Skylanders Universe: The Mask of Power Gill Grunt and the Curse of the Fish Master

by Onk Beakman

  “Oops,” Kaos cackled, tucking the crown beneath his robes. “It looks like you’ve sprung a leak. I hope you can swim! Ha-ha-ha-ha-HAAAAAAAAAAA!”

  The ship pitched to the side, but this time it wasn’t anything to do with the merpeople. Water was gushing through the hole in the deck.

  “Lord Kaos?” Glumshanks whined, wringing his hands together.

  “Yes, what is it?” snapped Kaos. “Can’t you see I’m gloating?”

  “Perhaps you can gloat on dry land? We’re going down with the ship.”

  Kaos looked at his feet. The troll was right. The cold water was already up to his ankles.

  “Good point. FOOOOOLS! Happy sinking!”

  Kaos snapped his fingers and in a flash of light they were gone.

  “Let’s get off this ship before she goes down,” Zap yelled, shaking the last of the trout from his back.

  “I’ve already called for a Portal,” Spyro replied.

  “Thanks for your help, Your Majesties,” Wham-Shell called to Aquan and Finella as the Portal appeared above their heads. Grabbing his mace, he leaped into the light, followed by Zap.

  Gill, meanwhile, was running back across the slippery deck.

  “What are you doing?” Spyro cried out, flying into the Portal. “Let’s get out of here. Kaos has the fragment.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Gill shouted back, scooping up Grimslobber’s satchel off of the deck. “There’s something I need to check.”

  Clutching the bag to his chest, Gill flashed a fishy grin at Aquan and Finella, then jumped after Spyro.

  In the water, the merpeople cheered as the Fearsome Fang sank without a trace.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Water Fragment

  “I can’t believe that Kaos got away with the Water fragment,” Zap grumbled, as they trudged to meet Eon in the Eternal Archive’s vault. “That’s totally, utterly bogus.”

  Spyro shook his head. “You’re right, Zap, especially after all you went through.”

  “I’m sorry, Master.” Wham-Shell looked up at Eon, despair written all over his face. “We failed you.”

  Eon stroked his white beard thoughtfully. “What about you, Gill? Do you think the mission was a failure?”

  Gill rummaged in Grimslobber’s satchel, drawing out a dirty old rag. “I’m not sure,” he replied, dropping the bag to the floor. “At the beginning of all of this, you said that the Water fragment was hidden in something the complete opposite to its true nature.”

  “Indeed I did.” The Portal Master smiled.

  “At first I thought it must be the Fish Master’s Crown, something that could control creatures who live in the water . . .”

  “But now you’re not so sure?”

  Gill reached into his belt and drew out the scrap of paper Eon had ripped from the Book of Power.

  “What have you got there, Gill?” asked Spyro.

  “It’s the rag that Grimslobber used to wrap up the crown in his satchel.”

  “What did you want with that dirty old thing?” Wham-Shell asked.

  “You’re right,” Gill agreed, lifting the paper to meet the cloth. “It is filthy—the complete opposite of lovely clean water.”

  The paper began to glow, faintly at first but then so fiercely that they were all forced to turn away.

  “The rag is the Water fragment,” Gill announced as the cloth floated out of his hands and up into the air.

  “Then Kaos—” began Spyro.

  “Has stolen nothing more than a worthless broken crown!” completed Zap.

  “Indeed,” the Portal Master said, raising his palm. In a flash the rag was gone, replaced with a fragment of the Mask of Power. The Skylanders gasped as Eon plucked it from the air, turning the segment over in his hand.

  “This fragment will be kept safe here in the vault,” he said. “But this is all far from over.”

  Spyro nodded gravely. “Gillmen aren’t the only ones who never give up. Kaos will be after the other fragments.”

  “There’s one thing I still don’t get,” said Zap. “He hasn’t got the Book of Power. How did he know where the Water fragment would be?”

  “I don’t know,” Gill said, placing a friendly hand on the water dragon’s shoulder. “But there is one thing I am sure of.”

  “What’s that, Gill?” asked Spyro.

  “Wherever Kaos goes next, the Skylanders will be waiting for him!”

  To be continued in

  The Mask of Power: Lightning Rod Faces the Cyclops Queen

  Chapter One

  The Storm Giant Games

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are proud to present the greatest champion Skylands has ever known—Lightning Rod!”

  The crowd went wild as soon as Lightning Rod’s name was announced. They cheered; they clapped; they threw their hats into the air. A couple of Rotting Robbies even threw their heads into the air, but the less said about that the better. Lightning Rod was the most popular contestant in the annual Storm Titan Games. In fact, some said he was the most popular contestant in the event’s entire history. No one had won as many medals as he had, and no one had anywhere near as many statues carved in their image. They were everywhere you looked: Rod throwing a lightning bolt; Rod running a marathon; Rod lifting an entire herd of saber-tusked elephants stacked on top of each other. There was even a statue of Rod snoring his beard off. Even when asleep, Rod was the most impressive specimen for miles around. No one performed like Rod, no one flexed their muscles like Rod, and no one polished off as many eggs for breakfast as Rod.

  In the crowd, Pop Fizz bounced up and down in his seat as everyone’s favorite Storm Titan made his way into the arena.

  “Hey, watch it!” said Cali, as the excitable alchemist slopped potion all over her. “You’re spilling that stuff everywhere!”

  “Whoops, sorry,” apologized Pop Fizz, before taking a slug from the bottle. There was a puff of smoke and the distinct whiff of brimstone, and Pop Fizz transformed into a hairy beast with more teeth than was healthy. “I’m just so pumped up to be here,” he rumbled, suddenly taking up twice as much room as he had before his transformation. “Go, Lightning! Go, Lightning!”

  “Stop moving,” snapped Drobot from the other side of Pop Fizz. “You are interfering with my visual circuits!”

  With a gurgle, Pop Fizz shrank back to his normal size.

  “Whoops again,” he spluttered, his eyes spinning from the sudden metamorphosis. “This is exciting though, isn’t it? I mean, look at this place.”

  Drobot had to admit that the arena was spectacular. Over a billion Games had been played here, and every year the Storm Titans added on another new stand. It now stretched for miles and seated millions of spectators, all of whom were now looking expectantly at Lightning Rod. The brilliant blue hero stood in the middle of the field, soaking up the applause, flexing his bulging muscles, and flashing a blinding smile.

  Cali was grinning, too. Rod was in his element here, surrounded by his adoring fans. Yes, she knew that he loved being a Skylander, protecting the magical realm of Skylands from the forces of Darkness, but he was also massively proud of his sporting accomplishments. They all were.

  “Do you think he’s going to do it?” Pop Fizz asked, half-raising the soda bottle to his lips before being stopped by Drobot. “Do you think he’s going to break the record?”

  “There is a ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent probability that Rod will triumph.”

  “Eh?” said Pop Fizz, looking completely bewildered.

  “He said yes,” whispered Cali as a hush fell over the crowd.

  In the royal box, the King of the Storm Titans had raised his hands. “My friends,” he boomed, his voice like a thousand thunderstorms rolled into one. “Please be silent for our guest of honor.”

  Beside the king stood a tall thin man, leaning heavily on a crystal-topped staff. It was Eon, Skylands’s greatest Portal Master. Eon had been asked to open this year’s Games, but he looked so old, so tired.
Cali frowned. She knew the last few weeks had been a trial for the ancient wizard, but she’d hoped the excitement of the Games would revive him. Still, the Portal Master smiled as he drew himself up, his eyes resting on Lightning Rod far below.

  “People of Skylands,” Eon said, his voice magically amplified around the stadium. “It is my pleasure to pronounce these Games . . . open.”

  A buzz of excitement rippled around the assembled throng. “And without further ado, we shall enjoy the first event—the five-hundred-ton hammer throw. And our first contender, Lightning Rod!”

  The crowd roared once again as Lightning Rod approached the massive metal ball and chain at the center of the field. It was twice the size of the Titan, and yet he grabbed the heavy chain without hesitation. Taking the chain, he began to spin the ball around, faster and faster, electricity crackling up and down the metal links.

  Cali couldn’t help but be impressed. She often worked with the Skylanders, training them to use their powers, but she’d never seen Lightning Rod lift something this heavy, let alone spin it around.

  “He’s gonna win,” Pop Fizz was babbling, almost beside himself. “He’s gonna get the gold. I just know it.”

  But Drobot didn’t comment.

  Cali turned and saw he wasn’t looking at Lightning Rod, but into the sky.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, the fur on the back of her neck bristling.

  “That is wrong,” Drobot replied, pointing toward the clouds with a claw. Cali turned to see a solitary balloon drifting high above them. “If Lightning Rod lets go of the hammer . . .”

  Cali didn’t need him to complete the sentence. Worst of all, she knew who owned the balloon.

  It was Flynn, the so-called best pilot in all of Skylands, and someone who seemed to have a knack for flying into trouble. The guy had an ego the size of an entire island, but he’d helped the Skylanders time and time again.

  “We’ve got to warn them!” Cali cried out.

  “Too late,” reported Drobot as the Storm Titan let go of the chain and flung the hammer into the air. It rocketed up, soaring over the heads of the crowd . . . and zoomed straight for Flynn’s balloon.

  Can Lightning Rod save Flynn? Will the Skylanders stop Kaos from discovering the Air fragment of the Mask of Power? And who is the traitor in their midst?

  Find out all this and more in . . .

  The Mask of Power

  Lightning Rod

  Faces the Cyclops Queen