"Ah-CHOO!"

Chihiro sneezed as she opened her eyes to find that she wasn't in that weird game realm anymore! She was back on Ancient's Peak, in the heart of the island! More importantly, so was everybody else who got sucked into that weird holographic board game thingie!

"What was that?" Spyro asked as he got up and rubbed his eyes.

"What was what, Spy?" Trigger Happy asked as he jumped up and down. "What? What?"

"I had this really weird dream." Spyro stretched his front legs and yawned. "We were trapped in this life-sized board game by some guy who looked like Master Eon, and I think I was guarding a treasure pile or something?"

"Huh! I think I had the same dream!" Trigger Happy rubbed his chin and frowned. "'Cept I was this really cool bandit dude who was a mighty terror of the wild west! I had a horse and a cool hat and everything!"

"Yeah, so did I!"

"That was some dream, alright."

"Talk about weird, who would've guessed that we all had the same dream?"

While everybody dispersed to their remaining chores and activities, Chihiro couldn't help but chuckle. Guess nobody else really remembered what happened except her. Well, that would save them the trouble of explaining things at least!

"Urgh, what happened?" Hugo groaned as he sat up and rubbed his head, his eyes still closed and tired. "I had this strange dream where I was trapped in a board game and got rescued by Chihiro." Hugo opened his eyes and blinked as he looked up at Master Eon. "I think I might need to cut down on the candy bars before my afternoon nap."

Master Eon hummed, his light stark and white as he hovered in silent contemplation.

"I believe I had the same dream, Hugo, except I was handing out strange cards to young Chihiro and," Master Eon said before he stopped short, "wait, that hologram clone! The last thing I remember before that was it sucking us into some strange vortex…"

Hugo and Master Eon looked towards each other and winced.

"Something tells me that was no dream, Hugo."

"In that case," Hugo replied as he scanned over the crowds, "where's Chihiro?"

"Right here!" Chihiro shouted as she waved them over.

The two of them blinked for a moment as they turned over to Chihiro, and their eyes glazed over the rest of the confused crowds for a second more before they shrugged.

"Well, it seems as if nobody else know what happened, Hugo," Master Eon remarked as he and Hugo joined Chihiro at her side. "I suppose you wouldn't happen to remember anything, young Chihiro?"

"You bet I do!" Chihiro exclaimed as she scratched the back of her head. "See, that hologram, it sucked us all into this weird living board game and turned you guys into characters for the game! I had to go through the whole game and collect all these treasures to get you all out, but man, it sure was tough! There was this one where Trigger Happy and Zap and Wrecking Ball were bandits, and Spyro was a giant treasure-hoarding dragon..."

Master Eon and Hugo just stood stagnant and wide-eyed as Chihiro recounted the events of her board game adventure, but oddly enough, they seemed more shocked than anything as Hugo's eyes went wide and Master Eon's glow turned so pale he was practically see-through.

"You know, I have to admit, that was the most fun I've had on a portal master exam in forever!"

However, Master Eon and Hugo didn't exactly seem reassured by Chihiro's words. Instead, they just made wide, strained grins and equally awkward chuckles, then leaned in closer to whisper… Something about extra maintenance? Chihiro couldn't quite glean what it was, but judging by the way Hugo frantically wrote it down on one of his many lists, it seemed important.

Master Eon cleared his throat and turned back to Chihiro. "Nevertheless, young Chihiro, you did win against my holographic counterpart and freed us all, therefore, you pass!"

"Really?"

Chihiro forced a smile at Master Eon's words, but oddly enough, they didn't seem to fill her with the kind of joy she usually got from passing her exams and getting his praise. Just why was that, anyways? She felt like she knew why, but she was still in a bit of a haze from that whole board game incident. Chihiro turned around, caught sight of the Core of Light and remembered why.

"That's nice, but…" Chihiro frowned and tugged on her sleeve as she trudged away from Master Eon and Hugo, "I should probably get back to figuring out where the Eternal Undead Source—" Chihiro froze as a loud thunk resonated throughout the entire island "—is?"

Chihiro turned back to find some gigantic, red dragon drop a couple other figures off at the island, and it waved back to them before flying off itself. However, she was so far away that aside from their colors, she could barely make out who those figures were!

"WE'RE BA~CK!" proclaimed a familiarly raspy voice—Dark Spyro's!

Sure enough, Dark Spyro flew up to them with Sunburn, Sonic Boom and Lightning Rod close by. Just where were they while she was trapped in that game, anyways? Weren't they on patrols before she got sucked in?

"And guess what?" Dark remarked as he flew up with some kind of container held tight in his front paws. "We brought you guys a super cool souvenir from Dragon's Peak!"

Everybody around frowned and mumbled among themselves, but Dark didn't even notice as he shook the container a bit while the fog that clouded its front receded.

"The Eternal Undead Source!"

Gasps, shocked whispers, and sighs of relief sounded all around as everyone sat stunned with all eyes fixed on Dark Spyro and the Eternal Undead Source. Not that Dark seemed to mind the attention—he just smiled and basked in their light like a first-place winner brandishing his trophy for all to see.

"Is that really?" Cynder gasped as she flew over and got a closer look at the Eternal Undead Source. "It is!"

"I told you we'd get it!" Dark Spyro grinned as he pushed the Eternal Undead Source closer in Cynder's view. "Now that we have it, all you have to worry about is getting better!"

"Well, that's not quite the case." Cynder shook her head, but nonetheless ran a paw over the Eternal Undead Source's container. "How'd you find this in the first place?"

"It's a long story!" Dark Spyro turned around and flew towards the Core. "And I can tell you all about it once we get the Source in the Core!"

"WHAT? DARK SPYRO FOUND THE ETERNAL UNDEAD SOURCE?" Hugo exclaimed as he pushed through the crowds as fast as his tiny mole legs could take him. "IS THIS REAL?"

Hugo rushed over to get a look for himself, but he ended up running too fast and fell over his own feet! He screamed and flailed his arms in some attempt to regain balance, but failed ultimately and toppled over Dark Spyro! While the two of them grunted and rubbed their heads, the container rolled out of Dark Spyro's paws and popped right open!

"Crap!" Dark Spyro exclaimed with wide eyes.

All around, everybody grew weak and sluggish, all held heads and falling to knees and everything! While they groaned in pain, Dark Spyro winced and scrambled over to the container.

"Well, there's my answer," Hugo sighed as he adjusted his glasses. "Now, we should place the Source into the Core!"

So, Dark Spyro handed the container over to Hugo, but Hugo merely shook his paws. "You hold on to that until I say, alright?" Hugo pulled a book from his hood, flipped through the pages, and cleared his throat. "Now, let the ritual begin!"

Dark Spyro held the container so tight it might've broken from pressure had it been someone stronger than him as Hugo chanted, while all breaths held tight. A couple stepped back as if they were ready to run, just in case things went bad, but still, they kept their eyes fixed on the scene before them, as if they had to know what happened next.

Hugo finished chanting the spell, and in accordance, the container rattled and glowed.

"Now!" Hugo shouted as he looked at Dark Spyro.

Dark was quick to react as he unscrewed the container's top, and reeled back as the Eternal Undead Source shot out like a rocket! Everybody watched in faint pain as the Eternal Undead Source flew straight into the Skull Mask. Though soon enough, the pain became awe as the Eternal Undead Source's ghastly presence faded around the area and consolidated into the mask, which resulted in it emitting a bright halo of light!

Everybody around breathed sighs of relief and dispersed into their own groups, but Chihiro couldn't bring herself to look away, not just yet.

"Geez, you cause us a lot of trouble, didn't you?" Chihiro teased as she stuck her tongue out at the skull mask. "Well, at least you're back in your proper place!"

Chihiro let out a gentle sigh, and smiled as she turned around to catch Cynder, Ghost Roaster and Hex as they sat in a circle with Dark Spyro and Sonic Boom! Better yet, they were perfectly fine! Well, aside from the bandages they wore over their injuries, which seemed a bit old given that they probably hadn't been changed out since the morning.

"And that's when I told Vathek to suck it and blasted him with a giant fireball! It had to be the size of the sun!" Dark Spyro proclaimed with the biggest grin on his face, wide leg gestures and all.

"This has to be a joke," Ghost Roaster insisted as he crossed his bony arms. "There's no way you could've gotten the Eternal Undead Source when we failed!"

"I was there, Ghost Roaster," Sonic Boom said as she placed a paw on Dark Spyro's shoulder. "I can confirm that is what happened."

"I guess if you say so." Ghost Roaster scoffed and rolled his eyes. "This better not go to his head."

Dark, however, paid little mind to Ghost Roaster's coldness. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Cynder in a way that almost seemed like he begged for her response.

"You know, Dark, you've really grown into this whole Skylander thing," Cynder admitted as she nodded in approval. "It almost makes you kind of cool."

Dark's jaw dropped while his eyes sparkled, and he leaped at least three feet in the air!

"CYNDER SAID I'M COOL!"

As Dark fell back down, he grabbed on to Sonic Boom's legs and shook her with pure glee. "Did you hear that? She said I'm cool!"

"Geez, Dark." Cynder scoffed, though there seemed to be a bit of lightheartedness in her voice, which was a bit of an odd sight for Cynder, admittedly. She got up and stretched her legs, then nodded towards Hex and Ghost Roaster. "Anyways, we'd better get back to the infirmary. I swear, I think I pulled five different muscles in five different places."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Cyn! Leave it to your cool buddy, Dark Spyro!"

"Don't run that into the ground, now."

"I'll try~" Dark Spyro looked at Cynder and winked. "But I can't make any promises."

Dark and Cynder both shared a chuckle with each other, and for a moment, it seemed as though everything was alright again!

While they all trailed back to the infirmary, Chihiro sighed again as she looked back at the Core of Light, though not out of that same relief she had before. Rather, this time it was melancholy she felt as she sat and basked in the Core of Light's presence.

For a moment she recalled that morning, when she was so poised to stop everything and go back home. She was so set to give up because she branded herself a failure in her own mind, someone who was far too unworthy of being a portal master and was surely made one by a fluke, that surely anyone could take her place and do better. After her little confrontation with that holograph, though, Chihiro wasn't so sure if that would be the right thing.

"I thought you were completely unfitting of the gifts the universe gave you, of the very title of portal master…"

"You've proven that you really do have the heart a portal master should."

Chihiro flinched as those words stung her heart, sighed and shook her head. Those words from the holograph got her thinking. She thought that the things she did as a portal master were, for the most part, something anyone could do, but now, she wasn't so certain that was the case. What did the holograph's words really mean? Was being a portal master more than just some dormant ability that anyone could channel?

She never really placed much thought to it before, for when she first came to Skylands and started training, she didn't know anything about portals and fancy magic; she just knew that she was the one who found the Skylanders, and ended up in Skylands, and she had to do this because she was the one who got roped into this! So, she threw her everything into training and fighting without asking anything about portal masters at all, but now, her lack of knowledge about portal master stuff really started to bug her.

She thought being a portal master was all about making portals and leading Skylanders and saving the day, but was there more to being one than just that? Was there some special thing about them she didn't know about, something that made her the perfect fit for this role the universe or whatever gave her? If that was the case, she knew she couldn't give up, but…

Why her? Why did the universe see her, Chihiro Hatsuki, the lonely, moody kid from the forest neighborhood with no friends, and decided that she would be the one with all these powers, and this important job to save the entire universe? Why not some superhero, or some genius in the making, or somebody who would be more better fit to this than her? What did she have that they didn't?

It was just so, so, confusing. Everything she thought she knew was turned on its head, all because of those few words, and now she didn't know what to think about herself, or her portal master training, or anything else she believed about her purpose here in Skylands anymore!

But, there was no use lingering on it for now, so Chihiro just sighed and hung her head as she trudged over to the infirmary. Surely, their patients could use a quick check-up before dinner. As she did, though, she took one last glance at the setting sun as it made the Core of Light shine bright, sighed and placed her hands in her pockets.

"Universe, if you're out there and can hear me," Chihiro whispered as the sunbeams of evening light dusted her cheeks.

"Please, tell me. What does it really mean to be a portal master, and why am I one?"