Chihiro Hatsuki's Skylanders

by Tilde-Heart

Chihiro Hatsuki is an ordinary Earth kid whose life is turned upside down when the Skylanders, the magical guardians of another world, land in her backyard and promptly tell her that she's a magical portal master! Now, Chihiro must help the Skylanders defeat their archenemy Kaos and restore the Core of Light that protects their world. (Canon-divergent retelling of SSA)

18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen of CHS is here! What fate awaits our heroes, left in such intense positions the last chapter?... Well, I can't say that right now, can I?~

Greenswitch: Glad to hear you liked it! Actually, there's a little Easter egg in the disguises that I forgot to mention—in the Director's Cut version of the Skylanders: The Beginning trailer for Spyro's Adventure, there's a brief moment where Gill Grunt and Cynder fight a minion of Kaos's with a striking resemblance to Cali. I loosely based Cali's disguise off of that minion!

Watch Seeker: Yeah, I actually was thinking about that when I wrote that scene! Also, I never knew there was a specific term for male ninjas—guess you really do learn something new everyday!

---

At the front of the magic extraction facility, two guards dozed off. Their heads hung low as their eyelids drifted up and down over their eyes and their jaws went slack. With the sheer amount of boredom, who could blame them? It wasn't like anybody was going to break into their impenetrable facility in the first place!

"Hey!" Called a gruff voice from nearby.

The two guards jumped to their feet, then watched as two other identical guards walked up to them—then again, there were so many people around that every face had started to look the same.

"Your shift here's up, buddy," said one as they pointed a finger to the path behind, "You're needed at the loading docks!"

The other guard nodded in agreement with the first.

The guards posted at the facility breathed sighs of relief, then ran over before you could even bat an eyelash! But as they kicked up intense dust clouds in their wake, their ears were oblivious to the sound of soft giggles…

"Yep!" Chihiro proclaimed as the dust cleared, "Told you they wouldn't even think twice!"

Stealth Elf nodded as she dusted off her hair, then turned back to the dead bushes.

"Come on, everyone!" Stealth Elf whispered as she made an ushering motion, "The coast's clear!"

The sound of crunching dirt drew closer as invisible presences made their way towards Chihiro and Stealth Elf, then finally a warble resounded as the invisibility spell lifted to reveal the rest of their team!

Stealth Elf held a finger to her mask and shushed the others as she crept inside, then turned her attention to Double Trouble. She made a few hand signals, nodded in unison with Double Trouble and stepped back.

Double Trouble, meanwhile, waved his staff around, chanted something under his breath then sent a bolt of magic into the skies! Before the bolt even made slight contact, it expanded into a cocoon of light that encased the entire teams, then faded away to reveal goblin workers dressed in lab coats where everyone once stood!

Everybody nodded in approval and checked out their new disguises, then slowly pushed open the doors and crept inside with everyone else behind her.

For an old castle that looked like it had stood for decades, the inside was surprisingly modernized—all shiny machines and fancy computers and that kind of stuff. Rows of soldiers and scientists alike sat diligent at these gigantic computer panels and watched screens that depicted scenes from what was presumably the rest of the kingdom… Well, save for one, who was fast asleep with their head on their desk.

Chihiro giggled as she examined the sleeping worker, then quirked an eyebrow as she noticed the slip of paper they held in their hand. She tiptoed over to the worker, slid the paper out of their hands then skipped back to the rest of the group as she unfurled it.

"Looks like we've got our map," Chihiro whispered as she traced her finger over its crisp surface, "And it seems like the power switch for this whole thing is on the this floor!"

"And everybody's being held captive on the fourth!" Calliope exclaimed as she leaned over Chihiro's shoulder and examined the map, "We have to go there, now!"

"Actually, we need to go to the power switch first!" A slight frown of confusion formed on Chihiro's face, "Once we deactivate the switch, then we can go and free everyone!"

"But there isn't enough time! The longer we wait, the more and more they lose their magic!" Calliope gulped and bit her lip, then tried to pull the map away from Chihiro, "If we don't hurry, they could die!"

"'They?'" Chihiro pulled the map back from Calliope, "Who are they? The trapped fairies?"

"Whoever they are," Spyro butted in as he snagged the map away from the two of them, "We'll get them and everyone else when we shut this plant down!"

"But—"

"Uh, huh?" Groaned the sleeping goblin scientist as they lazily pulled their head up and swerved it around in a tired haze, drool still trickled from their mouth, "Wha's goin' on? I wasn't sleeping, sir, I promise…"

The goblin scientist clasped and opened their now-empty hand a couple times, then looked at it and frowned.

"Wait a second, where'd my map go?" The goblin looked up to the group and frowned, "Who are you? Were you guys newbies Lord Kaos sent?"

Chihiro went to reply… But before she could, she sneezed and created a gigantic cloud of colorful mist! She hacked and fanned the mist away, as did the others surrounding, then when it finally cleared she looked down at her hand and gasped.

"The disguises!" Chihiro exclaimed as winced and looked up, "They're gone!"

"SKYLANDERS?!" The scientists all exclaimed at once as they scrambled out of their seats, "SOUND THE ALARMS!"

As the scientists tripped and stumbled over towards each other, Calliope dashed straight towards a large elevator in the center of the area! Before anybody could move further, she had already gone in and left.

"Calliope, wait!" Persephone exclaimed as she flew towards the returning elevator.

"Lady Persephone!" Aura cried as she followed after Persephone!

"Hey, wait!" Cali exclaimed while she pushed her way out the back of the ground and chased after Persephone and Aura, "You don't know what's waiting for you up there!"

Chihiro raced over to the elevator as the there of them dashed straight in, but she wasn't quick enough, unfortunately. By the time she was halfway there, the doors had shut completely and the alarms had sounded! Chihiro gritted her teeth and got ready to dart forwards, but before she could even take a step a bunch of guards fell from the ceilings and got into formation!

As the guards readied their spears, Chihiro grunted and cast her own… Spheres, that is!

"Take this!" Chihiro exclaimed as she crafted a basketball-sized magic sphere and tossed it straight at a guard, then raised her hands to the sky.

The cyan-colored glow completely enveloped her hands, jumped out and formed a gigantic sphere about four times as large as the one before! Chihiro spun the giant sphere around, and from it a barrage of regular-sized spheres shot out and grazed down the waves of guards!

Double Trouble was just as quick as he dodged blow by blow from the quartet of guards that had him surrounded! Finally fed up with running, he chanted and waved his staff in the air! All around him, magic crackled like static while colorful silhouettes popped off from his body and formed into… Miniature clones of Double Trouble himself!

"What kind of attack is this?" Laughed one guard as they picked up a clone and tickled it, "Coochie-coo, coochie-coo—"

KABOOM!

The tiny Double Trouble clones all exploded in unison and sent the guards reeling back and crashing into walls and panels! Double Trouble smiled as they all groaned and tried to pull themselves back to their feet, but his smile was quick to fade as he caught sight of a few that stood tall nonetheless. With a chant on his end, bright rainbow light crackled from his staff's head and morphed into beams of eldritch magic that rammed right into the last ones standing!

As the soldiers slammed into keyboards and shattered computer screens, Stealth Elf somersaulted out of Double Trouble's path of destruction and turned invisible.

"Someone's coming," Stealth Elf whispered as she poked her head around the corner.

And sure enough, out from the corner came Hex! Her hands flared with magic as she raised a wall of firm, strong bones between herself and a pack of guards. They all cursed and hacked away at the bones with their spears and weapons, but Hex didn't seem concerned—rather, she immediately went to chanting, all while her hands continued to glow… Then seemingly crackled with deadly fire!

As Hex's chanting grew so loud it rumbled around the rest of the floor, the guards that chased her looked up and screamed! After all, seeing giant, flaming skulls form on your ceiling, perfectly ready to drop on and incinerate you at any given moment would probably scare any rational person.

The guards immediately turned tail and ran, but before they could escape, Stealth Elf popped in front of them! As they skidded to a half, Stealth Elf thrust her hands forward and knocked them out with a cloud of poison powder!

"Now that's what I call silent but deadly," Stealth Elf remarked as she adjusted her gloves.

Hex floated towards Stealth Elf as her bone barrier receded and made a nod of presumed approval. All was silent for a few moments… Then both of them jumped out the way as a tornado with a bunch of guards in its center stormed through the halls!

"STORM INCOMING!" Shouted a very frantic Spyro, his eyes flashed a crystalline sky blue as he chased after the tornado.

As Spyro drew the closest he could to the tornado itself without getting sucked in, the tornado slammed into a nearby wall and knocked out all the guards at once! Spyro beamed in approval, then shuddered as a cold shadow loomed over him. On instinct his eyes flashed gray while he summoned an orb of undead energy and shot it back at the area behind him!

The orb in response slammed straight into the gut of a bulky troll, who grunted as the force tossed them into a nearby console then fell unconscious.

Blasts of magic and clangs of metal became the sights and sounds of today as the battle raged on, the fighting so intense one could barely tell left from right! Faces melded together as soldiers clashed with Skylanders…

But under the cover of battle, one tiny goblin soldier took cover. As this goblin solder ducked under a rain of metal spears, he crawled towards one of the consoles and poked back up. After a few quick glimpses proved that he was alone, he toyed with the consoles' knobs and looked up at the massive screen above him.

"Lord Kaos, Lord Kaos!" Cried the goblin soldier as the transmission screen came to light, "Come in, Lord Kaos!"

Nothing was heard but the faint crackle of static for a few minutes, then…

"WHAT IS IT, MINION?!" Kaos demanded from the other end.

"Lord Kaos, I have the greatest news!" The goblin clutched his hands together, eyes aglow like stars in the night, "We have the portal master and several Skylanders in our clutches, right here at the magic extraction facility!"

"WHAAAATTT?! THERE'S NO WAY! ONLY MY EVIL GENIUS SELF AND A HANDFUL OF MY TROOPS KNOW OF—"

While the transmission carried on, Chihiro rolled her way out of a brawl, then staggered up and gritted her teeth.

"Trying to call for backup, are you?" Chihiro snarled as she sped forward and rammed the goblin into the control panel, "Not today, mister!"

The goblin grunted as he made a face-sized indent in the control panel's, well, panel, then turned around and pushed against Chihiro's firm grip.

"Get off of me, you little gremlin!" The goblin demanded as he kept pushing against Chihiro.

"You get off of me, you creep!" Chihiro shot back as she pushed him back into the panel and examined it, "How do you end this transmission thingie?!"

"So you incompetents DID manage to get the portal master! I'll be there immediately!" Kaos exclaimed, a sickening kind of joy in his voice that quickly turned to impatient rage, "YOU THERE! PILOT! PILOT THIS RUSTBUCKET FASTER!"

The transmission came to a close soon enough as the screen darkened from blue to black, yet Chihiro didn't pull herself away—she just stared at the screen with wide eyes.

"HAH, HEAR THAT, SKYLANDERS?" The goblin proclaimed as he rolled out of Chihiro's grip and turned to the crowds, "LORD KAOS IS ON HIS WAY! AND WHEN HE GETS HERE, IT'S OVER FOR ALL OF YOU! HE'LL—OOF!"

Chihiro slugged the guard straight in the jaw, then as they whimpered and held their very sore face, she made a wince of pain herself. Chihiro clasped her hands and teleported back to the castle's front doors, then breathed in and slammed them open without a second thought!

"Chihiro, what are you doing?" Spyro asked as he turned around from sending giant fireballs towards troll forces, his eyes still red with fire magic.

"You heard him!" Chihiro grunted as she pushed the doors open further, "If Kaos gets here, it'll be over for all of us!"—Chihiro turned to Spyro with utmost seriousness in her eyes—"You guys try and take this place down, I'll buy us some time!"

"Don't tell me…" Spyro's eyes grew wide with realization, "You're gonna fight Kaos by yourself?"

"Chihiro, Kaos is stronger than you can imagine!" Stealth Elf exclaimed as she popped up next to Chihiro.

"But we have to keep him from getting here!" Chihiro shouted out between heavy breaths, "If someone doesn't stop him, then everything we did to get this far will be for nothing!"

Spyro frowned, then flew up to Chihiro and placed a paw on her shoulder.

"I understand," Spyro whispered, then raised his voice as he turned to the crowds, "Hex, Double Trouble! Can you handle these guys?

However, they didn't respond… Because they were too busy moving down waves of guards!

"I'll take that as a yes," Stealth Elf remarked as she placed her hands on her hips and casually dodged a flying skull. She then turned around and helped Chihiro fling the doors open.

"Now come on, we don't have much time!"

Stealth Elf bolted out the doors the moment they were fully open with Spyro and Chihiro close behind…

§

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

All around the forest, all that could be heard was Stump Smash and Zook's screams as the two of them fell to their deaths! It seemed like all they could watch was the ground as it drew closer and closer… Then finally, they turned to each other. For a minute, their terrified gazes softened into a mixture of sorrow and regret as they looked towards each other, then cast those sad looks aside.

"We really messed up, didn't we?" Stump Smash admitted at last.

"Yeah, man, we really did," Zook agreed as he clutched his bazooka tight, "We got so caught up in our fighting that we lost sight of what was really important!"

They both looked downwards and cringed.

"And now…" Stump Smash trailed off and gulped, as did Zook. All was silent as they fell further and further, then finally Stump Smash sighed.

"Zook… I'm sorry." Stump Smash looked towards Zook with a solemn kind of earnestness in his eyes, "I was picking fights with you the whole time we were supposed to work together!"—Stump Smash shook his head, or at least tried to—"I shouldn't have been so ornery."

"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing!" Zook retorted as he toyed with the bamboo stalks atop his head, "I was the one who kept egging it on!"

Both Stump Smash and Zook smiled, then reached out their hands—or, mallets, in Stump Smash's case—and held them tight.

"Apology accepted!" They both proclaimed at once as a soft glow enveloped them.

That soft glow shot lights everywhere as they burst into laughter, then looked down and realized they were still falling! Their laughter turned to screams as they held on tight… Only for a gigantic vine to shoot up and catch them!

"So, are you two done fighting?" Camo asked with a click of his tongue.

"Camo!" Stump Smash and Zook called as they both let go, "You're alright!"

"You bet I am!" Camo smiled and patted the top of the gigantic plant he had summoned, "Let me tell you, I've never appreciated the local flora more than I have now."

Camo turned his attention upwards as the vine drew closer and closer to the top of the tree stump platform. Surely once they got to the top, the Evil Elf Ninja and its cronies would be awaiting them…

"Rrready for the actually important fight?" Camo asked as he looked back at Stump Smash and Zook then smiled as they both nodded.

"You bet we are!" Stump Smash and Zook replied in unison as Stump Smash slammed his hammers together while Zook loaded his bazooka.

"THEN LET'S GET SMASHING!"

The three of them leaned down, then leaped off the vine and rolled onto the stump platform!

"Minions, have you found the—" The Evil Elf Ninja questioned into a walkie-talkie as it turned around, only to stumble back in shock as it saw the Skylanders.

"YOU!" The Evil Elf Ninja pointed a finger at the Skylanders, "HOW IN SKYLANDS DID YOU SURVIVE THAT FALL?"—The Evil Elf Ninja shook its head—"You know what? Nevermind! We still have forces that can take you on!"

The Evil Elf Ninja dove its hand into its pocket and grabbed something small and mechanical—a pager, maybe? But, before it could even press it, Camo shot out a vine and knocked the pager straight from its hand! The Evil Elf Ninja scowled as it watched the pager fly off the tree stump, then turned its attention back to the Skylanders.

"So that's how you want to play, huh?" The Evil Elf Ninja grabbed its blades and bent down, "Fine by me!"

The Evil Elf Ninja was off like a bullet as it flung itself towards Zook… But for the first time, Stump Smash had matched its speed! He raced in front of Zook, then whacked the Evil Elf Ninja with his hammer-hands and watched it skid back across the platform! When it was a ways away, Stump Smash smiled towards Zook.

"Your turn now, Zook!" Stump Smash said as he stepped aside and watched Zook smile back.

Zook held out a hand, and in front of him bamboo shoots shot out in a wave towards the Evil Elf Ninja!

The Evil Elf Ninja jumped to its feet and dashed out the way, but before it could make an escape a bunch of vines blocked its way! The Evil Elf Ninja growled as it looked back towards a very smug Camo.

"You can't corner me, you walking leaf!" The Evil Elf Ninja shot back as it held up its hands, "I, for one, know ninjutsu!"

The Evil Elf Ninja disappeared in a puff of green smoke, then reappeared right where the vines' barrier had ceased! It smirked as it landed on the ground… Then screamed and raced off as a team of gigantic chestnuts barreled towards it!

"Dodge that, you!… You, you," Stump Smash exclaimed as he shook a hammer at the Evil Elf Ninja only to hang his head, "I need to get better at coming up with insults."

As the chestnuts chased it down the maze, the Evil Elf Ninja tried its best to escape—but no matter how much it teleported or ran, it found itself at dead ends in every angle! And worse yet, those chestnuts were persistent… So, finally, it disappeared once more and reappeared right atop the platform!

"Hope you know a good doctor!" The Evil Elf Ninja shouted as it held out its hands and shot out gigantic clouds of poison from its hands!

The poison blanketed the arena like sickly fog, and everything it brushed upon, from small leaves to the formidable bamboo and vine maze, shriveled and melted away like it was nothing at all!

Stump Smash and Zook both backed up as the fog drew closer to them, but Camo stood firm.

"ORDER UP!" Camo shouted as he stomped his paws and caused a number of vines to sprout up before him!

The vines weaved themselves into some kind of cannon-looking thing and sucked in the fog! Once the fog had been cleared, the cannon turned upwards, fixed itself on the Evil Elf Ninja then shot the fog right back at it before it withered away!

The Evil Elf Ninja could only gasp as its own fog was turned against it, then it disappeared entirely in the purple mist! Intense coughing and hacking was heard from within the violet storm, then finally the Evil Elf Ninja crashed back down onto the platform.

"I'll… Be back…" The Evil Elf Ninja hacked as it teleported away with the fog, "I'm warning you!"

"Good riddance," Stump Smash remarked as he rolled his eyes. However, his tired face grew a little less weary as he gazed over to Camo and Zook's smiling ones.

"It's good to have you back, guys!" Camo chirped as he laid his paws on Stump Smash and Zook's shoulders.

"We're glad to be back, Camo!" Zook replied as he ruffled Camo's head, then hugged him tight.

Zook smirked towards Stump Smash, who only smiled wider and rolled his eyes once more.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," Stump Smash chuckled as he joined in the group hug.

The three of them were at complete peace for those few sweet moments… Then they all froze as the sound of falling trees echoed throughout the area.

"Oh, right!" Camo exclaimed as he burst out of the group hug, "We've got logging to stop!"—Camo then winced as he looked towards the spot where the rockets once resided—"But without those rockets, how are we gonna take down that chainsaw?"

Zook took a cursory look at his bazooka while all three of them tried to mumble out ideas. Nothing seemed to strike right at first… But then, Zook's eyes glimmered with what had to have been inspiration!

"Actually, I think I've got something!" Zook shouted as he nudged Camo's shoulder, "Camo, can you give my bazooka a boost?"

"Why?" Camo looked up at Zook with a frown on his face.

Zook whispered the plan into a wary Camo's earhole, then drew away. Though Camo still seemed a bit concerned at first, his unease loosened as he saw the confident smile on Zook's face.

"Alright, then!" Camo placed a paw on Zook's bazooka, "One blast of growth magic, coming right up!"

As Camo clasped the bazooka tight, it glowed with a bright green flare that enveloped its whole body! While the light shone brighter and brighter, the bazooka grew thrice its size then rested on the ground as several more bazookas sprouted from the original's base. It couldn't even be called a regular bazooka anymore, it was more like a giga-bazooka!

Zook drew back the trigger, and a number of large, thorny missiles popped out of every single hole in the giga-bazooka! His hand held tight on the trigger, Zook turned the bazooka towards the chainsaws… But unfortunately, with its new size came a gigantic weight boost as well! It was quite a lot for one person to turn.

So, Stump Smash walked up to Zook and helped him push the giga-bazooka in the chainsaws' direction!

"Ready, aim…" Zook whispered as he let go of the trigger, "FIRE!"

Right as Zook said this, the thorn missiles zoomed out of the giga-bazooka and slammed straight into the chainsaw. From this collision came a gigantic explosion paired with an equally-large puff of smoke! As the smoke cleared, it revealed that the chainsaw was no more, just a battered hunk of junk with a bent blade rested on top of a nearby stump. Well, it probably wasn't totally useless—it could be used as a good bridge!

"Thanks for that, Stumps!" Zook chirped as he watched his bazooka return to its normal size and picked it back up.

"No problem, Zook," Stump Smash replied as he patted Zook's shoulder.

Camo smiled, then walked forward and latched his paws against the edge of the stump platform. As he held on tight, vines sprouted out from the ground below and formed a natural elevator from the platform they resided on now to the broken chainsaw!

The three of them boarded the elevator's platform, then drew towards the chainsaw and hopped off. With no hesitation, they climbed up the platform and continued on their merry way…

§

The elevator made a friendly ding as it stopped at the fourth floor, but its cheery noise was hardly reassuring to Cali, Aura, or Persephone as they launched themselves out the elevator.

"Calliope!" Cali called as she stepped forwards, "Where are you?"

"Calliope? Calliope?" Persephone called, only for her to catch sight of the walls and reel back.

There, embedded in the walls were round chambers lit with fluorescent cyan light, and there within them…

Were fairies.

Ghastly, terrified-looking fairies who slunk against their chambers or pounded on their doors in hopes for finding someone who could free them! They looked so weak and hopeless… It was enough to give anyone nightmares!

Persephone shuddered as she fixed her eyes on the chambers while her arms trembled. It was as if it was so horrifying, she couldn't even bring herself to look away until...

"No, no, no, that's not them, where are they…" rattled a familiar voice from across the halls!

"Calliope!" Cali called as she grabbed Persephone's hand and raced down the way.

Cali, Aura and Persephone followed the voice's source down the halls, and sure enough, there was Calliope! She seemed quite frantic, eye wide as she examined the captive fairies one by one—it was almost like she was looking for someone…

"Calliope!" Cali called as she stepped forwards, "There you are!"

However, Cali's call was of no importance to Calliope, who only ignoring Cali and continued looking through the pods as she flew further down! Maybe Cali hadn't been loud enough?

"Calliope! Calliope!" Cali continued to call Calliope's name as she followed after Calliope, though her sprints only barely matched Calliope's speed.

As Cali grew maybe a few feet away from Calliope, however, it seemed as if Cali finally succeeded! Calliope perked up for a moment, then gasped as she saw Cali down the way. Calliope turned around as if she was ready to fly off… But before she could, Cali grabbed her hand!

"Calliope, what's going on?" Cali asked as she looked up towards Calliope, who was struggling to break free of Cali's grasp, "What are you doing?"

"There's no time for questions!" Calliope insisted as she continued tugging against Cali's grip, "I have to find them!"

"Them? Who are they?" Cali's brows tightened as she made a small frown, "Who are these people you keep talking about?"

"Just let me go! The longer I wait, the longer—"

"Friends, I hate to interrupt your dance," Persephone said as she shook Cali's shoulder, eyes wide and cold sweat against her brow, "But we've got an unlucky situation!"

"Lady Persephone is right!" Aura proclaimed as she turned around and bit her nails, "We've been found!"

Cali and Calliope frozen for a moment, then turned around… And unfortunately, Aura and Persephone were right—the guards were piling out of the elevator as they spoke! As the guards caught sight of them, Cali, Persephone and Aura all readied themselves to fight… Except the guards did nothing.

Rather, the guards simply turned the dials on their armor a few notches and right then, the light from the chambers grew so intense it bathed the area around in a bone-chilling shade of blue!

The screams and light were so intense, everybody froze in their tracks—which gave the guards just enough time to grab hold of Persephone and Aura!

They were so caught off-guard, they could only scream and writhe in horror as the guards dragged them to two of the nearby chambers and threw them in! Persephone and Aura both screamed and banged their fists against the chambers, then froze and screeched as they shocked with some kind of blue lightning! The sight of them writhing in pain, it was absolutely horrifying!

"Persephone, Aura!" Cali called, his eyes wide before she snarled and grabbed a knife from her pocket, "Alright, now you're in for it!"

With a twist of her foot, Cali propelled herself forwards with full intention of attacking, but before she could even strike a single blow someone swept her off her feet—literally! She just fell on her back, then grunted and pulled herself back up.

"My, my, what a surprise, seeing you here! I wouldn't expect such a pretty lady like you to be so quick to walk to your doom!" Crowed a pale-skinned man with an absolutely stupid-looking bowl cut and handlebar mustache dressed in clockwork armor with too many knobs as he walked up to Cali. Was this the commander that Aura was talking about?

"Shouldn't a lovely woman like you try to preserve herself a bit?"

"CAN IT, YOU CREEP!"

Cali growled once more, her face seethed red with anger, then she leaned forward and socked him right in the kisser!

"THAT'S IT! I TRIED BEING NICE!" The commander snarled as his eyes moved to Calliope, "BUT YOU'VE PROVEN TO ME YOU DON'T DESERVE IT!"

The commander lunged towards Calliope, who could only watch him like a deer in a ship's headlights… But before he could lay a scratch on her, Cali grabbed Calliope and pull her out of his way!

"GET BACK HERE, YOU!" The commander screamed in the distance as Cali made a break for it, his voice grown further and further with every step, "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!"

Cali's breath grew heavier as she dragged Calliope through the rows and rows of trapped fairies and machinery… Surely there had to be somewhere to hide here, right?

There! Right under some massive pipes was a shaft small enough for them to creep under! Cali squeezed Calliope's hand tighter, then hit the floor and skidded right under its opening. The whole place was dark and warm, the only light from the opening beside them, and Cali's body ached with pain from sliding so fast against hard metal… But sometimes, you have to do what you have to do.

Cali stopped for a moment and held a paw over her heart, which still beat with tension from earlier. However, it seemed to have slowed down a bit.

"Calliope, are you—" Cali whispered as she turned to Calliope, but was only met with the sounds of strained sobs!

Calliope had furled herself into a trembling ball, tears poured down her cheeks like waterfalls and her breath torn between sobbing and hyperventilating at the same time!

"Calliope, it's alright, we're safe!" Cali placed a hand on Calliope's shoulder and held Calliope close, "For now."

"NO, NO, THEY AREN'T!" Calliope wailed as she pushed Cali away and broke down into hiccuping sobs, "My mothers… They're surely…"

"Your… Mothers?" Cali caught herself before she fell back on the floor, her wide eyes fixed on an equally wide-eyed Calliope.

Calliope just froze for a moment, then finally she shuddered and nodded.

"When the kingdom was first taken, my mothers were among the captives." Calliope tried her best to hold back her sobs, his voice hoarse and strained from crying, "That's why I wanted to come back here so badly!"—Despite her best efforts, tears rolled down Calliope's swollen eyes once more—"But, surely, they, they, they must, they must be dead by now!"

As Calliope sobbed and curled up, Cali crept forward, then gently wrapped her arms around Calliope and stroked Calliope's back.

"I wouldn't give up just yet, Calliope!" Cali said with a calm smile.

"But, why?" Calliope sniffled as she wiped her nose and looked up at Cali with puffy, swollen eyes, "Everything's so…"

"Hopeless, I know." Cali withdrew from the hug and looked aside from just a moment, then looked back at Calliope, "But, if there's one thing working with the Skylanders has taught me, it's that no situation is truly hopeless until you say it is!"

Cali pounded a fist against her hand.

"If we give up right now, then their fate is sealed for sure…" Cali's word ran with a level of seriousness, yet her smile shone bright as ever, "But, as long as you hang on to that one glimmer of hope that they're still alive, then you'll definitely be able to save your moms!"

Though Calliope shook a bit still, it seemed as if Cali's words reassured her just a bit. "Are you sure?"

"I'm certain."

Cali winked along with her smile, then yipped in surprise as Calliope tackled Cali in a hug!

"Thank you, Cali." Calliope cried tears not of sorrow, but of what seemed like reassurance or joy, even.

"No problem!" Cali wiped away Calliope's tears and helped Calliope back up, "Now, before we can do anything, we have to get back down there and shut this whole place down! The longer it takes us, the more magic everyone here will lose—there's no time to waste!"

"R-right." Calliope looked away as if she was hesitating, but nodded nonetheless.

So, they both looked out the entrance to their hideaway and gulped. It didn't seem like they could hear footsteps or non-fairy voices—surely, those guards had lost interest and left by now. So, they both approached the entrance...

"Anyways, that reminds me. I've been wondering…" Cali tilted her head as she looked back at Calliope, "How exactly did you escape, anyways?"

Before Calliope could answer, however, both of them were shaken by the sound of tearing metal as bright light poured into the hiding place! They turned around, and unfortunately for them, realized that they had been found! The two of them screamed and held each other as the guards and commander glared down above them.

"FOUND YOU, YOU INSOLENT PESTS!" The commander proclaimed.

§

The chainsaws and troll lumberjacks now long behind them, Zook sang a jaunty tune in some kind of language far beyond the other two's understanding as they trailed up identical wooden paths. It was as if they were the only ones in the forest as they scoured for the Eternal Life Source… That is, until they heard rustling from nearby!

"WHO'S THERE?!" Stump Smash and Camo exclaimed as they readied to attack. Their eyes trained on the source of the noise, a bush of leaves that shook furiously…

Yet oddly enough, Zook seemed perfectly calm. He just laid down his bazooka and smiled as he pushed back the bushes.

"Well, would'ja look at that?" Zook remarked as he watched a fluffy gray squirrel hop out from the bushes, "Run along, little guy!"

As the squirrel looked up and twitched its nose, Stump Smash and Camo breathed sighs of relief. Phew, just a false alarm… But on the other hand, the earthquakes that followed were certainly real! As everybody fell on their backs while the squirrels rushed off, Camo gritted his fangs and held his paws over his head.

"What's going on here?" Camo exclaimed, his voice strained as he struggled to be heard over the rumbling of the quakes.

"Why are you talking about mowing, Camo?!" Stump Smash yelled back.

"I didn't say mowing, I said GOING!" Camo breathed in and exhaled, only to fall back down as a series of loud bangs shot off from above!

"ARE THOSE FIREWORKS?" Stump Smash whipped his head around, "Who's shooting off fireworks at a time like this?"

"Those aren't fireworks…" Zook interrupted as he pushed himself between Stump Smash and Zook, "Fireworks don't sound like that, I'd know!"—Zook then pointed everyone towards the path behind them—"Those are gunshots!"

Stump Smash and Camo followed Zook, and sure enough he was right! From across the horizon, large metal missiles shot through the skies and straight towards them! They all screamed as they ran around like headless chickens in some effort to dodge the missiles' path, but it was no use! The missiles followed them every which way. No matter where they run or what they do, the missiles were perfectly fit to chase them!

"Alright, I've had enough of running!" Zook proclaimed as he stopped and loaded his bazooka. With a click of the trigger, Zook's own missiles rammed right into the missiles that tailed them and blew the enemy missiles to bits!

Camo breathed a sigh of relief as he examined the shrapnel underneath, but Stump Smash didn't seem quite as reassured by Zook's victory—for he only turned around and winced.

"I wouldn't catch your breath just yet!" Stump Smash warned as he painted ahead, "Look!"

Ahead of them, even more missiles had flown out from nowhere, their paths locked on Stump Smash, Zook and Camo! Once again they all found themselves running about in a panic as they tried to shake the missiles, but this time it seemed like giggling intermingled with the sounds of the missiles' fire!

Camo frowned and stopped in place, then turned his attention towards a nearby collection of rustling bushes. With a frown, he crept closer towards the bushes and pushed their branches aside…

To find a troll holding a gigantic remote! It laughed so hard tears streamed down from its face, its eyes focused on a screen propped out from the remote that depicted Stump Smash and Zook running in circles as the missiles pursued them.

Camo said no words, and instead just made a simple cough into his paw…

But, it was plenty enough to catch the attention of the troll, who upon seeing Camo, ran screaming with no mind paid to the fact that it dropped its remote!

"Well, that's one thing solved!" Camo remarked as he watched the troll run for the hills. Camo turned his attention back down to the remote, then made a twisted frown as he smashed its base with a powerful stomp!

The screen attached to it showed an image of a confused Stump Smash and Zook standing frozen as the missiles stopped mid-race and harmlessly clunked onto the forest floor… Then completely blipped out right in time for Camo to leave the bushes.

"Don't wory, guys!" Camo proclaimed as he gave them a toes up, "Coast's clear!"

Stump Smash and Zook nodded as all three of them reformed their little group, then walked down the wooden way until Stump Smash stopped in his tracks!

"Into the bushes, now!" Stump Smash exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around Camo and Zook and pushed them all into the bushes!

"What was that for?" A dizzy Camo asked as he tried to recollect himself.

Stump Smash only shushed them, then pointed out a hole in the bushes.

There outside of their hiding spot, two bulky trolls dressed in lumberjack plaids and armor trolled their way down the path, their eyes turned to each other.

"See the Skylanders anywhere?" Asked one troll soldier to the other.

"SKYLANDERS?!" Exclaimed the second troll as they jumped up and looked every which way, "WHERE?!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" The first troll snarled as he conked his coworker right on the head.

"Owch!"

"The Evil Elf Ninja said that the Skylanders were here, and with the Life Source close by we can't afford to let them slip under our radar! They've already had to assign half our missile launchers to this stretch alone!" The first troll snarled as he watched the second troll rub their aching head, "Keep looking!"

"Alright…"

As the trolls made their leave, Camo beamed towards Stump Smash and Zook, who shared his look of excitement.

"Hear that?" Zook whispered, his eyes bright lights that shone among the trees' canopy.

"Loud and clear!" Camo replied as he leaped out of the bushes, "Let's go get that source—"—Camo froze as he caught sight of at all the soldiers stationed by and jumped back into the bushes—"Actually, we might wanna stick here!"

Camo took one last peek outside then closed up the holes in the bushes.

"There's creeps crawling everywhere."

So instead, they fell to their bellies and crawled through the bushes, with the occasional peek through the bushes taken to see if the guards had cleared up some… But nope! Still as tight as ever!

"They weren't kidding when they said they amped up security…" Zook remarked as he turned his eyes away from the bushes, "Looks like we'll have to find another way around!"

"Actually, I don't think that'll be necessary!" Stump Smash proclaimed as he smashed his hands together, "TIMBERRRR!"

Stump Smash stormed through the path of soldiers and bulldozed down as many trolls that he could with his hammers, then while the trolls reeled from shock he spat out a round of spiny chestnuts! The trolls kicked up storms of dead wood and dust in their panic, the perfect mask for the Skylanders to sneak in under!

While the trolls cleared out, Zook, Stump Smash and Camo dodged in, completely veiled by the clouds of dust. Underneath these clouds they crept their way through the sounds of chaos and war. As the trolls were left in the literal dust, the three of them froze and shuddered. For a moment, it was like the power of the Life Element itself had flooded through their veins!

"Did you guys feel that?" Camo asked, then the smile on his face grew wider as Zook and Stump Smash nodded, "We've gotta be close!"

Camo turned his attention back to the path ahead… Or rather, paths! Two soft, plush-looking bounce pads decorated the wooden floor's left and rightmost sides respectively. The first one lead to forest canopy with a chopped half of a log for a bridge, the second to a fortress entrance made of thin logs and wooden planks.

All three of them approached the rightmost bounce pad where the Life Element energy echoed the most… But as they approached the bounce pad, the bushes around started rustling!

"HALT RIGHT THERE, SKYLANDERS!"

One by one, five troll guards in impressively color-coordinated armor leaped out of the bushes and bore their weapons!

"Just who are you guys?" Stump Smash demanded as he stepped back, Camo and Zook closed behind.

The trolls, in response, all lined up single-file.

"A fantastic mind with fantastic muscles to match!" The first troll proclaimed as they flexed then make an F rune with their arms, "Farley, the F!"

"Outrageous speed and outrageous strength, all wrapped up in one package!" Exclaimed the second troll as they ran in place and punched the air before them then made an O rune with their arms, "Orson, the O!"

"Radical and righteous, I'll raze you to the ground!" Cried the third as they flipped their hair, slashed the air beside them with their lance then make an R rune with their arms, "Raquel, the…"

However, while they were busy showing off their fancy group intro, the Skylanders had bored of the routine and went ahead to the bounce pads!

"HEY! YOU DIDN'T LET US FINISH OUR INTRO!" Raquel yelled, his face tinged red from fury.

"Not our fault you took too long!" Stump Smash replied with a hapless shrug, only to grunt as Orson crashed into him and sent him crashing into a stack of logs.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR NOT LETTING US INTRODUCE OURSELVES!"

"Oh yeah?" Zook asked as he turned around and readied his bazooka, Camo and Stump Smash close behind and just as ready to fight, "Bring it on!"

Farley immediately went to attack Camo, but Camo was quick to knock him away with gigantic bell pepper bombs! The peppers exploded and blew away not just Farley, but the rest of the trolls as well! Camo stood for a moment to admire his work… Only for Orson to shoot Camo down with a quickly-timed punch!

"Ha!" Orson scoffed as he pressed his fists against his hips, "That's what you get for gloating! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

But while Orson laughed at Camo's defeat, he didn't seem to notice a shadow slunk behind him...

"Maybe you should listen to some of your own advice!" Stump Smash retorted as he sneaked up on Orson and smacked him right in the back!

Orson went flying straight into one of the other trolls, which in turn sent them both bowling into a nearby log pile! They both whined as they sat up and pulled out splinters, then set one look at each other and…

"YOU NEED TO WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, CARL!" Orson yelled as he shook a fist at Orson.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO WATCH IT, ORSON!" The troll who was apparently Carl retorted as he crossed his arms, "YOU WOULDN'T SEE A BOMB IF IT HIT YOU SQUARE IN THE FACE!"

"Geez, haven't we had enough silly arguments for one day?" Zook groaned as he watched Orson and Carl argue, then with a smile he knelt down and motioned his hand up, "Looks like I'd better break them up!"

While Zook continued to motion, a soft ripple echoed around the battlefield, one that was completely drowned out by the sounds of combat…

Though the gigantic row of bamboo shoots that soon shot up was prominent enough! It was so large and fast, it immediately shot both Orson and Carl off the ground and headfirst into the nearby trees!

"Ow, our heads…"

Orson groaned as he slid down and just barely avoided falling on another troll, who winced as Orson bonked his head on the tree's trunk.

"This doesn't look good…" Remarked the troll as they slipped out of the fight and jumped on the rightmost bounce pad, "I'd better warn the commanders!"

As the troll tried to make a great escape, Camo slid back from Farley's latest blow, then turned around and spotted the runaway troll!

"Thought you could get away, huh?" Camo hissed as he chased after the troll, "Get back—"

Just then, the troll ran into the path above, which was blocked off by a wooden gate right before Camo could enter! Instead, he just slammed face-first into the gate and fell down.

"Okay, maybe you can!" Camo cried as birds flew around his head.

The other four trolls all sneered as they caught sight of the blocked-off gate,

"Alright boys, finish them off!" Farley commanded.

All five trolls huddled around Zook, Stump Smash and Camo, their weapons and sneers raised as they surely pictured the Skylanders' defeat in their minds… But Zook had other ideas. While the trolls closed in on them, Zook raised his bazooka, clicked the trigger and sent them rocketing away with a gigantic thorny missile courtesy of his bazooka!

"THIS ISN'T THE LAST OF TEAM FORCEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The trolls screamed in unison as… Ding! Just like that, the disappeared over the leafy skies!

"Now how are we supposed to get up there?" Camo asked as he finally recovered from his dizzy spell and looked up at the closed gate. Camo made a soft hum, then smiled as he narrowed his eyes. "I know! How about I turn up the heat?"

Camo leaped onto the bounce pad, then as he was elevated to the gate's level he shot a red-hot fireball at it… But the moment the fireball made contact with the gate, it flickered out instantly!

"So much for that." Camo sighed as he fell back down, then stepped out of the way and gestured towards Stump Smash and Zook.

Stump Smash and Zook both shrugged as they looked at each other, then jumped up and shot a combined blast of chestnuts and thorn missiles… But no luck, the gate still wouldn't budge. Must have been made of some pretty tough wood!

"Now what?" Stump Smash asked while they fell back down and examined the gate.

"Well…" Zook said as he pointed to the left bounce pad, "Maybe we should check out the other path?"

All three pairs of eyes fixed on the left bounce pad, then they all shrugged and lined up. Well, it was worth a shot! So, they took the second bounce pad one by one and trailed down the trail it brought them… Wait a second! Muttering echoed down from the way below, it couldn't be…

Yes, it was trolls! A bunch of trolls, all swarmed together like bees as they chattered and held metal boxes!

Camo, Zook and Stump Smash all got themselves ready attack, while the trolls all froze and gasped.

"Skylanders!" They all cried out at once as they… loosened their stances and muttered among themselves?

"You know what?" Said one troll as they turned around and swirled a hand at the very confused Skylanders, "Normally I'd be happy to fight you Skylanders, but right now it's my lunch break and I'm starving!"

They other trolls all nodded in agreement, then passed Zook, Stump Smash and Camo by as they murmured among themselves.

"You got lucky, don't forget that!"

"I can't wait to eat my ham and gunpowder sandwich!"

"I hope my mom packed those chips I liked…"

All three Skylanders blinked in complete and utter confusion as the trolls left them behind, then shrugged and passed on forward.

"Well, at least we don't have to fight them, I guess?" Camo remarked as he watched Zook and Stump Smash tear down a crude wooden fence that blocked the rest of the way, "Let's just hurry before they finish their lunches. Or change their minds. Or both."

And with the fence now completely torn down thanks to a blow from Stump Smash, they did just that!

§

The guards loomed over them, overpowered and fully ready to attack, but Cali wasn't going to sit here and wait for her death! Instead, Cali let go of Calliope, grabbed another pocket knife from her slacks and got ready to lunge… But before she could, a bunch of skulls rained down out of nowhere and knocked the guards down in one strike!

"WHAT?" The commander exclaimed as he looked around the halls, "Who's there? Show yourself immediately!"

With the guards unconscious and the commander distracted, Cali saw the perfect escape route! She immediately stowed the knife back away so she could grab Calliope's hand, ducked and rolled right underneath the commander, barely attentive to his shout of surprise, then pulled herself up to find…

None other than Hex, who held out a glowing hand as the elevator behind her receded downwards!

"I'd suggest you leave them alone, if I were you," Hex said, her voice colder than usual as she trained her eyes on the commander.

"Or what?" The commander sneered as he cranked the dial on his gloves, "You'll throw me a bone or two?"

The fairies' screams grew louder as the halls were painted a deadly blue, but Hex paid little mind to this as she tossed more skulls at the commander. She was as steely and unbreakable as ever—surely her attacks would do something!

But alas, he just knocked the skulls away like they were rubber balls!

"Oh, don't even try!" The commander made an absolutely sickening smile, "With all the fairy magic I have on my side, your attacks are mere child's play!"

"Don't act so cocky, buddy!" Cali exclaimed as she boosted up Calliope, "We've got a fairy on our side, too!"—Cali gave Calliope's shoulder a gentle nudge—"Come on, Calliope!"

Calliope, however, only winced and pulled away.

"Cali, I don't think you'd want me to do this…" Calliope whimpered as she held her arm.

"Why not?" Cali tilted her head, "You're a fairy, you should have fairy magic, right?"

Cali, however, wasn't the only one taking a peek at Calliope. The commander had froze and trained his eyes on Calliope as well, his gaze an unwelcome presence for Calliope as she tried to hide herself away further.

"Wait a second, I remember you!" The commander cackled, "You're that useless fairy that we tossed out because you don't have a bit of magic in your body!"

Cali and Hex both froze on the spot. Calliope, magicless? Cali herself had wanted to ask further, but before she could the commander finally bored of sitting around!
Rather, he immediately lunged forward and slammed Calliope into a nearby wall!

"I'll give you credit, you have a lot of guts coming back despite your sorry state…" The commander twisted Calliope's arm as she screamed in pain, her attempts to escape his grasp completely futile, "But I'm afraid it was all for nothing, dear!"

With another twist, the commander sent out volts of bright blue lightning that shocked Calliope to the bone!

"You… You better let me go!" Calliope hissed through gritted teeth despite the pain that surely surged through her body while she gave the commander a dark glare, "You don't know what I'm capable of!"

"Oh, what ever would you do to me?" The commander raised an eyebrow, "Scream? Glare? Beg for mercy?"

A hint of ecstasy shone in the commander's eyes as he shocked Calliope further and cackled, as if he was almost reveling in her screams. "You're nothing but an absolute failure of a fairy!"

"I WARNED YOU!"

Calliope's scream was so great it reverberated around the halls and shocked everyone speechless, including the commander for a few moments! As the lightning let up for a tiny bit, Calliope gritted her teeth then stiffly and slowly raised her arms. With how much electricity coursed through her body, it showed another side to her, one more tough and intimidating that demanded the attention of everyone around! She snapped her fingers...

And yet, all it did was surround the commander in a red glow.

"What, making me glow is the worst you could do? I can do that any…" The commander's jaw went slack as he trembled and held his head, then fell to his knees and soon his hands. His eyes were wide and his face pale, as if he had come down with a sudden illness.

"What, what's going on?" The commander croaked between cold shudders, "Why do I feel so weak?"

"Who's the failure now, hm?" Calliope asked as the red glow that surrounded the commander leaped from his body and transformed into a glowing red orb that rested in her hands.

Calliope flitted over to Cali and Hex, then made a slow, cold nod.

"Get him."

Cali nodded, then jumped forward and elbowed the commander straight in the back, which sent him stumbling to the floor with a pained wheeze. He tried to stagger up and swing at Cali, but he was so slow that Cali herself had jumped out of the way in time to watch Hex hit him with a magical orb blast!

The blast slammed the commander into a window and cracked it, and surely without his armor it probably would've cracked him as well! But it didn't, so he just slunk against the floor.

"Bah, it doesn't matter what you do to me!" The commander exclaimed as he turned the knob on his glove, though his continued trembling said otherwise, "I still have plenty of fairy magic to power my—"

The commander's blue glow of power lasted for mere moments before a red bolt of lightning shot out from Calliope's orb and sapped the energy right from him!

"Suit?"

The commander shuddered as he fell to his knees once more, his whole body shaken as he grasped for his suit's power dial… But before he could, Cali bolted forward and kicked him straight in the chest!

He grunted as he slammed into the window and made an uncomfortable cracking sound, then reached for the dials on his gloves. But this time, instead of trying to power himself up, he created a magical shield instead!

Cali wasn't able to catch on to this, however, and only bounced off the shield right as it manifested from nowhere! Cali flew in the air for moments, only to get caught midway through her flight by a skeletal hand. As she opened her eyes and examined her skeletal seat, Cali smiled and slid right off the hand's hard palm.

Hex examined Cali with an eerie level of silence, then turned her attention back to the commander.

The shield around him had faded, but the momentary distraction it had provided gave him just enough time to power himself up again! With a few turns of the dials' notches, his whole body glowed blue.

"Let's end this right here, shall we?" The commander asked as he held up a hand and created a crackling sphere of blue energy.

"Gladly," Hex replied as she crafted a large, spiky phantom orb.

Their twin attacks marinated in their casters' power for mere moments, then finally shot off!

The commander seemed perfectly confident in himself as he watched his beam of energy rocket towards Hex's orb, then his jaw dropped as a red lightning bolt intercepted the beam and withered it into nothingness. The commander let out a cry of shock, a cry that devolved into terrified screaming as the orb shot right towards him and smashed him straight into the window! By a sheer stroke of luck he had managed to grab onto the side… But it wouldn't hold him up forever, and it was a long drop below.

Calliope said no words, but merely floated over to him and examined him as he hung on for dear life.

"Um, miss… Tralliope, was it?" The commander trilled as he made a weak chuckle, his eyes wide and his smile wavering, "Forget everything I said, why don't you help me up and I'll—"

"Commander Ebonyomen, was it?" Calliope echoed as she knelt down and scowled, "Hardly an earned title. You made your entire throne here using others for your own gain and tossing them out when they're of no use to you!"—Calliope made a bloodchilling smirk—"Looks like that's certainly come back to bite."

"Please, please, forgive me! I'll, I'll change!" The commander begged as tears of panic filled his eyes, "I'll take back every awful thing I said! I'll let go of—"—the commander looked aside and winced—"One whole fairy! No, two! Please, just don't let me fall!"

"Sorry…" Calliope's face darkened as she grabbed the commander's hand and yanked it off the platform, "But forgiveness is something you're far from worthy of!"

The commander's screams were akin to that of the fairies he had tormented, terrified and bloodcurdling as he fell to what was certainly his grave.

And yet, Calliope seemed hardly discontented. She only watched him crash into the ground with a sickening crunch, then wiped her hands and turned back to a shocked Hex and Cali.

"Calliope…" Cali whispered, her eyes wide as her hands trembled from the aftershocks, "What was all that?"

Calliope seemed hesitant to reply at first, but finally she gulped and looked down at her hands.

"… My magic," Calliope said before she took a quick breath, "I was born with a strange kind of fairy magic. While most fairies can give others power…"—Calliope paused to toy with the glowing red orb that now resided on the floor—"Mine takes it away."

All was silent for a few moments, but then finally Hex floated closer to Calliope.

"Was that how you were able to escape?" Hex asked.

Calliope only nodded.

"They were only looking for fairies with the normal kind of magic, so when they didn't read mine they thought I was powerless and tossed me aside. I was lucky enough to steal an old warship and get away before things got too ugly." Calliope looked aside at the broken window and scoffed, "Clearly, letting me go was their biggest mistake."

As the blue glow and screams rose again, Calliope froze then thrust the orb of stolen power right into Cali's arms. "Take this, and get Her Majesty and Aura out of there!"

Cali froze for a moment as well, all of this so quick she couldn't react at first, but nonetheless she accepted the orb and watched as it flooded her body with its power. The moment she did, however… It was amazing! It was like Cali had the strength of ten warriors, no, an entire army of Skylands' best! This newfound power well-homed within her, Cali immediately raced over to the pods where Aura and Persephone were being held.

Cali grunted as she latched her hands around the first pod, then yanked off its warm surface and pulled Persephone out!

Persephone heaved heavy breathes as she fell to her hands, her face pale and her strained breaths akin to the ones people make before tossing their cookies—though she did seem to lighten up a little when she saw Aura next to her.

"Au… ra…" Persephone croaked as she crawled over to Aura and laid a pale hand on Aura's own.

Cali winced as she saw them, so weak and helpless, then turned to Calliope with pleading eyes. Calliope in turn moved closer to Cali, as if she knew what Cali was going to ask, and laid a hand on Cali's shoulder. Cali felt herself grow weaker as she was enveloped by the red glow of Calliope's magic, then as her body adjusted to her return to normal strength Cali watched that red glow flow into Aura and Persephone.

The two of them twitched their wings as they glowed red as well, then slowly they pushed themselves back to full height.

"Feeling better?" Calliope asked as she helped prop Aura back up.

Aura and Persephone nodded as all five of them made their way back to the elevator.

§

Stump Smash frowned as he pushed through a couple of leafy bushes to the best of his ability, then closed them up and sighed.

"No Eternal Life Source here, either," Stump Smash said as he turned back to Camo and Zook.

"That's gotta be the tenth place we've looked!" Zook said as he scratched his head, "Where could the Eternal Life Source be? I bet we've checked the entire forest at this—"

Before Zook could finish, all three of them jolted up and shuddered with such intensity that it froze them in their places.

"Life energy!" Camo exclaimed as he finally pulled himself off his spot, "We've gotta be close!"—Camo rushed down a tree branch and well past Zook and Stump Smash—"Come on, guys, I think it came from over here!"

Zook and Stump Smash chased after Camo, but Camo was far from attentive to their chase. Instead, he had been pushing past thick branches coated in leaves. As Camo dug past another branch, he frowned and tilted his head. From within the area, it almost sounded like Zook and Stump Smash were talking?

"Guys, shush!" Camo scolded as he turned back to Zook and Stump Smash, "Those rotten clones could be anywhere!"

"But, Camo…" Zook whispered, a confused frown on his face as he teased one of his leafy bamboo shoots, "That wasn't us!"

"Haven't said a word since I got here," Stump Smash affirmed as he crossed his arms.

Camo raised an eyebrow, then turned back to the branches and continued digging through their barriers. The more he did, the louder the conversation got… Until a hole had opened up and revealed the conversation's source!

"Evil Bambazooker," said a purple and green clone of Stump Smash with blank eyes as it cracked acorns with its mallet hands, "Find anything yet?"

"Not yet, Evil Tree Ent," replied the Evil Bambazooker, a sinister-looking purple and green clone of Zook, as it twisted off the cap of a particularly large acorn, peered inside and tossed it away, "All these acorns look the same if you ask me!"

"Bad news, guys. Seems like those clones beat us to the punch!" Camo growled as he ducked his head and turned around, "We've gotta stop them!"

Stump Smash and Zook peeked through the hole Camo had crafted and grimaced themselves.

"Of course they did," Stump Smash groaned as he leaned forwards, "But, if we can catch them off guard, it'll give us plenty of time to find the Source!"—Stump Smash narrowed his eyes as he fixed himself on the Evil Tree Ent and Bambazooker—"And I have just the idea."

Stump Smash cleared his throat and widened the hole Camo had made as he opened his mouth… But then he lost his balance and rolled straight through the hole! Stump Smash grunted as he fell forwards and got a faceful of acorn, then sat up and hacked out the stray acorns.

"Ugh!" Stump Smash grunted as he wiped his mouth, "If I knew acorns tasted so awful, I never would've made them!"

"I thought you made chestnuts, not acorns?" Zook asked as he hopped out of the hole and helped Stump Smash to his feet.

"Used to, until I got some fancy upgrades from Persephone." Stump Smash coughed out more acorn meat and grimaced, "And now, I'm glad I did."

Stump Smash rubbed the side of his head and looked up… Then he and Zook scurried back as they found themselves face to face with the Evil Tree Ent and Evil Bambazooker!

"THE SKYLANDERS!" The Evil Tree Ent and Bambazooker as they dropped their acorns, "HOW DID YOU GET HERE?"

"Well, so much for distracting them," Camo remarked as he hopped out of the hole and glared down the Evil Tree Ent and Bambazooker, then looked towards Zook and Stump Smash.

"Zook, Stump Smash! Keep these guys busy, I'll look for the Eternal Life Source!"

"Well…" Stump Smash said as he slammed his hands together and charged towards the Evil Tree Ent, "I've been wanting to DROP THE HAMMER!"

"And I'm LOCKED AND LOADED!" Zook exclaimed as he pulled his bazooka's trigger and sent a round of thorny missiles shooting towards the Evil Bambazooker!

While Stump Smash and Zook traded blows with the Evil Tree Ent and Bambazooker, Camo dove under the fray and made a beeline for the pile of acorns the Evil Tree Ent and Bambazooker had amassed! He grabbed one and popped it open… But all that came out was whitish-yellow acorn meat.

"Nope, not that one!" Camo tossed the broken acorn aside and popped the next one open… But to the same effect.

"Or that one!" Camo tossed that acorn aside as well, then grabbed several more acorns and smashed them open! However, all that he got was once again, acorn meat.

"Or those!" Camo winced as he tossed aside the broken acorns, then dug back into the pile and cracked open more acorns!

Unbeknownst to Camo, however, was that every piece of acorn meat he touched glowed with a bright green light as soon as it hit the floor, then immediately sprouted into a large tree!

Stump Smash snarled as he dodged some rockets from the Evil Bambazooker and went to launch an attack of his own. Meanwhile, the Evil Bambazooker was more than prepared to fight itself, its bazooka locked and ready to fire. But before they could fight further, a glowing piece of acorn meat fell between them and sprouted into a gigantic oak tree! The growth was so fast and sudden, it tossed both of them aside!

As the Evil Bambazooker regained its footing, it spotted Camo and immediately reached for its bazooka!

"You think you can get away with our acorn, do you?" The Evil Bambazooker growled as it positioned the bazooka, "Let me tell you, you have—OWCH!"

Before the Bambazooker could even fire, Stump Smash slammed into the Bambazooker and tossed it straight into the trunk of another Camo-created tree!

"Camo!" Stump Smash called as he turned around to face Camo, "Watch where you're throwing those acorns!"

"Why?" Camo asked as he turned back to Stump Smash, then saw the giant trees that littered the battlefield and giggled, "Oh, whoops! My bad!"

Camo scratched the back of his head, then his eyes shrank as his whole body trembled!

"That energy…" Camo turned back to the acorn pile and shuddered some more, "It's gotta be!"

Camo sifted through the pile of acorns once more, then beamed and fished out an acorn surrounded by a mysterious, magical green glow. There was no mistaking it, this had to be…

"The Eternal Life Source!"

Camo cracked the acorn open, then watched as the green glow that once surrounded it leaped above him and solidified into a slightly more tangible form!

It had taken the form of a barely medium-sized, green glowing oval with crisp green leaves that bounced around in its center. All around it radiated such great Life Element energy that the trees and plants around glowed with life, as if they were at the peak of their prime!

"It's beautiful…" Camo's eyes sparkled as he reached out to grab the Life Source… Only for a blur to jump forward and snag it right before his very eyes!

"WHAT THE HECK?"

Camo shifted his head left and right as a shrill cackle echoed through the battlefield.

"Thought you could shake me, huh?" Chided a familiarly shrill voice, "Sorry to disappoint, but a little smoke cloud doesn't take me down so easily!"

Out from the shadows of the battlefield, the Evil Elf Ninja strode out with a proud step and the Eternal Life Source hovered right next to it!

"Evil Elf Ninja!" The Evil Tree Ent called as it pulled away from its ongoing battle with Zook, "You arrived just in time!"

Camo growled and leaped towards the Evil Elf Ninja, but it simply stepped out of the way and watched him crash into the floor!

"Sorry, Skyloser," The Evil Elf Ninja sneered as it bounced the Eternal Life Source up and down, "You're just too slow!"

Camo shook his head, then glanced back at the Evil Elf Ninja and pulled himself to his feet. Once again he tried to leap after it, but it teleported away once more! So he turned tail and leaped again in a never-ending game of cat and mouse—or rather, elf and dragon!

"Is that the best you can do?" The Evil Elf Ninja scoffed as it reappeared just inches away from Stump Smash and watched Camo slam face-first into the floor, "I expected better!"

"How about you better watch where you're going!" Stump Smash rumbled as he opened his mouth and shot a round of chestnuts towards the Evil Elf Ninja!

But, even this surprise attack wasn't surprising enough for it! It saw the chestnuts coming out the corner of its eye, then teleported away and reappeared just in time to watch the chestnuts roll off the side of the arena platform!

"Trying to out-sneak a ninja?" The Evil Elf Ninja would've surely rolled its eyes if they weren't completely blank, "Pathetic."

The Evil Elf Ninja walked towards the Evil Tree Ent and Evil Bambazooker, then held out the Eternal Life Source for them all to bask in.

"It's all ours, boys!" The Evil Elf Ninja rolled up its sleeve and tapped out something on some strange device, then pulled its sleeve back up and placed a hand on the Eternal Life Source, "Let's make good use of it!"

"YEAH!" Cried the Evil Tree Ent and Evil Bambazooker as they placed their own hands on the Eternal Life Source.

As they placed their hands on the Source, its brilliant green glow faded—but only for a moment. After that moment passed, not only did the Source glow, but the evil minions glowed bright and green as well! They then cackled as they watched the trees Camo created shrivel and shrink back into the ground while their own glow brightened. They were all sickeningly proud of their accomplishment, and worse yet, they seemed stronger as well.

Much, much stronger.

"Who knew having the entire Life Element's power flow through you would feel so good?" The Evil Elf Ninja asked as it twirled around and flexed.

The powered up evil minions smirked as they imposed themselves over the Skylanders, now more than ready to finish them off!

The Skylanders, however, refused to go down without a fight!

Stump Smash was the first to trade blows as he shot a round of chestnuts off against the Evil Tree Ent, who was quick to do the same. The chestnuts all smashed to bits as evil chestnuts collided with good, their meat and fragmented shells littered across the battlefield.

"Alright, maybe these nuts need a little boost!" The Evil Tree Ent remarked as it rubbed its hammers hands together, then slammed those hands against the ground!

From its hands, a wave of life energy rippled across the battlefield and made its broken chestnuts shudder with power! One by one their fragments were lifted off the ground, fixed themselves piece by broken piece, the grew to the size of giants!

"Uh oh," Stump Smash said as he watched the gigantic chestnuts fall down to the ground with a loud crash.

Stump Smash screamed as he tried to outrun the chestnuts, but they had picked up momentum far too fast! He could only trip and watch as they slammed into him and tossed him aside!

"Stump Smash!" Zook and Camo cried.

The two of them immediately went to Stump Smash's side… But before they could reach, the Evil Bambazooker skidded in front of them and sprouted a ring of gigantic bamboo around Zook, trapping him inside!

"Hey, what's the big idea, man?" Zook demanded as he pounded his fists against the bamboo and tried to pry it open… Then stopped as cackling from a voice identical to his resounded from within the bamboo!

"Who's there?" Zook immediately grabbed his bazooka and lifted it high, "Don't make me…"

Zook flinched as the sound of a gun loading clicked behind him. He turned around, and out from the stalks shot a bamboo rocket aimed straight at him!

"SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!" Zook exclaimed as the following explosion tossed him out of the ring and dropped him off with a now-unconscious Stump Smash.

And where was Camo in all this? Well…

"Get back here!" Camo demanded as he lunged after the Evil Elf Ninja, only for it to pop away from him the moment he jumped! Instead, he just smashed his face into the wood!

Camo winced as he got up and pulled a few splinters out of his scales, then turned back around to see the Evil Elf Ninja reappear out of thin air. With a growl, he stomped his paws and vaulted full-grown and very explosive watermelons at it… But it just disappeared again right as they exploded!

As it reappeared, Camo stomped his paws and sent several vines ripping through their stumpy battlefield. The vines inched closer and closer to the Evil Elf Ninja, who stood still as stone. Did Camo finally have a chance?

Nope, it just blasted the vines with clouds of purple spores and reveled as the vines withered and snapped! Finally, he knelt down and charged after it… But once again, it disappeared right as he charged! And yet, he still bounced off of something, but what? Camo looked up and unfortunately found his answer, for he had crashed right into a literal monster of a scarecrow!

"Uh…" Camo chuckled as he backed away, "Nice scarecrow?"

The scarecrow only roared and smashed the ground between them, which blew Camo right into Stump Smash and Zook! The three of them all crashed into each other at once and groaned as they tried to pull themselves back to their feet… But before they could, the evil minions had completely cornered them!

All three minions smirked and cackled, the power of life radiated off of their bodies. They had a complete advantage over the Skylanders, and they knew it—surely they were more than ready to put an end to all this!

"Alright, let's finish this," The Evil Elf Ninja proclaimed as it wiped off its hands, "After all, Lord Kaos wants those Skylanders deader than dirt!"

The Evil Elf Ninja raised a curved blade with grew longer and sharper by the moment… But then another hand grabbed onto the blade before it could strike a single blow!

"Wait, hold on a second," The Evil Bambazooker interrupted as it scratched its head, "Didn't Lord Kaos say he wanted them alive, so he could torture them himself?"

"No, you oaf!" The Evil Elf Ninja snapped as it bonked the Evil Bambazooker on the head, "Lord Kaos would be much happier if they were finished off!"

"Hey, watch the stalks!" The Evil Bambazooker growled as it rubbed its head, which now had a sizable welt on it, "I still say he'd rather do it himself!"

"Kill them!"

"Capture them!"

"Kill them!"

"Capture them!"

"Kill them!"

"Capture them!"

The Evil Tree Ent winced and backed away as the Evil Bambazooker and Elf Ninja pushed against each others faces, their mouths drawn into scowls.

"Uh, guys," The Evil Tree Ent winced, "Shouldn't we hurry up and decide before the Skylanders—"

"QUIET YOU!" The Evil Bambazooker and Elf Ninja screamed as they glared at the Evil Tree Ent, their yells so loud they nearly blew the Tree Ent off its feet, "YOU'RE NOT A PART OF THIS CONVERSATI—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The Evil Bambazooker and Elf Ninja screamed as a gigantic chestnut bowled them over and stuck them to its spiky shell! Their screaming session was joined by the Evil Tree Ent, who screamed as well while the chestnut chased it all across their arena.

"Talk about skewed priorities," Stump Smash scoffed as he brushed himself off and turned back to Zook and Camo, "Anyways, let's go get the Eternal Life Source!"

"Right!" The other two chimed in as they fixed their eyes on the Eternal Life Source, which still glowed bright as it hovered in the center of the arena.

The three of them raced forwards, their earlier pain completely forgotten as they drew closer and closer to the Eternal Life Source. Whether it was the Life Source's power seeping into or the relief of finally being able to claim it and end this journey, they weren't sure, but nonetheless they ran!

However, their pain wasn't the only thing they forgot! While they ran, the Evil Elf Ninja caught sight of them and popped off of its chestnut prison!

"Stop running around like headless chickens!" The Evil Elf Ninja ordered as it summoned its blades once more and sliced the chestnut clean in half, "The Skylanders are getting away with the Life Source!"

The evil Bambazooker grunted as it fell face-first on the floor, then shook its head and pulled itself back to full stance!

"Not on our watch!" All three evil minions proclaimed as they all slid in front of the Eternal Life Source and threw Camo off!

Camo cried out as he flew straight into the evil minions' living barricade and landed straight into Zook's arms, but it hardly threw him off. Rather, his eyes sparkled with inspiration instead!

"Zook, use these!" Camo ordered as he jumped out of Zook's arms, then created some seeds and handed them over to Zook.

Zook nodded and dumped the seeds into his bazooka.

"Let's Zook it up!" Zook yelled as he clicked the trigger and sent the seeds soaring right towards the evil minions!

Right as the minions reached for the Eternal Life Source once more, the seeds landed on the ground… Then burst into a gigantic vine barrier that flung all three minions across the arena.

"Stump Smash!" Camo called as he raced forward, his eyes focused on the still-growing vines, "Give me a boost!"

Stump Smash charged after Camo, then rolled forward and slammed the ground beneath him and Camo! The sheer force of this attack not only tossed Camo in the air, but shot him right above the vines!

His eyes firm on the ground, Camo smiled as he caught sight of the Eternal Life Source… But then gasped as he saw that the evil minions were starting to get back up!

"Can't have that, can we?" Camo smirked, then clapped his paws and summoned a bunch of bright red chili peppers that just burst with life, "BOMBS AWAY!"

Camo released the peppers, then spun around and smacked them with his tail! The moment his tail hit the bombs, they all slammed into the evil minions and exploded in a cloud of red, seed-filled, eye-stinging smoke intermingled with strained screams! Camo grimaced as he fell down and watched the smoke clear, only to smile right as he disappeared under the cover of the vine barrier…

Because when the smoke had cleared, the evil minions were no more! All that remained of them a bunch of dark green spheres that faintly glowed against the light.

§

All was quiet as Chihiro, Spyro and Stealth Elf raced through the streets, the only soundtrack being their footsteps and the occasional breeze that tossed a tumbleweed here and there. It was… So unnerving to see things so quiet, almost, what with Kaos on the way and all.

"Now, it shouldn't be that hard to find him since he can't portal here," Spyro explained as he walked past Stealth Elf and Chihiro, "Chances are, he's probably at the docks if he's arrived."

Spyro took to the skies and looked down the way.

"The docks should be down this path." Spyro looked over to Stealth Elf, as if he was prompting her to reply.

"I believe so," Stealth Elf said with a nod.

While of two of them discussed directions, Chihiro clenched her teeth and turned back to the dead forests. She wasn't sure what it was about, but she could've sworn she heard someone talking in there—more guards, maybe? Either way, somebody should check it out, just in case. She turned one last glimpse towards Spyro and Stealth Elf, still knees-deep in conversation, then Chihiro turned around and ran straight towards the forest!

"Chihiro?" Spyro called as he turned around, "Where are you going?"

But, Chihiro only barely heard Spyro as she made her way through the dead trees and withered bushes. As she pushed forward and sneaked behind the bulkier foliage, the chattering sounds she heard grew louder and clearer, until whatever conversation they were holding finally came to light!

"Assuming you all took your fairy magic reserves before we arrived, all of us should have the upper hand over those pathetic Skylanders. Now, your job is to surround the facility's entrance and makes sure nobody gets in or out!"

Chihiro hid behind a collection of dead thrushes, then poked her head over them and examined the source of the conversation.

There, in a tree-filled clearing was a short, bald and super ugly-looking dude dressed in black robes, his stance tall and proud as he address a number of large troll and gremlin guards. Were those Kaos's minions? They had to have been… But why was Kaos himself nowhere in sight?

"Do you understand?" The bald man questioned, his high and scratchy voice like nails on a chalkboard.

"UNDERSTOOD, LORD KAOS!" The soldiers replied in unison as they saluted the man.

Wait… No way! That ugly-looking dude's KAOS? Chihiro thought as her eyes grew wide, their line of sight fixed on Kaos. That couldn't possibly be right… The guy who caused them so much trouble looked nothing like Chihiro had envisioned!

It was kinda funny, actually! Chihiro tried to suppress her laughter as she watched Kaos turn around and hold his head high, even though his underbite made him look more goofy than anything… But still, a couple muffled giggles escaped her mouth nonetheless.

However, they weren't muffled enough, because Kaos's eyes widened and he stopped in place.

"LAUGHTER?! WHO'S LAUGHING AT ME, THE ALMIGHTY LORD KAOSSSSS!?" Kaos demanded as he turned around, "I WILL NOT TOLERATE LAUGHTER IN MY MIGHTY EVIL PRESENCE!"

Chihiro made a soft gasp and ducked back behind the dead bushes. Crap, so much for stealth!

"GUARDS!" Kaos turned back to his guards and jabbed a finger at them, "CHANGE OF PLANS! FIND WHOEVER'S LAUGHING AT ME AND MAKE THEM PAY!"

"UNDERSTOOD, LORD KAOS!"

As marching surrounded the area, Chihiro clenched her teeth and clasped her heart, then looked down to find that she was no longer visible! Good, the power-up she got from Persephone still worked. She didn't have to worry about things just yet! Chihiro then closed her eyes and teleported away.

When she reappeared, she hovered just inches away from a large troll guard! As she hovered in mid-air, she formed a hammer in her hands out of magic and smacked the guard right in the head! As the guard fell unconscious, Chihiro teleported around and did the same thing to the other guards.

One by one, they all fell like flies, cold and unconscious. This surely got the attention of Kaos as he turned around, who turned around and watched in shock as the guards fell unconscious in a circle around him...

"What, what's going on? What are you incompetents doing?" Kaos demanded as he went up to one gremlin and kicked it in the arm, "You're not supposed to sleep on the job!"

After a few moments spent shouting curses at that guard, Kaos grew bored of harassing that guard and moved on to the next.

"Get up! Right now!" Kaos shook a fist at a sleeping troll, "Or I'll fire all of you! No, I'll toss you off the side of the island!"

As Kaos kicked his guards in the arms and yelled at them to wake up, Chihiro smiled. He was completely caught off guard! Now's her chance! Chihiro crafted a magic sphere, then shot it right towards Kaos… But before it could even get halfway across, he whipped around and shot an energy sphere right back at it! His own sphere slammed against Chihiro's in a collision so great, it caused them both to explode in a miniature supernova!

"Who's there?" Kaos made a snarl and shook his fist at the open, "Show yourself!"

"ME!"

Chihiro huffed, then landed back down on the ground right as her invisibility spell faded. Though Kaos seemed a little scarier than before, she wouldn't let herself get intimidated now. There was too much at risk for her to panic.

Kaos's jaw dropped wide open as he stepped back, but that surprise was only momentary. Afterwards, he merely smirked and clasped his hands.

"Well, well, if is isn't the Portal Master Imposter, all lost and alone without any of those stupid Skyblunderers to protect…" Kaos stopped short as his eyes grew wide, "Wait a second, Portal-Poster!"

Kaos burst into roaring laughter at his own stupid joke, laughter so intense he had to hold his sides tight!

Chihiro, however, was less than amused.

"I didn't come here for a comedy act, Kaos…" Chihiro proclaimed as she summoned another magic sphere and shot it at Kaos, "I came here to stop you!"

Kaos, ever-diligent, snapped out of his laughing fit immediately and crafted a shield of dark purple and red energy that neutralized the sphere immediately!

"I may have liked the sound of that joke…" Kaos released his shield and smirked, his hands flared with bright red and purple magic, "But, that doesn't mean you won't be DOOOMEEED!"

Chihiro winced as Kaos reveled in his own egotistical laughing fit, then looked down at her hands. If one energy sphere wasn't going to cut it, then maybe a bunch would do the trick! Chihiro balled her hands into fists as they glowed cyan, then lifted them to the skies and summoned a gigantic sphere! Chihiro cried out as she spun the sphere around and shot an entire barrage of magic spheres at Kaos…

Yet, Kaos didn't seemed concerned in the slightest! He waited and watched the spheres fly towards him with that ugly smirk on his face, then with a simple snap of his fingers they all vanished into thin air!

"What the heck?!" Chihiro exclaimed, before she growled and summoned a hammer magic of magic.

With a smack from her hammer, the gigantic sphere rocketed towards Kaos and slammed straight into him! The collision was so great that it created a magical explosion that engulfed the entire surrounding area!

Chihiro immediately threw up a shield, then let it go down as the light faded. All around her, the trees and other dead flora had been completely leveled—there was no way Kaos would've gotten through that!

But, the awful cackling noise she heard proven her wrong. As she looked to her front, she saw who else but Kaos, firm and proud and decidedly in one piece as he sat in the safety of a magic bubble!

"Did you really think those elementary school magic tricks would stop an evil mastermind like myself?" Kaos simpered as he snapped his fingers and watched the bubble receded into nothingness, "HA!"

Chihiro winced as her own shield fell. That was probably one of her strongest attacks, but Kaos completely deflected it like it was nothing! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go in alone…

"Face it, portal-poster! You're a million years too early to face me!" Kaos summoned a gigantic crimson and violet magic flame, then lifted back his arm, "Now be a good portal-poster and stand there while I send you to YOUR ULTIMATE DOOM!"

As the flame shot forwards, Chihiro winced and immediately ducked down! Thankfully, the flame barely grazed her before it hurtled into the nothingness, never to be seen again.

"WHAT! HOW DID YOU DODGE THAT?" Kaos exclaimed as he stepped back and snarled, "I mean, that was just a warm-up, of course you'd dodge it!"—Kaos's smile returned to his face as he set his hands alight with magic fire once more—"You'll never be able to withstand my full power!"

Chihiro gritted her teeth, then dug her hands into the earth and closed her eyes. The magic bubbled in her veins as she teleported away and dodged the flames Kaos shot at her, all while he shouted obscenities and expressions of shock that barely rang within her ears! Soon enough, she had gone so far away from him that she could see what seemed like an exit!

"YOU FOOLISH WORM!" Kaos screamed as he chased after her, though his voice grew faded the further and further Chihiro ran, "GET BACK HERE AND FACE ME LIKE…"

I've gotta get out here and find Spyro and Stealth, Chihiro thought as she bit her lip, If we're all together, maybe we'll stand a chance!

From her view, Chihiro could just barely see the ruined town that signaled the end of the forest! She was almost there! Once again, she tried to teleport her way out… But before she could move in inch, the magic cut out completely and she fell flat on her face!

"Thought you could escape me, didn't you?" Kaos crooned as he manifested before Chihiro, his awful, smug grin only widened by the second as he watched Chihiro try to scramble away from him…

Only to jump back as he cackled and teleported in front of her!

"You fool, there's no way someone like you could defeat me! You may think you're some big hero…" Kaos summoned a giant magic sphere with a wave of his hands and held it high above them both, "But in the end, you're nothing more than a helpless child impersonating a warrior!"

Chihiro growled as tears sting her eyes. Could this really be the end? Is this how she was going to die, alone in a dead forest at the hands of the enemy she swore she'd defeat… No, it couldn't be! She wouldn't let this be the end of her, no way!

"Now, stand there and let me show you what we do to you SO-CALLED HEROES!"

Kaos shot off his orb in an instant, and in one last act of defiance Chihiro threw a sphere of her own! The simple, tiny cyan magic sphere seemed like an ant compared to Kaos's own sphere… But then a gigantic fireball burst out of nowhere and fused with her sphere at the last second! With the sphere and fireball's combined power, Kaos's own sphere was extinguished in an instant!

"BUT HOW?!" Kaos exclaimed as he tumbled backwards, "THERE'S NO WAY A—"—Kaos grunted as something pushed him down on the ground and tied him up tight—"OOF!"

"Chihiro!" Spyro called as he flew up to Chihiro and pulled her back to her feet, "You alright?"

"I am now!" Chihiro chirped as she squeezed Spyro's paw tight, "You two got here just in time!"

"No kidding," Stealth Elf said as she appeared out of thin air and glared down Kaos, "You're lucky you survived, Chihiro!"

You've got that right, Chihiro scoffed from within her mind's confines. Right now, she was a bit too shaken to talk any more.

"YOU FOOLISH FOOLS!" Kaos screamed as he struggled against his vine bonds, "DO YOU REALLY THINK SOME SIMPLE VINES ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO HOLD THE MIGHT OF KAOSSSSSSSSSS?"

"Quiet, you!" Stealth Elf hissed as she went to lift up Kaos… Only for the bonds she had tied him with to completely unravel!

Kaos smirked as he pulled himself back to his full, albeit unimpressive, height, then glared down Spyro, Chihiro and Stealth Elf. His hands twitched while red and purple embers crackled at their tips. Everything had grown tense, as if they were waiting any second now for the fight to begin… Only for a series of loud beeps to echo through the battlefield!

"That noise…" Kaos whispered, his eyes wide as he rolled up his sleeve, took a glance at the communication device on his wrist, then smirked and let his sleeve fall back over it, "I'm sorry to disappoint, Skylosers, but I have important manners to attend to!"—Kaos's eyes glazed over his unconscious guards—"But, I'll leave you with a little treat!"

Kaos snapped his fingers, and from his fingertips flares of energy jumped away and delved into the guards' chests! One by one they pulled themselves off the dead ground and lunged up, their eyes and bodies a'glow with power.

"Minions!" Kaos pointed to Spyro, Stealth Elf and Chihiro, "ATTACK!"

Kaos's smirking face was the last everyone saw of him as he teleported away, but with the guards lunging towards him they hardly had a moment to scoff at him!

Spyro immediately charged into a guard and knocked them sideways, with just enough time spared to torch down several others with a flame as bright as the morning sun.

Chihiro, meanwhile, used magic to create twin giant gloves that grabbed two guards and smashed them together! Normally this would probably be the point where she'd make some kind of joke or witty crack, but… No. She was grunting and straining, as if she was distracted or unfocused… And in the process, she accidentally released them instead!

So, Stealth Elf slashed through the freed guards and knocked them out cold! As she looked over the unconscious guards to make sure they truly were unconscious, several others loomed over her… Yet, Stealth Elf seemed perfectly calm as she lifted up her head, twitched her ear and vanished right as they tried to dogpile her! Instead, they only got a scarecrow!

While the guards stumbled about from the nice concussion their dogpile gave them, a still very tense Chihiro turned to Spyro.

"Wanna end this?" Chihiro whispered, her voice so light it was more of a breath than anything.

Spyro only nodded as his eyes flashed a rich brown, then he flicked his wings and sent a number of sharp crystalline darts straight at the guards! These darts intermingled with a number of large magic orbs shot by Chihiro, then combined into a gigantic explosion that sent the guards around flying!

"Well, that's taken care of," Spyro said as he watched the guards crash down the skies, "Not exactly the way I expected, but…"— Spyro turned back to Stealth Elf and Chihiro—"Anyways, we need to get going! I'm sure the others could use some help!"

Stealth Elf and Chihiro nodded in agreement, then all three of them took their leave back to the castle. But, as they did, Chihiro couldn't stop herself from looking back to the dead forest while a twinge of pain or maybe numbness flared in her arm and made her hold it without noticing…

§

Camo smiled as he held the Eternal Life Source tight, then hopped off and rejoined Zook and Stump Smash.

"Looks like our work here is done!" Camo proclaimed as he strutted towards the exit, "Now, let's go—"

Camo jumped back as the entrance locked itself tight with a vine and wood barrier.

"HOME?"

All three of them gasped and turned around as echoing cackles erupted through their arena. At the center of it all, a familiar blue light sparkled into existence… Oh no, hopefully that wasn't…

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kaos cackled as his gigantic, absolutely ridiculous floating head manifested into existence!

"Kaos!" Camo, Zook and Stump Smash all shouted at once, their confused faces quickly transformed into scowls.

"You again! Thought you could get away easy, could you?" Kaos crowed with a very self-serving smile on his face, "Well, YOU WERE UTTER FOOLS TO THINK THAT! THE MOST FOOLISH OF FOOLS, SO FOOLISH THAT…"

Kaos trailed off and scowled as he caught sight of the energy sphere remains that were once his minions, all scattered and cast among the stump field.

"Speaking of foolish fools…" Kaos gritted his teeth, "Those three can never do anything right! I don't know why I keep them around, especially that stupid tree!"—Kaos's eyes widened—"Actually, maybe I can make some use of them after all!"

Kaos's holograph glowed an even brighter shade of blue than before, and as it did those spheres began to shake. Just what was he up to? Camo had tried to step forward and examine… But then the light flashed so bright that it blinded everyone around!

And while they were completely blinded, nobody took sight of the spheres flying off and merging into one gigantic blob that strained and struggled… That is, until the light faded and the blob finally decided on a solid form!

And that form, it was so horrifying it made the Skylanders freeze in place! Why?

Because it was the three evil minions, as if they had been stitched together from haphazard pieces in a science lab! Its body was large, hulking, and had an entire row of tree stumps and wilted bamboo stalks on its back. Its face was entirely square with bloodshot eyes and a torn mask across its face while long, hole-filled bamboo leaves made up its hair, and its large body throbbed and pulsed and shuddered as if it could barely keep its form stable! It was like something out of a horror book!

"MINION!" Kaos proclaimed as the minion turned around and cocked its head at him, "Take back the Eternal Life Source for your ULTIMATE MASTER KAOS!"

"We won't let you!" Camo proclaimed as his eyebrows narrowed and his scales bristled like a cat's fur.

"HA, DON'T BE SO COCKY!" Kaos chided, his smile wide as his hodgepodge minion fell to the floor, "You will never possess the Eternal Life Source! After all, you face my super-powerful, newly-improved EVIL LIFE MINION!"

The Evil Life Minion lurched its head up and made a sickening roar, the kind that sounded like a dying animal's cry, then lunged back down and heaved heavy breaths as it glared down the Skylanders.

"Now, I will laugh as it tears up LIMB BY STUPID LIMB!" Kaos took a breath and grinned, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—"

And just like that, Kaos's holograph cut off—which the Evil Life Minion took as a sign to charge! It hooted and hollered as it ran on all fours towards the Eternal Life Source, perfectly ready to steal it away…

But before it could, a bunch of vines wrapped around the Source and yanked it towards Camo!

"I'll keep the Source safe!" Camo shouted as he grabbed the Eternal Life Source and held it tight, his eyes fixed on Zook and Stump Smash, "You two keep that freak of nature away!"

"Got it!" Stump Smash shouted back as he charged towards the Evil Life Minion.

"Understood, little buddy!" Zook proclaimed as he positioned his bazooka and pulled the trigger, "Let's see if this guy can TAKE THE BOOM!"

A fleet of thorny missiles shot out of Zook's bazooka and headed straight towards the Evil Life Minion, but it just yowled and swatted them away like they were flies!

"Huh?" Zook's jaw dropped open as he watched the Life Minion beat its chest, then he snarled as he fiddled with his bazooka, "Alright, maybe we need something more heavy-duty!"

Zook knelt down and rolled the barrel of his bazooka, his eyes fixed on that and only that. He was completely oblivious to his surroundings, so unaware that he didn't even notice the Evil Life Minion pound towards him until it was just inches away from attacking!

Luckily, Stump Smash did! Before it could lay a blow, Stump Smash slid in front of Zook and slammed it right on the head!

The Minion groaned as it stumbled back, then whimpered as its head dropped right off of its body and dissolved right into a pile of sticky purple energy that seeped into the cracks of the stump.

Stump Smash's face grew pale (Well, as pale as a tree could get, anyways), while he held a hand over his mouth.

"Disgusting…" Stump Smash gagged as he just barely prevented himself from throwing up.

And the Evil Life Minion seemed just as confused as a new head slowly bubbled into existence! It grunted and looked around, then patted its bulky hands all over its new head… Which gave Zook the perfect opportunity to get up and shoot!

Just like that, large bamboo mortars pushed the Minion on its back, then while it struggled the mortars exploded and sent bamboo sprouts everywhere around it, an ironic cage for a creature composed partly of a bamboo being. The Evil Life Minion groaned and cried as it got back to its feet, then it squeezed the bamboo and glowed a bright green. While it glowed, the bamboo around it slowly grew brown and wilted, and the monster itself grew even brighter while its arms grew much more muscular…

But it didn't get much time to appreciate this, because Stump Smash jumped forward and slammed it right in the face with his hammers! As it fell on its back once more, its muscular legs flailed about, the Evil Life Minion cried in pain and held its sore face.

"And stay down," Stump Smash scolded as he shook a hand at the Evil Life Minion…

Right as blue light broke the scene!

They all stood and bore their attacks as Kaos reappeared, but this time he didn't seem ready to rather. Rather, Kaos seemed… Kind of contemplative as he looked over the fight.

"Hmmm… If you won't yield to my Evil Life Minion…" Kaos's holographic head began glowing a little bright than before, "THEN MAYBE THIS WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND!"

Just like that, the sound of his cackles was replaced by… Buzzing? Yes, the buzzing of what sounded like a very angry swarm of insects! As the buzzing grew louder and angrier, everybody poked their heads up and looked around.

"Incoming!" Camo exclaimed as he pointed a claw to the horizon, where a giant buzzing cloud got ready to land, "Angry bugs at four'o'clock!"

Everybody screamed and scattered, but the bugs were much faster than they were! Before they even knew it, they were surrounded by those swarms of angry bugs—and the bugs' bite was just as bad as their bark!

"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo, you stupid bugs!" Camo demanded as he flailed his paws in some faint attempt to make the bugs leave, "You give me enough grief at the garden as is!"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR MAKING ME BREAK OUT THE TOTALLY EVIL LIFE SPELL OF ULTIMATE DEATH!" Kaos shouted as he directed his gaze towards the Evil Life Minion, "YOU, MINION!"

The Evil Life Minion grunted, then turned around and pointed towards itself.

"YES, YOU!" Kaos boomed as his holographic head flickered in and out of existence, "THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M HELPING YOU! NOW GET THE ETERNAL LIFE SOURCE FOR ME, OR ELSE!"

And just like that, Kaos disappeared once more—not that the Skylanders noticed, what with the ongoing infestation and all!

As he shooed the bugs away, it was like Camo had completely forgotten about the Eternal Life Source and Kaos! He didn't even notice that the vines he had sealed it with had slowly began to unravel and receded into the earth… However, the bugs certainly did! After all, they were quite quick to snag the Eternal Life Source and fly off with it.

"Hey, give that back!" Camo demanded as he spotted and promptly chased after the insect thieves, "That isn't for you to steal!"

However, the bugs paid no mind to Camo and continued to fly off! Camo growled, then opened his mouth and shot a fireball right at the bugs! It was so fast and so hot, those bugs didn't even see it coming—they could only watch in horror as it fried a hole in their swarm! This warning formally taken, the other bugs scattered in such a panic that they didn't even care that they had dropped the Eternal Life Source!

Camo smiled and hopped over to claim the Eternal Life Source… But before he could, the Evil Life Minion caught sight of him and growled. It lunged forward, then opened up its mouth and shot an entire barrage of chestnuts that slammed right into the unsuspecting Camo!

"OOF!" Camo exclaimed as the chestnuts tossed him aside, his body now covered in visible stickers and scratches. While the chestnuts broke or rolled somewhere else, Camo brought himself back to his feet, then promptly lost his balance and fell on his face.

"H-hey, why's everything spinning around?" Camo groaned, barely able to stay on his paws as he tried to locate the Source, "Where'd the Source go?"

Camo looked to his right, then beamed as he fumbled and swung his way over to some bright green blur ahead. "Found it!"

Camo smiled as he grabbed the Eternal Life Source and went to take it back to safety… Or at least, he would have, if something didn't keep pulling it away from him!

"Camo, what are you doing?" Zook asked as he pulled the Eternal Life Source closer to himself.

"Zook, quit being stubborn and give me the Source!" Camo insisted as he continued pulling on the Eternal Life Source, though his paws could barely keep their grip, "I need to take it back to safety!"

"Camo, that's my bazooka!" Zook pointed a hand a little ways across… Maybe, Camo couldn't really tell, "The source is right over—"—Zook jumped as something big and murky nearly bulldozed him and Camo over—"THERE!"

Camo himself was already so unsteady that the rapid blow knocked on right on his back! He frowned and shook his head, then blinked a couple times as if his vision had finally returned to him.

"Hey, everything's clear now!" Camo chirped as he got up and bolted after the Eternal Life Source. However, while his vision had returned to him, his balance certainly hadn't, as he immediately tripped and fell on his face again!

"Owch!"

Camo got up and shook his head, then his jaw dropped as he caught sight of the Evil Life Minion reaching out for the Eternal Life Source! He pushed himself back to trembling feet and got ready to charge… But before he could, he fell back down and shuddered.

Thankfully, shrapnel shot out beside him and knocked the minion off of its feet! As the Minion rams into a nearby tree, Zook barreled out and snagged the Eternal Life Source from under the Evil Life Minion's nose!

"Safe!" Zook proclaimed as he skidded back in with the Eternal Life Source, then got up and shook himself off, "Anyways, you alright, Camo? You seem kind of…"

Zook grimaced as he looked over Camo, whose normally green scales had grown droopy and pale while Camo himself was barely able to keep his head up.

"Not lively, heh."

Camo just groaned and held his head.

"I'm getting there, I swear. Just…" Camo winced and laid down on the floor, "Give me a minute."

Camo closed his eyes and curled up for a moment while soft snores resounded around him… Then he and Zook both practically jumped out of their skin as they heard a familiar scream!

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU ABSOLUTELY PESTS!" Stump Smash wailed as he barged through with a bunch of insects hot on his tail, "I'M NOT THE KIND OF TREE YOU EAT!"

"Stump Smash, look out!" Zook and Camo shouted in unison.

But, Stump Smash didn't hear them! He was too busy flailing and running amuck as he tried to get the insects off of his tail! Before he even knew it, he had hit Zook right on the head!

Zook groaned and stumbled back as he rubbed the nicely-sized bump that had formed on his head. As he finally regained his senses, he frowned then opened and closed his hands.

"Wait a second…" Zook said as he looked down at his now-visibly empty hands, "Where's the Eternal Life Source?"

A loud, pleased rumble bellowed around the way, and in turn drew everyone's attention back to the Eternal Life Source—and the Evil Life Minion, who was just a few steps away from stealing it!

"Not today, you!"

With a couple quick coughs, Stump Smash hacked up a few chestnuts then cracked them open to reveal the rich, juicy meat. With a smile, he watched as all the bugs that tormented him immediately lost interest in him and went to eat the nuts instead… Then his eyes widened.

"I've got an idea!" Stump Smash looked around and narrowed his eyes, "Anybody here got anything sticky?"

"You bet I do!" Exclaimed a now fully rested and recovered Camo as he held up a paw, "In fact, I've got the pearfect thing!"

With a couple quick snaps of his claws, Camo summoned an entire arrangement of explosive fruit! Watermelons, pears, apples and more much all manifested in his paws, all overly-ripe and ready to blow.

"Zook, you know what to do!" Camo nudged the fruit over to Zook and smiled.

"Do I?" Zook asked as he frowned and scratched his chin, only for his frown to transform into a beam as he looked at the Evil Life Minion, "Actually, I do!"

With a few swings, Zook tossed the explosive fruit right at the Evil Life Minion!

And it was so quick, the Life Minion could only turn around and watch as the fruit exploded and covered it in sticky juice and pulp! The Minion wailed like a child as it wiped the pulp from its eyes, then screamed as a bunch of chestnut meat flew right at it and stuck to the rest of the juice still on it!

And with a buffet like this, those bugs couldn't help themselves! They immediately swarmed after the Evil Life Minion and chased it in circles around the battlefield.

More importantly, this also left the Eternal Life Source open for the taking! Camo was quick to sweep it up in its grasp, then sealed it tight within the safety of his vines.

"To the gates, now!" Stump Smash ordered.

The three of them were quick to heed Stump Smash's command as they raced to the gates, but just before they could get there… They heard a roar. A loud, mighty, furious roar so great it shook the whole area and made leaves fall from the canopy of trees above!

As they all shuddered and tried to keep their balance, the Evil Life Minion jumped right in front of the gate, its landing so intense that it blew them on their backs! The Evil Life Minion made a low growl as it saw the bugs that still flocked towards its food-covered body, then that low growl changed to a great roar! And as it roared, both it and the bugs around glowed green…

Then the fruit remains withered and dried while the bugs all dropped dead at once!

Zook's eyes practically bulged out of his head as he knelt down and examined the dead bugs, whose corpses soon exploded in faint lights that faded away immediately. He was so shocked he could barely look away until the Evil Life Minion slammed its fist on the ground and forced him to look up!

"What… What happened to that thing?" Zook asked, his eyes wide with fright.

"I don't know…" Stump Smash replied as he stepped back, his teeth clenched tight.

"But it isn't pretty, that's for sure!"

Camo was right—the Evil Life Minion was more monstrous than ever! Its eyes had become compound like bugs' eyes were, while gigantic, torn wings sprouted from its back. Rotted, wrinkled fruit hung from its back while its skin bubbled and popped, almost as if all the raw energy that pulsed within its body could barely be contained.

With everybody around captivated in fear, the Evil Life Minion stomped the ground and summoned massive bamboo plants filled with ripe, purple and green striped chestnuts! It stomped again, and these chestnuts all crashed onto the ground.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Zook whimpered as he raised his hands.

Zook immediately created a bamboo barrier at just the right moment—because after those chestnuts landed, they exploded into a barrage of gigantic meat chunks and thorns!

"That thing sure is persistent…" Stump Smash grunted as he gritted his wooden teeth, "Looks like we need a new plan!"

However, they didn't get much time to make one, because right then, gigantic, purple liquid-laden vines smashed right through Zook's barrier! The liquid from the vines dripped off and coated the barrier's remains, which in turn melted the remains until there was nothing but a visible crater left.

Now free of their poison, the vines wrapped themselves around Camo, Zook and Stump Smash and squeezed them tight. They tried their best to fight back, but with every twist and squeeze of this vines, it was like their energy was being drained straight from them! Before they knew it, they had grown so weak they could only pant and try their best to keep their eyes open!

And worse yet, those vines were connected to the Evil Life Minion, so every little bit of energy they sapped went straight to it! It grew stronger and stronger from all the energy it absorbed, taller and more grisly... And they could do nothing to stop it.

Thankfully, the vines withdrew soon enough and dropped them onto the floor, though their weakened states made their landing all the more painful. Camo, Zook and Stump Smash all winced as the Evil Life Minion drew closer and closer, its hand raised to reveal sharp, poison-covered claws that would surely bring about their end…

Then it turned its gaze to the side and stormed away! The three of them all blinked in confusion, then gasped as they saw just what it was headed towards—the Eternal Life Source! In all this panic, everybody had completely forgotten that it was tossed during the Life Minion's attack!

"Oh no…" Zook croaked as he dug his hand into the ground and tried to pull himself ahead, only to collapse in a shaking, weak heap.

"Get, away," Camo grunted as he used every bit of strength left in his body to crawl forward, "From the source…"

The Evil Life Minion took one look down at Camo, then grumbled and flicked him away! With Camo quickly forgotten, it grinned and wrapped its claws around the Eternal Life Source, then its whole body rippled and pulsated like a beating heart as the Life Source's energy flooded into it.

And worse yet, it had grown bigger and bigger by the second! By the time it had grown bored and went back to attack the Skylanders, it was as large as some of the tallest trees in the Great Forest!

The Skylanders could only watch as it cackled, its laughter so intense that it blew the leaves right off the nearby trees while its entire body bubbled and shook.

"Crap, how are we gonna beat this?"

The Skylanders could only watch in terror, completely frozen to the spot, for unfortunately they knew the answer. They couldn't. It was far too big and powerful for them to beat in their current state! All they could do was close their eyes as it raised its fist and got ready to squash them like bugs… But by some miracle, that didn't happen! They just heard a splat, then opened their eyes to see that the Life Minion's fist had fallen onto the ground and splattered like a gigantic raindrop, then seeped into the stump.

The Life Minion was just as confused as they were going by the way it growled and looked at the stump that once held a hand, then it cried in pain as even more parts of its body began to explode and rapidly reform! That gunky energy substance it was made off became paint splattered to a natural canvas as it rained nearly everywhere, all while the Evil Life Minion wailed and moaned in utter horror…

Then the Life Minion was completely blocked off by a rapidly growing barrier of vines! On the other side of the barrier, the monster growled and pounded away, but no matter what it threw at that barrier, it stood tall and firm!

The Skylanders all watched in amazement, then blinked as the Eternal Life Source hovered above them.

"Wait a second…" Zook whispered, a bit of light in his eyes as he glanced at the Eternal Life Source, "Are you protecting us?"

The Source glowed a little brighter as if it was affirming this and lowered itself to their level.

"Thanks, man!" Zook beamed, "Now we can actually make a plan!"

Despite the pounding sounds of the Evil Life Minion's attacks, the strength of the Eternal Life Source's barrier brought them a level of comfort and security. With the power of their element on their side, there was no way they could fall!

"Did you see that, when it lost its hand?" Camo asked as his eyes bounced between Zook and Stump Smash.

As both of them nodded, Camo made a frown and scratched his claw against his cheek.

"I don't think that minion can handle all that power…" Camo's small frown turned to a big grin, "Maybe, if we overload it with life energy, we can take it down!"

"And how'll we do that, exactly?" Stump Smash asked.

"Did you notice how it absorbed all that energy from others?" Camo smiled as the other two nodded, "We'll just have to trick it into absorbing the life energy from our attacks until it bursts like a ripe watermelon!"

Camo winced as the barrier took an incredibly loud pound and looked up. "Gonna take a lot of attacking, though…"

They all examined the still-raring Evil Life Minion for a few moments more, then were drawn away from it by the Eternal Life Source glowing even brighter than before! The glow came with a jolt of energy that made all three Skylanders shudder.

"Lemme guess, you wanna help too?" Stump Smash inquired as he looked towards the Eternal Life Source.

The Eternal Life Source flickered for a moment as if to say yes, then nudged itself closer to Camo, Zook and Stump Smash. In turn, the three of them all smiled and placed their hands on the Source, then they were bathed in a bright green light while the vine barrier went down at last!

The Evil Life Minion leaped back in shock and threw its arms in front of its face to protect it from the intense light… Only for both of those arms to fall down and expose it full force! The light flickered out for mere moments, exploded and blew the Evil Life Minion back for a change! It screamed as it slunk down from a wall of trees and left behind a noticeable stain, then it opened its eyes just in time to see three silhouettes emerge from the light bomb…

"Can't keep it together, buddy?" Stump Smash's voice remarked while the sound of hammers banging together resounded across the forest, "Good!"

Sure enough, Camo, Zook and Stump Smash all emerged from the Eternal Life Source's glow, and they were more than ready to fight! They stood tall and proud while an aura of power glowered around them, one that was only emphasized by their confidence.

And yet, it did little to intimate the Evil Life Minion, who only growled and dug its newly-regrown claws into the wooden floor! With another roar, it opened its mouth… And out came a swarm of gigantic, angry bees!

"I'll handle these guys!" Zook proclaimed as he tapped his feet against the floor and summoned a gigantic patch of bamboo!

The force from the bamboo's immediately growth hurtled Zook into the air. In his moment of flight he flipped his bazooka around and sent a wave of gigantic thorn missiles right at the bugs! The missiles exploded in mid-air and completely wiped out the bugs, though that was hardly their end.

From the clouds of spores and smoke, spiky cacti mortars emerged with their path dead-set on the Evil Life Minion!

As he landed back onto his bamboo perch, Zook crafted a mushroom cap shield and positioned it in front of him, just in case… But no anticipated explosions happened. Rather, the Evil Life Minion simply grabbed Zook's mortars and sucked the boom right out of them!

As the mortars' empty husks clattered against the floor, the Life Minion fell to its knees and shuddered. That recent burst had clearly been a lot for it, as its leafy hair fell out all at once and its wings crumpled in on themselves while its skin became magma, bubbling and popping as if it was ready to erupt!

"It's my turn now!" Stump Smash proclaimed as he jumped out of one leaf's way and banged his hands together.

Stump Smash stampeded forward and pounded away at the Life Minion's kneecaps, but it didn't wanna give up yet! It snarled, then pulled itself up and created a gigantic cloud of purple and green smoke!

Zook and Camo watched as it backflipped over them, but Stump Smash hadn't even noticed! It wasn't until the smoke cleared that he stepped back and found…

"A decoy?" Stump Smash whipped his head right and left, "Where'd the real thing go?"

Stump Smash gulped as a loud rumble sounded underneath his feet. "Actually, I think I might have FOUND ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

Before he could even retaliate, a gigantic, springy sprout bounded to life under Stump Smash's feet and vaulted him straight towards the Evil Life Minion! It opened its mouth as if to attack, but Stump Smash was quick to retaliate! Like a machine gun he sent a rapid-fire barrage of giant chestnuts straight at the Life Minion, filling its mouth before it could even shoot back.

Instead, the Evil Life Minion fell backwards and ate all the chestnuts in one bite! Its stomach growled and bubbled, but despite its massive stomachache it still forced itself to trudge forward… Then fell flat on its face while its legs dissolved into goop.

Stump Smash smiled as Camo's vines wrapped around him and gently dropped him back on solid ground.

"Will you do the honors, Camo?" Zook asked as he turned to Camo.

Camo nodded, then crafted a giant watermelon underneath his paws. The watermelon grew riper, riper, ripest, then finally it exploded and shot Camo towards the Evil Life Minion! Once he was close enough in range, Camo tossed out several large chili pepper bombs, then spun around and smacked them straight at the Evil Life Minion!

The Evil Life Minion tried to get away, but without its legs it was a sitting duck, literally! It could only watch as the peppers landed in its chest and exploded, sending the rest of its body everywhere! The Evil Life Minion moaned as its head slunk down from an avalanche of magical goop, then it looked around and screamed as it finally realized that its body was entirely gone.

"Now…" Camo said as he cascaded down on a vine's leaf and hopped next to Stump Smash and Zook, "Why don't we finish this for real?"

"Gladly!" Zook and Stump Smash shouted in unison.

The three of them fixed their eyes on the Evil Life Minion's still-panicking head, then raised their weapons and fired!

All at once, a fireball as bright and hot as the sun, a gigantic thorn mortar and a chestnut the size of a boulder barreled towards the Evil Life Minion's head, fused into one and made contact!

The impact was so great a gigantic explosion enveloped the area for mere moments, which forced Zook to summon a barricade of cacti. Then, as the light and barrier faded, everybody beamed.

Why? Well, perhaps because the Evil Life Minion was finally gone!

Instead, its spheres littered across the area and vanished in a puff of smoke, while the Eternal Life Source hovered in front of the Skylanders and glowed. The three of them nodded, then placed their hands back on the Eternal Life Source and returned its borrowed power.

"Man, talk about a thorn in our side," Camo remarked as the transfer finished and he scooped the Eternal Life Source back into his paws, "I don't know about you, but I think I've had enough fighting for one day!"

"I don't know…" Zook said as he rubbed his chin, "I think Stumpy is still raring to go!"

"Is that a challenge, Zook?" Stump Smash replied as he raised an eyebrow at Zook.

The two of them locked eyes for moments, then two pairs became three as Camo shot them a glare.

"Don't even start."

Stump Smash and Zook stared for a few moments, then chuckled and wrapped their arms around each other. "JUST KIDDING!"

"You better be!"

As the two of them laughed, Camo made a small chuckle of his own and gazed over the main entrance. The wooden barrier that gated it off had finally receded, they could go back now!

"Anyways, how about we head home and get this little sprout," Camo said as he lifted up the Eternal Life Source, "Back in the Corre?"

And so, they all made their way back to the beginning of the area, not one argument raised between them...

§

All breath was bated as the elevator lurched to a stop, then slowly drew open to reveal… A gigantic laser that soared just above Hex's head and zapped the elevator's walls! Everybody gasped and ducked, then lifted their heads as they heard a familiar worried chatter.

"Double Trouble!" Cali called as she pulled herself back to her feet.

Sure enough, there in front of them was Double Trouble! He was frantic as he held his staff tight and cut through waves of foes with beams of sheer eldritch magic, but the look of concern on his face showed he wasn't entirely sure if he could keep this up! Double Trouble breathed a slight sigh of relief as he looked over towards the quintet, but frowned as his eyes fell on the still-weak Persephone and Aura.

"It's a long story," Cali panted as she followed Double Trouble's gaze, "We'll explain later. For now, we have to shut this place down!"

Double Trouble nodded, then spun his staff as high as he could! As he spun it round and round, a gigantic purple cloud streaked with rainbows formed below the ceiling!

The soldiers all looked above in confusion, seemingly entranced by this strange cloud… Then yelped and jumped out of the way as gigantic eldritch thunderbolts struck the ground beneath their feet! But, they weren't going to get away so easily! The ground rattled beneath everyone's feet, which caused anyone who hadn't been struck by lightning to unceremoniously fall flat on their faces!

While the guards raced about in a panic, Cali jumped out of the elevator with Hex close by her side.

As they all piled out, Aura and Persephone pulled themselves back to full flight.

"Come now," Persephone said as she turned her attention to the panels, "We have the luckiest opportunity!"

Calliope and Aura nodded, then followed Persephone as she flew through the crowds. The three of them were perfectly masked by the cover of conflict as they dodged the guards and fell towards the abandoned parts of the floor. It was completely perfect—nothing could stop them from shutting this place down now!

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Shouted a voice that came from seemingly nowhere!

Calliope, Aura and Persephone all froze in place as a bunch of troll soldiers dropped from the ceiling and blocked off the way further. Their lances were just as sharp as their lancing gazes, and their shiny, sleek armor was only enhanced by the cyan-colored glow of its power buttons. Clearly, they meant business!

"Thought you could sneak out, did you?" Asked the head of the ground as they pointed their lance at Persephone, "Think again, you obnoxious sprites!"

Calliope snarled, then flew in front of Persephone and Aura with hands outstretched.

"Don't worry," Calliope said as her hands glowed with a red flare, "I'll take care of—"

"COWABUNGAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Before Calliope could even launch an attack, a gigantic ocean wave made of magic soared above the trio and crashed right onto the troll soldiers! While the soldiers flailed and cried out as they were washed away by the flood, Calliope turned around and smiled.

"Young honorable Chihiro!" Persephone called as she looked over Calliope's shoulder.

"You bet it's me!" Chihiro shouted back as she ran up and gave them a thumbs up, "We'll take care of these guys, just focus on finding the switch!"

"Understood!"

Persephone turned back to Calliope and Aura, then grab their hands and flew further down the way. Soon enough, the fighting was little more than background noise to the sound of beeps and mechanical chirps as they found themselves in a room filled with gigantic machines!

"If my memory serves me right," Aura remarked as she scratched her chin, "This should be where the power switch is!"—Aura flitted over to the various machinery and all its panels, then winced and bit her nails—"But which one of these is it?…"

Calliope fluttered over to another panel and began pressing a few multi-color buttons.

"Maybe it's one of these?" Calliope suggested under the sound of beeps and whirs.

As she pressed the buttons, all sorts of things happened on the battlefield across! Disco balls dropped from the ceiling and spread rainbow lights everywhere they went, parts of the floor folded up and down, confetti rained from the ceiling… But nothing shut the place down!

"Here, let me try!" Aura exclaimed as she flew over and pulled down a large lever.

In response, a gigantic panel in the ceiling opened up and dropped a large cake on the floor!

"Nope, that's definitely not it!" Aura winced as she pressed a few more buttons, completely ignorant to the soda-scented wave that washed away a few trolls as it flooded down the halls.

"Maybe if I twist these knobs…" Persephone remarked as she turned a few dials…

Only for several large robots to come out of the shadows!

"CLEANUP ON FLOOR THREE, CLEANUP ON FLOOR THREE!" The robots proclaimed in mechanical voices as they approached Persephone.

Persephone turned around and screamed, then clumsily turned the knobs backwards and watched the robots recede back into the shadows.

"Which one of these is it?" Aura exclaimed at last as she tugged on her hair.

As Aura caught her breath, a twinkling sound was heard while something shimmered between her and Persephone—Chihiro!

"Girls, what's the holdup?" Chihiro asked as she finally teleported over and patted confetti and candy wrappers out of her hair, "We can't hold off these guards forever!"

"We know, we're trying!" Calliope called from across the panels, "But there's so many buttons here, we can't tell which one's supposed to deactivate the thing!"

Chihiro frowned, then pulled a facility map from the nearby desks.

"But, it's supposed to be on this floor…" Chihiro whispered as she turned the map around, "Unless…"

Chihiro summoned a bright, magical light, then shone it over the map. "That's it!"

Chihiro handed over the lit map to the fairies, which unveiled an arrow pointed towards a nearby passageway under the light of Chihiro's sphere.

"It's hidden in a secret compartment!"

"Thanks a lot," Calliope said as she beamed and snagged the map from Chihiro, "We'll take it from here!"

Chihiro nodded, then turned around and shot a wave of spheres at some incoming troll soldiers.

With the cavalry holding things back for the time being, no time was to be wasted! Calliope held the map tight as she followed its trail, her eyes fixed on its paper surface. The map itself had drawn them all into a more secluded part of the base, one far away from the staff's prying eyes.

"Alright, if the map is correct it should be right around…" Calliope bit her lip and looked up, "Here?"

Calliope winced as she looked down at the map, then poked back up to the spot it led to. There before them, a bulky troll completely blocked the way to the place they needed to go while it took a quick snooze!

"They've got guards!" Persephone gasped as she and Aura flew to Calliope's side, "Now what should be do? There's no way we can dance around it without waking it up…"

"I doubt that we're in any condition to fight them…" Aura whimpered as she looked down at her hands.

"Leave it to me!" Calliope proclaimed as she flew ahead and shook a fist at the guards, "HEY, UGLY! OVER HERE!"

The guard grunted as they cranked their head upwards, their nap completely forgotten, then gasped as they caught wind of Calliope!

"How did you fairies get out?" The guard exclaimed before they shook their head, "You know what? Don't even answer that!"—The guard snarled and cracked their knuckles—"I'll throw you back in myself!"

The guard charged towards them at rapid speeds, then stopped completely as Calliope zapped them with a blood red lightning bolt! Calliope grunted as she levitated the guard in midair, presumably to sap their power… And yet, the guard didn't look any worse for wear! In fact, they immediately broke free of the spell and went to punch Calliope!

Calliope was swift enough to dodge, but that wasn't enough to dissuade the guard who continued to swipe and grab at her.

"Go now!" Calliope ordered as she dodged another blow then looked back at Persephone and Aura, "There isn't much time!"

Persephone and Aura took quick heed of Calliope's words as they flew past the guard and into the facility they guarded.

It was a rundown place, quite unlike the more technologically advanced areas they had seen prior. It was cold and rusted and full of bare machinery and stray panels, like it hadn't been maintained in years, and the sharp creaking and hissing noises that echoed around the area served to exemplify this fact.

"I don't like the looks of this place, Lady Persephone…" Aura whispered as she trembled and clung to Persephone.

"Neither do I, Aura," Persephone admitted as she clasped Aura's hand tight, "But, we must dance onwards! We can't possibly—"

"Lady Persephone, look out!"

Just as Aura pulled away Persephone, a gigantic frayed wire fell down from the ceiling and sparkled everywhere! The shock from its fall was great enough that it forced them to catch their breath, but not for long. Moments afterwards, even more wires and paneling and assorted rusted machinery began raining down from the ceiling.

"This way, Aura!" Persephone proclaimed as she flew around the falling machinery with a dancer's elegance.

Aura's breath was heavy with panic as she followed Persephone, all while they both dodged falling machinery, literally electrifying wires and all sorts of other troubles. Would this come to an end soon? Would this be the end for them, as the wreckage slowly began to block off near-everything around them?

"There it is!" Persephone proclaimed as she pointed ahead, "The switch!"

There in front of them, a gigantic switch rested on a panel striped with yellow and black tape. Surely, this was what they were looking for!

The two of them lunged towards the switch, but frozen as the ceiling above them began to creak. They looked up, then screamed as a particularly large back panel from a nearby machine came loose and crashed down on them!

All went dark for moments as both stood wide-eyed, then finally Aura thrust her hands out in front of her and froze the panel into place!

"Aura!" Persephone exclaimed as Aura strained to keep the paneling from crushing them both, a bit of hesitation in Persephone's own eyes.

"Lady Persephone, please hurry!" Aura begged, her voice and gaze strained as she put her all into holding up the machinery… But then it grew solemn, more confident even.

"Don't worry about me, Lady Persephone. If it's to save our home…" Aura grunted, sweat streaked down her face as the panel she held up creaked higher and finally snapped back into place.

"I'll do anything!"

A glint of inspiration shone in Persephone's eyes as she nodded. With a soft hup, Persephone vaulted herself over to the switch's harboring platform, flitted ahead and flicked the switch!

"ALL SYSTEMS… DEACTIVATED," proclaimed a robotic announcer above them.

One by one the lights shut off, but the blanketing darkness was hardly enough to dissuade Persephone as she grabbed Aura's hand and rushed back out! The sound of crumbling debris and pieces of metal crashed all around as Persephone created a sphere of sparkling blue light, a bit of a guide in all this darkness.

Persephone cried out in shock as she nearly dodged being flattened by a loose ceiling panel, then dove under some split tubes and flew over a sizzling halved cable. The lights were going out faster, but there was still some left to show the way back down! However, with all this debris to outrun things would be risky… Just then, Persephone's eyes widened as she was surrounded by a green glow!

She turned to her side to see an absolutely radiant Aura give her a gentle nod, a nod of understanding that Persephone was quick to return. Persephone leaned forward and flicked her wings, then zipped straight out of the passage at lightning speed! Before she even knew it, she was back in the heart of the first floor, Aura still at her side!

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" Demanded one guard, "I—OOF!"

Before that one guard could even finish their sentence, they all fell in droves among the darkness with the culprits to their defeat being none other than the rest of Persephone's team!

"Persephone, you did it!" Chihiro exclaimed as she popped up in front of Persephone and hugged Persephone tight.

"Indeed I did, young honorable Chihiro," Persephone said as she smiled and returned Chihiro's hug for a few moments, only to pull away and turn serious, "But, it's not over yet. Come now, we must release everyone from those awful cages!"

Persephone and Chihiro nodded as they released their hug, then passed by the strings of now deactivated computers with only a moment's pause taken to survey the area.

Though the castle grounds had been completely wrecked, the Skylanders had done well to clear Kaos's cronies out of the area. Most of them were unconscious in some form, and the ones that were still somewhat conscious had been tied to chairs and poles with thick rope, probably awaiting arrest at this point.

And in the center of it all, the Skylanders and Cali stood by the elevator, their faces highlighted by the sphere of golden light Spyro had summoned.

"Ready to free some fairies?" Chihiro asked as she strutted up to Spyro and placed her hands on the elevator.

Everybody around her made cheers of delight as the elevator doors glowed underneath Chihiro's palms!

"THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR!"

With a swipe of Chihiro's hands, the elevator doors crept open with a bright, friendly ding! Everybody piled in immediately, then watched as the doors closed and soft, jazzy music played from the elevator's speakers.

"Now heading to the fourth floor…" Droned a mechanical announcer as the elevator heaved its way up then lurched to a stop, "You have arrived at the fourth floor."

Voices trickled into the elevator as its doors receded. Were those fairy voices? The doors fully withdrew at last to reveal that sure enough, they were!

From what it seemed, the fairies' magic had been returned to them, and slowly but surely they had begun rescuing one another from the magic pods! It was a magical, uplifting sight just seeing the fairies, once helpless and crying for rescue, taking their situation into their own hands!

Persephone watched in awe, then Chihiro smiled and urged her forwards with a gentle nudge. So, Persephone flitted forward and cleared her throat.

All at once, the fairies stopped what they were doing and turned to Persephone. Everyone was completely silent… For all of five seconds before the fairies began hooting and hollering with unadulterated glee all at once while they crowded around Persephone!

"The queen has saved us!"

"I knew you'd come back! I never gave up hope!"

"All hail the queen!"

"Now, now, this is a truly happy time…" Persephone chuckled as she gestured towards the rest of the team, "But I can't take all the credit!"

The fairies all gave Persephone confused glances or shared surprised mumbles among themselves.

"It was thanks to the efforts of everyone here that we were able to rescue you! The Skylanders, young honorable Chihiro, Aura, Calliope…" Persephone turned back to the rest of the team and bowed.

"On behalf of the entire fairy kingdom, I thank you!"

Everybody broke into wide smiles (Well, save for Hex who only made a small nod) as the fairies showered them in thanks!

But even though there was so much merrymaking going on, not all were relieved. Calliope shifted her way through the crowds then popped out from two particularly buff fairies, her eyes glinted with concern as she scanned the crowds like a lost child looking for their parents…

"Easy now, dear…" Whispered a buff fairy woman with lightly tanned skin who had her hair in tangled brown curls and her body dressed in torn clothes as she helped a skinnier fairy women with paler skin and a frazzled red bob for hair out of a pod, "Don't strain yourself."

"Mom! Mother!" Calliope called as she flew towards the two fairy women.

"Calliope?" The fairy women whispered as they stopped for a moment, then turned around and smiled. "It really is you!"

The three of them captured each other in one big, warm hug, the kind of hug people give when they haven't seen each other in ages. Their warmth was so infectious, it caught the attention of everybody else in the room!

"Well, I'd call this another job well done!" Chihiro remarked as she rubbed her first on her chest, "C'mon everyone, let's go home."

Everybody nodded and chatted in agreement as they turned around and headed back for the elevator… But then Chihiro froze and turned around to see Persephone still talking with her subjects.

"Persephone, aren't you coming?" Chihiro asked as she turned around to face Persephone.

"I'm afraid not, young honorable Chihiro," Persephone replied, a level of solemness in her voice as she shook her head, "As queen, it is my duty to care for my people, especially now that Kaos has been driven out…"

Persephone swirled her hands and summoned up some shiny sapphire pendants with bright blue butterfly wings attached to them, then handed the pendants over to Chihiro.

"But before we part, take these happy pendants. If you ever require my aid, just rub them thrice and I'll come immediately!"

"Thanks, Persephone!" Chihiro beamed as she stowed the pendants away in her pocket.

"Oh, right, you still need to get back home, don't you?" Calliope asked as she flew back to the others, "I'll fire up the ship!"

And so, they all parted ways with a nod. Chihiro lead the rest to the elevator, then with another magical swipe, the doors began to open as the elevator whirred to life once more. Before they left, however, Chihiro paused to wave back to the fairies that had gathered to bid them farewell.

"Thank you, Skylanders!"

"Show that Kaos who's boss for us!"

"We know you can do it!"

"Thank you, everyone!" Chihiro shouted as they all piled into the elevator, "We'll make sure that Kaos goes down!"

The fairies all cheered at Chihiro's words, though as the elevator doors closed nobody saw Chihiro bite her lip and hold her arm…

§

By the time the ship had parked at Ancient's Peak, night had already fallen and the skies had been painted with stars. Fireflies flitted to and fro across the island and added a bit of magic to the purple and blue colors of the night. But, this magic only slightly alleviated Chihiro's heavy heart as her eyes glazed over the crowds.

Chihiro stepped off of the boat, watched the others walk out of sight, then gazed over the island's heart. Even though everything seemed so happy and magical, she couldn't bring herself to smile—even though, by all accounts, she should be happy! They saved the Fairy Kingdom, helped Calliope reunite with her mothers, and even kept Kaos…

Oh, right… Kaos, who Chihiro nearly lost at the hands of!

"There you all are!" Hugo proclaimed as he walked up to Chihiro with book in hand, "And just in time, too! We were just about to return the Eternal Life Source to the Core!"

"Really?" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped out of her thoughts and tugged on her collar, "That's great news, Hugo!"

"Come on, then!" Hugo shoved his book in Chihiro's hands and guided her towards the Core and the crowd that had formed around it, "We shouldn't keep everyone waiting!"

Phew, at least Hugo didn't notice her current state of mind. Chihiro wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it right now, what with everyone around and all. Chihiro trudged to the crowds and took a seat next to Hugo, her mind still in a tired haze as she gazed over the dimly-lit area.

Everybody gazed in awe as Hugo laid the Eternal Life Source near the Core of Light, its radiant green light striking against the firefly-dotted skies.

"Now, Chihiro," Hugo said as he walked back and cast a glance at Chihiro, "The book, please?"

Chihiro, however, gazed into space. Even though such a great victory had been won, and her little failure really shouldn't have mattered anyways, she felt… Strange. She wasn't sure how to put it, but something in her felt uneasy and in danger, like something was clearly wrong.

"Chihiro?" Hugo coughed into his hand and raised an eyebrow, "The book?"

"OH, RIGHT!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jolted up, then grabbed the book off the ground and handed it off to Hugo.

Hugo cleared his throat, then recited yet another ancient Skylandian incantation Chihiro couldn't possibly recognize the meaning of. As he did this, the Eternal Life Source slowly sank within the Core of Light's platform till its pretty green light was visible no more.

Though nothing seemed to happen for a few moments, Chihiro knew better. After all, she could vaguely hear the sound of straining, rushing roots and flora beneath her feet, like an earthquake ready to strike. Then from the ground sprouted two large flowers with svelte stems! Chihiro could barely make out the flowers' colors from the darkness, but they looked… Kinda reddish, maybe pink?

Each flower flanked a side of the Core and spat out shiny, golden pollen that fluttered in the midnight air as the fireflies did! It was… Really magical, just the very sight of something so peaceful and pretty.

But, even now, Chihiro couldn't possibly feel at ease. So, she just got up and walked out the crowds, her head hung down as she shifted through the Skylanders. Her feet took her to the more forested areas that lead to her quarters, but she wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet. Instead, she pushed through the trees until the forest cleared away and brought her to a cliff that faced the ocean. As the waves caressed the cliff face, Chihiro sat down and gazed up at the midnight skies, the stars and full moon a source of milky white light among the dark, encompassing blue.

"Hey, Chihiro," whispered a soft voice as something tapped Chihiro's shoulder.

Chihiro yelped and turned around, her hand encased in cyan light… But the light soon faded as she realized that it was just Spyro!

"Oh, it's just you," Chihiro said as she breathed a sigh of relief, then looked back at Spyro with a weak smile, "What's up, Golden Boy?"

"Is something wrong?" Spyro sat down next to Chihiro and swished his tail, "Ever since we got back from the Fairy Kingdom, you've been acting kinda weird."

"… Is it that obvious?" Chihiro's looked down and scratched the back of her head.

"You aren't worried about Kaos, are you?" Spyro cast Chihiro a frown, a bit of concern reflected in his golden eyes.

Chihiro was silent for a few moments, then finally she breathed another sigh as her cheeks flushed pink.

"To be honest… Yeah," Chihiro admitted as she looked up towards the moon, "Truth is, I had no idea just how strong he was 'till now!"—Chihiro forced a smile as she shook her head—"But, I'm not gonna let that stop me!"

Chihiro jumped to her feet, then pumped her fist towards the night sky.

"I'll just have to keep training and getting stronger! Hear that, Kaos?" Chihiro shook her fist as she jumped up and down, "I'll get stronger and stronger, and I'll keep protecting Skylands from you and your buddies!"

Spyro chuckled, then flew up to Chihiro's height and nodded.

"If that's the case, I'll head to bed, then," Spyro said as he flew back into the woods and waved to Chihiro, "See you in the morning!"

"See you in the morning, Golden Boy!" Chihiro turned around and waved to Spyro, and for a moment the strange feeling in her chest disappeared.

But, the moment she turned back to the sky, it returned yet again. All her mind could do was play back that fresh memory of her battle—and near-defeat—at Kaos's hands. Was it insecurity or worry that she felt? No, that didn't feel quite right. Whatever it was, however, it wouldn't leave Chihiro be, so she just went back to staring at the sky.

Mark my words, Kaos, Chihiro thought as she glared daggers towards the moon, as if she was sending it her message, The next time we face each other, I'll be the one who wins!

Chihiro then winced and looked aside, I hope...

---

(Just as a general note for the future, CHS updates may be a little later than usual within the next few months. I've had a lot on my plate between school, personal obligations, working on CHS's current and future chapters, and other things, plus I've been dealing with a nasty bout of on and off writer's block/lack of motivation to write in general. Though I'll try my best to stay on schedule, please understand if newer chapters aren't on time!)