Like it was for any other child, spring break was a time of celebration for Leo. It was a liberation from the dulls, pains, and tedious busywork that school brought about; an entire week where he didn't have to worry about homework, projects, school bullies, or even the minor pains of school like stinky gym lockers, musty cafeterias in dire need of repair, and cramped classrooms full of kids who didn't know how to shut up. It was a time of carefree hours spent enjoying the freedom of the week in the pleasant weather of spring, of visiting family and spending time with friends, or even just playing the day away! It was the time where the sun shone the brightest, where the wind was the coolest while still not being unpleasantly cold, and where the cheer and glee in laughter ached the bone in the most pleasant way it could!

It was one of the sweetest times there was, yet it carried itself with a bitterness in how it only lasted a measly week. That was far from enough time to properly enjoy it. The adults always say that he would appreciate things most when he knew they weren’t permanent, but that was a dumb idea to Leo. What good was there in something existing if it would go away eventually? What good was a holiday this short? If it were up to him, spring break would last up until summer happened, and then he'd have summer break all summer. After that, the holiday break would last the entirety of winter, and he was sure he'd find some way to get all of autumn off from school, too. But, he was not the one in charge of school, so his spring break was only to last a week.

It wasn't fair that he only got a week to enjoy his time off. After all, a week wasn't nearly enough time to enjoy his vacation at his Uncle Peter's house! He couldn't explore all the oddities in his uncle's attic and around his uncle's lively little beach town in a week, especially when Mom already jam-packed the schedule with all her boring family obligations! Even with his superior sneaking-around skills that he spent the entire month practicing, he doubted that he'd be able to sneak off to the local arcade and play with all those old video games, or try all the new flavors at the local ice cream parlor, or even go swimming at the beach! Madeline didn't make it any easier either; she would be practically glued on him the entire time!

Leo sighed as he leaned back in his seat. His back brushed against the fuzzy tan seats in his mom's car that always seemed to smell of car freshener and fast food no matter what Mom did. His eyes glazed first over that weird stain shaped like a face from when Madeline accidentally smashed a jelly doughnut on the seat; next to the game console in his hands that he long since lost interest in; and then to Madeline as she sat, and colored in a picture of a unicorn, or a kitten, or something from the sketchbook she brought along. Her eyes darted from that to a book on how to draw baby animals that she placed carefully between her and Leo, in spite the tight fit between them.

Everyone always said that Madeline looked like a perfect little angel with her chubby cheeks and round body that never quite lost its baby fat, her pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes that everyone said she and Leo got from their mother, or even the smile on her face that hid the devious mind which thwarted Leo's schemes many times. She dressed in a purple shirt with an aqua heart covered in glitter in the center and white sleeves, yellow shorts, teal socks, and purple loafers, and he was sure she was going to be the apple of his relatives’ eyes. He could already hear his grandparents gushing about how adorable she was, or how much she’d grown as she enthralled them about her pictures or how well she did at school.

Leo knew better, however! Yes, Leo knew of the awful little creature she really was! It was like she’d devoted herself to foiling his plans from birth! She constantly insisted on tagging along every single time he did something, and her almost obsessive fixations on rule and constantly tattle-telling foiled everything he tried to do!

He could never shake her, either. She'd follow after him like a puppy dog if he even slightly hinted at anything he did, and he long since learned that getting her to leave was useless. He told her to stop, she'd get upset and tell Mom, and either he'd get busted, or Mom would insist on her coming along. After that, she'd ruin everything by, oh, he didn't know, falling over and crying her eyes out or something. He could never win with a sister like her, no matter how many times he tried. He didn't care how many people said that he should feel blessed that he was a big brother!

If he had the option, he'd pack her up in a box and ship her off to another country. Maybe he'd send her off to wherever Dad was right now. Wherever he went, it must have been pretty far away; he hadn't come back since Leo was two. Surely, this mystery place would suffice for getting Madeline out of his hair. Yes, that would be perfect! He could just trick her into getting into a box with some fancy colored pencils or something, and then he'd pack her up and ship her off to another country while Mom was busy at work! All he needed to do was find a human-sized box and some stamps and he'd be set! Maybe Uncle Peter had one in his attic; Uncle Peter seemed like he had everything in his attic...

"Leo, why're you looking at me so funny?" Madeline asked.

Leo ground his teeth, turned away and saved his game.

"No reason," Leo lied, hoping that she couldn't read his mind and figure out his scheme to mail her away. A chime sounded from the console to show it saved, and Leo turned it back off. "Why're you looking at me like that?"

"Because you were looking at me first!" Madeline pouted and waved her pencil in Leo's face. "You were giving me that weird face you always make when you're up to something!" Madeline's pout grew larger, and her eyebrows practically dug into her eyes till they could barely be seen. "Like this!"

Leo gritted his teeth. He didn't look like that, not by a mile! In fact, he'd tell her just that!

"I don't look like that!" Leo shouted as he pushed Madeline's pencil aside.

But, Leo pushed a little too hard. Instead of getting it out of his face, it flew out of Madeline's hand and right into the front of the car! Leo and Madeline both gasped as that sparkly pink pencil hit the console of the car, and it bounced into the front seat. Their moths practically sewed themselves shut as their mother's grip on the steering wheel squeezed so hard that the steering wheel almost popped.

"Leo, Madeline," Mom said in that stern voice that parents always make when you're inches away from getting in trouble, "what have I told you about fighting in the car?"

"Leo started it!" Madeline spat back, pointing back to him.

Leo threw the guilt back at her with a finger in her face. There was no way he was letting Madeline get the better of him today!

"No, she did!"

"You did, Leo!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did—"

A harsh screech came from the tires as they skidded off to the side of the road with such speed that it nearly knocked Leo and Madeline right into each other. Both of them gulped as they caught the faint glimpse of their mother's burning eyes in the driver's mirror. Leo pushed himself away from Madeline and leaned against the cup holders. Madeline, in turn, suddenly seemed much less enthusiastic about winning the argument, for she buried herself in her sketchbook once more.

"Good, now stay quiet for the rest of the drive to Uncle Peter's house," mom said as she turned the car around and drove once more. "Else, you two'll stay in our guest room until dinner."

"Not that there's anything to do," Leo scoffed as he pushed his hand against their face.

"Did you say something, Leonard Garrett Schoppert?"

Leo shook his head. "No, Mom," he hissed through gritted teeth.

Mom's brows tensed, but she seemed quick enough to drop the subject as she went back to driving. Ugh, Leo hated it when she used his full name, almost as much as he hated her weirdly sharp sense of hearing that allowed her to hear whatever he said no matter how quiet he was, or how much he hated whenever Madeline got him into trouble.

Leo sighed and sat back in his seat once more as the car drove to a stop. A glimpse outside the window showed nothing but paved sidewalks and grass. Several other cars all lined up across the lawn like ducklings—seemed like they finally arrived. Leo popped out of the car as it finally closed down. As he closed the door, he took a moment to peer at the house that towered over them from the hill.

When he was little, the view made him think that Uncle Peter's house was a mansion or a castle, but a quick walk up the hill showed that it was just an ordinary two-story house, just like all the other ones that lined the suburbs. It was all white with a handful of round windows at the top, long rectangular windows at the bottom, and those fancy doors with the windows put in them so you could see inside the house. It stood behind a patio filled with flowers, a gazebo, and even a trunk filled with stuff for playing outside—but not like, frisbees or anything like that. It just had all the fancy adult games like croquet, badminton, and all that stuff that Leo didn't particularly care for.

Even though the shine worn off for Leo, Madeline was just as enamored with it as she was every year. Her eyes never left that house as she walked towards Leo with her sketchbook and pencils held tight in her grip. Surely, she was going to show her latest "artistic masterpieces" to all their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the few cousins too.

Mom rounded the corner as Madeline finally made her way to Leo, and a shout from above turned all three heads up.

"There you are, Steph!" cried a man with fading blond hair and a bushy blond beard streaked with gray to match.

A twinkle shone in the man’s brown eyes as he hiked down the hill, revealing that he wore a brown jacket over a pink flower-print shirt, jean shorts, and flip-flops. He held a can of what Leo thought was beer in hand. This man looked like he was more ready for summer vacation than spring break, but that was just one of the many oddities of Uncle Peter, one of the few relatives that Leo could stand.

Mom cracked a smile, she rushed in and patted Uncle Peter's shoulder. "Peter, how's it been?" Mom asked. "Is that family research project you were talking about going well?"

"Oh, same old, same old." Uncle Peter laid his beer car on the hood of Mom's car, and that twinkle in his eyes grew brighter as he turned to Leo and Madeline.

His smile grew wider, and Madeline laughed as she tossed her sketchbook into Mom's arms so she could leap into Uncle Peter's instead! Uncle Peter grunted and stumbled back as he caught Madeline, but both of them laughed as Uncle Peter spun her around. Leo himself couldn't help but crack a smile himself just from watching them.

"There's my favorite niece!" Uncle Peter laughed as he sat Madeline back down on the ground and ruffled her hair. "How's it going, kiddo? School being nice to you?" Uncle Peter raised an eyebrow as his eyes fell on Leo. "I can't forget my favorite nephew, either! How's its hanging, lil' dude?"

Leo chuckled and rolled his eyes as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Eh, it's been alright. Same old school, same old chores, nothing that interesting."

"It’s been great, Uncle Peter! I got one hundreds in all my tests before spring break began!" Madeline yanked her sketchbook out of Mom's arms and flipped its pages, shoving the drawing she had been working on the car in Uncle Peter's face. "Oh, oh, and I've been getting better at drawing, too! I've made sure to use those pencils and that book you gave me every day!" Madeline's smile got bigger as she held up the picture. "See, I drew a unicorn on the way here!"

Leo turned around and raised a brow as he gazed over the page. "It looks more like an eggplant to me."

"Hey!" Madeline stuck her tongue out at Leo, and cuddled her sketchbook close to her chest. "It does not!"

Leo only shrugged and turned away. "I was just saying."

Madeline scoffed and held up her head as her round nose pointed to the sky, but Uncle Peter only laughed.

"They remind me of us when we were kids," Uncle Peter remarked as he lifted his beer can from Mom's car, and he waved it in the air as his eyes fell on Mom.

"Anyways, your mom and I are gonna get caught up, so why don't you kids run inside and get settled?"

"Okay, Uncle Peter!" Leo and Madeline shouted as they raced up the massive, looming hill of a driveway.

"Just don't go in the attic, alright? It's a bit of a mess!"

Uncle Peter's cry was barely heard as Leo and Madeline races up the asphalt. Leo strode as fast as he could while the spring winds ran through his short blond hair. He shot a smirk at Madeline as he surpassed her on the roads, and she only pouted as she sped after him—never minding that Leo already left her in the dust by the time he hit the front door.

"I win!" Leo cried as he grabbed onto the handle and pushed it open. His eyes glazed over the warm wooden interiors of the kitchen, and immediately drifted over to a counter lined with snacks. “Since I won, I might as well take my prize~”

Leo snatched a mini cupcake from the counter and peeled off its wrapper, tossing the sticky paper into a nearby trash can. He popped the entire thing in his mouth. The sweet, spongy cake and smooth icing stuck to the roof of his mouth as he chewed.

His eyes laid on the stairs that lead up to the upper half of the house—and the attic, the mysterious room that Leo and Madeline were told never to trek towards every time they came to visit. He never really knew what Uncle Peter kept up there; he could only hear about it in faint whispers of his uncle’s conversations, but every time Leo did, it became even more enticing to just run up there and sneak a few quick glimpses. Supposedly, Uncle Peter had tons of cool stuff there: stuff like fully-stuffed models of animals, chests full of ancient family treasures, and even old historical relics. Heck, maybe there were even like, dragon scales, or magic potion sets, or something in there! Well, maybe not that. Leo knew magic wasn’t real, but hey, it was fun to imagine.

Leo chuckled to himself. His eyes drifted down to the open doors towards the lower levels of the house, where the faint sounds of chatting crept up the stairs. It seemed like all his other relatives were downstairs, and if there was one thing Leo knew about his mother and his uncle, their conversations lasted for hours. Nobody would notice if he sneaked a tiny little peek, right?

Leo crept across the floors and up the stairs the quietest he could. He moved quiet enough that the one creaky stair that always seemed to catch everyone’s attention no matter how careful he was couldn’t even creak! His hand pressed against the wall as his heart beat a little faster, and his eyes scanned the string of rooms before him.

The bathroom, Uncle Peter’s room, and finally, the attic at the very back of the halls. It stood well past the endless stretches of family photos that Uncle Peter seemingly had an infinite supply of. Leo’s heart beat a little faster as he tip-toed across the halls; it beat with the familiar thrill it always got at the prospect of entering that attic and finding all the mysteries within. Then again, maybe it was the nerves that came from potentially being caught, or even just all those creepy old family portraits that glared down his back.

Either way, Leo dashed to the end of the hall as quietly as he could, and jiggled the round knob to the attic’s door. It refused to budge and he hesitated. Leo would get in a lot of trouble if he got caught, and he didn’t want to make his favorite uncle upset—but, Uncle Peter wouldn’t care if it was just a quick peek, right?

The door creaked open a bit with one more push, and Leo crept inside. His heart throbbed against his chest as he pushed the wooden door aside… And he held his mouth and nearly avoided coughing as a bunch of dust swept out! Clearly, Uncle Peter wasn’t kidding when he said the place was in need of some cleaning. The dust cleared as Leo pushed the door further open, and the tickle in his throat resided enough that he pulled his hand from his mouth to gasp.

The attic itself looked just like those mysterious attics they’d talk about in books and TV shows and stuff! It was all fancy wooden floors and walls, no windows, and all sorts of cool things! Wooden shelves with all sorts of trinkets hung from the walls, bookshelves filled with old-looking books lined the space underneath them, weird statues and retro stuff sat on antique tables underneath portraits of people Leo didn’t recognize, and fancy paintings hung their highest. The whole place has a kind of musty smell to it, the kind that made Leo want to sneeze, but he bit his tongue and tried his best to keep from saying anything as he wandered inside.

Light shone from the few lamps that lingered on the antique tables as Leo walked further in, and the floors made soft pattering noises the further Leo walked. Leo ignored the noise, for he was so overwhelmed by all the strange and mysterious things that lingered around the room instead. His eyes fell on a globe that sat on a wooden pedestal beside a marble elephant statue. Leo grinned as he brushed his fingers around it and twisted it around. It was smooth and sleek like an actual marble (unlike the plastic globes they used in his school), and cool to the touch. Leo gently spun it around…

“Leo, there you are!” whispered a voice Leo was all too familiar with, one of the very last voices he wanted to hear.

Leo brought the globe to a stop with a single touch, and turned back to the door where… Oh great, Madeline was there. Her blue eyes shone with worry as she clung to the door frame, and there was a pout on his face as those eyes shifted from side to side.

“You know we’re not allowed in here, Uncle Peter said!” Madeline whispered again. Her pout got bigger as she pulled her hands from the door frame.

Leo rolled his eyes and gave the globe one last spin. He knew for a fact that Madeline would just go tell Mom if he tried to protest. This time, though, he had an idea on how to keep her quiet.

“Come on, Madeline,” Leo smirked as he gave the globe one last spin and strode right past her, his eyes fixed on a blackboard seated to the back of the room’s right side. “Don’t be such a chicken.”

“I, I’m not a chicken! I just don’t want you to get in trouble!”

Leo turned on a nearby lamp with a few clicks of its switch, and frowned as his eyes fell on the blackboard. It had tons of constellations, weird crystals and other stuff Leo didn’t recognize scribbled on its surface. It all went with odd notes about magic and stuff, but not like, the kind of stage magic stuff that everyone knows is fake. It talked about real spells and magic! That wasn’t real, right?

Leo’s eyes glazed over to a tiny cork board beside it that connected pictures of his great-great-great grandparents and other old family members to cutouts of newspaper articles about mysterious happenings and magical stuff. Leo didn’t find any of that particularly interesting, so he backed away.

He winced as his elbow bumped into a table behind him. Both he and Madeline gasped as the table rattled a bit, but Leo quickly grabbed it by both ends of the tan cloth that covered it, and placed it down. A bunch of strange lumps poked out from the cloth, and Leo raised an eyebrow as he tugged on its soft exterior.

“Leo, don’t touch that!” Madeline cried as she stepped into the attic, gulped and back away. “You could break something!”

Leo just pulled the cloth off the table, and dropped it by his feet as the contents of the table unveiled!

“Woah,” was all he could say, for the sights left him utterly bewildered!

There on the wooden table that laid underneath the cloth were all sorts of carefully carved and painted figurines. All of them surrounded a round pedestal with a transparent, cracked center and a stone vault towards the front. These figures had a bit of a familiar look to them with their elemetally-themed bases capped with red plastic at the ends. Namely, they reminded Leo of those Skylanders figures he saw in stores! That couldn’t be right, though. He didn’t recognize any of these characters at all, not to mention Uncle Peter was a bit too old for video games. Why would he have something like these things?

Leo wasn’t sure, but that didn’t stop him from lifting up one of the figures. He picked up a crocodile or alligator looking thing with blue scales and yellow eyes who dressed in gold and leather armor and held a crossbow of blue crystal in his claws. Leo felt a little fuzzy as he twirled it around in his hands.

“Just what are you?” Leo whispered, his voice barely a gasp.

“I don’t know,” Madeline whispered as she finally crept into the attic and grappled for the figure, “but I don’t think we’re supposed to touch this! Come on Leo, just put that weird toy away and go back downstairs!”

“Well you’re technically in here, too!” Leo hovered the figure above Madeline’s head as she unsuccessfully grappled for it. “If you try telling on me, you’re gonna get in trouble, too!”

Madeline blinked, and her frown disappeared a little as she moved her hand away from the figure. Looks like Leo beat her at her own game! With Madeline distracted, Leo turned his attention back to the pedestal and raised a brow.

It seemed a bit like the portals from the Skylanders games now that he got a closer look at it. If these figures really were Skylanders, putting one on the pedestal would probably do something, right?

Leo wasn’t sure, but something about that strange pedestal almost called for him, drawing him in with its shiny plastic and cracks. In fact, it glowed in faint shades of red and blue in his presence, though maybe that was it reflecting the light from the overhead lamp that sat a few stacks of boxes up. Whatever it was, though, Leo wasn’t just going to ignore the call like that! He smirked, and slapped the figure right on the pedestal!

“Leo, what’re you doing?” Madeline barely even whispered as she examined the pedestal.

Leo grinned and nudged Madeline’s arm with his elbow. “I’m seeing if this thing works, that’s what!” Leo replied as he raised a brow at the pedestal, which still remained stagnant. “Guess it’s just a hunk of plastic. Maybe I need to find something to plug it into or somethin’…”

Leo ducked underneath the table, his eyes scanning its dark depths in search a cable or something else he’d need to plug it into, but he jolted right back up as Madeline screamed above him! His head hit the top of the table first (owch), and as he stumbled away and rubbed his aching head, a bright white light fell over his face. His cheeks turned warmer, but not in the way it did when it was super hot, or even when he got embarrassed or in trouble.

No, just one touch of the pedestal sent the world spinning! Everything around him got blurrier as his head filled up with visions of worlds unlike anything Leo had ever seen! Islands made entirely of volcanoes that spewed popcorn instead of lava, forests filled with all storms of weird and wacky creatures like two-headed sheep and dragons that soared like birds, towns full of animals that walked like people did, deserts where the sand was made of caramel and the buildings were made of chocolate… It was the kind of stuff he’d only seen in the books he read when he was little, but all of it felt so, so real!

“Whoa,” was all he could say, for not a single word could truly proclaim the amazement that Leo felt all the way down in his bones. A kind of power he’d never felt before swelled in him, and it made him feel stronger than even the toughest kids at his school.

It made him feel like this place was where he belonged.

That light swirled like a vortex, but quickly stabilized and started up like it projected a movie. Color swirled in its center, spread out, and next thing Leo knew, he saw what looked like a disaster.

Rivers of shiny, sticky-looking orange stuff poured over a grassy place and carried parts of broken wooden barrels with them as some bear-looking things that looked kind of like the creatures he saw in his vision screamed and ran around… But from what, exactly? A massive roar sounded over the vision, one that even shook the room around Leo, and he finally got his answer. A massive blue slug with barnacles on his back who wore a crown and wielded a trident roared as he stood all tall and tough over the town. He grappled for more barrels of that orange liquid, gulped it all down in a single gulp, and when the barrel had no more drops to give, he roared and smashed it like a toothpick!

“SODA!” roared the slug as he slammed the barrel’s broken remains against the grass. “GIVE GULPER SODA!”

Leo winced once, and then twice as something clung to his jacket. He glanced behind, and found Madeline cowering behind him. For as much as he hated it when she touched him, he didn’t blame her for being scared. Even though he watched this from so far away, Leo still shook just from watching this. That Gulper guy destroyed houses like sandcastles. and tore entire cliffs apart as if they were made of toy dough! Leo’d hate to be the one fighting this guy.

The scene changed as it focused on one of the more distant cliffs, and a few figures jumped in: a green artichoke with legs and arms who held a shiny silver gun, a furry orange gremlin wielding golden pistols, and a purple and orange dragon… Wait, he recognized two of those! That gremlin was Trigger Happy, and that dragon was Spyro! They were from the Skylanders games, so was Leo watching the games? He didn’t remember anything like this happening from what he saw of them on TV ads! Was this real life? Leo wasn’t sure, but something forced him to stay still, and whether that thing was curiosity or fear, he wasn’t sure.

“This looks really bad, Spyro!” the artichoke cried. “Gulper’s on a soda kick, and with how angry he is, there’s no way we can stop him!”

So that was Spyro! Leo’s eyes grew wide, and another small gasp came out from him without him even trying.

“Calm down, Food Fight!” Spyro snapped as he turned to the artichoke. He flicked his wings, and smoke puffed out of his nostrils as he flapped them further. “We need a plan, first of all. Buzz said that there was some really rancid soda around here, and if we can swap that out for what he’s drinking, we might be able to knock him down a few sizes.” Spyro’s tail twitched as he rubbed a claw against his chin. “But, we’re gonna need someone to keep him occupied so we can do the swap without him noticing. It has to be someone who can hold their own against him, someone who could land a tough-enough blow to knock him down a bit…”

“Someone like a Trap Master?” suggested a rough-sounding voice with an Australian accent.

Spyro’s wings bristled, and he turned around with a gasp, as did Food Fight and Trigger Happy. Leo didn’t blame them, for even he got a little shocked at what he saw. There before him was that crocodile-looking guy in the flesh and scales, smiling as he stood right in front of Spyro and his team!

“That portal really does work!” Leo gasped as he glanced down at where the portal laid.

“Crikey, being frozen isn’t fun,” the crocodile lamented as he stretched his arms, “and that’s coming from someone who’s cold-blooded!”

“Snap Shot!” Food Fight wailed. “You’re back! You’re alive!” Food Fight abandoned his gun, flung himself at Snap Shot, and hugged him tight as he sobbed out tears of what looked like sap or whatever plants used for blood. “We, when Cloudcracker was destroyed, we all, thought, you, you—”

“Easy there, Food Fight,” Snap Shot cooed as he gently patted Food Fight on the head. “It’ll take more than a little explosion to get me out of the game!”

“What happened to you?” Trigger Happy asked as he hopped from foot to foot. “You were all fighting and snapping your shots, then there was that huge explosion like“ — Trigger Happy shot his arms into the air for emphasis — “KABLOOEY, and then you were all gone!”

Snap Shot’s smile faded and he gently pried Food Fight from his chest.

“I’ll tell you what happened.” Snap Shot’s lips twitched as he laid his crossbow to his side. “That no-good bloke Kaos blew up Cloudcracker, and when we tried to stop him, some rift appeared and pulled us away! When I came to, I was frozen solid on another world, and then this man found me and stored me away for what seemed like ages!” Snap Shot’s spirits lifted with his grin. “But, some portal masters found me and sent me back!”

“Portal masters from another world?” Spyro mused. He rubbed his claws against his chin, turned around—and glanced directly a Leo and Madeline with a raised brow!

“Snap Shot! Those portal masters who brought you back wouldn’t happen to look like those two kids staring at us right now, would they?”

Leo gulped, for now all eyes were on him. Snap Shot, Food Fight, Trigger Happy, and Spyro all stared him right in the eyes, and just like when the teacher called on him in class, Leo was completely dumbfounded. This was all way too strange as-is, but now they were talking to him too?

“As a matter of fact, yes!” Snap Shot cried. He lowered his crossbow, and a smile stretched its way across his pearly whites as he waved. “Hey, thanks for getting me out of there, portal masters!”

Leo just stared, so did Madeline, so did everyone else.

“Do they know how to talk?” Food Fight asked.

“Probably just a little shocked, that’s all,” Spyro remarked with a grin as he nudged Trigger Happy. “I know the kid who found me was.” Spyro cleared his throat and turned back to Leo and Madeline. “So, what’re your names, anyways?”

Leo gasped and quickly cleared his throat. “I, I’m Leo!” he sputtered out.

“And I’m Madeline!” Madeline shouted out as she popped out from behind Leo’s back. Leo and Madeline glanced at each other, but finally, Madeline poked her way out from behind Leo’s back and cleared her throat. “You see,” Madeline started, “my brother and I found Snap Shot and a bunch of his friends in our uncle’s attic, along with this strange stone thingie, and when he put Snap Shot on it, all this happened!”

“Wait, friends?” a starry-eyed Food Fight repeated. “Does that mean you have the other Trap Masters with you, too?”

Leo glanced down at the other figures and shrugged. “I guess?” he said as he held up a figure of a golden lion wielding a red crystal shield. “Is this a Trap Master?”

“Wildfire!” Food Fight’s smile grew even wider. “That’s it, we know where the Trap masters are! Just send them on over here, and we’ll—“

“SODAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Gulper’s roars shook the entire world and nearly knocked everyone off their feet, Skylander and portal master alike. Heck, even the entire attic rumbled. The other Trap Masters shook in their spots with the table, and one thing was clear. This was no time for explanation.

“Actually, I think we’ve got a bigger problem at the moment! The rest of you, get in position!” Snap Shot shouted. He turned his gaze towards the Gulper, but then turned around and sneaked a wink towards Leo and Madeline. “And Leo, Madeline, you just sit back and watch the show!”

Snap Shot took off like a rocket, running so fast that he was little more than a big blur and gold blur. Food Fight, Trigger Happy and Spyro all took off right after him! Spyro soared through the skies like a bullet, and Food Fight and Trigger Happy bounced from a bunch of islands propelled up by gigantic barrels exploding with soda!

They all bounced and soared around until they surrounded that massive Gulper, but the fastest of them all was still Snap Shot. Snap Shot was so light on his feet that Leo honestly thought it was a trick of the eye! Leo rubbed his eyes, yet Snap Shoot still ran before him. Snap Shot bounced from soda-propelled island to soda-propelled island as he drew his crossbow.

"Give Gulper soda!" Gulper roared as he pounded a gigantic fist on the islands below.

"How about I give you a shot of Traptanium instead?" Snap Shot shouted. "Certainly look like you could use it, mate!"

Gulper grunted, turned around, and reeled back with a scream as Snap Shot shot a bunch of crystal arrows right between his eyes! Gulped slammed into the islands below and knocked a few houses right off their bases, but Snap Shot was right off like a rocket once more. His yellow eyes fell on a string of islands that hovered just above the Gulper, and he waved up as Spyro flew past him.

"Spyro, gimme a boost!"

"On it, Snap Shot!" Spyro shouted.

Spyro zipped right down one moment, and the next, both him and Snap Shot were gone! They soared up, up, and away as Spyro dropped Snap Shot on the islands, turned tail and flew back for the Gulper.

"Soda! Soda! Gulper wants soda, and Gulper wants it now!" Gulper wailed with all the anger of a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. His eyes fell on a couple of barrels beside him, and he licked his lips. Right then, a bunch of fireballs flew out from the skies and slammed into his tongue!

"Hot, hot!"

"Yeah, the Daybringer Flame's called that for a reason," Spyro chuckled as he swept back into view. "Personally, I'd say you've had enough soda for one day! All that caffeine's gotta be bad for you!"

"Shut up!" Gulper wailed. "Nobody tells Gulper he's had enough soda!"

Gulper roared as he grappled for Spyro, but a bunch of tomatoes shot out from the ground and slammed right in Gulper’s eyes! Gulper wailed as the pulp covered his face in a bloody, vegetable-y mess. It almost looked kinda nasty, and Leo was sure seeing it would probably put him off of a tomatoes for a bit. Gulper cried out as he clawed at the thick mass and tossed it across the islands, but no matter what, it barely made a dent in the thick coat!

"Yeah, you should probably eat some veggies instead!" Food Fight goaded as he spun his cannon around.

"Good one!" Trigger Happy chirped. He gave Food Fight a high five, chuckled and spun his guns around. "Now it's my turn!"

Trigger Happy cackled like a hyena on a sugar high as he positioned his guns out for a moment... Tossed them aside, and pulled a gigantic gold machine gun out from the recesses of his back fur! How did he do it? Leo wasn't really sure, but either way, it worked its magic.

Trigger Happy grabbed onto the trigger, and a whole furious flurry of golden coins spewed out from the barrel as they slammed into the Gulper's chest, sides, and even right between his eyes! They all bounced off harmlessly, but it seemed to annoy Gulper enough that he completely forgot about Spyro! He roared, turned away, and flailed his arms around to grab and bat at whatever he could.

"Who shot that?" Gulper demanded as he smashed a forest of trees like they were toothpicks. "Who keeps hitting Gulper?"

"Snap Shot, now!" Spyro shouted as he turned back. "He's distracted!"

"On it, mate!" Snap Shot shouted as he leaped across the string of floating islands. He landed on the last one, and his eyes narrowed as he gripped his crossbow. "Time to CROC N' ROLL!"

Snap Shot got a running start, and his claws curled against the edge of the island before he leaped right off! He cried out as he spun all across the land, then whipped out his crossbow. Instead of shooting, he yanked the arrow right out of the quiver, and slammed it on Gulper's head like a mallet! That weird spike on top of Gulper's head dented into the rest pf Gulper’s body as he groaned and collapsed across the islands. Snap Shot just bounced off of him and landed right on his feet!

"Soda! Soda!" Gulper screamed and wailed as he thrashed around. "Give Gulper soda!" The tomato pulp finally drained from his face, and Gulper licked his lips as his eyes fell on a barrel with a suspicious amount of toxic symbols spray-painted onto its wooden surface. "SODA!"

Gulper yanked the barrel from the ground, cracked its top open like a soda can, and gulped down... Sludgy, green slime? If that was soda, it certainly wasn't very GOOD soda—and Gulper seemed to agree! The moment he gulped it down, his face puckered like he'd drank something super awful, and his stomach grumbled something fierce!

"Gulper doesn't feel so good," he groaned as he leaned over and held his head.

Gulper's body grumbled and bubbled. It stretched and squeezed itself like clay molded by unseen hands, and with a pained squeal on Gulper's end, he shrank! He got smaller and smaller until he was no bigger than Snap Shot himself, and groaned as he collapsed face-first on the ground!

"Ten outta ten play, everyone!" Snap Shot cried. That smile crossed his face again, but it turned cold as he drew his crossbow. "Now to finish this."

He drew back a crystal arrow as it sparkled like a star. With a single release, that crystal arrow slammed right into Gulper's back and… Bounced off like a toy ball? The arrow clattered as it landed beside the still-dizzy Gulper, and Snap Shot blinked as his jaw dropped.

"Alright, what's goin' on here?" Snap Shot glanced over his crossbow and scowled. "That arrow shoulda caught the guy like a rabbit in a trap!"

Spyro, Food Fight, and Trigger Happy blinked as they glanced at each other, but Food Fight soon gasped.

"Wait, a trap! That's it!" Food Fight cried as he hopped over. "Snap Shot, didn't you say that Cloudcracker was made of the strongest Traptanium you could find?"

"Well, yes." Snap Sot turned to Food Fight and sighed as he shook his crossbow. "And so was my crossbow, but apparently I might've been mistaken. If only some of that stuff came back with us." Snap Shot closed his jaw and tensed. "Wait, that's it!"

Snap Shot blinked and turned straight to face Leo once more. "Leo, Madeline, you wouldn't happen to have any Traptanium on you over there? It's a shiny crystal, looks a little like this" — Snap Shot held up his crossbow — "and most importantly, it's perfect for trapping villains!"

"On it, Snap Shot!" Leo and Madeline both cried at once.

Leo jumped straight for the pile of knick-knacks to his right, took only a moment to spin the globe once, and dove right in! He sorted through weird old dolls, scrapbooks, and all sorts of weird stuff that looked more like it belonged in a museum rather than his uncle's attic, but nothing there quite fit the bill. He dove under the table, pulled a few old wooden boxes, and rifled through all the books and glass stuff in bubble wrap and carved wooden statues... But, nothing.

He sighed, pushed the boxes back in, and turned around to where Madeline looked through a bunch of stacked boxes. To think, she was gonna tell Mom that he went into the attic just a moment ago, and now, here she was, exploring it right with him! Some would say he was being a bad influence, but Leo got a little bit of satisfaction from that.

"Is this it, Snap Shot?" Madeline asked as she withdrew a wooden chest and opened it for Snap Shot to see.

Leo slipped back to get a look at its contents—a bunch of colorful crystals in odd shapes—and then up to see Snap Shot beaming so widely that all his sharp teeth showed.

"Yep, that's it!" Snap Shot shouted with a firm nod. "Now, take the Water trap—that blue one in the front—and see if you can find a way to send it here!"

Madeline pulled out a trap that looked like a face yawning really wide, glanced down at the portal and frowned. "Does it go on that portal too?"

"I think it goes here, Maddie," Leo said as he poked a round hole in the front of the portal.

"I-I knew that!"

Madeline shoved the trap into the hole, and a swirling blue vortex opened up in the skies! Snap Shot and the others all scurried away, but the still-unconscious Gulper didn't even notice. He just groaned as the vortex swept him off his tail and pulled him into the skies, only opening them right as he was firmly off the ground!

"Wait, let Gulper go!" Gulper cried as he reached for his still ground-bound trident. "Gulper'll be good, Gulper promises!"

The vortex didn't care. It roared with a fury, and Gulper screamed too as the vortex swept him in! It swirled, puckered, and shuddered as it slowly disappeared from the now-clear skies. All that remained was a tiny blue sparkle that glistened against the light as it fell into Snap Shot's hands, and when its light faded, it revealed itself as that very trap Madeline used. Now, it pulsed with a blue light!

"What? Hello?" Gulper whimpered from within the trap as it pulsed. "Can anybody hear Gulper? And if so, can you bring Gulper some soda?"

Everyone else chuckled, and Snap Shot just dangled the trap in front of his face.

"I think you've had enough soda for one day, mate!"

While they laughed, Leo and Madeline couldn't help but laugh too. It was so much to think about, knowing that those games he'd see in store displays all the time really were real. It was amazing and confusing all at once, but right now, Leo wasn't worried about that. He just felt so happy he could burst, like something in him belonged here!

"That was awesome, Snap Shot!" Leo shouted as he banged his hands against the table. "You took him down like it was nothing!"

"It was nothin', Leo!" Snap Shot chirped. He stowed the trap away in his sash, and rested his crossbow at his side. "Anyways, like I said..."

Snap Shot went to talk, but another sound drowned him out: the door opening!

"Anyways, that's what I've been up to," Uncle Peter said from down below. "Sounds like you've been pretty busy yourself, Steph!"

Leo and Madeline both winced as they glanced at each other. Mom and Uncle Peter were back inside, and they needed to get outside of here! They'd be in so much trouble!

"Actually, Snap Shot, you can tell us tomorrow!" Leo shouted. "We need to get going!"

"Er, alright then—"

Leo winced and jammed the portal's front. "Come on, doesn't this have an off switch? Portal, turn off already!"

That seemed to work, for the projection flickered out and the portal went back to an ordinary hunk of magical plastic. That was one problem taken care of, but the rest of this would totally give away that they were here, and surely Mom was gonna be looking for them! So, Leo and Madeline leapt into action; they covered every inch of the attic as they put everything back in its proper place. No box was left open, no weird item unpositioned, and of course, the two of them threw the tarp back over the Trap Masters.

They both rushed out and Madeline quickly closed the door behind them. They heaved heavy breaths as they planted against the walls, but finally peeled themselves off as their hearts started to calm down. Leo could hardly believe any of this was real. Skylanders was more than just a game, Skylands was a real place, and all this happened right under his nose? This was just like something out of a TV show, and he was the main character!

Beside him, Madeline seemed more worried than anything as she glanced back at the door. She probably felt bad for disobeying Mom. There was no way either her or Uncle Peter would believe them if they heard what Leo and Madeline saw, would they?

"Madeline," Leo started, "we can't tell anyone—"

"Leo, Madeline! There you two are!"

Leo and Madeline both turned around, and there stood Uncle Peter in the hall! He discarded his beer can for a beer bottle now, and he had that goofy grin on his face that Leo always saw when he had a little too much beer. Right now, Leo wasn't really relieved to see it!

"Your mom's lookin' for you all over!" Uncle Peter remarked with a bit of a slur to his words. "What're you two doing up here?" Uncle Peter raised an eyebrow and shook his beer bottle like he wagged a finger. "You weren't going into the attic, were you?"

Leo winced, now knowing it was time to try and come up with an alibi—

"Leo just got lost looking for the bathroom, and I went to show him!" Madeline lied. "It's been a while since we've been here, and he kinda forgot where he was."

—but Madeline beat him to it!

Uncle Peter frowned like he didn't entirely buy Madeline's story, but finally he chuckled.

"Good on you, Maddie!" Uncle Peter chucked as he turned around and headed down the stairs. "Anyways, come down once you're all washed up! Your cousins just arrived!"

Leo and Madeline held their tongues until they no longer heard Uncle Peter's footsteps, and finally heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for covering, Maddie!" Leo chuckled. He never believed he'd be thanking Madeline for something, but well, he supposed there's a first time for everything.

Madeline just scuffed her shoes against the floor and frowned. "I, I don't like lying like that."

"But it's exciting, isn't it?"

Madeline frowned and shrugged. "A little," she finally admitted with a smile.

Leo chuckled and passed her by. "Come on, let's get some snacks before the terrible twos steal the rest!"

Both Leo and Madeline went to collect their snacks and entertain the rest of their family, but the small smile they shared with each other made one thing clear. Even among the hustle and bustle of the family reunion, all they could think about was their encounter with the Skylanders, and just how magical it was. Somehow, something in their hearts told them that this wouldn't be the last time they would cross paths with the Skylanders, either…