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)

21. Chapter 21

GUESS WHO'S BACK? NONE OTHER THAN ME!

That's right, it is now the end of August and CHS is finally off its break, complete with all eleven chapters finished and most of them more-or-less completely edited! So, thanks to everyone for being so patient and understanding during this hiatus, and hopefully these next couple chapters are worth the wait!

(Also, a brief content warning! this chapter contains some magical medical/illness related stuff, so you guys know the drill - if you feel uncomfortable, feel free to sit this out or message me for details!)

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With a boom so loud it could probably be heard across the entire island, a bright burst of light erupted all around the ragged battlefield it had manifested on! That burst of light faded as quickly as it came and unveiled a round bubble-like shield, which in turn contained…

"Man, talk about a packed day," Chihiro remarked as she watched the bubble shield fade away, "First I pass my portal master exam, then we get a message from the Mabu Defense Force telling us they found the Eternal Tech Source!"—Chihiro tossed a flat, round device to the skies then caught it in a flash—"Good thing they have that instant teleporter device thingie!"

"Too bad those trolls stopped them before they could get it," Trigger Happy sighed as he twitched his ears, "Man, it seems like they get themselves into a lot of pickles…"—Trigger Happy's frown turned into a smile as he licked his lips—"Mmm, pickles…"

"I dunno Trig," Boomer replied as he crossed his arms, "I'd say this is more of a jam than a pickle!"

"They mean the same thing, you two," Drobot intruded as he pushed himself between Trigger Happy and Boomer.

Chihiro chuckled and rolled her eyes with a confident smile on her face, a confident smile that only grew wider as she pounded her fist against her hand.

"Whatever kind of food problem thingie it is, I'm sure we'll finish it off in no time!" Chihiro vowed to the heavens, only for her confident look to space out and away as her stomach growled, "Dangit, now I'm kinda hungry…"

"Your confidence rate has increased greatly, Chihiro," Drobot remarked as he examined Chihiro, who was now rubbing her growling stomach.

As she heard Drobot's words, Chihiro beamed and pumped her fists to the skies, her hunger seemingly forgotten.

"You bet, Drobot! I passed my exam with flying colors!" Chihiro crossed her arms and smirked, "If I passed that, I can take anything that comes my way!"

"Still, be alert." Drobot made a few mechanical tsks before he began scanning the area, "The trolls could have anything up their sleeves! One wrong move and…"

"YOU'RE HERE! THANK THE ANCIENTS!" Cried a strained voice from afar!

Before anyone knew it, something tackled them down to the ground in a sobbing hug and refused to let go! At least them being pinned down revealed the attacker's identity—a sobbing mabu man dressed in military clothes!

"Wait, what am I doing?" The mabu man asked, his voice still a bit strained from crying as he let go of Chihiro and Skylanders, "I've gotta get you up to speed! But first…"

The mabu man quickly wiped his eyes and nose, then jumped from Boomer to Trigger Happy to Drobot and shook their hands one-by-one! It was so impromptu and sudden, yet Boomer and Trigger Happy didn't seemed shocked at all—they just gave each other knowing smiles and glances.

"Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes, Skylanders!" The mabu man's eyes drifted towards Chihiro before he jumped over and shook her hand as well, "Oh, and you must be the portal master! It's an honor getting to meet you!"

"It's nothing," Chihiro winces as she reluctantly shook his hand and looked every which way, "Er…"

"Snuckles, private investigator of the Mabu Defense Force!"

"Alrighty, so…" Chihiro released her hand from Snuckles' shake and placed both hands on her hips, "What's the deets, Snuckles?"

Out of nowhere, the eagerness Snuckles once held faded just as fast as the color on his face! His teeth chattered as he winced and clasped his hands, but finally he made a small gulp and turned back to Chihiro and the Skylanders.

"Well, things started out alright enough!" Snuckles whimpered and gulped again.

"We found the Eternal Tech Source in this stronghold, but when we arrived the whole place had turned into a warzone! All the trolls were fighting each other, and I haven't the foggiest idea why!"

All the while he spoke, Snuckles began making the wildest hand gestures to accompany the story, from crawling fingers to grand arm gestures to shaking hands—wait, maybe the last one was just his nerves.

"The rest of the team and I tried to sneak out the Source from under their noses, but then we got caught in one of those trolls' fights! I had just barely gotten out of there with my life…"

Snuckles winced as he looked down towards the path ahead. "But, I haven't been able to get in touch with the rest of the Defense Force since! I even tried messaging them on my communicator, but they won't pick up at all!"

"So, you called us because your buddies weren't answering your messages?" Chihiro asked as she shot a tiny glare towards Snuckles and leaned back.

"It is more than that, Chihiro," Drobot corrected as he shook his head, "For all we know, those trolls could have taken Snuckles' teammates as prisoners of war, or worse!"—Drobot looked down as beeping and whirring noises echoed from his helmet, and strings of processed data could just barely be seen from the eye slots on his helmet—"And with both them and the Eternal Tech Source at stake, we can't take any kind of risks."

"I guess you're right, Dro." Chihiro sighed, then heaved herself up and marched along, "Then, why are we standing around here and talking? We've got stuff to find!"
And before anybody could retort or follow, Chihiro dashed off like a rocket down the wartorn, rocky paths!

"Chihiro, look out!" Everybody else shouted, though their voices were but a faint notion in the wind, "Ahead of you!"

"Wait, did they tell me to look out? Why?" Chihiro asked as she poked her head back and turned around, "EEK!"

Chihiro skidded to a stop right before she could slam into the sharp, thorny entanglements of a barbed wire fence! As she leaned back just before the barbs could cut her and caught her breath, Chihiro wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Phew, close one." Chihiro smiled as she set her hand alight with magic fire, "I'll take care of this—"

Chihiro froze as the sound of sizzling wicker hissed across the way, then yelped and leaped back as a bomb landed behind the barbed wire fence and blew it to bits! She took cover under the safety of a magical shield as smoke flew to the heavens and barbed wire bits rained down, then lifted her head and looked back to see Boomer wave and give her a thumbs up.

"Or Boomer could!" Chihiro made a few strained chuckles as cold sweat dripped down her brow.

Once the others joined her, they all passed by the broken-down wire fence and onto… A battlefield? Well, what looked like the remains of a battlefield, anyways. The cold, hard brown stone that made up the entire area had been stained with black singe marks, dirt-filled trenches and large craters, or occasionally painted red with dried blood stains. Scraps of clothing hung from sharp peaks or littered the floors, and the faint smell of gunpowder and smoke rang in the air… But, oddly enough, there was nobody here?

"This should be the place where we got separated," Snuckles explained as he took a step forward and reluctantly grabbed a cloth scrap from a smaller crater beside him, "We hadn't gotten far before we were caught up in that troll warzone…"

And yet, even with the carnage and signature markings of a battle, it was so solemn and quiet… More like a historical site than the setting of a recent battle. It was unnerving, almost, and everyone seemed to notice this as they scanned the premise before them. With how quiet it was, it was like something was going to jump out and ambush them!
But aside from the low, unsettling rumble of the ground beneath them and the occasional leap of a few clumps of dirt and stone from the ground, nothing happened! Everything seemed surprisingly peaceful and stagnant given the warlike sights…

"Y'know, for a warzone this place sure doesn't have a lot of warring!" Trigger Happy remarked as he hopped to and fro around the area, "I think we're the only ones here!"

Drobot frowned as he scanned the dirt beneath them, then the rocks and walls. Though he was as stoic as ever, the slight twitch of a frown on his face could tell that something was bothering him. He tapped a few buttons on his helmet, tuned a dial or two… Then cranked his head to the skies.

"Something is coming!" Drobot proclaimed as loud as he could.

Everybody froze in their tracks as they looked to the horizons, all while the rumbling beneath their feet grew more prominent and earthquake-esque! Over those horizons they watched, a gigantic cloud of dust blocked the skies and drowned out any other sounds with the sounds of clashing weapons and bitter insults… Almost like…

"I'd take that back if I were you, Trig!" Chihiro exclaimed as she ducked behind the cover of a large rock covered in red stains, then widened her eyes and dove further behind her hiding rock, "DUCK!"

Drobot, Boomer, Trigger Happy and Snuckles all joined Chihiro behind her hiding rock as a gigantic torpedo smashed into the area they once stood and created a huge explosion! Drobot and Chihiro lifted up shields to protect them from the aftermath just in the nick of time… But unfortunately, something told them both that it wouldn't be enough to protect them from who had just arrived!

The once peaceful battlefield had been flooded by trolls all decked to the nines in military armor and run-down weaponry, all of whom fired their arms and shouted obscenities! With all the dust they kicked up, blood they spilled, explosions they caused, the once-peaceful battlefield had dissolved into chaos!

"TAKE THAT, OIL LIPS!" Shouted one troll from within the trenches as they shot off a round of silver bullets straight at a green-skinned troll!

However, the bullets simply bounced off the green-skinned troll's armored back! At most, all it did was annoy the green-skinned troll, who snarled and cocked their sniper rifle before they shot back at the trench troll!

"HOW ABOUT THAT, POWDER BRAIN?"

The trench troll gulped, then ducked into the trenches and dodged the bullets that the green-skinned troll shot at them…

Instead, those bullets slammed straight into the rock Chihiro, Snuckles Drobot, Boomer and Trigger Happy hid behind! All five of them screamed as the resulting explosion tossed them all into the walls below and slunk down, but they had little time to come to their senses.

Right after they shook their heads and started to recover, a swarm of trolls caught up in one big tornado of violence and dynamite stormed past them and kicked up smoke and gunpowder clouds so intense it completely veiled everybody and everything else from view! The only indicator that they were still together were their frantic screams and coughs, and even those were choked out by the sounds of explosions and obscenities.

"Stick together, guys!" Chihiro shouted as she grappled and stumbled about in some attempt to grab hold of the others, "This place is even worse than a packed stadium! And I've been in my fair share of…"

Chihiro screamed and jumped away as a missile exploded not that far from where she formerly stood and coated the arena in dust clouds in the process! With all this thick dust everywhere, she could barely make out her left from her right! All she could do was cast up a light sphere and try to navigate her way out… Then she screamed as someone yanked her arm and pulled her into the depths of the smoke!

"Hey, lemme go! Let me go, you—" Chihiro screamed as she tried to pull her way out of the stranger's grasp! However, that stranger's grasp was so tight, she just couldn't shake them!

Finally, she yanked the surprisingly light stranger off the ground and froze. "Trigger Happy?"

Sure enough, it was actually a wide-eyed and shaky Trigger Happy who hung from Chihiro's arm!

"Phew, it's only you!" Chihiro and Trigger Happy said in unison as they both breathed sighs of relief. They both sighed and sat down as they let go of each other, then…

"RETREAT!" Shouted a shrill voice from outside the fading smoke.

The ground rattled as even more dust clouds kicked up from the ground and melted in with the smoke!

Chihiro and Trigger Happy both shuddered and turned to each other. "Wait, what's that?"

Chihiro and Trigger Happy turned around, then screamed as something—or rather, someTHINGS—crashed into them and lifted them high above the ground! Before they had even known it, a stampede of orange-skinned trolls had captured them seemingly without even noticing and started to carry them off to who knows where!

"Hey, let us go!" Chihiro demanded as she tried to push and squirm her way out of the rabid troll crowd, but it was no use—they were too tightly packed in to escape!

"Yeah, put us down!" Trigger Happy demanded as he pounded his furry fists against the bald scalp of another troll, though it did little to actually free him.

Meanwhile, within another section of the smoke cloud, Boomer and Drobot hacked and coughed as they trudged their way through the enigma of a maze the smoke had created around them. Boomer's eyes had grown red and teary from the smoke's exposure, and the constant tickle of smoke made him sneeze with every step.

"Drobot, don't you have—AH-CHOO—something in your fancy suit—CHOO—that can clear away all this smoke?" Boomer hacked as he shot a look towards Drobot, who in turn was messing with the dials on his suit.

"I am attempting to search for it, Boomer!" Drobot shot back as he flicked through holographic projections of the various features his suit had to offer, "If you could just wait a second—"

"TROLLVER! THERE YOU ARE!"

Before either of them had noticed, a hand reached out from the smoke and yanked Boomer away from Drobot's side! But even as Boomer was taken further away, Drobot was still ignorant to Boomer's kidnapping as he continued to toy with the dials on his suit.

"Let's see, I think this is the smoke filtration system," Drobot muttered under his breath as he cranked the dial, "Now, if I raise the system's strength, it should…"

Drobot winced and fell to his belly, then groaned and grappled for his dials. "No, that was the listening mechanism…"

"Quick, we've gotta get going!" The mystery voice ordered as they dragged Boomer further away, "Pops issued a retreat!"

"Hey, my name's not Trollver!" Boomer retorted as he futilely tried to struggle against the mystery person's tight grip, "It's—"

"Boomer!" Drobot gasped as he jumped to his paws, then pressed a few buttons on the side of his helmet, "Engage rapid hover mode!"

Drobot folded in his legs, and in moments the thrusters on his side activated and sent him charging after Boomer's voice at full throttle!

As they all vacated the premises, the smoke cleared to reveal that the battlefield had once again been vacated, but with even more wreckage the before! The trenches had becomes holes to the underground, gigantic chunks of stone were blown from the walls around, and fresh blood stains intermingled with the older gunpowder and blood stains from before. It would have been a tragic site to see, the remains of a recent battle that had been completely vacated by all…

Except not all had vacated the premises!

"Phew, that was a close one!" Snuckles sighed as he crept out from the trench he hid in and wiped the sweat from his head, "I thought I wouldn't make it out of there…"—Snuckles froze and looked around the now-vacant battlefield—"Skylanders? Portal Master? Where'd you go?"

Snuckles winced, then crawled out of the trench and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Hello? Hello?" Snuckles shouted as he trailed across the battlefield, "Where is everyone?"

Snuckles continued to call and call and call some more, but it was no use. Everybody had once again abandoned the battlefield, and all that was left were him and his thoughts. So, he just winced as he looked over the now even-more wrecked battlefield.

"Of all the rotten luck…" Snuckles groaned as he hung his head, then blinked and turned around as a troll-shaped shadow cast over him.

"Who are you?"

§

Boomer groaned as he held his dizzy, dizzy, oh so dizzy head. He hadn't been this dazed and confused since the time he accidentally used gunpowder as toothpaste! What could have happened before to make him like this? Boomer shook his head (and for a moment felt his brains rattle in his ears) then looked up to find that he was in some kind of underground cavern, with rocky tunnels barely lit by warm torchlight. Okay, he may not remember what he did last, but he definitely remembered that he wasn't in this place before! He had a gut feeling that his last location was more… Open than this cramped little space.

"Trollver, you finally came to!" Called a scratchy voice from up ahead, "And just in time, the meeting's about to start!"

Meeting? What meeting? He didn't agree to a meeting! And for that matter, why were they calling him Trollver when his name was Boomer?

"What's going on here? Why'd you bring me to this place, anyways? And why do you keep calling me that?"

Boomer looked around at his surroundings, and found himself completely surrounding by trolls whose skin was colored in varying shades of green and coated in fancy blue facepaint. They all ranged from spry young adults to elderly folks and even a few older teenagers, he thought… But he recognized not a soul in this cavern! And judging by the way they looked at him, it seemed as if they were just as confused as he was!

"What are you talking about? Did you hit your head on a rock or something?" Asked another troll as they walked up and knocked on Boomer's head, "You're Trollver Trollfield, one of the renowned Trollfields!"

Wait, now Boomer remembered what happened! He was on that battlefield, and then those trolls and that explosion and all that smoke… It had finally come back to him! So they really did think he was someone else! Boomer frowned, but then his ears twitched as they always did when brilliant ideas formed in his head. If they really did believe he was someone else, then if he played along he could grab whatever information they were holding in those heads of theirs!

This could be a good opportunity to find out where the Mabu Defense Force were, assuming these trolls had taken them… Thinking even bigger, maybe he could even find out where the Eternal Tech Source was! Yes, that was brilliant! It was even better when he decided to make a homemade mega bomb out of four stacks of dynamite taped together!

"Oh yeah, you're right!" Boomer chuckled and gently rapped his fist against his head, "I must've hit myself on the old noggin without even noticing!"

Boomer chuckled a few more times, then frowned and twitched his ears once more. Yet, this wasn't from having another great epiphany… Actually, it kind of sounded like someone was coming in closer!

"Boomer!" Cried a mechanical voice from down the hall, "I have located you at last!"

Boomer practically jumped out of his skin, then turned around only to jump again as a bright flare burned straight past him!

"I cannot infer as to what you are doing with Boomer." Drobot flared out his wings and charged up his bladegears, "However, it will cease this instant!"

The trolls blinked for a few moments, then screamed and held each other as the bladegears rocketed above them and disappeared into the distance!

Before Drobot could fire off another round, however, Boomer slapped a big metal hand over Drobot's mouth and pulled him aside.

"Oh, looks like you still need some tweaking, Drobot!" Boomer yelled in his most blatant not-up-to-anything-suspicious-I-swear voice, then spun around and pulled Drobot aside.

"Wait, this in one of your inventions, Trollver?" Asked a troll within the council of Trollfields that stood on an elevated stone platform.

"You bet'cha!" Boomer rapidly nodded.

"Boomer," Drobot said as he pulled his muzzle out of Boomer's hand, "What exactly are you—"

Boomer promptly slammed his hand back over Drobot's mouth and pulled Drobot to a corner where they couldn't be heard.

"Listen Drobot, we've got a big chance here! These trolls think I'm one of their guys!" Boomer whispered at a volume that was hopefully low enough to keep him from being heard, "If we play along with them, we might be able to find out where Snuckles' teammates went!"—Boomer flicked his ears—"Heck, we could even find out where the Eternal Tech Source is!"

As Drobot stopped struggling, Boomer withdrew his hand and made an awkward grin. "So just keep up the act, alright? I don't think this'll take very long!"

Drobot stood and hummed in contemplation, then reluctantly whirred his gears.

"I will perform this role," Drobot said with a hint of exhaustion in his robotic voice, "But…"

"Good!" Boomer clapped his hands together and cast a glance back at the trolls, "Cause the others sure seem excited to see you!"

Almost like it was on cue, a bunch of trolls flooded out from the assembly and piled all over Drobot! They stroked his wings, toyed with the dials on his helmet and fawned over the details in his armor like he was the most impressive thing they had even seen in their lives!

"Did you really make this, Trollver?" Asked one troll as he pressed the buttons on Drobot's helmet, "If so, it's the best thing you've ever made! Look at all these buttons!"

"Er, please do not touch those…"

Drobot winced as his eyes glowed in a kaleidoscope of colors, turned into gigantic disco balls and projected images of fancy machines and other things. He had all the discomfort of a guy in a cheap amusement park mascot suit that had been dogpiled by a bunch of sugar-high kids, and it honestly made Boomer feel a little bad about doing this to him. Hopefully getting the Eternal Tech Source back would make it worth it…

"You all can play with Trollver's new toy later!" Exclaimed a gray-bearded troll with a grizzled voice as he tapped a mechanical cane on a nearby rock, "Now that everyone's here, we need to start the meeting!"

The other trolls in the area immediately unglued themselves from Drobot so they could crowd around the gray-bearded troll that was probably their leader. With so many of them around, it looked a bit like a barrel filled with peas or green beans or other green veggies of a similar manner which gave Boomer a good chuckle. However, he didn't get to sit and laugh long, as the looks from the other trolls indicated that he needed to join as well! So, Boomer coughed into his hand and made his way into the crowds.

"'Scuse me, pardon, coming through," Boomer whispered as he shuffled through trolls.

He sat down between a man with scarred ears and graying hairs and a skinny troll whose shaking hands fiddled with some weird watch-looking contraption, then looked back up at the head troll. The once cheery and active air around had turned grim and kinda solemn… But Boomer didn't notice all that much as he shook his feet left and right.

"As you all know…" The head troll began as he paced back and forth, "Our ongoing situation with the Trollcoys has been getting worse and worse."

Soft, somber chatter bubbled up from the room as some trolls broke into tears and talked about their losses. A few erupted into wails as they flung themselves into the arms of those around, others more subdued as they pulled out worm rags stained with both oil and tears to wipe away their sorrows.

"It's no understatement to say we've lost many of our brethren to those dastardly Trollcoys' hands…" The head troll made a determined smile and smacked his cane on the ground, which turned all eyes to him once more, "But I assure you, their sacrifices will not be in vain! Why, you ask?"

"Why?" Piped up a tiny voice from the back row.

"Well…" A twinkle shimmered in the troll's eye as a large cloth rolled down from the ceiling, "I have conceived a master plan to take back our Eternal Tech Source! This war will be over soon!"

With the way these trolls celebrated, you'd have think they won the lottery or something! They all bounced around, threw their hands in the air and spun each other around like today was the greatest day in their lives, and for once the somber air had cleared completely!

"But, the Eternal Tech Source is not yours," Drobot corrected as he flew up behind Boomer and pointed a claw, "It belongs in the Core of Light, correct?"

"Core of Light?" The head troll tilted his head, his mouth gaped wide open, "Trollver, what's the new toy of yours talking 'bout?"

"OH, UH…" Boomer jumped to his feet and chuckled, "Well, it must still be a little broken! These things always need their fine-tuning and all…"

Boomer gently smacked Drobot on the head to illustrate, but judging by the shout of pain Drobot made and the irritated look Boomer got as Drobot rubbed his helmet, it seemed that Boomer had underestimated his own strength. Whoops!

"Stick to the plan!" Boomer hissed as he cast an aside glance at Drobot and held up a metal hand to mask their conversation, "We can't have these guys figuring out we're Skylanders!"

"I really do not like this plan…" Drobot groaned as he continued to rub his head.

The head troll shot Boomer and Drobot another weird look, then shrugged and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, so, here's our plan," The head troll explained as he tapped his staff against the cloth, which in turn lit up with a series of crude illustrations, "Our past battles have shown that directly going for the Eternal Tech Source hasn't done us any good…"

With another tap of the head troll's staff, the illustration changed to a map! "So instead, we'll take a shortcut through No Man's Land!"

"NO MAN'S LAND?!" Exclaimed the rest of the Trollfields stuffed into the crowd.

Panicked whispers and hushed concerns rippled through the crowds as the trolls who once so eagerly listened to their leader now turned away with eyes full of doubt.

"No Man's Land? What's Gramps thinking?!"

"We'll never make it out alive!"

"I think I'd take fighting those stupid Trollcoys over that!"

Boomer tilted his head, then elbowed the also-shocked troll man beside him.

"Say, what's the big deal with this No Man's Land place, anyways?" Boomer asked as the troll man turned towards him.

"You have to be kidding me! You don't know?!" The troll man exclaimed before he shook his head, "No Man's Land was a key battle site during the Troll War of the Ages! The whole land's rigged with lots of old traps that never got activated during the battle! One wrong move and you're toast!"

Boomer gulped. Yeah, that definitely sounded a bit concerning…

"Everyone, everyone!" Gramps called as he clapped his hands, "Settle down! I understand your concerns, but you've got it all wrong! No Man's Land isn't as dangerous as we thought!"

"HUH?"

All the voices fell silent at last as the head troll paced once more.

"As it turned out…" Gramps stroked the top of his staff and smiled back at the crowds, "The equipment there is so old, only the most intense pressure would activate it!"—Gramps cleared his throat—"As long as we're careful, we'll be completely fine!"

A collective sigh of relief swept over the trolls as Gramps tapped his staff against the ground once more.

"Any questions?"

"Yeah, I've got one!" Proclaimed the anxious-looking troll to Boomer's right before they cleared their throat, "Pardon my doubts, but… Wouldn't the Trollcoys get suspicious if they saw us all headed there? I mean, so many trolls headed towards one place…"

"Of course I thought of that, Sonny, my boy!"

Gramps tapped the cloth behind him and watched a number of crudely-drawn yet somewhat unique troll faces appear on the cloth.

"We're only sending a small team out to retrieve the Source. Everybody else will keep an eye on the Trollcoys to keep them off their trail!" Gramps then tapped the cloth and watched it roll back into the ceiling.

"Now that that's been taken care of, let's get our team in order!" Gramps pointed his staff into the crowds, "Trollcey, Trollance, Boomette, Boomont, Dyna… Make us proud!"

The named off trolls shuffled their way out of the crowd and joined Gramps at his side.

"Our spy teams will be stationed at several different points in the battlefield, starting at the Bird's Nest! Now…"

As further names got rattled off and more trolls left the crowds, Boomer winced. He needed to act fast!

"Hey, hey, hey!" Boomer exclaimed as he jumped up and down and flailed his arms, "I want to look for the Eternal Tech Source, too! Pick me!"

A spring-green skinned troll from the front scoffed and crossed their arms.

"Trollver, we asked you before the conference and you said you didn't want to go!" The troll exclaimed, their voice as scratchy as the scratches on their face, "There's no time for last-minute changes!"

Boomer clenched his teeth and froze. Trying to impersonate other trolls definitely had a lot more downsides that he initially thought.

"Well, er…" Boomer grabbed Drobot by one of his front legs and pushed Drobot towards the crowds, "That's because my new invention wasn't complete yet! I was stalling because I wanted to have it finished in time! After all, with all its bells and whistles I'm sure it could help with something…"

Boomer made a couple more giggles, his bald scalp drenched in sweat. In fact, he was so anxious he only partly noticed the very angry glare Drobot continued to shoot him!

"Boomer, with all due respect, I am not your invention!" Drobot hissed, "I am a dragon of my own—"

Drobot proceeded to get cut off as Boomer wrapped an arm around his back.

"See, it even has a sense of humor!" Boomer grinned and waved back at the trolls, but all he got in return was a couple of coughs.

"Well, if you insist Trollver…" The head troll said with a grimace, "You can go."

Everybody around him winced, but Boomer was oblivious to their concerned look as he dragged Drobot through the tightly-packed crowds and joined the spy team at their side. Gramps went back to rattling off who would do what while the crowds became noticeably less crowded, but Boomer didn't pay much mind to that or this—he just turned back to Drobot and leaned closer to Drobot's ear… Hole… Thingie…

"Hang in there, Drobot, this'll only last a little longer!" Boomer whispered with a wink and a thumbs up, "Once we find the MDF and get the Eternal Tech Source, we're outta here!"

"And clear!" Gramps shouted as he slammed the base of his cane against the stone platform and created a resonant echo, "Everybody, to your positions!"

"AYE-AYE, POPS!" Shouted all the trolls in unison.

One by one the assembled teams started to dispel through the stone passageways, with Boomer's spy team being the first to go!

Boomer marched and hummed a jaunty tune as he and Drobot lead the charge, but Drobot seemed hardly as optimistic as he groaned and hung his head.

"I cannot believe I am saying this…" Drobot hissed at a volume that he thought seemingly nobody could hear (Which was wrong, because Boomer could—trolls had surprisingly keen ears), "But please let Boomer be right about this!"

§

Chihiro groaned as she leaned against the wall of the stone cavern she had taken sanctuary within. Thankfully their abduction had ended swiftly, as the troll stampede that had captured them accidentally bumped them off a few turns ago, so all that was left was to wander through their new location and hopefully find a way out.

"Man, Trig…" Chihiro panted as she held a hand against her heart, "For a minute, I thought we weren't gonna make it out of there alive!"

"Me neither!" Trigger Happy whined as he patted down stray flyaway furs, "That was even worse than the time I got caught up in a stampeding herd of rhino clowns! Funny story, I should tell you sometime…"

As Trigger Happy trailed off and frowned, Chihiro stared and frowned with him.

"What's wrong, Trig?" Chihiro tilted her head.

"Say…" Trigger Happy looked up and down and all around, "I probably should have asked this first, but where are we?"

Chihiro frowned and looked around as well. Now that he had mentioned it, she wasn't entirely sure where they had landed, either! Everything around was identical stone walls and torches for what seemed like eternity, something a bit more primitive than the battlefields they had been on prior. Just where were they?

Trigger Happy seemed equally confused as he analyzed the surroundings… Then his ears twitched and he started bouncing up and down! Had he found something?

"Hey, hey, listen!" Trigger Happy whispered as he pointed down the path ahead, "I hear voices!"

Now that Trigger Happy had mentioned it, Chihiro did too! As she crept down the halls, she could've sworn she heard a couple different people ranting into oblivion about a troll… Something or other. They were too far away for her to easily discern what they were talking about. So, she tip-toed down the halls, her side pressed against the stone as she practically slid down the halls. All those years sneaking out of her bedroom at night to eat all the snacks when everybody slept were finally starting to prove useful!

"Those darn Trollfields! They sure are a crick in the neck!"

Chihiro's eyes widened. Finally, she could make out what they were saying, but at the same time she was still completely clueless. Trollfields? What are those?

"They're even worse than that! I'm still shaking gunpowder out of my trousers because of them!"

"If it weren't for those stubborn pests, we'd have the Eternal Tech Source already!"

"I'll show those Trollfields one day, I'm telling you!"

"What the heck's a Trollfield, anyways?" Chihiro whispered as she gaze up to the ceiling… At least, she thought she did.

However, in reality she was so loud that her voice had completely echoed around the halls! With a squeak she slapped a hand over her mouth and ducked down. So much for keeping a low profile!

"Did you hear that?"

"Who was that?"

"Don't tell me… They found us! Quick, to arms!"

Chihiro yelped as she saw tall shadows impose over the cavern walls and stampeding flooded her ears—crap, she had been found out! She grabbed Trigger Happy close and squeezed his furry hand, fully ready to cast an invisibility spell… But before she could, something rocketed over her head and forced her to duck!

"There they are! Intruders!"

Chihiro winced as she looked up and found herself surrounded by trolls with skin colored in varying shades of orange and decked in red facepaint. Their faces were twitched into scowls and concerned whispers as the armed ones pointed their weapons towards Chihiro and Trigger Happy… Then their expressions turned to confusion as they rescinded.

"You aren't Trollfields!" Exclaimed the head troll, one with tangerine colored skin and a hammer in hand, "Who are you?"

"Don't tell me it's Kaos's goons," groaned another troll, the way they spoke Kaos's name akin to ashes in their mouth, "Just when we finally got away from them…"

"KAOS?!" Chihiro spat as she shook her head, "We're, we're not with that dude!"

"No way!" Trigger Happy chimed in as he stuck out his tongue, "He stinks! In both senses of the word!"

"Then who are you people?" Asked one troll as they tilted their head.

Chihiro froze up and looked around. Now she really was out of the toaster and into the oven, or however that one saying went. Her mind was too fried to attack, and what little brainpower she had was completely poured into thinking of something, anything these guys would believe!

"Well, er, my name's Hitomi, and my buddy here is Golden Cheat!" Chihiro spat out as she gently nudged Trigger Happy's arm, "See, we were taking a walk around the place, like people do, but I wasn't paying attention any—"

"Oh, nevermind your story!" Proclaimed the tangerine-skinned troll as they pulled Chihiro to her feet, "Time's a'ticking and we need some new forces anyways since Trollamor decided to go AWOL!"

As Trigger Happy jumped to his feet in tandem with Chihiro, tangerine troll ushered to a few of the other trolls, then watched as they disappeared down the halls.

"For now, consider yourselves honorary new members of the Trollcoy family!"

And just like that, those trolls tangerine troll shooed away returned with boxes full of… Something, Chihiro couldn't tell even with the light the torches provided. Wait, now that they drew closer it looked like… Weapons? Yeah, weapons and all sorts of military gear like those weird helmets that reminded her of beetle shells and chest plates and all that fancy stuff!

"Wait, hold on!" Chihiro asked as a couple of trolls shoved a laser rifle into her hands and slapped an army helmet onto her head, only for her to toss both aside, "What's all this about? What are you guys even doing anyways?"

"We're finally taking the Eternal Tech Source, back!" Tangerine troll pumped a fist to the skies, "And with me, the great Tangerine at the helm, it'll be as easy as wiring a bomb!"

Huh, so their name was Tangerine after all. Not really the kind of name you'd expect a troll to have, but Chihiro wasn't in the mood to judge. After all, she was more concerned about why they needed the Eternal Tech Source… Or more importantly, how to keep it out of their hands!

"And we've gotta move out fast! Those Trollfields—" Tangerine paused the shudder, then cleared their throat, "Are getting more and more proactive. If we keep lollygagging around, they'll steal the Eternal Tech Source from right under our noses!"

Tangerine grunted, then dug through their pockets and yanked out a worn paper map. With the map held tight, then wandered over to the nearby torch and spread out the map underneath the torch's light for all to see.

"This map has the quickest route to the Eternal Tech Source!" Tangerine proclaimed as everyone huddled around them to examine the map, "With our team of highly-trained specialists on the case, it'll be ours in no time!"

"Wait, team?" Chihiro repeated as she ducked under the torch and leaned further in, "Are we not going?"

"Of course not, you're new recruits!" Tangerine rolled the map back up and turned to Chihiro, "You're going to keep an eye out for the Trollfields and make sure they don't try anything!"

Crap! They can't keep those weird troll guys from getting the Eternal Tech Source when they're on guard duty, of all things! She had to think of something to let them in… Disguises, random sentimental babble, a secret weapon? Chihiro gritted her teeth and winced as Tangerine glared into her soul, then her own eyes widened! That's right, she was a portal master with fancy magic powers, and Trigger Happy was a Skylander! She had the perfect response! Chihiro fell to her knees and bowed the best she could, then slammed her palms against the stone with little mind paid to how the hard stone stung against her hands.

"Please, let us go get the Eternal Tech Source with you guys!"

"We can be useful, I swear!" Trigger Happy added as he mimicked Chihiro's bow.

"And how, exactly?" Tangerine asked as they nudged a foot against Chihiro's hands, as if they were prompting a response from Chihiro.

"Well…" Chihiro jumped to her feet and snapped her fingers. "It'll be better if I just show you!"

In a moment's time, a series of magic spheres circled around her, then leaped into the torches beside them and dyed their flames a shade of bright blue! The flames flew back to Chihiro and nestled themselves in her hands, but it hardly burned or hurt in any form. Rather, it just tingled, like when she used up a ton of magic energy! Chihiro snapped her fingers again, then watched as the collective fireball soared across the halls and disappeared.

"That's it?" Tangerine asked as they turned to Chihiro and twitched their ears.

Chihiro, however, just shook her head.

"You might wanna stand back for this one!" Chihiro proclaimed as she signaled towards Trigger Happy!

A mighty bear's cry bellowed through the halls with such intense strength it made the floor quake and caused dirt to fall from the ceilings!

The trolls gasped and flattened themselves against the walls, but Chihiro and Trigger Happy were hardly concerned! Instead, Chihiro crafted a longsword out of magic, while Trigger Happy whipped out his pistols and squeezed his eyes short.

All around, the sounds of rumbling and the crackle of falling dirt only added to the tension created by the lack of light… Then, a soft, blue glow and low growling poked out from around the corner… But not for long! Before anyone knew it, a gigantic bear made of blue magical fire whipped around the corner and stormed down, its jaw wide and ready to attack!

Trigger Happy's eyes and golden coin bullets both shot out with a pull of his guns' trigger, then he smiled as the bullets hit the magic bear right between the eyes and sent it off course!

The bear wailed in pain and stumbled back, which gave Chihiro just enough time to bolt forward, then teleport midway through and soar over the reeling bear's head! She tightened her grip around her sword's handle as its weight grew much more cumbersome and heavy, then finally she swung the sword forward and split the bear clean in half!

The bear made one last, distorted growl as it burst into embers, then with a nod from Chihiro, those embers formed back into flames and jumped back into their respective torches! Cyan light filled the room as the trolls around oohed and aahed, then finally one broke into a round of applause! One was followed by two, eight, ten… Soon, all the trolls applauded Chihiro and Trigger Happy's little show! Even Tangerine seemed amazed as they made a wide-eyed nod of approval!

"Alright, then!" Tangerine smiled as they made a carefree shrug, "I guess you can tag along."

Yes, she got 'em! Chihiro and Trigger Happy turned to each other with equally-pleased grins, then hooted and high-fived each other as the trolls dispersed around them.

"This'll be perfect!" Chihiro whispered as she knelt down to Trigger Happy's height, "Now we can find those Mabu Defense guys and get the Source without those trolls bugging us!"

"Yeah yeah!" Trigger Happy whispered back with a rapid nod, "It'll be easy as pie!"

"Hurry up, rookies! We're leaving now!" Tangerine shouted from so far down the hall that their voice was barely an echo.

"Coming!" Trigger Happy and Chihiro shouted back as they hustled up to the rear end of the ground, where a couple of grizzled old trolls were… Singing?

Yeah, they all sung some kind of strange song in what she guessed was the Trollish language with boisterous, bellowing voices! Their cheer shook the halls in a good way as the other trolls carried their tune… Including one with an oddly squeaky voice beside her? Wait, no, that was just Trigger Happy. Chihiro just frowned and raised an eyebrow down at him while he continued to sing along.

"What?" Trigger Happy asked with a shrug, "It's catchy!"

§

The once tense atmosphere that surrounded the Trollfields' humble team had vanished the moment they left the Trollfield certified secret hideout. As soon as they stepped into the light and the guide troll, a troll with dullish green skin dressed in a hefty backpack, slightly cracked soda-bottle glasses and blue camouflage—Boomont, Boomer thought his name was?—whipped out the map while everything dissolved into jolly banter and joke-cracking.

"Say, did you hear the one about the bomb with the loose fuse?" Asked a fern green-skinned troll with short, black hair dressed in darker blue, more torn camouflage, the one Boomer believed was named Trollance, as he looked towards Boomer.

"Er, I don't think I have…" Boomer replied as he scratched his sweat-covered scalp. Okay, that was a lie, he had heard this one before—but that would ruin the punchline!

"I wouldn't blame you." The troll shrugged as their face bore the cheesiest grin they could muster, "It didn't really have a big enough BOOM to it!"

Before he knew it, everybody else around dissolved into snorting laughter and knee-slapping! The joke wasn't the funniest, but seeing everyone laugh and cheer made Boomer burst into infectious laughter as well, and for a moment he completely forgot he was on a mission! It felt just like a family reunion!

"Alright, alright, I've got a good one for you guys," Boomer chuckled as he wiped tears of glee from his eyes, "What did the dynamite stick say to the other dynamite stick?"

"I don't know," the other troll cackled as they tried and failed to mask their laughter with their hand, "What did they—"

"Trollance, shush!" Hissed the troll who held the map as they elbowed Trollance with their face still buried in their map, "I'm trying to read the map!"

Trollance just scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, Boomont, quit being a dynamite stick in the mud. Can't we have a little fun?"

"Not when all that noise could attract the Trollcoys' attention!" Boomont pressed his nose into the face's paper as he tried to get some kind of better look, "Now let me read in peace!"

"I'm just trying to keep the mood light! We can't get the Eternal Tech Source if everybody's all doom and gloom!" Trollance grabbed Boomer by the arm and pushed him forward, "Trollver certainly thinks so! Right, Trollver?"

"Just because Trollver and I did everything together when we were knee-high to a matchstick doesn't mean I agree with him on everything! You'd know that well, Trollver!"

Boomer clenched his teeth as he eyes darted between Trollance and Boomont. Crap, he was never good when it came to family infighting, that was the entire reason he never went to his family reunions anymore! He was better at defusing machines than defusing arguments… Especially when he technically wasn't even a part of the family in question!

"Hey, Trollver!" Dyna, a troll with medium green skin and black hair tied into a short ponytail, called from the back, "Your new dragon robot machine's acting really funky, it keeps twitching and making weird noises!"

"Oh, I'd better check that out!" Boomer exclaimed as he wrangled himself out of Trollance's grasp and pushed through the crowds, "Excuse me, pardon, comin' through…"

As Boomer pushed himself towards Drobot, he took a couple peeks over Drobot's suit, then turned back to the other trolls and made the widest, most convincing grin he could. "Ah, nothing to see here, folks! Just some technical glitchy stuff, I'll take care of this right now!"

Trollance made another groan, but withdrew with a sigh and crossed his arms nonetheless. Seems their petty bickering was over for now—and more importantly, their cover was safe!

"Drobot, what's the issue, buddy?" Boomer whispered as he pushed Drobot away to a corner where nobody could hear them.

"I was trying to get your attention, if you had not noticed," Drobot whispered back, though his gaze was focused less on Boomer and more towards the trolls that had now gotten ahead of them, "Because I have calculated that now is the perfect time!"

"Perfect time for what?" Boomer flicked his ears as he tapped a dynamite stick against his bearded chin.

"Finding out where the Mabu Defense Force is? Obtaining a way to retrieve the Eternal Tech Source from under these trolls' noses? Have you forgotten already?"

Drobot made a vaguely angry-sounding hissing noise, or maybe it was more a noise of frustration than anger. Either way, he did not seem happy!

"Oh, right, that!" Boomer stuck his tongue out as he gently knocked on his head, "I just remembered!"

Drobot just sighed a sigh that, despite his impressive voice filter, sounded incredibly tired nonetheless. Was he getting worn out from their mission already? That wasn't really like him…

"Don't worry your shiny little head, Drobot!" Boomer turned tailed and ran back to the trolls, "I'll find those Mabu Defense guys in a jiffy! Just watch!"

Boomer cleared his throat, then crept up to Trollance and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, Trollance!" Boomer called, then smiled as Trollance turned around to face him, "I've been meanin' to ask… You wouldn't have seen any mabu around here, would ya?"

"Mabu?" Trollance repeated as he flicked his ears, "What kinda mabu are we talking?"

"Hmmm… Some ursidan-looking fellas, all dressed in military stuff and fancy hats and things?" Boomer tapped his foot and looked aside, "They, uh, I lost a bet against them! Yeah, that's why!"

"Can't say I have." Trollance shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the rest of the crew, "Hey, have you guys seen any mabu running around here?"—Trollance pointed towards Boomer—"Trollver says he needs to follow up on a bet."

All the other trolls just huddled towards and whispered among each other, then shrugged as they turned back to Boomer and Trollance.

"Don't think so," Boomont said as he shook his head.

"All I've seen are trolls and rocks," said a troll with shamrock green skin and bright yellow eyes as they tapped their chin, "Hey, actually I saw a rock that looked like a mabu on the way here, but I don't think—"

"Of course that's not what he's talking about, Trollcey!" Dyna shouted as they flicked the shamrock green troll's head.

"OWCH! Dyna, was that really necessary?"

"Trollver, don't tell me you were betting on cat races again!" Said Boomette, a troll with spring green skin and blonde hair kept in ringlets that were surprisingly well-maintained given the conditions surrounding.

Boomer just heaved a sigh—darn, so much for that. Nonetheless, though, he had to keep up the act so he smiled and lifted his head… And also ask the real Trollver, if he found that dude, anyways, what exactly were cat races anyways.

"Welp, thanks for trying!" Boomer chirped.

"Not that any of us would have noticed, anyways," Boomont interrupted with a wave of his free hand, "Ever since the day began, we've all been working our hardest to get the Eternal Tech Source!"

"Yeah!" Chimed in Trollcey as they rubbed their head, which now bore a small sore spot, while Dyna glared them down, "I've been thinking so much about getting the Source, I can't pay attention to anything else!"

"You better!" Dyna chided as she wagged a finger, "I didn't spend the whole day drawing up plans for this mission for nothing!"

Soon enough, they all devolved into chatter about the source and what they were going to do with it. Wow, they really were dead set on getting the Eternal Tech Source! Boomer admired their dedication, but at the same time he couldn't help but wonder why. After all, working for Kaos meant that they'd be pretty happy just guarding it, right? And yet, they were so desperate to have it only for themselves…

Boomer went to ask as they moved along, but before they could everybody came to an abrupt stop.

"Watch out!" Boomont cried as everybody peered over his arms, "If my map is correct, this should be the minefield that leads into No Man's Land!"

"I thought Gramps said the stuff in No Man's Land wasn't working or somethin'?" Trollcey asked.

"That's just No Man's Land, unfortunately." Boomont winced as he looked down at the map, then pocketed it and withdrew a mine detector in its place.

"Everything around here is still alive and kicking! And I may have a detector, but its range only goes so far, so we're gonna have to be careful—"

"Or perhaps, I may examine it for you?" Drobot suggested as he sifted through the crowds and popped out alongside Boomont.

Boomont just shrugged and warily handed the mine detector over to Drobot. "I guess…"

Drobot hummed in a way that vaguely sounded like a machine's whir, then turned the mine detector around in his front paws and popped the back off.

"Now, according to my calculations, if I tie this wire to that one," Drobot mumbled as he fiddled with the mine detector's inner machinery, "Now couple these two, and move the chip slightly to the right and…"

Drobot hummed again as the machine made a few cheerful beeps, then clipped the back onto the detector and handed it back to Boomont. "Your detector's range should encompass this entire field now!"

Boomont raised an eyebrow as he examined the mine detector, then yanked his head back and beamed towards Boomer.

"The robot's right!" He proclaimed as he held the mine detector for all to see, almost like it was a trophy of some kind, "We've got the whole minefield layout at our fingertips!"

The trolls all cheered as they crowded around Boomont, then oohed and aahed as they examined the mine detector!

Even Boomer himself shoved his way into the crowds just to get a peek! And sure enough, Boomont was right! Tons of flashing dots that Boomer presumed were mines showed up in an impressive replica of a minefield map, and with a few button presses on Boomont's end, the screen jumped across the entire map in moments! To think Drobot got that out of such an old mine detector.

"You know," Boomont remarked to Boomer with a wink and a nudge, "For a bucket of bolts, that robot of yours is pretty darn smart, Trollver!"

Even though Boomer couldn't see Drobot's face, the chill that went down his back was enough to tell him that Drobot was not pleased with this at all. Boomer just winced and nodded as Boomont gave him a thumbs up, then turned back around to Drobot and made the "Just a little longer, hang in there!" signal. Or maybe that was the signal for something else entirely judging by how Drobot still gave Boomer that very tired glare, but…Nonetheless!

As the chatter came to a close, they all lined up behind Boomont and trailed through the minefields like ants through a picnic blanket! Except with less screaming and bug spray, that is.

"You know, running around the minefields like this reminds me of when I was a kid!" Boomer chirped as he frolicked among the fields and promptly spun away from a mine he was about to step on, "All those days I spent playing BOOM under the hot sun…"

"But Trollver," piped up Dyna from the back, "You never liked playing BOOM! You always lost!"

"Uh…" Boomer froze with wide eyes and beating sweat, then finally he choked out a laugh or two and turned around to Dyna, "Well, it's the spirit of the game that counts, you know! I guess you never realize these things until you get older…"

Dyna raised an eyebrow at Boomer, then shrugged as she followed the trail of trolls (And Drobot) down the minefield. Phew, looks like she bought it! Man, for someone he hadn't even seen face-to-face, Boomer sure knew a lot about this Trollver guy's background now!

And speaking of, he had almost forgotten that he was going to ask them about why they wanted the Eternal Tech Source so badly! Well, now was as good a time as any…

"Hey, hey!" Boomer whispered as he gently poked Dyna's shoulder, "I've got a question!"

"What is it, Trollver?" Dyna whispered as she turned around.

"Uh, er…" Boomer scratched his head and looked aside, "My head's kinda fuzzy from that big fight earlier, and I kinda forgot something important!"—As Dyna scowled, Boomer made a big, fake smile and shook his hands—"No, nothing for the mission! I just wondered, why are we looking for the Tech Source again?"

"How could you forget?" Dyna exclaimed, before she coughed into her hand and lowered her voice, "It's all we've been plotting to do ever since we got word that Kaos's goons got the Source! We—"

"We're here, everyone!" Boomont shouted as the line screeched to the halt, "Here's the gate to No Man's Land, in all its glory!"

As the other trolls all cheered and dispersed from their straight line to more of a clustered crowd around the gate, Dyna winced and shrugged. "Sorry Trollver, I'll tell you later!"

Dyna rushed up to the gate, then dove her hand into her backpack's pocket and yanked out an impressive looking grappling gun! She angled the grappling gun to the skies, then clicked the trigger and watched with steadfast eyes as the grappling gun's hook flew over the gate! With a faint clink, Dyna zoomed off the ground and flew like a bird! She cheered as she disappeared behind the other side of the gate, as did several other trolls, and for a moment all went silent with anticipation… Then the gate's doors creaked open and revealed the rest of the team!

"You know, this reminds me…" Boomont remarked as he shot a glance at Trollance, "Remember how Gramps used to tell us stories about how so many people wanted their wares, they had to install gates at the old country so people wouldn't flood the whole town?"

"Yeah!" Trollance snicked, "And how he got stuck outside one night 'cause he got locked on the other side of the gate and they thought he was a traveling salesman?"

"Wait, we sold wares?" Boomer repeated as he tilted his head, "What wares?"

"Technology, of course! Wow, getting knocked out after that fight must have really messed up your memory if you can't remember that," Trollance remarked as he shook his head, "After all, you're one of the biggest techsmiths in our families! Don't you remember how you always said your inventions would get us and all the other trolls here out of Kaos's rut?"

"Er, uh, well…" Boomer winced and pushed himself ahead of Trollance, "Anyways, we should probably get going soon! Can't waste any time!"

Boomer strutted along with no mind paid to the scenery around him—if anything, he was more concerned with keeping his cover under wraps! Had they gotten onto him by now? Was the jig up? Well, before he could think it over further Boomer slammed face-first into something dead-cold and hard! Ugh… He really needed to pay attention to where he was going!

Boomer rubbed his face and poked his head up to find that there before him… Was yet another gate! Except, this one wasn't anything like the large, imposing wooden gate they had entered from. It was smaller and sleeker, with no sort of visible entryway—just a round frame made of bones that held a round, silver disk with the Undead Element's emblem, a skull with several teeth and two peering eyes, printed on its surface!

"What is this thing?" Boomer asked as he scratched his chin.

"Whatever it is," Boomont said as he walked up to Boomer and pounded a fist against the gate, "It's blocking the way to No Man's Land!"—Boomont whipped out the map and waved it in Boomer's face for emphasis—"See?"

The map was right. If Boomer read Boomont's scratchy handwriting and simple doodles correctly, this was the entrance to No Man's Land! So how were they supposed to get in?

Soon enough, the rest of the team walked up and examined the gate with concerned looks and equally-concerned chatter as well.

"A gate?" Dyna remarked as she walked up to Boomont and tapped his shoulder, "The map didn't say anything about a gate, did it?"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Boomont grunted as he rummaged through his backpack, "I'm sure I've got something in here that can deal with this!"—Boomont grinned from ear to ear as he pulled out a handful of mines—"A-ha!"

With a flick of his hand, Boomont tossed the mines onto the strange gate, then grabbed a remote with his free hand and hovered his finger over the large, glowing red button on its surface.

"You might wanna stand back." Boomont shot a quick glance behind as everyone else jolted up in accordance, then stepped back in tandem with them.

Boomont hit the button, and sure enough the mines he had stuck to it exploded in an instant! A stuffy dust cloud encased their team members for mere moments and made them break into coughing fits, but that was hardly a concern of everyone around.

"Did it work?" Boomont asked, his ears perked and his eyes wide as he examined the gate… Only for his ears to droop.

Why? Well, aside from the few scratches it had obtained, the gate itself was still in perfectly stable condition!

"WHAT?!" The trolls all exclaimed in unison, before they shushed themselves and huddled together. Their voices were lowered to what they thought were faint whispers, but they clearly weren't faint enough as Boomer heard them clear enough.

"Those mines can blow up anything! Why didn't they do anything to that gate?"

"Maybe it's made of a really strong metal or something?"

"I don't think that's metal… But whatever it is, it's creeping me out! Just looking at that gate feels like it's sucking the life out of me…"

"According to my analysis," Drobot said as the beams from his helmet withdrew themselves, "This is an elemental gate, in other words, a gate established so that it can only be unlocked by those of a certain elemental alignment for one reason or another, such as blocking off certain people from entry to..."

"Well whatever it is, it certainly wasn't here when I was drawing up the maps!" Boomont huffed, "How are we supposed to get past this thing, anyways?"

Drobot scoffed in response, then glazed around the area before his eyes fixed on another box-shaped device that Trollance held in his hands. "That is a masking device, correct?"

Trollance nodded firmly, then yelped as Drobot yanked the masking device out of his hands.

"Now, if I just do this…" Drobot mumbled before his words devolved into unintelligible jabber as he toyed with the dials and buttons on the machine, then scurried over to Boomer and leaned into Boomer's ear.

"Boomer, find me something that has prominent Undead energy," Drobot whispered, his voice synthesizers turned down low enough that the trolls wouldn't hear.

Boomer nodded and turned his attention to the ground below. It seemed to be mostly stray rocks and soot and remnants of war at first… But finally Boomer spied and grabbed a stray troll skull from the ground, which hopefully didn't belong to anybody these trolls knew, then handed it off to Drobot. Drobot in turn yanked the skull from Boomer's possession, then held it up to the modified masking device's antenna.

The masking device beeped for a few minutes, then its antenna shifted towards the skies and let out a net of lasers which cascaded over the gate… And the gate itself released its bony framing and sunk into the ground!

The trolls oohed and aahed, but Drobot was hardly affected by the praise as he passed the masking device back to Trollance.

"Thanks to some modifications, I have successfully fooled the gate into believing it is in the presence of an Undead elemental," Drobot explained as he turned back to the open gate, "It will not last forever, however. We should go quickly!"

And go quickly is just what they did as they all charged through the open path!

§

"TROLLEE, TROLLIE, MAY LADY WAR BE OUR AL-LY~" Chihiro sang as she hopped alongside Trigger Happy and giggled, "You were right, Trig, those troll war songs really are catchy!"

"Ah, now that's what I like to hear," remarked a grizzled, peach-skinned troll with a mangy beard and a wise glimmer in his eyes. Chihiro had sworn she heard one of the other trolls call him Atom?

"It's good to see the youth of today still appreciate fine music when they hear it."

Chihiro giggled, then skipped ahead and magicked up a telescope. A peek through the glass showed that unfortunately, the way ahead was still pretty long, with its winding paths and never-ending turns through fortress built high with walls upon walls of massive stone—something in her gut told her they'll be doing a lot of walking. Well, unless…

"You know, guys, this is probably gonna be a super long walk," Chihiro pointed out as she withdrew her telescope, "I could just teleport us there if you want!"
However, Tangerine only shook their head.

"All those fancy light shows would get someone's attention sooner or later," Tangerine remarked as they looked back at Chihiro, "We'll just keep walking."

"Darn." Chihiro sighed, then reluctantly withdrew her telescope and trailed across the bridge. She looked down at her feet and kicked a rock aside as she finally passed over the bridge and onto solid land flanked with endless stretches of stone walls and towers, then looked ahead to find that… Then line had come to a halt? Why?

Chihiro looked around and went to ask, but promptly shut her mouth as she realized that she and Trigger Happy were all alone!

"Where'd everyone go?" Trigger Happy asked as he peered up at Chihiro.

"That's what I'd like to know," Chihiro replied as she grabbed Trigger Happy's hand, "Come on, maybe they went ahead without us."

Trigger Happy frowned, but nonetheless squeezed Chihiro's hand tight as the two of them trailed past the dusty, beaten path ahead. As they walked forward, the sound of their footsteps intermingled with the sound of voices, voices that were strained and awkward… And Chihiro came to a completely stop.

Sure enough, a couple of their teammates had been talking to someone, though she could only barely make out what that someone was saying over the trolls' voices—something about suspicious activity, she thought? Whatever it was, the trolls seemed pretty nervous about it.

"I'm telling you!" Cried one troll, "We were investigating around here to make sure there weren't any intruders!"

Intruders? Were they talking about her and Trigger Happy?

"Wait, you heard something behind us? Oh, it was probably just the wind or something, there's nothing behind us!"

Well, that wasn't true, because Chihiro and Trigger Happy were right behind them!

Chihiro wanted to ask what was going on, but before she did something grabbed her hand and yanked her into the darkness of a nearby empty den! She yelped as she dove into the shadows, only for someone to shush her!

"Keep it down!" Tangerine whispered as they turned Chihiro around to face them, "Kaos's goons are onto us!"—Tangerine peeked out a tiny hole in the den and scowled—"We've got our best talkers trying to get them off our tail, but they'll get suspicious if there's too many of us…"

Oh, so that's why they were so worried. Chihiro frowned as she gripped the dirt below her hands, because something still didn't feel right.

"But, you guys are part of Kaos's army too, right?" Chihiro asked as she tilted her head, "Why would you need to hide if you're all on the same side?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tangerine raised an eyebrow at Chihiro and frowned, "Kaos wants the Tech Source all for himself—if he found out we're taking it from under his nose, we'd be toast!"

Chihiro looked up at the dark ceiling of the den and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Chihiro frowned, then pushed Tangerine aside and peered through the hole they were looking through. The rest of the trolls on their team were still held up by those minions of Kaos's, and it didn't seem like they'd let up anything soon.

"Sure wish Trollamor was here—he's always good at shirking his work right when we need him." Tangerine scoffed and crossed their arms, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was doing this on purpose so he wouldn't have to fight the Trollfields!"—Tangerine frowned and huddled closer—"Now that I think about it, he did say some weird stuff about us not needing to fight the Trollfields or whatever. Don't know what he's thinking…"

Hey, wait a minute… Sneaking off, that was just the ticket! Chihiro grinned as she rubbed her hands, and that grin only grew wider as they glowed with magic!

"Tangerine, Cheat!" Chihiro whispered as she turned back to them, "I've got an idea!"

"What kind of idea?" Tangerine asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Chihiro just smiled and held out her hands. "Just grab my hands, and I'll show you!"

Tangerine and Trigger Happy both grabbed Chihiro's hands, then with a smile she closed her eyes and silently cast an invisibility spell! When she opened them again, she could no longer see herself, Tangerine or Trigger Happy, but not from the darkness—rather, they had completely disappeared from view!

"WHAT THE—" Tangerine exclaimed as the sound of hasty footsteps sounded off all around, "WHAT'D YOU DO?!"

"Invisibility spell, but it won't last long!" Chihiro crept out of the den and flinched a bit as the sunlight burned her eyes, then shook her head, "We need to find a way past this place while the others have those guys occupied!"

"Hmm, I like how you think, Hitomi!"

Chihiro chuckled, then spun around and beamed. "Now, where did everyone else go?"

"They should be in the tower behind us," Tangerine whispered as they walked off, "Follow me!"

Tangerine seemingly crept out of the den judging by the sound of footsteps that resounded next to her and walked off. Normally, with them being invisible, Tangerine would be pretty hard to follow… But luckily, the ground below was so dusty that Tangerine left a trail of footprints as they walked.

So, Chihiro grinned and follow the trail of footsteps, her toes on their tips as she tried hard not to leave her own tracks, just in case things started to look suspicious. Beside her, a trail of round footsteps indicated that Trigger Happy was close by, and if that didn't key her in, then his whistles certainly did!

"Alright!" Tangerine proclaimed as their footsteps finally drew to a stop, "This should be the place!"

Chihiro crept up to the door, then slowly creaked it open. As she drew the door further and further out, the faint light poured inside the tower and unveiled a trio of trolls, all huddled close together with worried looks on their faces! They all screamed as the door flew open and their faces turned pale like they had seen a ghost, but those worried, gaping jaws closed as Chihiro giggled and skipped ahead.

"Don't worry!" Chihiro chirped as she waved a hand in front of her face to make it temporarily visible, then made it invisible once more, "It's just us! We've come to pick you guys up!"

The trolls grinned and sighed with relief, then Chihiro hopped over to each one and gently tapped them. As she stepped backwards, then trolls frowned and looked down at their hands, then gasped as their bodies turned completely invisible to the naked eyes of those around… Including Chihiro's. Wait, didn't she have a spell for this?

Chihiro frowned, then snapped her fingers and grinned as rainbow outlines shaped like Trigger Happy, Tangerine, and those other trolls appeared out of nowhere! That would certainly speed things along! Unfortunately, judging by the way they bumped into each other and stepped on each others' toes, she could presume that it worked only for her.

While a large troll glared at Tangerine, Chihiro just clapped her hands and drew all eyes towards her.

"Now, this invisibility spell's fancy and all, but it won't last forever!" Chihiro proclaimed as she turned to Tangerine, "Tangerine, is there any place where we can sneak out of here?"

Tangerine frowned and unfurled a map. Well at least, she assumed the sound of crinkling, unfolding paper was a map.

"If we travel along the stone walls that link these towers, we should be able to sneak past without anyone even noticing!" Tangerine proclaimed as the sound of paper being rolled was heard, "But we'll have to be careful."

"Got it!" Chihiro jumped outside and waved back to the others, "Now, line up out here!"

Tangerine was the first to come out, as they warily crept into the light and looked around… Then shouted and flailed about as Chihiro swept them up by the feet!

"Now, hold on tight, and just trust me on this, alright?" Chihiro asked as her hands glowed with magic, "I promise, I'm not gonna let you fall!"

"Hitomi, is that you?" Tangerine asked, "What are you talking abooOOOOOOOUUUUUUTTT!"

With one mighty swing from Chihiro, Tangerine flew through the skies and landed right on top of the stone wall Chihiro had aimed for! They seemed a bit dizzy as they side-stepped and planed their arms, but they were pretty quick to regain their balance… But more importantly, their screams of terror drew everyone else out of the tower, too!

So, Chihiro dashed over to each of them and flung them onto the stone wall! As they made screams of absolute horror (Or delight in Trigger Happy's case), Chihiro chuckled and clicked her heels, then in one bound she leaped up and joined them! Everybody seemed a little disoriented as they swayed from side to side… Maybe she threw them a little too suddenly?

However disoriented they were, it was quickly forgotten as they looked down and realized they were on solid stone! While most everyone immediately crept away, however, one troll in particular just stood silent and trembled as they looked down below.

"That's a pretty long fall…" They whimpered as they bit their nails, "Just looking at it makes me dizzy!"

"Well, don't look down, then!" Chihiro chirped as she popped up behind the troll, then gasped and drew back as the troll screamed! Crap, she forgot that nobody else could see her.

The troll's screams carried on as they wobbled back and forth, all while they waved their arms in some desperate attempt to regain balance… But it was fruitless, as they lost their footing and plummeted down the wall!

Chihiro gasped, then leaped off the wall as magical wings manifested on her back and soared down to the troll! The troll's screams carried on as they plummeted further and further down, but as they caught sight of Chihiro they gasped and reached out their hand! With a pump of her legs Chihiro dashed down even further, just enough that her and the troll's fingers brushed against each other… Then finally, Chihiro grabbed the troll by the arm!

"You might wanna hold on tight," Chihiro said as she flew back up, "Don't want another nasty fall and all!"

Chihiro chuckled, then drifted back down onto the stone wall and laid the troll back onto solid ground, but while that troll seemed relieved as they sat down and wiped their brow… The others seemed way more concerned! They were all huddled together and whispering like something was going on.

"Hey, what's everyone whispering about?" Chihiro asked as she hopped up behind Tangerine.

"That!" Tangerine said as they pointed back to the ground, "I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to scream out of nowhere, but it's got those goons all riled up! They'll find us in no time!"

Chihiro followed Tangerine's pointing finger, and though she couldn't really hear what was going on, the sights were enough for her!

Down below, the minions their teammates were talking with seemed much more aggressive as they pressed forward and gestured all around—clearly they knew something was up!

"If we don't get a distraction going, we'll be toast!" Tangerine unfurled their map once more and frowned, "According to this map, the tower across from us has a teleporter next to an old cannon range. If we use one of those to blow something up, that should probably get them off our tail!"

"You mean that one?" Chihiro asked as she pointed to the tower ahead.

"Er, which one? There's at least five different towers in this range alone!"

"The one right in front of us! I'm pointing right at it!" Chihiro chuckled and rapped a fist against her head, "Oh, right, invisible!"

Tangerine went silent for a few moments, then the sound of a map being rolled up and stowed away was heard. "Yep, that's the one!"

Chihiro smiled, then raced up the wall and leaped onto the stone balcony beside the tower! Thankfully there were no guards around, but then again, with this invisibility spell it's not like anybody would have been able to see them anyhow. So, Chihiro turned back to the tower's open gateway.

The tower's insides were nothing notable, just a tall, hollow stone room with a bright orange sparkling teleporter inside and a flight of stone stairs nestled in the corner!

Chihiro giggled and hopped on, then light wrapped around her in a pillar until nothing else could be seen anymore! When the light faded, Chihiro found herself at the top of another stone tower, though this one had no door.

All it had was an open doorway that lead out to a bridge with a stretch of cannons stationed across at specific intervals!

Chihiro hopped outside and went to examine the first cannon when she heard another WHOOSH, then turned her attention back to the teleporter right as its light glowed and faded once more.

"Yep, this is the place!" Tangerine proclaimed.

"Hey, hey, hey! Look at all these cannons!" Trigger Happy chirped as he seemingly bounced all around the cannons, going by all the bouncing noises she heard against the stone, "I wanna fire one! Can I, can I?"

"Not yet." The sound of someone grabbing someone's wrist sounded close beside Chihiro, "Just wait until I do something first. If we do it now, they'll get suspicious."
Just when would that be, though? Chihiro bit her lip as she looked over the cannons, then finally she snapped her fingers and grinned.

"First, just to be extra safe…" Chihiro whispered as she plopped her hands against the cannon and watched as it glowed a bright aqua, "Soundproofing spell! That way nobody can hear it work!"

"Can I shoot it now?" Trigger Happy asked.

"Do the honors, Tri—I mean, Cheat!"

Trigger Happy giggled, then the sound of something slapping against metal sounded beside them both. With no means of seeing what would going on, Chihiro could only watch in slightly tense anticipation as all went quiet… Then finally, a large cannonball shot off from the cannon and slammed right into a stone wall a couple yards off and made a loud boom! The soundproofing spell wore off just in time!

The trolls down below ducked for cover and seemed to talk among each other in confusion, and Chihiro mirrored them as she ducked under the bridge's side, with only the top half of her head poked over the side of the bridge to see what was going on.

The trolls and minions were talking still, but they were so far away that she couldn't properly see or hear what was going on—the most she could garner was that those blobby minions seemed a lot more hasty and frantic as they dashed about. Would it work?

Finally, the minions the trolls were talking with disappeared in a flash! The trolls in turn turned around towards the back of the trail and waved—guess that was her sign!

"It worked!" Chihiro shouted as she raced back inside, "Now, to regroup!"

Chihiro rushed back onto the teleporter, then after she was whisked back to the first tower in a puff of light and sparkles she ran down a flight of stone stairs and held a hand over her eyes… A bright, peach-colored hand! Looks like the spell wore off just in time!

Tangerine and Trigger Happy quickly rejoined her and paused for just a moment to look their notably visible selves over, then all three of them nodded.

"Hey guys!" Chihiro shouted as she bolted ahead and waved, "Guess who took care of the barrier for you?~"

"You did?" Suggested a grizzled, saffron-skinned troll with short, bob-cut purple hair—that one was Syracuse, Chihiro believed—with a confused raise of her eyebrow, "But, how? We didn't see anybody…"

Chihiro just snapped her fingers and turned invisible once more, then with another snap she regained her visibility. "Invisibility spell. Perfect for secret maneuvers~"

"Kid's right!" Tangerine affirmed as they gave Chihiro a firm pat on the back, "We might not've been able to get through without her quick thinking!"

Chihiro blushed and giggled as everybody else clapped her on, but only for a moment before they carried on.

Once again everything stretched into endless barriers of stone walls decorated with wooden reinforcements and barbed wire fencing, with no decoration aside from the occasional pile of crates or cluster of barrels. Really did a good bit to reinforce the warlike atmosphere around them. At least, Chihiro might have thought that… If it wasn't taking forever to get to the next place!

Not only was it boring, but that past encounter with those minions of Kaos's had raised her concerns some. What if they got caught off-guard again? Surely they'd immediately recognize her and Trigger Happy for who they truly were… What would these trolls do then? She was confident they'd immediately turn on her if they found out that she was actually the portal master apprentice Kaos had deemed her worst enemy, and Trigger Happy one of the Skylanders they all loathed…

Nah, she couldn't worry about that right now, she had to focus on her mission. Chihiro shook her head as everyone came to a stop, then paused and looked ahead to see a gate blocked off with twin keyholes!

"This should be the way to the Eternal Tech Source's storage room," Tangerine explained, "These keys have gotta be around here somewhere… Everyone, get looking!"
"Right!"

In the blink of an eye, everybody jumped from their posts and began scrounging around in one big key hunt! They turned over crates and barrels, scurried through piles of dust and ash, poked through towers and fields… But, the atmosphere hardly seemed tense! There were trolls laughing and cracking jokes with each other, helping each other up after nasty slips, making small talk as they searched… Everything felt so warm and happy! It felt more like a family get-together rather than an intense, super-important mission! In fact, it almost reminded Chihiro a bit of her family back home, and a twinge of homesickness struck her as she placed a clasped hand against her heart.

As she looked around, she could've sworn for a moment she was back home on Earth! The cold, dusty floors turned to the warm-colored wooden floors, the stone walls were decorated in family portraits and vacation pictures, and the smells of dust and gunpowder turned to something more warm and welcoming.

Chihiro could see her mother, with her facial tattoos that she always left free of their makeup mask when she had nowhere else to go, laughing as she held up a pot of what was probably that night's dinner as Mamoru regaled her with stories of his latest baseball practice. From aside, her father stretched out on the couch as he grinned back at them, so warm and welcoming… But in a blink of her eyes, it was gone and she had returned back to the fields, where the trolls made merry among each other everywhere she turned.

Just how can these guys be evil? Chihiro pondered as she watched them with a growing warmth in her heart.

"Hey, Hitomi, what're you standing around for?" Tangerine asked as they gently nudged Chihiro, "Get cracking!"

"Oh, uh, right!" Chihiro sputtered as she looked aside, then jumped towards a group of barrels and began pushing them aside.

After all, those barrels seemed suspiciously close together… Once they were all decently parted, Chihiro rubbed her chin as she examined the ground beneath them. Though it was mostly pressed, packed dirt, Chihiro could've sworn she saw a shimmer of gold within.

So, she knelt down and began digging! Chihiro hummed a tune as she parted the dirt, then grinned as she retrieved her prize—a shiny golden key!

"Found the first one!" Chihiro proclaimed as she held the key for all to see.

"And I found the second one!" exclaimed a troll down the way as they held something with a golden glow… Only for that golden glow to slip out of their grip! "CRAP!"

"I'll get it!" Chihiro cried.

Chihiro immediately bolted into action as she sprinted over and went to catch it, but before she could she lost her balance and slid against the dirt instead! Chihiro made a muffled scream as she slipped against the ground, then spat out gritty, sandy earth as she came to a stop… And to add insult to injury, that stupid key beaned her on the head before it fell in her hands, too! Chihiro grumbled and shook herself off as the trolls chuckled around her, though they weren't mean-spirited chuckles, no. Rather, it was warm and cheerful, welcoming laughter, the kind that came with playful jokes and goofy happenings! In fact, it was so warm and welcoming that the pain went away immediately and Chihiro found herself laughing with them before she knew it!

"You alright?" Trigger Happy asked as he hopped next to Chihiro and brushed a clump of dirt from her head, "You really ate it!"

Chihiro just chuckled, then brushed then dirt from her face and nodded. As the last of the stings and burning sensations went away, Chihiro walked up to the gate and went to put the keys inside…

"Are you sure this is where the suspicious activity was found, Evil Drill Robot?" Asked a voice that sounded a lot like Trigger Happy? But, it was too far away to be Trigger Happy, he was right over there talking with some of the trolls!

Unless… Oh no! Chihiro immediately grabbed Trigger Happy's hand, then dove into the safety of a nearby tower and slammed the door shut!

"Chihiro?!" Trigger Happy exclaimed while Chihiro locked the door via magic, "What was that for? I was in the middle of telling them—"

Chihiro shushed Trigger Happy, then directed his gaze towards a small, but still viewable hole within the tower door.

"There you are, trolls!" Cried the Trigger Happy-voiced person, "What's going on around here?"

Sure enough, it was just as she feared—two dark purple and orange-colored clones of Trigger Happy and Drill Sergeant had arrived, and they had already nailed down the Trollcoys with questions!

§

"Think we're close?" Boomer asked Drobot as he nudged Drobot's mechanical shoulder.

"I am not the one who retains the map," Drobot whirred back, a kind of tired tone to his usually-mechanical voice, "Ask Boomont."

Boomer rubbed the exhaustion out of his eyes and went to tap Boomont on the shoulder, his mind only half-focused on the scenery around. After all, it was nothing but endless dark blue stone caverns with faint light that brought to mind night skies and the occasional crumble of rocks from the ceiling above! What was there to pay attention to? Boomer blinked again… Then gasped as something bright and blue flitted right by him!

"A firefly?" Boomer gasped as the "firefly" flew past him, then… Owch, something got in his eye! Boomer groaned as he rubbed his now stung with pain eyes, then looked up and gasped!

The path ahead was nothing like the endless stretches of cold, muted stone before then—rather, it absolutely glowed with life! Sparkly dust filtered off of gigantic, cyan-colored crystals and floated around the room like fireflies did at night, which only amplified the deep blue hues of the stones around and made it seem way more magical than before! Even the rotted wood that blocked off parts of the cavern or made up makeshift ramps seemed a little more fascinating with all this around… Funny what a little light show could do for a place, huh?

And Boomer wasn't the only one who stopped to admire the view, either. The rest of the trolls all froze in their tracks and gasped in awe as they took in the light, and even Drobot paused for a moment and made a nod of approval!

"Come on, everyone!" Dyna ordered through hushed whispers as she pushed through the crowd, "The Eternal Tech Source won't wait all day! We can stop and smell the roses later!"

The trolls all begrudgingly nodded and agreed as they shuffled forwards, while Boomont whipped out his map and flicked on the headlamp on his helmet.

"Now, let's see…" Boomont mumbled as he shuffled the papers of his map and twitched his brows, "According to this map, the exit should be a straight way's ahead! Just keep going north from here!"

So, the trolls huddled together and proceeded north… But even with those directions, they couldn't help but wander off and admire the view!

Trollance smiled as he yanked some crystals from the ground and stowed them away, Trollcey and Boomont couldn't help but laugh at their exaggerated reflections in the mirror of a large cyan rock formation… Even Dyna let up on her usual strictness as she admired a vaguely rose-shaped rock that glittered with shiny dust.

Instead, she just sat there with a sort of pining look on her face, her mouth and ears drooped into a frown as she brushed her finger against the crystal's dusty surface.

"You know, Trollver…" Dyna remarked as she made a soft chuckle, "This place reminds me a lot of home, you know?"

"It does?" Boomer frowned as Dyna looked at him with those same, sad eyes and winced, "I mean, well, yeah, of course it does! I, well, you see—"

"I wouldn't expect you to know, Trollver." Dyna shook her head and shook faint traces of shiny dust off of her ears, "You were still little when we had to leave home after!"

Boomer twiddled his fingers and looked away. "So, what was it like?"

"It was the best!" Dyna made a simple, wistful sight, "There were so many caves and mines to explore, and they had tons of shiny metals and crystals that were as bright and colorful as these… Gramps said it was the reason we had some of the best tech in all Skylands!"

Dyna cleared her throat, then made what Boomer presumed was the best impression of an old man she could.

"'I'm tellin' ya, kiddo, they came from ev'ry corner of Skylands! The north, west, southnorth, eastwest… It didn't matter how far the journey, the wares were worth the trip, they'd all say!'"

"But if it was so good," Drobot remarked as he zoomed over, "Then why did you leave it all for Kaos? I do not see the logic in that."

"DROBOT!" Boomer exclaimed as he stepped back, "When'd you get here?!"

"About five point fifty-five seconds ago. My hearing mechanisms detected an intriguing conversation, so I merely came to join." Drobot turned back to Dyna with little mind paid to the wide-eyed, jaw-gaped look on her face, "Tell me, why exactly? A lifestyle like that is beneficial enough. I see no logic in abandoning it for petty warfare under a—"

Clink! Boomer and Drobot both froze as the crystal Dyna held slipped out of her hand, while Dyna herself hung her head low.

"You really wanna know why, you big hunk of bolts?" Dyna shuddered and grabbed her arm, then lifted her head to show off a snarl and trembling eyes, "We had no choice, that's why!"

Drobot winced and stepped back. "But, you claimed that your technology was the best in all Skylands!"

"That's what Gramps said… But it just wasn't good enough, I guess! Other people made better, faster, stronger stuff, and we just got left in the dust!"

Dyna held her head and sighed.

"With nobody coming to buy our tech, we could barely scrape by! Food and water was a luxury and anything else was a pipe dream!" Dyna sniffled, then wiped her tears away and shook her head.

"You'd remember, right Trollver? How Mom could barely put food on the table, how her and Pops always give up dinner so we'd have more to eat, how the roof caved in because we couldn't afford to repair it and the whole place got flooded during a storm after that… You cried so hard 'cause you lost your favorite toy that night…"

Boomer's face just fell, and for a moment he found himself unable to make his usually cheery demeanor. He had a bad feeling he knew what was coming next…

"When we were squandering and just barely getting by, that's when that good-for-nothing pipsqueak showed up!"

"Kaos?" Drobot piped up at last, his mechanical voice a bit weaker than it usually was.

"Not him." Dyna hissed her words through gritted teeth, then stormed around the room in fast-paced circles, "Some loudmouthed king took his armies and stormed through our old kingdom, razed everything to the ground… We tried to fight him off, we really did!"

Dyna's voice cracked just slightly as she froze in her tracks. "We were so desperate that we tried everything to stop him… But it was all for nothing!"

Dyna inhaled through her gritted teeth, while tears that burned with rage seeped from her eyes. "He took us all away from home and roped us into working for his every last whim! And then, when he lost his place to Kaos, we had to fight for that brat instead!"

Drobot's eye slots flickered for a moment, then he turned to Boomer with that same gaping, wide mouth of disbelief… But Boomer could only watch Dyna as a pit formed in his heart.

"We just lost one evil to get another in the end. We'd work the day away in factories until we dropped, fought for our very lives against people way stronger than we were, came home in caskets and graves…" Dyna winced as those hot tears dripped down onto the floor, "All for what? So their stupid little playgrounds can get a little bigger?"

Dyna bit her lip, then wiped her tears away and shook her head. "But, once we get the Eternal Tech Source, this'll all just be a thing of the past! We'll use its power to make our tech the best there is, then we can kiss Kaos and his stupid little army goodbye!"

So, Dyna lifted her head and kicked the crystal she had admired aside. "Ah, what am I doing, standing around like this? I'd better get going…"

Drobot and Boomer just glanced at Dyna with solemn as sh left their views, then Drobot's wings and head drooped as he looked aside.

"So that is why…" Drobot whispered, "I… I do not know what to say…"

"Yeah," Boomer admitted, his voice a little more defeated than usual, "Happened to lots of us trolls…"—Boomer shook his head and grinned—"But what am I standing around and moping for? We've got an Eternal Source to get!"

Boomer grinned and jaunted along, but once he was out of Drobot's range he found himself frowning without even realizing it. After all, seeing the way Dyna talked about their old place, hearing what happened to them and all the hardships they went through… He couldn't help but want to help them get it and get back on their feet, but at the same time, his conscience told him that the Eternal Tech Source's true place was in the Core of Light! It was his duty as a Skylander to return it to the Core, but his heart was saying a different thing. What do you do when your head and your heart are saying two really different things, anyways?

Boomer didn't know, so he just watched the gigantic wall barely boarded off with long-rotted wood in silent contemplation—Y'know, just what was behind that wall, anyways? Boomer glazed over the slightly less rotted wooden plaque that had some writing which could just barely be made out… Then promptly jumped away, because if the writing was right, this was a mega bomb stock! Out of nowhere, Gramps' words flashed back into Boomer's mind again.

"The equipment there is so old, only the most intense pressure would activate it!"

"… Yeah, I better not mess with this," Boomer whispered as he took another step back, then looked aside and—

Wait a second, was someone there? Boomer curved his head a little to the right and frowned, because sure enough, a faint shadow crept across the side of the caverns, but it didn't exactly look like any troll shadows! In fact, it kind of reminded him of… Drobot?

"Drobot! That you?" Boomer shouted as he waved towards "Drobot…"

But instead of coming towards him, "Drobot" just dashed forward and vanished into the dark parts of the cavern. What was up with that? Boomer eyed the shadowy crevice "Drobot" vanished into a little more, but he still refused to emerge…

"Boomer, what exactly are you doing? We are about to leave!"

Boomer practically jumped a foot in the air, then whipped around and found—oh, look, it's Drobot!

"There you are!" Boomer chirped as he scratched behind his ears, "I just saw you a second ago! What'd you run off for?"

Drobot tilted his head and clicked. "I have no possible idea what you are talking about. I was communicating with Trollance and Trollcey over there."

Boomer grimaced and looked back to where the Drobot-looking shadow had sneaked away. Something strange really was going on here…

"Boomer, is something amiss?" Drobot asked.

Boomer just shook his head and grinned. "Nah, it's nothing! Let's just get going!"

With what vaguely seemed like a shrug, Drobot led Boomer across the endless stretches of shiny blue rock, over a few barely-hanging bridges and down an incline, then before they knew it they had arrived at the other end!

The other trolls had gathered together and tittered in excitement, then turned around and waved towards Boomer and Drobot.

"There you two are!" Trollance shouted as he waved them over, "Took you long enough! We're just about ready to tear these boards down and get outta here!"

Boomer beamed as he finally caught up with Trollance and found that right behind them, the rest of their team was carefully prying the old wooden boards that blocked off the exit! Still, Boomer couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. That weird shadow still pried at the back of his mind, like it was something he had forgotten about that was going to bite him in the butt realllllyyyy soon… But, what could possibly go wrong now? After all, those boards were now down to one, and once they were tossed aside they would be in the final stretch!

Dyna and Boomont grunted as they got ready to yank the final board off of the exit, but right as they placed their hands on it, the ground beneath their feet began to shudder! It was subtle at first, but slowly it grew louder and more violent and made everybody's legs tremble like jelly!

"Wait, what's going on?" Boomont asked as he and Dyna turned around and released their grip on the boards!

The rumbling grew so intense it quaked the ground and forced them and everyone else on their knees—was this an earthquake? Wait a second, that rumbling had started to grow louder and closer, as if something was coming straight towards them! Boomer cocked his head around the corner, and from under the faint, now disrupted light of the crystals he could spy something large, sleek and black roll towards them. No wait, it couldn't be a mega bomb!

Well, that's what Boomer had wanted to think, but the mega bomb rolled right up the incline they were seated on and proved him otherwise! They all gasped as the mega bomb came inches away from flattening them like pancakes… Only for it to lose momentum and lurch back down. Phew!

Everybody breathed sighs of relief, but unfortunately those sighs were too quickly had! Right as the mega bomb rolled down, the sound of multiple clicks and sinking stone panels were heard, following by the whooshing sounds of flight. From right across the room, a fleet of explosive arrows hurtled straight towards them! Luckily for them, the arrows soared right overheard and were of no harm… Only for the ground underneath them to shake even more as a part of the incline sprung them off like a trampoline!

Boomer screamed as he tried to fly through the air, but despite all the arm flapping he did he just couldn't catch a breeze! And worse yet, his projecting landing path was far from ideal! After all, he wouldn't exactly call a pit of gigantic spikes that had opened up in the floor an easy landing! Boomer gasped and frantically tried to run through midair right when something smashed into him and yanked him away by the straps of his backpack!

"TARGET… ACQUIRED!" Drobot shouted from above Boomer!

Drobot's thrusters were burning the hardest they could as he zipped away from arrows, bomb showers, and flamethrowers in a row, then he gently floated down on the ground and released Boomer.

"Ten outta ten rescue, buddy!" Boomer shouted as he gave Drobot a thumbs up, only for his relief to vanish as he looked around, "Wait, where's everyone else?"

"AIYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"There, apparently!" Drobot exclaimed.

Drobot yanked Boomer off the ground by his backpack straps once more, then flew them both to safe land and dropped down so they could get a better view.

There before them, the peaceful crystal fields they once admired had dissolved into chaos! Mega bombs chased the rest of their team left and right, while holes opened in the floors and dropped people down from the ceilings, spikes and darts shot out from the walls while large crystal pillars smashed together and retracted in shocking speed! How did this happen?!

Boomer turned to the side of where Drobot had dropped them off… And quickly got his answer!

There was the mega bomb stash he was admiring earlier, except the boards on it were broken! And not in the kind that happened from natural rot, either. There was a gigantic, suspiciously cleanly-made hole in the center and dark singe marks on the wood surroundings, almost like they had been… Burnt?

"What in Skylands happened to this thing?" Boomer whispered as he walked up to the emptied mega bomb stash and ran his fingers against the wood. It still felt vaguely warm, as if this happened recently…

"HELPPPPP!"

Wait, that was Trollcey's voice! Boomer whipped around to find… Oh no! Trollcey had gotten caught on a particularly stubborn spike, and there was a mega bomb poised to flatten them at any second! Boomer sprinted forward, fully ready to jump into action… But before he could, Drobot zoomed forward and yanked Trollcey out of the mega bomb's way!

"HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME—" Trollcey's eyes grew wide as they realized they were in Drobot's grasp, then they breathed a sigh of relief as Drobot laid them on solid ground, "I mean, phew, close one!"

Trollcey beamed, then gently patted Drobot on the head. "That's one impressive machine you've got there, Trollver!"

"Now is no time for compliments, we must act quickly!" Drobot scolded before he turned back to Boomer, "Boo—I mean, Trollver, lead Trollcey back to the exit. I will retrieve everyone else!"

"Got it!" Boomer shouted as he grabbed Trollcey by the hand and dashed off. "Now follow me!" Drobot tapped a button on his suit and zoomed into the chaos, "THRUSTERS AT FULL THROTTLE!"

"I'm already following you!" Trollcey shouted back, then screamed and ducked as arrows narrowly flew over their heads!

Trollcey winced and pushed themself closer to Boomer as Boomer leaped over a large gap in the ground and landed safely on the next platform, then looked back and grinned. Right behind them, Drobot had already lead Trollance and Boomont to safety—he had to keep the train going!

"Alright, Trollcey, I'm gonna toss ya to the other side!" Boomer shouted as he grabbed Trollcey by the shoulders, "Three… Two…"

"Wait, what did you say, Trollver?" Trollcey asked as they looked back towards Boomer and sweat buckets, oddly enough. But then again, given the intense situation Boomer would hardly blame them for being nervous!

"ONE!"

Boomer spun around a couple times, then tossed Trollcey straight to the base of the incline! Trollcey screamed as they flew in the air and landed flat on their face, but nonetheless they shook themself off and dashed up the incline! Boomer beamed as Trollcey disappeared from view, but his work was hardly done! One by one, Dyna, Trollance, Boomont and Boomette all jumped on the platform Boomer stood on, then one by one Boomer tossed them to freedom!

As Boomette skipped up the incline, Boomer beamed and cracked his knuckles.

"That should be everyone," Drobot said as he hovered over and plopped down next to Boomer, "Save for us. Shall we make our leave?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth, buddy!" Boomer chirped, then with a crack of his knuckles, he raced forward and leaped off the ground, "WOO-HOO!"

Boomer sailed in the skies for a moment, then tumbled onto the ground with Drobot quick to follow. The two of them bolted up the incline, and sure enough the exit was in sight once more!

The rest of their team could be faintly seen against the harsh outdoor light while they called and waved for them to hurry—they were so close, they were gonna make it!
Boomer stopped just inches away from the exit, then went to run through… But before he could, a gigantic earthquake shook the ground below him and sent him tumbling down the incline! If it wasn't for Drobot catching him in the nick of time, well… He wasn't sure what would've happened!

"What's going on here?" Boomer shouted, but the quake's growls completely flooded out his words! Guess this was no time to talk, just run!

And that's what they both did as they bolted straight towards the exit, all while the trolls called form them and seemingly looked way more frantic than before… But right before Drobot and Boomer could break out, the ceiling shuddered and completely caved in! Drobot and Boomer just barely managed to jump out before they could get caught in the rubble, but the Broken ceiling fragments completely blocked the exit off!

"We're trapped!" Boomer exclaimed as just narrowly dodged a stray rock that feel from the ceiling.

"Not yet we are not!" Drobot exclaimed as he hastily toyed with his helmet, "I you will give me a moment, I will try to analyze the area for an alternate—"

"HOLD THAT THOUGHT!"

Boomer pushed Drobot out of the way as a large chunk of the cave slammed into the floor below, then both of them tumbled out of the way and smacked into the still surprisingly intact wall behind them! Drobot flung up a shield as large rocks split off in every which direction from the broken ceiling, then cranked up the shield's intensity as the entire ceiling continued crumbling to bits!

"The whole place is gonna go at this rate!" Boomer exclaimed over the grumbles and groans of the collapsing cavern, "I don't think we can science our way out of this one, buddy!"

Drobot just flicked his head every which way, still in pursuit of some way out. But though his eyes were masked, his frantic movements and tightly-clenched jaw were more than enough to show he shared Boomer's concerns—and when even Drobot was worried, that was not a good sign.

Would this be the end of them? Boomer wasn't sure, but things weren't looking so hot right now…

KA-BOOM!

Crap, another cave-in?! Boomer flinched and dove further under the shield Drobot had created, but then shook his head as light filtered in from the path ahead… Wait a second, was that…

"Trollver, hurry!" Shouted Dyna's voice as a couple of silhouettes waved them over, "This cave's going down any second now!"

Boomer's eyes widened as he made a sharp gasp—they were saved! Without even thinking he grabbed Drobot by the paw and scrambled out the cavern faster than two shakes of a dynamite stick! Boomer heaved breaths so intense they shook his entire body as the cave rumbled and shuddered, then finally a loud crash sounded all around as a gigantic slab of stone smacked right in front of the exit and sealed it off for good!

"That was close!" Dyna gasped.

Dyna turned back to Boomer, and before Boomer could react she hugged him tight and ruffled his hairless scalp. Boomer could only wince as he practically had the life squeezed out of him—Dyna sure had a tight grip, didn't she?

"Geez, Trollver!" Dyna buried her face in Boomer's shoulder, "You've gotta be more careful! For a minute, I thought I lost my baby brother for good!"

Boomer blinked once, then twice as he was finally released from Dyna's gasp. Tiny tears were in the corners of her eyes, but this time they were tears of relief, thank goodness! Boomer went to open his mouth, but Dyna only shook her head.

"It's alright, what matters is that you're alright!" Dyna heaved a sigh of relief, then regained her stoic composition as she looked back to the rest of the team, "Anyways, come on, everyone! The Eternal Tech Source isn't long now!"

Everybody else cheered and hurried away, but Boomer only stood there in silent awe. They had all been so worried about him that they tossed everything aside just to get him and Drobot to safety! Maybe he had misjudged these trolls…

But more importantly, what set off those mega bombs in the first place? Though the wood was quite rotted, it was nowhere near weak enough to break out of nowhere! And there was that weird shadow… Well, no use lingering on it now. Boomer just shook his head, then tailed behind the others as they cheered and hollered at the top of their lungs. Surely they were close to getting the Eternal Tech Source now, and after this, Boomer had made up his mind on what to do with it.

§

Chihiro peered through the tiny hole in the wooden-door shelter she and Trigger Happy had sealed themselves inside. This shelter was pretty dingy… If for some reason they got found out, they had to be prepared for whatever could come—because she was sure it wouldn't keep them safe for long.

"What're they saying? What're they saying?" Trigger Happy whispered as he jumped on Chihiro's back and peered through the hole.

"I'm trying to find out!" Chihiro hissed back as she promptly shushed Trigger Happy as she pushed him off her back, then peered back into the hole.

Chihiro winced, then pressed her ear up to the hole.

"Evil Gremlin!" Tangerine exclaimed with maybe a hint of nervousness, "What brings you here?"

"Cut the small talk," The Evil Gremlin hissed back, though that fact that it retained Trigger Happy's high and squeaky voice made it more ridiculous in sound than intimidating, "There's been reports of the Skylanders and their portal master wandering around this area, and I want to know if you've spotted them!"

"Portal master? Skylanders?" Tangerine turned to the whispering crowd of trolls then turned back to the Evil Gremlin, "Well, what do they look like?"

"Portal master's a human kid, all black hair and loud mouth and colorless clothes…"

"Excuse you, black and white is a great color combo!" Chihiro hissed at the Evil Gremlin, though she knew it couldn't hear her. However, her anger morphed into concern as she saw the trolls shuffle around and look down.

"And the Skylander with her looked like me, but all orange and white and… Ugh, good…" The Evil Gremlin explained before it turned a blank eye to a contemplating Tangerine.

And in that moment, Chihiro froze—because it looked like the jig was up! They'd figure it out, realize she was only masquerading all along, sell her out, and, well… Who knows what would happen next! Maybe they'd all turn and attack her and Trigger Happy at once, maybe they'd try and force her to spill where the others were… Oh god, what if they tried to deliver her to Kaos? Chihiro shuddered at the very thought, then turned her eyes back on Tangerine while a pair of furry hands wrapped around her shoulders and a weight gained on her back.

Tangerine seemed quiet and contemplative as they stroked their chin and examined the crowds behind, then they turned up to the tower where Chihiro and Trigger Happy hid!

Chihiro squeaked and jumped away from the door, then shuddered and crept back up to the door and peered through the hole again, just out of some kind of morbid curiosity.

"What's going on, Chi?" Trigger Happy whispered as he pulled his tiny, furry body up onto Chihiro's shoulders, "What're they doing?"

"Trig, quiet!" Chihiro whispered back, her eyes practically glued to the door, "Lemme listen!"

Chihiro gritted her teeth as Tangerine finally stopped stroking their chin, then her heart practically stopped as Tangerine turned back to the Evil Gremlin and opened their mouth…

"Nope, can't say I have!" Tangerine chirped as they hid their hands behind their back, "Just us Trollcoys here!"

Wait, what? Tangerine didn't sell them out? Chihiro's jaw dropped, but she quickly clenched it once more from sheer anticipation as she gazed back outside.

"Are you sure about that, troll?" The Evil Gremlin proceeded to give Tangerine the stink eye.

"Wouldn't say it if I wasn't, troll's honor!" Tangerine nodded as they spoke, all while their ears flopped in the winds.

The Evil Gremlin raised an eyebrow at Tangerine, then sighed and turned around as Tangerine nodded again.

"Very well then, we'll look around the rest of the fields…" The Evil Gremlin shook a warning finger at Tangerine, "But be warned, you will be punished greatly if you're lying!"

"Good thing I'm not~" Tangerine sing-songed as they trained their eyes on the fields, then turned back to where Chihiro and Trigger Happy hid. With a smile, they motioned for Chihiro and Trigger Happy to leave!

"They're gone, you can come out now!"

Chihiro winced, then reluctantly pushed open the door and crept back onto the battlefield. Sure enough, Tangerine was right. The Evil Gremlin and the Evil Drill Robot had completely left the premises! She stumbled around a bit at first as she looked over the trolls, as her legs had gone numb from a mixture of shock and sitting around way too long, but finally she steadied herself and gulped.

"You…" Chihiro sputtered as she pointed towards herself, eyes fixed on the Trollcoys in wonder, "You didn't tell them? Why?"

"Of course not!" Tangerine walked up to Chihiro and patted her arm, "We swore you in, and that means you're one of us! We'd never betray a family member!"

Chihiro's jaw only dropped as she watched Tangerine's eyes sparkle. They had saved her and Trig, knowing the risk it could come to them because they considered her family? That… Chihiro only smiled and sniffled a bit, her heart a bit warmer now.

However, Trigger Happy was far more emotional! His eyes welled with tears and his nose with sniffles before he launched himself straight into Tangerine's arms and sobbed!

"DAD!" Trigger Happy wailed before he jumped into the next troll's arms, "Mom!"

Trigger Happy proceeded to do this with pretty much every troll currently in their team, almost overjoyed at the prospect of having a family!

"Brother! Grandpa! Second cousin once removed!"

Chihiro and Tangerine both giggled as they watched Trigger Happy's exuberant display of emotion, then Tangerine looked aside and crossed their arms.

"Besides, we don't want Kaos handling the Eternal Tech Source, anyways!" Tangerine scoffed, "Not when we have a much better use for it!"

"Wait, really?" Chihiro tilted her head.

Tangerine nodded and turned away, the smile on their face now completely soured.

"You probably wouldn't believe it, but we used to be some of the finest crafttrolls in all Skylands! People came from the furthest corners of the universe just to get our wares! Our inventions practically flew off the shelves, business was booming and all was right with the world!"

Tangerine sighed and shook their head.

"But, I guess sometimes there really is such a thing as too much demand and not enough supply. So many people wanted our wares that we just couldn't keep up the pace!" Tangerine's ears flicked once, then twice, "Soon enough, we ended up using all the materials our home had to offer, and we were left in the dust because we couldn't provide those machines anymore!"

Tangerine's ears drooped in tone with their voice.

"Our whole kingdom fell into poverty, and we got so desperate that when Kaos came here claiming he could give us enough riches to get us back on our feet, our old king ate it up…"

Tangerine gritted their teeth as they looked around with narrowed, furious eyes at the battlefield before them. But, the look in their eyes almost made it seem as if their attention was focused on something else entirely, as if something other than the current mission troubled their heart…

"And look how well that worked out for us! Got strongarmed into fighting his battles, making second-rate machines, dying on the frontlines… And he didn't even fulfill a single promise he made!"

Tangerine frowned as they turned back to Chihiro, then their gloomy look lightened as they smacked a fist against their hand.

"That's why we're taking matters into our own hands! We're gonna take the Eternal Tech Source and use it to make enough resources to build all the machines we could dream of! With it's power, we can break out from Kaos and make our own way of living again!"

Tangerine made a small chuckle as they turned ahead. "Sure wish Trollamor was here to see it, but I s'pose I can fill him in later."

Everybody else departed towards their goal, but Chihiro herself couldn't find it in her to move forward… So she just stood there, eyes wide and legs a bit numb. She had never really thought about why they would have needed the Eternal Tech Source—just that she needed to get it for herself. And after the kindness they showed her, she couldn't just turn on them like that! After all, they had every reason to turn her and Trigger Happy in… But they didn't. A part of her felt like it would be betraying their trust to take the Eternal Tech Source from them, but at the same time a tugging feeling in her gut told her it would be wrong to not bring the Eternal Tech Source to the Core! But…

"Hitomi, you comin' or not?" Tangerine shouted from across the way.

Chihiro shook her head, then ran down the pathway despite the numb, disjointed feeling in her body.

"Coming!" Chihiro shouted.

Chihiro's feet pounded against the cold stone with a drum's beat as she ran up the path, but the trolls had already beaten her to it! By the time she had arrived, they had completely swarmed the strong, wooden exterior of a gate with a shiny golden lock on it!

"Alright, everyone, all together!" Shouted the troll who headed the charge as the other trolls all shuffled around them and crowded the gate's front.

"Heave…" Everyone shouted in unison as they slammed into the gate, "Ho!"

However, they all bounced off and fell on their backs. Not that this discouraged them, as they immediately got into formation and charged again, this time with a bit more speed than before… Not that it did them any good, as the gate tossed them aside with the same amount of force! So, they staggered back up and seemingly got ready to charge again, it seemed like. But, instead of charging, everyone just groaned and fell flat on their tired, sore faces.

"Guess we'll have to find those keys after all…" The troll who headed the charge groaned as they rubbed their sore, throbbing red head.

So, everyone dispersed and went to handle the keys, while Chihiro dove towards a small pile of rocks and tried her best to stay out of their line of sight.

What do I do? Chihiro thought as she bit her lip while she sifted through a small pile of rocks, I know we need the Eternal Tech Source for the Core of Light, but…

Chihiro went from biting to pursing her lips as she looked back at the trolls, all worn and beaten down yet still strong enough to smile. A few of them laughed and cracked jokes with Trigger Happy as they turned over barrels, a couple smaller ones cheered as they slid down a makeshift slid composed of dirt and rocks, and two particularly old ones leaned against the walls as they spoke about times gone past… Even though they knew the stakes at hand, they still came together and had fun like any family would!

That's what they were, after all. A family that despite all odds, tried their best to stick together and keep each other safe in such harrowing situations, that grappled for a single chance to get out and make a better life for themselves. Heck, for a moment, as she saw two larger trolls laugh as they lifted the two smaller ones that had slid down the makeshift rock slide moments earlier, she saw a bit of herself and Mamoru as they were embraced by their parents again…

No, no, she couldn't get distracted! Chihiro shook her head as the vision cleared and sighed. For as bad as she felt for them, Chihiro couldn't endanger her mission—beside, what good was saving them going to be if the Core of left unfinished and Kaos was still at large, ready to take them down again? She couldn't just let them have the Eternal Tech Source for the rest of all time… But she couldn't exactly leave them like this, either.

Isn't there some way to do both?

Chihiro frowned as she tossed a few rocks against the wall and watched them bounced off.

"Maybe we could loan it to them for a little while? Just until they get back on their feet?" Chihiro whispered, before she smiled and made a tiny nod, "Hey, that sounds like a good idea."

Chihiro smiled as she looked over the trolls, who all cheered as a smaller member of their ranks withdrew a rust-covered, but still golden key! By the time Chihiro had rejoined them, they had all made a path while the small troll drew towards the gate and stuck the key in its lock.

"Five, four, three…" Everyone chanted at once as the small troll slowly unlocked the gates, "Two…"

The small troll unlocked the lock with a click, then pressed their hands against the gate's wooden surface.

"One…"

The small troll pushed the gates open, and everybody cheered as they merged into one, big crowd that stormed into the next area! This was it, the moment they had all been waiting for!

"Time to get the Eternal Tech Source!"

§

Within the confines of a dusty, lonely part of the warfield, all was silent save for the sound of pattering footsteps and soft chatter. In moments, the Trollfields had popped out into the open and silenced themselves as they stared into a skies, a moment taken to admire the sights.

"AT LAST!" Boomont exclaimed as he pumped his fist to the skies, "We're nearly there!"

Everybody else cheered in tune with Boomont, then turned their eyes towards the gigantic barrier ahead. Their trek was close to finally concluding—everyone around could feel the intense presence of Tech Element energy as it radiated from behind the barrier's confines!

"We're here!" Tangerine proclaimed as they lead the Trollcoys through the open gate, "See, we even got here before the Trollfields…"—Tangerine turned around and looked Boomont straight in the eye—"… Did."

Tangerine and Boomont only looked at each other in pure shock, jaws dropped and eyes bulging out of their heads and the likes.

"YOU!" Tangerine and Boomont exclaimed in unison, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE?"—Both parties glared and clenched their brows—"GETTING THE ETERNAL TECH SOURCE, THAT'S WHAT!"

"If you think you're getting the Eternal Tech Source, well buddy…" Tangerine grabbed a grenade from their belt, pulled its cord and tossed it into the open, "Well, you can kiss my—"

The grenade blew up in a shower of fire and sparks that not only completely cut off Tangerine's sentence, but forced the Trollfields to take cover! As they sought shelter under a nearby cliff, Boomont snarled and pulled a bomb from his belt alongside a lighter.

"If that's how you want to play…" Boomont growled as he lit the bomb and tossed it into the open, "Then so be it!"

With no further warning, Boomont tossed the bomb out and watched as the Trollcoys scattered before it hit the ground!

"Trollfields, charge!" Boomont proclaimed as he turned back to the other Trollfields, who already had their weapons at the ready!

But as the Trollfields raced full-throttle towards the open gates, they didn't catch sight of Tangerine as they stumbled out of the smoke… However, Tangerine sure saw them!

"Everyone!" Tangerine screamed as the other Trollcoys jumped back to their feet, "They're trying to take our source! Hurry!"

The Trollcoys shouted and rumbled as they grabbed their weapons and charged after the Trollfields! Before they had known it, the entire place had devolved into chaos and fighting once more!

"Take this, Trollfield scum!" Cried Atom as he yanked the pins out of an entire handful of grenades and shot them right towards Trollance and Trollcey!

Trollance and Trollcey turned around and watched with wide eyes as the grenades shot right towards them, then Dyna intercepted the grenades with a blast from a laser gun!

"Trollance, Boomont, get to the gate!" Dyna shouted as she blew the smoke off of her gun, "I'll take this old dud!"

Dyna fixed her eyes on Atom as she shot off a round of laser blasts, but Atom was surprisingly spry despite his old age as he had managed to dodge every single one! Atom reached for another weapon… But before he could grab his arms, Dyna sniped the ground below him and tossed him aside, all while the dynamite sticks he had grappled for flew into the air and rained down on the battlefield below!

While the dynamite rain poured across the battlefield, Chihiro screamed as a dynamite stick narrowly flew over her head and straight towards… Oh no, Trigger Happy! He was wandering about in a smoky cloud, completely oblivious to the dynamite stick that was about to land next to him! Chihiro teleported over to Trigger Happy's side, then yanked him off the ground and teleported away right as the dynamite exploded!

"Phew, close one!" Chihiro sighed as she watched the dynamite erupt into a massive explosion of fire and smoke. She knelt down and went to drop Trigger Happy back off… Then yelped as a lit bomb landed right by her feet! "Spoke too soon!"

Chihiro stumbled back and teleported again, but the moment she reappeared she found herself caught within the confines of a laser gun battle! She teleported this way and that, but it seemed like there was danger at every turn! She grimaced as she stumbled away from one blast, then jumped from another explosion and whimpered as she hid behind a rock… Only to lift her head as something tapped her on the shoulder.

"You must be the portal master and the Skylander, right?" Asked a kind of hoarse voice from behind Chihiro, "Come with me!"

Chihiro grunted, then turned around to find…

"Boomer?" Chihiro sputtered, "When'd you get here?"

"Boomer? Who're you talking about?" The troll asked with a shake of their head, "My name's Trollver!"—Trollver shook his head and grabbed Chihiro by the hand—"But nevermind that, we need to get out of here!"

Okay, so this troll wasn't actually Boomer, but with how similar they looked, could Chihiro really be blamed for thinking that? They had the same bald head, rich green skin and bushy orange beard—though now that she got a better look, Trollver's eyes were a bright orange compared to Boomer's red, and his ears were a little droopier compared to Boomer's. Plus, his arms and hands were actually organic, though it could barely be seen as his whole body was covered in worn leather clothing that vaguely reeked of gasoline…

"DUCK!" Trollver shouted as he yanked Chihiro forward and sent them both tumbling into a ditch.

Chihiro grunted as she slammed face-first into a particularly hard rock, then sat back up and rubbed her aching forehead… Only to stop as she heard a shrill groan from below. Whoops, in all this chaos she had forgotten she had Trigger Happy with her!

"Sorry, Trig," Chihiro winced as she let Trigger Happy stumble out of her arms then turned back to Trollver, "But seriously, dude, what was that for?"

KA-BOOM! Right outside their ditch sanctuary, a loud explosion coated the entire area in fiery shades of red and orange! Well, looks like Chihiro got her answer.

Trollver shot her a tired look, but nonetheless crawled forward and poked his head out of the ditch.

"Coast should be clear," Trollver whispered as he ducked back into the ditch and pulled Chihiro back up, "Now come on!"

All three of them jumped out of the ditch, and with Trollver as their guide they ducked into what seemed like a wayside ditch and tunneled under it. As it turned out, their little wayside ditch was actually a path, one that was thankfully far and safe enough from the ongoing battle. But, Chihiro couldn't help but turn around and look back as smoke wafted into the tunnels…

"Say, where are you taking us, anyways?" Chihiro asked as she turned back to Trollver.

"Some people were looking for you, you know, think they were friends of yours," Trollver turned back to Chihiro and winked, "Portal master, Skylander."

Chihiro frantically blinked, then she and Trigger Happy gasped and stepped back.

"You know who we are?" Trigger Happy asked.

"Portal master, Skylander, thank goodness you're here!" Cried a shrill, vaguely strained voice ahead.

Chihiro turned back around, then beamed and let go of Trigger Happy as she saw none other than Snuckles standing in the halls! His clothes were torn just a little and his eyes were a bit puffy like he had been crying… But he was alive and otherwise unharmed, thank goodness!

"Snuckles, there you are!" Chihiro exclaimed as she hugged Snuckles tight. They were both so, so, relieved just to see each other again, even though they barely even knew each other… Funny things being stuck in a battlefield does to you, huh?

Snuckles sobbed tears of joy as he hugged Chihiro, then shook his head bolted out of Chihiro's grip. "No time to talk, follow me!"

Chihiro nodded, then she raced after Snuckles with Trigger Happy's hand held tight and Trollver close behind her. The explosions that sounded off from behind became background noise as a bright light shone up ahead… Then with one last spurt of running, they all raced into a massive, stone building almost like a coliseum, with three other mabu men hidden within its confines!

The three mabu men mumbled something to each other, then cheered as they turned around and caught sight of Chihiro!

"You must be the rest of the Mabu Defense Force, right?" Chihiro asked as she walked up to a mabu man in a particularly fancy hat.

"Yep! Name's Rizzo!" The hat mabu replied as he walked up to Chihiro and shook her hand, "Captain Rizzo!"

Chihiro grinned, then as she released Rizzo's hand she turned back to Snuckles and tilted her head. "What happened?"

Snuckles, in response, chuckled and adjusted his hat.

"Well, when I got left behind after that battle, I ran into Trollver here!" Snuckles explained as he gestured back to Trollver, "Turns out, he and his partner Trollamor found my buddies and brought them here cause they heard we were looking for you!"

"We would've told you…" Rizzo interrupted as he forced a chuckle, "But our communicators got broken in the battle. Sorry about that."

"Well, that's one thing taken care of," Chihiro sighed, then she lifted her head and blinked as the sound of footsteps sounded off against the stone.

"Come on!" Said another, kind of scratchy-sounding voice as three figures made themselves barely seen against the shadows, "They should be in here!"

Out first from those shadows was an orange-skinned troll with kinda greasy black hair and small bags under their eyes, and yet the makeshift uniform of fancy leather belts, a worn leather backpack and mish-mashed camouflage was incredibly well-kept given the circumstances surrounding. They leaned down and caught their breath for a moment, but the moment they looked up and saw Trollver their eyes lit up like stars!

"Trollver!" The orange troll shouted as they bolted off with a new energy and flew straight into Trollver's arms, "You made it alright!"

"Trollamor!" Trollver exclaimed, before he smiled and drew Trollamor into a short peck on the cheek.

The two of them held each other so softly and tenderly, it was like for a moment the entire world around them had completely disappeared!

"So you're Trollver, huh?" Asked a familiar voice as the other two figures stepped out from the shadows, "Yeah, I can definitely see the resemblance!"

Chihiro turned around yet again, and out from the shadowy halls came none other than Boomer and Drobot! They were a little frazzled-looking and covered in shiny dust, but thank goodness, they were alright!

"And that's the other thing!" Chihiro exclaimed as she bolted over and wrapped Boomer and Drobot in a tight hug, "You guys alright?"

"Thankfully," Drobot panted as he wormed out of Chihiro's hug, "Boomer was mistaken for one of the Trollfields' own, and we were able to take cover with them for a while!"

Boomer just chuckled, then turned to Trollver as he and Trollamor walked closer to their motley little crew.

"Heh, sorry for any weird questions you get after today, buddy!" Boomer said as he looked towards Trollver.

"Ah, it's alright, I suppose," Trollver remarked, "I'm just amazed that we have such an uncanny resemblance…"

Boomer and Trollver both hummed as they examined each other, then drew back as Chihiro shoved herself between them.

"Welp, now that that's taken care of…" Chihiro dusted her hands free of the shiny dust she contracted from Boomer and held her head high, "You guys know what that means!"

"Yep!" Boomer chirped as he adjusted his backpack.

Chihiro and Boomer placed their hands together. "It's time to get the Eternal Tech Source…"

Chihiro and Boomer's little pause gained the attention of everyone around, but none more than Trollver and Trollamor who both made gentle gasps and wide smiles.

"For the Trollfields!" Boomer proclaimed.

"For the Trollcoys!" Chihiro cried!

Chihiro and Boomer both pumped their fists to the air for moments, then promptly froze and did double takes in their general direction. Their eyes turned narrow as their smiles faded to frowns, and everyone around turned tense and backed away as the two of them shoved their faces together.

"But, the Trollcoys really need the Eternal Tech Source!" Chihiro explained, "Without it, they'll have no way to get away from Kaos!"

"Well, so do the Trollfields!" Boomer retorted, "They're stuck working with him cause nobody wants their tech anymore!"

"That's hardly an issue! If anything, the Trollcoys need it more!" Chihiro placed her hands on her hips and scoffed, "Their kingdom's completely out of resources!"

"Well, they can just most to another place!" Boomer gestured wildly with his free hand, then turned back to Drobot and beamed, "The Trollfields need it more so they can get their machines back in business, right Drobot?"

"Uh…" Drobot muttered as he looked at Boomer.

"That's ridiculous!" Chihiro exclaimed as she turned back to Trigger Happy, "It's not nearly that easy to just pack up and move, right Trig?"

"Well, er…" Trigger Happy sputtered as he looked aside and scratched his cheek.

Boomer and Chihiro glared straight at each other, the tension between them like thick butter that not even a knife could cut through! They both opened their mouths with full intentions of arguing more, but before they could start…

"Uh, isn't the Eternal Tech Source supposed to go in the Core of Light?" Rizzo asked as he stepped forward and frowned.

"Yeah, Captain Rizzo is right!" Snuckles said as he pushed forward, then grimaced and drew back, "I mean, we need the Core of Light to stop Kaos, and without the Eternal Tech Source we can't complete it, right?"

Snuckles looked up to receive sharp looks back from Chihiro and Boomer, then whimpered and drew away.

Chihiro and Boomer froze, then both of them bit the lips and looked down at their feet. A flush of warmth formed in their cheeks, the kind born from some kind of shame on embarrassment, then finally, they both reluctantly drove away from Rizzo and Snuckles' looks.

"Yeah, but… We can just loan it to them for a bit, right? I mean, they lost their homes and got roped into all this because they lost those resources!" Chihiro winced as she looked back at the hallway that lead them outside, "We can't just leave them like this! I don't know what else to do other than that!"

"Yeah!" Boomer affirmed, "After all they've gone through, we can't just leave them floundering! If we can't use the Eternal Tech Source to help them, what else can we do?"

Chihiro and Boomer both turned to Trollamor and Trollver with tense, anticipating stares.

"You agree, right?" Chihiro and Boomer asked in unison.

Chihiro shoved her hands into her pockets as her eyebrows clenched further. "After all, Trollamor, you experienced this stuff firsthand! You'd understand it better than anybody else!"

"No, let Trollver do the talking!" Boomer intervened, "He's the one that knows what we're talking about!"

From beside them, however, Trollamor shuddered while a wary Trollver gently laid a hand on his shoulders… But Trollamor just swung out of Trollver's arms and stormed towards Chihiro and Boomer!

"If you don't know, then how about you stay out of it?" Trollamor asked, his voice cold and venomous, "This is our problem to solve, not yours!"

Boomer and Chihiro both gasped, then drew back as Trollamour pushed his face into theirs!

"Do you think we aren't trying to fix this or something? 'Cause we sure as hell are!" Trollamor shouted as he poked a finger at Boomer, "Trollver and I have been doing everything we can to help our families get out of here so nobody else would have to get hurt because of us!"

Trollamor shuddered as he bit his quivering lip. "I'm tired of all Skylands having to suffer like we did! I don't want that stupid Source if it means that Kaos will get to keep gallivanting around and putting all Skylands through the same things we were put through!"

Trollamor sniffed and rubbed his nose.

"I, I, I…" Trollamor sniffled once more as his voice started to crack, "I was hoping that you'd come to take it back so we could get it out of the picture and get our folks to come to their senses, but you, you, you… You were no help at all!"

Trollamor shuddered as he pursed his lips the best as could while a pair of green arms wrapped around him.

"Trollamor's right," Trollver said, his voice tired and resigned as he stroked Trollamor's back, "The longer it takes to rebuild the Core, the more time Kaos has to take over all Skylands, right? We don't want the Eternal Tech Source if it means the rest of Skylands will suffer the fallout,"—Trollver sighed as he hugged Trollamor a little tighter—"We were hoping that getting the Eternal Tech Source out of the picture would get our families to listen to us and cease this quarrel… But I suppose that's going to be a lot harder than we thought."

With one last scoff, Trollamor wormed his way out of Trollver's grip and dashed back down as halls.

"Looks like we'll have to take care of this ourselves!" Trollamor proclaimed as he grabbed Trollver's hand, "Come on, Trollver! We can't let this battle go on any further!"

Trollver nodded, but just before he and Trollamor disappeared down the halls, he sighed and gave one last look back at Boomer and Chihiro. Something rang in his eyes, but nobody around could tell what it was—disappointment? Resignation? Concern? Whatever it was, it disappeared along with him as he and Trollamor vanished into the halls' darkness.

As their last traces vanished into the dark depths, Chihiro pursed her mouth shut and clenched a hand. She took a step forward, as if she wanted to go after them, but a glare from Snuckles and a shake of Rizzo's head caused her to draw back and sigh.

"We messed up, didn't we?" Chihiro whispered as she wiped her face.

"We really did," Boomer affirmed as he lifted his hand from Chihiro's back.

Tiny tears formed in Chihiro's eyes as Boomer patted her on the back and looked down the halls. After all, there were a lot of questions that surely pressed on their minds, and none of them were exactly easy ones. So, they stood in silent, confused contemplation… Then a mighty roar rumbled as a long shadow cast itself over the area and caught everyone's attention!

"What's going on?" Chihiro shouted as she stepped back, then frowned and looked to the skies, "Wait, hold on…"

There in the heavens above, a large, round rocket slowly descended onto the battlefield!

"What's that rocket doing?"

"I don't know, but it looks like it's landing on the battlefield!" Rizzo shouted as he rushed for the hall's entrance, "We need to check it out!"

So, they all bolted out the halls and dashed out onto the battlefield, which now had a noticeable lack of battling! The Trollfields and Trollcoys had completely vacated the outer section, and any other noises were completely drowned out by the rocket's noise!

Rather, everything was center at the heart of the battlefield, where that shadow had grown larger and larger as the rocket started to come down! So, with a nod from Chihiro and Boomer, everyone dashed into the heart, right into the fray.

Despite the intense winds that the rocket whipped down, the trolls' humble groups rejoined the heart of the battlefield where all the warring parties had consolidated. But, now, there was no fighting. Trollfield and Trollcoy alike had laid down their weapons and fixed their eyes on the giant rocket that had sat down on the rocky, wartorn ground and opened up with a hiss!

"I thought you trolls were acting suspicious…" Remarked a shrill voice quite similar to Trigger Happy's as three figures emerged from the rocket's smoke, "Seems as though my gut was right!"

Tangerine turned around as the smoke cleared, then gasped and dropped the gun they were holding.

"You guys!" Tangerine exclaimed as they pointed to the rocket's former passengers…

Who were none other than the Evil Gremlin and Drill Robot, now flanked by an orange and purple copy of Drobot!

"Us indeed." The Evil Gremlin sneered for a few moments, then its confident disposition turned sour as it glared at the trolls, "We've been keeping an eye on your little escapades for a while now… Evil Robot Dragon?"

The Evil Gremlin ushered the Evil Robot Dragon forward, and with a nod the Evil Robot Dragon drew forward as its eyes glowed!

"This footage was found in quadrant three point fourteen point one hundred eleven at approximately two hours thirty minutes—" The Evil Robot Dragon droned before the Evil Gremlin promptly bonked it on the head.

"Get to the point already!" The Evil Gremlin growled and shook a fist at the Evil Robot Dragon.

The Evil Robot Dragon wailed and shook its head, but nonetheless resumed its projection… Much to the shock and horror of the Trollfields! After all, there on that very projection was none other than recordings of them as they crept through the confines of an old, magical-looking cavern made of blue stone!

"You're the one who set off those mega bombs, aren't you?" Boomont gasped.

"Precisely," The Evil Robot Dragon sneered in its warped, mechanical voice as its projection faded from view.

"And now that we have the evidence, we can't just let traitorous scum like you walk free! That would be a disservice to Lord Kaos!" The Evil Gremlin stepped in with a smirk, "So, we'll just have to start up the Ultimate Weapon and wipe you all out, here and now!"

The trolls gasped, then snarled as they grabbed their weapons and raced forward! Trollfield and Trollcoy alike, it no longer mattered as they grabbed their arms! With a collective pull of their triggers, they sent a wave of laser blasts towards the minions… Only for the Evil Gremlin to stop it mid-course with a blast from its guns!

Everyone gasped as the laser blast shimmered into nothingness, then with a snarl Tangerine grabbed a grenade, pulled the pin and rushed forward as they tossed the grenade towards the evil minions! And their one act of defiance sent a wave of defiance through the crowds, as the rest of the trolls grabbed their bombs, guns and fists as they followed after Tangerine!

The Evil Drill Robot blasted the grenade in midair without a second thought, then as it wheeled around and caught sight of Tangerine, it just rumbled and shot out its drill! Tangerine gasped and swerved away just in time to avoid being hit between the eyes… But the drill still managed to slash through their arm and leave a nasty, bloody cut!
Tangerine yowled in pain as they fell to their knees and tried desperately to press the cut down with their hand.

"Tangerine!" Syracuse cried as she raced to his side and dug through her pocket, "Don't worry, I'm sure I've got some bandages in here somewhere—"

"DUCK!" Tangerine cried as he pulled Syracuse down right as a laser blast flew above them!

Tangerine snarled as they watched the laser blast into a nearby stronghold and craft a massive dent in the stronghold's rocky walls, then as they turned around, they directed that snarl towards the Evil Robot Dragon!

the Evil Robot Dragon chuckled as it flicked a switch on its helmet, then zapped away a bundle of dynamite and chased after the troll who tossed it.

"You stupid trolls are years away from being able to defeat us!" The Evil Gremlin exclaimed as it tossed away several trolls with a blast from its guns, then looked back to the door that blocked off the Eternal Tech Source's storage room, "Unfortunately, you won't have that kind of time anymore!"

The Evil Gremlin, Drill Robot and Robot Dragon all cackled as they raced towards the door and slammed it open… Or at least, they would have if a bright blue energy blast hadn't knocked them off course!

"You'll start that weapon up over my dead body!" Chihiro vowed as she, Boomer, Trigger Happy and Drobot jumped in front of the door.

"You accursed Skylanders!" The Evil Gremlin yelled, "You'll pay for that!"

Though the evil minions snarled and reached for their weapons, Chihiro stood tall and unrelenting while she readied her next magic blast.

But while Chihiro stayed confident, the Trollfields and Trollcoys seemed much less so! They had drawn back and huddled together with wide eyes and quivering, shaky lips, yet they seemed to settle some as Chihiro, Trigger Happy, Drobot and Boomer looked back at them and nodded.

"Stay behind us," Chihiro ordered as she and the Skylanders grabbed their weapons and turned back to the evil minions, "We'll handle these guys!"

§

All was tense as the evil minions stared down Boomer, Drobot, Trigger Happy and Chihiro. It was four versus three, so normally they'd have the upper hand… But after the display of strength and prowess the evil minions had showcased, the odds seemed a little more uneven.

Chihiro clasped and released her sweaty palms as she glared down the Evil Gremlin, Drill Robot and Robot Dragon. The three of them, in turned, stepped back a bit as if they were going to retreat… But instead, they charged forward and readied their weapons!

So, Chihiro summoned a hand cannon made out of magic and charged towards the Evil Drill Robot in turn! With a spin of the cannon, round energy spheres full of magic and light rocketed out and made a beeline towards the Evil Drill Robot… Only to get intercepted by the Evil Drill Robot's lasers! As the spheres vanished in tiny explosions of light, the Evil Drill Robot charged straight towards Chihiro! Chihiro screamed and bolted off as the Evil Drill Robot charged after her, then scrambled back and changed directions as a bright yellow laser blast cut off her path!

And what did that laser blast come from, one might ask? Why, none other than the Evil Gremlin and Trigger Happy! Screaming and smoking guns was the background noise as the two of them stood each other down, eyes narrowed and mouths twisted into snarls. Then finally, Trigger Happy got bored of sitting around and shot off a round of coins! The Evil Gremlin jumped out of Trigger Happy's initial blast and was quick to retaliate with a flurry of its own coins that Trigger Happy dodged as well! The two of them kept shooting off coin rounds towards each other… But soon enough, those coins were traded out for larger coins, safes, golden lasers blasts… And yet despite the growing intensity of their attacks, not a single hit was landed!

Finally, the Evil Gremlin snarled and whipped out a gigantic machine gun, then wrapped its fingers around the trigger and grinned as it charged! Though its eyes were blank, there was no denying it had fixed itself on Trigger Happy with the intention to kill! Trigger Happy, in response, pulled out a machine gun of his own and charged it up…

But before either of them could finish, the Evil Drill Robot charged right into the fray at such an intense speed and knocked them both off of their feet! Their partially-charged guns, meanwhile, just fired laser beams into the air before they both fell back with a THUNK!

"YOU HUNK OF BOLTS!" The Evil Gremlin cursed as it shook a fist at the Evil Drill Robot, but the Evil Drill Robot heard none of its shouts!

After all, the Evil Drill Robot was only inches away from charging straight into an unsuspecting Chihiro… But just as it got ready to slam into her, she teleported away! The Evil Drill Robot stopped in its tracks just before it could slam straight into solid rock, then swiveled around and beeped.

"RETURN AT ONCE, PORTAL MASTER APPRENTICE!" The Evil Drill Robot demanded as it shook its drill hands to the skies, "OR I WILL FORCE YOU TOO!"

"Alright, alright, no need to shout!" Chihiro's voice exclaimed from nowhere.

"Eh?" The Evil Drill Robot swerved left and right, "Where did that voice come from?"

"RIGHT HERE!"

A bright light shone right above the Evil Drill Robot as Chihiro teleported right above it, then landed right on its back and wrapped her legs around tight! Her position reassured, she summoned two gigantic magical gloves, then put them on her hands and grabbed onto the Drill Robot's drills! With utterly gleeful laughter, she took the drill hands and began banging on the Drill Robot's head!

"Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself?" Chihiro asked with an almost mischievous kind of glee.

"OWCH! OWCH! OWCH!" The Evil Drill Robot exclaimed as it spun around in some desperate attempt to shake off Chihiro,"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! LET GO OF ME RIGHT NOW! AND STOP HITTING ME WITH MY OWN DRILLS!"

But its pleas were unheard! Chihiro just kept pounding away!

"Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you—"

"FINE THEN! IF YOU WILL NOT GET OFF, I WILL MAKE YOU!"

CLICK! Chihiro stopped short as the Evil Drill Robot's laser blaster flipped right in front of her and got ready to shoot her right between the eyes!

"CRAP!" Chihiro exclaimed as she let go of one hand, then snapped her fingers and stuck something blue and shiny over the laser blaster—a wad of sticky, chewy magical gum!

And she did so just in the nick of time, too! The gum completely blocked off the laser, and instead it just caused a loud series of clunks and whirs to emerge from the Evil Drill Robot's body! Smoke flew out from every crevice, and it only grunted as its metallic eyebrows slunk over its eyes.

"Urgh, what has happened to my body? This feels like I just underwent a faulty repair…"

The Evil Drill Robot tried to withdraw its laser blaster, but the gum on the blaster completely stuck it halfway through! It just made a couple pathetic clicks and squishing noises as the blaster repeatedly tried and failed to withdraw.

"Wait, don't tell me—you put GUM on my BLASTER?" The Evil Drill Robot growled as it fired up its motor, "THAT WILL TAKES WEEKS TO GET OUT! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

And with a mighty charge, the Evil Drill Robot tore across the ground at the highest speed possible!

Chihiro screamed as she grabbed on the gum, which was thankfully sticky enough to keep her stuck to its surface, but riding the Evil Drill Robot was like trying to ride a raging bull! She was a leaf tossed amuck by the most intense of wind storms as she remained stuck to the Evil Drill Robot!

"SOMEBODY GET ME OFF THIS THING!" Chihiro cried as the Evil Drill Robot continued charging left and right at maximum velocity…

But, her pleas went untouched, for the only other ones there were Boomer and Drobot, and both of them were fixated on their showdown with the Evil Robot Dragon! All three parties glared each other down, the atmosphere so tense that even the slightest wrong move would set the whole confrontation alight with war—and they all knew this.

"Two again one?" The Evil Robot Dragon scoffed as it drew into an attacking position, "That's hardly a fair fight, if you ask me."

"Well you know," Boomer shot back, his eyes narrowed as he reached for his bombs, "Killing off a bunch of helpless trolls with a gigantic war machine isn't exactly fair, either!"

"I suppose I can't argue my way out there." The Evil Robot Dragon whipped out its wings and scoffed, "How about I fight my way out instead?"

And with that, twin gigantic bladegears shot from the cannons on the Evil Robot Dragon's wings and head straight towards Boomer! Boomer immediately jumped out of their way and wiped the sweat from his brow… Then twitched his ears and looked behind to find that no, he wasn't in the clear just yet! Those bladegears had swerved around and were headed right back towards him!

Boomer screamed and got ready to bolt away, but right before he turned tail and ran, two gigantic red lasers shot out from beside him and fried the bladegears to burned piles of soot! Boomer turned his gaze aside, then looked at Drobot and gave Drobot a thumbs up! Drobot nodded in approval as white smoke danced around his eye sockets, then whipped his head around and shot a round of thick red lasers back at the Evil Robot Dragon! The Evil Robot Dragon, in response, just threw up a shield and completely neutralized the lasers, much to Drobot's shock as he stumbled back.

"You do not think you are the only one who can do fancy tricks, do you?" The Evil Robot Dragon smirked at a growling Drobot as the shield faded.

Drobot snarled as he got ready to shoot more lasers, but the Evil Robot Dragon beat him to the punch! The Evil Robot Dragon shot off its own lasers in the moment of time he was caught off guard!

Before he knew it, those lasers slammed right into him and Boomer and shot them both aside! They coughed and hacked as they tried to push themselves off the ground… But before they could get up, a black and white blur slammed into them and smacked them into a stack of wooden crates!

"TAKE THAT, YOU OBNOXIOUS BRAT!" The Evil Drill Robot exclaimed as it rolled up to the Evil Robot Dragon's side.

"Now I know how bull riders feel…" Chihiro groaned as she got up from the stack of crates that she, Boomer and Drobot staggered up from the broken, splintered wooden crates, "Ugh, I'm okay, I think…"

Well, three of them were down, but surely Trigger Happy was doing better, right? Actually…

"Look over there!" The Evil Gremlin proclaimed as it pointed a finger aside, "A flying gorilla!"

"WHAT, WHERE?!" Trigger Happy exclaimed as he bounced up and down and looked all around, "I wanna see a—"

"GOT YOU!"

The Evil Gremlin shot a large coin at Trigger Happy and gunned Trigger Happy right into the same broken crate pile that Chihiro, Boomer and Drobot had been tossed into!

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I FELL FOR THAT!" Trigger Happy cried as he soared through the skies, then crashed right into Chihiro's arms and groaned, "I think… I can see… The light… Is that you, grandpa?…"

And with that, Trigger Happy sprawled out in Chihiro's arms in some over dramatic fashion, eyes rolled back into his head and tongue lolled with a hand over his forehead! But, this dramatic act was quickly dropped as the Evil Gremlin, Drill Robot and Robot Dragon cornered them all!

Chihiro, Drobot, Boomer and Trigger Happy all snarled as the evil minions basked in their seeming defeat. They were bruised and battered, yet something in them wouldn't give up! As the minions laughed, Chihiro just cast a glance at Drobot, then the two of them made a small, subtle nod as the evil minions finished their laughing.

"Your time's up, Skylosers!" The Evil Gremlin cackled as it whipped out a pistol and pointed the barrel directly at Chihiro, "Give up yet?"

"Never!" Chihiro spat back as she staggered up and gently laid Trigger Happy.

The Evil Gremlin winced as it dodged Chihiro's spit, then snarled and waved its gun back in Chihiro's face. "Are you sure about that? You do look pretty hopeless right now to me…"

"It may seem hopeless, true…" Chihiro grabbed her arm and bit her lip, "But I can't give in now! Those trolls are counting on us to protect them, after all!"—Chihiro shuddered with some kind of rage in her heart and a fire in her eyes—"They worked so hard so they could make a better life for themselves… I can't let that all be in vain!"

And so, Chihiro yelled to the heavens as she slugged the Evil Gremlin right in the kisser! The Evil Gremlin grunted and lurched back as it rubbed its face… But it didn't seem pained, no, it just smiled and cackled!

"Was that supposed to hurt?" The Evil Gremlin smirked.

"Nah." Chihiro smiled and shook her head, "I just had to buy some time!"

A shadow loomed over the battlefield as Drobot jumped off the ground and flicked his laser cannons on, then shot massive lasers down below!

The evil minions screamed and scattered as the lasers carved into the ground below—they were completely distracted! Now the tables were turned!

And Trigger Happy was the first to notice as he whipped out twin machine guns, then charged them up and sent gigantic blasts of golden energy flying everywhere!

The Evil Gremlin and Robot Dragon screamed and jumped away from the blasts, but the Evil Drill Robot wasn't as fortunate, unfortunately! While it was trying its hardest to escape, Chihiro leaped in front of it and smirked!

"CATCH ME IF YOU CA~AN!" Chihiro shouted as she stuck her tongue out and pulled her eyelid down at the Evil Drill Robot, "NYEH!"

The Evil Drill Robot growled, then spun around and charged off as Chihiro bolted away!

"Get back here, you insolent pest!" The Evil Drill Robot demanded as it stormed after Chihiro, who just kept running and laughing ahead of the Evil Drill Robot!

Chihiro yelped as she ducked a laser from Drobot, then as she looked ahead, she smirked and teleported away in a flash of cyan sparkles!

"WAIT, WHERE DID YOU GO?!" The Evil Drill Robot screamed as it spun around in place, "FACE ME LIKE A—"

The Evil Drill Robot turned around and froze, and in that moment it surely realized just what she had done—because right in front of it, a golden blast of energy from Trigger Happy hurtled straight towards it!

"Oh bolts."

And just like that, the Evil Drill Robot was enveloped in that blast of golden light with a pained, mechanical scream that faded into the distance with the light… For when that blast ended, it was no more than a pile of dull, purple and orange spheres!

"Phew, that was a lot of shooting," Trigger Happy sighed as he withdrew his machine guns and wiped his forehead, "Time for a breather!"

But what Trigger Happy didn't notice as he rested was that the Evil Gremlin had caught sight of him! With a smirk, it jumped away from the battle it currently was in with Boomer and dashed as far as its stubby little legs could take it!

"Talk about a golden opportunity!" The Evil Gremlin exclaimed as it pulled out a machine gun of its own and smirked, only for its smile to fade into shock, "Wait, did I just make a pun?"—The Evil Gremlin shook its head and smiled again as it went to charge its gun—"Oh, nevermind! Finally, I'll be rid of that—"

"HEY-OH!"

"WAIT, WHAT WAS THAT?!" The Evil Gremlin looked around, then flinched as a loud SMASH sounded behind it!

"Mind if I crash the party?" Boomer chirped from behind the Evil Gremlin!

The Evil Gremlin turned around and snarled, because there behind it was none other than Boomer! He just had the goofiest grin on his face as he sat on top of the machine gun and patted its barrel!

"GET OFF OF MY GUN, OLD MAN!" The Evil Gremlin demanded as it whipped out its pistols, "Or I'll make you!"

"Hey, I'm no boomer!" Boomer scoffed, a state of mock offense taken as he stood up, scoffed and placed his hands on his hips… Before he chuckled and gently smacked himself on the head, "Wait, that's my name!"

Boomer then looked down at the Evil Gremlin's brandished shotguns and gulped. "You don't have to tell me twice!"

And with that, Boomer leaped off the gun and ran far, far away, then sat down and plugged his ears… Almost like he was witnessing an explosion?

"That stupid troll, never could stand him," the Evil Gremlin scoffed before it turned to its machine gun, "Now, ready, aim..."

The Evil Gremlin clicked the trigger, but nothing came out other than a few strained clicks! "Fire? What's going on?"

The Evil Gremlin hopped around and examined the barrel of its machine gun… Then gulped. Right inside it was a lit bomb that was seconds away from exploding—and it was a few seconds too late to escape!

"CURSE YOU, TROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL—" was the last thing heard from the Evil Gremlin before it was caught in the explosion and came out a pile of spheres!

Boomer cackled so hard that it forced him to hold his sides, but it seemed that the Evil Robot Dragon was less than pleased! While Boomer laughed away, it hovered up, whipped out its bladegear cannons and got ready to shoot…

But before it could, a laser shot straight forward and slammed into one of its wings! The Evil Robot Dragon cried in pain as it held its smoking, broken wing… Then it screamed as it barrel-rolled forward and crashed right into a nearby wall with a loud BONK! It fell down the wall a jagged accordion of its former self, then with a groan it burst into a pile of spheres.

"That was not very intelligent of you," Drobot remarked with a self-serving smirk as he flew down beside Boomer.

With the three evil minions gone, the battlefield had found peace at last. The only sounds were that of wind rushing across the skies and timid footsteps as the Trollcoys and Trollfields poked their way out of hiding… Then smiled as Chihiro turned back and gave them a thumbs up!

"Thank goodness that's over," Chihiro remarked as she wiped sweat off their brow, "Now, for our prize—the Eternal Tech Source!"

Chihiro gulped as she looked ahead, where a large fortress with sturdy stone walls and a massive wooden gate blocked the way to what was surely the Eternal Tech Source… Maybe?

"Do you think this is really the place?" Chihiro asked as she and the Skylanders walked up to the wooden doors.

Boomer opened his mouth to reply… But before he could, he, Trigger Happy and Drobot all froze and shuddered in unison!

"Guys!" Chihiro exclaimed as she grabbed Boomer and leaned him on her side, "You alright?"

"You bet!" Boomer exclaimed as he pushed himself away from Chihiro with a wide beam, "That was the biggest surge of Tech energy I'd ever felt in my life! The Eternal Tech Source has to be here!"

So, Chihiro beamed and turned back to the doors. She pressed her hands against their rough, wooden surface, then Trigger Happy, Boomer and Drobot all did the same… And with a creak, the doors flung open under their collective pressure and unveiled a round, dusty arena with the Eternal Tech Source straight in its center!

The Tech Source by itself might not have seen very impressive, being a simple, floating oval with an orange glow no bigger than a dinner plate with a couple gears that turned for all eternity in its center… But the energy that came from it was astounding! Just being around it made the few stray gears and wheels and dead machines around the arena whir and turn and rumble at an amazing speed, like they were brand new!

"Yeah, that's gotta be the Tech Source!" Chihiro exclaimed, then turned and beamed as Trigger Happy hopped on her shoulder.

"It's even more beautiful than I imagined!" Trigger Happy shouted with glistening eyes… Only to gasp as a purple and orange cloud flew past him and Chihiro like a swarm of insects!

"I don't know about that weird purple and orange thing, though!"

"Whatever it is, it's headed towards the Source!" Chihiro exclaimed as she shook off Trigger Happy and froze, "Wait, purple and orange? Like those spheres those creepy minions had dropped?"—Chihiro completely froze in place as she watched the cloud—"Oh no…"

Chihiro bit her lip, then bolted forward and teleported away the moment her feet hit the ground!

"IF THAT THINGS HITS THE TECH SOURCE, WE'RE TOAST!" Chihiro cried as she reappeared right in front of the Eternal Tech Source, fully ready to cast a shield or some kind of thing to stop it, "I'VE GOTTA STOP THAT THING BEFORE IT HURTS ANYONE HERE, NOT AFTER THEY ALL—"

Chihiro tried, she really did… But ultimately, she was too slow for the cloud! Right before she could finish her sentence, the energy slammed right into her chest! As the energy seeped into her chest and caused a purple glow to pulse around her, Chihiro screamed and fell to the ground! Though she hit the ground pretty hard, Chihiro shook her head and smiled as she forced herself to stand. Her smile was wide and her eyes forced themselves to shine with a bit of healthy light, but the way her hands and legs trembled with a faint, lavender glow suggested something else entirely...

"Geez, that was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it?" Chihiro panted as she turned around and fixed her eyes on the Eternal Tech Source. She raised her shuddering hand to the skies, and against the murky skies that simple, lavender glow grew brighter and much more prominent. "Now, lemme just, just let me get a container around this thing..."

Chihiro's hand glowed even brighter while even the Eternal Tech Source shuddered against her light, but something was off. Her hands glowed not with the bright, cyan color they usually shone with, but rather a murky purple that spread from her hand to her arm and then the rest of her body as she channeled her magic! And as that strange glow spread, she started to shudder even more furiously than before while pained breaths escaped her mouth. It was like just the thought of casting a spell was sucking the life out of her...

Chihiro winced as she held out a second hand and shot out a flare of magic, but what came wasn't a container, no! Rather, a bright flash of light popped out and exploded dangerously close to Chihiro! And not only that, it exploded with such force and speed that it slammed her back onto the ground before she could even properly react. All she could do was scream as she hit the rocky floors!

"Chihiro!" Trigger Happy, Drobot and Boomer shouted at once as they ran to Chihiro!

Boomer was quick to prop Chihiro up but… Oh no, she wasn't looking good! Her breath had become heavy and labored as she shuddered, and with each shudder she pulsated with that same murky purple glow, which had grown far brighter and more imposing with a sort of orange halo.

"You okay, Chihiro?" Trigger Happy asked as he hopped up and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm, I'm, I'm… Fine, Trig," Chihiro croaked, her voice horse and eyes glazed from weakness as she made a kind gaze at Trigger Happy, "Why… Why don't you take, take this one?"

Chihiro whimpered, then before she could say more she collapsed into a shivering ball in Boomer's arms! Boomer made a sharp gasp, but quickly lifted up Chihiro high enough for all to see. Those energy pulses spread further across the arena, and with each one Chihiro shuddered and whined in pain. Her face was incredibly pained with eyes screwed shut so hard and brows clenched so tight, and her mouth twisted into a frown as she continue to whimper and sniffle in sheer agony!

Gasps of shock sounded from Trigger Happy, Drobot and Boomer as they huddled closer around Chihiro. What could have possibly happened to her? It was like she had gotten sick out of completely nowhere! Or rather… Cursed.

"Drobot, start up one of your scan thingies!" Boomer demanded, a surprising level of seriousness in his eyes.

Drobot reached for the dials on his helmet, then froze as the sound of stampeding footsteps rushed into the arena.

"What's going on?" Rizzo shouted as he and the rest of the Mabu Defense Force lead Trollfield and Trollcoy alike into the arena!

"We don't know!" Boomer exclaimed, a strained tone in his voice as he held out Chihiro for all to see, "She got hit with this weird cloud thingie and now she's all sick!"

"Not sick…" Drobot corrected as he drew a shaking paw away from his helmet, "Cursed! My scanners indicate that a massive amount of cursed magic is circulating through her right now, and it is corrupting the magic within her own body, thus weakening her physical condition!"

"We may not know much about magic," Trollver shouted as he and Trollamor pushed through and took Chihiro from Boomer's arms, "But we can at least keep her physical condition in check!"

"There's a med bay near here, we'll take her to our specialists!" Trollamor added as he and Trollver turned around and raced back out the arena, "Just worry about getting the Eternal Tech Source!"

And with that, Trollver and Trollamor raced out of view with Chihiro still tight in their grasp. Hopefully she would be alright…

Trigger Happy, Boomer and Drobot all reluctantly turned back to where the Eternal Tech Source was, then reached out to grab it—only for it to zoom off before they could even touch it!

"Hey, wait up!" Trigger Happy shouted as he hopped after the Eternal Tech Source with Boomer and Drobot in close pursuit!

Trigger Happy leaped as far he could while he grappled after the Eternal Tech Source, but it was no use! It had gotten way too far ahead! He could only flounder after it before it seemingly decided it got fed up with this little game of chase! Before anybody else could reach it, the Eternal Tech Source phased through the wooden section that blocked off an area beside them and disappeared with a bright orange glow!

Trigger Happy, Drobot and Boomer all froze in their tracks and stepped back as a low, mechanical growl sounded off from that shadowy, boarded-off area… Then finally, they scrambled back as a gigantic tank crashed through the area!

The tank whipped around and whirred as a massive pair of mechanical spider legs emerged from under it, then the tank itself grew twice, thrice, five times its size, all while even more guns popped out from its sides, and eight glassy panels that vaguely resembled eyes… Before they had known it, what seemed like a humble tank had transformed into a massive spider tank!

Everybody else cleared out while the spider tank made massive, angry whirs and beeps, then shot missiles into the skies that sent rains of fire down below! Everyone screamed as the burning fireballs slammed into ground like divine retribution, but they didn't stop to admire the show by any means!

"Come on, everyone!" Rizzo exclaimed as he yanked open the door to a nearby tower, "In here, unless you wanna be tomorrow's barbecue!"

All at once, everybody flooded into the towers, and for once, in what could only be described as a miracle in itself… Trollcoy and Trollfield alike put aside their differences as they helped each other rush to safety! Dyna quickly yanked Atom out of a fireball's path and directed him to safety, Trollance and Boomont hoisted an injured Tangerine onto their shoulders as they raced inside, and Syracuse even tended to an injured Trollcey before Boomette pushed them both towards the towers!

It would have been an amazing sight if not for the pressing circumstances, but Boomer, Drobot and Trigger Happy had no time to gaze in wonder! As the last of the Trollfields and Trollcoys piled in, the three of them joined the Mabu Defense Force in rushing inside and locking the doors shut!

Luckily, the tower itself was bigger on the inside than it was outside. It had enough room for everyone to hide among the machinery with plenty of space to spare… But somehow, it still wasn't reliving. Tension brewed as the trolls leaned against what seemed like machines and weapons hidden under dusty, stained tarps or pressed their backs against the cold, stone walls, only to flinch as the tank's footsteps pounded outside and made the whole tower shake.

"It's hopeless," Tangerine mumbled, the light from their eyes vanquished as Trollance bandaged their blood-covered arm, "That thing's completely souped up on the Eternal Tech Source's energy! How are we supposed to stop it?"

"And you worked so hard to stop them from starting up their Ultimate Weapon…" Trollance said as he bit his lip and gazed at Boomer with pained eyes, "I'm sorry."

"Wait, that was the Ultimate Weapon?" Boomer exclaimed.

"You bet! A transforming spider tank with more weapons than an entire cavalry, powered by the Tech energy generated by the Eternal Tech Source…" Trollance sighed and looked aside, "How can we compete?"

"A-HEM!" Rizzo exclaimed as he cleared his throat and looked towards their hopeless, sad selves, "Forgetting someone?"

Trollance just scoffed as he looked back to Rizzo. "You're just a few mabu, what can you do?"

"Oh, we can't do much by ourselves…" Nort remarked as he poked out from behind Rizzo, "But, the mega bombs we found while trying to find our way through this place probably can!"

"MEGA BOMBS?!" Boomer exclaimed as he ran up to Rizzo, "You aren't pulling my leg are you? 'Cause that's just what we need!"

"Exactly!" Rizzo beamed, only to look aside and grimace, "But, it'll take a while to push it in by ourselves… Especially if that tank catches us…"

"Then we'll just hafta distract it!" Trigger Happy exclaimed, "We'll just make it really mad at us and get its attention, then you guys can roll the mega bomb in and blow it up! Like this!"

Trigger Happy hopped back and make all sorts of booming noises and shouts as he danced around the room, which earned a chuckle from Drobot.

"That sounds like a fairly strong strategy on the surface… But our own powers alone would not be enough to suffice," Drobot's smile faded as the gears in his brain began whirring, "We would need something of intense firepower, and a good majority of it firing at once…"

"Like these?" Tangerine and Dyna asked in unison.

From behind them, the sound of a tarp being yanked off and warbling in the distance was heard as several of the Trollcoys and Trollfields unveiled an entire collection of gigantic cannons and guns!

Tangerine and Dyna looked towards the Skylanders and Mabu Defense Force with a wink, then grabbed onto a gigantic machine gun and raced towards a nearby platform attached to some rusted, but still sturdy chains. As they heaved the machine gun onto the platform, one particularly buff Trollcoy rushed over and cranked the handle of a nearby crank, which sent them on the upper level of the tower!

And they weren't the only ones either! All of the Trollfields and Trollcoys worked together in perfect harmony as they grabbed cannons, gigantic blasters, machine guns and more, then piled them on the platform and moved them up!

"We can't let them do all the work, can we?" Trigger Happy asked as he whipped out his pistols and hopped up to Boomer and Drobot, a glint of excitement in his eyes, "Let's kick some machine butt!"

Boomer grinned from ear to ear as he looked towards Drobot, who held a similar grin on his face, then all three of them bolted onto the platform with the buff Trollcoy. The lever started to spin thanks to a coin shot from Trigger Happy's pistols, and they all shot up to the second floor in an instant!

Over on the second floor, everybody else had rushed outside through the opened doorways—the low chatter and sound of machines being set up had already started to flood in!

"We'll take care of the mega bomb now!" Rizzo shouted as he slammed open the door, "Godspeed, Skylanders!"—Rizzo then whipped his head around and jabbed a finger out the door—"GO! GO! GO!"

As the Mabu Defense Force rushed out the tower doors and slammed them shut, Boomer bolted outside with Trigger Happy and Drobot quick to follow!

The outside world shone with a harsh light thanks to the clouds parted by the tank's missiles, and everything smelled of smoke and gunpowder and ruin—but nobody seemed discourage as they stood by their arms and fixed their gaze on the spider tank. The spider tank hadn't seem to notice them, however, as it twitched and spun around with its cannons fixed on the entrance—surely it was trying to locate the Mabu Defense Force…

"EVERYONE, NOW!" Tangerine shouted as they lit a cannon's fuse!

The stone balconies became a sea of orange and green as the Trollfields and Trollcoys swarmed together and shot off their weapons! And from them, an array of lasers blasts, cannons, missiles, gigantic bullets and more whipped out from their weapons and shot straight into the heart of the spider tank!

The spider tank whirred its massive body around, but it had caught sight of the assault far too late—it could only watch as it got blasted in the chest and crashed back into the other side of the arena! Smoke emerged from every orifice of its body as it made a low, distorted beeping noise… Then as the smoke started to clear its beeping grew more rapid and angry! The sound of grinding metal hit everyone's ears as the spider tank began to shift its weight, then its guns folded back into its body as it jumped up and retracted its legs into the center of its body! Soon it looked not much like a tank, but rather a UFO!

Everyone gasped as the spider tank spun with such a rapid pace that it whipped intense winds down on everyone! These winds were so strong, so fast that they had to latch themselves onto whatever they could if they didn't want to get blown away!

Well, all except for Syracuse, who screamed as the winds swept her off the balcony! She would have fallen into the spider tank's arena and gotten splatted in an instant… If not for Dyna grabbing her hand and yanking her back in!

"You alright?" Dyna yelled as she pulled Syracuse to solid ground, then smiled as Syracuse nodded, "You know, you seem pretty cute. I have a sister who's single, if you're—"

"GEEZ, Dyna!" Boomette yelled over the heat of battle, "Quit trying to set me up with people! We're in the middle of a battle to the death here!"—Boomette looked up and gasped, then ducked for cover—"INCOMING!"

Everybody else lifted their heads to the skies, then took cover as the spider tank flew over and lasered down the back of the towers! As the inside half of the towers sank into ruins, the spider tank flew back into the arena and returned back to its original form, then made a few pleased beeps.

"It's distracted!" Boomer shouted as he leaned over the balcony and pointed towards the tank, "Get it!"

And so, the firearms assault continued! The Trollfields heaved a row of massive cannons up as the Trollcoys loaded cannonballs inside, then Drobot flew over and lit the cannons in a row with a blast of lasers! The cannons fired as one and sent cannonballs soaring into the skies, all while the spider tank crept its head around and beeped… But before it could fire, the cannonballs slammed into its window eyes and completely shattered them!

The spider tank swerved and stumbled about as it made a series of warped, distorted noises, then as it skittered forwards a massive missiles rocketed from the balcony and exploded right underneath the tank's legs! It screeched as it was tossed into the air and fell flat on its face, then groaned as it turned back around and glared at the balcony.

There, Atom and Boomer high-fived each other as Atom lugged a massive rocket launcher over his shoulder, then the two of them froze and turned around the sound of a machine whirring to life resounded behind them. They blinked for a moment as they looked behind, then screamed and ducked underneath the stone walls as the spider tank shot a laser right above them!

While the laser shot into the skies, Boomer looked back then poked his head over the bridge as he breathed a sigh of relief… But he took his breath too soon, for a swarm of missiles homed in for the kill! Boomer leaped up and shot a bunch of dynamite bundles right at the missiles, but those bundles just bounced off the missiles' shiny, metal exteriors and exploded in midair!

As the missiles zoomed out from the smoke with not a scratch on them, Boomer flinched and dropped back onto the stone wall. His lips twitched as he watched the missiles draw closer… But before they could come in for the kill, a bright golden blast melted them away! Boomer looked aside and grinned as Trigger Happy gave him a thumbs up, but as Trigger Happy turned the gigantic golden machine gun he held back to the spider tank, Boomer's grin faded. With a frown, he hopped off the wall and turned back to the rest of their forces.

The trolls and tank continued to trade blow after blow, each one slowly growing less equally matched than the last. And judging from the panicked shouts and frantic looks on the trolls' faces, it seemed like they were running low on ammunition, too… Where were those mabu defense guys?

Boomer raced down to the end of the balcony and peered towards the entrance, then made a gasp of glee! Just across from their fortress, a mega bomb could be seen rolling in the distance—the Mabu Defense Force had come through! It was just a matter of time now!

"Hey, tankie! Over here!" Boomer shouted as he leaped up and down and waved his arms at the tank!

The tank, in response, chirped with confusion as it looked at Boomer, who… Leaped off the balcony and pounded down into the ground?

"Catch me if you can!"

Boomer dashed across the arena like his life depended on it, all while he shouted and waved at the spider tank! The spider tank made a few angry beeps, then sent out a giant laser that dug into the earth and sent chunks of ground everywhere—but only for a few moments! While Boomer was catching the tank's attention, the tank itself had gotten cheap-shot by a perfectly-timed missile from the trolls above! The tank whirred in shock as it stumbled back, then whirled around and got ready to transform…

But before it could, the mega bomb slammed right into it and captured it within a fiery explosion!

Boomer ran under the surprisingly stable lower half of the ruined balcony as flaming, ruined machine parts rained down from the skies, while everybody else was quick to join him.

"Did we do it?" Dyna asked as she ran up to Boomer.

"I sure hope so," Rizzo panted as he sat beside Boomer and caught his breath, "Spending all those years planting flowers really bit me in the butt…"

Boomer, however, just narrowed his eyes as he examined the smoking, ruined tank. Between all the flames and smoke, one could just barely make out a small, orange glow that flitted out from the wreckage… Could it be? That glow grew closer and closer, then finally slipped under the sanctuary of the ruined tower and showed that sure enough, it was the Eternal Tech Source! Boomer snatched the Tech Source from the air, but he didn't seem any more relieved or happy—he just turned back to the others with brows furrowed and an urgent look in his eyes.

"Where's the med bay?" Boomer asked as he looked at Dyna.

"Follow me!"

Dyna grabbed Boomer's hand and lead him out of the ruined arena, while Trigger Happy and Drobot followed in pursuit.

Once they were all out of the arena, Dyna pulled them towards that same path they had taken to find the Mabu Defense Force's coliseum hideout not moments earlier, then let go of Boomer and pushed a large stone aside to unveil… A secret staircase down below.

"The med bay is straight down this way," Dyna explained, "Go—"

"IT HURTS, IT HURTS! MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!"

Dyna winced and held her ears as a bloodcurdling screech reverberated from down the passageway, but Boomer wasn't scared off at all!

"Chihiro!" Boomer shouted as he shoved the Eternal Tech Source under his arm, "Don't worry, Ol' Boomer's on his way!"

Boomer, Drobot and Trigger Happy all bolted down the stairs and across the hallway they lead to, to find themselves in a rudimentary medical bay with a couple crude medicinal tools. However, that was hardly the main thing that caught their attention!

Rather, what did catch their eye was Trollver and Trollamor, who tended to Chihiro as she sat on a hard-looking bed!

"What's wrong with her?" Boomer demanded as he shoved himself between Trollver and Trollamor winced as they looked towards Boomer, then looked back down at Chihiro, "Why's she getting worse?"

"We don't know!" Trollver blurted out, "We've used everything we could, but nothing's giving us any answers!"

"We think it's the curse spreading," Trollamor replied as sweat dripped down his face, "Everything here's only attuned for physical health issues, so we can't exactly stop it…"

Boomer just bit his lip as he looked down at Chihiro, who only seemed to have gotten worse in the time they had spent fighting that spider tank. Her face was some deathly mixture of white and purple, all while her whole body rattled with every breath she took. Her body radiated with that same corrupted energy that seemed to instill fear with every pulse… Just looking at her made everyone sick to their stomachs.

"Mom, Dad…" Chihiro whimpered as she curled into a shuddering ball, her voice so faint and strained it was barely an echo.

"It's okay, Chi, it's okay!" Boomer exclaimed as he handed off the Eternal Tech Source to a shocked Trollver and lifted her in his arms, "We're all here, everything's gonna be okay!"

Boomer turned back to Trollver and Trollamor. "Our infirmary back at Ancient's Peak has plenty of stuff for dealing with this magic-y stuff! Where's the nearest ship?!"

"There should be one close by here," Trollver rushed back out the infirmary's open doorway and down the halls, "Follow my lead!"

And with no time wasted, everybody else bolted out the doors and down the halls, the sound of Chihiro's pained whimpers and ear-shattering screams the only other sound beside their foosteps.

"It's gonna be okay, Chi," Boomer whimpered as he hugged Chihiro close to his heart and cradled her like she was his own child, "Just hang in there…"

§One very tense airship trip later…§

When the troll's ship finally docked at Ancient's Peak, Boomer, Drobot and Trigger Happy all bolted off the ship's deck with the still quite cursed Chihiro wrapped around Drobot's back.

"NO TIME TO TALK!" Trigger Happy exclaimed as they parted a sea through the other residents of Ancient's Peak, "WE NEED TO GET TO THE INFIRMARY, SUPER DUPER PRONTO!"

As they ran, the sound of not blood, but Chihiro's pained whimpers and pants rang throughout their ears. With the way they bit their lips and cast worried glances back at her, it was as if every bit pain and agony she felt was theirs as well!

"Her temperature is increasing rapidly," Drobot spat out as he haphazardly fiddled with the knobs on his helmet, "Increasing external cooling mechanisms immediately!"

Drobot's suit whirred with an icy aqua light while a chilling feeling set around the area—though nobody was quite certain if it was from his suit or the imposing issue of Chihiro's own wellbeing.

Though her panting has cooled some, her face was still sheet-white and sweat continued to roll down her shuddering body to the point where it had just barely dampened the back of her vest, all while she continued to pulsate with raw, corrupt energy. It was heart-wrenching seeing her so sickly and desperate… Hopefully, she could hang in there a little longer, please, let her hang in there long enough…

"Go, go, go!" Trigger Happy shouted as he slammed the infirmary's door open and ushered the others inside!

They were in such a hurry, they didn't even notice Hugo as they stormed past him!

"ARE THE FANCY MAGIC PEOPLE IN?!" Boomer demanded with a yell so loud it could probably be heard through the entire island, "WE'VE GOT A SITUATION!"

"Boomer, what are you yelling about?" Whirlwind questioned as she rounded the corner, "Don't tell me you got—"

Whirlwind's sour expression completely dropped the moment she saw Chihiro writhing and whimpering in pain. Her face now as pale as Chihiro's own, she rushed over and pulled Chihiro from Drobot's back.

"HEX, DOUBLE TROUBLE!" Whirlwind lifted Chihiro onto her own back and dashed back down the halls, "WE NEED YOU ON THE DOUBLE!"

Boomer, Drobot and Trigger Happy followed Whirlwind down the halls, but by the time they had caught up with her they were a tad bit too late. They could only catch a glimpse of Chihiro as Hex and Double Trouble rushed her into one of the sick rooms and slammed the door shut, Whirlwind close behind them. Their expressions all bore equal parts concern and solemn fear as they watched the closed door and saw their friends' silhouettes from its glass pane window. Though the ones inside were talking loud enough, that conversation was only the background to their concern.

"You think she'll be alright?" Trigger Happy asked as he tugged on Boomer's hand.

"I really hope so, Trig," Boomer whimpered, his eyes tiny and his mouth deep-set into a frown, "I really do."

Drobot said no words. He only hovered around the halls in a circle and muttered something unintelligible to himself—calculating the probability of her survival? That was probably it, judging by the way he scraped his chin.

"Boomer, Trigger Happy, Drobot!" Hugo called as he balled down the hallways as fast as his short little legs could take him, "What was all that hurrying about? And what's—"

Hugo winced and stopped in his place, as did everyone else when Chihiro let out a bloodcurdling scream from the other side of the door.

"Double Trouble! Bring me the lumination elixir, she's getting worse!" Hex ordered from the other side of the door, "Whirlwind, keep applying your healing rainbows!"

Hugo's face fell as he watched Hex, Double Trouble and Whirlwind's silhouettes scramble about from the limited view of the door's glass pane. He whimpered, then turned his gaze to Boomer.

"What happened to her?" Hugo asked at last, his eyes tiny and his whole body quivered as if he wasn't prepared for the answer.

"She was hit by cursed magic during our mission to retrieve the Eternal Tech Source," Drobot explained, his mechanical voice filter lowered just enough to reveal his natural voice, "She is in critical condition."

Hugo spoke no response, but the way he turned his attention back to the door and clasped a hand over his heart spoke all the words they needed to know. Surely, he prayed for her safety as much as they did.

"In more optimistic news, I performed the calculations." Drobot cleared his throat and returned his voice filter to its normal levels, "She should have a fifty percent chance of survival, should the treatments go as planned."

"FIFTY PERCENT?!" Hugo jumped back, then clasped his hands over his mouth and shuddered as Chihiro made another scream.

"STOP, STOP!" Chihiro screeched at the top of her lungs, "MAKE IT STOP!"

"Chihiro, please, calm down!" Whirlwind shouted, "We're here, I promise, we're doing everything we can!"

"Chi!" Trigger Happy called as he ran up to the door and bounced up to its window. As he fell back down, he bounced up and went to push the door open… But before he could, Drobot yanked him out of the air and flew back to Boomer and Hugo!

"Dro, lemme go!" Trigger Happy whined and whimpered as he struggled against Drobot's tight grip, "I wanna see! I wanna know what's happening!"

"Do not be so foolhardy, Trigger Happy!" Drobot scolded as he dropped Trigger Happy to the ground, "You cannot interrupt them while they are treating her! It could make her condition worse! Is that what you want?!"

Trigger Happy made a sharp gasp, then whimpered as he curled up into a ball and looked away.

"I didn't wanna do that…" Trigger Happy sniffled and rubbed tears away from his eyes, "I just wanna see if she's okay!"

Drobot drew back a paw, then clenched his jaw and swooped down. When his paws were finally on the ground, he curled up next to Trigger Happy and patted Trigger Happy on the head.

"I understand, I am greatly concerned as well." Drobot wiped away the last of Trigger Happy's tears with his tailfin as he watched the door once more, "But, we have to have faith in their abilities, and her own. Fifty percent of those afflicted by cursed magic survive…"

Drobot made a clunky, mechanical-sounding gulp, then looked over to an equally-anxious Hugo and Boomer.

"We just have to hope she is one of the fifty percent."

"Excuse us, is this is a bad time?" Asked a soft, yet somewhat snotty voice from across the hall.

All eyes turned to the few lit areas of the hallway, where two troll men—a green-skinned one and an orange-skinned one—stood under the light!

"TROLLS?!" Hugo shrieked as he jumped back and held out a paw, "HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!"

"Trollver, Trollamor!" Boomer called as he jumped to his feet and ran up to them, "What're you doing here?"

"Well, first off…" Trollver said as he scratched his ear, "We wanted to check on the kid. How's she doing?"

Everybody shuddered as Chihiro let out another ear-shattering scream.

"We don't know yet." Boomer made a cursory look back at the door then turned back to Trollver, "But our folks are doin' everything they can!"

Trollver nodded, then gently nudged Trollamor and winked.

"Second of all, we talked about it with our folks," Trollamor said as he drew his arms out from behind his back, "And they decided…"

Trollamor made a gentle smile as he held out a container that in turn held the Eternal Tech Source.

"That the rest of Skylands needs this far more than any of us do."

"The Eternal Tech Source!" Hugo exclaimed as he scurried over and collected it from Trollamor, "Thank goodness, it's arrived safe and sound!"—Hugo's eyes glistened as he clumsily shook Trollver and Trollamor's hands—"I can't possibly thank you enough! We couldn't possibly need better news right now!"

Boomer, however, seemed a little less celebratory as he looked back at Trollver and Trollamor.

"Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate this, but…" Boomer flicked an ear, "What're you guys gonna do?"

"Well, like we said, we had a long talk about it with our families…" Trollamor said as he stroked his ear, "Like, really long."

"And, our families realized that we have a lot more in common than they thought, same issues and everything… And, turns out we had just the solutions we need for our problems!" Trollver proclaimed.

"Yeah!" Trollamor grinned as he flicked his ears, "We Trollcoys have some really great tech, and the Trollfields' old place has all the resources we could ever dream of!"

"So, we've decided that from now on, the Trollcoys and the Trollfields will no longer be at odds!" Trollver proclaimed with a clap of his hands, "We're going back to our old homes and banding together to bring them back to their former glory! Heck, we'll even invite a bunch of the other trolls who got roped into working for Kaos to come work for us, too! That'll really put a dent in his armor!"

Boomer smiled and made a starry-eyed gasp. "That's great news, you two!"

"And we wouldn't have gotten through to them if not for you and the kid's help! After all, that big fight seriously got everyone thinking and all," Trollamor proclaimed, "So thank you!"

Trollver and Trollamor both turned around, but not before they cast a look back at Boomer, Drobot, Trigger Happy and Hugo.

"We'd better get going." Trollamor winked as he waved back at the others, "We've got a lot of work to do!"

Before anyone could take a step more, however, the door behind them slammed open!

All was quiet as every eye fixed on Whirlwind and Hex, then finally Hugo cleared his throat and broke the silence.

"Is she…" Hugo clasped his hands as he addressed Hex.

"She still has a long way to go," Hex replied with a firm nod, "But, the worst has passed. We were able to purge her of the corrupt magic, so she merely needs to recover from its physical effects."

Sighs of relief sounded off from everyone in the room, for no words could properly describe their solace any other way. True, she still had the long way to recovery… But at least the worst was over.

"Can we see her now?" Trigger Happy asked as he walked up to Hex and gave her the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could, "Can we? Can we?"

"I'm afraid not." Hex shook her head, "She's resting at the moment, and she needs every last bit of it if she wants to make a full recovery."

"Aww…" Trigger Happy pouted as he fell to the ground, then yelped as Hugo pulled him back to his feet.

"Well, now that we know she's okay, we should probably move on to the next matter…" Hugo said as he held up the Eternal Tech Source's container, "Adding this to the Core of Light!"

Gasps and approving nods were the backdrop as they all crowded together and walked down and out of the infirmary. The cool night air hit their faces and provided them with a well-needed breather from the earlier tension, then finally they all crowded around the Core's base.

"ATTENTION, EVERYONE!" Hugo proclaimed through a magically summoned loudspeaker that he quickly released once all eyes were on him, "It is time to return the Core of Light's next component!"

Everybody cheered as they swarmed around the Core, but Hugo paid no attention to the growing crowd as he lifted that same, worn book he used many times before and fingered through its pages. Once he reached his desired spot, Hugo cleared his throat and laid the Eternal Tech Source's container on the ground.

With an announcer's volume and confidence, Hugo chanted out the Ancient Skylandian words written on the page… And as he did, the Eternal Tech Source glowed with a stronger orange light than before and leaped out of its container!

Now free of its bounds, the Eternal Tech Source rocketed straight towards the Core of Light and dove deep into the Core's depths… Then as it disappeared into the ground below, the Core was enveloped in an orange glow! The glow seeped into the Core's lower platform as the gears that spun within it grew shinier and brighter, as if they had just been polished! And while the gears got a cleaning, golden pipes shot out from the Core's sides and twisted around the twin flowers that flanked it, almost as an armor of sorts!

"Something tells me we definitely made the right choice," Trollver whispered as he basked in the Core's upgraded beauty and held Trollamor close like lovers tended to do.

"Indeed," Trollamor whispered back as he planted a gentle kiss on Trollver's cheek.

The two of them nuzzled each other one last time as they relinquished their tender embrace, then walked hand-in-hand back to where their airship was parked. As they boarded and the ship took liftoff, Boomer, Trigger Happy and Drobot all raced up to the side of the island and waved up to Trollver and Trollamor!

"Goodbye, Skylanders!" Trollver and Trollamor shouted in unison, "Thanks for everything!"

"Good luck restoring your homes!" Boomer shouted back.

"Yeah!" Trigger Happy exclaimed as he bounced up and down, "So much luck that not even a bunch of four-leaf clovers could compete!"

"If you need any help, do not hesitate to ask for aid!" Drobot added with a smile on his face.

And with that, they all smiled as Trollver and Trollamor's ship took flight and disappeared into the night sky…

§The next morning...§

Chihiro groaned and rubbed her eyes as soft, warm light filtered into the room she laid in, though it didn't feel as nice as it usually did. Even though she had just woken up from a good night's sleep, she still felt tired and achy all over, like she hadn't slept a wink last night! Every bone in her body was aching to curl up under the soft, fleece blankets and go back to bed… But wait a second, something was off here!

These peach walls and white floors, they looked nothing like the wooden floors and stone walls of the room she called hers! In fact, they looked a little more like the infirmary rooms! But, what on earth was she doing in the infirmary? Chihiro rubbed her head as she tried to rack her slightly less tired brain for clues, but she didn't have the foggiest idea of what happened last night to go by. She only had a vague recollection of when she and the guys went to get the Eternal Tech Source, and then after that everything was a blur.

"Let's see, we helped those trolls, then the minions got beat up, then… Then what?" Chihiro mumbled as she splayed out her fingers and counted them off, "There was some spheres, and, and, and—"

"Chi, you're awake!" Spyro cried.

Wait, Spyro? Chihiro lifted her head, and her eyes locked on Spyro's bright, golden ones as he stood in front of the now-open doorway with Master Eon hovered close behind him. He flapped in place as he stared at her with those wide, golden eyes that rang with a bit of worry and made Chihiro uncomfortably front and center, then finally he dashed forward and leaped onto her bed!

"You feeling any better? Any aches and chills?" Spyro asked as he gently pressed a paw against her forehead, "Let me tell you, hearing you got messed up with that cursed magic gave us all a big shock!"

"Cursed… Magic?" Chihiro repeated as she warily lifted Spyro's paw from her forehead and raised an eyebrow. That did sound vaguely familiar, but…

"Do you not remember?" Master Eon asked as he floated next to Chihiro while his ghostly body turned a shade of bluish-purple, "Well, I suppose you wouldn't, given the curse…"

Chihiro bit her lip and tugged on her blankets, because something in her gut told her she wasn't going to like whatever Master Eon told her.

"When you and the Skylanders went to retrieve the Eternal Tech Source, you were inflicted with a massive amount of cursed magic! You were in awful condition when they brought you here, it's a miracle you're even awake now!"

"No kidding!" Spyro affirmed as he patted Chihiro's shoulder with his tailfin, "Trig told me you were screaming and had the weird magic glow and everything! I'd have come to check on you sooner, but Whirlwind said you really needed the overnight rest…"

Chihiro's jaw fell just slightly as she clenched her blankets even tighter. Though her memories were fuzzy, she could just barely recall what went on now, from those minions getting beat up to their weird sphere essence stuff chasing after the Eternal Tech Source… And then, that same essence slamming right into her chest, and the whole world turning dizzy and dark. She had screwed up yet again, and made everyone worry about her, and on their mission to get the Eternal Tech Source no less!

Chihiro's breath grew shaky and shallow as she leaped out of bed without a second thought, then dashed towards the door. Oh god, the Eternal Tech Source! Surely they must have lost it because they were so worried about her! Chihiro's whole body ached as she stepped out of the door, but she couldn't worry about that now! She had to regroup with the others and get back to that place, if it was even still at that place—

"Young Chihiro, what are you doing?" Master Eon exclaimed as he flew in front of Chihiro and magically pushed her back, "You need to stay in bed and rest, even if you are feeling better!"

"But, the Eternal Tech Source, we lost it 'cause of me! Because I wasn't fast enough to stop those things, everyone had to drop everything and take me back!" Chihiro retorted as she dug her heels into the ground and stopped Master Eon's spell in its tracks, "I've gotta get back out there and—"

"Young Chihiro, there's no need to fret! We were still able to retrieve the Eternal Tech Source nonetheless!"

Chihiro blinked and stepped back as Master Eon floated up to her, then she gritted her teeth and stepped back. Even though she should've be reassured by this, Chihiro couldn't help but feel uneasy still. Her body groaned and numbed itself like it was about ready to give in, and her heart wasn't much better as it practically pounded out of her chest.

"But, but, I've still got so much training to do…" Chihiro whimpered and looked aside as the world around her grew fuzzier, "And, the portals! Somebody needs to take care of patrols, too!"

Chihiro tensed her brows as she glared down Master Eon, then the world around her began to sway as she lurched back and held her head. All of a sudden, everything turned blurry and spotty, and she could barely even look ahead without it being painful and dizzying! Before she knew it, Chihiro's vision completely blackened as her whole body collapsed like a sack doll!

"Chihiro!"

Right before Chihiro fell to the cold, hard wooden floor, Spyro teleported behind her and she landed on soft, warm scales instead. Chihiro whimpered as a tiny bit of strength formed within her and allowed her to wrap her arms around Spyro, who only placed a paw on her shoulder. A gentle, purple glow enveloped them both, so soft yet so harsh to her weak eyes that it forced her to close them, and though she couldn't see the world around she could feel the soft embrace of those fleece blankets again.

"Don't push yourself, Chi," Spyro scolded as those fleece blankets tucked themselves closer around Chihiro, "You've still got a long way to go before you're fully better. Whirlwind said you'll need at least a week's worth of rest!"

A WEEK? The shock from hearing that alone was enough to make Chihiro jolt back awake, eyes wide open and all! An earth week would've been bad enough, but a week in Skylands was even worse—it was like four earth weeks rolled into one! She couldn't spend all that time sulking in bed, not when she had way more important stuff to take care of! In fact, that was what she said!

"I can't just lay in bed for that long!" Chihiro spat. She fully expected them to try and argue with her once again, but Spyro just smiled and laid a paw on her shoulder.

"Earth week, Chi, not a Skylands week. And don't worry, we'll all be here to check up on you, so it won't get too lonely—"

But, Chihiro just shook her head and lifted away Spyro's paw. "That's not it!"

Chihiro had wanted to get back to her feet and get back to work, but she still felt so, so tired that she at most could just stare him down.

"There's so much I still need to do, I can't just stay around here!" Chihiro whimpered as another dizzy flash came over her, "Who's gonna help you guys fight Kaos? Who's gonna take care of portals? Who's gonna—"

"We have already figured that out, young Chihiro," Master Eon replied as he flew back over to Chihiro and nuzzled the tears away from her cheek. Crap, she hadn't even realized she was crying, no wonder she felt even more tired.

"I will handle portals and patrols for the time being—with your Missionator, things have been going smoother than ever!"

"And we'll be fine, Chi!" Spyro said as he grinned back at her, "Don't worry about us, this is nothing we can't handle!"

"Oh, speaking of portals, I should probably check on those patrols!" Master Eon exclaimed as he flitted away, "I will be with you again in a moment, young Chihiro!"

Chihiro's heart sank a little as Master Eon flew back out the door, or maybe it was just the fatigue getting to her again—truth is, she couldn't exactly tell. But, either way, she was a bit too tired to argue with it, so she just sighed and laid on her side.

"You know, now would be the perfect time for some board games!" Spyro remarked as he sat up and wagged his tail, "I could—"

"No, I'm not really feeling up to it," Chihiro said without even thinking, her voice barely loud enough to be heard.

Spyro's smile faded away, and a frown took its place as he tilted his head. "You sure, Chi?"

"Yeah, I'm, I'm kinda tired, I guess." Chihiro winced, then barely nodded as she turned away from Spyro's view, "Besides, you probably have stuff you need to do."

Spyro seemed a bit hesitant judging by the soft murmurs he made, but finally wings flapped further and further away as he presumably made his leave.

"Get better soon, alright?" Spyro whispered as her room's door slowly creaked to a close beside her.

With Spyro well gone at this point, all Chihiro could do was roll on her back and stare at the cracks in the ceiling, all while her head rattled with those zooming, racing thoughts that kept her exhausted body from finally getting some rest.

Look what you did, Chihiro! You screwed up again, and now you'll make it even harder to beat Kaos! You nearly messed up the entire mission to get the Eternal Tech Source, and now you got yourself laid up in the infirmary when you should be working just as hard as they are!

Chihiro bit her lip and wanted to cry, but she was too exhausted for even that, so she just sighed and dove further into her sheets. No use sulking when she couldn't do anything about it beyond cry. Perhaps she'd just work twice as hard when she could get back on her feet… Yeah, that sounded alright by her. So, she pulled the blankets over her head to block out the searing sunlight and went back to sleep.

---

And now, some fun little Easter eggs!

Trollver's design was partially inspired by Bomb Troll, the early-development character who eventually became Boomer. In a similar vein, Trigger Happy's alias Golden Cheat and the Ultimate Weapon's design are also early development things, as Golden Cheat was Trigger Happy's working name during the development of Spyro's Adventure, and the weapon you fight at the end of the Battlefield level was originally supposed to be a transforming spider tank but was changed to a generic giant tank due to time constraints.

(And on a more serious note, the curse was something I had plotted out and written last year, but didn't get the time to write out due to being unexpectedly swamped during my break and not having the time to properly rewrite without extending my hiatus)