"Hup!" Camo exclaimed as he hopped off the final leaf and shook, "Man, it feels good to finally get off that thing! For a moment, I—"

Camo's jaw dropped as he opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of forest surroundings, or rather, the lack of forest surroundings! Though many trees still stood tall, thankfully, the entire area rang with the sickening sound of revving chainsaws while gigantic trees toppled down as if they were no more than seedlings! What could have caused this? Camo looked up and unfortunately for him, found his answer. There, stationed above the cleaned and halved tree trunks were gigantic, troll-piloted chainsaws!

"Oh no," Zook gasped as he walked up to Camo's side and took in the damage, "who could've done this?"

"Kaos, likely!" Camo bit his lip. "But how did he find out where we were? There's no way he could've done that without the Life Seeds!"

"That doesn't matter!" Stump Smash scoffed as he finally dropped off from the vine. "Look at what he's doing to the forest!"

All stood in morbid silence for a few moments, but finally, Stump Smash cried out and ran in for the kill!

"Stump Smash, hold on!" Camo and Zook exclaimed as they grabbed Stump Smash by the arms and pulled him back.

Stump Smash, however, was quick to thrust himself out of their grip and glare them down. "Why'd you stop me? Those things are—"

Camo held up his front paws. "I know, but we can't just jump in like that!"

"Yeah," Zook chimed in as he nodded in agreement. "You'd get yourself split up!"

Stump Smash gritted his teeth, and his wooden eyebrows clenched tight. "So we're just going to let them have their way?"

"No, of course not, man!" Zook shook his head, and he sent tiny bamboo leaves cascading onto the stump they used as a floor. "But I can't have you getting beat up! You're a tree too, you know!" Zook gently grinned. "I'm sure we can think of something if we just chill out!"

"Yeah, let's all think this through and…" Camo started, but trailed off as Stump Smash glared Zook down further.

"We can't just sit around and wait! You're not taking this seriously enough!" Stump Smash shouted while he gestured towards the still-going chainsaws. "If we don't stop those things…"

Camo winced and stepped back, while a part of him prayed that whatever he thought was going to happen certainly wouldn't. But, the way Stump Smash and Zook shot back against one another, one fueled with rage and the other with concern, it didn't exactly ease his worries.

"Hey, hey!" Camo pushed himself between Zook and Stump Smash. "Knock it off, you two!"

Camo sighed and held his head as both Stump Smash and Zook continued arguing, but lifted it up as he heard something that sounded like vines creeping across the floor. Had somebody found them? Camo turned around with full intentions of attacking, but all he found was a giant, red flower with petals streaked in yellow, purple and black markings that vaguely resembled angry faces! When did that get here? He was sure there weren't any flowers here a second ago.

Whatever it was, it caught Stump Smash and Zook's attention as well! The two of them broke out of their spat to stare at the flower, which folded its petals in and made some sort of sucking noise.

"What's with this flower?" Camo asked as all three of them tilted their heads.

The three of them stared at the flower in anticipation for a few moments, but reeled back as the flower peeled back it petals and shot a cloudy, reddish-yellow substance at them—POLLEN! Camo was quick to mask his mouth with his tail, but Stump Smash and Zook weren't quite as fortunate! They only coughed and futilely fanned the clouds away.

"That sure was random," Camo remarked as the flower withered and disappeared into a crack in the stump.

They all shrugged, and Zook and Stump Smash turned their attention back to each other. The moment they locked eyes again, it almost seemed as if their eyes glowed… Red, for moment? But no, that would be ridiculous, Camo was probably just seeing things!

"Anyways," Stump Smash said. His arms crossed and a prominent frown on his face once more, and a ring of a red glow around his eyes for moments before it vanished. "Like I was saying, we can't just sit around and let these trolls have their way, you hippie-dip!"

"Like I told you, cool your head!" Zook shot back a little more defensively than before, his arms crossed with a rare genuine frown on his face while his eyes also flashed red for a second. "Do you wanna get turned into firewood or something?"

Stump Smash, however, didn't shoot back. He only looked back at Zook with wide eyes, as if what Zook had just said struck some kind of nervous chord in him, but only for a moment before he pushed his face into Zook's.

"You better watch your words, you walking bamboo stick!" Stump Smash growled as he shoved a hammer-hand in Zook's face.

"And you'd better watch your breath!" Zook shoved Stump Smash out of his face and shook a fist. "When was the last time you brushed your teeth?"

"I'm a tree, you idiot! I don't have teeth!"

Camo winced in pain as Zook and Stump Smash bickered. Even though their personalities tended to clash, their arguments never got this intense before! Especially on Zook's end—he was normally the kind of bambazooker who just let things roll right off his back! Why was he so nasty and quick to fight all of a sudden?

"Hey, hey, break it up!" Camo ordered as he pushed himself into the fray. "If we keep making all that racket, somebody'll—"

"SKYLANDERS!"

Camo only sighed as he caught sight of the area above, which now had a whole team of armed trolls in a panic atop it. "Find us."

Zook and Stump Smash looked towards the trolls, and shot one last glare towards each other. "This was your fault, you know," they both said in unison.

The trolls chattered among each other, and screamed out cries of war as they charged towards Zook, Stump Smash, and Camo! Their axes and battalions were raised high as they went in to swing, but were blown away by the sprouting of an entire bamboo patch!

Zook smirked and blew off his bazooka's mouth, yet Stump Smash only rolled his eyes and walked forward.

"Impressive, if you were at a birthday party," Stump Smash scoffed as he hit his hammers together and smiled. "I'll show you how to REALLY take care of things!" Stump Smash pounded his hammer hands together even more rapidly. "DROP THE HAMMER!"

Stump Smash cried out once more, and he became a raging elephant as he dashed forward and pounded down on the trolls with lightning speed! Hammer-shaped indents formed on the grounds below as Stump Smash sped through the crowds of trolls, who only watched in horror as they were knocked down in droves. With the trolls cleared out, Stump Smash smiled and crossed his arms, but something smashed into him and tossed him on the ground!

"Pfft!" Stump Smash spat as he hacked out dirt and turned around, "Hey, what was that—"

Stump Smash gulped as he caught sight of a lofty troll who held a battering ram loomed over him, all while flanked by a line of other trolls so lengthy that it probably stretched across half the forest.

"For?"

The troll charged straight into Stump Smash with the battering ram once more, and Stump Smash only screamed as he went flying over their wooden floor! Before Stump Smash could fall over the edge, however, a pair of vines yanked him from the skies and dropped him back down on the ground! Stump Smash groaned and rubbed his head.

"Camo, was that you?" Stump Smash asked as he turned around, but Camo was far too busy tossing watermelons at unsuspecting trolls to answer Stump Smash's question.

Zook walked forward, and smirked as he spun his bazooka. "I'd better take care of things from here," Zook said as he slung his bazooka over his shoulder. "LOCKED AND LOADED!"

With a simple pull of the trigger, Zook sent thorny missiles shooting straight towards the trolls and swept those nasty trolls off their feet! But unfortunately, he also rained thorns down everywhere in the process, and these thorns, they couldn't tell just who was friend or foe! They attacked anything unfortunate enough to be in their paths, and that included Stump Smash and Camo!

"Watch we're you shooting those things, you numbskull!" Stump Smash yelled as he shook his mallet hands at Zook.

"At least I actually got rid of them!" Zook scoffed as he scowled back at Stump Smash and dusted off his bazooka. "You just knocked them all down and called it a day!"

"Excuse me?"

Stump Smash charged over towards Zook at quite fast speeds for such an aged tree, "I was the one who did all the work here! You just sat around and cleaned the plate!"

The trolls that once fought them simply lowered their weapons and looked over in what seemed to be confusion. Camo followed their gaze, and promptly groaned as he cradled his face in his paws. Sure enough, Stump Smash and Zook were arguing again, and their eyes were a bright red? But they had yellow eyes, not red ones! Was he imagining things?

"Again?" Camo sighed as he went to break them up, but before he could, then trolls grabbed their weapons and went in for the kill!

"Stump Smash, Zook, look out!"

Camo chased after the trolls and fireballed down whichever ones he could, which wasn't much, admittedly.

Stump Smash and Zook pulled away from their argument, took one look at the stampeded of trolls, and then…

"WE'RE TRYING TO HAVE A CONVERSATION HERE!" Stump Smash and Zook yelled.

They both blasted the trolls away with a combined blast so intense that it could probably be seen at least a few feet over! More importantly, it was so intense the other trolls screamed and ran for the lives! As they cleared out of the way, both Stump Smash and Zook stopped to take a breather—and for a moment, it seemed like they finally calmed down!

Camo bit his lip as they looked towards each other, and his heart lifted with hope at the sight of them staring at each other. Had they finally stopped all this petty bickering?

"You could stand to not make things so flashy, you know," Stump Smash scoffed.

"Why are you complaining?" Zook exclaimed with a hapless shrug. "At least it got rid of them!"

"Guys, guys! Break it up!"

Camo pushed himself in the middle of Zook and Stump Smash's conversation, but was immediately pushed out of the way. Camo's eyelid twitched the moment they went back to arguing. By the Ancient Elementals, he had enough of this! He was not going to play mediator for them if they weren't going to get along!

"Come on, you two! We've got an Eternal Source to take back, you know!"

No use, they just continued to argue. Finally, Camo growled and stomped his feet on the stump below him.

"If you're not gonna come, I guess I'll just have to make you!"

Right as Camo said this, gigantic vines tore through the stump they stood on and yanked Zook and Stump Smash out of the ground! However, Stump Smash and Zook were so busy trading insults tgar they didn't even notice they were lifted off the ground!

"Blockhead!"

"Sap-mouth!"

"No good walking bamboo husk!"

While they traded insults, Camo made the loudest moan known to plantkind, yanked some nearby weeds from the ground, and crammed them into his earholes. Finally, peace! Now that their arguments were no longer on his mind, Camo strode away with them pulled along by his vines.

As he passed a branch made of tree bark, Camo frowned and looked down. It kind of felt like the ground was… Vibrating? Huh, that was strange, but the sensation passed, so he just moved along. His eyes trained on the trees as they were razed down by the chainsaws, and his entire heart burst with fury, but extinguished as he caught sight of Stump Smash and Zook.

Ancients almighty, what were they arguing about this time? They were both frantic as they pointed ahead of Camo and shouted, but turned back to arguing among each other while their eyes flashed red again. Okay, now that he saw that, there was definitely no denying that their eyes had something up, but what? Oh, whatever, he'd worry about that later.

Camo rolled his eyes and turned back to the path he had traveled on, yelped, and widened his eyes as a gigantic chainsaw barreled straight towards him! Luckily, he rolled out of the way just in time to avoid its blades, but in the process, the vines he held Stump Smash and Zook with yanked as the chainsaw sliced them clean in half! Stump Smash and Zook both screamed as they crashed down and fell flat on their faces!

"Next time, Camo," Stump Smash grunted as he staggered up and wiped his face. "Watch where you're pulling things!"

"What he said, man!" Zook added as he sat up and brushed dirt out of his leaves.

Camo, however, had no time to address their complaints (or the fact that his earplugs had apparently fallen out). He just grabbed their hands and ran!

"No time to talk!" Camo shouted. "Those chainsaws are everywhere!"

Camo ran even faster despite having them in tow, and his heartbeats pounded in his ears as he searched for sanctuary. Everywhere around him held nothing but more chainsaws and enemies and falling trees! Where could he go? Wait a second, there! Not that far across, but thankfully out of the chainsaws' reach, was a hollow tree stump with an open doorway!

A smile formed on his face asCamo bolted inside without a second thought and let go of Stump Smash and Zook's hands. They all breathed sighs of relief, but, that relief was too quickly held. Why? Well, right while they were resting, the sound of lurching trees echoed from the outdoors.

"What was that?" They all asked at once, right as a something large and wooden crashed right over the entrance.

The impact was so great that it knocked everybody on their faces! All three of them pulled themselves up and rubbed their aching heads, turned around and groaned.

"And we're trapped."

Sure enough, a gigantic tree branch crashed right over the entrance!

Camo frowned, walked up to the branch and rapped on its surface. "Seems pretty solid too," Camo remarked as he turned back to Stump Smash and Zook. "We might not be able to break it down."

"Just leave it to us, Camo!" Zook said as he threw his bazooka over his shoulder. "We'll blow that branch down in no time!"

Stump Smash smiled and rested his hand on Zook's shoulder. "We'll have that old branch pruned in no time!"

Camo, however, was more off-put than reassured by their sudden chumminess. "Weren't you guys about ready to bite each other's heads off a few seconds ago?" Camo asked as he pointed towards Stump Smash and Zook, who seemed equally as perturbed as he was.

"What are you talking about, Camo?" Stump Smash and Zook both turned towards each other while Stump Smash spoke. "I don't remember any—"

Stump Smash grew silent as he and Zook locked eyes, eyes that flashed red the moment they saw each other!

"You know what? Let me handle this!" Stump Smash exclaimed as he pushed past Zook. "One measly little combo attack isn't going to knock down something as strong as that! And definitely not one from your dingy little party cannon!"

"It's a bazooka!" Zook shot back as he clutched his bazooka and pushed past Stump Smash. "Besides, do you have any better ideas?"

Stump Smash pressed a hand to his chin and shot Zook a look. "I'm sure I could come up with one better than that! Just give me five seconds!"

One second passed as Stump Smash contemplated, follow by two, three, four…

"Got any good ideas, wise guy?" Zook scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Don't rush me!"

Both Zook and Stump Smash seemed inches away from starting another fight, but Camo wasn't nearly as concerned. Rather, he was contemplative as he examined them. So he wasn't imagining that strange glow! Camo hummed a bit more, then grabbed Zook by the shoulders.

"Hey, Camo!" Zook exclaimed as Camo turned him around. "What's the big—"

Once Zook was fully turned away from Camo, the red glare and his face both relaxed. "What was I just talking about?" Zook asked, a finger held to his face.

"Beats me! I can't remember a thing!" Stump Smash remarked from the other side.

So that's it! Camo thought as he rubbed his chin and observed both Zook and Stump Smash. Whenever they look at each other, they just lose their marbles, so just don't let them look at each other! Sounds simple enough!

Camo jolted up as he heard the sounds of crashing and yelling, and turned around to find that the two of them had eyes locked and fist balled.

"Well, starting now."

Camo stormed forward, pushed past whatever petty argument Zook and Stump Smash got into, and turned them both away from each other's view. "Regardless of whatever you were talking about, we need to find some way of getting out of here!" Camo reminded as he looked back at the lofty branch that covered their way out. "Unless you wanna live in a tree stump for the rest of your lives."

Camo frowned and let go of Stump Smash and Zook so he could walk around the tree stump. "Anyways, I'm gonna take a look at things, so don't look at each other while I'm gone."

Camo's frown grew deeper as he padded around the hollow tree stump. There was nothing of interest or use around the area itself, but maybe there was something hidden in the walls or something? Camo stopped in front of a wall and patted it down, but as he did, he could've sworn he heard whirring in the backdrop? As the sound grew louder, Camo bit his lip and examined the walls, but pulled his head back as a thorny missile zoomed just inches from his face!

"Hey! Where'd that come from?" Camo asked as he scrambled back, and jumped out of the way just in time for several large, spiny chestnuts to steamroll the place he once stood at!

Wait a second, he recognized those attacks. "That can't be!" Camo turned back to where he left Zook and Stump Smash. "Oh no, not again!"

Sure enough, Zook and Stump Smash were at it once more, and this time, their argument grew physical! Zook had his bazooka at the ready and Stump Smash his hammers while their prior attacks bounced around the stump. Before either of them could strike the next blow, Camo weaved his way through the crossfire of their prior blows and slammed his paws on the ground.

"Alright, that's enough!"

The moment Camo spoke, vines jumped from the ground and completely entwined Zook and Stump Smash!

"We're supposed to be figuring this out, not fighting each other!"

Stump Smash and Zook grunted as they tried to pry themselves out of the vines. Their eyes widened, though the red glow had yet to fade. What had them so worked up? For that matter, didn't he hear rolling in the backdrop?

"Camo, you gotta let us go, man!" Zook pleaded as he struggled further.

"Only if you agree to stop with all these stupid arguments!" Camo pinched the bridge of his muzzle. "I swear, you've been fighting so much you could practically argue the fuzz off a peach!"

"Alright, alright! We'll stop fighting," Stump Smash and Zook pleaded in perfect unison. "Just let us go!"

"Promise?" Camo tilted his head.

"We will, we will!"

Stump Smash turned to Zook and raised an eyebrow. "Once he says he's sorry, that is!"

"What do I have to apologize for?" Zook scoffed. "You're the one who started it!"

Camo sighed and hung his head as they bickered yet again,. How long was this going to go on? He groaned as he looked up, but when he did, something crashed into the wall behind him, exploded and blew them all back! And it wasn't an explosive watermelon, that was for sure!

Camo pulled himself back to his paws and turned around to the explosion's source, but smiled as he saw a hole in the wall! Camo walked up to the hole to examine it further, and winced as he stepped on something hard and spiky—the fragments of a chestnut shell! Chestnut shell bits and burnt chunks of chestnut meat intermingled with thorn splinters in a small half-circle outside the giant hole!

"Well, that's one way to get out of a stump," Camo smirked as he ran outside and look around the stump, "and look, there's stairs!"

Stump Smash and Zook poked their heads out of the hole and grinned, a grin that made its way to Camo as well!

"I don't know what we did," Stump Smash remarked as he gently patted Zook's shoulder and turned towards Zook, "but we did it!"

"Yeah, man!"

Zook chirped as he turned to Stump Smash, and both their eyes flashed red.

"ANYWAYS!" Camo shouted as he pushed himself between Zook and Stump Smash while their eyes returned to normal. "We'd better get going!"

Camo turned Zook and Stump Smash's gaze away from each other, led them both to the stairs and charged right up. All was thankfully silent as they trekked up, until…

"Hey, Camo, you know it was my missile that got us out of there, right man?" Zook asked as he planted a hand on Camo's shoulder.

"Don't listen to him!" Stump Smash groaned as he pushed Zook aside. "My chestnuts were what smashed it open!"

As they bickered yet again, Camo rolls his eyes and looks aside. "You know what I think?" Camo whispered to himself and only himself. "I think I'm very tempted to light some peppers under people's feet right about now!" Camo snickered at the thought and looked up. "Oh look, we've reached the top!"

Sure enough, Camo had reached the top of the tree stump in the time of his momentary distraction! He hopped off the stairs and looked around, though there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Well, save for an abandoned pile of rockets, that is! Camo took one jump towards the rocket pile, grabbed one and turned it around.

"These should work pretty nicely," Camo remarked as he turned back to Zook. "Hey Zook, can you come here?"

"Geez, that dude," Zook grumbled as he stormed away from Stump Smash, turned to Camo, and smiled while the red light immediately faded from his eyes. "So, what'cha need, lil' buddy?"

Camo only passed the rockets to Zook and pointed towards the chainsaw. "Think you can mow that thing down with those rockets?"

"Who do you think I am, Camo?" Zook loaded the rockets into his bazooka, smiled and positioned it just so. "Time to bring in the boom!"

Zook shot off the rockets, and they soared straight for the chainsaw! They smashed into it in the blink of an eye, and exploded into a fury of fire and sparkles in another blink.

"Nice job, Zook!" Camo said as he wagged his tail.

"Eh, it was alright, I guess," Stump Smash huffed, "got someone with bamboo for brains, anyways."

"What was that?" Zook growled as he turned back to Stump Smash. "Bamboo's a perfectly good plant, thank you very much!"

Stump Smash growled and bonked Zook on the head. "It was a compliment, you idiot! Your head must be really hollow in there if you couldn't realize something as simple as that!"

"I'd hardly call that a compliment!"

Camo only winced as Stump Smash and Zook bickered once more and buried his face in his paws. "Ay yai yai," Camo moaned.

§

Chihiro whimpered as she pulled herself off from the cold metal of whatever surface she laid on. Her head throbbed with pain, her heart pounded faster than it probably should've, and she barely even see what was around her, let alone focus. It was like she woke up from a really bad dream!

"Young honorable Chihiro!" called a soft, magical voice that Chihiro couldn't recognize. "You've awoken from your sleeping dance at last!"

Chihiro rubbed her head as her vision finally fixed itself. She sat in some kind of cold, metal cage with two metal benches, one on each side, and thick steels bars with just enough space to see brief glimpses of the outside world; well, Chihiro could've, if her mind wasn't in such a haze that she could barely comprehend the sights around her. Oddly enough, though, the cage seemed to be moving? How on earth could a cage move on its own?

Chihiro shook her head and reached to scratch an obnoxious itch, but when she lifted her hands, she found them clasped together with black and blue handcuffs!

"WHAT THE HECK?" Chihiro exclaimed as she bit on, stomped on, and tried everything else she could to pry off the cuffs. "What happened here?"

Before Chihiro could do anything else, something tackled into her and slapped a hand against her mouth.

"Shhh!" Calliope shushed as she held a finger to her mouth. "They'll hear you!"

Calliope gestured ahead to show that the cage was stationed on an equally-sized wooden wagon of some kind that was carted by a number of gremlin drivers.

"Huh?" Chihiro tilted her head, rubbed her eyes and blinked. "Oh, Calliope!" Chihiro's eyes passed Calliope and fixed on a corner of the cage. "And Persephone, too! What's going on here?"

Persephone sniffled, rubbed her eyes and wiped her nose. Her hands were also bound tight with those strange handcuffs, and she seemed as if she was at her lowest point!

"You danced your happiest, young honorable Chihiro," Persephone sniffed as she looked aside, "but they were far too much to handle."

"They?" Chihiro tilted her head. Just what was Persephone talking about?

Just then, fuzzy memories flashed back into Chihiro's mind. Memories of a trip, an ambush, an attack… Oh, now she remembered! She was trying to rescue Persephone and Calliope before she got locked up in this cage! Well, so much for that.

"What're they gonna do with us?" Chihiro shook her head and jumped to her feet. "Actually, why wait to find out? Why don't we just bust out of here already?"

Chihiro thrust her hands in front of her, and focused her entire body as she tried to summon an energy sphere, a nice, simple one powerful enough to bust the door of this cage wide open! Her heart slowed back down to normal as she closed her eyes, and she inhaled. Her entire body stilled with focus as a crackle of magic sparked against her fingertips.

"HI-YAH!" Chihiro exclaimed as she shot her hands forward, but drew back as nothing emerged. "The heck? Why didn't I summon anything?"

"It's those handcuffs!" Calliope whispered back as she held up her own handcuff bound hands. "They nullify all our magic!"

"Dang it."

Chihiro sat back down, and turned her gaze to a metal bench underneath a glass window. With a soft frown, she scrambled up its surface and peered at the outside world. Maybe she'd be able to garner some kind of location from the scenery outside, at least that could help. So, Chihiro poked her head out the window, and Calliope and Persephone flew over to see what she saw. As they looked outside, all three of them gasped!

The outside was, it was too awful to even watch in passing! The villages around was razed to the ground, and all that was left of them were rotted wood, dirty flora and broken sundry. The trees around had died and split in half, while the grass had all rotted away to reveal hard, rocky dirt. Even the skies churned a sickly shade of cloudless brown.

"Oh, no!" Persephone whimpered as she held her hands over her mouth, tears formed in her normally-radiant red eyes.

"No," Calliope whispered as she placed a hand against the window, her mouth agape and her eyes distant. "No, please, this can't be…"

"Calliope?" Chihiro whispered.

She placed a hand on Calliope's shoulder, but Calliope only crumpled into a ball and sobbed so hard that her whole body trembled! She tried her best to muffle it as she buried her head into her coat and curled the rest of her body inwards, but the sorrow in her was just so raw and powerful that little could be done to contain it.

Persephone whipped her head around to face Calliope and wiped away her own tears. She knelt down to Calliope and gently stroked Calliope's back in some quiet attempt to curb Calliope's sorrows, but it did little.

Just seeing them so sad and so hopeless made Chihiro furious! She wanted to do something, anything, that could help them, that could stop all this! But, with those stupid handcuffs her hands were completely tied, literally. Chihiro frowned and looked back down at her bare hands. Couldn't she find some other way to get these things off? Well, actually… Chihiro plunged her finger into a round hole she presumed was the lock, and teased and pushed against it, but nothing moved.

"Darn."

Chihiro huffed as she gazed back at the ruined villages. She wanted to stay optimistic, she really did, but between the sight of all the damage that Kaos had caused in this place, the fact that her allies were either far gone or enveloped in despair, and the other fact that her own abilities were now completely moot, well… It was really hard to find a bright side now, not gonna lie. The surroundings being filled with all this wreckage, to the point where she was faced by it every way she turned, certainly didn't help either.

But still, Chihiro thought as she pressed her hands against the window, there's gotta be something I can do! I can't just sit around here and do nothing!

Chihiro bit her lip, balled her hands into fists, and pounded those fists against the window. Think, Chihiro, think!

But no matter how much she thought, nothing came to her. Her whole mind was as blank and desolate as the destroyed villages that laid right outside her window. Chihiro grumbled to herself as she bumped her head against the window, only to lunge backwards as her ride came to an unexpected stop!

Chihiro cried out as her head slammed against the floor, and Persephone and Calliope both jolted their heads up in shock. The sound of stomping resounded all around their prison as somebody flung the door open! Light poured through the cage's bars from the open world, and with such intensity it almost completely blinded them!

"ALRIGHT, YA LOT!" cried some deep, bulky voice as the light started to fade. "OUT YA GO!"

Chihiro gulped, and she and Persephone helped Calliope back to, well, her lack of feet. The trio reluctantly raised their heads, prodded out of the cage and exited into the world; now that Chihiro paid a bit more attention, it sounded rife with what seemed like screams? Yeah, screams and bright blue light that flashed ahead from an unknown source.

Chihiro turned back to try and find it, but what greeted her was rows of bulky goblins armed with sharp spears, swords, and other blades one wouldn't want to fight with instead. The soldiers all glared at Chihiro as the furthest two of their ranks closed the cage's doors shut, and in response, Chihiro turned back around and gulped. They sure weren't a friendly crowd, were they?

Chihiro turned her attention back to Persephone and Calliope, but neither of them paid any mind to her. Their attention fixed on the thing that lied ahead of them, and the neon blue light it emitted served well to highlight the horror on their faces.

"What are you looking at?" Chihiro asked as she rejoined them and nudged Persephone's shoulder.

"My castle," Persephone croaked, still utterly oblivious to Chihiro's presence, "what have they done to it?"

Chihiro looked ahead and every bone in her body froze. There in front of her was something that looked like a fanciful, regal castle not unlike the ones she saw in picture books when she was little, but it felt so much more horrifying. Every single window and crevice in the castle glowed a striking, almost fear-inducing neon blue every few seconds, and symphonies of pained, horrified screams echoed out from the castle's walls in time with those glows!

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Persephone lashed out at last as she glared back to the soldiers behind, and tears of rage flung from her face.

But, the solders were completely gone! In moments they vanished and circled around Chihiro, Persephone and Calliope, their bodies like a makeshift wall as they squeezed in tight with no hope of escape.

"What have we done?" crooned a shrill voice from behind them. "Why, what about what YOU did? All we did is bring you to the place your foolhardiness will lead!"

The soldiers all parted slightly as someone else stepped forward and positioned themself in the sole gap the forces created.

"To. Your. Grave."

There before them was some kind of humanoid man. His warm peach skin probably the brightest thing around sans the castle. He was decked to the nines in fancy clockwork armor with too many knobs and switches that glowed the same neon blue as the castle, and an indigo cape draped down from the armor's shoulders. His eyes were so deep a shade of brown that they were practically black, and that absolutely cheesy bowl cut he bore with strands of hair flown everywhere matched those eyes' shade. Above his smirking mouth was a handlebar mustache like the kind villains in old cartoons had.

If not for the grim circumstances, Chihiro would've laughed her head off. After all, he looked absolutely ridiculous! But, now was no time for laughter, so she merely stayed silent and hoped that the glare she gave this rando would convey just how displeased she was with his appearance.

"Now, now, don't give me that look, child," the man crooned as he lifted Chihiro's chin. "This is a joyous day!" The man cast an aside sneer. "For me, anyways!"

The man spun around and clasped his hands tight. "To think, that not only the fairy queen, but the new portal master would fall into my grasp!" The man stopped for a moment and twirled his mustache. "Lord Kaos will surely reward me handsomely when I deliver the news~"

The man shot a glare towards a shaking Calliope. "Wait a second, haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

Before the man could take a closer look at Calliope, however, Chihiro growled and pushed her face right into his!

"What is this place?" Chihiro exclaimed at last as she flung her fists in the air.

The man growled as he withdrew his hand, but sneered as he cast a gaze back at the castle. "This? This castle is by far my greatest achievement!" The man stretched his arms wide as the castle was. "These facilities contain within them machines that completely drain the magic of any living being! All the way down to the last drop!"

Chihiro winced as the man turned back to her. Something told her that was not necessarily a good thing, but then again, the screams and weird lighting were already a big hint.

"Uh, yeah, about that, boss?" asked one goblin soldier as they nudged the boss's shoulder. "Isn't there another way to drain all the magic from those pixies? Preferably one that doesn't involve as much screaming?"

"NONSENSE!" the man exclaimed as he flicked the goblin's nose. "Lord Kaos wanted every last drop of those fairies' magic, and by the Ancients, I'll drain all that magic—" the man shook his fist to the heavens "—even if it means killing them all!"

The moment she heard this, Calliope shook so furiously that she couldn't even stand, let alone fly. She just fell to her foggy feet!

"Calliope!" Persephone and Chihiro called in unison as they both knelt down and held Calliope close.

"Did Lord Kaos really say that?" remarked a second goblin as they scratched their chin. "I don't think killing all his future subjects would make him very happy."

A rumble of agreeing choruses rippled across as the other goblin soldiers nodded and mumbled in agreement.

"Well, maybe not that exactly, but what Lord Kaos doesn't know won't hurt him! As long as he's getting the magic, he's perfectly happy to just let me do my work while he conquers Skylands!" the man replied as he turned towards the castle.

"You monster!" Persephone exclaimed as she bore an enraged scowl and glared up at the man.

The man only scoffed as he cast a scorning look down at Persephone.

"Anyways, enough chattering!" The man strode towards the castle. "Take the prisoners to the magic extraction facility, stat!"

The soldiers all nodded and focused their attention towards the trio once more, right in time for a rock to smack right into one soldier's face!

"TAKE THAT!" Chihiro exclaimed as she kicked up sand and shot small rocks everywhere she could. "AND THAT! AND SOME OF THIS TOO! I'M ONLY GOING IN THERE OVER MY DEAD BODY!"

Chihiro paused for a moment to catch her breath, but not for long! As the soldiers fled from Persephone and Calliope in order to capture Chihiro, Chihiro herself went right back to causing a ruckus! She kicked soldiers in the groin, shot rocks, kicked sand into their eyes, and spun as wildly as she could! All the while, she screamed out obscenities and insults that were so utterly dastardly they couldn't possibly be repeated here!

"What are you doing?" the commander man exclaimed as he shook a fist at his minions, "Get her already!"

"We're trying, boss," shot back a soldier as they haplessly shrugged, "But she's being a slippery little—" the soldier reeled back as sand flew into their eyes "—AUGH, MY EYES!"

"Take that, you no-good walking meat pile!" Chihiro exclaimed as she jumped up and down, pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at the soldiers. "Nyeh!"

One soldier growled and snarled as they raised their cleaver to the heavens!

"That's it!" The soldier exclaimed as they swung down their cleaver,. "Take this, ya brat!"

The cleaver swung down with such velocity that all the other soldier could only stand and watch as it swung down towards Chihiro, but Chihiro only flung her cuffed hands in front of her face and watched as the handcuffs split in half! Chihiro smirked back up at the wide-eyed soldiers while the cuffs harmlessly slid off of her wrists. She could feel the magic flow through her veins, and dang, it was such a good feeling!

"Hah! Looks like making all that nonsense was worth it," Chihiro crowed with a shrug. "Man, who knew insulting people could save your life?"

Chihiro kept her confident composure as the guards growled and lunged towards her. Now that she had her powers back, surely the battlefield would be a little more even in levels! She flung her hands in front of her, ready to create a gigantic magic blast, but all that came out was a few sparks!

"No way!" Chihiro exclaimed as she looked down at her hands. "Why aren't my attacks working? Those weird handcuffs are gone!"

Chihiro froze, groaned and hung her head. "Crap, that's right. I forgot about that weird no-sell spell!" Chihiro looked to her feet and snagged a large rock off of the ground. "Looks like I'll have to make a break for it!"

The soldiers all charged towards Chihiro at once, but she merely closed her eyes and vanished in a flash! With the limits of the no-sell spell, she'd only remain invisible for a few moments more. She'd have to act fast! While the soldiers whipped their heads around and mumbled in confusion, Chihiro dashed towards a very confused Persephone and Calliope! She lifted the rock above her head and crashed it down on Persephone's handcuffs! As the handcuffs split in two, Chihiro turned to Calliope and did the same thing!

Persephone's eyes widened as the handcuffs fell off of her wrists, but the moment she looked up, she merely smiled. Yep, seems like that invisibility spell wore off, and unfortunately for them, the commander noticed it too!

"There she is, you buffoons!" the commander exclaimed as he jabbed a finger towards Chihiro. "Get her!"

With no time wasted, Chihiro grabbed Persephone and Calliope's hands and bolted down the way! All these razed grounds would leave little cover for them, so all she could do for now was run as fast as her legs could carry and pray that sanctuary would find her way soon.

The pound of footsteps behind her swirled in her ears, but Chihiro could hardly think about that right now! She had to run! As Chihiro ran even further, the ache in her exhausted legs barely notable, her eyes glazed over the paths some more. Just as all hope seemed lost, those eyes of hers fell onto a hut that, while worn, still stood tall! Finally, a place to hide!

Filled with a new energy, Chihiro raced through the alleys and dodged behind the hut. As the sound of stomping passed her by, Chihiro heaved a sigh of ultimate relief.

"That was a close one," Calliope remarked as she dusted off her coat. "We were almost done for."

"No kidding," Chihiro replied as she looked over at Calliope. "Everyone alright?"

"Somehow," Persephone said as she hung her head, her hands clasped against her skirt, "but we've danced ourselves into a truly unlucky situation. With that unhappy spell they've put on the kingdom, how shall we stop them?"

Chihiro hummed and pressed her hand against her chin. "Y'know, they said this no-sell spell was powered by fairy magic, right?" Chihiro remarked as she turned back to Persephone.

"I believe so, yes." Persephone nodded as if to affirm her statement.

"Well, if fairy magic is what created it—" Chihiro smiled and pounded a fist against her hand "— maybe fairy magic is what we can use to fight it!"

"Yes, but how?"

Chihiro bounced a finger between Persephone and Calliope. "Can one of you two create a power-up spell? Or, well, whatever you call that kind of magic?"

Chihiro watched as Calliope's hands flared with purple light again. Oh, so Chihiro definitely wasn't imagining it that time!

"Calliope?" Chihiro tilted her head.

"Uh, well, you wouldn't really want me doing it," Calliope winced as she looked aside, the light from her hands diminished. "Your Majesty, I hate to ask, but could you?"

"I'll try," Persephone replied as she nodded and held out her hands. "If it's for my people, I'll do anything!"

Persephone rolled her hands in a circle, laid them out flat and grinned as a swirl of pastel blue magic emerged from her palms. "This happy power spell should last for about an hour's dance." Persephone turned to Chihiro. "Hopefully this will work…"

Persephone gently nudged the swirl, and it flew over towards Chihiro. Chihiro winced for a moment as the swirl plunged into chest, but opened her eyes when she realized nothing bad happened. Heck, she felt great! It was like she just got up in the morning and was full of life!

Chihiro bounced to her feet, then held out her hands as she tried to summon a magic sphere. Her mouth twisted into a frown as she closed her eyes and focused, and she soon opened them as she heard a familiar whoosh.

"Persephone, you did it!" Chihiro exclaimed as she looked down at her hands. "The spell worked!"

Sure enough, right in her hands was a bright, cyan magic sphere! Man, she really took being able to summon these things whenever she pleased for granted!

"Indeed it did!" Persephone flew up and clapped.

The two of them basked in their accomplishment, but Calliope wasn't as quick to join. Instead, she only frowned and peered her head around the hut's shelter.

"Er, I hate to interrupt the celebrations," Calliope said as she turned her head back around and clenched her teeth, "but they're getting closer!"

Chihiro's eyes widened, but her energy didn't recede. She merely smiled as she held her magic sphere tight. "Perfect time to test this out, then!" Chihiro exclaimed before she turned to Persephone and Calliope. "You two stay hidden, I'll—"

Persephone only shook her head and flew to Chihiro's side.

"Young honorable Chihiro, please let me dance alongside you in battle," Persephone asked as she stared at Chihiro with a shimmer of seriousness in her bright red eyes. "These monsters have brought much unhappiness among my people. I cannot let their actions go unpunished."

Chihiro bit her lip as she looked back at Persephone. Persephone seemed kind of different, right now, like the playful mask she had donned had finally dropped.

"Very well." Chihiro nodded and ushered Persephone along. "Calliope, stay hidden. We'll take care of these goons!"

Calliope only nodded, and took further sanctuary behind a thickets of bushes with no leaves.

Chihiro and Persephone nodded towards each other once Calliope hid herself. With a mighty cry of battle, the two of them leaped out into the open! There, past the front of the hut they once hid behind, were tons of troll and goblin soldiers dressed in bulky-looking armor and equipped with fancy weapons that searched all around the premise. But with her powers back, they seemed a lot less intimidating to Chihiro. She could definitely take these guys!

"Thought you could hide forever, did you?" crooned the commander as he twirled his mustache.

"I wouldn't call it that," Chihiro corrected as she shook her head, a small smile on her face, "more like preparing for battle!"

"HAH! HAH, HAH, HAH!" The commander cackled to the heavens then shot Chihiro an amused glance. "That's me laughing at your overconfidence! With this no-sell spell, you're both chompies in a barrel!" The commander pointed towards Chihiro and Persephone. "Guards, get them!"

The guards all perked up, almost as if they were of one mind, and stormed all around Chihiro and Persephone! With how many there were, there was no clear escape path to be seen, but, Chihiro didn't come here to run; she came here to fight!

"You ready, Persephone?" Chihiro asked as she crafted a sword out of magic and turned to Persephone.

"Indeed, young honorable Chihiro," Persephone replied as she cast another swirl of magic that solidified into a shiny blue handheld ribbon like the kind one used in a dance class.

The two of them looked at each other, nodded once, and turned back to the massive amounts of soldiers before them.

"THEN LET'S KICK SOME BUTT!"

Chihiro grasped her magic sword tight and slashed it right at the guards that charged her! As they all flew back into the rubble and wreckage, Chihiro tossed her sword to the air, shot it with a beam of magic energy, and it grew at least five times its size! As the sword dropped back into her grasp, Chihiro grunted and lunged it over her head. With one powerful swing, she slammed it down onto the ground and created a huge shockwave! The shockwave sent the soldiers around onto their feet, but she only smirked and blew off her sword.

"Man, it feels good to actually put up a fight," Chihiro remarked as the sword disappeared and she wiped off her hands.

"Now it's my turn!" Persephone proclaimed as she flitted forwards.

Persephone swirled the ribbon in the air with a dancer's grace, and as her eyes narrowed, she cracked it as if it was a whip! Its silky-looking surface turned deadly as it wrapped around a number of tall trolls, and sent them spinning into the soldiers that Chihiro incapacitated moments earlier! The trolls and soldiers collided in one big crash; stray helmets and weapons flew into the distance as the soldiers landed in a tired heap on top of each other, and scattered dust all across the ghost town's paths.

Chihiro and Persephone both smiled and high-fived, but the shadows that cast over them reminded them of one key detail—the battle was far from won!

Chihiro grunted as a goliath of a goblin tried to punch her, but she merely ducked under their punch! She backflipped out of the way, kicked the goblin's arm back in the process, and tapped her heels as magical wings formed on the base of her boots. She clapped her hands, and magical boxing gloves formed around them! Now it was time to have some fun!

Chihiro leaped forward as the goblin shook their head and charged right towards her with its chest pushed out. Big mistake, buddy! As soon as she got in range, Chihiro let loose a rapid fire barrage of punches straight to the gut! While the goblin groaned and shouted, Chihiro raised her right fist, watched as the glove around it grew twice its prior size, and hit the goblin with a punch so great it sent it and its teeth flying!

"Ew, teeth!" Chihiro grunted as she dodged an over-sized fang. "Does this guy even brush?"

Chihiro yelped and ducked as a spinning blade soared just inches above her head, and popped back up as she heard a cackle. Aside from her, a skinnier troll soldier chuckled as they flung the blades right at Chihiro!

"So that's how you wanna play, huh?" Chihiro exclaimed as she clapped her hands and watched her boxing gloves disappear. "How about you have a taste of your own medicine?"

Chihiro pushed her hands in front of her body as a gigantic magic shield manifested in front of her! The blades bounced right off of the shield, and spun right back towards the troll soldier! The soldier screamed in terror as their blades turned against them, and tried to run off, but tripped on their own two feet and fell flat on their face! The soldier tried to stagger up, but their fellow soldiers trampled them underfoot before they could even get an inch off of the ground!

Why were those soldiers running in such a hurry, one may ask? Well, the gigantic magical bowling ball that sped after them was certainly an answer!

Persephone laughed so loud even the birds in the skies above could probably hear her as she sent gigantic bowling balls rolling down the beaten dirt paths!

"Goodness!" Persephone exclaimed as she spun in the air and clapped her hands. "I haven't had this much fun in ages!"

"And better yet, it looks like most of those goons are gone!" Chihiro remarked as she scanned the area and turned back to Persephone. "Looks like we can finally get out of here!"

"Not so fast, you!" proclaimed a sickeningly familiar shrill voice.

Persephone and Chihiro both turned and looked around in search of the voice, but something slammed into Chihiro and pushed her down the way before they found its source! Chihiro dug her heels into the ground and growled as something squeezed her arm, and looked up to find that commander held her tight! Chihiro's eyes widened as she dug her heels further and tried to yank herself out of grasp. However, it was to no luck—he had her tight in his grasp!

"Forgetting someone?" the commander scoffed as a pair of mechanical arms emerged from the back of his armor and turned the power dials on his gloves. "Normally I wouldn't stoop so low as to deal with prisoners myself, but you've been a special kind of thorn in my side!"

As the commander's armor grew a brighter glow of blue, he smirked and tossed Chihiro right into a pile of rubble! Chihiro cried out as the sharp bits of rock and glass pierced her back, and coughed as she tried to pull herself out. However, the sudden pain was such a shock to her body; it was like she couldn't even move a muscle! All she could do was fall back into the wreckage.

"Young honorable Chihiro!" Persephone called as she went to fly after Chihiro, but the commander teleported right behind her and grabbed her shoulder!

"Not so fast, missy!" the commander exclaimed as he yanked Persephone back. "You're coming with me!"

Persephone grunted, spun out of his grasp, and crafted a firm shield out of magic. However, it seemed like it wasn't firm enough, for the commander shattered it with only a single punch! Persephone gasped as he smirked over the remains of her broken shield, and flew over the rubble pile in a frantic flit.

"Young honorable Chihiro, wake up!" Persephone urged as she pulled Chihiro out of the rubble pile.

Chihiro grunted as she shook her head and pulled herself to her feet. Looks like she'd have to take care of this dude, then! Once her feet fell back on the earth, Chihiro dashed forward and glazed over the commander. His back was turned, and he was completely vulnerable to attacks!

So, she shot a magic blast straight at him, but he only turned around and shot it into the dead woods with a simple smack of his hand.

"Thought you could pull a fast one on me, did you?" the commander asked as he watched the sphere fly off. With a chuckle, he spun a dial on his suit, then held up a metallic, gloved palm which charged with cyan magical energy. "Well, you've got another thing coming!"

The palm glowed so bright that it was like it could barely contain the magic within it anymore, and a gigantic blue beam of energy shot straight at a wide-eyed Chihiro and Persephone! Thankfully, Chihiro was quick to jump to her feet and create a shield, but even that wasn't enough! The beam only seared a hole straight through the shield and shot it to pieces, with Chihiro and Persephone forced to duck! When the beam faded, Chihiro pulled herself back to her feet, yet lurched over while unrelenting exhaustion seared through her body. No doubt about it, that spell was probably going to wear off soon; she needed to think fast!

So, in what she could only assume would be her last minutes of power, Chihiro grabbed Persephone's hand and teleported away!

In moments, the blue light that ensnared her relented, and showed that she was now behind their hut hiding place with Calliope close by!

"Come on, we've gotta get out of here!" Chihiro exclaimed as she squeezed a shocked Calliope's hand.

Chihiro teleported again, and this time, found herself back on track to her former battlefield! She gritted her teeth and bolted down into a path flanked with rotted tree trunks. Though they were all rotted and split and dead, this dead forest could at least give them some kind of cover, right?

Chihiro's heart beat so fast that she could practically pass out as she whipped around and rolled behind a particularly large broken tree trunk. While Persephone and Calliope collected themselves, Chihiro made herself as small as possible. Oh god, she could hear stomping. Lots of stomping. Had they found her already?

"Where'd they go?" asked a tough voice close to where she was.

"I thought I saw them run down here," replied another, slightly lower voice, "but I don't see a lick of 'em anywhere!"

"Must've seen things." The first voice cleared their throat. "ATTENTION! EVERYONE, GO BACK AND SEARCH THE PERIMETER AGAIN! WE CAN'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"

"UNDERSTOOD!"

Chihiro paused and held her rapidly-beating heart as the sound of stomping grew further in the distance. Man, she had been chased by bad guys before, but those chases were never this intense! Well, whatever, there was no use dwelling on it now. Now that she was mostly in the clear, she had to find the others… Crap! Chihiro delved closer into the tree trunk and peered out one of its holes as a goblin soldier came close by; its jaw was slack as it sniffed the air, and the soldier growled.

"I smell meat," it grumbled as it lurched across the way, "where is it?"

Persephone and Calliope both gasped as the scrambled further into the trunk, but Calliope yelped as something grabbed her by her mist trail! Calliope dug her hands into the dead earth in some vain attempt to resist, but she sadly wasn't strong enough. The soldier yanked her out of the hollow and pinched the scruff of her jacket.

"Well, well, lookie here," the soldier sneered as it held a struggling Calliope even tighter. "A little fairy flying around where she shouldn't!"

"Calliope!" Chihiro exclaimed as she scrambled out of the trunk and glared at the soldier, her fists furled and eyes enraged with fire. "Put her down!"

However the soldier only frowned and flicked Chihiro back into the trunk!

"Come on, you!" The soldier stormed off and grinned. "You're going back to the extraction facility—"

"NO!" Calliope screamed at last as she slapped the soldier's face, her hand aglow with purple magic once more!

Then, something strange happened, to say the least. Out of nowhere, the soldier grew unfocused and dizzy, while its legs trembled so badly that it was like the strength was completely drained from it!

"Ugh, I don't feel so good," the soldier groaned as he stumbled about in some pathetic effort to regain his balance.

While the soldier groaned, Chihiro shook her head and smiled—now was her chance! With a grunt, she fell to all fours, shot herself towards the soldier, and headbutted him right in the back! With a pained shout, the soldier took a few shaky steps forward and fell flat on his face!

Calliope managed to wriggle out of his grasp just in time to watch him fall, and a dizzy Chihiro did the same. Chihiro's vision could barely focus thanks to the onset of pain that came from headbutting a heavily-armored person, but she was sure that Calliope's pendant was… Glowing, all of a sudden? Chihiro shook her head and took a better look at the pendant, but by then the glow had faded. Maybe it was just the dizziness, who knew?

"Calliope, your pendant!" Persephone remarked as she flitted closer to Calliope. "It's, glowing!"

Welp, guess Chihiro wasn't the only one to notice that.

"Oh, yeah, it does that," Calliope warbled as she held up the pendant, like she was taken aback that anyone noticed. "It's, er, it was a birthday present from my mothers. It's one of those nice ones that glows sometimes, you know?" Calliope rubbed her thumb against the crystal while its glow faded completely. "I never leave home without it. It's like my good luck charm."

Whatever that pendant was, Chihiro put it aside as she stumbled over to the soldier, fell down to her knees, and poked his arm a couple times. When he didn't stir, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come on," Chihiro said as she pulled herself to her feet and held out her hands, "we can't stay here forever. More of them might come back and find us."

With understanding nods, Persephone and Calliope both grabbed onto one of Chihiro's hands while Persephone's hands flared blue and made Chihiro feel a bit stronger than before. Once Chihiro had their hands firm in her grasp, she closed her eyes and felt herself whooshed away in a flare of magic.