Somewhere in the more rural parts of Skylands, far from the watchful eyes of Kaos or the Skylanders or most anybody, really, there resided a humble village known as Stonetown. Stonetown's home island was not that different from the average island, really. It had an average layout, all grassy plains and rocky, firm cliffs painted against a backdrop of Skylands' trademark blue skies, and all of them housed normal villages. These villages weren't all that much different from the average village, either.

The buildings, from the many houses to the general store to even the trademark town hall, were average wood-and-brick houses occupied by average mabu families that went about their average lives, completely oblivious to the world around them. Children went to school and played in the streets like normal children, adults went to work and rested by the fire after long days, governors governed, shoppers shopped the day away, and of course, the miners would mine in the Stonetown mines, which were perhaps the only particularly remarkable trait of Stonetown itself. Despite how the chills of autumn finally set in, Stonetown's miners were hard at work! Some swung their pickaxes into the colorful stone to retrieve gold, and jewels, and other kinds of minerals, other loaded spoils into rusty metal mine carts, and some just talked among themselves.

"Y'know, Dave," said one mabu man as he swung a pickax into a firm rocky pillar, "I think we're pretty lucky, living the way we do!"

"You really think so, Paul?" asked the mabu man that was presumably Dave as he loaded several crates of jewels into a mine cart, "I think it's kinda boring, to be honest—" Dave heaved a worn sigh as he placed the empty crates to his side "—every day, it's the same old routine! Ya wake up, eat, work, eat some more, watch the fire, go back to sleep, and ya do it all again! I'd kill for something new."

"Well, it could be worse." Paul shrugged his shoulders for a spell and went back to swinging, "We could be one of those unlucky villages that got ransacked by Kaos's goons!" Paul shuddered. "My cousin told me one of the ones near him was torn to bits!"

"Kaos? Come here?" Dave heartily laughed. "What would he want with boring old Stonetown? Rocks?" Dave retrieved a stray pickax off the ground, walked towards a nearby wall, and began mining. "'Cause that's all we've got around here!"

Dave slammed the pickax into the rocky walls of the mines with a mighty swing, dropped it, and stumbled back as a bright, brown light shot out from the cracks in the wall.

"What's going on, Dave?" Paul asked as he walked up to Dave. "You look like you saw a ghost!"

Dave made no words in response, only a few sputtering noises as he pointed towards the cracked wall. With a shrug, Paul turned his gaze back to the cracked wall, but gasped and stumbled back as part of the wall shattered like glass. As the brown light grew more intense, Dave and Paul only stood and watched in sheer, frozen awe, but ultimately turned tail and ran outside the mine.

"Somebody, contact the Skylanders!" Dave and Paul shouted in unison. "We've found something for them!"

§

All eyes froze on the Core of Light as the Crystal Eye sat firm at its top and emitted a striking laser beam that shone like the sun did as it hung in the slightly-cloudy autumn skies. Soft chatter and faint oohs and aahs were the soundtrack of the afternoon as everybody on the island all gazed in its glory.

"So, what happened, Spy?" Gill Grunt asked as he slammed a fin down on Spyro's shoulder. "I heard from Prism Break that the kingdom got taken over…"

"By Kaos's cronies, yeah," Spyro finished as he smiled and looked up at Gill Grunt with a moment of pause taken to remove Gill Grunt's fin from his shoulder, "but, it was no problem! We all took care of them like we did any other force of his!"

Spyro and Gill Grunt paused to bask in the Core of Light's unfinished glory once more, but soon enough Gill Grunt's eyes trailed to Spyro once more. "Hey, Spyro, I've been meaning to ask." Gill Grunt frowned just slightly as he looked down at Spyro. "Have you been doin' alright lately, little buddy?"

"Uh, er, of course!" Spyro's pupils shrank just a bit as he cast an aside glance, an awkward smile plastered on his face, "Never better, why do you ask?"

Gill Grunt gently rubbed Spyro's head. "You seem like you've been working yourself a lot lately, that's all. I hardly ever see you, what with all the missions you've been going on! It's like you never take a day's vacation!"

"I'm fine, Gill, I swear. Kaos doesn't rest, so I can't, either." Spyro's smile soured into a frown.

Gill Grunt opened his mouth to speak once more, but before he could, Trigger Happy bolted forward and leaped onto Spyro's back.

"SPYRO, SPYRO, SPYRO!" Trigger Happy exclaimed as he bounced up and down on Spyro's back. "WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT HAPPENED? DID YOU FIGHT A BUNCH OF EVIL DUDES? WERE THERE PUZZLES? BATTLE GATES? EVIL SPACE ALIENS FROM BEYOND THE FOURTH STAR?"

Spyro only chuckled as he retrieved Trigger Happy from his back and placed Trigger Happy on the ground. "Well, I'll start from the beginning," Spyro said as he cleared his throat, "Well, it all started when we made our way to the gates of the kingdom…"

As Spyro recounted the story with the energy of a grizzled storyteller, the other Skylanders carefully crowded around Spyro with a kind of wonder. With every word, every breath, Spyro spoke, their engagement grew more intense as if they themselves were pulled into the mission alongside him!

"And I'll admit, if it weren't for Chihiro's help we might not've gotten past that riddlemaster!" Spyro looked over at the portal building and tilted his head. "Say, shouldn't her next exam be ending soon?"

As if on cue, the door swung open and a familiar childlike figure draped in monochrome clothes twirled out the building. The figure pointed a finger to the heavens with one finger, and held a paper in the other.

"GUESS WHO PASSED HER NEXT PORTAL MASTER EXAM?" Chihiro exclaimed as she skipped over and brandished the paper, which had a 100% marked on it in red marker, for all eyes to see. "If you guessed me, you're right~"

"That's great, Chihiro!" Spyro praised as he held up his paw. "Up top!"

"Up top!" Chihiro smiled as she high fived Spyro, but dropped the paper and hugged him tight instead. "Thanks a bunch, Golden Boy! I don't think I would've passed if you hadn't helped me study!"

"It's no problem, Chihiro."

Spyro chukled as he returned Chihiro's hug, and a level of tension removed from his presence. The other Skylanders cheered and called out words of congratulations as Spyro and Chihiro withdrew from their hug, but soon all eyes peered towards the Core of Light once more.

"It's so pretty!" Chihiro clasped her hands tight. "I think it looks perfect up there, don't you?"

CLUNK! While everybody gazed over the Core of Light, something crashed—literally—right into the designated landing area! Everybody else jumped, and turned around to see a familiar technologically enhanced balloon had seated itself on the landing area's stone platform…

"WHAT WAS THAT? I HEARD A CRASH!" Hugo exclaimed as he bolted out of the portal building and turned to the landing area. "Oh, nevermind. It's Flynn."

Hugo sighed as the balloon's platform drew out. Once said platform was fully down, Flynn and passengers alike piled out in a dizzy haze.

"Flynn, next time," Cali panted as she shot a glare towards Flynn, "please try not to crash into the landing area."

"Oh, Cali, that was no mere crash," Flynn replied as he strode forward and crossed his arms, a smug smile on his lips. "That was an elaborate landing technique for the ages, one that only a master pilot such as myself could pull off without a hitch!"

Cali only sighed and rolled her eyes, as did Chihiro (though Chihiro's eye roll was more playful than exasperated).

"Say, that reminds me," Chihiro remarked as she turned to Hugo. "So Huges, what's the next part we need for the Core?"

"Well…" Hugo withdrew a book from his hood and skimmed through it. "According to the books…"

"SKYLANDERS!" exclaimed an elderly-sounding voice as something pushed past Hugo and practically knocked him off of his feet. "I have great news!"

Hugo spun around in a circle, but stumbled back to full balance as adjusted his glasses and looked over his surprise assailant. "Diggs?" Hugo assumed with a tired squint.

Sure enough, right in front of them was Diggs, and he was all wrinkly and frantic as ever. Or maybe he was ecstatic? It was kind of hard to tell.

"Diggs, what's the stitch?" Chihiro asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "I thought Flynn and Cali were taking you back to that village—" Chihiro rubbed a hand against her chin "—what was it called? Rumbletown? Masonville?"

"STONETOWN!" Diggs corrected with an eager smile. "But I had to come back, because the people there have good news for you all! They made a great discovery in their mines!" Diggs took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "The miners of Stonetown…"

"Have found the Eternal Earth Source!" Cali exclaimed as she ran to the crowd and pushed past Diggs. "They're waiting for us to come collect it!"

"Finally, an easy one!" Chihiro pumped a fist, her eyes alight with joy. After all the trouble they went through to collect the Core of Light's components, finally, they'd get some well-deserved smooth sailing!

"I know, right?" Flynn added as he glanced towards Chihiro with one of his trademark goofy grins on his face. "This'll be a piece of CAKE! Mmm, cake…"

Chihiro raced towards the balloon. "I'd better get going before Kaos or those weird Skylander clones or other rando wannabe supervillain finds out! Hasta la vista, guys! I'm gonna—"

"You're going to hold it, is what you're going to do!" Hugo ordered as he grabbed the back of Chihiro's vest and pulled her back to the group. "Need I remind you that all those people you just listed are very much so active?"

Chihiro waved her hand as a grin overtook her face. "Eh, it'll be fine! I'm sure I could take them on if something goes wrong! Besides, how likely would it be that they found out?"

"You'd be surprised. Kaos has eyes everywhere, Chihiro. There's a good chance that in the moments we've spent talking, he's already dispatched his forces!"

"Hate to say it, Chi, but I'm with Hugo on this one," said another, tougher voice as somebody else pushed through the crowds—a muscular, black and gray anthropomorphic shark with white eyes and clusters of bright orange barnacles on their back. "Kaos and his buddies have been getting a lot busier lately! He's been putting us through the ringer all week!"

"Ah, I guess you have a point, Terrafin…" Chihiro admitted as she bounced her foot and looked up at Terrafin. "Alright then, who wants to come with?"

"You can count me in!" Terrafin smiled a sharp, fanged smile as he ruffled Chihiro's hair, "It's been a while since we've wiped the floor with Kaos's goons together!"

"Yeah!" Chihiro bounced up and punched the air before she looked over the rest of the crowd and hummed. "Bash, Dino-Rang." Chihiro pointed to two other figures from within the crowd of Skylanders. "You guys wanna come too?"

"Eh, why not?" asked a voice with a notable Australian accent as its owner passed through the crowd. "I've been meaning to find something to test those boomerang techniques I've been practicin' on!"

This figure was a stout, stocky, and very green anthropomorphic dinosaur with bright, orange eyes and large rows of bright red plates that ran from the top of their head down to their tail. They dressed in brown stone armor, and they clutched a pair of well-loved stone boomerangs in their rough, scaled hands.

"Alright, Dino-Rang's good to go!" Chihiro proclaimed as she cast her gaze towards a bulky, brown dragon with red eyes whose body seemed to be made entirely of stone. "How about you, Bash?"

The dragon who was presumably Bash looked aside, shrugged and walked forward. "Well, looks like it's time for me to roll out the pain!" Bash proclaimed, his voice rough and rocky like gravel.

Terrafin and Dino-Rang, however, only gave Bash tired glances.

"Come on, guys!" Bash looked down as he twiddled his front paws together. "That was a good one, I swear!"

They all just playfully rolled their eyes as Terrafin walked up to Bash and patted Bash on the back as he sulked.

"Now that we've got our lineup together," Flynn broke in as he walked forward and cracked his knuckles, "I'll go start 'er up!"

As Flynn said this, Terrafin froze up like a deer in the headlights. "Actually, man, I think we can pass on the balloon ride," Terrafin said as he held up his hands, "I'm pretty sure a portal will get us there just fine!"

"Why not?" Flynn only grinned, completely oblivious to Terrafin's discomfort. "There's nothing to fear! I'm Skylands' greatest pilot, after all!"

Terrafin scoffed and crossed his arms. "Afraid? I never said anything about being afraid! It’s just, that balloon's not gonna fit all of us!"

"Yeah, Fin does have a point," Chihiro added. "It'll be a tight squeeze with all five of us going."

"Six!" Diggs corrected as he waddled up to the others. "I've gotta lead you whippersnappers there!"

"Correction, six." Chihiro rolled her eyes. "With all six of us in there at once, it might get pretty crowded—" Chihiro's eyes widened "—unless I just portal you guys there and meet up with you later!" Chihiro smiled and snapped her fingers. "That sounds like a plan to me!"

Terrafin breathed a sigh of relief as he, Bash and Dino-Rang hightailed it into the portal building with Chihiro in close pursuit. As they disappeared into the portal building's confines, Flynn frowned and shrugged.

"Wonder what his problem was?" Flynn remarked before he shook it off and headed towards his balloon. "Eh, probably just a bit intimidated! Can't blame the dude there, being with Skylands' best pilot can get pre-tty intense!"