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)

12. Chapter 12

CHS Chapter twelve is here! Not too much to say, other than a warning for an implied beheading in this chapter. You know the drill—if that kind of stuff is uncomfortable for you, feel free to sit this one out or DM me for a summary!

Watch Seeker: Okay honestly, I am extremely honored to hear that! Skylanders as a series is very near and dear to my heart, and being able to remind others of their love for it really makes me happy! So thank you!

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WHOOSH!

"Yep, that should be the last one," Insider said as they watched another pair of cyclopes jump off from the warp panel and face the area before them.

The warp panel had lead their group to a gigantic stone courtyard with a fancy golden gate the sole obstacle to their passage ahead. Well, that… And all the crystals that emitted bright laser beams scattered here and there and everywhere.

"Now, how are we supposed to get past there?" Spyro asked as he flew up and examined the area before them. His golden eyes fixed on the gate, Spyro flew ahead then cast an aside gaze over towards the gate's sides.

"A-HA!" Spyro flew back to the group's side and snapped a claw, "It's a light puzzle this time!"—Spyro turned back around and gazed over at the crystals strayed about the floor—"We just have to make those lasers align with the crystals next to the gate!"

"What crystals?" Insider peered back at Spyro, then watched as Spyro snapped his claws and created a telescope out of magic.

"Take a look!" Spyro offered the magical telescope to Insider, then watched as they warily took up Spyro's offer and peered through the telescope.

After a short peek taken, Insider handed the telescope back to Spyro and made a steely nod as the telescope vanished into thin air.

"He's right!"

"This should be easy enough!" Chihiro interrupted as she leaped out of the crowd and stretched to the heavens, "Just gotta do some heavy lifting!"

Ever eager to proceed, Chihiro skipped over to a nearby crystal and shoved its back end… But it didn't move an inch!

"Alright," Chihiro heaved as she leaned against the crystal and panted, "Probably just a bit stuck…"—Chihiro spun back around to the back and got into an offensive position—"Maybe a little kick'll give it a good start! HI-YAH!"

Chihiro's face scrunched up as she side-kicked the device, all breaths around bated…

"OWCH!" Chihiro exclaimed as she reeled back and fell on her rump, "Who made these crystals so hard, anyways?"

As Chihiro rubbed her leg, Spyro frowned and flew to her side. There was a sting of pained tears in her chestnut eyes as she bit her lip, but the moment she noticed Spyro was by her side she shook her head and forced a smile.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt that much," Chihiro winked at Spyro, "I'll be fine!"—Chihiro then pointed over to the other side of the area—"I think they could use some help, though."

Spyro looked away to where the cyclopes were busy pushing, pulling, adjusting, even punching and kicking the crystals as well! But no matter what they did, the crystals stood firm where they were placed, their lack of inclination to budge quite apparent at this point.

Spyro frowned as he flew over to one, then placed a paw on its smooth, warm surface.

"Let me try," Spyro said as he gazed down the cyclopes who were unsuccessfully trying to push it.

His eyes flashed a raw violet in color, Spyro looked down at the crystal, then at his paw as it flared with purple magic. He then placed a second magic-covered paw on the crystal and watched as it was enveloped in purple light, a stroke of hope ignited in his chest… Then both his hope and the light fizzled out. As Spyro let go of the crystal and flew to the skies once more, he frowned deeper and placed a claw on his chin. They were immune to magic, physical force… What could possibly move these things?…

Before Spyro could think more, he heard a strange creaking sound, then looked down and beamed! The crystal had started to budge at last! As it slowly turned, Spyro looked to an overhead alley and caught the eyes of a cyclops who stood next to a pulled lever, who then gave him a thumbs up! Spyro smiled and returned that thumbs up… Right before something singed the fin of his tail!

"YEOWCH!" Spyro exclaimed as he pulled up his tail and rubbed his singed fin, "What was that?!"

Spyro cast and glance downwards and found his answer! The crystals that were once stagnant were now hyperactive as they spun in excited circles, their lasers swerved about with them as they cast scorch marks and burns into everything around!

"TAKE COVER!" Eyeantha shouted as she and several others ducked down and dodged a bright laser that narrowly missed them.

While the others scrambled for safety like chickens pursued by a fox, Spyro flew into action! His movements careful so as to dodge the lasers, Spyro cast a shield at the area where they began and watched as it stood tall against a rampant laser. Its strength assured in his mind, Spyro flew around, yanked the cyclopes off the floor and tossed them over the other side of the shield!
Once everybody was safely over, Spyro flew back to the shield, then cast a glance to the left.

In the midst of all the chaos, Chihiro stood tall and thrust hands aglow in aqua, her whole body radiant with pure magic! What was she thinking!?

"Chihiro!" Spyro exclaimed as he swooped down to her side, "What are you doing?!"

"I'm gonna try and see if I can stop these things!" Chihiro shouted back as her hands flared with bright magic, only a moment of pause taken to dodge a laser that was a hair's breadth away, "You keep everyone safe!"

"Chihiro, there's way too many of them!" Spyro shot back as he drew closer to her, "Let me do it!"

"That barrier's not gonna hold for long, Spyro." Chihiro nodded back towards the barrier then fixed her eyes on the crystals once more, "You need to keep it running! Besides, handling this and that at the same time is too much for one person!"

Spyro winced as he looked back at the barrier and found that Chihiro was somewhat right. Though it stood as firm as it could against the lasers, cracks and heat depressions had already begun to form in its surface… But, it could surely last long enough for him to handle it!

"Chihiro," Spyro looked at Chihiro with all the concern he could muster, "At least let me help you! It's like you said—that's way too much for one person to handle by themself!"

Chihiro frowned as she looked over the crystals, clearly deep in contemplation, then cast a short nod as she thrust her arms forward!

"I guess you're right." Chihiro made a weak smile as her whole body flared with a cyan-colored glow, "You take care of the barrier, I'll try and see if I can hold these down for now!"

Spyro gave her a hesitant look once more, still not entirely certain if he should stay or go, then felt a soft light on his face and turned back to the crystals.

Sure enough, Chihiro had managed to stop them! They were all lit in cyan coloring and now stood stagnant, their lasers frozen in place in accordance.

Spyro seemed a bit reassured to see them freeze, but something felt wrong. He couldn't even get one to budge with his own magic, so how could she hold down so many?

Spyro felt unease waver in his heart as he flapped his wings then turned to attend to the barrier, though he could've sworn he saw one crystal twitch out of the way from the corner of his eye… With a tremble in his heart still, Spyro placed a paw of the barrier then healed it of its injuries. As the barrier glowed with the strength of a thousand, Spyro heaved a sigh of relief, turned back to Chihiro and gasped.

Chihiro trembled and strained, sweat watered on her brow as she struggled to keep the crystals stagnant. She could really use some backup!

Spyro flew over to her…

But before he did, one of the crystals broke free of her grasp and zipped around! In one swift movement, the crystal's laser shot into Chihiro and caused her to fall back in pain, which in turn loosened her grip on the other crystals and freed then as well!

As they swerved around once more, Spyro dropped to the floor and scuttled over to Chihiro, who laid on her back and whimpered as she held her shoulder in pain.

"Chihiro!" Spyro called as he finally reached her and placed himself in front of her body.

With a growl, Spyro darted up to the skies and threw out both front paws, then watched as a gigantic magic blast rocketed away from his paws and painted the entire area in shades of monochrome.

Everything around Spyro had come to a stop—animals, teammates, and most importantly… The crystals as well! The only thing left animated was Spyro himself, who threw himself into motion and swooped back down to the crystals.

Spyro examined the crystals with a frown. Then, he snapped his claws and watched as the crystal was enveloped with a purple glow!

The once-static crystal turned far away from him and towards another crystal… Then as its laser shot that crystal, the glow spread to it is as well! Soon Spyro's magic spell had jumped from that crystal to the next one and the one that followed, until each and every crystal was under his spell!

Under his commands, the crystals had finally found some sense of order. They were now positioned in a careful, attentive way that locked only into either each other or the crystals that stood firm beside the gate. And good thing too, because the monochrome palette of the world around slowly started to flicker back into color!

As the color finally returned to the land, the gate slowly rumbled open—but that wasn't too important to him right now. Instead, Spyro rushed back over to Chihiro's side and held his paw on her uninjured shoulder, his gaze now cast towards the other.

"Hey, Spyro, what happened?" Chihiro asked as she looked to her side, "Those crystals! They're not moving anymore!"

Chihiro yanked herself out of Spyro's grasp and went to examine further… Only to fall to her knees and wince in pain as she held her injured shoulder!

"We can talk about that later!" Spyro proclaimed as he rejoined Chihiro and turned her to face him, "How bad it is?"

Chihiro bit her lip and just barely held back her tears, then warily removed her hand from her shoulder to find—oh great Ancient Elements, it really was bad!

The burn itself had to have been a second-degree at least! The laser had scorched right through the shoulder of both her vest and sweater, with black singe marks grazed around what little fabric remained. The skin underneath didn't match the peachy tone of Chihiro's body, but rather a nasty reddish color that glowered with heat. And judging by the way Chihiro was just barely restraining herself from crying, it wasn't just for show, either. It was causing her a lot of pain!

"Where's Eyeantha?" Spyro demanded as he whipped around and glanced at the cyclopes, "We've got a really nasty burn here!"

"Here!" Cried out Eyeantha as she shifted through the crowd and raced down to Chihiro's side.

With a frown she pulled some kind of first-aid satchel out of nowhere, then knelt down and examine Chihiro's burn.

"You weren't kidding!" Eyeantha's eye widened as she glazed over Chihiro's burn, "That really is nasty…"—Eyeantha's surprised look faded away to confidence as she rummaged through her satchel—"But I've got just the thing for those!"

In moments, Eyeantha whipped out some kind of bandage roll, one that shimmered with sparkling purple and green lights.

"Now, stand still, alright?" Eyeantha drew closer to Chihiro and carefully unraveled the bandage roll, "This should only take a few minutes."

In a few careful minutes that seemed like an eternity, Eyeantha wrapped the bandage roll around Chihiro's shoulder. Once she finished wrapping it around, she paused and drew an ointment jar from her bag.

"Normally this would take about an hour." Eyeantha unscrewed the jar, then dipped her gloved hands into the ointment and rubbed it over the bandages, "But with this ointment, it'll be good as new in seconds?"

"Really?" Chihiro whimpered as she made a teary-eyed gaze back at Eyeantha.

Eyeantha only nodded as she withdrew from Chihiro's side, then pulled off her gloves and held a hand on Chihiro's.

"One, two, three…" Eyeantha started as she gave Chihiro a kind gaze.

"Four, five, six…" Chihiro continued as she wiped her tears away.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten!" They finished in unison before Eyeantha unraveled the bandages.

Chihiro then looked down at her shoulder and gasped in pure glee, as did Spyro—because the burn had completely healed! All that was left with a faded, pinkish spot where it once resided!

"Thanks a lot!" Chihiro beamed and giggled as she hugged Eyeantha tight, her pain clearly vanquished with the burn.

"It's what I do, honey." Eyeantha smiled and patted Chihiro on the back, then withdrew from her side and went back to tend to the others.

As she left, however, Spyro's smile faded as he watched Chihiro. The burn may have easily disappeared, true, but Chihiro was still injured really badly, under his watch no less! How could he have let that happen?

"What's up, Golden Boy?" Chihiro asked as she looked back at Spyro.

Spyro sputtered out a few noises, then shook his head and drew closer to Chihiro, just in case. His heart had practically stopped when he had seen her reel back from that laser shot, after all! He couldn't let her get seriously injured like that again.

"You don't need to worry about my burns, it doesn't hurt anymore!" Chihiro tilted her head, then gently rubbed his crest, "Somethin' else bugging you?"

Spyro frowned and shook his head in some quaint attempt to expel his fears.

"I'm fine," Spyro lied as he flew forward, "I think they're getting ready to move on."

Spyro was right in that regard. Everybody else had thankfully lacked injuries, so it was time for them to move on to the next path.

But still, that only reminded him of how he neglected his duties yet again… Yet, as much as he wanted to berate himself, he couldn't do that, not in front of Chihiro. She could clearly pick up on how upset he was… Spyro shook his head and trained his gaze on the gate ahead. No, he couldn't worry that much about her right now, there was still a mission to attend to and all that.

But, he couldn't stop himself from sneaking a quick glance back at Chihiro, who spun around and sung some song from Earth he didn't quite know the name of as she walked behind him. It was strange, almost. One minute she was so scared and hurt, even though she had done her best to hide it, but now it was like it never even happened in her mind! It almost kind of threw him off his train of thought.

"Spyro, why're you looking at me so funny?" Chihiro questioned as she skipped up to Spyro's side, "Do I have something in my teeth or somethin'?"

Spyro jolted back and shook his head.

"No, no, you're fine!" Spyro denied before he subconsciously took her hand, "Come on, we're getting close to the next switch, I can feel it!"

"Alrighty!" Chihiro walked beside Spyro as she squeezed his paw tight, "Is it a kind of purple dragon thing, like how your eyes change color and stuff?"

"More like a gut instinct." Spyro made an awkward shake of the head, then heard a scuffle and jolted up, "Chihiro, watch out!"

With a growl he readied his flames and looked around… But only saw a mouse as it scurried along the floor. Spyro sighed as he watched it run out of view, then looked over at Chihiro, who looked over at him with an equally-concerned look.

"… Are you sure you're not bugged out about something, Spyro?" Chihiro made a concerned frown as she laid a hand on his shoulder, "You've been acting really weird."

"I told you, I'm fine." Spyro diverted his gaze away from Chihiro's exposed shoulder with a wince, then flew further down the path, "Let's just go."

Well, that was a big lie. There was something bugging Spyro, but he couldn't tell just what. Some kind of strange feeling bubbled up in his chest as he saw Chihiro, but he wasn't sure what it entirely was. Concern after seeing her hurt? Fear that she'd be injured even worse? Anger at her for constantly prying at things she shouldn't have to worry herself with? Well, no use brooding on it. Spyro could save that for when he finished taking care of this mission.

As Spyro flew down the pathways, the stone underneath them had turned from carefully-crafted pathways to raw, untouched minerals.

Sure enough, they had left society and found themselves in a rocky cavern covered in stalactites, rocky walls, and even more rock everywhere one could look. The only noise was the sound of footsteps and flapping wings, which only added to its oddly fascinating atmosphere.

Spyro paused and flew in place for a moment as he admired the strange beauty of the cavern, but he had no time to sit around and smell the rocky roses. He had to rejoin the rest of the group, who had surely gotten far ahead of him at this point. Yet, something kept him frozen in place, he couldn't tell why…

"Are you worried about Kaos again?" Asked a voice from behind him.

Spyro's might've been a bit concerned, but he could definitely tell who that voice belonged to. Sure enough, Spyro turned around and Chihiro was behind him once more, her eyes as worried as ever.

"I appreciate your concern, Chihiro, but it's not that." Spyro shook his head and faked a look of sincerity, "I can take care of myself, Chihiro. You should worry more about the mission."

Spyro then flew off, while Chihiro strolled close beside him, her arms behind her back.

"I guess I can't force you to talk about it if you don't wanna," Chihiro admitted as she made a nod, "But—"

Before Chihiro finished, loud chatter echoed around from up ahead, chatter painted in the sounds of excited, familiar voices!

"Hey, what's that?" Chihiro asked as she tilted her head, "Sounds like…"

"The rest of our team!" Spyro finished as he flew ahead!

"Hey, Spyro, wait!" Chihiro panted and ran after Spyro, "Not all of us can fly, you know!"

Chihiro's footsteps were background noise in Spyro's mind as he flew down the cavern's halls, his mind fixed on the mission before him. That is, until he heard a familiar giggle and watched Chihiro run past him!

"WOAH, SPYRO!" Chihiro called as she ran out of his view, "Look over here!

Spyro lifted his head, then flew closer to the source of Chihiro's voice. When he finally found her, his eyes sparkled in pure awe!

Lodged into the stone of the cavern's paths were tons of round, colorful jewels! They were all so pretty and came in such a bright rainbow of colors and shades and hues… Just being around them felt like home, almost!

Spyro landed, then padded over to a round, violet-colored crystal and peered at its shiny surface. As he watched his warped reflection, he couldn't help but grin.

"None of these would happen to be the Crystal Eye, would they?" Chihiro asked as she nudged herself next to Spyro and stared down their reflections.

"I'm afraid not," Spyro replied as he looked up at Chihiro and shook his head, his tone more whimsical than anything.

"Darn." Chihiro huffed and crossed her arms, "More traveling for us, then!"

As they walked further down the pathway, the sounds around grew louder and louder… But this time, those sounds were the background noise in Spyro's mind.

Rather, he was more fixated on Chihiro, who examined all the crystals with some kind of wonder! It seemed like every five seconds she'd stop and gaze at her reflection, or rub the surface of one as she tried and failed to guess just what kind of gem it was. The way she took in their splendor… It was oddly fascinating, almost, to see her so cheerful and amazed.

Without even thinking, Spyro himself had even broken into a smile of his own! As he felt his face, he couldn't help but chuckle—something about the cheer she had radiated with infectious, it was like he had completely forgotten about the task at hand! He… He kinda liked that about her, almost, how her happiness was so intense that it infected everything around her like an airborne remedy.

He didn't quite understand it… But, he liked it.

"I FOUND IT!" Cried a voice from ahead that pulled Spyro out of his thoughts yet again!

With slight concern Spyro flew to the source of the shout, which was none other than the rest of the team!

"Found what?" Spyro asked as he flew past the ground and eyed the pathway ahead.

The path was once against blocked off, this time by a golden, jewel-encrusted gate with several depressions in its surface that were likely keyholes. But what were the keys?…

"This gate's probably opened by some of these crystals that're hanging around here," proclaimed a cyclops with several round crystals in their hands, "And I think I found our keys!"

With a confident hum the cyclops placed the crystals they held into the slots one by one, breath bated… Then watched as the crystals dropped out of the slots and rolled onto the stone floor. So much for that.

"Welp." The cyclops heaved a sigh as they placed their hands on their hips, "Guess it's back to the drawing board! Everybody, roll out! Find those crystals!"

Everybody cheered in understanding, then scurried across the way and gathered crystals all the while!

Even Spyro joined in as he flew up and plucked a couple round crystals from the ceiling, then dropped down and placed them in the slots… But once again, they just fell out. Spyro sighed, then stepped aside and watched as several other cyclopes lined up and placed the crystals they had retrieved into the slots as well to similar effects.

"Too big," said the crystal cyclops as they watched several large crystals struggle to fit into the slots.

"Too small." The crystal cyclops sighed as several small ones rolled out of the slots.

"Those aren't even the right shape!" The crystal cyclops slapped a hand against their face as someone tried and failed to fit some square-shaped crystals into the slots.

Spyro sighed and flew off, ready to search some more, then something tugged on his tail and caused him to look down.

"Hey, hey, Spyro!" Chihiro said as she tugged on his tail fin some more, "I found something neat! Come here!"

Without any further prompting, Chihiro dashed a few paces down the way and stopped short, all while Spyro's tail was clasped firm in her hands. With a smile she bounced up and down… Then looked up and saw a dizzy Spyro retrieve his tail from her.

"Sorry." Chihiro made a giggle as Spyro stared her down, then spun around and outstretched her arms, "Ta-dah!"

There, among a cluster of crystals was a long, skinny one with a form that almost reminded Spyro of a lever!

"I know what you're thinking! Kinda looks like a lever, right?" Chihiro beamed and pushed the crystal back, "Wait for it…"

The two of them waited for a few seconds, then with a low rumble the stone next to it withdrew and revealed some kind of path!

"A hidden passageway!" Spyro exclaimed.

"Yep!" Chihiro chirped as she leaned against Spyro and winked, "And I bet there's something really cool down there, so come on!"

With no further warnings, Chihiro grabbed Spyro's paw and slid down the path with a hoot! Spyro let out a shout of surprise as he slid on his belly… Then the two of them leaped forwards and landed in a pile on top of each other.

Spyro groaned and rubbed his head, then opened his eyes, but no words came out of his mouth.

The sights before him was far too beautiful to even speak of, almost! They had found themselves in what seemed like a room made of rainbows, but it was almost hard to tell. The translucent, crystalline walls reflected the colors of the crystal spires that formed in the ground, which came in all sorts of bright, eye-pleasing shades and tones. As the lights danced around the room despite the lack of sunlight, a kind of magic cascaded onto Spyro's heart. It felt so… Enchanting, like he had landed into an entirely different world!

"See?" Chihiro asked as she stepped around and leaned her head in front of Spyro's, "Told you there'd be something cool!"—Chihiro spun around and hummed as she watched her reflection in the crystal walls—"Heh, you know, it almost reminds me of a dancefloor!"

Huh, an odd comparison to make, but Spyro could kind of see it. With the bright lights, and the floors sparkled with diamond dust and glitter, it did kind of feel like the place to hold a dance party. Well, if it wasn't so small, anyways. The room felt like it only really fit about two people, maybe three of four if you squeezed in hard enough.

With a smile and a giggle, Chihiro leaped forward and spun around, though her movements felt a bit more… Coordinated, more planned than her usual excited spins and leaps. As she spun around, she'd occasionally clap her hands or wiggle her arms… Wait a minute, was she dancing?

"Come on, Spyro!" Chihiro paused and waved at Spyro, "It's not as fun with only one person doing it!"

"I think I'm good," Spyro sputtered as he shook a paw, "I've got four left paws."

"Oh, nonsense! It's not like anyone's watching but me!" Chihiro grabbed Spyro's paw and pulled him in, "Just follow my lead!"

Spyro let out a shout as he found himself drawn into this makeshift dancefloor, then watched as Chihiro went back to her strange dance. As she spun and clapped and bounced, he awkwardly copied her movements, though at a bit of a slower pace than Chihiro's.

In lieu of her cheery gallops, Spyro flew from side to side as he clapped to her beat… And slowly, a smile came upon his face as he found himself absorbed into the moment without even realizing. Spyro made a soft chuckle of his own, then swung over to Chihiro's side and clapped along with her, only to stop short as she turned around and smiled.

"This is fun, right?" Chihiro's smile was amplified by the cheerful lights of the crystals around.

For a moment Spyro felt time stop around him, but not in the way of a time spell, no. It felt like… For just a moment, he and Chihiro were the only two people in all of Skylands, and all that mattered was the carefree fun they had in this small room. It was a strange feeling, the kind he hadn't felt in quite a while… For just this little bit of time, he had forgotten all his worries and all he wanted to do was dance with her! Or, he could just watch in amazement as she gallivanted with all the cheer in the world.

Then Chihiro came spinning forward, and Spyro realized that he was right in the collision course!

"Spyro, look out!"

Chihiro called as she tried to stop herself, but it was no use! She had gathered far too much momentum to stop now, and Spyro was far too slow to fly away! So instead, they crashed forward! Spyro closed his eyes in full anticipation of a painful collision… Yet felt nothing of the sort.

First, he felt something soft and warm against his back… Had she caught him?

Spyro opened his eyes and found them fixed on Chihiro's chestnut-colored ones, which seemed warmer than usual thanks to the lighting of a nearby yellow crystal. But soon enough, that faded away too… All Spyro could see was Chihiro, as everything else had completely faded to white in his mind.

"You alright?" Chihiro asked with a few rapid blinks, her tone a bit softer than usual, "You almost had a nasty fall—WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!"

Before she could even finish, Chihiro lost her balance, hopped a few steps forwards, then both she and Spyro toppled over each other onto the floor! They both let out yelps of surprise, then dissolved into laughter as they got up and dusted themselves off.

Spyro looked at Chihiro, who now had the biggest smile on her face as she brushed diamond dust out of her hair, and he couldn't help but crack a grin himself.

"Y'know…" Chihiro leaned back and looked at Spyro, "It's really nice getting to see your smile…"—Chihiro made a soft giggle and brushed a flyaway strand of hair—"It's as golden as your eyes!"

Spyro's grin dropped to a gaping mouth as he stood awestruck before Chihiro. Her compliment was so sudden… He didn't quite know how to respond just yet.

"It's just… Good seeing you so happy." Chihiro leaned forward and scratched the back of her neck, "You always seem so worried, like you're got the weight of the world on your shoulders. Seeing you this happy is kinda like finding a rare treasure!"—Chihiro giggled and turned away—"It's… Really nice."

Spyro just closed his mouth, now completely unable to speak… But able to smile at least.

"… I don't know what to say,"Spyro said at last as he turned away from her view, "I guess it's just something about you."

Chihiro's eyes widened, and in response Spyro himself stumbled back as heat gathered in his cheeks. Had he really said that?!

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Chihiro chirped, then jumped up and examined the crystals around them and all the strange reflections they made of her…

But Spyro was more interested in seeing her, quite frankly.

He honestly didn't know why… He didn't feel this way around his enemies for certain, but he didn't feel it around his friends, either. It was an odd kind of feeling, the kind of feeling that made him want to tear down his walls and pour his heart out in some kind of big adrenaline rush!

It was weird, confusing, and almost kind of dangerous the way she made him feel. At first it made him want to keep his distance… But… He honestly kind of liked this strange, strange way Chihiro made him feel. It didn't make sense, he knew that much. By all accounts he should have avoided it, and yet part of him wanted to dive in and know more.

After all, he had dealt with personalities like hers before—bold and energetic and curious. None of that was new to him, but she carried those traits with some kind of flavor, like the secret ingredient to a delicious recipe that he couldn't quite pin down…

Was it how she embraced everyone and everything new to her with open arms? Her boundless enthusiasm for every task she was given? That stubborn determination that pushed her forward? Her tendency to crack a joke and a smile at everything? Spyro shook his head. No, none of those didn't feel right either. Guess it would be a mystery for a little bit longer.

"Spyro!" Chihiro called as she raced back up to Spyro's side, "Look at these cool crystals I found!"

An eager grin spread across her face, Chihiro held out a bunch of smooth, round crystals for him to see!

They can in a shiny rainbow of colors that their pristine surfaces reflected back onto the crystalline walls, and they had odd, eye-like markings engraved on their surface…

"Think these might be what we're looking for?" Chihiro asked, before she shook her head, "Actually, no, these are DEFINITELY what we're looking for! Come on!"

Before Spyro could even get a word in, Chihiro had already left his side and scrambled back up the ramp… Albeit to little avail. Every time she marched back up she'd only lose traction and slide back down on her back.

"Need some help there, Chihiro?" Spyro chuckled as he flew over to Chihiro's side.

"Looks like it!" Chihiro made a soft chuckle of her own as she sat up and nodded.

Spyro flew down and grabbed Chihiro's shoulders, then lifted her off the ground and dashed up the ramp!… Well, he would've, but she was pretty heavy, so it was more like a slow crawl than anything. With how long it took, Spyro felt his heart leap with joy when he finally caught sight of the entryway!

A newfound burst of speed born within him, Spyro dashed through the entrance and dropped Chihiro on the ground, then caught his breath for a few moments.

For Chihiro, however, those few moments were all she needed to race forward and rejoin the group!

"Guys, guys!" Chihiro shouted in the distance, "You won't believe what I found!"

As Spyro caught his last few breaths and felt his strength return at last, he himself flew back over and rejoined the group just in time!

Chihiro had handed off the strange spheres she had found to the crystal cyclops, who with a shrug had taken them in and slowly placed them inside the gates' slots! And Chihiro was right, it was a perfect fit!

The crystals rested snugly in the slots, though nothing seemed to have happened… Then a short rumble was heard as the gate slowly drew open, its path changed from rough, tampered caverns to the more organized cobblestone streets of earlier!

With a holler of glee Chihiro gave the cyclops a high-five, the smirked and placed her hands on her hips.

"See, told you those were the ones!" Chihiro proclaimed before she looked at Spyro and waved.

"Good thing, too!" Insider interrupted as they pushed through the crowd and pulled out a map, "According to this list, the final switch should be just up ahead!"

"Really?!" Exclaimed Chihiro, "Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!"

With a loud cheer Chihiro dashed through the tunnels, the entire group behind her with Spyro included. The whole area pounded with excitement as the cavern's rocks gave way to fresh air and open towns, the rough rocks became cobblestone and grass, and most importantly… Within a grassy circle lied what had to be the final switch!

It stood tall and looming like any other, but unlike the others it brought relief. Finally, the last one!

"Spyro!" Chihiro called as she waved over to Spyro, "Let's take this one down together!"

Spyro nodded, then flew over to Chihiro's side and grabbed hold of her hand. As his eyes flashed purple, he squeezed the hand and let go… Then watched as Chihiro slowly floated upwards!

Chihiro giggled and beamed in wonder as she floated up to the eye portion of the switch, while Spyro flew up and joined her. The two of then shared a nod, crafted matching spheres of magic energy between them, then shot out their hands and watched the energy spheres fly straight into the center of the switch! The two of them fell down and watched as a bright explosion of indigo light engulfed the eye… Then the stone eye fell off of the switch and slammed into the earth with a CRASH!

The cyclopes cheered behind Spyro and Chihiro as they gave each other a smile, then watched as a warp panel manifested in front of the switch's base.

"I'll bet this warp panel'll take us to the Seeing Tower," Insider said as they stepped between Spyro and Chihiro, "Now, come along, get in a straight line.

Everybody else followed Insider's orders and organized themselves, but for some reason Spyro couldn't turn his gaze away from Chihiro just yet. Part of him just wanted to enjoy this small moment with her just a tiny bit more, to just stand there and basked in their shared accomplishment and joy, to see her warm, encouraging smile…

Chihiro, tell me, Spyro thought as he watched Chihiro talk with the cyclopes and spin around, What is it that makes you so special?

§

With a loud crash, Prism Break and his teammates found themselves tossed into a pile in a cramped, worn stone jail cell.

"NOW STAY IN THERE TILL THE EXECUTION STARTS!" Exclaimed a guard with gruff looks and sound as they slammed the cell's door shut with a BANG!

The guards riffed and laughed among themselves as they wandered away from the cell, but Prism Break could hardly find any humor in their words. He could hardly be blamed, given his current situation.

As the guards left his sights, Prism Break held his hands forward and shot a laser beam at the stone bars of the door… But all they did was absorb the heat and glow with a red light, their surfaces now so hot that it exuded heat all across the room.

"Prism Break, knock that off!" Cried a cyclops from the back, "It's stuffy enough in here as is!"

"Do you want to get out of here or not?" Prism Break snapped back as he shot a glare back at the cyclopes, "If I can melt these beams—"

"Don't try it." The cyclops stepped up and pushed Prism Break away, "These bars are made with a special kind of stone that's completely resistant to heat, ice, water, wind, magic… Anything you can think of!"

Prism Break looked over the bars with a frown.

The bars didn't seem to loosen or melt any faster than before, all they did was glow in that same taunting, red glow that made Prism Break's stones rumble. Seemed as though that guy was right.

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Prism Break shot the cyclops a glare.

As the red light faded, the cyclops glazed over the bars, then pulled out a stone hammer.

"If I can find a weak point in these bars." The cyclops drew a clawed finger over the prison bars' smooth surface, "Then one little smack with this baby—"—the cyclops waved their stone hammer—"will send it completely topping down!"

The cyclops's eye widened as they glazed over what appeared to be a tiny crack in the bars.

"And I think I found my first target!" The cyclops swung their arms back, "HEAVE HO!"

With a powerful swing the cyclops slammed their hammer against the crack in the bars… But it only made them shake with the force of an earthquake and fall onto their butt! The cyclops groaned and stood back up, then readied their hammer once more.

"Okay, I might've been a little off, but that's alright!" The cyclops swung once more, "LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN!"

The cyclops slammed their hammer into the door once again… But only shuddered and jittered into a fall once more!

"MAYBE THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM!"

Third time was in fact, not the charm despite the popular saying. The cyclops only repeated the events of the prior two tries, this time with a little extra shuddering than before.

"AGAIN!"

Nope—still no shattering of any kind on the bars' side.

"AGAIN!"

Nada.

"AGAIN!"

Zilt.

"AGAIN!"

Zich.

No matter how many times that poor cyclops tried, they couldn't even land a single dent into those stone bars! They were far too strong and sturdy for the cyclops' dingy little hammer to break!

"Alright then," the cyclops panted as they stood once more and retrieved their hammer, which now bore several large cracks in a fit of irony, from the floor, "Let's try again!"

Before they could finish their swing, however, another cyclops ran to their side and held back their arms.

"Eyevan, it's not going to work! You've already tried fifteen times!" The other cyclops protested.

"Eyerene!" Eyevan groaned as they glared back at her, "I just need to try again! I'm sure!"

As Eyevan argued with Eyerene, their stone hammer trembled then completely shattered! The little bits of gravel that were once a hammer fell into a pile at Eyevan's feet, while Eyevan themself only looked down and heaved a groan.

"Guess I'm not smashing it anymore."

As Eyevan heaved a sigh and brushed the dust off of their trousers, everybody else followed in accordance. They all seemed so worn and tired as they sat in the jail cell, completely demotivated to do anything other than sulk and await their execution.

Well, all but one.

Prism Break frowned as he heard something that sounded like weak, childlike sniffling. He turned his head a hare and saw that Wrecking Ball was curled up in a damp corner of the cell with shudders abound.

"Wrecking Ball?" Prism Break called as he walked over to where Wrecking Ball huddled, "What are you doing?"

"I don't like it here…" Wrecking Ball whimpered with a sniff, "It's too small, and cold, and dark… And I got everyone trapped and we're all gonna be stuck here forever!"

Wrecking Ball burst into a waterfall of sobs, while Prism Break awkwardly stepped back. He wasn't exactly good with emotions… But it did make him feel a bit bad to see Wrecking Ball like this, and besides, all that crying was bound to attract guards. He had to get Wrecking Ball to calm down!

"Now, I know things seem bad, but it's not hopeless," Prism Break soothed with a kind of awkward trill in his voice, "I mean, we are stuck in a cold, cramped dungeon with no hopes of escaping and are going to be executed at any minute, and nothing we've done has worked insofar."

As Prism Break spoke, however, he himself grew downtrodden as he crossed his arms and frowned.

"Actually, wait, everything does seem pretty hopeless right now."

Prism Break scowled for only a few seconds more, then jumped back as Wrecking Ball burst in a cacophony of wailing! So much for making him feel better…

Wrecking Ball's sobs echoed around the cell as everybody grumbled and covered their ears in accordance…

"It really is hopeless…"

"Guess this is how it all ends."

"We should just give up right now."

Even Prism Break felt a pit open in his cold, rocky heart as he watched the rest of the team sniffle and hug each other…

Save for Eyevan, who only stomped their foot in determination.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE AT ALL!" Eyevan shouted as they turned and looked towards the crowd, "What we've tried so far didn't work, true, but surely there's other methods, right?! We could pick the lock—"

"But our lockpickers went with the first team," replied a cyclops from the crowd.

"Well." Eyevan looked a bit taken aback, but quickly shook it off with a shake of their head, "Maybe we could charge into the gate all at once and ram it down! On three,"—Eyevan leaned forward and prepared for a charge—"One, two—"

"Eyevan, just face it." Eyerene said as she placed a hand on his shoulders, "There's no way we'll make it outta here. This whole place is too tough for even a Skylander to break out of! What chance do we have?"

Eyevan frowned, then hummed as they peered through the bars of the cell.

"Wait a second…" Eyevan whipped around and beamed, "Everyone, I found our way out!"

"Already!?" Eyerene and Prism Break said in unison.

Eyevan hummed and made a nod as Prism Break and Eyerene joined them, then pointed a grubby finger of theirs through the bars.

"See that?" Eyevan asked as they cast a gaze towards Eyerene and then Prism Break, "That's our ticket out!"

Prism Break promptly followed the finger's path and found that Eyevan was pointing towards a bulky, sleeping guard who had something shiny hung from their belt… A keyring, surely! Yet, the guard was quite a ways off… How were they supposed to get those keys?

"If we can get something that could reach that far and get those keys, then we're home free!" Eyevan turned around and cleared their throat, "SO, does anybody here happen to conveniently own a ten-foot-long pole… Or something?"

Confused murmurs and whispers were heard as the crowd chattered among themselves, then turned back to Eyevan and shook their heads.

"Doesn't have to be a pole!" Eyevan adjusted the collar of their shirt and chuckled, "It can be anything, really!"

Anything?… Prism Break thought as he glazed over the crowd, then fixed his stare on Wrecking Ball who still sobbed in the corner, That's it!

"Wrecking Ball!" Prism Break shouted as he ran over to Wrecking Ball and nudged Wrecking Ball's back, "We need your help!"

"You, you do?" Wrecking Ball sniffled as he looked up at Prism Break.

Prism Break only nodded in response.

"You can get us out!" Prism Break slapped one crystal hand against the other, then pointed towards the stone bars, "If you can get those keys, we'll be good as free!"

"Really?" Wrecking Ball wiped his tears away with his tongue and jumped to his feet, "Okay!"

His sorrow completely forgotten, Wrecking Ball rolled towards the gates as Prism Break watched.

"That was a quick turnaround," Prism Break remarked with a shrug before he rejoined the few crowded at the gates.

There, all eyes were on Wrecking Ball as Wrecking Ball turned a steady gaze towards the sleeping guard, puffed out his cheeks… Then like a rocket his tongue shot out of him mouth and wrapped around the shining thing that hung from the guards' belt! Wrecking Ball's tongue slapped back into his mouth soon after, while everyone turned and looked with him with anticipation… Only for Wrecking Ball to stick out his tongue and reveal the keyring! The very sight caused the crowd around to cheer with utter, hopeful joy!

"Quiet, the guards'll hear you!" Prism Break shushed before he nudged Eyevan with his rocky shoulder, "You do the honors. I'd do it myself…"—Prism Break cast a glance towards his crystal hands—"But I don't have fingers."

Eyevan nodded as they retrieved the keys from Wrecking Ball, then pulled out a single stone key and walked up to the cell's bars. With a plug in the keyhole and a little jimmying, the lock crashed onto the floor and the cell door swung straight open!

"We're free!" Cried the cyclopes from the crowd, only for a wave of frowns to form among their ranks as Eyevan and Eyerene shook their heads.

"We're not out of the stones yet," Eyevan corrected as they cast a gaze out the pathways.

"They're right," Eyerene added as she dug through her pockets, "We still need to get out of these dungeons first!"

Eyerene then withdrew a small cloth sack and pulled its drawstrings open to reveal a shiny powder within. As everybody drew closer to Eyerene in fascination of her strange pouch, she dug her hands into it and cast the powder all around the group.

"This invisibility powder should keep the guards off our tails," Eyerene explained as she pointed towards the open door, "Now hurry! We don't have much time!"

And hurry was what they did! Like a swarm of bees or a flock of mice or whatever they were called, the team gathered together, so tightly crammed that they clogged the entire hallway as they fled out the door.

In fact, Prism Break could've sworn he saw the sleeping guard they snagged the keys from awaken with fright from all the noise out the corner of his eye, but that couldn't possibly be a problem! They were invisible, after all!

"Now…" Eyerene gazed from left to right as they turned a corner, "If I recall correctly, we run down this path and—"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Echoed a tough-sounding voice around the halls.

Prism Break turned around and winced—because it was indeed that guard they had woken up with all the commotion! Looks like he was going to be a problem after all…

"You thought you could pull a fast one on me, didn't cha?" Sneered the guard as he withdrew a stone magnifying glass from his pocket and placed it over his eye, "But I can see right through ya!"

"Crap!" Eyerene exclaimed as she looked back at the guard, "I didn't think they'd have those nullifying lenses!"

"Looks like we'll have to take the hard way out," Prism Break sighed as he dusted off his hands, "Good thing I'm tough as rock!"

Prism Break clapped his hands, and in moments a fissure of rich green crystals sprouted out from the stone floors underneath them.

The guard watched in panic as the crystals shot towards him, then frantically slammed his fist against the wall and revealed… Something bright and red? A button?

Before he could even gingerly press it, however, the fissure of crystals slammed him against the ceiling! With a loud CONK he flopped down onto the crystals while everybody breathed sighs of relief…

Then the crystals withdrew back into the earth, and the guard's unconscious body rolled over and slammed against the red button!

In moments of its press, the loud wail of sirens cried around the halls, paired with the sounds of intense charging and stomping as guards filed in by the hundreds! Their eyes were narrowed and their palms sweaty as they clasped their weapons tight, and they were so numerous in forces that they all started to look the same after a little while…

But that didn't deter Prism Break, who shot off a laser fast as lightning! His teammates followed suit as they backed his laser with weaponry shots and magic blasts… But all of them only ricocheted off of the guards' armor and dashed right above their heads.

As the guards enclosed on Prism Break and his teammates, Prism Break gulped.

"Well, looks like it's time for Plan B!" Eyevan proclaimed as their eye trained on the guards with intense worry.

"And that would be?" Prism Break asked as he looked at Eyevan.

"RUN!"

With the guards hot on their tail, everybody followed Eyevan's examples and made headway through the damp stone halls! Though they had exerted so much energy, it was like the fear had given them a new spike of motivation as they dashed down halls, turned corners and climbed heights all throughout the dungeon.

But, it was of little use. The guards that tailed them still couldn't be shaken, and the whole team was starting to grown worn.

"THERE!" Eyerene exclaimed as she pointed towards a side passageway, "Though that hall!"

The crowd diverged into the hall Eyerene had directed them to… Only to find themselves face-to-face with even more guards! As they screamed and jumped back, however, the other guards had blocked the prior exit, which left them completely cornered!…

Or so they thought.

"Up those stairs!" Eyevan shouted as they pointed towards a shadowy stairwell!

Not in the mood for being captured yet again, the team followed Eyevan's lead as they trekked up the stairs… But midway through their flight, several bulky cyclops guards blocked off the top!

"I'll take care of these guys!" Wrecking Ball exclaimed as he curled up and rolled up the flight, "WRECK AND ROLL!"

Wrecking Ball was a blue comet crashing through the heavens as he dashed up the stairs and slammed straight into the guards, who cried out in pain as they toppled over one another!

They tried to get up, but there was no chance! As soon as Wrecking Ball landed, they were trampled underfoot by the rest of the team in their frantic escape!

Prism Break didn't even have time to apologize or feel bad—not that he would, anyways. As they ran further into the halls, they all made headway towards the nearest wall only to crash straight into it! But, instead of causing pain, the wall turned around and spat everybody out!

While everybody collected themselves, Prism Break caught a few breaths of his own. He really was not used to running for his life like that and all. As he looked up, he couldn't help but frown with confusion.

It seemed that he had been dropped into a new hallway altogether, as had the rest of the team. They were the only ones there aside for a few spiders who dutifully guarded their webs, or the occasionally one-eyed rat that scurried along, and there were no sounds other than water dropping or heavy breathing… It was dangerously peaceful, if that made sense. Like, the kind of feeling that made one feel as if something was going to jump out an attack at any moment!

"Is everybody okay?" Eyevan asked as they looked among the crowds, who only made tired murmurs of response, "Well, that's one order of business taken care of, now for the next…"—Eyevan frowned as they glazed back and forth among the halls—"Just where are we, anyways?!"

"Beats me," mumbled another cyclops as they stood up and brushed dirt off of their head, "Wait, where'd my hat go?"—the cyclops turned around and gasped—"There it is!"
Just a few ways off from their tired group, a round, baggy hat sat on the ground, completely still and innocent.

"Now." The cyclops wandered over to the hat and reached out towards it, "Come to papa—"

Before the cyclops could retrieve their hat, however, the hat inched away from their grasp!

"… What the—"

The cyclops screamed in horror as something nudged out from under the hat—a rat! The rat squeaked and sniffed the air as it looked at the cyclops… Then screamed as well before it dove back under the hat and scampered into the distance.

"GIVE ME BACK MY HAT, YOU NO GOOD THIEVING LITTLE—!"

As the cyclops made a mad dash after the hat, Eyevan chased after them in pursuit.

"Cornelius, wait!" Eyevan exclaimed, though their cries fell on uncaring ears as Cornelius ran out of sight, "After him!"

And as everybody chased after Cornelius and Eyevan, Prism Break only sighed and followed them at the back of the group.

"Darn rats…"

§

"And here we are!" Insider proclaimed as they stretched their arms wide.

Their travels through the warp had lead them to a gigantic stone courtyard covered in fanciful ivy vines and elaborate, regal-looking masonry colored in imperial shades of red, orange, and purple like the sunset of an important day. The center pathway out of the courtyard lead to a gigantic building that was surely the treasury… And if there was any doubt, then the red stone gate that was flanked with two glowing eyes—one green, one yellow—might have put any fears to rest.

"Finally!" Chihiro proclaimed as she heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back, "If I had to look at one more puzzle I think my brain was gonna explode!"

"The job's far from over though," reminded Insider as they looked back at Chihiro and wagged a clawed finger, "We still need to get inside and activate the self-destruct function!"

"That's gonna be easy, though!" Chihiro smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "We just have to break a few switches, right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Insider turned their head back to the tower and watched its door open with a rumble, "You never know what kind of tricks they could have up their sleeves."

A couple gulps were heard as the party carefully trailed inside the tower—Which was near-completely pitch black! No windows, no lamps… Even the light from the door quickly faded as it closed down behind them.

"What happened to the lights?" Remarked a tiny cyclops as they swerved their head around.

"Be on guard!" Insider warned, "Anything could happen here!"

Chihiro snapped her fingers and watched as an orb of cyan light manifested in her hands, then cast it around the area.

The sphere trailed around the floors in a circle, though it was so small that precious little was illuminated. All that could be found were what looked like four round, stone switches that glowed with a faint kind of magic energy that could be barely traced…

"Wait, did you guys see that?!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jabbed a finger at the switches directions, "I think we found them!"

Excited jabber rose from the crowd as Chihiro smiled and summoned a sword made out of magic.

"Well, this can't be any more easier." Chihiro took a step forward and held her sword in front of her body, "Just gotta crack these switches and…"

As Chihiro took another step forwards, a low growl echoed from close by and reverberated all around the tower.

"… Did you guys hear that?" Chihiro looked back at the rest of the team, who only nodded in response, then glazed over the top of the tower, "Where's it coming from?"

Everybody looked in every which way! South, east, west, north, west-east and perhaps even a few more unknown directions… But no matter what, they couldn't pin down the sound of the growling, which had grown more and more intense!

Then someone clapped and the lights came on.

And there, right before them, were cyclops mammoths of all sorts! Tall ones with faded scars and rippling muscles, scrappy smaller ones with sharp tusks, very angry ones with bloodshot eyes and dried red stains on their fur… Thankfully they were all tied down to tough-looking stakes, though they didn't appear happy with it judging by their way their teeth were bared.

"Well, well, look what we have here~" Crooned a shrill voice as a smaller cyclops dressed in animal taming gear stepped out from behind a particularly large mammoth, "Our favorite rebels!"

"And what's this?" Crowd another cyclops tamer as they stepped from the side of a smaller mammoth, "They brought Skylanders with them too! No wonder you managed to get past our defenses!"

"We should've known something was strange when our units stopped responding to us!" Cried yet another tamer as they flipped off the back of a particularly nasty-looking mammoth and landed on their feet, "Mammoths, get them!"

With a snap of their fingers, the stakes that held the cyclops mammoths down disappeared and the tamers with them! Nothing stood in the way of the mammoths as they made loud growls and charged forwards, ready to make a quick snack out of the team… But they didn't! A bright light, so bright in fact that the heroes had to shield their eyes before their eyes were burned at the least.

While the mammoths whimpered and reeled back, Spyro flew down as his body shone with a yellow glow that unmistakably marked the light's ownership as his.

"Quick, while they're distracted!" Spyro ordered as he flew overhead.

Everybody in the ground-bound crowd nodded, then raised their weapons high and charged! What followed could only be described as a giant, one-sided fight! The heroes threw everything they had, from magic blasts to stone weapons right at the switches, their adversaries little more than an afterthought in their minds…

Well, save for the two mammoths that had regained their sight faster than the others and tried to lunge after the heroes, but they just clunked into each other and fell unconscious.

Chihiro stopped to gaze over the machine that the switches fed with power—an elaborate stone contraption that shot a thick beam of energy at the top of the tower—then her gaze trailed off to the four round switches…

The sound of flapping wings pulled her out of her thoughts as Spyro flew up next to her, then with a smile she looked up at Spyro and nodded. The two of them held out a hand and a paw, and together shot out a blast of energy that slammed right into the switch and blew it to bits!

While the switch's beam of energy disappeared, the machine's beam wavered just a bit.

One of the cyclopes stepped from the crowd and slammed their ax into the second switch, then looked up and saw Spyro shoot a gigantic fireball into the third.

Then with a beam, a small cyclops grabbed a sizable rock from the ground and tossed it right into the center of the fourth and final switch! The rock slammed into it with a sharp cracking noise, then harmlessly fell to the ground as the switch shattered completely!

Gasps of awe and joy were heard as the gigantic beam of energy finally vanished, paired with the sound of a machine whirring down.

"We did it!" Eyeantha proclaimed as she bounded forwards and wrapped Chihiro in a tight hug.

Chihiro made a sharp gasp, then beamed back as she swept up Eyeantha in her arms and spun her around.

The other cyclopes were more than excited as well! Some high-fived, others cheered and threw each other into the air, some kissed their partners out of pure, complete glee… Even Insider cracked a small smile as they looked over the deactivated machine.

Then a couple pebbles dropped on their heads.

"Wait, what was that?" Spyro asked as he and several others looked up at the ceiling and frowned.

Tiny, crumbly bits of masonry popped down from the ceiling like raindrops… Then a large stone brick crashed into the floor as the entire tower rumbled!

"Crap!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped out from where another brick smashed into the floor, "I forgot that thing was the only thing holding this tower up!"

"You know what?" Cried a cyclops man with a frantic urgency in his voice, "How about we celebrate AFTER we get out of here?!"

Terrified murmurs of agreement resounded around as everybody raced from the door… Then promptly skidded to a halt!

Right there in front of them, the cyclops mammoths they had thought they incapacitated had gathered in front of the sole door, teeth bared and eyes bloodshot. Clearly, they weren't in a good mood.

"CRAP!" Spyro exclaimed as he narrowly flew into the jaws of a cyclops mammoth.

"Forgot about these dudes!" Chihiro finished for Spyro as she yanked his tail and pulled him away just before the mammoth snapped its jaws.

With loud howls the mammoths leaped after the cyclopes, but the crowd swiftly parted before those mammoths could even get a scratch in! As the mammoths crashed onto the cracked floor, they growled and ran forward while everybody ran for their lives! It was a good thing those mammoths were super slow and bulky—otherwise, they might have been in for some real trouble.

"There's no way we'll be able to fight them off in time," Insider exclaimed as they ran around in a circle with a scarred mammoth in close pursuit, "We have to get rid of them some other way!"

"Let me try!" Cried a younger cyclops who donned ragged mage robes as he waved a stone staff.

The staff glowed with a faint blue light, then cast a blue glow around the room that made the mammoths stop and tilt their heads for a few moments…

Then they shook their heads and went back to chasing everyone.

"WHAT?!" The mage exclaimed as their jaw dropped, "WHY?!"

"I don't know what making them glow was supposed to accomplish," Chihiro exclaimed as she ran away from a cyclops mammoth, "But—"—Chihiro skidded to her right as a stone slab fell down from above—"YIKES!"

"That's the thing, it wasn't supposed to just make them glow!" The mage readied his staff once more, "It was supposed to banish them!"—The mage then smacked his staff against the ground—"But this dumb thing doesn't have enough juice!"

"Let me try it, then!" Chihiro jumped to the mage's side.

As the mage waved his staff around again, Chihiro's hands flashed a magical shade of chromatic cyan. Chihiro then shot her glowing hands in front of her body and sent a large bolt of concentrated magical energy straight at the staff! The staff received the energy like a bird received food from its parents, its stone surface now aglow with bright cyan.

With a smirk, the mage pointed the staff at the mammoths, then waved it around a few more times.

At first, it seemed like nothing happened, and the mammoths went back to gleefully chasing everyone around like it was nothing! But then, they completely froze in place, their eyes small with confusion. And finally, they all vanished in a bright blue glow!

"Alright, everyone!" Chihiro exclaimed as she stepped towards the door and made an ushering motion, "There's no time to stand around, get going like you're Christmas shoppers at a holiday layaway!"

"What's Christmas?" Asked one small cyclops to the other.

"Is it something you eat?" Replied their conversation partner.

Before anyone could make a word more, a gigantic slab of stone crashed down from the ceiling and made a sizable hole in the floor!

"GO, GO, GO!" Chihiro demanded as she pointed towards the door.

With screams and hastened feet everybody charged out the door in a gigantic crowd, the sounds of their running feet like a herd of those cyclops mammoths they were fighting not all that long ago! Everybody else charges outside till the only one left was Chihiro!

"Yeah, I'd say that was pretty good…" Chihiro said as she dusted off her hands and placed them on her hips, "Wait, what's that sound?"

Chihiro frowned and looked up, then her eyes shrunk as she froze in place—because a gigantic stone slab was crashing down from the ceiling with its sights set on her!

Just before it could squish her like the terrified insect she was, Spyro flew back inside and yanked Chihiro out by the shoulder!

Thus, the slab was only able to crash into the ground as the tower crumbled to bits…

§

"Got'cha!" Cornelius shouted as he snagged his hat from the now very-tired rat and positioned it on top of his head.

Cornelius stood tall and proud with his now-reclaimed hat… Then his legs gave out and he fell into a heap on the floor, his breath exhaled in heavy pants.

"There you are, Cornelius!" Eyevan exclaimed as they stopped and loomed over Cornelius, "Did you really need to chase that mouse down five alleyways?"

"Don't give me that look!" Cornelius shot back Eyevan's glare, "This hat cost me two thousand gold! I'm not just gonna give it up to some rat!"

"Well look where your little hat chase got us!" Eyevan gestured out towards the open halls, "Now we're… Now, we're…"—Eyevan frowned and glazed all around the stone walls—"Actually… I have no idea where we are!"

"Good going, you two!" Eyerene scolded as she pushed herself into the fray, "Now we're completely lost!"

"Don't look at me!" Eyevan shouted back as they shook a fist at Eyerene while their free finger pointed towards Cornelius, "He was the one who ran off to chase some hat rat!"

"Hey, everyone!" Cornelius shouted as he jumped to his feet and waved, "I think—"

"Don't try to worm your way out of this, Cornelius!" Eyevan glared back at Cornelius, "You're the one who got us stuck here in the first place!"

"No, seriously, Eyevan, I—"

"CORNELIUS!" Eyevan growled and rolled up their sleeve, their hand now balled into a fist, "I—"

"EYEVAN, CORNELIUS, CALM DOWN!" Eyerene exclaimed as she thrust herself between Eyevan and Cornelius and glared them both down, "YOU'RE BOTH GOING TO ATTRACT THE GUARDS IF THIS KEEPS UP!"

"What's going on here?!" Demanded a gravely voice from the shadows.

Eyevan, Eyerene and Cornelius all gasped, then stood firm as they withdrew their weaponry… Only for the voice's owner to step out of the shadows and reveal themself to be Prism Break!

"I can hear you all shouting from halfway across the hall," Prism Break nagged as he crossed his arms, "It's grating on my nerves!"

Eyevan, Eyerene and Cornelius all made inconspicuous coughs into their hands before they cast their gazes aside.

"Well, I was about to say that I thought I saw an exit across from here," Cornelius said at last as he shot Eyevan a glare, "But Eyevan kept rudely interrupting me!"

"Wait, you did?!" Eyevan exclaimed as they whipped their head around.

"Yes I did, you numbskull!" Cornelius pointed a finger towards the end of the pathway, "See that light over there?"

Everybody's gazes followed the path led by Cornelius's finger, which indeed showed a soft, faint light that poured from above the pathway's end. That had to be their ticket out!

"Cornelius, forget I ever doubted you!" Eyevan hugged Cornelius tight, then let go of him and ran ahead, "Come on, it's time to get out of this dumpster!"

Everybody else in the team watched Eyevan run out of view, then with shrugs they all followed Eyevan down the way.

The path was surprisingly light on weird animals or dampness compared to the rest of the dungeons' secret halls. All it had was smooth stone walls and floors, unlike the rough floors and brick walls of before, as if it was part of something entirely different… Either way, there wasn't much time left to contemplate this, for the journey came to an end as everybody stopped at the end of the path—a walled-off room with a ladder attached to its frontmost wall.

"Hey, I think I can see an opening," Eyevan remarked as they walked up to the ladder and looked above, then grabbed onto a rung a few paces above them, "Come on!"

As Eyevan climbed further up the ladder, the other cyclopes quickly followed suit. One by one they jumped onto the ladder and climbed up like ants on a picnic table leg.

Prism Break, on the other hand, took one glace at the ladder… Then looked down at his notably fingerless hands and frowned.

"Why aren't you going up, Breaks?" Wrecking Ball asked as he rolled up to Prism Break and bounced in place.

Prism Break only gestured towards the ladder with the aforementioned fingerless hands and shot Wrecking Ball a glare. However, Wrecking Ball didn't quite seem to understand Prism Break's annoyance given his frown and tilted head.

"Whatever." Wrecking Ball waddled towards the ladder, "I'll race you up there!"

With a grunt Wrecking Ball pulled himself onto the ladder's first rung, then tried to grab onto the next with his foot… But thanks to his lack of opposable thumbs, he couldn't keep a grip and ended up falling on his back! This didn't deter him, however. He merely jumped back to his feet and wiggled with glee! Wrecking Ball shot out his tongue, and in moments it wrapped around a higher rung and flung him towards the ladder! His eyes trained on the higher rungs, he let go of the rung and tried to grab the next, but it was no use. He missed his target by a hare and fell into Prism Break's arms.

"Darn." Wrecking Ball pouted as he crossed his front legs.

"You two need some help down there?" Eyerene asked as she looked down at Prism Break and Wrecking Ball.

"Yes, please!" Prism Break replied as he let go of Wrecking Ball.

With a hum, Eyerene dug through her pockets, then grabbed a cloudy marble and tossed it down to Prism Break and Wrecking Ball. The marble flew through the skies, then slammed into the ground and crashed! While its marble surface shattered, its fragments released a white misty haze that solidified into a hovering cloud!

"Just climb on!" Eyerene turned around and climbed the ladder once more.

Prism Break gazed over the cloud and poked it, almost as if he wasn't sure it could carry his weight, but Wrecking Ball had no hesitation whatsoever! With a chirp Wrecking Ball jumped onto the cloud and rolled back and forth across its fluffy surface, then with a shrug Prism Break hopped on and sat down on the cloud as well.

Its passengers taken, the cloud floated higher and higher up, until the two of them had rejoined the rest the team at last! They all diligently climbed and floated up the ladder's heights… But that diligence wouldn't last forever. The ladder was so, so, so tall, and soon enough they had all started to grow quiet tired!

Eyerene groaned as she hung her head and dozed off, only to jolt back awake as something nudged her foot and frantically climb up, Cornelius swiped at thin air as his eyelid flickered up and down… Even Wrecking Ball, normally an eternal fountain of energy, had grown worn as he rolled on his back and snored.

"Just how high does this ladder go, anyways?" Cornelius groaned as he finally gripped onto the next rung of the ladder and pulled himself up.

"Wish I knew…" Eyevan sighed, their voice as worn as their body as they looked up then gasped, "Wait, I think I see the light source!"

Now full of vigor, Eyevan scrambled further up the ladder, until they had finally reached its top and found themself under a large stone manhole!

"Here we are, everyone!" Eyevan grunted as they pushed off the manhole then poked their head out of the hole it guarded, "Freedom, sweet—"

Evevan stopped short as they looked around the surface, as did the teammates who had joined them.

There, the team found themselves in the inside of what seemed to be an elaborate stone tower! To their right was a gigantic machine powered by four switches that resonated with magic, and littered all around the area were soldiers who all stared at them in pure shock.

"Freedom?" Eyevan squeaked as they looked over at the guards.

It was an awkward staring contest as the guards looked at Eyevan and their teammates, while the team looked back at the guards as if they were unsure what to do quite now. Then finally, everyone jumped out of the hole, covered it back up with the manhole and cleared their throats. All at once, they all drew their weapons and glared down the guards!

"Everyone!" Eyevan exclaimed as they cracked their knuckles, "To arms!"

The guards were just as quick to respond! They grabbed their weapons and charged with a cry of war, their forces so numerous that they fell upon the heroes like an enormous tidal wave!

"Oh no you don't!" Prism Break exclaimed as he clapped his hands together and shot off a round of bright lasers that smacked the guards straight in their eyes!

"AUGH, MY EYE!" Cried one guard as they stumbled back.

"IT BURNS!" Wailed a second as they dropped their stone hammer, "IT BURNS!"

"WHERE ARE THE EYEDROPS WHEN YOU NEED THEM?!" Bemoaned a third as they shielded their eye from the overhead sunlight.

"Now's your chance, buddy!" Prism Break said as he looked down at Wrecking Ball and nodded.

"Yay!" Wrecking Ball squealed as he bounced up and down, "Wrecking time!"

Wrecking Ball laughed as he furled himself into a ball, then like a greased-up pinball he shot off before anyone could even blink or stop him! His target was the walls as he smacked right into their stone exteriors, then ricocheted off and knocked down the guards in waves.

Of course, Wrecking Ball wasn't the only one to get in on the fun!

With everyone blinded and distracted by other things, Eyevan found the perfect opportunity in a stone hammer one of the guards had dropped. Eyevan wound up their arm and tossed the hammer like a boomerang… And it worked wonders! It swung across the room with magnificent speed, then smacked right into the heads of several guards and knocked them out cold!

"Ha!" Eyevan smirked as they rubbed their chest, "You know, eye bet that these guys are toast!"

In response to Eyevan's pun, however, everybody just groaned and smacked their hands against their faces.

"It wasn't that bad, guys!" Eyevan scoffed as they glared back at the others.

"Save the witty remarks for when we've actualy won, Eyevan!" Eyerene exclaimed as she withdrew a sack filled with magical powder.

"What she said!" Cornelius added as he pulled out a magnifying lens that shimmered with magic.

"But they can do it?!" Eyevan retorted as they gestured towards Prism Break and Wrecking Ball.

"That's because we're professionals!" Prism Break countered as he stepped forward and clapped his hands once again.

As he did this, gigantic emerald-colored crystals shot out from the grounds and sent the guards crashing all into the walls of the tower! The crystals receded soon after, but the pain they caused lasted far longer.

The guards all groaned in pain as they dropped down from walls and ceilings, notable cyclops-shaped impression left on their surfaces.

The perfect opportunity to finish the fight fell into the heroes' hands and by the Ancients, they took the opportunity with both hands! All at once, they shot out lasers beams, noxious clouds of gas, magic powder, stone weapons and so much more flung out from their hands and kicked up massive clouds of dust and chaos around the heat of the battlefield with everybody caught inside…

Well, all but one stray guard, that is!

That stray guard ducked out from the clouds and hid in the shadows as he watched the fight before him with trembling hands and sweaty palms.

"We're losing bad!" The guard whispered with a gulp, "The king'll have our heads if we let them get out of here…"—The guard cast a glance at the gigantic machine behind the chaos of the fight, and more specifically the switches that powered it, then smirked—"Unless they don't!"

Hidden by the cover of battle, the guard slipped through the ongoing fight and crept around the side of the machine, his eye now trained on the four power switches as they glowed bright. The guard gulped, then raised his arms and swung his ax straight into the first switch! As it flickered out of life, the guard moved over to the second switch and did the same… Then the third… And with the fourth in sight, he stepped forward.

But right as he did, something dropped on his head—a crumbled, tiny piece of ceiling!

"I'd better make this quick," The guard mumbled as he looked up then back down at the fourth switch, "This thing's already starting to cave!"

Unbeknownst to the guard, Prism Break happened to notice something fall on his head too!

"What was that?…" Prism Break asked as he brushed his head off and turned around… Only to see one of the cyclops guards, ax raised to the heavens as he got ready to smash in the final switch to the power machine!

Prism Break gasped for a few moments, then ran forward and rammed the guard into the side of the wall before he could finish!

"Get off of me, you walking rock pile!" The guard exclaimed as he pushed against Prism Break.

Prism Break stumbled back a bit, then gritted his rocky teeth as he raised a crystal hand.

"Walking rock pile?!" Prism Break exclaimed as he zapped the guard back into the wall, "Now you're in for it!"

With a shout Prism Break ran forwards and tried to land another blow, but he was far too slow! The guard merely slid past Prism Break, then drew back to the switch and got ready to shatter it once more!

The guard smirked as he swung down his arms, then a giant crystal formation leaped out of nowhere, slammed the guard back into the wall and tossed his ax into the air before he could finish the job!

Prism Break wiped the pebbles off his brow as he breathed a sigh of relief… Right as he saw the ax fall from the heavens, slam straight into the switch and completely shatter it to smithereens!

"Oops."

With a rumble so loud it pulled everyone out of their fights, chunks of the ceiling fell apart and smashed into the floors below!

"Quick!" Eyevan exclaimed as they pointed towards the tower's entrance, where the guards were already bulldozing their way out, "After them!"

But before any one of them could even make a step out into the light, the last guards ran through and slammed the door completely shut! Eyevan grunted as they tried to jiggle its knob open, but there was no luck. The door was completely shut!

"It's locked!" Eyevan looked back towards the group, whose eyes were filled with worry.

"Now how are we supposed to get out?!" Eyerene exclaimed as her eye darted back and forth in some frantic search for another escape route.

"Over there!" Cornelius shouted as he looked up and pointed, "There's a window!"

Everybody followed Cornelius's alert, and surely enough he was right.

There above them was a large window!

"How are we supposed to reach it, though?" Eyerene asked as she looked up towards the window, "It's way too high for any normal person to reach…"

"Good thing I'm not normal!" Wrecking Ball exclaimed as he wagged his tail.

His eyes trained on the window, Wrecking Ball shot out his tongue, latched it around the windowpane and flung it clean open! As his tongue retreated into his mouth, he shot it back out once more and wrapped it around several of his teammates.

"Mit's mlying time!" Wrecking Ball babbled as he lifted them up and catapulted them straight through the window!

Once they were safely out, Wrecking Ball did the same with the next few members of the group… And the next… And the following… Until the only ones left were him and Prism Break! Prism Break shot Wrecking Ball a wary look, then sighed.

"Normally I wouldn't agree to this," Prism Break sighed as he watched the crumbling ceiling, "But I don't think we have any other options,"—Prism Break heaved a tired sigh, as if he knew he'd regret this later—"Fire away, Wrecking Ball."

Wrecking Ball bounced with glee, then wrapped his tongue around Prism Break and heaved Prism Break up with a grunt. As he stumbled back from Prism Break's sheer weight, Wrecking Ball grunted yet again, then launched Prism Break out the window!

Prism Break flew out the window with a scream while Wrecking Ball watched.

As Prism Break fell out of sight and hearing, Wrecking Ball glazed over the open windowpane. Wrecking Ball then furled himself up, shot out his tongue and wrapped it around the windowpane!

"WHOA! WHOA!" Wrecking Ball shouted as he swung back and forth like a pendulum. Wrecking Ball regained his balance, then swung right into a wall, bounced off the wall and straight through the window!

With the air caressed against his body and the windowpane slammed shut, Wrecking Ball fell down and landed straight into Prism Break's stony arms! He blinked with surprise as he watched everyone dust themselves off and look at him with wide eyes, then…

"Wrecking Ball! Wrecking Ball! Wrecking Ball!" Everybody chanted as they tossed Wrecking Ball into the air and caught him.

Their cheers a source of infectious happiness, Wrecking Ball burst into sheer, uncontrolled laughter that rippled around the crowd's hearts. Even Prism Break made a soft chuckle as he watched them celebrate!

"WHAT THE—!?" Exclaimed a voice from across the way.

The celebrations stopped short as everybody turned around to see none other than the guards who had tried to trap them in the crumbling tower earlier!

"HOW DID YOU GET OUT OF THERE?!" Exclaimed a cyclops guard.

"THAT SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU ALL!" Shouted a second guard as they frantically scratched their head.

"Unfortunately for you," Prism Break said as he scowled and raised his hands, "It didn't!"

As his crystalline hands glowed green, gigantic crystals formations shot out from the ground with no warning and sent the guards flying right off of the island's side!

The guards who hadn't been caught in the collision tried to escape, but they were out of luck!

Wrecking Ball had spotted them immediately and bowled them onto their backs!

As they groaned and sat back up, the entire team of both Skylanders and cyclopes loomed over the guards, weapons bare and fiery scowls stoked with an almost intimidating rage.

The guards whimpered as the team loomed further and further onto them… Then with screams they dashed off into the horizon, never to be seen again. Well, hopefully.

"Well, that's one thing done!" Eyevan said as they dusted their hands off and looked at the forthcoming path as the crystals receded, "Now, time for the next step."

Eyevan took a step forward, then turned around and ushered everyone else to follow.

"Come on!" Eyevan exclaimed as they ran ahead, "The Crystal Eye won't rescue itself!"

§

"Back again, back again!" Chihiro proclaimed as her group faced the gate to the treasury once more… Except there was no gate.

It had come down at last, the two glowing eye symbols that laid beside it now dull and rocky like just about everything here!

"We did it!" Proclaimed Eyeantha as she leaped forwards and hugged Insider tight in what was clearly a fit of pure joy, "We all did!"

Chihiro made a gasp as she examined the gate, then looked overhead to see another crowd pour down from the pathway adjacent to them.

"PB! Wrecks!" Chihiro exclaimed as she bolted forward and tossed herself into Prism Break's arms, "The gate's down, you did it!"

Prism Break, however, was far too unprepared for her sudden hug and the two of them crashed to the floor instead! Good thing that Prism Break was made out of rock, or else that might've hurt!

"CHIHIRO!" Prism Break shouted as he sat back up and rubbed his rocky head, "Watch it! You could've—"—Prism Break stopped short as he looked further ahead and saw the open gate—"Wait, that gate's open!"

"You bet it is!" Chihiro jumped off of Prism Break, then pulled him up and dragged him over to the gate before she presented it in a proud manner, "And it was all thanks to all of us!"

"Yeah!" Wrecking Ball chirped as he rolled over to their side, "You wouldn't believe what happened, Chihiro!"

"You wouldn't believe what happened to us, Wrecks!" Chihiro exclaimed as she looked down at him with eager eyes and bounced her arms, "We got stuck in this big puzzle and found this weird crystal cave…"

"And I found this giant trail of desserts but get this! It was a trap! Then we got stuck in these dungeons and had to fight our way out and—"

Spyro and Prism Break only looked at each other, smiled and rolled their eyes as Chihiro and Wrecking Ball rambled on and on and on…

"It's not over yet, though," Insider warned as they let go of Eyeantha's hug and glared down the gate, "We still need to get in there and get the Crystal Eye back—and who knows what kind of dangers could lie beyond there!"

Gulps of fear were the only sounds heard among the wary silence that echoed round their group while they gazed down the pathways. They seemed stark and lifeless now, but who knew whether they were laden with hidden booby traps, or filled with troops ready to burst out at any moment… If they were even real and not an illusion in the first place!

Finally, Chihiro shrugged and made her way down, well, the way.

"No use standing around and waiting for the danger to come to us," Chihiro remarked as she stepped past the entrance, "We'd better get going before anybody notices those towers are down!"

Murmurs of agreement were heard as the others followed Chihiro down the path. But oddly, there was no danger to be found! There was nothing but stone walls and towers decorated in elaborate eye-themed patterns with colorful minerals, the looming tower that housed the Crystal Eye a giant among ants as it imposed above everything else.

"You know," Wrecking Ball said as he hopped along, "It's kinda qu—"

"SHHHHH!" Chihiro shushed as she immediately covered Wrecking Ball's mouth, "Don't say anything, Wrecking Ball!"

"Why not?" Wrecking Ball wriggled his way out of Chihiro's grasp and looked up at her with confusion glinted in his lime-colored eyes.

"Stuff like this always happens in TV!" Chihiro made a wary glance at the towers, "Somebody's traveling around some weird place, and then a bunch of monsters jump out or they awaken some evil curse all because they said 'Hup de dup, it's way too quiet in this place!'"—Chihiro then gazed back at Wrecking Ball—"But, as long as we don't say a word, it should be smooth—"

"HALT, INTRUDERS!" Cried a loud collection of voices from nowhere as cyclops warriors poured in from the towers!

"Crap! I just said it!" Chihiro's eyes froze as she stopped short, then she hung her head and groaned, "….Me and my big mouth."

From every angle, the entire armada poured in! Decorated soldiers armed to the nines with fancy weapons, sorcerers with elaborate staffs that radiated with magic power and much more all filed in and surrounded them.

As they closed in, Chihiro only cracked her knuckles.

"Alright buddies, we can do this the easy way to the hard way," Chihiro said as she drank in the sights of angry warriors, "You can let us go through and get the Eye, or—"—Chihiro ducked down as a flaming stone arrow narrowly flew over her head and hit the side of a tower before she sprung back up—"… Hard way it is!"

With a powerful yowl Chihiro set her hands alight with flaming aqua energy, then punched them forwards and shot an entire ballista of flaming energy blasts towards the cyclops soldiers that had charged towards her!

As the blasts slammed into the soldiers and sent them flying backwards, Chihiro smirked and placed her hands on her hips… Then jumped back with a yelp as a soldier about her size tried to slash her with an ax!

"Geez, they aren't kidding when they tell you to always watch your back," Chihiro huffed, then held out her hands, "Guess I'll need to broaden my range!"

Within moments, a flash of light covered her hands and then shaped itself into a hammer made entirely of shimmering aqua magic! Chihiro leaped up and slammed the hammer into the ground, which not only created a decently-sized crater but also sent the cyclops soldiers around her into the air!

As they squirmed and failed to get back on the ground, Chihiro swung her hammer around. The speed of her swing was so great, it went from a hammer to a giant tornado that shut in just her area and shot the soldiers all over the place! They landed in the walls of towers and made cyclops-sized holes, crashed into other soldiers and knocked both parties out cold, flew into the skies and got pecked by migrating birds… Wherever you could look, there was nothing but terrified cyclops soldiers sent flying!

And while all that chaos went on, Chihiro was the eye of the storm as she floated back down and swung her hammer over her shoulder, a pleased smirk on her face.

"LOOK OUT!" Someone shouted from above as Chihiro panicked and fell to the floor.

That someone was none other than Spyro, who was completely covered in flames as he charged right into the heart of an entire cyclops platoon and knocked them down like bowling pins!

While they stood up and frantically patted flames off their bodies, Spyro's own flames dissipated and his eyes flashed a rich ocean blue. Spyro exhaled, then gigantic bubbles flew out of his mouth and trapped the soldiers inside their wet, slimy interior! The soldiers pushed and poked and did whatever they could to pop them, but the bubbles were far too strong.

Spyro, however, wasn't going to rest just yet! His eyes became so dark a shade of blue they were almost black as he vanished in a dark black fog! While the soldiers that surrounded stared in confusion, he leaped from the mist and charged them down. As Spyro shook his head and became visible once more, his eyes glanced over to Prism Break.

Prism Break was cornered into a wall by several bulky-looking cyclops generals who wielded hard stone maces… And yet, he looked perfectly calm.

"What's he planning?…" Spyro whispered before he narrowly dodged a flaming arrowhead and went to charge the archer who sent it his way.

As for Prism Break, while the ones who had him cornered drew closer and closer, he only clapped his hands and surrounded himself in a cocoon of striking green crystal!

The cyclops generals only cocked their heads in confusion before they looked down at their maces and shrugged. With scowls on their faces they lifted their maces to strike... Then a bright light overtook their vision as lasers shot every angle! Everywhere you look, bright green and white lasers turned the entire area into a light show and seared down waves upon waves of cyclops soldiers! The ones who couldn't attack weren't any better off, either, for the light was so bright it rendered them unable to see!

A number of smaller crystals then rammed into the large crystal that housed Prism Break and shattered it into tiny fractals.

"Not bad for an old stone like me," Prism Break remarked as he stood in the center of the shower and admired his crystalline hand.

As their enemies stumbled about in confusion and dizziness, the cyclopes took their chance! They leaped forward and blasted away the soldiers, tossed them off cliffs and did whatever they could to rid themselves of these pests.

However, during the whole fight, Eyeair and Eyedelle stood behind with sacks of unlit bombs held close by.

"Hey!" Wrecking Ball called as he rolled over to their side, "Wanna get in on the action?"

The two of them looked at each other and beamed, then looked back at Wrecking Ball and furiously nodded.

"Hop on!"

Eyeair and Eyedelle jumped right onto Wrecking Ball's back, with Eyeair's hands held tight on his antenna and Eyedelle's clenched around Eyeair's waist.

"Now hang on tight!" Wrecking Ball shouted as he scraped his paws against the worn stone, "Cause here we GOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With a loud laugh Wrecking Ball zoomed through the battlefield while Eyeair and Eyedelle tossed away their now-lit bombs! All that could be heard from them was laughter and explosions in a harmony that was best described as anarchy personified!

"Kids!" Shouted Eyeantha as she shot a syringe into the neck of a small soldier and yanked it out as the soldier passed out, "Didn't I tell you not to play with bombs?"

But, they didn't hear her, for they blew past her in a blur!

So, Eyeantha only sighed and shook her head, then jolted back into the heat of battle as more soldiers stormed in!

Chihiro gritted her teeth as she scanned the area around her, which was now full once more of cyclops soldiers.

"Geez, how big an army does this guy have?" Chihiro demanded as she turned her head around, "At this rate, we'll never make it to…"

Chihiro's jaw dropped as she glazed over the door to the treasury… Which now had a gate slowly rising over it!

"The gate! It's closing!" Chihiro exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

The sound of her scream caused all the others to turn around, then gasp as the gate drew higher and higher. They tried to bolt forwards and reach the gate… But the soldiers immediately blocked them off! All they could do was ram straight into the soldiers' armor and fall back.

"There's too many of them!" Spyro exclaimed as the battle commenced once more, "We'll never get in there in time!"

"But we've gotta find a way!" Chihiro cried back as she blocked a blow from an ax with a magic shield, "We can't just give up now!"

As they heard this, several of the cyclopes pushed past Chihiro, Spyro and all the others, then hit the soldiers with a fierce blow!

"We'll handle these guys!" Shouted one as she looked back at the others and winked, "You just worry about getting the Eye!"

Chihiro frowned as she looked back at the group, which now consisted of her, Spyro, Wrecking Ball, Prism Break and maybe a fraction of the rebel forces, then looked back at the frontliners with worry in her eyes.

"Are you sure you'll be able to do it?" Eyeantha asked as she stepped forwards and placed a hand against her heart.

"There's no time to worry about that!" The cyclops on the frontlines smacked a stone sword against the side of a soldier's chest and watched them reel back, "Just hurry! We'll keep them distracted!"

And distract them is what the cyclopes did! Between flying fists, soaring blasts of magic, and every other attack and trick in the book, the battlefield had dissolved into chaos! But, it left the gate unguarded in the process!

Chihiro only made a weak nod, then looked down at Wrecking Ball and yanked him off the ground!

"Don't let us down, Wrecks!" Chihiro exclaimed as she launched Wrecking Ball into the skies and right above the gate!

While Wrecking Ball soared, he shot out his tongue and yanked Chihiro, the Skylanders, and the few rebel forces who weren't caught in the heat of battle! He yanked them up with him, then all of them fell into a pile on the other side of the gate right as it pulled up in full.

Heavy panting was heard as they all stumbled back to their feet, then with a firm yank Chihiro pulled the treasury door open and ran inside with everyone else close behind!

§

Darkness. Darkness and strange feelings blanketed the otherwise void of life area that Chihiro entered as the doors shut behind her. She felt goosebumps run up her arms as she reached for what she presumed was Spyro's paw next to her, then gave the warm, scaly paw a tight squeeze. Something about this place felt… Wrong.

"Why's it all dark in here?" Chihiro asked as she raised her hand and got ready to snap a light source into existence… But before she could do so, a light flickered to life!

Chihiro let out a tiny squeal as she jumped back, before she realized she had yanked Spyro back in the process and gave off a sheepish giggle as she let go of his paw.

"There it is!" Called several others from within their party as hands pointed towards the heavens, "The Crystal Eye!"

Chihiro gasped and followed their gaze to find that they were right!

The sole spotlight that had come to life was fixed on one particular spot… And revealed that seated in that spot on a large, stone pedestal was a gigantic eye-shaped jewel plated with a bazillion glass plates and a golden disc in the center that almost resembled a pupil.

Heh, it kinda looked like a disco ball, now that Chihiro thought of it. She made a soft chuckle as the mental image of using the relic for dance parties popped into mind. Her eyes then glazed over Wrecking Ball, who was bouncing up and down.

"I'll get it, I'll get it!" Wrecking Ball proclaimed with a childlike eagerness as he jumped forward and got ready to grab the Crystal Eye… Only for Spyro to pull him back!

"Spyro!" Wrecking Ball pouted and cross his front legs, "What gives?"

"You can't just storm in like that, Wrecking Ball!" Spyro scolded as he flew Wrecking Ball back to the group and dropped him into Prism Break's arms, "Something's not right about them just leaving the Crystal Eye unguarded like this. It's probably a trick!"

"The salamander's right, m'boy!" Crowed a familiarly shrill and mocking voice as all the lights finally snapped on!

There, on a balcony ahead of everything else was that awful cyclops king from before! And right in front of the Crystal Eye? A gigantic army of cyclops warriors, all dressed in fancy stone armor that glowed with bright blue lights! Bulky, decorated soldiers that wielded tough swords and axes, tinier peons with equally-small spears, mages with elaborate-looking crystal staffs, even mammoths tamers that rode gigantic Cyclops Mammoths! They had to have put everything in their arsenal on this one Crystal Eye!

"Oh, I do love a good fight to the death!" The cyclops king crooned as he clapped his hands together and narrowed his eye with a gaze fixed tight on the heroes, "Especially when I know who's going to lose~"

"Yeah?!" Chihiro exclaimed as she pushed forward and shook a fist at the cyclops king, "Don't put all your money in one basket! We're not gonna go down without a fight, right guys?"

"YEAH!" Cried the rest of the crowd behind her as Chihiro turned to face them.

"Rebels…" Chihiro summoned a sword made out of magic and pointed it towards the army before them, "Time to fight for your freedom!"

With shouts so loud they probably rattled the tower, everyone launched themselves into the heat of battle! Several of the cyclopes ran in to fight the swarming crowds of soldiers almost immediately. One hacked and slashed away at a fairly large soldier with their worn-looking ax, but the soldier swiftly blocked every move they could throw out! As their ax got lodge into the soldier's stone chestplate, the cyclops gulped and stepped back…

Only for a familiar, long, red tongue to shoot past and yank the ax right out of the soldier's armor! Wrecking Ball winked as he nudged the ax back to the cyclops rebel, who proudly reclaimed it from Wrecking Ball's clutches and swung it at the soldier once more.

This time, the soldier had been caught completely off-guard and didn't even have time to parry! They could only watched as the ax flew towards them… Then made a bloodcurdling scream that echoed around the tower as they fell!

But, nobody around paid much mind to that, for they were too busy fighting!

"Prism Break!" Shouted a cyclops mage as she waved her staff towards Prism Break, "Give me one of those lasers of yours!"

"Why?" Prism Break demanded.

"Because!" The mage pointed towards the ring of soldiers that surrounded them both, "That's why!"

"… I see your point."

Prism Break shook his wrist and shot off an iridescent laser beam straight at the mage! The mage, however, was fully prepared. She merely shot a laser beam of her own from the staff she wielded so firmly! Her laser beam with Prism Break's own beam and transformed into a gigantic laser that shot down the entire row of soldiers before them!
The two of them let out a cheer as the mage high-fived Prism Break, or at least tried to with him being fingerless and all, then jumped back as a shadow was cast over the battlefield.

"Look out below!" Spyro proclaimed as Eyeair and Eyedelle tossed down bombs from the heavens!

While those who heard promptly jumped out of the way, the soldiers only watched as the bombs exploded at their feet and trapped them in crystalline prisons!

The whole battle had dissolved into chaos, but it was the good kind of chaos, the kind of sheer, spine-tingling feel of victory's rush. And by the Ancients, Chihiro loved it! With a battle cry of her own she pushed herself forward and slashed at the smaller soldiers that stood in her way with her energy sword! As they fell, she paused and looked up at the Crystal Eye.

Everybody's freaking out cause of this whole battle! Now's my chance! Chihiro thought as she sucked her lip, then knelt down and closed her eyes.

As she focused her heart, magic flew out her bones and she felt her magic sword vanish from her grasp. Chihiro then opened her eyes to see giant springy shoes made out of magic manifest on her feet! Chihiro giggled as she bent her knees a few times, then sprung up and found herself face-to-face with the Crystal Eye! In that moment of sheer perfection, all lined up from her to just yank it off its pedestal and finish the job at last…

But alas, it was not to be. The moment she reached out to grab it, a barrier shocked her and sent her flying!

Chihiro yelled out in pain as she flew across the battlefield, but her pain felt only momentary as she watched her allies with worried eyes.

Their once eager fighting was starting to relent, their attacks slower and their defenses vulnerable. They dragged their feet as the battle raged on, as if the life had been completely sucked out of them!

A concerned, slightly fearful look crossed Chihiro's face… Then she remember she couldn't fly and gravity was still in full effect.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Chihiro screamed as she plummeted down from above, only to land on Spyro's back, "Oof!"

"Had a rough landing there, Chihiro?" Spyro asked as he, Eyeair and Eyedelle looked up at her.

"That's one way of putting it." Chihiro giggled and scratched her head, then looked back down at the battlefield with a frown.

More and more of the cyclops army members poured in as the fight dragged on… Sheesh, these guys don't give up, do they?

"It's no use fighting, you know," The king prattled as he rested his hands on his lap, "I've got my entire trained army here, and all you have is a bunch of ragtag, part-time warriors! It's hopeless!"

"You may be right," Chihiro retorted as she swiveled around and glared down the cyclops king, "But that doesn't mean we're gonna give up! It's right in code seven—Skylanders fight for the hope of everyone in the universe, and that means these guys right here, too!"

Chihiro balled her hand into a fist and punched the air.

"And until we liberate this kingdom from Kaos's grubby hands, we're not gonna give up!"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, child." The cyclops king grabbed a chicken leg from a servant's plate and took a large bite out of it, "What you can do pales in comparison to the sheer power that Lord Kaos holds. You'd be no match against him in the person!"

As the cyclops king finished his chicken leg, he gripped the bone tight and wiped his mouth with his kerchief

"That's why, once I deliver the Crystal Eye to him, I'll wipe out this whole town and make it the perfect outpost for his armies!"

The cyclops king sneered as gasps were heard all around from rebel, soldier and Skylander alike.

"Judge me all you want! As far as I'm concerned, it'll be my greatest decision!" The cyclops king leaned back in his throne, "After all, why beat them when you can join them?~"

"You're no victor! You're a monster, that's what you are!" Cried Eyeantha as she pointed a finger towards the king, tears of rage in her eye.

"Yeah!" All the rebels and soldiers alike chimed in as they fixed their eyes on the king, weapons at the ready and spells charged to cast.

"What are you going to do about it? Kill me?" The king gawked as he placed a hand on his heart in mock-shock, "It's not like you'll outlast the spell I had cast over this area!"

"Spell?!" Chihiro exclaimed as she cocked an eyebrow in confusion, "What spell?"

"My personal sorcerer cast a spell over this area…" The cyclops king made what was perhaps the most sadistic look he could as he tilted his head, "An instadeath spell, as a matter of fact! Everyone outside the safety of this barrier is going to die in an hour!"

Gasps of shock and fear were heard all around as low chattering erupted from the crowd below.

"An instadeath spell?! That's forbidden magic!" Chihiro exclaimed as her eyes shrunk, "And I'm pretty sure that's against the code!"—Chihiro shot a look down at Spyro—"That… is against the code, right?"

"Code four," Spyro replied with a solemn nod as he shot daggers at the cyclops king.

"Oh, what do you care? You've only got a half-hour more to live, anyways!" The cyclops king exclaimed as he broke into an awful spell of cackling, "Unless you can break this barrier… Oh, who am I kidding?! You lot couldn't even do that if you tried!"

While the cyclops king broke into his celebratory cackling, Spyro flew down to the floor and offloaded his passengers.

"Alright guys, we need a plan!" Chihiro exclaimed as she walked up to the crowd, a stern as stone look on her face, "How are we gonna break this barrier?"

"Well, first we need to find its source, obviously," Spyro replied as he walked up to Chihiro and placed a claw on his chin, "But where…"

"Actually!" Insider exclaimed as they popped up and shifted their way through the crowd, a fancy stone helmet in their arms, "I've been analyzing this armor with help from the mages,"—Insider brushed a finger over a series of the glowing blue marks—"See these marks?"

Chihiro and Spyro both nodded as they examined the helmet.

"Raw magic energy! And it's all going straight to the barrier." Insider made a firm nod as they spoke, "If we can destroy all this armor, then the barrier won't have anything to power it!"

"Well, that's one problem taken care of," Chihiro remarked as she frowned and looked down at her feet, "But there's so much! How are we gonna destroy it all without anyone noticing?"

Chihiro heard a humming sound, then looked to her side to see Spyro knees-deep in contemplation.

"Spyro, something up?"

"Actually, I do have an inkling of an idea," Spyro remarked as he finally broke out of his trance and looked up at Chihiro, "But, I'll need everyone's help to pull it off—so who's with me?"

The crowd all cheered and pumped their fists to the skies.

"That's what I like to hear!" Spyro pounded his fist against his other front paw, then leaned forward to the heads of the crowd, "Okay, here's the plan…"

Chihiro leaned in as she heard Spyro whisper away, then her eyes sparkled. This plan had to work! After all, it was Spyro's idea, and he seemed like he knew what he was talking about! But as she turned around and looked back up at the cyclops king, she felt her heart waver slightly…

"Ready to give up yet, worms?" The cyclops king sneered as he looked down at the crowds, "If you give in, I promise your deaths will be quick and painless… NOT!"

"Who said anything about dying?!" Spyro demanded as he turned to face the king.

Chihiro's heart pulled itself up just a bit as she looked back at Spyro, then watched him turn back to the crowd and nod. Spyro nudged Chihiro with his wing, as if he was prompting her to jump on, which she did immediately. The two of them flew back up to face the king, who still had that ugly smug look on his face. But Chihiro couldn't let it get to her right now, for she couldn't foil the plan.

"In case you haven't noticed, Skylanders never give up, buddy!" Spyro spat as he flew in place.

"Yeah!" Chihiro chimed in as she pointed a finger at the king, "Skylander code number nine says that Skylanders must be willing to protect and defend the universe at all costs, even if its their own life! If we let something like this stop us, then what kind of universe protectors would we be!?"

"Universe protectors, how pretentious," The cyclops king scoffed as he picked up his chicken bone and waved it around, "You sure love throwing that term around, don't you?"

"It's true!" Chihiro eyes narrowed as they burned with raw fire, "Code seven says we're supposed to protect the entire universe!"—Chihiro looked down at the crowds, then cast her gaze back at the king—"And seeing everyone here, I think I understand why that's so important now."

Chihiro made a deep breath, then exhaled.

"Everyone here…" Chihiro shook her head, "No, everyone who's suffering under Kaos's reign is looking to us for hope! They're counting on us to save them from your ugly little boss!"

Spyro made an approving smile up at Chihiro, who only gasped with joy as she saw the light in his eyes.

"Chihiro's right!" Spyro shouted back as fire shot out from his mouth, "As long as there are people counting on us to protect them, We'll always keep on fighting!"

"But can you really do it by yourselves?" The cyclops king asked as he rested his head against his hand, "Just a couple of Elder Elemental imitators against an entire army?"

"That's where you wrong, buddy!" Chihiro shot back as she and Spyro looked down at each other and grinned.

"SKYLANDER CODE NUMBER TEN!" Chihiro and Spyro proclaimed in unison, "Skylanders work as a team!"

Just then, a giant barrage of all sorts of fancy stone armor—helmets, breastplates, boots, knee and shin guards… Everything one could have thought of flew into the air!

"NOW!" Shouted Spyro as he turned around and smirked.

Right on cue, the crowd of cyclopes, rebel and soldier alike, were joined in unity as they tossed their weaponry, magic spells and whatever other attacks they could have thrown right at the gathered armor! It was a beautiful sight, to see everyone turned against the tyrant that had cost them all so much.

Even Prism Break and Wrecking Ball had joined in on the fun as they shot out white-hot laser beams and solid burps straight at the gallery.

Spyro and Chihiro both smiled and nodded at each other, then shot their own magic attacks at the armor as it hung in midair…

And as everything collided into one, a colorful explosion blew out across the tower! Everybody shielded their eyes as the light flared all over the room… Then as it faded they all looked up and watched with glee as the armor was reduced to nothing more than ash!

"WHAT?!" The king exclaimed as he fell out of his throne and watched the barrier flicker out of existence, then cast a glare at the sorcerer beside him, "Sorcerer, cast a new instadeath spell right this instant, or it's off with your head!"

Before the sorcerer could respond, however, a giant aqua ball of magic energy hit them square in the chest and sent them hurtling into a stone wall!

"Sorry, bug-eye…" Chihiro smirked as her hands flared with magic, "We can't let you do that, I'm afraid!"

The king hyperventilated as his pupil shrunk so much that it was little more than a dot, then in a hurry he jumped to his feet.

"You may have turned my army against me and broke my instadeath spell," The king shouted as he jumped down to the Crystal Eye's pedestal and yanked it off, "But can you smart your way out of this?!"

As the king held the Crystal Eye in his grasp, sirens and red lights flared all around the treasury room.

"SELF-DESTRUCT MEASURES ACTIVATED!" Proclaimed a mechanical voice from above, "SELF-DESTRUCTING IN TWENTY…"

"Have fun being blown to bits!" The king panted as he opened a wooden door behind the pedestal.

"NINETEEN… EIGHTEEN… SEVENTEEN…"

"After him!" Insider proclaimed as they pointed to the door!

Spyro and Chihiro flew back down into the crowds, then with everyone together they all cried out as they charged forward and broke down the door! The king's footsteps echoed around the cobblestone hallways as they all stampeded forwards, the self-destruct sirens now little more than background noise.

As they charged forward, the sirens faded out entirely while the king grew closer and closer in their sights. Though, it seemed as if in his panic, he hadn't noticed them at all.

"I may have failed to stop them, but at least I can still hand over the Crystal Eye to Lord Kaos," The king sputtered as he ran upstairs and dove through a large door, "He'll surely promote me to one of his top-ranking officials then!"

"Not so fast!" Insider proclaimed as they jumped into the room, everybody else close behind.

The king looked up, then jumped back with a scream!

His odds were absolutely hopeless, just like he had told the Skylanders about theirs before! He was trapped in a room so tiny it barely housed the entire cyclops armada that had turned against him, and there didn't appear to be any forms of escape thanks to all they had blocked off. All that could be seen was a worn guillotine behind him.

"Wait! Don't!" The king begged as he stumbled backwards, "It doesn't have to be like this! You could join me! We could rule together!"

"Nice try, buddy," Chihiro remarked as she stepped forwards and rubbed a fist against her vest, "But you've killed people, harmed civilians, cast forbidden magic, exploited your position for status and wealth, and did a whole lotta other things that violate the Skylander Code!"

Chihiro's face turned cold and accusing.

"To align ourselves with the likes of you would be a direct violation of our morals!"

The king gulped as he stepped backwards. But, with every step back he took, everybody else stepped forward until his back was hard-pressed against the guillotine.

"This isn't the end of me!" The king growled as he backed up further and dug his hands into his pockets, "I still have one last trick up my sleeve, and you'll—"

Before the king could finish, he bumped the back of his foot against something, then stumbled backwards and fell straight into the guillotine! As the top of the wooden casing fell onto his head and left him trapped inside, his eye went wider than ever before.

"NO! STOP! PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU!" The king pleaded as he struggled and flailed against his bonds, "I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING! MONEY, POWER, MAMMOTH PUPPIES! WHATEVER YOU COULD WANT, I'LL GIVE YOU, JUST PLEASE LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"My apologies, your highness," Insider hissed as they stepped forward and gripped the guillotine's rope, "But there's only one thing we want out of you, and it's your death!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Chihiro asked as she tilted her head, only for her vision to be blocked by Spyro's wing as it was flung over her eyes, "Hey, Spyro!"

"All hail the king!" Insider hissed as a tug of a rope was heard.

"Spyro, seriously!" Chihiro sputtered as she pushed against Spyro's wing, though it still did little to remove it from its position, "Lemme see what's going—"

Chihiro stopped short as the shing of metal paired with screaming was heard… Followed by utter silence aside from a loud THUNK.

§

Y'know, one would think that the dawn of a new era would feel more… Ceremonious, more epic, even. But, Chihiro felt nothing of the sort. She only felt a dizzy rush as she looked around the room, where cyclopes hauled away something in a gigantic black sack and cleaned what appeared to be blood off of a guillotine.

They seemed so peaceful, even though the king they had fought against was finally dead and peace had been instilled at last.

Or maybe her expectations were a little high, who knows. Everything she knew about this kind of stuff came from books and TV anyhow.

"Thank you, Skylanders!" Insider proclaimed as they ran up and shook Spyro's paw, "Thank to your help, peace has been restored to Crystal Eye Castletown once more!"

"Oh, it's nothing!" Spyro dismissed as he returned the rebel leader's shake, "This is just all in a day's work for us!"

"Nevertheless." Insider withdrew their hand and made a kind smile, "Now, we have a lot of work to do. The old king may be dead, but he left quite a legacy…"

Insider then gave Spyro a wink.

"Between the two of us, I think the monarchy's run its course—we've been talking about instilling a democratic election system!" Insider's eye widened as they spoke, "Oh, goodness, I almost forgot! Just stay right there for a moment, alright?"

As Insider left, Chihiro frowned and tilted her head.

"What were they in such a rush for?" Prism Break asked as he and Wrecking Ball rejoined Spyro and Chihiro.

"Beats me," Chihiro replied as she looked up at Prism Break and shrugged.

The sound of panting echoed around the tower as Insider came into view once more with none other than the Crystal Eye held firm in their grasp!

"This is for you," Insider said as they handed the Crystal Eye off to Spyro, "Consider it a token of our thanks."

Spyro and Chihiro gasped as they looked down at the Crystal Eye and then back up at each other.

"Thank you very much!" Spyro exclaimed as he looked back at Insider, "I can assure you, it'll be in good hands!"

"I'm sure it will!" Insider replied as they fixed their collar, "Now, the next time you fight Kaos's cronies, give him an extra kick in the rump for us!"

"You bet we will!" Chihiro exclaimed as she bounced up and down and punched the air, then spun around and headed towards a nearby door, "Bye now!"

"Goodbye!" Insider shouted as they waved at the group, "Be sure to tell Master Eon we said hello!"

"Can do!"

Chihiro smiled as Spyro, Wrecking Ball and Prism Break joined her outside, then watched as the wooden door slowly slid to a close. All was peaceful as the evening sun painted the world in striking shades of bold orange and cheerful yellow, a majestic sunset to end a day of pure, untamed revolution. Chihiro felt the best kind of feeling bubble up in her chest as she darted down a stone path and jumped about a foot in the air.

"WOO-HOO!" Chihiro exclaimed as she pumped her fist to the sun, "LIBERATING THE MASSES FEELS AWESOME!"

"It really does, Chihiro," Spyro remarked as he flew up to Chihiro's side and watched her come back down.

Chihiro made a giggle, then looked up at Spyro and beamed.

"And you know what?" Chihiro tilted her head, "I think I'm ready for my next exam now!"

"What are we waiting for, then?" Spyro flew ahead with the Crystal Eye still held tight, "Let's get back home!"

"Agreed!" Everybody else chimed in as they followed Spyro's lead.

And as everybody else made their way back to Ancient's Peak, the sun finally set on a new day in the age of the Crystal Eye Castletown. A day of excitement, of courage, of revolution and rebellion… But most importantly, a day that lead to Kaos's forces being shrunk once more.