All was oddly quiet in the portal room for once in the several months that passed since all this nonsense begam. Everybody else had either left on patrols, or were busy scouting the island for any signs of ne'er-do-wells, unusual magic activity, or inconveniently-placed sheep, which left only a team of six to rest and reside in the room.

On the leftmost side, Chihiro rested against a cold, stone wall. Though she seemed calm as she drummed her fingers against her arm, the twitchy smile on her face, and the way she bounced her foot against the stone floors suggested otherwise. Beside Chihiro, Persephone fluttered in place as she held a worn paper map tight in sweaty hands, a look of suspense on her normally-cheerful face. On the other side of things, Double Trouble rested on the side of an inactive portal as he toyed with his staff. Beside him was Hex, who sat on yet another inactive portal, and stroked a ragged and particularly nasty-looking skull as she spoke with Stealth Elf in hushed whispers. Of course, Spyro stood attentive as ever as he fixed his golden eyes on Chihiro. The way he looked at her and Persephone was inquisitive, as if his eyes asked the questions his mind surely held while he tapped his claws against the floor.

All stayed silent, but finally Chihiro cleared her throat and stood tall.

"Alright, everyone," Chihiro said as she stepped forward and brushed off her hands, "I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you here today."

"Yes, actually," Hex affirmed as she turned away from Stealth Elf and hovered towards Chihiro. "What was so important that you needed us to take off from missions, specifically?"

Chihiro only beamed and gestured to Persephone to hand her the map. As Persephone gave Chihiro said map, Chihiro unfurled it for all to see.

"This map, which Hex, Double Trouble, Dark, and I retrieved from a troll hideout in the Symphonic Shrubs a little while back, contains your very answer!" Chihiro pointed to the slightly faded illustration printed on its paper. "Thanks to some extensive analysis on Persephone's part, we've discovered that it's none other than the map to the Fairy Kingdom!"

Spyro perked up and rushed to Hex's side as soon as he heard that name.

"You finally found it?" Spyro asked as he glazed over the paper.

"You bet'cha!" Chihiro rolled the map back up and stashed it in her pocket. "Now that we know for sure where Kaos relocated it to, we can finally go there and liberate it from his clutches!" Chihiro giggled and spun through the room, but soon fixed her hands on a nearby portal as she beamed back at Persephone. "It's been so long, but it's finally happening! Persephone, we can finally save your people!"

"I've been looking forward to this happy day as well, young honorable Chihiro," Persephone croaked as she wiped tears of joy from her eyes. "To think, I'll finally be able to save my people from that awful Kaos's clutches!"

Spyro smiled and placed a paw on Persephone's arm, only to grunt as she swept him up in a tight hug and sobbed even more.

But, Chihiro paid no mind to this scene, for her gaze instead fixated on the portal before her.

"Now, portal," Chihiro whispered as she placed her hands on the portal and closed her eyes, "give us a way to the Fairy Kingdom."

All eyes fixed on Chihiro and the portal. It was almost nerve-wracking to watch as the portal filled with bright blue light, shot a bright blue beam from its surface, and—exploded in a storm of light? Everybody coughed and grunted as opalescent magic dust covered them and vanished in a single second, but frowned as they looked back to Chihiro.

"Huh, that's strange," Chihiro remarked as she cocked an eyebrow at the portal, a confused frown on her face. "Maybe I wasn't focused hard enough!" Chihiro's frown turned to a smile as she slammed her hands on the stone rim of the portal once more."Let's try this again!"

Chihiro inhaled and exhaled as she clutched the portal's rim tight. All around her, hearts beat in unison as everybody fixated on the portal with bated breath. The portal shimmered for a bit, and cast swirls of magic all across the room as beams of light emerged from its surface. Finally, everybody gasped as an image of a kingdom covered in dead foliage emerged from the portal, but vanished seconds afterwards as another explosion of light blast out from the portal!

Chihiro coughed into her hand as she fanned away the fog and glitter, turned back to the portal, and moaned. "Seems like Kaos's must've blocked off portals there," Chihiro reasoned as she brushed glitter off the surface of the portal. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Now what are we going to do?" Persephone asked as she held her hands to her face, her eyes stung with tears. "If we can't portal there, then how—"

"Can't portal where?" asked a familiar voice as Cali walked into the room and leaned against the doorway!

"Cali!" Chihiro chirped as she dusted glitter off of her hair and watched it disappear into nothingness. "What're you doing here?"

"Just went out for a stroll and heard something." Cali shrugged and turned her gaze towards Chihiro. "What about you? What's going on here?"

Chihiro shrugged and scratched her arm as she looked aside. "Well, we WERE going to liberate the Fairy Kingdom from Kaos's grubby clutches." Chihiro cast an aside glance at the portal behind her and hung her head. "But, it seems Kaos has other ideas. He's completely blocked off portals there—" Chihiro heaved a sigh and kicked a pebble "—so, now we're just trying to figure out what to do next."

"If you can't portal there, you'll have to find some other ride." Cali scratched her chin.

"Yeah, but what? We'll need something that won't stick out too much, sturdy and strong enough to take such a long trip…"

"Strong and subtle, huh?" Cali rubbed her chin, and looked back at Chihiro with a glint of certainty in her eyes. "Like a warship from Kaos's army?"

"Eh?" everybody else exclaimed as they looked back at Cali.

Chihiro stepped towards Cali and tilted her head. "Cali, what are you talking about?"

"Well." Cali smiled and crossed her arms. "In my time as an adventurer, I've made a lot of connections, and it just so happens that I know someone who snagged one of Kaos's ships and has been looking for a way to the Fairy Kingdom herself!"

"REALLY?" Chihiro's eyes glistened with a new elation.

Cali nodded her head, and looked back at Chihiro with a wide beam.

Chihiro breathed in, firmly bowed, and stood straight. "Can you, please?"

"I'll see what I can do." Cali nodded yet again.

Chihiro jumped a foot in the air and hollered with excitement, and the moment she fell down to the ground, she rushed over and hugged Persephone tight! Persephone returned that hug, and spun Chihiro all around the room! Their glee was so massive and infectious that the others couldn't help but smile and chuckle; even the normally-stoic Hex nodded in approval! Finally, things were all starting to come together after all their hard work!

"Chihiro…" called a voice from nowhere as Chihiro looked to the ceiling.

"Chihiro…"

§

"Hey, Chihiro!" Spyro called as he gently shook Chihiro's shoulder. "Can you hear me?"

"Oh, Spyro!" Chihiro jolted out of her thoughts and turned back towards Spyro, "What's up?"

"When you're ready, meet the rest of us down in the captain's room." Spyro jumped up and flew off. "We need to discuss our plan before we get there!"

Chihiro looked back over the side of the warship. "Oh, right! We should almost be there."

Chihiro paused for a moment to run her finger over the shiny black metal that made up this warship. It was super small and run down in certain areas, but nonetheless it was more than enough for their journey—Cali sure knew what she was doing. Chihiro looked up, but all she could see was a sky coated in deep, regal shades of purple and pink and flicked with rhinestone-like milky white stars. With how dark it was, it was almost hard to believe they embarked early that morning, or that it should almost be the afternoon now! Time zone differences sure were fun.

Well, no use lingering on that now; Chihiro did have a game plan to go over. So, she turned away from the side of the warship, skipped over to a nearby door, and yanked it open before she dashed down the stairs it unveiled. There, everybody else curled around a worn wooden table with a tired whiteboard marked with instructions right behind them. Across from them, in a section only half-blocked by a simple curtain screen, was their pilot Calliope, ever diligent as she sailed the ship further.

Chihiro had to admit, she didn't quite expect that connection of Cali's to be another fairy, but hey, life was quite good at throwing those surprises. Though she didn't have the regal aura that Persephone carried herself with, Calliope was quite pretty nonetheless. Her skin was warm and the color of fresh peaches, her hair was red as roses and kept in a short pixie cut, and her emerald green eyes sparkled with a kind of a diligence to them. Her outfit was nothing ceremonious, to be honest—just a tattered plum-colored coat that covered everything from the neck down save for the pinkish-purple fingerless gloves she wore—but the lavender wings that sprouted from her back, the mist trail of the same color that acted as her legs, and the simple pinkish-purple crystal pendant around her neck gave her a mystical feeling nonetheless. Though she spoke not a word, one could easily tell that within her heart she carried a level of concern, or maybe diligence? She wasn't exactly an easy character to read.

"Chihiro, you're here! Great!" Spyro called as he cast a gaze towards Chihiro then turned back to Calliope, "Now, before we go over this plan—" Spyro waved at Calliope and bowed as she cast an aside glance towards him "—Calliope, right? Thanks for taking us here."

"It's nothing, really," Calliope said as she continued to steer with little mind paid to Spyro, her voice whisperlike but also somewhat raspy. "I just hope it isn't too late for them."

"What was that?" Spyro frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing!" Calliope shook her head then hung it low. "Just, nothing."

Strange, why was she so quick to dismiss… What was it that she just said? Being too late or something? Eh, whatever, it was of no use worrying about it now. Chihiro shrugged, then pulled the whiteboard closer.

"Alright, everyone, the plan's simple," Chihiro explained as she magicked a baton out of thin air and pointed towards the writing on the board. "Step one, we get in there! Step two, we find out what Kaos's done to the place since Persephone left, step three…" Chihiro glazed over the third instruction, which only had a number of question marks in its slot, shrugged, and turned back to the others. "I'll get to that later. Step four, we save everyone and send Kaos's cronies packing!" Chihiro waved her baton in a circle as she puffed out her chest. "Any questions?"

"Yes, actually," Stealth Elf said as she raised a hand. She pointed a finger towards the whiteboard, "That plan seems… Oddly simple. Shouldn't we have something a little more than just 'Get in there and beat everything up'?"

"Well, we don't really know what's going on there." Chihiro scratched the back of her head, giggled and shrugged. "So, I'll just make up the rest as we go!"

Stealth Elf cocked an eyebrow, and though her mouth was covered by her mask, it was fairly clear to tell she was frowning in disapproval.

"Whatever that plan is," Calliope said as she steered away at the wheel, "you’ better finish it soon, because we're almost here!"

Everybody jumped from their seats and crowded around the pilot deck's massive window to see that they had pulled the warship towards a gigantic, metallic dock which stuck out greatly from the masses of clumpy vines and leaves that surrounded it! It seemed a bit strange, intimidating, maybe, what with how wild and unkempt it looked.

Chihiro frowned and took a peek back at the map. While this did lead here and all, a part of her had trouble believing this was the Fairy Kingdom Persephone called home. It looked so unlike the wonderful, fairytale-esque land Persephone had described to Chihiro so many times, but then again, maybe she shouldn't judge a book by its cover, or a kingdom from its front gates.

Persephone, meanwhile, frowned as well while Calliope pulled into the dock's open gates. "Are you sure this is it?" Persephone asked as she gazed towards Calliope. "This looks nothing like the home I recall."

Persephone pursed her lips as the ship passed by a sign that read "Fairy Kingdom Hideout—Property of Lord Kaos" in big, blocky Common lettering with its paint red and drippy. Well, no denying it now. Persephone opened her mouth as if she was going to say something else, but before she could even get another word in, the ship ground to a halt and lunged her back into the prior room!

"What the—" Calliope exclaimed as she bonked her head on the steering wheel but shook it off. "Why'd we stop?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that myself!" Chihiro exclaimed as she pulled herself off of the floor.

Calliope flew towards the upper deck's stairs while Chihiro followed, but before they could reach, something dead and cold fell on their shoulders and made them freeze!

"I'd wait if I were you," warned Hex as she released her grip on their shoulders and closed the pilot room's open screen. "We don't know what could be waiting for us. For all we know, it could be…"

"Kaos?" Chihiro turned around to face Hex and tilted her head.

Everybody else in the room all shuddered at the very mention of Kaos's name.

"Exactly." Hex turned towards Double Trouble and ushered him closer. "Double Trouble, now's the time!"

Double Trouble hopped from the stack of empty crates he sat on and chirped back to Hex in that language of his that Chihiro couldn't quite understand. He raised his staff to the skies and slowly swirled it around as Hex chanted something in another strange language…

Chihiro felt a strange, tingling sensation as Hex and Double Trouble chanted even louder, frowned and looked down at her peach hands—but they weren't peach anymore! Rather, they were now a minty bluish-green color! Chihiro yelped in surprise as she looked down and examined herself, but found that she wasn't wearing her regular outfit anymore. Rather, she wore something that wouldn't look that unusual on a drow!

"Eh?! What's going on?" Chihiro demanded as she snapped her fingers and summoned a magical mirror.

She looked inside the mirror, gasped and stumbled back, for she wasn't human anymore! Her eyes were blank, her ears were long and pointed, and even her normally black hair was now a royal shade of blue. No, she was a drow now! Chihiro screamed again as the mirror vanished incredibly quickly—a bit strange since her effigies usually lasted for more than a few seconds, but maybe the shock threw her off.

"Don't panic so much, it's only a disguise," Hex chided as she turned back to Chihiro. Her own morbid black robes were now purple in color and striped with golden markings. "Just in case we get unwelcome company."

"Ohhhh." Chihiro nodded and beamed as she teased her now blue hair. "Well, I always wondered what I'd look like with blue hair. Guess now I've got my answer!"

Chihiro turned to the others, who all stopped to examine their own disguises. Stealth Elf was no different aside from the fact that she now donned drow armor rather than her usual ninja garb. The same went for Persephone and Calliope, who both wore elegant black and red gowns that masked their wings and misty feet, but the others' changes were more radical by far!

Spyro's scales were now a cold, dull blue in color as opposed to his radiant purple, and the parts of his body that were only golden yellow were now a dead, bony white. Even those kaleidoscopic eyes of his were completely blank! At least that strange blue glow that peered out from under his scales looked kinda cool.

Meanwhile, Cali's fur was now more of a dullish green color that reminded Chihiro of a zombie's skin, and her eyes were now bloodshot and fully yellow save for completely black pupils. Her outfit changed to a red top striped with golden buckles, black trousers, and matching black boots which were practically coated in silver spikes and did well to match the sleek, black helmet she donned atop her head.

"If that's taken care of," Hex said as she adjusted the oversized wizard hat that now donned her head and turned to a punk outfit-clad Double Trouble, "we should be going now."

Everybody nodded in unison, and Spyro flew towards the stairs with everybody else close behind.

As she walked behind him, Chihiro couldn't help but feel a little bit antsy. After all, this was such an important mission, and one she had prepared a long time for, too. What if something went wrong? All of a sudden, Stealth Elf's concerns about having such a barebones plan seemed a lot more prominent now…

"Alright, what's going on?" Spyro demanded, his voice echoed like a ghost as he pushed open the door that lead back to the warship's main deck.

The warship itself arrived at what seemed like some kind of hanger, or maybe another dock? Well, whatever it was, it didn't look anything like the docks she saw before. It was all cold metal walls and weird posters and notices everywhere one looked, right down to the platform which rested to the side of where their ship was now parked, and lined with a couple of doors that all had troll guards stationed near them. More importantly, it was filled to the brim with Kaos's soldiers!

The others all filed in as Spyro stared down a number of trolls, goblins, and all sorts of other soldiers that donned intricate weaponry! Geez, Kaos must've pulled out all the stops for this place.

"I don't know about this," Calliope whispered as she leaned towards Chihiro, "they seem pretty tough…"

"Alright, buddy!" exclaimed a gruff-voiced troll with a voice so loud it caught everyone's attention. "How'd you get here? Only officiated officers of Kaos are allowed in this place!"

Spyro swished his tail and snorted, which sent a puff of grayish-blue smoke out his nostrils. "Isn't it obvious? We've been assigned here by Kaos."

"Really? 'Cause we didn't get anything from Lord Kaos about new arrivals." The troll huffed and crossed its bulky arms. "Besides, I've never seen your mug around here before. Just who are you duds, anyways?"

"What's there to be suspicious of?" Chihiro insisted as she pushed past Spyro and presented herself to the guards, a warbled smile on her face. "We're all working for Kaos here!"

Just then, a puff of smoke erupted around Chihiro and the rest of her motley crew, one that caused them all to break out into coughing fits! Geez, didn't she get enough smoke trying to work a portal here earlier? Chihiro winced as she fanned away smoke and rubbed her stinging eyes then looked at her hand. As the smoke finally clearly, Chihiro's eyes widened, for her hand was no longer green, it was back to peach!

Chihiro winced again, clenched her teeth and looked back at her armor, except it was armor no longer—it was back to regular clothes! Her disguise was broken! Chihiro whipped her head around in some vain hope it was just her, but no. Everybody else's disguises vanished into thin air!

"ITS THE PORTAL MASTER AND HER SKYLANDERS!" the crowd of soldiers exclaimed as they jumped back and thrust their weapons in the air!

"Hah, thought you could trick us, huh?" mocked a beefy goblin at the forefront of the mob as he banged his armor-covered hands together. "WRONG! Thanks to that fairy magic we've collected and one of the commander's contraptions, we've got a no-sell spell all over the island! Yer magic's completely useless!"

"YEAH!" cried the rest of the soldiers from the back!

The goblin smirked and pointed a finger towards Chihiro and her gang. "EVERYONE, ATTACK!"

Chihiro gulped as the crowds of soldiers cheered and stormed in. "Welp, guess it's time for Plan B!" Chihiro shouted as she cracked her knuckles.

"Plan B?" Spyro shouted back as he looked towards Chihiro. "What was Plan B?"

"FIGHT FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Chihiro grimaced, and snapped her fingers as they engulfed themselves in magical cyan flames! She sprung forward and went to launch a punch at a particularly short and stocky troll, but the moment she made contact, her flames extinguished!

"Crap!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped back and snapped some more flames into existence, but they vanished just as quickly. "That's right, they've got a no-sell spell." Chihiro shook her head, turned around to where she was sure Persephone stood, but ducked down and nearly dodge an axe's swing. "Crap! Again!"

Across from her, the Skylanders were hard at work as they guarded Persephone and Calliope from Kaos's forces! Spyro and Stealth Elf nodded in unison and launched themselves towards two of the larger drow soldiers in the armada! The drow only stared with wide eyes as they came in, but laughed as Spyro and Stealth Elf bounced off their chests and skidded along the floor.

Hex and Double Trouble, meanwhile, raised their hands to the heavens and summoned rains of skulls and bombs made of raw magic! The blasts from their attacks radiated down the sky like comets, but as they hit the ground, they fizzled out and harmlessly bonked the ground beneath their feet instead! They both grunted, and dodged out of the way as the soldiers charged towards them.

"Wait, where did Persephone go? I could've sworn she was with me a second ago…" Chihiro whispered as she swung out the way of the troll she was fighting with. "Hey, Persephone! Sound off if you're still alive!"

But, it was no use calling. The battles kicked up so much noise and chaos that soon enough, nobody could be seen or heard over the chaos! Everything melded together in a soup of anarchy seasoned with the sound of clashing weapons and battle cries.

"So much for that."

Chihiro shook her head as she turned back to her troll opponent, cried out as she lunged forward, and punched! The troll, however, merely jumped out of the way! Chihiro turned around and gritted her teeth as the troll mocked her slip-up, before she shouted out again as she raced forward and socked it right into the face! While the troll stumbled backwards, she snagged it off the ground and tossed it right at a gremlin across the way! Chihiro smirked as they both stumbled down, but fell to her knees herself as something crashed straight into her!

"Hey, watch it!" Chihiro snarled and turned around only for her eyes to widen. "Cali?"

"Can't talk!" Cali shouted back as she grabbed a knife from her pocket, "In the middle of something!"

Cali grunted as she slashed a goblin dressed in bulky armor, but her knife just snapped clean in half! Cali gulped as she looked down at her broken knife, clenched her teeth, and looked up at the goblin who now sneered down at her.

Chihiro flexed her wrist and got ready to punch down the goblin, but before she could, a big purple blur balled down both the goblin and her! Chihiro grunted as the purple blur crashed into her, and lifted up her head as Spyro groaned and held his own.

"Spyro?" Chihiro exclaimed.

She helped him back onto the floor, but winced as she heard a familiar shout of pain! Her eyes followed the path of the scream and lead her to Stealth Elf, bruised and scratched up on the ground! All around her stood tall and armored trolls and goblins; Stealth Elf was completely surrounded! Stealth Elf grunted, pulled herself to her feet and vanished in a puff of green smoke!

"There's way too many of these guys!" Stealth Elf exclaimed as she dashed through the smoke and reappeared next to Chihiro.

"And they're far too powerful, too!" added another, chilling voice.

Chihiro turned back, and saw Hex as she hovered back to the ground with an exhausted Double Trouble behind her, who only chattered in what seemed to be agreement.

"I hate to say it—" Stealth Elf clenched her daggers as tightly as she could with her trembling hands "—but I think we're outmatched."

Chihiro clenched her teeth and winced as the soldiers all crowded around them. Unfortunately, Stealth Elf was right. There had to be at least two hundred of these guys, and they seemed super tough to boot! How on Earth were they supposed to get out of this one?

"Wait a second," Cali whispered as she nudged Chihiro's shoulder, "look, there's an exit!"

Chihiro gasped and followed Cali's gaze. Sure enough, she was right; not that far across the passageway beside them was a simple air vent just big enough for all of them to fit in! If they could just make a good enough distraction, surely they could escape…

"Stealth!" Chihiro called as she whipped her head around to face Stealth Elf. "Can you give us a distraction?"

"Distraction, huh?" Stealth Elf remarked as she dug through the pocket of her slacks and pulled out a murky marble-looking thing. "I've got just the thing!"

Stealth Elf bounced the marble thing a few times and tossed it straight at the ground! The marble shattered as soon as it made contact, and from it emerged a gigantic cloud of green fog that enveloped all around! The soldiers all coughed and shouted unintelligible words as they tried to make their way through the fog, but it was far too thick to escape from!

"Now's our chance!" Cali exclaimed as she ushered everyone along. "Go, go, go!"

The others were quick to follow Cali's command as they rushed through the more spacious crowds under the cover of the fog. The area around seemed completely identical with the fog all around, and for a while, it just felt like running through a maze until they popped out of the clouds! Sure enough, they ran far out the reach of the crowds, and were now just inches away from the vent. Everybody breathed sighs of relief as they hopped onto the docks, and Chihiro cleared her throat.

"Alright, headcount," Chihiro heaved as she drew her finger across the group, "Spyro, Stealth Elf, Hex, Double Trouble, Cali…" Chihiro raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second, we're missing people!"

Chihiro turned her eyes back to the smog-covered crowds and frowned. "Where's Persephone and Calliope?"

"UNHAND ME, YOU ABSOLUTE BRUTES!" Persephone cried from within the crowds

The fog faded and cleared moments afterwards to unveil Persephone and Calliope, who were now trapped in a gigantic cage! Persephone had her hands clasped against the bars as she glared down soldiers who bellowed with laughter, but Calliope seemed far more distraught. Calliope instead laid on the cage's floor with her head hung low, though for a moment she lifted her head and raised a hand… That seemed to glow purple? Maybe it was the distance creating illusions, but either way, Calliope received one glare from the guards that held her captive and quickly went back to sulking.

"Persephone! Calliope!" Chihiro called, then with a shake of her head she hopped off of the docks and got ready to run.

"Chihiro, wait!" Spyro called as he reached out a paw. "Let me go with you, we—"

Chihiro only shook her head, and looked back towards Spyro with utmost seriousness resonate in her eyes. "You go with the others, Spyro," Chihiro whispered as she let go of his paw. "We're both the leaders here, so it would be really bad if they got us both, right?"

Spyro clasped his paw as a ring of worry flashed in his golden eyes. "But—"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me!" Chihiro left Spyro with a gentle smile and a nod to back it up. "I'll meet up with you later!"

Spyro frowned and looked aside, but nodded firmly as he nudged the others through the docks' paths. "Come on, everyone! We've gotta get going, now!"

As everybody else vanished in the distance, Chihiro nodded and turned her attention back to the cage… Which now moved out of the hanger! Crap, she had to get going! Chihiro grunted, bolted forward, and slammed right into the side of the cage! Pain seared from every part of her body, but she couldn't worry about that right now! She had to get them out!

Shouts erupted from everyone else around as the soldiers tried to pry Chihiro off the cage, but she couldn't make out a word they said with all the blood rushing in her ears! All she could do was latch herself even tighter onto the cage and try to pry Persephone and Calliope out, but soon, something slammed the door open and tossed her to the floor! Chihiro cried as the pain that coursed through her body finally caught up with her. She was so weak that she could only look up as one of the soldiers plucked her up by the collar of her shirt and tossed her straight into the cage! The impact was so great to her already pained body that she only closed her eyes and let everything fade to black…