Clink! Clink! Clink!

The sound of axes clattering against rocks was a steady rhythm that rang around the mine, while molekin and mabu alike mined their hardest in the warm, rocky mines surrounding. They slammed their pickaxes against the rocky walls, shattered the rocks, and shuffled the waste rock out on worn minecarts with such speed and gusto that it was like they just started! They all worked so hard, and just the sight of them was enough to lift everyone's spirits! And in the center of all stood…

"Alright, everyone!" Diggs exclaimed through a simple megaphone. "Keep digging! It won't be long before we find the Crucible of the—" Diggs frowned and scratched his head "—what was it we were looking for again?"

A mabu miner shuffled up to Diggs and whispered something in his ear.

"Oh, right!" Diggs cleared his throat and placed the megaphone to his lips once more. "It won't be long before we find the Crucible of the Ages, so get mining!"

The miners around all broke into resonant cheers and even more furious mining, but they weren't the only ones working away!

Right in front of the opening tunnels, a table full of food and drinks was established and manned by none other than a dark green-skinned elf man of a slightly skinny build with dark blue hair kept in a short ponytail. He wore a red blindfold, a golden tunic covered by a dark brown gorget paired with a shoulder guard and quiver strap, dark brown trousers and golden boots. A quiver full of arrows paired with an archer's bow rested by his feet, but the elf himself hardly noticed as he handed drinks and lunches to miners on their break.

"Thank you for all your hard work," the elf said with a Francian accent as he handed off supplies to a mabu man and beamed. "If if weren't for all of you, we'd probably have a lot more trouble finding the Crucible!"

"Well, of course!" the mabu replied as he took the lunch and flask from the elf. "This is the least we can do after the Skylanders saved our town from that awful Eternal Earth Source monster and brought us all those riches!"

The elf just chuckled and nodded as the mabu sat down with lunch in hand, and he turned his attention to all the other miners who worked their hardest. The fires in their hearts burned bright, or maybe it was the heat their bodies let off, but nonetheless it was like their fervor and enthusiasm warmed the entire cavern!

"Gotta say, Ignitor." The elf man turned his attention towards a fire spirit who rested snug within a bulky blue set of armor and aided a few other mabu in loading a mine cart with waste rock. "I can't help but admire these guys' work ethic."

"As doon I, Sir Flameslinger," Ignitor replied as he walked up to Flameslinger while a couple of mabu used some very fancy-looking pickaxes to tear down a stubborn patch of rock. "It remindeth me of those days long past, whence I was but a bright-eyed young squire."

"Yeah." Flameslinger laid back and rested his feet on a barren spot of the table. "Kind of reminds me of when I first became a Skylander, you know? Just fresh out the Academy, so eager to just get out there and save the world…"

"If you're so inspired, maybe you two should stop chatting and get back to work!" Prism Break scolded as he blew up other rock deposits with lasers courtesy of his crystalline hands. "We came here to find the Crucible, not talk!"

Flameslinger sighed and shook his head, but nonetheless sat back up and jumped from the concession stand as he slipped a checklist from the table. "So, any news from the other teams?"

Ignitor turned back at Prism Break with an almost prompting look as Prism Break hauled in more rock, but Prism Break just made a hapless shrug.

"There was one that said they haven't found anything on their end. Think they were from the one on the left…" Prism Break stopped and tapped his chin with one of his crystalline hands. "… 'S right?"

Flameslinger just sighed as he crossed another section off of the elaborate map of the mines Diggs dropped off with him when the Crucible hunt began. Seems as though that was yet another section that lacked the Crucible. For that matter, it seems like a lot of places here turned up empty; he lowered his blindfold just enough to sneak a peek, and found that the map was near halfway filled with marks, yet no sign of the Crucible of the Ages was found.

Flameslinger frowned and put the map aside while Ignitor and Prism Break went back to mining their way through the caverns. Though Hugo claimed the Far-Viewer found the Crucible of the Ages hidden within this very cavern, Flameslinger couldn't help but have his doubts. Even with the help of Stonetown's mining population (and Diggs), they’d been going at it all afternoon and still hadn't found a trace of the Crucible! He couldn't help but wonder if Hugo maybe got the wrong cavern.

But, perhaps he was just being impatient. After all, if the Ancients didn't create Skylands in a day, then the Crucible wouldn't be found in one afternoon. Flameslinger lifted the map, glazed over the section he had marked off once again just to make sure he counted them up right, and frowned as a low rumble shuddered the ground below him. Was there an earthquake? Well, if there was one, it was so small that he barely felt it!

"Eh, I'm probably just imagining things," Flameslinger told himself with a smile as he placed the list down, fixed his blindfold and jumped out of his seat. "All this sitting around is making my brain wander." Flameslinger lifted a pickax from off a box of water flasks, and walked ahead to where some molekin and mabu mined away at the walls. "Maybe some mining will get my mind back on track."

Flameslinger took up a vacant spot between a mabu man and a particularly stout molekin, placed his free hand against the walls and let the heat flow into his palm. Seems like the warmest parts of the wall centralized… There! With a mighty swing, Flameslinger hit the wall directly in the center with the pickax and sent chipped rocks flying everywhere! Flameslinger swung again a few more times, until his swings took a sort of subtle rhythm. Clink, clunk, clink, clunk, a stronger swing followed by a softer one as he chipped away at the walls while the heat grew warmer.

Flameslinger went to swing one last time, but before he could, something shook him to the bone!

The entire world trembled underneath his feet while his pickax slipped out of his grip from the shock, and it was a bit stronger than before this time. Seems like he wasn't imagining it that time! Flameslinger frowned as he knelt down and pulled his pickax off the ground, but before he could get back to swinging, another stronger quake shook the world around and forced him to his knees!

He wasn't the only one, either! The molekin and mabu that surrounded him all shuddered and collapsed as the quakes grew stronger and more intense; some leaped up against the walls while others piled onto each other, and others piled and squashed together from their impromptu falls.

Flameslinger shook his head, trudged forward in spite of the quake's growing intensity, and dashed over to a few unlucky mabu who got themselves stuck in a tight pile. He yanked one out, and the entire pile tumbled down and sat back up like a wooden block tower. Flameslinger himself sat the mabu he freed back up, but something screeched down from above, and Flameslinger froze!

"THE CEILING!" cried one of the mabu as he skittered backwards. "IT'S CAVING IN!"

The mabu's warning only seemed to intensify the quakes, which grew so powerful that their rumbles and shudders drowned out all other noise and made it near-impossible to stand. But, that warning was heard clearly enough by the others! The other miners all looked up, screamed and dashed out of the way the best they could as entire chunks of rocks collapsed from the ceiling!

"IT'S A CAVE-IN! QUICK, WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

While screams flooded into the area, Flameslinger stepped back, and just barely jumped out of the way as another rock screeched down from the ceiling! He bounced away from it just in time, ran back from a second rock and slammed his face into a wall instead! Flameslinger grunted as he fell to his knees, and as he rubbed his face. He winced and pulled his blindfold down until it hung around his neck like a bandanna. As much as he loathed exposing his eyes in public, these quakes were so intense that they threw off all his other senses; there was no way he could rely on his hearing or feeling like he usually did! The last of the pain faded away from Flameslinger's face as he tied his blindfold tight, winced and turned his attention back to the rest of the miners.

The mabu and molekin miners alike screamed and dashed around like headless chickens as they tried to run out of the falling rocks' rain of terror, but as they ran, one molekin fell to their knees and wheezed! The molekin grunted as they tried to catch their breath, lifted their heads up and screamed as a rock fell down above them! Their eyes were so transfixed on the rock that they couldn't even move; they just stood frozen in horror as it came closer and closer to squashing them like a bug…

But Flameslinger dashed through and pulled the molekin to safety just before the rock turned them to molekin paste!

"IGNITOR, PRISM BREAK!" Flameslinger called as the two of them turned their eyes to meet his gaze. "THE ENTIRE CAVE'S COLLAPSING IN! WE NEED TO GET EVERYBODY OUT OF HERE!"

Ignitor and Prism Break nodded, and leaped into action. As they did, Flameslinger ran towards the other miners so fast that flames formed underneath his feet! Flameslinger pulled away a mabu who trembled in horror underneath a group of shaky stalactites.

Beside him, Prism Break rolled forward and slammed his crystal hands in the ground! From Prism Break's blow came hard, shiny pillars of bright green crystal that pressed against the ceiling and propped it up before even more parts of it could fall! Prism Break didn't stop to bask in his creation's beauty, for he immediately ran to several other spots in the cavern and formed more crystal pillars!

Flameslinger dashed back to the entrance, released the mabu and molekin he rescued, and turned around as they followed several of their fellow miners through the entrance.

"Follow my lead, everyone!" Ignitor proclaimed as he drew his sword and pointed it at the open tunnel door before them. "I shall lead us unto safety!"

With Ignitor as their guide, the first team of miners dashed through the entrance's tunnel with chatter abound, but they were hardly the only team that needed to be accounted for!

Flameslinger dashed back to the table, pulled his list from its surface, and grabbed his bow and quiver away just before a gigantic rock fell on the table and completely crushed it! Normally he'd probably lament how he was looking forward to trying one of those fancy lunchboxes, but right now, he had more pressing issues at hand. So, he pulled up the map and gave it a quick glaze over.

The central area was accounted for, but he could still hear faint screams of terror from down the eastern area. Guess he knew where to go next! Flameslinger stretched his legs a bit, then dashed down the eastern path while columns of flame lit up behind him.

The quakes calmed some compared to the rest of the area, and the ceiling itself trembled low enough to let Flameslinger marvel the purplish-red stone walls. A look aside showed him why! The gigantic masses of crystals beside him that propped the ceiling up were definitely Prism Break's, and if that wasn't evidence enough, Flameslinger's ears flicked while Prism Break's voice echoed around the halls.

"Calm down and stop screaming!" Prism Break shouted as Flameslinger drew closer. "The more you panic, the harder it'll take to get out of here!"

"Prism Break!" Flameslinger called.

As Flameslinger got closer into a cavern that was near-completely crystallized over at this point, Prism Break turned around with several trembling molekin poised on his back.

"Flameslinger, you took your sweet time!" Prism Break dashed up to Flameslinger and bumped one of his crystal hands against Flameslinger's chest. "This place is gonna collapse anytime now! I've got crystals here to stabilize things, but they're barely holding out!"

Flameslinger frowned as he turned his attention around to the crystalline walls, which, now that he did take a look around, had firm cracks of white among their sparkling green surfaces. Those cracks continued to spread and crack further, too! If they spent one more second waiting, those crystals would probably shatter entirely.

"I'll take care of the other miners here!" Flameslinger dashed towards a few mabu who took shelter under smaller, more heavily-crackled crystal formations. "You just get those guys to the entrance!"

Prism Break disappeared down the crystalline halls, but Flameslinger didn't stop to watch him leave. Rather, Flameslinger pulled the mabu out from under the crystal formation right as it shattered into a billion tine fragments, and grimaced as the walls around shuddered and chipped away themselves!

The mabu gasped as they held on tight to Flameslinger's hands, while Flameslinger himself dashed his way back to the entrance and released them. But, he didn't stop there!

As those mabu dashed back up the entrance, Flameslinger himself raced down the eastern cavern's path and dodged falling rocks. He pulled a few molekin miners and one particularly short mabu off the floor; with the miners held close, Flameslinger dashed back to the entrance and dropped them off. The miners were quick to exit the cave, but Flameslinger himself couldn't quite leave just yet.

After all, the Crucible still had yet to be found, if it was even here in the first place, but would it be worth it to try and find it right now? Something else nagged at the back of his mind, too, like there was something he forgot.

"Is that everyone?" Flameslinger panted as Ignitor ran back down the entryway.

"It should be, Sir Flameslinger," Ignitor replied as he finally stopped and held his sword tight, "However, I cannot shakest the feeling that we hast forgotten someone?"

"HEY!" Prism Break shouted as he joined Flameslinger and Ignitor. "Have you two seen Diggs anywhere? I haven't seen him at all since the cave-ins started!"

"Help! Help!"

Flameslinger gasped and jolted up, as did Prism Break and Ignitor. So there was someone still trapped in the caves! Prism Break nodded, stomped his feet and summoned a gigantic wave of crystals paired with three flat, crystal platforms! The crystal wave tossed Prism Break into the air, and he spun down and pounded onto the highest platform.

"Hop on, you two!" Prism Break shouted as he came to a full stand.

Well, not that Flameslinger and Ignitor had a choice in the matter. With another rumble, the other two crystal platforms slid down and swept them off their feet! As Ignitor and Flameslinger both stood on their respective platforms and staggered back to full height, the crystal waves ripped through the caverns while the rocks just harmlessly crashed and splintered against their diamond-like surfaces! Yep, this would be a decent enough ride.

Flameslinger smiled as he surfed the crystal waves, all while the walls around gradiated from the cool, purplish-red colors of before to a dull brownish-red. For that matter, the area around started to heat up as well, almost like they were en route to the center of a volcano or something. Flameslinger hummed, knelt down and pressed his hand against the platform's sleek, cold surface; a tingling sensation rose in his heart while the familiar crackle of fire popped in his ears. There was some great collection of flames nearby, but it felt strange. It didn't fill him with the gentle warmth he usually felt when he sensed fire, but rather, a kind of all-destroying burn that ate away at his body and sickened him to his stomach.

"Help, somebody, please!"

Flameslinger froze for a moment as he jolted out of his flame vision. That was Diggs' voice crying for help just now, he was sure of it! So, Flameslinger leaped off the crystal platform and zoomed well past Ignitor and Prism Break, until the walls around him went from a dullish brown to a warmer red without a single blink.

"Help, help! I don't know if I can take any more of this heat!"

Flameslinger's heat vision bounced across the cavern he had landed in, until finally he fixed on the center, where Diggs laid on the floor with one leg held flat out!

"Diggs, there you are!" Flameslinger shouted.

"Help, I—" Diggs stopped short as Flameslinger stood over him. "Oh, the Skylander!" Diggs breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you've arrived!"

Flameslinger knelt down and wrapped his arms around Diggs as he tried to help Diggs back to his feet. "What happened to you? Can you walk?"

Diggs, however, just cried out, fell back down, and whimpered as he rubbed his one leg. "I'm afraid not." Diggs winced as he gripped his leg. "I was looking for the Crucible when the cave-ins started, and I sprained my leg trying to get out! It's so bad that I can barely even sit!"

Flameslinger pursed his lips, nodded and lifted Diggs back off the floor. With a few shuffles and adjustments, he moved Diggs onto his back and turned back to the way he came. The ceiling above shook even more violently than before, and at this rate, it would completely cave in anytime now! Flameslinger stretched out his legs and got ready to make a break for it…

"LOOK OUT, SKYLANDER!"

Several rocks crashed down dangerously close to Flameslinger and Diggs, and forced Flameslinger to jump out of the way! Flameslinger winced as another rock split into pieces just ahead of him, and the entire world darkened as the sound of something screeching down from above pricked his ears! He looked up, and all he could see was a gigantic rock about ready to crush him! It was so big and so close that all he could do was watch it come in…

But before it could completely squash them both, a crystal wave tossed it aside and formed a pillar! It pressed against the ceiling and kept any further rocks from falling down on them!

Flameslinger turned his eyes down, and gasped as none other than Prism Break and Ignitor leaped down from the crystal pillar!

"Prism Break, Ignitor!" Flameslinger beamed. "You arrived right on time!"

"Good thing, then," Prism Break grunted as he pushed the crystal pillar higher. "Now, take Diggs back outside so we can get outta here!" Prism Break grimaced and looked aside. "I'm not exactly eager to get caught in another cave-in."

Flameslinger, however, winced as he turned up to Prism Break. "Actually, Prism Break, I feel something strange around here. I think we should investigate!"

Prism Break winced and heaved a sigh. "You do, do you?"

"I can sense a great collection of flames close by, and something about them feels strange." Flameslinger frowned and turned his gaze back to the tunnels ahead of him. "It doesn't feel like your usual fire, if you know what I mean."

"Indeed?" Ignitor asked as he leaned away from the crystals. "Like what perhaps, Sir Flameslinger?"

"Let me see."

Flameslinger leaned down to the ground, then gently pressed his fingers against the warm, rocky floor and closed his eyes, with his mind fixated on that eerie heat signature that struck his mind those few seconds ago. The flames in his eyes burned a bit brighter against his face as a vision of a boiling hot place akin to the inside of a volcano crossed his mind. It jumped to a warm village populated by fire spirits with buildings made entirely of crackling flames, and then to a flaming temple that housed a gigantic bonfire! Except, something felt wrong with this fire; it was hard to explain, but it felt sick, almost. Though its flames burned strong, barely any heat came from them as they fluctuated between hitting the ceiling and just barely poking out from the misshapen hearth it laid on, while it burped out bursts of faint embers and flames…

"HELLO, MINER IN TERRIBLE PAIN HERE?" Diggs shouted.

The vision broke like a mirror that shattered out of nowhere, and Flameslinger broke into a cold sweat as he gasped for air! He grimaced as his whole body overtook with a swift chill, but thankfully, the sickly feeling passed soon enough and allowed him to stand once more.

"Hurry it up, Flameslinger!" Prism Break exclaimed as he strained against the quaking ceiling. "I can't keep these crystals up for much longer!"

So, Flameslinger nodded, adjusted Diggs' position on his back, and dashed through the halls as he made his way back to the central area. He lurched as another intense quake shook the area and sealed away the path to the eastern wing, but even though that was sealed, the entrance to the outdoors was still wide open!

Flameslinger dashed back outside, and gently laid Diggs among the crowd of mabu and molekin who had encased themselves around the cave's entrance. But, as he turned around and went to run back inside the cave, something grabbed onto his hand and stopped him.

"What're you doing, Skylander? It's dangerous down there!" one of the mabu exclaimed as their face twisted into a frown.

Flameslinger, however, just twisted his hand out of the mabu's grip and made a warm smile. "I'm going to find out what caused these earthquakes! You should get to safety!"

Before any of them could even retort once again, Flameslinger dashed back into the mine while a trail of fire formed behind him and blocked off the cavern from further entrance. A little extreme a precaution, but he couldn't risk anyone trying to get him out and get themselves hurt. The rumble of the caverns shook his balance a little and forced him to swerve from side to side, so Flameslinger just snarled and took one last stride before he zipped further into the caverns!

As the cavern walls around him warmed in both color and temperature, Flameslinger strode forward one last time and slid under the now heavily-cracked crystal pillar Ignitor and Prism Break held up! He spun around while his flames cracked against the stone floor, and yanked Ignitor and Prism Break into a nearby pathway right before the crystal pillar shattered completely!

Chunks of crystal and rock rained down ahead and sealed off the exit, but Flameslinger, Ignitor and Prism Break already left the room behind them in favor of a trek down this new path by that point. Thankfully, the further they went, the more the quakes settled, until they were nothing more than a low, shaky rumble that occasionally quivered the ground below their feet. As Flameslinger, Ignitor and Prism Break trekked further and further down the tunnel, the walls around them grew into warmer shades of reds, oranges, and yellows while the heat raised by the minute! It was so hot that it almost felt like they walked into an oven!

"I don't see anything here," Prism Break said as he shook his rocky head. "We should go back, it's way too hot in this place. I can already feel my stones starting to melt."

And yet, Flameslinger didn't want to leave. Something in this place tugged on his heart and drew him further and further in, a silent siren's song that tickled his fancy and moved his feet by themselves! Without even saying a word, Flameslinger leaned in and ran off.

"Hey, Flameslinger, where do you think you're…"

Prism Break's words faded into the distance as Flameslinger dashed further and further in, for the heat crackled in his ears and dizzied his entire head. Though the exhaustion started to catch up with him and sweat poured down his back, he couldn't stop himself from running towards the white-hot light that the entire cave melted into, so warm and gentle-looking and welcoming. He could barely hear Ignitor and Prism Break's voices in the distance over the rush of crackling fire and other, fainter voices in his ears, but it didn't matter to him at all.

"Flameslinger, wait up! Where are you going?"

Rather, he just stepped forward as the soft, white glow completely enveloped him in its warmth.

§

Chihiro frowned as she thumbed through the pages of her notes against a corner of the mission simulator's home room, though she was so absorbed in her reading that it almost felt like the world around her didn't exist! All she could focus on was brushing up. She already practiced her spells and rehearsed what to do in case of emergency scenarios, from machine malfunctions to natural disasters to evil clones whisking them away to fantasy world. (Hey, if it happened once, it could happen again!)

But, she did sneak tiny glances off her notebook, just to remind herself that she was still in the real world; every time she did, she couldn't help but drift towards Master Eon and Hugo. They spoke in hushed whispers to each other as they toyed with the mission simulator with only the occasional glance taken back to Chihiro herself. Just what did they plan for her?

"Say, Master Eon," Chihiro asked with her eyes still fixed on her notes for how to tame wild monsters. "What're we doing for this one? It's gotta be something big, right?"

"Now, what would give you that impression, young Chihiro?" Master Eon asked as he turned away from the mission simulator and floated over to Chihiro.

Chihiro placed her notebook down and drummed her fingers against its surface. "Well, this is my second-to-last exam! It can't be anything ordinary, right?" Chihiro grinned, put her notebook aside and jumped to her feet. "Like fighting off an entire army of enemies, or rescuing a precious jewel from a temple full of ancient traps, or…"

"Not quite, young Chihiro," Master Eon chuckled as he sat down next to her. "You'll just be going on a series of simple missions for this one. Nothing on a very grandiose scale."

"That's it? Just finish some missions in the mission simulator?" Chihiro sat down and raised an eyebrow back at Master Eon. "There's some kinda catch to this, isn't there?"

"Well, aren't you observant?"

Chihiro chuckled and made a fingergun at Master Eon as he floated up and spun around her. The two of them shared a soft chuckle as she laid her notebook down on her lap.

"Lemme guess," Chihiro said as she raised an eyebrow at Master Eon. "I can't use magic? The bad guy's somebody I know? I have to fight pukusa gyoza on legs? I hope it's that last one—" Chihiro's eyes widened as her stomach started to growl, then her cheeks flushed pink. "—whoops, guess I'm just hungry!"

Chihiro smiled, pulled a simple tin lunchbox out from beside and flipped its lid open. Despite its humble outer appearance, the buffet inside was a feast fit for a king—well, if that king was her, anyways. Pukusa gyoza lined one side of the lunchbox, while the other side held a simple peanut butter and jelly with sweet strawberry jam and crunchy peanut butter! Nestled in the one corner was a simple bag of sweet cloud candy, supposedly actual clouds swirled in sugar that were as sweet as cotton candy.

Chihiro always wanted to try cloud candy, but first, the gyoza called her name! In fact, she could practically imagine it crying, "Eat us, Chihiro, we're so delicious!" So, Chihiro gulped down the gyoza in one go. It may not have had the same quality as when her mom made it, but it still tasted just like home! So, she grinned and licked the stray filling off as Master Eon chuckled.

"Before we start," Master Eon said as he levitated something away from Hugo's feet and brought it to Chihiro, "you'll need to put this on."

Chihiro frowned and put aside her lunchbox as Master Eon laid the strange object in question in her lap. It was an onyx black bracelet that was smooth and round in shape, and reminded her a little bit of the bangle bracelets some of the kids at her school wore. Though, this seemed a little too tight to be a bangle, and for some reason, there were ten empty slots etched into the bracelet's surface. She slid it on her wrist, and it responded by latching on tight as the slots on it all glowed white!

"Pretty!" Chihiro cooed as she ran her finger against the lights while their white light faded into a rainbow of colors, though her smile quickly changed to a frown as she twisted it back and forth. "So, what does it do?"

"Oh, it doesn't do anything much." Master Eon sat back down with Chihiro as she finished the last of her lunch. "Rather, it limits what you can do. For this exam, you're only allowed to use ten offensive spells, one for each slot on the bracelet. If you somehow use them all before the mission ends, you automatically fail."

Huh, that wasn't nearly as bad as Chihiro expected. She smiled as she licked the super-sweet sugar crystal remains of that cloud candy (which was, in fact, as sweet as the claims, well, claimed), jumped to her feet and grinned.

"Eh, that's no problem!" Chihiro proclaimed as she put her hands on her hips. "After everything that's happened so far, passing an exam like that is a piece of cake!"

"I wouldn't be too careless, young Chihiro." Master Eon's light faded a bit while his whole body tinted blue. "This exam's given plenty of young portal masters quite the run for their money."

Chihiro just smiled and shrugged.

"And so what if it does? I'll just figure out a way and make it though!" Chihiro spun around and gave Master Eon a thumbs up. "I've come too far to let one little exam and a fancy bracelet scare me!"

Master Eon just chuckled while his blue aura faded in favor for a warm yellow. "Now, that's the kind of attitude I like to see." Master Eon's warm glow faded a bit as he bobbed up and down. "It's good to see you in such high spirits again, young Chihiro."

Chihiro just giggled and ruffled her hair. Admittedly, it felt a little weird to act so confident again after she spent so long down in the dumps, but it wasn't necessarily something that threw Chihiro off. She kept mulling on Spyro's words from that time before, and every time she thought of them, her heart warmed up and expanded. After all, if she was the heart of the team, the glue that held them together and helped them get through losing an Eternal Source, nearly dying several times, having the island invaded and more, she could get through anything! Just the thought of seeing them fully ready to embrace her, and congratulate her on a job well done, was more than enough to get her raring to go!

"Yeah, I'm definitely gonna pass this one!" Chihiro vowed as she jumped up and pumped a fist to the heavens!

Hugo chuckled and looked over to Chihiro as he finished typing some things into the mission simulator.

"The mission simulator should be up and running, now!" Hugo proclaimed as he stepped away from the control panel. "Just step into it when you're ready!"

Chihiro nodded, but her heart wavered as she turned back to the simulator—not necessarily from a sudden strike of test anxiety, but rather from the prospect of entering it alone. After all, that last time she used the simulator, she and Spyro nearly got stuck there, they had to face their deepest fears, and she had to chase down Bob the creepy janitor from her elementary school! Would something like that happen again?

Hugo frowned as he tilted his head, walked up to Chihiro and gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Now, I know you might be a little antsy about using the mission simulator again." Hugo patted her shoulder a few more times and stepped away. "But, Drobot and I have worked extensively on repairs since the last time you used it. It should run smoothly this time!"

Chihiro turned to Hugo with a look that pleaded him for a bit more reassurance, but the warmth in his gaze and the gentle nod he followed it up with spoke enough for her to feel at ease. So, Chihiro took a step forward, and another, and finally she dashed inside the mission simulator as the doors closed behind her.

Above her, a bright, rainbow light crackled from the ceiling while a mechanical countdown echoed around the simulator's chamber.

"YOUR MISSION WILL START IN FIVE… FOUR… THREE…"

The countdown droned away, and the rainbow light grew brighter and filtered around the room like a disco ball on a dance floor! The rainbow lights shimmered and danced across the floor in synchronized groups, and then pairs that merged together and streaked around the floor!

"TWO…"

Those streaks of rainbow lights stretched across the chamber and expanded until they completely blocked off sight of anything outside the chamber.

"ONE…"

The rainbow lights shuddered for a few moments, leaped away from their place on the walls and completely swirled around Chihiro in a multi-color vortex! Chihiro gasped, and grinned as she held a hand up while the lights spun around her arm!

"MISSION… START!"

The vortex completely expanded into a black, rainbow-streaked void where gigantic shapes and streaks of color swirled around like a functional galaxy! Though there was no ground under Chihiro, she didn't fall at all, nor did she float. Rather, it was more like an invisible floor laid underneath her! From that invisible floor, she could clearly survey a blank, black void where rainbows swirled in the center, a functional cauldron of light in the void of dark space. Chihiro tapped her feet against the floor for a few seconds, and pillars of light tinged in rainbow hues sprang up from the empty void; soon, they became geysers that spread bright, rainbow light all across the room!

Chihiro squeaked and closed her eyes as the lights grew so intense it hurt her eyes to do anything else, but popped them back open and grinned.

That void of space was no more; instead, there was a small, gentle forest not unlike something out of a child's coloring book. The trees had pink bark while a watercolor array of shades and hues splattered their leaves, the blue skies were streaked with puffy while clouds, and the grass was a ripe… Pink? Well, there were weirder things in Skylands. Flowers with faces sprung up from the ground and sang along to merry tunes, birds performed all sorts of tricks in the open air, and a few ladybugs even dashed past her while dressed in cutesy, frilly smocks and hats! Everything was so cute and cheerful that Chihiro herself couldn't help but grin.

"You know, for my second-to-last exam, I was expecting something a lot creepier," Chihiro remarked as she skipped up to the flowers and knelt down, "but this place is so, so, cute!" Chihiro grinned and gently nuzzled a flower's head as it knelt down and giggled in response. "Not that I'm complaining."

Chihiro giggled and hummed along with the flowers' song for a few minutes, all while they all swayed in the gentle, vanilla-scented breeze. She barely heard something rumbling and storming in the background, but that was of little concern to Chihiro. After all, nothing could possibly ruin her moment of peace. That is, save for a harsh scream that forced Chihiro to jump to her feet!

"What was that?" Chihiro shouted as she whipped her head left and right. "What's going on here?"

The flowers that once sang with Chihiro screamed in perfect harmony as they pointed their leaves to the path up ahead, where something kicked up massive clouds of squiggly dust and squealed! But, what was it?

The dust cleared and settled immediately as it gave Chihiro that answer! It was a giant monster that looked vaguely like a hyena, with blood red eyes and violet fur dappled in darker violet spots. A short violet mane stretched down from its head to its tail, while dark violet claws and fangs stretched out from its mouth and paws, and boy was it angry! It slammed headfirst into trees, scratched and tore at the ground, and gnashed through the grass with its fangs; yet, all that still wasn't enough to quell its rage! The moment it laid eyes on Chihiro, it squealed and barreled headfirst towards her!

Chihiro screamed as she cast out her hands on instinct, and a giant, cyan shield sat itself between her and the monster! The monster tried to ram into it, but the shield just absorbed its blow and flung it backwards, as if it was made of rubber! The monster rolled backwards and flailed its legs in the air, but Chihiro grinned and held out her bracelet-bound arm that still showed off the ten lights she started with.

"Yep, that didn't count!" Chihiro confirmed with a nod. She drew back her hands, and the magic in her body surged like a rush of blood to the heart while her hands glowed cyan. "Time to finish this!"

Chihiro summoned a large cyan sphere while one of the lights in her bracelet went dim, stomped her feet and grinned as a pair of springs formed underneath her soles.

With one simple bend of her knees, she bounced high into the air and served the sphere like a volleyball! The sphere screeched through the skies and tore holes through the puffy clouds while energy gathered around it, until it was less of a sphere and more of a functional comet! It grew at least five times its size while a blazing trail of blue-tinted magic burned behind it—surely something of that volume would knock that monster out cold, right? The monster grunted and locked eyes with the comet sphere as it came in, and as the sphere closed in on the monster's head, it, bounced off the monster’s head like a rubber ball?

"What the heck? That can't be right!" Chihiro exclaimed as the monster shook its head and growled. "There's no way that sphere should've failed! That comet spell's one of the strongest I know!"

Well, clearly that spell wasn't strong enough, for the monster looked no worse for wear than when it first crashed into the scene! Its eyes watered as it cried out another yowl of pain, yet it darted straight to Chihiro and snapped its jaws at her! She jumped out of the way before it could land a single bite, swerved right and jumped back as it tried a second and third time. Either way, she couldn't sit on her hands and contemplate why it failed! She needed to fight back! Chihiro leaped back a third time and winced as she summoned two giant more spheres, all while two more lights on her bracelet died out.

"TAKE THIS!" Chihiro cried to the heavens as she shot the spheres at the monster!

The spheres sparkled with raw power as they flew closer to the stagnant monster, but the moment they were supposed to made contact, the monster just jerked its head and completely smashed them! The spheres crumbled into piles of magical dust that the breeze quickly swept away, but the monster itself didn't seem to notice. It focused on Chihiro as it leaned its head down and got ready to strike, but this time, it almost seemed like it limped on its one front leg!

"That's it!" Chihiro's eyes sparkled as she positioned her hands like she held something. "Maybe I'm just not using the right attack!"

Another light went out on her bracelet as a gigantic hammer formed in Chihiro's hands, and she couldn't help but wince for a moment. She already burned through four of her ten attacks so far, so she'd have to make this quick!

Chihiro dashed forward and screamed as she swung her hammer towards the monster's weak leg, and it leaped over her and snarled while its fur stuck on end! Chihiro swerved around and sprung forward as she swung in for the kill once more, but the monster sent her hurtling back with a single headbutt! Chihiro skidded across the grass, which didn't look nearly as soft as it seemed, and groaned as she yanked her hammer back. But, she jumped to her feet as the monster charged in and raised its jaws! She rolled underneath the monster's belly before it could bite her, leaped out from behind it, and slammed her hammer straight on top of its head! That had to do something, right?

The monster whimpered and sat down as it shook its head, which now had a nice, red sore spot where Chihiro hit it. Instead of writhing in pain or even just sulking, it pushed the sore back down into its head and shook it off like it wasn’t injured in the first place! Chihiro gasped, loosened her hands, and peered down as said hands became noticeably lighter than before; seems in her shock, the spell let up and her hammer vanished into thin air and blue sparkles. Chihiro bit her lip, and rolled out of the way as the monster charged after her again.

While the monster howled and whined as it bit on the paw it limped on prior, Chihiro took the opportunity to hide behind one of the trees and collect herself.

"What's up with this thing?" Chihiro asked herself as she held up her bracelet and examined its six shining lights. "Everything I throw at it barely leaves a dent! If I keep using up my attacks like this, there's no way I'll be able to pass this exam!" Chihiro bit her lip as she spun her bracelet around and narrowed her eyebrows. "I should probably just leave it behind and go ahead."

Chihiro winced as intense stomps shook the ground around and kicked up more dust, so much dust that it bled into the forested area she hid in and brought tears to her eyes. As the rampage surely continued outside, the flowers screamed and screeching birds stormed through the trees at such an intense speed that it tossed feathers and leaves everywhere! Chihiro poked her head around the tree, and sure enough, there was that monster as it bounced and stomped around like an angry bull! It cried out yet again as it bit into a nearby tree and snapped it clean in half, much to the horror of the flowers around who screamed all the while.

"But, I can't just let it cause all this destruction and tear this place to bits!"

Chihiro curled up into a ball behind the tree and spun her bracelet around a few more times. Even though spinning it didn't make any more ideas come to her head, something about doing that made her a bit calmer and less overwhelmed by all the intense noises of battle.

"What do I do?"