"You know," Spyro said as he examined the walls of the halls they walked through now, "for a storage room, this place is pretty fancy!" Spyro paused and frowned as he examined some of the paintings on the wall. "It looks more like a castle than anything!"

Spyro's comparison was quite apt, given the royal decor that marked the halls. The cold, metal floors were replaced with red jewels that sparkled in the light provided by the lamps stationed into the golden ceiling, and gold silk carpets stretched across the floor as far as the eye could seen. Between the massive golden pillars that connected the floor and the ceiling stood paintings, statues, unfolded scrolls written in Ancient Common, and more, almost like a museum's display!

Chihiro hummed and paused as she turned her attention towards a painting on the wall.

There, painted in a style fairly reminiscent of those fancy Renaissance paintings, was a tall, pale-skinned man with a devilish glint in his wide, red eyes. His hair was short and white like snow, and its stark color was a bit drained out by the paper-white tone of his skin. He dressed from head to toe in fine jewelry and red and gold robes, all of which tied together with a burgundy cape that stretched well past his feet and a golden crown adorned with crimson jewels. A metallic gauntlet with a center that glowed a bright white rested on his right arm; he propped against the arm of the massive golden throne he sat on, and his left arm laid slack at his side as it held a gold and red scepter. He carried himself with a kind of imposing, ominous aura, as if his surely long-dead self would leap from the portrait if one lingered on it a moment longer!

"Who's this guy?" Chihiro asked as she examined the runes engraved on the portrait's golden frame. "'Great King Arkilles the Powerful, son of Almighty King Arkus, second ruler of the Arkeyan Empire.'" Chihiro frowned as she raised an eyebrow back at the painting and stepped back. "You know, for a guy who ruled a kingdom full of robots, he doesn't look very robotic."

Chihiro hummed and tapped her foot as she eyed the painting a few moments longer, turned around and gasped as her eyes fell on empty halls! "Crap, why do I keep getting distracted by these things?" Chihiro shook her head and bolted down the elaborate halls."Hey, guys, wait up!"

But while Chihiro bounded down the halls, her shouts beat her well to the punch!

Her words echoed to the tail of the ground, and Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball perked up their ears and froze as Spyro and Drill Sergeant rounded the corner ahead of them. The two of them smiled, turned back to each other. and chuckled with a suspicious glint in their bright eyes. Chihiro's footsteps rang around the halls and in their ears as Double Trouble lifted his staff and spun it around, all while he whispered something underneath his breath.

Out from that staff shot a bolt of lightning that slammed into a suspicious golden button on the side of the wall! As the button surged with magical lightning and pushed itself into the wall, a massive mechanical wall slammed down and blocked off the path behind!

"What the heck?" Chihiro cried from the other side of the wall. "Where'd this wall come from?"

Chihiro grunted as she pounded on the wall and tried to open it back up, but she had no such luck! No matter how many times she pounded, the wall just stood firm with no sign of relenting! She leaned back as magic crackled at her fingers, and it formed into the vague shape of a blaster around her hands. But, it completely disappeared as the ceiling opened up and dropped off masses of Arkeyan robots! The robots’ eyes glowed a bright, blood red as they hit the floor; they gripped their maces, swords and blasters tight, and all at once, they turned their arms on Chihiro!

"You shall not pass, intruder!" the robots all droned as one!

Chihiro snarled and flicked out her hands. "Sorry guys, but I don't have time to deal with you!"

Chihiro grunted as she leaned down and flared with magic, yet her eyes still fixed the massive gate before her as sweat dripped down her brow; a bright burst of cyan light exploded from her body with such intensity that the robots screeched and dropped their weapons! Chihiro stood tall with her hair caressed in the faint breeze as the light burned bright, and it completely faded away while she flared with magical sparks! Chihiro chirped and popped her eyes open as she patted down her hair, but she gasped as her eyes fell on the frantic robots!

"Crap, it must have a block on teleportation spells!" Chihiro exclaimed as she snarled and drew a magical sword. "Guess I do have time to deal with you guys after all!"

Chihiro leaped forward, and slashed down the front row of robots just before they could retrieve their weapons. The moment she did, the ceiling opened up and even more robots dropped down from the ceiling! She grunted and slashed them down again, but the ceiling just replenished their forces once more!

"Looks like I'm gonna need to bring out the big guns!" Chihiro cried as she tossed her sword to the skies. "Literally!"

Chihiro grinned as her sword sparkled and hovered in mid-air; she slipped out the path of a rapid-fire laser barrage, and jumped backwards as a gigantic laser cannon crashed down on the floor and shook the robots to their core! Chihiro giggled as she hopped up to the laser cannon's seat. slammed a massive button on its control panel, and jumped off as the cannon shot a massive laser into the crowds that exploded into an eruption of cyan magic!

Chihiro hupped as she fell down to the floors and grinned as sparkles of aqua magic floated through the air. Almost immediately, her grin of glee turned to wide-eyed shock as the sound of the ceiling opening up resonated across the room.

"Please don't let that mean what I think it means."

Unfortunately, it seemed as though it meant exactly what Chihiro thought, for another army of Arkeyan robots dropped from the ceiling and hit the floor! The robots all whirred with rage as they rushed towards Chihiro and raised their weapons high, but she squeaked as she summoned a pair of swords and went to slashing!

"Geez, I know this placed is armed to the nines," Chihiro exclaimed as she turned around and cut down a robot that tried to sneak up behind her, "but this is ridiculous!"

So, Chihiro grunted as she went back to slashing away. As she fought the robots, her eyes failed to notice the dial on the wall with a setting set to infinite production!

On the other side of the wall, Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble snickered as the muffled sounds of Chihiro's battle resounded behind them, but dashed away as Chihiro let out a cry of shock!

"Hey, what was that scream?" Spyro asked as he turned back to Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball right as they rejoined the group. "Also, where's Chihiro? Wasn't she with us just a second ago?"

"Eh, don't worry about her!" Wrecking Ball chirped as he bounced in place. "She's probably just lagging behind or something!"

Double Trouble nodded in eager-faced agreement as he spoke in what seemed like support of Wrecking Ball's statement.

Spyro frowned, but shook his head and shrugged as they all trailed back through the halls.

The regal surroundings of before traded off for a starker, simpler display of golden mechanical walls occasionally garnished by crimson-colored railings and accents, all while the faint scent of oil and paint wafted in the air. Their footsteps echoed with every step they took in the hall; the only light provided came from the bright, burning spotlights above, and the beaming white light at the end of the tunnel!

They all rushed forward as they burst out of the halls, and what could have possibly awaited them but a massive, red and gold gallery with all sorts of antiques and treasures loaded into its walls? Glass capsules tinted red lined the walls ahead, and held everything from shiny weapons, to bulky, strong-looking red and gold armor, to even what seemed to be prototypes of new robots. Red metal walls with gold, flowerlike carvings sprawled across, and shed light all across the room with the orbs of light embedded into their metal. Though the lower levels of the room were a cool green and blue with the occasional streak of silver, they still carried much of the same contents.

But, nothing really struck their attention more than the strange orb of pulsating energy that hung in the center of the room. It laid just beside a red and gold platform that held a massive, box-shaped control panel with a large, circular gap in its center, and more buttons, levers, bells and whistles than could be counted.

The whole display was so massive, and held so much to admire that everyone couldn't help but let their eyes wander in silent awe as they stepped out of the halls and into the vault! Soft oohs and aahs escaped their lips as they walked across, yet they all jumped in place as a holograph of the Weapon Master emerged from a holograph projector beside them!

"Good, you have arrived safely," the Weapon Master said as he turned around. "I was a bit concerned when the monster gate's signal activated…"

"Monster gate?" Spyro repeated as he turned around, but Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble blocked him off before he could run back.

"Anyways, the security key that you seek is behind that Air Element Gate." The Weapon Master pointed towards an Air Element Gate on the lower level of the vault as he vanished. "Best of luck."

"Wait, Air Element?" Drill Sergeant repeated as his brows sagged. "Is anyone here of the Air Element?"

Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball looked at each other and shook their heads, but Spyro just turned around and smiled as the other three all sighed.

"Hey, have you forgotten who you're traveling with?" Spyro asked as he flew over to the gate. "Well, let me remind you!"

Spyro flew over to the gate as his eyes flashed a clear sky blue, and winds whipped around his body as he placed a paw on the gate. Spyro flapped his wings as his eyes fell on open area, and he turned around and grinned as Double Trouble, Wrecking Ball, and Drill Sergeant followed him down to the lower level. All four of them flew and wheeled and walked their way inside, but dug into the floor as a massive gust of wind blew in their faces and nearly blew them out of the area!

The gate unveiled a room painted and modeled so that it resembled a bright afternoon sky, from the sky blue wallpapers to the puffy clouds for platforms. Though it had no sort of stairs or ladders, it seemed as though it had some sort of transportation—unless there was some other kind of explanation for the massive bronze wires that held red and gold blocks which lazily trailed to and fro across their cords; the were all propelled there and back by the massive bronze fans seated among the clouds. Most importantly, at the very top of a block on the upper level sat a conical key with a bright sapphire orb on its top! Surely, this had to be the security key the Weapon Master mentioned!

Spyro grinned as his eyes fell on the key and he flapped his wings once more. "You guys stay put," Spyro said as he flew up. "I'll go get the key…"

Double Trouble flew in front of him and chattered as he waved his arms before Spyro could soar over and grab it.

"Wait, you wanna get it?" Spyro repeated as he tilted his head and frowned. "Are you sure?"

Double Trouble chattered away as he flew over and went to grab the key, and got blown far above it by one of the fans! Before poor Double Trouble even knew it, he was tossed and turned like a toy ball by the fans! Their gusts of wind tossed him left, right, up, down, and all around, and all he could do was scream and flail about!

Spyro, Wrecking Ball and Drill Sergeant all winced as Double Trouble's impromptu flight continued, yet Spyro took a step forward and flapped his wings.

"Looks like Double Trouble's gonna need some help!" Spyro proclaimed as he got ready to fly off…

But before he could, Wrecking Ball raced in front of Spyro and started hopping up and down. "Spyro, I'm hungry!" Wrecking Ball whined as he hopped in Spyro's face, in spite of Spyro's every attempt to shake him. "When're we gonna go back and eat?"

"Wrecking Ball, now's really not the time!" Spyro grunted as he pushed away Wrecking Ball. "I need to help Double Trouble!"

"But I'm hungryyyyy!"

Wrecking Ball bounced and whined as Spyro tried to push him away, yet Wrecking Ball just wouldn't relent! Every time Spyro tried to escape, Wrecking Ball would roll right in front of him! He dodged left and Wrecking Ball was quick to follow; he swept right and Wrecking Ball jumped in his face! He tried to trek forward, but Wrecking Ball just leaped on his back and pinned him to the ground!

Wrecking Ball giggled as he patted his paws against Spyro's back, but this time, it was Drill Sergeant who tried to push off Wrecking Ball!

"Wrecking Ball, it is like Spyro said!" Drill Sergeant intruded as he pushed back at Wrecking Ball. "We do not have time to be concerned about food! Double Trouble needs us to—"

Spyro grunted as the wind carried a jaunty tune to his ears, and he lifted his head up and grinned. Double Trouble took the key in the time that he and Drill Sergeant tried to push off Wrecking Ball, and he came right their way!

"Alright!" Spyro said as he finally hopped away from Wrecking Ball. "Now, let's get—" Spyro shook his head as Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball zoomed right through the gate's door "—going?"

Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble glazed over the key and grinned, and the Air Element Gate shot back up behind them! Low, sinister cackles left their lips as they floated back to the staircase, but just before they could hit the first step, they screamed and jumped in the air as the gate unfolded behind them!

"Geez, those gates are a pain," Spyro remarked as he and Drill Sergeant walked out of the area. Spyro frowned as he looked up at Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball. "Hey, what're you looking at? Is something up?"

Double Trouble's teeth chattered as he spat something out, and Spyro only laughed.

"I'm a purple dragon, remember? Of course I could open the gate back up!"

Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball grinned and forced laughter as the Air Elemental Gate closed behind them, yet all four of them trudged back up to the platform where they had begun. As they finally hit the top, Double Trouble floated up to the console, frowned, and pushed the key into a round slot in its panel!

The key twisted around as it sank further and further into the console's depths, but finally, it came to a stop as a soft click echoed through the massive halls of the vault. The vault stayed silent as anticipation rang about, but finally, a swish resounded! Three round pillars made of burgundy metal with intricate golden markings carved into their surfaces and glowing white buttons cropped up across the vault: one on the lefthand side of the lowest level just a bit aside of the Air Element Gate, one on the right side of the upper level beside a bubbled collection of armor suits, and a third at the very back of the upper level!

Grins spread on every face as Spyro, Drill Sergeant, Double Trouble, and Wrecking Ball pulled away from the console and made their way to the stairs, but they froze as whirring sounded off from every angle of the room! Before they even knew it, the walls opened up and out came a bunch of Arkeyan robots with their weapons raised high. All four of them grimaced as the robots swarmed around them and blocked off any sort of entry or exit. The robots' spears and swords poked and prodded at them, but they didn't relent; instead, they just raised their weapons and narrowed their brows.

"Looks like they brought in the guards!" Spyro snarled as he lowered horns flared with fire.

Spyro charged a line through the robots in front of him in one mighty stride, and fireballed away the rest as he cleared a path right to the stairs down below! Spyro bolted down to the lower level, made a beeline for the switch, switched it on and turned around—but as he tried to get back, a bunch of energy beams flared up and trapped him inside a cage of energy!

"What the?" Spyro exclaimed as he swerved his head and examined the beams. He screwed his eyes shut, and his whole body flared with magic as if he was going to teleport away, but instead that magic just exploded!

Spyro grimaced as he held a dizzy head coated in magical dust. "Ugh."

He seemed fairly grim, but Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball were no less energetic than before as they grinned and looked down at Spyro!

"Don't worry, Spyro!" Wrecking Ball chirped as he bounced up and down. "We can handle it from here!"

Wrecking Ball giggled as he turned back to Double Trouble, who was equally elated as he gingerly lifted his hand from a cyan-colored button. As they laughed, neither of them noticed Drill Sergeant zoom past and flick the second switch!

"Just leave it to me, sir!" Drill Sergeant beeped as he spun around, and fired his drill hands at a swarm of knight robots. "I will retrieve the Eternal Magic Source in two spins of a drill!"

Double Trouble gasped, forced a grin as he whipped out his staff, and tapped it against another button on the control panel behind him!

Drill Sergeant rolled his way towards the third switch as the button pressed into the console, but out of nowhere, a taser jumped out from the wall and dug right into his back panel!

"AAAAAAAAACK! SIR, SOMETHING IS FRYING MY INTERNAL MECHANISMS!" Drill Sergeant cried as the electricity coursed through his metal body.

Drill Sergeant groan and spun around in dizzy, dizzy, circles asthe electricity faded, yet shot back to his senses as a round cage made entirely of solid red energy formed around him!

"When did this get here?" Drill Sergeant asked before he narrowed his metal eyebrows and revved his engines. "Whatever it is, I am sure I can charge out with ease!"

Drill Sergeant zoomed forward, tackled right into the cage's walls, and bounced off like he had charged straight into a trampoline! "Or not," Drill Sergeant whimpered as he fell on his back.

Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball sneered to each other as Drill Sergeant flipped back onto his wheels and charged back into the cage with little avail, but their attention didn't rest on him for long. Soon, their eyes turned to the third and final switch as they crept closer towards it—but before they could reach it, a bright flare of cyan magic from down the hall caught their eyes and froze them in their tracks!

"Man," Chihiro remarked as she strode down the halls, all while the light faded behind her, "I can't believe I didn't notice that robot-making dial! Good thing I fried that thing and got out of there!"

Chihiro grinned as she cracked her knuckles and popped her eyes open, but her grin swiftly faded as a mechanical guard charged towards her! She gasped as she ducked under its mace, grabbed it by the chest and tossed it right off the balcony. Chihiro turned her head around as the guard fell to its doom, gasped again and stumbled back.

"What the heck's going on here, and what happened to you guys?" Chihiro cried as she leaned over the balcony.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Spyro cried from down on the floor below. "What happened? One minute you were with us, next you just disappeared!"

"That's because the doors just shut down on me out of nowhere!" Chihiro grunted as she dodged another guard's blow and magically tossed that one over the balcony as well. "All these weird robots flooded in and attacked me, too!"

"Shut down out of nowhere?"

Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball winced and gasped shrill gasps as they turned back to each other.

"Curses, I forgot about the portal master!" Wrecking Ball whispered. "We need to get her out of here before she catches on!"

"Just leave it to me," Double Trouble whispered back.

Double Trouble pulled himself away from the conversation, forced a smile as he flew up to Chihiro, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Doubs!" Chihiro chirped as she looked up at him. "So, what's going on?"

Double Trouble shook his head as he sputtered out an explanation, jabbed his staff down at Spyro and grabbed Chihiro's arm.

"Got it!" Chihiro cried as she nodded and teleported down below with Double Trouble. "I'll get the others out, so you guys just get the Eternal Magic Source!"

Double Trouble grinned as he lead Chihiro over to a particularly, oddly isolated corner of the room, and let go as a cage formed around her!

"What the?" Chihiro exclaimed as she reached out to grab the bars, and yelped as they shocked her instead. "What's going on here?"

Chihiro grunted as she tried to teleport away, but she was no more successful than Spyro in that regard—like him, her teleportation spell exploded in sparkles and magic dust! Chihiro whimpered as she shook the dust off of her head, and grimaced as the sound of Wrecking Ball and Double Trouble's laughter filled the room.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Chihiro exclaimed as she turned to Double Trouble and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you put me in here on purpose, didn't you?"

Double Trouble didn't reply! He was too busy cackling as he pointed his staff towards Chihiro!

"Seriously!" Chihiro cried as a frown formed on her face. "What's gotten into you?"

"Oh, it's nothing!" Wrecking Ball chirped from above as he waddled towards the final switch. "We'll just get that Eternal Magic Source now…"

Right before Wrecking Ball could even leave the control panel's premises, however, something slammed into him and tossed him back into the panels!

"You're not doing anything, fakers!" cried a familiar, raspy voice from up above!

"Wait, that voice!" Spyro and Chihiro cried as they turned their attention to the balcony above.

There, while Wrecking Ball reeled and peeled himself off the panels, none other than Dark Spyro slunk out from the shadows in front of him, alongside… Another Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball?

Drill Sergeant grunted as he reeled from what was probably his fiftieth attempt at breaking free of his magic prison, and gasped as his eyes fell on the balcony!

"What is going on here?" Drill Sergeant cried as he swerved back and forth. "When did Dark Spyro get here? And why are there two Double Troubles and Wrecking Ball?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know the same thing!" Spyro cried as he swished his tail.

"What he said!" Chihiro added as she grabbed the bars of her magical prison, yelped and pulled them back as the bars seared her palms once more.

"I'll tell you what's going on!" Dark Spyro cried as he waltzed over to the balcony's edge. "The Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball that were with you guys were fakes! They're actually Kaos's minions trying to get the Eternal Magic Source from under your noses!"

Spyro, Chihiro, and Drill Sergeant gasped, but Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball grew so nervous that they couldn't even breath! Instead, Double Trouble teleported back onto the balcony and chattered as he swerved in front of Dark Spyro.

Wrecking Ball hopped off the panel and growled. "Lies! It's all a big lie!" Wrecking Ball insisted as he charged for Dark Spyro. "We're the real ones, and those guys are the minioOOF!"

The second Wrecking Ball grinned as he charged into the first and tackled it aside, but screamed and spun around as Double Trouble flew around Dark Spyro in a dazzlingly fast circle!

Dark Spyro grimaced as his eyes moved from every way to the next in search of some way out, but it was no use. That is, until the second Double Trouble blasted the first one sideways! Dark Spyro and the second Double Trouble traded grins and thumbs up, but only for a moment. Now free from the circle, Dark Spyro leaped to the control panel and slammed on a bright, red button!

One by one, the cages that enveloped Spyro, Chihiro and Drill Sergeant disintegrated, and all three of them rushed to the scene of the fight right as the first Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball staggered back up with rage in their eyes.

Dark Spyro snorted out lavender smoke, and the second Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball flanked him with an equally-burning fire in their gaze. Seems it was time for the moment of truth—just which pair was the real one?