The white lights of the spotlights above filtered through the room and illuminated it at last; its cold, dark exterior revealed itself to be an intricate, red and yellow room akin to some kind of ancient courtroom! Above them, the more polished weapon masters took their seats on benches made of solid gold and glowered down at Double Trouble and Voodood, but the two of them were more shocked than anything!

"What're these robots doing here?" Double Trouble exclaimed. "Why are they not attacking? What's going—"

"CEASE YOUR CHATTER, WORM!" the head of the weapon master council proclaimed as they slammed a fist onto their podium's desk, likely the judge of this court. "EXPLAIN TO US WHAT YOU ARE DOING HERE?"

Double Trouble and Voodood grimaced as they stepped back, but the Weapon Master just cleared his throat and hovered forward.

"These two beings believe themselves worthy of possessing the Quicksilver!" the Weapon Master explained. "They have sought an audience with you—"

"SILENCE!"

Before the Weapon Master could finish, the judge slammed his palms against the bench and sent a bolt of lightning that completely fried the Weapon Master! As the Weapon Master screamed and slunk down to the floor, the judge held his mechanical gut and spat shiny quicksilver spit over the benches.

"These beings? Worthy of possessing one of our greatest treasures?" the judge cackled as he slammed his hand against the podium. "Stop, I'm going to bust a gear!"

The judge's laughter faded with his smile as he raised a metal eyebrow, sat back down in the podium's seat and crossed his arms. "Now tell me, what are you two doing here?" the judge repeated as the frown he bore grew deeper. "And make it snappy before I fry you too!"

Double Trouble and Voodood both winced as they turned back to the Weapon Master, who groaned and shuddered as lightning coursed through his body. A bolt like that did so much damage to such a mighty robot, and if they got hit, they'd be way worse off. So, Double Trouble cleared his throat and put his staff aside as he stepped forward. He wasn't entirely keen on giving these Arkeyans his case after all this, but it seems as though he had no choice.

"Okay, I know this is going to sound strange to you," Double Trouble said as he held out his hands and looked over towards the council, "but in the world outside this vault, thousand of years have passed, and the Core of Light is no more! Without it, evil's taken over all Skylands, and we need both the Quicksilver and Magic Source for the Core of Light's complete reconstruction…"

Above him, the jury members frowned and whispered among themselves as they shot Double Trouble ugly looks that twisted his mouth completely shut. What exactly were they saying? Was it good or bad? He couldn't possibly tell when he could barely hear them!

"We can't understand a word you're saying!" The judge shouted. "Speak in Common or don't speak at all!" The judge sneered as they leaned back in their seat. "Unless, of course, you're too stupid to actually know it."

The rest of the jury's panel chuckled among themselves as they shot down teasing, mocking glances towards Double Trouble. Double Trouble gritted his teeth while a well of anger boiled in his soul, one that made tears like twinges of pain sting his eyes. Beside him, Voodood laid a hand on Double Trouble's arm while he stepped up to the panel.

"My companion is saying that in the time you've stayed here," Voodood explained, "Skylands has—"

"Silence, you!" the judge exclaimed as he pointed a finger at Voodood. "Your 'companion' was the first one to speak, therefore they will be the one to testify! If you speak for them, how do we know they're speaking the truth?"

"Exactly!" cried the rest of the jury.

Voodood twisted his lips into a frown as he looked back at Double Trouble, and back towards the jury. "Well, you're Arkeyans! If you're as great at magic as you say you are, surely you know plenty of magic!" Voodood retorted. "If you don't trust my words, can't you just use translators, or some kind of lie detection spell to see for certain?"

However, the jury really didn't seem to like this idea! Though they stopped laughing at Double Trouble, their faces turned red in more ways than one as they glared back down and scowled.

"SILENCE, INSOLENT!" the judge roared as he pounded his fist against the podium. "How dare an inferior being like yourself try to suggest that we, the mighty Arkeyans, stoop to your level?"

"Exactly!" cried another jury member. "If you can't bother to speak our language and adjust to our own kingdom, we won't accommodate you!"

"Who do you think you are, making demands of us?" demanded a third. "Someone as insolent as you has no business desiring our treasure!"

As the angry chatter and infuriated insults and remarks of the jury turned to a crowing chorus, Voodood's mouth became a twitchy scowl while he held he head.

"Making demands?" Voodood whispered as he slammed his ax's base against the floor.

The clatter of his ax echoed through the courtroom, and once again, the silence and attention of the entire jury turned to him and Double Trouble. Right then, Voodood raised a furious face with bared teeth and burning eyes!

"YOU'RE THE ONES WHO SHOULDN'T BE MAKING DEMANDS, IF ANYTHING!" Voodood yelled back as he pointed his ax back at the jury. "YOU WERE THE ONE WHO FORCED ALL SKYLANDS TO SERVE YOU AND BEND TO YOUR STANDARDS!"

The entire room drew shocked gasps, and that included Double Trouble as he drew back from sheer surprise. Double Trouble grimaced as he squeezed his staff. After all, Voodood was normally such a cool and collected type, so the sight of him so infuriated… This couldn't be good.

"You're all tyrants, all of you!" Voodood exclaimed as he looked back to the judge and jury. "It's brought up in every history book, every tome and text of times before us! Your armies would capture the citizens of innocent nations so your empire could be the only thriving part of Skylands, so your faces could be emblazoned across the entire world! You made all Skylands quake in terror for—"

"SILENCE!" the judge roared once more as he gripped the podium and leaned over so his steaming, bright red face glared down Voodood.

Voodood's eyes went wide for a bit, but he quickly steeled himself as he glared back at the judge.

"IF ANYTHING, WE WERE DOING ALL OF SKYLANDS A FAVOR!" The judge heaved heavy, angry breaths as his eyes glowed with such a red light they were practically miniature suns. "WHY WOULDN'T THEY WANT TO BE PART OF OUR VAST EMPIRE? WE WERE CHOSEN BY THE ALMIGHTY ANCIENT HIMSELF!"

Voodood went silent with quiet, seething anger as the judge rambled on, but while they locked in their rants, Double Trouble frowned and withdrew his staff. Seemed as though he was going to have to give Voodood some backup. So, he held the staff tight while it glowed a bright purple and pressed it to his lips.

"WE WERE BESTOWED THE SECRETS OF THE MAGIC ELEMENT AND BUILT INTO GREATNESS! ANYONE WOULD HAPPILY SERVE US WITHOUT SECOND QUESTION…"

"Actually," Double Trouble said as he swept up to Voodood's side, "your little Ancient buddy, the one you worship so much? THEY WERE A TOTAL FRAUD!"

Once again, everybody gasped as all eyes fixed on Double Trouble, and not just because of his words—but also, the language he spoke them in! He spoke not in his own language, but rather in perfect, fluent Common! Even Voodood was beside himself with astonishment as he looked over to Double Trouble, but Double Trouble simply waved his staff and brought up his magic history book once more.

Another wave of the staff, and the book’s pages projected like a slideshow against the wall behind them. There, its pictures depicted a floating wisp of light lifting the Eternal Magic Source out of a crude drawing of the Core of Light, floating away and handing it to a man dressed in red and gold robes.

"Why," the judge gasped as he looked over the projection, "that's the Almighty Ancient and King Arkus!"

"Your Ancient didn't think you were anything special! They only gave you the Eternal Magic Source as a means of getting back at the other Ancients!" Double Trouble exclaimed as he turned his staff on the judge. "They were mad at the other Ancients for exiling them after they unleashed the Ultimate Evil on the universe, the very thing that resulted in the Core's construction in the first place!"

Double Trouble snarled as the projections changed to images of Arkeyan robots being built, burning down villages and capturing their fleeing residents. "And that's too fitting, given the Arkeyan empire's state…"

This time, the projection shifted to images of beings of various species, all dressed in rags and screaming in horror as fancy robots chased them out of illusions of villages.

"You built your empire on tyranny and intimidation, on strong-arming those weaker than you into submission!" Double Trouble's brows tensed as his staff glowed with a raging red light. "You're nothing but selfish, underhanded cowards!"

The Weapon Master, in spite of the coursing electricity and massive pain he was surely in, looked aside while a bit of what seemed like rage shone in his eyes. His tempered anger was more than could be said of the rest of the jury! The jury members were all as angry as ferocious wild animals as the jurors pounded on their pews and screamed out angry shouts!

"LIES AND SLANDER, ALL OF IT!" the judge proclaimed as he grabbed the pew so hard it cracked underneath his grasp. "THE ARKEYANS ARE THE MIGHTIEST OF ALL! WE'VE SPREAD OUR EMPIRES TO ALL CORNERS OF SKYLANDS, BROUGHT IT UP USING OUR MIGHT AND MINDS, CREATED THE MOST INNOVATIVE OF TECHNOLOGICAL AND MAGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS! TO CALL US SUCH THINGS SPITS ON ALL OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS!"

"I wonder about them, hrm?"

Double Trouble smacked his staff against his palm as the images behind him flicked further and further on: of the Arkeyans' empire crumbling to dust and vanishing, of beings of all kinds as they cast spells, poured potions and brought their creations to the public; all the while, the judges' faces dropped as they scanned the projections before them.

"All those who you conquered and tried to quell?" Double Trouble said as he looked back up and pointed his ruby-red staff at the judge. "The moment you fell, they thrived and surpassed anything you could have even dreamed of making!"

Double Trouble chuckled as he drew his staff back and stroked its jewel while the book flashed back to the pages of the Arkeyans' buildings and empires collapsing into ruins. Oh, this was going to be good.

"And as for your mighty empire? Well…" Double Trouble made the most smug, satisfied grin he could manage. "In the end, it contributed nothing to Skylands but tales of woe, of pain and tyranny! You're remembered as nothing more than petty children who just wanted the thrill of power!" Double Trouble smacked his staff's base against the floors. "Your king died at the hands of those he tormented, your empires crumbled into ruins thanks to the Elder Elementals, and you're nothing more but a painful distant memory!"

"DISTANT MEMORY?" the judge repeated with such shock that his spittle flew into Double Trouble's face as he finished absorbing the projections' knowledge. "NONSENSE, OUR EMPIRE IS THRIVING!"

"'Fraid not, buddy!" Double Trouble whipped his staff between himself and the judge and magically slammed them back into their seat. "While you were sitting on your hands in this little vault, thousands of years had passed! Your little empire? It's just something kids learn about in history books!"

The jury made the most undignified gasps and dropped jaws they could have possibly made, while their eyes all flickered in a rainbow of color from sheer shock.

"What my companion says is correct! In fact, it proves you truly are as despicable as you were spoken of!" Voodood spat out at last as he stormed forward and held on to Double Trouble's shoulder. He snarled for a moment, whipped out his ax and pointed it at the judge.

"What are you blabbering on about?" the judge demanded.

"It's like I tried to tell you!" Double Trouble exclaimed as he waved his staff back at the judge. "Thousands of years passed now, and the Core of Light's been destroyed! We need the Quicksilver and the Eternal Magic Source to remake the Core of Light so we can stop the spread of evil its destruction unleashed!"

Double Trouble drew back, and Voodood stepped forward as he glared down the judge.

"Even now, as evil encroaches upon Skylands and threatens to destroy it, you hoard the keys needed to finish the very weapon that would drive that evil away!" Voodood exclaimed. "You still cling to the dying threads of your glory while pointlessly stroking your own egos! You're more concerned about keeping secrets than you are the well-being of everyone around! If anything, you owe it to the people you harmed to give those secrets up!"

The jury's chatter turned to mixtures of shock, denial, anger and everything in between. For a moment, it seemed as though all the chaos lit the entire room red with fury!

"Thousands of years have passed? That has to be a lie!"

"There's no way our mighty empires would fall! Especially not to those insolent Elder Elementals!"

"But, the Almighty One couldn't possibly be a fraud! He's an honorable Ancient!"

Double Trouble and Voodood both heaved heavy, rage-filled pants that shook their entire bodies, and turned back to the Weapon Master. But, the Weapon Master didn't even look them in the eye! He just turned away and snarled as he clenched his shaking, still static-ridden hands into fists, as if he was only moments away from completely losing his temper!

"SILENCE!" the judge demanded with such anger that it rumbled the entire room. "I, THE JUDGE, DEMAND YOUR SILENCE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

§

Chihiro spat out labored pants as she dashed down the shaky, crumbling halls of the temple around her, all while she kept her map and the jewels firm in her grasp. According to this map, she shouldn't be that far from the room where the blue jewel was supposed to go…

Actually, hold that thought! Before she could worry about that, she had to worry about not getting caught in a cave-in first! Chihiro jumped away as a large piece of the ceiling smashed down and created a nasty hole in the floor where she once stood, winced, and turned her attention back to the halls ahead. Wait a second, Chihiro was sure she could spy a gentle, blue glow that stuck out among the solid gold walls, and amid the dust and crumbling ruins of the temple!

Chihiro stashed away the map and jewels, tapped her feet, and zoomed off the moment the magic hit her veins! The entire world crumbled and shattered around her, but that was of little concern. She dashed away from cracked masonry, leaped over caving craters in the floor, and side-stepped just out the way of another cave-in to find the room!

Chihiro ducked through its doorway, and breathed a sigh of relief as her feet hit solid, stable ground. Thankfully, it seemed as though this room was a lot less shaky compared to the hallways ahead, which still rumbled and shook like a waking giant. Rather, the solid sapphire walls of the room were carved with fancy runes and symbols, and they all acted as functional canals for the tranquil, pure, crystal-clear waters that poured from the ceiling! The many canals all fed into one giant moat that surrounded a stone platform with a sapphire pedestal on it which sparkled with a magic radiance. Perhaps this was where a jewel was supposed to lay?

Chihiro pulled out the blue jewel, skipped across the floors and laid the blue jewel back onto the pedestal! The jewel hovered in midair for moments, and sank into the pedestal with a firm click! For a moment, all remained quiet and peaceful while the pedestal itself sank into the depths of floor, but the moment it vanished, the entire floor crumbled underneath Chihiro's feet!

Chihiro screamed, instinctively flung out her arms and formed a bubble around her body! The bubble slammed down onto the pile of crumbled sapphire that once was the floor, rolled down and slammed her face-first into the floors underneath! The bubble popped immediately, and she was met with a face full of hard rock, but it was better than getting buried alive!

"Ugh," Chihiro groaned as she slunk down the floor, shook her head and jumped up. Just where was she?

The floors underneath felt like some kind of sewage system, what with their cold, less polished stone walkways that acted as formal paths above the masses of still water they sat over. There were a few fancy carvings of monsters or people or odd messages in ancient languages on the walls, but other than that, everything was stark and barren! That didn't do Chihiro any good; if she didn't have any sort of landmarks to tell her where she needed to go, then how was she supposed to get where she was going?

"Maybe I should use a locator spell for this?" Chihiro asked as she scratched her head and tapped her feet. "After all, what else do I have that could lead me…"

Wait a second, lead! Chihiro dug back into her pockets, and grinned as she unfolded her map. In all this chaos, she completely forgot that she had it! According to its carvings, if she entered here from the blue room, she was already en route to the green room!

"Phew, close one!" Chihiro whispered as she rolled the map back up and stashed it away. "Just need to take a few turns and I'll be there quicker than you can say dragonfly!"

Chihiro bent down and grinned as she dashed down the waterways' massive stone paths, moved around the corner, and held out her arms just like she was that dude in that one ninja show she watched! Even though she was stuck in a dank and kind of dark sewer, it hardly stowed her thunder! She'd be at her destination in no time!

Chihiro yanked out her map once more as she bolted down the path, and skimmed it over for mere moments before she poked her gaze back up. Now, if the map was correct, she just had to keep going straight, take a turn here and a right there.

Wait, was it just her, or was the ceiling shaking?

Chihiro stashed her map away, and screeched to a halt as the ceiling above her rumbled and shuddered like a quake. Yeah, that definitely couldn't be a good thing! She took a few more steps back, turned around and jumped so high she nearly hit the ceiling as the path behind her sealed off via a collapsed ceiling! Another smashing noise turned Chihiro's attention to the path ahead as it sealed away too, but she didn't really have much time to linger on it. Everything around her started to collapse! The ceiling's stone panels slammed into the path behind her in rapid succession, and if she kept standing here, she'd be next!

Chihiro turned back to the other path, teleported away in a flash and bolted down the adjacent pathway, but the moment she turned the corner she hit a dead end! The entire path was covered in a mountain of dirt and rock!

Chihiro grunted and teleported away right before another stone slab could squish her, and sprinted down the path beside that one! Thankfully, this one seemed to be a halfway decent one, for the rumblings grew slower and quieter the further she ran down. By the time she hit her first turn, the quakes slowed enough that she could sit down and rest, but she didn't exactly feel relieved.

Chihiro sighed as she unfurled her map and scanned it over with a frown. Those quakes completely threw her off, and she had absolutely no idea where she was now! How was she supposed to get these last two gems to their rooms now?

"Guess I'm gonna need that locator spell after all," Chihiro groaned as she stashed the map away and pulled out the green gem. She narrowed her eyes as she clasped the gem's base tight, placed it close to her heart and sighed. "Alright, gem," Chihiro whispered as the blue glow of her hands intermingled with the gem's verdant light to create a beautiful seafoam glimmer, "show me where your proper place is!"

Chihiro loosened her grip on the gem enough to let it float out of her hands, and for a few moments, it hovered in the cold open. Its light completely enveloped it, and it turned into a massive serpent! Crap, that definitely wasn't what she had in mind when she wanted a guide!

The serpent hissed at Chihiro for a few moments, turned around and smashed through the wall beside her!

"Wait!" Chihiro exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet and leaped onto the other path. "Slow down!"

Chihiro panted as she dashed over the serpent, but it was hard to keep pace! This serpent was just as slick and fast as an actual one, and she could barely tail its tail as it smashed and turned from one broken wall to the next! Finally, as it disappeared around the corner, Chihiro fell down and groaned.

"No more, no more running," Chihiro whined as her entire body ached from exhaustion. "Please…"

Chihiro whimpered as her aching muscles drained the life from her, and they pinned her down to the cold, stone floors of the path she landed on. She knew she needed to catch up, but if she took one more step, she was sure her whole body would spontaneously combust! If only there was some way to cure her ills. Wait, cure! That was it!

With all the energy she could muster from her aching soul, Chihiro held out a glowing hand and massaged her shoulder. As she rubbed her shoulder's pains away, the magic crept across her entire body and evaporated the pain like water on a hot day! Chihiro grinned, got up and stretched as the energy swelled in her mind and heart once more!

"Alright, now that I've taken my break," Chihiro said as she pumped her fists and skipped ahead a bit, "time to catch my snake!"

With a few taps of her shoes, Chihiro was off like a rocket! Speed flowed through her body as she leaped and bounded after the snake, its path marked by the massive holes in the walls…

And what did she know, she was in its room before she knew it! The walls and floors were made of shiny emerald, with fancy faces carved into the walls like a gallery of masks! Gentle, mint-colored light rained down from the ceiling, and dusted the surface of a simple, emerald pedestal. Most importantly, that simple, emerald pedestal had the green jewel rested at its base!

Chihiro grinned, dashed over to the jewel and lifted it off the ground. Right as she did, the room around her hissed and shuddered! But why?

Chihiro turned her attention back to the walls, where those faces' eyes glowed bright as they popped off in swarms! The faces spun around the room for mere moments before they formed torsos, arms, legs, and it was in that moment that it hit Chihiro. These were no ordinary faces, no! These were Guardifounds!

"Dangit, not these guys!" Chihiro cried as the Guardifounds slammed onto the floor and growled.

Chihiro clenched her teeth as she shoved the gem into her pocket, held out her hands and snapped her fingers! In moments, large magical dragons formed behind her; they dashed down rows of the Guardifounds with such force that it forced the Guardifounds back into their statue forms. Unfortunately, the Guardifounds she knocked down weren't the only ones among their ranks! So, Chihiro swept out her hands, and summoned a massive wave of magic blasts that slammed more of the Guardifounds against the walls! As they dropped back into their statue forms, Chihiro grunted and drew back, ready to let out a seismic punch at the ones who drew closer—

—but, a rumble reminded her that this place wasn't going to last forever! Chihiro clapped her hands, and summoned an entire minefield of magic orbs that cropped up across the floors and exploded all at once!

While the orbs knocked the Guardifounds down a few legs and a body, Chihiro dashed off to the pedestal, tossed the jewel on and scrambled towards a glowing yellow light from the hall about it! No doubt about it, that would lead her right to the room she needed to put the yellow jewel in! So, she dashed ahead and grinned as she pulled the jewel out of her pocket.

The dull, yellow light around her grew brighter as the opening ahead unveiled a room with golden panels that had a bunch of holes in their walls, all of which poured out white light streaked with rainbows. Most importantly, Chihiro could catch a sliver of a pedestal from the opening; that had to be what she was looking for!

She took one last stride forward and dashed through the opening, but screamed as she bumped into something and bounced off! Chihiro grunted as the jewel flew out of her hands and landed on the floor, and as she lifted her head up, she gasped and snatched the jewel back with a snarl.

There around her were bright, yellow light effigies of a troll, a drow, a skeleton, a pirate dog, and a gremlin all buffed up and dressed in magic armor, but in the center of the pack was a bright yellow Kaos clone who sneered as he glared down at Chihiro!

"Well, well, look who we have here!" crooned the yellow Kaos clone as he stepped up the way and held out a hand flared with magic. "The portal poster, here for her ultimate doom!"

Was this thing trying to scare her? Chihiro groaned and balled her hand into a fist as she glared down the Kaos clone, yet whipped that fist up right as a magical boxing glove formed around it!

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Chihiro exclaimed as she dashed forward. "I'VE GOT A BROKEN TEMPLE TO FIX!"

Chihiro teleported over to the troll effigy and knocked it out cold, grabbed it by the leg and swung it into the drow effigy! As the two of them flew into the walls and crashed, Chihiro teleported behind the gremlin and smacked it away with a magic hammer like it was a golf ball! While the gremlin skidded against the floor, Chihiro sped over to the pirate dog effigy and bonked it on the head with her hammer! It stumbled around in a dizzy haze, and Chihiro spun her hammer around as she slammed it aside! Two cries of pain came from her blows rather than the one she expected, and when she looked down at her feet, she found a broken pile of bones.

That was most of them taken care of, and now, all that was left was the Kaos clone! She turned her head back up as it beckoned for her to come forward with its hand, and by god, did she take the bait! Chihiro cried out as she dashed forward and went to swing, but the moment she did, the clone teleported away! Chihiro stood and blinked for a moment, turned around, and cast a shield right as a rain of fireballs shot towards her, courtesy of the Kaos clone! She snarled and released her shield as the fireballs burst into embers, punched her arms forward and summoned twin magical gauntlets!

"What, do you really think those things are going to stop me?" the Kaos clone gawked as it placed a hand on its chest. "I can withstand anything you throw at me, FOOL! I, Kaos, am—"

"BUZZ OFF, YOU CREEP!" Chihiro cried as she yanked her arms back!

The gauntlets clicked like a loaded gun, and with a series of furious punches from Chihiro, they shot off a round of bright, flaming lasers! The lasers were so fast and close that the Kaos clone didn't even stand a chance and flew right into the wall! The blast cascaded golden dust down onto the Kaos clone as it laid on the rim of the wall's crater, and it groaned as it and all the other effigies vanished into thin air!

Chihiro scoffed and rolled her eyes as the gauntlets vanished. She dug into her pockets and yanked out the yellow jewel. Her momentary frustration vanished as she skipped back up to the pedestal and dropped the jewel into its center.

The pedestal accepted the jewel like the rest did; it sank right into the ground with one last rumble, and finally, peace. The moment it locked back into the floor, the whole temple came to a standstill as the quakes subsided! Seems that returning those jewels was the trick after all!

Chihiro grinned and ran her hands against the walls one last time, closed her eyes, and flickered them open to find that the wall she leaned against was gone! In lieu of its firm surface, a gold hallway with an open wall that loomed over the jungle below stretched before her!

Chihiro grinned and sprinted down the halls as the breeze tickled her face, but as she caught a slight glance of the long drop below, she gulped and steadied her sprint to a brisk walk. Didn't wanna risk slipping and taking a tumble down the castle's side, after all.

"Ugh, I can't believe we got our butts handed to us by some kid," groaned a voice across the hall, the voice of none other than Gust Bunny!

Chihiro quirked an eyebrow, and pressed herself against the walls as she raised an ear.

"I know, right?" moaned Penalty Killer's voice. "I already planned out everything I was gonna do when we brought that treasure home, too!"

"Stupid temple, stupid treasure, stupid rocks!" cried Beast Flamer all while the sounds of someone kicking and stomping sounded off. "I hate them all! But most of all, I hate that stupid kid!"

"Oh, I dunno," Chihiro remarked as she snapped her fingers and strode into the heart of the temple with the smuggest grin on her face, "I'd say bursting into an ancient magical temple and stealing all the treasure you could take is pretty stupid too!"

Gust Bunny, Beast Flamer and Penalty Killer all gasped as they turned back to find Chihiro right in the doorway, but before they could react, magical rope ties appeared out of nowhere and tied around their hands! They gasped, and grunted as they pulled and tugged and bit at the ties, but no matter what, those ties just wouldn't budge!

"You guys are coming with me!" Chihiro proclaimed as she teleported behind them and yanked them by the rope. "You have a lot of apologizing to do to the villagers you messed with, after all!"

Chihiro grunted as she dragged them down the floor, and in one bright flash, she teleported right down to the temple's foot!

It seemed as though she was spared the pain of trekking back through the entire jungle; all the mabu gathered right at the temple's base! The crowd was big enough to stretch a good bit across the temple's golden walls, and all the mabu seemed fairly worried as they spread their fears in hushed whispers. But then, at the head of the crowd, the mabu whose hand Chihiro bandaged waved their hands and shushed the others around! Everybody else looked up, and gasped as Chihiro dropped Gust Bunny, Penalty Killer and Beast Flamer off in front of the crowds!

"Don't worry, everyone!" Chihiro proclaimed as she wiped her hands and grinned. "Your temple is safe! I've made sure its artifacts were returned to their proper places—" Chihiro gently nudged the thieves with her boot "—and I gave those thieves the what-for, too!"

Gust Bunny, Beast Flamer and Penalty Killer snarled as they glowered back up at Chihiro, but their glowers quickly turned to whimpers as the mabu all swarmed them and imposed over them like angry wildcats.

"Don't worry about taking care of these riff-raff, portal master," said one of the mabu as they cracked their knuckles. "We'll make sure they pay their dues!"

"Pay our dues?" Beast Flamer whimpered as he gulped down a lump in his throat. "What, what do you mean?"

The mabu gestured back towards the temple. "Why, you're going to help clean the sacred temple, of course! If you have plenty of time to steal, then I assure you, you have plenty of time to make amends!"

The three of them groaned and hung their heads, but reluctantly stood as the mabu prodded them. The villagers all surrounded them as the crowds dispersed back to what was surely the village's location, but that mabu Chihiro tended to lingered back still.

"Hey, you're gonna get left behind if you stick around any longer!" Chihiro remarked as she looked down at the mabu.

"Oh, I'll catch up!" The mabu replied as they turned back to Chihiro. "Before I went back, I just wanted to thank you! If you hadn't stopped those thieves, I don't know what would have become of our village!"

"Oh, you don't need to thank me!" Chihiro leaned back and lifted up a hand. "I was just doing my job!"

The mabu grinned as they gently nudged Chihiro with their elbow. "Well, you did a great one, alright!"

The mabu dashed off into the jungle path, right as everything was tinted with a slight white light. "Goodbye, portal master! Thanks for everything!"

The mabu disappeared into the jungle path right as everything around Chihiro dissipated into a swarm of bright, rainbow-colored lights. Yeah, this meant that her work here was definitely done! Chihiro gasped a little as the lights swarmed her, but nodded and grinned as she turned back to the path.

"No problem! Farewell!"

Chihiro grinned as she waved back to the path, even though a part of her knew there was nobody there to see. She made a soft, content smile as she closed her eyes and let the light swallow her.

"Mission complete!" buzzed a voice from the skies above as a loud ding echoed through the void…