The moment Hex and Ghost Roaster stepped into the village, one would have expected they'd find some sort of company, but alas, it seemed nobody was there. No passerby as they floated about their day, no stragglers or loiterers who lingered about the alleyways, nothing.

"Hellooooo?" Ghost Roaster shouted as he trailed along the village paths, "Any ghoul home?"

Nobody answered Ghost Roaster save for the whistling winds.

"Talk about a ghost town." Ghost Roaster placed his hands on his hips, but his amber eyes trailed over to a cobweb-covered house.

Wait a second! As a wisp of blue glowed from the window, Ghost Roaster dashed over and peered inside. Sure enough, a trio of spindly-looking ghosts who seemed like they haven't eaten in years huddled around each other within the house's confines! The tallest one peered up at Ghost Roaster and screamed before they vanished into thin air, with its companions quick to follow!

"What's their deal?" Ghost Roaster grumbled as he peeled himself away from the window and turned around.

It seemed as if Hex had a bit better luck, as she chatted it up with a cyan-colored ghost who donned a ectoplasmic mustache paired with a tattered top hat and rusted monocle.

"Hey, Hex!" Ghost Roaster walked up to Hex and swished his chains. "Did you find anything out yet?"

The moment the ghost laid eyes on Ghost Roaster though, his jaw dropped in panic.

"It's him, the Ghost Eater!" the ghost wailed as they disappeared from view. "Run before he eats your soul!"

"Geez," Ghost Roaster scoffed as he crossed his arms. "You eat a couple ghosts when you turn undead, and all of a sudden you're a 'monster' and a 'scary ghost eater!'" Ghost Roaster shot glares towards the crowds of trembling ghosts. "I don't just eat ghosts, y'know!" Ghost Roaster extended a skeletal hand and began counting off his fingers. "Pizza, sandwiches, cakes, pies…"

"Wait a second," peeped up a tiny ghost from the front as they raised their hand. "Did you say pie?"

Intrigued mumbles and rumination came from the ghastly crowds as they slowly peeked out from their hiding spots.

"I sure did!" Ghost Roaster placed a hand on his chest. "I make some of the best pies in Skylands, if I say so myself!"

"What kinds of pies, though?" asked another, larger ghost. "Cherry? Strawberry? Blueberry? Macadamia nut?"

"All those and more!" Ghost Roaster made a sagely nod. "I could make them in my sleep if I wanted to, just give me the ingredients!"

The ghost looked towards each other with wide eyes and smiles, but those smiles quickly wavered as they looked back at Ghost Roaster and winced. Their gazes bounced between each other and Ghost Roaster for a while, and they huddled around and whispered among each other. Finally they nodded and turned back to Ghost Roaster and Hex with trembling smiles.

"Well, we have been dying to have some pie again," remarked an elderly ghost as they floated ahead of Ghost Roaster and waved. "Follow me, we'll take you to the kitchen!" The elderly ghost made a few wary, strained chuckles. "Just, not too closely, please."

Ghost Roaster sighed, and followed the ghost down the cold, graying earthen paths while a fleet of curious ghosts followed behind him… At a distance, of course, just in case he had cravings for ectoplasm all of a sudden.

Their journey was thankfully short, for the building itself was pretty easy to spot—it was probably the largest building in the entire village! Its cracked, dulling white body was akin to a temple in appearance, save for the fork and knife-shaped sign covered in cracks that just barely hung from its front. Was this supposed to be a restaurant? Certainly looked a bit more morbid than the usual kind.

"You know, there used to be a nice molekin baker who used this place as his kitchen. Still has the ingredients and everything!" the ghost explained as they stopped at the front of the "kitchen" with Ghost Roaster. "If you could make us some tasty pies, well—" the ghost clasped their hands and hung their head as they swept from side to side "—that, that would be quite nice."

Ghost Roaster frowned and sniffed the restaurant's front door. "Alright," Ghost Roaster replied as he clasped his bony hands and floated inside. "I'll see what this place has to offer."

Though the doors were open, the room itself was completely pitch-black. It was a good thing everyone was undead and had no need for decent light, or else surely they would be tripping over each other at the moment.

Though, something that smelled vaguely like eggs wafted in the air, and Ghost Roaster definitely took notice, because he took a few sniffs and dashed off to the source! As his scent trail guided him to a pair of rusted steel doors, Ghost Roaster pushed them open to find a kitchen, and not just any kitchen, too!

It was the kind of fancy kitchen like the ones in big-time restaurants, with giant sinks and fridges and cabinets surely full of tools and ingredients, and ginormous ovens made with the latest tech… It was like something out of any amateur chef's dream! But at the same time it didn't seem very, well, prime for cooking of any sort. The ovens were covered in rust and dried grease, spiderwebs and dust practically coated the kitchen from ceiling to floor, and the wood of the cabinets and fridges had holes rotted into it. Heck, even the wallpaper peeled away, which was not a good sign at all.

Ghost Roaster frowned as he swept through the kitchen and dusted away spiderwebs with his ball and chain, turned to the fridge and pulled open its dying door. Inside, it had all sorts of ingredients one would expect to find in a fridge—eggs, milk, fruit, vegetables, and all that good stuff—but… Something was clearly wrong. Everything was coated in deathly dull and pale shades of blue and green, with sad, ghastly faces printed on every thing and nasty, rotten stenches.

"Ugh, the food here's just as dead as the rest of the place!" Ghost Roaster proclaimed as he slammed the door shut, and frowned as it turned to shambles from the impact. "Maybe the cabinets have something decent."

So, Ghost Roaster hopped on the counters and pulled open the cabinets, but the food inside there wasn't much better, either! The bread was moldy, the flour and sugar were hard as rocks (to say nothing of the salt), and the jars of peanut butter, jams and preserved fruits were just as rotten as the food in the fridge! Worse yet, all of them had that same ghastly aura and odd coloration. Ghost Roaster snarled as he jumped off the counters and peered through all the other fridges and cabinets, but once again he was met with similar results. Everything around him was spoiled, moldy and gross—hardly ideal for cooking anything, much less desserts.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE FOOD HERE?" Ghost Roaster demanded as he waved his arms around. "WHY'S EVERYTHING SO DEAD?"

"That's the problem, mister Ghost Eater—" said one ghost as they crept into the kitchen, who gasped and trembled behind the doors as Ghost Roaster shot them a glare. "We, we're in the undead realm, so, so, so we only have undead food! And we can't access the switch to take us to the mortal realm…"

"So where's this switch, then?" Ghost Roaster raised an eyebrow. "And it's Ghost Roaster, thank you very much.

"Sorry, mister Ghost Eater—" The ghost trembled and scurried away "—but I don't remember!"

Ghost Roaster just groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I can't work in these conditions."

Ghost Roaster grumbled as he pulled his head up and glazed over a suspiciously-arranged stack of crates hidden in the corner.

"Wait a second!"

Ghost Roaster trailed over to the crates, and grinned as smashed them right in the center with his ball and chain! Ghost Roaster frowned as the splintered, rotten wooden remains of the crates collapsed, but that frown quickly changed to a smile when he saw what was underneath!

"The switch!" Ghost Roaster proclaimed.

Sure enough, a switch identical to the ones outdoors laid in the corner of the kitchen, and in completely perfect condition to boot! Ghost Roaster grinned, floated over to the switch and flicked it on! The world around him warbled as the switch's effects took place, and the kitchen cleaned itself up in no time! The lights flickered on as the spiderwebs, dust and ruin cleaned itself away from the kitchen surface, and the colors brightened into the trademark polished creams and egg whites of any professional kitchen. It was truly a sight to behold!

Ghost Roaster grinned, rushed back to the fridge and whipped its doors open.

"Now we're talking!" Ghost Roaster proclaimed as he yanked a bunch of fresh, perfect-for-cooking ingredients from within the fridge.

Ghost Roaster scattered the fridge ingredients all across the counters, jumped on top and pulled out excessive amounts of flour, sugar and salt from the cabinets until he could barely be seen under the pile of ingredients. Seemed like a lot, but hey, he was cooking for an entire village! As he dropped the ingredients on the counter as well, Ghost Roaster dove to the cabinets underneath and shuffled around. With a grunt, he yanked a mixing bowl about four times as large as he was out of the cabinets and dropped it on one of the tables!

"Now, to make pies these ghosts won't forget!"

Ghost Roaster yanked the flour, salt and sugar from the counters, ripped the bags open, and dumped them all into the mixing bowl all at once! His grin only grew wider as he grabbed some butter from the counter, set his hand alight just slightly enough to soften it, and dumped it in as well!

"Where's the mixer?" Ghost Roaster glazed over the kitchen, lifted his head and chuckled. "Wait a second, I don't need a mixer!" Ghost Roaster flipped backwards, and he transformed into his gigantic skull form, albeit without the flames that normally accompanied it. "I am the mixer!"

And so, Ghost Roaster leaped into and ran in circles within the bowl's confines just fast, but not rough, enough to mix the ingredients until they turned to a fine dough! Ghost Roaster grinned as he hopped out the bowl and shook the dough from his body, perked up and turned around as the kitchen doors opened behind him!

"Hex, just the witch I wanted to see!" Ghost Roaster proclaimed as he hopped down from the table and grinned as he turned back to his normal form. "I need a kitchen assistant right about now!"

"Ghost Roaster, what are you doing?" Hex asked as the doors slammed shut behind her.

"I'm creating a magical horse for the king of Shattered Island." Ghost Roaster rolled his eyes and pulled Hex to the tables. "What does it look like I'm doing? My life's crafts, of course!" Ghost Roaster gestured towards the gigantic bowl of pie dough and nudged his head. "Think you can use your fancy magic to get all this pie dough out of here? I made a lot."

Hex looked at the bowl and scoffed.

"Something like that is child's play." Hex held out her hands, and the bowl floated off the surface and dipped its dough back onto the table, complete with a loud plop. "See?"

Ghost Roaster, however, paid little mind to Hex as he floated over the pie dough and grinned. "Now, to roll this all out!"

Ghost Roaster flipped in the air and transformed back into a gigantic skull! Ghost Roaster spun in place as he crashed back down on the dough, and rolled everywhere which way until it completely encompassed the table it sat on. With the dough firmly spread, Ghost Roaster returned to normal, hopped back to the lower cabinets, and yanked out an entire tower of pie cutters! Of course, it was also a very precarious tower of pie cutters, for it was so tall that Ghost Roaster waddled every way he turned just to keep them all from falling!

"Allow me to handle this part," Hex said as she waved her hand.

All at once, the pie cutters flew out of Ghost Roaster's arms, soared over to the dough and pressed into its soft, squishy surface! With the pie dough firmly cut, the pie cutters soared away into the sink while the pie crust floated over the table and spun like saucers in the sky.

"Impressive," Ghost Roaster said with a cross of his arms and a nod of his head, "but can you—"

Right as Ghost Roaster spoke, a flock of pie tins flew out from the open cabinets, caught the pie crusts with perfect precision and time, and dropped into the holes in the pie dough! Ghost Roaster blinked furiously, dropped his jaw as the pie crust crimped itself with no prompting, and coughed into his hand.

"I suppose you can."

Ghost Roaster turned back to the horde of ingredients, rubbed his hands together and licked his lips.

"Now here's the fun part!" Ghost Roaster said as he pulled boxes of fresh fruit and jars of preserves and milk from the countertop. "Making the filling!"

The sweet scent of fruit wafted through the air as Ghost Roaster and Hex simmered sauces, stirred fruit juice, and whisked the other ingredients to their hearts' content, and it was so sweet and intriguing that the ghosts couldn't help but sneak a peek!

They phased through the doors and peered through windows as Ghost Roaster and Hex poured the filling into the pies, striped the pies themselves with strips of dough occasionally topped with dough shaped into ghastly decorations such as skulls and tiny ghosts, and shoved the pies into the ovens. That sweet, warm scent of baking sweets grew more intense as the pies cooked to perfection, and some of the ghosts couldn't help but drool as they surely envisioned the delicious pies that were soon to come.

But they didn't have to wait for long, for a ding told them the pies were ready! The ghosts all swarmed around the doors and shoved each other around as the world slowly shifted back to the underworld's aesthetics, and leaped out of the way as Hex and Ghost Roaster burst through the doors with carts full of freshly-baked pie!

"BONE APPETIT!" Ghost Roaster proclaimed as he wheeled the cart over to a nearby table and set the pies. "GET IT WHILE IT'S FRESH!"

And boy, did those ghosts get it! The moment the pies were laid, the ghosts dashed over to grab as many slices as they could—some of them even ran off with whole pies or completely devoured them without even leaving the tables!

Heck, poor Ghost Roaster had to duck so he wouldn't be showered in an onslaught of pie filling and whipped cream. He poked back up in amazement as the ghosts that seemed so melancholy before smiled and chatted it up as they ate their pies! Guess food really did bring people together.

"Huh, talk about a fast turnaround," Ghost Roaster remarked with a slight smile, "and here I thought all that time in the infirmary made me rusty!"

"Rusty? If this is rusty, I'd be glad to taste what you consider your best work!" one of the ghosts praised as they floated up to Ghost Roaster. "I haven't had pie like this in months, it seems. Or any kind of decent food, really."

Ghost Roaster's jaw dripped slightly. "You, you haven't? You aren't joking around, are you?"

"I'm afraid not." The ghost sighed as they nudged their slice of half-eaten pumpkin pie with a fork. "You know, when that molekin baker, Batterson, his name was? Well, when he was still around, he brought us tons of treats!" The ghost started to salivate as their eyes drifted to the ceiling. "Cakes, cupcakes, cookies, Mont Blanc, flan, but the best of all were his pies! With their gentle, flaky crust and sweet filling that just melted in your mouth, oh, you had to taste it! It was a delicacy like we had never tasted before."

The ghost chuckled as they shook their head. "But to be fair, undead food is pretty bland and hardly filling."

"Tell me about it." Ghost Roaster crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "It's even worse than eating stale crackers for an entire week straight!" Ghost Roaster shuddered as he looked aside. "And I know about that from experience."

The ghost, however, didn't seem very amused by Ghost Roaster's wisecracking. Rather, they just made another despondent sigh as they gobbled down their pie and licked the plate clean.

"All we ever wanted was to eat that baker's sweets every day of the week!" The ghost sobbed as they finished off their plate and grabbed another slice of pie. "But alas, it was not to be."

"It wasn't?" Hex interjected as she floated up and brushed her fingers against the table. "What happened?"

"That awful Occulous took control of our village and outlawed all pies!" the ghost cried as the ate their second pie piece in one gulp, all while ectoplasmic tears streaked down their face. "Even so much as eating a crumb would be punished with second death!"

"Over a pie?" Ghost Roaster exclaimed as his jaw dropped. "That's ridiculous!"

"We thought so too, but—" the ghost whimpered as they wiped away their tears "—we learned the hard way that he was quite serious about it indeed, and he was so powerful that we were too scared to fight back. So like it or not, we were forced to comply. Without our delicious pies, famine completely swept over our little village." The ghost took several more slices of pie and chuckled. "Me, I've been so hungry that I could eat somebody's brains!"

"Oh trust me, buddy, I know the feeling!"

Ghost Roaster and the ghost both shared a laugh, and Ghost Roaster jolted up as the ghost patted him on the shoulder.

"You know, when we were told the Ghost Eater had come to consume our souls—" the ghost chuckled "—I wouldn't have guessed that we'd be the ones getting fed instead!"

Ghost Roaster didn't seem to find this nearly as funny, given that he immediately clasped his jaws and frowned. "You knew we were coming?"

"Well, yes." The ghost sighed as they put their plate aside for the first time since the buffet began. "Someone left a note with a picture of you and your friend, telling us that the Ghost Eater had come to eat us out of house and home—literally!"

"Yeah!" cried another ghost as they floated into the conversation, completely oblivious to the blueberry and whipped cream stains still on their face. "That's why we locked the place up and set up all those stone traps!" The ghost licked the blueberry juice and whipped cream off their face, turned back at Ghost Roaster and whimpered. "Sorry about that, by the way."

Hex and Ghost Roaster both looked at each other with the same scowl, and Hex turned back to the ghosts and crossed her arms.

"Tell me, why was it that Occulous banned pies?" Hex asked.

The ghosts looked at each other and tapped their chins with their forks.

"Well, actually, it wasn't just pies," piped up the first ghost. "All non-undead food in general was outlawed! In fact, he even instilled those switches that drained the world of anything undead so we couldn't get it!"

"But why?" Hex furrowed her brows and frowned.

"That's the thing," the second ghost replied as they shook their head. "We don't know. He just swooped into our village and proclaimed that we couldn't have any mortal food!"

Hex made a soft gasp, turned back to Ghost Roaster and grimaced, a grimace Ghost Roaster shared in.

"Sorry to bow out, folks," Ghost Roaster said as he and Hex dodged away from the crowds of ravenous ghosts and towards the restaurant doors, "but we need to go find someone!"

§

"Phew, that was close!" Spyro sighed as he got up from the bluish-purple stone wall he had pressed himself against. "For a minute, I thought that wasn't going to work!" Spyro bit his lip and looked back at the solid wall. "Looks like this problem is way bigger than I thought it was. We're gonna need a plan!"

Spyro turned back to Chihiro and grinned as he flicked his wings.

"Chihiro, do you have any—" Spyro's serious face grew soft when he found that Chihiro hadn't even looked his way. "Chihiro?"

No, she curled into a ball against the cold, cold walls, and sobbed as quietly as she could. Which, wasn't very quietly admittedly, but he was so focused on escaping that he hadn't even noticed!

"There's no way, Spyro! It's all over," Chihiro whimpered. "You heard what that Occulous guy said, there's no way we can stop this!"

"But—"

Chihiro buried her face in her hands ruffled her hair as frantically, as furiously as she could. "I wasn't able to bring them back to their senses, I couldn't break the curse or do anything at all! There's no way we can bring them back!"

Spyro opened his mouth and went to retort, but he shut it as Chihiro's cries grew so loud that they'd surely drown out anything he'd have to say.

"Why did I even do this in the first place? I promised I'd help you guys, that I'd protect you no matter what, but in the end I couldn't do that at all!" Chihiro tucked her head further into her legs. "I don't know what I was thinking, doing all this portal master stuff, I just ended up messing everything up! I messed up the island, I nearly messed up that village during my exam, I lost the Eternal Undead Source and got Cynder, Hex and Roaster super banged up, I lost to Kaos…"

As the last of her words left her mouth, Spyro perked his head up, as did a now very terrified with realization Chihiro.

"And I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

Chihiro only moaned and buried her face back in her hands once more.

"Chihiro." Spyro padded up to Chihiro and gently lifted up her tear-stained face. "Is this what you've been worrying about all this time?"

Chihiro winced and bit her lip, her eyes far away from Spyro's. "Maybe? Was is that obvious?"

"Well, you aren't exactly good at hiding these things." Spyro paused and wiped Chihiro's tears away with his paw. "You've been so on-edge lately, I had a feeling that there was something bugging you that you didn't want to talk about. Guess now, you're ready to talk about it?"

Chihiro sniffled a bit more, sighed and wiped her face with her sleeve before she made a small nod. "Even since I lost to Kaos that day, well." Chihiro hesitated to speak for a moment, but gulped and lifted her voice anyways. "I've realized that he's way stronger than I thought! We were in entirely different leagues when we fought. How on Earth could I compete with that?"

Chihiro's voice cracked, and the way her eyes shone bright showed her barely-kept attempt to hide her tears.

"I've been working harder than ever so when we fight again, if we fight again, I'll be strong enough to stop him, but, no matter how hard I do, it's never enough! I'll never be able to stop him by myself, let alone anyone else! After all, I just keep messing up and getting people hurt cause I wasn't strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough…

"And now, everybody's gone and it's all up to me to save them, but there's no way I can do it! I could barely protect them then, and I can't save them now!" Chihiro bit her lip, winced, and finally she broke down in sobs and buried herself in Spyro's grasp. "How could I ever call myself a portal master? How can I even call myself your friend when I let you all down like this?"

Chihiro sobbed a bit more, but her cries were so raw and free-flowing that Spyro just held his hand and ran a paw down her back. He didn't want to intervene just yet—something in his gut told him now wasn't the time.

"Master Eon told me that the universe makes people portal masters and gives 'em these powers and stuff for some special reason, but I don't understand why it dumped all this stuff on me! I'm not good for anything! I, I don't deserve something like that. I'm just some stupid kid from Earth who can't do anything right. Why was someone like me picked over anyone else?" Chihiro drew away from Spyro and leaned back against the wall as she hung her head. "But, I guess you wouldn't get that. You've been saving worlds and beating bad guys for years. This kinda stuff just comes naturally to you."

"Oh, I understand better thank you think," Spyro said, plain and simple.

"You do?"

As Chihiro lifted her head a little and looked back at Spyro with those teary, swollen eyes, Spyro walked over to her side and wrapped a wing around her shoulders.

"See, there's an old legend about purple dragons like me." Spyro looked down at his paw and flexed it, and for a moment, a tiny frown fell across his face. "They say we're born every couple of generations to set the fate of eras and things like that. In other words, a purple dragon being born is kind of a huge deal."

Chihiro tilted her head as she turned around and faced Spyro once more. "So, kind of like a portal master?"

"I guess so, but, truth is, I don't entirely understand it myself. I don't really get why the universe decided I would be the one to be born with all these fancy magic powers and huge purpose." Spyro shrugged and pressed his frown back into a smile. "And to be honest, I don't think it really matters!"

"YOU DON'T?"

Spyro was completely silent as Chihiro sniffled, and finally he drew Chihiro away to face him. The silence was stiff for a bit, but finally Chihiro gulped and drew back a bit.

"But why not?" Chihiro asked, eyes wide as if she was unable to believe what she just heard. "You were born with this huge purpose and stuff, isn't that kind of a big deal?"

"Chihiro, I may not completely understand all there is about fate and purpose and all that stuff," Spyro said at last, his voice solemn and matter of fact, "but there's one thing I know, and it's that I want to protect this world from evil!" Spyro laid a paw on Chihiro's cold, shaky hand. "I didn't do all those things I did because I was some special purple dragon with a special purpose and super strong magic, I did them because I wanted to do the right thing!"

Spyro looked up at Chihiro, who in turn looked back at him with those wide eyes before she reluctantly turned away. "And that's how I know that you've got what it takes to fix this."

"But, what does all that mean?" Chihiro asked as she heaved a sigh. "I don't get it, what does that have to do with me being strong enough to fix all this?"

Spyro finally withdrew completely from Chihiro and raised an eyebrow.

"Let me ask you something. Why did you want to save Skylands? Why did you want to become Master Eon’s apprentice? Why did you do everything you did since you came here?"

"Huh?" Chihiro frowned and rubbed her tear-streaked chin, her tired eyes now deep into contemplation. "Well, you see…" Chihiro turned to Spyro looked down. "I, well, I wanted to help you guys! You're my friends after all! And even if we weren't, I still would've done it. I didn't really understand what was going on, but, I was the one who found you guys, and I was the one who turned out to be a portal master and all! If I didn't help you guys, who would've?"

Spyro only smiled and nodded.

"See, that, Chihiro, is what makes you so powerful." Spyro gently wagged his tail as he stepped forward. "You've got something better than strength and smarts and fancy spells! Heck, you've had it in you this whole time!"

"I do?"

Spyro nodded again. "All this time since we met, there's something about you I've been drawn to that I never really understood until now." Spyro walked up to Chihiro and tapped her heart. "It's your heart!"

Chihiro's eyes widened while small tears dripped down.

"My heart? Is that really true?"

"Yeah!" Spyro nodded, clasped his paw, and laid that paw on Chihiro's foot. "See, Chi, you're more than just our portal master—you're our friend, too!"

Chihiro just stayed silent and gazed at Spyro with wide eyes, almost as if she silently prompted him to continue.

"You care so much about everyone around you and you never give up on anyone! After all, you lifted me back up when we were trapped in that nightmare world, you did everything you could to help those cyclopes and trolls, heck, even when we first met, you jumped right in to help us even though you didn't know a thing about us. You've always been there, cheering us on and doing whatever you can to help us win!"

"But, those, those were just flukes! I, I messed up all those other times, too..."

"But did you really, though?"

Chihiro's whimpers silenced as Spyro gently pressed his head against Chihiro's own. That one question from Spyro was enough to shock Chihiro into silence as she curled up and nibbled on her nails, sniffed and tried to wipe away her tears.

"Well, we did get rid of those monsters, and when I messed up that village, we were still able to fix it and clean it up, and I guess we did get the Eternal Undead Source back."

Spyro tilted his head and smiled as his tail swished against the ground. "And why was that?"

Chihiro sucked on her lip as the tears dripped down from her chin, but she didn't seem very sad anymore. She just sat in silent contemplation as she knocked her knees together, and finally she let out one last sniffle.

"Well, we saved the Fairy Kingdom and stopped those monsters and got the Eternal Undead Source back 'cause we all worked together and stuff, and after I messed up that village, I went back to apologize and clean everything up..."

"See?" Spyro said. "In the end, even though you messed up, things still worked out!"

And just like that, Chihiro's eyes fixed on Spyro with a kind of quiet, shocked look that had just a hint of pleading to them, as if she silently begged him to go on further. He had her attention, which meant it was time for the big finish.

"You may have lost to Kaos back at the Fairy Kingdom, but we were still able to free it because you stalled him long enough for us to work things out, and we saved Ancient's Peak because you helped us stop those nasty monsters instead of giving up and running off. Not to mention, you worked just as hard as everyone else to help us get the Eternal Undead Source back and cared for Hex and Cynder and Ghost Roaster at the same time. Heck, if you didn't get them out of there in the first place, we would've lost a lot more than just the Eternal Undead Source back then.

"But that's beside the point. You, heck, we all managed to get as far as we did because of how much you cared for everyone and everything, because you cared so much that you did everything in your power to help us out! You're practically the glue that's bound us together since all this started!"

Spyro lifted his head up and made a toothy grin.

"Your heart is your biggest strength, Chihiro. All those enemies we've fought before, those nasty clones, Kaos, all of those guys could never match up! And that's how I know you'll be able to stop this, because the Chihiro Hatsuki I know cares so much about everyone around her that she'll do anything to save them."

Chihiro only stood silent and awestruck, eyes wide and gaping jaw and all that. Though she said not a word, just the look on her face told Spyro that the things he said had definitely gotten through to her.

"Do you really mean it, Spyro?" she asked as last.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't!"

Chihiro stood silent for a few moments; finally she breathed in and hugged Spyro tight, but not in a desperate, broken way. It was one more sincere and warm.

"Thanks Spyro," Chihiro whispered as she finally brought herself to smile. "I, I, thank you."

Chihiro's grin grew to that same radiant beam that was practically her trademark as she stood to full height, though it wavered with a bit of pain, yet she looked down at Spyro and pumped a fist!

"Now, let's get out of this place." Chihiro turned down to the halls and smiled. "We've still gotta save our friends, after all!"

"That's what I like to hear!" Spyro cheered as he jumped up and grinned.

He turned his attention to the halls below, flew down and frowned as he flapped down the way. "Now, if I recall correctly, I think we took a right here and a left after that!" Spyro looked back at Chihiro as she ran her hands against the walls. "Actually, maybe it was the other way around?"

"Help!"

"I'm pretty sure it was the other way around," Chihiro replied as she drew to a stop and drummed her fingers against the wall. "Maybe." Chihiro held her head and sighed. "I got so worked up that I completely forgot how we got here!"

"Help me! Help me! Can't anyone hear me calling for help?"

Spyro sighed and leaned against the wall behind him, unaware to how it flickered ever so slightly.

"I guess we could try that first, and maybe retrace our steps if we hit a DEAD ENDDDDDD—" Spyro screamed as the wall behind him completely vanished and he crashed down onto the floor "—ACK!"

Spyro groaned as he jumped back up to his paws and peered down the dark tunnel, while Chihiro skipped to his side and leaned forward. Spyro's little stumble unveiled a deep, dark passageway into nowhere, lit only by the faint blue light that came off the walls around them.

"Seriously, help me! I can hear people over there, why's nobody heard me?"

"And here I thought that was just my imagination," Chihiro remarked as she crossed her arms.

With a sigh, she lit a light sphere to use as a mock flashlight, and gingerly toed down the halls as the sphere's light grew brighter in response to the encroaching darkness.

"Better check it out."

Chihiro snapped her fingers, and the light of her sphere inched across the halls until finally, the hall completely lit up! Spyro's shadow crept up against hers as he joined her with a smile, flew up and caught her as she slunk down to the floor.

Chihiro heaved a few heavy breaths, shuddered and forced herself to stand. "I guess all that crying took more out of me than I thought."

Spyro frowned, and leaned against Chihiro as an anchor of sorts as they walked down the halls. That same voice cried for help on loop, and Spyro couldn't help but get the feeling for a moment that this might have been some kind of trick. At least, until the voice started panting.

"Ugh, all that yelling's making my throat hoarse," the voice whined, and true to their words, their voice got quite hoarse from all that crying out. "Why me? All I wanted to do was bake pies…"

Spyro's eyes crept across the halls, and narrowed as a short, third shadow joined his and Chihiro's! Surely, whoever was crying for help must be close by! Spyro snapped his claws, and the light expanded a little further to reveal…

A molekin! Sure enough, before him was a fat, peach-skinned molekin with beady black eyes and a slightly-frayed black handlebar mustache on his face. This molekin dressed in chef's clothes that were stained and slightly torn in places. He was tied together with a series of sleek, bony brambles that were effectively a functional rope, and he seemed awful worried. That is, until he caught sight of Spyro!

"Finally, somebody here who isn't undead!" the molekin cried in a very thick Vitalian accent before he made a shrill gasp of fear. "Wait a second, you aren't undead, are you?"

"Just as living as you are, buddy," Spyro said as his eyes turned silver. "Who are you, exactly? And how'd you get into this mess?"

"My name's Batterson." Batterson sniffled as he scuffed his shoes against the stone. "I'm, I'm just a humble baker who wanted to spread the joy of sweets to all Skylands, and look what it got me!"

Batterson broke out in sobs, and Spyro only sighed. Seems being trapped like this didn't make this Batterson guy inclined to speak, so Spyro would have to bust him free first. Spyro placed his paw on the brambles, and urged Chihiro to do the same with a tilt of his head. As she placed her own hands on the brambles, the two of them channeled their magic while the brambles slowly unfolded underneath their fingers and toes!

Batterson gasped, grinned and jumped to his feet. "Thank you, kind stranger!" Batterson cried as he hugged Spyro tight!

"Er, it's all in a day's work," Spyro insisted as he pushed away Batterson. "Anyways, what happened to you?"

Batterson gasped, and shuddered so hard that it almost chilled the entire area around them.

"Oh, it was awful!" Batterson cried as he made a series of exaggerated hand gestures. "I just came here to sell some pies to the undead, because, well, who needs pie more than ghosts do, you know, and it was a huge success! The ghosts loved my pies so much that they'd flock in droves, and I made more gold than I ever had in my entire life!"

"That," Chihiro said as she blew a strand of hair out of her face, "doesn't sound that bad."

"But then, but then!" Batterson shoved his face in Spyro's and shook Spyor's shoulders. "That awful, awful Occulous ruined everything!" Batterson whimpered as he nearly fainted from fear, but steadied himself and took a deep, shaky breath. "He whisked me away in the middle of the night, stole my identity and dropped me into this dungeon! And that's not even the worst part!" Batterson sniffled and blew his nose with his jam-stained apron, "He took my pies, the very pies I poured my heart and soul into baking, and he CURSED them!"

"CURSED THEM?" Spyro and Chihiro repeated as they looked at each other and then Batterson.

"Yes, indeed!" Batterson shuddered and bit his nails. "Whoever eats my pies turns into a mindless zombie, and if it hadn't been reversed by midnight, they stay a zombie forever!"

Chihiro gasped and looked down at Batterson with raised eyebrows. "Did you say it takes till midnight to become permanent?"

"Well, yes, that's what Occulous told me when he locked me up and ranted all about his evil plan to use my pies to raise a zombie army while I was being tied up!"

Chihiro made another small, shocked gasp, turned back to Spyro and shared a grin with him. It was far from midnight right now; this curse wasn't permanent after all, and they still had time to save the others! This was probably the best news that they had heard all day!

"Thank goodness!" Chihiro cried as she pumped her fists to the skies, shook her head and slapped her face. "Wait, what are we standing around here for?" Chihiro stormed down the halls with a bit more energy than before. "We have to stop Occulous and save our friends!"

"Wait, your friends?" Batterson gasped and held his hands to his face. "Don't tell me he's already used those awful cursed pies!"

"It's a long story," Spyro said as he turned to Batterson and nodded. "We'll explain on the way!"

Chihiro dashed, while Batterson frowned and plodded after Spyro, who in turn flew towards Chihiro. The walls around gradiated from blue to purple, all while the temperature slowly rose. Seems like they were getting closer to the beginning! Chihiro tapped a wall, ushered Batterson and Spyro through as the wall disappeared, and tailed after them right as the wall reappeared behind them.

"So, you said your friends got cursed, right?" Batterson asked as he grabbed Spyro's paws. "What happened? Have you contacted the Skylanders yet?"

Chihiro and Spyro both grimaced as they shot each other that look, the kind of look you make when you get roped into awkward situations where you really don't wanna have to break the news, but…

"Well, you see," Spyro said as he forced a smile. "Our friends are the Skylanders."

Batterson gasped and let go of Spyro's paws, and turned back to Chihiro, who only affirmed this was a nod.

"Yeah, he's right. I'm a portal master apprentice and he's a Skylander," Chihiro explained as she fiddled with her zipper. "The rest of our team came here because they were told the residents were throwing a celebratory pie buffet in their honor, but…"

"Oh no," Batterson whimpered as he hung his head, "to think, my pies were used for such evil! If I knew it would end like this, I would have never become a baker!"

Batterson bit his trembling lip and seemingly got ready to sob again, but Spyro patted his shoulder before he could burst into a crying fit.

"It's alright, it's alright! That's why we're here!" Spyro exclaimed as he watched Batterson perk up. "We came here to try and reverse this curse!" Spyro raised an eyebrow. "Which brings me to my next question. Occulous didn't mention anything about how to reverse the curse, did he?"

Batterson frowned and scratched his cheek as his eyes glazed over the ceiling. "He said that it could only stop spreading if he himself was no longer alive, but, nothing about reversing it, I'm afraid." Batterson's eyes lit up. "Oh, but the ghosts in the Haunted Village may know! They know a lot of these curses and conundrums!"

Spyro beamed, flapped his wings and flew off the ground. "Then I suppose the Haunted Village is our next stop!"

The three of them walked in silence as the heat grew more intense, all while the purple walls around faded back into the bright red of the maze's beginning. The heat didn't particularly bother Spyro that much; in fact, it reminded him a bit of the warm, sunny days spent relaxing on the beach at Dragon Shores…

But Batterson didn't seem particularly happy with it, given that fact that he sweated buckets and tugged on his shirt's collar every five seconds. Thankfully Batterson didn't have to suffer for long, for after a few turns, they found themselves back at the beginning!

Chihiro grinned as she waved Spyro and Batterson over, and all three of them hopped out into the open as the Fire Element Gate sealed back up once more.

"So, Batterson," Chihiro said as she zipped her vest back up. "Where'd you say this ghost village was?"

"Oh, the Haunted Village!" Batterson chirped as he ran ahead. "Follow me!"

Chihiro and Spyro shrugged as Batterson lead them over to a path of trees and bushes, and Batterson pushed them aside to reveal a pathway!

"The ghosts constructed this shortcut for me to make deliveries quicker and easier!" Batterson smiled as he walked through the hole and let the leaves fall into place once more. "It leads right to the village gates!"

Batterson cheered, but his cheers sounded oddly echo-like. What in Skylands was that about?

Spyro and Chihiro shrugged as they crept through the leaves and walked down the dirt path that Batterson led them through. It didn't seem like there was anything other than extensive amounts of dirt and dead leaves. Wait a second, why did it feel like they walked on air? The two of them dipped their heads down below, and found that the ground below gave way to a pit of glowing light!

With a scream, gravity finally took hold and dropped them into the light pit below in a whoosh of color and glitter.