Everybody heaved heavy breaths that rattled their entire body as they dashed up the chain, guided solely by Chihiro and the Eternal Magic Source as she nestled it closer and closer to her chest. Though they were all tired and worn from the battles prior, it was a good kind of tiredness, the exhaustion that came with well-earned success. It did little to dissuade them as they dashed up the chain! After all, they had an extremely important delivery to make, and they were going to make it no matter what!

The Vault's halls went dim once more, and the lights that remained barely shed any sort of identity as to where they were, or more importantly, where they were going. As they ran further, stark, white light filtered in, and unveiled not the metal walls and stark coldness of the Vault, but the dull, grayish autumn lighting of the outside world!

The light shone bright as they all burst through the vault's entrance, and for a moment, everyone froze and grinned. After being stuck in such a stuffy old vault, it was nice to feel their breeze on their faces and smell the scents of fresh air as it wafted across the noses. Though it provided some relief, the length stretch of sky ahead showed that they still had a lot of running ahead of them!

Chihiro sighed as the chain stretched across the sky and disappear over the horizon, and hugged the Eternal Magic Source's container tight and close to her chest.

"Hey, Weapon Master dude!" Chihiro shouted as she leaned forward on the chain. "We're ready to go now!"

Even though Chihiro shouted so loudly that her cries echoed across the vast skies, and sent a couple of wild birds flying in the distance, it seems as though they were in vain. The chain made no motion aside from its faint bounces and sways underneath the weight of everyone at once, nor did it sparkle any more than it usually did.

"Welp, guess we're walking there," Chihiro remarked as she shrugged her shoulders, oblivious to the tired sighs of everyone behind her. Chihiro's smile stayed stuck on her face as she magically crafted a backpack, tossed the Eternal Magic Source inside, and slung the backpack over her shoulders. "Better not waste any time!"

Chihiro hummed a tune as she took a step forward, but before her foot could land, the entire chain tossed high into the skies with such intensity that it sent everyone flying! Their screams echoed into the distance as the chain's magic pulled them down, glued their feet to its links once more; it was just in time for it to dip down and fly back up like a plucked string. While the chain itself steadied, everyone's legs shuddered like fresh, wobbly jelly as they exchanged wide-eyed, clenched teeth looks with each other.

"Just what was that?" Spyro asked as all four of his shaking paws wrapped around the chain, just to be safe.

"I don't know!" Chihiro shouted back as she peered into her backpack.

Her face twisted into a frown as she peered inside, but she breathed a sigh of relief and closed it back up when she realized the Eternal Magic Source was still there. Her relief, however, was short lived, for shortly after the chain rumbled and drew forward, almost as it something pilled it ahead!

While that chain drew further, Chihiro only hissed and clenched her teeth. "But something tells me we're in for a bumpy rideeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The chain jolted forward with such speed that everything around blurred into a mass of blobby colors and streaking lights! The wind rushed against them with such intensity that it practically pinned their eyelids to their faces while their cheeks flapped in the wind, yet they still stood, glued tight to the chain itself and could barely move!

"MY EYES ARE DIZZY!" Wrecking Ball cried as the chain shot further into the distance.

"I THINK THE BLOOD'S RUSHING TO MY HEAD!" Dark Spyro shouted.

"ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE BEEP BOP!" Drill Sergeant shouted as the lights in his mechanical eyes became massive streaking swirls. "ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO…"

"I don't even know what that means!" Spyro wailed before he leaned a little too far forward and slammed face-first into Drill Sergeant's back!

Chihiro just winced and screwed her eyes shut while everyone screamed and cried and shouted. "This is even worse than a rollercoaster!" Chihiro cried as the wind slammed across her face. "Someone get us off this thing!"

Chihiro winced again, but not from the harsh wind, or speeds so fast it would make the average person sick. No, like a light at the end of the tunnel, something small and white stuck out at the end of the chain, a light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel…

And from that dull light, the shape of Ancient's Peak's oceans with their stone platforms drew closer and closer, and finally, the Weapon Master came into view! But not just him, either—an entire crowd formed on the tiny platform that the Weapon Master called home, all in tense anticipation of their return from the Vault!

"I'm telling you, please be patient!" the Weapon Master exclaimed as he glared down at Hugo. "I understand your concerns, but they will arrive in due time!"

"How can you say that when there's something definitely wrong? After all, I saw Double Trouble and Wrecking Ball come out of the portal room twice! TWICE! And there's only one of each of them!" Hugo exclaimed as he thrust two fingers into the Weapon Master's face, chuckled and looked aside. "Well, one normal Double Trouble, anyways." Hugo shook his head and gestured out to the open seas. "If those were their evil clones trying to steal the Eternal Magic Source, surely there's even more trouble waiting for them! We need to send another team out before—"

"Hugo, look!" Gill Grunt shouted as he shook Hugo's shoulder and turned Hugo towards the chain. "They're back!"

"They are?" Hugo gasped and turned his attention towards the chain, and those shocked eyes grew so wide that they practically popped out of his head. "They are!"

Like the townsfolk who waited for news of the monster's defeat, everyone on the platform all kept close and tight as they followed Hugo in gazing out towards the incoming chain!

The Weapon Master, however, hardly shared in their concern as he held out a hand that drew the chain further and further in. His face was steel-cold, and his eyes were narrowed as the chain sank further and further into his palm, but finally, he grabbed the chain with another hand and yanked it forward! The last of the chain disappeared into the depths of the Weapon Master's palm, and everyone broke free of their metallic rollercoaster ride and slammed face-first onto the stone platform!

As their bodies hit cold, solid stone, everyone around crowded so tightly around the team that it packed out the whole stone island and made it near impossible to keep footing! Heck, Chihiro and Spyro scrambled aside before they got stomped on, and poor Wrecking Ball squeezed between Terrafin and Eruptor, finally popped out from between them, and landed in Gill Grunt's arms! Right beside them, Drill Sergeant nearly fell into the depths if not for Dark Spyro and Double Trouble pulling him onto dry land!

But, all this chaos and crowding was hardly noticed, for everyone's attention instead focused on Chihiro as she stood up and cleared her throat.

"Don't worry, everyone!" Chihiro proclaimed as she flipped open her backpack, whipped out the Eternal Magic Source and held it out for all to see. "We got the Eternal Magic Source!"

As the Eternal Magic Source's container rested in Chihiro's hands, the Eternal Magic Source itself glowed even brighter like a purple star against the warmth of the evening sun. everyone seemed to notice as they oohed and aahed and whispered among each other! With every word and cheer, the Eternal Magic Source glowed brighter and brighter, almost as if it basked in the attention!

"Why, it really is the Eternal Magic Source," Hugo whispered as he held out his paws and gently lifted the container from Chihiro's grip. "I almost can't believe I'm holding it with my own two paws!"

"It's quite radiant," Voodood gasped as he peered over Hugo's shoulder, and the soft chatter behind him seemed to affirm this.

While everyone else was gazing in awe and rambling among each other in sheer awe of the Eternal Magic Source's power, Flynn just sauntered up and laid an arm on Hugo's shoulder with such force that it forced Hugo forward!

"Yeah, yeah, it's pretty and sparkly and all," Flynn said as he flicked his ears, "but are we gonna put this thing in the Core or not?"

Hugo scoffed as he pulled himself up and glared at Flynn, and a firm cough caught his and everyone else's attention.

"If you'll excuse me," the Weapon Master said as all eyes fixed on him. "While I am quite relieved that the Eternal Magic Source has been released… You are taking up quite a bit of space."

It seemed as though, in that very moment, everyone realized that perhaps crowding together on a very small stone slab island was probably not the best idea. They all grimaced as they examined the very tightly-packed crowd they had formed, and a wave of sighs and mumbled apologies washed through.

"Anyways," Hugo said as he turned around and hopped on a nearby wooden raft, "I guess you have a point. We really should get this back into the Core of Light!"

A series of raft rides and teleports brought everyone back to the beaches' sands, and they all stormed up the stairs that lead back to the heart of the island with one mind and one single speed—fast! After all, this was the moment they’d waited for! The Core of Light would finally be completed, and nobody wanted to wait a moment longer for it to happen!

Everybody held their breath as Hugo pressed the Eternal Magic Source back into Chihiro's hands and withdrew his book; in that moment, the entire island was so quiet that one could practically hear everyone's heartbeats. This was the moment of truth, but anything could happen now. Even though the Core's completion was near-completely assured at this point, the crowds around couldn't find it in themselves to rest, not until the moment happened.

The anticipation grew thick as Hugo recited the chant. The Eternal Magic Source's purple glow grew brighter and brighter in response to his words, until it stretched well past its container's boundaries and shone like a beacon against the warm evening skies! As the last of the words left Hugo's lips, the Eternal Magic Source rocketed out of its container and shot straight into the Core of Light like a shooting star!

The lid of its container slammed into the ground and vanished, and the Core of Light shone with a bright purple radiance… Then orange, blue, red… Before anyone even knew it, the Core of Light stood swarmed underneath a rainbow's radiance! The rainbow seeped into the Core itself, and everything around and within it moved with a rapid speed and sleek smoothness. Oh, it was such a beautiful sight! The Core of Light was finally completed, and now, it was perhaps even better than it was before!

Gasps escaped, jaws dropped, and some even shed tears of joy and hugged each other as they cheered in relief! Finally, their hard work came to fruition!

Their joy turned to silent wonder as the Core made a shrill, hisslike noise while the Crystal Eye atop its peak shone like a kaleidoscope in every color there was. This rainbow lingered within the Crystal Eye's body for a few moments, and shot a massive beam of rainbow light into the skies! This beam grew thicker and brighter by the second, until it became so massive that it covered the entire island in a veil of rainbow light and raining sparkles!

Then, it vanished. Just like that, that beam of light was gone; in its place, the Crystal Eye spat out even more bright laser beams! These beams turned into comets that shone bright and colorful against the setting sun and orange skies as they screeched across the skies and dashed away, never to be see again… But why?

"Hey, where d'you think those things are going, anyways?" Chihiro asked as she turned to Hugo and shoved her hands in her pockets.

Hugo hummed for a moment as he rubbed his chin, and he lowered his paw as a smile crossed his face.

"If I had to take a guess," Hugo said as the rainbow light reflected across the lens of his glasses and gave him a bit more peaceful a look than he normally held, "I'd say they've gone to clean up the mess Kaos made."