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Roller Brawl got the call for that mission while she, Bat Spin and Krypt King were down in the Underworld for a charity event. The event was supposed to be to help raise funds for an orphanage. One of the really big and famous ones down in the Underworld. It housed over thousands of children. Some who died young, others who had their guardians die final deaths, and still others who were abandoned one way or another. When Bat Spin heard about the event, she immediately wrote to take part in it. As an orphan, the cause the event was for was close to her heart. And somehow, she had managed to drag in Roller Brawl and Krypt King along with her.
At first, she was having fun. Telling the kids stories about her adventures as a Skylander, learning from the organisers where all the funds would go, she even showed a couple of kids who brought their own skates how to do a couple of simple tricks. Roller Brawl usually liked doing charity events. It gave her an excuse to be social and meet people, while also helping a greater cause.
She made sure to spend plenty of money on food and homemade crafts. Bookmarks, painted rocks, even friendship bracelets. All made by the kids and their caretakers. Admittedly, many of the kids were very talented artists. She bought any which matched her preferred aesthetic of black and pink.
Halfway through eating her O Negative sno-cone, she got a call from Hugo. And it was a distress call too. “There’s been a robbery near your area, Roller Brawl. It’s somewhere near the surface, but you’re the closest Skylanders to there right now. Everyone’s super busy now, and you’re the only group I can reach. Please, help!”
An emergency group huddle was called, where the three of them discussed how they should do it. “Well, I do have my speech later,” reminded Bat Spin. That’s right. She was asked to give a speech about how it was great that the orphanage was giving all these children an opportunity to lead a decent un-life. And it was hyped up as a really big draw to the whole thing too. She couldn’t just cancel at the last minute.
“Right, got it. So that means that Krypt and I will have to go.” Roller Brawl dug into her knapsack and pulled out her claws. Thankfully, she never left home without her weapons. In her opinion, it was a good habit to cultivate.
“We’ll meet you as soon as we catch the thief, Bat Spin. See you then,” said Krypt King.
And with that, the two of them took off to chase down a baddie.
Roller Brawl was far faster than Krypt King. Which was to be expected, she was well known for her speed. But he told her to go on ahead. “Catch the crook first. When I catch up, I’ll help you with them.”
She nodded, and rushed on ahead as fast as she could go.
Around her, the world became a blur. All she could focus on was dodging obstacles in her path and moving forward. Hugo had texted her the location of the place. So she had her eyes open on the lookout for the sign. But other than that, her surroundings came and went quickly as she raced through the streets. The wind whipped her braid, and inertia overcame her. She just zoomed on faster and faster.
And soon, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted it. To stop, she reached her arm out to grab a nearby lamp post, and swung around to slow herself down. She dug her wheels into the ground, in an effort to find some friction against her. Eventually, she slowed down just enough to get a good look at the place.
She spotted the thieves leaving the shop with a suitcase. They were sack puppets. Two of them, made out of what looked like flour sacks. Very familiar. Often, evildoers used them as easy henchmen. They were great to use if you didn’t want to do the dirty work yourself. All one ever needed to do was learn how to sew, learn an animation spell, and they could create as many of these puppets as they wanted, as long as they had the material to keep making them. Many evildoers had their own distinct way of making puppets. And those particular ones looked eerily familiar to Roller Brawl.
But she couldn’t quite tell whose minions they were right then and there. All she cared about in the heat of the moment was chasing them down, and hopefully arriving at the source of where they came from. Who was behind them, and consequently behind the robbery.
When she was racing from the Underworld up to the surface, the obstacles she had to worry about were things like rocks and abandoned wells in her path. Up on the surface, in the middle of that town, now she had to steer clear away from people. And that was so much harder than avoiding the rocks and wells. Roller Brawl often did well when she could avoid non-moving obstacles. And while there were plenty of pedestrians who became deer in the headlights, there were also plenty who were able to run out of the way. For her, it was close shave after close shave. But fortunately, she remained focused on those puppets.
Those two were nimble little things. Roller Brawl was fast, but they were good enough to give her a challenge. But after much chasing, she caught up with them, and saw who was behind the robbery.
Standing there, tall and smirking in all her eight-limbed glory, was Mesmerelda. Roller Brawl gritted her teeth, and rushed up towards her. It was too late before Mesmerelda noticed her. Before she could dodge, Roller Brawl slammed her fist right into her gut.
Mesmerelda dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks. Her puppets tangled up among themselves, dropping the suitcase in the process. “You!” Yelled Roller Brawl, raising her hand again. Her claws glistened under the evening sun, showing just how sharp they were. “You committed a crime, Mesmerelda!” Her head was buzzing with adrenaline, and she couldn’t think of anything more clever to say right then.
Mesmerelda raised a brow. As if she was amused at that statement, amused by Roller Brawl’s moment of ditziness. “Yes I did, what about it?” She asked.
Roller Brawl looked down at her, calming her mind down from the chase. Her thoughts now better collected, she continued speaking. “You’re coming with me now. We’re checking you into Cloudcracker for theft.”
She reached down to grab her by an arm. Hopefully, Krypt King would arrive soon. She was going to need a helping hand to help bring her in. But before she could even pull her up, Mesmerelda surprised her with a trick up her sleeve. And all she needed to do was push her mouth onto hers.
With a muffled noise, Roller Brawl tried to pull away, but Mesmerelda had pressed another hand to the back of her head. And just like before, when she was racing around, the world melted away. All she could focus on right at the moment was the feel of her lips against hers. The softness, the pressure, and the faint taste of blackberry lipgloss.
For the briefest of moments, she allowed herself to get caught up in it. Letting Mesmerelda press against her, nibble her bottom lip. Before recalling who exactly this was and what exactly she was supposed to be doing.
She tried to pull away again, this time succeeding. But while they were locking lips she had somehow wriggled free from her grasp. So once they stopped, Mesmerelda was off. She grabbed the suitcase and her puppets. And though Roller Brawl knew she should go and chase after her, she was still in too much of a daze to do anything. Her knee weak, her mind abuzz. She stood there and watched her race off.
Then Krypt King arrived, at last. “Roller Brawl?” He asked. “Where’s the thief?” And that brought her back to her senses.
“The thief’s Mesmerelda, Krypt. I almost had her, but she slipped away. Come on, she was headed that way. If we hurry, we can catch up.” And in an instant, they were off again.
Roller Brawl tried to clear her mind of any other thoughts. No distractions, nothing. She could not let anything slow her down, not while she was on the job. Most pressing to her, at least at the moment, was ignoring that little voice at the back of her head. That one, she needed to store it away to unpack later. It was only a thought, but it still scared her.
The little voice was telling her that she did kind of want another kiss from her.