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)

8. Chapter 8

Eighth chapter incoming!

I don't have much commentary for this chapter aside for a slight content warning: This chapter depicts a character having a flashback to a traumatic event as well as wide-scale destruction of a city via man-made disasters. If either of these subjects are uncomfortable for you, feel free to sit this one out, or DM me for a summary of what happens! Anyways, onto the chapter!

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Chihiro gave Spyro a sympathetic stare as she gazed at him from the wooden stool she sat on. After the events of yesterday, he and Gill Grunt had been bedridden with nasty colds gained from being stuck in a block of solid ice for several hours—much to Spyro's disdain.

"Gotta, get, back," Spyro moaned as he tried to nudge himself out of bed before he broke out into a coughing fit.

"Spyro, chill! We'll worry about Kaos, you just focus on getting better," Chihiro said as she got off the stool and pushed Spyro back into bed.

"But Skylands—" Spyro grunted as he fell back into bed and was draped in a soft blanket.

"Has plenty of other people protecting it." Chihiro tucked Spyro back into bed and placed her hands on her hip, "And besides, you can't really do anything when you're as sick as you are, you can barely even get out of bed!"

"But I can't just sit around when Kaos isn't! Every second I sit here, he's out there, conquering Skylands!" Spyro's voice was hoarse from the cold, but it still showed a great deal of concern, "Besides, are you sure—"

Spyro was promptly stopped by the tenth hacking fit he had entered that week.

"We'll be fine, Spyro." Chihiro then sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead, "If you wanna do anything to help us, then focus on getting better."

Spyro didn't retort this time—he had entered a sneezing fit instead.

Chihiro silently grabbed a box of tissues and offered it to him. Then with a frown she watched as he grabbed a tissue, sneezed fire into it and burnt the poor tissue to a crisp. After all was said and done, she wiped the ashes off of the bed and sighed.

"Just get some rest, okay? Portal master's orders." Chihiro's gaze narrowed and then softened, "I gotta leave in a little bit to change out patrols, but before that, do you need anything else?"

"A cold compress would be nice—these sinus headaches are killing me." Spyro moaned before he turned on his side.

"I could use one too…" Gill Grunt moaned from the other bed as he rubbed his forehead.

"Duly noted," Chihiro said as she stood up and carefully stepped out of the room, though she was sure to leave the door open just a crack for when she returned.

She then slowly walked down the stark tile floor of the hallway while her eyes glazed over seemingly identical rows of wooden doors. She couldn't help but feel her heartstrings tug as she toyed with her zipper—after all, Spyro felt so awful that he had to rest and not attend to his duties because he was sick…

But he wouldn't have gotten sick in the first place if I had gotten to him earlier, Chihiro thought as she sucked on her lower lip, After all—

Before her brain could jump to its next wildest conclusion, Chihiro caught sight of one particular door and stopped right in her tracks.

The door was wood, like just about everything there. But unlike the door that preceded it, it lacked a doorknob and had a circular window installed in it so that you could peer into the room. Yes, this was the kitchen door she had been searching for!

Chihiro pushed the door open to find herself in a kitchen with tile floors and wooden walls. Lined against the leftmost wall were several stoves, each one identical in shape and inactive, while lined against the right were a large steel freezer and refrigerator that were undoubtedly filled to their brims with food and medicines that needed to be chilled. And at the very back was a simple sink made of steel placed over a wooden cupboard.

With a smile on her face, Chihiro walked in front of the sink, knelt down and opened a wooden cabinet located at the bottom of the sink. Inside the cupboard were all sorts of minor medicinal supplies, from first aid kits and boxes of bandages to the compresses she was looking for!

Chihiro then grabbed two empty compresses out of the cupboard and closed it shut before she made her way to the freezer. When she arrived, she opened the freezer door, scanned its inner contents, and magically lifted out a large bag of ice. Once the ice bag was safely on the floor, she placed the compresses to the side and opened it with both hands.

Of course, it was cold to the touch—which Chihiro quickly learned as she stopped in her tracks and jittered. With a sigh, she magically opened the bag up, grabbed both compresses one by one, unscrewed their caps and filled them both with ice.

"Yep, nice and cold," Chihiro whispered as she felt the cool fabric of the compress then capped them back up, "Hopefully this'll help them out, even just a little."

With her job finished, Chihiro gently pushed the kitchen door back open and made her way back to where Spyro and Gill Grunt were resting. Her walk was brisk as she trainer her eyes on the tile floors, her mind so lost in thought…

If I had just been a little faster, they wouldn't have gotten sick, Chihiro thought as she squeezed the compresses' caps tight, It's all my fault they feel so awful! I've gotta make sure they get bet—

CRASH!

Chihiro let out a shout of pain as she crashed into someone and fell on the floor!

"Hey, Chihiro, are you okay?"

Chihiro immediately recognized the voice, then looked up and found Whirlwind staring back at her.

"Sorry for running into you like that," Whirlwind apologized as she offered Chihiro her paw, "Here, let me help you up."

Chihiro accepted Whirlwind's apology with a nod, then took Whirlwind's paw and heaved herself up. With sigh, she looked down at the cold compresses in her hand—yup, still intact, thankfully. It would've been a pain to fill them up again.

"Let me guess—for Spyro and Gill?" Whirlwind asked as her eyes glazed over the cold compresses in Chihiro's hand.

"You guessed it," Chihiro said with a nod before she looked at Whirlwind and added, "Anyways, what are you doing here? Are you checking on them too?"

"Actually, I came here to find you," Whirlwind replied, "Hugo's orders. He needs you to send out the next batch of patrols."

"I know, I was getting to that," Chihiro cast an aside glance, "I just needed to get these for Spyro and Gill first."

Whirlwind then frowned as she watched Chihiro slump her shoulders.

"Chihiro, you've been worrying about them all the time! It seems like whenever you're not doing portals you're here with them."

"I know, I know, it's just, well," Chihiro mumbled as she turned away from Whirlwind, "If I hadn't run off and gotten lost, they wouldn't have gotten sick like this, and—"

Whirlwind sighed and flew up to Chihiro until they were at eye level.

"Chihiro, you can't keep blaming yourself." Whirlwind gently tapped Chihiro's nose with her claw, "You weren't the one who put them there, did you?"

"Well, no, but it still might not have happened if I was there!" Chihiro exclaimed before she bit her lip and tried to push past Whirlwind, "I'm sorry, I really need to—"

"Chihiro, you've spent more than enough time taking care of them." Whirlwind flew back in front of Chihiro and placed a paw on Chihiro's shoulder, "How about I handle things for a change?"

"But—" Chihiro jolted and turned away.

"No buts." Whirlwind gave Chihiro a look that seemed like she was insisting for her to get some fresh air, "With my healing powers, I'm sure I can get them back on their feet in no time. And besides, you need a break—why don't you run back down to the beach after you're done with patrols?"—Whirlwind then made a soft wink—"Some fresh air might do you some good."

"Sheesh, I'm going," Chihiro teased, though at this time it seemed almost weak, "Oh, and by the way, give these to Spyro and Gill,"—Chihiro handed off the compresses to Whirlwind—"For sinus headaches."

And with that, Chihiro hung her head low and made her way out of the infirmary…

§

After a few minutes, Chihiro had changed out patrols, written down reports and handed them over to Hugo—it was routine for her at this point, so it hardly took more than a half-hour. Even though Whirlwind had suggested that fresh air would help…

It wasn't really doing her any good—she still felt awful. Now, she was pacing around the heart of the island, her head hung low the entire time.

I shouldn't be slacking off here, Chihiro thought as she sucked on her lip, I should be back there, helping them! It's the least I could do after everything that happened to them because of me…

"I guess I'll go down to the beach," Chihiro said as she tugged on her sleeve, "Maybe if I soak up some rays I can get my mind off of things."

And with that, Chihiro took her walk across the ruins, her eyes on her feet as she trailed across the center of the island until she reached the spiraling staircase that lead to the beach.

I'm such an idiot, Chihiro thought, I should have stuck with them, and now they're sick, and I nearly screwed up my first real big mission, and—oh, what's the use! I've gone over this in my head like, fifty times now.

Chihiro ran her hand against the wooden railway, then heaved a sigh and quietly walked down the runway. As she walked, the torches equipped to the staircase lit up with prismatic white fire that slowly reflected each color in the Skylandian rainbow—first a dusty, sunset orange, next a chromatic purple, after that a bright blue, then a fiery red, a rich brown, a pale silver, a lush green, and finally a pale, sky blue. Her eyes flickered over the torches for mere moments, before she slouched over and focused on the ground below her as she walked down the steps.

If Hugo was here, I bet he'd launch himself into this whole speech about how magical these torches are, Chihiro thought with a chuckle, the single laugh she had let out insofar that day, Good thing he isn't, I don't feel like listening to lectures. Why do I have to get so antsy about everything? I mean, it's not like the whole world's gonna cave in if I fail. Oh wait, it is! Cause I'm the super important portal master and—

When she looked up, Chihiro realized that she was at the beach at last.

"I really need to stop getting lost in my thoughts." Chihiro said before she took in the sounds and sights of the beach.

Those sounds were really nothing except for the crashing of waves against the docks and crunch of sand beneath her feet. It looked and felt not at all that different from when she visited it a few days prior, aside from the resident chill from that strange ice palace that popped by the ocean that day—or maybe that was just her imagination?

I still can't believe I got to go on my first real mission. Chihiro made a soft smile as she toyed with her jacket's zipper, her mind simmered in memories of that fateful day, It almost feels like it was just yesterday. Stopping those ice ogres, saving Vindlevale, learning how to ice skate…

With a smile, Chihiro walked forward and slowly imitated the form of a figure skater as she strode back and fro across the beach's sands. As she did, however, she felt a slight sense of dread cover her mind and gently laid her arms back at her side, then bit her lip as she watched her reflection in the waves.

And Spyro and Gill getting sick.

Her mind turned numb as she mindlessly stared at her reflection in the water, little mind paid to the waters as they cascaded over her boots, the crunch of the sand underneath her feet and the faint sound of… Screaming? Wait, hold on—why was there screaming?

Chihiro's curiosity piqued as she listened in, noted that it seemed to be coming from the beach's east end and hurried off to that direction almost immediately.

"Uh, just so you know, if you're going to eat me, I'm really salty and kinda high in cholesterol—"

"If you are going eat me, you should know I salty too!"

"Oh great, someone please, get me out of here!"

Chihiro tilted her head as she poked it around the corner. Those voices weren't like any she had recognize! She then turned around and walked closer to their source…

Which was a gillperson trapped in a cell with rusted red bars! They reminded Chihiro a bit of Gill Grunt in appearance, except they lacked fangs on their lower jaw, their scales were seafoam green in color, and they wore bright orange rubber overalls and a matching rubber shirt. Their fins were clasped tight onto the bars of their cage, and the sheer amount of shaking they did betrayed their fear.

"Summon Getty underwear! He he!" squeaked something with a high-pitched voice as the gillperson banged their head against their cage's bars.

Chihiro's vision then focused in on the top of the cell, where stationed in a giant, golden metal puzzle was a curious little bright green ball of fluff with pink eyes that were varying in size and yellow duck flippers that lacked any form of webbing.

With a sigh, Chihiro walked over to the cage and looked up at the puzzle.

"Hello?" The gillperson gurgled, their voice like someone gargling saltwater, "Have you come to rescue me?"—The gillperson frowned at Chihiro's lack of response—"Please say yes, this thing's driving me upstream!"

Chihiro made a soft hum, then grasped the puzzle in her hands and shook it vigorously! It was quite easy—the puzzle was surprisingly light for something that looked so bulky. As she did this, the gremlin creature popped inside the puzzle's lock and hollered as she shook the puzzle around! Then within a couple of minutes, Chihiro heard something that sounded akin to a click!

Right then and there, the weird gremlin creature disappeared and the puzzle fell off the cage!… And right onto Chihiro's foot.

Chihiro let out a loud yowl as the pain seared through her entire body, then watched as the puzzle disappeared.

"Ugh, my foot…" Chihiro moaned and knelt down to massage her throbbing foot.

Meanwhile, the strange gillperson carefully nudged the rusted iron bars of the cage they was in and they flung open!

Of course, though, they ended up in Chihiro's face and caused her to be flung back in the sand with another scream of pain.

"Heh, sorry 'bout that," The gillperson giggled as they rubbed the back of their slimy head—surely they would be blushing in embarrassment if gillpeople were capable of such an action.

"No need, I'm, fine, fine," Chihiro moaned as she stumbled up and tried to repress the giant red mark on her face that she gained in the collision, "Just who are you, anyways?"

Before either party could speak again, Chihiro then heard the sound of panting, and turned around to find someone—or rather, some people—as they ran to her in the distance!

"Hugo!" Chihiro shouted as she blinked, "And…"—Chihiro held her hand over her now-narrowed eyes—"Wham and Zap?"

Hugo ran as fast as his stubby legs could take him before he panted and plopped down on the warm sands, only for him to be pulled up by another figure—a red and gold crustacean with piercing blue eyes, a mouth full of sharp pearly whites that was dipped to a frown and equally-sharp white claws that clasped a golden, spiky mace.

After he stood, he sat and caught his breath only to be nudged by a blue water dragon with green fins that trailed all the way down their body, wide orange eyes and amphibian legs who wore a yellow vest and broke into a coughing fit. Once he had regained his breath, Hugo looked up at Chihiro with fear dilated in his brown eyes.

"Chihiro, I heard some strange sounds coming down from here, is something wrong?" Hugo asked, his speech so fast you'd be forgiven if you thought he was in serious danger.

"Just the fact that some strange fish guy is on the beach and locked in a cell that's guarded by some weird imp dude," Chihiro said then turned to her side and pointed to the gillperson she had just rescued, who sheepishly waved at Hugo.

"Er, hi there," they said as they smiled weakly and clutched their fins.

"Oh, you must be talking about the beach confinement system!" Hugo exclaimed as he clasped his paws together, his body slightly calmed, "We haven't gotten any use out of that in years!"

"It could use some renovations," The gillperson scoffed as they crossed their arms.

"So, Mr. Fish, do you happen to have any sheep on you?" Hugo inquired as he examined the gillperson.

"Gurglefin." the gillperson held up a webbed finger.

"Gesundheit!" Hugo chirped with a warm smile.

"No, my name, it's Gurglefin," Gurglefin shot back with a look of frustration on his wet face, "I'm a Gillman, not a fish, and where would I keep a sheep? I'm not wearing pants, in case you couldn't tell."

Chihiro snickered for the first time in those past days then returned to a cold, neutral look.

"In all seriousness, Gurglefin, how'd you end up here?" Chihiro asked with a tilt of her head.

"Well," said Gurglefin as he rubbed his hands, "My homeland was taken over by trolls, who locked us all up and started drilling for oil to give to Kaos!"

The crustacean's eyes widened as their expression soured, then with sudden determination they pushed through the tiny crowd and shoved their face in Gurglefin's.

"What happened next?" The crustacean demanded, their voice deep and somewhat gravely in tone.

"Er, I came searching for the Skylanders," Gurglefin replied as he shrank back, "Because word on the stream was they had returned, but I somehow ended up in here instead!"

Silence resounded through the beach for a few moments before Chihiro coughed.

"Well, you're in luck, because I happen to have the Skylanders with me!" Chihiro chirped as she rubbed a fist against her chest.

Gurglefin gave Hugo one look and another, completely surprised.

"You mean him?" Gurglefin asked with a bewildered tone in his voice, "Because he doesn't look like a Skylander to me."

"He's not, but we are!" The crustacean proclaimed as they brushed a fist against their chest, "Name's Wham-Shell, and Zap and I will take care of those trolls before you can even blink!"

"Clearly I am not needed here," Hugo grumbled as he let out a little scoff and scurried away.

"Better apologize to him later." Wham-Shell sighed as he watched Hugo leave, "For now, looks like we've got an island to save!"

"I'll go get a portal set up!" Chihiro chirped as she dusted herself off and made her way to the stairs.

"That won't be needed," Gurglefin piped up as he raised up a webbed hand, "Because, I brought my own ship!"

"You have a ship?" Chihiro, Zap, and Wham-Shell asked all at once.

"Well, how else did you think I got here?" Gurglefin rested his hand back at his side.

"Swimming?" Chihiro guessed.

"Parasailing?" Zap suggested.

"Seahorse riding?" Wham-Shell assumed.

Chihiro gave Wham-Shell and Zap a strange look while they shrugged cluelessly.

"No, none of those!" Gurglefin exclaimed with a shake of his head, "I got here by sailing! I'll even show you my pride and joy! Here, Delilah!"

Gurglefin made a noise akin to a distorted whistle and immediately a massive, wooden schooner with billowing, white sails and a very sturdy oakwood mast shaped like a mermaid sailed into the docks and parked itself next to the shore.

Chihiro, Zap, and Wham-Shell stared in wonder as they looked upon the ship, until Chihiro's awestruck look morphed into a look of pure excitement.

"Well, guys, looks like we're going by boat! Isn't this cool?!" Chihiro shouted, her eyes bright as she ran across the docks before she jumped onto the ship and bounced up and down on its deck.

As Wham-Shell and Zap followed her, Zap grimaced towards Wham-Shell and gently nudged his shoulder.

"Wham, are you sure you're okay with this, buddy?" Zap asked, "Listen, dude, I know your history with tro—"

"It's fine, Zap," Wham-Shell insisted as his voice seethed, "That was all in the past."

"Dude, I've seen you when you think like that, it's not—"

"I said it's fine. I'm a Skylander now, I can't let some bad memories get in the way of my job." Wham-Shell looked down at his own hands and frowned deeply, "And besides, I can't let what happened to me happen to anybody else."

Zap frowned for a moment with a lingering gaze left on Wham-Shell, then he bit his lip and zoomed onto the ship.

"You look pumped!" Zap remarked as he joined Chihiro at her side.

Now that he was safely on board, Zap used his slippery paw to hesitantly beacon Wham-Shell over and watched as Wham-Shell joined them while he muttered something under his breath.

"Because I am, Zapster!" Chihiro exclaimed as she looked at Zap, "I mean, how many people my age get to ride on a cool ship like this? None that I know, that's for sure!"

Chihiro then frowned as she watched Wham-Shell trek up the ramp, all while he muttered something that was barely audible to everyone around.

"I can't think about it, I can't think about it…" Wham-Shell murmured at a volume that could only barely be heard.

"Hey Wham, what'cha talking 'bout?" Chihiro chirped as she tilted her head.

"Nothing." Wham-Shell grunted and stormed off to the other side of the ship's deck.

Chihiro frowned and shrugged, then looked proud before her eyes trailed off to the steering wheel and an idea slowly formed in that strange head of hers. With a smile, she grabbed hold of the wheel and her smile grew wide. Then with a chirp, she span it around a spell and looked over to see the board retract into the rest of the ship!

Gurglefin whistled to himself as he strode up the wooden plank… Only for the plank to be pulled out from under him! With a shout of alarm he dashed up the platform and promptly tripped onto the deck, all while he panted heavily.

No mind paid to Gurglefin, Chihiro spun the wheel around and steered—very roughly, need it be said, because it seemed that at every turn she seemed to have rammed the hull into another rock or port.

"Whoops! Sorry! Meant to do that!" Chihiro shouted with a grimace as she carefully steered the ship away from the port, "I think I've got this now!"—Chihiro winced as she felt the ship ram against something—"Oh, nevermind that!"

Shouts and groans were heard all around as the ships' passengers were tossed left and right by Chihiro's steering, but their clear distaste was completely ignored by Chihiro. In fact, her mind was more preoccupied with this new strange sound of crashing water that she heard… Chihiro then looked across the wheel and saw that she had reached the end of the island! It was marked by clear, rushing waterfalls, and the dive seemed pretty darn steep—the skies were endless no matter how far down she looked… Say, Skylands wouldn't happen to have a bottom, would it?

"Uh, you guys might wanna grab onto something!" Gurglefin exclaimed as he dashed forward and clung to the base of the steering wheel.

However, he was ignored by all as the ship bounded down the waterfall, screams coming from all aboard.

Gurglefin screamed, Zap screamed, even Wham-Shell screamed!

But oddly enough, Chihiro just stared transfixed on the scene in front of her, absolutely entranced by the episode before her eyeballs. As she watched the scene, a bright red button found its way out of the wooden spokes on the side of the wheel and with no hesitation Chihiro smacked it down with her finger.

In a flash, billowy, white, sail-like wings popped out of the ship's side! And with the capture of a friendly breeze, the ship soared off!

"Oh, did I mention that Delilah's an all-terrain ship?" Gurglefin recalled as he snagged the wheel back from Chihiro.

Everybody else just gave Gurglefin unamused glances while Gurglefin shrugged helplessly.

§

Roughly an hour of sailing later, Chihiro smiled widely as Gurglefin parked the ship next to a creaky, oil-covered wooden dock that looked like it hadn't been tended to in years.

"We're he~re!" Chihiro announced as she leaned over the side of the dock.

As soon as they heard Chihiro's voice, Wham-Shell, Gurglefin and Zap raced to her side and peered over the ship's deck… Then they gasped and reeled back.

There in front of their eyes was a murky island that reeked of oil and despair. The oceans were an oily, gungy black, worn-down mechanical devices coated the island like pests and billowed out thick black smoke everywhere you turned and the earthy floors that hadn't been replaced by steel were a nasty shade of green. The whole place felt like it was despair personified.

"Dude, that is NASTY!" Zap exclaimed as he tumbled back.

Chihiro shuddered as she looked ahead, but her shock lasted only a moment as she regained her cheerful composure.

"Yep, definitely here!" Chihiro chirped.

Gurglefin only heaved a mournful sigh as he glazed over the island.

"This place used to be beautiful, you know," Gurglefin said, his tone and posture so defeated and sorrowful as he gazed over the island, "The oceans were clear as crystals, the air was so fresh…"—Gurglefin grimaced as he looked down at the oil-filled waters—"It was a regular paradise until Kaos's trolls came here to drill for oil!"

Everybody's expressions felt into a sympathetic level of sorrow, but most of all Wham-Shell's—there was a kind of understanding despair in his eyes as he pursed his lips, as if he felt Gurglefin's pain from the bottom of his heart.

Zap seemed to have noticed as well as he placed a paw on Wham-Shell's shoulder.

"And not only did they turn the whole place upside-down looking for oil, they captured all my people!" Gurglefin shuddered as he gazed over the island one last time, "Only the Ancients know what they'll do to them! They'll probably turn them into Gillpeople Goulash, or soup, or…"

Gurglefin stopped short as Chihiro placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and looked up to her sunny beam—a rare source of light in such a harrowing scene.

"Don't worry a scale off your head, Gurglewin!" Chihiro chirped as she turned confident and pumped a fist, "We'll stop those nasty trolls and make this island just as beautiful as it was before! No, fives times as beautiful, maybe even ten, or twenty, or—"—Chihiro looked over the island only to find that Zap and Wham-Shell had ran off without her—"Hey guys, wait for me!"

With short pants Chihiro dashed away from Gurglefin and ran down the plank.

"… It's Gurglefin." Gurglefin frowned and sighed as he slowly left the ship.

With a cheery beam, Chihiro dashed across the oily steel grounds. Of course, Chihiro happened to not notice the giant puddles of oil that surrounded the island, lost her footing on one and skidded all over the island! While she screamed as loud as she could, Chihiro zipped past a confused Zap and Wham-Shell then slammed right into a giant door!

Chihiro squeaked with pain before her eyes flickered away from the door and back to Wham-Shell and Zap… And Gurglefin, who were all staring at her with the most confused of looks.

"I'm okay, I meant to do that!" Chihiro reassured, though her pained look and the giant red mark between her eyes seemed to speak otherwise.

Wham-Shell gave her a concerned look, then approached Chihiro and yanked her off of the floor.

"Heh, guess I set myself up for that one," Chihiro whimpered, only to shy away as Wham-Shell stared at her with a scolding gaze.

"You need to be more careful," Wham-Shell chastised before he gave her another scolding look and went over to examine the gate, "Now, stay back for a minute while we examine this gate."

Chihiro gave the gate a curious look and hummed. It lacked a visible lock or key… How was it supposed to be opened? Then, her eyes focused on the various giant crystals held into places with rusty gold stands across the island's metal floors, each of which shone out iridescent beams of light despite the fact that the sun was heavily blocked by the smog.

"Wait, I've got an idea!"Chihiro chirped as she approached one of the crystals and examined it thoroughly.

She knelt down, dug her feet into the earth, and pushed the crystal forwards… But no dice—even after pushing for what seemed like hours, it didn't budge an inch.

Chihiro then stood back up, placed her hands on her hips and huffed.

"Ugh, why won't you move?!" Chihiro's patience wore thin as she side-kicked the machine!

The force from her kick made it skid forward—at last! The beam of light it emitted locked with a smaller crystal that was located next to the gate and caused the gate's doors to swing open with a thud.

Chihiro blinked for a few rapid moments, then beamed and rubbed a fist against her chest.

"Well, looks like it's open!" Chihiro grabbed Wham-Shell's armored hand and Zap's scaly paw then took a small step forwards, "Come on guys, let's go!"

Without any sort of warning Chihiro then zoomed forward and dragged them with her!

"Let's go save the gillpeople!" Chihiro exclaimed from a good distance as she flung her clenched fist in the air and Zap with it.

Gurglefin, meanwhile, just stared at them from the openness of the opened gate and made an awkward chuckle.

"Heh, guess I'll just stay here then?" Gurglefin suggested.

§

"Chihiro, for the love of Eon, slow down!" Wham shouted as he clung tight to her arm.

"What?" Chihiro shouted as she looked over at Wham-Shell, "I can't hear you over the sound of the wind!"

Chihiro's response caused Wham-Shell to groan and slap his armored hand on his forehead.

"Chi!" Zap shouted before he made a soft groan and held his head.

"What, Zapster?" Chihiro asked as she looked over at Zap.

"Stop! You're making me dizzy!"

Chihiro dug her heels into the ground and made a screeching sound as she slowed down and took a breath.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Chihiro asked as she finally came to a stop and let the other two go free.

Wham-Shell heaved a frustrated sigh, before he took a deep breath and returning to a neutral composure.

"Our first order of business is finding those gillpeople that were imprisoned," Wham-Shell proclaimed as he held tight to his mace, his eyes darted from place to place as he spoke, "But where are they?"

The three of them hummed and pondered for a few short minutes—though to them, it seemed more like eternity. Eventually, after a while all they did was sigh.

"You got any ideas?" Wham-Shell asked as he fixed his eyes on Zap and Chihiro, then frowned as they shrugged.

"Not a clue, dude," Zap replied as he hung his head.

"Maybe we should split up," Chihiro suggested at last as she rested her hands at her side, "This island is pretty big—and there's a lot of places where someone could keep prisoners."

Wham-Shell and Zap contemplated this for a few minutes, then reluctantly nodded their heads.

"Alrighty then!" Chihiro chirped as she pointed towards the open passageway ahead, "Zap, Wham, you guys go on ahead! I'll stay here and check things out!"

Wham-Shell bit his lip as he watched Zap zoom off ahead then took once glance back at Chihiro.

"Just be careful, alright?" Wham-Shell said as he watched Chihiro give him a thumbs up.

"Careful is my middle name!" Chihiro giggled and scratched the back of her head as she withdrew her thumbs up, "Well, actually, I don't have a middle name—but the point still stands!"—Chihiro then tapped her feet, watched as they glowed a faint blue and zoomed off—"Later!"

The smoky breeze brushed through Chihiro's hair as she ran away while time seemingly slowed to a crawl… Then a cloud of smoke passed her by and sent her into a coughing fit! As she coughed her way into tomorrow Chihiro dug her heels into the ground and came to a stop, then watched as the cloud passed her by. With a frown she placed a hand on her chin and hummed.

"Now, if I were a troll, where would I keep my prisoners?" Chihiro asked herself as she walked off from the group, "Let's see, a dungeon? No, that would be too obvious, and I don't think that there's anyplace here that would work, unless it's an underwater dungeon!"—Chihiro let that sit for a minute or so but then shook it off—"Except trolls can't swim."

Just then, something caught her eye—a green, warty troll with a black mohawk atop their head that was polishing a golden sniper.

"What are you doing here, kid?" The troll asked in a croaky voice, as he looked up at Chihiro.

A smirk played on Chihiro's lips—now was her chance!

"Oh, just wondering where you keep your prisoners, that's all," Chihiro asked as she walked up to the troll, a feigned innocence in her voice.

"Oh, we keep them in these locked, iron cages!" The troll chirped with a smile, "Go a few feet back and you'll find the first one!"

"Okay, thanks!" And with that Chihiro zoomed off once more, her seemingly endless amount of energy fueling her excitement.

The troll smiled and waved goodbye, then went back to polishing his gun.

"What a nice kid."

The troll then heard a rapid buzzing, picked up something that resembled a com link and pressed a green button on it.

"ATTENTION, SERVANTS!" Kaos shouted from the other side of the device, his voice screechy and obnoxious as ever.

These very words immediately froze the troll into a salute.

"Yes, Lord Kaos?" He asked into the machine.

"I have received reports that the new poser master and the Skylanders have arrived on this island in order to rid it of my machines!"

"Wait, poser master?" The troll whispered to himself as a theory surely started to form in his miniature troll brain, then turned to address the com link, "Does this portal master happen to be a human kid?"

"Yes, fool! Why do you ask such obvious questions?"

The troll gulped, then turned off the com link in a flash.

"Sorry Lord Kaos, gotta go!"

With a new level of panic set upon him, the troll raced off to the rest of the island.

§

"Looks like I've found it," Chihiro said to herself as she brushed a hand against the object before her.

This object was a giant, round iron birdcage—or rather, fishcage—with a rusted golden lock planted on the door outside. Inside, a sunset orange gillperson who wore blue rubber trousers and a light blue shirt stared at her with wide, pleading eyes—as if they were hoping she was the savior they had been waiting for.

"Don't worry, I'll have you out in a jiffy!" Chihiro beamed as she watched the gillperson smile, then turned away and looked at the open fields.

"Now, to get the guys over here." Chihiro stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled before she gazed across the fields once more, "Whammy, Zapster, over here!"

Her waving continued for a few more moments, until she saw two fuzzy figures walk in from the distance—figures she immediately recognized as belonging to Wham-Shell and Zap.

"You found it! Rad!" Zap gurgled as he slid toward Chihiro's side and looked upon the cage, only for his smile to twist into a frown, "Okay, not so rad. Who would be freaky enough to do something like this?"

"Kaos," Wham-Shell whispered, the name ashes in his mouth as he turned to Zap and Chihiro with urgency in his eyes, "Now, we need to find the key. Search the entire island if you have to."

With a grunt and a nod, the trio began to part ways, their party split in three different directions with one objective shared in their minds.

"Knowing how the trolls are, they probably wouldn't have tossed it too far!" Chihiro shouted as she walked forward…

But before she could continue on, Chihiro felt something snag her foot and landed face-first in a puddle of murky water! After she coughed out the dirty water, Chihiro magicked up a towel and dried off her hair, then looked backwards.

"What on earth?…" Chihiro whispered as her eyes glazed over an oil puddle with a noticeable streak across its body and a small glimmer just barely visible from within its oily depths!

Chihiro crawled over to the shimmer and dove her handle into the oil, only to grasp something slender and hard. After she shook she oil off, she looked back down and beamed—because there in her hands was a rusty golden key!

"Got it!" Chihiro beamed and immediately made a break for the cage… Only to catch her feet on the oil and slide right into it instead!

"Ouch, that was smart." Chihiro reeled back and looked over the cage one more time.

She then picked up the key that had fallen towards the oil slicked ground in the collision and pushed it into the lock with a click. She was about ready to turn it when…

"There she is!" Shouted a raspy voice from out of nowhere!

Chihiro jolted and swerved her head around to find that something had found her—or shall we say, somethings?

There, surrounding her in a circle around the cage, was an entire armada of trolls, or what it seemed like from her eyes! They were all scowls and warts and oily hair, and each one was either beefed up with muscle or wielded dangerous-looking guns and bombs and other sorts of weapons—but they all shared one common factor, and that was their sheer anger. Worst of all, right at the front of the group was the same warty, green-skinned troll Chihiro had tricked into giving her the cage's location! He now stared her in the eye, his gun cocked and ready for shooting.

"Looks like the tables have been turned," the troll sneered with a proud look in his eyes, "Lord Kaos sure will be happy when I turn you in."

Chihiro trembled as she scrambled backwards, only to bump into the cage! Her breath was heavy as the trolls all closed in on her, ready to strike… Only for her to sneer.

"Look over there! A flying pig!" Chihiro exclaimed as she pointed to the smoky skies.

"A FLYING PIG?!" All the trolls shouted at once as they turned around with their eyes trained to the murky skies.

Chihiro created an energy sphere, an eager smile stretched across her lips, then tossed it straight at the troll who lead the group! As he fell to the floor with a thud, all the trolls turned back around—but were only faced with an eager-looking Chihiro who was now surrounded by explosive magic energy spheres!

The trolls screamed and cried out in pain as the energy spheres shot themselves at the trolls and exploded, which lit their battlefield in a bright cyan that became a welcome change of color among the murky greens and grays. Soon enough, Chihiro's own shouts of war became intermingled with her opponents', the commotion so great it would've attracted the attention of everyone around!

Including…

"Whoa, Whamster, check this out!" Zap shouted, his orange eyes fastened tightly on the scene before them as he nudged Wham-Shell's shoulder.

"Just how important is it, Zap?" Wham-Shell asked as he turned around, "I'm trying to find the key, in case you couldn't—"

Wham-Shell was rendered speechless for only moments as he watched the scene before him and bit his lip.

There, practically begging to be observed, was a repeated giant flare of cyan light that radiated with magic energy. Over the explosions one could just barely hear the sound of war—which included a cheery, youthful voice that they surely both recognized…

"CHIHIRO?!" Wham-Shell exclaimed as he saw a familiar childlike figure jump back from an explosion and shoot off a mechanical laser gun into the smoke.

"Look at her, she's awesome!" Zap said as his eyes widened from sheer excitement, "Just look at her go!"

"This isn't the time to sit around and watch!" Wham-Shell shuddered for a few moments, then grabbed Zap by the paw and dashed off, "She'll get killed taking on those things by herself!"

Chihiro, meanwhile, had jumped on top of a troll footsoldier and stomped them into the ground. With an overeager cackle, she snapped her fingers and watched as an entire array of magic spheres spun around her person.

"ALRIGHT, WHO WANTS TO GET BEAT DOWN NEXT?!" Chihiro shouted, a wide grin stretched across her face as her eyebrows furrowed.

However, she never got the chance to launch an attack—because a giant yellow starfish spun its way through the crowd and sent several enemies flying!

Chihiro uttered out a confused chirp, then let out a shrill squeal as something pulled her down from the troll she was standing on. After she was pulled out of the fray, Chihiro turned around and smiled—because there in front of her was Wham-Shell!

"Hey guys!" Chihiro chirped as she placed her fists on her hips, "You could've stayed out y'know, I've got the whole thing under control!"

"And miss the party? No way, dude!" Zap shouted back as lightning crackled from his mouth.

In record time Zap sent trails of lightning bolts barreling after his enemies, lightning bolts that shocked them in rapid successions and made entire lines of trolls fall unconscious!

Wham-Shell, however, gave Chihiro a scorning look.

"Chihiro, what were you thinking, taking those things on by yourself?!" Wham-Shell demanded, his fangs bared and sharp, "You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"I didn't find them! They found me!" Chihiro sputtered before she crossed her arms, "Besides, I was able to handle it! I was beating them down like it was nothing!"

"You're getting too cocky!" Wham-Shell snarled as he pointed a finger in Chihiro's face, his breath heavy, "Those trolls are too dangerous for a kid like you to face! You might think you have it under control, but what if—"

Before Wham-Shell could even finish scolding Chihiro, several trolls noted their position and launched into an attack! Wham-Shell grunted as one launched itself towards him, but quickly sent it flying with a swing of his mace! More and more trolls tried to attack, but it was fruitless—with every mighty swing of Wham-Shell's mace, they were sent soaring into the murky skies like baseballs.

"… That happened," Wham-Shell panted as he looked back at Chihiro.

Just then, some giant blur rammed into him and pushed him face-first into the ground! Wham-Shell turned around and struggled to get back up, only for his assaulter—a bulky troll that held a golden Gatling gun—to place their foot on Wham's chest, a sneer on their face as they cocked their gun.

"Thought you could win, huh, Skylander?" The troll smirked.

Wham gave the troll a dark stare, only for his pupils to shrink and his body to tremble. His whole body seemed like it was on lockdown—he could only helplessly stare as the troll cocked his gun and got ready to shoot when…

"Hey, get off'a him, you creep!" Chihiro shouted as she leaped forward and clocked the troll in the face.

The troll was caught aback by this and fell off Wham-Shell before it was flung off into a nearby wall by a giant magic sphere.

As she panted and watched the troll groan in pain, Chihiro knelt down and gently rubbed a hand on Wham-Shell's head.

"You alright, Wham?!" Chihiro asked as she gently wrapped an arm around his back, "You just completely froze when—"

"I'm fine, Chihiro," Wham-Shell insisted as he slunk away from Chihiro, his face painted with a troubled stare, "I just got caught off-guard."

Wham immediately turned around and staggered up, though he was still shaking all over. Clearly something was bothering him more than he wanted to let on…

"Hey, Whammy, somethin' up?" Chihiro playfully nudged him in the arm.

"Do you still know where the key is?" Wham-Shell's eyes darted from Chihiro and back again as his mouth pursed into a cold frown.

"'Course I do." Chihiro pointed to to the iron cage, where the key was still safely inserted, "Why'd you ask?"

"Don't we have a gillperson to free?" Wham-Shell prompted Chihiro with a gentle nudge in the arm.

Chihiro took a few moments to process this thought when something finally struck her.

"Oh, right! Sorry Whammy, gotta go—I've got a gillperson to free!"

And with that, Chihiro zoomed off and left only an oily cloud of dust behind her while Wham-Shell heaved a sigh.

"The mission is the biggest priority right now, you can't keep thinking about the past," Wham-Shell reminded himself as his head began to spin just slightly, "Don't think about it. Just don't think about it..."

"WHAMMY! Aren't you coming?" Chihiro shouted as she stopped in place and tapped her foot, her hands on her hips.

"I'm coming, Chihiro." Wham-Shell heaved a sigh and trudged along.

§

"There ya go, buddy, all free!" Chihiro chirped as she watched the lock with the key twisted inside the keyhole fall to the ground.

This newfound lack of weight flung the cage door open, which allowed the gillperson inside to roam free.

"Thank you, miss!" The gillperson exclaimed as they shook Chihiro's hand.

They then ran off in a flash, all while they cheered and celebrated their newfound freedom. Just seeing them so happy and free could revitalize anyone's spirits!

"One down, who knows how many to go!" Chihiro gave Zap and Wham-Shell looks that screamed the words she said later, "Ready for a run?"

With a smile, Chihiro raced off before they gave her an answer! She only left them to watch as a cloud of dust blocked her location.

"Last one there's a Tarclops!" Zap exclaimed as he zipped off on a trail of sea slime, a wide smile stretched across his face.

"Wait up!" Wham-Shell shouted as he chased after the two then shook his head, "Kids."

As Chihiro ran, she paused to look at what seemed to be a crackling bolt of lightning that zipped past her in an instant!

"Wait, isn't that?…" Chihiro remarked before she snapped back into reality and ran after Zap, "Zap! Wait! For me! Man, this is tiring."

Chihiro collapsed in a heap on the floor as she panted and shuddered. Clearly, she had exerted herself a lot in the prior fight.

As he caught up to her, Wham-Shell frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That fight took a lot out of you, didn't it?" Wham-Shell asked, his tone oddly caring despite how irate he had been earlier.

As her shoulders sagged, Chihiro looked up at Wham-Shell and nodded slightly.

Wham-Shell then managed a small, weak smile as slid his arm under her shoulder and heaved her back up, his eyes fixed on her as she caught her breath.

Chihiro leaned on him for a few minutes, then slowly regained her footing and let go. Her eyes kept on her feet, Chihiro took small steps towards where Zap was. Then steps turned to a walk, a walk turned into strides, and soon enough Chihiro ran after Zap with pure excitement.

"Zapster! Wait up!" Chihiro shouted as she waved her hand.

Meanwhile, Wham-Shell looked at the long road ahead and smiled.

Those kids sure have a lot of spirit, he thought, Even when things look as awful as they do around here, they're still all smiles and vigor. I can't let them outdo me, can I?

Wham-Shell stepped forward, then breathed in the scent of oil and flinched. No, can't think about that right now… With a shake of his head and a slight shudder he took another step forwards… Then felt two giant hands clasp on his shoulders and turned around to find the last thing he hoped to see.

There before him with a tight grip on his shoulders was a giant, hairy green troll! The only signs of clothing worn were the sleeves to what appeared to be a pair of worn, dusty red overalls and two giant black and gold gauntlets on their wrists. On that giant troll's shoulder was a smaller, orange troll who wore deep blue trousers and cradled a Gatling gun. A cocky sneer spread across the smaller troll's ugly face as what seemed like an entire armada formed behind him.

"You're coming with me, Skylander," were the only words the small troll said, their voice so twisted with pride that it made Wham-Shell sick.

Not just sick to his stomach, no—Wham-Shell's whole head begin to spin as he felt his hands clam up. Something about that voice seemed familiar, and not in a good way...

"Wait, Joe, don't we know this guy?" The larger troll said as their eyes glazed over the small troll who was presumably Joe.

Joe thought for a good few minutes, then his eyes lit up.

"Yeah, Bob!" Joe's sneer grew wider as he glared down Wham-Shell, "It's that lousy excuse of a king who couldn't even save his own kingdom from being blown to bits!"

Wham-Shell only growled in response. His head throbbed with rage and slight panic as he struggled against Bob's grasp.

"Yeah, and he's a Skylander now!" Bob made an awful chuckle, "I'm surprised they even let him in, considering he couldn't even save his own kingdom from us trolls!"

"If they even let him in, I bet these Skylanders won't be able to stop Kaos from conquering Skylands!" Joe crooned as he clearly reveled in Wham-Shell's growing frustration.

Wham-Shell struggled against the larger troll's grip, but he couldn't—his captor was just too strong. But he couldn't let that deter him—he had to get out of here, now!

"Now, to contact Lord Kaos." Bob tapped on the black and gray communicator around his wrist until feedback resounded from it.

"WHAT IS IT, MINION?!" Kaos demanded from the other side of his communicator.

"Sir, we've managed to capture a Skylander!" Bob proclaimed as he cringed.

"You? Capture a Skylander?" Kaos cackled so hard that he would've probably started crying, "Don't make me laugh. Oh wait, I just did! Now stop wasting my time and continue drilling!"

"Yes, boss." Bob turned off his communications device before he stared at Wham-Shell and frowned, "Whaddya gonna do with this one, Joe?"

"Eh, I dunno, just tie 'em up and leave him here I guess. If he's as good a Skylander as he was a king, he won't be any problem to us!" Joe sneered.

They both then broke into a mocking chorus of laughter, a chorus that resonated around Wham-Shell and made his entire body completely lock up. No matter what he did, he couldn't move a muscle—all he could do was drink in the sounds that made his head throb. Everywhere, he was surrounded by laughs that got louder, shrieks that got higher as visions of crumbling buildings and fallen allies that cascaded downwards into the depths of the ocean, as every moment that haunted him came back in full force.

Save us, King Neptune!

For Crustacea!

Come on, you can make it! Just a little bit further and we'll be at the infirmary!

No soldier, don't give me that look! You're not dying on me, not here, not now!

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

All these voices and more resonates around his head, and that's when something in Wham-Shell snapped! His heart raced and his head throbbed, his breaths turned faint as he tried desperately to escape, an overwhelming sense of dread and panic now fallen over him. Without even thinking he grabbed his mace and smacked it straight into Bob's gut, but he didn't even fully register what had happened. He didn't even hear what Joe spat into his wrist as he and Bob skidded across the sands, and only barely comprehended the mass of colorful, armed trolls that surrounded him shortly afterwards.

Because in his mind, he was no longer on the island.

He was in his old kingdom, on the very day it was destroyed.

§

Wham-Shell's breath was heavy as he shot of a barrage of starfish towards a trio of trolls as he stepped back, his legs turned shaky from panic. But no, he couldn't panic now, he had to get out of here! Except, there were no ways out—those trolls had him surrounded.

Another large troll leaped forward and pounded their giant fists into the ground, which sent Wham-Shell flying! As he hit the floor, he staggered back up and swung his mace straight into the troll's gut, which sent them barreling straight into the crowds! His breath turned heavy as the troll sent several of its comrades barreling into the oceans—only for more to take their places!

"These blokes are everywhere," Wham-Shell whispered, "Just how many are there, anyways?!"

His eyes darted back and forth as his balance swayed, almost completely unable to keep his footing in the sand. But nevertheless, he stood and glared them down—now was no time to rest, he had to save this place! With a loud shout Wham-Shell swung his mace at the various trolls that launched at him like a shark launches itself towards its prey. Each one was sent soaring into the skies within moments, but it was no use to celebrate—their replacements kept filing in! At this rate, there'd be too many for him to handle!

Just then, one of the burly trolls grabbed Wham-Shell and flung him against one of the stone walls! Wham-Shell was completely helpless to stop them, only able to scream in pain as he collided with the wall and slid down.

The giant group of troll soldiers all closed in on him, the sound of their mocking laughter a chorus to his screams. They all imposed themselves on him so that little else could be seen as they all readied their weapons and smiled—because they knew Wham-Shell could do nothing to stop him.

His body had grown weak from all the fighting, and he could barely even stand—let alone fight. All he could do was watch in terror as they prepared to attack, his pupils dilated as his breath stopped short.

No—this can't be happening!

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Squealed a young voice filled with pain!

Just then, some human kid ran in front of Wham-Shell and created a magic force field around the two of them. With tears in her eyes, they cradled his body like one would a child's before they hugged him tight and cried.

"WHAM!" The kid sobbed as she hugged him tight, "Wham, please be alright, please, please…"

Wham-Shell then groaned as he looked up at the child. He knew this kid from somewhere, but something had completely blocked out his memory. What was their name?…

"Wh, where am I?…" Wham-Shell mumbled, still in a daze as he tried to focus his vision.

"WHAM!" The kid sobbed into his shoulder, "I, I, I…"

Wham-Shell only gently pushed the kid away and fell back onto the sand, then looked up at the kid. Their whole body seemed so frail, yet oddly enough they were powerful enough to keep up an impressive force field—and their brown eyes shone with a familiar kind of youth. Wait, now he remembered who this kid was!

"Chihiro, you shouldn't have come here," Wham-Shell croaked, his voice weak and cracked, "I—"

Chihiro firmly shook her head as she stood in front of Wham-Shell and threw her hands in front of the magic barrier she had crafted. As she did this, the barrier pulsated and glowed brighter!

"I may not have been able to protect Spyro and Gill," Chihiro croaked as she just barely held back tears and gulped, "But, I'll… I'll surely protect you! I won't, I won't—"

As Chihiro choked on her words, the trolls pounded away at her barrier and made it crack—and from the looks of it, it wouldn't last much longer. Chihiro could only scream as one last pound from one large troll became the finishing blow that shattered the barrier completely!

The trolls all cackled as a terrified Chihiro froze in place, only for one to headbutt her and slam her against a wall! Chihiro cried out and trembled as her entire body trembled with rough, coursing pain, her chestnut eyes in a frantic daze as she looked up at the trolls that had enclosed them.

"Chihiro!" Wham-Shell called out, his pupils tiny as his whole body shook violently… Then stopped completely as he fell weak onto the sands. His whole body was on lockdown again, so weak and shaken that all he was able to do was watch Chihiro shudder and writhe in pain.

"Wham!" Chihiro frantically crawled to Wham-Shell's side and cradled his comatose body in her arms once more, then whimpered as she looked up at the trolls.

This was it.

This was how they were going to die, and it was all his fault.

Chihiro… I'm so sorry, Wham-Shell thought as he looked up at Chihiro, I wasn't strong enough.

Chihiro wrapped her body around Wham-Shell's in some vain effort to shield him from the attacks that were to come, all hope seemingly lost, then…

"SO NOT RAD, DUDES!"

Another voice broke the surface as Chihiro saw a familiar blue figure zip into the battlefield—Zap!

Enraged, Zap stormed up to the heart of the battlefield and shot a bolt of lightning straight into one troll's back.

This caused that one troll to fall over unconscious and subsequently caused the other to look over at Zap with deep scowls. As they began chasing after Zap, Zap slid around the island in a circular motion while the trolls fruitlessly chased after him—but he was too fast for their slow, clunky selves.

However, what the trolls didn't realize is that whenever Zap slid about, slime formed under his paws—and the more and more Zap circled, the stronger and stickier the slime he produced got! As soon as they charged into Zap's slime pit, they got completely stuck!

"You dudes have some nerve, ganging up on my buddies like this," Zap gargled, a surprising level of venom in his voice as he glared down the trolls who struggled in the slime pit, "What do you have to say for yourselves?!"

"It's his fault for being so weak," sneered Bob, "He can't even save his own kingdom, but he thinks he can play Skylander? Ha!"

Chihiro looked down at Wham-Shell, who only rapidly blinked as his face fell.

"What he said!" Chimed in Joe as he sat on Bob's shoulder, "Some king he was! He couldn't even stop us from drilling down his own kingdom for oil! How's he gonna save one measly island?"

Chihiro let out a shallow breath as she looked back up at the trolls, then at Wham-Shell before she gently laid him back down on the sand.

"I may not really know what you're talking about, but…" Chihiro said as her gaze narrowed and she staggered, "Wham isn't weak at all! You've got it all wrong!"

With a snap of her fingers she summoned a basketball-sized magic sphere and tossed it right at Joe, then watched with pride as he fell off Bob's shoulder and face-first into the slime pit.

This caused all the other trolls to turn to Chihiro and grow enraged, but she only stood tall as she readied more magic spheres, her gaze serious and stern. The trolls yelled out and stomped after Chihiro, but the energy spheres she had summoned whooshed away from her and slammed into most of them, which sent them all flying back into the pit!

"I think I understand now," Chihiro said as she turned back to Wham-Shell and smiled, "You came here in the first place because you wanted to make sure that what happened to your home didn't happen to anyone else, right?"

Wham-Shell was so stunned that he could only nod. Chihiro's gentle, almost angelic smile made him feel a little more at ease until he heard a roar and they both looked up

There, one particularly large troll was running towards them both!

"Wham wanted to protect these people! He wanted to keep them safe!" Chihiro jumped out the way of the stampeding troll and kicked them in the back.

The troll turned around and growled as it readied an attack of its own—but Chihiro was faster than it was! With a mighty cry she punched the troll straight in the face and watched as it yowled out in pain and stumbled backwards into a rock wall before it passed out.

"He cared so much for these people he didn't even know that he wanted to protect them no matter what." Chihiro's eyes burned with judgmental fire as she stared down the remaining trolls and pointed at them, "And that makes him way stronger than any of you! If anything, you're the weak ones here, hurting all these people when they can't even stop you!"

"Chihiro…" Wham-Shell whispered, completely taken aback by Chihiro's sudden speech.

"Yeah!" Zap gargled as his whole body charged with electricity as powerful as the angered stare he made, "Even though Wham lost his home and his people, he never gave up even for a second! He still wanted to protect people from what happened to him! And that's what makes him a Skylander!"

"Zap…" Wham-Shell whispered against as he watched Chihiro and Zap stand strong. For a moment, he felt something in his heart warm up…

"A hero?! Don't make me laugh!" Joe proclaimed as he shook the slime and ran towards Zap, "He couldn't even stop us when we captured him! I'm surprised you haven't sent that puny little crab back to his home yet!"—Joe then paused for a moment and smirked—"Oh, I forgot—IT'S GONE NOW!"

"NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!" Zap shot a lighting bolt that zapped Joe in the chest and sent Joe reeling back—but only for a minute.

Before Joe could retaliate, however, he was surrounded by an aqua glow and quickly flew to face Chihiro.

"You're all just awful," Chihiro said as she fell into a tranquil rage, "You're taking away everything from these people! Their home, their families, their safety… Only weak cowards like you would terrorize people who can't even fight back!"

With a mighty cry Chihiro grabbed the troll and tossed him back into Zap's slime pit, then shuddered as she heaved heavy breaths. This rage she had felt so strange—Chihiro tended to get frustrated here and there, but she had never emitted such raw, untapped anger before. It almost made her look intimidating.

And the same thing seemed to go for Zap—impulsive and careless as he was, Zap was never the type to lose his temper, especially violently. Yet he was, so enveloped by rage that his whole body was now coated in electricity! He looked more like a giant spec of light than anything as he charged to and fro on his slim trail and rammed into the trolls that tried to fight back! With every crash he made, he sent what was surely thousands of lightning volts into their bodies and made them surge with pain—literally!

As the trolls fell comatose around the beach, Chihiro took a breath and slowly walked up to Zap.

"Is that all of them?" Chihiro asked as Zap came to a crackling stop while the electricity that surrounded him vanished.

Before Zap could even reply, however, something slammed onto both of their shoulders and grabbed them tight! They both squirmed and struggled as their mysterious assailant lifted them in the air, then they turned around to find it was none other than Bob!

"Missed one," Bob sneered as Chihiro and Zap both made shocked gasps.

"Let us go!" Chihiro demanded as she kicked against Bob's belly—but it was no use. She was far too weak to even leave a bruise!

"Why should I?" Bob made a toothy grin as he looked back at Wham-Shell, "It's not like your little buddy over there's gonna save you! He couldn't even save himself from us!"

"SHUT UP!" Zap shouted as he bit down on Bob's finger!

Bob yowled in pain, then growled as he glared down Zap and squeezed Zap tighter.

"Why're you so worked up about this crab, anyways?" Bob placed his free hand on his hip, clearly not bothered by Zap's attack.

"Because he's our friend! Even though he's kinda cold sometimes, I know he cares about us! He'd do the same thing for us any day!" Chihiro exclaimed as she looked at Bob with wide, determined eyes.

"Yeah!" Zap shouted in retaliation as he shot down Bob with a piercing glare.

Chihiro's eyes sparkled for a moment as she let out an eager gasp, then her expression turned serious as she glared down Bob once more.

"So we're not just gonna let you toss him around and talk him down like some ragdoll!" Chihiro exclaimed as she kicked Bob once more, "We're gonna stick up for him no matter what!"

"Blah, blah, blah, too much talking," Bob grumbled as he rolled his eyes, "Let's just cut to the chase already!"

Bob lifted up the arm with Chihiro captive inside, about ready to strike… Then something struck him in the back and made him fall face-first into the sand!

Chihiro screamed as she fell down, only to notice that Bob's grip on her hand loosened and jumped out of their hand! As she looked over Bob's back, she broke into a smile.

Because there, across from Bob's comatose body was Wham-Shell! He now stood tall as he rested his mace back at his side while a steely expression graced his face—thankfully, his strength had returned to him while he witnessed their fight.

"Wham!" Chihiro exclaimed as she dashed across Bob's back and leaped forward, "Thank goodness!"

Chihiro quickly tackled Wham-Shell into a hug and for the first time that day Wham-Shell made a soft laugh and hugged Chihiro tight.

"Dude, you're back!" Zap exclaimed as he gazed at Wham-Shell, complete shock in his orange eyes.

As Wham-Shell looked at them both, the cold in his gaze subsided into something much more warmer and maybe a little more vulnerable.

"Chihiro, Zap…" Wham-Shell said at last, his voice a little hoarse but full of emotion, "Thank you."

"You heard all of that big fight, didn't you?" Chihiro asked.

Wham-Shell nodded as he poked Bob's foot with his mace then slowly drew it back. He went silent afterwards and looked aside, as if there was something on his mind but he didn't really want to—or know how to—say it outright. Which was true—he had a lot of things he wanted to say to them, but… Eh, it was no use thinking it over now.

Finally, his gaze turned neutral as he stumbled away from Chihiro and Zap.

"C'mon, we've got an island to—" Wham-Shell stopped short as he heard something lurch up from the earth and turned around to find…

"Did you really think one little starfish was gonna stop me?" Bob asked as he stood tall and tossed the aforementioned starfish into the oily ocean, "Hah! You really are stupid!"

Wham-Shell bared his teeth and gained a serious expression as he drew his mace.

"Chihiro, Zap, get back!" Wham-Shell exclaimed as he glared down Bob, "This is gonna get dangerous!"

Chihiro and Zap quickly heeded his warning and back up quite a couple paces from the fight that would soon break out. Though there was a bit of fear in their eyes, what Wham-Shell mostly saw was trust—trust that he could do it!

"You think you're so tough, don't'cha?" Bob sneered as he pounded on the ground and sent Wham-Shell soaring in the air, "Tryin' to stick up to the big bad troll? You think you're some kinda superhero, don't'cha?"

Wham-Shell grunted as he caught himself in mid-air and landed on his feet.

"I'll be the first to admit, I'm no great hero," Wham-Shell said as he stepped forward, his grasp on his mace tight, "I've made a lot of mistakes, and I have regrets like anyone else."

Bob scoffed, as if he thought Wham-Shell had affirmed his statement.

"But." Wham-Shell opened his eyes and bore a confident smile as he stared down Bob, "I'll be damned if I just stand by and watch while you hurt innocent people!"

Wham-Shell then slid forward and whammed his mace against Bob's leg pit, which in turn flipped Bob upside-down! With a loud CRASH, Bob landed headfirst into the beach and groaned as he staggered back up with a nice bump atop his ugly head.

"I may not have been able to save my kingdom from you monsters, but I won't let that stop me from saving theirs!" Wham-Shell then shot several starfish into Bob's belly and watched as the starfish flung Bob into a wall, "And besides, you're forgetting one important detail."

Wham-Shell walked up to Bob and smirked.

"This time, I'm not alone." Wham-Shell made a soft smile as he looked back at an eager-eyed Chihiro and Zap, "I've got my fellow 'lander and my portal master right here! And as long as they're here to support me, I could never lose!"

Wham-Shell raised his mace over his head and glared down at Bob.

"So you're out of luck. Sorry about that, Bob."

Bob could only wince as Wham-Shell whacked him upside the head, then fell unconscious onto the sands. Wham-Shell had to admit—it was quite satisfying to see Bob finally fall under the pound of his mace and rendered completely harmless.

"WHAM!" Chihiro exclaimed as she bolted forward.

As Wham-Shell turned around, Chihiro wrapped him in a tight hug and gently stroked his smooth shell. He couldn't help but smile as she did, then gently hugged her back.

As Zap joined them, he gently nudged a paw against Wham-Shell's face.

"I'm fine, Zap, really." Wham-Shell smiled as he looked over at Zap.

"That was amazing, dude!" Zap chirped as he nudged Wham-Shell's shoulder with his head.

Wham-Shell only made a soft chuckle and smile as he leaned against Zap and took a few shaky steps.

Chihiro made a giggle of her own, then looked back down on Bob.

"Don't feel too bad for him," Zap said as he gaze fell back on Chihiro and Bob.

"It's not that, Zap. Look!" Chihiro said as she pointed towards a shiny glimmer that poked its way out from Bob's back pocket.

Chihiro knelt down and dug her hand through the pocket, then yanked out a rusty metal keyring filled with keys! With a beam she held it up for Wham-Shell and Zap to see.

"Come on, we've still got gillpeople to free!" Chihiro joined Zap and Wham-Shell, then gently wrapped her hand around Wham-Shell's and glazed over the murky, oily island scenery.

As Wham-Shell followed her gaze, he couldn't help but feel a little dizzy. His head was still a blur as he reflected on the fight earlier—and the others' actions. He honestly didn't expect Chihiro, ever so cheery and bright, to take on such a serious nature—it was like something else had taken control of her! For that matter, he had never expected Zap to react like that, either!

And yet, they both had snapped the moment they had seen Wham-Shell in such danger and pain… They really cared about him that much, huh?

Wham-Shell couldn't help but smile as they walked along the oily grounds.

They were good kids.

§

"There you go, buddy," Chihiro chirped as she unlocked a cage and watched the gillperson inside run free, "All free!"

The trio smiled as they watched the gillperson inside retreat to safety, pure silence echoed around the area, and then…

"Thank goodness you managed to free them!"

Chihiro jumped in the area only to realize—hey, she knew that voice! She then turned around to find Gurglefin staring straight at her, which caused her to jump once more.

"Hey! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Chihiro exclaimed as she tugged on her jacket.

"You're welcome, it's what we do!" Zap chirped as he slid up to meet Gurglefin, completely unfazed by Gurglefin's surprise appearance, only to frown, "… Is something up, dude?"

Gurglefin frowned as he played with his webbed hands. He looked a little anxious still, as if there was something on his mind…

"Well, the thing is," Gurglefin said before he gulped, "You see, there's something I forgot to tell you."

"Figured as much," Chihiro sighed as she rested the keyring back at her waist, "Spills the sardines, Gurglefin!"

Gurglefin shot Chihiro a tired look, then cleared his throat.

"Most of our people were locked up in this giant troll factory," Gurglefin said as he pointed to the island's horizon, "The ones out here were just extras they couldn't fit in there!"

Chihiro frowned, then followed Gurglefin's outstretched hand to see a giant, wonky factory placed at the top of the island. It was covered in giant pumps that bellowed out thick, black smoke, and something about its gloomy, imposing nature made it the cherry on top of this awful, oily sundae.

"Well then, looks like those trolls were smarter than I thought," Chihiro said as she looked back at Gurglefin and pumped a fist, "But that doesn't matter! We'll just have to storm the factory and free them!"

"Gurglefin, can you lead us to the factory?" Wham-Shell asked as he rested his mace at his side.

"Well, I cod—could," Gurglefin said before he made a soft wince, "But those trolls set up a lot of traps and stuff—it's really dangerous!"

"Who do you think we are, dude?" Zap teased as he stood proud, "We're Skylanders—we eat danger for breakfast! And lunch, and dinner, and sometimes as a—"

"I'm sure he gets the point, Zapster!" Chihiro chirped as she walked forwards, "Now time's a'wastin'! Let's go to that fact—OWCH!"

Chihiro rammed face-first into a giant steel door and stumbled back, then moaned in pain as she cradled her face. With a grunt and a shake of her head, she looked up and frowned.

"Fool me once, shame on you," Chihiro remarked as she dusted herself off, "But fool me twice, shame on me."

"This must be another one of those crystal puzzles," Wham-Shell remarked as he looked over the gate.

"Why?" Chihiro looked over at Wham-Shell and tilted her head.

Wham-Shell only pointed to his side, where a giant crystal that emitted a brightly-colored laser beam stood tall and sturdy.

"Ohhhh…" Chihiro made a soft giggle and scratched the back of her head, "Didn't see that there."

With a smile Chihiro skipped over to the crystal and side-kicked it, which slid it a few paces to the west and caused its laser to lock with another crystal, which in turn locked with a small crystal mounted near the gate. With a sound akin to that of screeching metal the gate receded and revealed an area covered in metal platforms!

"Is this the way, Gurglebin?" Chihiro asked as she looked over at Gurglefin.

"It's Gurglefin," Gurglefin moaned as he made a shaky nod, "And unfortunately… Yes."

"Then let's go!" With a bright beam Chihiro snagged Gurglefin's hand and marched off, her head held high.

"Wait, don't tell me, I don't have to go too, do I?" Gurglefin gulped as if he already knew the answer.

"Of course, you're the only one that knows the way!"

"… Oh carp."

Wham-Shell and Zap only shrugged as they followed Chihiro's trail.

And so the journey continued as they trekked through the metallic, oil-stained wastelands of the gillpeople's home. Despite how dreary everything around them was, however, they refused to relent! Their spirits were vigorous as ever as they traveled across the island…

"There you go!" Chihiro chirped as she freed an olive-colored gillwoman dressed in a black wetsuit while Wham-Shell and Zap opened another gate…

"Careful now, Chi!" Zap shouted as he caught Chihiro on his back after she slipped on an oil puddle…

"You're free now!" Chihiro said as she unlocked a cage and ushered away an elderly gillman…

"Watch out!" Wham-Shell exclaimed as he slammed his mace down onto the top of a large troll tank while the others narrowly dodged its artillery…

It was long and tedious indeed, but the journey was nearly over—they had reached the factory, and dear lord, it was even worse in person! The metal that made up the factory was rusty and cold and coated in oil stains, its door was as large as a house, probably, and made of tough steel, and all across its roof were pumps that churned out massive amounts of smoke. All sorts of creepy, creaky noises emitted from within the factory despite its lack of windows, and it felt so out of place compared to the sandy beaches of the past.

"Well," Chihiro said as she took a breath and exhaled, "I'm ready when you guys are!"

Wham-Shell only made a soft grunt and pushed the doors open—which was surprisingly easy despite their imposing size and metal structure. As the doors fully open, he peered inside—but there was nothing but steel floors and walls coated in rust. It seemed so… empty.

"Hellooooooooo?" Chihiro shouted as she leaned against the doors and peered inside, "Any gillpeople here?"

Gurglefin slapped a wet hand over Chihiro's mouth and quickly shushed her.

"Keep it down!" Gurglefin whispered as he eyes darted from side to side, "Do you want the trolls to hear you?!"

"What trolls?" Chihiro replied as she pried Gurglefin's hand off of her mouth, "The whole place's empty!"

"I wouldn't be so certain, Chihiro," Wham-Shell replied as he carefully walked into the factory, "You never know what could be lurking around these kinda places."

Wham-Shell tapped the bottom of his mace against the metallic floors, which only made a resounding banging noise. After a few minutes of staring at nothing, he watched as Chihiro and Zap carefully followed him inside.

"I'll just stand guard here!" Gurglefin proclaimed as he carefully inched away from the doors, "Just to be safe."

"Doesn't this place have a light switch or something?" Chihiro asked as she clapped her hands a couple times, then frowned as she looked around, "Guess not."

Just then, a soft sizzling sound echoed around the factory's base room. It was barely audible, but it was there—and it grew louder by the second.

"… Do you guys hear that?" Chihiro looked at Wham-Shell and Zap, who both nodded furiously.

Then with a frown she looked up at the ceiling. As the fizzling sound grew even louder, a glowing red dot manifested on the ceiling, initially small but grown bigger over seconds. It kinda seemed like…

ZAP!

The trio just barely jumped out of the way as a giant laser shot down from the ceiling.

"Where did that come from?!" Chihiro exclaimed, only to scream in panic as even more lasers rained down from the ceiling!

She, Wham-Shell and Zap practically danced around the metal floors as red-hot lasers bolted down from the ceiling like hail, with no sanctuary in sight!

"We've gotta get outta here!" Chihiro shouted as she bounced away from a square that was drilled into by a laser.

"Where would we go?" Wham-Shell shouted back, "There's nowhere to hide!"

Wham-Shell was right—the entire area was just a vast, open square… Or so it seemed. The entire place was so dark that aside from the spots illuminated by the lasers' light, it was hard to tell one's left from their right!

Chihiro grunted as she dodged another laser, watched as several more crashed down a couple paces away from where she currently stood… Then frowned and squinted.

Several beady, red orbs peered out from a space across the room—more lasers? Hopefully not.

Chihiro watched them for a few more minutes, then yelped as a laser shot down only inches away from where she stood and startled her into falling flat on her face. As she grumbled and sat back up, screechy laughter echoed throughout the factory.

"Hey, guys, that isn't funny!" Chihiro retorted as she crossed her arms.

"That wasn't us, Chi!" Zap replied as he slid away from a trio of lasers.

"I'd recognize that laugh anywhere!" Wham-Shell exclaimed as he ran to their side and glared down the orbs, "Spell punks!"

The red orbs grew wider as they heard Wham-Shell's words—clearly he was right on target. With various panicked chattering noises they dashed away from their hiding spot!

"After them!" Wham-Shell proclaimed as he jumped on Zap's back.

Zap grunted and zoomed off, the potency of his slime enhanced by the slick metal of the floors. Despite how furiously the lasers rained down, they couldn't catch him—he was far too fast, so fast he was merely a blur to the untrained eye!

As they drew closer to the source of those strange red orbs, Wham-Shell readied his mace and shot off several starfish! The starfish shot off like rockets into the dark, then a wet slapping noise and pained moans echoed through the hall.

As Zap came to a stop, the lights slowly flickered on and revealed the culprits—a trio of spell punks with beady, glowing red eyes dressed in black and silver robes. The starfish had them all stuck to one of the many rusty metal walls in the factory, with moans and groans and grumbles all about.

"The lasers, they're gone!" Chihiro exclaimed as she joined Wham-Shell and Zap, "You guys did it!"

"You bet we did!" Zap gargled as he watched Wham-Shell slide off his back.

Chihiro beamed, then spun around the corner and smiled even wider as she looked back at Zap and Wham-Shell and pointed around the corner.

"Stairs!"

The two of them peered around the corner and found that she was right—right next to where the spell punks had been trapped was a lengthy metal staircase! The trio made their way onto the staircase and climbed, while each stair made a metallic clank with each step they took. The staircase was quite lengthy, though… Each flight seemed never-ending, and each stop only lead to another length flight that looked near-identical to the prior.

"Is it possible to walk up in circles, by any chance?" Chihiro asked as she stopped and heaved a sigh.

Zap and Wham-Shell stopped for a few minutes, then bolted up the stairs.

"Guys, wait!" Chihiro exclaimed as she bolted after them!

The stairs seemed to fly by as she ran her fastest—by the time she had stopped to rest, she found herself on a metal platform with large, open red doors! The light that emitted from it was so bright it almost burned, but curiosity got the better of Chihiro and made her run right in.

When she reached the other side, Chihiro had arrived on a giant platform that hung over the rest of the factory from what seemed like hundreds of feet above, suspended from the ceiling by multiple large, rusty metal chains. Wham-Shell and Zap had arrived there before she did, and currently flanked the object of large interest—a giant cage filled with gillpeople of all ages, shapes and sizes!

"Chihiro!" Wham-Shell called as he looked over at Chihiro, "Do you still have the keys?"

Chihiro beamed as she pulled the keyring out of her pocket and showed it off for everyone to see. Most of its keys had been discarded—all that remained with three large, rusty golden ones. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary, but to the gillpeople in the cage, just the sight of those keys made them hoot and holler!

Chihiro walked up to the cage and saw that on its door was a giant steel lock with three keyholes inside. She then cast a look to Wham-Shell and Zap and nodded.

"One…" Chihiro said as she took off the keys, then gave one to Wham-Shell and Zap.

"Two…" Zap gargled as all three placed their keys inside the keyholes.

"THREE!" Wham-Shell exclaimed as they all turned the keys!

With a satisfying click, the lock fell to the ground and the cage door swung open! However, the rusty creak of the open door was only barely heard over the sound of cheering gillpeople and the pounding of an entire school of stampeding gillpeople.

"C'mon, everyone! Let's get out of here!"

§

"Heave!" Shouted Wham-Shell as he and a small crowd of gillpeople pulled down a catapult loaded with lit bombs

"HO!" Everyone shouted in unison as the catapult released and flung hundreds of bombs into the factory's pipes.

The fuse hit the gunpowder as soon as the bombs landed inside the metal contraption, which caused an explosion that could be seen island-wide!

As everybody raced far away from the source of the explosion, they shielded their eyes as smoke was cast throughout the island. When the smoke cleared, they opened their eyes to find that there was nothing left but clear sky, pristine waters, and the occasional shards of shrapnel.

"Looks like our work here's done, guys!" Chihiro proclaimed as she watched several gillpeople in official-looking uniforms loaded the now tied-up trolls onto a large boat, "Time to go home."

With a wide smirk on her face, Chihiro brushed her hands clear of any contamination and beamed back at Zap and Wham-Shell. The three of them then nodded to Gurglefin, who returned that nod with a beam.

Gurglefin then made that same distorted whistle he did earlier in the day and watched as Delilah sailed across the now decently-cleaner waters.

As they all walked up to Delilah, Delilah's plank positioned itself onto the ground and allowed them to board—which is what they did!

"Another successful mission!" Chihiro chirped as she rested her arms behind her head, "We stopped the trolls, saved the island… And most of all, we put another dent in Kaos's plans!"

"When you say it like that, it sounds so easy," Wham-Shell chuckled as all four of them got on-board and watched the plank recede.

As the plank receded, however, Chihiro frowned and leaned against the deck's railing.

"There is one thing I'm still wondering about, though…" Chihiro stood tall, clasped her hands against the railing and looked back at Wham-Shell, "Wham… What was all that stuff about you being a king and all about?"

Wham-Shell stood wide-eyed and frozen, as if he completely taken aback by her question, while Zap slapped a paw against his forehead. Zap then scooted over to Chihiro and pulled her over.

"Chi—" Zap said before Wham-Shell placed a hand on Zap's shoulder.

"It's alright, Zap," Wham-Shell said, his tone somewhat weaker than usual, "The clownfish's out of the anemone now—might as well tell her."

Zap hesitated for a moment, then slowly skidded away from Wham-Shell and Chihiro.

"You see, Chihiro." Wham-Shell stood next to Chihiro and gazed over the ocean, "Before I became a 'lander, I used to be the king of a land called Crustacea…"

§

It started out a happy enough day—it was a wedding, actually.

Wham-Shell—or Neptune, as everybody called him before he became a Skylander—was being wed to his wife and future queen. It was an arranged marriage, but one necessary now that he had taken the throne from his aging father.

He had just walked down the isle, ready to start the ceremony when out of nowhere, the walls crumbled in on them! It started with small pieces of seashell masonry crumbling and falling atop his armored head. They were so small, in fact, that at first Neptune didn't even notice. It wasn't until the sound of drilling noises were heard and a giant piece of masonry caved in from the ceiling and nearly crushed the wedding minister that the panic set in!

Then, everything dissolved into chaos—crustaceanoids screamed and made mad dashes for the wedding chapel's doors while the soldiers that guarded the entrances scrambled for their cutlasses and scabbards, but at the outside, there was nothing heard but the increasing sound of drills boring into the ground. It was like something out of a nightmare!

"Stay right there, sweetie," Neptune said as he paused to swim over to his bride and kiss her on the cheek, "I'll be right back."

And with that, Neptune swam over towards the bleachers, claimed his mace—a family heirloom passed down from his father—and made a mad dash for the battlegrounds. Then, when he slammed the chapel's doors open, he saw something he had only seen in his nightmares.

The rough, sandy grounds of his kingdom were cracked and quaking and the whole kingdom seemed liked it was falling apart! Entire seascrapers toppled over like nothing more than sandcastles, buildings were crushed under the pressure of the drills, and if not the drills, then the quakes dragged them under while the citizens inside struggled to escape, the very sight of which set Wham-Shell's soul on fire with rage.

And the guilty parties in charge of this monstrosity were giant, troll-piloted drills made specifically for unearthing oil deposits.

"Soldiers, to arms! For Crustacea!" Neptune exclaimed as he drew his mace.

His shouts were barely heard over the sound of the drills, but his message had got across—because every sergeant, every lieutenant, every private grabbed whatever weaponry they could find and attacked the drills, all in some noble hope to dent their progress.

Neptune himself even joined in—he had rammed into the largest of the drills with his mace, but no matter how hard he rammed into them, he barely made a dent! And the others weren't much better of—not even their finest weaponry pierced through the cold, sturdy steel the drills were made of.

And if that wasn't bad enough, trolls that piloted the drills from the inside quickly noticed their opposition and retaliated! Their drills sent out weaponry of all kinds—mostly guns and cannons— from the pilot's quarters, all giant and imposed and charged within seconds. Surely from within the safety of their machines the trolls smirked, for they knew they had the upper hand.

And as the weapons fired, Neptune's eyes widened. He was completely frozen to the spot where he stood, unable to move away as a plasma blast charged inside one of the larger cannons.

And as the cannons fired, the only sound heard over its charge was the sound of dying soldiers' screams and pleas for mercy, the cries that were silenced as they watched their king blown to the surface by troll weaponry.

§

It seemed like hours before Neptune had regained consciousness, but when he did, he was weak and on the brink of joining his ancestors. The only thing that kept him alive was the sound of two troll commanders that discussed some kind of issue among themselves.

"Report, sir!" demanded a troll commander as Neptune struggled to awaken—but he felt like he could barely open his eyelids.

Look at yourself, Neptune thought to himself, Some king you are! You can't even open your eyes, meanwhile your people are dying to save their kingdom!

Then, Neptune's eyes snapped open.

Enough is enough.I am not going to sit around and watch like a helpless barnacle as my kingdom gets destroyed! Neptune groaned and heaved himself up, surely more well in his mind than body, No, I'll stand and fight!

Within a few moments his eyes cleared and he gained an idea of his surroundings. It looked like he was in some kind of machine, with nothing but metal, metal, everywhere he looked! Well, minus the two trolls in front of him, who quickly noticed that their prisoner was awake.

"The prisoner's awake, Joe!" shouted the first troll, a large, green troll with more warts than teeth, towards his smaller, orange buddy, "Go get him!"

"But, you're the big guy! Why can't you do the dirty work yourself?!" shouted Joe, who was clearly unamused.

Now's my chance! Neptune thought as he watched the trolls argue among themselves.

While they were lost in their fight, Neptune crawled towards his mace, which had been strewn a few feet aside, as quietly as he could. This was his only chance—he had to take it!

"I'm telling you, it won't kill you to deal with the prisoner! Why do I gotta do it?" Joe exclaimed.

"Because I outrank you," Bob retorted with a scoff and a pompous tone, "Now go get him before he—"

"Before I what?!" Neptune hissed as he stood, mace in hand and now with every intention of kicking some tail.

Both trolls stared at Neptune while he approached them with every intention of causing harm, before they broke into a panic and flailed about! They ran all around and collected every weapon in their arsenal, then tried to aim them all at Neptune. But, they had little success—they were so panicked that they could barely even hold one tiny gun, least of all their entire weaponry!

Then, Neptune ran forwards, smashed through the weapons arsenal with his mace and left little trace of it behind him. And as Bob and Joe stood trembling, Neptune grabbed his mace and thrust it into the center of the weapons control panel!

Sparks of all kinds flied from its base as Bob and Joe gasped, their pupils so tiny they were practically specks.

"Retreat, retreat!" Bob squealed, as the two frantically piled over each other to escape.

Neptune stared in pride, then smirked as he decided that he was going to have a little fun of his own. With no hesitation he followed them to where they were running off—it wasn't hard, after all, the two were in such a frenzy that they had no idea they were being followed!

A short trip led him to the head communications room that sent out orders to every single one of the drillers. It was filled to its brims with screens that depicted their other drilling units and flashing red lights, but the cherry on top was the giant, mechanical panel that was surely their communications unit.

As they turned on the communications unit and readied themselves to deliver a message of retreat, Neptune grasped his mace even tighter than before and watched as Joe began prodding Bob.

"C'mon Bob, hurry up!" Joe exclaimed with so much sheer panic in his voice it could rival a nervous porcupine fish, "I want to get back to Lord Kaos in one piece!"

"Don't worry, Joe, I'll reel in the troops as fast as I can!" Bob shot back as he clearly tried his best not to crack under the pressure.

Then, Joe was tapped on the shoulder, turned around and found himself staring into the face of Neptune!

Neptune waved, then punched Joe in the face—which rendered Joe unconscious before he could even shout a simple warning. Neptune then thwacked Bob upon the head with his mace and started up the communications device with a push of a button.

The device itself wasn't that fancy—it was literally a giant walkie-talkie, but with a button instead of a knob. Easy enough to use.

"Attention all troll forces!" Neptune proclaimed with a snide tone of voice, "We have received word that your leader has decided to, uh, do something else, so, stop drilling and retreat!"

And with that, Neptune ended the transmission before he ran out of the room and dashed towards the exit. Luckily enough, he quickly found his wish—a metal door left wide-open, probably courtesy of the trolls. He immediately dashed outside, ran onto the sands of a nearby island, and breathed in the fresh air!...

Except it wasn't fresh.

It reeked of oil and death.

As he felt the worst feeling, Neptune dove downwards, swam down to where his kingdom was, but found his worst nightmare in front of him of him instead.

His kingdom was reduced to crumbling ruins! The corpses of his people littered the broken earth and floated in the somber seas, the many beautiful buildings were just nothing more than piles of sea-rubble, and everything… Everyone… Surely they were all gone.

Neptune was now overwhelmed with the worst kind of feeling, the kind that only allowed him to swim down to the sands he once stepped on and curl up in a ball.

So taken by grief, he buried his face in his palms as he cried.

After all, he had just lost his home, his family, his people…

He lost everything.

§

Wham-Shell gazed over at the deep blue waters of the fresh ocean before him, before he heaved a tired sigh and leaned against the deck's railing. He was surrounded by a sort of somber feeling as the tale came to a close, his eyes glazed over with the soft evening light.

"So that's what happened…" Chihiro whispered before she drew closer to Wham-Shell and rested her hand on his.

Wham-Shell's eyes trailed up to her, but quickly diverted back to the water in front of him. With a grunt, he made a nod and looked away.

"All I could find after that battle were their corpses. I may have been able to save myself, but I couldn't save my people," Wham-Shell reflected as his mouth finally dipped into a solemn, almost regretful frown, "What kind of a king am I?"

"Wham…" Chihiro frowned as she rested her cheek against her arm. He seemed so sad…

"You did everything you could've, dude," Zap said as he slid over to Wham-Shell and gently wrapped a leg around Wham-Shell's shoulders.

With a gentle look in her eyes, Chihiro moved her hand from Wham-Shell's hand to his shoulder in a gentle, almost gingerly manner.

"Zap's right, Wham," Chihiro said as she nodded in agreement, "I'm sure you did all that you could've to stop them."

"And yet it still wasn't enough," Wham-Shell croaked as he tightened his grip on the deck's railing.

Chihiro only frowned as she glazed over him once more.

"It hurts a lot, doesn't it?" Chihiro asked as she watched Wham-Shell make a slight nod, "Thought as much—that's a lot of stuff for one person to deal with."

Chihiro then faced forwards, inhaled and exhaled.

"Wham…" Chihiro gave the ocean before her a stolidly gaze, then turned back to Wham-Shell, "I can't act like I completely understand what you've gone through, but…"—Chihiro breathed in and made a gentle smile as she stared at Wham-Shell—"I'll always be here for you!"

"Chihiro's right!" Zap gurgled as he gently nudged his head against Wham-Shell's free hand, "They may be gone, but you'll always have me and Chi and all the other 'landers… And no matter what, we'll always be there for you, dude! So don't feel like you gotta deal with all that stuff alone, alright?"

Wham seemed stoic for a few moments, then breathed in as the tension and gloom around him released.

"I guess you're right… Zap, Chihiro," Wham-Shell said as he wiped a tear away from his eye and smiled, "When did you kids get so smart?"

"I've always been super smart, what're you talking about?" Zap chuckled as he cast Wham-Shell a teasing glare.

"Now I wouldn't say that…" Wham-Shell's weak smile turned to a weak smirk as he clearly got ready to recall some of Zap's less than stellar moments.

"C'mon, Wham." Zap stuck out his tongue, "I—OOF!"

Zap and Wham-Shell let out surprised shouts as Chihiro wrapped them both in a tight hug, then without even thinking they all broke into relieved laughter—as if all the pain and heartache they felt washed away in the ocean waves…