"The Order of the White Lotus? Are you guys pai sho players?" Nikolai asked, and the Goose thought for a moment. "Well, many of members do play... But that's not the point right now. I am Spare Chang, an auxiliary member of the Order of the White Lotus, an order of monks devoted to studying the mysteries of the Titans."

"Tengu goblins have invaded the Valley of the Titans, and they called forth the greatest threat to all... Stormzilla!" Spare Chang said, and he pointed as the earth shook beneath our wooden MooShu sandals. We turned to see a two-legged purple dragon-like creature as tall as the masts of a first-rate ship-of-the-line stomping through the grounds behind the gate to the temple, with lightning bolt-shaped horns and ridges on its back.

The Stormzilla's yellow eyes didn't seem to notice us as it passed by, and Spare Chang continued speaking. "Due to the Tengu and the giant monster, we can no longer access the temple. But perhaps there is a way... My order has sought refuge in a cave not far from here. I will take you there to speak to Master Li Hark."

He then broke into a quick jog, and we followed him through winding trails through the bamboo forests until we reached the mouth of a cave, where several monks dressed similarly to Spare Chang were standing guard outside. They nodded at him as we approached, and let us through, where a Crane wearing a bamboo hat was meditating on one leg inside the cave.

Spare Chang bowed low to the Crane, and Master Li Hark opened his eyes. As Spare Chang turned to leave, I slipped a gold coin into his hand as a charitable donation to the White Lotus, and then his master spoke. "We are the Order of the White Lotus. History has shown again and again how nature points out the folly of mortals, and we are living in such a lesson."

"Our studies were disrupted by the Tengu, who brought with them the Scourge of Cities: Stormzilla! There is but one response to such a threat... In our most ancient scrolls, it is written that strangers will come and pilot Stupendor-X, wondrous vessel of the Titans forged in Shangri-La, to victory! You, young pirates and wizard, are those prophesied ones!"

"Great, another prophecy." I heard Nikolai mutter. "This is exactly why I left Wizard City to open up a general store in Skull Island. Though I suppose it can't be helped..."

"Go to Stupendor-X, take control of it, and rid the Valley of the Titans of Stormzilla!" Master Li Hark said, and with that, Spare Chang returned to take us through a secret passage to the cave of Stupendor-X, in the Valley of the Titans. The cave reminded me of a shipyard, except that instead of a vessel, it housed a giant suit of armor made of red and gold metal. Nikolai squealed as he saw it. "It's a GUNDAM!"

The rest of us gave him funny looks with raised eyebrows, and Nikolai shrugged. "You'd have to be an otaku to understand."

"Just to be sure... we're going inside a huge suit of armor to fight a giant electric lizard?" Emma asked, and we all nodded. "Heh heh heh... I did not sign on for this!"

"Let's take this monster down a notch! Who wants to live forever?" Nikolai asked, and he led the walk to Stupendor-X, where we could see a metallic hatch on its chest. "That must be the entrance to the cockpit."

Handing his staff to Spare Chang, Nikolai tried to pull the hatch open, but it wouldn't budge. Emma went over to help him, but it still didn't budge. Finally, I went to go help them pull up on the bar, and it finally opened to reveal the cockpit.

Two black leather seats were on the sides of the door, and a central one was surrounded by buttons and small metal columns I couldn't make heads or tails of, but Nikolai seemed to know what he was doing as he sat in the center seat and fastened a buckle on a belt attached to it. "Safety first!"

Buckling up on the remaining two seats, Emma and I braced ourselves as Nikolai pressed a button to close the door, and he gripped the columns at his sides. The metal wall in front of us then blinked to life, revealing an image of Spare Chang standing in awe of Stupendor-X on the wooden catwalk in front of us. The vision then jerked a bit to the left, and Spare Chang hurried out of the way as we began moving forward towards the stone.

We then saw Stupendor-X's metallic foot, and a second later, a shelf on the mountain outside was kicked down to make way for Stupendor-X as it walked out to engage Stormzilla. The giant electric lizard roared as we approached it, and bolts of lightning burst forth from its mouth to strike Stupendor-X in the chest.

I was tilted to my side as Stupendor-X stumbled backwards, but Nikolai slammed a button, and a laser beam from Stupendor-X chest struck Stormzilla, who roared in pain as Stupendor-X drew its katana. Nikolai put on his game face as he gripped the controls. "Alright, big boy. Let's dance!"

He then issued orders to us. "Emma, Matt, pull down the boards above you. I think they control the extra weapons."

We did as we were told, and my screen lit up to depict an outline of Stupendor-X with the shoulders and shins in red, along with the words, "Missiles activated."

I grinned as the screen came up with instructions on how to use the system: just tap where you want to aim in Stupendor-X's vision, and a missile from each of the four launchers on the body would fire, and Nikolai spoke. "Save the weapons for when I tell you to. We're going to need them."

As Stormzilla lunged at us with sharp teeth, Nikolai shouted at Emma, and she tapped on her board to fire a laser from Stupendor-X's empty left hand, and Stormzilla was sent reeling backwards as Nikolai shouted, "Missiles!"

I tapped three times quickly on my screen, and twelves missiles launched themselves at three points on Stormzilla's body. As it roared in pain, Stupendor-X lunged forward with his katana, spearing it in the gut, and a second later, the pommel of the katana started blinking red more and more rapidly until the katana exploded, embedding bits of the blade into Stormzilla's body like shrapnel.

Stormzilla was far from finished though, and as more lightning burst from its mouth, Stupendor-X seized it by the throat to strangle it as lasers and missiles struck the giant electric lizard. After a tense minute of struggling, the Stormzilla suddenly turned into purple smoke, and Nikolai breathed a sigh of relief. "It's over... We did it!"

The cheer died in our throats as we felt Stupendor-X's knees buckle from underneath us, and a few seconds later, we were tumbling down, unsupported by the legs until we hit the ground. Good thing we wore our seat belts!

We climbed out of the cockpit in a daze, and Nikolai patted the scorched metal of the cockpit as he said sadly, "I guess that last attack from Stormzilla must've finished poor Stupendor-X off..."

"Look!" Emma said, and we turned to see Tengu goblins coming out of the wreckage in the same daze we had, and as she brought out her sniper rifle, Nikolai shook his head as he stopped her, "Leave them. They won't bother us. Let's find that egg."

We began searching the temple grounds, which aside from the few toppled buildings, were in surprisingly good condition despite the two colossal combatants fighting on it moments earlier. In front of a golden statue of the Moodha underneath the roof of a pavilion was an egg that looked like it was made of green precious stone. "The Jade Egg..."

Nikolai knelt down to pick it up, but he suddenly stopped to press his ear against the porcelain texture of the shell. "Dragon King didn't tell us everything. This egg... it's alive!"