Chapter Text
After the recent explosion with the Kolossal Kernel, the residents of Skylanders Academy decide to keep their distance as Mags attaches the Eye of the Ancients, finally turning the Core of Light into a weapon against the Darkness. Cheers fill the air as the Core of Light is once more restored. At last, they can defeat the Darkness once and for all. Many of the Academy’s residents are gathered in the courtyard, including Dr. Krankcase, although he remains distant from the others.
A smile flashes upon his face knowing that Mags, his one and only friend, gets the bragging rights of completing the Core of Light. This moment of happiness is then immediately chased away by guilt. Dr. Krankcase contributed nothing to this fight. If anything, he made things worse by fleeing the Academy when Kaos launched his attack, rather than staying to fight. Remorse unlike anything he could remember consumed his thoughts. So, he returned, but it was too little, too late. The real heroes were already on their way to putting things back to normal.
Mags giggles at a joke she tells to Sharpfin, Hugo and Cali down below her.
Laughter fills the air, but it is not coming from her friends.
“Look!” Cali exclaims, pointing to the sky.
Standing atop the tower beside the Core of Light, Mags turns to find the massive Sky Eater has appeared.
That wicked laugh rings in everyone’s ears.
Kaos.
As the Sky Eater approaches, everyone panics. People run in search of cover; the Skylanders help ensure that everyone finds safety.
“No time to stand around!” Buzz shouts before running off to start the engines to move Skylanders Academy to safety.
Mags is the one closest to the Sky Eater, and it is starting to draw her in.
Sharpfin reaches out for Mags but loses his footing and tumbles through the air towards the Sky Eater.
Hugo immediately follows, flailing and yelling.
With his razor-sharp teeth, Sharpfin bites down on one of the spires adorning the Academy’s great castle, saving himself from falling into the rift. He holds out a clawed hand to catch Hugo, who yelps but is certainly relieved to be alive.
Dr. Krankcase sees Mags’ feet start to lift off the ground from the pull of the rift, so he climbs after her. Despite seeing two people nearly succumb to the rift, the arrogant Dr. Krankcase believes he can do better. It doesn’t look that far, I’m far more nimble than those two anyway. His ill-timed effort to help only makes things worse as he loses traction climbing over the domed roof and knocks into Mags’ position. Instinctively, he grabs ahold of the railing. The inventor’s burgundy top hat and goggles fly off into the maw of the Sky Eater, but that is the least of Krankcase’s concerns right now. Looking behind himself, he finds that Mags is safe for now, holding onto Hugo’s paw. This three-person chain makes the scientist uneasy, for he knows that someone’s grip will give out eventually. So, he clambers around to the far side of the dome, holding the guard rail all the time. Now as close as he can safely get to the spire, he tries throwing out his goo gun. With the supply tube keeping it tethered to the tank of goo on his back, it should suffice as a rope.
Understanding Dr. Krankcase’s plan, Mags pulls a trick of her own. Reaching under her metal hat, she retrieves a grappling hook. She takes aim for the goo gun, but then…
Cali comes hurtling by, crashing into Dr. Krankcase, who is thrown off balance for a moment by this unanticipated blow.
The movement causes Mags to miss the shot and the grappling hook hangs uselessly behind her.
Desperately, Cali clings to Dr. Krankcase’s goo gun.
The doctor only stares stunned at his friend.
“What’re ya waitin’ for? Pull her in!” Mags orders.
Dr. Krankcase blinks and does as he is told, helping Cali down to the guard rail next to him just before a metallic screech fills the air. It causes Dr. Krankcase and Cali to cringe, but that is not even the worst part. “Get down,” Dr. Krankcase tells Cali.
Cali looks behind her just before the Core of Light is ripped up from the ground. She ducks in time to avoid the splintered parts of the Core being flung about, though she suspects that Dr. Krankcase took a few hits since he did not have enough room to fully crouch with his long spider legs. Even worse, Sharpfin, Hugo and Mags were affected too; the Core collides with the spire that Sharpfin is hanging onto, bending the pole on impact and sending reverberating waves throughout the metal. The Core soars towards the rift, taking everyone’s’ hopes away with it. It explodes in a flash of blue light as it is torn apart by the Sky Eater. Kaos got exactly what he wanted: the Core of Light destroyed forever.
“I-I’m slipping!” Hugo cries.
Mags resets her grappling hook with a snap and trying once more to reach her, Dr. Krankcase tosses out his gun. However, she does not aim for that right away. Looking around, she assesses the situation. The odds of everyone making it out of here are low.
Dr. Krankcase inches as close as he can to the ledge nearest to Mags to give her the best shot. It seems odd to him that Mags is hesitating. Perhaps she is afraid. He would not blame her if she was. This experience reminds him of when he got trapped by the Skylanders, only worse as he knows that he will die if he falls into this vortex. “Mags!” he calls out, “Mags! I’ll pull you in!”
Maybe he could, but then what would become of Hugo and Sharpfin?
Hugo whimpers with dread.
Sharpfin tightens his grip on the Mabu’s paw, but even his claws are not enough to hold him in place now.
Mags says something to Hugo. Then, she closes her eyes and firmly places the grappling hook in his paw, in exchange for her own hand.
Nothing lasts forever. Mags has known that from a young age. Still, she embarks on each heroic mission with the Skylanders knowing it could be her last. Terror is the natural companion to a creature on the verge of death. With wide, blue eyes and a shiver running down her spine, Mags tries desperately to gaze upon her home one last time, but everything is moving too fast for her to take in, and it brings her no comfort.
And then…
Mags is gone.
Gone in an instant, like she was never even there to begin with.
Dr. Krankcase wipes his face with his arm as if to check if his eyes are working right. Panic had already taken over his mind, but now he feels different… emptier, somehow.
The grappling hook collides with the spire with a clang that falls on deaf ears. The pole that Sharpfin clings to is a target that even Hugo can hit. He pulls himself carefully to the spire, freeing up Sharpfin’s hands, allowing him to wrap his arms around and readjust his biting grip.
Skylanders Academy has evaded the Sky Eater thus far, but they have hardly moved forward. Soon, the whole place will be sucked in.
This is it, Dr. Krankcase thinks, staring numbly into the rift. Some commotion from Hugo grabs his attention.
“Glumshanks!”
Dr. Krankcase and Cali turn their heads back to see what Hugo is seeing.
On the outskirts of the Academy, a small island is tethered for increased capacity. Glumshanks stands on the brink of the island, holding on tight to the stake in the ground.
“He’s gonna get sucked into the rift!” Hugo cries.
It seems his plan is exactly that. The troll uproots the stake, the only thing connecting the island and the rest of the Academy. In an instant, the engines lurch forward. The island, and Glumshanks with it, succumb to the Sky Eater.
Without the extra weight of that island, Buzz is able to gain enough speed for them all to escape the Sky Eater. Luckily, Skylanders Academy is a safe distance away from Kaos’ destructive machine before the engines finally give out.
It seems the coast is clear after they have not seen the Sky Eater for several minutes. Sharpfin climbs down the pole to Hugo, who has made no effort to get down… or to open his eyes. The Mabu is inconsolable and uncooperative.
Cali hops over the railing to go to him, leaving Krankcase alone and feeling awkward.
He leaves them be and heads down to the courtyard.
Many are hovering around the castle entrance, anxiously asking Eon for guidance. It seems he is having to repeat himself several times.
So, Buzz decides to help him out. “Everyone, be quiet!” he yells in his raspy voice. Everyone stops talking at once. “Go ahead, Master Eon.”
“Uhm, thank you, Buzz,” he murmurs quietly. Raising his voice just as he intends to raise everyone’s spirits, the Portal Master states, “My friends, that we are all still standing here together is a testament to the courage within all of you. Now, I have spoken with the teams that are away right now and given them the news. I am not summoning all Skylanders back here, as we are safe for now and their fight against the Darkness remains our primary concern. Even with our last weapon gone, we must not lose hope!” he adds, “Take care, and speak to me when you are ready to continue this fight.”
After this, the crowd begins to disperse. Many Skylanders stay nearby, of course, but the several Mabu living at Skylanders Academy take this opportunity to meekly tend to their rattled nerves.
At this time, Cali and Sharpfin make their way over with Hugo. All three of them look devastated, but Hugo most of all. Mags sacrificed herself for him. Then Glumshanks sacrificed himself for all of them.
Dr. Krankcase approaches Eon as he confers with the Skylanders. “Excuse me,” Dr. Krankcase addresses Eon with a small bow, a habit from working under Golden Queen for so long, “I assume you all are working on a plan? Anything that could use my expertise?”
“As long as it is by the books,” High-Volt proclaims.
Dr. Krankcase shrugs, “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Sternly, High Volt corrects him, “That is not how we do things here.”
“Yeah? Well, we all almost just died, so clearly, we’re not doing something right,” Krankcase argues.
With a sniffle, Hugo miserably laments, “We lost two people today.”
“And we’re gonna find them,” Gill Grunt assures.
“We must not lose hope. Hope is our last and greatest tool in defeating the Darkness,” Eon says in his ethereal voice. At least the Skylanders find it easy to remain optimistic, but the others…
“I know we have to stop the Darkness from spreading, but when will we go after Mags and Glumshanks?” Cali asks, bringing forth the point Dr. Krankcase was concerned with.
“If we can’t even begin to put the Core of Light back together, how could we possibly manage to save our friends?” Hugo postulates hopelessly. “What do we do now, Master Eon?”
“Boomsticks! I’ll tell ya what we need to do now. We need to keep going. Hate to break it to you, but we’re sitting ducks since we blew our engines out during the escape. Once everything is back up and runnin’, then we can send out a search and rescue.”
“That’s a good plan, Buzz,” High Volt remarks.
“Well then, let’s get to it!” Buzz announces, leading the way to the airship with High Volt and Sharpfin following. Before they get too far, he turns back around. “Ya comin’, Dr. Krankcase?”
“Sure,” the inventor murmurs and follows along.
At the first engine, High Volt calls the shots while Buzz goes to check on the second engine.
Dr. Krankcase knows better than to take the lead, as much as he would love to show off. He is still sort of on Buzz’s list after he made such a mockery of his training by running away. It feels odd restraining himself from diving head-first into the work all while jabbering on, but he observes how High Volt works rather quietly. The prolonged periods of silence make him feel awkward. He thinks back to helping Mags out in her workshop and how the two of them could never keep quiet for more than a minute.
“We’re almost done here, why don’t you go see if Buzz needs any help?” Sharpfin tells Dr. Krankcase.
He finds Buzz outside the second engine room. “Need any help?” he asks dryly.
“Looks like we’ll need some Leprechaun gold wire to get it goin’. Have ya seen any of that around?”
“There might be some in Mags’ workshop,” Dr. Krankcase suggests, “I could go look.”
“Would you?”
With a nod, Dr. Krankcase scurries off to Mags’ workshop. The door is open, and Dr. Krankcase muses about how there might as well be no door at all since Mags would welcome anyone into her workshop at any time. As he walks through the cluttered room, the inventor reminisces. He smiles to himself as he recalls coming here to take a break from sorting books in Skylanders Academy’s endless library. The memories the two made while working on experiments and inventions in this room will die on through Dr. Krankcase’s fading memory. Yet, so many unfinished inventions line the shelves and desks. Mags had so many ideas, they could hardly be contained. Now, they might never be completed if she is not found. Dr. Krankcase feels a sense of regret, like he should have spent more time with her. He had forgotten himself and what he had came here for, until a booming voice coming from outside snaps him out of it. He grabs some wire from a shelf and returns to the courtyard. Whatever was said seems to have everyone worked up.
“What’s going on?” Dr. Krankcase asks the people around him.
“That no-good Pandergast stole Glumshanks and is using him as a prize for his demolition derby!” Sharpfin explains.
“Does he have Mags too?” the doctor asks eagerly. Though he does not want Mags to be captured by a fiend like Pandergast, at least he would know where she is.
“I don’t know, but it’s possible,” Sharpfin guesses.
“We have to rescue them!” declares Cali.
“Easier said than done,” Sharpfin explains, “Do you have any idea how many vicious warlords are going to show up to that demolition derby?
“It doesn’t matter how many people we have to fight. This could be our only chance!” declares Dr. Krankcase.
Cali agrees, “Yeah, we owe it to them to at least try! I’ll go see which Skylanders are up for this mission.”
“I’m going with you all,” Dr. Krankcase insists.
“Now, Dr. Krankcase, we don’t need your… talents for this mission. We really ought to leave it up to the SuperChargers to win this demolition derby,” Buzz says.
“Why don’t you help me fix the engines instead?” Sharpfin offers.
“You guys have it covered,” Dr. Krankcase assures, shoving the gold wire into Buzz’s hands, “Please, I have to find her.”
Buzz and Sharpfin give each other a sideways glance. Buzz shakes his head slightly.
Cali steps up, “I’ll vouch for him. Go meet with Flynn,” she instructs.
Wasting no time, in case someone changes their mind, Dr. Krankcase takes off to go prepare. He wants to pick up a few things before facing Pangergast.
Groaning in frustration, Buzz says, “If he tries something…” he trails off. As the resident trainer at Skylanders Academy, Buzz has been through many students, and Dr. Krankcase has proven himself to be one of the most resistant. “We can only allow so many chances,” he explains.
Spitfire is the one who will be taking on the challenge of taking on the Ridepocalypse Demo Derby. So, once everyone is ready, Flynn, Cali and Dr. Krankcase board Sharpfin’s ship and follow Spitfire to the demolition derby.