Just on the outskirts of the village, the ground shuddered as Tree Rex, Eye-Brawl, Thumpback, and Swarm trekked up the path, but the ground wasn't the only thing shaking! On Chihiro's back, the cage where she kept Whirlwind, Cynder, Terrafin, and Eruptor rattled and trembled as they bounced within.

"Calm down!" Chihiro spat as she turned around and straightened out the cage. "You're just staying here until we can get out back to normal!" Chihiro scoffed as the four of them barked back at her, and sighed as she heaved the backpack a little further up on her back. "I'm not exactly happy with their either, you know, but we're just gonna have to deal with this until we can get you fixed."

If we can get you fixed, Chihiro thought as she trudged back up the path. She sighed again, and paused as she ruffled a hand through her hair. I sure hope we can find that Chompy Mage again soon.

"Say, Seraphina," Tree Rex asked as he knelt down to Seraphina's height, though he still towered over her quite a bit. "Where exactly is this Lower Facadeville place, to begin with?"

Seraphina chuckled as she skipped forward.

"It's right up this path!" Seraphina proclaimed with a finger pointed ahead. "Just keep walking!"

They all continued their trek up the path, and Chihiro groaned as the cage started to rumble once again. The noise grated on her ears like nails on a chalkboard, and she needed a distraction before it drove her bonkers! She skipped up to Seraphina and gripped the cage's straps tight.

"Say, Seraphina," Chihiro remarked as she kicked a pebble ahead, "just who created you wilikin anyways?"

"Oh, the creator?" Seraphina replied. She chuckled, and twiddled her thumbs as her head swayed from side to side. "I did not know the creator. I was created after he left us here."

"So he doesn't live with you guys or anything?"

Seraphina shook her head. "The creator made the first wilikin long, long, time ago. They used to play with him and be his friends, but creator's family did not like them very much." Seraphina sighed and shook her head. "So, creator left wilikin at this abandoned island and never came back. The wilikin made more wilikin, and now we all live here!"

"Geez, that sounds awful!" Chihiro remarked.

"It's not bad! Wilikin have lots of fun living here and playing together!" Seraphina skipped forward and twirled around, but her spinning came to a stop as she sighed and sat down. "At least, we did until Chompy Mage came here."

Ah, the Chompy Mage again. Speaking of that guy, Chihiro couldn't help but wonder if they inched any closer to where he was based, but she asked that question like five times since the journey began, so she just sighed and clutched the cage backpack's straps. Beside her, her eyes fell on the rich grass beside…

Though, a closer look showed that stalks or sprouts manifested among the grass! Chihiro blinked and crept closer to the sprouts, just to get a better look. Right as she did, the sprouts shuddered and disappeared back into the ground! Chihiro frowned and raised a brow as she stood back to full height, but the rattling and shuddering of the cage behind her pulled her away from her thoughts!

"Alright, alright, I'll get going!" Chihiro said as she patted the cage. With a sigh, Chihiro turned back to the path ahead, but not before giving the odd patch where the stalks once rested a raised brow.

Ahead of her, Ermit, Seraphina, and the Elder Elementals congregated at a particularly tough-looking wall. There, Tree Rex and Thumpback grunted as they pushed a large, dark blue and yellow bomb towards the wall while its fuse simmered away. At least, Chihiro thought it was a fuse. She couldn't see one anywhere, but she could hear the sizzling sounds, so it had to have one, right?

"I'm telling you, this is a bad idea!" Ermit cried as the bomb inched closer and closer to the wall. "Bombs don't just pop out of nowhere!" Ermit gestured towards the bomb and scoffed. "Besides, I didn't exactly see a fuse on that thing!"

Cynder growled and snapped at Ermit from the cage's limits, and Ermit winced and jumped backwards right as the bomb exploded! Bits of brick and wood flew everywhere as the flames burned, and the way ahead was perfectly clear. Despite Tree Rex and Thumpback's relief as they wiped their foreheads, Ermit just frowned as he glared down the path ahead.

"Something up, Ermit?" Chihiro asked as she clutched her backpack straps.

"Yeah, actually!" Ermit pointed ahead and twitched his nose. "Why's that bomb still here if it exploded?"

All eyes fell on the way ahead. Sure enough, the bomb laid firm and with a scratch, as if it never exploded in the first place! More than that, it shook and shuddered as tiny nubs formed on its sides. Those nubs twitched and wiggled as the bomb continued to shake, and they stretched out as they formed into arms, legs, eyes…

Wait a second! The bomb leaped up, and it revealed that it wasn't a bomb, but a gigantic chompy with an uncanny resemblance to one! The chompy slammed its stubby feet into the ground, and it roared with all its might.

"A chompy boomblossom?" Ermit cried as he stumbled backwards and nearly fell over his own feet. "But those only live in the Cloudbreak Islands!"

"Try telling that to him!" Chihiro cried as she jabbed a finger back at the boomblossom.

The boomblossom roared, and red light flashed against its skin as it leaped right towards everyone! The sizzling sound from before rang again as it soared through the air, all while the flashing red lights on its body pulsed brighter and brighter, like a heartbeat. It was almost as if…

"It's gonna blow!" Swarm cried.

Tree Rex gasped, and he immediately charged forward as he gripped the sides of the boomblossom! The boomblossom grunted while its eyes stood straight and tall, and in its moment of shock, Tree Rex spun around and tossed it right in the air. He held his massive hands over his head as the boomblossom exploded and sent sparks raining down. He lifted his head and grinned as the sparks faded out just before they could hit the ground.

"That was close," Tree Rex remarked as he wiped his hands. He smiled as he rested his hands back at his side, but his smile turned to a frown as he glanced back at the road ahead. "But, for that matter, just what was it doing here?"

"Do you think that Chompy Mage guy set it up?" Swarm asked as his wings flitted with anxiety. "Did he know we were coming?"

"Well, you heard what those creepy wooden dolls said," Ermit remarked, oblivious to how Chihiro covered Seraphina's ears and glared him down. "That guy knew whatever they had up their sleeves! I wouldn't be surprised if he had eyes everywhere."

Growling and screeching echoed from the ground around, and eyestalks sprouted from the ground right in the places where all those shoots stood just moments prior! Crap, Chihiro thought there was something suspicious about those things!

Ermit gasped, immediately turned around and scrambled right behind Tree Rex's leg. "And it looks like he brought us some company, too!"

The eyestalks twitched and shuddered, and from the ground leaped none other than chompies! Chompies in all shapes and colors sprouted from the ground at all angles, and they all leaped right for Chihiro and the others with a collective growl. Their pearly whites shone in the sun as they yanked their jaws open and shut, fully ready to feast!

Chihiro snarled and flung out her hands. "Oh no you don't!" Chihiro cried as cyan light flared from her palms. "Shields, activate!"

Right as the chompies came within inches of eating them alive, a massive shield bubble formed around Chihiro and her team! The chompies all slammed into the shield face-first, and grunted as they slid down. Their drool streaked across the shield's exterior as they popped off and flopped on the ground. They all grunted as they lifted their heads and caught glimpses of Chihiro, who strode up from within the bubble's safety and smirked.

"Sorry, buddies!" Chihiro remarked as she snapped her fingers. "We're not becoming plant food today!"

With that single snap, the shields exploded into bright puffs of cyan magic, swirled around Chihiro and hovered above her head in a bubbling mass. Like clay, it shuddered and shifted as if it was shaped by invisible hands, and finally it took some kind of solid form and shuddered with light. A bright burst of light popped out from it, and it crashed down on the ground as a functional steamroller!

"TIME TO DO SOME GARDENING!"

The steamroller revved like a race car as it leaped up. It zoomed forth and spun all around the circle of chompies with such speed that it kicked up a massive ring of dust, one that clouded the entire area from view! From within the ring's safety, everyone coughed and covered their noses while the dust choked them out—even Cynder, Whirlwind, Eruptor, and Terrafin covered their faces and shut their watery eyes. While they couldn't see the steamroller's effects, the wails and cries of pain made it clear just what happened!

The dust cleared with one last skid, and revealed that the chompies were completely flattened. They clung so tightly to the ground that they could barely be discerned from the rest of the earth! The chompies moaned and whimpered as they eyes drifted open and shut, and green blood poured from their gaping mouths while their tongues lolled over. With one last closing of their eyes, they expired.

Whirlwind whimpered from within the cage as the chompies' remains sank into the ground before her. Beside her, Cynder just groaned and crossed her leafy arms. Whirlwind snapped and growled at Cynder while she gestured back towards the ground, but a chill hit the air and both of them shuddered as they examined the circle!

Chihiro shook, and rubbed her hands against her arms as she curled in on herself. "Is it just me," Chihiro remarked as she lifted her head, "or did it get really cold here all of a sudden?"

"It's not just you!" Eye shuddered, and behind him, Brawl pointed towards the chompy ring. "Look!"

All eyes turned back to the chompy ring. Soft chatters and cackles echoed around the skies, or maybe that was just the wind? Well, actually, it definitely wasn’t the wind, for shortly afterwards, ghastly blue chompy ghosts leaped out from where the chompies' remains decayed! The chompy ghosts giggled and cheered as they danced on their own graves. With a snarl, they all licked their lips and turned their beady eyes on Chihiro!

"Oh geez, these guys just don't give up!" Chihiro cried as she crafted a sword in her palm. "Any more chompies wanna show up while we're here?"

The ground rumbled around her, and Chihiro squeaked as she fell to her knees! Behind her, Eruptor, Terrafin, Cynder, and Whirlwind all squealed and bounced in their cage, and Chihiro just grunted as yanked them to her front.

"Geez, what's going on with you?" Chihiro cried over the quaking, rumbling earth.

They only pointed to the horizon overhead. There, several large orbs rolled down from the hills and leaped off! They were so big that they blocked out the sun as they soared along the sky, and when they crashed, the entire world bent itself in their presence. Grass split in half, and all those around fell to their knees! The orbs shuddered in response to the sudden burst of attention, rocked back and forth, and finally, they came to a sharp stop. They burst open to reveal they weren't orbs, but gigantic chompies!

"I just had to ask, didn't I?" Chihiro moaned. She grunted as she pinched the bridge of her nose, blinked and lifted her head as Tree Rex stepped in front of her.

"We'll take care of the big guys!" Tree Rex cried as he cracked his wooden knuckles. "Just get to safety!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Ermit cried as he yanked up Seraphina and rushed off. "Come on kid, we're not sticking around here!"

Chihiro snarled as her eyes fell on the ghostly chompies. Around her came a rumble, but not from them, by any means! Rather, the cage on her back shuddered, and its lid burst open as out in front of her flew Eruptor, Terrafin, Cynder and Whirlwind! Chihiro gasped and stepped back for a moment, but when they all looked back at her and grinned, she just nodded and clutched her sword tighter.

Eruptor was the first to leap into the fray as he jumped around, hacked, and coughed, but nothing seemed to come! He paused and blinked as the ghostly chompies all laughed at him, slapped his leafy hands together and attempted to cast out lava, but that didn't work either. The chompies around held their bellies as they pointed and laughed even more furiously. Eruptor seethed and gritted his teeth! Eruptor yowled out and pounded his feet against the ground while he spat out all kind of angry gibberish, and in that moment, lava burst out from his veins and splattered everywhere!

The ghost chompies all screamed as the lava waves washed over them, but they just phased through the lava like it was nothing at all. Both sides blinked as the lava cooled around them. The ghost chompies giggled and leaped right for Eruptor, who screamed and dashed off just in time. The chompies only crashed into solid rock!

They jumped back up right in time for Terrafin to try punching them—except for one tiny problem: he had no fists! His leafy arms curled up and down as a chompy headbutted him, kicking him back! Terrafin bounced backwards like a rubber ball and squeaked the whole way, sat up and snarled as he leaped forward. He tried to attack them back, but his attempt at headbutting just phased right through them! Terrafin only plopped down onto the cooled volcanic rock.

A swinging blade twirled through the air, and phased right through the chompies as it landed back in Chihiro's hand. Chihiro winced as she gripped the blade tight. The chompies' bodies warbled and shuddered in front of her, yet they were perfectly fine aside of that, and even those wounds healed quickly!

"Geez, everything we do passes right through these guys!" Chihiro cried as she squeezed her blade so tightly that it exploded into sparks. "What'll it take to knock 'em out?"

Cynder hopped in front of Chihiro, snarled and bounced up and down. As she did, purple, smoky ghosts giggled and rose out from the earth, and all of them swirled around Cynder with eager, eager looks on their faces. Cynder simply pointed at the ghostly chompies, and her own ghosts were immediately on the case! They all tackled into the chompies, and with them both being ghosts, this time it worked! The ghost chompies squealed as they flew in the air, but a bright light forced them to shield their eyes.

Above them, Whirlwind flew so high she covered the sky—but with her tiny wings, it was more like she hovered at just the right angle. Her tiny horn emitted with bright rainbow light. Rainbows screeched through the air with a single shot of it, and they blasted the chompies into nothingness!

Chihiro gasped, but grinned as she examined the glowing sparkles that laid down at her feet. She took one last glance at the rainbows that still hovered in their air, waved her hands and levitated the sparkles off the ground. As the sparkles swirled around her and bounced with glee, Chihiro snapped her fingers and consolidated them into a screeching laser cannon!

"Help, they're after me!" Ermit cried from behind as several ghostly chompies chased him and Seraphina! Ermit was in a frenzy as he ran as fast as he could, screeching as the chompies bit at his heels. Seraphina, however, giggled with glee and waved at the chompies as if they played a game of tag!

"WHERE'S A WEED WHACKER WHEN YOU NEED ONE?"

"Seems like he could use some help!" Chihiro remarked as she clutched her newborn laser cannon with a smirk. "I've got just the thing!"

Chihiro grinned and skidded backwards. A massive trine of lasers swirled and spun across the skies before they zipped right through the chompies! Smoke wafted off their ghastly forms as holes formed in their bodies. The chompies looked down, blinked, and groaned as they toppled over and dissolved into smoke.

"Alright!" Chihiro cried as she pumped a fist—but before she could cheer further, the ground shuddered and she fell to her knees! The laser cannon she held collapsed to the ground and exploded in moments, but she only looked up and gasped.

Tree Rex charged forward above her, and he locked in combat with a chompy about as big as he was! The two of them pushed against each other, so evenly-matched that they could only grunt and push forward, but finally Tree Rex let go of the chompy and stumbled backwards! The chompy growled and immediately stormed towards him. Tree Rex charged forward, and slammed his arm right into its gut! The chompy hacked and coughed as Tree Rex dug his arm further into its gut, and with a single swing, he tossed it right into the ground! The chompy slammed down and fissured the ground with a single smash; though it itself fell unconscious, the quake it caused was alive plenty! The cracks in the ground spread across, and it rumbled as it buckled and shifted underneath everyone's weight.

"That's not good," Tree Rex remarked as the rumbling grew even more intense!

He took a step backwards, and an entire garden of chompy pods sprung out from the largest spaces in the cracks! The chompy pods trembled, and their petals peeled open as out from their hearts came an entire rain of chompy eggs. The eggs soon burst open as they sent a massive tsunami of chompies flying towards Tree Rex! Tree Rex stood in wide-eyed awe as the chompies came raining down—

SPLASH!

—but a massive burst of water washed the chompies away! While their squeals rang in the distance, Thumpback raced forward and fell to his knees, breath heavy and sweat creeping down his face. Tree Rex knelt beside him and gently rubbed his shoulder, but Thumpback only looked up and grinned.

"I'm, I'm alright," Thumpback said, though the heavy panting said otherwise. "Haven't done a wave like that in a while—AUGH!"

A gigantic, icy blue chompy slammed into Thumpback, and it knocked him forward! The chompy pods squashed down underneath Thumpback's weight, but Thumpback just pushed himself up and snarled as the chompy licked its lips. Surely it planned to take a bite out of him, so Thumpback leaped forward and bit into its shoulder instead! Thumpback shook the squealing chompy back and forth for a few moments, and spat it right into a nearby wall. While the chompy popped off and fell on its face, Thumpback just sputtered and picked the ice chips out of his teeth.

"Chompies taste awful," Thumpback remarked. "Too much water."

Thumpback grunted as something back into him and nearly knocked him off his feet, and the sound of buzzing rang in his ears!

"Sorry about that, big blue!" Swarm cried as he cocked his arm barbs and glared down the trio of gigantic green chompies before him. "These guys gave me the run-around!" Swarm smirked, zipped forward and thrust out his palms. "Time to go to plan BEE!"

The buzzing around him grew more intense right as Swarm spoke, and out from underneath him came a massive swarm of huge bees. The bees buzzed with rage as they turned their stingers towards the oncoming chompies, who just blinked and squealed! Two of the chompies immediately fled, but not before the bees repeatedly jabbed them and swelled up their bodies. The chompies squealed as they flailed their stubby arms, ran off the side of the island and fell into the abyss.

Swarm smirked and laid his hands on his hips, his eyes closed and pleased. "Buzzin, right?" Swarm remarked. "That should take care of those guys" — Swarm popped an eye open as a shadow crept over him — "huh?"

Swarm forgot one! The last of the chompies jumped over him, and it bit right into his shoulder with a nasty crunch and a vicious squeal. Swarm screamed as he flailed his captured arm in some futile attempt to free himself; he jabbed his free arm right into the chompy's side and blasted it away! Both Swarm and the chompy groaned and stumbled about, disoriented from the sudden freedom, and they both collapsed! The chompy's eyes closed as its tongue flopped out of its mouth, and Swarm groaned as he collapsed on his belly. His eyes flickered open and shut while he panted, and he tried to push himself up, but his arms trembled and collapsed in an instant!

Both Eye and Brawl gasped. Eye yanked himself off of Brawl and cast a glance back!

"You go get to Swarm!" Brawl signed before he nudged his shoulder towards the giant enfuego chompies that stared them down. "I'll take care of these guys!"

Eye nodded, zipped over to Swarm's side, and gently propped up Swarm's head.

"Swarm!" Chihiro cried as she teleported beside Swarm and examined his bleeding wound. "What happened?"

"I, I don't know," Swarm groaned as he struggled to lift his head. "That chompy bit me, and now I just feel so, so tired…"

Swarm indicated the chompy corpse beside him with a trembling hand. As he groaned and collapsed, Chihiro rushed over to the corpse! She levitated up to its teeth and frowned as she glazed them over. They were mostly pearly white like any other chompy's teeth, but were also stained with the crimson of blood, and some kind of purple substance, like…

"Poison!" Chihiro cried.

Tree Rex gasped Behind her, as did everyone else around! He immediately dashed to Swarm's side, heaved Swarm only his shoulder and winced.

"Chompy poison's no laughing matter!" Tree Rex cried as he cradled Swarm in his arms. "We need to get him healed, quick!"

"Just leave it to me!" Chihiro cried as she flew up and held out her hands. "I'll get a healing spell working!"

Chihiro's hands pulsed with cyan light for moments, but the soft rumbles and growls that came from the battlefield below drew away her attention! She glanced down while the blood bubbled and broiled, and gasped as it swirled into an army of giant, sticky chompies! The chompies growled as they charged straight for Swarm, Tree Rex and Chihiro—but Thumpback jumped in front and swung them away with his anchor before they could strike!

Thumpback snarled and wrung the anchor's chain as the chompies collapsed and burst, yet instead of turning back to liquid, they just split into even more chompies! Thumpback screamed as he leaped forward and slashed through their ranks with his anchor, yet every time he did, they just split into more. Brawl joined in as he stomped away the chompies, but Eye wasn't as quick! He just peered over the horizon, gasped and zipped back down.

"We've got trouble!" Eye cried as he jabbed his wing back to the horizon. "Chompies at two o'clock!"

The ground shuddered as shadows blocked out the sun. All eyes turned back to the horizons, where gigantic chompies loomed over them with an army of even smaller chompies behind them! They were surrounded, and the chompies flanked them on every end!

"Now what are we going to do?" Chihiro cried as she swept up the Skylanders in her arms. "We're surrounded!"

"Not yet, friend!" Seraphina cried from where she sat in Ermit's grip. She hopped out of Ermit's arms, tugged on Chihiro's sleeve and dashed to the rock wall beside them. "There's a secret way here!" Seraphina gently knocked on the wall, waved back and grinned. "Just stand here!"

Everyone exchanged worried glances, but with the oncoming storm of chompies and the ground quaking underneath them, they had no choice! They all rushed to where Seraphina stood as the ground's rumbling grew even more intense, and the floor shattered underneath them! They all screamed as they went crashing down below, while the shine of light above masked from their sight as the ground above closed itself back up.