Tauria: Okay, I know that I haven't updated this in a while, and I got this random idea. The scene in italics is one of the scenes in Night of Fear. I had to watch the episode and keep pausing it to write all of it. So, I hope I got the lines right, please tell me if I didn't. I hope you like this! Oh, and my explanation of Otto's fear really doesn't make much sense considering the power of his saws, but it was all I could come up with that would make sense. If you have something better, please tell me! :DD Enjoy!

Useful

Chiro found himself in a very familiar night. He looked around, confused, then suddenly, the memory took over and he was his past self.

Chiro, Otto, Antauri, and Gibson made their way through the darkened Super Robot. They didn't know who or what was causing all of their fears to come to life. Sprx had lost his eyesight, Gibson had become irrational, Nova lost her nerve, and Antauri was slowly losing control of his robotic body. They were also being attacked by the Robot's own defenses. They were to try to turn off the defense grid.

"It's been sealed! We can't get into the engine room!" Chiro said.

"I'll phase through and shut off the defense grid." Antauri stretched out his arm and entered 'ghost mode'.An alarm blared and several small robots came out and began shooting lasers at them.

"Go, Antauri, go!" Chiro yelled. Then, he turned to the Robots. "Monkey Fu!" He destroyed several of the little robots. Otto threw his saws and destroyed a few more. But several more advanced, unaffected by the attacks. Antauri tried to get through the door, but was having great difficulty squeezing through. In fact, half way through, his phase quit entirely for his lower half, leaving him stuck, halfway through the door. He continued to try to reach the switch, but the rest of the phase quit just as he was about to reach the switch.

"Antauri, your face! What's happened to your face!" Gibson said, pointing at the stuck silver monkey. Suddenly, Antauri regained the upper half of his phase, and as Gibson was hit with a laser and crashed into the lower half of the monkey stuck in the door, giving him the push he needed to reach the switch and deactivate the defense grid.

"Antauri did it," Chiro said with relief as the Robots about to attack him and Otto went back to their places. He smiled at Otto, and they turned to the stuck Antauri.

"He's still stuck!" Otto said, hurrying over and beginning to cut around Antauri saying, "I'll get 'im out."

Chiro came over and helped Gibson up. "And then we'll get Sprx and Nova, and track down who's ever behind this!"

Just as he said this, a familiar voice said, "There's no need to track me down." They turned to see Mandarin approaching them. "For I have no fear of confronting sniveling weaklings, like you." He laughed.

"Mandarin!" Chiro said disbelievingly.

"No way," Otto said, stepping forward, saws in the air. "You were a goner!"

"And you look fantastic!" Gibson said.

"Otto, let's get him!" Chiro said angrily.

Otto jumped into the air, but Mandarin held up his amulet, and a shield protected him from Otto's attack. Otto was slammed into a wall, falling to the floor. So, Chiro jumped forward yelling, "Thunder Punch!" But once again, Mandarin held up the amulet and the magic turned Chiro into a young boy. "What?" He said, looking at himself, and hitting Mandarin's bone claw with a feeble punch. Mandarin threw him back. "Ow!" Chiro cried as he somersaulted across the floor.

"Chiro!" Otto said worriedly.

Mandarin laughed and walked up to Chiro. "Look at yourself! Your greatest fear has come true!" Chiro looked down at himself sadly, whimpering. "Yes," Mandarin said softly, words becoming louder as he said, "you're nothing but a powerless little boy!" Chiro drew back from him in fear. Mandarin's laughter echoed in the hall.

"I'm confused," Gibson turned to Otto. "Is this supposed to be funny?"

Chiro drew his knees to him and cried into them. Mandarin's face held a mockery of pity. "Aw, you poor pathetic, powerless child." Mandarin 'sniffled'. "Allow me to end your misery!" But then he smirked and once again held up his amulet, a glint in his eye as he drew Antauri out of the door. "But not by my hand, by your friend's!" Chiro's eyes widened in shock, sadness, and worry for Antauri.

"Mandarin," Antauri said, "release me!" The magic was causing him pain as he spoke.

"Your greatest fear is realized Antauri," Mandarin sneered softly. "Your will is no longer your own!" The last words Mandarin spoke loudly and with obvious pleasure. Antauri's arms became ghost claws and held boomerangs as he turned to Chiro.

"Run Chiro! Get away from me!" Chiro, eyes wide, turned and obeyed the silver monkey. Antauri groaned with the effort of trying to resist Mandarin's hold on him. But he failed, and he threw the boomerangs and they would have hit Chiro if Otto had not sliced them with his saws. One of the pieces hit the open button, and as Chiro picked himself off the ground, Otto turned to him.

"Get outta here, Chiro. I'll hold 'im off." He turned back around. Chiro got up and ran for the exit. Gibson was beside him.

"Perhaps we should stay, discuss our differences with Mandarin," Gibson said.

"Gibson!" Chiro said sharply.

Otto continued to block the boomerangs, until one hit him in the nose. "Ow!" He turned and followed Chiro and Gibson.

"Hunt them down and destroy them, my soulless slave," Mandarin said to Antauri, as Antauri's pupils disappeared. Then, Antauri straightened, his effort to break free abandoned. He marched forward, after the others.

Suddenly, the memory jolted forward, but this was not something Chiro remembered. Antauri was once again approaching him, but this time, there was no one to save him. He looked down. He was still a young child. He could not use the Power Primate, and none of his weak punches and kicks would stop Antauri. Antauri brought his ghost claw above his head, and slashed down . . .

And then Chiro woke up, eyes snapping open, jolting up in his bed. He was breathing heavily with fear. He remembered that night. Two of his greatest fears had come true that night. He had been useless to the monkey team, and his 'father' had tried to kill him . . . and in his dream, he had succeeded. Chiro sat up, and swung his feet over the bed to rest on the ground. Any moment now, Antauri would be in here, for he would have sensed that something was bothering Chiro.

Chiro looked towards the door, waiting for his father and mentor to come in and to help him overcome what was bothering him, and then they would go back to bed and have a peaceful slumber. Soon, Antauri came through the door.

"Is something troubling you Chiro?" Antauri asked, the way he always did.

Chiro nodded, and explained his dream to Antauri, as Antauri came and sat next to Chiro on the bed.

Antauri nodded. "I too, think a lot about that night. I often have nightmares about it."

Chiro blinked. "You-you do?" He had never really thought about Antauri having nightmares. He had always seemed just kind of . . . above it all. Of course, Chiro realized that this was foolish.

Antauri nodded again. "Yes. And as I think about it, I realize something. Each of our fears have to do with our family." Chiro looked at the wise monkey, listening. "Sprx's contribution to the team is piloting. Not only is it the thing he loves to do, it is also his position on the team. What makes him useful, if you will. Without his sight, he is useless. Gibson is our scientist. It is his knowledge that makes him feel important on the team. What makes him useful, without it he is not. Nova is our best fighter. She has great courage on the battlefield. It makes her useful, without it she is not. The Super Robot has become attached to all of us. We are his family. He could not bear to lose us. We make him useful, without us he is not. Otto's fear was a bit harder to decipher. But, his main weapon is saws. He uses them to cut his enemies. With clams, his saws don't penetrate them as easy, and with their giant mouths and feet, they seem quite formidable, or at least not something to be underestimated. Fighting giant clams would make him useless. For me, I could not bear to lose any of you. To lose you would make me useless. I also do not want to be used as a tool for the enemy. You are our leader. You do not want to return to being a child for that would mean having no power to protect us." Chiro nodded. Antauri was being a little cold in his explanation, but Chiro would wait patiently for the end, for he was sure Antauri had a point with this. "But, what none of us seem to realize is that even without what we think makes us useful, we are still useful. Maybe we cannot do the thing we love, or that makes us feel important. But we are a family. We can still comfort each other, and help one another. There is no reason why we cannot." Antauri smiled, reaching the point of his lecture.

Chiro nodded. "Of course . . . so, even without what makes us 'useful' we are still useful." Chiro understood. "Thanks Antauri!" He smiled widely, and hugged the silver monkey.

Antauri hugged him back. "You're welcome Chiro. Now, get back to bed. We have a big day of training and fighting tomorrow."

Chiro nodded, and lay back down. Antauri tucked him in, and they said goodnight. Antauri left, and Chiro fell asleep, comforted by Antauri's words of wisdom.

Tauria: Well, there you go! I hope you liked it! Please leave a review :DD