Chihiro winced as the crowd of angry students loomed over her and Spyro. They were all terrifying beasts, literally! The once-human students morphed into beasts beyond any comprehension with looks akin to that of a horror film's screenwriter's worst nightmares! Gigantic insects with beady eyes and massive fang-filled jaws, odd creatures with medical needles for heads that were filled with some kind of glowing green fluid, monsters with colorful skin and sharp-looking horns akin to devils… If you could dream it up, it was there!

Chihiro wanted to move so badly, she surely did, but she couldn't. It was like her feet were glued to the spot, only able to stare as the monsters closed in on them, but Spyro took to the skies and grabbed on to Chihiro's shoulders!

"WHOA!" Chihiro exclaimed as Spyro lifted her into the skies.

"Hang on, Chihiro," Spyro exclaimed as his wings furiously pounded against the atmosphere. "We're in for a wild ride!"

"Huh?"

Chihiro looked up at Spyro as his eyes glinted with just a tinge of yellow and. The crowd of monster students growled and chanted as they raced up to Spyro and shook their fists! They looked even angrier than before; this really was the stuff of nightmares! Before they could do a thing, though, a flash of light shot out across the room! It was so bright that it practically absorbed the entire area and made it impossible to see a thing—Chihiro’s only guide was the sounds of Spyro flying away and the faded cries of the angry mob.

Chihiro heaved a sigh of relief and dusted herself off as the light faded and Spyro dropped her back on the floor. "Man, I wasn't sure we'd get out of there!" she remarked as Spyro plopped down next to her.

"Don't worry, Chihiro!" Spyro flew up to Chihiro and patted her shoulder. "As long as I'm here, you won't have to face all this alone!"

Chihiro gently smiled, but that smile soon dropped into a confused expression as the sounds of growling and gnashing teeth drew close by. With a wince, she clenched her teeth as she craned her head aside, and jumped from the mob of monsters that stampeded towards her! Normally, she would be terrified to see all these creatures, the living embodiment of everything she feared over the course of her life, coming right towards her—but with Spyro by her side, she felt just a tiny bit braver than usual!

So, she drew into an offensive stand and looked at Spyro, who only nodded with her. As she let out a mighty cry of battle, Chihiro launched herself into the fray and summoned a gigantic, magic-made can of bug spray! A toxic mist of spray manifested in the school halls with a light press of the top, and a single whiff of it turned the insect students dizzy as they passed out across the floors! While they fell to the floors like flies, Chihiro smirked and whisked away the can with a shake of her hand.

A shout from across alerted her to Spyro, who got into a battle of his own! Spyro's eyes flashed a bright blue the color of ocean waves as he charged into the body of one of the syringe monsters. The syringe monster glowed that same shade of blue, and the liquid in its head gushed all over the place! It covered lockers, walls, ceiling, posters, even the students in the gunk! As they ran away from the rainy mess, the syringe student stumbled about and passed out onto the floor.

"Alright!" Chihiro shouted as she and Spyro high-fived each other.

The two of them jolted up as the sound of massive growling breathed down their necks, gulped and turned around to find…

"Demons?" Spyro exclaimed as he took a step back.

There right in front of them was a trio of massive, imposing students dressed in clothes made from animal furs with fluffy hair and multi-colored skin. Their yellow eyes, massive fangs and sharpened horns made them look like something out of the deepest pits of hell, and the gigantic, spiked metal clubs they held certainly didn't help the image either.

"No, they're oni!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped away while one of the oni slammed their club into the floor. "They're creatures from my home's legend!"

"Really?" Spyro asked as he flew out the way of another oni as it tried to punch him.

"Yep!" Chihiro nodded and bounced away from yet another swing of a metal club. "When I was little, my mom told me that an oni would take away kids who didn't go to bed on time to get me to go to sleep because she knew I was really scared of them—" Chihiro chuckled and scratched the back of her head "—to be honest, that actually made it harder for me to sleep than easier! I—WHOA!"

Before Chihiro could finish, the oni she fought slammed their club into the school halls and made everything around jump! Well, save for Chihiro, who merely backflipped onto the club and glared down the oni with a sense of silent rage.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing, buddy!"

Chihiro shook a fist at the oni, and stopped short as her eyes widened. Why? Well, because the oni had pulled out a gigantic, cloth sack and smiled as it looked down at Chihiro. Surely, it was gonna whisk her away for dinner!

"Not today you don't!" Chihiro teleported away as the oni swung its sack down where she once stood, then placed her hands on her hips. "I only stayed up 'till midnight tonight!"

"That's still pretty late, though…" Spyro remarked as he scratched his chin.

Spyro's remark went unnoticed to Chihiro's ears, though. She was more focused on staying out of the oni's sack! With shouts and funny remarks all around, she teleported every which way!

"Bet'cha can't catch me!" Chihiro exclaimed as she teleported on top of a row of rusty lockers.

The oni growled and swiped down its sack, but Chihiro blipped out in the nick of time and reappeared a couple feet away! She stuck out her tongue and pulled down her eyelid as she hovered in midair, and the oni roared with absolutely indignity as it ran forward and tried to catch her. Once again, she teleported away before it could catch her! All it could do was crash into its fellow oni!

Chihiro landed back down on the floor, and smirked as the oni fall into a dizzy heap on the broken floors while she snapped her fingers. "It's time you got a taste of your own medicine!" Chihiro remarked.

A gigantic, magical sack manifested over the oni as Chihiro spoke, and with a mighty sweep, it captured the oni inside its magical cloth body and tied itself shut! The oni thrashed against it, but the sack was far too strong to be broken! It only sat itself back down on the floor.

"Five year old me, you've been vindicated at last." Chihiro crossed her arms and made the goofiest smile she could. "Man, that was so satisfying!"

Spyro turned back around and frowned. "I wouldn't get ahead of yourself! We've still got the rest of the student body to take care of!"

Chihiro cocked an eyebrow, then turned around and found that much to her dismay, Spyro was right. Though they took care of that small few, there were still plenty of angry, monstrous students! There was no time to waste! So, with magic at the ready and more than enough determination to spare, Spyro and Chihiro sent out a flurry of attacks! Magic fireballs, sphere of energy, projectiles that surged with raw elemental power… It looked like a stormy battlefield as the monster students charged down the hall just to get mowed down by the ranged attacks. Unfortunately, there were still plenty to spare!

Chihiro cried out in shock as she narrowly dodged a jab from a syringe monster, turned around and kicked it in the back! While it fell to the ground, she turned back to her front and caught another needle monster that charged towards her! Before she could react, Spyro charged forward and slammed it into a locker. Chihiro beamed, charged her hands with magical energy, and spat out an entire round of magical bombs! As she juggled the bombs, Chihiro cocked an eyebrow and tossed them towards the raging crowds! In moments, the bombs exploded and covered the crowds in a thick layer of smoke!

While the monsters raged and stumbled about in confusion, Chihiro grabbed Spyro's paw and pulled him out of the fray. "There's way too many of these guys!" Chihiro exclaimed as Spyro shook his head and collected himself. "It'll take us forever to get rid of them all!"

"You've got that right," Spyro scoffed before his eyes lit up, "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Chihiro tilted her head.

"We could combine our powers! If we fuse our powers into one giant attack, we could wipe the floor with them!"

"It's worth a shot!" Chihiro beamed and leaned back before she spun around as the smoke cleared, "Come on!"

With a cry that slowly raised in volume, Chihiro's hands glowed with cyan magic energy that soon became so bright that it completely masked those hands from view. Once they were completely enveloped, she merely held them up in front of her person and looked back at Spyro, whose whole body shimmered with purple light.

"Now!" Spyro cried.

Chihiro clapped her hands, and out from them came the biggest energy sphere she ever summoned in her entire life! It was probably about the size of car, and glowed so bright it was almost like she was looking at the sun! As it raced off towards the crowds, Spyro shot off a gigantic blast of purple and white magic energy from his horns, and sat down as their twin attacks shot off.

The further and further the attacks flew, the closer and closer they got until they were a hare's breadth away from each other. Spyro, Chihiro, the monster students, everybody only watched in wonder as the twin projectiles drew closer and closer before they finally fused into one giant, cool-colored comet!

The students finally realized what was happening and screamed! They tried to dash off in a frantic haze, but it was too late. The comet grew too close to outrun, so all they could do was stare and yell as that comet slammed into them and let out a mighty eruption of magic! The blast scattered all across the halls, flung open lockers and doors alike, and scattered glittery, colorful magic dust wherever it touched. When it finally faded away, it left behind completely clear hallways with not a monster in sight.

"Alright!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped up and pumped a fist in the air, "We did it! We beat 'em!" Chihiro landed on the ground and shook the magic dust off her person. "And made a mess of the school, but whatever."

"That takes care of that." Spyro wiped magic dust off his paws and looked at Chihiro. "Now, let's get out of here!"

Chihiro chirped and nodded in agreement, but before they could move the whole school started rattling! Lockers rattled, floor tiles shook, billboards fell off their places on the walls, everything shook with some kind of frightening power!

"Now what is it?" Chihiro demanded as she placed her hands on her hips, before something wet and sticky dropped onto her nose! Chihiro frowned and wiped it off, then looked down at her hand. It was a liquidy, green substance, almost like…

"Slime?"

Chihiro frowned as she looked over her hand for a few more seconds, but soon her eyes glazed over to the floor and her jaw dropped.

"No, it couldn't be!"

Massive amounts of slime oozed down from the ceiling and piled onto the floor, almost as if it was taking a solid form…

"Who's causing all this racket?" demanded a warped, gargling voice as the smile pile jiggled to life! With a jiggle, the smaller top of the pile popped on top with a pair of glasses and a short, smooth wig atop its body, all paired with a fancy looking tie!

"NO WAY!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped back.

"What is that thing?" Spyro giggled as he placed a paw over his snout to mask his laughter, "It looks ridiculous!"

Chihiro pointed a finger as she broke into a cold sweat. "It's the BLOBBICUS!"

"The what?"

"When I was seven, I watched this really cheap movie." Chihiro shuddered as she lowered her arm. "It was about this science-y goop monster that came to life and wanted to kill the man who tossed it out! It could sneak in anywhere and just, trap you in its goop! It scared the daylights out of me!" Chihiro then looked over at the Blobbicus once more and chuckled. "Well, looking at it now it does look kinda silly, but—"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SILLY?" the Blobbicus demanded as it slid after Chihiro.

"CRAP!" Chihiro exclaimed as she turned tail and dashed off, her breath heavy. "Don't look back, don't look back, don't look back…"

But unfortunately, Chihiro's curiosity got the best of her, so she craned her head around to find the Blobbicus barely a foot away from her!

"YOU INSOLENT BRAT!" the Blobbicus leaned forward and sped up. "I DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH YOU LOT!

Chihiro only screamed and ran forward, but in her haste, she didn't pay attention to where she was going and slid on a pile of magic dust! Chihiro flew up in the air, and fell back down right as the Blobbicus slammed into her! When Chihiro opened her eyes, she found herself trapped in a mass of gelatinous green goop! She tried to scream, but the moment she opened her mouth, it filled with the stuff! The Blobbicus merely slid away as she futilely tried to thrust against the sticky, firm mass of gelatin.

"You're going to detention, mi—"

"CHIHIRO!" Spyro exclaimed as he charged straight at the Blobbicus!

The Blobbicus screamed as it slid out of Spyro's path, but like a raging bull set on its target, Spyro wasn't gonna give up! He just turned around and charged again! This sudden turn of events caught the Blobbicus so off-guard that it stood in horror as Spyro slammed forward and dove his head into the Blobbicus's body! Spyro’s breath held tight as he tried to reach out and grab Chihiro, but the slime was so thick that he could barely move a paw, let alone his leg! His eyebrows clenched, and Spyro's eyes flashed red while he emitted a heat so warm that it tinted his scales a bit pink!

"Is it hot in here, or it is just me?" The Blobbicus asked.

It looked down at its body and screamed! The heat Spyro created was so great that the gelatin which comprised the Blobbicus slowly melted away! While the Blobbicus screamed and flailed, its gelatin had loosened enough that Spyro moved forward and yanked Chihiro out of its body! Chihiro staggered back to her feet and spat gelatin out of her mouth as the two of them stumbled backwards. Her face was tinted blue from the lack of air, but she still turned to Spyro and smiled.

"Thanks, Golden Boy," Chihiro panted as she fell down and hugged Spyro, "I almost thought I was a goner!"

Spyro smiled as he hugged Chihiro back, and his body was now a pleasantly warm temperature that made hugging him akin to hugging a warm blanket fresh out of the dryer. Chihiro's panting slowed, and stopped entirely as she let go, stood up and spun around.

"SOMEONE, PLEASE!" the Blobbicus begged as it slowly melted into a slimy green puddle. "SAVE ME! I STILL HAVE SO MANY PAPERS TO GRADE!"

"Not so fast, buddy!" Chihiro exclaimed as she stomped over and glared down the Blobbicus. "Tell us where the exit out of this place is!"

"There's a door right there!" the Blobbicus nudged its melting body towards the entryway in pure terror.

"DON'T PLAY COY WITH ME!" Chihiro stomped her foot a few times and turned her head downwards. "Tell us where the exit to this weird mission thingie is!"

The Blobbicus let out strained sobs as it melted further. "I don't know what you're talking about! The only other exit I know is the emergency exit on the roof!"

"Wait, say that again?"

"There's an emergency exit on top of the school's roof, I swear!" The Blobbicus sniffled further as its glasses and wig slid off its body. "I swear on my honor as a teacher!"

"Looks like we know where we're going!"

Chihiro smirked, and turned around to face Spyro before she prepared to run off.

"Hey, what about me?" The Blobbicus demanded.

"Oh, right, almost forget!"

Chihiro spun back around and snapped her fingers, and in a moment, a gigantic magical towel and jar manifested in the hallway! The towel wiped up the Blobbicus in a few clean sweeps, and squeezed it straight into the jar.

"Hang tight, buddy!" Chihiro shouted as she waved at the Blobbicus, turned tail and dashed towards the stairs.

"THIS ISN'T WHAT I MEANT!" The Blobbicus screamed as the jar magically corked shut. "YOU GET BACK HERE! THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT YOUR TEACHER! I'LL SEND YOU TO DETENTION, I'LL MAKE YOU STAND IN THE HALLWAYS, I'LL TELL YOUR PARENTS, I'LL—"

The Blobbicus stopped, and sighed as it realized that Chihiro already left it in the dust. "I don't get paid enough for this."

§

Slam Bam's teeth gritted as he glazed over the way to the back docks, which, just to his luck, was infested with…

"Pirates!" the mayor exclaimed as he pointed to the path away!

Sure enough, everywhere one looked, there were pirates stationed all across the paths! Some sat atop lofty palm trees and shook down coconuts to conk their subordinates on the head with, others loitered around empty houses and gambled with each other, a few stood guard in front of drawbridges that blocked the way off…

"Wait, a drawbridge!" The shipmaster exclaimed as he gazed over the bridge. "How are we gonna get it down?"

Slam Bam hummed as he placed a clawed hand to his chin. As much as he wanted to fight them off, there were guards flanked at every angle, and he couldn't risk getting caught in a fight with civilians to worry about. Slam Bam opened his eyes, looked over the pirate guard once more, and noted the guard's wooden stand coated with playing cards.

"As much as I hate to say it," Slam Bam said as he stormed forwards. "It looks like we'll have to play their little game." Slam Bam cast an aside glance at the mayor and shipmaster. "Stay close to me, alright?"

The mayor and shipmaster both winced as they drew close behind Slam Bam. Occasionally, the pirates glared over and growled at them while they yelped and clung closer to Slam Bam, but Slam Bam didn't pay them any mind. Rather, he was more focused on the pirate that guarded the drawbridge as he found himself eye-to-eye with that same guard.

"Well, well, well," the pirate guard crooned as he eyed Slam Bam. "We don't see many yeti 'round these parts! What brings you here, mister?" The pirate guard shot Slam Bam a glare as he opened his mouth. "If it's about the drawbridge, fer instance, I'm afraid I'll have to send ye on yer way. Cap'n said this bridge stays up!"

"Oh, I'm not here for that," Slam Bam retorted as he drew a claw around the cards. "I'm here for a little game of—" Slam Bam's glazed eyes turned a bit confused "—what do you call this?"

"PIRATE CARDS?"

The pirate practically leaned out of his seat. "I've been itchin' to play a round, lemme tell ye!" The pirate coughed into his hand and collected himself as he sat back down. "What might ye conditions be, matey?"

"Tell you what." Slam Bam slyly grinned. "If I win this card game, you'll lower the bridge."

The pirate smirked as he pulled out and set a timer. "Har har har! Yer quite cocky, matey, but let me tell ye that ye'll be singin' a different tune when ye face me anchor deck!"

Slam Bam took notice of the pirate cards before him as the timer sat on the desk and ticked away. They didn't seem any different from the ordinary set of playing cards, that is, until he lifted one up! At least, he tried to lift one up, but it had the weight of an elephant! No, make that two elephants stacked on top of each other! Slam Bam only groaned as he dropped the card while it flopped back down onto the desk with a THUD.

"I almost forgot to mention," the pirate guard remarked as he leaned back, "that’s the trick to me anchor deck. These cards are ridiculously heavy compared to normal ones, and they're only getting heavier!"

Slam Bam growled as the pirate guard cackled, wrapped two of his hands around the card, and flipped it over with a mighty shout! As it flipped over, the card bore the image of a treasure chest filled with all sorts of riches that were about as rich as the look of shock on the pirate guard's face.

"That's the booty card!" The pirate guard coughed into his paw and regained his resolve. "But can ye find the other one, I wonder?"

Slam Bam only smirked as he stretched his arms to the sky and focused on a card adjacent to the one he flipped. That had to have the match, right? Slam Bam flipped it over with all his might, but he was proven wrong, for painted on the newly-flipped card's surface was an image of a treasure map instead!

"Map!" The pirate proclaimed as the cards flipped themselves back over.

Slam Bam only grunted and made an aside smile. "It's just one miss, not enough to set me back," Slam Bam remarked as he went to flip over the booty card once more, "I can win!"

But something felt wrong as Slam Bam tried to lift the card. This card felt way too heavy! He strained and groaned and pulled with all his might, yet the card's weight got the best of him as he finally let go and stumbled back.

"I did say they were only gettin' heavier, matey." The pirate captain twirled a lock of fur. "Every time ye lose, me cards gain weight!"

Slam Bam let out a low growl as he gritted his teeth, but with a mighty cry, he latched all four hands around the card and flipped it over.

"Booty!" The pirate proclaimed without any mind paid to the weird look Slam Bam shot him.

Slam Bam only shrugged as he flipped over a card under it, which was revealed to be a ship with billowing sails.

"Schooner!"

The pirate watched as the cards flipped over with a sly grin, as if he expected Slam Bam to cry uncle at this point. However, Slam Bam wasn't one to give up. With his yellow eyes trained on the deck and little mind paid to the ticking clock beside him, he still continued to play with all his might—even though he kept getting every pair wrong.

"Booty!"

"Island!"

"Skull!"

"Map!"

"Schooner!"

One wrong pair turned to two, five, and maybe ten at this point (Slam Bam wasn't keeping count). That obnoxious pirate's voice rang in his head like a drum as he barely suppressed the urge to sock the pirate in the face.

"Schooner!" the pirate proclaimed as Slam Bam flipped over a card with all his might, and took heavy breaths as he flipped the next one over. "Map!"

Slam Bam's breath turned heavy as sweat dripped down his breath. Still worn, he gripped another card with sweaty palms and tried to lift it up, but it was no use. It was far too heavy. But, he still couldn't give up! He still had to get across the island and save Terrafin and Zap! As he pulled harder, Slam Bam felt something grab onto him and cast an aside glance backwards. Behind him, the mayor and shipmaster both grabbed onto his back and pulled with all their might as well! However, even with all three of them pulling as hard as they could, they still couldn't lift the card at all! It remained stuck to the desk, like it was glued down with some kind of sticky substance.

"Ye've only got fifteen seconds left, matey!" The pirate crooned as he watched Slam Bam's futile attempts at lifting the cards. "Better get on it!"

Slam Bam growled, bore his teeth into a fanged snarl and knitted his brows into an equally irritated glare. "FORGET THIS!" Slam Bam exclaimed as he gripped all four hands onto the desk, "I'VE HAD IT WITH THIS STUPID GAME!"

With a roar so loud it could be heard all across the island, Slam Bam flipped the table and sent it barreling straight ahead! The pirate who was once stationed there jumped aside and dove into the ocean as the table slammed into the drawbridge, and knocked the drawbridge right over!

"Well, that's that, then." Slam Bam brushed off his hands and smirked. "Let's move on—"

"YAR, MATEY!" exclaimed all the other pirate guards at once as they jumped in front of Slam Bam's path.

Slam Bam frowned and cracked his knuckles. "… Crap. I forgot about these guys."

Slam Bam looked at the mayor and shipmaster as they watched the pirate guards with wary eyes, and threw two muscular arms in front of them.

"Get to cover, alright?" Slam Bam looked over the pirates and furrowed his brow, "I'll take care of these—"

WHOOSH!

Before Slam Bam could finish his sentence, a flurry of playing cards swooped down like birds from above and circled all around the pirate guards before they locked the pirates together in a tight chain! Slam Bam gasped and jumped back, but turned around as a slim, shadowy figure leaped off of a palm tree and disappeared into the distance.

"Just what was that?" Slam Bam asked before he shook his head and shrugged. "Eh, you know what they say. Don't look a gift reindeer in the mouth and all."

With the pirates now taken care of, Slam Bam pushed them aside and proceeded past the drawbridge. The mayor and shipmaster stayed close behind him as they walked onto the next chapter of the island. Everything was so oddly peaceful there with not a pirate in sight. Just a bunch of strange-looking wooden barrels that appeared to be… Shaking?

"Wait," Slam Bam remarked as he drew back just a bit. "Since when did barrels shake on their own?"

"I don't like the look of this!" The mayor remarked as he shuddered.

The shaking grew more and more violent as they all took a few more steps back, and with a gigantic crash, the barrels all exploded and sent split wood flying everywhere!

"CHOMPIES!" the shipmaster exclaimed as he hid behind Slam Bam.

Sure enough, within those barrels were none other than chompies! Well, they looked a bit different from the average chompy. They were more of a cyan in color rather that the chompy's trademark chartreuse, and they seemed to be a bit bigger than normal, but they were chompies nonetheless, right?

Well, whatever they were, they were going down! Slam Bam shot out several blasts of cold wind, and the wind solidified into giant ice blocks that completely trapped the chompies! Slam Bam basked in their wonder for a few moments, but stopped and turned back to the chompies. He could've sworn he heard something that sounded like ice cracking! Slam Bam drew closer to the frozen chompies and examined the ice block he trapped them in, but reeled back as it shattered in an instant!

"The heck?" Slam Bam exclaimed. "That ice block was a hard as a rock! How could those chompies—ARGH!"

Slam Bam stopped short as one of the chompies leaped forward and bit onto his arm! As he swung around and tried to pry it off, he got a good look at the chompy, and his face fell with realization.

"Wait a second, these aren't chompies!" Slam Bam finally pried the "chompy" off his arm and tossed it into the ocean. "They're crunchers!"

"Crunchers?" the mayor and shipmaster repeated in unison.

"They're like chompies, but way more aggressive!" Slam Bam grabbed several crunchers by their eyestalks and tossed them into the ocean. "And they're, AUGH!" Slam Bam looked down as several crunchers latched onto his arm and tried to yank them off. "They're way more aggressive, too! Stay back, you don't want them to bite you!"

The mayor and shipmaster didn't reply. They only screamed as the crunchers circled around them with sharp, bared fangs! The two of them clung to each other as the crunchers got ready to pounce, but several other crunchers slammed into the crowd from the skies and sent them all flying into the ocean! The mayor and shipmaster gasped with relief as the crunchers drop into the cold ocean waters with a series of plops to accompany, but frowned as they looked back at Slam Bam.

"Are you sure you're alright, buddy?" the shipmaster asked as he walked up to Slam Bam. "You seem kinda scratched up."

Slam Bam frowned and examined himself. Those crunchers definitely left their mark; he had bleeding scratches and purple bite marks all over his arms! The pain did sting a lot now that Slam Bam had noticed it, for that matter.

"Don't worry, this is nothing," Slam Bam remarked as he wiped himself off, "I couldn't be a Skylander if a couple scratches made me give up—" Slam Bam looked over to the ocean and frowned "—besides, Fin needs me, so I can't stop now!"

As he looked over the oceans, Slam Bam made a deep frown. It almost looked like there were pirate ships on the horizon! Wait, pirate ships?

"We need to get going!" Slam Bam ran forward, "They're getting away!"

Slam Bam's heart pounded with adrenaline as he stampeded forward, his head shaken with all kinds of intense feelings. He had to get there fast, he couldn't let them get away! Not when they had Terrafin and Zap in their clutches! But, as he drew closer and closer to the bridge, it slowly went up and up and up as pirates gathered in front of it.

"They're trying to shut it down!"

Slam Bam fell on all fours and charged like an angry ice gorilla towards the drawbridge, but despite how fast he ran, it was far too late. The drawbridge already hit its top. As he reached another desk set up with cards, Slam Bam found himself in such a fury that all he could see was red!

"Ye must be—" The pirate stationed behind the desk said, only to stop as Slam Bam socked him in the face.

"I'll give you ten seconds to put that bridge down," Slam Bam heaved, now overcome by a sense of urgent rage, "or else, I'll—"

"I wouldn't be makin' any more violent threats, if I were ye."

Now slightly calmer, Slam Bam turned around and found the mayor and shipmaster held tight in the clutches of two burly, massive-looking pirate guards!

"Heh, sorry!" the mayor remarked as he awkwardly waved to Slam Bam.

"We kinda got ourselves in a pinch!" the shipmaster noted with a shrug.

Slam Bam only drew back, and his anger replaced itself with confusion and concern.

"Now, matey," the punched pirate said as he sat back down at his desk. "Ye can entertain me with a little game of Pirate Cards, or yer buddies get to see Davey Jones' locker! What'll it be?"

Slam Bam’s heart pounded in his ears as he examined the situation before him. If he played that game, then surely he wouldn't have enough time to catch up with the pirates, but he couldn't possibly risk the mayor and shipmaster's lives! What was he supposed to do? Slam Bam furrowed his blows as he clasped his sweaty palms, then he heard a whoosh as something flew towards him!

He instinctively caught it in his hands and looked it over to see a playing card! Slam Bam frowned and flipped over the card, but there was no illustration, only a message.

I'll take care of saving your friends. You just take care of the pirates.

Slam Bam looked up and found that same, shadowy figure from before as they sat atop a coconut tree! The figure gave him a thumbs up, dashed into the distance and vanished.

His confidence regained, Slam Bam brushed a fist against his torn chest and turned back to the pirate behind the desk. "Alright then," Slam Bam said as he sat down, "I'll take you up on your game!"

"Very well then." The pirate set a timer and placed it to the side. "Be warned, though! My mermaid deck's one of the best of the lot! Savvy?"

"We'll see about that." Slam Bam cracked his knuckles and examined the cards with the timer only white noise in his mind.