The elevator made a friendly ding as it stopped at the fourth floor, but its cheery noise was hardly reassuring to Cali, Aura, or Persephone as they launched themselves out the elevator.

"Calliope!" Cali called as she stepped forwards. "Where are you?"

"Calliope? Calliope?" Persephone called, only for her to catch sight of the walls and reel back.

There embedded in the walls were round orbs lit with fluorescent cyan light, and there within them…

Were fairies. Ghastly, terrified-looking fairies slunk against their orbs or pounded on their doors in hopes of finding someone who could free them! They looked so weak and hopeless that it was enough to give anyone nightmares!

Persephone shuddered as she fixed her eyes on the orbs while her arms trembled. It was as if it was so horrifying, she couldn't even bring herself to look away until...

"No, no, no, that's not them, where are they?" rattled a familiar voice from across the halls!

"Calliope!" Cali called as she grabbed Persephone's hand and raced down the way.

Cali, Aura and Persephone followed the voice's source down the halls, and sure enough, there was Calliope! She seemed quite frantic, eye wide as she examined the captive fairies one by one—it was almost like she was looking for someone.

"Calliope!" Cali called as she stepped forwards. "There you are!"

However, Cali's call was of no importance to Calliope, who only ignored Cali and continued looking through the pods as she flew further down! Maybe Cali hadn't been loud enough?

"Calliope! Calliope!" Cali continued to call Calliope's name as she followed after Calliope, though her sprints only barely matched Calliope's speed.

As Cali grew maybe a few feet away from Calliope, however, it seemed as if Cali finally succeeded! Calliope perked up for a moment and gasped as she saw Cali down the way. Calliope turned around as if she was ready to fly off, but before she could, Cali grabbed her hand!

"Calliope, what's going on?" Cali asked as she looked up towards Calliope, who struggled to break free of Cali's grasp. "What are you doing?"

"There's no time for questions!" Calliope insisted as she continued tugging against Cali's grip. "I have to find them!"

"Them? Who are they?" Cali's brows tightened as she made a small frown. "Who are these people you keep talking about?"

"Just let me go! The longer I wait, the longer—"

"Friends, I hate to interrupt your dance," Persephone said as she shook Cali's shoulder, eyes wide and cold sweat against her brow, "but we've got an unlucky situation!"

"Lady Persephone is right!" Aura proclaimed as she turned around and bit her nails. "We've been found!"

Cali and Calliope froze for a moment, turned around, and unfortunately, Aura and Persephone were right! The guards piled out of the elevator as they spoke! As the guards caught sight of them, Cali, Persephone and Aura all readied themselves to fight… Except, the guards did nothing. Rather, the guards simply turned the dials on their armor a few notches, and right then, the light from the orbs grew so intense that it bathed the area around in a bone-chilling shade of blue!

The screams and light were so intense that everybody froze in their tracks—which gave the guards just enough time to grab hold of Persephone and Aura! The two of them were so caught off-guard, and they could only scream and writhe in horror as the guards dragged them to two nearby orbs and threw them in! Persephone and Aura both screamed and banged their fists against the orbs, but froze and screeched as they were shocked with some kind of blue lightning! The sight of them writhing in pain, it was absolutely horrifying!

"Persephone, Aura!" Cali called, her eyes wide before she snarled and grabbed a knife from her pocket. "Alright, now you're in for it!"

With a twist of her foot, Cali propelled herself forwards with full intention of attacking, but before she could even strike a single blow, someone swept her off her feet—literally! She just fell on her back, grunted and pulled herself back up.

"My, my, what a surprise seeing you here! I wouldn't expect such a pretty lady like you to be so quick to walk to your doom!" crowed a pale-skinned man with an absolutely stupid-looking bowl cut, a handlebar mustache, and clockwork armor with too many knobs on it as he walked up to Cali. Was this the commander that Aura was talking about?

"Shouldn't a lovely woman like you try to preserve herself a bit?"

"CAN IT, YOU CREEP!"

Cali growled once more, and her face seethed red with anger as she leaned forward and socked him right in the kisser!

"THAT'S IT! I TRIED BEING NICE!" The commander snarled as his eyes moved to Calliope. "BUT YOU'VE PROVEN TO ME YOU DON'T DESERVE IT!"

The commander lunged towards Calliope, who could only watch him like a deer in a ship's headlights—but before he could lay a scratch on her, Cali grabbed Calliope and pull her out of his way!

"GET BACK HERE, YOU!" the commander screamed in the distance as Cali made a break for it, his voice grown further and further with every step. "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!"

Cali's breath grew heavier as she dragged Calliope through the rows and rows of trapped fairies and machinery. Surely there had to be somewhere to hide here, right? There! Right under some massive pipes was a shaft small enough for them to creep under! Cali squeezed Calliope's hand tighter, hit the floor and skidded right under its opening. The whole place was dark and warm with the only light from the opening beside them, and Cali's body ached with pain from sliding so fast against hard metal. But sometimes, you have to do what you have to do.

Cali stopped for a moment and held a paw over her heart, which still beat with tension from earlier. However, it seemed to have slowed down a bit.

"Calliope, are you—" Cali whispered as she turned to Calliope, but was only met with the sounds of strained sobs!

Calliope furled herself into a trembling ball, tears poured down her cheeks like waterfalls, and her breath torn between sobbing and hyperventilating at the same time!

"Calliope, it's alright, we're safe!" Cali placed a hand on Calliope's shoulder and held Calliope close. "For now."

"NO, NO, THEY AREN'T!" Calliope wailed as she pushed Cali away and broke down into hiccuping sobs, "My mothers, they're surely…"

"Your… Mothers?"

Cali caught herself before she fell back on the floor, her wide eyes fixed on an equally wide-eyed Calliope. Calliope just froze for a moment, but finally she shuddered and nodded.

"When the kingdom was first taken, my mothers were among the captives." Calliope tried her best to hold back her sobs, his voice hoarse and strained from crying. "That's why I wanted to come back here so badly!" Despite her best efforts, tears rolled down Calliope's swollen eyes once more. "But, surely, they, they, they must, they must be dead by now!"

As Calliope sobbed and curled up, Cali crept forward, gently wrapped her arms around Calliope, and stroked Calliope's back.

"I wouldn't give up just yet, Calliope!" Cali said with a calm smile.

"But, why?" Calliope sniffled as she wiped her nose and looked up at Cali with puffy, swollen eyes. "Everything's so…"

"Hopeless, I know." Cali withdrew from the hug and looked aside from just a moment, then looked back at Calliope. "But, if there's one thing working with the Skylanders has taught me, it's that no situation is truly hopeless until you say it is!"

Cali pounded a fist against her hand.

"If we give up right now, their fate is sealed for sure." Cali's word ran with a level of seriousness, yet her smile shone bright as ever. "But, as long as you hang on to that one glimmer of hope that they're still alive, you'll definitely be able to save your moms!"

Though Calliope shook a bit still, it seemed as if Cali's words reassured her just a bit. "Are you sure?"

"I'm certain."

Cali winked along with her smile, but yipped in surprise as Calliope tackled Cali in a hug! Calliope cried tears not of sorrow, but of what seemed like reassurance or joy, even.

"Thank you, Cali."

"No problem!" Cali wiped away Calliope's tears and helped Calliope back up. "Now, before we can do anything, we have to get back down there and shut this whole place down! The longer it takes us, the more magic everyone here will lose—there's no time to waste!"

"R-right."

Calliope looked away as if she was hesitating, but nodded nonetheless. So, they both looked out the entrance to their hideaway and gulped. It didn't seem like they could hear footsteps or non-fairy voices—surely, those guards lost interest and left by now. So, they both approached the entrance...

"Anyways, that reminds me. I've been wondering…" Cali tilted her head as she looked back at Calliope. "How exactly did you escape, anyways?"

Before Calliope could answer, however, both of them were shaken by the sound of tearing metal as bright light poured into the hiding place! They turned around, and unfortunately for them, found that they were found! The two of them screamed and held each other as the guards and commander glared down above them.

"FOUND YOU, YOU INSOLENT PESTS!" the commander proclaimed.

§

The chainsaws and troll lumberjacks now long behind them, Zook sang a jaunty tune in some kind of language far beyond the other two's understanding as they trailed up identical wooden paths. It was as if they were the only ones in the forest as they scoured for the Eternal Life Source. That is, until they heard rustling from nearby!

"WHO'S THERE?" Stump Smash and Camo exclaimed as they readied to attack. Their eyes trained on the source of the noise, a bush of leaves that shook furiously…

Yet oddly enough, Zook seemed perfectly calm. He just laid down his bazooka and smiled as he pushed back the bushes.

"Well, would'ja look at that?" Zook remarked as a fluffy gray squirrel hopped out from the bushes. "Run along, little guy!"

Stump Smash and Camo breathed sighs of relief as the squirrel looked up and twitched its nose. Phew, just a false alarm. But on the other hand, the earthquakes that followed were certainly real! As everybody fell on their backs while the squirrels rushed off, Camo gritted his fangs and held his paws over his head.

"What's going on here?" Camo exclaimed, his voice strained as he struggled to be heard over the rumbling of the quakes.

"Why are you talking about mowing, Camo?" Stump Smash yelled back.

"I didn't say mowing, I said GOING!" Camo breathed in and exhaled, but fell back down as a series of loud bangs shot off from above!

"ARE THOSE FIREWORKS?" Stump Smash whipped his head around. "Who's shooting off fireworks at a time like this?"

"Those aren't fireworks!" Zook interrupted as he pushed himself between Stump Smash and Zook. "Fireworks don't sound like that, I'd know!" Zook pointed everyone towards the path behind them. "Those are gunshots!"

Stump Smash and Camo followed Zook, and sure enough, he was right! From across the horizon, large metal missiles shot through the skies and straight towards them! They all screamed as they ran around like headless chickens in some effort to dodge the missiles' path, but it was no use! The missiles followed them every which way. No matter where they ran or what they did, the missiles were perfectly fit to chase them!

"Alright, I've had enough of running!" Zook proclaimed as he stopped and loaded his bazooka. With a click of the trigger, Zook's own missiles rammed right into the missiles that tailed them and blew the enemy missiles to bits!

Camo breathed a sigh of relief as he examined the shrapnel underneath, but Stump Smash didn't seem quite as reassured by Zook's victory—for he only turned around and winced.

"I wouldn't catch your breath just yet!" Stump Smash warned as he painted ahead. "Look!"

Ahead of them, even more missiles flew out from nowhere with their paths locked on Stump Smash, Zook and Camo! Once again they all found themselves running about in a panic as they tried to shake the missiles, but this time, it seemed like giggling intermingled with the sounds of the missiles' fire!

Camo frowned and stopped in place as turned his attention towards a nearby collection of rustling bushes. He crept closer towards the bushes and pushed their branches aside to find a troll who held a gigantic remote! It laughed so hard that tears streamed down from its face, and its eyes focused on a screen propped out from the remote that depicted Stump Smash and Zook running in circles as the missiles pursued them.

Camo said no words, and instead just made a simple cough into his paw, but, it was plenty enough to catch the attention of the troll! It saw Camo, and ran screaming with no mind paid to the fact that it dropped its remote!

"Well, that's one thing solved!" Camo remarked as the troll ran for the hills.

Camo turned his attention back down to the remote, and made a twisted frown as he smashed its base with a powerful stomp! The screen attached to it showed an image of a confused Stump Smash and Zook standing frozen as the missiles stopped mid-race and harmlessly clunked onto the forest floor, but completely blipped out right in time for Camo to leave the bushes.

"Don't wory, guys!" Camo proclaimed as he gave them a toes up. "Coast's clear!"

Stump Smash and Zook nodded as all three of them reformed their little group, and they all walked down the wooden way until Stump Smash stopped in his tracks!

"Into the bushes, now!" Stump Smash exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around Camo and Zook and pushed them all into the bushes!

"What was that for?" a dizzy Camo asked as he tried to recollect himself.

Stump Smash only shushed them and pointed out a hole in the bushes. There outside of their hiding spot, two bulky trolls dressed in lumberjack plaids and armor trolled their way down the path, their eyes turned to each other.

"See the Skylanders anywhere?" asked one troll soldier to the other.

"SKYLANDERS?" exclaimed the second troll as they jumped up and looked every which way. "WHERE?"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" The first troll snarled as he conked his coworker right on the head.

"Owch!"

"The Evil Elf Ninja said that the Skylanders were here, and with the Eternal Life Source close by, we can't afford to let them slip under our radar! They've already had to assign half our missile launchers to this stretch alone!" The first troll snarled as the second troll rubbed their aching head. "Keep looking!"

"Alright…"

As the trolls made their leave, Camo beamed towards Stump Smash and Zook, who shared his look of excitement.

"Hear that?" Zook whispered, his eyes bright lights that shone among the trees' canopy.

"Loud and clear!" Camo replied as he leaped out of the bushes. "Let's go get that source—" Camo froze as he caught sight of at all the soldiers stationed by and jumped back into the bushes. "Actually, we might wanna stick here!"

Camo took one last peek outside then closed up the holes in the bushes. "There's creeps crawling everywhere."

So instead, they fell to their bellies and crawled through the bushes, with the occasional peek through the bushes taken to see if the guards had cleared up some. But nope! Still as tight as ever!

"They weren't kidding when they said they amped up security," Zook remarked as he turned his eyes away from the bushes. "Looks like we'll have to find another way around!"

"Actually, I don't think that'll be necessary!" Stump Smash proclaimed as he smashed his hands together. "TIMBERRRR!"

Stump Smash stormed through the path of soldiers and bulldozed down as many trolls that he could with his hammers, and while the trolls reeled from shock, he spat out a round of spiny chestnuts! The trolls kicked up storms of dead wood and dust in their panic, the perfect mask for the Skylanders to sneak in under!

While the trolls cleared out, Zook, Stump Smash and Camo dodged in, completely veiled by the clouds of dust. Underneath these clouds they crept their way through the sounds of chaos and war. As the trolls were left in the literal dust, the three of them froze and shuddered. For a moment, it was like the power of the Life Element itself flooded through their veins!

"Did you guys feel that?" Camo asked, and the smile on his face grew wider as Zook and Stump Smash nodded. "We've gotta be close!"

Camo turned his attention back to the path ahead, or rather, paths! Two soft, plush-looking bounce pads decorated the wooden floor's left and rightmost sides respectively. The first one lead to forest canopy with a chopped half of a log for a bridge, while the second led to a fortress entrance made of thin logs and wooden planks. All three of them approached the rightmost bounce pad where the Life Element energy echoed the most, but as they approached the bounce pad, the bushes around started rustling!

"HALT RIGHT THERE, SKYLANDERS!"

One by one, five troll guards in impressively color-coordinated armor leaped out of the bushes and bore their weapons!

"Just who are you guys?" Stump Smash demanded as he stepped back, Camo and Zook closed behind.

The trolls, in response, all lined up single-file.

"A fantastic mind with fantastic muscles to match!" the first troll proclaimed as they flexed, and then make an F rune with their arms. "Farley, the F!"

"Outrageous speed and outrageous strength, all wrapped up in one package!" exclaimed the second troll as they ran in place and punched the air before them, and then made an O rune with their arms. "Orson, the O!"

"Radical and righteous, I'll raze you to the ground!" cried the third as they flipped their hair, slashed the air beside them with their lance, and then made an R rune with their arms. "Raquel, the…"

However, while they were busy showing off their fancy group intro, the Skylanders bored of the routine and went ahead to the bounce pads!

"HEY! YOU DIDN'T LET US FINISH OUR INTRO!" Raquel yelled, his face tinged red from fury.

"Not our fault you took too long!" Stump Smash replied with a hapless shrug, and grunted as Orson crashed into him and sent him crashing into a stack of logs.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR NOT LETTING US INTRODUCE OURSELVES!"

"Oh yeah?" Zook asked as he turned around and readied his bazooka with Camo and Stump Smash close behind and just as ready to fight. "Bring it on!"

Farley immediately went to attack Camo, but Camo was quick to knock him away with gigantic bell pepper bombs! The peppers exploded and blew away not just Farley, but the rest of the trolls as well! Camo stood for a moment to admire his work, but soon Orson shot Camo down with a quickly-timed punch!

"Ha!" Orson scoffed as he pressed his fists against his hips. "That's what you get for gloating! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

But while Orson laughed at Camo's defeat, he didn't seem to notice a shadow slunk behind him...

"Maybe you should listen to some of your own advice!" Stump Smash retorted as he sneaked up on Orson and smacked him right in the back!

Orson went flying straight into one of the other trolls, which in turn sent them both bowling into a nearby log pile! They both whined as they sat up and pulled out splinters, set one look at each other, and…

"YOU NEED TO WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, CARL!" Orson yelled as he shook a fist at Orson.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO WATCH IT, ORSON!" the troll who was apparently Carl retorted as he crossed his arms. "YOU WOULDN'T SEE A BOMB IF IT HIT YOU SQUARE IN THE FACE!"

"Geez, haven't we had enough silly arguments for one day?" Zook groaned as he watched Orson and Carl argue, and with a smile, he knelt down and motioned his hand up. "Looks like I'd better break them up!"

While Zook continued to motion, a soft ripple echoed around the battlefield, one that was completely drowned out by the sounds of combat. Though, the gigantic row of bamboo shoots that soon shot up was prominent enough! It was so large and fast that it immediately shot both Orson and Carl off the ground and headfirst into the nearby trees!

"Ow, our heads…"

Orson groaned as he slid down and just barely avoided falling on another troll, who winced as Orson bonked his head on the tree's trunk.

"This doesn't look good," remarked the troll as they slipped out of the fight and jumped on the rightmost bounce pad, "I'd better warn the commanders!"

As the troll tried to make a great escape, Camo slid back from Farley's latest blow, turned around and spotted the runaway troll!

"Thought you could get away, huh?" Camo hissed as he chased after the troll. "Get back—"

Just then, the troll ran into the path above, and blocked it off with a wooden gate right before Camo could enter! Instead, he just slammed face-first into the gate and fell down.

"Okay, maybe you can!" Camo cried as birds flew around his head.

The other four trolls all sneered as they caught sight of the blocked-off gate,

"Alright boys, finish them off!" Farley commanded.

All five trolls huddled around Zook, Stump Smash and Camo, their weapons and sneers raised as they surely pictured the Skylanders' defeat in their minds. Zook, however, had other ideas. While the trolls closed in on them, Zook raised his bazooka, clicked the trigger, and sent them rocketing away with a gigantic thorny missile courtesy of his bazooka!

"THIS ISN'T THE LAST OF TEAM FORCEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The trolls screamed in unison as… Ding! Just like that, they disappeared over the leafy skies!

"Now how are we supposed to get up there?" Camo asked as he finally recovered from his dizzy spell and looked up at the closed gate. Camo softly hummed, and smiled as he narrowed his eyes. "I know! How about I turn up the heat?"

Camo leaped onto the bounce pad, and as he elevated to the gate's level, he shot a red-hot fireball at it. But, the moment the fireball made contact with the gate, it flickered out instantly!

"So much for that." Camo sighed as he fell back down, stepped out of the way and gestured towards Stump Smash and Zook.

Stump Smash and Zook both shrugged as they looked at each other, jumped up, and shot a combined blast of chestnuts and thorny missiles. But no luck, the gate still wouldn't budge. Must have been made of some pretty tough wood!

"Now what?" Stump Smash asked while they fell back down and examined the gate.

"Well," Zook said as he pointed to the left bounce pad, "maybe we should check out the other path?"

All three pairs of eyes fixed on the left bounce pad, and they all shrugged and lined up. Well, it was worth a shot! So, they took the second bounce pad one by one and trailed down the trail it brought them—wait a second! Muttering echoed down from the way below; it couldn't be… Yes, it was trolls! A bunch of trolls, all swarmed together like bees as they chattered and held metal boxes!

Camo, Zook and Stump Smash all got themselves ready attack, while the trolls all froze and gasped.

"Skylanders!" they all cried out at once as they… loosened their stances and muttered among themselves?

"You know what?" said one troll as they turned around and swirled a hand at the very confused Skylanders. "Normally I'd be happy to fight you Skylanders, but right now it's my lunch break and I'm starving!"

They other trolls all nodded in agreement, and passed Zook, Stump Smash and Camo by as they murmured among themselves.

"You got lucky, don't forget that!"

"I can't wait to eat my ham and gunpowder sandwich!"

"I hope my mom packed those chips I liked…"

All three Skylanders blinked in complete and utter confusion as the trolls left them behind, shrugged and passed on forward.

"Well, at least we don't have to fight them, I guess?" Camo remarked as Zook and Stump Smash tore down a crude wooden fence that blocked the rest of the way. "Let's just hurry before they finish their lunches. Or change their minds. Or both."

And with the fence now completely torn down thanks to a blow from Stump Smash, they did just that!