The bright orange shield around Ancient’s Peak lifted the moment the Skylanders arrived back down from their bubble vessels, and everyone else crowded around them: Flynn, Cali, Hugo and Master Eon, the various trolls and fairies, and even the MDF themselves. Their eyes sparkled in tandem with their wide, expecting grins, as if they had a million questions they wanted to ask in that moment! Once the Skylanders touched down and freed of their bubbles, they did just that!

"So, what happened?" Hugo asked as he pushed his face in Gill Grunt's.

"Just how tough was it?" Cali squealed with perhaps the most excited, wide-eyed look of all, but she coughed into her hand and collected herself. "I mean, was it just like they said, with all the traps and such?"

"Did you have any trouble without me to help?" Flynn mused as he placed a hand on his chin. "Now, I know you're capable heroes even without the assistance of the best pilot in all Skylands, but…"

"'Scuse me, coming through!" Spyro shouted as he pushed through the crowds, and flew towards the forest with an unconscious Chihiro kept on his back with care.

Everybody cast concerned gazes back at the forest, but not for long. Master Eon and Hugo glazed over the unconscious Kaos, who was now held tight in Stealth Elf's grip, and nodded. With a hum, Master Eon levitated the still unconscious Kaos over to the Core's base and dropped him off.

Hugo rushed over tapped a few things into the Core's control panel, and out of nowhere, a bright orange bubble popped out and captured Kaos inside!

"Huh, what?" Kaos mumbled as he opened his eyes and softly shook his head. "Where am I?" Kaos frowned and tapped his bubble prison. "Am I in some kind of… Bubble? How'd I get here?"

Kaos then frowned and shook his head. "Bah, it doesn't matter!" Kaos grinned as his hands flared with magic, then he held them out. "I'll just pop this bubble and be on my—"

As Kaos fired, however, the magic blast he produced immediately smacked against the shield and burst into smoke!

"Way?"

Kaos's jaw gaped open from shock as he continued firing, but every attack he threw just disappeared! Blasts of magic, sharks, bombs, it mattered not. They all just puffed into smoke as they hit the bubble’s surface.

"Don't even try, Kaos!" Master Eon warned as he floated up to Kaos. "This bubble is completely immune to any sort of magic! You have no power here!"

Kaos's shocked expression turned to a nasty snarl as he looked up at Master Eon, and he pounded his fists against the bubble with a frustrated scream. "Let me out, you foolish fools! You have no idea what you're doing, imprisoning the great KAOSSSSSSSSSSSS in such a foolish manner!"

Kaos shouted out insults and expletives as he banged his fists on the energy cage that currently served as his prison, but it was to no avail. No matter what he did, he was still completely trapped! It was, perhaps, the most satisfying treatment to see him get for all those around. His entire army left him behind, his worst enemies cleaned the floor with him, and now, they all reveled as he fruitlessly try to escape his own imprisonment!

Another round of laughter burst out as Kaos shouted a wide variety of colorful insults back at the crowds, but Hugo seemed slightly concerned still as his eyes fell on the forest opening.

"You're concerned as to how Chihiro is doing, I assume?" Hex asked as she looked back Hugo.

Hugo yelped, and made a nervous grin as he scratched his head

"Well, yes," Hugo said as he shook his head and looked Hex in the eye. "It's not anything bad, is it?"

"Thankfully, no. She just needed a little bit of bed rest after such an intense battle." Hex floated off from the crowds with her path set for the forest. "Speaking of, I should check and see if she's doing better."

§

Chihiro groaned as she lifted her very tired, very fuzzy head and rubbed her eyes. She was back in her bedroom in Ancient's Peak, but, how did she get here? She was sure she wasn't here earlier! For that mater, she couldn't really recall much of anything really. All she remembered were vague flashes that came back to her, of her battle with Kaos and how she and Skylanders fought so hard—but what happened after that? Her head was such a blur thatshe couldn't even think!

"Feeling any better, Chi?" Spyro asked beside her.

Chihiro perked up a bit, and she turned around to find Spyro on her bed beside her with a wide smile on his face and a warm look in his golden eyes. As she looked back at him, another memory flashed in her mind, of the two of them sitting together and watching a brilliant rainbow unlike anything she ever saw before. It made her all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it!

"Yeah, I'm good," Chihiro replied as she lurched up and stretched her arms to the ceiling. She was at ease for a bit, but then the memories of Kaos flooded into her mind and her arms fell back at her side. "Say, what happened to Kaos?"

Spyro just smiled, flew up to Chihiro and placed a paw on her shoulder. "Don't worry about him, Chi! He's unconscious right now, and we made sure to bring him back here with us. I think the others said they were gonna lock him up soon…"

Oh, now everything that happened finally came back to her! They beat Kaos and knocked him out cold, and there was that big battle, and that beautiful sky, and that amazing rainbow and… The memories rushed into Chihiro's mind, and almost grew so big and overwhelming that it her head spun, so she just sat down and grinned!

"Thank goodness!" Chihiro breathed a sigh of relief as she brushed her hands against her blankets. "It'd really suck if he got away after we finally beat him!"

Chihiro fell back on the blankets; she grinned as the warm light filtered into her bedroom and cast beams of warm yellow over the normally quite quaint and dull sights around. Everything around felt a bit more magical, a bit more dreamlike, but it was good.

"We really did it, huh?" Chihiro asked as she turned around right as Spyro sat back down next to her.

"You bet we did!" Spyro replied as his tail swished against the blankets. His smile grew just a little wider as he reached out his paw and nudged it against Chihiro's hands. "And if it weren't for you saving us from Kaos's blast, we might not've!"

Spyro chuckled as he sat up to full height and gazed at the ceiling.

"You've, you've really come a long way, Chi."

Chihiro just chuckled as she sat up and ruffled her hair. Though she played it off with a laugh, hearing that from him did make her all fuzzy inside again.

"Now where's this coming from?" Chihiro asked as she leaned up and gently tapped Spyro's muzzle.

Spyro himself chuckled as he lifted her hand away, but as his chuckles died, he swished his tail and turned aside.

"Well, I was just thinking about some things on our trip back." Spyro flicked his wings and grinned as he turned back to Chihiro. "When we were first banished to Earth, I almost thought everything was over! As much as I didn't want to admit it, I wasn't sure we'd ever be able to come back from something as awful as that." Spyro lifted his head as his grin stretched wider. "But we did! We fixed the Core of Light, we saved so much of Skylands from Kaos's grip, heck, we even beat Kaos himself! I, well, I don't know how to say this—"

Chihiro, however, just chuckled as she returned Spyro's grin with a grin of her own. The sound of her laughter caused him to close his mouth, but his golden eyes sparkled with a bit of anticipation, of the eager prompting as he waited to see what she'd do next.

"I, I get it!" Chihiro replied as she stared up at the ceiling and kicked her feet against her bed. "That day I found you guys, I never would have imagined things would've ended up like this, or that we'd all come so far…" As the sunshine cascaded over her face, Chihiro grinned and flopped back down onto her bed. "It all kinda feels like a dream, you know?"

The two of them shared another laugh, yet Chihiro sprung off her bed in a fit of impulse and spun around the room! She didn't know why, but right then and there, some kind of energy possessed her and just made her want to get up and run around! Everything that happened till now all resounded in her heart and mind: finding the Skylanders, coming to Skylands, training as a portal master, and helping them on their missions…

So much happened in that short period of time, and she couldn't help but feel a little more excited, a little prouder, of how much she, no, they all did!

Chihiro broke into a fit of laughter as she yanked Spyro off the bed, and though he cried out in surprise, he didn't protest as she held him close and spun him around the room! Everything around them faded away, and now, it was just the two of them spinning around and basking in the feeling of victory, of their success, of that amazing feeling of finally being able to admire how far they'd come!

But, Chihiro was getting a little dizzy, so she dug her heels into the floor and came to a stop as she leaned against the bedpost.

"Y'know, Spyro, if this is a dream, it's the best one I've ever had!"

Spyro laughed as he looked up at her with those same warm, golden eyes that made her feel so safe, so warm, so wanted all those times before. The excitement in her heart melted into something softer and more warm… Love, she supposed it was? Yeah, that sounded about right.

"Hey, Spyro?" Chihiro whispered as she hugged him tight. "Thanks, for everything."

Spyro chuckled as his paws wrapped around her back. His claws gripped against her, but in a way gentle enough that it felt just right.

"You too, Chi," he whispered back as he burrowed his face in her shoulder. "I love you."

Chihiro chuckled, took in a deep breath, and released as she buried her face into Spyro's shoulder as well. "I love you too."

Their embrace seemed to last forever as they squeezed each other tight, and their hearts beat in sync as the world around slowed just for them. But, they finally let go and grinned; now, they faced each other not as the strangers they were when they first met, but as the partners they were now.

"Y'know," Chihiro said as she hid her hands in her pockets, "I think an occasion like this calls for some victory ice cream sandwiches!"

Chihiro chuckled underneath her breath as she strode towards the door. "I'm thinking double chocolate-chip cookies, two whole stacks of the sweetest vanilla ice cream they have in the kitchen, practically buried in sprinkles, oh, oh, and whipped cream with even more sprinkles, and extra chocolaty hot fudge on it, too! And maybe some brownie crumbles, to boot!"

"That sounds like a recipe for a stomachache," Spyro replied as he stuck his tongue out. "I'm in."

Chihiro beamed as she went to open the door, but before she could, it swung open from someone else instead!

"Hex!" Spyro called as he watched her stride into Chihiro.

Hex was silent as Spyro dropped in front of her and open his mouth, but finally she tilted her head and sprawled her fingers.

"Are you doing any better, Chihiro?" Hex asked as her blank eyes fell on Chihiro. "You gave us all quite the scare when you fainted back there."

Chihiro laughed and ruffled the back of her head as warmth gathered in her cheeks. "Yeah, I'm fine now. I just needed a little sleep!"

Hex breathed a sigh of relief, but still didn't seem entirely at ease as she looked back up at Chihiro.

"If that's the case, I came to escort you back to the island's heart. We've finally locked up Kaos, but he's been getting quite rowdy, and I'm sure Hugo wants all hands on deck... Just in case."

"Alright then, I'll make sure the pipsqueak doesn't mess things up again!"

Chihiro nodded towards Hex, and beamed as she pumped a fist to the ceiling. "COMING THROUGH!"

Hex turned around and drifted out of the way Chihiro dashed out the door, but Spyro beamed and bolted right after her! The two of them grinned as they matched each other's pace down the room's halls; Chihiro lost her footing as she ran, and though she tried to grab onto Spyro to steady herself, she just took him down with her! The crash collision sent them both tumbling down the way, and when Chihiro opened her eyes, she landed right on Spyro right outside of her quarters!

"Whoops, sorry about that, Golden Boy!" Chihiro giggled as she jumped off Spyro and pulled him back to his paws. "Those floors are slicker than I remember!"

Chihiro jolted up and careened her head around while screams echoed from the outside world. "Wait, is that Kaos?"

"Well," Hex said. She floated up and grabbed both Spyro's paw and Chihiro's hand, all while she glowed with a faint blue light. "See for yourself."

Hex teleported Spyro and Chihiro back to where Kaos was being kept in moments. Though her face stayed neutral enough, her blank eyes were full of malevolence as they fixed on the sight of Kaos screaming obscenities towards the others from within the confinements of a round, orange bubble.

"Don't act like you've won, you foolish worms!" Kaos yelled as he shook a fist at the outside world. "Once I get out of here, I'll, I'll split you in half! I'll turn you into my personal crystal statues!" Kaos's eyes widened. "No, I'll shrink you down, put you in a bucket, and KICK IT! REALLY HARD!"

"Can it, pipsqueak!" Flynn shouted back as he knocked on Kaos's bubble and sighed. "Man, that guy's annoying. I've heard balloons with less of a loud mouth than him!"

"Finally, we agree on something for once," Cali said as she rolled her eyes and made a small chuckle. "You know, you're not so bad after all."

"Of course I'm not!" Flynn winked back at Cali and nudged her shoulder. "I'm the best pilot in all Skylands!"

Cali chuckled a few more times and gently punched him in the arm. "Now, I wouldn't say that."

"EXCUSE ME! EVIL GENIUS TRAPPED IN THE WORKS HERE?" Kaos yelled as he pounded his fist on the bubble.

"Oh, my," Chihiro snorted as she covered her mouth with her hands, though it did little to mask her laughter, "OH MY GOD! THIS IS WHAT YOU DID TO KAOS? OH MY, OH MY—" Chihiro let go of Spyro and rushed up to Kaos "—I'VE GOTTA GET IN ON THIS!"

Chihiro smirked as she leaned against the bubble, and cast Kaos possibly the smuggest grin she could ever make.

"So, Kaos, what's it like being trapped in there while we're out here?" Chihiro drummed her fingers against the bubble, and her grin only widened as Kaos seethed in her presence. "Really sucks, huh? Now I bet you understand how the 'landers felt when—"

"CAN IT, PORTAL-POSER!" Kaos shouted back as he went back to furiously pounding on the bubble. "Once you send me back to the Outlands and I take over again, you'll be the first to TASTE YOUR EVIL DOOM!"

"Actually," Master Eon said as he floated up to Kaos's bubble, "that's not what we had in mind."

"It isn't?" Kaos’s jaw dropped and his bright red eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're going to EXECUTE ME?"

"Oh trust me, we were very tempted." Master Eon's body flared red with rage. "After all, you destroyed the Core of Light, upset the balance of light and darkness, banished the Skylanders, and took the majority of Skylands by force!"

"And let's not forget," Hugo added on as he shot Kaos a glare, "that your forces drove so many kingdoms into ruins and brought upon the deaths of hundreds—"

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" Kaos snarled as he pounded his fist against the bubble. "I'm a busy evil overlord, I can't keep track of everything my minions do!"

Kaos frowned and stepped back as Master Eon's red glow faded. "Wait, why are you leaving?"

"Ultimately, though, we felt that there was something a little more… Appropriate for your punishment." Master Eon turned back to Hugo and bobbed up and down. "Hugo, will you please?"

"I will, Master Eon!" Hugo agreed as he fiddled with the control panel next to the Core of Light. "Now, I've set the Core up with some new coordinates, and Kaos—" Hugo's eyes drifted over to Kaos with the smile to match "—will get the honor of being the first to test them out!"

Kaos, however, did not seemed very honored to be a part of this experiment. In fact, he was absolutely panicked! His pounding fits came to a conclusion as he broke out into wide eyes and cold sweats.

"Um, er," Kaos sputtered as he held out his hands, "if you let me stay, I'll split Skylands... Eighty-five to fifteen! Of course, I'd get the eighty-five..."

Hugo paid no mind to Kaos, and instead continued to fiddle with the control panel's many buttons and switches.

"Er, alright, how about... Seventy-five to twenty-five?" Kaos adjusted the fingers he held up in accordance.

With a button press on Hugo's end, the Core of Light hummed and glowed with raw energy.

"Fifty fifty?"

Just then, the entire island shook! The energy bubble that served as Kaos's prison glowed a warmer orange, grew bright enough to mask Kaos himself completely…

And shot off into skies like a rocket!

Chihiro beamed and shook a fist at the skies as the bubble vanished from view.

"AND DON'T COME BACK!" Chihiro shouted, but lowered her voice as her eyes trailed to Master Eon. "Say, where'd you guys send him, anyways?"

"See for yourself," Hugo replied as he ushered Chihiro over to the control panel, where a large screen had popped up.

That large screen depicted the vast galaxies, all dark blue with milky, faint stars, but hung in the center was a familiar green and blue planet. Wait a second…

"No way," Chihiro whispered as she watched the screen. "You sent him to Earth?"

Sure enough, an orange comet streaked across the screen!

"Wait, what's going on?" Kaos exclaimed as the comet passed by. "Why is everything getting bigger? Wait, am I—"

Before Kaos could finish, the comet vanished from view as it crashed into the earth's stratosphere!

"Serves him right." Chihiro scoffed as she watched the screen fold back into the control panel, but her eyes grew large as if she was hit by sudden realization. "But… Wait, oh no…"

"But what, kiddo?" Flynn asked as he patted Chihiro's back. "What's there to but about? We laid the boom on big-head, and sent him flying off with his tail between his legs!" Flynn smirked as he straightened his jacket. "If anything, I'd say it's time to party!"

"But there's still plenty of ways to get back to Skylands on Earth!" Chihiro retorted as she looked Flynn in the eye. "This whole thing… Back where I'm from, it's part of a game, and that game comes with a portal of its own! There's hundreds—" Chihiro shook her head "—no, probably thousands of them!"

"Say what?" Flynn tilted his head and frowned.

"If he finds even one, he could use it to come back, and you heard him! Once he gets back to Skylands he's gonna take over again!" Chihiro balled her hands into fists. "So, I'm gonna go back to Earth and find him!"

A wave of gasps was heard, and then, solemn silence as everyone turned away.

Chihiro herself seemed shocked as she watched their somber faces, yet she herself soon grew less enthusiastic as well.

"But, that means I'd have to say goodbye to you guys and go home." Chihiro seemed hesitant for a moment. "But, if it's to keep you—" Chihiro shook her head "—no, the entire universe safe, I'll do it! Hugo, fire up the Core!"

"Hold on now, young Chihiro," Master Eon said as he flew in front of Chihiro. "There's one more thing we have to do."

"What's that, Master Eon? I mean, we've already taken care of Kaos—"

"No, nothing of that sort!" Master Eon shook back and forth. "Before you make your grand leave, we need to hold your graduation ceremony!"

"Oh, yes, that's right!" Hugo exclaimed as he scurried away from the control panel. "Now that you've passed your exams, we need to crown you with your title!"

"Wait, you mean…" Chihiro's eyes sparkled with wonder. "I can finally become a true portal master?"

Master Eon only bobbed up and down, and Hugo nodded in time with Master Eon.

Chihiro made a wonderstruck gasp, smiled and nodded.

"Alright then, let's get this ceremony started!"