Though the sun dipped into evening, the Dread-Yacht was as lively as if the sun just rose! Everyone crowded around the heart of the ship amid a picnic blanket filled with all sorts of food: sandwiches, steaks, salads, appetizers of all kinds and forms, drinks ranging from sodas and lemonade to waters and fruit juices, and even a few chocolate cakes laid among the spread! Cheerful music played over the jukebox's radio as everyone took their dinner and ate, occasionally making small talk between bites of their food. It hardly felt tense, even though them were in the middle of a mission's journey! Smiles were on every face, even Ermit's in spite of how grumpy he was earlier…

Well, all but one.

At the outskirts of the table was none other than Chihiro, who frowned between bites of her sandwich as she caught glimpses of the Dread-Yacht's deck. Amid the sounds of talking, and the music on the radio, the faint sound of clunking and crashing sounded. It happened so often that she could hardly find herself at ease. She'd already heard it, like, ten times now! There couldn't have been something wrong with the engine or something still, right?

"Hopefully not," Chihiro remarked as she finished her sandwich and reached for the rest of her dinner. "It would be a pain if we had to do repairs again!"

Chihiro grinned as she reached for an open bag of chips, but right as she did, the chips toppled forwards and rolled towards the edge of the deck, as did the rest of her dinner!

"Hey, wait!" Chihiro stood up and snarled. "You're not escaping me that easily!"

Chihiro strode forward and gasped as she planted face-first onto the deck! She groaned and pushed herself up, but she didn't get to rest just yet. The Dread-Yacht tipped over with a creak. Surprised shouts sounded around her as she gasped and rolled forward, but thankfully, the Dread-Yacht's railing caught her! However, her dinner was far from lucky, for it just fell down the holes in the railing. Chihiro gasped and reached out for it, but she was too late by that time. Her dinner collapsed and disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen again!

Chihiro pouted, plucked herself from the railing as the ship tilted back to its proper height, and turned her attention back to the table. Well, that was a bummer, but surely there had to be more food left? They did get a ton when they won those gladiator games, after all! She teleported between Cynder and Spyro, peered over their shoulders and grinned. There was still a bag of chips left! Chihiro chuckled as she reached out for it, but an auburn, furry hand snatched it off the table just before she could grab it!

"Did you all feel that just now?" Gill Grunt asked as he wiped his face with his arm.

"You bet!" Bouncer replied as he laid a can of oil aside. "It kind of felt like the ship was falling over!"

"Well that's not concerning in the slightest," Cynder hissed as she crossed her front legs. She scoffed, flicked her wings, and turned her attention back to Flynn. "Hey, Flynn! You weren't messing with the wheel or anything, were you?"

Flynn dozed off at the wheel, his grip on its pegs loosened as his head bobbed up and down. A rare sight, really—Flynn, for all his faults, was always diligent when it came to steering. Now, it seemed that the long day took its toll, and he was been tempted into resting his eyes. That is, until a lightning bolt from Cynder zapped him awake!

"I'M AWAKE!" Flynn cried as the lightning stood his fur on end. "TOTALLY WASN'T SLEEPING, NOPE, NOT AT ALL!"

"No sleeping at the wheel!" Cynder scolded as Flynn rubbed his forehead, the spot of impact. Cynder scoffed again, and folded her wings on her back as she toyed with her steak. "Anyways, I'm not so sure it was just that." Sharp rows of white fangs shot down from Cynder's jaws, and she grabbed her steak with both front paws as she tore it in half. "Mi think mits mhose shmeap parmts me got—"

"Say that again?" Spyro asked as he backed away from Cynder.

Cynder gulped down the half of her steak. "I said, I think it's those cheap parts he got!" Cynder shot a glare aside. "I didn't like the looks of them, or that place we got them from then, and I don't like them now."

"So you think the ship's still busted?" Trigger Happy asked, oblivious to Chihiro teleporting behind him and snagging chips from his bag.

Tree Rex shook his head. "Surely it can't be! After all, Flynn did spend all that time repairing it."

"Personally, I say it's those clouds!" Ermit cried as he wagged a finger. "They always look so innocent and fluffy, but they've got an agenda, I'm telling you!" Ermit scowled and scratched his nose. "It seems like whenever I'm around, those clouds make a point of ruining my day! I go out to run my errands, and they make it rain! I go to make a new sculpture, and they zap it to ash! I walk outside and go to tan—"

"Are you sure you just didn't bother to check the weather?" Cali asked.

Ermit scoffed and crossed his arms as he turned away from Cali. "Touche."

The ship clunked again with a shudder. It tilted a bit to the right for a moment, much to everyone's shock as they stood frozen! Everyone immediately grabbed onto whatever they could, but loosened their grips and sighed as it reeled back in.

"Heh, looks like we're experiencing a little bit of turbulence!" Flynn remarked as he steadied his grip on the steering wheel. "It’s nothing that I, the greatest pilot in all Skylands can't handle!" The ship clunked again and Flynn flicked his ears. "Huh, I thought I got those weird noises in the engine taken care of." Flynn scratched his chin for a moment, shrugged and went back to steering. "Eh, it's probably just the wind!"

The journey continued as Flynn whistled along to the radio, and he steered further into the sunset. Its orange light a gentle blanket that covered all. It was so serene, so safe in feeling, that everyone onboard couldn't help but yawn and click their tongues, fully prepared to sleep. They did have a long day, too, so surely they wouldn't be faulted for getting a few winks of sleep, right?

Well, that's what they were going to do, but another clunk roused them wide awake. Not just that, either; the ship started to dip forward, and everything around them tumbled down in turn!

Tree Rex grunted as he slammed into the back of the ship, and tried to push himself back off from the wall. Gravity kept him pinned to the spot despite how he strained, but he wouldn't be lonely there for long! The table slammed into his chest, and sent him coughing as Gill Grunt and Eruptor slammed right into it! Beside them, Swarm cried out as he hit his head on the wall, Ninjini jumped into her bottle as she and Bouncer crashed beside Swarm, and Trigger Happy fruitlessly attempted to rescue his bag of chips as it flew into the wind, far away from his grip!

"What's going on, Flynn?" Spyro demanded as he flew up, snatched Gill Grunt from the ground, and dropped both Gill Grunt and himself in the captain's quarters. "The whole ship feel like it's" — Spyro grunted as the ship dipped further down and slammed both him and Gill Grunt against the wall, plucked himself off and trudged back up — "sinking?"

"Don't ask me!" Flynn exclaimed as he hugged the wheel. "It was perfectly fine just a few minutes ago! I don't know what happened!" Flynn winced as the ship's wheel started to spin on its own, clutched it with both hands and steered it around. "We adjusted the brakes, replaced the navigation system, patched up the sails…"

"Then why are we crashing?" Terrafin demanded as he pushed himself from the ground. He took one look over the deck, winced and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I swear to the Ancients, agreeing to this was the biggest mistake of my" — Terrafin's eyes practically popped out of his skull as he slid down while the ship tipped over — "LIFFFFFFFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Everyone screamed as the Dread-Yacht tilted back and forth like they were on the world's worst carnival ride in tandem, all with Flynn's desperate attempts to regain control of the ship! The Elder Elementals crashed to the left while Chihiro, Cali, Ermit and the remaining Skylanders all slammed into them as makeshift cushions for their fall. They tilted right and went tackling down for the rails!

Chihiro grunted as her back crashed into the rails, and grunted again as Trigger Happy landed in her arms. Her teeth clenched as the others slammed into the rails and let out cries of pain. As they all grabbed onto the rails and tried to stagger up, they screamed once more while the Elder Elementals came in fast! They prepared to bolt, but the ship turned upright and their impromptu ride came to a cease, or so it seemed.

Trigger Happy hopped out of Chihiro's arms while Chihiro herself wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Is everyone alright?" Chihiro asked as everyone around her sat up and regained their senses. "That was some ride!"

Creeeeeeeaaaaaaaakkkkkk… Chihiro winced as the ship started to tilt down, instinctively grappled for the rails and practically wrapped herself around them.

"But something tells me it isn't over yet! Grab onto something, everyone!"

The Dread-Yacht's creaks grew even louder as it tilted further down, and the whole ship sunk down as if it lost altitude! It hovered in utter peace for a few moments, just enough that everyone could get a glance of the vast skies below while the clouds cleared out of their way. Soon, they all screamed as the Dread-Yacht shot down below at rocket speed! Eyelids, cheeks, and clothing flapped in the wind as everyone clung to the Dread-Yacht for dear life, and it nosedived so fast that flames grew around it and sparked across its side! Crates, jukeboxes, tables, and more all flew into the sky as the Dread-Yacht turned into a veritable flaming comet while its speed grew even faster.

Unable to close their eyes, everyone stood forced to watch as the skies came in faster and faster, but finally, the skies parted and revealed a gigantic island! Normally, a crash wouldn't be a particularly good thing, but the island brought their fall to a rousing stop. The smoking hot Dread-Yacht landed on its grassy surface and created a massive crater in the earth, the grass nearby singed from the flames. A few puffs of smoke popped out of the Dread-Yacht's roof. The paint peeled off while smoking metal panels dropped onto the earth and exploded into flames.

A dizzy Eruptor stumbled over to the rails and peeked down. "Yeah, this is definitely gonna need some repairs," Eruptor groaned before he hacked a lava ball out.

"Not even his balloon was as bad as this!" Stealth Elf moaned as she patted down flyaways and brushed her arms free of soot.

"Balloony, I'm sorry for every awful thing I said about you," Whirlwind moaned as she sat up, but fell on her back while lightning fritzed around her horn. "I'd take you back in a heartbeat."

Flynn swayed back and forth across the captain's quarters, but soon screamed as he snagged his foot and went tumbling down the stairs! Flynn groaned and pushed his head up as he hit the deck, quickly gasped and jumped to his feet.

"The engine!" Flynn cried as he scurried towards a door and yanked it open. "I'd better make sure it's alright!"

Still reeling from the sudden fall, Chihiro groaned and sat back up. Her legs were so numb from the fall that she couldn't bring herself to stand just yet. Instead, she leaned against Bouncer's wheel and sighed. that was the worst crash she’d ever experienced, and she’d experienced her fair share of crashes! Just what could have happened? The numbness in Chihiro’s legs eased up as Cali and Ermit passed her by, so Chihiro followed Flynn down into the engine room.

"Holy enchiladas!" Flynn cried from the engine room. "This thing's completely fried!"

Yeah, that didn't bode well. Chihiro dashed through the engine room's door, tailed down the steps two at a time, and jumped off the final step. She strode inside the engine room, led by a stream of gray clouds and the smell of burning. Her short trek through the halls brought her to an open door where thick, gray smoke choked out most of the sights, and she ducked underneath its cover. The smoke cleared up as she walked through, and when she arrived on the other side, she found Flynn, Cali, and Ermit all marveling the engine—except it didn't look like much of an engine now! It was crispy, and most of its fancy detailing either peeled off or melted away with only a haphazard hunk of junky metal left behind! Half the parts were bent or completely fell off, and the stuff that was left wasn't much better with how it brimmed with heat and emitted smoke. It probably couldn't even be sold for scrap in this state.

"But the guy said this was a high-quality engine!" Cali exclaimed as she scratched his head. "How could it go out like this?"

As if on cue, one twisted pipe on the engine popped open. Out of it came a white flag with a picture of that very shopkeeper who sold them the engine as he grinned and stuck his tongue out. The audacity!

Flynn plucked the flag off as he glazed it over, snarled and tossed it on the ground. "It says we got punked!" Flynn exclaimed as he stomped on the flag. Flynn crossed his arms and huffed as another puff of smoke came from the engine. "That's it, that's the last time I get my parts from the Junkyard Isles!"

"With a name like that, what'd you expect to find there?" Ermit remarked. "Gold?"

Flynn clenched his lips, turned around and beamed as he caught sight of Chihiro.

"Oh hey, perfect timing, kiddo!" Flynn exclaimed as he strode up to Chihiro! His grin lingered for a moment, but it faltered as he shot a glance back at the singed engine. "Well, as you can see, the engine's toast." Flynn patted Chihiro on the shoulder. "Cali and I are gonna try and get things fixed up. In the meanwhile, can you and the 'landers see if there's a place we can get a new engine?"

Chihiro beamed and gave Flynn a nod. The awful scent of smoke was a bit much for her, so overwhelming she found it hard to speak. Instead, she dove underneath the smoke, raced back up the stairs and onto the deck, and flung the door wide open! Everyone else's eyes all turned on her, but she just sighed. Fresh, cool air, finally!

"So, how is it?" Eye-Brawl remarked in the midst of a thumb-wrestling match with Bouncer, his eye fixed on Chihiro. "Can we still get airborne?" Bouncer grinned and took down Eye-Brawl's thumb, and Eye-Brawl snarled as he glared at Bouncer. "Eye saw that!"

"I've got bad news, unfortunately," Chihiro replied as she shoved her hands into her pockets. "The engine's a dud, and now it's completely busted to boot!" Chihiro shrugged and strode up to the edge of the ship. "Flynn needs us to scout around this place, and see if we find a place where we can get a new engine!"

"If we can find a place to get a new engine," Whirlwind added as she flew up beside Chihiro, her muzzle kept in a frown as she glazed over the island. "This place seems completely barren!"

Chihiro hummed as she glazed over the island in tandem. Like it or not, it did seem like Whirlwind was right. Nothing but massive expanses of grass was the only visible thing for miles, but at the same time…

"It's not like we have any other options," Chihiro remarked. "It's either that, or we're stuck here unless a miracle happens!"

Chihiro stomped her foot against the deck. Underneath her, the bridge extended from the one open side of the Dread-Yacht and dug into the ground below! With a grin, she spun around and waved.

"Fin, Rupty, Gill, and Whirlybird are with me! The rest of you stay here and keep an eye on things!"

Chihiro leaped onto the railing and prepared to leap again, but before she could, thunderous footsteps shook her down! As she fell on her back with a grunt, she peered up to find Thumpback and Swarm grinning down at her!

"And we'll come along and help too," Thumpback added as he swung his anchor over his shoulder. "I know my way around a ship…"

"And I can fly ahead and scout!" Swarm finished!

Chihiro grinned and made a thumbs-up. "The more the merrier!" she proclaimed as she hopped back to her feet. Chihiro glazed over the side of the railing, shrugged and shuffled off to the bridge. "Now let's get going!"

Swarm zoomed away with a flap of his wings, and Thumpback leaped off the Dread-Yacht's deck, hitting the ground with a loud thud that shook everything around! Everyone else nearly fell on the ground once again, but quickly shook it off and raced down the deck. With everyone gathered, they all shared glances and nodded before they trekked into the vast unknown.