Everyone's breath bated as the spinning platform they all sat on drew closer and closer to what they could only assume was the entryway to Kaos's secret castle. Though their gazes were steel cold and emotionless, the way several of them bit their lips, or fidgeted with parts of their weapons or outfits, showed they still had residual nerves.

It wasn’t surprising, given the results of their last attempt at challenging Kaos, but, they couldn't just give up right now! They came too far to just give up and let Kaos undo all their hard work! If they could so much as hinder him for even a second, or a fraction of a second, even, that would be good enough for them. Every second Kaos spent occupied with them would be a second he was away from the Core of Light, a chance to buy their allies time to keep their beacon of hope safe…

And once they stopped him for good, they'd all be able to rest easy at last!

A muffled clunk sounded off as their platform latched onto the platform above. This above platform was constructed of a series of what looked like luminescent glass tiles that seemed vaguely like fancier versions of ordinary light panels, and glowed in a faint pinkish-purple. All around them, massive thorny tendrils not unlike they ones they saw prior loomed over the area like a twisted fence made to keep out intruders, or perhaps lock in those stupid enough to trespass? Well either way, guess that meant them.

They all piled off their ride and took a step on the panels. The panels, in turn, all glowed a stark white in response to their touch. They spoke no words to each other as they departed, but they understood the plan well—find Kaos and stop him!

Chihiro bit her lip as she took another shaky step forward. Even though she prepared for what seemed like forever for this very fateful moment, every part of her shook and told her to run for the hills! But, she couldn't do that; not now, when she finally came all this way! So, she shook her head and released her bite.

"Alright, everyone," Chihiro said at last, her voice kept at such a volume that it could still be heard without alerting Kaos, "whatever happens, just remember why we came here." Chihiro balled her hand into a fist and placed it close to her heart. "No matter what, we've gonna stop Kaos and keep him from destroying the Core of Light again! So we've gotta give it our all! We'll—"

"I'm sorry, you're going to do what now?" asked a familiarly sinister gargling voice from behind!

Chihiro gasped and shot out a shield as a harpoon spiraled straight towards her! The harpoon bounced off the shield, and fell to her feet with a harmless clatter, but the harpoon was the least of her worries now—for they had company!

Out from the few shadowy parts of the area, the sound of wet feet slapping against hard floors echoed around while a familiar foe unveiled itself as… The Evil Gillman! Sure enough, it hid in the shadows all along, and it wasn't the only one! The Evil Lava Monster, Skeleton Knight, and Elf Ninja all followed its trail, and judging by the blank white eyes that flashed open like sharp, evil stars in the night, they weren't alone, either!

"It seems that the Evil Orc Warrior was right to patrol those halls for once, seeing as how it caught your little buddies rifling through the halls like mice," the Evil Gillman snarled as it stroked its harpoon gun. It cast a glance to the Evil Orc Warrior while the Evil Orc Warrior waved, and smirked as it turned back to Chihiro and the Skylanders.

"If you think you're going anywhere near Lord Kaos, well, I'm sorry to say you have another thing coming!"

The rest of the evil clones revealed themselves as well, eyes narrowed and weapons at the ready. They glowed with a burst of power that made them seem more determined, more devilish than usual. Despite their varying appearances, though, it was clear what they looked for—a fight!

"Lord Kaos ordered us to keep any unwanted intruders from interfering with his plans, and by all means, I INTEND TO FOLLOW THAT ORDER THROUGH!"

The Evil Gillman shot another round of harpoons towards the Skylanders, but the Skylanders dodged immediately! All those harpoons did was fly into the atmosphere, never to be seen again, but the effect this attack left behind was present enough, for an all-out brawl broke out!

"Chihiro!" Spyro hissed as he turned his eyes back to Chihiro. "We'll keep these guys occupied! See if you can find a way to start this thing back up!"

Chihiro shared a nod with Spyro, and as she teleported away, Spyro turned a gaze burning with anticipation back on the swarms of minions.

Spyro was the first to jump into the fray, his wings flared while flames crackled at his lips. Before he could even shoot out a single fireball, the Evil Lava Monster diverged from the head of the pack and slammed into him! Spyro tumbled across the glowing glass floor, shook his head and staggered up as Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy joined him.

The Evil Lava Monster just scoffed as the Evil Tree Ent and Evil Ice Yeti flanked both its sides with narrowed eyes and fists at the ready. The three of them snarled as they grew closer to Spyro, Gill Grunt, and Trigger Happy, their weapons so close to letting loose.

But, Spyro didn't seem intimidated at all, and the same went for Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt!

Spyro shared a nod with Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy, and he turned back to the evil minions as he lowered his horns and scraped the stark ground below his feet. All was tense as the evil minions drew closer and closer, and all the while, Spyro, Gill Grunt and Trigger Happy stood stoic.

Finally, Spyro unleashed a flaming charge and rammed straight into the Evil Tree Ent!

The Evil Ice Yeti and Lava Monster both turned out of the way as the Evil Tree Ent soared across the battlefield, and that gave Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt just the opportunity they needed! Their guns at the ready, Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt sent a flying frenzy of golden coins and harpoons in the Evil Lava Monster and Evil Ice Yeti's direction. This barrage was so fast and furious that by the time the Evil Lava Monster and Evil Ice Yeti turned around and caught sight, they were too late! They only watched as the harpoon and coin storm slammed right into them before they exploded into a mixture of purple, blue, and red spheres.

Spyro beamed at Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt while they gave him a thumbs up, and he turned around as he fixed his eyes back on the Evil Tree Ent. The Evil Tree Ent quietly crept away, but it wouldn't make an escape on Spyro's watch! Though it caught sight of Spyro and got ready to flee, Spyro just teleported in front of it and shot a red-hot fireball right in its face!

"NO, NOT THE FIRE! I'M A TREE!" the Evil Tree Ent cried as it was engulfed in flames. "MY WOOD CAN'T TAKE—"

Before the Evil Tree Ent could finish, the flames completely engulfed its voice, quietly extinguished themselves, and left behind a pile of purple and green glowing spheres!

Spyro nodded in approval as the spheres sat stagnant on the floor, but stumbled across the battlefield as some purple and blue blur rammed right into him! Spyro winced as he slammed into the fencing, and his expression soured as the sounded of gargling laughter echoed around the battlefield.

"Zap, watch where you're going!" Spyro warned.

He pulled himself up, and froze as Zap zipped right past him with the Evil Elf Ninja hot on his tail.

"That wasn't me, dude!" Zap cried back as he shot a round of lightning bolts at the Evil Elf Ninja. "This chick's been on my tail since the battle began!"

The Evil Elf Ninja just chuckled before it disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Zap's lightning bolts passed right through the cloud before they slammed into the battlefield's fence.

"Talk about bogus, man," Zap grimaced as the smoke around him faded.

Spyro grimaced as well while he looked aside the battlefield. "If that wasn't Zap, just who was it?"

"A little distracted, aren't we?" crooned the Zap-like voice as someone else balled right into Spyro and tossed him against the fence. "I wouldn't be so careless, if I was you!"

As Spyro cried out and slunk down the fence, he shook his now very dizzy head and peered back up. He winced, and fell down as something pressed against his belly and pushed him to the ground. He popped open an eye, and found that there before him was the Evil Water Dragon! It sneered as it propped open its mouth, and charged up a bolt of sparkling lightning that crackled and sparked at every given moment!

"SAY GOODBYE, SKYLAN—OOF!"

Before it could even fire that bolt, however, something slammed right into it and cast it along the cold, hard tile!

"Who did that?" the Evil Water Dragon insisted as it jumped back to its paws and whipped its head around. "Show yourself!"

The Evil Water Dragon looked every which way, froze and narrowed its eyes at a certain, faint elven silhouette in the distance. The Evil Water Dragon snarled and zipped forward on a trail of sticky slime, the slickness of which was only amplified by the tile floors underneath. In the moment, it blinked and the silhouette vanished right before its eyes!

"Hey, get back here!" the Evil Water Dragon demanded as it kept sliding and sliding, with no attention paid whatsoever to the path ahead.

This turned out to be its downfall, for right on track for it was none other than the Evil Skeleton Imp as it charged forward in its giant skull form! The Evil Water Dragon took one look ahead and scrambled backwards, but slipped on its own slime and fell on its back right before the Evil Skeleton Imp slammed into it! The Evil Skeleton Imp wasn't entirely without injury, either, for the resulting collision broke it out of its giant skull form and toppled it over!

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" the Evil Water Dragon spat as it shook its head and snarled at an equally-angry Evil Skeleton Imp.

"I could tell you the same thing!" the Evil Skeleton Imp shot back as it tried to pull itself up only to struggle against the slime.

"A little stuck now, aren't we?" crooned another, more whisperlike voice as a puff of green smoke manifested behind them!

Stealth Elf crossed her arms as the Evil Skeleton Imp and Water Dragon snarled back at her, and pulled themselves out of the slime pit.

"Alright, you stupid, sneaky leaf-lover!" they cried in unison as they finally leaped free. "You're not getting away this time!"

Well, that's what they thought, but she teleported away before they could grab her! Instead, they crashed right into the Evil Elf Ninja and fell onto each other in one big pile!

"LEAF-LOVER?" the Evil Elf Ninja exclaimed as it popped its head out from under the pile. "What kind of person do you take me for?!"

"Wait, Evil Elf Ninja?" the Evil Water Dragon sputtered as it looked back down under the pile. "But, that Skylander was here a second ago!"

"Are you sure you're not losing touch? Because if you could mistake her, of all beings, for me, then—"

The Evil Elf Ninja, unfortunately, did not get the chance to finish its rant, nor did the Evil Water Dragon and Skull Imp get the chance to retort. While the three of them bickered among each other, several flaming hot magma balls shot forward and smacked right into them! They could only scream before the magma balls exploded and took them with it.

"Hey Fin, did you hear that?" Eruptor asked as he ran over with Terrafin in close pursuit.

The two of them frowned as they examined the pile of magic spheres and burnt rock bits that was just barely visible against the hole the magma melted into the battlefield. While their gaze lingered on it for a few moments, they ultimately shrugged it off, dodged under bamboo shrapnel and ran back into the heat of the fray!

Just where did that bamboo shrapnel come from? Well…

"Take this, you, you, you… Winged horse!" the Evil Bambazooker cried as it threw its bazooka over its shoulder and sent out a round of bamboo shrapnel. It sighed and hung its head. "Man, I need to come up with better insults."

At the heart of the battlefield, Whirlwind was up to her knees in cloud barriers as she blocked off attacks from the Evil Bambazooker, Skeleton Knight and Phoenix Dragon all at once! She winced as she just narrowly dodged the bamboo shrapnel, squeaked and flitted aside as several large, bony brambles nearly cascaded over her. Though she was lucky enough to escape, she didn't seem particularly relieved as the brambles cascaded over her cloud barriers and popped them like balloons. Whirlwind held her front paws out and got ready to make more, but before she could a bright, hot stream of flames singed her wings.

Whirlwind let out a yelp as she crash-landed on the ground, and cradled her searing, burnt wing. She poked her head up and winced as the Evil Bambazooker, Skeleton Knight, and Phoenix Dragon closed in on her, but her wince quickly turned into a snarl as her horn glowed in all the colors of the rainbow. She lowered her head and got ready to shoot, but out of nowhere, the evil minions screamed as they were shocked into extinction right before her very eyes!

"What could have…" Whirlwind whispered. She stopped short as Cynder slunk out of shadows, and nodded towards her. Whirlwind jumped to her feet and beamed at Cynder, and the two of them took to the skies as they jumped back into the fray!

From across the battlefield, Chihiro grimaced and gripped onto her magically-summoned sword tight. Though she wanted to run, it was feasibly impossible. The Evil Elf Witch, Elf Archer and Gillman had her completely cornered, and were ready to shoot at any given moment! But, that was hardly anything, so she just smirked.

"You know, three against one is hardly a fair fight," Chihiro remarked as she haplessly shrugged and closed her eyes. Her smirk grew even wider as she leaned down and chuckled. "For you guys, anyways!"

The Evil Elf Witch, Elf Archer, and Gillman took her chides of mockery as a sign to fling their weapons towards her in unison, but Chihiro didn't even sweat it! She immediately threw out her sword, transformed it into a shield at the last moment, and beamed as their projectiles bounced off the shield and shot right back at them! The Evil Gillman ducked and rolled out the way, but unfortunately, the Evil Elf Witch and Elf Archer weren't nearly as lucky. They watched as their skulls and arrows slammed right into them, and flung aside!

"What did I tell you?" Chihiro asked as she lifted the shield and stood proud. She raised an eyebrow down at the Evil Gillman while it staggered back up.

"I don't know what it is about you," the Evil Gillman said as it cocked its harpoon gun, yet stayed oblivious to the shiny, wet harpoon that popped out of the barrel and fixed its eyes on Chihiro instead. "It seems like whenever you're around, those stupid Skylosers are much stronger, perhaps even stronger than they ever were with Eon!"

The Evil Gillman's mouth drew into a snarl as it held its harpoon cannon even tighter. "And whatever it is, it's been causing me far too much grief for far too long!" The Evil Gillman raised its harpoon cannon and fired. "That's why I'm going to rip your puny body apart and figure out what it is myself!"

Chihiro popped an eye open, yelped and ducked as the harpoon darted forward and narrowly grazed over her back! Looks like that thing wasn't nearly as defeated as she thought it was. So, with a grunt, Chihiro leaped towards the Evil Gillman right as it got ready to fire another stream of water at her, and teleported away instead!

"CURSE YOU, CHILD!" the Evil Gillman shouted right as Chihiro reappeared!

The Evil Gillman craned its head all around in pursuit of her, but not for long. While it was distracted, Chihiro grabbed it by the straps of its wetsuit, and body-slammed it down into the floor! The force was so intense, or perhaps the Evil Gillman was just weak enough, that the blow was decisive; just that one slam blew it into a pile of purple and blue spheres!

"Y'know, I think my math teacher said something like that when I failed my math test, too," Chihiro remarked with a shrug. "Anyways, let's get this thing rolling again!"

Chihiro grinned and went to teleport across the battlefield. Before she stepped away, she craned her head back to where the rest of the Skylanders duked it out with their evil clones!

All around the battlefield, the fighting went strong with nobody ready to relent! Sparks flew as Drill Sergeant charged against the Evil Drill Robot, and overhead lasers soared down like rain thanks to a battle between Drobot and the Evil Robot Dragon. The Evil Unicorn Dragon shot deadly, dull-colored rainbows towards Sunburn as he teleported away, and tried to blast away its cloud shields with flames. All of this set to a soundtrack of grinding weapons, battle cries and insults hissed out through gritted teeth!

The Evil Dirt Shark grinned as it punched an unsuspecting Trigger Happy into a path of flames crafted by the now-recovered Evil Elf Archer, but snarled as he quickly jumped out of the fire's way! The Evil Dirt Shark cracked its knuckles, and went to dive in and presumably finish off Trigger Happy itself, but an orb smashed right into it and tossed it aside before it could.

While the Evil Dirt Shark flew across the battlefield, Hex snarled and dashed aside of a thunderstorm as she flung more orbs at the evil minions. Despite her vigilance in dodging the haphazard attacks that strung across the battlefield, one thing completely slipped her notice. Right as she fired off a round of skull orbs, something slammed into her and knocked her down! Hex grunted and turned around as she tried to get back up, but before she could, a purple foot stepped on the fringe of her dress's skirt.

"Not so tough now, are you, elfie?" the Evil Orc Warrior sneered as its ax retracted back into its handle.

Its blank eyes cast a glance back to the ax, it raised it high and swung down, yet Hex held out her hand and summoned a wall of bones between them before it could even graze her! While her bone barrier shielded the brunt of the Evil Orc Warrior's blow, Hex's eyes flared with light as she jumped back to her feet and recited a chant.

The Evil Orc Warrior grunted as it finally yanked its ax out of the bones, and it snarled as it glared back at Hex. "What do you think you're doing?"

Hex return its snarl with a glare, cast out her hand and summoned a vortex above the Evil Orc Warrior—a vortex full of skulls that soon dropped on its head!

"Owch! Owch! Owch!" the Evil Orc Warrior cried as the skulls continually bonked it on the head.

Hex just scoffed and snapped her fingers. The vortex expanded its range to the rest of the arena field as well! All around her, these skulls rained down on the evil minions, who completely forgot about their ongoing fights. They just tried to escape, or they just stood and cried out as the skulls beat them down, but they were completely incapacitated either way.

The Evil Storm Titan grimaced as one of these skulls bit the Evil Rock Dragon clean in half, and dodged out the way of another as it glared at Hex.

"That's it, I can't let this continue!" the Evil Storm Titan proclaimed as it clasped a lightning bolt like a sword and bolted towards Hex. "Take this, you—"

SHING!

"My apologies," Chop Chop proclaimed as he leaped in front of the Evil Storm Titan, and intercepted its sword with his own, "but I cannot let you interrupt my lady in the midst of her work!"

The two of them clashed in a mighty, metallic fury as their swords slammed and bounced against each other, and both parties stood so fixated on the other that the entire battlefield around them vanished! All they cared about was their battle of blades as they side-stepped the hazards of the arena, and ducked attacks without even noticing. Their focus was stuck to each other, and only each other.

"Your lady?" the Evil Storm Titan scoffed, and it surely would have rolled its eyes if it had some. "How pretentious, have you sworn your heart to her or something?"

"Something like that."

The Evil Storm Titan completely froze. "Wait, don't tell me she's your—"

"My lady, now!"

Chop Chop simply turned around, and raised his sword, but his signal was good enough for Hex! She cast a swirl of magic in the air, pointed straight towards the Evil Storm Titan and sent it flying.

That swirl of magic quickly transformed into a gigantic, flying skull, and it came in at such a velocity that the Evil Storm Titan didn't have time to run! It only stood there as the skull slammed into it and tossed it across the battlefield!

"Ugh," the Evil Storm Titan groaned as it got up and stumbled about, but fell down once more. "Curse you, you stupid skull!"

Right as it fell unconscious, a particularly large skull leaped out of nowhere and chomped right down on the Evil Storm Titan. Its body strained and stretched under the pressure, and it exploded at last into a storm of purple and sky blue magic spheres!

Camo skidded just underneath this storm, grunted as he hit the floor face-first, and turned around as a high-pitched cackle sounded off behind him from none other than the Evil Gremlin! Camo snarled as he went to attack it, but before he could, a furious drill shot towards him!

He completely forgot about the Evil Gremlin and instead rolled away from the drill, but it was stubborn and set it course for Camo once more! His attention turned to jumping and leaping out of the drill's way, all while the Evil Gremlin cackled with glee.

But in its glee, it didn't notice the flare of blue light that popped up behind it! Chihiro reappeared behind the Evil Gremlin, yet it was oblivious to her appearance still as it continued to gloat. However, it certainly noticed her when she yanked it off the ground and tossed it between Camo and the drill! It shot Chihiro a glare, but screamed as the drill bored it to death!

Camo smirked as the Evil Gremlin exploded into spheres and hopped back over to Chihiro. Camo and Chihiro gave each other a thumbs up, but as Camo left to fight, Chihiro just frowned and examined the battlefield.

This battle went on for long enough, and anyone could tell the Skylanders grew weary. They didn't shoot off their attacks nearly as rapidly as when the battle began, and weren't nearly as alert, either, judging by how some of them kept getting tossed across the battlefield. Unfortunately for them, those minions hadn't lost any of their earlier gusto! They still fought as eagerly as they did when the fight began, and at this rate, it almost seemed as though they would win!

"Perhaps it's time I finish this!" Chihiro cried.

She summoned a magical sword and stormed into the fray, but stopped and skid back as the Evil Elf Witch and Elf Archer stormed in front of her!

"Halt right there!" the Evil Elf Archer proclaimed as it cast its arrows in front of Chihiro. "You shall not pass!"

"Indeed, this is as far as you'll go!" the Evil Elf Witch affirmed with a nod of its head. "You have been troubling us for far too long, but your insolence ends now! No longer will you plague us with your annoying taunts and jeers and your snotty grin, no longer will you…"

Chihiro just yawned and scratched her head as the Evil Elf Witch continued to ramble on. "BO-RING!" Chihiro cried as she slashed them in half while they exploded into piles of magic spheres!

Chihiro grinned as the spherical remnants of the Evil Elf Witch and Archer glistened at her feet, but the storming sounds of stomping and rampaging pulled her eyes up to the rest of the battlefield. Though, it certainly wasn't visible anymore, for what remained of the evil minions' forces completely swarmed her!

"Trying to sneak off, are you, portal pest?" remarked the Evil Drill Robot as it whirred up to Chihiro and stuck one of its drills in her face. The Evil Drill Robot beeped and narrowed its eyes as Chihiro instinctively flinched and stumbled backwards. "Sorry to say, but neither you or your pesky little buddies will be going anywhere from here!"

The Evil Drill Robot wheeled backwards, and revved its engine as its wheels spun against the ground below with such intensity that sparks flew all around!

"Consider this your final resting place, portal poster!"

The Evil Drill Robot cackled with glee as it stormed right towards Chihiro. Before it could even lay a scratch on her, she summoned a shield at such short notice that the Evil Drill Robot couldn't even stop! It just bounced off of the shield and tumbled backwards across the battlefield! Not that this was a deterrent for it, for it immediately jumped back to its wheels and raised a drill into the air.

"GET HER!" it cried at the top of its mechanical voice!

The signal now given, the remaining minions all cheered and cried as they flung themselves at Chihiro! Their arms bared as they completely swarmed a tense, sweating Chihiro, who only winced as she lifted her hands and summoned a round of swords.

With a snap of her fingers, the blades stood upright, shot down into the fray, and thrust their sharp blades into the minions' faces! The minions stopped their assault short, and jumped back just before they could get sliced; in that moment of hesitation, a bright burst of light formed around the swords and shaped into a human form! These illusions of humans all grabbed the swords they came from, and pressed them against the minions' faces. Though their faces bore no features, the subtle brightening of their glow was enough to convey their message—they came here for a fight, and they would leave as the victors!

The Evil Robot Dragon furrowed its brows and growled as the illusion it faced off with poked the blade in its face. With a swing of its paws, it slammed down the illusion and slashed it back into magical bits!

"QUIT LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" the Evil Robot Dragon cried as its paws slammed against the cold tile floor. "YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A FACE!"

The Evil Robot Dragon leaned down and panted as it hung its head, but with it inciting the brawl, the other minions immediately jumped into the fray! Sparks and smoke flew across the battlefield, and the sounds of clashing completely masked everything else as their attention completely fixed on the illusions…

Much to Chihiro's content as she smirked and turned around.

"Since you guys are so preoccupied," she whispered as her boots started to glow with a small, cyan light. "I'll just make my leave now!"

Chihiro leaned down and prepared to jump, but just before she could make her leap…

"Hold it right there!" the Evil Orc Warrior, Unicorn Dragon, and Dirt Shark cried as they jumped in front of her!

Chihiro squeaked and stumbled backwards as they all closed in on her. Her confident look turned to a snarl as she regained her balance, and she clenched her hands into a fist.

"Sorry, kid!" the Evil Dirt Shark sneered as it cracked its knuckles. "But I'm afraid you aren't getting away that easily!"

"Yeah!" the Evil Orc Warrior and Unicorn Dragon cried as their blank eyes flared with bitter rage!

Chihiro scoffed, haplessly shrugged as a magic cleaver appeared in her hand, and cocked an eyebrow back at the Evil Dirt Shark. In spite of the sudden accost, she didn't seem tense or worried at all; she was the picture of confident as she brandished her cleaver and watched her reflection in its blade.

"I should've guessed I'd miss a few," Chihiro remarked as the Evil Dirt Shark's own confident look faded in favor of snarls and angry glares. "Oh well, I'll just take care of you creeps and get on my merry way!" With her hands clasped tight around the cleaver's handle, Chihiro bolted forward and swung right down on the Evil Dirt Shark. "HI-YAH!"

Chihiro grinned as the blade flew right towards the Evil Dirt Shark's head, but right before the blade could make contact, the Evil Dirt Shark grabbed the blade between its hands. It yanked the cleaver right out of Chihiro's grip!

"Oh, whoops!" the Evil Dirt Shark cried as it turned around and lobbed the cleaver back at the fence. It only grinned and licked its lips as Chihiro gasped and stepped back. "You should be more careful with your toys, kid!"

Chihiro grunted, but she dispelled her shock as she shook her head and summoned a second cleaver. "That wasn't the only one I have, you know!"

Chihiro held her cleaver tight and charged right towards the Evil Dirt Shark with a scream so loud it rattled the battlefield! Her cry was so loud, so passionate that it not only escaped the grip of the sounds of war, from the grinding swords and explosions and insults, but it caught the Skylanders' attention as well!

Thirty-three pairs of eyes fell across the battlefield, past the swarms of magic spheres, dents and craters left behind by previous brawls, and right towards the swarms of evil minions that sparred with Chihiro's swordsmen illusions!

The minions fought their hardest, but unfortunately, the illusions fought just as hard! For brainless illusions, they were incredibly good at fighting as they slashed against their opponents, and used their blades to block their blows. In fact, they were so good that they completely grabbed the minions' attention. It was like those minions completely forgot the Skylanders existed!

"Everyone!" Spyro cried as the other Skylanders gathered around him, his golden eyes lit with excitement as he looked from side to side. "We've got a chance! Quick, get those minions!"

"Got it!" everyone cried at once as they rushed towards the crowd of evil minions!

Everyone ran or flew with such might that their stampeding footsteps drowned out the insults and sound of clashing weapons. Boomer bolted forward as he leaped over the battlefield, yanked his bombs out of his backpack, and lit them with a simple yank of their strings!

"Bombs away!" Boomer cried as he lobbed his bombs into the crowds of minions!

Boomer grinned from ear to ear as red-hot, flaming explosions scattered across the battlefield and ate up the minions' forces, but shot downwards and landed right on Drill Sergeant's back!

Boomer chuckled to himself as he patted Drill Sergeant on the head. "Thanks for the catch, Drills!"

"That is not my designation!" Drill Sergeant beeped as he turned his attention up to Boomer. "It is—"

Drill Sergeant yipped as a laser darted forward, and slammed right into his grate! Thankfully, being a robot meant that the most it did was spark a bit and vanish, but it was still sudden enough that Boomer yelped and jumped off of Drill Sergeant's back!

"EXCUSE ME!" Drill Sergeant exclaimed as his eyes turned narrow and red. "IT IS RUDE TO INTERRUPT OTHERS WHEN THEY ARE TALKING!"

Drill Sergeant's engine revved as his gaze trained on the Evil Crystal Golem, who held its belly as it bellowed out laughter. He screeched forward and loaded his drill hands!

"TARGET ACQUIRED!"

With those two words spoken, Drill Sergeant fired his drills with a click! Though Drill Sergeant skidded to a stop, his drill hands burst forward and fixed their path right onto the Evil Crystal Golem—but it was so caught up in its laughing spell that it didn't even notice! Before it could react, the drills plunged through its chest and blew it to bits!

Drill Sergeant made a content beep and wheeled back after Boomer as it exploded in a shower of purple and brown spheres. "Now, as I was saying, Boomer, sir…"

Zap and Camo both chuckled and rolled their eyes at each other as Drill Sergeant passed them by, but as the sound of sizzling shot off beside them, Zap gasped and tackled Camo to the ground!

"Look out, dude!" Zap cried as a massive breeze blew over their heads!

The two of them grimaced as their eyes fell back to the battlefield, where the Evil Griffon's gaze fixed on them. Its eyes were wide, and its gaping jaw open even wider as it froze in place—but, it was hardly the only minion there!

The remaining evil minions tore away from their own battles, and completely fixed themselves on the Skylanders! A couple of them snarled as they tried to jump into the fray, the Evil Griffon included. Before they could attack, the swordsmen illusions slid in front of them, and brandished their swords in the minions' faces! Though a few of them tried to escape, the swordsmen tailed them and cornered them at every turn…

All except for one, that was! The Evil Griffon flitted this way and that, and as the swordsman illusion that faced it blocked it off at every turn, it growled and tossed an egg right at it! The swordsman illusion immediately skewered the egg with its sword, but that turned out to be a big mistake. The egg exploded from the damage and took the swordsman with it!

The Evil Griffon cackled as it flew out of the smoky veil the explosion left behind, but right when it thought it was safe, a horde of vines wrapped around it and yanked it to Camo's side!

"You're not getting away this time!" Camo cried as he stomped his front paws. "Time for a fried fruit punch!"

With that one stomp, a vine full of watermelons so ripe they could burst exploded out from the ground. A blue blur dashed aside while a lightning bolt shot out from the side, and blew them to bits! The explosions was a bright, fruit mess that shot smoking watermelon chunks at every angle, and the biggest ones bored right into the Evil Griffon and knocked it on its back.

The Evil Griffon grunted as it tried to pull itself up, but no matter what it did, it couldn't move from its spot! As it thrust its head up, it grunted and turned around to find…

"Slime?" the Evil Griffon exclaimed as it craned its head aside, and found itself stuck to a patch of sticky slime. "Where'd this come from?"

"Me, dude!" Zap cried from across the floor! Zap grinned as he dashed forward in another blue blast, and his grin only grew as he looked down at the Evil Griffon. "You like my super secret slime patch technique?"

The Evil Griffon went to reply, but just as it opened its mouth, Zap shot a lightning bolt right between its eyes! The Evil Griffon screamed as the lightning coursed through its body, and as it exploded into a shower of sky blue spheres, Zap chuckled and held a paw to his muzzle.

"And that was my super-secret lightning technique!"

"It's not super secret if you tell them about it, you know," Camo remarked as he strode over to Zap's side and brushed his tail against Zap's back.

Zap chuckled, and his gaze grew a little more coy as he looked aside of Camo's eyes. "Heh, guess you're right."

The two of them stood in a rare moment of peace together, but finally, their eyes locked and they both blinked as their jaws started to drop.

"Hey, Camo," Zap remarked as he looked aside for just a bit, "er, well, were your scales always that, uh, what's the word… Colorful?"

KABOOM!

Right before Camo could answer, a bolt of black lightning crashed down on the battlegrounds, and fried the Evil Drill Robot into oblivion beside them! Zap and Camo turned around right as it exploded into a puff of spheres, and a rain of purple flames and black lightning bolts forced Camo to grab Zap by the leg and dragged him away!

"Come on, we've gotta get out of here before we end up as barbecue!" Camo cried as he looked back at Zap and winked. "But, to answer your question, I have been sunbathing more lately!"

Zap blinked for a few moments, giggled and winked back at Camo. "That's what I thought, dude!"

Where did that storm of lightning and fire come from, one might ask? Well, the answer lied in the skies above, for there, Cynder and Dark Spyro circled around the battlefield and sniped the minions down below!

"The weird evil Drobot clone is right where you're headed, Cyn! Give him a good zap for me!" Dark cried as he rushed past her and shot a purple fireball down on the ground.

"Roger that!" Cynder shouted back.

Cynder screeched to a halt mid-flight. Her eyes fell onto the battlefield, and finally stopped as she caught the Evil Robot Dragon while it crept up on an unsuspecting Gill Grunt. As it got ready to fire, Cynder's muzzle twitched and her eyes turned narrow.

"Not on my watch."

Cynder yanked her jaw open, and a black lightning bolt shot out from her mouth and into the Evil Robot Dragon! Cynder pulled herself up, shook her head as the Evil Robot Dragon exploded into spheres below her, and turned around with a grin as Dark Spyro flew up to her.

"Alright!" they both cheered as they high-fived each other.

Explosions echoed all across the battlefield as the minions wiped out in one massive storm. Their magic spheres were blood scattered across the battlefield, and glowed against its cool tile surface. Before anyone knew it, all that was left of their forces were the Evil Dirt Shark, Orc Warrior, and Unicorn Dragon, and not even they noticed this as they brawled with Chihiro!

Chihiro hupped as she jumped up and dodged a tackle from the Evil Orc Warrior. As her feet landed on top of the Evil Orc Warrior's head, she summoned a magic sphere, and slung it right at the Evil Unicorn Dragon before it could strike her. The Evil Unicorn Dragon squealed as it went rolling through the skies, but Chihiro wasn't concerned at all as she smirked and crossed her arms! Chihiro stomped on the Evil Orc Warrior's head, and jumped off as it shook to its core and dropped its ax.

Her eyes still trained on the Evil Unicorn Dragon, and with a flick of her hand, a magic sword manifested beside her. It fell into her palm's grip, and she tightened her hold on it as she dashed for the Evil Unicorn Dragon…

But before she could reach it, the Evil Dirt Shark skidded in front of her and slugged a punch! Chihiro was quick to block its blow with her sword, yet the punch was so powerful that it shattered her sword to bits!

"Hah! Give up yet, kid?" the Evil Dirt Shark crooned as it leaned back and turned back to the rest of the battlegrounds. "After all, we've got you…"

The Evil Dirt Shark's confident look completely dropped the moment its blank eyes fell on the battlefield, for aside from the Evil Unicorn Dragon and Evil Orc Warrior, the evil minions were completely wiped out! All that remained of them was a colorful pool of magic spheres that laid on the ground and contently twinkled like stars.

"Outnumbered?" The Evil Dirt Shark frantically blinked and shook its head as it stepped back. "Wh, what's going on? Where'd those guys run off too?"

"What was that about outnumbering us, now?" Chihiro smirked as she summoned a new longsword and crept up to the Evil Dirt Shark. "Cause I don't know about you, but I think things look pretty evenly-matched to me!"

Chihiro grunted as she swung her sword and got ready to cut the Evil Dirt Shark in half, but before she could, it turned around and dove right into the ground! It tore through the ground around and left a massive tear in the floor as it tunneled up to where the Evil Orc Warrior pulled the Evil Unicorn Dragon off the ground. It popped out with such speed that the both of them jolted up.

Though it was too far away for its words to be heard, the orders the Evil Dirt Shark barked out were understood well enough, for it gestured right towards the swarm of spheres beside them! All three of them stumbled across the battlefield, and they nearly tripped over their own feet as they scrambled for those spheres.

Right before they could reach their goal, a gigantic sword manifested out of thin air and slashed them clear in half. The three of them exploded into colorful showers of spheres that rained down across the battlefield, and all eyes turned to Chihiro as she wiped her hands and grinned.

"Welp, that should be the last of that!" Chihiro cried as she strode over to the spheres, and raised a very self-satisfied eyebrow. "Not so tough now, are you?"

The spheres all shuddered and trembled as if the evil minions resented that remark from beyond the grave. So, Chihiro snapped her fingers once more, and trapped the entire mass of spheres in a series of small, pink bubbles.

"There! You're not causing any more trouble on my watch!" Chihiro crossed her arms while the bubbles floated in midair. "These magic-proof bubbles should keep you from starting any funny business!"

Chihiro giggled; she basked in the gentle light of the bubbles as they reflected against the surface of the cold, dented, war-torn battlefield.

But, her grin quickly faded as her eyes fell across the rest of the battlefield. This platform wasn't moving anymore in spite of the minions all being cleaned out. What could possibly need to be done now?

Apparently, the Skylanders had the same question. A look behind showed they all huddled together and whispered something so quiet it couldn't be heard, surely a plan of some kind.

"Alright, everyone!" Spyro cried as the crowds of Skylanders dispersed. "We'll look outside the platform for some way to start this thing back up. For now, look around here and see if you can get this thing rolling!"

The other Skylanders all cried out in agreement, and Chihiro herself got ready to bolt at first, but stopped and turned around as a loud growl resounded in the air. That strange noise seemed to have come from under the castle, but from what? All the spheres their fallen enemies left behind were trapped behind her as proof of their defeat, so what else could be waiting for them at this point beyond Kaos himself? What could possibly be brewing under there?

Chihiro skipped over to the edge of the arena, took a peek underneath the fence's gaps, but yelped and stumbled backwards as a shadow fell over the arena! She wasn't the only one to notice, for Spyro quickly swept down from the skies above and flew over to her side.

"Chihiro!" Spyro called as he swooped over and sat beside her. "What's going on?"

Chihiro couldn't make any words at first; she just stood transfixed on the shadow's owner as the shadow itself grew longer and more massive, but at the very least, she was able to point towards it!

"I think I found one of Kaos's super-secret weapons!"