Eduardo's Tales

Story 6: The Curious Tale of Funny-Coat

Chapter 1

(Rated T for brief nudity, violence, adult content, and mild language)

(DISCLAIMER: No I do not own Eduardo from Extreme Ghostbusters, nor do I have the right to copy the anime series, Mushi-Shi, which has inspired me to bring our favorite slacker into a strange world that exists beyond time. So, enjoy the show!)

It had been six days since Eduardo and Funny-Coat left the village of Orlin as they departed for Chagum without delay. It was also a shame to leave Valeria and Yashakune behind, but they were needed by Dr. Domyouji to help rebuild the village as they would later meet up with Eduardo and Funny-Coat later on. The slacker and the servant boy were resting at a cabin by a lake as they were tired from their journey. With a sensitive meal and a place to sleep, they were all lagged out as they were ready to head for the Road that lead to Chagum.

The white-haired man, Tsukino, had followed them as he was standing outside the cabin. He was there to protect both Eduardo and Funny-Coat as they were caught up in a dangerous destiny. He couldn't let another witchsmeller find them out as he was on guard to watch over them. It was also said that his father had told him about the young man who saved his life many years ago as he even had that familiar staff in his hands. Now, he has seen that young man again, along with the servant boy as they haven't aged a day. It was also his reason to repay the favor of helping his father as he was ready to stop any witchsmeller who would harm the future King and Queen of the Muah Realm.

###

The next morning, Eduardo woke up as he noticed that Funny-Coat wasn't in his bed. Where was he, anyway? Getting up, he gathered up some clean clothes as he was ready to take a bath in the lake. With a bar of lavender soap in his hand, he took off his robe and dove in without any clothes on. Turning around, he noticed Funny-Coat's clothes all scattered onto the shore as he even noticed the servant boy from far away. He only saw the boy's head as he was hiding a large rock in the middle of the lake. What was that boy hiding and why was he being so secretive toward Eduardo?

"You know, you shouldn't be ashamed to see another guy in the lake," he said as he was scrubbing himself with the bar of lavender soap. "We're both men, you know. It's nothing to be afraid of."

"I prefer to bathe alone," said Funny-Coat as he turned around with his hand covering his mouth.

"Tomorrow, we'll be in Chagum in no time!"

"That's a relief."

"It's just us guys here because sometimes, we even have the ideas of male bonding!"

Eduardo began to rinse himself off as he dunked into the water. With all of the soap rinsed off from his body, he noticed the rest of Funny-Coat's body as it was a female form. The servant boy who have been travelling with him the whole time was none other than a girl in male clothing. Coming back up for air, he swam back to shore as he wrapped himself in a long towel. The sight of Funny-Coat's true form made his heart sink as he didn't know what to think. He couldn't tell Tsukino about this as he got on his clean clothes and walked towards a tree with his back turned. With footsteps approaching from the shore, he didn't want to look at Funny-Coat in the nude as he wanted to give the true form some space in order to get dressed back in her male clothes and mask.

"Why did you look at me in the nude?" asked Funny-Coat. "Well..., answer me! I know that you looked at me naked!"

"I can't believe that you're a girl all this time..." said Eduardo with an embarrassed look on his face.

"You idiot! How could you be that perverse!"

"I didn't know, okay! I'm sorry that I even came here to the lake to find you!"

"Eduardo, turn around."

"No, it's better if I was modest and respect your wishes, Funny-Coat."

The true image of Funny-Coat grabbed Eduardo by the scruff of his shirt as she turned him around to see her. To his shock, it was the girl who he loved as she even grabbed him by the vest as she was ready to slap him. She wanted to clobber him for his behavior as she even let go of him. Her true identity was revealed to him as he didn't want to do anything rash. Eduardo had to adjust to having the identity of Funny-Coat not being a secret anymore as he grabbed her cloak and covered her up. He may have been both rude and honest to her in the past, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings anymore as he decided to let her play the role Funny-Coat a little bit longer.

"You're probably going to need this," he said as he later turned around in embarrassment.

"I don't need it anymore, Eduardo," answered the girl.

"I don't want to embarrass you anymore, Funny-Coat..."

"It's Kylie! Don't you remember?!"

Eduardo left for the cabin as he returned to his room. He didn't want to compromise Funny-Coat's identity much longer as he had a guilty look on his face. His heart sank as he completely blew it when he saw the girl naked underwater. He hated himself for it as he locked the door to his room. He couldn't even forgive himself for this slip-up as he buried his face in his hands. To his shock, he saw the girl climb into the window of his room as she was wearing the cloak that covered her body. She saw Eduardo curled up in a ball as he was still embarrassed to see her.

"You can't beat yourself forever, Eduardo!" she said as she turned him around.

"I don't want to embarrass you anymore, Funny-Coat," he said felt guilt overwhelm him.

"We're all human, you know! We all make mistakes! Remember when we lost our blasters and we got into a big argument on the way? That thing not only made us cooperate, but it made us connect to one another. Don't you remember?!"

"I'm sorry, Funny-Coat..."

"It's me, Kylie! Don't you remember me, Eduardo?! We may sometimes argue, or complain, or even love, but letting yourself forget me will never make it better! Stop beating yourself up, okay?!"

Eduardo looked at the girl as he found the image of Funny-Coat still vivid in his mind. He also knew that he didn't her to go without clothes as he ran towards her room and went into a wardrobe as he opened it up. Finding a petticoat and a sheath, he even found her a black kimono as he handed them to Kylie in his room. She needed women's clothes as she had dressed herself in the clothes that Eduardo have given her. The clothes suited her fine as she was ready to shed her image as the servant boy, Funny-Coat. It wasn't long until Tsukino walked in on them as he had his compass with him.

"It's time to go," he said gravely.

"What's going on, Tsukino?" asked Eduardo.

"There's a witchsmeller coming! We need to leave immediately!"

"A witchsmeller?" said Kylie as she gathered up her cloak.

"If we don't leave right now, we'll be caught in the witchsmeller's trap."

"Let's go!" yelled Eduardo as he gathered his things and staff.

Kylie returned to her room as she gathered a few female clothes and stuffed them in a backpack. With a pair of sandals in the wardrobe, she put them on as she even tried to grab her cloak. Eduardo held her back from taking the cloak as he decided to create a diversion. He had to get Kylie and Tsukino to safety as they even gathered up their supplies and loaded them on their horses. Pouring oil all over the cabin, Eduardo fled as he got on his horse and joined the others. With the cloak in his hand, he placed it in front of the door as he began to use an incantation.

"I call upon the power of Amaterasu!" he said. "Send me your kiss!"

A large fireball flickered from his hands as it hit the cabin and set it on fire. The flames engulfed the place as it was burning further into the ground. The diversion gave all three travellers time to flee as they journeyed ahead into the secret path to Chagum. They had time on their side as they were far away from a witchsmeller all dressed with armor with the image of a snake on it. He was from the Nagini Empire as he was well aware of the Muah who were travelling on the Roads. He had to report back to King Gothmog immediately as he saw a the burning cabin in the distance. The Muah were killed inside of it, for there was no survivors in there when smoke billowed above the forest.

The witchsmeller walked towards the cabin as he saw nothing but Funny-Coat's cloak as it was burned with holes all over it. He would have entered inside, but the fire had made it impossible for him to go in as it collapsed the whole cabin. The witchsmeller fled on his horse as he returned back to the Nagini Empire in order to report to King Gothmog. The Muah were gone in the flames as he grabbed his horse by the reins and galloped off.

###

Eduardo was busy cooking near a campfire in a cave as he was busy preparing dinner for everyone in the group. The smell of seasoned fish had filled the whole cave as it made everybody hungry. After travelling closer to Chagum, they were camped out near a lake as it gave Eduardo an opportunity to catch some fish. With six small trout caught and cleaned, they were cooking on sticks in an open fire as the smell had made the three weary travellers hungry.

"You've gotten better at cooking," said Kylie as she grabbed one of the fish.

"I've learned from Dr. Naegino," answered Eduardo as he also grabbed a fish on a stick.

"That witchsmeller who checked out the cabin, who was he?"

"The witchsmeller was sent in by King Gothmog," said Tsukino.

"Who is King Gothmog?" asked Eduardo.

"King Gothmog is the son of the late King Lurtz, who was killed by my father many years ago. After the old king's death, Gothmog took over and swore that he would kill every single Muah that appears on the Road. My father had survived the battle of Lurtz's tyranny and now we have to battle another tyrant who would stop at nothing to execute anyone who gets in his way."

Tsukino had a feeling of concern as he looked at both Eduardo and Kylie with such determination. After having a brief conversation with Dr. Domyouji about their destiny as the rightful rulers of the Muah Realm, he had a much graver concern for their safety as he had to keep an eye on the dreaded witchsmellers, who would kill them on sight. He would put his life on the line for them as he was willing to watch over their safety.

After having dinner that consisted of fish on a stick, all three went to bed as they were wrapped up in separate blankets. Night had settled in as it showed a full moon outside. The wind picked up as it was starting to get cold inside the cave. Eduardo stared at the moon as he was still embarrassed over seeing Kylie in the nude at the lake. With a blanket wrapped around him, he even took out a book of spells as he was reading them for comfort. He was well aware of the witchsmellers after nearly being burned at the stake by one. He even missed the Funny-Coat persona that Kylie had worn as he even pictured her as being dressed in the same clothes when they met at the Western Region village gate. Right now, he was reunited with the girl who was once Funny-Coat as she was sleeping next to the campfire.

"You've returned, Kylie," said Eduardo as he returned next to the campfire.

###

The next morning, Eduardo woke up as he saw Kylie staring at the outside of the cave. The day itself was much warmer this time as both he and the girl had been through a lot during their journeys along the Roads. With Tsukino up and ready, he helped Eduardo and Kylie gather their supplies as they put them in the horses' saddlebags for the journey ahead. They had to go as they were ready to head over to Chagum. It wasn't long until they left their location as they were off towards their designated destination ahead. Unknown to their presence, there was a mysterious woman hiding in the trees as she was also on the lookout for witchsmellers. With blue hair and brown eyes, the woman was even dressed like a kunoichi as she was also carrying a nodachi with her. The kunoichi bore a grudge against the witchsmellers for killing her parents as she was eager to kill one to make an example of the resistance that was growing with the devotion of the Muah.

The woman jumped from tree to tree as she eventually spotted Eduardo, Kylie, and Tsukino riding their horses towards the city of Chagum. She knew about the Muah as they were nearly as extinct as the ninja clan who were nearly wiped out be King Gothmog's forces. She couldn't let that happen again as she finally caught to the travelling party on their way to Chagum. It wasn't long until she was standing in the way as she even nearly scared their horses.

"Lord Eduardo and Lady Kylie!" she said as she bowed in front of them. "It's an honor to see you in person."

"Tohru?" asked Tsukino as he got off of his horse. "What are you doing here?"

"King Gothmog's witchsmeller is on the loose!"

"We know, but we created a diversion in order to escape."

"We can't let the future Muah King and Queen fall victim to this scumbag or any other of Gothmog's cronies. He nearly destroyed my ninja clan, you know!"

"We're going to have to hide again, don't we?" asked Eduardo.

"By the way, my name is Tohru Mizumaru and I am honored to serve you to the bitter end!"

"Looks like we got another ally," said Kylie.

To be continued...