"Think we've reached the top yet, Spyro?" Chihiro asked as she trekked up a giant staircase of concrete stairs.

It took them some time, but she and Spyro found the staircase that lead to the rooftop! They fought massive heights, gigantic slime teachers, floors filled with holes, the occasional annoying insect, Bob the janitor, but at last, they were finally here! So, why was Chihiro so nervous? Chihiro whimpered as she placed a hand on her heart. Her hand trembled as her heart beat at a fast and furious pace, so fast and furious that it almost felt like it was going to jump straight out of her skin!

"I think I can see a door!" Spyro exclaimed as he flew ahead of Chihiro with an orb of light in paw.

"What?"

Chihiro watched Spyro zoom ahead of her. She ran behind him with a frown, and found that unfortunately, he was right. There, right before them was the doors that undoubtedly lead to the rooftop. Light poured in from the space underneath, and one could vaguely hear something on the other side. Something awful, probably.

"Just have to open these doors, find that emergency exit and we should be out of here!" Spyro looked over at Chihiro and nodded. "You do the honors, Chi."

Chihiro winced and nodded as she reached for the doorknob, but her hand instinctively drew back. Her ears rang with fear as she felt herself break into a cold sweat. She couldn't do this, she couldn't do this, she, she, she…

"Something wrong, Chihiro?" Spyro turned to Chihiro and frowned.

Chihiro winced, gulped and forced a weak nod. "Well, yeah." Chihiro hung her head and sighed. "I mean, we don't know what's behind this door. For all we know, it could be something ten times worse than what was in there!" Chihiro looked back at Spyro with pain in her chestnut eyes. "What if I can't handle it?"

"You've gotten through everything so far," Spyro reassured with a flap of his wings, "I'm sure it'll be nothing!" Spyro placed a paw on her hand as Chihiro hesitated once more and looked away. "Besides, even if it is, I'll be right beside you. We'll face it together!"

"Yeah, that's right," Chihiro reminded herself, her fear replaced with a gentle peace as she looked down the door once more. "We'll do it together!"

Chihiro breathed in, huffed, and balled her hands into fists.

"HI-YAH!"

The final door slammed open with a jiggle and a kick! Chihiro groaned just a tiny bit as she onto the rooftop with the expectancy of fresh air as a greeting, but found nothing of the sort.

There, she found herself on a worn rooftop that overlooked a desolate town. All the houses and other buildings were worn and abandoned with peeling paint, broken windows, and exteriors so dusty it could make someone sneeze from a whole mile away. Gigantic piles of leaves covered yards of dead grass and dead trees barren of leaves or any other sort of life lined the roads. It seemed so sad and empty, just like this school was.

Chihiro shuddered as she overlooked the town before her. "Dang, can't wait to get outta this place," she remarked as she veered her head right and smiled, "and there's our ticket out!"

Right in front of Chihiro loomed a giant, swirling vortex painted in shades of blue. It looked so unreal compared to everything else here, like it was almost painted on, but Chihiro supposed that a giant vortex would look unnatural compared to a relatively normal-looking abandoned town anyways.

"Home sweet home…" Chihiro made a running start and leaped into the vortex. "HERE I COME!"

However, it seemed the vortex had other ideas! A giant shield knocked her back as soon as she reached a few inches away from the vortex! Chihiro screamed as she flew in mid-air, but grunted as Spyro caught her by the back of her shirt and gently dropped her on the ground.

"Thanks for that." Chihiro sighed as she dusted herself off and looked over at the vortex. "What is that thing?"

"A shield, obviously," Spyro replied as he frowned and walked a bit closer, "but why is it glowing so much?"

"Glowing?"

Chihiro glazed over to the shield and found that Spyro was right! The shield started to glow in such a bright, milky white that soon, it completely hid the vortex with its light! The bright color almost made it look like a giant egg, to be honest. As the glow grew the brightest it could, its light started to pour out into the space below before it took the form of…

"A human?" Spyro exclaimed as he flared his wings and dropped into an attacking stance.

Sure enough, a human child manifested from the bright light that the shield poured out! As the child's form solidified, they blinked once, and twice as they looked over Spyro and Chihiro, who had a much less calm reaction.

"WHAT?!" Spyro and Chihiro exclaimed as they pointed towards the child.

"Why does that thing look like you?" Spyro shouted as he looked at Chihiro.

"I don't know!" Chihiro shouted back as she tugged on her hair. "Why DOES it look like me?"

They were both accurate in their observation, for this ghostly child looked almost identical to Chihiro. Same frame, same face, same clothes; the only difference was that it seemed a bit younger than she was, for it was a few inches shorter with a slightly more rounded face, yet the look of sorrow and pain in its stare made it seem years older.

"Whatever it is, be ready." Spyro's breath crackled with warmth as he prepared a shot of flaming hot breath. "It could attack at any moment!"

Chihiro nodded as she formed a magic sphere while the ghostly her step closer and closer. The tension only grew as the ghost Chihiro stopped, looked up at Spyro and her real self, walked closer and closer to Chihiro, and…

"Why are you doing this?" the ghostly Chihiro asked, its voice sad with an almost ethereal echo to it.

"Huh?" Chihiro let down her magic sphere. "Well, I mean, we do kinda need to get out of this place and get back to the real world—"

"That's not what I meant." The fake Chihiro's tone turned a bit scolding as it looked up at the real Chihiro. "Why are you so intent on playing the hero? What are you fooling around for?"

Chihiro was left completely speechless. Her mouth gaped open, and the hand she held her magic sphere in loosened without her even thinking and smacked onto the rooftop's floor in a small explosion of sparkles.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how you're not good enough to be with them! You're not good enough to be their friend!" The fake's scolding tone grew even harsher as it spoke. "You're only setting yourself up to fail! You're no hero! You're weak, and stupid, and you get emotional too easily and just get everyone to hate you just by existing! You're always messing up and getting everyone into trouble…"

Chihiro paused as she listened to the fake berate her, but oddly enough it didn't make her upset in the slightest. Rather, a wave of understanding washed over her.

"So this is my worst fear," Chihiro whispered as the fake's anger-filled ramble turned to white noise in the back of her mind, "I think I understand now."

Spyro glanced up at the real Chihiro with a vaguely confused look, and leaned back as he got ready to attack. But, he stopped as the real Chihiro held out an arm and looked back at him. Chihiro winked, and with a nod of understanding, Spyro drew back. After all, this was her fear to face, not his.

Chihiro breathed in and looked back at her fake self.

"And you're good for nothing, and picky, and easily distracted, and, and, and, all you're gonna do is mess up and make everyone hate you!" The fake's heart was so full of rage, it tainted its words with poison and caused tears to form into its eyes. With a sniffle, it slumped over and shuddered. "So why are you doing all this?"

Chihiro didn't say a word—she just drew closer to her fake self. The fake, meanwhile, couldn't even speak anymore. It just collapsed into a heap and broke down sobbing with sobs so loud they seemed to echo all around the neighborhood.

"There, there." Chihiro drew closer to her fake self and wrapped the fake in a soft hug "Tell me—" Chihiro met her fake at eye level and gently ran her fingers through the fake's ghostly hair "—who told you all these things?"

"Well, well," the fake Chihiro sniffled as it rubbed its nose, "everybody at school says those things! The teachers, my classmates, and they're right! I—you always, always…"

As the fake Chihiro started sobbing once more, the real Chihiro gently rubbed its back and squeezed it just a bit tighter.

"How do you know they're right, though?" Chihiro's voice took on a wise tone glazed with kindness. "Those people barely even know you! Why would you listen to the words of people who don't even care about you?"

The fake Chihiro sniffled and looked up at the real Chihiro. "Huh?"

"Those things about yourself that you hate, those fears you hold, They came from people who barely even know the real you!" Chihiro gently nuzzled her fake self's shoulder. "But, the real you is a really, really, great person! You've got your strengths too, you know!"

Chihiro gently pulled herself away from her fake self and cast a smile back at Spyro. "You're kind, and care a lot about other people, and you always pick yourself up even when things are tough. Your real friends, the people who really matter, they know that better than anyone!"

Spyro smiled back at her, and Chihiro's beam drew wider as she looked back at her fake self. But, that smile quickly turned into a concerned frown as she found that her fake self still curled up and cryied.

"But, that's all just an act!" The fake retorted as it buried its face into its knees. "They'll find out the truth eventually, and they'll all leave you, and, and—"

"I know why you're acting this way, you know."

"You do?"

The fake pulled its head out of its knees and looked up at the real Chihiro, who only nodded in response.

"You're so used to being treated so badly that you've taken it all to heart. You believe that every awful thing they did and said was somehow completely deserved." Chihiro's tone was stately and matter-of-fact and she looked down at her clone. "You’re so used to that, so you're scared now that you actually have friends who care about you. You're scared that you'll lose them now that you actually have them, or they'll turn on you like all the others did."

A small tear formed in Chihiro's eye and dropped onto the rooftop's floor.

"I'd know. I am you, after all."

The fake only stared at Chihiro with glassy, teary eyes.

"But—" Chihiro shook her head as she held a hand out to her fake self "—you can't live like that anymore! I know it seems scary and unpredictable, but sticking with your fears and doubts is only gonna hurt you even more!" Chihiro stretched out her hand just a bit further. "You'll be a lot better off if you let them go, trust me!"

Silence echoed throughout the area. All that could be heard was a gust of wind as it carried some dead leaves away.

"Can I really do that though?" the fake asked as it looked aside. "Can I really change? Can I really, truly trust them? Can I really, truly trust myself?"

"Yep!" The real Chihiro made a sunny nod and beamed. "I'm living proof that you did!"

The fake gasped as it looked up to Chihiro, still completely silent, but it took Chihiro's hand and pulled itself up. "Thank you."

The fake Chihiro smiled as it pushed forward and wrapped its real self in a warm, comforting hug before it faded away.

"You really have grown, haven't you?"

Those were the last words the fake Chihiro said as it finally disappeared, and the shield with it. As the vortex became visible once more, Spyro flew over to Chihiro, and the two of them looked at each other with a nod before they leaped inside the vortex.

§

Jess made a soft, tired groan as she awoke to fuzzy vision. Where was she? Last she remembered, she tried to rescue those two Skylanders from…

"Are ye comfy there, lass?" chuckled a familiar, sickening voice as Jess's vision finally returned to her!

She found herself inside a giant, open room filled to its gills with piles of treasure. Gold coins, shiny jewels, beautifully-decorated jewelry, ancient artifacts that radiated with power—whatever you could name, it was probably there! She herself sat on a wooden chair right behind a small, wooden table with a number of cards set up on it, and in front of her was Dreadbeard, of all people, in the flesh and bone.

"What are you doing with me, Dreadbeard?" Jess demanded as she stood up.

"No need to get so cranky, lass!" Dreadbeard said as he leaned back in his chair and rested his boots on the table. "Me crew told me ye wanted a word with me, and I've been itchin' to play some Pirate Cards!" Dreadbeard's gaze turned smug as he looked down Jess. "So methinks we could play a little game."

Jess bit her lip as she glared down Dreadbeard. There had to be some kind of catch. What was it?

"The conditions are simple, ye see. Match all the cards in me skull deck in two minutes, and ye win!" Dreadbeard grinned as a smug glint flashed in his eye. "Oh, and if ye don't beat the deck, it'll release a curse that'll kill everyone on this here island save fer me and me crew!"

Jess sharply gasped as she drew back.

"But no pressure."

Jess growled as she balled her hands into fists. "That's despicable!" Jess slammed her fist on the table. "Who do you think you are?"

"A pirate captain, lass." Dreadbeard leaned back further in his chair. "It's kind of me thing."

Jess drew back again as she glanced over the table of cards, which seemed so much more intimidating than before. As she drummed her fingers against the table, Jess frowned and looked back up at Dreadbeard.

"And what if I don't play your little game?" Jess asked at last.

"Then I'll release the cards' curse anyways."

Jess hummed for a bit, then sighed and sat down at the deck. "I hate playing with cheaters," Jess remarked as she positioned her hands, "but it seems I have no choice here, do I?"

"Indeed ye don't, lassie," Dreadbeard replied ever-so-calmly as he set the timer, "now let the games begin!"