Stump Smash recognised the name: Squidbeard. A pirate, of course, but this was as far as his memory served him. He wondered quite when such a name might have come up, for he hadn't served in a considerable number of pirate-related adventures. And this led him down to the ominous conclusion that he must be one of the most feared, otherwise why would the name be so familiar? And his reputation proceeded him as he carved his cutlass through the air, only to clash with Chill's precision. It was like watching two artists trying to outcompete each other, but with quite the nasty twist. But there was little opening for Stump to engage in the battle as well. He tried, of course, to assist but to no avail.

Foam from the rough waves splashed through the air, illuminating their weapons in sparkle; but the battle continued. What puzzled Stump was that no other pirate goons were making any attempt to help. Was he alone or- Of course; they were here for Thumpback. He scanned the sea and, indeed, there it was. A small-scale fishing boat, quite uninteresting, was sailing towards the coast, pursued by a great ship designed for holding hundreds of dastardly pirates and their plundered treasure. This was a distraction. Thus, Stump yelled to Chill, "It's a distraction!" and he waved his hammer towards Thumpback's boat. Chill growled, pushing the villain away from her with her shield. A frosty block of ice summoned itself around Squidbeard and he was, at once, incapacitated. "Why didn't you do that to start with?" Joked Stump.

"The thrill of the chase, of course," returned Chill, half-playfully. She then turned to Squidbeard, who was furious. "Talk," she commanded.

His fury quickly turned into quite the sinister expression. It was, indeed, quite the combination: he was angry, only naturally, but also humoured by the question and, perhaps, by the answer he was going to give. "Oh, y'know, we're just paying an old friend a visit," he answered. Chill and Stump looked at one another and then to Thumpback's boat. The giant was visible by this point, attempting to fend off hordes of pirates coming from the ship. This observation was coupled with Squidbeard smashing himself free from his prison. He dove into the sea at once.

"We must go after him," Chill said, a great narwhal poking its head up from the water. Stump nodded, knowing precisely the atypical method by which Chill was planning they make their move. She jumped aboard the narwhal and, like a bull in a China shop, Stump also found his way aboard. And then, with quite a considerable amount of speed, the narwhal shot towards the boats. They swerved out of the way as Thumpback flung several brawlruses back into the sea, but eventually they met him beside his boat.

"Welcome to the battle, friends!" Thumpback greeted as he chomped on a squiddler, tossing his weapon into the sea.

"Is Dreadbeard afoot?" Chill asked, yelling through the sounds of battle. Thumpback shook his head.

"Think we've got him locked up," he said, "though I've seen a few other familiar faces." He snarled as he shook off the bitter taste of a grinnade. So, did Squidbeard have something to do with Dreadbeard? Stump pondered before returning to the heat of battle.

"We'll board their ship, you defend down here," Stump strategized. Thumpback nodded and Chill quickly commanded her narwal to leap aboard. For the mighty creature, it seemed inconsequential. Stump and Chill jumped off, allowing the narwal to return to the ocean. It was clear at once that this was no ordinary raid.

"Rustbeard," Chill said, looking to another pirate, who seemed somehow more sinister than Squidbeard, who stood to his left. Rustbeard was undeniably robotic (and rotten, for that matter) to the core. He, too, had heard this name before and knew at once something serious was going on.

"Skylanders, I salute you," he said, his voice manufactured by a radio centred within him somewhere or other. His mouth did not move. He looked decrepit, but so would you if you were a robot who spent a life at sea. but his left eye twitched and moved to get a clear view of the Skylanders. His right eye, as tradition would indicate, was shielded by a metallic patch. Stump wondered whether he was designed this way or whether wear and tear had broken him to this way. Nuts and bolts stuck out of his body at every joint, his limbs leading to a might left hand that could crush a skull and the mandatory hook, a lengthy silver thing that could poke out both eyes in one swoop. His biggest disadvantage, perhaps, was the peg that replaced his right leg, a spider-like contraption that Stump likened to Dr Krankcase. His left leg, meanwhile, was bulky and Stump had no doubt that many landlubbers like himself had fallen prey to. There was no mistaking that this fiend was prepared for battle. He spoke again, his right eye flashing red, "Your trespass will be ignored provided you leave us now to our – bzzzt – business."

"And what business is that?" Stump intruded, maintaining a defensive stance. The robo-pirate turned around and looked to Thumpback's boat, allowing his coal-black cape to inflate.

"Your right to that information is terminated... just as your friend shall soon be," he replied, clicking his fingers. Chill and Stump observed as Thumpback began to show signs of tiring; an army of twenty squidface brutes leaped from the boat to make short work of the whale. Stump immediately jumped from the boat to assist Thumpback, leaving Chill alone with the two Pirate legends. Rustbeard turned around to face Chill. "It's been a long time, Glacial Guardian."

Chill looked upon the two with rage. It had been a long time. "Is this revenge?"

"There is nothing a pirate loves more than vengeance," Rustbeard declared, "it defines us." Chill thought to herself of how wonderful it would have been to have one of the Trap Masters' glorious traptanium traps right about now, but decided that she could best them without.

"When was it we last fought?" She asked Rustbeard as the two began circling each other.

"How could you forget; we have fought but once," he said, "it was after ol' Dreadbeard's defeat. Pirate Cove: 'The Last Skirmish'."

"And yet here you are," Chill complained, "Cloudcracker not good enough for you?"

"Precisely, my dear Chill," the robot replied, "and nor was Dreadbeard. If his plans could be bested by the Skylanders twice, he was no captain of mine."

"You forget yourself, Rusty," Chill laughed, still circling the deck, "you have lost to the Skylanders twice also."

"This is true, also," he agreed, "so I fail my Captain either way; to work with Dreadbeard comes with a calculated risk that I avoid evermore. Yet, here you are regardless."

"Here I am," Chill repeated, throwing a blade towards the pirate but missing. Rustbeard replied by attempting to hook her legs, which she barely avoided. The battle then continued. Squidbeard chuckled before marching down to deal with Thumpback himself. By this point, Stump Smash and Thumpback had managed to just about round up and defeat the squidface brutes, but the pirates just kept coming.

"On your left, chum!" Thumpback yelled to Stump Smash as a flamethrower pirate made a jab at the ent with a wall of fire. His punishment was to be lobbed off the side of the boat where his heavy equipment weighed him to its bottom. They wouldn't be seeing him again.

"There's too many of them," Stump shouted as he pounded his hammer on some grinnades, "we need a new strategy!"

"A new strat? Ey, boy, I think I've got one," Thumpback said as he jumped into the sea, leaving Stump Smash to fend off the increasing number of deadly pirates. A moment later, Thumpback returned, holding the ship's anchor in hand. With Stump still upon it, Thumpback used the anchor's chain to spin the boat into a spiral of momentum. Stump was not best pleased about being spun, but he made do. Moments later the boat smashed into the pirate ship's hull, pieces of wood flying off in every direction. Water immediately began flooding in.

"OY!" Shouted Squidbeard as he grabbed Thumpback by the leg, "Say goodnight, brother!" Thumpback simply stared to Stump Smash with melancholy eyes; he was certain that his time was up. But right at that moment, a staff – crafted from the bones of sugarbats and screechers – was thrust violently onto the great squid's head and he fell, face first, into the ocean. Hovering proudly with her staff in hand was Luna, who said nothing and left, much to the astonishment of both Stump and Thumpback.

The invasion of water into the pirate ship meant that pirates were fleeing for land, all except for Rustbeard, still intensely focused on his battle with Chill. "Give up now, Chill; just like you gave up on the Snow Queen!" he yelled, shredding his hook through the deck as he missed Chill. She sent ice across the floor at once.

"You'll regret saying that," was her simple response. She kicked the robot in the chest, sending him slipping backwards.

"ENOUGH!" he screamed, returning to his feet. "Your day of reckoning is coming, Chill," as he launched his hook upon her like a brawl & chain. It was not attached to anything, however. Instead, it revealed a device hidden beneath the terrible silver hook: a propellor. He began to fly upwards.

"IS A CAPTAIN NOT SUPPOSED TO GO DOWN WITH THEIR SHIP?" Chill yelled as he escaped. She made attempts to bring him down, but they came to nothing.

He replied with a cryptic response, "Are Skylandersnot supposed to protect Skylands?"