Chapter 6: Everything's Nice, Sugar and Spice
A day had passed since the long and eventful day with the encounter with Cu Sith, the cleansing of the Kigan gear, freeing Touma's heart, fighting Jabberwocky and meeting Gryphon, a legendary beast of the Fae Yokai.
Needless to say, everyone appreciated getting much needed rest after such an eventful day. However, despite the fine rest everyone had gotten, there were still things like school and training everyone needed to attend to for the day.
So for now, our focus shifts elsewhere, back into the mysterious old animal shelter. With streaks of daylight pouring into the makeshift living space, The biker figure from earlier was getting ready on a motorcycle, looking sleek and intimidating.
He was also looking over some dogs and a few cats. The teal haired man folded his arms.
"Now, you best behave yourselves," He spoke up, as if these were his children. "I've set out plenty of food and water. Also, make sure she doesn't go anywhere that she shouldn't, got it?"
The dogs and cats seemed to have understand what he was saying, going off back out of the makeshift garage and move back into the living areas. Knowing that they understood, the biker got onto his bike, starting it up.
A small, short while had passed, sights setting on a prison out of town. It was pretty heavy guarded, several officers looking around sternly around the glum looking facility. This biker, however, thought he could simply roll up to the entrance of the place like he worked there. Several shadows seemed to have been behind him, but quickly went into hiding out of suspicious sight.
"Halt!" One of the armed guards said, pointing a gun. "Just who do you think you are!?"
"You can't just walk up like you own the place!" The other one added in, the biker figure folding his arms and looking smugly.
"Name's Shichimi, I'm an Orochi, and yokai of the Goriki tribe," The biker, Shichimi, introduced himself, keeping a smug look. "All I'm here is to pick up my boss, that's all."
"Great, you're just speaking utter nonsense," One of the guards stated back to Shichimi. "We already had to lock up one crazy person who had freaky snake eyes, we don't need another!"
"If you keep this up, we're taking you in for questioning," The other guard told Shichimi boldly. "Because we won't let you do anything slippery on our watch, you hear?"
"Just take me in for questions?" Shichimi responded, sounding bored. His eyes seemed to gleam with something, a strange aura began to surround him.
Shichimi snapped his fingers. "Come on out! Let's break some rules and do some crimes!"
Rushing out of the shadows came five differing figures, seeming to get the aura Shichimi had.
"An eagle!" The first guard noted, trying to shoot down what looked like a normal Golden Eagle with a snazzy little red scarf. However, the bullets were completely ineffective on them, the bird swooping down to intimidate the guards by unleashing their large talons and beak.
It caused the other guard to start stumbling into the moat that surrounded the prison, only to find an unpleasant surprise.
"A-And a shark, too!" The other guard stated in a panic, now being seen eye to eye with an angry looking Sand Shark. The shark chased the other guard around, the first one calling in for backup as Shichimi kept on proceeding inwards.
Once inside the building, more guards were ready to take down Shichimi, who was just casually walking in like he was going to order a burger and fries to go.
More armed guards were ready, willing to figure out how to take down this unstoppable snake. The golden eagle befriended by Shichimi perched on his arm.
"Don't move another step, and put your hands up!" The squadron of guards yelled at Shichimi, the serpentine man only smiling. The orange and teal haired yokai gave a snap of his fingers, as a new charge came in.
"A-A Lion!" One of the guards pointed out, noticing an East African Lion charging in, bullets completely bouncing off of them. The lion let out a mighty roar, pouncing down any and all guards that tried to stand in their way.
But the fight wasn't quite over yet, as several more guards were still there and standing. These guards soon ended up getting a bad surprise when a large and imposing figure charged from behind Shichimi.
"And they have an elephant too!" The squadron commented back, frightened by the sheer force and audacity of an Asian Elephant slowly, but majestically breaking in, being completely unshaken by the guard's feeble efforts to fight back.
There were only a few guards standing in the way, but they were soon frightened off by Shichimi's final animal ally making the charge in after the elephant made ways for them.
"And they have a tiger on their side!" The final group of guards yelled, being pursued by an albino Malayan Tiger, angry and with it's claws bared. Not even armed guards were a match for an invincible, majestic beast.
Shichimi's eagle friend had flown off during the whole charge, but came back to their friend's side with a key in talon. The eagle gave Shichimi the key, the biker smiling.
"Alright, this is just what we needed…!" Shichimi grinned, clutching onto the key, running through the halls of the prison without any guard to dare to stop him in his path. "Thanks, Yama! Now let's go!"
Steel doors forged with cutting edge technology were nothing, as Shichimi made his way to one of the highest security units, feeling the yoki aura. He put the key into the door's hole and unlocked it, kneeling down afterwards.
"Your majesty of the Izana Tribe..." Shichimi announced, sounding noble. "It is I who has set you free from your falsely charged crimes, so let us make haste..."
There wasn't a word of response from the cell. This made Shichimi worry, quickly getting up and opening the door himself.
Opening the door, it was a bit of a dimly lit cell, a stunning young man with medium length blue hair and rather...flashy white and blue clothes sat in the middle of the cell, chained down.
What really threw Shichimi off was a medium sized shadow, but quickly disappearing upon more light spilling into the room. Just where did it go…?
"Great Snake King Kaira, your majesty!" Shichimi yelled, quickly running over to the supposed king's aid and breaking off his chains. Thankfully he was still alive, just unconscious by the looks of things.
Kaira didn't have anything to say in response, Schichimi biting the hypothetical bullet and carrying the snake king piggy back style.
Despite his rather thin stature, Shichimi had a surprising amount of upper body strength, enough to carry someone else on his back with relative ease. His animal friends were still there, waiting for him as the biker snake quickly made his escape, going through a small portal to what looked like another world, another realm…
Entering the other realm looked that of a more brightly colored depiction of ancient Japan, with several eye motifs to boot. At least, that's what it looked in the horizon, where Shichimi took Kaira was that of a pretty distant looking mansion. It was nice, yes, but a bit outdated with age.
Shichimi snuck in by simply breaking down a nearby window, laying Kaira down on a nearby sofa and closing the window.
Kaira slowly started to wake up, feeling dizzy in the head. "What...What happened?"
"Simple," Shichimi began, turning on the lights, but keeping it dim enough not to startle the snake king. "I broke you out of prison, your majesty."
"But..." Kaira began, still a bit hazy and confused, no clue what to say. "Wasn't it a high security prison?"
"Yeah but a human world one," Shichimi answered back, sounding smug. "It was built like a wet paper bag, nor did that prison really expect supernatural visitors."
Kaira was silent for a moment, taking a moment to think. Something just didn't feel right, like a piece of the puzzle was missing. Was it really that easy to break into somewhere with such high security?
"Besides, you weren't the one who killed your pops, were you?" Shichimi added in, the skane king's thoughts getting back together from that simple statement.
"Of course I didn't!" Kaira snapped back, being rather agitated despite his exhaustion. Why was so many things running weird in his mind? It felt clouded, but he had to keep focusing.
"I remember hearing a loud and horrfying noise in the night..." Kaira began with trying to inform his fellow serpentine yokai. "...And when I got there, my dad's body was there. I had to make sure he was still alive...Reaching out just in case..."
Kaira clenched his fist and bit down on his pale lip, trying not to swell up with tears. He was a man, he shouldn't cry, but he couldn't help it. It was overhwelming, to where now tears ran down the snake king's face.
"I just ended up getting covered in blood, and with no weapons or other evidence on the scene, they assumed I was guilty..." Kaira finished, slamming his fist on the arm of the couch. It was the only way he could really let out his pent up anger.
"This is what I get for being neither human or yokai, just a freakish mix of both? Yokai won't accept me, humanity won't accept me, what's the point anymore?" Kaira cursed, trying not to let the emotions in his heart get to the better of him, but failing.
Hearing such words, it gave Shichimi an idea. "Say, aren't you friends with Great King Enma?"
"Sorta," Kaira began, still steething with emotions. "We haven't talked much in years, so we've grown distant..."
"Maybe it's a good idea to talk to him about this, see if you can unleash hell on those who called you guilty," Shichimi suggested, something flickering in Kaira's eyes for a moment.
"...I'll find my own way..." Kaira smiled, summoning his black and blue blade known as the Snake King Sword. "And I'll be sure to go after Enma!"
Without another word, Kaira had stormed off, something seeming to spark in his eyes. Something that was determined, but not the good kind. It left Shichimi feeling suspicious, but glad his master had a goal now, after being broken out of prison.
Though, after moments of thinking in the old mansion of the snake lord, Shichimi realized something. Something he had to go do, and check right here, and right now...
Elsewhere, back in the normal lives of things, school had ended for the day, everyone starting to head their ways back home.
"Hey, hey Touma!" Natsume happily stated, coming out to meet the boy from their differing classrooms. "You up for your inaugural meeting as part of the Yokai Detective Agency?"
Touma was quite a bit startled by the chipper girl's catching him off guard. It took him a moment, clearly being a bit scrambled, before remembering.
"Oh that," Touma began to respond, looking a bit worried. "Bad news is right now I have an after school meeting with Mrs. Suzuki. Nothing major, just kind of like a therapy appointment if that makes sense? Shouldn't be longer than an hour..."
"Oh no worries Touma, I forgot you said you were going to meet her after school today," Natsume reassuringly responded. "I'll let Akinori know it'll be postponed for about an hour, alright?"
"T-Thanks…!" Touma thanked, Natsume waving off before heading out the front doors. She put her hand to her chin, thinking in deep thought.
"Just how am I going to kill time for an hour?" Natsume thought aloud, starting to walk out of the front gates of the school. What to do, what to do, those were the thoughts that circled through her head…
It was at that moment she noticed a particular tiny yokai floating nearby, Natsume making sure to catch his attention.
"Junior!" Natsume waved, the tiny red orb of a yokai floating down upon hearing the voice of the young teen. Though, Natsume seemed a bit worried for the little yokai, looking around.
"Do you know where Whisper or Jibanyan are? It's dangerous to wander alone you know..." Natsume asked, Junior giving a small shrug.
"Dunno, papa was lookin after me, but he said he needed to get some chocobars," Junior explained, seeming a bit relaxed about the whole situation. "But then Jii-tan got distracted by chasing a little butterfly..."
"Oh dear, then we should head back to where your pops is, right?" Natsume suggested, the little red yokai giving a nod.
"Yep! Though Jii-tan thinks something was wrong with that butterfly..." Junior pondered about, floating by Natsume as the two started to make their way to where Junior and Jibanyan were earlier in the day.
"How so?" Natsume wondered, confused by what the yokai meant.
"Like...Jii-tan feels like something else was chasing after it?" Junior responded, rubbing his single ear with his tiny hand in frustrated confusion. It was all a bit much to process for the child, goodness. "It was strange..."
"Interesting..." Natsume concluded, keeping in mind Junior's words. The rest of the way over to the meeting spot, a local candy shop, was brisk yet silent. A butterfly with a strange aura, huh? It could have been simply Junior's child-like imagination, or it could have been an actual yokai. Such things were hard to tell sometimes…
Upon arriving, the familiar red feline yokai was waiting for the two, or at least just one of them. In his rough but snow white paws were some Chocobars, one for himself and one for Junior. Jibanyan looked up, surprised to see Natsume on the scene.
"Hm, wasn't expecting to see you around, Natsume," Jibanyan quipped, but gave a smile to the two. "Glad you were able to find Junior there, I was about to go look for him. Kids these days sometimes..."
"No problem, I'm thankful he didn't go too far honestly," Natsume sheepishly responded, Junior floating over to get his Chocobar. "Do you mind if I hang out with you two? I have about an hour or so to spare until we have to go meet up with the others."
"Sure sure," Jibanyan agreed with, opening up his chocobar and lounging around like a cat would. It felt oddly nostalgic to be lounging in such a way, munching away at chocolaty treats.
Junior on the other hand, was having a bit of trouble opening his chocobar, but after some strong bites on the bright foil wrapping, the tiny yokai was able to get into the sugary contents.
"Alright! Time to-" Junior tried to announce, only for a swift shadow from the ground to jump up and take the chocolaty treat from the tiny yokai.
"W-What the!?" Junior gasped, getting pretty angry. "That was Jii-tan's chocobar! First you try to chase that butterfly, now this!"
The shadow thankfully stayed pretty still, Natsume giving a glare as she readied her Yokai Watch Elder. "Oh no you don't!"
Shining the watch's light on the shadow, it slowly took it's true form of just who the mysterious candy thief.
To the surprise of the group, the shadow's true form was a small yokai, with the general size and appearance of a normal human baby. Well, aside from the grey skin, pointy ears, black scelra, and snow white hair. At least they seemed to have bright blue eyes like the sky above, a big yellow bow in their hair.
The baby yokai didn't have anything to say, just held onto the chocobar confused as they sucked on their light yellow pacifer in deep thought.
"So, a baby that stole candy from a baby..." Jibanyan remarked, surprised to see the scene at hand.
"Give it back!" Junior yelped, shifting his form around to try and get his treat back. The baby was surprisingly restive, holding it just out of reach. Jibanyan crossed his paws.
"That Kage Orochi is just a little tyke," Jibanyan told his son with a stern yet heartfelt glare. "Whisper probably taught you about using the P word, then you take it back by force if they don't comply."
Junior gave a bit of a sigh, looking at the thieving baby. "Can Jii-tan please have my chocobar back? Please?"
Seems using it twice clicked in the other tiny yokai's mind, their tiny hands extending and gently giving the chocobar back. Though they seemed a bit saddened by the fact.
"Chippu..." The baby yokai babbled to themselves a bit glum. Natsume and Jibanyan looked puzzled.
"Do you know what that yokai said?" Jibanyan asked, Natsume shaking her head.
"Beats me, maybe Junior knows," Natsume responded, Junior's face puffing up a little.
"Jii-tan is not a baby!" Junior huffed, but twitched his ear a little. "But, she seems unhappy that she had to give it back, she just wants something to snack on."
"Well if that's the case..." Natsume stated, quickly darting into the store as fast as she could to quickly grab something. Within a few brief moments in time, she returned with something in her hand. Extending her hand out, Natsume revealed it to be a little lolipop, not too big but not too small that the tiny yokai could choke on it.
"Would you like this?" Natsume asked, kneeling down to the tiny baby.
"Chippu!" The baby responded, reaching out her tiny hands to swap out her pacifier for the sweet and sugary lolipop.
"She says thank you," Junior translated, Natsume smiling and giving the tiny yokai a pat on the head.
"You're welcome, goodness you're a cute one aren't you," Natsume softly said, looking a bit puzzled. "What's your name?"
"Chippu….Sooouuu...Gaa..." The tiny baby spoke back cheerfully, Natsume being a bit confused, Junior soon filling the teen girl in.
"Her name is Sugar!" Junior proclaimed, Sugar giving a nod.
"Sugar huh?" Jibanyan stated, tilting his head a little. "What an odd name to give a pretty dangerous yokai..."
"I don't think stealing candy and chasing butterflies qualifies as being dangerous..." Natsume confusedly responded, Sugar wanting to be picked up by the girl and getting her wish of being held. Jibanyan merely shook his head, pinching his hypotehtical brow a bit.
"No no, you see, she's clearly a Kage Orochi," Jibanyan started to explain. "They're the manifested shadows of Orochi, a type of deadly assassin yokai, and thus, they're just as dangerous if not moreso. We're thankful that she's just a harmless lil squirt now..."
Junior looked in deep thinking. "Wait...so if those yokai you said spawn from another...Does that mean Sugar has a papa of her own?"
The other two looked surprised at the younger yokai's words, realizing they might've stepped into something dangerous.
"Oh..." Jibanyan spoke up, looking worried.
"Whoever Sugar's parent is...they might be worried..." Natsume wondered, Jibanyan looking uneasy.
"I mean, Kage Orochis tend to be abandoned from the Orochi they spawn from, but if there's a fight to be picked I'll be sure to pick it!" Jibanyan responded, gently punching his fist into one of his paws and looking ready to fight.
Sugar looked up confused about everyone's talking, but did pick up one thing amongst it all.
"Chippu...chippu...papa…!" Sugar cooed, the trio looking shocked.
"So you do have a dad..." Jibanyan concluded.
"Do you know what he looks like?" Natsume asked the little baby yokai sweetly but alas…
With a tiny little yawn, Sugar was fast asleep, not bothering to wake up to enjoy a peaceful rest. That's how a lot of babies worked, they slept for most of the day and only would wake up for food or other needs, guess human babies and yokai babies are just the same.
"It's a good thing we have a yokai detective agency going," Natsume reassured, though keeping her voice soft as not to wake up Sugar from her nap. "Since we can hopefully solve this case and get Sugar back home safe and sound!"
Time simply could not be wasted at this moment, Natsume and the others heading over to the office of operations for the Yokai Detective Agency. It had been about an hour or so, so everyone should be here and hopefully ready to take on a pretty large case.
Stars were aligning in Natsume's favor, as Akinori and Touma were already waiting for her in the office. She slid open the door, her eyes filled with pure shock, startling the other two.
"Natsume!" Akinori yelped, looking just as shocked as Natsume. "What on earth happened?"
"Shhh not so loud," Natsume slightly scolded back, gesturing to Sugar who was still fast asleep. Thankfully the noise didn't seem to disturb the tiny yokai. "Long story short, we're going to have to go on a snake hunt for this yokai's papa."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Akinori chimed in, starting to stand up. "Let's split up, gang!"
"My my, what a timless phrase," Whisper commented on the matters, floating near Natsume. "I believe it might be best if I look after the child, it gives you more freedom of arm movement and mobility."
"Good point, Whisper," Natsume agreed with the ghost, handing over Sugar gently to the dapper butler. "Good luck, we'll contact you once we find her papa."
With that, everyone was out and on a search all up and down through town. Where on earth could Sugar's papa be exactly? More specifically, who is he? Many mysteries awaited the young detective agency.
Hopefully the search wouldn't take too long.
Two and a half hours have passed, and there have been exactly zero leads. All and up around town Natsume, Touma, and Akinori were talking with any specter or serpent they could find. It was always the same response, utter confusion and nothing of true and real value.
The three met in a rather messy but quiet and peaceful rock quarry. It wasn't the most ideal place, but maybe out in the open a clue would turn up. Who knew at this point, it all seemed just a little bit hopeless, but they had to keep trying.
"So, we've ended up finding out nothing..." Touma began, being pretty tired from looking around. "I haven't done that much talking in ever..."
"Same, I swear I was going crazy when I was asking actual snakes," Akinori added, being just as distressed as everyone else.
"At least we tried, maybe we can keep doing it more tomorrow?" Natsume suggested, but it was clear in her tone she was a bit glum as well, sulking and kicking a nearby small rock. "How are we going to even find the kid's papa?"
The kick of the small rock ended up going high into the sky, but nobody noticed that there was a bird flying over head. While the force of the rock wasn't enough to knock the bird out, but it was enough to anger it.
"What's that?" Touma asked, pointing up to the sky at a small flying figure. Akinori gave a shrug.
"It's probably just a normal sparrow...Dunno why it's flying down here," Akinori quipped, Touma looking up further at the figure getting closer.
"Uh...Akinori, I don't think it's just a sparrow..." Touma muttered, the flying bird becoming a lot more clearer.
The bird in question was not just a tiny sparrow, but rather a large Golden Eagle, a small red scarf around it's neck. It gave a loud screech, as if it wanted everyone in this abandoned quarry to hear it's call. It swooped back up, not seeming to want to harm the three young teens.
But, there was a large shadow forming underneath the three. It was getting bigger and bigger, longer and longer. Everyone tried to run but…
A massive serpent emerged from the shadows, everyone being knocked off it's back. The serpent had a dark teal body with a trim of burgundy fur and a cream underside. The upper body and face of the snake had sharp, metal plates all over it, with a wild dark mane tipped with bright orange and piercing yellow eyes. Around it's neck were two serpents made of aqua colored aura, going through what looked like rings of fire.
"W-what is that thing?" Natsume asked, dusting herself off from falling over.
The serpent's only words were that of loud hissing. Whatever it was, it didn't look too happy. It's sharp fangs were bared, seeming to seep with the venom of eight snakes. It was starting to make it's move towards the three, fangs ready to bite into them and seep them with a deadly venom.
Taking note of this sticky situation, Akinori began to focus some mystical yoki energy, drawing a star shape into the air and grabbing it.
"Don't even think about running your mouth off!" Akinori remarked, throwing the energy to the serpent's mouth. A magical rune appeared around the mouth of the beast, sealing it's mouth shut, at least for now.
However, the serptine yokai wasn't without it's plans, as the aura dragons around it's neck decided to take the charge for their master. They weren't nearly as big, nor were they seeping with posionus venom, but they could still hurt.
Before Akinori could even try to combat against these dragons, they already knocked the boy over. Thankfully, the group of young teens weren't without a plan.
"Natsume, take these," Touma started to give instructions to the girl, handing her two key like objects with green markings. They were none other than the arcs for Cu Sith and Komasan.
"How did you get these?" Natsume asked, being almost unaware of the impending danger.
"Cu Sith gave me his arc, Mrs. Suzuki gave me Komasan's at the end of my session with her," Touma rather hastily explained, holding onto the dial of the Yokai Watch Ogre with a tense expression. The two were under fire, and it seemed there wasn't a lot of time to waste asking questions.
"Summoning, Goemon!" Touma began with his speech, the wristwatch mystically chiming with "Twelve O'Clock. Goemon" as the boy's eyes glowed a burning red with a press of the watch's silver switch.
"Lend me your courage!" Touma finished, pressing down on the watch face and within a flash, the much more foreboding and boisterous Goemon was in his place.
Wasting no time, the spiritual dragon heads tried to lunge at Goemon, but the large warrior slashed through their sharp, fang bearing heads like a hot knife through butter.
"Wahaha! You are no match for-" Goemon tried to gloat, but noticing something off about the whole ordeal. Slowly, the snake heads were reforming, and instead of two, it was now four!
The situation was going from under control to starting to slip out of control, and Natsume absolutely took note. She got out not one, but four arcs she has collected, unlocking the face of the Yokai Watch Elder by turning the lock counterclockwise. The voice within saying "Shadow! Unseelie!" chimed.
"Summoning not one, but four of my friends!" Natsume began, hovering all four of the arcs over the face of the elder watch. "Omamori Komasan and Cu Sith, Mononoke Jibanyan and Big Ears!"
From the dark shadows, the two monstrous feline and the two roughened hound yokai appeared behind Natsume, charging in and ready to fight.
"Aight ya big an' ugly, lettsa git rough now!" Big Ears started, his large claws ready to fight. A large grin was smeared around his face.
"Six ayrmes cann't be good for yae unless yer a buhg, so let'settle this now!" Big Ears started, aiming for Goemon, thinking he was the enemy in question. However, Jibanyan took note of the cat trying to attack their ally, grabbing the other feline by the tail. Big Ears didn't seem to mind, his mind was to busy in battle he didn't noticed his direction was now headed to the four aura snakes.
"At least try to aim for the actual enemy," Jibanyan quipped to the cat, thankful the other managed to strike down two of the four aura heads. Using his feline insinct, he picked up on something.
"Oh no you don't, not on my watch!" Jibanyan remarked, noticing how the heads were reforming, he jumped up, his paws ready in the air.
"Hundred Feline Fists!" Jibanyan let out his iconic soultimate attack with a shout, punching repeatedly hundreds of times. This time, there didn't seem to be a delay, as it struck instantly, leaving the two aura snakes down. Two down, two to go at this point.
Komasan and Cu Sith were already working on getting things done with the other two aura snakes, clawing and gnawing at them like a teething puppy to a chew toy, and with the amount of energy too. The two shook their heads with the aura snakes in jaw, trying to dissipate them as best they could with their hound like strength.
The two heads disappeared, leaving the heads to slowly start to reform, and the dog duo let go. But only briefly, as they focused energy.
"Falling Dog Rock! Three Barks to the end!" Komasan then Cu Sith called out their attacks, a large komainu rock falling onto the aura snakes and then Cu Sith letting out three powerful barks that caused a sound wave. By the third mighty howl, the aura snakes were all completely gone.
Victory could not be celebrated right now, as the main, large head of the serpentine beast finally broke free from it's bonds, letting everyone know it was angry with a mighty, roaring hiss.
"No, you aren't going to defeat me, big fella!" Goemon stated, starting to slash and hack away at the snake's face to try and break off the armor around it's face. A few dents were being made, but it seemed to be far less effective than expected, as Goemon found himself on his toes a lot more trying to dodge out of sharp, venomous bites from such a beast.
"Take this, your song is ov-" Goemon tried to yell in victory, reaching his arms close to the venom seeping fangs of the snake. However, the snake yokai took this as a perfect opportunity to give a bite down on one of the six arms of the Genma. The bite sent a powerful, shocking venom all throughout Goemon, rendering him completely useless, like a perfectly good paper bag being thrown into a large body of water.
After the biting of the Genma, the serpent managed to throw Goemon crashing through the other four summoned yokai like a bowling ball striking down bowling pins and scoring a perfect strike. Such a strike made the five crash onto the ground, Goemon going back into the Yokai Watch Ogre and returning Touma to the waking world, and reverting Jibanyan, Komasan, Cait Sith, and Cu Sith back into their lightside and seelie forms.
"Oh no..." Natsume spoke to herself in worry, feeling backed up into a corner now. This yokai...this yokai was far out of their league at this point it seemed...And why of all days, did she have to leave the arcs for Pixie and Seiya back home? It was like forgetting a card that you never thought you'd need, but you ended up needing that day…
The large serpent started to approach, only to stop upon hearing a faint sound and seeing something hurriedly whizzing through the sky, coming to the aid of Natsume.
"Ah so this is where you all went," Whisper began, looking quite worried and frantic. "I tried to call you, but you didn't seem to answer."
"Well, we're kind of in a bad situation right now..." Natsume responded, panickedly pointing to the large serpent yokai. "So make it quick, please."
"You see..." Whisper started with his reasoning for being here, revealing that he was carrying Sugar with him. She had tears in her eyes. "She started crying for no reason, and I don't know how to make her stop! Not even junior could figure out what's wrong!"
Just as Whisper finished, the tiny baby yokai began to cry and bawl again, being quite loud and distressed. Natsume was gently given the baby to hold, trying to rock her.
"Shh shh, it's okay Sugar, it's okay..." Natsume gently tried to stay, but clearly being just as stressed as the baby snake.
The large monster snake that had been causing so much trouble had completely froze, a look on it's eyes of shock as he looked down to the two trying to take care of Sugar. Slowly but gently the serpent came closer, but not to attack.
Lowering it's head, it simply gave a gentle nuzzle to Sugar, even giving her a soft kiss on the cheek with a flick of it's large serptine tongue. Sugar's tiny hands grabbed onto the large snake's head, her face lighting up.
"Papa!" Sugar cooed, the group being shocked at the words the tiny shadow snake spoke.
"That giant serpent is your what?" Akinori stated, having slowly gotten back up after being wrecked.
The form of the large snake broke away, fading like black sand in the wind, revealing his true form, being that of a certain humanoid.
"There, there Sugar," Shichimi began, taking hold of the tiny snake from Natsume. "Papa's here now, it's okay..."
"You're...you're her father?" Touma asked, still a bit uneasy from the battle. Shichimi gave a nod to confirm.
"Sorry for the mess I made, I was doing some important duties and the poor thing wandered off," Shichimi apologized, his daughter still snug in his arms.
"It's a good thing we ended up finding her then," Natsume informed, Shichimi's eyes widening. "If she got any further away, who knew what could have happened."
"Thank you for finding and looking after Sugar," Shichimi thanked, giving a gentle but sincere smile, usually a rarity among hardened snake yokai like himself. He got out a key like object, tossing it to Natsume.
"Anyways, I'm Shichimi, an Orochi, which is a type of Goriki yokai," Shichimi introduced himself proper, the eagle from before landing on his forearm and perching elegantly. "And this is Yama, a Golden Eagle and my top scout, from his call I thought something was harming him."
"Well, about that, it was an accident," Natsume filled in, sounding honest. "Had I actually really hurt Yama, I would have patched him up as best I could, heck I've defended animals from bullies before, including birds."
"Don't worry, it's all mangatsika," Shichimi reassured as best he could. "I know the difference between an accident and those intent on being cruel to the world's wildlife."
Whisper stroked his chin, a bit curious and confused to something the snake had mentioned earlier.
"Say, you said something about having to take care of some important business," Whisper began, intrigued. "What did you exactly mean by that, if you don't mind explaining."
"That, well..." Shichimi started, his thoughts starting to focus as he tried to explain just what was going on…
Elsewhere, within the Yokai World, the blue haired serpent lord was on a bit of a rampage, having not slowed down ever since he recovered. The red parts within his sapphire blue eyes glistened like rubies with a sinister energy. A large, chaotic grin was on his face.
"Heh, it's already starting to come down to this, is it?" Kaira talked to himself, keeping his tone low but with a thread of boastful energy to it. He held his sword to the side, it glistening gently in the light that was starting to fade behind some clouds. A storm was coming, it seemed.
In front of Kaira was a grand palace, the very one the great nobility of the entire Yokai World resided in. It was better known as the Enma palace in some circles, because of the ruling family that was within it's elaborate and fine walls.
"Enma, I'm coming for you!" Kaira yelled, pointing his sword into the direction of the palace and starting to run towards it, making sure not to look back a single time. "I'm coming for not only you, but your head this time!"