Chapter 40: Old springdale

"Why is he so...cold?" Nate asked as he and the others made camp on the top floor of Nathaniel's workshop. Really it was just a glorified treehouse with lightbulbs. It had been in the same place as the shed had been in the present.

Hovernyan had gotten them wool blankets and some old pillows to sleep on. Nate and Damona wrapped up snugly, while jibanyan laid on top of them.

"Nathaniel is going through a bit of a phase," his familiar replied, "it's not that he doesn't want friends… he just doesn't think he deserves them…"

Nate saw a look in the cat yokai's eyes that told him that this was a sad truth. He didn't know why his grandpa was so distant, but he could tell Hovernyan was trying to be there for him.

"Believe me, he's a lot nicer once you get past his hard exterior," Hovernyan continued, looking out into the forest. Nate looked in the same direction, seeing a shocking sight.

He could see the silhouettes of at least thirty yokai, their eyes glowing the darkness. They stood there, still and silent, though it was hard to tell from a distance, you could see a sense of longing in their eyes.

"Who are they?" the human asked.

"The yokai Nathaniel's helped," Hovernyan replied, "just like you, he's done a lot to help the yokai around him. Many of them want to repay him with friendship… but he always refuses…"

Nate shared a sigh with the cat.

"Get some rest, it's late," Hovernyan told him, turning off the lights.

Nate laid down beside his fiance, yawning, before drifting to sleep.

Meanwhile, Miles away, the Wicked yokai all converged at the request of their leader.

"YOU IDIOTS!" her voice rang through the iron halls of her steampunk palace, "NOT ONLY DID YOU FAIL TO KILL THAT BRAT, BUT YOU LEAD HIM RIGHT TO US!"

"W-we tried to eliminate that pesky Bakeneko, your majesty!" Kin pleaded.

"We d-didn't anticipate he used a false body!" Gin added.

"QUIET!" the wicked overlord yelled, "I DON'T WANT EXCUSES! I WANT THAT CHILD DEAD! DUN, DUN, DUH!"

All of the wicked yokai quaked in their non-existent boots. Their queen was terrifying when she was angry.

"Wait a minute," The queen sensed something unusual in her domain. She pointed to one of the humanoid Wickeds, "YOU! COME HERE!"

The wicked had an expression of fear as he flew forward. When he was close enough, the queen ripped into his chest with one hand, pulling something out. The yokai's form blew into smoke as she examined her hand's contents.

It was an Oni orb, a ball of energy made from an oni's essence. But unlike most oni orbs, this one was special. Rather than red, it was made of black and purple energy, and seemed to have a royal glow to it.

"This… This I can use!" the giant wicked yokai began to cackle. She reached into her own mouth, pulling out an eerie, red flame. She brought the oni orb and flame close together, "THOSE FOOLS BROUGHT ME THE BLOOD OF RAISEN!"

The two spiritual objects in her her hands came close together, before combining into a reddish-purple soul. She set the soul down as dark energy began to from around it, growing into a humanoid shape. Pale skin began to grow over the energy, as did silver hair and a black horn. Finally, a blood red eye opened.

"You are my perfect little creation!" the wicked queen cackled, "With the blood of the first wicked running through your veins, you'll succeed where your predecessors have failed!"

The newly created wicked yokai donned a familiar smirk, she laughed in a voice eerily similar to Damona's, "Of course, Mother!"

When the morning rose, Nate and Damona awoke to the unpleasant sound of Jibanyan whining.

"Ugh, what now, ya wimp?" the half princess asked in a tired voice.

"I ONLY HAVE ONE CHOCOBAR LEFT!" the nekomata cried.

"You're crying over chocolate?" Hovernyan asked, flying up to the roof of the workshop.

"Honestly, I'd call that normal behaviour," Nate sighed, standing up with a yawn, "Honestly, I'd be more surprised if he didn't."

"Ergh, NYATE!" Jibanyan yelled to get his human friend's attention, he handed him the chocolate, "WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T LET ME EAT THIS CHOCOBAR!"

"Um… ok," Nate said, pocketing the candy.

"NYO MATTER HOW MUCH I WINE AND BEG!" the red cat finished.

"Ok then, with that out of the way, Nathaniel said to come down. He's headed to springdale in a few minutes," the floating blue cat said.

"You got it," Nate gave his familiar a nod. He shook Damona a little, "you heard the nekomata! Up and At em!"

Damona groaned as she floated upward.

"Um.. Nate, I'm not a nekomata," Hovernyan said, "I'm a Bakeneko. The difference is we have one tail while Nekomata have two."

"Oh… my bad!" Nate replied. He climbed down to the ground floor, the others following close behind him. Leaving the workshop, they saw the young Nathaniel scribbling in his work book, an old hand bag around his shoulder.

The 13 year old noticed them, he put his book in his bag and said, "bout time, now come on. Sooner we get to springdale, sooner Miradox can send you home."

The group obliged, which resulted in a mile long walk to the local train station. The trip left everyone exhausted.

"W-we...ne-need to make friends with Mirapo," Damona huffed.

Nathaniel looked at her, "Hey, I've been meaning to ask… what exactly is your relationship to my g- Nate. what are you to Nate. you've been sending mixed signals."

"Oh, we're engaged!" the Oni princess replied.

"Crank-a-kai situation?" the teen asked.

"Um… yeah, how'd you know?" Damona was surprised he guessed it off the bat.

"I've used the crank-a-kai four times," Nathaniel sighed, "the first time was pleasant enough, Kingmera wasn't that bad a guy, the second time I accidentally unleashed a highly invasive snake yokai on springdale, still haven't caught them all. The fourth one tried to pull me into that whole, 'Medal Marriage' thing, but since I denied her medal I got out of it, and the last time I released an Oni who still hasn't stopped pranking me!... I've elected to just never touch that thing again."

Damona's pupils shrunk at that explanation.

"Alright, everyone on the train," Nathaniel said.

"You know, I live in springdale! Maybe I can show you around," Nate suggested.

"Or since I'm supposed to your grand dad, I'll show you around," the young form of his grandfather said in a snide tone before buying tickets.

Nate sighed, he still wasn't getting anywhere with Nathaniel.

The train ride to springdale was a lot slower than it had been in the present, mostly because this was a steam train rather than the modern bullet trains. Though it also seemed slower as no one had said anything the entire trip.

It seemed like years had passed when the train finally pulled into Springdale station. Stepping off the platform, Nate noticed just how much the down had changed in 60 years. Given their location, they should have been downtown. However none of the large skyscrapers or huge business buildings had been built yet. All that surrounded them were houses, and a few small factories.

He was so distracted by all the changes, he didn't notice he accidentally ran into someone.

"Ugh, sorry!" He said after the impact.

"Geeze, watch it!" a familiar voice replied, a voice that sounded near exactly like Zoey's. Getting a good look at the girl, he noticed she didn't just sound like Zoey, she looked a great deal like her as well. She had the same round face, and pale skin tone. However, her hair was a very dark blue and a lot curlier than his creepy friend's. This girl was wearing a blue turtleneck, with a darker blue skirt, mary janes and round, tinted glasses.

"Z-Zoey?" Nate questioned.

"Um, no my name is Laura," The blunette girl replied with an annoyed face, "Watch where you're going, weirdo."

The girl walked off, leaving Nate dumbstruck.

"I think we just saw Zoey's grandma," Damona said.

"Weird…" Nate said

"Come on, Miradox should be around here somewhere," Nathaniel continued to walk, gesturing for them to follow. The group continued to walk through town. As they did, Nate noticed more look-alikes.

What appeared to be Eddie's grandfather was taking pictures of townsquare. A boy who looked like Bear with a military cut was helping a man load boxes into the back of his trunk. He even saw a girl who looked identical to Katie walking with a few other girls, giggling at something.

"Man, I guess we all take after our grandparents," he finally said, just before Nathaniel stopped the group.

The teen took a marble from his pocket, holding it to his eye. He looked around an empty, triangle shaped lot, (Which Nate knew was a park in his time) his face showed dissatisfaction.

"Where is he?" Nathaniel grumbled.

"It's possible Miradox is elsewhere at the moment," Hovernyan spoke up, "Perhaps we can accompany you on your errands to pass the time until he returns?"

The teen thought it over, before sighing, "ugh, fine. Just until I can find him."

"You won't regret it, Gra- I mena, Nathaniel!" Nate smiled.

"Hey… has anyone seen Jibanyan?" Damona spoke up, noticing the feline's absence. Thinking on it, none of them had actually seen him since the train station.

As for where the cat was? He was looking for a specific street. His street to be exact. He'd been planning this since he found out he was in the past. All he was going to do was… mark his territory before that jerk Baddinyan was ever around to take it!

He found the old intersection, the smells of the fish shop infecting his nostrils. He hadn't been here since he moved in with Nate!

The Red Nekomata sniffed at the ground, looking for the spot he used to spend napping(when he wasn't fighting cars). It was the comfiest area of the intersection, tucked between two of the buildings was a pile of old blankets that had been there as long as the cat could remember.

"Home sweet Ho-" Jibanyan didn't finish, as in his old spot, he saw another Nekomata sleeping! This cat yokai was mostly black, with a fluffy neck of white floof, that also covered his face, belly and paws. The other cat's tails were a basic blue color, and a talisman wrapped around his neck. Jibanyan grew angry at the thought of another cat in his spot, "HEY!"

"REOW!" the other cat jumped in surprise, he looked at Jibanyan, "Can't a cat nyap in peace?!"

"You're in my spot!" Jibanyan said sternly.

"You're spot?" the other Nekomata said, getting to his feet, "I've been sleeping here for three years!"

"It's my spot!" Jibanyan yelled.

"Well, then, were have you been? Hmm?" the black and white cat questioned him.

"I've been somewhere else lately, but I want my spot back!" Jibanyan hissed.

"If you wanted it, you shouldn't have left!" the other cat hissed back.

Both nekomata bared their claws, growling at each other. The two began circling each other, keeping their eyes on the other… Finally, Jibanyan jumped at the other cat, knocking them both into the road.

The two scratched and clawed at each other in the street, tumbling along the dirt path that would soon be replaced by tar. The black and white cat swung a punch at Jibanyan's chest, knocking the wind out of him long enough to get a few feet away.

"That was a cheep shot!" Jibanyan yelled, chucking a fireball at the other cat. Hitting him square in the chest.

"Ok… Nyow… I'm angry!" the nekomata huffed, dark aura began to swirl around him, "Do you have any idea what i'm like… when… I'm… Mad!?"

"SHADOW!"

The opposing Nekomata's body was engulfed in dark blue fire. The flames grew, becoming the shape of a larger, semi-human feline with sharp, jagged teeth. The flames disappeared, revealing how the yokai's form had changed. He now stood fifteen feet tall, his collar fluff now looking like a hurricane around his neck.

His massive arms bore flame-like fur, his claws long and sharp. The beast's eyes glowed an eerie red, and the flames of his tails were now massive blazes.

Jibanyan was frozen with fear as he snarled, "NYECROMATA!"

Necromata: A rank

Shadowside Shady

"Um… I'm sorry?" Jibanyan said meekly. Necromata took a swing at him with his massive claws, which he just barely dodged. The red cat ran off screaming, "IT WAS WORTH A SHOT!"

The larger yokai gave chase, the ground lighting on fire from his tails.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group were having a much more calm experience...and By calm I mean:

"BOR-RING!" Damona complained as she and Nate waited outside Timers and More, "What the heck is taking so long?!"

"You're just whiney cause your yokaI-pad doesn't get reception here," Nate told her, twiddling his thumbs.

"Not my fault the internet hasn't been invented yet," the half demon pouted. She then felt something wet hit her forehead. Looking up, she saw grey clouds rolling in, "ugh, as if today couldn't get any worse!"

"You didn't happen to bring an umbrella, did you?" Nate asked. Rather than replying, Damona just made one out of ice as it began to pour, "thank you."

"So… does it normally start raining without warning?" Damona asked, watching the raindrops hit the ground.

Before Nate could answer, another voice spoke up, "Nah, it just means she's feeling down again."

The two turned to the supposed owner of the voice. He appeared to be mostly humanoid, save for his yellow, ball shaped head, with five little spikes gravitating around it. He was wearing a white suit, with a cloud like scarf draped around his arms. The oddest thing about him is that he seemed to be generating sunlight, albeit less intense than the real sun's. A small rainbow was visible over his head.

"... Come again?" Damona asked for clarification.

"Drizzelda… it always rains when she's upset," the yokai replied.

"And you are?" Nate questioned, he didn't know this guy, but his tone of voice was one of sorrow.

"Oh, sorry, forgot to introduce myself," The yokai turned, revealing the sunflower in his shirt, as well as his chiseled face and sky blue eyes, "The name's Ray o'light."

Ray O'light: C rank

Heartful

"Ok, nice to meet you, Mr. O'light," Nate replied, "I'm Nate, this is Damona-" "Sup." "And you were saying something about someone called 'Drizzelda?'"

"Yeah, she's the most beautiful yokai I've ever met," Ray said with a dreamy look in his eyes, a look that soon turned saddened, "but… she's always so unhappy. She thinks every little thing that goes wrong is somehow her fault… I wish I could make her see that wasn't the case…"

He turned away.

"So…" Damona looked at her fiance, "we gonna interfere with their lives and help Lover-boy out here?"

"I wouldn't word it like that, but…" Nate started.

"Look, good intentions or not, it's all the same to me," the yuki-onna/ oni hybrid stood up, "hey sun head!"

"Hmm?" the yokai turned back around.

"You want our help? We tend to be good with this kinda thing," Damona said. Though the look she received from Nate made her add, "at least he is."

"Uh… well, you don't need to trouble yourselves with someone else's issues," Ray o'light said. Damona grabbed at his shoulder and pulled him as they started walking away.

"Come on, lover boy," She said, dragging the sun yokai along.

A short distance away, a certain yokai was watching their departure.

"Ugh, Unkained-" "General Unkained," The wicked Oni, now clad in a dark purple kimono, cut Kin off.

Unkained: S rank

Wicked

"Erg… General Unkained, shouldn't we attack those brats now?" Kin finished her thought.

"Yes," Gin agreed, "We have the element of surprise on our side."

"You fools clearly don't know what you're doing," Unkained scoffed, "Luckily, Mother put Me in charge of this mission."

The older yokai scowled. She'd existed for less than a day and she was already getting on their nerves. Unfortunately, given she had the blood of the original wicked flowing through her veins, she likely could defeat them in combat.

"What we need to do is watch, and listen," Unkained spoke, as if she had done this hundreds of times before, "Once we have observed our prey, we can plan according to their actions."

She noticed Nathaniel leave Timer's and more, Hovernyan in tow, "And I just got an idea."

"What the?" Nathaniel questioned as Nate and Damona were apparently missing.

"They couldn't have wandered too far," Hovernyan assured him.

"Great, now I have to find them, the cat And Miradox!" The teen said walking off in a huff. The floating Bakeneko began floating after him.

"You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss him, your grandson has already figured out how to work your watch, despite having it less than a week, I'm sure if you give him a ch-" Hovernyan was cut off by the glare of the boy.

"I told you, I need to do this On my own!" Nathaniel yelled.

"And who decided that?" Hovernyan asked him. Nathaniel didn't answer, he just turned around and kept walking, Hovernyan sighed and began following him.

Meanwhile once again, Jibanyan was only narrowly escaping the personified jaws of death that was Necromata. The much larger cat had come close to swallowing his lower half at least three times now, and he didn't look like he'd give up anytime soon.

"Can't we talk about this?!" Jibanyan was beginning to lose his breath, any more and he's was sure his heart would give out.

"RUN, RUN, RUN!" The larger Nekomata yelled running behind him, shoving a car to the side in order to progress.

"HELP ME-OW HERE!" Jibanyan continued running.

"Did you hear that?" Damona questioned, just a few blocks away.

"Hear what?" Nate asked.

"Eh, probably nothing, then," the half demon shrugged.

"Awe, there she is…" Ray o'light let out a dreamy sigh as he stopped in his stracks.

Just in view, a humanoid yokai was overlooking the nearby river. She was a short, pale looking woman with dark purple hair covering her eye and growing long down her body. Her attire was simple, a white dress, and an old fashioned looking umbrella on her head. Seemingly, the bottom of her dress seemed to dissolve into a puddle.

Drizzelda: B rank

Charming

"That's the one you're in love with?" Damona looked unimpressed.

"Of course, why wouldn't I love her! With her midnight hair, her beautiful crimson ey-" Ray o' light started, but was stopped.

"Ok, we get it, you're in love, now stop," the half demon said, slapping her hand over his mouth.

Nate noticed tears rolling down the other yokai's face, "So… it rains when she gets sad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so… I always try to cheer her up, but…" the sun yokai said solemnly.

"Never lands, does it?" the boy put together.

"No, not really," Ray o'light side, "Just… I'll try to cheer her up. If it doesn't work, then I'm open to suggestions.."

The sun yokai began walking toward the gloomy yokai, flashing a radiant smile that seemed to lesson the rainfall.

"Drizzelda, why hello my lovely rainflower!" he said, causing Damona to cringe at that line.

"Oh… hello, Ray…" Drizzelda said in a sad, quiet voice.

"I noticed the rain, is everything alright?" Ray o'light asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Does something trouble you, my dear?

"I'm fine… really, you don't have to concern yourself with my issues," Drizzelda sighed.

"Come on, Drizzy…" Ray O'light's grin faltered, "You know all I want is for you to be happy… what's wrong?"

"It's just… all that's going on… Things are so bad, it…" The rain began to pour more intensely as she spoke, "H-how… how could anyone be happy in times like this…"

With a sound of thunder a distance away, it became undeniable that the weather was getting worse as Drizzelda's mood dampened.

Looking defeated, Ray O'light walked back to Nate and Damona.

"Ok… After reviewing evidence, I can say with certainty we need to cheer her up before we're up to our knees in anst-rain," Damona said, clutching her ice umbrella.

"I'm with you," Her human fiance agreed.

"Well, if you have any ideas, I'm all ears," Ray O'light sighed.

"Well… do you know anything she particularly loves? Something that may cheer her up?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, like her favorite food or something," Damona added.

"Why is food the first thing to come to your head?" Nate questioned.

The half demon shrugged, "Yokai love our food, what can I say."

"Favorite food… Melon bread!" Ray O'light snapped, "She loves melon bread! That's bound to cheer her up!"

"Ok, guess we're running with this…" Nate sighed, "I'm sure if we looked at shopper's row we could find some."

"Sweet! Shopper's row has a roof, let's go!" Damona said, dragging them in the direction of the shopping district.

After the relatively short walk to the shopping district, which also looked old-timey, the group began looking for a bakery of some kind to buy some melon bread.

Soon after arriving, however, they heard a familiar voice yell out, "There you are!"

Nate turned to see Nathaniel and Hovernyan coming in their direction.

"Where have you two been?" The teenage form of Nate's grandfather asked, clearly not in a good mood.

"Of, Gr- I mean, Nathaniel!" Nate said, "good timing. You wouldn't happen to know where to get some melon bread, would you?"

Nathaniel looked at him for a moment, "what does melon bread have to do with any of this?"

"We need it so lover boy here can get his girlfriend to stop making it rain," Damona said bluntly, pointing toward the Sun yokai.

"Ugh… of course. Once they know you can see them, they never shut up with the requests," Nathaniel groaned in annoyance, "We don't have time for this, I need to send you home."

"Well…" Havernyan said, receiving a glare from the teen, the bakeneko held his ground, "We still need to find Jibanyan and Miradox, so I'm sure helping this fellow out could be done as we do that."

"See, even Hovernyan agrees! Now are you gonna help, or will this be hard for everyone?" Nate asked.

The japanese teen looked at them, everyone else seemed to be set on doing this.

He sighed in defeat, "Fine. Let's get some melon bread."

"Yes!" everyone internally said, as they began to look around the stores, searching for their quarry. Nate was having an especially hard time. In the 60 years between his time and this one, the flower road shop's had apparently changed quite a bit.

Some of the shops were the same, but the vast majority were different to the ones he was used to. It was extremely jaring.

"Hey! I think I found it!" Damona announced, floating outside a bakery. Sure enough, on display were the's little sweet-buns that somewhat resembled melons.

"Those are it alright," Ray O'light nodded, "These are sure to bring a smile to Drizzelda's face!"

Nate nodded also. He began talking to the clerk to buy some. Getting a full box for way cheaper than he anticipated… guess money works differently in the past. Damona eyed the deserts, wondering what the hype was about.

"What's so great about these?" She asked, taking one from the box. She eyed it for a few more seconds, before taking a bite. As soon as the bread's sugary surface met her tongue, an instant wave of pleasure swept over her, "Sooo Gooood!"

She proceeded to devour the desert within seconds, squealing with delight.

"Woah… if they can make Damona react like that, maybe you're right about Drizzelda," Nate said in surprise.

"I told ya," Ray O'light said.

"Alright, alright… Now let's get this over with so we can find your cat and Miradox," Nathaniel spoke with a no-nonsense tone.

"It's… actually funny you should say that…'' Hovernyan said, pointing over to an appliance store, a display window showing a ton of old timey tvs.

Based on what the Bakeneko had said, Nate began shining his watch at the store, revealing a very strange yokai. The yokai seemed to be a living vanity mirror with arms and a pink frame, floating just off the ground Nate assumed it had a face, but it was looking toward the store.

"Mirroradox!" Nathaneil said in a pleased tone as he brought his wrist down.

The yokai heard him, turning around to reveal the three mirrors on the front of its body. It's bface was on the center mirror, its tongue noticeably sticking out.

Miradox: A rank

Mysterious

"You have no idea how long I've been looking for you." Nathaniel said, walking up to the strange yokai, "what are you even doing, anyway?"

"Just watching the new Moximus Mask, wanna join?" the mirror yokai asked.

"New Moximus Mask?!" the seriousness seemed to drop from Nathaniel's tone, if only for a brief moment. He soon realized the looks he was getting, and returned to his former disposition, "well… another time, i'm afraid." It looked like it physically hurt him to say that, "Right now, I need your help. Because of Hovernyan my grandson and a few yokai are here instead of where they should be."

The Bakeneko flinched at his harsh tone.

"Ah, I see," Miradox said, "you want me to send them back?"

"Yes, thankyou," Nathaniel nodded.

"But first we gotta find Jibanyan," Nate reminded him, "and help Ray O'light here."

"Right, let's get this over with. Miradox, you're coming with," Nathaniel said, "So where's this Drizzelda?"

Ray O'light began to lead the way. As they walked, Nate began talking to Miradox.

"So… you can travel through time?" He asked.

The mirror yokai seemed to shake his… body? Yokai anatomy is weird.

"Not in the way you think," he said, "Most humans like to think time is a straight line, and everytime you go to the past, you have to be careful not to change anything or risk messing with history, but this simply isn't true."

"For one thing, just travelling back interferes with events, so just by being there you change the outcome," he continued.

"So then… How come no paradoxes happen?" the boy asked.

"Simple, everytime you 'go to the past,' you're really just creating a new timeline that takes place at an earlier point in history," Miradox explained, "Time is still moving on your end just as it's moving here, and eventually, this timeline will have its own future that could be almost unrecognisable to yours!"

"Oh…" Nate said. That definitely wasn't the answer he expected.

"Yeah… Didn't Robonyan say something like that when we met them?" Damona spoke up, "That time is like a tree and whenever you go back it grows a new branch?"

"That's one way to put it," Miradox nodded, "Another would be that time is like a river. You can control where it diverges, but where it will lead, no one will know. Not until they get there themselves."

"So, If I'm understanding this right… you don't actually travel through time… you travel between timelines?" Nate asked.

"Exactly!" the mirror cheered.

"Huh. you learn something new everyday," Nate said.

The rest of the walk was quiet after that, save for the sound of rain hitting the ground.

Little did they know, they weren't alone. Most wouldn't notice, but the wind seemed to pick up as they got closer… from the shadows, yokai followed the groups every move.

When they finally arrived at their destination, they once again saw Drizzelda, overlooking the town with a frown across her face.

"Alright, let's finish this. We're on a time crunch," Nathaniel said, taking the melon bread from his grandson and putting in it in Ray O'light's hands.

The sun yokai nodded and walked up to the rainy yokai. He put his hands over her eye's, "Guess who?"

"Ray…" Drizzelda sighed.

"You got it!" Ray O'light beamed, "I brought you something!"

"What?" Drizzelda sighed again.

"Some melon bread!" the sun yokai brought up the box.

Drizzelda quietly looked at the box, "thanks…"

The wind was getting very intense now, threatening to knock the ice umbrella out of Damona's hand.

"Hurry it up! The storm's gonna blow us away at this rate!" the princess yelled.

"Blow… " Ray O'light said in realization.

"T… that's not me. I can only influence the rain, not the wind…" Drizzelda said, confusing everyone.

"But I can!" another voice said, as suddenly the wind picked up exponentially, nocking everyone off balance. They all looked in the direction of the voice, to see a yokai woman made of smoke, a gleaming red eye amongst black smoke on her face.

"Smogmella?" Nathaniel said.

"Her eyes...She's inspirited!" Hovernyan warned as he struggled against her winds.

"Ergh, alright you wicked. You wanna play?" Nathaniel said, taking his club out, "Let's play!"

He charged forward, ready to knock some sense into the inspirited yokai. 'Smogmella,' however, was prepared. With a gust of wind, Nathaniel was knocked back, landing in a puddle of mud.

"Ergh, you're gonna pay for that!' the teen said, trying to get up. Before he could make it to his feet, however, a muddy hand shot up and grabbed his arm, "What the?!"

The hand was attacked to a yokai made of mud, it's single eye the same as the inspirited Smogmella's. A low groan came from the creature's mouth.

"You didn't think I came alone, did you?" The smoke yokai cackled.

Sure enough, several other inspirited yokai came into view. Everyone took a defensive stance. Damona began to blast the inspirited yokai with her attacks, giving them a nasty case of frostbite. Hovernyan stuck to his melee attacks, knocking the yokai about. Even Miradox and Ray O'light were holding their own.

Finally, Nathaniel used his club to beat his way out of the mud yokai's grip… only to notice something was missing. He looked to his wrist, only to find his marble-holding watch was gone, still in the hand of the mud yokai.

"No!" he yelled, getting his grandson's attention, "Without that marble, I can't make the watch!"

"Don't worry, It's time to summon some help!" Nate said, pulling out Jibanyan's yokai medal, "Come on out my friend, calling-" "GANG WAY!"

Oddly enough, when Nate turned around, Jibanyan was already here… being chased by a fifteen foot tall monster cat that was currently on fire.

"Save me, Nyate!" the nekomata said, hiding behind the boy.

The larger feline charged through the wicked inspirited yokai, setting fire to the ground around them, and knocking them aside like ragdolls. Really, they were making effective shields from the beast.

The yokai's monstrous tails knocked into the mud yokai, knocking the marble out of his hand. Nathaniel attempted to grab it, but Smogmella beat him to it.

"Nice try!" the inspirited yokai said, flying away, "good luck with Catzilla!"

Nathaniel growled as the yokai faded from sight. Narrowly dodging another swing from the large feline, he realized more urgent matters were at play.

"Jibanyan, what did you do to piss off the giant cat!" Damona said, trying to dodge his rapid attacks.

"He wasn't this big at first!" Jibanyan yelled as he and Nate dodged.

"Drizzelda, get behind me!" Ray O'light said, standing in front of his beloved rain yokai.

Even the wicked yokai seemed scared of this thing, as any of them who could still stand retreated.

"We need to calm this beast," Hovernyan said, using evasive maneuvers, "Any ideas?"

The yokai swung again, just missing Damona, "Too bad he's not addicted to chocolate like Jibanyan, then we could just distract him with food!"

"Wait a minute… chocolate… like jibanyan.." Nate said in realization. He pulled Jibanyan's last chocobar from his pocket, getting an idea. He quickly unwrapped it, and whistled to get the cat's attention, "Hey! Here Kitty, kitty!"

"What? You're actually gonna try that?" Damona questioned her fiance's actions.

"Don't feed him my chocolate!" Jibanyan whined.

The large nekomata looked at Nate, narrowing his eyes. He hissed as his head came forward. When there wasn't much distance left between the cat and Nate, the cat noticed something… whatever was in the boy's hand… it smelled delicious!

Nate offered the chocolate to him, which the monstrous cat took. Bringing it to his muzzle, the cat took a nibble. With that little bite, a wave of pleasure went over the cat.

"Light!"

With purple smoke, the creature shrunk down to a normal nekomata, eating the rest of the chocolate, "This is great!"

"Great… nyow you're eating my chocolate!" Jibanyan yelled.

"Hey, you started this," the black and white cat retorted, "we'll call it even… knyow where I can get anymore?"

"Wait… Are you Nekomata?" Damona asked, looking at the cat.

"The one and only,"the cat replied.

Nekomata: B rank

Classic Charming

"Oh. My. Shuka!" Damona said, "Jibanyan, You pissed off THE Nekomata! Literally the most famous yokai of your species."

"Wait… he's named after his species?" Nate asked.

"Nyah, the species was nyamed after me-ow!" Nekomata boasted, "Thanks for the snyack kid!"

Nekomata chucked him a red yokai medal, which Nate caught.

"Try and keep your friend on a leash nyext time, ok? I don't like other cat's taking my nyapping spots!" the cat said walking off, "Seeya!"

"Wait… he wanted to kill you because you napped in his spot?" Damona questioned the other cat.

"Uh…" Jibanyan said. Thankfully, Ray O'light cut him off.

"Drizzelda!" He cried, "Are you alright?'

"Ray, i'm fine… You don't need to worry about me," the rain yokai assured him.

"Don't say that! I don't know what I'd do with myself if something happened to you, Drizzelda!" The sun yokai said, "You're the light of my life. Without you, I have no reason to shine… I love you Drizzi…"

"Ray…" A small smile and blush came onto the rain yokai's face. The two yokai leaned in for a tender kiss. Next thing you know, the downpour finally stopped… the clouds parting, and a rainbow becoming visible.

"... Please tell me we'll never be like that?" Damona looked to her fiance, clearly not enjoying the sight, "at least not in public."

Nate gave a small chuckled, before Nathaniel came up with a grown, "Alright. We've found the cat, we've dealt with the rain, and I lost my marble. Miradox, send them home."

"But, Nathaniel…" Nate pleaded.

"Hovernyan, you're going to have to be my eyes until we track Smogmella down," the teenager ignored him, walking away.

"Sorry kid," Miradox said, "your grandad's always been like this. His heart's in the right place, but… Well, I'd better send you home."

"Yeah… alright," Nate said in defeat. He said his goodbyes to Ray O'light and Drizzelda, getting both of their yokai medals. Then finally, Miradox opened his portal to their own timeline.

After stepping through the mirror yokai, Nate, Damona, and Jibanyan appeared, back in the clearing where they had found Hovernyan… though now it was noticeably the evening…

"Well… I guess that's it then.." Nate sighed.

"But what are we gonnya do if the wicked show up again?" Jibanyan asked with a worried look.

"We'll hold our ground. If worse comes to worse, We'll make a tactical retreat to the Oni palace until this blows over," Damona said.

"Sounds like a plan…" Nate sighed again, "but… I wish grandpa would have let us help…"

"Hey kid!" He heard Miradox say behind him, "Catch!"

He turned around just in time to catch Miradox's yokai medal.

"I know Nathaniel needs as much help as he can get," Miradox said, "Take a few days to plan and prepare. Then give me a call and I can send ya to the 'past' again… "

Nate smiled as he pocketed the medal, "thankyou, miradox!"

The boy was filled with hope. Whether his grandfather liked it or not… he was gonna help!

Back in Old Springdale, Unkained was feeling quite good about herself. Her plan to steal that annoying kid's marble went off without a hitch!

Sure, the shadowside yokai was unexpected, but the plan worked regardless. Now that brat would never be able to complete his watch!

She was just on her way to tell mother the good news.

"Oh mother!" the wicked general said entering her chambers, "Splendid news! The mission was a success! I have Badsmella hiding the marble as we speak, He'll never complete the watch now!"

"Ehehe, finally! One of my minions actually does something right! I knew making you was the right choice! Dun, Dun, DUH!" her mother's voice boomed through the halls, "As a matter of fact, I have a reward for you…"

Unkained grinned in anticipation as the doors to her mother's chamber opened to reveal a larger, hulk-like yokai.

"Unkained… Meet your brother…" the wicked leader said.

Well… she hadn't been expecting that!