Two hours before sunrise, during the quietest hours of the day in the city of Shang Tu, two motortrikes ride in formation through the streets, heading directly for the Royal Palace. Heads down against the driving rain, the two cloaked figures make swift progress through the minimal traffic.
Just as they're about to enter the vicinity of the Palace, the two riders halt to discuss how to break in.
"When I came to help Sally test the headbands, she brought me in via a storm drain," Danny informs.
"That's how I got in when Captain Icky attacked," Maria recalls.
"Then we both know the route," Danny confirms. "We'll go in that way."
"Nuh‑uh," Maria refuses.
"Why not?"
"Icky nasty sewer, which I fell into."
"How did that happen?"
"The stupid sports bike I stole dumped me in it."
Danny can't help but chuckle a little at the mental image. "We'll have to park our trikes at the entrance anyway: the walkways are too narrow to ride down."
"Do we have another choice?"
"No."
"Poo."
Decision made, the two friends pull away and head for the storm drain.
Ten minutes later, the two friends arrive at the entrance to the storm drain. After hiding their trikes behind a low wall with their cloaks draped over to keep the rain off, they enter the storm drain itself.
"Why does it have to rain?" Maria complains once inside, shaking vigorously in a semi‑successful attempt to dry herself. "I hate getting wet."
"And yet you spend half your leisure time in the lake," Danny teases. "Still, I'm glad to be out of the rain."
The two friends begin the long walk down the drain and into the sewers. A mile later, Maria stops by a very familiar and very narrow section. "I wonder if the bike is still down there," she thinks aloud.
"Want to go find out?" Danny asks.
"Want some scars to show off to Miss Spiky?" Maria retorts. "What's up with you anyway? You're almost as bad as the meanie right now."
"Trying to lighten the mood a bit?" Danny suggests.
"It's not working," Maria pouts.
"Yeah, you're right," Danny sighs before the duo walk on in silence.
A mile further on, Maria and Danny arrive at another very familiar part of the sewers.
"This is our way in," Danny informs as he starts to climb the ladder.
"Last time I climbed this ladder, I got in a fight, was captured, and left taped to a chair to bleed to death," Maria recalls darkly.
"That won't happen this time," Danny assures. "Now hurry up. Sunrise is almost here, and it won't be long after that the Palace wakes. Ideally, we want to be out of here within the hour."
"I assume you know where the Crystals are?"
"Yep."
"Good."
Soon, both Maria and Danny are in a basement room in the Palace, the very room Maria was ambushed in when she was accompanied by Carol Tea and Milla Basset during the Jade Alliance's invasion of Shang Tu. Neither Maria nor Danny want to hang around, so they immediately head out of the room and into the Palace.
Fifteen minutes later, Maria and Danny arrive at the entrance to the Shang Tu Royal Laboratories.
"Well, that's that then," Maria sighs in defeat at the sight of the keypad by the door. "No way we're gonna break that combination."
Danny doesn't respond, instead casually entering Sally Flynn's access code. Maria fixes Danny with an unamused stare, her arms folded.
"What?" Danny asks.
Maria shakes her head and enters the labs, Danny following a moment later.
After a few minutes, Danny turns into Sally's lab. "In here."
Maria follows Danny into the lab. "So, this is where your girlfriend works?"
"I'd give you the tour, but we're on a schedule," Danny answers.
"I know," Maria replies. "Why are we in here instead of going for the Crystals?"
"These," Danny answers, removing five coloured headbands from a storage cupboard. "The Inhibitor Headbands."
"Ooh, pretty!" Maria smiles. "Can I have mine?"
"Sure," Danny agrees, offering the green headband.
Maria takes the headband, puts it on, then draws her tanto to admire her reflection. "It's so cute!"
"Glad you like it," Danny replies. "Now for the Crystals."
Five minutes later, Danny and Maria arrive at the vault containing the Elemental Crystals, remaining hidden around a corner, out of sight of the two guards protecting the entrance.
"Sally wasn't kidding about the round‑the‑clock protection," Danny sighs.
"What are we gonna do now?" Maria asks. "We need those Crystals!"
Danny raises a hand to indicate he needs to think. "I have an idea," he announces a few moments later, removing his scarf and handing it and his hanbo to Maria. "I'll distract them, you lay them out."
"I'd be a better distraction," Maria volunteers. "After all, they might recognise you."
"Last time I was here, I was in Sally's lab pretty much the whole time," Danny informs. "I never came this way."
"I'm faster than you," Maria continues.
Danny takes his scarf and hanbo back. "Can't argue with that. You're remaining armed?"
"Makes them more likely to chase me," Maria explains. "I'll lead them back this way, and you knock them out."
"I'll be waiting," Danny agrees, readying his hanbo.
Maria skips around the corner and right up to the guards. "What ya doing?" she asks them in her most saccharine tone.
"Do you have clear‑" one of the guards begins, stopping when he sees the red scarf, ninjato, and tanto. "You're under arrest!" he continues, pointing his spear at Maria.
"Gotta catch me first!" Maria winks teasingly before turning heel and sprinting away.
Both guards follow her around the corner, where Danny takes out the first with a vicious swing of his hanbo. The second guard hesitates, unsure whether to continue pursuing Maria, or turn and face Danny. The hesitation allows Danny to take him out too.
"That was easy," Maria remarks, returning to help Danny secure the guards with their own handcuffs.
"We're not done yet," Danny reminds. "I don't know what security measures are in place in that vault."
With the guards secure, Maria and Danny head to the door of the vault. Danny enters Sally's code to gain access, then carefully leads the way into the vault, expecting the worst. But nothing happens, and both he and Maria enter the vault safely.
"They'll be in there," Danny concludes, pointing to a small safe at the back of the compact vault.
Maria sets to work cracking the safe. While she's not as skilled at the task as her best friend Hanna Skarlett, she still cracks the combination in less than four minutes.
"Stop right there!" a stern voice barks.
Maria freezes, her hand hovering over the handle of the safe door. "Danny?" she asks nervously.
"He can't help you," the voice informs. "Now back away from the safe slowly."
Maria lowers her hand and backs away from the safe.
"Turn around," the voice commands.
Maria turns to see Neera Li, the former priestess of Shuigang and current advisor to the Royal Magister, the tip of the panda's staff just an inch from the lynx's face. Behind the panda, Maria can see Danny encased in ice.
"S‑Sorry," Danny stammers.
Half an hour later, the Magister and Sally Flynn arrive at the vault, which has been re‑secured. Maria and Danny stand in front of the vault door unarmed and in handcuffs, with Neera and the two guards standing watch.
"I must say I am very disappointed in both of you," the Magister begins. "After all you have done in service to this city and its citizens, you now seek to take the most dangerous relics from its vaults."
"You once saved my life," Sally adds. "And now you're here stealing my greatest work yet, not to mention the heart of my research."
"I await your explanation," the Magister finishes.
"We need them to restore peace to the Gotoshi and restore our friend's health, Your Majesty," Danny summarises.
"The Gotoshi is the region from which the Jade Alliance hails, is it not?" the Magister asks.
"Correct, Your Majesty," Danny confirms.
"The Jade Alliance attacked my city, did they not?"
"Correct, Your Majesty."
"Then I see no reason to help," the Magister decides.
"But‑" Danny begins.
"Silence," the Magister commands. "Since you have both decided to turn against the city you both fought so hard to protect not more than half a year ago, I have no choice but to sentence you harshly. You will both be imprisoned in the most secure dungeon in the Palace, where you will be under round‑the‑clock surveillance. Any attempt to escape, and your lives will be forfeit. Anyone who attempts to rescue you will be captured and imprisoned with you."
"But what about Hanna?" Maria pleads, tears in her eyes.
"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help her," the Magister answers. "Neera, the prisoners are yours."