As metal bits set alight with magic fire flew everywhere the ruined remains of the gate they burst through, Double Trouble and Voodood sat down and wiped the sweat off of their brows.

"I'd call that a close one for the ages," Double Trouble chuckled as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Man, I thought we'd never shake those guys!"

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

"Actually, I don't believe we have!" Voodood cried as he whipped his head back around. "Look!"

Double Trouble grimaced, readied his staff and set it alight as he poked back behind the halls they just sprung out of. He lowered his staff and positioned it like a gun as those robot soldiers slammed against the doors and left some small, unnoticeable dents. As one made a robot-sized imprint in the door, Voodood grabbed Double Trouble by the arm and pulled him down the halls.

"I don't think we should sit around and wait for them, Double Trouble!" Voodood cried as he rushed towards a shining red and gold teleporter. "We'd best get out of here!"

Voodood bent his knees and let out a warrior's yell as he leaped directly onto the center of the teleporter. The two of them caught in the swirls of bright, shining light as they vanished from the room!

Double Trouble blinked once, just once, yet the light still persisted, almost like it buffered or something! He and Voodood just kind of hovered in mid-air, but finally it vanished and dropped them in a yellow-tinted, dimly-lit room. Maybe portal travel spoiled him, but Double Trouble really hated it when teleporters lagged. If a teleporter was supposed to whisk you away in a flash, by all means it should do just as advertised, right?

Well, whatever. Double Trouble frowned as he held out his staff, swirled it around a few times and flicked it towards the ceiling. The staff sparked, and created a burst of light bright enough to decently illuminate the room around them.

The room itself was big, and dusty, and kind of plain compared to the prior rooms of fancy pottery, big ballrooms and carved ceilings and floors. Everything was a stark, dullish shade of yellow lit only by the upside-down torches that hung from the ceiling like primitive spotlights, and there was nothing of note in the room. Well, unless those weird, blue mounds that stuck out from the ground could be considered of note.

"So you have bested the trial of brawn," the Weapon Master said as he manifested from a hologram projector beside Double Trouble and Voodood. "You have done quite well."

The Weapon Master turned around and gestured towards the strange blue mounds, and in a flash, their centers open to reveal bright lights in three colors—one red, one yellow, one green!

"The Quicksilver's vault is upon you, once you pass through this gate, that is." The Weapon Master turned back to Double Trouble and Voodood as he crossed his arms, which he seemed to do a lot. "All you have to do is strike the centers of these three seals, and you will be allowed passage."

"Well, that sounds simple enough!" Double Trouble chirped as he spun his staff around, grabbed it in midair and held it out. "We'll be in and out of this place in a flash!"

"I'd be wary of saying things like that, Double Trouble," Voodood said as he glanced back at Double Trouble, and held onto his ax like it would vanish the moment he let it go. "There has to be some kind of trick to this. It can't possibly be so simple!"

The Weapon Master said no words, but merely snapped his fingers! That snap resonated across the large, empty room, and it must have been pretty powerful too, for the floors started to shake and rumble! Did an earthquake strike at the worst possible time?

Double Trouble winced, leaned on Voodood as the two of them struggled to keep from keeling over, and pulled his head back to those seals. Okay, maybe the rumbles and shaking played tricks on his eyes, but were those seals moving? Double Trouble gripped his staff tighter as he teleported himself and Voodood over to where the seals laid, and floated back as dust from the seals' tops crumpled onto the floor.

The seals themselves ascended higher and higher while long arms popped out of their sides, and as they nearly hit the top, they lifted out giant legs and took steps that shook the entire room once again. Wait a second, those seals weren’t actually seals! No, they were actually giant Ultrons! Thankfully, though, it seemed as though they were gentle giants despite their size. After all, they have no weapons whatsoever! Maybe Double Trouble was a bit wrong about their exact identity, but this was surely going to be a breeze, right?

Double Trouble screamed as he narrowly dodged a gigantic red laser that singed the ground between him and Voodood, and turned his gaze back up right as the red-eyed Ultron withdrew a hand with a large, red light in its palm.

"Lasers cannons?" Double Trouble exclaimed as his jaw dropped. "On top of their size? Are you kidding me?"

"How is this possibly fair?" Voodood demanded as he turned back to the Weapon Master.

"Unfortunately, it wouldn't be a trial if it was easy!" the Weapon Master replied before he coughed and vanished into thin air!

Voodood and Double Trouble both grimaced as they looked back up at the Ultrons, readied their weapons and got ready to attack. Before they could, the yellow and green ones held out their arms and shot out lasers that tore into the ground before them! As chunks of stone flew everywhere, Double Trouble and Voodood pulled themselves away and scrambled away from the lasers! The two of them split up as they dashed up the halls, but unfortunately, so did the lasers!

Voodood rolled aside as the green lasers tailed after him, swung his ax into the ground and yanked it out as a magical, electrical tripwire formed underneath the aftermath of its blow! Voodood dashed away right as the laser hit the tripwire and blew it to bits, but at the very least, the surprise from the blow was enough to stop Ultron’s lasering as it leaned back from shock.

Double Trouble, meanwhile, swept his staff across the air and summoned a trio of clones! These clones tittered and squealed as they bounced around the yellow laser, and the Ultron completely froze as it tried to figure out which to strike first! But finally, the Ultron's power core narrowed like it was narrowing its eye, and it just increased the power of its hand laser so that it encompassed all three clones and blew them to bits!

Not that the clones were supposed to last particularly long, for they just needed to buy Double Trouble enough time to regroup with Voodood and catch sight of the Ultrons once more. The two of them fell to their knees and panted, but grimaced as they balled their hands into fists.

"How do we stop these things?" Double Trouble spat out as he panted heavy, sweat-tinged pants. "They're huge!"

"Don't let their size intimidate you! Even the mightiest foes have their weaknesses!" Voodood cried as he gripped his ax tight. "Now, if they're anything like the last Ultron we fought, they'll have their power cores within their arms! We just have to strike them down, and we'll be on our way!"

"But that's easier said than done!" Double Trouble gestured back towards the Ultrons while their cores glowed suspiciously bright.

A sound like something reaching full power but thrice echoed through the halls, and a trio of lasers shot into the ground as they blew up the ground below Double Trouble and Voodood's feet! The two of them flew into the air, crashed down below and skidded across the cold, dusty floors! The friction was so massive it burned against Double Trouble's back, and a shudder ran through this body as he slammed the base of his staff against the ground and used it to pull himself back up.

"It not just their size that's the problem," Double Trouble grunted as he staggered back up and glanced over the Ultrons. "There's three of them and they have massive laser arms! What're we going to do with them? We're outmatched!"

Voodood frowned as he forced himself back to full height, and his frown deepened while he clasped his hand. "Actually, I have an idea," Voodood whispered as he looked back to Double Trouble, "Double Trouble, can you send us up to them?"

Double Trouble frowned, clasped his lips and petted his staff. "Like, with a spell?" Double Trouble looked back and grinned as Voodood nodded, turned around and held out his staff. "I have just the thing!"

Double Trouble's staff glowed with a bright light, and he and Voodood hovered over the ground like birds in flight! Double Trouble winked as he zipped towards the Ultrons, while Voodood just leaned on his belly, held out his arms and soared like a bird through the atmosphere! The Ultrons lifted their hands and attention as they shot lasers right towards Double Trouble and Voodood, but levitating wasn't the only benefit that came with this spell! Double Trouble and Voodood moved so fast that they dodged the lasers right before the lasers could hit them!

Though the lasers intended for them crashed against the walls behind and crumbled those walls to bits, Double Trouble and Voodood's concentration was hardly broken. They zoomed forward with one last burst of speed, and jumped down onto the red-eyed Ultron's shoulder!

The yellow-eyed Ultron creaked as it turned around, raised its arm and shot a laser right towards Double Trouble and Voodood—but they leaped away just in time! The bright yellow lasers intended for them hit the shoulders of the red-eyed Ultron instead! The red-eyed Ultron made a low, growling creak as it stumbled back, but as it fell down to the ground, it raised its own, burned arms and shot out two last red lasers towards the yellow-eyed Ultron's arms in one last act of defiance!

The red lasers blasted into the yellow-eyed Ultron's shoulders and charred their tops, and Voodood hovered between them as the two Ultrons got ready to fire again! He grinned as the two Ultrons shot one last laser at each other, but floated away right as their lasers slammed into each others' eyes! As the Ultrons screeched and sparked, they both fell on their sides with their two lasers fixed on the space ahead!

Voodood grinned, and peered ahead. Above them was a balcony, with a gate that blocked off its open path and three round plates above its top, two of which glowed red and yellow respectively as the red and yellow lasers locked onto them. He nodded as the plates glowed for a bit more, and floated away to where Double Trouble was in a spat of his own with the green-eyed Ultron!

"You've got no chance, you walking rustbucket!" Double Trouble cried as he shot a series of rainbow lasers at the Ultron, though the lasers did little against its tough metal carapace. "After all, my beams are laser sharp!"

Double Trouble teleported away as the Ultron shot a bright green laser towards him, reappeared behind the Ultron and swished his staff in midair.

"Abra!"

With another swing of the staff, a bright vortex of magic formed above the Ultron.

"Kadabra!"

Double Trouble grinned and held his staff towards the Ultron like a smoking gun.

"ALAKABOOM!"

The eldritch magic storm rained down on the Ultron with such strength and force that the Ultron veered back and blinked, but even that storm only left a few smoking dents!

At the very least, though, it bought Voodood enough time to float down and join Double Trouble!

"Voodood, took you long enough!" Double Trouble beamed as he held his staff tight. "Ready to help me finish this dude?"

Voodood grinned, and both of them swerved around and hovered in front of the Ultron! The Ultron lifted its arms and got ready to fire at them, but before it could released a single laser, Voodood flew away and hacked at its shoulder with his ax! The Ultron whipped around and beeped as it aimed for Voodood, and Double Trouble blasted its eye with a massive laser! The Ultron screeched as it stumbled back and fired its laser at last, but while it suffered at Double Trouble's hands, the final plate atop the gate glowed to life as the Ultron's laser locked onto it instead of him!

The three plates glowed even brighter, and with a friendly beep, the gate whipped open and revealed a dark, purple opening!

Voodood, meanwhile, hacked through the Ultron's left arm with one last cut, floated back to Double Trouble right as Double Trouble finished blasting the Ultron, and held out his ax.

"I think it's about time we finished this," Voodood said.

Double Trouble nodded, tapped Voodood's ax with his staff and grinned as it glowed a bright purple. Voodood held his ax tight, and one by one, he hacked through the Ultrons' arms and exposed the shining, crystalline power cores behind them as he shattered them completely!

Vooodood flew back up to Double Trouble as the Ultrons powered down with a distorted whir. Double Trouble and Voodood grinned at each other as they fell directly on the gate's balcony, dashed straight inside and landed in tandem on the teleporter! Once again, the teleporter took its sweet time as it beamed them from a pocket dimension of light and soft colors to where they were supposed to go next, but at least it got them to where they needed to go.

Double Trouble brushed his finger against the crystal atop his staff as he and Voodood arrived in a massive hall. It was made of purple velvet floor, shiny purple gold walls accented with regular gold markings, framed paintings and pillars, and all the other regal fixings. Yet, it seemed so sad and empty.

"You've done well, being able to make it this far," the Weapon Master said as he appeared via a flickering, blue hologram, "but, you are far from being able to catch your breath."

The holograph flickered out, and transformed into a gigantic blue blast of light as he appeared in person from his spot!

"I will personally accompany you for this final stretch." The Weapon Master floated up and cracked his knuckles as he drifted down the halls. "Follow me."

Double Trouble wrung the stick of his staff as he and Voodood trailed down the hallways and took a look around, but both promptly winced. Just the sights of what lined halls made Double Trouble sick to his stomach! Who in all Skylands thought this would be good room decoration?

Well, he supposed that the Arkeyans would find countless paintings of their soldiers leveling villages of poor, helpless mabu; Arkeyans razing down the forests and capturing the powerless beings who lied within; and tearing down entire cities while their soldiers killed and took as they pleased some good decoration.

Double Trouble let out a low groan, turned back to Voodood and leaned into his ear. "You're not exactly enjoying this either, are you?" Double Trouble asked as he cupped his hand around Voodood's ear, just to give their conversation a little layer of privacy. "Cause looking at these is making me more sick than the time that one potion went wrong!"

"I, I can't help but agree," Voodood whimpered as his face turned pale as a sheet.

The two of them winced as they tried to escape one particularly gory painting, but their stomachs churned as they caught sight of a picture depicting King Arkus as he sat on a mechanical, polished throne over the bodies of countless dead humans, mabu, elves, trolls and more. Arkus's gaze seemed so smug as he sat and posed, oblivious to the mountain of bleeding corpses underneath him.

It made Double Trouble so ill, yet he couldn't bring himself to turn away. The painting surely hexed him, and not in the magical way.

"Ah, so it seems that you've found the paintings," the Weapon Master noted as he floated over to Double Trouble's side, his tone resigned as he averted his eyes from the smug glance that Arkus bore in the paintings that lined the other side of the halls. "To think they'd waste the arts on things like these."

The Weapon Master turned back to the halls and glared all those awful, awful paintings of conquest, tyranny and unrepentant greed with such rage that his eyes flared a bright red. But, he just sighed and settled himself.

"We could have further revolutionized technology, birthed a massive renaissance of the arts and education, pioneered the pursuit of knowledge and brought Skylands the biggest surge of growth it had ever known… If not for him." The Weapon Master sighed as he buried his face in his hands. "All Arkus ever wanted was a power trip and nothing more, and look what it brought about! Tyranny, war, ruin..."

The Weapon Master frowned as he clenched his hands into fists, and his calcified skin started to crack as he clenched those fists tighter and tighter. He turned back to Double Trouble and Voodood. "You're from this present era, correct? Then please, tell me, what ultimately became of the Arkeyan Empire he brought about?"

Double Trouble and Voodood clenched their teeth and made soft, uncomfortable hisses as they looked back at each other. They said no actual words, but the way they looked at each other said basically all the words they needed to. Finally, Voodood urged Double Trouble with a nudge of his arm, and Double Trouble nodded as he waved his staff.

In a flash of light, a kind of worn book popped into the stratosphere and landed into Double Trouble's palms. Ah, "Everyone's Guide to the History of Skylandian Magic, Part One”, Double Trouble always held a level of fondness for it. After all, he picked up the book when he left home to pursue further knowledge of magic, and reading through it was what taught him how to read Common! Just looking at it eased the ills he felt from locking eyes with those nasty paintings, but that wasn't what he brought it for.

"You might want to read this," Double Trouble said as he held the book towards the Weapon Master. "It'll explain things better than we could."

The Weapon Master frowned and raised an eyebrow at Double Trouble, but he seemed to understand what Double Trouble said well enough as he took the book from Double Trouble's hands and flipped it open.

"Why, we're one of the first things mentioned!" The Weapon Master exclaimed as he flipped its pages. "Now, what does it say further?"

The Weapon Master's flipping came to a stop, and Double Trouble and Voodood looked at each other with very concerned and wary glances as the Weapon Master cleared his throat.

"'The Arkeyan Empire was a tyrannical empire that conquered the majority of Skylands approximately twelve thousand years prior. Though little is known about it before its rise to power, studies of ancient sites show that their first proper king, Arkus, received the secrets of the Magic Element and the power of the Eternal Magic Source from one of the Ancients. It is theorized that this an act of revenge against the other Ancients on that Ancient's end after being exiled from the Ancients' home as punishment for unleashing the Ultimate Evil across Skylands. The Arkeyans used this power to reinvent their home and combine magic with their advanced technology, and empowered by this, Arkus decided to expand his kingdom's reach all across Skylands…'"

Oh, he definitely didn't seem very happy now. The Weapon Master frowned as he flipped a couple pages ahead and shoved his face further into the book.

"'During the time of their empire, the Arkeyans cruelly conquered the majority of Skylands. Under their reign, many countries were captured by the Arkeyan Empire, and thousands died under the hands of Arkeyan control. Ultimately, their reign of terror came to an end when the Elder Elementals defeated their second king, Arkilles, in a massive battle…''

The Weapon Master pulled his head out of the book and shook it furiously, but his frown furthered as the book slipped out of his massive, chalky hands and hit the floor.

"So they did succeed in taking down the empire after all," The Weapon Master whispered as he grabbed the book off the ground, gently brushed his massive fingers across the pages and forced a chuckle (though it was more resigned a laugh than joyful). "Thank the Ancients..."

The Weapon Master's eyes dulled as he glazed over the next couple pages.

"'After Arkilles' defeat, the city of Arkus, the capital of the Arkeyan Empire, was buried and its location remains unknown to this day. This caused a ripple effect of the remaining Arkeyan strongholds collapsing underneath the weight of revolution and unstable rule. Though some of their crude technology and rudimentary sites have been discovered, to this day, much of the Arkeyan Empire has been lost to the sands of time…''

The Weapon Master's eyes flashed blue as he flipped through the rest of the book and scanned its pages, and he gingerly closed the book. His eyes rang with pensiveness as he turned towards the floor, a glance aside of the paintings' accusing eyes and Double Trouble and Voodood's frowns.

"I knew something like this would happen if we kept going down the path of conquest," the Weapon Master said, though his voice wavered just a bit, "I just hoped it would never come to that point..."

"Excuse me," Voodood said as he stepped up to the Weapon Master, "but, what are you talking about?"

"Not all of us agreed with Arkus's decisions, you know." The Weapon Master's eyes turned blue, but a more solemn, desperate shade of deep blue as he twisted back to Voodood,

"Many of us refused to fight, for we didn't believe in Arkus's desire to wage war and conquer innocent lands. We wanted to focus on the arts, on sports, on the pursuit of knowledge, on anything else! But, ultimately, we were outnumbered by those who wanted an empire over a proper culture. Everyone ate up Arkus's promises of power and money, and those who didn't go along with him were drowned out by the others, or worse."

Double Trouble winced, hastily floated up and snatched the book from the Weapon Master's hands. Though, as he got his book back and smoothed it out, he peeked up at the Weapon Master just a bit and caught sight of those blue eyes and their glimmer of cold, cold rage.

"Those who tried to reason against him peacefully were reprogrammed, tortured, killed even! The sight of those bodies makes my oil run cold, and it was what drove me to use my swords against them," the Weapon Master said as his eyes' blue glow lightened just a bit. "I hoped that I'd be able to tear them down by giving the Eternal Magic Source to the Elder Elementals before things got worse, but it seems that in the end, I was able to do nothing."

The Weapon Master pursed his lips for a moment, but finally he smiled and lifted the grim aura around the halls just the bit. "But, to know that they failed, and that the world around was able to recover and thrive... I'm more than relieved."

The Weapon Master floated down the last stretch of the halls and gently creaked the door at the end open.

"Nonetheless, your trials shall come to an end soon. After this room lies the Quicksilver we seek! If I had to guess, the guards here should have been deactivated ages ago."

The Weapon Master urged Voodood and Double Trouble to come forward, and floated back inside as the two of them quietly trailed after him.

"However, you'll still need to be as quiet as you can," The Weapon Master whispered as he slowly closed the door back up, "for these rooms should still have had some kind of trap laid within their walls."

Double Trouble groaned and adjusted his mask as he tried to get a better look, but the darkness coated the area so much that he could barely see. Well, not that there was much to get a grasp of, as it seemed that all there was to the room were oddly clean surfaces that seemed to be made entirely of marble! Or at least, some other material so sleek that his feet clacked with every step.

Double Trouble, the Weapon Master, and Voodood took a few steps forward, as perfectly quiet as they could go. But, they all froze as a shimmer of gold glistened against the darkness of the room and unveiled a tall, red and gold door against the wall at the very back of the room!

"That must be the door to the Quicksilver!" the Weapon Master cried as he rushed ahead!

He held out a hand as he reached for the door, and froze in place as a series of bright white spotlights activated! The spotlights shone down on an area above them, and unveiled more Arkeyan Weapon Masters! They were completely unlike the one who brought them here, all shiny and bright and new with their glossy red and gold metal and bright, wide eyes, bright wide eyes full of raw judgment.

"WHO DARES ARRIVE AT OUR VAULTS?" they all bellowed as one.

§

Chihiro grinned as she walked over and claimed the jewel from the floor, and smiled as she gave it a quick runover. It didn't seem to be cracked or harmed in the midst of that explosion. Thank goodness.

"Y'know, you caused me a lot of trouble!" Chihiro said as she raced back into the ruby room. "But that's no biggie, we'll just get you back into your pedestal and all our problems will be…"

Chihiro gasped, skidded backwards and grimaced as Penalty Killer, Beast Flamer and Gust Bunny dashed in front of her!

"Not over."

Chihiro gripped the jewel tight and turned her attention back towards Penalty Killer and company as they stood in front of the pedestal. They all panted heavily and shook with rage as they glared back at her, their weapons held tight as if they were ready to attack at any second.

"Y'know, I'd love to take care of you guys myself," Chihiro said as she stashed the jewel in her pocket and clapped hands that flared with magic power, "but, I'm in kind of a rush here!"

With another clap, the Guardifounds that once scattered across the floors behind her completely reassembled themselves and dashed behind her, a loyal army that flanked its master and were ready to attack at the slightest command!

"So, I'll just leave you guys to play with the guard!" Chihiro chuckled as she made a catlike smile. "Ifounds, that is!"

All at once, the Guardifounds rushed past Chihiro, screamed out as they leaped right towards Penalty Killer, Beast Flamer and Gust Bunny in unison, and completely dogpiled the three of them! The place where they once stood became a squirming, rainbow, crystal mess where only the trio's hands could be seen as they tried to squirm out of the pile to no avail!

Chihiro giggled as they tried and failed to escape, and as their hands finally drowned among the sea of guards, Chihiro dashed forward and leaped over the pile! The trio's heads popped out from the pile as they tried to catch their breaths, and Chihiro couldn't help but hop on them like stepping stones towards the pedestal, towards the final stretch her mission!

As Gust Bunny cried out while he indirectly propelled Chihiro towards the pedestal, Chihiro grinned as she pulled out the jewel and raised it high, ready to toss it back into its place—right as a rocket fired up behind her! But, how? She turned around, and before she even knew it, the jewel slipped out of her hand!

"SO LONG, SUCKER!" Gust Bunny cackled as he dashed across the room on a carrot-shaped rocket!

Chihiro snarled as she fell down to the floor, and she summoned a pair of wings as she flew down after him! Thankfully, Gust Bunny didn't seem to notice her as she flew down the halls. In fact, his head was hung completely low, which she was pretty sure wasn't good driving practice.

"I'm gonna make a ton of money off of you, baby!" Gust Bunny whispered as he licked his lips. "I wonder how much gold you're worth? Ten thousand? Fifteen thousand? Oh, it doesn't matter, as long as it's enough to get me at least a few mansions!"

"You won't be getting anything, buddy!" Chihiro cried.

With a firm grunt, she barrel-rolled through the halls and rammed straight into Gust Bunny's back! He was so completely taken aback that he flew straight off of his rocket ride, and could only watch as his rocket busted a hole through the walls and flew off into the distance. But, he wasn’t taken aback enough to release his grip on the jewel.

"You again?" Gust Bunny growled as he looked back up at Chihiro, clenched the jewel tight, and scoffed as he narrowed his eyes. "You sure won't give up, will you?"

"Of course I won't!" Chihiro balled her hands into fists as she shot that glare right back at Gust Bunny. "There's a village in total chaos because of everything you stolen from this temple, don't you realize that?"

"There's always gonna be a few causalities when making money, kid!" Gust Bunny smirked as he staggered back up. "Who cares?"

"I DO!"

The intensity of Chihiro's resonated not just within the temple walls, but outside as well! While her words echoed out the wrecked holes of the walls, Gust Bunny snarled and glanced back at her.

"You misused the Skylanders' name to take advantage of innocent people's trust in them and hurt them!" Chihiro's lips quivered with rage as she summoned a sword and spun it around before she held it in front of her. "As portal master and guardian of all that is good, I won't stand for this!"

Gust Bunny, however, just scoffed as he yanked out a full-fledged blaster loaded with carrot missiles! "TRY SAYING THAT WHEN YOU’RE SHOT DOWN, KID!"

With a yank back of the blaster's handle, Gust Bunny shot a full-fledged barrage of carrot missiles at Chihiro, but she just slashed each one in half! She swept away as they exploded, and backflipped back out of their range! Gust Bunny snarled, sent more missiles at Chihiro with another crank, and grinned as she stood perfectly still with closed eyes. Right as the missiles closed in, her eyes shot open and they all exploded in midair! With Gust Bunny taken aback by the surprise explosions, Chihiro dashed forward and shot a round of magic spheres at him!

Gust Bunny shook his head and pulled up a shield just in time to nullify the spheres, but unfortunately, he didn't stash it away quick enough to keep Chihiro from jumping on it! With her feet firmly planted on the shield, Chihiro twisted around and snatched the jewel right out of Gust Bunny's hands before she kicked him back into the Guardifound swarm!

Chihiro grinned as her feet fell back to the floor and peered down at the jewel she reclaimed, but her relief was short-lived; the whole temple started to crumble! Just around her, parts of the floor starts to cave and sink into the depths, almost like the temple fell apart!

Chihiro gasped, dashed back into the ruby room and slammed the jewel back onto its pedestal! She grinned and stepped back as the jewel hovered above the pedestal, sank into its spot and latched in with a firm click. The pedestal, in turn, sank into the depths of the floor before it became nothing more than another panel in the ruby tiling. Surely this would ease those quakes a bit, right?

Wrong! Rather, everything around just got worse; the ceiling started to cave and the floors quickly followed! Ruby bricks popped out of the walls, the Guardifounds all froze and immediately fell to pieces…

"What's going on here?" Chihiro cried as she frantically tapped the floor while the pedestal popped back up. "I put it back in, so why isn't it fixed?"

As the jewel popped back out of the pedestal, Chihiro slammed it back in and let the pedestal sink back into the floor, but the temple still continued to rumble and shake! So, she summoned the pedestal once more, popped out the jewel and twisted it around before she put it back in, but that didn't solve it either. Rather, the temple seemed to shake a little faster!

Chihiro stomped her foot and summoned it once more, but something else caught her eye before she could fiddle with the pedestal. Right on its pillar, there was an inscription, an illustration of four jewels placed in four pedestals amid some kind of crowd—but what did it mean?

"OOF!" cried Penalty Killer, Beast Flamer and Gust Bunny as they crashed against the floors!

Chihiro turned back around as they struggled to push themselves back up, but that wasn't the thing that concerned her most. Rather, just below them, they sat on a massive sack that spilled out tons of gold coins and treasure. Most importantly, there on the treasure pile sat three jewels colored in yellow, green and blue respectively! Three more jewels, just like in that illustration!

Penalty Killer screamed as a part of the ceiling caved in and smashed through the floor, and held on tight to Beast Flamer and Gust Bunny as another part buckled close by! While the world around them shook and shuddered, they all sobbed and cried out some nonsense about not wanting to die.

But, they weren't the biggest concern on Chihiro's mind. Chihiro trailed around the pedestal, and as she walked around it, the inscription changed of some dude snatching away the jewels while a building crumbled and buckled behind him, and he got smashed by a rock before he could make a grand escape. Wait, was that one jewel not enough to fix everything?

Seems so, Chihiro thought as she turned back to the gold pile. Chihiro dashed back over and snatched the jewels from the top of the pile!

"Hey, wait a second!" cried Gust Bunny as he broke out of his sobbing fit. "What're you doing?"

"I'm taking these back to their proper place!" Chihiro shouted over the increasing rumble of destruction. "And meanwhile, you're going to return the treasure you stole!"

Gust Bunny, Penalty Killer and Beast Flamer snapped out of their crying fit and glared down Chihiro as they held their sack of gold close, much like children unwilling to share their favorite toy.

"No way!" Beast Flamer cried. "It took us forever to gather all this treasure, we aren't just going to—"

All three of them screamed as the halls behind them crumbled to bits, and Chihiro kicked up the coins that fell out of the sack and tossed them back in.

"You'll do it if you value your lives!" Chihiro snarled as she pointed an accusing finger at them. "Now get going!"

They all hissed at her, but nonetheless, they dashed down the incline the wreckage had created and disappeared down into the depths of the temple. That was one thing taken care of, and now, Chihiro just needed to figure out where these jewels went.

CRASH!

And fast, too! Chihiro jolted up as a wall beside her caved in, or so it seemed. Rather, its outer layer crumbled away to reveal an illustration of what seemed like a map, complete with four color-coded rooms. That must be the places where those jewels belonged. Dang, that was convenient!

Chihiro peered up at the map and snapped her fingers. In turn, a smaller, magical replica of the map formed out of thin air, rolled itself up and flew right into her pocket. With her new map created, Chihiro dodged another storm of falling debris and bolted off on her not so merry way.