Chihiro Hatsuki's Skylanders: Here Come the Giants!

by Tilde-Heart

The past and present collide when an ancient evil from the bowels of Skylands' history is awakened by Kaos as he attempts to restore his empire of evil! Now, Chihiro and the Skylanders must team up with the heroes of Skylands' distant past in order to bring a stop to the revival of the Arkeyan Empire! (Canon-divergent retelling of Skylanders Giants)

20. Troll King's Labyrinth

Guest: Yep, not abandoned - just got a bit sidetracked from dealing with a solid year of writer's block and general creative burnout, but I'm back now! Thank you for your kind words!

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Arkilles beamed with eagerness as his eyes locked on the Conquertron; after so long, after such an agonizing wait, it was finally repaired! Though he could hardly call it good as new given the dents, and dings, and other scars of battle its metal held, he could at least feel confident traveling in it once more. More than that, he could finally retrieve the map to Arkus from within! Even though his plan to force the information out of that blasted Oracle fell through, he finally found his way in!

"Now, it's taken us a bit," droned a greeble who held a checklist, "but, we've fixed the exterior damage, repaired the internal navigation systems and other internal databanks, restored the air conditioner, added all those fancy decorations you wanted..."

"Yes, yes, that's nice," Arkilles replied as he shooed the greeble away, "now leave! I want to be with my robot!"

The greeble shrugged as it went off to do Ancient-knows-what, and Arkilles trailed forward.

"At last! My trip to Arkus is back within my reach! Once I get this Conquertron started up and en route to Arkus, all of Skylands will be mine!"

"Er, Lord Arkilles, aren't you forgetting something?"

That whiny voice came from behind and Arkilles snarled as he took a glance. That Gladshanks fellow still stood there, all nervous and nasty-looking as always. Arkilles gave him a glare; Arkilles couldn't help but feel that this Glabbersmabber person was acting suspicious ever since he returned from the Secret Vault of Secrets. Something was up with this obnoxious troll, from the shifty looks he got, to how he would always hole himself away in his quarters doing something-or-other, and Arkilles did not like it in the slightest.

"What could I possibly be forgetting, Grabsmack?" Arkilles hissed.

"Well, we still need to take it for a test flight." Gobsmasher raised a finger in the direction of the Conquertron. "Sure, you can say something is repaired, but you never know what could happen once you get it in the air! It's probably best that we test its functions before we take it on a proper trip, just to be safe."

Hmm, that was true. "Good idea, glad I thought of it!" Arkilles raced towards the open door of the Conquertron's chest. "I'll just take this for a quick test flight—"

"And I'll go with you!" Grubblesmatter shouted as he raced behind Arkilles.

Arkilles drew to a stop and shot him the nastiest glare he could manage. "I can handle myself just fine. Now, you go ready the armies for our ultimate conquest! We still have several fleets that need recalibrated—"

"But we can't go on a conquest if something happens to you during your test flight!" Grabblesputter looked as if he sweated bullets, but then again, people tended to sweat bullets whenever they were in Arkilles' presence. "Let me at least be there to make sure nothing can happen to you, my ultimate Arkeyan lord."

Grubblespots bowed the lowest he could manage in a show of utter submission and loyalty. Hmm, something about this did not feel quite right, but who was Arkilles to deny his subjects such an honor?

"Alright, you may accompany me for the test flight," Arkilles relented. He turned back to the Conquertron, but shot Gobspack a glance as he did. "If you try anything funny, however, I will feed you to the piranhas!"

"I wouldn't even think of it, my lord."

Grubblesplash returned to full height and muttered something Arkilles barely heard under his breath. Something about not having any piranhas? Oh, that was an issue for another time.

Arkilles raced back inside while Gubblesmush panted and stumbled behind him, and soon enough, the rickety metal of the bridge left him behind in favor of nice, clean, Arkeyan metal! Once again, Arkilles found himself in the belly of his Conquertron, and it was just as splendid as he remembered it being even with the remaining damages! Its metal shone with a new light, and now had historical depictions of him all over the walls; the seats stood lined with clean leather; best of all, the console laid shiny and sturdy as if it was just installed! That fresh-quicksilver scent rang in the air and just the scent of it lit Arkilles' heart with glee!

"Huh, I suppose those minions are good for some things after all," Arkilles remarked with a smile. "I suppose that maybe I can forgive them for getting me chicken instead of turkey for my glorious lunch after all."

Arkilles turned to Grubsmacks to ask him something but raised a brow. Whatever that troll's name was, his eyes were not on his glorious evil overlord, but on his ratty trousers' pockets as he rummaged through them, as if he was looking for something! Arkilles shot him a glare, and the troll immediately perked up and smiled.

"What were you doing?" Arkilles hissed.

"I, uh, I was," the troll sputtered as he shook his hands and glanced aside, "just trying to find the controls for the Conquertron, my lord! We haven't piloted this Conquertron in a while, so I figured you might have forgotten."

"Me? Forget?" Arkilles broke into a rousing laugh as he spun towards the control panel. "Nonsense! I was piloting Conquertrons before your ancestors were even born! In fact, my first childhood memory was of Father teaching me how to pilot these robots! I know how to fly a Conquertron like I know how to walk and talk!"

Arkilles toyed with a few of the knobs, and smiled as the Conquertron reached out, flexed its fingers, threw a few punches, even. Good, the appendage controls were still in working order! He pressed a button and grinned as the Conquertron's eye lasers shot holes into a nearby cloud, and lifted off for just a moment before he set down with a thud.

"The flight controls could use a bit more calibrating, but that can wait for after we get to Arkus," Arkilles remarked. "Speaking of that!" Arkilles twisted a knob and grinned as a list of the Conquertron's recordings spread out before him. "My recordings of the map to Arkus should be—" Arkilles selected one of the most recent recordings "—here!"

The screen flickered for moments, and all went dim as a recording of the Conquertron holding a map of solid gold shone in front of him! Oh, it was just as splendid as he remembered! That Ancient-forsaken ghost may have destroyed the physical copy, but with this in his recordings, he had no chance of keeping Arkilles from his home now!

"Yes, all pristine! Now, routes, routes…"

The computer scanned the map in an instant, and in another, its screens shifted and changed. A lengthy list of routes towards Arkus spilled out before home, and Arkilles hummed as he skimmed them over.

"Taking a shortcut to the Lockdown Isles might be the fastest, but it's an absolutely miserable time—all that mutant plantlife and all. That route would take too long, that one has some bad weather… Ah, yes, but this is perfect!" Arkilles beamed as he chose the route and set the destination. "If I start right now, I'll be back home in just a few days' time! Give or take any bumps in the road, anyways, but that's nothing my fleets can't handle~"

Arkilles smiled a truly wicked smile as he admired the golden glow of the map. A chill ran down his spine from the sheer marvel and then another. Wait a second, those chills didn't come from the glorious marvels of the map to Arkus! In fact, it almost felt like something crept up behind him! Arkilles snarled, slammed down a button, and smirked as the sound of robot arms whipped out from behind him.

A scream rang out right as they caught something in their grips! Arkilles turned around, and though he felt quite incensed right now, he still held up his aura of smugness as he found that troll tight in the arm's grip! The troll's eyes were wide with shock while he gripped a small potion bottle filled with glittery, dark liquid as tightly as he could with one hand, and he briefly struggled against the arms' grip before he slunk down and panted.

"I knew you were plotting something!" Arkilles hissed. "I may be new to this time period, but if you thought you could fool the emperor-king with the most assassination attempts in Arkeyan history, you'd be quite mistaken!"

That troll must have realized that his jig was up, for his simpering look of loyalty fell to something snarling and angry—it may have almost been intimidating had it come from someone else.

"I don't know anything about ghosts or Arkeyan emperors, but I won't stand by while you control Lord Kaos' body!" that troll shouted with all the anger his tired voice could muster. "Release him this instant!"

"Hmm, compelling argument." Arkilles hummed and hawed as he rubbed his chin in mock contemplation. "But, I will have to decline! I am afraid I'm too close to my conquest to relent from having a body! That would be quite inconvenient, you see~" Arkilles spun around and tapped away at the control panel. "I'll just have to come up with a fitting punishment for you when I'm emperor-king of the Arkeyan empire once more. For now—" Arkilles turned his head up "—computer! How are my fleets?"

Another screen took the place of the map, one of a radar with dots lined up in triangular formations. Good, all of them seemed like they were docked and recognized by the Conquertron; that meant he could easily set the auto-pilot from here to have them all follow him to Arkus! Wait a second. Arkilles narrowed his eyes as they fell on one particular dot which slowly blipped further and further away from the map, and zoomed out to find that it grew quite far from where all his unearthed fleets sat. He twisted a knob to zoom out the map, and the course of this strange little copter grew far, far from where his fleets laid. In fact, it was almost as if it was en route to...

"Arkus!" Arkilles hissed as he slammed his fist against the console. "Surely those Elder Elementals and those pesky magicians of theirs are already making their way there!"

And surely, once they arrived there, they would probably set their sights on polishing off his one chance of getting his army back! Oh, the very thought set his heart alight with rage! Just imagining that overgrown tree and his little cronies laughing their hearts out as they battered down his beloved fist like it was little more than scrap metal had him boiling, so boiling that holes burned into the floor of the Conquertron! Arkilles gasped, quickly stomped them out, and sighed. Even though he'd gotten more practice with this body's powers, he still had to control their latency.

"This is of no matter to me, however. In fact, I already have the perfect solution!"

"And that would be?" the troll hissed from his prison.

"Nobody asked you, traitor."

Arkilles twisted a few knobs, and with the press of a button, static crackled over the speakers. Good, the communications systems worked as well! That means he could deliver out the most delicious, the most devious of orders!

"Mechanizer squadron!" Arkilles ordered as he toyed with the console. "Head to these coordinates posthaste! There is a rogue Arkeyan that needs some reprogramming, if you understand what I mean."

With a few twists more, the coordinates for the rogue copter headed to the squadron, and they were already quickly on their route if the map was of any indication! That was one problem solved, but a glance behind showed he had a second one to deal with. That troll struggled against his bonds, and Arkilles only sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Struggling isn't going to free you any more than it would free that loud-mouthed brat of yours," Arkilles groaned. He stormed forward, and those robot arms dragged the troll behind him with a snap of his fingers. "Now, go wait in the dungeons while I decide on a proper punishment for you!"

"What are you going to do with me?" the troll demanded as he faintly struggled.

Arkilles just snapped his fingers again, and a teleporter flared up in the heart of the room. With a nod from him as their cue, the robot arms swung once, twice, and tossed that troll right into the teleporter on their third swing! His screams only faintly rang in the air as he disappeared into the teleporter's light, and even that faded away as the teleporter sealed itself away.

"Now that all my problems are taken care of," Arkilles said as he turned back to the screen. He beamed as the Mechanizer squadron grew further and further out of the radar's range, bent down and toyed with the controls once more. "It's off to Arkus for me!"

§

Terrafin and Eruptor snuggled together within their shared bedroom, yet they couldn't release the tension they held. Terrafin twitched and clenched his fists, and Eruptor clung to him while his own magma blood boiled a bit warmer than usual. In Terrafin's palms rested a floating orb of light that dialed and dialed as it waited to make its connection; though, Terrafin wasn't entirely sure if the anticipation that ran through him would get worse or better once the line picked up. Chihiro seemed to understand when he'd asked if she could set up a line between them and Slam Bam after they retreated to their quarters, but between this and the mission briefing he was technically missing to get the call in, he just couldn't help the tense feeling.

Slam Bam... Zemu's, death still rang in his head, and his teeth dug so deep in his mouth he might've drawn blood. Just what the hell was that about, anyways? Terrafin barely trusted or understood this Oracle as is and that's what he gets? A vision of the mission they were so close to where they FAILED? Was that some kind of weird omen? Were they doomed to fail and lose everyone they loved no matter what they tried? Or was there something else? Terrafin wasn't sure, and every single time he tried to wrap his head around it, a fire burned in his chest and he couldn't think of anything else but how he felt back then; all angry and grief-stricken over something that never even happened, or hasn't happened yet? Ugh, just thinking about it made him see red, so he cleared his head as the dialing tone rang in his ears.

The dialing tone let up, and finally the orb expanded and showed a proper screen with a sight that did finally chill the tension in Terrafin's heart a little. Slam Bam sat in his quarters back at the Water Sanctuary, and he rested in an icy bed with a half-finished fish surprise snowcone in one hand and a book on all the greatest ice-sculpting techniques in another. He hummed a song to himself as he glanced over, but the light brushed his face and he beamed that same smile that Terrafin desperately wanted to see.

"Fin, Ruptor!" Slam Bam called with a wave. "How's the mission going? I heard from Flameslinger that you guys got a little off-course."

Neither Terrafin or Eruptor really wanted to answer the question, but they both forced a smile nonetheless. It felt a little strange to talk with Slam Bam right after they'd witnessed his false death. Somehow, there was something that egged at Terrafin and told him that this was all fake, but he knew that was just nonsense. Chihiro promised him the connection wouldn't have worked if it was.

"It's going alright," Eruptor lied through his teeth. "Just, how're you doing, Slam?"

"Fine as usual, just got off patrols. We had this pretty wicked case with a frost dragon chilling over the Cloudless Desert, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. Let me tell you I've never been more glad to work with ice." Slam Bam stopped short and raised a brow. "Is something up? You two look a little tense."

"Me, tense?" A twinge of something hit Terrafin, but he waved it off. "Nah! What would have to be all tense and worried about?"

"The high-profile mission you're currently on? You know, the one that's kept us from talking to each other for weeks right now?"

"Eh, that's a piece of cake for me!"

"Yeah, yeah, nothing to worry about here!" Eruptor chimed in.

Slam Bam's brows raised higher, and he finally frowned. "Fin, your eye's twitching."

Crap, Terrafin forgot that always happened when he tried to lie about things. Fighting he was good at, hiding his thoughts, not so much. "Just, just got something in my eye—"

"And Ruptor, you look like you're about ready to burst!"

Terrafin glanced aside and found that sure enough, Eruptor looked as if he was gonna hack up half his lungs! His lava boiled and bubbled like it always did when he got sick; Ancients, so much for not tipping him off.

"I'm telling you, everything's fine!" Terrafin insisted. "I just, just wanted to talk for a little bit."

"Fin, don't lie to me." Slam Bam put his snowcone in a nearby coaster and leaned in closer, enough that those yellow eyes of his dug into Terrafin's soul. "What happened? You never call us up during a mission, especially in the dead of night! You're acting weird, and I'll be damned if I'm letting you hide it from me!"

"I told you, it's nothing!" Terrafin spat. He didn't really mean to raise his voice, but the tension tightened his chest up, and something sparked in him the same way it did during an intense fight. "It's nothing you've gotta worry about!"

"So something did happen!" Slam Bam clenched all four of his fists. "Finnley, Vesuvius, what is it?"

Terrafin hissed. "Oh great, breaking out the real names."

He was really serious about this, wasn't he? Terrafin tried to dodge Slam Bam's gaze and maybe find a way to turn this damn thing off before this conversation went even worse than it already was. Beside him, Eruptor's magma bubbled and popped way more than it normally did. Terrafin gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the sound, but something about it seemed to grate on his nerves even more than usual.

"Ruptor, knock that off!" Terrafin shouted.

"I can't help it, Fin!" Eruptor shouted back with enough vitriol that magma burst from his lips. "I've been freaking out all night! I can't help being nervous after seeing my boyfriend die!"

"Eruptor!"

The conversation went dead silent and dead serious, just like the look Slam Bam gave him now. His jaw gaped open, and his fists unclenched as he drew back. God, awkward silence, one of the things Terrafin hated most. Where was a damn off switch when he needed one?

"You saw me die?" Slam Bam repeated, still utterly dumbstruck.

Terrafin really, really did not want to talk about this any more than he wanted to. That whole trial messed him up enough already; all he wanted to do was make sure his boyfriend was still alive and kicking before he kicked this Arkeyan ghost guy's ass and came back home, and now look where it got him! After he finally reconciled that this thing did not, in fact, have an off switch, and the icy cold of Slam Bam's gaze stabbed him in the chest, Terrafin sighed.

"Fine. Yes. I did." Terrafin admitted at last, though that was all he could bring himself to spit out. That tense, bubbling anger boiled in him as he looked away.

"We, we had to do this trial for this Oracle guy so we could find a way to Arkus," Eruptor continued, for he clearly realized that Terrafin was in no mood to spill. "And in it, we, we failed. Kaos took over and turned everyone into a robot, even you, and you, you died and we couldn't do anything about it."

Not Kaos per say, but neither of them really felt like getting into a full explanation right now—the pebbles pouring from Eruptor's eyes showed that just talking about this got him all riled up. Eruptor sniffled, and Terrafin just wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer. His body turned warm not from the rage and confusion he felt, but from Eruptor as he snuggled closer to Terrafin.

"So there." Terrafin winced a little as Eruptor's heat seared against his skin, but quickly shook it off. "That's what we were talking about."

Terrafin's fists shook, and he bit back his urge to scream or fight the way he did every time he thought about that trial. That wouldn't do any of them any good right now. Eruptor was still a shuddering, sobbing mess, and Slam Bam just stood there dumbfounded—but, Terrafin guessed he wouldn't really know how to react if someone told him that they watched him die either.

"So that's why." Slam Bam held his face in his hands, but not in a shocked way. No, he had that look on his face that he got when he was thinking really hard about something. "Fin, I, I'm sorry I bothered you about it."

"Don't be, Zemu. You didn't know."

That cold chill came in the room, and Eruptor snuggled even closer to Terrafin, who forced a small smile. To have a lava monster for a lover had its benefits, and that included not needing extra blankets when there was a chill, but, this wasn't the kind of cold that a cuddle could fix.

"I don't really know what happened in there, and I know neither of you really wanna talk about it," Slam Bam said as he leaned back, "but, whatever happened there, I know it's not going to happen this time."

"Now it's my turn to ask the questions," Terrafin remarked. "Zemu, what are you going on about?"

"You're a fighter, Fin, and you've never found yourself in a tough situation you couldn't get out of. Even if Kaos got his grubby little mitts on some Arkeyans or turned us into robots, you wouldn't stop until you stopped him!"

Slam Bam smiled and leaned a bit closer, but Terrafin didn't really know how to respond. He knew Slam Bam was trying to reassure him, but, at the same time, he didn't entirely feel confident in everything going on. He tensed a bit, and just kind of tried to avoid looking at him.

"And that goes for you too, Vesuvius. If you could stop Kaos from changing the entire timeline of Skylands as we knew it, I think something like this is small snowflakes."

Eruptor just gave a slight, sad nod.

"So tell you what—you hurry up and send Kaos crying all the way back to his castle with his tail between his legs, because I know you two will figure it out. I'll be waiting back home for when you do!" Slam Bam yawned, and gave a slightly tired, but still gentle smile. "Anyways, I really oughta hit the snowbanks, but don't forget that, alright?"

The transmission finally fizzled out, and Eruptor clung to Terrafin a bit closer.

"Do you really think that's all actually gonna happen?" Eruptor asked as he cuddled closer to Terrafin. "Do you think we're really gonna fail?"

"I don't know, Vesuvius," Terrafin replied. His eyes fell down to the bed, and he sighed. "Let's just get some rest, and meet up with the others for that meeting later."

For as much as he really wanted to discuss kicking Kaos' latest scheme to the curb, everything that happened in the past day left Terrafin way, way more exhausted than he normally would have been. So, he just wrapped himself in Eruptor's warm embrace with his head rested on Eruptor's chest. All that anger melted away with the warmth of Eruptor's touch, and a small, satisfied gurgle from Eruptor showed that his tension must have eased up some as well. For the first time since all that nonsense happened, Terrafin found it in himself to smile just a little bit.

§

Cynder's wings and tail alike twitched and jerked as the transmission she had going dialed. Her ghosts swirled around her and whimpered as they nudged her wings, and chattered like they held some kind of worry for her, but she only dismissed them with a wave of her paw. Geez, even the ghosts were freaking out? That wasn't a good sign. They gave her another sad stare, but with another wave, they just nodded and flew away; with good timing, too, for the transmission finally went through!

It was Dark Spyro who faced her, or rather, his back faced her as he dug through the kitchen's fridge.

"Now let's see, I'll need some of this and these," Dark mumbled. He lifted his head and turned around as the light of the transmission finally hit, and he got the stupidest grin on his face as he turned around and caught sight of Cynder.

Dark squealed with eyes wide in glee as he shoved the armfuls of fruit that he carried back in the fridge. "Cynder! Cynder cynder bo binder, banana fanna fo finder~" Dark sang over the transmission as he zipped around the room. "Cynder, what's up? You look way gloomier than you usually do, and that's saying something!"

"It's nothing," Cynder admitted as she turned away.

Dark, however, just chirped and tilted his head. "Weird, usually you'd get on my case about singing silly songs about you. Who are you and what have you done to the real Cynder?"

Cynder hissed, for something about what was real and fake was really grating on her nerves right now. "I said it was nothing."

"And why'd you call, anyways? Usually you never call home, especially during a mission!"

"No reason." Geez, Cynder forgot how pushy Dark could be. But, one glance at his crimson eyes and small frown showed he did seem at least a LITTLE bit worried about her, so she sighed. "Just, stay safe when you go on patrols next, nd try not to get yourself banged up before I get back, alright?"

"Okay? Don't know why you'd call just to say that, but I will! And I'll try not to make Ghost Roaster mad again!"

The transmission shut off, and Cynder sighed as she toyed with her bracelets. She couldn't wrap her head around anything that trial showed her, and furthermore, how she reacted during it. Just what did that whole trial mean, especially with the way it treated Dark? Why did that trial show her Dark dying in the same way it showed Terrafin and Eruptor losing their boyfriend? Did he really mean that much to her? True, she kind of understood how much it stung to have others judge him from where he came from, but could that really be enough to make her care THAT much about losing him?

Just what was Dark to her, anyways? She never put too much thought to it. She helped him out and stuck beside him because she knew what it was like to come from a not-so-great place, but was that really enough to make her that important to him, or the other way around?

It sure seemed like that to him; he followed her around like a lost puppy, and never seemed to shut up about how cool she was when he thought nobody listened (she'd caught a few conversation by accident while she practiced shadow travel). She didn't understand why, though. She just spoke her mind and did what she felt was right, but he acted like she was some kind of big-time hero for it; it wasn't something she deserved a ton of praise for! She didn't understand why, but deep within that frozen heart of hers, she couldn't help but appreciate it a little. She knew she didn't deserve it, and she definitely didn't have the right to take up his praise, but, she couldn't lie. It was nice to have someone who could care less about who she used to be, and saw all the good that even she couldn't really bring herself to see... If he wasn't just putting her on a pedestal, anyways. Ugh, she didn't know. Cynder never understood relationships anyways.

"Oh, why am I getting so worked up about this?" Cynder spat out at last. "That oracle must have done something to my head."

Yeah, that sounded about right, so Cynder stepped out. Chihiro told her that she could meet with them in the mission room to discuss their plan of action once she was done talking, so Cynder figured that was where she could go next. At least actually doing something about this would get her out of her head for a little.

A low rumble sounded, followed by a much louder one that sent all the boards on the ship shaking! Cynder snarled and flared her wings, but found no opposition, so she flattened them tight against her back. That meeting must have gotten really heated.

A door opened behind her, and Cynder glanced behind as Terrafin and Eruptor stumbled behind her with equally-tense looks on their faces.

"You heard that too, right?" Eruptor asked.

Cynder nodded, turned around and flew off. "Probably just the meeting. Come on."

§

The room they'd set aside for the briefing rumbled not from any sort of outside source, or from within. Everything laid quiet with tension as Chihiro sat on one side of the room with Spyro stuck close to her side. Strange, he was acting way clingier than he normally did. Ever since they got back, he refused to leave her side; it's not like she would disappear if he couldn't see her! Chihiro twisted a frown, but shook it off as she stood up to address the crowd of ancient portal masters, Skylanders, and Elder Elementals alike.

"Alright, with us closing in on Arkus any second now, we've gotta get a plan together," Chihiro proclaimed to a round of nods.

She plopped back down and crafted a blackboard out of magic.

"Now, some legends claim that the Iron Fist of Arkus somehow managed to survive the impact of the battle, and Tree Rex's story about the battle seemed to line up with that." Chihiro summoned a magical stick of chalk next and drew the Iron Fist on the blackboard. "We're in trouble if Arkilles gets his hands back on that 'cause with that, he can control the entire Arkeyan empire from there, and it makes him super powerful too! Arkus alone was already stacked to the nines with Arkeyans, and with all the ones he's scrounged up, that would be a big problem."

Chihiro turned around and tapped her chalk against the blackboard for emphasis. "So, obviously, our main objective is to find the Iron Fist of Arkus and destroy it!"

Weirdly, though, nobody seemed like they quite agreed, or thought anything, really. They all just kind of looked away with those thousand-yard stares, like their hearts weren't really into this whole plan.

"Uh, any objections, then?"

Still no response.

"I guess I'll take that as a no." Chihiro turned back to the blackboard and sketched once more. "Now, diagrams and information about Arkus are really hard to come by, but luckily for us, we also have several beings here who have been to Arkus in the flesh!"

Chihiro spun around and stretched her arms towards where the Elder Elementals all huddled in their little corner.

"Ta-dah!"

Well, she expected some sort of response from them, but the Elder Elementals didn't even seem to notice her! They just sort of mumbled and stared off into space. Maybe they didn't hear her?

"Ta-dah!" Chihiro shouted with a bit more force.

Still no response. Chihiro sighed, stormed up to Tree Rex and tapped him on the knee. Her touch barely seemed to register, so she sighed and crafted a megaphone out of magic.

"Skylands to Tree Rex!" Chihiro shouted into the megaphone. "That was your cue!"

"Wait, what was my cue?" Tree Rex finally asked as he perked up. He gave Chihiro an apologetic look as he scratched his horns. "I'm sorry, I got so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't hear you."

Chihiro just sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind the cues." She released her megaphone with a snap, lifted her head, and tried to stay in high spirits. "Anyways, you guys have already been to Arkus, so if you can remember enough to give us a decent layout, that would be great! That way, we can already have a plan to get in there and get the Iron Fist—"

"But what if Arkilles already has the fist?" Spyro cried from behind. All eyes turned to him as he stepped up to the blackboard, and his brow furrowed in time with his tensing expression. "We've gotta worry about that, too!"

"I mean, Arkilles is way behind us right now, given that he had to repair that Conquertron and all—"

"But, we can't just count on that!" Spyro flipped over the blackboard, summoned some magical chalk of his own, and frantically scribbled away. "Arkilles is stubborn and cunning to boot, and that's not to mention all the powers that being in Kaos's body gives him! If he manages to get his hands on the Iron Fist before we can destroy it—"

CRASH!

"Where did that crash come from?" Spyro exclaimed as he jumped to all fours.

CRASH! BANG!

"I don't know, but it sounds like it's coming from outside!" Chihiro shouted. She raced up to the door, and jumped back as a burst of light formed right before her. "Ack!"

The burst of light shimmered for moments, and formed into a fuzzy, grainy screen of some sort. A distorted voice garbled out something from the transmission amid the shriek of static, and when the transmission cleared, who was there to greet them but Varonis, sitting firmly in the pilot's seat of their helicopter?

"We've got trouble!" they cried over the shriek and groan of static. "We've been ambushed! All these Arkeyan helicopters are flying around and they're trying to get on your ship! I'm trying to shake them off, but I can't find the controls!" Varonis glanced to the side and gasped. "Baba, you made this, right? Where's the shooty things?"

"They should be—" 'Enehana shouted as they jumped to their feet.

Tree Rex pushed 'Enehana away. "Don't worry about them, Varonis!" Tree Rex cried as he rushed to his feet and towards the door. "We'll take care of the Arkeyans! Just keep flying to Arkus!"

Tree Rex ran right through the transmission screen and completely dropped the call, but with the hurry he was in, it didn't seem like he cared much. For that matter, nobody else seemed to care either! Everyone scrambled out of the mission room, and moved towards the door in a flurry as the banging and crashing grew louder and more present in their minds. Heck, some pushed through so fast that they stuck in the doorway! Chihiro winced and made her way out of the room as well while Whirlwind and Gill Grunt popped out.

She raced down the halls at the rear of the group, and the banging and crashing sounding off between frantic footsteps and shouts of confusion. Just what could be boarding right now? Chihiro thought as she bit her lip. This place is so isolated you couldn't see anything but clouds! Don't tell me...

Spyro's earlier concerns about Arkilles rang in her head, and Chihiro hoped that he wasn't right for once in her life. If Arkilles somehow already caught onto them, or even worse, was en route to Arkus himself, that would definitely throw an even bigger monkey wrench in the works than the one they dealt with now! Hopefully it might've just been some odd turbulence, or those weird creaks and noises that the Dread-Yacht always experienced.

The screams of war shouted as Chihiro passed through the door, and worse, they came from the one thing she was hoping WOULDN'T show up—Arkeyans!

Ultrons, blasters, warriors, knights, and more boarded the ship as they dropped down from a fleet of helicopter. Amid the ones she recognized, Chihiro spotted one she could have sworn she'd never seen in the history books before. It looked like an ordinary robot, but instead of wearing armor and wielding swords or shields, it dressed from head to toe in fancy silk robes with patterns reminiscent of Arkeyan styling, and it held some kind of glowing, mechanical staff in its hands. It shied away from the rest of the crowds as it tried to blend in with the more common soldiers, almost like it didn't want to be here.

Chihiro snarled, readied a sword, and bolted forward and raced straight for the sorcerer. Something in her gut told her this guy was trouble, and she wanted to get it out first! She took one step more, but flew backwards as the Elder Elementals stormed the deck!

Bouncer raced in first as he mowed down the first wave with a flare of his eye beams, and beside him, Ninjini swept in and blew the next batch away with a magical slice of a gigantic sword! The Arkeyans wailed as they flew off the deck and became little more than blips in the sky, while more Arkeyans poured out from the skies above and crashed on the deck to replenish the ones lost. Ninjini backed away for a moment as the remaining Arkeyans went to charge, but turned tail as Thumpback slid right into them and flattened them like pancakes!

Eye and Brawl split apart as they lasered and punched the Arkeyans away at the front, while at the back, Swarm, Crusher and Hot Head sniped at the skies where Arkeyan helicopters hovered above and deposited more Arkeyans by the second.

Tree Rex turned his attention back to the battlefield as Arkeyan soldiers fell and replenished their ranks in the battle. But, amidst them all, he caught sight of a few scrawny sorcerers and raised a brow in alarm.

"Wait, it can't be!" Tree Rex gasped as he cracked his knuckles. "I can't let them attack!"

Tree Rex fired up his solar cannon and shot off a few rounds, but the sorcerers caught on immediately! With a wave of their wands, a string of barriers shot up in front of them and blocked every blow! Tree Rex snarled and went to fire up another string of blasts, but ducked instead as a burst of light soared past him! The sorcerers cackled as they locked their staffs on Tree Rex like rifles and shot off a few more blows. He shot back with bursts of light in exchange, and their traded blows exploded like fireworks in midair! The battlefield turned to a light show as Tree Rex and the sorcerers fired blow after blow, burst of light after burst of magic, in an eternal tug-of-war.

In a moment of oversight, Tree Rex jerked aside and one blow slammed right into his shoulder! He winced and fell to his knees as the blow burned into his wooden flesh, while the sorcerers cackled and jumped with glee!

"You..." Tree Rex grunted, but he yelled out and collapsed.

The glow from the wounded area faded, and in its place laid solid metal! Shiny, red and gold metal ate away at Tree Rex's flesh while it spread from his shoulder to the rest of his arm. The wood from his skin chipped and melted as the metal spread, and from the way Tree Rex screamed and shuddered as he fell to the floor, it wasn't a painless process, either.

"Babe!" Bouncer cried as he whipped his head around.

Bouncer zipped over and lifted up Tree Rex by the infected arm, but screamed and collapsed himself! The metal from Tree Rex's arm imprinted on Bouncer's chest; a shiny new coat of red and silver paint burned like acid against his metal carapace, and it replaced his metallic body with the virus's own! Bouncer collapsed to the ground and shouted out with such pain that it finally drew all eyes to him!

"What happened to them?" Chihiro cried.

Spyro turned around from a brawl with an Ultron, and his eyes bulged from his skull at the sight of Tree Rex, Bouncer, and the infection that ate away at them.

"No, it can't be happening already!" Spyro gasped.

The sound of shrieking magic and cackling sorcerers hit the air, and Ninjini and Chihiro rushed to the frontlines! They flung out their hands as they cast a barrier out, and the sorcerers shot out a combined burst of their magic in the form of a gigantic laser! The lasers burned and seared into the barrier with a furious screech, and with a shake of the sorcerers' staffs, the blast grew bigger, brighter, and worst of all, stronger! The barrier cracked and shuddered underneath the weight of the blow, and finally snapped altogether as it slammed Ninjini right in the gut!

Chihiro barely even caught the blow as it happened, however, for something pushed her down—or rather, someONE! She opened her eyes, and Spyro laid on top of her with a wide-eyed, deer in the headlights-type look. Another pained scream came from behind, and they both glanced and gasped as the infection crawled from Ninjini's torso, to her throat, and finally her face as the infection coated it all in cold, hard metal.

"Spread out, everyone!" Vatra shouted as he signaled to the others. His eyes grew tiny and his brow coated in sweat, as if this was something he'd never hope to recognize. "Try to snipe them from—AUGH!"

A laser blast slammed into Vatra's arm and knocked him into the side while the infection wrapped around his ghostly person, and from there, it only got worse. The other Elder Elementals all fell like flies as the blows hit them one by one while Crusher and Hot Head retreated, and the Skylanders all scurried away with them. In the midst of their escape, a sorcerer blasted Stealth Elf in the back and slammed her right into Trigger Happy! The two collapsed in a pile of screaming and shuddering as the metal encased them, and behind them, Nemir and Vaayu turned away from only a moment before the sorcerers' blows knocked them on their fronts next! The sounds of rushing winds and helicopter blades turned to screeching magic and howling screams as the sorcerers wreaked havoc across the battlefield.

'Enehana teleported behind one and snarled. "Of all the things that could've shown up!" they exclaimed. "Arkilles must be really determined if he's sending these things out!"

'Enehana yelled out as the sorcerer whipped around and sniped them close up, and the blow knocked them right into the walls of the Dread-Yacht! Sihiri and Inochi rushed to their side and tried to case them in magic, but all three of them fell as the sorcerers snatched Sihiri and Inochi in their grips as well!

"Sihiri!" Luz called!

That one call of his got all sorcerers' eyes on him, and Luz winced as they shot their blows straight his way! He threw up his shield in that instant, and it shone with a malevolent glimmer as it shielded the blow that cased it in solid metal! The metal spread straight to Luz's arm as he collapsed and screamed, and Fintster stumbled back and gasped behind him.

"Luz!" Fintster cried. A snarl formed on his face, and he cried out as he summoned his sword. "You're not gonna get away with that!"

He yelled out as he flung himself right for the sorcerers, who only yawned and shot him right in the gut! Fintster joined his brother in mechanical agony, yet the sorcerers just spun their staffs around and thrust their laughter to the heavens.

Chihiro's teeth and heart clenched as her allies fell around her like flies, yet she yelled out as she summed a sword and rushed in. That's it, these guys really were trouble! She rushed to swing her sword at a nearby sorcerer, but something pulled her back before she could even move! She grunted and pulled against her restraints, but they wouldn't budge whatsoever! She whipped around, prepared to swing at another Arkeyan, and gasped as she found Spyro pulling her back with all his might.

"Spyro, what are you doing?" Chihiro screamed as she pulled back. "Let me go! Now's not the time to run away!"

"Yes, it is!" Spyro shouted with a surprising amount of franticness. "Those, those things, they're gonna, they'll, they—"

More screams sounded off amid Spyro's frantic sputtering as Whirlwind and Gill Grunt fell from the skies, and crashed to the deck in a mechanically-infected agony above him. Spyro let go of his grip in a nervous haze; his eyes fell on them for a moment, and Chihiro had the perfect out! While he watched in horror, she slipped out and swung for the kill.

The sorcerer saw her and shot her point-blank right as she leaped for it. It all happened so fast—one minute she went in for the finishing blow, next thing she knew, something slammed right into her chest and tossed her halfway across the deck! She wanted to get up, but the shock was utter, painful agony, like every bit of her flesh and bone ripped out of her body! She glanced down as red and gold metal crawled across her clothes, but she couldn't even scream! The pain was so great that she could barely lift herself off the ground, let alone talk!

She collapsed to the ground and finally let out a shout to relieve her pain, and that caught Spyro's attention right away! He gasped, rushed right for her as his eyes flashed purple and—wait, what was he doing? Didn't he see what happened to Bouncer and the others?

"Chihiro, Chihiro!" Spyro screamed with such frantic strain that it stretched his voice to its limits. "Stay, stay right there! I'll fix this, I promise, I—"

Spyro tried to lay a paw on her, but Chihiro quickly rolled away.

"Spyro, go!" Chihiro screamed with all the strength she could muster. "It, it—"

"I'm not leaving you again!" Spyro rushed forward and gripped Chihiro's shoulders, all while his body flared with a purple light. "I'm not going to let you die again!"

Again? What was he talking about? Chihiro's head fell to a frantic magenta haze as the healing spell Spyro cast and the curse place on her duked it out within her body, and shuddered as she collapsed back to the deck. Her heart throbbed so hard and fast that it almost leaped out of her chest as the magic fought, but eventually, the glow faded along with Spyro's spell. The metal climbed from her chest to her arms, and it showed well that the spell didn't work.

Spyro's eyes grew small as he glazed over Chihiro, almost like he tried to think of something else, but soon even he collapsed to the ground. The metal burst from his paws and climbed up his legs as he struggled to breath, spitting out choked gasps as he struggled just to crawl along to Chihiro's side. He reached out with a pained whimper, but even with all the strength he could muster, he fell just inches short of even brushing against her.

"Chi, hiro, I'm so, sorry," Spyro croaked out with all the strength his pained voice could muster. "I, lo, love, you."

Chihiro's heart stopped, and she shuddered and clutched her chest. Her heartbeat came back to her, but unfortunately, so did the massive surges of pain! While her body throbbed and seared like it would rip itself apart, Chihiro's eyes watered and she mustered every ounce of strength she could to crawl forward. Just the slightest motion burned at her flesh, but she could barely manage enough to brush against Spyro's paw.

"I, I, lo, love, you, too," Chihiro whimpered with a voice so pained as her eyes finally closed.

§

Cali winced as all around her, more and more Arkeyans boarded the Dread-Yacht, while their own ranks thinned out in a sea of red and gold. She backed away as the robots closed in on her, but as her back hit cold metal, Cali grimaced.

"We're outnumbered!" Cali cried as she dove through her pockets. "Flynn, try to fly us out of here, I'll keep them—"

Cali screamed as a blast from the sorcerers sniped her straight in the back, and the metal rushed across her skin and clawed away at any sign of fur or other organic life as she collapsed. Beside her, Flynn rushed from the pilot's seat and towards her side, but unfortunately, that put him straight in the line of fire as well! The sorcerers caught him next, and he yelled out as he collapsed beside Cali while the metal tore through his clothes like a parasite bursting through its host's skin.

"Now what in the Ancients' good name is going on here?" Ermit demanded as he slammed open a door.

His eyes fell on the battlefield, and he ducked and screamed as a blast soared right between his ears. He took cover beside where Flynn and Cali writhed in agony, and screamed and rolled away as Flynn nearly slapped him in the face! He gasped and almost went to reach out, but the Machine Ghost swept forward and pushed Ermit away before he could touch them.

"I would not recommend that," the Machine Ghost said as he pushed Ermit back into the dorms.

The door slammed shut, and judging by the cavalcade of other noises that came from them, it probably got barricaded tight as well.

Crusher and Hot Head both winced as they glanced first at the noisy dorms, and back at the battlefield before them. Most of their allies fell down and screamed as the mechanical curse took over them, while the sorcerers who cursed them stood strong and ready to place them under as well... Not a good sign. Crusher winced and clutched his hammer tight, and beside him, Hot Head snarled and fired up his flaming palms. A small nudge came below them, and there they saw Dej and Jorden draw their weapons with scowls. If they were going down, they might as well go down fighting.

Crusher and Hot Head both prepared to swing, and as they did, something else swung open—the door! Those Arkeyan sorcerers lifted their eyes towards the door, and a swarm of miniature sharks ripped through the deck as they latched right onto the sorcerers' mechanical bodies! They immediately discarded their staffs and screeched out in mechanical agony as they hopped around and tried their best to shake off the sharks to no avail.

"Alright, now what the hell's going on here?"

Crusher and Hot Head glanced back, and there in the opened doorway stood Terrafin, Eruptor and Cynder! The three of them all looked baffled and worried, but only for a moment. Their confused expressions changed to a steely seriousness, and they immediately leaped into the fray!

Cynder took to the skies first and yanked open her jaws while black lightning poured out in a thunderstorm. The lightning bolts seeped into the cracks and joints of the Arkeyans' armor, and the Arkeyans vomited out sparks and rattled out screechy beeps as they collapsed. With them incapacitated, Eruptor rushed forward and sniped them off the deck with some carefully-shot magma globs. The Arkeyans burned like comets as they flew off the deck, until only the largest ranks at the back remained.

"I'll take care of these!" Crusher shouted as he flung out his hand. Crystals burst from his fingertips, and he shot them right at the Arkeyans with a swing of his hammer. "It's hammer time!"

The crystal stabbed right through the Arkeyans' chest with holes of torn wiring left as memories of their carnage, and the Arkeyans themselves fell first to their knees, next their faces. A burst of fire from Hot Head set them alight next, and it transformed into a phoenix that dragged them off the deck! Those Arkeyans were gone, but the furious beating of helicopter blades above showed that they weren't just done yet!

The helicopters flew even more furiously as they prepared to deposit more soldiers. As they did, a string of missiles slammed into their sides and burst into a string of explosions! The helicopters and their passengers' mechanical bits rained down on the and into the abyss, yet one remained!

"I found out where the shooty things were!" Varonis shouted over the helicopter's loudspeaker. "Quick, I saw one of our old bases on the map here! We'll fly there!"

Now, there were a few questions that could be asked here, like how Varonis somehow overrode the autopilot systems, or why the helicopter in question had their bases in its databanks. But, with the situation are hand, nobody could quite feel it in them to ask! Instead, Jorden rushed back to the pilot's quarters and yanked the steering wheel so hard that it almost snapped in his hands! With a firm grunt, he sent the wheel spinning and turned the Dread-Yacht to follow Varonis as they dove into a nearby island's tunnel.

§

Deep within the Eastern Skylands, the historic village of Ancient's Hearth enjoyed another peaceful day. The blue skies were as bright as ever, but the many trees provided ample shade for those who wished to rest from the surprisingly warm fallish day. The air smelled of sweet flowers and the fresh bread the bakery always seemed to pump out, and it was ripe with laughter and happy chatter from children, adults, animals, and even more! The world was as bright and bushy-tailed as ever, and Gigantus always loved to see it. He still recalled the days when this peaceful village was once a stronghold of rebellion against Arkeyan tyranny, but, the passing millennia had a way of changing things, sometimes for the better.

Gigantus himself was one of those things that changed. When he was created and fought in the war, he was but a naive child who followed in the footsteps of those greater than he was, but look at him now! He got a few thousand years under his belt and a mossy beard on his face, and soon enough, he was the one who outlived all those he admired. He'd guarded this town for so long that he'd practically seen every generation that grew up there and maybe a few more. They all sought him as a source of wisdom, of protection, of kindness and safety. Not that he felt his services were needed sometimes, as in the present day, they no longer had to fear Arkeyans storming their lands or spying on their every move—in the present day, the land was peaceful. The Arkeyans were little more than a page in a history book.

So were all his allies from that time, for that matter. From the ones who created him and left far too soon, to the many allies he lost to Arkeyan hands both on and off the battlefield. Even the Elder Elementals he was created in the image of, the ones who he eagerly followed in the footsteps of, perished in the great battle to save all Skylands from Arkeyan tyranny. Oh, some days he wondered what they would say if they saw him now. Would they be in awe at how much he'd grown? Would they be amused at how the golem that always clumsily followed after them was now the guardian of a whole village? Would their leader have looked him in the eye and told Gigantus how proud he was, how proud they all were of him?

"Oh, Tree Rex, I wish you could have lived to see all the good you've done," Gigantus lamented. "I'm sure you would have been so happy."

Gigantus sighed and took a seat on an old stump. His stones weren't quite as sturdy as they were in his youth, but he hadn't gotten that old yet. The massive tree atop his head provided ample shade from the sun with its canopy of leaves, but as he looked up, Gigantus spied something strange from between the leaves. It seemed almost like a comet as it shot far across the midday skies. As it came closer, its colors grew warmer and brighter while its shape took a more solid form—a form Gigantus hadn't seen in millennia.

"Arkeyans!" Gigantus gasped.

An Arkeyan helicopter zipped through the skies at lightning speed, and Gigantus snarled as he crafted a boulder in hand and prepared to swing. He didn't need to, for the helicopter immediately crashed and skidded through the ground while a much larger ship of decidedly un-Arkeyan stature crash-landed behind it. The sounds of crashing ships and screaming passengers scared away all the bird, drowned out the laughter and chatter of the villagers behind, and rattled every single stone in Gigantus' body.

The helicopter's pilot-side door opened with a rickety hiss first, and Gigantus prepared to attack, but let his guard down as a small, ghostly child stumbled out of the helicopter instead! They were a decidedly non-Arkeyan child at that; this was a human dressed in clothes in all-blue shades with a terrified look in their blue eyes, and their pale skin even more ghastly than their ghostly state suggested. Wait, Gigantus had a feeling that he recognized this child, but from where?

A mighty thud rumbled the earth as something jumped off the side of the larger ship, and when Gigantus turned to meet who made the sound, his stone heart stopped. He couldn't believe it, he didn't believe it at all, but there right before him stood Crusher and Hot Head of the Elder Elementals! They were a bit banged up in places and wide-eyed, but they looked just as the same as Gigantus remembered them! This, this had to be a dream, had it? Gigantus pinched one of his stony shoulders, but no, he was firmly awake!

"This is our old Eastern Stronghold?" Hot Head whistled. "Man, this place sure has changed these past thousand years! At least, I think it has. Can't remember when I've been here last."

"I'm surprised there's even people living here still!" Crusher proclaimed. "When the Arkeyans wiped this place out, we all thought it was done for."

Both Crusher and Hot Head's eyes turned to where Gigantus stood, and Gigantus felt the weight of the world crash down on his shoulders and pull him to the ground. Had they recognized him? He doubted they would, given all the time that had passed, but—

"Gigantus!"

Crusher and Hot Head both rushed up to greet Gigantus with a firm hand shake, yet gasped at him with the same awe a relative might have for a child they hadn't seen in quite some time.

"Look at you! You've really grown into the whole hero thing!" Hot Head proclaimed. " I almost didn't recognize you at first with all that moss on your face!"

"It's good to see a friendly face around here," Crusher affirmed. "Only the Ancients know we could use one right now."

Gigantus couldn't even find the words to speak. After all this time, he finally reunited with the Elder Elementals, and there were so, so many things he wanted to tell him. The celebrations of how they brought about Arkilles' death, how the village evolved and changed in all these years, all the generations that came and went!

"Now's not the time for a reunion, you three!" shouted a familiarly accented voice as someone else leaped off the ship—Jorden! He looked a little more ghastly than Gigantus remembered, but he still had that same kind of muscular build. "Our buddies are getting the robotic treatment while we're standin' around here! We've gotta find them help!"

Crusher and Hot Head gasped as they turned to each other. "That's right!"

"Yeah, and somebody better bloody tell me what's going on here!" cried a stout dwarf in tattered brown robes as he stumbled onto the deck. "First we're on our way to wash our hands of this whole Arkus business, and next thing I know, there's this whole battle and all I can hear is everyone screaming about robots! What caused all this nonsense anyways?"

A skinny blue ghost with a gear embedded on its chest floated onto the deck, and Gigantus crept closer to get a closer look, but what he saw made him want to crumble.

There on the deck of the larger ship laid all the rest of the Elder Elementals, but they were so weak, and frail, and only able to writhe and cry in utter agony as shiny metal crawled along their bodies like a parasite! Scattered around were the ghostly forms of the rest of the free magicians, along with a bunch of other beings that Gigantus didn't recognize, but they all held the same weakened, pained stature. Worse than that, however, it was a stature that Gigantus recognized all too well.

That blue ghost floated over to one of the smaller beings, scanned them, and perked up. "This is the work of Project Pandoran's fruits of labor, the Arkeyan Mechanizers."

The Mechanizers? Gigantus stumbled back as his stony arms trembled and threatened to fall apart, for that was a name he prayed he never had to hear again. He remembered the last brush he had with them, from the screams of its victims to how they slowly collapsed and disappeared under the weight of its spells.

"A Mechanizer got them?" Gigantus repeated.

"Indeed, mister golem, sir," the ghost responded in a polite fashion. "It seems as though several of them ambushed our ship."

"We have to move them out of here, fast!"

That was the trouble; the last thing you needed to do when you saw someone afflicted by the Mechanizer's curse was touch them, lest the curse transfer to you! He'd need someone or something to help him lift them out, but what? Gigantus frantically yanked his head from side to side, and thankfully found his answer—a kobold draped in regal purple and gold robes strolled across the floor as they hummed a tune, but froze as Gigantus stormed up to them.

"Mukbi!" Gigantus cried. "Get the rest of the clan here—we have a magical emergency!"

"Understood, great Gigantus!" Mukbi shouted.

Mukbi dug through their robes, retrieved an orb, and slammed it to the ground! It exploded in a shower of sparkly lavender mist, and a whole army of kobold sorcerers dressed in all sorts of gowns and robes manifested on the scene! Not just any kobolds, either—the strong aura of magic around them showed that they were among the finest families of sorcerers that Ancient's Hearth ever knew.

"Those beings on that ship are afflicted by a curse! Use your magic to bubble them so we can send them to the infirmary, quickly!"

The kobolds didn't need to be told twice. They ran off in a frantic scurry as they surrounded the boat, and shiny bubbles enveloped each and every infected passenger on the ship with a thrust of their claws! The passengers all floated by Gigantus as he absently counted them with his eyes. Bouncer, Vatra, Inochi... Gigantus gasped as Tree Rex passed him back, and his heart sank to his rocky feet.

"Mechanizer?" the dwarf demanded as he flailed his arms. "What in the pits is an Arkeyan Mechanizer?"

"Ancients, I should know this!" Dej cried as he stormed out of the ship's inner workings. "I know we've dealt with that kinda curse before, but what was it?" Dej winced and turned away as he buried his face in his hands. "Damn it, why can't I remember something as simple as a stupid curse?"

"That name sounds kind of familiar," Crusher whispered to Hot Head, "but I can't recall why."

"Everyone, please calm your questions," the ghost said. His form flickered with anxiety despite the perfectly calm expression on his face. "I am afraid my databanks do not have any more information on the topic you seek. Perhaps you should consult the Secret Vault of Secrets?"

"DON'T TELL ME THAT, YOU, YOU..." the dwarf tore at his ears and collapsed. "Ugh! We can't go there, alright? We don't know any other Arkeyan thingies or anyone else who know what those bloody things are, so don't say that, either!"

"Actually, I know what they are," Gigantus said at last.

The words slipped out of his mouth and all eyes turned to Gigantus at last. The memories that bubbled to the surface of his mind, and all the new attention alike left Gigantus's stone stomach tumbling, but he gulped away his fear. Strange how memories from millennia ago could still hurt after so long.

"In the olden days of the Arkeyan Empire, just before the end of King Arkus's reign, he created the Arkeyan Mechanizers as his most devious project yet. Their spells cast a curse that forcibly and painfully transforms the subject into little more than a living battery for an Arkeyan soldier. He intended to use them to bolster his armies, but retired the project because the soldiers would die out quickly after the transformation completed." Those pained screams of his creators rang in his ears, and Gigantus held back the pain as he turned away. "So, he reserved them exclusively for torture."

A solemn, knowing look crossed Crusher and Hot Head's faces as they looked away in turn, and beside them, Dej and Jorden winced as they exchanged looks of growing realization.

"Now I remember where I saw those things last," Crusher whispered. "Poor Chayah and Adamah."

"But, there's gotta be some way to undo that, right?" demanded a new voice, one rough and rugged.

Gigantus turned back to the ship as a black and gray dirt shark left the ship with a lava monster and a violet and red dragon by his side. The dirt shark raced up to Gigantus, and the look in his milky white eyes was nothing short of frantic.

"There's no curse out there that can't be undone! Besides, that thing got our friends! I'm not gonna just stand here while that curse takes them out of the ring for good!"

"I, I—" Gigantus clasped his hands and heaved a sigh "—I wish I knew. My last brush with those Ancients-forsaken things was long, long ago, and I do not have enough knowledge of how to undo it."

"And if we barely even remember them, I'm sure anything else about them's been lost to the sands of time," Dej winced as he crossed his arms. Another wince escaped him, and he crossed his trembling arms as he tried to hide his fear. Gigantus knew better, though; that was the same kind of wide-eyed, shaky look he always took when he was in a panic.

The dirt shark snarled and cracked his knuckles. "That, that, there has to be something in this place to do it! There's no way! Who would make a curse that can't be removed?"

"Lots of beings, surprisingly," remarked one kobold, Mugni, as they carted a half-mechanized human child away in a bubble. Mugni gulped as the dirt shark shot them a glare and hastily scurried away.

"I'm not givin' up! Somebody's gotta know something about this!" the dirt shark spat as he shot Gigantus a cold, hard glare. "You ran into those guys and know all this stuff about them, but you can't even remember the one thing we need to know right now?"

Gigantus winced and stood his ground, but he didn't need to—Crusher grabbed the dirt shark by his fin and gave him a scolding glare as he lifted it up.

"Calm down, Terrafin," Crusher ordered. Normally, Crusher was far from the type to scold people or lash out; he always kept his rocky head cool and collected, but it seemed that right now was far from the time for that. "I'm just as worried about them as you are, but lashing out at Gigantus isn't going to help us any!"

"Then what will?" Terrafin demanded as he swung and struggled to break free of Crusher's grip. "I'm not just gonna sit around here while some ancient curse crap takes our buddies out! If you're so concerned, think of something already!"

"Yeah!" the lava monster affirmed. "Once was enough—" he stifled his words sd the dragon shot him a glare. "I, I mean, we can't just watch while all our buddies turn into robots!"

"But it's not like we have anyone who can undo this!" Crusher argued as he placed Terrafin back on the ground. "Ninjini and Sihiri are the most adept magic users here, but—" Crusher winced as they both passed him by in magic bubbles "—they're out for the count."

"And so's 'Enehana," Hot Head added. "Without them, we're totally clueless when it comes to Arkeyan techie stuff!"

A cold pause came through the room, but finally it was Jorden, of all people, who broke it! He screamed, kicked a rock, and dug his fingers into his scalp.

"Augh, I can't stand this!" he screamed. "All our friends are hurtin' and in trouble, and we can't do a thing but watch!"

Terrafin tensed at the sound of Jorden's words, or maybe their contents? Whatever it was, the lava monster and the dragon shied away as if they both felt just as hurt or frustrated, and even Crusher and Hot Head could barely watched as their allies floated away to the infirmary. Surely, this couldn't be the end for them?

"Isn't there anybody else who would know about this kind of stuff?"

"Well, you could try asking the Troll King," remarked one of the elderly kobolds, Nolta, as she passed by with a half-mechanical gremlin in bubble beside her.

"The Troll King?" the others repeated.

Gigantus winced. He'd heard the legends of the Troll King, but at the same time...

"Yes, the Troll King! It's a legend we've passed down for generations!"

Nolta paused in her trek and sat down as she summoned a book. The book cracked itself open by magic as everyone gathered around, and three figures made of magic dust emerged from its pages—a scrawny troll, a small cyclops, and a stout walrus—while they trekked along the pages' path.

"Long, long ago, before this became the stronghold it was today, there lived three adventurers who sought all the wonders and knowledge that Skylands had to offer." The scene changed to the three adventurers at the entrance to a wooden forest, and Nolta's tone dripped with excitement. "Their trek led them far and wide across Skylands, until they came to these very woods. They wandered into the heart of the woods, braved the trials of its labyrinthine twists and turns, and the ancient guards left behind from long-forgotten wars..."

The three figures shifted in shaped, and grew larger and stronger as they thrust themselves to the skies with pride!

"And for their endurance, they were rewarded with all the ancient knowledge the labyrinths had to offer! Now, legend has it that whoever braves the trials and meets with the Troll King can learn anything they want to know from him!"

Gigantus couldn't help but manage a chuckle at Nolta's excited tone. "Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration," Gigantus corrected as he stepped in. "Saag'chepan definitely got a whole lot smarter, and he does know a whole lot about history, but I wouldn't say he's all-knowing."

"So you know this dude?" Terrafin asked as his glance urgently dashed between Gigantus and Nolta. "Do you think he could tell us how to fix this?"

"I mean, probably?" Gigantus scratched his head and frowned as a few leaves shook off of their branches. "He knows a lot about ancient history, even the things I didn't know—and I was there to see them!"

"So all we have to do is find this Troll King guy and get him to tell us how to undo this!" Terrafin cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Alright, where's this guy, anyway?"

Gigantus winced. "Are you sure about this? That story didn't exaggerate anything about the labyrinth's dangers. It's a pretty scary trip down..."

"Well, we faced much worse horrors fighting the Arkeyans, Gigantus," Crusher pointed out as he clutched his hammer.

"Yeah, a little labyrinth is nothing!" Hot Head affirmed as he slung an arm around Gigantus' shoulder and grinned, but yelped and jumped away before he could burn Gigantus's tree.

"We're Skylanders, buddy! Nothing stands in the way of us helping our friends out!" Terrafin insisted, and the lava monster and dragon behind him nodded.

"In that case," Nolta started as she waved her claws over the book. Its cover shimmered, and in moments, a fully-functional map popped out from the book and into Terrafin's claws. "This map shall serve as your guide. Ancientsspeed, travelers."

Nolta went on her way, and Gigantus trailed along, but only for a moment.

"I'll take them to our infirmary," Gigantus explained, "and hopefully, we'll be able to keep the curse at bay for as long as we can." Gigantus peered down and raised a brow as that dwarf from the ship raced after him with the ghost right behind. "Where are you going?"

"I'm, just gonna keep an eye on them," the dwarf remarked as he crossed his arms, "and see if I can't milk anything more out of this guy behind me just to be safe."

Gigantus left with the dwarf, ghost, and caravan of kobolds ahead of him. As he left, though, he sent a passing glance to where Crusher and Hot Head's group sat and examined the map, and sent a tiny prayer to the Ancients that their trip would bear fruit.

§

Terrafin shuddered as Gigantus drew farther and farther away in the distance. Eruptor and Cynder exchanged tense glances behind him, but they all clearly thought the same thing—perhaps they were right in worrying about the vision the Oracle showed them in the trial.

"Hey, don't worry about them, alright?" Hot Head quivered as he leaned towards Crusher. "I mean, I know seeing all your buddies get turned into Arkeyan soldiers must have been pre~tty freaky, but—"

"Hot Head, shush!" Crusher whispered. "I know they freaked out really badly that time, but bringing it up is probably gonna make it worse!"

"What, so you think we're gonna mess this whole thing up?"

Crusher and Hot Head winced as they slowly, slowly turned their glances to where Terrafin stood and crossed his arms. Whoops, seems as though they pricked a nerve, and now Terrafin glared at them and crossed his arms.

"Well, er," Crusher sputtered as he clutched his hammer's handle, "I mean, I saw that whole thing where your buddy died and you all flipped out and got yourselves caught, and you seem pretty tense. If you ask me, we'd be better off if you—"

Terrafin froze like a deer in the headlights for a second, scowled, and cracked his knuckles. "So you think we're not up to this, don't you? That we'll flip out and blow the whole thing and let our friends die?"

Every pop and crack of Terrafin's knuckles seethed with rage, rage that seemed to set Crusher's stone heart on edge as he scowled and clutched his hammer tighter.

"I, I didn't mean it like—"

"Save me the pity!" Terrafin stormed off with a snarl. "All of you probably think we flopped back there, and I'm sure you've probably got some choice words about us now, too!"

"What are you blabbing on about?" Dej shouted back. "Crusher didn't say anything like that! It sounds to me like you're already flying off the handle!"

"Don't even start, bud!" Terrafin shot Dej a glare, but softened up a tiny bit as he glanced at Eruptor. "Ruptor, Cynder, come on. We're taking this guy on and saving your friends ourselves."

"What, just the three of you?" Dej stormed up and crossed his arms. "You're probably way in over your head—"

"It's not like you'll care any, I—"

Soft, small crying came from the crowds, and Terrafin and Dej glanced aside as Varonis hid behind Crusher and sobbed. Surely, they were probably worried about how the rest of their family fared, but, they tried to hide it as they shied away from view.

Terrafin softened up for a moment and cleared his throat.

"Don't worry about us, kid," Terrafin said with a tone much more gentle than normal. He knelt down, tried to smile and extended a hand. "We'll find this guy and get him to spill the details, and we'll make sure we save your family. Alright?"

Varonis sniffled and crept out from Crusher's leg, yet forced a nod as Terrafin wiped their tears away. They scurried away to Dej's side as they flung themself into Dej's arms, and they dissolved into terrified sobs! Dej flinched for a moment, but quickly picked up Varonis and wrapped them in a tight hug.

"Hey, hey, Varry, don't cry," Dej whispered, and his voice sounded like it cracked for a moment. "The rest of them are gonna be fine, it's like Sharky over here said."

Terrafin shot Dej a bit of a glare but stifled his anger. Varonis was upset enough as is, and the last thing they needed was them all fighting on top of everything else. Terrafin just went up to Jorden and nodded as they lead their ragtag team down the map's path. They didn't say a word, for it was far too tense a situation for the cheery banter they usually engaged in, and even the world around them seemed to recognize it.

The further out they got, the quicker the sounds died away until not even the calls of birds sounded, until even the air left no howl or scent. It was nothing but empty plains until they finally reached a mass of trees curled around an opening to form some kind of tunnel—or at least, they would have if the entrance wasn't covered completely by a thick of kudzu.

Jorden summoned a pickax and slashed though the vines while Terrafin clawed them out until a dark, but viable entrance made itself apparent. Hot Head and Crusher leaned down and crept in first, and the others followed in a tense march towards a hopeful cure for their friends.

Hang in there, everyone, Terrafin thought as he clenched his fist, as if his thoughts could somehow reach the others back where they rested, 'cause we're not coming back until we get that cure.

That thought, that sentiment, seemed to ring around the whole group as they pushed through the tunnel. A pitch-black darkness poured over them the further they went in, and soon, even the faint glimmer of the entrance became nothing more than a little, meager dot. Even that faded, and next, all that remained was blanketing black.

"Anybody got a light in here?" Jorden asked.

FWOOM! Hot Head crouched down a bit as he lit a flame from the palms of his hands, and Jorden beamed right back up at him.

"Thanks, buddy!"

The group crept through the labyrinth before them with Hot Head as their torch, though it was a tight squeeze. The walls pressed so tight together that, when combined with the massive size of Hot Head and Crusher, meant that they were as tight-packed as sardines as they navigated through the endless turns, twists, and crossroads the labyrinth provided. Not helping matters was that everything looked pretty much identical; just massive stretches of ruby walls and dirt floors wherever one looked. Everything repeated, from the dripping of water, to the echoing of footsteps, to the crackling of Hot Head's firelight as they passed through these identical stretches. Even thought labyrinths were supposed to be confusing, tiresome mazes, this probably took the cake! It could make someone fall asleep!

In fact, Varonis themself yawned and looked as if they were about to drift off as they rested in Dej's arms still. They cried so much earlier, so perhaps they just cried themself to sleep in their fit of worry. Terrafin couldn't help but frown as Varonis drifted off with a sniffle, but turned his attention back to the path.

"Are we there yet?" Eruptor groaned as he finally collapsed with a sigh. "It feels like we've been walking for hours!"

Jorden frowned and unfurled the map in his arms. "Well, er," he mumbled, "I'm not entirely sure. Can't exactly make heads or tails of this old map here…"

"Well, from what I can tell, we've been walking in circles!" Cynder hissed as she flung a wing towards one of the corners. "I'm pretty sure we've passed that dented corner five times now!"

"And how would you know?" Dej snapped back. "Everything here looks the same to me!"

"Only if you weren't paying attention! Then again, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in this, considering how you watched us flounder back at the trials!"

"You're still on that? Ancients, all of you sure like to get hung up on things!"

"I don't know, you seem pretty hung up on making sure we get lost! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're doing it on purpose!"

"I don't need to do anything when you're all running around like headless cockatrices just because of some fake mission!"

Dej and Cynder snarled at each other between the throng of the crowds, and the others tensed. Sparks of black night flew from Cynder's jaw while Dej's aura turned icy, and they both seemed like they were moments away from attacking each other!

"Come on, now," Jorden urged as he put the map down, "I know you're all worried, but fighting's not gonna get us any closer to finding this Troll King fellow!"

"Yeah, so cool it!" Hot Head scolded. "Being a hot head's supposed to be my job!"

Still, Cynder and Dej glared at each other while a few small whimpers came from Varonis as they squirmed in Dej's arms. Dej tensed up, and quickly turned away from Cynder as he adjusted Varonis to a more comfortable position. Cynder backed away, yet scoffed at Dej as she turned away—a scoff he returned as he adjusted Varonis' helmet.

Clink!

Cynder yanked her head aside and glared at the shadows. "Did anyone else hear that?"

Nobody answered, but the way they locked up showed that they definitely heard it as well. They froze for a moment, just to make sure it wouldn't come back, and quickly hurried along the labyrinth paths when the sound disappeared into the ether. They weren't sure if that noise was good or bad, and nobody was particularly eager to find out the answer. So, they traveled on their winding, lonely, confusion path, yet something wasn't quite right.

Jorden raised a brow as the shadows danced in a way they couldn't have done normally, and cast a glance towards Crusher and Hot Head as if they were the cause. When the two shrugged, he shrugged as well and moved on, but then, the sound of scurrying rang through the stone walls and paired with what sounded like faint laughter as well!

"What was that?" Eruptor shouted as he flew into Terrafin's arms. "Don't tell me it's... G-g-ghosts!"

"Cynder, get your ghosts under control!" Terrafin shouted with a glare back at Cynder.

"Wasn't me! I haven't summoned my ghosts since we got in this place!" Cynder shot back.

The two of them scoffed as they looked aside, and the others sighed as they passed forward, but stopped short as something blurry and green and cackling ran right past them! They gasped for a moment as the strange being's laughter disappeared, and glanced back at each other and the path. Well, all except for Dej, who just glanced back and forth at the rest of the group.

"What are you all looking at?" Dej asked.

"Wait, didn't you just see that thing run right in front of us?" Eruptor asked as he gestured to the path ahead.

"What thing?"

"Ugh, pay more attention, will you?" Terrafin demanded. "Who knows what the labyrinth has waiting for us?"

"Don't get all snippy with me! I'm sure anybody could have missed whatever that thing was!"

"Both of you, stop it!" Jorden demanded as he rolled up the map.

While Terrafin and Dej bickered, however, neither one of them noticed as Varonis shuddered in Dej's arms. They groaned a little as they woke up, whimpered and slipped out of Dej's arms before they ducked under the crowds. A shudder ran down their spine as the rest of their group argued behind them, yet they turned around and beamed! After all, a green-skinned, heavily-armored cyclops walked right before them!

"Another being!" Varonis shouted as they turned around and waved. "Hey, everyone, I found somebody here! Maybe we can ask them for directions!"

But, no response. Terrafin and Dej were too busy bickering about something or other related to some battle earlier, and the others were too busy breaking it up or trying to pick sides. So much for getting their attention.

Varonis whimpered, rushed up to the cyclops, and tapped them on the shoulder. "'Scuse me, but we're walking through this weird place and we're kinda lost, I think? So, can you tell us where to find the Troll King?"

The cyclops turned to Varonis, blinked and screamed! They thrust a sharp sword in Varonis's face, and Varonis screamed and ran right back for their group with the cyclops hot on their tail!

"Intruders!" the cyclops cried as it slammed its sword against the walls in a sharp rhythm. "You will pay for trespassing in the great Ruins Guardian's labyrinth!"

"Dad! Poppy! Help!" Varonis wailed as they ducked underneath a sword's swing!

"Varonis!" Dej and Jorden called.

They pulled themselves out of the argument in an instant, and right in time for Varonis to leap right back into Dej's arms! They trembled and sobbed as they buried their face in Dej's chest, and Dej just frantically stroked their back.

"Varonis, what happened? When did you wake up?" Dej asked. "And what's with that cyclops?"

The cyclops guard huffed and heaved as it stood in front of the group. All around it, the walls rumbled and shuddered with such fury that parts of them looked like they'd pop out altogether—and they did! The stone walls burst open in a fervor as more cyclops guards in all shapes and colors poured out from their wounds. Mages with shining staffs, bulkier guards wielding axes and shields, and even a few smaller ones with swords and daggers all gathered around the front of the path until all one could see was the throngs of cyclops soldiers.

"Charge! For the great Ruins Guardian!" they all cried as one as they charged forth!

Crusher winced and wound his hammer back, fully ready to squish the cyclopes flat—but, his hammer brushed against the ceiling and cracked its top, and he drew it back.

"Crusher, why aren't you crushing these guys?" Jorden demanded as he yanked his head back.

"Well, the space is a bit tight!" Crusher warned. "If I tried to crush these guys, I might crush you guys too!"

"Well, good thing I can burn these guys up!" Hot Head cackled as flames burst and crackled from his palms. "Eat fire, cyclopses!" Hot Head tilted his head and frowned as he lowered his hands slightly. "Or is it cyclopes?"

The flames burst and crackled, and Jorden winced as he jumped out of the way, as did everyone else! The fires exploded at Hot Head's feet, and he yelped and slammed right into the nearby wall! The rocks crashed over his head as he groaned, and he shook his head as the cyclopes laughed.

"Looks like you're the one who got burned to me, buddy!" the cyclops who helmed the charge shouted.

Hot Head snarled while his magma burned a little brighter, but Terrafin just ran in front of him and snarled.

"This place is too tight for you guys to fight!" Terrafin insisted. "Just leave this match to us!"

Jorden, Dej, Cynder, and Eruptor all rushed to the fray, but Varonis crept behind Crusher and tried to pull the rubble from where it accumulated around Hot Head. The sounds of shouting from the match sounded behind them, though, and they just couldn't help but watch.

There at the head of the charge was Terrafin, who grunted as he dodged and traded blows alike with the cyclopes before him! He punched out one warrior's lights, yet ducked as another swung at him with their ax, and he went straight for the gut! A third warrior swung their sword, but he swung out of the way and punched them back before he dove right into the earth! The other cyclopes shouted and scurried away as he carved up the ground below, and with one last leap, he tossed his cyclops opponent right into the air and body-slammed them into the hard stone!

"Ah, the old over-under," Terrafin remarked as he stretched his arms. "Takes me back to the ring!"

A swish of a sword sounded from behind him, and Terrafin grunted as he cut off another cyclops' blow before it could connect! He went for a punch, but in that moment, a blast of water blew him off his feet and knocked him right back into the crowds! Terrafin sputtered as he skidded face-first into the dirt, and he shot a glare back at a wet-handed Dej as he spat out rock and cold stone.

"Watch where you're blasting, dude!" Terrafin spat.

"You need to watch where you're going!" Dej shouted back! He coated his legs in ice and warded off some cyclopes with frosty kicks, but snarled and turned back to Terrafin. "There's so many of these guys here that you can barely tell friend from foe!"

Terrafin snarled and went to fight back, but something else blasted him—something solid and bronze in lighting! His skin shone with a new light as a wealth of power surged around him, and from the way he smiled and flexed, it definitely seemed like the boost he needed!

"Now try that on for size!" Jorden chirped as he himself flexed. "Raw free magician energy!"

Terrafin gave a slight approving nod towards Jorden, rushed forward, and punched an oncoming cyclops mage right in the chest! More than that, the earth itself churned around his fists as his blow connected, and it struck with such strength that his target blew right back into the row of cyclopes behind it! Terrafin's eyes sparkled as he glanced down at his still-glowing fists, and his smile turned to a smirk as he punched and slammed and dug away!

The cyclopes flew around with the fragments of broken stone that Terrafin churned up, and behind him, Jorden smiled. His eyes brimmed with a light of their own as he watched Terrafin brawl it out, yet faded quickly as he stumbled backwards and fell to the floor beside Hot Head. His normally deathly-pale skin turned almost transparent as he sweated bullets and held his forehead, but he still turned around as a small hand brushed against his arm.

"Poppy, are you okay?" Varonis whimpered.

"I, I'm fine, guldklump," Jorden panted, though the way he sweated seemed to suggest otherwise. Jorden groaned and held his forehead. "Just a little woozy."

Varonis whimpered and clung to Jorden, yet gasped as they caught something else out the corner of their eye—a cyclops creeping up on them! They quickly turned to their hands and grunted as they summoned a small, shining sphere of light. The sphere flickered in their palms, and Varonis went to swing, but ducked as the cyclops tossed its ax like a boomerang straight for them! The ax squealed as it shot through the air, yet fell to the side as a magma blob sniped it out of midair and slammed right into the ax's owner!

Varonis beamed as Eruptor rushed past them and gunned down more of the soldiers with his magma lobs. Behind him, Cynder zipped up and shot a particularly nasty thunderbolt towards the next group! If the cyclopes weren't getting punched or slammed in the face, electricity rattled their armor or blasts of water and ice knocked them out cold—literally! What started as an uneven match finally evened out, for by the time the attacks stopped, only a trio of cyclopes remained!

The cyclopes trio gulped as its members glanced over its fallen allies first, and then the very angry Skylanders and portal masters to their front, and gulped.

"We, we," one cyclops sputtered as it frantically shuddered and clutched its sword. It gulped and turned around to glance at its allies; for a moment, it seemed like it might have considered fighting, but it squealed and ran for the corner.

"WE NEED TO WARN THE RUINS GUARDIAN!"

"Aye aye, sir!" the other two cyclopes shouted as they followed the first one's trail!

"Don't let them get away!" Cynder shouted as she soared around the corner.

Terrafin, Dej, and Eruptor all rushed forward in turn, and Jorden panted and hobbled along as Varonis tried to holster him up. The two panted and fell down, but a smooth, rocky hand swept them off the ground and lifted them up to Crusher's face! Crusher and Jorden beamed at each other, and Crusher moved them to his shoulder.

"You two just stay put," Crusher said as he rounded the corner with Hot Head close behind. "We'll catch up with these guys in no time!"

The chase was on and the trail was hot! The Skylanders' group rounded tight corners and narrow paths as they chased after the cyclopes, and not once did those cyclopes leave their sight! One cyclops turned around, yelped as Cynder slashed for them, and quickly slammed their staff against the wall.

"Quick, into the shortcut!" the cyclops shouted as they disappeared down the hall.

A door slid down and the cyclops dove right in! Their allies quickly followed suit, and Cynder snarled as she dove in as well.

"Hey, you're not getting away that quickly!" Cynder shouted.

The others dove right in as well, but as Crusher and Hot Head finally caught up, the two of them knelt down and winced. The hole was small—very small. They probably couldn't even fit their hands in there, much less their entire bodies!

"I think we might need to find another way," Crusher winced.

Jorden panted, heaved himself up and slid down Crusher's arm with Varonis close behind. "Then we'll, go on ahead!" Jorden panted as he rushed down the hall.

The sound of frantic footsteps clattered and echoed through the small, torchlit hall, but not by itself! The cyclopes gasped as more footsteps roared behind them, and as the cyclopes turned around, they all screamed.

"You guys don't know when to quit, do you?" a cyclops shouted as it slashed its sword against a nearby obstruction in the stone. The obstruction slid over with a click, and the cyclops sneered. "That oughta slow you down some!"

Blades shot out from the stone walls and churned, but Terrafin just dove underneath and tunneled under them without a scratch! Cynder swept above next while Eruptor slid underneath, and Dej froze them with a quick blast of ice and slid right across as he passed through!

The cyclops blinked and their jaw dropped. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Don't worry about them!" another cyclops shouted as they pointed ahead. "We're almost to the Ruins Guardian!"

Sure enough, light poured in from the opening ahead, and everyone stumbled out into a massive, sand yellow room. The whole floor was solid stone underneath a thin blanket of grit, and the stone walls were brown with age. The whole room smelled of desert air, and carried with it a massive emptiness unlike any other.

"You know, if this is all this Troll King guy has to offer," Terrafin remarked as he stationed himself, "I think we'll get to him in no time!"

"Are you sure about that?" cackled a deep voice that rumbled the room!

Skylander and portal master alike struggled to stay afoot as the floor shook underneath them, but the cyclopes didn't even flinch! They just puffed their chests out and laughed!

"Oh, you're really in for it now!" one cyclops at the head of the group cried. "Now that the Ruins Guardian's found you, you're toast!"

"The who?" Eruptor shouted back.

The ground rumbled as something dropped from the ceiling and kicked up dust everywhere! The dust sent everyone into a sneezing, watery-eyed fit as it coated the room so thickly that nothing could possibly be seen, but soon, it cleared enough that a bulky, tall silhouette emerged from the clouds. The dust clouds flew away with what sounded like an ax's swing and a laugh, and unveiled the voice's owner at last!

There before them all stood a cream-skinned cyclops with a muscular build, and height so great that his head almost hit the ceiling! A singular black eye with yellow sclera rested in his cranium while sideswept, deep brown hair ran over the rest of his head, and brown, rugged-looking armor covered him from head to cloven toe save for his barren chest. Yellowing fangs jutted out of his gaping jaw, and he sneered as he clutched a massive stone ax in one hand.

"Mister Ruins Guardian, Mister Ruins Guardian, sir!" cried one of the cyclopes with the same cadence of a child tattling on their sibling. "These intruders sneaked into your labyrinth!"

"Yeah, yeah, and they beat us up real bad, too!" shouted another cyclops. "We barely escaped with our lives, it was awful!"

"They made me trip on a rock!"

"There there, everyone, calm down," the Ruins Guardian said as he knelt down and gently rubbed their heads with his finger. "It's alright, I'll take care of it. Why don't you take a break from patrolling for a little bit?"

The cyclopes nodded and cheered as they escaped into a smaller hole in the wall that quickly sealed itself off.

With them gone, the Ruins Guardian's kind smile turned to a sneer as he heaved himself to full height. "So, you're the ones who've been picking on my guards, eh?" he asked as he slung his ax across his shoulder. "Normally I'm not one for picking on beings smaller than me, but in this case, I think I can make an exception!"

The Ruins Guardian whistled, and a pair of spinning, triangular obelisks with what seemed like cannons embedded into their centers and floating spikes around their bodies flew down. They swirled around him as he withdrew his ax, and leaped away as the ax crashed into the ground with a mighty swing! The blow cracked the earth in a single fell stroke; more than that, it fissured the earth wide open! Parts of the room crumbled and fell deep into the abyss as the cracks snaked along the ground in rapid speed, all ready to sweep the Skylanders and portal masters alike in their gaping jaw—and then, they stopped! The cracks froze in place as a bronze glow rang around them, and slowly, slowly, they inched together and sealed themselves up!

"I'll keep the ground steady!" Jorden strained as he thrust his hands out and glowed with a fervor. "You just take care of big-head over there!"

Terrafin, Eruptor, and Cynder immediately leaped into battle while Dej gently placed Varonis on the ground and joined them. The four of them dashed across the battlefield with all eyes focused on the Ruins Guardian, but right as they ran in, those obelisks that circled around the Ruins Guardian rushed forward and stopped right in their way! The four of them ran so fast that they had no time to stop, and the obelisks sniped them right in the chests! All four of them yelled as the lasers blasted them back across the ground, and groaned as they staggered up while static danced across skin and scales alike. Terrafin groaned and tried to take a step forward at least, but stopped as the Ruins Guardian tsked.

"You look a little dizzy there," the Ruins Guardian cackled as his eye lit up like the aestival sun. "You should probably lay down for a bit!"

Zap! A flurry of lasers burst from the Ruins Guardian's eye and sniped Terrafin, Eruptor, Cynder, and Dej back down to the ground! They shouted out as the pain surged through them, but at least the static relented. They staggered back up as the obelisks surrounded them once more, but this time, Cynder was first to act!

"Not this time, buddies!" Cynder spat as lightning crackled at her lips. "It's time you tasted some VOLTS AND LIGHTNING!"

Cynder zapped the centers of the obelisks with some sharp, hard lightning bolts, and the obelisks whirred as they flew back in the air! She zipped away soon after, and the obelisks squealed as they flew after her in turn!

"You get that guardian guy!" Cynder shouted in-between zapping back the obelisks. "I'll keep these things busy!"

Cynder became little more than a blip above the skies as she and the obelisks traded blasts, and with them preoccupied, the others down below rushed into battle once more!

Eruptor slid forward and grunted as he hurled a string of lava blobs for the Ruins Guardian. The lava blobs screeched, and grew in both heat and size as they tore through the air, but so did the massive stream of water behind them! It splashed through and cooled the lava rocks in an instant, and they just harmlessly bounced off by the time they made contact with the Ruins Guardian!

"What, was that supposed to hurt?" the Ruins Guardian cackled. "You're gonna have to do better than a few rocks!"

Dej winced as he glanced back at Eruptor, who shot him a nasty glare in return.

The Ruins Guardian cackled above, and Cynder snarled as her fangs shot out of her jaw. She dove down from where she tried to distract the obelisks, and zapped the Ruins Guardian right between the eyes! His cackling came to a close as he stumbled back and held his face, and Cynder swept aside as she zapped his hair fringe! The Ruins Guardian turned around, and she blasted the side of his face!

"Hey, get back here!" the Ruins Guardian shouted as he fruitlessly flailed around and tried to swat away Cynder. "That stings!"

"He's distracted! Now!" Terrafin shouted as he dove into the earth and swam off!

The ground shuddered and cracked around him as he swam with all his might and speed, leaped right out, and dug his claws right into the Ruins Guardian's leg! Terrafin grunted as he scaled the Ruins Guardian's leg like it was a mountain, but he had a tough time getting up with how sturdy the armor was! His claws could barely pierce the material, and he grunted and strained with every bit of his strength as he climbed up the Ruins Guardian.

"Wait, what're ya doing?" Jorden shouted as he pushed himself up and glared at Terrafin. "I don't know if you can take the big guy on your lonesome!"

Terrafin didn't seem to hear Jorden, or maybe he just plain wasn't listening; he just huffed a breath and kept climbing. He went from the lower leg to the knee with a few strained climbs, and went to dig his claws into the next stretch. A whirring sound echoed behind him, and Terrafin winced as he turned around and found an obelisk hovering behind him!

"Crap!" he shouted as he pushed himself to swing!

He went in for the punch, but the obelisk just charged a blast and zapped him off! Terrafin grunted as he hit the ground with such impact that it kicked up dust around him, and caught the Ruins Guardian's eye in the process. The Ruins Guardian glanced down and scowled as he swatted Cynder away with a single backhand! She shouted out as she shot down to the ground beside Terrafin, but the Ruins Guardian hardly cared.

He yowled out, and his eye flared with such light that it completely shielded his face before he shot a gigantic laser down at the floor. The ground rumbled below as the quakes and fissures cracked the earth! The thin cracks that Jorden sealed up grew bigger and bigger while the light of his magic dulled and dulled, and finally, the ground split right back open!

Jorden gasped and collapsed to the ground, but as the cracks shot for him once more, he gasped and jumped to his feet! He swept Varonis off the ground, leaped forward as a gigantic pillar of crystal shot from the ground, and landed far away from where the ground cracked and rumbled! Jorden leaped towards the walls right as the quakes shattered the pillar's base, and the wall in turn shot out a segment of rock for a landing pad.

"You stay here, guldklump," Jorden whispered as he placed Varonis on the stone platform. "Let me take care of this!"

"But, Poppy!" Varonis cried. "You, you're really hurt!"

No use, Jorden just flipped down and slid down the wall. Varonis whimpered as they glanced down and watched Jorden rush into the battle, and gripped the platform with cold, clammy hands.

Down below, Terrafin dove under the cracking stone, and wove from fissured segment to fissured segment as he tunneled towards the Ruins Guardian. The ground rumbled with another blow, however, and it was so furious that it tossed Terrafin right out of the ground! He snarled and punched his fists together.

"Alright, change of plans!" Terrafin shouted as he punched a few more times and slammed his fist down on the ground. "IT'S FEEDIN' TIME!"

The ground cracked open under the weight of Terrafin's blow, and a flurry of sharks burst from the ground! They gnashed their teeth and shrieked as they tunneled and swarmed right for the Ruins Guardian. As they did, a massive ocean wave coursed through and swept them up in its course! The sharks' furious swimming coursed through the wave and funneled it into a veritable shark-nami that slammed straight into the Ruins Guardian, who yelled as the blow sent him stumbled on his cloven feet.

"Hey, not bad!" Dej remarked.

Terrafin, however, just scoffed and looked away. Instead, he glanced over to where Eruptor rushed forward and lobbed massive blasts of lava across the floor! The added heat burned the stone floors till they glowed red, but with a faint bronze glow, they cooled back to a shiny onyx and burst into a string of spiky pillars which pinned the Ruins Guardian to the wall!

The Ruins Guardian snarled, and he slashed the pillars to bits with a swing of his ax! Their rocky remains collapsed on the ground around him as he growled, and his eye flashed with a bright, burning light. One more growl, and he flung his head forward and carved the world around with a bright, searing laser!

Holes burned in the rocky floor as Jorden and Dej floated up to join Cynder, but not for long; bursts of static electricity slammed right into the three of them and tossed them back to the ground! They grunted and slammed against the ground as the static danced on their skin. Jorden in particular struggled to take the blow as his ghostly form flickered in and out of existence.

Dej winced, jumped to his feet, and quickly slung Jorden's arm over his shoulders to anchor Jorden up. A laser blast shot behind them both, and they fell back to their faces. Dej winced and heaved Jorden up once more as he ran, and only gave him a passing glance as he looked about ready to faint.

"Get to safety!" Dej shouted. "This guy's gone haywire!"

More lasers shot into the walls around as Varonis winced and staggered backwards. They cried out and ducked as one shot the space just above their head, but another one slammed right into the platform they stood on and smashed it to bits! They screamed as they flew down, and fell right into Terrafin's arms as he and Eruptor dodged the lasers!

"Watch out!" Varonis cried.

Terrafin and Eruptor twisted their feet and skidded aside as a laser tore into the space where they stood not moments earlier. They both winced and glanced at each other.

"That Ruins Guardian guy just doesn't wanna give up!" Terrafin cried.

"Well, we're not exactly doing so hot, either!" Eruptor yelped. A laser shot off behind him, and he screamed again as lava splattered from his lips.

"Geez, just where are the big guns when we need them?" Dej snarled as he and Jorden teleported behind Terrafin.

Jorden winced and held his head. "C'mon, there's gotta be a fault line here somewhere I could crack open."

"Quit blabbering, you two!" Eruptor shouted. "We've got another laser coming!"

Everyone rolled away as another laser shot right through the earth, and Dej snarled back at the others.

"C'mon, we've gotta think of something!" Varonis cried as they hid in Terrafin's grip.

"I'm trying here!" Eruptor spat back.

"All of you, calm down!" Dej snarled as he pushed through. "If you keep picking fights like this, I'll just go down and take care of him myself!"

"Oh yeah, and what can you do? Make him a little wet?"

Dej snarled and shot a glance back at Eruptor. "Like you're any better! All you can do is blow your top!"

"If you're gonna complain so much, why don't'cha just head out of the ring and go back to town?" Terrafin snapped as he shot Dej a glare. "I'm sure we could all do without your complaining!"

"And I'm sure we could all do better without you three flipping out because of some little test! Nothing in there was even real anyways, so what are you worrying about?"

"I don't know, our friends getting turned into robots while you're picking fights seems pretty damn real to me!"

"I'M the one picking fights? You're the ones who refuse to act rational! I get you're all worked up, but can you not make this harder on me?"

"I could tell you the same thing!"

Varonis whimpered and squirmed in Terrafin's grip as the fight raged on in both senses of the phrase.

"Le, lemme go!" Varonis protested. "I, I wanna fight too!" Varonis gasped as another laser blast rocketed into the wall and sniped off some of the masonry, but whimpered and glanced down at their glowing hands as the blow faded. "But, what am I even supposed to do?"

Varonis whimpered, and for a moment, a flash of a memory, of their family's smiles and warmth came to mind. Soon, however, the battle they watched from the skies came instead, and those happy memories faded in favor of each part of their family falling and suffering back home. Tears formed in their eyes, and finally they snarled and pushed themself right out of Terrafin's arms.

"Who cares about that?" Varonis squealed as they glowed with a furious white light. "Hey, big cyclops guy! Let us go and see the Troll King already!"

No response came from the Ruins Guardian, or perhaps his shouting and zapping of the world around was his answer. Either way, it just sent Varonis into a fury! That white light around them burned and brightened, and they squealed with all their lungs as they raced into the fray.

"LET US GO ALREADY!" they squealed!

Varonis flailed their arms, and blast after blast of raw, crackling energy lobbed towards the Ruins Guardian! Of course, they were so angry that their blows hardly landed on their target. They blew holes in the ground, smashed right through the walls, even blew up just inches from the Ruins Guardian, and yet, not a single one landed.

The Ruins Guardian shouted as two of the magic bombs exploded behind him, and stumbled forward from the impact.

"Who tossed that?" he shouted. He turned around right as another one exploded to his left, stumbled back from the force, and snarled as he glared down the floor. "Seriously, who's blowing the place to bits? I'm the only one who's allowed to do that!"

The Ruins Guardian growled a low growl as he scanned the floor. His eye fell on the bright, flaming spark that was Varonis, and he prepared to swing—but in that moment, Varonis shone even brighter and he was the one who reeled back in pain instead!

"Augh, my eye! Why's that thing so bright?"

The Ruins Guardian's screams rang throughout the room, and everyone else peeled away from their argument to find quite the sight! Varonis, little Varonis who could barely fight on their own, lobbed the strongest of magic bombs wherever they went, and the gigantic Ruins Guardian they all struggled to tackled stumbled over his own two cloven feet!

"He's distracted!" Terrafin shouted as he dove back into the earth. "Now!"

The others followed suit, while Jorden clutched his side and caught staggered breaths as he tried to follow. He hobbled forward as a bright light seared over him, but he lifted his head and gulped. Somehow, one of Varonis's bombs ricocheted off the walls and shot right for him! He winced and closed his eyes in fully expectancy of a blow to the bits—but instead, the magic seeped into him and he glowed with a new light! Jorden gasped, flexed a few times just to be safe, and bolted off with a grin.

"If I can get that one-eyed blowhard's ax outta the picture, we're good as gold!" Jorden whispered. "Alley-up!"

Jorden leaped forward, and the ground underneath cracked as a pillar of stone burst out and launched him right towards the ax! He rolled across the ground, kicked up enough dust to keep cover as he leaned forward, and slid right into the ax's handle! His arms wrapped around the massive weight of the handle the best they could, and he grunted and strained as he lifted it high. Something of that mass was still far too heavy even with his newfound strength, but with another grunt, he slowly, clumsily lifted it inches from the ground!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jorden cried out as he stumbled and tried to keep the ax steady. "You wanna talk about some solid stone?" Jorden grunted and swung for the Ruins Guardian. "I've got some right here!"

The Ruins Guardian grunted as the blunt part of his ax swung right into his chest and blew him on his back! Dust kicked up all around as he collapsed on the grounds, and spiky pillars of stone burst in the space around him while he groaned and strained just to get up! The pillars molded around his limbs like clay, solidified and yanked him back to the ground! He grunted and strained as he pulled against the weight, but the pillars just strengthened their hold with a bronze glow!

"Hurry up!" Jorden shouted. "I might be rock-solid, but these pillars won't hold forever!"

"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Eruptor shouted as he clapped his hands together. Lava spewed from Eruptor's rotund hands and pooled across the floor. "Time to fire it up!"

The lava gurgled as it stretched further across the stone, and underneath the Ruins Guardian himself! The Ruins Guardian cried out as the lava burned against his back and seared his flesh till it turned to a pinkish color, and his thrashing only grew as he strained against the pillars! The pillars rumbled in turn as they struggled to keep him held back like a door barely barricaded away, and their glow only strengthened in response.

"Geez, seems like you need to cool off!" Dej shouted as he snapped his fingers. "Luckily, I've got just the thing!"

A gigantic thundercloud appeared right over the Ruins Guardian and poured down torrents of hot, steaming water! The Ruins Guardian cried out as the searing water splashed against his already-burnt skin, and the sound of the water only barely muffled his cries. The water dripped down around him as he panted and yelled out like a wounded animal, and Dej just chuckled.

"Whoops," Dej remarked, though the slight smile on his face betrayed that his choice in attack wasn't entirely accidental. "Think I got the temperature wrong."

The Ruins Guardian heaved and screeched as he strained against his bonds, and Cynder and Terrafin immediately took off! Cynder took to the skies and zapped the rawest parts with lightning volts, and below her, Terrafin pounded the ground and sent a flurry of miniature sharks to bite away at the burning flesh! The Ruins Guardian screamed so hard that he could barely scream anymore as he thrashed away at his bonds, all agonized and wailing and barely able to speak!

The Ruins Guardian growled, and hardened his muscles so they smashed right through his bonds! Rocks scattered everywhere, from the walls, to the floors, to the ceiling, as the Ruins Guardian flew out of his rocky prison! The Ruins Guardian yanked his ax off the ground while everyone else scattered and tried to avoid the rocky shower and swung—but flew back as a combined blast of stone and fire smashed him against the wall! The Ruins Guardian slunk down and fell face-first onto the broken battleground. Labored breaths burst from him as his fingers twitched, but with the way he shuddered from his burns, it was clear he wasn't getting up anytime soon.

"So," Crusher panted as he stumbled in and hunched over with Hot Head close by, "what did we miss?"

"Not much," Jorden remarked as he glanced back at the Ruins Guardian.

While the others kept their distance, Varonis whimpered and crept forward. Their light faded with the battle, and they trembled with every step they took as they crept closer and closer to the Ruins Guardian's battered, burned face. The Ruins Guardian groaned as he slowly, laboriously opened his eye, and Varonis yelped and jumped back—but, the Ruins Guardian only laughed!

"Well, I'm defeated," the Ruins Guardian groaned. His voice now strained and turned weak from injury. "Go ahead, finish me off."

Varonis whimpered and clasped their hands. "What, what do you mean?"

"Kill me." The Ruins Guardian hacked and sputtered for a moment as his body thumped against the ground, but finally he sighed and collapsed. His voice turned hoarser, and some kind of snide, sad grin crossed his face. "I'm already weak and ripe for the picking, aren't I? You have the perfect opportunity before you, so go ahead and take it!"

But, the very thought seemed to scare Varonis more than anything! They shuddered and shook their head as tears formed in their eyes, and as Terrafin came by, they whimpered and hid behind him. They glanced up at him as if to ask what they were supposed to do, but he just shook his head.

"That's not our style, buddy," Terrafin hissed. "Unlike some beings, we don't kill without good reason."

"And it's not like we wanted to fight anyways!" Eruptor sputtered as he stumbled up. "We just came here so we could talk to this Troll King guy!"

The room turned silent and cold for a moment, and the Ruins Guardian... Laughed? Yes, he burst into laughter as rousing as he could make in his weak state, smiled and glanced up to the ceiling where the obelisks floated in place.

"Hear that, Saag?" the Ruins Guardian shouted. "Looks like they fit your bill!"

The obelisks swelled with light as they floated down, and one of them immediately turned to Terrafin! Terrafin readied his fists, but lowered them as a voice crackled out of invisible static while a projection of solid light burst from the obelisk's cannon.

"I heard it, Aisops," replied a deep, almost worn voice from over the static. "It seems that these visitors have passed my test!"

"TEST?" everyone else exclaimed as one.

"Yep!" Aisops chirped. The obelisks flew over and poured green light over him, and his injuries disappeared as he stood up and stretched. "Saag can't just give away the secrets of ancient Skylands to any old rando, you know? So, this whole thing was a test to see if you were worthy enough for it."

Aisops wound his arm up a few times, grabbed his ax from the floor, and slammed it right into the back wall! The entire wall crumbled like a kid's sandcastle, and unveiled a dimly-light, and not to mention, gigantic hallway!

"And you passed with flying colors! Just follow me—I'll take you to see my good old buddy in the blink of an eye!"

Terrafin and Eruptor exchanged wary glances, as did everyone else in the room, but finally they bit away their hesitation and trailed after the Ruins Guardian as he disappeared down the dark halls.

§

"As you can see," the Ruins Guardian said as he swung his ax the way a tour guide would gesture, "this place has everything you could want out of a weird magical labyrinth!"

The Ruins Guardian gestured to the left wall where all sorts of spike-laden, complicated, and otherwise uncomfortable-looking devices hung from a wall. "Torture devices!" He gestured to the right next, and beamed even wider as he highlighted a set of rolling spikes that bobbed in and out of the wall. "Secret spiked walls!" The sound of gnashing came from underfoot, and he smiled the widest he could as he stomped the ground. "Piranha pits! Always a classic, just, uh, make sure you don't do any digging anytime soon."

"Trust me," Terrafin winced as he shot the ground below him a wary glance. "I'm not."

The others glanced at the various traps, torture devices, and other dubious fixtures on the walls and floors around them with equally-unnerved glances. Though, their guide talking about said fixtures the way a tour guide would talk about a tourist trap probably didn't help the mood.

"So when are we going to see the Troll King?" Eruptor demanded as his lava blood crackled and popped.

"Hey, hey, what's the rush?" The Ruins Guardian chuckled. "We haven't even gotten to the wall of weaponry yet! That's the best part!"

"But we don't have time to see your wall of weaponry or your spike traps or your piranha pits!" Eruptor bore his teeth as his magma screeched and boiled. "Our friends are in trouble, and we seriously need the Troll King's help! So can we quit meandering and get to those guy already, you—"

Jorden slapped his hand over Eruptor's mouth and chuckled as the Ruins Guardian raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, don't mind him, he's just a bit of a sourpuss," Jorden said as he pulled Eruptor back. "Anyways, what was it you were saying about this wall of weaponry?"

The Ruins Guardian smiled and strode on. "To the right, we have a wall of some of Skylands' finest weapons from all across ancient history! Starting with some of the very weapons used to fight The Malevolence during the First Great War..."

The Ruins Guardian rambled on and on, and Jorden breathed a sigh of relief as he finally let go of a struggling Eruptor. Eruptor glared back at him in response, and Jorden just winced and flung up his hands as Eruptor pointed at him.

"What'd you do that for?" Eruptor snapped while smoke burned from his veins. "We can't dawdle around here all day!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Jorden hissed. "This guy's big, and tough, and surrounded by all sorts of wacky weapons and creepy traps, not to mention he's the only one who can take us to this fellow in the first place! Getting on his bad side is the last thing we need to do right now!"

"You'd realize that if you were a bit more patient," Dej chided.

"We don't have time to be patient!" Eruptor growled. His eyes boiled as they dashed between Jorden and Dej. "Our friends and yours are getting turned into creepy Arkeyan robots! We can't just take a leisurely tour of some creep's torture dungeon! Aren't you worried about your team too?"

"Of course I'm worried about Ena!" Jorden spat back. A scowl formed on his face, and for a moment, the facade of peacekeeping he held up finally dropped. "But that's exactly why I can't risk this! We can't risk rushing in and blowing the whole thing with one wrong move!"

"Funny, cause last I checked, you were the ones getting in our way when we tried to take that guy down!" Terrafin remarked as he crossed his arms. "And you didn't seem all that worried about it!"

"That's because you got in my way!" Dej snapped back.

"No, you were the one who wasn't watching where you shot!" Cynder intruded. "It seemed like every time we tried to do something, you were there to ruin the plan!"

"If anything, you got in my way!"

"I don't know, it sure seemed like you were pretty set on cooling all my magma blobs!"

"That was an accident!"

"Looks, cool your rocks, everyone! I—"

Their conversation devolved into bitter bickering and flung insults, and Hot Head and Crusher only sighed behind the rest of the group. It seemed like everyone's been in a bad mood since this whole mission started, and while nobody could blame them, it was getting pretty tiresome at the same time. Varonis ran up to them and whimpered as they hid behind Crusher's leg, and Crusher just sighed and knelt down.

"There, there, Varry," Crusher cooed as he gently rubbed Varonis' back with his finger. "It'll be over soon."

"I don't know," Hot Head remarked as he scratched his chin. "They seem like they're getting pretty hot under the collar!"

"And what do you care if we cut in once or twice?" Dej snapped as he cracked his knuckles.

"A lot! That would have gone a lot faster if you'd just followed our lead!" Terrafin snapped back as he bore his fangs. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't seem to care all that much, just like how you don't seem to care about what that Oracle showed us!"

"You're still on that?" Dej's brows twitched.

"Why wouldn't I be? You saw everything there, you know why we're so worked up about this! Or do you think it's funny that we're losing everyone we cared about to the Arkeyans?"

"That's all in the past now! Right now, we have bigger things at hand, and the last thing we need to worry about is you losing your head because of some stupid test!"

Terrafin and Dej both snarled and drew back their fists, and both of them ready to throw a punch—

"Quiet, you all!" The Ruins Guardian snapped.

Everyone froze in a sharp silence as they turned around to find the Ruins Guardian! He held a finger to his lips as a soft glow emanated from his eye, and he turned around and cast a spotlight down at the path ahead.

"Trust me, you don't wanna wake these guys up."

"What guys?" Crusher asked as he squeezed his hammer's handle.

"You'll see."

The Ruins Guardian's eye shone a little brighter, and he craned it so that its light flashed towards a head—a round, robotic head made of worn purple metal! He moved his head aside to show another one made of blue metal, and a swift turn showed a third made of rusted bronze. It seemed like there was some robot menacingly watching over the land wherever one turned!

"These Elemental Destroyers watched over this labyrinth way back when it was first made," the Ruins Guardian explained as he walked further, "but, my buddies and I tore them down, and ever since then, they've been sitting here and gathering dust. With all the damage we did, I doubt they'll start back up anytime soon." The Ruins Guardian beamed with pride for a moment, but chuckled and looked away. "Maybe. Not a hundred percent on that, so I'd keep it down unless you're in the mood to kick some metal cans."

The Ruins Guardian traipsed away, and Terrafin raised a brow.

"And where are you going?" Terrafin asked as he crossed his arms.

"I'm just going to let the ol' Troll King know you've arrived!" The Ruins Guardian waved a hand as he pushed some dusty passage open with the other. "You all just go on ahead!"

"Hey, wait—"

The Ruins Guardian dashed off before Terrafin could even finish his sentence, and the door flung to a close behind him with a THUD so loud that dust cascaded down from it in a shower. Well, so much for getting some guidance out of him.

Terrafin frowned and knocked on the door, but to no response. So, he pounded a second time, this time more urgently, but still no response! He snarled and punched the door, and yet all that did was send dust pouring over him. Terrafin groaned as he shook the dust off, and seemed like he was about ready to shout out, but the creak of something metal sounded behind him and he quickly zipped his lips.

"Maybe. Not a hundred percent on that, so I'd keep it down unless you're in the mood to kick some metal cans."

It seems everybody recalled the Ruins Guardian's words in that instance as they glanced around, but found nothing around but themselves and inactive robots. Close one.

"Great, this is probably another one of those tests of his," Terrafin grumbled. "Like I haven't had enough of those already."

Varonis just sighed and cast a small sphere of light from their palms as a guide. They tossed it up to Hot Head and Crusher with a fling of their hands, and the two of them gently tapped it with their finger. The light sphere waved and pulsated with the touch, and shimmered its brightest as it completely encompassed the room!

The illumination revealed the room to be all sand and sandstone with faint trickles of even more sand poured out from gaps in the walls. A dusty smell wafted through the entire room with such pungent strength that it could make anyone want to sneeze. More than that, however, those Elemental Destroyers completely choked out most of the space in the room! They came in all sorts of shapes and colors and decorations, but they were all at least twice or three times Crusher and Hot Head's collective size, and they all laid slumped over in various piles and corners of the room like worn old ragdolls.

"Huh, there's a lot more of these things than I thought," Crusher remarked. "Good thing they're all sleeping!"

Crreeaakkkkkk...

The ground shuddered as a few of the nearby Elemental Destroyers seemed to nudge themselves just slightly off the ground. At first, it was a small enough movement that it would barely have been noticed otherwise, but the absolutely atrocious sound of churning and shifting metal scratched at everyone's ears! The Elemental Destroyers the Ruins Guardian pointed out earlier tipped over as if they were going to fall completely, and they almost did. However, they stopped themselves mid-fall, and creakily stood with their backs still hunched over. For a moment they stood stagnant, and in another, they whipped up to their full height as their eyes glowed!

"PROTOCOLS AWAKENED," bellowed a screechy, robotic voice as the Elemental Destroyers' eyes flashed their brightest. "SCANNING FOR INTRUDERS!"

"I had to open my mouth, didn't I?" Crusher groaned as he buried his face in his hands.

Crusher and Hot Head quickly swept the smaller members of their party into their hands, and rushed behind a conveniently-placed giant pillar. Their backs pressed tight against the stone as the awful droning sound of the Elemental Destroyers' beeping echoed around them, but as they glanced aside, a single spotlight crept closer and closer to where they hid.

"Lights out!" Hot Head winced.

He tossed the teammates in his hands to Crusher, and Hot Head flung out his own hands. They sputtered like an old car engine as they spat out thick, churning smog! The smog blanketed the area in darkness once more, yet the Elemental Destroyers' spotlights pierced through and flashed over where Hot Head and Crusher hid—except, there was nothing to spy! The smog coated them all in such thick darkness that they disappeared from view. The only remnant of their presence was their footsteps as they shook the world around.

"UNNATURAL NOISES DETECTED," one Elemental Destroyer beeped as it turned away. "CONTINUE SCANNING FOR INTRUDERS."

"REVEAL YOURSELF, INTRUDERS!" another Elemental Destroyer bellowed as it stomped back and forth in a monotonous rhythm. "UNNATURAL NOISES FROM INTRUDERS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!"

A spotlight shone past as Crusher and Hot Head ran from their former hiding place to another conveniently large pillar, and the two of them winced as they hid and caught their breaths.

"Can't you go any quieter?" Cynder hissed from where she sat in Crusher's palm.

"Sorry!" Hot Head winced. He haplessly shrugged, though under the cover of darkness it couldn't be seen. "Can't help being a giant and all."

"STRANGE FOOTSTEPS DETECTED! INTRUDER ALERT!"

Hot Head glanced back down at the floor, and his sheepish smile turned to a wince. He and Crusher may have disappeared from view, but their footsteps laid completely visible and imprinted in the sand! Worse yet, the sound of storming, thundering rumbles showed the Elemental Destroyers were already on their tail—and the sight of several Elemental Destroyers running towards them confirmed it!

Crusher and Hot Head scrambled as they darted for some sort of sanctuary or exit, but with their footsteps giving them away, they barely had time! The crowd of Elemental Destroyers who made chase seemed to grow closer and closer with each stretch they ran across, and all those conveniently-placed pillars thinned out.

"There!" Hot Head cried as he pointed to a wide, gaping pillar at the end of the room.

He and Crusher slid forward and panted as they hid behind the pillar while the Elemental Destroyers pounded forward and completely passed them by! Crusher and Hot Head breathed sighs of relief, and Crusher unfurled his palms.

"Sorry for the bumpy ride," Crusher apologized as weakly smiled down at where the rest of their team moaned and groaned, "but fighting those guys doesn't seem like it's gonna be much of an option."

"Yeah! Those guys are no Conquertron, but they're still pretty huge," Hot Head added, "and with just the two of us, we don't exactly have a lot of heavy hitters. That's like, two to..." Hot Head crept around and tried to count the Elemental Destroyers that passed by. "Four, eight, sixteen, twenty, or was that nineteen?"

"Point made, Hot Head."

"So it sounds like we're gonna need a plan," Jorden sighed. He tapped his helmet for a moment, and as light poured from the broken flashlight on it, he hummed. "These floors don't seem that sturdy. If one of us creates a diversion, we could probably smash it in and send these guys falling into the abyss!"

"And risk sending us all under? No thanks," Terrafin scoffed. "If we knocked out these things, we could probably use them as weapons!"

"But we don't know anything about them!" Dej pointed out. "Blunt force isn't going to win you every battle, you know!"

"Not anymore than splashing everything would!"

Terrafin and Dej snarled and locked eyes while behind them, Hot Head winced and turned around.

"Uh, everyone..."

"Well what do you think we should do, surfer boy?" Cynder hissed.

"Well, obviously we need to scout for weak points first—"

"With that many of them?" Eruptor grumbled. "We'll get squashed flat before we can even take down one! They're already looking for us!"

Hot Head nudged Crusher's shoulder and whispered something in his ear, and Crusher winced and gently shook his palms.

"Everyone, you might wanna cool it a little!" Crusher winced.

"Are you trying to make this harder for us?" Dej demanded. "You've been shooting down every single thing we come up with! It's almost like you don't even care about what's gonna happen to them!"

"Hey, watch it, muscles for brains!" Eruptor snipped.

"We've got friends on the burner too, you know!" Terrafin shouted as he stormed up so that his snout pressed in Dej's face. "We can try and sort this out the easy way, or—"

Varonis whimpered and tugged on Dej's shirt. "Dad, we've got a problem here!" they cried.

"Not now, Varry," Dej snarled as ice coated his hands, "Dad's got a very stubborn shark to knock some sense into!"

"Oh, you want a fight?" Terrafin shouted as he cracked his knuckles. "I'll give you one!"

"ALL OF YOU, QUIET!" Hot Head screamed at the top of his lungs!

"What is it, Hot Head?" Dej demanded as he snapped around and glared at Hot Head. "Can't you see we're in the middle of an important discussion here?"

"Well, we've got another important discussion!" Hot Head cried as he pointed behind. "The guards found us!"

Sure enough, a crowd of those Elemental Destroyers formed at the mouth of the area, and their eyes flashed red as they locked on where the group sat! The ground thundered below their feet as the Elemental Destroyers made chase, and some readied their weaponry as they ran. There had to be at least four or five or them, but slowly others jumped in and thickened the crowd to at least ten!

Jorden and Dej winced, held out their hands, and teleported themselves and everyone else away with a POP!

It was just Crusher and Hot Head now, and the two of them snarled and readied their attacks—but unfortunately for them, so did the Elemental Destroyers as they encircled their prey! The first Elemental Destroyer, a kind of sleek one with a sky blue and gold body and accents fashioned to resemble wings and Air Element symbols on its knees, dashed circles around Crusher and Hot Head as they went to swing. It raced at the speed of the fastest breezes; in fact, it ran so fast that it was like there were multiple copies of it, all of whom ran in place and taunted Hot Head and Crusher with how fast they ran! Hot Head snarled, shook his hands and spun around as he doused the Air Destroyers in sleek, shiny oil!

"Time to flame these guys!" Hot Head shouted as he shot a volley of fire into the circle!

The flames ignited the oil and burst into a massive explosion that pierced right through the Air Destroyer and its doubles alike! The doubles disappeared into thin air while the real Air Destroyer stumbled backwards, and Hot Head smiled. He tossed his fists above his head like a first-place batter, but stumbled backwards himself as a massive torrent of water shot him into the wall! Hot Head grunted and gasped for air as he slid down, and snarled as the guilty Elemental Destroyer lowered its weapon.

This Elemental Destroyer had a body of solid blue and white that was fashioned similar to that of a diver's suit. A grid-like mask laid on its face instead of an actual face, and similar locks with keyholes shaped like the Water Element's symbol laid on its arms. It lowered its palms as the abscesses in them folded back in, and seemed almost proud as the wall's masonry fall on Hot Head's, well, head.

Crusher snarled, raced forward with his hammer at the ready, and grunted as he went in for the swing. "I'd better hammer this home!" Crusher shouted.

He slammed his hammer on the Water Destroyer's head, but it only bounced off like a rubber ball! The Water Destroyer turned to Crusher and tilted its head almost quizzically, as if it mocked Crusher's attempt at stopping it. Crusher snarled back and swung again, but every blow he made just bounced off the Water Destroyer's skin like it was hardly a blow! No matter where he hit—throat, shoulders, chest—it all just flew off! Crusher gritted his teeth as his eyes flashed an emerald green, but their light dulled as something punched him square in the chest!

Crusher cried out as he collapsed into a pile of rocks and rolled away, reformed, and groaned as he held his head. A shadow cast over him, and he grimaced as an Elemental Destroyer made of solid brown rock with polished yellow stone for accessory and Earth Element symbols on its knees cracked its knuckles. It went to swing once more, and a volley of fire pushed it across the room!

Hot Head panted as he stumbled in afterwards, and yanked Crusher from the floor as the rest of the Elemental Destroyers closed in on them. They gulped, cracked their knuckles and rushed into the fray!

Everyone else winced as they witnessed the battle from atop a half-broken pillar. For every blow Crusher and Hot Head tossed, another one knocked them back into another Elemental Destroyer that happily brought on the pain!

Varonis whimpered as the Water Destroyer returned and blasted Hot Head and Crusher into each other with a torrent of water. Their eyes welled with tears while a bone-covered Elemental Destroyer stabbed Hot Head and Crusher with thorny bone tendrils, and as a gear-covered Elemental Destroyer blasted them with shiny lasers.

"Hot Head and Crusher aren't gonna last any longer!" Varonis cried. "I, I've gotta help them!"

Varonis turned around and half-rushed down the pillar, but Terrafin pulled them away from the edge before they could!

"No way, kid!" he warned as he brought Varonis back to safety. "Listen, it's way too dangerous! Those guys would wipe the floor with you! I can't have you getting hurt out there!"

"I'm with Terrafin on this, guldklump," Jorden said as he went to take Varonis from Terrafin's arms. "Even the big guys are having trouble out there! That's no place for a lil' one like you!"

Varonis' face scrunched up in anger, almost as if they wanted to protest, and they did!

"Lemme go!" Varonis wailed as they thrashed against Terrafin and Jorden's grips alike. Terrafin grunted as he tried to keep hold of Varonis before they could slip out, and they only thrashed further. "I said let me go! My family's in trouble! I can't just sit around and watch everyone get hurt! I don't wanna lose them, not again!"

Terrafin winced. "That's not gonna happen, kid! We'll think of something, so just calm down!"

"No you won't!"

Varonis slipped free of Terrafin's grip, turned around, and heaved heavy, pained breaths. Their face grew red with fury as tears spilled down their cheeks, and they sniffled as they wiped them away.

"All you've been doing is arguing and fighting with each other and running away! My family's under that whole curse, and so are your friends, right?"

Terrafin awkwardly scratched his neck and turned away, and Jorden glanced off as well. That was true, but, to have the kid point that out was embarrassing to say the least.

"Well, maybe if someone wasn't constantly snapping at everyone, we would have actually gotten things done!" Dej snipped from where he sat.

"And maybe if you weren't constantly getting in our way, we would have gotten things taken care of!" Eruptor shouted back.

"See? you're doing it again!" Varonis squealed.

Terrafin grimaced, turned away from Varonis and towards Dej. "Listen, buddy, we'll just get this all taken care of if you just stay out of our way and let us handle this! It's not like you're interested in helping, anyways!"

"What, because I'm not losing my mind over some fake trial?" Dej snipped back. "Are you still so worked up about that? Guess what, buddy—I'm worked up about what happened too, but I'm not letting a few failed missions put me on ice! If I worried myself sick about everything that's gone wrong so far, I'd be deader than I am now! That guy was probably trying to mess with your head, and you're still falling for it! Why're you letting him get you so upset for nothing?"

Terrafin shuddered, and Eruptor and Cynder both got up a little as they prepared for another spat. Eruptor walked up as he prepared to either back Terrafin up or hold him back, and Cynder flared her wings just in case things got ugly.

"Why wouldn't I be upset?"

Eruptor backed off a little as Terrafin's lips twitched to showcase all his snarling white fangs, but Terrafin didn't shout or fight. He slunk down and held a hand over his face in a rare show of defeat while every part of his body twitched with rage.

"I get tossed in this place, and tricked into thinking I failed everything and everyone, and my boyfriend died because I couldn't do anything, and this guy goes on and tells me this is supposed to help me? What the hell does that even mean?"

Eruptor and Cynder warily nodded, but neither of them spoke. A show of emotion like this was rare for a guy like Terrafin, who, while blunt, was never one for big emotional spiels. Perhaps that took them off-balance some?

"He's all, 'Oh hey, here's a place where your worst enemy took over everything and turned everyone you loved and cared about and promised to protect into his soldiers' and I'm supposed to just take that lying down? Like it's for my own good or something?" Terrafin's breath grew heavy with rage. "Not only did he trick me, but I don't know if he's telling us we're all gonna fail or just trying to scare some sense into us or some shit, now all this is happening just like he said, and I still don't know how I'm gonna stop it..."

Terrafin blinked and lifted himself up. "Wait, stop it... That's it!"

"What's it, Fin?" Eruptor shouted as he rushed to Terrafin's side.

"I think I get it now. He was showing us all that so we could know what to stop before it got that bad!" Terrafin shouted. "He must've known these guys were gonna get us before we got to Arkus, so he showed up that Mechanizer stuff to warn us! It was a warning!"

"So he was trying to prepare us for what would happen at Arkus?" Eruptor echoed.

"Then that means if we take what we saw there, we can plan around it and stop Arkilles in his tracks!" Cynder rationed.

"Exactly!" Terrafin snapped his claws. "Once we get this cure from this Troll King guy, we can get all that planned out and kick Old King Ghosty to the curb!"

Eruptor and even Cynder beamed at Terrafin, and Terrafin himself smiled as the weight seemingly lifted from his shoulders. The riddle finally answered itself, and the worry in their hearts disappeared in favor of the fires of determination; the answer finally presented itself, and now they were just eager to fight!

"Okay, that's all well and good, but we've got another problem," Dej remarked as he crossed his arms.

"And that is?"

"While you guys were talking it out, Varonis slipped off!"

Terrafin turned around, and his jaw slipped as he realized that Dej was right! Varonis slipped away from the group while they were arguing, and there was no sight of them anywhere! The group was too high up to really see!

"Geez, where'd they go?" Dej shouted as his head yanked around the battlefield. "There's no way they'll be able to fight those things!"

"Then we'll take care of them!"

A clawed hand fell on Dej's shoulder, and he turned around as Terrafin smiled back at him! The two huddled together, and the rest of the group joined as they discussed their plans up above...

But while they talked up there, Varonis ran down below on the battlefield! They winced and ducked as stray blows from the battle soared above their head, gasped and slide down as a large molten rock soared just inches above them! As they rolled aside and panted, Varonis looked up and whimpered; even with all the running they did, they were still nowhere near where Hot Head and Crusher stood!

"Maybe if I could teleport like Chihiro could, I could get to them faster!" Varonis whispered as they clutched their pendant. "How did she do it?"

Varonis whimpered as they glanced around. They strained as they tried to focus, but it seemed like every time they tried to think, something exploded around them or something broke and they completely snapped out of focus. They whimpered as a pillar crumbled and crashed behind them, while a shadow cast over!

"Ack!"

Varonis squealed and teleported away right as an Elemental Destroyer stomped down right where they once stood! Varonis slunk down and caught their breath as they clutched their chest, but not for long. The ground rumbled as thorny vines burst out from the stone, and they squealed and ran off as the vines tunneled out with a fury set straight for the battlegrounds!

The Elemental Destroyers all parted as the vines shot forward, but Crusher and Hot Head responded just a little too late. The vines snapped forward and wrapped tight around their arms, and they grunted and strained as they tried to break through!

"What are these things?" Crusher demanded as the vines snapped around his legs. "They don't wanna let go!"

"Then I'll make them!" Hot Head shouted as he lifted up his hand and snarled. "Try keeping us down when you're burnt to a crisp!"

Hot Head cackled as the flames in his palms seared and lighted. Instead of hot, voluminous fire, however, what came out of his palm was a few paltry puffs of smoke! Hot Head grunted as he tried to pull his hand back, but even that took all his might. A green glow surrounded him, and his eyes almost rolled back into his skull as he groaned and fell to his knees. Beside him, Crusher moaned and collapsed on the ground.

"Crusher, Hot Head!" Varonis squealed as tears welled in their eyes.

They sniffled, and their vision fixed on that of an Elemental Destroyer made of yellow stone and coated with moss and Life Element symbols. A similar green glow came from it as it sprawled out its arms, and Varonis squealed as they charged forward and pounded their tiny fists on the Elemental Destroyer's foot.

"Let them go! Let them go!" Varonis wailed as they pounded further and further.

Yet, their blows did nothing! They were so small, so paltry, that the Elemental Destroyer didn't even see them as it continued to drain Crusher and Hot Head's strength! Varonis snarled, summoned an energy sphere and lobbed it at the Elemental Destroyer's leg.

"I said let them go!" Varonis squealed as the sphere exploded in a pop of harmless sparkles.

They squealed as they summoned even more weapons and threw them to similar effects, and their whole body trembled as they fell to their knees. A white glow flared around them as they sniffled, but quickly faded as something lifted them off the ground and carted them far away from the Elemental Destroyers!

"Careful, kid! Brawling like that's just asking to get yourself squished flat!" Terrafin chuckled as he popped out of the stone.

Varonis gasped as Terrafin swam them both to safety, and they jumped off his back with a wince. They glanced at Hot Head and Crusher as they clasped their hands, but Terrafin placed a hand on their shoulder, and they glanced up with a small frown.

"You're still worried about them, right?" Terrafin asked. When Varonis nodded, Terrafin just gave them a smile, a gentler one than the smirks and grins he usually made. "Don't be. We've got a plan to save them, and you can help!"

Terrafin leaned in close and whispered something in Varonis' ear, and they beamed and nodded. The two split in that moment, with Terrafin and Varonis rushing around the back of the robotic crowd.

But while they did, Jorden and Eruptor rushed around the front. Eruptor closed an eye and stuck out his tongue as he aimed one hand towards the Elemental Destroyers, grinned and drew both arms back.

"On my signal, alright?" Jorden whispered as his hands flared with a bronze glow. "One, two..."

Eruptor's own body popped and crackled with anticipated as lava coated his hands.

"THREE!"

With a firm shout, Eruptor lobbed blob after blob of magma into the air, and the magma blobs expanded with a bronze glow! Their stones grew as mighty as their flames, and slammed right into the Earth Destroyer! The Earth Destroyer croaked as the flaming magma splattered and shattered on its shoulder, and creaked its head around.

"WHO THREW THAT?" it bellowed. "INTRUDERS?"

The Earth Destroyer turned its head to the front, and garbled out something unheard as a spiral of electrically-charged water slammed it right in the face! The Earth Destroyer shook it off, and its eyes flashed red as it glared to the source—the Water Destroyer! The Water Destroyer shook its head as if to pronounce its innocence, but right as it did, another burst of water flew from its hand and splashed the Air Destroyer right in the face. The Air Destroyer jittered and janked its head in place as the water slunk down its body, and its eyes flash red as it punched the Water Destroyer right in the grid! The Water Destroyer punched right back, and the two fell into a brawl.

Behind them, Dej and Cynder exchanged smirks.

"I have to admit, tricking them into thinking their buddies were picking fights with each other was a pretty clever idea," Dej remarked.

"I wonder where you got it from," Cynder smirked as she shot a knowing glance at Dej.

Dej chuckled, whipped up another blast of water, and glanced back at Cynder. "Care to do the honors?"

Cynder cleared her throat, yanked her jaw open and screeched as she zapped the water blast with spectral lightning! The lightning course and swirled throughout the currents, and it splashed right into the Earth Destroyer with a swish of Dej's hands!

The Earth Destroyer's eyes flashed as it broke into the Air Destroyer's brawl to punch the Water Destroyer. The battle of two became three, and the rest of the Elemental Destroyers creaked away from Hot Head and Crusher as they beeped at their fellow Elemental Destroyers. They seemed to hesitate, but then, a blast of lava slammed into the Life Destroyer's back while a swarm of ghosts swirled around its head and pecked at it like birds! The Life Destroyer frantically beeped as it shooed away the ghosts, and its eyes flashed red while its green glow weakened. It whipped around and slugged two other Elemental Destroyers in the chest, and collapsed as the Elemental Destroyers broke into an all-out brawl! It completely forgot about its life-sapping operation, for all it concerned itself with now was taking its fellow Elemental Destroyers down!

With them preoccupied, Terrafin, Jorden and Varonis crawled onto Crusher and grinned.

"Don't worry, big guy!" Terrafin chirped as he slashed and bit at the vines covering Crusher. "We'll get you unwrapped before you can even blink!"

"Yep!" Varonis chirped as they summoned a sword and sawed away at the vines. "Then we can go find the Troll King and save everybody!"

Crusher managed a weak chuckle, but it didn't exactly hide his nerves. For all their talk, the vines were thick, and their attempts to break them off seemed to take an eternity. No matter how quickly they clawed and slashed and tore, it seemed like it barely split the vines' skin!

"Geez, this is taking too long!" Eruptor bemoaned as he climbed on top of Hot Head. "Why not just burn them up?"

Eruptor clapped his hands and spewed lava across the vines covering Hot Head's chest with a beam. But, he frowned as he found that, for all the lava he cast, only a small fire formed on the vines' skin.

"I'm gonna need a bit more firepower."

Everyone grunted and strained as they sawed and burned through the vines with all their might, with only minute glances taken to see if the Elemental Destroyers hadn't yet caught them. A few tense glances came around as they eyed the vines that still seemed to barely splinter.

SNAP! Varonis grinned and pulled their sword away as one of the vines finally cut in half and slipped off of Crusher's chest, and the simple sight brought a new vigor to everyone around! They fought with a new strength as they tore away the vines, and soon—snap! Snip! Snap!—the vines that bound Crusher and Hot Head's torsos snapped away, and the two sat up at last! They grunted and shimmied off their broken restraints while the others worked their way down to the legs, and took a breath.

"Close one," Crusher sighed. "Guess I know what having the life sucked out of me feels like."

"INTRUDERS DETECTED!"

Crusher's eyes shimmered and he glanced aside with a wince. The snapping sounds caught the Elemental Destroyers' eyes, and they all broke away from their brawl to fix on where Crusher and Hot Head sat half-free!

"We've got trouble!" Crusher cried!

He and Hot Head strained against the remaining vines as the Elemental Destroyers pounded forth, and with one last push, they snapped the vines off and broke free! Crusher swept down and caught the others in his hand.

"The exit's down there!" Hot Head shouted as he pointed to a large, door-shaped gap at the end of the room. "Run for it!"

Hot Head transformed into a motorbike and zipped off, while Crusher winced and strode as fast as he could—but, being made of solid stone meant that was hardly fast enough. Hot Head grew further and further out of view as Crusher bounded across the room, yet Crusher jumped aside as a collective blast from the Elemental Destroyers hurtled right for him.

"Close one," he sighed as the blast dodged him.

Instead, the blow slammed straight into the floor, and with such force that the entire flooring completely smashed and shattered! The ground caved in underneath, and everyone screamed as they plummeted into the dark below.

§

A loud CRASH signified the end of their impromptu trip, and everyone collapsed onto dark, hard floor. The smell of dust rose in the air, so they probably kicked SOMETHING up on the way in, but it was too dark to really tell. Well, not that anybody particularly cared, anyways, given that they all groaned in pain and laid sprawled across the floor anyways.

"Ugh, everyone okay?" Crusher groaned. "That fall took way more out of me than it should've. These floors must be rock-solid."

"Or those vines were," Hot Head groaned. "For a moment, I almost felt like I was 200,000 years old! It was like they sucked the life outta me!"

"But aren't you 200,000 years old?" Dej asked.

"Shush!" Hot Head's flames burned a little bright with embarrassment. "I'm only 199,999 and three quarters! I'm not that old yet!"

Varonis winced as Hot Head collapsed back to the ground with a moan of pain, and crawled across his chest. "Maybe, if I could pull off one of Mother's healing spells, I could get them back on their feet," they mused as they planted their hands on Hot Head's chest. "I have to try!"

Varonis breathed in and out as the milky white glow around them grew a little brighter, and turned them into the one source of light within the room. The others gathered around as their light faded, and Varonis themself hopped over to Crusher next. They repeated the process and bit their lip as Hot Head and Crusher glowed before them, but sighed as the glow quickly faded.

"Guess I'm still not all that good at healing magic, either," Varonis whimpered.

Hot Head smiled and brushed Varonis' cheek with his finger. "Hey, at least you tried, kiddo!"

Crusher weakly nodded with a smile, and gently placed Varonis back on the floor. He grunted as he pushed himself up, and scanned the room with glowing green eyes. All around him laid the broken remains of the Elemental Destroyers that fought them earlier—heads, splintered chests, severed limbs. Even without them being organic, the ghastly sight of their broken remains sent shudders and chills.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about those guys anymore!" Jorden chirped. "That's one problem solved."

"Yeah, but now we've got another one," Terrafin said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "How are we supposed to get to the Troll King now?"

Right, this little detour threw them right off-course! Everyone around winced and glanced around, but the whole room was so dark that they could barely make heads from tails! It didn't seem like there was any way of exit besides the way from which they came.

"Well, we could probably make a ladder and climb back up—"

"Oh, is someone lost?" crooned a deep, almost mocking voice from afar.

A few glances shot down at the depths ahead, but it was so dark that nobody could see a thing! No other sounds came from the room but that of their own, either. Was that just the wind? Probably. The others shrugged and glanced at each other before they huddled back together.

"Alright, I'll try and make a ladder out of stone, and then we can—"

"I SAID, IS SOMEONE LOST?"

The bellows of that strange voice shook the entire room, and the little huddle broke apart as everyone stumbled and struggled to stay on their feet.

"Yeah, that definitely wasn't just my imagination!" Crusher shouted. "Who's there?"

The swish of a hammer swinging sounded, followed with that of a metal stick pounding against the earth, and then, torches! Torches lit up all across the room's walls, and they all stretched down to the very end of the room, where a large, bulky walrus with red skin stood.

The walrus held a leather-wrapped stone hammer in one hand and wore leather fingerless gloves and pants. Their eyes were black and beady, and their small, curved onyx tusks shimmered under the torchlight as they grinned. Tattoos bearing the Fire Element's symbol laid on their shoulder, and they carried with them a menacing, powerful aura.

"Name's Berserker," Berserker said as he swung his hammer over his shoulder and nudged it towards the back. "I guard this here shortcut to the Troll King's room, but I think I can make an exception for you folks." Berserker lowered his hammer to his side. "If you can knock me off my feet, that is!"

"Sounds easy enough," Terrafin smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

"I don't know about this," Crusher remarked as he scratched his chin. "After all the tricks this place threw at us, I can't help but wonder..."

"Yeah, yeah, something seems fishy about all this!" Hot Head affirmed with a fast nod of his head.

"I'm with the big guys," Cynder added as she flew up and perched on Crusher's shoulder. "This guy probably has some kinda trick up his sleeve!"

"No tricks up my sleeve here, little dragon," Berserker insisted as he held up his hands. "As you can see, I don't have any sleeves!"

Cynder narrowed her eyes, and a cold air surrounded her. Somehow, she had some massive doubts about all this, but before her, Terrafin just licked his lips.

"Good enough for me!" Terrafin shouted.

Terrafin leaped into the ground and tunneled away, while Jorden smirked beside him and flicked out his arms. Chains made of stone flew out of his palms, and wrapped around Berserker's ankles; as they wrapped tight, the chains shimmered with a bright bronze glow, doubled in size and rippled!

Jorden beamed up as Crusher staggered to his feet and held out his hands, and the two of them fixed their gaze on Berserker.

Berserker grunted and strained as he pulled against his rocky restraints, and when it was clear they wouldn't budge, he lifted up his hammer and smashed it against the chains! The chains didn't break, but the hammer shuddered and bellowed like a gong as the world around Berserker shuddered, and with it, Berserker himself shifted in appearance!

His crimson skin turned to a rich brown, his tusks a shiny gold, and the tattoos he bore swapped to the Earth Element's emblem! Berserker smirked and lifted himself back up as his transformation completed. The sound of cracking rock sounded underneath him, and rocks coated his legs as they burst the chains wide open!

"I knew it!" Cynder hissed as she flew off of Crusher's shoulder. "I knew you had something up your sleeve!"

"How could I have hidden it up my sleeve?" Berserker smirked with a shrug. "Like I said, I'm not wearing sleeves!"

"Don't get smart with me!"

Cynder snarled as her fangs burst out of her jaw with a sharp SWISH, and she cawed out as she zipped forward! She dashed so fast that she was one with the shadows, and sped so that she barely registered in the room's torchlight! She screeched and shot out a sharp, fast-traveling bolt of lightning, but with a wave of his hand, Berserker cast a shoulderpad of rock over where the lightning bolt shot for! The lightning exploded in shiny black sparks, yet the rock stayed firm as it spread across the rest of Berserker's body until it formed a formal suit of armor! The rock polished itself into shiny bronze, andBerserker puffed out his chest with pride.

"Something tells me that thing's shockproof," Cynder winced.

"So, maybe a little erosion is what we need!" Dej cried as he jumped in.

A tidal wave cast out of the open with a swift kick of the air and roared straight for Berserker. Berserker whipped out his hammer, and the world rumbled with a swift swing against the ground. Berserker's colors swapped once more as his rocky armor fell apart, and his skin shifted to a vibrant ocean blue while the markings engraved in his shoulder switched to symbols of the Water Element! He swung his hammer, and the waves Dej tossed out swam right back for him!

"Flood warning!" Berserker bellowed above the raging and crashing waves.

Jorden gasped, rushed forward and flung out his hands while gigantic pillars of stone leaped from the earth! They stood in tight rows as the waves crashed and roared against them like wild animals just itching to escape their cage, and Jorden bit his lip as his arms twitched. The glow around both him and the pillars flickered in and out as he tried to keep them afloat, but soon enough, a small crack formed in one, two and three… FWOOSH! The waves overtook the pillars at last and drenched the entire room in a thick ocean!

Everyone else yelled out as they paddled and struggled to stay atop of the raging waves; Dej himself panted as he leaped up and latched onto a broken slab of rock for support. His legs shuddered as he climbed atop the slab like a surfboard, and as he solidified his stance, he held his hands out wide. His body burned with a furious sapphire glow that cast itself across the raging waves, but with every bit of magic he cast out, he flickered and strained, as if just keeping his hold took everything out of him!

"Dej!" Jorden sputtered as he finally surfaced and clutched another broken rock for his dear afterlife. "What's the holdup?"

"The water's coming in too fast!" Dej cried as the rock he stood on rocked him this way and that. "I can barely keep my hold!"

Water splashed his back as the rock tilted further, and Dej stomped against it! Ice coated the rock and spread out as it took the form of a raft with a sturdier shape. Dej took a breath, glanced aside and raised a brow at the cracks that formed in the old walls.

"There!"

Dej flicked his hands, and all at once, the waves cascaded towards the walls and seeped into the cracks! The water drained with a satisfied gurgle and left a very drenched room behind, though somehow, the torches survived their watery capture unscathed. Everyone else, however, was far less lucky—they sat scattered around the floor and noticeably drenched as they hacked up water!

Berserker chuckled and pounded his hammer against the ground. "My turn!" he cried.

The world around him rumbled and shifted as Berserker's sapphire skin became a light purplish-pink, with Magic Element symbols taking the place of the Water Element ones on his shoulders and his tusks turning to a stunning indigo. He grunted and swung his hammer at the air, and this time, a magical glow bubbled around it and shot straight for Dej!

The burst broke into comets of light as it drew closer and closer to Dej, and it hit not just him, but the rest of their small group as well! Terrafin, Cynder, Jorden... They all grunted as the light hit them and they floated, but not by choice!

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Terrafin shouted as he grunted and strained to little effect. "I can't move!"

"I can't either!" Cynder shouted as she tried to flex her wings.

Berserker chuckled and spun his hammer in a circle as the two of them spun in a circle, as did the rest! He waved the hammer up and down and they jolted above and below in time, and with a swing, he shot them right towards the wall!

Crusher and Hot Head snatched them out of the air before they could get in for a rocky impact, and the both of them scowled.

"You know," Crusher snarled as he placed Terrafin, Cynder and Jorden on the ground, "you should really pick on someone your own size!"

"Yeah!" Hot Head added as he dropped Varonis, Eruptor and Dej down with them. "Someone like us!"

Hot Head flared his hands and Crusher raised his hammer as they raced in, but their breaths heaved with every step they took! Berserker raised his hammer and prepared to strike, yet stopped as Hot Head transformed into a motorbike and raced circles around him!

"Guess I'm too hot for you to handle, huh?" Hot Head cackled as he circled faster and faster around the Berserker.

Berserker grunted and took a step back. His beady eyes darted from side to side, unsure of just where he should strike, but he lifted his head and grunted as Crusher leaped in with a hammer prepared to strike! Berserker shielded the blow with his own hammer and tossed Crusher aside, slammed his hammer to the left and knocked Hot Head right in the jaw! Hot Head spat out oil as he skidded across the ground and returned to normal, yet staggered back up and ran back in for Berserker. Berserker grunted, and with a few more swings of his hammer, even more magic spheres burst from its head and nailed Hot Head in the chest!

Crusher winced and glanced aside as Hot Head crashed into the wall beside him. Crusher held up his palms, and crafted a shield of stone as the blasts came in for him! The magic blasts exploded into puffs of sparkles, and Crusher snarled and raced forward as his eyes glowed with a surprisingly bright emerald glow!

"My eyes!" Berserker wailed as he flung his hands in front of his face. "That's way too bright!"

"Looks like I took that little hammer of yours for granite," Crusher hissed as his eyebeams glowed brighter, "but I won't make the same mistake with you!"

Berserker's shoulder crackled as a thick layer of stone covered it, and yet, Berserker didn't even notice! A thin smirk played along his lips as he lowered his hands, and he glared Crusher head-on!

"You sure about that, rocky boy?"

Berserker slammed his hammer down once more, and his lavender skin turned an indigo so deep that it was almost black! His tusks returned to their striking onyx as Dark Element symbols formed on his shoulders. A burst of black, churning clouds formed in front of him with a swing of his hammer, and absorbed the eyebeams! They didn't even turn to stone, either; they just ate the light like an afternoon snack and vanished to revealed a perfectly normal Berserker!

Crusher sputtered and stumbled back as his eyebeams flickered out, and in that moment of weakness, Berserker slid forward and slugged a punch at Crusher! The two traded blows and blocks alike, but Berserker clearly had the upper hand. Crusher's movements turned sluggish and labored as he heaved his breaths, but Berserker wouldn't even relent—every punch and blast lined up with another in quick success, and each one pounded against Crusher!

As the two of them brawls, Jorden winced and covered his eyes. "I can't watch!"

"C'mon, Crusher!" Varonis shouted as they leaped in the air. "Beat that guy already!"

"That's not gonna be easy, kid," Terrafin noted. He pointed a claw towards Berserker right as he swapped to Air and blew Crusher in the wall. "Until we can find out how to keep that guy from swapping elements like socks, he's always gonna have the upper hand!"

"But how?" Dej mused as he rubbed his chin.

Cynder snorted and narrowed her eyes. "He's always pounding that hammer right before he switches Elements, so maybe that's what gives him the power?" Cynder flapped her wings, and a gaggle of ghosts giggled as they burst out from underneath. "If we take it away, he might as well be a sitting duck!"

The ghosts giggled and swarmed Berserker with their focus placed on the hand where he held the hammer. They clung to his fingers and peeled them open as they gripped for the hammer's handle. But then, the hammer glowed and the ghosts squealed as the hammer sucked them right into its base! Berserker glowed as the power of the Undead Element seeped into his body, and he struck the hammer right into the side of Crusher's head! A flurry of ghosts swirled around Crusher like birds, and Crusher groaned and held his head.

"Okay, so that's out of the question," Cynder hissed. "Now what?"

Varonis frowned as they wrung their hands, and their gaze swapped between where their own body glistened with milky white light and Berserker's own glowing hammer.

"I, I," Varonis whimpered, "I think I might have an idea, actually!"

"You?" Cynder repeated with a brow quirked.

"Well, that hammer can absorb elemental powers, right?" Varonis pulled out their pendant and toyed with it as they spoke. "But, how does it handle magic that doesn't have an element?"

"Like, non-elemental magic?"

"Yeah!" Varonis nodded firmly. "I never really figured out how to control the elements, so maybe if I blasted it, we could knock out its element powers!" Varonis' eyes glistened with a bit more confidence. "I can help beat that guy!"

However, Jorden and Dej seemed a little hesitant as they glanced at each other.

"I, that could work," Dej said, "but, Varry, that'll be really dangerous..."

"But I can do it! I promise!" Varonis nodded furiously and made the best puppy dog eyes they could. "I, I really wanna help Crusher and Hot Head like you do! Please, please, please?"

Varonis pushed themself further in Dej's face with every word they begged with! Dej picked them up and sighed, and Varonis' face fell.

"I know you could, but we can't have you getting hurt!"

"That's why I have to do this!" Varonis turned back to Berserker. "We'll all be in trouble if something doesn't stop that guy, and not just us! The rest of our family's counting on me to save them! No, they're counting on all of us!" Varonis turned back to Dej and whimpered. "Just let me try this, please!"

Dej and Jorden stood stunned silent for a moment, but Dej finally broke into a chuckle.

"Just when did you get that brave?" Dej chuckled. "Alright, we'll try!"

Dej decided not a moment too soon, for a shriek from behind showed that Berserker had something prepped! He held his hammer back like it charged a spell, while magic gathered at the hammer's head and aimed straight for where Crusher and Hot Head laid down on the ground!

"Wait, am I gonna make it in time?" Varonis whimpered.

"Don't worry," Terrafin shouted, "we'll make sure you do!"

Terrafin heaved up Varonis and placed them firm on his back, and dove straight into the earth. "Hang on tight, kid!"

Varonis whimpered and clung to Terrafin for dear life as he zipped and skidded through the earth. The rumbles of the ground showed that Berserker grew closer and closer, and the shriek of his blast grew louder and louder! The rumbles grew their loudest, and Terrafin leaped up as he tossed Varonis in the air.

"It's all on you now!"

Varonis nodded, held their hands out, and shot a gigantic blast of pure, white magic at the hammer right as it went to swing! The magic blast intercepted the hammer's own, and it exploded in bursts of light as the hammer's light faded!

"Huh?" Berserker uttered as he glanced down at his hammer.

Varonis gasped and pumped a fist into the air. "It worked! I did it!"

They burst into giggles as they fell back into Terrafin's arms, and he chuckled as he pushed off their helmet and ruffled their ghostly hair.

"You sure did, kid!" Terrafin cheered.

Jorden smiled as he walked up, swept Varonis out of Terrafin's arms, and snuggled them tight.

"Good thinkin', guldklump!" Jorden chirped. "Now we know how to take that guy down a notch!"

Varonis chuckled, waved their hands, and summoned another burning blast of magic. The magic blast slammed right into Berserker's hammer-wielding hand and exploded in a burning fervor! Berserker yelped as he waved it off, but in that moment, his hammer slipped from his grip and fell to the ground with a loud THUD!

"Quick, before he can get it!" Jorden shouted.

"Quick's my last name!" Dej shouted back.

He leaped forward and coated the ground below with ice with a single flick of his fingers, planted down and skated along it! The ice pushed him further, faster, until he laid just inches away from the hammer. Dej swiped his hand, and a giant ball of ice burst around the hammer!

Dej swept away and winked as he skated back around. "Hammer it home, Crusher!"

"That's my line!" Crusher shouted, though the little smile he gave off betrayed his amusement.

He rushed forward in lengthy strides, and with a firm grunt, he slammed into the side of the ice ball and sent it flying like a baseball! The ice ball lodged itself into the back of the wall, and Crusher smirked as he glared down Berserker, who did not look nearly as amused.

"You wanna play keep-away, huh?" Berserker snarled as he turned around and rushed for his iced-over hammer. "Fine by me!"

Hot Head transformed back into his bike form, and Eruptor hopped atop him and squealed with delight as Hot Head zipped away!

"You know, I wouldn't mind having a super-cool motorbike like this!" he mused as Hot Head burned rubber.

Hot Head screeched to a stop, and tilted off Eruptor as he transformed back to normal. The two of them nodded, flung out their hands as piping-hot magma burst from their fingertips (or lack thereof, in Eruptor's case), and coated the area ahead in a bubbling magma pool! It popped and crackled with heat, and Eruptor and Hot Head both beamed with pride at their work.

Berserker, however, was far less amused! He yelped and stumbled back just before he could take a step, and snarled back at Hot Head and Eruptor.

"So much for beating us, huh?" Hot Head smirked as he crossed his arms. "Well, you know what they say, if you can't take the heat..."

"Oh, don't get all cocky!" Berserker shouted as he leaned down. "I've still got one last trick up my lack of sleeves!"

The Berseker flipped into the air and smirked as he crashed down over Eruptor and Hot Head.

"CANNONBALL!"

Berserker went in for the bodyslam, but so did Hot Head! Hot Head leaped up and slammed right back into Berserker with an impact so great that Berserker flew backwards!

Cynder dashed up and cast her ghosts out with a flap of her wings, and they in turn arranged themselves like points in a grid! The ghosts squealed as electricity burst from their ghastly bodies and formed a veritable electrical net. Berserker slammed right into it, and yowled out as the shock tossed him into the lava.

"Yowch! That's hot!" Berserker wailed as he hopped from burning foot to burning foot. "Uncle, uncle!"

Berserker stumbled onto solid ground and teetered back and forth. His breathing turned heavy as one foot left the ground, next the second, and he collapsed on his back.

"I'm, I'm," Berserker panted, "not okay."

Berserker groaned, and Crusher and Hot Head walked up and crossed their arms.

"Alright, we beat you fair and square!" Crusher demanded. "Now take us to the Troll King!"

"You did tell them you'd do it, buddy," remarked a familiar deep voice from the shadows. "You'd better keep up your end of the bargain!"

"Ugh, Aisops," Berserker whined as he sat up and rubbed his head. "You were standing there the whole time! Why didn't you help me?"

The shadowy figure chuckled, and out from the shadows stepped the Ruins Guardian! "Well, that would hardly be a fair fight, wouldn't it?"

"Wait," Terrafin said as he blinked in shock, "you were watching this whole time?"

"Yep!" the Ruins Guardian smiled and crossed his arms. "Truth is, I was kind of stringing you along earlier—I actually took you there for another test."

Terrafin snarled and crossed his arms, and the others gave off similar auras of frustration. They shouldn't have been surprised, and yet...

"I know, I know, you're tired of all this." The Ruins Guardian turned around and motioned for them to come forth. "We'll take you to the real throne room this time."

Berserker punched the wall behind him, and the room shuddered as a door slowly opened with such force that dust and fragmented masonry crumbled from the ceiling above.

"Now, our next stop—the Troll King's throne room!"

§

The tension in the air grew thick as the Ruins Guardian and Berserker led them down the halls. Sure, these halls were much nicer and more befitting of a king than the labyrinths and empty rooms filled with tricks and traps they entered before, what with their magenta tile flooring and fancy carpets and saffron-scented torches, but nothing about this felt quite right. Perhaps, that was just the tension of the mission getting on everyone's nerves?

A low cackle sounded off as the remaining torches lit themselves in quick succession, and everyone else stood on guard as their eyes followed the lights to their last ranks, and in turn, to the Troll King himself!

Ever befitting of his title, he sat on a massive throne of carved marble and soft carpet; the light of the torches highlighted his olive skin, inky black eyes with sunset orange sclera, lanky build, andmost of all, the metal mask that covered everything from his nose down to his throat. A crown of gold and red leather rested atop his head while a long red cape wrapped around his shoulders and draped over the left half of his body, save for the mechanical left arm that he leaned against while his leather-gloved right arm rested on the arm of his throne. A torn brown top covered the rest of his chest while worn brown trousers laid on his waist as a belt with a gear-shaped buckle held them up, and his brown boots were torn wide open at the toes' area. He looked like little more than a gigantic, ragged old sort, and yet his smirk held the wisdom of generations within it.

"Come in, come in!" the Troll King shouted with a deep voice aged by years of study. "Why, it's been so long since I've had guests!"

The Ruins Guardian and Berserker both nodded and drew aside in bows, so Terrafin could only assume that they were supposed to enter. He clenched his fists as he walked along the carpet while the sound of frying fabric behind him showed that Eruptor was just as tense as he was. Really, they all were; despite the Troll King's joy, something about this still didn't feel quite right.

But, nonetheless, Terrafin approached the Troll King and gave him a curt nod.

"Tell me, travelers—what brings you to my humble abode?"

Humble abode? Are you kidding me? Terrafin snarked within his head. More like a cage for a death match!

"Troll King, we've come here to get yer help!" Jorden pleaded as he stood up and clasped his hands. "Our friends are in grave danger, and we need your knowledge to save them! See, we got attacked by these Arkeyan Mechan-something fellows, and they placed this curse on our buddies and they're turning into robots! There was this big fight late at night, and we all woke up in a big old startle, and…"

Jorden gestured and rambled along as he tried his hardest to explain just what had happened, but with how fast he talked, Terrafin could barely keep up. Yet, in spite of this, the Troll King seemed to follow Jorden's spiel perfectly! A glint of interest shone in his eyes, and he nodded as he withdrew back into his throne.

"So, you seek a means of undoing the Arkeyan Mechanizers' curse, correct?"

Resounding nods went around the room, and the Troll King hummed as he tapped his chin.

"I'd be glad to offer my wisdom… If you face one last trial for me."

The sharp adrenaline of battle rushed through the room once more, and everyone put up their dukes and drew their weapons. They stood tense and ready to fight as they scanned the room for tricks, traps and other surprise enemies, but nothing showed! They turned to the Troll King and reading themselves, yet he only laughed.

"At ease, travelers," the Troll King crooned as he slunk down in his seat. "This trial is not a battle of fists, but a battle of wits!"

Terrafin warily lowered his fists, and around him, the rest of his allies followed suit. Weapons went back to their sheathes and powers hid themselves as they glanced at the Troll King. A battle of wits? Just what in Skylands did he mean by that? Would they have to bring him knowledge that he didn't have, or duel him in a battle of brains, or...

The Troll King drummed his fingers against the armrest of his throne, and the ground rumbled as a round pedestal shot up from the stone space between him and them! The pedestal was nothing special, just an ordinary gray stone, but on its front laid a set of square holes. Each one had a symbol of the four seasons nearby—a flower, a shining burst of light, a leaf and a snowflake, with a sun and moon carved in the center. Another tap of the arm rest, and the middle of the pedestal shuddered and spat out cubes, bright, shining cubes, each with a pair of flashing colors coming from the side.

The cubes landed in Terrafin and Jorden's hands, and they looked up at the Troll King with a questioning glance.

"Here is my first riddle," The Troll King proclaimed. "Throughout the year, the sun and moon watch over all. From the first sprouts of the rich ground in the vernal season, the burning heat and new wonders of the aestival season, the cold showers and new knowledge of the fallish season, and the cold chills of death the brumal season brings. Take these cubes, and align their elements with those of the four seasons."

Hmm, something about the seasons? Just what about these four seasons coincided with these cubes? Terrafin frowned and glanced down at one of the cubes in his hand, which had a pair of shining brown and green lights, and then at the other which were sky blue and silver in color. Ugh, he was not good at riddles.

"Cold chills of death," Cynder mulled as she glanced at the sky blue and silver cube, "like Air and Undead combined together!"

"And what does that have to do with the elements?"

"I heard Spyro and Hugo talking about it once." Cynder picked up the sky blue and silver cube and tapped its surface. "Supposedly, certain elemental powers are stronger during certain seasons. During the brumal season, the wind is a lot stronger because of the Air Element growing stronger, and with how many beings die from the cold, the Undead Element grows a lot stronger as well."

"'N during the vernal season," Jorden added as he yanked the green and brown cube from Terrafin's other hand, "the earth's all nice and rich, and everythin's just burstin' with life!"

That sounded like it made sense, so Terrafin nodded and stepped back as Jorden and Cynder placed the cubes they took from Terrafin in their respective slots. The flower and snowflake symbols carved on the pedestal shown with an emerald light, which Terrafin could only assume was a good thing. That was two down...

"But what about the others?" Terrafin asked as he tapped his claws against the stone.

Dej and Eruptor leaned over him, and Dej absentmindedly traced the leaf symbol with his finger.

"Well, it always tends to get rainy during the fallish season," Dej remarked, "VERY rainy. I always enjoyed training them because it gave me plenty of extra water to work with..."

"And it's really, really hot during the aestival season, just like fire!" Eruptor chimed in.

Terrafin raised a brow, took the two other cubes in his hands—one with purple and red lights, and another with sapphire and orange ones—and dropped them into the slots. That just left the sun and moon slots, but Terrafin had a pretty good idea of what those were supposed to be. He glanced at a pair of gold-plated cubes, one with bright yellow lights and another with cobalt ones, and yanked them out of Jorden's arms.

"And the sun and moon are always there, no matter the season," Terrafin finished as he slotted them in, "so these guys go in the center!"

The two cubes sank into the center of the pillar like a key sliding into its lock, and the whole pillar shone with an emerald light! Terrafin stepped back as the pillar unwrapped itself and thinned out, while its top unfolded to reveal, another set of slots? This time, the keys depicted a humanoid, all in various parts of life—a baby crawling, a child running, a grown adult walking with their head held high, and an old person clutched over with a cane in hand.

"When life begins, it is as new as fresh leaves. The waters of age pour down on it and ripen it, and it turns a gallant, noble star as it grows into splendor. As its shine fades with age, it becomes as bright as gold. Now, which colors of these correspond with the symbols on the pedestal?"

The Troll King smirked as he finished his sentence, and just like that, the center of the pedestal opened up and shot something right into Terrafin's chest! He hacked a bit as the things hit him point-blank, and raised a brow as he glanced down at the things that now sat in his arms. The pedestal left four shining stones with him, each in a different color—green, blue, purple, and gold—yet, they all shone the same.

"Well, green's probably the first one," Terrafin remarked. "Fresh leaves and all, maybe?"

Terrafin wished he could have been more confident on this, but unfortunately, brainteasers were not his thing; judging from the way everyone else looked, it didn't seem like it was their thing, either. They shared glances and mumbles as they tried to mull on it, but they didn't seem like they had any other conclusions.

"Well, waters mean blue, so maybe blue is the second one?"

"No, I'm pretty sure the third one has to be yellow! After all, stars are yellow, right?"

"What were talking about again?"

Terrafin grimaced and racked his head as he glanced back at the pedestal, but beside him, Varonis shuffled up and giggled as they tapped the stones. The stones clinked with satisfaction as they brushed against each other, and Terrafin grinned back down for a moment. They were kinda pretty, he had to admit that much, and he almost felt ten times as tough with the magic they gave off!

"Green's Mother's favorite color," Varonis chuckled as they took the green stone from Terrafin's arms and admired it. "She says it always reminds her of when everything comes back to life in the vernal season! She always says everything looks really shiny and new, just like her gardens."

"Yeah, sounds like Inochi, all right," Dej remarked as he plucked the green stone. "She'd always get up super early to water all those plants by herself. I always offered to help, but apparently I just end up drenching them every time."

"Then Mom would come out and talk about how pretty and magical everything looked, and Luz would say things would need to get a little brighter."

Dej chuckled back to himself. "And then he'd practically fry everything to a crisp trying to shed some light on stuff! Typical Luz, that kid never knows when to quit."

Terrafin blinked and glanced back at the stones in his arms. "Wait a second. Life and Water?"

Wasn't that the reverse of how those elements went? Life, Water, Magic and Light... That was it! Terrafin grinned, and plucked the green stone out of Varonis' hands.

"I'm gonna need this back for a second, kid!" Terrafin chirped as he shoved the green stone in the first slot. "Green's for Life, Water, Magic, and finally, brighten things up with some Light!"

Terrafin tossed the remaining stones in their respective slots, and grinned as each one glowed in their respective elements' colors. They lit up in turn, and sank into the pillar while their lights faded. With them gone, the pillar itself unfolded in a spinning swirl! Now all that laid before them was a thin, table-shaped statue with a set of runes laid on its surface and a handful of empty slots in the table's surface.

"This is your last riddle, but thankfully, it should be simple," the Troll King said. "Using these runes, spell out the name of the one who initially guided you through these trials."

"Easy as cake!" Terrafin shouted as he cracked his knuckles. After allm the Ruins Guardian was the one who led them through this whole mess, so he was obviously the one they needed to name. "Just need to spell out Ruins Guardian's... Wait." Terrafin narrowed his eyes. "That's not enough places for these!"

How was he supposed to spell it out with only seven slots, after all? There were too many runes and not enough places! Actually, that probably meant that he wanted a real name and not just the title, but what was it again? Terrafin could have sworn that he heard someone call him an Ae-something, but in the heat of all the battles and fighting from earlier, he barely remembered!

"Hey, do you remember that cyclops guy's name?" Terrafin whispered as he slid over to Eruptor.

"Ruins Guardian?" Eruptor whispered back.

"No, his real name! Wasn't it like Aesop or something?"

"I think so." Eruptor hummed and glanced up at the ceiling above. "Maybe?" Eruptor turned back to where the Ruins Guardian leaned against the wall and waited for them to finish. "Hey, Ruins Guardian guy! What was your real name again?"

"Well, I can't just tell you that, can I?" The Ruins Guardian replied with a click of his tongue. "I mean, this might be easy, but—"

"Quiet, Aisops!" Berserker shouted as he fixed the leather wrappings on his hammer. "I'm trying to fix my hammer!"

Aisops, that was it! The Ruins Guardian stood with a gaping mouth as Terrafin turned to the runes, but then he found his second problem. None of these runes matched up with the runes for his name—heck, none of them looked like the runes he knew at all! Terrafin grimaced, picked up one, and squinted as he examined it. That kind of looked like an A rune, didn't it?

"What's taking so long?" Varonis whimpered as they snatched a rune from the table. "That guy already said his name, didn't he? Just spell it out already!" Varonis grabbed a few more runes from the table and stuffed them in. "A-I-S-O…"

So that was it! They were written in the really old form of Common, rather than the one he knew today! Terrafin chuckled as Varonis spelled out the Ruins Guardian's name and beamed with pride, and glanced aside to where the pedestal slowly receded back into the floor.

"Bravo, I haven't had this much fun in ages!" The Troll King cheered as he clapped his fun. "You pass the last trial!"

Terrafin and Eruptor side-eyed each other. They admittedly had some questions regarding this guy's idea of "fun", but they let it slide. After all, they had much more pressing things to worry about.

"Alright, we solved your riddles, so are you gonna help us or not?" Terrafin asked.

The Troll King only whistled, and a few of those strange floating obelisks flew out from the dark parts of the room behind him. The obelisks bent over and flew up straight as the Troll King clicked his fingers.

"Watcher Stones, head to the archives and bring me the antidote to the Arkeyan Mechanizer's curse."

The Watcher Stones bent over as if they were nodding, and rushed off back into the depths of the archives. Their whirring disappeared from ear as they retreated back into the dark depths, and came out with, a list? Yeah, one of those Watcher Stones had a long list taped to its front, and the other carted a gigantic net filled with all sorts of stuff good for spells—plants, crystals, some weird potion bottles…

"The Mechanizers' curse is vulnerable to arcane magic, which all of these ingredients are imbued with. Take them and these instructions, follow them to the letter," the Troll King explained, "and you should be able to save your friends."

The Watcher Stones dumped the net and list in Terrafin's arms, and stood up as their cannons shimmered with a sparkly white light.

"May the Ancients be with you, travelers."

The Watcher Stones zapped them all, but, this time, there was no shock or pain or anything! Terrafin just opened his eyes as the light faded, and once against he was back outside the labyrinth, right at the opening he and Jorden made. Everyone shared a few glances and Terrafin clutched the Troll King's gifts tight.

"Come on," he said with the relief of a weight lifting from his shoulders, "let's go save our friends."

§

Terrafin panted and clutched the spell ingredients as tightly to his chest as he could while a village came closer and closer in view. Lucky for him, a couple of those kobold wizards stood at the mouth of the village, almost like they already anticipated his return! He rushed forward, and took only a minute to shove the spell ingredients into one's arms.

"Here's the stuff for the spell!" Terrafin shouted.

"And here's the way to perform it!" Jorden shouted as he tossed the instructions the Troll King gave him into the other kobold's arms. "Now where are they?"

"You're back!"

The rumbling voice of Gigantus echoed through the village as he stormed forward, and judging by the gaping look on his face, it didn't seem like he came bearing good news.

"Thank goodness!" Gigantus shouted. "You, you have to hurry! We're trying our best to keep the curse at bay, but—"

A chorus of screams sounded off from what seemed like the west, and Gigantus didn't even need to finish his sentence. Everyone knew just what he meant to say—the curse was spreading, and faster at that! They needed to hurry!

Without a word, Gigantus led them all towards a large building with a wooden banner of sprawling leaves atop its roof's mantle, and pushed open the door.

"Quickly, inside!"

Like soldiers in the dead of night, everyone hurried inside and rushed towards where the screaming echoed from the hallways. They followed the shouts and cries of pain until they grew louder, louder, loudest!

Terrafin stopped short at the door where the screams sounded the closest and yanked open the door, and for a moment, his entire body locked up. Now, he'd faced his fair share of tough guys and close calls, but nothing quite chilled him to the bone as what he saw in this room. There laid all his allies, from the big guys, to the other Skylanders to Chihiro, even Flynn and Cali, in tubes filled with some kind of magical, watery substance. They no longer strained and groaned, but floated in the tubes while the metal spread further across the bodies. Skin, clothes, scales—it tore through everything and left cold, shiny tubing and metal. They seemed oddly peaceful for a moment, but then, the metal tore through more of their bodies in a sharp jab, and they screamed out and thrashed in the waters!

"We're trying to keep the curse at bay," one of the kobolds explained, "but it's too strong! Who knew Arkeyan curses could be so powerful?"

Terrafin didn't exactly like how that kobold's eyes sparkled with admiration as they spoke, but he had to agree.

"Whaddya mean you still don't know anything about all this hogwash?" Ermit screamed as he dragged the Machine Ghost back into the room.

"Affirmative. I do not have any records of 'Project Pandoran,' 'Arkeyan Mechanizers,' or 'Tell me how to fix this already, bloody pits,' within my databanks," the Machine Ghost droned with that weird fake smile on his face. "That is also true of your past fifteen search queries."

Emit seemed like he was about ready to pull his nonexistent hair out, but Terrafin quickly pulled him away.

"Hey, what's the big—" Ermit turned around and gasped, ears perking up and all, as Terrafin gripped him. "Skylander! Did you find the cure?"

"Sure did," Terrafin said as he pointed to where the kobolds laid out the ingredients while one of the sorcerers stood atop a box. "Just let these guys work their magic."

Well, Terrafin sounded confident enough, but something in his gut twitched with worry as the kobolds went to work.

The one who held the list of instructions cleared their throat, and despite the urgency of the situation, seemed perfectly still and composed.

"To begin, draw a ring of four circles descending from largest to smallest."

A few kobolds whipped out sticks of magic chalk and drew rings on the floor.

"Then, draw ten circles around each ring for your ingredients, each evenly spaced."

The circles came in next. Two separate kobolds worked in perfect sync as they carved circles in the holes with the chalk they held, and the floor almost seemed to glisten a bit as they did. Was the magic already working?

"Place the magnetite stones in the centers of the circles from the first ring, uncork the potion bottles, and place them in the circles of the second ring."

The kobolds placed the ingredients in their proper places, and as they did, a sharp smell that reminded Terrafin a bit of the infirmary at Ancient's Peak filled the air. He supposed that probably came from whatever was in those potions, but he didn't particularly like it. It reminded him a bit too much of sterile chemicals, the obnoxious kind that just made him sick the moment he smelled them.

"Now, place the lightning sparks in the third ring."

Some kobolds in full-body rubber suits warily crept in and gently placed sparkling, crackling orbs of lightning in the circles of the third ring. They were dainty and slow with their movements, ever careful not to disrupt the lightning sparks or the other ingredients as they tip-toed in and out of the circle.

"Now, place the plants in classical elemental order within the circles of the final ring."

The last few kobolds came out with the bundles of ambrosia, hydrosium, luminaries and moss stashes. Terrafin's mouth watered a little bit at the sight of the rich moss stashes, but he put that away for another time. He could think about food when his friends weren't hanging in the balance.

"Now, take the afflicted, place them in the very center of your glyphs, and recite this incantation."

There it was, the moment of truth. Terrafin's muscles clenched with all the worry and tension he held as he glanced up to where his friends writhed and struggled within their resting places, and then back at the glyphs. Would this really work? All the ancient guys, and even that Machine Ghost couldn't possibly know how to break it, so how did he know for certain? Terrafin bit his lip, but tried to ignore that nagging feeling in his mind. He had to have hope, to be confident this would save them—otherwise, he wasn't sure what would.

The kobolds glanced at each other, and back at the tubes where Spyro and Chihiro laid in suspension. The kobolds snapped their claws, and the tubes rumbled as Spyro and Chihiro glowed with an indigo light and their thrashing stilled. The liquid drained as bubbles of magic encased Spyro and Chihiro, and slowly, carefully, the two of them floated out of their tubes and laid in the center of the gigantic glyph on the floor. They collapsed and writhed in place as the metal blanketed their bodies, but as they did, the larger glyph glowed! It started in slow rings, slow shimmers as the spell spread across the circles and runes.

The glow flooded into Spyro and Chihiro's bodies, and slowly their thrashing stilled, but more than that, the curse started to lift! It was slow at first, with just inches of metal peeled off from their bodies as tubing and wires unhooked and crawled off like dying leaves or dead parasites, but the process sped faster and faster, while more and more metal peeled off and unveiled their regular, organic selves! In just a few minutes, they were completely back to normal!

Terrafin gasped and Eruptor beamed with him—it worked!

Spyro and Chihiro both groaned as they fell limp on the ground, but finally, it was Spyro who opened his eyes and lifted his head.

"Ugh, where, where am I?" Spyro groaned as he craned his head around. "What, happened? And why does my head hurt?"

"We'll catch you up later!" Terrafin shouted as he carefully stepped around the ingredients and lifted Spyro and Chihiro from the circle. "We've gotta save the others!"

"Wait, save them?" Chihiro sputtered. "What's going..."

Chihiro groaned and held her head, and Terrafin just pushed her and Spyro towards Ermit and the Machine Ghost.

"We'll explain on the way, portal master," Ermit said as he hobbled out the door with them both leaning against him. "For now, you need rest."

Ermit closed the door behind him, and Terrafin locked it tight as he glanced back to everyone else who shared in his smile.

"It works!" he cried. He ran up to Eruptor and kissed him in a fit of passion; Eruptor spun backwards with a dizzy sort of glee, and Terrafin couldn't help but chuckle.

"Quickly, everyone!" the kobold with the instruction list cried. "Get the others, fast!"

And they worked fast! They were workers on the assembly line as they pushed everyone out of the tubes, into the circles, and back out the door. In moments, they all laid free of the curse, and the room laid empty save for Terrafin's little team.

Terrafin blinked, but finally slunk against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief. He was almost a bit tense, but, everyone was saved! They were weak and needing to rest, true, but they were saved!

"Thank the Ancients," Crusher sighed as he held his rocky heart.

The room laid silent as everyone processed the events of the day. The ambush, the journey through that labyrinth... All that fighting... Now that his head was clear, Terrafin grimaced at the thought of his earlier arguments. More than that, he reflected on that trial, which he was sure they'd have to discuss once everyone recovered. Those painful thoughts that sent him into a rage were just a distant bad memory now, and when they got to Arkus, he would ensure they'd stay that way.

Something nudged against him, and when he looked up, it was Dej who stared at him partway. He crossed his arms, and Terrafin did in turn; he probably expected some choice words as Dej took a breath, and...

"I'm sorry," Dej finally admitted at last. He took a sigh, and glanced away for a moment. "I was wrong—you had every right to be worried about that trial. I guess I was so worked up that I wasn't thinking right."

"You sure weren't," Terrafin smirked back.

Dej scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Hey, you're not supposed to agree with me." Though he seemed scolding, Dej's tone lightened for a moment as he crossed his arms. "Truth is, I was freaking out the whole time. We lost a lot of our friends last time we tangoed with that kind of curse. I didn't want it to happen a second time. Guess all that worrying kept me from thinking about how you all were feeling, too." A small scoff escaped Dej's lips. "Maybe that's why Vatra always says I have muscles for brains."

"I think I can let that slide. I'm not exactly proud of how I flew off the handle, either," Terrafin admitted, "but, what's done is done and everyone's safe."

A silence rang through the room as both Terrafin and Dej sat in quiet, understanding silence. They didn't speak a word afterwards, but the knowing glint that shone in their eyes said everything they needed.

"Well," Dej proclaimed as he slunk his shoulders down, "why don't we see how they're doing?"

Terrafin looked up at Dej with a nod, and their whole group pushed themselves out the door and down the halls. The whole place smelled of herbs and medical supplies, and the whole room was quiet save for one hall where faint moans of exhaustion and pain came. Was this their room? Terrafin pushed it open, and grinned to find everyone laid up in bed, exhausted but curse-free.

However, it was Varonis who rushed in first!

"Mom!" Varonis wailed as they jumped into Sihiri's bed and hugged her tight. "Mom, I, I thought you were gonna be a goner!"

"Varonis!" Sihiri gasped. She sat silent for a moment, smiled and cuddled them tight. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"But, but..."

Sihiri shushed Varonis as she cuddled them closer, and peered back up to Jorden and Dej. "Just what happened?" She asked. "That hermit said there was this ambush, and..."

"I'll tell you what," Jorden said as his face soured. "Those Arkeyan Mechanizers came out in full force! They got us real good, and we almost thought we'd lose you!"

"But!" Dej chimed in. "We got some outside help to break the curse—" Dej patted Varonis' shoulder with a smile "—and Varonis here was extra brave! They confronted a bunch of tough guys to make you we could save you all!"

"Is that true, Varonis?" Sihiri chuckled.

Varonis perked up their head and nodded. "Yep!" they chirped as they sat back up. "See, we had to go find this Troll King and enter his labyrinth..."

Terrafin chuckled as Varonis recounted the story of their labyrinth journey, but only for a moment. Eruptor and Cynder joined his side, and they all walked over to where Spyro laid almost dwarfed by the gigantic blankets in the bed he rested up in. Spyro groaned and lifted his head a bit as they came closer, smiled and sat up.

"Feeling any better?" Cynder asked.

"Yeha, a little," Spyro replied with his voice still hoarse with weakness. "Still just trying to get myself together."

"Well, you'd better get yourself together soon, because we finally figured out how to stop Arkilles!" Terrafin chimed in.

That must have really roused him, for Spyro immediately sat up! His eyes sparkled like he'd never been cursed in the first place, but then he grunted and collapsed—well, seems like recovery wasn't always easy.

"See, I realized something while we were trying to find the cure for that curse." Terrafin crossed his arms and tensed as the memories came back to him. "That Oracle guy showed us that world where everyone got turned into Arkeyan soldiers in the trial right before this happened, right? I think he was trying to prepare us for what Arkilles was planning!"

"So if we take everything we saw there and plan around it, we won't have to worry about that creepy ghost guy at all!" Eruptor chimed in. "We'll be in and out of there before we know it!"

Spyro grinned. "That's the best news I've heard today," he chuckled. Spyro snaked his way back under the covers and draped it over himself once more. "Everyone's still a little drained, though, so let's regroup once everyone's recuperated and discuss it, alright?"

"Sounds good to me!" Terrafin shouted as he turned away and walked off.

As he, Eruptor and Cynder passed through the halls and made their way out, however, they passed by where Hot Head, Crusher and Gigantus sat down. The rest of the Elder Elementals' ranks laid up in bed and rested; some laid buried in their equally-gigantic beds, and others propped up and smiled as they made small talk.

"To think, the old Eastern Stronghold would be such a bustling town in this day and age!" Tree Rex mused. "I'm sure Adamah and Chayah would be proud of it all."

"I'm sure they would have," Gigantus solemnly nodded and lifted his head with a twinkle in his eyes. "But to think, you were banished to an entirely different world all this time! Tell me, just how different was this 'Earth' place from our world?"

"I'd love to get you caught up, old buddy, old pal," Swarm groaned as he tossed and turned in bed, "but I think I sprained five different things in five different places. Being a robot's no fun." Swarm's antenna perked up. "No offense, Bouncer."

"None taken," Bouncer groaned. "I may be a robot, but even I hate it when someone fries my circuits!"

Gigantus chuckled, stood up and turned to Crusher. "I suppose we should let them rest. That curse must have taken quite a lot out of them."

"Indeed it did," Crusher winced. "Not to mention, our rides are definitely going to be in need of repairs. I hope you don't mind if we have to stay here for a while."

"Oh, it's no stone off my back!" Gigantus patted Crusher and Hot Head on the back. "Ancient's Hearth will always have a place for you, so stay as long as you need!"

And as the three of them left, Crusher and Hot Head held almost contemplative glances on their faces, as if a realization dawned on them as well.