Harumi just finished packing her items for the quest. She agreed to come, mostly to make sure that they all come back in one piece but she still thought that it would be fun to join in. Zipping her medium-sized bag, she slung it over her shoulder and walked out of her room.

As soon as she did that, she was instantly met with the Ninja all running in different directions, trying to pack their 'essential' items for the trip. Though they weren't really essential, the luggage they brought was more like things to suffice their entertainment needs instead of their crucial needs.

Nya stood in between a doorway, asking, "Are you bringing sneakers or boots?"

"Sneakers." Zane answered, making Nya smile.

But then Kai zoomed past her, shouting, "Boots!" She frowned.

Kai smirked at her whilst running and almost ran into Lloyd, but both boys stopped in time. Lloyd then saw the book that Kai was holding, "Uh, hey, is that my Starfarer comic?" He asked.

"You lent it to me, remember?" Kai defended.

Lloyd flattened his brows, "Like a year ago."

"Ugh, take it." Kai shoved the Starfarer comic into his little brother's hand before leaving as Lloyd walked away, smiling.

Harumi chuckled at their little argument before finding Zane and Cole in the middle of the hallway. Zane queried, "You're not bringing that, are you?"

"My soda guzzler?" Cole touched the drinking contraption, "You bet!" He beamed.

Walking into the conversation, "Um, Cole, I thought we were supposed to pack essential items." Harumi deadpanned.

Cole's lips turned downwards, "This is essential! How am I supposed to quest and stay hydrated at the same time, Harumi?" He then walked away, slurping soda through his guzzler.

Zane and Harumi looked at each other and sighed in disappointment before they also left to do their own things, "Anyone have room for my travel pillow?" Jay asked, lifting it up in the air.

"No!" Everyone yelled out.

Jay frowned and held his travel pillow down. The chicken was beside him and placed its head through the pillow hole. Jay noticed and quickly pulled it out as the chicken pretended it never tried to steal his pillow.

Outside, Lloyd threw the last bag on top of the enormous pile of luggage and said, "That's the last of it!"

"I've only got this much." Harumi lifted up her only bag with both hands.

"What is the meaning of this?" Wu walked in.

"We're off on our quest, remember? To hone our ninja skills." Lloyd reminded him.

Leaning on his staff, Wu asked, "How long are you going for?"

"I dunno. Day or two?"

"Just like you always say," Cole proceeded to say an unfamiliar phrase, "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

Harumi and PIXAL gave confused looks while Wu said in a monotone voice, "I never said that."

"Ha! And you say we never listen!" Jay scoffed.

"I never said that either." Wu shook his head.

Harumi groaned, "Neither have any of you nor Master Wu ever said any of that."

Changing the subject, PIXAL said, "Master Wu, Harumi, perhaps this is an opportunity to field test the new joint tactical vehicles." She smiled.

Kai's eyes lit up, "Ooh! What new joint tacti-wha?" He started scratching his head in confusion.

PIXAL led them into the relaxation room, took out three ninja stars out of nowhere, and hit two of them on a target. The target moved aside, revealing a button, and she threw the last ninja star at it. The TV moved aside to reveal an elevator behind it.

They all got in and PIXAL scanned her hand and the elevator moved, lowering them down to who knows where. Whilst inside, Lloyd asked.

"Did anyone know this was here?"

"No." Cole answered, still in awe.

Kai groaned, "Ugh. Nobody tells me anything."

"We've been working on it for the past six months." PIXAL explained.

"I wasn't here at that time so-" Harumi quickly got cut off by Jay saying.

"I didn't even notice any construction!" He exclaimed.

PIXAL flattened her brow, "You were playing video games."

"Eh?" In Jay's eyes, a few months ago, back before Harumi came, Jay sat on the couch, playing video games while PIXAL worked on constructing their secret base behind the TV. Back into reality, Jay just realized all that, "Huh."

As soon as the elevator doors opened, everyone was in awe of their new secret base. They all ran out and started exploring the area, amazed.

"Wow! You should see that!" Jay grabbed Lloyd and shook him excitedly, "We have a secret base!"

"I can't believe it!" Zane gasped.

The place was filled with new vehicles, the Samurai X suit, and lots of other cool and interesting gadgets.

"What's that?" Nya pointed at the biggest vehicle in the room.

PIXAL walked up to the water girl, "It is a heavily armored, six-wheeled mobile command vehicle. I call it the Land Bounty ."

Cole instantly jumped on a black cycle, calling it dibs, "Dibs on the cycle!"

"Hmm..." Jay hummed, thinking about which one to take.

But before he could say anything, Kai jumped on the red vehicle, "I got the red one!"

"Awe." Jay whined.

Harumi sighed at the boys' childish behaviors and was about to throw her bag inside the Land Bounty but something caught her eye, "Oh! Huh, what's this, PIXAL?" She said, pointing at a decent-sized modern-looking green and gold vehicle.

PIXAL's eyes lit up as she ran up at Harumi, "This was meant to be a gift for your Welcome Back Party but I did not manage to finish it in time so... You could consider this as a late gift." She smiled.

"It's amazing, PIX!" Harumi jumped onto the seat and looked at the gadgets, "What do you call it?"

"I call it, the Jadesla. It is an electric, two-wheeled jade green-colored vehicle with fancy gold details on the side. Behind the seat, you can see a bunch of buttons to active weapons while you turn on the autopilot." PIXAL came up to the back of the vehicle and opened up a small compartment, "You can store your bag in here." She said as she helped Harumi place the bag inside before closing the hatch.

"Thank you! This is the second-best gift I've ever received. The first one being Lloyd's gift, of course, no offense." Harumi chuckled.

PIXAL shook her head with a small smile, "None taken. No worries, Rumi."

"You coming in, Rumi?" A new voice chimed in. It was Lloyd.

He approached Harumi as she stuttered, "Oh, uh. If it's okay with you, I'd like to test out the vehicle PIXAL made for me." She gave him the sweetest smile she could currently muster up.

Lloyd climbed up and sat beside her, "Heh. It suits you. Just be careful, okay?" Harumi could see the ever so slightly worry in his eyes, so she scoffed playfully.

"Please, Lloyd. When have I not been careful with what I do." She asked while smirking, knowing the answer to her question.

Lloyd waved his hands in a cross-motion, "Never, and I trust you so... Okay! Love you, Rumi!" He kissed her cheek and jumped off, walking into the Land Bounty.

"Love you too, Lloyd!" Harumi called out right before he entered the vehicle.

"Each vehicle is equipped with an operations manual." PIXAL held up a manual and added, "Please be sure to thoroughly read-"

Before she could even finish her sentence, three vehicles jumped out of the backdoor with Nya cheering. "Yeehaw!"

"Epic quest, here we come!" Jay shouted.

Harumi turned on the electric cycle and drove but stopped at the back door. PIXAL looked at the two, "Did they even bring the luggage?"

Harumi shook her head, "Better catch up to them. See you two soon!" She flipped her hood on and sped off on the cycle while she called out to Wu and PIXAL, "I'll try to make sure they come back alive!"

Catching up to the others, "Woohoohoo! This is awesome!" Cole yelled.

"I've got to admit, this is amazing! You guys are lucky to get to do this every so often." Harumi laughed as the cold air hit her face.

Kai just laughed at her, "Oh, you haven't even seen anything yet, Harumi!" He then told everyone, "Last one down the mountain is a rotten egg! Hahaha!"

They all drove down the mountain, laughing happily as they go on their playful race and another adventure after a very long rest. After a few hours, they finally made it to the desert.

Relaxing in his chair, Jay sighed, "Ah, yes. I miss this life. The open road, life on the go, adventure around every turn."

Nya shook her head at her Yin, "Whatcha reading, Zane?" She asked the nindroid.

"A travel book about the region we're entering. It is called the Desert of Doom. My data files are incomplete on this subject." Zane responded.

"Really? Why do they call it that?" Lloyd smiled in curiosity.

"According to ancient legend, local tribes once worshiped a giant thousand-year-old beetle, named Beohernie." Zane clarified.

Harumi's voice could be heard over the comms, "Oh, oh! I think I learned about this back when I was the Princess." She cleared her throat and continued, "What happened was that one day, for no apparent reason, Beohernie became displeased with their prayers, and destroyed their village."

"Really?" Lloyd gaped.

Nya frowned while still looking at the road, "I have so many questions about that. I don't know where to start."

"Well, we might not even have all the answers to that. The subject about Beohernie is, like Zane said, incomplete." Harumi smiled.

Jay turned around and faced the others in the Land Bounty, "Well, it's clearly a typo. Beohernie isn't even a name. They obviously named it Bernie."

While Lloyd and Zane looked at each other in confusion, Harumi said in a monotone voice, "What...?"

Thankfully, Cole changed the subject by pointing out, "Hey, guys? Anyone else starting to get hungry? Because I see a cool, little oasis coming up."

"Good idea. Lunch break, everyone." Lloyd ordered.

After they parked a few feet away from the body of water, Harumi asked, "You sure it's a good idea to park this far?"

"It'll be fine." Jay shrugged as he set down the picnic blanket on the sand.

"Yeah, Harumi, you gotta stop worrying so much." Cole chuckled.

"I'm just trying to make sure we'll make it out of this alive." She rolled her eyes.

"Of course, we will. We're ninja! But aside from that..." Jay swallowed a whole PB & J and sighed in content, "Oh, yeah. That hit the spot."

"This is fairly disappointing." Harumi muttered inaudibly.

Kai got up and pushed her down on the blanket beside Lloyd, "Chill out, girl. This is supposed to be a break."

"Yeah, but we're doing it in the middle of a desert we know nothing about-" Harumi quickly stopped herself when she thought she saw the cooler and basket move, "Did you guys see that?" She asked.

"See what?" Nya looked at the basket and cooler in confusion.

"The cooler- You know what, never mind. It was probably just a hallucination." Harumi shook it off.

Lloyd smiled at her and handed her a sandwich, which she gave an uncertain look at, "You're hungry. Sometimes, you just gotta treat yourself, you know? Come on, there's plenty of food for one more."

Harumi smiled back at her boyfriend and took the sandwich, taking a small bite out of it, "Fine. Just this once, I guess."

"Hmm. Listen to this. Another interesting anecdote. Travelers entering the Desert of Doom should be wary of encountering mirages." Zane warned them.

"Uh, mirages?" Jay raised a brow.

"You guys never went to school, huh?" Harumi giggled before explaining, "A mirage is an optical illusion that is often seen at sea or in the desert." Zane nodded at her, signaling that she was right.

"Cool! I want to see a mirage." Kai lit up.

"Uh, is there another PB & J?" Cole asked.

Nya pointed at the cooler with a soda in her hand, "Check the cooler!"

He did and just as he was about to check, both the cooler and the picnic basket sunk underneath the sand in less than a second, "Whoa! Did you guys see that?"

"I guess I wasn't hallucinating." Harumi shook her head.

Everyone got up into a stance, ready for what might come while Kai nodded, "I saw it. Unless it was a mirage?"

"Mirages do not eat coolers." Zane said before a giant creature came out from the ground, "Oh, no!"

"It's..." Nya trailed off.

"What? What is it?" Cole asked in panic.

"It's Bernie-" Harumi cut Jay off.

"It's Beohernie, Jay! Not Bernie!" She shouted.

Lloyd cut in between them, "Let's argue over this later! Run!"

They did and Jay complained, "Awe, why did we park so far away?"

"I told you we shouldn't have parked so far, but nobody listens!" Harumi hollered in annoyance.

Everyone got on their vehicles and Kai quickly drove away, but Cole tripped on a rock and his soda guzzler fell off, "Cole!" Jay shrieked.

Noticing his hat fell off, he looked back, "Uh-oh. My guzzler!"

"Leave it! It's not worth your life!" Harumi looked at him.

"Yeah, forget it! Run!" Lloyd agreed.

"Noo!" Cole cried out as he ran away while being chased by Beohernie.

Lloyd placed his hands over his mouth as if watching an intense movie in real life, "Don't look back, Cole! Trust me! Just run!"

Cole made it and jumped on his Rock Cycle just as Beohernie disappeared underneath the sand. Jay looked around, "Huh, where is it? Where did it go?"

Kai stopped driving and looked back at the others. Rumbling could be heard around them before something hit the back of the Land Bounty, "It's... under us! Get us out of here, Zane!" Lloyd screamed.

"Hold on, everyone!" Zane alerted them before hitting the gas pedal.

It did nothing and Lloyd said, "Give it more gas!"

"The engine is at maximum acceleration." Zane informed them.

Suddenly, the Land Bounty started getting pulled back by the giant beetle, "Hold on!"

"To what?!"

Nya hit the comms, "Ah. Uh, Cole. Rumi, Kai! We need help!"

"On my way!" Kai drove his vehicle, the Katana 4x4, and used a rock as a ramp as he knocked Beohernie onto its side. The Land Bounty got away but Beohernie started targeting Kai, "Haha... Oh, I think he's angry..."

"It's gonna charge. Get out of there!" Lloyd called out and watched as Kai got chased by Beohernie, "Hang on, Kai!"

"Man, this thing is fast!" Kai stated in the middle of the chase.

Harumi drove her vehicle up right beside Kai's and turned on autopilot, "I'm right behind you!" She turned around and clicked a button, "Take this, Beohernie!" A medium-sized cannon unraveled itself and was aimed at Beohernie.

"Bernie!" Jay cried out.

"Now's not the time Jay!" The cannon shot at Beohernie and left quite the explosion, leaving the giant beetle on its back. Harumi stopped her cycle and rubbed her head, "Okay, that was a harder hit than I intended but I guess it worked...?" It came out more like a question but then Beohernie got up, angry, "I stand corrected." She drove away but Beohernie was catching up to her, "Guys! I'm in need of some assistance!"

"Rumi! No! Cole, help her!" Lloyd commanded.

"I-I can't outrun this guy! He's too fast!" Harumi stuttered.

Kai looked at her, "That's exactly what I said!"

"Don't worry. I'll try distracting it." Cole jumped on top of Beohernie and kept repeating the same method to distract it, "Woohoohoohoo! Haha! Haha!" But the beetle eventually shook him off, "Woah! Whaa-oh."

"What kind of weapons do we have?" Nya asked but no one answered, "Didn't anyone read the manual?"

"Uh, I was gonna read it." Jay raised his hand awkwardly.

She groaned in annoyance and went outside, "Ugh, never mind." She climbed up on top and aimed a harpoon at Beohernie. "Ha-yah! Pull the brakes!" She shot it and caught Beohernie.

"Ha! You got him!" Jay cheered.

"Nice shot!" Lloyd rallied.

But then Beohernie started overpowering the Land Bounty's strength as Zane said, "I think he's... got... us."

Soon enough, a loud beep was heard, "The engine's overheating!"

"Lloyd!" Harumi cried out.

"We have a problem!" Nya exclaimed.

"We have to slow down!" Lloyd gestured.

Zane strained while trying to slow down the Land Bounty, "I'm... trying."

The engine was at the red zone so Lloyd went on top of the vehicle and used his sword to cut off the harpoon that was attached to the giant beetle. He came back down only to be met with Beohernie going underground again.

"What's he doing now?" Kai asked.

"What do we do?" Jay questioned.

"We need to get off the sand." Lloyd then spotted something in the distance, "Zane, what is that?"

"It is a cluster of rocks." The nindroid said.

"If we can make it to those rocks, we might have a chance." Lloyd slammed a fist into his other hand.

Harumi let out a breath, "We've got nothing to lose! Come on, guys!"

"It's worth a shot, if the engine holds out." Nya frowned and clicked on her earpiece, "Guys, there's some rocks due north. Head for those, okay? On three. One, two, three!" They all zoomed for the rocks at the same time and no sooner after they did, Beohernie comes out of the sand, "Here he comes!"

"Oh, he's chasing us!" Jay alerted his friends of the obvious.

"Punch it, Zane!" Lloyd shouted.

Just as they were about to reach the rocks, they disappeared.

"Huh?!"

"What the-?" Lloyd muttered.

"It's a mirage!"Zane's eyes widened.

"Now I've seen everything." Kai rubbed his eyes and corrected himself, "Or nothing."

"Over there!" Nya pointed to the left.

"Arc left!" Both Nya and Lloyd informed the others.

But again, those rocks also disappeared. "Another mirage?" Zane asked.

"Oh, man!" Nya sighed.

Turning right to avoid Beohernie, Lloyd points at another set of rocks. Jay then started to mutter.

"Please be real, please be real, please be real!" He prayed.

Beohernie caught something on the back of the Land Bounty and ripped it off, making everyone inside the Land Bounty scream. Kai, Cole, and Harumi look back in shock.

"Hold on!"

"Argh!"

Zane hit the gas pedal and went on maximum speed. A rock was used as a ramp as the Land Bounty landed on the real cluster of rocks. The Katana 4x4, Rock Cycle, and the Jadesla landed afterwards and crashed into the Land Bounty. Thankfully, Beohernie was nowhere in sight.

Everyone got out of their vehicles and stretched after the incident. Harumi got off her cycle and hugged Lloyd who had just jumped off the Land Bounty.

"Oh, thank the First Spinjitzu Master." He turned to everyone else, "Everyone okay?" He asked.

"As okay as anyone can be in a situation like this." Harumi nodded.

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"Extremely."

"This is the worst quest ever!" Jay whined.

Lloyd went to check what Beohernie ripped off but then heard a roar, "This is not good." He said as giant beetles circled them, "This is really, really not good."