It was the worst battle Spyro had ever seen.

The world around him laid ablaze as the Citadel's front yard burned like a holiday bonfire. All around, the Skylanders fought the assorted minions of Kaos, and weren't doing so hot at that. Whenever one minion went down, several others came back in its place and immediately took them all down! Everything turned frantic as the Skylanders screamed out and cried for help, and the whole battle adorned itself with the awful scent of blood and smoke mingled together, burning and smoldering and eating away at Spyro’s insides. But even that light, for soon, an unyielding wave of black swallowed everything around!

Spyro only watched in horror, completely frozen as he stood helpless to stop the eternal black swallow his friends whole.

"GILL! TRIG! GUYS!" Spyro screamed as tears stung his eyes while he futilely reached out for the friends that were no more. He then took to the skies and just narrowly avoided being swallowed himself. "The Core!"

He flew further and further and occasionally dodged the large black slime that had take over the whole island, his eyes focused on the Core of Light. As he flew over a large glob of black slime, Spyro looked over to find the Core, still shining in all its glory! A bright smile overtook Spyro's face before a large black wave crashed over the Core and uprooted it from its spot! In mere moments, it soon swallowed the Core—and Spyro's hope—completely whole.

"NO!" Spyro screamed as he reached out in pain.

Just then, the black, slimy wave grabbed his foot. With no other options, Spyro screamed and shouted as he struggled to escape, but the black slime pulled him in, and with one last scream, it swallowed him whole…

§

Spyro's eyes shot open and he panted, now awakened in such a cold sweat that the world around him seemed unreal and shaky. As he breathed heavily still, Spyro stumbled out of his nest and looked around while he tried to get a grip on reality as everything around him faded into a blur.

"Okay, Spyro, get a grip on yourself," Spyro said as he took deep breaths. "You're not in the middle of a battle, you're in your room, in the Magic Sanctuary."

Spyro closed his eyes for mere moments, before he inhaled, exhaled and looked around. His head throbbed slightly less than it was before, and his heart pounded slightly less as his vision returned and validated his statements.

"There's no battle going on, you just had a bad dream," Spyro whispered before a thought struck him and his eyes lit up. "If it was all just a dream, then maybe the Core's still there!"

Spyro lowered his volume and flew out of his room. He tried to peer outside, but it was pitch-black and almost impossible to see—it was a good thing that he practically knew the Sanctuary's layout by heart. As he flew through the Sanctuary's halls with a leaping heart, Spyro hunted out the glowing purple teleporter that lead back to the portal room. He then leaped onto it and whisked away in mere moments…

And when Spyro opened his eyes, he found himself in a moonlit warp room! Without hesitation he flew through the halls and then back outside, while a complete sense of relief washed over him.

Thank the Ancients, it was all just an awful dream! Everything's completely fine, we were never banished, and the Core's…

Spyro's train of thought cut short due to the fact that he had flown outside, and the Core most certainly WASN'T there—just a large patch of ground where it once stood.

"Gone," Spyro croaked as tears stung his eyes, "I wasn't dreaming,"—Spyro whimpered as he fell to the ground with utter hopelessness in his eyes—"the Core really was destroyed."

And as the memories from the Core's destruction replayed in his brain, Spyro mustered up the will to walk over to where the Core once stood and flopped down.

"So we really did fail. I really failed," Spyro whispered as he burrowed his face into his paws. "The Core's gone and Kaos took over, all because of me."

Spyro tried his hardest to bury his sniffles, but it was no use anymore. The emotions he had been repressing finally coming to light as he cried in utter silence, nobody there to witness but the occasional insect or bird. He didn't know why all these emotions had overtaken him, but it was so strong, so overwhelming that it was like he was fighting against that awful black slime from his prior dream.

Hopeless.

Useless.

Just like he was now.

Look at you, Spyro, he thought as he tried desperately to wipe the tears from his face. How can you sit around and feel sorry for yourself? The Core's been destroyed, thousands of people are suffering, and this is all you can do? You failed! You failed as a leader, as a Skylander, and now everybody's suffering the consequences of your actions! What time do you have to feel sorry for yourself?!

Spyro sat back down and quietly cried for what seemed like eternity—at least, until he felt something nudge his back leg. Spyro quickly wiped his tears and looked up to find none other than Chihiro, who looked down at him with a very concerned gaze. Wait, Chihiro?!

Spyro wiped away his tears and sputtered. "Chihiro, but—I-I-I mean, what, what on Skylands are you mooing—D-DOING up at this hour? I thought you burr—were—"

Spyro heaved a heavy groan, took a deep breath in and looked down at his paws, seemingly uncharacteristically defeated. An awkward silence rang between the two, before Chihiro knelt down to Spyro's height and wiped a small tear from his cheek.

"You okay, Spyro?" Chihiro asked as she gently rubbed his back. "You seem pretty upset."

"It's nothing," Spyro muttered before he raised his voice slightly. "What I'd like to know is what you’re doing here!"

Chihiro bit her lip slightly. "Well, I was trying to figure out where the kitchen was cause I got late night ice cream cravings, but you're more important."

"I'm fi—"

"Uh, uh, uh," Chihiro wagged her finger while her voice possessed just the slightest spark of lightheartedness. "You're all worked up about something and we both know it. Why don't you tell me about it?"

"You know what? I'll go show you the kitchen."

And with that Spyro walked off towards his left, still drained from crying so much.

"You're avoiding the question, Spyro—what's wrong?" Chihiro asked, a tone of impatience in her voice.

Spyro completely ignored her and instead walked up to a large, white stone building with an oakwood door before he opened it and went inside.

"Spyro? Spyro? Spyro?" Chihiro called as she trailed behind him.

"Here's the kitchen, now go get your ice cream," Spyro moaned while he watched as Chihiro shrugged and walked off.

Spyro then sat down on the floors and looked around the building before him. It was as large as a small temple, with oakwood floors and walls and a chandelier of lamps hung overhead that provided them with artificial light. In front of Spyro was a seemingly infinite number of wooden lunch benches with even more wooden chairs next to them, all lined up and ready to house. Fittingly enough for the Skylanders, this mess hall could have probably hosted a banquet for a whole army.

But for now, it was just him and Chihiro, completely alone in the emptiness. The sheer silence and slowness of the area made Spyro feel as if his heart was going to collapse again, but why?

"I'm back, Spyro!" Chihiro exclaimed as she sat on the chair nearest to Spyro and slammed a ceramic plate down on the table.

On that plate were two ice cream sandwiches, with the sandwich part made out of chocolate chip cookies and the ice cream itself being a sweet vanilla and covered in sprinkles.

"Come on, sit down. I made one for you too!"

Spyro warily took up her invitation as he sat down next to her, picked up an ice cream sandwich and gave it a critical gaze-over.

"It took me a little bit to navigate through that kitchen, but the ice cream sandwiches were worth it," Chihiro chirped

Spyro nodded and mumbled something under his breath while he eyed the sandwich apathetically.

"It's not poisoned or anything, scout's honor!" Chihiro giggled and twiddled her fingers, "I mean, not that, that even matters since I was never a scout or anything, it's just," Chihiro looked down at her own sandwich and grabbed it while her voice turned soft. "You seemed really upset, and I know you don't really wanna talk about it, but I wanna help you out and ice cream always helps me when I'm upset, so—"

"Why are you so worried about me?" Spyro paused and stared at Chihiro.

There was a pause for mere moments before Chihiro made a warm smile.

"Because you're my friend, silly!" Chihiro exclaimed before she took a bite of her sandwich and swallowed. "Of course I'm gonna be worried about you, especially when you were all curled up and crying like you were!"

Spyro jumped in his seat just a little bit before he looked down at the sandwich, then finally mustered up the effort to pick it up and take a bite. The sweetness of the vanilla did make him feel a tiny bit better about the situation, though ice cream wouldn't be enough to cure his woes. As he gulped it down, Spyro turned to Chihiro.

"You don't have to worry about me. I can deal with this by myself."

"A-ha!" Chihiro poked Spyro on the snout. "So there is something wrong!"

Spyro gulped, before he hastily finished the sandwich in his paws and pushed Chihiro's arm away.

"Chihiro, even if you are the new portal master, I still barely know you. I'm not just going to spill my guts to somebody I've barely known for a week."

Chihiro gave an aside look and shrugged her shoulders, a bit shocked by his harsh tone. However, her shock lasted for very little as she made an understanding smile and nodded.

"Well, I guess you have a point there." She finished her own sandwich, licked her fingers clean, and gave Spyro a smile. "But, even if you don't wanna talk about it, just know that I'm always here if you need a shoulder to cry on. Or an ice cream sandwich. Or both."

Spyro looked at Chihiro one last time and nodded before he took to the air once more.

"Come on, you need to go back to bed. It's really late, after all." Spyro flapped in place for a few moments before he turned to the door.

"Do I have to?"

"YES."

"Fiiiiinnnnneeeee."

And with that, Spyro walked Chihiro back to her quarters. As he gazed over her one last time while she merrily skipped along, a slight burden lifted off his shoulders.

That sandwich was pretty good, Spyro thought as he smiled slightly.

§

"Lord Kaos, Lord Kaos!" shouted a slender drow witch draped in purple robes as she tapped the mechanical communications device on her wrist, "I have some important news for you!"

There was no response at first—just pure static, until a familiarly screechy voice responded from the other side.

"What is it, minion?! Can't you see I'm busy?!" Kaos shrieked from the other side of the device.

"With all due respect, Lord Kaos, I can't really see. This device doesn't have a screen."

Kaos vocally thought this over for a moment, hums and mumbles and all, before he cleared his throat and lowered his tone.

"Good point, minion. NOW WHAT IS IT?!"

"The Skylanders have returned! Two just made off with the Golden Propeller!" The drow reported with pure terror in her voice.

"Wait, they've returned?! But how?!"

"I'm not sure, Lord Kaos, but I have an idea." The drow gulped before her voice turned numb. "There was a little human child running around with them on the island, couldn't be much older than ten or eleven,"—the drow hesitated before she spoke again—"I think they might just be a portal master."

§

"A PORTAL MASTER?!" Kaos shouted, beyond furious and confused.

How could the Skylanders have found a new portal master, especially one that could've sent them to the Skylands?! Kaos broiled while his heart pounded so furiously it could've popped right out of his chest. I thought I sent them to the furthest corners of the universe, where no life could be found?!

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I mean, she could've just been a new recruit, or I mean, like, just some random citizen or something, it's very unlikely that—"

"If you wish to keep your life, pathetic fool, you'd better pray to your Elven gods that you are wrong! Actually no, I'd still execute you anyway for LETTING THEM GO!" Kaos hissed back from the safety of his portal.

And with the sound of strained sobbing in the background, Kaos ended the communication and sighed. Kaos sneered as he gripped the stone edges of his portal before he vaulted onto its side. His fear shed in favor of a pure, malevolent untamed confidence, one only befitting of someone who was quickly rising to the title of Skylands' all-powerful lord.

"If there is a new portal master out there, I will personally make sure that they learn to fear the maleficent, terror-inducing, utterly DOOMTASTIC name of KAAAAAAOOOOOSSSSSSS!"

And with that, Kaos cackled loudly and for as long as he could until he broke into a coughing fit.

"STUPID COUGHING FITS!"