A Skylanders Creepypasta

This is my first creepypasta. I wrote it many months ago. None of my other pastas reach the length that this story became.

The Pasta
I've never been much of a Spyro fan. The first trilogy was okay. They were good time killers and they didn't start to annoy me after a while. Still, I can't say I was ever that big of a fan of the game. So when Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was announced, I was not thrilled, though it had less to do with what they did to Spyro and more with the fact that I didn't care too much about it.



The $80 price tag was a turn off indeed. How would pay that much just for one game? I think it was because of that stupid toy gimmick... Seriously, whatever happened to a good old character selection? Now we need to have figurines to play this game? That was bullshit and I wondered who at Activision thought this was a good idea!



It wasn't until a month after the game's release that I had a chance to play it. A friend of mine had stopped by on his way to work. He handed me his game, along with all his figurines, neatly packed into a box. When I had asked him why, he wouldn't say, instead looking at me with what I can best describe as a frown. He just took off as soon as he had given me the box. I shrugged it off. He was probably just in a hurry. I can see why he was pissed off at me, then, if that were the case. I went back into the house.



I set the box on the table and looked at what I had gotten. There was the game itself, complete with the manual. He had a total of eight figurines. Reading their names, I found they were Spyro, Gill Grunt, Trigger Happy, Whirlwind, Eruptor, Chop Chop, Bash, and Stump Smash, one of each element. What weird names, but oh well! What should I expect from a company producing a game for kindergarteners? I dumped the figurines on the floor beside me. The last thing to pull out was the Portal Of Power, if I remembered the name right.



It was a little difficult pulling out. It was caught in one of the flaps of the box. I managed to pull it out and ignored the scratching noise it made. Oddly enough, it looked a little different than what I expected. I had seen a few pictures of the Portal Of Power and something felt...off about this. It wasn't anything alarming or anything. The shape was just slightly different, more angular, with more prominent sharp edges. The color was tinged more towards the green than usual. But other than that, it looked fine.



I didn't let it bother me. I wanted to see what the hype was about this game. So many people I spoke to said the game was good. That wasn't saying much though. Most of the people who recommended the game were just kids I talk to around the neighborhood. Kids would be satisfied with a dancing clown, so I doubt they would know a good game even if they saw one.



It took me a little longer than I thought to hook up the game. A few times I had to refer to the manual to see what I was doing wrong. After a few plug pulling, reattaching plugs, checking the USB, I felt I was ready to play the game. I really hoped this game was good enough to impress me.



Inserting the disc into the console, I waited for the game to load up. I frowned when nothing happened. Normally the Playstation 3 would automatically play a game if inserted while it was turned on and loaded into a profile. I tried taking the game out and putting it back in, but nothing changed. Sighing, I started to scroll through the PS menu, thinking that if this game turned out to not work, I would give my friend an earful for dropping off a useless game at my place.



<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I quickly found the menu for the games. I saw that the game was recognized by the system, or at least I thought it did. The icon for the PS3 game was there, meaning a PS3 game was inserted, but instead of having the name there, it was just a “...”, almost as if the console could not read the title of the game.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I blinked at this. I had never encountered a glitch like this before. I hadn't checked the bottom of the game, but I thought maybe my friend scratched the disc. But no that would be impossible. Even if that were the case, the console should still read it. Or maybe I'm wrong. I shrugged it off. I would worry about it later. I pressed the down button to select the game, but stopped immediately.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Now, I didn't know what to expect since I never played this game before. I didn't know what the background would look like or what music would play. But something tells me it should not have been this. The background was the cover of the game, but the colors were way off! It was like the threshold effect in some art and video programs, only a bit stronger. The music seemed to be fine, nothing too unusual for this game. It was just a little distorted, as if someone had slipped up a few times when performing the song for this game. I wasn't sure what to think of this. I wasn't scared or anything. Don't get me wrong. I just don't know how I should feel about this. Having not played the game, maybe I am wrong and this was all normal.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I pressed the start button and waited for the download screen to show. Much to my delight, it skipped passed that and started to load up the game. I smiled at this. Finally, a new PS3 game that didn't make you download and install it into the console! I was starting to like this game already and I hadn't even played any level yet, let alone seen anything on what the plot was.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The game skipped immediately to the intro, which I thought was strange. Normally games have short clips involving companies that made the game. Oh well, nothing to worry about. The title screen came up after the preview with Trigger Happy came up. Again I saw that same threshold version of the game's cover. I had to squint my eyes because the white was too intense in the game, even brighter than it was on the PS3's menu. I selected to start a new game and waited for an intro to play.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The intro seemed weird to me, and I guess that should have been my first warning sign for what was going to happen later on. It started off innocently enough, explaining the story of the Skylanders and their role in protecting Skylands from some guy called Kaos and the Darkness. I had heard bits about the game before, so I suspected that this intro was accurate. I admit, it seemed kinda cute, and the atmosphere almost reminded me of the first trilogy, even without being in the actual game yet. But it wasn't until I guessed was near the end of the intro that things started to get a bit...strange is the best word I can describe it.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">After the scene played of the Skylanders losing the battle against Kaos and that...Core Of Light or whatever it was called, was destroyed by an unseen four-headed monster, I expected to see the Skylanders being sent to Earth and some silly comment about that. I mean that's what they advertised in the previews. I had seen the first one trailer where they were sent to Earth, so I knew the game had to showcase this. But instead I saw something else. Rather than showing them going to Earth, it faded to black and stayed like that for a few seconds before something finally popped into view, and boy I'll tell ya it took me a while to get this image out of my head.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It showed a picture of Eon's head floating there. All things considered, this would have been normal if he actually looked like Eon. Instead, some flesh was missing and some skeletal properties were visible! It was not hyper realistic; it looked cartoony. But it was still a tad bit unnerving. This didn't seem normal. It didn't help that Eon's eyes were sunken in and small, with an exaggerated black outline around his eyes. It made him looked...almost possessed!

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">My desire to play the game had lowered, but it wasn't enough to deter me. My guess is that I just got a glitched game somehow, or perhaps my friend had messed around with some settings. Yeah that was likely the cause. Eon's cartoony zombie look suggested that perhaps Activision added it for fun and there was some code they put into the game for players to access that skin for Eon. I decided to forget about it and waited as the main game started to load up. The game began to fade to black and I expected to see the first level of the game load up.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">But instead, before that, Eon's face showed up again. He had a look of determination on his face. Not a cartoony expression, but an actual look of desperation, as if something were really wrong. He moved his head to face me. Now this didn't scare me because I was told the game acts like the gamer is the new Portal Master, so it wasn't unusual for characters in the game to seem like they're 'breaking the fouth wall' so to speak. But something was flashing below his floating head. I squinted and leaned in closer. The light began to form into words. There was a kind of wavy effect so it was hard to read at first. When it became clear, I could see the phrase written on the screen.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“I can no longer speak, Portal Master. Kaos has taken my voice.”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">What? That wasn't right, was it? I was pretty sure Eon still spoke even after he was turned into a spirit. Surely this zombified skin couldn't change much in the programming, could it?

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Soon more words appeared on the screen.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Please use the Portal Of Preservation to defeat him.”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">His eyes narrowed as those words appeared. I was confused by what he said. Portal Of Preservation? Wasn't it supposed to be Portal Of Power? I looked over at the device. It was shaped a little different. Maybe Activision released a new version of the Portal Of Power and renamed it? Maybe that's why it was colored green. That color might represent some kind of hope or something, perhaps.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I waited to see if Eon had anything else to say, or rather, write.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Please take care of your Skylanders, Portal Master. You will feel the consequence of every wrong move. That is the curse of being a Portal Master.”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">What the hell?! Now I know that can't be right! This was just a game! No, it must just be some bullshit Activision decided to put into the game to make it seem more 'real', not that this game was realistic to start with.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The head started to fade out and Eon had but one more thing to say before he vanished into the darkness.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“And remember...Each Skylander has a life. Once it runs out, no more chances...”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Then the game went to black completely. The last line hung over my mind. What did Eon mean by each Skylander having a life and that if it runs out, no more chances? I'm pretty sure Activision wouldn't allow any of the Skylanders to actually die. My friend from before had stated that a Skylander is only useless if they lose all health in a level, but that once you restart the level or exit to the main world, they are usable again. But Eon seemed to be hinting that it's game over for a Skylander if they lose all health...Maybe it's just my imagination.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The game started up and I immediately knew it was all wrong. Everything was in black and white save for some fire in the background. Some areas were wobbly, which I guessed was supposed to show it was very hot. The area I was in looked like the place where the Core Of Light was destroyed, only it was floating above lava and none of the ruins suggested this was the exact same area. There was some music, but it was a bit too dark and slow for what I expected from this game. The game hadn't paused either, which I thought was strange. Wasn't the game supposed to pause for when you didn't have a Skylander on the Portal Of Power?

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I rummaged through the Skylanders and decided to grab Spyro as he was the only character I really recognized, although he didn't look like the Spyro I remember. I stared at the object briefly and went over to the Portal Of Power..er..Preservation. I placed Spyro on the portal and waited for him to appear on screen. The Portal Of Preservation seemed to make a slightly long beep sound. This had confused me, and I noticed the white platform looked like it had a swirling mist effect around Spyro. Was this supposed to happen? I wasn't sure.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I looked up at the screen and saw the animation of a Skylander being put in the game. The symbol of magic appeared and then Spyro showed up with that cocky smirk on his face. He then jumped into action and appeared into the level. Finally I could start playing...except I couldn't. Instead I was treated to a scene of Spyro running around like crazy, screaming his head off! I could see bits of his purple body was catching on fire, even though he breathed fire and he was not that close to any flames. I stared at this scene, watching as his health dropped. I wasn't sure what to do until I started feeling my own hands start to burn. I yelped and dropped the controller. I put my hands on it and realized it was heating up! My eyes widened at this and stared at the red marks on my hands.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I quickly removed Spyro. But as I grabbed it, the figurine was burning hot as well and it felt almost like it was welded to the Portal Of Preservation! Finally I managed to muster up the strength I needed to rip the figurine off. I looked at the screen. Spyro had lost almost all of his health and the blinking red light of impending death, as my friend called it, was flashing. Spyro had only about 20 HP left when I yanked him off. And still the game did not pause, but instead just showed me the same burning landscape, waiting for me to put on the next Skylander.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Before I could do so, a faded image of Eon's face appeared, causing me to jolt in shock. I was not expecting him to show up. Eon looked at me almost angrily, but also sympathetically.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“I warned you, Portal Master...”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Then his face faded. I looked at my reddened hands again. The marks were starting to disappear and some of the pain had dulled. I then understood what Eon was saying before, or at least one part of it. Whatever happens to the Skylanders in the game happens to me. But wait that was impossible, wasn't it? No it must be some kind of programming in the game that was turned off by default. The burn on my hand was telling me one thing, but my mind another. I rubbed my hands and went back to the game.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I was hesitant on which Skylander to choose. Spyro was nearly burned to death. I looked at what I had available. All of them looked like they would be engulfed in flames the second they entered this level, especially the tree monster guy. I finally chose Eruptor. He was already on fire anyway and he was a Fire Skylander. Perhaps he could withstand the heat. I placed him on the Portal of Preservation and this time, instead of a red mist, a cool, almost watery effect encircled him.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">On screen, Eruptor showed up, first doing the intro animation and then popping up in the level. I flinched instinctively, expecting the controller to burn again and for the screams to resume. But instead, Eruptor was unaffected, just standing there idly, awaiting me to press the buttons. I cautiously picked up the controller. It was not hot so I relaxed a bit and began to play the game. Eruptor moved painfully slowly, and there being no jump button in this game was annoying. But at least I could navigate the game now.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I navigated Eruptor through the level. There wasn't anything there other than grass, ruins, and rocks. I couldn't see any NPCs or any obvious places to go. There didn't seem to be any real navigation; it was feeling very linear. Well that wasn't a surprise. I was told this game was really linear as to not confuse the little children. But this level seemed too linear. There were no turns I could go. It was literally just a straight line. I tried moving elsewhere, but some kind of invisible force was knocking me back anytime I went anywhere but in a straight diagonal downwards towards the bottom right corner of the screen. Was this Kaos's doing? He was supposed to possess some magical powers.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I continued traveling over until I game to a ledge that appeared to go nowhere. I couldn't see the bottom. Seeing I had nowhere else to go, I took the dive. That's when the beep from the portal device returned and the cool blue shifted to the foreboding red. Taking in a sharp breath, I looked over at the screen as Eruptor kept falling down and down and down for what seemed like forever. Then when he finally landed, the ground was nonexistent. It was instead water. But wasn't water supposed to beat fire? This was proven right as soon as Eruptor's magma-filled body touched the watery ground.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Immediately, Eruptor erupted, no pun intended, into screams of pain! He began running around, just as Spyro had, as his body began to cool down, which I imagine was painful for him. The controller began to cool down as well. This was welcoming at first, but seconds later, the cold became painful. Wincing, I dropped the controller. I went over to try to yank Eruptor off. He was so cold that it was hard for me to get a grip without feeling pain and having to use my hot breath to warm up my hands. I could hear the infamous beeping sound from the screen and worked hard to get him off before all his health dropped. Unlike with Spyro, I was unable to remove Eruptor in time.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">On screen, Eruptor had frozen in a block of ice. It was then that I could remove him from the Portal Of Preservation. I stared at the figurine and then back at the screen. I stared at the running water. Taking note from what happened last time, I picked up Gill Grunt, the water guy. Just as I thought, Gill Grunt had no trouble navigating the water. But just as before, I could only navigating diagonally down to the bottom right. Gill Grunt couldn't get up on the land because of the no jump option, but even if there were, I'm certain Kaos's shields would prevent him from leaving the water anyway.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Nothing bad happened as I went through the level. As I reached the end, rather than another drop down, which I was dreading, I instead found what looked like a piece of paper. I moved Gill Grunt over and he immediately grabbed it, or so I think since it just disappeared. The area faded out and it said 'Level Complete'. I frowned at this. That was the whole level? Well maybe it would get a little more challenging later on. In case of another adverse effect, I removed Gill Grunt. The game continued on anyway.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The next level loaded up. The music was a little more tolerable this time and the land was no longer on fire. Instead, it appeared to be a desert level of some sort. This time there was a clear path defined by sharp rocks heading straight down. Well that was a nice change of pace. A different direction at least. I picked up Eruptor. This was a new level and I was told that Skylanders are usable again after the end of each level.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I put Eruptor on the portal once more. This time, no lights were flashing. I thought it was odd, and I was confused when the screen started to do the intro animation anyway, showing the symbol for fire. I waited for Eruptor to show up. But when he did, I couldn't help but scream.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">No it wasn't because it was horrifically graphic. It didn't show Eruptor dismembered or anything like that. Instead of that, Eruptor was frozen in a block of ice. It was the look on his face that scared me. His eyes were wide open and his mouth twisted so far I thought it was going to rip off! There was an eternal scream of agony on his face! And to make me feel more nervous, the eyes looked like they were aimed at me. It was almost as if Eruptor was asking me why I had allowed him to die, but that was impossible wasn't it? These characters, they were not really alive, were they?

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The portal had loaded up Eruptor into the game despite his...condition. I looked at the lava monster, still eternally and silently screaming, still frozen in that block of ice. Suddenly, I heard laughter. I bit my lip as I saw Kaos fading into the screen. I thought I wasn't supposed to face him directly until the end of the game. I watched Kaos as he kicked over Eruptor's block of ice and then stood over him triumphantly. He was looking straight at the screen, at me, and pointing at me.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Foolish apprentice! Did you think you had a chance against ME? KAOS?! Turn back now, you fool, or face my WRATH! Consider yourself lucky I only...left you a GIFT!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">What was he talking about? I didn't have time to ask, for after he finished his sentence, he grabbed Eruptor and just teleported away. I leaned backwards slightly, breathing in heavily. Was this really the kid-friendly game everyone was talking about? I may not know as much about the game as people who have actually played and beaten it, but this didn't feel right at all. This was...very off... Then the white words appeared on the screen, this time slightly tinged pink.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Each Skylander has a life. Allow one to die, you'll never be able to use them again. Am I clear now?”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The image of Eon's zombified face appeared, this time looking a little more realistic, more frightening then he had originally appeared. Eon looked sad and disappointed. After a few minutes, Eon's eyes narrowed further, looking angrier by the second. 'Am I clear now?' began to increase in font size and the white slowly shifted to red. Gulping, I started to nod my head. As soon as I did, the game faded to black. I waited with apprehension what was going to happen next.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The game opened back up in the desert, the same spot where Eruptor's frozen body was taken by Kaos. I picked up Gill Grunt and lowered him to the portal. Even before the toy made contact, I started to hear that long beep sound, faintly, barely. I pulled the amphibian guy away from the portal, noticing there was a slight red tinge forming. I stared at Gill Grunt. Of course, he was a Water Skylander. If I placed him on the Portal Of Preservation, he would likely dry up from the intense heat. I would need...oh wait, that's right. Eruptor was gone. I could not use him any longer. I looked at the Skylander collection I had and finally decided upon Bash, the Earth Skylander.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Seeing the cool blue watery effect on the portal was welcoming to me after what happened. I resumed playing. Bash was pretty fun to play as. I liked that he could roll into a ball. That made navigating this place easier. And this level was a welcome change from the straight line from before. This felt a bit more like an actual level, with some turning involved and a bit more freedom with navigation. There were even some obstacles, such as gaps to avoid and some rocks to destroy with Bash's spiked tail. There were still no NPCs, which I found strange. Wasn't this game supposed to have a number of NPC characters?

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Finally, Bash came to what seemed like a dead end. There was no other path to take but this one, leading upwards. There was a column of rock pillars straight across. I moved Bash towards it. I immediately used this tail to smash one of the rocks to bits. Almost immediately, a pillar of air shot out. As it hit Bash in the face, he cried out in pain and backed off, even though I did not hit any button to tell him to do that. I felt a sting on my face, as if a thin wisp of extra burning air had been shot out against me. So this is what Kaos was talking about... I clung to the remote as I clenched my teeth, eyes closed. I could hear Bash breathing as heavily as I was. I opened my eyes and saw that Bash had lost 30 percent of his health from that blast! Shoot, how was I supposed to get over there?

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I couldn't risk moving Bash over there. The air was still blowing. He would lose health too fast and he would be in a lot of pain, which means I would suffer as well. I narrowed my eyes. So far, the theme had been the same. To get over an elemental obstacle, use the Skylander of that element. So I'm guessing I would need an Air Skylander for this. I removed Bash off from the portal and kept my eyes on the steam shooting out of the rocks as I grabbed Whirlwind. I placed her on the portal and watched the intro animation. I hoped this would work.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Whirlwind appeared in the level and immediately started shrieking, flapping her wings wildly. To my horror, her feathers started to shrivel up and fall out! I saw the Portal Of Preservation was red again and that blasted beep had returned. After Whirlwind lost 20 percent of her health, I moved her over to the steam. She immediately settled down as she was in the blast of air. Well that was just great! Whirlwind is only safe in the steam. Out of it, she'll dry up like a prune. Bash is the only one I can use, but I can't switch them out now. He'll burn in the steam. I had to work fast!

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I moved Whirlwind out of the steam and up ahead. As soon as the first screech left her mouth, I yanked her off the portal, ignoring the tingling sensation I felt. I set the figurine down and got out Bash. I sighed with relief as Bash appeared and the portal returned to blue. I would have to keep an eye out in the future. The levels are starting to become trickier. I pulled the figurines closer so I could switch them out more easily.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Up ahead, I urged Bash on. The earth dragon walked across the landscape. I moved him more slowly this time in case there were any nasty surprises waiting up ahead. The path continued to wind in different directions. In a few places, I got stuck, unsure of where to go. I could have chosen the wrong path, but somehow I managed to guess right each time. Heh. Just dumb luck I presume. Anyway, the level was getting really repetitive. I don't know why there weren't any NPCs yet. Maybe they would appear in the next level.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I came to a fork in the road. This wasn't the only one I ran into. This one, however, was different. One pathway was very broad. The other was very narrow and thin. The narrow path was brightly lit, shaded a pale yellow color. The other path was darker and the furthest area ahead was shaded in darkness. I stopped Bash right at the fork and thought about what move to make.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I've seen enough horror movies and played enough horror games to know that going into darkness wasn't the best option, but it was often the only option. There are games, like Silent Hill, that force you to go to places you'd much rather not be. You don't have a choice at all. Taking the easiest path is made difficult, or there might be something there to persuade you to go another way. I looked at the path again. I had a feeling that, if this game were to follow by the standard rules of horror...wait, did that make any sense? This was supposed to be a kids' game. Wait, no. It wasn't a children's game. No child would ever want to play this.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I wasn't going to be fooled by this game. I immediately turned Bash into the darkness. I know that's where the game wanted me to go. I moved him towards the left of the screen where the wide path was. I eased him up until he just barely touched the shadows. I narrowed my eyes in confusion. Despite the screen moving up, the darkened area wasn't budging. I couldn't see a damn thing beyond the point where Bash stood! I hesitated, then pushed on the joystick slightly. Bash started to walk very slowly upwards. I kept pushing him forward, wanting to see what would happen if I were to continue up the blackened path.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Words popped up on the screen. They weren't the same color as when Eon spoke to me. They were red in color with a bold black outline. I guessed it was Kaos. The first line confirmed it.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“What are you doing in MY LANDS?! Leave now, Apprentice! I will not warn you again!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I scoffed at this. There was no one around except Kaos. And I know he cannot take on Bash all by himself. And I hadn't even gotten anything worth stealing, so there was no reason for him to send out his minions against me. Then more words appeared on the screen that made me regret scoffing.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“You DARE to SCOFF at ME, KAOS?! You Portal Master Imposter! I shall give you a good reason to fear ME!”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Despite this, nothing had happened. I was puzzled. I was hesitant to move forward. But I didn't want to go back either. I came this far up this dark path. I eased Bash forward, although I could barely see his body in the black. Bash didn't get too much further though before I froze at the sound of Kaos's laughter. A quick shudder, my hands gripping the controller tightly, I almost yanked the controller away hard from shock. Bash looked puzzled as well. I could see his head moving from side to side. It seemed he was wondering the same thing. What was Kaos going to do?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">This was answered swiftly. As soon as Bash took one more step, the ground started to shake. Bash was knocked about. I grunted as I felt all the blows on my body. Two sharp pillars rose from the ground, catching Bash in the middle of them! The dragon became stuck. The pillars rose several feet off the ground as the dragon squirmed. I could hear Kaos's laughter once more, and I shuddered. In desperation, I tried pressing the attack button. Bash pounded against the rocks, but they weren't budging. That's when I noticed that the tips, the ones holding him, were hardened with a coat of metal. I didn't know how that was possible, but I didn't have time to question it before Kaos appeared on the screen.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">He must have been using some kind of magic because he was just hovering above the ground. I wasn't sure if this was a programmed ability or not, but I didn't care at this point. Kaos had his arms folded behind his back, an evil smirk on his face. I could feel my heart pounding as his red eyes stared straight into mine. It was like he could sense the fear inside of me and it was satisfying him. He moved closer to Bash. The dragon snapped his jaws at Kaos, but the evil fiend stayed just out of his range.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Kaos didn't say anything. He just stared at me with a smile so evil I didn't think it was possible. It seemed almost...too realistic for a cartoon character. He turned his attention over to Bash. He uttered some words under his breath. I couldn't hear what he was saying, let alone make out anything. But as he was speaking, the ground below began to rumble. Rocks crumbled as a thin crevice was formed. It circled around where Bash was dangling above. Kaos then motioned with his hands for something rise up.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">A large wall of wind shot up out of the circle. It encircled Bash, swirling and twisting around his body. The wingless dragon screamed loudly, his mouth so wide I could see the tense muscles hooking the jaw to the head. I winced in pain, but this wasn't nearly as painful for me as it was for Bash. The poor dragon was twisting and turning every which way to avoid the wind. But nothing he was doing worked. I tried to press the buttons, but they were unresponsive, as if this were a cutscene. The Portal Of Preservation was going crazy! The red was actually flashing and the single long beep was broken up into a series of high pitched beeps!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I watched for a few seconds as the wind continued to bombard the Earth Skylander. Bits of his armor were being chipped away slowly. Kaos didn't laugh. He just crossed his arms in sick satisfaction. I looked at the flashing red portal. I reached over to try to grab it. When my hands finally touched the figurine, I heard Kaos's voice.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Uh uh uh....I cannot allow you to do that.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Suddenly a wave of pain shot through my hand! I tried to bear it, but it continued to get more and more intense. I tried to pull Bash off, but the harder I pulled, the more intense the pain got. I wouldn't let Kaos kill another Skylander though. I had to save Bash. I pulled even harder, hoping that I would get the Earth Skylander off in time. His health was fading fast. Without warning, a gust of painfully cold wind shot out of the portal and knocked me in the face! Unable to hold back any longer, I let out a scream as I hit against the floor.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I laid there on my back for several seconds. When I managed to get back up, I was horrified by what I saw on the screen. Two incredibly strong, narrow winds were striking Bash in the head. They were actually cutting straight through. I felt a pain in my neck as this happened. I gripped my neck and fell to my knees, trying to cope with the pain. I opened up an eye and saw Bash gave his death scream as his head was cut clean from his body. Kaos snapped a finger and down fell Bash's body and his head. Kaos dove down into the darkness. I thought that he had finally left, but boy was I wrong.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Kaos returned, suddenly popping in front of the screen. That same twisted smile was on his face! He was so close I could see the details of his face. I felt my breath start to quicken. Kaos seemed to notice too as his smile broadened further. He was now practically grinning from ear to ear.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“I see you finally understand me, Portal Master Imposter. But just in case you try anything funny, I will make sure that this...unfortunate incident, is engraved into your pitiful skull...”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">He reached down to grab something. When he brought it up, I was ill prepared for what happened next. There, on the screen, was Bash's severed head! Blood was dripping from the bottom. Bash still had some function as he was still screaming and squirming from side to side. The background flashed rapidly as this went on. My heart beat quickly and I tried my best not to scream at this horrid sight. Kaos kept the screaming head on the screen for nearly 2 minutes. He only lowered it when Bash finally lost all his life and he closed his eyes for the final time.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Remember this well. I will NOT be so generous next time!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">With that, Kaos teleported away, taking Bash's body with him just like he had with Eruptor. I sat there, stunned. I had only gotten to the second level and already I lost 2 out of 8 Skylanders. I looked at the remaining Skylanders. Spyro practically didn't count as he nearly all of his health in the first level. That left just 5 remaining Skylanders. I looked back at the screen. Should I heed Kaos's warning and stop playing now? Or should I proceed anyway?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Before I had a chance to answer that, the screen moved down, making a slight screeching sound as it did so. It positioned itself in the jagged narrow path. An arrow appeared on the screen, urging me to take this path. I had my doubts, but how worse could this path be? I leaned in to see what kind of path it was, what was causing all those lights. I couldn't make out the details. I reached down to grab a Skylander, but quickly realized I didn't have any I felt could be a match for this area.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Words appeared once more on the screen. I read them to myself.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Use an Air Skylander...”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Air Skylander? Whirlwind? But no, that can't be right. I already used her before and she took damage. I reached over to grab Stump Smash, believing he may stand a better chance. The game wouldn't let me put him on the portal. As I lowered the figurine onto the portal, the game screen started to tint red and started to blur and shake. A screeching sound emitted from the speakers! The portal was turning red and making the long beep sound. The words 'Use an Air Skylander' grew in size and began to shake violently.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Finally relenting, I dropped Stump Smash to the ground and grabbed Whirlwind. I placed her on the Portal Of Preservation. The portal calmed down and turned watery blue. The game settled down and returned to normal. Whirlwind stood at the entrance of the path, taking no damage. I blinked. I didn't see any wind here. Something about this place must be protecting her from the earth element. Not wanting to question it for long, I began to move the feathered dragon forward slowly. I had no idea what waited for me. I didn't want to rush headlong into it.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I eased Whirlwind slowly up the jagged, narrow path. As I took my time, I began to think of all that happened so far. I began to have doubts that Activision could be responsible for this. They wouldn't release something like this, not even for the older fans. This was just too twisted. Kaos was not even a comedic villain anymore like he was in the opening and the trailer. He was a complete monster. He wouldn't hold back on doing the most heinous of things. The thought of him caused my heart to fill with dread. What more could he do, I wondered.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The walls of the path began to glow, emitting a brighter light than before. I had to turn my head away momentarily to let my eyes adjust. When I looked back, I gasped in utter surprise as beams of light began to slink out of the walls. They had an almost snake-like appearance, though they bent more freely like tentacles. The light snakes, or whatever they were, began to circle around Whirlwind. I bit my lip once more. I anticipated what was going to happen and prepared for a fight.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The light snakes didn't attack, at least not yet. I expected them any time to lung at Whirlwind. Instead, however, they just circled around Whirlwind, as if they were just curious about her. Whirlwind's expression was softening, so I began to relax. That turned out to be a mistake. I was quickly brought back to my senses by Whirlwind's high-pitched scream. The light snakes had wrapped themselves around her body and stared at her like a cat would a mouse. I was surprised I didn't feel any pain yet, but I was more focused on freeing Whirlwind. I mashed the buttons, but none of her attacks had any effect on the light snakes.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">They wrapped around her body tightly. Then they began lowering towards the ground. They must be trying to crush her to death. Again I tried the attack buttons. I even tried gliding even though that attack was not yet available to her. Nothing was working. I watched as they dragged her closer to the ground. When they got close enough, I closed my eyes and looked away, not daring to watch. When nothing happened, I was confused. I looked back at the screen. The light snakes were moving inside the floor, dragging Whirlwind inside as well. I blinked, unsure of what to make of this.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">As they lowered in deeper, I noticed the screen gradually getting darker. Was this the end of the level? This question was answered as it faded to pitch black and the words on the screen appeared, saying 'Level 2 Complete'. I let out a long, heavy sigh. I looked down at Eruptor and Bash. Two Skylanders lost in just the first 2 levels. Was this how it was going to work? Was I to lose a Skylander per level? I'm sure that's how Kaos has it all planned. He wants to weaken the new Portal Master, in this case me. I would need to make sure he did not gain the upper hand.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I waited for the new level to load up. Slowly but surely, it did. Level 3 was definitely prettier than the last level. Whirlwind was pulled up into an open field with a few trees, tall grass, and flowers colored red, yellow, and blue. There was a heavy wind moving around the land, so I knew that she should do fine in this level, being an Air Skylander. I heard a strange sound and I wanted to move the camera to see it. I could not due to the way the game was programmed. But then I saw the source of the sound.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Overhead, off in the distance, a few birds flew over the land. Not big birds, more like song birds. I couldn't help but smile. They were the first signs of actual life. They weren't NPCs, but they were still better than nothing. I had a feeling this place was going to be much livelier than the last couple levels. Holding my controller tightly, I began to explore this new land with Whirlwind.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Up ahead, I could see a large lake with unusually reflective water. Curious, I moved towards it. The shape was kind of familiar. I soon realized it was shaped similarly to the size of the area that held the Core Of Light. It must have been coincidence, though. There's no way this lake could hold the core. It was destroyed by that minion of Kaos. Still, I approached more closely. But before I could get too close, I felt something push against me. I noticed Whirlwind was knocked back by a force field of wind. I was puzzled and tried again.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Whirlwind managed to get a leg through the wind. The portal suddenly began to beep and I felt my hand swell! I cried out and moved Whirlwind back before she lost too much health. The game was being too courteous this time. Actually providing a means of stopping myself before I did anything foolish? Where as this protection earlier? I shook my head and examined the area again.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I needed a way to get in there, but I couldn't decide the best way to approach this. I can bring out Gill Grunt, but I don't think he could break through the shield. I could use Whirlwind to break through, but I don't know if I could react quickly enough to get her off the portal before it was too late. I narrowed my eyes. That might be my best chance, still. She is an Air Skylander so I magined she was the only one who can get through the shield. I took a gulp of air and charged Whirlwind through.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I tried not to scream as Whirlwind was in instant agony. She had fallen straight into the water and was scrambling to get out, unable to swim. I rapidly pressed buttons to get her out, noticing her declining health bar. I managed to get her out of the water. Thankfully, she returned to normal once she was out of the water. Despite the fact I was certain I had to buy the move, Whirlwind remained aloft. Perhaps there was a strong breeze here holding her up.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Knowing that something might happen if I waited too long, I quickly pulled up Gill Grunt. I switched the two Skylanders. Gill Grunt appeared on screen. He took some damage, but he was just fine as soon as he hit the water. The lake was pretty large, so I began to move Gill Grunt through it. After a while of looking, I did finally spot something. It looked to be a small island of some sort. I went for it. Maybe this was the end of the third level.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Gill Grunt got out of the water and stood there. As predicted, he started to get hurt. So I switched him out with Stump Smash. The tree monster barely fit on the land, yet he seemed to know what he was doing. Without my command, the tree monster pushed his stump fists into the ground, activating something. That's when I realized that it wasn't an island, but some kind of trigger for something. I watched as a hologram appeared in front of Stump Smash. I was shocked by this because I didn't think holograms would have existed in this game, being more magical and all.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The hologram displayed an animated picture of a mammalian character. I squinted and leaned in closer. It took me a while to recognize this as Hugo, the sheep-fearing idiot. He looked mostly normal except that his clothes were torn and he had a bit of blood on him. He made the same gestures as he did before as if nothing were wrong.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“You must hurry, oh great and powerful one!” Hugo spoke. There was a tinge of uneasiness in his throat. “I hope Eon is right about you. You're our only hope now!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I wanted to reply, but words left my mind. I couldn't think of anything to say.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“I know you are speechless, great one, and I do not blame you. Nothing is as it was planned. Kaos had gone too far this time!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">That was an understatement.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Please take this underwater passage.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">As he said that, I felt the ground shake. The water roared louder as it rose up high and parted away. A shield kept the water at bay. Now there was a narrow path going down into the lake.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“This will lead you to a secret room. There you shall find a way to nullify Kaos's spell on your Skylanders. Then it will be much easier for you to get to him without wearing yourself out. Good luck, Portal Master!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Something that will make it easier for me to find Kaos without too much trouble for myself? I am sure he meant that it will keep my Skylanders from being damaged from being in any element other than their own. I looked over at Bash and Eruptor and clenched my hand into a fist. Why hadn't Hugo told me about this earlier? Why did I have to watch two Skylanders die before finding this out?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Ah well nothing I can do about it now. I began to move Stump Smash down the pathway. I looked uneasily at the two walls of water. I didn't know how long they would hold. I could see schools of fish swimming through them. Some of them tried to break through the wall. I winced. That might be enough to make the water splash down on Stump Smash; then I'd never be able to get to the room.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The tunnel was very deep. It wasn't long before I couldn't see much at all. There was no option to make it brighter. I was forced to rely on guesswork to move the tree Skylander through. It was not an easy task trying to figure out where I was, where to go, etc. But my hard work paid off. I was able to find a light up ahead. That had to be where the room was. I pushed the joystick as far as it would go, hoping Stump Smash would run faster.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">My joy suddenly turned to terror as the light suddenly moved without warning. I mouthed 'What the hell?' to myself as the light began to become deformed and disfigured. Then the light turned into black energy and long tendrils with hooks at the end of them emerged! They wrapped around Stump Smash until they had encircled him completely. The tree looked around, realizing it was trapped in a cage of black, hard goo, or whatever this stuff was. I pressed the attack button and Stump Smash slammed a fist into one of the tendrils, only for him to get stuck.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“HAHAHAHA I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I froze. That voice, Kaos was here?! My fears were confirmed when a large image of Kaos's head appeared. Before I wasn't scared of that giant floating head of his, since I had seen it as a goofy projection of himself. But now it terrified me. It was scarier than before, more vicious looking!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Did you really think I would make it easy for you to break the spell? DID YOU?!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The black goo lifted up Stump Smash into the air. It wobbled a little. Then it smashed through the water, carrying the tree monster with them. I clutched at my heart in pain. Stump Smash struggled in the water, his eyes wide open. The water was going into his bark and making him swell up. I could feel my own hands puffing up as well. Kaos was getting smarter now. I clenched my teeth tightly and tried to bear it. The beeping became more high pitched, more frantic, yet I couldn't bring myself to do anything.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I could hear Kaos laughing. He must be enjoying my pain. I looked on the screen. I could no longer see him, yet his laughter was still there. I saw Stump Smash continue to be bloated up by the water. He couldn't escape the grasp of the black goo. I struggled to fight through the pain and grabbed Gill Grunt. I lifted up a hand and went to knock Stump Smash off. As I grabbed him, there was a jolt of something going through my hand! I screamed and pulled hard.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I fell backwards into the ground. The game froze partially, with the only movement being the black goo. I looked at my hand. There was a slight burn now on my palm. The bottom of Stump Smash was slightly charred. I was worried it wasn't going to work anymore. I dropped Stump Smash and placed Gill Grunt on it.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">As Gill Grunt appeared, he was instantly entangled by the black goo web. This was his element so the water did not hurt him. The black goo seemed to know this and began to drag him to the surface. I was not going to allow that. I aimed Gill Grunt's harpoon at the black goo and began to shoot at it. The sharp objects pierced the goo easily. The goo seemed to shriek as the harpoons cut it apart. Finally, as the goo was about to throw Gill Grunt out, I managed to shoot the thickest band of blackness, which seemed to be the support of the thing.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The black web began to disintegrate. It tossed Gill Grunt away. The amphibian man flew straight out of the water. Below, I could see the gurgling black mess that was the black web as it was dying. Gill Grunt began screaming as he fell back towards the water. He hit against the water and stabilized. Luckily he didn't take too much damage. I looked, with caution, at the black goo. Ensuring that it was not going to come back to get me, I moved Gill Grunt towards the watery walls again. A few a few minutes and getting out of the water, I switched back to Stump Smash. Luckily it still worked.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I moved Stump Smash over towards the direction of the path once more. I could tell that I had a lot further to walk than I thought. I don't know how long the walls of water were going to stay up. I wondered if I even should be doing this. The path was so far, so deep. How was I to know if I would make it back in time? I could just picture the waters crashing down before I could reach my destination.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Suddenly the floor beneath me opened up! I had no time to react and get Gill Grunt out of there. I watched as the Water Skylander fell through the hole. The ground then closed, sealing Gill Grunt inside. Then the words 'Level 3 Complete' flashed. I panted heavily at this. That was impossible! The level couldn't be over yet. I wasn't even able to receive that item to stop this curse. The screen began to fade out and it remained black for several seconds.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Then a high definition picture of Kaos appeared on the screen. I cried out and almost fell on my back. Kaos smirked and began to speak.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Do you think I'm stupid enough to let you get to that secret area? Well I'm telling you I'm NOT! You will not be able to remove the spell now! HAHAHAHA!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I gritted my teeth in anger, glaring at Kaos. Without thinking, I uttered my first word towards the game, towards Kaos.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Screw you.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Kaos must have heard me, or had an inkling that the Portal Master 'imposter' he spoke to had said something negative about him. His face turned an unnatural red and he yelled at me so loudly I could see his fangs easily.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“What did you say to ME?! How dare you...how dare you mock KAOS?!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Go jump off a cliff!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I expected to see another rant from Kaos, but he had frozen. In fact, the entire game had frozen! I blinked. Had the disc encountered a problem? I hoped so. I was tired of playing this game. It was disturbing, yes, but at this point, I wasn't too scared anymore. The game was just messing with me. If Kaos thinks he was psychologically scarring me, he was sadly mistaken. I moved over to turn the game off. I pressed the power button. It flashed a weird color only for a second and then the screen turned black.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">With the game off, I got up and brushed myself off. I went upstairs to use the bathroom. When I came back down, I noticed a slight glow on the wall. I walked over and was shocked to see the television was displaying Skylanders again. On the screen, it was an extreme upclose of Eon and Hugo. I mean so close I could see intricate details of their faces. And they looked hyper realistic. Eon's zombie look had intensified, showing maggots dripping out of his openings. It made me shudder. Hugo was no different. Half of his facial skin was missing, showing his skeletal structure and some muscles.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I looked at the words as they began forming.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Why did you abandon us? Why did you not defeat Kaos?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I opened up my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Eon closed his eyes and he fell down. I didn't know why that happened. Then Hugo began to speak.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“We trusted you. You still left us. Why, great one? Why?”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Hugo fell down as well. At this point, the uncomfortable feeling was slowly returning. Not by much, but it was there. How did the game manage to turn itself on? I could have sworn I had shut it off completely. I looked over at my Playstation 3. I gasped. The power button wasn't even on! I looked over at the Portal Of Preservation. The light was on, despite the fact that the PS3 was turned off.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I looked back at the screen. I could see that a new scene had loaded up. I was in a dark, flooded cave. The room was circular and small. I noticed a steep dip in the middle of the room. There was a scroll floating there. I wasn't sure what it was for. It must have something written on it. I picked up my controller and moved Gill Grunt over to the scroll. As he touched it, a loud screeching sound filled my ears! I pushed my head against my shoulder to cover my left ear. I used my free hand to cover the other.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Once it was done, I opened my eyes to see the scroll had loaded up. The page was ripped and bloodied. I could see a faint blood hand print in the left corner of it. The words weren't faded at all and very easy to read, even without moving in closely. I noticed that, the longer I had it open, the more the scroll began to fade. So I began to read quickly.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Exactly how do you think a game utilizes an AI? Artificial intelligence? Have you always wondered about that? Heheheh. It is an interesting story. But how about you figure it out... Are things as what they seem? A sense of familiarity fills your mind. Yet you do not understand why. Beware, the unlucky fool who reads this. A friend might lurk somewhere, and you may end his pain. Beware...”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The scroll disappeared after that. I stared blankly at the screen. While what was written was disturbing, I was too confused to be frightened by it. The message was either cryptic or didn't make a lick of sense. Was it implying that artificial intelligence comes from somewhere other than computes? Or was it trying to tell me something else?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I shook my head as something flashed across the screen. I had no time to sit here and think about that message. I looked around the screen, trying to figure out what happened. Then another flash. It was a red color and thin. When it happened a third time, I saw what had happened. A large X mark had appeared on my screen, enclosed by a red circle. I didn't know what this meant. Once again, I didn't have much time to think about this as Kaos's head, hyper realistic, showed up, baring his rotten, sharp teeth at the screen, or rather, at me.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">As soon as he raised a hand and snapped a finger, the ground below Gill Grunt's feet rumbled. Something was emerging out from the ground. I moved Gill Grunt back and watched the ground glow a bit as something green popped up. It was a pod of some sorts, perhaps one of the game's normal enemies. The plant kind of reminded me of the plant from Little Shop Of Horrors, only this plant was a little cuter and less threatening looking. The plant pulsated and wobbled a little, but overall did nothing. I moved Gill Grunt closer to it.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Kaos began laughing as his head, appearing in the distance, began fading. The plant began shaking violently and it just got more intense the closer the Skylander got. I started moving Gill Grunt away but the plant thing had opened up. As it did, about ten small creatures appeared. A normal game enemy, judging from their goofy appearance. They had almost canine-like sounds as they ran about. They came towards me and began to bite at Gill Grunt. I felt the few bites that were made. I turned Gill Grunt over and shot at a few of them and they burst into particles. I shot a few more and they were down as well.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The pod began spitting out more and more of these things. Gill Grunt was bleeding in many places. I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. I continued fighting them when a thought came to me. Maybe I was supposed to destroy the pod. I moved Gill Grunt over and started shooting it. I was taken aback when blood began to pour out of the pod and a scream emitted from the plant pod thing! I stopped shooting. I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">This turned out to be a bad move as something, tentacles or something like that, shot out of the pod! They wrapped around Gill Grunt. The tentacles took me by total surprise because, as the creature opened its mouth, there seemed to be no obvious anchors for tentacles. They were just..stuck there. Gill Grunt struggled and nothing I did could free him. I watched as he was sucked into the pod and it began chomping him up! I heard Gill Grunt's bloodcurdling scream as well as his bones crunching and his organs mashed! I felt all the bites, but they weren't as intense on me. It was still an uncomfortable experience.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">When it was finally all over, the screen faded out slowly to a deep gray. Not black, but a gray color. From below, words began to rise. They were slightly slanted, almost like what you see in Star Wars, only not to that degree and not as impressive looking. I noticed the text was actually small and there wasn't a whole lot that it said.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Kaos has invited you to his lair. If you accept, place your Magic Skylander on the portal. If you decline, turn the portal off.”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">My Magic Skylander?! But I didn't have a lot of energy left in him! Spyro had taken a beating already and was almost dead. I didn't think I could make him go through even more trouble. I wanted so badly to press the off button. Thinking about what happened before, though, made me hesitate. The game had a backup plan, I'm sure, to keep me in the game. I didn't want to do it, but I placed Spyro on the portal. The screen flashed red repeatedly and then burst into a ring of light. I turned my head away, wondering what was going to happen.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">When everything faded back in, I found myself on a large castle. Blackness and dark clouds swirled around me. Intense music was playing. Had I been transported to the final boss fight? My suspicions seemed to be correct as I saw Kaos sitting on some weird floating contraption. Spyro, blinking red ominously, stood in the middle of a grid-like platform.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“You are a DUNDERHEAD! You followed me into MY REALM! I am ALL POWERFUL and you are NOTHING here!” Kaos gloated and laughed evilly. Then he rose up above the ground. Then the battle began to start.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I immediately switched Skylanders. I got out Chop Chop and he appeared on the battlefield. I guessed that the spell would not work here. I was proven right when Chop Chop didn't burst into flames or writhe uncontrollably. It turned out to be a good move to switch out Spyro. Kaos had slammed his machine into the ground not far from the Undead Skylander. The skeletal warrior was thrown back and took a chunk of energy from him. The same blow would have killed Spyro.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I had Chop Chop make a dash towards Kaos, who looked like he was stuck in the ground. Chop Chop raised his sword and struck down on my command. The skeletal warrior made some hard slashes against the contraption. Kaos grunted a little, but otherwise made no cry of pain. I narrowed my eyes. Maybe my attacks weren't good enough. I jumped up and swung the sword directly at Kaos. The wizard put up his hand and a shield came up. Chop Chop was knocked backwards. He looked dizzy but stood back up onto his feet. I ran back towards Kaos and struck at his machine once more.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I saw that there was a health bar next to Kaos. It was bright yellow in color. As I struck Kaos, the bar slowly went down. I also noticed there was a new health bar on the left side. I hadn't seen this before. What was it? It couldn't be the Skylander's health. They already had a small horizontal bar. This new one was vertical, like Kaos's. The bar was pale red in color. I looked at the words written next to it, and I froze instantly.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It had my name...

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I shook my head. I shouldn't let myself get freaked out about that. I focused my mind on fighting Kaos. So far, the guy wasn't doing anything except blocking. I didn't know what he was waiting for. Again and again, Chop Chop struck him, and his health continued to go down. It was only when his health was down by twenty percent that he finally did something. He rose his machine up above the ground and just hovered there. He raised his hand and spoke for the first time since the start of the battle.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“It's TIME for YOU to MEET MY most POWERFUL MINION!!” He called out gleefully. He looked down at Chop Chop and scorned as if he were just an ant. “THIS is the same MINION who destroyed the Core of Light! MEET MY HYDRA!!!”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">There was a collection of roars coming from behind Kaos. I froze, not moving an inch, as something...massive...rose up above the battlefield! It was so large, it would not fit on the platform, even if it tried. Four thick, long, flexible necks moved about, every which way. Attached to them were dragon-like heads, each one filled with sharp teeth, and each one a different element. I could make out Undead, Fire, Life, and Water. The hydra heads growled and bit at each other for a few seconds, like they were quarreling, before turning their attention on me. The hydra raised its four necks up high and stared at me like I was prey.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Now the REAL battle is about to start...HAHAHAHAHA!!!” Kaos laughed almost hysterically as he moved away to make room for his hydra to attack.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Oh shit...” I found myself saying as the hydra drew closer to me, or rather, Chop Chop.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Undead head shot out towards me! Chop Chop got out of the way in time as the skeleton head struck against the concrete floor. Chunks of rock were ripped up as the hydra raised its head again. It shook its head and spat out the rocks. As hard as I tried, I still managed to get hit by a few of the rocks. Chop Chop lost some of his health. And to my shock, so did I apparently. I gripped my controller tightly and had Chop Chop run over towards the next hydra head, Fire, which began to spew fire at the Undead Skylander.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Chop Chop leaped into the air and struck his sword into the snout of the Fire hydra head. It was stuck in there good and tight. Kaos's health went down slightly. I was about to make a new move, but the hydra had already thought of one. The Life hydra head snapped at Chop Chop's legs. It ripped him off and tossed him into the ground. The force was so hard that Chop Chop made a deep indention in the ground. I cried out as I felt a blunt pain in my back. I looked at the screen. I lost more health and so did Chop Chop. All four hydra heads tensed up and then they launched an attack in unison.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I braced Chop Chop for impact. His sword was raised slightly. He was ready to attack and so was I. Then, suddenly, there were several bright flashes. The hydra heads were stunned. Their eyes widened and then shut, they pulled back and shook, trying to get the bright light out of their eyes. I blinked, stunned. I looked around for the source of light. What I saw, I never would have guessed in my life.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The other Skylanders, at least the ones I now owned, showed up, with the exception of Eruptor, Bash, and Gill Grunt! Appearing next to me was Spyro, who didn't look too well, Trigger Happy, Stump Smash, and Whirlwind. I didn't know how this happened. How could this have happened? Even Kaos looked completely shocked by this. His mouth was open so wide I thought it was going to fall off. The hydra heads regained their sights and they looked down at the battlefield. They made a surprised yelp and moved their head backs sharply. Looks like they were confused as to why there were suddenly five Skylanders on the battlefield instead of just one.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Whirlwind turned her attention to Spyro and Chop Chop. She made her 'nya' sounds as she shot rainbows from her horn. Even though I never upgraded her, or any of the others, she seemed to have acquired an ability I had yet to see. The rainbows washed over the two damaged Skylanders. I saw their health climb up substantially. Soon, their HP was completely full!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“This..Is...IMPOSSIBLE!” Kaos shouted in an enraged voice.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Nothing is impossible. And now you are going down, Kaos!” Spyro shouted back in his own heroic voice. Seemingly sensing my confusion, the purple dragon looked up at the screen and at me. “We thought we would lend you some assistance, Portal Master! Eon wanted us to help. Please fight alongside us through Chop Chop. Together, we can win!” With that, he spread out his wings triumphantly and flew at the hydra heads.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Fire hydra head hissed and pulled its head back. It launched itself forward. It opened its squared off mouth and shot out a burst of fire against the grid-like battlefield. I moved Chop Chop out of the way as the other Skylanders moved to dodge it. The crackling flames struck against the platform, leaving behind charred stone. The Undead hydra head moved in for the attack now. It twisted its head rapidly from side to side, the front of its mouth glowing gradually brighter. Thin energy beams shot out. Spyro and Trigger Happy were hit and they screamed in pain! They didn't die though, and Whirlwind's rainbow beam healed up their injuries.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Trigger Happy laughed insanely as he rolled into position and fired back at the Undead head. The head moved back and screeched loudly. Spyro took flight and shot out a fireball at the Undead head. The flames spread throughout the head and the neck. Yet despite this, the hydra head still stood! I blinked. How did that not do damage to this guy? The health on Kaos went down slightly, but I thought that Spyro's attack would do more damage.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Spyro looked confused as well. It was difficult to tell at first, but Spyro had a shocked look on his face. I took another look at the hydra heads. I noticed something. The Life head was glowing and spreading some kind of magical essence to the other hydra heads! I came to the conclusion that it was healing the other heads. It was doing the same thing Whirlwind was doing, but for its companions and not mine! I narrowed my eyes. So long as we both had a health replenishing member, we would both be at a permanent stand still. I had to take out that head!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I readied Chop Chop's sword. I ran towards the hydra. The four heads hissed at me and attempted to attack. I managed to jump out of the way, causing the hydra heads to crash into the concrete floor. One managed to get me, the Water hydra. The slippery serpent-like head shook Chop Chop back and forth hard. I pressed the attack button repeatedly and the sword cut along the hydra's left eye. Blood dripped down its face and Chop Chop's sword. The Water hydra let me go and pulled its head back. A horrible screech emitted from its long, toothy muzzle. The Life hydra head had started its healing spell. I acted fast.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Chop Chop jumped into the air, preparing to bring his sword down. He landed on the Life hydra head. Mustering as much strength as he could, he struck down hard as I mashed the attack button. The blade went deep into the head. The Life hydra shook its head hard, trying to loosen Chop Chop. The skeletal warrior hung on tightly, pushing his sword in deeper.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The other Skylanders took the hint of what I was trying to do. Spyro, Trigger Happy, and Stump Smash moved in to help. Whirlwind flew in closer, but kept her distance. Her horn glowed in preparation for a healing spell of her own. Spyro rose up into the air and fired several fireballs against the Life head. Trigger Happy helped, taking out his guns and shooting gold coins at a very rapid pace against the head. The Life hydra screeched in agony and snapped its jaws at the Skylanders. Spyro and Trigger Happy got out of the way and fired back in unison against the head, causing it to char up a little. In retaliation, the Life hydra head managed to get Chop Chop into its jaws and struck him into the ground as hard as it could!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I grunted in pain as I felt the impact on myself. I struggled to get Chop Chop up off the ground. I looked over and saw that the hydra heads had knocked away the other Skylanders, save for Whirlwind, who was still in the air. The hydra heads were focusing on her, giving chase as she dodged them. Despite feeling shaky still, I rushed over to help her. I struck at the Life hydra head again, cutting deeper into the wound I gave it. The Fire dragon attacked me this time, bumping its head against Chop Chop and sending him crashing into the ground! I winced, feeling my skin burn a little.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Life hydra head struck down while Chop Chop was still on the ground. I struggled to get him up, but it wasn't going to be fast enough. Before the hydra could make contact, Stump Smash jumped out of nowhere and landed on the head. He raised his wooden fists and smashed down hard on the head injuries. The hydra shook its head from side to side, but somehow Stump Smash remained standing. He continued pounding the head and, with one final blow, the hydra head let out a painful shrill and fell to the ground, dead. The other three heads began thrashing around wildly. That was one head down, three more to go.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Chop Chop, as soon as he was off the ground, made a charge at my command. The target was the Water hydra. I had an idea. The cool liquid puts out the fiery flames, so maybe I could trick the Water hydra into attacking the Fire hydra head. I knew it was not going to be easy. I am sure the hydra is a lot smarter than it looks. Still I knew I had to try it!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I had Chop Chop strike out at the base of the Water hydra head. This annoyed it enough to lower its head towards him. The Undead hydra was preparing to shoot out a beam, but Trigger Happy distracted it with his coin gun. The Water hydra let out a loud hiss, the fins on the sides of its head shaking rapidly. Chop Chop jumped on top of the Water hydra. It swung its head hard as Chop Chop struck against its forehead, cutting into its head fin. As this went on, Trigger Happy continued to shoot the Undead hydra head. It retaliated and grabbed the little Tech Skylander in its jaws. Trigger Happy shot the hydra in the eye and it dropped him.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Fire hydra was contending with Spyro. It shook its head in agitation as Spyro spewed fire on it. This did little damage, but Spyro kept it. Spyro must have known this, too, if he was as clever here as he was in the Insomniac games. I guessed that he was just offering a distraction, as if he knew what I was planning. I continued pressing the attack button to do damage to the Water hydra. In the corner of my eye, I could see Trigger Happy, with some help from Stump Smash, dealing with the Undead head. Whirlwind occasionally blasted beams made of rainbows to heal her comrades and deal damage to the three remaining heads.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Spyro let out another large blast of fire, intermixed with Whirlwind's rainbow attack. The attack pushed the Fire head back, making it shake its head in fury. I took this chance. I made one more strike to the Water head and it hissed angrily. I waited until the timing was right, then had Chop Chop jump into the air towards the Fire hydra head. Just as I was hoping, the Water head had water flowing from its mouth, an obvious sign it was going to attack. Chop Chop missed his mark and fell down, but the trick had worked.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Water hydra hadn't bothered waiting for Chop Chop to hit the ground first. It launched a torrent of water to the spot where Chop Chop was, missing him entirely. The water instead struck another target: the Fire hydra head. The fiery lava-like head had its mouth open to attack when water splashed against its head. The cool liquid went into its mouth and down its throat. The Water hydra's eyes widened a little and it moved its head away, as if it knew what it just did.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The effect was almost immediate. The glow of the hydra head dimmed rapidly. Cracks spread throughout the head and neck. Steam rose from the new openings. The Fire hydra head was clearly in pain. It tried attacking Chop Chop, but nothing came out but harmless steam. It looked over at the Water hydra with a look I can best describe as that of betrayal. The Fire head straightened up for a moment, quivering, and then fell to the ground. Bits of its skin flew in all directions. That took care of the two inner heads. Now all that remained were the two outer heads, the Water hydra and the Undead hydra.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Water hydra looked at Chop Chop, its eyes gleaming in what I felt was newly found hatred. The Undead hydra looked equally pissed off. It was snapping at the air wildly, sending out an obvious threat to the Skylanders, and me. I tried to think of what to do about those two. I wasn't sure if tricking them again would work a second time around. I looked at the remaining Skylanders. I couldn't think of any advantage I head, no clue as to what element beat what. I wished I heard read more about this game earlier.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Whirlwind flew in towards the Undead hydra. The skeletal beast hissed at her and closed its bone jaws at her. She did a spin in the air and veered off, avoiding being attacked. She was soon joined in by Spyro. The purple dragon flew in close to the left eye of the Undead hydra and let loose a fireball against it. The Undead hydra shook its head angrily and stretched its neck out, trying to crush the two small dragons in its teeth.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Stump Smash, in the mean time, was fighting against the Water hydra. Trigger Happy and I as Chop Chop aided him, but Stump Smash did the best. I wondered if Life beat Water. I didn't have time to think about that as the Water hydra released more water. It struck Chop Chop and he was knocked almost clean off the arena. I had nearly forgotten about Kaos, but I heard him cursing in the background. I wanted to call him a coward for making a hydra do his dirty work for him, but I was too preoccupied with fighting this beast.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Water hydra launched another attack and knocked back all three Skylanders. Miraculously, they weren't at critical yet, but I knew they would be if they received another attack like that. The Water hydra was preparing for another assault. I looked over at where Spyro and Whirlwind were taking care of the Undead dragon. They were flying around the head, confusing it, causing it to get increasingly mad. As I saw them fly towards the Water hydra, I knew then what they were going to do. I ran around in front of the Water hydra, drawing its attention to me. The Water hydra followed my move, wiggling its neck around like a slippery worm. I continued this as Spyro and Whirlwind continued their work. When we nearly crossed paths, we veered off to one side.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Undead hydra opened its jaws and fired a large, powerful laser. It struck the ground and broke apart the rocks. It moved up and struck the neck of the Water hydra. Realizing its mistake, it stopped. It stared in silence at the only other remaining hydra head. The Water head was wobbling slowly from side to side. A deep gash was in its lower neck. Blood spewed rapidly from the wound! The Undead hydra leaned over to inspect the wound. But it should have known there was nothing it could do. The Water hydra head was almost totally decapitated.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Water hydra head let out a loud screech and collapsed on the ground. It did a few dying thrashes, and then it was completely still. The single remaining hydra head lowered down. The hydra head consisting of nothing but a skeleton gently nudged the side of the fallen head's muzzle. It did this a few times. It went to the other two heads and got no response. It stared, unbelieving, at the carnage before it. It then looked at the Skylanders. It was quiet and at first I thought it wasn't going to fight. Then it began to glow and its eyes glowed a brighter red!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Oh shit...” I muttered to myself as the Undead hydra screamed loudly, hurting my ear drums!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It shot a thick beam from its mouth and two smaller beams from its eyes. They were steady, continuously streaming from its head. I and the Skylanders did our best to escape, but despite our efforts, we were still struck many times by the beams. They didn't do much damage at first, but it added up. I winced as the beams hit Chop Chop, and I could see the look of agony on the other Skylanders. Even Whirlwind was having problems! The Undead hydra focused a lot of its eye beam attacks on her, and she was having a difficult time dodging them.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">When we managed to regroup, we turned to face the Undead hydra. It had stopped firing the beams and was staring at us, an evil glare in its eyes. The Skylanders began to line up. I sensed they knew our best shot at winning was to attack together. The Undead hydra simply stared at us as we lined up in a straight row. Then it opened it jaws wide and let out an ear-piercing roar and suddenly lunged its head forward. That's when we made our move.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Almost instantly, we all launched an attack. Chop Chop struck the ground, letting a row of what appeared to be curved bones strike out towards the hydra head. Trigger Happy shot out more coin bullets. Stump Smash hurled a large acorn forward. Whirlwind's horn glowed and a rainbow beam shot out. Finally, Spyro's classic fiery flame exited his mouth. The attacks merged together into one super attack! They struck against the Undead hydra, hitting it against its throat. It went sailing out from behind it!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The Undead hydra froze there, its eyes wide open. There was no blood this time, but since it was just a skeleton, that came as no shock. It remained there for what seemed like an eternity. I stared intently, and I could see that Kaos was doing the same. The Undead hydra head trembled slightly. It opened its mouth and it looked like it was going to attack again. It let out a weak roar instead and it fell down. Bits of its vertebrate broke, but the neck did not shatter. The head hit the ground next to its fallen comrades. There was total silence after that. It took me a moment to process what happened.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“...I won...I won!” I yelled gleefully, and the Skylanders began to cheer so loudly I could barely hear Kaos's yell of anger in the background. It was finally over!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The body of the hydra, without warning, suddenly flew back as if some invisible force had struck it! It collided with Kaos! As he screamed and fell off the platform, I could see that his health had dropped down dramatically. I wiped my brow, not believing how luck for me had changed. I looked over at the clock and noted how late it was. I went to shut the game off, but I was taken aback by a loud beeping sound coming from the television screen.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I looked over to see what was going on. Nothing different had appeared on the screen. I was perplexed until I realized the beeping wasn't coming from the television at all. I looked down at the Portal Of Preservation. I picked it up and brought it to my ear. It was dead silent. I picked up each of my Skylanders. So far, nothing, that is until I picked up Bash. Sure enough, I could hear a beeping sound coming from his toy! I checked Gill Grunt and Eruptor and similar sounds were coming out of them. I blinked a few times, biting my lip. Were they still suffering somehow?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I turned my attention back to the screen. It had faded to a red color instead of the black from before. I expected to see Kaos, but this time, it was Eon. I nearly screamed at what I saw! His face was completely skeletal now with no visible skin, muscle, or even eyes! Yet somehow, even without tendons, the Eon skull managed to move its jaw up and down like it was trying to speak.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“Despite all of your efforts, your journey was yet still in vain. You failed to save all of your Skylanders. You have failed to save Skylands from Kaos. You..had helped him...”

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Before I could ask what he meant, the screen shifted to black for a second, and then blinked back with a new image. I felt my eye lids spread wider as sheer shock overwhelmed me at what I was seeing. I could see, clear as day, the body of the hydra on the ground of one of the islands. This island was massive and I guessed it was some kind of central hub or something.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The body of the hydra looked absolutely disgusting! Skin was melting off of it in many places. Bones and muscles became visible. The muscles themselves were decaying fast. Organs were sloshing around and dripping off to the side. The limbs were starting to break off! Some fingers were already missing and fell down to the grassy floor. Flies flew in to feast on the body, but even they were repelled by it and left. And dripping from many openings, greenish ooze poured out and over the dirt. Any plant in contact instantly died and turned a dirty brown color. The further the ooze spread, the more plants began to die and wither.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">And the residents, the same effect was happening to them too. The ooze spread further and further, like it was trying to touch as many citizens as possible. The mammal-like creatures fell to the ground, throbbing in death! I felt my breath quicken as I watched them suffer in agony and die. As they fell to death, the ooze went inside their bodies and, the best I can describe it, ripped them apart from the inside out!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I was so horrified that it took me a minute to see the words in the corner. They read 'One Month Later', so this isn't what was happening now, but what was going to happen! It made sense now. The hydra was Kaos's creation, wasn't it? And he would have used the most foil, the most poisonous material to create it, wouldn't he? Him not using the hydra until the end, it all made sense now that I thought of it. Could Kaos have known about its effect on the world around it? I knew he didn't care about Skylands, but he did care about himself. Perhaps he was worried that he, too, would die from the poison, which made me think back to when he was stuck away. What had happened to his body?

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I started to notice something else as well. What happened to the Skylanders? I looked around, but there was none to be seen. Despite that, I could still manipulate the scenery, move around to see more. I looked over the ruined landscape until I found what looked like a rounded square off in the corner of the hub island. That's when I saw it. A series of grave stones! I counted them and they added up to over thirty. That was the number of Skylanders in this game. How had they all died? I looked over at my Portal Of Preservation and saw that it had began to glow a deep crimson with tinges of black in it.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I turned back to the television. It had faded back to the current scene, where my Skylanders were still screaming in joy of victory. I went closer, holding my controller in apprehension. Something was going to happen, but I didn't know what it was. But I needn't wait long. The Skylanders stopped, and seemed to sense something was going to happen soon.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The ground suddenly ripped open beneath their feet! The Skylanders yelled in surprise and jumped away. Something rose from beneath the ground. It was so fast, I didn't have time to react as, one by one, multiple metallic-looking sharp rocks jetted out from the opening crevice! As each one rose, one of my Skylanders was impaled with, right through their chests and stomachs. First went Spyro, then Stump Smash, then Whirlwind, Trigger Happy was next, and finally Chop Chop. All of them, even Chop Chop, had blood dripping rapidly down their bodies, staining the things that impaled them! Their eyes were wide open and glazed over. I knew they were dead.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The screen faded to black for the final time. I waited for several minutes, but nothing was happening. I felt my body shaking. I reached over to turn the game off, but nothing was happening. I managed to get myself up off the ground. I turned to walk away. I needed to go somewhere else, anywhere but here. Yet I didn't take a step when I heard Kaos laughing behind me. Whirling around, I was greeted with a hyper realistic image of Kaos. Somehow, despite that fall, he was perfectly fine. My heart raced as he began to speak, his voice slightly distorted and deeper than usual.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“You are a HALFWIT, A DUNCE, and a BONEHEAD! You fell right into my hands, stupid Portal Master Apprentice! You did not heed my warnings, and you PAID THE PRICE! Now Skylands will fall and it will be all because of YOU!”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to say something witty back at him. But no words could come out. And why should they? He spoke the truth. The game had shown me what was to happen because of my actions.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“I see you understand that I am RIGHT! KAOS IS ALWAYS RIGHT! But do not fret. I KNOW how it feels to be rejected, to fail. But unlike YOU, I EMBRACE IT! Why don't I offer you a chance of escape? Do not try to run away. You do not have a choice...”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I found myself blinded by an intense white in all directions! I shut my eyes and tried to cover them. I felt something in my body tingling, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I curled up in a ball, doing my best to deal with the white blindness. I heard Kaos's laughter in the background and I could hear the Portal Of Preservation beeping louder and louder, intermixed with the screams of my Skylanders. Finally, mercifully, everything blacked out and the pain in my eyes subsided.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">When I opened my eyes, something was wrong. I couldn't feel them at all! Yet I could still see! My sight was horrible now. That light must have damaged my retinas. Everything was blurry. I could barely make out shapes. I could see a mixture of brown intermixed with green. I tried to move, but I could not feel my arms or legs. Panicking, I struggled, trying to move something, anything. Then I felt something shift underneath me. It felt like dirt. But why dirt? I wasn't even outside.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I tried to open my mouth, and this time it worked. Something was off. My mouth felt like it was split into different directions, and yet still in the same place as well! I tried again to move a limb. I was shocked when I felt like I was moving several limbs all at once. They felt unusually short and I couldn't sense any joints in them.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I saw something in the corner of my eye. It looked like a Skylander was approaching me, one I hadn't seen before. I think it was one of the newer Skylanders from the next Skylanders game, but what was it doing here? It approached me, shining white and looking like it had some crystals on its body. I thought whoever it was had intended on saving me. I cried out in pain as it struck me with a powerful blast, but the sound that came out was not my own voice.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">To my horror, it was the same screech I heard from the pod from before!

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I felt something in my throat. I thought I was going to throw up. I tried to hold it back, but something small shot out of my throat. Then another and another. I hurled up at least five before I felt like my throat was clear. But then more came out. I heard a growling sound this time and the sound of chomping. Those critters before were back, but where were they coming from? I watched as they attacked the white Skylander, keeping it away from it. That's when I realized the truth.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It was coming from me. Somehow, I had been transformed into a pod, or my mind was transferred into a pod! My mind didn't have time to register this when I felt another blast from the white Skylander. It had defeated the green creatures with ease, and now it aimed a stronger attack directly at me. I let out a loud scream of pain and then everything went dark for me.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">“....Well that was easy...Another PORTAL MASTER IMPOSTER out of the way... Now who is next?! BUAHAHAHAHA!”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">How am I still alive to tell you this story you ask? Well...let's just say I learned a trick or two being forever trapped in the body of a pod.