Hi everyone, thanks again for your patience. We are now in the Oni-arc of the story that will also run parallel with the second half of the cannon WITCH season 1. Things are going to get interesting as Phobos and Tarakudo have teamed up and are also hunting the Oni masks. Will our heroes be able to prevail? Let us find out.
Samurai and Guardians
Captain Black sat in his own personal office in Section 13 as he opened a package to find the first Oni mask inside. "Whoa." He certainly did not expect to find a package like this, but he also picked up a note from Jackie inside as well, which he read aloud.
"Captain Black, do not allow anyone to wear this mask. Please lock it in the vault immediately! Uncle, Tohru, Caleb, the girls, and I are currently in Tokyo, Japan; where we hope to discover a lead to the location of the next Oni mask."
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, the J-WITCH gang was inside a warehouse trying to decipher clues from several scrolls, pictures, or old Japanese tablets inside the warehouse. Though most of them appeared to be doing research, Cornelia was among those who appeared the most bored.
"I can't believe I'm in Tokyo, but I'm stuck here doing research when we could be shopping!" The blonde complained. "Do you have any idea how many kimonos or dresses I could buy here?!"
"We're not on vacation, Cornelia." Will chastised. "We're trying to find information on the Oni."
"And we just so happen to be in an old warehouse looking through dusty scrolls with a language that we can't even read?" Irma questioned irritably.
"Well the samurai were the ones who defeated the Oni in the past, we gotta start somewhere." Will said.
"Any luck, Jackie?" Hay Lin asked as he was attempting to read a scroll.
"Nothing yet." Jackie replied. "Oni have often depicted as ancient myths, so it's hard to separate what is really a myth to reality."
Caleb, meanwhile, found himself looking at an image of a samurai on the wall. "So, these samurai are like knights in Meridian?"
"Sort of." Taranee tried to explain. "I mean, there are similarities, but the samurai have their own unique code, teachings, and fighting techniques."
"Well if there's any left that can help us find where the next Oni masks are, that would be super helpful." Alchemy said. "Especially since most of us can't read any of this stuff."
"I understand why you all feel this way." Jackie said. "But the first rule of research is patience."
"Can you not read faster, Tohru?!" They all heard Uncle complained as the large sumo attempted to decipher a scroll in front of him. "Cobwebs are forming on Uncle!"
"My Japanese is rusty, sensei." Tohru replied.
"At this rate, Forces of Darkness will locate eight other masks before we leave room!" Uncle stated.
"Hey, if you got an easier way to find these mask-things, we're more than happy to hear it!" Cornelia told the elder chi-wizard in irritation.
Will rolled her eyes slightly at the bickering that they were all used to at this point. However, as she did, she noticed a certain someone was missing from their group. "Where's Jade?"
"Everyone! Get over here now!"
They all heard Jade's voice calling them, which immediately put them on alarm as all ten of them ran to the sound of Jade's voice in another room in the warehouse.
"Why do research, when you can come on down to the Oni-Mask-Super-Store!" She announced dramatically as she directed their attention to a wall filled with dozens of colorful Oni souvenir masks. Tohru immediately felt a chill down his spine as Caleb was immediately put on the defensive.
"I thought you said there were only nine masks!" The young rebel exclaimed.
"Cool your jets rebel-boy." Irma told him. "These are fakes, just souvenirs."
"Then why do I have a strange, clammy, feeling down my spine?" Tohru asked, surprising Uncle.
"You have the willies?"
"Usually a pretty good sign…" A familiar voice spoke out as one of the masks changed shape and form to reveal a certain floating demon head that they have all recently become acquainted with. "…That the king of all Oni is in the house!"
"Tarakudo!" Everyone exclaimed as all the girls, Jackie, even Caleb, felt a simultaneous shiver down their spines.
"Hello everybody, nice to see you all again." Tarakudo greeted casually as he floated toward the entrance way where Daolong Wong and Cedric, in his humanoid form, walked in. "Oh, and by the way, Prince Phobos sends his regards."
"So those two are working together!" Taranee exclaimed as the group of heroes readied themselves while Will had already pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar.
"Guardians Unite!"
In another flash transformation; Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin had transformed into their respective Guardians forms as WITCH.
"Flashy." Tarakudo commented as Cedric had transformed into his massive humanoid snake form while Daolon Wong had summoned his Dark Chi Enforcers.
"Gan! Ren! Chui!" Finn, Ratso, and Chow had appeared on the scene as well. "Fetch the mask, minions!" Wong ordered his warriors.
"Uh… which mask?" Ratso asked, considering there was well over several dozen.
"The demonic one!" Cedric hissed before he lunged at the heroes immediately, forcing them to scatter to avoid a devastating punch to the floor.
As the fight began, Will had grabbed both Alchemy and Jade and flew them to a samurai-armor set in the far corner of the room before setting them down. "Stay here, you two!" She told them before flying back into the fight.
Will flew and delivered a flying kick to Cedric's face, though he was quick to recover and smack her back. Jackie, in response, ran up and leapt from a set of armor to land a roundhouse kick to Cedric's chest, knocking him back slightly as Cornelia backed them up by using her powers to pry several wooden boards from the floor and telekinetically smacking them over Cedric's body. This, however, only seemed to irritate the shapeshifter as he roared and swatted his massive hands to knock back the boards before Will and Jackie went on the offensive with their respective martial arts skills.
At the same time, Taranee threw a series of fireballs at Daolon Wong, who erected a barrier of dark chi magic to protect himself before waving his staff to send a series of dark magic bolts at her. Fortunately, Taranee was able to avoid them as she flew higher, which gave Irma an opening to send a column of water straight at Wong, who teleported himself out of the way just in time, only to reappear behind both Irma and Taranee and zap them in the back with his dark chi magic.
Meanwhile, the Dark Chi Enforcers, were essentially looking for a needle in a haystack as they each took off one mask at a time and place it on their own faces, only to find out that mask was a fake.
"That's not it."
"Nope."
"Nuh, uh."
"Not this one."
"That's not it, either."
"I don't think so!" Hay Lin flew in as she blew a gust of wind from her mouth to knock down most of the masks and scatter them across the floor, making it that much more difficult for the Enforcers.
However, she didn't have much time to celebrate as she was blasted back by a telekinetic pulse from Tarakudo, sending her crashing in front of Caleb, who was able to catch Hay Lin before she hit the wall. As the King of Oni loomed over them, Caleb spotted a katana from the set of samurai armor he was closest to and drew the Japanese sword as he stood alongside Hay Lin to face the floating demon head.
"Quickly, Tohru!" Uncle instructed as the pair set down away from the fights in the far corner of the room. "We must devise locator spell so we may find mask before they do!"
As the pair got to work; Will, Cornelia, and Jackie seemed to be an evenly matched fight with Cedric, with Irma and Taranee being on the defensive from Daolon Wong themselves. Yet, as Hay Lin and Caleb attempted to fight Tarakudo, it seemed he was merely playing with the pair as he casually dodged the respective air-blasts and swords trikes.
"Get back! Now!" Caleb exclaimed as he tried to slice the katana at Tarakudo.
"Easy, you can chop someone's head off with that." The Oni King joked with a grin.
Hay Lin sent a gust of wind, which Tarakudo easily avoided before her eyes widened slightly. "Oh, I get it! Cause you're a floating head!" She snickered. "Okay, that is pretty funny."
"Finally, someone who appreciates humor." Tarakudo commented before sending another telekinetic blast to knock back both her and Caleb. He then directed his attention to the Dark Chi Enforcers who were still looking for the correct mask in the pile of souvenir mask on the ground. "What are you doing?" He questioned.
"Uh, looking for the mask." Finn said as though it were obvious.
"Try this fellow." Tarakudo said before he shifted his form to take the appearance of a thin purple mask with bright purple eyes and two curved horns at the top.
Everyone in the room then set their eyes on the actual mask in question, which was still hanging from the wall. Will and Cornelia were among the first to fly and try to get it, but Cedric quickly grabbed them both and threw them away as he tried to slither his way toward it. However, Jackie quickly jumped to land on Cedric's shoulders and use him as a springboard to leap toward the mask. Unfortunately, Daolong Wong had already ensnared it with his dark magic, causing Jackie to land face-first on the wall and slide down.
Daolon Wong smiled evilly as he held the purple Oni mask in his hands. Hay Lin, Taranee, Irma, and Caleb tried to rush in and take it from him, but Tarakudo had unleashed another powerful psychic wave to blast them back.
"Hmm, I wonder what dreaded tribe of Shadowkhan will be at my command. Let us find out." Daolon Wong sneered as he tried to place the mask on his face, only for Alchemy to run up and grab him from behind.
"I don't think so!" She struggled to hold onto Wong who attempted to shake her off. "Jade! Now!"
"Heeya!" Jade came in to deliver a flying kick to Daolon Wong's side, knocking him down and forcing him to drop the mask, only for it to land right onto Ratso's face, much to everyone's shock. "Oopise!" Jade winced.
Just like with Frost before, the purple Oni mask had merged with Ratso's face and wrapped around his whole head. But that wasn't the only change, as his glowing blue marks on his body from a Dark Chi Warrior had turned pitch black as both dark powers merged together before the newly transformed Ratso stood up.
"Whoa…" Even Ratso was surprised at his newfound power he felt flowing through him.
"So, wait, now he's a Dark Chi warrior and an Oni demon?" Will questioned in confusion.
"Man, talk about an evil-on-evil sandwich." Irma commented.
Meanwhile, Tohru was still in the middle of making his locator-spell, only for Uncle to deliver a dope-slap. "Ow!"
"Too late for locator-spell, we need mask-removal-spell." Uncle stated as he drew a katana from a set of samurai armor, they just so happened to be near. "Good thing, Japanese steel ingredient, very handy this time."
"Oh man…" Oni-Ratso looked at himself with an excited smile. "I feel like…"
"Summoning Shadowkhan?" Tarakudo hinted toward him.
"Yeah!" Oni-Ratso was already on-board, but one problem, he had no idea how to do it. "So, do I just yell for them or what?"
"You must feel the power, Ratso!" Tarakudo instructed. "Call upon the darkness within."
"Oh, okay, I got it." Oni-Ratso said as he tried to do just that, only for Jackie to try and grab him from behind.
"No! No feeling! No calling!" Jackie tried to stop him, only for Oni-Ratso to grab him by the shirt and throw him away with little effort at all. Caleb tried to catch Jackie as he flew, only for both of them to crash into the wall on impact.
Will, Irma, Hay Lin, Cornelia, and Taranee tried to fly in and blast their respective elements at Ratso in a desperate attempt to stop him; but Daolon Wong had already erected a dome of dark magic around Ratso to protect him from the attack as Finn, Chow, and Cedric stood in front of the Guardians to stop their approach.
"Why not even the odds a little bit?" Cedric hinted to Oni-Ratso. "Let's say, one Shadowkhan for every Guardian here?"
Oni-Ratso only smirked as he tried to do as Tarakudo, and Cedric told him. "Come on Shadowkhan!" He concentrated as everyone directed their attention to five shadow-spots on the ground as five identical figures emerged from the ground to present themselves to the heroes and villains around.
They were definitely Shadowkhan, but nothing like the ones they've seen before. They were much thinner, with pointed heads, and each one had a single red V-shaped eye. They had pointed legs as well, but what stood out the most, were their hands that each had a set of five giant razor-sharp blades, which glistened in the light.
"Whoa…" Jade gulped as all the heroes looked nothing short of stunned.
"That's… different…" Cornelia commented.
Though the villains were surprised as well, they were more impressed and intrigued than anything else.
"Most impressive." Daolon Wong said with a sneer.
"Sweet." Chow commented.
"Go, Ratso." Finn nodded in approval.
"Nine masks, nine different tribes of Shadowkhan." Tarakudo said as they all got a good look at this new Shadowkhan.
"Uncle, how is your mask-removal-spell, coming?" Jackie asked anxiously as Tohru dipped the katana into the cauldron and was already glowing green with magic.
"All done!" Uncle stated as Tohru wielded the sword and pointed it at Oni-Ratso, only for the glow to vanish almost instantly.
"Nothing's happening…? Why isn't anything happening?!" Caleb questioned.
"The sword did not work, sensei!" Tohru said in alarm.
"It must be wrong ingredient!" Uncle stated as he came to a sudden realization. "Each mask must require a unique removal spell!"
"Well what do we need to remove this mask?" Will questioned the chi-wizard, only to receive a dope-slap to her forehead. "OW!"
"Tohru is Japanese expert, that is his department!" Uncle criticized. Everyone looked at Tohru, expectantly, only for the large sumo to shrug, indicating he had no idea what to do at the moment.
"Ahem." Tarakudo cleared his throat aloud to get the villains' attention, specifically Oni-Ratso as he motioned for him to move.
"Oh, right." Oni-Ratso said before turning to his quintet of Shadowkhan minions. "Make papa proud!"
The new Shadowkhan brandished their claws as they went on the attack. "You guys hit him high, I'll hit him low!" Jade stated, only for Jackie to push her away as one Shadowkhan went directly at him, prompting Will to fly in and assist, while the remaining four went after Cornelia, Hay Lin, Irma, and Taranee respectively.
Hay Lin tried to blast a torrent of wind at the Shadowkhan she was facing, only for it to leap and crawl on the ceiling with its claws and spiked legs. Once it was over her, it let itself fall down to slice at her, but she was able to push herself back with a gust of wind and avoid the claw-strike that hit the ground.
"These Razor Khan are a lot tougher than the normal Shadowkhan!" Hay Lin stated.
"Razor Khan?" Irma questioned as she sent a stream of water at the one Razor Khan facing her, but it ducked underneath the water streak, while also slicing at it with its claws to halt the attack as it rushed Irma before she flew into the air to join Hay Lin.
"You know, because they got razor-sharp claws." Hay Lin said. "Razor… Shadowkhan… Razor Khan!"
"Okay, I get it." Irma said irritably as they flew back down to engage the two Razor Khan they were previously fighting.
Taranee tried to throw a series of fireballs at an individual Razor Khan, but it easily sliced through the flames with its claws before leaping at her to slice at Taranee, though she ducked under the slice, she fell back on her rear to avoid the kick from the pointed-foot that would have pierced her face before flying back to avoid the relentless slashes from her enemy.
Cornelia tried the same approach she did with Cedric as she used her powers to raise wooden floorboards from the ground and throw them at the charging Razor Khan, but it easily sliced the boards to reduce them to splinters in seconds before trying to move in and slash Cornelia. Fortunately, Caleb came to her defense with his katana to block the slice before swinging and parrying the sword against the claws of the Razor Khan.
Jackie was backed against the wall and swiftly dodged the impaling strike from the fifth Razor Khan. Will quickly flew in to back him up with a solid kick to its chest, though it slid back slightly, it's pointed feet imbedded in the ground to stabilize itself before leaping at Will to slice at her. Acting on instinct, she brandished the Heart just as the claws made contact, resulting in a pink flare to burst from the jewel, blasting her and the Razor Khan back. However, the Razor Khan appeared to recover first as it attempted to rush Will, but Jackie leapt in front of it to divert its attention as he was forced on the defensive from its relentless slashes.
The villains, meanwhile, continued to watch with smirks on their faces. "Just five of these new Shadowkhan alone are a handful for the Guardians, Chan, and their allies." Cedric mused evilly.
"Just imagine what the remaining seven tribes are capable of." Wong sneered.
"Come, then. Let us seek more masks." Tarakudo instructed as he, Cedric, Daolon Wong, Finn, and Chow made their leave. "While Ratso summons more Shadowkhan."
Oni-Ratso chuckled eagerly. "The more, the scarier." He began to concentrate as he attempted to summon more of his new minions.
Irma and Hay Lin found themselves literally cornered against two Razor Khan as they desperately combined their powers to create a miniature storm in their hands before unleashing the powerful attack, which the two Razor Khan were unable to avoid. The attack was successful in blasting back and destroying the pair.
"It worked!" Irma said in genuine surprise before a smile formed. "We can take these things down!"
"Hey guys!" Hay Lin called to her friends who were still in the middle of their own fights. "These Razor Khan go poof like normal Shadowkhan! Just hit them real hard!"
"Yeah, easier said than done though!" Cornelia exclaimed as she flew in to help Caleb who was on the defensive with his katana against the relentless claw-slashes of one Razor Khan. She concentrated her powers on the floor underneath the Razor Khan before suddenly opening them up like a springboard to knock it into the air before it fell back down where Caleb ran up to impale it with his katana, resulting in it poofing.
Taranee didn't have as much luck however against her Razor Khan opponent, no matter what kind of fire-attack she unleashed, her enemy could either slice through it or fan it away with its claws, or simply leap up and climb on the wall to avoid it. It leapt down from the side wall to slash and knock her down. The Razor Khan was ready to finish her, but before it could…
"Oh, mister ninja!" Uncle called to get the Razor Khan's attention as he aimed his blowfish at it. "Eat chi-magic!" He scored a direct hit of chi-blast on the Razor Khan's chest, though it knocked it back, it didn't destroy it like the previous Shadowkhan.
"Why didn't anything happen?" Taranee questioned in surprise.
"Uncle's regular magic does not work on these new Shadowkhan!" Uncle stated, sounding just as surprised as Taranee. "We must devise new stun-spell!"
Fortunately, they wouldn't have to right away, just as the Razor Khan was about to re-engage Taranee in battle, a blade had pierced through its chest from behind, destroy it instantly. The culprit being Jade. "Guess he got the point." She smirked.
However, Will and Jackie had found themselves cornered against the final Razor Khan opponent. However, before it could make a fatal move, or any of their friends could come in and help, they all turned around in surprise to see a set of samurai armor moving on its own. It drew its katana to challenge and face the Razor Khan, who in turn, leapt up to slash at the mysterious enemy. When the Razor Khan landed behind, the armor fell apart to reveal it was none other than Alchemy in the armor, despite her size.
Jackie, Will, Taranee, Uncle, Tohru, Cornelia, Irma, Hay Lin, Caleb, and even Jade's jaws dropped in complete and total shock.
Alchemy chuckled nervously as the Razor Khan looked directly at her. "Sayonara." She said to it as she attempted to run, only for the Razor Khan to try and leap at her. Fortunately, Hay Lin had already come in to blow it back with a blast of air while it was still airborne, sending it to Caleb who sliced with his katana to destroyed it.
"Darkness within… Darkness within… Darkness within…" Oni-Ratso chanted as he attempted to summon more Razor Khan, but he was suddenly grabbed and tackled by Will and Tohru as they each used their respective strength to try and stop him. However, he merely flexed his arms to knock both of them off as his own unnatural strength as a Dark Chi warrior was further enhanced by the power of the Oni-mask he was wearing.
But that didn't stop Taranee, Hay Lin, and Irma from flying in and unleashing a powerful attack that combined their respective elements to trap Oni-Ratso in a vortex of fire, wind, and water. "I don't even think this is gonna stop him!" Taranee exclaimed.
"We need to fall back and regroup!" Caleb stated. "Come up with a new plan to get that mask off!"
"Agreed, come on!" Jackie said as he, Caleb, Cornelia, Jade, Uncle, and Alchemy were about to make a run for it with Will helping Tohru back on his feet to join them. However, they didn't get very far as Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee were all sent flying back towards the wall, courtesy of Oni-Ratso who held his massive mallet he wields as a Dark Chi warrior, only for the aura to change from blue to black as he smiled evilly at the group.
"Uh oh." Jade winced.
*BOOM!*
A large black shockwave was seen from the upper level of the outside of the building as all eleven heroes were sent flying and falling toward the street below. However, the five Guardians were able to stabilize themselves as they tried to move in and grab their falling friends. Will caught Uncle, Taranee was able to catch Jackie, Irma caught Caleb, and Hay Lin grabbed Jade and Alchemy. Cornelia attempted to fly and catch Tohru, but he proved too heavy as she only altered his fall path as they both fell into a nearby stand on the street filled with raw fish.
"Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!" Cornelia shivered as she and Tohru tried to pull themselves out, both covered in raw fish.
"I hate fish." Tohru winced, feeling the same way.
Despite that, they were able to regroup with the rest of their friends and escape just as Oni-Ratso looked out the hole in the wall he made with his attack. "Hey!" He looked around to see everyone had vanished from sight. "Where'd everybody go?"
Meanwhile, on a separate rooftop, Daolon Wong had used a dark orb to observe the fight along with Cedric, Finn, and Chow.
"The Guardians and Chan, forced to retreat, from only a handful of these new Shadowkhan." Cedric hissed with a sadistic smile. "I can only wait in joyous anticipation as our new minions literally rip the Rebellion to shreds!"
"And, there are seven more masks, each with their own unique tribe of Shadowkhan." Wong was just as elated as his comrade. "So much power, Prince Phobos will be most pleased."
"A job well done, boys." Tarakudo told the group of villains as he hovered over them. "For our next trick…" Suddenly, Tarakudo's entire body, which was only his head, had shivered, much to the surprise of the villains.
"Whoa, are you alright?" Chow asked.
"What is it, big kahuna?" Finn also asked.
"I think I… have the willies." Tarakudo replied, sounding just as surprised himself.
Meanwhile, the heroes have all regrouped in their hotel room, with the Guardians having turned back into their human forms as Jackie prepared dinner, already chopping an onion. "Well, that was a total bust." Cornelia sulked as she sat on a bed.
"Don't sugarcoat it, we got our asses handed to us." Irma stated. "How are we supposed to fight these Razor Khan if we don't know how to take off that stupid mask?!"
"And if each of the other masks have their own unique removal spell…" Will said as a dreadful realization set in. "…The odds of us actually winning this thing are pretty low."
"The Oni have to have some kind of weakness!" Caleb stated, unwilling to give up. "They were beaten before! If we figure out how those ancient samurai did it, we can do it to!"
"Well if you got any ideas, we're all ears." Alchemy said before she noticed the sheathed katana on his back. "Hey, isn't that the same sword from the warehouse?"
"Yeah, I like it." Caleb said as he glanced with a small smirk at the katana that he had now taken for himself.
"How's your research coming?" Cornelia asked Taranee and Tohru as they were each on a laptop and scroll respectively.
"I'm not really getting anything." Taranee said in annoyance as she scrolled the internet. "Whenever I try to look up anything Oni-related, I always get something from anime or an ancient myth that I can't even read. What about you, Tohru?"
"I think I might have found something." Tohru said, getting everyone's attention. Tohru used a magnifying glass to try and decipher the kanji. "The scroll speaks of the legendary Hanafuda, an ancient deck of cards. My mother told me of these cards when I was young."
Uncle however seemed skeptical. "More fairy tales, cards not important!"
"You said the Oni were fairy tales, and you were wrong about that." Cornelia criticized.
"But how can a deck of cards help us fight these Oni-monsters?" Caleb questioned, sounding somewhat skeptical himself.
"The legend indicates that the cards are magic and may point the way to the remaining Oni masks." Tohru answered.
"Does it say anything about us actually beating the Oni?" Will asked.
"Not sure … I haven't read the entire scroll yet." Tohru answered.
"Well its better than nothing." Hay Lin said. "So where are we gonna find these cards?"
However, Uncle remained firmed in his skepticism. "I am telling you all, cards not important!"
Suddenly, Tohru felt a chill down his spine, something they all noticed. "Tohru?" Jackie asked.
"Let me guess, your old pal, willie?" Jade asked as well.
The entire room became quiet as everyone had a good idea what Tohru getting the willies meant. Tohru was the first to glance at a framed drawing of an ancient Japanese warrior on the wall, with everyone else following his gaze to look at it. They all gasped as they saw the eyes on the picture move.
Suddenly, the face on the picture shifted and changed to reveal Tarakudo himself as he entered the room, much to everyone's fright as they stood up on instinct. "So, hoping to find the Hanafuda Cards? Well I can't let you do that!" Tarakudo then began to use his powers to shake up the entire room as though it were hit by a sudden earthquake.
"Looks like it's not all fairy tales after all!" Irma said, casting a glare to the shocked Uncle.
"Okay… maybe cards important…" Uncle admitted.
"Yeah, about you just shut up now about anything Oni-related from now on!" Cornelia told him as the entire apartment continued to shake from Tarakudo's power.
As the group backed against the wall, Tohru glanced back at the counter to see the half-chopped onion Jackie was previously working on. Will tried to reach and grab the Heart of Kandrakar to fight as Caleb was reaching for his katana, but Tohru was already at the front as he brandished the onion.
"Back!" He told the floating demon head.
"An onion?!" Caleb, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Cornelia all questioned at the same time.
"What are you gonna do, make him cry?" Irma asked sarcastically.
"Yes, do not be foolish Tohru!" Uncle also said. "Use garlic."
"He's a demon, not a vampire!" Alchemy said. "Don't you use salt for demons?"
However, the apartment suddenly stopped shaking as Tarakudo actually looked nervous. "Whoa, easy with that veggie, big fella!"
Tohru then threw the onion at Tarakudo's face. The second it made contact; the demon closed his eyes in pain as green energy poured out of them like tears. "Ugh! My eyes! My eyes!"
"Wait, he really is crying?" Irma asked as everyone looked nothing short of stunned at what just happened.
"It does work." Tohru said in genuine surprise as well.
"I think it is check-out time." Jackie urged as the entire group left the room while Tarakudo continued to holler and cry in pain.
"Okay… how exactly does a vegetable hurt a floating demonic head?" Caleb questioned as the group of heroes were already outside.
"Mommy always told me onions keep the Oni away." Tohru answered. "I used to sleep with one under my pillow."
"So it really is like garlic for vampires." Hay Lin said with a smile.
"Instant Oni-repellent." Will smirked as she and everyone else gave Tohru literal congratulatory pats on the back.
"You the man, T! You the man!" Jade praised.
The only one who wasn't praising appeared to be Uncle has he stopped briefly. "Yes, he is." He admitted with a tone that mixed pride and sadness.
"The best thing about making your own team of ninjas… Is making enough for two teams!" Oni-Ratso said excitedly as he had summoned enough Razor Khan for a game of baseball on the rooftop he was on. He held a bat at the ready as a Razor Khan pitched the ball, which Oni-Ratso hit and sent flying for at least a mile. "Oooh! High fly!"
On the side, Finn and Chow watched with smirks as this was unsurprising of their friend, though Wong and Cedric both looked unamused.
"He wields the power to summon his own army of powerful soldiers who will serve your every whim, and he uses it to play these childish games." Cedric hissed in disapproval.
"Oh, ball boy!" Oni-Ratso called to Cedric specifically, and this only served to anger the shapeshifter even further as he loomed over Oni-Ratso.
"You listen to me you, worthless fool!" Cedric warned, in his giant humanoid-snake form. "I am a lord of Meridian! I am the right hand to Prince Phobos! My name strikes fear into the heart of the Rebellion!" He looked at Oni-Ratso right into his eyes. "You do not order me!"
Suddenly, most of the Razor Khan leapt and surrounded him, many already brandishing their claws threateningly at the shapeshifter, much to his surprise.
"You don't wanna spoil our fun. Do you, Cedric?" Oni-Ratso warned, his voice becoming deeper and sounding more demonic. This tone was enough to make Cedric sweat a bit as he looked more than a little nervous.
Even Finn and Chow were somewhat surprised by this. "Um, big D… why does Ratso sound so… scary?" Finn asked Daolon Wong.
"The Oni mask contains the spirit of the original Oni demon inside." Wong explained. "More than likely, it is already corrupting Ratso to turn him into a near duplicate of that very same demon." Both Chow and Finn looked to each other with concern, not liking the idea of their friend being turned into a demon.
"Ratso!" Everyone looked up to see Tarakudo appear out of thin air to address Oni-Ratso in particular. "Gather your shadow-minions. You must see to it that Mr. Chan and the young Guardians fail to acquire a certain… deck of cards."
Oni-Ratso held his bat in dark anticipation. "Let the games begin."
The group of heroes were already in Tokyo's underground subway station, waiting for a specific train as Tohru relayed instructions that he read from the scroll.
"We must take the train to Matsue." Tohru explained. "The Hanafuda Cards are housed in an ancient shrine there. Legend indicates, that the cards contain the spells which originally defeated the Oni."
"Looks like we found their weakness." Irma said with a smirk.
A train had arrived at the tracks behind them, with Uncle turning around to enter it as the doors opened up. "Oh, Uncle, that is not our train." Jackie told him.
"It is mine." Uncle said as he turned around to face the group. "Uncle must go to airport, now."
That took all of them by surprise.
"What?!" Will and Jackie both questioned as Tohru, Irma, Taranee, Hay Lin, and Alchemy all gave surprised gasps
"Huh?" Even Caleb seemed somewhat confused.
"Alright, bye-bye." Cornelia smiled as she was already waving good-bye. "Have a safe flight." She was quick to receive an elbow to the side from Jade. "Ow!"
"Uncle, why?" Jade asked.
"Being away from shop for so long makes me… nervous…?" He tried, but nobody seemed to buy it.
"Uncle." Jackie said, wanting him to give an honest answer.
Uncle sighed. "I am only getting in your way. Tohru has knowledge of Japanese legends, which Uncle does not. Tohru gets willies from Oni, which Uncle does not. Tohru knows tricks with vegetables, which Uncle does…"
"Please Sensei, I require your guidance." Tohru pleaded.
"Yeah, so what if you don't know anything about the Oni? You can still fight." Taranee told him.
"I offer you all, my confidence." Uncle assured with a smile as he turned around to walk into the train.
"Uncle, wait!" He heard Hay Lin call to him from behind, but when he turned back around, he was caught off-guard by Hay Lin giving him a surprise-hug. Uncle gave a small hug back before pulling away and looking at Hay Lin with a smile. "You are truly Yan Lin's granddaughter." He smiled as he ruffled her hair slightly before walking into the train.
"Jade, Alchemy, you two should go with Uncle." Jackie told the two girls.
"Aah." Jade groaned as she and Alchemy appeared to walk toward the train just as the doors closed. Uncle gave a final wave to everyone, which they all responded with a wave of their own before the train departed.
"I miss him already." Alchemy said, revealing that neither she, nor Jade, have gotten onto the train.
"Jade! Alchemy!" Jackie chastised. "I told you to go with Uncle! Not stay with…" He soon realized that he didn't specify which uncle. "…Uncle." He smacked his forehead.
Jade gave a slight tisk. "No wonder I got confused, too many uncles."
"And I don't have any uncles, so…" Alchemy added with a shrug.
Most of the girls seemed amused, though Will noticed a smile on Cornelia's face, resulting in her scowling. "Geeze Cornelia, try not to cry too much!"
"What? It wasn't like he was actually helpful on this whole trip!" Cornelia replied. "He was wrong about Tarakudo being an Oni, he was wrong about the Shadowkhan being Japanese, and he was wrong about those Hanafuda Cards!"
"But he's a still a kick-ass wizard." Irma stated. "Even if he is crabby-grouchy most of the time."
"I'm gonna have to agree with Cornelia on this." Caleb said, much to most of the group's surprise. "Don't get me wrong, he is a capable fighter, I've seen that. But, like both he and Cornelia have said, his skills and resources don't seem to apply the Oni that much, that's not to say he can't contribute at all. He's just unable to for this specific mission. In the rebellion, if someone can't contribute to the mission, we send them back to base until their ready."
"Well, when you put it like that, I guess it does make sense." Taranee admitted.
Will noticed a light coming from the end of the tunnel. "Hey, I think our train's here."
"All aboard…" They all looked on the other side of the track in shock to see Oni-Ratso waiting for them. "…The Shadowkhan express!"
Jade quickly reached into her pocket to pull out an onion. "Gonna make you cry, demon boy!" She threw the onion at him, only for Oni-Ratso to catch and eat it with no issue at all.
"Hmm, yummy."
Everyone looked in surprise before looking to Tohru for an explanation. "Uh… Ratso is still part Dark Chi warrior, which isn't vulnerable to onions, and he also happens to like them?" He said, sounding rather unsure himself.
Fortunately, a fight would not have to break out as the train had already arrived for the heroes. "Quick! Inside!" Jackie said, the second the doors opened. The whole J-WITCH crew wasted no time in entering the train.
Oni-Ratso attempted to open the doors on the other end, but they wouldn't budge, and he didn't even get the chance to smash his way in as the train was already moving, forcing him to let go as it already rode deep into the tunnels.
"Darkness within. Darkness within. Darkness within. Darkness within" Oni-Ratso chanted as he summoned a single Razor Khan minion. "You have a train to catch!" He told the Razor Khan as it ran into the tunnel at incredible speeds to catch it.
Back in the train, the heroes had already sat down in the back car when Alchemy noticed the Razor Khan catching up with them. "Uh guys, we got company!"
Everyone looked in alarm as the Razor Khan leapt up to the train, landing upside down, using his pointed-feet to pierce the haul and hang on as it used its claws to try and pry the door open.
"Heh, heh, here's Khanny…" Irma chuckled nervously as the Razor Khan had entered the car.
"Uh, Will, time to Guardian-up!" Cornelia urged as they backed away from the approaching enemy.
"We can't!" Will stated. "The car's too narrow! If we used our powers, we could tear the whole train apart!"
"Then Caleb and I will handle this." Jackie said as he and Caleb were at the front, the young rebel already drawing his katana as he slashed and hacked at the Razor Khan, who ducked and used its claws to block and parry each strike. Jackie stuck to Caleb's side as the young rebel used his sword similar to a shield's purpose to block the Razor Khan's strikes, while Jackie attacked with a series of kicks.
However, the Razor Khan attempted a kick of its own, forcing Jackie and Caleb to separate to the car's sides as the Razor Khan attempted to pierce Caleb with his claws, but he ducked underneath the strike as Jackie had already leapt to the ceiling and dropped down to deliver a kick to its chest to get it to slide back. By the time the Razor Khan had recovered, both Jackie and Caleb had leapt into the air to deliver a flying-double-kick combo move to send it flying back out through the door and out of the car. At least that was their intent, but the Razor Khan had used its claws on the ceiling to keep itself from flying out.
The Razor Khan attempted to climb its way back in, but Tohru brandished a blowfish and shot a chi-blast to send it flying out of the train. Everyone looked to Tohru with surprise.
"Uncle told me to devise a new stun-spell, so I did." Tohru said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"See, Tohru?" Cornelia told him. "You got this. We can handle this just fine with you."
Though they were all grateful for Tohru's aid and can see that he has improved, most didn't miss the subtle hint Cornelia laid in her message that implied they can handle this just fine without Uncle.
After arriving at Matsue, Tohru had led the group to their destination. "This is it." Only their destination was not a shrine, but rather a car factory.
"This is a shrine?" Caleb questioned.
"If it was, it is a factory now." Jackie replied.
"Guess that's the price to pay for being in modern times." Taranee commented.
"So what? We're at a dead end?" Irma asked.
"Wait…" Tohru got another look at the scroll as he saw a familiar symbol on it as well as the building. "This Kanji meaning 'Hanafuda' is also the factory, logo."
Inside the factory, although all the employees had gone home for the evening, the president of the company continued to work in his personal office when he heard someone calling for assistance outside.
"Hello! Is anyone here?!" Will called as she, and all her friends walked inside the factory.
The president of the company walked out to greet them. "Oh, you do not worry here."
"No, sorry to barge in like this." Hay Lin apologized.
"Maybe you can help us, sir." Jackie said.
"We're looking for some… cards." Tohru said.
"Hanafuda Cards?" The president asked as he pointed past the glass walls of his office to reveal a set of framed cards, with each card having the Hanafuda Kanji written on the back.
"Those would be the ones." Jade confirmed.
Uncle continued to ride silently in the train heading toward the airport when he felt an odd vibration in his pocket. He reached inside to look in surprise to see a cellphone vibrating in his hands, the caller ID on the screen reading 'grandma.'
With confusion and hesitance at first, Uncle answered. "Hello?"
"Hello Jin."
Uncle's eyes widened in surprise. "Yan Lin? How did you call me? And why do I have portable phone?"
"Hay Lin texted me with Jade's phone." Yan Lin explained. "She said she gave you her cellphone before you left."
The elder chi-wizard looked in a state of surprised realization, remembering when Hay Lin hugged him before they left. That must have been when she slipped her cell phone into his pocket. Uncle chuckled slightly. "She is more like you than I could have anticipated."
He heard Yan Lin's laugh on the other line before she spoke. "But enough of that, Hay Lin said you left and are planning on coming back home."
Uncle sighed. "I am only getting in their way. Tohru possess knowledge of Oni, which I do not."
"That doesn't mean you aren't able to help or contribute." Yan Lin told him. "Jin, you are an amazing martial artist and an exceptional wizard. And this wouldn't be the first time, remember everything back when we rolled with Cassidy and the others in our youth? You may not have used any magic back then, but you always learned from your experiences and tried new methods. You contributed and even proved capable of saving not just each of our lives, but the lives of many others. I don't believe these situations are any different."
Uncle couldn't help but reminisce all the time he spent with Yan Lin and her team of Guardians in their youth. Those were some fond memories, even if he didn't get along with Kadma or even… her.
"If you truly wish to leave and return home, I won't stop you." Yan Lin continued. "Just be certain that it's really what you want, Jin. Even if you don't know much about the Oni, that doesn't mean you can't help them. They might even need you."
Uncle smiled at this assurance. "Yan Lin… thank you."
"Always happy to help." She replied.
"One more thing…" Uncle began. "How are you convincing girls' parents while they are in Tokyo?"
"Never underestimate the craftiness of a grandma." Yan Lin answered. "That and I might have also slipped a chi-spell into their drinks. Don't worry, nothing harmful. Think like the Jedi mind trick, they all just think they're spending the weakened at your place."
"I do not know Jedi mind trick!" Uncle quickly said. "But I do know to trust you, so again… thank you." He hung up the phone before walking toward the front car. "Conductor! Pull train over!"
Back in the factory, the president of the car company handed the framed set of cards to Tohru as he finished telling his story to the heroes. "…Thus, the cards were handed down from my ancestors. As you can see, I based my company logo on the Hanafuda Kanji." He showed them the logo on his silk tie. "So, why are you so interested in my family's deck of cards?"
"Um, you wouldn't happen to be familiar with the Oni, would you?" Taranee asked.
"Of course." The president answered. "My grandmother would read me stories when I was a child. Why?"
"Some very dangerous Oni demons, along with other monsters, want to steal your cards." Caleb said bluntly.
Most of the girls, including Jackie, all winced as Irma pinched the bridge of her nose. "Three, two, one…"
The president responded with a laugh as though they had just told him a joke. "Oni are not real. They are stuff of children's tale." Suddenly, he gave a frightened gasp.
"What is it?" Jackie asked urgently.
"That girl… her shadow…!" He pointed to Alchemy as her shadow began to move and grow in size, causing everyone to look in alarm.
"Uh oh…" Alchemy said in fright as a Razor Khan emerged from her shadow.
The president backed away in fear, only to end up backing into Oni-Ratso who glared down at him. "Hiya."
"ONI!" The president screamed as he ran away and past the group, only to bump literally into the Razor Khan, who slashed his claws to sever the president's silk tie just to intimidate him even further, and it worked as he screamed. "TAKE THE CARDS! THEY ARE YOURS!" He screamed as he ran out of the building.
"Hand them over!" Oni-Ratso demanded.
Tohru handed the frame to Jackie as he took Jade and Alchemy and walked away, while the girls and Caleb stuck close to Jackie, who handed the frame to Oni-Ratso. "Here you go."
"Oh, gee thanks." Oni-Ratso said, only to see the cards were no longer in the frame. "Hey!"
"Sorry! We will not return them! Thank you!" Jackie called as he, Caleb, and the girls all tried to run away.
Oni-Ratso slammed the frame onto the ground. "Get those cards!"
In less than a second, all seven of the present heroes found themselves completely surrounded by more than two dozen Razor Khan. Jackie made a combat stance as Caleb drew his katana-sword, and Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar. "Guardians Unite!"
As the fight began outside; Tohru, Jade, and Alchemy hid in the president's office. "He fell for it." Alchemy whispered with a smirk.
"The old fake-hand-off never fails." Jade smirked as well.
"A mask-removal-spell is the only way to stop Ratso's Razor Khan for good." Tohru said as he placed the cards on the floor and spread them out, only to reveal that they were blank.
"They're all blank?" Alchemy questioned in surprise.
"Did the scroll say anything about how to play?" Jade asked Tohru.
"No." The sumo answered.
"Then we need to figure out how to play. Fast." Jade stated.
Cornelia pressed her hand on the ground to shake up the floor as four Razor Khan attempted to approach her. "We're on solid ground. You guys are on my turf, now!" She said as four large roots shot from the ground straight at the Razor Khan. The front two were destroyed on impact, but the two in the back used their claws to slice through the roots before leaping up to try and leap down with their spiked-feet onto Cornelia, who flew into the air as she pulled some of the ground up with her in the form of two large rocks, which she threw at the Razor Khan to crush them. But she didn't have time to celebrate as two more climbed up the wall to leap and slice at her.
Irma shot a condensed stream of water, putting extra pressure on her attack as she condensed it even further. The stream had impacted and destroyed the front-most Razor Khan, but three more tried to leap and slice at her, forcing her back before one delivered a slicking-kick with its foot to send her crashing back onto the controls, where she accidentally pulled down on a lever to start up the factory.
As the machines got to work on putting together the cars in the factory line, Taranee got an idea as she saw one of the lasers operate. She quickly flew to said laser and channeled as much of her heat-energy into it to shoot a condensed beam of fire from the laser-machine, blasting and destroying six Shadowkhan at once as she continued to turn her makeshift-weapon. But her winning streak wouldn't last for long as one Razor Khan leapt from behind to use its claws and destroy the device, sending Taranee crashing to the ground before she shot a fireball on instinct to blast a Razor Khan that was on top of her before flying back into the air.
Caleb was forced onto the factory line as he stood with his katana on a moving and incomplete car to slice and parry the strikes from two Razor Khan. He noticed the top of the car coming down as he got an idea and jumped backwards just as the top was brought down to destroy the two Razor Khan before climbing up to the top, only to be put on the defensive as three more enemies surrounded him.
Hay Lin tried to create a powerful whirlwind to blast back five approaching Razor Khan, but they all dug in their claws and feet to keep themselves from being blown away. Hay Lin looked in irritation, until she spotted a nearby toolbox, which she used to levitate with her wind powers from one hand before throwing it at the group of Razor Khan. The tools all spilled out as they hit and destroyed one Razor Khan, but her attempt had also split her focus and lightened her attack, allowing the remaining four to get close and slice at her with their claws and feet, knocking Hay Lin into a car that had just brought its top down. She gave a brief sigh of relief, thinking she was safe, only to be proven dead wrong as she was stuck avoiding all the blades that pierced through the top.
Jackie back-flipped onto the conveyer belt, with three Razor Khan following him. He leapt onto one incomplete car, timing it just right as the three pursuing Razor Khan leapt onto the car, only to be destroyed as the top was brought down.
"Bye-bye! Drive safely!" Jackie told them, only to find two Razor Khan blocking his path.
Will had pulled off a car-door and used her strength to wield it like a blunt weapon to destroy one Razor Khan before seeing the situation Jackie was in and flew to provide aid.
"Hey!" Will called to the two Razor Khan. "Watch the door-dings!" She slammed the car door onto the face of one Razor Khan to destroy it, only to then use it like a shield to block the claw-strikes from the second one. But this gave Jackie an opportunity to deliver a kick to the Razor Khan into the path of a laser on the factory-line, destroying it.
"We're getting nowhere fast!" Will told Jackie as they came back-to-back with six more Razor Khan appearing to surround them. "Let's hope Tohru figures out how to stop these things!"
Meanwhile, Tohru, Jade, and Alchemy did their best to play or rearrange the cards in whatever pattern they could think of. But none of the methods they tried so far have produced any results.
"Looks like Blackjack doesn't work." Alchemy said.
"What about Gin Rummy?" Tohru suggested.
"Let's try… Crazy Eights…" Jade lined up three cards as they suddenly began to glow. "Whoa… Look!" The first card on the left showed an image of the mask they were currently fighting for. "It's showing us the mask!"
"But we already know that part." Tohru said.
The second card showed an image of the mask's location. "This one is showing us where to find… or where we found it…" Alchemy said. "Which means the last one has to show us the mask removal ingredient!"
This was indeed true, as the third card showed them an image of silk being pulled out of a roll, which Tohru recognized. "Japanese silk!"
"You mean, like in a kimono." Jade said.
"Where can we find a kimono at this time of…" Tohru was interrupted by a faint growling coming from behind as the trio turned around in surprise to see Oni-Ratso looming over them.
"Game over."
Tohru was then literally kicked out of the office, while Jackie, the Guardians, and Caleb were stuck fighting off the seemingly endless Razor Khan to help.
"Leave him alone, you bully!" Jade exclaimed as she climbed onto Oni-Ratso and tried to pry the mask off herself, with Alchemy pulling on Oni-Ratso's back in a vein effort to stop him as well.
"Tohru didn't invite me to play cards." Oni-Ratso said as he summoned a ring of Razor Khan to surround him.
"You can play my favorite. Go fish!" Tohru brandished his blowfish and prepared to fire a chi-blast, but a Razor Khan emerged from the shadow underneath him to knock Tohru over, forcing him to drop his blowfish as it rolled across the ground.
Tohru would have run to collect it, only for the blowfish to stop at the feet of a familiar old man, who picked it up and connected it to his own blowfish to replicate the stun-spell. "Hello." Uncle greeted.
"Uncle!" Jade and Hay Lin both exclaimed with wide smiles as everyone looked in surprise to see that Uncle Jin Chan had returned.
All the Razor Khan in the factory ran and charged at Uncle, who wielded both blowfish like a pair of dual pistols and shot at each of the Razor Khan. Each hit was a bullseye that destroyed the struck Razor Khan with a single blast before Uncle leapt back to shoot and destroy two that attempted to leap up at him from the air. He quickly got up to zap another that tried to attack him from the side before Uncle ran along the factory line to shoot and destroy all the remaining Razor Khan with precise shots before he rolled and took a finishing stance with the smoking blowfish in his hands.
"Hmm, very good stun spell." Uncle commented, resulting in Tohru crying tears of joy at that praise.
"Okay, I gotta admit, that was pretty badass." Cornelia admitted with an impressed smirk, shared by everybody else who were glad to have Uncle back.
"Yeah?!" Oni-Ratso challenged. "Well I got more ninja-bad-boys where they came from!" He tried to summon more, but Will quickly flew in to tackle Oni-Ratso to the ground.
"I don't think so!" She tried to pin Oni-Ratso to the ground, only for him to effortlessly lift her into the air and throw her hard to the wall. He wouldn't get the time to recover and summon more Razor Khan however as Jackie, Irma, Cornelia, Caleb, and Taranee flew or ran to attack him directly.
"Uncle! You're back!" Jade didn't hesitate to run and hug the elder chi-wizard, followed by Hay Lin to join the hug as he embraced both of them at once. Tohru and Alchemy walked up with smiles of their own.
"Hay Lin, I believe this is yours." Uncle handed back her cell phone as Uncle gave her a wink, prompting her to smile even more.
'Thank you, Grandma!'
"You gave him your cell phone?" Alchemy asked Hay Lin in confusion.
"Cell phone not important now!" Uncle got back to the situation at hand. "Did you discover ingredient for mask-removal-spell?"
"Japanese silk?" Tohru hopped Uncle had that clothing on him, but that didn't prove to be the case.
"Blended wool and polyester!" He referred to his vest and shirt respectively. "Uncle does not wear clothes of movie star or male model!"
"Hey, what about a president of a car company?" Alchemy presented the severed tie that belonged to the company's president that still held the Hanafuda Kanji on it.
Oni-Ratso wielded his massive mallet as he swung it to bat the blasts of fire, streams of water, and rocks, shot at him by Taranee, Hay Lin, and Cornelia respectively as they flew around him to keep their distance. Caleb attempted to run and slice his katana at him from behind, but Oni-Ratso leapt high into the air to avoid the strike before falling and bringing down his mallet onto the ground to create a small tremor and send Caleb and Jackie flying to the wall.
Will tried to grab him from behind, but Oni-Ratso easily pried her off with his double-unnaturally-enhanced strength and held her by the throat in one hand as Irma, Taranee, and Cornelia tried to fly in and help her, but Oni-Ratso used his mallet in his other hand to smack and knock all three of them away with one strike before he pinned Will to a girder and tried to strangle her with his bare hands.
"Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku." Will glanced to her side as she saw Uncle, Tohru, Jade, Alchemy, and even Hay Lin chanting the spell as Tohru held the silk tie in his hands that was already glowing green. "Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku."
A beam of green magic shot from the tie, straight for Will's hands, which began to glow with a green aura as well. This surprised Oni-Ratso enough for him to loosen his grip around Will's neck, allowing her to kick him back to get him to let her go completely. She then grabbed his mask and tried to pry it off. Oni-Ratso tried to push against her as he was much stronger, but Will wasn't alone as Jackie and Cornelia came to Will's sides and tried to pull with her; while Caleb, Taranee, and Hay Lin held onto Oni-Ratso from behind and pull back on him.
With a final shove, Will pulled back both her feet and slammed them into Oni-Ratso's chest to add force as she pulled with all her might to finally wretch the mask free from Ratso's face.
"We got it!" Will exclaimed with joy as she held the mask in her hands, much to everyone's relief and joy as most of them all cheered and shouted 'Yes!', sharing high-fives, fist pumps, and even some hugs in the case of Cornelia and Caleb.
Ratso, now returned to a normal Dark Chi warrior groaned as he tried to pull himself up. "I was having the weirdest dream…" Suddenly, an unknown force lifted him in the air telekinetically and pulled him away from the factory.
Back in Tokyo; Cedric and Daolon Wong waited on the same rooftop, while Finn and Chow just tossed a baseball back and forth to each other right before Ratso was pulled by the invisible force onto the roof.
He pulled himself up to shake the cobwebs before noticing the baseball in his friends' hands. "Ooh, ooh! My turn at bat!"
Tarakudo suddenly appeared from behind him, looking less than pleased. "It would appear Chan and the Guardians possess the cards, since you no longer possess horns!"
"Oooh, yeah…" Ratso winced as he felt his forehead, indicating he longer wore an Oni mask. "Heh, heh…" He chuckled nervously.
The heroes had finally arrived back home in Heatherfield, specifically in Section 13, where they already placed the purple Oni mask on the wall in the vault next to the first one that they got in Hong Kong.
"Two down, seven to go." Jackie said as all of them, including Yan Lin, were present.
"Those are some handsome devils right there." Yan Lin commented. "No pun intended."
"Let's just hope that we actually keep them from anyone's faces." Will said.
"Well, anyone up for some slap-jack?" Jade offered.
"But what's to keep Tarakudo from entering this vault to get the masks himself?" Caleb asked. "Seeing how he can pop up pretty much anywhere!"
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that…" Hay Lin began.
Tarakudo gave a yell as he flew down from the sky and attempted to phase through the walls outside of Section 13, only to slam right into an invisible barrier that caused his eyes to wince as green energy poured out of them like tears.
"Ugh! My eyes! My eyes!" Tarakudo cried out as he vanished from sight.
"…Oni magic cannot defeat onion magic." Hay Lin finished with an Uncle impression as she held an onion in her hand.
"A little trick I learned from my… apprentice." Uncle smiled approvingly to Tohru as everyone else gave him smiles and nods, resulting in Tohru smiling as well and blushing at all their praise.
Done.
That's two Oni masks down, seven to go. Things are certainly going to be interesting going forward as they not only deal with this but also try to handle the Elyon-situation as well. Oh, and Caleb now has a katana, just thought that would be something cool, hope you like it. I also have a few original chapters planned with a special surprise in store that I'm sure you will all enjoy.
Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Peace out.