Skylanders: Second Leaf

Chapter __ ~ Final Preparation

"Anyone else?" Hugo still had a frantic note to his voice, although it seemed he had calmed down for the most part.

"Sign me up, oh aghast and impotent mabu."

The others turned their attention to the oh so familiar voice, laced with arrogance and pompousness, as per the usual. Kaos approached Hugo as Shakai rejoined the rest of the rag-tag group of heroes, seeming happy with himself. Kaos bore a cocky smirk, locking eyes with the librarian before adding to his previous sentence:

"Please."

The way he said it made Hugo cringe slightly, giving a disapproving glance and disparaging frown to the Dark Portal Master before reluctantly writing down his name. Kaos, all the while, was standing no more than an inch away from Hugo, peering over his shoulder at the clipboard, making everything all the more uncomfortable. Shoria couldn't help but giggle at the display, a few of the others stifling laughs. Hugo's annoyance and discomfort pared against Kaos' bothersome nature and mock innocence just seemed so priceless.

"K."

"What?"

"My name is spelled with a k, Hugo. Not ch. You should know this by now, after all we've been through together..."

Hugo gave Kaos an unimpressed look as the Tiny Tyrant feigned a hurt expression, then flicked him on the side of the head, grinning innocently. The mabu rolled his eyes, then went back to jotting down notes, Kaos pestering him all the while.

"Are you going to sign up?"

Lucarian looked over to Angelo with a start, a surprised look on his features.

"Pardon?"

"Are you going to be racing?" Angelo repeated, changing the phrasing slightly just in case Lucarian hadn't understood.

Lucarian took a double take, looking over his shoulder to see if there was anyone else Angelo would have been talking to, then pointed to himself. Angelo nodded, a small smile on his face.

"I- I don't believe so, no." Lucarian stated, still getting over a bit of the initial shock of the question. "I have a car, but it's back on earth, and I don't think it'd be well equipped for this. It doesn't have any weapons."

Overhearing their conversation, Ringmaster couldn't help but add her two cents to it. "What about the mask? Does it come with a special vehicle mode or something?"

Lucarian gave her a doubtful look, yet turned his attention to his mask anyway, thinking. After a few seconds, he put the mask on, concentrating. It was less than a second later that a loud roar shook the ship. The group turned their attention to the skies, where a large, black dragon was circling above. To everyone's alarm, the beast dived, landing on the deck of the ship roughly, causing it to tilt violently. Immediately, panic flooded through the ship. Hugo had thrown his clipboard over his head, as if it was a shield of sorts, laying flat on the deck in terror. Ringmaster had jumped into Mammagma's arms, much to his dismay.

"Hey! Everyone! It's okay!" Lucarian cried, approaching the large, biomechanical beast. "It's just my ride."

Slowly, the panic subsided, although the air still felt tense, apprehension settling in place of the alarm. Lucarian turned his attention to Hugo, who Kaos had wrenched up off of the ground and to his feet.

"I'd like to add my name to the list." The Creator stated, placing a hand on the snout of the dragon. "I'll be racing with the Shadow Dragoon."

Trembling, Hugo gave a terrified node, shakily taking down the information.

"Y-You're using that as a vehicle?" Ringmaster stammered, then gave an oof as Mammagma dropped her to the ground.

Lucarian nodded in response. "He's my source of transportation. And a good friend."