"TROLLEE, TROLLIE, MAY LADY WAR BE OUR AL-LY~" Chihiro sang as she hopped alongside Trigger Happy and giggled. "You were right, Trig, those troll war songs really are catchy!"

"Ah, now that's what I like to hear," remarked a grizzled, peach-skinned troll with a mangy beard and a wise glimmer in his eyes. Chihiro swore she heard one of the other trolls call him Atom? "It's good to see the youth of today still appreciate fine music when they hear it."

Chihiro giggled, skipped ahead and magicked up a telescope. A peek through the glass showed that unfortunately, the way ahead was still pretty long, with its winding paths and never-ending turns through fortress built high with walls upon walls of massive stone. Something in her gut told her they'll be doing a lot of walking. Well, unless…

"You know, guys, this is probably gonna be a super long walk," Chihiro pointed out as she withdrew her telescope, "I could just teleport us there if you want!"

However, Tangerine only shook their head. "All those fancy light shows would get someone's attention sooner or later," Tangerine remarked as they looked back at Chihiro. "We'll just keep walking."

"Darn."

Chihiro sighed, reluctantly withdrew her telescope and trailed across the bridge. She looked down at her feet and kicked a rock aside as she finally passed over the bridge, and onto solid land flanked with endless stretches of stone walls and towers. She looked ahead to find that, the line came to a halt? Why? Chihiro looked around and went to ask, but promptly shut her mouth as she realized that she and Trigger Happy were all alone!

"Where'd everyone go?" Trigger Happy asked as he peered up at Chihiro.

"That's what I'd like to know," Chihiro replied as she grabbed Trigger Happy's hand. "Come on, maybe they went ahead without us."

Trigger Happy frowned, but nonetheless squeezed Chihiro's hand tight as the two of them trailed past the dusty, beaten path ahead. As they walked forward, the sound of their footsteps intermingled with the sound of voices, voices that were strained and awkward, and Chihiro came to a completely stop.

Sure enough, a couple of their teammates talked to someone, though she could only barely make out what that someone was saying over the trolls' voices—something about suspicious activity, she thought? Whatever it was, the trolls seemed pretty nervous about it.

"I'm telling you!" cried one troll. "We were investigating around here to make sure there weren't any intruders!"

Intruders? Were they talking about her and Trigger Happy?

"Wait, you heard something behind us? Oh, it was probably just the wind or something, there's nothing behind us!"

Well, that wasn't true, because Chihiro and Trigger Happy were right behind them! Chihiro wanted to ask what was going on, but before she did, something grabbed her hand and yanked her into the darkness of a nearby empty den! She yelped as she dove into the shadows, only for someone to shush her!

"Keep it down!" Tangerine whispered as they turned Chihiro around to face them. "Kaos's goons are onto us!" Tangerine peeked out a tiny hole in the den and scowled. "We've got our best talkers trying to get them off our tail, but they'll get suspicious if there's too many of us…"

Oh, so that's why they were so worried. Chihiro frowned as she gripped the dirt below her hands, because something still didn't feel right.

"But, you guys are part of Kaos's army too, right?" Chihiro asked as she tilted her head. "Why would you need to hide if you're all on the same side?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tangerine raised an eyebrow at Chihiro and frowned. "Kaos wants the Eternal Tech Source all for himself—if he found out we're taking it from under his nose, we'd be toast!"

Chihiro looked up at the dark ceiling of the den and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Chihiro frowned, pushed Tangerine aside and peered through the hole they looked through. The rest of the trolls on their team were still held up by those minions of Kaos's, and it didn't seem like they'd let up anything soon.

"Sure wish Trollamor was here; he's always good at shirking his work right when we need him." Tangerine scoffed and crossed their arms. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was doing this on purpose so he wouldn't have to fight the Trollfields!" Tangerine frowned and huddled closer. "Now that I think about it, he did say some weird stuff about us not needing to fight the Trollfields or whatever. Don't know what he's thinking…"

Hey, wait a minute! Sneaking off, that was just the ticket! Chihiro grinned as she rubbed her hands, and that grin only grew wider as they glowed with magic!

"Tangerine, Cheat!" Chihiro whispered as she turned back to them. "I've got an idea!"

"What kind of idea?" Tangerine asked as they raised an eyebrow.

Chihiro just smiled and held out her hands. "Just grab my hands, and I'll show you!"

Tangerine and Trigger Happy both grabbed Chihiro's hands, and with a smile, she closed her eyes and silently cast an invisibility spell! When she opened them again, she could no longer see herself, Tangerine or Trigger Happy, but not from the darkness—rather, they completely disappeared from view!

"WHAT THE—" Tangerine exclaimed as the sound of hasty footsteps sounded off all around, "WHAT'D YOU DO?"

"Invisibility spell, but it won't last long!" Chihiro crept out of the den, flinched a bit as the sunlight burned her eyes, and shook her head. "We need to find a way past this place while the others have those guys occupied!"

"Hmm, I like how you think, Hitomi!"

Chihiro chuckled, spun around and beamed. "Now, where did everyone else go?"

"They should be in the tower behind us," Tangerine whispered as they walked off, "follow me!"

Tangerine seemingly crept out of the den judging by the sound of footsteps that resounded next to her and walked off. Normally, with them being invisible, Tangerine would be pretty hard to follow. Luckily, the ground below was so dusty that Tangerine left a trail of footprints as they walked.

So, Chihiro grinned and follow the trail of footsteps, her toes on their tips as she tried hard not to leave her own tracks—just in case things started to look suspicious. Beside her, a trail of round footsteps indicated that Trigger Happy was close by, and if that didn't key her in, his whistles certainly did!

"Alright!" Tangerine proclaimed as their footsteps finally drew to a stop. "This should be the place!"

Chihiro crept up to the door and slowly creaked it open. As she drew the door further and further out, the faint light poured inside the tower and unveiled a trio of trolls who were all huddled close together with worried looks on their faces! They all screamed as the door flew open, and their faces turned pale like they had seen a ghost, but those worried, gaping jaws closed as Chihiro giggled and skipped ahead.

"Don't worry!" Chihiro chirped as she waved a hand in front of her face to make it temporarily visible, and made it invisible once more. "It's just us! We've come to pick you guys up!"

The trolls grinned and sighed with relief as Chihiro hopped over to each one and gently tapped them. As she stepped backwards, the trolls frowned and looked down at their hands, but gasped as their bodies turned completely invisible to the naked eyes of those around… Including Chihiro's. Wait, didn't she have a spell for this?

Chihiro frowned, snapped her fingers and grinned as rainbow outlines shaped like Trigger Happy, Tangerine, and those other trolls appeared out of nowhere! That would certainly speed things along! Unfortunately, judging by the way they bumped into each other and stepped on each others' toes, she could presume that it worked only for her.

While a large troll glared at Tangerine, Chihiro just clapped her hands and drew all eyes towards her. "Now, this invisibility spell's fancy and all, but it won't last forever!" Chihiro proclaimed as she turned to Tangerine. "Tangerine, is there any place where we can sneak out of here?"

Tangerine frowned and unfurled a map. Well at least, Chihiro assumed the sound of crinkling, unfolding paper was a map. "If we travel along the stone walls that link these towers, we should be able to sneak past without anyone even noticing!" Tangerine proclaimed as the sound of paper being rolled rang out. "But we'll have to be careful."

"Got it!" Chihiro jumped outside and waved back to the others. "Now, line up out here!"

Tangerine was the first to come out as they warily crept into the light and looked around, but soon shouted and flailed about as Chihiro swept them up by the feet!

"Now, hold on tight, and just trust me on this, alright?" Chihiro asked as her hands glowed with magic. "I promise, I'm not gonna let you fall!"

"Hitomi, is that you?" Tangerine asked. "What are you talking abooOOOOOOOUUUUUUTTT!"

Tangerine flew through the skies with one mighty swing from Chihiro, and landed right on top of the stone wall Chihiro aimed for! They seemed a bit dizzy as they side-stepped and planed their arms, but they were pretty quick to regain their balance. More importantly, their screams of terror drew everyone else out of the tower, too!

So, Chihiro dashed over to each of them and flung them onto the stone wall! As they made screams of absolute horror (or delight in Trigger Happy's case), Chihiro chuckled and clicked her heels; in one bound, she leaped up and joined them! Everybody seemed a little disoriented as they swayed from side to side. Maybe she threw them a little too suddenly?

However disoriented they were, it was quickly forgotten as they looked down and realized they were on solid stone! While most everyone immediately crept away, however, one troll in particular just stood silent and trembled as they looked down below.

"That's a pretty long fall," they whimpered as they bit their nails, "just looking at it makes me dizzy!"

"Well, don't look down, then!" Chihiro chirped as she popped up behind the troll, gasped and drew back as the troll screamed! Crap, she forgot that nobody else could see her.

The troll's screams carried on as they wobbled back and forth, all while they waved their arms in some desperate attempt to regain balance. It was fruitless, as they lost their footing and plummeted down the wall! Chihiro gasped, leaped off the wall as magical wings manifested on her back, and soared down to the troll! The troll's screams carried on as they plummeted further and further down, but as they caught sight of Chihiro, they gasped and reached out their hand! With a pump of her legs, Chihiro dashed down even further, just enough that her and the troll's fingers brushed against each other, and finally, Chihiro grabbed the troll by the arm!

"You might wanna hold on tight," Chihiro said as she flew back up, "don't want another nasty fall and all!"

Chihiro chuckled, drifted back down onto the stone wall and laid the troll back onto solid ground. While that troll seemed relieved as they sat down and wiped their brow, the others seemed way more concerned! They all huddled together and whispered like something was going on.

"Hey, what's everyone whispering about?" Chihiro asked as she hopped up behind Tangerine.

"That!" Tangerine said as they pointed back to the ground. "I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to scream out of nowhere, but it's got those goons all riled up! They'll find us in no time!"

Chihiro followed Tangerine's pointing finger, and though she couldn't really hear what was going on, the sights were enough for her! Down below, the minions their teammates talked with seemed much more aggressive as they pressed forward and gestured all around—clearly they knew something was up!

"If we don't get a distraction going, we'll be toast!" Tangerine unfurled their map once more and frowned. "According to this map, the tower across from us has a teleporter next to an old cannon range. If we use one of those to blow something up, that should probably get them off our tail!"

"You mean that one?" Chihiro asked as she pointed to the tower ahead.

"Er, which one? There's at least five different towers in this range alone!"

"The one right in front of us! I'm pointing right at it!" Chihiro chuckled and rapped a fist against her head. "Oh, right, invisible!"

Tangerine went silent for a few moments, and the sound of a map being rolled up and stowed away was heard. "Yep, that's the one!"

Chihiro smiled, raced up the wall, and leaped onto the stone balcony beside the tower! Thankfully there were no guards around, but then again, it's not like anybody would have been able to see them anyhow with this invisibility spell.

So, Chihiro turned back to the tower's open gateway. The tower's insides were nothing notable, just a tall, hollow stone room with a bright orange sparkling teleporter inside and a flight of stone stairs nestled in the corner! Chihiro giggled and hopped on, and light wrapped around her in a pillar until nothing else could be seen anymore!

When the light faded, Chihiro found herself at the top of another stone tower, though this one had no door. All it had was an open doorway that lead out to a bridge with a stretch of cannons stationed across at specific intervals! Chihiro hopped outside and went to examine the first cannon when she heard another WHOOSH, and turned her attention back to the teleporter right as its light glowed and faded once more.

"Yep, this is the place!" Tangerine proclaimed.

"Hey, hey, hey! Look at all these cannons!" Trigger Happy chirped as he seemingly bounced all around the cannons, going by all the bouncing noises she heard against the stone. "I wanna fire one! Can I, can I?"

"Not yet." The sound of someone grabbing someone's wrist sounded close beside Chihiro. "Just wait until I do something first. If we do it now, they'll get suspicious."

Just when would that be, though? Chihiro bit her lip as she looked over the cannons, but finally she snapped her fingers and grinned.

"First, just to be extra safe," Chihiro whispered as she plopped her hands against the cannon and watched as it glowed a bright aqua, "soundproofing spell! That way nobody can hear it work!"

"Can I shoot it now?" Trigger Happy asked.

"Do the honors, Tri—I mean, Cheat!"

Trigger Happy giggled, and the sound of something slapping against metal sounded beside them both. With no means of seeing what would going on, Chihiro could only watch in slightly tense anticipation as all went quiet; finally, a large cannonball shot off from the cannon and slammed right into a stone wall a couple yards off with a loud boom! The soundproofing spell wore off just in time!

The trolls down below ducked for cover and seemed to talk among each other in confusion. Chihiro mirrored them as she ducked under the bridge's side, with only the top half of her head poked over the side of the bridge to see what went on. The trolls and minions talked still, but they were so far away that she couldn't properly see or hear what was going on—the most she could garner was that those blobby minions seemed a lot more hasty and frantic as they dashed about. Would it work?

Finally, the minions the trolls talked with disappeared in a flash! The trolls turned around towards the back of the trail and waved—guess that was her sign!

"It worked!" Chihiro shouted as she raced back inside. "Now, to regroup!"

Chihiro rushed back onto the teleporter. She whisked back to the first tower in a puff of light and sparkles, ran down a flight of stone stairs and held a hand over her eyes—a bright, peach-colored hand! Looks like the spell wore off just in time! Tangerine and Trigger Happy quickly rejoined her, paused for just a moment to look their notably visible selves over, and all three of them nodded.

"Hey guys!" Chihiro shouted as she bolted ahead and waved. "Guess who took care of the barrier for you?~"

"You did?" suggested a grizzled, saffron-skinned troll with short, bob-cut purple hair—that one was Syracuse, Chihiro believed—with a confused raise of her eyebrow. "But, how? We didn't see anybody…"

Chihiro just snapped her fingers, turned invisible once more, and with another snap she regained her visibility. "Invisibility spell. Perfect for secret maneuvers~"

"Kid's right!" Tangerine affirmed as they gave Chihiro a firm pat on the back. "We might not've been able to get through without her quick thinking!"

Chihiro blushed and giggled as everybody else clapped her on, but only for a moment before they carried on.

Once again, everything stretched into endless barriers of stone walls decorated with wooden reinforcements and barbed wire fencing, with no decoration aside from the occasional pile of crates or cluster of barrels. Really did a good bit to reinforce the warlike atmosphere around them. At least, Chihiro might have thought that if it wasn't taking forever to get to the next place!

Not only was it boring, but that past encounter with those minions of Kaos's raised her concerns some. What if they got caught off-guard again? Surely they'd immediately recognize her and Trigger Happy for who they truly were. What would these trolls do then? She was confident they'd immediately turn on her if they found out that she was actually the portal master apprentice Kaos deemed his worst enemy, and Trigger Happy one of the Skylanders they all loathed…

Nah, she couldn't worry about that right now, she had to focus on her mission. Chihiro shook her head as everyone came to a stop, paused and looked ahead to see a gate blocked off with twin keyholes!

"This should be the way to the Eternal Tech Source's storage room," Tangerine explained. "These keys have gotta be around here somewhere! Everyone, get looking!"

"Right!"

In the blink of an eye, everybody jumped from their posts and began scrounging around in one big key hunt! They turned over crates and barrels, scurried through piles of dust and ash, poked through towers and fields, but, the atmosphere hardly seemed tense!

There were trolls laughing and cracking jokes with each other, helping each other up after nasty slips, making small talk as they searched… Everything felt so warm and happy! It felt more like a family get-together rather than an intense, super-important mission! In fact, it almost reminded Chihiro a bit of her family back home, and a twinge of homesickness struck her as she placed a clasped hand against her heart.

As she looked around, she could've sworn for a moment she was back home on Earth! The cold, dusty floors turned to the warm-colored wooden floors, the stone walls were decorated in family portraits and vacation pictures, and the smells of dust and gunpowder turned to something more warm and welcoming. Chihiro could see her mother, laughing as she held up a pot of what was probably that night's dinner of her favorite ohaw recipe; Mamoru regaling her with stories of his latest baseball practice; her father stretching out on the couch as he grinned back at them, so warm and welcoming… But in a blink of her eyes, it was gone and she returned back to the fields, where the trolls made merry among each other everywhere she turned.

Just how can these guys be evil? Chihiro pondered as she watched them with a growing warmth in her heart.

"Hey, Hitomi, what're you standing around for?" Tangerine asked as they gently nudged Chihiro. "Get cracking!"

"Oh, uh, right!"

Chihiro sputtered as she looked aside, jumped towards a group of barrels and pushed them aside. After all, those barrels seemed suspiciously close together… Once they were decently parted, Chihiro rubbed her chin as she examined the ground beneath them. Though it was mostly pressed, packed dirt, Chihiro could've sworn she saw a shimmer of gold within. So, she knelt down and began digging! Chihiro hummed a tune as she parted the dirt, and grinned as she retrieved her prize—a shiny golden key!

"Found the first one!" Chihiro proclaimed as she held the key for all to see.

"And I found the second one!" exclaimed a troll down the way as they held something with a golden glow, only for that golden glow to slip out of their grip! "CRAP!"

"I'll get it!" Chihiro cried.

Chihiro immediately bolted into action as she sprinted over and went to catch it, but before she could, she lost her balance and slid against the dirt instead! Chihiro let out a muffled scream as she slipped against the ground, spat out gritty, sandy earth as she came to a stop, and to add insult to injury, that stupid key beaned her on the head before it fell in her hands, too! Chihiro grumbled and shook herself off as the trolls chuckled around her, though they weren't mean-spirited chuckles, no. Rather, it was warm and cheerful, welcoming laughter, the kind that came with playful jokes and goofy happenings! In fact, it was so warm and welcoming that the pain went away immediately and Chihiro found herself laughing with them before she knew it!

"You alright?" Trigger Happy asked as he hopped next to Chihiro and brushed a clump of dirt from her head. "You really ate it!"

Chihiro just chuckled, brushed then dirt from her face and nodded. As the last of the stings and burning sensations went away, Chihiro walked up to the gate and went to put the keys inside…

"Are you sure this is where the suspicious activity was found, Evil Drill Robot?" asked a voice that sounded a lot like Trigger Happy?

But, it was too far away to be Trigger Happy, he was right over there talking with some of the trolls! Unless… Oh no! Chihiro immediately grabbed Trigger Happy's hand, dove into the safety of a nearby tower and slammed the door shut!

"Chihiro?" Trigger Happy exclaimed while Chihiro locked the door via magic. "What was that for? I was in the middle of telling them—"

Chihiro shushed Trigger Happy, and directed his gaze towards a small, but still viewable hole within the tower door.

"There you are, trolls!" cried the Trigger Happy-voiced person. "What's going on around here?"

Sure enough, it was just as she feared—dark purple and orange-colored clones of Trigger Happy and Drill Sergeant arrived, and they already nailed down the Trollcoys with questions!

§

"Think we're close?" Boomer asked Drobot as he nudged Drobot's mechanical shoulder.

"I am not the one who retains the map," Drobot whirred back with a kind of tired tone to his usually-mechanical voice, "ask Boomont."

Boomer rubbed the exhaustion out of his eyes and went to tap Boomont on the shoulder, but his mind only half-focused on the scenery around. After all, it was nothing but endless dark blue stone caverns, with faint light that brought to mind night skies and the occasional crumble of rocks from the ceiling above! What was there to pay attention to? Boomer blinked again, and gasped as something bright and blue flitted right by him!

"A firefly?" Boomer gasped as the "firefly" flew past him, and… Owch, something got in his eye! Boomer groaned as he rubbed his now stung with pain eyes, looked up and gasped!

The path ahead was nothing like the endless stretches of cold, muted stone before then; rather, it absolutely glowed with life! Sparkly dust filtered off of gigantic, cyan-colored crystals and floated around the room like fireflies did at night, which only amplified the deep blue hues of the stones around and made it way more magical than before! Even the rotted wood that blocked off parts of the cavern or made up makeshift ramps seemed a little more fascinating with all this around. Funny what a little light show could do for a place, huh?

Boomer wasn't the only one who stopped to admire the view, either. The rest of the trolls all froze in their tracks and gasped in awe as they took in the light, and even Drobot paused for a moment and made a nod of approval!

"Come on, everyone!" Dyna ordered through hushed whispers as she pushed through the crowd. "The Eternal Tech Source won't wait all day! We can stop and smell the roses later!"

The trolls all begrudgingly nodded and agreed as they shuffled forwards, while Boomont whipped out his map and flicked on the headlamp on his helmet.

"Now, let's see," Boomont mumbled as he shuffled the papers of his map and twitched his brows, "according to this map, the exit should be a straight way's ahead! Just keep going north from here!"

So, the trolls huddled together and proceeded north, but even with those directions, they couldn't help but wander off and admire the view! Trollance smiled as he yanked some crystals from the ground and stowed them away, Trollcey and Boomont couldn't help but laugh at their exaggerated reflections in the mirror of a large cyan rock formation.

Even Dyna let up on her usual strictness as she admired a vaguely rose-shaped rock that glittered with shiny dust. Instead, she just sat there with a sort of pining look on her face, her mouth and ears drooped into a frown as she brushed her finger against the crystal's dusty surface.

"You know, Trollver," Dyna remarked as she made a soft chuckle, "this place reminds me a lot of home, you know?"

"It does?" Boomer frowned as Dyna looked at him with those same, sad eyes and winced, "I mean, well, yeah, of course it does! I, well, you see—"

"I wouldn't expect you to know, Trollver." Dyna shook her head and shook faint traces of shiny dust off of her ears. "You were still little when we had to leave home, after all!"

Boomer twiddled his fingers and looked away. "So, what was it like?"

"It was the best!" Dyna made a simple, wistful sight. "There were so many caves and mines to explore, and they had tons of shiny metals and crystals that were as bright and colorful as these. Gramps said it was the reason we had some of the best tech in all Skylands!"

Dyna cleared her throat, and made what Boomer presumed was the best impression of an old man she could. "'I'm tellin' ya, kiddo, they came from ev'ry corner of Skylands! The north, west, southnorth, eastwest… It didn't matter how far the journey, the wares were worth the trip, they'd all say!'"

"But if it was so good," Drobot remarked as he zoomed over, "why did you leave it all for Kaos? I do not see the logic in that."

"DROBOT!" Boomer exclaimed as he stepped back. "When'd you get here?"

"About five point fifty-five seconds ago. My hearing mechanisms detected an intriguing conversation, so I merely came to join." Drobot turned back to Dyna with little mind paid to the wide-eyed, jaw-gaped look on her face. "Tell me, why exactly? A lifestyle like that is beneficial enough. I see no logic in abandoning it for petty warfare under a—"

Clink! Boomer and Drobot both froze as the crystal Dyna held slipped out of her hand, while Dyna herself hung her head low.

"You really wanna know why, you big hunk of bolts?" Dyna shuddered and grabbed her arm, and lifted her head to show off a snarl and trembling eyes. "We had no choice, that's why!"

Drobot winced and stepped back. "But, you claimed that your technology was the best in all Skylands!"

"That's what Gramps said… But it just wasn't good enough, I guess! Other people made better, faster, stronger stuff, and we just got left in the dust!"

Dyna held her head and sighed.

"With nobody coming to buy our tech, we could barely scrape by! Food and water was a luxury and anything else was a pipe dream!" Dyna sniffled, wiped her tears away and shook her head. "You'd remember, right Trollver? How Mom could barely put food on the table, how her and Pops always give up dinner so we'd have more to eat, how the roof caved in because we couldn't afford to repair it and the whole place got flooded during a storm after that. You cried so hard 'cause you lost your favorite toy that night."

Boomer's face just fell, and for a moment he found himself unable to make his usually cheery demeanor. He had a bad feeling he knew what was coming next.

"When we were squandering and just barely getting by, that's when that good-for-nothing pipsqueak showed up!"

"Kaos?" Drobot piped up at last, his mechanical voice a bit weaker than it usually was.

"Not him." Dyna hissed her words through gritted teeth, then stormed around the room in fast-paced circles. "Some loudmouthed king took his armies and stormed through our old kingdom, razed everything to the ground. We tried to fight him off, we really did!" Dyna's voice cracked just slightly as she froze in her tracks. "We were so desperate that we tried everything to stop him, but it was all for nothing!"

Dyna inhaled through her gritted teeth, while tears that burned with rage seeped from her eyes.

"He took us all away from home and roped us into working for his every last whim! And then, when he lost his place to Kaos, we had to fight for that brat instead!"

Drobot's eye slots flickered for a moment, and he turned to Boomer with that same gaping, wide mouth of disbelief. Yet, Boomer could only watch Dyna as a pit formed in his heart.

"We just lost one evil to get another in the end. We'd work the day away in factories until we dropped, fought for our very lives against people way stronger than we were, came home in caskets and graves…" Dyna winced as those hot tears dripped down onto the floor. "All for what? So their stupid little playgrounds can get a little bigger?"

Dyna bit her lip, and wiped her tears away and shook her head. "But, once we get the Eternal Tech Source, this'll all just be a thing of the past! We'll use its power to make our tech the best there is, and ten we can kiss Kaos and his stupid little army goodbye!" So, Dyna lifted her head and kicked the crystal she had admired aside. "Ah, what am I doing, standing around like this? I'd better get going."

Drobot and Boomer just glanced at Dyna with solemn as sh left their views, then Drobot's wings and head drooped as he looked aside.

"So that is why," Drobot whispered, "I, I do not know what to say…"

"Yeah," Boomer admitted, his voice a little more defeated than usual, "happened to lots of us trolls—" Boomer shook his head and grinned "—but what am I standing around and moping for? We've got an Eternal Source to get!"

Boomer grinned and jaunted along, but once he was out of Drobot's range, he found himself frowning without even realizing it.

After all, seeing the way Dyna talked about their old place, hearing what happened to them and all the hardships they went through… He couldn't help but want to help them get it and get back on their feet, but at the same time, his conscience told him that the Eternal Tech Source's true place was in the Core of Light! It was his duty as a Skylander to return it to the Core, but his heart was saying a different thing. What do you do when your head and your heart are saying two really different things, anyways?

Boomer didn't know, so he just watched the gigantic wall barely boarded off with long-rotted wood in silent contemplation. Y'know, just what was behind that wall, anyways? Boomer glazed over the slightly less rotted wooden plaque with some writing which could just barely be made out, and promptly jumped away. If the writing was right, this was a mega bomb stock! Out of nowhere, Gramps' words flashed back into Boomer's mind again.

"The equipment there is so old, only the most intense pressure would activate it!"

"Yeah, I better not mess with this," Boomer whispered as he took another step back, looked aside and—

Wait a second, was someone there? Boomer curved his head a little to the right and frowned. Sure enough, a faint shadow crept across the side of the caverns, but it didn't exactly look like any troll shadows! In fact, it kind of reminded him of… Drobot?

"Drobot! That you?"

Boomer waved towards "Drobot", but instead of coming towards him, "Drobot" just dashed forward and vanished into the dark parts of the cavern. What was up with that? Boomer eyed the shadowy crevice "Drobot" vanished into a little more, but he still refused to emerge.

"Boomer, what exactly are you doing? We are about to leave!"

Boomer practically jumped a foot in the air, whipped around and found—oh, look, it's Drobot! "There you are!" Boomer chirped as he scratched behind his ears. "I just saw you a second ago! What'd you run off for?"

Drobot tilted his head and clicked. "I have no possible idea what you are talking about. I was communicating with Trollance and Trollcey over there."

Boomer grimaced and looked back to where the Drobot-looking shadow sneaked away. Something strange really was going on here…

"Boomer, is something amiss?" Drobot asked.

Boomer just shook his head and grinned. "Nah, it's nothing! Let's just get going!"

With what vaguely seemed like a shrug, Drobot led Boomer across the endless stretches of shiny blue rock, over a few barely-hanging bridges and down an incline, and before they knew it, they arrived at the other end! The other trolls gathered together and tittered in excitement, yet turned around and waved towards Boomer and Drobot.

"There you two are!" Trollance shouted as he waved them over. "Took you long enough! We're just about ready to tear these boards down and get outta here!"

Boomer beamed as he finally caught up with Trollance, and found that right behind them, the rest of their team carefully pried off the old wooden boards that blocked off the exit! Still, Boomer couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. That weird shadow still pried at the back of his mind, like it was something he forgot about that was going to bite him in the butt realllllyyyy soon… But, what could possibly go wrong now? After all, those boards were now down to one, and once they were tossed aside, Boomer’s team would be in the final stretch!

Dyna and Boomont grunted as they got ready to yank the final board off of the exit, but right as they placed their hands on it, the ground beneath their feet began to shudder! It was subtle at first, but slowly it grew louder and more violent, and made everybody's legs tremble like jelly!

"Wait, what's going on?" Boomont asked as he and Dyna turned around and released their grip on the board!

The rumbling grew so intense that it quaked the ground and forced them and everyone else on their knees—was this an earthquake? Wait a second, that rumbling started to grow louder and closer, as if something was coming straight towards them! Boomer cocked his head around the corner, and from under the faint, now disrupted light of the crystals, he could spy something large, sleek and black roll towards them. No wait, it couldn't possibly be a mega bomb!

Well, that's what Boomer wanted to think, but the mega bomb rolled right up the incline they seated on and proved him otherwise! They all gasped as the mega bomb came inches away from flattening them like pancakes, only for it to lose momentum and lurch back down. Phew!

Everybody breathed sighs of relief, but unfortunately, those sighs were too quickly had! Right as the mega bomb rolled down, the sound of multiple clicks and sinking stone panels rumbled out, followed by the whooshing sounds of flight. From right across the room, a fleet of explosive arrows hurtled straight towards them! Luckily for them, the arrows soared right overheard and were of no harm, but the ground underneath them shook even more as a part of the incline sprung them off like a trampoline!

Boomer screamed as he tried to fly through the air, but despite all the arm flapping he did, he just couldn't catch a breeze! Worse worse yet, his projecting landing path was far from ideal! After all, he wouldn't exactly call a pit of gigantic spikes that opened up in the floor an easy landing. Boomer gasped and frantically tried to run through midair right when something smashed into him and yanked him away by the straps of his backpack!

"TARGET… ACQUIRED!" Drobot shouted from above Boomer!

Drobot's thrusters burned the hardest they could as he zipped away from arrows, bomb showers, and flamethrowers in a row, but soon he gently floated down on the ground and released Boomer.

"Ten outta ten rescue, buddy!" Boomer shouted as he gave Drobot a thumbs up, only for his relief to vanish as he looked around. "Wait, where's everyone else?"

"AIYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"There, apparently!" Drobot exclaimed. Drobot yanked Boomer off the ground by his backpack straps once more, flew them both to safe land and dropped down so they could get a better view.

There before them, the peaceful crystal fields they once admired dissolved into chaos! Mega bombs chased the rest of their team left and right, while holes opened in the floors and dropped people down from the ceilings, spikes and darts shot out from the walls while large crystal pillars smashed together and retracted in shocking speed! How did this happen?

Boomer turned to the side of where Drobot dropped them off, and quickly got his answer! There was the mega bomb stash he admired earlier, except the boards on it were broken! And not in the way that happened from natural rot, either. There was a gigantic, suspiciously cleanly-made hole in the center and dark singe marks on the wood surrounding, almost like they were… Burnt?

"What in Skylands happened to this thing?" Boomer whispered as he walked up to the emptied mega bomb stash and ran his fingers against the wood. It still felt vaguely warm, as if this happened recently…

"HELPPPPP!"

Wait, that was Trollcey's voice! Boomer whipped around to find—on no! Trollcey had gotten caught on a particularly stubborn spike, and there was a mega bomb poised to flatten them at any second! Boomer sprinted forward, fully ready to jump into action, but before he could, Drobot zoomed forward and yanked Trollcey out of the mega bomb's way!

"HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME—" Trollcey's eyes grew wide as they realized they were in Drobot's grasp, and they breathed a sigh of relief as Drobot laid them on solid ground. "I mean, phew, close one!" Trollcey beamed and gently patted Drobot on the head. "That's one impressive machine you've got there, Trollver!"

"Now is no time for compliments, we must act quickly!" Drobot scolded before he turned back to Boomer. "Boo—I mean, Trollver, lead Trollcey back to the exit. I will retrieve everyone else!" Drobot tapped a button on his suit and zoomed into the chaos. "THRUSTERS AT FULL THROTTLE!"

"Got it!" Boomer shouted as he grabbed Trollcey by the hand and dashed off. "Now follow me!"

"I'm already following you!" Trollcey shouted back.

They screamed and ducked as arrows narrowly flew over their heads! Trollcey winced and pushed themself closer to Boomer as Boomer leaped over a large gap in the ground and landed safely on the next platform, yet looked back and grinned. Right behind them, Drobot already lead Trollance and Boomont to safety—he had to keep the train going!

"Alright, Trollcey, I'm gonna toss ya to the other side!" Boomer shouted as he grabbed Trollcey by the shoulders. "Three, two…"

"Wait, what did you say, Trollver?" Trollcey asked as they looked back towards Boomer and sweated buckets, oddly enough. But then again, given the intense situation, Boomer would hardly blame them for being nervous!

"ONE!"

Boomer spun around a couple times, and tossed Trollcey straight to the base of the incline! Trollcey screamed as they flew in the air and landed flat on their face, but nonetheless they shook themself off and dashed up the incline! Boomer beamed as Trollcey disappeared from view, but his work was hardly done! One by one, Dyna, Trollance, Boomont, and Boomette all jumped on the platform Boomer stood on, and one by one, Boomer tossed them to freedom!

As Boomette skipped up the incline, Boomer beamed and cracked his knuckles.

"That should be everyone," Drobot said as he hovered over and plopped down next to Boomer. "Save for us. Shall we make our leave?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth, buddy!" Boomer chirped, and with a crack of his knuckles, he raced forward and leaped off the ground. "WOO-HOO!"

Boomer sailed in the skies for a moment, and tumbled onto the ground with Drobot quick to follow. The two of them bolted up the incline, and sure enough, the exit was in sight once more! The rest of their team could be faintly seen against the harsh outdoor light while they called and waved for them to hurry—they were so close, they were gonna make it!

Boomer stopped just inches away from the exit and went to run through. Before he could, a gigantic earthquake shook the ground below him and sent him tumbling down the incline! If it wasn't for Drobot catching him in the nick of time, well, he wasn't sure what would've happened!

"What's going on here?" Boomer shouted, but the quake's growls completely flooded out his words! Guess this was no time to talk, just run!

That’s what they both did as they bolted straight towards the exit, all while the trolls called for them and seemingly looked way more frantic than before. Right before Drobot and Boomer could break out, the ceiling shuddered and completely caved in! Drobot and Boomer just barely managed to jump out before they could get caught in the rubble, but the broken ceiling fragments completely blocked the exit off!

"We're trapped!" Boomer exclaimed as just narrowly dodged a stray rock that feel from the ceiling.

"Not yet we are not!" Drobot exclaimed as he hastily toyed with his helmet. "I you will give me a moment, I will try to analyze the area for an alternate—"

"HOLD THAT THOUGHT!"

Boomer pushed Drobot out of the way as a large chunk of the cave slammed into the floor below; the both of them tumbled out of the way and smacked into the still surprisingly intact wall behind them! Drobot flung up a shield as large rocks split off in every which direction from the broken ceiling, and cranked up the shield's intensity as the entire ceiling continued crumbling to bits!

"The whole place is gonna go at this rate!" Boomer exclaimed over the grumbles and groans of the collapsing cavern. "I don't think we can science our way out of this one, buddy!"

Drobot just flicked his head every which way, still in pursuit of some way out. But though his eyes were masked, his frantic movements and tightly-clenched jaw were more than enough to show he shared Boomer's concerns—and when even Drobot was worried, that was not a good sign. Would this be the end of them? Boomer wasn't sure, but things weren't looking so hot right now…

KA-BOOM!

Crap, another cave-in? Boomer flinched and dove further under the shield Drobot created, but then shook his head as light filtered in from the path ahead. Wait a second, was that…

"Trollver, hurry!" shouted Dyna's voice as a couple of silhouettes waved them over. "This cave's going down any second now!"

Boomer's eyes widened as he made a sharp gasp—they were saved! Without even thinking, he grabbed Drobot by the paw, and scrambled out the cavern faster than two shakes of a dynamite stick! Boomer heaved breaths so intense they shook his entire body as the cave rumbled and shuddered, and finally, a loud crash sounded all around as a gigantic slab of stone smacked right in front of the exit and sealed it off for good!

"That was close!" Dyna gasped.

Dyna turned back to Boomer, and before Boomer could react, she hugged him tight and ruffled his hairless scalp. Boomer could only wince as he practically had the life squeezed out of him—Dyna sure had a tight grip, didn't she?

"Geez, Trollver!" Dyna buried her face in Boomer's shoulder. "You've gotta be more careful! For a minute, I thought I lost my baby brother for good!"

Boomer blinked once, and twice as he was finally released from Dyna's gasp. Tiny tears were in the corners of her eyes, but this time they were tears of relief, thank goodness! Boomer went to open his mouth, but Dyna only shook her head.

"It's alright, what matters is that you're alright!" Dyna heaved a sigh of relief, and regained her stoic composition as she looked back to the rest of the team. "Anyways, come on, everyone! The Eternal Tech Source isn't long now!"

Everybody else cheered and hurried away, but Boomer only stood there in silent awe. They were all been so worried about him that they tossed everything aside just to get him and Drobot to safety! Maybe he had misjudged these trolls.

More importantly, what set off those mega bombs in the first place? Though the wood was quite rotted, it was nowhere near weak enough to break out of nowhere! And there was that weird shadow… Well, no use lingering on it now. Boomer just shook his head, and tailed behind the others as they cheered and hollered at the top of their lungs. Surely they were close to getting the Eternal Tech Source now, and after this, Boomer made up his mind on what to do with it.