Chihiro's smile and confident look lingered in Whirlwind's mind. It brought a smile to her own face as she lifted her own head, and she flared her wings as she flew towards the thorn-laden gate.

"And remember, everyone!" Whirlwind proclaimed as Sunburn, Sonic Boom, Dark Spyro, and Cynder followed after her. "All of Skylands is counting on us, so do your best!"

Whirlwind frowned and flapped her wings as she ducked underneath the archway. Her ears twitched as the rest of her team crept up behind her, but poked their heads over her shoulders with their eyes trained ahead.

Before them, the thorny, vaguely intimidating aesthetics of the paths behind traded off for sleek, marble platforms dyed in waves of cool colors. Pale bluish-silver marble floors clacked with every step, and ascended to pillars striped in waves of dark pink, purple, teal and black… Well, save for the sharp, golden blades that whipped around each and every platform.

"This should be where those two power sources are," Whirlwind remarked as she scratched her paws against the cool, marble floors. "Sure are a lot of blades, though."

"Good thing we can fly~" Dark Spyro said as he jumped over Whirlwind and flapped his wings. "I'll have those power sources destroyed before you can even say chompy!"

Dark Spyro's grin drew wider as he charged forward and got himself a headstart; he leaped into the air, glided across the blades, and immediately crashed down into the wreckage!

As he nosedived into the cold marble floors, Sunburn pulled him away from the blades and back onto the free pathway, all while Dark Spyro groaned and held his head.

"Ugh, talk about a bad landing," Dark Spyro groaned as he stood up and shook his head. "What's going on here? I was flying fine just seconds ago!"

Sunburn frowned, took to the skies himself and flew over to the platforms, but the moment he did, he immediately crashed down as well!

"The heck?" Sunburn groaned as he lurched back up from the cold floors and shook his head. "I can't fly at all!"

Whirlwind, Cynder, and Sonic Boom all frowned as they shot each other concerned looks. They flapped their wings as they tried to take to the skies, but it was no use. Every time they tried, they immediately slammed back down to the ground! As they pulled themselves back up and swayed around, the three of them stumbled over to Sunburn and Dark Spyro and nudged into a huddle.

"What's going on here? This can't be right!" Whirlwind exclaimed as she laid her wings around Dark and Cynder's shoulders. "Flight isn't controlled by magic, and even if it was, we already got rid of the beacon with that no-sell spell! What's throwing us all off?"

"I don't know," Sunburn panted as sweat evaporated into steam from his feathers' heat, "but something tells me we aren't flying anytime soon."

Whirlwind just sighed as she turned away from the huddle. She eyed the platforms ahead, with their sharp spinning blades and tall, daunting pillars that seemed a tad more imposing without the gift of flight on their side.

"Guess we have no choice—we'll just have to walk through it."

And walk they did as they trudged into the fray, but even that was a struggle in itself! Every step they took was labored and forced, and they strained just to keep their bodies up as they lumbered from the entryway through the platform. It was as if they tried trying to walk through butter, for every step was so small yet so exhausting! Sweat dripped from all five of their brows as their paws fell on the platform, and they all collapsed and broke into panting fits while they pressed their bellies against the cool, marble floors.

"I, I… Don't get… It…" Whirlwind panted as she pressed her tired head against the floor. "That was… Barely… A… A short walk… Why… Am… I Tired?"

"I… Don't… Don't know…" Dark replied as he tried to lift his head, but groaned as it fell back down to the floor. "It's like… Something's… Pressing… Me down…"

Whirlwind grunted as she pushed herself off the ground, but the moment she even tried to stand up, her legs shuddered and she crashed back down! All she did was join the others in groaning as their bodies ached and shuddered. Whirlwind whimpered as she rolled herself over enough to just barely lift her head, flicked her ears as the sound of blades slicing in the wind hit the air, and gasped as a blade swung just inches away from her face!

"Actually," Whirlwind panted as she nudged Cynder forward, "we should, we should probably get out of these things' way!"

Whirlwind nudged her head under Cynder's shoulder as she tried to lift Cynder up, but the weight was so much that she could barely even bring Cynder up an inch! She grunted and strained as she tried to push Cynder up, and finally she managed to push Cynder… Backwards, that is! Cynder screamed as she tumbled into Dark Spyro, who slammed into Sunburn, who in turn crashed into Sonic Boom, and all of them rolled backwards and slammed into something solid!

"Crap!" Whirlwind cried as she bolted forward. "Is everyone alright?"

Whirlwind took one more stride ahead, skidded to a halt and looked down at herself. "Wait a second, I don't feel heavy anymore!"

"Me neither!" Dark replied as he popped his head up and stretched his legs. "Heck, I feel light as a feather!"

"But I don't!" Cynder grunted! A peek down below showed that somehow, Sunburn, Sonic Boom and Dark all landed on top of her, and she could barely get out with all their combined weight! "Now get off of me!"

"CRAP!" Dark cried as he leaped about a foot in the air, swooped down and yanked Cynder out from under the pile. "Sorry about that Cyn, I promise, it was entirely an accident—"

Cynder just sighed and shook her head. "You're alright, Dark."

The two of them sighed, and frowned as their eyes turned back to the entryway behind them. Weirdly enough, even though they stopped midway through their little tumble, there was nothing that could have stopped them. It was all open space as far as the eye could see!

"But I could've sworn we ran into something," Cynder remarked as she flew back up to Sunburn and Sonic Boom. "What's going on here?"

"Ooh, ooh, I know what to do!" Dark cried as he clapped his paws, and held them out as they flared with bright purple light. "Visibility spell, go!"

Right as Dark said this, the bright light from his paws expanded outwards and flashed across the area with such intensity that it drowned everything out. When it faded, a large box with a planet carved into its metal side appeared right behind Sunburn, Sonic Boom and Cynder!

"So that's what stopped our little trip?" Sunburn remarked as he walked up to the box. He laid a claw on its front, where one large, red button shone against the dull, cool lighting around the area. "What is it?"

Whirlwind frowned, flew over to where Sunburn sat and brushed her paw against a string of Common letters carved at the very end of the box's front.

"This says it's a gravity augmentation device," Whirlwind said as she turned back to the others. "This thing must have been what was keeping us down the whole time!"

"So it was messing with gravity to keep us from going on?" Sunburn asked as he looked back at Whirlwind.

Whirlwind nodded and grinned as she turned back to the device. "But, seems like your little collision with it reversed the effects! We should be fine now!"

"Sure we shouldn't smash the thing to bits, just to be safe?" Dark asked as he turned to Whirlwind, all while purple embers burst from his lips. "After all, I'd happily burn the thing down!"

Whirlwind, however, just shook her head.

"Better not risk it. We have no idea what this thing's capable of." Whirlwind folded her wings against her back. "If we destroy it, for all we know it could end up seriously messing up the gravity in this place!" Whirlwind flicked her tail as she strode off. "For now, let's just worry about getting those—"

"THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE DESTROYING THAT SWITCH!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks while all eyes turned to the entryway. There, three spell punks in tattered purple robes snarled as they glared down Sunburn, Dark, Sonic Boom, Whirlwind, and Cynder! A faint, draconic shadow crept out from underneath them and slunk back to the entrance, but the shadow was quickly forgotten in everyone's minds as the spell punk's spindly hands grew bright with magic.

"That gravity augmentation device took us weeks to perfect!" cried one spell punk as it readied a magical orb and snarled. "We're not letting you ruin all our hard work without a fight!"

"Yeah!" cried the other two spell punks as they summoned orbs of their own!

The spell punks screamed as they sent their orbs hurtling towards Cynder, Whirlwind, Dark, Sunburn, and Sonic Boom. Right before the orbs could make contact, Sonic Boom leaped forward and screeched so loud it made the entire area quake in fear! The spell punks shuddered in place as their orbs exploded into a small rain of sparkles, and with them being so shaken, Sunburn had the perfect opportunity to strike!

He teleported behind them without a second thought, hacked out a pillar of flames and toasted their backs! The spell punks yowled, leaped up, yet squealed and ran around in circles as they tried to pat the flames off of their tattered robes. Not that it did them any good, for the flames still burned bright.

"Great, they're distracted!" Dark cried as he turned his attention back to the gravity augmentation device.

With a snap of his claws, a bright purple bubble formed around the device; its body was so solid and strong that it shone against the cool light that coated the ground. While it stayed stagnant, storm clouds flew all around it and crackled with hot, black lightning, the kind that made any sort of approach daunting and dangerous.

"That should keep them from messing with that thing for a little bit!" Dark replied as he turned to Whirlwind and Cynder. The three of them shared a nod, and all at once they took to the skies as they flew off. "Sun, Sonic, come on! We've gotta take down the switches!"

"Okay!" Sunburn and Sonic Boom cried as they turned around from where they stood down the still-dizzy spell punks.

Sonic Boom immediately took off after Dark, Whirlwind, and Cynder, but Sunburn wasn't quite as quick. Rather, he just shot a smirk at the spell punks while they shook their heads.

"Sorry, we'd love to stay and play with you," Sunburn said as he flapped his wings and leaped into the air, "but we just remembered we have some business to take care of, and switches to destroy, so we'll be on our way!"

Sunburn flapped his wings, turned into a blazing comet as he enveloped himself in fire, and zoomed off after the others!

The spell punks just sat there in completely shock, jaws dropped and eyes wide as they watched Whirlwind, Cynder, Sunburn, Dark and Sonic Boom fly off towards the switches.

"Switches, to destroy?" whispered one spell punk. "They can't mean…"

"Of course they mean that! They're probably trying to get access to Lord Kaos!" cried the second spell punk as it spun around in circles. "What're we gonna do? He's gonna kill us and take our robes as trophies if we don't stop them! He's gonna, he's gonna—"

"QUIET!" shrieked the third spell punk as it bonked both its companions on the head!

While the other two punks squealed and rubbed their heads, the third spell punk just scoffed and crossed its arms.

"You two see if there's a way to reactivate the gravity augmentation device." The third spell punk dashed into the skies, paused in midair and turned back to the other two punks. "I'll try and reel in those Skylanders!"

"Got it, boss!" the other two spell punks cried as they saluted the third!

The two of them panted as they rushed over to the gravity augmentation device; they tried to reach past its barriers, but the moment they ran into it, the black lightning completely electrocuted them!

"ACK!" they cried as they floated backwards. The two of them grunted and shook the clinging static off of their robes, turned around and rushed back into the stormy fray. But alas, they just got shocked again. "DOUBLE ACK!"

The spell punks whimpered as they brushed scorch marks off their robes, snarled as they rolled up their sleeves and charged back in! It was no use, for they only got shocked and tossed back once more! Despite being shocked thrice, the pain hardly discouraged them from running back in and getting shocked once more!

"ACK! OOF! OWCH! OWIE! AUGH!"

The two spell punks’ cries of electrical pain shot through the air, and the third spell punk rolled its eyes as the other two splendidly failed. The third spell punk turned around as the sound of a massive fire being lit hit the air! Just across from it, its eyes fell on a purple and red bonfire as tall as a tower that beaconed from across the area, and it scowled as it flew off!

What was the source of that fire, one might ask? Why, it was none other than Sunburn and Dark Spyro, who smiled and wiped embers from their lips like sauce as they backed up, and joined the other three in examining the burning beacon before them!

"One more hit, and that switch's going down!" Dark cried as he turned to Cynder. "Care to do the honors, Cyn?"

"Gladly," Cynder smirked as she winked back at Dark Spyro.

Cynder stepped forward and cleared her throat. She breathed in, out, and shot out a massive black thunderbolt that slammed straight into the beacon! The force from the lightning was already so great that the moment it combined with the raging flames, it completely seared the beacon's inner mechanisms! Lightning crackled out from behind the flames, and completely shielded the beacon from view as the beacon exploded in a massive burst of flames. Its metal bits rained across the area with such speed and volume that Whirlwind summoned a gigantic cloud as a shield from its fury, but nobody around was scared at all! They all beamed as the flames crumbled down to nothing, and revealed only a scorched, melted patch of metal where the beacon once sat!

"Alright!" Dark cried as he held his wing up to Cynder. "Wing five?"

Cynder rolled her eyes, but nonetheless chuckled and gently bumped Dark's wing with her own. "Wing five!"

The two of them laughed as they drew their wings back. Their fiery red and icy blue eyes locked on each other for moments, but the sound of something shrieking through the air pulled their gaze aside; they both screamed and jumped out of the way as a large magic orb slammed into the ground and exploded into a flash of purple light!

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, SKYLANDERS!" cried that third spell punk as it hovered above the ground. "You're not going anywhere near that switch!"

Sunburn, Sonic Boom, Cynder, Whirlwind, and Dark all winced and backed up, but the shock from being found lasted only a moment! Their gazes turned steely and assured as they all nodded towards each other, and Sunburn and Sonic Boom dashed off without a second thought!

"Hey, get back here!" the spell punk cried as it zoomed after Sonic Boom and Sunburn. "Didn't you hear me? You're not supposed to go after those switch—"

"Don't care, buddy!" Dark cried as he, Cynder, and Whirlwind flew in front of the spell punk and blocked it off from Sunburn and Sonic Boom. "Besides, what're you gonna do about it?"

The spell punk snarled, floated backwards and wrapped its thin hands into balls. "Stop you, of course!"

While the spell punk puffed out its chest and tried to seem as intimidating as possible, however, Dark just cackled and pointed a toe at the spell punk!

"You? Stop us?" Dark howled as he covered his mouth with his paw. "What's one little spell punk gonna do against all of us, huh?"

"This!"

The spell punk huffed and inhaled as much as it could until it was little more than a round balloon in the vague shape of a spell punk. With one single exhale, its body expanded and grew in size until it was little no longer. Rather, it was so gigantic that it towered over the entire area as it puffed out its chest and cackled!

While the giant spell punk's mighty laughter shook the area around, Cynder and Whirlwind all watched the spell punk with wide eyes and gaped jaws.

"I had no idea spell punks could do that," Whirlwind whispered.

"That's one big punk," Cynder remarked as she flew a step backwards and growled.

Dark, however, hardly shared in the others' shock, and instead opted to groan as he buried his face in his front paws. "I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut," Dark whined.

With one last cackle, the spell punk heaved itself up and loomed over Cynder, Whirlwind, and Dark, raised a hand and got ready to slap them down! Dark and Whirlwind winced as the punk's hand came in fast, but Cynder just snarled and flapped her wings. With that simple flap, an entire group of gigantic purple ghosts squealed with delight as they flew out from underneath Cynder's wings, flew out and swirled all around the spell punk!

The spell punk snarled and lifted its massive hand as the ghosts spun around the spell punk, cackled and stuck their tongues out at it! Cynder, Whirlwind, and Dark were completely forgotten in its mind as it swatted at the ghosts like they were annoying flies, but every time it tired to land a hit, the ghosts just swept out of the way and returned!

"Stay still!" the spell punk demanded as it failed to smack down yet another ghost. "You're even worse than flies!"

That ghost just giggled as it flew out of the spell punk's range, and blew a raspberry right in the spell punk's face! The spell punk growled as its face filled with warmth; it let out a mighty yowl that shook the ground around as it dashed after the ghost, but the ghost just giggled and dashed off!

Whirlwind and Dark just stood in awe as all this unfolded. Their eyes were the only part of their body that moved as they tried to trace the spell punk's movement, but Dark yelped as Cynder grabbed him by the paw!

"Dark, come on!" Cynder cried as she leaped into the shadows with Dark still firm in her grip. "We've gotta hit that thing while it's still distracted!"

Whirlwind whipped around just in time to catch Dark and Cynder disappear in the shadows, and she herself nodded. With a flap of her wings, she tossed a gigantic storm cloud across the skies, shot up and vanished within the cloud's soft, fluffy surface!

The spell punk ducked underneath a strike from a duo of ghosts. It grunted as the ghosts slammed into each other instead, looked down and let out a sharp gasp!

"There's no escaping me, Skylanders!" the spell punk demanded as it swung its head all around. "Come out and face me right this instant!"

"You asked!" Dark cried from the shadows!

The spell punk gasped as it turned frontwards, and screamed as Cynder and Dark Spyro dashed out from its own shadow and tackled it right in the back! The spell punk cried out as the force sent it hurtling forward, and towards a suspiciously large storm cloud that was rife with rainbow-colored lightning. It screamed as Whirlwind charged out from the clouds, for she was now completely enveloped in searing rainbows and lightning. The new look wasn't for show, either, for she was so slick and fast that she tackled the spell punk in the stomach before it could fight back!

The spell punk yowled as it slammed into the ground and left a nasty dent in the crackled tile, but it wasn't going to stop yet. It groaned as it creaked up from the ground, waved its arms and shot a round of magic orbs into the skies!

Whirlwind, Cynder and Dark all swept out of the way of the orbs just before those orbs could make contact, narrowed their eyes as they zipped around the spell punk, and zapped it with a mix of fire and lightning! All across the area, the spell punk stuck out across the massive pillars and buildings whose shadows blocked out most. It head held tall as it tried to swat away Whirlwind, Cynder, and Dark Spyro to little luck, and it screamed as it got zapped once more!

Its scream resounded across the skies and blew the thing clouds away, but Sunburn and Sonic Boom stood firm as they flew in place and examined the battle.

"Looks like they've got that thing pretty occupied!" Sunburn said as he turned to Sonic Boom. "We'd better get going before it realizes!"

Sonic Boom nodded, and she and Sunburn swept down and flew across the lower parts of the area, where the shiny tile floors were replaced with cold, cracked stone with way too many tiny holes in it. Wait, tiny holes? The two of them frowned and craned their heads down as those stone floors rumbled, and dashed up as sharp spikes leaped from the ground and stood just inches away from their paws!

"Something tells me flying low is out of the question here," Sonic Boom panted as she flapped just a bit higher.

The two of them kept their eyes on the spikes as they flew above the spike pits, which stood sharp and unrelenting as they flew forward.

Sonic Boom lifted her head and gasped with glee! "Sunburn! Over there!" Sonic Boom cried as she shook Sunburn's shoulder and jabbed a paw ahead. "There it is!"

Sunburn shook his head as he wrangled his shoulder out of Sonic Boom's grip, and groaned as he turned his eyes over to where Sonic Boom indicated. The moment he laid eyes on the path ahead, however, his exhaustion completely disappeared as he broke into a smile!

"That's it!" Sunburn cried as he dashed across the skies. "The second beacon!"

There across from them laid a tall, silver beacon. A large blue jewel sat positioned above its top, and glowed with a bright, aqua light completely unalike from the soft and dull lightning of the ground around. It shuddered and pulsed with magic as it beamed out light like a lighthouse at sea. There was no mistaking it, this was the beacon they were looking for!

Sunburn and Sonic Boom broke into wide grins as they flew right for the beacon, but those grins quickly faded as they started drifting lower and lower, all while tired pants escaped their bodies. Their legs drooped down and hung from their bodies as they struggled to keep their eyes open, almost as if the energy was completely sapped from them!

"Just, just what's going on?" Sunburn panted as he forced his head high enough to get one small glimpse of Cynder, Dark and Whirlwind's fight with the giant spell punk…

All of a sudden, his and Sonic Boom's wings completely gave out on them, and they both plummeted into the spiky abyss! The two of them clung to each other and winced as their eyes fixed on the spiky pits, so dreadful that they couldn't turn away, but trying to fly again was no use. Their wings were so exhausted that just one flap was an effort in itself.

So, they did the next best thing—scream! Their cries shot through the air as they dove down below, and they were loud enough to pull Cynder, Dark and Whirlwind away from their fight!

"Sunburn! Sonic!" Whirlwind croaked as she pulled herself up and tried her hardest to stay airborne, though it was a fight in itself! She practically waded through molasses as she tried to fly back up, and every time she succeeded, she grew so exhausted that she just dripped back down and forced herself up again in a never-ending cycle.

"What," Cynder panted as she heaved heavy breaths that grew strained with every flap of her wings, "what's going on?"

Dark grunted as he forced himself to turn around, and he winced as he turned back to Cynder. "Cyn, Whirlwind, we've got a problem!" Dark cried as he pointed towards the ground. "Look!"

All eyes turned back to the ground, but while Cynder, Dark and Whirlwind's eyes shrank with fear, the giant spell punk just broke into a round of hearty laughter!

Down on the ground, the barrier set around the gravity augmentation device was completely dismantled, and the button on its box glowed a bright red while the other two spell punks flew away from it!

"They… They started it…" Whirlwind gasped as her ears drooped down. "No…"

"You bet we did!" the other two spell punks cackled as they hovered over the gigantic spell punk's shoulders. "And now we're going to finish it!"

The gigantic spell punk cackled as the two smaller spell punks spun around its head, and the two spell punks dove into the giant spell punk's hood as they completely disappeared! The gigantic spell punk warbled as its face rippled like a disturbed pond, yet as its face settled, its body giant another ten feet in size. The giant spell punk chuckled as it examined its larger body, lifted its head and slapped Whirlwind aside!

"Whirlwind!" Cynder cried as she dashed down to Whirlwind's side and tried to grab her, but they both just crashed onto the floor instead!

Dark Spyro grunted as he slammed down into the floor beside them. All three of them lifted their heads and bit their lips as the spell punk shot a massive magic orb right at them!

Cynder, Dark, and Whirlwind cried out as the magic orb crashed into the ground, exploded between them and tossed them across the field. As they finally hit the ground, they all grunted and curled up into shivering balls of pain. The blow took a ton out of them already, and with the added problem of the heavier gravity, it was like they were hit by a truck!

They all grimaced and clenched their teeth as they tried to lift themselves up, but a simple wave of the gigantic spell punk's hands kept them on the ground well enough. It summoned a trio of massive thunderbolts that crashed down on Dark, Cynder and Whirlwind! Their cries of pain pierced the skies and resounded well over the sounds of crackling electricity, and the thunder coursed through the bodies with such volume that it kept them pinned to the ground. They could barely even open their eyes as they gritted their teeth…

But finally, Whirlwind collapsed to the ground and forced her eyes open long enough to focus on the gravity augmentation device.

"That's it!" Whirlwind winced as she dug her claws into the cracked ground.

Her teeth gritted against each other as she tried to repress the screams of pain she surely wanted to scream. She dug her second paw into the ground, and pulled herself across the floor with all she had.

"If I… Can just…"

Whirlwind shrieked and screwed her eyes shut, and bit back the pain as she lowered a horn that crackled with rainbow light.

"Get one good shot in…"

Whirlwind's horn shrieked with power as it cloaked in bright, rainbow light that soon bled into a raw, hot white which crackled with rainbow lightning.

"That… That would be it!"

Right as Whirlwind said this, a massive bolt of rainbow lightning leaped out from her horn and charged right towards the gravity augmentation device! Whirlwind cried out as the force sent her on her back, yet she snarled and forced herself up as her eyes fell on the switch…

Just in time for her lightning bolt to slam into its button and flick it back to normal gravity!

Whirlwind gasped and staggered back up to her full height as the strength returned to her body, while beside her, Dark Spyro and Cynder grinned as they did the very same thing!

The spell punk, however, didn't seem to share in their joy! It gasped as it tugged on its hood, but a sonic shockwave rocked the area around and sent it spinning! The spell punk screamed as it went spinning backwards; it shook its head and regained its balance right as the sound of cracking glass cried out.

It turned its attention back to where the second beacon laid, but the second beacon was no more! That sonic shockwave completely shattered its top, and its base quickly followed as Sunburn set it on fire with a massive flaming burst, a beacon that signaled well across the area!

The flames reflected in the spell punk's massive eyes as its jaw dropped in slow motion, and...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the spell punk cried as it pulled down the hood of its robes. "IT'S OVER, IT'S ALL OVERRRRRRRRRRRR!"

The spell punk that once seemed so cool and composed shrieked in panic as it spun around in circles and spat out panicked gibberish banter. Finally the panic just became too much for it! Its eyes shrank as its whole body started to rumble, and the giant spell punk was no more; the shock split it back into the three spell punks that originally comprised it!

The spell punks grunted as they hit the floor, rolled over and groaned as they rubbed their heads. Their eyes went small as Cynder, Dark Spyro, and Whirlwind loomed over then with wicked, snide grins on their faces.

"Now, what was that about stopping us from destroying those switches?" Cynder remarked as she swished her tail back and forth.

Her normally cool and composed air turned to one sharp, snide, and almost kind of scary as she glinted down at the spell punks and let off a sneer. Rows of sharp, pearly-white fangs popped out of her mouth, and the spell punks shrieked!

The spell punks devolved into panicked, angry gibberish as they pushed all over each other in a mad dash for the entrance. Before they could reach it, Dark Spyro spun all around them and locked them into a ring of blazing purple fire! The spell punks all broke into a cold sweat as they huddled together and tried their best to dodge the flames, and their sweating grew hotter and more furious as Dark leaped out from the ring of fire and tagged in Cynder!

Cynder flapped her wings and bore her teeth as she leaped up and seemed like she was going to pounce right on the spell punks. Instead of pouncing, she leaped into the shadows, popped out from behind, and sent the spell punks flying across the skies with a simple tackle!

The spell punks wailed and flailed as they tried to regain their balance; they screamed as Sonic Boom and Sunburn swept down in front of them, but they weren't the only ones doing the screaming! Sonic Boom inhaled as deep as she could, and with a single breath, she blasted the spell punks back with a super-loud sonic screech!

Sunburn tailed them across the skies as they crashed down into the ground, flew beside Whirlwind and shared a nod with her. The two of them craned their heads up right as the spell punks rocketed towards them, and blasted those spell punks aside with a combined burst of flames and lightning!

The spell punks grunted as they crashed into the floor, staggered up and winced as their eyes turned to Whirlwind, Cynder, Sunburn, Sonic Boom, and Dark. They all shrieked as a sharp blade just narrowly grazed their backs, and teleported away!

Whirlwind, Sonic Boom, Sunburn, Dark, and Cynder all shared a grin as they looked towards each other, and with a flap of their wings, they all took to the skies and flew back to the entryway!

"Now, if I didn't know any better," Dark remarked as he nudged himself between Sunburn and Cynder, "I'd almost say that victory gravitated towards us!"

The cheerful air that surrounded them all completely vanished as everyone else shot Dark cold, lancing glares and let out a couple tired coughs.

Dark forced a chuckled as he flew back just a bit. "What, are my puns that bad?"