"Got'cha!" Cornelius shouted as he snagged his hat from the now very tired rat and positioned it on top of his head. Cornelius stood tall and proud with his now-reclaimed hat, but his legs gave out and he fell into a heap on the floor as his breath exhaled in heavy pants.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"No, seriously, Eyevan, I—"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As Eyevan climbed further up the ladder, the other cyclopes quickly followed suit. One by one they jumped onto the ladder and climbed up like ants on a picnic table leg. Prism Break, on the other hand, took one glace at the ladder, looked down at his notably fingerless hands and frowned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Just climb on!"

Prism Break gazed over the cloud and poked it, almost as if he wasn't sure it could carry his weight, but Wrecking Ball had no hesitation whatsoever! Wrecking Ball jumped onto the cloud and rolled back and forth across its fluffy surface, and Prism Break hopped on with as shrug and sat down on the cloud as well. With its passengers taken, the cloud floated higher and higher up, until the two of them rejoined the rest the team at last! They all diligently climbed and floated up the ladder's heights, but that diligence wouldn't last forever. The ladder was so, so, so tall, and soon enough they all started to grow quiet tired!

Eyerene groaned as she hung her head and dozed off, but jolted back awake as something nudged her foot and frantically climbed up. Cornelius swiped at thin air as his eyelid flickered up and down, and even Wrecking Ball, normally an eternal fountain of energy, grew worn as he rolled on his back and snored.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"IT BURNS!" wailed a second as they dropped their stone hammer. "IT BURNS!"

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

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

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

Wrecking Ball laughed as he furled himself into a ball, and like a greased-up pinball, he shot off before anyone could even blink or stop him! His target was the walls as he smacked right into their stone exteriors, ricocheted off, and knocked down the guards in waves. Of course, Wrecking Ball wasn't the only one to get in on the fun!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"That's because we're professionals!" Prism Break countered.

He stepped forward and clapped his hands once again. As he did this, gigantic emerald-colored crystals shot out from the grounds and sent the guards crashing all into the walls of the tower! The crystals receded soon after, but the pain they caused lasted far longer. The guards all groaned in pain as they dropped down from walls and ceilings with notable cyclops-shaped impression left on their surfaces.

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

Well, all but one stray guard, that is! That stray guard ducked out from the clouds and hid in the shadows as he watched the fight before him with trembling hands and sweaty palms.

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

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

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

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

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

"What was that?"

Prism Break brushed his head off and turned around, only to see one of the cyclops guards with an ax raised to the heavens as he got ready to smash in the final switch to the power machine! Prism Break gasped for a few moments, ran forward, and rammed the guard into the side of the wall before he could finish!

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

Prism Break stumbled back a bit, and gritted his rocky teeth as he raised a crystal hand. "Walking rock pile?" Prism Break exclaimed as he zapped the guard back into the wall. "Now you're in for it!"

Prism Break ran forwards and tried to land another blow, but he was far too slow! The guard merely slid past Prism Break, drew back to the switch, and got ready to shatter it once more! The guard smirked as he swung down his arms, but a giant crystal formation leaped out of nowhere, slammed the guard back into the wall, and tossed his ax into the air before he could finish the job!

Prism Break wiped the pebbles off his brow as he breathed a sigh of relief, but right as the ax fell from the heavens, slammed straight into the switch and completely shattered it to smithereens!

"Oops."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Everybody followed Cornelius's alert, and surely enough he was right. There above them was a large window!

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

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

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

"Mit's mlying time!"

Wrecking Ball babbled as he lifted them up and catapulted them straight through the window! Once they were safely out, Wrecking Ball did the same with the next few members of the group, and the next, and the following, until the only ones left were him and Prism Break! Prism Break shot Wrecking Ball a wary look, then sighed.

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

Wrecking Ball bounced with glee, wrapped his tongue around Prism Break, and heaved Prism Break up with a grunt. As he stumbled back from Prism Break's sheer weight, Wrecking Ball grunted yet again, and launched Prism Break out the window! Prism Break flew out the window with a scream while Wrecking Ball watched. As Prism Break fell out of sight and hearing, Wrecking Ball glazed over the open windowpane. Wrecking Ball furled himself up, shot out his tongue and wrapped it around the windowpane!

"WHOA! WHOA!" Wrecking Ball shouted as he swung back and forth like a pendulum.

Wrecking Ball regained his balance, swung right into a wall just to bounce off of it and straight through the window! With the air caressed against his body and the windowpane slammed shut, Wrecking Ball fell down and landed straight into Prism Break's stony arms! He blinked with surprise as everyone dusted themselves off and look at him with wide eyes, then…

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

Their cheers were a source of infectious happiness asWrecking Ball burst into sheer, uncontrolled laughter that rippled around the crowd's hearts. Even Prism Break chuckled as they celebrated!

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

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

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

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

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

As his crystalline hands glowed green, gigantic crystals formations shot out from the ground with no warning and sent the guards flying right off of the island's side! The guards who hadn't been caught in the collision tried to escape, but they were out of luck! Wrecking Ball spotted them immediately and bowled them onto their backs!

As they groaned and sat back up, the entire team of both Skylanders and cyclopes loomed over the guards, weapons bare and fiery scowls stoked with an almost intimidating rage. The guards whimpered as the team loomed further and further onto them, and they dashed off into the horizon, never to be seen again. Well, hopefully.

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

Eyevan took a step forward, turned around, and ushered everyone else to follow. "Come on!" Eyevan exclaimed as they ran ahead. "The Crystal Eye won't rescue itself!"