Chapter 38: Nightmares and Sumo Wrestlers
OH MY GOD GUYS.
...I actually updated when I said I would.
PROGRESS. *throws confetti into the air*
In the episode this chapter is based off of, we get to see Jack in his awesome evil cape. XD Blink and you'll miss it: there's a split second frame that makes Jack look like Nosferatu. And don't get me started on the frame of Jack looking like Aku. I just started laughing at that one.
Also, Omi's hair oh my god I can't even-
A black blindfold over her eyes, Valerie slowly made her way through the obstacle course. It was the same one she and the others had been using to train since they arrived at the Temple, but now it seemed much more perilous due to her temporary blindness. One wrong move and the normally easily avoidable traps would maim her.
Taking a cautious step forward, Valerie listened as her foot crunched on the dirt. She strained her ear, desperate for any sign that an obstacle was headed her way. There was a creaking noise and a sudden rush of wind near her left; she quickly flipped to the right. Her hands skipped over something cool and sharp. She dodged the impending attack, back arched and landing lightly on her feet.
Except that wasn't enough. Just as soon as she landed something flew past her from behind. For a split second she could feel something cold nearly pressing into her back, her braid flying along with the force of the wind. She stood stock still as another blade sliced the air in front of her, nearly cutting off her nose.
Suddenly a bell rang, and the swinging axes slowed to a stop. Valerie took off her blindfold to see that she was in the direct center of the swinging axes; a single step further and she would have been shish kebab. Letting out a whimper she and Clay escaped from the death trap and joined the others. They were all looking up at Master Fung, who was meditating atop a wooden pole with steps jutting out of it. He was so high up that his bald head blocked out a part of the sun.
"Your courage is admirable, Dragons-in-training," he pointed out, "yet the bravest monk is not the one who fears nothing, but the one who is willing to face what he fears most."
Omi ran up to the pole and boldly declared, "Jack Spicer cannot defeat me, even with the Shadow of Fear, because I have never met a fear that I was afraid of."
"Doubtful," Valerie muttered under her breath.
That night
Valerie slogged through the water in the long, dim hallway, her wine-colored skirts drenched.
"Oh not this again!" she raged as she threw off her silk slippers. A Shen Gong Wu suddenly materialized in midair: the Star Hanabi. A wicked grin spreading across her face, she grabbed the Wu and started the incantation. "Star-!"
"You know, that's a surprisingly good look on you." Valerie whirled around to see Jack Spicer of all people in her dream, wearing a nightmarish black cape. He tapped at his chin, a curious expression on his face. "Victorian wear suits you."
Stupefied, Valerie just asked, "What are you doing here?"
He grinned evilly and announced, "Time to meet your fear Val!" He then did his annoying evil laugh just as indigo smoke flooded the hall. Valerie turned around to see the Sapphire Dragon looming over her. It was no longer beautiful; her mind had long since distorted the memory so now it appeared as a true nightmare, all long sharp fangs and drooling mouth and wicked blue eyes.
"Man, that's actually pretty scary," Jack commented as the Dragon's fangs snapped over Valerie.
That morning
Valerie yawned and sluggishly collected the plates from the cupboard. She walked past Clay flipping pancakes by the stove, Omi karate chopping eggs into a bowl, and Raimundo squeezing oranges with his bare hands. All three of them looked as exhausted as she felt.
Kimiko then walked into the kitchen, carrying a plate of cooked bacon. Suddenly Omi face planted into the bowl, throwing the egg he was holding into the air. It landed on Clay's shoulder, oozing yellow. Startled, he sent the pancake he was cooking at Raimundo. It landed on his face, making the Lusitanic boy stagger back, spilling orange juice all over the floor.
That was when Valerie slid on the liquid. With a cry of surprise she pitched forward before falling on her back. The plates when flying before shattering on the ground. The noise startled Kimiko, who jumped backward, sending the bacon straight at Omi. Two strips landed on his forehead, right over his eyebrows. The resulting face would have been hilarious had they all not been so worn-out.
"Sorry," Clay said, wiping raw egg off his shoulder. "I guess I'm a tad tired. I didn't get enough shut eye to put the wag in a flea's tail."
Master Fung chose that moment to walk in. "Looks like my young monks had trouble sleeping last night."
"Actually I had a pretty gross dream." Raimundo clenched his fist and winced. "Jack Spicer was in it."
Clay shot forward to get into Rai's space. "Me too," he revealed. He clenched a meaty fist. "Did he do his evil laugh?"
"Yeah, and it was so annoying," Kimiko griped.
"It kept ringing in my ears all night long," Valerie complained.
"Now that Jack has the Shadow of Fear, it is very possible that he has been visiting your dreams," Master Fung hypothesized.
"Talk about wanting to wash my brain out," Kimiko said, shuddering.
"I don't like him in the real world, I don't want him in my head too," Valerie said, sickened.
Omi chose that moment to stand in front of them all. Mimicking a proud and heroic stance, he announced, "I am not afraid of anything Jack Spicer may find inside my head."
Master Fung smiled. "Omi, since you are so unafraid, you will watch over the Shen Gong Wu."
With that settled Valerie turned around and immediately recoiled in disgust. "Who left all these fingernail clippings here?"
Later in the evening
After dinner Omi left to go guard the Vault. The others retreated to their dorms, doing their nightly rituals before heading off to bed. Valerie was about to plug into another episode of Doctor Who when Kimiko popped her head into the room.
"Still in the mood for ice cream?" she asked. She brandished the small tub like a peace offering.
"Always," Valerie admitted, quickly exiting the tab and powering down her laptop. "What's the occasion?"
"We need to celebrate the fact…" Kimiko peered over to the hallway making sure Clay and Raimundo weren't up and about. They usually weren't-Clay tended to practice yoga or read and Rai listened to music and played videogames at this time every day- but it never hurt to be careful.
"…the fact that you have a crush," she finished softly. She plopped down on Valerie's mat and held up two spoons.
Valerie arched an eyebrow. "No bowls?"
"Too much evidence," Kimiko said, taking the lid off. Valerie took a look at the flavor printed on the front and shrugged. She was fond of both strawberries and cheesecake.
"Do girls normally do this?" she asked curiously as Kimiko scooped up some ice cream. "Outside of movies I mean," she quickly added.
"Keiko and I did it," Kimiko said before shoving the spoon in her mouth. After swallowing she asked, "So, when did you realize you had a crush?"
Valerie was about to answer when she stopped herself. She quickly spooned some ice cream into her mouth to cover it up. She wanted to tell Kimiko about that winter night, when Raimundo had caught her walking around the Temple so late at night and talked to her about her nightmares. She wanted to tell her about how they stayed up late, eating fruit preserves and watching the snow slowly fall from the sky and cover the gardens in a soft blanket.
She really did want to tell Kimiko that, but… it seemed wrong to do so. That moment belonged to Val and Rai alone. It felt like a betrayal of trust to suddenly speak about it so openly. Except that they never agreed to keep it a secret. It seemed like an unspoken pact between them. And they never did the activity again, so the moment seemed even more precious. Why was this so confusing?
Valerie had too many emotions to sift through and she felt them all bombard her within a span of a few seconds. Swallowing-it felt like she had a golf ball in her throat- she decided to go with a half truth.
"Remember when Master Fung gave us the day off and we spent it watching Disney movies?" Kimiko nodded, enraptured. "Well, during all of it I was sitting next to Rai, and I kept feeling…bubbly." It wasn't a lie, not completely. Valerie certainly did feel bubbly during that day, but it was because of the night before. Still, she figured Kimiko didn't need to know everything.
The girl in question looked like she wanted to squeal again, but quickly kept herself in check. She instead asked curiously, "What exactly do you mean by bubbly?"
Valerie took another bite of ice cream to think. "Like the one time Eric let me drink champagne. I felt all warm and tingly inside," she said finally.
"Did you feel lightheaded?"
She thought a moment. "Maybe…? I don't think so."
"How about now? Do you get sweaty palms, or do you feel weak in the knees, or…"
"No, and no," Valerie answered honestly. "I don't feel like swooning either." Kimiko chuckled at that. "It's more like I like being around him…? But I like being around you too," she quickly added, "and Clay and Omi, but Rai more so, I guess." She inwardly winced at how badly she worded that. Why did her emotions make her tongue tangle up?
"That…that actually sounds really nice," Kimiko admitted. "I think it sounds more real than what girls our age experience when they like somebody in the movies."
"So you don't think I'm weird that I don't act like a love-stricken idiot around him?" Valerie asked curiously.
She shook her head. "I'm sure some girls do, but acting like that really doesn't suit you."
Valerie nodded eagerly. "And I'm sure there's some grain of truth to the media's portrayal of love, but it seems so exaggerated, especially for girls our age. I mean, if you get tongue-tied, or get lightheaded or whatever, how exactly are you supposed to talk to your crush? If the romantic feelings don't tip them off, then they'll think you're an idiot!"
"I know!" Kimiko agreed as her spoon scraped the bottom of the tub. That surprised Valerie; she didn't remember the two of them devouring the ice cream. Still, her mouth was filled with the taste of cheesecake and strawberries, so it must have happened.
Suddenly there was a scream from the center of the campus. Kimiko and Valerie craned their necks out of the room and peered down the hallway. "Did you hear that?" Kimiko asked the others as the boys popped their heads out, Clay sporting a wild bed head.
"Sounded like a heifer with its tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole," Clay answered.
Everyone rushed out of the dorms and ran towards the Vault of the Shen Gong Wu. The staircase was open, and Omi was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly the stone steps crawled back up to the floor, revealing Jack Spicer with his arms full of Shen Gong Wu.
"Jack Spicer!" Valerie and the others snarled.
"In the flesh!" his voice rang out. "No autographs, please."
"Stop them!" Kimiko roared as they got into position. They all did their martial arts poses, kicking and punching and shouting things like, "Hi-yah!" and whatnot. Only Jack wasn't paying attention; he was arguing with Wuya about something.
Kimiko then sent a flying fist to Jack's face, sending him skidding towards the wall. Quickly shaking off the disorientation, he ordered, "Camera-bots, attack!"
Two robots appeared, only having clawed hands as weapons. Raimundo quickly punched one towards Clay, who kicked it towards the ceiling. It crashed through the glass. Kimiko slid under the second robot, punching it in its flaming hover spot. Valerie fell from the sky and landed on it feet first, sending it to the ground. She flipped forward as it exploded.
Jack flew towards the open hole in the glass ceiling. "Don't worry Xiaolin losers!" he crowed as Wuya and a camera-bot flew with him. "I'll thank you in my acceptance speech." His evil laugh was the only thing to linger as he escaped.
A few minutes later, Clay emerged from the Vault. "It's not too bad," he said reassuringly. "They only got a few of the Shen Gong Wu."
"Where's Omi?" Kimiko asked angrily. "He was supposed to be guarding the Temple!"
"Could be Dojo trying to devour the Shen Gong Wu again," Valerie said jokingly. Everyone glared at her. She held up her arms in mock surrender. "Yeah, okay, too soon."
They immediately went to searching the campus, running around on the rooftops and the ground in order to find Omi. It took twenty minutes, but Clay was the first to find the little guy in the gardens. He was sitting up against a tree, upside down. He was shaking, a terrified look on his face.
"Hey, what happened little partner?" Clay asked concerned. "You were supposed to be on guard."
"Maybe we should bring him inside," Kimiko told them. "He doesn't look too good." They all grimaced as Omi continued to whimper and shake.
It took a while for Omi to calm down, but once he did, he stuck to the sidelines as the other four went through their training motions in the center of campus.
"Everybody ready to kick some Jack Spicer butt?" Raimundo leaped towards Clay, his feet landing on his friend's hands. Clay lifted him into the air towards Kimiko.
"Does a bull like to snort?" he said rhetorically. Kimiko crouched downward, stretching out her legs and putting one arm in the air. Raimundo landed on it, his palm on hers, in a state of perfect balance.
"Yeah, I couldn't have put it better myself," Kimiko said wryly.
Omi's voice suddenly rang out. "I, uh, have some scrolls to study right now." He held one up as proof.
Raimundo, his feet now firmly on the ground, whirled on him. "What?" he went, bugged eyed. Everyone else turned around to stare at the little monk.
"And of course there is that gardening I promised Master Fung I'd finish," Omi said, looking far too happy for someone who had been so scared not an hour ago.
"You'd rather garden then kick butt?" Kimiko asked disbelievingly.
"In the middle of the night?" Valerie pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
"Then there is the floor that I must scrub with a very small toothbrush." He held up a miniscule green brush and attempted to walk past the others. "I should begin now." Kimiko put a hand on Omi's head and pushed him back at arm's length.
"What's the problem Omi? You okay?" Kimiko asked in a motherly tone of voice.
"Fine! Fine!" Omi said too quickly, waving his arms frantically. "What could possibly be the matter? It is not like I am afraid or anything." He walked past her and right into the arms of Clay and Raimundo, who quickly captured him.
"No, no, I must take a bath! I must be clean… oh never mind," he muttered as Clay dragged him away by his belt.
In Spicer's basement
"Lights, camera, action!" Jack shouted as the camera-bot did its job.
"We've come for the stolen Shen Gong Wu, Jack!" Kimiko shouted in place of Omi. "Judolette Flip: Fire!" She front flipped over to the robots, fire spreading from her boots. She kicked in a video screen.
"Good, good, very dramatic!" Jack crowed from his director's seat. He held up a Shen Gong Wu. "But so is this: Shadow of Fear!" Dark smog billowed out from the statue, swirling amongst the good guys. A chill went up Valerie's spine, and it only grew when she heard a loud, ominous voice say, "Play with me, Kimiko!"
Valerie turned to see a ten-foot tall children's doll with a half-melted face stagger towards Kimiko. "Mochika!" the human girl said, trembling. "No! It can't be!"
"Don't you wanna hug?" The doll made a grab for Kimiko. She tried to get away, but the doll was surprisingly fast, snatching her up with a quick hand.
As she was being dragged away, Kimiko begged, "NO! STAY AWAY!"
"Come and give yer granny a kiss, my lil' Clay-Way." Valerie gulped and turned to see a monstrous form of an old lady march towards Clay. "How about a lil' pinch on the cheek?"
Clay walked backwards. "Granny Lily! I couldn't feel my cheek for a month the last time you-AHHHH!" He shrieked girlishly as the old lady tried to kiss him.
A gurgling sound that sounded suspiciously like a growl made Valerie turn her head towards Rai. Right behind him was some sort of jellyfish-octopus monster with six eyes and thick lips. "No…" Raimundo said, staring up at it in shock. "I always knew you existed in the water, but not here too! NO!" He ran away screaming, but the monster dragged him back with its tentacles.
That meant… Valerie slowly turned around in time to see indigo smoke blow her way. She could feel hot breath on her, and saw the beginnings of sharp fangs loom over her. She turned fully to see the Sapphire Dragon of her nightmares, its fearsome features overtaking its beautiful ones, saliva dripping from its maw.
Valerie fainted on the spot.
The next morning
According to reports-mainly Kimiko- Clay had hefted Valerie over his shoulder while they were escaping. That would explain why her stomach hurt so much when she woke up.
Clad in her monk uniform, Valerie brought her knees to her chest and hugged them. Everyone else were in states of nervousness as well, though they did a better job of hiding it.
Master Fung paced around the golden incense pot. "It seem Jack Spicer has found your worst nightmares using the Shadow of Fear."
Kimiko, somehow still perky, interrupted. "Wait, check this out. It's one of Jack's camera bots left during the raid!" She lifted the camera onto the pot and turned it on. The film showed scattered scenes: Kim punching Jack in the face, Rai and Clay defeating Jack-bots, Jack snorting during his evil laugh, a giant squirrel chasing after Omi-
Wait, what?
"Why didn't you warn us, little buckaroo?" Clay asked worriedly as Omi sat, sulking in the corner.
He stood up, head down. "I… was too ashamed to tell any of you. Perhaps if I had, you would have been better prepared for our humiliating defeat."
"Jack's using our nightmares against us, little dude," Valerie pointed out. "Telling us wouldn't have solved anything."
Dojo then started to shake. "Sorry to break up this downer fest, but I'm sensing another Shen Gong Wu." He slithered over to the Ancient Scroll leaning against the wall and opened it. "The Crouching Cougar! An excellent ground vehicle for jungle travel. With the proper handling it's what any young warrior would ask for."
"Do not lose hope," Master Fung told them. "Realizing one's fears is the first step to facing them."
Flying through the air on Dojo's back
"I'm all for listening to Master Fung's wise-ness, but facing my fear isn't gonna work, it's only gonna get me eaten!" Raimundo gripped, crossing his arms.
"Especially since my fear is the Sapphire Dragon," Valerie agreed, giving an involuntary shudder.
"But what can we go?" Kimiko asked, hoping someone would have the answer.
"Perhaps we should swap fears," Omi offered, smiling sheepishly.
They all thought for a moment, before Clay made a happy humming noise. He high-fived Kimiko, who said, "Yeah!" She high-fived Rai, who grinned. "Nice idea!" He high-fived Omi, who turned to Valerie, holding out his palm expectantly.
She gave a half-grin and high-fived the little guy. "You know, this might actually work."
In a canyon (is it Death Valley again?)
Dojo circled around the giant rock sediment the Crouching Cougar was on. He quickly set a course for a part of the cliff that was safe to land on. Everyone hopped off of Dojo, just in time for black smoke to suddenly pollute the air around them.
"Here they come!" Kimiko shouted fearfully as the heads of their nightmares suddenly appeared in the smog.
"Remember the plan: switch!" Omi said, and everyone did so. Valerie found herself facing Mochika, the half-melted doll Kimiko was so terrified of.
Mochika was shouting, "Hug! Hug!" in her childish voice as she flew towards the cliff side. Valerie leaped off the ledge she was standing on and landed on another one right below just as the oversized doll crashed into the rock.
As smoke wafted from the landing site, Valerie quipped, "I've always preferred books to dolls, but I might have some fun toying with you."
As the smoke cleared, Mochika dislodged her body from the rock and glared down at her. Ah, so she must have heard that. Well, that was Valerie's intention anyway.
"Empyrean Drive: Aether!" Valerie leaped up with glowing hands and punched the giant doll in the face. The thing staggered back, and Valerie leaped away from the attack, trying to put as much distance between the two of them as possible.
Mochika leaped after her, constantly bleating out, "Hug! Hug!" Valerie kept jumping away from her, a smirk trying to worm its way onto her face.
"Bring it on, you dang-narbed gelatinous glob!" she heard Clay yell out before he defeated the giant evil jellyfish.
"You wanna fight fire with fire? Come on, show me what you got!" Kimiko yelled out as the Sapphire Dragon belched out bright blue flames. Fortunately, this nightmare didn't have the petrifying effects of the real Shen Gong Wu, therefore its flames were normal. And they were no match for Kimiko's Judolette Flip.
The body of the Sapphire Dragon fell down the canyon, landing loudly on the giant squirrel and Granny Lily. "Thank you for your assistance Kimiko!" Omi shouted out happily.
"Hug!" Valerie whirled around time to see Mochika aiming for her. She cursed; she had almost forgotten. Valerie sent a beam of purple energy at the doll, blasting it backwards off the cliff.
A wide smile overtook her features. It had been so easy to take out each other's fears. And Kimiko had taken out the Sapphire Dragon quickly. A happy, bubbly feeling overwhelmed Valerie, and the pervasive thought of, if she can do it, why can't I? wormed its way into her mind.
And then Jack Spicer had to ruin her epiphany by trying to take the Shen Gong Wu. Jerk.
"Stop him!" Omi shouted, and all five of them climbed up the cliff side to get to the Crouching Cougar first. They were unfortunately followed by the nightmares, much to Valerie's chagrin. When they finally reached the top, they all leaped upwards, right in time to see Jack make out with a female cheer-bot turned makeup artist.
They all touched a single finger to the Cougar, making it glow. "It's a ten-way Showdown," Valerie told them. "Is that even possible?"
They all turned to Dojo, who was sitting in a chair with a lightbulb hanging over him, and a red leather bound book in his hands. The setting did not look like it belonged on a cliff side.
"Here it is!" Dojo exclaimed. "It's in the supplemental pages that came out in the last two hundred years. Normally, something like this would be eight people, but there are always exceptions. It's basically five against five, each wagering one Shen Gong Wu."
"Who-we!" Clay dragged out, completely perplexed. "We're gonna need a wheelbarrow full of Wu for this Showdown."
Omi then stepped up to the plate. "Then we wager our Two-Ton Tunic, Shroud of Shadows, Lotus Twister, Silk Spitter, and Thorn of Thunderbolt against your Serpent's Tail, Eye of Dashi, Third-Arm Sash, Fist of Tebigong, and Helmet of Jong."
Dojo, who had been hurriedly writing everything down into the rule book, suddenly shouted out, "Slow down, I can't write that fast!"
Jack grabbed one of his camera-bots so it faced him. "The game is a free-for-all Sumo match, face to face with your own worst fear! First to leave the ring loses!" He let out his annoying evil laugh.
Wuya got into the shot and crowed, "Brilliant, Jack! Bravo!" Jack just shoved her aside.
The two sides facing against each other, Omi shouted, "LET'S GO: XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN!" Instantly white overtook everything. Valerie could feel the ground suddenly shoot up into the sky, all the way up into space. A ring of blue-white fire surrounded them, overtaking them by a couple feet.
Suddenly Valerie could feel her body enlarge. Her legs grew into fat stumps, and her skirt ripped apart to reveal a diaper of all things. Her shirt became sleeveless, but it did nothing to hide the rolls of fat that suddenly appeared. She brought a large, meaty hand to her jaw, with was also suddenly much rounder and thicker. In fact, everyone had gotten this treatment, even the Sapphire Dragon.
Omi, who had fallen over from shock, said, "This is most embarrassing."
"After this battle, we never speak of this," Valerie told her friends.
"Agreed," they all said.
Clay then pointed something out. "I used to do a little wrasslin' back home, but only with greased pigs." A little shiny piglet suddenly appeared, winking and giving a thumbs up. Clay quickly pushed it down out of sight.
"Enough chatter, let's wrestle!" Jack Spicer shouted. He was floating above them, his legs and arms crossed in a critical way. "By the way you guys, cool diapers."
Valerie heaved a long-suffering sigh before joining her friends in shouting, "GONG YE TAN PAI!"
"Eye of Dashi!" Mochika shouted, aiming the lightning at Kimiko. The human girl dropped down to dodge and used her new blubber to bounce back up.
"Shroud of Shadows!" Kimiko shouted, stretching it…only to reveal that the Shroud only covered a thin strip of her large body. It couldn't cover the rest of her. She quickly ran away before more lightning could hit her.
Omi was running away from the giant squirrel, while Raimundo was able to use the Silk Spitter to glue the jellyfish's tentacles together. Unfortunately, it could still activate the Third-Arm Sash, which grabbed Rai's leg and dragged him towards his nightmare.
Valerie ran as fast her stubby legs could go, trying to put some distance between her and the Sapphire Dragon. Despite its new size, the Dragon could still slither pretty fast.
Valerie then stopped running and aimed her Wu at it. "Thorn of Thunderbolt!" Electricity arched out of it, hitting the dragon head on. The dragon suddenly got up, revealing stumpy legs and a diaper and what appeared to be little T-Rex hands.
She hadn't gotten a good look before, but now Valerie couldn't help but laugh uproariously. She held her stomach as tears rolled down her cheeks, and in between giggles she stuttered out the words, "I can't believe I was ever afraid of you!"
Miffed and with indigo smoke blowing out of his nostrils, the dragon lunged at her, mouth opened to reveal sharp yellow teeth. "Thorn of Thunderbolt!" Valerie shouted, lightning hitting its mouth. It reeled back in pain, giving a cry that somehow activated the Helmet of Jong.
The Wu couldn't help the dragon though. Valerie hit it with more electricity, this time in the eyes. As it reeled back, crying out in pain, she grabbed it by the throat and squeezed. It jerked wildly, trying to get out of her grasp, but she whirled it around in a dizzying circle. Right before the monster was about to blow chunks, Valerie flung it into the blazing wall. It went through it, and the victor of the match threw her hands up.
Suddenly the squirrel flew through the air and hit the wall, followed closely by Mochika. Clay dropped kicked Granny Lily out of the sparring ring, which left the tentacle monster the last monster standing.
And then Raimundo gave a cheeky grin and pointed down. The giant jellyfish had exactly one toe touching the ring of fire.
"You're out!" the five monks shouted, pointed outwards. The jellyfish was, quite literally, sucked out of the ring, leaving only the Third-Arm Sash behind. Everyone cheered as the ring of fire receded and they all reverted back into their original forms. Valerie quickly felt her stomach and face and sighed happily. She was never so glad to be as skinny and as flat as a pancake as she was at that moment.
Back at the Xiaolin Temple
Valerie looked at the newly acquired Wu on the table and smiled.
"It's funny how something so small can seem so large in our minds," Kimiko noted as Rai and Clay put down the last of the new Wu.
Raimundo put a hand on his waist and leaned over the table, an easy-going smile on his face. "I wonder what Jack Spicer's greatest fear is." He shrugged. "Guess we'll never know."
Omi pointed a finger to the air. "I know." He then leaned over and set the Shadow of Fear on the table. "I picked it up when no one was looking. The Shadow of-!"
"Whoa, whoa, you guys," Valerie quickly said, putting a hand over the hawk statue. "Do we really want to stoop to Jack's level and go into his nightmares?"
Everyone thought for a moment and said, "Yes."
Valerie grinned. "I thought so. Shadow of Fear! Yeah, let's do this!"
A child version of Jack Spicer sucked his thumb as he nervously peered around the blackness that surrounded him. He was rather rotund and wearing a blue onesie with his yellow goggles still on his head. He trembled as the ground beneath him shook. Walls seemed to sprout from the ground, white and porcelain like.
Suddenly he looked down to see water up to his ankles. He was in his worst nightmare; the toilet bowl. He screamed as he was suddenly flushed down the drain, spinning and spinning until he was no more.
The five monks laughed hysterically as the toilet lid fell shut.
"Did you guys see that?" Raimundo said in between chuckles.
"That's his greatest fear? Oh my god!" Valerie cried out as she held her stomach.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Kimiko giggled.
This may not be a satisfying end to Valerie's fears of the Sapphire Dragon to some of you, but I personally think it is. It's a sumo match guys, and everyone just looked so ridiculous in the Showdown, including the nightmares. The Sapphire Dragon is no exception. And hey, what better way to get rid of your fears than laughter?
So, thoughts anyone?