Somewhere in the Dragon Lands, Spike and Trail Blazer traversed the volcanic areas in hopes of running into the Dragons. The Fire Unicorn looked at the volcanic activity going around the area and commented,
“You know, this is actually my kind of place.”
Spike replied, “I’m surprised that you find highly volcanic areas very pleasing to you.”
Trail Blazer stated, “I am a Fire Unicorn after all. Fire doesn’t affect me that much, even if these dragons threw me into a lava pit, I would be fine.”
Spike nodded as they continued onwards towards a large boulder in the middle of a large clearing. That’s when Spike stopped as he tilted his head down which Trail Blazer noticed,
“What seems to be the problem?”
Spike replied, “I just don’t understand. Malefor is going to make a move on this world and Celestia wants me to play politician to call for help from the other kingdoms. But the Dragons here wouldn’t want to help ponies; they would just burn their homes to the ground and take what they want.”
Trail Blazer spoke, “Let me give you some advice, Spike. When times are tough, not many would want to see the true threat. But right now, this whole world needs a symbol of hope, an individual they could look up to and rally behind. You think Celestia asked you to undergo this task because you are her son?”
Spike didn’t say anything as the unicorn continued, “She sent you on this quest because she saw that you would that symbol, a dragon that everyone would look up to.”
Spike took in what Trail Blazer said and thought back to the Battle of the Crystal Empire when he defeated Malefor. The Crystal Ponies gathered around him and praised him as a hero. He remembers his vision and his duty,
“You are right, this world needs a symbol of hope in order to survive…and my friends can’t do that on their own. But once we return to Equestria, it will be the best time to prepare.”
Spike looked around the clearing until his Emerald Fire Amulet flashed with great speed…like someone or something was approaching them. At that exact moment, the clearing was briefly covered in shadows as several dragons dropped down from the skies above the duo. The dragons landed as they surrounded the Purple Dragon and Fire Unicorn. The rock in the middle of the clearing was now occupied by a large dragon with grayish artic blue scales, pale, and light grayish gold-to-moderate vermillion horns. The duo saw the large dragon and Trail Blazer whispered,
“That’s the head honcho?”
Spike nodded, “That’s gotta be.” Spike decided to make a first impression as he stepped forward. The Dragon’s eyes widened,
“By the Oracles, I remember you!”
Spike asked, “How do you remember me?” The Dragon replied, “You were just an egg when Celestia brought you to these lands. She was looking for answers on you when you were an egg.”
Spike was confused, “But who are you?”
The Dragon spoke his name, “I am Dragon Lord Torch, I am ruler of these lands until now I will be stepping down as Dragon Lord.”
Spike was shocked, “Stepping down? You’re resigning!?”
Torch nodded, “My time as Dragon Lord is over.”
Spike pulled out a treaty, “But you can’t step down, Equestria requests the aid of the Dragons to aid in the fight against Malefor!”
At that instant, the gathering dragons began to shiver at the very mention of Malefor while the other dragons were confused on why the ponies want their help. Torch shook his head,
“I am well-aware of the treaty that we signed with Equestria and I am full-aware of Malefor’s presence. He poses much of a threat to us as he does to the ponies.”
Spike asked, “So you will help us?”
Torch frowned, “I would if I didn’t announce myself stepping down.”
Trail Blazer stepped forward, “Do you even have a successor? An heir to carry on your legacy?!”
Torch looked at the Fire Unicorn, “The unicorn with the fire abilities?”
Trail Blazer was surprised, “So you’ve heard of me?”
Torch nodded, “All dragons in these lands know of both you and Spike.” The unicorn asked, “But how did the dragons already know about us?”
A female voice began to speak, “I was the first to know about you two.”
The Fire Unicorn and the Purple Dragon turned their attention to the boulder that Torch sat on. But next to him was a dragoness roughly about the size of a both Spike and Trail Blazer. Her scales were Brilliant Cyan with a Pale Turquoise underbelly and a wing membrane of moderate indigo to light cobalt blue. Her spikes were moderate phthalo blue while her eyes were brilliant red. Her horns were light apple greenish gray as they were curved down in a J-shape.
Spike had a strange feeling that this dragoness is important, “Who are you?”
The dragoness spoke, “I am Princess Ember, daughter to Dragon Lord Torch.”
Trail Blazer realized, “So you found out about us before we even arrived?”
Ember nodded, “I was curious to know how powerful you and you companion are.”
Spike had an expression on his face which pretty much said ‘curious much’ as he remembered Trail Blazer’s statement,
“If you’re Torch’s daughter, maybe you should become Dragon Lord!”
Torch stepped in, “That is out of the question and it is not my place to decide! It is the Gauntlet of Fire that should decide the next Dragon Lord.”
Trail Blazer’s flames were starting to spark as he asked, “And what is the Gauntlet of Fire?”
Torch stated, “It is a race to recover the Bloodstone Scepter from the nearby volcano.”
Spike realized, “The first one to recover it…becomes the new Dragon Lord.” The large dragon nodded as he ordered the rest of the dragons who are participating to disperse and get ready, so he could speak to the duo alone. He actually barred Ember from joining the participating dragons in irritation and flew off.
Trail Blazer asked, “The world is going to the brink of war and you are holding a race to determine a successor?! Why not let Ember participate or better yet pass the title to her?”
Torch shook his head, “I had to forbid her from participating due to her small size. But you two however, I will allow you two to participate in the race.”
Spike asked, “Why us?”
Torch stated, “You are the Purple Dragon, the most powerful breed in existence and your friend is a powerful Fire Unicorn. You two prove that size does not matter when it comes to a battle.”
Trail Blazer noticed, “You barred your daughter, but you allow us to get in? You are starting to sound like a hypocrite if you ask me.”
Usually those who say those things would get stomped on, but Torch nodded, “I know and you must also know why I’m letting you two in. There are some dragons that want revenge on the ponies for embarrassing them. If any of them get the scepter, Equestria would be in grave peril.”
Spike realized, “So you want us to get the scepter?”
Torch nodded, “You two are the only ones that could save Equestria from any hot-headed dragons.” All of a sudden, a flash of light appeared in the distance above the volcano where the scepter lies. A massive vortex appeared over the volcano as several creatures fell from it while some of the creatures flew from the vortex towards them. Spike recognized them and yelled,
“MOVE!!” The three moved as several Grublin Wyverns swarmed over the area dropping off troops and heavies. Spike took the initiative and unleashed his Ice Attacks on several of them while Trail Blazer’s flames ignited as he charged at a group of Grublins as two more copies of him appeared and bowled over the enemies. Torch, due to his large size, dealt with the Grublin orcs and trolls and burned them down with his fire breath. Torch saw the vortex above the volcano and yelled,
“Those creatures are swarming all over the volcano!” Spike saw this and realized,
“Lord Torch, your lands are under attack by Malefor’s army!”
Trail Blazer asked once he finished off another group of Grublins, “Why are the majority of them gathered at the volcano? They caught the dragons completely by surprise. Why are they only gathering around the volcano instead of blowing them to pieces when they had the chance?”
Spike noticed and said, “Good point.”
Torch realized this and spoke, “These invaders are after the Bloodstone Scepter! You have to stop them, Skylanders!”
As Torch warned them that the creatures are going after the scepter, another flash of light occurred as the Skylander, Eye-Brawl appeared. He looked at Torch and said,
“Celestia has sent me to help retrieve the scepter.”
Torch nodded, “Now go Skylanders, get the scepter before these beasts do!” With that being said, the trio left Torch to retrieve the scepter while Torch himself went to warn the participants. Spike looked at his companions and said,
“Skylanders! MOVE OUT!” The trio now ran in full speed towards the volcano. Spike actually shook his head,
“This mission keeps getting better and better.”
Trail Blazer asked, “Sheesh! How did these creeps even get into the Dragon Lands in the first place?”
Eye-Brawl answered, “Teleportation!”
The unicorn asked in shock, “What?” The Undead Giant stated, “They used a Teleportation device!”
Trail Blazer asked, “How does Malefor even have a thing like that!?” Spike reminded them,
“We’ll find out later, right now we have to get the scepter before those Grublins do!”
Eye-Brawl spoke, “The only way to reach the volcano is to go through the path for the Gauntlet of Fire!”
Trail Blazer asked, “Isn’t there another route?”
Eye-Brawl shook his eye, “No, there is no other alternative. The Gauntlet is fast and it goes directly to the volcano.”
Spike understood this and said, “All right, boys! Let’s get into the gauntlet!”
The Skylanders soon charge forth into the Gauntlet of Fire as they noticed several dragons clashing with Malefor’s forces. The dragons were tough, but all that toughness was outdone by numbers when the Grublin flies swarmed them. Spike fired an electric beam at the flies and took them done as the dragon thanked him for it. So Spike decided,
“Let’s give the dragons some support as we head to the volcano!”
Trail Blazer charged forth, “Way ahead of ya!” He charged at a group of Grublin axe-men as they had a group of dragons pinned. The impact threw the attackers off balance as Eye-Brawl’s eye detached and shot his eye beams at the Grublins while Spike finished them off with an Earth Shot. The dragons said,
“Thanks for the save, Skylanders!”
The Skylanders nodded as they continued on towards the gauntlet. They soon noticed a group of dragons being pinned by large Grublin Trolls. Spike saw this and said,
“Eye-Brawl, pummel the first troll to the ground! Trail Blazer, you handle the second one while I’ll deal with the third!”
The two acknowledged this as they sped towards the trolls that were attacking the dragons. Eye-Brawl threw his fist at the first troll which knocked the four-legged moss-covered creature aside and got the attention of the other two trolls. This time, Trail Blazer moved in and attacked the second troll as he did his flaming buck attack which burned the troll to a crisp. Spike attacked the third troll and unleashed his fire and ice breath on the troll, destroying it instantly. Eye-Brawl finished off his troll as the rescued dragons looked at the Skylanders. One of the dragons recognized Spike,
“Spike, you made it and about time!”
Spike recognized the familiar red dragon from before, “Garble, It’s been a while.”
Garble asked, “Is that pony a friend of yours?” He was talking about Trail Blazer as the unicorn asked,
“Is a horse that likes being in a volcanic area weird?”
The dragon couldn’t respond to that statement until Spike remembered, “We can trade questions for after the job is done.” He looked at Garble, “The Grublins are after the scepter and if they grab it and escape with it…you might wanna guess who becomes Dragon Lord.”
Garble, despite being an overconfident jerk of a dragon, understood what it means if the Grublins escape with the scepter. So he asked, “So what do you plan on doing?”
Spike replied, “We’re going to stop them and get the scepter…but I need your help.”
Garble asked, “Why would you need my help? You’re powerful enough that you don’t need any help!”
Spike face-winged, “I’m not alone, I have some of the best at my side.” He reminded the overconfident dragon, “And we all need to stand by each other, side-by-side and I need the dragons to help us win this fight.”
Garble’s companions were actually taken by Spike’s words as Garble sighed, “What do you need us to do?”
Spike pointed to several areas where the dragons and Grublins are locked in combat, “Rescue the others dragons that are pinned by the Grublins. When we make it to the volcano, they will most likely try to come in after us. That’s where you and your team come in, take down as many Grublins as you can and watch out for the Grublin wyverns, they will drop troops from above.”
Garble nodded as he said, “I guess I should be thankful for your timely arrival. But now, it’s time to kick some Grublin butt!” Garble’s friends nodded as he said, “We’ll clean up out here!”
Spike nodded as he, Trail Blazer and Eye-Brawl ran down the path to the Gauntlet of Fire.
The Gauntlet of Fire was a path to the volcano where the scepter is hidden, but the volcano happens to be on an island in the middle of a lake with water geysers going off every minute. It was a huge bummer for those that didn’t have wings. The trio was stumped since only Spike and the eye of Eye-Brawl can fly, but Trail Blazer and the body can’t. Trail Blazer looked at the geysers and shook his head,
“Time for me to use a trick I learned.”
Spike asked, “What trick?” Trail Blazer didn’t respond as fire spewed from his horn and latched onto his back as they formed into wings. They were shocked to see Trail Blazer’s wings as he said,
“I could conjure up my own wings with my own fire ability and they work as well.” He flapped his wings and flew a few meters above them until he saw a dot ahead of them. A dragon was crossing the geyser fields and was attacked by the Grublin Wyverns. The crosser was easily overwhelmed and is now falling towards the water.
Trail Blazer flew as quickly as possible towards the falling dragon as he turned into a streak of fire as he reached top speed. The Fire Skylander caught the falling dragon before it hit the water and flew the dragon back to his friends. The dragon was wearing a gold-colored armor so it was hard to assess any damage, so Trail Blazer removed the dragon’s helmet until to realize that it was a dragoness and not just any dragoness…The three Skylanders said in unison,
“Princess Ember!?”
The Dragon Lord’s daughter opened her eyes as she saw the three Skylanders standing over her. Spike asked,
“I thought your father barred you from participating!?”
Ember said, “I don’t care what my dad said! I’ll show him and every dragon who thinks I’m just a little princess that there are better things than being big and strong!” She pointed to Spike, “And you are the very example of it all!”
Trail Blazer asked, “Can’t we save the cute banter for after we get the scepter and stop these Grublins?”
Eye-Brawl said, “We have a job to do and standing here will solve nothing.”
Spike regained his focus, “Save the Dragon Lands first, worry about other things later.” He turned to Ember,
“We need to work together in order to stop these things from getting away with the scepter.”
Ember reluctantly accepted, “Fine, I’ll help you, Skylanders. We’re pretty much the only ones heading to the volcano.”
Eye-Brawl’s flying eye popped off as the headless body went into the water. Trail Blazer’s fire wings ignited as the Dragon and Dragoness opened their wings and took to the sky. The four soon flew low as they grazed the surface of the water while barrel rolling away from any geysers that erupt. As they were half way across the water, Spike looked up and saw several Grublin Wyverns emerging from both the volcano and the portal. He yelled to his companions,
“We got company!”
The other three saw the creatures closing in on them as Trail Blazer saw the closest ones as he said,
“I’m taking you all down!” He fired two fireballs at two wyverns and fired a third fireball at a third wyvern and all three were blown out of the sky. Trail Blazer smiled,
“This flying ability doesn’t hinder my fire powers one bit.”
Eye-Brawl’s eye maneuvered around the wyverns as he fired his eye lasers at the creature and blew it out of the sky. Spike spotted a group of wyverns gaining on him as he unleashed his Ice Attacks on the creatures, followed by an Electric attack which caused the wyverns to explode as several spirit gems travelled into the Purple Dragon as his energy restored itself.
Ember was being pursued by those creatures as she noticed how the Skylanders fought their foes. She decided to brake as the wyverns flew past her as she was now pursuing them. She struck the creatures were her melee attacks as well as using her own fire breath from time to time. Once she defeated her foes, she failed to notice a wyvern charging right at her from behind. But the creature was blown out of the sky by a fireball, an Earth Shot and Eye Lasers as Ember turned and saw the falling foe. She saw the three Skylanders hovering in front of her as Spike said,
“Lesson 1 of working with the Skylanders: Always rely on your teammates because they are always there to help you out.”
Ember asked, “What was that supposed to mean?!”
Trail Blazer spoke, “He means that you let your guard down and we gave you a helping hand. That’s what friends do.”
Ember shook her head as she said, “Dragons don’t do friends!”
Spike replied, “You might not do friends…but this dragon does and having friends at my side got me this far.”
Ember was not amused by this dragon, but had her thinking on how he progressed this far. But she would save it for later as she said,
“Should we get a move on?”
The Skylanders acknowledged this as they sped off towards the volcano. As they landed on the shore of the island, Eye-Brawl’s headless body came out of the water as the eyeball landed back on the body. The Undead Giant couldn’t help but look up at the portal,
“That is one large portal building up there.”
Spike understood this as he spotted an entrance to the volcano, “I know, but once we stop these Grublins and get the scepter, we could be able to close that portal!”
The four went to the entrance of the volcano where they spotted an injured dragon, grey scales with white spines and wings at the entrance. He recognized Ember,
“E…Ember?”
Ember knows this dragon, “Charcoal! Spike, Charcoal was one of my dad’s bodyguards! He’s injured badly!”
Spike asked, “What happened to you?” Charcoal spoke, although his injuries made it hard for him to speak, “We were…sent to guard the scepter until the competition started…but these…these creatures appeared from that hole in the sky…and started destroying everything.”
Spike asked, “How many were you when the Grublins attacked?”
Charcoal replied, “We…were only a dozen strong…but they overwhelmed us…the Grublins overwhelmed our post…this one was with them…a Grublin that talks!”
Trail Blazer was confused, “A talking Grublin? That’s something you don’t hear about very often.”
Charcoal finished, “It…it was leading these beasts! If you are looking for him…he’s in…the center of the volcano.” The dragon was feeling pain everytime he talked until Spike yelled out to the sky,
“WHIRLWIND!!!” Soon enough, Whirlwind appeared in a flash of light and fired her healing rainbows at the injured dragon as he gasped in shock as his wounds healed. Whirlwind approached and noticed,
“I managed to heal most of his injuries, but he requires actual medical attention from a medic.”
Spike asked Ember, “Do the dragons have medics?”
Ember replied, “We only have a few, but they are for minor injuries.”
Spike turned back to Whirlwind, “Take Charcoal back to the dragons and tell Master Eon to send a few Mabu Doctors to help.”
Whirlwind nodded as she approached the injured dragon as she and Charcoal disappeared in a flash of light. Ember shook off the sight of the injured bodyguard and asked,
“So these creatures talk?”
Spike replied, “Not in actual words, they talk in a garbled language. But an actual talking Grublin would mean one thing.”
Ember asked, “What does it mean?”
Trail Blazer spoke, “The Grublins are evolving.”
Spike knew that it was something to be concerned about the talking Grublin. But they still had a job to do, so they entered the volcano.
As they entered the volcano, the four had to keep their eyes open since the volcano is occupied by the Grublins. The inside of the volcano was the second leg of the Gauntlet of Fire, the Grublin presence in the volcano had only increased the difficulty of the competition. There was also Charcoal’s warning of the talking Grublin leading this attack on the Dragon Lands, only knowing that this is a disaster. Spike looked around the caves of the volcano and said,
“Stay vigilant and look out for ambushes. There is no telling what would appear around the corner.”
Eye-Brawl’s eye detached as he said, “I’ll look ahead.” The flying eyeball moved through the tunnel and scouted out the caverns. After that, he returned to the headless body as he said,
“There is crystal and stalagmite traps scattered all over these tunnels, I spotted a few Grublin flies wandering through these tunnels.”
Spike asked, “How large of a force?” Eye-Brawl replied, “There is only a small force of them.”
Trail Blazer guessed, “They’re probably making us think that their forces in the tunnels are small so they could ambush us.”
Spike noticed, “If they are trying to trick us, we need to keep our surroundings checked and watch out for those traps.”
Trail Blazer noticed that Ember was quiet for most of the time, “You’ve been quiet all of a sudden.”
Ember noticed, “I know, but this was my chance to prove that I’m more than just a little princess. Soon enough, these creatures start tearing up these lands.”
The unicorn replied, “I would immediately be set ablaze when a competition is attacked.”
The Dragoness asked, “But you’re already on fire?” Trail Blazer replied, “I rest my case.”
The unicorn motioned Ember to follow since Spike and Eye-Brawl motioned the two that it’s time to move. Spike decided to offer a warning,
“Be on the lookout for Shadow Apes. They will try to jump us from the shadows.”
Ember asked, “Shadow Apes?”
Spike replied, “The Apes served Malefor only to have them doomed to remain in the shadows. They are skeletal apes that are used for ambushing unsuspecting victims, so check your surroundings.”
They progressed on through the tunnel as Spike’s suspicion came true as a Shadow Ape tried to jump the Purple Dragon, but Eye-Brawl smashed the enemy into the ground as it turned into crystals and was absorbed by Spike. Trail Blazer spotted a Shadow Ape and used a fireball to lure it out and finish it off. Ember was keeping a watchful eye out for any enemies when she felt something scratch against her armor; she turned to the Shadow Ape responsible for it and she rammed her head into the skeletal ape as a response.
After progressing through the Shadow Ape infested tunnel, they came to the tunnels where all the traps were. The Grublins were pretty much waiting for our heroes when they made it passed the apes. Spike examined the layout of the tunnels and sensed if the traps were nearby and a lot of traps were near. The team navigated around the trap–rigged tunnel and they were successful, even though Trail Blazer nearly fell into a lava pit, but they reached the Grublins and disposed of them.
Spike and his team moved through the tunnels as he said, “Well, that’s the second leg of the gauntlet done. If we keep this up, we’ll reach the center of the volcano in no time.”
Trail Blazer nodded, “Once we finish the third leg of this competition, the scepter would be right ahead and that talking Grublin.”
Ember asked, “So what do you Skylanders intend to do when we reach the scepter?”
Eye-Brawl spoke to the dragoness, “The first step would be to close the portal that is allowing the Grublins to enter the Dragon Lands.”
Spike noticed, “We’ll figure the rest out on the way.”
Trail Blazer looked forward, “Well I hope we brought a map of this place.”
Spike asked, “Why?” The unicorn pointed his hoof to the next area as he said, “This next task…is a giant maze.”
The unicorn wasn’t kidding when he said that the third task was a maze. There were doors to several different areas of the volcano and one of the paths should lead to the center of the volcano. Spike looked at the paths, then back at his companions and decided,
“Let’s split up, we could cover more ground through this maze if we split in two. Eye-Brawl and I will take one path while Trail Blazer and Ember take another path. We’ll meet up in the central chamber if we can.”
Eye-Brawl agreed as he went with Spike towards one path of the maze while Trail Blazer and Ember took another path.
On Trail Blazer and Ember’s side, the unicorn and dragoness were checking their surroundings, looking for any possible paths to the central chamber. Trail Blazer decided to ask,
“So, how did you find out about us?”
Ember was reluctant to answer, but she answered anyway, “I actually heard about the Dragon Migration where the nine dragon Skylanders attended…from the Oracles.”
Trail Blazer asked, “The Oracles?”
Ember described them, “They are statues of four dragons that talk. No one knows where they came from, only that they say that they came from another world.”
Trail Blazer realized, “So they are experts in other worldly magic.”
Ember nodded until she noticed that Trail Blazer stopped for a second, “Why are you stopping?”
The unicorn motioned her to get close to him as he said, “There’s Grublins in the next area of this maze…wait…” He paused until he realized, “They found something, buried in this maze, something powerful.”
Ember asked, “Something buried here?”
Trail Blazer nodded, “Whatever they found, they can’t get away with it.”
Ember smiled, “Well, let’s stop them and retrieve what they found.” The unicorn smiled back as he agreed.
They entered the room where the Grublins were and defeated the occupants of that room, leaving them with just the artifact. The artifact was in the shape of an engine, gold like color with fire emanating from it. Trail Blazer recognized this device,
“No way…can’t it be?” Ember asked, “You know what it is?” The unicorn nodded, “It’s a Rift Engine, these things were once used tunnel into other areas and other worlds…how convenient that this one ended up buried in this volcano.”
Ember wanted to further inspect the Rift Engine, but when she touched it, a torrent of fire consumed her as the unicorn shouted, “EMBER!”
The dragoness didn’t know what was happening, but she heard a voice say, “No Element Detected. Prepare for Reassignment.”
There was a slight pause until the voice said again, “Princess Ember – Designation, Fire Element.”
She was even more confused when the voice designated her as a Fire Element until she realized, “Wait…am I?”
The voice spoke, “You have been chosen to defend your people and your world from the forces of darkness. Rift Engine Engaged. Commence Supercharging.”
A huge flash occurred as Trail Blazer turned his head to avoid getting blinded by it and as soon as the light faded, the unicorn turned his head back to the area where the rift engine was and saw Ember, now sporting a much more powerful armor than her previous one. Her armor had a fiery red tint with the secondary color being brilliant cyan; she wore a helmet with an open bottom guard with a brilliant cyan visor. She had a field of fire surrounding her when she looked around in shock. Trail Blazer was speechless,
“It was just like when Echo Squadron traveled through time…Supercharger!”
Ember realized, “That thing turned me into a Supercharger?!”
Trail Blazer nodded, “It did, but at least it’s out of the hands of those Grublins.”
Ember remembered, “I have been chosen…that’s what it said.”
Trail Blazer nodded, “Well, we better find the central chamber. If it chose you, then we better meet up with the others.” The two progressed on through the maze to find the central chamber.
Meanwhile, Spike and Eye-Brawl had made it through the maze and reached the central chamber until Eye-Brawl noticed,
“Trail Blazer and Ember were supposed to meet us here…but there’s no sign of them.”
Spike noticed, “They must’ve run into trouble in the maze…” Spike’s amulet flashed as his eyesight changed from his own to Trail Blazer’s eyesight as he saw the unicorn and Ember running through the maze…he noticed that the dragoness looked different. But his eyesight returned to normal as he said,
“They’re close…very close.”
Soon enough, a sinister laugh was heard as the two looked towards the chamber to find the Bloodstone Scepter still resting at its base on an elevated level, but with the Grublins guarding it. The laughter was made by the large Hero Orc at the head of the pack,
“So the Skylanders have come to claim the scepter as Lord Malefor foretold.”
Eye-Brawl was shocked, “It is talking!”
Spike was at a loss for words after hearing the creature talk in actual words. The creature spoke directly to Spike,
“Lord Malefor has plans for your world once he is at full strength. He speaks of you always refusing to accept your true role.”
Spike shook his head, “It’s not my destiny!”
The Hero Orc decided, “Very well, then we will just have to beat the true role out of you!” He ordered his subordinates, “Send these Skylanders to their deaths!”
The Grublins charged at the duo as Spike used an electric attack on the Grublin flies and foot soldiers while Eye-Brawl dealt with the Orc Bowmen that attempted a long range attack on them. Spike attacked a wave of Grublin axe men with a combo attack of fire and ice melees while dealing with a large Grublin Troll with an Earth Attack. Eye-Brawl detached the eyeball portion as the flying eyeball fired his eye lasers at the foot soldiers, the bowmen and the axe men. The Talking Hero Orc shook his head and ordered,
“Send in the Elite!”
Soon enough, a Grublin Elite Axe Men dropped down to the arena as Eye-Brawl’s eye fired his lasers at it. But the shots reflected off of it,
“This one is not affected by my lasers!”
Spike looked at his foe and noticed the helmet that he was wearing. It sported a fire red color to it as he used his Fire Breath on it which caused it to back away. The dragon realized,
“That helmet is acting as protection against elemental attacks…but not my fire breath!”
Eye-Brawl’s eye returned to the body as he said, “Kick his mossy hide!”
The giant stepped back as the Elite attacked Spike with his axe. The dragon dodged the attack and he knew for certain that any attack by a Grublin Elite would be deadly. Spike shot a fireball at the Elite as the ball impacted its target. The Elite was on his knee, but his helmet was still on, although cracks were starting form on the helmet. The Elite threw his axe at Spike, but the dragon caught the axe in his mouth by the hilt and threw it back at his foe.
The Elite caught the axe as Spike used his Fire Breath on the axe man; the breath was too much for the helmet to handle, so it blew off of the creature’s head. Spike spoke,
“Eye-Brawl, he’s vulnerable without his helmet! Now is our chance!”
Eye-Brawl joined Spike in a combined attack as they charged at the Elite as the two became blurs as they attacked the Elite several times with Spike finishing it off with a head pound attack as their defeated foe burst into crystals. The Hero Orc was amused,
“So, I am surprised for your abilities, but now you two have entered round 2!”
“Make that four!” said a familiar voice as Trail Blazer and Ember joined the two. Spike noticed Ember’s new look,
“You look different…what happened?”
Ember smiled, “I’ve been chosen, that’s what.” The Hero Orc directed his attention towards the dragoness,
“Well, well, Torch’s little princess disobeying her father to be his successor. But as you know, my troops will burn your lands and your people will beg to serve Malefor.”
Ember clenched her fist, “You interrupt a competition, injure my dad’s bodyguard and you make a threat against my home…but I am not just some little princess!” Her right fist erupted in fire as she flung a fireball at the Grublins that were on their level. The fireball destroyed the Grublins that were on the lower level as a fire sword formed in Ember’s hand. She decided to finish her statement,
“I am a Supercharger!” Eye-Brawl and Spike were shocked by Ember’s supercharged self. The Hero Orc snapped his fingers as several Grublin Wyverns emerged from the portal above; the creatures dropped several troops into the arena. The Grublins consisted of flies, bowmen, axe men and an Elite Troll with a yellow helmet. The Hero Orc ordered,
“ATTACK!”
The Grublins charged the Skylanders as Trail Blazer charged the closest enemies and knocked them back. Spike looked at the Elite Troll and said to his friends,
“Take care of those Grublins! He’s mine!”
They acknowledged it and kept their distance from the Elite as they focused on the lower and middle class of enemies. Eye-Brawl looked at Ember and Trail Blazer and said,
“Let’s go.” After that, Eye-Brawl’s eye detached and shot his lasers at a bowman while Trail Blazer and Ember took down two with their fire abilities. The Fire Unicorn summoned his fire wings and whipped them at a group of Grublin flies with an axe man accompanying the flies. Ember dodged an attack by an axe man and used a fire blade to chop the beast in two. It almost left her open for a bowman to attack, but Eye-Brawl’s headless body bashed it out of the way.
On Spike’s end, the Elite Troll intimidated the dragon by smashing its forelegs on the floor before charging at the dragon. Spike used his electric breath to knock the creature back, but the helmet prevents the wearer from being knocked back. He immediately used his Time Stop power to slow the beast down and jump over it and land on its back. As time returned to normal, the Elite Troll noticed its unwelcomed rider as it tried to shake Spike off of its back. While keeping a firm grip on the beast’s back, Spike used his electric breath on the helmet as the beast continued to shake him off.
Spike silently thought, “I should thank Applejack’s counterpart for those tips on bull riding.”
Afterwards, Spike’s body became electrically charged as his foe started to jitter due to the intense electric shock. He kept focused on the helmet as cracks started to form as the beast roared in pain. The discharge stopped as he unleashed a powerful electric breath at the helmet, shattering it in the process. After the troll was vulnerable, he used all his strength to lift it up into the air, he soared upwards and then dove down towards the floor with the troll landing head first and shattering into crystals which restored Spike’s strength.
Spike rejoined his friends as soon as they finished off the Grublins. They were in shock after looking at Spike’s pile driver attack, especially Ember. She asked,
“How did you do that?”
The Purple Dragon replied, “It’s all in my training.”
Trail Blazer complimented, “That was some great fighting back there.”
Spike replied, “Not as good as seeing you three working together.”
Eye-Brawl spoke, “Don’t count yourself out, you were incredible!”
Spike nodded as he looked up towards the Hero Orc as the Grublin looked up towards the portal, “DEPLOY IT NOW!!”
The portal sparked as a new enemy appeared in a flash of dark magic. This enemy wasn’t a Grublin; it was more of a knight as it said,
“I am the Knight Doomlander, prepare to meet my Wrath!!”
Spike was shocked by this enemy, the Hero Orc spoke, “That fool Kaos had this as a pet project, but since he is of no use to us anymore…his Doomlanders are now Malefor’s Super-Soldiers.”
The Doomlander spoke, “Get ready to meet your end!”
He charged at the four heroes as Eye-Brawl charged and bashed his fist at the Knight as the enemy was knocked back a little bit before he started to slash his sword at the giant. Only to be blocked by a fire sword from Ember and punched with a fire claw from Trail Blazer’s unique fire abilities. Spike turned into a rolling boulder and smashed into the Doomlander, knocking him to the ground. The Knight got up only to be hit by a bunch of miniature eyeballs summoned by Eye-Brawl as Ember followed with strong punch to the Doomlander’s helmet.
The Doomlander soon did a strong sword attack on the dragoness, but Trail Blazer knocked him back before his sword could even chip one scale off of the dragoness. The Doomlander did that strong sword attack again, but it was towards Trail Blazer when the sword’s impact sent out a shockwave which knocked him to the ground. To Ember, because she was with Trail Blazer for the duration of this battle, seeing the unicorn get knocked to the ground caused her to snap at the Doomlander as she unleashed her fury on the Knight as she yelled,
“NO ONE HURTS MY FRIEND!!”
That statement caught the others by surprise as they were helping Trail Blazer up; Spike realizes that she and the team are indeed, friends and comrades. Her relentless attack on the Knight Doomlander caused his skull helmet to be knocked off his head until he could push the furious dragoness back. Although he was hurt and close to being defeated, he pointed his sword at the team and said,
“You think defeating me will be any different?”
Trail Blazer replied, “You would be out of our way, that’s for sure.”
Spike asked, “What is he planning to do once he’s at full strength?”
The Doomlander replied, “The End of your world…” He gripped his sword, “And you won’t be around to see it!”
But before any side could attack, the Doomlander was hit by a TNT Crate, followed by a strange orange bandicoot that was hijacking a wyvern before crashing it into the Doomlander. The bandicoot soon spun around the Knight Doomlander dealing damage to it as it spun. The bandicoot finished the Doomlander off with a belly flop as the Doomlander was defeated. After that, the bandicoot did a little victory dance to celebrate the Doomlander’s defeat.
The Hero Orc was disappointed by this defeat as he said, “Ugh, fine…Take the Bloodstone Scepter if you wish…but when Malefor hears about this, you are through, you hear me!” The Hero Orc and his army of Grublins soon warped into the portal as he yelled,
“THROUGH!!!”
The team stared at the bandicoot for a moment before he gave thumbs up, knowing that he’s on their side. The team nodded as they went to the scepter’s pedestal, Ember spoke to Spike,
“You take it; you made me realize that we were friends.”
Spike shook his head as he had a better idea, “On the count of three, we all take the scepter!”
Ember and the rest were confused for a moment, but went along with Spike’s plan as he signaled,
“One…Two…Three…” He yelled, “NOW!”
At the signal, Eye-Brawl, Spike, Trail Blazer, Ember, and the bandicoot gripped the scepter and pulled it off of the base as the scepter’s power shot up at the portal causing it to close. After the portal closed, the team and the scepter were teleported back to the area where the Gauntlet of Fire was announced.
The portal’s closure was witnessed by every dragon in the Dragon Lands as the dragons cheered knowing that the battle has ended. Torch on the other claw, was hopeful that the Skylanders had succeeded in obtaining the scepter. The battle saw too many of his people injured, he did see his own bodyguard being brought back after being injured by those dark creatures. The Skylander, Whirlwind has been a tremendous help for the injured dragons. Torch knew of Whirlwind’s unique history…starting with her father, but those were times before the teachings of the Oracles.
Torch’s train of thought was interrupted by the appearance of the team with the scepter in their grip. Torch knew they succeeded, but he wasn’t prepared to see his own daughter among the Skylanders along with the bandicoot. Torch looked at his daughter,
“You have deliberately disobeyed me, Ember!”
Ember looked at her father and said, “You barred me from competing but you let the Skylanders compete! The Skylanders are proof that size does not matter!”
Torch was still angry for disobeying him when he remembered that statement that Trail Blazer said about him being a hypocrite, “But you could’ve been killed…”
Ember nodded, “I could’ve been, but I’m stronger than you know, Dad.” She realized that she was in her Supercharger armor, “Even more stronger than before…”
Torch was curious, “What do you mean?” Trail Blazer joined her, “Ember and I found something; buried in the volcano…I recognized it as a Rift Engine. When she touched it, it merged with her…turning your daughter into a Supercharger.”
Torch asked, “Supercharger?”
Ember spoke, “He said it was some kind of special Skylander…and there was a voice that said that I was chosen to defend my home from the forces of darkness.”
Torch was shocked on the inside, “My daughter…has become a Skylander?”
Trail Blazer replied, “Pretty much…but at least we succeeded in obtaining the scepter.”
Eye-Brawl spoke, “Spike suggested that we all take hold of the scepter.”
Torch spoke, “That represents a problem because only one can become Dragon Lord.”
Spike asked, “So…a decision will have to be made.”
Torch stated, “By you and those accompanying you specifically.”
The Purple Dragon asked, “I’m choosing the next Dragon Lord?”
Torch nodded, “You were leading your group to retrieve the scepter, you and your companions faced impossible odds. And all of you were holding the scepter which was your plan. I would think that it would be best if you decided on who the Dragon Lord would be.”
Spike knew who to choose, “Princess Ember…” The dragoness stepped forward as Spike continued,
“You will become the Dragon Lord.” The dragons gasped at this decision as Spike said, “But this battle was only the beginning, Malefor’s forces are still coming, thousands of those creatures, maybe millions. We need all the help we can get to stop Malefor once and for all.”
Ember nodded, “I shall honor the treaty that our ancestors have signed with Equestria.”
She soon said, “But I won’t become Dragon Lord until after we win this war.” Torch was confused, “Ember, why?”
Ember looked at her father, “I wish to follow the Skylanders on their quest, besides this is a diplomatic mission.”
Torch asked, “But who would…” Ember answered, “Dad, you will continue being Dragon Lord until we win this war.”
Torch, now impressed said, “And on that day, the war ends, you will take up the title as Dragon Lord.”
Ember’s body flashed for a moment as her Supercharger armor vanished and only a gold gauntlet remained on her left wrist. She asked, “What happened?”
Trail Blazer spoke, “The armor wasn’t needed and it converted to the gauntlet on your wrist.”
Ember looked at the gauntlet which was in the shape of a rift engine, “This is strange…”
Eye-Brawl spoke, “Rift Engines are strange pieces of technology.”
Spike noticed the bandicoot stick a finger in his ear and pull out a strange apple-like fruit and tossed it aside. He began asking the pants wearing, sneaker wearing bandicoot,
“Thanks for the help earlier…but who are you?”
The bandicoot didn’t actually speak as he stared at the dragon in confusion. Until all of a sudden a poof cloud appeared as a strange floating tribal mask with colored feathers on top spoke,
“Greetings, Skylanders. I am Aku-Aku; I see you have already met Crash Bandicoot. He does not speak sadly, but I guide him on his journeys for the most part.”
Ember looked at the mask, “A talking mask? Now I’ve seen everything.”
Aku-Aku moved to the dragoness, “You can be surprised of what I could do, but Crash has his skills set when he helped you defeat that creature.”
Spike now knowing who the bandicoot was, he asked, “You want to help us out?” Crash gave thumbs up as if he was saying yes. Spike knew that it was time for them to go as he said to his companions,
“Skylanders! MOVE OUT!” The group of five moved out as they left the Dragon Lands. As he watched his daughter leave with a group of honorable heroes, Torch was approached by Master Eon who arrived in the Dragon Lands in secret as the light blue Alicorn spoke,
“You know what this attack means?”
Torch nodded, “That Malefor has built that device.”
Eon pulled out a scroll and showed it to the Dragon Lord, “We need to make sure that we are ready in case he makes a large offensive.”
Torch looked at the scroll, “You plan to initiate the Sensei Initiative?”
Eon sadly replied, “Desperate times call for desperate measures. And I need a dragon from your lands to become a Sensei.”
Torch nodded, “I understand.