Within an isolated corner of the East-Western Outlands, one long-forgotten to most parts of not just Skylands but their own corners as well, trouble stirred in the depths of an ancient castle left cracked and disheveled by the sands of time. Behind its dusty, cobweb-coated rooms and ancient halls laid a courtyard overrun by weeds and grass so tall that they made the surroundings a jungle! In the heart of that courtyard laid all sorts of forces: spell punks, goblins, greebles, maybe a stray elemental spirit or lingering chompy from the mess of plantlife around… But the one thing that unified them all was that they all gazed up at the top of the courtyard.

There, Kaos stood atop his balcony, his red eyes narrowed and laced with fire as he glared down his forces with Glumshanks by his side. His fingers crackled with crimson embers as they drummed against the railing, and they only burned brighter in tandem with the deepening frown on his face. He torn robes were patched some, and his injuries cleaned and bandaged, but he still looked like he was in pretty bad shape.

"Very well, this meeting is dismissed!" Kaos proclaimed as he turned around and nonchalantly waved his hand. "Go back to your posts, now!"

Conversations bubbled from the courtyard as Kaos trailed back inside the castle, yet he didn't seem particularly fussed about it as he crossed his arms behind his back. His lips twitched as he knelt down his head. It was as if he tried to avoid the massive pictures of royalty that lined the regal, but dusty red and gold halls of the castle.

"Lord Kaos, is something wrong?" Glumshanks asked as he trailed up to Kaos and raised a brow. "You seemed a bit more upset than usual during the meeting. After all, you only brought up the ultimate doom of all Skylands five times!"

Kaos's eye twitched, yet he turned around to Glumshanks and grinned. Though, this grin of his was laced with anger and force more than anything.

"Oh, why wouldn't I be fine, dear Glumshanks?" Kaos crooned as he stopped in his tracks, "I mean, my stronghold has been ripped from my clutches, most of my empire has been completely diminished, and I've been forced to bunker down at my parents' castle because I no longer have a proper hideout!" Kaos turned around, but shuddered and turned back away as his eyes fell on the paintings. His sarcastic smile vanished, and he only frowned as he proceeded down the hallways. "Worse yet, my attempts to rebuild my empire aren't going according to plan at all! Most of my old forces refuse to return, and these new ones just aren't up to snuff! I've had to resort to petty village conquests and robberies like some kind of wannabe super villain just to build my empire back up!"

"… I will choose not to remark on that."

Kaos turned back to Glumshanks and quirked his brows, almost as if he questioned Glumshanks' statement, but Kaos just sighed and turned away. He slouched over and seemed like he was going to collapse. He stopped at the teleporter the hall lead to, though, and a sigh left his mouth.

"Not one thing's gone right! Not even the one thing I thought would go right!"

Kaos hopped on the teleporter, and he transported to the castle's outer courtyard! It was just as overgrown as the inner courtyard, if not more, with its gigantic grassy fields and trees paired with the occasional screech of flying monkeys and birds. In the center of it all, in an area surprisingly free of overgrowth, laid a gigantic, red and gold Arkeyan Conquertron! It shone brilliantly in the light, almost as if it was brand-new and not several millennia old, yet the sight brought not even the slightest of smiles to Kaos's face.

"I've done everything I can think of, and I still can't get this stupid Conquertron to start up again! It's like the thing's a dud!" Kaos squealed as Glumshanks manifested behind him.

"Well, you haven't exactly had much time to work with it, since we've been so busy." Glumshanks remarked.

Kaos didn't pay any mind to Glumshanks' connection! He just strode up to the Conquertron and stroked its knee.

"It's humongous, strong, and laden with every weapon and power an evil genius could need! If I could just get it working again, it would be the perfect keystone for my army of evil, but it can barely even sit up straight!" Kaos scowled and stomped his foot, kicking up dust and scaring away insects. "If only I could get it started up again like I did back then! Maybe I could finally get somewhere with my conquering!"

Kaos's scowling furthered as he raced up to Glumshanks and ranted on and on about it, but while he squealed and shouted, he paid no attention to the Conquertron itself! Within the depths of the Conquertron, a thin, humanoid shadow flashed on its eyes. The shadow frowned as it appeared to glance over Kaos, and chuckled to itself.

"An army of evil, you say?" the shadow whispered as it vanished from view.

Down on the ground, Kaos took in a breath and sighed as he gazed over the Conquertron, but it wasn't a sigh of satisfaction. Rather, his face fell as he gazed over it with a kind of faint yearning, exhaustion almost.

"But, I doubt that'll even happen with how broken this hunk of junk is," Kaos grumbled as he crossed his arms. "I'm just going to have to stay stuck with these useless greebles and hapless spell punks!" Kaos moaned as he buried his face in his hands. "What I wouldn't give to have my old evil armies back. Heck, I'd even take those useless Skylander clones over what I have now!"

"There, there, Lord Kaos," Glumshanks consoled as he patted Kaos's back. "I'm sure you'll find some new minions" — Glumshanks flicked his ears, and lifted his head as a whir like a machine coming to life sounded off from beside them — "soon?"

Kaos lifted his head as a shadow cast over him and Glumshanks both. They screamed and jumped back! the Conquertron came to life right in front of them, its blank eyes bright and with a white shine as the Conquertron stood and towered over the entire area!

"What the—what's going on?" Kaos demanded as he stumbled back and tried to hide his shaking legs. "How did you come to life again?"

The Conquertron creaked a bit as it leaned its head down, the glow in its eyes faint for a moment, but it lifted its head and beeped.

"Your desire for power is what awakened me!" the Conquertron proclaimed as it knelt down to face Kaos and Glumshanks, yet still towered over them regardless. "I can sense a great yearning for conquest within your heart, and it tells me that you would be perfect for the gift I have in mind!"

"A… Gift?" Kaos's eyes sparkled, and he drew closer to the Conquertron as he clasped his hands. "What kind of gift do you have in mind, exactly?"

"Well, have you ever heard of Arkus, the capital of the Arkeyan Empire, and all the Arkeyan robots it has just lying in anticipation of a new leader?"

"Arkus?" Kaos gasped. "You mean the keystone of the Arkeyan Empire that was lost upon its fall ten thousand years ago?"

"Ten thousand years ago?" The Conquertron’s metallic voice tinted with a bit of shock before it shook its head. "Indeed, I mean exactly that! I can take you there, if you just enter!"

Kaos let out another shrill gasp of pure glee, then he dashed forward. At least, he would have if Glumshanks hadn't grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back! Kaos snarled as he glared back at Glumshanks, and he fished his sleeve out of Glumshanks' grip.

"Glumshanks, what gives?" Kaos demanded. "Didn't you hear the robot? It's got an entire army just waiting for me!"

"I don't know about this, Lord Kaos," Glumshanks winced as he scratched his arm and cast a weary glance at the robot. "Something about that robot gives me a really bad feeling—"

"Bah, you have a bad feeling about everything!" Kaos dismissed Glumshanks with a shake of his hand as he stormed off. "This is just the thing we need! Once we get there, I can buff up my evil armies of ultimate doom with more Arkeyan robots that all Skylands can comprehend!" Kaos giggled as he twirled around and stomped his feet in place from sheer glee. "And then, I can finally reclaim my place as ULTIMATE EVIL OVERLORD OF ALL SKYLANDS!"

"But if you couldn't get it to start up before, why's it suddenly working now?"

Kaos groaned, rolled his eyes, and pushed Glumshanks back on the teleporter. "Oh, who cares about that! Now you go get the preparations ready while I have a chat with our new friend!"

Glumshanks only screamed as the teleporter whisked him away, and Kaos just cackled as he turned around and faced the robot. While Kaos cackled, that humanoid shadow flashed in the Conquertron's eyes and chuckled as it observed Kaos! It pressed its thin hand against the Conquertron’s eye as if it looked through a window, licked its lips as Kaos hopped on the Conquertron's palm, and grinned as it brought him up to its face.

"And once I get back to Arkus, I've got some pretty big plans of my own," the shadow remarked with another chuckle. The shadow gasped and dashed away as Kaos took a glimpse through the Conquertron's eyes.

Kaos frowned and quirked a brow as he glanced over the eyes. "That's strange, I could've sworn I saw someone's shadow in that one eye," Kaos remarked as he rubbed his chin, but shrugged. "It was probably my imagination!"

Chuckles rose in Kaos's throat as the Conquertron's mouth open. He hopped inside and strode right in!

"YOU BETTER WATCH OUT, SKYLOSERS, AND ESPECIALLY YOU, PORTAL-POSTER! ONCE I GET TO ARKUS AND REVITALIZE MY ARMIES, YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TO TASTE YOUR EVIL DOOM!" Kaos proclaimed at the top of his lungs as he jumped in the control room!

His grin was wide as he let out another cackle, but then his eyes popped open and his face fell as he examined the empty room. It was a simple, mechanical control room with no sort of seating or anything. All that laid in its barren body were rows upon rows of mechanical panels with more bells and whistles than the eye could see! Strangely enough, it was completely dim and lifeless in spite of how lively its robot body looked outside!

"Eh, who turned out the lights?"

"I did!"

Kaos gasped and whipped his head back and forth around the control room, but nobody was there! The only one inside was Kaos himself—yet strangely enough, a sinister shadow lurked across the floors, one that couldn't have possibly belonged to him! Kaos winced and immediately raced back for the door, but it completely shut down on him just before he reached it!

"Let me out of here!" Kaos demanded as he pounded his fists on the shut door while his eyes glowed a bright red. "I'm warning you, you don't want to mess with me, LORD KAOS, ULTIMATE EVIL EMPEROR OF ALL SKYLANDS!"

"My, my, calm yourself down," crooned the mysterious voice, its words echoed around the chamber. "I have no intentions of hurting you…"

Kaos shuddered, and his hands instinctively glowed a bright red as his whole body started to tremble. His eyes darted every which way, yet no sign of his mystery captor was to be found! All that could be seen was that shadow, which drew closer and closer towards him. For that matter, didn't it seem like it was, bubbling, almost?

"In fact, your body is just what I need!"

A humanoid figure jumped out from the shadow and leaped right into Kaos's body! Kaos's magic immediately ceased and he cried out. He fell to his knees, and finally on his face as his whole body gave out on him! He laid flat across the cold, metal floor of the chamber, still and quiet as if he died…

But then, a soft, red glow surrounded him as laughter came from his mouth! This laughter was nothing akin to his trademark shrill cackles and shrieks, but that of a smooth, cocky man's voice, one that still held a bit of confident youth to it despite its baritone. The laughter continued as Kaos staggered up; his balance was shaky as he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled around the chamber, but finally, he lurched over to the control panels and examined his reflection in the Conquertron's eyes.

"I'll admit, this isn't quite the new body I had in mind," Kaos said as he frowned, rubbed his shiny, bald head, drew back and nodded as he placed his hands behind his back, "but it'll do for now!" Kaos's eyes turned back to the robot's console, and he grinned as he tapped a few buttons. "Now, if I recall correctly, the map to Arkus should be..."

The insides of the robot shuddered and gleamed as they rattled to life, and a map emerged on the front screen!

"Here!" Kaos grinned as he glazed over the map, and a few soft chuckles emerged as he tapped away at the console's buttons. "If it's showing up, surely Arkus is still intact! I just have to program this robot to take me there and..."

A firm buzz echoed through the room as the room turned red. Kaos grunted as he lifted his head to find a flashing crimson screen blaring all sorts of warnings in Ancient Skylandian text. "Wrong password?" He read with a scowl. His scowl deepened as he tapped at the console once more. "But, I'm sure it was up, up, down, down, left, right, right, left, and these two runes..."

The screen let out another loud buzz and Kaos ground his teeth together.

"Maybe it was up and down first?"

Nope, just another buzz.

"Left, left?"

Nada.

"Up, down, left right?"

Once again the buzzer buzzed. Kaos scowled as he slammed his hands in a fury against the console, screaming at the top of his lungs, "OH FORGET IT!"

A string of buzzers and flashing red lights shone across the scream as Kaos pounded away, and then, a single white light and a ping! Kaos's eyes fluttered as he lifted his head from the console, and his jaw dropped.

"Wait a second, it was up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right and then the runes!" Kaos snapped his fingers and grinned as he tapped the password into the console once more, yet no message of affirmation came—just another buzz! His scowl returned, and once again he lifted his head. "But, I got the passcode right—"

The moment his eyes hit the monitor, his jaw dropped at what the screen said!

"’Directions have been erased due to too many incorrect attempts!’" Kaos read as he fell to his knees and clawed into his bald head. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The world outside rumbled, and birds flew in the distance as Kaos leaped back to his feet, but he hardly cared. Instead, he opted to pace in a circle as he scratched his head further.

"Now what am I going to do?" he cried. "It's been ages if that ugly little man was right! Who knows what could've happened to Arkus or where it is now? I certainly wouldn't be able to find it, not like this!" Kaos's eyes fluttered, and his iron grip on his skull loosened as he flexed his fingers. "Unless..."

Once again Kaos dashed to the console and typed away. The white screen replaced with another screen, one that showed a model of a large vault hidden away in a rocky expanse in full color.

"Yes, the Secret Vault of Secrets is still in there!" Kaos cried! He tapped away the passcode, and grinned as a string of beeps turned the screen green. "Just need to download the instructions and make the travel preparations, and then, and then, I can finally get my empire back!"

Kaos smirked as he puffed out his chest. A string of low laughs emerged from his throat, but soon he burst into full-on cackles that echoed across the horizon!

"Watch out, Skylands—King Arkilles is back!"