Chihiro winced and tugged on her tunic as she, Thumpback, and Swarm trekked deeper into the carnival. They long left the others behind, but she was absolutely certain that the others could take care of things themselves… Maybe? That tiny inkling of doubt still tugged at her heart, and she couldn't help but worry. While Thumpback and Swarm ran ahead of her, Chihiro just stopped in her tracks and turned around to take a glimpse of the path she left behind.

"I just hope they're alright," Chihiro whispered as she toyed with her suspenders. She bit her lip, turned back around and crept forward. Her head craned from side to side in some pursuit of anything mechanical. "The faster I can find out what's going on here, the faster I can get back to them."

Chihiro frowned, took one step forward, and everything turned completely red in that very moment! Had she stepped on something suspicious? Chihiro scanned the ground for any sort of odd button or suspiciously light patch of ground, but as she did, ear-bleeding alarms shouted all across the way! Chihiro shouted as she shielded her ears, a brief solace from the headache-inducing sights and sounds around her.

"INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT!" blared a pirate's voice over the various loudspeakers set up across the carnival. "INTRUDERS HAVE ENTERED CUTTHROAT CARNIVAL!"

"Chihiro!" Swarm cried as he and Thumpback returned to Chihiro! The buzzing of his wings drowned out the alarms as he knelt down beside her. "What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Chihiro cried as she turned back to them. "The alarms just turned on all of a sudden!" Chihiro winced and tugged on her tunic. "Whatever it is, I have a bad feeling about it!"

Shing! Chihiro gasped and jumped back as a shiny, metal gate shot up in front of the path before her!

"We're trapped!" Chihiro exclaimed as she pointed to the gate.

"Not if I can help it!" Thumpback cried as he cracked his knuckles! His gaze fixed on the gate as he snarled and latched onto it. His muscles strained as he tugged against it, but finally, he yanked it out of the ground and tossed it off the side of the island!

"Alley-oop!" Thumpback cried as the gate flew into the clouds.

But while that gate was gone, more gates cropped up on the path ahead, and it wouldn't be long before they caught up! Swarm took to the skies and zipped ahead, and Thumpback fell to his belly as he turned to Chihiro. He tilted his shoulders as if he urged Chihiro to jump on, so she teleported onto his back and clung tight as he zipped ahead! The sound of slamming and crashing smashed behind them as more and more gates cropped up from the ground like weeds. They nipped at Swarm and Thumpback's heels, but with every gate that came up, Swarm and Thumpback’s speed only grew. They raced faster and faster ahead with every gate, and even those started to fall behind as they rushed past the paths, but the gates wouldn't be beaten yet! A gigantic silver gate slammed in front of them right as they passed into an open circle, and at the very last minute, to boot! Swarm, Thumpback, and Chihiro all gasped, and Chihiro frantically tugged on Thumpback's blowhole as he zoomed forwards.

"Thumpback, slow down!" Chihiro cried as she hung on for dear life. "You're going to crash!"

"I can't!" Thumpback shouted back. "I'm going too fast!"

"Me neither!" Swarm cried.

The three of them turned to each other, and they turned back to the gate, which was now only inches away from their faces. Unable to stop, they all screamed as they slammed right into the gate, left a sizable dent in its bars, and popped backwards as they crashed onto the grass! Swarm and Thumpback collapsed with a loud thud, but just ahead of them, Chihiro flew off of Thumpback's back and hit a particularly soft patch of grass.

"Ugh, talk about a crash landing," Chihiro groaned as she sat up and rubbed her head. As she sat on her knees, Chihiro turned her attention to where Swarm and Thumpback groaned and pushed themselves off the grass. "You guys alright?"

"Think so," Swarm replied as he straightened his antenna out with a shake of his head. "I hate gates like that."

The two of them frowned and stood up while the ground shuddered from their weight, or was it? All around them, the buildings' doors trembled as if they prepared to burst, and that was just what they did! The doors all slammed open, and out from them came waves of pirates in all species and sizes! Seadogs, octopi, gillpeople, and even a few drow and cyclopes dressed in pirates' attire with weapons in hand stormed out from the houses, and they fixed their arms on Swarm and Thumpback! Swarm and Thumpback gulped and raised their hands.

Below them, Chihiro dashed forward and stood between their legs. "Hey, what's going on here?" Chihiro cried as she stood face-to-face with the crowds of trigger happy pirates.

"I'll tell ye what's going on!" cackled a familiar voice as one house's door flung open. "We've gotten wise to yer little act!"

Cackles echoed from within the house as out strode… Wait a second, that was the carny Chihiro talked to earlier! His pirate outfit was only partly covered by the torn carny outfit he donned not moments earlier. A devilish smile shone on his face as the waves of pirates parted in his grip. He clapped his paws as his eyes fixed on Chihiro, and his gaze was so menacing that it she stepped back on instinct.

"I have to admit, ye were pretty clever, pretending not to be in cahoots with the Skylandees." The carny's smile faded, and yanked out a cutlass as he pointed it in Chihiro's direction. "But, the charade ends here! Nobody gets away with stealin' me Skystones deck and me lucky charm! Now, hand them over and we might not send ye to walk the plank!"

Oh crap, her cover was blown! Chihiro winced and backed away; she almost went to jump behind Thumpback's legs by instinct. But then, as she gazed down Thumpback and Swarm, she grinned and puffed out her chest!

"Actually, we're not beaten yet!" Chihiro proclaimed as she pointed a finger back at the pirate. Chihiro banished her costume with a snap of her fingers, and the light brushed against her face as it added a bit of a glow to her act. "You may have pretty big numbers, but we've got something even bigger!" Chihiro gestured up towards Swarm and Thumpback. "With the Elder Elementals on our side, you guys are nothing!"

"Are ye sure about that, laddie?" the carny asked. He raised a bow as he slipped his paw into his tattered coat, and out from it he pulled… Candy bars?

"Ye crewmates may be big, true" — the carny unwrapped the candy bars, grinned as their chocolate glistened in the light, and tossed them back into the crowds — "but with these super-sized candy bars, we'll be just as big a problem for ye!"

Several pirates cheered as they yanked the candy bars out of the air and gobbled them down. The pirates pounded their fists together as they grew huge. They towered over the area, stood eye-to-eye with Thumpback and Swarm, and their cries of glee shook the ground below! The other, smaller pirates fled as the bigger ones stomped around and kicked up dust wherever they went, but the bigger pirates wouldn't relent!

The carny hacked and fanned away the dust. He regained his composure with one last cough, and waved his sword towards Chihiro. "Now how do ye like these candy apples?"

Chihiro gulped and stepped back. "Yeah, that's definitely gonna be a problem," she remarked.

"For you maybe," Swarm remarked as he slashed his arm blades against each other, "but for us, it's nothing!"

"We'll see about that!" one of the giant pirates cried as they pulled out a gigantic cutlass!

Swarm scoffed and narrowed his eyes and he and Thumpback glared down the pirates. Above them, the wind howled and carried away dead, crumbling leaves, and they took it as their cue to battle! The cutlass-bearing pirate howled as they immediately dashed towards Thumpback and went to slice.

Swarm swung in front of Thumpback and blocked the blow with his armblades before they could! The pirate grunted as Swarm flung his arms and tossed them back, but the pirate just dashed forward and went to strike once more! Swarm blocked blow after blow with his stingers as Thumpback slid away behind him, all while Swarm stumbled backwards. Swarm backed into a cliff, and gasped as he found himself completely cornered! The pirate's cutlass slashed forward with a path set for his throat, and he gulped as he shouldered the blow with crossed arms.

"Seems like you've got your hands full there, honeybee!" the pirate hissed as he pressed his cutlass further against Swarm's arms.

Swarm grunted, yet the smirk he held on his face didn't relent. He just grinned, and beneath him, his abdomen twitched!

"That may be true," Swarm remarked, "but my stinger certainly isn't!"

The pirate yipped and jumped away as a stinger missile zipped forward. It nearly skewered them in the stomach, and they growled as they gripped their cutlass tighter! Fingers shaken with rage from Swarm's sneak attack, they leaped back and traded blows with Swarm once more as he flew up from the cliff—but Swarm blocked them and tossed the pirate aside! The pirate skidded backwards and prepared to attack, but another stinger flew forward and stabbed the pirate in the knee. The pirate cried out as they hopped about on their free leg, all while they gripped the stinger tight and tried to yank it out. Their pounding blows shook the world around as they yowled and squealed, but finally, they yanked the sting out with a grin!

"Finally, that darn thing is out!" the pirate cried as they tossed the stinger aside and withdrew their cutlass. "Now I can" — the pirate's eyelids started to droop as they swayed from side to side— "exterminate… This… Pest…"

The pirate groaned as they swayed around, and their eyes shut completely as they collapsed on the ground with a thud so great that it tossed everyone smaller than themself in the air! The smaller pirates and Chihiro screamed as they flew and crashed back down in seconds. They all grunted as they stood up from the ground. As they stood up, a mighty gust of wind blew them right into the unconscious pirate!

Above them, a seadog and an octopus pirate cried out and withdrew their swords as they raced right for Swarm! Swarm turned around and readied his arm blades, but right before the pirates came for him, a gigantic anchor swung out and wrapped around the pirates. Swarm paused for a moment as the pirates got pulled away, and grinned as he saw just who caught them—Thumpback!

"Looks like I caught myself a pretty big fish!" Thumpback cried as the pirates swung back towards him. He side-stepped away as they crashed into the wall, yanked them out and spun then around. "You know, this reminds me of the time I caught the Bubble-Blobbery of the North, back in the good old days!" Thumpback swung his anchor up and down, and the pirates tossed in the air and back into the ground in tandem. "So there I was, aboard my old crew's ship, eyeing the skies for potential catches as I always was—"

"Save the fishing stories for later, Thumper!" Swarm cried as he flitted back. "We've got more pirates incoming!"

Thumpback blinked and turned around as his gaze steeled. Amid the crowds of smaller pirates, even more pirates snatched those candy bars from the carny and gulped them down! They grinned as they grew their way out of the crowds, cracked their knuckles and stormed straight for Thumpback, but he just swung his anchor and slammed his prisoners right into the oncoming crowd. All the pirates flung into the nearby cliffside and smashed it. Its remains buckled and crumbled underneath their weight, but the pirates hardly noticed the wreckage that fell on their heads as they themselves fell unconscious.

With his catch freed, Thumpback's anchor slid right back into his palms. He smirked and held his head high, but not for long! His eyes popped right open as a growl sounded behind him. Thumpback whipped around, and body-slammed a gigantic gillman right into the metal fence that blocked the path behind them! The fence creaked and buckled under their shared weight; its metal cracked and splintered like wood, and the gillman just groaned and slunk down.

"Hey, watch where ye're brawling!" the carny cried as he shook a fist at Thumpback. "We just had that fence steel-plated!"

"Then maybe you should let us through!" Chihiro retorted as she stormed up to the pirate and thrust a finger in his face. "You're the one who locked us in here and made us fight your cronies!"

The carny scoffed and turned away. "Yer out of luck, laddie! I'm under strict orders from the cap'n not to let anyone through!"

A gigantic shadow cast itself over the carny. He turned his head up, screamed and stumbled backwards. There above him, Thumpback and Swarm imposed themselves as they cracked their knuckles and neither of them seemed particularly happy.

"Are you sure about that?" the both asked.

"After all, your little buddies here are down for the count!" Chihiro added as she gestured back to the crowds.

"And even if you don't, we can just tear this wall down anytime!" Swarm bragged.

Thumpback nodded in affirmation, but the sounds of groaning and stirring caught his ear before he could say his piece.

"What was that?" Thumpback asked as he turned around.

Behind him, the gigantic pirates that Thumpback and Swarm knocked down just moments earlier started to stagger up and… Glow green? Yes, a sickly green and purple glow surrounded them, yet they seemed much more lively before! Their bodies pulsed as they screamed to the skies, and they grew bigger, burlier, and not to mention creepier! Their eyes turned a nasty shade of green and bloodshot, their bodies bulged with big, tight muscles while their veins practically popped out of their bodies, fangs jutted out of their mouths, and worse yet, they stood tall like they weren’t been any worse for wear than before!

Swarm and Thumpback both gasped. In their moment of shock, the mutant pirates grabbed Swarm and Thumpback by the shoulders and tossed them into a cliff! Swarm and Thumpback both screamed as they left dents in the cliff, and they sent out a gust so massive it knocked everyone smaller than they were off their feet!

Chihiro and the carny both screamed as they tumbled across the grass, then staggered up to their feet and grunted.

"Just what's in those candy bars, anyways?" Chihiro demanded as she shot a worried glance towards the mutant pirates.

"Legally not allowed to say, I'm afraid," the carny responded. He stood up and popped his collar as if nothing happened. "Signed a contract and everything."

Chihiro scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Somehow, I doubt anything here is legal," Chihiro whispered as she looked aside, and her brows raised.

There, near the gate that blocked their way ahead, was a booth with that very same Skystones setup she’d seen earlier! It was somehow unscathed despite all the fighting and chaos around it. It seemed perfectly pristine, in good condition for playing, and better yet, it gave her an idea!

"Hey dude, you play Skystones, right?" Chihiro asked as she turned back to the carny.

The carny gasped, and his eyes sparkled as if he were offered a pile full of gold bars. "Of course I do! It's only the finest card game this side of Skylands!" The carny grinned, coughed into his paw and turned aside. "I mean, I suppose I play, what of it?"

Chihiro chuckled and shoved her hands into her pockets, a smirk on his face as she nudged her head towards the booth. "Can't really cover it up, you told me how to play and everything. Anyways, how about I offer you a deal?" Chihiro asked. "We play a round of Skystones, and if I win, you let us through that gate there!"

The carny grinned, but he shook his head just before he opened his mouth.

"The cap'n said that under no circumstance was I to let you through, and I lacks me special deck…" The carny mumbled as he paced back and forth, "but, the sweet allure of a Skystones game calls me!" The carny chuckled to himself. "Besides, I'm one of the top ten Skystones players in this crew! One little kid couldn't possibly beat me, even with a different deck!" The carny chuckled a little more, and his smirk from before came to him again. "That's right! There's no way the laddie could possibly win!"

The carny smirked as he turned around and pointed to Chihiro. "Fine then! I accept your challenge, laddie!" The carny whistled a tune to himself as he walked over to the Skystones deck and set it up.

Chihiro warily followed behind with a moment of pause taken to examine the Skystones deck in her hands. She did have some vague recollection of the Skystones rules that carny told her about, but would she actually be able to win this? Chihiro hesitated for a moment, squeezed the stones in her palms and cooled her fears with their smooth, chilly texture. No, she had to win this! Chihiro took her seat right as the carny finished setting up.

Both of them shot glares as they set up their decks, and a massive crash nearly blew them off their seats! They both clutched their seats as they rattled along the earth, and both pairs of eyes fell on where Swarm and Thumpback slammed into the earth. Chihiro winced, but the carny only cheered.

"Show that oversized fish who's boss!" the carny cried. He cleared his throat, and smirked towards Chihiro as he held out his paw. "Just like I'm about to do to you with this special deck I have stocked here!"

"Likely chance!" Chihiro scoffed as she took his paw and shook it.

As the two of them began their duel, however, another one unfolded beside them! Thumpback slid on his belly on the open plains. His path fixed on a mutated gillman, but then a seadog ran right into him and flipped him on his back!

Chihiro winced aside as Thumpback crashed down, but the sound of clacking stones turned her attention to the Skystones stand! There, the chompy Skystone she placed moments earlier flipped over with a noticeable red border surrounding its art, completely unlike the blue it held moments earlier! Chihiro gasped and lifted her head as the carny cackled.

"Why the long face, laddie?" the carny asked as he crossed his furry arms. "Don't tell me that was the best Skystone ye snagged from me?"

Chihiro clenched her teeth. "Of course not!" Chihiro scoffed as she turned her eyes back down at her deck. "I'm sure there's something in here."

Chihiro perked her head up as a particularly gnarly crunch sounded over the horizon, gasped and covered her mouth with her hands!

In front of her, Thumpback bit the seadog's shoulder so hard that glowing green blood dripped down its fur, yet he grunted as he flung it aside! Just as he stormed back for the gillman pirate he eyed before, though, the seadog dropped down on all fours and charged right back for Thumpback. Thumpback just lowered his head, and sent a cannon of salty seawater straight from his blowhole! The saltwater stream tossed the seadog into a huge tree and snapped the tree like it was a mere twig, but the seadog itself only groaned as it fell flat on its face.

Chihiro whimpered as the battle raged before her eyes, and turned her eyes back down to the remaining Skystones in her possession. She hummed and drew her eyes across them all. Her eyes fell on an enfuego chompy, and she grinned as she lifted it from her deck. Didn't this guy have a special move she could use? That's right, it did! That pirate dude mentioned it to her when he explained the game and everything!

Chihiro lifted a few spikes from the tiny pile she had amassed, wedged them into the open slots on the Skystone's sides, and slammed it on the battlefield!

"I use my special move!" Chihiro proclaimed as the card's surface glowed. "Burning Teeth!"

As Chihiro said this, a bright red burst of flame spun around the board with such fury that it not only singed the other cards, but flipped them back to Chihiro's blue! Now, it was Chihiro's turn to cross her arms and act smug as the carny tore his fur before her. Yet, he quickly regained his cool as he whipped out another card!

"Fine, then I'll play me Spiderling here!" he cried as he tossed a spiderling card next to her enfuego chompy. "Take this!"

"No, take this!" Chihiro cried as she jabbed a finger in her face!

Down on the board, the spikes at the enfuego chompy's top jabbed right into the spikeless side of the spiderling card, and it immediately changed to blue! The carny snarled, shook his head and forced a smile as he dropped a spiderling in the corner. Chihiro placed a drow lance master in the next. The carny gritted his teeth and dropped a Skystone on the bottom of the deck. It wasn’t like he could win, anyways. Chihiro was still a stone above him, and there was no way he could get an advantage with only two spaces left on the board!

"So much for being a top ten player, huh?" Chihiro remarked as she crossed her arms! She was absolutely certain she won, so why did the guy seem so confident still?

"Clearly, it must be time for the ace up my sleeve!" the carny remarked as he spiked up a Skystone. "I play me special move" — the carny slammed his Skystone, a gargantula with spikes on all side — "Web Of Connections!"

The gargantula card glowed as he said this, and out from it came a gargantula that spit out silk strands at all ends! All of a sudden, the spiderling Chihiro claimed moments earlier turned back to the opponent's side. She was outnumbered!

Chihiro winced and glazed down her card deck. She only had a few stones left and one move to go, so what was she supposed to do? She was screwed no matter how she looked at it! She turned her gaze towards the fight behind her, and found that Swarm faced a similar problem.

Swarm was cornered into a wall with several pirates crowded around him. Their weapons bared, their mouths wet with bloodlust, and worse yet, Swarm was completely alone. Behind him, Thumpback had his hands full as he tried to pry his anchor from several other pirates! Swarm winced and clasped his trembling lips. He seemed genuinely nervous as he gulped, but in that instant, his fear completely disappeared and a smirk crossed his face!

"You didn't really think you had me cornered, did you?" Swarm asked. He clapped his hands a couple times, and his whole body trembled while his voice turned distorted, as if multiple people spoke at once!

"FORM THE SWARM!"

Right as Swarm cried out, his whole body dissipated into a swarm of gigantic, magical, and not to mention angry bees! They buzzed around the pirates, who only stumbled around in shock. All at once, the bees turned their stingers on the pirates and jabbed them in unison! The pirates wailed as the bees slid out of their bodies, and in the bees' places came welts so massive that the pirates' whole bodies turned puffy and uncomfortable! The pirates groaned and stumbled around as the welts blocked off their vision, but the bees just chuckled as they crowded together and transformed back into Swarm!

"Still got it, baby!" Swarm remarked as he scraped his armblades against each other. "Now, for the finishing touch!"

Swarm hupped as he jumped in the air. Propelled by his wings, he slashed his arms into an x-shape and sent a massive, glowing, yellow blast right down at the pirates! The pirates all turned around as the light hit their swollen faces, but they realized just a little too late and found themselves pinned to the ground. Their collapses sent a rumble through the island, but they weren't the only ones shaken!

The pirates who brawled with Thumpback gasped, and slipped away from his anchor as they caught sight of their fallen allies. Thumpback had the perfect opening! Thumpback swung his anchor in the air while the pirates gawked, and transformed it into a makeshift propeller. He flew right over the pirates and body-slammed them into the earth. The pirates wailed as they tried and failed to squirm out from underneath Thumpback, and the whole island rattled!

At the Skystones stand, Chihiro's stones rattled and shuddered for a moment before she steadied them with her hand. Her eyes went wide as they fell on a second enfuego chompy Skystone! Chihiro grinned as she snatched it from the deck, smirked and spiked it up.

"Little do you know, I have a special move, too!" Chihiro cried as she slammed the enfuego chompy on the side of the board. "I PLAY FESTIVAL OF FIRE!"

The enfuego chompy stone's glowed a bright red, and in that moment bright flames burst from all ends and singed the cards around! More than that, the flames turned the other Skystones red-hot, so hot that they immediately flipped over back to Chihiro's blue! Chihiro grinned as the cooling stones sat on the board, and more importantly, sealed her victory. A couple of thumps turned her attention back to Thumpback and Swarm, who grinned as the mutant pirates sat at their feet and groaned while the pirates returned to their normal sizes!

"Ye little sneak!" the carny cried as he tore his fur out. "Ye only beat me ‘cause ye stole all me good stones, remember that! If me usual deck were here, I'd had won!"

"Whatever, a deal's a deal!" Chihiro cried as she smacked her fists on the table. "Let us go through!"

"Absolutely not!" The carny snarled and curled up in his chair. "I was under strict orders from the cap'n not to!"

The sound of gigantic footsteps echoed as Thumpback and Swarm loomed over Chihiro. They glared with piercing looks directed straight towards the carny!

"You sure about that?" Chihiro asked as she crossed her arms.

The carny forced laughter as he stepped out of his chair. "Er, but, I suppose I could make an exception, he'd understand."

The carny pressed a button, and the gate to the path ahead completely fell down behind him! Thumpback and Swarm immediately passed ahead, but just before Chihiro could leave, the carny pushed a Skystone and a small pile of spikes towards her.

"As per Skystones rule, here's your spoils," the carny hissed. While he forced a smile, he spoke his words through clenched teeth. "A Skystone and the spikes you'll need to perform its moves."

"Sweet!" Chihiro cried as she snatched her spoils and stuffed them into her pocket. "Thanks buddy!"

Her spirits lifted, Chihiro giggled and followed Thumpback and Swarm through the path. If this Skystones stuff was really as easy as it was with that guy, they'd have that new engine in no time!

§

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—OOF!"

Terrafin, Eruptor, Gill Grunt, and Whirlwind grunted as they slammed face-first into a marshmallow mattress at the end of the massive tunnel they had slid down, sat back up and shook off their heads. Unfortunately, the licorice ropes that kept them tied together were stuck tight still.

"Looks like there's nobody here," Gill Grunt remarked as he craned his head around. "Maybe we can try and break out—"

"NOT SO FAST!" cried a pirate's voice!

The room shook as pirates stormed out of the darkness! The pirates completely surrounded Gill Grunt, Eruptor, Terrafin and Whirlwind, their beady eyes wide with glee.

"My, looks like some fine beings walked right into our carnival here!" crooned one pirate, an anthropomorphic parrot. The parrot pirate grinned as he shoved his face in Gill Grunt's, and Gill Grunt snarled as he backed away. "I know those faces, aren't ye Skylandees?" The parrot cackled and spun away before Gill Grunt even got a chance to respond. "My, to think we'd have Skylandees in our very clutches! What a surprise!" The parrot chuckled and held a wing to his face, his beady blue eyes fixed on Terrafin, Eruptor, Whirlwind, and Gill Grunt. "We'll get some good use out of you!"

The parrot snickered a bit, and his eyes fell on Gill Grunt's harpoon cannon as it laid still on the mattress, just outside of Gill Grunt's reach! Gill Grunt noticed too, for he immediately shuffled forward and went to snatch the cannon with his leg—but he was too late! The pirate snatched it away just before he could grab it!

"My, my, we can't have you armed, can we?" the parrot crooned as he stroked the cannon, and tossed it to one of the seadogs in the crowds. "Besides, where you're going, you won't need silly things like weapons!"

The parrot snicked again, but the soft ding of a bell in the distance broke him out of his laughing fit!

"Finally, our lunch break!" cried a pirate in the crowds!

"I've been waiting for this!"

"I've got the most delicious ham stew in me lunch today, finest thing in all the seven seas!"

"Wait a second!" the parrot cried as he turned to the crowds. "What about the prisoners?"

The pirates all grinned at each other and dashed away in a heartbeat. "THEY CAN WAIT! IT'S LUNCH TIME!"

The parrot snarled and stormed in front of the pirates. "Ye can't just leave them behind, they're Skylandees!" The parrot exclaimed as he gestured towards Eruptor, Terrafin, Gill Grunt, and Whirlwind. "They're" — the parrot gasped and jumped away as the pirates stampeded off — "WATCH OUT!"

The parrot's cries went unheard. The pirates completely trampled him in their wake, for their lunch was a far more important concern in their minds! The parrot groaned and lifted his wings. He sat up and shook himself down as the swarm of pirates left him behind.

"Well, I suppose that I'll join them. I did have a nice birdseed smoothie prepared for today," the parrot remarked as he brushed itself off and stood up. He shot a glare back at Eruptor, Terrafin, Gill Grunt, and Whirlwind, grinned and spun around. "Don't go anywhere~" The parrot chuckled as he disappeared down the halls. "Oh wait, you can't!"

The parrot's shrill cackles echoed through the halls, and Terrafin just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I was wondering when he'd leave," Terrafin groaned before he turned to the others. "Anyways, how're we gonna get out of these things?"

"Well, I was going to tear them apart with my harpoons," Gill Grunt whispered back as he nudged closer to Terrafin. "But, they took my cannons."

"I could try burning them up!" Eruptor suggested as he leaned his head backwards. "Just one little lava ball…"

"No way!" Whirlwind hissed as she nudged Eruptor's shoulder. "You'll just end up burning us to a crisp!"

Eruptor scoffed and turned up his head. "Well, what else are we going to do?"

Terrafin hummed, and bit straight into the ropes keeping them bound! He tugged at them for a few moments while they tugged back in response, but when they refused to relent, he spat them back out and grunted as his tongue lolled back into his mouth.

"I don't know what they put in this stuff to make it so tough," Terrafin panted, "but it tastes awful!"

Whirlwind hummed aside of him. Her ears flicked up and down while her horn vaguely pulsed with color, and she grinned.

"Actually, I think I have an idea!" Whirlwind cried!

Her horn sparked for a moment, and out from it shot a raging thundercloud! Lightning burst from the cloud's underside, and formed into a blade which sliced right through the ropes. Its heat was so massive that it completely softened the ropes, and the ropes’ grip! With the ropes weakened, everyone shimmied out of their grip and hopped onto a floor so smooth that their feet clacked against it.

"Alright, first order of business is we need to get Gill Grunt's cannon back, wherever those pirates took it," Whirlwind said as her horn flared with color, "and if we're going to do that, we can't be seen!"

Whirlwind shot a ring of white light into the air, stood and grinned as the ring cascaded down over them while it absorbed their colors! Its white light turned into a shiny rainbow as the four of them became completely invisible, and the ring vanished along with them. With them hidden from view, they all crept down the halls.

The whole place looked surprisingly clean and polished compared to the ratty carnival upstairs. It had sleek metal floors more reminiscent of a lab or other sort of polished building, and the smooth dark blue halls lit up underneath the fluorescent white lights overhead. It was so sleek and fancy that it was almost… Off-putting. If not for that, the way the halls stretched on for all eternity certainly was!

"Geez, isn't there a map or something around here?" Eruptor whined as he leaned against the wall.

Terrafin frowned and walked past Eruptor, but immediately backed up and glazed over the walls. "Hey, there's a map here!" he proclaimed as he edged closer to the map.

All four of them crowded around the map, and frowned as Terrafin's nails clacked against its sleek marble.

"Says here there's a break room just across from where we are now," Terrafin remarked as he tapped the square designated "Break Room" in Common on its surface, "and they did say they were going on their lunch break."

"Probably as good a place to start as any," Whirlwind said. Her wings flapped, and she dashed right through the other three. "Come on!"

Eruptor, Terrafin, and Gill Grunt grunted as they tailed Whirlwind down the halls, their chase guided only by the sound of her wings. But then, the sound of pumping machines and pained moans drew their run to a slow walk, and then a stop. They turned their heads around and their jaws dropped!

There before them and divided away by a large glass panel was a room full of tired-looking mabu, gillpeople, elves, and more. They all worked away in a slow harmony as they poured some weird-looking goop into a gigantic vat, and stirred it with gigantic spoons! One exhausted gillman keeled over and fell into the vat without even noticing, not even as the vat drained into massive pumps that spat out odd-looking, glowing candy bars with light quickly masked by wrappers! That wasn't the only odd sight. Further down the line, even more tired workers stirred cotton candy, twisted together funnel cake, coated candy apples, and stuffed carnival prizes in a monotonous rhythm. They were so tired that they couldn't even sleep; they just worked in an endless haze!

"What the," Gill Grunt gasped as he pressed his face against the glass. "They all look exhausted, so why are they still working?"

"What kind of a creep would do this?" Terrafin gasped as he removed a hand from the class.

Chills ran down his spine as he drew away form the scene. He stepped towards the other wall and yanked a poster off its steel surface. There in his hands, the torn poster fluttered slightly as it depicted a picture of a seadog pirate captain wagging his finger and winking.

"'Captain Dreadbeard says keep working?'" Eruptor read as he poked over Terrafin's shoulder. The paper tore as Terrafin dug his claws into it, and Eruptor hummed. "Fin, do you know that guy?"

"Oh, I know him alright!" Terrafin scoffed as the poster slipped through his hand, and Terrafin stomped right on its face. "That dude was the guy who took over that island with his card-game playing crew last year! Slam, Zap, and I helped run him off" — Terrafin crossed his arms — "but I thought that dude was gone for good! How's he still kicking?"

"Actually, we can figure that out later!" Gill Grunt cried from further down the halls. "I found the break room!"

Terrafin, Whirlwind and Eruptor dashed up to Gill Grunt’s side, and peered inside a door that was creaked open just enough to catch a glimpse of the insides. There, pirates in all sizes huddled around a table and enjoyed their lunches, and a box labeled "Confiscated" sat at their feet!

"My cannon has to be in that box," Gill Grunt whispered. "All I need to do is sneak it out of there!"

"Gill Grunt, wait!" Whirlwind whispered back just before he could run off. "You've gotta be careful. We may be invisible, but act too suspicious and they'll catch us anyways!"

"Got it—"

"Hey, I'm parched! Where're the drinks, anyways?" shouted a pirate.

The four of them gasped and leaped out of the way as the door slammed open. They pressed themselves against the wall beside them as two pirates walked down the halls. Their breath stayed held as the door slammed shut, and they released with a long sigh.

"Anyways, I'll be fine, don't worry," Gill Grunt whispered as he creaked the door back open. "I know a thing or two about stealth."

Gill Grunt fell to the floor and crawled across while the other three peered around the doorway. Even if they couldn't make out just where he was, something about it seemed to ease their fears a tiny bit. Sweat crept down their backs as all eyes fell on the box where the harpoon cannon moved just slightly to the left. The cannon nudged forward, and it floated out of the box! He got it!

Eruptor, Terrafin and Whirlwind went to cheer, but quickly zipped their mouths shut as they watched further. The harpoon cannon carefully and slowly floated away, almost to the door when the chairs creaked from behind! It immediately dove behind some boxes as one pirate stood up and tugged on his collar behind it, and its body trembled and swiveled just a bit.

"Is it just me, or are things heating up in here?" the pirate remarked.

Both Terrafin and Whirlwind shot invisible glances towards Eruptor, whose invisible form outlined with a red glow!

"Sorry!" Eruptor whispered as his glow faded. "When things get tense, I just get heated!"

"I dunno, maybe it's the heating system?" suggested a second pirate as all eyes fell on the break room. "It could be busted or something."

The first pirate turned to a box on the side, sighed and sat back down. "It looks alright," the first pirate remarked as they turned back to their lunch. "Probably just my imagination."

The pirates all mumbled in agreement as they turned back to their lunches. With them settled, Gill Grunt peeked back over the boxes and crept away once more! He was just inches away from hitting the doorway, almost home free! Eruptor, Terrafin and Whirlwind all beckoned for him to come with haste, but right as he crept through, one of the pirates turned around and screamed!

"WHY'S THAT CANNON FLOATING?" the pirate cried as they jabbed a finger at the cannon!

All the other pirates turned around, and joined in the screaming as they leaped out of their seats! They raced around in sheer panic while their chatter rumbled around the break room. All save for one, who stepped forward and cracked a can of whiskey!

"Take this!" the pirate cried as they flung their drink right towards Gill Grunt!

The drink splattered on Gill Grunt in an instant! He sputtered as he shook the alcohol from his head, but the rest dripped across his body and unveiled his true form! Gill Grunt turned his head up as the pirates' cries sounded around him, and winced as he looked down and found his cover was blown.

"Well, it can't be helped!" Whirlwind cried as she stepped out. Her horn pulsed with rainbows, and the color returned to her and the others’ bodies in a flash of light. "Looks like we'll just have to fight!"

Terrafin, Eruptor, Gill Grunt, and Whirlwind all snarled and prepared to fight with fists raised and weapons at the ready, and the pirates faced them in tandem. The pirates grappled at the open air, gasped, and turned around as they realized there was one problem.

"Hey, what happened to our weapons?" cried one pirate as they all huddled together.

"We left them behind in our work rooms, remember?" scoffed another.

"Well, now what are we going to do? The Skylandees are right there, and we can't just run off!"

The second pirate snarled, and turned their eyes back to the lunch tables. "Actually, I have an idea!" The pirate snatched a sandwich from the table, tossed it forward and beaned Gill Grunt right in the head with it. "FOOD FIGHTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

The pirates all cried in agreement as they raced to wipe the tables clean! They threw their edible artillery at the Terrafin, Eruptor, Gill Grunt and Whirlwind, but Whirlwind only scoffed! With a few flaps of her wings, a shield of thick, puffy clouds formed between the food barrage and the four of them. The food only bounced off and hit the floor!

"That the best you can do?" Whirlwind asked. She smirked a bit as she stepped back, wings flared… But screamed and jumped backwards as some of the tomatoes the pirates pelted exploded! The tomatoes shook the entire room as their sauce splattered!

"OKAY, MAYBE IT IS!"

Whirlwind panted as she, Terrafin, Eruptor, and Gill Grunt all dashed down the halls, but the sounds of screaming showed that they weren't going to escape that easily! The pirates were hot on their trails, and they wouldn't relent as they threw explosive tomato bombs that left hot, sticky messes across the halls.

Gill Grunt whipped around and brandished his harpoon cannon. "How about I heat things up a little?" Gill Grunt asked as his cannon rattled and spurted with scalding water.

"Hey, that's my line!" Eruptor cried from behind.

Gill Grunt only pulled the trigger on his cannon, and sent a burst of scalding hot water right for the pirate crowds! They all screamed as the sheer burning force of the water tossed them backwards and onto the floor. The pirates moaned and collapsed as the water dropped away. The water left searing, glowing red burns on the pirates’ bodies and completely drenched their clothes; they were completely drained with all the damage done!

"My turn now!" Whirlwind cried as she zipped up and flapped electricity-charged wings. "Hope you all can FEATHER THE STORM!"

A massive lightning bolt jumped from Whirlwind’s horn and zapped the pirates. With them already soaked, the lightning coursed harder than usual and zapped them to the bone! Fur and feathers stood on end while sparks flew from clattering golden teeth, and as the lightning faded, they all groaned and collapsed once more.

Gill Grunt and Whirlwind grinned at each other, but drew back as Terrafin pressed forward and cracked his knuckles.

"Just to make sure they don't tail us," Terrafin whispered as his eyes fell on the floor. He punched it so hard that a massive earth pillar leaped from the ground! Terrafin grinned, turned back to Eruptor and gave him a thumbs up. "Ruptor, do your thing!"

"I thought you'd never ask!"

Eruptor chuckled as he skipped up to Terrafin's side, and with a few claps, lava spewed from his hands as it melted around the earth Terrafin churned up! The heat from the lava hardened the earth around the walls and melded it together. It became a functional gate that blocked everything else off, and its heat set off the sprinkler systems, too!

Eruptor grumbled and shielded his head as water poured down from above, but Terrafin chuckled and patted Eruptor's shoulder. The two of them perked up as a cloud cast above them, and Whirlwind grinned as she flew up to them. With the cloud as their shield from the rain ahead, the three of them trailed back down the hallways. Gill Grunt straggled beside them, but he didn't seem particularly fussed by the rain that dropped down on him.

Terrafin frowned as he scuffed his feet against the halls. His brow scrunched tight, and he occasionally stopped in place as if he got lost in thought. A droplet of rain hitting him on the head would bring him back down to Skylands as he ran back under the cloud.

"Something up, Fin?" Eruptor asked as he tilted his head. "Are you still worrying about that Dreadbeard guy?"

Terrafin grunted and nodded in response. "I had no idea the guy was still around!" Terrafin exclaimed as he waved a hand in the air. "He’s doing all this, too. I don't know what he's planning, but it's not good, that's for sure."

Terrafin took a step forward, but came to a stop immediately. Sobbing came from down the halls, faint sobbing but definitely there. Though words were spoken, they could barely be made out! Were they coming from pirates?

"Wait a second!" Whirlwind cried as she stopped in her tracks. "I know that voice!"

Whirlwind dashed back down the halls; her speed amplified from the wind to the point where Eruptor, Terrafin and Gill Grunt could barely keep pace! The fluff of her ears fluttered as she dove down, and the sound of sobbing became her guide, for it grew louder and clearer as she went on. She sped further, gasped and dropped down to the floor!

She entered a large, round room filled with dungeon cells. Each one contained wailing prisoners bemoaning their fate, but at the front of the cells laid a familiar face, one none of them expected to see!

Eruptor, Terrafin and Gill Grunt all panted as they joined Whirlwind. As they lifted their heads, they all gasped and leaned back.

"Blobbers?" they all cried at once.