The Olympic Village

"Look at it this way," Vena said optimistically. She threw her apple into the air and winced when it hit Rena, blinking innocently. "If we're a laughing stock, at least we're brightening peoples' days by making them laugh."

"Does that make us members of a disrespectable country?" Snickie mused as she poured herself another glass of tea.

"Yes, yes it does," Shadows said. "And we like it that way."

"I can probably return to human if you want to. But someone thought that it would be funny if my armor would only fit this form." Rae coughed and said," shadows." She coughed again.

Shadows rolled her eyes and waved to everyone in the room innocently. "Hush Rae, you're so funny."

Then, she discreetly stood on her tip toes and whispered into Rae's ear, "we need the publicity. Countries don't just run themselves."

Rena rolled off her friends, getting to her feet. "Well, we should at least go see if anyone is going to compete this year. Anyone have an event picked out?" She glanced at Rae. "Can a dragon compete? Elly, can you like, swim like that?"

"She's definitely doing the high jump," Shadows said. "Actually, all the jumps. And hurdles. And as long as she touches the ground a few times, I'm sure running would be good. Especially marathons. And she can basically do everything else."

Shadows shrugged. "Unless she doesn't want to. But if she wants to compete, and the officials say no..." Shadows trailed off and smiled. "Well who's going to argue with a dragon?"

"...Shadows?" Kitty said, "I like the way you think. I'm seeing a few golds in our future."

Shadows smirked. "Most definitely. I'd like to see anyone try to beat any of us when they know they'll get eaten if they do."

"I'm not a mindless killing machine. You DO realize that. But I'll compete in as many events as I can as long as I don't have to wear the stupid hat." She picked up her completed circlet and placed it on her head.

"I know you're not a mindless killing machine," Shadows said. "But they don't. And that's a deal. We are so going to win this year!"

"Fine, but no stupid hats." She grumbled and stood up," now where's that dragonsbane?"

Dober sits in silence and watches everyone chat.

"I never said that the fedora was a stupid hat," Snickie mused, sipping at her tea some more. "It just doesn't look good on a dragon. It's not the right kind of hat for a dragon."

"Thanks for the compliment on my uniform." Peace says to the person who complimented his uniform. He walked over to Snickie to whisper something.

"Well... maybe I do sorta like her."

She whispered back, "Don't let Rena hear that, or else we'll never see the end of her crazy stories." Nonchalantly she sipped her tea yet again and said much more audibly, "Of course I like apple turnovers. What possessed you to think that I didn't?"

"I don't think I would look good in any hat in this form. Circlets are a different story though." Rae stated crossing her clawed limbs, Her tail wrapped around her right leg still.

Shadows sighed and snapped her fingers. Nothing happened, so she walked over to the phone and ordered some circlets for her dragon friend. Three minutes later, someone stepped through the broken door and delivered some. Shadows smiled, grabbed them, and handed them to Rae.

She checked her watch. "Guys, we should probably go to the opening ceremony right about now." She checked her watch. "Actually we should be there now."

Kelly had a confused look on her face. "Rae, what happened to you? Aren't you normally...human?"

Shadows tapped her foot and glanced anxiously at the clock. "Blackmail happened, Kelly. And financial woes. Let's go, anybody with me?"

"Let's ride." Peace said, putting on his Naval Cap.

"Ooh, we really should get going. I want to get good seats."

Shadows stared at Kelly. "We're athletes and we're walking out in a few minutes." She counted, herself, Kelly, and Peace. That counted as a majority. She took off running to the stadium, the sound of pounding feet behind her. As they ran, they collected the other XL citizens who wished to come, though no one was forced.

The announcements overhead presented the names of hte country in both French and English, however, when Xana's Lair was called out, nobody walked.

Then, a large clump of people came running onto the floor of the stadium, panting and wiping sweat.

Shadows stood up proudly, held her hands up, and grabbed the flag, starting to walk. She could imagine what the commentaters were saying all over the world, but at least it was more successful than the incident they ruined the opening ceremony last time.

Peace kept a straight face as he looked up, the thousands of people standing on the stands. His hat was tightly sat upon his head, showing Navy pride for his father and the US Navy in general. The digital blue uniform expressed Peace's true personality as they walked beside Shadows.

"Show time." Peace said, taking out a pair of sunglasses and placing them on his face.

Kelly humphed. "Like last Olympics, I was really planning on getting myself a mug of hot chocolate and watching the games." Nevertheless, she followed Shadows' walk, holding her shoulders up proudly. After all, they were representing Xana's Lair, a country famous for its fine cheeses, grapes, and works of literature (not to mention, some very well-known musicians and artists resided there too).