"Geez, what was the holdup with the portals, anyways?" Dark Spyro asked as he hopped off the back of a particularly large wyvern as Sunburn did the same. "It's a good thing we talked the locals into flying us." Dark Spyro scoffed and looked aside. "Eruptor gets a bellyache and he can get off early, but when we come back to report what we found, it's total silence!"

"Well, we don't exactly have much to report," Sunburn remarked as he waved at the wyverns, who in turn waved back as they flew away, and looked back at Dark Spyro. "I still can't believe that plague they reported was just them planting their crops in the wrong place."

Both Sunburn and Dark Spyro sighed, yet Dark looked back up at Sunburn with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.

"You know what always makes me feel better when stuff like this happens?" Dark winked as he saw Sunburn's beak widen into what seemed like a smile— it was kind of hard to tell with Sunburn having a beak and all,.

"DRAWING MUSTACHES ON HUGO'S FACE WHILE HE'S TAKING HIS AFTERNOON NAP?" Sunburn and Dark Spyro said in perfect harmony with each other, their eyes wide with excitement.

Dark grinned as he flew off towards the portal building. "I'll go get the markers!"

"You will do nothing of the sort, Dark Spyro," chided another voice, one firm in a parental way as a flying boat's shadow cast over them.

Dark Spyro winced as he looked up, and sure enough, a shoddy flying boat hovered above the heart of the island while two figures jumped off its side and flew/floated down back to the heart.

The first looked to be a man with blue skin and an impressively-built muscular body, long, wavy auburn hair that bled into his equally-long beard, green eyes and twin golden bracelets on his wrists. However, what was most striking about him wasn't the muscles or the odd skin color, but rather the fact that instead of legs, he got around on a puffy while cloud!

The second was a griffin with feathers in such a dark shade of blue they were almost black, who wore a silver helmet with twin openings for their ears and four silver bracelets, one on each leg. Their claws were the same shade of silver as their bracelets, their beak was a striking yellow, and their eyes were as green as summer grass. They had a bit of a stern look to them as they stroked their chest, but that sternness loosened into a kind gaze as they looked up and waved at the parting boat.

"Thanks for the ride, Captain Rizzo!" the griffin shouted as the ship became little more than a blink in the sky's eye.

"Sonic Boom!" Sunburn called as his grin turned more awkward. "Uh, forget anything I said about drawing on Hugo just now—" Sunburn shook his head and walked forward "—did you and Lightning Rod have any luck?"

"Unfortunately, no," Lightning Rod sighed as he literally pushed himself into the conversation and pinched his brows. "Despite my massive strength, rippling muscles, impressive speed, oh, and did I mention my muscles—"

"What Lightning Rod means to say is," Sonic Boom interrupted as she pushed Lightning Rod back and sighed, "we tried our best, but by the time we fought off those skeleton dragons, whoever did it was long gone."

Dark, Sunburn and Sonic Boom all heaved disheartened sighs, yet Lightning Rod seemed hardly shaken as he grinned and flexed.

"Hold your heads high, comrades! This is no time to get discouraged!" Lightning Rod exclaimed as he stretched his arms to the heavens. "After all, with an amazing hero like myself on our team, we'll find the Eternal Undead Source in no time at all!

Despite Lightning Rod's glistening confidence, everybody else hardly shared in his enthusiasm as they just gave him blank, bewildered stares, coughed and looked away.

"Anyways, I should probably see if Cynder got those pillows yet," Dark remarked as he flew towards the infirmary.

The three of them watched Dark Spyro fly away, and frowned as their eyes glazed over the surroundings. It was oddly quiet here; in fact, it looked more like a ghost town, given that nobody was there aside for them!

"Where did everyone go?" Sonic Boom asked. "Missions?"

All three of them hummed in confusion at the vacant surroundings. Though that seemed reasonable enough, they've always made a point of at least having a few forces on-hand in case of an attack on the homefront. Even if they didn't, they should've at least seen Flynn bragging about his balloon, or Hugo running to and fro on errands. For it to be completely vacated save for them was definitely concerning to say the least.

"WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!" Dark Spyro shouted to the heavens, his eyes wide in panic as he hastily flew back to them. "Cynder, she's, she's completely gone from the infirmary! So are Hex and Ghost Roaster!"

Sunburn, Sonic Boom and Lightning Rod all gasped. Now that was worrisome! None of those three were anywhere near recovered enough to be discharged, much less out of bed and walking around! Whatever was going on here, something was clearly wrong.

"I'll go check the beach!" Sonic Boom exclaimed as she took to the skies. "Sunburn, Lightning Rod, you look around here!"

"I'll check the infirmary again!" Dark cried as he flew back towards the infirmary.

And so, the hunt began! They checked every rock, looked under every crevice, peered through every room, and yet, everything around was completely empty!

Sonic Boom frowned as she poked her way out of a secret room, flew up to Clam-Tron and circled him around a couple times. "Doesn't seem like there's anyone here," Sonic Boom remarked as she looked aside and tapped her claw against her beak.

"AWAKEN, MY COMPANIONS!" Lightning Rod shouted from halfway across the island. "IF YOU ARE STILL HERE, SOUND OFF!"

Sonic Boom shuddered as she flew back up to the island's hub and sat down, and shuddered again as the portal building's doors swung open with so much force that it sent a massive gust through the heart of the island!

Lightning Rod sighed as the portal building's doors slammed shut behind him, with a moment taken to run his fingers through his hair. "It seems as though none of them are here."

"I think I know how people feel when I scream now." Sonic Boom moaned and shook her head. "Anyways, they weren't on the beach either."

"Checked the infirmary again!" Dark Spyro shouted as he flew into view, a kind of worried frown on his face. "Still no sign."

They all frowned as they looked over the still-vacant island. Where could everyone possibly be? Unrest grew in their hearts as they scanned over the area once more, and…

"Hey, everyone, come here!" Sunburn shouted from across the island. "I found something!"

Sonic Boom, Lightning Rod and Dark Spyro jumped up and followed Sunburn's voice to the other side of the island, on a cliff that overlooked the beach. There, Sunburn sat next to a gigantic, intricately-crafted bronze horn modeled in the shape of a dragon which stood tall and firm on the ledge below them all.

"I'm pretty sure that horn wasn't here when we left," Sonic Boom said as she gently tapped the horn's mouth. "Just what is it?"

"This pattern," Sunburn whispered before he stepped back. "There's no mistaking it, this has to be from Dragon's Peak! It’s got one of the largest dragon communities in all Skylands, so their stuff is practically everywhere!"

"But that doesn't explain what it's doing here." Sonic Boom frowned as she flew back down to Sunburn. "What should we do with it?"

"I guess we could try blowing it?" Sunburn looked to Sonic Boom and shrugged.

"Blowing a horn, you say?" Lightning Rod repeated as he flew up and wiped off his hands. "Allow me! With my massive lungs, no horn is too mighty for my blow!"

So, Lightning Rod spat on his hands, hastily rubbed them clean, floated up to the horn's pipe and gripped it tight. He took a deep breath in, wrapped his lips around the mouthpiece, and from it came the loudest, mightiest sound a horn could have ever made! It was so strong, in fact, that it blew everybody else on their backs! Aside from that, nothing else happened.

"Hmm, so much for getting an answer," Lightning Rod remarked as he floated down and raised an eyebrow at Sunburn, Sonic Boom, and Dark Spyro. "What are you lying down for? We have to find—"

"Wait a second," Sunburn groaned as he pulled himself back to all four paws and looked up. "What's that in the sky?"

Lightning Rod stopped and looked up, and soon enough Sonic Boom and Dark did as well, all to find a thick, black silhouette that vaguely resembled a dragon circling through the skies! That dragon silhouette did a few more loops in the heavens above, and swept down onto the island at speeds so fast that it not only knocked the horn right into the skies, but skidded across the ground and tossed dirt everywhere!

The silhouette was a silhouette no longer as it loomed over Dark Spyro, Sunburn, Lightning Rod and Sonic Boom. Now, its form was that of a large dragon with board shoulders and fire red scales. Its horns were tall, slightly curved and a light gold in color, while the broad plates that covered its underbelly, the accent of its massive wings, and the drill-shaped fin on its tail were a similar color. Its long claws were more of an off-white in color, while its amber eyes shone with a bit of worry as it bit its lower jaw and fiddled with the large, silver pendant hung from its neck.

"You, you're the ones who sounded the horn, right?" the dragon asked as it whipped its head between all four of them.

"Indeed I did," Lightning Rod proclaimed as he rubbed a fist against his pecs and raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to hail from Dragon's Peak, would you?"

"Yeah, yeah!" The dragon rapidly nodded its head and took a step forward. "I'm Sir Flavius, member of Dragon's Peak's royal guard! And we've got a problem!" Flavius bit his lip and hung his head. "You see, our home's been turned into an undead wasteland by a really, really evil dragon named Vathek! I don't know how, but—"

"Hold up a second," Dark Spyro said as he craned his head up at Flavius. "Did you just say your entire place was turned into an undead wasteland?"

"Well, yeah?" Flavius placed a claw to his chin. "I think I did, at least? Did I really say that?" Flavius shook his head. "Actually, no, that doesn't matter!"

Dark Spyro jumped up and soared until he reached Flavius's face. "Yeah it does! Can you tell us more?"

Flavius frowned and hastily stomped his paws. "I can't think right now, I'm too worried! Let's just go to the peak!"

Dark Spyro bit his lip, looked back down at the other and sighed.

"Give us five minutes, alright?"

Dark Spyro swooped back down right as Sonic Boom ushered them all into a group huddle, then nudged himself a bit closer to Sunburn. "Listen, you all heard that undead wasteland bit, right?" Dark Spyro asked, and grinned as everyone nodded. "That's gotta be the work of the Eternal Undead Source! We've gotta go there!"

"I don't know about that, Dark," Sonic Boom chimed in with a frown. "We don't know for sure if it is, and even if it was—" Sonic Boom gestured towards the rest of the group with her paw "—none of us are undead! It would be a lot safer to have the others take care of it."

"You're missing something here, Sonic." Dark Spyro raised an eyebrow as he wildly gestured outside their little huddle. "Everyone's missing! We're the only ones here!"

Sonic Boom opened her beak to speak once more, but promptly shut it as Dark looked at her with a burning fire.

"We may not be undead, but if the Eternal Undead Source is there, we have to get it no matter the cost! If it stays in Kaos's grubby hands, he'll use it for even worse stuff than what he's doing now! As Skylanders, it's our duty to bring it back so it can't be used to hurt anybody else!"

"That's oddly heroic of you, Dark." Sonic Boom tilted her head.

"And besides, Cynder nearly lost her life trying to get it back! We have to avenge her sacrifice!" Dark bit his lip as he looked to the skies, then looked aside and frowned. "And the others' too, I guess."

"With the way you're talking about them, it's like they actually died or something," Sunburn remarked before he nodded and cast a glance at Sonic Boom and Lightning Rod, "but, Dark does have a point. Like it or not, we're the only ones who can do this."

As the group huddle broke up, Sunburn looked up at Flavius then splayed his wings and grinned. "Alright, Flavius, we're in!" Sunburn proclaimed as he took to the skies. "Take us to Dragon's Peak!"

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Flavius beamed as he turned around. "But, the flight there's gonna be pretty long. Hop on my back, it'll be easier!"

Everybody jumped on Flavius's back right as he soared up, up, and away to Dragon's Peak.

§

"Guys, don't worry, I'm right here," Chihiro moaned as she pulled her tired, tired body off of the ground, "I'll get you out of there, I promise…"

"Who exactly are you talking to, child?"

Chihiro frowned and opened her blurry, blurry eyes. Everything around her was coated in a faint shade of blue that glowed bright enough to make things feel strange and unnatural. Just where was she, anyways? From what her blurry vision could decipher, this wasn't anything close to what Ancient's Peak looked like. Chihiro hummed and rubbed her eyes clear, and gasped as she scuttled back!

This whole place, it looked like a giant board game! Paths of colorful squares, some with strange markings, were lined by opalescent stones, life-sized cardboard bushes and paper towers decked in glitter. Cardboard dragons and clouds hung in the skies above, which were less sky and more a never-ending sea of strange blue light.

"Where am I, anyways?" Chihiro asked as she looked left and right and shrugged. "Well, whatever this place is, it sure looks nice." Chihiro smiled as she skipped up to a patch of paper roses and rubbed their thornless stems, yet shook her head and stood back. "No, can't stop and smell the roses. I need to find everyone!"

Chihiro turned and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Hugo? Master Eon? Anybody here?"

"What's there to look for, child?" asked Master Eon's voice. "I'm right here!"

Chihiro beamed as she followed the voice's source, but her smile quickly faded when she found not Master Eon, but his holographic counterpart!

"Hey, wait a second! You're not Master Eon!" Chihiro pointed an accusing finger at the holographic Eon, "Where'd you take him?" Chihiro shook her finger for emphasis. "And everyone else, for that matter?"

"You'll find out in due time."

The holographic Eon casually waved a hand as it strode forward, yet froze in his tracks as Chihiro let out an unholy scream!

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" Chihiro snarled as she closed in on the holographic Eon and got ready to swing. "GIVE ME BACK MY—" Chihiro's eyes grew wide as her fist phased right through the holographic Eon "—friends?"

Chihiro skidded right through the holographic Eon, snarled and whipped around right as he gave her a very unimpressed look. Huh, she forgot for a moment that he was a hologram, but that wouldn't be an issue!

"If I can't hit you with my fists," Chihiro hissed as she clenched her hand, "I'll give you a taste of my magic instead!"

Chihiro flung her arms out and narrowed her eyes, all while her body rushed with adrenaline!

"TAKE THIS!"

Chihiro pushed her hands a little further as another ugly snarl crossed her face, but nothing happened! Her hands just stood stagnant with no magic at all, not even the rushing sensations she always felt when she cast spells! What was going on? Chihiro drew her hands apart and cupped them like she was getting ready to summon a sphere, yet no spheres formed in her hands, nor did she feel that rush of magic in her veins—or for that matter, any magic at all! That's right, her magic acted up earlier, but that was from her anxiety, right? Her head's clear now, so why wasn't it working?

"Don't think you can cast any cheap spells either, child," the holographic Eon explained as it stepped forward. "Our battle is not one of magic or might, but of board games!"

Huh. That would explain the oddly craft-like scenario that surrounded them, or the weird path that they stood on, for that matter. Chihiro frowned as she took in the sights and gently stroked her chin.

"This isn't really the kind of fight I expected," Chihiro remarked with a sigh.

"That's because your mind is too narrow, you stupid child." The holographic Eon scoffed and crossed its arms.

"Hey!"

"Silence!" The holographic Eon shot a glare at Chihiro, and receded as she winced and stepped back. "Not all combat is of the traditional nature, such as today's fight. There's more to battle than just flashy blasts and heavy blows. If you wish to free yourself and your island's inhabitants, you must to prove to me that you understand this…"

The holographic Eon stepped back.

"By beating me at this life-sized recreation of the best board game known to Skylands' kind!" The holographic Eon grinned as it stretched its arms for emphasis. "Skylands' Greatest Warriors!"

Chihiro winced again as she shoved her hands in her pockets. A board game, huh? Well, she and Mamoru used to play board games together all the time when they were little. Surely this can't be that bad, right?

"Well, how do you play?" Chihiro shrugged and raised an eyebrow at the holographic Eon. "I can't exactly fight this battle if I don't know the rules, you know!"

"Follow me."

Chihiro scoffed as the holographic Eon passed her by, but nonetheless trailed after it until it stopped at a bright, green square with "Start!" written on it in Skylandian lettering. Guess this was where their little battle would begin.

"The objective of the game is simple enough for a child such as yourself," the holographic Eon explained while it ignored the dirty look Chihiro shot it. "You must obtain three pieces of treasure from treasure hunt scenarios scattered across the board, all while fighting off the game and other players' attempts to take those treasures."

Chihiro scoffed while a warmth burned against her hands. She looked down, and a pair of die manifested in her palms.

"It's your turn." The holographic Eon gave her a prompting look. "Roll them."

Chihiro took a step forward and shook her hands. "Simple enough, I'll show him." Chihiro swung her hands forward while her eyebrows furrowed without her even realizing. "Take this!"

The die clattered as they flew from Chihiro's hands and rolled along the floor, and finally came to a stop to reveal a six. Not that bad for her first try, she supposed. Chihiro skipped across the six squares she was allowed to pass, and finally stopped as she landed on a candy-pink square that glowed the moment her foot stepped on it! Chihiro gasped as the light flooded around her and tinted the entire world in sugary pink, but that light faded away to reveal…

"Master Eon!" Chihiro exclaimed as her eyes and grin grew wide.

Sure enough, the bright orb of light that manifested from the square was the real, actual Master Eon! He seemed a bit disoriented as he flitted to and fro with a pale glow, but his light soon brightened as he caught sight of Chihiro's face.

"Master Eon! Are you okay?" Chihiro smiled as Master Eon laid in her arms. "What happened to you and the others?"

"Greetings aspiring hero, I bring you a gift for your quest," Master Eon said in a strained, almost robotic tone as he floated out of Chihiro's arms, created something small and rectangular out of light, and levitated it into Chihiro's open palms. "Take this and my best wishes for your success!"

"Wait, what?" Chihiro gasped and stumbled back. "Master Eon, what are you talking about? Don't you recognize me?"

"Indeed I do! You are Chihiro, the second player in this game!"

And just like that, Master Eon disappeared in a flash of light while Chihiro gasped and blinked. Master Eon… He didn't recognize her at all, but more than that, his voice was so stiff and mechanical. It was almost like he was being controlled by someone!

"That is why I needed your island's inhabitants, child," the holographic Eon said as it finished receiving a card from Hugo a space behind. "They will play the roles of the card-givers and other important characters in this game."

"And you couldn't have just made them up yourself?" Chihiro asked as she glared back at the holographic Eon.

The holographic Eon scoffed in response. "Of course not! In this form, my magic is far too limited for such spells."

Chihiro shot the holographic Eon another glare. That felt like a lie, but whatever. As the dice manifested in her palms, Chihiro sighed and looked down at the gift Master Eon gave her, thought it didn't seem particularly fancy. After all, it was just a simple card with an illustration of a pair of leather boots with wings on their heels. Chihiro flipped it over, and on the other side it brought only a description.

"'When used, this card adds one more space to your current roll.'" Chihiro perked up and placed the card in her pocket. "Huh, that sounds useful. Better stash that away—" Chihiro paused just before she stowed the card away in her pocket"—wait, how do you use these cards, anyways?"

Chihiro rubbed her thumb against the card, and it glowed bright as it vanished into the light! Chihiro yelped and stumbled back, but her eyes trailed down as the light flooded into the now-glowing dice.

"Well, guess I found out!"

Chihiro grinned, shook her hands really hard and flung the dice ahead! Hopefully she would get a decent roll. Chihiro kept her breath bated as the dice stumbled along the path, and unveiled a nine! Well, one that quickly turned to a ten as some magical boots manifested out of thin air and kicked the dice along, but still! Chihiro skipped across the candy-colored tiles below her feet, and finally leaped onto a brown square with an illustration of a treasure chest that overflowed with gold and jewels!

"This must be my first treasure!" Chihiro exclaimed as she peered down and watched golden light seep out from the floor below.

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you, child," the holographic Eon warned as it rolled its dice and lagged behind Chihiro.

Chihiro shuddered, grimaced and looked down at the light glowed brighter.

"TREASURE HUNT SCENARIO," cried a mechanical voice that vaguely resembled a TV announcer's, "ACTIVATED!"

Just like that, the golden light grew more and more intense until it completely ate up the surroundings and all that could be seen was the light itself! In fact, it was so bright and intense that Chihiro had to close her eyes so she wouldn't be blinded! Once its sting left her face, Chihiro warily opened her eyes to find that…

Wait a second, did the light do something to her eyes or something? Everything was still gold! But, it didn't burn or glow like the light did. Rather, it was more like a solid mass of sparkling gold.

Chihiro skipped up to the walls beside her, tapped their hard surface, and looked back down at her fingers to find them covered in gold dust! Yep, looks like these caves were made of solid gold! That wasn't the only treasure to be held; scattered across the sparkly golden floors were jewels, crowns, paintings, watches, and all other sorts of treasures! It was like she found a jackpot!

Chihiro knelt down and watched her reflection fragment against a jewel's facets, but her attention turned to a nearby pocket watch. Strangely, it had something etched in on it, but it was too deep to just be an accidental scratch. These engravings were probably someone's initials, now that she thought about it. For that matter, a lot of these things seemed pretty personal: the paintings had notes congratulating people on birthdays and anniversaries on the back, the rings scattered within golden coin piles had matches, even coin purses with pictures of people Chihiro had never seen before could be found in the mess!

"I know what this means," Chihiro reasoned as she jumped to her feet and raced down, "a huge dragon must have stole all this treasure for their hoard, and I've gotta stop them and bring it back!"

Chihiro jumped in the air and hit the ceiling with her fist as she beamed and raced ahead. The gold dust shuddered down from the ceiling as she ran, as if it trembled with anticipation of what Chihiro knew. The pathway ahead was so open that surely this would be where her foe resided!

"I'm coming for you," Chihiro exclaimed as she dashed into the heart of the caverns, "So you better be ready—"

But, she stopped and backpedaled as she found a large, purple and gold dragon rested on a mound of gold coins and jewels!

"SPYRO?"

The dragon jerked their head up immediately, and narrowed their golden eyes the moment they caught sight of Chihiro. Yep, that definitely had to be Spyro! But why was he…

"And that is why I needed your island's inhabitants, child. They will play the roles of the card-givers and other important characters in this game."

As the holographic Eon's words rang back into Chihiro's mind, she herself winced and stepped back. Guess this is what that creepy clone meant, but, she didn't want to fight Spyro, not at all! Yet, Spyro shot her a cold, icy look that seemed so different from the warm looks the Golden Boy she knew always gave her. Did he even remember her?

Spyro made a low, monstrous growl as he crept off his treasure pile, and smoke burst from his nostrils as he huffed and drew closer to Chihiro. His golden eyes turned warm and red with anger instead, and Chihiro didn't like the look of it at all!

"Spyro, please!" Chihiro pleaded as she stepped back while Spyro shoved his face in hers. "You're my friend! Not even just that, you're, you're one of the most important friends I have! I don't wanna fight you!"

As more smoke flew out of Spyro's nostrils, he narrowed his eyes and lurched his body up like he was about ready to pounce. He lowered his jaws, and crackling hot flames burst out with every breath.

"I know you're trapped in this weird game and lost yourself and all, but please, try to remember! We're not enemies, we're, we're…" Chihiro panted and shuddered as her voice became strained, and she fell down and knelt her head as she clasped her hands. "We're, you're, you're my—"

FWOOM!

"ACK!” Chihiro screamed as she rolled out the way of a red-hot fireball! Seems as though he didn't remember her at all, and bargaining would do her no good at this rate! Like it or not, Chihiro had to fight him if she wanted to win and get everyone out. Chihiro winced, but nonetheless nodded and raised a hand. "No hard feelings, alright, Golden Boy?"

Chihiro gulped, thrust out her palms and shot out a magical blast—or so she thought. Rather, when she looked back down at them they were completely dull and magicless! But why?

"That's right!" Chihiro exclaimed as she stepped back. "This game's locked down on my magic! What am I gonna do?"

Chihiro winced as she looked back down at her hands, but perked her head up as an intense warmth brushed against her face. Right across from her, a fireball bright as the sun sped down the way!

"Crap!"

Chihiro ducked under the fireball and turned around just in time for it to melt a hole in the cavern walls, but she didn't linger on it for long. After all, several more headed her way! With a squeak, she rolled around just in time for the fireballs to hit the floor, looked up and shot a glare at Spyro!

"Seriously, Spyro?"

Spyro didn't respond, but rather he just kept roaring as he shot off more of those fireballs and melted as much as he could! He didn't even look like Spyro in the moment; he looked like a raging monster that couldn't be tamed!

Guess that's the game's work, too! Chihiro thought as she ducked under one fireball and scrambled away from another. I've gotta think of something to stop this— Chihiro yelped as she rolled out the way of another fireball —but how?

Chihiro winced as she drummed her fingers against the golden floor, which became much warmer thanks to all these fireballs, but her mind was completely blank! She couldn't use her own magic, she didn't have any of those weird cards, and any other options were completely nullified by the first two problems. Still, she had to think of something!

Meanwhile, Spyro raised his mouth and got ready to fire again, but before he could, a jump rope of all things flung forward and wrapped around Spyro's jaws so tight that it snapped those jaws shut!

"Your reign of terror ends now, foul beast!" cried a familiar voice from down the caverns.

"Put a sock in it, you! Spyro's not a beast, he's my friend!" Chihiro shouted as she jumped back to her feet.

"I wouldn't particularly call this kind of behavior friendly, child."

Chihiro gasped and took a step back right as the holographic Eon stepped out from the shadows with an entire deck of those strange magical cards in its holographic hand! It cast a glare at Chihiro while she puffed her cheeks, but just frowned and withdrew a card from its deck.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Chihiro exclaimed as she bounced up and down. "This is my treasure hunt thing, you know!"

"Did you forget what I told you?" The holographic Eon rubbed against the card it withdrew and watched as the card dissolved into a cloud of sparkly mist. "You'll have to combat both the game and your opponents' attempts to take the treasure. These zones are free range for any players who wish to enter."

The mist fluttered around Spyro, and as he inhaled it, he grunted and fell right asleep! For a moment, it kinda looked like he dropped dead, but the stifled snores he let out moments later confirmed otherwise.

"And it seems here, it's my victory that's assured." The holographic Eon lifted an amulet from the treasure pile as Spyro snored away and grinned. "Not yours."

"SIMULATION… COMPLETE!" droned that mechanical announcer voice again as a beeping sound echoed throughout the cavern.

Chihiro grimaced as the entire area around them dissolved into a storm of light and bubbles that unveiled their original board game battlefield once more, poked her gaze under her feet and gasped! The treasure square she stood on was no longer a treasure square, but an ordinary colored tile instead!

"Already poised to give up, child? I wouldn't blame you." The holographic Eon smirked as it put on the amulet. "I spent ages perfecting my skills at this game by dueling against Era! I know every in and out of it like I know the back of my hand!"

"Who's Era? Wait, nevermind that!" Chihiro snarled and shook her head. "There's no way I'm giving up!"

"Well then, I'll warn you…"

As dice manifested in the holographic Eon's hands once more, it took a quick roll and passed ahead of Chihiro.

"Things will only get harder from here on out."