Back in the hallways, a muffled whoosh came from within a closet door as light poured in from underneath its gap. Soft, tired panting muffled by the door came next, followed by a slow creak as someone pushed it open from the other side, and out stumbled Trigger Happy and Spyro! Their eyes spun in their head as they struggled to stand on their own feet and paws.

Stealth Elf and Gill Grunt came next, tumbling in and knocking them all down onto the floor. As they all grunted, Chihiro wandered out with arms crossed. Her head hung low, and she almost didn't even notice the pile of Skylanders before her, if not for her accidentally stepping on Gill Grunt's fin! He yowled, and she jolted away and gasped!

"Sorry, sorry!" Chihiro cried as she helped Gill Grunt up. "I didn't really see you there!"

Gill Grunt moaned and shook his head as he thrust himself out of Chihiro's grip. "You're good, Chi.”

Beside him, Spyro shook his head and stood to all four paws, his wings folded onto his back. "Just where are we, anyways?" he asked as his tail swooshed from side to side. "Whatever this place is, it definitely isn't Kaos's castle."

"You've got that right," Stealth Elf scoffed as she flicked her ears. "Certainly looks like a place he'd make, though."

Well, Stealth Elf was right on that front. The halls they stood in now were thinner compared to the ones in the prior castle, and painted in shades of purple and black and red that pulsed with malevolent energy. Strange statues lined the halls, all different portraits of a gangly, but proud-looking woman dressed in a top with a ridiculously huge collar whose hair was styled into two horns. Red velvet carpets lined with gold stretched across the seemingly infinite halls. The faint scents of smoke and something bitter to the sniff came in the air, and the whole area pulsed with some kind of evil feeling that left everyone shuddering.

It certainly shared a few of Kaos's aesthetics, yet, it was just off enough that it couldn't have been his. Even aside of the oddities, none of his minions roamed the halls, nor did it have any massive scrolls rambling about the doom of Skylands or crude portraits of him to be found. That begot the question: if this didn't belong to Kaos, who did it belong to?

Chihiro frowned and rubbed her chin as she stepped forward. Her nails scratched against her skin like they dug through dirt. She couldn't think of anyone else prominent enough in Kaos's life that would have a castle like this, but then again, she didn't really know a whole lot about Kaos. So, she turned to Gill Grunt as he stumbled outside of the closet and joined her.

"Hey Gill, where are we?" Chihiro asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Gill Grunt remarked. He shrugged a bit, and another chill ran down his spine as he lowered his arms. "Whatever this place is, though, it gives me the creeps!"

"This feels like some big-time supervillain's lair or something!" Trigger Happy cried, and his eyes bounced from side to side as he whipped out his pistols. "I bet they're gonna jump out from the shadows and laugh in our faces right now!" A faint clunk sounded in the distance, and Trigger Happy gasped as he turned around. "Take this, you dastardly do-badder!"

Trigger Happy cackled his loudest as he shot off a round of gold coins with such fury that it blasted him back, knocking him into Chihiro's backside and sending them both tumbling. As Chihiro turned around and claimed him from the floor, she found that all he succeeded in doing was shooting up the walls and knocking several of the statues off their stands. Trigger Happy chuckled and scratched his head, and Chihiro smiled and rolled her eyes as she clutched him tight.

As she stood back up, her gaze drifted first to Stealth Elf, who stared at the halls ahead with a steely, sort of contemplative gaze. Stealth Elf’s whole body was frozen, not even a twitch of the finger or ear. Whatever it was that she focused on, it seemed like it was really important.

"Anyways—" Trigger Happy started before Stealth Elf immediately shushed him.

He pursed his lips tight as Stealth Elf held out an arm, and she in turn drew it back.

"Do you hear that?" Stealth Elf whispered as she turned to the others.

Chihiro frowned, tilting her head. She could just barely hear something that sounded like shouting, or maybe arguing in the distance. However, she couldn't really glean just where it was coming from, nor the exact tone of voice.

Whatever it was, it seemed to have caught Stealth Elf's attention, for she crept down the halls with her head not even turning to acknowledge them.

Chihiro clutched Trigger Happy tighter as she tip-toed after Stealth Elf, and only occasionally glanced at the halls while the voices grew louder. Now that Chihiro thought about it, they did start to sound somewhat familiar. There was a high-pitched and kind of scratchy one that argued with a much older, tired-sounding one about… Staying or going somewhere, she supposed? Chihiro glanced aside to the walls as two tall, thin shadows stretched across them, gulped and stepped out of their mouth at last.

Light poured into the circular room she entered. It held a tall balcony lined with velvet carpets all colored in the same eerie shades of purple, pink, and red that colored the halls before. Unlike the halls, shelves filled with all sorts of books took the place of the portraits and statues that lined the halls prior, and a glowing pink portal sat at the bottom—wait, a portal? Was this place owned by a portal master?

Chihiro let go of Trigger Happy and slunk behind a few bookshelves, ones that gave her just enough room to peek out. There on the lower half of the room, light poured in from a pair of open doors as two beings stood in their center. More than that, they were two beings she recognized!

At the left was Glumshanks, who seemed much wearier than the last time she saw him. He was all wrinkly and clad in rags, much like the Glumshanks she knew in the present. Below him was a short, skinny, probably teenaged Kaos, who now donned clothes closer in color to his black robes of the present than the regal garb of his childhood, and a bright, puffy, ginger afro. A pout sat on his face as Glumshanks waved his arms, and Chihiro crooked her head to the side as she shifted closer.

"I'm telling you, Prince Kaos, this is an extremely bad idea," Glumshanks insisted, drumming his fingers against each other. "Kaossa—I mean, Kalamity's rage is utterly furious, and her temper is far from ideal! We'll be much safer—"

"Nonsense, Glumshanks! I want answers, and as her son, I'm sure to get them!" Kaos shouted, his voice perfectly confident despite Glumshanks' fearful tone as he strode forward. "Besides, once she sees my awesome magical prowess, she'll absolutely have to acknowledge me! I've brought puppets to life, mastered every advanced spell in the book" — Kaos chuckled, then turned around and pointed to his head — "and I've even grown an impressive head of hair!"

"Your hair is very impressive, Prince Kaos." Glumshanks smiled and nodded. A small chuckle made its way across his face, but then, he shook his head and frowned again. "But that's not the point! We have to get out of here before—"

"WHO GOES THERE?"

A massive voice roared through the room, shaking the bookshelves and even knocking a few over!

Chihiro herself fell to her knees from the vibrations. She shuddered for a moment before she teleported away as the bookshelf she hid behind fell over! In a puff of magic, she found herself behind a few fallen tables and shelves. Her back pressed against something warm and scaly—wait, warm and scaly? Popping an eye open, Chihiro smiled as the first thing that met her was Spyro's warm golden eyes. The sight of the other Skylanders met her next as they huddled behind the tables, their eyes fixed on the scene just as intently as Chihiro's were.

"Did you hear that?" Chihiro whispered as she pulled Spyro aside.

"Hard not to," Spyro scoffed.

"Not that weird booming voice! What Kaos and Glumshanks were talking about! Apparently this is his mom's place." Chihiro pulled away from Spyro and shuffled closer to the tables. "And I guess the next place we need to get out of."

Thick, churning pink smoke billowed from the portal. It grew thicker and darker as a pair of eyes opened within its center, and soon it towered over Kaos and Glumshanks! Glumshanks gasped and cowered behind Kaos as it loomed, yet Kaos didn't even move an inch. No, he beamed and outstretched his arms with that confident smirk still glued to his face!

"What business do you have here in the great Kalamity's castle?" The smoky cloud demanded, its voice still booming, but not enough to blow the room to bits.

"Why, to have an audience with her of course!" Kaos proclaimed, reaching out a hand. "I wish to discuss with her—"

"Denied." The smoke cloud scoffed and turned away. "Kalamity has better things to do than mingle with snot-nosed brats."

"Snot- nosed brat? SNOT-NOSED BRAT?" Kaos gritted his teeth and shuffled forward. He nearly tripped on the cloth of his own gown before he pointed a finger at the cloud. "I'M NO ORDINARY HUMAN, MIND YOU! I'M A POWERFUL MAGICIAN, FAR BEYOND ANYTHING YOU CAN EVEN THINK OF!"

The cloud scoffed as it started to fade. "That was what the last few claimed—"

"AND, I'M HER SON! SHE HAS NO RIGHT TO TURN AWAY HER OWN SON!"

The cloud turned around with eyes raised just a bit as it glanced down at Kaos. It hummed a little, not bothering to speak. Its eyes raised and sank as if it was deep in thought. It hummed a bit more as it swirled around Kaos, and then Glumshanks as he stumbled out and squeaked…

Before it sank back to the portal and hummed some more! The cloud thinned, and disappeared entirely as it slunk back into the portal without a word.

Kaos scoffed and crossed his arms, but Glumshanks only grabbed him by the shoulder! Kaos sputtered and shouted as he tried to thrust himself out of Glumshanks' grip, yet Glumshanks didn't even budge. In fact, it was hard to tell from the distance, but Chihiro was almost certain that Glumshanks dug his death grip even deeper into Kaos's shoulder by the second, even though his hands shook so furiously!

"Alright, we got our answer, now let's get going, Prince Kaos," Glumshanks sputtered, making a beeline for the open doors as he spoke. "I'm sure there's better mentorship prospects out here than—"

Glumshanks screamed as the doors slammed shut before them, and the whole room turned dark. The only light seemed to come from faint flickers on the walls—some kind of light spell or embedded lamp, perhaps? Whatever it was, this darkness was the perfect cover!

"Alright, they should be distracted!" Chihiro cried. With a flick of her hand, a sphere of light burst out, and hovered beside her as she stumbled away from the tables. "Now, that light orb thingie that should get us out of this place should be somewhere in here, if it's anything like before. Let's split up and—"

The lights shot back on as another pair of doors slammed open, and Chihiro squealed as she fell on her back. Her light sphere exploded and vanished beside her, and she shuddered as she tried to push herself up. But, it was hard! Something malevolent, something that brimmed with powerful evil energy, kept her glued to the spot as it entered the room. Just being in its presence was like having the strength sucked out of her! Finally Chihiro pushed herself to stand up, and she poked her head just enough over the tables to catch a glimpse.

At the top of the balcony, the doors indeed opened, but all that came from them was smoke, thick pink smoke like the kind that made up that strange presence Kaos talked with! The sound of footsteps clacking against the floor rumbled from the halls within, and with every step, shudders ran down Chihiro's spine.

A part of her screamed at her to run, to get out of here, but something else demanded she stay. Only her eyes could move. They glanced between where Glumshanks panicked and Kaos stood in awe, and where a thin, silhouetted figure manifested from beyond the hallways. A sleek black boot stepped in first, and another shudder came down Chihiro's spine. Spindly black fingers sent the shudder from Chihiro's spine to her arms and legs…

And then, a person emerged.

Now atop the balcony, there stood a tall, stick-thin woman with a face near-identical to the woman in those statues Chihiro saw in front of those open doors. Her arms were practically bones, and her fingers were so long and thin they were akin to wisps of smoke. A face sharpened by tall cheekbones and a pronounced chin rested on her head, her red eyes brimmed with malevolence in a way highlighted by her magenta eyeshadow, her nose was longer but still had the same round shape as Kaos's, and blood red lipstick painted her thin lips. Her dark hair styled into the same twin horn shape as the hair of the statue person, and adorned itself with shiny, purple gems that radiated with malevolent power.

Her body stood draped in the cloth of a black and red gown that practically clung to her skin, with a gold chevron-shaped belt around the skirt, a symbol like the one on Kaos's forehead but made of pink crystal embedded into its chest, and a black collar with gold accents that stretched well past her head. It all accentuated with long, black strips of cloth that stuck out in long and wispy strands. Black opera gloves covered her arms where the dress's sleeves ended, and on one finger she bore a golden ring adorned with a pink crystal. The ring paired well with the golden choker with a pink diamond-shaped gem she wore around her neck.

Her finger twitched, and the whole room shuddered underneath, as if her presence alone would warp and twist it! Chihiro had never seen anything like it before. Even Master Eon and the Elder Elementals never controlled the room in such a domineering manner! Chihiro wanted to run just from the sight of this lady, yet she couldn't even move an inch!

The woman's lip twitched, and she scowled as she ran her hand along the balcony's rim.

"Now tell me again," she hissed, her voice young but confident. "What business do you have here with me, the great Kalamity, exactly?"

Even Kaos himself seemed to be in awe of her presence. He twitched and shuddered as he stepped back, but quickly he collected himself. With a clearing of his throat, Kaos shuffled forward and pointed to Kalamity.

"Don't try to act all confident, now! I know who you really are!" Kaos cried. "Your real name is Kaossandra, the disgraced second queen of the East-Western Skylands… And my mother! As Kaos, your almighty, awe-inspiring son, I've come to claim my birthright!"

Kalamity snarled, fingers curling around the balcony and crackling with pink lightning.

In spite of all this, Kaos’s eyes still fixed on her and his finger still pointed forward. Instead, it was Glumshanks who broke the ice. He pushed Kaos aside and fell to his knees.

"What Prince Kaos means to say, oh mighty Kalamity, is that he's shown quite the magical prowess for his age," Glumshanks sputtered, continuing to bow up and down as he spoke. "He's surpassed the materials for a boy of his status, and he's read that you're an incredibly powerful and amazing magician, and wishes for something as simple as—"

"SILENCE!" Kalamity boomed, waving out a hand.

Glumshanks pushed himself up, and Kalamity scoffed as she strode down her balcony, fingers still running across the railing.

"I am no ordinary mage. I am one of the most powerful kinds of magicians to ever grace Skylands."

Hitting the final step, Kalamity released her grip and strode forward.

"I've leveled entire cities, raised the most powerful of monsters, awakened mighty evils, and conquered islands in an eye's blink! Those petty little mages and their party tricks can only hope to compare to me!" Kalamity crossed her arms and scowled. "Even if you are my son, I am not inclined to take an apprentice on so easily."

This time it was Kaos who pushed Glumshanks back. Shock rang in his eyes as he pushed himself in Kalamity's face.

"But I'm no ordinary mage!" Kaos cried, holding out his hands. "I've cast spells that my family could only dream of casting, I've brought wooden puppets to life like I was blinking, and I've surpassed our finest court mages, even my own father and brothers! Isn't that enough for you?"

Kaos held out a hand forward, but all that greeted him was was a bright pink magic blast headed straight for him and Glumshanks! The two of them screamed as they rolled away, the blast singing the carpet where they once stood instead. As they staggered up, Kaos glared at Kalamity—who returned his scowl with another in turn.

Kalamity's hand charged up with bright, pink fire that burned like the sun. With a single snap, it leaped and consolidated into a whole ring of pink magic bursts.

"If you're as special as you claim to be," Kalamity hissed, "prove it to me and beat me in battle!"

The bursts all flew off from Kalamity with a single wave of her hand, their target locked straight on Kaos! Kaos jumped back and cast out a shield of magic just before they hit. Still, the shield shattered immediately and blew Kaos into the wall.

"Prince Kaos!" Glumshanks cried as he pushed himself up and reached for Kaos. "Let's just stop this and go home! I'm sure that old canopy's still—"

Another blast fell by Glumshanks' feet, and he ran off as it exploded before he dove behind a bookshelf that fell on its side in the midst of all the combat. He poked his head up for just a moment as flashes of red and blue, purple and pink shone all across the room. Glumshanks gasped as several bursts of cyan magic came dangerously close towards the shelf, and jumped back behind it!

The blasts' cyan light painted the walls as they exploded and faded just as quick. Kaos glanced at them for only a moment, for a burst of pink magic exploded by his feet! He cried as the burst tossed him in the air, soon turning to a grunt as he rolled across the floor. As he slowed to a stop, he pushed himself up. With another wave of his hands, Kaos cast a whole blast of hot blue fireballs—but, with a wave of Kalamity's hand, they all exploded in midair with not a trace remaining!

"Alright, seems like this calls for a change of tactics!" Kaos cried, waving his still-glowing hands. "I've been perfecting this spell all week, and now I have the chance to finally try it out!"

Kaos's eyes flashed a bright cyan, and he grinned as he leaped forward and planted them on the floor! The ground below rattled as veins of blue spread through the wood's lines, and Kaos cackled as he lifted his hands. The blue veins glowed even brighter, and geysers of magical water spurted and burst while the water formed an entire lake around Kaos's feet!

"MEET MY ULTIMATE, AMAZING, DOOMSHARK!"

The whole floor rumbled, and completely burst as a bright blue shark leaped from the bottom of the floor. It split a hole in the ground as it roared and flailed in the air! It set itself upright and bore its sharp, pearly fangs—but before it even moved, a larger, pink orca made of magic rushed forward and swallowed the shark whole!

The orca cried out as it bolted right for Kaos. He screamed and teleported away as the orca charged forward, and it smashed a hole through the wall instead! The orca dissipated into bursts of pink smoke as Kaos rolled away and panted, his breath still heavy as he turned around.

His whole body, from his head to his eyes to his feet, enveloped itself in both blue and red magic that flashed and swirled around him, almost as if he was going to teleport. With a wave of Kalamity's hand, the light shot out just as it completely enveloped him, leaving him to sputter and spin around instead! Pink light shone against his face as he finally shook off the dizziness. He raced off just before that pink light consolidated into a blast that smashed against the walls, and left a hole that burst with pink embers behind!

Even more of the blasts trailed after him as he ran. They shook the whole manor, and knocked more furniture over with loud crashes that rumbled the area almost as much as the blasts themselves! Flares of cyan and pink, red and purple flashed against the walls as the embers spat out…

In fact, a few got dangerously close to Chihiro, who yipped and ducked behind the tables as the heat flared against her face!

"Alright, they seem distracted enough," Chihiro said, casting an aside glance for a moment. When it became clear to her that Kalamity and Kaos focused more on their fight than any strays, Chihiro turned to the others. "Come on, let's get out of here before they find us!"

Another explosion came, this time so dangerously close that it blew the tables away, and Chihiro, Spyro, Gill Grunt, Trigger Happy and Stealth Elf went with them! They all grunted as they hit the walls. Sharp cracking noises hit the air with them; they rang like every bone in their bodies shattered. No, as Chihiro opened her eyes, she found that noise was only the tables, which were blown to splinters and bits. Wait, the tables were gone, and they were wide open!

Chihiro panted, and her eyes darted from side to side as she sought another form of sanctuary. Finally, those eyes of hers fell on a stray stack of boxes.

"Over there!" Chihiro cried as she pointed to the boxes.

Spyro's eyes flashed purple, and with a flap of his wings, purple magic completely tinted Chihiro's view! When the magic faded, Chihiro found herself cuddled beside Spyro as they all curled behind the boxes, but not for long as they crept away. Another stray blast came for them, and screeched like a firework as it landed and exploded! They flew behind a nearby toppled-over bookcase instead.

Her legs shook like jelly, but Chihiro forced herself up and prepared to run. Before she could, she collapsed and ducked back behind the bookcase as a few more blasts crashed through the walls behind her. Another blast exploded, knocked her back into the walls, and before she even had time to recover, Spyro swept her onto her back as he ran off. Chihiro grunted, and her arms and legs slowly regained their weight as she leaned forward.

"Just hiding's getting us nowhere," Chihiro whispered. She clutched Spyro tight as the magic swam through her veins. "Guess I'll just have to take it a little further, then!"

Chihiro squeezed Spyro tighter, and her head pressed against his back as a wave of magic burst from around her. Slowly, everyone around disappeared from view! Their footsteps were the only things that identified them in front of her, and allowed her to trace their moved to the top of the balcony. Spyro finally joined Gill Grunt, Stealth Elf, and Trigger Happy at the top, and Chihiro pushed herself off his back as she peered down at the world below, just to make sure Kalamity and Kaos didn't notice.

Below them, Kalamity shuddered and turned around. "I felt a disturbance!" Kalamity cried. "What was it? Who's there?"

"Hah! You left yourself wide open!"

Kalamity grunted as a burst of cyan fire smacked her in the face, but she quickly shook it off and turned back to Kaos, still snarling as he waved.

"You little—you'll pay for that dearly!"

"Well maybe you should've paid more attention to your opponent! I wouldn't call that worthy of a powerful sorceress!"

Chihiro frowned and dashed back into the hallways. The sounds of Kaos and Kalamity's bickering growing more distant the further she ran. They seemed distracted enough, so now was the perfect time to find a way out! A few doors came into view as she ran further. She yanked one open and peered inside, but all that sat within the room were a bunch of empty shelves.

"Nothing here!" Gill Grunt cried from down the hall. "Just a bunch of treasure!"

"Ooh, treasure? Is there gold in there, too?" Trigger Happy shouted.

"There's no time to get distracted!" Stealth Elf hissed. "We have to find that teleporter!" A door slammed in the distance and Stealth Elf cleared her throat. "Anyways, there's nothing here but a bunch of statues of that Kalamity lady!"

Chihiro winced, closed the door, and rushed back down the halls right as Spyro burst out from a door in front of her! She dug her heels into the ground before she slammed right into it, and crept around as Spyro flew out from the door with a shudder.

"Nothing there!" Spyro sputtered before he shuddered once more. "Kinda understand where Kaos gets his sense of aesthetics from now."

Raising a brow, Chihiro turned around, shuddered and immediately slammed the door closed. Yeah, that was going to haunt her nightmares for a little while. Chihiro rubbed her eyes in some hope of erasing the image from her brain, and skimmed over the halls, looking for another door to open or any sort of hint as to where that teleporter orb was.

"Hey, I found something!" Trigger Happy called from down the hall. "Come here!"

Chihiro followed Stealth Elf, Gill Grunt, and Spyro down to a particularly dark corner of the hall. It was lit only by a rectangle of purple-pink light from an open door. Trigger Happy turned around, waved at them from the front, and disappeared into the room while the other Skylanders all followed behind. Only Chihiro stopped for a moment to close the door before a strange, powerful yet familiar magic presence rushed into her bones! Chihiro shuddered for a moment, turned around and gasped!

The whole room lit in purple and pink light from a collection of glowing, sparkling portals! They were sleeker than the ones in Ancient's Peak's portal room; their stone borders barely crossed over their center, and their bodies comprised of shiny black stone as opposed to the aged, graying ones of home. Still, there was no doubt about it—they were portals! If Chihiro wasn’t convinced that Kalamity was a portal master before, this definitely sealed the deal.

More than that, the largest of the portals, which sat in the very back of the room—it had that same, red orb from before floating above it and pulsing!

"There it is!" Chihiro cried as she rushed past the others. "Come on, let's get it before—"

"I had a feeling there was something amiss here!" Kalamity cried as the door slammed open!

Chihiro gasped. Her arms and legs shook without her even thinking about it as she turned around.

Kalamity's glare pierced into Chihiro as she slunk up to her. The fires that burned in her blood-red eyes grew even brighter, and gave them a hellishly bright look. A lump formed in Chihiro's throat as she backed away with all she could. On instinct she threw out her hand, tried to cast a spell, yet nothing came. Not a spark, not a feeling, nada! It was all she could do to stand her tallest in Kalamity's presence while the air sparked and thickened around her.

"That little brat must have sneaked you in when he started rambling about all this challenge nonsense!" Kalamity hissed, yanking Chihiro up by the throat! Chihiro hacked and choked as Kalamity pulled her closer, until Kalamity's eyes locked on hers and practically burned a hole in Chihiro's face. "Tell me right now, what is it that he wants? Treasure? Ancient spellbooks?"

"Why would we ever work for that guy?" Trigger Happy spat, jumping to his feet. "Do we look like wannabe evil overlords to you?"

Kalamity didn't even listen. She snarled, squeezing Chihiro's throat tighter while Chihiro's head spun! Chihiro flailed as hard as she could, and kicked at Kalamity's chest even though she barely made the mark. She flicked out her arms, tried to cast a spell or anything, really, but her head grew dizzier by the moment. The world around her blurred and spun as Kalamity choked her tighter.

"TELL ME RIGHT NOW, OR I'LL WIPE YOU OFF THE FACE OF SKYLANDS!"

"Let Chihiro go!" Spyro yowled as he charged right for Kalamity.

Kalamity snarled, finally dropping Chihiro to the floor. Kalamity spread out her arms, and from them, a massive pink shock wave burst across the room and slammed everyone back! The portals all flared and burned with columns of light as they crashed.

The light blurred Chihiro's vision even further as the wave smacked into her, and the shock knocked her back like she was little more than a rag doll. Chihiro grunted as she slammed into the back wall. Her whole body locked up as she fell out and collapsed on the ground. The pain surged through the body the same way the stray static from the blast did, pinning her to the ground and barely allotting her to keep her eyes open.

Around her, Spyro, Gill Grunt, Trigger Happy, and Stealth Elf all laid splayed on the ground in similar ways. Pink static crackled and burst off of fur, scales, skin as they groaned. The just barely pushed themselves up before they collapsed once more.

In the center of it all, Kalamity slunk further with a scowl on her face, and her hands sparked with magic so powerful it shook Chihiro to the bone. Chihiro couldn't even get up. All she could do was watch as Kalamity inched closer and closer, the light from her hands growing brighter by the second.

"It's time I showed you worms what I do to intruders," Kalamity hissed, flinging her hand in front of Chihiro.

Chihiro couldn't even more, shout, retort—just the sight of Kalamity froze her to the spot. Her whole body locked down and shook while the light grew brighter. The screeching of magic rang in her ears with her own blood, and the magic itself made the air thick, so thick that it choked Chihiro out until she could barely breathe! Judging by the coughing from the others that she barely hear, she wasn't the only one affected!

"CHIHIRO!" Spyro coughed out. He tried to push himself from the ground only to fall back over.

"I'll deal with you next," Kalamity hissed as her hands reached their brightest. "For now—"

The sound of a door slamming right open echoed around the room, and Kalamity scowled as she turned around. Her hands' light faded, and the atmosphere in the room seemingly lightened. Had something saved them? A glance past her showed that someone else had entered the room, but not a savior by any means, no.

"There you are!" Kaos cried as he flew forward. "Though you could get away from our epic battle of world-ending proportions, eh?" Kaos snickered as he pointed a finger right in Kalamity's face. "Well, you were absolutely, utterly, WRONG!"

Kalamity scowled. "I don't have time for your nonsense, brat!" she hissed back.

With a wave of her hand, Kaos jolted into the air and rammed into the back wall. He was incapacitated, and left Kalamity to scoff and turn around.

"I'm merely dealing with the intruders YOU let in underneath my nose!"

"What are you talking about?" Kaos staggered up and gestured to Chihiro. "I haven't seen them in my life!"

Chihiro frowned and raised a brow. He didn't remember her? But, what about the time prior, when she ran into his kid self at the castle and everything? If they were time-traveling, surely he'd have some recollection of that, right? Chihiro wanted to step forward and argue, but at the same time, given the circumstances, it may have been for the better that he didn't recall who she was. Chihiro just shut her mouth.

"You're lying!" Kalamity cried, and her voice echoed so loudly that the portals' light flickered from the force. "There's no way my castle's defenses could have let any of these worms in! Clearly, you must have sneaked them in to steal my treasures!"

"And I'm telling you, I don't recognize them at all!" Kaos snarled as he pointed at Chihiro. "Now can we get back to our ultimate duel of epic proportions?"

Kalamity growled underneath her breath. Her teeth gritted together as she turned her piercing gaze on Chihiro's group instead. Though, with the way she glared, it was as if she pierced directly into Chihiro's heart instead! Chihiro's whole body locked up, not able to even move a muscle as the sweat crawled down her back. Was this one of Kalamity’s fancy evil powers too, or just the nerves of being in such a powerful presence?

"Then prove it to me, and eliminate them right this second!"

"Gladly!" Kaos cried, cackling as blue fire burst from his palms.

His eyes set on Chihiro first as he cackled and shot blasts of magic her way. Chihiro's body loosened on instinct. It allotted her to wave her hand, and craft a shield that blocked off the blasts before they could even get halfway towards her.

Chihiro growled, clenched her fists as she prepared to take Kaos on further, but instead he leaped away and charged for Spyro!

Kaos cried out, hands still burning as he went to strike—yet it was Spyro who struck first, for he charged forward and tackled right into Kaos's chest! Kaos grunted as the charge blew him backwards, right into Trigger Happy. Trigger Happy cackled as he whipped out his guns, and blew Kaos back with a burst of golden light! Another couple grunts from Kaos echoed through the room as Kaos rolled across the floor.

Trigger Happy grinned, but completely froze up as Kalamity slunk behind him out of seemingly nowhere, and she yanked him from the floor! Kalamity snarled as she squeezed Trigger Happy's wrist. She shook him around for a bit of emphasis while he squealed.

"You can't even knock out an obnoxious gremlin!" Kalamity hissed as she continued to shake Trigger Happy. "What makes you think you can be my apprentice?"

Kalamity snarled as her hand started to glow, but right then, Stealth Elf leaped out of thin air and kicked Kalamity right in the back! Kalamity grunted, clutching her stomach. She keeled forward while her grip on Trigger Happy started slipping, and Stealth Elf yanked Trigger Happy by the hand as she dashed away.

"And you couldn't even notice a stupid little elf!" Kaos sneered back as he crossed his arms. "What makes you think you can get on my case, anyways?"

"I was merely caught a bit off-guard, that's all! Having to deal with an insolent pest like you" — Kalamity snarled and shot off a blast of pink magic — "is much harder than an amateur like you would think!"

Kalamity gritted her teeth as Stealth Elf and Trigger Happy dodged the blast just as it came into their range. Her eyes turned on where Gill Grunt lifted his cannon with aim fixed on Kaos, and she fired on him instead! Gill Grunt gasped and rushed away as the blast came in for him, and it smashed right through the wall instead.

Its newborn hole was quickly covered by Kaos as he walked in and scoffed. "If you were trying to shoot me, your aim's ridiculously off! How can you call yourself a powerful magician when you can't even do something as simple as that, foolish witch?" Kaos sneered.

Kalamity scowled as she failed to zap Gill Grunt once more, and pushed Kaos aside. "Step aside, brat!" Kalamity hissed and shot another blast as she moved. "If you want to do anything productive, focus on getting rid of those intruders!"

"I don't need you to tell me that! In fact, I'll show you how a true master of magic does it!"

Kaos chuckled as he rubbed his hands, and burst out and charged with a wave a blast of hot blue fire... Set right for the teleporter! Wait, if it blew that up, they'd be stuck here forever!

Chihiro jumped to her feet without even thinking, and teleported in front of the orb. She cast out her hands as she prepared a shield, yet the flaming blast came in first and slammed into Chihiro's chest! Her chest flared up as she hit the floor and rolled across, burning like it was hit by the sun itself. The pain spread to her arms and legs, and numbed them until she was only able to curl up and clutch her chest. She clawed at it in some faint hope that it would stop the pain!

"Chihiro!" Spyro cried.

He teleported to her side and pushed her to her feet, but it was no use. Her legs were still so numb that she could only stand for a few seconds before she fell to her knees and hacked. Heck, her stomach churned so badly that it took all her willpower to not cough up her guts! Instead, she covered her mouth and hacked away, something wet hitting her palms as she did; she couldn't tell if it was spit or blood. Her head throbbed so badly and she could barely smell. Looks like that blast from Kaos took a lot more out of her than she thought, but, she, she had to defend the teleporter!

Chihiro tried to push herself up again, but no use. Once more she fell down, this time just barely pushed up by her hands, and something red spat out of her mouth in tiny, metallic-scented drops. Well, guess it was blood.

"Everyone, to the teleporter, quick!" Spyro cried.

Cold, hard teeth brushed against Chihiro's sleeve as Spyro bit into it and dragged her to the teleporter. He placed a paw on it as Gill Grunt, Trigger Happy, and Stealth Elf sprung forward and joined him. The whirling, numbing feeling encapsulated Chihiro as the world around her started to blur…

"Wait, no, get back here!" Kaos cried, rushing forward and holding out a hand. "I wasn't done with you interlopers yet! I'm never going to forgive you for—WOAH!"

Having snagged his foot on his own robe, Kaos cried out as he rolled on the floor and slammed right into the portal. In that moment, a bright flash of cyan and purple light burst from it, intermingling with the red light of the world around! The shock lifted the haze on Chihiro's senses just enough that she could lift her head, and she spied the wide-eyed, jaw-dropped look on Kalamity's face as Kalamity herself stepped back.

"I can't believe it," Kalamity gasped right as the light completely enveloped Chihiro. "You're a portal master!"