The four Scarves leave the two Grand Masters behind and head towards the throne room; Rob and Xander keep their sai and tonfa drawn, Maria holds Kaede's tekko-kagi ready to fight, and Danny has the nunchaku and the sansetsukon-turned-hanbo.
It doesn't take long before they find a way up; unfortunately, it is blocked. And despite Xander's best efforts, the blockage is immovable. Continuing through the Kyuden, the Scarves come across several other passages to the throne room, each one blocked and impassable.
"Well, there's only one option left," Danny concludes.
"Head outside, scale the wall to the balcony, enter the throne room that way?" Xander checks.
"Exactly," Danny confirms.
"You know why we're being diverted outside, right?" Rob asks.
"So we can fight the icky snake man and his big ugly robot?" Maria guesses.
"Why else?" Rob confirms.
"Wait," Maria continues. "We're heading to the rear of the Kyuden, right? Where the meanie is?"
"There's no point rescuing Hanna until both Serpentine and Aquila have been defeated," Danny informs.
"But-" Maria begins to protest.
"He's right," Rob interrupts. "Believe me, I want nothing more than to have her in my arms. But if we rescue her now, we won't be able to protect her and defeat Serpentine and Aquila and recover the Elemental Crystals."
"It's not fair," Maria grumbles.
"You'll see her soon enough, little one," Xander assures.
"And the quicker we break the snake and Captain Icky, the sooner we see the meanie," Maria concludes. "Last one outside is a stinky bug!" she chimes, sprinting down the corridor towards the rear gardens; the boys follow as quickly as they can.
A few minutes later, Maria skids to a halt outside; the late afternoon sun casts long shadows across the gardens. Moments later, the boys arrive alongside her.
"Where is he?" Maria asks, scanning the treeline bordering the gardens.
"If only I had my sniper scope," Rob sighs.
"Well, if Chika's right and Serpentine's got a walker, then Maria and Xander should be able to hear it," Danny informs.
Maria and Xander close their eyes and focus all their attention on their hearing; despite their best efforts, they can't hear anything indicative of machinery.
"Nothing," Maria sighs, opening her eyes again.
"Same here," Xander adds as he opens his.
"I don't like the sound of that," Rob states, a trace of nervousness creeping into his voice.
"Me neither," Danny agrees.
Rob looks up to the balcony. "Well, we have a choice: either we waste time waiting for a snake that may never turn up, or get on with defeating Aquila and rescuing Hanna."
"I know what I'm doing then!" Maria chimes; she dashes to the wall and begins to climb. She gets fifteen feet from the ground; a dozen shuriken embed themselves in the wall right above her head; she falls in surprise; Xander dashes and catches her just in time.
A heavy rumbling emanates from the treeline; seconds later, a robot scorpion bursts through the treeline, scuttling directly to the Scarves.
"So much for the easy way," Rob sighs.