Outside, Flynn toiled away in the cold autumn breeze and worked hard to attach the propeller to his balloon. He was awfully diligent, with his focus so fixed on the beloved machine.

Spyro, meanwhile, just walked back in from whatever task he did earlier and found himself greeted with complete silence, save for the sound of Flynn's hammer pounding away.

"Where did everybody go?" Spyro asked aloud as he looked over the eerily-vacant hub with concern.

"Missions," remarked a soft, gentle voice akin to the sound of whistling wind, "Chihiro finally got the portal network up-and-running, so everybody's going on patrols."

Spyro whipped his head left and right as he tried his hardest to find out who the voice belonged to, and finally, he looked in front of him to find Whirlwind approaching with Warnado by her side.

"Whirlwind!" Spyro looked her in the face and made a toothy grin. "What are you doing here?"

"We were assigned to get the Air Source back." Whirlwind's tone serious and to-the-point as she stood tall. "That is, once Flynn finishes his repairs."

The three of them all looked at Flynn, who toiled away on his balloon still, then looked back at each other and gulped.

"Good luck."

"We'll need it." Whirlwind gently nudged Spyro in the shoulder. "Anyways, you should probably get to the portal room. I'm sure there's some kind of mission needing your attention."

Spyro nodded quietly and flew off in a hurry while Whirlwind and Warnado looked at each other.

"So, when do you think we're gonna shove off?" Warnado asked as he turned to Whirlwind.

"Hey!" Flynn shouted from across the fields as he turned around. "There you are, and just in time too!" As he met them where they stood, Flynn cleared his throat. "I, the dashing, courageous, and not to mention popular with the ladies Captain Flynn…"

Whirlwind playfully rolled her eyes.

"Have finished making my balloon awesome enough to be worthy of an equally-awesome pilot!"

Flynn grabbed Whirlwind and Warnado's paws and dragged them over to where his balloon sat. As he let go of their paws and stretched his arms wide, Flynn took a deep breath.

"Look at her, she's got a fuel-injected croc-a-tron, a vacuum seal-a-tron, jet-steamed thrusters, electro-stabilizers, magneto-flappers—"

"So the point is, you're done upgrading and ready to go hunting for the Eternal Air Source?" Whirlwind watched Flynn nod eagerly.

"I'll tell you about all the other cool features later." Flynn snapped his fingers and a part of his balloon swung open in tandem. "Just like the new sound-activated door I installed!"

Whirlwind and Warnado both oohed and aahed.

"I'll admit, that's pretty cool." Whirlwind nodded as if to affirm her statement.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Ready to help Skylands' best pilot save the Eternal Air Source?" Flynn turned back to Whirlwind and Warnado and adjusted his scarf.

"Of course." Whirlwind chuckled and rolled her eyes.

And with that, all three of them piled into the balloon. The door on it swung shut soon after, and they all flew off, their hearts focused on the mission in store…

§

"And that should be the last one!" Chihiro exclaimed as she wiped her forehead and watched the last patrol group get whisked away. "At least, I THINK that's the last group."

Chihiro turned back to Hugo and gave him a prompting look, while he nodded and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Y'know, Huges," Chihiro chirped with a happy smile on her face. "You really know how to handle yourself in front of a crowd. With how feeble and anxious you are, I wasn't sure if you'd be able to handle the pressure!"

Hugo just gave Chihiro a look that mixed both confusion and indignity. "I'm not sure if I should take that as an insult or a complement," Hugo remarked.

"Hugo!" Spyro called from the doorway. "What'd you need me for?"

This earned Hugo's attention as he recomposed himself, turned around and met Spyro at eye level.

"Spyro!" Hugo shouted before he cleared his throat. "You, actually, were among the Skylanders assigned to stay here and guard the island in case Kaos came calling again!"

"So all I really need to do is stay here and watch the place?" Spyro looked over Hugo and tilted his head.

"Exactly."

Chihiro's eyes lit up and she looked directly at Spyro.

"Wait, Spyro," Chihiro said with excitement in her eyes. "If you're not doing anything, do you think you could show me around the island? Pleasepleasepleaseplease—"

Chihiro bowed down, clasped her hands together and shook them pleadingly when Hugo grabbed her by the back of her shirt and drew her back.

"Chihiro, you can't go wandering off all haphazardly! You need to stay here in case we need you to—"

"Actually." Spyro broke in and held out a paw, "I wouldn't mind showing her around. After all, if she's going to be our new portal master, she'll need to know her way around, and by showing her around I'd be able to patrol the entire island. It's a win-win."

Hugo pondered this for a while before he sighed. "Well, I guess if you think it's alright," Hugo conceded as he let go of Chihiro.

Chihiro inhaled sharply and gave Spyro the most excited look she could muster before she bounced up and hugged Spyro tightly. "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU—"

"Chihiro, please, you're, kinda, CHOKING!"

Spyro wheezed between desperate gasps for air and tried desperately to pry Chihiro's arms from his body, but it was no use—her death grip was far too tight. As something dug into her arms, Chihiro saw the breathless look on his face and carefully let him go with an awkward chuckle. Spyro breathed in and out and finally caught his breath, then cleared his throat and looked back at Chihiro with the most serious gaze.

"Now, stay with me and don't go running off, alright?"

"Alright!"

While the two of them bounded out of the portal room, Hugo watched them leave with an attentive gaze. He sighed and pulled a book out of his jacket's lapel once he was sure they were out of sight, and he ran his furry paw against its leather cover.

"I don't know what we're going to do. Kaos has us completely outnumbered, and he's already conquered most of Skylands. Even with a new portal master and most of the Skylanders back, I don't think there's any way we could stop him," Hugo croaked as tears started to fall down his cheeks and he hugged the book tightly. "I wish you were still here, Master Eon."