Chihiro and Spyro both groaned as the flash of light vanished around them and dropped them at the top of a hill, right behind Batterson! Who, oddly enough, didn't seem shaken at all despite the impromptu teleporting. Well, Chihiro supposed he'd be used to it by now if it was made for him.

"Follow me!" Batterson said as he trailed down the hill. "The Haunted Village should be just pass this hill!"

While Batterson's hat disappeared pass the hilltop, Chihiro frowned and crept down the hill, all while her ears twinged just slightly. In the air were some uncannily familiar voices, and the further she and Spyro drew down this hill, the closer those voices grew. Could it be?

Chihiro peered over Batterson just as the village came in clear sight, and sure enough, there at the town square of an empty village were none other than Hex and Ghost Roaster! they talked among each other as they rested beside a broken fountain with no water. They seemed to have spied her and Spyro as well, for they immediately bolted across the village pavement!

"Hex, Roaster!" Chihiro cried as she bolted down, ran too far, tripped over hew own feet and faceplanted onto the cold stone floor. With a groan, Chihiro shook her head, dusted herself off and jumped to her feet. "What happened to you guys?"

"Well, we just won the hearts of an entire village thanks to my baking skills," Ghost Roaster smirked as he popped his collar. "Let me tell you, I've still got it~"

Hex just sighed and shook her head, but lifted it up and cast Chihiro a glance.

"Anyways, what happened to you?"

"A lot," Chihiro replied before she took in a deep breath and released. "Okay, so, Spyro and I found this weird gate that took us to the weird dungeon and we found this weird floating eyeball dude who kept talking about wanting a big undead kingdom—"

Ghost Roaster's eyes practically popped out of his skull as he looked back at Chihiro.

"Wait a second, did you say you say a floating eyeball?" Ghost Roaster asked.

Chihiro nodded, frowned and tapped her chin. "I can't remember what his name was for the life of me, though. I think it was like, Octave or Octavius or—"

"Occulous?"

"OCCULOUS, THAT WAS HIS NAME!" Chihiro gasped and turned back to Ghost Roaster with wide eyes. "How did you know?"

"I knew there was something suspicious about that guy!"

Ghost Roaster grimaced at Hex, while Spyro flew up and shared a similar grimace with Chihiro. All four of them nodded as Hex and Spyro stepped forwards.

"We ran into him while we were trying to figure out where our allies had went," Hex explained as she looked aside. "At the time, he just seemed particularly nosy, but then we met the locals, and according to them, he took over their village and forcibly starved them to second death!" Hex turned back to Spyro with a steely look in her eyes. "Speaking of which, have you learned anything about their status?"

"I have," Spyro winced as he clasped his front paws together, "but it's not pretty. That Occulous guy's a straight-up tyrant who wants to conquer all Skylands, and he turned the other Skylanders into zombie minions for his undead army! If we don't stop him by midnight, they're done for!"

Ghost Roaster gasped and snarled as green flames crackled around him, but slowed himself as Hex threw an arm in front of him and shot him a glare.

"Thankfully, we still have time," Hex spat as she looked down at the village. "We just have to find out where Occulous went and beat him."

"But, that brings up another question," Chihiro said as she placed her hands in her pockets. "Just where here exactly is he? Heck, where should we even start looking?"

The four of them frowned as they mulled over this question, for it wasn't exactly an easy one. This was a pretty big place, and surely he could've be anywhere by now! He could be in the labyrinth, or he could be wandering about…

"BATTERSON, YOU'VE RETURNED!"

Chihiro, Spyro, Hex, and Ghost Roaster all perked up and looked back in unison to see that the ghosts finally left the restaurant and pie buffet behind! Now, they crowded around the restaurant's doors as they swarmed around Batterson and tossed him in the air.

"THREE CHEERS FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF BATTERSON, BEST BAKER IN ALL SKYLANDS!" The ghosts cried in unison. "HIP, HIP, HOORAY!"

"HIP, HIP, HOORAY!"

"HIP, HIP, HOORAY!"

Chihiro giggled, skipped down to the crowds and joined in the cheers. It was hard not to, with how happy everyone was! Heck, even Batterson smiled as the ghosts tossed him up and down! He must have been really well-liked if they were this happy to see him safe and sound.

"Best baker in all Skylands?" Ghost Roaster scoffed as he, Spyro, and Hex joined the crowds as well. "Whose pies saved you from famine, I wonder?"

The ghosts turned away and let Batterson back on the ground, but they didn't seem to pay any mind to Ghost Roaster's smart remarks as they crowded around him, Spyro and Hex.

"Thank you kindly for saving Batterson!" said one ghost as they shook Spyro's paw. "I couldn't imagine what our village would be like without his confections!"

"Yes, yes, indeed!" chimed in another. "I think tasting that pudding is what going to the afterlife feels like…"

"I'm been dying a second death just to get even the slightest taste of a Mont Blanc again…"

Batterson just chuckled and blushed in the background.

"Actually, if you want to thank us," Spyro said as he withdrew his paw from the ghost, "you could tell us where Occulous is, if you happen to know."

All of a sudden, the ghosts' cheerful looks and wide grins turned to nerves and fretting as they looked towards each other and bit their invisible fingernails. That was never a good sign.

"Well, you see," said one ghost as they hid their arms behind their back. "Occulous resides at a fort just outside the village limits—" the ghost winced as they sucked on their lip "—but, getting there won't be easy." The ghost floated back and forth while their head hung low. "The fort is boarded off by a complex labyrinth, and it’s guarded by dangerous monsters. Very few have made it out of safely. Are you sure you would want to take on that?"

"Are you kidding? Of course we would!" Chihiro proclaimed as she stomped forward with eyes narrowed and fiery. "Our friends are at stake here! We'll do anything!"

"Well, if you say so." The ghost handed Chihiro a worn, but still readable paper map and looked up at her with blank, but pleading eyes. "Good luck."

The ghosts all nodded in similar sentiment as they parted a path towards the village's exit, and whispered out brief wishes of luck and godspeed to Chihiro, Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster as they passed down the path. Normally, Chihiro would probably be quick to acknowledge this, but she just clenched her brows even tighter as she wrapped up the map and stowed it away in her pocket.

"Don't worry guys," Chihiro just barely whispered as the paved stone paths made way for dead earth and withered trees. "We're coming."

Chihiro frowned as she finally lifted her head towards a rusted steel arrow fence. It blocked off the entryway to what was surely Occulous's labyrinth, given the thick brambles of dead hedges that lined the way past it. But, not for long! Spyro flew over to a switch that rested besides the gates, and with a quick press on his end, the area around flourished with life as her team swapped back to the land of the living! While the hedges burst with ripe green leaves, the gates flung open and welcomed all who dared to enter!

Chihiro trailed after Spyro, Hex, and Ghost Roaster as they dashed down the path, yanked the map from her pocket and rubbed her finger across its worn paper surface as she glazed over it.

"If this map is right," Chihiro said as Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster leaned over her shoulders and sneaked a peek, "this labyrinth starts here, and we have to take this path—" Chihiro dragged her finger across the paper "—take a left here, a right there, a turn ahead of that, twist there, and once we hit that lighthouse we should be halfway through."

Chihiro just shrugged, wrapped up the map and stowed it back away. "You know what? Now's not the time to linger on this. We've got hurry up and stop that Occulous dude!"

Chihiro bolted ahead, but this time, Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster seemed almost hesitant to follow!

"Chihiro," Hex called as she floated forward. "Look where you're—"

"OWCH!"

Hex just sighed and shook her head. "Going."

Hex floated into the labyrinth's depths, joined Chihiro and pulled her off of the ground.

"Ow, ow, owch," Chihiro groaned as she rubbed her aching face, then looked up and scoffed. "Hey, when did this block get here?"

"I tried to warn you." Hex turned back to the block, held out her hands and tried to push it aside—but it wouldn't budge at all! So, Hex frowned as she placed her hand on the block's surface. "Strange, this doesn't seem to be an ordinary cinder block."

Hex hummed as she knelt down and felt around the block, and as her fingertips scraped against a suspiciously light patch in the block itself, the block shuddered and rumbled! Right beside them, a peculiar, square-shaped hole formed in the dead hedges, and the block slid through the hole and completely vanished as the hole covered itself with dead thickets once more.

"I suppose I found our answer," Hex whispered.

Spyro and Ghost Roaster ran up, and passed ahead of Hex and Chihiro as their attention turned to another cinder block before them. Spyro frowned as he tapped a conspicuously pasty patch of stone on the block itself, padded backwards as the block absorbed into the bushes. A switch flicked, and the world around them turned cold and undead once more!

With the block out of their way, they all passed around the corner with no mind paid to the suspiciously pale block that was lodged into the side of the hedges. Well, all but one.

"Hey, where did Ghost Roaster go?" Chihiro asked as she looked at the back of the group and frowned. "I'm sure he was with us a second ago—"

"GRRROOOOOARRRGGHHH!"

As Ghost Roaster rounded the corner, he whistled and held his arms behind his back. Unfortunately, the stump demon that followed him wasn't quite as quick to believe his innocence, for it leaped over the hedges and crashed right in front of Ghost Roaster! The impact was so great that it not only shook the world around, but it blew Ghost Roaster straight into the hedges!

"I really hate trees," Ghost Roaster groaned as he plucked leaves off of his collar, popped out of the bushes and shot a glare towards the stump demon. "Especially obnoxious ones like you!"

Ghost Roaster jumped back up, grabbed his chain, and twirled it around like a baton as the stump demon lunged at him and tried to punch him down. But, the chain's spin was so intense that it effectively became a makeshift shield; not a single blow the stump demon threw at him could land! In fact, it even completely splintered the stump demon's hands, too! The stump demon wailed as it stumbled back and looked down at its broken hands. Sappy tears seeped from its eyes, but while it sulked, Ghost Roaster just beamed.

"See? You tree guys think you're so high and mighty," Ghost Roaster smirked as his chain of pain came to a stop, "but you're just—OOF!"

Unfortunately, what Ghost Roaster hadn't realized was that in the short moment he spent bragging, the demon's hands grew back stronger than before! It punched him right in the kisser, and just like that, Ghost Roaster crashed back into the ground.

"Ugh, I'm definitely gonna feel that one tomorrow morning."

Meanwhile, Chihiro winced as Spyro and Hex floated back behind her. She’d seen stump demons in the books she borrowed from Master Eon's study, but seeing one in person was even more terrifying than she thought! Chompy blood dripped from its carved wooden lips as it glared down Ghost Roaster, and those large, beady eyes it held fixed right on her!

The stump demon skittered around, lunged down and growled as it launched itself towards Chihiro. But before it could hit her, Chihiro blocked its blow with a magical shield of her own! The stump demon grunted in confusion as its fist bounced off the shield, and flew back as a flaming skull courtesy of Spyro and Hex blasted it back into the bushes! It groaned as it staggered up from the bushes and stumbled about, yet, it still didn't get time to recover!

A shrill cackle chilled the air as Ghost Roaster charged forward back in giant skull form, bit down on the stump demon's arm and spun it around. The demon's screams intermingled with Ghost Roaster's cackles as he turned to a big green blur, and finally he launched the bark demon into the horizon, never to be seen again! Well, hopefully.

"Ugh, bark tastes awful plain," Ghost Roaster snarled as he return to normal and spat the bark out. "That could seriously use some more salt."

"What did you do to that thing to get it so mad, anyways?" Chihiro asked as she turned around to Ghost Roaster and pressed her hands against her back.

Ghost Roaster just winced and scurried ahead. "Might have accidentally destroyed the chompy pod it had for lunch, but that doesn't matter."

As they passed on ahead, Chihiro frowned as they passed through the endless twists and continually-changing hedges of the maze, pulled her map back out and scratched her head.

"Okay, we started here, took a few turns there," Chihiro mumbled as she traced her finger around the map's surface, "stopped that stump demon and all that… Just where are we? Did we get lost?" Chihiro frowned and muttered something to herself as she paced forward with her face practically glued to the paper map. "Let's see, we take the turns there and the twist there, and we won't know we've reached the midway point until…"

Chihiro stopped and grimaced as a shadow cast over her face, peered up at the shadow's source, and broke into a wide grin as she stowed her map back away!

That shadow came from a massive lighthouse striped in shades of silver and black, with a blue, pearly white top that held an inactive light! That had to be the lighthouse marked on this map! In lieu of a door at its base, however, it instead held an open, black space with a shimmer of gold inside. What could possibly be in there? Treasure, chocolate coins, something else entirely?

Chihiro frowned as she crept inside the lighthouse, and knelt to the floors to find that it wasn't any of those things, but rather a key!

"You know, why are people always leaving their keys everywhere?" Chihiro asked as she snatched the key off the ground and put it in her pocket. "Is everyone around here just as forgetful as Dad is?"

"FEAR THE DARK!" Hex cried from further ahead with the voice of a thousand!

Chihiro leaped into the air, turned back around and dashed out of the lighthouse as the sounds of splitting wood, roars, and battle cries flew across the wind. Sounds like the others were in a pinch! With a frown on her face, Chihiro followed the clatter of war to a path where the hedges had finally started to give way to a clearing!

This clearing was blocked off from the rest of the area by a gigantic stone wall with a bunch of stone platforms attached to it that receded and pushed out every few seconds, while its top seemed wide enough to be something akin to a bridge. On top of it all stood Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster as they fought yet another swarm of those strange stump demons! Wait, more stump demons? Man, this place sure had a lot of those obnoxious things.

Chihiro frowned, summoned a magical sword and dashed into the fray. But before she could land a blow, a wooden blade flew her way and forced her to duck before she lost an eye to it!

"Ghost Roaster, you really need to watch where you're going!" Spyro scolded between the fireballs he spat at stump demons, who simply clawed them away like embers. "The whole island probably knows we're here now thanks to that secret alarm!"

"Hey, how I was supposed to know there was a secret alarm?" Ghost Roaster shot back as he smashed his chain directly into the face of another stump demon. "They call them 'secret' alarms for a reason, you know!"

"Enough talking!" Hex scolded as she summoned an orb that practically radiated with foreboding energy. She tossed it at another stump demon, and watched as it stumbled about in a daze. "You can bicker when we're not being swarmed by living trees!"

Spyro and Ghost Roaster frowned, turned their attention back to the stump demons and went back to fighting! But man, there was a lot of them, and these guys were probably tougher than the last if the cherry red tint of their wood was of any indication. If that wasn't telling enough, the clenched looks and concerned glances of Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster said all.

Spyro snarled as his eyes flashed silver while several skeletal dragons leaped up from the ground below. They charged towards the stump demons, but the demons just turned the skeletons to scattered piles with a single blow! Spyro grunted, shook his head and turned back to their with red hot eyes instead.

"Alright then, a couple dead bones might not have been enough," Spyro said as fire formed in his open mouth, "but how about this?" Spyro spat out a fire as bright as the morning sun and just as hot, and grinned as it enveloped the stump demons. "Nice!"

Spyro's confidence, however, only lasted for those few, sweet moments. While the fire burned, a trio of angry faces formed in the flames before the stump demons burst out of the fire and shook the flames off their body!

"Crap, spoke too soon!"

While Spyro and the stump demons traded blow, however, Chihiro sneaked past the circle of stump demons that surrounded Ghost Roaster and Hex without anybody’s notice. Well, not that they could've, since she made herself completely invisible to the naked eye!

Chihiro grinned, leaped up to the tallest of the stone platforms and grabbed onto its edge right before it started to recede.

"Hup!" Chihiro chirped.

She hopped right before Spyro, and grinned as the stump demons came to a stop and sniffed the air. She leaned against the wall behind her and grinned. That is, until she realized that there was no wall behind her and immediately fell on her back! Chihiro let out a squeak of pain, turned around and immediately shook her head.

There, right across from where she had her impromptu fall, was none other than one of those switches, and it gave her a bit of an idea! She jumped back to her feet, teleported to the switch and flicked it back on! While Chihiro herself became visible once more, the world around her turned back to the underworld and all the flora around shuddered and died—including the stump demons, who completely froze as they morphed into dead, withered trees tinged with red!

Spyro blinked a few minutes, and grinned as Chihiro looked back at him and gave him a thumbs up!

"Now that these guys can't do anything to stop us," Chihiro said as she summoned a magical ax and lifted it above her head, "how about we do some woodwork?"

Chihiro let out a mighty cry as she swung her ax and chopped the first dead tree into two clean halves, while Spyro fireballed the other two and made a very self-satisfied grin as they burned to ashes. The sound of smashing wood below confirmed that the stump demons Hex and Ghost Roaster faced were dealt with, so she grinned and flicked the switch back again with the shot of a magic sphere.

The world burst to life once more, but unfortunately for the stump demons, that didn't include them. While the trees and hedges bore leaves that blew in the breeze once again, the stump demons just remained broken piles of wood!

Light shimmered beside Chihiro as Hex and Ghost Roaster teleported to the top of the wall, and with the team reunited, they all trailed down the way. Or at least they would have, if not for the gigantic tower that signified the wall's conclusion. Chihiro frowned as she brushed her hands against the tower's stone surface, just in case there was some kind of loose brick or secret passageway key.

CRASH!

Chihiro gasped and whipped her head around in expectancy of an enemy, but all she saw was a sheepish Spyro as he stepped away from the shattered remains of a clay pot. For that matter, there was something shining under the pot's shattered remains, too…

"I swear, it wasn't on purpose," Spyro said as he caught sight of Chihiro's strange look.

"No, look!" Chihiro shouted as she magically lifted away the shattered pottery pieces. "A teleporter!"

Spyro looked down at the shining teleporter underneath as he swished his tail, hopped on and vanished in a flash of light!

"Hey, wait for me!"

Chihiro grinned as she jumped on the teleporter, and when she appeared, she found herself in… A cave? Well, it seemed like one with the stone dome surrounding and the poor lighting; the only source of light was a few holes in the ceiling that shone down on a golden key in the center! Chihiro tip-toed forward and went to grab the key, but stopped as Ghost Roaster appeared beside her and hurried ahead.

"Wait, who just leaves a key here in the middle of nowhere?" Ghost Roaster asked as he crept up and grabbed the key from the ground. "Seems like it's in good condition too!" Ghost Roaster turned the key around and frowned. "So why?"

As Ghost Roaster held the key, however, he seemed perfectly oblivious to the appearance of beady, yellow eyes behind him! It started with just one pair, but soon became two, four, seven…

"Wait a second." Ghost Roaster perked up and swiveled his head left and right. "I get the feeling I'm being watched."

While Ghost Roaster looked around front, however, he didn't seem to pay attention to the shadows behind him, where a pair of wrinkled hands reached out to grab him!

"Ghost Roaster, behind you!" Chihiro cried as she summoned a magic sphere!

Ghost Roaster turned around, screamed and leaped back as a stump demon jumped out from the shadows and slashed at him!

This was all the prompting Chihiro needed to slam her magic sphere down on the ground, and it exploded and cast light all around the cavern. Thanks to that light, they all found that they weren't the only ones in this cavern; inside it was inhabited by a small army of stump demons, and they all looked pretty mad!

"You know, for an undead realm," Ghost Roaster groaned as he floated back, "this place sure has a lot of obnoxious plants!"

Ghost Roaster dashed back as the stump demons chased after him, but either he was too slow, or they were incredibly fast! While he tried to get back with the key, one of the stump demons stormed after him and yanked his chain! Ghost Roaster choked as he fell face-first onto the floor, while the key flew out of his hands and skidded down to Chihiro's feet!

Chihiro went to grab the key, but the sound of intense growling and the feeling of something crawling down her spine quickly stopped her! The stump demons all charged forward, but she wasn't intimated in the slightest. Instead, she held out her hands as she summoned a magical tennis racket, created an entire handful of magical birdies and tossed them in the air.

"STRIKE!" Chihiro exclaimed as she leaped in the air and slammed the racket against the birdies.

The birdies rocketed towards the ground and burst with magical flames as they morphed from simple birdies to mighty, magical dragons! These dragons fell to the ground, and all hell broke loose among the stump demons! The dragons bit onto the stump demon's heads, chased them around the cavern, spit fire at their roots… There was no escaping for those stump demons!

And that included the ones that made chase after Ghost Roaster, who instead quickly abandoned him in favor of not getting eaten alive by magical flaming dragons.

Ghost Roaster groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, but perked his head up as Spyro held a paw out. With a reluctant sigh, Ghost Roaster grabbed onto Spyro's paw and climbed on Spyro's back, and the two of them flew back to where Chihiro basked in the fruits of her labor.

"Just to be safe," Hex whispered as she held her hands to the ceiling.

A chant in some elven language escaped her lips, one ancient-sounding and haunting in nature, as a purple and silver vortex swirled around the ceiling! From that vortex rained down a series of silvery blue orbs that exploded the moment they hit the ground, and from them came a mist that seeped into the stump demons. They all fell unconscious one by one!

Hex nodded as the last of the stump demons fell to slumber, turned around and floated back onto the teleporter as she vanished in its light. Ghost Roaster and Spyro joined Hex soon enough, so Chihiro just cast the sleeping stump demons one last glance before she leaped on the teleporter.

As she arrived back on the wall, however, something egged on at Chihiro's mind...

"What are these keys for, anyways?" Chihiro wondered as she pulled out the key Ghost Roaster retrieved and compared it to the one she found earlier. "They look pretty nice compared to everything else."

"More importantly, where do we go next?" Hex asked as she overlooked the other side of the wall. "Everything after here's a dead end!"

Hex was right. There was only a tiny stretch of island on the other side of the wall before one dropped down into the skies below, and Chihiro wasn't currently interested in seeing if there was a bottom to Skylands. The path they traveled before didn't seem to have anything else of interest, either.

Chihiro stepped back as she dug her hand in her pocket and went to pull out her map, but before she could, the entire world turned cold and dead once more! Chihiro's eyes fell on a particularly mossy corner of the bridge, which completely shriveled and withered away to reveal another switch! More importantly, that wasn't the only thing revealed; just across from her, a ghastly arc bridge made of cyan ectoplasm formed across a gap in the bridge's railing.

Chihiro grinned, dashed to the bridge's top and slid down the other end. She made a soft cheer as she finally reached the bottom, leaped up and grinned as she faced what the bridge had brought her to—but her grin quickly faded as she found just what it was.

It was a worn, stone platform with an entire center area full of blocks, all arranged around a yellowing part of the center with an odd, circle-shaped depression inside it, and paired with several square-shaped holes. That was clear indicator of a block puzzle, but these blocks seemed to shudder and shake like they were alive! Maybe Chihiro's eyes were just playing tricks on her, though.

"What'cha looking at, Chi?" Spyro asked as he slid down from the bridge and glazed over the puzzle too. "Oh, a block puzzle! Finally, something easy for once!"

Spyro grinned as he scampered over and went to charge one of the blocks, but before he could even slightly press into it, it skidded away with a sound that sounded vaguely like a haunting chuckle! Spyro jolted up, blinked for a few moments, and dashed back after the block, but it just turned around and rushed back down the way!

"Since when did these blocks move on their own?" Spyro asked as he sprinted after the block. It continued to cackle in his face, and Spyro puffed his cheeks. "Hey, don't laugh at me!"

"I'll tell you what's going on," Ghost Roaster said as he and Hex slid down the bridge. "You're not going fast enough!" Ghost Roaster spun around, changed into his giant skull form, and grinned as he charged after the same block Spyro pursued. "I'll show you!"

Ghost Roaster's grin grew wider as the block came closer and closer into sight, but before he could catch it, it teleported right out of his sights!

"What?"

Ghost Roaster and Spyro tried to stop and turn around, but they went so fast that they couldn't stop! They only watched helplessly as they crashed and toppled over each other! The two of them groaned as Ghost Roaster shrank back down to normal, and he shot a glare at the block as it teleported behind them and cackled!

While the block laughed at Spyro and Ghost Roaster, it didn't seem to notice Hex teleport behind it and get ready to strike—or so it seemed! Just before Hex could grab it, it teleported away again!

This time, it wasn't the only one. The other blocks all leaped out of their places and skidded around the floor like they skated on an ice rink!

Chihiro frowned as Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster chased after the runaway blocks. It was almost like those blocks were haunted. Wait, haunted! That was just the problem!

Chihiro turned back to the suspiciously open tower that stood behind them, skipped inside and summoned a magic sphere for a makeshift lantern. The cyan light filtered through the room and gave everything a gentle glow, from the cold stone floors and walls, to the dusty floors, right down to the switch that sat right in the tower's center!

Chihiro flicked the switch as the world around her pulsated back to life, turned around, and grinned as the blocks slowly skidded to a stop. Finally, they could take care of this puzzle! Chihiro stepped out of the tower right as one block came to a stop right in front of her, cracked her knuckles and held out her hands. While her palms glowed a bright cyan, the block itself flew off the ground and right into one of the square-shaped depressions in the floor!

Chihiro skipped over right as Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster dropped the remaining three blocks into the other three square holes, backed away, and clasped her hands as she watched over the blocks. Though it could barely be seen, a simple silver light filtered out from under the depressions in the floor. But why? Chihiro turned her gaze over to the circle-shaped depression, and gasped as a short, stone pillar shot up from the ground and opened up to reveal another key! So that's what was hidden underneath!

Chihiro grinned as she collected the third key from the open pillar, grabbed hold of everyone's hands at once, and teleported them back to the other side. As they reappeared back on the wall's top, however, Chihiro's smile faded into confusion. These three keys were scattered everywhere, but what were they for? She unfurled the map and glazed over it, but it didn't seem to say anything about a gate!

For that matter, the map didn't say anything about how to get to Occulous's fortress, either. It just showed a simple, long line behind what was surely Occulous's fortress. Just what did all this mean?

Chihiro groaned as she held up the keys in front of the wall's tower and… Wait a second, were the keys glowing? Chihiro rubbed her eyes just to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but the keys still glowed bright; the tower bricks seemed shinier than before, too! While the bricks glowed in tandem with the keys, the keys themselves floated out of Chihiro's hands, straightened out, and turned in midair like they unlocked an invisible lock!

In fact, that was probably what they were doing, as a soft click sounded around just loud enough to gain Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster's attention! The three of them joined Chihiro in watching the tower as its bricks rumbled, shuddered, and shifted away to unveil a magical, sparkling gate full of silver light.

Chihiro raised her eyebrows as the gears turned in her head, yanked the map out and glazed over that strange line between the maze and the fortress again. Now that she got a close look at it, it was about the same color as the wall they stood on.

"Well, guess I know where we're going!" Chihiro proclaimed as the keys flew back into her pocket. "Let's go!"

Chihiro grinned as she leaped into the light, and popped out on a massive plain of green grass, while Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster quickly popped out behind her. The four of them all held their breath and frowned as they glazed over the gigantic gate that held off the even larger fortress in front of them, the sole decoration in all this endless green and loneliness.

Surely, Occulous would be waiting for them within the fortress's walls, but not just him, either. Their friends were probably still trapped inside, all mindless and cursed and unable to even think of what kind of horrors awaited them! There was no stopping now!

Chihiro turned her gaze down onto the locks, yanked the keys out of her pockets and shoved them into the locks one by one. Without any prompting on her end, the keys turned themselves and released the locks in unison, all while the door crept open almost like it wanted them to come in. It seemed just as haunted as the rest of the world around, despite the fact they left behind the underworld.

"Ready to bring everyone home?" Chihiro asked as she turned to Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster with an unwavering frown and a clasped fist.

As the three of them nodded in unison, Chihiro turned back around and marched with them through the gates.

§

In the heart of the castle, Occulous grinned as he sat within the confines of a throne made entirely of stark white bones, hovered above the skies below and trapped within a ring of stone floor. On that stone floor, three pillars with sparkling skull-shaped tops shone bright, their glimmer a stark contrast to the dull cannons that laid beside them. Everything seemed so eerie in spite of the fact that it was within the living realm, but perhaps the setting sun and dulling skies had a hand in that.

"Oh, I just can't wait to be the eyeball king of all Skylands~" Occulous sung as he brushed his tentacles against his bony throne. "Huh, doesn't have as nice a ring to it as I thought it would, but it's true!"

Occulous hummed to himself as his tendril legs wiggled in pure glee.

"Once I'm the eyeball king of all Skylands, I'll have everything an eyeball could want! I'll get a nice, fancy castle in the Deadly Isles, I'll have all the treasure in Skylands, I'll get my eye polished every week…"

"YOU'LL GIVE US BACK OUR FRIENDS IS WHAT YOU'RE GONNA DO!" Chihiro cried as she slammed open the doors to Occulous's hideout.

Chihiro lurched over and heaved heavy, warm breaths that shook an entire body filled with so much rage that she almost exploded, all while Hex, Ghost Roaster and Spyro followed behind her with equally-furious looks. A kind of energy flared around them as Chihiro summoned a sword and pointed it straight towards Occulous, and in return, all three of them summoned their own attacks and got ready to fire.

"NOW BREAK THAT CURSE AND LEAVE, OR ELSE I'LL MAKE YOU!"

"Oh, how scary, I'm quaking in my tentacles~" Occulous crowed before he broke into a fit of laughter, clearly not intimidated at all by Chihiro's little show. "Why, I was hoping you'd come here! In fact, I can't help but applaud you for making it through my maze!" Occulous clapped his tentacles and made what was probably the magic eyeball equivalent of a smile. "Bravo, bravo!"

Occulous narrowed his eye. "After all, this only proves to me that you'll make prime additions to my army!"

"I never said anything about anything about joining you, Occulous!"

Chihiro snarled as she tossed her sword right at Occulous's eyeball, but gasped and stepped back as he dodged its blow and laughed!

"Who said any of you had a choice?" Occulous cackled as he clapped his tentacles once more.

All around them, the throne room Occulous seated himself within morphed into a functional arena! The floors turned into a round, circular battlefield made of cold, paved stone and littered with cannons and towers, bony fences shot up from the ground and blocked off all means of exit, and even the skies turned from a warm golden orange to a blood red. Most of all, Occulous himself sat in the eye of the storm as he hovered within an empty circle at the center of the battlefield, though he seemed more transparent, than usual, and not in the metaphorical sense. Rather, his body was nearly invisible!

"You may be Skylanders, but you'll never stop me from achieving my ultimate undead kingdom!" Occulous cried as he glared down Chihiro. "After all, I have Skylanders of my own!"

Occulous whistled despite his stunning lack of a mouth, and vortexes popped up all across the battlefield.

"MINIONS, FIGHT FOR YOUR MASTER!"

All at once, the zombified Skylanders leaped out of the vortexes, snarled as they landed on solid stone ground, and turned their blank, bloodshot eyes and weapons on Chihiro, Spyro, Hex and Ghost Roaster!

Chihiro winced and stepped back just a bit as she held up her sword, but her frown faded a little as she looked back to Hex. After all, Hex turned around and squandered herself as much as possible while she looked down at her arms, almost like she tried to hide something!

"Well that hardly scares us," Hex proclaimed as she finally swept past Chihiro and furrowed her brow. "After all, we have a trick up our sleeve ourselves!"

"We do?" Spyro, Chihiro, and Ghost Roaster sputtered out as they looked at Hex.

Despite their shock, however, Hex's confidence was hardly swayed. She just raised out an arm, splayed out a hand and raised her fingers to the heavens. On her other arm, just underneath her gauntlet, a soft glow faded in and out, almost like a communicator sending a message.

"CYNDER!"

Right as Hex called out, a bright, rainbow-tinted blast of light like holy, raging thunder crashed down between Hex and the zombified Skylanders! Everybody else cried out and shielded their eyes, but Hex was steely as ever as the light faded enough to unveil the faint silhouette of a dragon.

"TIME FOR TROUBLE!" cried a familiar raspy voice over the screech of fading light!

All eyes turned back to the field, and as the last wisps of light scattered into the distance, none other than Cynder leaped up from the ground and flew in place, all while she held entire armfuls of potion bottles!

"CYNDER!" Chihiro cried as she stepped forward. Her eyes turned wide, but shrank as Cynder brushed past her and turned to Hex.

"Let me tell you, we were lucky Master Eon caught that skull of yours calling for a portal!" Cynder said as she handed off a couple of the bottles to Hex. "I don't think any of us would have known what was going on if he didn't!"

Hex just nodded as she handed the other bottles to Spyro, Chihiro and Ghost Roaster, then she and Cynder fixed their eyes on the reeling zombie Skylanders as they uncorked two of the bottles.

"Now," Cynder snarled as she flung the bottle forward, "TASTE ANTIDOTE, YOU MINDLESS ZOMBIES!"

The bottle flew forward as its potion slipped over the first wave of zombie Skylanders and drenched them in murky purple liquid! The zombie Skylanders grunted as the potion dripped down their bodies and glowed a bit. Would it heal them? All breath bated as the liquid glowed brighter, yet its glow faded as the zombie Skylanders shook it off like rain! It hadn't even done a thing!

"The antidote didn't work?" Cynder asked as she held the other few bottles tight in her paws.

"Of course they didn't, you little lizard!" Occulous cackled as he glazed over the minions. "My zombification spell is far too strong for the likes of your little antidotes! As long as I stand here, it'll never relent!"

Cynder gasped as she clenched her muzzle and looked back to Hex with desperation in her wide, tiny eyes.

Hex snapped her fingers and enveloped the antidotes in a bright glow! One by one, the antidotes completely vanished from everyone's hands, and reappeared into a round bubble that shrank as it flew into the pocket of Hex's dress.

"Then we'll just have to stop you!" Hex demanded as her hands flared with magic.

"Ooh, such confidence!" Occulous seemingly grinned as he placed his tendrils to his eye. "But can you get through your old friends first?"

Chihiro gulped and bit her lip as she stepped back, while her hand clasped on her rapidly-beating heart without her even realizing. For that matter, they were all hesitant: Spyro bit his lip and stepped back, Hex clasped her own hands in what was probably the most shock she could exude, Cynder's jaw dropped wide open, and even Ghost Roaster winced and tightened his jaw as he looked over the zombies that were once his comrades!

But, the zombies didn't share in their hesitation. They immediately snarled and rushed towards them! Gill Grunt and Chop Chop rushed forward first with guns and swords at the ready, but before they could attack, a pair of eldritch orbs blasted them to the ground.

"Whatever these zombies are, they certainly aren't our allies—not at the moment!" Hex proclaimed as she rushed into the crowds. "Like it or not, we have to stop them if we're going to eventually return them back to normal!"

Hex's words seemed to be the jumping point everyone else needed, for finally they raised their weapons and jumped into the storm! Hex frowned as they ran into battle, turned her attention to Chop Chop as he groaned and reached for his swords.

"Chop, I know you may not be able to hear me," Hex said as her voice seemed to crack just slightly, though her slight pain didn't stop her from crafting another orb, "but I know you're in there somewhere. Please…"

Hex shot the orb towards the sword Chop Chop grappled for and spun it over the edge. As he gasped and looked up, Hex formed a gigantic skull with such intense magic that cold breezes whipped around the entire arena.

"Forgive me for what I am about to do."

The gigantic skull unhinged its jaw and screeched a screech so loud it practically shattered the eardrums of all around, zombie and hero alike—and that included Chop Chop, who cried and fell to his knees! With everyone else incapacitated, the skull rocketed straight into him and blew him on his back! Chop Chop howled as he rolled against the ground, but before he could fall off the edge, a wall of bones formed beside him and stopped his trip! That wall of bones spread from his side to all around him, and encased him in a bony cage right as he fell unconscious.

Hex watched him with a bit of somberness at first, but dodged out of the way as a shower of rusted golden coins nearly grazed her down. She snarled as she clasped her hands, and turned her attention to Trigger Happy and Zook, who lifted their respective guns as they quite literally frothed at the mouth with rage.

"You two, however, I will not have such inclinations for!" Hex's snarled grew larger and uglier as she held out her hands and narrowed her eyes. "THE DARKEST HOUR BEGINS!"

As Hex's orb battalion rushed towards the ground, it became a meteor shower of eldritch magic that exploded and tossed the zombie Skylanders aside one by one!

Ghost Roaster, meanwhile, wove through the orbs while he made chase after Drill Sergeant!

"I still don't know how those weird pies could turn a robot into a zombie, admittedly," Ghost Roaster admitted as he looked aside and coughed, but regained his furious disposition as his flames grew hot and high, "BUT THAT DOES NOT MATTER! NOBODY TRIES TO SHOOT A ROCKET AT MY HEAD AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

Ghost Roaster grimaced as he dodged another blow, and spun around as something zipped past him! Ghost Roaster groaned as he pushed himself off the icy stone floors, turned around and grimaced.

There, Cynder squared off with Dark Spyro, eyes fixed on each other and all that fun stuff, but Cynder just winced and stepped back while Dark growled and got ready to attack.

"Come on, Dark, snap out of it!" Cynder cried as she took another step back. "I don't wanna fight you, you know! This isn't like you!"

As Dark lunged for her, Cynder leaped into the shadows and popped out a few feet beside him. "You might not think about what you're doing, but you wouldn't do something like this!"

Dark, however, just growled and lunged for Cynder again, all while she dashed away once more! As Cynder skidded backwards and stumbled to a stop, she heaved a breath while a flash of fear shone in her eyes, which seemed a little less cold than they usually did.

"Seems as though I'm gonna have to take care of this myself!" Ghost Roaster grunted as he turned back to Drill Sergeant and tackled straight into him!

Drill Sergeant bellowed out a deadly screech as he tossed straight into Dark Spyro and crashed straight into the bony fence. As they slid down, Drill Sergeant's screech turned to a series of distorted beeps that kind of sounded like battery-run toys when their batteries started to die. Dark barely struggled to push a dizzy Drill Sergeant off his belly, but the blow took enough out of Dark that he just mumbled and passed out!

Ghost Roaster just sighed and shook his head as Dark's head hit the floor. "For as much as I'd like to say it's what he deserves for wrecking the kitchen so many times," Ghost Roaster admitted with a frown not of scorn, but of sorrow, "even I'm not that cruel."

Drill Sergeant made a distorted, garbled whirring sound as he fell unconscious as well, but Ghost Roaster hardly paid any mind to him as he patted Dark's head.

"Just hang in there, Dark. We'll get you back soon enough."

Ghost Roaster turned his attention back to the zombies, snarled and gripped his chain through his slender fingers. He swarmed forward as the zombies rushed after him, and completely disappeared before they could even lay a finger on him! The zombies grunted and looked around, but not for long, as a purple mist burst out of nowhere and completely stunned them! While they cough and froze like statues, Ghost Roaster reappeared and knocked them all down with a slam from his ball and chain! Ghost Roaster grinned and swung his chain around as they all fell on their backs, still completely unable to move.

"Didn't see me coming, did ya?" Ghost Roaster asked as he closed his eyes and held himself high, the picture of utter confidence.

But, that cool aura soon faded as something yanked his chain and tossed him steel ball-first towards Voodood and Double Trouble!

"Sorry for this, Ghost Roaster!" Chihiro cried as Ghost Roaster, Voodood and Double Trouble all crashed into each other at once. "But we kinda need a distraction!"

Chihiro grunted, turned back to Spyro and grabbed his paw tight. While the two of them squeezed each other tight and shared a nod, their arm and leg stretched out towards the crowds and flared with a purple-tinted kaleidoscope of magic.

"If you won't listen to our words," Chihiro started as she narrowed her eyes and clenched a sweating brow.

"Maybe this'll help you come back!" Spyro finished as he mirrored Chihiro's actions, all while their magical flare grew bright like a shooting star.

"Get ready for," Chihiro smirked as the gigantic magic blast rocketed out from her and Spyro's hands, "THE MAGICAL ALLEGIANCE DOUBLE DECKER SPECIAL!"

That double decker special stormed through the crowds of zombies while the zombies themselves raised their weapons. But, they completely dropped those weapons as the gigantic supernova of magic split into a fleet of shooting stars them crashed into them all and knocked them down!

As they all fell on their backs or tried to stagger up, Chihiro made what was probably the first smile she had since the battle began and winked towards Spyro.

"You're really set on making that a thing, aren't you?" Spyro asked as he stuck his tongue out.

"Beautiful Remedy taught me that every good duo needs a special finishing attack, you know!" Chihiro chirped back as she nudged Spyro's shoulder. "And we make a pretty good duo! After all, we've got a magical allegiance—" Chihiro gasped and snapped her fingers. "That's it, a magicallegiance!"

Spyro chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"

"Nope!"

Spyro and Chihiro chuckled for a short while, but they completely froze as Occulous broke into their conversation with a sarcastic chuckle of his own!

"Oh, how cute," Occulous crooned as he laid back like he was sitting on a chair, despite the fact that his throne vanished, "the dragon and the portal master are making puns while their allies have almost completely succumbed to my spell!"

Chihiro gasped, and her smile quickly faded away in favor of a snarl and a fiery look.

"Oh, don't give me that look! You're the ones who're taking your sweet time! After all, these zombification spells work pretty quickly…"

Whoever eats my pies turns into a mindless zombie, and if it hadn't been reversed by midnight, they stay a zombie forever!

Batterson's words rang in both Spyro and Chihiro's minds once more as their eyes went wide, then Chihiro looked up to the skies and gasped! Just above them, the moon poked up a bit above their arena. It wouldn't be long before it rose in full, and when that came to pass, the other Skylanders would be gone for good!

Chihiro must have realized this, for she screamed as she summoned a gigantic magical cleaver and tossed it right at Occulous, but gasped and staggered back as her cleaver phased right through him! Chihiro pumped her hands as she summoned a pair of hand cannons, turned them on Occulous and punched the air! The cannons launched a flurry of magic blasts, but once again, those phased right through him too!

"Don't you get it? You've already lost!" Occulous cackled as Chihiro let out quick, panicked breaths.

Chihiro snarled as she glared up at Occulous, but he just cackled once again!

"There's no way in the afterlife that you'll stop me! Midnight's on its way, and no puny trick of yours will bring about my end! I'm completely immune to anything you can throw at me!"

"We'll see about that!" Chihiro cried as she went to summon something else, but before she could, the zombie Skylanders all jumped on her at once and dogpiled her!

"CHIHIRO!" Spyro cried as her arm disappeared into the pile of pulsing, thrusting dead flesh.

Spyro leaned down and got ready to jump in, but jumped back as a bright light flared out from the few visible spots in the zombie dogpile!

"Throw all the attacks you want! I'm not scared of you!" Chihiro proclaimed!

The zombies flew off, and unveiled Chihiro as she stood up and held one hand to a shining magical shield! Chihiro turned her gaze to Occulous as she held a second hand up to the shield while it crackled with magical lightning.

"After all, I can't just sit around and let you run around hurting my friends!" Chihiro narrowed her eyes and snarled as the shield glowed brighter. "That scares me way more!"

The shield grew stronger and brighter, like the morning sun rising after the longest night, or the moon clearing from the skies after a twilight storm. Magic flared so powerfully within Chihiro that it tinged her veins to a bright, shining aqua!

"As long as I have the friends I love, as long as I want to protect them, I can't give up!" Chihiro shook her head and clenched her eyebrows tight. "No, I WON'T GIVE UP! NOT UNTIL I BRING THEM BACK!"

Chihiro's shield crackled like thunder, completely exploded, and not only tossed the zombified Skylanders into the skies, but completely blinded Occulous!

"AUGH, MY EYE!" Occulous wailed as he shut his eye and stumbled around. "HOW DID THAT EVEN WORK? YOU CAN'T HURT ME IN THIS REALM!"

In this realm? That was it, now they all knew how to stop him! Chihiro grinned as she magically lowered the zombiefied Skylanders that fell a little too close to the arena's edge back to safety, and turned her eyes towards a suspicious tower close by.

It was a strange, silver, spiral-shaped tower with a glowing skull on its top that crackled with electrical undead energy, and stood stagnant as it watched over the battle. Yet, something about it seemed a bit suspicious.

Chihiro frowned, teleported over to the spiral tower and held her glowing hands out straight as she channeled the magic within her body. Not only did her magic-tinted veins glow bright, but that glow infected the tower as well as it spun all the way down to the floor. Once its skull top finally hit the ground, it let out a wave of pulses while the world around warbled and transformed!

The stone underneath their feet grew cold and cracked, dry bone fragments and broken skulls littered the arena, the cannons became cracked and dusty, and though the blood red skies remained, their bright color was duller and stained with sickly silver mist.

But most importantly, Occulous's form went from half-invisible to whole once more! Occulous grunted as he finally shook off the pain from Chihiro's light blast, gasped, and looked down at his now fully fleshy body!

"WAIT, NO! NOT MY PERFECTLY INTANGIBLE BODY!" Occulous cried as his eye darted all across his body. "MINIONS, QUICK! AFTER THE SKYLANDERS AND THAT STUPID CHILD!"

But, the zombie Skylanders were so weary from their prior fight that they could barely get up! All they could do was groan and twitch their limbs, while a few at most lifted up their heads and grabbed at the dead air before them.

"NOW IS NO TIME TO SIT AROUND AND GROAN LIKE ZOMBIES!" Occulous scolded as he glared down and shoot a tentacle at the zombie Skylanders, paused and blinked with realization. "Oh, right, you are zombies." Occulous slapped his tendril against his closed eye and sighed. "Why did I think zombies would be a good idea? Why didn't I go for vampires? Vampires are good…"

While Occulous sat there and berated his choice in brainwashed minions, Chihiro grinned as she looked over to the cannons. Seems she finally had a chance! So, she rushed over to the cannon near the tower she displaced, summoned a magical lighter and flicked it on.

"You know, even ghosts would've done better than zombies! They may be completely transparent, but at least they have brains!" Occulous groaned as he flicked his eye open, frowned and looked up at the skies.

"Is something burning?"

Occulous turned his eye back to the battlefield below, and gasped as Chihiro rushed towards the next cannon, lighter still in hand!

"YOU'RE USING MY OWN BATTLEFIELD AGAINST ME?" Occulous cried as his iris flared red with rage. "UNBELIEVABLE!"

Occulous growled as he balled his tendrils into something that vaguely looked like fists as his whole eye turned red, and he shot an equally, furiously crimson laser down on the ground!

"I HATE HAVING TO DEAL WITH LITTLE PESTS LIKE YOU MYSELF, BUT IT SEEMS I HAVE NO CHOICE!"

Occulous snarled and roared as his laser carved a smoking path into the earth and came dangerously close to where Chihiro was getting ready to light the second cannon! Before it could fully hit her, Spyro and Hex teleported in front of her and cast out a shield that reflected the laser straight back at Occulous!

"AUGH, MY EYE! AGAIN!"

While Occulous wailed in agony and held his aching eye, Cynder flapped her wings and sent an entire party of ghosts out from underneath her wings! The ghosts all soared towards Occulous, and their eyes narrowed as they slammed into him and chattered!

"HEY, GET OFF OF ME, YOU LITTLE PESTS!"

With Occulous distracted, Chihiro grinned and rushed away from the now-lit second cannon! She bolted down to the third and final as the other two cannon's fuses crackled in the distance, but something swept her off her feet and dropped her right beside the cannon.

"HIT HIM EXTRA HARD FOR ME, CHIHIRO!" Ghost Roaster cackled as he blazed off into the distance!

Chihiro grinned as she sparked her magic lighter and turned her attention towards Occulous, who still screamed and writhed in pain. Just the very sight of him turned her confident look to a snarl, one that sparked with a fire born of pure, unadulterated rage.

"THIS IS FOR MESSING WITH MY FRIENDS!" Chihiro shouted as she lit the fuse and slapped her hands against the cannon's cracked surface.

The cannon glowed with magic, and across from it, the other two cannons did as well! All at once, the cannon's fuses immediately burned away, and they all shot gigantic stone cannonballs straight towards Occulous! Occulous grunted as his aching eye finally healed, and he squeaked and looked around as three gigantic cannonballs screeched dangerously close to him!

"Oh fu—"

Before Occulous could finish, all three cannonballs slammed into Occulous at once and exploded! Thick, gray smoke cast over the arena paired with a shrill scream, and as the smoke faded, Occulous himself was gone! All that was left was his tendril body with a noticeable blank cavity where his eye once sat!