Scroll 29- Battalia (Part 4.1)
Scroll 29- Battalia (Part 4.1)
When he had first accepted Blade Gunner’s offer for a meal, Calvin didn’t really expect much. If anything, the Skyshifter expected that the elf would just lead him to some other food place inside the arena, some place that was probably less crowded than the venues at the front of the MaguDome, with not that many people to really pay attention. Though, as they walked down the hall and took the stairs to the second floor of the arena, they ended up going to a place that Calvin did not expect at all.
Much to his surprise, in one section on the second floor of the MaguDome was a lounge that overlooked the arena. It was called the ‘Conqueror's Canteen’, and from what he could tell, it was a restaurant that served quality meals to a limited number of special guests from a select list. Some of these guests included VIP’s that were personally invited by Magus to watch Battalia, fighters that were or had taken part in various tournaments that the MaguDome had hosted previously along with any additional guests that accompanied them. In fact, the only reason why the Skyshifter wasn’t turned away was because Blade Gunner told the greeble at the door that he was his personal guest.
After both of them had entered the canteen, Calvin was quick to notice that this lounge functioned more like a buffet than a restaurant. Cooks would be preparing food such as burgers, salads, pasta bowls and even in a personal kitchen while the guests would pick what they want to have before sitting down at a table to eat. Some of the tables even had attendants and allowed for those who were sitting nearby to play different variations of Skystones. Though, the table that both of them chose to sit at didn’t really have or need such accommodations.
As they sat down, the Skyshifter thanked the elf for his hospitality, before he took some time to eat a piece of the cheese pizza he had in front of him to fill his empty stomach. Yet, after a minute or two, he looked back at Blade Gunner and began to speak. “So, you said that there was something you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Indeed, I do,” the elf replied, “Your performance in the tournament so far has caught the attention of quite a lot of people, including me. Yet, you seem different compared to everyone else.”
That had a couple of red flags pop up in Calvin’s head. If there was a possibility that Blade Gunner somehow knew that he was not who he said he was, then his cover would be blown, and he would lose his chance to rescue his friends. “How exactly am I different?”
“Well, aside from how you fight, there is one other thing,” Blade told him, “That being what it is that you fight for exactly. Many come here and take part in tournaments here all the time for some of the most obvious reasons. Money, fame, personal glory, and the most important motivator of them all for many: Recognition. The feeling of no longer being seen as a nobody and actually being somebody.”
As he spoke, Calvin felt as if the hairs on the back of his neck were beginning to stand up. “Though, what I am curious about is what exactly are you fighting for? For someone so young and yet so skilled, the last place you would expect to find them is in a place like this.”
At that, the Skyshifter knew he had to say something. However, it was difficult for him to come up with the right words at first, especially since he didn’t want to say anything that would give away too much detail. Still, he had to try nonetheless.
“I’m doing this for a friend.”
“Oh,” the elf asked, a bit surprised by the simple sentence. Though, he decided to press a little further, “A friend, you say?”
Calvin simply nodded, before he continued, “Yeah, she’s always been there to help me when I needed it most. Someone to help guide me during a time when I felt lost and confused. Though, recently, she had gotten into some trouble and found herself in a mess that seemed impossible for her to get out of. So, I felt that since she had done so much for me when I needed it the most, I should do the same for her.”
At first, the Skyshifter felt that what he said was enough to try and get Blade Gunner to not suspect him of anything. Yet, the elf still had a couple of follow up questions for him. “What kind of mess, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Calvin really didn’t want to say anything else, but given his current situation, it looked like he didn’t really have a choice on the matter. So, he tried to answer Blade’s question the best he could to try and make his story convincing, “She ended up doing something stupid and caused a big mess in the process. However, the amount of money she has is not enough to fix the damages. I just thought that if I won the tournament, I could let her have the prize and help get her life back on track.”
For a moment, Blade was silent as his eyes were closed. The Skyshifter thought that the elf had fallen asleep on him. Yet, that notion was dismissed when he saw the elf’s eyes open and he began to speak, “To fight not for yourself, but for others who can’t help themselves. A noble goal, but not exactly an easy one to achieve.”
“That hasn’t stopped me so far,” Calvin pointed out, “If anything, it’s how I have been able to get to this point.”
“Fair enough,” the elf said, before adjusting his shoulder, “Though, the right thing to do in the eyes of one might either be seen as not doing enough or going too far. Not everyone might see your intentions the same way that you do.”
Even if that was possibly true, it was not going to stop the Skyshifter from following through with his goals. After all, there were people that were counting on him to be rescued. Though, instead of trying to defend himself, Calvin decided to ask Blade Gunner a question this time. “What do you fight for, then? One of the reasons that you mentioned earlier, or something different?”
For a moment, it felt like everything around them had stopped. The music in the canteen was not playing, the sounds from the kitchen came off as if they were suppressed and the noise from the other guests talking to each other were reduced to the point it sounded like everyone was talking in whispers. Not only that, but when Calvin looked at Blade Gunner, he noticed that the expression on his face had changed. He even would go as far as to think that he might’ve said something wrong.
That was, until Blade actually gave him an answer. “To not be forgotten again.”
“What the heck is that supposed to mean?” the Skyshifter wondered. The answer felt weird and confusing to him, since not that long ago, he mentioned that one of the reasons why people would take part in tournaments like these was for recognition. Wasn’t that technically the same thing?
Though, before he could say anything, the elf that sat across from him continued to speak, “I’ve been around for a very long time. Back when I was your age, I was recognized for my deeds as a warrior and seen as a hero among my people. Now though, almost everything that I once knew was gone and my deeds from before are no longer remembered. Now, the people don’t see me as a hero anymore, but instead see me as a monster because of circumstances that were out of my control.”
When the elf shifted his shoulders, Calvin thought he heard something, a sound that was similar to the ones he would hear from certain Tech skylanders when they moved their arms or legs. Though, before he could think more on it, the elf that was across from him continued to speak. “Because of this, I couldn’t go back to the life I once lived, so instead, I had to choose a different path. Now, I fight because when I am gone, I do not want to have myself be forgotten, like all the deeds I had done before. I want to be remembered for something, something that I was able to accomplish, because I had to start over.”
While that answer seemed valid at first, there also seemed to be something that made Calvin think that there was more to the elf’s answer than he was letting on. Besides, if he was so intent on wanting to accomplish something like that by himself, then why did Calvin hear him say someone else’s name when he was fighting earlier? Was this ‘Arthur’ some kind of ghost, or something only he could see?
There was only one way to know for sure. “Really? That sounds like a rather difficult goal to try and accomplish just by yourself. Wouldn’t it be easier to-”
Immediately, the elf’s eyes narrowed. “Do you doubt my capabilities?”
“No, no, that’s n-not what I mean,” Calvin insisted, “I-I’m just saying that sometimes, a goal is easier if you have companions to help you.”
Yet, despite what he was saying, Blade was having none of it, “Only those who lack the experience of battle find strength in numbers. But even with allies, the strongest of shields cannot defend the weakest of wills. Take my last opponent for example. That elderly mage thought that by hiding behind an army of minions, he would obtain victory. Yet, his overconfidence led to his own undoing.”
“That’s your opponent though,” the Skyshifter pointed out, “How does that relate to you?”
“I don’t need help from those who only think that they know who I am,” the elf snarled, “I want to be remembered for something I do, not something that somebody else tells me to do. I don’t want to be bound by the shackles of somebody else and let them define the kind of person I want to be remembered as.”
Before Calvin could even say anything to the elf, Blade Gunner rose from his seat and began to make his way to the exit, but not without saying one more thing, “Rest while you can. For tomorrow, we face each other as enemies… and I won’t let you stand in my way.”
By the time Calvin had finally returned to his room, it was much later than when he thought he was going to come back. Smoky was already back by the time he returned, and he was sore to the point that when he finally changed back, he felt the need to just collapse on the bed in his room. “By Eon, that took forever.”
“Welcome back,” Skippy spoke up, before hopping on the bed to join him, “We’ve been wondering why you’ve been gone so long.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I meant to come back sooner though, after my match. I was kind of forced to make a detour,” the Skyshifter admitted as he looked at the lava puppy before looking back around the room and clicking the wristband that was on his wrist to turn on his communicator. He wanted to make sure that before he discussed anything else that his allies outside of the MaguDome were listening, “Snap Shot, are you there?”
“I’ve been here,” the crocogator replied, “You better have a good reason for reporting back late. I was expecting you to contact me after your match.”
“That was the plan, yes,” Calvin admitted, “Though, I barely had a lot of time from when the first match ended to when I was up for my match. Heck, the only thing I was able to do was leave a message for Smoky. Then, after the match was over, somebody wanted to talk with me and offered me lunch since I had to fight my match on an empty stomach.”
That left the trap master he was talking to with a couple of questions. Though, the first one that came to mind was a bit more immediate. “Somebody wanted to talk to you? Was it Magus?”
“No, actually, it was someone else,” he replied, “It was my opponent in the finals tomorrow, that elf named Blade Gunner.”
There was a brief pause on the other end. For a moment, Calvin thought that he had somehow lost contact with the crocogator. Though, his concerns faded when he heard Snap Shot speak again, “Your opponent? What did you talk about with him?”
From there, Calvin went on to explain everything he could recall, from his encounter with the elf after his match to the conversation that followed afterwards. He tried his best to recall everything, including when he heard Blade Gunner say in the arena and also the noises he heard in the Conqueror's Canteen. After all, the more pieces of information that Snap Shot had, the more likely that he could come up with some kind of answer. Though, unfortunately, that wasn’t enough.
“Hmm, I see. Unfortunately, outside of what you just described, I’m afraid there’s little that I can do to help you right now.”
“Really? Why’s that?” Calvin asked, a bit puzzled by what the crocogator told him.
“Well, outside of this, today’s been rather hectic. We got a transmission earlier from Jet Vac at the academy. From the sounds of it, one of the puppies the students have been taking care of almost let the cat out of the bag as to what we're doing and some of the staff members have been trying desperately to calm down whoever it was that they told,” Sharpfin now replied, “Oddly enough, they seem to know you specifically.”
“Uh oh,” Calvin now had a very bad feeling as to who it was that Sharpfin happened to be talking about. If his suspicions were true, then there was no way that the academy staff could be able to convince her to calm down unless he had to somehow intervene. “Sharpfin, could you describe who it is that you’re talking about? The one that can’t calm down, I mean.”
“Well, they looked almost like that one unicorn back at the academy, Trail Blazer or whatever his name was. Only difference was that they looked more like grape taffy, had a pair of wings on their sides and seemed to know their way around the academy quite well.”
“Did she say who she was?” Smoky now asked.
“Not really. I think someone called her Twilight or something, but I couldn’t really pick up on anything else. We were getting some interference on the ship’s radio at the time.”
Around that point, the Skyshifter definitely knew for a fact that he couldn’t keep this up if Twilight knew something was up. Not only that, but he had a feeling that if he didn’t talk to her sooner that she would end up doing something drastic that might jeopardize any chance at a rescue attempt for Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow.
“Snap Shot, I think I might know who Sharpfin is talking about,” he replied, “Is there any way that I could try to talk to her or send a message-?”
“Absolutely not,” the crocogator sternly told him, “Considering your position right now and how you’re deep undercover, there would be too much risk.”
“Hold on, Snap,” the land shark spoke up, something that caught Calvin off guard because he thought that Sharpfin would be in agreement with him, “While talking to her might be out of the question, I think the kid might be onto something about sending her a message. Besides, it might be a greater risk if we don’t do anything at all.”
There was a bit of silence on the other end, before the Trap Master replied back to him, “How so?”
“Well, last we heard, it seemed like there was little that Hugo and the others could do to calm them. Perhaps if we have Calvin relay to them a message, it would help ease tensions and not have her do anything that might be reckless,” Sharpfin suggested, “I mean, if we don’t do anything, there’s the likely possibility that this… pony might do something reckless and cause a much bigger mess. It doesn’t have to be too complex, just enough to assure her that he’s alright.”
Once again, there was silence as Calvin looked back towards Smoky. Uncertainty was beginning to slowly set in, for they weren’t sure if what Sharpfin said was enough to convince Snap Shot to actually go along with what he suggested. If anything, the Trap Master seemed rather strict and serious when it came to missions and anything that could potentially cause things to go sideways. He was the one that was in charge of everything, so if something were to go wrong, it would be his responsibility.
After what felt like ten minutes or so, Snap Shot let out a sigh, “Fine, I’ll allow it… but only once. Before we do so though, there’s one other thing I wanted to ask about first.”
“What’s that?” Smoky asked.
“Calvin, you said that you left Smoky a message before your fight. What was that about?”
That had the Skyshifter let out a small breath, before he began to speak. “Well, I wanted to have Smoky look into something that I noticed in the fight before mine. Magus offended the Chompy Mage, only to end up having chompies swarm his commentary booth and damage his equipment, something that he, from the sounds of it, did not expect at all. So, I was wanting to see if it was possible for Smoky to get inside there.”
“Okay, I think we’re with you so far, kid,” Sharpfin spoke up, “Though, my only question is... why?”
“Well, technically, that booth would basically have everything he needs in order to run this show of his, right?” Calvin asked, which led to the two that were listening on the other end to let out murmurs of approval, “So, I thought that if we were able to break a few things in there and have them malfunction, it would make our rescue attempt easier. Like… what do we already know about the cage they’re in?”
“That it prevents them from using their powers and slowly drains their strength,” at that point, it sounded like the land shark was catching on to what the Skyshifter was thinking about, “Wait a minute… are you suggesting that-?”
“Think about it. If Magus runs everything inside this place from his booth, then there has to be some kind of controls to their cage inside there,” he continued, before looking at the lava pup next to him, “If Smoky can find something like that and disable it along with the security system, it could make getting the two of them out of there a lot easier, especially since nothing would be messing with their powers and they specialize in not being seen, meaning they could just as easily sneak out without anyone noticing that anything’s wrong.”
“Huh. That would actually play out rather nicely,” Snap Shot spoke aloud as he began to think over what Calvin was suggesting, “It would even make extracting them out of there a lot easier than we originally thought. Only question is, does Smoky think that he can accomplish such a task-?”
Smoky didn’t even let Snap Shot finish speaking before he decided to speak up, “Yup!”
“Well, that was quick. Thought you would want to think it over first,” the Trap Master told him. Yet, before Smoky could dart for the door, Snap Shot said one more thing, “Before you take off anywhere though, there’s one thing I’m going to have you do first.”
“What’s that?” the pup asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“I’m going to need you to go to the cage where Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow are being kept first. This can only work if they are somewhat aware of what we’re trying to do,” Snap Shot instructed, “We’ll also need to find a way to stay in contact, just on the off chance that something goes wrong.”
“Why don’t I just give Smoky the communicator you guys gave me?” Calvin suggested, “If I put it around Smoky, it would look as if it’s just a dog collar and wouldn’t raise any suspicion, right?”
“Yeah, but that would mean we would lose contact with you, kid,” Sharpfin retorted, “Are you really sure that you want to do that?”
“Well, unlike Stealth and Trap, you would know exactly where I’m going to be tomorrow. So, since Magus is one for putting on a show, why don’t we do the same to catch him off guard? Throw in something that he can’t expect or prepare for that we can use to shut this whole place down.”
One last time, the sound of murmurs could be heard from both the land shark and the crocogator as Calvin and Smoky waited, all before a drawn out sigh could be heard from Snap Shot. “You seem to have your mind made up at this point. So, how do you want to do this?”
“Remember when I asked if I could give Twilight a message? Well, I might have an idea as to what I want to say.”
Elsewhere
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m going to need you to calm down-”
“I am calm,” the purple alicorn named Twilight Sparkle said as she stood firmly in front of the door to Master Eon’s chambers. Her gaze was fixed on the bipedal eagle-like creature that was standing guard outside and preventing her from entering, “I just wanted to talk with Eon about Calvin. Why are you being so secretive on just a simple request?”
“Like I said already-” Before they could finish, the door creaked open behind him as he heard a whisper in his ear. Yet, what he was told had him face away from the pony in front of him and towards who was behind the door, “What? You actually want to-? Did Master Eon approve of this?”
“Approve of what?”
The question from the alicorn immediately had Jet Vac turn back around to face Twilight, “It appears that Master Eon has granted you permission to enter on the condition that nothing that is being discussed leaves this room,” the Sky Baron told her, before he proceeded to open the door.
“Why now though?” Twilight asked. After all, she had spent most of her time waiting outside to no avail. Why was it that she was only being let in now?
“I don’t know, but from what it sounds like, it seems to be something urgent-” Jet Vac replied as he stepped aside to let her pass. Twilight didn’t even listen to the rest of what the Sky Baron was about to tell her as she went straight inside. Immediately after going in, she recognized a few familiar faces from the other times that she had been at Skylander Academy around a round circular table with a couple of people that the alicorn hadn’t seen before. Apart from Eon and Buzz, the school’s head of security, there was King Pen and what appeared to be another Skylander that looked like a living tree. Shortly after arriving, the figure that stood guard at the door joined the others.
“My apologies, Master Eon. Once I opened the door, there wasn’t anything I could do to-”
“It is fine, Jet Vac,” the Portal Master assured him, before looking over towards where Twilight was standing, “Let me begin by first expressing my dearest apologies. You might think that we were trying to hide something from you, but given the nature of our current predicament, we have to be the utmost careful.”
“Master Eon, I just want to know what’s going on,” the alicorn said, “I was under the assumption that he was supposed to be at some training grounds, only to learn from Skippy that she saw his teacher just this morning,” she paused, before glancing around the room and looking at each of the figures that were around her, “Just what exactly is going on?”
Each of the figures looked around the room for a moment, and spoke among themselves. Though, all of them went silent when Buzz began to speak. “What’s going on here is a rescue operation, one that our mutual friend was hoping that you would help with.”
“Wait, rescue?” Twilight asked, her mind immediately racing to the worst possible scenario, “Are you saying Calvin’s in trouble-!?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” Buzz reassured her, “If anything, it’s quite the opposite. Calvin volunteered to help rescue some Skylanders that are held captive behind enemy lines. We’re in the final stages of our plan to rescue them, but given circumstances that are out of their control, he’s asking for your help in making sure they get out safely.”
From there, the mabu continued on and gave the alicorn an explanation as to what exactly was going on. However, considering their situation, there were a lot of details that they had to go over and very little time for Twilight to ask any questions or even write anything down. It felt as if a teacher at Celestia’s School for gifted unicorns had to cram a two hour lesson into the span of less than five minutes.
The only real time that the alicorn actually got to say anything was when Buzz asked her a question, “So, with that simple explanation out of the way, are you ready?”
Twilight let out a deep breath. She wasn’t exactly thrilled with what was going on and how Calvin didn’t tell her the truth, but there was a time to discuss that later. Right now, time was of the essence, and the sooner they got to work, the better. “I am.”
Meanwhile
“So, that’s what everyone is planning to do?” Stealth Elf asked, doing her best to maintain her posture as she stood by the door to the cage. While the amount of food that Smoky had brought to her and Trap Shadow had helped improve their physical state, it was still difficult for them to do anything with them being stuck inside the chamber they were in. Though, as the lava dog stood outside their cell and they heard what Sharpfin and the others were planning, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of hope flow through her, “You’re going to try and find a way to get us out of this place?”
“Y-yeah,” Smoky replied, “If I mess with the controls for the cage and the security systems, you two can just get out without anyone noticing.”
While that was the case, there was one thing that could potentially be a problem. “That may sound good… but we can’t leave right away.”
“What? Why?” the lava puppy asked, the collar around his neck humming a little bit.
“When we were locked up in here, Magus took away all the weapons and tools we use,” the elf replied back, “If we’re going to escape this place, then we need to get our stuff back, just in case something does go sideways and we need to defend ourselves.”
“She does have a point,” Sharpfin replied as his voice came from the collar around Smoky’s neck, “If I had to take a guess, then maybe they’re keeping all those things locked up in an armory?”
“And if that booth controls everything in the MaguDome, then perhaps there’s a directory as well as the controls to the armory as well,” Snap Shot was heard soon afterwards, “Okay, Smoky, stick to the plan. We’re just going to add on a little detour. Once you get them out of their cell, help them grab their things and head to the extraction point, like we talked about.”
With that, the voices from the collar faded and Smoky immediately began to make his way to his intended destination. When the lava dog was snooping around earlier, he found a perfect spot in order for him to sneak into the booth. There was a hole as big as he was in the far back corner of the room that was hidden from sight by a trash can that was in front of it. Despite the alluring scents from the trash can though, Smoky did his best to focus. He wasn’t here to sniff out anything that could be a snack, after all.
At one point though, Smoky thought that he heard something. The room appeared to be empty, but the sound of voices could still be heard. Luckily for him though, the voices were coming from outside of the booth on the opposite side of the only door in the room, and they seemed to be more focused on other things that were happening.
“Where is Itt?”
“It? Did you lose something?”
“No, no. Itt,” the first voice repeated, “You know? The one who gave you the tour earlier?”
“He gave Yu a tour? Why? He already knows where everything is.”
The guard grumbles, “No, I mean the tour that you got from him earlier.”
“I didn’t get the tour from Hym. I got the tour from the new guy.”
“No, Sheeriuslee, that new guy’s name is Itt.”
“Oh… well, why didn’t you say so, Sirius?”
“That’s what I was-, Urgh! Why did I agree to do this extra shift?”
“What do you mean? Ai has the night off tonight.”
“Agh! I was talking about myself, not her!”
“Why are you mentioning Herr? I was talking about Ai.”
“Ahhh!!! Just shut up! No more talking.”
“Bu-”
“No. More. Talking.”
Smoky paused and thought to himself, “Whoever hired these guys has quite the sense of humor.”
However, considering his present situation, the lava dog redirected his attention back to the task at hand and began to search the interior of the booth. The first thing he could make out was five tables, alongside a wide assortment of chairs. The first one was built into the wall by the window, looking out to the arena itself, while the other four were rectangular shaped and spread out an even distance from one another. Each one of them looked to have some kind of equipment set up on top, though considering that the desk in front had more equipment stationed there, Smoky had a guess that it probably had what he was looking for.
As he got closer to the desk at the front, the lava puppy focused his smoke powers to the bottom of his paws to form a small cloud, before carefully pushing him upwards and onto the desk itself. Given how crowded the surface of the table was, Smoky had to be very careful not to knock anything over or break anything. If he did, there was a high possibility that the guards outside would be alerted and immediately storm in, making any chance of rescuing Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow even harder.
Though, as he was walking along the edge of the table, Smoky misplaced his right foreleg and slipped a bit. However, as his leg went down, he felt it touch something and heard a small click. Curious, the lava dog looked down at his leg to see that there was an additional compartment attached under the desk, with the section that his leg made contact with being one of four circular dials, each one with a different number. “What’s this?”
“What’s what?” the lava puppy heard Snap Shot’s voice from the makeshift collar around his neck, “Is there a problem?”
“N-no, it’s just… I found this weird thing that I haven’t seen before,” the pup explained, “It looks like some kind of… shelf that’s stuck to the table, but it has these wheels that are covered in numbers.”
“A hidden compartment with a combination lock?” Sharpfin was next to speak, “Magus must’ve put something of importance if it’s under lock and key. Try and see if you can find a way to open it. They’re usually opened up with a four number code.”
“Like one-two-three-four?”
“Pfft, only a greeble would put that as a code,” the land shark replied, before realizing something shortly after his comment, “Then again, most of Magus’ workforce consists of greebles, so… maybe?”
To Smoky, that was at least better than just randomly selecting numbers to see what would work. With a twist of his paw, the puppy conjured some more smoke and had it slip past the wheels and into the mechanism itself, the wheels only moving when the toes of his paw moved, as this allowed him easier control of the whole device. After shifting a few numbers around and straightening everything up, he tried to pull it out to see if it worked.
No response.
“Shoot,” Smoky grit his teeth, “Guess I have to keep trying.”
For the next couple of minutes, he then began to randomly test different numbers to see if one potential combination could unlock the compartment. Unfortunately, many of his attempts to get the right combination were not entirely successful. Smoky had even tried to look for anything on the desk he was on that could be a clue, from a list of seating sections in the arena to what looked to have been numbers on a receipt. Yet, those did not seem to work either, and his failed attempts were beginning to irritate him.
Then, a different thought emerged in his mind when he remembered what Sharpfin said. “Wait. Surely. it can’t be that easy now, can it?”
With that thought in his mind, Smoky proceeded to test one final combination.
1111.
The moment the fourth number was put into place, the front of the compartment springed out forward and loosened itself from its constraints, which allowed for Smoky to fully pull out and see its hidden contents. There looked to have been an array of various buttons and switches, with each button representing different functions. Yet, when the lava puppy was looking at them, it was hard for him to try and make sense of everything that he was seeing. However, there was one particular control with a glass cover over it and a laminated notecard that seemed to be rather important.
‘DANGER RELEASE PROTOCOLS! DO NOT TOUCH UNLESS AUTHORIZED TO DO SO IN EXTREME CASES OF EMERGENCY!! ANY UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL WHO DOES SO WILL BE DEALT WITH ACCORDINGLY FOR ANY SECURITY VIOLATIONS THAT WOULD ENSUE FROM AN INTENTIONAL BREACH!!’
“Well, this looks important,” Smoky thought. Though, he didn’t press it just yet. There was still something else that he needed to find beforehand, “Hey, I got it open and found a bunch of stuff here, including the thing for the cage… though, I’m still looking for the other part.”
“With the security?” the land shark on the other end asked, “Hmm. Optimally, you would be looking for anything that could either shut it all off or maybe get it to malfunction. What do you see?”
“Well, a few things,” he replied, before reading off each of the labels, “There’s special effects, strobe lights, helmet shuffle… There is one called restart, but there’s some tape over it and a note.”
“What does it say?”
“Just something about not touching it… hang on,” Smoky said, before inquiring further, “Oh! Listen… ‘Pressing the Restart button will commence required maintenance and shut down all active security modules-’.”
“That’s the one we need. Hit it and let’s go. We don’t have all night.”
With that, Smoky was quick to rip the tape off and press both the restart button and the danger release switch, before closing the drawer and scurrying out of there. It was more than likely that once the security system had shut down, someone was going to investigate, so he had to get as far away from the booth and join back up with Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow as quickly as possible.
It did not take Stealth Elf long to realize that the little fire dog named Smoky actually followed through on what he set out to accomplish. For as long as she and Trap Shadow could remember, the effects of the cage they were trapped in squeezed the two Skylanders of any strength they had and prevented them from recovering any strength they used when they were forced to fight. Now though, that sensation was gone, and the two of them felt reinvigorated and determined to finally rid themselves of this place. So, this was an opportunity they had to act on immediately.
Of course, despite their strength returning to the two of them, the effects of their stay in the cage made it difficult for them to channel their powers properly. So, for the time being, they had to rely on their reflexes and wits to keep themselves hidden. Fortunately, they weren’t entirely alone, for as soon as they left the cage behind, they could hear the sound of paws running along the floor as Smoky soon joined up with them.
“Thanks for getting us out of there,” the elf let out a sigh of relief, “Not sure how much longer we would’ve lasted if we were still stuck in there.”
“No problem,” the puppy replied, “So, what’s the plan? We grab your stuff and get out?”
“Mostly,” Trap Shadow now spoke up, “However, even though we should reclaim our gear, one of us should make sure that there aren’t any surprises on our way out.”
That had Smoky look back at the Trap with a bit of confusion on his face. Though, Stealth Elf was able to pick up on what he was implying, “Are you serious? You’re suggesting for us to split up now, of all times?”
“It’ll make it easier for us to cover more ground and make sure that we don’t get any unexpected surprises when we get out of here,” the Swap Force Skylander told them, “The last thing either of us would want is for some guard to put the place on high alert if they spot one of us.”
That had Stealth Elf fold her arms for a moment, for Trap Shadow did bring up a valid point. Even though they were out of the cell, they were not out of the arena just yet… so someone had to ensure that their escape went unnoticed. “What, are you volunteering?”
“Actually, yes,” he replied, before some of his magic began to form around his paws. “I don’t entirely need weapons to be an effective fighter, so leave this to me.” As he finished speaking, the magic fully enveloped the feline as the feline disappeared from sight, leaving the elf and the lava dog by themselves.
“W-where did he go?” Smoky asked, shocked by Trap’s sudden disappearance.
“Don’t worry about him. He just has some rather useful tricks when it comes to staying out of sight,” the elf assured the puppy, before looking farther down the hallway, “Now then, I say it’s time we get my tools back before we leave this place for good. Did you find anything on where the armory might be?”
Unfortunately for Smoky, out of all the things he did manage to do, there was one thing that he forgot. “Oh… uh… I k-kinda forgot. I can just go back and-!”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Stealth Elf insisted, before pulling out what looked to have been some faded bandages from her pocket, “In fact, I might have a back up plan. Though, I must ask, how good are you at tracking scents?”
“Oh, really good!” he nodded, before tilting his head in confusion, “Why do you ask?”
“Well, I have something that could help us narrow down our search, but it depends on whether or not you can smell anything from this,” she said, before motioning to the bandage she was holding. Smoky looked at what she was holding, before moving his head closer and sniffing the bandage from end to end, “Well, did you pick up anything?”
“It’s… faint, but I think I can follow this,” he said, before looking back at her, “What even is it though?”
“I had these wrapped around my daggers for a time to help with the grip, but replaced it before I got captured,” the elf explained, “Since they were originally part of my weapons, I thought that there might’ve been some kind of scent for you to follow.” Even though the plan sounded like a bit of a longshot, it was honestly the only one that she could think of and the most likely one to possibly succeed.
“I-I can give it a try,” he said, looking around and sniffing the air to see if he could pick up on the scent. It took a little bit at first, but Smoky was quick to pick up on the trail and immediately follow after it. At first, Stealth Elf was caught off guard by how quickly the lava dog was on his paws. Yet, she was quick to pick up after Smoky and did her best to follow him, while also staying out of sight of anyone that happened to pass by.
After a minute or so, the lava dog stopped in front of a giant door as Stealth Elf approached it. “It’s through here.”
While that did seem like a sigh of relief, the Life Skylander felt that this seemed a bit too easy. Usually, there would be some more obstacles that prevented her from trying to accomplish a task. Though when she tried to use the door handle, that was when things didn't go well. “Drat, the door’s locked. We’ll need a key of some kind to get inside. Any ideas where we can find one, Smoky?”
Originally, the lava puppy had no idea where to start looking. Though, that was when he began to hear sounds from a floor vent that was on the opposite side of the hallway they were in. At first, he couldn’t make out anything. As he got closer, he could hear the faint sounds of voices and laughter. “I… might have one idea. Could you wait for a moment?”
A small nod from the elf was all Smoky needed to see before he channeled his powers to undo the screws on the floor vent and hopped inside. As the lava puppy crawled through the vent, the voices were slowly beginning to become a bit clearer. He could make out words and the sounds of several different creatures talking to one another. Though, he could only really see what was going on once he reached the other side.
At the end of the vent was a break room that had various greebles inside. There were tables that had kinds of foods and drinks lined up against the wall. As for its occupants, they were all gathered around a round table, talking among themselves. Though, some of the greebles weren’t really enjoying the topic of conversation that they were discussing.
“Haha, are you guys serious? You didn’t really think that new guy would actually win?”
“He was fighting against Spellslamzer, the same spell punk who was undefeated at Battlebrawl Island before those Skylanders ruined everything.”
“Yeah, what Mi said. If I knew that the fight was going to turn out the way it did, I would’ve saved my coins.”
“Wait, Ai knew it was going to turn out like that? Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Both Yu and I didn’t know, actually. We were betting on the first fight and then saving our coins for the finals. Unlike everyone else, we actually made some money.”
Some more bickering went back and forth between the voices as Smoky watched. Though as he looked around the room, one thing soon caught his attention. On the edge of the table, there was something that looked to be a key. If he had to take a guess, that might’ve been the key they needed in order to get into the armory. However, there was no way that he could go in and take it now without alerting the rest of the greebles in the room.
If this plan were to work, he needed a distraction. Fortunately, there was someone that could help him with that as he returned back to the front of the vent. “Hey, um, I might’ve found the key… but there’s too many bad guys in there that might see me if I go get it. Could you… well-”
“Distract them?” The elf’s question was followed by a small nod from the puppy as she looked down the corridor to where the supposed door of the break room might be. Even though Smoky couldn’t see it, a small grin formed under her mask, “I think there might be something I can do. Give me a second, and I’ll get a distraction ready for you. Just make sure you’re in position.”
Smoky nodded, before quickly returning back to the other end of the vent. The lava dog was eager to get out and grab the key the moment that the opportunity presented itself. Though, there was one slight issue that came up in his head. He wasn’t sure what exactly Stealth Elf’s distraction was supposed to be or when she was going to pull it off. So, it was now a matter of waiting, and that made him nervous.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too long for something to happen that got the attention of everyone in the room. Though when Smoky looked at the doorway, he was shocked at the sight of Stealth Elf just slowly making her way past the open entryway into the room, not even remotely being quiet as her footsteps were heard by several of the guards. “Hey, guys. Is it just me, or was that the boss's prisoner just now?”
“I saw it, too!” Another one spoke.
“Well, come on! If we let her escape, then the boss will definitely not be happy!!”
Immediately, all the guards got up from the table and went out the door in pursuit, leaving the room completely empty. In their mad dash, they also left behind the key that was still on the table, which provided Smoky the perfect opportunity to come out from inside the vent and take it. Once he conjured his smoke and grasped the key with it firmly, the lava pup quickly retreated back inside and closed the way he came out. At first, he thought that he had to hurry, on the off chance that Stealth Elf was in trouble.
Though, as Smoky heard the greebles come back, what they were talking about kind of caught him by surprise. “Really, Mi? How do you mistake a scarecrow for an actual person?”
“I swear, I saw that prisoner! Besides, why the heck would there be a scarecrow in the middle of the hallway? Don’t you think that’s weird?”
“I think that Mi is just so scared to lose in Skystones again that they made that story up so they can look at our stones and cheat.”
“Why would I do that-?” the first voice then paused for a moment or so, before asking a completely different question, “Hey, who was the one in charge of watching the armory tonight?”
“That would be me,” another voice replied back, “Why do you ask?”
“Well, we’re all here, but the key is missing.”
“Come on, Mi, this isn’t the time for-” At that point, Smoky was beginning to go farther down the vent and back to the other end where he came in. However, the voices from the room did not die down. Instead, it got much louder. “Okay, who did it!?”
“Did what, Thae?”
“Who took the key?! I had it on the table when we left-”
“Uh, I was with you the whole time-”
“Can it, Wi! I wasn’t talking about you,” Thae snapped, “When all of us left the room, it was here. When we all came back, it’s gone! Now, who took it?”
“Wait, Itt’s been taken?”
“No, the key! Not the new guy. He’s right next to you, Hym.”
“Well, how am I supposed to know!? We all look the same! Context matters!!”
Even though it might’ve sounded rather amusing to listen in on the ongoing argument, Smoky knew that he couldn’t. Stealth Elf was counting on him, and he was hoping that the elf was okay. Yet, as he got out of the vent and brought the key with him, the fire dog was startled by the sight of the Life Skylander leaning against the nearby wall. “There you are. I was wondering when you would come out.”
“W-what-?” Smoky stuttered, “B-but… I-I saw you running-”
Upon hearing that, the elf let out a small sigh. “Oh, right, about that… I can send out decoys to trick people. So, while it was being chased, I just waited here for when you would come back.”
“W-why didn’t you say anything-?”
“Well, I would have, but you jumped back in there before I could tell you,” she replied, before using her hand to gently grab the key from Smoky. Once she had it in her possession, the elf used the key to release the lock on the door to the armory and open it for them, “We can talk more about this later. Right now though, let's go grab my stuff and head back outside. Trap Shadow wouldn’t like it if we kept him waiting.”
The lava dog could only nod as he and Stealth Elf stepped through the door, his nose twitching as he picked up on the scent again. The Armory itself wasn’t as big compared to where he was just a few moments ago. Racks of weapons were lined up in the middle of the room, as well as along the walls, and were sorted by the various different types. Whether it was swords, shields, bows, spears, axes, hammers or anything in between, the armory had every kind of weapon type inside.
Though, unlike what the two of them had thought when they first entered the room, Stealth Elf’s gear wasn’t just placed alongside every other weapon in the room. In fact, it was placed inside the drawer of a storage compartment that was separate from the rest. Whether it be that the guards were planning to go through it another time or had just left it there and forgot about it was unknown. Yet, it didn’t really matter at this point, as Stealth Elf began to go through it all.
“Is that everything?” Smoky asked, hoping that no one noticed them as he looked back towards the door they came in through.
“Yes, it is,” the elf replied, a smile forming under her mask again as she gripped the handles of her blades for a moment to familiarize herself with the weapons she had been separated from for so long, “And I am glad to finally have these back. I was worried that everything I had was just crudely tossed into a pile, alongside every other weapon in here and ended up damaged. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.”
After a brief inspection, she put the blades away with the rest of her equipment and looked back to the lava dog that was with her. “Now that I have everything, I’m ready to leave this place for good. Sharpfin, are you there?”
The room was silent for a moment or so, but afterwards, Sparky’s collar began to glow as the two of them heard the land shark speak. “Heard you loud and clear, but where the heck are you? We can only see Trap Shadow from where we’re at.”
“I’m with Smoky, and we just got my belongings back,” the elf explained, “Trap Shadow went on ahead to make sure the grounds were clear so we didn’t get any unwanted surprises. We’re heading over to him right now.”
“That’s good to hear,” the two of them heard Snap Shot reply back this time, “We’ll try to let Trap Shadow know in the meantime. Once you two are grouped back together, we’ll get you out of there.”
At that, Stealth Elf couldn’t help but ask a different question, “Um, just so that we’re on the same page… what exactly is your plan once we reach the extraction point? The one that Sharpfin was talking about.”
“Well, given the circumstances, we had to… improvise a little bit,” Sharpfin replied back, “Trust me, it’ll make more sense once you get here. Now, hurry before any of the guards realize what you’re up to.”
Shortly after that, Smoky’s collar went silent as the two of them proceeded to leave the armory behind and head outside. With them being so close to freedom, Stealth Elf really felt the need to just get out as quickly as possible. However, such actions would be seen as reckless, and one false move could end up having her make a mistake that could undo all of their progress. So, they needed to tread carefully and be aware of their surroundings.
Though as they were heading towards the exit, there was a thought that soon crossed Stealth Elf’s mind. “Hey, Smoky? You told Trap Shadow and I that Calvin was here, right?”
“Well, yeah. Of course he’s here. Why do you ask?”
“Do you think you can show me where he is?”
When Calvin laid down on the bed inside his room, he was under the impression that he would be able to get some much needed sleep, that he was not needed for the plan that Smoky was a part of and that he should be well rested and prepared for tomorrow’s match. The final fight against Blade Gunner was going to require him to be fully focused if he was going to win. So, he wanted to make sure that he was ready for whatever surprises that Blade Gunner might have when the two of them would clash in the arena.
However, what the Skyshifter did not expect was for someone to knock on his door late at night. At first, he ignored it on the assumption that someone or something had hit his door by mistake. Though when Calvin heard the knocking continue, he couldn’t really ignore it anymore. So, the Skyshifter forced himself to get up off the bed and change into the form of his Imaginator before he opened the door and answered.
“Hello? Is there something I can-”
On the other side of the door was a sight that Calvin didn’t think he would see. It was Stealth Elf herself, with Smoky standing right next to her. The Skyshifter honestly thought that the two of them had already gotten on Sharpfin’s airship and left by now. Yet instead, they were right in front of the door to his room.
“Stealth Elf? Smoky? W-what are you two doing here?” he was quick to ask before the elf or the lava dog could say anything.
“Well, we were going to meet with the others,” Stealth Elf now replied as she took off the communicator that was around Smoky’s neck and handed it to him, “Though, I thought that you were still going to need this and decided to bring it to you.”
“O-oh, uh… t-thanks,” he replied back, unsure of what to make of everything that was happening as he placed the communicator back on his band, “I-I’m guessing it’s t-time for you to go?”
“That it is,” she replied, “Though before we go, I wanted to say thank you. Without you, I don’t know how long we would’ve lasted being forced to fight for Magus’ entertainment over and over again.”
She then turned around and prepared to leave, but before she left, the Skylander told him one last thing. “Just make sure to be careful, alright? Because once Magus realizes that his prized fighters are gone, he’s going to be rather angry and looking for someone to blame.”
Before he could even reply back, Stealth Elf had turned the corner and disappeared, leaving a rather bewildered Calvin behind as he tried to make sense of everything that he had seen before trying to get some sleep again.
“Come on, where could she be?” the Swap Force Skylander named Trap Shadow asked himself as he stood by the landing platform near the entrance to the MaguDome. While the area was clear and there weren't any guards in sight, he was hoping that Stealth Elf and the lava dog that was with her would be swift with retrieving the things that were taken from her and not delay. However, with each minute that passed, the magical tiger was getting rather anxious that something went wrong.
Eventually though, his fears slowly began to subside when, after what felt like an hour had passed, he could see both Stealth Elf and Smoky as they quietly walked out from under the entryway of the colosseum and over to where he was standing. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” the elf apologized, “Trying to get my belongings back was a bit more difficult than we anticipated.”
“Well, at least you’re here now, and we can finally leave this place behind,” Trap Shadow said, relieved that they didn’t have to deal with any more surprises. Though, there was one thing that soon caught his attention as he looked down at the lava dog next to her, “Stealth Elf? Where is Smoky’s collar?”
“Oh, right,” the elf said, looking back at Smoky briefly before answering the panther’s question, “We decided to give that back to Calvin. He’s probably going to need it tomorrow to get out of there, so… yeah.”
That was a response that Trap Shadow didn’t want to hear. “Stealth Elf, that was our only means of communication with Sharpfin and Snap Shot. How are we going to get out of here if we can’t let them know where we are?”
That was something that Stealth Elf honestly forgot to take into consideration, especially since they didn’t really know a lot of details as to how the two of them were going to get out, let alone how exactly Sharpfin was going to find them. Yet, despite that, Stealth Elf wasn’t going to let something like that bother her, not when they were so close to being free of this place.
“I got an idea for how we can fix that.”
“Oh, really now?” Trap Shadow asked, folding his arms, “And what exactly is your idea?”
“Well, first thing’s first, we need to get as far out from here as we can,” the elf explained, “From there, we’ll look around and fashion up ourselves a signal using whatever we can find. However, it has to not be too big to draw any attention from the guards, but enough for Sharpfin to see.”
“That’s your idea? We just improvise?”
“If you have any better ideas, then I’m willing to spend all night hearing them,” the Life Skylander replied sarcastically, “Besides, improvising on the spot has worked before, and we don’t really have a lot of other options, let alone time.” With that, Stealth Elf took the initiative and used her powers to disappear from sight as she began to make her way to the far edge of the outskirts as Smoky followed her.
As for Trap Shadow, all he did was let out a drawn out sigh before following after the fellow Skylander. Despite any objections he might’ve had, Stealth Elf did have a point. They didn’t have that many options, so whatever they were going to do, it had to be done now. Though the outskirts had only had a few items that were just scattered around the grounds, most of it being trash, leaving very little room for Trap Shadow to find anything.
As the Swap Force Skylander met back up with Stealth Elf on the far outskirts, he inquired of Stealth Elf her progress, “Did you actually find anything out here? The grounds seem rather barren.”
“Actually, Smoky and I did find some things,” the elf replied, before setting down a handful of items that were in her hands, “Some wood planks, a worn cloth and a box of matches. I’m surprised that we even found the last one, since you wouldn’t exactly find these things lying around everywhere.”
“Okay, those seem… good to have,” Trap Shadow admitted, “Though, how exactly are we going to use them?”
“Well, for that, I have a question for Smoky,” the elf’s words were enough to catch the puppy off guard as she looked towards him, “Smoky, when it comes to your abilities, can you control smoke that’s coming from a source… like a campfire? Or does it have to come from you specifically?”
“Um,” the lava dog nervously said, a bit caught off guard by what the Life Skylander had just asked him, “I-I never really… tried that.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything, I guess,” Stealth Elf shrugged her shoulders as she broke down some of the pieces of wood and set up a campfire. Though, she didn’t light it just yet and held the matchbox above the wood as the elf looked back to the lava puppy, “If you can use your powers to control the smoke from the campfire here, then there’s a chance that Sharpfin will see the smoke and come towards it, which will make it easier for him to get us out of here. Do you think you can do it, Smoky?”
“I-I can try,” he replied. While Smoky might’ve still been nervous, that was not going to hold him back. Calvin and the others were counting on him to help them escape, which meant that he had to give his all to see it through. As Stealth Elf struck the match and lit the campfire wood that had been prepared, the lava dog closed his eyes and tried to focus. Smoke was beginning to form all around the puppy’s body and float towards the burning fire as both of the Skylanders that were with him watched.
Even though Smoky had his doubts, the lava puppy began to see that his efforts were not in vain. While he wasn’t able to control the smoke from the fire directly, his power was able to affect its direction and push the smoke outward into the sky. Yet, Smoky was quick to realize that the farther the smoke went out, the harder it was for him to effectively control it. He just hoped that what he could do was enough for Sharpfin to notice.
After a few moments, Smoky felt much of his strength deplete from his body as he felt himself collapse. Luckily though, all of his effort was not in vain. In the distance, Stealth Elf could see the shadowy outline of a vessel approaching their location. While it might not have been much to go on, the vessel closely resembled the Hammerhead, the ship that Sharpfin had personally used before to assist them whenever Flynn’s own ship was in need of repairs. Though, the only way that they could verify for certain was to see who exactly was piloting it.
“Trap, do you think that might be Sharpfin’s ship?” the elf asked her companion as she pointed at the shadow. When the Magic Skylander looked outward, his eyes narrowed as he folded his arms and tried to analyze it.
“The shape does look like it, yes. However, I cannot tell whether or not it actually is,” Trap Shadow replied, “It’s too far away, and I can’t see anybody on the deck of the ship or at the helm. Doesn’t help that some of the clouds are blocking any light from the moon.”
“So, we need to find a way to have them come closer?”
“You can try. Though, I think it would do little to help-”
Though, it was just as Trap Shadow was about to finish his sentence that the clouds above them began to part, and the light of the moon began to shine through. The shadow that surrounded the vessel now disappeared, revealing the same airship that they had both seen Sharpfin pilot before, with the Land Shark at the helm as he noticed them, a welcome sight for the two Skylanders after everything that they had experienced when trapped inside. “Okay, I take that back, that did help improve our situation.”
Seconds later, the Hammerhead began to move closer to their location. Though as it approached them, Stealth Elf and the others noticed that somebody else was right next to Sharpfin by the helm. Not long afterwards, the three of them saw a shimmer of lavender light from around where the person’s head would be, and the same light enveloped the three of them. Before they had any idea as to what was going on, there was a bright flash, and all three of them found themselves face down on the deck of the Hammerhead.
“Snap, we got them on board!”
“Get us as far back from the MaguDome as you can,” they heard the familiar voice of the Trap Master named Snap Shot as the crocogator began to make his way above deck. As he turned to notice them, he extended a hand to both of the Skylanders to help them to their feet, “Is everyone alright?”
“W-we’re okay,” Stealth Elf assured him, “And thankful that we’re no longer trapped in there. By Eon, I’d rather not think about what would’ve happened if you didn’t come to rescue us.”
“Me neither. Though, Snap and I can’t take all the credit for making this possible… and we aren’t quite done yet,” Sharpfin replied now, before looking to his left as the land shark smirked for a moment, “We still need to get Calvin out. On that note, there’s someone I’d like for the two of you to meet.”
It was then that Stealth Elf and the others got to see who stood next to him, and much to the elf’s surprise, she actually recognized them. It was the equestrian named Twilight Sparkle, who Stealth Elf had seen with Calvin before and was referred to in the list that Buzz gave to every Skylander at the academy. However, the friendly demeanor that the life skylander had seen before was not present now. Instead, the alicorn’s expression was rather stern as she looked towards them and asked only one question.
“Where… is… Calvin?”
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