The Dervishes had always had reason to fear Katmandu. He was a fierce guardian of their enemy who was none other than the peace-preaching Charlie Llama. And it was because of him that they knew a certain amount of damage would come about to their team. But their residing in the dark arts, so opposite of the Zen Mysticism that was practiced in the Crystal Palace, had led to many advantages for them—many which Katmandu's trained calm was tested by.

Nano had sensed these ethereal, dark entities through the electromagnetic waves and low frequencies he received since the day he began trekking up the winding mountain paths in search of the Dalai Lama's hideout. These mystic assassins were neither heat nor cold; neither living nor dead. Merely cursed souls that fed on the fears of life forms made of flesh and blood. And while never knowing the true nature of fear, the robot was not a stranger to loss and sadness. He could easily recognise the pain lingering behind the tiger's eyes.

That was when Nano came to realise that he had not stumbled upon the monastery by chance. Perhaps this was a test; a way to earn the guardian's trust and guidance. This offer of friendship sworn in the name of immortal enemies could be the key to finding what he was looking for.

"You are not able to comprehend what treasures of the soul I protect!" Katmandu roared, as he caught hold of one of the whirling assassins' blades with his claws. The tiger's four arms worked masterfully alongside one another for both blocking his enemies' attacks as well as retaliating with his own.

Before the Dervishes could guess what was coming, the mighty Beast of Kathmandu flung one of the assassins off like an ant. He raked his sword across the blades of the remaining Dervishes and planted a strong kick to the one on the left, knocking him away. The other stumbled back without the opposing force.

"You protect nothing but a hollow shell!" the remaining Dervish retorted in Tibetan. "We know that you have no Turtles to assist you like last time."

He then summoned the winds around them, forcing Katmandu to rock back and forth uneasily while attempting to tear the tiger's massive body apart.

Katmandu blindly stabbed his weapons through the torrents, hoping to either land his mark or block the advancing assassin's attack against him.

While he was incapacitated, two of the then freed Dervishes raced into the Crystal Palace before coming to a stop while nearly halfway in. They looked around, utterly confused by its quiet openness.

"The new Llama is not here!" shouted one of the Dervishes.

The other one was more observant. Glancing about the surroundings, he began to notice some strange, golden mass taking over and absorbing objects and materials around the monastery.

"What is that?" he demanded, drawing his weapon alongside the other Dervish.

"It is a trap!" they cried out before slashing their weapons against the suddenly metallic palace. They tore into the building as fast as they could only to find that it was not breakable by their man-made weapons and it blocked them from the outside winds their whirling magic relied upon.

From the outside, it looked as though a shimmering cloak had been thrown over the rundown Crystal Palace. The nanites brimmed over and spread throughout the holy ground outside the monastery, sneaking their way beneath the tiger's feet before crawling up his legs and arms to reach the weapons of the Whirling Dervishes.

"By the gods?" Katmandu questioned before looking down, his eyes widened in shock. Some mass of golden creatures were crawling up him, causing his face to pale in terror.

What sort of negative karma could lead to this fate? It felt as though thousands upon thousands of spiders were crawling up his body. Was this more magic by the Dervishes? Or was he truly suffering from the fates?!

Oddly enough, the creatures did not harm him and instead, crawled from his feet to his arms and weapons where they then consumed the metal of the Whirling Dervishes' weapons like locust consuming a field. Katmandu was shocked beyond response, as were the Dervishes who were so intimidated by the event that they dropped their spell over the winds and backed away.

"The Buddhist's magic is a kind I have not seen before!" one Dervish determined before looking to his leader.

He was more concerned with the fact that the same force had surrounded the monastery and closed off the other members of their group. He narrowed his eyes and summoned the winds beneath his feet again.

"The reincarnation of the Charlie Llama is not here. We leave. I know where he must be."

Without another word, the Dervishes took off into the air and disappeared within their cyclonic forms across the channel from the Crystal Palace.

"No!" Katmandu roared as he attempted to move, only to stop in superstitious fear of the surrounding creatures. "Black magic, be off of me! Those Dervishes are heading to Kathmandu to murder the Charlie Llama! I cannot stand here because of you or any other mortal threats!"

The nanites retreated to their robot form before releasing a wave of electromagnetic pulse throughout. Despite his already weakened state, it seemed like the only effective defense in getting rid of supernatural entities that might still be lurking within the sacred monastery. Nano dropped to his knees. His optics had begun to flicker as he cast a forlorn gaze at the tiger and said, "Your world, and my world are in great danger. Must find...Shangri-La."

Then the lights of the robot's eyes went out completely, his once golden, metallic form was now a lifeless pile of scrap metal prostrating after the four-armed tiger.

"You have earned my trust," Katmandu said gently as he bent over to scoop up the contraption with his lower arms.

"Unfortunately, we cannot stay in the sanctuary of the Crystal Palace, Gelug-pa. The reincarnation of my dearest friend is in danger. I know where he resides in Kathmandu and before anything else, I must protect him," he continued to explain while clutching the unconscious, and newly nicknamed robot closer to him.

Katmandu smiled.

"I also believe that he could help you find the Shangri-La you are looking for!"


A/N: Gelug-pa is known as the Yellow Hat sect, a school of Buddhism founded by a Tibetan religious leader. I guess Katmandu thought it was an appropriate nickname for Nano since he was so yellow and shiny. XD