and turned to face the advancing Skylanders. Almost as one, the cyclopses swallowed hard and readied their defenses. A row of Cyclops Snowblasters appeared in the snow, letting loose a barrage of snowballs. At the same time, Cyclops Sleet-Throwers loaded snow and ice on to their shovels and started chucking it at the heroes.

  Nearing the campsite, Slam Bam raised all four of his hands and a wall of ice magically appeared between the Skylanders and the cyclopses. The Snowblasters’ snowballs impacted harmlessly against the icy shield, giving Eruptor the chance he needed.

  “Fire!” he yelled, shooting balls of liquid lava into the air. They dropped into the ice behind the Snowblasters, sending steam shooting into the air. In seconds, the campsite was shrouded in scalding mist.

  “Spooktacular!” Grim Creeper laughed and sent his spectral scythe spinning past Slam Bam’s ice blocks. The weapon slammed into the Snowblasters one by one as the Skylanders rushed into the fray.

  At the center of the battle, Bloodshot the Cyclops Gazermage peered through his massive magical magnifying glass.

  Through the fog, the one-eyed wizard could see his forces being attacked and hear the sound of whistling scythes, thumping fists, and flaming lava blobs.

  This was why he’d never wanted to command a cyclops squadron in the first place. He’d been far happier studying magical scrolls back at the Crystal Eye Castle. But, like all minions of evil, Bloodshot knew that when his master called he couldn’t disobey.

  And who was his master? Bloodshot waved a hand over his magnifying glass. The lens flared with unnatural light before a face appeared in the center of the bronze hoop. A face that was feared across Skylands. A face that glared back at Bloodshot with blazing red eyes. The face of Kaos!

  “Bloodshot!” the evil Portal Master snapped, his voice echoing from the magnifying glass. “What did I tell you?”

  Bloodshot shuffled his feet. “Um, not to disturb you until we’ve found the treasure?”

  “Exactly!” Kaos said. “And have you found the treasure?”

  Bloodshot’s head dropped. “No, sir. We have not.”

  “THEN WHY DO YOU DARE DISTURB ME, FOOL?” Kaos ranted. “Don’t you know it’s my day for rearranging my evil potion collection? You know how I hate to be interrupted when I’m rearranging my evil potion collection. Have you forgotten what happened to the last person who interrupted me when I was rearranging my evil potion collection?”

  Bloodshot whimpered. How could anyone forget? The last person to interrupt Lord Kaos while he was rearranging his evil potion collection was a Troll by the name of General Monkeywrench. Kaos transformed him into a giant pair of underpants, which he then gave to an underpants-eating rag monster as a light snack. Up to that point, no one had even known that such beasts existed, let alone that they were so partial to undergarments. Needless to say, Bloodshot didn’t want to end up going the same way as Monkeywrench—but this was an emergency.

  “I—I’m sorry, Lord Kaos,” Bloodshot stammered. “But look . . .”

  The Gazermage twisted the magnifying glass to show the silhouettes of a certain lava monster, yeti, and reaper.

  “SKYLOSERS!” raged Kaos through the lens. “What are they doing there?”

  “I think they aim to foil your fiendish plans, my lord!”

  “Typical,” hissed Kaos. “Anyone would think they don’t want me to take over Skylands and spread evil as far as the eye can see.”

  “I—I know,” agreed Bloodshot sheepishly. “It’s unbelievable. But what do you want us to do?”

  “What do I want you to do?” Kaos shrieked, not believing what his evil little ears were hearing. “I want you to defeat them, you one-eyed NINCOMPOOP! What do you think I want you to do to them?”

  Bloodshot’s shoulders sagged. He’d hoped that Lord Kaos was going to say that he wanted them to run away as fast as their stubby little legs could carry them. “Oh, okay, then. We’ll defeat them. Just checking, you know.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?” Kaos screeched. “Or do you want me to reach for my Turn Spineless Fools into a Really Big Pair of Bloomers potion? I know it’s here somewhere. After all, I was rearranging my evil potions before SOMEONE DISTURBED ME!”

  “Y-yes, of couse, Lord Kaos,” Bloodshot stammered. “I mean, no, Lord Kaos. We’ll get right on it!”

  “THEN GET ON WITH IT!” yelled the Portal Master.

  Bloodshot didn’t hang around any longer. He raised his magnifying glass high in the air and shouted, “CYCLOPS ATTACK!” at the top of his voice—which, to be honest, wasn’t a very high place.

  It didn’t matter anyway. While Bloodshot had been talking to his dark master, the Skylanders had waded through the Coldspear Cyclopses, the Sleet-Throwers, and even the Snowblasters. Bloodshot’s troops were lying on the ice, single eyes spinning. And the Skylanders? They were standing around Bloodshot in a rather menacing ring.

 
“Now, what have we here?” asked Eruptor, looking the trembling cyclops up and down.

  “I don’t know,” replied Slam Bam, watching as the Gazermage peered at them through his oversize magnifying glass, “but it’s plain to see that it’s no good hiding behind that thing!”

  “O-oh yeah?” stammered Bloodshot, not feeling half as brave as he was trying to sound. “Well, here’s one in the eye for you!”

  A beam of dazzling light burst from the lens and hit Eruptor full-on.

  Chapter Three

  A Chilling Discovery

  Eruptor was thrown back by the blast, cutting a deep trail through the ice.

  The other Skylanders quickly retaliated, with Grim Creeper swiping through the air with his scythe. Bloodshot ducked, the blade neatly slicing off the top of his pointed hat. But he found it impossible to evade the ice prison that Slam Bam created around him.

  “That’s put him on ice,” the yeti rumbled as Eruptor got back to his feet. “You okay, Eruptor?”

  “Of course I am,” the lava monster shot back. “It’ll take more than a little squirt like that to make me hot under the collar.”

  The Skylanders turned as a weedy voice called over to them. “Oh, thank the benevolent ancients that you’ve arrived,” it said. “I thought we were done for.”

  A thin Treeman with a bushy mustache stomped over. Cumbersome snowshoes were attached to his narrow feet.

  “Don’t worry,” said Slam Bam, holding out a hand. “You’re safe now.”

  “Dead safe,” added Grim Creeper.

  The Treeman cautiously took Slam Bam’s massive paw, obviously hoping that the muscular yeti wouldn’t shake his hand too vigorously. “Indeed we are, Skylanders. Thanks to you. My name is Professor Splinters. I am the leader of this expedition.”

  Eruptor made the introductions on behalf of the group. “Well, I’m Eruptor. My four-armed friend is Slam Bam, and this is Grim Creeper.”