KA-BOOM!

Thick, gray smoke, and blazes of red and orange flames billowed up from the floor as massive troll bombs rained down all across the battlefield. The bombs ate up the massive steel walls that gated off the way ahead with their explosions. Their fires were a striking source of warmth among the cool, dull colors that allowed Kaos's fortress to blend in with the dark skies it hid among, almost like a flare or some kind of signal.

More importantly, it made for the perfect beacon for the rest of the Skylanders as they floated in from those cold, black skies above! Swarms of orange bubbles dashed across the skies as they came in for a landing.

Well, not that Boomer noticed as he wiped the sweat from his brow, and closed his backpack back up. He dispelled the fine layer of gunpowder that accumulated on his head with a simple shake, and a crooked grin spread across his face as his eyes fell back on Hex, Double Trouble and Voodood. The three of them looked a little haphazard and dismantled with the tears in their clothes and the scratches on the skin, but they were alive and well!

"I think there's easier ways to take those walls down than blowing them up, Boomer," Hex remarked as she straightened out her dress's skirt.

"Ah, true," Boomer replied as he shrugged and flicked his ears, "but, blowing them up's way more fun than just waving a wand and casting a spell!"

"Fun, maybe." Hex frowned as she lifted her head, gestured towards the burning wall of fire before them both, and expelled the flames with a snap of her fingers. "But hardly practical."

Double Trouble frowned and mumbled something as he straightened his staff's feathers. His voice grew louder as he turned to Voodood and pushed Voodood's skull hat upright.

"Soon," Voodood replied as he yanked a massive chompy fang out of his skull hat's eye, and tossed it aside. "If that signal we received earlier is of any indication, Chihiro's team managed to remove the no-sell spell over the area, so we can expect the others…"

POP!

"Any moment now."

All four eyes turned to the back of the platform; it was once stark and vacant, but not anymore! The whole place turned lively with chatter, for the remainder of their forces crowded around in a colorful swarm that pushed and shoved against itself as everyone dispersed into their designated groups.

"Hey'a, everyone!" Boomer chirped as he waved back to the crowd. "You arrived just in time!" Boomer chuckled and pointed his ears upright as he turned back to the halls ahead. "The places you're looking for should be just down this hall! Everyone ready to go?"

"I am," Whirlwind said as she flew out of the crowds and up to Boomer with a nod.

Whirlwind gulped, dropped back down to the ground, and flared her wings as her cool, blue eyes turned back to the crowds before her. The massive crowd of Skylanders dispersed into a couple smaller groups; they all huddled together like penguins with their eyes fixed on Whirlwind, frozen in expectancy of what she'd say next.

"Is everyone else?" Whirlwind asked as she flew up once more. Her lips quivered and tensed with anticipation, but she broke into a smile as her question met with a resounding chorus of cheers!

"You bet!"

"I'm always ready!"

"Just say the word!"

Whirlwind's eyes glistened with glee as her jaw gaped open without her even trying, and she turned that joyful gaze back at Boomer as she nodded.

"SKYLANDERS," Whirlwind and Boomer cried as one as they bolted down the halls. "CHARGE!"

Whirlwind and Boomer bolted down the halls, and their footsteps drowned underneath an entire stampede of cheering and stomping as the rest of the Skylanders stormed forward behind them! Everyone was of one heart, one mind, one goal as they poured through the halls, weapons at the ready and fully ready to strike! Even though they weren't anywhere near facing Kaos, they all seemed so eager as they dashed down…

But their assault came to a screeching halt as a gigantic chompy soared right towards them! Everyone else scrambled backwards before the chompy could flatten them, and Boomer leaped up as he slugged the chompy in the gut with a punch so powerful that the chompy rocketed away into the skies, never to be seen again. Hopefully.

"Took… Ya long enough…" Terrafin panted from up ahead.

Boomer frowned and flicked his ears while Whirlwind flew back up to his side, and both of them frowned as their eyes fell on the path ahead.

There, Terrafin lurched over and panted as he held his side, his body covered in bloody scratches. Yet, he still had a bit of fight in his eyes, and it only burned brighter as the light of the flaming battlefield around shone against it.

Around him, the whole hall was set alight and ransacked from the battle ahead, and in the heart of it all, Dino-Rang, Gill Grunt, Slam Bam, and Wham-Shell all lingered around and panted. Just like Terrafin, they were covered in wounds and scars and stumbled from side to side; some were barely even able to hold their weapons, but the moment a bunch of massive monsters dropped down from the skies above and roared like thunder, they all became alert once more!

Terrafin, Gill Grunt, Dino-Rang, Slam Bam, and Wham-Shell stumbled back and went to attack, though their legs trembled as if just standing there took all their strength! They took one step forward and readied their arms, but right before they could strike, a bright rainbow blast enveloped them all!

The light was so great that it shielded them from view, and when it vanished, they stood completely healed! Their wounds closed up and faded back into their body as if they never existed in the first place, and they shone so bright that they were practically starts against the night! The five of them all grinned as they examined their healed bodies, pulled themselves back to full height, yet reeled back as a bright burst of blue streaked across the field!

"You should be good to go!" Whirlwind cried as she zipped across the fields. "Boomer, we'll leave these guys in your care, alright?"

"Got it, Whirlybird!" Boomer called from the back of the crowd as he shot her a thumbs up!

Whirlwind nodded, and the rest of the Skylanders all flooded through the halls. They rushed with such pace that they overwhelmed the monsters that arrived, and almost crushed those monsters underfoot of their crowd. Whirlwind, however, didn't pay much mind to them. Rather, she just frowned as she flew ahead, just past a round platform with a suspicious door, and stopped as she hit a round platform that divulged into three paths: a straight way ahead, a gate on the leftmost side decorated with purple thorns, and one on the right marked by a metal archway.

The rest of the team poured in after her and dismissed into their own groups quickly enough; while they did, Whirlwind dropped down to the floor and opened her mouth. The moment she took her breath, everyone turned still and silent as they all addressed her. Even though all eyes were fixed on her, everyone's minds were elsewhere, and that included Whirlwind's own as she spoke…

§

As the glow faded and the markers disappeared, nine more markers appeared and charged through the halls before they diverted into two separate rooms.

"As for the traps, those have three switches that power them, but they've got lots of stuff guarding them! Whirlwind, Cynder, Dark Spyro, Sonic Boom, and Sunburn, you'll take the ones in the revolving platform room, while Bash, Warnado, Prism Break, and Stump Smash will take the ones with the electrifying pinchers!"

As their markers disappeared, twelve more appeared and charged right across the path before they sat at the round, massive room at the end while five more split off.

"Last, we've got the most important job of all!" Chihiro grinned as she spun her stick around in circles.

"At the end of the halls, there's a platform that leads directly to where Kaos is based. Zap, Zook, Camo, Chop Chop, Ignitor, Lightning Rod, and Eruptor will locate the platform and make sure everyone arrives there safe, while Flameslinger, Ghost Roaster, Drill Sergeant, Drobot, and Stealth Elf will activate the platform!"