The pale, dull light of Ancient's Peak long since faded in everyone's minds as they crossed through the chain, and into the inky depths of this strange, strange… Hey, where were they all going, anyways? With all the lights out, the vast darkness of the surroundings completely blanketed away any sort of sign as to where they were! All they could do was trust the chain's path as they followed it further into the depths.

"Hey, who turned out all the lights?" Chihiro asked as she took slow, gingerly steps across the chain, its faint glow the only source of light in the entire area. "I can't see a—ACK!"

Chihiro grunted as Spyro bumped right into her back and toppled them both onto the chain, though luckily, the magic kept them stuck tight to its links!

"WAIT, WHAT WAS THAT, SIRS?" Drill Sergeant exclaimed as he swerved and spun around the chain. "WAS IT THE SECURITY, BEEP?"

Drill Sergeant's spinning bounced and shook the chain, and Spyro and Chihiro's balance became even more unsteady than before!

"Hey, Drill Sergeant, calm down!" Chihiro cried as she waved her arms and tried to regain her footing, "All that spinning is making me dizzy!" Chihiro grunted as she slammed back into an equally-offset Spyro. "Ack!"

Spyro and Chihiro both squeaked as they landed backwards, slammed face-first into the chains, and groaned as they heaved themselves back up.

"Ugh," Chihiro groaned as she rubbed her face, "sorry 'bout that, Golden Boy."

"Ergh, you're okay, I'm fine," Spyro grunted as he shook his head and jumped back to all four paws, "Hey, where's Drill Sergeant?"

"INCOMING, BEEP BOOP!"

Spyro and Chihiro turned their gaze ahead, and before either of them knew it, Drill Sergeant crashed into them both and all three of them went tumbling down the chain! Their screams echoed through the dark chambers as they crashed against the chain's cold, magical metal, and bounced against it like it was a trampoline!

"Owch!" they all cried as one as the chain pulled them back down, and slammed them against its links just to toss them off again!

"Ugh," Chihiro groaned as she held her bright red forehead, "somebody get the number on that—" Chihiro then popped open her eyes and shrieked "—INCOMING!"

But, her warning came a bit too late; they slammed right into the chain once more! This time, the chain held them so tight that they practically squished together into one round ball, and went rolling down the remainder of the chain! The only thing that could be heard were the echoes of their screams and the rattle of chains as they tumbled down the chain, finally tripped and leaped off once more!

Their leap slammed them right into a cold, metal platform soon after, and they were finally free—but at what cost? They all slammed face first with such velocity that every bone in their bodies surely ached!

"Talk about a rough landing," Chihiro groaned as she sat up and pushed down her disheveled hair. "I—"

"Ugh, Chi, you're, you're," grunted something down below Chihiro, "kinda, squishing, me!"

Chihiro chirped as she lifted her head, turned that head down, and promptly squealed and gasped as she realized that she landed right on top of a very disgruntled Spyro. "Sorry about that, Gold!" Chihiro cried as she leaped off Spyro's back.

"It's, alright, I think I needed my back cracked anyways." Spyro grunted as he staggered back to all fours and cricked his neck. "Say, where's Drill Sergeant?"

"Er, right here, sirs," Drill Sergeant moaned from just across as the whir of his wheels echoed throughout the halls. "If you do not mind, I could use some assistance in getting back to my wheels."

A soft, small light illuminated the halls as Double Trouble tsked and floated down the chain with an eyebrow raised at the very disheveled Drill Sergeant. Double Trouble waved his staff as it glowed a bright cyan-purple mix, and a light of the same color enveloped Drill Sergeant and set him back to his full height! Drill Sergeant let out a series of happy beeps as he spun around, but those beeps faded as he rolled up to Double Trouble and rumbled.

"Hey, hey!" Wrecking Ball cried as he leaped off the chain and bonked Drill Sergeant on the head!

"Augh! Watch where you are landing, boop!" Drill Sergeant cried as Wrecking Ball bounced off of his head and bounded onto the floor.

"But how can I?" Wrecking Ball tilted his head and frowned as Drill Sergeant made a series of angry beeps. "Everything around here's so dark and spooky."

Double Trouble turned back to Drill Sergeant, and said something as he gestured towards the world around, his tone laced with a bit of an inquisitive notion.

"Do not ask me!" Drill Sergeant shot back as he rubbed his head with his drill hands. "My memory banks were damaged, so I have no recollection of what this place exactly is."

"But thankfully, I can answer that question for you!" boomed a deep, almost robotic voice that sounded out of nowhere.

With a few spurts of cyan sparkles, a hologram formed out of nowhere. Its quality was grainy like an old VHS tape and glitchy, but, it was a hologram nonetheless! More importantly, it was a hologram of the Weapon Master with his crossed arms and stern looks!

"Weapon Master dude!" Chihiro cried as she skipped up to face the hologram and waved in its face. "Just what is this place, then?"

The Weapon Master cleared his throat as he gestured up to the ceiling. "You have finally arrived at the Armored Vault, the armory that we used to hold the Arkeyan Empire's greatest treasures. It has one of the largest collections of Arkeyan art, technology, treasure, and most importantly, the Eternal Magic Source." A description such as that normally would have been paired with wonder, and awe, and excitement, but the Weapon Master only bore his words with exhaustion and tempered rage.

He turned his gaze over to the vast darkness up ahead. "Once, this place filled me with awe and wonder, but now I can only view it with scorn." The Weapon Master frowned as he looked around. "That is, if the lights weren't out. It seems as though somebody must have deactivated its power source since I last came here."

"Yeah, that's kinda obvious." Chihiro chuckled as she dug her hands into her pockets and scuffed her shoes against the floor. "But, if there's an off switch, there's gotta be something to turn it on, right?"

"Indeed, there should be." The Weapon Master frowned as he scratched his head. "But, I can't seem to recall just where it was, and surely all this blanketing darkness doesn't help."

Chihiro frowned, snapped her fingers, and summoned a simple sphere of light, a mock flashlight that guided her around as she paced across the platform. Not that there was anything particularly of note, though. Pillars of fancy metal decoration here, some deactivated robots there, a suspiciously bright red button across the way. Wait, a suspiciously bright red button?

Chihiro whipped her head around as she walked right past the button, backtracked over and grinned. Something like this would have to be a power source, right? Suspiciously glowing red buttons glow for a reason, after all! Chihiro balled her hand into a fist, and slammed it as hard as she could against the button! The button slammed back into the panel that held it as its glow faded, but while the button's glow disappeared, the world around them all finally started to illuminate!

"Yes, looks like I was right!" Chihiro grinned. She turned around, and basked in the sound of mechanical whirring like a machine coming to life!

One by one, the lights above all flickered on and unveiled a massive, domelike room. Its depths lit in shades of blue and green that contrasted well with the red and gold metal walls of the dome that closed them in. The platforms they all stood on were round, and made of golden metal illuminated by simple, yellow spheres of light that hovered over the platform's railing on golden torches. Just in the distance, one could spot the platforms above whirring to life—not that they were the only ones coming alive!

All around them, those weird mechanical pillars spun and twirled like dancers on a stage, while hanging platforms above hovered down and up again as the conveyor belts which held them started to turn! Even the robotic statues that littered the platform clunked and buzzed as they started to lift their heads and unveiled "eyes" that glowed with a gentle white light.

Chihiro grinned, skipped in front of one of those robots and waved a hand in front of its face. Though it didn't seem to notice her, given that it stood still and stagnant as ever, Chihiro still greeted it with her usual sunny enthusiasm as her grin spread across her face.

"Heya buddy!" Chihiro chirped while she stood tall. "How're you doing? Was your several thousand year long nap nice?"

The robot seemingly blinked as its glow faded and strengthened. The same was true of the other robots; they turned as one mind and fixed their eyes on Chihiro, Spyro, Wrecking Ball, Drill Sergeant, and Double Trouble.

"Examining… Examining…" the robots all droned at once as they lifted their heads while their eyes' glow cycled between a number of colors.

"Uh, Chi?" Spyro said as he stepped up to Chihiro and examined the robotic gallery with a frown. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"What's there to have a bad feeling about?" Chihiro turned around and shrugged. "They're just robots!"

"I wouldn't say that if I were you…"

"They're just a bunch of metal parts, Golden Boy! We could take them down in a snap if we wanted to!"

A simple, dragon-like shadow slunk out from behind the shadows of the platform's torches as Spyro and Chihiro debated the exact danger level of the robots that faced them. Its murky, shadowy form rose up from the ground till it was a shadow no longer. No, it transformed into Dark Spyro, who popped his head out from the shadowy mass, flicked his wings to cast off the rest of the shadows, and unveiled Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball! The three of them all winced as they turned their eyes towards the other Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball that held up the back of Chihiro's little group.

"I smell something strange," the other Wrecking Ball remarked as it shuffled its round little body around, "and it seems like it is coming from—" the other Wrecking Ball whipped around and snarled "—there!"

The other Wrecking Ball made a sinister giggle, but only for a few seconds; its gaze loosened up soon after, for behind it was nothing aside from the metal walls and platforms that made up the rest of the vault!

"Huh? I could have sworn there was an odd presence behind me not a second ago." The other Wrecking Ball frowned and tilted its head, right as the other Double Trouble's staff slammed right onto its head. "ACK!"

The other Double Trouble leaned down and hissed right into the other Wrecking Ball's ear, and the other Wrecking Ball snarled and made a low growl. As they whispered insults, they didn't even notice the shadows behind them warble and form a solid shape as they rose off the ground.

"Phew, they didn't see us," Dark whispered as he rose from the shadows and wiped shadowy goop from his forehead. "That was a close one!"

Dark's sigh of relief and smile, however, were short-lived. He snarled back at the other Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball, who were still quick to argue with each other. Though their voices were little more than hushed whispers, a kind of tension surrounded them as they shot glares like knives back and forth at each other. Their harsh looks made it all too apparent what they were doing, and more importantly, they were so absorbed in it that they hadn't even noticed anything around them—including Dark's reappearance!

"They're distracted, now's our chance!" Dark nudged his snout towards Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball while they started to reemerge. "Quick, we've gotta knock them out before—"

Dark Spyro stopped short as a sharp beep resounded through the air, a beep so sharp that everyone winced and covered their ears for a few moments! Dark reeled back and covered his earholes as the screech echoed through the cavern, frowned, and lifted his head as he turned an eye towards the swarm of robots ahead.

"Oh?"

Up ahead of them, the glow around the robots' eyes completely faded as they fixed their gaze back on Chihiro, Spyro, Drill Sergeant, and the other Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble. Their eyes turned narrow and red as they all held out their arms, and turned their hands into massive cannons that flared with red and white light!

"INTRUDERS DETECTED!" the robots exclaimed with the voices of a thousand. Their guns charged so fast that they let out a massive, unholy screech like a dying dragon. "PERISH BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE ARKEYAN EMPIRE!"

Chihiro screamed and jumped out of the way as a massive energy blast slammed straight through the place where she once stood. She turned back and grimaced as the blast slammed right into a metal statue and melted it to bits and golden red goop!

"Yeah, you were right, Golden Boy!" Chihiro cried. She screamed as she teleported out the way of another blast, ducked under another, and turned around to cast a shield that blocked a few more of those darn blasts. "Sorry I ever doubted you!"

Spyro didn't reply, for he had his paws full as he flew, and swept, and wove between the massive onslaught of white-hot energy blasts! He grunted as he spun out the way of one, and his eyes flashed purple as he shot a round of magic blasts that blew up the robots' energy blasts in mid-transit! Spyro skidded back as the explosions crafted clouds of purple smoke that masked the area between him and the robots, all while he heaved heavy breaths. With a lift of his head and a shift in eye color to red, he shot off a round of fireballs that slammed into the robots and melted them to scrap!

While he fought the robots, he didn’t notice that Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble were right behind him! They both grinned as they licked their leaps, and hovered over him as if they were ready to strike, before they could, something slammed into them and tossed them aside! They both grunted, turned to each other, and snarled as they pointed accusing fingers.

"WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?" Wrecking Ball cried as he glared at Double Trouble, a glare that only grew more furious as Double Trouble shouted back at him. "I DIDN'T HIT YOU, YOU HIT ME! WHAT OTHER THING COULD HAVE—"

"Wrecks, Doubs!" Chihiro exclaimed as she turned her attention back from where she held her shield. "What're you talking about?"

The two of them froze as Chihiro raised a brow back at them, screamed, and dashed off as an energy blast exploded at their feet!

Chihiro frowned, but only for a minute before she turned back to her shield. She grunted as she held her shield strong, but unfortunately, while it was strong, it wasn't exactly heat-resistant; the blasts just burned holes right through it! Chihiro ducked for cover as her shield shattered to bits, and pulled herself up just in time to spy a red and gold blur as it dash through the fray! Wait, red and gold?

"Everyone, please cease your fire!" Drill Sergeant beeped as the energy blasts slammed into his body and bounced off like rubber balls. "We are actually on your side! See, I am an Arkeyan just like you are!"

The robots beeped as they froze in their spots for a moment, all while the blasts they shot flew into the abyss. Their red-eyed stare softened just a bit as they looked over Drill Sergeant, and those red glows shifted colors as all mechanical stares turned to him.

"You see, I am a model ADR-111511, a drilling robot created specifically to act as both a war machine and a resource gatherer," Drill Sergeant explained as he waved his drills in the air. "Surely you must have my serial number registered somewhere in your databases?"

The robots beeped and whirred as the lifted their heads to the ceiling, but their eyes settled on a dangerously bright shade of crimson as they pointed their blasters back at Drill Sergeant!

"NO SUCH ROBOT IS REGISTERED IN OUR DATABANKS," the robots proclaimed as they jabbed their charging cannons towards Drill Sergeant, who made a shrill string of beeps and would surely be sweating bullets if he was organic. "NOW PERISH!"

Drill Sergeant screamed and charged away as the energy blasts shot towards him, but those robots weren't going to give up! They immediately bolted after him and shot faster, and the rest of the team was completely forgotten in their minds because of it!

Chihiro grinned, slowly pushed herself off the ground and chuckled. She balled her hand into a fist, her eyes trailed to a red and gold ray gun blaster about the size of those rocking horse toys they had in playgrounds, and she made a break for it!

"THANKS FOR THE DISTRACTION, DRILL!" Chihiro shouted as she leaped off the ground and landed right on the blaster!

The blaster whirred and spun as it tried to shake Chihiro, but like the rider of a raging bull, she wrapped herself tight around it and held herself steady! The blaster tried to shake her with blasts of energy; however, being a blaster with no brain, it didn't seem to comprehend that she wasn't in its line of fire!

Rather, its blasts soared towards the robots that chased after Drill Sergeant! Before the robots even realized what was going on, the blasts slammed into them and blew them to bits! Gnashers and seared bits of metal flew everywhere as smoke crowded the rooms. The gnashers all shuddered and exploded to add another layer of smoke onto that layer!

Chihiro grinned as the sight and sound of explosions blowing up in the distance hit both her eyes and ears. She untwisted her legs from the underbelly of the blaster and flipped up! The blaster leaned up and got ready to shoot her, but before it could, she summoned a gigantic hammer and smashed it to bits! Chihiro slung her hammer over her shoulder as the smoke finally cleared away, while all around her, piles of singed, broken metal and haphazard wiring signified that they had won this match!

"We're all clear, everyone!" Chihiro proclaimed as she waved back to the others. "Let's get moving!"

Everybody else grinned as they got up and got ready to do just that. The moment they finally started to walk ahead, however, the entire area dyed red as ear-shattering sirens blared overhead with such force that it pushed everyone to their knees!

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Chihiro cried at the top of her lungs.

She held her ears so tight that it was like she was about ready to rip them off! She bit her lip as the sirens and lights got more intense, but as she finally mustered the strength to open her eyes, she screamed and scrambled back.

Hovered above the platforms were massive red and gold choppers all loaded with Arkeyan robots! Big, round robots with massive cannons for hands, knights dressed in armor and armed with spiky maces, angry scuttlebugs with guns atop their heads… Worse yet, there was enough of them for at least three armies!

The robots all leaped out of the choppers, slammed down into the platforms with such force that some of the heavier ones left craters in the floor, and immediately rushed towards Chihiro, Spyro and Drill Sergeant!

Chihiro gasped, and summoned a pair of magical sunglasses and earplugs as she dodged out the way of a mace's swing! In between dodging, she plugged the earplugs in, popped the sunglasses over her eyes, grinned and teleported away.

"Now that's much better!" Chihiro proclaimed as she summoned a pair of magical swords and sharpened them against each other. "Now, WHO WANTS TO GET CHOPPED UP FIRST?"

Several of the knightlike robots charged towards Chihiro, but she just teleported behind them and stabbed one in the back with her swords! As it exploded and took the other few with it, she dashed off, leaped towards an unsuspecting scuttlebug, and slashed it in half.

She turned around and intercepted a mace strike with her swords; the mace and the sword ground against each other for a few moments, but she whipped out her other sword and slashed it against the mace's knight! While the knight stumbled back, Chihiro bolted forward, sprinted up and plunged her swords right into the knight's chest! She yanked the swords out of the knight's chest as it sparked, and dashed away right as it exploded!

"Man, there's a lot of these things!" Spyro exclaimed as he swept beside Chihiro and shot off a round of fireballs. "If they keep pouring in, I don't know if we'll be able to keep up!"

Spyro gasped and teleported away as an energy blast rocketed straight towards him. As he reappeared, he shot a fireball as hot as the morning sun towards the robot that shot the blast! While it erupted into flames, he finally wore down enough that he fell down to the floor and grunted.

"Spyro!" Chihiro exclaimed as she released her swords and dashed to his side. As she lifted him up, Spyro just gave her a small smile and lifted his head high.

Chihiro bit her lip as she peeped back at the battlefield.

There, Drill Sergeant, Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball gave their all to fight the oncoming swarms of robots. However, even in spite of the intensive way they fought, it was obvious that this fighting started to take its toll on them; their blows became slower and more scattered, and the breaks between these blows were filled with labored breaths and sunken shoulders.

Yet, the robots didn't seem to relent at all! In fact, the sounds of helicopter blades ripped across the area and sent massive gusts of wind down as more helicopters flew in!

"There's even more of them?" Spyro and Chihiro cried as the helicopters draw closer and closer. They bit their lips as they turned to each other; neither of them wanted to admit it, but they knew what they were going to say.

"I hate to interrupt at such a perilous time," the Weapon Master said as his hologram popped out from nowhere, "but you need to hurry! These forces are pouring in from all corners of the vault, and at this rate, there will be too many for you to fight!"

"Yeah, we kinda noticed!" Spyro shouted back as he stood up and flared his wings. "What'll we do now?"

The Weapon Master cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. "I've managed to remotely reprogram one of our battlesuit robots, and it's waiting for you at the end of this string of platforms." The Weapon Master clasped his bulky hands together. "If you run now, you should be able to make it before—"

The sound of mechanical grinding rang out across the vault, and turned all eyes back to the beginning of the platform's paths as a red and gold mechanical gate started to rise!

"The gates! They've started to rise!" The Weapon Master's jaw dropped as it turned back to Spyro and Chihiro. "Hurry, get to that robot! It's your only chance at retrieving the Eternal Magic Source."

Chihiro grunted, and nodded as she staggered to her feet and got ready to bolt for it—but before she could, Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball bolted past her!

"Don't worry about it!" Wrecking Ball cried as he hopped along. "You guys keep fighting those robots, we'll go get that Eternal Magic Source!"

"Hey, don't leave me behind!" Chihiro shouted as she darted after them. "I'm not going to sit around here and wait for the Eternal Magic Source, either!"

Double Trouble, however, just gritted his teeth and whipped around mid-flight! He forced a grin as he waved his hands, and said something that made Chihiro frown and raise an eyebrow.

"I'll be fine, Doubs! Besides, you heard what that Weapon Master said." Chihiro shouted back as she ran after him. "At this rate, those robots will have us outmatched!"

Double Trouble clenched his forehead and shouted something back, and Chihiro hung her head and frowned further.

"Of course I'm sure, Double Trouble!" Chihiro lifted her head as she puffed her cheeks. "You're acting really weird, you know that?"

Double Trouble sputtered something out as his eyes went wide, but before Chihiro could reply, a massive blast of air came from a descending helicopter and blew her back! Chihiro grunted as she tried to stagger up, yet the helicopter parked beside the platform and spat out an entire platoon of sword-wielding robots before she could even hop back on her feet! The shock from this was enough to send Chihiro upright, but she was a little too late; the robots completely encircled her.

"Of all the rotten…" Chihiro grumbled as she held out her glowing hand while massive winds whipped around her. "I DON'T HAVE TIME TO DEAL WITH YOU BUCKETS OF BOLTS!"

Miniature hurricanes made of solid purple magic spawned around Chihiro and swept the robots into their storms!

While those robots were dealt with in no time, even more of them swarmed Dark Spyro and the other Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball! The three of them were completely backed into a corner; their exits got walled off by large, bulky Arkeyan Ultrons that shielded them not just from escape, but from anybody else's view, too!

"Ugh, why now, of all times?" Dark Spyro growled as purple fire burned against his throat. "We've gotta find those clones before they pull something nasty!"

Dark Spyro let out a massive exhale, and sent an entire wildfire of purple flames cascading down onto the Ultrons. The fire were completely extinguished the moment they hit the Ultrons’ metal surfaces. Not that they didn't leave any effect, however, as the Ultrons just whirred while their white light "eyes" turned red! In a swift second, all the Ultrons turned their blaster hands on Dark Spyro, Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball, and judging by the way those blasters screeched, they would fire any second now!

"Oh crap!" Dark cried as he scrambled backwards, and winced as his back hit cold, metal railing.

His eyes drifted down to the massive waters below, and he made another wince for a moment, but that wince quickly became a grimace as his eyes fell back on the Ultrons once more. He craned his head up down, around, and every which way he could, but it seemed as though nothing provided a viable escape route! That is, until his eyes fell on the shadows the Ultrons left on the floor!

"There!" Dark Spyro shouted as he grabbed Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble's shoulders!

He dove into the shadows, and all three of them disappeared right as the Ultrons fired! As the Ultrons' blasts hit nothing but solid metal, Dark slunk across the floors and well out of their reach, popped his head out of the shadows, and gasped as the fake Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball wove their way towards the rising gate!

"Not on my watch!" Dark cried as he dunked his head back into the shadows and dashed off in hot pursuit!

Behind him, Chihiro grimaced and held her arms in front of her chest as she magically dug her feet into the ground. The tornadoes she had crafted raged around her at twice their prior size, and spat the broken remains of Arkeyan robots everywhere they turned! She knelt down and dug her heels further as the tornadoes all exploded in one united, powerful blast, and as the wind settled, she finally looked around…

And found that Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball left her in the dust; they already hopped over the gate and went on their merry way! Chihiro grunted, dashed towards the gate, grabbed onto its bars and vaulted herself over it before she made pursuit.

"Hey, Chi!" Spyro shouted as he flew forward. "Wait for us!"

"Indeed, sir!" Drill Sergeant proclaimed as he charged forward.

Spyro and Drill Sergeant both raced forward as the gate drew higher and higher before them, but right before they could reach it, a bunch of robots rushed in front of them with weapons at the ready! Spyro stepped back and grimaced as the robots charged, but Drill Sergeant powered forward and charged right back! As Drill Sergeant tossed the robots off their feet and into the air, Spyro mowed them down with an entire wave of burning fire!

Drill Sergeant swerved right around to where the back of the robot crowds had started to catch up, flipped out his laser blasters and narrowed his mechanical eyebrows. "You may want to get out of the way, sir!" Drill Sergeant beeped. "This next laser will be a blast!"

Spyro jumped up and flew towards the ceiling, and just in time, too!

Right as he hit the skies, Drill Sergeant fired out a laser blast so great it even pushed him back. The laser shot through the crowds of charging robots and burnt them to piles of ashes, and even those ashes didn't stay long as the helicopters' wind blew them away in a twister of dust!

Spyro leaped back down to the floor, and charged back towards the gate with Drill Sergeant, right as the gate came dangerously close to touching the ceiling! Would they make it? Unfortunately, they didn't; just as they came inches closer, its top slammed into the ceiling and formed a magical dome around the platform! Spyro snarled and gritted his fangs as he charged into the gate, but it was so strong that it just blew him back! He grunted as he tumbled onto his back and leaned up, sighed and rubbed his head.

"Allow me, sir!" Drill Sergeant proclaimed as he leaned forward and revved his engines. "After all, I was licensed to drill!"

With one last rev, Drill Sergeant charged forward and slammed right into the gate! Though he pushed his hardest against the gate, and with such intensity that flaming sparks flew everywhere, all it did was make the gate's metal bars hotter! Seems as though he wasn't strong enough on his own to take it down.

So, Spyro held out his paws while they glowed with a purple light, slammed them on Drill Sergeant, and drew back as Drill Sergeant glowed with a violet aura! This violet aura glowed brighter and stronger while the rev of Drill Sergeant's engine grew more intense, and he drew back with a new force as he slammed drills-first into the gate once more! Dust kicked up all around as he pushed and charged against the gate, all while Spyro watched with concern in his golden eyes.

While they tried to bust through the gate, however, Chihiro pushed well past it as she pursued Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball!

"Hey, Doubs, Wrecks, wait up!" Chihiro cried as she bolted down the string of golden pathways, grunted and fell to her knees. "Man, when did they get so fast?"

Chihiro groaned as she held her tired, dizzy head, pulled herself back up and frowned. Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball completely disappeared from the path ahead in the moment she took to rest, it seemed. Chihiro staggered back to full height and got ready to run.

Before she could, the lights that hovered over the railing sank down into it, and blasters replaced them!

Chihiro gasped as they all whirred and got ready to fire, but just as they shot their blasts, Chihiro leaped off the floor and grinned! Down below her, the energy blasts conversed into one big blob that merged together, exploded and wiped out the middle chunk of the blasters! Chihiro chuckled as she fell down to the floor, snapped her fingers and grinned as a ring of magical shields revolved around her. Chihiro dashed further ahead as the blasters shot at her, but their blasts only bounced off of her shields and returned to sender!

The blasters exploded to bits as their energy blasts flew back at them, though Chihiro only gave them slight glances as she leaped forward and slammed down into the ground ahead.

"Double Trouble, Wrecking Ball, you here?" Chihiro shouted as her shields released around here. "Come on, guys, you couldn't have just vanished into thin air!"

While Chihiro wandered forward and called for them, what she didn't notice was that they were closer than she thought! Just above her, hidden behind a large stack of red and gold blocks, were none other than Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball! They both grinned and fixed their eyes on Chihiro as Wrecking Ball licked his lips and opened his mouth, fully ready to shoot his tongue out—

—but before he could, that same black blast zoomed past and spun him around!

Wrecking Ball snarled as he dug his grubby paws into the floor and slowed to a stop. "Hey, what was that all about?" Wrecking Ball huffed, narrow eyes and bared fangs and all. He stopped and shuddered as his antenna stood on their ends. "Wait, that strange presence, I feel it again!"

"What are you talking about?" Double Trouble whispered as he waved his staff towards the other side of the platform. "The only strange presence I feel is that—"

Right before Double Trouble could finish, however, the black blast charged him right into Wrecking Ball! The two of them screamed as they both slammed back into the railing, but Double Trouble popped open his eyes and stammered as he pointed his staff upwards with shaky hands!

"Oh, you better have felt me!" cried Dark Spyro's raspy, rage-filled voice. It filtered to hold the voices of a thousand as that black blast morphed into a large, draconic shadow. "You may have gotten away from me last time, but you've got nowhere to run now!"

The shadow warbled and shuddered for moments, and Dark Spyro leaped out from the shadow's grip as he headbutted Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble! While they cried out, he leaped back and snarled while purple flames sparked and popped at his lips.

Double Trouble cleared his throat and spat out words of shock as he pointed his staff right towards Dark, and Wrecking Ball winced as he massaged his forehead with his tongue. Wrecking Ball popped his eyes open, gasped and fell to all fours; Dark Spyro's burning red eyes fixed on him, and he knew that he was Dark's next target! So, he gulped and whimpered as his eyes grew round and teary like a begging puppy.

"Dark, Dark, why are you being so mean?" Wrecking Ball asked as his voice started to crack. "I thought we were friends!"

"Oh, quit the act!" Dark Spyro's snarl deepened while the fires at his muzzles burned brighter and bolder. "You're not the real Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble and we all know it!"

Dark took a step forward, and then a second as he narrowed his eyebrows while the flames around his mouth morphed into a full-on fireball! "You're Kaos's clones trying to sneak the Eternal Magic Source out from under our noses, but you're not getting that chance! I'll knock your lights out before you do!"

Dark's brow tightened while his fireball burned as bright as the sun, and that didn't exactly go unnoticed; Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble squealed and clung to each other! A low growl grew into a rumbling cry of war as the fireball came just inches away from flying off…

"Wrecking Ball!" Chihiro cried in the distance. "Double Trouble! Where'd you go?"

Dark's tight gaze loosened in a split second, and the fireball perched at his muzzle completely vanished into sparks and faint, lavender embers!

"Chihiro!" Dark Spyro gasped as his eyes went wide! He stood frozen for mere moments as Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble cackled behind him, glared and whipped back towards the path below. "I've gotta warn her!"

Right before Dark Spyro could hit Chihiro's line of sight, though, Double Trouble teleported in front of Dark Spyro! Dark Spyro gasped again and stumbled backwards, but unfortunately for him, that moment of shock was all Double Trouble needed. He slammed Dark Spyro in the gut with his staff, and toss Dark back into his shadow portal!

Double Trouble smirked and propped his staff up as the shadow portal vanished in a puff of black smoke, and he and Wrecking Ball spun out into Chihiro's view with grins.

"There you guys are!" Chihiro exclaimed as she waved to Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball. "I was looking for you, you know!"

Chihiro yelped and jumped away as a blast of energy zipped just inches away from her, scoffed and placed her hands on her hips. "Now, give me a hand here! These stupid blasters just don't know when to quit!"

Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball just grimaced at each other as Chihiro whipped around and shot off a round of magic spheres that blew up blasters in a row. They screamed and jumped a foot in the sky as a blaster shot right towards them!

Double Trouble whipped out his staff, blasted the offending blaster down with a magic laser, and breathed a sigh of relief as he and Wrecking Ball fell back down to the floor. They seemed a bit hesitant to join in as Chihiro blasted down blasters and dodged their blows, but they shuddered and froze alongside everyone else as a massive crash shook the entire vault!

Just back down the path, Spyro and Drill Sergeant bolted up the pathway while an entire crowd of robots tailed them! Those robots didn't seem very happy, given that they shot and swung at Spyro and Drill Sergeant with every chance they got they!

"Come on!" Spyro shouted as he dashed up to Chihiro and bolted ahead. "We've got no time to waste!"

"Right!" Chihiro exclaimed with a nod.

Chihiro was quick to follow after Spyro and Drill Sergeant, while Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble shrugged before they followed in pursuit! They all panted so hard that their chests trembled as they bolted up the steep final path, which lead to a tall platform that loomed over a giant, red and gold humanoid robot. Surely, this was the robot the Weapon Master had prepared for them! Their panting came to a close as they finally hit the center, and turned around as the Weapon Master's hologram flickered on beside them.

"Thank the Ancients you've arrived," the Weapon Master said as he unfolded his clasped hands. "Now, before you get in, I will explain to you—"

"Sorry buddy, but we don't have time for an explanation!" Chihiro exclaimed as she pointed back to the oncoming swarm of robots who started to scale the path. "We've kinda got an angry mob on our hands!"

Chihiro bounded forward and leaped right into the open head of the robot before the Weapon Master could say anything else, followed by Spyro, Drill Sergeant, Double Trouble, Wrecking Ball, and… A thin shadow? Whatever it was, it sneaked in right before the head's hatch closed shut!

As the hatch hissed above them, everybody paused and drank in the robot's control room. It didn't exactly have the kind of feeling one would expect from a control room; what with the fancy red silk floors, and shiny red and gold walls that looked more like polished jewels than metal and all! But, the simple metal chair and massive control panel that stretched across the front and was equipped with so many bells and whistles it was nearly incomprehensible otherwise. Above that panel, a long, rectangular glass window acted as a view to the outside world, a view shielded from the robotic wrath outside!

Chihiro grinned as she dashed forward and immediately leaped to the control panel, her eyes transfixed by all the bells and whistles. But, her joy quickly faded as she scanned the buttons and levels with a twitchy frown.

"Alright, which one of these starts this thing, anyways?" Chihiro asked as her finger hovered over the panel while she herself jumped from spot to spot. "This one? This one? That one kinda looks promising…"

"Actually, it's none of those," the Weapon Master explained as his hologram popped out from the leftmost side of the control panel. "It's this large, red button over here."

Chihiro peered over to the button the Weapon Master pointed at, giggled and gently hit herself in the head. "Duh! Why didn't I see that one before?"

Chihiro jabbed the button, and the robot whirred to life in an instant! The lights that hung from the ceiling above gently glowed, and added a sort of warm atmosphere as the robot's control room as it trudged away from the platform…

"But can't this thing go any faster?" Chihiro asked as she laid her elbows on the few bare spots of the control panel and frowned.

"That is what the control sticks are for," the Weapon Master replied as he gestured to two large joysticks. "Just grab them and push them forward!"

Chihiro giggled as she rubbed her hands, latched them onto the joysticks and pushed them forward! As she did this, the robot leaned down as it moved from a trudge, to a brisk walk, and before they knew it, it full-on sprinted across the vault's hallways with such speed that water splashed against the walls! Huh, so that's what that greenish-blue stuff below was.

Chihiro grinned as the robot ran well away from the Arkeyan robot forces, but that grin quickly faded away as she turned back to Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball.

"Something about them seems kinda off, and not in a good way… But what, exactly?" Chihiro whispered as she narrowed her eyes. Those eyes trailed over to the walls, where a vaguely dragonlike shadow lurched in what seemed like pain before it dashed off and vanished, "Wait, did that shadow move on its own?"

Chihiro turned her gaze back to Spyro, but he hadn't moved from the spot where he talked with Drill Sergeant.

"So, what was with that thing?" Chihiro frowned and hummed for a few moments, but finally smiled and shook her head. "Eh, I was probably just seeing things."

Chihiro shrugged it off and went back to piloting the robot, though that slight frown of concern stayed stuck to her face still.