Skylanders Universe - Eruptor Meets the Nightmare King

by Onk Beakman

  Wizbit waved his stubby little arms above the Portal of Power. It blazed into life, and three figures appeared out of nowhere.

  “Whoa!” cried out Slam Bam as he tumbled back, suddenly freed from the weight of several thousand tons of rock.

  “Grim! You did it!” Eruptor cheered, leaping to his feet as the ghost beamed proudly.

  “Wizbit did it,” Grim Creeper replied, racing back into his living armor and sweeping up his scythe. “That’s better. I feel half-alive now!”

  Wizbit glanced apologetically at the lava monster. “I am sorry,” he said. “I should have listened to you about Kaos.”

  “Don’t sweat it,” the Fire Skylander responded, although his eyes widened when he saw the army of Kaoses advancing on the Nightmare King’s throne. “And I thought one of him was bad enough!”

  “We need to find the real deal!” yelled Grim Creeper, leaping into action, his scythe already chopping through the nearest Kaos. “And stop him getting the Mask!”

  “He’s gonna get slammed,” cheered his yeti friend, all four fists flying as he piled into the crowd of clones.

  The Skylanders surged forward, punching, slicing, and lobbing lava balls—not that it did much good. No sooner did a fake Kaos fall than three despicable duplicates would pop up to taunt the heroes.

  “The trail’s going cold!” Slam Bam said, trapping six Kaoses in icy prisons. “Where is he?”

  Eruptor glanced over to the Nightmare King’s throne. Multiple Kaoses were creeping up to try to grab the Mask of Power—but only one of them had Glumshanks by his side!

  “There he is,” roared Eruptor.

  “I see him,” Grim Creeper shouted. “Let’s bring him some grave tidings!”

  “I’ll clear a path,” Eruptor rumbled. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day! You can’t beat the heat!”

  Slam Bam and Grim Creeper leaped back onto the Portal of Power as Eruptor blossomed into a huge pool of rolling lava that spread across the throne room in waves.

  “Surf’s up!” shouted Slam Bam as the magma reached the throne. Creating an ice-board beneath his feet, the yeti launched himself from the Portal and surfed the lava flow, with Grim Creeper hanging on to his white mane.

  “What is this?” Nefarion gasped as Slam Bam streaked past.

  “Skylanders in action!” yelled Grim Creeper.

  “Giving evil the cold shoulder,” Slam Bam grinned, piling into the real Kaos and Glumshanks.

  But they weren’t as real as he thought. The nasty Portal Master disappeared as soon as he was barged, and so did Glumshanks.

  “What the—?” shouted Eruptor as he re-formed, but he was interrupted by a gleeful cry of triumph from a Kaos.

  The original Kaos.

  The victorious Kaos.

  “No!” screamed Nefarion as the Mask was yanked from his face. Immediately, he started to shrink. Those extraordinarily long limbs started to shorten. His unsettling body became squat and childlike.

  “Not fair!” Nefarion wailed, tears flowing down his now-chubby cheeks.

  “Behold!” cried Kaos as his duplicates vanished, their job done. “The Nightmare King revealed!”

  “But he’s just a boy,” gasped Wizbit from the Portal.

  “More like a spoiled brat! Why do you think he had the Mask of Power created in the first place? The pampered prince was never taken seriously, even when he was crowned!” Kaos stuck out his bottom lip as he loomed over the kid king. “What’s the matter? Has the bad man got your mask?”

  Nefarion responded by flying into an almighty temper tantrum.

  “So much for the most terrifying tyrant ever to rule Skylands,” Slam Bam said.

  But Eruptor’s eyes were on their greatest enemy. “Kaos!” he yelled. “Drop the mask!”

  “I don’t think so, SKYLOSER!” Kaos sneered. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

  As the Skylanders watched in horror, Kaos held the mask in the air and began to lower it over his wicked, grinning face.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Mask of Power

  “I don’t think so,” roared Eruptor, spitting a magma ball right at Kaos. It hit the mask, and the enchanted wood caught fire immediately.

  “HOT!” screeched Kaos, tossing the mask into the air before tumbling off the throne.

  Everyone in the throne room watched the blazing mask arc above their heads. Suddenly the sobbing Nightmare King leaped from his seat. “Mine!” he yelled, running to catch the Mask as it started to tumble back to the ground. “I mean, ours!”

  “No! It belongs to KAOS!” screamed Kaos, jumping up from where he had fallen.

  Even Glumshanks, who had been trying to stay out of the way, raced forward, arms outstretched. “I’ll get it for you, my lord!”

  The three villains charged together, all eyes on the Mask.

  CRUNCH!

  Eruptor winced as they plowed straight into one another and landed in a heap on the floor.

  Kaos was the first to recover. “Where is it?” he babbled, scrabbling out of the mess of arms and legs. “Where is the mask?”

  “It must be here somewhere,” said Nefarion, gazing around the floor.

  “Ow!” said Glumshanks.

  “Are you looking for this?” said a voice from above.

  Kaos, Nefarion, and Glumshanks looked up to see Wizbit standing on the shoulders of Grim Creeper, who himself was being held aloft by two of Slam Bam’s muscular arms. The Mabu was brandishing the extinguished but charred Mask of Power.

  “Give us back our mask,” Nefarion ordered, tottering forward only to be stopped by a sudden splash of boiling lava.

  “Sorry,” grinned Eruptor mischievously. “Indigestion!”

  Perched on top of the other Skylanders, Wizbit held the mask as high as he could. “This accursed mask has brought nothing but evil to Skylands. Its reign of terror ends today.”

  “No!” shouted Kaos. “You mustn’t!”

  “I must. With the last of my magic I shatter the mask forever,” Wizbit replied. “Mask of Power—no more!”

  The mask shone as bright as a thousand suns and shattered in front of their eyes. The force of Wizbit’s spell sent the Skylanders staggering back, and Slam Bam dropped Grim Creeper to the floor. The Undead Skylander twisted as he fell, and grabbed the Mabu before he hit the stone tiles.

  When the glare cleared, the Mask was gone.

  “Where is it?” Nefarion bawled. “WHERE IS OUR MASK?”

  “Gone!” Eruptor cheered. “Split into eight segments.”

  “One for each Element,” said Slam Bam. “And scattered across Skylands,” Grim Creeper added. “Where they will remain hidden.”

  “For now!” spat Kaos. The Skylanders spun around to face the evil Portal Master. “You forget, SKYBLUNDERERS, I have five of the segments safely tucked away five thousand years in the future.”

  “Give it up, Kaos!” Eruptor said, advancing on the villain. “You’ve lost!”

  “Kaos never loses!” the Portal Master screeched. “Not when there’s a Big Bad Ice Bomb ready to blow! Enjoy being frozen for all time, lava breath. Come, Glumshanks. We’re leaving! Back to the future! Back to my VICTORY!”

  Kaos clapped his hands together and a time rift appeared behind him, gobbling up the evil Portal Master and Glumshanks before the Skylanders could react.

  “The bomb!” wailed Nefarion, going white with terror. “It’s going to go off. Run for your lives!”

  The not-so-nightmarish king turned on his heels and fled as fast as his little legs would carry him.

  “I’d forgotten about that thing,” admitted Slam Bam, looking up at the ticking Legendary Treasure.

  “I hadn’t,” said Grim Creeper, “but it’s okay. Wizbit can just diffuse it, right?”

  “Wrong,” said the Mabu, looking pitiful
. “I used the last of my magic to destroy the mask.”

  “But it’s going to go off any minute now!” said Grim Creeper.

  Eruptor stepped forward. “It’s fine. I know what to do!”

  Beside him, Slam Bam realized what the lava monster had in mind. “Eruptor, you can’t!”

  “Don’t you get it, Slam?” Eruptor smiled sadly. “I already have. Give me a hand, okay?”

  “I don’t understand,” Wizbit said, but Grim Creeper just placed a gauntleted hand on the Mabu’s shoulder.

  “It’s all a matter of timing,” the ghost said softly as Slam Bam hurled Eruptor into the air.

  The lava monster opened his mouth and swallowed the Legendary Treasure in one gulp.

  “It could use a little salt,” Eruptor said before the Big Bad Ice Bomb exploded in his stomach. The lava monster was instantly encased in a sheet of ice that started to creep slowly toward them.

  “I think Nefarion had a point,” Slam Bam said, dragging his eyes away from his frozen friend. “RUN!”

  The Skylanders ran for their lives.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A Final Message

  In the future, Master Eon took a deep breath. The dizziness had finally passed. That could only mean one thing. Supporting himself with his staff, he closed his eyes and let his mind reach out across Skylands.

  There was no Darkness. No Emperor Kaos. Skylands was just as it should be.

  “They did it.” The Portal Master breathed, opening his eyes again. Of course they had. They never let him down.

  Now all he had to do was bring them safely home.

  Muttering magical words beneath his breath, Master Eon slammed the end of his staff onto the ground. In front of him, the rip in time reappeared. He peered into the wild, shimmering colors, calling the Skylanders by name.

  Seconds later they tumbled into the Portal room—Slam Bam, Grim Creeper, and an ancient-looking Mabu who looked suspiciously like an older version of his assistant, Hugo.

  As soon as they were through, the rift closed forever.

  Slam Bam looked up at his Portal Master. “Am I glad to see you!”

  “Welcome back, Slam Bam,” said Master Eon proudly. “And congratulations. Skylands is safe once more. The true course of history has been restored!”

  “But Eruptor,” said Grim Creeper. “He’s still—”

  “Frozen,” Master Eon said, his face looking grim. “I know.”

  “I think I can help with that,” Wizbit chimed in, pushing his frosty glasses up his nose. “My magic may have gone, but I still remember a spell or two. All we need is a Portal Master to say the ancient mystical words.”

  The Mabu grinned knowingly at Master Eon.

  “Master Eon?” said Professor Splinters as the Portal Master appeared with the Skylanders and Wizbit in the middle of the cavern.

  “Good to see you back to normal, Professor,” said Master Eon as Slam Bam and Grim Creeper rushed forward to check on Eruptor. He was frozen in the exact place they had last seen him, five thousand years earlier.

  “Normal?” asked the Treeman. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Master Eon chuckled, turning to the elderly Mabu who had appeared by his side. “You have it?”

  Wizbit handed Master Eon the Book of Power. “I wrote it on the back page,” the Mabu said. “Words that haven’t been spoken in Skylands for millennia.”

  “Then let’s get a move on,” said Slam Bam impatiently, before apologizing to Master Eon. The Portal Master merely flipped open the book and began reciting the spell.

  “Is it working?” asked Grim Creeper, never taking his eyes off Eruptor.

  Slam Bam raised all four hands, and pressed them against the ice. “Yes!” he announced. “The ice is retreating, flowing back into Eruptor’s body!”

  As they watched, the ice block melted away to nothing, leaving Eruptor hanging in the air. He still looked frozen, his lava an icy blue rather than its usual roaring red, but in the blink of an eye the color returned to his rocky skin. Eruptor crashed back down to the ground and opened his eyes.

  “Hey, buddy,” Slam Bam said, welcoming his friend with a sharp-toothed smile. “How are you feeling?”

  Eruptor replied by burping out the remains of the Big Bad Ice Bomb.

  “Does that answer your question?” Grim Creeper asked.

  Behind them, the pages of the Book of Power started to glow. Eruptor frowned at Master Eon. “Hey, doesn’t that only happen when it’s near a fragment of the mask?”

  “Maybe it is,” said Master Eon, stretching out a hand. The bomb (or what was left of it) rose magically into the air and transformed into the Fire segment of the Mask of Power.

  “Ha!” laughed Wizbit. “Of course. It would have spirited away to the coldest place possible when I broke up the mask!”

  “The middle of the Big Bad Ice Bomb!” realized Grim Creeper.

  “Which ended up in the middle of him!” Slam Bam laughed and pointed a hairy thumb at Eruptor.

  But the lava monster was watching Master Eon. The tall Portal Master wasn’t celebrating, but staring at the pages of the Book of Power in despair.

  “What’s wrong, Master Eon?” the lava monster asked. “We stopped Kaos, right?”

  Eon turned the pages so the Skylanders could see. The book was showing an image of Kaos holding the completed mask.

  “Ah, stay cool,” said Slam Bam. “That’s just what happened back in Nefarion’s castle. Kaos found the mask too hot to handle.”

  “No,” said Wizbit, peering at the pages. “That’s not the past.”

  “I’m afraid not,” Master Eon agreed. “The book is showing us the future.”

  “What?” asked Eruptor. “You mean . . .”

  “I mean,” said Master Eon, “that whatever we do, Kaos is destined to wear the Mask of Power. He’s going to win!”

  To be concluded in . . .

  TRIGGER HAPPY

  TARGETS THE EVIL KAOS

  Chapter One

  Snake Attack!

  Since you’re reading this book, 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 a lot of scales. Oh, and long needle-like fangs, too.

  The snake in your head is probably pretty scary, right? The stuff of real nightmares.

  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 the size of your arm. Actually, make them twice the size of 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 brilliant blue sky. These islands are filled with amazing creatures and petrifying 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 work 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 tong
ue 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 the two massive golden guns he held in his hands.

  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 rid your home town of wrongdoers, but he’ll also leave 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.

  What has halted Trigger Happy in his tracks? What has the Water Viper done to Mabu Market? And can Kaos be stopped from conquering Skylands?

  Find out all of the answers in the unmissable final installment of the Mask of Power . . .

  TRIGGER HAPPY

  TARGETS THE EVIL KAOS

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