Tampered Gems

Meeting of Action

In the library a a large, oval shaped table were each of the elemental captains. All but Whirlwind. Master Eon sat at the larger chair at one end of the table, Spyro opposite of him. Flameslinger was to Spyros right, then Trigger Happy, Gill Grunt, then where Whirlwind would be. To Spyro's left was Cynder, Blackout, Spotlight then Stealth Elf. Each sat in a long, awkward silence before someone finally spoke.

"Okay, I know this is all confusing, but we'll figure this out." Spyro said, each one seemed to sigh in relief for him talking.

"Well we know it's traptanium, so we  just need to go from there." Gill Grunt added, each nodded as they stared at Master Eon for further instruction.

"Perhaps Kaos is behind this, he hasn't been active since last year." Master Eon said, stroking his white beard gently with his fingertips.

"Should we send Skylanders to investigate?" Spotlight asked, Flameslinger sat up instantly.

"If we send Skylanders, we'd need more than three in case someone gets hit with the traptanium." Flameslinger added, Spyro grumbled to himself.

"When Whirlwind was shot, what exactly happened?" Spyro asked, Flameslinger frowned.

"She seemed like she was fighting it, it took one minute to turn her into... that." He hesitated in his last word, his ears lowering sadly.

"Well, what does Master Eon have to say about all of this?" Blackout asked, Master Eon seemed he was still deep in thought.

"I think we should send someone, and I agree with Flameslinger about more than three, but that's what he would be expecting so I'll be only sending two." Master Eon said, each of them whispered to each other before agreeing.

"Of course Master Eon, who are we sending?" Spyro asked, Master Eon continued to stroke his beard before answering.

"Stealth Elf and Cynder will go, but not until later tonight so feel free to take the rest of the day off." Master Eon said, Flameslinger shifted in his seat, he didn't like that she was chosen to go. Once they walked outside, Stealth Elf took ahold of his hand with a smile.

"Don't worry Flame, I'll be fine." She said, noticing that he happened to be upset that she was chosen to go.

"Just promise me you'll be careful." He said, giving her a worried stare, she smiled at him in hope he'd smile back, which he did.

"I promise, I'll be careful." She replied, standing on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. He gladly accepted it and turned his head to kiss her, the two seemed to kiss for what seemed like a minute until she pulled away.

"Flameslinger, I'd like to speak with you." Master Eon said from the doubles doors at the front of the academy. He nodded and gave her one last worried look before meeting Master Eon's side. Stealth Elf sighed before running to where Cynder lived with Spyro, a large tree house type area. She climbed the ladder and knocked on the door, Cynder answered almost instantly.

"It's about time you got here, I was worried something happened." She said, the two had planned to meet up once the meeting was over to discuss a plan. After allowing her in, Stealth Elf sat on one of the bean bag chairs in their living room.

"Alright, it's a stealth mission, so your shadow powers would definitely come in handy." Stealth Elf said as Cynder got comfortable on the couch across from her.

"Alright, so we go in, see if it's him then come back out, right?" She asked to confirm something she seemed wary about, it seems she was scared of getting shot like the rest of them.

"Yes, we'll do it tonight so make sure to get some rest, I'm not sure how long this'll take." Stealth Elf said, Cynder nodded and stretched her wings.

"Do you want to stay here until we leave?" Cynder asked, Stealth Elf politely declined and had gone home. She felt that something bad was going to happen, she wanted to stay with her husband as long as she could. Though she felt a sense of loneliness when she got home, he wasn't there. Perhaps he was doing something for Master Eon, she thought to herself before climbing on her bed, slowly falling asleep.

~•~

Stealth Elf has woken up just in time to start the mission, Master Eon has sent them off with a flash of light, though they weren't too far from Kaos' castle, in fact they were closer than Master Eon would allow them to go. It seemed he wanted to get down to the bottom of this as well. Stealth Elf used her invisibly to sneak right in the front door, Cynder happened to mimic shadows and do the same, soon they were inside of his large castle. Everything seemed strangely quiet until a loud explosion occurred, causing the two to jump as the castle shook beneath their feet. Stealth Elf looked over as Cynder who nodded, as they ran down the hall, Stealth Elf listened to the sound of Kaos' annoying voice.

They took a left, freezing as a load of guards stood there, luckily their instincts caught them and they weren't caught, but they barely managed to get by them. Eventually, they came across a vent that his voice was coming from. Stealth Elf cringed under her mask before carefully using her blades to unscrew the vent and open it, she got on her stomach and crawled in. Using her elbows to pull herself forward, Cynder managed to squeeze in after her. The vent was small yet they easily slid through, Stealth Elf followed her ears until she reached a vent, looking through the slitted door, Kaos continued to laugh as his troll butler Glumshanks slouched next to him.

"This is it Glummy! I'm sure this should work!" He yelled out, holding a small gem up. She could barely make it out, but it was definitely traptanium. He really was the cause of all this chaos. Hence his name.

"A-Are you sure it won't explode like last time?" His butler hesitantly asked, Stealth Elf had enough and started to crawl away, she had the proof she needed, Cynder followed behind her. The closer they got to the vent, the more the feeling of worry came back, until she heard another explosion behind her, the vents shook violently and suddenly split open, she yelled out as she fell down, landing harshly onto a pile. Her nose instantly crunched up in disgust, the trash hole where Kaos throws his failed inventions. She groaned and crawled out, Cynder landing next to her with a worried look. She instantly stopped her from talking, nodding to say she was fine.

"The vents aren't such a good idea now, we'll have to think of something else." Cynder said, Stealth Elf looked around. There was a point she and Chill got stuck in here, she followed the pipe on the wall, her heart leaped as she found the door.

"This is how Chill and I got out of here last time." She said, managing to pry the heavy metal door open. It let outside, strangely she hesitated to leave, unsure of why but Cynder urged her out due to the smell. They sealed the door shut behind them, Cynder flew Stealth Elf our towards the forest, calling out for Master Eon, in which they were brought home in a flash of light. Once back, they went straight to the library, where Master Eon was waiting.

"How did the mission go?" He asked, anxious to find out the answer.

"Kaos is definitely behind this, he was working on something but it kept exploding on him." Stealth Elf reported, the wise portal master stroked his beard.

"Thank you, I'll see that Kaos gets taken care of before anything else happens." He said, they each nodded and left. Though once Stealth Elf reached the courtyard, it seemed rather eerie and quiet. Her and Cynder both held uneasiness as they went home, Stealth Elf was soon greeted with her home and husband.

"Did the mission go well?" He asked once she came in. Stealth Elf nodded as a reply, she needed to shower.

"Kaos is behind this, Master Eon will decide what's next. I'll be in the shower if you need me." She said, he gave her a weak smiled, it almost seemed forced. "Did... something happen while I was gone?" She asked, his ears lowered, his face holding sadness again. Oh how she hated that look.

"They got Spyro..." he mumbled, fear instantly was held on her face. Then she noticed the injuries he's sustained from most likely fighting his best friend.

"Sparx... I'm sorry I wasn't here to help..." she managed to get out, he instantly got up and planted a quick kiss to her lips.

"It's alright, we'll figure this out soon enough." He said, a hopeful smile on his face. She smiled back and went off to her shower, hoping the smell from his trash hole would come off.