4:55
For a few moments, no one said a word. Randy stood there, clothed in a makeshift Ninja suit consisting of a black jacket, a pair of black jeans, a red scarf, and a ski mask. While it may not give him any powers, it did hide his identity and let people knew who he was supposed to be. Viceroy stared blankly at the Ninja, for once not having a smart remark as he was too baffled at what his foe had just said. And McFist…
"Eh, I'm sorry, I think I may have something in my ears," McFist said, sticking a finger in his ear to clean it out. "I thought that you said that you needed my help."
"Yes, that is what I said," Randy said, already not liking where this was going.
"Oh, okay," the former gazillionaire said. Everyone was quiet for a moment after that, before…"WHAT?!" McFist's scream made Randy cringe, frantically looking around him to make sure none of the guards had heard them, as well as snapping Viceroy out of his trance.
"Shh! Keep your voice down!", Randy whisper-yelled, though it fell on deaf ears.
"Why would I ever help you!", McFist yelled again. "It's because of you that I lost everything! And now I'm stuck in a jail cell for the rest if my life with only Viceroy of all people for company!" The former-gazillionaire then turned to his cellmate, a sheepish look on his face. "Eh, no offense."
"Offense taken," Viceroy responded, though was ignored by both the Ninja and McFist.
"While that may be true, McFist, if you don't help me the world as we know may cease to exist," Randy said, undeterred by McFist's animosity.
The amputee's anger quickly changed to confusion at the teen hero's words. "What the juice are you talking about?"
Randy sighed. "There is a beast out there right now, something stronger than you, stronger than me, stronger than the Sorcerer. It's out there planning on attacking the town tonight, and the only way I'll ever beat it is by using the weapons you used to try and destroy me." The Ninja then looked down, surprising McFist that his enemy would break eye contact. "This creature, the Tengu…it stole my suit. "
"Oh, so that's why you look like a failed Ninja cosplay," Viceroy commented.
"Thank you, Viceroy. You always know exactly what to say," Randy said sarcastic ally, giving the mad scientist a half-hearted glare before looking back at his incarcerated enemy. "Without you, McFist…I can't win. Please, I know you hate me, but find it in your heart to be the bigger man and help me."
McFist looked the teenage boy in the eye, seeming to be considering his words. Randy felt a flicker of hope, happy to see his arch-foe wouldn't let their mutual animosity stop him from doing what's right. Then McFist laughed.
"Help you?!" the mustached man said between laughs. "Oh, that is rich!"
"Wait, what? You're saying no?! How can you say so?! The world is literally about to end!" Randy said, causing McFist to scoff.
"Please, what has the world ever done for me? Locked me in a cell and thrown away the key, that's what!"
Randy spluttered disbelievingly. "This is what that this is about? Oh my cheese, I cannot believe you! How can you…" Randy cut himself off, putting a hand to the bridge of his nose as if he was developing a headache, before turning back to his former foes. "Okay, fine, I'll talk to the judge. I can probably get you out of here by the end of the month. That sound fair?"
Viceroy smiled wide at that, seeing almost ready to jump from excitement from the offer. The smile became a look of horror, however, as McFist laughed in the Ninja's face. "Ha! You wish!"
"Hannibal, what are you doing?! Take the deal!" Viceroy yelled somewhat frantically.
McFist ignored his companion, staring into the annoyed eyes of his worst enemy. "You expect me to spend another 2 weeks in this miserable place!"
Randy grinded his teeth, feeling his left eye twitch a bit. He did not have time for this. "Okay fine, by the end of this week. That's only 2 days away. That's literally the best I can do. Now do we have a deal." The Ninja put his hand through the bars for a handshake, but McFist just turned away from him.
"The answer is still no."
"What?!" Viceroy yelled. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm going to have to agree with Viceroy on this one? Why the juice would you not agree to this? You'll get your freedom back! Isn't that what you want?!" Randy yelled, his annoyance finally getting the better of him.
"Of course, that's what I want!" McFist yelled back.
"Then why are you saying no!"
"Because I can never be free!" At the former billionaire's statement, Randy and Viceroy closed their mouths, not expecting him to say anything like that.
"What?" Randy asked after a couple of minutes.
The angry expression on McFist's face morphed into something Randy couldn't quite identify. "I can no longer be free Ninja. I lost that privilege the moment the cops slapped the handcuffs on me. Now, even if I get out of this cell, even if I can wake up tomorrow in a bed not made of concrete where I have to endure Viceroy's snoring FOR NIGHTS ON END-"
"It is not my fault; I have a deviated septum!" Viceroy cried, although was ignored.
McFist gave a final glare at the mad scientist before turning back to the Ninja. "I lost my freedom the second you put me in here."
Randy's eyes widened a bit more as he realized what the expression on McFist's face was: sadness. His widened eyes narrowed suddenly, becoming the angriest look McFist or Viceroy had ever seen from the hometown hero.
"Are you honking kidding me?! This is all because of you feeling sorry for yourself? Because you got caught trying to rule the world?! That…that…" Randy took a breath, having to look away from the two men to compose himself. He's not sure if all of this is just coming from what the mustached man had said, or if it might be the stress of the situation getting to him, or if it's just the entire weight of the day's events finally fully hitting him, but something was making his blood boil and he is just lucky enough to have an outlet to take it out on.
Letting out a humorless laugh, he turned back, staring his former enemy right in his eyes. "You don't have to right to pity yourself, McFist. I didn't put you in here, okay. It was you and your insane plans that did. And right now, you should be begging to help out, not because you can get something out of it or make yourself feel better, but so you can apologize for what you did. How you tried to ruin lives just to get powers. How you traumatized so many people every day! Yet…you would rather give the town a lesson that you are somehow in the wrong."
McFist and Viceroy sat in tense silence as Randy stood there, staring at the once powerful man. He then turned around and began heading back into the shadows. However, he stopped before leaving and without turning around spoke. "A lot of people are going to be hurt, or maybe worse, and you might be the only way in saving them. I hope that's worth your lesson." With that Randy walked further into the shadows, struggling to think of a new plan to defeat the Tengu. However, he stopped when he heard a long sigh come from behind him. Turning back around, he rose an eyebrow in surprise seeming an annoyed looking McFist staring back at him.
"Fine, if you're going to get all dramatic about it." Before randy could comment, McFist grabbed his metallic hand, surprising the brain inside, and twisted in sideways. Pulling on it, the hand expanded away from the arm, attached by a pole in between, and the orb containing the brain was pushed out, landing in McFist's actual hand. He then held it out through the bars of his cell before speaking. "The fuzz took away a lot of my stuff when I got caught. Luckily, they weren't able to find a secret bunker I had installed just for this occasion.
"Secret bunker?", Randy asked as he apprehensively took the brain, becoming a bit grossed out when it blinked at him.
McFist waved it off dismissively, almost looking like he wanted to laugh. "Oh, nothing major. Just a little something I had ready for when I busted out of here to enact my revenge. But seeing as the fate of the world is in danger, seems like a good enough time to use it as any." He then pointed at the brain, who at this point had gotten bored of what was happening and was watching a nearby fly. "Anyway, go to that fake fudge factory on the edge of town, the one I made that one time for whatever plan Viceroy had."
"Excuse me?" Viceroy asked, but again was ignored.
"That brain will be able to get you in without setting off any of the…defenses we have in place." Randy didn't know why but he didn't like the way McFist said defenses. Nevertheless, he nodded his head before putting the brain in his jacket pocket.
"Thank you McFist. You are doing the right thing."
McFist's face scrunched up in disgust as the comment as he recoiled. "Blegh! I hate doing the right thing! Just go!" Randy rolled his eyes and began running off, but not before McFist said one final thing. "And Ninja…good luck."
As the Ninja made his way out of the prison, McFist groaned and put his head in his hand. "Ooooh, I cannot believe I just helped the Ninja. I feel like a fraud!"
Viceroy however had a contemplative look on his face as he thought of something. "Hannibal, who's brain is that anyway?" The former millionaire shot up, not expecting that question. Especially since, frankly, he didn't know either.
6:28
"Are you finished yet?
"No."
"What about now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No, Howard."
"Well then hurry up!"
"I'm trying, but it's hard when an idiot is breathing down your neck!"
Howard looked taken aback at what Debbie said, before leaning in to whisper in her ear. "Look, she may not be doing much, but there's no reason to call Theresa an idiot." Unfortunately, the baton twirler had heard what the husky boy had said and reared back to give him a piece of her mind.
However, Debbie then sat up, looking excited. "And finished!" Carefully, she picked up the remade Eye of Eternity. Sure, it may have cracks running all along its body and glue was dripping out of odd places, but it should get the job done.
"Finally! Took you long enough Kang," Howard said, taking the mystical orb from the short girl's hands, giving it a look. Debbie just rolled her eyes, knowing right now she shouldn't be getting into an argument with her teammate, and simply gave herself a mental reminder to punch him later.
"Yeah, yeah whatever. Is everyone away from the school?"
Howard waved her off, still looking at the Eye of Eternity. "Yep. Nobody wants to stick around here longer than they need, especially on the last day of school. And after a little bit of the old Weinerman charm on some people checking out to the damage to the school, they were more than happy to leave for the day. It was actually pretty easy. All I had to do was-" Howard stopped talking abruptly as he turned the Tengu Stone over, looking puzzled at the puzzle. "Uhh, Debbie?"
"What?" Debbie growled ignored, having ignored Howard a while ago so she and Theresa could start looking for any makeshift weapons.
"Why is there a piece missing?"
"What?!" Debbie shrieked before sprinting towards Howard and ripping the orb out of his hands. She gasped as she realized the boy was right; a part of the orb was in fact not there. Beginning to panic, she started to look around. "Where is it?"
"Debbie, calm down-" Theresa told her, but was caught off by the blunette.
"Don't tell me to calm down! We need to find that quickly before the Tengu gets here!"
"Chill out Kang." Howard said, putting an arm around her shoulders, making her a bit more annoyed. "It's got to be around here somewhere. And besides, the Tengu isn't even here yet. We have loads of time to find the piece and set up the trap."
All of the sudden, the remaining sunlight began to darken around the three teens. Looking up, they're eyes widened as they saw a cloud of stank begin to form, blocking out the sun. As the cloud grew, a bone-chilling laugh begin to fill the air as well and a dark shadow was seen from inside the cloud. The two girls turned and gave Howard annoyed looks, who simply looked at the cloud with a deadpan expression. "Why do I open my mouth?"
The glowing green cloud slowly began to swirl around, rapidly picking up speed before turning into a tornado. Howard, Debbie, and Theresa gasped as the wind picked up, slowly beginning to be sucked into it. Luckily, Howard was able to snatch onto an especially heavy piece of rubble, with Theresa and Debbie grabbing his legs as to not be sucked into the deadly cyclone. "Look out! It's a stanknado!", Howard yelled in terror.
As the newly dubbed stanknado touched down into what was once the Norrisville High commons and the ominous laughing grew louder, the gas exploded outwards as well as a wave of energy, sending Howard, Debbie, and Theresa flying into the nearby broken wall. The three teens got to their hands and knees, groaning in pain, they looked up to a ghastly sight. The stanknado seemed to have to have taken some of the nearby rubble and turned it into a podium where the Tengu now stood. Through the thinning green fog, they could see the cackling magical entity surrounded by green static as it looked around, before going quiet.
"Oh, no…no…no….This will not do at all…No, there needs to be a crowd, don't you think?..." The Tengu said, voice echoing down towards the three wary teens.
"Uh, well maybe not. Yeah, maybe this should be just be like a small group thing," Theresa began, trying to keep any innocent people out of this.
"Yeah, totally." "Makes sense to me" Debbie and Howard agreed. However, the Tengu just laughed as the fog picked up again, swirling around it.
"No, all special events deserve an audience…" The Tengu said, unnerving the group with the emphasis it put on the word special. "And I think the end of the world counts as a special event!..." As it finished speaking, the green fog shot out in multiple directions, hitting the nearby buildings and trees. As it made contact, swirling green portals opened up, before people began to fall out. Howard, Theresa, and Debbie's eyes widened in shock as in seconds hundreds of confused Norrisvillians appeared. Their confused expressions soon turned to ones of horror as they saw the evil spirit towering over them laughing.
"Ah ha ha ha, now this is more like it!...Now, come out Ninja!...It's time to face the future!..." The Tengu gasped as the civilians looked around, now searching for their hero. However after a few moments the civilians began murmuring in confusion as they realized he was nowhere to be found.
Howard, Debbie and Theresa were among the confused, a tad surprised Randy hadn't used that moment for a dramatic entrance. Sure, they had no idea where he had gone or what his plan was, but they knew he knew that this was a time sensitive matter. So, shouldn't he have gotten back from wherever he gone to?
The Tengu began to laugh again, redrawing the attention of everyone below it. "Just as I thought…It seems that without his powers, your savior has abandoned you…What a shame, I really was looking forward to destroying him…" The Norrisvillians gasped, not believing the Ninja wasn't coming to save them. His three friends however cursed his terrible timing and hoped he would hurry up. The beast then shrugged before lighting its fist alight with a green fire. "Oh well, which one of you wants to die first?...
The civilians all took a few involuntary steps back at those words, understandably scared. Theresa, Debbie and Howard were the only ones not to, getting into defensive positions, or in Howard's case a ridiculous kung fu stance.
The Tengu surrounded itself with stank, rising into the air as the fire spread to both hands, burning brighter. However, before the monster could do damage, it was halted by something hitting it in its face. No longer laughing and extinguishing its hands, it reached down and was caught off guard to see that it had been attacked by a t-shirt. Before it could ponder what this meant though, a familiar voice rang out from behind the crowd. "Hey ugly!"
All the surrounding people turned and gasped at the sight before them. Filled in the streets and standing on the rooftops were an army of McFist's old robots. Robo-apes, chainsaw werewolves, punk-bots, robo-lizards, Jack Hammer, the Krackenstein, everything Viceroy ever built to destroy the Ninja stood ready to fight. Flying in the air above all of them was Randy decked out in the Lucius O'Thunderpunch armor, its t-shirt cannons glistening in the setting sunlight. "You called?" Randy asked rhetorically.
The Tengu smirked, lighting the colorful shirt on fire as it stood straight. "So, you actually had the audacity to come back…And you even brought an army to back you up…" The spirit laughed a little in a very patronizing way. "How cute…Well two people can play at this game…" Then with no warning, the Tengu shot an enormous blast of stank over the crowd. As they breathed it in, some of the civilians started to convulse uncontrollably before turning into monsters, causing those uninfected to run away in safety. After a few seconds, over half the crowd was stanked. Luckily Howard, Debbie, and Theresa were not among that majority.
Randy glared at his enemy underneath his armor as the Tengu began to cackle, sensing his anger. "So, tell me Ninja: how do you feel your toys will handle against a real army?..."
Randy's glare increased behind the armor's faceplate as he put away the t-shirt cannons. "You said you wanted a fight Tengu. So let's finish this."
The Tengu's humor filled expression quickly morphed to a very serious one, as the powerful villain relit its palms and its new army gathered around it. "Well, well, well, looks like we have a brave one here…Fine Ninja, if you are so ready to meet your demise, then I suppose we should start this final battle…"
The Norrisvillians scrambled away, not wanting to be caught in the crossfires of what was going to be a brutal fight. Both sides' armies came closer, ready to fight for their leader. Howard, Theresa and Debbie joined Randy's army, picking up pieces of rubble to fight with since they didn't have any weapons.
The Tengu and Randy flew silently for another moment, staring each other directly in the eyes. Then the chaotic spirit let a small smirk come to its face, one Randy didn't miss. "Let the best ninja win…" And with those words, the battle begun.