Chapter 19: Storm Clouds and Eldritch Abominations
To miaandb: Valerie is what TV Tropes calls the sane man of the group. Everyone goes along with all the magical or scientific nonsense going on while the sane man questions everything. Sane men are rarely the main character, but I'm trying to change that here. So for now, Valerie has a smaller role to play, but it all adds up to a bigger role later on. You just have to wait and see.
It was crisp, bright afternoon. The tree leaves were a multitude of colors-orange, yellow, red, green- and the different types of grass made the earth seem like a giant patchwork quilt. Birds were even chirping. All in all it was a nice day to just lie on the grass and let the breeze take your troubles away.
"So where's the Heart of Jong?" Valerie asked getting back to the task at hand.
Dojo landed on the ground after shrinking and pointed northwest. "That a-way!"
Everyone immediately scattered with Clay tipping his hat with a, "Much obliged, Dojo."
Valerie looked around, lifting her black trucker baseball cap off her eyes. "If I were a metal, beating heart, where would I hide?" She shuddered over what she just said. "Okay, that's a gross picture."
"Not as gross as you look!" Raimundo twisted her hat around so that the peak was at the back of her head. He blew a raspberry as he ran away.
Valerie huffed at took of her hat and put the peak out in front, where the word 'DORK' was printed. She ran her fingers through her tousled hair and slid them down the loose waves of her hair. As she put her hat back on she silently followed Raimundo, waiting for the moment to strike.
Raimundo knelt down at one end of a log and called out, "Hello?"
The log echoed back with, "Hello, hello, h-h-hello?"
"Dude, sweet acoustics!"
Valerie crept up behind the boy and lightly kicked his backside. He fell face first into the log, his rump sticking out slightly.
"Revenge is mine!" Valerie shouted as she ran away. She could hear Raimundo grumbling as he got out of the log.
She ran towards Omi, who had one hand in the hollow of a tree. "My friends," he said triumphantly, bringing out his hand, "I present to you…a squirrel?"
Said squirrel bit Omi's hand. The little monk screamed in pain and ran away with the little critter still attached. "GET THE DISEASE CARRYING VERMIN OFF OF ME!"
"Behold, the mighty Xiaolin Dragon of the Water," Kimiko scoffed as cool as ever. She seemed especially cool in her blue coat dress and yellow and white knee high socks. The look was contrasted by her orange-red hair, teased back into a loose ponytail. Valerie on the other hand was wearing a blue t-shirt with cap sleeves and the number seven stitched in red on her chest and jeans. She never did bother to look as fancy as Kimiko.
"Not his proudest moment, is it?" Clay agreed with the Asian girl.
Omi finally slammed into a tree, the squirrel finally letting go. Something had fallen out of the tree. Something large and round. Valerie started to walk up to Omi to get a closer look. She could vaguely hear something, something almost like a-
"The Heart of Jong!" Omi gasped, staring at the pinkish, heart-shaped Wu. "I have jacked the hit-pot!"
A white plug fell from the sky. "Thanks!" Jack Spicer lifted the Wu off the ground. "And it's 'hit the jackpot.' As in, Jack-Pot Spicer; that's my nickname, you know."
"It is so not," Wuya said from beside the evil genius.
"They don't need to know that. Smell you later losers!" Jack added loudly as he made for his escape. What he didn't know was that Clay had lassoed his leg while he was distracted. He struggled against the rope while Clay just stood there on the ground, in control.
"You'll smell us now, you dirty snake!" he called out angrily.
"Smell us now?" Kimiko said.
"Clay's villain taunting needs serious work," Raimundo noted.
Suddenly Jack's flying poles broke apart and he fell to the ground, the lasso going limp. The Heart of Jong tumbled out of his backpack. It made gross squishy noises as it rolled away.
Jack latched onto the rolling heart at the same time Omi did. "I challenge you, Jack Spicer, to a Xiaolin Showdown!" Omi declared.
Jack sighed. "Name it."
Omi looked around as his friends crowded around them. "The challenge should suit the environment." He looked to his right. "We shall gather acorns!"
"Like a squirrel?" Jack asked in puzzlement.
"Oh yes!" Omi said brightly. "Squirrels are most fearsome opponents! My Jetbootsu versus your Lotus Twister. Whoever gathers the most acorns in two minutes wins!"
Both opponents jumped into the air and shouted, "LET'S GO: XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN!"
The trees began to grow taller, taller, reaching the sky. Branches grew longer, jutting out of trunks. Kimiko's watch beeped loudly. The Heart of Jong flew upwards.
"GONG YI TAN PAI!" Both boys landed on the ground. Jack immediately shouted, "Lotus Twister!" and his arms stretched out to insane lengths. He quickly grabbed acorns off of branches and shoved them into his coat.
"Easy pickins'!" he sneered.
"Jetbootsu!" Omi shouted as the anti-gravity boots suddenly appeared on his feet. He flew up and quickly nabbed the little nuts from the trees.
Both boys had separate piles of acorns, both in different trees. Each pile quickly got bigger and bigger. Valerie didn't know how the branches would sustain them all.
She yawned loudly. "This is boring. Wake me up when something interesting happens." She leaned against the closest warm body-Raimundo, she thought-and closed her eyes. She was about to nod off into sleepy land when she suddenly heard screaming. She jerked awake in time to see Omi fly over her and land into his pile of acorns.
The acorns flew apart, flying in one single direction: over to Jack. A gigantic pile covered him from head to foot.
And then the Showdown ended.
The Heart of Jong slowly landed in front of the Jack pile just as the boy genius emerged from his acorn home. "I'll take that!" he said as the Jetbootsu slowly glided towards him. "And the Jetbootsu too!"
"At last," Wuya said nearly salivating, "the Heart of Jong is mine!"
"You can get to work on that carefully worded apology now," Jack said pompously.
Omi then fell out of tree, landing on the ground. He rubbed his head, the place that was hit when he landed. The others ran to him.
"Did I win?" the little monk asked.
"No, but you made one squirrel very happy." Dojo jerked a thumb at the giant acorn pile, where a squirrel was euphorically throwing nuts in the air.
Back at the Temple
It was nearly dark when they got back. The air was getting chillier and Omi was still depressed over what happened. "My performance in the Showdown was truly wacky."
"Whack," Kimiko corrected him.
"Whack what?!" Omi shouted in alarm.
"Never mind."
"I sense disappointment." Master Fung emerged from the nearest doorway. It was kind of cool, the way he did it.
"Shame forbids me from speaking of my wacky failure," Omi told him sullenly. Kimiko groaned while Raimundo and Valerie rolled their eyes.
"Omi just lost a Xiaolin Showdown," Clay quickly explained.
"You must learn that life is a river, and ebbs and flows," Master Fung told the little monk cheerfully.
"You mean, you win some, you lose some?" Raimundo explained.
"Precisely, Raimundo."
"You couldn't have said that like a normal person?" Valerie muttered.
"While we should endeavor to win the Shen Gong Wu, it is not the end of life as we know it if we occasionally lose one," Fung said. Everyone cheered up at that; even Omi.
"So, Omi, which Shen Gong Wu did you lose?"
"The Heart of Jong," he said.
Master Fung's cheery demeanor vanished as he gasped loudly. His face turned blue and he staggered back slowly, hitting his head against a large bell. "That means," he stuttered out, "the end of life as we know it."
Everyone gasped dramatically except Valerie. Instead she threw her hat on the ground and cried, "But you just said it wouldn't come to that. You can't just do a turn on us!"
Hazel and Theo were in the living room in their posh apartment. Theo was watching a movie on the Sci-Fi channel and Hazel was working on something on the floor. Blueprints were stretched out on the hardwood floor and she was fiddling with something metallic in her hands. Vaguely they could hear the sounds of the Big Apple through the thin walls.
Suddenly they both heard angry metal music pounding against the windows. Theo shot up from the expensive couch and Hazel stood up. "Jack," they said in unison. As if on autopilot the twins made their way to the kitchen, where they had hidden their Shen Gong Wu in the oven. Normally this would have raised alarms from their parents, but since they were never home and the kids did the cleaning themselves, it seemed like a good place to hide the mystical artifacts.
Jack-Bots crashed into the ornate windows and rained glass on the floor. Jack Spicer hovered into the living room with his ghostly companion in tow. Both sneered at the Armstrong twins.
"Jack Spicer, evil boy genius, has graced you with his presence," the redhead said pompously. "Hand over the Eye of Dashi and the Third-Arm Sash and I won't wreck the rest of your home."
"This wasn't part of our agreement, Jack," Theo snarled. "You test something out for us, we let you have some Shen Gong Wu and you let us keep the few we have."
Jack wagged a finger at them. "But I'm evil, remember? Agreements and alliances mean nothing to me."
"Which means that we can take all their Shen Gong Wu," Wuya said with her usual greasy grin. Hazel and Theo growled at her but she only laughed. "Be silent you little pests! Be thankful that we give you the option of simply handing them over instead of making the great demon warrior take them from you!"
"The great demon warrior?" Theo repeated. Both twins turned to Jack in confusion. The boy genius pointed to himself as if to ask, "Me?"
"Not him!" Wuya screeched. "Mala Mala Jong!"
"We don't know who that is," Hazel pointed out.
"Of course you don't," the ghostly witch scoffed. "He is an ancient demon warrior that is all evil and completely indestructible. Battling him would be no easy task."
No easy task, huh? Hazel thought for a moment. Her eyes glided over the Louis Vuitton furniture that made up most of the living space, the expensive paintings hanging from the walls, and the now broken windows that had an ornate design on them. It wasn't worth fighting with this Mala Mala Jong character. Not in their wealthy home. Their parents would kill them. Besides, there were always more Wu to be found.
"Okay Wuya," Hazel finally said. "You got yourself a deal."
That night
Valerie woke up shaking again. She seethed; how many freaking times was she going to wake up in the middle of the night thanks to some nightmare?
Although the Sapphire Dragon didn't actually appear this time. Or did it? Valerie didn't really remember. She could recall the same flooded hallway and the same wine-colored dress, but overall she didn't know if she had been eaten alive or not. Still, she woke up shaking in her sheets, terrified out of her mind.
Valerie closed her eyes and lay back down on her pillow. She tossed and turned for what felt like an eternity, but she simply couldn't get back to sleep. She sat up with a huff and groped around for her familiar blue hoodie. She needed another walk.
Once fully covered-and wearing her soft brown moccasins-she made her way around the little village. She stopped once she was near the front entrance. For a second it was dusk again, and Master Fung had just told his students that the end of all life would come thanks to the Heart of Jong. And then she blinked and the memory vanished.
Valerie shook her head. The master's reaction had been far too serious to take lightly, but once she thought about it, the entire affair seemed ridiculous. There was no way one single Shen Gong Wu could bring about the end of the world. A trunk full of super powerful Wu yes, but a single beating heart? It was doubtful.
Or was it? What did the Heart of Jong even do? No one had said anything about the talisman's purpose. Did it pump life into inanimate objects, forcing them to become Eldritch Abominations? Or did it have some other sinister purpose, like the maleficent Sapphire Dragon?
Valerie shuddered violently. She still didn't know if the beast had invaded her dreams recently, but the horrible feeling of fear suddenly grew tenfold inside her. She turned around and walked at a brisk pace away from the front entrance. She needed to tire herself out so she could sleep.
By the time she arrived at the dorms, she was satisfied that she would sleep peacefully for another few hours. And then she would arise like a normal teenage zombie, ready to argue for shower time like always. She had to; the others were suspecting that she wasn't sleeping right. They never said anything, but every now and then one of them would look at her strangely and ask if she was tired.
And Valerie would always lie and say she wasn't, or she was tired from the recent lesson. She was too embarrassed to tell them she was having nightmares or that she didn't know how to deal with them. The others had nightmares when they were younger and knew how to work around them. Valerie didn't. She never had a reason to be afraid of something as long as logic and Eric's guidance prevailed.
But Eric's advice could only go so far in regards to her mental health, and the Sapphire Dragon defied logic. True, all the Shen Gong Wu did but the Dragon even more so. Wu didn't normally move on its own and turn everything moving into sapphire statues. But the Sapphire Dragon did and that broke all the rules. True, it was inactive now and would hopefully stay that way, but it was possible for someone to steal the soot-covered Wu and force it out of hibernation.
If Valerie told her friends her fears, they would just pity her and tell her that no, no one would steal the Dragon, it couldn't hurt anyone again. But it simply wasn't true. At some point in time someone would activate the Wu and set it upon the world again. It may be when Valerie was far away from the Temple or after she died and left the earth, or even within the next few days, but someday the Sapphire Dragon would rise again. It was a possibility that seemed inevitable.
No. Valerie couldn't tell them. They wouldn't get it. They would pretend, oh they would pretend, but it would only be soft, shallow words that meant nothing. Anyone can say sweet things to calm some hysterical person down, but Valerie wasn't hysterical. She was too logical for that. But the others wouldn't understand.
Valerie went to bed on that unpleasant note.
The next morning was even grimmer.
"We were robbed?" Raimundo repeated. "That's, what, the second time?"
Valerie put her chopsticks into her bowl of rice and slowly clapped her hands. "Very good, Rai; you can count." The boy shot her a glare.
While they were distracting everyone, Master Fung got out a crinkly spreadsheet with a funny looking…thing sketched on it. It was clearly made up of Shen Gong Wu: the Two-Ton Tunic was its torso, the Third-Arm Sash and Fist of Tebigong was its arms, the Jetbootsu was its feet, and a scary looking helmet made up its head. All the Wu was connected by some type of fire, forming a body.
"Mala Mala Jong," Master Fung said gravely. "It is an ancient demon warrior made up of numerous Shen Gong Wu like the Helmet of Jong and the Two-Ton Tunic. It is brought to life only when certain Shen Gong Wu have been brought together, including the Heart of Jong."
Omi gulped audibly.
"In addition to incredible strength, Mala Mala Jong also has the power of each of the Shen Gong Wu that make up its form. I expect Wuya to attack before the end of the day."
"So, tonight's potluck is off then?" Dojo said glibly. All five dragons-in-training turned to glare at him. "Just asking," he quickly amended.
Omi raised his hand. "Master, how will we fight this Mala Mala Jong?"
"You won't Omi," Master Fung ordered. "You and the other chosen ones will take our Shen Gong Wu and flee the Temple grounds immediately."
Everyone stood up, knocking over breakfast bowls and protesting: "Like hell we will!" Raimundo shouted.
"You can't expect us to leave you behind!" Clay cried.
"That is such bullshit! You need us!" Valerie yelled.
Master Fung silenced them with a single raised hand. "The remaining Shen Gong Wu must not fall into Wuya's hands. You will protect them at all costs. Now go!"
"I didn't spend all this time training to run and hide!" Raimundo protested angrily. "I'm not afraid of this Mala Mala Ding-Jong thing!"
"This is no time for recklessness Raimundo! Do as you are told!"
Raimundo glared at the master until the others pulled him away.
After loading up a large wooden trunk with all the Shen Gong Wu and putting it on Dojo's back, they were nearly ready to leave. Valerie and Raimundo were about to board when Kimiko pointed to the distance. "What's that?"
They all turned to see a blue fire burning a straight line through the tall grass not far from the Temple. "Mala Mala Jong, I presume," Valerie deadpanned. "And here we are running far away from him. Come on Rai." She pulled at his arm and slowly dragged him towards Dojo. He was glaring at the rapidly approaching demon warrior, teeth clenched until it hurt.
"Now is not the time to be a hero!" Clay told him. "We need to leave!" On that note Raimundo hopped onto Dojo's back with Valerie in tow and they sped off towards the afternoon sun.
It took a while, but Dojo eventually found a cave in a mountain a long, long way from the Xiaolin Temple. Said cave was up high so Wuya and her demonic pet couldn't easily reach them. The cave was also dark and cold, so the boys went to get firewood while the girls checked over supplies. Valerie wanted to get firewood herself, but she was too loyal to just leave Kimiko behind.
Valerie tugged Clay's enormous camping bag into the middle of the cave. The cowboy had lent it to them and told them to get some food and other amenities while the others collected the Wu. So after collecting blankets and pillows the two of them raided the kitchen for any food that would survive the next few days. They even threw in some plates and utensils and a Dutch oven just in case.
"So what do we have, exactly?" Kimiko wondered as she got out the heavy Dutch oven. It looked pristine; Valerie guessed the monks didn't use it often.
She looked over the sparse amount of food and extra supplies. "We got two small jugs of water, some iodine, a few cans of ravioli, some baked beans, some canned peaches, a bag of frozen sausages, some granola bars and some mixed vegetables." Valerie made a face. "I'm not much of a cook. Do you think we can make a meal out of this?"
"I never really cooked much either," Kimiko admitted. "But there's gotta be directions on the labels."
"We are back!" Omi cried out cheerfully, his giant yellow head nearly hidden behind all the twigs he was carrying.
"We got ourselves a good haul," Clay added once he stepped inside the cave. He was carrying an entire bundle of logs on his back. "I reckon it should last us all night."
"Great," Valerie said. "Kimiko and I will get some water to fill up the pots. Do you think you can figure out a way to make a meal out of the things we brought?"
Clay put away his load of wood and peered over at the supplies. "It doesn't seem so bad. But I'm guessing you just kind of grabbed anything you could get your hands on."
"We were panicking," Kimiko said sheepishly while Valerie rubbed her head and averted her eyes.
"No worries. Let Chef Clay do all the work," the cowboy said proudly.
"Sweet! Thanks Clay!" The girls high fived each other while Omi stared at them in puzzlement.
"But I thought girls worked best in the kitchen," he said innocently, question marks blipping around his head.
"The only thing I ever made in the kitchen was the occasional dessert," Kimiko said.
"And Eric always did all the cooking," Valerie recalled.
"Hey, has anyone seen Rai?" Kimiko wondered just as the Lusitanic boy stalked into the room. A dark cloud seemed to be hanging over him. A scowl stretched across his face. He unloaded the logs off his back with a sharp thump.
"Here comes Johnny Sunshine," Valerie said dryly. Raimundo glared at her.
Suddenly a roll of thunder crackled from far away. Everyone could see black clouds hanging over the horizon. "We need to hurry and get that water," Kimiko announced. "Dojo, can you fly us to the river?"
Dojo slithered out of Omi's sleeve and slid across the rocky floor. "You got it."
About an hour later
After Dojo and the girls got the water back, they immediately purified it with the iodine. Iodine tablets would have worked better, but the liquid version would help with any cuts and bruises. And besides, the tablets and the liquid version were basically the same thing.
While they had been away, the guys had moved everything farther into the back of the cave. That way none of their few supplies could get soaked from the rain. When the girls finally arrived a small fire was already prepared. They immediately set everything up and Clay worked his magic.
As Clay cooked, the storm grew closer blocking out the sun with its darkness. And then the rain fell. But it wasn't gentle. Instead it was giant sleets of water falling from the sky. The wind howled and the thunder cracked and lightning illuminated the sky, forcing the viewers to think it was afternoon again. It was simply that bright.
Inside the cave though, it was softly lit. While it was still chilly-there was no way to block out all the wind, the opening of the cave made sure of that-the fire roared in the middle, casting a warm glow. And it smelled nice too. No one had really seen what Clay had cooked up, but it smelled wonderful.
"Suppertime!" Clay finally called out. Everyone immediately crowded around nearly salivating. The cowboy uncovered a small pot to reveal the mixed vegetables. "We need those vitamins, you know," he noted.
When he uncovered the bigger pot, everyone recoiled in revulsion. "Oh come on, it's not that bad!" Clay protested angrily.
"You mixed sausages with peaches!" Raimundo griped. "That's so nasty!"
"Just think of it as sweet and sour chicken," Clay said. "Only without the sour part."
Everyone began to protest, but all their stomachs began to growl loudly. A cold breeze flew into the back of the cave thanks to the storm. The pot of meat and fruit bubbled.
Defeated, Omi handed out plates to his comrades.
…It tasted better than they thought.
True, it was a weird flavor, but it wasn't bad (it didn't taste like sweet and sour chicken though). If anyone had any complaints they had the veggies to balance out the flavor. And it was a warm meal, and that's all everyone really cared out.
And during the dinner, everyone was actually happy. There wasn't much talking, but they could all pretend that they were out camping instead of protecting talismans from a monster. Master Fung and the Temple wasn't under attack, and life as they knew it wasn't about to end. It was just an illusion, but a soft and happy one.
But it ended too soon. An hour later the storm was still raging and it wasn't going to let up soon. And then reality hit like an anvil; up until now they had all been in denial, but now they had a job to do. Not that they were happy about it.
"So, what, we just sit here and wait for him to find us?" Kimiko asked rhetorically.
"I know what'll calm us down!" Dojo piped up quickly. "Let's sing songs, or tell ghost stories, or-I know! S'mores!"
Raimundo, who had been calm about an hour ago, stopped his pacing of the cave. "Mala Mala Jong is attacking the Temple right now! We should be fighting with Master Fung!"
"Master Fung ordered us to guard the Shen Gong Wu," Omi reminded him. "All we can do is formulate a plan to defeat Mala Mala Jong…in case…"
"Master Fung fails," Clay finished his voice tiny.
Something cold settled inside Valerie. She could picture it, the fallen, broken body of her teacher. Her hands shook slightly.
"The Heart of Jong must be the key," Omi declared. "Wuya was most glad when Jack Spicer won it."
"And Master Fung was pretty spooked when he found out Wuya got it," Clay noted.
"So maybe if we take out the Heart, the whole warrior goes back to being plain old Shen Gong Wu," Kimiko said.
"As plain as Shen Gong Wu get, at least," Clay admitted.
Valerie could see out of the corner of her eye Rai grabbing the Sword of the Storm from the open trunk. The others were too busy strategizing to notice him creep out the cave. But Valerie did. She silently followed him into the rain.
Raimundo was walking a ways from the cave. She followed him, the rain soaking through her clothes within seconds. It was dark and the wind fought against her, but Valerie followed the red dot that made up the Brazilian boy.
And then she saw him lift the Sword up. It was beginning to glow. Valerie could picture it, his broken, bloody body right next to Fung's.
"NO!" she shouted, at the vision or the boy right in front of her she didn't know. The wind was howling-her voice should have been lost and yet he heard her. He turned, shocked, the incantation dying on his lips.
"What are you doing?" he yelled at her. "Get back in the cave!"
She grabbed his arm. "You're going in too."
He tried vainly to shake her off. "I'm not going to just sit there and let Master Fung die when I can help him!"
"Don't you think I get that?" Valerie cried out. "Did you honestly think I was cruel enough to write Master Fung off the moment we left?"
Raimundo blinked. Evidently he did think that, at least for a moment. Finally he said, "No, not really."
"We need to trust Master Fung that he's got everything under control," Valerie said quickly. "And we need to protect the Shen Gong Wu or Wuya will be unstoppable."
"But I can't-!" Raimundo turned in the direction of the Temple. "I can't just sit around and do nothing!"
"And if you go you'll die!"
"No I won't!"
"You will!" She could see them, the far away family lost in shadows. They were fading away, these imaginary people. But they were easily replaced by the corpses of the people she cared about.
"You can't die!" she screamed. "I can't lose another person!" She was crying, the tears blending with the rain falling on her face. She was tightening her hold on him, her fingers losing all feeling. She cried out one last pitiful plea:
"DON'T GO!"
He dropped his arm, the Sword falling at his side. He pulled her in close, just enough for her face to touch his shoulder. "I won't go," he said, his mouth close to her ear. "I'll stay. So stop crying, okay?"
Valerie was shaking as hot tears slid down her face. She cried out one last howl of anguish as the storm raged on.
Yes, I have eaten a meal of cooked sausages and peaches. Yes, it tastes pretty good. It's a bit of an acquired taste though.
You know, I've never read a story where Raimundo hasn't temporary joined the dark side. I thought I change that. So, thoughts anyone?