"A thousand of possible hiding places in Norisville, and you pick THIS?!" Heidi exclaimed as they threaded through the sewers, "Do you even realize how the stench would affect my natural aroma? Howard, are you listening?"
"I don't know what else to do, OKAY?!" Howard snapped, surprising the others. He sullenly looked down at the Nomicon which he took away from the Omni thanks to a nearby Gravy Fries Stand, "I just lost my best friend to a monster. Who was weirdly trapped in a girl's body."
"And to think I had a crush on her." Bucky pouted.
"Actually, I quite find him more mysterious this way." Julien piped up, making the others cringe in disgust.
"Does anyone get the weird feeling we're being watched?" Debbie asked. As soon as she said that, the group looked around warily, but barely caught sight of eyes glowing in the darkness, disappearing every second.
Suddenly, Howard's ears caught the sound of what seams to be rotating gears. The group turned to a corner, only to gape in surprise at the sight before them;
Swarms of small animal-like robots crowded the place, eyeing the group with curiosity, probably wondering if any of them are edible. Some were in the shape of rats, raccoon, spiders and other mechanical creepy crawlies that literally crept the group out... except Julien.
"Hey. Get back here." He called after a robot rat he was cuddling with only for it to leap out of his hands and scurry towards a direction.
"Julien." Howard rolled his eyes as the group followed their weird friend.
They followed the rat... only to come face to face with a mad scientist!
The man looked like he had been living in the sewers for years, as evident by his torn lab coat, unshaved face and wild unruly hair that looks like a result of years handling electrical appliances.
"My, my. Visitors." The man spoke in a familiar voice as he stroke the robo rat affectionally.
"Willy?" Melly asked.
"Melly?" The man echoed back, "I haven't seen you since High School."
"I heard McFist fired you." Melly said.
"I QUIT ALRIGHT?!" Viceroy exploded, scaring the robots and everyone else, "All that egocentric, wonked shoob has been doing was take credit for all the schemes I conjure up just to realize his dreams in destroying the Ninja!"
"Hold on." Danny interrupted as Viceroy began imitating McFist, "First we found out that our son was the Ninja,"
"Then you're telling us that you and your boss have been working alongside some freaks of nature for...what? Forever?" Melly added.
"Just to kill our son?!" Both finished in disbelief.
"Can I help it if I want to over-achieve myself?" Viceroy defended.
The couple gritted their teeth, ready to pounce on him any second... only for them to slump their backs against the wall in exasperation.
"A million people in Norisville and the entire universe chose our son as its Protector." Danny groaned.
"Why? Why did it have to be him? He's so young." Melly sobbed.
The moment was broken by a sudden bark and robotic beeps. From out of the shadows emerged what seems to be an orange haired cowboy leading a small robot and some kind of blob on leashes.
"Otto! Nicholas!" Viceroy squealed as he was tackled by his, pets, "Did you had a good time with Uncle Creep? Yes you did."
"Things are getting really schnasty out there." The Creep gestured for Howard to give him the book. The teen hesitated before finally handing over the NinjaNomicon, "We best be moving along."
"Oh no." Heidi shook her head, "We are not going back up there."
"Who said anything about up?" The Creep asked, opening the NinjaNomicon, "Hope you're standing next to something soft."
A flash of light blinded everyone in the room. When it died down, the teens, and the adults, including Viceroy's pets, collapsed on the ground with blank white eyes.
"It's such a beautiful night, isn't it?" The Sorceress sighed, gazing into the eyes of the Sorcerer. Both were seated in front of a beautiful candlelight. Violin music can be heard in the background.
"Yes. It's quite peaceful." The Sorcerer sighed in return.
Stank'd Randy flew around Norisville, his black mist corrupting anyone who got in his way, transforming them into monsters, much to the Omni's delight.
The Sorcerer and Sorcerer began leaning towards each other, eyes closed...
"Hey!"
The two powerful beings suddenly opened their eyes. To their disgusts, their lips were touching the cheeks of McFist. They pulled away, only for the Sorcerer to snap his fingers, prompting the rat, dressed in a white tux, to hit the gazillionaire from behind with his tiny violin. (For a tiny guy, he hits really hard.)
"You give and give, and what do you get in return? Nothing." The Omni mused as he comfortingly stroke Stank'd Randy's hair which were made out of quills. Suddenly, his eyes glowed red as he stood up. As if on cue, Randy followed suite. Soon he was following The Omni's every moves, destroying near buildings and such, "That's what they all do. They think they have superiority over you when in reality, they are the weak ones. But now, you no longer have to listen to them. You decide your fate! You...!"
"You Omni Excellency!"
The Omni groaned as he released Randy from his control and turned to face McFist, "Well?"
"Well, uh...I sorta, found a part of them." McFist replied sheepishly, grabbing Bucky's hat, which he dropped during the chase, from one of the Robo Apes.
"You useless SHOOB!" The Omni angrily snatched the hat from McFist, "Without that book and mask, I'm forever sealed in a body of a teenage girl. And if that wasn't bad enough, I'm starting to think like one. Just look what I did to Verminious."
On cue, he held up the Rat now dressed in a black tux. He didn't mind as he winked slyly at them.
"You called him 'Verminious'?" McFist asked.
"A Rat can out-sniff those brats in seconds. In fact..." The Omni waved Bucky's hat in front of the Rat, prompting him to smell it before scurrying to find the group, "That's right, Little One. You'll get a tempting reward soon."
"Don't I get a reward for my effort?" McFist asked.
"NO! Not until you get me those shoobs!" The Omni bellowed before returning to Randy.
"This is all your fa..." McFist stopped ounce he realized that Viceroy wasn't there. Oh what the juice? He doesn't need him anyway. With Odd Ozzy by his side, he can handle things.
Sort of...
The portal into the Nomicon was filled with screams. Only the Creep remained unfazed as an Ancient Japanese village came into view. The group landed on a roof only fall and land on another roof. Just when they thought they were about to softly land on a cart full of flowers... they landed on a cart of boards.
"Hey Creep, Old Buddy!" As the group dusted themselves, they are met by a chubby man wearing a blue robe and hat. He and Creep immediately shook hands like they have done it for years, "Howard!"
"Plop Plop!" Howard rushed over to give his old friend a hug, "Guys, Plop Plop. Plop Plop, guys."
"Hey. How are you doin'? Cool. Cool. Let's go." He gestured for the group to follow him.
The group was still shocked by the sudden change of events and the world around them, but nevertheless followed him when the Creep assured that he can be trusted. As they walked, they were met by the piercing and worried gazes of the villagers. Some spoke in whispers, and they didn't sound comforting.
"Whenever I read a book, I always imagined the pages to come to life." Viceroy remarked, hugging his pets, "But now, it's just plain creepy."
"Please tell me we're going to a bath house or something." Danny asked, waving his hand in front of his nose.
The group suddenly stopped when a dragon appeared before them. The dragon eyed them curiously before taking to the skies. More mythical creatures came out of hiding and eyed the group curiously as well. Hopefully, they weren't thinking of dinner.
"Ugh! I can't believe I wasted all my rage on a phony book." Debbie groaned, "You still have a lot coming to you, Bookie."
"Why are there suddenly a lot of words floating around?" Bucky asked nervously.
Sure enough, there were a lot of words floating in the sky. All past lessons Randy has encountered during his time as Ninjas. Just by reading one of them made the group cringe uncomfortably. One lesson, literally stopped the group in their tracks (they bumped into it);
Everyone makes mistakes. But the GREATEST mistake, is not admitting YOUR mistake.
The lessons vanished, only to be replaced with images of Randy fighting robots and monsters and training in the Nomicon.
"Sure my friends can be total shoobs, but that doesn't make them monsters." Randy from a vision said, "Besides, part of it is my fault."
Randy's friends were surprised by the vision.
"I just have to tell Bucky the truth." Another vision showed Randy being disgusted by Bucky's 'masterpiece', "I don't want to hurt the poor guy's feelings. Still, he did work hard on it for the Ninja."
Bucky remembered the time The Ninja didn't like his music. Was it really that bad?
One vision showed the time Randy waged a Prank War on Bash. Another showed Randy fixing his mini-bike, "Guess he wasn't a total shoob after all."
Bash felt touched and a little bit guilty once he heard those words. He was also surprised when he saw a vision of young Randy de-stanking his monster-turned-mom.
Theresa blushed at the times Randy saved her as the Ninja and told her 'she smelled like rainbows'. He face reddened at a vision showing Randy secretly complimenting her.
Morgan tried ignoring a vision of her being beaten by Randy in the Game Hole. But once she saw a vision of him complimenting on her skills, she softened, a bit.
Debbie was annoyed by the vision of Randy destroying her evidences of him being the Ninja, but she softened at the times he saved her life and spared the Mexican Death Bear.
Some visions showed Randy as a kid playing with Heidi and Howard. Heidi did miss those good old days. Even after throwing mud at her, Randy apologized with a flower. Even after the many times she gets his name wrong, he always makes up for the wrongs he did to her. And even though Randy would ditch Howard during their Bro-Times, Howard knows he's doing it so that he could fulfill his duty as The Ninja and protect the people of Norisville. Besides; how can they have Gravy Fries and Whoopee World if the whole town's destroyed?
Julien always wanted to learn the Dark Arts, but once he saw how the Chaos Pearl corrupted him, he become frightened. Despite that, Randy saved him and never once considered him as a threat. He even gave him a late birthday present to compensate for the one he lost.
Viceroy was actually thankful for leaving McFist. Truth be told, he idolized the Ninja. And even though he constantly helped McFist trying to destroy him, the Ninja returned his beloved robot and saved his blob from volcanic destruction. Sometimes he wondered what it was like if he was the Ninja's sidekick.
Melly and Danny were always proud of their son, despite his talents in getting into trouble. They always pray for the day their son would reach their expectations. They weren't counting on him to become the Ninja of Norisville and risking his lives for millions of people.
"Why did it have to be him?" Danny asked, "There are a thousand of good people in Norisville. Why him?"
"Even if he made a lot of mistakes, he was still willing to make it right." The Creep replied, "Besides; I have a deadline. I couldn't let a bunch of monsters roaming around for too long and turn this town into a dump. No offense."
"But he's just a kid." Melly argued, "And, maybe there are times when a crazy magical overlord takes a leave."
"So you rather let your kid lay around playing video games while the town burns and die?" The Creep asks, silencing them in place.
The group entered a temple. Once they stepped in, Viceroy's ragged and dirty appearance changed. It was as if he entered a magical bath house without even touching a single soap.
The group continued on foot until they came across the mural of the Norisu Nine. Standing in front of it was the First Ninja, his back turned on the group as if he was staring at the mural for ages.
"Creep." He muttered, not taking his eyes of the mural.
"Red." The Creep greeted, "800 years later, and he still stinks."
"Hold the phone!" Heidi exclaims, "Is he...? Are we...?"
Howard just grinned and walked over to the First Ninja, "Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce the F..."
"Don't, say it." The Ninja interrupted, "For I am not worthy of such a title."
Everyone stood in silence, trying to process his words. Suddenly, the mural parted, revealing Norisville 800 years ago. The Creep and "Red" stepped forward, prompting the others to follow. They walked and walked, taking a side glance now and then. All seam peaceful... until a monster came.
The villagers panicked and hid as the beast, a giant lion with wings, dove down, smashing everything with the tip of its tail which resembles a spiked mace. The group ran as well, except for Red, Creep and Plop Plop. Unfortunately, Viceroy tripped. Howard rushed over to help him up, only for the creature's shadow to loom over them.
The two braced for the worst as the tail was coming closer to them by the inch. But instead of making contact with either boys, the tail passed through them like some kind of ghost.
As they tried to process what just happened, the creature had his eyes set on an elderly couple being led by two children.
The beast pounced, mouth wide open...
Clang!
A man dressed in red suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stopped the beast with his staff. Two other men appeared and led the elderly couple and the kids to safety before joining their companion, along with six others, in fighting the beast.
"What you are witnessing are visions of the past." Red explained as the group watched the battle, "A time when Norisville was young. A time when chaos ran wild, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. A time when the Ninja's legacy began."
The crowd cheered as the 9 heroes roped the monster to the ground, rendering it helpless and unable to cause anymore damage.
The Rat, Verminious as he was now called, scurried into the sewers, sniffing out his targets. Finally, he flashed a sinister, victorious grin...
After the battle with the beast, the group followed the 9 warriors to a building as they hauled their catch. The beast remained motionless as a young girl rushed towards the warriors.
"Onii-san!" The girl cried, tackling the leader in a warm hug.
"Onii-what?" Bucky asks in confusion.
"That's her big brother." Debbie translated.
"And she was my little sister." Red added.
"That's you?" Theresa motions at the man the girl was hugging.
The girl proceeded to hug the others. That's when the group finally got a good look at her...
"Hana?!"
The teens had mixed reactions upon seeing the face of the Black Ninja; Debbie fainted. Bash punched himself on the face. Julien was biting himself. Heidi was... she just couldn't believe it.
The group followed the 9 warriors and their sister inside the building which was actually their house. They entered a room where they are greeted by an elderly man.
"Welcome back, my sons."
Day turned into night. As a reward for their heroism, the brothers were thrown a magnificent feast. Howard tried to grab a chicken leg, but to his dismay, since it was a part of a vision, it passed through him.
The brothers reached out for the last dumpling on the table... which led to them fighting over the last dumpling, literally.
The brothers clashed utensils while their father simply watched on, sipping his tea.
"Last night was over Daifuku." Plop Plop mused.
Eventually, Red was the last one standing while his brothers lay defeated on the ground. Just as he was about to reach for the last dumpling, he was stopped by a pair of chopsticks.
The Dumpling was flung into the sky, prompting Hana and Red to chase after it while at the same time fighting each other. The siblings threw plates and utensils at each other (luckily they are safely caught by the household staff). The even tickled and gave each other noogies just to reach their prize. To the teens, it was amusing. Eventually, Hana got the upper hand, and landed a blow on her brother that caused him to fall of the table, with just one finger.
The Dumpling fell. Hana held out her hand, ready to catch it, but her father beaten her to it, and ate it.
"Cheng," He turned to face his son, "seriously? You can handle a giant monster but you couldn't handle your own sister?"
"She caught me off guard." Cheng whined, prompting his brothers to chuckle in amusement.
"And Hana," He turned to face his daughter, "next time, try not to murder your brothers with embarrassment."
"I'll try, Daddy." Hana giggled.
"For generations, our family has defended our village from every chaos." Red narrated as the entire family went outside to face the creature. In a flash, the group was transported to where the beast was caged, "Anything that threatened the very existence of our people was exterminated. Hana, she didn't see it like that."
The beast growl as it attempted to break free from its binds to no avail. The family watched on, unfazed by its threatening glares.
"There, there, Big Guy." One of the brothers said before the family turned their backs away from it, "It'll be over soon, tomorrow morning."
The family began to walk back inside the house, only to stop when they noticed that Hana wasn't with the. They turn around. The beast managed to get one of his scarred claws out, allowing Hana to wrap it in a cloth.
"Hana, its a monster." Her father pushed her away from the monster who was perplexed by her actions, "Its a waste to tend the wounds of an enemy when you know their end is near."
Suddenly, a large shadow appeared out of nowhere and swooped down towards the caged beast. The family stood their ground as the shadow passed them. They turned around only to gasp in horror; The beast was gone! Its binds and cage laid on the ground, torn and broken.
The family were shocked. Warily, they looked around. Their worries were confirmed;
"HANA!"
Suddenly, the vision changed. The group found themselves standing on air. In front of them was the shadow creature carrying the still-bounded beast in its talons. Hana hanged from the beast's claw. At first she was frightened, but then she began climbing up.
The shadow creature flew into the air only to hear an unexpected sound. Like something was being sliced. It turned around, only to roar in anger.
Hana was cutting off the binds of the beast until it was free enough to bite the talons of the creature, causing it to roar in pain and drop it along with Hana.
The two plummeted to the ground. They were hurt, but they were able to get back on their feet.
Suddenly, the shadow creature appeared before Hana, red eyes glaring as it circled around her. The group urged her to run, but she remained in place undeterred.
Suddenly, the creature lunged... only to be stopped by the other beast. The two wrestled until the lion bit the creature's arm prompting it to fly away in defeat.
The teens cheered in relief... until they saw the lion slowly approaching Hana. Hana didn't move or flinch even when the beast was inches away from her.
The beast raised its bandaged claw and brought it down, only for Hana to shake it. The beast wasn't bothered by this as it simply flew into the night.
"Hana!" Hana turned to the voice of her father as he and her 9 brothers enveloped her in a hug.
"Where's the beast?" Cheng asks.
"He... didn't make it." Hana lied as they led her back home.
The teens were surprised. Why did she lie to her family? She saved the beast and let it go. She was there. So why...?
"Hana believed every creature has a heart, no matter how destructive they can be." Red said as the scene changed to the brothers heading to another attack.
"Hana." The Head of the Family stopped her before she could join her brothers.
"But you said I was ready." She protested as he led her back to the house.
"When you come of age, then you can join your brothers." Her father insisted, "Or when you have slain your first creature. Whichever comes first. Until then, you must stay here where it is safe."
"She was so young, yet promising." Red mused as Hana sadly allowed her father to lead her back into the house, "In order to prove our dedication to our family and home, we must slay a beast, even if we were in such a young age. Me and my brothers have done such that. Hana, she didn't have the heart to hurt a fly. Less that beast. Father didn't want to lose her. Neither did we."
The scene changed to Hana playing in the garden. She yawn, bored out of her mind, as she repeatedly bounce a ball on the ground only for it to bounce on top of a tree. She ground before she climbed and skillfully flung herself on top of the the tree with just a branch.
"Well. You don't want to keep the audience hanging." Bucky joked, "Tree Climbing Zing!"
The group continued to watch as Hana retrieved her ball, jumped off the top and landed safely on the ground. Suddenly, she beckoned to a group of eyes hiding in the bush. She brought out some bread, prompting the creatures to come out. But they weren't bunnies or any normal animals. They were like the monsters her brothers faced, only smaller. Plus they seam to be friendly.
The grouped awed as Hana fed the creatures and played with them. Howard noticed the sullen look on Red's eyes but the latter quickly replaced them with a serious glare, for a while.
The moment was broken when Hana was called, prompting the creatures to flee, leaving her all alone once again.
The scene changed once more. This time a large scorpion with three heads of a goat, a tiger and a snake was terrorizing the villagers. The villagers tried to flee, but they couldn't get away from its tentacles. Just when it was about to make a meal out of the villagers, a black blur zoomed in and slashed the tentacles, freeing the villagers in the process. Based on the murmurs and confusion, it was clear that this rescuer was a stranger to the town.
The monster slashed and slash, but the warrior skillfully dodged its attacks. Using his scarf, he wrapped it around the bladed arms of the monster before wrapping the rest of it around the monster, immobilizing it in the process. The villagers cheered for their heroes, and so did the teens.
"Yeah!" Howard playfully nudged Red, "Kicking it Old Ninja Style!"
Suddenly, the teens stopped cheering when Cheng and his brothers arrived in the scene, surprised and confused. Upon closer inspection, the Ninja that saved the villagers was clad in a full black Ninja suit. Not a hint of red to be seen.
The Ninja smoke bombed and disappeared. The scenario changed once more. The group found themselves in a room along with the Black Ninja. The Ninja took off her mask, causing the suit to disappear.
"I was never worthy to be called, 'The First Ninja.'" Red mused as the group found themselves facing his little sister.
Then... Bash fainted.