Chihiro grunted and pulled herself higher onto Swarm's shoulder as he flew ahead. Her grip on him stayed tight as he flew at the speed of light, or maybe the speed just felt that way with how big he was, and how small she was. Either way, they made good headway across the stands, and she was sure they would be at the end of this stretch soon! Hopefully she'd be able to find out just where the MDF were kept.

Chihiro frowned as she glanced down at Thumpback, who slid across the roads on his belly while Swarm flew. She magically summoned a telescope and held it to her eye. The telescope zoomed around for a bit as it glanced over food stands, games, cells, a dock filled with ships at the end of the road—wait, a dock? Chihiro turned her telescope back on the dock, grinned and whisked it away.

"Keep going, guys!" Chihiro proclaimed as she patted Swarm's shoulder. "I can see the docks from here!"

Swarm and Thumpback grinned and nodded as they sped forward, but Chihiro didn't entirely share in their enthusiasm as she drew circles on Swarm's shoulder. With how much of a pain these pirates had been, she couldn't help but wonder—just what was going on around this place? Beings being kidnapped wasn't exactly a good thing, but just what was their plan for all this? Chihiro had a few ideas, and none of them were particularly pretty. She sighed, climbed further on Swarm's shoulder and sat down, but Swarm came to an abrupt stop right as she did! The sudden jolt offset Chihiro's balance, and before she knew it, she went flailing and screaming as she tumbled right off of Swarm's shoulder!

Luckily, her fall was brief, for Thumpback stood up and she fell right into his blowhole! Chihiro caught herself on its edge, grunted and pulled herself back onto the top of his head.

"Hey, what's with the holdup?" Chihiro asked as she shook stray saltwater from her body.

Swarm pointed over towards a large, gigantic, even gap between the path they stood on now and the path ahead.

"That," Swarm replied as he lowered his hand, "that's the holdup." Swarm frowned as his wings flitted and fluttered. "Even though I could probably fly over it, there's no way I'd be able to carry the both of you over it—too much weight."

"We'll just have to find another way around it, I suppose," Thumpback remarked.

Chihiro frowned, teleported onto the ground and slid her suspenders' straps back onto her shoulders. An alternate route, huh? Chihiro laid a hand on her elbow, and rubbed the other on her chin as she glazed over the area around her. Her eyes fell towards a small, unassuming hut off to the side with a sign beside it.

"Intriguing," Chihiro whispered. She teleported over and glazed over the sign and grinned. "Guys, I think I might've found our way through!" Chihiro tapped the sign as Swarm and Thumpback turned to her. "There's a shipmaster here! Maybe, if I challenge him and win, I can get him to ferry us through!"

Chihiro chuckled, snapped her suspenders, and strode off to the hut as she prepared to open the door. Just before she even grabbed the knob, heavy footsteps caught her attention instead!

"Actually, I have a better idea," Thumpback remarked as his eyes fell on an empty ship parked just aside from him. Thumpback smiled as he slung his anchor over his shoulder, dashed over to the ship and heaved up its chain. "If we don't have a bridge, I'll just make one!"

Thumpback grunted as he heaved the chain over his shoulder and trudged forward. Swarm flew behind him and grabbed on the chain as well! Their shared strength made the ship little more than a light piece of paper; it was unable to fight as the two of them heaved up the ship's chain and tossed it—and the ship—right through the gap! Of course, as they did, the ship's doors flung open and a bunch of seadogs flew onto the decks! Huh, guess it wasn't as abandoned as it looked.

Chihiro chuckled, and teleported a few paces before she finally arrived at the ship's deck! Thumpback and Swarm walked ahead, and the ship’s terrified crew members screamed as they ducked behind crates, barrels, and whatever they could from sheer awe—or maybe fear—of Thumpback and Swarm’s giant sizes!

Swarm paused as he caught sight of the quivering crew members, grinned and knelt down. "Heh, sorry for the little ride! We just need to borrow your ship for a moment," Swarm explained as he teased his antenna. "Hopefully you don't mind?"

"N, not at all, Mr Giant Bee!" quaked a seadog with knocking knees. "Just, please don't stomp us!"

"Or eat us!" cried the other terrified crew members.

Swarm sat up and shrugged as he flew off. Behind him, Chihiro just chuckled and skipped after him. She wasn't quite sure why they'd find Swarm that scary, but to be fair, having a gigantic bee and whale send your ship for a joyride wasn't something that happened every day, she supposed.

She waved to the terrified crew and hopped down off the ship, but the moment she did, the air chilled and everything around turned misty and ominous! Chihiro shuddered; she summoned a magic jacket and slid it over his shoulders as another breeze shook her down and reminded her of its chills. Right as she slipped the sleeve on, though, she frowned and dropped it. She didn't know why, but she was sure that she could hear shouting in the distance.

"Do you guys hear that?" Chihiro asked as she slipped her jacket on.

Swarm and Thumpback both perked their heads up, frowned and nodded.

"Kinda sounds to me like there's a fight going on," Chihiro remarked as she flipped her jacket's hood over her head. "We should probably lay low."

Chihiro slipped behind an abandoned stall, as did Swarm and Thumpback. While Chihiro could easily dive behind its stand, the two of them still stood out like sore thumbs as they knelt down! Chihiro winced, and crept behind a particularly tall stack of barrels with them close behind—but once again, Swarm and Thumpback's size betrayed them. They knocked over the stack with one little shrug! Chihiro winced as the barrels toppled over and burst, sighed and shook her head. Above her, Swarm chuckled and scratched his head.

"Sorry," Swarm whispered, "it's kinda hard to lay low when you're building-sized!"

"No kidding," Chihiro chuckled. "Maybe we'll have more luck hiding behind the actual buildings!"

Chihiro hopped into Swarm's hand, crawled up his arm, and onto his shoulder as he and Thumpback tip-toed behind the massive, abandoned buildings that lined the area much in the way buildings did on the streets back on Earth. Though the sights couldn't really be made out between the tall buildings and thick mist that lined the area, the shouts Chihiro heard before got much more audible! In fact, she was sure she could make them out!

"You can't keep us locked in here forever, you know!" cried that same familiar voice she heard on the walkie-talkie before as it paired with the sounds of rattling chains!

"Of course I can't!" cried another voice, one that sounded distinctly pirate-like in tone. "After all, ye'll need to work off yer debt!"

The voice from earlier growled, and the sound of rattling chains grew even more intense. "LET ME OUTTTTTTTT!"

Chihiro frowned, and teleported on top of Swarm's head just as they passed by the last of the buildings. The mist around her finally let up some with only thin trails dotting the area around, and she could finally catch a glimpse of what went on down below!

There, a seadog pirate cackled and leaned against a Skystones stand as they glared down a large, metal cage. Inside the cage were several beings kept trapped and angry! A few prisoners rattled and kicked the bars of their cage, but for the most part, they all just sat in utter defeat—all except for three ursine mabu around the front who bickered among each other with no mind taken to the pirates or prisoners around them! With those markings on their faces and the hats they wore, there no doubt about it. Those mabu were definitely Snuckles, Rizzo, and Nort!

"There they are!" Chihiro remarked as she whisked away her telescope. "I'm gonna check this out!"

"Wait, Chihiro!" Thumpback cried. "What happened to laying low?"

In a flash of light, Chihiro teleported back down onto Swarm's shoulder, slid down to his hand and hopped off! As she floated down onto the ground, Chihiro stormed right up to the pirate and shoved her face in his. Despite the odd look he gave her, she didn't relent in her fury!

"Hey, buddy!" Chihiro cried as she gestured to the cage. "What's the big deal here? Why d'you have these guys locked up?"

"Thank goodness, a friendly face for once! What a sight for sore eyes!" Rizzo cried. He pulled away from Snuckles and Nort, grinned as he sneaked his head through the bars, and waved. "You see, we've gotten ourselves into quite the pickle here!" Rizzo clenched his teeth as his eyes glazed over the rusted cage bars. "I knew the food here was just way too overpriced, but did Snuckles listen to me? Not a bit, even though I'm the captain!"

"Forget about that," Chihiro said as she pushed past the seadog and strode up to Rizzo with a brow raised. "What're you guys even doing here?"

The seadog cocked a brow, and chuckled as he leaned against his stand.

"Oh, it's the same old story," the seadog remarked as he spun around a cane. "These fine chaps here came to the carnival empty-handed and didn't even realize it! They've racked up quite the debt, so they'll just have to pay it the old fashioned way" — the seadog's eyes narrowed — "by working for us for the rest of their lives!"

"You cheated us, that's what you did!" cried an elf man who pounded on the cage. "You didn't even tell us that gold wasn't accepted here until after we played!"

"Yeah!" cried another elf woman. "I saw you change the price of those popcorn balls to five thousand chips when you thought nobody was looking!"

"You lied to me!" cried another person in the back. "You said that game was free to play!"

The seadog growled, slammed his cane against the side of the cage, and sent a massive ring through it! The prisoners immediately jumped from the bars and covered their ears, but the seadog only laughed.

"Ah, technicalities, technicalities~" the seadog sing-songed as he spun his cane around. "That's what you get for coming to our carnival!"

The seadog whistled to himself a little more, but Chihiro just gritted her teeth as her blood boiled and popped beneath her skin. She balled her hand into a fist, and she turned her attention back to Rizzo with a snarl.

"They speak the truth," Nort sighed as he walked up beside Rizzo and took off his cap. "We came here because we'd been hearing reports of a lot of disappearances in this area, and stumbled upon this carnival, literally! It just popped out of the ground right before us!" Nort chuckled as he rubbed his hat. "We'd been running around so much that we thought it'd be a good way to just kick back and relax!"

"But, the whole thing was a huge scam!" Snuckles cried as he jumped between Nort and Rizzo. "They roped us in with food and games, and before we knew it, we had the wool pulled over our eyes—"

"What he's saying is," Rizzo scoffed as he pushed Snuckles aside, "we found out that this was how they were roping beings in and trapping them here with extensive debt! We tried to stop 'em, but there were too many, so Blobbers stayed behind to handle things while we tried to get out and get help. But, they enticed Snuckles with hot dogs, and next thing we knew, they had us all surrounded!"

"The furball's got it all wrong!" the seadog cried from the back. "We knocked their buddy down the chute before we got the rest of 'em!"

Chihiro gritted her teeth as she glared down him down. The seadog forced a smile as her eyes pierced into his while sweat crept down his matted fur. How could he just sit there and smile, knowing he cheated so many beings into working for him? Chihiro snarled, stormed up to him and slammed her hand against a barrel, denting it as her hand flared with blue light. Chihiro just steeled her gaze further as the seadog yipped and jumped in the air.

"You're awful, you know! Tricking others into racking up debt just to make them do your dirty work, it's unforgivable!" Chihiro cried as she shoved her face in the shocked seadog's. "As portal master and guardian of all that is good, I won't stand for it!"

The seadog gasped and immediately backed away as his eyes grew small. "Wait, did, did you say portal master?" The seadog stammered. His eyes fluttered, and he immediately dashed towards a row of cells. "You're not getting towards the cap'n, no sirree! Not when I call in the guards, you won't!"

The seadog slammed down a large red button with his fist, and the gates ahead shut down immediately! Everyone gasped, but the seadog didn't relent—not just yet! His eyes turned to another flashing button as he reached out to press it, but before he could slam it down, Chihiro yanked him back by the wrist and squeezed it tight. His eyes turned tiny, and the sweat poured even faster than before as Chihiro glared him down.

"Alright, buddy, I'll give you till the count of ten to let these guys go," she hissed, her grip around his wrist turning even tighter as blue light flared in her eyes. "One, two, three…"

The seadog winced as he struggled in Chihiro's grip, and he yanked his head around. "System, activate!" he cried.

The button beeped and sank right into the wall with a flash, and a harsh, screeching noise ran through the carnival! Chihiro gasped as the sound rattled her eardrums, and the seadog slipped from her grip as she moved to cover her ears. Red light pouring down from all around her as the carnival stalls around her all sunk down and flipped into the ground!

The rocks below her knees rumbled and danced across the cold earth, almost as if a kind of quake shook it. Though her vision was fuzzy from all the shaking and screeching, and the way her head spun, she could barely make out some spots around her… Opening up? Yes, the ground started to split, and open pits of black formed slowly in the ground. Faint, low rumbles that were more like growls than shaking quakes echoed from within the deep pits. Chihiro screamed and rolled back as the pits opened up further, but before she could completely roll away, her back hit something cool, bumpy and wet!

"Chihiro, what's going on?" Swarm cried as he yanked Chihiro from the ground and nestled her in his palms. Both his eyes and Thumpback's beside him fixed on her. "The whole place just started shaking and screeching out of nowhere!"

Chihiro winced, then popped one ear open. "I don't know! I grabbed the guy, and he just shouted at the systems to activate and—"

"GRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Chihiro tumbled down in Swarm's grip, and yelped as a louder, harsher growl echoed from the pits below. It was one so loud that it sent Swarm and Thumpback stumbling over their own feet while it knocked the seadog and all the prisoners off theirs. As Chihiro pushed herself to her feet, a string of blurs hopped out from the grounds below!

The blurs crashed down on the ground and rattled everything around; they broke windows and completely leveled the few stands and banners that remained! Shattered glass and splintered wood fell by their feet as the blurs shook, and they unveiled themselves to be large, hulking furry seadogs dressed in torn and tattered pirate clothing! Their fur coats were tinged in sickly shades of green, blue, and tan, their blank eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and drool poured from their jaws in a torrent that streamed down onto the grounds like rain, washing away the wreckage!

Chihiro gasped and curled up further in Swarm's hand, but Swarm just smirked. He buzzed his wings together as he laid Chihiro behind a stack of splintered barrels.

"Alright, so you let the dogs out!" Swarm shouted as he cracked his knuckles. His antenna twitched as he stepped further. "A few mutts never scared me! In fact, I'll put your little doggies—"

SNAP! Out from the pits snapped out thick steel chains that wrapped right around Swarm and Thumpback's arms and legs, locking them right where they stood!

"In the doghouse?" Swarm gritted his teeth as he turned down to the chains that hugged his wrists and tugged at them, yet they barely budged. "Where'd these things come from?"

"Beats me," Thumpback added as he slid his hand down some, and yanked his anchor from his back, "but they won't be here for long!"

Thumpback grunted as he sawed the anchor's blade against the chains, but the chains pulled tighter and Thumpback fell off his balance! His anchor slipped from his grip and crashed onto the ground, kicking up dirt. Thumpback himself followed as he tripped over his own feet while the chains yanked him down to the ground.

A shadow cast over Chihiro, and as she peered up, she screamed and teleported away just before Thumpback could crush her underneath his weight! While the dust and dirt leaped up behind her, Chihiro flashed back into existence and winced as the world shook underneath her feet. She stumbled a bit, leaning against a barrel to regain her balance. Her gaze turned to where Swarm struggled to even stay on his knees, and she winced as she pushed herself from the barrel. She stumbled forward, and met with a cutlass right between her eyes!

Chihiro gulped and staggered backwards, her eyes now fixed on the seadog who now sneered. His mutated seadogs all sat behind him and snarled, their bloodshot eyes seemingly growing an even deeper red as they glanced down at Chihiro! The chills ran down her spine, and Chihiro gulped as her quivering back hit the rough, scratchy wood of the barrel. Her legs started to numb as cold wind slapped against her, and the sound of the growling mutant seadogs rang in her ears along with the sirens.

"Not so tough now, are ye laddie?" the seadog asked as he pushed his cutlass further with a sickening sneer on his face. His words fought to be heard over the roar of his growling army and the sirens that still blared alike, and yet they still twisted a knife through Chihiro's chest all the same. "What're ye gonna do now?"

Chihiro gulped as she leaned further against the barrel, those chills still running up her back while sweat crawled down from her face. Her vision blurred a bit as it jumped from that seadog, next to the mutant seadogs that dug their claws in the ground, prepared to strike… And then to the Skystones booth that rested before her, which was still shiny and pristine despite the world crashing and shifting around it!

"How, how about a bet?" Chihiro sputtered. The cutlass lowered from her path a little as the seadog raised a brow, and Chihiro forced a smile. "If I beat you at Skystones, you'll let everyone here go free and let us pass!"

The seadog winced a little, turning his view from the prisoners in the cage and then to the deck, but finally shrugged. "Well, I can't pass up a good bet," the seadog said as he took his place at the booth and set up his deck, "but I'm not letting me guard down!"

Chihiro gulped, and the sweating started to recede as she dove her hand into her pocket. "Neither will I!"

Chihiro snarled as she took her place at the deck, whipped her Skystones out of her pocket and spread them across their container. Her eyes occasionally drifted up to where the pirate sat, but the low growls that came from the mutant seadogs behind her fixed her attention firmly back on her Skystones. The seadog's low chuckles rumbled a bit above her, yet she squeezed her hands into fists and rested them on the deck's smooth crystalline surface.

"Why don't ye go first, laddie?"

Chihiro gulped and waved her fingers over the Skystones she set up: an inhuman shield, an enfuego chompy, the mohawk cyclops she snagged from the previous pirate, a chompy, and a spiderling. She wasn't sure what kind of arsenal this guy had up his sleeve, but hopefully these would be what she needed. She gulped, picked up the spiderling and pressed it on the center of the grid.

"I play my spiderling!" Chihiro cried as she drew back a bit and crossed her arms, hugging them tight to avoid any tells. "Your turn!"

The seadog sneered, grabbing a stone from his deck and spiking it up. "I play," the seadog said, licking his lips as he slammed the stone just above Chihiro's spiderling, "my blaze brewer!"

Flames crackled around the stone, and they popped as a holographic image of a blaze brewer leaped up from the stone! It cackled while it cast flames out from the gigantic flamethrower it hefted up. The fires burned and danced, lighting the sleek dark blue crystal of the board in a hot red as flames in the shape of an X burned all across the grid… Including where Chihiro's spiderling stone sat!

The flames roasted the card alive, and a faint, twisted screech intermingled with the scent of burning flesh as the card reduced to a charred version of itself. It completely shattered as the blaze brewer disappeared! The spiderling on its front disappeared, and it left behind only a broken stone to obscure the middle spot. Bright red Fire Element symbols glowed on the stones in the corners around it, tinting the area around them in faint reds and purples!

"Now that's the power of a blaze brewer!" The seadog grinned and slapped the booth, sending the stones shaking just a little. "With all these Fire Element spaces on the board, yer finished unless ye've got a Fire Element deck like mine!"

"We'll see about that!" Chihiro hissed.

Though, as she turned her eyes to her Skystones, she paused and bit her lip. She sounded confident enough, but looking over her deck, her enfuego chompy was the only one of the Fire Element! Something in her gut told her that anything that lacked a match to those glowing Fire Element symbols wouldn't befall a pretty fate. So she winced, spiked up her regular chompy, and placed it on one of the few squares free of Fire Element symbols.

"I play my chompy!" Chihiro cried. She lifted her fingers from the board, gritted her teeth and gasped as the seadog cackled!

"And I play me boom fiend!" the seadog cried as he slammed down another stone right above her chompy!

A boom fiend burst from the surface of the stone, and it cackled as it yanked a bag of bombs from out of nowhere. The bombs rolled over the battlefield and exploded with a single spill! Small bursts of fire lit the battlefield in a warm array as the boom fiend disappeared, but even the flames themselves quickly extinguished as Chihiro's chompy flipped over from blue to red!

With a gulp, Chihiro turned her attention back down to her remaining Skystones, yanked her enfuego chompy and spiked it up. "I play my enfuego chompy!" Chihiro cried as she dropped the stone on a corner with a Fire Element symbol burning bright on it.

A yowl burst from the stone as an enfuego chompy jumped up and sank its teeth into the blaze burner beside it, flipping the stone over to blue as the chompy disappeared, Chihiro paused and glazed over the battlefield. Two stones rested on her end of the battlefield, and two more laid in the pirate's grip; they were evenly matched, so she should have this in the bag!

"And I play me level three enfuego chompy's special move, Burning Ceremony!"

Chihiro gasped as another enfuego chompy Skystone, one with a shiny golden rim around the card's artwork, slammed down onto the field. From it leaped a trio of enfuego chompies who danced in a circle, and with every step they danced, flames burst around them and flipped the Skystones on the board to the striking crimson of the seadog's! The seadog's cackles rang in Chihiro's ears as the chompies disappeared from the board, and she bit her lip as a faint snarl came from behind her!

She turned around, immediately gulped, and turned away as the mutated seadogs snarled and breathed down her back. Their hot breath blast against her and raised chills, ironically enough, against her skin. Faint shouts and grunts came in the distance from what were surely the terrified and confused prisoners, or Swarm and Thumpback as they fought against their restraints, and everything clouded her head. Every time she tried to think of something, something distracted her, and the noise became a reminder of the tense situation at hand! Chihiro gulped and slammed a fist against the desk, rattling the Skystones as she snarled and turned down to her deck.

"Having a bit of trouble there, laddie?" the seadog teased.

Chihiro wanted to tell him to shut his trap, but the words just couldn't quite leave her mouth no matter how much she wanted to say them. She instead turned her eyes back down to her deck. She was down to two stones now, and neither of them were Fire Element-aligned! What was she going to do with a drow witch and a mohawk cyclops? Wait a second, the drow witch! Chihiro lifted it from the deck, and grinning as she turned the stone's cool body in her surface. That was right, it canceled out any passive effects, so surely she could use it for something like this!

Chihiro grinned as she picked up her spikes and went to spike it up, but paused. She only had enough spikes left for one more attack! If she played this one, she wouldn't have anything left, and then she'd really be screwed! Chihiro gulped. All the outside noise, the growling, the shouting, the grunting, the whistling of wind, and rattling of chains rang in her ears.

Her vision turned blurry and… Yellow? A soft golden light that was as warm as the sun brushed against her face, but not from the outside of the world, no. It came from her pocket! Chihiro warily laid the Skystone back on her deck, dug into her pocket and raised a brow.

The wheel she collected along with her deck laid still in her pocket. That soft golden light flashed and illuminated the rest of her pocket, showing a whole wealth of spikes that remained! Chihiro gasped, and smiled as she swept the spikes from her pocket and laid them on the desk.

"I'm not done yet, you know!" Chihiro cried as she spiked up her drow witch and slammed it against one of the few free spaces that remained. "I play my drow witch's special move, Blade Storm!"

A cackle rang though the air as a hologram of a drow witch leaped from the air and slashed around the board with its blades. It claimed the stones around the board by drenching them in Chihiro's blue, but more than that, it sent out a breeze that blew everything on the board away! The Fire Element spots flickered out until they were normal tiles again. Even the broken stone in the middle was completely blown over, and returned back to the field as a normal spiderling stone once more!

The seadog gasped, growled and gritted his teeth as he yanked out another stone. "Ye think yer so clever, eh? But what kind of Skystones player would I be if I didn't have a better strategy up me sleeve?" the seadog cried as he slammed his stone down. "I play me blaze brewer!"

Once again, a blaze brewer leaped from the stone and cast the battlefield in its fires—but just as it its flames formed their Xs, they quickly extinguished! Not a single Fire Element zone formed on the board, and it had no effect aside of collecting a stone or two!

"What?" the seadog cried as he tugged on his fur. "What happened?"

"That's the good thing about drow witches. They have a special little skill," Chihiro remarked as she picked up her mohawk cyclops and spiked it up. "They cancel out any passive effects, so your little fire zones are extinguished!" Chihiro chuckled and raised up her spiked stone. "Now, time to finish this!"

Chihiro slammed down the stone on a corner and smirked as it glowed. "I play my mohawk cyclops, special technique—Seeing Double!"

The stone glittered as a projection of a mohawk cyclops leaped from it and spun around, twirling across the stone like a dancefloor as it swung its ax. As it spun, the hologram on the stone duplicated, and an identical clone manifested as it slashed the stolen stones back into Chihiro's blue! With not a space to the seadog's name and the rest to Chihiro's, it was clear who the victor was here!

"That wasn't even a challenge!" Chihiro smirked as she whisked her stones back into her pocket with a snap of her fingers. "Now, about our bet?"

"This, this can't be! I lost at Skystones!" The pirate sputtered. His eyes drifted up and down, and his face seemed a bit more pale than before. "I, I feel dizzy…"

The pirate groaned as he fell unconscious. He slipped from his chair and hit the floor, and in that moment, the mutant seadogs finally lost their patience! They all snapped, falling on all fours as they howled and rushed off at such a speed that they knocked Chihiro right on the ground! Chihiro screamed as she hit the cold grass, grunted and brushed the dirt from her sleeves. She jumped up and whisked the stones and spikes back into her pocket.

"Just what do those things think they're doing?" Chihiro snapped as she turned back around. She followed the sound of pounding footsteps and howls, and they led right back to where Thumpback and Swarm still laid chained!

"Thumpback, Swarm!" Chihiro called.

The two of them both grunted, lifted their heads from where they attempted to saw the chains from their bodies, and they both scowled as the dogs came in! Swarm turned his attention back down to the chains. With a click of his cannons, gigantic stingers burst out and pierced right through the chains that wrapped around his legs! They snapped like twigs as their metal remains fell down to the ground. Swarm grunted as he stood to full height, and uprooted the chains around his arms with a single yank!

"'Bout time I caused a buzz!" Swarm cried as he jumped up and zipped right for one mutant seadog!

Swarm shouted out as he stabbed the seadog right in the gut. It screamed and winced as he flung it off to the side, only for another seadog to jump on his back and push him to the ground! Swarm gritted his teeth. His antenna rubbed together and sung with a frantic buzz as he rolled onto his back. He glared down the seadog and kneed it right in the gut. A pained whimper came from the seadog as Swarm kicked it right into another pair of mutant seadogs remaining. He leaped to his feet right as a whole pack of mutant seadogs jumped on him, burying him underneath their fur and torn clothes! Swarm's muffled screams echoed from the pile of fluff and teeth as his hands wrangled against them, but even those sunk in soon enough!

Thumpback gasped, snarled and clapped his hands together. The coral gauntlets that rested against his arms glowed with a blue tint as water burst from every little hole and cranny in them. The water soaked the chains that rested around his arms and legs until a thick layer of rust covered them! The chains rumbled and shuddered, barely able to stay around Thumpback as he trudged forward. With one last charge, they completely shattered and evaporated into dust! Thumpback leaped up and fell on his belly, slamming right into the seadogs. The seadogs and Swarm all flew into the skies and screamed as Thumpback slid past them…

And while the battle raged, Chihiro teleported back to the cage and dove behind the control panel.

"C'mon, there's gotta be something here that can unlock these cages and stuff," Chihiro grumbled as she pulled down a wooden panel. An entire mechanical panel of buttons, levers, and knobs shone in the light, and Chihiro grinned as she rubbed her hands. "Perfect!"

Chihiro grinned and pulled down a bright red lever that seemed like the trick, but all it did was cause a few soda stands to pop out of the ground! She cringed, summoned an umbrella as Thumpback smashed one stand with a seadog and sent soda raining down in a monsoon, and let her umbrella float above her as she turned back to the panel.

"Maybe this one, then?" Chihiro asked as she flicked a few switches, but that just sent sirens blaring everywhere! Chihiro screamed and covered her ears, as did everyone around her. She flicked the switches back up and sighed as the sirens went away, through the ringing in her ears still remained as she turned to the prisoners. "Would any of you happen to know what stops this thing?"

A round of shrugs met Chihiro's view. She groaned as she turned her attention back to the panel, and then, to the suspiciously large blue button that glowed as it rested in the panel's center! Chihiro paused as her finger hovered above it, and slammed it down with a shrug. A wave of blue light washed over the area around, and all the buildings and stands that disappeared cropped right back up!

The mutant seadogs all drew back and grunted as they wandered around and sniffed the buildings, but behind them, Swarm and Thumpback sneered and cracked their knuckles.

"Let's finish this, Thumper!" Swarm cried as his wings started to buzz.

"Gladly!" Thumpback shouted back.

A gigantic pillar of water erupted from Thumpback's blowhole and rained down on the streets below. Swarm slashed against it as it landed, casting out massive bursts of wind that kicked at the waters and sent them spinning, raging right through the streets!

The seadogs grunted, turned around right as the waves came in, and screamed as the waters crashed into them and washed them away! Their yelping grew fainter and fainter as the waves washed them into the distance, but Swarm and Thumpback just smiled and turned back right as the cage rescinded!

The prisoners all cheered and ran off, splashing the puddles left behind from Swarm and Thumpback's tsunami as they raced to escape. All but three of them, that is! Snuckles, Nort and Rizzo just stumbled out and adjusted their hats while the others ran off, and they all walked up to Chihiro.

"Thanks for that, portal master!" Rizzo chirped as he patted Chihiro on the shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we're gonna be on our way!" Rizzo turned around and adjusted his lapel. "The captain's manor is at the hill at the end of this carnival, and we've got a few things we'd like to tell him!"

"Then we'll join you guys!" Chihiro beamed back as she crossed her arms. "After all, you're not the only one who has a few choice words for that dude!"

Both Rizzo and Chihiro grinned, but soon gasped as Thumpback swept them, Snuckles, and Nort into his hand and laid them on his shoulder.

"In that case, hold on tight everyone!" Thumpback shouted as he yanked his anchor off the ground and squeezed its chain. His eyes turned to where the gates ahead rescinded into the ground, and a twisted frown crossed his face. "I'll have us there quicker than a flash flood!"

Chihiro smirked as she took a spot beside Rizzo, but right as Thumpback and Swarm strode ahead with them in tow, the doors of the houses ahead all slammed open! Out of the houses came an entire crowd of pirates. The pirates snarled as they whipped out their weapons, and Thumpback and Swarm just winced and drew back.

"Well, looks like we've got a fight on our hands!" Chihiro cried as she cracked her knuckles.

"Yeah!" Swarm and Thumpback cried.

The six of them screamed as they ran straight for the pirates, and the pirates straight for them…

§

Within a massive row of abandoned houses, there stood a simple, unassuming alleyway lined only by stained, sticky barrels, and decaying cardboard boxes. Not long ago, these old, dead articles were probably filled with all sorts of things. Now, though, they were completely empty and abandoned, only left to decay as they sat in the alleyways…

That is, until a trapdoor on the floor burst open and tossed them into the back!

"Geez, that was the worst maze I've ever had to run through," Eruptor moaned as he crawled out of the trapdoor and rubbed his head, "and I've been through a lot of awful mazes!"

"It's a miracle we even got out of there," Whirlwind remarked as she flew out of the trapdoor and pulled Blobbers up. "If I have to look at one more mirror, I think I'll scream!"

"At least we got out of there," Terrafin panted as he and Gill Grunt hopped out of the trapdoor.

The two of them heaved up the remaining prisoners with a grunt. Gill Grunt frowned and craned his head around as the trapdoor slammed down.

"Just where in this darn carnival did those ghosts send us? I thought we were going to Dreadbeard's manor!" Gill Grunt asked.

The dragon unrolled their map, rolled it back up and sighed. "Not sure," they replied, "I only had the underground mapped out."

Terrafin frowned, walked forwardm and shot a few wary glances at the walls as he disappeared further down the alleys…

"Actually, I think I found our answer!" Terrafin shouted!

The others all gasped and bolted down after him. In response, Terrafin only gestured across the grassy lawn that the alleyways lead out to! Just behind it, a large, white manor with sparkling gemstones roofs stood tall. Atop it, flags and banners bearing the face of a seadog pirate captain fluttered in the breeze! It hadn't seemed remarkable to most, but judging by the way Terrafin scowled and the prisoners panicked, it wasn't exactly a good sight!

"So they did take us Dreadbeard's manor!" Blobbers cried as he clung to a trembling captive. "I, I think we should get going now!"

"You guys can get moving, but we're staying here!" Terrafin remarked as he cracked his knuckles. The light shone against his pearly white fangs, and he looked a tad bit scarier than normal as he drew them aside. "I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!"

"But, but, he's really scary when he's angry! The other pirates said so!" Blobbers cried back.

Terrafin's scowl faded a bit and he just glanced back at Blobbers. "Listen, buddy, we've sent this guy running with his tail between his legs once, and we can do it again!" Terrafin smirked and knocked on his chest. "'Sides, I'm not just gonna sit around and let him keep doing this!"

"Terrafin's right!" Gill Grunt cried as he raised his cannon, and the harpoon loaded into it shimmered in the light. "If we just leave him be, he's only gonna rope even more beings into doing this! We have to stop him!"

SLAM!

All eyes turned up to the manor's balcony. There, the doors shot open and a seadog stumbled out—the very seadog whose face was plastered on every banner and flag hung from the manor before them! He groaned and rubbed his eyes as he stumbled out on the balcony, and his tongue clicked as he grabbed its rail.

"Now what's with all this racket here?" Dreadbeard groaned as he finished rubbing his eyes and glanced down the balcony. "I keep hearin' yapping and yapping outside me front door right in the middle of me afternoon nap! Who could it be at this…"

Dreadbeard blinked once, twice, and gasped and drew back from his railing.

"SKYLANDEES? IN ME CARNIVAL?" Dreadbeard cried as he reached for his pocket. "HOW'D YE GET IN HERE?" Dreadbeard blinked, stumbled back down to the railing and narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second, I know ye!" Dreadbeard snarled and pointed a twisted claw right at Terrafin. "YER THE SKYLANDEE THAT HELPED TAKE ME DOWN AT PLUNDER ISLAND!"

"You bet I am!" Terrafin cried as he stepped forward. "What do you think you're doing here? I thought you learned your lesson after we beat you back then!"

"Ye wish!" Dreadbeard slammed a fist on the rails, and it twitched as he slid it away. "Because of ye and that lass, I lost everything! Me crew, me riches, me base" — Dreadbeard's brows tensed — "I had to start from scratch because of you!"

Dreadbeard's snarl lingered for a few moments more, but then it turned to a smile as he drew back and held out his arms.

"But, I have to thank ye. Because of what ye did, I got the idea to start to carnival here and rope others into working for me for all eternity! Because of this little setup here, I've made more riches than I ever did looting and plundering, it's genius!"

"No thanks needed," Terrafin hissed.

Dreadbeard scoffed, and he yanked a bright, red button from his pocket. "And this time, I won't let ye Skylandees ruin it for me!" Dreadbeard cried as he slammed the button down. "GUARDS, DEAL WITH THESE PESTS!"

Right as Dreadbeard said this, the bottom doors to his manner flung open and out flew an entire platoon of burly pirate guards! They growled and snarled as they whipped out their weapons and flexed their muscles. Their beady eyes fixed on Eruptor, Terrafin, Whirlwind and Gill Grunt, but the four of them just snarled and stepped forward as the prisoners cowered behind them!

Gill Grunt scowled, leaped forward and cranked up his cannon. As he held it out and pulled the trigger, a massive burst of water shot from it while he spun around. All the pirates around were soaked to the bone! The pirates groaned and sputtered as they spat out water and wiped it from their fur, but Gill Grunt just drew to a stop and grinned as Whirlwind flew in front of him.

"And away you go!" Whirlwind cried as she flapped his wings in a fury.

Our from her wings' blows came rolling, gray stormclouds that drew towards the pirates like magnets, but the pirates themselves just blinked. They glanced over the stormclouds for moments, yet screamed as lightning burst from the clouds and shocked them down! Sparks flew from their fur as the stormclouds poofed out of existence, but they wouldn't get to rest just yet!

Eruptor grinned, and with a few clap of his hands, scorching lava leaped out and coated the ground ahead. The grass burned away, and the earth turned hot and hard as the lava crept towards the unsuspecting pirates, who didn't even notice until the lava hit their toes! They all screamed and leaped in the air as they blew off their toes, but grunted as Terrafin leaped in and punched them down. The pirates slammed into the walls and cracked their paint as Terrafin leaped down on the cooled lava, but Terrafin just grinned and rubbed his fist against his chest.

"Hey, I just got those walls painted!" Dreadbeard cried as he shook a fist at Terrafin.

Terrafin smirked and winked at Eruptor. "That combo never gets old," he remarked.

"Never does!" Eruptor chirped as he laid an arm around Terrafin's shoulders. The two of them shared a loving glance for a moment, but both their gazes turned cold as they glared down Dreadbeard… Though, they still sneaked in one little hand squeeze.

"You're beaten, Dreadbeard!" Terrafin cried as he glared up at Dreadbeard.

"Now knock this whole carnival off!" Eruptor cried.

Gill Grunt and Whirlwind both nodded in affirmation, yet Dreadbeard just cackled and clapped from the safety of his balcony!

"Well, I'll give ye points for beating those folks, I suppose," Dreadbeard smirked as he ran his paws against the balcony's railing, "but, we're just warming up!" Dreadbeard smirked as his eyes narrowed. "After all, what kind of a pirate captain would I be if I didn't have more guards?"

Dreadbeard slammed his button down once more, and in came more, bigger guards. They were so big, in fact, that they tore off the door with their very exit! Their fur, scales, skin, and more were in sickly shades of green and blue while their eyes were blank, and drool poured from mouths lined with sharp, jutted teeth in foamy waterfalls. They looked more like zombies in pirate clothing in anything, and the way they just absentmindedly stood and groaned only further solidified it!

"GUARDS, ATTACK!"

The guards hooted, hollered, and fell to all fours as they bolted forward! Terrafin, Gill Grunt, Eruptor, and Whirlwind immediately went to arms and prepared to attack, but, the guards just pushed them aside. Instead, the guards set their eyes right on the panicking prisoners as they tries to make their getaway!

"HELPPPPP!" Blobbers screamed as one of the snarling guards launched straight for him!

His eyes turned wide as the guard came in for the kill, teeth and fangs sharp, but Terrafin flung forward and punched it aside just before it could strike! Terrafin grunted and fell to the floor, yet just before he could gather himself, another pirate rammed into him and sent him tumbling across the floor!

Gill Grunt gasped and flew in front of the pirate, his crosshairs between his eyes, but another pirate just slashed through his jetpack's tanks! Gill Grunt gasped as he turned around, and screamed as he corkscrewed into a pole! Beside him, the guards tossed Whirlwind and Eruptor back as they flew in front of two other cowering prisoners. Whirlwind and Eruptor both grunted as they shot Gill Grunt a tired look.

With the four of them out of the picture, the guards all snarled as they turned their eyes on the prisoners. The prisoners only whimpered as they backed up further and further, but finally, their backs hit cold metal! They were completely surrounded with the guards at one end and nowhere else to run. Surely, they were doomed!

The dragon's scales turned cold, and they only gulped as their knees quivered. "We're doomed!" they cried as their knees knocked together. "There's no way we're getting out of this!"

"I knew this was a bad idea!" cried an elf as they grabbed onto the dragon!

The two of them both sobbed into each other's arms as they curled in a shuddering ball. Their faces buried in each other's shoulders while they rendered themselves undignified, blubbering messes, and Blobbers himself just trembled as his eyes fell on them. Around him, the other prisoners all wailed and whimpered. They cowered the best they could and lamenting to the skies, their wails ringing in his ears while he trembled further.

"This really was a bad idea!" Blobbers cried as he fell to his knees. "I really am a goner, and there was so much I wanted to do, to!" Blobbers trembled as he pulled up his hands and counted off his fingers. "I never got to travel the world, never got famous, never revolutionized the world of mathematics…" Blobbers' hands quivered, and he broke into sniffles as he buried his head in his hands. "And now it'll never happen! It's all over!"

The mutated guards whimpered and shielded their ears as Blobbers cried. Blobbers wailed, yet his eyes fell to where Terrafin, Eruptor, Gill Grunt and Whirlwind laid on the ground, all shuddering and trembling as they pushed themselves off the earth! The other monstrous guards wandered off and closed in on the four of them, and yet, the burning, fiery looks in their eyes didn't fade! They just stood their ground the best they could as they snarled and stood with all the power in their bodies!

Blobbers gasped at just the sight, and with one last sniffle, he wiped his tears. "Wait, what am I doing?" Blobbers exclaimed. "I can't just stand around here and cower! Not when I got this far!"

With a mighty scream, Blobbers bolted forward and pounded his fists on the knees of of one monster guard! The guard grunted as it turned down and glanced at him, and Blobbers relented as he snatched the cotton candy bombs from its belt!

"This is what you get for messing with a member of the Mabu Defense Force!" Blobbers cried as he lobbed the bombs right at the monster guards. "Eat cotton candy, suckers!"

Right as Blobbers shouted out, the bombs exploded and trapped the guards in front of him in a sticky mess of cotton candy! The guards all grunted and struggled, but once again, the candy kept them bound tight! Blobbers smirked and puffed out his chest as they writhed before him, and a soft chorus of gasps and whispers came behind as the other prisoners wiped their tears and came up to their feet. They gasped in wonder at first, but then the dragon yanked another string of cotton candy bombs from one of the prisoners and tossed them in the air!

"Skylanders, look out!" the dragon cried as they shot a mighty burst of fire out and singed the bombs' fuses!

Terrafin, Eruptor, Gill Grunt, and Whirlwind all jumped up and rolled away, and with good timing, too. The moment they made their escape, the bombs exploded and coated the monstrous guards that surrounded them in cotton candy! The guards grunted and snarled as they pushed against the sticky mess of sugar and glue, yet no matter how much they thrashed, the cotton candy sealed them inside!

Terrafin scoffed at the pirates while they moaned and groaned, side-stepped the sticky mess and grinned as he walked up to Blobbers. "You did good there, buddy," Terrafin remarked as he patted Blobbers on the shoulder.

Blobbers beamed right back and nodded, but a loud groan and the sound of a tight rip sent his fur on end! His eyes glazed back to the guards as they ate their way through the cotton candy and lurched ahead, and Blobbers screamed as he leaped in the air. He stumbled backwards, legs shaking so badly it was a miracle that he was even standing at all. Beside him, Terrafin just smirked and cracked his knuckles, and Blobbers just smiled and nodded.

"Now, let's say we send these pirates packing!" Terrafin cried.

"Gladly, Skylander!" Blobbers shouted as he grabbed a stick from the ground and brandished it like a sword. Blobbers swept the stick down and his eyes narrowed. "Everyone, time to fight for your—ACK!"

A mighty crash sounded off as twisted metal and wood scattered everywhere, and the resulting gust of wind was so strong that it knocked everyone alike onto the ground! The monstrous guards fell onto each other like dominoes, the Skylanders and prisoners alike collapsed in a heap, and even Dreadbeard stumbled as he stood atop his balcony! The only ones left standing, it seemed, were two large silhouettes that emerged from the massive cloud of dust spanning over where the crash originated…

"Hey guys!" cried a familiar voice. "Sorry we're late!"

All eyes turned to the front of the lawn, where the gates were completely torn down, and in their place stood none other than Thumpback and Swarm with Chihiro, Rizzo, Nort, and Snuckles riding on their shoulders! The six of them grinned as everyone gawked in their presence, and Chihiro slid down from Thumpback's shoulders as she waved.

"Man, what happened here?" Chihiro remarked. "Did you have a party without us?"

"Don't worry, Chi," Terrafin smirked as he pushed himself off the ground. "It wasn't really exciting."

Rizzo, Snuckles and Nort grunted as they slid down Thumpback. As they stretched and caught their breath, Rizzo turned to find himself right in Blobbers' face!

"Blobbers! Thank the Ancients you're alright!" Rizzo cried as he leaped up and planted his hands on Blobbers' shoulders. "I was so worried about you, you know!"

Blobbers snarled and slapped Rizzo's hands from his shoulders. "If you were so worried about me, why'd you leave me to get captured by the pirates while you ran off?"

Rizzo blinked and stepped back. "I, I wasn't leaving you for dead or anything!" Sweat crept down Rizzo's face, and he chuckled as he ruffled his wet fur. "It was just a diversion! I figured you could probably handle things while we—"

"Ran off and left me to do all the dirty work?"

"I'd never do that!" Rizzo huffed and crossed his arms.

"Really? Then what about that time with the blob monsters? And those rowdy chompies? And the garbage collection? You're always—"

A large thump tossed Rizzo and Blobbers into the air, and they both screamed as a monster guard came charging right for them! Rizzo yanked a pen out of his pocket, and with a single press of its top, it transformed into a pellet cannon that knocked the pirate on its back as they hit the ground. Blobbers rushed over, examined the guard’s toolbelt as it groaned, and hummed as he yanked a lollipop from one of its slots.

"A lollipop?" Blobbers remarked as he shook the lollipop back and forth. "What's this supposed to" — Blobbers grunted as the lollipop shimmered in his hand, and it expanded into a gigantic, lollipop-themed hammer — "do?"

Gripping the handle with both hands, Blobbers sputtered as the hammer's added weight sent him scuttling back and forth. Around him, the guards licked their lips and howled at the sight! Blobbers turned around and screamed as the pirates charged for him, but the hammer's weight sent him falling backwards. The hammer's top hit the unconscious guard right in the chest while Blobbers hung from its stick. Blobbers himself just grunted as he heaved the hammer up, and slammed it right on one guard’s head! Blobbers grinned and chuckled as he just barely lifted the hammer from the pirate's head, sweat still creeping down his face, but screamed and slammed the hammer's blunt end on the head of another guard as it jumped right for him!

Rizzo just chuckled and placed his pen aside as that guard fell unconscious, and the others jumped right for him. "Put your back into it, Blobbers!" Rizzo cried as he waved to Blobbers. "Your form's a little off!"

Blobbers snarled, tripped on his own two feet, and grunted as his hammer slammed into the gut of another pirate!

Rizzo sighed as the guard slid backwards, and crossed his arms. "Hold that thing upright, too! You're not gonna get anywhere just teetering around like that!"

Blobbers heaved heavy breaths as he held the hammer up, gritted his teeth and glared at Rizzo. "Well, if you know what you're doing, why don't you fight these guys? I can barely hold this thing!"

Rizzo hummed, scratched his chin, and shrugged. "It's your fight, buddy, not mine! I'm sure you can handle it!"

"Just like I could handle the bill? And being captured by those awful pirates?" Blobbers grunted and slammed the hammer into another guard, knocking it into its partner and tossing them both into the wreckage. "It was so cold and wet down there, you know! It was awful!"

"But you got out, didn't you?" Rizzo crossed his arms together and scoffed. "Now quit complaining and fight so we can get out of here!"

"Well, excuse me, captain, but I don't see you doing anything to help!"

A bright blue flash of light shone in the battlefield, and the faint shing of swords' blades sounded as the guards flew back and bounced against the dirt like balls! Blobbers grunted and dropped his hammer as he shielded his eyes from the light. As he finally popped them open, the sight of a gigantic magic cleaver greeted him, and underneath it was none other than Chihiro!

"Save the bickering for later, guys!" Chihiro cried as she grabbed the cleaver's handle tight, so tight that it dissolved into raw magic energy. "We've got pirates to" — Chihiro grunted, reshaped her cleaver into a hammer as she swung around, and knocked a guard right in the face with it — "fight!"

A few reluctant mumbles came from Rizzo and Blobbers as they picked up their weapons and jumped into the fray. Their own arguments were barely heard above the cries and shouts of war, but Chihiro paid them no mind. She had her own fight to attend to!

She grunted as she slammed right into one guard’s chest and knocked it on its back, slammed her hammer into the chest of another and kicked it back! A shadow crossed over her person, but she just flipped backwards, and knocked the hammer right into another guard’s face. She smirked and dropped back to the ground as the guard fell to its knees. The guard coughed and spat out rotted fangs as it crumpled behind her.

"Chi, duck!" cried a voice behind her.

Chihiro gasped and ducked. Right in that moment, Terrafin corkscrewed in front of her and punched down a guard in front of them both! Terrafin fell to the ground as the guard whimpered and scratched at its aching chest. Terrafin jumped back into the ground and tunneled through fast as he could, churning the earth and tripping the guard underneath their own feet!

Two of the prisoners smirked at each other while the pirates stumbled and struggled to stay afoot. One prisoner sneaked a roll of licorice ropes from the belt of an unconscious guard, and whipped them out! With a few twists and snaps, the licorice ropes flew out and swung around the uprooted guards, tying them together with a quick squeeze! The guards all jolted back to life as they nudged against the ropes, but both prisoners smirked as they gripped the ropes tight, and slammed the guards into the fence's remains! The two prisoners cheered and fist-bumped each other as the guards groaned and collapsed on the ground, but the roar of whipping winds brought their celebration to a quick close!

The two of them screamed and ran off as a giant tornado ripped through with a while pack of mutant guard trapped within its winds, snarling and howling as they scrambled for some faint means of escape! Who headed the charge? Whirlwind of course! She sat behind Nort and Snuckles, her horn glowing as she strained and sweated while she guided the tornado around the yard, and she picked up as many guards as she could! She bit her lip as sweat dripped down from her forehead; her eyes could barely stay open, fighting with all their willpower not to end the tornado and shut off!

"Skylander, the pit's ready!" cried two molekin prisoners to Whirlwind's side as they hopped out of a large ditch and waved. "Bring 'em in!"

Whirlwind gulped. Her horn glowed even more furiously as cold wind whipped around her and sent her feathers fluttering! The tornado charged right across the floor with a single pulse, its winds lashing at everyone and everything in its path as it hurried for the pit! It jumped into the endless pit, and its winds completely dispersed as it dropped the guards inside with a thunk! Whirlwind panted and hobbled over to the molekin prisoners as she wiped her sweat with her wings. Her eyes turned to where the guards howled and scrambled up the pit's walls, only to slide down the cool, smooth earth.

"I didn't think I could make a tornado that big," Whirlwind remarked as she sat down and folded her wings against her back. "I guess… Even I…" More sweat fell across Whirlwind's face, and she just sighed as she pressed her belly against the churned earth. "Oh geez, I need to lay down."

Whirlwind groaned as she rested her head underneath her wings, but right as she laid down, icy water splashed against her face and sent her screeching. She stumbled backwards as a wave washed right past her with Gill Grunt chasing after it. He fed it with his cannon as it charged right for a mutated sea sponge dressed in pirate garb!

The sponge grunted as the water poured right into it, and pulled it down to the ground from the added weight. It screamed as it slid across the battlegrounds, and it knocked a couple of other guards on its back—yet its speed didn't lessen any despite the additions! No, the sponge charged full force for a few of the prisoners, who only chuckled as they grabbed lollipop hammers from the ground and shook them to full stature!

"FORE!" the prisoners all cried as they swung their hammers right into the pirates!

The guards screamed as they soared through the air, and they slammed into the legs of two particularly burly monster guard! The monstrous guards snarled and gnashed their teeth as they knocked the smaller pirates into the earth, but the moment they did, Thumpback and Swarm immediately surrounded them. Before they could make a single move, the monsterous guards got conked right in the heads and collapsed to the floor!

With those pirates defeated, Dreadbeard was defenseless! All his guards laid strung across the ruined front lawn of his manor, unconscious and unable to move, much less fight. Surely, he was done for!

"You're finished, Dreadbeard!" Chihiro cried as she glared up at him. "It's time we shut down this place!"

Dreadbeard blinked, a bit bewildered by Chihiro's proclamation, but then, he just broke into cackles!

"Am I, really?" Dreadbeard asked. "Are ye sure about that?"

"Huh?"

Dreadbeard strode out from his balcony, and down through the open gap where the manor's door once was. Out before him came a Skystones booth, all sleek and shiny and new. Gold encrusted the crystal surface, cushions of red velvet rested on its seats, and even the desk stood encrusted with jewels of all kinds! Around it, an ominous ring held. It was not quite like a feeling, but more like… A beeping? A soft, beeping sound that echoed faint and hollow.

"Well, I suppose I am! I'll just have to pack things up," Dreadbeard sneered as he took a seat and patted a table, "but, before we part, how's about we play a little Skystones together as an act of goodwill?"

Chihiro blinked, frowned and stepped forward.

Just before she could take up his offer, Terrafin grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back. "I don't like the looks of this," Terrafin remarked before his frown deepened. "Is it just me, or do you all hear beeping?"

Beep, beep, beep…

Everyone around blinked and craned their heads around, and Dreadbeard only cackled and rubbed his head.

"Oh, dear me, that must be the bomb under the Skystones table! Seems I forgot to turn it off before I started!" Dreadbeard cried.

"THE WHAT?" everyone cried as all eyes turned to him.

Dreadbeard smirked as he laid his hands on the table. "This little bomb here will only defuse if ye best me at Skystones, but that's quite unlikely!" Dreadbeard's eyes narrowed. "And if ye try anything funny, it'll go off anyways!"

Gasps and insults cast under breath went all around as all eyes fell on Dreadbeard. For a moment, everyone paused, but then Chihiro stepped forward and pulled out her Skystones deck.

"Fine then!" Chihiro replied as she sat down and set up her deck. "I'll take you on!"

"Very well then, laddie!" Dreadbeard remarked, his mouth twisted into a sick grin as he drummed his fingers against the table. "Be warned, winning against me isn't an easy feat!"

"We'll see about that!" Chihiro hissed, her eyes piercing into Dreadbeard's own.

Dreadbeard chuckled as he waved his fingers over his deck, grabbed a stone from it and spiked it up.

"I play me amazibarrel!" Dreadbeard cried as he slammed a stone bearing a simple wooden barrel on its front. "Special technique, Deck O' Fun!"

A holographic barrel emerged from the stone's front and rested atop its cold surface, and Chihiro only frowned as she leaned in and raised a brow.

"So, is that supposed to do something, or what?" Chihiro asked.

"Just wait, laddie." Dreadbeard twiddled his thumbs and whistled as he leaned back in his seat.

Chihiro frowned and tilted her head as she examined the barrel further, but squeaked and leaned back as the barrel exploded into plumes of smoke that scattered around the desk! She hacked and covered her mouth as the smoke coated the battle and flew off. When she opened her eyes, she gasped. The explosion left elemental zones scattered around the desk! The corners all bore shiny element symbols on what was once a blank space, and the barrel itself remained no longer. All that rested in the center was a shattered stone!

"Alright, elemental zones! Nothing I can't handle!" Chihiro cried as she plucked a stone from her deck and spiked it up. "I play my drow witch!"

The drow witch fell on a square just underneath the shattered Skystone. In a flash of light, the drow witch popped out and cast out its fans, blowing strong winds against the board. But, the symbols just glowed and blew the drow witch’s winds back at it, leaving it to scream as the winds slammed into it and completely shattered it! Chihiro gasped as the light faded, but a chuckle from Dreadbeard steeled her shock.

"That's the fun part of this little barrel here! Nothing ye can do will stop it!" Dreadbeard smirked as he picked up another stone and twirled it around. "Anyways, I play me d. riveter!"

A Skystone of a troll bearing a rivet gun fell on one of the free squares of the battlefield, and Chihiro gritted as she slapped a square with an enfuego chompy on a Fire Element space underneath it.

"And I play my enfuego chompy!" Chihiro cried over the sound of crackling flames!

Dreadbeard scoffed and pulled out another stone as the chompies claimed the d. riveter for Chihiro. "A few meager chompies aren't gonna stop me, laddie!" Dreadbeard slammed another stone on the board, this time on a Life Element space at the top of the row. "I play me root runner!"

The root runner roared as it sprung from the fields and dug its roots through the row, flipping both the stones to Dreadbeard's red before it disappeared! Chihiro gulped as her eyes fell back on the field. Two broken stones rested amid three stones that shone in a bright crimson, and nothing was on her side! The tick of the bomb below rang in Chihiro's ears as she gulped and scanned her deck, but breathed a sigh of relief as her eyes fell on her mohawk cyclops.

"Phew, forgot I had that one!" Chihiro cried as she grabbed it and spiked it up. She dropped her mohawk cyclops Skystone on the righthand side of the board. "I play my mohawk cyclops!"

A giggle came from the cyclops as it leaped up and spun around. It tossed an ax across the battlefield that spun well past the broken Skystones, and into the crimson ones, flipping those crimson colors to her blue! A soft smirk crossed her face as the cyclops disappeared, and a low growl showed that Dreadbeard wasn't nearly as pleased.

"Four to zero, how about that?" Chihiro remarked as she leaned back in her chair.

"Don't think ye've won yet, laddie!" Dreadbeard cried as he slammed another stone down. "I play me Trog Wanderer!"

A green zombie-like creature arose from the stone Dreadbeard laid down. Chihiro gulped as it slammed into her mohawk cyclops, and it flipped the mohawk cyclops over to Dreadbeard's side! With three to two, she still held an advantage, but it was a close one, one that could easily be upset! She gulped as her eyes fell to her deck, where only a spiderling and an inhuman shield remained. What to do? Chihiro gulped, spiked up her inhuman shield and dropped it in the top of the row of broken Skystones.

"I play my inhuman shield! Special move: Head Bash!"

The inhuman shield groaned as it rose from the stone, and it charged into the two broken Skystones, tossing them back into their owners decks as if they were never used! The inhuman shield disappeared as the spaces cleared, and Dreadbeard only cackled.

"Ye played right into me hand, laddie!" Dreadbeard cried as he polished another Skystone and dropped in the center of the board. "I play me amazibarrel once more!"

Chihiro gasped as the amazibarrel popped up once more, but instead of exploding and disappearing, its spikes split off towards the corners and shattered the spaces within its range! The broken rock fragments rested in pieces over the board, a crushing show of the situation at hand. Chihiro and Dreadbeard were evenly matched; they both had equal stones to their name, and no opportunities seemed to arise! What was she going to do? Chihiro gulped as she leaned back and glazed over the board, but Dreadbeard only cackled, his laughter intermingling with the sound of the ticking bomb.

"Might as well forfeit now, laddie! It's not like there's anything ye can do!"

Chihiro gritted her teeth as the beeping screeched in her ears, yet gulped as her eyes fell back on the battlefield.

"There's gotta be something," Chihiro whispered as she glazed over the board, her stones, and then the board again. And then, she stopped. "Wait a second!" Chihiro's eyes narrowed on an open side of the amazibarrel card with not a single spike to its name. "That side doesn't have any spikes!"

"What?" Dreadbeard cried as his eyes fell down on the amazibarrel card. He gasped and stumbled back in his chair, nearly falling out. "How could I have forgotten?"

Chihiro chuckled, spiked up her spiderling and slammed it on the open square. "I play my spiderling card!"

The spiderling yowled as its effigy struck and took Dreadbeard's stone—and with it, his chances of winning! Chihiro won out the board, and the game as well! The bomb clunked as it defused and hit the floor, and cheers cried all around her as she leaped from her seat. While she jumped out and basked in the cheers, Dreadbeard slunk back in his seat.

"I, I can't believe it... I lost…" he sputtered as the bomb's ticking dulled to a stop.