by Onk Beakman
GROSSET & DUNLAP
Penguin Young Readers Group
An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
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Written by Cavan Scott
Illustrated by Dani Geremia—Beehive Illustration 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.
ISBN 978-0-451-53308-1
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Contents
Copyright
Title Page
About the Author
Chapter One: Snake Attack!
Chapter Two: Water Fight
Chapter Three: The Book of Power
Chapter Four: Wool Mountain
Chapter Five: The Magic Segment
Chapter Six: Safe and Sound
Chapter Seven: Kaos’s Kastle
Chapter Eight: The Voice of Kaos!
Chapter Nine: The Mask of Power
Chapter Ten: Skylands’ Darkest Hour
Chapter Eleven: Ultimate Kaos
Chapter Twelve: Protecting the Core
Chapter Thirteen: Rain of Terror
Chapter Fourteen: Kaos the All-Powerful
Chapter Fifteen: Unmasked
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
Snake Attack!
Since you’re reading this book, the chances are you’ve never had to fight a Water Viper. For this, you should count yourself very, very lucky.
Some of you may not even know what a Water Viper is. If that’s the case, imagine a snake. One with a wriggly, muscular body and lots of scales. Oh, and long needlelike fangs, too.
The snake in your head is probably pretty scary, right? Like something out of a nightmare.
Well, a Water Viper is worse. Much worse.
First, take the snake you just imagined and make it the size of a house. Not a small house—a really big house.
Now, color its scales aqua-blue, and make them super-slimy. Finally, give your snake glowing red eyes and fangs as long as your arm. Actually, make them twice as long as your arm.
If you’ve done all that then, you’re halfway to imagining just how insanely terrifying a Water Viper actually is. Fortunately for you, they don’t exist in your world. They live in Skylands, the most magical place in all of creation. Here in Skylands, millions of trillions of gazillions of enchanted islands float in a bright blue sky. These islands are filled with amazing creatures as well as terrifying monsters. Water Vipers fall into the latter category.
Luckily for the people of Skylands, there is a band of heroes who fight monsters and other followers of The Darkness. These are the Skylanders: courageous champions who will stop at nothing to keep Skylands safe from evil.
Courageous champions such as the three who heard a cry for help coming from Mabu Market and rushed to find a Water Viper attacking the timid Mabu who worked there.
“No gold, no glory!”
Trigger Happy was the first Skylander to leap from the Portal of Power, which had transported the three heroes to Mabu Market. He was a giggling gremlin, covered in rust-colored fur and with a ridiculously long tongue that lolled out of his permanently grinning mouth.
But his tongue wasn’t the first thing people usually noticed about Trigger Happy. No, the first thing was that he was holding two massive golden guns.
Trigger Happy was the best shot in Skylands. In fact, he still is. He never misses, but his guns don’t fire bullets or missiles; his shiny shooters fire gold coins. This is why people cheer when Trigger Happy appears and sends bad guys packing. Not only does he drive wrongdoers out of your hometown, he leaves so much gold ammo lying around that you’ll be rich for the rest of your life.
Usually Trigger Happy likes to shoot first and answer questions later (most of the time he forgets to ask the questions at all). However, even he paused when he saw the state of Mabu Market. Trigger Happy had appeared on the top of a large market stall, but the rest of the place was in chaos. Most of the other booths were underwater. The entire market was completely flooded. Waterlogged Mabu struggled in the flood, bobbing among crates and pots in water that was as choppy and rough as any sea.
“But that’s impossible,” said a voice beside Trigger Happy. It was Food Fight, a Life Skylander. Like Trigger Happy, Food Fight carried a large cannon—but this one fired massive ripe tomatoes and other assorted fruits and vegetables. As his name suggested, Food Fight didn’t just play with his food—he fought with it!
A third figure materialized beside the others, dressed in jet-black armor that highlighted her burning red eyes.
“This doesn’t make sense,” said the newcomer, Smolderdash. “There isn’t any water for miles. No lakes, no seas—nothing.”
“That’s right,” agreed a monocle-wearing creature who was swimming toward them. It was Auric, a trader in magical artifacts and potions. He had worked with the Skylanders plenty of times, but now he needed their help. When he reached their perch, a shadow fell over them. Then he pointed at the sky and added, “But there is that!”
High in the air, a huge face loomed into view. It was connected to a long, scaly body. It was a Water Viper!
Before the Skylanders could react, the Water Viper opened its gigantic jaws and spewed a column of water right at them. Trigger Happy and the others leaped out of the way as water crashed into the market stall, smashing it to pieces.
This Water Viper had Skylanders on its menu!
Chapter Two
Water Fight
“Watch out!” Food Fight shouted as another burst of water blasted toward them—but his fellow Skylanders weren’t going to
end up as snake snacks today. Before Trigger Happy splashed into the floodwaters, he fired off a volley of super-shiny coins. They cut through the air, sunlight reflecting off their gleaming faces and dazzling the giant snake before the coins bounced off the monster’s scaly skin.
The other Skylanders didn’t waste time, either. Landing nimbly on a floating barrel, Smolderdash threw up her hands. Soon, a group of blazing Solar Orbs flew from her palms. The shining globes erupted into flames near the monster’s head, confusing it even more. The beast flailed around, sending torrents of water everywhere.
Food Fight, meanwhile, was treading the choppy water, but that didn’t stop him from sending a barrage of bright red tomatoes into the air. The fruit splattered against the snake’s scales, smothering its skin in pulp and tomato juice. That gave the Life Skylander an idea.
“Hey, Smolder!” he yelled as Trigger Happy burst through the surface of the water beside him. “Feel like doing some cooking?”
Smolderdash grinned in reply. “I’m ready to turn up the heat if you are!”
While Trigger Happy continued dazzling the snake with his coins, Food Fight went into overdrive, covering the Viper’s scaly hide with red sludge. Soon, it was impossible to see the snake’s skin through all the tomato pulp.
“Over to you, Smolderdash. Old Snake Eyes is ripe for conquest!” Food Fight shouted to Smolderdash.
The Fire Skylander leaped from her barrel and threw herself toward the monster.
“Lighting the way!” she cried as her entire body began to glow like a miniature sun—even Trigger Happy and Food Fight had to protect their eyes from the fierce glare. But that was nothing compared to what happened to the Water Viper.
As Smolderdash flared, the tomato pulp baked into a rock-hard shell that creaked as the monster desperately tried to wriggle free.
“Hey, Trigger Happy,” Food Fight said, still squinting in the light. “Can you get me up high? It’s pulping time!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Trigger Happy jabbered, producing a giant pot of gold. “Stand on this!”
Food Fight did what he was told and leaped onto the gleaming cauldron, which was already vibrating beneath his feet. This wasn’t any ordinary pot of gold—it was an exploding pot of gold.
“Pa-pa-POW!” Trigger Happy shrieked with glee as his golden grenade detonated, throwing Food Fight into the air. As he rocketed skyward, the Life Skylander blasted the Water Viper with flying fruit, covering its writhing body once again. The serpent was smothered from head to tail.
“Bake that snake!” Trigger Happy giggled wildly as Smolderdash did just that, sending a blinding flare up into the sky. By the time the glare died down, not only had the Water Viper been trapped inside a baked-tomato crust, but the floodwater had all but evaporated thanks to Smolderdash’s heat. Steam rose from the damp ground as the Mabu fanned themselves in the sudden heat wave.
“We won, we won, we won!” Trigger Happy cheered, firing even more coins into the air in celebration.
Smolderdash turned to her friends and smiled, just as the solidified snake toppled over and crashed to the muddy ground, completely immobile. “We eclipse all others,” she said.
Food Fight sniffed the air. “Mmmmm. Smell that? It kind of makes me hungry.”
But further celebrations—and food—would have to wait. The victorious Skylanders spun around as a Portal opened behind them. A familiar figure emerged from the light.
“Spyro!” Trigger Happy exclaimed as the purple dragon landed in front of them. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to get the three of you,” Spyro replied. “We’re all needed back at the Citadel.”
Even Trigger Happy’s smile faltered. He’d never seen his friend look so worried. The Citadel was the Skylanders’ base. It was home to the greatest Portal Master ever, Master Eon. It was Master Eon who had invited them all to be Skylanders in the first place, and they were all fiercely loyal to the old wizard.
“What’s wrong?” Smolderdash asked.
“You’ll see,” Spyro said, leaping back into the Portal. “Just hurry.”
Swapping concerned glances, the three remaining Skylanders followed the dragon, disappearing from sight before the Portal closed.
Mabu Market was suddenly very quiet. Auric the merchant wiped his glasses on a silk handkerchief and looked around at the carnage the defeated Water Viper had caused.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” he muttered, slipping his glasses back onto his nose. “This will take forever to clean up.”
At least his own stall didn’t seem too badly damaged. Since some of his magical trinkets and potions were extremely dangerous, Auric kept them safely under lock and key in a tall ornate cabinet. Sure enough, when he traipsed through the mud to check, the wooden cupboard was still there, shut tight.
But when Auric unlocked the doors, just to make sure, he gasped in shock and dismay. His cabinet of amazing curiosities was completely empty. Someone had stolen all of his stuff!
Chapter Three
The Book of Power
“Is this about the Mask of Power?” Trigger Happy asked Spyro as they appeared in the Citadel’s echoey Portal Chamber. “Is it, is it, is it?”
“I hope not,” Food Fight said glumly. “That thing gives me the creeps.”
“That’s what it’s supposed to do,” pointed out Smolderdash.
But the problem with the Mask of Power was that no one knew exactly what it was supposed to do, or how it worked.
For a while now, Kaos, the Skylanders’ archenemy and all-around bad guy, had been trying to find the fragments of the mysterious ancient mask. It originally belonged to a tyrant called King Nefarion, and it was said to make its wearer all-powerful. No wonder Kaos wanted to get his exceptionally grubby hands on it. Kaos had two ambitions in life:
1) To conquer Skylands.
2) To find a cure for his baldness.
For all the Skylanders knew, the Mask of Power would allow him to do both. What was worse was that Kaos already had most of the pieces—although the Fire and Life segments were safely locked away at the heart of Master Eon’s Citadel. There was still one piece missing—the fragment of the mask associated with the Magic Element—and it was a race against time to see who would get it first.
“Master Eon’s waiting,” said Spyro, leading his friends down a long stone corridor and into the Citadel library. Master Eon stood beside an elaborate podium, his long beard looking whiter than ever. There were heavy shadows beneath his usually bright eyes, as well. The search for the mask was having a profound effect on the Portal Master, making him appear frailer than ever.
He looked up as the Skylanders ran into the library.
“Ah, there you are,” Master Eon said, his voice deep and strong despite his appearance. “And the Water Viper?”
“Baked to perfection.” Trigger Happy giggled. A look of confusion passed over the Portal Master’s face, but he shook it off and moved on to more pressing matters. Gravely, he turned back to the book on the stand.
“As you can see, my Skylanders,” the Portal Master began, “the Book of Power is still bearing bad tidings.”
The Skylanders followed his gaze, looking at the pictures on the large book’s yellowing pages. This was no ordinary book. It predicted when the next fragment of the mask would appear; unfortunately, it only spoke in pictures, which made its contents more of a riddle than any text could ever be.
The current picture was all too clear, however. It showed Kaos wearing the Mask of Power while the Skylanders cowered at his feet. It was the book’s prediction of what was to come. Trigger Happy felt like shooting a hole in the middle of the picture with an extra-large gold coin.
“So, what about the final segment?” Food Fight asked. “Has it given us any clues?”
“That is why I had Spyro bring you back,” Master Eon said, raising a weary hand toward the bo
ok. “Book of Power, reveal to me the location of the Magic fragment. Show me where it is.”
A wind blew through the library, turning the pages of the book in front of their eyes. The book rested open on an empty spread before lines started appearing across the paper as if drawn by an invisible hand. The lines swept this way and that, forming a perfect picture of . . .
“A sheep?” Spyro said, underwhelmed. “Well, I guess each segment of the mask is disguised as something that is the complete opposite of its power.”
“Yeah, and sheep sure fit the bill. They’re the most boring, un-magical creatures in Skylands,” Food Fight pointed out.
Master Eon frowned. “No creature is boring,” he retorted. “From the smallest ant to the largest dragon, all are worthy of protection, and all have a spark of magic within their souls—especially here in Skylands.”
Food Fight looked embarrassed. “Sorry,” he said, only to feel Master Eon’s hand on his shoulder. He glanced up to see the Portal Master smiling kindly down at him.
“No, I am sorry. I was wrong to snap. These are”—he paused, searching for the right word—“troubling times. We must remember to help one another, young or old.”
Trigger Happy still wasn’t convinced, though. He was bouncing up and down to get a closer look at the sheep.
“But there are millions of sheep across Skylands,” he said. “How do we know which one is the right one—huh, huh, huh?”
Trigger Happy always liked saying things three times. It was one of his hobbies. That and shooting things, of course.
“Very good point,” Master Eon said, standing up a little straighter. “Book, where is this sheep? Tell me!”
The sheep shrank down on the page as a new image appeared: a tall, craggy mountain covered in what looked like fluffy white clouds. Master Eon tore the page from the book and gave it to the Skylanders.