Hi everyone. Nice to see you all again, this is one particular chapter that I really have been wanting to write for a while. There's not really all that much else to say, and with all that out of the way, let's get started.
The Demon Behind
Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a fishing boat owned and operated by one fisherman had just hauled in a large net carrying a massive assortment of fish. However, before he could dump it all in storage, the fisherman gave a gasp as he saw that he had caught something else in the net besides fish. It was a mask. A bright blue demonic-looking mask with green eyes and an open fanged mouth.
"Oni…" The fisherman looked in awe before a smile formed on his face. "This antique looks valuable. This is my lucky day."
"Not!" Dark Chi Warrior Ratso stated as he suddenly appeared and grabbed the fisherman with a life-preserver before throwing him overboard as Finn and Chow, along with Daolon Wong, Cedric, and Miranda, both shapeshifters in their human form, all appeared as well.
Chow had yanked the Oni mask from the net and was ready to put it on his face. "Demon magic… here I come…!"
"Not!" Miranda swiped the mask from him. "We made the mistake of letting one of you idiots use this kind of power, it won't happen again!"
"Awww, that isn't fair!" Finn complained.
"You know what else isn't fair?" Wong said as he aimed his scepter at them. "Being cast into darkness for all eternity." This caused the Dark Hand trio to back away, realizing they had no real say in the matter.
"Miranda, perhaps I should wear this mask." Cedric offered. "After all, you must still fool Elyon into thinking she has a friend in Meridian. And it may be difficult to do so if you have a demon's face."
"I see your point. Very well, Lord Cedric." Miranda handed him the mask. "It's yours…"
"Not!" Jackie Chan suddenly appeared, swinging from a hook on the boat, to swipe the mask from Miranda before Cedric could grab it.
"Chan!" All the villains exclaimed.
"And friends!" They heard Will's voice shout as she, Jade, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Irma, and Taranee all flew down in their guardian forms, with Cornelia carrying Caleb. The second they landed, Hay Lin inhaled to blow a massive gust of wind in an attempt to blow their enemies off the boat. However, Cedric and Miranda had already transformed into their beastly forms, with Miranda clinging to Cedric as he used his own massive weight to keep himself from being blown back while Daolon Wong created a barrier of dark magic to protect himself. However, the Dark Chi Enforcers were not so lucky as they were blown completely off the boat and into the ocean.
Meanwhile, Tohru, who was in a motorboat on the other side of the larger fishing boat had helped the fisherman out of the water, but had also brought a fish up as well, which flapped in Tohru's face before going back into the water.
"I hate fish."
Hay Lin ceased her air-attack as their enemies were ready to fight back. "You know, as much as we'd love to kick your butts again, we got places to be." Irma said to the villainous trio with a smirk.
"Tohru!" Jackie called to him and before tossing him the Oni mask. "Go! Go! Go!"
"Not!" They heroes turned in shock to see Cedric ensnaring none other than Alchemy with his tail and holding her over the water.
"You may want to rethink your plan, Guardians." Wong told them.
"Else you wish for your friend to meet a watery grave." Cedric added with a sneer.
"Alchemy!" Cornelia exclaimed.
"Sorry guys… guess I'm catch of the day…" Alchemy winced apologetically.
Immediately, Caleb drew his katana while Taranee, Irma, Hay Lin, and especially Cornelia readied their respective abilities.
"Let her go! Now!" Caleb demanded.
"Hand us the mask, and we will." Miranda proposed.
"Alright, let's not do anything crazy." Will said, trying to act like the mediator. However, she paid a glance toward Jade, the two making eye-contact with Jade glancing toward Irma. All three of them exchanged subtle nods as Jade began to channel her shadow powers over Cedric's own massive shadow to shoot out a spike right into Cedric's back.
The massive humanoid snake gave out a cry in pain, surprising his allies, and forcing him to drop Alchemy. Fortunately, Irma had used her own powers to shoot up a spout of water from the other side of the boat to catch Alchemy and propel her high into the air, where Cornelia flew up to catch her.
"I gotcha!" Cornelia assured her friend as she flew her back down to the boat.
Using this surprise, Taranee was the first to attack with a volley of fireballs at Wong, forcing the dark chi wizard to shield himself, while also leaving him open for Jade, who had coated her fists in shadows, to throw out a punch right into Wong's face and knock him overboard to join his Dark Chi Warriors in the water.
Miranda had spat some webbing in Irma's direction, who flew up to avoid it, but this also allowed Will to fly in with a fishing cable from the boat to throw at the humanoid-spider, catching onto her right back leg before pulling down on the cable with her own enhanced strength to hoist Miranda up into the air. At the same time, Jackie and Caleb rushed Cedric, who threw a puch at the pair, forcing them to split and avoid the devastating fist that tore through the deck. Hay Lin began to concentrate her powers and form a small tornado around Cedric's whole body, spinning the air at such a fast rate, that it began to cut at his scales and keep him trapped in a makeshift shield. However, Cedric used all the strength he could to break out of the tornado, creating a gust of wind to blow out in all directions, which blew the Guardians, Jackie, and Caleb back slightly, but also blew out all the fish trapped in the net the fisherman had previously caught; causing them all to pile on top of Tohru, Cornelia, Alchemy, and even the poor and confused Fisherman.
"Gross! Not again!" Cornelia complained as she stuck her head out with a cringe in disgust, with even Alchemy being grossed out.
"I. Hate. Fish." Tohru muttered in tranquil fury as Jackie and Caleb jumped on to the boat with Jade, Irma, Will, Hay Lin, and Taranee hovering down to join them as well.
"You guys have the mask?" Will asked.
"Right here." Alchemy showed the Oni mask in her hands.
"Then it is time to leave." Jackie stated.
"One more thing." Irma said with a smirk before it turned into a brief look of comic horror. "Please tell me I didn't just say that."
But she got serious again as she concentrated all her powers on the water below the fishing boat to create a large tidal wave that had begun to turn the boat over, causing Cedric and Miranda to fall into the water with Daolon Wong and the Dark Hand trio, but not before the boat itself capsized and landed on top of all of them, causing Finn, Ratso, and Chow to poof away screaming while Wong, Miranda, and Cedric were knocked deeper into the water.
As the villainous trio pulled themselves up on the side of the capsized boat to catch their breath, they looked in frustration to see the heroes already escaping on their motorboat.
"So long suckers!" Jade mockingly called as she held up the Oni mask in gloating fashion before she spat raspberries at them.
Meanwhile, the poor fisherman looked more confused than anything, even as Hay Lin handed him a bottle. "Here, have some tea." Hay Lin told him. "It's just normal tea and totally not laced with a special potion that'll make you forget anything magical you might have seen." She said with a nervous laugh.
Later, the group had made it back to Heatherfield and were walking their way back to Uncle's Rare Finds as Jackie held the mask close to his person.
"And that makes five." Will said. "We're over half-way done."
"Good, because I don't know how much more fish stench I could take." Cornelia shivered as she, Tohru, and Alchemy still smelt like raw fish. "I can see why you don't like em Big T." Tohru said nothing but groaned in agreement.
"I'm just glad this mask didn't end up on anyone's face." Caleb said. "We've seen four tribes of Shadowkhan already, and that's four too many."
"So, what was the spell ingredient for this removal potion? Just wondering." Hay Lin asked.
"Sakuras, Japanese cherry blossoms." Taranee answered. "They actually bloom at different times depending on the regions in Japan which they grow."
"Kinda makes me want to go to Japan." Jade said. "As much as I love a Chan Clan World Tour, it be nice to go somewhere and not have the fate of the world in our hands."
"Oh yeah, totally." Irma agreed.
"We could really use a vacation once this whole thing with Phobos and the Oni masks are done." Will added.
"And once we get Elyon back too. Maybe she could come with us." Alchemy suggested.
Jackie smiled slightly. "Tell you all what? Once this quest is put to rest, I'll take you all on a trip. My treat."
That earned smiles from all the girls present. "Really?! Thanks so much, Uncle Jackie!" Hay Lin beamed as she and Jade were the first to hug him.
"Maybe you could join us, Caleb." Cornelia offered. "You know, could be fun. To see the rest of our world, I mean."
"You know what? That actually sounds like a great idea. I'd love to." Caleb smiled with a nod.
However, before they could get much farther, a trio of boys wearing cheesy monster masks jumped out in front of the group from a nearby alleyway. "ROAR!" They all exclaimed in an attempt to get a fright out of the group, specifically the girls, but while Caleb, Jackie, and Tohru looked partially confused, the girls all looked unamused.
"Really, Uriah?" Irma saw through their attempt with everyone else.
"Halloween's next week, you morons." Jade commented.
"Aw come on! Why aren't you girls screaming in terror!?" Uriah complained as he took of his mask along with his gang.
"Cause you guys aren't that scary." Taranee said.
"But we paid like twenty bucks for these masks!" Kurt complained.
"Whoa, check out that mask." Clubber pointed to the Oni mask in Jackie's possession.
Uriah gave an impressed whistle. "Dude, can I use that thing? Bet I can scare so many girls with that." He asked Jackie.
"No, this mask is not for sale." Jackie said as he kept it out of Uriah's reach.
"Aw man!" Kurt and Clubber complained.
"Uriah, would please move out of the way?" Cornelia stepped forward with an irritated look on her face. "We got bigger things to worry about than some losers like you." She pushed them aside as the group continued on their way.
"Dude, what's going on? Why are they acting so… so… adulty?" Kurt wondered.
"Don't know dude." Clubber replied while Uriah scowled.
"Oh, I'm gonna get those girls if it's the last thing I do."
Uncle's Rare Finds
"Grandma! Uncle! We're back!" Hay Lin beamed as she and everyone else entered the Chan's family shop.
"And this time, the mask did not end up on anyone's face." Jackie said with a relieved smile.
"That's good to hear." Yan Lin smiled with a nod before she took a whiff of the air. "Oh, who smells like raw fish?"
"That would be us." Alchemy said with a sulk, referring to herself, Cornelia, and Tohru.
"And it is also the reason I am now going to take a nice long hot bath." Tohru said as he proceeded to walk upstairs, only for Uncle to deliver a dope-slap to his forehead. "Ow!"
"No time for rest, Tohru!" Uncle told him as he handed him a certain book. "Uncle has located Japanese encyclopedia of evil!"
"Where the heck, did he find that?" Irma questioned.
"I actually found it on sale on Amazon." Yan Lin answered, much to everyone's surprise. "You'd be shocked to know just what kind of things they sell online."
"Good to know." Will said with a slight nod.
"Tohru, you must research way to defeat Tarakudo, and put end to Oni mask quest." Uncle told his apprentice.
"Yes, sensei." Tohru took the book and began to walk to the back room…
"One more thing." Uncle got his attention again as he handed him a broom. "Do not forget to sweep."
"Yes, sensei." Tohru took the broom as well while Jackie, Caleb, all the girls, and Yan Lin looked with concern, or annoyance in the case of Cornelia, as they saw this exchange take place.
"One more thing." Uncle handed him a plunger. "Sink is clogged. Please plunge."
"Yes, sensei."
"One more thing. Pee-yoo! Rotten fish! Take a bath!"
'What did you think he was gonna do?' Caleb thought in annoyance.
'Geeze, cut the guy a break will ya.' Irma thought to herself.
'Poor Tohru. The big guy tries his hardest.' Hay Lin thought with sympathy.
'Tohru's got the patience of a saint if he's gotta put up with all that.' Taranee also thought.
'I'd probably snap after the third 'one more thing', if I were him.' Cornelia gave a slight scowl in Uncle's direction, completely unaware of the glare Tohru had with his back turned to everyone.
"One more thing…" Uncle began.
"NO MORE THINGS!" Tohru suddenly shouted, dropping everything in his arms and facing Unclew with a look of rage, causing everyone to look in shock at Tohru's sudden outburst.
"Whoa…" Will muttered.
"Did he just…?" Jade voiced.
"Yep…" Caleb nodded.
However, none were more shocked than Uncle. "You disrespect Uncle?" He then glared at his apprentice. "Uncle took you in, put roof over your head, put food in your belly, lots of food! And this is how you repay me?!"
"I cook, I clean, I travel across this world and into other worlds to fight monsters, wizards, demons, and get smothered in fish!" Tohru exclaimed back. "And you thank me by demanding 'many more things!'"
"I will never speak to you again!" They both shouted to each other before turning their backs on the other with crossed arms and scowls.
"Dang… didn't see that coming." Irma commented.
"Good for Tohru." Cornelia smirked. "Now if we can all follow his example about not talking to that old man." Only to get elbowed in the side by Jade. "Ow! What?"
Jackie quickly tried to defuse the tension between the pair. "Oh… Come on, now! You two are like family! You have so much to talk about!"
"Yeah, like maybe we can all talk about why our new friend has his own chapter in Japanese evilpedia?" Taranee suggested as she held up the book Tohru previously dropped, showing an illustration of a demon with the face of the very same mask they had just obtained.
Despite the tension, the group quickly gathered around the counter as Tohru read them the contents of this chapter, while Yan Lin had also helped to provide each of them a bowl of instant ramen for dinner.
"…And he was known as Ikazuki, the most fearsome of the Oni generals." Tohru read the section before slurping at his food.
"Jackie, please tell Tohru to refrain from making slurping sounds." Uncle told his nephew, still refusing to talk to his apprentice directly.
"Uh… Uncle said…"
"Hay Lin, please tell sensei that I will eat my dinner however I please." Tohru told Hay Lin in a similar manner as he continued to slurp.
"Um…" Hay Lin felt more than a little awkward.
"Please ask Tohru if he would like piece of Uncle for dessert!" Uncle scowled, talking to Cornelia specifically.
"Why are you yelling at me?!" Cornelia exclaimed as Tohru and Uncle gave each other the stink-eye, which Yan Lin promptly broke up.
"Tohru, Jin says you are doing an excellent job. Please keep reading." The elderly woman said in a soothing tone, breaking up any possible confrontation.
Despite that, Tohru did just that as he continued to read the chapter for the rest of the group. "…A natural leader, Ikazuki was second-in-command to the Lord of all Oni, Tarakudo, King of the Shadowkhan."
"And…? What else does it say?" Will asked.
"Nothing more. The chapter ends there." Tohru replied.
"It doesn't say anything about his Shadowkhan?" Alchemy asked.
"There are no details, but it says that the tribe he commanded was the most dangerous of the Shadowkhan." Tohru answered.
"Really?" Taranee questioned. "We had Shadowkhan that could fly, slice through solid steel, and even bulldoze their way through buildings! And you're saying they're not even the worst?!"
"That's… actually terrifying to think about." Irma said with a gulp.
"Well, it's a good thing we got this mask before one of the bad guys could put it on." Hay Lin quickly said.
Caleb began to think. "Hmm, if this Ikazuki was Tarakudo's right hand, it would mean he has to know some secrets that the other Oni generals don't. Like maybe a possible weakness, a way we can take down Tarakudo once and for all."
"Perhaps." Jackie replied. "But I do not think that it is possible to interrogate a mask, Caleb."
Jade suddenly snapped her fingers. "I got an idea."
Section 13
The group, minus Yan Lin who decided to remain at the shop, were now inside the Talisman vault as Jade pulled the Rat Talisman from its pedestal.
"If you wanna talk to an inanimate mask, try the Talisman that brings motion to the motionless." Jade stated.
"Wow, great idea Jade!" Hay Lin smiled.
"Really?" Cornelia looked skeptical. "We're using a Talisman that was once used by an evil demon to bring back to life another evil demon?"
"Yeah… is this really a good idea, Jackie?" Will asked.
"Probably not… but it's the best one we have at the moment." Jackie said with reluctance.
Jade placed the Rat Talisman on the mask's forehead, the mask itself placed on a pedestal of its own, causing the Talisman to 'melt' into it before the mask itself shinned and came to life.
"Ikazuki lives!" The Oni general announced. "Bow before my mighty form and…" He quickly looked around and realized he had no body whatsoever. "Where is my mighty form?" He then spotted the group of heroes before growling. "Insolent humans… You shall pay for your trickery, at the hands of my Shadowkhan!"
As Ikazuki attempted to summon his minions, the heroes took combative stances, prepared for anything as Caleb kept a firm grip on his katana, with Will already holding out the Heart of Kandrakar, ready to say the magic words. However, there didn't seem to be a need as no Shadowkhan appeared before them.
Ikazuki himself looked stunned for a moment before trying to start again. "At the hands of my Shadowkhan!" Yet again, no Shadowkhan arrived, causing the Oni to look confused and annoyed.
"They're not coming?" Alchemy looked around in confusion.
Irma smirked. "Looks like his pals are on vacation."
"The masks may only summon Shadowkhan if they are whole, attached to a human host." Tohru explained.
"That's a relief." Will breathed a huge sigh along with Jackie.
"Jade, please tell Tohru not to state obvious." Uncle stated.
"Uncle says 'duh'." Jade translated.
"If he can't call for reinforcements, it means we have all day to make him tell us everything he knows." Caleb smirked as he was the first to address Ikazuki. "So, start talking demon! Tell us how to defeat Tarakudo right now!"
"I shall devour your brain!" Ikazuki exclaimed in defiance.
"With what?" Jade asked in a mocking tone. "You got no hands to grab us, you're just a tiny little mask." She poked at his cheeks, teasingly, only for Ikazuki to snap his teeth at her, almost chomping off her hand had Jade not pulled it back right away. "Okay… but you do have razor sharp teeth."
"So… how are we gonna do this?" Taranee asked. "We've never really interrogated anybody before…"
"Let's do it good cop, bad cop style." Hay Lin suggested as she and Alchemy approached him first with a pleasing demeanor. "Hello Mr. Ikazuki, you look pretty good. If you tell us how to take down your boss, we'll make it worth your while."
"You say you want brains?" Alchemy offered. "We can't get you actual brains, but Halloween is next week, and we can get you candy that's shaped like brains."
"Either that or we could do this hard way." Cornelia stepped up with Irma, both taking the role of bad cop. "Irma and I here both got a little sister or brother that are total brats."
"And they just love arts and crafts projects." Irma added. "So, unless you wanna have your mug redecorated with macaroni noodles, glue, and stickers, I suggest you start giving us something useful!"
"Your threats do not interest me." Ikazuki said, unphased by their interrogation tactics. "But he does." He paid a glance at Tohru.
"M… Me…?" Tohru stuttered in surprise.
"With my magnificent face atop your mighty form, we would be unstoppable!" Ikazuki declared, causing Tohru to gulp as his fear of Oni began to take hold, but Will was quick to step up to the sentient mask with a glare.
"The big guy is off limits! So, I'm only gonna say this once you half-baked arts-and-crafts project: tell us how to take down Tarakudo, or it's straight to the furnace for you!"
Ikazuki glared back. "Foolish child, I have faced warriors the likes of which could only be found in your legends! A little girl does not frighten me."
"Well, these 'little girls' have kicked monster butt before." Jade said referring to herself and her friends. "Plus, you don't even have a butt, so quick the macho act and start singing before we make you!"
Ikazuki growled as he glanced at Tohru to speak to him directly again. "This world must have undergone quite the change if children are willing to fight and grown men shiver like rodents. Perhaps I can help you with that fear that is clearly visible in your eyes, giant."
Tohru gulped. "Uh… no. But… but I… I do not want uh…"
"Alchemy, please tell Tohru to stop quivering like frightened Chihuahua!" Uncle scolded, annoyed with Tohru's behavior.
"Please tell the scowling Billy goat that I am not frightened!" Tohru glared directly at Uncle.
"Guys! Guys! We got a freaking demon here! Do we have to argue about this right now!?" Irma tried to break it up. However, neither Tohru nor Uncle seemed keen on breaking it up as they began to circle each other, with Tohru's back passing behind the pedestal.
"Please tell Tohru will give him something to be frightened about!" Uncle glared.
"Please tell Sensei, that I would like to see him try!" Tohru challenged.
However, Jackie, Caleb, and the girls got in-between and tried to pull the arguing pair away from each other.
"That is enough!" Jackie told them. "We should not be arguing with each other! We should be questioning the mask!"
"Um… what mask?" Cornelia said with a gulp as she was the first to see that Ikazuki had vanished, much to everyone's horror.
"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed.
"What?!" Caleb shouted.
"It is gone!" Tohru also exclaimed.
"Where'd he go?!" Will almost screamed. "He was right here!"
"He… He is only a mask!" Jackie stated in surprise. "He did not just get up and walk away!"
The group directed their attention to the vault door they had left open upon entering. "Did… he?" Jade asked with a gulp.
"Yeah, we probably should have closed that when we came in here." Alchemy gulped.
The group quickly made their way outside the vault, with Tohru being the last one out, where nobody could see Ikazuki's mask form hanging off the back of his overalls via his teeth. Once the group made their way to Section 13's main room, they began to look under every desk, every corner, every nook and cranny, any place that could hide a small mask.
"Hello! Mr. Oni!" Hay Lin called out.
"How could he even get out?! He didn't have any legs or wings or anything!" Taranee questioned, not noticing that Ikazuki had silently swung himself from Tohru to a random agent passing by.
"Does the Rat Talisman let you do that?" Irma asked.
"No, it only enables statues to come to life. It does not grow artificial limbs or anything." Tohru answered as the agent Ikazuki caught a ride on walked toward the elevator leading to the exit.
"If Ikazuki gets loose, he could wind up on someone's face." Jackie said with fear already begging to set in for the whole group.
"And be able to summon his Shadowkhan." Will voiced with dread.
"The most dangerous tribe of all." Jade said in an equally dreadful tone, not noticing that Ikazuki had already managed to exit the facility.
Meridian – Phobos' Castle
"You've lost yet another mask?!" Phobos shouted as he stood from his throne to glare at the bowing villains including Cedric, Wong, Miranda, and even Finn, Ratso and Chow. "And even worse… none of you were even able to put it on before Chan and the Guardians took it?!"
"Hey, I was gonna! Until this brat here swiped it!" Chow said, putting the blame on Miranda.
"I think our prince would prefer the mask to be wielded by someone competent!" Miranda argued.
Phobos practically gnashed his teeth at this bickering and was more than willing to lash out at them just to cease the arguing. However, Tarakudo emerged from the walls to bring it all to a halt.
"Perhaps you can all channel that frustration into something more productive." Tarakudo offered. "Because I sense that the mask is again within our reach."
"You're certain of this?" Phobos questioned the Oni-King.
"One hundred percent." Tarakudo confirmed.
"I don't care how you do it." Phobos faced his minions again. "I don't care which of you wears it. I don't even care if it ends up on somebody else entirely. Bring. Me. That. Mask!"
Earth - Heatherfield
Ikazuki had hopped from the agent to the back shirt of a random stranger that had passed by an alleyway when the living mask spotted a certain trio of teenage punks that were walking out from the alleyway.
"Those stupid girls." Uriah grumbled. "Why are they acting all adulty and stuff!? They should be screaming like girls when we scare them!"
"Well, they hang out with some grownups." Kurt said.
"Maybe they just think they're grownups?" Clubber also said, but he quickly noticed something had leapt onto his right pant leg. "Hey guys, something's on my pants." He pulled it off to show it to Uriah and Kurt.
"Hey, isn't that the mask-thing those girls and their grownup friends had?" Kurt asked.
"One of you place me upon your face!" Ikazuki demanded. "Now!"
All three boys screamed as Clubber threw the mask away. "That mask just talked!" Clubber screamed, the mask landing on its face just outside the entrance of the alleyway
"Let's get out of here!" Uriah exclaimed as they were about to run out, only to literally run into the group consisting of Cedric, Miranda, Wong, Finn, Ratso, and Chow (the shapeshifters in their human form again).
"Hey, watch where you guys are going!" Finn stated as the punks were shoved.
"Nuh-huh, you watch where you're going!" Uriah replied back.
"What is this?" Cedric questioned as he and the rest of his cohorts stood up.
"Dude, why are you guys orange?" Kurt questioned the Dark Chi Enforcers.
"And what's with the fancy get-up?" Clubber asked, referring to Cedric, Wong, and Miranda's attire. "Only girls play dress up and wear makeup."
"Yeah, Halloween's next week, losers!" Uriah taunted as he held up an L on his forehead.
"Don't have time for this." Miranda muttered, none of them noticing the Ikazuki mask was right there in the alleyway, with Ikazuki attempting to push himself up from the ground with his tongue.
"Be gone, children. We will not entertain these games." Wong stated as they proceeded to walk away.
"Yeah, get lost punks!" Chow added as he pushed Uriah back, with the bully landing on his rear, which just so happened to land on Ikazuki himself.
"Oh yeah?! Why don't…!" Suddenly Uriah felt a tight pain squeeze around his rear, causing him to scream as he leapt to his feet where his gang, as well as the Dark Chi Enforcers, Wong, Cedric, and Miranda turned around in shock to see Uriah's rear glowing as a certain mask melded with that part of his body.
"Ikazuki lives! Bow before my mighty form!" The Oni General proclaimed as he was now attached to Uriah's butt.
"AAHH! URIAH'S BUTT IS TALKING!" Kurt and Clubber both screamed as they ran for their lives.
"Wait! Don't leave me here!" Uriah called to his gang as he glanced behind toward a window to see the talking mask on his butt. "No… this isn't happening… this isn't happening…!"
Finn, Cedric, Ratso, Wong, Chow, and even Miranda looked nothing short of perplexed at this situation as well. Eyebrows cocked and jaws almost unhinging as none of them saw this coming.
"No way I'm bowing to some kid's butt." Ratso commented.
Meanwhile, the sun had already set as the group of heroes began to search the streets of Heatherfield. They looked all over Section 13, but they couldn't find any sing of Ikazuki, so the only logical place to look was outside.
"Ikazuki could be anywhere in the city! It's like trying to find a needle in the haystack!" Taranee stated.
"So, let's just go back to the shop and use the Hanafuda Cards to find him again, right?" Caleb asked.
"Wrong!" Uncle replied. "Hanafuda cards work only once per mask! After mask is found, cards are wiped clean!"
"Well, that's stupid." Irma said. "How are we gonna find the mask if we can't use the cards?"
"Please tell sensei, that we should conjure a locator spell." Tohru suggested, while still not talking to Uncle directly, who crossed his arms as he looked away.
"One of you, please tell Tohru that proper locator spell will take too long to make." Uncle said before his eyes briefly widened. "Not that I could hear him."
"Oh, for the love of… You guys are still arguing?!" Cornelia exclaimed.
"Alright, that's it." Will stated. "This is both your faults! The mask got away because you two were too busy arguing with each other! If we keep this up, that mask is gonna end up on someone's face!"
"Will is correct." Jackie agreed. "For whatever reason you two are arguing, it doesn't matter in a crisis like this."
"So, both of you either buck up or shut up so we can find the stupid thing!" Jade added.
Uncle, realizing that they weren't getting anywhere by arguing, tried to search his person, but couldn't find what he was looking for. "Tell ex-apprentice, he did not give Uncle mask-removal potion!"
"Please tell sensei, that his ex-apprentice, has it covered." Tohru had produced a vial of the potion he already made from his pocket.
"You made a potion already, even though nobody wore the mask?" Caleb asked.
"Never take any chances when it comes to the Oni." Tohru said.
"Way to think ahead, big guy." Alchemy gave a playful nudge with her elbow and an approved smile.
Meanwhile, the villains had moved deeper into the same alleyway they had found the mask, and its current host, in order to avoid drawing attention as Uriah tried to pull Ikazuki from his rear.
"Prince Phobos said he did not care how the mask was retrieve, or even if ended up on somebody else…" Cedric said.
"But I do not think this is what he had in mind." Miranda finished, sounding just as perplexed as her fellow shapeshifter.
"At least we found it." Finn commented. "Sure glad that's not my ass he's stuck to."
"Remove your hands from my face!" Ikazuki ordered as Uriah still tried to pull him off.
"Remove your face from my butt!" Uriah argued back.
"Uh kid… I don't think he's gonna let go." Ratso said, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible.
"Well, if one of you freaks has an idea to get your buddy off, go right ahead!" Uriah shouted.
"Actually, we do." Chow said in realization. "You need one of those mask-removal potions." He then turned to Wong. "Can't you whip something up?"
"Unfortunately, no." Wong replied. "Even if I knew the necessary ingredients to produce a spell, it requires the use of good chi to fully empower the potion. And as the most malevolent of dark chi master, I lack the good chi necessary to produce a proper removal spell."
"In that case…" Ikazuki said as he began to concentrate, causing all the shadows in the area to move around them. The shadows then solidified as a new breed of Shadowkhan emerged. They were clad in dark blue, almost black, armor resembling samurais and had red V-shaped visors for eyes. One of these Shadowkhan had picked up the frightened Uriah's body and held him over his shoulder to give Ikazuki a better means to stand up fully. "I will have to make do for the time being."
"This is dream. This is a dream. This is a dream. This just a dream." Uriah muttered to himself. "My butt isn't talking. And I'm not surrounded by a bunch of armored monster guys. Yeah? I'm asleep at home." He tried to delude himself into thinking this was all just a dream.
At the same time, Uncle and Tohru had managed to each brew their own separate locator spells, though not considered proper, it would at least point them in the general direction and that was better than nothing as the two Chi Wizards led the rest of the heroes down the street.
"Lizard says the mask is this way." Uncle pointed his dry lizard in one direction.
However, Tohru, who was currently using a blowfish, found himself pointing in a separate direction. "Blowfish says the mask is that way!"
Uncle then directed his attention toward the others. "Please tell Tohru that Uncle's lizard has seniority over his blowfish!"
Everyone groaned in annoyance. "I give up." Jackie muttered.
"My friends and I get into arguments all the time, but we at least know to put it aside when we're on a mission." Caleb said. "This is getting ridiculous."
"If you can make them stop, then go for it." Cornelia told him. "We're all getting sick of this."
Suddenly, Tohru felt a chill down his spine. "Please tell sensei… I have the willies!"
That got everyone's attention as Taranee found herself looking in a certain direction. "Probably because of them." The group saw where she was pointing, revealing to be two samurai-esque Shadowkhan standing guard by an alleyway.
"Shadowkhan…" Jade muttered.
"So much for it not ending up on anybody's face." Alchemy said as Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar.
"Guardians Unite!"
Tarakudo emerged from the wall to great his second-in-command but was not expecting him to be in this state, attached to teenage boy's rear end.
"General Ikazuki…. How good to see you… You're looking rather… heinous…?" Tarakudo couldn't find the right words to address the situation.
"Oh, hey you're a friend of my talking ass?" Uriah asked in a seemingly pleasant tone. "Well could you do me a favor and GET HIM THE HELL OFF ME!" He shouted.
"Pipe down, wort!" Ikazuki told him. "Indeed, Lord Tarakudo. I must seek a more… suitable host." Everyone heard a powerful yell as they all directed their attention to Tohru who had just thrown away two Shadowkhan with his bare hands. "It would seem my search is already over."
Jackie, The Guardians, Caleb, Uncle, and Alchemy also joined the fray, only for them to gasp at who and what Ikazuki was attached to.
"Uh… hey girls." Uriah waved nervously. "Kinda in trouble here…?"
"Oh… my… god…" Taranee muttered
Jackie gasped as Hay Lin covered her mouth in shock, with Caleb stuttering in disbelief. "How… wha… what does… why…?"
"Aiya….!" Uncle said in a startles gasp.
"I'm blind! I'm blind!" Cornelia tried to cover her eyes.
"That is… wrong on so many levels…." Will winced.
"I have no comment to give." Alchemy said with a blank look on her face.
Suddenly, Jade and Irma both burst out laughing uncontrollably, with the former holding her stomach, and the later trying to support herself by holding onto Jade's arm.
"Hey… hey look!" Irma stuttered in between laughs. "It's the demon from Planet Uranus!" She said in a hysterical laugh.
"Want us to kick his butt….!?" Jade also laughed. "Does that mean Uriah's face?!" She was almost crying with laughter alongside Irma.
Even Finn, Ratso, and Chow found themselves laughing. "Okay… that's a good one." Chow commented.
"Again, super glad it's not me!" Finn laughed.
"Hey um… if the kid's gotta go to the bathroom, does it come out of the other guy's mouth?" Ratso asked, which only caused Finn, Chow, Jade, and Irma to laugh harder.
However, Ikazuki was far from amused as he growled with rage. "Enough of this! Shadowkhan, attack!"
"Incoming!" Will warned as all the Shadowkhan rushed to their enemies at insane speeds. Tohru tried to bring up a trashcan as a weapon, but one Shadowkhan had took out a black-colored katana to slice through the trashcan clean in half.
"Shadow swords?" Jade muttered before dodging one slice. "Okay, not laughing anymore!" She stated before flying up to gain some distance
Quickly getting serious, the heroes attempted to defend themselves. Will ducked and dodged the slice from one Samurai Shadowkhan, she tried to brandish a trashcan lid as a makeshift shield, only for the lid to be sliced into tiny pieces with little effort. The Shadowkhan would have brought his blade down on her had Jackie not come in to deliver a flying roundhouse to knock the Shadowkhan back and destroy it once it was sent flying to the wall.
Taranee tried to erect a wall of fire to encircle around Cedric, who had quickly transformed into his larger beast form, as well as three other Shadowkhan Samurai, but they each had drawn their own shadow swords to actually cut through the blaze and escape, much to Taranee's shock as she tried to shoot several fireballs at them, but the Shadowkhan sliced through them easily enough with their weapons.
Caleb had ducked under the swing of one enemy to plunge his own katana into its stomach area, causing the Samurai Shadowkhan to vanish, but two tried to ambush from behind. However, a rock wall emerged from the ground in-between to separate the Caleb from the deadly adversaries, courtesy of Cornelia. However, their respite was cut short as the enemy's shadow-blades cut through the earth like butter.
"Geeze, just how sharp are those things?!" Cornelia questioned as she threw a series of rocks at them, but they were quickly cut down all the same.
"These Samurai Khan are definitely worse than those other Shadowkhan we've fought!" Hay Lin commented as she flew beside Irma to square off against four of their newfound enemy.
"Samurai Khan?" Irma questioned.
"Well… they look like samurais!" Hay Lin pointed out.
"Great, so now that you're done naming, how about actually fighting them?!" Irma exclaimed as she and Hay Lin tried to combine their powers to send a surging vortex of water and wind, almost like a storm, at the quartet of Samurai Khan. The front two were quickly destroyed, but the back two had leapt into the air to draw their shadow-swords and slice at the attack right where Irma and Hay Lin's hands were, which they pulled back just in time, else their own hands get sliced off as well.
Tarakudo continued watched as he saw while the Guardians and their friends were having trouble against the strongest of the Shadowkhan tribes, they were still able to hold their ground. He was both impressed and frustrated at the same time.
"Yoo-hoo, Mr. Oni King!" Alchemy called out as she held a half-rotten onion. "Look what I found in the trash?"
"No! Anything but onions!" Tarakudo shouted in despair, only for Alchemy to throw the rotten onion at him anyways, causing the usual amount of pain one would expect from an onion making contact with an Oni. "Ugh! My eyes! My eyes!" He retreated, fading away through the walls.
Jade threw out a wall of fluent shadow magic in front of her against the slash of one Samurai Khan's sword, but to her surprise, her own shield wasn't even scratched. "Shadows can't slice through other shadows, huh?" Jade said before smirking as she blew away her shield before coating her hands in shadows to clap the shadow-sword that the Samurai Khan lashed out at her, before Jade pulled back her feet to kick him down.
At the same time, Uncle was locked in another wizard-battle against Daolon Wong, the former using his dried lizard to shoot a beam of good chi magic, while the dark wizard used his scepter to blast his own dark chi, both bolts meeting in the center. Meanwhile, Tohru had thrown a Samurai Khan to the ground as he came back-to-back with his teacher. Uncle and Tohru made brief eye-contact before stubbornly looking away to resume their own fights without helping the other.
"Those girls and their friends have superpowers?" Uriah looked in shock. "No, wait… that's right. I'm dreaming. Just a total dream."
Ikazuki rolled his eyes at his host's demeanor, as he couldn't wait to finally be rid of him. "Take the giant." He ordered two Samurai Khan as well as Miranda.
"Turning his own strength to ours? While also depriving the Guardians of yet another friend? Lovely." Miranda sneered as she crawled up on the walls while Tohru continued to hold back against the Samurai Khan.
Uncle quickly noticed Miranda on the wall behind Tohru before turning toward the only non-Guardian girl present. "Alchemy, tell Tohru to look out behind…!"
But it was too late, Miranda had already shot a great deal amount of webbing to ensnare Tohru. Though he would normally be able to break out of it easily enough, it left him vulnerable for several Samurai Khan to surround and grab him before dissolving into a puddle of liquid shadow, pulling Tohru in.
"No! AIYA!" Tohru shouted in distressed as he was completely submerged.
"Tohru!" All the Guardians, Jackie, Alchemy, and Caleb all shouted in shock at seeing him vanish.
"The giant will make a most suitable host." Ikazuki smirked.
"Looks like my dream is about to turn into a good one." Uriah thought to himself before he felt a familiar sensation in his rear. "Hey, can this dream have a bathroom?"
With their mission complete, the Samurai Khan all threw down a series of smoke bombs to engulf themselves, Ikazuki with Uriah, along with Cedric, Wong, Miranda, Finn, Ratso, and Chow, causing them all to vanish, leaving the shocked heroes as they, especially Uncle, could only look in horror as dread filled each of their bodies.
Uncle's Rare Finds
"Ow!" Uncle slapped himself yet again after looking through his cupboard for the scroll necessary. "Ow!" He slapped himself once more after failing to find it. "Ow!" He gave himself yet another slap.
"Here, let me help." Cornelia said as she herself dope-slapped Uncle.
"Ow!"
"Please, that is enough." Jackie held Cornelia's hand by the wrist.
"No, Uncle has it coming!" Uncle insisted before slapping himself again. "Ow! Uncle had opportunity to warn Tohru! But did he? No! All because of silly argument! Now my apprentice is in danger of becoming demon!" He slapped himself again. "Ow! One more thing… Tohru was right. Uncle says, 'One more thing' too often!"
"You're only realizing that now?" Cornelia grumbled.
Jackie, Caleb, and the other girls looked towards each other, hopping to say something, but it seemed Yan Lin beat them to it.
"Alright Jin. Yes, you made a mistake." Yan Lin began. "But instead of belittling yourself, you must find a way to make amends. Remember, all the mistakes we've made; you, myself, Halinor, Kadma, Cassidy… even… Nerissa…" She stuttered with that last part. "We when we make a mistake, yes we must acknowledge it, but it is also equally important that we find a way to rectify it. And that is what you must do now."
Uncle had a sad expression on his face. "Kadma was one who didn't admit mistakes…"
"But you have before, and you will do so again." Yan Lin placed a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever argument you've had with Tohru before no longer matters. He needs you now more than ever, and I know you have the power to help him."
Uncle looked with an emotional expression as everyone else began to pitch in. "Yeah, come on, you're a badass Chi Wizard. If anyone can find the big guy, it's you." Irma said.
"We'll help you get our boy back." Will said. "So, let's get to work."
"We don't have a need to worry. "Jackie told the group. "Ikazuki cannot remove himself from Uriah without the mask removal potion. And that is safe and sound."
Taranee winced. "In… Tohru's… pocket."
Everyone else palled, realizing what that meant. "Bad day." Hay Lin muttered.
Fortunately, Uncle had found the scroll that he had been looking for. "We must find Tohru, before Ikazuki finds potion and places himself on Tohru's face."
"Let's hope they at least wash him first." Alchemy tried to put in some humor. "Could buy us some time."
"And how are we supposed to find Tohru if he got sucked into the shadows?" Caleb questioned.
"With Jade." Uncle responded, much to everyone's surprise, especially the aforementioned girl.
"Huh?! Me?!"
"Yes, you." Uncle confirmed as he rolled out the scroll to show an illustration of the Shadow Realm. "Shadowkhan and Oni travel through the Shadow Realm. You are Shadow Guardian. You have shadow powers. You, like Oni and Shadowkhan, can travel through shadow and find Tohru."
Jade looked to her own hands somewhat nervously before a determined expression formed on her face. She might be nervous about entering the Shadow Realm, the memories of her as the Queen of the Shadowkhan still lingering, but right now, finding Tohru took priority and she will rescue him no matter what.
"Tell me what to do."
Tohru was being held in a random warehouse, his hands tied with shadow-bindings behind a pillar as he was being interrogated by Ikazuki with Cedric, Miranda, Daolon Wong, and the Dark Chi Enforcers around them.
"They tell me you are a conjurer of good magic." The Oni general stated. "They tell me you are the maker of mask removal potions. So, provide me with the potion I require!"
"Your breath smells like unwashed underwear!" Tohru said defiantly.
"Hey, let me give it a shot." Uriah said as the Samurai Khan carrying him turned him around for Uriah to face Tohru. "Hey, you're friends with those girls, right? Well, I'm friends with them too. And I know it's all dream and all, but could a friend of a friend help another friend of a friend out and get this talking mask off my butt? Pretty please?"
He was turned around as Ikazuki took control again. "The potion, or I shall feast upon your brains!"
"Oooh, the old good cop, bad cop." Ratso observed.
"Are we really willing to do this again?" Cedric questioned. "Attempting to corrupt yet another ally of the Guardians, after the last three failures?"
"This time is different." Wong stated. "We are in a location far from the Guardians' home, they are unable to track us here. The second the mask is placed on his face; we will leave for Meridian."
"Hopefully, this time we'll have a permanent ally as the Guardians loose one. For good." Miranda stated, wanting to make them suffer emotionally.
"A more strategic option would be to place the mask on one of our faces." Cedric said. "Perhaps mine."
"Dude, you really want that on your face after where it's been?" Finn questioned.
"Come on big guy!" Uriah pleaded with Tohru. "I really need to use the nearest dream bathroom!"
Now it was Ikazuki's turn again. "Insolent slug! I command you to produce the…!" He pressed Uriah's feet against Tohru's face, forcing Tohru's body back slightly and also causing the potion to slip from his pocket and out into the open. "…Potion." Ikazuki sneered as Tohru only groaned.
"Okay… so how's this work again?" Will asked as she and the rest of her team were already in their respective Guardian forms as they, Jackie, Uncle, Yan Lin, Caleb, and Alchemy all stood around Jade who sat in a meditative-line stance in the middle of the floor.
"We use locator spell with Tohru's hair, while Jade opens portal to Shadow Realm." Uncle explained. "Once there, locator spell will take us directly to Tohru." Uncle then placed Tohru's hair in the vial of green liquid, completing the spell. "He never did unclog sink."
"Uncle, are you sure this is the only way?" Jackie asked, wanting to make absolutely certain.
"This is only way to find Tohru before Ikazuki is placed on his face." Uncle confirmed as he poured the locator spell into Jade's hands as she immediately began to channel her shadow magic into them, causing her hands to glow between a shifting green and black, the magics mixing together.
With a sigh, Jade got to work. "Here's go nothing." Channeling the power into the ground below her, Jade had created a portal into the Shadow Realm. Once it was created; Will, Jackie, and Uncle each placed one of their hands-on Jade's person, with Yan Lin and Taranee doing the same for Uncle, Cornelia, Caleb, and Irma placed their hands on Jackie, and finally Hay Lin and Alchemy placed their hands on Will.
Suddenly, the portal generated a pulling force that had pulled Jade directly into the portal, with Will, Jackie, and Uncle right behind her, right before the rest of their friends were all pulled in. Everyone screamed as Jade felt the locator spell pull her, and by extension, everyone else hanging onto her, through the Shadow Realm and to wherever Tohru was being kept.
Ratso had the mask removal potion poured onto his hands, causing them to glow green. "Remove the wort from me and place my glorious face upon the giant's mighty form!" Ikazuki demanded.
"Yes! Finally, my dream turns good!" Uriah exclaimed with a grin, in complete contradiction with the look of terror on Tohru's face.
"No…! Anything but Oni…!"
Cedric, Wong, and Miranda looked in joyous anticipation, especially Ikazuki as Ratso reached toward him. However, he also realized that his hands would also be coming into contact with the rear of a minor, and that made him cringe as he pulled his hands back, much to Ikazuki's irritation
"Well? What are you waiting for?!"
"Okay… first you guys have us search through a little girls' bedroom, now you want me to touch a kid's butt?!" Ratso questioned to not only the Oni general, but also the pair of shapeshifters and evil wizard. "Seriously, what is wrong with you people?!"
"Insect! You will do as instructed!" Cedric hissed.
"Remove the mask, or I will personally send you into oblivion!" Wong also exclaimed.
"Seriously, dream or not, just get this dang guy off my butt!" Even Uriah himself agreed.
"Okay, okay!" Ratso stated before turning to his friends. "But we are never going to bring this up again, especially around Elyon."
"Agreed." Finn nodded.
"I'm not even here." Chow said, looking away.
However, before Ratso could reach out, a large dark portal opened up from the ceiling as the Guardians, Chan Clan, along with Caleb, Yan Lin, and Alchemy all fell out before landing on the ground, much to the villains' surprise.
But Ikazuki was the first to get over his surprise. "Attack!" He ordered, causing at least two dozen Samurai Khan to emerge from the shadows of the warehouse and attack the group of heroes. Immediately, Jackie, Caleb, and the Guardians fought back against the legion of Samurai Khan.
"Tohru!" Uncle ran to his apprentice, with Yan Lin and Alchemy right behind him.
"Sensei!" Tohru was just as relieved to see him as Uncle used his chi-magic to free him from his shadow-bonds.
"I'm glad you two are talking again but save it for later." Yan Lin pointed to the incoming Cedric, Wong, and Miranda; prompting the quartet to stand up as Uncle tossed Yan Lin an extra blowfish before they engaged the enemy.
Jackie had used his hands to block and parry against the wrists of the trio of Samurai Khan surrounding him, in order to avoid touching the shadow swords they wielded and risk of losing a limb. He ducked under a series of slices to deliver a sweeping roundhouse to knock all three of them off their feet before leaping up to land his feet onto the face of one and destroy it. But before the other two could get up, they were blasted in the back by a series of fireballs, courtesy of Taranee.
"Tohru! Where is the potion?!" Jackie tried to call to him.
"Um… Jackie…?" Taranee pointed to Ratso, who still held the potion glowing in his hands.
"Here goes nothing." Ratso was about to pry the mask off Uriah's rear, only for Ikazuki to kick him back with Uriah's feet.
"Not now, fool!" Ikazuki exclaimed as the Samurai Khan grabbed him, as well as Finn and Chow to make sure they wouldn't interfere. "I would lose control of my Shadowkhan for the brief duration my face is between hosts!"
Caleb ran on an upper level of the building with a pair of Samurai Khan chasing after him. As much as he wanted to clash his own katana against there's, he knew how the shadow swords could slice through virtually everything else like butter and didn't want to take a chance. So, once he made some distance, he spotted a hanging hook near the edge before jumping and catching it, using it to swing into a trio of Samurai Khan that appeared to have Cornelia cornered, which he knocked down with his feet, swinging with enough force to obliterate them.
"I got your back!" Caleb said to Cornelia, who briefly turned around to see the same two Samurai Khan that had previously chased Caleb, jump off the edge to continue their pursuit. But Cornelia had quickly pulled two large rocks from the ground and shot them at the Samurai Khan before they could even land, destroying them in the process.
"And I got yours." Cornelia said with a smirk.
Will had also found herself backed toward a wall as two Samurai Khan attempted to slice at her, but like Jackie, Will had struck the arms and wrists of the Samurai Khan to parry their strikes without coming into contact with their blades. Suddenly, two shadow-blades had pierced through the chests of both Samurai Khan, causing them to vanish and reveal Jade with a dual set of shadow katanas of her own.
"Yeah, that's right. I've got shadow swords too." Jade spun her new weapons around like a master before flying to meet another group, with Will flying to provide her back up.
Meanwhile, Tohru continued to wrestle against Cedric, grabbing against the lower body of the humanoid serpent, with Cedric trying to wrestle him off while Uncle was in yet another wizard's duel against Daolon Wong. Tohru and Uncle made eye-contact, while also noticing a pair of Samurai Khan suddenly appear behind both of them.
"Tohru, behind you!" Uncle warned.
"Sensei, watch out!" Tohru also warned as they quickly parted from their respective foes, rushing past each other with Uncle shooting a chi-blast to obliterate one Samurai Khan, while Tohru used his own strength to punch and send the other one flying.
But Tohru wasn't done yet as he quickly grabbed the surprised Daolon Wong and threw him with enough strength to send him flying and crashing into a wall while Uncle aimed his dried lizard to blast a stun spell directly into Cedric's eyes, causing him to roar as he was blinded, leaving him open for Uncle to leap up and deliver a flying kick to the face, knocking him down.
Alchemy suddenly found herself webbed to a pillar as Miranda loomed closer toward her. "Awe, aren't you just cute when you're helpless like that?" Miranda mocked. "Don't worry, I promise to make it quick… AAAHH!" She screamed in pain as she felt multiple burning sensations at her back, curtsey of Yan Lin with a chi-magic blowfish in her hands.
"Pick on someone your own size." Yan Lin glared before blasting Miranda again with another chi-blast to send her flying back before helping to free Alchemy.
"Thanks. Did I mention I hate spiders?" Alchemy asked almost jokingly.
"You and everyone else on Earth." Yan Lin replied in a similarly humorous fashion.
"Guys! Don't attack them directly!" Taranee called out to the rest of her friends. "Try and trip them up!" She placed her hands on the floor to channel her fire magic through the ground before sending up a large pillar of fire to engulf three Samurai Khan at once.
"Right, so their swords can't slice through our attacks!" Hay Lin realized as she spun her body around, generating a vortex that began to suck in five Samurai Khan that were closest to her before she finally released and sent them flying and crashing onto the walls throughout the warehouse. Irma followed a similar tactic to Taranee's as she sprayed the floor down with water below a group of four Samurai Khan before channeling the water to attack from behind, stabbing each one in the back with a water-tentacle to destroy them.
However, Irma noticed a certain enemy running trying to get the drop on her leader. "Will! Watch your behind… I mean… behind you!"
Will turned around just in time to see the Samurai Khan carrying Ikazuki and Uriah attempting to rush her with its own shadow sword. But Will flew above the slice before grabbing at the spikes on the helmet of the Samurai Khan to flip him up and over her hovering form and into a group of three Samurai Khan, also knocking down Uriah's body, which Ikazuki quickly took control over.
The Oni-General stood up, using Uriah's hands as feet to face Will directly, consequently, having her come face-to-face with Uriah's demonic butt as Ikazuki made the gesture to 'bring it on' with Uriah's foot.
Will cringed in disgust as she held up her fists defensively. "This is so wrong."
Ikazuki lashed out with 'punches' of Uriah's feet, which Will tried to parry with her own hands. But Ikazuki reached out with Uriah's actual hands to try and grab one of her legs, but Will flew straight up to avoid it, forcing Ikazuki to jump up in pursuit, but Will used this to her advantage as she delivered a punch to Uriah's stomach, sending him falling toward the ground and landing on his rear, and consequently, Ikazuki's face. However, Will looked down to see that many of her friends were still having a great deal of trouble against the growing number of Samurai Khan, as well as the recovering Cedric, Wong, and Miranda and flew down to help them.
With Ikazuki dizzy from the impact, Uriah realized he quickly had control of his own body again. He then noticed Ratso's hands were still glowing as he got an idea. "Time for the real hero of this dream to go to work." He quickly ran to Ratso, who was still being held by a Samurai Khan. "Big guy! Give me a low five!"
Ratso held out his hands, where Uriah slapped them and transferred the removal spell to his own, which he used to quickly grab the mask that was firmly stuck on his rear and began to yank it off.
"No…. No…!" Ikazuki struggled against the pull, but the good magic was much stronger than he realized. The Samurai Khan all broke off from their respective battles as they began to move in and assist their general. "No… No…!" It was already too late, Uriah had completely yanked Ikazuki from his rear. "NO!"
The second they were separated, all the Samurai Khan instantly vanished, bringing the brawl to an end. "Who's the wort now? Wort." Uriah mocked Ikazuki, now just a simple sentient mask.
"Infidel! I will have my revenge!" Ikazuki swore.
Cedric hissed in disappointment as he slithered his way toward Wong and Miranda. "It is time to retreat." He said as Wong silently agreed before waving his scepter to encase himself, and the two shapeshifters in a dark smokescreen before the vanished, along with the Dark Chi Enforcers.
"Aw yeah! Who's the hero of my dream! Uriah! Whatchya say? Uriah!" He cheered for himself. "And the girls go wild! Nothing can stop…!" Suddenly, he was squeezed in the shoulder-neck area by Uncle, causing Uriah to lose consciousness as he fell to the ground, causing him to drop Ikazuki, who rolled closer to Jade.
"Fools! I will claim a new mighty form and devour your…!" Ikazuki's rant was brought to an end as Jade yanked the Rat Talisman from his forehead, rending the mask non-sentient once more.
"Blah, blah, blah." Jade smirked.
"Finally. Thank you, Jade." Taranee breathed in relief with everyone else.
"Yes. All that chatter was giving Uncle headache." Uncle also said. "Besides, there are others, whom I'd rather hear speak." He said, glancing up with a smile toward his apprentice.
"Likewise, sensei." Tohru agreed.
"Aww, you're back together again." Hay Lin said as she pulled them both into a hug, in which Yan Lin smiled and nodded.
"Nice to have our wizarding duo back." Irma nodded with approval as well.
"So long as this means we're not playing messenger bird again, I'm cool." Cornelia agreed.
"Same here." Alchemy agreed.
"Alright, now a bigger question is, what do we do with him?" Jackie asked as they all looked down to Uriah, who was already snoring and drooling.
"Is he asleep?" Caleb voiced his surprise aloud.
"Hmm, he did think this whole thing was a dream." Will began to think. "We could drop him off at his house, and he'll think he dreamt everything."
"Good, because I do not want this jerk in the group." Alchemy said.
"Let's call Section 13 and…" Jade however took a few whiffs of the air before plugging her nose in disgust. "Ugh! Who farted?!" Everyone else began to catch the stench as they directed their attention toward the source, an unconscious Uriah.
"Um, he said he had to use the restroom." Tohru said.
Yan Lin winced. "Sometimes, when someone really has to go to the bathroom, and they lose consciousness, they sometimes lose control of their… bowels."
Everyone paled in horror realizing what that meant. "He crapped his pants?!" Cornelia practically screamed as all the girls flew as far away as they could, with Alchemy running for the same purpose as they all screamed in disgust.
"I'm not touching him!" Irma raised her hands up.
"Neither am I!" Jade also raised her hands up.
"Ditto!" Taranee exclaimed.
"Not it!" Hay Lin shouted.
"I'm not touching him even with a five-foot pole!" Will quickly said.
Uncle gave a sigh. "I will carry him. This is my fault because of silly argument, so Uncle must repent."
Even Yan Lin winced. "I think that's a bit too much repentance, even for you Jin."
"Allow me to assist then, sensei." Tohru walked forward to help Uncle as everyone else tried to get as far away as they could.
"Okay… I vote that we never bring this whole thing up ever again!" Alchemy quickly said.
"Agreed!" Jackie, Will, Jade, Irma, Hay Lin, Cornelia, Taranee, and Caleb all replied simultaneously without hesitation.
Done.
That's five masks down, four to go.
Now, I know this might seem almost exactly like how the cannon episode went in JCA, but I personally found the episode to be quite hilarious. I laughed my butt off the first time I watched it (no pun intended).
But I did change it up slightly by having Uriah be the one to have Ikazuki fused to his rear, and don't worry, he'll think it was all just a dream and he won't become a part of the team like what happened with Alchemy.
But I think what was most important about this episode, which I couldn't change from the cannon, was how the relationship between Uncle and Tohru developed from this point. Even Tohru's patience as its limits, with Uncle learning that he says 'one more thing' too often and being rather ungrateful to his apprentice. But now, I think their relationship has taken a turn for the better, which I think is necessary and quite wholesome.
Anyways, we have yet another Oni mask chapter after this one. As for which one it was, I'm sure you could all see the hint throughout this chapter with several characters saying "Halloween is next week". I'm sure you all know what that means.
Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Love you all.