(A/N: Briefly back on this story and The Truce, episode wise)
Cole, Maggie, Dragon, Vania, Fungus, Korgran, Plundar, Doug, Snithik and Adam continue moving along the tunnel until they came across some rocks. "If you guys like to take a break, we'll only have to be a few seconds." Cole said.
"Korgran little tired anyway." Korgran replied, stopping to sit on a rock.
"'I agree.'" Fungus said, translating Snithik's signing before they start to sit down.
Cole groan as he sat down on a rock to take off his socks and shake out any dirt inside them, sighing. "If I hadn't had lost my boots, I wouldn't be doing this." He said before preparing to put them back on.
"How about you continue on without your socks?" Dragon asked.
"I guess so." He throws them aside.
"'Ever had a situation where you didn't need shoes at all, like me?'" Doug asked, translating Snithik's signing.
"Well, I wouldn't say me or consider it a situation, but our friend and Maggie's husband Geoff once fought his father, and they were sent down a portal to the Cursed Realm, but Geoff managed to reach the edge and forced his father off his foot, but he had taken the boot with him."
"He didn't complain about it, though." Maggie said.
"Sounds like you had a crazy amount of adventures than us." Doug replied.
"Then, you should hear about the time Cole and-" Light growling was heard before they look down the direction they had taken.
"What the hell was that?" Plundar asked.
They look at the direction, until they see a distinct glow showing up. "Shit, the monster!" Cole replied, getting up. "Run!"
"Adam, you'll have to carry me." Maggie said, getting on his back and he screeched before they start to run.
As they ran along the tunnel, the lava monster stops to fire a lava ball at them, but misses and hits the ceiling, bringing some rocks down. "I thought we lost this thing!" Plundar said as they ran.
"Plundar think wrong!" Korgran replied.
"No more thinking." Cole said. "Just run!"
They keep running along, until they turn left and come across some mine carts. "Everyone, into the carts!"
Vania jumps in the cart in front while Adam came up next to it for Maggie to get in the back cart. "Are you sure these still work?" Vania asked as Dragon got in.
"I am forced to agree with the princess." Dragon said as Plundar dove in and Fungus struggled to climb in before managing to do so.
"Me too." Maggie said, pulling Snithik with her. "This looks rather old."
"Trust me, it'll work!" Cole replied as Doug got in the back cart himself and Adam climbed into it. "Korgran, gimme a hand!"
Cole and Korgran head to the back cart before they start to push it. The light at the front cart comes on as the carts start to move along the track. "As long as we're gonna be in these, could we at least go down the correct tunnel for once?"
"You've been in mine carts before?" Plundar asked.
"Around the time our friend Blake first became a Ninja, Cole and I were in the Caves of Despair with our friends, needing to get out before the volcano would erupt. So, we were able to find some mine carts. And as we move along the tracks, another friend told us the tunnel on the left was the exit, but Cole, who was a ghost at the time, switched the tracks on us, and we ended up going through the wrong tunnel."
"You were a ghost?" Fungus asked.
"Long story." Cole replied as he and Korgran kept pushing.
The monster soon showed up just as the cart hits a barrier blocking their path. "Time to go!" Plundar said as Korgran jumped into the back cart. "All aboard!"
"Next stop, anyone's guess!" Doug said as Cole jumps onto the side of the front cart, kicks down the safety bar next to him, lowering the barrier before getting in, and the carts start to go down the track as the monster came up behind it and roared as the carts went down the track before firing a fire ball down it.
The carts move along the track as they were able to miss the fire ball with all the riders screaming. "I told you it would work!" Cole said before whooping and raising his arms. "That's what you call a good idea!"
The carts start to shake a little as they go along the track, going uphill, then down, then up and down again, briefly flying off the track before landing as it kept moving. "We're going too fast!" Vania yelled.
Dragon grabs hold of Cole's arm. "Hold on!" He replied.
They exit the tunnel as the track lead along to a giant lava pit before the carts keep going down along the track, causing the riders to scream before going up with the left wheels coming off, tilting the carts to the right, frightening them. "On that side, quick!" Cole yelled, pointing to the left. They move over to it, and the wheels move back into the track.
"What kind of person would build a track like this?" Maggie asked as the carts move along a bump on the track.
"I think I'm going to be sick." Fungus said before gagging and puts his hands over his mouth.
"Do it over the side!"
The carts go up the track, which started to make the carts slow down. "Whew, that was close." Cole said before the carts come down the track.
"Down!" Korgran yelled, seeing a pillar in front of them.
The carts go down as everyone ducked down to avoid the pillar as the carts pass underneath it before going up to track. "'I wish there were seatbelts on this thing!'" Doug said, translating Snithik's signing.
"You're worried about seatbelts?" Maggie asked Snithik, who nods. (A/N: Anyone remember Journey to the Centre of the Earth with Josh Hutcherson in it? The seatbelt retort was where it was from)
The carts soon came along two tracks which lead into different tunnels. "Oh, déjà vu!" Cole said, noticing a track switch on the left before sticking his leg out.
"Don't change it! It could take us down the left tunnel!" Unfortunately, Cole doesn't hear her and kicks the track switch, making it move to the right before he gets back in and the carts turn to the right. "Damn it, Cole, you did it again!" They quickly duck down to avoid the low entrance. (A/N: When will Cole ever leave those levers that change tracks alone?)
The carts keep moving along the tunnel on the track before Cole notices something. "Uh oh."
"What 'uh oh'?" Vania asked. He points out to a barrier further down the track, causing everyone to yell as the carts reach it before crashing though it and kept on going until they came across another barrier at the end of the track and crash through it, sending the carts off the track and everyone flying out of the carts before landing.
Everyone groaned as they start to sit up. "See? Another good idea."
"Is everyone alright?" Dragon asked.
Korgran groans as he touches his head. "Korgran head hurt." He replied as they all start to stand up.
"I hope my leg hasn't gotten even worse." Maggie said.
Plundar lowers his bandanna while Fungus, Doug and Snithik were on top of him. "My whole body hurts." He said.
They all get off him while Fungus moving his head down. "Where are we?" He asked.
Cole looked around and was surprised to see that they were at the entrance to a temple before Maggie, Dragon and Vania came over to him. "Hmm..." He silently muttered.
"Cole?" Dragon asked. "What is it?"
"Are you...feeling something?" Maggie asked.
"I... don't know." Cole replied, frowning. "I have a strange feeling about this place." Rumbling was soon heard as everyone looked around before lines start to glow, and unlit torches around the entrance start to ignite and lit, surprising them before they look at the entrance to see some markings on it. Dragon moves towards it, a little curious. "What is it?"
"It is the Old Tongue." Dragon replied, looking at the doors before turning back to the others. "The language in which my oldest scrolls are written."
"'What does it say?'" Fungus asked, translating Snithik's signing.
Dragon turns back to the door. "Something about... the 'Heart of the Mountain'?"
"I read about these in my scrolls." Doug said, coming up next to him before looking at the writing on the doors. "'Let pass through here into this refuge and sanctuary. Only those who are one with the Earth.'"
Dragon becomes curious and started to rub his beard. "I wonder..."
"What means that?" Korgran asked as Dragon and Doug turn back to face them.
"The Heart of the Mountain is the name of the legendary temple of the Masters of Earth." Dragon replied. "Some believe it was hidden in the mountains of Shintaro. But it has never been found."
"Oh, I know this story." Vania said, raising her hand. "It's in one of my books. 'Famous Places That I Will Find Before Anyone Else' by Clutch Powers." Plundar becomes excited.
"What's inside?" He asked, grabbing her. "Treasure? Loot?"
"Something even more precious." Dragon replied.
"Gemstones!"
"The teachings of the 'Spinjitzu Burst'."
"The what?" Fungus asked, confused.
"It's a powerful force. Only an Elemental Master, surrounded by his element, can achieve it. It's mentioned in some of the earliest teachings of Spinjitzu." Dragon turns to Cole. "Your mother sought to learn the Burst, 25 years ago, but she never did."
Cole soon frowned. "There is so much I never knew about her." He said.
Plundar comes up to the doors and tries to push it as Dragon turned towards him. "How do you open it?" He asked.
"Korgran, a little help?" Fungus asked.
Korgran prepares himself before running at the doors to ram them, only to end up moving back and collapsed. "If the legend is true, the doors will open only for those who are one with the Earth." Dragon said as Cole, Maggie, with help from Snithik, Vania and Fungus came up the stairs. Dragon places a hand on Cole's shoulder. "An Earth Elemental."
"It would be nice to tell Korgran before." Korgran replied as he gets up and Cole walks towards the doors. Cole stops in front of the doors before turning to Dragon, who nods, and he turns back to them before touching the tiny gap between them. His Earth Punch activates, and the markings on the doors start to glow, surprising him.