Chapter 8
"Just where we want them is right." gloated Drakken. "Let's strike when they're asleep!"
"Uh, Dr. D, one little problem." said Shego.
Drakken turned around. "Shego…" he growled, "why must you always interfere with my genius plans?"
Shego was undeterred. Drakken didn't have a chance against her. "What if they wake up?"
"What if…" Galyn Khaan interjected, "only Mulan wakes up?"
Drakken rolled his eyes. Galyn Khaan's quest for revenge was getting in the way of defeating Kim.
Galyn Khaan continued. "Here's the plan. Just lure Mulan out of the tent and capture her. The others will follow her in a rescue attempt. Then we'll have all four of them begging for mercy."
"Not that we'll give them any." Shego liked the sound of the plan. "Wait - but how are we going to lure Mulan out of the tent?"
Turning to Drakken, Galyn Khaan made a request. "May I borrow Nightmare Weaver 2?"
Drakken happily obliged.
Mulan slept comfortably in the tent. At last, the sugar had worn off. Snuggled up in a warm sleeping bag. Shang's strong arms wrapped around her. The forest sounds singing a lullaby. It was heavenly.
Kim and Ron were each in their own sleeping bags. They, too, were asleep.
Little did they know the danger outside their tent. Galyn Khaan had placed Nightmare Weaver 2, then activated it from a distance. It was radiating the digital version of brain waves straight to Mulan's head.
"Where am I?" Mulan's shock was evident as she stood in a cavern. The sandstone walls and aggregate floor were streaked with reddish-brown. Total darkness enveloped her, except for flickering torches mounted on the walls.
"There she is! Get her!"
Mulan whirled around. Twelve barbaric figures - those of men - charged from the shadows.
"Where's a sword when I need it?" Mulan groaned. Then she got an idea. As the men closed in on her, she dropped and performed a leg-sweep. They tripped, dropping their weapons. Mulan snatched the sword of the one that fell closest to her. She was quick to do away with them.
Just when she thought her work was done…
"Mulan?" wheezed a familiar voice.
Mulan whirled around. It was Fa Zhou - her father. She had risked her life to save him before. Now she was ready to do so again.
"Father!" She ran up to Fa Zhou.
He was tied up against a stalagmite, the protrusions of the rock red with his blood.
"Father, I'll get you out of this…I promise..." She began to untie the ropes.
"Oh, look who's here." A voice as dark as a void echoed throughout the cave.
"You won't lay a hand on us!" Mulan shielded Fa Zhou with her own body.
"Mulan… leave before we both die." Fa Zhou drew a ragged breath.
Determined as ever, Mulan refused. "Neither of us will die."
A brawny hand grabbed Mulan's arm. "He will die by my sword." The voice paused. "And as for you, beautiful one, you will be my concubine."
"Not in ten thousand years!" Mulan fought against the grip. She succeeded in getting away. But in her fight, she left Fa Zhou unguarded.
A sword emerged, with flames around it. "Say goodbye to your father."
Mulan tried to move, but her feet seemed magnetized to the ground. She saw the flaming sword raise, and come to the front of Fa Zhou's neck…
"Mulan!" Shang had since woken up and left the sleeping bag. "Mulan, wake up!" He shook Mulan, hoping to break her nightmare.
Ron also woke up. He reached for an ice-water bottle and handed it to Shang. "Dump it on her!" Ron whispered desperately.
"Hope she forgives me for this…" Shang worried. He dumped the contents of the bottle on Mulan's head. The shock of the cold jarred Mulan awake.
"My father is in danger!" Mulan sprang out of her sleeping bag and ran out of the tent. But she didn't get far. She realized this was the forest near Middleton. And for some unknown reason, she was cold and wet.
"Well, at least I'm not undressed…" she muttered. She returned to the tent. Once inside, Shang started cuddling her.
"Oh, Mulan…" he whispered, "you're going to be all right." He ran his hands through her drenched hair.
Mulan spotted an empty water bottle and melting ice cubes. She wasn't in a cuddly mood anymore.
"Which one of you dumped ice water on me?"
The villains waited… and waited… and waited. If the plan had worked, Kim and company should have arrived long ago.
"Where are they?" Drakken was getting impatient.
"Dunno." Shego shrugged her shoulders.
Drakken looked on a shelf. He usually kept Nightmare Weaver 2 there. Now it was missing!
"Where is it…" Tension built in Drakken's grating voice.
"You shouldn't have made that pickle chip sandwich." Shego sang.
"That jar was impossible to open!" snapped Drakken. "Do you think I would have closed it without getting a few pickle chips?"
"No… those weren't pickle chips."
"Then what were they?!"
"Those weak memory-erase tablets you put in pickle jars and tried to sell in grocery stores. As if that shampoo commercial wasn't embarrassing enough."
"Shego! Don't bring that up!"
Shego gave Drakken one of those mocking looks. After all, she was right. Again.
Just then, the cabin door opened. Galyn Khaan stormed in.
"My plan didn't work!" In a rage, he threw Nightmare Weaver 2 at Drakken. Drakken failed to catch it. The gadget slammed against a wall and fizzled out.
"You two are clearly out of ideas!"
"Not quite!" challenged Shego - in a flawless impression of Mulan's voice. She was only doing it to irritate Galyn Khaan. He had the fire sword, but he wouldn't dare use it in a cabin.
"If you mention that phony soldier one more time, you will suffer."
Shego thought twice. Yes, it was fun to annoy the guys. But she still valued her life.
"Our camping trip is over." Ron affirmed. Everyone was helping to take down the tent and pack.
"Good idea." said Mulan. "That nightmare was too much."
"Wait." said Kim. "You had a nightmare?"
Mulan shuddered. "Yes. And then somebody decided to wake me up - in the most unpleasant manner." She glared at Shang.
"Look," said Shang, "I was - uh - worried about you."
"Next time, tickle me or something."
"You don't like that, either."
"It's better than having ice water dumped on my head."
Kim interrupted. "Mulan, I think I know why you had the nightmare…"
TO BE CONTINUED...
