"Geez, how many of these guys are there?" Terrafin exclaimed as he punched a pirate dog right in the kisser and sent him flying overboard.

"I dunno, dude!" Zap shouted in-between rounds of lightning bolts, "But I don't know how much longer I can keep holding them off!"

Just then, a squid buccaneer leaped over and got ready to chop Zap in half with his ax! Right before he could land a hit, however, Terrafin barreled forward and body-slammed the buccaneer sideways! As Terrafin landed on the ground, he looked down at the pirates and frowned. Though he kept a strong composure, the heavy breaths he heaved and the droop of his shoulders could tell anyone that even he was starting to reach his limit.

Zap was no better as he struggled to stand up, clearly exhausted from all the sheer, raw fighting he had done. "Where's backup when you need it?" Zap remarked as the pirates closed closer and closer in on him and Terrafin…

And a giant block of ice slammed straight onto the deck and shattered! Sharp icicles stabbed into the pirates while they yowled and pain and desperately tried to dodge the shower of sharp, icy daggers. While the pirates panicked, Zap and Terrafin merely smiled as they looked backwards and saw another ship come into deck!

"Ahoy, mateys!" Slam Bam shouted as he grabbed onto his ship's railing and vaulted onto the pirates' schooner, "I heard you needed some backup?"

The moment Slam Bam's eyes locked onto Terrafin, however, this cool composure of his immediately melted into warmth and joy!

"Fin!" Slam Bam called as he raced forward and hugged Terrafin tight. "You're okay!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Terrafin asked as he winked and returned Slam Bam's hug.

The two of them held each other so tightly and so warmly, it almost felt like everybody else in the room just disappeared! It was just the two of them, so happy to see each other again, but a cork flew over their heads while the shouts of war resounded around!

"You know what?" Slam Bam said as he let go of Terrafin. "Let's save the touching reunion for later."

"Agreed." Terrafin turned around and cracked his knuckles. "Right now, IT'S FEEDING TIME!"

Terrafin cried out all sorts of shouts and battle cries as he went back to punching away pirates, while Slam Bam cracked his knuckles and shot out a gigantic block of ice!

But while they fought, the mayor hopped off of his boat and joined Slam Bam at his side.

"So, you and that Fin," the mayor remarked as he gazed at Slam Bam, "are you two good friends or something like that?"

"Oh, actually," Slam Bam said as he turned to face the mayor, though his fists kept punching, "he’s my boyfriend!"

The mayor dusted off his coat and straightened the lapel. "Oh, my apologies! Regardless, you two seem very happy together!"

"Oh, it's great!" Slam Bam rested against the ice block and made gestures with two hands while the other two continued to punch away. "Him, Ruptor and I are all—"

"Ruptor?"

"Eruptor, I mean! He's our other boyfriend. We're all dating each other, and even if he's a grump sometimes we all love him for it." Slam Bam turned around to look at Terrafin, who still punched away. "Right, Fin?"

"Yeah, Ruptor's great!" Terrafin shouted back as he gave Slam Bam a thumbs up before he continued the fight.

The mayor smiled as he watched Slam Bam grin, but jumped back as the shipmaster jumped off his boat and landed right beside the mayor!

"Mayor, is everything alright here?" the shipmaster asked with a concerned gaze.

"Oh, quite!" the mayor replied with a formal nod, "the Skylanders have everything under—"

Before the mayor could finish, a scream rang from the rioting crowds and two cork guns slid over to the mayor and shipmaster's feet. The two of them looked down at the guns with a curious gaze and smiled at each other.

The shipmaster merely grabbed one of the cork guns. "We can't leave all the work to them, now can we, mayor?"

"I agree!"

The mayor grabbed the second, and locked and loaded. The mayor and shipmaster’s eyes trained on the crowd, the two of them tightened their cork guns, and all hell broke loose as they fired! Corks flew everywhere—and truly everywhere—as the mayor and shipmaster shot off their guns! Their aim was so shaky that it was hard to tell just who or what they were aiming at! It was utter chaos!

"Whoops, sorry!" the mayor shouted as Terrafin and Slam Bam hit the deck while a flock of corks shot over their heads. "I'm not the most talented marksman, I'm afraid!"

As the chaos pot stewed, however, Zap's eyes widened with inspiration! He coated himself in several layers of slime, shot a lightning bolt at his feet and grinned as it coursed through the slime until he was little more than a giant bolt of lightning.

"COWABUNGAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Zap exclaimed as he dove into the crowd and crashed into the pirates!

While the pirates screamed from shock—literally—Terrafin smirked and punched a pirate off the deck! As he watched them drop into the ocean, however, he didn't seem happy. Rather, he was more concerned.

"Sure hope Jess is okay," Terrafin whispered as he cracked his knuckles and jumped back into the fray.

§

"That's yer ninth match!" Dreadbeard exclaimed as he tugged on his fur.

But, Jess took no mind to his fright! Her eyes were completely trained on the cards. With every second that passed she made a match, and another match, and another, until…

"HOW ARE YE DOING IT!?" Dreadbeard jumped out of his seat. "Yer beating me skull deck like it was nothing!"

"I forgot to mention one thing," Jess smirked as she left her chair. "Back on my island—" Jess shot a glare at Dreadbeard and smiled as he trembled "—I'm the reigning champion of card games!"

With her smirk ever-present on her face, Jess flipped over one last pair of cards—ones that depicted a Mabu woman dressed in pirate garb—and watched contently as they flew back into Dreadbeard's pocket.

"I won, Dreadbeard." Jess trailed around the table, but her eyes fixed on him like he was her prey. "What are you gonna do now?"

Dreadbeard growled, dove into his pocket and whipped out a shiny-looking blunderbuss!

"YE MAY HAVE WON ME CARD GAME," Dreadbeard exclaimed as he smacked his free fist against the table and flipped over an extra pair of cards, "BUT CAN YE WIN AGAINST ME—"

Dreadbeard stopped short as he looked down at the table…

"Pirate curse?" Dreadbeard winced and dropped the blunderbuss on the floor as he stumbled back. "Oh fishsticks."

Dreadbeard collapsed onto his back, for he was now completely unconscious! As Jess looked over his comatose body, she smirked and dove her hand into his pocket. Once she felt something firm and slim, she grabbed it out and shoved it into her own pocket before she grabbed Dreadbeard by his jacket and dragged him outside.

"ATTENTION, EVERYONE!" Jess proclaimed as she exited the hideout and stepped into the light.

There, everyone who brawled outside—Skylander, civilian and pirate alike—stopped and watched Jess with wide eyes.

"I, Jess LeGrand," Jess cried out as heaved up Dreadbeard's unconscious body, "HAVE BEATEN CAPTAIN DREADBEARD AT PIRATE CARDS!"

The pirates all gasped, all wide-eyed and terrified as they chattered among themselves.

"No way! It can't be!"

"The cap'n's never lost a game of pirate cards!"

"She's gotta be kidding!"

Jess cleared her throat and smirked as all the pirates fell silent. "As your new captain" Jess declared in her most orderly, attention-grabbing voice, "I order you to return all the treasure you've stolen and turn yourselves in to the authorities!"

"Who says we have to listen to ye?" demanded a furry pirate from the crowd, "Ye may have beaten the cap'n, but ye—"

Before that pirate could finish, Jess shot out a pair of cards and smirked as they hit the naysayer straight in the head! Chattering rang throughout the crowd as the naysaying pirate groaned and collapsed with a thunk.

"While I'm at it." Jess unveiled an entire deck of pirate curse cards. "If you don't comply, I'll simply be forced to put you all in timeout."

The pirates whimpered and groaned, but finally bowed and hung their heads. "Yes, cap'n," the pirates whined as they trudged into the hideout in a single-file line.

"And I mean all of it!"

Jess wagged a finger at the pirates, but paused as she rejoined Slam Bam, Terrafin, and Zap. "Thank you so much for all your help," Jess thanked, and her tone turned softer as she shook Slam Bam's hand, "I couldn't have possibly done this without you!"

"Oh, it's no problem. It's all in a day's work for us!" Slam Bam replied as he withdrew his hand.

"Besides, you were the real MVP of today!" Terrafin chimed in as he gave Jess a thumbs up. "You took down that Dreadbeard guy like he was a lightweight!"

"Oh, it was nothing!" Jess said as she blushed and scratched the back of her head.

"Wait, that voice!" The mayor gasped as he turned around, fixed his eyes on Jess and beamed, "Jess!"

"Dad?" Jess exclaimed as the mayor ran into her arms and sobbed tears of joy.

"WHAT?" Slam Bam, Terrafin and Zap exclaimed at once, but shrugged as Jess and the mayor hugged.

"I was so worried!" The mayor sobbed as he hugged Jess tight. "When you disappeared after those pirates took over, I, I…"

"Dad, calm down, I'm fine!" Jess let go of the mayor and brushed herself off before she looked up at the Skylanders. "Anyways, I'd better take you guys back home. My crew and I have a lot of treasure to return!"

Jess looked over at the pirates who loaded their ships with treasure, and in return, the pirates only grimaced and nodded as everybody else laughed.

§

Chihiro heaved heavy breaths as she held her heart, which beat as fast as a jackrabbit. Had they done it? Did they get out of there okay? Were they even out of there? A glance up confirmed that Chihiro was right!

She was back in the room that housed the mission simulator, though it was now covered in wear and soot marks, and right in front of her stood a wide-eyed Hugo and Master Eon! While the two of them looked back at her and Spyro with complete shock, Chihiro’s heart beat at a natural pace once more while she staggered up.

"YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Hugo sobbed as he ran forward and clutched both Chihiro and Spyro in a tight hug, his glasses stained with tears, "We all thought, we all thought—" Hugo buried his face into Chihiro's shoulder and wailed "—WE ALL THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

"Now, now, Hugo," Chihiro said as she patted Hugo's back and gently pulled him off of her and Spyro.

Hugo only stared wide-eyed once more, but smiled as he sniffed and cleaned the tear stains off his glasses. "Thank goodness you got out of there!" Hugo seemed more collected as he reapplied his glasses. "It seems that the mission simulator needs a few more tweaks. I'll have to ask Drobot to look over it again when he comes back from patrols."

"Are you alright?" Master Eon asked as he flew over to the rest of the group. "What happened in there?"

"We're right as rain, Master Eon!" Chihiro replied as she pumped a fist, turned to Spyro and nudged his shoulder, "Right, Golden Boy?"

"You bet we are!" Spyro exclaimed as he did a backflip in the air and landed back on his feet.

The two of them giggled and bumped fists before they looked at Hugo and Master Eon once more.

"As for what happened, well…" Chihiro turned to Spyro.

"It's kind of a long story." Spyro nodded to affirm her statement, beamed and winked. "You see…"

§

"And that's how we got out of there!" Chihiro said as she spun around to face Spyro and gently rubbed his head. "It wasn't easy, but we did it! We got out of there, and I—"

Chihiro stopped short as the most terrified look she could muster grew onto her face. "MY EXAM!" Chihiro stumbled back a bit as she frantically scratched the back of her head. "I completely forgot I was taking it! I got so caught up, I—"

"No need to fret, young Chihiro," Master Eon interrupted as he gently nuzzled her back into the real world. "After everything you described, I'd say you passed with flying colors!"

"I DID?"

"Is that not what I just said?"

Chihiro gasped with glee, and turned back to Spyro, who only smiled and gave her a thumbs up! She wrapped Spyro in her arms with a hoot of glee, hugged him tight, and tossed him in the as he flew back down to her side and gave her a high-five.

"Anyways, we should probably head down now," Spyro said as he flew towards the open door, "there's still a lot to take care of."

"No kidding," Chihiro remarked as she skipped over to Spyro's side and waved goodbye, "see ya!"

Chihiro closed the door behind them as Spyro snapped his claws and produced a shining ball of light. An odd, quiet peace was between them as they trailed down the curved stone stairs with neither party willing to speak and disturb the quiet.

Finally, it was Chihiro who gulped and looked at Spyro. "So, you're checking out those Chocolate Seas things after this, right?" Chihiro asked, and smiled as Spyro nodded.

"We're a bit short-staffed," Spyro admitted as he rubbed a paw over his orb of light, "but I'm sure we could do it!"

"Short-staffed, huh?" Chihiro skipped a few steps in front of Spyro and turned around. "How 'bout I help you guys, then?"

Spyro seemed a bit surprised by Chihiro's words as he paused and released his orb, but she only nodded and chirped.

"I did say I wanted to help you out, y'know!" Chihiro smiled and giggled as Spyro made a soft chuckle of his own.

The two of them raced down to the mouth of the stairwell and jumped off the last few stairs in unison. The moment they hit the floor, they dashed towards the door and swung it open with pure, unhampered energy! As rich afternoon sunlight poured into the room and the fresh, cool autumn air enveloped them, they both paused and took it all in. After being stuck in that awful simulator for so long, being in the real world again just felt so, so good and welcoming…

Chihiro giggled so softly, skipped ahead of Spyro and spun around to face him. Her eyes held that same energetic twinkle they always did, but this time she radiated with some kind of new wisdom, a kind of magical aura that one couldn't really put a finger down on.

"Come on, Golden Boy!" Chihiro shouted as she stared him down. "We've got work to do!"

Spyro widely smiled, and flew up to Chihiro's side. As he stared into her warm, bright brown eyes, Spyro felt something lift from his heart—not just the relief from having extra help, but something else completely different! Now, it felt like he finally started to grasp just what it was about Chihiro that captivated him so.

"Agreed, Chi!"