To the ninjas, there was nothing quite as exciting as piloting, or at least flying in, the giant mecha Goemon Impact, named and supposedly modeled after the one and only Goemon. Propelled forward by rockets on the bottoms of his tabi-and-sandal-style roller skates, Goemon and his companions could see towns, hills, valleys, lakes, and forests from hundreds of feet in the air. It was a truly exhilarating and empowering experience. The tallest buildings and trees looked like toys, the people like mere ants that crawled here and there, most of them fully unaware of what was going on high above them.

Suddenly, Yae pointed straight ahead excitedly. "Ugly nun robot at 12 o'clock!" She was right; Bismaru Elegant was now close enough to be seen easily, in all of its horrendous glory.

"All right, let's get him," said Goemon, the main pilot. He leaned forward as Impact accelerated and began gaining on Bismaru, fast. The pilot of the so-called "ugly nun robot" seemed completely unaware of all of this, however, and continued zooming ahead with no change in its speed or maneuvers.

This changed, of course, when Bismaru Elegant was made aware of the presence of a hostile force not far behind it. This event occurred in such a way that even an incompetent idiot like Bismaru would be able to notice: Impact pushed the pod from behind straight into the nearest mountain. This impact caused a considerable amount of shaking among the cages below; so much, in fact, that the cable holding one of these cages snapped, causing said cage to fall to the outcropping of rock that Impact was standing on with a loud crash and a louder shriek.

"Good going, Goemon!" Yae scolded as she smacked him in the back of the head. "It looks like we might've already got ourselves a casualty. I'd better go down there and make sure they're not hurt too badly." Yae shook her head in fervent disapproval as she boarded an elevator in the back of the cockpit that would allow her to disembark.

"Hey, wait a second! What about Bismaru?" Goemon shouted back. But it was already too late by the time he had made that statement and turned back around to face the front. Bismaru was already on his jolly way once again, flying almost due north. "Damn it...Well, hurry up, Yae."

Yae nodded and dropped straight down in the blink of an eye. The men, meanwhile, sat back and twiddled their fingers to stave off boredom, except for Sasuke, who had neither fingers nor the capacity to feel boredom. About a minute passed before they heard a shout from the ground below. "Hey, everybody! Get down here!"

"Is that Miss Yae...?" Sasuke wondered aloud as he craned his neck to look towards Impact's feet.

Sure enough, Yae was waving her arms before cupping her hands in front of her mouth and shouting again. "Didn't you hear me the first time? You should come down here! Especially you, Goemon!"

Ebisumaru snickered at Goemon as they prepared to descend. "Nyo ho ho, Yae seems pretty mad at you, Goemon. Again."

When Goemon, Ebisumaru, and Sasuke stepped outside onto solid ground, the first thing they heard was Yae. "All right, Goemon, I'm not mad at you. I just wanted you to see for yourself how bad things almost were." She motioned to the cage, which was mangled horribly in its plummet. Most of the bars were distorted in shape, and the door was ajar, bent, and nearly falling off its hinges. But what really caught Goemon's eye was the person sitting next to Yae, groaning softly and rubbing her forehead...

"O-Omitsu!"

Sure enough, the former hostage that now sat in front of them was the waitress Omitsu. Fortunately, she didn't appear to have sustained any serious injuries from the fall.

"Omitsu, thank goodness you're OK!" Goemon said. "We'll drop you off at the foot of the mountain so you can head back home."

Omitsu's blank, distracted look provided a stark contrast to Goemon's expression of elation at the sight of his friend safe and sound. A hundred thoughts ran through her mind, most of them having to do with the subject of her private musings at the teahouse that morning. Finally, she lifted her head and, shaking it for emphasis, spoke one word: "No."

Goemon and the others were taken aback. "Umm...okay, I guess we can take you back to Oedo--"

She stopped him from going any farther. "No, no, you misunderstand me. I'm not going back there. Not yet, anyway."

"Then...where do you want to go?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? I'm tired of being left out of these things."

Yae was the next to speak. "Wait, are you saying you...you want to come with us?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying! I want to go with you on this adventure!" Omitsu was beaming by this point.

The four ninjas, on the other hand, were staring wide-eyed and openmouthed at the waitress. Surely, this was a joke. Ebisumaru, possessing a mouth that often spoke completely of its own accord, articulated the thought that was on everybody's mind: "Are you nuts?!"

Omitsu was shocked. "What?! H-How dare you! I'm not crazy, I'm serious. I want to go with you! Goemon, if you don't mind..."

Goemon nodded before smacking the back of Ebisumaru's head. He turned back to face Omitsu almost immediately. "Even if he is an idiot, he's got a point, Omitsu. I mean, these things are never easy. You could get hurt."

"Well, so could you! Do you really think it's so easy for me to sit there and worry about you?"

"Well, at least you'd be safe."

"Miss Omitsu, please reconsider," Sasuke said. "This will most likely be extremely dangerous. How will you defend yourself?"

"Umm..." Omitsu looked around frantically for something right there that she could use as a weapon. Suddenly, her eyes fell on the perfect object. She picked it up and held it up triumphantly. "I'll use this as a weapon!"

"A frying pan? Are you serious?" Goemon scoffed.

"Oh? Would you like to experience its strength firsthand, Goemon?"

"Uh, n-no, that's all right..."

"Anyway, I can help with the cooking. Wouldn't you guys like that?" Omitsu asked with an innocent smile.

"You know, come to think of it," Yae thought aloud, "it would be nice to have another skilled cook around. Even you guys can't object to that." It was no surprise that Ebisumaru was licking his lips upon coming to that same realization.

It was indeed difficult to come up with an objection to that, so Goemon quickly changed the subject. "Omitsu, why do you want to come with us all of a sudden? I never noticed you saying these things before..."

"Come on, Goemon," Omitsu replied. "You of all people should be able to figure that out. Remember when we were kids? Specifically when we first met?"

"I remember I came to your rescue when some idiotic teenagers were pushing you around."

"Well, yes, that's true. But I was actually thinking of what happened right after that."

"Umm...You kissed me."

Omitsu's eyes narrowed. "After that, Goemon."

Goemon sighed. He knew the conversation would inevitably come to this point. "Listen, Omitsu, I don't want you to put yourself in danger for my sake. We were kids back then, there's no way we could've known what would happen..."

Meanwhile, Ebisumaru, Sasuke, and Yae had already stopped listening to this conversation and were having one of their own. "Do either of you know what they're talking about?" Sasuke asked the other two.

"No idea. What about you, Ebisumaru? You've been friends with Goemon longer than either of us have."

"I'm not sure, either...Wow, I can't believe Omitsu kissed Goemon when they were kids..."

"Whatever it is, it seems to be an important event in their early lives."

"That's true. Omitsu seems to hold it in especially high regard. And it seems that Goemon was pretty chivalrous when he was a kid, too."

"Say, do you think it was a kiss on the lips? Or just on the cheek?" It was now Yae's turn to hit Ebisumaru on the back of the head.

"...and that's why I want to go with you so badly. See, Goemon? It's time for me to keep up my end of the promise."

"But you are keeping up your end of the promise, Omitsu!"

"But I want to do more!"

"Wow, are you two still arguing?" Yae interjected. "While we're standing here, Bismaru is getting away. Let's get moving! Omitsu, you can come, too. DON'T argue, Goemon. If she feels so strongly about this, I don't see why she shouldn't come along. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have any idea where Bismaru is going, would you, Omitsu?"

"Umm..." Omitsu tried to think, but was interrupted by the tractor beam that shot out of Impact's mouth and pulled her up. It took some time for her to get used to this sensation and regain her balance, but by the time this happened, she was almost inside the giant mecha. "Actually, I think I do have an idea," she said as she sat in an empty seat in the cockpit. "She said that she was taking us to 'a mountain of fright,' and that she hopes we're not afraid of ghosts or anything like that."

"Ah, I bet Bismaru's going to Mt. Fear," Yae said. "It's way up north, and it's said to be endowed with great spiritual power."

"All right, we've got our destination, then," Goemon mumbled as he pulled some levers and pushed some buttons in preparation for takeoff. "By the way, Omitsu, just so you know...I'm pretty sure Bismaru is a man."

Omitsu was so shocked by this revelation, she was having trouble forming words. "A man? N-No, that can't be. I mean, she introduced herself as Sister Bismaru..."

"Doesn't matter, that's just one of his many weird qualities. Bismaru's a freak in denial, so just trust me when I say it's a he."