'kay, people, time to head to the Xiaolin Mountains! Here we go!


Chapter 28: Bumi's Strength

Chun-Nan; mountain range in China

The blue night sky was looming over as Sector V walked through a small village in China, known as Chun-Nan. "Tell me why we had to come ALL the way to China all of a sudden?" Wally complained.

"Because the Interesting Twins and Morgan have to find some magical yo-yo on those mountains." Abby replied, disbelieved in her own words.

"Ooh, Chun-Nan is so pretty!" Kuki exclaimed. "I can't believe the Interesting Twins used to live here!"

"Bleah." Wally stuck his tongue out. "How long are those guys going to be? And what's so special about some dumb yo-yo?"

"Who knows. But looking back at Rachel's staff, it might be pretty important." Abby said.

Xiaolin Mountains

The Interesting Twins, Morgan, and Mika Corella were standing at the foot of the mountains, gazing at their incredible, expansive height. "So, this is where you guys were born?" Mika asked the Twins.

"Yes." Yang replied.

"Or at least in the small village." Yin followed.

"But we have never heard of anyone named Hannibal Roy Bean." Yang finished.

"Evil origins have to come from somewhere." Morgan noted.

"Well, let's see if this yo-yo really can take us to Yin-Yang World." Mika said.

"I wonder, you think Mewtwo's got the right idea, sending us to talk to some EVIL spirit?" Morgan asked.

"He's always had the right idea before." Mika assured. "I say just go with it."

"Okay… let's go." (Play "The Hard Rocks" Theme from Rayman 1!)

Stage 26: Xiaolin Mountains

Mission: Find the Yin Yo-yo!

Act 1

The two psychics and the Interesting Twins began their trek up the mountain, starting up a snaky path and avoiding large rocks that bounced down. They reached a wall with many platforms leading upward, the four jumping up while avoiding rocks bouncing down. At the top of the ledge, they found a Stoneman forging rocks and throwing them. Mika used Psycho Shock to stun it and throw it over the edge.

The four continued up another curvy path to a needle-like mountain, walking the spiral slope around it. They reached a chasm between them and another mountain, seeing a zip line and grabbing it to slide to a platform in the middle. The ledge was still too far to reach, but they saw other lower platforms, the benders using their psychic to make them rise, using them to hop across.

They continued along a small path downward, reaching a wider path with more Stonemen. The Stonemen rolled exploding rocks at them, but Mika caught and threw them back with psychic. They crossed the path and got to another mountain, going down a hill before reaching a small hole in the wall. The Interesting Twins turned into rats while the psychics made their selves smaller, walking through the small tunnel to a cliff on the other end.

There, they found a flat rock platform, the four hopping on with the psychics lifting it to float them between some spike walls. They jumped off at a jagged rock wall and decided to climb out at the top of another cliff where they re-expanded. That's when little Stonekids leapt out and tried rolling at them, but Morgan swat them away with her lightsaber. The rest of the Stonekids were beaten by two other Stonekids, who were the Interesting Twins in disguise.

They walked up a hill, looking down the other side, which was littered with spikes. The ground quaked just then and the four looked back at a bigger, red stone monster, called Mr. Stone. Mr. Stone rolled a bigger boulder to them which they hopped on and started bouncing down the spiky mountain side. They kept their balance as it started rolling, downhill at first before shooting uphill, rolling over the edge and to the sky. The psychicbenders immediately levitated their selves, each holding onto a Twin. (Play the "Twilight Gulch" Theme from Rayman 1.)

Act 2

The four hovered a good distance over the mountain, but it was hard to focus. From this high up, they had a terrific view of the vast, peaceful mountains. The stars were lovelier than they've ever been, and simply staring at the mountains filled their minds with wonder. The psychics were hardly focused on flying, and were more entranced by the beauty of these mountains. However, they were still flying, and they weren't sure why. Maybe the sense of wonder they felt from this view was all it took to keep their minds high. Mika was feeling this wonder the strongest. She's hardly been anywhere, besides New Island and her hometown. If these mountains, with these stars, could look as beautiful as they are… what would other places look like? All she knew, was by staring at these mountains, her mind was aloft in imagination.

Their peace was disturbed when Stonemen hauled rocks at them from below, the Twins kicking them back. Some Stonekids were thrown up to them as well, but the psychics easily cut them with their lightsabers. The four of them soon found a snaky dragon slide and landed on, slowly going down and around before landing back on a path.

There, more stone children leapt out and tried jumping at them, Morgan grabbing and punching some while the Twins kicked them away. They went over to two walls, close enough for Wall Jumping, and did so, making it atop another cliffside. They found a stairway going up around a mountain and started their walk up. Suddenly, Mr. Stone came back, and the kids ran up the stairs as the monster threw more boulders at them. Morgan grabbed some of the boulders and tossed them back as he chased them.

At the top of the stairs was a steep slope going back down. Mr. Stone punched and shook the mountain, making the kids wobble and roll down the hill. They landed at a small cave and hurried in as Mr. Stone continued to chase. At a dead end, the psychics made their selves smaller, and the Interesting Twins turned into rats as they creeped into a small crack in the wall. Mr. Stone just smashed this wall down and still chased, so the four jumped and hid in a crack in the ground.

The stone monster walked around for a bit, wondering where they could be, not noticing the tiny group in the crack right beneath his huge stone feet. The group saw him walk off and heard him climbing down the mountain, thinking it was safe and climbing out to re-expand. "Boy, was that close." Morgan sighed.

"What are these things, anyway?" Mika asked.

"Guardians of the mountain." Yang replied.

"Used to keep intruders off the mountain to protect their treasure." Yin followed.

"Which we now believe is the Yin Yo-yo." Yang figured.

"It's gotta be close by." Mika thought.

"Like… right up there." Morgan replied, indicating the small temple at the top of another staircase.

"Let's go." Mika said, walking ahead of them up the stairs. They reached the top, but just before they could enter the shrine, Mr. Stone fell in front of them again, already punching the ground and sending shockwaves. Mika tossed a Psycho Sphere that damaged him a little, but Mr. Stone made a boulder and rolled it at them. Mika grabbed and tossed it at his head, getting it stuck. The monster wobbled over to the edge where Yin and Yang held a rope out, tripping and making him scream and fall over the edge.

"Finally." Yang said in relief

"Let's get that yo-yo." Yin followed. (Stop the music.)

Mika and Morgan both used their psychic to make the stone doors open, the team proceeding down the hallway. "The yo-yo has to be in here." Yang said.

"Totally. I mean, how many other randomly-placed temples do they have up here?" Mika asked rhetorically.

Along the way, Morgan decided to walk beside the Filipino and talk with her. "So, Mika… you've been on New Island for 6 years, right?"

"Yeah?" she rose a brow.

"Well, Mewtwo says you've developed a fear of the outside world… is that-"

"Not completely true. I mean, I do have nightmares of what people would do to psychicbenders, and I've always wondered if there were other people like that Davy Jones creep. I've always wanted to leave New Island and find out. And it helps, getting to hang with other psychicbenders."

"Well, someone once said, there's Light and Darkness in everything. Some people in the world are bad like Davy Jones… but everyone has good in them somewhere. Even if people judge you for being a freak, you still need to help them when they need it."

"Hm." Mika gave a small smirk. "But personally, I wouldn't say I'm vulnerable to the Dark Side. Most of the time, I'm pretty calm and laid back. I think Mewtwo's just a little worried about me."

"He must think of you as his daughter or something, otherwise he wouldn't be so overprotective." The two laughed.

The lot of them reached the end of the hall, where there sat a yo-yo with a Yin symbol on a pedestal, with a light shining on from the ceiling. The Twins walked up and Yin picked up the yo-yo, already twirling it up and down in her hand. "Well… we have it."

"Soooo what's it supposed to do?" Mika asked.

"He said it would take us to the Yin-Yang World…" Yang began as Yin was now twirling it in a circle. "But he never said how to-" As Yin continued to spin it, it emitted some kind of weird, black-and-white glow.

"Uh… never mind." Yin said as a portal started to form.

"WHOOAA!" They were sucked inside in an instant, the portal closing right away.

Outside Rocky Mountains

Rachel and her squad were now approaching the Rocky Mountains, and most of their injuries were healed. The sky was still clouded, but sunrays were poking through holes at some parts. Shadow continued to stare at the light-blue and green Chaos Emeralds in his hands, his head slightly aching. "Where's that DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald? !"

"Gee, Shadow, impatient much?" Rachel asked.

"He's probably still aching from that vision of Mephiles." Rouge assumed. "Must be a side-effect from that cannon."

"Hey! Isn't that an Emerald over there?" Sonya exclaimed. She pointed to a strange chest tossing a yellow, rectangular Emerald up and down in its handle. The one-eyed chest spotted the group and freaked out, tossing the gem inside its mouth before running up the mountain slope.

Fi emerged from the Master Sword and reported, "Master: subject identified as a Tricky Chest. They are a mystical by-product of Nightmare Enterprises, often used to store important items and keep them away from those who wish to steal it. Success of catching a Tricky Chest has a probability of around 40%."

"Unless it's with me. Then it's no problem." Shadow said confidently.

Just then, they saw a Bokoblin on a high ledge, the demon blowing its horn and summoning a bunch of Bulblins, aiming and shooting arrows at them as Rachel defended with her sword. "Sounds like they don't want us to get through. Lehcar and Harvey must've already passed by here. Time to cut these guys down to size!"

"Save some for me!" Angie shouted, already kicking off her foot cast. "The mountains are the earthbenders' wrestling ring. I'll help us get through here!"

"Whatever." Shadow retorted. "As long as we get that chest…" (Play the "Clifftop Concert" Theme from Donkey Kong Returns!)

Stage 27: Mount Precautious

Mission: Catch the Tricky Chest and get through the mountains!

Rachel and Angie started their journey up the mountain. The slope was steep, and Rachel already felt her legs tiring. She wasn't into heights, so she wasn't used to walking steep slopes. Angie on the other hand, was just fine, as she loved the feel of the hard, solid earth on her bare feet. They were already shot at by arrows from Bulblins standing on cliffs. Rachel still swat the arrows away while Angie kicked the side of the wall, shaking and making the Bulblins fall for Rachel to slice them. As they walked around the mountain, the ground beneath them crumbled, and they were sent falling to a lower ground.

The two of them fell into some kind of goo that they began sinking in. "Er… what the-" Rachel began, trying to get her feet out.

"Ew, what is this stuff?" Angie asked.

"It's tar! Grab on!" she said, sticking her sword in the safe ground near by, using it to haul herself out, pulling Angie out afterwards. The two carefully hopped some large, floating dinosaur bones. Some Stalkin climbed out and tried to poke them, but the two kicked them away. They reached the end of the tar pit to a vast chasm of boulders, which were swinging and hanging from ropes.

Rachel didn't want to cross this chasm, but she knew she had to. She felt so afraid, being thousands of feet in the air, her only support being huge, heavy boulders hanging from thin ropes. With a deep breath, she leapt to the first boulder, along with Angie. The two started jumping the swinging boulders before the Bulblins could shoot the ropes with arrows from the side. They made their way to a wall, Angie holding onto Rachel as she stuck her sword in to climb the wall. They climbed to a wide-open area where giant boulders were rolling down from caves on a hill. Angie just stomped the ground and pushed the boulders back into each other, making them crumble for them to proceed.

They made it up the hill and found a path to the left side of it, taking that road and finding only a dead end. However, Angie stomped the ground and used her bending to make a platform lift them upwards. They got to a higher ground where boulders were falling all around, the two spotting an Evil Crystal in the center of the area. Rachel immediately ran through, stylishly dodging the boulders and striking the crystal, destroying it and making the boulders cease. The wall ahead crumbled down, revealing a bridge over another chasm.

As they crossed the rickety bridge, an Armored Dinolfos spotted them from a platform on the other side, dashing over. It spun and swung its ax tail, but Rachel ducked and rolled around, striking its exposed rear spot and knocking it over the bridge, his screams echoing down the thousand-mile fall. When they reached the other side, they found two Lizalfos with wrecking-ball tails and stone arms. Rachel tried to downward-slice one, but it defended with its stone arm before whacking her with its ball.

The other one tried to hit Angie, but she was able to grab the ball, swinging and throwing him over the edge. When the other one tried to jump on Rachel, she rolled forward, quickly standing up and striking its back, pushing it over the edge. A Bulblin riding a Carrier Kargarok flew by and fired arrows, but Angie stomped a rock out of the ground, kicking it up to knock the Bulblin out. The two then leapt onto the monster bird, allowing it to carry them over the chasm.

It flew beneath a ceiling of stalactites, where some Bulblins fired bomb arrows to blow them up, the bird dodging as the sharp rocks came down. The two finally landed on another tar path, walking across the small bridge provided for them. More Stalkin climbed out of the tar, but Rachel sliced them away once again. They then crossed a bridge over another chasm where Red Chuchu dropped down from the ceiling, latching onto Rachel before she swatted them away.

They crossed the bridge to a platform, finding another bridge to their left, crossing it and encountering three Fatblin. Rachel easily sliced the first one's shield to bits before stabbing the body to death. The second one, Rachel sliced the spear off when he tried to stab her, then kicked away the shield before knocking him over the edge. The third Fatblin had a steel shield, but Rachel leapt over when he jabbed it, striking him several times in the back before he fell.

They reached the platform and found another bridge to the left, finding only a Hiploop, a big, yellow, red-faced bug with a white mask, which spotted and charged over. Rachel tried to strike it, but the armored mask protected him, and the bug tackled Rachel over. Angie cheered and leapt on the bug, riding it like a horse as it tried to shake her off. While the Hiploop was distracted, Rachel recovered and stabbed its back, killing it, allowing them to proceed.

They finally reached a cliffside where several hills went left-and-right, leading upwards along a wall. A bunch of Nejirons, strange rock monsters with eyeballs, came out of the ground and rolled at them, but Angie easily stomped the ground, making sharp rocks pop out from below them and fling them over the edge. The two proceeded up the first hill where a giant boulder came down, Angie making a rock wall that blocked it before it crushed them, making it shatter. They continued up the next hill where the mountain started crumbling above them, but Angie made a stone roof over their heads so the rocky debris slid down.

At last, they reached the top of the hill, to an area between a short trench. "Hey, there it is!" Rachel whisper/shouted, pointing at the Tricky Chest.

"Let's get it!" Angie said loudly. (Play the "Tricky Treasure" Theme from Rayman Origins!)

The crazy chest immediately heard and spotted them, already seeing a horrible fate become of him by that sword. The chest turned tail and dashed down the canyon. "Hey, come back here!" Rachel shouted as they started chasing the chest. More rocks started to crumble and fall above them, but Angie quickly kicked the rocks away.

It started jumping across floating bones over a tar pool, followed by the kids, dodging as stalactites fell on them as well. The chest slid down a wall on the other end, Rachel sticking her sword in the wall to scrape down after him, spotting the chest jump swinging boulders, following him before the boulders dropped. They landed on the other side of a wall where a giant boulder began chasing them again, but they hurried under a wall where the rock stopped, chasing the chest through a canyon of Hiploops ambushing them from the side.

Swarms of Bulblin started charging at them on Bullbos, but Rachel still sliced them away, the two kids chasing the chest over unstable platforms that gave way the moment they jumped on them. The two jumped to a minecart, rolling fast as wind along the track as the chest ran from them along the side of a cliff, where Bulblins shot bomb arrows to blow the track, but the kids jumped the gaps and kept going.

The Tricky Chest's path led to where the minecart tracks ended, the kids still pursuing the fleeing chest. The chest ran across a bridge to a platform, freaking out when there was nowhere else to go. It turned around in fear as Rachel leapt up and landed right in front of him. The blonde leader swung her sword diagonally, the chest wincing as its top diagonal half slid off. Rachel and Angie smirked as the leader picked the yellow gem up, tossing it up and down in her hands before putting it away, giving Angie a high-five. (Stop the music.)

"Well done, Numbuh Eleventy-Ninety-two." Rachel congratulated.

Angie smiled and nodded, but then gasped when she spotted something bulky coming down on her friend. "LOOK OUT!" (Play the "Freaky Monkey Five" Theme from Ape Escape 2!) The girl immediately used her bending to shove Rachel out of the way before the being landed with a thud.

The figure seemed to be a frail old man, wearing a blue cloak around his body and holding a psychotic expression, cackling as he took out a green crystal and took a bite of it, chewing away. "AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! !" the madman cackled some more, eating away the crystal.

"Who are you? !" Angie shouted.

The old man swallowed and said, "My name is King Bumi. Earthbending Master of the Order of the White Lotus."

"The whuh? You're just a crazy old man!"

"Oh yeah?" he said, wobbling around a little. "Well, you're just a tiny little girl. And yet you possess the power of the Earth. That pretty little face of yours can be quite misleading."

"Well, people who mess with me think twice."

"Not so fast, now. That stubbornness of yours is more important than you realize. And I have to make sure it's as strong as we need it to be. I challenge you to a battle!"

"Oh yeah? Bring it on!" she smirked. "I BEAT crazy old guys for a living!"

"Heh! Hurrrrrrr… RAAHH!" The old man blew his cloak right off, and Angie and Rachel gaped at his strong abs. "Our mighty powers of Earth are a blessing to us by the Earth Spirit, Regigigas. His powerful muscles and unbreakable spirit give us pure strength. HAH! !" Bumi stomped the ground, making the chunk of the ground Rachel was on separate and float to a safe distance while the whole field shook and broke the bridge off. "I may be just a frail old man… but I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see! Get ready, Angie Granite. Let's see how strong that heart REALLY is! AHH!" (Replay the music!)

Boss fight: King Bumi

"You made the wrong choice battling me. Now it's time to stomp you in the very ground you walk!" Bumi declared.

"We'll see who gets stomped first, old man!" Angie shot back. Bumi started off by stomping rocks out of the ground and kicking them to Angie, who defended with a rock barrier. Bumi ran and smashed the barrier down, Angie quickly jumping out of the way and kicking rocks up at him, successfully hitting his face.

Bumi grabbed the last rock in his teeth and bit down, breaking it, then made his own rock walls, sliding them over to Angie, who twirled and dodged left and right, as she stomped rocks at his face, knocking him back. "HAH!" Bumi shouted, burrowing underground like a mole. Angie looked around for where he might appear and was suddenly flung upward when he popped right below her. She landed back with a thud as Bumi went under again, striking her from underneath.

"You'll never hit what you can't see!" Bumi said, going under again. Angie then had an idea, smirking as she closed her eyes, feeling the ground quake beneath her feet. She jumped out of the way as Bumi popped up, then burrowed under herself. "Hey, where'd you go?" the old man asked, looking around. Right away, Angie popped up right beneath him and struck. Bumi tunneled under once again, followed by Angie, the two benders moving about underground, trying to find the other. The two found and drilled into each other, Bumi on top and Angie below him, and Angie successfully forced him out, leaping after him and smirking.

Bumi quickly shot back up, giving his mad grin and saying, "I doubt that you can do THIS!" At this, he conjured a glowing green energy chain, grabbing a boulder with it, and swinging it like a ball-n-chain.

Angie ran as the old man spun around the area, swinging his Boulder-n-Chain, nearly hitting Angie before she tunneled under, coming out behind him. Bumi finally got tired and dizzy, allowing Angie to shoot more rocks at his head. With one more stomp, she flung the old man over the edge, but Bumi made the ground stick out from the side of the arena, using it to stand on. Angie looked down and saw this, jumping down onto his platform.

Bumi jumped off and made another platform, making a rock wall and sliding it to Angie, who jumped it, made her own platform, then landed on it, the two sliding walls at each other and making platforms for them to jump on. When Bumi made the next platform, Angie made a wall above it that slid down and destroyed the platform, but Bumi recovered and made another one, lifting him back up, Angie following.

Bumi still held his grin and said, "Time for beddy-bye, kiddy!" With that, he rose his arms upward and pulled down a huge chunk of the stalactite ceiling above them. Angie and Rachel gaped as Bumi held it directly above him, the crazy old man then hovering it over Angie. Angie used all the strength she could muster to push the huge rock back, the two forces pushing greatly on the rock.

"Rrrr… RAAAH!" Angie's force finally prevailed as the rock hovered above Bumi. She used her left hand to grab a boulder with her own energy rope, swinging her own Boulder-n-Chain and knocking Bumi down. As a result, the massive rock crumbled and fell on top, crushing him.

The smoke from the rubble cleared away, showing Bumi wobbling uncontrollably with spinning eyes. "Well done, Angie. Your strength is hard as stone, yet your heart's as hot as fire. EHHHH." He finally fainted on the ground with a thud.

"Ha! You old men stick with tapioca, and leave fighting to the kids who know how to do it!" Angie spun and gave a pose as Rachel's platform floated back to the field. (Stop the music.)

"Hey! What's goin' on over there?" Rouge called from the ledge, standing with the others. Angie stomped the ground and made a stone bridge extend over for them all to cross.

They all ran over to the two girls, looking at the unconscious old man. "Who's this?"

"Eh, some crazy old guy who said something about a white lotus before he started to attack me." Angie answered simply. Just then, Bumi grinned and woke up, shooting back to his feet.

"Heh heh. Well, you can't blame us old people for picking random fights. But perhaps you'd like me to explain why this fight wasn't so random." Angie only nodded. "As you know, the Dark Master is inhabiting Harvey's body. But he's yet to truly be free. You see, the Dark Master's henchmen are gathering fear to fuel his ever-growing power. When he's had enough, his own body will be free from the Well of Shadows and he'll no longer need Harvey. But you may have a chance to slow him down." Bumi smirked. "From trying to reason with him earlier, Lord Gnaa's hold on Harvey has begun to weaken. This is due to a special power that only his true friends could wield."

"The power of friendship?" Sonya guessed.

"That's right. Cliché as it sounds, it's the warm feeling of love that can set him free. But you, Angie… the love you have for Harvey will lighten the darkness that floods Harvey's soul. Like the Dark Master makes the brightest hearts into darkness, the darkest souls can be healed… with just a little light." Hearing this, Angie smiled, and the old man turned and walked away. He turned back and said, "'Course, I've yet to meet the soul who can cure the Dark Master's darkness. That phantom of his is one tough poison cookie. See you later, kids! AHH hahahahahahaha!" The crazy king burrowed underground and crawled away.

"'kay… that was weird." Lee said simply.

"By the way, we got the Emerald." Rachel said, handing Shadow the yellow gem.

Shadow studied it for a bit before saying, "This isn't a Chaos Emerald."

"What? It's all glowy like one…"

Fi came out and reported, "Master: subject identified as an identical object, called a Sol Emerald. There are a total of seven, very powerful relics that exist from the Sol Dimension, entrusted to the firebenders eons ago by the mighty Sun God."

"I remember." Rouge replied. "They belonged to that cat girl, Blaze."

"Then I guess we have to get it to her." Rachel figured.

"Where do you think the others are now?" Sonya asked.

"I imagine they're pretty far right now. Let's get back to the hospital treehouse and rest. Then we can keep looking for where Harvey's gone." With that, the team started their journey back to the treehouse.


Eh, the Xiaolin Mountain level could've been better. But this has been the shortest chapter in a while, I think. Next time, we'll check out the Yin-Yang World. Afterwards, we'll see what Team Alien's up to. Later.