Hi everyone, thanks again for your patience. I know many of you wanted this particular chapter posted at the time of Halloween, but as I said back then, I already had a plan and I intend to stick to it. And now, here we are with the battle for the sixth Oni mask. Who's gonna wear it this time? You may find yourself quite surprised. With all that being said, let's get started.
Fright Night Fight
Spider Rock, a natural national monument located in the Apache County of Arizona, stood almost six thousand feet straight up within the canyon park. And at the moment, Cornelia, in her Guardian form, was near the top as she focused her Earth powers on the area of the rock in front of her to clear away part of its surface to reveal what she and her friends came here to find.
"I know what I'm not wearing for Halloween this year." Cornelia commented as she pulled out the sixth Oni mask. It was orange with yellow eyes and red pupils, with purple hair at the back. She quickly flew back down where Jackie, Will, Hay Lin, Irma, Jade, Caleb, and Taranee were all waiting for her, the other five girls in their own Guardian forms as well.
"And that makes six." Jackie said.
"Ooh, I really like the purple hair at the back." Hay Lin commented. "Really contradicts well with the orange face."
"And it'll be collecting dust in Section 13 when we get back home." Will said. "So, let's get going."
"Someone's in a hurry." Caleb noted.
"Well duh! Today's Halloween!" Irma reminded. "We had to fly all the way out to Arizona! The flight here was five freaking hours!"
"If we leave now, we can get back to Heatherfield just before sunset and get our trick-or-treating on!" Jade added.
"Yeah, that's all true." Will said. "But I'm more concerned about getting the mask out of here before the bad guys show up and it ends up on one of their faces. Or worse, one of ours!"
"Eh, yeah, that's a better reason." Taranee admitted. "We already had to deal with five tribes of Shadowkhan so far, and that's five too many."
"Agreed." Jackie nodded. "Let's go before…"
"Dragon Decimates Village!" They all looked eastward in surprise to see a surging blue fireball rushing toward them at intense speed. All seven of them split apart to avoid getting trampled and blown away just as the fireball hit the base of Spider Rock with explosive results. The dust quickly cleared to reveal the Dark Chi Warrior known as Hak Foo.
"Oh great, it's the Black Tiger on magic steroids." Irma muttered with lowered eyelids.
"And he's not the only one." Taranee pointed behind them as they saw Cedric, Miranda, each in their respective beast forms, along with Daolon Wong appear as well.
"Chan, Guardians." Cedric hissed. "Thanks for retrieving the mask for us."
"Now I will be taking it so that I may place it upon my face." Hak Foo declared.
"Are you kidding?" Hay Lin questioned. "But you're already orange! This mask so wouldn't work well for your skill tone!"
"Right, cause that's what we're worried about, Hay Lin." Jade muttered sarcastically.
"You want the mask…" Caleb drew his katana, ready for battle. "Come and take it!"
"With pleasure." Wong sneered as he blasted a series of dark magic bolts from his scepter, forcing the group to split and avoid them.
"Cornelia!" Jackie called to her as he backflipped to avoid Wong's attacks. "Take the mask and go!"
"Don't have to tell me!" Cornelia shouted as she flew away with the Oni mask in hand.
"Raptor chases prey!" Hak Foo gave pursuit.
"Jade, you and I are gonna help Cornelia!" Will told her best friend.
"Got it." Jade nodded.
"Everyone else, take care of these guys!" Will said to the rest of her teammates as the two Guardians flew to aid their comrade.
Cedric roared as he lunged toward Jackie, throwing a fist toward him, but Jackie backflipped out of the way as the fist cracked the rocky ground. Caleb then assisted Jackie as he rushed at Cedric's side, slicing him with his katana, causing Cedric to roar in pain before he swung his tail at him, knocking Caleb back before Jackie leapt toward Cedric, leaping from his chest, toward his face, where he dealt a kick to knock him down.
Miranda spat a great deal of webbing toward Hay Lin, who proved too quick to avoid the strands as she flew in the air before blasting a cyclone of wind straight toward the humanoid spider, who leapt to avoid the attack before crawling up the side of Spider Rock.
"Hey." Hay Lin pointed out. "You're a spider… and the place is called Spider Rock. That's pretty funny, in an ironic sort of way."
"I don't care." Miranda replied before spitting more web at Hay Lin, who created a sphere of air around her to blow the web back.
Taranee threw a series of fireballs directly at Wong, who protected himself with a dome of dark magic, which even blocked a stream of water shot at him from behind by Irma. Even with both elemental attacks pressed against him, Wong's magic seemed too resilient for them as he laughed.
"Foolish children." Wong chuckled. "You may have grown more accustomed to your powers, but my experience far trumps anything you have accomplished in your pitiful lives."
"We get it. You're old!" Irma stated. "They say I talk too much."
Meanwhile, Cornelia held the Oni mask close as she threw a series of boulders and rocks toward Hak Foo in an attempt to slow him down, but he simply threw out his fists to punch and shatter each boulder on contact as he got closer.
"Hey, Dork Foo!" He heard from behind as Will flew in at high speeds to land a solid kick at his face, which was able to knock him down onto the ground. Right as he hit the ground, his shadow morphed into a series of tentacles that wrapped around his limbs in an attempt to restrain him.
"I've heard of chasing your shadow, but it looks like the shadow's got you." Jade tried to quip. "How was that, guys?" She asked Will and Cornelia.
"Eh… I've heard better." Will shrugged.
"Yeah, I'd give that a six out of ten at best." Cornelia agreed.
However, their attention was turned back to Hak Foo as he broke free of his shadow-restraints to leap back to his feet and face the heroes again. "I'm finished playing games. Give me the mask or suffer a painful end."
"You'll kill us even if we it to give you!" Cornelia told him.
"Guys, I got an idea." Jade quickly whispered her plan to her fellow Guardians, they both smiled and nodded in understanding.
"You want the mask, Hak Foo!?" Will called to him as Cornelia seemingly handed the Oni mask to him. "Come and get it!" She flew away, with Hak Foo giving chase.
"Tyrannosaurus Corners Fleeing Insect!" Hak Foo shouted as he leapt and landed with a powerful crash in front of Will, who had lured Hak Foo in front of a canyon wall, which casted a large shadow over the area, but he didn't seem to notice as Will was knocked onto the ground, her back facing upward as she held something close to her person. "As I said, no more games!" He grabbed Will by the shoulder. "The mask!" When he threw her away and picked up what she was holding, he was surprised to see it wasn't the mask, but a flat piece of stone. "What?!"
"Trick-or-treat!" Will called to him with a smirk as the large shadow around Hak Foo expanded and completely wrapped around Hak Foo, who had already begun to struggle to escape his binding, but it proved more difficult than he thought.
"Trick for you…." Jade began as she controlled the shadows to bind Hak Foo and hold him in place.
"…Treat for us." Cornelia finished, revealing she still had the Oni mask on hand, as she used her own earth powers to collapse that part of the canyon wall, creating a rockslide which piled over the trapped Hak Foo. When it was all done, Jade felt the mass in her shadow-bindings vanish, indicating that Hak Foo had gone poof. All three girls smirked as Jade held out both her fists for a mutual fist-bump with Will on the right and Cornelia on the left.
Back with the others, Taranee had erected a column of fire around Daolon Wong, who was still protected by his dark magic barrier. The Dark Chi Wizard continued to laugh. "How many times must I tell you? Your crude magic is no match for my superior powers?"
"Are you sure about that?" The Fire Guardian asked as she noticed that Wong, while still protected by his barrier, could still feel the intense heat and was beginning to sweat. "Getting kinda sweaty in there, huh?"
That was all Irma needed to hear as she focused her control over the water coming from Daolon Wong's face and was able to slice at his face, specifically around his eyes, causing Wong to yell in pain as he held his face, forcing him to drop his magic. This allowed Taranee to close in with her flaming cyclone, causing it to explode and sending him flying.
Meanwhile, Hay Lin had flew around Miranda at high speeds, which she further enhanced with her air powers, which already began to create a large tornado around the humanoid spider, pulling her straight up before she flew in to deliver a flying kick and send Miranda shooting out at such speeds, that when she slammed into Cedric, who was still facing Jackie and Caleb, it was enough to knock them both unconscious as they collapsed. Not wanting to take any chances, Irma flew in with Taranee as the Water Guardian sprayed them both with water, which Hay Lin added by blowing a cold stream of air from her mouth to freeze it, trapping both shapeshifters under a thick sheet of ice.
"Nice work girls." Jackie nodded with approval. "That should hold them for a while."
"They got the ice, and we got the mask." Will said as she, Jade, and Cornelia flew in.
"And that means it's Halloween time!" Hay Lin cheered.
"After another five-hour flight on Section 13's private jet." Taranee put in.
"Way to take the air out of our wings, Taranee." Jade told her with a partially annoyed expression.
Meridian – Phobos' Castle
Elyon stood over her balcony, overlooking the beautiful castle below, or rather, the illusion that her elder brother had set up in order to keep her in his confidence until his plan was ready. However, despite the seemingly beautiful day she was experiencing, Elyon gave a sad sigh as she sulked over the balcony's rail.
"Aw, what's wrong?" Ratso asked as he, Finn, and Chow walked up from behind.
"You're looking kinda down, kiddo." Chow pointed out.
"Something up, Little E?" Finn asked as well.
The princess gave another sigh before answering. "It's Halloween back home. Makes me miss my friends." This caused the Dark Chi Enforcers to look toward the girl in sympathy. "Ya know, last year when Cornelia, Alchemy, and I went trick-or-treating, we actually dressed as the real Three Stooges."
"No way. Seriously?" Chow said with a smile.
"Didn't know you were into that." Finn also said.
"Are you kidding? Those guys are always good for a laugh." Elyon smiled as she continued. "I dressed up as Moe, Alchemy was Larry, Cornelia was Curley." She laughed. "Let me tell ya, Cornelia was not happy at the idea of us shaving her hair. But she just ended up wearing a bald cap instead."
Ratso smiled as he looked out past the balcony. "Hey, you guys see that? I think I see Niagara Falls from here."
Getting his hint, his friends followed along. "Niagara Falls!" Finn began. "Slowly I turned…" He turned toward Chow, who was also acting out, backing up as Finn approached him. "And step-by-step… Inch-by-inch… I walked up to him and I smashed him." He 'smacked' Chow in the face. "I mashed him." He 'smacked' the top of his head. "I bopped him." He 'punched' Chow's gut. "I ripped him to pieces! And I knocked him down!" He pushed Chow to the ground, who fell on purpose.
Elyon couldn't help but laugh at all that. "Oh, that's my favorite!" She said while laughing. "Thanks guys… that… that really helped…" She said as her laugh died down.
"Happy to help kid." Ratso smiled as he ruffled Elyon's hair.
However, her smile faded once again. "I miss my friends."
This caused each of their smiles to fade as Finn, Ratso, and Chow exchanged nervous expressions, a deep feeling sinking into their guts. They already hated the idea of deceiving this sweet kid, and now it was only getting worse.
Heatherfield – Silver Dragon
It was just before nightfall as Jackie was on the phone with Uncle, holding the sixth Oni mask as he sat at a table in the restaurant's empty kitchen. "I have the mask, right here at the Silver Dragon." Jackie said to his Uncle.
"Why is the mask not in vault?" Uncle questioned.
"By the time we landed, the girls wanted to get changed into their costumes so they could still go trick-or-treating, and they wanted to show me what they were wearing." Jackie explained. "Don't worry Uncle. I've got the mask with me and once everyone is ready, I will drop it off at Section 13 right away. This mask will not end up on anybody's face."
"So, there is no need to make mask removal potion?" Uncle asked.
"Not this time, Uncle." Jackie replied with a smile. "The only masks you will see tonight, will be on the faces of trick-or-treating children." He said before hanging up.
"Hey Jackie, we're all set!" He heard Will's voice from the main dining room, causing Jackie to put down the Oni mask and walk outside to see most of the girls all dressed up for Halloween.
Will was dressed as Black Widow from Marvel Comics; Taranee wore a Gryffindor Hogwarts uniform from Harry Potter, and even had the titular scar painted on her forehead; Hay Lin wore a black suit with skull-face paint, giving her the appearance of Jack Skellington; Cornelia wore the blue body suit worn by Samus Aran; and Irma wore Chun-Li from Street Fighter.
"So, what do you think?" Irma asked as she took a martial art pose. "Do we look badass or what?"
"You all look ready to have fun." Jackie said with a nod and a smile.
"I look ridiculous." They heard Caleb's grumble as he walked forward, causing most of the girls to chuckle to see that he was dressed as Legolas from Lord of the Rings, complete with a blonde wig and elf ears. "Why am I dressed like a girl?"
"You're not." Taranee said, while the other girls tried to hide their laughter. "Legolas was a guy. His hair just happened to be long."
"Not to mention he was really good looking to." Cornelia added as she walked up to straighten his costume. "And you pull his look very well." She said with a smirk.
Caleb blushed, not just from the complement, but how close Cornelia was to him. "Uh.. heh, heh… well… if you say so… I guess I can make it work." He said as Cornelia finished adjusting his costume. "So… this Halloween is basically a bunch of kids dressing up and getting candy for it? No offense, but it doesn't make any sense at all."
"It's all for fun." Yan Lin said as she walked in, dressed for the occasion as well. Her costume appeared to be that of Wicked Witch of the West, complete with green face-paint. "And you kids better have fun, or I'm gonna get ya and your little dog too!" She gave the signature cackle of her character.
"Wow, she's good." Irma commented.
"Grandma always goes out for Halloween." Hay Lin said. "Sometimes… a little too much."
Jackie shook his head with a smile before he noticed something, or someone, missing from the group. "Where are Jade and Alchemy?"
"Alchemy stayed at Uncle's shop while we were getting the mask." Cornelia replied. "She texted me, saying that she'll met up with us later."
"As for Jade…" Taranee looked around. "She said she'd be here but…"
"ROAR!" Jade suddenly popped up from under the table, clad in black with dark green and orange face-paint, fake horns, and vampire teeth. Everyone screamed as most of the girls clung to each other, Will with Irma and Taranee with Hay Lin, Cornelia clung to Caleb in a startle, even Jackie was more than startled. However, Yan Lin apparently saw it coming as she simply smiled.
"That's right, mortals." Jade put on her character. "Cower before Oni-Boo-boo, and the dreaded Cerberus!" She gestured behind her to reveal Scruffy, who had two separate dog masks tied to his collar, giving the impressing that he had three heads.
It didn't take long for everyone to regain their senses. "Geeze Jade, you almost gave us a heart attack." Will chastised.
"Duh, scarring people is the whole point of Halloween." Jade said.
"Well yes… but out of all things… why did….?" Jackie stuttered, referring to Jade's choice of costume.
"I don't know anything scarier looking than an Oni demon, do you?" Jade replied.
"She has a point." Caleb put in. "The Oni are actually rather terrifying, even more so than anything Phobos has."
"Here I thought you were still traumatized from that whole Queen of the Shadowkhan mess." Irma said.
"What better way to get over said trauma then by dressing up as my worst fear?" Jade responded.
"That is actually a rather clever idea." Yan Lin commented before putting on her Wicked Witch act again. "Very clever my pretty."
"Like two peas in a pod those two." Cornelia whispered to Hay Lin, who nodded in agreement.
Will's attention was then directed back to Scruffy who barked with excitement, prompting her to kneel down and pet him affectionately. "Awe, who's a cute three headed demon dog? You are! Yes, you are!" She gave him plenty of affection just as the restaurant doors opened and two familiar individuals walked inside.
"Buenos noches, mis amigos." El Toro Fuerte greeted.
"Hey El Toro!" Hay Lin waved as she gave him a quick hug. "Long time no see!" She parted ways and allowed her friends to give the Mexican wrestler greeting handshakes and high fives.
"Looks like you're dressed up for the night too, huh?" Caleb observed.
"This is no costume, young Caleb." El Toro told him, referring to his mask. "This is a way of life."
"Well, I am glad that you could join us for Halloween." Jackie greeted his friend and ally.
"And next year, you and everyone else must join us in Mexico for la Dia De Muertos." El Toro replied.
"Oooh, the Day of the Dead." Taranee smiled. "That sounds like fun."
"And it looks like Boy Wonder Paco's here too." Jade noticed the boy that was around her age, who was currently dressed in a similar luchador attire to that of El Toro, only his mask was black and yellow instead of red.
"I think you mean, El Poco Fuerte!" Poco leapt in front of Jade. "Are you prepared to face wrestling's second mightiest champion, next to El Toro, Jade?" He challenged.
Jade scoffed. "If you read the emails, I sent you, you'd know I've got magic powers now, so it won't be easy."
"A true wrestler, never runs from a challenge!" He took a wrestling stance with a smirk.
"Bring it." Jade accepted, taking a Kung Fu stance of her own.
"Poco, not here." El Toro stepped in to break it up. "You know the rules, no wrestling outside the ring. Plus, this is a nice restaurant, and it would be disrespectful of us as guests to damage it in any way."
Poco gave a small sigh in acceptance. "Yes, El Toro."
"But hey, tell you what?" Jade proposed. "After trick-or-treating is done, we make our own ring and duke it out. Deal?" She offered her hand
Poco smiled as he shook her hand. "Deal."
"You've been writing emails to Poco about your powers, Jade?" Jackie looked toward his niece in surprise.
"Duh, he's my pen pal." Jade said as if it were obvious, but noticed the teasing looks on the other girls' faces. "What?"
"Only a pen pal?" Cornelia teased.
"You sure it's not a bit… more than that?" Will also teased.
"Before email was invented, Jin and I used to write letters to each other all the time." Even Yan Lin joined in the teasing.
Getting their hints, Jade's cheeks turned pink, which the makeup seemed unable to hide. "What?! No! No! It's not like that!"
"Sure, whatever you say." Irma rolled her eyes with a smirk.
"As much as I enjoy teasing Jade, isn't it time to get our trick-or-treating on?" Hay Lin asked with anticipation as Scruffy ran around her in circles, barking excitedly. "See? Scruffy's excited! Aren't you boy?" She gushed as she scratched him behind the ears.
"We're just waiting for Alchemy; she should be here soon." Taranee added.
"Alright, just five more minutes, and we're gonna take this town for everything it's got!" Irma exclaimed as she already burst out the doors.
"Irma!" She looked to the side in surprise to see none other than her parents walking toward from the sidewalk.
"Mom? Dad? What are you guys doing here?" She asked her parents.
"Your mother and I are going to the movies." Her father explained. "There was a raffle at the station for two free tickets earlier today, and guess who won?" He smirked as he presented said tickets.
"So, since we're going out, we need someone to watch your brother for his first Halloween night." Mrs. Lair said.
"Hi-ya!" The young Chris Lair ran out, holding a toy katana as he was dressed like a little ninja. "Bad guys watch out! Ninja-Chris is here! Slice! Slice!" He played with his toy sword.
"What?!" Irma questioned in disbelief. "But… But I'm just about to go out with my friends!"
"Then take him with you." Mr. Lair told his daughter. "Look Irma, I know you and Chris don't always get along, but it's first Halloween, so maybe it can be a bonding experience."
"Just make sure he doesn't stay up too late, and he doesn't get sick from all that candy." Mrs. Lair said as she and her husband walked away. "Have fun! And keep an eye on your brother!" She called out one last time.
"I'm going to take all the candy in town!" Chris shouted as he ran into the restaurant, leaving Irma to look more than a little annoyed.
"Give me Oni demons over babysitting anyway." She commented before walking in as well. "Bad news guys, my brother is joining us."
"Yeah, we figured." Will replied as they all saw Chris quickly stand up on a table to continue to play around, but Jackie quickly came to pick him up.
"Chris, you should not play on high places like that, you could get hurt." Jackie told him.
"Ninjas don't get hurt! We're super cool and super-fast!" Chris rolled around.
"We've had to deal with more than enough ninjas in our life." Cornelia muttered. "Why does the universe hate us?"
"Oooh, wow! Are you real luchadors?!" Chris asked as he looked toward El Toro and Poco.
"That is correct, little one." El Toro smiled as he ruffled the boy's hair. "Well, I am. Poco is still learning."
"But I won't be an apprentice wrestler for long. Just you wait." Poco also said.
Chris practically squealed with excitement. "This Halloween is gonna be so fun!" Only to be picked up under the arms by his elder sister.
"Pest whose name is Chris, I don't wanna have to spend my Halloween dealing with your shenanigans." Irma said in a scolding manner. "So, I'm gonna set one thing straight. If you're with us, you stay with us. I don't wanna get yelled at just because you went off on your own."
"You're no fun!" Chris spat raspberries at his sister as she sat him down before he stormed off with a pout into the kitchen.
"Irma." Jackie began. "I can understand why you… feel frustrated. But he is your brother, and he is still young. You could try to be more patient with him."
"Yeah, well patience doesn't always shoot toy arrows at you." Irma pinched the bridge of her nose. "Or run your foot over with a trike, inside your own house."
Chris continued to pout as he was alone in the kitchen. "Why do I have to go with my stinky sister and all these lame girls? I can go trick-or-treating all on my own!" As he continued to pout, he glanced towards a certain table where he spotted the Oni mask that Jackie had left.
"Wow, what's this?" Chris asked as he picked up the mask to get a good look at it. "It looks cool!" He said with a smile before a mischievous smirk formed on his face.
Meridian – Phobos' Throne Room
"Six… Six masks discovered… and six masks lost!" Phobos growled as he continued to scold the trio of Cedric, Miranda, and Wong, all of whom kneeled apologetically. "Remind me again why I keep the three of you around when all you've provided me are failures?! And do not use the charade around my sister as an excuse!"
"Humble apologies, Prince Phobos." Wong replied.
"Three masks remain." Cedric also said. "And just one of them can turn the tide of this war in our favor. It is not over."
"And how are you able to retrieve the remaining masks when you've already lost more than half of them?!" Phobos exclaimed.
'Maybe you should go and retrieve a mask yourself.' Miranda repressed her scowl.
"Now, now…" Tarakudo suddenly appeared from a stained-glass window along the side. "I'm as disappointed as you are Phobos, but I do have some good news. It seems somebody on Earth has worn the recently discovered mask."
"Are you certain Tarakudo?" The dark prince asked.
"One hundred percent." The Oni King confirmed. "And the one who wears it is rather young, and the young are often the easiest to manipulate."
Phobos appeared to have calmed down. "Then it seems this day is not lost after all. Tarakudo, try and bring this Oni-child to me, perhaps this one will be able to provide more effective results than the fools who stand before me."
Though they did not offer a response; Cedric, Wong, and Miranda were not pleased at the tone Phobos had spoken them to.
"As you wish." Tarakudo smirked before phasing through the walls.
"My Prince, please allow us another chance." Miranda said. "I know we can be of service to you!"
"Can you? My patience is wearing thin." Phobos warned. "I can only tolerate so many failures, and you do not want to break my tolerance."
Earth – Silver Dragon
"Hey guys!" Alchemy walked into the restaurant where the rest of the group was waiting. Like all her friends, she was dressed in a costume, and hers was that of Batgirl. "Sorry to make you wait for me." She noticed El Toro's presence. "Is this the Mexican wrestler you told me about?"
"Yep, Alchemy meet El Toro Fuerte." Cornelia introduced.
"And his sidekick, Poco." Jade added, revealing her friend as well.
"Wrestling apprentice." Poco quickly corrected.
"A pleasure to meet you, nina." El Toro shook Alchemy's hand in a friendly fashion.
"Hey Alchemy, why are you always spending so much time at Uncle's shop?" Taranee asked.
"I guess I've taken a bit towards all that chi-magic stuff." Alchemy replied.
"Are you considering becoming a wizard, too?" Caleb asked.
Alchemy had a nervous smile as she twinged her feet. "Maybe…"
"Well, Jin has been saying that Tohru has been making steady progress in his apprenticeship." Yan Lin commented. "Perhaps once he graduates, you can become Tohru's apprentice." This caused Alchemy to blush a bit.
"Come on, let's save the magic talk till tomorrow." Irma urged. "Tonight, it's all about fun!"
"Let's knock on Uncle's door first!" Hay Lin said excitedly. "I wanna see if Jade can scare the pants off him with her demon costume!"
"Read my mind!" Jade agreed.
Will had hooked the leash on Scruffy when she quickly remembered something. "Um… Jackie, where's the mask?" Will reminded, upon seeing that he didn't currently have it on him.
"Oh, I left it in the kitchen." Jackie remembered. "One moment." He walked into the kitchen, only to find that the mask was no longer where he left it. "Where is the mask?!"
"What?! You lost it?!" Caleb exclaimed as he and the girls, along with Yan Lin, looked in shock, while El Toro and Paco looked toward each other in mild confusion.
"But you just had it!" Taranee exclaimed. "Where is it?!"
Taranee also noticed that someone else was missing from the group. "Hey Irma… where's your brother?"
Before Irma could even offer a response…. "Over here!" They heard a young and demonic-sounding voice coming from on top of a table, to reveal Chris, who had donned the Oni mask, his body having grown taller by a few feet; his skin turned orange like the mask itself, his hands becoming razor-sharp claws, with his feet undergoing a similar change, and the purple hair stretched down to his back.
Everyone gave gasps of horror and shock at what they saw. "Copycat!" Jade called out.
"Um… Jade…." Hay Lin gulped. "I don't think Chris is wearing make-up…."
"Oh." Jade replied before realizing what that meant. "Oh… Uh oh…"
"Young man…. Your face…" El Toro still didn't seem to understand what is going on.
"What do you think? Don't I look super cool?" Oni-Chris showed off his transformed state.
"What has happened to him?" Paco asked Jade. "Wasn't he much smaller?"
"Yeah… he's kinda wearing an evil demon mask." Jade winced.
"Chris…" Irma tried to speak cautiously to her transformed brother while Scruffy growled at him. "Let's not do anything crazy…. Just sit tight while we make a quick phone call…"
"No way!" Oni-Chris protested. "I wanna go trick-or-treating! So that's what I'm gonna do!" He backflipped off the table, breaking through the main window before landing on his feet and sped off into the city, much to everyone's look of comic horror, while Scruff barked in the direction Oni-Chris sped off to.
"Bad day…" Irma said with a sulk. "My little brother's a literal speed demon."
"Alchemy." Yan Lin put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I believe it is time to demonstrate what you've learned with chi-spells."
"You and me go to Uncle's and help make a mask removal spell?" Alchemy got the message. "Yeah, good idea."
"Looks like Halloween's gonna have to be put on hold." Will said, getting serious. "If we hurry, we can track him down before he summons his Shadowkhan, or else this will turn into a real night of horrors."
"Agreed. I will call Uncle." Jackie nodded. "El Toro, I know this may all sound confusing, but we can really use your help right now."
"I understand amigo, and I will help in any way I can." El Toro nodded.
"As will I!" Poco stepped up. When it looked like his mentor was about to protest, Poco spoke up. "El Toro, you taught me everything I know! What good is being a wrestler, when I can't use my skills to help my friends?"
"He has shown me some good moves on those videos he sent me." Even Jade added. "If he sticks with us, he should be fine. And we need all the help we can get."
El Toro didn't like the idea, but he had a feeling that Poco would just sneak off to join them anyway even if he forbade it. Jade's influence was quite clear. "Alright, but you stick close to me, Poco."
"Understood." El Toro nodded.
"Come on, let's get going." Caleb stated as everyone ran outside to try and find the demonic toddler. "I have a feeling that Chris isn't going to be the only Oni we have to worry about tonight."
Uncle's Rare Finds
The phone at the front desk rang, which Uncle, who was dressed in a pirate costume, picked up to answer. "Hello?" He heard his nephew on the other line. "Jackie, Uncle is very busy right now!" The doorbell rang. "Tohru, candy!"
Tohru, clad in a bumblebee costume, stepped out from the backroom with a bowl of candy. "Coming, sensei. Bzzz. Bzzz." He and Uncle walked toward the door to answer what they thought was an ordinary trick-or-treater.
"Argh! Matie!" Uncle tried to act like a pirate, even though he still had the phone with Jackie on the other line. However, the one at the door, was none other than Oni-Chris, who growled, but the adults seemed convinced it was just a costume.
"Why must Uncle devise removal potion, now?" Uncle questioned over the phone to his nephew before turning back to the Oni-Chris. "Very nice Japanese Oni demon costume." He told the boy as he handed him candy, not noticing the look of realization and horror on Tohru's face once he got a good look at the boy. "Thank you, goodbye!" He waved as he closed the door.
"Nice? Nice?!" Oni-Chris exclaimed. "I'm a scary ninja! I'm not nice!" He growled as he threw away the candy before speeding off.
Back inside; "Who put new Oni mask on face?!" Uncle questioned in shock as he heard Jackie explain the situation over the phone. "Smack Irma over head for not watching over brother! And smack yourself for letting mask out of sight! Both mask and Irma brother were right under your nose!"
"Uh… Sensei…" Tohru got his attention, gesturing to the closed door and the so-called trick-or-treater they had just saw. It didn't take long for Uncle to put two-and-two together.
"AIYA!" They both quickly looked out the door to find that Oni-Chris was long gone by this point. "Quickly Tohru! We must prepare mask removal potion!"
Meanwhile, Oni-Chris was in a local neighborhood, observing all the costumes the other kids wore. Ranging from superheroes to princesses, though he seemed more focused on the costumes of monsters like werewolves, vampires, mummies, and other similar outfits.
"They all have pretty scary costumes." Oni-Chris said to himself as he looked at his hands. "I wonder if I'm at all scary enough."
"Oh, believe me, you are more than scary enough." Tarakudo revealed himself as he emerged from a nearby jack-o-lantern.
Oni-Chris gave a gasp in surprise. "Are you the Great Pumpkin?"
"Uh… indeed." Tarakudo quickly lied as he began to work his 'magic'. "And I'm here to show all ghoulies, goblins, and demons, how to be as scary as they can be."
"Show me! Show me how to be really scary!" Oni-Chris said. "I want to scare everyone! Especially my stinky sister!"
"All you need do is feel the power, young one." Tarakudo told him. "Call upon the darkness within."
Meanwhile, the heroes decided to split into two groups of five to cover more ground. One group consisted of Jackie, Irma, Jade, El Toro, Paco, along with Scruffy; while the other was of Will, Caleb, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Cornelia. The second group was still looking around the city, while the first was checking around the neighborhoods.
"So, let me see if I understand this correctly." El Toro began to sum up what he had been told. "These 'Oni masks' as you call them, have the ability to summon Shadowkhan, while the bearer slowly becomes a demon?"
"Yep." Jade confirmed. "And we need to find the kid before he summons his Shadowkhan."
"Damn it…" Irma muttered as she came to a stop, causing the group to turn around and see the frustrated look on her face. "He was right there! Right there in front of me! I take my eyes off him for five seconds, and now he's a demon!?" She looked ready to tear out her hair.
"Irma, this wasn't your fault." Jackie tried to assure her. "If anything, I am the one to blame. I should have taken the mask directly to Section 13 and put in the vault. That way nobody could have worn it."
"No… we wanted you to check out our costumes." Irma looked away with guilt. "My parents told me to watch him, but I didn't. I'm the worst sister ever."
"Okay, look, we all feel bad, but mopping about it isn't gonna fix things." Jade tried to tell her.
"Jade is right." Paco agreed. "Whenever we make a mistake, we do what we can to make things right."
"Indeed." El Toro put a sympathetic hand on Irma's shoulder. "Speaking as a man who was once dishonorable and a cheat, I understand the heavy weight of guilt that is placed on one's shoulders. But you can still save your hermano, and you have friends to support you, nina."
Irma gave a somewhat emotional smile to her friends. "Thanks guys."
However, the moment came to an end as they heard Scruffy barking and growling in one direction. "Looks like Cerberus has picked up something." Jade said.
"We must be getting close, let's go." Jackie led the group in the direction Scruffy ran off too. As they did, a determined look fell on Irma's face.
'Hang on Chris. You're big sis is coming.'
A doorbell rang as a man opened for the next batch of trick-or-treaters, only to come face-to-face with the Oni-Chris. "Whoa! Those are some crazy… costumes…?" And Chris wasn't alone, for he had summoned a group of his Shadowkhan. They had bodies akin to that of slugs, with long tentacled arms draped along their sides, black outer skin and dark blue underbellies. Their faces were covered by black masks, revealing only a single red visor.
"Trick-or-treat." Oni-Chris said in sadistic glee before his Shadowkhan shot their tentacles toward the poor man. The man screamed as he closed the door behind him. "If you offer no treat, then we will get a trick!" Oni-Chris stated as the Shadowkhan began to stretch around the house, their shadow-forms slipping through the cracks of the doors, windows, chimney, and even air vents.
"No!" The man screamed in terror as he was literally backed into a corner with the tentacles stretching toward him. "No! No! No! No! Go away!" As he screamed, one single tentacle snatched the bowl of candy he had in his hands before pulling away with the rest of the Shadowkhan. When the man opened his eyes, he found that all the living shadows had vanished.
"I need to lay off the Red Bull."
Back outside, as Oni-Chris helped himself to all the candy; the group consisting of Jackie, Irma, Jade, Paco, El Toro, and Scruffy looked around the corner of the house to see what had occurred.
"I take it these are the new tribe of Shadowkhan you mentioned?" El Toro asked.
"Yes." Jackie nodded.
"Big slimy, scary, made-for-Halloween Shadowkhan." Jade gulped.
"Not that I am scared, but baybe we should call for back-up?" Paco asked.
"Already sent a text to Will and the others." Irma revealed, putting her phone away.
Scruffy growled at the sight of the Shadowkhan, as well as the Oni King who hovered over the transformed boy, but he did not seem to notice the heroes quite yet.
"Congratulations, kiddo. You passed your first test with flying colors." Tarakudo told Oni-Chris. "Next on the to-do-list, retrieve the other masks so that we may bathe entire worlds in darkness."
"That is not going to happen!" They heard El Toro's voice as the group stepped out into the open.
"Let my brother go, Taradork!" Irma warned. "Or things are gonna get ugly, even by Halloween standards!"
"Your brother?" Tarakudo asked in minor surprise before he chuckled. "Well, that's a pleasant surprise. I honestly didn't know." A dark smile formed on his face. "But that just makes this all the more interesting."
"Well, if it isn't my stinky sister." Oni-Chris snarled. "Come to ruin my fun again?"
"Sorry Chris, but I'm gonna give you serious spanking for this." Irma told him.
"Oh yeah? You and what army?" Oni-Chris snapped his fingers as at least a dozen more tentacled Shadowkhan appeared around the group.
"That one, I'm guessing." Jade noted. But she quickly smirked as she reached into her pocket to pull out the Monkey Talisman. "Scruffy, time to go Cerberus-mode!" She aimed the Talisman at her dog, causing him to transform into a twelve-foot tall three headed, black-furred dog resembling the mythological beast. The transformed Scruffy gave a howl before leaping at the Shadowkhan to lash out with his claws and teeth.
"Jade?" Jackie looked to his niece in surprise with everyone else.
"I borrowed the Monkey Talisman to give Scruffy a magic make-over and scare a few kids." Jade explained. "And, when I heard Paco was coming…" She flicked to him the Ox Talisman from her pocket as well. "A little super strength so that he can be a good sparring partner with me and my Guardian powers." Jackie, El Toro, and even Irma looked toward Jade with surprised expressions. "What? You're gonna complain about them now? When they're useful?"
"Talk about this later." Jackie said before he nodded to El Toro, who threw off his suit to reveal his luchador uniform and went on the attack.
One Shadowkhan lashed out its tentacle towards the wrestler, who caught it to pull the Shadowkhan back and knock him down to vanish. He then rushed to the side of a second to push it down with raw strength alone before a third wrapped both its tentacles around his arm. However, Jackie came in for the save to tackle that very same Shadowkhan to the ground and destroy it before swerving around the tentacle lashings of another. At the same time, Poco, using the strength of the Ox Talisman, lifted up one Shadowkhan to throw him into another, while Jade and Irma found themselves back-to-back as three tentacled Shadowkhan surrounded them.
"Hope back up gets here soon." Jade muttered.
"Along with a mask-removal potion." Irma added in the same tone.
Uncle's Rare Finds
"Trick-or-treat!" One child said at the front door as Yan Lin handed her some candy.
"Enjoy yourself." Yan Lin waved the child goodbye before turning to the working trio behind her. "How is that potion coming along?"
"We are working as fast as we can." Tohru replied as he, Uncle, and Alchemy were at the cauldron, placing in the necessary ingredients to brew the removal potion.
"Tohru, scale of lizard." Uncle requested as the sumo threw in some lizard scales. "Alchemy, root skin."
"Right here." Alchemy handed him the aforementioned ingredient, which Uncle put in. "What's next?"
"Sulfur root. Tohru!" Uncle instructed.
"Yes, sensei." He handed him the ingredient, which Uncle mixed in.
"Alchemy, eye of newt."
"Got it…" Alchemy handed him a jar of newt eyes, only to get dope-slapped on the forehead. "Ow! What?!"
"Left eye of newt!" Uncle chastised. "Not right eye!"
Alchemy looked on the lid of the jar to see that it had a bold R at the top, causing her to groan as she pulled out another jar of newt eyes that had a bold L at the top, before handing it to Uncle.
"Now for special ingredient, tentacle of Japanese octopus." Uncle instructed as Alchemy handed him said tentacle with a pair of tongs, not willing to directly touch it.
"I don't even wanna know how you got that." Alchemy said in a slightly disgusted tone. 'Starting to have second thoughts about becoming a wizard.'
One tentacled Shadowkhan was thrown into a fence by El Toro before two more lashed out their tentacles around his arms, prompting him to pull his arms together with raw strength and slam his dark enemies into each other, causing them to vanish. Jackie backed away to avoid the tentacle lashes from another enemy before finding himself cornered by a fence. He avoided one tentacle lash by hopping onto the fence with both hands and, in one fluid motion, slammed both his feet into the Shadowkhan to knock it down.
Poco used his magically enhanced strength to grab the tail of one Shadowkhan and spin it around before letting it go to send it crashing into two more enemies. At the same time, Cerberus-Scruffy roared as his middle head bit down on one Shadowkhan to destroy it, while the two side heads growled and barked at four more that surrounded him as they ensnared their tentacles around his legs and looked like they were about to pull him apart.
"Tentacles off my dog!" Jade exclaimed as she gave a flying kick to knock one Shadowkhan down, while Irma had picked up one jack-o-lantern to smash it onto the head of another, freeing the front legs of Cerberus-Scruffy before his side heads lashed out with their teeth to bite down on the remaining enemies.
However, despite their best efforts, the heroes found themselves surrounded as several more tentacled Shadowkhan appeared around them.
"Really could use some back-up right now." Irma stated.
"Well, you got some!" They heard Will's voice call out as they saw her, along with Cornelia, Caleb, Hay Lin, and Taranee run onto the scene with the redhead brandishing the Heart of Kandrakar. "Guardians Unite!"
In a flashy transformation, all six girls present had taken their respective forms as the Guardians of J-WITCH.
"Trick-or-treat." Taranee said as she threw out a series of fireballs to destroy three enemies in one strike while the other Guardians flew out to engage their newfound enemy. Caleb drew his katana to cut down one Shadowkhan before ducking under the tentacles of another, which he sliced off before moving in to decapitate the very same enemy as he came back-to-back with Jackie.
"Came as fast as we could! How's the potion?" Caleb asked Jackie.
"It should be almost done by now! Just hold them off!" Jackie replied.
El Toro was tackled to the ground by two Shadowkhan. He tried to wrestle them off, but they held firm. Fortunately, a wave of razor-sharp wind came in to poof both of them as Hay Lin flew in to help the luchador to his feet.
"Thank you." El Toro nodded.
"Yeah… these Squidkhan are no joke, huh?" She said before blowing a gust of wind from her mouth to blow back two more.
"Did she just seriously call them 'Squidkhan'?" Will asked as she maneuvered around the tentacle strike of one of the aforementioned Shadowkhan to deliver a roundhouse kick to its face. As four more attempted to ambush her, Cornelia landed behind and pressed her hand to the ground, causing four large roots to emerge from the pavement and impale all four from behind.
"Ugh, I hate tentacles." Cornelia shivered before she and Will went on the attack again.
Jade produced a dual set of shadow katanas in her hands to spin and slice, cutting down two Squidkhan that came close to her before standing on her hands to spin both her feet, generating surges of shadow-magic at her soles to knock down three more that tried to circle her.
"Nice Jade but check this out!" Paco called to her as he grabbed one Squidkhan and leapt to the top of a tree before leaping up high, twisting upside down while holding the captured Squidkhan in a strong lock before falling down and spinning like a corkscrew to take down four more Squidkhan below him.
"Super piledriver! Nice!" Jade gave him a thumbs up.
At the same time, Irma pointed her hands forward in the form of a finger-gun to shoot 'bullets' of water at three incoming Squidkhan, causing them to be destroyed on impact. She looked around and saw that while her friends were holding their own, the person of her main concern was missing.
"Where's Chris?"
Oni-Chris growled as he perched himself at the top of a house's rooftop to see his Squidkhan army being beaten back. "My stupid sister and her friends are ruining my fun!"
"So, your sister always does this to you?" Tarakudo asked as he hovered over the transformed boy.
"Every time! She doesn't let me have any fun at all!" Oni-Chris ranted like a toddler.
"Well then, I'd say it's time for payback, don't you?" Tarakudo proposed with a smirk.
"Indeed." Oni-Chris said with a demonic lull in his voice as he telepathically called a total of five Squidkhan to suddenly appear and surround Irma. Before she even had the chance to fight back, they lashed out their tentacles to ensnare her; binding her arms to her sides, while also keeping her legs pinned.
"Hey! Let go!" Irma struggled as the Squidkhan began to fade into the shadows, pulling Irma with them. Her cries caught the attention of all her friends as they looked with alarm.
"Irma!" Will called out as they tried to run and catch her, but several more Squidkhan appeared to block their way.
"It's payback time, dear sister." Oni-Chris called to her as he leapt down into the molding shadows. "And how sweet it shall be."
"Chris! Please listen! This isn't you! It's…!" Her pleas were cut off as a shadow tentacle wrapped over her mouth before they were completely pulled into the shadows. However, just before the spot on the shadows vanished…
"Come on Paco!" Jade grabbed her friend by his wrist as she flew them both into the air before soaring straight into the ever-shrinking shadow, with Jade coating herself and Paco in her own shadow-magic, enabling them both to enter the shadow just before it shrunk.
"No! Jade!" Jackie called out as the remaining Squidkhan all vanished as well.
"Paco!" El Toro also called simultaneously.
Everyone heard a series of 'tisks' as they looked toward Tarakudo who hovered gloatingly over the group. "Children can be such a headache? Am I right?"
"Hey! You know what else can be a headache?!" They all heard Alchemy's voice call out as she, Yan Lin, Uncle, and Tohru just arrive onto the scene. "This!" She threw an onion straight at Tarakudo's face, causing him to squint his eyes in agony as he cried green energy.
"AH! MY EYES! MY EYES!" Tarakudo cried out before he vanished.
"We have mask removal potion." Uncle revealed, holding the vial of the completed concoction. "Where is boy with mask?"
"Chris vanished and he took Irma with him." Will answered. "Jade and Poco flew in after them, but we have no idea where to find them."
The group turned around at the sound of sniffing as they saw the Cerberus-Scruffy sniffing the ground with all three heads, trying to get the familiar scent of his beloved companions.
"Uh… why is there a three-headed dog?" Tohru asked.
"Actually, we have no idea." Taranee answered. "But we didn't really question it since he was helping us to fight the Squidkhan so…"
"That's Scruffy." Jackie answered.
"The dog?!" Caleb exclaimed in shock as even Uncle gasped in shock.
"Ya know, at this point, I'm not surprised." Conrelia muttered.
"Let me guess, Monkey Talisman?" Will assumed.
"Si." El Toro nodded in confirmation.
"Yep, that sounds like our Jade." Yan Lin agreed.
Hay Lin then got an idea. "Hey! Maybe Scruffy can help us find them! I mean, he's got three noses now, so he's got three times as much of a chance as finding our friends!"
"Pretty sure it doesn't work that way, Hay Lin." Taranee told her. "But… that is a good idea."
"It's better than nothing." Jackie said as he walked to the transformed dog. "Scruffy, can you find Jade, Irma, and Paco?"
The dog seemed to understand as his left head gave Jackie a lick while his center and right head began to search the area. The center head gave an affirmative growl as he picked up their scents, with the right head barking toward the heroes, telling them to follow him as he fled down the streets.
"That's probably a 'yes.'" Will said. "Everyone, follow that super-cool transformed magical dog!" She stated as they all followed Scruffy.
The Squidkhan emerged from the shadows on the rooftop of a rather tall building in the city alongside Oni-Chris. With them, was Irma, was still bound in the tentacles of the Squidkhan that held her, with her mouth remaining covered.
"Ah, look at this city." Oni-Chris said as he overlooked all of Heatherfield. "So much fun I can have here. Why stop with just Halloween? I can have fun all day and all night, and nobody can tell me no! Not Mom and Dad, and certainly not you." He turned with a glare toward his bound sister as she desperately tried to speak, but couldn't say anything with her mouth covered. "Oh? What's that? I can't hear you. Maybe I should shut you up, permanently?" He said as he drew his katana, which became a twisted demonic weapon of reality, as opposed to the toy sword he originally had.
"How about, 'no'?" They heard in surprise as they saw Jade fly in, shooting columns of black flame to destroy most of the Squidkhan; while Paco fell down from above to use his Talisman-powered strength to crush the remaining Squidkhan that kept Irma ensnared, freeing her.
"Thanks guys…" She breathed in relief.
"No prob." Jade assured as they helped her up.
"Three on one? That's hardly fair." Oni-Chris snapped his fingers, causing more Squidkhan to appear and surround the entire group.
"Don't suppose you guys brought the potion with you." Irma said with a gulp.
"No, but I have an idea." Paco said before stepping up and pointing toward Oni-Chris. "You! Pequeno Diablo! I challenge you, to a one-on-one wrestling match!"
"Oh? And why would I do that?" Oni-Chris asked, his tone indicating the demon inside was almost taking control.
"You said you like luchadores." Paco recalled. "Would you really pass up the chance to wrestle with one?"
This caused Oni-Chris to smile and growl with anticipation. "I accept your challenge." Per his decree, four of the Squidkhan surrounded the pair in box-formation before stretching their tentacles toward each other in the form of a makeshift wrestling ring.
"As per the rules of a luchador match, the looser must discard his mask." Paco told him.
"If you manage to beat me." Oni-Chris replied.
"Uh… Paco… you do know the only way to remove an Oni mask is with the potion, right?" Jade reminded in a whisper.
"I know, Jade." Paco whispered back. "I plan to stall for time, give El Toro and your friends a chance to find us and use the potion."
"Just be careful." Irma said. "He's a major pain when he's not possessed by a demon, but he's still my little brother."
"Don't worry." Paco assured. "I won't hurt him too bad, but I don't plan to make it easy for him." He took a wrestling stance, making sure to keep the Ox Talisman well hidden. He noticed the katana that was still in Oni-Chris' hands. "No weapons aloud in a match!"
"Of course." Oni-Chris stuck his blade into the ground. Though a part of Paco felt like a hypocrite since he was technically using a weapon with the Ox Talisman, but seeing how it was a life-or-death situation, he was certain El Toro would make an exception this one time.
Oni-Chris lunged at him first, but Paco fell back and used Oni-Chris' own momentum against him as he flung him over to the ropes. However, Oni-Chris quickly got back on his feet and lunged at him again, but Paco leapt over him toward the ropes and bounced off them to land a solid headbutt right on his face.
"Ooh, Double Cannonball. That's gonna leave a mark." Jade noted.
"Noxious Knee Dropper!" Irma exclaimed as she saw Oni-Chris sweep his feet to knock Paco down, but Paco quickly recovered and to leap to the ropes and catapult himself over Oni-Chris, lock his legs around his neck and pull him down.
"Falling Leg Headlock…" Jade observed as Oni-Chris got back up to kick Paco back before leaping up to fall back down, spinning like a corkscrew to land a headbutt onto Paco's face.
"Palenque Piledriver!" Irma exclaimed.
"Okay, how do you know these moves?" Jade asked as Paco and Oni-Chris continued to duke it out.
"Chris has been into luchador matches practically since he was born." Irma explained. "When I had to babysit him, I'd usually turn on and he'd zone right out. But… I won't say that some of those matches weren't pretty cool."
"You totally got hooked too, didn't you?" Jade asked with a smirk.
"Guilty as charged." Irma admitted with a nervous smile, before they were brought back to reality as they heard Paco mimicking El Toro's yell as he copied his mentor's signature move; running past Oni-Chris and using the ropes on the other side of the ring to catapult himself and land a headbutt into Oni-Chris' face to send him flying to the opposite side.
However, Oni-Chris was quick to get back up again as Paco tried to lay down a kick, only for Oni-Chris to grab him by the ankle and slam him over his head and onto the ground rather hard. Hard enough that he let the Ox-Talisman slip away from him.
"No!" Paco exclaimed as Oni-Chris saw the Talisman as well.
"You had a hidden weapon! That's cheating!" He outstretched his hand to telekinetically call his demonic katana to his hand as he used the other to pull Paco close to his face. "And the penalty for cheating… is death!"
Suddenly, Oni-Chris was blasted by a powerful surge of water that sent him spiraling to the other side of the rooftop. "Sorry Chris, even if you are a major pain in my ass, I won't let you become a murderer!" She flew directly at him to tackle and pin him to the ground. Immediately, the Squidkhan went on the attack, only to have their path blocked by a wall of shadow-fire.
"Hey, where do you guys think you'regoing?!" Jade told them as they turned around to face not only her, but also Paco who recovered the Ox Talisman.
"Agreed, a true wrestler never flees his opponent." Paco said as both he and Jade leapt toward the horde.
Meanwhile, Irma continued to wrestle with her Oni-turned brother as she pinned him to the side of a brick chimney. "Come on Chris! You don't listen to me, so why are you listening to some stupid mask?! Huh?! Where's that disobedient brat that's always making a mess?!"
"Your little brother… Cannot hear you anymore, mortal!" The Oni inside declared, apparently having taken complete control as he wretched himself free from Irma's grip, grabbed her by her shirt and pinned her to the same chimney she did him.
Irma glared at the demon. "Listen you demonic asshole. If you don't let go of my little brother, I'm gonna tear that mask off and rip it a new one!"
"Oh? And just how are you going to do that?" The Oni demon questioned.
"With this." They both looked up to see Will, Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Taranee, having just arrived via the air as the redhead held the vial of the mask removal potion in hand. And it wasn't just them, the Cerberus-Scruffy had climbed up onto the roof with Jackie, Tohru, Uncle, El Toro, Caleb, Alchemy, and Yan Lin all riding on top of him before they all went on the attack against the Squidkhan.
Will and Jackie laid out whatever marital arts attack they knew, Taranee threw balls of fire, Tohru and El Toro joined Paco to beat the enemy back with raw strength, Hay Lin blasted many back with a tornado-attack, Cornelia shook up the roof to knock many off the edge, Caleb sliced them down with his katana, Uncle and Yan Lin rode the Cerberus-Scruffy along with Alchemy as the former two each shot blasts of chi-magic from their respective blowfish as Cerberus-Scruffy himself assisted Jade.
"Irma! Catch!" Will threw her the potion, while Irma herself used the surprise to break free of the Oni demon's grasp, flew up to catch the potion and quickly poured it on her hands, causing them to glow green, before flying back down and began to remove the mask.
"No! No! Get off of me! Foolish mortal!" He struggled against Irma's pull as she tried to pull with all her might.
"I. Want. My. Brother. Back!" Irma exclaimed with a yell and one final heave to finally pry the mask off Chris' face. The second it was removed, Chris' body turned back to normal as he fell back and appeared to be knocked unconscious, and all the Squidkhan instantly vanished.
"Yes!" Alchemy cheered.
Irma quickly joined everyone else as she held her brother in her arms. "He's gonna be okay… right?"
"He should be fine." Yan Lin assured. "Just tired is all."
"That's a relief." Irma breathed with ease.
"So, what are we gonna do with him now?" Cornelia asked. "You think he's gonna remember any of this?"
"Unlikely." Uncle answered. "The boy is young; he'll probably dismiss it as a dream and think nothing of it."
"Alright." Irma nodded as she looked toward the sleeping Chris in her arms. "I think I know what to do now."
Chris slowly woke up to find himself on the living room couch of his own house. "Wake up sleeping beauty." Irma teased as she sat on the couch next to him, thankfully no longer in her Guardian form.
"What happened…?" Chris asked as he felt his head and stomach. "My head is dizzy and my tummy hurts…"
"That's what happens when you eat all that candy at once." Irma told him. "Sugar rush and a stomachache all together. Looks like you might be out of it for the rest of Halloween."
"Awe, that's not fair." Chris sulked, having bought his sister's story.
"So instead… how about a non-stop Lucha Libre marathon till Mom and Dad get back home?" Irma suggested as she turned on the television to play said marathon.
This got Chris' attention as he instantly had his eyes glued to the screen. "Ooh! It's the Green Dragon vs. Red Gorilla again! My favorite!"
"Yeah, had a feeling you'd say that." Irma said as she sat next to him and pulled her brother closer.
"What are you doing?" Chris asked.
"Giving my little brother a hug. What else?" Irma replied.
"Ew! You'll get your cooties on me!" Chris shrugged her off.
"Oh, well in that case…" Irma smirked almost evilly as she pulled her little brother in. "Kiss attack!" She kissed him all over his face.
"No! Stop! Ew! Girly kisses! Ew!" The toddler squirmed in Irma's grip, but had no chance of escape.
Meanwhile, the entire scene was being watched by the other girls from the main window along with Scruffy, who had been turned back to normal. "I can't quite tell if she really means it or is just trying to mess with him." Taranee said.
"Probably both." Cornelia replied as they walked away while Jackie, Caleb, Uncle, Yan Lin, and Tohru continued to speak with El Toro and Paco.
"Thank you again for your help, El Toro." Jackie said. "I apologize that our Halloween was a bit more… exciting than what we had planned."
"No need to apologize, amigo." The wrestler assured. "I am always happy to help. If you require any assistance with the remaining Oni masks, please let us know. We'll be sure to help." Though he had said that toward Jackie and everyone else, he directed his last statement towards his young protégé.
"Y… Yes! Yes! Absolutely! We'll be there before you can say Cinco De Mayo!" Paco assured.
"Thanks again." Yan Lin smiled. "Now I think it's time we put this guy where he belongs alongside his friends in Section 13, along with the mask." She held the Oni mask in her hand.
"We will help to escort you there, just to make sure nobody else tries to take it." Tohru told the elderly woman.
"Girls." Jackie got everyone else's attention. "You all did well tonight. Go and enjoy the rest of your Halloween."
"Uh… if it's okay with you Jackie, I think we've had enough horrors for one night." Will said.
"Oh yeah." Cornelia nodded.
"Ditto." Alchemy added.
"No question." Taranee said.
"I've had my Halloween fill." Hay Lin added.
"You guys go ahead; Paco and I got a little something to do." Jade said. "And no Cornelia, it's not a date." She said with annoyance in her tone.
"Sure, whatever you say." Cornelia said not-so-innocently.
"What do you say Paco?" Jade offered. "You had some good moves back there, taking on an Oni demon. Your wrestling against my Kung Fu?"
"El Toro?" Paco looked toward his mentor for the final word of permission. "You did say no wrestling outside the ring."
"I suppose we can make an exception this one time." El Toro assured with a smile. "So long as it doesn't go too far."
Paco smiled before turning with a grin towards Jade. "No magic powers or Talismans. Two falls out of three, Jade?"
"Your on." Jade accepted as they each took a stance based on their respective combat style, smirking towards the other before charging head on.
Done.
Six masks down, three to go. Bet you weren't expecting Irma's little brother to be the one to wear this mask, huh? Anyways, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope that you guys had just as much fun reading it.
One technicality to note, last time I wrote El Toro and Paco in my story, many of you told me that they say "Yade" instead of "Jade", but here's the thing, even though it's pronounced differently, the spelling remains the same. So a J is sometimes pronounced with a Y in Spanish.
Up next we get back to the main WITCH storyline as we have the heroes find a certain relic that could tip the balance of the war in their favor. Things are gonna heat up in the next few chapters, and I hope you're all prepared for the surprises that I have in store. Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.