Kaos's face soured as he stepped into the cold, metallic confines of his army's hub room. Normally, these halls were oddly peaceful for an army's gathering place, but for some reason, his obnoxiously loud and disconcertingly sparse forces decided today was the day to be as loud as possible! All he had gathered at this point were the evil fire minions, about thirty-some of the stray greebles, and a few fire spell punks, all a mere sad shadow of what his army used to be. By all accounts, with how few there it shouldn't be this loud—but he could barely hear himself think!

So, Kaos grumbled some curses under his breath as he summoned a magical microphone, turned around and urged Glumshanks, whose hands were full of papers detailing Kaos's magnificent evil plot to end all evil plots, to come forward. As the two of them stepped onto the metallic stage Kaos had the greebles erect just for this moment, Kaos tapped his magic mic and frowned.

"Hello, hello, is this thing on?" Kaos asked as he tapped the microphone's top and pressed it so close to his lips that he could practically taste it. "Hello?"

A sonic boom of feedback sounded off through the whole room, and it was only amplified by the gigantic speakers he also had erected for this very moment; it shook Kaos so hard that he dropped the mic and covered his ears. Augh, stupid microphones! Kaos grunted, shook his head, and turned his head back to the crowds of minions.

Well, at least the feedback wave shut them up. That crowd of noisy, blabbering minions was reduced to laying on their knees as they covered their ears and shook their heads. One greeble perked up and gasped as it basked in Kaos's magnificent evil greatness, turned back to the others and chattered. All at once the minions stood rigid and tall as they fixed their eyes on their mighty evil overlord (as they should), and their mouths finally zippered shut!

Kaos couldn't help but grin as they all basked in his ultimate evil greatness, but still bent down and collected his microphone from the floor.

"Ah-hem! Since I know this thing works now," Kaos started as he dusted the microphone and held it up tall, "I'm sure you're all wondering why your almighty evil overlord called you all here today!"

The minions all nodded, tittered and rambled at once as they turned to each other once more! He just got them to be quiet, too!

"SILENCE! ALL EYES ON ME!"

Another wave of feedback resounded, and Kaos's stupid minions all froze and shifted their attention back to Kaos himself once more.

"Now that's more like it!"

Kaos grinned, but that grin quickly faded into the cold, serious look of a leader as he cleared his throat.

"Now, it's no secret that things are, a little bad for us right now." Kaos forced a grin as he paced back and forth across the stage. "So, we may have a lost a few components of the Core of Light to those stupid Skylosers and a village or two may have broken free of our empire—"

"Lord Kaos, that's a bit of an understatement," Glumshanks incredibly rudely interrupted as he poked his head around the stage. "After all, the Skylanders are nearly done with the Core and—"

"SILENCE, GLUMSHANKS!" Kaos glared at Glumshanks and snarled. "I DIDN'T ASK YOU!"

Glumshanks just sighed and turned back around the corner while Kaos regained his composure as he looked back over towards his forces.

"Anyhow, we may be in a bit of a pinch now, but I, your ULTIMATE EVIL OVERLORD KAOS…"

As Kaos finished his sentence, the speakers blasted regal, powerful music befit of a king while confetti and banners that displayed Kaos's name in bright, blood red lettering dropped down from the ceiling.

"Ah, I never get tired of doing that~" Kaos grinned as the confetti cascaded down onto the stage, and raised his eyebrows at the crowd. "Anyways, I have come up with an ingenious plan to bring the Skylanders' progress in the core of light's reconstruction to a grinding halt!" Kaos leaped over a small pile of confetti as he went back to pacing around the stage, all while a black screen unfurled against the wall behind him. "Now, I'm sure you're all thinking, 'Oh, Lord Kaos! What could this masterful, perfect, absolutely foolproof plan be? Someone as small and lowly as myself couldn't possibly understand—"

"GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!" cried a stupid spell punk from the crowds as they shook their fist at Kaos.

Kaos shot a glare back at the spell punk while his eyes flared red. "Keep that attitude up, Fred, and I'll feed you to my mega mutant monsters of monstrous DOOOMMMMM!"

A soft gulp echoed around the chambers as the room fell silent once more, and Kaos adjusted his lapel with a grin.

"Anyways, our evil plan for today is simple." Kaos gestured to the screen behind him as it slowly started to light up. "We will head to the Lava Lakes Railway, home of the Core of Light's next component, the Eternal Fire Source..."

The screen behind Kaos finally flickered on and showcased a drawing of the Eternal Fire Source in all its glory. This was only for a brief moment, however, as it soon swapped to a short show of pictures, all hand-drawn by Kaos himself—and he had to say, his art skills were almost as magnificent as his evil brain! The show cycled through images of the stupid Skylosers and that extra stupid portal poster as they were hindered at every turn by his minions’ rocks dropped on their heads, the minions tossed them in lava, and Kaos himself even burnt them to a crisp in one! Oh, just the very sight, and Kaos shuddered with anticipation for the mission ahead!

Kaos grinned, turned back to the crowds, and held his microphone back up as he gestured to the screen.

"You will hinder those Skylosers and their obnoxious portal pest at every given turn…"

The scene behind them shifted to that of Kaos striding towards the Eternal Fire Source and claiming it with a magnificent evil grin on his face.

"While I, your almighty Lord Kaos, go into the heart of the railway and take the Eternal Fire Source!"

As the screen turned back off, Kaos was so giddy that he couldn't help but jump into the air! Right across the stage, scarecrow dummies made in the image of the Skylanders and the portal master sprouted from the stage and stood firm, and they were perfectly poised for him to destroy!

"And once I get the Fire Source, not only will the Skylosers be completely unable to finish their stupid Core of Light—" bright blue flames crackled at Kaos's fingertips, and those flames turned into a flock of bright fireballs that slammed into the dummies and set them alight "—but I'll burn them to a crisp!"

Kaos jumped up and down. "I'll make ashes out of them! I'll set them alight! I'll blaze them like a birthday candle! I'll fire them!" Kaos stopped for a moment and rubbed his chin. "Actually, they don't work for me so that last one doesn't really work."

"Are you done yet?" Fred groaned as he raised his hand.

Kaos snarled, snapped his fingers and grinned as the floor opened up beneath Fred! Fred, oh, he tried to escape his inescapable doom, he really did! But before he could hover out of the way, gravity pulled him in and dropped him down into the hole like that obnoxious pest deserved! Well, at least he had the honor of serving as an example to the other minions, who all watched in horror as Fred's screams filled the room. The floor panel closed up right as the sound of ravenous beasts gnashing their teeth reverberated up the way, and all eyes turned to Kaos once more.

"Does anybody else have any smart remarks?" Kaos asked as he released his fingers.

One spell punk raised their hands, while Kaos snarled and got ready to snap… His fingers, that is.

"WAIT, WAIT, LORD KAOS, PLEASE DON'T BANISH ME, I WASN'T GOING TO MAKE FUN OF YOUR EXCELLENCY! YOU ARE THE MOST RADIANT EVIL GENIUS OF OUR TIME!"

Kaos chuckled as he loosened his fingers. "Well, I am quite excellent~" Kaos narrowed his brows and snarled. "Make it quick."

The spell punk jolted up and looked side to side, leaned down and twiddled their fingers. "Well, er, what is it exactly that we're all supposed to do beside stop the Skylanders?"

Kaos blinked, grinned and clapped his hands. "Wow, a question that's not absolutely idiotic!"

Kaos turned back around the stage and ushered to Glumshanks, while Glumshanks stumbled onto the stage with papers still in hand. Kaos yanked a paper off the top and cleared his throat.

"Now, to ensure this plan goes flawlessly, I have mapped out every possible problem and action we must take to ensure the plan goes off without a hitch…"

§

Chihiro frowned as she leaned back and forth in front of the small, red and gold train that Diggs happily polished as he whistled away to some tune Chihiro only half-recalled the name of. It was pretty, sure, but…

"Is it really that safe to take a train into a mine? Or for that matter, a mine located in what used to be an active volcano?" Chihiro remarked as she pressed her hands against her hips and pouted. "I mean, I've never heard of taking a train into a mine. Wouldn't all that rumbling cause an earthquake?"

"Chihiro, I've already told you," Hugo replied as he walked up to Chihiro with his face pressed inside a book. "Trains like these are specially made to ensure the utmost of safe travel in these conditions. In fact, they use them to travel through mines all across Skylands! It won't cause an earthquake, or a volcanic eruption, or wake up a colony of hungry cave bats like you keep saying."

"Hey, cave bats are a serious issue! It said so in your book and everything!" Chihiro shot a glare back at Hugo, then frowned once more as she glazed over the train. "Besides, something about this still feels wrong."

From inside the train, a window propped open as Eruptor stuck his head out and sighed.

"You're telling me!" Eruptor grumbled as he looked back at Chihiro, "I still don't think taking this train is a good idea, but nobody listens to me!" Eruptor looked aside and winced. "Besides, trains make me queasy."

Chihiro flinched as her eyes went wide. Being in a small, cramped space with a queasy Eruptor was a recipe for a molten, fiery, absolutely awful time and she was not in for it.

"Well, if you two are gonna whine so much," Diggs grumbled as he washed the train's side a little more forcefully than before, "you can get the Eternal Fire Source on foot!"

Chihiro frowned, and both she and Eruptor looked aside as they let out defeated sighs. For as much of a pain and safety concern as this was, it would take a lot longer to get the Eternal Fire Source on foot—and with it being one of the Core of Light's last components, Kaos would surely be pulling out the stops to get it! They had to get there as soon as possible!

"Alright, we'll take the train," Chihiro sighed yet again as she shoved her hands in her pockets. "So, when are we shoving off?"

"Well~" Diggs rubbed a few circles against the train as he tapped his chin, "I was gonna get going once the train's all polished and cleaned up—" Diggs whipped back to the train and grinned as he caught sight of his reflection "—and would you look at that, I'm done!"

"Already?" Chihiro gasped, and took a look behind as Diggs stumbled into the train. "But, Flameslinger and Sunburn still aren't here!"

Chihiro bit her lip as she tugged on her sleeve. For some of the fastest members of their team, the two of them sure were taking their sweet time! She'd hate to leave while understaffed, but she couldn't just lollygag all day! After all, this was the mission to retrieve the Core of Light's next Eternal Source! Kaos was surely gonna—

FWOOM!

Chihiro jumped back and screamed as a burst of flames appeared out of nowhere, and from that burst of flames came none other than a familiar bright orange phoenix dragon who shone like the sun!

"Sunburn!" Chihiro called with a grin. "You made it!"

A faint zoom sounded off in the distance, followed by the crackle of flames as Flameslinger darted up to Chihiro so fast that pillars of fire strayed behind in his wake!

"And Flameslinger too!"

"Alright, Flameslinger, I won the race!" Sunburn proclaimed as he flared his wings and raised his brows at Flameslinger. "That means you owe me lunch when we're done with this."

"That's assuming we even get back in time for lunch, Sunburn," Flameslinger teased back as he adjusted his bow and quiver.

Chihiro giggled, skipped up to the train and yanked its door open. "Well, everybody's here now, so let's get going!" Chihiro exclaimed as she hopped up the stairs and jumped inside, but stopped in her tracks from sheer amazement!

For a train so small and toyetic outside, the inside was way bigger, and not to mention a lot fancier! Bright red, soft to the touch cushions made up the seats and backed themselves with golden frames; they even had tables with complementary brochures and playing card decks! Chihiro hadn't even heard of a train with complementary card decks before! She grinned, bounced around and pressed her face to the window glass, and waved back at Hugo as he waved to her.

"Somebody sure is enjoying herself," Flameslinger remarked as he and Sunburn stepped inside the train.

Flameslinger made a small grin as he leaned against a gigantic gold pole, but jolted up as the doors slammed shut behind him.

"Er, testing, one, two, is this thing on?" Diggs said over a loudspeaker that sat on the train's ceiling. "We'll be departing soon, so everyone please take your seats! Please keep all arms, legs, wings, and other assorted limbs inside the vehicle, and…"

Chihiro, Flameslinger, and Sunburn all took their seats as the train slowly glazed along the tracks, but Chihiro couldn't help but bounce in her seat from sheer excitement! Trains were way cooler than she ever imagined! Though maybe that was because she hadn't exactly been on one since she was really little. Ah, it didn't matter!

Chihiro grinned, and slid closer to the window as the scenery of Ancient's Peak changed to rocky mines full of shiny red crystals that lit the area around like lanterns. The glow was soft and felt kind of foreboding, but it was cool!

"Ugh," Eruptor groaned as he slunk down in his seat and stared at the ceiling, all while his stomach groaned and growled, "I think I'm getting trainsick."

"Eruptor, the train just started moving!" Chihiro exclaimed as she tilted her head. "How on earth can you be trainsick already?"

"Don't ask me!" Eruptor shot a tired, tired look at Chihiro, then slid closer to the window. "Something about trains just messes with my stomach. And cars, and ships, and balloons, and—"

Eruptor gasped as his eyes went wide, and he shut his mouth while his cheeks puffed up like a squirrel! He made a series of frantic mumbling noises as he raced to the window and yanked it open! Or at least, he tried, but it was kind of hard with no fingers.

"Eruptor, what's going on?" Chihiro frowned as Eruptor looked back at her with those same, wide eyes and frantically point towards the window…

"Crap!" Flameslinger exclaimed as he dashed over to the window and yanked it open.

Everybody screamed as Eruptor hacked a massive magma ball out the window, and Chihiro gingerly shut it as she twisted back to Eruptor with a wince.

"Sorry," Eruptor hiccuped as he pressed his face against the cushions, "I really can't handle train rides."

Chihiro frowned, popped over to Eruptor's side and gently rubbed his back.

"I'd offer you a soda," Chihiro said with a slight chuckle, "but unfortunately I don't have one."

Eruptor groaned and turned around as he released another hiccup. "I appreciate the thought."

Chihiro couldn't help but frown as the train picked up speed and the sights outside started to blur. It seemed awfully peaceful around here, perhaps even moreso that it should have, given the circumstances. She leaned her head against the window, and sighed as she pulled the complementary brochure off the table. She took another peek out the window, and for a moment, she could've sworn she saw a pink and purple blur pass by. It was probably just her imagination, given that it vanished with a shake of her head.

Aside from her and Eruptor, Flameslinger returned back to his seat with Sunburn, and the two of them had absorbed themselves in a card game of sorts, eyes fixed on their card decks and everything.

"Got any threes?" Flameslinger asked as he shuffled through his deck of cards.

"Go fish," Sunburn replied with his eyes fixed on his cards.

Flameslinger sighed as he pulled a card from the pile. "You know, it's been awful quiet around here. Maybe a little too quiet."

Chihiro's ears perked up, and she pulled away from tending to Eruptor. Seems as though she wasn't the only one who though something was fishy around here. So, she turned her eyes to Flameslinger and Sunburn.

"Don't jinx it!" Chihiro whispered as she clenched her teeth.

"Shouldn't that be a good thing, though? After all, if Kaos isn't around, that'll make our job easier," Sunburn asked as he took a glance at Flameslinger. "Anyways, got any fives?"

"I wouldn't be so certain I were you, Sunburn." Flameslinger sighed as he handed over two cards to Sunburn. "For all we know, he's probably got some big ploy to get the Eternal Fire Source lined up for us. By the way, got and sevens?"

Sunburn shook his head and grinned as Flameslinger collected another card.

"Eh, I still say things'll be fine. For all we know, he probably just decided he has no chance anymore and gave up!"

"That doesn't exactly sound like Kaos, though."

Chihiro winced as all the red flags she saw in TV shows popped up in her mind at once, shook her head and thumbed through the brochure she picked up. It talked a little about all the fancy stuff in the train, like heated seats and entertainment cars and a refreshment car… Wait, a refreshment car! Maybe that would have something to ease Eruptor's woes!

"Hold on a sec, Rupty," Chihiro whispered as she gave him one last pat on the back and skipped out of her seat, "I'll see if I can find somethin' for your stomachache!"

Chihiro hummed a tune as she skipped up to the door at the back of the cab, slid it open, and hopped inside as the door slid to a close behind her.

Yep, this refreshment car really was some kind of luxury thing! A fancy bar lined with shelves full of all sorts of drinks, from sodas, crystal water, and juices, to stuff she was definitely not old enough to have, sat at the back. Fancy dining tables lined the right and sat with a windowside view, and cabinets of all sorts hid snugly behind the safety of the bar's sleek wood. It seemed so classy and sleek, like just standing there was an expense in itself, and the smooth jazz music that played over the intercoms only added to the feeling.

Chihiro ran up to the bar and hopped onto its wooden surface, walked up to the shelves and glazed them over. The sodas were pretty easy to find, but which one would be best? She liked the sweet, fruity sodas, but those probably weren't the best thing to give to someone with a stomachache. Chihiro hummed as she drew her finger across the various cans and bottles, and turned her attention to the windows…

Wait a second. In that very moment she turned her head, another pink blur dashed past the window! Chihiro blinked and a few more passed alongside a red one! Now she knew she wasn't imagining things!

Chihiro hopped off the bar, dashed towards the back of the refreshments car, and slammed open the door that lead to that sole outside deck. She jumped outside and grabbed on the railing right as the door slammed behind her, summoned a magical pair of binoculars and took a look. Though it was kind of hard to make it out, given that she stood on a moving train and all, she could've sworn she saw some things gathered around something!

"Zoom in!" Chihiro whispered as she gripped the binoculars tighter.

The binoculars glowed and grew clearer as they fixed in on that weird collection of pink, tailless monkey things? Chihiro wasn't entirely sure what they were, but they all surrounded some kind of giant wooden barrel. They all talked among themselves, but turned around as a spell punk clad in red and yellow robes ran up to them and started gesturing towards the train! A burst of purple and red flames burst up beside them, and both the monkey things and spell punk practically jumped out of their skin! That burst of flames quickly took the shape of some kind of bird, and out from it stepped an identical clone of Sunburn who was made entirely of dark purple and red energy with blank eyes and an evil aura. Wait, wait a second!

"Oh crap!" Chihiro exclaimed as her binoculars slipped from her hands. "I knew it was too peaceful around here! I've gotta warn the others!"

Chihiro whipped around and yanked the door open right as a nasty screech flew over the train. She paused, and turned her head up right as a gigantic barrel that sizzled like a bomb soared over the train's roof! Chihiro gasped, dashed back in and teleported over to the passenger room's door.

"Guys, we've got trouble!" Chihiro exclaimed as she slammed the door open. "Kaos's cronies—"

Before Chihiro could finish, however, a gigantic explosion sounded off from outside, and a little too dangerously close for comfort to boot! The whole train rumbled so hard that everybody fell to the floor, all while said floor heated up at an alarmingly fast rate! Just ahead, the sound of screaming poured out from the driver's car. Oh no, Diggs!

Chihiro gasped, jumped back to her feet, and dashed down to the door that lead to the driver's car! She yanked her hardest against its handle, and yet it wouldn't budge a bit. So she growled and magically forced it open before she dashed inside!

There, Diggs seemed to be just as frantic as Chihiro herself was! He leaned against the conductor's seat as he yanked and pulled on a big, bright red lever, but no matter how much he pulled or pushed or yanked, the lever absolutely refused to budge! On top of that, everything around him was bright red: the panels, the controls, the floors, everything was colored in the red of burning heat! Diggs grunted as he turned his head, yelped and jumped out of his spot as he caught sight of Chihiro!

"Oh, wait, it's just you!" Diggs exclaimed as he shook his head. "You couldn't have come at a worse time! We've got a big problem here!"

Diggs winced as he grappled for the lever, which now glowed with a suspiciously warm red light, cried in pain and yanked his hand back the moment he touched it!

"The train started going super fast all of a sudden, so I tried to stop it!" Diggs clenched his teeth as he turned back to the train's control panel. "But no matter what I do, this lever won't budge!" Diggs frowned, rubbed his hands together and yanked on the lever once more. "STOP, YOU STUPID THING!"

Diggs' lips twitched as he pulled down on the lever, all while it glowed even brighter with the increasing heat, and it completely snapped in half! Diggs and Chihiro both blinked as they looked down at the broken lever in Diggs' hands, but leaped into the air as the heat underneath their feet grew unbearable!

The whole train coated in a red light as everything around grew unbearably warm, like the whole place would catch on fire and burn! The outer sounds became that of metal grinding against metal as sparks and flames flew outside the window! Just what was going on?

Chihiro wiped the sweat that formed against her face, stomped her foot against the floor and teleported away in a flash. Maybe if she got an outside perspective, she could figure out what was going on!

In yet another flash of light, she manifested outside of the train tracks, and unfortunately, she got her answer!

The whole train was set ablaze, with bright, warm-colored flames stretched so far up the top that they nearly brushed against the ceiling! The metal underneath the train turned to much brighter shades of red and gold, and parts of the metal already started to melt and seep down under the heat. While one question was solved, another was found—what caused this?

Wings manifested on Chihiro's heels as she dashed down the hall, but came to a stop the moment her feet hit sharp, splintered wood! Chihiro winced as she stepped back, magically yanked splinters out of her soles, and peered down at the floor to find the splintered remains of a barrel and small trails of gunpowder. Wait a second, that gunpowder!

Chihiro bit her lip, teleported back, and dashed down as she tried to keep pace with the train. She took one last bound forward and teleported back into the conductor's room!

The moment she arrived, the heat cascaded down on her like sunlight, and not the good sunlight, but the kind of harsh, unbearable sunlight only found on the muggiest, hottest day of the year! She was practically bouncing on her feet the moment she hit the floor!

"Found our problem! The train's on fire!" Chihiro exclaimed as she gestured towards the outside between yips and jumps.

"You're telling me!" Diggs shot back as he turned back to the controls. "This whole place is hotter than the beach on the hottest day of the aestival season!"

"No, I mean, it's literally on fire—"

"Ugh, work already! Molekin weren't made for this kind of heat!"

Diggs wailed from back in the conductor's seat as he banged his fists against the masses of controls, though not a single press or flick would work! The buttons and switches stayed still and firm in their positions, almost like they melted to the spot! In fact, the metal around them started to turn slicker and goopier in position, like some gross, slimy concoction froze and melded around them. Surely, all that heat started to completely fry the train's controls and stick them tight, and if the air conditioning wouldn't work, surely the brakes wouldn't work, either!

Diggs scowled as he glared down at the control panel, but turned his attention back to the window ahead of them, which glowed bright with heat. As he caught sight of the sights ahead, he wailed as he frantically pulled at levers and pressed buttons!

"ACTUALLY, FORGET THE AIR CONDITIONING! STOP THE TRAIN, WE'RE GOING TO CRASH!"

Chihiro gasped, turned back to the window and jumped a foot off the floor, albeit not from heat this time. Rather, it was from what awaited them up ahead! Right ahead of them, the path ahead was completely sealed off by a solid-looking wall made entirely of rock! If this extensive heat and fire didn't kill them, surely slamming straight into a sturdy-looking rock wall would probably do the trick!

"Diggs, stop the train!" Chihiro spat as she bounced from foot to foot.

"I'm trying!" Diggs shouted back as he slammed buttons to button. "But if you couldn't tell, the main brake's busted, and I don't know which of these is the emergency brake!"

"Didn't you say this was your train?" Chihiro placed her hands on her hips, yelped and jumped up once more as her feet started to burn. "How could you possibly not know where something as important as the emergency brake is?"

"I DON'T KNOW, I DIDN'T THINK I'D HAVE TO USE IT!"

Chihiro frowned as Diggs went back to pressing buttons and blowing off his fingers from the heat, dove under the control desk and looked around. Surely there has to be some kind of emergency break here or something, right? Wait, what did the emergency brake on a train look like, anyways? She knew she read about something like this in a book, but the heat got to her head and made it impossible to think!

Chihiro shuddered as she scoured the masses of hot, red metal for some kind of sign, but nothing was seen except for sleek metal panels that slowly started to become less sleek and solid. She frowned as she crawled a little further under the control desk, jolted up and banged her head on it as the door slammed open!

"HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?" Eruptor exclaimed as he, Flameslinger, and Sunburn burst through the door, and promptly fell face-first as the train jolted forward.

Flameslinger and Sunburn both screeched and jumped off the floor, but Eruptor seem more mildly annoyed than anything as he lurched up and groaned.

"This train's going way too fast! I've already slammed into the seats five times!" Eruptor exclaimed as he shook his head and groaned, looked back at the control panel and gasped. "And why's that lever broken?"

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later!" Chihiro exclaimed as she crawled out from under the control desk and frantically pressed buttons. "And preferably when we're not about to crash into a stone wall!"

"Wait, we're going to crash?" Eruptor's stomach rumbled while he paced around Flameslinger and Sunburn as fast as his stubby little legs could carry him, all while lava-like spit spewed from his mouth. "This is bad, this is bad!"

"Eruptor, chill out!" Sunburn shouted as he grabbed hold of Eruptor's shoulders. "Freaking out about this won't help anyone!"

"Isn't there a break on this thing?" Flameslinger asked as he stepped forward and frowned.

Diggs whipped his head around and glared at Flameslinger as he gestured towards the broken lever. Though Diggs' eyes were small, the glare he gave was threatening enough. "Do you think I haven't tried that already?" Diggs demanded. "This lever here's completely fried!"

"And we can't find the emergency brake, either!" Chihiro butted in as she slid back under the control desk, then squeaked and popped back out while she blew off her burning hands.

Eruptor gasped as his eyes turned small, and he dashed around in even faster circles while he spewed even more lava than before!

"THIS IS BAD, THIS IS REALLY BAD! THE BRAKE'S BROKEN, THERE'S NO WAY WE CAN STOP!"

"Eruptor, calm down!" Flameslinger and Sunburn shouted as they cast him glares.

Flameslinger and Sunburn both grimaced, jumped towards the control panel and did everything they could surely think of! No button was left unpressed, no switch was left unflicked, every lever was pulled up and down at least once. But, despite their hard presses and stubborn pulls, it did little to help! The metal completely fused the controls to the panel, so trying to get anything done with them would be impossible!

Flameslinger yelped and blew off heat-scorched hands as he finished slapping a whole row of buttons, and as his hand cooled, he turned his attention to a half-melted lever that swung from the ceiling and occasionally banged into the walls.

"Sunburn, look at this!" Flameslinger called.

Sunburn flew over to the lever and examined the melty, warm surface that dripped tiny pools of molten metal onto the floor, while Chihiro hopped over and poked over their shoulders from sheer curiosity.

"'Emergency brake, pull in case of brake mishap,'" Sunburn read before he grinned and turned back to Flameslinger.

"You found the emergency lever?" Diggs asked with sparkles in his eyes, sparkles that quickly faded away with a stern shake of his head. "Well don't just stand there, pull it!"

Flameslinger tried, but it was so hot and covered so thick in melted metal; the moment he touched it, he yelped and yanked it back! Well, that showed that it was far too hot for anyone to touch under normal circumstances.

"Step aside, boys!" Chihiro exclaimed as she summoned a pair of thick, magical gloves and slid them on her hands. "Lemme take care of this!"

Chihiro grunted as she latched onto the slimy metal surface of the emergency lever and pulled it down, but no matter what she did, nothing stopped the train! In fact, she was pretty sure her pull made it run even faster! Maybe she wasn't pulling it hard enough? Chihiro closed her eyes and channeled the magic until a new strength ran through her body, and pulled on the lever once again with all her might!

But, it was perhaps a little too much might as well, for she just yanked it straight out of its casing! Chihiro made a shrill gasp, chuckled and tossed the broken lever aside.

"Did you pull that emergency lever or not?" Diggs demanded as he waved his hands. "Cause this wall's coming in way too fast for my liking, that's for sure!"

Chihiro giggled as she kicked the broken emergency lever behind her, which then promptly tripped a panicking Eruptor. Whoops, sorry Rupty.

"He, he, forget the emergency lever!" Chihiro chuckled. "Isn't there any other way to stop this train?"

"Not at this speed, there isn't!" Diggs bit his lip as he turned back to the window. "We're gonna crash in two shakes of a rattlesnake's tail!"

Chihiro turned back to the window, but only for a few seconds; another firm rattle and clunk from the train forced her on her knees. She yelled in heat-induced pain and leaped off the hot, hot floor, then yelled again as she caught a better view of the sights ahead!

That wall really was coming in fast! The train bolted to the wall's surface right as the heat from around seared through the open window. The window’s glass started to melt down onto the control panel, while the red lighting that flooded the control room grew to an intense sun's heat!

"THIS IS IT!" Eruptor wailed as he pulled his face off the floor. "I KNEW TAKING THE TRAIN WAS A BAD IDEA!"

"Eruptor, now's not the time!" Sunburn shouted as he soared across the searing floor. "We'll just have to bolt out of this place!"

Flameslinger zipped out the conductor's door, and zoomed back in at the same pace! "I don't think so, Sunburn!" Flameslinger exclaimed as he jumped from foot to foot. "The heat's completely sealed the doors shut! They won't open no matter what!"

"Then we'll just teleport out!" Sunburn looked back at Flameslinger and held out his claws, "Hold on!" Sunburn turned back to Diggs and Chihiro. "Diggs, Chi, get in here!"

"No way, chicken boy!" Diggs proclaimed as he leaned back in the conductor's seat, and leaped off from the sheer heat! As his feet danced across the flaming floors, Diggs glared down Sunburn and snarled. "This train's my pride and joy! I'm not going to leave it behind!"

"You literally got it this morning!" Sunburn snarled back as he twisted his eyebrows. "Unless we stopped time or something, there's no way we can get out of here and still save it!"

Wait—stop time, that was it! Chihiro gasped as she turned back to where Sunburn and Diggs argued, all while the inklings of a plan formed in her mind. Now, she never really tried time-stopping magic before; it was pretty advanced stuff after all. But, now wasn't the time to worry!

"Alright," Chihiro whispered as she clasped her hands tight and held them against her chest, all while the magic flooded her veins. "LET'S DO THIS!"

Chihiro flung her arms out wide while her whole body glowed with a bright, magical aura. With the magic at its zenith, she dashed over to Eruptor, Flameslinger and Sunburn and stroked her finger against their backs.

"TIME, STOP!"

The bright, cyan aura around Chihiro exploded into a bright, cyan explosion that lit up the entire room around the four of them! Chihiro bit her lip as she glazed around the endless blue space, and as the light faded, her frown transformed into a smile. Everything around save for her, Eruptor, Flameslinger and Sunburn turned grayscale and frozen! She pulled it off!

"What the," Sunburn whispered before he turned to Chihiro and grinned, "wait a second, you overheard me, didn't you?" Sunburn held up a paw to Chihiro. "Nice one, Chi!"

Chihiro, however, just grabbed hold of all three of them, then sparkled with magic and closed her eyes.

"You might wanna hold off on celebrating for now!" Chihiro shouted as they were all enveloped in cyan light. "Looks like it's up to us to stop this train!"

Chihiro's eyes flashed open before anybody else's as the light faded, and she scowled as she found herself right in front of the speeding, flaming train! It looked a bit less intimidating than before, given that it was coated in monochrome and frozen still, but who knows how long that spell would last? She couldn't stop and linger on it for very long!

"Wait, we're back outside!" Flameslinger exclaimed as he turned back to Chihiro. "What's going on?"

So, Chihiro stomped her feet a few times while the strength of a thousand flowed through her veins and the magic flared within her. As her body ached with a new energy, she ran behind Eruptor, Flameslinger, and Sunburn and tapped on their shoulders! With that simple tap on her end, the strength she had poured into them, and they glowed with cyan light as well! They all grinned as they stretched and flexed, but Eruptor was quick to frown as he examined the floor.

"Hey, why's the floor flickering?" Eruptor asked as he tapped the rocky earth beneath his molten feet.

Chihiro jolted her head up, and gasped as the world around shifted between the rocky, dark red colors of the world at wake and the grays and white and blacks of her time-stopping spell! It was wearing off already? The flickering grew faster and more intense as Chihiro raced in front of Eruptor, Flameslinger and Sunburn, and finally, the spell completely buckled and the world return to its proper time once more!

Eruptor, Flameslinger and Sunburn all screamed as the train bolted down towards them with full speed and full flames, but before it could crash and turn them to paste, Chihiro dashed in front of them and cast out a cyan shield!

The shield spread across the tunnel just before the train could slam right into them all, but that train was bound and determined to! It pressed and ground against the shield, but behind that shield, Chihiro held out her hands and gritted her teeth as she tried to push the shield further! She pushed with so much effort that magical sparks scattered everywhere and lit the floor like glitter! Yet, the train was still just as quick to push back.

Eruptor, Flameslinger and Sunburn gasped as they examined their still-glowing bodies, but Eruptor bolted up to Chihiro and slammed a round hand against the shield! Flameslinger was quick to follow as he dashed to Chihiro's other side and pressed both hands against the shield, while Sunburn flew over them all and held up the top! Though Chihiro didn't take her eyes off of the shield, the smile that crossed her lips was more than enough to show that she took notice of their help!

Now, it was the four of them against one red-hot, flaming-mad train that gave its all to burst through, but would their combined strength be enough to bring the train to a halt? They all dug their hands into the shield and burrowed their heels into the ground (except for Sunburn, who stayed firm in the air), all while the ear-bleeding screech of grinding metal rang out from the train as it pushed harder and harder. It was an intensive game of tug-o-war as the train pushed against them, and they pushed the train back, with neither side willing to relent!

Chihiro started to pant as sweat dripped down her brow, all while her hands slipped down the shield's surface. With the keystone loosened, the train pressed through and pushed them right towards the stone wall! Chihiro screamed as streaks of blue crossed her face, but she punched the shield with such force that it blew the train back down the tracks! Like a raging bull the train charged forward, but then, what could only be described as a miracle happened!

The train slowed as its flames petered down, and that fire only grew slower and slower as it barreled back down the tracks. Finally, it ground to a halt while the flames completely extinguished in one last blast of fire, just inches away from that thick sheet of stone! Okay, so the train was still red-hot, but at least it wasn't going to burn to ashes with Diggs still inside—and hey, it didn't crash into the walls either!

"Phew, close one," Chihiro panted as she released the shield and wiped her head, all while those streaks of blue vanished from her face. She grinned, dashed up to Eruptor and hugged him tight. "You guys rocked!" Chihiro looked down and snickered. "Heh, get it? Rocked, mines?"

Flameslinger chuckled as he ruffled Chihiro's hair, and she leaped away from Eruptor and hugged Flameslinger! Flameslinger yelped in surprise, but grinned as he returned her hug. As she released from Flameslinger, Chihiro turned her gaze to Sunburn as he cascaded down from the skies and latched him in a tight hug as well!

"Hey, personal space, Chi!" Sunburn chuckled as he patted her head and watched her release. He turned back to the train and gasped. "Wait, I forgot Diggs was in there!" Sunburn bolted forward while flames crackled around his feathers, "I've gotta—"

The conductor's door creaked open, and out from its side came a hot and dizzy Diggs! Though his face was red and kind of sunburnt, and he spun around in circles as his feet hit solid, cool rock, he did seem mostly okay. Mostly.

Flameslinger frowned, and yanked off his blindfold to unveil another blindfold, this time colored in yellow. He handed the red blindfold over to Chihiro, who summoned a magical water bottle and poured it over the blindfold's cloth before she handed it back to Flameslinger. Flameslinger wrung out the blindfold a bit, dashed over to Diggs and laid the cloth on his forehead.

"Actually, I think that was worse than the beach," Diggs panted as he looked back up at the train, then winced.

The train finally cooled back down, but it was completely burnt and fried! That didn't even touch on the melted bits of metal that dripped down onto the wheels. There was no way they could ride this down now.

"There's no way we can ride this train now!" Diggs exclaimed, as if he read Chihiro's mind in that very instance. "What could have possibly caused this?"

Chihiro bit her lip, stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Actually, that was what I was gonna tell you before everything got set on fire!" Chihiro said before she chuckled and looked aside. "Literally!"

As all eyes fell on her, Chihiro winced and bit her lip.

"You see, when I went to the refreshments car to get Rupty a soda, I saw something dash past the window!" Chihiro held out her hand and spun it around as she spoke. "So, I followed it, and outside, there were these guys messing with some big gunpowder barrel!"

"Guys?" Eruptor and Sunburn repeated as they looked back at Chihiro.

Chihiro nodded while her gestures became more grandiose and wild. "See, there were these spell punks and these weird purple things that kinda looked like tailless monkeys, but, most importantly—" Chihiro frowned as she turned her gaze back to Sunburn "—there was this purple and red dude who looked just like you, Sun!"

Sunburn gasped, and snarled as the feathers that coated his body glowed with a warm, radiant heat. "There's no mistaking it!" Sunburn exclaimed as he scratched his claws against the earth. "Those have to be Kaos's dudes!"

"And if Kaos is on the move," Flameslinger said as he zipped back to Chihiro's side, "we can't waste any more time! Surely he's already en route to the Eternal Fire Source!"

However, Eruptor didn't seem to mind at all as he grinned, stretched his arms to the ceiling, and pounded his hands together with an eager glint in his eyes.

"So what are we waiting around here for?" Eruptor exclaimed. "We need to find Kaos and make him feel the burn!"

Flameslinger chuckled as he tilted his head towards Eruptor. "You seem awfully eager all of a sudden."

"Well, my stomach feeling a lot better now that I'm out of that train!" Eruptor chuckled as he took a breath in and out. "Ah, nothing like nice, fresh hot air to ease your stomach!" Eruptor let his arms fall back to his side. "It just takes care of all your problems!"

"I wouldn't say that, Rupty," Chihiro interrupted as she frowned as she scratched her head. "I mean, the train's completely busted…"

"And even if we did fix it, there's not much use in using a train if the train leads to a dead end!" Diggs added as he hobbled up to the train while he wiped his forehead with the wet blindfold. "Oh, my poor, poor train."

Chihiro frowned and rubbed her chin, for Diggs did have a point. Without a track, they couldn't exactly run a train, even if they fixed it! Her eyes drifted across the caverns, and next towards the tracks that lead ahead. Hmm, what was that silvery rail beside it?

Chihiro perked her head up as Eruptor, Flameslinger and Sunburn discussed their options among themselves, but it quickly became background noise in her mind. She hummed, leaped onto the track and walked down the way. All around her, the surroundings got darker as the track diverted further down into the path, so dark that she had to light a sphere to see!

While the blue light tinted the walls a shade of purple, Chihiro skipped a few more paces ahead, but stumbled back as the room became bright out of nowhere! Chihiro shook her head and peered up at the walls where a torch burned bright. Wait, if there was a torch here, surely… Chihiro stepped a bit further ahead, grinned and released her sphere.

There ahead of her, the tracks she followed stretched into another functional railway! There was another way out! Chihiro grinned, and paced in place with so much energy that she could barely sit still!

"GUYS, GUYS!" Chihiro shouted as she bolted back down the tracks. "I'VE GOT GOOD NEWS!"

Eruptor, Flameslinger, and Sunburn all jolted their heads away as Chihiro came back into view, but they all frowned as she gestured down.

"These tracks, they lead to another railway! We can still get out of here, all we have to do is reroute them!"

Eruptor, Flameslinger, and Sunburn all grinned as they turned to each other, and the three of them dashed back up to Chihiro's side.

"Alright!" Chihiro exclaimed as she hopped up and down. "We'll take care of re-railing the tracks, you fix the train!"

Diggs saluted Chihiro, yanked a toolkit out of nowhere and sighed as he looked back over the train.

"Take your time, kiddos," Diggs said as he yanked his toolkit open. "Something tells me this train's gonna take a while."

Chihiro just blinked and tilted her head. Just where did he keep a fully functional toolkit, anyways? Something of that size couldn't possibly fit within his pockets. But, Chihiro just shrugged it off as she, Eruptor, Flameslinger and Sunburn disappeared down the tunnels.