Chihiro shuddered as she traversed through the crypt, a sphere of magic her sole source of light in the dark depths of the crypt itself. Despite the lack of life, the crypts bustled with sounds! From the pitter-patter of water as it dropped from an unknown source, to the skittering of unseen insects, to Chihiro and Terrafin's own footsteps, the whole place seemed to burst with life! Which, unfortunately, was probably more nerve-wracking than reassuring.

"Geez," Chihiro sputtered as she shuddered once more. "This place sure it's creepy. It's like something out of a horror movie!" Chihiro bounced her sphere a bit higher up as it grew brighter. "I'm just waiting for a movie monster to jump out from the shadows!"

"Like a guy in a cheap monster suit?" Terrafin said as he nudged Chihiro in the shoulder.

Chihiro only giggled and gently nudged Terrafin back. "Heh, yeah, like that!" Chihiro breathed a relieved sigh. "To be honest, I'd be glad if it was something like that!"

"What, don't tell me you're scared now!" Terrafin made a look of mock-shock, gaping jaw and all. "You're the one who wanted to come here in the first place!"

"I'm not scared!" Chihiro's shaking disappeared as she raised an eyebrow at Terrafin, "… Unless you are~"

"Me, scared? Who do you think you're talking to?" Terrafin smirked and puffed out his chest. "I've tussled with way worse stuff than this!"

The two of them burst into hapless laughter as Chihiro's sphere shone even brighter than before. For a moment, it seemed as if the creepy atmosphere of the entire crypt vanished, so completely swept away by the joy of their laughter. As the sphere floated back down and rested itself in Chihiro's palms, Chihiro formed a genuinely happy smile towards Terrafin.

"Thanks, Fin.”

"No problem, kiddo."

Terrafin gently patted Chihiro's shoulder, and the two of them smiled and laughed together once more—only for a third laugh to break the surface! It was a mischievous, high-pitched cackle, a voice very unlike their own!

"Who's there?"

Chihiro cast her sphere of light further ahead to find an imp! It had a round head and an almost childlike build, yellow skin, and red eyes that glinted with a hint of malevolence. It wore worn, brown leathers gloves, pants and boots, and it held none other than a shiny golden key in its large hand!

"That's the key we need!" Chihiro ran forward and pounced on the imp/ "Hand it over!"

The imp had other ideas! It just cackled and dashed on in a flash! It didn't even look behind as Chihiro crashed face-first into the crypt's dusty, dirty stone floors!

Chihiro groaned, shook her head and jumped to her feet. "Hey, come back here!"

Chihiro shook her fist as she raced after the imp, their rapid footsteps echoed throughout the crypt. Terrafin bolted forward and dove into the earth beside her, but the stone was so thick that he wasn't able to swim at all! All he could do was crash face-first and moan as he rubbed his aching face. However, he quickly shook off the pain and tagged behind Chihiro. As Terrafin ran behind her, Chihiro nodded and grabbed hold of his bulky hand as her own glowed with cyan magic. The two of them disappeared under that same cyan glow for a few moments, and when it faded, they ran at twice the speed they did before!

"WOO-HOO!" Chihiro exclaimed as she let go of Terrafin's hand, dashed forward. and pumped her fists high in the air, "I LOVE SPEED SPELLS! THAT IMP WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT—" Chihiro promptly crashed into a corner's wall "—it."

Terrafin rounded the corner and fixed his milky white eyes on the imp as Chihiro groaned and slid down the wall, Thanks to the speed boost, he managed to gain traction on it to the point where he was close enough that he could hear its breath. All he had to do was reach out and grab it, but before he could, something else emerged from the shadows and took the key from the imp!

The key-stealer cackled as the imp hid in the shadows behind it, and finally stepped into a slightly less darker portion for all to view.

"You?" Terrafin exclaimed as he stopped in his tracks.

"It's me alright," proclaimed the Evil Dirt Shark as it grasped the key tight and held it up for Terrafin. "Looking for this?"

Terrafin simply cracked his knuckles, his eyes narrowed and full of tranquil rage. "Give us the key, buddy, and maybe I won't have to rearrange that face of yours!"

"Oh, I'm so scared!" The Evil Dirt Shark's voice laced with pure sarcasm as it made a smirk. "I might give it to you, but…"

"Fin!" Chihiro called as she finally caught up with Terrafin. "And that weird clone thing? What's going on here?"

The Evil Dirt Shark slammed its hand against the stone walls of the crypt hallways. "I'll tell you what's going on! Your friend and I are going to decide whose the real champion of the ring!"

"… The ring?" Chihiro tilted her head and frowned.

"Well," Terrafin said as he crossed his arms, a sneer played on his thin lips, "I can never say no to a good challenge. Fine, I'll take you up."

"So you're not as weak as you look."

The Dirt Shark smirked and punched the side of the wall! In response, a loud noise akin to shrieking stone was heard as the wall parted to reveal a secret hallway! There behind that stone slab was a hallway filled with dirt and spiderwebs that might've been even darker than the crypt's prior passages—which was saying a lot.

The Evil Dirt Shark and its imp companion walked down the halls without hesitation, so Chihiro and Terrafin followed after them as well. All was quiet as the Evil Dirt Shark led them down the way for what seemed like forever. Finally, it punched another wall and opened up another stone door!

The four of them passed through the passage to find a large, square room. It was as dusty and old as the rest of the crypt, but unlike it, this room lacked the traditional trademarks of the crypt itself. There were no cobwebs, no tombs, no coffins... Rather, it had an elevated, square stone platform in the center decorated with spiderweb fences that almost kinda resembled a boxing ring.

"I see what you're going for, now," Terrafin smirked as he pulled himself onto the platform and smirked.

"Exactly," The Evil Dirt Shark said as it joined Terrafin in the ring.

"Oh, it meant like a boxing match," Chihiro realized as she watched them glare each other down and cleared her throat, "You can do it, Fin! Show this sucker who's boss!"

As Chihiro cheered, however, the Evil Dirt Shark growled and narrowed its blank white eyes.

"Rule number one! No outside interference!" The Evil Dirt Shark proclaimed as it slammed down on a stone pole.

Chihiro paid no mind to it or anything else as she cheered—that is, until the whole room started to rumble. "Hey, what's going on?" Chihiro demanded as the rumbling grew more intense.

Before she could even say anything else, gigantic, thick stone walls shot up from the ground and blocked off the audience from the match!

"Can't have any cheaters and all." The Evil Dirt Shark made a toothy sneer.

"Fine by me," Terrafin replied as he finished cracking his knuckles and glared down the Evil Dirt Shark. "I don't play dirty, anyways."

Both Terrafin and the Dirt Shark fixed each other in a silent staredown, no motion made as they glared at each other. The Evil Dirt Shark withdrew the key from out of nowhere, looked up towards a rusted, open bell, and tossed the key up! The prize bell swallowed the key up and closed itself shut with a ring—a ring that signaled to everyone that the battle had begun!

"IT'S FEEDIN' TIME!" Terrafin exclaimed as he thrust forward with a punch.

"You think something like that'll stop me?" The Evil Dirt Shark questioned as it dodged Terrafin's blow. "Ha!"

The Evil Dirt Shark spun around its arm and thrust a punch forward, but Terrafin stepped out of the way and threw a punch of his own! The Evil Dirt Shark side-stepped out of the blow's path, and went to throw another. Terrafin, however, was still ever-vigilant! Once again he side-stepped the punch, and jabbed the Evil Dirt Shark right in its jaw! The Evil Dirt Shark growled and shook its head, but hooked Terrafin in the chest!

It was a completely even match! Every blow the Evil Dirt Shark threw, Terrafin dodged with ease, and likewise every blow that Terrafin threw the Evil Dirt Shark quickly shook off or dodged. Would there ever be any end to the fight?

Terrafin jumped out the way of another round of punches, stepped back, and caught his breath. His eyes glazed over to the Evil Dirt Shark as it lumbered towards him, but as it came into range, he slid forward and hit the Evil Dirt Shark right in its gut with an uppercut! The Evil Dirt Shark howled as it fell on its back, but growled as it staggered up and held its chest. It tried to throw a punch with its free hand, yet it was so feeble, so weak, that Terrafin blocked it right off the bat!

"Winning this'll be a snap!" Terrafin smirked as he balled his hands into fists.

"I'd think before you speak!"

The still-worn Evil Dirt Shark sneered in between heavy pants, and it stuck its fingers in its mouth as it whistled loud and clear! The entire area was silent for a few moments, but slowly the bricks shifted open! Sand poured down from the ceiling while rocks shot out from invisible cannons. All of a sudden, what was once just a simple boxing match became a lot more deadly.

"So much for no cheaters, huh?"

Terrafin snarled as the arena turn into a near-death trap, but only for moments. With a loud shout he ran forward, but the excess of sand on the ring's floor made it much more slippery than before! Terrafin only slid right past the Evil Dirt Shark! Terrafin recollected himself, but before he could ready his punch, he was pelted with gigantic rocks! Terrafin slid out their way, yet his mind was so fixed on staying out of the rocks' path that he hadn't noticed any other distractions—like the Evil Dirt Shark! Hidden by the veil of pouring sand, the Evil Dirt Shark slid forward and sucker-punched Terrafin right in the jaw!

"Augh!"

Terrafin flew into the ropes and crashed on the floor. He grunted as he fell back to the stone floors, yet tried to stagger back up, only for the entire ground to shake and knock him back down with a grunt!

"Look at this, you're floundering!" the Evil Dirt Shark laughed as it glared down Terrafin. "And you have the gall to call yourself a champion!"

Terrafin paid no mind to the Evil Dirt Shark's jeering taunts. He only stood back up and wiped the blood from his snout without even flinching. He stepped away as the Evil Dirt Shark tried to jab him, rushed forward and shot a cross right into its side! The Evil Dirt Shark cried out in agony as it flung into the spiderweb ropes, but growled and slid back into the action!

While they warred inside, everything else was quite quiet outside. Chihiro and that odd imp pressed their ears to the stone slab barrier in some attempt to make sense of what was going on inside. Chihiro bit her lip as she pressed her hand against the stone. A glint of fear shone in her brown eyes from what minimal light could be gleaned within the tunnel, though the shaking of her legs could tell anyone she was worried. Finally, she clasped her hand, narrowed her eyes and took in a deep breath, her fear shaken.

"YOU CAN DO THIS, TERRAFIN!" Chihiro cried at the top of her lungs as she pounded her fist against the wall. "YOU CAN BEAT 'EM!"

Back inside, the battle raged ever on as before…

"GET 'EM, FIN! YOU CAN DO IT!"

Terrafin paused for only a second as Chihiro's words passed the walls and echoed throughout the room, and with a smile, he swung past the Evil Dirt Shark's latest punch! While the Evil Dirt Shark stood in shock, the ground rumbled like never before! Both parties only stood in silence as even more sand flooded into the room, to the point where they were up to their knees in sand!

Terrafin wasn't the least bit intimidated! He dove into the sand like it was crystal-clear water and swam through its gritty seas. He popped his head up as a gigantic tidal wave of sand lurched over the boxing ring, and positioned itself just inches below the prize bell! Terrafin sneered, dove back into the sands, and swam with the speed of an entire frenzy of sharks!

The Evil Dirt Shark grunted as it dove head-first into the sands, raced up to Terrafin and charged straight into him! Terrafin spun around in the sands for mere moment, but quickly shook off the pain and went back to tunneling up the wave! However, the Evil Dirt Shark wasn't one to give up either. It chased after Terrafin in a fury, right as the tidal wave crashed and sent both of them flying just inches away from the prize bell!

"You'll get that key over my dead body!" The Evil Dirt Shark exclaimed as it went to punch Terrafin.

"Over your dead body, huh?" Terrafin repeated as he intercepted the Evil Dirt Shark's punch with his palm!

While the Evil Dirt Shark's eyes widened, Terrafin grabbed its arm, swung around and flung the Evil Dirt Shark straight into the rusted prize bell! The Evil Dirt Shark screamed and flailed as it slammed straight into the bell and completely shattered it!

"I, I, I demand a rematch!" the Evil Dirt Shark exclaimed as it fell unconscious onto the stone platform.

The sifting sands and rolling rocks all disappeared into the walls' various components, with only mild debris left behind on the boxing ring—and the key, of course!

Terrafin smiled as he walked to the center of the ring, and collected the key from its worn stone surface.

"Terrafin!" Chihiro called as a grinding stone sound rang from not far away.

Terrafin turned back to the stone walls, but found that they were no more! They completely rescinded into the ground, and all that was left was a very excited Chihiro and a very dizzy imp. Chihiro's eyes sparkled as Terrafin showed her the key, and with an eager giggle she leaped onto the stone platform!

"I knew you could do it!" Chihiro exclaimed as she hugged Terrafin tight. "I was cheering you on the whole time!"

"Heard you loud and clear, kiddo!"

Terrafin smiled as he ruffled Chihiro's hair, and lifted her onto his shoulder. They smiled and basked in the victory for a few moments more, but finally Chihiro jumped off of Terrafin's shoulder. The two of them hopped off of the ring, and both pairs of eyes trailed back to the imp as it stumbled about and finally fell unconscious.

"What's with that dude, anyways?" Terrafin asked as he looked at Chihiro.

"Well…" Chihiro shrugged. "It's a long story involving a brick, a baseball bat and some rope. I'll tell you on the way."

And that is exactly what Chihiro did as she and Terrafin trekked back up the tunnel…

§

Chihiro rested her hands on her knees and panted as she finally broke through the crypt's entrance. Thank goodness, she was finally back in the open again! It was so nice to feel the sunlight on her skin and the breeze in her hair! That crypt was seriously starting to creep her out, but, that was no matter now. She and Terrafin finally arrived back at that gate, and for a moment, could finally sit down and breathe.

"Chihiro, Terrafin!" called a gravely voice from across the way.

Alerted by the voice, Chihiro pulled herself up and looked back across the grassy fields. She could've sworn she saw two blobby figures dash across the spring green fields, two blobby figures that came into view rather quickly. Actually, no, a little too quickly! Chihiro yelped and jumped out the way as a brown blur flew past her, slammed into a nearby cinder block and yelped itself! The cinder block shattered to bits as soon as this blur made impact, but oddly enough, the blur—or rather, the dragon who created it—was perfectly fine!

"I'm okay," Bash groaned as he shook his head and staggered back to his feet, "I think."

Chihiro chuckled and shook her head, but soon placed her eyes to her side.

"How'd it go, Chi?" Dino-Rang asked as he walked up to Chihiro and gazed her up.

"Fin, show them the fruits of our work!" Chihiro ordered as she turned her eyes to Terrafin, who currently chatted it up with Bash.

Terrafin turned around to face Chihiro, smiled and withdrew the golden key they retrieved from the crypt! It looked a lot more brilliant now that they could bring it out into the open, its body a first-place trophy whose solid gold shone well against the sunlight.

Dino-Rang smiled as he caught sight of the key, chuckled and grabbed something from the pockets of his armor—a matching gold key!

"Nice!" Chihiro high-fived Dino-Rang's free hand, took the key from him and hopped over to the gate.

She shoved the keys into the gate's first two locks, gulped and turned them in unison, but nothing happened. The locks didn't drop, heck, not even a click was heard as she turned them! Were they faulty? Chihiro looked them over and frowned as she went back to frantically turning them. However, once again her work yielded no results. The locks still sat firm and strong on the gate like soldiers.

"Guess we'll need the third key for this to work." Chihiro sighed and shoved the keys back into her pockets as she turned back to the others. "So, where do you guys think it is?"

"Those plains didn't have anything other than the fortress as far as I saw," Bash said as he brushed his tail against the grass.

"Yup," Dino-Rang affirmed as he crossed his arms and nodded his head. "Just grass and dirt as far as the eye could see."

Chihiro frowned, hummed and rubbed her chin as her eyes trailed back to the crypt's open pathway. Now that she thought about it, she was sure she saw a second pathway when she and Terrafin had first trailed down there. Could the final key be located there?

"Actually, I might have an idea!" Chihiro spun around and marched back into the crypt. "Follow me!"

Chihiro heard the sound of footsteps behind her as she ventured deeper into the crypt, but she paid little mind to it. Rather, she summoned a magic sphere and used it as a makeshift lantern while the light grew more and more minimal. If she remembered correctly, that split in the paths should have been somewhere around…

"Here!"

Chihiro stopped short, and jolted up as she heard the sounds of what sounded like… Skittering? Like, spiders? SPIDERS? Chihiro shuddered, turned around and yipped as she found herself face-to-face with Dino-Rang!

"Oh, Dino-Rang, it's, it's just you." Chihiro panted and brushed the cold sweat off of her face, turned around and urged her magic sphere to float a little further onward.

In keeping with her silent command, the magic sphere floated past her and deeper into the stone halls. Its cyan light illuminated the otherwise dank and dark spaces before them, and revealed twin, open doors. One was flanked by rotted crates and barrels, while the other was decorated at its top with thin spiderwebs that shimmered against the sphere's luminescence!

"We went down that one, right Fin?" Chihiro asked as she pointed down towards the pathway flanked by the barrels.

"I'm pretty sure the footsteps over there have your answer," Terrafin said as he pointed towards the floor. Sure enough, familiar dusty footprints decorated the old stone floors.

"Path number two it is, then!"

Chihiro hummed a jaunty tune as she marched down the second door's path, her sphere a guide to the otherwise darkened halls. Despite the slight feeling of unease she got just from being here, Chihiro felt as unstoppable as she usually did. Nothing could possibly keep her from getting that next key! Well, nothing but the gigantic cinder block she marched straight into in a lack of foresight, that is.

Chihiro giggled and rubbed her face as the others joined her. "There's a block there, apparently." Chihiro turned back around, then snapped her fingers and watched her magic sphere expand!

Its light now covered every corner of the room, and in the process, revealed a number of cinder blocks much like the one Chihiro had rammed her face into! They were carefully positioned around the room, much like a puzzle; what could it possibly unlock? A secret entryway much like the one that lead to the secret boxing room? A treasure room? Or maybe just a plain old room filled with coffins?

As Chihiro pondered and the others pushed the blocks out the way, a chill ran down her spine. She could've sworn that she felt something was watching her, but when she turned around, there was nothing there.

"Eh, might've just been a spider or somethin'," Chihiro remarked as she haplessly shrugged, "I hope not, though. Spiders creep me out…"

Just then, Chihiro heard a hiss and could've sworn she felt some soft, glowing light above her, but when she looked up at the ceiling, all she saw were cobwebs and worn stone. Was she imagining things?

"Hey, guys—" Chihiro turned her attention to Terrafin, Bash and Dino-Rang as they finished clearing out the cinder blocks "—did you hear something strange?"

"What kind of strange, Chi?" Bash asked as he pushed a cinder block to the right.

"Like…" Chihiro twiddled her fingers and leaned forward. "Spiders skittering and weird creature noises strange?"

"Haven't heard anything like that, nope." Bash shook his head, and looked towards Terrafin and Dino-Rang who both nodded in agreement.

"Ah…"

Chihiro sighed and looked aside before she looked back at the path before. She must have just been imagining things again; she did tend to hear noises that weren't actually there and all, but was she, really? Chihiro just shook her head as she followed the others into the next room. That room, much like the one prior, was pitch black save of the soft glow of cyan that came from the prior room, so Chihiro summoned another sphere to bring the room to light.

"Another block puzzle?"

Chihiro held her head and sighed as she examined the room before her. True to her words, this room carried yet another collection of awkwardly-arranged and very heavy-looking cinder blocks on its floors. Guess it was her turn to take care of them!

With a snap of Chihiro's fingers, the cinder blocks vanished in a cyan glow and pushed themselves out of the way. Slowly, but surely, a semblance of a path formed in the midst—but the spellcasting came to a stop as loud skittering echoed through the room!

"THE HECK'S THAT SOUND?" Chihiro exclaimed before her whole body locked up. "Could it be—" Chihiro gulped and her voice turned to a pained shrill "—SPIDERS?!"

"Spiders?" Terrafin demanded as he stared down Chihiro. "That's what you were freaking out about this whole time?"

Chihiro whimpered, looked at Terrafin and formed a slight nod. "I can't help it, Fin!" Chihiro's arms and legs shook without her even realizing. "They're got those beady little eyes and those creepy legs and they show up out of complete nowhere and—"

"Chihiro, spiders are nothing to be afraid of," Bash said as he patted Chihiro on the back. "Most of the time, they're more scared of you than you are of them!"

"I dunno, mates," Dino-Rang added as he turned to look ahead. "Those spiders don't seem very afraid to me!"

"SPIDERS?"

Chihiro looked ahead and promptly froze. The skittering noise she heard grew louder and louder as a mass of shadows emerged from the halls above! As they stepped into their light, they… Oh god. Those massive, hairy bodies, those spindly legs like needles, those beady red eyes, the pinchers for mouths… No… Those couldn't possibly be…

"SPIDERS!" Chihiro exclaimed at the top of her lungs as she leaped into Terrafin's arms and squeezed him tight. "GIANT SPIDERS GIANT SPIDERS GIANT SPIDERS—"

"SO YOU'VE DECIDED TO SHOW YOUR SORRY FACES AGAIN!" the spiders hissed as they circled around Chihiro.

Chihiro, meanwhile, completely froze as she squeezed Terrafin even tighter than before.

"Chihiro, stop, you're kinda, choking—" Terrafin spat as he tried to pry Chihiro off of his person.

"YOU WHO HAVE INVOKED THE WRATH OF THE STONE SPIDERS…" the lead spider exclaimed as it stepped forward and hissed. "FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR DIRE MISTAKES!"

All at once, the spiders leaped onto the quartet, and buried them under a massive pile of spider! The only sounds that could be heard from within were hissing, shuffling, and the ear-piercing cry of Chihiro's terrified screams, but finally, they stormed off with Terrafin and Bash in tow!

"Hey, what's the deal?" Terrafin said as he bounced on the crowd of spiders.

"Let us go!" Bash demanded as he tried to break free of the spiders' grasp, but it was far too tightly held for him to do anything more than struggle.

"Terrafin, Bash!" Dino-Rang called as they were carried into the dark depths of the halls ahead, and turned to Chihiro. "C'mon, Chi, we have to get them!"

However, Chihiro paid little attention to what had just occurred. She was more preoccupied with burying her face in her hands and babbling incoherently about spiders.

"Chihiro!" Dino-Rang snapped his fingers in front of Chihiro. "Skylands to Chihiro!"

"Oh, hey Dino-Rang!" Chihiro chirped as she looked back at Dino-Rang. "Hey, those spiders are gone!"

"Yeah, cause they ran off with Terrafin and Bash!"

"They did? Crap, they're gonna be goners if we don't get to them!" Chihiro's fear was seemingly forgotten as she grabbed Dino-Rang’s hand and bolted off. "Come on!"

Chihiro snapped her fingers to illuminate the halls as she ran down them. For a moment, everything seemed to blend into identical stone pathways with no spiders in sight, but the sound of skittering became vocal once more!

"That way!"

Chihiro darted down a left turn and snapped her fingers once more! As she spread light into the room once more, her eyes fixed on the sight of large spiders that stood vigilant near a door. She let go of Dino-Rang's hand with a grunt and jumped right past the guards!

"Alright!" Chihiro exclaimed as she landed into the next room. "Who are you guys and what do you want with my—" Chihiro winced as all eyes fixed on her "—friends?"

There in the room was none other than the rest of the spiders, who crowded around and hissed. To the side wall were none other than Terrafin and Bash, who were stuck to the stone walls with sticky webbing that refused to budge no matter how much they struggled.

"Oh, hey Chi!" Bash remarked as his eyes drifted over to her.

"SILENCE! PRISONERS DON'T GET TO TALK!" hissed one spider as it glared at Bash, and then trailed over to Chihiro, "and intruders don't get to either!"

The spiders all crowded around Chihiro, pushed forward and heaved her out of the room! Chihiro landed on the stone ground with a scream and a crunch, groaned and pulled herself to sit up.

"So much for the diplomatic approach," Chihiro remarked as she rubbed her aching arm.

"Then I guess it's time for the offensive one!" Dino-Rang exclaimed.

Dino-Rang leaped forward and shot his boomerangs! The boomerangs soared in the air for a few seconds, but before they could even make contact with the spider people, they were completely stuck in the air!

"What the?"

Dino-Rang ran forward and jumped up towards his boomerangs, but got stuck himself. "Heh, guess I didn't think this through." Dino-Rang chuckled as he looked down from where he was suspended in midair.

The hissing and chanting from the spiders grew louder and more chaotic as they crowded around the Skylanders, but soon, the whole crowd fell to a hush.

"What's going on?" Chihiro asked as she warily stood up and crept back into the room, but completely froze.

Why, one may ask? Because something crawled down from the ceiling and it looked like something out of Chihiro's worst nightmares, that's why! It was a spider about five times the size of the spiders that surrounded Chihiro currently, though it was more like a spider-taur, really. Its bottom half was a traditional spider body complete with twin, intersecting hourglass symbols on its abdomen, but the top half was more humanoid in appearance. Granted, it still had those weird spider legs instead of arms, those weird pincher mouths, and those eight blood-red eyes that stared straight into Chihiro's soul… But the short tuft of red hair it had was kinda humanoid, right?

The spider giant inhaled and screeched out nonsense in such a loud volume it almost made Chihiro's ears pop! As it kept rambling on its eyes trailed on to the captured Skylanders, it stopped and cleared its throat.

"Excuse me," the giant spider said in perfect English before it regained its angry disposition, "AS THE QUEEN OF THE STONE SPIDER COLONY, I DEMAND YOUR APOLOGIES FOR TRANSGRESSING UPON OUR HOME AND DESTROYING IT!"

"Transgressing? DESTROYING? What kind of bollocks are you talking, lady?" Dino-Rang demanded as he struggled against the invisible web he stuck to. "If it's about moving those blocks, then we're sorry, lady! We'll put them back when—"

"I wasn't talking to you, lizard." The spider queen flicked Dino-Rang's snout, and fixed her gaze on Terrafin and Bash. "I was talking to THEM!"

The queen pointed a leg towards Terrafin and Bash and bore fangs dripped with… Blood? Poison? Chihiro couldn't tell what it was, but that mottled reddish-green liquid that came from her mouth was definitely bad news.

"You lightsiders think you own everything under your feet, don't you?" The queen hissed as she thrust her face in Terrafin and Bash's. "You really think you have the right to encroach upon our homelands, destroy our webs and trample upon everything in your wake, do you not?"

As the queen spoke, a couple of the smaller spiders cowered and embraced each other in sorrow. Chihiro's eyes trailed over to the sad-looking spiders, and for a moment her heart sank. She completely forgot that these spiders captured her friends and were something out of her worst nightmares. For that moment, she felt every drop of sadness and rage in their hearts.

"What are you talking about?" Terrafin insisted as he bore his teeth at the spider queen. "We didn't do any of that!"

"Yeah!" Bash added as he squirmed against the web he was trapped in. "Now let us go!"

"INSOLENCE!" the spider queen bellowed as she stepped back and growled. "Children, feast upon those who terrorize our land!"

The spiders all muttered in agreement as they slowly crept towards Terrafin and Bash…

All while Chihiro completely froze. She wanted to do something, say something, anything that could help them, but it was like the moment she saw those spiders, her feet just glued themselves to the spot!

But, I can't let them get eaten! I can't let my friends get killed! Chihiro gulped as her eyes stung with panicked tears. I, I, have to do something…

Right as the spiders got ready to lunge, Chihiro gulped and balled her sweaty hands into fists.

"WAIT A SECONDDDDDDDDDD!" Chihiro exclaimed as she skidded in between the spiders and Skylanders.

Shocked by her sudden intrusion, the spiders all stepped back.

"I don't really know what's entirely going on here—" Chihiro gulped and tugged on her collar, "1but I know my friends, and I know they'd never do something like that!"

"Then who else could've, child?" The spider queen demanded as that weird cocktail dripped from her fangs some more. "They fit the exact description of the intruders my subjects have given! Do you mean to imply we are liars?"

Chihiro gulped and fell silent. That would be a hard thing to prove, especially to a very angry spider lady who could literally bite her head off at any second! Wait a second, exact descriptions?

"Would those intruders happened to have looked like this, by any chance?"

Chihiro waved her hands, and magicked up a hologram of the Evil Dirt Shark and Evil Rock Dragon. One of the background spiders examined Chihiro's hologram as the spiders all crowded around her, and gasped.

"That's exactly what they looked like!" the spider proclaimed.

"Well, that solves that, then!" Chihiro whisked away the hologram as she placed her sweaty hands on her hips. "Those are actually just evil clones of my buddies here! It's a funny story, tell you later—" Chihiro's teeth chattered as she turned around to grab Terrafin and Bash "—now, if you'll just let my friends go free, we'll be—"

"You're shaking, child." The spider queen glared down Chihiro and gently brushed Chihiro's shoulder with her leg, which only made Chihiro shudder further. "How can I know for certain you aren't lying through your teeth?"

Stupid arachnophobia! Chihiro cursed as she clenched her teeth. I was so close, too! What do I do now?!

"Give me an answer, child!"

Chihiro gulped as the entire colony of spiders fixed their hundreds of thousands of eyes on her. She was never super good under pressure, but this was the worst! How on Earth was she supposed to get her way out of this one? What could she say to make them believe her?

"Wait a second!" Chihiro exclaimed as she brought up the hologram once more. "Aside from the body shape, these guys look nothing like my friends!" Chihiro scoffed and looked aside. "I'm not sure how anyone could make that mistake, really."

The queen tilted her head towards Chihiro in an almost threatening manner. "How do I know they haven't disguised themselves?"

Chihiro frowned, swirled her hand around and watched it flare with a bright cyan mist. "This spell will unveil any potential disguises that they might have, magical or otherwise." Chihiro turned her attention towards Terrafin and Bash and winced. "Sorry about this, guys!"

The mist sprung out from Chihiro's hands with a flick of her wrist, and slammed itself right into Terrafin and Bash! It coated the entire area in smoke for a few minutes, nothing to be seen, but finally the smoke lifted and revealed a notably unchanged Terrafin and Bash as they coughed and hacked away.

Chihiro turned to the spider queen and crossed her arms. "Now do you believe us?"

"I suppose." The spider queen made an offhanded gesture towards her spiders. "Guards, free the prisoners. They've proven their innocence."

The spiders grumbled and skittered up to Terrafin, Bash and Dino-Rang.

As Chihiro watched them untie the trio with slight reluctance, she frowned and peered up towards the spider queen.

"Actually, Your Highness." Chihiro clasped her hands against her heart. "If it's alright, could I possibly see those webs that were messed up? I may not know much about what happened, but I'd still like to try and fix them if I can."

"Fix them?" The spider queen's jaw dropped, but she clasped it back up and nodded slightly. "Very well then. Follow me."

Chihiro heeded the queen's command as she followed the queen through the halls of the still quite dark crypts. The halls were as black as late night at first, but this time they had… Light? Yes, some kind of light source in the form of gigantic, incredibly trampled and torn spiderwebs. Their glow was faint, but against this darkness, they were as bright as shooting stars.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said they got messed up." Chihiro placed her hands on her hips, wiped them off and walked towards the webs. "Let's see if I can work my magic."

Chihiro gazed over the webs, knelt down and pressed a hand to the cold stone. She closed her eyes, inhaled and exhaled, and in moments, she was surrounded in a bright cyan glow that exploded all over the halls!

The spider queen let out a shout of surprise that jolted Chihiro back into reality, and then, Chihiro smile; the webs were completely repaired! They stood stronger than ever with the broken and torn parts replaced with bright cyan silk strings that shone bright!

Chihiro plucked one of the strings and turned back to the queen. "Alrighty! Not only are these webs fixed, but they should be ever stronger than before!" Chihiro proclaimed with a smile and a snap of her fingers. "That's portal master magic for ya~"

"Why, they're beautiful!" The spider queen skittered forward, and kindly beamed down at Chihiro, though her massive pinchers and fangs still made her look quite intimidating. "Thank you, kind child. Er, you can stop shaking now."

"Me, shaking?" Chihiro giggled as she stomped her trembling legs against the floor—though they only trembled more—and scratched her neck. "Anyways, I should get back to my friends."

The two of them nodded and rejoined the rest of the congregation.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding," said one spider as Terrafin and Bash brushed excess cobwebs off of their bodies. "Could you ever forgive us?"

"Eh, it's water under the bridge," Dino-Rang replied as he pulled a cobweb from his crest. "Say, you guys wouldn't have happened to have seen a golden key anywhere, would you?"

Everybody paused and whispered among themselves, and finally, some tiny spiders crawled up the queen's body and whispered something in her ear.

"Is that so?" the queen asked as the spiders nodded and crawled down. The queen paused and cleared her throat once more. "My consorts have informed me that they have spotted a key in the corridors of our territory." The queen nodded towards the tiny spiders. "They'd be more than willing to take you to its location."

"Alright then," Bash said as he strutted forward, "We'll just—"

The consort spiders glared at Bash, and circled around Chihiro like a puppy claiming ownership over a toy.

"We were only referring to the child."

"Ahahaha, that's alright then!" Chihiro exclaimed as she forced a trembling smile and nodded towards the spider consorts. "Lead the way!"

While the spiders skittered off into the dark, Chihiro compliantly, if not somewhat robotically, followed their trail. But as she did…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Chihiro screamed internally as she walked forwards. That was a nightmare! For a minute I thought somebody was gonna bite my head off, literally! I—

Chihiro's train of thought stopped short as she felt herself covered by a blanket of darkness. She instinctively reached to make a magic sphere, but stopped as the spiders all chirped and began, weaving? Yes, they all banded together to weave a lantern made entirely out of luminescent spider silk! As their work finished, they chirruped, lifted the lantern and brought it to Chihiro.

"Heh, that's kinda cool!" Chihiro remarked as she picked up the string lantern and clasped it tight.

Despite being made of spider silk, it wasn't sticky at all! It felt more like holding solid, silk cloth. Her path illuminated by the silk lantern, Chihiro followed the spiders down the path with a bit more ease, then finally they all came to a stop as a dead end! Chihiro frowned and held up her lantern, only to smile as she caught a shimmer of gold up in the corner of the ceiling!

"That's gotta be it!" Chihiro's smile quickly fell as she saw its height. "But it's too high for me to reach."

The spiders whispered among themselves, chirped once more, and scaled the walls en masse! Once they reached the top, they yanked the key from the corridor, crawled back down to Chihiro's feet and dropped the key. Chihiro softly gasped as she retrieved the key from the floor, and withdrew the other two keys from her pocket. Finally, she had them all!

As the spiders scaled the walls and raced ahead, Chihiro followed back to the central room, turned around and beamed. "WE'VE GOT OUR KEYS, GUYS!" Chihiro proclaimed as she held up the keys for all to see.

Terrafin, Bash and Dino-Rang all cheered and hollered, but soon all of them banded together and nodded. Their next destination decided, the four of them made their way back down the halls…

"Bye, spider people!" Chihiro exclaimed as she turned around and waved towards the spiders. "Thank for the key!"

"You're quite welcome, child!" The spider queen shouted back as she and the spiders all waved goodbye. "Feel welcome to visit at any time!"

"I will!" Chihiro turned around and giggled as she skipped ahead.

I dunno what I was so scared of, Chihiro thought as she passed by familiar rooms full of cinder blocks. Spiders are actually super cool!