"So, where do you think those map pieces are?" Trigger Happy asked as he looked up and down and all around.

"Well, in my professional opinion," Boomer said as he scratched his chin. "I don't know!"

Snuckles and Trigger Happy both faulted on the ground, but Boomer couldn't tell what for! Had they started to grow tired from all this exploring? Yeah, that was probably it.

"I mean, knowing his old coworkers and their smarts—" Boomer shrugged, scratched his scalp, and looked aside "—or lack thereof, they could have scattered those pieces anywhere!" Boomer frowned as he glazed over the rest of the outpost. "And this place is pretty big. It'll probably take us a day and a half just the scrounge through the entire thing, and that's based on my memory of it!"

"Well then," Snuckles said as he got up and dusted himself off. "I suppose we'll just have to start looking now!" Snuckles wandered up to a nearby gate and smiled. "And I think I know where to begin! Look here, Skylanders!"

Boomer and Trigger Happy walked up to where Snuckles stood, and looked over at a metal sign next to the gate.

"'The gate where the minefield map pieces are,'" Boomer read with a small smile. "Oh, right! I forgot about this part!"

Snuckles smiled, and directed his attention across from the side where two identical red buttons stuck out from the rusted metal walls. They paired with twin metal plates that had identical, minuscule print engraved on them. In fact, that print was so small it could barely be discerned!

"One of these buttons will probably open this gate," Snuckles reasoned as he finger bounced back and forth between the two buttons, "but which one?"

Snuckles winced as his eyes bounced between both buttons, all while sweat crept down his forehead, and finally he gulped and hovered his finger over the first glowing red button.

"This one, maybe?" Snuckles bit his lip and hovered his finger back over the second. "But I don't know, this one seems pretty good—" Snuckles balled his paw into a fist and smacked it against his other one "—I know how to settle this!"

Snuckles went back to the first button and bounced his finger between the two once more.

"Eenie, meenie, minie, moe, I pick you—" Snuckles smashed his finger against the first button "—ow let's go!"

The moment Snuckles pressed down on the button, the entire area around flashed red while warning sirens blared in the distance! Yeah, something told them all that definitely wasn't the right button!

"INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT!" a mechanical voice blared over the intercoms. "ALL TROLLS TO BATTLE STATIONS!"

The gates receded with a shrieklike hiss, and from them, tons of armed and scary-looking troll soldiers piled out and immediately aimed their guns at Boomer, Trigger Happy and Snuckles!

"Oh right, I forgot that too!" Boomer winced as he gazed over the two glowing buttons. "They put the intruder alarm right next to the doorbell!"

"In my defense, that text was really small," Snuckles whimpered as he buried his face in his furry paws.

They all winced as the trolls shouted and ordered each other around, and their voices melded into one as their guns whirred with power. Yet, Boomer seemed perfectly calm!

"Oh, hello! Don't mind us!" Boomer shouted as he dove his hands into his backpack and rummaged around.

While the enemy trolls looked at him in utter confusion, Boomer smiled and wormed a bomb out of his backpack as he gave Snuckles a wink. It was the confident kind of wink, the one that clearly said, "Don't worry, kiddo! I know exactly what I'm doing! Maybe!"

"You see, we're just passing through this lovely factooo—"

Before Boomer could finish his sentence, he yanked his hand out from behind and tossed the bomb right into the crowd of trolls!

"OOOOPSIE!"

The trolls all screamed as the bomb landed in their commander's hands, while the commander tossed it to another troll, and that troll tossed it to yet another troll. Soon enough, they all divulged into chaos as they played a game of hot potato! Or rather, hot BOMB-tato! Better yet, they were so preoccupied with the bomb that they completely forgot about little ol' Boomer and friends!

"Quick, before they realize it isn't lit!" Boomer whisper-hissed as he urged Trigger Happy and Snuckles towards the door!

The three of them scrambled through the gates, then Boomer hastily turned to the control panel next to it and pressed a couple buttons. In response to his input, the gates slunk back up and locked themselves into place! The trolls on the other side pounded and pressed buttons, but it was of little use; those gates were sealed tight, and nothing was gonna bust them open at this point!

Boomer, Trigger Happy, and Snuckles were all safe within the confines of a tiny room filled with desks coated in blueprints, dust, and assorted torn-apart machines. The metal floors were littered with piles of scraps, and the trash bins were filled with all sorts of junk. Whoever was here last certainly didn't clean up after themself!

"Phew, close one," Boomer sighed as he wiped his face and grinned. "Alright boys, get searching!"

"Right, boss!" Trigger Happy exclaimed as he leaped into a pile of spare nuts and bolts and tossed them everywhere—including Snuckles' head!

"Owch!" Snuckles cried out as a stray bolt bonked him and left a nice little bump as a parting gift. Small tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he rubbed his sore head, but nevertheless he pushed himself towards the machinery desks and began searching.

Snuckles frowned as he picked up blueprints, then tossed them aside in rapid succession. "Not this one, or this, or that. Hey, Captain Rizzo would probably like this one, maybe I should take it—"

"TIMBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" Boomer exclaimed as he kicked over a particularly large robot while it crashed into a pile of scraps on the floor.

Trigger Happy winced as he jumped out of the way, poked through the now thoroughly damaged machine and frowned.

Snuckles shrieked and practically jumped out of his fur from the noise, and yelled in pain once more as he bumped his elbow on the table behind him. He whimpered as he rubbed his elbow, but his eyes widened in surprise as he knelt down below that same table!

"Boomy, I think you only say that when you're cutting down trees," Trigger Happy remarked as he yanked the head of the machine off and peered inside. "Nope, no map pieces here!"

"But there is one here!" Snuckles shouted as he wiggled out from under the table and sat back up. With a grunt, Snuckles pulled himself back to his feet, and brandished a scrap of paper in his hands for all to see. "Well, I think it's a map piece?"

Boomer tossed away the mechanical arm he was examining, his eyes now fixed on the paper that Snuckles held.

"Lemme see!" Boomer chirped as he hopped up to Snuckles and snatched the paper from his paws. Boomer hummed as he examined the paper, and he gasped as his ears twitched!

"Snuckles, you did it!" Boomer wrapped Snuckles into a hug with one arm while he waved the paper all about with the other. "This is one of those map pieces!"

Boomer hovered the scrap of paper for all to see—and sure enough, in its corner were big, crudely-scribbled letters that read "Minefield map!"

"That's one down, who knows how many to go!" Boomer sauntered over to a nearby door, inputted something on a nearby keypad, and drew back as he presented the gate while it slid down into the metal floors. "So come on, time's a'wastin'!"

The three of them hurried through the halls as the gates shot up behind them and frowned as dim light flickered over the halls they had found themselves in. Several doors flanked the very short part of the halls they were in, all paired with twin panels that held tons of bright red buttons. Each panel was unlabeled, with one on the left and another on the right—but just what did they do?

It seemed like Trigger Happy was the first to try and figure that out as he ran up to the doors, hummed in contemplation, and began jumping around and pressing as many buttons as he could!

While he pressed all those buttons, complete and utter chaos broke out! All around them, the doors slammed open and closed while the ceiling clapped open and shut! Worse yet, it made a ton of obnoxious, metal grinding and slamming sounds akin to nails on a chalkboard!

"Pardon me, Skylander, but don't do that!" Snuckles warned as he pulled Trigger Happy away from the button he was about the press. "You might alert the guards!"

Trigger Happy yipped as Snuckles lifted him off the ground, frowned and turned around. "But the door's locked," Trigger Happy refuted. "It’s not like anybody's getting here—"

Trigger Happy froze as he looked behind them. Somehow, in all that button pressing, the door Boomer locked unlocked itself again—and more importantly, trolls already started to file in!

"Hey, what's with all the…" mumbled a beefed up troll-guard armed with an equally-beefy laser cannon as they prowled through the halls at the pack's helm until they caught sight of the Skylanders and froze. "RACKET?"

The troll's eyes grew wide as dinner plates, but soon it gripped its gun tight and went to charge in!

Boomer, Snuckles and Trigger Happy all gasped, and immediately glued themselves to the many buttons as they pressed and prodded! While they tapped and poked all these buttons, the doors slid up and down, clapping machines emerged from the panels and immediately withdrew, gunpowder drifted down from the ceiling… All sorts of effects happened, and yet none of them closed the first gate!

"Come on, come on, close already!" Trigger Happy demanded as he went back to pressing as many buttons as possible for him.

Trigger Happy shuddered as stampeding like an earthquake shook the floor, and turned back to see the trolls were closing in fast! With a squeal, he jumped up and continued to play with those buttons.

"COME ON! SERIOUSLY!"

"We don't have time!" Boomer exclaimed as he grabbed Trigger Happy and Snuckles and pushed them through an open door. "GO, GO, GO! RUN LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!"

That's exactly what they did as the trolls stampeded through the halls! They first bolted down the long hallway they chose as the trolls followed, but they hit a dead end!

"There!" Boomer pointed towards an open gate on the left and bolted down!

The race lead them down into a ten-point star-shaped hub room with doors at every point! They ran down the bottom-left one, but it just looped them right back to the start!

"Weren't we just here?" Snuckles asked as they all stepped foot back into the hub room, only to scream as the trolls stormed in and hollered!

So, they bolted down the middle-right point, which in turn brought them back through the middle-left hall…

"That one!" Trigger Happy shouted as he lead them towards the upper-left one, which also brought them back to the start.

"Okay, let's try this one!"

Snuckles panted as he ran up the top leftmost one, but once again, it brought them back to where they began!

"What's with all these paths?" Snuckles shouted to the ceiling as he paced forward and practically pulled his fur out. "It's like no matter what we do, we're always back—"

Snuckles looked up, and jumped back as he found himself face to face with one of the troll guards.

"RUN AWAY!"

Before they knew it, everything dissolved into anarchy! The trolls chased them down each and every hall, no matter what they did! Their persistence followed Boomer, Snuckles, and Trigger Happy down every hall, and though they pressed the few button panels available, it did little to deter those darn trolls.

Gunpowder rained from the ceiling with one button press, but the trolls just shook it off as a particularly large one tried to pound down Boomer and Trigger Happy with its metal club like a living game of whack-a-chompy! Boomer shouted out as he skidded away from the troll's attack, and his back slammed right into a control panel! He grunted as he pulled himself off of the panel, but his ears twitched as the sound of beeps and chirps echoed out.

"That can't be good," Boomer winced as he looked behind to find the panel's buttons flashed in all sorts of colors, and launched in the air as the tile below his feet sprung up!

All around him, friend and foe alike tossed into the air, and the floor became a springy trampoline as its parts bounced up and receded! The enemy trolls tried to shoot off their guns, but they either slammed straight into the ceiling before they pulled the trigger or their intended targets fell back down before the ammunition could reach! Rather, it instead ricocheted all around the room! All combat was forgotten as everyone ducked for cover or otherwise tried to seek some shelter from the storm...

And Boomer was quick to notice this as he bolted down one of the bottom paths! He panted as his running turned to stumbles, but the prominent sound of loud footsteps seemed to fill him with new energy as he leaped in the air! Boomer winced as he looked behind and caught a particularly beefy troll in his pursuit, yet he turned around and a large panel caught his eye! While his pursuer quickly caught up, Boomer hastily tapped a couple buttons, and with a chirp, a gate jumped out of the floor and blocked Boomer and the other troll from each other's view!

"Phew, good things we finally shook those guys," Boomer sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow and looked around, only to frown. "Snucks? Trigger Happy?"

However, they were nowhere to be found! It was just Boomer, all alone in this cold, metal room.

"Hmm, that's odd." Boomer frowned and rubbed his chin. "We must have gotten separated when we were getting chased by those trolls! But when? Was it when we took that one turn, or was it when the ceiling dropped all that gunpowder?" Boomer knocked a fist on his head and groaned. "Darn, I can't remember at all!"

So, Boomer's frown deepened as he pulled out a lighter, flicked it on and walked down the halls.

"Guess I'll just have to look for them myself!"

§

Snuckles whimpered as he trekked through the very dark, oddly warm, and definitely probably dangerous hallways. He wasn't sure when he got separated from the Skylanders—two turns and four doors after he escaped from that ammo storm, maybe? Well, either way, he was completely alone now, and he hated it! His legs trembled like his mother's weird jelly concoctions, and his eyes hurt from all the tears that flowed down. He felt so, so, helpless and weak all on his own, and all this darkness and confusion wasn't helping that feeling.

"I hate this," Snuckles whimpered as his knees trembled and knocked together without him even realizing, but finally he crumpled into a shuddering ball of a mabu. "I WANNA GO HOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Snuckles' sobs resounded through the halls, an echo of his failed resolve as he shuddered and shook… Then finally, those words resounded in his mind once more.

With us on your side, getting this gear back will be a piece of pie!

"That's right, the Skylanders are with me too! Somewhere…" Snuckles whispered as he wiped his tears and shuddered.

Well, he should have felt encouraged by that, but thinking about it just made him even more uneasy. Those two Skylanders, they were nice and all, but also kind of weird, he guessed? Well, that was probably the nice way of putting it. Either way, though, he was sure they were working super hard to find this map and get that gear, which meant he had to work hard, too! After all, he couldn't make them do all the work on his first mission! He didn't want to let them down, even if they were a bit strange.

So, Snuckles picked himself up off the ground, fired up his flashlight and trekked down the halls once more. His spirits lifted as the sound of mechanical whirring echoed throughout the near identical halls and repeated paths; perhaps this was a sign that he found something—and indeed, he did! After a few more steps, he found a door with a bright red button that just begged to be pressed!

So, he pressed it. Oddly enough, though he heard the familiar sound of an opening door, the door that sat in front of him didn't open? Snuckles turned his flashlight to the left and found an open passageway. Guess that was what that button unlocked; maybe that one had the switch he was actually looking for? So he walked inside, and the moment he did, his flashlight flickered out!

"Oh come on," Snuckles whimpered as he shook his flashlight, "turn on, turn on, please!"

Snuckles shook the flashlight a little more, and in response, the flashlight decided to fly out of his paws and rolls into the depths of the darkness! Great, just great! Stuck in a dark passageway with no light! Snuckles' legs shook as he chased after the sound of his flashlight rolling across the floor, but he just tripped on his own feet and fell flat on his face!

While Snuckles sniffled and rubbed his aching face, the sound of a door opening sounded off behind him, but he definitely hadn't pressed a switch. He would've felt that for sure. Had the Skylanders come back for him?

"WELL, LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE!"

As the sound of cackling took the place of the door, Snuckles turned around and found that nope, that wasn't the case. It was the trolls he shook earlier! Though their bodies were barely visible against this harsh darkness, the light from their guns illuminated their faces enough to show that they weren't happy! They all scowled as they readied their weapons, and a bunch of bright red dots appeared on Snuckles' body!

Snuckles wanted to run, he really did, but that sudden fall must have taken more out of him than he thought. He could barely move a muscle! All he could do was sit and watch in horror as the trolls closed in on him…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"