/LOG DATE 42.26.20011, TIME 17.36.55/

With a whoosh and a flash of quickly-faded light, Drobot and Drill Sergeant found themselves whisked away from the homey walls of the portal building and into the fray of what seemed to be a warzone! The ground underneath their feet was solid dirt and mud, and the skies above them churned with thick, suffocating gray smoke. From above the trenches, one could see campsites littered about like garbage where soldiers discussed something in an unheard language, but the one thing that stuck out was what loomed above them. Hidden behind a barbed wire and barricaded fence was a pristine white building identical in shape to the one General Robot showed on his projection; same skyscraping towers, same faint glow, same gigantic pipes that pumped glowing green substance to and fro within the building itself…

The gears in Drobot's brain whirred, but not necessarily from the sights itself. Normally portals would transport them in an instant, but now it was nearly sunset back at the home island! He would have to ask Chihiro about that later, but then again, maybe that was not something he should concern himself with. Magic was not his area of expertise, after all. Magical affairs weren't nearly as logical as technical ones, and for all he knew, the portals just felt like taking it slower than usual.

"Drobot," Drill Sergeant whirred as he wheeled through the mud. "Do you think this is our destination?"

Drobot lifted his head and turned to Drill Sergeant as he made a tiny nod.

"Affirmative, Drill Sergeant," Drobot replied as he hovered over the mud.

"But, where are the Mabu Defense Force?" Drill Sergeant swirled back and forth. "I see no sight of mabu anywhere here. Just camps and trolls…"

"Then, according to my calculations, we should go find them."

Drobot said not a word more and merely continued to hover forwards instead. There was no use making small talk when you had more pressing matters at hand, he would say.

"Yes, sir!" Drill Sergeant replied as he saluted Drobot with his drill hands and charged his way through the mud.

One might think that this might not be such a good idea, but thankfully, Drill Sergeant's machinery was durable enough to plow through the mud as if it was no more than thin grass or powder snow. Arkeyan technology was built to be resilient first and foremost, and Drill Sergeant was an epitome of this. Drobot asked to study his machinery in the past, but Drill Sergeant always got particularly queasy at the idea.

With the muddied trenches passed by, the two of them wheeled and hovered their way down rocky, dirty hills carved into trenches and pathways. Despite Drobot's scans, he couldn't find a single sign of mabu life—had they been too late?

"Wait, is that a Skylander?" asked a voice from ahead.

Drobot's scanners perked up, and made a few simple beeps to inform him of a new lifeform's presence—a mabu dressed in ragtag military clothing! It was a good thing he tuned his scanners before he left. Drobot followed the scanner's built-in radar, and in turn, it directed him to a small, makeshift campsite constructed from boxes and worn cloth tents.

"You must be the Skylanders!" the mabu man exclaimed as he curtly nodded. "My name's Nort, tactical sturgeon of the Mabu Defense Force! It's truly an honor to work by your side."

"You mean strategian. A sturgeon is a kind of fish," Drobot said as he hovered down and placed himself in front of Nort. "What seems to be the situation here, Nort?"

"Oh, right! Getting down to business right off the bat, that's how Skylanders do it." Nort made a few awkward chuckles as he adjusted his helmet. "Well, it all started when we came here to retrieve the Glowing Green Goo of Primordia from the trolls! It was going well, really well!"

The gears in Drobot's helmet whirred with the ones in his mind. "Then what had occurred?"

"That's the thing, I don't know!" Nort made an exasperated gesture of some kind with his hands. "One by one, the rest of my team went AWOL!"

Nort grabbed a crude walkie-talkie from the earth and toy with it, as if to exemplify his point. However, no words or conversation from his attempts at making contact, and all that could be heard was just ear-grating static.

"I think I'm all that's left." Nort shuddered so hard that he could rival a quaking leaf while the walkie-talkie slipped out of his hands and fell to the ground with a clunk. "They could all be captured, to experimented on, or made into mabu soup, or…"

"Fear not, Nort," Drobot replied as he tapped a few buttons on his helmet and began scanning. "With my superior life detection technology, we should be able to find them immediately."

Drobot paused for a moment as the helmet ran its scans, but frowned as it gave him a long, slow beep. Nothing. Drobot hummed and frowned as he stroked his mechanical chin. It worked just fine before, so what could possibly be the issue?

"Is something wrong, Skylander?" Nort asked with a frown.

"It seems as though I have encountered a few complications." Drobot's words were somewhat softened so as to not worry the already clearly anxious Nort. "Do you happen to have any records of their last whereabouts?"

"Well, normally I'd point you to this." Nort picked up some kind of radar device. "But look! Nothing!"

Drobot examine the device and found that Nort's words were true. There was not a single dot or blip on the radar machine's screen!

"They've completely fallen off the radar!"

Nort's heart rate accelerated greatly, according to the readings Drobot had received from his scanner, but it slowed a bit as he examined Drill Sergeant.

"He wouldn't happen to have a radar, would he?" Nort asked as he tapped Drill Sergeant's laser blaster.

"That is not a radar, sir," Drill Sergeant beeped as he withdrew his blaster, "that is a highly lethal Arkeyan laser blaster!"

Nort squealed as he jumped away from Drill Sergeant, and his heart rate accelerated once more.

"Very well then. It seems we will have to do things as they did in old times," Drobot proclaimed as Nort made rapid breaths and held a paw over his heart. "Follow me. We shall search for your missing teammates immediately."

Drobot hovered above the ground once more, and paused for a moment as Drill Sergeant rolled behind him. Nort took one last, wary glance at Drill Sergeant, and trailed after him and Drobot in turn as they marched through the rough, muddy trenches.

§

However, unknown to those Skylanders and that squeamish-looking mabu, they were being spectated! From within the confines of a dark, laser-filled laboratory lit only by said lasers and the blue light of a wide screen, a troll draped in stained lab coats and other science-y gear cackled.

"My, what fine-looking specimens!" the troll scientist cackled as he fiddled with a few buttons and pulled a lever or two. "I have to bring there here for testing immediately!"

"Nort, look out!" called one of those annoying specimens inside the cage behind him—oh, did they ever shut up?

"SILENCE!" The troll scientist threw his trusty wrench at the cage's bags as the specimens inside backed into a corner. "Specimens aren't supposed to talk." The troll scientist straightened his labcoat and excused himself out of the room. "They sit quietly and wait for their turn to be tested!"

As the door behind him closed, the troll scientist clasped his hands and made the widest grin.

"And these specimens will make for some absolutely amazing tests!"

§

Soft chatter arose from the mess hall, but not the kind of amicable banter that came with mealtime, no. It was far more concerned as everybody huddled around each other, hands clammy and brows clenched tights as they discussed the events that raged about outside.

"Where did those monsters come from?"

"I tried to punch them, but it didn't do a thing! What are those things made of?"

"I don't know! Chihiro just ran up to me and said that we were taking shelter here until she figured something out!"

"Do you think everyone's alright?"

"I hope so…"

And of course, it did little to ease Hugo or Master Eon as they stood steadfast at the doors and tried their best to take a headcount. The island's other residents and the Skylanders who hadn't raced off to do missions were gathered alongside them in the mess hall, which now seemed a lot more cramped despite its spacious inside. With all the tension that coursed through this one area, even the most wide-open space would feel like a cramped box!

Hugo ground his teeth together while he flipped through the pages of a book on magic monsters. He was hard at work, for he tried to decipher the origins behind this mess ever since Chihiro brought him and Cali to the Mess Hall. But, no matter how much he poured through them or what books he did, nothing could be found!

Speaking of Chihiro, Master Eon could only pray that she was alright. He was quite taken aback when she yanked him out of the open and teleported him away to the mess hall. It was so sudden, in fact, that all he saw were the monsters in the distance, all he heard was their growls intermingled with her strained voice, and all he felt was the touch of her hand and the surge of magic. A part of him wished he could figure things out himself, in all honesty. But, with those things running around, and them supposedly being extremely strong and immune to most magic, he'd be far from the ideal person to deal with them.

So, all he could do was sit and wait in anticipation. The sounds of everyone's worried talk made him want to step up and say something to ease their nerves, but unfortunately, he was just as worried as they were. How could he ease others' fears when he himself couldn't ease his own? So instead, he begrudgingly hovered above Hugo in utter silence within the one quiet corner of the mess hall…

POUND! POUND, POUND! POUND, POUND, POUND!

"Who could that be?" Master Eon asked as he hovered away from Hugo and towards the barricaded doors of the mess hall.

"THEY FOUND US!" Hugo exclaimed as he tossed his books to the skies and ran around in frantic circles. "IT'S ALL OVER, THEY'RE—"

"Hello?" cried a familiar young voice from outside the hall, "It's Chihiro! Let me in!"

"Young Chihiro!" Master Eon gasped as he levitated the barricades out the way and flung open the doors!

Sure enough, outside the mess hall's bounds was none other than Chihiro! Her breath was heavy as she slouched over, but she was still energetic enough to dash inside and collapse on the floor.

"I, I looked as far as I could," Chihiro panted as she pressed herself upright with her arms, though the paleness of her face made her look deathly ill, "I, think that's everyone…"

Everybody around breathed a sigh of relief. At least one of their fears could be put aside for the moment.

"Now, now, young Chihiro, steady yourself." Master Eon flitted towards Chihiro and magically crafted a towel for her to wipe her cold sweat with. "You look like you're ready to meet the grave!"

Chihiro whimpered as she took the towel from Master Eon and wiped off her face. Her lips quivered with something that seemed not quite like fear, but, sorrow, regret even? It seemed as if tears dropped from her cheeks, though they were so small that they could barely be noticed.

"I might as well be!" Chihiro sniffled as she rubbed her nose. "It's my fault this happened in the first place!"

"Your fault?" Master Eon hovered under Chihiro's chin with barely any mind paid to the tears that dripped off her face and onto his ghostly body. "What are you talking about?"

"That's what I said!" Chihiro sobbed as she buried her face in her hands. "IranoffandgotlostandIguesstheartifactsgotallbumpedupandstuffandthenmymapflewoffand, and, and, when I, when I…"

Chihiro wiped away her tears with her arm, curled up and sobbed once more. As Chihiro curled up and sobbed, Master Eon popped out of her lap and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"Young Chihiro, I do not entirely understand what you just said," Master Eon said as he nuzzled her chin up, "but regardless of whatever mistake you may have made, it's never too late to remedy it!"

"It…" Chihiro sniffed and lifted up a face full of tears. "It isn't?"

Master Eon bobbed up and down. "So, young Chihiro, what exactly happened?"

Though Chihiro was still very troubled, she shuddered and forced out a weak smile, but with how her lips trembled, it hardly looked like one.

"Well, when I was doing that hunt, the breeze blew away my map!" Chihiro sniffled a bit, breathed and wiped away the last of her tears. "I went to get the map, and the artifacts thingies, they fell out of my bag. so I tried to make something out of magic for them to land on…"

Chihiro shuddered once more.

"And then one of them absorbed the magic and got all messed up and now all this happened!" Chihiro lowered her head, her eyes masked by her frazzled bangs. "I'm so sorry, Master Eon. I wanna fix this, but I don't know how! I tried to stop them, but they're way too strong for me!"

"Absorbed the magic, you say?" Master Eon echoed as he fluttered away from Chihiro.

"Er, yeah." Chihiro's voice wavered a little, though she tried to steady it some. "That battery-looking one, it absorbed the magic from the platform, and it exploded and zapped the Guardifound and it turned into a weird monster, and it turned the rest of 'em into monsters too!"

As he heard Chihiro's testimony, a flash of realization came into Master Eon's mind! It had to have been…

"Chihiro, can you recreate the shape of the artifact in question?" Master Eon asked as he flew back to her side.

"I can try."

Chihiro nodded, held out her hands and created a cyan-colored, magical projection from her palms. It took on the appearance of what was vaguely an old-looking battery, though covered in cracks and magical markings with twin lightning bolts poked out from its sides.

Master Eon examined the projection as his own light dimmed from concern. "Oh, dear—it's just as I thought! That has to be the conductor!"

"Conductor?" Chihiro asked as she whisked away the projection.

"Conductors are powerful magic devices that can charge other devices around them with magic energy." Master Eon shook a tiny bit. "If it had gotten corrupted, and spread that corrupted magic to the Guardifound who spread that corrupt magic to the rest…"

"Wait, there's more than one?" Chihiro tilted her head.

"I had stocked several replicas of all the artifacts used in the exam, just in case they were somehow damaged prior to it," Master Eon winced as his glow faded, "and conductor magic gets stronger with everything it powers— this makes an incredibly deadly combination when combined with a Guardifound's natural abilities. If we don't do something soon, we might never be able to stop them!"

"So then, we've gotta stop those Guardifounds from making more monsters!"

Chihiro jumped to her feet and stood tall, and the sad aura that once radiated around her was now replaced by an air of determination.

"If those things are their power source, and making more monsters makes them more powerful—" Chihiro nodded her head in firm thought and looked up at Master Eon "—we just need to get rid of the Guardifounds as quickly as possible and then all those monsters will be gone, right?"

"You catch on quickly, young Chihiro." Master Eon chuckled and swirled around her. "But first, we'll need something that can track them down."

Chihiro's hands glowed a soft, light cyan. "Like a radar, right? Got it!"

With a snap of her fingers, a magical, if not somewhat old-fashioned in appearance, radar detector manifested in her hands! Only to poof out of existence seconds later.

"Dangit." Chihiro sighed as she watched her hands' glow fade. "Guess that's still too complicated for me." Chihiro looked up at Master Eon. "Now where in this place could we find a radar?"

"Did someone say radar?" asked a mechanical voice from the back of the room.

Mechanical whirring, rolling, and other robotic noises echoed through the mess hall as that strange robotic army general—General Robot, Master Eon believed he identified himself as—rolled up to Master Eon, Hugo and Chihiro's corner of the mess hall.

"If you're looking for a radar detector, sir—" General Robot popped open his chest plate "—then I have one right here!"

Sure enough, out from a conveyor belt came a miniature, box-shaped radar detector! It was simple and a bit rudimentary, but for the current situation at hand, it would probably do just fine!

"Now, young Chihiro," Master Eon said as he floated over the radar. "Follow my lead."

Chihiro nodded and placed her had on top of the radar detector. Her hand and Master Eon's body glowed in unison for a few minutes, and that glow transferred to the radar before it faded entirely! All was silent for a few minutes, but everybody broke into a chorus of amazed whispers as the radar began to beep!

"It's already got a few readings!" Chihiro exclaimed as she withdrew the radar and showed it to Master Eon. "See?"

Sure enough, Chihiro was right! Several purple dots already appeared on the radar's surface!

"Now that we got that taken care of!" Chihiro stomped her foot on one of the benches and raised the radar to the roof. "LET'S KICK SOME MONSTER BUTT!"

"Er, young Chihiro?"

"Yes, Master Eon?" Chihiro asked as she turned back to Master Eon.

"We should probably plan out how we will stop them first."

Chihiro chuckled and jumped off the bench. "Oh, right. Forgot about that."

And so, they all gathered together and whispered out inklings and ideas under the cover of the mess hall's sturdy roof…