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)

32. Chapter 32

Time for our final lightning round update, and it's ending in a bang! To cap off this year, I'm uploading the last three chapters of CHS all together! That's right, at long last CHS's first installment will reach its conclusion!... Right after I reply to reviews!

Greenswitch: Glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter! Arkilles' name is actually derived from Achilles rather than Hercules—ever heard about the legend behind Achilles' heel, out of curiosity? And as for Kaos, well, you'll see what's going on with him soon enough!

ohma flame: I love rambling about lore, so I'm more than happy to answer your questions! First off, Chihiro didn't become a portal master when she came to Skylands, per say, as like Master Eon said back in chapter 26, nothing can make you a portal master—you just have to be lucky enough to be born one! So in Chihiro's case, I'd compare it more to a dormant ability of hers awakening in response to the right stimuli. For the magic-related stuff, that kind of thing could be possible through the use of animation and illusion magic, but depending on factors like the spellcaster's strength and training and the complexity of the drawing(s) in question, it can take a lot of power and ability to pull off successfully!

Twinightatom892: I'm really glad to hear that! As an autistic person myself, it makes me happy to know that other autistic people can see themselves in the characters I write and love them a lot!

Watch Seeker: You got it, those we nods to the series two and three figures! Also it might not make sense at first, but it should be noted that Arkeyan technology was made to blend the best elements of both the Magic and Tech Elements, so them absorbing the essence of the Magic Element isn't too far-fetched!

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Within the loneliest, most isolated corners of the Outlands, Kaos's flying fortress stood strong as ever despite the recent revelations that shook every one of his remaining forces down to their very souls. His guards marched along the floor as usual, his spell punks toiled away at spells and potions and every other malevolent magic artifact under the lack of sun, and Kaos himself was surely away somewhere plotting his next move… It was almost like nothing there had changed at all!

But, none of them were of particular importance at this very moment. Rather, within the confines of a tiny corridor with no light, something strange was brewing.

FWOOM!

A massive blade made of crackling purple and red flames lit a candelabra seated atop a worn table with a ragged tablecloth as a red and purple clone of Ignitor drew its blade from the table. Though its face bore no sort of traditional facial features, the low crackle of its flames was enough to show its quiet, dour mood. Beside it, a purple and silver Cynder clone pulled a busted metal can from the table and carved open the can's top with one of its claws, then dumped the can's canned spaghetti and meatballs into its mouth.

"Can you believe what Lord Kaos said to me?" Exclaimed an orange and purple Boomer clone that sat right of the Ignitor clone between slurps of barely-heated spaghetti and meatballs, "Just because I blew up a few spell punks during my last task to take back one of those stupid mabu villages, I'm not allowed to go out and fight anymore!"

The Boomer clone waved a fork in the air as it spoke, then stabbed the fork back into the spaghetti and grumbled as it stirred the spaghetti around.

"He says I'm too 'reckless' and too 'undisciplined' for such important missions… What does he know? If it weren't for my explosives, his armies would be seriously lacking in the blowing stuff up department!"

"Tell me about it," the Cynder clone whined as it licked tomato sauce off its snout, "So I got a few ghosts angry that one time and got him chased out of the Underworld? I don't speak ghost, it was his fault he asked me and not one of his other undead minions!"

The Cynder clone sighed as it tossed the empty can towards the Ignitor clone's open flames, then shook its head as the can was burned to ashes.

"But no, now all I get to do is stick around here and do the chores while everyone else gets to do all the fun stuff! What I wouldn't give to zap a few elves in the butt again…"

As lightning crackled at the Cynder clone's beak, a blue and purple Wham-Shell clone patted the Cynder clone's back and made a series of sympathetic nods. While it spoke no words, the look of exhaustion in its blank eyes spoke enough words for everyone in the room.

"Besides, he's missing out, if you ask me!" The Cynder clone leaned back against the stone walls and sighed, "I mean, look at us! We're all way stronger than those Skylanders… Heck, if I had to say anything, I'd say they were the cheap copies of us, not the other way around!"

Everyone around cheered in agreement as they tossed their cheap spaghetti cans to the rocky ceiling, a toast with no glasses or drinks.

"My flames burn brighter than the sun!" The Ignitor clone proclaimed as it slashed its sword around, "And my swordfighting's on par with any trained knight's!"

The Ignitor clone slashed just inches above the Cynder clone's horns, then squeaked and jumped back as the Cynder clone shot it a glare. "Apologies."

"And my boomerangs never miss! I could bean an apple off a dragon's head from an entire archipelago away!"

"I could suck the life from anything, plant or person!"

"My tornadoes can eat up entire islands!"

"I have a mace!"

As the other minions cheered and tittered in agreement, the Cynder clone just nodded and slunk back down against the cool walls of stone behind it. It slightly smiled as it rested its front paws on its belly… But that slight, content smile faded into a bitter snarl as it opened its eyes and slammed its front paws against their aged dining table with such force that it spun around the candelabra.

"Yeah, we might've screwed up a lot, maybe missed a few commands, blew a few missions and all that… But that doesn't mean we should be stuck here just doing the chores! That's what those spell punks are for!" The Cynder clone's muzzle twitched as it slunk back down, "We're just as good as the rest of them! We deserve a chance to beat down the Skylanders like the rest of them!"

"YEAH!" Everybody else cried as they pumped their fists to the ceiling.

"Why, if I could find that awful 'good' version of me, I'd melt his armor to a puddle!" The Ignitor clone proclaimed as it smacked its sword against the wall, "Then, I'd burn the rest of them to ashes!"

"And I'd take those ashes, and blow them off the face of Skylands in a giant tornado!" Exclaimed an azure and purple Warnado clone as it patted a paw against its chest, then slammed its front legs out in an instant, "Like, whoosh! Just like that, they'd be gone in an instant!"

"I don't know, I wouldn't be so hasty to get rid of them," remarked a green and purple Camo clone as it slurped up a noodle, "It would be far more satisfying to slowly, slowly, sap the life from them all while they begged and pleaded for mercy!"

As the Camo clone chuckled with devious eyes, the Boomer clone winced and scooted a little further away from it.

"I don't know about that, I think blowing them up would suffice," the Boomer clone remarked as it scratched its beard, "After all, regardless of what we do, they're still getting out of the picture!"

"I'm with the Evil Plant Dragon on this one," said a brown and purple Dino-Rang clone as it whipped out one of its boomerangs and toyed with its top, "After all, wouldn't it be nice to finally have them begging at our feet, completely helpless to anything we do, after all the pain and misery they caused us?"

"If I met a Skylander…" The Wham-Shell clone said as it whipped out its mace and brandished it like a trophy, "I'D HIT 'EM WITH MY MACE!"

Just to demonstrate, the Wham-Shell clone whipped around, slammed its mace right on the floor in one swift, mighty blow, then recoiled as a burst of blue started glowing from the cracks in the floor!

"You'd hit them with your mace, would you?" Crooned a deep, booming voice as the light erupted from the cracks!

The evil minions all gasped and jumped back as the might collected and morphed into a sphere, then slowly molded itself until it took the shape of a face… Kaos's holographic face!

"LORD KAOS!" the Cynder clone cried as it forced a smile and lowered its head, "What, I mean, how you'd know we were here?"

"Don't act coy, Evil Shadow Dragon, I know this is where you and your other little reject buddies come to sulk after your chores," Kaos hissed back as he hovered forward and narrowed his eyes, "I know this entire castle like the back of my hand!"—Kaos shot the stink eye at the Evil Shadow Dragon as he leaned a little further—"And don't think I don't hear any of your moaning and bellyaching, either!"

The evil minions all winced as they shot quick, panicked looks at each other, then as Kaos cleared his throat once more, they fell to the floor in head-hung bows. Their eyes were screwed shut as they made themselves lower and lower in Kaos's presence, and their mouths were almost stitched shut, as if they knew well that one wrong word would make them toast for his next breakfast.

"Then, what brings you here, Lord Kaos?" The Evil Shadow Dragon sputtered as cold sweat poured down from its head.

"Glad you asked!" Kaos replied. His holographic head swirled around their dingy little hideout for a few moments, then he swept around the entryway as his eyes glowed a bit brighter than normal.

"You see, we all know those awful Skylanders have rebuilt their little Core of Light, and surely they won't stop at just that—no, they won't stop until we're all wiped off the face of Skylands! So, I have a very special mission in mind for you incompetents, something even you couldn't utterly and incompetently screw up." Kaos grinned and raised an eyebrow as the Evil Shadow Dragon's head perked up, "And it goes a little something like this…"

As Kaos leaned down and whispered into the Evil Shadow Dragon's ear, its head jolted up while its eyes went as round as the meatballs it had eaten just moments earlier! A devilish smile formed across the Evil Shadow Dragon's beak as it whispered these plans down to the Ignitor clone, who passed them along to the Boomer clone, who then shared them with the next… Then all the minions hooted and hollered with glee as these words came around full circle!

For once, their dreary little space seemed a little less dreary as they cheered and ran around like they had just won the lottery! While everyone else clasped hands and cheered with each other, the Evil Shadow Dragon just sneered as it walked up to a smiling Kaos.

"So, I'll take that as a yes?" Kaos asked as he raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Indeed, Lord Kaos," the Evil Shadow Dragon said as it bowed its head.

"Well, not that you have much of a choice, anyways." Kaos chuckled as he floated towards the entryway, "Now, this is your last chance, so you better give your best effort!"

"WE WILL, LORD KAOS!" The evil minions all vowed as his holographic head disappeared in a puff of blue smoke!

The evil minions all grinned and cackled as they turned to each other, their blank eyes now filled with malevolence and fires that burned brighter than the sun.

"YOU'D BETTER BE PREPARED, SKYLANDERS!" They all proclaimed as one!

The evil minions all stampeded out of their hideaway with such speed and force that it completely knocked over their dinner table and the candelabra that sat on it! As the candelabra's flames licked at the table and set it alight, however, none of them even noticed! In fact, the smoke added a bit to the ominous atmosphere as their normally blank eyes turned a bright red that shone well against the smoke that funneled through their room.

"BECAUSE THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST DAY ON SKYLANDS!"

§

Though the air around was cool and crisp as if the world was on the cusp of winter, the atmosphere around Ancient's Peak was as warm as summer days while everyone cheered and crowded around the newly-completed Core of Light! It was almost hard to believe, almost dreamlike, even, to see it in its full splendor as it toiled away against the light of day, finally brought to life after so long… But it was there, and it was standing proud as a token of all their hard work! With just the sight of it a source of so much joy in everybody's hearts, it was no wonder that they had all broken in relieved smiles and hoots and hollers!

"I almost can't believe it," Spyro whispered as tears of joy formed in his eyes, "We did it! We finally got the Core of Light back!"

Gill Grunt smiled as he walked up to Spyro and gently patted Spyro on the back, while Spyro himself just wiped away his tears and grinned… But only for a moment before Trigger Happy completely tackled him down!

"The Core of Light's back! The Core of Light's back!" Trigger Happy exclaimed as he bounced up and down on Spyro's chest, "This calls for a celebration!"

Trigger Happy giggled as he whipped out his guns, then with a pull of the trigger fireworks shot out from his guns and exploded in the skies! Unfortunately, they could barely be made out in the evening light, but not many cared. In fact, they all just giggled and laughed along with him!

Chihiro chuckled as Spyro pushed Trigger Happy off his belly, but only for a moment before she turned her attention back to the Core of Light. To think, all their hard work finally paid off! The Core of Light, that they had worked so hard and shed so much blood, sweat and tears to finish, now basked before them all in its completed glory! In fact, just seeing how far it had come, how everyone had come, almost made her want to cry with joy like everyone else!

While those tears of joy poured down her face without her even realizing, Chihiro walked up to the Core and gently pressed a hand against its warm, welcoming base. It felt pleasantly hot, like the heat of a warm spring day after so many cold winter storms, and yet just this single press caused the magic within it to bubble and shudder against Chihiro's palm. It felt kind of numbing, but in a good, peaceful way, the kind of way that made the entire world around her melt away.

"So this is what the Core of Light looks like," Chihiro gasped as she ran her hand against the base and wiped her tears away with her sleeve, "It's beautiful…"

Chihiro grinned as she pulled her hand back, then turned back to the Skylanders and other residents of Ancient's Peak as they all celebrated and cried and danced in the glory of the Core… Well, all except for Hugo. Hugo just seemed more anxious than anything as he flipped through his books with shaky paws, a stark contrast to the cheer and celebration of the ones around. Just what was on his mind?

Chihiro walked over and got ready to ask, but before she could, Flynn cut through and laid an arm around Hugo's shoulders!

"Hugo, what's the matter, old buddy, old pal?" Flynn asked as he gestured around with his other hand, "Everybody's out here laughing and celebrating and you're looking around like the world's gonna explode! Shouldn't you be happy that we've finally got the Core back?"

Hugo's brow tensed as he nearly ripped the page of the book he was fiddling away, then scowled as he stashed the book away and glared up at Flynn! His eyes carried such a bright, surprisingly intense fury that Flynn squeaked and backed off, but it did little to quell Hugo's rage.

"Hey, hey, what's the big deal?" Flynn flicked his ears as he held up both arms, "I just said you should chill out for once and have some fun!"

"Now's not the time for fun, Flynn!" Hugo lashed out as he balled his paws into fists. Hugo gritted his teeth and huffed out strained, angered breaths so heavy they puffed out in the evening chills and fogged up his glasses. "We can't celebrate right now, not when Kaos is still at large! For all we know, he could be plotting away in his castle, ready to destroy the Core again! We've gotta stop him!"

Flynn just blinked as he lowered his arms and chuckled.

"Old big head? Is that what you were worried about?" Flynn held a hand to his mouth as he burst into guffaws, "What's he gonna do? We've got the Core back, we've taken down his creepy evil empire, and we've sent him running home with his tail between his legs more times than I can count!"—Flynn coughed and looked aside—"Not that I can count that high, but…"

"That's no matter!" Hugo gestured out to the world around him as he paced back and forth. The fog in his glasses finally faded away away enough to see his eyes and unveiled that they had grown strained and bloodshot as Hugo hung his head.

"Kaos is just as stubborn as he is powerful! We can't rest on our laurels when he's probably out there plotting his next big scheme! For all we know, he could have something even worse than what he used to destroy the Core up his sleeves and ready to strike!"

Hugo turned back to the crowd of Skylanders that still circled around the Core, oblivious to the wide-eyed and tense looks they gave him.

"You all agree with me, right? We need to get out there and find Kaos before he can do anything worse!"

The Skylanders pursed their lips and looked away, the joy they held earlier now diminished just a bit. Though some tried to force smiles as they whispered among each other, a new sort of unrest had grown among them, and the soft whispers that could hardly be made out from the autumn breeze were a testament to this. All was frozen in anxious time as their whispers crept across, then they all went silent as Spyro cleared his throat and stepped out from the crowds.

"Hugo does have a point, though," Spyro said as the air around him turned from cheerful and warm to cold and serious, "For all we know, Kaos could be plotting against us as we speak! As much as I'd like to celebrate, we should try to figure out what he's up to…"

"Geez, don't worry so much, Spyro!" Boomer shouted as he shrugged his shoulders, "It's like Flynn said, that guy's got no more tricks up his sleeve! He's lost everything he could've thrown at us, so why spend all this time fretting?"

"I am on Spyro's side here," Drobot added as he rubbed his metal chin, "You can say that all you want, but Kaos has proven time and time again that he will find something to use against us."

"But where would we even start, though?" Sonic Boom asked as she poked around Drobot's shoulder, "We don't know where Kaos is right now…"

"Exactly!" Boomer cried as he wagged a finger in midair, "And besides, for all we know he could be crying into his pillow about how he's lost! Now let's get back to partying!"

"Kaos isn't that quick to give up and you know it, Boomer," Terrafin shot back as he cast a glare at Boomer, "We've punched that guy down hundreds of times and he keeps getting back up! He's too stubborn to call it quits!"

"Don't worry so much, everyone!" Zook exclaimed as he held up his hands and forced a smile, "We can worry about that later, for now, let's just party!"—Zook grinned as he whipped out his bazooka—"After all, we worked so hard to get to where we are now! Plus, I've got some new firewoOWCH!"

As Stump Smash reeled back from bonking Zook on the head, Zook winced and stepped back, his yellow eyes stung with tears of pain as he tried to avoid meeting Stump Smash's scornful gaze.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Zook!" Stump Smash cried as he shook a hammer hand back at Zook, "You're an idiot if you think Kaos wouldn't use this time to catch us off-guard!"

Zook scoffed as he clung to his bazooka like a child clung to their favorite toy. "Hey, man, I was just trying to lighten the mood!"

"Well the mood doesn't need lightened! There's no reason to sit around and play party games when he's running around causing trouble!"

Stump Smash and Zook both frowned as they glared each other down, then yelped as Cali pushed her way between them!

"Now, now," Cali cried as she held up her hands and forced a smile, "Arguing and freaking out about this isn't going to help anything! Let's all just calm down and…"

As Cali's eyes trekked across the crowds of squabbling Skylanders and civilians alike, however, her smile faded and she hung her head with a sigh, Before she or anyone else even knew it, the entire cheerful atmosphere was swept away by a sea of anxiousness, squabbles and questioning as everyone bickered among themselves. It was as if Hugo's question opened the floodgates, and now the seas of doubt has risen.

"Would Kaos really try to make his return after losing so badly?"

"Do you think he'll try to destroy of Core of Light again?"

"What if he does something even worse?"

"What could he even do right now? Could he really have some kind of trick up his sleeve?"

"What in all of Skylands are we supposed to do?"

"Everyone, please, quiet yourselves!" Master Eon proclaimed as he swept back and forth between the arguing groups, "All this panic will get us nowhere! We need to calm down and think everything through…"

As Chihiro bore eye-witness to Master Eon's fruitless attempts to quell everyone's worries, she bit her lip and stepped back without thinking. The tension weighed on her as she stepped back again and got ready to scramble, because she herself wasn't entirely sure what the answer to any of those questions was. After all, she was so caught up in her glee over the Core of Light being fixed that she had forgotten all about Kaos, and now everyone was so wound up and there were so many concerns… What was she supposed to do here? Maybe if she got out of here and cleared her head, she'd know for sure.

Right as she turned around and ran for the forest, however, Chihiro slammed right into someone and they both fell to the ground!

"Owch!" Cried a somewhat shrill voice.

Hey, wait a second, Chihiro knew that somewhat shrill voice! Chihiro blinked once, then twice, then as her vision finally came back to her she found herself face-to-face with a camouflage-clad, wide-eyed Snuckles! Wait, Snuckles?

"When'd you get here?" Chihiro asked as she shook her head, "More importantly, how'd you get here? I don't recall ever seeing a rocket fly past…"

"That's because I got here with my super-secret spy skills!" Snuckles proclaimed as he puffed out his chest and chuckled, "When you all were celebrating, I…"—Snuckles shook his head as his jaw dropped into a frantic frown—"Actually, no, I have no time to brag about my super-secret spy skills! We've got a problem!"

Chihiro whipped around and tailed after Snuckles as he raced in front of the Core of Light. "You do?"

The moment Snuckles rounded the corner and came into the open, everyone's questions and arguments turned to hushed whispers of confusion as their eyes locked on Snuckles.

"Snuckles, when did you get here?" Boomer asked as he pulled away from Terrafin and flicked his ears, "You never dropped us a line!"

However, Snuckles paid no mind to Boomer's or anyone else's concerns as he gulped and dug his paws into the satchel on his side.

"Everyone, we've got bad news!" Snuckles proclaimed as he yanked his paw out of his satchel, "Our spy flies have been gathering intel from Kaos's fortress…"—Snuckles opened his paw and bit his lip as a mechanical, flylike device flew out and projected out a beam of green light—"And look what it found!"

With a few flickers, the spy fly's little beam became a green, holographic recording of a room filled with pipes and metal wiring. It flickered here and there, but otherwise it was perfectly high-quality as a hologram should be while it played its footage.

"IN FACT, I'LL INITIATE THIS PLOT RIGHT NOW!" Kaos's voice faintly echoed from somewhere in the room. The door flung out, and out from it came none other than Kaos, arms behind his back and a small smile on his face as Glumshanks followed behind!

"GLUMSHANKS!"

Glumshanks' voice faintly came from within the holograph, but it was so muffled that no words could be made out.

"READY OUR ARMIES! START THE CANNONS! PUT UP EVERY SECURITY MEASURE YOU CAN THINK OF! ARM OUR MACHINERY, READY THE SUPER-SECRET WEAPONS, MAKE ME SOME PREEMPTIVE VICTORY COCOA! AND TELL ALL OUR FORCES TO STANDBY FOR AN ALL-OUT ATTACK ON THE SKYLANDERS' BASE!"

"Lord Kaos, are you sure you're alright?" Glumshanks asked, "You kind of sound like you're bargaining with yourself right now—"

Before Glumshanks could finish, however, the door slammed right in his face!

"MARK MY WORDS, SKYLOSERS! YOUR VICTORY IS ONLY MOMENTARY!" Kaos proclaimed as his ugly mug stormed up with a wide grin that radiated with such malevolence it made everyone's hearts stop for a second, "WHEN I COME TO YOUR STUPID LITTLE ROCK AND DESTROY YOUR PRECIOUS CORE OF LIGHT AGAIN, THEN YOU'LL KNOW TRUE FEAR!"

The spy fly's holograph stopped in that moment, and as it flew back into Snuckles' satchel, Snuckles himself forced a shaky smile and rubbed his clasped hands. While he clearly tried to remain calm as panicked whispers ruminated around… He was also very clearly doing a bad job as it, as shown by how his whole body quivered and knocked together.

"See, I told you so!" Hugo sniffed as he glared with Flynn.

"Ah, anyways, as, as, as you can see," Snuckles stammered as his eyes glanced all around while sweat clung to his fur, "We've, we've really got a big problem on our hands! Kaos could strike any minute now and, well, we may be improving our weaponry, but we don't exactly have the forces for something of this volume!"

Snuckles gulped… Then finally he completely broke into panic mode as he paced back and forth!

"What I'm saying is, we're doomed! He's got all his armies and all his weapons and all that fancy stuff on its way, and, and, and, we're not exactly, well, we're at a complete loss!" Snuckles finally fell to knees as he pulled his own fur out, "What're we gonna do?"

That was certainly the question of the hour, wasn't it? Everyone else glanced at each other and traded whispers as their eyes fell to the Core, all while wavering frowns and clenched fists could be seen all around. There was no way they were gonna let Kaos destroy the Core and erase all their hard work, but… He sounded so serious, too! He was definitely pulling out all the stops for this, so would they really be able to fight all his forces off if they came here?

Chihiro couldn't help but wonder this as well while she hid behind one of the Core's massive flowers, its bright petals a shield from all the chaos and calamity of the conversations in front of her. She winced as she turned around and leaned against the flower's stem, then her eyes and head lifted with realization.

"Wait… Came here…" Chihiro whispered as she gripped the flower's stem tight, then her face turned serious as she let go, "That's it!"

Chihiro held her head high as she strode out from behind the Core, and the whispers turned to complete silence as her cold, serious aura radiated around, though it softened just a little as she knelt down and patted a sobbing, panicking Snuckles. While Snuckles gasped and lifted his teary-eyed face to look at Chihiro, Chihiro just beamed back at him and chuckled.

"Alright, I'll tell you what we're gonna do!" Chihiro proclaimed as she stood tall and fixed her eyes to the skies, "Instead of letting Kaos come here and undo everything we've done…"

Chihiro leaped up and pumped her fist to the sun.

"WE'LL JUST TAKE THE FIGHT TO HIM!"

As she fell back on her feet while everyone's eyes glimmer with hope, Chihiro felt an excitement of her own bubble in her chest. Out of nowhere, her worries completely vanished in favor of an itch to fight, to run around in circles, a newfound energy that couldn't possibly be replaced!

"We'll go to Kaos's fortress and stop him in his tracks!" Chihiro proclaimed as she placed her hands on her hips and beamed, "We'll knock out his armies, smash his weapons… We'll completely wipe him out before he gets a chance!"

All voices paused themselves while those hope-filled and awe-inspired eyes gleamed, but everyone seemed to hold a bit of hesitation in their hearts as they stepped back and clenched their fists. True, something like that sounded good on paper, but could it really be pulled off? Though they said no words, the hesitant glances they shot each other all showed they were doubtful and wavered, unsure as to endorse Chihiro's hot-blooded proclamation. But just then, the sound of flapping wings drew everyone's attention back to Chihiro—or rather, the one who had left the crowds to join her!

"Chihiro's right!" Spyro proclaimed as he flew up and stood beside Chihiro, "We can't just sit around here and worry! We're Skylanders, after all! The entire universe is counting on us to keep it safe from big-head!"—Spyro's grin turned a little cockier as he winked to the crowds—"Besides, we've been able to take everything he's thrown at us so far. Storming his fortress is gonna be nothing!"

Everybody cheered and hollered in agreement as they looked to each other, and even Snuckles' fear faded as he wiped his teary eyes and stood to full height.

"Good thinking, portal master!" Snuckles proclaimed as he looked to Chihiro, "We've got a ton of intel from spying on Kaos's fortress at the MDF home base, I'll ping them and ask for a transfer right now!"

Snuckles whipped around and pulled out a walkie talkie, then whispered into it as he turned a dial on its box. But while he was quiet, everybody else was loud with excitement and eagerness!

"When we get there, I'll give Kaos the what for!"

"He won't even see us coming, I bet!"

"That's what he gets for trying to destroy the Core of Light again!"

"Now, hold your horses, everyone," Hugo huffed as he held up his hands and tried to calm the excited crowds, "We haven't decided who's going yet! Not everyone can go, after all!"—Hugo turned back to Chihiro and grinned—"Right, Chihiro?"

Chihiro just chuckled as she placed her hands in her pockets, while Hugo's own faced seemed to fall just a little.

"Actually, we're gonna need all hands on deck for something like this," Chihiro explained as she looked back at Hugo, "So everyone's coming along!"

But while all the Skylanders gasped and cheered from the absolute joy and ruminating anticipation that laced the island, Hugo only became even more anxious as he stormed up to Chihiro!

"All of them? What are you thinking?" Hugo exclaimed over the roar of the crowds behind, "Who'll protect the island and the core while you're gone?"

"Don't worry about that, mister mole!" Snuckles cried as he shuffled himself between Hugo and Chihiro, "We'll called in the Trollfield-Trollcoy Kingdom for some of their finest security tech! It'll be delivered to the island in an instant, and with it here, the Core of Light will be safe from anything Kaos could possibly throw!"

"… My name's Hugo."

While Hugo just sighed and shook his head, however, Snuckles handed off the walkie talkie he was carrying to Chihiro.

"This walkie talkie has all the information you'll need, portal master! Just press this button here…"

Chihiro's eyes fell down to a silver button that Snuckles' paw hovered above, and with a grin she gently tapped it.

"Like this?" Chihiro asked, before she gasped as a holographic diagram of a massive, daunting fortress manifested from its speakers!

As the images shifted to more detailed glimpses and diagrams, Chihiro grinned and stashed the walkie talkie away in her pocket. The holograms disappeared in an instant as the walkie talkie took sanctuary in Chihiro's pocket, but their graphs left a firm imprint on Chihiro's mind as she beamed back at Snuckles.

"Yeah, this'll definitely be what we need!" Chihiro proclaimed as her eyes went wide, "Oh, speaking of things we need, we're gonna need an extra power boost, too!"

So, Chihiro snapped her fingers, and in a flash a small warp opened up above her and dropped three sapphire pendants with wings attached to their sides into her hands! Chihiro pulled up one, then frowned as she gently rubbed its sleek surface.

"Well this really work?…" Chihiro asked as she finished rubbing and watched her reflection in the jewel's shining surface, "I know she said that we could use these to call her, but—"

Chihiro stepped back and gasped as the amulet's reflection slowly wavered and shifted, then no longer was it a reflection of Chihiro herself. Rather, it was a reflection of Persephone instead as she sat in an elaborate throne room with Aura close by her side!

"Why, if it isn't young honorable Chihiro!" Persephone gasped as she grinned and tapped on the jewel's surface, "I haven't danced with you in such a long while! Have you and the Skylanders been happy?"

"You bet'cha!" Chihiro grinned, then shook her head and steeled her gaze once more, "But, that's not why I called…"—Chihiro bit her lip for a moment, then lifted her head—"You see, I need your help for something…"

"Oh?"

Chihiro leaned closer to the jewel and whispered into its surface, then Persephone pulled back and nodded with a serious look of her own.

"I understand, Young Honorable Chihiro," Persephone said as she turned to Aura, "We'll gather up some of our finest mages and be at Ancient's Peak in two steps of a dance!"

"Understood! Thanks a lot, Persephone, this'll be a huge help!"

And just like that, Persephone's reflection faded away while the pendant's shine dulled and the pendant itself turned from its rich blue to a dull, kind of sad-looking gray. Just the sight of it seemed a little empty as it sat next to its bright siblings… But Chihiro just shook that feeling away as she magically whisked the pendants back away to her bedroom.

"Alright, guys, follow me!" Chihiro proclaimed as she waved to the Skylanders, "We've got a plan to discuss!"

The Skylanders all cheered as they chased after Chihiro, who in turn dashed over to the portal building, but even with the crowd of Skylanders behind her she could still catch a glimpse of Hugo, who smiled as he lifted his head towards her!

Chihiro grinned back as she waved over to Hugo just before he went out of sight, then flung the portal building's doors open and dashed inside!

While the Skylanders flooded in, Chihiro raced over to the portal room, then paused and grinned as she basked in the gentle light of the portals around. In the excitement of everything, being in such a still and tranquil room felt a bit wrong… The calm before the storm, she thought people called it?

"So, Chihiro," Drobot said as he pushed open the doors to the portal room, "What is this plan of yours, anyways?"

"Oh, Drobot! Just the dragon I wanted to see!" Chihiro chirped as she whipped around and grinned, "See, I wanted your help with this plan I want to put together…"

Drobot perked up and made an intrigued hum which only increased as she handed him the walkie talkie.

"Think you can look over this and give me some advice?"

But while Chihiro spoke, Drobot just scanned the walkie talkie over with bright yellow eye beams, then stopped them as he looked back up at Chihiro. "I already have!"

"Great!" Chihiro clasped her hands together then held those hands behind her back, "See, here's what I was thinking..."

§

Soft, excited whispered filled the walls of the portal room, where the portals had been cleared away to provide extra space for the Skylanders to sit in that moment. It was all so tense as they whispered among each other, clearly more excited for the ongoing mission that the plan itself… But all voices went quiet as Chihiro walked in front of them with a magical pointer stick in one hand! She carried herself with a more serious aura than she usually did as she stood in front of the crowds, then grinned and held a hand behind her as she gestured towards the magical corkboard that held their plan's steps and instructions with her stick.

"So that's our plan!" Chihiro proclaimed as she held her stick between her hands and clapped them together. As she released her hands, the stick vanished in a burst of blue sparkles, but she was hardly fazed as she narrowed her brows. "Now remember, we'll need to make this as quick and efficient as possible, since we have no idea when Kaos is going to strike! So, stick to your groups and don't lose sight of your objectives!"

With another snap of her fingers, the magical corkboard completely vanished into another flare of blue sparkles.

"Any questions?" Chihiro made a small smile, then perked up as the sound of warbling resonated through the room, "Actually, hold that thought!"

Chihiro beamed as a small, blue rift formed between her and the Skylanders, then that rift turned into a holographic projection of Hugo! The projection warbled a little bit, but solidified quick enough as Hugo cleared his throat while a few fairies flitted behind him in the background.

"Testing, testing, one, two, three, is this thing on?…" Hugo said as he seemingly looked at something off-screen, then turned to Chihiro and lifted his head, "Oh, Chihiro, there you are! Can you hear me?"

"You bet'cha!" Chihiro beamed and nodded her head.

"Good! Anyways, if you're done going over your plan, you might want to hurry out here! The fairies have arrived from the Fairy Kingdom!"

Hugo tried to say something else, but as he spoke his words, the sound of helicopter blades beating down on the surface drowned him out completely! Not that Hugo noticed, as he was busy screaming and getting blown away from the holograph.

"Oh, don't worry, mister mole, I'll get you!" Snuckles cried as he dashed across the holograph's projection. The moment he laid eyes on the holograph, however, he beamed and turned back around to Chihiro. "Oh, portal master! The Trollfield-Trollcoys are here!"

And with that, everyone cheered as the holograph disappeared, then they all beamed as they took looks at each other. In spite of their differing reactions, from quiet nods to wide beams and excited, frantic bouncing, their hearts and minds were all as one while they talked among themselves and smiled so hard their cheeks hurt.

"And remember, everyone!" Chihiro said as she dashed for the doors, "We're doing this for Skylands!"

"FOR SKYLANDS!" Everyone cheered with one heart, one mind, one soul as they dashed out of the portal room, through the halls and back outside!

The warm light of sunset glazed over the island, and only added onto the bustle of excitement as trolls, fairies and others alike dashed across the island! Though among the crowds, the first to catch everyone's eyes was Persephone as she stood there outside alongside Aura and several other fairies dressed in fancy clothes and shiny armor. The fairies all frowned as they flitted around, but their eyes soon lit up as the Skylanders piled out of the portal building!

"There you are, o' happy heroes!" Persephone cried as she flew towards Spyro, "Now, stand still as we bestow our blessings on you."

Everybody took their commands to heart and stopped in their tracks as the fairies flew to them one by one and laid their hands on the Skylanders, and in response the Skylanders all glowed with a bright, cyan light!

The light seeped into their bodies just as quick as it came and completely obscured them for moments, then finally it lifted and unveiled them to reveal that they had completely powered up! Once the fairies left their sides, they all grinned as they flexed and bounced with a new energy, while others stopped to admire how their weapons or armor had grown shinier and sleeker, or bulkier and more powerful. Heck, some of them had even gained some new kicks, like Bash who basked in the sunlight as he showed off his horn-covered golden armor, or Spyro who chuckled as he stroked his lengthened horns. Even a couple of their gloomier members seemed to have their spirits lifted as they looked over their new powerups... It was nice to see, honestly!

Chihiro grinned as the Skylanders basked in their new power, then jolted up as a wave of energy washed over her and tinted her vision a bit bluer! Once the blue glow faded, she turned around, and beside her Persephone chuckled and winked.

"Give that Kaos a nice punch of a dance for me, will you?" Persephone asked as she released her hand from Chihiro's.

Chihiro, however, just grinned and beamed as she made a firm nod.

"You bet'cha!" Chihiro chirped as her eyes fell on the cliffside.

There, Rizzo, Nort and General Robot swarmed out of an open helicopter alongside masses of trolls armed with equipment. There were a few familiar faces among the trolls, from Syracuse and Boomette sharing a peck on the cheek as Dyna called them over to set up some kind of projector, to Tangerine who showed two smaller, blue-skinned trolls how to wire a field, but they were quickly drowned out by massive of new faces. Trolls in all sorts of shapes, sizes and skin colors flooded across the island and set up pillars and fences, their forces so massive it almost crowded out everything else! Though, right as Rizzo, Nort and General Robot carried a crate through a swarm of trolls, one could easily spy…

"Trollver, Trollamor!" Chihiro cried as she pushed past the crowds and rushed to a surprisingly vacant corner of the island, "Good to see you!"

Sure enough, Trollver and Trollamor stood right there in front of the mess hall as they discussed something that went unheard among the chatter of the island! The two of them seemed a little more grizzled than the last time they had been on the island, but their smiles were as gentle and loving as ever as they held hands with mechanical rings on the ring fingers… But perhaps most shockingly, on Trollver's chest was none other than a baby carrier with a tiny, orange-skinned baby troll rested inside!

Trollver flicked his ears, then turned around and grinned as his eyes fell on Chihiro.

"Well, look what we have here!" Trollver cried as he turned around and puffed his chest, "If it isn't the portal master herself! You definitely seem more lively—"—Trollver cringed as the baby in his baby carrier bonked him in the face with the rattle they held in their chubby baby hand—"Owch!"

Trollver whimpered as he rubbed his face, but his baby just giggled as it flailed its pudgy arms and legs.

"Now, now, Clementroll," Trollamor chuckled as he gently patted the baby's head, "What have we said about picking on Papa?"

Clementroll blinked as they cooed back at Trollamor, who just chuckled as he turned back to a giggling Chihiro.

"You definitely seem like you're doing well!" Chihiro remarked as she stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"You bet we are, kiddo!" Trollamor exclaimed as he patted Chihiro's shoulder, "Ever since we banded together, we've been doing a lot better! We got our old place fixed up, turned it into a safe place for other trolls trying to get out of Kaos's grip, and next thing we know, we're making fancy new tech and stuff just like the older days."

Trollamor chuckled, then his gaze softened as he watched a couple of orange and green-skinned trolls help each other push up a pillar. "If you told me and Trollver that something like this would have happened, we never would have believed it…"

Trollamor chuckled as he wiped a tear from his eyes, while Trollver just smiled back at him and patted his shoulder.

"Anyways, speaking of fancy new tech," Trollver said as he gestured towards the bustling workers beside him and Chihiro, "We're setting up our forcefield projectors now! Once you've all headed off to stop Kaos, we'll activate it and cover the entire island in a forcefield so strong, nothing can break through!"

Chihiro beamed, then furiously nodded her head.

"Sounds good to me!" Chihiro replied as she gave Trollver and Trollamor a thumbs up.

"Oh, and that's not all!" Trollamor said as he nodded towards the Core, where several trolls heaved some kind of equipment towards it as Hugo gave them directions. "Kaos's fortress has one of those fancy spells on it that keeps portals from coming in according to those Mabu Defense people, so we're connecting one of our transporters to your Core!"

Trollamor grinned as the trolls behind him set down a control panel beside the Core itself. "Just pop the coordinates in, and it'll send you flying right to where you want! Normally it's only for short-distance travel, but with all that magic juice from the Core, it should send you right to Kaos's fortress!"

Trollamar dug through his pocket, then yanked out what seemed like a watch and handed it to Chihiro.

"We've also got these portable communication devices! You might want these!"

Chihiro grinned as she took the watch and wrapped it snug around her wrist, and a turn aside showed she wasn't the only one! At the heart of the island, Snuckles, Nort and Rizzo pulled out some crates and tore off their tops to reveal the crates were full of those same watches!

So, the crates were passed around and the communication devices were placed, then as the last of them were put on, the Core of Light glowed with a strange, bright orange glow, like the sun in the middle of the day!

"Alright, we've got the Core's new teleporter set for Kaos's fortress!" Hugo proclaimed as he turned around from the panel set next to the Core, "Whoever's going first came come up now!"

From the crowds of Skylanders, Hex, Boomer, Voodood and Double Trouble made their way out and hovered next to the Core, while Hugo took a deep breath in.

"Just stand next to the Core while I press these buttons, and it'll take all of you directly to Kaos's fortress in the blink of an eye…" Hugo turned to Hex as he spoke, then went back to the panel and winced, "But after that, it's all up to you!"

"Oh, we understand well," Hex replied as she looked back to the Core, her somber air unrelenting even in a moment such as this, "But, we aren't going to be stopped."

So, Hugo pressed the button, and in that moment the four of them were encased in shiny, orange bubbles and shot into the skies within a moment's notice! As they flew away everyone waved and wished them good lucks and best wishes and all that fancy stuff… But Chihiro didn't feel nearly as easy about this as they did, so she just clutched her shirt and frowned.

"Godspeed," Chihiro whispered as they disappeared past the clouds.

§

Just past a string of thick, puffy, gray clouds, four shining orange bubbles like comets in the night sky streaked away with their sights set on the deck of a large, run-down warship manned by greebles in ragged clothing. The bubbles stopped and floated in midair as a couple clouds passed them by and unveiled the ones inside to be none other than Boomer, Hex, Double Trouble and Voodood! Their gazes were stern as they eyed the ship, and yet despite that, their minds were elsewhere as they ran their fingers against their bubbles…

§

"Alright, everyone, the moment you've all been waiting for is finally here!" Chihiro cried within their confines of their memories as she snapped her fingers, "We're gonna take down Kaos for good!"

Cheers of excitement echoed through the portal room as Chihiro grinned and crossed her arms, all while a magical cork board coated in a fine layer of papers and diagrams and maps manifested behind her! As a blue glow brushed against her back, Chihiro turned around and slapped her stick against it… But the stick just snapped in half!
Chihiro gasped and jolted up, then made an awkward chuckled as she magically repaired her stick.

"Whoops."

As the cheers and laughter went silent, Chihiro turned back to the cork board and gently tapped her stick against its corner.

"Alright, here's the stitch! Drobot and I have taken the stuff the MDF gave us and came up with what is hopefully a foolproof plan to take down Kaos!" Chihiro leaned back and giggled as she fiddled with the tip of her stick, "Keyword being hopefully."

With one big swing of her arm, Chihiro flipped over the cork board and unveiled that plastered on its other side was a gigantic map of the inner workings of Kaos's fortress!

"Now, to start…" Chihiro tapped the map, and in response the internal diagram was surrounded by a blue glow, "According to our intel, the fortress has a threefold layer of security on it. The first layer, as you can see, is an outer barrier that only Kaos's army can get through..."—Chihiro grinned and pointed her stick towards the crowds—"Which is where our first team comes in!"

As Chihiro said this, stickers that resembled Boomer, Hex, Voodood and Double Trouble's faces manifested on the map and hovered just outside the glowing area!

"Boomer will head the team and pretend to be a repairman coming in to repair Kaos's tech!" Chihiro said as she turned back to the map and watched as the four markers slid across the map, "This should work, as all the staff is… Not very bright, according to the info."

Then, right as the four stickers slipped in, they slid into the lower sections of the map and into a room while the blue glow disappeared!

"Once he gets in there, you guys will go to the control room and disable the force field!" Chihiro beamed as she tapped the map again while the fortress's lineart glowed blue next, "With that gone, we move on to the inner layers of security…"

§

The four of them drew away from the edges of their bubbles as they pulled themselves out of their memories and steeled their gazes further. Hex nodded, as did Boomer, Double Trouble, and Voodood, then their four bubbles stormed onto the deck and popped the moment they hit the floor!

The greebles on the ship froze, huddled together and whispered something among themselves with shifty eyes, then whipped out some rusted, worn swords as they trailed down the deck. The cold, bitter winds of the Outlands whipped against them as they paced up and down the deck while the boards creaked under their feet, and yet, nobody appeared from the sights surrounding. The greebles frowned, then shrugged and stowed their swords away as they headed for the door that led to the lower decks.

As they huddled in front of the door, one greeble reached out a hand and went to open it. But before they could, a gigantic skull raced forward and tackled the greebles off the ships' deck! The greebles screamed as they fell into the abyss, then finally grunted as they came to a landing somewhere in the depths of those gray, cloudy skies that comprised the Outlands… Not that it was all that concerning to Hex as she floated out from a huddle of barrels nearby.

"Seems as though the coast is clear," Hex said as she turned back to the barrels, "You can leave now."

Boomer, Double Trouble and Voodood all grinned as they crept out from behind the barrels and joined Hex, then Boomer cracked his mechanical knuckles and kicked open the door!

The sound of squawking echoed down the halls as Boomer gleefully jumped down the steps two by two, then whipped out some massive dynamite sticks right as he disappeared around the corner!

"BOMBS AWAY!" Boomer cried right before the sound of crackling fire overtook his words!

The squawks turned to angry screeches, followed by a massive explosion that sent thick, gray smoke funneling out of the open door!

Hex, Double Trouble and Voodood all leaned out of the way as the smoke tunneled out of the halls and soared into the skies, then they all cringed as another explosion sounded off! The three of them turned their attention down to the door as flaming greebles flew out the halls with a scream, then winced as the greebles crash-landed on the floor.

The greebles' flames were extinguished the moment they hit the cold metal and left behind pink skin charred with nasty burns, but in spite of this, they forced themselves to stand and shuddered as they turned back to Hex, Double Trouble and Voodood. One drew a sword that had been completely blackened in ashes and spat out some angry gibberish… But its sword merely crumbled into a pile of ashes before it!

The greeble screeched like a terrified monkey as what used to be its sword got swept away in the wind, then lifted its head right in time to get shot off the ground by one of Double Trouble's magic beams!

The other two greebles gasped and ran after their leader, but by the time they reached the ship's edge it was too late. The greeble leader had already fallen overboard and disappeared into the cloudy depths! The greebles winced and tugged on their collars as they peered at each other, but they didn't need to worry much, because a kick from Voodood allowed them to join their leader's fate! They were sent over the edge and into the clouds before they even realized Voodood was behind them!

With the greebles taken care of, Hex, Double Trouble and Voodood swept down the stairs and past the metal hallways with metal panels coated in a fine layer of rust, then around the corner they found none other than Boomer, who stood steady as he drove the ship into a lonely, dark, metal garage.

Hex and Double Trouble frowned as they floated up to the glass windshield of the pilot's quarters, where beyond the occasional darkness of a dead light panel laid cracked billboards full of papers and fliers and worn-down, rusted docks. It wasn't all that much unlike what Hex and Double Trouble had seen back in the Fairy Kingdom oh so long ago, but this one was much bigger, and in spite of this large size it seemed more lonely than anything given the lack of ships.

Right as they sat in what seemed like silent concern, however, Boomer waved his arm in front of their faces and pointed ahead right as the ship ground to a halt!

Hex and Double Trouble nodded and hid behind the shade and safety of a couple empty crates, while Voodood crouched down behind them and winced as he peered back at Boomer.

There, Boomer turned to someone and flicked his ears as he rolled down part of the windshield.

"Hey there, buddy! How's life been treatin' ya?" Boomer beamed as he leaned over and laid his arm on the side of the windshield.

"State your business here," Spat out some squeaky voice that seemed very tired despite its cutesy tone.

Boomer leaned back as his ears started to twitch.

"What'm I doing here?" Sweat dripped down Boomer's brow as he dug through his backpack for something and handed it over to whoever was on the other side of the window, "Why, we're the repair team that came here to fix your boss's forcefield in time for his big attack on the Skylanders! Surely you remember?"

"Big attack on the Skylanders, what big attack? I've never heard anything about that!" A soft hum came from that cutesy voice on the other side, "But then again, the boss doesn't tell me all that much... Whatever."

The chatter from the other side of the window became low as the sound of pittering feet echoed into the distance. For a moment all was silent with anticipation, then finally that pitter returned as a pair of furry, blue arms stuck through the window and dumped something in Boomer's lap!

"Oh, thanks for the shiny things, buddy!" Boomer said as he lifted one up and stuck his tongue out as he examined it, "… What are they?"

"They're special badges for our faculty," The furry blue thing on the other side of the window moaned, "We've got a no-sell spell or whatever it was called over the fortress, so you have to wear these if you wanna do any fancy magic things."

Boomer nodded as he pulled a lever near his seat. "Thanks for this! And don't worry, we'll have that forcefield fixed in no time!"

Boomer hopped out of his seat, then his goofy smile turned to more of a smirk as he walked up to the crates and held out an open hand. Those things the furry blue thing gave him were what seemed to be simple, metallic badges, all shaped in the image of Kaos's face—not much of a surprise given who they were talking about.

"We're in!" Boomer whispered as his smirk stretched from ear to ear, "Just put these badges on, and you won't have to worry about that spell at all!"

Hex nodded, then magically levitated a badge from Boomer's palm and fastened it against her dress, while Double Trouble and Voodood were quick to claim their own. As they all finished pinning their badges, they nodded and drifted back up the stairs, a bit of tension among their ranks. Though none of them said a thing, their twitching fingers and not-quite smiles, not-quite frowns showed plenty how they felt. After all, this was the instrumental first step in their infiltration of Kaos's base—they couldn't afford a single misstep!

As they hit the final step and pushed open the door to be met with more stark, white light and cold walls, Double Trouble snapped his fingers and grinned as a bridge unfolded from the side of the ship!

The bridge slammed into the side of one of those metal loading docks, right beside a furry blue gremlin dressed in patchy robes not unlike what the greebles wore. The gremlin gasped and turned away as the bridge dug into the side of the dock, but its shock was forgotten as all four of them came down the bridge.

"Alright, follow me…" The gremlin moaned as it gestured and turned around…

But right before it could take a step, a greeble covered in burn ointment and bandages walked out of one of the rooms! That couldn't have been one of the greebles that was on the ship just moments earlier, was it? Apparently, it was! The moment it laid eyes on Hex, Boomer, Double Trouble and Voodood, it screamed and pointed to them!

Hex, Double Trouble, Voodood and Boomer all gasped and stepped back as the greeble ran up to the gremlin and started screeching and hollering, all while the greeble jumped up and flailed its arms as fast as it could.

"What, what are you talking about?" The gremlin pinched the bridge of its nonexistent nose, "Listen, I don't speak greeble, I can't understand a word you're saying!"

The greeble just frowned and started making a wide variety of gestures and charades, from an angry pouncing face to someone casting out some kind of spell to something soaring through thin air… Wait, it was re-enacting how it got tossed overboard!

The gremlin paused for a moment as it gasped as it turned to Hex, Double Trouble, Boomer and Voodood with wide eyes, almost as if it was expecting some kind of response from them.

"Oh, we're no Skylanders!" Boomer lied through clenched teeth as he scratched the insides of his ear, "We're just a perfectly normal forcefield repair crew! Nope, nothing suspicious about us!"

Double Trouble and Voodood both forced grins as they nodded in response, but Hex remained steely as ever while she glared down the greeble. By all accounts, it would be obvious to anyone that they were lying, what with the tense, forced looks of glee on their faces…

But thankfully, the gremlin seemed to buy it! Its fearful look faded as it shrugged, then it scoffed as it turned back to the greeble.

"See? They're not Skylanders, they're a normal forcefield repair crew, they said so themselves!" The gremlin groaned as it pointed back to the four of them. Huh, guess the staff here really were as dumb as the reports suggested.

The greeble snarled as it scratched its head, then it let out a screech as it scrambled towards a red lever on the side of the wall! The gremlin squealed and dashed after the greeble as it waved its own furry arms… But before either of them could reach the lever, something teleported between them, then magically lifted them both up and conked them on the heads!

The gremlin and greeble groaned as they both fell face-first to the floor, while behind them Hex sighed and wiped her hands as she turned back to Boomer, Double Trouble and Voodood.

"My apologies," Hex said as she floated back to the group, "I panicked."

Double Trouble, however, just shrugged and floated up to the dizzy gremlin and greeble. He grinned as he waved his staff around, and in response the staff's jewel glowed and dispensed a rain of shiny powder onto the gremlin and greeble!

The two of them groaned and sneezed as the powder seeped into their skin, then they let out loud yawns and their eyelids drooped up and down in slow-motion. The gremlin yanked and clicked its tongue as it laid back down on the floor, while the greeble crawled over and snuggled it like a plushie as they both fell asleep.

Double Trouble floated around and gave them a thumbs up as he spoke, while Voodood just grinned and returned that thumbs up.

"That sleeping powder's going to keep them out for a while," Hex whispered to Boomer, "We'll be fine."

"Oh…" Boomer replied as he nodded, then walked up to the sleeping greeble and gremlin and cooed. "Well, aren't they just the cutest?"

"Cute?…" Hex and Voodood whispered to each other as they raised their eyebrows.

The two of them shook their heads, then Hex held out her hands and cast out a bright, cyan-colored scroll that landed right in her palms. She unrolled it out as Double Trouble, Boomer and Voodood crowded around her, then levitated it out and pointed towards a red dot marked on the lower levels.

"This should be where the forcefield's control room is located," Hex whispered as she rolled the map back up and floated it into Boomer's backpack, "We'll just have to take the door that leads to the underground control rooms."

"And whaddya know, it's right there!" Boomer chirped as he lifted his head and grinned.

Right across from them, a simple, rusted metal door with a metal plate labeled "To Basement Level One" in worn, red paint stood across from them, its handle rusted but not extremely frail-looking.

Boomer frowned as he examined the door, hand on chin and all, then finally he yanked on the handle and pulled the door open with such force that the door completely snapped off of its hinges! Everyone blinked and shook their heads in absolutely shocked, but Boomer just chuckled and scratched his scalp.

"Whoops!" Boomer chuckled as he chucked the broken door over the docks and into the deep abyss of sky below, "Guess I don't know my own strength!"

But, the door was open either way, so they all crept inside to find themselves at a dimly-lit hall comprised of wet, worn stone. It seemed a bit daunting, but a snap of Hex's fingers completely illuminated the halls and brought to light a lengthy staircase below!

Hex floated down without a care, while Double Trouble hummed a tune as he followed her down. Behind them, Boomer frowned and trailed down the steps… Then snagged his foot on one of the stairs and tumbled on down!

"Owch!" Boomer cried as he flew down and hit his head on one of the stairs, then bounced off only to hit another, "Double owch!"

As Boomer bounced down the stairs, Hex and Double Trouble both flew out of his way, then cast out their hands and magically froze Boomer in midair! As they levitated Boomer onto the bottom level of the floor and teleported down beside him, Boomer giggled and rubbed the massive bump on his head.

"Talk about a long way down!" Boomer chuckled, but his grin quickly faded as Hex flew behind him and yanked the map out of his backpack.

"Good, the map's unharmed," Hex said as she unrolled it and traced its path with her finger, "Now, the control room should be straightforward from here. We just have to keep going ahead until we reach the doors."

"Thank goodness," Voodood said as he hopped off the last step and brandished his ax, "Then, why are we standing here?"

"Because we were waiting for you." Hex rolled up the map and tapped it back into Boomer's backpack, "Now, we shall go."

So, they went silent as they trekked down the halls with their masses of dull, pinkish-colored metal and the odd hums and noises that blended with their footsteps. The walls beside them occasionally diverged into lightless hallway entrances or were decorated with faded graffiti in all sorts of shapes and insults. But, they were hardly remarkable otherwise. For something that was the fortress of Kaos, who perhaps had one of the biggest egos in all Skylands, one would think he'd make the place a bit fancier.

And yet, the tension still rang through the room as Hex, Boomer, Double Trouble and Voodood kept their weapons close, just in case. After all, the halls were quiet… Too quiet. Surely there had to be something lurking just out of view as it waited for the right opportunity to strike!

Double Trouble's lips twitched as he wrung his staff's stick tighter, all while his eyes drifted from side to side. Then, he gasped as he peeked over one of the halls! His eyes narrowed as he drifted closer to it, then he warily shrugged and hovered beside Voodood. As Double Trouble whispered something in Voodood's ear, Voodood frowned and stopped in his tracks.

"I didn't feel like I was being watched," Voodood whispered, "Is something wrong?"

Small pattering sounds echoed around the halls, and Double Trouble gasped as he turned his staff on the hallway once more just in time to see a pair of white eyes glance at him for a moment before disappearing! Double Trouble shouted out as he turned back to Voodood and waved his staff back at the halls, while Voodood frantically nodded and yanked his ax up.

"I did! But, what was it?" Voodood asked as he turned back to the halls, "Maybe it was just a trick of the light?"

Double Trouble frowned, then with a wave of his staff he summoned a tiny clone and nudged it closer to the halls. The clone shuddered as it hopped closer to the black blankets of the hallways, so Double Trouble cooed and gently rubbed its head as he knelt down by its side. Though his word were ineligible, whatever he said must have been enough to encourage the clone to hop back down!

So, it hummed to itself as it hopped into the halls… Then right before it vanished into the shadows, a purple chain wrapped around it and yanked it in! The clone screamed with such intensity as it vanished into the halls that it caused Double Trouble and Voodood to jolt back, then they both shuddered as crashing noises echoed through the halls.

"Ugh, talk about weak!" Groaned a voice that sounded suspiciously like Voodood's as that pair of white eyes popped out of nowhere again, "I was hoping for more of a challenge!"

The white pair of eyes clenched shut as it shook for moment, then when it popped them open, it gasped and leaped over like a massive magical comet! As it rolled back onto the ground, its eyes narrowed and fixed on Double Trouble, who snarled as he pointed his glowing staff into the darkness and cried out!

"Well, so much for staying low!" The eyes' owner cried as the sound of pattering surrounded it, "Guess I have no choice but to fight now!"

A black and purple blur leaped from the halls with its sights set on Double Trouble, but Double Trouble jumped out of the way just in time!

Instead of hitting him, the blur slammed into the floor, bounced off of its cold metal and hit Boomer on the head with that same purple chain instead! Boomer yelped in pain as he crashed onto the floor, then he pushed himself up and rubbed his nose. As he groaned from the pain, a smack on the floor pulled his attention to the center of the halls, where none other than the Evil Orc Warrior landed!

"I should've guessed things were too quiet around here!" Hex proclaimed as her hands flared with eldritch blue flames!

Boomer immediately jumped to his feet and snarled while Double Trouble and Voodood pointed their weapons at the Evil Orc Warrior, but it just chuckled as it watched them aim! It almost seemed to revel in their anger as it licked its lips and narrowed its eyes.

"I never thought I'd find Skylanders wandering the halls while I was doing my rounds, but boy, am I glad to see you!" The Evil Orc Warrior proclaimed as it bent its knees, "Once I turn you in to Lord Kaos, he'll surely make me his right-hand orc!"

"Like we'd let you do that, buddy!" Boomer proclaimed as he whipped out two stacks of dynamite from his sack and got ready to light them…

But he just got beaned on the head once more by a tripwire from the Evil Orc Warrior's ax! This time, the force slammed Boomer into the nearby wall with such power that it completely threw him off! Boomer groaned and stumbled about as the Evil Orc Warrior's tripwire wrapped tight to his scalp, then as it shocked him and vanished, he grunted and fell unconscious on the floor.

"Mmm, sheepstew pie…" Boomer mumbled as his face planted against the metal.

The Evil Orc Warrior grinned as it flew towards Hex and shot its axe towards her, but before it could catch her, Hex teleported away! Instead of catching her, the Evil Orc Warrior's ax stuck to the walls instead! And despite all the flailing and screaming it did as it tried to pull the ax out, it wasn't able to stop before it got yanked forward and crashed into the walls.

As it slunk down and groaned, the Evil Orc Warrior grunted and pulled itself off with a pop, then turned back around and huffed as it fixed its eyes on Double Trouble. Double Trouble grinned and mocked it in some kind of high-pitched voice, then as he stuck his tongue out at it, he teleported away! The Evil Orc Warrior's cheeks puffed as its eyes turned red from sheer anger, then it snarled and dashed after him!

"I'm no bonehead, you dip!" The Evil Orc Warrior cried as it leaped ahead and whipped a chain from its ax out at Double Trouble… But Double Trouble just teleported away right before its eyes!

The Evil Orc Warrior turned on its side as it crashed into the floor, then bounced up and spun around mid-flight. As it landed back on the floor, it narrowed its eyes and licked its lips, perfectly primed to strike, then its jaw dropped to the floor.

Hex and Double Trouble both teleported away with such speed that it couldn't even keep a single target! Its eyes continually trailed between them as they popped left, right, center, back again, forwards and more, all within the blink of an eye! They were going so fast, just looking at them would make anyone dizzy!

The Evil Orc Warrior whimpered as its eyes spun, then finally it shook its head and shot out its ax's chain right as Double Trouble popped in front of it… And right as Voodood leaped in front of it and grabbed its ax by the head! The Evil Orc Warrior squealed as Voodood spun its ax around like a cowboy's rope and took the Evil Orc Warrior for a spin with it, then finally Voodood swung it down the hall and released! The Evil Orc Warrior screamed as it flew across the halls and slammed against the wall while its own ax's chain wrapped around it tight.

Voodood grinned as he rushed forward, ax in hand and fully ready to strike… But before he could strike, the Evil Orc Warrior narrowed its eyes and leaped off the ground! Its sudden strike was such a surprise that it caught Voodood completely off guard and kicked him into a wall, but the Evil Orc Warrior wasn't going to stop at just him!

It soared in midair with its eyes fixed on Hex and Double Trouble, but instead of crashing into them it just slammed into entire body into the ground with such force that it tossed everyone into the air!

While Hex and Double Trouble floated above, the Evil Orc Warrior rocketed off the ground and slammed right into Hex! As she shot into the cold, hard floors, it ricocheted off of her and slammed Double Trouble into the wall! Hex and Double Trouble both groaned as they lunged off of the craters they left in the halls, then gasped as the Evil Orc Warrior hopped away and slammed its head right into the side of the wall!

The wall shook for a moment as one of the panels popped out and unveiled a bright, glowing red button which shone bright against the stark, mild light.

The Evil Orc Warrior made some kind of chuckle, then as it fell to the floor it bounced off once more and slammed into the button!

Red light and ear-splitting sirens poured into the room as the entire halls shook, while one by one the panels all slid down and unveiled rusted, metal bars like that of a cage, almost… And within those metal bars? Were what seemed to be massive, mutated monsters, from massive, hulking mounds of flesh in the vague image of greebles and chompies to lava kings with more lava than body and strange, energy creatures that shrieked and wailed in pain as they clawed at the bars!

The Evil Orc Warrior grinned and shimmied out of its ax's trappings as the cages' bars all slid down at once and unleashed the monsters, then licked its lips as the monsters hulked onto the floors.

"What're you gonna do now, Skylanders?" The Evil Orc Warrior crooned, "These experiments are some of our scientists' best inventions! They're way stronger than you'll ever dream of being! You might as well start writing your wills, because this is the day of your—"

But while the Evil Orc Warrior rambled on, it hadn't noticed that several of the chompy monsters had trailed behind it… That is, until one snapped at its heels! The Evil Orc Warrior shrieked and ran away right before it could become chompy food, but the chompies seemed pretty determined to get their meal! So, it screamed and dashed into the halls with the chompies hot on its tail!

Well, not that Hex, Double Trouble, or Voodood noticed as the monsters closed in on them. They all clenched their teeth as they readied their weapons, all while the monsters lunged forward with their slobbering jaws and heavy breaths over them… Just the sight made their skin crawl.

"Hey, what's going on?" Boomer groaned as he leaned up and rubbed his head, "One minute that orc dude was here, one…"

Boomer blinked for a few minutes, then the moment he locked eyes with the monsters crowd, he screamed and leaped to his feet. "Actually, forget about that!"

Boomer dug his hands into his backpack, then whipped out entire stacks of dynamite and held them over his body like swords.

"We've got bigger problems right now!"

Boomer tossed his dynamite stacks into the crowds, then leaped back as they exploded and sent a cascade of smoke across the room! It seemed as though this was the signal everyone needed, because the monsters all rushed forward and went to attack!

A few hulking greebles that looked more like haphazard, clay mish-mashes of flesh and eyes charged towards Boomer, but he just whipped around, grabbed one by its wrist and spun it around with such force that it tossed the other ones back! As he finally tossed it back into a mutated lava king, Boomer dashed forward, then leaped up and punched another hulking greeble in the face! As it reeled back, he hit the floor and slid forward as he socked another greeble in the gut!

That greeble slid backwards towards Hex, but before it could hit her it was blown onto the floor by a gigantic skull!

All around Hex, rounds of skulls so giant they practically blocked her from view shielded her from enemies, then blew forward and nailed down monsters in waves! But, while they managed to hit the more physically-formed monsters with ease, the energy monsters slid in underneath and leaped over her at once! Hex's eyes popped open, but she stayed stoic as ever as she raised her hands…

And in that moment, the monsters froze as their entire bodies started to spark and shudder! They let out warped, shrill wails like harsh static as they completely exploded, then their essence fueled into the skulls while those skulls raced forward and nailed down another round of mutants!

Double Trouble and Voodood leaped out the way of one skull as it knocked down a mountain-sized chompy mutant, then the two of them turned to each other and nodded! They crossed their ax and staff together, and as the staff and ax started to glow with a bright, shuddering purple light, they turned their eyes onto a lava king that spewed bright, white lava all over the floor.

The lava king wailed as it top started to bubble and pop like it was getting ready to explode, but before it could a massive, magical rope swung forward and wrapped around its body! The rope squeezed the lava king tight despite its flails, then wrapped further around until the lava king was trapped inside a massive rope ball! A muffled boom was heard from within the rope ball, then as the rope ball unraveled itself, white lava and burnt rock poured onto the floor and seared a hole into its metal surface!

While the rope fed itself back into Double Trouble's staff, Double Trouble and Voodood both steeled their gaze as they turned back to the crowd and got ready to attack… Then shuddered and shielded themselves as a massive quake ripped through the entire hall with such force that it ripped metal panels off the floor and blew them across the floor!
The monsters all slammed face-first into the ruined floors, and with their obstructions gone, they unveiled the source of the quake—and it was none other than Boomer, who leaped up from a massive ground pound!

"Man, this fairy magic really is something!" Boomer cried as he fell down to the ground and wound his arms up, "I haven't felt stronger than this in my entire life!"

"Quick, while they're reeling!" Hex proclaimed as she swept up to Boomer's side and held out hands that glowed bright with magic, "We need to get out of here!"

A gigantic cloud of magic burst from Hex's hands as the monsters finally started to get up, and while the monsters coughed and hacked, Boomer and Hex dashed down the halls!

Double Trouble and Voodood burst out of the smoke as they tailed after Hex and Boomer. But unfortunately, while they ran they didn't notice that three of the monsters had tailed after them! It wasn't until the monsters leaped over them in succession and their shadows cast across the ground below that they finally noticed! As the monsters leaped in front of them and blocked the halls off, Boomer, Hex, Double Trouble and Voodood froze in place and stepped back. Just when they were so close to getting out, too!

The first monster, a massive chompy whose skin bubbled like lava, bolted over to Hex and got ready to bite, but she just jumped away! While the monster stumbled forward, Hex summoned her skulls and blasted them towards the monster… But its flesh was so rubbery and loose, the skulls sank into its head, ricocheted back and crashed into the walls! Hex wined as the monster snarled and lunged for her once more, then she summoned a trio of gigantic cursed orbs and shot them right towards the monster!

The orbs crashed into the monster's stomach and exploded upon contact, then blew it back down the halls and straight into Boomer! Boomer whipped around and grabbed its back with both palms, tossed it aside and jumped into the air as his hands formed into a tightly-clenched fist. He spun in midair as he crashed to the ground, but before he could pound into it, a bright, pink feline monster with arms poking out of its back tackled him aside!

Boomer grunted as he slammed right into Double Trouble and Voodood, then as they all rolled down the halls, a bright, blue monster with arms for tusks rushed forward and gulped them down! The monster grinned and licked its lips as it sat down, then its eyes went wide as smoke filtered out its nostrils! The monster shuddered and spat Boomer, Double Trouble and Voodood back onto the ground, while Boomer grinned and held up a dynamite bundle with a sparkling flame at the tip of its fuse!

"Not the first time a gigantic monster tried to eat me!" Boomer grinned as he tossed the dynamite bundle right between all three monsters, "Now take this!"

The monsters all frowned and sniffed the bundle right as the flame finally burned away the last of the fuse… Then they all shrieked and ran off right as the dynamite exploded!

While the smoke filtered through the halls, Hex, Double Trouble, Voodood and Boomer turned tail and bolted back down the halls! As they ran, Hex yanked the map out of Boomer's backpack and looked it over, then nodded.

"The control room shouldn't be far from here!" Hex proclaimed as she lifted her head up from the map, then narrowed her brows as she rolled the map back up, "In fact, there it is!"

The other three followed her gaze up and found that Hex was right! Not that far from them stood a shiny, metal door that looked surprisingly clean and polished in spite of the surroundings, right down to the almost crystalline silver plate that bore the words "Forcefield control room!"

They all grinned as they dashed forward, but their grins faded as the sound of growling and massive footsteps that practically shook the world around drew closer and closer! Those monsters, they were catching up!

As Hex and Boomer drew closer to the door, Double Trouble and Voodood stopped right in their tracks and whipped around! Their eyes were narrowed as they held out their staff and ax, and though the monsters' quakes were massive, the two of them still stood firm in their place!

"We'll hold them off!" Voodood exclaimed as he turned to Hex and Boomer, "Just take the forcefield down!"

Hex and Boomer nodded in response, then Boomer kicked the door down and rushed inside!

There, within the confines of a sleek, white control room, several greebles turned around and shrieked as they leaped from their seats! The greebles immediately leaped towards Hex and Boomer… But before they landed, Hex floated out of the way and they all piled on Boomer instead!

"Hey, get off of me, you pink monkeys!" Boomer cried as he raced around the room while the greebles swung from his head, "Do I look like a jungle gym to you?"

While Boomer screamed and flailed in the background, however, Hex turned her attention down to a massive control panel with more buttons and switches and levers that could be counted.

"Now, if what I got from that report was correct, I just have to flip these…" Hex whispered as she flicked a few switches upward while she pressed a few buttons, "Tap these…"

As the last of the buttons were pressed, a bright, shiny gold button popped out of the control panel! As Hex slammed the button down, she peered back up at the massive screen and frowned as a glow faded from a digital diagram of Kaos's fortress. Her gaze was steeled as a bar beside it slowly dropped down and down… Then finally, it hit zero in time with the glow's disappearance!

"Everyone!" Hex proclaimed as she turned around, "The shield's down!"

Upon hearing this, Boomer tossed the greebles aside and dashed back up the control panel, then beamed as he watched the screen.

"Hex, ya did it!" Boomer exclaimed, "We've gotta let the others know!"

With one massive thunk, the control room's door slammed open as Double Trouble and Voodood dashed inside! Though an unconscious monster fell through the doorway behind them, they both were perfectly oblivious to that. Instead, their focus was on the screen, then on Hex and Boomer as they grinned!

The four of them turned down to the communicators on their wrist, then squeezed the buttons on their communicators' sides in perfect sync! In response, the communicators let off a single, cheery beep, and the four of them nodded.

"This should give Chihiro the signal she needs," Hex said as she joined hands with Double Trouble, "Now, let's make our leave!"

Voodood and Boomer both nodded as they joined hands with Hex and Double Trouble as well, then as they all closed their eyes they teleported back to the beginning of the halls! As they released their hands, Double Trouble grinned and waved his staff as he said something.

"An invisibility spell?" Hex repeated, "Good idea, that should keep us from being noticed…"

Hex froze as the sound of growls echoed behind them, and so did Double Trouble as he lowered his staff and looked back. There, among the fading lights, an entire group of eyes peeped out from the darkness!

"Actually, hold that thought, Double Trouble," Hex said as she narrowed her eyes and summoned a group of eldritch orbs, "Something tells me getting out of here will take a while."

§

"You think they're doing alright?" Terrafin asked as his eyes fixed towards the skies.

Chihiro winced, then tugged on her sleeve just enough to unveil the communication device Trollamor had given her. It looked no more different than your average black wristwatch, but instead of displaying the time, its dull green screen merely remained blank. According to their plan, she would get a signal from Boomer, Hex, Double Trouble and Voodood's devices should they succeed. But, would they succeed in the first place?

God, all this waiting was no good for Chihiro! She wanted to rush in there herself and see what was going on, but she couldn't risk screwing up the plan, not with such high stakes at hand! And besides, even if she did come, with that no-sell spell she wouldn't exactly be the most helpful…

Beep beep! Beep beep!

Chihiro gasped, then lowered her head back down to find that the watch's previously-dark screen was now glowing with a bright green light as a series of white dots strolled across it! That had to be it!

"Everyone, we've got the signal!" Chihiro cried as she spun around and waved to the rest of the anticipating teams, "The barrier's down!"

Though everyone else was cheering and hollering, Hugo only nodded and adjusted his glasses as he turned back to the panel and tapped away!

"Now, hang on everyone!" Hugo proclaimed as he typed with fury, "It's going to be quite fast!"

One by one, several of the Skylanders were enveloped in orange bubbles and whisked into the skies, all while Chihiro grinned and watched in anticipating from her position down below… Then she squealed as something lifted her off the ground! As her vision was tinted in shades of orange, Chihiro pressed her hand against the ground, but touched something kind of rubbery but solid instead. Well, looks like her bubble ride finally came!

"Heh, close one," Chihiro remarked as she sat down and gazed up at the bright, blue skies, "For a moment, I almost thought that I was gonna fall!"

Chihiro cast a glance downwards, then winced as she saw nothing but bright, endless sky down below and directed her gaze back up. Better not look down there, she could already feel the vertigo setting in. Rather, her attention was turned back to the graying skies ahead, which only seemed to turn duller and sadder as she floated forward.

For a minute, it almost made her her kind of nervous, to be honest. As excited as she was to confront Kaos and stop him at last, there was so much bad that could happen, too! What if something went wrong?… She bit her lip as she brushed her hand against the side of the bubble, then a rushing sound behind her turned her away from her thoughts!

All around her, a swarm of orange bubbles identical to the one she rode in at the moment soared around her, each one of which carried a Skylander within their confines! She could already pick out Terrafin, Wrecking Ball, Dino-Rang, Trigger Happy…

Then beside her, Spyro flew up to her bubble and grinned! Just the sight of his smile was enough to lighten her heart in spite of the oncoming battles or their trials. Not even the mopey scenery was enough to dampen her mood! Yes, they were going to beat Kaos for sure! Chihiro and Spyro nodded in sync just moments before Spyro's bubble zipped ahead of her, and in response she pressed her hands to the front of her bubble and zoomed ahead!

There, the clouds shifted to darker, duller shades of grays and blue and purples, all while everything started to blend into one dully-colored blob. Well, save for the massive floating castle before them, which stood strong with its fancy decoration and striking purple and red accents! Surely, this had to be Kaos's hideout, and there was not a forcefield in sight! Seems as though they really did it!

Chihiro grinned as the bubbles all landed on the outer deck of the castle and popped in one swift motion, then the shriek of silence was drowned out by low, tense whispers as everyone split in with their groups and discussed their roles. Chihiro herself couldn't help but feel a little tense as they all talked among each other, so she just sat in silence and toyed with her clothes. But, as she tugged on her jacket and frowned, something gently nudged her shoulder.

"You ready, Chi?" Terrafin remarked above her as he laid a hand on her shoulder, "We don't have time to hang around here, you know."

Chihiro jolted up as her eyes met Terrafin's own milky white ones, then she nodded and stepped back.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm, I'm almost ready," Chihiro sputtered as she turned around. She took a deep breath in, then out, then with a simple clear of her throat all eyes fell on her.

"Alright, everyone!" Chihiro proclaimed as she puffed out her chest and tried to make herself look as confident as possible despite her nerves, "I'm sure you all understand what you're doing, so, it's about time we depart."

Chihiro rolled up her sleeve and tapped her communication device.

"Before we leave, just remember to stick with your groups and don't do anything too rash. This is a crucial step in our plan, and we can't afford any complications. If worst comes to worst, use your communication device to contact Hugo—he'll use that teleporter to warp you back to Ancient's Peak as fast as he can."

Chihiro gulped as all those tense, antsy eyes fell on her, but tried to downplay it as she rolled up her sleeve and nodded.

"Understood?"

"Understood!" The rest of the team cried out while a wave of nods and firm looks swept among them.

Chihiro held her head high, then balled her hand into a fist as she walked up to the center of their little group. "Then let's go…"

Despite their shared ambition and gusto for the plan, everyone was quiet as they packed together in one solid group helmed by Terrafin, Slam Bam, Dino-Rang, Gill Grunt and Wham-Shell while they crept down massive halls full of shiny blue and purple tile and fenced off by massive, twisted black and purple fencing with long, claw-like decorations that hung over them all. Dark mist swirled around the open space blocked off by the fence, and everything around had such a cold and kinda creepy air to it…

Just the sight chilled Chihiro down to the bone, so she just looked down and twiddled her fingers as her earlier confrontation replayed in her mind.

§

With a few more taps, the four markers shaped like Boomer, Hex, Double Trouble and Voodood disappeared and were replaced by nine more!

"See, the fortress itself has a no-sell spell cast on it that only Kaos and his minions are immune to, and it's rife with fancy traps and tough monsters—which is where the rest of their teams come in!"

Five of the markers dashed through the halls of the map and bounced on markers of tough monsters while four monster trailed behind them, then as the first four came to a stop, the latter four charged ahead to a room on the lower levels.

"The no-sell spell is projected by an underground beacon! So, Terrafin, Slam Bam, Wham-Shell, Gill Grunt, and Dino-Rang, you guys are gonna take me, Spyro, Wrecking Ball and Trigger Happy to the beacon's location and keep any suspicious figures from following us, then we'll disable the beacon and remove the no-sell spell!"

§

That was what Chihiro and the rest of them were supposed to do, true, but would this really work out? Given that they were effectively robbed of any sort of magical ability while they were here, she and Spyro wouldn't be of much help—herself especially—and Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball weren't exactly made for extensive combat against such tough monsters… Even with their main's team combined strength, would they still be able to handle things?

Chihiro squeezed her hands, then gently pressed her clasped hands to her heart.

"Please let this work," Chihiro whispered as she squeezed her hands a little tighter.

She didn't know why, but something about this seemed to ease her worries a little, so she forced a smile and turned her attention back to the rest of her team.

They had all drawn to a stop as they examined the clean, pristine halls, which, now that Chihiro had thought about it, looked a little too clean and pristine. If this really was Kaos's hideout, wouldn't there be some kind of trick up his sleeve? Wouldn't there at least be a few guards, even ones that were just those weird pink monkey thingies?

Apparently that's what everybody else thought as well, because they had all turned their eyes around the halls as if they were looking for some sort of sign that something was going to break out or attack them, all tense as they craned their heads all around the place. But, no matter where they looked on the ground, there was nothing to be found! No fake panels that activated nasty traps, no surprise sirens that dropped off minions, not even a stray guard wandering where they shouldn't!

Still, this didn't feel right. As Chihiro stuffed her hands into her pockets and frowned, a slow creak sounded off from above her, one that was so slow and quiet that it probably would've escaped the hearing of most. However, Chihiro had very sensitive ears, and the noise was so irritating that it forced her gaze up just to see what was making that awful sound… Then she gasped and stumbled back!

Just above them, one of those claw-like decorations twitched and fell forward, and it was perfectly poised to smash them all!

"Look out!" Chihiro cried!

Chihiro rushed forward and flung out her arm, but while she did, Wham-Shell rushed forward, then leaped up and slammed it aside with one swing from his mace! While he landed, the claw was shot clean off of the fence and swung aside, then skidded across the platform and spun around like a record needle.

"Close one," Wham-Shell panted as he carefully eyed the claw. With one last sigh, he slung his mace over his shoulders and raised an eyebrow at Chihiro. "Chi, what're you doing?"

Chihiro paused and blinked as she looked back down at her arm. Wait a second, shouldn't she have cast out a big enough energy blast to completely obliterate that stupid claw? Why didn't it come? Chihiro frowned and tilted her head for a moment…

"Oh, that's right!" Chihiro cried as gently smacked her head, "With that no-sell spell in place, I can't use any of my magic!"—Chihiro sighed and shook her head—"Guess I forgot, force of habit and all."

Wham-Shell just chuckled and rolled his eyes as he gripped his mace's handle tight. It was a good thing he caught that when he did, or else Chihiro would probably be a pancake right about now. The two of them chuckled at each other as they went to rejoin their groups…

But before they could, the rest of the claws slammed forward and dug their gigantic pinchers into the tiles below! Glass shattered and flew everywhere as everyone stumbled backwards, while the raw stone underneath the paneling cracked and tossed tiny fragments of stone across the halls as the claws yanked out of the ground and went back to their upright positions. Well, guess those halls weren't very pristine anymore.

Everyone held their breath and stepped back just once more to be safe as the claws stood still, then finally a few of them released their breaths and wiped the sweat from their brows.

"Well, looks like those claws aren't doing any more clawing anytime soon!" Trigger Happy remarked as he pushed out from between Terrafin and Slam Bam and strode along, "Guess we'd better get going!"

Trigger Happy whistled as he spun his guns around his furry fingers, but the sound of creaking shocked him out of his little jaunt! Trigger Happy frowned and looked up as the creaking grew louder while a shadow cast over him… Then he yelped and ran back to the rest of the team as the claws crashed into the ground once more! While Trigger Happy found sanctuary in Spyro's grip, the claws just yanked themselves out of the ground and stood upright. All was tense for a few moment as the claws stood silent, then finally, they trembled and crashed down into the ground once more!

"Seems like we're gonna have to be careful," Spyro said as he flew up and sat Trigger Happy down, "Now, we should be able to weave our way through those claws if we're careful enough…"

"Or," Dino-Rang said as he lifted up his boomerangs, which were now shinier and sleeker that before, "We could just do this!"

With a simple flick of Dino-Rang's wrists, the boomerangs hurtled out of his hands and slammed into two claws with small, just barely-noticeable gaps in their bases! The sound of metallic shrieking echoed through the air as the boomerangs dug into the claws' metal bases, then finally the boomerangs flew back towards Dino-Rang as the claw fell sideways and slammed into the claws beside them! The force from that sent those claws crashing into the ones beside them, then the claws after that crashed into the next… In just seconds, all the claws toppled onto each other like dominoes and finally crashed onto the floor in broken pieces!

Dino-Rang reclaimed his boomerangs without even flinching, then smirked as he blew them off and tucked them away in his armor.

"Now," Dino-Rang said as he strode ahead, "Why don't we head off before…"

Just then, Dino-Rang collapsed and covered his ears as a massive siren blared through the area, while all around the purple and blue panel lighting had been dyed a deep red instead!

While everyone else reeled and covered their ears, Wham-Shell rushed up and helped Dino-Rang back to his feet, then Wham-Shell himself lifted his head up to the skies and grimaced.

"Wham, what's wrong?" Dino-Rang asked as he nudged Wham-Shell with his shoulder.

Wham-Shell, however, just let go of Dino-Rang and snarled as he withdrew his mace. "Looks like we've got company!"

In the skies above, the sound of twirling and whirring echoed over the sirens as a trio of small platforms spun their way over the halls, then finally parked above the hall and opened up their bases!

As they did, loud moans and groans and wails drowned out the dying sirens while all sorts of monsters dropped onto the floor—lava kings with more lava than body who wailed in pain with every step they took as if all that lava hurt them more than anything, chompies that was about a hundred times their usual size with too many teeth and eyes embedded into their leafy bodies, walking piles of flesh with massive, muscular arms and legs that held no sort of clue as to what they originally were… Even above them, a few massive birds with fanged beaks and scar-ravaged legs flew above them and blocked off the skies!

"Great, they had an alarm system!" Dino-Rang lamented as he and Wham-Shell stepped back.

The two of them winced as the monsters growled and imposed over them, but they didn't relent as they stood as tall as they could. While they whipped out their weapons, Terrafin and Slam Bam rushed up to their sides and cast a glance backwards.

"We'll take care of these guys!" Terrafin cried as he looked back at Spyro, Chihiro, Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball, "Just try not to get yourselves killed!"

"Sound advice," Spyro sighed.

He shook his head while his tail dragged against the bright red floors, then he screamed and pushed Chihiro and Trigger Happy aside as a molten-hot lava blob soared right over his head! Spyro panted as the three of them crashed into the fence, then Spyro flared his wings in front of them… Just in case.

Chihiro winced as the lava sizzled into the floor and ate away at its paneling, then poked her head over Spyro's wing and bit her lip.

Several of the chompies had already cornered Wham-Shell, but Wham-Shell himself just clenched his teeth. They were massive compared to him, a mountain range imposed over his little anthill, and normally he probably might not have stood a chance… But, this wasn't a normal time! He had powered up, and he was going to show them that! So, Wham-Shell just smirked as he heaved his mace over his head, then he screamed as he rushed right towards one of the chompies!

"BRACE FOR THE MACE!" Wham-Shell cried as he held his mace's staff tight and slammed it straight into one of the chompies!

The chompy wailed as it got hit right in the gut, then it flew backwards and slammed right into the other chompies that had circled around him! They all screamed and flailed as they flew across the halls, then one of the panels below shot up from the ground and tossed them into the skies!

While the panel fell to the ground and shattered over a massive hole in the floor, Terrafin and Slam Bam took sanctuary behind a panel that had been upturned to act as a makeshift wall and cringed as the glass chips slammed into its surface. While the storm ended and the panel wall fell over, then two of them grinned at each other and looked for a moment as if they were going to share a kiss… But the screeches that sounded off from the skies above pulled their attention away!

Up in the skies, those massive birds had caught the chompies with their talons, and they seemed about ready to drop them back on the hallway battlefield! Their toes twitched as they cawed and crowed, but right before they dropped their deliveries off, something shot down from below and slammed into their chests! The birds hurtled off from the sheer strength of the blast, while the chompies slipped from their grip and dropped into the abyss below!

And the things that blasted them out of the skies? Were none other than Dino-Rang's boomerangs and Gill Grunt's harpoons! Dino-Rang smiled as his boomerangs flew back into his hands in the blink of an eye and rubbed them against his chestplate, while Gill Grunt heaved his harpoon cannon over his shoulder… But while they took a moment of rest, they were perfectly oblivious to the lava kings that sneaked up behind them and were poised to pounce!

Good thing Wrecking Ball didn't! Before they could launch, Wrecking Ball rammed into the head of the pack and knocked it into the others! One by one they slammed into each other like dominoes and collapsed on the floor, all crying and twitchy fingers, while Wrecking Ball just giggled and rolled off.

"Your turn now, Spyro!" Wrecking Ball cried as he zoomed past Dino-Rang!

Dino-Rang blinked, then turned back around just in time to catch Spyro as he tackled right into the lava king pile with such force that they slammed right through the fence and fell down into the clouds below!

"Alright!" Spyro cried as he flew back up and shook stray flecks of lava from his horns, "That spell may have negated our magic, but it didn't stop the other powerups!"—Spyro beamed as he peered down at the battlefield—"Chi, Trig, Wrecking Ball, hear that? We can still fight, even without our magic!"

Spyro swooped back down onto the battlefield and right between a few massive chompies, then snorted as he lowered his horns and pawed against the ground like a raging bull.

"Good thing, too…" Spyro said as he stormed forward and tackled the chompies aside, "Seems like these monsters keep on coming!"

And Spyro wasn't entirely wrong—while they had been fighting, platforms continued to fly through the air and deposit off more monsters than before! Their work was absolutely endless!

While Spyro charged down more of the monsters, Wrecking Ball zoomed underneath a massive flare of golden light shot out by Trigger Happy and rolled right up to Wham-Shell! Wham-Shell grunted and stepped back right before Wrecking Ball could bowl him down, then frowned as Wrecking Ball unfurled himself.

"Whaddya want, kid?" Wham-Shell asked as he stepped aside, then perked up and slammed his mace into another monster's gut right before it could claw him down, "In case you didn't notice, I'm kinda busy here!"

"Whammy, Whammy!" Wrecking Ball cheered as he bounced up and down, "Toss me, toss me!"

Wham-Shell winced as he ducked underneath another spew of lava, then frowned and raised an eyebrow as he lifted himself back up. "You sure about that, kid?"

Wrecking Ball made the biggest, cutest puppy-dog eyes he could muster as he frantically nodded, while Wham-Shell just sighed and shook his head.

"Alright, if you say so…"

"YAY!"

With one last bounce, Wrecking Ball curled himself up into a ball, then Wham-Shell slammed his mace right into Wrecking Ball like Wrecking Ball was no more than a simple baseball! Wrecking Ball squealed with delight as he went soaring through the crowds, while the added force from Wham-Shell's hit added so much velocity to him that he had become a functional, flaming comet! And all that speed only gave him more power as he charged through the halls and plowed down an entire row of hulking flesh piles like they were nothing more than sand!

Chihiro, meanwhile, just ducked and covered as she rolled behind Terrafin, then frowned as she curled up in a ball. Everyone was fighting and trying their hardest, and she wanted to help them, she really did. But without her magic, she was pretty much useless in a situation like this! She had no sort of magic she could use, she definitely wasn't strong enough to take on monsters as nasty as this even with a power-up, and she had no sort of weaponry whatsoever! What was she supposed to do?

Chihiro winced and scuffled backwards as an explosion sounded off from further down the hall while thin streams of lava trickled in a bit too close for her comfort! Chihiro yelped and scrambled away just before the lava could singe her shoes, but as she did, her eyes fell on something interesting and she froze in her tracks!

There on the ground ahead of her rested one of those claws that Dino-Rang had broken off, but aside from its bottom half being missing, it was in perfect condition! And, if what it did to the floors was of any indication, something like that would make a perfect weapon!

Chihiro giggled, then dashed around and heaved the claw up, though it was a pain! Thing was so heavy that she strained and grunted just from lifting the thing itself, even with the extra boost she got from the fairies' magic. Geez, being able to magically alter this thing's weight would really come in handy now… But, finally, she lifted it up and held it like a sword, then screamed as she rushed into the fray!

One of the mutant flesh pile things grunted as its eyes turned to Chihiro, then it screamed and banged on its chest as it bolted right for Chihiro! Chihiro screamed, and without even thinking she swung the claw like a baseball bat—and in a surprise twist of events, it worked! The claw slammed into that walking flesh pile's gut and sent it flying right across the halls!

"Yes!" Chihiro cried as she pumped her fist!

But, as she let it go, the weight from the claw overwhelmed her and sent her hopping backwards, then finally it overwhelmed her enough that she fell flat on her butt. Chihiro grunted as she wrapped her arms back around the claw and hefted herself up, her eyes fixed on the claw itself. Chihiro groaned as she adjusted her handling, but something about it didn't quite feel right. She hummed as she moved her hands up and down the claw's metal surface… But whenever she tried to find the right position, the sound of growling completely distracted her! Chihiro's eye twitched as she lost her train of thought for the fifth time, then finally she gritted her teeth and shot her head up.

"Do you mind?!" Chihiro exclaimed as she glared down the guilty growlers, "I'm trying to do something…"—Chihiro's eyes went wide as she finally realized just who faced her—"Here?"

Right in front of her, several more of those hulking chompies and beasts had cornered her, and with the way they snarled and growled and licked her lips, they didn't seem like they were here for a tea party!

Chihiro screamed, then swung her claw right into the belly of the massive chompy in front of her, then while it flew away, she stumbled backwards and went to swing again. She grunted as she tried to heave her claw back up, but something about its weight now felt so heavy and imposing that she struggled just to hold it! Her arms ached as she lifted it as high as she could, then she cried out as she swung it right onto a mutant monkey-thing's head!

While the monkey thing cried out in pain, Chihiro winced and tried to yank the claw out of its head, but its flesh was so loose and liquidy that the claw had gotten trapped! And all that weight probably wasn't helping her any, either…

Chihiro winced and whined as she tried to yank her claw right out of the monster's head, then finally another chompy bit down on it and snapped it clean in half! The bite was enough to free the claw from that monster's head, but the force was so great that it sent Chihiro tumbling backwards! Chihiro screamed as she rolled backwards and hit her head on something hard and metallic, then she crawled back up and grimaced as she examined the now useless bottom half of what was once her claw. Chihiro chuckled as she tossed it aside, then frowned as she turned around.

Right behind her, a large metal wall had conveniently appeared to stop her roll… But she was fairly certain that wall wasn't there when they first arrived! What was going on? Chihiro frowned as the red light of the panels below started to dull, while a rumble low enough that it could easily get drowned out by the sounds of battle shook the floors. She narrowed her eyes further as she focused in on a large rectangle of the floor that seemed to shudder and rumble a bit more compared to the rest, then she gasped and dashed ahead!

"Guys!" Chihiro cried as loud as she could as she ducked underneath a blob of magma, "This whole hall is locking down! We gotta get outta here!"

Chihiro took one last stride, but in the process her foot hit that shaking part of the floor right as it hit its stride! In moments, a massive wall shot up from the ground and tossed Chihiro in the air, then as she fell she gripped onto the wall and slid down. Chihiro whipped back around the moment her feet hit the ground, and immediately all eyes turned on her with wide shock.

"What're we gonna do?" Spyro asked as he flew beside Chihiro. Though his clenched jaw showed a bit of strain, he tried his best to keep his cool as he unwrapped his front paws. "There's too many of these things…"

Spyro winced and flew forward another one of those walls shot up just inches behind him. "But if we keep fighting them, there's no way we'll be able to make it!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Terrafin cried from across the halls!

Spyro frowned, then swooped down as everyone gathered around Terrafin and Slam Bam. Though the two of them were covered in thin cuts and scrapes, neither of them had lost the fire in their eyes, and it encouraged everyone else around!

"Alright, we don't have much time, so we'll just speed things up a little!" Terrafin crackled his knuckles as he looked towards Wham-Shell and Dino-Rang, "Wham-Shell, Dino-Rang, can you two clear out those creeps?"

Wham-Shell and Dino-Rang both nodded, then grunted and whipped out their weapons as they faced the swarms of monsters ahead!

"Me too, me too!" Wrecking Ball cheered as he rolled up beside Wham-Shell!

The monsters all growled and hunkered down as they got ready to attack again… But right as they charged, Dino-Rang tossed his boomerangs and knocked several of them back! The others tried to charge ahead as Dino-Rang's boomerangs returned back to him, but before they could strike, they were knocked down as well by Wrecking Ball!

As they all groaned and fell over, Terrafin yanked Trigger Happy off the ground, then held Trigger Happy up like a baseball while Trigger Happy squealed with delight!

"Those things are gonna get up any minute now!" Terrafin cried as he tossed Trigger Happy across the halls. Terrafin flinched a bit as another wall shot up behind him, then shook his head and turned to Spyro, Chihiro and a returning Wrecking Ball. "Hurry up and get going!"

Chihiro hastily nodded, then dashed across the halls without a single second taken to think! She winced as she bounced over one reeling chompy, clenched her teeth as she wove her way through a path just barely obscured by those darn flesh piles… Then completely froze as the path ahead was blocked off by the lava kings! Chihiro cringed and stepped back as their lava seeped across the floor, then squeaked as something grabbed her by the shoulders and flew her across their barrier!

"Need a lift, Chi?" Spyro asked from above.

Chihiro chirped and poked her head up, then grinned as she found herself staring Spyro right in the face! The two of them chuckled to each other as Spyro dropped Chihiro down on the floor, then Spyro turned around and caught Wrecking Ball right as Wrecking Ball soared across the halls!

"That everyone?" Chihiro panted as she inched a bit further away from the lava kings… Just in case.

"Yep!" Trigger Happy chirped as he popped up right beside Chihiro!

Chihiro squeaked and jumped forward a bit, then paused as she dove her hand into her pocket and pulled out a simple map. The entryway to the underground halls where that beacon was kept should be right around here, but where? She frowned as she lifted her eyes from the map, then smiled and rolled it back up as she found herself face-to-face with a dark purple door embedded among a wall of spikes!

"Come on, everyone!" Chihiro proclaimed as she dashed up to the door and yanked it open, "We've got no time to lose!"

Spyro, Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball all dashed inside without a second thought, and yet, despite what she just said, Chihiro couldn't help but linger as her eyes fell on those monsters.

They were already starting to pull themselves up and get ready to pick a fight again, and there were still so many of them… Would Terrafin, Slam Bam, Dino-Rang, Gill Grunt and Wham-Shell really be alright? Chihiro wasn't sure, but she knew that lingering around wouldn't help anyone any. So, she just nodded and dove down the dark hallway the opened door unveiled.

"Fin, Slam, Wham, Rang, Gill… Hang in there!" Chihiro whispered right as the door creaked to a close, "We'll be back before you know it!"

§

As the four of them stumbled into the dark depths of the underground, Chihiro paused and leaned against a cold, gritty wall that she assumed was probably stone as she caught her breath. Well, at least, she hoped it was stone and not some weird magical material that would come to life and attack you when you least expect it—with all this darkness, it was kind of hard to tell.

From around her, Chihiro could make out Spyro, Wrecking Ball and Trigger Happy as they panted from a very close distance. Good, they were all still together. Guess she supposed that was her cue to move on, so Chihiro took a step forward…

"OWCH!" Spyro cried as something was yanked out from under Chihiro's foot, "That's my paw!"

And Chihiro promptly lost her footing and fell on her butt. As she hit the cold floor, Chihiro yelped and rubbed her back—yeah, that floor underneath her was definitely stone, nothing else could hurt as much as that.

"Sorry 'bout that, Gold!" Chihiro winced as she scratched her head, "It's kinda hard to see around here!"

"No kidding." Spyro's voice took on an exasperated tone, or maybe that just came from the residual pain of someone stepping on his paw, "Normally I'd get a torch, but with that no-sell spell, I can't make a light source…"—Spyro grunted as his claws clacked against the floor below—"And as you can guess, seeing in the dark is out of the question, too."

"This is why I hate no-sell spells." Chihiro huffed and crossed her arms, then shook her head. Her cheeks puffed from the sheer frustration she felt… Then she lost her balance and fell on her back with a grunt. "Where's a flashlight when you need one?"

"Wait, did somebody say flashlight?" Trigger Happy asked from behind.

The sound of his hops echoed around the room for a few moments, then a bright flame emerged at just a short enough height that the halls around them could at least somewhat be made out! And underneath that flame, Trigger Happy grinned as he held a small, golden pistol as high as his arms could reach!

"Wait, you have a torch gun?" Chihiro asked as she jumped to her feet and admired the flames, then leaned back as they started to crackle a little too high for her liking, "Why didn't you tell us until now?"

"You never asked~" Trigger Happy chuckled as he spun both of his pistols around his finger, then stashed them in his fur and skipped along, "Now come on, we've got a fancy beacon to find!"

Chihiro rolled her eyes and grinned—typical Trigger Happy, always acting goofy like that. Well, it seems as though his hidden secrets had saved them some trouble this time, so she pulled out another map and rolled it out.

This one was a perfectly crisp, printed map of the halls that laid before them, right down to a massive hallway filled with a ton of doors that resided at the end. The beacon that powers the no-sell spell should be a room in these halls… But, which one? Surely there had to be a marker or something on this map that would show the way, right? Chihiro frowned as she pushed the map closer to her face and scanned it over, but no such marker revealed itself! She frowned as she drew the map back, then her frown sunk deeper while realization kicked in. In her haste to get everything together, she must have completely forgot to mark down which one had the beacon!

"Hey, Chi!" Spyro called as he flew over to Chihiro's side, "Which one of these rooms was supposed to have the beacon, again?"

Chihiro winced, then giggled as she rolled the map up and hid it in her pocket. Crap, what was she going to tell him? She didn't remember to mark it down, and she even knew she was forgetting something, too! This was definitely going to throw a wrench in their plans… But, it wouldn't stop them entirely. Chihiro took a deep breath in, then out, then turned back to Spyro and sighed.

"Yeah, we've got a bit of a problem—the map doesn't say," Chihiro said as she shook her head, "But, don't worry! If we don't know which door has our beacon…"—Chihiro grinned as she held her head and dashed forward—"We'll just check all of them!"

So, Chihiro dashed across the dark halls, which grew less and less dark as a soft light echoed at the end of the hall. With one last stride, she found herself in a cobblestone hall illuminated by dim, flickering ceiling lights! But, that was hardly important compared to the masses of doors that lined both sides of the hallways—looks like they found their destination!

Spyro paused in midair for moments as he, Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball finally joined Chihiro, then nodded and flew from door to door in a chain of opening, peering inside and closing, as did Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball as they bounced from door to door… But to no luck, as nothing seemed to have what they were looking for!

Spyro opened one door to find a spell punk potion making session, then closed it and flew into another room, only to be met with a broom closet instead. He grunted as a mop fell on his head, then he tossed the mop aside and slammed the door shut. So, Spyro flew up to the door next to it and pulled it open, but all he spied was a lava king taking a lava bath! Spyro and the lava king both screamed as Spyro slammed the door shut, then he pressed his back against it and winced as his scales turned hot.

"Talk about awkward," Spyro whispered as he pulled himself from the door and shook his head, "Well, onto the next one—"

"HELP!"

Wait a second, that was Wrecking Ball's voice! Everybody else turned to an open door ahead, where Wrecking Ball popped out with a sausage link in his mouth and an angry spell punk armed with a rolling pin on his tail!

"Get back here, thief!" The spell punk cried as they zoomed after Wrecking Ball and shook their rolling pin in the air, "Those sausages were for my shepherd's pie, not your mouth!"

Wrecking Ball, however, just squealed and slurped down the sausage link as he bolted across the floors!

"Wrecking Ball, seriously?" Spyro exclaimed as he pinched the bridge of his snout. With a groan, Spyro took to the skies and narrowed his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm coming!"

Spyro's wings pounded against the air as he flew straight towards Wrecking Ball, but before he could reach Wrecking Ball, Wrecking Ball dove into one of the doors and disappeared! Spyro froze and blinked as the spell punk chef jumped into the same door…

But right as it did, the door Spyro had checked moments earlier flung open and spat out none other than Wrecking Ball himself! Wrecking Ball grunted as he planted face-first on the floor, then sat up and blinked for a moment as he licked steak sauce off of his lips.

"Huh, I thought that weird spell punk was right behind me!" Wrecking Ball remarked as he looked back at the open door, then shrugged and waddled off, "Looks like I lost 'em!"

Spyro, meanwhile, turned around and peered inside the open door that Wrecking Ball leaped out from.

"Wait a second, I'm pretty sure it didn't look like that when I opened it earlier..." Spyro whispered as he scratched his claw against his chin.

Chihiro, meanwhile, frowned as her eyes fell on Spyro, then she jumped to one of the doors and went to open it... But before she could, a loud scream echoed around the halls and shook her to her core!

"NO YOU DIDN'T, YOU PESKY LITTLE GRUB!" Yelled an absolutely furious voice as another door slammed open to unveil a bright mass of colors!

The colorful warp warbled and rippled like water, then out from it popped that same spell punk, which was still just as furious as before!

"Nobody steals from my kitchen and gets away with it!" The spell punk cried as it pointed its rolling pin at Wrecking Ball, "And as it just so happens, my next recipe calls for some grub worms!"

"NOOOOOOO!" Wrecking Ball squealed as he rolled up into a ball and got ready to zoom off, "I don't wanna be food!"

The spell punk snarled as it rushed forward and got ready to conk Wrecking Ball on the head with its pin… But before it could do the conking, it got conked itself by a gigantic, solid gold pot of golden coins! As the pot crashed down into the floor and left a nasty hole in the wood, the spell punk groaned and collapsed beside Wrecking Ball, now completely unconscious.

Wrecking Ball perked up, then unfurled himself and waddled towards the spell punk. He let out a small whimper as he lifted up one of the spell punk's eyelids with his tongue, then the next eyelid, but the spell punk refused to awaken—much to Wrecking Ball's relief!

"Phew, close one!" Wrecking Ball sighed as he sat down and giggled, "I like food, but not that much!"

"Hey, guys, guess what I found!" Trigger Happy shouted as he burst out of a door with golden jewelry all over his tiny, furry body and twin pots of solid gold in hand, "If you guessed the jackpot, you're right!"

Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball both giggled as Trigger Happy waddled over and showed off his new golden collection, then both of them froze and turned back as Spyro groaned.

"Guys, don't forget why we're here!" Spyro scolded as he flew over and yanked a golden crown off of Trigger Happy's head, "We didn't come here for Kaos's food or riches, we came here to find the beacon that's putting out this no-sell spell and take it down!"

Spyro sighed and shook his head as he turned back to Chihiro. "That is, if any of these things even have it…"

But, Chihiro didn't pay any sort of attention to the ongoing fiasco, for she was more concerned with opening and closing one of those doors in rapid succession. She seemed oddly transfixed as she slammed the door closed, then hummed and opened it once more just to slam it shut again.

"Chi?" Spyro tilted his head as he flew in place, "Chihiro, what are you doing?"

Chihiro perked up and released herself from the door's trance just enough to face Spyro, then waved him over as she turned back to the door.

"Spyro, come here!" Chihiro called as she slammed the door open and shut once more, "I found something!"

"You did?" Spyro grinned as he flew straight up to Chihiro's side, "Is it the beacon?"

Chihiro tilted her head down at Spyro as he sat by her side and gave her an eager look, then shook her head as she turned back to the door. "Look at this."

So, Spyro peered inside the door's open path to find the entryway to some sort of laboratory filled with test tubs, then leaned back as Chihiro slammed the door shut… But as she opened it once more, he peered back inside to find not that same laboratory, but a break room where greebles in ties talked over frothy liquid mugs! Chihiro slammed and opened the door a few more times, but each time she did, a new scene showed—training rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, gyms… Even what was presumably Kaos's bedroom, what with all the pictures of Kaos himself strewn about its walls the same way one would hang up posters of their idols.

"Seem as though every time we close the doors and open them again, they take you to a different place!" Chihiro remarked as she closed the door and sighed, "Looks like our job just got a whole lot harder."

Spyro sighed and pursed his lips as he tapped his claws against his chin. His brows twitched as he delved deeper and deeper into his thoughts, then finally he groaned and lifted his head… But before he could say anything, he paused as he looked over Chihiro, who seemed equally deep in thought as he was as she glazed over the map.

"What're you doing, Chi?" Spyro asked.

Chihiro hummed, then pressed the map in Spyro's face and pointed towards a small, square box that was printed in the very center of the map, something innocuous enough that it might not have been noticed by most.

"I was thinking, actually," Chihiro said as she traced her hand around the map's paper surface, "Maybe, just maybe, the door we're looking for isn't here?"

Chihiro rolled up the map and stashed it in her pocket as she wiped her hands.

"Think about it, if you were Kaos and wanted to hide something that would keep any unwanted visitors from taking you on full-throttle, where would you put it?"

Spyro hummed and tapped his chin.

"You probably wouldn't just hide it in some random door, right?" Chihiro chuckled as Spyro perked up beside her, "If anything, you'd probably just put all these doors here to mislead people!"

"So what you're saying is, all these doors are just decoys to draw suspicion from the real one?" Spyro's eyes glazed over the doors that lined the halls while his eyes went wide. A small smile formed on his face as his eyes trailed from door to door, then his smile turned to a wide grin as he looked back at Chihiro. "That's it! Can't believe I didn't think of that first…"

"That's what I'm here for~" Chihiro stuck her tongue out at Spyro and chuckled, then crossed her arms as she looked back at the halls, "Now, we just have to look for something well-hidden, something that only Kaos and his minions could access…"

Chihiro hummed as her eyes fell on the still-unconscious spell punk chef, then she skipped across the floor and leaped past the massive hole in its boarding to seat herself right next to the spell punk. She hummed as she dove her hand into the pocket of its robes and rummaged around, then cheered as she yanked out a small, metal device vaguely shaped like a pen with a red button on its side.

"Now, what might you be, I wonder?~" Chihiro asked as she held out the pen, then tapped the button… And frowned as it just emitted a vast beam of light. "A flashlight?"

Chihiro tapped the button on and off a couple more times as she waved its light across the halls, then she turned its light towards the ceiling and gasped as the light unveiled a simple wooden door embedded in the ceiling!

"A hidden door!" Chihiro grinned and pumped a fist, "Knew it!"

Spyro flew up to the ceiling, yanked the door open and flew through its open doorway, then knelt and poked his head back down!

"I can see something up ahead!" Spyro cried as he flew down and grabbed Trigger Happy by the hand, "Come on!"

Chihiro giggled as she jumped right on Spyro's back, then Wrecking Ball jumped into her arms and snuggled into her grip as Spyro whisked them all back through the ceiling doorway! As he hit the wooden floors above, Chihiro, Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball all jumped off… Then promptly broke into sneezing fits, because this place was dusty!

The door had lead them to a dimly-lit wooden attic that seemed like it had been abandoned for ages, what with the fine layer of dust that coated everything from the floors to the ceiling to the various banged-up cardboard boxes and wooden crates that were littered around every nook and cranny. Spiderwebs coated the ceiling and found homes in the support beams that held up the entire attic, while a few spiders skittered to and fro as they chased a fly down across the floors. But, none of those things caught attention like the tall, spiraling beacon at the very back of the attic that emitted an eerie blue light!

"That has to be the beacon we're looking for!" Spyro cried as he charged forward, "Come on!"

Chihiro, Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball all grinned to each other as they all dashed after Spyro, all more than ready to take down the beacon as Trigger Happy whipped out a gigantic gun and Wrecking Ball curled up like he was about ready to charge! The beacon's light glowed bright and brighter around the room as they all trailed forward, and all their eyes went wide with excitement as they went in for the charge... Then right as they came within inches of the beacon, something slammed into Spyro and tossed him right into Trigger Happy, Wrecking Ball and Chihiro! All four of them cried out as they flew into four different directions and crashed into the masses of assorted boxes and machinery around the attic!

"Ugh…" Spyro moaned as he sat within the contents of a half-crushed cardboard box and lifted a cracked metal disc from his head, "Just what was that?"

"I dunno…" Trigger Happy whined as he sat on top of a broken and splintered wooden crate, "All I see are spinny coins…"

Chihiro groaned as she pushed herself up from the floor, then frowned and narrowed her eyes as she swiped her flashlight off the floor! With a single button press, she shone its light right in front of the beacon, and unveiled that right in front of it was a trio of snickering spell punks clad in purple robes!

"There's our answer!" Chihiro cried as she pointed towards the spell punks, "We've got company!"

Right as Chihiro cried out, the spell punks turned their eyes on her and shrieked! Two of the punks spun around each other and chattered in panic, then the third bonked the other two on the head and cursed them out in some kind of angry gibberish! All three spell punks scowled as they turned back to Spyro, Trigger Happy, Chihiro and Wrecking Ball, then with a wave of their spindly hands, then shot a round of bright magic orbs like stars straight at them!

Trigger Happy gasped as the orbs came in fast, then sprang from the broken crate where he sat and whipped out two massive golden pistols! Trigger Happy licked his lips as his furry fingers wrapped around the triggers, and out from his guns came a wave of golden light so massive that just firing it blew Trigger Happy back by a foot!

"Bang bang bang!" Trigger Happy cackled as he soared backwards and hit the ground! His guns slipped out of his hands and collapsed onto the floor, but Trigger Happy just giggled and jumped back to his feet as he shot a fingergun back at the spell punks. "You're dead!"

Thin, cream-colored smoke wafted through the attic and obscured most-everything from view, but as it thinned and floated away the sound of cackling proved that Trigger Happy was quite wrong! The spell punks stood firm behind the safety of a gigantic magic shield, and they didn't even have a scratch on them!

While Trigger Happy's jaw dropped right to the floor, Spyro just snarled and charged right for the spell punks! His feet pounded against the wooden floor as he dashed forward, then with one leap he slammed into the center spell punk and pinned it to the floor! The spell punk squealed as it squirmed against Spyro's grip, then it completely stopped as it smirked at Spyro and split into two!

The twin spell punks slipped out from under Spyro's paws as he reeled back in shock, then they all cackled and cried out as they duplicated further! Four spell punks became eight, then twelve and sixteen… Before anyone knew it, the spell punks had completely flooded out the attic, and had definitely outnumbered Spyro!

Spyro gasped, then charged right into one, but it just disappeared into a puff of smoke! So, he spun around and went for the one behind him, but it just shot a magic-laden comet at him and tossed him into the wall! And it wasn't just Spyro that struggled with them, either!

Across from him, Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball winced as they backed across the floor while an entire group of spell punks pushed them further and further back, then Trigger Happy snarled and whipped out his guns!

"Eat gold, suckers!" Trigger Happy cried as he pulled the trigger and sent waves of gold coins flying through the crowds!

The coins slammed into the spell punks and knocked them out in droves, until only a few remained… But the spell punks just shrugged and cried out as they duplicated again and refilled their ranks!

Trigger Happy gasped and stumbled back, but Wrecking Ball just shook his tail and squealed as he bolted forward!

"Wreck and roll!" Wrecking Ball cried!

He let out a squeal of pure, unadulterated glee as he tackled right towards the spell punks, only to get slammed by a comet and tossed backwards into Trigger Happy! The two of the squealed as they slammed into the wall and slunk down, while Wrecking Ball planted face-first into the floor.

"You sure wrecked and rolled, alright…" Trigger Happy moaned.

Chihiro winced as she fell down to the floor and ducked underneath another magical comet, then frowned as she turned her attention back to the flashlight that still laid safe in her grip. She pinched the red button on the flashlight's side just slightly, then twisted it around just a bit, and in response, the flashlight's light grew shinier and more intense! Chihiro gasped and turned the flashlight on the massive spell punk swarm that chased after Spyro and Trigger Happy… But as she did, all the spell punks disappeared save for three!

"Trig, Gold!" Chihiro cried as she sprang to her feet and pointed towards the heart of the swarm, "Those three in the center are the real ones, the rest are fakes!"

Spyro and Trigger Happy perked up as they turned to Chihiro, then nodded as they fixed their gaze towards the center and charged!

Right before they struck, however, the real spell punks squealed and made a mad dash for the attic's door! And what they did, their army of copies did as well! Screeching rattled every corner of the attic as the spell punks flooded out the ceiling door, and they flew off with such intensity it shook the entire floor!

"I'll handle these guys," Chihiro cried over the intense wails of spell punk shrieking as she bolted for the door, "Just worry about taking down that beacon!"

And just like that, Chihiro jumped back down the ceiling door and grunted as her feet hit cold, stone floors once more! As she staggered back up and balled her hands into fists, her flashlight's shine fell on a mass of quivering spell punks that eyed her like a sheep eyed a lion… But her eyes fixed on the three in the center, who shuddered and held each other as they looked directly back at her!

Chihiro heaved heavy breaths as her eyes fell back on the unconscious spell punk chef, then she simply knelt down, snatched its rolling pin right out of its hands and heaved it over her head like a sword!

"Alright!" Chihiro cried as she pointed the rolling pin directly at the trio of spell punks in the heart of the spell punk crowd, "Who's ready for a beatdown?!"

The spell punks, however, just squealed as they scattered in fifty different directions! Some of them dashed down the halls, hopefully never to be seen again, but most just made a mad dash for the doors and yanked them open!

One tiny group of spell punk clones immediately leaped into one open door that was beside Chihiro, but as the last one leaped inside, Chihiro just grinned and slammed the door shut! With a few jiggles of the knob, Chihiro locked that one door shut, then jumped to the next and locked it, then the one after and the following! Chihiro had gone into a door-locking frenzy, and the spell punks were so scared they didn't even notice!

Three more spell punks made a mad dash for the hallway's exit as the sounds of ramming and crashing echoed from the attic, then they froze in their tracks as their eyes fell on Chihiro!

"Sorry, buddies! You're out of luck!" Chihiro proclaimed as she placed her hands on her hips, "There's nowhere you can run!"

The spell punks, however, snarled and yelled as they dashed forwards towards Chihiro instead! Well, seemed as though there was somewhere they could run after all!
Chihiro snarled as she gripped the rolling pin in her hands like a baseball bat, then she bolted right towards the spell punks! Two of them managed to swerve out of her way, but one wasn't quite as lucky and ended up getting slammed on the head with a hard, wooden bowling pin!

It groaned as it slunk down and fell to the floor with a massive bump on its head, while the other two spell punks froze and shouted as they jabbed towards the unconscious spell punk!

Chihiro dashed forward and smacked the second spell punk in the face with the rolling pin, then leaped forward as the one she knocked unconscious fell into the hole in the floor… But the third spell punk wouldn't go down easy! It slid out of Chihiro's way just before she could strike and held its hands out as it readied an orb, then just as it got ready to fire, a loud rumble shook the entire area and broke its concentration! The spell punk gasped as the quake settled, then chattered as it turned its eyes back to the attic door. Could it be?

Chihiro frowned and gestured with her hands, just to be sure, then grinned as a swirl of blue magic leaped from her palms!

"Alright, the beacon's down!" Chihiro shouted as she tossed the rolling pin aside, "Forget this thing, now I'm breaking out the big guns!"

The spell punk gasped and got ready to fly away, but it didn't get the chance! Right before it could sweep back up to the attic, Chihiro teleported behind it, then snapped her fingers and shot a misty cloud right in its face! The spell punk groaned and sneezed as the mist clouded around its face, then its eyes twitched for a few moments before it instantly collapsed to the floor and snored!

"Sleeping powder, always a classic," Chihiro remarked as she crossed her arms and kicked her boots against the floor, "Anyways, seems like my work here is done!"

Chihiro froze as a chill rushed through the area, then turned around and raised an eyebrow as the spell punks completely vanished from the hall! All that remained was a thin, vaguely lizard-like shadow that seemed to trail across the walls before it disappeared entirely.

Chihiro raised an eyebrow, then shrugged it off and smiled as she teleported back to the attic in a flash!

The attic was still dusty and disheveled from the earlier fight, but now the light that had once surrounded it had vanished—for at the end of the attic sat Spyro, Trigger Happy and Wrecking Ball who dutifully smashed away at the beacon!

Chihiro grinned as she waltzed up to the battered and bruised beacon, then with a snap of her fingers, she summoned a gigantic magic hammer and heaved it over her shoulder.

"And just for good measures…" Chihiro said as she swung the hammer down on the beacon and smashed it to teeny-tiny bits, "DIE!"

Everyone around broke into laughter as Chihiro lifted up the hammer, then whooshed it away with a simple shake of her hands, but Chihiro didn't pay much mind to them! Rather, her eyes fell on Spyro as she started to chuckle as well, and his golden eyes fell on her as he beamed.

"Nice thinking back there, Chi!" Spyro praised as he swished his tail, "If it weren't for you, we might not've gotten to that beacon in time!"

"Well," Chihiro replied as she hid her hands behind her back and chuckled, "I learned from the best!"

Spyro's smile faded as he tilted his head. "You did? Who?"

Chihiro, however, just giggled as she knelt down and poked Spyro's snout.

"You, of course!"

Spyro let out a sharp gasp, and his tail twitched as he turned away from Chihiro's gaze—but not from embarrassment of any sort! His smile stretched wide while faint giggles escaped from his mouth, and all he could bring himself to do was scratch his horns.

"Thanks, Chi."

Trigger Happy raised an eyebrow as Spyro and Chihiro shared in each other's laughter, then a small, thin smile stretched across his lips.

"I see what's going on here," Trigger Happy said as he crossed his arms and made a sagely nod.

"What's going on here?" Wrecking Ball asked as he perked up and looked all around.

Trigger Happy chuckled as he laid an arm around Wrecking Ball's back. "Well, you see, Wrecks…"

Trigger Happy went to whisper something in Wrecking Ball's earholes, but before he could even get a word out, a glare from Spyro shocked him into silence.

"Anyways," Spyro said as he flew away from Chihiro and tapped the button on his communicator, "We need to signal the others and let them know the spell's down!"

So, they all nodded and tapped their communicator, all while a string of beeps echoed throughout the attic and into the stratosphere…

---

I know I will inevitably get questions about how Trollver and Trollamor could have a baby, so to answer those, I never really had a specific origin in mind so I'm leaving that up to readers' interpretation. Magic, surrogacy, adoption, either of them being transgender and having the kid pre-transition, whatever you choose!