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)

7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven time, baby! Here's a nice, cool chapter for those of us dealing with the heat of summer... Like me. It is very, very hot where I live right now, as per summer standards. Please send sodas. (Just joking~)

Watch Seeker: I'm so glad you enjoyed that chapter, I had a lot of fun pumping the emotion in that one! Also, I don't know if I have an ultimate favorite—I think maybe Spyro, Stealth Elf or Terrafin? But I love all the characters in Skylanders so much that it's hard for me to pick~

Also, another thing I want to mention—a couple days ago, Chihiro Hatsuki's Skylanders passed a thousand views! I'm extremely honored that it is so popular, and I wish to thank everyone who's viewed so far for your support and only hope that you continue to support Chihiro Hatsuki's Skylanders in the future!

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It was a chilly autumn morning, but despite the sheer cold everybody was bustling about the Ruins with plenty of energy to spare. Between the Skylanders running to and from missions, Cali and Hugo fiddling with the Far-Viewer as they tried to locate the next part of the Core and everything else, it seemed nobody had a moment to rest!

Well, with the exception of Chihiro—she had just finished sending the Skylanders away on their morning patrols and finally had a moment to herself. She paced around the heart of the island, her eyes trained on the ground below her and her hands pressed against her chin. However, while her body was on Skylands, her mind was in the clouds.

Let's see, Chihiro thought as she softly hummed to herself, What to do, what to do… I could try practicing magic, but I've been practicing all week. I need a break before it breaks me.

Chihiro then heaved a sigh and stopped in her tracks for a moment.

I could try exploring the island… But where would I go? Chihiro then sat down and hummed even more, Let's see, where haven't I gone yet… The sanctuaries? Spyro showed me around there a while ago. The beach? Nah—wait, the beach!—Chihiro jumped up and snapped her fingers—I've never been to the beach before! Yeah, I'll just go there!

And with that, Chihiro ran off from the heart of the island! Her feet stomped across the cold earth of the ground below her as she reached the island's edge, then with a swift turn she piloted herself towards the staircase that lead towards the beach… And forgot to stop, which caused her to trip and roll down the stone staircase before she fell face-first onto the sand. As Chihiro moaned and staggered up, she spat sand out of her mouth and shook her head.

"Next time, I gotta remember to stop." Chihiro looked up and smiled as she gazed over the beaches, her hands buried in the grainy sands.

The beaches themselves looked like your average beach, with their yellow sands and vast oceans. They were positioned against the cliffs that made up the higher parts of the island and felt slightly smaller than your average beach as a result, yet still had all your typical beach charms—the smell of salt water, the feeling of grainy sand under your toes, the bone-chilling breeze…

"Wait a second!" Chihiro exclaimed as she shuddered and looked around, "Why'd it get so cold? I know it's fall and all, but I feel like it should be…"

Chihiro looked in front of her and stopped short as she saw some big, blue mass slowly float towards the beach.

"Warmer?"

It was so far away that she couldn't easily discern it at first, but it was moving in fast—in fact, within moments it had gently parked itself on the shoreline and gave Chihiro a much better view.

The thing in question seemed to be some kind of large island shaped like an iceberg, with a large, looming palace made out of ice and toppled with a dome-like igloo imposed over everything else. With how large and cold it was, it seemed to chill the entire area surrounding! Snowflakes fell from its icy top and onto the sands, cold winter breezes flew in every so often, and the cold atmosphere that surrounded it seemed to kill the normally cheery mood of the beach.

Chihiro stared at the island in awe at first, her jaw dropped wide open and her eyes practically bulged out of her head. Then, she completely hightailed it! With heavy pants, she ran back up the stairs as fast as she could.

"GUYS, GUYS, GET OVER TO THE BEACH, YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!"

§

"So, you're saying this just showed up on the beach a couple minutes ago?" Spyro asked as he looked over the large island.

He, Gill Grunt, Master Eon, Hugo and a couple of the other Skylanders who were slated for island patrols had all gathered themselves around the beach and each and every one of them had eyes fixed on the large icy island.

"Yeah, pretty much," Chihiro replied as her eyes glazed up and down over the island.

"… What is it?" Spyro looked back at Chihiro and then back at the island.

"No clue." Chihiro made a hapless shrug and looked to her side.

Meanwhile, Hugo had grabbed a book out of his lapel and was furiously flipping through it, his eyes fixated on its pages.

"I can't find anything in my book about it," Hugo said, "So it can't be a nomadic island, a dimension wormhole, a magic sandwich… I'm completely stumped!"

"Then we'll just have to find out what this thing is!" Chihiro stared directly at Spyro and Gill Grunt, "Come on, we're going in!"

"Not so fast, Chihiro," Spyro said as he placed a paw on Chihiro's shoulder, "I've already told you, it's not safe for you—"

"Actually, Spyro," Master Eon interjected as he floated between Spyro and Chihiro, "Young Chihiro's proven to me that she's more than capable enough to accompany you on simple missions."

"Yeah, yeah!" Chihiro exclaimed with a furious series of nods, "I learned a bunch of spells and I passed my first exam and everything!"—Chihiro's gaze fixed itself on Master Eon with an almost prompting urgency—"Right, Master?"

"Indeed—in fact, this would be the perfect time for you to practice for your second Portal Master Exam!" Master Eon gently nudged Hugo, "Hugo, would you care to elaborate?"

"Oh, yes, Master!" Hugo exclaimed as he yanked a crumpled piece of paper form his jacket's pocket, smoothed it out and cleared his throat.

"The Second Portal Master Exam involves the apprentice accompanying a team of Skylanders on a simple mission and aiding them. If the team succeeds, then the apprentice will have passed."

"And finding out the nature of this strange palace sounds simple enough to me," Master Eon interjected as he flew to Chihiro's side, "As long as you stay close to the Skylanders and listen to them, I see no problem with you accompanying them here."

Chihiro made an excited gasp, then grabbed Spyro's paw and Gill's hand.

"Well then what are we standing around here for, then?" Chihiro exclaimed, "Let's go check out this—"

Chihiro felt something lay itself on her shoulder and let out a shocked squeak, before she turned around and smiled wide.

"Slam! What'cha need, my dude?"

Behind her was none other than Slam Bam, a blue-skinned yeti with white fur around his head, neck, four arms and legs, black claws on his hands and feet and highlighter yellow eyes.

"Oh, I don't need anything—but you're going to need some help," Slam Bam interjected as he pointed a clawed finger towards the frozen island, "You don't know what kind of dangers you're going to face there,"—Slam then smiled and pressed another clawed hand against his chest—"That's why Eruptor and I are going to tag along! With my knowledge of ice and his fire, this mission'll be a snap!"

"Wait, when did I agree to this?" shouted out a rumbly voice from the back of the crowd.

Its owner then walked out and revealed themself to be a burgundy-colored monsters made entirely of volcanic rock. Veins of lava peeked out and flowed through the cracks in their body, while their eyes had yellow sclera, orange pupils and no lack of irritation. Their mouth was twisted into a toothy frown and their large arms were crossed together.

"You have to, Ruptor, we were supposed to patrol the island today!" Slam shouted back to Eruptor before he looked back at the castle of ice before them, "And this definitely needs investigating."

However, Eruptor didn't speak—he instead looked with worried eyes at the giant, icy castle that towered in front of him and then back at Chihiro.

"Ruptor?" Slam Bam turned back to look at Eruptor.

"That place looks awfully cold." Eruptor winced as he gazed at Slam Bam and then the castle, "Do we really have to go there?"

"Unfortunately so, Rupty," Chihiro said with a gaze directed at Eruptor, "We just need to do some investigating and figure out what's wrong with the place so we can fix it—we'll be out in a flash, mmkay?"

Eruptor considered this for a moment before he gave her a grumpy stare.

"I'll deal with it, but I can't guarantee that I'll like it."

"I'll be right behind you, Ruptor," Slam reassured as he walked up to Eruptor and wrapped a muscular arm around Eruptor's shoulders, "Don't worry a bit."

And with that, the five of them entered the palace of frost and ice, ready to take on whatever challenges came their way…

§

As soon as they entered the castle's gates, all five parties were greeted by bitterly cold breezes and shuddered. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in the heat—or rather, lack thereof—of winter! Snow cascaded down from gray skies and dusted the cold, icy ground that crunched under their feet, giant hills and snow piles decorated the land that was otherwise mainly shapeless thanks to the sheer amounts of snow, and there was no life for miles—just snow, ice, snow-covered ice...

"Here's the plan," Spyro said as he flew back and forth in front of them, "First, we need to find out the source of this—"

Spyro was cut off as something hit him on the side of the head—a snowball! As the ball of snow fell off, he snorted and glared at where Chihiro was giggling her head off.

"Sorry!" Chihiro chuckled as she covered her mouth—though that did little to muffle her laughter, "I couldn't help myself!"

"This is no time for joking around, Chihiro!" Spyro shouted, a frown on his face, "We have to find out what's causing this blizzard and stop it! Right, guys?"

Spyro looked towards the other Skylanders for some backup, but they were just barely chuckling and giggling right along with her!

"Seriously?!" Spyro just heaved a sigh before he gained a smile, packed some snow together and formed a round ball that he aimed at Chihiro, "Well, you know what they say, if you can't beat 'em, then join 'em!"

And with that, Spyro tossed the ball and hit Chihiro with it almost immediately.

Chihiro remained speechless for mere moments, before she burst into laughter and tossed a snowball back at him—and soon enough, an all-out snowball war broke out between them.

The others just stared with confused glances, not knowing what to make of this sudden war with snow. All they could do was stand there until the snowballs died and the laughs were reduced to chortles.

"Okay, in all seriousness, we have to find out what's causing this snow storm, so let's go!" Chihiro said as she brushed the snow off her clothes and walked forwards.

However, as Chihiro stepped forward, she stepped into a snow pile and sank all the way down with a thud.

With sharp gasps, the other four dashed to the snow pile and peered into the Chihiro-sized hole it had gained.

"I'm okay!" Chihiro heaved a sigh, "Something tells me I'll have to start thinking these things through."

Grumbles echoed throughout the hole, then a magical whoosh was heard as Chihiro levitated out of the hole and sat down on the snow! Once she was safely out of the hole, she closed her eyes, clapped her hands and watched as what appeared to be a pair of snowshoes made of magic energy appeared on her feet! Chihiro grumbled something to herself as she tied them to her boots, then heaved herself back to her full height and looked back at the Skylanders.

"Okay, NOW we can proceed," Chihiro huffed before she trudged ahead, a close eye kept on the scenery for any other signs of deceptively deep snow piles.

"WA-HOO!"

Chihiro jumped at least a foot into the air as the sound of some wild voice echoed across the frozen fields!

"That wouldn't have happened to come from you guys, right?" Chihiro asked as she turned to face the Skylanders, then grimaced as they all shook their heads.

"I thought as much." Chihiro grit her teeth and looked to the skies.

"YA-HOOEY!"

Chihiro screamed and jumped into the air again as something—or rather, someONE—materialized in front of her!

They were a peach-skinned, wrinkly old wizard with sparkling pale blue eyes, and a long, thin, white beard who held a brown wooden staff with a bright blue orb placed in its center. They wore black and white wizard robes with a wizard hat of the same color, all of which appeared to be made with fabric that was surprisingly light for such cold weather. Were they asking for a cold?

"Uh, who exactly are you, and what are you doing here?" Chihiro asked as she her eyes and pointed at this complete stranger. Her free hand was clutched into a fist and glowed faintly with magic… Just in case.

"Name's Haldor," the wizard said as they floated towards Chihiro and examined her, "An' somethin' tells me you ain't from here!"

"Well, no, I'm a portal master… Well, portal master in training, and the Skylanders and I have come to check things out." Chihiro hovered her hand towards the Skylanders, "I'm Chihiro, and my friends back there are Spyro, Gill Grunt, Eruptor, and Slam Bam."

"Hey there!" Spyro shouted as he waved a scaly purple paw, "So, you have any idea what this place is?"

Haldor's eyes glistened as he jumped in the air with glee.

"It worked!" Haldor proclaimed as he spun back and cleared his throat, "I really did get the Skylanders here!"—As he hovered just inches above the ground, Haldor's eyes widened—"Oh, right I need to tell ya where ya are!"

As he landed on the snow, Haldor tapped his staff on the ground and stretched out his arms in pride.

"Why, this is the island of Vindlevale! The most beautiful island in all'a Skylands!"

"VINDLEVALE?!" All four Skylanders exclaimed as they did double takes.

"No way! Vindlevale is all warm and sunny," Spyro looked around as he spoke, "And this place, is, well, definitely not that. What in Skylands could have caused it? Do you know?"

"Oh I do alright!" Haldor narrowed his eyes and slammed his staff against the icy ground, his mouth broke into a scowl, "It's those dern ice ogres! They just showed up all of a sudden this mornin' and built this big wall that blocked up the sunshine! You know, this place used to be really nice, sun shinin' and flowers growin' all the time, but now that the sun's gone, it's just snow n' ice wherever you look! In fact, Vindlevale once had…"

Chihiro blinked once, then twice as Haldor ranted in the most anger-filled daze that she had ever seen. Even Eruptor when he happened to wake up on the wrong side of the bed wasn't as bad as this!

"Can't you just break the wall down?" Chihiro asked with a shrug and an uneasy smile, "I mean, that sounds easy enough to me."

"No, not at all!" Haldor shook his head as if to exemplify his point, "'Cause whenever people try to come n' get close to the wall, they shoot 'em away with their snowball cannons! The only way we could stop them is if we had something of our own to retaliate with!"—Haldor then paused as a sly smile played across his face, his anger now forgotten—"Like a catapult!"

"A CATAPULT?!" Chihiro's hands balled into fists as she smiled, her eyes lit up like fireworks at the very suggestion, "DOES THAT MEAN I GET TO BLOW STUFF UP?!"

"Chihiro, no!" Spyro shouted as he shot her a glance.

"You bet'cha, missy!" Haldor exclaimed, completely oblivious to the dumbfounded look Spyro gave him, "Now that I think about it, there used to be a nice big one around here!"

Chihiro made a sharp gasp and bounced up and down.

"C'mon, where is it?" Chihiro asked, her smile wider and wider.

"… But, it got destroyed by those ice ogres when they arrived here! And then they scattered its parts all across the island!" Haldor shook his head, "Saw it myself, I did! They rocketed across the sky like shootin' stars!"

"So you need us to find those parts, right?" Chihiro smiled and nodded furiously, "Well, count us in!"

"I like your spirit, miss!" Haldor cleared his throat and rubbed a fist against his chest, "Anyway, if I recall correctly from what I saw, the first part is right around here, so you won' have much trouble findin' it. I'd get it myself, but…"—Haldor chuckled and twirled a lock of his beard—"All this cold's no good for old folks like me, so I'll jus' leave it in you young'uns capabale hands! WA-HOOO!"

And right after that, Haldor disappeared into thin air and left the entrances to two split paths in front of him!

Chihiro stood in front of the Skylanders, her head tilted as she examined the pathways, then turned back to the Skylanders.

"I think we should split up. After all, if what Haldor said is true, it could make it easier to find the parts if we work in two groups instead of one." Chihiro then pointed to the eastern pathway, "Spyro, Gill, you search the eastern path of the island with me."

"Right!" Spyro and Gill Grunt said before they ran through the snow and stopped at the pathway's mouth.

"And Eruptor, Slam Bam, you search the western path!" Chihiro said as she pointed towards the gaping entryway of the western path, "Good luck and stay warm!"

"You got it, Chihiro!" Slam Bam said as he turned around, then realized that Chihiro had left with Spyro and Gill and sighed.

With a firm grasp on Eruptor's round hand, Slam Bam dragged Eruptor towards the western path, their mission clear before them…

§

Spyro, Gill, and Chihiro, meanwhile, were running through snowdrifts as they tried to stay warm in this bone-chilling weather. It was bitterly cold like no other bitterly cold winter any of them had even experienced, and with the snow poured down on them like heavy rain in the spring, it only got worse.

"See anything yet?" Chihiro asked, a hand held over her eyes like a shield as she shivered.

"Nothing yet, Chihiro… Though then again, you can't see much of anything here," Spyro said as he kept his golden eyes on lookout for any forms of life, "All you can see is snow and ice!"

"You got that right." Chihiro sighed as she closed her eyes, snapped her fingers and magicked up a fluffy parka made of aqua magic energy, "You guys needs coats too?"

"Yes, please," Gill Grunt sputtered as he shuddered in the bitter cold. All this cold was probably no good for a fish like him, after all.

With a snap of Chihiro's fingers, warm, fluffy coats made of magic energy manifested on Spyro and Gill Grunt' bodies! The two of them oohed and aahed as they examined the coats, then smiled as they tightened them up and basked in the warmth the two parks provided.

Chihiro basked in her work, a proud stance taken for a few moments until her ears perked up as she heard the faintest voices from a conversation.

"So, as Lord Kaos said…"

Chihiro pushed Spyro and Gill down before anyone could see then and ducked beneath a small snow castle.

"What was that for, Chihiro?!" Spyro hissed as he glared over towards Chihiro.

Chihiro quickly shushed Spyro before she looked over the castle and pointed.

"I think I hear someone talking, listen!" Chihiro hissed, her voice kept down to the lowest volume possible.

Spyro promptly shut his mouth as he and Gill Grunt peered over the castle. The snowstorm had let up only slightly, which allowed for slightly enhanced visibility of the surroundings! As their eyes gazed around for the voice's sources, they rested on a path a few feet straight ahead and froze—metaphorically, not literally.

There, a giant, green-skinned ogre with a tall, black mohawk who wore icy blue camouflage and a sash of gems around their chest was talking with what appeared to be a clone of Gill Grunt that was entirely black save for the specks of blue Water Magic that floated around its body here and there.

"Noodles and his ice ogres will not let you down," said the ogre, their voice gruff and gravely, "Noodles and his ice ogres will do a great job. Noodles and his ice ogres—"

"Will be executed this minute if they ramble all day and don't actually do their job!" Snapped the gillman creature as it bore a scowl.

Gill Grunt widened his eyes as he let go of the snow castle's walls.

"How come that guy looks like you, Gill?" Chihiro asked, her wide brown eyes trained on Gill.

"That's one of Kaos's minions," Gill Grunt whispered back as he looked over at Chihiro and then back at the gillman, "He's an evil clone of me… But what's he doing here?"

"Now, just keep guarding the wall, and keep an eye out for the portal master apprentice and her Skylanders. Lord Kaos doesn't want any of them here," the gillman said as it held up a webbed finger.

"KAOS is behind all this?!" Spyro, Gill Grunt and Chihiro all exclaimed at one at the highest volume they could muster without being heard, their gazes all wide and surprised.

"Well, I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose," Gill Grunt remarked as he coughed into his webbed hand and collected himself, "But what would he have to gain from taking over this tiny little island?"

"That doesn't matter, Gill," Spyro whispered back, his voice full of venom, "We need to get out of here and get to stopping him!"

His mouth twisted into a snarl, Spyro then dashed out from behind the castle of ice! It was as if impulse completely took him over as he stood in the frosty snow, his eyes flashed red and smoke clouded around his muzzle.

"Hey, Spyro, wait!" Chihiro exclaimed as she and Gill Grunt followed in pursuit.

As Spyro's mouth filled with crackling, red-hot flames, he opened his jaw and got ready to shoot out a sun-hot fireball… Only to get tackled into the snow. Spyro let out a shout of surprise as cold and weight enveloped his body, then shook the snow off of his head and looked up at a very stern-looking Chihiro.

"What was that for?!" Spyro exclaimed as he bore his fangs, "I was about ready to burn them!"

"You just ran off out of nowhere! Those creeps coulda seen you!" Chihiro snapped back as she crossed her arms, "I was just trying to keep you safe!"

"Chihiro, I know what I'm doing—if you hadn't stopped me, we wouldn't have even had to worry about them!"

"Uh, Spyro, Chihiro?" Gill Grunt intervened as he tugged on the back of Chihiro's parka, "Maybe we should keep it down a little—they are right—"

"Do you hear that?" Said the gillman's sinister, gargling voice as it craned its head just a tad to the right… And saw Spyro, Gill Grunt and Chihiro!

"There they are, you incompetent!" The Gillman shouted as he pointed at Chihiro, then watched as Noodles turned around and gasped.

"Hey," Gill Grunt finished as he gently shook Chihiro, "You two might wanna speed it up a little!"

"Why?" Spyro and Chihiro asked in unison.

"Because they found us!"

"They have?!" Spyro and Chihiro both looked back at Gill Grunt, who only pointed a webbed finger aside.

The finger led to where the gillman and Noodles stood and watched, completely dumbfounded as they stared back at Gill Grunt.

"The portal master and her Skylanders!" Noodles exclaimed at last as he stumbled back.

"Well don't just stand there, you incompetent!" The gillman hissed, "Catch them! We can't have them interfering with Lord Kaos's plan!"

"Noodles will not let you down, sir!" Noodles jumped up and then stood tall and rigid as he broke into a salute, "Noodles will capture the portal master and the Skylanders! Noodles will deliver them to Kaos!"

"Quick, now's our chance!" Spyro whispered as he wormed his way out from under Chihiro, "Run!"

With frantic nods of understanding, the three of them dashed off as fast as they could! As Spyro took to the skies and darted ahead, Chihiro snagged Gill Grunt's hand and bit her lip.

"Okay, come on, magic affliction thingie…" Chihiro whispered as she clasped the collar of her parka tight, "Make me super fast!"

As she spoke these words, Chihiro channeled all her magic and all her might into her feet, then looked down and saw them shimmer in a bright cyan against the snow! Now filled with energy, Chihiro beamed and ran off at the speed of light!

"Woohoo! Now I know how cheetahs feel!" Chihiro shouted as she raced past Spyro, her voice echoed against the snowy valleys with cheer… Then…

"WAIT, WAIT, TOO FAST! TOO FAST! STOP, SLOW DOWN, PLEASE—" Chihiro's shouts were muffled by the sound of someone falling into snow, "I meant to do that!"

"Noodles will make absolutely certain that—" Noodles promised—only for him to get a sharp, wet slap from the gillman.

"YOU IMBECILE!" The gillman screamed as it pointed to the space where Chihiro and the Skylanders once rested, which was now completely devoid of life, "ALL THIS TIME, YOU JUST RAMBLED ON AND ON WHEN YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN THEM!"

"Wait, Noodles did?" Noodles paused and looked over to where the gillman was pointing only for his jaw to drop, "Oh no, Noodles did!"

Now in a complete panic, Noodles flailed his arms like they had never flailed before!

"What'll we do, what'll we do?! Lord Kaos will be very mad at us if we let them escape!" Noodles ran in circles around the gillman, which was probably a feat in itself given the sheer amount of snow piled all over the place.

"Calm down, you incompetent!" the gillman slapped its fin against Noodles' face a second time, only for its fishy face to turn sly as Noodles paid attention to it once more, "Have we forgotten the blizzard machine?"

"Ooh, ooh, Noodles like the blizzard machine!" Noodles frowned as he placed a finger against his chin, "What's the blizzard machine?"

The gillman slapped its fin against his forehead. It then grabbed a mechanical, box-shaped remote with a snowflake knob out of its pocket and turned the knob clockwise twice.

"This ought to slow them down for a while," it whispered. As it spoke, snow began falling down from the heavens and a smirk fell across its dark, wet lips.

"And give us just enough time to catch them."

§

"Slam," Eruptor whined as he tapped Slam Bam's shoulder, "Slam! Slaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmm—"

"What is it, Ruptor?" Slam Bam asked, though he had a feeling he knew what Eruptor was going to say.

"Do you see any signs of a catapult part anywhere? Because I sure can't!"

"Not yet," Slam didn't even bother to look at Eruptor as he trudged forwards.

"Then again, you can't see much of anything in this blizzard." Eruptor squinted his eyes and held a round hand over his eyes, "All you can see is snow, snow, snow for miles on end!"

"That couldn't be more true." Slam crossed his arms as he spoke, "Whoever caused this blizzard pulled out all the stops."

Slam then looked over to the other side of the area, which was nearly identical to the area they were in and grimaced just slightly. Having grown up on an iceberg, Slam was normally pretty good at navigating snowy terrains in even the fiercest blizzards—but now, he may have met his match.

"Come on, Ruptor." Slam stomped all over the powdery snow, "Maybe we'll have more luck if we go further."

Eruptor tried to follow, but he fell over himself and landed head-first in a snow pile with a yelp of surprise.

"Ruptor!" Slam turned around and found Eruptor lying head-first in an abnormally large snow bank.

Eruptor soon pulled his head out of the bank, shook the snow that hadn't melted from the heat off of his head and pouted as he crossed his arms.

"I hate snow," Eruptor grumbled, then paused to brush snowflakes off his top.

"Yeah, I know." Slam Bam chuckled and rolled his eyes. "C'mon 'Ruptor, lemme help you up,"—Slam Bam then walked over to where Eruptor was and pulled him up—"Y'know, you're almost kind of cute when you're grumpy."

Slam gently nuzzled the top of Eruptor's head with his nose, then smiled as Eruptor quickly turned away.

"Slammm..." Eruptor turned away, his body a bit warmer than usual as the slightest smile now stretched across his own volcanic face, "You know that always makes me melt…"

Before Slam Bam could reply, however, another voice broke into the conversation.

"Well, well, look what we have here. A couple of Skylanders, poking their noses where they shouldn't be."

It was a deep voice, much like Slam Bam's, and yet, it wasn't his at all.

And as Eruptor trembled and clung to Slam, they both turned around and screamed with horror.

Right in front of Slam Bam was a yeti much like him, except this yeti was made entirely out of darkness save for the specks of blue Water magic that floated around in its body!

"So, looks like the Skylanders made it here after all," the yeti said while it stomped in front of Slam Bam with every piercing word, "Lord Kaos should be happy to see you."

Slam balled his hands into fists while Eruptor shuddered from both the cold and the tension. Then, without warning, Eruptor hacked out a giant magma ball which tumbled all around in the snow!

"Sorry," Eruptor apologized as he scratched the back of his head.

However, something else kicked the magma ball out of the area and joined the evil version of Slam Bam! It looked exactly like Eruptor, except it was entirely black save for specks of red fire magic that floated in the giant mass of darkness it called a body. Everything about it radiated evil—from the fanged grin it made as it watched Eruptor stare at it with complete shock to the heat that radiated off its body.

"So, what should we do with them?" the evil Eruptor asked, a malicious gaze on its face.

"I say we should bring them to…" The evil yeti bellowed, then paused for moments before it spoke again, this time with a dramatic tone…

"THE DUNGEONS! Dun dun DUN!"

"We don't have a dungeon here, genius." The evil Eruptor just looked with disdain at the evil yeti.

"Then we'll just have to make one." The evil yeti folded its four arms together.

"We don't have the time to make a dungeon, either!" The Eruptor shook a hand at the yeti.

"Nevermind that then! Let's just get them!" The evil yeti gave Slam Bam a dark stare that said one thing—he was ready to fight!

"I've been itching to take some prisoners."

"What makes you think we'll go down without a fight?" Slam Bam said, his yellow eyes narrowed and his knuckles cracked.

With a mighty roar, Slam Bam jumped forward and threw a punch at the evil yeti, but the evil yeti only blocked it with its own fist! With a smirk it thrust forward and tossed Slam Bam into a snowdrift, but Slam Bam wasn't going to give up so easily. He staggered out of the snow right as the evil yeti leaped after him and grabbed its balled fists with his hands!

The two of them were locked in combat! Neither party budged as they both tried unsuccessfully to push each other away. After all, that evil yeti was Slam Bam's complete equal in ability—their strength was perfectly matched.

But, if I can't stop him, then he can't stop me, Slam Bam thought as he narrowed his furry eyebrows, Hopefully this can buy Ruptor enough time to stop them…

Slam Bam heard a yowl of pain and looked over the evil yeti's muscular shoulder to find Eruptor face-first into the snow, completely unconscious! Eruptor's evil counterpart stood tall and leering over the good half, its blank eyes trained on Slam Bam.

Slam Bam gasped and loosened his grip, only for the yeti to punch him right in his slack jaw. Slam Bam didn't care, though—the pain was only an afterthought as he stumbled out and raced to Eruptor's side.

"Ruptor, you alright?" Slam asked as he tried to shake Eruptor awake, but it was useless—Eruptor was out cold.

"And now for you," growled the evil yeti.

Slam Bam felt a shadow drop over him, and looked up to see that both the evil yeti and evil Eruptor had circled around him! Before he could react, they both conked him upside the head simultaneously and left behind a pain so intense it made his vision go fuzzy!

And with that, the world went dark.

§

"Say, guys, think we're getting closer to that part?" Chihiro asked as she held onto Gill Grunt's fin.

"Can't tell," Spyro replied as his wings flapped hard against the bitter winter air, "Too much snow."

The three of them stopped and paused as they looked over the endless plains of powdery snow while more snowflakes poured down by the second.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure this snowstorm wasn't nearly as bad when we got here," Chihiro said as she looked behind them and let go of Gill's fin, "We'd better find those parts before it gets worse!"

With nothing else to say, the three of them walked forward in an infinite journey. No matter how far they walked, the winds grew colder, the snow grew bigger, and everything around them slowly devolved into endless masses of powder.

Spyro shook his head as he tried to clear his vision, but it was no use—there was nothing but snow for miles on end! As he gave up on seeing anything other than snow, Spyro looked back at Gill Grunt, who only shrugged his scaly shoulders.

"I can't see a thing, Spyro!" Gill Grunt said while his eyes moved back and forth as he tried to find anything other than snow.

"You and me both, Gill." Spyro careened his head and peeked a glimpse behind Gill Grunt, "Hey, Chi, do you see anything back there?"

But he didn't get a response—only silence.

"Chi? Chihiro?" Spyro walked to the rear of their group, but found no one!

"Chihiro!" Spyro called with a paw cupped round his mouth, a drop of fear in his voice.

But there was no response. It was completely silent other than his echo and the howling, bitterly cold winds.

"Gill, Gill, we've got a problem!" Spyro shouted as he looked back at Gill Grunt, "I think we've lost Chihiro!"

"Wait, what?" Gill turned around and looked at the rear of the group, "But she was behind us just a couple steps ago!"

"She must've gotten lost in all this snow." Spyro then tried to fly through the snow, but found it was near impossible—the strong winds kept him down on the ground, "We've gotta find her!"

In an absolute refusal to be deterred, Spyro staggered back up and trudged through the snow, but the winds continued to press down on him and made it near-impossible for him to move. As Spyro was pushed down to the ground, Gill quickly grabbed Spyro and pulled him back up.

"Easy there, Spy," Gill Grunt asked as he watched Spyro nod, then looked up across the snowy valleys, "I wanna find her too, but we need to figure out where we are first! I can't tell my left from my right in this place with all this snow!"

Spyro then flew up again, swerved his head and found that Gill was right—there was nothing but snow and ice for miles on end, and it was growing—fast. As Spyro stopped flying for the thirtieth time and dropped to the cold ground, he noticed one thing immediately—the snow was already up to their waists, and it was covering them fast.

"For that matter, maybe we should worry about getting out of here first, Gill," Spyro tried to trudge through the snow but found that he could barely lift his legs, which were beginning to feel numb.

He then turned around and found Gill Grunt trying to push the snow away, but Gill Grunt had no luck. It was far too massive for one gillman and dragon all on their own to clear.

"I know, a fireball ought to do the trick!" Spyro snapped a claw and smirked.

But, when he cast one of his fireballs, it just shrunk to small embers!

"Crap!" Spyro exclaimed before he frowned deeply. Flames crackled at his mouth, Spyro shot out another barrage of fireballs, but they all had the same fate—they simply shrunk and disappeared like each one before them.

Spyro panted heavily while his head bobbed up and down. The smoke that formed around his jaws completely diminished and his wings slowly dropped down.

"There's… Gotta, be, a…" Spyro never got to finish his sentence, for his vision went black and he passed out in the snow!

"SPYRO!" Gill Grunt grabbed Spyro and picked up his unconscious body, "Spyro, are you okay?! Wake up!"

However, Gill Grunt himself dropped Spyro back into the snow as his feet swayed back and forth. Soon enough, Gill Grunt passed out as well, his body laid around Spyro's as the snow piled up around them…

§

When Slam awoke, his vision was as blurry as blurry could be! But, with a groan and a quick shake of his head, his consciousness turned clear. Though the pain from the nice little bump those evil clones gave him lingered, he did feel a little more rested and recovered now.

Those grunts are going to beg for mercy when I'm done with them, Slam growled mentally as he cracked his knuckles, For now, though, I need to find out where Ruptor is—and where we are.

Slam Bam heard a soft moan close by and turned over to find Eruptor, who was still unconscious but otherwise intact. Slam Bam then breathed a sigh of relief and gently shook Eruptor.

"Ruptor, wake up," Slam whispered as his eyes darted around the area, "C'mon, Ruptor, now's no time for a snow-cat nap!"

"N-no ma, I don' wanna go to school, all the other lava monsters will make fun of me..." Eruptor mumbled as he tossed and turned in his sleep.

"Eruptor, what are you talking about?" Slam Bam furrowed his brow.

With another groan, Eruptor's eyes scrunched together and then slowly opened. He seemed oddly peaceful as he blinked a couple times, probably still in a sleepy haze—but that was not to last as he awoke fully and swerved his head left and right, his eyes wide with panic.

"Slam Bam, are you there!?" Eruptor yelped as he looked around, now raw with panic.

Slam Bam cautiously placed a clawed hand on Eruptor's shoulder, but that wasn't so wise. Eruptor's anxiety made him burn up a thousand times more—literally—and seared Slam Bam's hand! With a burn and a yelp, Slam quickly retreated his hand and blew on his scorched palm.

Eruptor stopped short, then looked up at Slam Bam and beamed.

"Slam, there you are!" Eruptor exclaimed as he wrapped Slam Bam in a hug, his body notably cooler now, "For a minute I thought they took you away!"

Eruptor looked around the area, as did Slam Bam, and they both found that it was the polar opposite—pun intended—of where they once were. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and all around them grew a wide variety of flowers and lush green grass.

"Slam, where are we?" Eruptor clung to one of Slam Bam's muscular arms as his mouth dipped into a soft frown.

"I have absolutely no idea." Slam whispered in awe as he watched a pair of butterflies fly by them.

"Well, wherever this place is, they need to fix their air conditioning! It's getting really chilly!" Eruptor shivered before he was lifted off the ground by Slam Bam.

"And wherever this place is, we need to get out of here. We've got to get back to Vindlevale!" Slam Bam hugged Eruptor tight and made a heavy sprint across the grassy green fields.

As they ran, Eruptor's eyes glazed across the fields before he saw something that made those eyes of his practically pop out of his skull!

"Slam, stop! Look at this!" Eruptor frantically nudged Slam Bam as he pointed at the object.

"Look at what, Rupt—Woah!" Slam Bam stopped and turned around to find out what Eruptor was pointing at!

There, frozen in a giant block of ice that was slowly melting away were Spyro and Gill Grunt, both completely unconscious!

"Spyro? Gill?" Slam asked as he tilted his head, then heard mumbling and ducked behind the giant ice block, "How'd they get trapped in there?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Slam." Eruptor tilted his head as well before he frowned and jumped out of Slam Bam's arms, "But we need to get them out!"

Slam Bam crackled his knuckles and nodded, about ready to throw some punches when…

"Yes, Lord Kaos, the Skylanders have been secured," said someone with a gargling, malevolent voice, who then paused as the person they were communicating with said something just out of Slam Bam and Eruptor's hearing range.

As Slam Bam and Eruptor paused and looked over, someone else came by while they mumbled something to someone else via a small, metal communicator pinned to their wrist. This person looked almost exactly like Gill Grunt, except its body was made of nothing but black darkness and the occasional speck or piece of blue water magic, and whatever its were doing, it seemed perfectly absorbed in that thing—as its eyes were completely trained on the grassy ground.

"The others? Oh, don't worry about them, they're unconscious thanks to the Evil Lava Monster and the Evil Ice Yeti. Four whole Skylanders, in our clutches and primed to be delivered to you! What joy~" The gillman said as it brushed a webbed foot against the grass.

"He's talking about us!" Eruptor and Slam Bam whispered sharply as they exchanged panicked glances at each other.

"We need to get them out." Eruptor shook just a tiny bit more as his body heated up a few degrees, "Because I have a feeling that they're going to do something to them, and it won't be something pretty. Not like this place, anyway."

"Wait, who needs to get them out, Lord Kaos?" The gillman said, "Lord Kaos, what are you…"—The gillman looked up and its jaw promptly dropped—"… I'll call you back, Lord Kaos."

As it turned off the communicator, the gillman growled and whipped out a giant harpoon gun, while Eruptor and Slam Bam readied their battle stances. The gillman pulled the trigger on its gun and shot out rapid-fire blasts of water, but Slam was equally quick to respond as he tossed out blasts of ice in exchange!

The two forced collided in a mighty blasts that froze the water blasts into solid icicles! But nevertheless, they followed their trajectory—not that Slam Bam was worried. As soon as they flew near him, he grabbed each and every icicle and shot it back at the gillman!

The gillman only scoffed as it darted out the way of every single icicle and laughed.

"You really think that's going to stop me?!" The gillman asked with a remarkable snide tone.

"Not really," Slam Bam admitted as he shook his head, "But this might!"

Slam Bam raced off with a heavy dash, his bulky hands balled into fists, and punched the gillman right in its slippery gut! Slam watched with pride as the gillman made a choking noise and flew a couple feet across the air! It was definitely done for now!… Except the gillman grabbed tight onto the straps of its jetpack and sent itself flying! As water pounded down onto the ground and probably gave the plants a good drink, it flew back around and landed in front of Slam Bam, a sneer on its slick lips.

"What does Kaos want with that place?!" Slam Bam growled as he cracked his knuckles and went after the gillman once more.

"I wouldn't know, snow for brains!" The evil gillman shot back as it dodged a punch from Slam Bam and jumped on his extended arm, "I just follow orders! And besides, even if I supposedly did why would I tell you?"

The gillman whipped out its gun and shot a stream of scalding water directly at Slam Bam, which caused him to stumble backwards and fall on his back! As he wiped the water off his face and stood back up, Slam clenched his teeth.

"You're hiding something, aren't you?!" Slam Bam crafted several giant blocks of ice and shot them at the gillman, "Tell me, now! What does Kaos want with Vindlevale?!"

"You don't seem to like listening, do you?" The gillman casually dodged every single ice block Slam Bam threw its way, "I told you already, you giant—OOF!"

The gillman was promptly body slammed by another, even larger ice statue and sent on its back.

"Listen, this place has to have something Kaos wants." Slam Bam walked forward as he stretched his arms, completely ready to fight, "What is it?!"

"I told you, I don't know?!" The gillman looked to its side, saw its harpoon gun and promptly rolled across to it, "You Skylanders are all the same, so obstinate!"

The gillman grabbed its harpoon gun, and in a flash it loaded a harpoon into the barrel and fired straight at Slam Bam!

"And I've lost my patience! Good talking to you, yeti!"

The harpoon barreled dangerously close to Slam Bam, about ready to strike… And was promptly pushed out the way by what could only be described as a giant blob of magma!

"HUH?!"

"Forgetting someone?" Shouted a familiar, gravely voice as another magma blob slammed into the gillman and rolled it across the battlefield, a path of flames left in its wake.

"Ruptor!" Slam Bam called as he turned around and saw Eruptor blow off his giant, flaming hands.

Eruptor beamed up at Slam Bam, a peaceful silence between the two… Until Eruptor was blown back by a giant stream of hot water! Slam Bam gasped and looked ahead to find that the gillman had gotten back on its fins!

"Ruptor!" Slam Bam called as he ran back to Eruptor's side.

Thankfully, Eruptor wasn't harmed at all by the sudden blast—just a little annoyed as he shook the water off. Eruptor looked up at the clear blue sky and smiled, then his stomach rumbled and he gulped.

"That can't be good," Eruptor said as he rubbed his stomach… Then his cheeks puffed…

And within moments, Eruptor hacked up a stream of lava that poured through the fields—and scorched the evil gillman, who jumped at least a foot in the air as it yowled in pain.

"Seriously, Ruptor?!" Slam Bam exclaimed as he gave Eruptor a dark, lancing glare.

"Sorry, allergies acting up." Eruptor gave Slam a sheepish look as he shrugged his rocky shoulders.

The evil gillman landed on its back as its body disappeared into dark blue sphere of magic that laid dormant on the grass. All around, the lava quickly cooled into volcanic rock and made the fields look a lot less prettier than before.

"Well, at least that took care of that." Slam Bam stepped out from the giant ice prison, then walked past the spheres and frowned, "Now, next order of business—how do we get them out?"

Slam Bam and Eruptor looked back up at Spyro and Gill Grunt's icy prison, then narrowed their eyes.

"I'll go first." Slam Bam readied his fists, "I've got a lot of experience working with ice!"

Slam Bam promptly punched the ice, then felt a sharp pain surge through his body and released his fists.

"It's rock solid!" Slam Bam exclaimed as he rubbed his aching hands.

"Alright then, let me try! Maybe we just need to turn up the heat!" Eruptor gleefully skipped ahead and held out his hands, "You might wanna stand back."

As Slam Bam heeded Eruptor's warning, Eruptor clapped his hands and caused molten hot lava to spill out!… Molten hot lava that promptly cooled and turned to rock in seconds.

Both Slam Bam and Eruptor stood with jaws gaped. Clearly they needed a new plan…

"You think this is magic ice or something?" Eruptor asked as he looked over at Slam Bam.

"I doubt it—I've worked with magic ice plenty, and this ain't it." Slam Bam shook his furry head as if to affirm his statement.

"And why's it gotten so cold?" Eruptor shuddered and looked aside only to see several snowflakes fly past them, "Snowflakes?"

As more snowflakes flew past them, the two of them ran over to what they presumed was the flakes' source. As they ran farther and farther, the wind grew even more chilling and frost started to decorate the flora—as if winter was on its way…

Slam Bam frowned and looked around to see small snow piles formed and scattered across the snow, then felt a chill rush through his bone. It was awfully cold—and he didn't mind that by itself, no, but why was it so cold in a place that was so sunny and warm?

Slam stared over at the snowdrifts a few more times with concern, then felt something warm brush against his skin.

"Slam, look at this!" Eruptor exclaimed as he looked in front of them.

Slam Bam followed his gaze and gasped!

There in front of them was a giant wall made entirely of snow and ice! It was massive, about the size of several castles stacked on top of each other, and its snow glistened in the sunlight but refused to melt.

"Wait a second…" Slam Bam said as he placed a hand on his furry chin, "I don't think they took us away FROM Vindlevale… I think this place IS Vindlevale!"

"What?" Eruptor turned back to Slam Bam and frowned.

"Remember what that Haldor dude was talking about?" Slam Bam rubbed his chin further, his mind in contemplation, "About how this was warm and sunny until how this ice wall was built?"

"Oh, that thing!" Eruptor chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "… I wasn't really paying attention to him."

Slam Bam playfully rolled his eyes, then looked over the wall. There was a thin, round crack in the shape of a door near the bottom of the wall. The crack was done in what seemed to be a perfect image—almost a little TOO perfect, even.

With a frown, Slam Bam walked over to the ice that surrounded the crack and gently pushed on it—then reeled back just a bit as the ice receded and revealed a pathway! Slam Bam peered inside, and saw that at the end was indeed the icy Vindlevale they once roamed.

"C'mon Ruptor!" Slam Bam raced inside the pathway, "We've got no time to lose!"

§

"Spyro? Gill?" Chihiro called as she shuddered and drew her magic parka close to her body. It was so, so cold, and even with the intense heat her parka provided she still felt chilled to the very bone.

"Are you there, guys?" Tears formed in Chihiro's eyes as she sat in the snow piles. She should have never taken that wrong turn. For all she knew, Spyro and Gill could be lost or hurt or even worse!

"What am I gonna do?" Chihiro sighed to herself as she glazed over the lands before her—still covered in snow, snow and more snow, still completely lost to her mind, still had those oddly familiar voices...

"Have you gotten any messages—"

"Is that Slam Bam?" Chihiro whispered to herself as her ears perked up and her face gained a half-smile.

Chihiro turned around, saw a faint, yellow light, and her grin grew even wider as she tumbled over the snow banks and found that she was correct! There, right in front of her, were Slam Bam and Eruptor! Granted, they hadn't seemed to have noticed her yet, and something about them seemed off but she couldn't pin down what… Oh, what did that matter? She found them, at least, and that was all that really mattered right now!

"Guys!" Chihiro shouted as she waved towards them.

The two of them looked over to Chihiro and stopped short, then muttered something among themselves.

"Uh, uh… You kid!" Slam Bam called as he walked towards her in a manner that seemed just a bit distant…

Chihiro frowned and tilted her head.

"My name's Chihiro, silly!" Chihiro replied, then frowned a bit deeper as Slam Bam froze.

"Oh, oh, yes, I knew that, it's just the cold getting to me and all!" Slam Bam said, "Anyways, what's been going on—"

Slam Bam stopped short as Chihiro grabbed his rough hands and looked up at him with teary eyes.

"Look, after the blizzard I got separated from Spyro and GillandIcan'tfindthemandIthinktheymightbe—"

Slam Bam and Eruptor just blinked once… Then twice… Then three times in a row as the blankly watched Chihiro cry.

"Uh, slow down, start from the beginning," Eruptor said as he broke into a wary frown.

"Yeah, slow down," Slam Bam added, "What're you crying about?"

As her tears fell and froze on her cheeks, Chihiro wiped the tiny icicles away and meekly stared at them.

"Well, when we split up Spyro, Gill and I were trying for that catapult part that wizard dude wanted, but then the blizzard got really nasty and I lost sight of them!" Chihiro sniffled as she bit her lip, "… I tried looking for them, but all this snow covered up everything and now I can't anything apart! And on top of all that I still haven't found that stupid catapult part!"

Chihiro sniffled and rubbed her nose, then looked up to see Slam Bam and Eruptor… Smiling? What the heck? What's there to be happy about right now?

"Why're you guys smiling?"

Slam Bam jolted as his grin turned uneasy.

"Well, er, uh, we're just, um so happy to see that you're alright!" Slam Bam exclaimed as he nodded.

"Yeah, yeah!" Eruptor affirmed before he grabbed Slam Bam's arm, "Can Slam Bam and I talk for a bit?"

"Uh, sure, I guess?" Chihiro tilted her head as she watched them walk away.

That was strange… Eruptor almost never called Slam Bam by his full name—had they gotten into a fight with each other while they had gotten split up? She was too preoccupied to worry that much about it. Her eyes glazed over where Slam Bam and Eruptor were discussing something among themselves in hushed whispers, then turned around and waved at her before they talked some more.

With another nod, the two of them walked back to Chihiro with oddly wide grins.

"Don't you worry a hair on your little head," Eruptor said as he gently tapped her head to affirm his statement, "We'll find the other Skylanders and make sure this place gets taken care of!"

"… Are you guys feeling alright?" Chihiro whispered as she dusted the powdery snow from her person.

"O-oh course!" Eruptor giggled and held his hands together, "What could possibly make you think otherwise?"

"Well, you keep talking really funny and you keep making these weird smiles and—"

Eruptor only continue to laugh as tiny rocks dropped form his body.

"Well, er, you see—"

"LET'S NOT WORRY ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW!" Slam Bam exclaimed as he pushed Eruptor aside, "Right now, we should probably worry about getting that catapult thingie you were looking for!"

"I guess you're right," Chihiro said with a shrug as she stampeded forward. As she walked though, she couldn't shake this feeling of unease—like there was something loomed over her and ready to strike!

With a frown she turned around to find Slam Bam and Eruptor both leaned so far over her they looked like they were about ready to topple over! They had abnormally wide grins on their faces, and all their arms were behind their backs.

"Slam? Eruptor?" Chihiro tilted her head, "Do you feel funny too?"

"Like what?"

"Like there's something getting ready to attack you at any moment funny?" Chihiro made a confused look as Slam Bam and Eruptor both laughed.

"It's probably just the tension from the mission," Slam Bam said as he patted Chihiro's shoulder and turned her to the front, "Don't worry about it!"

Chihiro bit her lip and threw her hand in her sweatpants. As she did, it made a subtle glow—just a warm-up, a precaution just in case. As she walked further, she felt that dangerous presence again and turned around—but once again, it was just Slam Bam and Eruptor walking through the snow.

While Slam Bam could easily traverse the snowy banks and mounds of ice, Eruptor could only trudge through the bone-numbing cold—but surprisingly, not one complaint came from his mouth.

That's weird, Chihiro thought as she cast Eruptor a glance, Usually, he'd be complaining about how cold it is, or how he can't get anywhere with his stubby lil' legs! Something's definitely up, but what—

Chihiro then stopped short as she looked forward and saw something vaguely brownish poke out from a snow pile!

"There!" Chihiro scrambled forward, yanked the object out of the snow pile and smiled widely. Because there in her hand was what appeared to be the broken and splintered parts of a catapult's bottom, complete with worn wheels—the first part she sought for so long!

"Guys! Guys, I found it!" Chihiro shouted as she looked around—but Slam Bam and Eruptor were nowhere to be seen!

"Guys?"

Chihiro bit her lip as her head swerved all around, a sense of dread crawled up on her.

"So you did, did you?"

As footsteps made their way towards her, Chihiro looked up and froze in fear.

Because the people that stood in front of her weren't Slam Bam and Eruptor—they were evil clones! As she held the piece of the catapult close to her heart, Chihiro climbed up a snow bank and narrowly missed a statue of ice shot by the evil Slam Bam copy.

"You guys are Kaos's cronies!" Chihiro exclaimed as her heart pounded.

"Ding, ding, ding, give the girl a prize~" crowed the evil version of Eruptor, who had an evil sneer across its molten lava lips.

"Yeah, yeah, can we get to the fight now?!" The evil Slam Bam said as it crackled its knuckles and bore its sharp, sharp teeth.

Chihiro just kept backing up, the catapult piece still clutched to her heart. She knew something was up! She really should've trusted her gut!

"What did you do to the real Slam Bam and Eruptor?!" Chihiro demanded as her brow furrowed, "You better not have—"

"Oh, don't worry, Lord Kaos will be very kind to them—if you come along quietly."

As the evil Slam Bam and Eruptor advanced on her, Chihiro threw her hidden hand out in front of her person! A bright, cyan light shot out from her hand, its harshness only amplified by the shining snow. While the evil clones reeled back in shock, Chihiro dashed off with a pounding heart.

"She's getting away, get her!" The evil Eruptor shouted in the distance.

As Chihiro ran, she heard the sound of pounding footsteps and upturned snow, then turned around to see they were hot on her trail! With a gasp, she tried to run faster, but her body was starting from exhaustion.

I need to cast that speed spell again! Chihiro thought as she held the catapult close to her heart and closed her eyes, C'mon, c'mon…

Chihiro felt a soft glow emit and opened her eyes to see her feet glow for a minute… Then go out instantly. No magic sensation, no increased speed—nope, nadda.

Okay, let's try this again! Chihiro focused a second time, but with the same results as before—looks like she was too unfocused to cast!

Of all the times to not be able to use my powers, it had to be this time! Chihiro smacked her hand against her forehead as she ran to a snowbank.

Her body finally at its limit, she collapsed onto the snow and panted heavily as she hugged the catapult piece close to her heart. As her whole body ached from the cold and the running, she felt a shadow cast over her and looked up to find that the evil clones had caught up!

"You gave us a lot of trouble, kid," The evil Slam Bam said as it clasped its hands together and grinned, "But I'm sure the promotion from Lord Kaos will be worth it!"

The two of them laughed and walked forward as Chihiro scrambled back only to bump into something cold and hard—crap, she was stuck! As the two of them imposed themselves over her, Chihiro gulped and bit her lip, stuck in a frantic haze when…

SMACK!

A snowball hit the evil Slam Bam in the back of the head! In a fit of shock it shouted out and fell into the snow.

"Back off of her, you creeps!"

Chihiro heard another familiar voice and her soul soared. There, right across from her were the actual Slam Bam and Eruptor, armed with snowballs and not afraid to use them!

"Slam! Rupty! It really is you!" Chihiro shouted before her smile turned into a frown, "It, IS you, right?"

"No time to talk, Chi! We've got some evil clones to handle!" shouted back Slam Bam as he tossed another snowball!

The evil Eruptor growled as the snow immediately melted, only for at least ten more to smack it square in the face!

Eruptor went to grab a snowball… But it just melted in his grasp. He only sighed, then shot out blobs of magma at the evil clones!

However, before they could make contact the magma blobs were matched by giant blocks of ice and were blown to rocky bits!

Eruptor made a surprised gasp, then looked ahead to see that the evil Slam Bam had finally pulled itself out of the snow and growled. Judging by the snarl on its face and the fact that all four of its hands were balled into fists, it was most certainly not happy.

"You know what?" Slam Bam said as he tossed the snowballs aside, "Forget snowballs! We're settling this the good old-fashioned way!"

Slam Bam launched himself forward and locked hands with the evil version of Eruptor! The evil Eruptor grunted and yowled in pain as Slam Bam locked it in a headlock, then tossed it to the ground. With a growl, it staggered back up, opened its mouth and spewed molten hot lava everywhere!

Slam Bam yelped and jumped out of the way, but Eruptor merely smirked.

"Two can play at that game!" Eruptor proclaimed as he clapped his hands together and shot out flaming hot balls made of magma and rock!

The evil Eruptor's jaw dropped as the magma balls steamrolled through the magma and absorbed said magma into their bodies without a second thought! The increase of material had caused the magma balls to grow triple their prior size and speed, and soon enough they barreled straight towards the evil clones.

"That can't be good," The evil Eruptor and Slam Bam said in unison as the looked up at the now dangerously close magma balls…

Which promptly slammed into them! The sheer amount of raw force caused the evil clones to explode into a shower of energy spheres as the magma slowly cooled. At that was left now were Chihiro, Slam Bam and Eruptor, who watched in awe as the scenery returned to a state of piece.

With a judging look, Eruptor waddled closer to the magma balls… Only to drop into a snowdrift and get buried up to the near-tip of his head in snow!

"How do I get myself into these messes?" Eruptor moaned as he watched the snow pile around him.

Chihiro only giggled, then closed her eyes and snapped her fingers. When she popped them open, Eruptor levitated outside of the snowdrift and landed safely next to her! Then with a smile, Chihiro hugged him tight and laughed.

"I'm so glad you guys are okay!" Chihiro exclaimed as she let go of Eruptor, "… Say, what happened to you guys, anyways?"

"Those things happened," Slam Bam growled as he crossed his muscular arms, "Those clowns knocked us out and tossed us on the other side of that ice wall! If I hadn't woken up when I did, they probably would've shipped us, Spyro and Gill to Kaos—"

"Wait a second!" Chihiro jumped away from Eruptor and looked up at Slam Bam, "You know what happened to them?!"

"I do, but it's not good." Slam Bam shook his head and frowned, "Kaos had them frozen solid. We tried to get them out, but it seems like the cold's keeping them frozen in."

Chihiro's face fell as she heard Slam Bam's words, but only for a moment—she immediately afterwards shook her head as fires built in her eyes.

"Then we'll just have to make that catapult, break down that ice wall and save them!" Chihiro proclaimed as she proudly held out the catapult piece in her hands, "And I've got just the thing to start us off with!"

§

"Wa-hoo! You guys foun' the first part of the catapult!"

Slam, Eruptor and Chihiro's eyes all went wide as they heard Haldor's voice resounded out across the snowy plains. Their eyes then trailed over to where something was materializing out of nowhere—Haldor himself!

When he finally materialized, Haldor cleared his throat and made a fairly toothless smile.

"I knew you whippersnappers could do it!" Haldor proclaimed as he waved his staff, "Now, follow me and I'll show ya where to put it!"

With a final turn of his staff, everybody around was enveloped in light!

When the light faded, they found themselves at an area that was surprisingly light in snow, but bone-chillingly cold nonetheless. You could make out some stone walls and other structures that were all dusted by powdery, fluffy white snow, but they were of no mind—what was most important was the giant, snowy wall that loomed over everything around.

"That must be the ice wall, right?" Chihiro asked as her eyes gazed over to Haldor, who only made a nod filled with tranquil rage.

"But, when this catapult here is finished, we can send that ayesore packin'!" Haldor shouted as he tapped a clear area before them with his staff, "Just place that part here, kiddo!"

Chihiro nodded and skipped over to the place Haldor mentioned, then gently laid the broken catapult piece down on the ground. As she stood to her full height and looked down, she couldn't help but frown—now that she'd had to chance to look it over more, it did seem awfully run-down… Could it really support the weapon they needed?

"Now, this is where ah come in." Haldor rubbed his hands together, then waved his staff and shot a bolt of magic at the part!

The magic completely absorbed the catapult part, then faded to reveal a pristine catapult bottom with rich brown-colored wood and shiny, most definitely working wheels!

Chihiro gasped as she gazed down at the part, then the fires in her soul stoked up once more.

"So, where's the next part, Haldor?" Chihiro smiled widely and balled her hand into a fist.

"If I had to take a gander… I'd check out that really icy pond!" Haldor then pointed towards a giant pond that was covered in thick ice and located south from their position, "And then after that, there's a teleporter on that there pond that takes you to the southmost part of the island! Based on where I saw those parts fly off that's prolly it!"

Chihiro, Slam Bam and Eruptor all beamed and nodded in agreement, but as they nodded they all heard something that sounded like… Marching?

"The ice ogres!" Slam Bam exclaimed as he looked over the eastern side of the platform they stood on.

Paired with the sound of stomping was what appeared to be a platoon of soldiers dressed in blue and armor, and though they were a good bit away they were closing in—fast!

Haldor gasped as he looked over at the oncoming platoon, then waved his staff and shot a bolt of magic at the in-progress catapult! Within moments it disappeared completely from view, only plain snow visible to the naked eye.

"Invisibility spell!" Haldor tipped his hat and smiled, "Now, since those ice ogres are a'comin, I'd better be a'goin now!"—Haldor waved, then cleared his throat once more and gained a wild gaze—"WA-HOO!"

And with that, Haldor vanished and left nothing but magic dust in his place.

Chihiro just blinked and shook her head before she turned back to Eruptor and Slam Bam.

"You heard the wizard! We need to get going!" Chihiro ordered as she looked down and saw the ice ogre platoon draw closer!

A sense of urgency enveloped her mind as she closed her eyes then clasped her hands. When she opened them, a round, cyan-colored slide formed down the side of their platform!

"C'mon!" Chihiro smiled and waved as she jumped on the slide and slid down with a cheer.

Slam Bam and Eruptor shrugged and followed Chihiro down soon after, screams echoed all around as slid as the fastest speeds known to living beings!

With a smile, Chihiro slowly reached the bottom and hopped off, then watched as Slam Bam joined her.

However, just as Eruptor nearly reached the bottom the slide completely vanished and dropped him into the snow! Eruptor made a pained grunt as he landed headfirst into the snow piles, then sat back up and shook his head.

Chihiro paused and peered up to find the ice ogre platoon had arrived at their former spot, mumbled among each other for mere moments, then left in a stomping fury!

"Phew, that was a close one!" Chihiro exclaimed as she placed her hands on her hips, "Now let's get going! Those parts can't wait on us all day!"—Chihiro looked over to where Eruptor was sinking in the snow and frowned—"C'mon Rupty! You heard what I said, we can't wait around!"

"I can't go," Eruptor replied as he sank further into the melting snow, "I can't get up."

"Now don't say that, Rupty, I'm sure you'll be fine," Chihiro snowshoed over to Eruptor and placed a reassuring hand on his back—only to burn her hand instead.

"No, I literally can't get up," Eruptor said as he watched Chihiro blow on her hand with a tired frown.

To prove his point, he stood up—but the snow was already up to his mouth. When he tried to take a step forward, he ended up collapsing back into the snow and sank into its cold depths once more.

"See what I mean?"

"Yeah, I see where that could be a problem," Chihiro giggled, then clasped her hands together and focused on Eruptor, "Here, let me help you."

Within a few moments, Chihiro had magically lifted Eruptor in the air! However, she lost her focus pretty quickly which caused them both to tumble into the snow and laugh their heads off.

"Geez, Eruptor, you're pretty heavy!" Chihiro giggled as she playfully nudged his shoulder.

Eruptor giggled back and the two stood at last. Chihiro magically picked up Eruptor—or at least tried to—and waddled out of the snow with him close by. She then nudged Eruptor towards Slam Bam, who picked Eruptor up and placed Eruptor on his shoulders.

"That should be a little better," Chihiro said as she smiled and patted Eruptor, "Now, let's get going."

And with that, the three of them looked over their landing spot. It was snowy and snowier for miles on end, just like everything else in this place—but was that a glimmer in the distance?

"Hey, I think I see it—WOAH!" Chihiro took a step forward—but unbeknownst to her, that step was onto a frozen pond of water! With a squeal she went spinning and flailed as she tried to regain her balance.

"HOW DO YOU STOP ON THIS THING?!" Chihiro squealed as she spun from side and side, still flailing the whole time.

Slam Bam just sighed and shook his head as he put Eruptor down, skated onto the ice and slid behind Chihiro.

"You go like this, Chi," Slam Bam said as he held up Chihiro's arms with two of his own.

Chihiro quickly noticed that she had stopped skidding and snapped her fingers. Her magic snowshoes were then converted into magical ice skates and with a smile she beamed up at Slam Bam.

Slam Bam returned her smile, then gracefully guided her into a skating lesson.

"Alright, now lean like this," Slam Bam said as he and Chihiro made a right turn across the pond.

"And run like that," Slam Bam instructed as Chihiro dashed forward on her magic skates.

"And you've got it!" Slam Bam clapped his hands as Chihiro spun in the middle of the pond… Then chuckled as she just stumbled about in a dizzy haze.

"This ice skating stuff is really fun!" Chihiro exclaimed as she zipped from side to side across the pond, then leaped in the air and gracefully landed, "Woo-hoo!"

Eruptor beamed, then waded onto the pond. As soon as his rocky feet landed on the ice and started to skid, he leaned his body forward.

"Okay, go like this…" Eruptor said as he tried to skate forward… But landed on his belly instead.

Eruptor grumbled something to himself as he staggered back up then leaned forward.

"Then lean like—" Eruptor was cut short as he fell on his face and slid across the pond.

With fumes lit and frowns deep, Eruptor stood up… And just fell again.

"Oh come on!"

Eruptor continued to try… and failed… and try… Then fell for what was probably the tenth time. With a couple nasty grumbles, Eruptor stood once again, sat on the pond and pouted. Just then, he heard a cracking sound, and looked under him.

"That can't be good," Eruptor said as he found that his premonition was right—the pond ice's had started to crack, and the cracks in the ice were slowly leaking bone-chilling water!

With panicked gasps he jumped off of that particular chunk while it broke off from the whole, only to hear more cracks. His gasps turned to yells, Eruptor bounced from broken ice plant to plank, before he landed on one situated near a rocky cliff. With heavy pants he looked forward… And found that all the other chunks were too far away for him to jump!

"HELPPPPPPPP!" Eruptor screamed as he frantically backed up, only for something to fall off and hit him on the noggin!

Eruptor made a slightly pained grunt as it landed in front of him, then frowned.

"What's this?…"

§

As Slam Bam and Chihiro ice-skated their way through the rightmost part of the area, Chihiro frowned and looked up at Slam Bam.

"Slam, do you hear something?" Chihiro asked as she tilted her head.

Slam paused for a moment and nodded, before he looked at his feet and found large cracks in the ice! Chihiro looked down and saw the very same thing, then looked up and Slam Bam and gulped.

"We'd better get off of here!" Chihiro exclaiemd, her voice trilled just a tiny bit.

"Agreed," Slam Bam said as he grabbed Chihiro's hand.

And with that, the two of them rushed over to snow-covered land, then looked over to see the part they once stood on broken apart in giant chunks. Phew, thank goodness they got out in time! However, scattered among all that ice was a tiny speck of bright warm red, a good bit away from where they were…

"Eruptor!" Chihiro shouted while she waved her hands as high as she could, "Over here!"

Eruptor looked over to them and waved back. Good, he saw them!

"We need to find some way of getting to him." Chihiro placed a hand to her chin, "But how?"

"I think I have an idea," Slam Bam said as he narrowed his eyes and examined the floating icebergs.

"What idea?" Chihiro's curious eyes now focused on Slam Bam as he trained his gaze on the icebergs.

"If I cast my ice sculptures into the water, can you form them into a bridge to him?" Slam Bam looked back towards Chihiro and watched as she eagerly nodded.

"I guess we could give it a shot." Chihiro's eyes now focused on the path as she made a gun with her hand, "Fire away, Slam!"

With a nod, Slam Bam cast blocks of ice into the freezing ocean, then nodded to Chihiro as if to prompt her forwards.

Chihiro breathed in, then stepped forward. Giant ice blocks now bobbed up and down in the subzero waters and glistened against the little sunlight they got, as if they were just waiting for Chihiro to move.

"Now, I'll just move these into place." Chihiro closed her eyes and clasped her hands, "I hope this works…"

Chihiro's heart swelled with magic as her whole body faintly glowed a shade of cyan. She had yet to work with this much material in such an intense situation, but she couldn't lose her focus—her friend was counting on her, and she wasn't going to let him down anytime soon! As she focused her heart, the ice blocks glowed with cyan light that reflected like prisms reflected rainbows, then slowly they floated into place—Chihiro could tell in her heart of hearts. Soon enough she heard the sound of things locking into place, then opened her eyes and made a confident smile.

The ice blocks had all frozen together into one solid ice bridge! She did it!

Chihiro snapped her fingers and watched as her skates turned back to snowshoes, then she gently tapped the first block in the bridge. It seemed solid enough… It could probably hold both her and Eruptor's weight!

"Are you okay over there, Rupty? I'm coming to get you!" Chihiro shouted as she waved to Eruptor.

"I'm here!" Eruptor shouted as he waved over to Chihiro, "Can you make it quick? I don't think this ice is gonna hold out for long!"

Eruptor let out a shout of fear and jumped back as a chunk of his ice floe broke off and drifted away. Yeah, no time to dawdle—Eruptor needed her!

Chihiro breathed in, exhaled then hopped on the first block. After she made sure she had a secure footing, she hopped to the next one, and the one following, then ran across until she reached the other side!

"Come on Eruptor, your ride awaits," Chihiro said as she bowed playfully.

With a giggle, Eruptor trailed behind Chihiro as she hopped back onto the ice block bridge and slowly walked past. As they walked, something that sounded like soft sizzling tickled Chihiro's ears, but she shrugged and continued walking. It all stayed oddly tranquil for a few moments…

Then Eruptor screamed as he fell down with a plunk!

Chihiro bounced into action immediately as she swung over and grabbed his hand, though it was oddly warmer than usual—the sheer heat that emitted from it made her fingers burn, but she refused to let go. With a pained groan and a bite of her lip, Chihiro's hands were engulfed in aqua light—and soon enough, Eruptor was as well.

As he was levitated back onto the bridge, Chihiro looked down and saw that the part he was walking on had completely melted away!

"The heck?!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped onto another ice block, "How'd it melt?"

Her eyes then glazed over to Eruptor as she heard a sizzling sound, then looked down to see that the ice was slowly melting under his feet!

"Eruptor!"

"Sorry, nervous heat," Eruptor chuckled as he scratched his head, them jumped to the other side of the block as the first half completely melted away!

With a nod, Chihiro jumped forward, grabbed Eruptor in midair and then landed on the next block.

"Looks like I've gotta make this ride a fast one," Chihiro said as she smiled and snapped her fingers, "And I've got just the thing!"

Chihiro's snowshoes converted themselves to iceskates once more, and with a pump of her legs she was off! Eruptor still held close, she dashed across the ice bridge as the radiating heat caused it to melt away behind them! A smirk stayed pasted on Chihiro's face until she took a slight tumble and looked down to find that the melting process was catching up—and fast! It was already underneath her!

"Looks like we're gonna have to jump it," Chihiro said as she took a mighty stride forward, "Hold on, Rupty!"

With a mighty yell, Chihiro launched herself off the melting bridge and spun in midair before she shot downwards! She closed her eyes, felt the cold wind tickle her face and then landed on something smooth, yet tough—did she make it?

"That was some show, Chi," Slam Bam said as he ruffled Chihiro's hair, "But next time, try not to drop Ruptor into the snow, alright?"

Chihiro opened her eyes to find herself tight in Slam Bam's grasp, and Eruptor face-first in a snow pile. With a soft giggle, she waved her hand and magically lifted a fairly irate Eruptor out of the snow… And now that she got a good look at him, it kinda looked like he was holding something?

"Hey Rupty, what'cha got?" Chihiro asked as she hopped out of Slam Bam's arms and walked up to Eruptor.

"I don't know," Eruptor rumbled as he held the object out, "It just landed on my head when I was trapped on that ice pond—I'm surprised I didn't accidentally burn it, heh."

Chihiro hummed as she examined the object. It looked kinda like a giant, wooden mace with a black steel ball on its tip, carefully fixed onto a giant wood and metal shield—and despite all its splinters and the burns left from being in Eruptor's care, it seemed to be in oddly good condition.

"WA-HOO!"

Everybody jolted in their spots for a few moments, then sighed.

"It's him again," Everybody said in unison as they bore blank expressions.

"That's another part of the catapult foun'!" Haldor proclaimed as he materialized out of thin air and examined the strange object in Eruptor's hot hands, "… At least, I think it is."

With a wave of his staff, Haldor whisked them away from the ice pond and back to where he had set up the catapult's base. As they made their arrival, Haldor tapped the base of his staff against the ground and watched as the catapult's base became visible once more, then waved the staff and watched as the second catapult piece(?) floated out of Eruptor's hands.

"Only one way to know fer sure!" Haldor proclaimed as he zapped the piece and watched as it repaired itself, then whisked it away to the catapult base.

With a satisfying click, it carefully latched itself against the rightmost side of the catapult base.

"We're halfway there, fellas!" Haldor grinned and waved his staff around, which made it shoot off sparks of colorful magic, then turned back to the heroes.

"Now, if my guesses are right, that next piece should be hidin' back'n that old corn maze!" Haldor chuckled and scratched his staff on his back, "Well, it prolly isn't much of a corn maze right now, what with all the snow!"

"And the way there is?…" Chihiro asked as she hid her hands in her parka.

Haldor only pointed his staff towards the ice pond… Then lowered it as he saw its broken form.

"Well, that's a bit of a problem-o," Haldor said as he tugged on his beard, then beamed and lifted up his staff, "Good thing I can just-a teleport ya there! WA-HOO!"

And with a wave of his magic wand, Chihiro, Slam Bam and Eruptor all disappeared and only magic dust remained!

"Good luck, 'n be careful—it's prolly slippery!"

§

"Well, looks like Haldor was right," Chihiro said as she gazed upon the place before her, "It does look slippery."

The trio found themselves underneath the snowy hill, inside a maze that looked to be made entirely of ice and filled with all kinds of gaps. On the other end of the maze was a gate covered in chilly frost and snow powder that hid away something made of wood and metal—it had to be!...

"I'm betting the part we need is on the other side of that gate!" Chihiro said, eyes narrowed as she clutched the collar of her parka.

With a gulp, she gazed at the icy path before her. It was covered in wide holes and what looked to be icy cacti that littered the floor—surely, it wouldn't be very easy or safe to navigate…

"I'll be there the whole way," Slam Bam said, as he placed a reassuring paw on her shoulder, "Don't worry."

Upon hearing him, Chihiro smiled up at him and nodded. Then, with a smirk upon her face, she began skating as fast as she could! She was like a lightning bolt as she slid and sped all across the maze of ice… Wait a second…

"CRAPCRAPCRAPBRAKEBRAKEBRAKE—" Chihiro screamed as she slid to and fro among the maze. Yep, she had forgotten how to stop.

"Chihiro, remember, it's all in the knees!" Slam Bam shouted before he laid down and slid, "…She's gonna need some help."

Eruptor watched Slam Bam slide down the fluffy snow, then shrugged and joined him.

Meanwhile, Chihiro gulped as she saw herself veer straight towards a giant gap in the maze! She wanted to stop, but there was no way—she was going way too fast! And how the heck would she brake on these things anyways?!

Just as she reached the edge and said her prayers, she felt something grab her back and spin her into a pair of tough arms, then looked up to see Slam Bam hold her close!

"Phew, that was a close one!" Chihiro exclaimed as she brushed the sweat from her brow and beamed up at Slam up, "Thanks for that, Slam."

Slam Bam nodded and let go of her waist, then the two of them looked over the maze. Not that there was much to look at—all there was to see was nothing but the ice and snow that was everywhere on this empire of winter, except formed into the pattern of a maze.

"See anything yet?" Chihiro asked as she placed a hand over her eyes and spun around, "Because I sure don't!"

Just then, right as Chihiro looked over the maze for the fifth time, probably, something sparkly caught her eye!

"There!" Chihiro was off like a flash as she ran back across the ice…But of course, the minute she hit the ice she slipped and slid! Chihiro let out another panicked scream until her eyes widened and she promptly braked.

"Remember, all in the knees," Chihiro whispered to herself with a small smile.

With that done, she strode forward and skated across the maze with a smile.

"What do you think she's doing, Slam?" Eruptor asked a smiling Slam Bam as he carefully slid to Slam Bam's side.

"She's skating, that's what!" Slam Bam proclaimed with the pride of a father as he watched Chihiro, "You're doing good, Chihiro! Just take it slow!"

Chihiro grunted and nodded as she cast a gaze at Slam Bam, then looked towards her sparkling target. It was positioned against a wide gap, and while the gap seemed intimidating something in her gut told her—she can make it! With a smile Chihiro pushed herself forward with rapid speed, then leaped forward and pirouetted in midair before she landed on the target! Chihiro beamed and bowed as she heard something that sounded like grinding metal, then looked ahead to find the gate had receded! Her smile widened, Chihiro waved over at Slam Bam and Eruptor.

"Thank you, thank you, please, don't hold your applause!" Chihiro exclaimed as she made a gentlemanly bow.

Eruptor clapped his rotund hands together, though the sound they made was more of a resonating banging noise. Slam Bam chuckled, then made a toothy smile as he clapped along.

Both Eruptor and Slam Bam smiled at each other as Eruptor's rotund hand found sanctuary in Slam Bam's and the two skated across the ice in a slow, tender manner—Eruptor kept close to Slam Bam and smiled in a way that was oddly peaceful for someone like him, while Slam Bam's grip on Eruptor was firm but in a protective, loving manner.

The two of them clung close as they skated in sync, an aura of peace surrounded as they laughed together. With wide smiles, the two of them shot their conjoined hands out as they skated through the maze's icy paths and found themselves just a few feet away from what was surely the next catapult piece they sought.

Her heart bubbly with joy from seeing them so happy, Chihiro jumped across the gap once more and stopped right in front of Slam Bam and Eruptor.

There in front of them was another part that resembled the prior one they had rescued—a wooden mace with a steel spiky ball for a head carefully fastened to a splintered wooden shield. Unlike the prior part it looked as if it had seen better days—the metal was rusted and the wood's splintering was much heavier. But, nevertheless, it was the part they sought.

With nods, Chihiro picked up the piece—and all three of them vanished! All that was left was the thin scratches on the ice left behind by Chihiro's ice skates…

§

Like the past two times, they had returned to where they had laid the first catapult part! Right next to the slowly-rebuilt catapult was Haldor, who was pacing—or rather, floating—in a circle around the catapult until he saw them and beamed.

"Think you can fix this up?" Chihiro asked as she handed off the part to Haldor while her brown eyes darted in all directions. She couldn't sworn she heard something strange…

"Is Kaos a monkey's uncle?" Haldor chortled as he took the part away from Chihiro and examined it.

Haldor waved around his staff and, in mere moments, restored the part back to its former state! Its splintering was completely cured while the rust was cleaned off—all that was left was pristine wood and shiny metal.

"Now, to add these things to the catapult!" Chihiro's eyes shone as she snagged the piece and bounced over to the catapult.

With a grunt Chihiro tried to fit the piece onto the catapult… But it wasn't exactly working out for her, because no matter how many times she clanged them against the wheels of the catapult it just wouldn't fit!

"I think I'll handle that thing, missy." Haldor floated over to Chihiro and zapped the piece in her hands!

The piece floated upwards as it was surrounded by a glow of green, then magically resized itself and attaching itself to the leftmost side of the base! Now, it formed the almost-complete catapult—all it just needed was the actual catapult.

All of them gazed in pride, but not for long—there was work to be done, and now that they were nearly done it was like a burst of energy warmer than any fire had overtaken them!

"So, Haldor, where's the last part?" Chihiro turned to Haldor and tilted her head.

Haldor gulped and pointed his staff over to the next part of the island, which was barricaded off by a wall of barbed wire and splintered wood.

"It's over there." Haldor's voice warbled as he spoke, "But, I wouldn' be moseyin' on over there, if I were you."

"Why not? I could just blow up the barricade." Chihiro frowned as Haldor shook his bearded head.

"No, that's not what I'm worryin' 'bout, it's, well…"

Haldor then created a small fly out of purple magic and sent it flying over the barrier, which it easily passed. However, as soon as it passed the barricade, an unholy screech was heard as a giant bomb fell from the sky and grounded the fly in the blink of an eye! Haldor then gulped again and turned back to Chihiro.

"I see your point." Chihiro gained a smile and shrugged, "But, as long as we avoid them, I'm sure we won't have a problem, right guys?"

Chihiro turned to Slam Bam and Eruptor for support, but they were absolutely silent. Instead, they had turned their attention over the cliffside with quiet, twitchy frowns!

"Sheesh, what's their problem?" Chihiro asked herself before she turned back to Haldor, "Now, how do we get this barricade down?"

Chihiro's eyes trailed off to her side, where she saw something buried almost to its tip in snow—and her curiosity took over from there! Chihiro scrambled over, then grabbed the object and dusted off the fresh powder—to reveal that, underneath all that snow, there was a gray-black bomb with an unlit wicker fuse!

"Looks like I found our solution, boys!" Chihiro smiled as she rushed to Eruptor's side… Then placed the bomb to her side.

"What're you guys staring at?" Chihiro asked as she tilted her head, "All I see is snow."

After all, the snowstorm was starting to get a little worse now—even this area that was surprisingly light at first was now getting bombarded by icy-cold, fresh snow. But now that she thought about it, she also heard something that sounded like… Marching? Why would there be marching? The only others here were those ice ogres, but she hadn't seen hide nor hair of them since their close call a while earlier…

Slam Bam's hands balled into fists as a scowl crossed his face.

"There you are, Skylanders!" Called a familiar voice from across the cold tempests!

Right as the voice reached their ears, an army of what seemed to be around a hundred… No, a few hundred ice ogres marched up the platform—and they were closing in fast! They all bore weapons off all kinds, and at the head of the charge was none other than Noodles, with a deep scowl on his face and teeth bared.

"You Skylanders thought you could make a fool out of Noodles, didn't you?" Noodles shouted, his goofy-sounding voice now intimidating as it beat out the winds, "Well, Noodles has other ideas! Noodles and his entire ice ogre army is going to beat you down good! Then we're gonna take you in to Lord Kaos! And then you'll be sorry!"

"I should've known something was up when all those ogres disappeared," Slam Bam growled as he turned to the others, "They're closing in too fast, there's no way we can get out of here in time!"—Slam Bam cracked his knuckles and glared—"Looks like we're gonna have to fight!"

Eruptor's stomach growled from what Chihiro could only guess was fear, but Haldor seemed oddly serious—his staff was clasped tight, and though his wrinkled hands trembled while sweat dripped from his brow, he clearly wasn't going to give up on standing his ground.

"What about that last catapult piece?" Chihiro asked as her grip around the bomb tightened… Then she looked down at it and hummed… Wait a second…

"Actually, I have an idea!" Chihiro nudged Slam Bam's shoulder and looked up at him with raw fire, "Can you guys hold them off? I'm going in myself!"

"Chihiro, that's dangerous!" Slam Bam protested, his teeth bared in a way that seemed warning in nature.

"And this isn't?" Chihiro held up the bomb as her eyebrows furrowed, "If we don't get that catapult piece, that army'll wipe us out completely—and who knows what they'll do next! Everything's counting on that catapult—we've gotta finish it!"

Slam Bam's jaw dropped agape for a moment, as if he was shocked by the sudden shift to seriousness in Chihiro's words, then it closed as he made a firm nod.

"Be careful, then."

Chihiro nodded, then lit the bomb's fuse with a stroke from Eruptor's hand. After a spin of her arm, Chihiro tossed the bomb with a perfect pitch and watched proudly as it splintered the barricade into pieces.

"Now, to finish this up." Chihiro darted inside, then looked back once last time as the sounds of shouting and stomping drew closer, "You too, guys. Stay safe."

Chihiro's heart pounded as she walked inside the area, but it seemed oddly tranquil—tranquil enough to let her heart rest anyways.

The whole area was covered in crates and barbed-wire fences and other warlike decorations, but other than Chihiro nobody was there. There was just falling snow and icy breezes.

"All the others must have gone off to fight the guys," Chihiro remarked as she smiled and tugged on her parka, "This'll be a piece of cake!"

Just then, Chihiro felt a soft glow and looked down to see a red light reflect on the icy paths, followed by… A screech?

Oh no.

Chihiro gasped as she skated away, then tripped and slid just out the range of an explosion! When she staggered up and looked back, she saw thick, black smoke and fumes rise up from a crater that covered the area she once stood at, a clear sign of war—and occupation. Chihiro panted and held her rapidly-beating heart—that was a close one! Just then she heard another screech and skated away just before another bomb dropped. Her head was spinning as she skated as fast as possible, while bombs all lined up and blew up her path.

"Where are all these coming from?!" Chihiro exclaimed between pants when she leaned just a bit too forward and rolled down the icy pathways.

When she finally came to a stop, Chihiro winced and sat back up. Her foot radiated with pain—intense pain, like she had twisted something. She tried to stand, but the pain and the imbalance it brought was so great that she could only fall on her bottom again. Cold tears of pain fell onto her cheeks and froze where they sat, but Chihiro wiped them away—now wasn't the time to cry. As she sat and rubbed her foot, all was quiet… Until she heard…

Screeching. Like the screeching of a bomb…

With a gasp, Chihiro looked over and saw a cave a good bit up from the warzone! With tight gasps she tried to crawl to it, but the ice was so slippery that she kept sliding away! Her gasps turned frantic as she crawled further and further, the screeching now so loud it rang in her ears…

Then she looked up, and saw a giant gray metal bomb, just seconds away from impact! With a gasp, Chihiro closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle…

… Then opened them to find herself in the cool shelter of a rocky, snow-filled cavern. Chihiro heaved a sigh of relief as she laid her pained leg onto the snow and smiled as the chill killed the pain just a little.

"Thank goodness—I was afraid that teleporting spell wouldn't work!" Chihiro remarked as she rubbed her leg some more, then paused and looked out at the warzone from the cave's safety.

It was far up enough that her assailants couldn't find her, yet she still had a bird's eyes view of the battlefield below her. It was covered in ashy gray craters dusted with frosty snow, and smoky fumes rose up to the heavens and nearly made Chihiro want to cough. However, without the bombs being dropped it went back to the state of tranquility she had felt when she first got there.

"Maybe from here I can figure out what's dropping all this stuff…" Chihiro remarked as she poked her head outside of the cave and peeked down.

Near the mouth of the warzone, the place that all the various paths lead to were several stone towers! They seemed awfully sturdy for stone, and inside them were several large blobs colored… White? Gray? Off-green?

Whatever color they were, surely they were the ones dropping all these bombs!

"There's my targets," Chihiro remarked as she balled her hand into a fist, "Now, time to give them a taste of their own medicine!"

With a smirk, Chihiro snapped her fingers and watched as her skates turned to a snowboard! Chihiro's smirk widened as she slowly slid down… Then she hit the hill and sped down!

Her eyes widened with sheer glee as she slid down, then her eyes glared over a ramp and glistened. She shifted a bit leftwards, drew closer to the ramp and closed her eyes and held out a hand that glowed with cyan magic.

"Now…" Chihiro spun her hand in a circle, which created a ball of cyan magic that crackled with cold, then flipped upside-down and spun around her board.

"EVERYBODY FREEZE!"

As soon as the board made contact with the magic ball, the ball split into several smaller pellets that shot everywhere! Cyan-colored mini-explosions erupted all across the warfield as Chihiro flipped back up and landed on her feet, and cleared with cyan fog so pale in color it was almost white.

Chihiro brushed off her hands, then snapped her fingers and turned her snowboard into regular snowshoes. With another snap she popped up to the balcony of one stone tower, latched onto it and pulled herself up.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Chihiro sneered as she looked its other inhabitant in the eyes.

Sure enough, it was a bulky ice ogre dressed in blue camouflage, its pupils tiny and its massive jaw gaped. It was completely stiff and frozen—literally this time, as its whole body was coated in a cyan glow that kept it stopped tight in this spot.

"Now, if you don't mind, officer." Chihiro walked past the officer with a sneer and went inside the tower, "I'd like to take a little peek at your weaponry~"

Inside the cold, barely-lit tower was a giant pile of metal, heavy bombs, and next to them—a catapult made entirely of steel save for its arm, which was solid wood.

"Wait a second…" Chihiro walked over to the arm and peered inside, to see that it was plugged into the steel!

With a frown she yanked out the arm with all her strength… Then promptly fell on the floor from the sheer weight.

"Something tells me I found the last thing our catapult needs!"

Chihiro closed her eyes and vanished in a cyan glow, the arm in tow.

§

Slam Bam grunted as he tossed out block after block of ice at the swarm of ice ogre soldiers, but it was of little use! It seemed that with every ogre soldier he froze, or punched, or knocked away, at least five more took its place! Just how many of them were there, anyways?

For that matter, his companions weren't doing so hot, either—the lava blobs that Eruptor lobbed grew less frequent as he panted and shivered, clearly worn down by the cold at last, and Haldor was panting heavily as he shot beam after beam of magic.

"Give up yet, Skylanders?" Noodles jeered from the crowd, his arms crossed.

"Never!" Slam Bam growled back as he punched away four more ice ogre soldiers, "Skylanders never give up!"

"O ho ho!" Noodles cackled as he crossed his arms, "You say that now, but look at you! You all look so tired!"

Eruptor then groaned and stumbled backwards before he fell over! Thankfully Slam Bam was quick to catch Eruptor and hold him tight—but something wasn't right! Eruptor's body was so dull, so hard, almost as if he was freezing up! With a bite of his lip Slam Bam looked down at Eruptor and…

"Ruptor, your light, it's fading!" Slam shouted as he held Eruptor even closer.

"It's so cold, Slam," Eruptor whimpered as he shuddered and slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again as Slam Bam cuddled him close.

"Hang in there, Ruptor, Chihiro's gonna be here any minute now." Slam Bam gulped as he looked to the skies and saw something glow against the cold, gray skies, "Wait, could that be…"

Slam's eyes then widened in surprise as Chihiro popped out of thin air, while a giant wooden catapult arm floated behind her.

"Am I late?" Chihiro asked as she hovered in midair.

"CHIHIRO!" Slam Bam called with a twinkle in his eyes.

Haldor turned around in shock, then broke out into a wide smile as he saw Chihiro hover in midair.

"Oh, you ogres are in fer it now!" Haldor proclaimed as he zapped the arm with his wand, then watched as the arm attached itself to the catapult.

With a maybe too eager grin Haldor zoomed up to the catapult and watched as the army of ice ogres slowly backed away.

"Ya should be scared, ya little snowmongerers!" Haldor exclaimed as he tapped the catapult arm's seat with his taste, "Now, why don'tcha have a taste of yer own medicine fer a chance?"

As Haldor removed his staff, a giant snowball magically appeared in the seat! Then, with a sharp, screeching whistle the giant snowball soared across the blizzarding skies at rapid speeds and landed straight in the middle of the ice ogre army!

The army screamed in unified panic as it tried to escape, but Haldor wasn't going to stop—he continued to shoot off giant snowballs and squash their troops underneath!

"Uh, uh, well," Noodles sputtered as he frantically looked in fifty million directions, "NOODLES FORGOT TO TURN OFF NOODLES' OVEN, NOODLES SHOULD REALLY BE—"

Noodles never even got the chance to run—he was immediately trapped under the weight of an ice-cold giant snowball.

Chihiro beamed and laughed as she watched the ogres that once intimidated them flee, but her smile quickly faded as she looked at Eruptor. He looked so cold and sad as he shuddered in the blizzard—he could really use a blanket or two.

With a bite of her lip, Chihiro took off her parka and gently wrapped it around him, then patted his head and watched as a fluffy hat made of magic appeared over it.

"Hey, Eruptor, feeling any better?" Chihiro asked as she tilted her head, her voice surprisingly gentle and parental in tone.

Eruptor's shudders were the only answer Chihiro received, which only served to worry her more. So, Chihiro hugged him as tight as she could.

"Hang in there, Rupty, it's almost over. We've got the catapult finished, and now we're gonna break this wall down. Then, it'll be as sunny as Ancient Peak's is during summer!" Chihiro barely saw Eruptor smile a slight, toothy grin and she smiled back at him before she turned back to Haldor.

"So, Haldor, what kind of ammunition does this thing need?"

"Well, this wall here's made'a magic ice…" Haldor said as he stroked his beard in contemplation before he turned to Chihiro with a twinkle in his eye, "And d'ya know what we use to melt magic ice?"

"What?" Chihiro's voice turned to an excited level of shrillness as her eyes sparkled.

"MAGIC FIREBALLS!"

With an excited cackle and another wave of his staff, Haldor watched in glee as a giant, crackling fireball that radiated with magic manifested inside the catapult, then clapped his hands!

The catapult shot the fireball at the wall in an instant and created a giant hole in the wall where blue skies shone through!

"My turn, my turn!" Chihrio shouted as she ran up to the catapult and placed her hands on its base.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then heard a whoosh and looked up to see that another giant fireball sat in the arm! With a sharp gasp, Chihiro bounced up and down, then snapped her fingers and watched as it was launched at the ice wall.

What was just two fireballs soon became three… Five… Ten… Well, after a while they all lost count, but it didn't matter—because the ice wall had broken!

They all watched in glee as warmth crept into the cold winter snow, then they were all encapsulated by a light so bright it absorbed everything…

§

When everybody opened their eyes, the first thing they felt was warmth.

The snow that once pounded down Vindlevale had cleared magnificently, and all that could be seen was rich green grass that tickled the toes and colorful flowers of just about every species. Birds chirped and warm breezes blew throughout the crystal clear blue skies. The comforting warmth a nice, soft bed after a long, hard day of work that embraced everyone with the words Chihiro soon spoke.

"We did it…" Chihiro whispered, completely awestruck for moments before she jumped in the air, "WE DID IT!"

"W-what did we do?" Eruptor mumbled as he sat up and rubbed his head, "I think I fell asleep!"

Chihiro turned around, then beamed as she looked at Eruptor. His light burned bright as ever, and he looked so warm and cuddly—she couldn't help but run up to him and hug him.

"We saved Vindlevale, Rupty!" Chihiro proclaimed with all manner of glee in her voice.

Chihiro made a soft chirp as she felt something lift her and Eruptor into a giant bear hug, then beamed up at a smiling Slam Bam.

"Say, I'm feelin' better already, seein' all this ice clear up!" Haldor proclaimed as he stretched his arms to the summery skies then beamed wide, "Oh, you guys know what? I bet the swimmin' hole's warmin' up too! I'm gonna get my swimmin' trunks!"

Everybody else cringed as Haldor disappeared presumably to wherever he laid his swimming trunks, then sighed.

Chihiro then jumped out of Slam Bam's arms and looked up at them.

"We've still got one thing we need to do, though," Chihiro said, "We need to save Spyro and Gill, come on!"

It took a look of running, though Chihiro didn't entirely mind—running in the warmth of spring was so nice! SHe needed to do it more often!... But soon she felt a chill rush through her, saw something glassy and stopped.

"Looks like I found them," Chihiro said as she glazed at a giant ice block in front of her.

There, trapped within its giant, icy casings was Spyro and Gill Grunt, flopped on top of each other and completely unconscious. Slam Bam was right—they were frozen solid, probably while they were looking for her!

Don't worry guys, I'm here now! Chihiro thought to herself as she shook her head and glazed down the ice block, then gently brushed her hand against it. It was cold to the touch, but she wasn't deterred.

"Found 'em?" Slam Bam asked as he and Eruptor walked next to Chihiro.

"Slam, do you have any idea how we can get them out of this ice?" Chihiro asked, her eyes not taken off the ice block and a determined frown on her face.

Slam Bam cracked his knuckles and glared down the ice block with an expression that made it look like he was about to punch something.

"We crack it, of course!" Slam Bam exclaimed.

With punches faster than bullets, Slam Bam chipped away at the ice four punches at a time!

With a nod, Chihiro closed her eyes, then opened them and watched as a chisel and heavy mallet made of magic energy manifested within her hands! Not one to waste time, Chihiro placed the chisel onto the ice and smashed down the mallet! Her determined frown turned to a smile as she watched cracks appear in the ice, but only for a moment as she bounced around the block and cracked it some more!

Even Eruptor contributed as he rested his warm hands against the ice and slowly melted it down.

The cracks multiplied and spread across the ice as they worked until the ice block finally made a large cracking noise and shattered completely! As the ice block's fragments fell to the grass, Spyro and Gill's unconscious bodies fell into the arms of Chihiro and Slam Bam respectively.

Chihiro bit her lip as she ran her hand over Spyro's body. It was so cold… Had she gotten to him too late? Was he… Dead? With a small shudder she looked over at Slam Bam, who gave a similarly-concerned gaze to Gill Grunt, then heard a soft groan and looked down at Spyro.

"Ugh, Chihiro…" Spyro groaned as he lifted his head just slightly and slowly opened his eyes.

"SPYRO!" Chihiro croaked as she hugged him tight while tears of joy fell down her face, "I was so worried…"—Chihiro sniffled for a few moments, then gently snuggled Spyro a little more—"Everything's okay now, don't worry."

Meanwhile, Slam Bam was attending to a still-sleeping Gill Grunt, who refuse to wake no matter how many times Slam Bam nudged him.

"Is he gonna wake up?" Eruptor asked as he walked up to Slam Bam and gently nudged Gill Grunt's head.

"YOWCH!" Gill Grunt exclaimed as he jolted up and rubbed his head then groaned, "Ugh, I had this dream that we were all at this place that was in a nasty blizzard, and—"

"Uh, Gill, you weren't dreaming," Spyro said as he jolted his head up, "Wait, is it—"

"Don't worry, we all managed to save the place!" Chihiro smiled and laid Spyro down on the grass, "Look!"

Slam Bam gently dropped Gill Grunt to the ground, and all of them paused to take in the beauty of the surroundings. It was so warm, so peaceful, so full of life… And they all worked so hard to save it and make it this way. Just watching it all felt so peaceful and rewarding and undisturbed until…

"AH-CHOO!"

… Spyro sneezed out fire, then sniffled and rubbed his snout only to sneeze again.

"Looks like being in that ice block for so long gave you a cold!" Chihiro remarked as she rubbed a hand against Spyro's scaly forehead.

"I'm perfectly fine, Chihiro, I," Spyro said before he sneezed again, "Ah-choo!"

"Ah-choo!" Gill Grunt sneezed from across the way, then sniffled a couple more times and rubbed his eyes.

Chihiro only giggled and gently grabbed Spyro's paw.

"Come on guys, look like you two need to pay a visit to the infirmary!"

§Meanwhile, somewhere far, far away...§

Hidden deep within Kaos's flying fortress was a laboratory. It wasn't like most laboratories, no—it lacked the gadgets and gizmos most laboratories had, and only had extensive amounts of test tubes that all shone in dark colors. And within these tubes?

Minions. Evil minions. Evil Skylander minions. Perfect equals to the Skylanders in their power, their abilities, their capabilities… By all accounts, they should have completely succeeded!

"And yet," Kaos proclaimed as he glared over two dark blue-colored tubes and a burgundy-colored one sandwiched between, each of which had a dully-colored shining core safely trapped within, "You foolish fools still completely bungled your assignment!"

With a growl, Kaos pounded his fist on a dark blue tube and glared at his reflection in its plastic surface. His evil teeth were bared, his evil eyebrows were furrowed, and his whole face reflected an angered expression of absolute evil and doom!

"You incompetents probably meandered about and showed off, and look what good it did you!" Kaos snapped his fingers and showed a reflection of the island, which depicted the Skylanders laughing among each other, "The Skylanders completely beat you like the losers you are and saved that island I conquered!"

Kaos gritted his teeth and balled his fist. Sometimes he didn't even know why he created them, the utterly incompetent losers he didn't even pride enough to call his minions…

Just then, a bright flash of red light emitted complete with the sound of whirring and many different beeps—all in a tone so shrill and high-pitched it made Kaos's evil genius ears ache!

"I'M COMING! SHUT UP!" Kaos shouted at the portal as he trudged away—but not before he shot one last glare at the test tube collection.

"You'd best be more competent the next time you reform."

And with that, Kaos returned to his portal room to find that his portal glowed a magnificently malevolent red. With a couple claps of his hands, he watched as the portal shone with blood red lights while a figure emerged from its surface.

"Yes, Evil Water Dragon! Has the Eternal Water Source been secured?" Kaos gave the minion before him an expectant gaze.

This creature, in terms of body shape, was some cross between draconic and aquatic, with a slender body covered in fins and supported by almost amphibian legs. Its whole body was filled with nothing but darkness, with the occasional speck of blue Water Magic.

"Does this answer your question?" the Evil Water Dragon asked, its voice like someone gargling with water.

The Evil Water Dragon then nudged something out from his back—a glowing, blue oval of light with water sloshing all around inside it. The power of the Water Element radiated heavily from it—just looking at it made Kaos feel soaked to his toes.

And he loved it.

"Yes, it does!" Kaos clapped his hands and made a very evil grin if he said so himself, Finally, one of my minions actually does something RIGHT for once!

"All this praise is nice and all." the Evil Water Dragon's tone turned serious, "But shouldn't we work on relocating the source so the Skylanders and the portal master can't get it?"

"I'm working on that! I just wanted to bask in the evil moment." Kaos crossed his arms and huffed, then reached out towards the Eternal Water Source, "Now, come to papa!"

However, as soon as Kaos reached out to touch the source, a raincloud brewed over Kaos's head and caused a torrent of rain to completely drench him!

"On second thought, Evil Water Dragon, you get the honor of containing the source. I need to dry off."

And with a series of grumbles, the very soaked evil mastermind that was Kaos trudged out of the portal room.