Cole and I bolted up to the elevator and raced to the monastery courtyard where Master Wu was instructing Kai and Ray.

"Master Wu!" we cried in unison.

Master Wu let out an exasperated sigh. "You two again? What is it this time?"

"Nya and the other are back at the Island of the Keepers," Cole explained. "The Storm Amulet's at the Explorer's Club!"

"The Explorer's Club?" Master Wu reiterated. "How is that possible?"

Kai sheathed his katana, "Who would be foolish enough to do that?"

I raised my eyebrows, "I'll give ya three guesses and the first two don't count."

Master Wu suddenly turned serious. "Get Misako from the library. We have an amulet to retrieve."

With a grunt of effort, we bust through the doors of the Explorer's Club, guards up and ready for anything. The older-looking man standing behind the reception desk turned towards us, quite unamused. Something about him seemed familiar...

"Oh. Misako. You're alive. What a pleasant surprise," he deadpanned. "How may I help you?"

So that's why he looked familiar. It was the same guy who came to the monastery a while back to report Misako, Master Wu, and their team they were missing in the Storm Belt.

"We need to see Clutch Powers," Misako demanded.

"Certainly," Cecil drawled. "Your membership card?"

"You know full well you revoked it, Cecil," Misako snapped.

"Ah, yes. Terribly sorry," Cecil replied, though his tone was bored. "I shall immediately begin the years-long reactivation process. In the meantime, however, I'm afraid I must deny entry. This club is for members only."

Master Wu's fist slammed on the desk, knocking the phone sitting there off of it's hook. "This is an emergency! Clutch Powers is in possession of a dangerous artifact!"

"Sir, there are a good number of very dangerous artifacts in this establishment," Cecil responded as he set the phone back on it's hook, clearly annoyed. Our collection is filled with them."

"And you're okay with that?" Wu retorted.

Cecil, still as composed as ever, rebutted. "The members of the Explorer's Club laugh in the face of danger. Like so: 'Ha! Ha! Ha!' 'Ho, ho, ho!' is also accepted.

Misako sighed, "It's true, that was part of the test."

Obviously done with us, Cecil spoke up again, "Might I recommend that this charming conversation would be most comfortably continued outside?"

I slammed my fists on the desk in front of us, anger flashed in my eyes. "Listen here you overstuffed-"

Misako's hand landed on my shoulder, restraining me. "There is one way a non-members can be permitted." She paused for a moment, "A trial by Sphinx."

Cecil reeled back in surprise, a look of horror stricken across his face. "No one has invokes a Trail by Sphinx in decades! Not since that incident with Lord Belgrave." He shivered at the evidently unpleasant memory, "Whew, ghastly mess."

"What happened to Lord Belgrave?" Cole asked nervously, but his question hung in the air, unanswered.

Misako glared at Cecil, "Consider it invoked."

"Be the consequences on your own head," Cecil replied gravely. He reached under the desk and pressed a button. Immediately, the floor around us shook as a door opened in the ground. A cloud of dust billowed up from the opening, and as it cleared, we were faced with a giant stone statue of the Sphinx. It towered above us and three torches placed in front of us spontaneously burst into flames, followed by its eyes.

It's mouth dropped open and from it a voice proclaimed: "Who will answer my riddle?"

My own jaw went slack as I stared at the size of the thing. It was so massive, it encompassed the entire room. A slithering chill ran down my spine as I realized the weight of this trial.

"Disgraced former members may not participate," Cecil explained. "The rest of you have a combined total of three guesses. If you fail, the results will be... untidy."

"What is happening here?" Cole stammered.

I swallowed hard, my eyes still glued to the sphinx, "We're about to be asked a riddle by a giant stone sphinx which we will probably get wrong judging by the fact that combined, you and Kai share three braincells."

"Okay, that was a bit personal," Kai poked my shoulder hard. To which I responded by turning around and sticking my tongue out at him.

I swung back around and watched as Master Wu stepped forward to the sphinx. "Ask your riddle."

"Give me food and I will live. Give me water, and I will die. Who am I?" the sphinx rumbled.

Master Wu hesitated, unsure for once.

"Oh! I know!" Cole exclaimed excitedly next to me. "Cake!"

One of the torches in front of the sphinx extinguished and a blast of fire spewed from its mouth.

Master Wu turned on Cole, "Cake?"

Sheepishly, Cole answered, "Cake's usually the answer to everything."

I slapped Cole upside the head, albeit lightly, "Nice going, Cole."

He offered me a guilty smile, "Sorry."

Master Wu glared angrily at Cole, "Discipline is usually the answer to everything."

"Two guesses left," the sphinx spoke.

Master Wu once again shifted towards the sphinx, "Discipline!"

Once again, one of the torches went out and a fire ball flew from the sphinx's mouth.

"Wrong!" it cried. "One guess left."

I ran my hands down my face in frustration. "How on earth did discipline make sense?" I groaned.

I mulled the riddle over in my head again. Give me food and I live. Give me water and I die...

"Fire!" Kai's eyes lit up. "It's fire! You're fire!"

"Correct," the sphinx's voice reverberated. And just as suddenly as it had sprung forth from the floor, the sphinx dropped back down, the gap in the floor sealing up once again.

"Rather poor showing on the sphinx's part, eh?" Cecil huffed.

Misako smirked, spreading her arms out in a 'told you so' manner.

"You may pass," Cecil dismissed jadedly.

Without further question, we followed Misako as she bolted down the hall in search of Clutch Powers.

After checking a few rooms unsuccessfully, we bust open the door to a small lyceum wherein Clutch stood in front of a pulldown projector. A poorly drawn image bearing him crowned upon a throne with the ninja and the chief of the Keeper's surrounding it, bowing to him was projected on the screen. It appeared that he was recounting, rather dishonestly, the events on the Island of the Keeper's.

Clutch paled as we interrupted his presentation, slowly inching in front of a small podium next to him. "Oh, hey guys! I was just talking about you," he gushed nervously.

"Save it, Clutch," Cole snapped.

"Where's the amulet?' Kai demanded.

Clutch's eyes darted back and forth between us. Before the words left his mouth I knew he was lying. "Amulet? What amulet?"

A moment before it happened, I sensed it. A danger was lurking close by, but as I opened my mouth to alert the others, it was already too late.

The back wall of the room exploded in a cloud of smoke and Clutch, along with the three club members he was presenting to, were sent sprawling across the floor. As the dust settled, a humanoid-squid looking figure stepped forth, flanked by serpentine warriors.

"Give me the amulet or be destroyed!" the figure raged.

Clutch stumbled backwards, reaching for the Storm Amulet, which now so clearly was tossed on the floor.

"Y-you mean this amulet?" he asked before handing it to Wu. "It's all yours." With that he fled the room, screaming.

"Coward," I muttered.

"Oh, a shameful display!" one of the club member's exclaimed from where he was positioned behind an overturned couch.

"No backbone," another agreed.

"You can forget the Explorer of the Year award!" The third shot back. "Nomination revoked!"

"You! Old man!" the creature across the room spoke, singling out Master Wu while swinging his trident, which sparked an eerie, electrical red. "Bring me that." He gestured towards the amulet.

I unsheathed my katana, stancing up. Beside me, Kai and Cole braced themselves, weapons at the ready, as Master Wu answered the creature with defiance. "Come and get it."

The serpentine flung themselves at us without hesitation, flailing wildly. I blocked as many blows as I could before turning towards the leader, now properly pissed off.

"I don't know who you are, but you'll regret this," Master Wu declared, staring the half man-half squid down.

"I am King Kalmaar! I am your conqueror!" the creature declared.

I launched myself at Kalmaar, landing a solid kick to his middle and sending him backwards a few paces.

"Conquer that!" I spat in contempt.

Shrieking in rage, Kalmaar blasted at me and Master Wu from his trident. I received a blow to the waist and Master Wu barely dodged his own blasts, losing his grip on the amulet simultaneously.

"Your invasion will be short-lived!" Master Wu announced. "Once the rest of our friends arrive, our combined forces will-"

Master Wu launched another attack on Kalmaar mid-sentence in order to catch him off guard. Kalmaar rebounded his efforts, tossing Master Wu off of himself before shoving himself against Wu. There weapons clashed and Kalmaar spoke again.

"Your friend won't be coming back. I made certain of that."

His tentacle wrapped around Wu's staff and sent him flying across the room.

I let out a cry of defiance as I threw myself at Kalmaar again. He shoved me away and I guess I hit my head on a corner of one of the couches. My vison started to blur and the noise around me became muffled. Vaguely, I saw the outline of Kalmaar grab the amulet and turn to the serpentine before they melted away and my mind went numb.

Third person POV:

"Don't let them get away!" Wu ordered as he regained his footing, pointing towards Kalmaar and his serpentine warriors who were slithering from the room.

"I got it!" Kai cried, leaping out the hole in the wall of the Explorer's Club to the roof of the next building over, anticipating the Merlopians leaving the building.

As Wu, Ray, and Misako moved to file out through the building, Cole called after them.

"What about Celine?" he asked, distressed. The turquoise ninja lay limp against an overturned couch, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths.

"Leave her, she'll be fine," Master Wu instructed.

"But-?"

"No buts!" Wu snapped, and reluctantly, Cole followed the others out of the building after Kalmaar. But not without casting a forlorn glance at Celine's unconscious figure.