Flameslinger frowned and bit his lip as the main sight of the fortress below them drew further and further away, until it was no more than a barely visible dot in the distance. Though he didn't say it, it was clear what was on his mind. Surely, he was worried for the rest of their teammates as they fought against the oncoming storm of minions below.

After all, that certainly seemed to be what Stealth Elf, Drobot and Drill Sergeant worried about as they leaned against the thorns that blocked off the platform from the rest of the world.

Flameslinger brushed his hands against the thorns that kept them from falling into the sky below, and Ghost Roaster frowned and floated over beside him, almost as if he was just as worried. But, it was probably not for the same reasons, given the way Ghost Roaster eyed the thorns above them.

"Hey, you think these things are just for show?" Ghost Roaster asked as he rubbed his bony knuckles against the massive, dark purple thorns that decorated the platform.

As Ghost Roaster rubbed his hand against it, the thorn above him twitched just slightly enough to not be noticed. Well, at first; it twitched again, a third time, and soon enough, it shuddered and twitched enough for Ghost Roaster to wince and jumped back.

"What did I do?" Ghost Roaster asked.

The thorn jerked up, and Ghost Roaster screamed as it slammed right into the platform! The thron sent a massive shockwave around its center; yeah, it was definitely not for show.

Everyone jumped away right before they could get caught in the crossfires, but it seemed as though their concerns weren't over quite yet! They gathered their bearings as the thorn pulled itself up, but the platform underneath them warbled and shook.

"Yeah, that's definitely not a good thing," Stealth Elf remarked.

They all looked down and caught sight of the platform while pulses of purple energy burst from its floor, and gasped as it shuddered and split in three! Before they knew it, they separated onto three spinning platforms: Flameslinger and Ghost Roaster on one, Drill Sergeant and Drobot on a second, and just Stealth Elf on the third and last.

Flameslinger gasped as he ran up to the platform's entrance, grabbed right onto the thorns, and grunted as he pulled on them in some sort of faint attempt to re-route or stop the platform.

"Drobot, what's going on?" Flameslinger cried as he pushed his face between the thorns.

"I am not sure!" Drobot called back as he fiddled with his suit, though the platform he sat on grew so far away that he could barely be heard. "I am trying to re-combine these platforms, but I am not coming up with any solutions!"

"Forget about that!" Stealth Elf cried from the other side. "What's that over there?"

Drobot frowned and lifted his head as all eyes turned to the distance. There, three colorful specks—one red, one orange and one green—stood out among the endless spreads of dull blue skies and thick gray clouds. They glowed with a kind of ominous feeling, almost as if there was something about them that was kind of important…

"It is just me," Ghost Roaster said as he peered at the red speck between the platform's fence with a moment taken to dodge the fence’s looming tips, "or does it seem like we're going over there?"

It did seem as though their platform trailed closer and closer to that red speck for a minute. Right as Ghost Roaster pointed this out, the platform itself drew to a stop and hung in midair, yet its engines whirred and revved as if it was still going!

Flameslinger and Ghost Roaster frowned as they tilted their heads down at the floor, and peered at each other as a dull chime sounded from the floor.

"Attention passengers, your destination has been located," said an emotionless, robotic voice. "Thus, your platform will now engage in full-speed mode. Please keep all arms, legs, wings, tails, and other appendages within the platform, and make sure all belongings are secured…"

As the announcer droned on, however, the platform's engine onto grew louder and louder. Soon, all its revving and screeching completely drowned out the announcer's voice! Something in it clunked as the platform tilted just slightly, and with one last clunk, it sped off at such a high speed that it was practically a blur!

Flameslinger and Ghost Roaster screamed as they flew backwards; their backs pinned themselves to the thorns that blocked off the entrance, and their clothes flapped in the intense wind as the platform drew closer and closer to the island. The platform smashed right into something with such force that both of them flew face-first onto the floor! The platform gently turned around as the two of them groaned and pulled themselves off the floor, and the thorns that blocked off the platform's entrance receded with a friendly chime!

"Attention, passengers, you have arrived at your destination," the announcer droned once more. "Please make sure all belongings are still in your possession as you exit the platform, and thank you for riding the—" the announcer's dull voice swapped to a crackly, static-filled recording of Kaos's voice "—EVIL FLYING PLATFORMS OF ULTIMATE DOOM!"

Flameslinger's head spun around as he groaned in sheer agony. His face tinged a shade of green so sickly that it stood out well against his bright green skin, and it only grew greener with illness as Ghost Roaster tugged onto his arm.

"Flameslinger, you can whine later!" Ghost Roaster cried as he yanked Flameslinger back to his feet and pointed ahead. "Look!"

Flameslinger whimpered as he swayed back and forth across the platform, but finally, he found it within him to pull his head up. He gently pulled his blindfold down far enough to catch a glimpse.

The red speck they came to, as it turned out, was actually an entire island made of warm red stone and covered in cracks that glowed white with heat! Waterfalls of lava poured down from twin fountains shaped like the heads of massive lava kings, and formed a pool of lava at the very back of the island. At the very top rested some kind of tall, mountain-like formation of volcanic rock with a tip obscured by thick gray clouds. Most importantly, laid at the heart of the island was a round, red orb seated atop a cone made of metal! Its round top was about the size of the round depression in that gate from before, so surely, this had to be the key they sought!

"Talk about lucky!" Flameslinger cried as he fixed his blindfold around his eyes, his illness now completely forgotten. "We can just get the key and go!"

Right before Flameslinger could run off, however, Ghost Roaster grabbed Flameslinger by his forearm and yanked him back!

"Hold your horses there!" Ghost Roaster scolded as he glared back at Flameslinger. He snarled as he turned that glare back to the key. "Something about this doesn't seem right. Why would something important like this just be sitting around here, all on its own?"

"Maybe someone dropped it?" Flameslinger wormed his way out of Ghost Roaster's grip and shrugged. "Whatever it is, let's not look a gift horse in the mouth!"

Flameslinger chuckled and dashed off with such speed that flames formed in his tracks, but he skidded to a halt right as he came up to the key!

"I'm telling you!" Ghost Roaster cried as Flameslinger knelt down and went to grab the key. "This isn't right!"

"Nothing about this place is! It's Kaos's stomping grounds!" Flameslinger shot back as he turned around to Ghost Roaster and chuckled.

Flameslinger drew his hands forward, and came just inches within wrapping his hands around them and taking off—but then he stopped. His ears twitched as small pebbles of volcanic rock bounced up and down across the floor underneath him.

"I can hear something!" Flameslinger cried as he yanked the key off the ground and cradled it tight.

"What?"

Flameslinger grimaced as he stretched his legs. "Yeah! There's something rumbling underneath here, and it sounds really strong!"

Flameslinger bent his knees and prepared to dash off, but right as he took his first step, the ground underneath him completely exploded into a shower of hot lava! The force tossed him onto the ground, but the key flew out of his hands and wedged itself between two particularly large volcanic rocks aside of him. He wasn't very worried about that, however. Rather, he jumped to his feet, and dashed aside as a massive volcanic rock crashed onto the place he stood just moments earlier and smashed in two halves!

Fire and lava burst everywhere as the eruption burned brighter and brighter, but those weren't the only things to come out. Growling and gnashing noises echoed among the spew of lava as faces formed in the eruption's massive lava geyser, and out from the lava spew jumped a trio of huge lava kings. They were more lava than rock, and all flanked by an entire fleet of strange creatures seemingly made of pure light!

The floor closed up behind the monsters as their feet hit the ground, almost as if there was never an eruption in the first place. The lava kings and light creatures didn't seem to mind as they set their eyes on Flameslinger and Ghost Roaster, and licked their lips.

Flameslinger snarled as the lava kings and light monsters all crowded around him, and dashed across the molten rock floors! With one last stride, Flameslinger leaped into the air and flipped around mid-jump as he whipped out his bow, fully ready to shoot them down with some explosive arrows. Before he could fire, the light creatures fired their own blasts of explosive light right at him! They acted so fast that Flameslinger had no time to react, and before he knew it, Flameslinger flew out of the air and tumbled back onto the floors!

His bow slid out of his grip, and spun around on the floors as Flameslinger grunted and tried to push himself up. But, the surprise blow took so much out of him that he just collapsed back onto the floor and groaned.

With him incapacitated, the lava kings had some easy prey! They all cackled as they bounded forward and opened their jaws, all while white-hot lava bubbled in their mouths. They grew inches away from Flameslinger and lifted their claws, ready to strike!

Another cackle pierced the air as Ghost Roaster bolted forward, and tackled them down with one fell swoop from his giant skull form! Ghost Roaster hovered in front of Flameslinger and detransformed as the lava kings piled onto the floor and groaned, all while their massive shadows cast over the light creatures…

Who shrieked as their bodies shrunk within the shadows' grip!

Ghost Roaster hummed as he raised an eyebrow at the panicking light creatures. His sight trailed to the massive, mountain-like rock formation that loomed over the island, and occasionally rumbled with the rest of it. Ghost Roaster bobbed his head, grinned, and transformed back into his giant skull form with one flip! He cackled as he slammed into the side of the rock formation, and left a massive dent in its stone, but that wasn't all! With every crash on his end, the rock formation shuddered and rumbled while thin streams of lava burst from its cracks…

One more crash, and the rock formation’s true nature unveiled; it was not to be a rock formation, but rather, a volcano that exploded and spewed lava everywhere!

Flameslinger gasped and scrambled backwards as the lava rained onto the arena, dashed over, and grabbed his bow from the floor just before the oncoming lava rain could eat it up.

"Ghost Roaster, what in your right mind do you think you're doing?" Flameslinger demanded as he dashed away from another massive glob of lava that rained down from the skies.

Ghost Roaster just grinned as he turned back to normal, and turned to Flameslinger. "You'll see!"

A chorus of groans sounded from the skies as tens of lava kings burst through the clouds and rained down on the island. They came down from such great heights that they immediately fell unconscious the moment they hit the ground! More and more lava kings crashed down onto the floors as they littered the area in piles, and their shadows cast over the area until it all turned mostly dark.

Without the light to power them, the light creatures shrank further and further until they completely blipped out of existence!

Ghost Roaster beamed as his eyes glazed over the masses of unconscious lava kings… Well, unconscious save for one that groaned as it lifted its head, but it cried out and fell unconscious once more as Ghost Roaster bonked it on the head with his chain.

"And now that that's been taken care of," Ghost Roaster said as he flipped back into his giant skull form and flew across the area. "Time to get what we came here for!"

Ghost Roaster's cackles faded into the distance as he disappeared between two large piles of lava kings, and a clink sounded off as he dashed back with the key held tight between his jaws! He flipped back to normal and grinned as the key dropped into his hands.

"I'm getting back on the platform," Ghost Roaster said as he trailed back to the platform, the key still tight in his grip. "This place is too hot for me."

Flameslinger nodded as Ghost Roaster disappeared from view, but he wasn't quite ready to leave just yet. Rather, he drew his bow with his arrows fixed on the piles of lava kings that twitched and stirred in their unconscious sleep. With a single pull of the string, his arrows soared right towards them, and blew them all up in a fury of hellfire!

"Can't be too safe!" Flameslinger cried as he dashed back on the platform just before the flames engulfed him!

The platform's gate shot back up, and with a clunk, it spun away while the red glow of the island faded into nothing. The island's cold, volcanic rock grew duller and colder the further apart they grew from it, but Flameslinger and Ghost Roaster just smiled down at the key they retrieved. Flameslinger gently patted the key's round top, and he drew back his sleeve as he tapped his communicator's screen. A bright green glow emerged from its shiny glass surface, and with another simple tap, it changed to a blue screen with some kind of pointy line on its surface.

"Stealth Elf? Drobot? Drill Sergeant? Can you hear me?" Flameslinger asked as he held the communicator to his mouth. "We managed to get the first key! How are things on your ends?"

At first, nothing but faint crackling emitted from the communicator's speakers, but finally, panting and louder static emerged from the speakers as waves ripped through the line on its surface!

"I'm… On… Green… Key…" garbled out a voice that sounded vaguely like Stealth Elf's, though the static was so thick that her voice could barely be made out among its noise. "Punk… Blast… Talk…"

Flameslinger frowned and flicked his ears as the transmission stopped short out of nowhere, and drew his sleeve back over his wrist. He lifted his head to Ghost Roaster, who only shared his concerns with a nod.

"She's probably on that one," Ghost Roaster remarked as his eyes fell on the green speck that stood to their right. "Hope she's doing alright…"

Flameslinger said no words, but the nod he shared as he turned his head to the skies was probably good enough a sign that he shared Ghost Roaster's concerns.