Chapter 38: Meganyan
"Have fun at grandma's, Nate!" the boy's mother said as her son boarded the train, "be sure to call me when you get to Harrisville!"
Nate nodded to his mother before taking his seat. Damona and Jibanyan sitting across from him.
"So, world might end, lets visit Granny! That makes sense," Damona said in a sarcastic tone.
"Here's the deal," Nate replied, "When I was little, Grandma Lucy told me stories about a giant floating cat, one that had been seen in her hometown at night."
Damona smirked, impressed with her husband-to-be's intuition, "So those stories might have been about our mystery cat! Good thinking, honey!"
"Here's to hoping we can figure this mess out," Nate nodded.
The train soon departed from Springdale Central Station, the view from the window quickly changing from the urban city-scape to the wilderness between towns.
"So… what exactly are the Wicked, anyhow?" the human boy asked. The look on Damona's face told him she definitely knew something about them.
She sighed, petting the sleeping Jibanyan, "it started thousands of years before either of us were born, with my great, great, great, great, great, great Grandfather, Oni King Raisen…
Back then, the Oni Kingdom wasn't just a yokai world super power, it was the supreme government over all the yokai! The oni were top of the food chain, every other yokai answered to us.
And Raisen, the king of the Oni, was unstoppable. He had more power than any yokai at the time, he could fight entire armies by himself. Unfortunately, for pretty much everyone, that power went straight to his head really fast.
Raisen ruled the world with an Iron fist. He lived a life of luxury while all those beneath him struggled to find table scraps. Not to mention the plagues he'd unleash when he was bored! His yokai power was to create disease and disasters, which he would set loose on both Yokai and humanity for his own amusement. And thanks to his power, no amount of rebellion could stop him.
That demon was so vile, so cruel, so incredibly evil, none of the yokai tribes accurately described him correctly, so they made a new one. The Wicked tribe. A tribe of yokai who are nearly irredeemable.
Thankfully, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Salvation came in a way no one had ever expected, Raisen was betrayed by his own daughter, Princess Shuka! Unlike her father, she was a completely benevolent soul, she cared for every single yokai as if they were her own children! And she did not plan to allow her father's reign to continue.
The two Oni fought in a battle so fierce, they say it destroyed the eighth continent! Raisen held his ground, but somehow his Daughter was more powerful than he'd ever been.
Shuka Banished the Wicked king to the stars, never to return. She then took command of the yokai world, under her rule, an era of peace and prosperity reigned for centuries.
However, More wicked yokai began coming into the world, though none of them as powerful as the original. The most powerful of these yokai, were named Overlords…
… These overlords rule over the remaining Wicked yokai, and I can only assume we're dealing with one right now," Damona finished.
"Wow…" Nate's mouth gaped.
"Arriving shortly at Harrisville station," the conductor announced over the intercom.
"Huh, that was fast," Nate said. The train soon arrived in the station plaza, after departing from the train, it was a short bus ride to the quaint, little village.
Nate knew he lived in a highly Asian influenced area, but Harrisville you could take a look at the place and be completely convinced you were in rural Japan! It was much smaller than springdale, only really having about 10 houses total, a lot of which were surrounded by rice farms.
As he left the bus, Nate noticed an elderly woman waiting at the bus stop. She appeared to be in her early seventies, with her white hair wrapped in a bun. She was wearing a white and red Kimono, and rounded glasses decorated with all kinds of beads.
"Grandma Lucy!" the boy ran up and hugged the woman.
"Good to see you, Nathan," his grandmother hugged back. When she released him, she readjusted her glasses, "I see you're wearing your grandfather's watch."
"Oh.. yeah, it just seemed cool!" Nate had almost forgotten that she'd been the one to send it to him.
"He built it himself, you know," Lucy said, "ah, that man was so inventive, so many great ideas in that mind of his..."
"Grandpa… built a yokai watch?" Nate internally questioned.
Nate(along with the unscene Damona and Jibanyan) followed the old women through town, running a few errands before finally coming to Lucy's quaint little home. Similarly to the town, it seemed very Japanese in decor, only the modern appliances reminded Damona this wasn't 16 century japan.
Soon after entering, Damona noticed a small shrine with a picture of Lucy, beside an elderly, japanese man who looked shockingly similar to Nate. the picture had seemed to have been taken at least a decade ago, given his grandmother looked younger.
"Is that your grandpa?" she asked her fiance.
"Oh, yeah, Grandpa Nathaniel," Nate replied, with a bit of a sad face, "he died before I was born, so they named me after him…"
"And you're just like him!" his grandmother spoke up, reminding Nate she was within earshot.
"Uh, yeah, I was just talking to myself," Nate lied with a blush.
"Just like he did," Lucy nodded, walking into another room.
After she had left the room, Jibanyan heard something. His glance shot to the door, where he saw a shadowy figure slip through. Because of his natural, feline instincts, he decided to chase it.
"Jibanyan? Where are you going?" Nate said, running after the nekomata.
"Are we really doing this?" Damona floated after them.
Whatever Jibanyan was chasing had leaped into the bushes, making rustling noises as it rushed toward the woods. He followed the mysterious something into the forest, Nate and Damona following close behind him. Finally, they stopped in a huge clearing, with a large shed in the middle.
"Awe, man it's gone!" the cat said in an annoyed tone.
"That's what you get for chasing nothing, come on, lets head back," Damona sighed, turning tail.
"Wait…" Nate said staring at the shed, he had a feeling… something was in there, something familiar…
He walked to the door and opened it. He saw nothing inside at first, just a dark room, but if there was anything he'd learned in the past month, it was not to take things at face value.
Shining his watch, the entire room lit up in red light, when it faded, he could see the giant Cat had somehow been stuffed inside, and if anything, he seemed bigger!
"What the? How'd you even get in there?!" Nate yelled in surprise.
His fiance flew over, getting a glance of this, admittedly, ridiculous display, "Oh, you found him… guess Jibanyan was useful for something for once!"
"Hey!" the nekomata growled.
"Um, I'm a little stuck here, anyway you could help a yokai out?" the larger cat yokai asked.
"Uh…" the human boy had no idea how he'd gotten in there, let alone how to get him out.
"I got this one," Damona spoke up, taking a deep breath. She created a fist sized, purple snowflake, which she then threw at the shed as if it were a shuriken. Upon impact, the ice spread over the entire structure, freezing it solid. She picked up a rock and threw it at the now frozen shed.
The ice shattered, the building collapsing as it did. The giant nekomata was in fact bigger, as without the building his massive body was in full view. Between now and last time, he must of tripled in size!
"Thankyou!" the cat said in gratitude, "I'm Meganyan…"
Meganyan
Brave
"Alright, Meganyan, can you explain what's going on?" Nate asked.
"In due time," Meganyan replied, getting to his feet, "But first… I nyeed to see if your ready!"
"Ready for wha-" before Nate could finish asking, the large nekomata smashed down into the ground, causing everyone to shake.
"What are you-" Damona was cut off by him doing it again.
"Come on, you gotta fight me!" Meganyan continued to smash the ground, "if you can't beat me, you won't stand a chance against the wicked!"
"Fight, huh?" Damona said, floating up, "Nate, I think it's my turn for that "Moxie" move thing."
"You got it," Nate said, inserting her medal into the watch before Meganyan had a chance to shake the ground again.
Damona began to swirl her aura, drawing power from Jibanyan. Her dark energy orb quickly grew to twice her size, she lifted it over her head, "Shiny Chaos… Moxie!"
She threw the attack down at Meganyan like it were a spirit bomb! Oddly enough, when it hit the large Nekomata, instead of destroying his form, it punctured a whole in his side. Pink smoke began to rapidly pour out of him, accompanied by the sound of a deflating beachball. Eventually, the smoke obscured Meganyan completely.
After the deflating sound stopped, Nate heard a voice, "Ah, now that is much better!"
The voice couldn't have been meganyan, it sounded young, gruff and full of energy, while Meganyan sounded tired and deep.
The smoke cleared, revealing that Meganyan had shrunk! He was now the size of a normal nekomata, a red cape draped around his body. All the mushrooms were gone, revealing a scar on his forehead.
"That is the last time I absorb that much yokai energy," the blue nekomata said flying over to them, "so, you already know how to use the Moximous moves? Good on you, Nate, you're going to need them."
"Wait.. you know my name?" Nate asked the formally giant cat.
"Of course," "Meganyan" said, "what kind of familiar would I be if I didn't?"