Outside, the robot bounded, and spun, and skipped with such speed and strength that it sent water splashing all around the tunnels, yet it still held an almost childlike glee to it as it bounced and leaped across the vaults! As for why, well, this was made apparent the moment one peeked inside and took a look at the pilot.

"WOO-HOO, WOW!" Chihiro cried so loudly that her cries echoed around the halls and reverberated in the tunnels. "I'M PILOTING AN ACTUAL GIANT ROBOT!"

From within the robot's piloting room, Chihiro sat tight in the pilot's chair, her eyes wide as she gripped the joysticks as hard as she could. Her grin stretched from cheek to cheek as she bounded through the halls, completely oblivious to Spyro, Drill Sergeant, Double Trouble, and Wrecking Ball's shouts of shock and fear as the fierce movements of the robot tossed them all around the pilot's room!

"To think, I'd be here, piloting a giant robot down the halls, almost like…" Chihiro giggled as she kicked her legs against her seat in rapid motion. "No, this is just like Dungam!"

Spyro, Wrecking Ball, Double Trouble and Drill Sergeant all groaned as they rolled across the floor in a ball and slammed against one of the nearby walls! They cried in unison as they smashed headfirst into the warm metal, and as they popped off the wall, they grumbled and stumbled away on shaky legs.

"Was robot-sickness a part of Dungam too?" Spyro groaned as his legs gave out and plopped him back down on the floor.

"ONLY IN THE FINALE!" Chihiro whipped around, grinned, and turned her attention back to the front. "NOW HOLD ON TIGHT, I'M GOING FULL-THROTTLE!"

Chihiro let out some very disconcertingly excited giggles as she pushed the joysticks the furthest they could go, giggles that only continued as the robot's inner chamber shook and rumbled!

Outside, the robot took one last leap into the air, and its feet transformed into fully-functional rocket blasters. The rocket blasters spat out black smoke, and sputtered for a moment before finally, they burst into life as massive blue and purple-tinged flames blew from their open sockets! With these new flames came blazing speeds; the robot turned to a functional rocket as it blazed a trail down the halls, and its flames grew so massive that they burned against the watery floors below and left a massive trail of steam behind!

The scenery around became a total blur, but Chihiro didn't seem to mind at all as she pushed the joysticks. It didn't even matter that the wind pressed against her and tossed her hair everywhere, or that her lips flapped in the wind from the intensity of how fast they went. Her laughter turned to the full-on shrill cackles of a pure adrenaline rush as she dashed forward and burst out of the tunnels!

Though, the same couldn't be said for Spyro, Drill Sergeant, Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball. They laid pinned to the back of the room from the sheer force! Heck, even the world around them seemed to suffer from Chihiro's speedy piloting, as the panels around rumbled and shook while the shadows seemed to scream as they took on shapes that vaguely resembled dragons, and people, and round something or others crying in pain as they smashed together...

"LOOK OUT!" Spyro cried as he pointed to a massive panel that blocked off part of the way ahead!

Chihiro's pure excitement came to a screeching stop as she ducked the robot down right in time for Spyro and Double Trouble to slam face-first into the control panel's base! They both groaned as they slid down with nice little impressions on their faces, while Chihiro just chuckled as sweat dripped down her windburned brow.

"Okay, maybe I've been enjoying this pilot thing a little too much." Chihiro chuckled as she leaned down and gently rubbed her fingers against Spyro's head. "Don't worry, it'll be smooth sailing from here on out!"

While Spyro and Double Trouble shook off their surprise blow, Chihiro pulled the joysticks back to neutral and gently smiled as the robot drifted back down into the water. The robot grew just inches away from getting its feet wet, and those rocket thrusters shifted back into proper feet as they crashed back down into the waves with a massive splash! The water rained back down into its ocean body, and Chihiro pushed the joysticks just a tiny bit forward while the robot went on a nice little stroll into the next hall.

"Attention, passengers, this is your captain speaking~" Chihiro said in her best airline captain impression as she held the joysticks tight. "We are currently en route to the Eternal Magic Source, the skies are clear—" Chihiro frowned and looked up "—well, I guess? I mean, there aren't really any skies in a place like this…"

Chihiro shook her head and looked ahead; once again, they found themselves traveling through a round, tunnel-like hallway. This time, it was decorated with fancy runic inscriptions that glowed like fireflies in the night—a light only accentuated by how dull and dark the tunnels around were, for all that lit them beside the runes were some dulling white spotlights overhead.

"The time is probably sometime in the afternoon right now. I don't know if there are any in-travel snacks, but I hope there are. All this pilot talk is giving me a weird craving for peanuts! If you have any questions, please direct them to me, your pilot…"

Double Trouble grunted as he sat back up, floated up and gestured towards the control panel as he said something to Chihiro.

"Oh, you wanna know where the Eternal Magic Source is?" Chihiro turned to Double Trouble, giggled and shrugged. "Yeah, I'd like to know too!" Chihiro turned her attention back to the mess of buttons and levers that made up the control panel, grinned and pressed a chartreuse colored one. "I wonder if one of these buttons has a map?"

However, that button didn't bring up any sort of map; rather, a disco ball popped out of the ceiling from nowhere! Spyro, Wrecking Ball, Double Trouble and Drill Sergeant all looked up and frowned. Above them, the disco ball’s lights spotted the world around in shades of rainbow, and confetti rained down from open tiles in the ceiling.

"Nope, doesn't seem like that one did anything!" Chihiro said as she pressed a bright pink button instead. "Maybe this one?"

While that one got rid of the disco ball and halted the raining confetti, it still didn't bring up a map. Rather, a gigantic vacuum emerged from the ceiling and rumbled as it sucked up everything down below! Everybody else screamed as they drew into the storm, and one by one, Spyro, Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball latched onto Drill Sergeant while Drill Sergeant tried his hardest to charge away!

"NOPE!" Chihiro cried as she pressed a third button that sent the vacuum back inside, but not before it spat out a gigantic pile of peanuts that were probably thousands of years past their expiration date. Chihiro frowned and sniffed the air. "Are those peanuts I smell?"

Double Trouble popped his head out of the peanut pile, and clawed his way out while everyone else struggled their way out. Just as he escaped, cleaning robots swept him away thanks to another unfortunate button press from Chihiro!

"This one? This one? That lever seems promising…"

Chihiro's frantic button pressing continued with gusto, but nothing she pressed seemed to bring up a potential map! They created cake, popped seats in and out of the floor, sent mechanical spiders dropping down from the ceilings, and much more… But once again, nothing brought the map she sought.

"Geez, these controls sure do a whole lot of nothing!" Chihiro scoffed as she puffed her cheeks and stretched her finger towards a golden button. "Maybe the twentieth time's the charm!"

Before she could press the button, however, Double Trouble barged his way out of a swarm of stampeding robots, grabbed Chihiro's arm, and spat out something as he shook her arm with all his might!

"Wait, you changed your mind?" Chihiro asked as she turned back to him and shrugged. "Well, suit yourself!"

Chihiro grabbed back onto the joysticks, and pressed them just forward enough that the robot moved into a brisk run. It was a run fast enough to get them through the tunnels, but not so fast that it sent everyone splatting into the walls. Everybody else breathed sighs of relief behind her, but Chihiro didn't seem nearly as pleased as she looked outside.

Then again, she couldn't entirely be blamed for her discontent. After all, completely identical sights that seemed to mix together met them all around, and it was impossible to discern whether they ran around in circles or not. Every step they took had them pass by identical halls, and identical waterways, and identical… Helicopters?

Chihiro paused, turned to her side and frowned as a trio of Arkeyan helicopters hovered in the air beside her, They all leaned forward like angry wasps ready to strike.

"Wait, when'd those choppers get here?" Chihiro asked, before she shrugged and grinned. "Well, it's not like it matters anyways! With this robot, they'll never know we were sneaking our way in!"

So, Chihiro jiggled one joystick left and right, while outside, the robot paused and waved at the helicopters. The helicopters didn't particularly seem to like that greeting, for they instead readied their cannons and shot blasts of solid energy right at the robot instead! These energy blasts slammed into the robot's hand with such force that its entire arm swung backwards, and Chihiro gasped as she pulled back on the robot's joysticks so that it clumsily stumbled forwards.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Chihiro's eye twitched as the copters hovered in front of her and prepared to shoot once again. "We've got a robot, we're on your side!" Chihiro clenched her teeth and looked aside. "Well, not really but…"

"ATTENTION ALL FORCES!" boomed a gritty, mechanical voice that echoed all around. "THERE HAS BEEN A ROUGE BATTLESUIT ROBOT SPOTTED MAKING ITS WAY THROUGH THE ARMORY. I REPEAT, THERE HAS BEEN A ROGUE BATTLESUIT ROBOT SPOTTED MAKING ITS WAY THOUGH…"

"… Ah."

Chihiro grimaced as holes in the walls around slid open and unveiled entire armies of robots, all of which readied their weapons and fixed their aim on the robot! The robot was so big, and even with their many numbers, these robots were so small that surely they wouldn't even leave a dent, right? Wrong! Their combined blasts leaped out from their guns, blasters, and cannons, and merged into one massive blast that slammed right into the robot's chest and blew it backwards!

Everyone grunted and screamed as the sudden blow sent then all flying backwards, save for Chihiro who stayed stuck to the pilot's seat! Chihiro grunted as the robot finally settled, and gripped the joysticks as tight as she could with her clammy, sweaty palms. She snarled and furrowed her brows.

"You wanna fight, you hunks of scrap?" Chihiro shouted as she pushed the robot further ahead. "ALRIGHT, I'LL GIVE YOU A FIGHT!"

Chihiro pushed the joysticks as far ahead as she could, and the robot leaped into the air and switched to its rocket-thruster feet once more!

"FULL SPEED AHEAD!"

The robot soared ahead towards the robotic armies, stopped, and hovered in midair as it punched and swatted at the robots. Another gigantic mass of energy whizzed past it, and it screeched aside with a burning speed!

Chihiro gasped and froze for a moment as the energy blast disappeared into the abyss, but not for long. The sound of ear-splitting screeches rang all around as another energy blast hurtled her way, and she slid right, screamed, and flipped away as a trio of energy blasts shot towards her!

"Crap, with all these things firing at once, there's no way I'll be able to get a good punch in!" Chihiro exclaimed as she turned back to the control panel. "C'mon, if this is a giant robot, there's gotta be some cannons or laser blasters or something in here? Right, I mean, Dungam had some, I think!"

Chihiro grimaced as she glazed over the leftmost side of the control panel, and finally smacked a fist against an onyx black button!

The robot held out its arms, and its clenched fists receded back into its metallic body in exchange for functional laser cannons! The laser cannons screeched with energy as their centers glowed with a bright white light, and they shot off massive beams that completely incinerated at least a third of the armies!

"ALRIGHT!" Chihiro pumped a fist to the ceiling and grinned. "NOW WE'RE TALKING!"

Chihiro grinned as she rapidly jammed the button, and orbs of pure laser light scattered through the crowds and exploded! The explosions burst around the room while robots and copters alike blew to bits and sank into the oceans.

Unfortunately, that was far from the end of the fight! The ceilings and walls opened up again as the robots' armies looked small enough to charge through, and they sent even more robots charging out! Much more worryingly, these robots were even bigger than before; the largest ones went up to the chest of Chihiro’s own robot.

Chihiro winced and got ready to slam her button again. Before she could, a massive blast of energy charged right for her! Chihiro gasped as she veered left, and dashed right as another wave of massive lasers seared her last spot, but even that was only a moment's rest. Another fleet of robots emerged from the bottom of the floor right while she parked underneath there, and shot a blaze of lasers at her!

Chihiro screeched as she yanked the joysticks up; the robot jumped in midair, and split its legs just in time for the lasers to pass right between their gap! As she fell back to the ground with a massive splash that sent a crashing wave over the robots, Chihiro grinned and slammed that big black button once more.

Once again the robot lifted its arms and got ready to shoot, but a white light emerged out from the armies' waves, and it turned to a massive laser beam that shot just inches away from the robot's head!

Chihiro winced and ducked, but as she did, the blast she charged veered off course and blew right into the wall! Chihiro grimaced and slammed the buttons a few more times in rapid succession, held her robot's arms out and got ready to shoot. Before the blasts could fire, her opponent opened fire first; as she wove through their swarms of lasers and magic blasts, Chihiro's own blasts flew way off target and disappeared into the distance!

"Crap, there's no way I can pilot this thing and fight at the same time!" Chihiro exclaimed as she wrapped her hands tighter around the joysticks. "These guys're way too persistent!"

"Let me try, then!" Spyro exclaimed he jumped to the control panel!

He scanned over the panels as his eyes flashed orange, and several buttons pressed themselves all at once!

The robot whirred and clunked as it completely froze in place, its stop so surprising that it caught everyone around completely off-guard. The robot raised its arms, and an entire barrage of weaponry shot out from the robot with a string of loud booms as the signal! Rockets, flying mechanical fists, and lasers all blasted out from the robot's body; they swarmed towards the robotic armies that opposed their messenger, and these blows were so large and plentiful that the robots couldn't even fight back. The opposing robots could only stare as the oncoming swarm crashed into them and blew them to bits!

Chihiro and Spyro cheered as they high-fived each other, and Chihiro turned her attention back to the windshield and grunted. The next wave of robot soldiers already started to pour in, but Chihiro wasn't going to waste any more time with them. She leaned the joysticks forward, and the robot leaned forward and dashed right past them! Chihiro grinned and chuckled as the robot kept running, but screamed as something blasted the robot in the back and pushed everyone forward!

"What was that?" Chihiro exclaimed as she spun the robot's joysticks around. "Don't tell me it's those guys!"

The robot skidded against the floor and spun around, and unfortunately, they all found that it was those guys. A platoon of helicopters tailed the robot down the halls, and the blasters underneath them charged and readied to fire!

Spyro snarled as he turned back to the control panel and smacked as many buttons as he could; the robot shot off its artillery once more, but these helicopters were sleeker than the others! They just flew out of the way and went back to shooting as the dodged attacks exploded behind them. Spyro winced and immediately went back to the panel, but before he could press a thing, the robot took another nasty blow and he slammed face-first onto the console once more!

"Allow me to help, sir!" Drill Sergeant exclaimed as he wheeled up to the console and tried to push the buttons…

Except, he ran into a problem as well! He had no fingers, only drills for hands, and they unfortunately didn't offer the force for button pressing! All he could do was haplessly poke the buttons that refused to go down!

Drill Sergeant made a noise that vaguely sounded like a whimper as he held up his drills. "Oh dear, it seems as though I have forgotten to calculate beforehand."

Double Trouble sputtered out something as he pushed Drill Sergeant aside and pressed as many buttons as he could. Wrecking Ball bounced onto the control panel as he smacked buttons as well, and they they both grinned as their onslaught shot down a couple of helicopters! They immediately jumped back to the panel and scanned for more buttons to press, but as Wrecking Ball reached for a lever with his tongue, Double Trouble shot him a glare and shouted at him!

"Double Trouble, what are talking about?" Wrecking Ball shouted as he folded his tongue back into his mouth. "This is one of the attacking levers!"

Double Trouble just shouted something back as he shook his staff at Wrecking Ball.

"OF COURSE I DO WHAT I'M DOING, YOU BUFFOON! ALL THESE BUTTONS SHOOT THINGS, SO WHY WOULDN'T THE LEVERS DO THE SAME?" Wrecking Ball snarled as he bounced up and down. "YOU NEVER BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU I CAN HANDLE THINGS! JUST BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW TO CAST FANCY SPELLS—"

Right in the midst of his temper tantrum, Wrecking Ball's eyes popped open and he found Spyro and Drill Sergeant staring right at him with wide, shocked eyes!

Chihiro dashed between them with frantic speed as Spyro’s jaw dropped open! "Guys, quit staring at everything!" Chihiro cried as she slammed her hands down on the control panel and scanned its contents. "Those copters are getting ready to fire, so find something!"

They all rushed across the panels and pressed, pulled and toyed with as many controls as they could, but, they ran into a problem! No matter what they pressed, all they got was a faint clicking and clunking noise!

"No way, don't tell me we're out of ammo!" Spyro exclaimed as he scratched his head. "At a time like this?"

Chihiro's brow twitched as a snarl formed on her face, and with a hiss, she balled her hands into fists and slammed them against the console with so much force that it caught everybody's attention!

"OH, FORGET THIS!" Chihiro yelled as she jiggled the joysticks every which way. "TAKE THIS, YOU STUPID ROBOTS!"

The joysticks flailed and bounced all around, and the robot's arms flailed in response! It spun around and slapped down entire rows and platforms of robots, tossed copters into the seas, smashed into the walls… It was chaos abound! It did get rid of their little robot assault, at least.

As Chihiro burst through the last of the robots, she spun the joystick in a circle, and turned around her robot's head to find the last of the metallic armies as they dropped into the water!

"Phew, that was a close one!" Chihiro remarked as she wiped her forehead. "For a minute, I thought we wouldn't make it out of there alive!"

But while Chihiro caught her breath, the ceiling above them started to shudder.

"I wouldn't hold your breath just yet, Chi!" Spyro cried as he pointed to the window. "Look!"

There, back at the beginning of their rampage, the ceiling started to completely crumble and cave in! It wasn't the only part, either, for the entire ceiling smashed down into the water in rapid succession!

As the rapid destruction grew closer and closer to them, Chihiro screamed while her eyes practically popped out of her head! A rapid spin on her end turned the robot's head back around to the front as it rushed ahead, further and further away from the sounds of destruction. But, while they ran ahead, the caving ceiling came just as fast!

"It's catching up!" Wrecking Ball cried as the rumble grew so strong that it shook the world around him. "We won't make it!"

"NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!" Chihiro cried as she slammed the joysticks forward. "FULL THROTTLE!"

The robot took a few bounds forward, and as it took one last massive leap in the air, its feet changed back to thrusters and it zoomed out of the collapsing tunnel! The shaking of the tunnel only grew more prominent as the robot zoomed back out; everyone save for Chihiro slammed to the very front of control room and smashed face-first into its base! Well, not that this was more of a concern than escaping the oncoming cave-in at the moment.

With guns blazing, the robot burst out of the tunnel right as the last bit of the ceiling completely caved. The collapse buried the tunnel behind in a landslide of broken metal and rock, but finally, the robot stopped and hovered in midair.

"Okay," Chihiro panted as she drew the joysticks back to neutral while the robot floated back down into the watery depths, "now we're safe."

Everybody joined Chihiro in panting and wiping their damp faces as they peered outside the windshield. The sights of water and endless dark tunnels from before swapped for open rooms, chambers cased in walls decorated with red and gold carved metal, and intricate mechanical platforms. Empty carts on conveyor belts hovered above them as they traveled their usual paths, and a series of mechanical platforms spun around volcanoes that spewed sparkling, purple lava just in front of them! It looked so mysterious and welcoming all the same, so transfixing that one could just watch it forever.

The didn't seem to matter much to Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball as they shuddered beside Chihiro.

"Hey, what's up, you two?" Chihiro asked as she leaned over. "Robot-sickness?"

Double Trouble just frantically shook his head and gestured out to the open world before them, all while Chihiro pursed her lips and hummed.

"Wait, you sense some magic presence thingie?" Chihiro repeated as her eyebrows quirked. "That's gotta mean…"

"Yes, indeed," the Weapon Master said as his holograph popped out from the control panel. "Just beyond this stretch is the vault where the Eternal Magic Source is kept."

Chihiro grinned as she kicked her feet against the console's base and pumped her arms in the air. "YEAH, BABY! IT WON'T BE LONG NOW!"

"Er, please, calm down!" The Weapon Master shuddered and sputtered as his hologram flickered in and out from the sudden shocks. "This will be far from easy!"

Chihiro froze and let her arms and legs fall down as she leaned forward.

"Given the importance of such a treasure, the security up ahead is some of the strongest we have here in this vault. You will have to be very careful going forward—"

"Eh, don't worry about it, we'll be fine!" Chihiro waved her hands and grinned. "I've got this giant robot piloting thing down pat!" Chihiro winked as she shot a fingergun at the Weapon Master's hologram. "I watched Dungam, after all!"

"Were you not screaming and panicking just moments ago, sir?" Drill Sergeant asked as he slanted his brows and gave Chihiro the most tired stare a robot could muster.

Chihiro just shrugged and reached out for a dial on the control panel. "Y'know, I wonder if this thing has a radio?" Chihiro whispered as she gently cranked the dial.

As she cranked away, a jaunty, triumphant tune blasted out from a speaker nearby! Chihiro giggled and leaned back in her seat as the robot marched in time with the tune's blasting trumpets and rolling drums. That is, until a volcano ahead spewed out a rain of purple lava and forced her to pull back!

"Man, they really they really don't mess around here!" Chihiro exclaimed before she lowered her head. "Well, if I was guarding something like the Eternal Magic Source, I suppose I wouldn't mess around, either."

Chihiro gripped her joysticks tight as she got ready to press forward, squeaked, and drew back into neutral as she realized just what lied ahead! A waterfall made of cooled, dark violet rock that hissed with stream bridged the way between a river made entirely of that same hot, purple lava, and it laid just beyond the pools of water she sloshed through at the moment.

The volcanoes ahead of them continued to spew hot, steaming purple lava that streamed down into the path ahead and trickled over the massive, purple igneous rock barrier. As the lava seared in her ears, Chihiro frowned and brushed her hand against the console.

"Maybe this thing's lava-proof?" Chihiro asked as she grabbed the joysticks. "Well, doesn't hurt to check!"

Chihiro gripped the joysticks tight, pressed them forward and tapped the igneous rock bridge with the robot's foot. She seemed to have pressed it maybe a little too hard, for she ended up smashing a foot-sized hole in the igneous rock barrier! Lava spewed out from the hole and poured over the robot's foot, which melted away from the sheer heat of the lava. Chihiro screamed and drew back as the lava continued to spit out from the hole and rain into the water, but gasped as steam flooded into the room. Chihiro grunted and pressed a button atop the joystick to wipe the robot's windshield clean.

Its windshield cleared of steam, and Chihiro turned her attention down to the floor as she backed away further. The lava began to eat up the water as it pooled around the floors and ate away at the walls. If this kept up, surely the entirely place would be absorbed by the lava!

"We've gotta get out of here," Chihiro said as she gripped her joysticks tighter and winced, "but how? There's no way I'll be able to get through all this lava like this!"

"Then perhaps," said the Weapon Master as his hologram popped up and glazed over the control panel, "it is time to utilize full-pilot mode!"

"Full-pilot mode?" Chihiro pulled the robot back further as the lava spreaded further. "What the heck is that?"

The Weapon Master said no words, and instead gestured to a bright, shiny gold button that popped out from a seemingly-empty slot in the control panel's rightmost side.

"Press this button and you will find out."

Chihiro giggled and wiggled her fingers as she hovered over the button, She absorbed its bright, shiny glow, almost like it was beckoning for her. "Well, I do like pressing buttons!"

"Wait, Chi!" Spyro shouted as he whipped his head around. "I'm not sure that's—"

Well, Spyro was too late to dissuade her, for Chihiro slammed the button down before he even finished!

At first, nothing really seemed to happen, but then, the whole room around them shook. The ceiling folded away and unveiled a massive, shadowy hole, much to everyone's shock as they stopped what they did in an instant!

"A hole?" Chihiro asked as she lifted her head up. "What does that have to do with piloting?" Chihiro frowned for a bit more, and pulled her head down as her seat started to shake. "Hey, what's going on with my—"

Just like that, the seat sprung out of the floor, and tossed Chihiro well out of the seat's comfort and up into the hole!

"SEAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT!"

Chihiro screamed as she shot higher and higher into the air, but finally hit her head on the ceiling and crashed down right as the hole folded back into the floor. She groaned as she rubbed her head, which now had a nice little bruise on it, but the bruise receded back into her head with a rub of a magic-coated hand.

"Mmm, talk about a rough landing," Chihiro whispered as she stood up and looked around. "Say, where am I, anyways?"

That was a good question. After all, the strange new room that Chihiro flew into looked absolutely nothing like the control room down below! The metal here was a stark, pearly white fitted with glowing silver veins of what seemed like some kind of liquid; it was a distinct contrast from the warm red and gold of before. There were no control panels, seats, or any other sort of fancy decoration, either. Even the windshield was gone, and in lieu of it resided some kind of grainy, holographic screen that depicted the world outside—which filled up fast with purple lava!

"CRAP!" Chihiro cried as she stepped back. "I'VE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!"

Chihiro whipped her head around every which way in search of something that would activate this so-called full-pilot mode—a button, a switch, a lever, anything! But, nothing could be seen aside from those stark white walls and liquid-filled tubes. That didn't exactly ease her worries any as she bounced around and frantically ruffled her hair.

"HOW DO YOU ACTIVATE THIS FULL-PILOT MODE, ANYWAYS?"

Chihiro turned back to the growing lava pool and winced, but gasped and froze as the stark, white world around her dyed in a gentle, rainbow-hued light! She let out a soft breath as she turned her head up, and squeaked as some robotic arm leaped out from the walls and pushed her right into the center of the room!

"Hey, what's going on here?" Chihiro asked as she stumbled forwards and flailed her arms around.

As she turned back to full height, Chihiro turned back just in time to catch the robotic hand recede back into the wall. Twin, mechanical orbs that vaguely resembled eyes flew out in its place!

"Activating, activating, activating…" the two orbs droned as they swirled around Chihiro and shot out beams of cyan light that scanned her all over.

Chihiro gasped and swerved around as she tried to catch sight of just what these orbs were doing, but finally came to a standstill right as their laser beams receded.

"Pilot identified. Retrieving full-pilot suit."

With a robotic warble, a series of cyan laser rings beamed down from the ceiling and right around Chihiro, and shrank until they disappeared completely just as they wrapped around her body! Chihiro blinked and looked down as the round panel below her feet glowed with a cyan light, but screamed as the light erupted from the panel and engulfed her! Everything around turned white and blinding, so bright that Chihiro had to shield her eyes for a few moments. As the light faded, Chihiro popped those eyes back open and grunted as she looked back down to her outfit, which now had a strange cyan glow.

Except, it wasn't her outfit anymore!

Instead of her usual clothes, she wore a red and gold-striped suit that looked vaguely like the kinds of suits giant robot pilots in TV shows wore. It covered everything from her neck all the way down to her fingers and toes, and it even had accessories, too! A golden, round belt held up a crimson-colored skirt made entirely of sparkling, solid light; round, golden bracelets and anklets hovered in places around her wrists and ankles; a round, golden headband adorned with strips of shiny red metal seated on her head.

"Woah," Chihiro gasped as she posed and spun around, and she fixed on her reflection in the mirror beside her, "this is so cool!"

"Chihiro?" Spyro's voice called over a grainy communicator.

Chihiro perked up, and spun around right as another, smaller grainy screen popped up. This time, it unveiled the control room! There, everyone fixed their eyes on the ceiling above, most of all Spyro who flew up and stared right in Chihiro's face.

"Hey, Golden Boy!" Chihiro called as she waved back to Spyro and spun around. "Can you see me? Huh, huh?"

"I can, actually!" Spyro frowned and tilted his head. "Speaking of which, just what are you wearing?"

"Beats me." Chihiro shrugged and spun around. She froze in place with one hand on her hip, and the other made a peace sign across her face. "But, it's super cool! It looks just like the kinda stuff they wear in Dungam when they're piloting those robots!" Chihiro chuckled as she spun her hand around. "At least, I think it does, I mean, I…"

The sound of a loud crash pulled Chihiro away from her ramble; she turned aside and screamed as a mass of wreckage plunged into the watery depths below!

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I don't know!" Spyro shouted back as he flew back down to the control room's floor, and jumped into the pilot's seat. "I didn't touch anything!" Spyro turned back to Drill Sergeant, Double Trouble, and Wrecking Ball. "Did you guys?"

All three of them shook their heads and murmured out admissions of denial—but if it wasn't any of them, what exactly was it?

"The dragon is correct," the Weapon Master interrupted as his hologram popped up from the floor beside Chihiro. "It was you who did so, child."

"Me?" Chihiro repeated as she pointed to herself. "But, but. how?"

"This is what full-pilot mode entails." The Weapon Master clasped his hands together and made a sagely nod. "The robot's piloting is handled solely by one living being through the use of motion control, while a crew underneath handles other controls such as artillery."

"So it's just like Dungam." Chihiro held her hand to her chin and made a sagely nod of her own. "I see…"

"Now, try it for yourself."

A startled chorus of shouts pulled Chihiro back to the screens, which showed that seats bolted up underneath Drill Sergeant, Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball! The seats strapped themselves with no prompting from the ones sitting in them whatsoever, slowly drew forward, and clinked to a stop as they hovered right in front of the control panels.

"But be warned, things may get a little bumpy."

Chihiro, however, just grinned as she cracked her knuckles; her eyes fixed on the screen as it showed the purple lava closing in on her. "Oh, don't worry, buddy! A little bumpiness is nothing for me!"

The lava, on the other hand, was definitely going to be a problem. Chihiro craned her head up and grinned as the screen shifted with her movements, and it unveiled that right above the pools of lava and water were a series of tall, round metal platforms just big enough for her to jump on!

Chihiro bent down low and leaped up, and the robot sprung forward before it jumped onto the first and lowest platform! Chihiro just jumped again as it landed down on the platform's surface with a loud thunk, and sent the robot flying towards the second platform!

"Man, this full-pilot stuff is a lot of fun!" Chihiro chirped as she spun around. "It doesn't even feel like I'm piloting a giant robot at all!"

But while Chihiro gleefully spun and leaped around, what she didn't realize was that she spun the robot, and by extension Spyro, Wrecking Ball, Double Trouble, and Drill Sergeant, around as well! They all screamed in horror as they spun in their seats, though their seatbelts kept them fixed within and in no risk of flying off; not that being spun around like they were fruit in a blender was much better, though.

As Chihiro came to a stop, the four of them lurched forward and hit their heads on the back of the seat, yet breathed sighs of relief as they hung their dizzy, dizzy heads.

"My eyes are spinning," Wrecking Ball whined as he slunk back in his seat.

"Zero one zero zero one zero zero one zero zero one…" Drill Sergeant rambled as his eyes flashed in a bright array of colorful swirls, all while he further rattled off an endless string of zeroes and ones.

Double Trouble groaned and bonked himself on the head as he turned to Spyro and chattered.

"Ugh, what was that?" Spyro moaned as he shook his head. "I can still hear the blood in my ears…"

Double Trouble rolled his eyes, then rattled off once more.

"Is it over? I…" Spyro turned back to Double Trouble, and winced as the robot leaned down with a mechanical creak. "I wouldn't hold your breath!"

Right as Spyro said this, the robot bounced up once more and another time after that, and it bounded down a series of platforms with its eyes fixed on the ground!

They all screamed as they flung forward and back like they just jumped on Skylands' bumpiest carnival ride, but Chihiro, she was having a blast! She hooted and hollered as she ran in place, and her arms swung in front of her with great strides before she finally grinned and looked down.

The lava stream below were long passed by, and the tranquil waters of the prior rooms returned once more in its place, but they wouldn't be tranquil for long!

"CANNONBALL!" Chihiro cried as she leaped into the air, and balled herself up as she crashed down to the floor!

Chihiro grinned and stood up as the robot crashed down and sent a massive wave washing around the open room before them. "Thank you, thank you~" Chihiro waved around to an invisible audience, bowed and stood back up.

She let out a small chuckle as she shook her head, turned her attention back to the control room's screen, and winced as everybody down below pulled their faces off of the control panel and glared back at her.

"Whoops." Chihiro chuckled as she scratched her face. "Hey, uh, sorry for that, guys! I may have gotten a little carried away—"

ZAP! Like an annoying mosquito, something sharp and hot bit into the side of the robot's massive head!

Chihiro let out a screech as her headband glowed with red light, but grunted as she hopped backwards and sent the robot stumbling back. As she slammed both feet into the ground, Chihiro panted and lifted her head to find a copter flew in front of her and beeped a series of teasing beeps!

"Stupid bugs!" Chihiro shouted as she gritted her teeth and flailed her hands around. "You won't be so high and mighty when I swat you down!"

As Chihiro flailed her hands, the robot's own hands swiped the air around as it tried to swat down the copter. Every time it swiped, the copter just flew out of the way! As it swept away from another blow of Chihiro's, the copter let out a series of mocking beeps and shot a laser right between the robot's eyes, just to add insult to injury! Chihiro growled, twitched her brows, and balled her hands into fists as she turned her attention back to the control room's screen.

"Hey, guys!" Chihiro shouted as she waved towards Spyro, Wrecking Ball, Double Trouble, and Drill Sergeant. "We've got an obnoxious helicopter at three o'clock!"

"Understood, sir!" Drill Sergeant said as he saluted Chihiro, turned his attention to the control panel and lifted a drill, "Perhaps if I do this…"

Drill Sergeant's drill started to spin as he laid it on its side and slammed it into the button—and this time, it actually worked! The button sank down into the console, and a massive eye laser flew out from the robot's eyes as it seared the helicopter to ashes!

Chihiro beamed as Drill Sergeant let out a proud, mechanical laugh, but that beam of hers quickly faded as she looked back ahead!

"Guys, I wouldn't celebrate just yet!" Chihiro exclaimed as she stepped backwards. "We've got more company coming!"

Everyone turned their attention back ahead, and gasped as beefy helicopters blocked off the path and swarmed them like angry wasps! The helicopters unloaded laser cannons, blasters, and fancy machine guns, and a few of them even poured out flying robots!

"Seems like we won't be getting out of here without a fight!" Spyro proclaimed as he leaned forward and examined the robots, grinned and turned to the others. "Let's say we give them one, boys!"

Drill Sergeant, Wrecking Ball, and Double Trouble all grinned and chattered as they turned their attention back to the console; their cheers of agreement echoed all around!

Spyro turned his gaze back on the control panels that stretched before him with all their various buttons and levers, bells and whistles and more! As he scanned them down, his eyes slowly shifted in hue from their golden yellow to a bright, sunset orange. As those eyes of his turned a full orange that was the color of ripe tangerines, he merely blinked and several of the buttons pressed themselves!

A string of beeps echoed from the panel. In the world outside, massive rocket launchers unfolded from the robot's chest and shot out massive rockets the size of pillars, so massive that just the action of firing them pushed the robot back!

Everyone screamed as they flung backwards in their seats, but all opened their eyes as the robot dug its heels into the ground and slowed down. They beamed as a massive explosion of crimson fire encapsulated where the robots once hovered around them!

Wrecking Ball, Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball all cheered and leaped in their seats, but Spyro didn't seem quite as content to celebrate. He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes while the fires cleared.

From just within the masses of flames and smoke, something bright and white glared out of the flames, a functional beacon amid the smoke and confusion of the flames. It revealed itself to be a massive hovership that charged up a laser just as big as its own body was! Judging by how bright and shiny that laser was, a functional star on the land itself, it was going to fire soon!

"Crap!" Spyro cried as he slammed his front paws against the desk. Shallow pants escaped his mouth as he ran his paws across the buttons and whistles, and with every breath he took, his tails and wings flicked and fluttered. "Shields, shields, shields…"

Spyro gasped as he finally laid sight on a small knob with "Shields" written underneath it in Ancient Common!

"Shields!"

Spyro immediately yanked the knob and started to twist it around, but his grin started to fade as it screeched and grunted as if it refused to move. His snarl bore all his pearly white fangs as he grabbed onto the knob with his other paw and pulled with all his might, but it wouldn't budge a bit despite all his straining and grunting as he twisted, and pushed, and pulled, on the knob! He grunted and released his sweaty paws at last; for a moment, it seemed like he was done for, but the shriek of the oncoming laser brought him back to life! His eyes fell on the massive laser that hurtled straight for him, and he gasped as he grabbed onto the knob once more!

"Seriously!" Spyro cried as he pulled on the knob with no avail while his eyes flashed a bright purple. "Turn on these shields already!"

The knob just wouldn't budge despite Spyro's pleas. It stayed completely stuck—that is, until a thin, shadowy presence crept around the console and wrapped itself around that knob! As it hugged the knob tight, it spun around with such speed and force that it became a blurry spinning top; the shadow itself spread across to several other adjacent buttons and pressed them down!

While the shadow made its moves, the robot moved as well. It opened out its chest as the console whirred with activity, and it shot out a massive row of magic shields that completely neutralized the laser!

Spyro blinked for a moment and jerked his head; his mouth dropped slightly as he glazed over the burst of flame and white sparkles the magic shields and laser's brawl became. His eyes turned to back to the knob he frantically fiddled with earlier, and the moment he laid eyes on the fading shadow around the console, he just frowned and scratched the back of his head!

"MUA! HA HA! MUA HA HA!" Drill Sergeant cried as he burst out of his seat. "NOW THAT I KNOW HOW TO PRESS BUTTONS, I AM UNSTOPPABLE!"

Drill Sergeant's mechanical cackles were only matched by the ferocious rev of his engine as he dashed back and forth all across the floor. All the while, he slammed into every single button his mechanical eyes laid sight on. No button was safe as he drummed across rows of controls like they were actual drums, and the wreckage they left behind was just as massive!

The robot's head spun around while the inner lighting flashed in fifty different colors, and out from its top spewed all sorts of weaponry! Laser cannons, missiles, rocket launchers, blasters, and even more unusual weaponry like disco ball blasters and torpedoes full of explosive popcorn all sprung from the robot's head as its top flipped open.

These weapons all leaped right at the hordes of Arkeyan helicopters; the helicopters all screeched as they turned tail and tried to fly off, but the massive weaponry assault caught up before they could! A multi-colored array of destruction burst forth from the robot's station, and the helicopters’ charred, severed parts and pieces fell down into the ocean alongside burnt popcorn and shattered glass as the rainbow-colored smoke they left behind floated to the ceiling.

Drill Sergeant made what was probably the closest robotic equivalent of a grin as he reveled in his destruction. While he celebrated, the ceilings opened up and dropped down even more fleets of helicopters, ones bigger and stronger than the last! If the last group were wasps, these were the killer insects that held cannons as big as they were, and boasted impressive arrays of blasters and weaponry on their backs; the red glow that reflected off their windshields showed they were primed to kill!

"So that is how you wish to play, as they say?" Drill Sergeant chuckled. "Then I will show you how to play!"

Drill Sergeant zipped right behind Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble's seats, and he did so with such speed that it completely spun them around! They both screamed as they went spinning around, panted and laid back as they finally came to a stop. But, Drill Sergeant slammed his arm into Double Trouble's seat and knocked him right into Wrecking Ball; with that one little burst of force, Wrecking Ball slipped out of his seat and slammed right into the lever he had his eyes on moments prior!

The lever slipped backwards as Wrecking Ball slammed face-forwards into the console, and a bright wave of laser-sharp light burst from the robot's eyes as it wiped out the first row of helicopters!

"Nice one, Wrecking Ball!" Spyro chirped as he gave Wrecking Ball a thumbs up!

Wrecking Ball pulled his face off of the console, hopped back into his seat, and chuckled as he snuggled back in. "Yeah, yeah, I meant to do that!" Wrecking Ball proclaimed, though the way his antenna drooped said otherwise. "Totally did!"

Spyro chuckled in tandem, and he didn't falter at all though his eyes fell back onto the massive waves of copters yet to be destroyed! His wings flared out as he stood in his seat, tall as he could be, and he narrowed his eyes as he smirked.

"How about we give these guys an all-out assault?" Spyro suggested as he turned back to Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball, and then to Drill Sergeant as his smirk grew into a wider, more genuine smile. "Alright, everyone?"

"Alright!" Drill Sergeant, Wrecking Ball, and Double Trouble cried in unison!

Their enthusiasm was so bright that it radiated across the room; Spyro smiled and turned his gaze back down on the control panel.

"Three, two, one…" Spyro narrowed his eyes and slammed his front paws down on the buttons before him. "Now!"

All at once, they smashed the buttons down and sent out an array of missiles, energy blasts, and other artillery right through the crowds that swarmed them! Before the robots could attack, they were blasted to bits by the onslaught!

Chihiro grinned as the robots’ burned bits fell into the waters below, and her grin turned more sly as she shook her head. "I can't leave all the fun to them, can I?" Chihiro asked herself as she raised her head.

She didn't seem to be worried in the slightest even though more robots swarmed in! Rather, she just let out a mighty scream as she bolted forward; she punched through the oncoming swarmed, spun around and side-kicked the robots that tried to fight back! As she landed her punches and kicks through the robot droves, however, the sheer impact from them slammed everybody else's faces into the control panels!

Right as they popped their faces off from the panel, entire swathes of buttons sank into the panel while weaponry leaped out from the robots crevices. It wiped out what seemed like the remainder of the robot forces in a swarm of explosions, but there were still quite a few stubborn ones that just refused to go down!

"You guys don't don't wanna quit, huh?" Chihiro's voice asked over the speakers as Spyro, Drill Sergeant, Double Trouble, and Wrecking Ball winced. "I bet a body slam'll do you in quick!"

Double Trouble, however, just leaped up in his seat and screamed as he waved and jabbed his staff at Chihiro!

"Double Trouble's right, Chi!" Spyro exclaimed as he leaped up and peered at Chihiro's screen. "That'll kill us all!"

Chihiro immediately froze as she blinked and looked back at Spyro, shrugged her shoulders and leaned to full height. "Ah well," Chihiro said at last as she smiled. "It was worth a—"

Before Chihiro could finish, however, something crashed into them and knocked them back into the wall! Everyone screamed as they all lunged back from the impact, though thankfully, Spyro, Wrecking Ball, and Double Trouble held tight in their seats. Good thing they wore seatbelts!

Drill Sergeant, on the other hand got hit full throttle and slammed into the wall!

"Ugh…" Drill Sergeant grunted as he pulled himself up from the back of the chamber. "Had someone perhaps caught just what crashed into us?"