Terrafin, Slam Bam, and Zap gazed over the Mourning Sun's hull as they passed over endless ocean waves. The Mourning Sun bobbed ever-so-calmly against the ocean waters, in a way that almost made one want to go to sleep, and with the soft rambles of Jess's voice and lack of excitement, that's what some of them were about ready to do.

"And that's when I went to get the Skylanders for help," Jess explained as she steered the Mourning Sun's wheel, then bit her lip as her gaze faltered. "I only wish I did it sooner."

"Pirate invasion?" Slam Bam remarked as he leaned against a wooden railing and gazed over the ocean. "Heard there were a lot of those happening lately."

"I'm afraid so." Jess wrapped her fingers tight around the wheel's spokes while tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "I just didn't think it would happen to us…"

"Well, you don't have to worry any longer!" Terrafin shouted as he waltzed up and slapped his hand on Slam Bam's back. "We'll have those pirates crawling back to where they came from in no time! After all, we're Skylanders—stopping the bad guys is our job!"

Slam Bam jumped internally, and chuckled as he looked over to see Terrafin beside him. "Fin! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Slam Bam scolded, though his tone was more playful than angry as he wrapped an arm around Terrafin's brawny shoulders.

Terrafin grinned as he ran a claw down Slam Bam's muscular chest. "Just keepin' you on guard, Slam~"

"Well, thank you for the reassurance." Jess chuckled as the two of them teased each other with a loving kind of playfulness. "We should be there very soon."

"Good to know!" Terrafin replied as he gave Jess a thumbs up. Terrafin walked back to the bow while he hummed some kind of strange tune. "I'll go tell Zap!"

"Geez, Fin," Slam Bam said. He shook his head, and watched Terrafin run to the side of the hull where Zap was while his tone carried a level of fondness to it. "I swear, you're gonna be the death of me."

All was peaceful for the next few moments as Zap and Terrafin bickered among themselves while Slam Bam ever-so-carefully supervised. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they passed by ever-identical ocean waves and blue skies, and everything was so peaceful that one would probably be forgiven for falling asleep. In fact, that's what Slam Bam, Terrafin and Zap nearly did as they laid on the Mourning Sun's wooden docks and dozed off, for their heads were so fuzzy and tired…

"We're here!" Jess shouted.

"Huh?"

Slam Bam, Terrafin and Zap all shook off their exhaustion and ran to the deck railing. They looked over, and found that they arrived at a wooden docking platform as the Mourning Sun parked next to the dock’s side and extended its plank.

"Do you want me to guide you around?" Jess asked as she walked up to them.

"We'll be fine," Slam Bam said as he pulled away from the deck railing. "You just stay here and stay safe."

Slam Bam's gaze turned Terrafin and Zap, who all nodded and proceeded down the plank. All three stepped onto the rickety wooden docks, and their eyes widened as they took in their surroundings. It seemed like a normal island. After it, it did have lots of grass, buildings and houses wherever pne looked, a couple lampposts scattered around the area that gave light wherever one walked, even a few nice flowerbeds. But, it had one detail that separated it from the rest—pirates!

Yes, there were pirates everywhere! They were all of the same species—furry, mangy-looking seadogs—but they all donned a variety of pirate-y attire, from striped shirts and patched-up trousers to fancy coats and hats. They had paid no mind to the ship that had pulled into the docks, for they were too busy talking, gambling, trading treasure and stories… And most despicably of all, rounding up people and putting them in cages.

"We're going to have our work cut out for us, aren't we?" Slam Bam asked as he crossed his muscular arms.

"Don't worry about it! If I could take on pirate dudes once, I can do it again!" Zap said as his head poked out from the rear of the group and shot a smirk at Terrafin. "Besides, all these dudes do is play card games, right?"

"Zap, don't underestimate them." Slam Bam's voice took a scolding tone as he looked over at Zap. "Jess said they captured all the people in her town. I'm sure they've got some tricks under their sleeves."

"Don't worry, Slam," Terrafin smirked and crossed his arms. "There's nothin' they can throw at us that we can't handle!"

"Yeah!" Zap chimed in as he excitedly glanced at Slam Bam. "We'll have those pirate dudes all wiped out before lunch!"

Slam Bam shook his head. "If you say so. We need to find out what these pirates are really up to and put a stop to it. Split up, find out whatever you can and free whoever you can—" Slam Bam pounded a fist against his hand "—and whatever you do, DON'T play any card games. Got it?"

"Got it!" Zap and Terrafin said in unison before they smirked at each other.

"Bet'cha I can get there faster than you!" Zap chirped with a click of his tongue.

"I doubt it!" Terrafin shouted back as he done into the earth and swam off.

Slam Bam watched the two of them race off, heaved a sigh and folded his arms as he trailed behind them. "Hopefully they won't get too caught up in their contest."

§

Chihiro softly, weakly groaned as she sat back up and rubbed her eyes. Her arms and legs felt a bit numb for some reason, or maybe they fell asleep? Ugh, she really hated when that happened. Chihiro shook her legs as the numbness faded away enough for her to stand.

"Say, where am I, anyways?" Chihiro asked as she looked around and frowned. "And how'd I get here?"

The area itself provided her no clues. All she could see was an eerie, white void for miles and miles on end. No landmarks, no suspicious craters, no giant armies of angry people ready to jump on her with even the slightest twitch… Chihiro shuddered and shook her head. Nope, let's not think about that right now, better just walk around. Maybe there was a door or something. Chihiro tugged on her vest and walked forwards.

No matter how far she walked, thought, it seemed like she had gotten nowhere. All she saw was just cold white. That is, until she felt her foot hit tile? Yeah, tile! Chihiro bit her lip as the masses of blank white turned to cream yellow, pristine tile. She looked ahead, and found identical rows of metallic lockers pressed against walls with peeling yellow and orange diamond-print wallpaper. Wait a second, this place looked familiar! Chihiro turned around, and gasped as she found that the eerie white space was gone! Now a pair of glass doorways that lead to concrete paths resided where she once walked.

"How'd I end up at school?" Chihiro looked back and forth while her hands trembled just a bit. "I'm sure I was at that weird place just a second ago."

Chihrio gulped as her hands shook. I hate being here, Chihiro thought as she clenched her hands into fists and shook her head, but I can't just sit here and mope. I have to find a way out! Chihiro gulped and walked ahead with her head hung low and trained on her feet. That is, if I can figure out how I got here in the first place.

Chihiro smiled and gently toyed with her vest's zipper.

Well, at least my classmates aren't here.

Chihiro heard the sound of faint whispers and her heart stopped. Those voices, it couldn't be!

No, don't look up, don't look up, don't look up! Chihiro shook her head as the whispers seemed to grow even louder. They're not there, they're not talking, and they CERTAINLY aren't talking about—

Too late. Chihiro looked up out of impulse and saw kids! Kids all around her age or maybe slightly older dressed in all sorts of clothes with backpacks slung across their shoulders were all around her now. They all talked with each other in hushed whispers, but the way they cast slight aside glances at Chihiro keyed her in on the conversation subject.

Her.

Chihiro winced as she felt tears sting her eyes, and shook her head furiously as she stormed off just a bit faster than before. Don't think about them, don't think about them…

"Hey, Chihiro!" Called out a girlish voice from the sidelines.

Chihiro stopped in her tracks and looked up, then turned around to where the voice's source was. It was a bookish-looking girl around her age with wavy blonde hair, a button nose, pale skin, and bright blue eyes like cold ice hidden behind sharp-looking black glasses. She wore a blue cutoff shirt and a flared skirt of the same color—maybe it was a dress? Chihiro's head was too fuzzy to tell for sure.

As she clacked her white dress shoes against the tile, the girl beamed up at Chihiro with a hot gaze.

"Chihiro, I've been meaning to ask," the girl said as she teased a lock of blonde hair, "well, could you tell me about that Beauty Cure show you like so much?"

Chihiro's mouth gaped into an open smile as her eyes sparkled. "You mean Beautiful Remedy?" Chihiro echoed as her heart skipped a beat from pure excitement. "Well, sure!"

Chihiro clasped her hands together and hummed with so much excitement that it probably made her entire body vibrate!

"Well you see, Beautiful Remedy, or BeauRe for short, it's this show about these two girls, Marisa and Monika! They're normal girls who don't really talk all that much, or even know each other aside from going to the same school, but then one day, they run into these magical pixies from another world!"

Chihiro's voice rang with pure joy as she made probably a gazillion different excited hand gestures to accompany her ramble. "Their home world's power source got destroyed by this evil overlord, so they need these girls to—"

Laughter. Chihiro stopped short as she looked over at the girl, who covered her mouth in a futile attempt to hide her laughter. Behind her, two other, older-looking girls loomed over Chihiro as they joined that same girl in a chorus of laughter. Mocking, mocking laughter!

"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Chihiro felt a lump form in her throat as her mind tensed, as if she didn't want to know the answer that came.

"Oh, no, no," the first girl replied between chortles. "Just keep talking, Chihiro! We're not making fun of you at all!"

Chihiro pointed an accusatory finger in the girl's face. "But, you're laughing at me!"

"Well, I just can't help it!" The girl chuckled a few more times before she withdrew her hand to reveal a smirk. "You're just so easy to laugh at, after all!"

"Yeah!" chimed in one of the older girls as she stepped out from behind the formerly-laughing one. "You never shut up about those weird shows, and act really weird. I mean, what kind of person can't even look other people in the eye?"

Chihiro whimpered and stepped back a little. "But, but, I'm…"

"Not any normal person, that's for sure," said the second older girl as she joined the others. "After all, what normal person gets so worked up over every little thing that happens, or has those weird temper tantrums, or can't even tell when someone's making fun of them?"

Chihiro's whimpers grew more frantic as the room around her grew more ominous, more shadowy. The warm and colorful wallpaper peeled off to reveal stained concrete, the lockers grew worn and rusted, the tile floors grew old and scratched…

"Face it, Chihiro, you'll never be anybody worth hanging around. Consider yourself lucky we even want to talk to you!"

"Yeah! Anybody with half a brain would've ran off the moment you even came here!"

Chihiro's heart beat faster and faster as her classmates all surrounded her. She was trapped in a circle with all their taunts and jeers and there was no possible way to escape! All she could do was stand and listen.

"I'm surprised people even tolerated you coming here!" The girl who had first talked to Chihiro smirked even wider as she tensed her eyebrow. "After all, you can't even speak a lick of English!"

"No kidding, you couldn't even introduce yourself to the class! The teacher had to do it for you!" The girl scoffed and crossed her arms. "How pathetic!"

As the others laughed, Chihiro's fear boiled into something else—frustration, rage? Whatever it was, she couldn't tell, but quite frankly, she didn't care. "Shut…" Chihiro sputtered out at last as she held her head, her hands balled into fists.

"Oh?" The jeering girl turned around and held up a hand to her ear as she pointed with the other. "Listen, everyone! She's trying to speak English!"

"Bet she can't even do it!"

"Think she'll need us to help her?"

"Look, she's crying! What a baby!"

"Hey, what was that thing we used to call her in kindergarten?"

"I think it was…"

Chihiro inhaled sharply, and the rage in chest became a ticking time bomb that shook her entire body with raw, unkempt anger that heated the bomb like a flaming fuse. Just like that, the time bomb went off.

"SHUT UP!" Chihiro shouted at last as she lunged forward and heard a scream!

Chihiro stopped short while her vision turned fuzzy. The girl, the one that had stood before her and made fun of her laid in the arms of the other two with her head back and her breath short. Everybody stopped silent as Chihiro whimpered and reluctantly forced herself to look down at her fist.

Blood. There was blood on her knuckles.

"Did you see that?"

"Chihiro punched her!"

As the chants and crows of the crowd echoed around her brain, Chihiro shuddered and looked back down at her shaking hands. No way! Chihiro thought, I didn't just, but it was an accident, I didn't mean to…

"Quick, get her! She's dangerous!"

Chihiro sharply gasped and dashed off without any mind paid to the back of the crowd. As she ran, she could've sworn she heard an army of footsteps running behind her, or maybe it was just her own footsteps amplified by her fear. She couldn't quite tell the difference, and didn't entirely care to right now. Her breath turned heavy as the entire area around her turned even more menacing, and Chihiro's eyes scanned the halls for any form of escape. But, not much luck was had—all she could see was scratched tile, rusted lockers, and…

"A door!" Chihiro exclaimed.

Sure enough, right to her left was a worn wooden door! Finally, an escape! In a fit of panic, Chihiro let out strangled gasps as she grabbed onto the rusted doorknob and jiggled it open, but just yanked it out instead! Chihiro watched the stampeding crowd ran behind her and gulped. No time to hesitate, she had to get out of here fast! Chihiro let out a mighty scream as she side-kicked the door open, dashed inside and slammed it shut. As the shouting crowd faded from her line of hearing, Chihiro breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against the door.

"Thank goodness," Chihiro sighed as she felt her heartbeat slow down. "I thought I was a goner."

As Chihiro clutched a hand against her heart, just to confirm that her heartbeat had returned to normal—which it did—she heaved another sigh right as a giant fireball flew right over her head! She yealped and ducked down as it soared safely over her, but soon pushed herself up and looked around.

Whatever this place was, it certainly wasn't her school. It looked more like a battlefield, with land that was singed in some places and set aflame in others, weapons and blood scattered about like weeds, and worst of all, the battlefield was littered with dead bodies. Familiar dead bodies.

"… Rupty?" Chihiro whimpered as she crawled over to the body of what she presumed was Eruptor and gently laid her hand on it.

His whole body was nothing but volcanic rock that was cold to the touch. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was only slightly agape in an almost shocked position.

"No way, this can't be happening!" Chihiro’s heartbeat raced once more as she scrambled across to the other bodies littered on the battlefield. "Warnado? Double Trouble?" Chihiro's voice grew more strained and more terrified as she bounced from each body to the next. "Wrecking Ball! Stump Smash! Anybody! Please, please just wake up!"

But no use. They all laid cold and lifeless, for their pulses and energy were completely robbed from their bodies. How did this happen? Why was she here?

Chihiro curled into a ball and shuddered so hard she could've fallen apart as hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Her friends, all dead. How could she have let this happen? How did this even happen, anyways? Everything before she entered that weird, eerie, white space was a complete blur! As Chihiro felt like she herself was about ready to curl up and die, she pulled out of her self-loathing thanks to the sounds of what was probably fighting up ahead. Angry shouts and magical blasts—that had to be a battle!

And if there's a battle, maybe, Chihiro thought as she wiped away her tears and pushed herself to run forwards, maybe there's survivors somewhere!

Chihiro's pants were heavy as she grew closer and closer to the combat noises, found a giant, broken stone lodged into the wreckage and took shelter behind it. Her curiosity overtook as she poked her head over the giant broken segment of the rock and froze.

There, right before her eyes was Spyro, who faced off against none other than Kaos himself! Kaos looked just as intimidating as he did in her dreams, all evil aura and rippling muscles and intimidating clothes, though for some reason, he was bald now and backed by a giant hydra? Chihiro didn't entirely have time to question why as he fought against Spyro.

Speaking of Spyro, he wasn't doing so hot! His breath was heavy and his whole body was slumped, as if he barely had any energy. With every attack Kaos threw at him, Spyro only seemed to grow more and more worn as he tried his very best to dodge.

"You might as well give up, dragonfly," Kaos taunted, his voice like that of a legion's, "you stand no chance against I, the ULTIMATE EVIL EMPEROR KAOSSSSSSSSSS!"

"NEVER!" Spyro hissed between heavy breaths as he barely pushed himself up. "I can't, I can't, I can't let you, win!"

Spyro only shuddered and fell to his paws, and Kaos laughed even more.

"What are you talking about?" Kaos smirked as he spread his muscular arms wide. "I already have!"

Kaos gestured around to the scene before him.

"I've destroyed the Core of Light, killed your puny menace Eon and all of you Skylanders, and now I'm EVIL LORD SUPREME OF ALL SKYLANDS!" Kaos looked back at Spyro and bore a fanged smile. "All because you were too pathetic and weak to stop me!"

Chihiro trembled as she watched the fight before her, and her heart shook with a strange feeling, as if she should've remembered something.

"Thanks for helping me bring your worst fears to life, dragonfly!"

Worst fears! Chihiro realized as she fell back from realization. That's it! I got trapped in that mission simulator, but something tried to push me out right before I got zapped. I remember now!

Chihiro scrambled back to watch Spyro and brushed her hand against the warm stone. Was that Spyro who tried to rescue me? Chihiro's eyes stung with tears as she watched Spyro in his beaten, helpless state. Is this his worst fear?

Spyro grunted and staggered up. Though, even from so far away, Chihiro could tell he was pained and barely hung on. "This battle isn't over, yet, Kaos!" Spyro retorted, his voice weak but still with a bit of courage to it. "I'll, stop you, I swear!"

"Don't swear on things you can't do, dragonfly. After all, how could someone as pathetic and useless as you do anything right?"

Chihiro heard some kind of magical whir, and gasped as the Skylanders' corpses flew off the battlefield!

"You'll just have to face the facts, you're a complete and utter FAILURE!" Kaos smirked as the dead Skylanders' bodies swarmed him like ants. "You spectacularly failed to stop me from conquering Skylands or killing your friends! All you could do was sit there and watch!" Kaos scoffed as he glared down Spyro. "And you still have the absolute gall to call yourself a leader? To call yourself a Skylander?"

Spyro only winced and stepped back. There was pure panic in his eyes as he looked over Kaos and the dead bodies that Kaos had collected; this really was his worst fear.

"It's all your fault that everything is the way it is, dragonfly. Just face the music and give up!"

"No, I…"

Spyro tried to spit more out, but he was far too upset to say anything.

Kaos only chuckled, annd levitated out Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy's dead bodies. "You really messed up, Spyro!" Kaos mocked in his best imitation of Trigger Happy's voice as he puppeted Trigger Happy's body. "This is all your fault!"

Spyro's legs trembled as his eyes bobbed around. "I, I—"

"We'd all have been better off if you never joined!" Kaos continued to mock, this time in a shoddy imitation of Gill Grunt's voice.

"Guys, I tried, I really did, I promise!" Spyro croaked, now completely desolate as tears fell from his eyes.

"Well, you didn't try hard enough!"

Kaos only continued to mock Spyro as he pulled out more and more dead Skylanders to puppet, but Spyro didn't retaliate. He only sat there, teary-eyed and completely defeated as Kaos continued to prattle on.

Spyro, don't listen to him! Chihiro demanded within the confines of her mind as her gaze narrowed. He's just trying to mess you up!

But, it was no use; Chihiro's silent pleas didn't reach Spyro at all. He only sat down, completely defeated.

"Ah, it's no fun mocking someone when they don't even try to fight back!" Kaos exclaimed as he looked down at Spyro. "I'll just end this right here, right now!"

The Skylanders' and the hydra's bodies all glowed as some bright substance flew out of them and into Kaos, who glowed with a bright, brilliant power.

"Goodbye, dragonfly!" Kaos placed his hands forwards as he charged up some kind of giant energy ball. "It was awful knowing you!"

I've gotta save him! Chihiro thought as she watched Kaos and Spyro's duel with wide eyes. But, but how? I can't fight him myself!

Chihiro looked at her trembling hands while tears of rage fell down her cheeks, and clenched those shaky hands tight. The invisibility spell! Her resolution firm, Chihiro clasped her hands tight and looked back at Spyro. I've gotta try it! But— Chihiro’s heart wavered just slightly —I've never been able to pull it off before! Can I really do it?

"No, there's no time for doubts, Chihiro," Chihiro said as she wiped away her tears, "your friend needs you!"

As she focused her ability to the best she could, Chihiro clasped her hands tight and closed her eyes. Magic soared through her entire body and made her shake, but maybe that was just her nerves. Either way, she didn't care.

Turn me invisible! Chihiro thought.

Without even thinking, Chihiro climbed up the rock and dashed forward! As she flew through the skies, her body made contact with something smooth, scaly and warm, and wrapped itself tight around it. Surely that was Spyro!

"WHAT?" Kaos exclaimed. "WHO DID THAT?"

Now, teleport us out of here! Chihiro demanded as she held as tightly to Spyro as she could. Just like that, Chihiro felt herself whisked out of the area with a resounding WHOOSH!