Skylanders Universe - Trigger Happy Targets the Evil Kaos Read online

  Glumshanks, on the other hand, was having a less than wonderful time. The Troll was hanging on to his master’s back, eyes closed tight, hoping that he’d feel solid ground beneath his flat feet very soon. Not that he was foolish enough to complain. Last time he’d moaned, Kaos had tried out Double Trouble’s power on him, creating an army of little Kaos clones who ran up to Glumshanks and exploded in his face.

  “This is amazing, Glumshanks,” Kaos exclaimed, vaporizing a passing flying fish with a lightning bolt just because he could. “I’ve never felt so powerful.”

  “And I’ve never felt so airsick!”

  “What was that, FOOL?”

  “I said, ‘You’ve learned to use your powers so quick, sir.’ It’s amazing.”

  Satisfied, Kaos nodded. “Yes, I am pretty wonderful. I think the time has come, Glumshanks!”

  “For us to land?” the Troll asked hopefully.

  “No, you coward!” Kaos snapped. “For us to attack the Core of Light!”

  “Should we call in the Drow to help, sir?” Glumshanks asked. “Or maybe your Troll armies?”

  “Who, those IDIOTS?” Kaos crowed, swooping around the peak of a towering mountain three times, just for fun. “Like I, KAOOOOOOS, need them! Remember, I am Kaos the All-Powerful now, Glumshanks.”

  “As if you’d let me forget,” Glumshanks muttered under his breath.

  “What did you say?”

  “That you’d destroy the Core of Light, no sweat, sir,” Glumshanks quickly replied.

  “Indeed I shall, Glumshanks,” Kaos declared, his narrow chest plumping up with pride. “Nothing can stand in my way this time. Not Eon. Not that pathetic band of SKYLOSERS. No one! Skylands is mine! Skylands is DOOOOOMED!”

  Kaos was still cackling with glee when Master Eon’s island came into view.

  “There it is, Glumshanks,” the fiendish Portal Master yelled. “My destiny awaits!”

  The Troll peered over his master’s shoulder. “But where is the Core of Light?” Glumshanks asked.

  Kaos snickered. “Foolish fool, it’s right there, beside Eon’s accursed Cita—”

  His voice trailed off. Glumshanks was indeed a foolish fool, but on this occasion he was a correct fool, too. Where the Core of Light should have been, there now stood what looked very much like a tall wooden tower.

  “What have they done?” Kaos gasped.

  On the island, Spyro looked up at the tower and nodded in appreciation.

  “Well done, everyone,” he said. “We did it!”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” said Trigger Happy, knocking in one last nail with a golden hammer. “Bang, bang, bang!”

  They’d worked all night, with Master Eon bringing in wood from all across Skylands through the Portal. Sprocket, the mechanically gifted Tech Skylander, had sketched out the plans in the dirt, and the Skylanders had sawed planks, hammered nails, and tightened screws. The result looked a little precarious, but they’d managed to build a circular tower all around the Core of Light, shielding it from attack—at least that was the plan.

  Best of all, they’d done it using good old-fashioned hard work. No powers, no potions—just a lot of effort and cooperation. Spyro had never been so proud of his friends.

  “I’ve seen sturdier-looking celery. Are you sure it’s going to hold?” Food Fight asked, scratching the back of his head. The tower hadn’t looked so rickety in Sprocket’s drawings.

  “Well, we’re about to find out,” said Smolderdash, pointing to the sky. “Look!”

  The Skylanders spun around to see heavy black clouds rolling toward them. Thunder rumbled on the horizon, and a terrible wind was blowing. The tower was already creaking ominously.

  Beside Master Eon, Hugo fished a telescope out of his backpack, snapped it open, and peered into the middle of the clouds.

  “It’s h-h-him,” the Mabu stammered, the telescope trembling in his hands. “It’s K-Kaos.”

  There was no time to lose. “Battle stations!” Spyro shouted, and the Skylanders scrambled into action. It was time for phase two of the plan.

  As well as building the wall around the Core, the Skylanders had constructed a dozen large catapults.

  “Load ’em up!” yelled Trigger Happy, hopping about in excitement. Around him, the largest Skylanders were clambering into the catapults—Prism Break, Terrafin, Stump Smash, Slobber Tooth, and more. These catapults wouldn’t fire rocks or boulders. They would fire Skylanders!

  “Get ready!” Spyro commanded as Kaos zoomed nearer and nearer. “This is it!”

  Everyone fell silent as they waited for the order to fire. All except Trigger Happy, that is.

  “Can I have a go, Spyro? Can I? Can I?”

  Spyro shook his head. “No, Trigger Happy. We’ve talked about this. You’re too light. We need to throw our heaviest Skylanders at Kaos to slow him down. I need you here with me.”

  Trigger Happy muttered unhappily as Master Eon walked to the front of the collected Skylanders and raised his staff toward the incoming fiend. The crystal at the end of the rod began to glow.

  “Kaos!” Eon boomed, his voice magically amplified. “Come no farther!”

  In the sky above the island, Kaos came to a sudden stop, and Glumshanks only just managed to stop himself from being thrown off his back.

  “Ha!” the evil Portal Master shouted down. “You can’t stop me, Eon. Not this time. Your SKYBLUNDERERS are helpless, and you are DOOMED!”

  Master Eon clicked his tongue. “You were always such a boring conversationalist, Kaos. Doomed this and doomed that. Why don’t you scurry back to your lair and learn some new threats?”

  “And why don’t you buzz off and wash your beard, old man? This is between me and the Skylanders,” Kaos replied, not taking the bait for once. “And don’t think that pathetic tower will stop me. I am INVINCIBLE!”

  “This is your last warning, Kaos,” Master Eon said calmly. “Leave now, while you still can.”

  Kaos’s only response was an evil cackle—oh, and the electrified breath he’d stolen from Cynder. The villainous Portal Master arched his back and opened his mouth wide, breathing a stream of dark energy that crackled down toward Master Eon. It would have hit him, too, if Spyro hadn’t hurled himself up and knocked his mentor out of the way.

  “Master Eon, look out!”

  “I am fine, Spyro,” Master Eon replied sadly as smoke curled up from where the electric breath had struck. “But it seems Kaos is unwilling to listen to reason.”

  “As always,” Spyro said, turning to the Skylanders. “First wave, FIRE!”

  THWAP!

  The first three catapults fired, flinging Terrafin, Stump Smash, and Slobber Tooth into the great blue yonder. The three bulky Skylanders rocketed toward Kaos.

  “L-L-Lord Kaos!” babbled Glumshanks. “What are we going to do?”

  “Oh, just this,” said Kaos, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He knocked Terrafin out of the sky with a handful of exploding fruit.

  “And this!” A blast of rainbow energy sent Slobber Tooth flying.

  “And, of course, THIS!” A wall of flame rushed toward Stump Smash, sending him spinning back down to the ground.

  Below the battle, Trigger Happy was still nagging Spyro. “Now can I have a go? Please, please, pleeeease?”

  “No!” Spyro insisted, turning to the catapults. “Second wave, prepare to fire!”

  But Trigger Happy hadn’t hung around for Spyro’s answer. He was sprinting over to where Lightning Rod was waiting to catapult himself into action.

  “Rod, Rod, Rod,” Trigger Happy said. “Isn’t that a picture of you?”

  “What? Where?” said the Storm Titan, whose ego was almost as large as his biceps. “I hope they got my good side.”

  Without thinking, Lightning Rod leaped out of the catapult to look for the picture,
giving Trigger Happy the chance to scramble in. Before Rod realized what was happening, the gutsy gremlin had released the counterweight.

  “Trigger Happy,” the Storm Titan bellowed. “Wait!”

  THWOP!

  The catapult fired, propelling Trigger Happy into the sky.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rain of Terror

  Wahoo!” whooped Trigger Happy as he whooshed toward Kaos. The wind rushed through his fur and, for a second, he felt indestructible. Hoisting his golden pistols above his head, he rattled off gold coins and prepared to barge straight into the Portal Master.

  In front of him, Glumshanks was shivering in fear, pointing out Trigger Happy to his master—but Trigger Happy didn’t mind. There was no way he could miss. Not this time.

  WHOOSH!

  The Tech Skylander shot past Kaos and into the swirling clouds.

  He’d missed! Again!

  “No, no, no!”

  Trigger Happy could hear Kaos laughing as he rocketed into the heavens. He had no idea how to stop—or get back to the battle. It wasn’t fair—they’d all be having a blast down there!

  “A blast!” Trigger Happy shouted. That was it! He screwed up his eyes, visualizing one of his pots of gold. He just needed a small one to blast him back down to the ground.

  “Just! One! Small! Pot!”

  The fuzzy gremlin opened his eyes to reveal . . . nothing. He sighed, hardly even registering the fact that his flight path was now arcing downward. He was tumbling between the islands and would fall a long, long way.

  A sudden beat of leathery wings caused Trigger Happy to snap up his head. Something was zooming in toward him. No, not something—someone!

  “Spyro!” Trigger Happy cried out happily as his purple friend swooped down, claws outstretched.

  “I’ve got you,” wheezed Spyro, hooking his claws under Trigger Happy’s arms. Effort was apparent all over the dragon’s face, the strain of flying in his weakened condition obvious, but Spyro hadn’t been about to let his friend fall.

  “What were you thinking?” Spyro hissed through clenched fangs as they came about, gliding back to Master Eon’s island.

  “Pow, pow, pow!” was Trigger Happy’s only reply.

  Spyro nodded. “You wanted to stop Kaos, I know. We all do! But don’t you remember what I said? We have to work together—especially now.”

  “Yeah, Spyro,” Trigger Happy replied meekly—or as meekly as he ever got. “Sorry!”

  Spyro grunted as he flapped his wings. “Besides, we’re going to need as much help as we can get down there on the ground!”

  Kaos landed in the middle of the Skylanders with a crash, shaking the very earth.

  “Mind if I drop in, FOOLS?” He sneered as a wall of bone brambles, bamboo sticks, and thorns burst out of the grass around him, shielding him instantly from the powerless Skylanders.

  From within his protective circle, he fired lightning bolts, fireballs, and even a swarm of honeybees at the Skylanders.

  Cynder tried to fly over the defenses, only to find herself attacked by a pack of spooky ghosts—her own spooky ghosts.

  “See how you like it for a change, dragon!” Kaos shouted. “And now for that tower!”

  He threw his hands into the air. “I, KAOOS, summon fire from the sky! Oh, and stars and skulls, too!”

  The Skylanders scattered as Kaos’s rain of terror started to fall. Flaming balls, shining stars, and grinning skulls tumbled down, falling straight into the Skylanders’ makeshift tower.

  Spyro and Trigger Happy swooped down just as the curved wooden walls started to shatter. Planks were thrown into the air, and nails pinged from the woodwork.

  Within seconds, all their hard work was undone. The tower crashed to the ground, revealing the Core of Light in all its glory. It shined brightly into the darkening sky—but for how much longer?

  “At last!” Kaos screeched. “Nothing can stop me now! NOTHING!”

  “Is that so?” boomed a voice, clear and sharp despite the sound of the falling tower. Behind the Skylanders, Master Eon raised his staff and slammed it into the ground like a pile driver. The impact sent a crack snaking toward Kaos and the clearly terrified Glumshanks. The shockwave hit Kaos’s protective circle, and the thorns, bones, and bamboo tubes crumbled to dust, revealing the evil Portal Master.

  “Eon!” Kaos hissed. “You don’t stand a chance against me. Not when I wear the MASK OF POWER!”

  “Not when you hide behind it, you mean,” Master Eon roared, a bolt of energy flashing toward his rival. Kaos raised his palm, and a huge toadstool erupted from the ground in front of him, easily absorbing the blow.

  “Is that the best you can do?” Kaos cackled, leaping into the air, flipping head-over-heels, and smashing into the ground. As Glumshanks ran for cover, Kaos burrowed beneath the earth, disappearing from view. The ground trembled as he tunneled below the Skylanders’ feet, planning to burst out of the soil and smash into Master Eon.

  Instead, he sailed through Master Eon as if the old wizard were a ghost.

  “What?” Kaos said, whirling around as the duplicate of Eon faded from view. The real Portal Master, standing on the other side of the island, muttered a spell beneath his breath, and vines erupted from the ground, wrapping themselves around Kaos’s arms and legs.

  “Ha!” Kaos jeered. “These couldn’t hold a Wilikin!” In a flash, he had burned the vines to a crisp. “Don’t you get it, Eon? Anything you can do”—he clapped his hands together, and vines sprouted around Eon’s legs—“I can do better, FOOL!”

  Master Eon struggled, but it was too late. The vines were multiplying, new shoots growing at an alarming rate. Within seconds, the Portal Master’s arms were bound, and his staff had fallen from his hand.

  “Master Eon!” Spyro cried out, running forward. In the time it took for the dragon to reach his mentor’s side, Eon was completely smothered. His body, his head—even his beard. All that was visible of the good Portal Master was two sharp eyes staring out from the green prison.

  “Take one more step,” Kaos warned the purple dragon, “and I’ll blow Eon sky-high.”

  Spyro gasped as glistening green melons bloomed on the vines holding Master Eon. Highly explosive glistening green melons.

  “And the same goes for any of you, SKYLOSERS,” Kaos added. “Stay exactly where you are. In fact, FREEZE!”

  Spyro and Trigger Happy shivered as ice blocks appeared around their feet, anchoring them in place. Slowly, the ice started to creep up their legs. The same thing was happening to the other Skylanders, too. Soon, all of them would be completely covered in ice.

  “Excellent,” Kaos said smugly. “And while you’re cooling down, I’ll do what I came here to do—DESTROY THE CORE OF LIGHT, FOREVER! HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAA!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kaos the All-Powerful

  Kaos’s eyes flashed with diabolical fire as balls of pure energy crackled in the middles of his palms, brighter than the Core of Light itself.

  This is it, thought Trigger Happy. He really is going to do it this time. Kaos is going to destroy the Core of Light.

  All around, the Skylanders were struggling against their ice prisons, unable to break free.

  But Spyro said we could beat Kaos if we worked together, Trigger Happy thought—and an idea hit him like a gold coin striking a bull’s-eye. That was it. Working together!

  “Hey, Kaos!” the Tech Skylander shouted. “I bet you think you’re pretty smart stealing our powers, huh?”

  Kaos paused, a look of amusement crossing his face. He’d never heard Trigger Happy string together such a long sentence. No one had.

  “You think you’re soooooooo powerful. So awesome!”

  Kaos smirked. “Yes, I am. I am the most powerful being ever to walk Skylands, FOOL!”

  “Yeah?” Trigger Happy grinned.
“Bet you still can’t fire straight.”

  “Of course I can!” Kaos bridled.

  “Prove it!” Trigger Happy challenged. “Take one of my golden guns!”

  Kaos gestured toward the Core of Light. “You realize that I’m a little busy here? I have to—”

  “Destroy the Core. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know.” Trigger Happy rolled his eyes. “We’re doomed. You’re the greatest. Blah, blah, blah.”

  “Riiiiight. Well, do you mind if I finish?” Kaos asked, hands on hips.

  “See, Spyro?” Trigger Happy said to the dragon beside him. “I told you he couldn’t fire my guns.”

  “Trigger Happy, what are you doing?” Spyro whispered to the gold-slinging gremlin.

  “Just follow my lead,” Trigger Happy hissed back.

  “I could fire your guns if I wanted to,” Kaos snapped.

  “Don’t believe you!” Trigger Happy shot back. “I bet you can’t!”

  “I bet I can,” said Kaos, incensed.

  “Can’t! Can’t! Can’t!” Trigger Happy giggled.

  “Can! Can! Can!” Kaos replied.

  Spyro picked up the chant. “Can’t! Can’t! Can’t!”

  Even through the mask, the Skylanders could tell Kaos’s face was starting to turn red. “Shut up!”

  The rest of the Skylanders joined in. “Can’t! Can’t! Can’t!”

  “SILENCE!” Kaos bellowed. “I’ll show you all!”

  He raised a clawed hand, and Trigger Happy’s guns started to shake inside the ice block.

  “Can’t! Can’t! Can’t! Can’t! Can’t! Can’t!”

  With an earsplitting crack, the guns spun out of the ice, freeing Trigger Happy in the process. As the pistols slapped into Kaos’s waiting hands, Trigger Happy started running among the trapped Skylanders.

  “Now we’ll see who can fire straight,” sneered the Portal Master. “Stand still when I’m trying to shoot you!”