Doug forgot how much time had passed since he started explaining to his daughters the misadventures that had happened when Erma had given him the Mask of Loki as a birthday present. By the time he had finished everything, the family had already left the van and made their way through a thick forest, stopping at a long staircase.
"We're almost there. We should be getting out of this fog when we reach the bottom of this path." Yori said as Mitsu and Momo were already jumping down the staircase excitedly.
"Bet I can reach the bottom before you, Sis!"
"In your dreams!"
Doug chuckled as the twins turned to Erma, challenging her to race them down the stairs. Grinning, the man slowly took out the Mask of Loki and turned to Yori with a wink.
"I think its time the kids get better acquainted with their old man's other side."
In a flash of green light and a swirling tornado, Doug-Mask zipped up beside his daughters and niece with a big goofy grin as he was dressed up as a Mechanical Rabbit that is used in Dog Races. He also gave them race numbers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to see some top-notch racing! Contests, on your marks; THEY'RE OFF!"
Zooming off, Mitsu, Momo, and Erma all gained grins and flew after Doug-Mask, who let out his signature laugh as he led them down the path. Emiko couldn't help but be worried.
"J-Just wait for us at the bottom, okay?"
Doug-Mask stretched his neck all the way back to Emiko and simply gave her a wink before it zipped backward, leaving behind the skull, which gave a cackle as it zipped off after its face.
"Huh, can't wait to see how this turns out."
Emiko gave Sam a glare as he smirked. "Samuel Williams. I know that look in your eyes. It's that spark that leads to another one of your books. Now is not the time to-"
"No. No, honey, not at all."
Yori couldn't help but giggle at the little lover's quarrel.
Erma was racing Mitsu and Momo while following Doug-Mask down the trail. Momo pulled out a wire and lashed it out at Erma to try and slow her down but it was suddenly snipped in two by Doug-Mask, who was now dressed as a referee and blew a whistle.
"No cheating allowed, dears!"
Doug-Mask then zipped off as Erma smirked at her cousins and stopped at the finish line. The twins huffed as they soon followed after her. They gave their transformed father a glare as he simply looked away while whistling innocently.
"Alright, Pops, what other tricks you got?"
Doug-Mask simply grinned before spinning and dressing up as the Good Fairy from Wizard of Oz, complete with a wig and lipstick.
"Oh, I have many! Just follow the Yellow Brick Road!"
With a wave of his wand, Doug-Mask created a yellow brick road path and flew off as Mitsu and Momo flew after him, Erma following to make sure she didn't lose sight of them. As Doug-Mask led his daughters and niece down his self-made road, he noticed the area seemed to be a type of old abandoned Japanese farm village. Mitsu and Momo then zipped past him, leaving a trail of cherry blossom petals behind them.
"Come on, Dad! You don't know your way around, neither does 'E'! Guess we gotta start leading the way!"
"Oh, you!" Doug-Mask chuckled as he and Erma both followed after the trail of petals, soon coming across a house. Heading inside, the two looked around, the trail of petals having stopped. The two then came across a hole in the floorboard with a large puddle forming. Erma took a moment to stare at her reflection while Doug-Mask worriedly looked around for his daughters.
"Now where did those two little tykes go too?" He asked before noticing Erma squatting down near the head of a statue as if listening for something.
"What's up, squirt?"
Erma backed up before suddenly stepping on a sandal, which suddenly screeched as it sprouted a single large eye, arms, and legs. After jumping back and forth, the sandal angrily cursed Erma out before jumping over the hole and out the door, closing it before either Erma or Doug-Mask could try and catch it.
"Hmmm...The plot thickens." Doug-Mask said while dressed as a Film Noir Detective as Erma tried opening the door, only for it to grow eyes and look at her curiously. Suddenly, the room changed completely, becoming cleaner and the hole in the floor sealing up. Soon, shadows began emerging from behind the door, which opened to reveal several humanoid figures walking in. However, as they came closer to Doug-Mask and Erma, the former realized they weren't actually humans, but YOKAI!
"Hello, natives! You wouldn't happen to have seen two cute little girls with bangs covering their eyes have you?" Doug-Mask asked politely while tipping his fedora.
"What are these?" Asked a woman with the body of a snake and two scars on her right cheek. She had similar facial features to Emiko and Yori.
"Um, a kid and some kind of weird guy, I'm assuming." A Kappa wearing a hoodie, shorts, sandals, and bamboo hat spoke.
"Yeah, but what kind are they? They both smell of human but the child also smells of Yokai and the man...something else entirely." The snake woman responded.
"I mean, they look like one of us. They definitely cross the fine line past human, I'll tell you that." The Kappa said while rubbing his neck nervously.
"Wait a minute!" A woman who's head was floating separate from her body exclaimed before floating over to Erma and inspecting her.
"Pale skin. Long black hair. Black eyes. White dress." The woman gasped as she saw Erma's shoes. "And black dress shoes! Are you Erma?! You must be Erma!"
Nervously, Erma nodded and the woman suddenly scooped her into a hug and squealed loudly. "Oh my gosh! You're SO much cuter than I could've imagined!"
A red-skinned oni wearing a purple open coat, a bead necklace, and leopard-print pants perked up. "Wait! Erma? As in 'Emiko's Daughter' Erma?"
The floating head woman turned to the Oni with a beaming smile. "I know, right? Look at her! Just like Little Emi back in the day!"
"Wo-Ho! You're right! That's actually kinda freaky."
Doug-Mask felt relieved that these Yokai meant no harm before his ear cartoonishly enlarged and he elongated his neck like Yori to peek behind Mitsu and Momo, who were both sitting on one of the ceiling beams.
"Boo."
"KYAH!" The twins both yelped before seeing it was just their father, who did a cartoon teeth-chatter giggle.
"Sorry, just wanted to check on ya, sweeties!" Giving both his daughters kisses on the cheeks, he pulled his head back down to his body as the floating head woman turned to a girl who looked mostly normal...save for not having any facial features whatsoever.
"Mayumi! Isn't this amazing?"
Silence...
"That's what I thought too!"
A woman wearing black and green business robes and hair that ended in multiple red-tipped barbs then spoke up. "Ena. Even if this IS Emiko's child, we are complete strangers to her. Strangers who have been violating her personal space and rambling nonsense to her. Don't you think we should introduce ourselves, or at least, find Emiko for confirmation? She must be around if the little one belongs to her."
The floating head girl grinned sheepishly in response. "Oh! Right! I'm being an idiot, aren't I? My bad!"
"Don't worry, I can safely say she is 100% Emiko's daughter! Want me to do a blood test?" Doug-Mask spoke up, making his presence officially known as he took out a ridiculously large syringe.
Before anybody could speak up, black shadows began pooling from the screen doors before spreading out into tentacles of hair that grabbed Erma and pulled her out of Ena, the floating head woman's arms and into the protective embrace of one very pissed off Emiko who was accompanied by Yori and Sam.
"They'll be waiting for us, huh?" The Onryo Woman said to her Rokuro-Kubbi Sister darkly, who only shrugged.
"Hey. I SAID I was sorry."
Doug-Mask simply turned his head to the audience and gave a goofy grin while slyly holding up a Wile E. Coyote sign that said the three dreaded words.
'To Be Continued...'
How will Doug-Mask react to officially meeting the rest of Emiko and Yori's family? Find out in the next chapter!
