The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams

by Black Omochao

The nonsense yo-kai had brought to the life of one Nathan Adams was already more than enough for him, waking up one day to find he had a 'harem' was probably one of the last things he needed, too bad for him...

15. You Promised! Part 2

Chapter 15: You Promised! Part 2

---

"Where is that guy?" Zoey tapped her foot impatiently as she stood by Café Shanista, along with Lina. "I told him no longer than a half hour!"

"Neither of us are wearing watches," Lina pointed out. "For all we know it could have only been five minutes since your sister stopped chasing us."

Zoey scoffed, "I'm surprised she ever stopped chasing us with how persistent that little gremlin usually is…"

"She probably got distracted by something she thought was another lead… or maybe she tripped and lost her glasses," Lina shrugged. "Who could say, but the point is: you should be a little more patient, Oliver is on his way."

"Oh, and how are you so sure of that?" Zoey gave an annoyed grunt, glaring at her friend.

"Because he's right over there," Lina stated plainly, pointing forward with a smug grin.

Zoey blinked, turning to look.

"Hey, thanks for waiting!" Oliver waved as he approached, the boy now being dressed in a yellow shirt, along with a pair of blue pants, and a set of blue and white shoes.

Zoey glanced back at Lina, her eyes narrowing, "You saw him coming."

Lina kept smirking, "I did indeed."

Zoey growled in annoyance, putting a hand on her forehead, before she looked over to the boy, "Okay, fine! You, uh… whatever your name is!"

"Oliver," Lina leaned over to her friend.

"Oliver!" Zoey pointed at the boy, "Just keep quiet and don't get in the way! There's no telling where Nate could be, or what sort of trouble he could be in, and we don't need some random kid interfering with our investigations! Right Lina?"

Lina did not respond to her friend, simply staring out at the beach.

"… Lina!?" Zoey turned her annoyed glare towards her friend, but she seemed entranced by what she was staring at. "Lina…?"

Without a word, Lina's arm rose, and she pointed in the direction she was staring, an unreadable expression on her face.

Zoey slowly turned her focus towards where the other girl was pointing, before her eyes widened as she noted the familiar brown-haired boy headed up the stairs from the beach. "… Are you freaking kidding me!?"

---

"Don't you worry Honey, once we got to that hideout, we'll make those nasty felines pay for kidnapping you!" Damona grinned viciously as she led the group up the steps from the beach.

"We don't need to 'make them pay,' let's just focus on the rescue," Nate sighed heavily, trying to keep his worries from getting to him.

"Yes, of course, that too…" Damona mumbled, rubbing her hands together in anticipation, still clearly intent of bringing harm onto the Bundory family.

"I'm definitely looking forward to giving them a piece of my mind," Toiletta growled, cracking her knuckles. "Those so-called 'heroes' too, for taking you in the first place, and then losing you!"

"… Again, let's just focus on the rescue," Nate wiped some sweat from his forehead as he tried to keep his focus on moving forward.

"Don't worry me boy, this rescue mission will go off without a hitch!" Plundros held his club up with a confident smirk. "After all, petty thieves just be inferior versions of pirates! They'll be no match for the genuine article!"

"Uh… sure," Nate nodded unsurely, still feeling a bit intimidated by the giant oni, as well as internally questioning how nobody seemed to notice Plundros–sure, he was unable to be seen by most people like the usual yo-kai, but his footsteps still shook the ground!

"Nate!"

The boy froze up at the call from one of the many girls who had been contributing to his deteriorating mental state lately–though this one stuck out to him much more now…

"Z-Zoey…" Nate stuttered a bit as he saw the black-haired girl approaching with a stern expression on her face.

"Huh, finding Nate took a lot less investigation than I thought it would," Lina commented as she followed closely behind her friend.

"Yeah, where the heck did you disappear to Nate?" Zoey glared, crossing her arms. "We didn't see you anywhere on the beach, you know we were looking forward to spending some time with you, right? Now the beach party is nearly over!"

"Zoey, I uh," Nate struggled to think of what to say to his old friend, with his restored memories still fresh in his head, and unsure if he should attempt to tell her…

Zoey rose a brow at her crush's demeanor, "Nate, what's wrong?"

'What do I even say to her? She's involved with this, so I feel like she has a right to know, but just telling her our memories were altered and about Kirene…'

"Nate! You there?"

Nate shook his head at Zoey's call, giving her an apologetic look, "I… it's nothing, Zoey. I'm fine." the boy mentally kicked himself for chickening out of telling her but decided it may be best to approach this at another time, preferably when the two were alone.

The bespectacled girl's eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion.

"Guys, we can't actually talk too much now, we're kind of in a hurry," Toiletta made her presence know as she walked up beside Nate, giving her two friends an even look.

"Oh my, seems Hanako was trying to get ahead of us," Lina gave a teasing smile as she looked over the shorter girl. "You didn't want any of your competition to interrupt your and Nate's little date."

Toiletta blushed a bit at the accusation, but mostly just gave an annoyed glare.

"Although…" Lina put a hand to her chin while a curious smile formed on her face, eyeing the general area where the unseen yo-kai gathered behind Nate. "I can't help but feel that there's something more here…"

Toiletta stiffened up slightly at the way the blue-haired girl had spoken, and where she was looking, 'That's right, she's spiritually sensitive. And with this many powerful yo-kai in one spot, she can definitely tell something's up!'

"Trying to keep Nate to yourself isn't very nice Hanako," Zoey huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at the humanoid yo-kai. "You live with him; you should have at least invited us along!" the black-haired girl paused, noting the expression on Lina's face. "That is… if that's even what's going on here…"

Nate and Toiletta both looked nervous, trying to think of something to say to throw off the inquisitive girls.

"Ladies, ladies, there's no need to be so suspicious," Kyubi, back in his human disguise, spoke up as he walked up beside Toiletta and Nate.

"What are you doing?" Toiletta quietly hissed as she glared at the fox yo-kai.

"Relax, I've got this under control," Kyubi whispered back with a sly wink.

"Oh no," Nate groaned to himself, putting a hand to his face in anticipation of how badly this would go.

"The three of us go way back you see, before Hanako and I transferred to your class," Kyubi explained with a handsome smile. "I can assure you that Hanako is not trying to 'get ahead' of you two in regard to Nathan's affection."

Lina and Zoey both stared at Kyubi for several seconds…

"… Who's this guy again?" Zoey asked with an annoyed frown.

"Gah!?" Kyubi doubled over, as if someone had just punched him in the stomach.

"I… think he might be in our class," Lina looked thoughtfully towards the disguised fox, before shrugging. "No, no wait, maybe he's in Class 5-1… yeah, I think that's right! Jeff, I think they called him."

Something in Kyubi snapped. "JEFF!? HOW THE INFINITE INFERNO COULD YOU GET IT SO WRONG!? AT LEAST 'KIWI' KIND OF SOUNDS LIKE 'KYUBI!'" in a burst of purple smoke, the towering form of a nine-tailed fox was screaming at the Ghost Club duo.

Lina and Zoey stared blankly at the revealed yo-kai.

Kyubi stared back as he slowly started to process what he had just done…

Nate struggled to keep his composure, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a long sigh.

"And now you've done it," Toiletta facepalmed at how quickly the fox yo-kai had blown his cover.

"Well, they were gonna find out one way or the other," Damona commented with a shrug.

"Uuuuhhh…" Kyubi's eyes darted all around as some passersby were stopping to stare at him, while Lina and Zoey's glares intensified. "IGOTTAGO!" and in a flash of smoke, the fox yo-kai was gone.

"Coward," Plundros shook his head in disappointment.

'I do not blame him…' Nate kept that thought to himself. '… For running, that is. I blame him entirely for putting himself in that situation.'

"So… you gonna try to explain that one, or should we take a guess?" Zoey asked, looking towards Nate and Toiletta with an annoyed expression.

"If you are going to tell us, can you wait a moment? I have a few guesses I'd like to share," Lina gave a playfully eager smile as she spoke.

"Uhhh…" Nate glanced around unsurely, he looked towards Whisper for help, but the only thing the yo-kai butler offered was a shrug. 'Maybe I should just tell them…'

"Um, excuse me, you're Nate, right?" Oliver interjected, looking a bit nervous.

Zoey subtly glared at the boy for interrupting before she could attempt to question Nate further.

Nate blinked as he looked at the other brown-haired boy, "Uh, yeah, that's me, Nathan Adams. And you are…?"

"My name's Oliver, and uh…" Oliver sent a quick glance towards Lina and Zoey, before looking back at Nate and whispering, "Do you think you and I could speak in private for a few minutes…?"

Nate's expression turned a bit anxious, "Well, I mean… I'm kind of in a hurry right now– "

"This will only take a minute, I promise!" Oliver yelped, jumping forward as if something had pushed him, before he grabbed Nate's hand.

"Wait, hey!" Nate called in protest as the other boy pulled him around the corner of the café.

The others stared at the corner.

"… Well, that's suspicious," Lina pointed out bluntly, before looking at Zoey, "You think he could be our competition?"

Zoey's eyes narrowed as she kept staring at the corner the two boys had turned, "No, I don't think so… but something's going on, something they don't want us to know about, and if there's one thing I don't like: it's being left in the dark!"

"But we hang around dark places all the time," Lina pointed out with a tiny grin.

Zoey blinked, before turning her glare towards her blue-haired friend.

Lina's grin widened.

"Wait, who was that guy?" Toiletta asked with a raised brow, having only just noticed the boy once he had dragged Nate off.

"A new friend," Lina answered simply.

"I'm not calling him my friend yet," Zoey protested with a scoff, turning away from Lina and crossing her arms.

Lina giggled at Zoey's grumpy reaction, "Well, I can already tell he'll fit right in with the Ghost Club."

"Yeah, yeah," Zoey waved her hand dismissively, before turning her focus back towards Toiletta. "But seriously, you gonna tell us what was up with the shapeshifting fox, or what?"

Toiletta flinched, "Was kind of hoping you would just let that slide…"

"You know us better than that, tee-hee!" Lina giggled, before tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Though I would like to throw out some of my guesses before you do."

Toiletta let out a long, annoyed groan, "No, I'll just tell you, it barely matters at this point anyway…"

"Spoilsport," despite her words, Lina's grin did not diminish.

---

After leading Nate to a relatively secluded spot around the corner, Oliver took another look around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping, before he leaned in and whispered to Nate, "You have a yo-kai watch, right?"

Nate's eyes widened, "Wait, you… are you a yo-kai?"

Oliver blinked, giving the other boy a strange look, "Uh… no?"

"… Right, so I guess you have your own watch," Nate let out a fake cough, averting his eyes to hide his embarrassment.

"Why in either world would you think he's a yo-kai, Nate? Does he look anything like a yo-kai?" Whisper criticized as he hovered at his master's side.

'As if appearance has mattered in that regard lately,' Nate thought, but chose not to say out loud, instead, he kept his focus on the stranger standing before him.

"Well, I don't exactly have a watch," Oliver clarified, giving an unsure expression as he scratched the back of his head. "But I can see yo-kai, and I have a way to summon them–oh! This is Mr. Drippy!" Oliver smiled as he gestured to the space beside him.

"Mr. Drippy…?" Nate rose an eyebrow at the name, before he squinted at the spot Oliver had gestured to, after a moment able to make out the vague shape of some yellow-greenish blob. After another moment of staring Nate grunted and clutched his head, 'Guess it's not going to be that simple after so long…'

Before Oliver could question what was wrong with Nate, the other boy had already pulled up his yo-kai watch and shined his light at the spot to reveal the form of 'Mr. Drippy.'

The revealed yo-kai was small and round, with a light greenish-blue body (which Nate was not sure if it was his skin or clothing), with the head and arms being yellow. Most notable was perhaps the large nose that reminded Nate a bit of Babblong's, which had a small lantern hanging from the end of it.

Heartful Tribe: Drippy

"That's Drippy, Lord High Lord of the Fairies to you lot!" the newly revealed yo-kai scoffed with a Welsh accent.

Nate blinked, "… Lord High Lord of the Fairies…?"

Mr. Drippy nodded, "Yes, Lord High Lord of the Fairies!"

Nate stared, "… Lord twice?"

Mr. Drippy stared back, "… Yes!"

Nate kept staring, "Okay…"

Mr. Drippy also kept staring, "Good!"

The exchange was followed by an awkward silence that lasted a good deal longer than it probably should have…

"So… what was it you wanted?" Nate asked after a moment.

At that question, another short but awkward silence followed, before Oliver responded, "Uh… that was pretty much it."

Nate stared at the other boy blankly, "… You brought me over here just to tell me you had also knew about yo-kai?"

"Uh… yes, that was what I did…" Oliver mumbled a bit as he seemed to have suddenly found his shoes to be very interesting…

Nate could not help but feel a bit sorry for the other kid, if he had been excited to find another kid in his own school who knew of the world of yo-kai and had not fully thought through how he was going to approach him.

"H-Hey, it's fine," Nate tried to wave away the feelings of awkwardness that were settling between them. "I get it, and any other time I'd be glad to talk to you more, but I am kind of in a hurry…"

Oliver seemed a little disappointed, but nodded in understanding, "I see, well maybe we can talk more about this some other– "

"Oh, I see how it is Mr. 'Yo-kai Master,' too good for us, are ya'!?"

Oliver flinched at the interruption, glancing down at his angered yo-kai companion, "Mr. Drippy, I don't think that's what he– "

"As a matter of fact, yes!" the yo-kai butler interjected rudely.

"Whisper!?" Nate gawked at his yo-kai companion's comment.

"Nate has a lot on his plate at the moment, and he has no time for a meet and greet with every random fan that comes his way!" Whisper stated with a huff, crossing his arms.

"Oi, you think this kid is so great, do ya'? Ollie-boy here could best him easily, he's got both yo-kai friends and magic spells at his disposal, the so-called 'Yo-kai Master' wouldn't stand even a teeny chance!" Mr. Drippy countered a prideful snort.

"Uh… Mr. Drippy, that's not what this is about," Oliver mumbled, looking unsure of how to deescalate the situation.

"I don't think this will end well…" Nate groaned, putting a hand to his forehead with a pained expression.

"What's with that lantern hanging from your nose anyway?" Whisper jeered, jabbing at the fairy's snout. "It makes you look ridiculous!"

Drippy slapped the floating yo-kai's hand away, "I look ridiculous!? Look who's talking, ya' floating marshmallow!"

"Floating marshmallow!?" Whisper gasped in horror, before his face became a scowl, "I am not going to take that from a yo-kai who looks like a walking easter egg!"

Drippy let out a gasp similar to Whisper's, "Walking easter egg!? How dare ya' speak to the Lord High Lord of the Fairies that way!"

"That is so obviously a made-up title, it's not even funny!" Whisper scoffed, jabbing at the fairy again, "And trust me, I know a thing or two about making junk up!"

"Oh, I bet ya' do! Don't think I don't recognize ya', stinkin' Nonuttin!" Drippy shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at the djinn.

Whisper let out a gasp of shock, "W-What, how did you–Wait a minute…" the shock turned to an inquisitive look, before the yo-kai butler let out a gasp of realization, "Ah! You're that sniveling crybaby fairy!"

"Who are ya' calling a crybaby!? Least I don't go 'round making people spout nonsense!"

"That was a long time ago! And no nonsense I ever made anyone say could ever top your claim of being 'Lord High Lord of the Fairies!'"

"Why you!"

"No, why you!"

Both yo-kai pressed their foreheads against one another as they glared and growled, each daring the other to back down, it seemed an actual fight might break out at any moment…

Damona let out a scoff, drawing the attention to her as she floated before the arguing yo-kai, causing them to separate and look at her with confusion, "You know, as entertaining as this little squabble is, I feel I should remind everyone that we are in the middle of an emergency." Despite her deadpan delivery, there was a clear threat underlining her tone.

Nate blinked, before his eyes widened and he let out a gasp, "Ah! That's right! We need to go save my parents, Venoct and Tempest Pride!"

"Mostly your parents, I feel like Venoct and Tempest Pride will probably be fine," Damona waved dismissively, though Nate did not seem to be listening anymore.

"Whisper, Drippy, enough arguing! We gotta go!" Nate got between the squabbling yo-kai as he shouted urgently.

"That's Drippy, Lord High Lord– "

"I DON'T CARE!" Nate snapped at the fairy, grabbing hold of Whisper's tail and running off.

"Hey! Not necessary, Nathan!" Whisper cried out in protest as his master pulled him along.

Damona let out a small chuckle, before shrugging and floating after her fiancé and his butler.

"… Well, that was rather rude," Drippy commented with a huff, glancing towards Oliver.

Oliver sighed, shaking his head in disappointment, "Come on, we should see if we can offer them some help."

"What!? Help them!?" Mr. Drippy seemed offended by the very notion, but Oliver was already going. "Fine! You go do what you want, Ollie-boy, but don't expect any help from me!" the long-nosed fairy crossed his arms and turned away.

Oliver ignored this as he continued.

"… Oi! Wait for me, ya' darn fool!" Drippy yelled after a moment, turning back and running after Oliver.

---

"Okay, Lina! Zoey! Sorry to cut this short, but we gotta go!" Nate called out quickly as he came running back over, grabbing hold of Toiletta's hand. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Why do you seem so eager to get away from us, Nathan?" Zoey's voice had a dangerous edge to it, the lenses of her glasses shining and obscuring her eyes.

"I, uh…" Nate was at a loss of how to respond, and the growing panic of a taking too long to save his parents (even if he did not really think the Bundorys would seriously hurt them) was not helping his ability to think. "I just, well there's this…"

"No point trying to hide it anyway Nate. I told them the truth," Toiletta sighed as she pulled her hand free from his grasp, hovering a bit and crossing her arms.

"… WHAT!?" the human boy gawked at the ghost girl, his expression looking to be asking if she had gone crazy.

"Oh, calm down, I was planning on telling them eventually anyway, doing it here just keeps them from being a hindrance to us now," Toiletta waved off the boy's concerns, floating over to Lina and Zoey, sharing smirks with them before they share a three-way high-five.

Nate managed to calm down, his face turning to a quizzical look, "W-Wait, you were…?"

Toiletta chuckled, putting her hands to her hips, "Of course, they're my friends, I was just waiting for the right moment."

Zoey chuckled, playfully elbowing the ghost girl, "Yeah, I knew there was something I liked about you girl, but who would a thought our new buddy was an actual urban legend!"

Lina giggled with a hand to her mouth, "To be best friends with a Toiletta, now that was certainly a fantasy of mine when I was younger, I can hardly believe it came true!"

Zoey smirked at her blue-haired friend, "Not just a Toiletta, she's the Hanako-san! The original! I can't believe we didn't catch on earlier with how she was just calling herself Hanako!"

"Oh please, you girls flatter me too much," Toiletta giggled, bowing in the air a few times.

Nate just stared blankly as the three creepy girls laughed, his eye twitching a bit as he tried to process everything, "Well that's all well and good… But we still have a rescue mission to get to!"

"That's right!" Oliver nodded, before looking at Lina and Zoey, "By the way; I know about yo-kai too, I would have told you, but– "

"WE KNOW!" both girls suddenly shouted, startling Oliver and nearly causing him to fall over.

"Oh… y-you did…?" Oliver stuttered a bit as he tried to get his footing back.

"It wasn't hard to figure out once we had the whole thing explained," Lina smiled, reaching out and helping Oliver to steady himself again. "I've been sensing something by your side since we first ran into each other…"

"Heh, this girl's got some kind of spirit sense going on with 'er? Now that's quite a coincidence!" Mr. Drippy commented, looking a bit impressed.

"Anyway," Zoey turned her focus back towards Nate, a stern look in her eyes, "Whatever is going on right now, especially if it's got to do with all this 'yo-kai stuff' you've been hiding, we want in!"

"I don't know, it could be dangerous…" Nate scratched the back of his neck unsurely, subtly trying to avoid Zoey's eyes.

"Just let them come, Honey," Damona shrugged uncaringly. "A few extra meat shields are always nice to have around, and the boy seems to at least have some yo-kai experience. It would be easier than trying to get away from them."

"Hey, I'm not gonna stand for being called a 'meat shield!'" Zoey snapped at the half-oni princess, before pausing and glancing towards Toiletta, "Hold on, who is this now? Where'd she just come from…?"

"Why are you asking her?" Damona glared, reclining in the air with crossed arms.

"Ah, the Princess Witch was feeling left out and decided to make herself visible to you it would seem," Toiletta shrug, a condescending smirk on her face.

"I'll show you a 'Princess Witch,' servant girl!" the oni princess hissed as she started gathering dark energy around her hands.

"Hmm… I sense tension here," Lina smirked.

"You don't need to 'sense' to pick up the tension here," Zoey rolled her eyes, giving the blue-haired girl a light elbow jab.

Damona hissed a bit as she turned to face Zoey, "Anyway, my name is Damona, and for your information I am the princess of the Oni Kingdom, and also Nate's fiancée!"

Nate facepalmed, 'Of course she would mention that!'

Lina and Zoey stared at the demon girl with blank expressions for a couple of seconds…

"Fiancée? Like, an arranged marriage, officially?" Zoey raised a skeptical brow as she looked at the purple-haired yo-kai girl impassively. "Does anyone even do that anymore?"

"You'd be surprised, and we should not be so dismissive of other people's practices," Lina chimed, nodding her head towards the yo-kai princess.

"I think this one's okay to be dismissive of," Toiletta stated plainly, directing a side-glare at Damona.

Damona growled as she glared back at the other yo-kai girl, "If you want to be one of Nate's wives when he becomes king, you better start showing me some respect!"

"Oh, not that again…" Nate muttered helplessly, attempting and failing to hide his red face with his hands.

"Other wives, hmm?" Lina smiled with interest.

Zoey also looked a bit interested, but shook her head, "We'll have to talk about this further at a later date, but the rescue mission comes first."

"I'll contact you later," Damona assured.

"I'm bored!" Falsina called out, sitting beside Plundros with an annoyed pout.

"Then go home!" Damona snapped, glaring in the direction of her sister.

"No!" Falsina denied childishly.

"Who are you talking to now?" Zoey glared at Damona, before glancing back at Nate, "Seriously, how many more are here right now?"

Nate uncovered his face and blinked as his expression went blank, "Uhh– "

"That isn't your business!" Damona interrupted, growling at the bespectacled girl with annoyance. "Though if you must know, I was just talking to my annoying little sister, though I'm not sure if you'd really count her as one among our numbers, if you ask me: she's barely a half."

"Hey, I'm way more than a half!" Falsina pounded her small fists against her sister's side, which seemed to do nothing aside from mildly annoy the older princess.

"Half onyi, half yuki-onnya, that's two halves!" Sailornyan pitched in with a helpful smile but was ignored.

"Annoying little sister? Oh, so you have one of those too?" Zoey rose her brow a bit as she smirked at Damona, releasing a small chuckle.

"So, you understand that at least?" Damona grunted, mostly focused on trying wave her sister off, the smaller princess still uselessly pounding her fists onto her kimono.

"Alright, wee princess, that be enough," Plundros spoke in a gentle tone as he leaned over and plucked his younger daughter off the ground with one hand.

"Nooooo! It's not enough, Daaaaddyyy!" Falsina cried out in protest, banging her tiny fists onto her father's massive palm. "Damona was being mean to me!"

"Now, now, me tiny princess, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it," Plundros assured, using a single claw to gently pull down her hood, revealing the younger princess to have a stubby pair of yellow horns visibly sticking out of her hair. Carefully, Plundros used his claw to stroke the crying girl's hair in an attempt to soothe her.

"Well maybe I wouldn't be so 'mean' if you would just grow up," Damona grumbled under her breath, before turning to Nate, "Come on, let's get moving."

"Uh, right," Nate nodded unsurely.

"And everyone; remember to keep up, we're not turning back if any of you tagalongs get lost and–wait, where did Mirapo go anyway!?" Damona asked as if she had only just now noticed the mirror yo-kai's absence.

Nate gave Damona a strange look, "We left him back at the beach, he was tired after that whole thing with teleporting me and him out of the room I was trapped in, remember?"

---

Mirapo let out a relaxed sigh as he reclined on a beach chair, a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes.

---

"Oh, right, uh, of course I remember," Damona let out a cough as she averted her eyes.

"… You were not listening at all, were you?"

"I was a bit more focused on our immediate objective, alright," the purple-haired princess hissed under her breath, floating to the head of the group with a huff.

Nate nodded, "Okay, no more distractions, let's get going!" the human boy started to walk forward, before he noticed one of his legs was heavier than normal

"First hug me!" Falsina cried, latching onto his leg and looking up at him with large, tear-filled puppy-dog eyes.

Nate let out a sigh, picking up Falsina and hugging her.

Damona glared at her younger sister, a glare which intensified when her sister looked back at her, the tears instantly vanishing from her eyes, and an evil smirk appearing on her face.

"Oh, you're going to get yours someday, deceptive little brat," The elder oni princess growled under her breath.

"Don't try to take the captain for yourself!" Sailornyan latched onto Nate's other leg in protest. "I want hugs too!"

"I can't see what's weighing him down, but I have a feeling that things are not going to be going entirely smoothly…"

"And you'd be right," Toiletta commented, rolling her eyes as Falsina and Sailornyan childishly argued over Nate's attention.

---

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the beach, a certain group mostly removed from the current plot were still hard at work searching for the story's protagonist, unaware of just how off-course they were at this point…

"Any sign of Nate yet?" Amy asked as she looked around with a concerned expression.

"None yet I'm afraid," Isabel replied with a heavy sigh, putting one of her hands to her hip as she frowned over the lack of progress towards finding her crush's location.

"As if I'd tell either of you if I found my Natey-kins," Meg grunted, crossing her arms and looking away from the other girls, before she let out an awkward cough, "But, yeah… I haven't spotted him either…"

The three girls shared a collective sign as they collapsed to their knees and onto the sandy ground.

"Well, I didn't see how wandering around aimlessly was going to help you in finding Nyate anyhow," Jibanyan commented with a shrug as he trotted over to sit himself beside Amy.

"I guess that's true, but I just… Wait a second," Amy paused, standing up and glancing around the immediate area with confusion, "… Where are we!?"

Meg let out a scoff, also standing up as she rolled her eyes at the other girl's confusion, "What now? We're obviously…" she stopped as she too looked around their surroundings, noting the lack of any familiar landmarks, "… Wait, what!?"

"Oh dear, I think we may have gotten ourselves lost," Isabel said in a solemn tone, hanging her head as she got back to her feet. "We were running around pretty absentmindedly…"

"LOST!?" Meg shouted, tugging on her pigtails with an outraged expression, before pointing at the other two girls, "THIS IS YOU TWO'S FAULT! WHY DID I AGREE TO FOLLOW YOU!?"

Amy huffed, crossing her arms and frowning at the raging girl, "Um, excuse me? Follow us? We were all walking together; you can't pin this on just Isabel and I."

Isabel nodded, "Yeah, it's really all our faults for not paying attention."

"No!" Meg countered childishly.

"Aw, even her tantrums are cute! Pinky-pink!" the pink mouse-like yo-kai cooed as he watched Meg start to throw a fit.

"Why are you even here?" Jibanyan gave the pink yo-kai an annoyed glance, standing up on two legs and crossing his arms/front legs. "You've just been following the girls around and commenting on how 'cute' they are every so often… it's creepy."

"Creepy? Pinky-pink," the pink yo-kai turning to stare at Jibanyan, tilting his head innocently.

"Yes, creepy…" Jibanyan nodded his head. "… And so is staring at me like that! Quit it!"

"Pinky-pink!" the pink yo-kai giggled, doing a twirl.

Jibanyan let out an annoyed grunt, turning only to be startled at the sight of Letsbifrenz hovering by his side, "NYA?!"

"… What's wrong with that guy?" the bird-like yo-kai asked, pointing towards the pink furry yo-kai with one of his toes.

"… You of all yo-kai don't have the right to ask what's 'wrong' with anyaone," the nekomata grunted, turning away and shaking his head.

Letsbifrenz tilted his head with a confused expression, before shrugging.

---

"So, are you absolutely certain you and Nate aren't of any close blood relation?"

Katie sent Hailey an annoyed side-glare, "I already told you: no, we are not related! Just drop it, we don't look that much alike!"

The purple-haired girl snorted as she flipped through her notebook, "You two practically look like opposite-gender versions of the same person!"

"We do not!" Katie shouted, looking very close to snapping.

Hailey did not seem to pick up the warning signs, or at the least did not care, "But how can you be so sure? What if you were siblings separated at birth–Oh! What if you're the same person from alternate universes, but one of you somehow ended up in this universe when you were babies!?"

"This isn't an anime, manga, or some fanfiction story, Hailey! This is real life!" Katie took a deep breath in a failed attempt to keep herself calm. "Would you just drop this already!?"

Hailey let out a whine, "But I need to discover the secret to your immunity to the Harem Effect!"

"There is no 'Harem Effect!'" Katie hissed in a low tone, her body trembling and hands clenched into fists.

"Oh yeah, then how come I have so many notes on it?" Hailey asked with a smug look.

Katie gave a dull glare in response to that, "… You mean the notes you wrote?"

"Yeah, how could I write notes on it if it didn't exist?" the purple-haired girl held up her notepad with pride and chuckled. "Check, and mate!"

Katie stared at the other girl with a disbelieving expression, her eye twitching slightly, before she shook her head and turned away, "You know what, forget it!"

"Heh, never get in argument with a master of troll logic!" Hailey laughed in triumph.

Usapyon gave his human companion a strange look, "That doesn't feel like something ya' should be proud of…"

"Quiet, Usapyon, I'm having a moment of triumph!" Hailey quickly snapped, before going right back to laughing.

"Enough already, we're here!" Katie snapped at the other girl, approaching the Sunset Mall's delivery bay, looking around. "This is where that weird lightning came from…"

The scene was a mess, boxes overturned and thrown about, some damp with thawing ice and water, as well as the scorched marks on the ground.

"Well, I reckon this couldn't have happened all too long ago, or else somebody would be fixin' it by now," Usapyon reasoned as he stepped beside Katie.

"Yeah, though that doesn't tell us what actually happened here," the brunette girl scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Or even if Nate was here."

Hailey's expression hardened as she stepped beside Katie, scanning the area and giving an intense look, humming to herself. "Hmm… yup," Hailey nodded with a look of understanding on her face.

"… Yup?" Katie raised a brow at the other girl. "Did you notice something?"

The purple-haired girl gave an obnoxious snort, sending a smirk towards the brunette, "Ha, 'did I notice something?' It's so obvious, of course I noticed something; with the lightning strike from earlier, the clear signs of a struggle, along with the thawing ice and scorch marks…"

Katie's expression turned to annoyance again, a tick-mark appearing on her forehead, "So… what is so obvious!?"

Hailey released another snort, which only served to annoy the other girl further, "Oh Katie, it's so obvious, I feel embarrassed for you that you need it explained!"

Katie snapped, "Just tell me!"

"Alright, alright. No need to get all snippy, again," the bespectacled girl waved a hand motion for her fellow human to calm down, before gesturing towards the scene with a knowing smirk, "Obviously what happened here was…"

Several moments of dramatic pausing proceeded Hailey's words, moments of dramatic pausing that Katie did not have the patience for right now…

"OW! OW! OW! OKAY! STOP IT!" Hailey cried out in pain from Katie repeatedly smacking her with a paper fan.

"Stop screwing around and just tell me what you mean!" Katie snarled as she pulled the paper fan back and glared fiercely at the purple-haired girl.

"Alright, alright!" Hailey shook her head, straightening out her glasses a bit, before smiling again as she looked back at Katie, "What happened here was… an EPIC ANIME BATTLE!"

Katie stared blankly at the other girl.

Hailey grinned widely at the other girl…

"OW! OW! OW! WHY DO YOU CARRY THAT THING AROUND ANYWAY!?"

"FOR SITUATIONS LIKE THIS!" Katie snapped as she kept hitting the other girl with her fan.

"I DON'T BELEAVE THIS SORT OF SITUATION WOULD COME UP ENOUGH FOR YOU TO JUSTIFY CARRYING THAT EVERYWHERE!" Hailey protested, shielded her head from the fan strikes with her arms.

"YOU'D BE SURPRISED!" Katie shouted back, not backing down from her assault.

Usapyon just stood back with a blank look on his face as he watched the interaction between the two humans, "… I know it's a bit hypocritical of me to be sayin' this, but… I feel sorry for Hailey."

"Noko!" Tsuchi chimed, bouncing passed Usapyon, before he started sniffing at the ground with interest.

"Hmm… what's got yer attention?" Usapyon looked to the snake yo-kai with a raised brow.

"Alright, enough of that, please!" Hailey sighed as Katie finally stopped hitting her and put her paper fan away.

"Sorry, lost my temper," Katie looked away with embarrassment.

"Yeah, you seem to do that a lot," Hailey mumbled, subtly writing something down in her notepad. 'Note to self: Katie is a psycho.'

"Anyway, your dumb assessment aside– "

"It's not dumb!"

"–What exactly does an 'epic anime battle' have to do with Nate?" Katie sent a skeptical glare towards the other girl.

Hailey chuckled, adjusting her glasses as they shined with light that obscured her eyes, "Oh-hoho, you are so naive to the ways of the world Katie, it's almost cute…"

Katie growled, reaching towards her pocket that contained her paper fan in a threatening manner.

Hailey let out a cough, her expression turning to one of nervousness, "A-Anyway, Nate is obviously the main protagonist here, so it stands to reason that anything like this would have involved him!"

Katie pulled her hand away from her pocket, crossing her arms as she thought about what Hailey had said, "That's… stupid!"

Hailey looked offended at this response, "Hey! You're the one who wanted to know!"

"No, no, no," Katie waved her hand, giving an annoyed look as she gripped her head. "It's stupid, really stupid, but… it makes… sort of sense."

"Huh…?" Hailey paused, looking unsure if she heard the other girl right.

"I hate to admit it–I mean I really hate to admit it, especially after making that comment about how this isn't an anime to you–but all this nonsense that has been happening lately does seem to revolve around Nate, and I would be lying if I said it didn't all kind of remind me of some anime plot," Katie expression hardened as she crossed her arms. "I don't want to say you're right, but I kind of get the logic…"

Hailey's eyes widened as Katie admitted this, before her shocked expression slowly morphed into one of glee, "Squee~!"

Katie blinked with a strange look at the high pitch noise she had just heard, before she slowly turned her gaze back towards Hailey, finding the girl now much closer to her, staring at her with a wide smile and sparkling eyes.

Hailey's grin widened when Katie looked towards her, looking like she was moments away from exploding with joy, "Beeest frieeends– "

"No!" Katie swiftly denied, turning away from the other girl once more.

"Gah!?" Hailey fell face first onto the ground, her hopes of friendship dashed as quickly as they surfaced. 'Note to self: Katie is a heartless monster!'

Katie rolled her eyes as she glanced back at the scene once more.

"Noko! Noko!"

"Sounds like your snake found something," Hailey smiled, popping back up as if she had never fallen over, looking towards the happily hopping reptile.

"Ignore him, we need to focus," the pony-tailed girl grunted, scanning over the ground for footprints or other signs for what had happened in this area previously.

"Noko! Noko! Noko!"

"He sounds like he really wants us to pay attention," Hailey pointed out again.

"I said ignore him!" Katie half-growled, her growing frustration evident.

"NOKO! NOKO! NOKO!"

"Alright, WHAT!?" Katie relented with an infuriated shout, looking towards Tsuchi, before she took notice of how he was sniffing at the ground and bouncing as if he wanted them to follow him. "Wait, have you found Nate's scent or something!?"

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" Tsuchi just repeated, bouncing quickly up the street.

"Well, something's certainly got his tail in a twist," Usapyon commented, putting his hand to his chin.

"Come on, we gotta follow him!" Katie shouted anxiously.

The other two nodded, as the three prepared to run after the hopping snake.

Hailey suddenly paused, looking thoughtful for a second, before she let out a gasp and held up a finger excitedly, "I got it! Aliens!"

Katie stopped in her tracks, looking back and silently staring at the other girl.

Hailey smiled at Katie.

"…"

"OW! OW! OW! WHY!?" Hailey shouted as she attempted to flee from the furious strikes of her pursuer's paper fan…

---

Back within the Bundorys' base, Nate's parents, Venoct, and the members of Tempest Pride, after having been caught by a pitfall trap because of 'The Terrible Trio,' now found themselves being held captive within what looked to be a dungeon cell deep within the Bundorys' base.

"Well, I think we can all agree that could have gone better…" Dr. E. Raser rubbed his head with a sigh.

"To think I would be bested by such an obvious trap, I bring shame to my master's name!" Venoct spoke mournfully, kneeling on the ground with a pained expression.

"Ha! Those wise guys think dis cell can hold me? I'll show 'em! I'm walkin' right outta' here!" Unbearaboy! shouted, walking towards the bars.

"Unbearaboy!, wait I don't think– " Dr. E. Raser tried to warn his teammate, but the blue-skinned child seemed disinterested in listening.

"Don't be a spoilsport, Doc! I got dis–AAAH!?" Unbearaboy! had started to say with a wide smirk on his face, only to get cut off as he met the bars of the cell, which shocked him and sent him flying backwards. "Ow, dat's smarts…"

"Hey, are you alright?" Jawsome Kid quickly went to his junior's aid, helping him back to his feet.

Dr. E. Raser looked at the bars and walls of the cell, humming to himself thoughtfully, "Just as I had suspected, seems this cell was built with yo-kai in mind. There's some sort of energy field that prevents us from phasing out of here."

"I could'a told ya' dat…" Unbearaboy! mumbled dizzily, rubbing his head as Jawsome Kid helped keep him steady.

"Well, this is just great," Lily huffed angrily, sitting in the corner with her arms crossed, glaring at the yo-kai heroes. "Though I suppose I shouldn't have expected much from a 'hero' team who would kidnap an eleven-year-old!"

"Hey, I already apologized about that!" Little Charrmer, glaring towards the human woman with annoyance, before turning her gaze towards the bars, "Besides, we're not gonna be in here for much longer, no cell can withstand my Nasty Kick! Hiya-AAH!?"

Little Charrmer's attempt to break the bars with a flying kick, unfortunately only resulted in her being shocked and sent flying to the back of the cell.

"Boss-lady!" Unbearaboy! expressed worry for his fallen leader, having just experienced the pain of the forcefield himself.

Jawsome Kid, noting that Unbearaboy! seemed to have recovered, quickly turned his focus to the leader, running over to her and offering her a hand, "Saki, are you alright!? Are you hurt!?" the shark-humanoid flinched when his hand was smacked away.

"I'm fine, and don't call me Saki!" Little Charrmer snapped, shaking her head as she pulled herself back to her feet, gritting her teeth as she glared at the bars.

Jawsome Kid stepped back but kept his worried eyes on the girl as she struggled to keep her balance.

Lily's expression briefly changed to one of concern as she watched the demonic-looking hero, but she quickly hid it behind a mask of grumpiness before anyone saw.

"Uh, you guys have some other plans to get out of here, right?" Aaron asked with an anxious tone, still trying to keep his cool, but the stress of the situation and worry for his son was clearly starting to get to him.

The awkward silence that the human man was met with did not do anything to ease his concerns…

"Haha-nya!" a mocking laughter echoed through the darkness, before the captive group looked to see a black nekomata emerging from the shadows before their cell, an arrogant smirk stretched across his face. "You all thought we were nyo match for you, but you nyow see how foolish you were to underestimate The Terrible Trio!" Doppelnyan shouted with triumph as he raised his paws into the air.

"Yup, I can't believe that dumb ol' trapdoor trick even worked, but here we are!" Intrudapyon added as he walked beside the nekomata, chuckling at the prisoners' current position. "Ta' think some low level yo-criminals like us can boast that we outsmarted Tempest Pride! Oh, this is a good day!"

"Oh, I hope they're not all too uncomfortable in that there jailcell, it don't look all that inviting," Komasham mumbled with concern as he walked to Doppelnyan's side, opposite of Intrudapyon.

"Hey, don't show concern for our enemies, Komasham!" Doppelnyan scolded, lightly smacking the komainu's head with one of his tails.

"Ow," Komasham mumbled, rubbing his head.

"This is the yo-criminal life, and that means showing nyo weakness, and nyot backing down in the face of the law!" Doppelnyan continued, tapping a foot on the ground and keeping a stern look. "Understand?"

"Yeah, I know…" Komasham mumbled, nodding his head.

"Good," Doppelnyan's expression became a pleasant smile, with him patting the komainu on the back. "Remember, Komasham, always listen to me! I'm your friend, and I'm only looking out for what's best for you, got it?"

"Yeah, got it…" Komasham nodded, looking to the ground with an unsure expression.

"Just like ya' to show sympathy for these sorts, just remember that they'd lock ya' up and throw away the key without even a second thought if they got the chance!" Intrudapyon interjected with a sneer.

"Yes…" Komasham nodded again, his expression unchanging.

"What do you three want anyway?" Little Charrmer spoke up, looking annoyed at the three small yo-criminals.

Doppelnyan shrugged, "Nyothing much, just came here to gloat while we had the chance! Nyahahaha!"

"Darn tootin', so let's get to it!" Intrudapyon laughed, before he and Doppelnyan started making stupid faces and mocking gestures at the prisoners.

"Nyahahaha-ha! We beat you! You are losers! We are the winners!" Doppelnyan and Intrudapyon taunted, dancing around in a as they continued to laugh at the trapped heroes.

"Uhh… yeah…" Komasham just stood by awkwardly as this went on.

"You fiends, release us from this confinement at once!" Venoct shouted as he zoomed over to the bars, just shy of encountering the forcefield. "The fate of my master rests in a void of uncertainty, and the longer I remain her, the longer that uncertainty could become certain demise! If you have any compassion buried within your wretched souls, you shall release us post haste, and start working on your grand apology to the great Yo-kai Master Nathan Adams!"

Venoct's outburst had not only the yo-criminals, but his cellmates also, starring at him with blank expressions, nobody really sure how to respond to… that…

Doppelnyan was the first to break out of his stupor, "Nyahahaha! What the Infinyite Infernyo was that!?"

Intrudapyon was the next to recover, "Hehe, yay! Oh no, we're real scared of that little ol' eleven-year-old human child!" the rabbit-suited otter yo-kai mocked.

"I, uh… was already workin' on my apology," Komasham muttered quietly, looking towards the ground.

"You feel pretty tough, don't you?" Lily spoke darkly as she approached the bars, glaring at Doppelnyan and Intrudapyon.

"Why yes, yes I do, human," Doppelnyan commented with a condescending sneer towards the woman.

"If you're so tough, why don't say that a little closer?" the light shining off Lily's glasses obscured her eyes, as she walked towards the bars of the cell.

"Uh, Honey, what are you doing…?" Aaron spoke with worry, looking between the bars that he had seen send yo-kai flying not long before, and his wife.

"Don't worry, Aaron, I just want to see if this little feline is as tough as he is clearly pretending to be," the human woman gave a cruel and condescending smirk as she looked down at the feline yo-kai.

"Why you, stupid human thinks she can talk that way to me!?" Doppelnyan growled as he started to walk towards the cell.

"Yeah, show 'er what for, Doppel," Intrudapyon encouraged, though by his snickering he clearly did not care how this would go.

"I'm not so sure if that's such a good idea," Komasham timidly warned, but was ignored by the angered nekomata.

"I'll say whatever I want, straight to your face!" Doppelnyan snarled as he stepped right up to the bars, glaring up directly at Lily, as she stared down at him with an emotionless expression, her eyes still obscured.

"Hmm… so, you really think you're a tough guy, huh…?" Lily spoke in dangerous tone, a subtle red aura surrounding her body.

The yo-kai heroes could only stare in silence, unsure of what to make of this odd stand-off, or why they felt such immense power emanating for a supposedly normal human woman…

Venoct had a similar expression to the heroes, but his was a look more of reverence, and the way he stood and watched was as if he was waiting for something specific to happen.

Aaron twiddled his thumbs nervously, restraining himself from pulling his wife away from the bars, knowing she was fully capable of handling herself.

Doppelnyan did not seem to take notice of whatever the yo-kai heroes and Venoct had noticed, smirking at the woman, "Oh how I would just love to teach you a lesson about respect!"

"… Respect, huh?" Lily grinned a bit at that comment, her dangerous tone unchanging.

"Yeah, you are so lucky you're in that cell right nyow, you knyow?" Doppelnyan stretched a bit, chuckling to himself as he pointed a paw up at the woman.

Lily let out a small, and rather eerie chuckle of her own, "… You know what, you're right, I am very lucky I'm in this cell right now… but you're not!"

"NYA!?" Doppelnyan cried out in shock as Lily's hand shot through the bars, grabbing hold of the bell dangling from his neck, pulling him forward and face first into the forcefield.

"Lily!?" Aaron called out with shock and worry, only to notice that the human woman was seemingly unaffected by the strange forcefield that encased their cell, "Huh…?"

The cat yo-kai, on the other hand, was not…

"NYAAYA!?"

Both Intrudapyon and Komasham stepped back with wide eyes as their leader was electrocuted and thrown backwards, and straight onto them.

"OMPH!?" The three yo-kai all grunted as they crumpled into a pile from the impact of the nekomata flying into the other two.

"… Dis' lady is awesome," Unbearaboy! stated with pure amazement and admiration in his voice and expression, but that was soon replaced with confusion. "But wait, why could she stick her hand through da' bars like dat'?"

"Honey, are you alright!?" Aaron frantically ran over to Lily's side, looking her over for any signs of injury, clearly having been holding himself back from doing so earlier.

Lily gave her husband a loving smile, "Yes, I'm fine, Dear."

"Interesting, it looks like the energy field is only designed to interfere with the spiritual energy that makes up the physical forms of yo-kai," Dr. E. Raser observed with interest gleaming in his eyes. "Those whose souls are shielded by an organic body, on the other hand, can seemingly pass through it without issue…"

"I wish someone had told me that…" Doppelnyan mumbled dizzily as he pulled himself back up to his feet, wobbling as he tried not to fall back onto his behind.

"I think we can all agree that's somethin' we should'a been informed of," Intrudapyon grunted as he also pulled himself to his feet.

"Oh my swirls, that was real shocking…" Komasham shook his head as he stood back up.

"You would do wise not to underestimate my master, or any of his family," Venoct nodded to himself in satisfaction of his point being proven (in his mind at least.)

"Err, come on, let's get out of here before the bride-to-be barges in," Doppelnyan hissed, gesturing for his companions to follow him as he turned to leave back through the hall.

"Right behind ya'," Intrudapyon shrugged, sticking his tongue out at the captives one more time, before turning to follow the nekomata.

"Uh, I'll catch up in a sec, fellas," Komasham called out to his exiting teammates, before he turned his attention back towards the prison cell, carefully walking towards it.

The captives eyed the small komainu warily, but none made any show of aggression towards him, his demeanor and clear uncertainty made it hard to feel any animosity towards him, even the still very enraged Lily could not bring herself to make any unkind comments towards the lion-dog, instead opting to simply turn away and allow herself to be comforted by her husband for the moment.

"Oh my swirls, I'm very sorry about all this business," Komasham apologized and bowed to the prisoners, looking very regretful. "My pals and I don't mean no real harm, but trouble always seems to follow wherever we end up…"

"They seem to be very purposely causing trouble…" Jawsome Kid pointed out, giving the komainu a sympathetic look, "You, on the other hand… Komasham, I'm pretty sure you don't deserve to be labeled as a yo-criminal."

Komasham looked unsure at the hero's words, "… I really am sorry about this, but me and my friends do have a job to do."

"I know your record, Komasham, the majority of your crimes we accidents, if you just help us escape, we can put in a good word to get your yo-criminal designation removed," Jawsome Kid tried to reason.

Komasham still looked unsure as he stared up at the hero, but soon started quickly shaking his head, "I am sorry, but I gotta stand by my friends… and if that means being a yo-criminal, then so be it…"

"Hey, Komasham, stop talking to these guys! Let's go!" Doppelnyan called out to the lagging yo-criminal.

"R-Right, sorry!" the komainu called back, quickly running to catch up to his departing companions.

Jawsome Kid let out a disappointed sigh as he watched Komasham disappear from view, shaking his head.

Shortly after the trio had left, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the darkness, as a certain cat-girl came into view.

"You!" Little Charrmer practically roared as she lunged towards the front of the cell, only held back from meeting with the energy field again by Jawsome Kid grabbing her.

Kirene regarded the struggling heroine with a cool expression, before a smirk came to her face, "So, how are you all enjoying your accommodations my little wedding crashers? All good? No thoughts of escaping or trying to ruin my big day?"

"Vile criminal, release us at once and repent for your evil actions, and maybe my master might find it in his heart to forgive your betrayal!" Venoct shouted, the heads of his dragon scarf snarling as he took a combative stance.

Kirene seemed a bit caught off guard by the sudden rant, looking at the ninja-like yo-kai in surprise, "Betrayal? What are you talking about? And who's this 'master' you're going on about?"

"My master; Nathan Adams! The one you wrongfully imprisoned, betraying the trust he clearly had towards you!" Venoct answered with a fierce glare, his dragon scarves letting out hisses. "I know not what the history between you two was, but your actions upon meeting once more can only be classified as a betrayal!"

"Your master… is Nate...?" the humanoid feline looked taken aback by this revelation, but quickly shook of her surprise and gained a stern frown. "Whatever, I'll figure that one out later. And for your information: I did not betray Nate!"

"You attacked him and entrapped him against his will, despite his recognition of you and his considering you as one of his companions!" Venoct countered.

"And she wants to force him to marry her!" Little Charrmer added, her tail-flame growing in response to her anger.

"And you want to force him to marry you!" Venoct repeated, pointing an accusing finger at the Bundory girl.

"He promised!" Kirene snapped, stomping her foot on the ground as electricity danced across her fur. "If anyone betrayed anyone, he betrayed me when he tried to get out of our promise! But I'll forgive him, because I love him! I'm not the one who's in the wrong here! I'm not!"

"Do you even hear yourself!?" Lily snapped as she angrily pulled at the bars. "You kidnapped our baby!"

Kirene looked at the Adams parents with a blank expression, before she let out a nostalgic sigh, "Oh, right… I never properly introduced myself to you two, sorry about… this."

"Sorry…?" Aaron gave strange look at that.

Lily just kept her glare on the cat-girl.

"You know, this really isn't how I imagined the first time we'd speak going…" Kirene muttered with a regretful expression. "After the many times I'd seen you without you being able to see me, I had dreamed about revealing myself to you and us getting to know each other, with you happily coming to acknowledge me as your future daughter-in-law… unfortunately we must meet under this sour note, but I hope in time you will come to forgive me."

"You kidnapped our son with the intention of forcing him to marry you, and you locked us in a dungeon," Lily stated in a dull tone as she glared at the cat-girl.

Kirene let out a sheepish chuckle, looking away with a slightly red face, "Yeah, I know that seems pretty bad, but trust me: we're all gonna be much happier in the long run!"

"Yer delusional," Unbearaboy! commented in a blunt tone.

"I don't believe I was talking to you, blue boy!" the cat-girl snapped with a harsh growl.

"It's 'Unbearaboy!' not 'blue boy!' Ya' can't even remember my name? No wonder you needed to kidnap the guy ya' liked!" the blue-skinned hero mocked with a small smirk on his face.

"I SAID I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU!" Kirene snapped again, looking like she would like nothing more than to rip the small yo-kai hero to pieces.

Unbearaboy! flinched at the villain's scream, barely noticing as Jawsome Kid moved in front of him in a protective manner.

Kirene let out a small cough as she regained her composure, focusing a calm smile towards Nate's parents. "As I was saying, sorry about the whole 'kidnapping' thing, the 'trapping you in a cell' thing, and all that, but please just trust me."

"Trust you?" Lily deadpanned as she kept glaring at the feline girl.

Kirene nodded quickly, her smile turning hopeful as she clasped her hands together, "Yes! I know it's hard to see it now but know that all of this will be for the best in the long run! We'll all be a happy family together, and in ten years or so there might even be some adorable grandkittens for you to spoil!"

"Aww…" Lily and Aaron both paused at the adorable thought of little babies that resembled Nate with cat-ears and tails, but they quickly shook those thoughts off and went back to glaring at Kirene.

"Don't think you can win us over by filling our heads with ideas of cute grandkids, you still kidnapped Nate, and you want to force him to marry you because of some promise you made when you were like five!" Lily snapped, trying not to cry as she forcibly pushed away the images of potential tiny kitten-grandbabies in her mind.

"Plus, you do realize our son is engaged to some yo-kai princess, right?" Aaron pointed out with a raised brow.

Lily blinked as she recalled that fact as well, letting out a heavy sigh as she placed a hand on her head, "Oh right, that's a thing that we need to deal with later too…"

Aaron let out a cough; remembering the fact he had just reminded himself and his wife of was one that was probably going to be a big issue to deal with moving forward…

Pushing the unsure thoughts aside, the human man turned his focus back towards the yo-kai girl outside the cell, putting a stern look on his face, "Our… personal feelings about that aside, surely you can't just ignore that."

"Engaged…? Princess!?" that comment seemed to catch Kirene's attention, glaring at the human man, her eyes gleaming from behind her bangs. "Explain…"

"And why should we?" Lily scoffed, feeling a bit of satisfaction at the desperation in the cat-girl's voice.

"Because he can't have gotten engaged when he was already engaged to me!" Kirene snarled, going onto all fours as electricity pulsed from her body.

Lily and Aaron took a couple steps back as the feline yo-kai screamed, taken aback by how volatile her reaction was.

"We promised! We did not just regular promised! We pinky promised! We super best friend promised! The Yo-kai World sees a promise that's made with true intentions is as good as law! I know my feelings were true, and so were Nate's!" Kirene roared as she clutched her head, more powerful sparks starting to erupt from her body as she thrashed around. "No! No! No! He can't just get engaged to some princess and leave me behind! HE CAN'T!"

The occupants of the cell all moved back as sparks started to fly.

"I think she's about ta' explode!" Unbearaboy! warned, ducking for cover.

"One can only hope," Little Charrmer muttered angrily, though still clearly unnerved as she shielded herself with her wings.

Though the worry that the electric cat-girl would go on a rampage was very real in the minds of many within the cell, it did not come to pass. After a few moments, the sparking started to die down as Kirene's thrashing ceased, her expression turning from outage to eerily calm…

"Hmm, hmm, hmm… I'm loath to admit it, but if this is for real, it could be an issue," Kirene mumbled in a thoughtful manner, as if the last few moments of her nearly having a breakdown had never happened at all. "No matter, Nate had already promised his hand to me years ago, and the ritual will ensure mine and his fates, whatever this princesses' claim of engagement may be, she's going to have go through me to take my Nate!"

"My son doesn't belong to anyone!" Lily growled hatefully, looking ready to break down. "He's a little boy who shouldn't have to worry about whatever this nonsense is, and if you're really his friend you would let him and us go!"

"No, you are right mother-in-law, he doesn't belong to anyone, Nate is a special person who should treasured, and kept safe from all those horrible girls out there who would fight over him like he was something to possess," Kirene nodded to herself, a pleased grin coming to her face. "But I'll put a stop to all of that, you won't need to worry anymore, once the ritual is complete, I will be the one who is special in his heart, the way it should have been all along, and I'll be sure to treat him the way he deserves…"

Lily stared at the cat-girl with disbelief, "You're not even listening to me anymore!"

"Don't worry, mother-in-law, father-in-law, there won't be anything to worry about soon enough," Kirene giggled a bit to herself, turning away as she started to hum a little tune to herself.

"Hey,ifyoudon'tmindmeasking,what'sthiswholethingwithNateandtheBundoryfamilyanyhow!?"

Everyone turned to Double Time, needing a moment to process his barely intelligible speed-talking.

"… Yes, I wish to know that as well," Venoct spoke up, apparently being the first to figure out exactly what the speedster had said. "Though I may not have the right to ask of my master's history, I will do my best to find all I can to better serve him, knowing what exact connection my master holds to this criminal family could be vital information to assist with that!"

"Yeah, what's the deal with that!" Little Charrmer glared, approaching the bars again, but careful not to come into contact with the energy-field, giving Kirene a pointed look, "You keep going on about you and Nate making some promise, how you were supposed to be together, but have yet to actually give a real explanation for that!"

Kirene snapped back towards the prisoners, giving a growl as she crossed her arms, "And why exactly should I tell you heroes any of that? The history between Nate and my family is our business and our business alone!"

"I would argue that it's very much our business," Aaron spoke up, he along with Lily, giving stern looks towards the cat-girl.

"Oh, yes, of course it is," Kirene's expression immediately turned pleasant again as she focused on her 'future in-laws,' nodding and giggling a bit. "I'll be sure to tell you two everything as soon as we have a chance to talk away from these heroes– "her expression briefly turned hateful, before shaking it off and going back to pleasant, "–we can go over it all, probably at the wedding reception!"

"LET US OUT! MY BABY IS TOO YOUNG TO GET MARRIED!" Lily snapped, slamming her body against the bars as the red aura around her body flared up once again, her eyes flashing with a fiery light.

Kirene jumped back a bit, "Uh… I'll give you a bit to calm down…" the cat-girl shook her head, before the communicator strapped to her waist started beeping. "Oh, hold on, I gotta take this."

Lily kept roaring and thrashing, while Aaron tried his best to calm her down, as Kirene turned away from the cell and brought the communicator to her face.

"Yeah, I'm here. What is it? I was kind of in the middle of something," Kirene spoke into the device, though her tone indicated she was a bit relieved to have the distraction.

However, her relief washed away as she listened to the voice on the other end of the communication…

"WHAT!? HOW!?" Kirene shouted with rage, which she quickly restrained, speaking quietly into the communicator, "Well, just send The Terrible Trio to investigate the intruders, but as for that… other thing, I'm coming to help look into that, personally…" turning off the device, she turned back towards the cell with a calm expression, "So sorry we can't chat more, but it seems I have business to attend to…"

"Don't you dare just walk away from me," Lily hissed, gripping the bars tightly.

"You better be planning to let us out of this thing, or else!" Little Charrmer added, her wings flaring intimidatingly.

Kirene said no more, as she had already turned to leave, quickly running back down the hallway until she was out of sight, leaving the prisoners to themselves once more…

"I don't believe this…" Lily muttered, her aura dying down as she released the bars, walking over to her husband and leaning her head against his shoulder, while he tried to comfort her.

"I'm gonna pummel her into the ground," Little Charrmer growled as she stared at the spot Kirene was previously standing. "Maybe if I go at the forcefield with a full power Soultimate, I could– "

"Stop,don'tfinishthatthought!" Double Time quickly spoke up, running around with worry at the direction his leader's mind was going.

"I just need to try harder!" Little Charrmer grit her teeth, clenching her fists as her glare intensified. "If I try hard enough, if… if I do better, I can do this! I can get us out of here, and I can save Nate, I can fix this!"

"Little Charrmer, you need to stop pushing yourself so hard," Dr. E. Raser spoke with concern for his superior. "You're still just a kid…"

The devil-themed hero froze, her eyes going wide for a moment, before she turned a harsh glare the doctor's way, "So, I'm just a little girl playing hero, is that it…?"

"That's not what I'm saying," Dr. E. Raser sighed.

"But it is what you're thinking!" the leader of Tempest Pride hissed as she stomped her foot on the ground. "That's what you've always thought about me, isn't it!? You haven't even been a part of this team for that long, but I could tell by the way you looked at me from the moment you joined that you didn't think some kid could reliably lead a hero team!"

"If that's what I thought, I would have never chosen to join Tempest Pride in the first place," Dr. E. Raser sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, I had misgivings, but you had proven yourself a capable hero long before I had even died…"

"But clearly not good enough, because if I was, we wouldn't be in this situation!" Little Charrmer yelled angrily, before she stormed off to the back of the cell and sat against the wall, curling up into a ball.

Dr. E. Raser let out a troubled sigh, glancing at his teammates who all looked equally concerned.

Lily and Aaron both looked surprised by that exchange between the heroes, they looked to each other and Lily gave a reluctant nod, before separating from her husband and walking over to where the red-clad hero had seated herself…

"Uh… look, I…" Lily looked like she was struggling to find the right thing to say as she looked down at the red-clad hero. "I'm still mad, you know, don't misunderstand, but… I think I may have been a bit harsh on you."

"No, you haven't," Little Charrmer huffed, looking away from the woman, "I let my stupid crush on Nate get in the way of my job, and I ended up putting him in danger!"

"Look, what you did wasn't okay," Lily explained, giving a sympathetic look as she put a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, "But I see that you… aren't as bad as I initially pinned you as. I'm guessing you've never had a crush before, right?"

The red-clad yo-kai looked at the ground, a slight blush appearing on her face as she mumbled a barely audible 'no.'

Lily had to stop herself from letting out a giggle at the shy response, internally reminding herself that this was still a serious situation, "Well, it will be hard for me to trust you with my son's safety after this whole thing, but you can start to make up for things by helping us get through this and save him now."

"You, uh, think if I save Nate, that he'll… like me?" Little Charrmer asked with a sheepish smile as she looked up at Lily.

"Knowing Nate, he probably already likes you," Lily stated with a bit of chuckle, before shaking her head and giving an understanding look, "But that's not exactly what you meant, is it?"

Little Charrmer blushed bright red as she turned her away from the human woman, tapping her fingers together nervously.

"… I think that isn't what you should be focusing on right now," Lily stated in a calm tone.

"Huh…?" Little Charrmer blinked, looking back at the human questioningly.

"You are a hero, aren't you?" Lily asked with a serious look.

"Y-Yeah," the red-clad yo-kai girl nodded quickly, her eyes narrowing as her expression became one of determination.

Lily nodded back, "Your focus right now should be on that; your duty to protect and keep people safe, saving Nate shouldn't be about if he will 'like you' or not, it's about it being the right thing to do, because you are a hero."

Little Charrmer's eyes widened as she took in the woman's words, glancing down at the ground with a bit of shame, but only for a brief moment. Looking back up with serious eyes, Little Charrmer nodded again, standing back up to her feet, "You're right!"

Lily smiled as she watched the yo-kai girl do a few poses and a backflip, before standing with a determined smile on her face.

"I'm not some little girl with a crush! I'm Little Charrmer, the leader of Tempest Pride, the most awesome yo-kai hero team there is!" doing a heroic pose, the devil-themed superhero smirked, glancing towards her teammates, who all smiled with relief seeing their leader regaining her positivity. "I've never felt the way about anyone the way I do about Nate now! But I can't let that get in the way of my duty! Forget about if Nate likes me, for now, what comes first is getting us all out of here and saving him!"

"There you go, I knew you had it in you, kid," Lily smiled as she stood back up, patting Little Charrmer on the head, before she paused with an unsure expression, "Just to make sure; you, uh… you are a kid, right?"

"… Who the Infinite Inferno knows!? I feel like I'm in the same age-range as your son, so that's what we should go with, I guess. Yo-kai ages are so vague and confusing, and we probably should not try think too hard about it!" Little Charrmer looked like she was trying to avoid giving herself a headache.

"… I guess I can accept that," Lily shrugged, looking like she did not want to deal with the headache that would probably come with trying to dig further into the issue anyway.

"… Thank you," Little Charrmer smiled in spite how awkward and unsure she still felt when facing the woman.

After this exchange everyone in the cell seemed to ease up… except for Venoct, of course, but he was still frantically searching around for any flaws in their current containment that could be exploited for an escape.

"It's nice to see she isn't as bad as my wife and I initially got the impression of, but here's one thing I don't get," Aaron spoke up, facing Dr. E. Raser, "If Little Charrmer is a kid, why was she the one chosen as your team's leader? Isn't that a little irresponsible?"

"Yo-kai recognize skill before age, especially with how confusing 'age' is for yo-kai," Dr. E. Raser explained with a shrug. "As well, Saki is the one who started Tempest Pride in the first place, she had been acting alone for a while before then but had seen fit to pull together a team that she thought could help do better than she could as a lone hero."

"She was able to do that on her own, and able to get you all to follow her…?" Aaron looked surprised at this revelation.

Dr. E. Raser chuckled, "Saki's skills as a hero are–normally–in a class of their own, it is part of why I decided to join Tempest Pride after all. Her little crush did throw her off a bit, but now that she's had a bit of time to reflect, I'm sure she'll turn things back around in no time."

With an annoyed pout Little Charrmer hit the skull-masked hero with a light kick. "Hey, I just told you not to call me Saki!"'

"Right, of course, please forgive me for that slip," Dr. E. Raser chuckled again.

Little Charrmer huffed as she kept glaring at the doctor, but her hardened expression soon cracked as she released a little chuckle of her own.

---

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NATE'S GONE!?"

Whoopie let out a scared yelp, flying behind Neverfore to shield himself from Kirene's wrath.

Neverfore gave the smaller yo-kai an annoyed glance, before she bowed her head to the cat-girl, letting out a tired sigh, "Sorry, we were standing guard the entire time like we were ordered, but he somehow managed to get out."

"How!?" Kirene snarled, looking ready to scratch the two yo-criminals' eyes out. "How could he have escaped without either of you noticing!? There was only one way out of that room, and you two were standing in front of it!"

"We don't know how, but it seems that the room had been surrounded by a soundproof energy field at some point, whoever did that must have helped the human escape…" Neverfore calmly explained, keeping a straight face as the Bundory loomed over her dangerously.

"His name is Nate! Not 'the human!' if you can't do your job right, at least get his name right!" Kirene snapped with barely restrained fury, tiny bolts of electricity dancing across her fur.

"Of-Of course," Neverfore gulped, backing up a bit, for fear of suddenly being struck by lightning.

"We did the best we could, but somehow the adorable guy slipped right through our paws!" Whoopie added as he floated up over Neverfore's head, only to quickly duck back down to avoid a stray lightning bolt. "Whoop!"

"CLEARLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Kirene shouted, stomping on the ground a few times as she seemed to be about ready to start throwing a tantrum. "YOU WERE HIRED TO KEEP NATE SAFE AND SECURE; HOW COULD YOU NOT EVEN DO SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS THAT!?"

While Whoopie started shaking as he cowered behind Neverfore, the blue-clad yo-criminal herself started to get an annoyed expression on her face.

"Well excuse me, princess, but you only hired us to stand at a door! Not be on the lookout for someone who can make soundproof barriers or teleport between dimensions!"

The air around the three yo-kai seemed to freeze for a minute, before Kirene's eyes started to glow furiously from behind her bangs, with her body trembling.

Neverfore continued to hold a steady stance as the terrified Whoopie clung to her, the small yo-kai fully believing that the two yo-criminals were about to be reduced to souls…

Then, suddenly, Kirene's rage subsided as she seemed to be struck with a realization, "Wait, what did you just call me…?"

Whoopie's trembling calmed down as his terror was replaced with confusion, a feeling he seemed to be sharing with his humanoid companion, as they both exchanged a glance.

"Uh… 'princess?'" Neverfore answered, raising a brow at the odd question.

"Princess… of course!" Kirene shouted, a look of realization and anger clear on her face, but this time anger that was not directed at the two yo-criminals in front of her. "It must have been that 'princess' Mr. and Mrs. Adams mentioned! She used her influence to get some powerful yo-kai that could circumvent our security, and spirited Nate off to her wicked lair to force him to marry her!"

Neverfore and Whoopie both exchanged blank looks at the cat-girl's… familiar sounding conclusion…

"Oh, the nerve! Claiming my Nate as her fiancé, and now coming in and stealing him right from under my nose!" Kirene hissed in hatred of her perceived enemy, storming away as she continued to rant under her breath.

The two forgotten yo-criminals simply watched as the daughter of their current employer stomped further and further away, not even sparing them a second glance…

Neverfore let out a heavy sigh once the other yo-kai girl was gone, before she turned and motioned for Whoopie to follow her, "Come on, Little Buddy, this job ain't worth it, let's get the Infinite Inferno out of here."

Whoopie glanced between where his companion was headed, and the direction Kirene had gone a few times, before he began flying after the former. "But what about Nate?" the small blue yo-kai looked concerned as he thought of the human boy, the orange heart he held onto beating a bit.

Neverfore scoffed, shaking her head a bit, "I'm sure he can take care of himself, he is the 'Yo-kai Master' after all."

"I can hear your sarcasm, Nevy," Whoopie gave a disappointed look, before he gave a light yelp as Neverfore's staff bonked him on the head.

"I recall telling you never to call me 'Nevy,'" the female yo-criminal glared at the male.

"Slip of the tongue, owwie…" Whoopie mumbled as he rubbed his head. "But you can still be such a meanie sometimes, you know!"

The humanoid's expression became dull, "Yes, I'm aware."

"Still, even if you were being sarcastic, I guess it is true that he probably can handle himself," Whoopie admitted with a light cheer, spinning in the air as he moved around Neverfore.

"Regardless, it's not our responsibility, not anymore at least," Neverfore huffed, continuing to move forward.

The smaller yo-kai blinked, "… But what about the pay?"

"I don't care anymore!" Neverfore responded without a second thought, still trudging forward.

Whoopie blinked a couple times, before he shrugged and continued following his friend. "Can we stop at Nom Burger on the way home?"

Neverfore paused, giving the small floating yo-kai a blank look, "… Sure."

"Whoopie!" the furry yo-criminal cheered as the blue duo made way for the exit.

---

"Noko! Noko! Noko!"

"… I think ya' might O' been right the first time 'bout not listening to him," Usapyon commented with an annoyed sigh, staring at the apparent dead end that the hopping snake had led them to.

"Why did I think listening to him would lead to anything of use," Katie groaned, facepalming.

"Noko! Noko! Noko!" Tsuchi kept repeating, hopping around the alley as if trying to alert the group to something. "Noko! Noko! Noko!"

"Please shut up…" Katie grunted, rubbing her head to ease her returning headache.

Tsuchi paused, looking towards Katie with a blank expression, "… NOKO! NOKO! NOKO!" the Slippery yo-kai started screeching, hopping around at an increased speed.

"ARG!" the brunette girl growled, pulling at her hair in fury.

"Hmm… no, no, this can't just be a dead end," Hailey mumbled as she looked around the immediate area. "If I know how these kinds of things usually go, we may be led to think that our little mascot was just leading us to nothing, but in actuality… there's gonna be something important hidden around here!"

Katie gave an unconvinced look, "Oh really? And what do you suppose that would be?" walking around, the brunette gestured to the seemingly empty alleyway. "Some hidden door that's invisible to the naked eye, right here or something!?"

With an exaggerated wave of her arms, Katie made a wide gesture towards her surroundings.

"Wah!?"

Only to jump a bit when it seemed she had hit something unseen by the naked eye, and in a flash of colors an open doorway was standing before the group, leading down a hallway that should have been impossible.

"HA!" Hailey pointed towards Katie, a triumphant smirk on her face.

Katie simply drooped, nodding to herself, "Yeah, sure, that might as well happen…"

"NOKO-NOKO!" the Noko gave what seemed to be a war cry as he jumped forward and sped down the hallway within the mysterious doorway.

"Hey, Tsuchi!" Katie called out after her friend/pet(?) as he disappeared from view, before she let out an annoyed grunt and lowered her head. "Alright, guess we're going in there…"

"I mean, there ain't much else ta' do at this point," Usapyon shrugged, hopping into the door with a disinterested expression on his face.

"Oh yeah, just ignore us why don't ya'!" Rougraffony scowled as the two human girls walked past the three tied-up yo-criminals without so much as a glance their way.

"Ra-ra-ra…" Blazioff grumbled under his breath.

"I'm going to refuse any future appearances unless I get a main character role," Mochisless growled, shaking against their binds.

"Yeah, see how well that works out for ya'," Roughraffony gave his fellow yo-criminal an eyeroll, before going back to struggling himself…

---

"Say, how do we know that this place even has anything to do with Nate?" Katie asked as she, Hailey, and Usapyon ran after the speeding Tsuchi through what seemed to be a never-ending labyrinth of corridors.

"What, you think your snake would lead us to some mysterious passageway that wasn't relevant to the current plot!?" Hailey gawked at the other girl with a look of disbelief. "Come on, Katie! Narrative structure! We're not in a filler episode here!"

"And you're still talking like this is an anime," Katie grumbled in annoyance, choosing not to argue with the other girl and to simply continue. 'Well, we're already this far, might as well keep going…'

Hailey, Katie and Usapyon continued to move forward through the seemingly endless corridor, the only thing indicating that Tsuchi was even still among them being the faint sounds of his hopping and 'nokos' that could still be heard in the distance…

"The end of this here corridor better not just be some all-you-can-eat buffet," Usapyon commented with an annoyed look.

"Oh, if it is, I'm kicking someone…" Katie muttered under her breath, subtly glancing Hailey's way.

Not subtly enough, of course, as the other girl quickly took notice. "Hey, why me!? Your snake is the one leading us!"

"And yet, I still will blame you," Katie countered without a moment of hesitation.

"This is not the kind of person I imagined after all I've heard about you!"

"Well sorry if I can't always act like the perfect little honor student everyone seems to expect me to be!" Katie suddenly snapped, a harsh glare focusing forward as her pace started to pick up speed.

Hailey stopped for a moment, surprised by that response, 'Huh… gonna have to make a note of that…'

"Come on, we don't want her to get too far ahead neither," Usapyon's comment pulled Hailey from her thoughts.

"Right, right," the purple-haired girl quickly nodded, picking up the pace. "Hey, Katie, wait up!"

"Stop right there, intruders!"

The three stopped at the high-pitched voice that had shouted at them from the darkness ahead.

"Nyahahaha! You thought you could just waltz in here without any issue, nyow did you?" the form of Doppelnyan stepped out from the shadows, the black-furred nekomata smirking evilly as he stood with his arms crossed.

"What the… Jibanyan…?" Hailey squinted her eyes as she stared at the feline yo-criminal.

"Nyo! I'm Doppelnyan!" the cat yo-kai snapped, before smirking again and gesturing to his sides, where Intrudapyon and Komasham came into view from. "And with my teammates here, we're know as… The Terrible Tri– "

"You're… SO CUUUUTE!"

Katie's high-pitched squeal caught everyone off guard, as did her scooping Komasham up and gleefully hugging the small komainu as if he were a stuffed animal.

"Oh my…" a blush shined through Komasham's fur as he was cuddled by the girl, his expression being one of someone who had no idea what to do.

"Oh, I didn't realize yo-kai could be this cute! I just want to take him home to love and hug forever!" lifting up the komainu to her eye level, Katie gave a dazzling smile, "What did you say your name was again, little fella?"

The yo-criminal gave a shy yelp as he glanced away from the girl, tapping his front paws together nervously, "Uh, I'm K-Komasham, Miss… uh?"

"Katie Forester, but you can just call me Katie, alright?" the enamored girl cooed happily as she cradled and lightly squeezed the small yo-criminal.

"Uh… hello? Still here!" Doppelnyan growled, annoyed at how badly the trio's attempt at intimidation seemed to have failed (and certainly not with any feelings of resentment or jealousy, of course…)

"Hehe seems you're the joke villain here," Hailey shrugged, stepping over Doppelnyan without a care.

"Hey!" the black nekomata snarled, trying to swipe the purple-haired girl, but missing completely.

Hailey snickered, "Come on, Katie, these guys can't keep us from moving on!"

"Aww, I just want to take you home and put you on my bed to live with all my plush friends!" Katie giggled as she kept squeezing Komasham, completely oblivious to anything else around her.

"Uh… t-that's nice of ya' ta' say Miss. K-Katie, b-but I'm not a plushie…" Komasham mumbled, his face burning red as the girl continued to fawn over him.

Hailey blinked, looking towards the brunette with confusion, "… Katie?"

"We've lost her, Hailey," Usapyon stated in a plain tone, shaking his head with disappointment, "And just when I thought she had more sense than you…"

"… Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" the bespectacled girl glared down at the otter yo-kai, who averted his eyes and let out an innocent whistle.

"Come on, let's get you home so you can get settled in, and then I'll get you some food, and snuggle you all day!" Katie cheered as she turned back towards the entrance, skipping back up the corridor, Komasham firmly in hand.

"Oh, this isn't going how I thought it would…" Komasham started to look worried as he was carried off.

"Are you kidding!? Get back here with our teammate!" Doppelnyan shouted.

"Huh, weird," was all Intudapyon commented as he watched this all go on, an impassive look on his face.

"Um, Katie… what about Nate?" Hailey gave the other girl a blank expression as she watched her leave.

Katie hummed happily to herself as she kept skipping along, not even pausing as she processed the purple-haired girl's question, "Hmm, what about Nate?"

Hailey kept the same position and expression as she spoke again, "Well, uh… didn't we come here to try and find him…?"

"Find him…?" Katie finally stopped, just shy of being out the exit door, looking like she was slowly putting together the pieces of what the other girl was saying. "… Oh right, Nate!" as if a switch had been flipped in her head, the brunette girl turned right back around and quickly ran back over to Hailey's side.

"Did you really almost forget about Nate…?" Hailey stared at Katie with a scrutinizing gaze.

Katie flinched, shaking her head, "Hey, gimme a break! I came back, and it's not like we're even sure Nate's down here, or even in any sort of danger for that matter!"

Hailey could only sigh in disappointment, "You totally forgot about Nate…"

Katie restrained herself from growling, "Shouldn't we be focusing on the two enemies right now!?"

"THREE! There are three of us!" Doppelnyan shouted in frustration, jumping up a few times and pointing at Komasham, who was still held in Katie's arms. "Release our teammate, witch!"

"Did I just get called a witch by a black cat of all things…?" Katie's irritation seemed to simmer down as she processed how ridiculous that sounded…

"Yup, I'm not sure if you'd call that one irony, or hypocrisy," Hailey scratched her head thoughtfully.

"I'm pretty sure it's neither…" Usapyon muttered with a disinterested look.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me!?" Doppelnyan hissed, going on all fours with his tails and back raised.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're not," Intrudapyon snickered, looking away from the feline when he sent a glare the otter's way.

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Hailey gasped, her eyes gleaming with amazement as she looked towards Intrudapyon as if she had only just now noticed him, "Is that a shiny Usapyon!?"

Everything suddenly went quiet, as if reality itself needed a moment to catch up and had put the world on pause.

"I… huh…?" Intrudapyon stared blankly at the girl, unsure what to make of her.

"Who…?" Doppelnyan almost went cross-eyed out of confusion.

Usapyon just stayed silent, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?" Katie sent the other girl a look full of befuddlement and annoyance, keeping a firm hold on Komasham the entire time.

Hailey blinked, before looking at Katie with a raised brow, "You know? A shiny! Super rare color variant! It's a big deal to run into one– "

"I KNOW WHAT A 'SHINY' IS! DON'T YOU DARE TALK DOWN TO ME ABOUT VIDEO GAME STUFF!" Katie suddenly snapped, looking incredibly offended and infuriated. "YOU MIGHT BE AN ANIME AND MANGA BUFF, BUT I'M THE GAMER HERE!"

That outburst had the blank looks turning Katie's way, and her coughing a little and looking away with embarrassment.

"Uh, Miss. Katie, are ya' alright…?" Komasham asked, glancing up at the girl with a concerned look.

"I-I'm fine, sorry about that…" Katie mumbled her words a bit as she let her face sink into the back of Komasham's head, causing the little komainu's face to go red again.

"… Okay, touchy," Hailey rolled her eyes, before smirking at Usapyon, "Gotta say, I like the shiny color scheme better."

Usapyon, who had been quite the entire exchange, just gave the purple haired girl a dull look, "… Hailey."

The bespectacled girl innocently smiled as she leaned forward, "Yeees?"

Usapyon placed his hands to the two buttons on his helmet…

"… Oh right," Hailey blinked in realization.

"INVADER MODE!"

"OH, COME ON, IT WAS A JOKE!" Hailey shouted in protest as she dodged the incoming laser blasts.

The Terrible Trio remained silent and blank-faced as they watched their apparent adversaries turning on each other, seemingly unsure of how to proceed from here.

Katie, on the other hand, watched with a cold indifference, seemingly unable to gather up any empathy for her schoolmate. With a loud grunt, she finally put Komasham down.

"Miss. Katie?" Komasham blinked in surprise, looking up at the girl questioningly.

With a small smile, Katie patted the komainu on the head, before she regained her cold expression and turned her focus towards her watch, reaching into her pocket and grabbing a yo-kai medal. "This is a waste of time, I'm gonna call someone to speed things up."

Komasham looked at Katie questioningly, "Huh, speed things up…?"

Katie nodded, holding up the medal that depicted a nine-tailed fox yo-kai, before she flipped it and grabbed it midair, "Beginning activation! Kyubi, may I call upon your power? Yo-kai medal, do your thing!"

"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Katie's watch boomed, before it exploded with a tornado of yellow runes, while the face glowed a fierce red. "IT'S TIME TO CALL FORTH THE MYSTERIOUS TRIBE!"

"Wowie…" Komasham seemed mesmerized by the display, staring at Katie with wonder in his eyes.

"MSYTERIOUS! OH, SO MYSTERIOUS! WHAT COULD THEY BE HIDING!? THEY'RE JUST SO MYSTERIOUS!"

"Kyubi!" the fox yo-kai announced as he appeared with a flourish and a heroic pose, before a fiery red aura surrounded him.

"ENMA CHARGE!"

"Katie?" the fox yo-kai looked towards the girl with a blink of surprise, "I thought Nate was summoning me back–no, wait, forget it… where are we?"

"Nate?" Katie looked questioningly at the fox yo-kai. "We're looking for Nate! Do you know where he is!?"

"You are? Well, I guess he did get kidnapped earlier, but he escaped, but now he's trying to save his parents," Kyubi explained simply.

Katie blinked, "Kidnapped!? His parents!? Would you mind giving a more informative explanation!? I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON!"

"Alright! Things have been a little confusing today, but I'll try," Kyubi shook his head, shaken a bit from the girl's shouting. "Basically, Nate– "

"Actually, can you take care of these annoying guys first," Katie interrupted, gesturing to the wide-eyed Doppelnyan and Intrudapyon. "Not this one though!" the brunette girl added, picking Komasham back up and holding him up, her expression turning to one of adoration. "I'm taking this one home with me!"

"I… I didn't agree ta' that…" Komasham muttered, looking around with worry and confusion.

Kyubi stared at the girl with a blank expression, before shaking his head, "Fine, I'll take care of this, and then I'll explain what I can to you. Also, as your friend; I would advise maybe don't take the random yo-criminal home with you."

"All I heard was 'I'll take care of this,' so hop to it!" Katie waved to the fox in a dismissive manner, turning away as she went back to happily cuddling the helpless komainu.

Grumbling a bit under his breath, Kyubi turned his focus towards Doppelnyan and Intrudapyon.

"Uh, Doppelnyan, I'm not so sure of our odds against this fella," Intrudapyon whispered to the cat yo-kai as the fox loomed over them.

"What are you talking about? We beat an entire team of 'heroes!' We can handle this guy, nyo problem! Nyahaha!" Doppelnyan laughed, taking a battle-ready stance as he glared at Kyubi. "Hit us with your best shot pretty boy!"

Kyubi's glare narrowed a bit–Katie letting out a small giggle at the comment not helping his mood–before a smirk crept onto his muzzle, "Alright, I'll give you my best shot, but remember: you asked for it!"

"Just try it, I'll knyock you out before you even get the chance!" Doppelnyan mocked, unconcerned as Kyubi started to charge up with spirit energy.

"Uh, yeah, 'bout that Doppel, I really don't think that's a good idea…" Intrudapyon hissed, trying to pull his teammate's arm, looking frantically between him and the nine-tailed fox.

"Usapyon! We're missing all the action!" Hailey protested as she ran by, still dodging all the enraged yo-kai's laser shots.

The otter yo-kai, of course, ignored the purple-haired girl's pleas as he continued to chase her around the corridors.

"Doppel, we should really get outta' here!"

"What are you going on about?" Doppelnyan gave the other yo-criminal an annoyed look, before letting out a smug laugh, "We took out multiple S-Ranks already! One should hardly concern us nyow!"

Kyubi's smirked widened as he finished charging up his Soultimate, looking down at the two yo-criminals with an evil smirk…

"Well, I think what yer' forgettin' 'bout that 'victory' O' ours Doppel, is that we had a trap door to help us out!" Intrudapyon spoke slowly, even as he kept sending panicked glances the floating kitsune's way.

"… So?" Doppelnyan blinked.

"So… There ain't no trap door in this area, Doppel," Intrudapyon continued to speak slowly and carefully.

"Wait…" Doppelnyan paused, thinking about what Intrudapyon had just said. "So… There is a trap door in this area!"

The spacesuit-wearing yo-criminal's eye twitched, "NO! NOW LET'S RUN BEFORE THE FOX SHOOTS HIS SOULTIMATE AT US!"

"Too late!" Kyubi laughed, his body glowing with intertwining swerves of blue and red energy.

"… Oh shoot," Dopplenyan muttered with a sigh of defeat.

"And when we get back to my house, I'll make sure you get lots of yummy snacks, and–wait a moment…" Katie paused in her fawning over Komasham, looking up, her eyes widening in panic as she realized what Kyubi was about to do, "WAIT! WAIT! HOLD ON! DON'T USE YOUR SOULTIMATE IN HERE STUPID!" Katie shouted, unfortunately just a moment too late…

"INFERNO!" Kyubi announced, flames igniting from his body and shooting forward through the narrow passageway.

"EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Hailey screamed as she ducked through a side corridor.

"TARNATION!?" the sudden danger snapped Usapyon out of Invader Mode, with him jumping into the side corridor after Hailey.

"WE'RE GONNYA DIE!"

"WE CAN'T DIE YA' NUMBSKULL! BUT I STILL DON'T WANNA GET REDUCED TO A SOUL!" Intrudapyon grabbed Doppelnyan by the tails as he started running down the corridor, hoping to outpace the encroaching fire.

"Oh man, this looks real bad!" Komasham cried out, looking back at the flame as he hung from Katie's arms, while she sprinted for the exit.

"EVERY WOMAN FOR HERSELF!" the brunette girl screamed as she leapt for the door, holding onto the small komainu protectively as she rolled out onto the ground outside, and a burst of flames roared out from the open doorframe.

"WHAT THE INFINITE INFERNO!?" Roughraffony shouted, still tied up near the doorway.

"RAH-RAH RAH!?" Blazioff panicked in his bindings.

"… Meh," Mochisless shrugged, not caring as the flames came inches away from his face, though they receded before they could reach the tied up yo-criminals.

Katie was breathing heavily as she remained on the ground for a few moments, still clutching Komasham tightly.

"Uh… I think it's over Miss. Katie," Komasham spoke carefully, patting the girl's shoulder.

Katie took a couple seconds to respond, her breathing slowly returning to a normal rhythm as she stood back to her feet, glancing at the komainu in her arms, and back at the door, the brunette girl cracked a smile and gave released a nervous laugh, patting Komasham's head, before she turned and marched back through the doorway.

"WAIT! WAIT! UNTIE US ALREADY!" Roughraffony's screams were ignored…

---

"Hmm… maybe I overdid it," Kyubi muttered, floating in the middle of the scorched corridor, the red aura of his Enma Charge now gone.

"Kyubi!"

Katie's shout caused the fox's ears to twitch, he turned to look as he saw the girl rushing towards him, her face obscured by her hair.

"Katie! You're moving so fast? Have you finally realized that I am your true soulma– "the kitsune's words were cut short by a harsh slap from the human girl, which had him jumping back with a whimper.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING RELEASING YOUR SOULTIMATE IN HERE!? YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!"

"And me!" Hailey peeked out from the side corridor.

"I-I'm sure you wouldn't have died," Kyubi gave a nervous chuckle as he raised his hands in a defensive manner. "Maybe, just be badly burnt…"

"OH YEAH, THAT MAKES ME FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!" from Katie's tone, it was obvious that it did not make her feel better…

"Well… at least those two yo-criminals are gone," Kyubi weakly gestured to the spot where Doppelnyan and Intrudapyon had been previously. "So, uh… mission accomplished…?"

The dead-eyed glare Katie gave Kyubi in response was a good indication of how she felt about that reasoning.

"Hey, where did my friends go?" Komasham spoke, looking around with worry.

"Oh, they turned tail and ran back down the way you three came from as soon as they saw my attack coming," Kyubi answered with a casual shrug, the nervousness he had when speaking to Katie seeming to have completely evaporated as soon as he addressed the small yo-criminal.

"They did? Wait up fellas!" Komasham finally squirmed free of Katie's grip, scurrying down the corridor.

"Hey, get back here! I haven't even given you a name yet!" Katie cried out in a desperate tone as she chased after the komainu.

"Uh, pretty sure he already has a name," Usapyon gave a strange look as he popped from the same side corridor as Hailey.

"Finally meeting Katie has been… not what I expected it to be," Hailey muttered, a blank expression on her face and a glazed-over look to her eyes.

"I swear she's not normally like this…" Kyubi tried to defend his friend/crush. "We better go after her."

"Didn't ya' say you needed to help Nate with somethin'?" Usapyon pointed out, giving the fox yo-kai a dry look.

"Nate has plenty of help, and it's my duty to protect the fair Katie whenever she finds herself in danger, and who knows what danger could await down this mysterious labyrinth," Kyubi did a cool pose, his fur seeming to sparkle as he continued, "And her infatuation with that yo-criminal scum will surely only lead her to heartbreak…" the fox's expression suddenly turned devious, and the sparkles evaporated and were replaced with a dark aura. "Heartbreak that will give me the opportunity to sweep her off her feet and cause her to realize that it is I that am her true love, and finally give me her heart!"

As Kyubi chuckled, sinisterly rubbing his hands together, both Hailey and Usapyon could only stare at the fox yo-kai with large sweatdrops.

"… Well, wherever Nate is, least he's far away from this nonsense," Usapyon muttered while shaking his head.

---

"Okay, we're almost there!" Damona grinned as she directed the group down the alleyway. "This is about where I parted ways with the others."

"Huh, a door in the middle of an alleyway… not what I was expecting," Nate muttered with a blank look, before he quickly shook it off. "Alright, let's not waste any more time!"

"I don't know what is going on, but I am loving it!" Zoey grinned as she looked at the strange doorway.

"Me too, but I can't help but note that it looks like we weren't the first ones to get here," Lina smiled identically to Zoey.

"Makes sense, Damona did say that Venoct and the yo-kai heroes came here along with Nate's parents," Toiletta had a look of worry on her face as she looked at the door.

"Venoct…? Yo-kai heroes?" Zoey rose a brow at the unfamiliar terms.

"I'll sure we'll understand soon," Lina patted her friend's shoulder affectionately.

Toiletta nodded, "Yeah, probably. Especially since it looks like that leads into a yo-kai-made pocket dimension, so inside you guys should be able to see yo-kai without any issues."

"Oh, we're gonna be able to see all the spirits around us? That's awesome!" Zoey cheered.

"Oh, they'll be able to see you, Mr. Drippy," Oliver smiled down at his fairy companion.

Drippy looked a bit annoyed and crossed his arms, "Oh great, can't wait."

"Doesn't look like I'm gonna be able to fit through that door," Plundros spoke with concern as he stepped over to Nate and Damona, leaning down to peek his eye through the doorway.

"Hmm… yeah, I don't see that being very feasible," Whisper nodded in agreement. "Well, we probably weren't going to need your help anyway–AW!?" the yo-kai butler narrowly dodged a blast of purple frost, he nervously looked towards the source to see Damona giving a threatening glare. "Er, uh… your help would surely be greatly appreciated, it's such a shame you would be stopped by this doorway's miniscule size!"

Nate looked thoughtful for a second, "Well… if we find an open enough space in there, I can probably just summon you inside."

"Oh, now there's a solution I'm surprised I didn't think of meself!" Plundros laughed, patting Nate on the back–unintentionally a bit too hard, as it sent him tumbling to the ground. "You'll definitely make a fine king someday, me boy!"

"Oh, I know he will~" Damona giggled as she looked down at Nate with a mischievous grin, holding her hand out to him.

"Th-Thanks, but let's not get ahead of ourselves," Nate muttered nervously, taking the princess's hand and getting back to his feet.

"Come on, Captain, I'll be by your side the whole time!" Sailornyan limbed up onto Nate's shoulder and gave him an affectionate nuzzle.

Nate smiled at the pink nekomata, before narrowing his eyes as he focused on the doorway, "Alright everyone, this might be dangerous, so if any of you want to stay behind, I'll under– "

"Make way, Nate!" Zoey charged by the boy and into the doorway. "You think I'm backing out now that I've seen this?"

"Indeed, you can't try and get us to back out now," Lina chuckled, patting Nate's back as she walked past him.

"And you know none of us are backing out," Toiletta smirked as she floated towards the doorway.

"And I'm certainly not going anywhere," Whisper spoke with loyalty.

"I've still got to make that feline brat pay for trying to take what's mine," Damona smirked evilly as she floated around Nate.

Nate's expression turned worried, then nervous as he held up his hands, "Uh, let's at least try to talk to them peacefully before resorting to violence, okay…?"

Damona pouted, crossing her arms and letting out an annoyed sigh, "Fiiiiine…"

As the group all made their ways through the doorway, and Plundros stood to the side, Falsina paused before she entered the door, glancing towards the three tied-up yo-criminals that sat nearby, which nobody else had seemed to notice.

"Falsina, hey!" Roughraffony called out with a hopeful grin.

"Rah, rah, rah!" Blazioff also called out with a smile on his muzzle.

"Could you come over here and untie us? Help a few fellow yo-criminals out?"

Falsina stopped and stared at the tied up yo-criminals with a blank expression, she moved over to them and reached towards the rope… before pulling back and deciding to instead kick them.

"HEY!?" Roughraffony shouted in protest as he and Blazioff struggled. Mochisless just seemed to have stopped caring at this point.

Falsina stuck her tongue out at the three fallen yo-criminals, before scurrying after the rest of the group, laughing evilly as she did so.

"… You know, that's really what we should have expected from her," Mochisless stated in a dull tone.

"Shut up!" Roughraffony snapped.

---

"He definitely went this way!" Katie exclaimed, eagerly running down a right turn in the seemingly endless labyrinth of corridors.

"Coming!" Kyubi quickly followed the girl's path.

"This is such a bad idea," Usapyon groaned as he also followed.

"Bad ideas make for the best plots Usapyon, you should know this by now!" Hailey gave the otter yo-kai a disappointed look as she walked beside him.

Usapyon simply glared at the purple-haired girl.

After a bit more walking, the pathway opened into a new area that differed quite a lot from the bland, metal corridors they had traveled through to get there. It was a wipe-open, well-lit room that looked like it had been decorated in preparation for a wedding.

Though Katie paid the décor of the room no mind, as her eyes immediately zeroed in on her target, who stood by the back row of seats, along with his two companions. "Gotcha!"

"Oh, she caught up ta' me," Komasham nervously shuffled a bit in place when he took notice of the girl headed his way.

"You led them here!?" Doppelnyan cried with annoyance, facepalming.

"Saw it comin'," Intrudapyon did not seem to care very much.

"Oh, come on puppy, come to me!" Katie called out eagerly, kneeling and smiling brightly.

"Oh gosh," Komasham hid his blushing face, turning away as he started to sweat.

"Grrr, stop ignyoring us!" Doppelnyan shouted with clear jealousy.

"Oh, you're just so cute!" Katie ignored Doppelnyan as she reached to pick Komasham up.

"Nyot so fast!" Doppelnyan jumped forward, slapping Katie's hands away from the komainu.

"Ow! Hey!" Katie pouted, glaring at the black cat. "Why did you do that!?"

"Nyobody is taking one of my teammates, especially not some girl who can't even see what's right in front of her face!" Doppelnyan snarled, seething with anger and jealousy.

"Oh my swirls, I never knew our friendship meant that much to you, Doppel," Komasham started to tear up as he stared in awe of his nekomata friend.

"Shut up Komasham!" Doppelnyan snapped.

The komainu immediately reeled back, "Right, sorry."

Katie's eyes narrowed, "Hey, don't bully him! If you're supposed to be friends, shouldn't you be nice to each other?"

"You stay out of this, girl!" Doppelnyan growled at Katie, standing on all fours with his tails raised. "How I talk to my teammates is between me and them!"

"Plus we're yo-criminals, we all kind O' mutually bully each other," Intrudapyon added with a shrug. "Komasham's not really built fer that life though, if you wanna offer him an out, I'd say he should take it."

"Huh…?" everyone seemed to pause as even those not invested in the conversation previously stared at the Usapyon's look-alike.

"What the… what are you saying Intrudap!?" Doppelnyan looked outraged at the comments of his spacesuit-clad companion.

"Come on Doppel, even you gotta' admit Sham's never really been one O' us, it don't matter how hard we try ta' get him ta' fit, he's no yo-criminal," Intrudapyon crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Intrudap…" Komasham stared at his usually uncaring friend with disbelief.

"Don't get me wrong Sham! I ain't gone soft!" Intrudapyon spoke seriously, his eyes narrowed at the komainu, but they softened soon after, "But… you and I are kin, and if you wanna go with her, and get away from this life that you must admit has brought you nothin' but pain… then I say: go fer it!"

"Intrudap, you… you…" Doppelnyan slammed a fist onto the ground with rage, before it all seemed to die down as tears formed in his eyes, "You're right! Komasham, it doesn't matter how much we try, you're nyot a yo-criminal, and we're nyot good friends to you! We bring you nyothing but trouble, and we bully you day in and day out! You're better off without us!"

"Doppel," Komasham was started to tear up again, he approached the black-furred nekomata and kneeled, taking hold of his paw, "Get up, Doppel, you guys aren't bad friends. I wouldn't wanna leave this life if it meant I had to leave you two! Sure, you guys are mean, but we've always been there for each other, no matter what happened you never abandoned me, and I won't abandon you either!"

"Sham!"

"Doppel!"

The nekomata and komainu both hugged as more tears streamed from their eyes.

"… Idiots," Intrudapyon rolled his eyes, before he walked over and wordlessly joined the embrace.

"… What in the hay is happenin'!?" Usapyon asked with blank stare.

"Plot development, poly ship for sure!" Hailey smiled, snapping a photo of the trio with her phone.

"Aww, maybe I should take all three of them," Katie giggled to herself as she watched the display.

"What's going on in here?"

The sudden cold voice had caught everyone's attention, as did the equally chilly air that seemed to wash over the room in an instant.

"S-Sir!?" Doppelnyan gulped as he and his two companions quickly separated, standing at attention as they nervously looked at the approaching yo-kai.

"Hmph, so you're who was causing that ruckus," Dandory grumbled, cold air circling around as he approached the intruders, every step he took leaving behind an icy footprint. "I knew it was a mistake to expect the Terrible Trio to be able to succeed on dumb luck a second time."

"It wasn't really dumb luck, the trap was pretty strategic," Intrudapyon pointed out, before Doppelnyan slapped a paw over his mouth.

"Don't talk back to one of our employers, you idiot!" the nekomata snapped, before smiling nervously at the icy cat-man.

"Who is this guy, some kind of… cat… person?" Katie shivered a bit from the cold as she stepped backwards, instinctually moving towards Kyubi for the warmth his form naturally produced.

"Wait, this must be the place! The place Nate escaped from!" Kyubi gave a proud smirk at his deduction. "This is one of those Bundory guys that kidnapped him!"

"Oh, of course!" Hailey smirked widely, slamming her fist into her other hand. "I knew this place had to be plot relevant!"

"Everyone stand back, I'll take care of this!" Kyubi floated forward. "Hey, ice-cat! Take this!" the fox yo-kai's hand shot forward and unleashed a stream of flames.

Dandory narrowed his eyes at the incoming fire… which dissipated before meeting him, the cold air emitting from the Bundory enough to extinguish them.

"Uh…" Kyubi blinked, backing up a bit and back to Katie's side. "That was… unexpected…"

"Well maybe your flames would be strong enough if you had not wasted your Enma Charge back there!" Katie pulled on Kyubi's ear as she growled at him.

"Ow! Okay, I'm sorry! Why are you being so mean today!?

Katie's eye twitched as she released the fox's ear, "Why? WHY!? Maybe it's because I've been driven more than half-insane over all the nonsense that has been going on lately, trying to figure out how to talk to Nate, the stupid snake bouncing around my room, and meeting her!" the brunette pointed towards the purple-haired girl in the room with a frustrated growl.

Hailey put her hands to her hips as she narrowed her eyes at the other girl, "Okay, I know I can be 'a lot,' but I think we're getting to the point where you're being worse."

Katie ignored the other girl, "All that, on top of this going on now. I just want to get who we came here for, is that too much to ask!?"

"If you've come for Nathan, you're too late," Dandory growled. "He has already been taken from here."

Katie blinked, turning her focus to Dandory, all her rage seeming to vanish, "Oh, we know, we did come here looking for Nate, but now I just want the cute doggo!" she pointed towards Komasham, stars in her eyes.

"Golly, she's sure persistent," Komasham mumbled with an embarrassed and flustered expression.

"But there's also his parents…" Kyubi quietly pointed out.

"His parents? Oh, I bet they're adorable too!" Katie put her hands to her cheeks as she giggled.

"HE MEANS NATE'S PARENTS, YOU AIRHEAD!" Hailey shouted with frustration, before she paused, looking down at her clenched fists with a horrified expression, "Oh no… I've become the straight man!"

Dandory just stared blankly, "… What in the worlds is wrong with you people?"

"Well, I'd say there are a number O' answers to that there question," Usapyon stated in a bored voice, before his expression became thoughtful, "But as fer myself, I'd say my biggest issues would probly be my habit O' angry outbursts…"

"One of mine is probably my habit of inciting those angry outbursts!" Hailey cheerfully pitched in, seemingly already over her crisis over having 'become the straight man.'

"I have a number of issues I'm not emotionally ready to address," Katie stated plainly, holding Doppelnyan, Komasham and Intrudapyon in her arms.

"I don't have any problems, you have problems!" Kyubi snapped defensively, pointing at Dandory.

"My problem is I want down!" Doppelnyan struggled in Katie's arms.

"I-I have a lot of unresolved guilt about my past actions! I'm so sorry I broke that game console!" Komasham sniffled, his eyes wide and filling with tears again.

"Alright, I admit it, I ain't really an alien!" Intrudapyon scoffed in annoyance.

Dandory continued to stare blankly, putting a hand to his forehead as he tried to think of a way to deal with the current situation, "Uh… not really what I meant, but… look, you can't be here! The– "

"Dandory!" Nate suddenly burst into the room; a fierce glare focused on the cat-man as he ran towards him.

Dandory gawked at the sudden reappearance of the boy who had been reported as having escaped not too long ago, "Nate!?"

"Dandory! Where are my mom and dad!" Nate shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the eldest of the Bundory siblings. "And Venoct, and Tempest Pride! I know they're here!"

"Nate!?" Kyubi spoke up in surprise at the boy's sudden appearance.

Nate's focus shifted towards the fox yo-kai, surprised to see him here after his earlier retreat, "Kyubi!?"

"Nate!?" Katie dropped the three yo-criminals she had been holding as she stared at the boy with wide-eyes.

"Katie!?" Nate's eyes went even wider than Katie's as he gawked at his crush being in the Bundorys' base.

"Katie!?" Zoey looked annoyed as she came trailing after Nate, glaring at the brunette girl.

"Zoey!?" Katie gripped her hair with disbelief at the appearance of another of her classmates.

"Zoey!?" Hailey looked at the other bespectacled girl with an annoyed glare.

"Hailey!?" Zoey looked back at the purple-haired girl with a similarly annoyed glare.

"Hailey!?" Nate jumped with surprise, noticing the purple-haired girl's presence.

"Nate!" Hailey's expression became a cheerful one as she waved at her crush.

"Damona," Damona stated plainly as she floated into the room.

"Toiletta," Toiletta did the same.

"Falsina!" Falsina cheered as she jumped forward.

"Sailornyan!" the pink nekomata laughed as she charged forward.

"Lina!" Lina announced her presence with a giggle.

"Zoey!" Zoey smirked, deciding to go along with this.

"Mr. Drippy!" Oliver pointed to his yo-kai companion as they walked into the room.

"No," the fairy huffed in annoyance.

"Alright, that's enough of that!" Whisper snapped, floating in with an annoyed expression on his face.

"K-Katie!? W-What are you… you…" Nate stuttered, looking completely baffled by the appearance of his crush, before he took notice of the watch around her neck. "W-Wait, do you have a… a yo-kai watch…?"

"Oh, right, everything was in such a frenzy it must have slipped our minds to mention that to you," Toiletta muttered, scratching her head before shrugging.

"YOU KNEW!?" Nate gawked at the ghost girl.

"Kyubi told us!" Sailornyan interjected, tugging on Nate's pantleg.

"You told them!?" Katie snapped, pulling on the fox yo-kai's ear.

"Ow! No, I did not!" Kyubi protested as he tried to pull away from the girl's grip.

"I mean you kind of did tell us, indirectly or not," Toiletta shrugged.

"Ky-U-BI!" Katie growled as she pulled on his ear harder.

"AH! I swear I didn't tell! Please let go of my ear!" Kyubi cried out as he flailed about, trying to get the girl to release her vice grip.

"While I'm annoyed at Katie having one of those watches before us, I'd have to say I'm more annoyed at my stupid cousin being here!" Zoey grunted, pointing at Hailey.

"I AM THE MASTER OF THIS REALM!" the purple-haired girl waved her arms dramatically, before sticking her tongue out at her cousin.

"Everybody else is yelling, I want to yell too!" Falsina exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Why did you even come with us in the first place!?" Damona looked at her younger sister with an expression of annoyance and genuine confusion.

"Wow, everything here is surprisingly modern in design," Lina commented with interest as she looked around.

"Wait, Zoey and Hailey are cousins?" Nate blinked, only just now processing what his old friend had said about his fellow yo-kai watch user.

"You're not the only person in the world with a cousin, Nathan!" Hailey snapped. "Though you're lucky to have one as cool as Jessica, instead of some creep!"

"Who are you calling a creep!?" Zoey snarled, pouncing on Hailey, the two ending up in a cartoon dust cloud-fight.

"… Okay," Katie finally released Kyubi, looking at the dust cloud with a blank stare. "… I officially give up on understanding reality."

"I gave up on that a long time ago," Toiletta commented with her arms crossed.

"Dandory, have you dealt with those intruders yet? We need to get the ritual started soon if we want Mom to–" Spatto spoke as he entered the room, only to be met with the chaos that his brother was still blankly staring at. "… Oh…"

"Yeah…" Dandory nodded.

"Get off!" Hailey's voice shouted as Zoey was tossed out of the dust cloud, before it dissipated to reveal a tired Hailey. "There, I win."

"I let you win," Zoey huffed, getting back to her feet and brushing herself off, before she caught sight of the newest occupant of the room, "Huh? That cat-guy looks kind of… familiar-GAH!? "Zoey suddenly stopped mid-sentence, her face going blank, before twisting into a pained expression, the girl let out a pained scream as she fell to the ground, clutching her head in what seemed to be agony.

"Zo!?" Nate called out in concern, running over to his friend's side.

---

A small girl stared with a fearful expression at a blurry cat-man, holding a staff over her…

---

"You…" a strained growl escaped from Zoey's mouth.

---

"Please, stop…" the child whimpered as she felt her memories slipping away.

---

"You…!" Zoey shakily stood back up, her hand grasping her face, a single eye visible between her fingers, gleaming with hatred…

---

"… I'm sorry," the cat-man stated with little emotion after the human girl had fallen to the ground, and he turned to leave…

---

"You… you, you, you! YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU!" Zoey finally looked back up, her eyes gleaming with hatred, "You will PAY!"

"… What?" was all Spatto could utter, before the girl leapt at him, fists flailing and snarling like a wild beast. "Hey!? Stop it! GET THE INFINITE INFERNO OFF OF ME!"

"Hey!" Dandory shot a blast of frost towards the bespectacled girl, which knocked her off Spatto and into the wall. "Uh, maybe I went a bit overkill there."

"You bet you did!" Hailey shouted in outrage, "Nobody hurls my cousin in the wall but me, get 'em Usapyon!"

"Since you're being serious, fine!" the otter yo-kai jumped up, blaster ready.

"Zoey, are you alright?" Nate asked as he came to the fallen girl's side.

"My glasses… where are my glasses," Zoey mumbled, touching her face and hissing as she confirmed her glasses were not there.

Nate glanced down at the ground, spotting the discarded eyewear and picking them up, "Uh, right here." He handed the glasses over to the black-haired girl, letting out a sigh of relief that she seemed uninjured.

"Thanks," Zoey muttered quickly as she put her glasses back on, before she found herself staring blankly at Nate.

"… Uh, Zoey…?" Nate raised a brow at the strange look his old friend was giving him.

"Nate… I remember now," Zoey muttered, glancing down with a serious glint appearing in her eyes. "I remember everything…"

Nate blinked, before his eyes widened with realization, "You… You do…?"

"Yes… it's Kirene, isn't it," the bespectacled girl snarled as she pulled herself off the ground. "Kirene is the one that kidnapped you, she wants to make you fulfill that old promise."

"… Yes," Nate nodded slowly, letting out a sigh. "She doesn't seem to know what Spatto did, she was really upset when I didn't remember the promise…"

Zoey's eyes narrowed to near slits, "… We'll talk about this later, right now… we have work to do…"

Nate nodded back, turning a glare towards the Bundory brothers as he held his yo-kai watch ready.

"… Where did he get another watch?" Spatto asked, still looking a little dizzy from Zoey's attack.

"Don't worry about that for now, let's just focus on stopping this chaos before everything is disrupted," Dandory stated in a serious tone.

"What is going on in here!?" the angry voice of the Bundory sister sounded throughout the room.

"Too late," Spatto sighed, shaking his head.

"Kirene…" Zoey hissed under her breath.

Nate's stance faltered slightly as he saw his first crush enter the room, clad in a wedding dress, he almost got flustered for a moment, but quickly shook off those feelings and went back to his determined stance.

"Oh great, Zoey flipped out and summoned the end boss early!" Hailey pulled at her hair as she shouted in frustration.

"Would you quite talking like this is a game!" Katie snapped, before she finally took notice of something, "Wait… where's Tsuchi anyway…?"

"Noko!" the snake yo-kai made himself known, hopping around near the other side of the room, sniffing and sticking his tongue out every so often as he seemed to be trying to find something.

"… Well at least I know where he is now," Katie made no move to retrieve the snake.

"Nate!" Kirene expression became a wide smile as she took notice of the boy in the room, "So you didn't leave, I knew you wouldn't break our promise, I knew…" the cat-girl took a few careful steps forward.

Nate's expression hardened as he took a step back.

Kirene froze, "… Nate…?"

"Kirene, where are my parents, Venoct and Tempest Pride?" Nate spoke coldly and concisely.

"What…?" Kirene seemed momentarily baffled by the boy's tone, before shaking her head and smiling again, "Oh, don't worry about that Nate, your parents will be able to attend the wedding without issue, as for your servant… well if he behaves, I suppose– "

"Kirene!" Nate snapped, clenching his fist as he tried to remain calm, "There is not going to be any wedding, let my parents and the others go!"

"What…?" The cat-girl looked like she was having a hard time comprehending her crush's words.

"I can already tell this is going to end badly!" Hailey suddenly exclaimed proudly. "I can see the tropes coming a mile away."

"Please, shut up," Katie growled.

"What's with you?" Zoey looked at the other girl as she raised a brow, not used to seeing Katie act so grumpy.

"I'VE HAD A LONG DAY!" the brunette girl snapped, not feeling like explaining any more.

"Oh man, I don't have a good feeling about all this, guys!" Komasham exclaimed with worry, shaking in place.

"I'm sure it's fine," Doppelnyan shrugged.

Nate sent an annoyed look towards the onlookers, particularly Hailey, before turning his focus back towards the cat-girl, "Kirene, were you even listening to…?" the boy paused as he saw his old friend snarling, and holding up what looked like a communication device, "… Oh no."

"We need every yo-criminal in here, now! I'm not letting anyone RUIN MY SPECIAL DAY!" Kirene angrily shouted into her communicator.

"Called it!" Hailey smirked.

"Kirene, are you sure that's a good idea…?" Dandory gave his sister a concerned look.

"YES!" Kirene snapped, crushing the communicator in her hand, the pieces of which then fell to the ground.

"… Those aren't cheap you know," Spatto commented in a dull tone.

"I DON'T CARE!" Kirene roared, shutting her brother up.

Dandory sighed heavily, lifting his own communicator to his face, "You heard here, all yo-criminals report to the main hall, at once!"

A few seconds later a group of yo-kai came rushing in from the halls.

"We got your call, boss-dudes!" a green colored Walkappa look-alike saluted.

Wanted: Watkappa

"What's going on, why did I come here!? Who are you people!?" a dark-colored hat-like yo-kai erratically floated around in confusion.

Wanted: Recap

"So, finally decided to let me do some cutting, huh?!" a yo-kai who looked like a dark version of Snartle growled, brandishing his swords.

Wanted: Zeroberker

"Nyhahaha! I'll annoy them into submission!" a light blue pegasus-like yo-kai cackled as he hovered around.

Wanted: Bogusus

"My sword may be blunt, but I can still hit them with it!" a blue-clad humanoid yo-kai, with a yellow scarf, and a large hat obscuring his face, shouted while holding up a sword that was clearly too blunt to cut anything.

Wanted: Shin

"Meh, I'll do whatever you want, so long as I get my money at the end of this. If I get caught, I'll just frame that stupid Manjimutt again," a pink furred Manjimutt look-alike stated plainly.

Wanted: Manjimitate

Kirene glared at the six yo-criminals, "… What the, I said every yo-criminal! Where are the rest!?"

"Doppelnyan, Komasham and Intrudapyon are over there," Watkappa commented unhelpfully.

"Pretty sure Roughraffony, Blazioff and Mochisless are still tied up," Bogusus chuckled.

"Neverfore and Whoopie just up and left!" Zeroberker scoffed with a disgusted expression.

"Apni, Falspy, Bummer, Fouwl and Nagmella never even showed up," Shin shrugged uncaringly.

"Recap is still missing!" Recap shouted out, doing a mid-air spin.

Kirene scowled, before shaking her head, "Okay, fine, forget it. Just deal with the intruders and catch Nate!"

"Well, looks like it's time for the big battle!" Hailey grinned at Usapyon.

"Uh… guess so," the otter yo-kai muttered with a heavy sigh, before his eyes narrowed and he held up his blaster.

"Whoa, wait… we're fighting!?" Watkappa looked shocked at this revelation.

The other yo-criminals (aside from Recap) paused to stare at the green-skinned kappa.

"What exactly did you think she meant by 'deal with the intruders!?'" Zeroberker growled in annoyance towards the kappa's ignorance.

Watkappa shrugged, "I thought she meant like, ya' know, 'deal with the intruders,' you know, try and have a conversation with them, maybe bribe them into not calling the cops on us?"

This response got more blank stares sent the kappa's way.

"… You're not saying anything, but I can feel you dudes judging me right now," Watkappa huffed as he crossed his arms.

"FOR FORT FANCY HAT!" Recap suddenly shouted, lunging forward and attempting to bite onto Kyubi's head.

"Hey, get away from me!" Kyubi snarled, dodging the hat yo-kai and trying to swat it out of the air.

"Be careful, Kyubi!" Whisper called out urgently, holding up his yo-kai pad. "That's Recap! Anyone he latches onto loses all sense of reality, unable to tell fact from fantasy!"

"Well that sounds pretty bad!" the fox yo-kai scowled, using a tail to bat Recap away from him, and into an unsuspecting Watkappa.

"Oh, now it's on!" Shin yelled out.

"Bring it then!" Toiletta shouted back.

"For Captain Nyate!" Sailornyan jumped up.

Moments later the various yo-kai from both sides had gone into an all-out battle, with attacks being called out, tables and chairs and the various other decorations being tossed about, it was pure chaos.

"Kyubi, keep up the flames on the enemy, don't let any get close!" Katie called out to the fox yo-kai seriously as he fought off some of the yo-criminals. "Tsuchi, where are you!?"

"Noko, noko!" the snake yo-kai called out as he still hopped around and sniffed.

"What is he looking for…?" the brunette girl groaned, before she noticed the boy whom she had been looking for earlier approaching her, "Nate?"

"So, I know this isn't the best time– "Nate flinched as an explosion sounded from the yokai conflict, "But I just need to wrap my head around this: you have a yo-kai watch!?"

"You're right Nate, this really is not the time!" Katie snapped, ducking from a stray fireball, and giving the boy a glare.

Nate flinched, dodging a laser blast that zoomed by, "I'm just trying to understand, how long have you had that for!?"

Katie's scowl deepened, jumping behind an overturned table to use as cover, "What business of that is yours!? Am I obligated to tell you everything that happens to me!?"

The boy looked taken aback by his crush's tone, "What? Of course not!" he covered his head as a blast of water shot passed over him. "But I figure you would have heard from Kyubi I know about this stuff…" he paused, a look of realization coming to his eyes, "Wait, is this why you haven't been talking to me…?"

"Maybe it is!" Katie yelled, giving the boy a harsh glare, "You're asking how long I've had my watch, and why I didn't tell you!? Well, what about you!? I know you're not obligated to tell me anything Nate, but if that's the case, I also didn't have any obligation to tell you about this!"

Nate flinched, looking down towards the ground and sighing, "I… you're right, but I also don't feel like this is exactly the same situation…"

"Maybe it isn't, but I still feel really frustrated, and I'm not ready to have a levelheaded conversation about this!" Katie reasoned.

Nate looked thoughtful, "I mean… I guess I can understand that…"

"Can you two save your conversation for later, preferably after we deal with all the crazy monsters trying to capture and/or kill us!?" Zoey suddenly shouted, jumping up and using a parasol to hit Watkappa away and into a wall.

"Ow… nice swing, dudette…" the green kappa groaned, giving a shaky thumbs up, before he slid off the wall and faceplanted on the floor.

"Thank you!" Zoey yelled in the exact angry tone as previously, before moving to strike Mangimitate with her makeshift weapon.

Both Nate and Katie could only watch with blank expressions as Zoey fought off yo-kai.

"… So, we should talk later?" Nate suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Katie nodded.

The two brunettes nodded to each other again, before moving from their spots to go and try to give their yo-kai friends some support.

"I'll help out!" Oliver pulled out a yo-kai medal depicting an orange imp-like creature wielding a sword. "My familiar, I call onto you!" he clicked the medal into the top part of his wand, which caused it to start glowing, he moved the wand and created glowing writing in the air with it, drawing a Brave Tribe symbol. "Please come forth, Mitey!"

The symbol Oliver had drawn glowed bright red before it swirled with glowing red runes as an instrumental tune of the Brave Tribe's original summoning song emitted from it, the runes formed a tornado from the symbol, as a small imp-like form appeared within the center…

"Mite! Mite!" the orange, sword-wielding imp squeaked as they dropped to the ground, turning to Oliver with wide, blank eyes.

Brave Tribe: Mite

Oliver wasted no time in explaining things to the newly summoned yo-kai, "Mitey, thank you for accepting my summoning! But we don't have much time: we're in the middle of a battle, come on!"

Mitey just kept staring blankly at the boy as he gestured for the imp to follow him.

Oliver had started running in the direction of the conflict, when he glanced back and noticed that his familiar was not following him. "Mitey…?" the boy stopped in his tracks, moving over to the orange yo-kai and kneeling down to their eye level, "Uh… you gonna follow me…?"

Mitey stared at Oliver, before raising their sword… and bonking Oliver on the head with the flat side of it.

"Hey!" Oliver moved back in protest, standing back up and huffing, "Okay, you gonna follow now?"

"Mite!" Mitey seemed satisfied, nodding as they began running straight towards the battlefield.

"… Okay, good!" Oliver nodded, moving to follow the yo-kai.

"Man, everybody else is coming up with their own summoning chants, and I've just been copying Nate this whole time!" Hailey complained as Oliver ran by her, her arms crossed as she leaned against a wall. "I really should come up with my own, I'm gonna fall behind at this rate!"

"Is that really what ya' should be focusin' on right now!?" Usapyon shouted as he jumped by, firing his blaster a few times at several of the attacking yo-criminals.

Hailey shrugged dismissively, "Eh, you guys got the cannon fodder handled."

Mr. Drippy gave Oliver a deadpan look. "You summoned the Mite!? Why not someone bigger, like Cerboreas!?"

Oliver gave a sheepish chuckle, scratching his head, "Well it's been a bit since I've called for Mitey, I figured it would be good to give them a chance to help out…"

At the boy explanation, Mr. Drippy just let out an annoyed sigh, but nodded in acceptance…

As the fighting was going on between the other yo-kai, Tsuchi seemed to have finally pinpointed the location of the scent he had been tracking all this time.

"No-Noko!" the hopping snake cheered as he pulled back a curtain at the back of the room, revealing a large table; filled to the brim with delicious looking–and smelling–foods.

"No-no-ko!" the snake yo-kai licked his lips excitedly as he stared up at the large assortment of food that towered over his diminutive form, looking ready to leap forward and begin devouring it all…

"Hey! Hey! That food's not for you!"

Tsuchi's body went stiff at the shout coming from behind him.

"That food is meant for the reception, not for greedy hopping snakes!" Zeroberker snarled as he stomped up behind the smaller yo-kai, holding his swords up menacingly. "Now shoo! We're in the middle of something, and we can't waste time keeping you from eating the food on top of everything else!"

"No-ko…?" Tsuchi's body twitched slightly, but the snake did not move from his spot, or even turn to face the one speaking to him.

Zeroberker let out an annoyed growl, he could hear the battle still ongoing in the background and would clearly much rather get back to that as quickly as possible than deal with the Noko. "I said get going! SHOO!"

Tsuchi twitched again, his neck turning ever so slightly, "Noko-no-ko…" the snake yo-kai turned his neck enough that the corner of his eye met Zeroberker's gaze, a terrifying gleam shined in the Noko's eye as it started to glow red. "Noko… No-ko-No-ko-ko-KO!?"

"Huh…? What the!?" Zeroberker almost fell back in shock, unable to understand why, but clearly feeling a sense of imminent dread from the much smaller and (presumedly) weaker yo-kai. "Uh, I won't re-repeat myself again, you need to get– "

"NOKOKOKOKOKOKO!" Tsuchi let out a bloodcurdling screech as he leapt at the blade-wielding yo-criminal, eyes glowing red, and mouth wide open and frothing.

"AH!? WHAT IS THIS THING!? GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Zeroberker screamed as he ran around, his vision blocked by the snake yo-kai latched firmly onto his mask.

"NOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO!" Tsuchi's muffled screeches continued incessantly, while he repeatedly slammed his lower body into the yo-criminal's mask, his mouth remaining firmly clamped onto the top of it.

Dandory stared with a blank expression as the masked oni flailed around with the snake yo-kai stuck on him, after a moment the eldest Bundory sibling sighed, an ice ball forming in his hand, "Hang on."

"Not so fast!"

Before Dandory could assist the distressed yo-criminal, a fireball sailed over his head, the cat-man turned towards its source and glared at the nine-tailed fox, "Haven't you learned your lesson yet?"

"It's gonna take a lot more to get me to learn anything!" Kyubi glared back, a ferocious smirk coming to his muzzle as his aura blazed.

Dandory blinked, "… Are you calling yourself an idiot…?" the only response the ice-using cat yo-kai got was more fireballs flying his way, some of which he had to put some actual effort into dodging. "Alright, seems I'm going to need to shut you up once more."

As blasts of ice and fire were traded between the feline and kitsune, the conflicts between the other yo-kai in the room were continuing in full force as well…

"Face my blade!" Shin shouted as he ran forward, only to be knocked away by a blast of purple frost, "Ah!? Ouch…"

"Honey, call my father, this insanity is getting on my nerves!" Damona hissed, her hand glowing with dark energy as she gave Nate a side-glance.

"R-Right, of course," Nate nodded nervously, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the medal of the oni king.

"Hurry up!"

The sudden shout from the oni princess startled Nate, causing him to jump a bit, and unknowingly twist the face of his yo-kai watch. "Alright, I'm doing it!"

Nate inserted the medal into the watch, "Come on out my friend! Calling– "

"Weapon Manifestation Initiated!"

"Huh…?" Nate nearly fell over, having been thrown off by the unexpected announcement from his watch.

"Oh, a Tough Weapon!" the watch voiced again, a few musical beats chimed and a swirl of orange energy surrounded the watch, before a glowing orange oni club manifested into Nate's hand.

"W-What is this!?" Nate gawked at the glowing club that was nearly as large as his own body, but that he was able to hold up and wave around as if it was as light as a feather.

Damona paused in her fight with Shin, simply knocking the sword-wielding yo-criminal away, sending her fiancé a strange look, "Huh…?"

"A weapon made from the energy of a yo-kai medal? I had no idea the yo-kai watch had any such function!" Whisper interjected as he floated up behind his master, giving the weapon an appraising look, before glancing at the watch on Nate's wrist, "Do tell; is that a new model? Where exactly did you get it? Because I've heard nothing of Yopple releasing a new one!"

"I… have no idea…" Nate mumbled, staring at the watch on his wrist and the weapon it had created with an expression of pure confusion.

"Wow, can mine do that too!?" Hailey exclaimed with excitement, looking over her yo-kai watch for any button or switch that could trigger this new ability.

"Forget the 'how,' just focus on the current battle!" Damona demanded, turning her focus back towards the fight, flying overhead and shooting blasts of darkness and ice at the yo-criminals.

"Man, I didn't even get to do anything," Manjimitate groaned, having been hit by one of Damona's blasts and now stuck in a block of ice, aside from his head.

"Alright Mitey, let's show off your Soultimate!" Oliver smiled as his little imp friend ran forward.

"Oh, what's a wimpy little thing like that gonna do?" Bogusus mocked as he smirked down at the unassuming imp.

Oliver smirked back, "Oh you know, just a little move called 'Slash Dance!'"

"Mite! Mite!" Mitey raised their sword before their body glowed with a Soultimate charge, and they leapt forward with a swirl of blade swings and slashes, too quick for the blue pegasus to react to.

"Hey! That's not fair! This is bogus!" Bogusus protested as he was hit with slash after slash, until he eventually was knocked out of the air and crashed onto the ground. "Ow… That's smarts…"

"Mite!" Mitey raised their sword triumphantly as they landed back on the ground, next to Oliver.

"Hmm… I'm reconsidering my opinion on Oliver," Zoey muttered as she spared the boy a glance.

"Think he's Ghost Club material?" Lina smiled as she crept next to her friend.

"Let's not go that far," Zoey's expression went deadpan, before moving to help Toiletta, hitting Recap out of the air before he could latch onto her head from behind.

"Nice save, Zoey," Toiletta complimented with a quick thumbs-up, before she sent a blast of dark energy towards Watkappa.

"Hey, I'm already defeated!" the green kappa complained as he dodged the blast.

"Don't trust it! He's gonna turn into his final form when our backs are turned!" Hailey suddenly shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the kappa.

"… What?" Watkappa blinked.

"GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Zeroberker ran by.

"NOKONOKONOKONOKO!"

"WHY ARE YOU ALL SO USELESS!?" Kirene pulled at her hair out of frustration.

"If we lay low, maybe they won't notice we're nyot doing anything," Doppelnyan whispered to Komasham and Intrudapyon as the trio snuck towards the corner of the room, only for the lion-dog of the group to get scooped up by Katie.

"Mine!" the brunette girl laughed, skipping off with her prize.

"Hey!" Doppelnyan shouted, before he chased after the girl.

"… Whatever," Intrudapyon shrugged, before he followed Doppelnyan.

"WHA! I wanna do something!" Sailornyan cried as she stood in the middle of the room. "When's my time to shine!?"

Nate held up his club unsurely as he looked around at the chaotic scene, standing by Sailornyan a bit protectively, but unsure about using his weapon on any of his foes.

"I'm bored," Damona commented, easily flicking away Shin for the tenth time.

"Curse you!" the samurai yo-kai cried out.

"Hahaha!" Falsina laughed, running over to the fallen swordsman and kicking him.

"What is going on here!?" the large cat-man shouted, taking an earthshaking step forward and glaring at the occupants of the room. "What's with all this noise, and why isn't anybody preforming the purification ritual!?"

"Father!?" Dandory looked surprised, and this momentary distraction was enough of an opening for Kyubi to strike the back of his head with a fireball… which only served to annoy the feline.

"Ha! Got 'em!" Kyubi cheered. "Did you see that, Katie?"

"Shh!" Katie hissed, focused on petting Komasham, with Doppelnyan and Intrudapyon seated on either side of her.

"Daddy, it's not what it looks like!" Kirene shouted, running up to her father and trying to look as innocent as possible. "Nate came back to me, but all these wedding crashers are trying to get between us, so I had to call all the yo-criminals to help get rid of them!"

"You weasel!" Zoey shouted, shaking her fist at the cat-girl.

Gowin did not look entirely convinced by his daughter's words, though he did take notice of one aspect of it, "Wait, Nate came back?"

"Where are my parents?" Nate asked in an emotionless tone when the cat-man's eyes fell on him.

"… Hmm, okay well you still shouldn't have stopped the ritual, you know how important it is," Gowin gave his daughter a stern look.

"Where are my parents?" Nate repeated, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Well, you can beat all these guys and we can send them back to do it, right Daddy?" Kirene smiled sweetly.

"Where are my parents?" Nate repeated yet again, his eyes darkening as his body began to tremble…

"Well, I suppose…" Gowin looked unsure as he surveyed the chaos still going on in the room.

"Where are my parents?" Nate hissed, the shadow of his hair obscuring his eyes as his shaking hands curled into fists.

The boy's words continued to be ignored as everyone in the room was still too preoccupied with the conflict between all of them, yo-criminals and yo-kai screaming, attacks flying, kids ducking behind tables, Zoey hitting more yo-criminals with makeshift weapons…

"Honey, why are you just standing there!? Hit something!" Damona demanded as she flew by.

Something within Nate snapped. With a shout of frustration, the boy tossed his club away, which dematerialized before it could hit the ground.

"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" Nate yelled, drawing all attention towards the boy as he pulled at his hair, his face red as tears were starting to show in his eyes, "What are you all doing!? Why are we having this stupid fight!? I just want my parents back! Where are you keeping my parents! GIVE THEM BACK!"

"I, uh…" Hailey raised a finger to say something, only to immediately lower it back down, seemingly concluding it would not be a good idea.

"Why are you doing this!? What do any of you get out of this!?" Nate glared at the yo-criminals through his watery eyes.

"… Uh…" Watkappa held up a hand, his expression blank, "I, uh… I dunno… money?"

"I'm gonna go with money too!" Shin spoke up with confidence.

"Wait, what? Where am I!?" Recap spun around in the air.

"Could somebody please get this thing off me already!?" Zeroberker tapped at his mask, which Tsuchi was still firmly clamped onto.

Katie gave an annoyed sigh, walking over to the masked yo-criminal and grabbing hold of the noko, before easily pulling him off, "There!"

"Noko!" Tsuchi expression went blank in Katie's arms, his eyes drifting off into two different directions, while his tongue slowly blepped out of his mouth.

"… You have my respect, mighty beast tamer!" Zeroberker bowed to the girl.

"Shut up! Nate's not done talking!" Katie snapped, turning away from the sword-wielder and stomping back to her previous spot.

Nate had been staring blankly as that exchange happened, but after he shook off his confusion and returned to his sour mood, "I don't care what your reasons are! I am done with all of this; all I want are my parents back!"

"Now just calm down, son," Gowin tried to reason, but it was useless at this point.

"NO!" Nate cried out, tears now clearly falling from his eyes. "It's one thing to kidnap me, but it's an entirely different thing to kidnap my parents! I don't want to talk! I don't want to fight! I don't want to get married! I don't want a harem! I JUST WANT MY MOMMY AND DADDY!"

"Well, Nate finally broke…" Zoey commented with a sad sigh.

"I'm surprised it took this long…" Whisper muttered sympathetically.

---

"Nate…" Lily rose from the floor, a dark look in her eyes and a red aura forming around her. "My baby is… crying!" the woman clenched her teeth as she took a shaky step forward. "He's crying for us, Aaron!"

"What?" Aaron looked at his wife in surprise, but the look in her eyes told him she was completely serious. "Where… where is he Lily?"

"You heard Master!?" Venoct was up and at attention in an instant, looking towards the woman as if he was expecting orders.

"I hear him crying, I need to get to him!" Lily growled, placing a hand on one of the prison's walls and gritting her teeth.

"We all would like to help him, but the barrier…" Dr. E. Raser started to reason, but his eyes widened when he saw the red glow strengthening around the woman, and the prison wall beginning to crack, "What in the…?"

"My baby needs me!" Lily practically roared, her eyes glowing red as the aura around her gained what looked like the shape of horns.

"Lily, I understand," Aaron spoke calmly, moving to his wife's side as she wall started to break open.

"How the fudge!? That is awesome, but really, how!?" Unbearaboy! jumped up a few times as he pointed towards the events happening.

"I… have no idea," Jawsome Kid muttered with a look of disbelief.

Dr. E. Raser kept watching with wide eyes, but his expression soon calmed as his eyes glinted with realization, 'Ah, I see… she's not entirely human… how interesting…'

"Stop gawking, Doc! Let's get a move on!" Little Charrmer suddenly shouted, jumping forward with an enthusiastic grin. "I'm gonna make this up to Nate, just watch!"

"And it's already like she never learned anything at all…" Jawsome Kid let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head.

"I'm gonna go kick a Bundory in da shins!" Unbearaboy! announced as he ran through the hole.

"Master, I'm on my way!" Venoct shouted as he sped through.

"I see nobody is going to be rational about any sort of plan, that's fine," Dr. E. Raser stated in a deadpan voice, before Double Time zoomed by him, causing him to spin a bit, "Uh!?"

"Hey!" the speedster spoke up, jogging in-place as he looked back at the doctor, "Don'tworryaboutthatrightnowDoc!Weshouldtakethechanceandgogogo!Theymightfigureouttheshieldwentdownandputanewoneup!"

Dr. E. Raser and Jawsome Kid both stared at Double Time with blank expressions.

"… Double Time, are you simply incapable of speaking at a comprehensible speed?" Dr. E. Raser's expression remained blank as he spoke.

Double Time stared back, pausing in his running, "… Oh, no, I can talk like you guys too! I just like my way better!"

Both the other heroes could not keep themselves from gawking, "WHAT!?"

Double Time laughed, "Comeon,timeismoney!Let'sgogogo!"

The speedster rushed through the opening, leaving the remaining two to collect themselves before they would attempt to catch up…

---

Back in the large room where the various groups were gathered, everything was still as Nate continued to sit on the ground and cry.

"Nathan, I demand you stop crying this instant! You're ruining our wedding!" Kirene's voice trembled as she stomped her foot on the ground, trying to hide the tears that were starting to drip from her hidden eyes.

The only response Nate gave was to cry harder.

"Sis, I don't think that's helping…" Spatto stated with a calm, but unsure expression.

"You're not helping!" Kirene snapped childishly.

"Honey… this is pathetic…" Damona muttered, her expression sympathetic despite her words.

"Oh, when does the rainbow come?" Recap laughed as he spun around.

"Can somebody put that thing in a bird cage or something, for both its and our safety…?" Manjimitate took a few steps away from the hat yo-kai.

"Kid, uh, come on… it'll be okay," Gowin spoke unsurely, giving Nate a apprehensive pat on the shoulder.

The Bundory father's gesture did little to calm the distraught boy down, though his attention soon changed focus when the sounds of banging could be heard from a nearby wall, along with cracks forming in it.

"… What the…?" Gowin blinked, looking at the wall with a confused expression.

A muffled roar of anger could be heard behind the wall, along with another bang as the cracks spread, until the wall finally burst open, and revealed the form of an enraged Lily, her red aura and eyes blazing. "WHERE. IS. MY. SON!?"

Gowin took a step back, "What the… an oni…?" after he had spoken, the cat-man soon found the frightening woman's eyes zeroing in on him.

"YOU!" the red-eyed woman shouted in outrage as she charged towards the large cat-man.

It took Gowin a couple of seconds before who fully processed who the approaching woman was, "Wait, you're Nate's mom! Okay, look, I know how this– "Gowin's words were cut off by the women's fist slamming into his face, sending him hurling to the ground with a pained grunt. "Alright, that was fair…"

"Oh, I'm far from finished," Lily spoke darkly, cracking her knuckles as she stood over the cat-man menacingly…

"… I see…" Gowin muttered in an emotionless tone, internally accepting his fate.

"I think I could really grow to admire that woman," Damona commented as she looked at Lily with newfound reverence in her eyes.

"Ditto," Toiletta muttered, eyes wide in amazement.

"Yeah, she's awesome!" Little Charrmer chimed, landing beside Toiletta.

Toiletta glanced at the red-clad hero, "… Where did you come from…?"

"The hole," Little Charrmer answered simply, gesturing towards the hole in the wall Lily had made, and from which now the other members of Tempest Pride, Venoct and Aaron were emerging.

"Master!" Venoct called out in worry, quickly rushing over to where Nate sat and kneeling beside him.

As Lily was prepared to throw another blow towards the Gowin, the sound of a crash from the direction she had come from caught her attention.

"Oh, whoever made all that destruction, I must thank you~" a voice that sounded like a woman purred from the hole in the wall, light footsteps heard as a humanoid shadow could be seen approaching. "I've been stuck in that room for what feels like days now, not even let out to play once, and on my baby girl's wedding day no less!"

"Oh no…" Dandory muttered with a frightful look, one his siblings and father soon shared.

"You let our mother loose," Spatto stated with a fearful look towards Lily.

"Mother…?" Nate muttered to himself, recalling again how he had never met Kirene's mother, or really knew anything about her.

All eyes went towards the hole in the wall as a humanoid cat yo-kai stepped out, looking to be an adult woman dressed in a black suit, her fur was primarily blond with a tiger-like pattern of stripes, and her face a light purple.

Despite the cat-woman's elegant appearance, there was something about her that just seemed… off. The look in Catleen's eyes was not one of a reasonable or collected person, the pupils small and shaking, the faint twitching that could be picked up every few seconds.

The grin on the Bundory lady's face was wide and manic, showing a row of dangerous fangs for all to see.

As Catleen took several more steps towards Lily, everyone could not help taking notice of the dark aura that seemed to trail her wherever she went, giving off an uneasy feeling to any that gazed at it, and adding to the overall sense of wrongness about all of this…

"Hehehe, you know, I was very sad I never got to meet the young man who managed to capture my daughter's heart…" in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Catleen was in front of Nate, staring the frightened boy down with her creepily gleeful expression. "Oh, how disappointing it is to finally see who you really are…"

"W-What…?" Nate took a couple steps back, nearly tripping on his own feet, his words failing him as he found himself feeling absolutely terrified under the gaze of Kirene's mother.

"I knew we should have done the ritual earlier!" Dandory lamented, putting his hands to his head.

"We were gonna do it before the wedding! Why isn't it done yet!?" Kirene shouted out, pulling at her hair.

"Uh, because you called every yo-criminal here… including the ones who were preparing the ritual…" Spatto pointed out bluntly.

Kirene's expression went blank, "Oh… right…"

"Son, you best step away from her!" Gowin warned seriously.

"Now Darling, stay out of this, this is between me and the boy!" Catleen scolded her husband, before turning back to Nate and placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Ow!" Nate winced, feeling the claws ever so slightly digging into him.

"If you refuse to fulfill your promise to my daughter of your own will…" Catleen gained a crazed grin as she held the boy up, her other hand pulled back with her claws extending, looking ready to strike him, "I'll just rip your soul out and make you into a yo-kai who will!"

Nate's eyes went wide with fear, "W-What, you… you can't do that… c-can you…?"

"Won't know unless I try!" the deranged cat-woman's eyes widened, her pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks, while her grin full of sharp teeth widened.

"Mom, stop!" Kirene called out, looking desperate, but also too terrified to move…

"Don't worry, Baby, mommy will fix everything for you!" Catleen waved to her daughter, seeming completely oblivious to any protests from her. "This day will be purrrrrrrrfect…"

"Get away from my master!" Venoct suddenly shouted, leaping in from behind Catleen, his dragon scarves ready to strike. "OCTO SNAKE!"

Catleen barely regarding the Slippery yo-kai's attack, only sparing him a side glance, as the dark mist that surrounded her body erupted out and blocked every strike from the dragon heads.

"What!?" Venoct jumped back in shock, "What was that!?"

"It's Kanaendesu!" Gowin growled as he glared hatefully at the dark mist emitting from his wife, "That wretched parasite!"

"Kana the end of what now!?" Hailey exclaimed with a confused expression.

Gowin sighed heavily, "It all started ages ago, in a kingdom called– "

"Dad, I'm sorry, but I really don't think we have time to get into mom's backstory right now!" Dandory interrupted frantically, reminding the father of the current situation's urgency.

"Oh… yeah, that's probably true…" Gowin relented with a thoughtful look.

"SHINY CHAOS!" Damona suddenly shouted, sending a dark blast towards Catleen.

"CURSE YOU!" Toiletta joined in with her own wave of dark energy.

However, both Soultimates met the same fate as Venoct's attack; unable to even touch their target, as the strange mist absorbed and nullified them.

"Darn you," Damona grit her teeth, hating the feeling of powerlessness that she was now experiencing.

Horror began to fill the room at the apparent invincibility of the cat-woman who looked ready to kill Nate right then and there.

"No, Mama, please!" Kirene cried, rushing over and grabbing her mother's tail. "Don't hurt him!"

Catleen paused, glancing down at her daughter with a strange look in her eyes, as if she was having trouble comprehending what it was her daughter wanted, "Kirene… I…" for just a second the Bundory mother's eyes seemed to flash with clarity, and a bit of horror as she glanced back at the terrified boy she was holding. "I… I…"

Unfortunately, this hopeful moment was only just that: a moment, which soon faded as the dark mist started to hiss and flare angrily, the haze returned to Catleen's eyes and her demented smile crept back onto her face.

"Baby, please don't interfere with Mommy's work," Catleen commented affectionately, before a rough kick sent Kirene flying.

"Kirene!" Gowin stared in horror and disbelief at what his wife had just done to their daughter, before quickly rushing to her side to make sure she was okay.

Catleen stared after her husband and daughter with a blank expression, before stiffly turning her gaze back towards the horrified Nate, "… You kicked my daughter, why did you do that?"

Nate could barely speak from the terror he felt at this moment, unable to really comprehend.

"WHY DID YOU DO IT!? WHY DID YOU MAKE ME HURT MY BABY!? MONSTER!" Catleen suddenly started screaming as she shook Nate.

Though, strangely, Nate felt as if she was not talking to him, but rather someone… something else…

"Hey!"

The angry call from Lily had Catleen stop her shaking of Nate, and she turned to see the other mother glowing with red fury, focused purely on the current threat to her child.

"Hmm… who are you now?" Catleen asked with a tilt of her head, a if she had completely forgotten her previous moment of outrage.

Lily snarled slightly, "I'm Lily Adams, now get your disgusting claws off my son you BITCH!"

Jawsome Kid gasped, quickly covering Unbearaboy's ears.

"Really? Dis again?" Unbearaboy! sighed in annoyance.

"Bitch? I'll have you know I am a yo-kai of the feline kind, not a– "Catleen's protests were cut short when a glowing red fist slammed into her fist, sending her plowing into the wall.

"Mom!?" Nate was both shocked and relieved as he found himself suddenly in the arms of his mother, before she put him down, her glowing eyes still focused on the Bundory mother.

"Stand back Sweetie…" Lily spoke seriously, the aura around her body intensifying as she watched Catleen get back to her feet, before looking back at Lily with huge smile and dilating eyes. "Mommy needs to take out the trash…"

"I'm so confused right now…" Kyubi muttered.

Katie just nodded slowly in response to the fox's statement.

"Why is she able to do anything to her!? I'm pretty sure, whatever weird powers Nate's mom has, I'm still stronger than her!" Damona protested, feeling cheated by the plot.

"Well, not everything is about you, Princess Witch," Toiletta scoffed.

"That's not the point, Servant Girl!" Damona glared at the ghost girl.

The two yo-kai girls growled at each other but were interrupted by Sailornyan jumping between them.

"Stop! Stop! We can't fight nyow!" the pink nekomata pleaded, her eyes wide and full of tears.

"Sailornyan is right, or must I remind you two that Nathan is still in the line of fire!" Whisper yelled as he came floating over the trio, pointing in the direction of the human boy.

"I'm on it!" Venoct shouted, jumping back over to Nate and grabbing hold of him, "Master, let us retreat, your mother has this handled!"

Nate kept a blank stare towards his mother as she continued to battle with Catleen, "But…"

"Your safety is my main priority, Master, I am sorry!" Venoct shouted, picking Nate up as he jumped away from the battle and back towards the other spectators.

"Please, have some sympathy for our mother, she is… not well," Dandory spoke with a sad expression as he watched the battle continue.

"My love, please, let's just stop this now, that's enough!" Gowin called out worriedly.

"Oh, don't worry, Honey, I've got it all under control!" Catleen looked back at Gowin with a cheerful expression, before it became one of bloodlust once more as she pounced towards Lily.

Lily's focus had momentarily shifted towards Venoct as he got her son away from the battlefield, nodding her head in approval.

Unfortunately, the shift in focus was a moment too long, as Lily was suddenly blindsided by a strike from Catleen.

Gasps of horror sounded as the woman's body fell to the ground, while Catleen stood proudly with her grin wide, and her claws gleaming.

Nate's expression went blank as he felt his body shake, he could only stare at his mother's limp form on the ground, seeing the blood starting to drip from her forehead, "M-Mom…?"

"Oh no, Mrs. Adams!" Katie called out with worry.

"Honey!" Aaron looked shocked and horrified.

"Mom… you… you…" Nate's body shook more, his pupils shrinking as he started to clutch his head, a blue aura starting to surround his body, "You… you…" he turned his gaze towards Catleen, as she stalked towards his mother's fallen form.

"Hmm… seems you were all bark after all, now back to business…" the corrupted Bundory chuckled evilly, holding her claws up menacingly.

Lily pulled herself up slightly, glaring up at Catleen with her teeth grit.

"You… hurt… MY MAMA!" Nate's sudden scream caught everyone off guard, as did the wave of blue energy that suddenly erupted forth from his body and engulfed the entire room.

"What!?" Catleen gasped in shock as she fell to her knees, her dark aura dissipating as her body returned to its previous form, her eyes suddenly gaining a look of clarity, "What was I just… just…" she couldn't finish her sentence before she passed out.

"What is this!?" Toiletta asked in shock as she suddenly dropped to the ground, finding herself unable to float.

"Honey…?" Damona had also dropped down to the ground, and was staring at Nate with wide eyes, "… What are you…?"

Nate seemed barely aware of what had just happened, taking a few shaky steps forward as he clutched his head in pain.

"Mama…" Kirene muttered, staring at her unconscious mother with unreadable expression, while her father and brothers went to tend to her, the cat-girl forced down her conflicting feelings and turned her focus back towards the object of her affection, and her rage over how everything had been ruined…

"NATE!" Kirene shouted, suddenly springing over to where Nate was and grabbing onto him, tears streaming from her eyes as she clung to him, "EVERYONE STOP! STOP TRYING TO RUIN THE WEDDING! LOOK, WE'RE FINALLY TOGETHER, NATE! YOU PROMISED ME, YOU PRO– "Kirene froze as she noticed the terrified expression on Nate's face, and how his eyes were also filled with tears…

"No," Nate whimpered, pushing the cat-girl away.

Kirene looked stunned, not even resisting as the boy slipped from her grasp.

"No, no, no, no! No! No! NO! NO! NO!" Nate curled up into a fetal position as he continued to scream and cry. "No more! No more! Mommy! Daddy! I want Mommy and Daddy! I WANT MOMMY AND DADDY!"

As Nate continued to cry, all other occupants of the room went quiet, looking towards the boy, his allies mostly with worry, and enemies with uncertainty…

Aaron had taken the opportunity to move to his wife's side, helping her stand back up and looking over her injuries worriedly.

"I-I'm fine, Honey," the bespectacled woman assured, putting her hand to the scratch on her forehead, nodding to herself that it was just a scratch, before she turned her direction towards the crying boy. "Right now… our child needs us."

Aaron nodded in understanding, releasing his wife when it became clear she could walk on her own, "Of course… let's go to him."

Nate did not notice his parents approaching through his crying, but he did feel a warm pair of arms that wrapped around him, and his crying began to calm down as he heard his mother's voice…

"Shhh, it's alright, everything's alright," Lily soothed as she stroked her son's hair, lifting him up and cradling him in a comforting way. "Mommy and Daddy won't leave you, Nathan…"

"We'll protect you, son, no matter what," Aaron assured, patting his crying son's head.

"I-I-I wanna go home," Nate whimpered, shaking in his mother's arms and looking between his parents helplessly.

"Then we'll go home, you don't need to deal with any more of this today," Lily assured, keeping her child in a protective embrace.

Nobody made any move to stop the parents as they made their way towards the exit.

Venoct, Toiletta, Sailornyan and Whisper soon wordlessly followed the family, their expressions a mixture of serious, unsure and worried.

After a moment Damona, along with her sister, also followed the departing group.

"I… have no clue what happened here," Katie said with an uncertain expression, rubbing her head as she looked around, "But… I… I think it's time to go home…"

"Noko!" Tsuchi chimed as he hopped to the girl's side.

"Yes, 'noko' indeed…" Katie mumbled with an absentminded nod of her head.

"You never did get to really talk to him," Kyubi pointed out as floated beside Katie.

The brunette girl raised a finger to give a retort, before she froze and lowered it, her eye twitching as the truth of the fox's words set in, she then took a deep breath, "Well… he clearly needs some time, so it can wait…"

"I have… to go home and… think about a lot of things," Hailey muttered, her normally bombastic attitude having seemingly fizzled out after seeing Nate in such a state. 'Must… protect… his smile…'

"I'm just… very confused about everything that happened today," Oliver muttered.

"Well we can figure it out later, we need to get back to the beach before your mum starts to get worried!" Mr. Drippy spoke up, shuddering a little as he glanced towards Lily's departing form, 'And after being reminded of how scary an angry mother can be, I really don't want a mother who is also a Great Sage angry at me!'

"Yeah, I'll… try to talk to Nate later, I guess," Oliver looked a bit unsure, but agreed he really should get back to his mom. "Bye guys, thanks for taking me along, even if I had a hard time understanding what all this was about!" the boy waved to Lina and Zoey as he started to head towards the exit.

"That's alright Oliver, we had a hard time understanding it too!" Lina giggled as she waved back.

"Yeah, sure whatever," Zoey seemed to have her mind focused on something else as she absentmindedly waved Oliver off.

Oliver blinked with a bit of a confused expression, before shrugging, "Come on Mr. Drippy, Mitey, let's go."

"Mite! Mite!" Mitey chimed, running by Oliver and towards the exit, with the boy and his fairy companion following not far behind.

Zoey briefly acknowledged Oliver's exit, before she turned her focus back towards where it was before, and she started to move forward.

Lina watched Zoey with a knowing look, before she started heading to the exit herself.

Kirene was still frozen in the same spot, her expression unreadable as she tried to process everything that had just happened…

"So… I'm guessing this whole thing didn't exactly go as you had planned?" a snide voice spoke up, catching the cat-girl's attention.

"… Zoey," Kirene spoke in a calm and cool voice as she turned and stared at the bespectacled girl.

"… Kirene," Zoey glared at the cat-girl coolly, watching her movements carefully as she approached her.

"It's…" Kirene struggled to find her words, her tail swaying as she uncomfortably gripped one of her arms, "It's… been a long time…"

"I guess that depends who you ask," the black-haired girl sneered, still keeping a close eye on the yo-kai's movements. "First time I ever really got a clear look at you I suppose… frankly, I don't like what I've seen."

Kirene flinched, glancing away from her old friend/rival, "That's… fair…"

Zoey huffed, "I think it's a little more than just 'fair.'"

Kirene looked down, "… Yeah."

"I don't like what you did Kirene, and even if Nate forgives you, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to, or if I even want to…"

Kirene gave a pained look in response to the other girl's words, but slowly nodded her head, "I understand…"

"That being said…" Zoey took in a deep breath, averting her eyes from the cat-girl, "I am… weirdly glad to see you again… and to have my memories of you back."

Kirene looked surprised, a soft smile came to her face, if only briefly, "I'm… kind of glad to see you too… I missed all of you… when I left, I was pretty sure I was never going to see any of you ever again."

"A shame that wasn't the case," Zoey snorted, smiling back at the yo-kai girl, before quickly reminding herself that she was mad at her and shacking it off.

Kirene let out an awkward cough, looking down at her shoes, "So, uh, have you heard from Mary-Lou, you know, since I left…?"

"May…? I…" Zoey's expression turned pained as she thought back to the girl she was once proud to call her 'best friend,' 'How long as it been since I last spoke to her, I think we talked on the phone like… three years ago…?' "… I'm sorry, May."

Kirene gave a strange look, "Zoey?"

"I… haven't talked to Mary-Lou in a long time, Kirene…" Zoey admitted, a pained look clear on her face.

"Oh…" Kirene seemed a little disappointed to hear that, "Do you think… she also forgot about me…?"

Zoey looked surprised at Kirene's question, before glancing upward thoughtfully, "I think… out of any of us May's probably the least likely to really forget anyone…" 'Unless a certain cat creep went far enough to track her down and made sure she forgot…'

Kirene looked up as well, letting out a small sigh, "It would be nice to see her again…"

The black-haired girl nodded, "Yeah, it would…"

The two stood in silence for a short moment, but one that felt much longer for the two.

Glancing back at Zoey, Kirene gained an unsure expression, before she let out a heavy breath and reached into her dress, she pulled out Nate's Yo-kai Watch U and held it out, "Here."

Zoey glanced back at the cat-girl an gave a strange look at the watch, before she squinted her eyes with recognition, "Wait… is that Nate's watch…?"

The feline yo-kai nodded, giving a heavy sigh, "Yes, I took it from him when I brought him here, it… should probably be returned to its rightful owner…"

Zoey stared blankly for a couple seconds, "… Wait, was that just… in your dress this whole time…? Wouldn't that be uncomfortable…?"

Kirene blinked at the unexpected question, "I mean, I didn't notice it that much…"

But Zoey wasn't done, "Why your dress anyway? Don't you have anywhere better and more secure to keep it?"

"Well, I, uh…"

"And wouldn't it have fallen out during all the fighting and stuff?"

"Look, are you gonna take it or do you wanna keep asking me dumb questions!?" Kirene snapped, her face red from embarrassment.

Zoey raised a defensive hand, "Okay, I'll take it!"

Kirene took a calming breath, before she approached the other girl. "Please, give this back to Nate the next time you see him," Kirene spoke with regret as she handed the yo-kai watch over. "And... for what little it's worth, tell him I'm sorry…"

Zoey took hold of the yo-kai watch and looked it over, before looking at the feline yo-kai with a serious expression, "If you're really sorry, you should tell him yourself."

Kirene looked to the ground shamefully, unable to respond to that statement…

Zoey frowned, but decided not to push it, instead deciding to bring up something else she felt was important, "By the way, you know how mine and Nate's memories of you were erased?"

"Erased? You mean you didn't just forget…?" Kirene looked unsure of how to respond to that information.

Zoey nodded, a vindictive smirk snaking across her face, "Your creepy magician brother did it."

It took the Bundory daughter a moment to put two and two together on whom Zoey was referring to, but not a very long moment…

"SPAAATTOOO!"

The magician of the Bundory siblings had been starting to pick up some of the mess that the fight had caused, when he froze at the sound of his sister's enraged voice.

"Oh Spatto, big brother dear, do you remember how Nate couldn't remember me when we found him, hmm? Do you remember how upsetting that was, hmmmmm!? Well, I just learned something very interesting about what caused that, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, HMMMMMMMMMMMM!?"

The cat-boy stiffly turned to see his sister approaching him, her eyes glowing a fierce yellow, her body sparking with electricity, and her whip out and ready to strike…

"W-Wait, Kirene I can explain!" Spatto stuttered out, but it seemed his sister was in no mood to talk.

With a roar of rage, Kirene shot her whip forward, with Spatto jumping out of the way of the way just in time, before he turned and ran, with enraged cat-girl in hot pursuit.

"LIKE INFINITE INFERNO YOU CAN EXPLAIN! WAIT UNTIL I GET MY CLAWS ON YOU! I'M GONNA DESTROY YOUR PHYSICAL FORM, TRAP YOUR SOUL IN A JELLY JAR, THROW THAT JELLY JAR INTO A GARBAGE CAN, THROW THE GARBAGE CAN INTO A GARBAGE COMPACTOR, THROW THE CUBE IT MAKES INTO A VOLCANO, AND WHEN YOUR SOUL FLOATS OUT I'M GONNA SHOVE SOME NASTY MEDICINE INTO IT SO YOU'LL REGENERATE AND THEN I'LL DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!"

Zoey laughed in satisfaction as she watched what she considered to be karma at work, but after a moment her expression turned serious as a thought crossed her mind; there was somebody else she really needed to talk to now…

---

At another section of the room, Tempest Pride were in a stand-off with Gowin and Dandory, with Catleen still unconscious and being tended to by Gowin.

"So, da reason you guys went and robbed the museum was to get some mystical item to get the dark craziness out of the cat-lady?" Unbearaboy! gave a skeptical look.

"Yes, that's correct," Gowin grunted, glaring a bit at the yo-kai hero team, keeping a protective hold on his wife.

"The artifact is probably still in the room we were planning to hold the ritual in," Dandory spoke up frankly, crossing his arms and glaring at the heroes. "I understand that you can't abide us stealing, but at least allow us to free my mother from her curse before you attempt to take it back."

"We also need to check on Tanto, he's probably frightened by himself, and call Mom and Gustaf," Gowin sighed, knowing that his mother was going to chew him out over how he let things escalate.

The heroes glanced at each other thoughtfully, considering their options. Though nobody said it out loud, they were all still somewhat feeling the effects of that weird moment earlier, when Nate's cry seemed to have left them all powerless…

Their powers had returned, but there was a fatigue to it, and it was clear that it was the same for the Bundorys. Nobody was in any position, or mood, for a fight right now.

"Yeah, fine, go," Little Charrmer huffed absentmindedly, her mind clearly elsewhere as she waved the criminals off.

Gowin and Dandory said no more to the heroes, already on the way out of the room before the leader had even finished her sentence.

"… So… we're just lettin' 'em go?" Unbearaboy! seemed dissatisfied with this result.

"I guess so," Jawsome Kid shrugged tiredly.

A few groans alerted the team to the group of yo-criminals that had sunken into the background a little while ago, and now seemed to be getting ready to flee.

"Shouldn't we at least arrest those guys?" Unbearaboy! looked towards his leader for help.

"Do you think Nate would prefer flowers or chocolates as an apology gesture?" Little Charrmer asked with an absentminded expression, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

The blue-skinned child just stared at the devil-themed hero blankly, "… Well, he's a dude, so I'd say chocolate."

"Don't be sexist, Unbearaboy," Jawsome Kid lightly scolded.

The youngest member of the team gave an incredulous look, "How is dat sexist!?"

"At least everything worked out alright in the end," Double Time smiled.

Dr. E. Raser just let out a sigh as he shook his head, "Let's just get out of here…"

---

"Daddy!" Falsina cried as she latched onto her father's leg.

"Ay, good to see you're alright, I was getting a wee bit worried," Plundros gently pat his younger daughter on the head, before giving a questioning look as he noticed the down mood of everyone. "What happened in there? I expected to get summoned, but instead just ended up waiting here the whole time."

"It's a long story," Damona shook her head as she floated up to her father, before giving a thoughtful look, "Well… actually, it's a pretty short story, but I don't think anyone is in the mood to recount it right now…"

Plundros looked between Damona, then the state of the Adams as they walked by, before nodding, "Well, fair enough I suppose. I can hear it later, right now I'll get the wee princess back home," the oni king held up Falsina, who had already fallen asleep.

"Right, I'll call you later Dad," Damona nodded back, still looking thoughtful about what exactly had happened back in the Bundory base.

As her father departed down the other exit of the alleyway, Damona was about to follow the rest of her group, when she paused. "You guys go on ahead, I've got… something to take care of," Damona stated carefully, turning and floating back towards the Bundorys' base.

"Where are you going?" Toiletta turned to glare suspiciously at the oni princess, crossing her arms as she floated in the air.

"None of your business, I just need to check something," Damona hissed with narrowed eyes.

Toiletta kept glaring at the demon girl. "… Fine, but don't keep us waiting too long."

"Don't wait up on my account, I'm more than capable of making my way back home on my own," Damona scoffed, waving her hand dismissively, "Now shoo, servant girl, Nate needs all the emotional support he can get right now, and even I would agree you're probably better on that front than I."

"Ain't that the truth," Toiletta rolled her eyes, before turning away and floating after the rest of the group.

As everyone was leaving, none noticed the humanoid figure watching from the rooftops above…

"Two down, four to go," Emma muttered to herself, the four remaining boxes floating in front of her as she twirled her finger around, before she glanced down at the departing Adams family, a worried look on her face, "I sure hope Nate is okay…"

The hidden girl let out a sad sigh, before she stood up and floated away.

---

"Lina, we need to talk…" Zoey spoke seriously as she looked at her blue-haired friend.

The two girls had moved to a spot beside Fortune Hospital, as Zoey wanted to speak to her blue-haired friend in private.

"What is it, Zoey?" Lina smiled at her friend, looking a bit quizzical, "You seem rather stern suddenly? Today was fun after all, though I can't say it had a very positive end, I do hope Nate is alright…"

"… I need to know if you're serious about Nate," Zoey stated, looking the other girl straight in the eyes, even though her eyes were covered by her bangs.

"Serious…?" Lina looked caught off guard by that statement, giving a questioning look.

Zoey took that response as a cue to elaborate, "I wasn't entirely sure before, but now I know for certain: this isn't just a game to me, I'm in love with Nate… I have been for a long time… I had just forgotten…"

"Because of the Cheshire Cat?"

Zoey blinked at that description, staring at the other girl blankly for a moment, while Lina grinned back at her, finally Zoey released a chuckle and lightly punched her friend in the shoulder, "Good one, but that guy isn't good enough to be called that," the bespectacled girl snickered, before looking thoughtful, "Plus I'm sure there's a real Cheshire Cat out there somewhere, given some of the stuff we've learned today, so probably best not to risk offending 'em!"

"For all we know the real Cheshire Cat will turn out to be a girl, and she'll fall in love with Nate," Lina let out a small giggle at the thought of a grinning cat-girl appearing and disappearing around a flustered Nate.

"That would happen, wouldn't it?" Zoey sighed, shaking her head. "My point is: I'm serious about wanting to marry Nate," Zoey explained calmly. "If we're going to continue doing this… I need to know that you're serious too."

"What do you mean by that, Zoey?" Lina tilted her head questioningly.

Zoey sighed, placing her hands on Lina's shoulders, "Do you love Nate? Do you really want to marry him someday with me, or has this all been a game? Or the 'harem effect,' or whatever is going on lately…?"

"Zoey… we're in elementary school…" Lina stated with a small sigh, grabbing the other girl's hands and lowering them. "I think… you need to cool it."

Zoey did not look like she expected that response, "… Huh?"

Lina released a small giggle, placing one of her hands over her mouth, "You're asking all these really big questions about 'love,' and getting married, and what I want to do with the rest of my life… but I'm eleven-years-old, are these really the kind of questions you can confidently say you know the answers to right now?"

Zoey could only stare at the other girl with a baffled expression on her face, "What… What are you saying…?"

"Can you say now, with absolutely certainty, that you will want to marry Nate when you are old enough? If so, can you say now, with absolute certainty, that you will be okay with sharing Nate with me when that time comes…?"

Zoey blinked, "Uh… yes…?"

"We don't know what the future will hold, Zoey, maybe our feelings for Nate will fade, maybe they will get stronger, maybe we will drift apart, maybe we'll fall in love with each other, or other people entirely, or nobody at all…" Lina looked up at the sky as the many potential futures drifted through her mind. "Maybe we'll all forget about yo-kai, Nate and Katie will get married, and have a daughter who will be the reincarnation of an ancient oni princess who will save the world."

"Okay, you need to stop," Zoey shook her head, letting out a bit of a laugh.

"Hey, it could happen," Lina insisted, before she released a laugh of her own. "All that said, I would say I'm about as serious about this as I can be for now," she smiled, giving a thumbs-up. "Besides, I liked Nate for a while before all this blew up too!"

"Wait, really…?" Zoey looked surprised at that reveal, but not displeased.

Lina nodded, giggling a bit, "Just a little crush, I also liked Eddie for a while."

Zoey's expression turned to an annoyed glare.

Lina laughed more at the face her friend made, "Don't worry about it, I got over that crush years ago, I'm with you 100% on getting Nate!"

Zoey smiled, "That's good to hear… because after getting my memories back, and also knowing Kirene is sticking around, we're gonna need to up our game if we want Nate to fall for us!"

"I have thought of a good deal of plans regarding that, but let's not also forget about our recent discoveries in the area of supernatural activity, and that we should put some energy into that," Lina giggled excitedly, though it quickly died down and was replaced with a more somber smile, "Especially since Nate probably needs some time after today…"

"Yeah, that's probably true," Zoey's own expression fell as she thought about the state she had last seen the boy in. "I guess it would be better to focus on the supernatural stuff for now."

Lina nodded, "Well… we are the Ghost Club, after all."

Zoey managed a bit of a grin, chuckling a bit to herself, "That we are… so… where should we look for yo-kai first?"

---

"Spatto, where oh where did you go…?" Kirene growled as she stalked around the base on all fours, having lost sight of her brother, and still fully intent of inflicting some sort of retribution onto him for what he had done, and kept from her for all these years…

"Ah, there you are, good. I was almost worried I would need to expend some energy actually looking for you."

The sudden voice had Kirene twirling around, her claws sparking and ready to strike, before she noticed who it was that was facing her. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?" Kirene asked with clear resentment in her voice as she glared at the purple clad princess.

Damona smirked as she floated around the other girl, putting a hand to her cheek as she reclined in the air, "Nothing much, I just want to have a little chat. You know, I must admit; though I don't approve of your methods, your tenacity is quite impressive…"

"Oh Really? Why thank you," the sarcasm in Kirene's voice was so thick, you would probably need a bone saw to cut through it.

"Oh, I like your tone," Damona chuckled darkly, circling around the cat-girl.

Kirene stood in a defensive stance, not taking her eyes off the demon girl as she floated around her, looking ready for a fight if needed. "What do you want?"

"It's not about what I want, my friend," Damona giggled, a sly expression coming to her face as she flipped upside down, "It's about what you want…"

Kirene's ears perked slightly, but her expression and stance remained static. "I'm listening."

The princess of oni flipped back right side up, returning to her initial position with a hand on her cheek and reclining in midair. "I have a proposition for you…"

---

"Okay… if we weren't before, I really think we're lost now…" Amy muttered as she stared out at the ever-stretching ocean that surrounded the small island on all sides. Nothing could be heard aside from the sounds of the waves, wind, and the caws of seagulls…

"AHH! YOU DID THIS ON PURPOSE!" Meg screeched, pulling at her pigtails as she stomped around the sand, before pointing at the other two girls. "THIS WAS ALL A TRAP BY YOU TWO TO KEEP ME AWAY FROM MY NATEY-KINS!"

"I'm very sorry, but that wasn't my intention at all…" Isabel muttered with a sad sigh. "Besides, why would we want to trap you on this island at the expense of ourselves? We all wanted to find Nate, remember?"

"Shut up!" Meg snapped, clearly in no mood for reasonable arguments.

Amy sighed, shaking her head at the other pigtailed girl, "Megan, please, we're not going to get anywhere if we don't at least try and work together, can you at least agree with that?"

Meg turned her glare towards Amy, before her expression turned thoughtful, as if she was considering her words, "… No!" with a huff, Meg stuck out her tongue at the older girl, before turning away.

"Well, I think we all saw that coming," Jibanyan grunted, standing by Amy's side and shaking his head in disappointment.

"I'm not going to give up just yet, Rudy," Amy spoke quietly so only the cat yo-kai could hear, not wanting the other girls to notice her 'talking to herself.' "Also, it's rude to talk about other people behind their backs."

"I'm nyot behind her back, I'm nyext to you," Jibanyan countered with a smug smirk, which he quickly lost when he noticed the stern look Amy was giving him. "R-Right, sorry…"

"Good boy," Amy gained a pleasant smile as she patted the nekomata on the head.

"Pinky-pink! Pinky-pink-pink!" the pink yo-kai, whom had been following the girls this entire time, happily chanted as he did a little dance.

"This is kind of fun," Letsbifrenz smiled as he did his best to follow along with the pink yo-kai's dance. "It's like one of those exercise dances!"

Jibanyan just sent the other two yo-kai an annoyed glare, before facepalming.

"You know, I think I'm mostly confused how we even got here," Isabel commented, crossing her arms and looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

"Well, it wasn't by boat, because at least then we'd have an easy way out of here," Amy sighed.

"Yay, thanks to you both we're stuck here with no way to leave or call for help!" Meg snapped, only giving the other girls a nasty side-glare but refusing to face them directly.

Isabel blinked as a rather obvious thought suddenly crossed her mind, "Wait a moment… don't we all have cellphones?"

The three girls all looked at each other with equally blank expression, before each reached into their pockets and pulled out their phones.

"We're saved!" the girls all cheered triumphantly, holding up their cellphones as if they were amazing treasures they had just uncovered from some chest in a dungeon.

"CAW!" a seagull suddenly swooped down, snatching Amy's phone right out of her hand, and flying away.

"… Wha…?" Amy blinked, looking at her empty hand with the look of someone who had not fully processed what had just happened.

*Conk!*

"Ow!" Isabel flinched as a coconut suddenly dropped down from one of the trees and impacted with her head, causing her to drop her phone, where a crab scuttled over, picked it up, and scuttled off. "Hey!"

"Ha! Looks like Megan's the one who holds all the cards now!" Meg smirked, holding her cellphone up and as she laughed tauntingly.

"Just call for help before something happens to your phone too!" Amy begged, her eyes darting around in paranoia.

Meg simply laughed, "Ha! As if I would be as stupid as you two to let something come around and snatch my phone right from my hand!" with a laugh, the girl threw her hands into the air, loosening her grip on the phone in the process, resulting in her unintentionally tossing it towards the ocean…

*Splash!*

"…" Amy and Isabel both stared at Meg with unreadable expressions…

Even the yo-kai, unseen by two out of the three girls, could only stare blankly at the recent cascade of events.

Meg simply remained in the same position she had been in when she let her phone go, staying so still you could mistake her for a statue.

It did not seem like they would be getting off that island any time soon…

---

And finally done!

If you're wondering why this update took so long to come out… sorry, I don't really know myself, I just fell off writing my fanfics for a while and then when I got back into it a few months back I found myself struggling to make good progress…

Though I do have some ideas for why exactly I had so much trouble writing this chapter, I think I tried to jam too much into this little 'story arch,' beyond the reach of a crackfic such as this. At the end of the day this story is supposed to be dumb fun.

I also realize I should not have introduced Oliver (who's a character from Ni No Kuni, for those wondering) here, and waited to have a chapter dedicated to him and Nate meeting. There will probably be a chapter like that where Nate and Oliver meet up again later, since they did not get to interact much.

There are unanswered questions and unresolved plot threads still, those will get resolved in future chapters, that's my intention at least.

I'm gonna try not to fall into this sort of pitfall again for future chapters, there may be a serious moment or two amidst the nonsense of course, but gonna at least try to keep the number of major characters involved per chapter to more manageable numbers, I think it's easy to see that I started to lose track of some stuff around the 'big battle' part.

On the next 'episode' of 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams:' While our bug hunting trying to get back to some semblance of normality and dealing with the fact his parents now know about his yo-kai escapades, Nate runs into a new yet strangely familiar yo-kai. She cannot remember where she came from or how she ended up on Mt. Wildwood, so Nate agrees to show her around Springdale to try and jog her memories. Of course, it is not going to be so simple, especially when Katie joins in to try and have a proper conversation with Nate, and she and this new yo-kai end up butting heads.

Next time on 'The Unwanted Harem of Nathan Adams: Curious Yo-kai Mee 2!