Ninja Academy. Part 10- It's You, It's Me. Against the Army of Zombies.
In the main hall, on KTV president Saisyu's insistence, the party is starting. There are a few notable absences, not only those who have been killed by Mizuki. Shiki, Guy, Raven and Stryker were barred from entry, the first three for not following Saisyu's stylish designer dress code, the unfortunate riot cop simply for being himself. According to him, they would ruin footage of the party and the beautiful, well dressed people attending, and bring down the all important ratings. Everyone else gets busy with having a good time, a rare day without worrying about training.
Terry- Hey Andy, I've been meaning to ask about that stetson. I'm the Bogard who does hats, not you. Hats are my thing, take it off now.
Andy- I was planning to. (throws the cowboy hat off) Ta daa! New improved extra sleek, silky hair, with all those made up words shampoo adverts use to make their products sound important.
Ibuki- How do you get it so shiny? Can I touch your hair? Please?
Mai- Move it kid, I'm first! (kicks Ibuki across the hall) I am his official sort of love interest, it's only right.
Strider- I think Guy would have something to say about that.
Mai- Shut up, don't disturb me. Running my fingers through Andy's sexy hair.
Terry- Wish I had the same effect on women when my hat came off.
Asuka- Guys, what about that demon that's lurking around the school? The one Fuuma called up?
Saisyu- Leave. You're a cute girl and everything, and I kinda like you, but I won't have you bringing down the atmosphere at my event with your negativity. Get out, now.
Kyo- Come on guys, we're meant to be partying. It's not like we don't deserve this. Let's get the drinks in and celebrate! You gotta fight... for your right... TO PARTY!
Everyone Else- YEAH! PARTY! WHOO HOO! ETC!
As their friends get down and party, the rejects Guy, Shiki, Raven and Stryker sit in the canteen area. Pissed off, they are drinking some stolen beers and having a bitching session about the others. An equally annoyed Asuka finds them and joins in.
Asuka- Uh, excuse me. Can I hang out with you guys? That old fart Saisyu threw me out too.
Raven- Course you can cutie. We're having a bitching session about the others if you wanna join in. Since when is it Saisyu's decision to kick us out anyway, this is our class, not his. Damned if I'm coming in a tux.
Guy- Just 'cause I don't own any more shoes, I'm wearing a suit, shouldn't that be enough? (to Asuka) So what's your story kid. What brings you here with us rejects?
Asuka- Apparently my negativity ruins the party atmosphere.
Stryker- Hey, it's OK for you guys. Me, I'm a front runner for the title of most hated fighter ever. I get this all the time.
About an hour later, the partygoers are preoccupied by drinking, food, conversation, crappy dancing, flirting etc, so everyone forgets about the demonic priestess until she appears in the centre of the hall. In her hands, she is holding the bodies of the newly killed Eiji and Yuki. Terry tries to attack her, but finds himself magically transported to the same dimension Scorpion previously was, before he comes crashing down on his cranium right into a drinks table. Most of the students and guests are already quite drunk, so are unsure what to make of the demoness.
Kurenai- What the... she just killed our friends! Who the hell are you bitch!?
Hanzo- Mizuki!? How did you escape from the... Fuuma. He's really done it this time.
Galford- Oh fuck, I remember you from back in the day. Another super cheap SNK boss. So what, this is your next shot at a big comeback?
Cody- Athena, how come your phsycic powers didn't track her down before?
Athena- Sorry guys. I've had a bit to drink, and I'm not used to alcohol at all.
Saisyu- You may be an SNK boss, but that doesn't impress me. I'm Saisyu Kusanagi, president and owner of KTV, and you are not attending my party dressed like... (is hit by a magic spell) AIIIEEE... Oink Oink.
Kyo- DAD!? She turned you into a pig!? WHY... heh heh. That is pretty funny. Ha ha... OK, I'll shut up.
Mizuki- Well, it would have been too predictable if I'd transformed the policeman, wouldn't it. I'd like to thank your idiot friend for providing me with a way out of the demon world. With you as my ever obedient zombie army, I shall be so much closer to destroying everything in your entire world.
Strider- But why do you want to destroy the world anyway? Most megalomaniacs want to invade it, which in my humble opinion makes more sense.
Taki- Son, don't try and reason with her. She's insane, like all demons.
Mizuki- Just for a giggle really. Spending centuries trapped in the demon world gets kinda dull you know, not even long detailed RPG sessions or can pass that amount of time.
Eiji- And what gives you the idea that we're going to volunteer to be your undead zombie army Missy?
Mizuki- There's nothing voluntary about this. Think of it as conscription, you'll be dead, so there'll be no arguments from you. Guys, you can come in now.
Her zombies all burst through the door, followed by Gen-An, Red Arremer and Drahmin. To make things worse, Mizuki has used the time the heroes were distracted to ressurect Terry, Eiji, Yuki and the now non piggy Saisyu to join her ranks. Everyone still alive is now very worried, things have turned to shit very quickly for them all.
Mai- No way, this isn't fucking fair! I can't hurt Terry, he might be my future intended brother in law! Those are our friends she's zombified! She can keep Fuuma though.
Gen-An- Mai, say hi to your great uncle Gen-An. Not like you visited me in hell for twenty damn years!
Andy- Wait, that green thing there might be related to me one day when we get together!? Eww.
Nakoruru- Guys, what are we gonna do? Even on her own Mizuki's really tough, but now...
Mizuki- But now I'm unstoppable! Ha ha ha ha! Now get ready to join your pals as part of my army of darkness! Kill them! Kill them all!
Red Arremer- Oh you're done for now humans! We're gonna slaughter you!
Mizuki is a hugely cheap case of SNK Boss Syndrome on her own, so with her demon allies, the zombified puppets, plus her demon dog to back her up, she quickly gains the upper hand. The fight goes horribly for the ninjas and guests, even Exorcists R Us cannot help much. They are an exorcist short, and can't access to their equipment. Over at the canteen, the kicked out rejects can hear all of this, but are unsure of what to make of it at first. It is only the painful sounds of screaming and an inhuman,yet feminine laugh that makes them realise something is very wrong indeed.
Stryker- Wait a sec... I hear screaming. Either they're enjoying themselves too much and wanna rub our faces in it or...
Shiki- Or that demon from the Necronomicon For Dummies has found them and is kicking their butts.
Guy- I hear flesh being ripped. I think there's been some deaths. Do you think we should investigate? Hold on, the screamings mostly died down now. Oh fuck...
Raven- Shiki, you're into the occult. That Necronomicon For Dummies. Does it have ways to reverse summonings?
Shiki- No, it's the very basics. The real Necronomicon has much more power, but I don't have it. I think my guru friend Dhalsim has it though.
Asuka- You mean the weird, stoned yoga master living in the forest? Let's go see if he can help us.
Guy- Whatever we're doing, I think we'd better do it fast.
While they leave the Academy in Stryker's SWAT van to search of the weird old Dhalsim of the forest, Mizuki and her minions have suceeded in killing everybody in the hall. She has everyone's souls trapped inside a small glass container, and the priestess is in the middle of a dark ritual to ressurect the latest bodies, and control them like puppets. The victims already under her evil spell just stand there listlessly, as zombies they cannot do anything without Mizuki's command.
Mizuki- Soon, I will have a whole army of ninja zombies, and others too at my beck and call. With them following my every order, and my own power, this world will be doomed to destruction. That'll be fun.
Gen-An- Hey wait. I've seen this Ninja Academy show, not all of them are dead. There's a few still alive somewhere.
Red Arremer- Greenie's right. The Wesley Snipes wannabe, the Final Fight Guy and the sexy ninja goth. Where are they?
Mizuki- Well I can't feel they're presence in the building anywhere. Get my witches crystal ball set up, (the other demons do so) Hmm, they're out in the forest, with two other guests. Red Arremer, you've got the wings. Fly out to the forest and hunt them down for me, there's a good little demon minion.
Red Arremer- Will do ma'am. (taunting Gen-An and Drahmin) I'm her favourite minion, so screw you guys.
Drahmin- I hate that little brown noser.
As the sycopantic demon flies outside, in the forest, the survivors of Mizuki's assault pull over outside Dhalsim's hermit's cave. Because it's Dhalsim's cave, there is a large elephant outside the doorway. As Shiki already knows the rubbery Indian yoga man, she leads the others inside, where the small space is clouded with dope smoke and incense. Strange mystical books and artifacts clutter the cave, and old 60's prog rock plays in the background. Dhalsim himself sits floating in the air in front of them, staring into space.
Stryker- Is he even aware that we're here? Or is he too drugged up to...
Dhalsim- Welcome strangers... Oh it's you Shiki, hi. Should have said you were coming, I'd have got a takeaway. Why don't you introduce me to your friends.
Shiki- Hi Dhalsim. These two are my friends from Ninja Academy, Guy and Raven. The others are Asuka and Stryker, to be honest I've only just met them myself, but they seem cool. Anyway, we badly need your help.
Dhalsim- Raven huh. Last time I saw you, you were a female goth like Shiki. (Raven looks very confused)
Shiki- Wrong Raven. (to Raven) He means my friend from high school. She entered the Twisted Metal contest driving a hearse. We didn't have any other friends, so were into the goth and occult scenes.
Stryker- If Twisted Metal Raven's cute, could you introduce me to her sometime?
Guy- Anyway, we need to borrow your copy of the Necronomicon. The real one, not the Necronomicon For Dummies. Our stupid friend summoned up a demon, the rest of the Academy are really in the shit right now.
Dhalsim- Ah, you seek the Necronomicon. The ancient, unholy book of evil, wrapped in the dried skin of a Shotoclone. My yoga mind powers, plus the stressed looks on your faces tell me that your friend has fucked up big time...
Asuka- What the hell is that thing!? There, flying straight for us, some kinda devil!
Red Arremer- Found you! Time to die! Mizuki's gonna be so proud of me, and the others will be so jealous when she gives me a promotion.
Red Arremer swoops for the kill, coming straight for them. First he hits Asuka, which has the same effect as the old Ghouls And Ghosts game. She is slightly hurt, but worse, finds herself stripped down to her underwear, which is a far more appealing sight than Arthur in his boxers. Flying back into the sky, he starts spitting out flames at his targets.
Asuka- My clothes have disappeared! AAAAHHH! (blushes, and tries to hide her near nudity)
Stryker- Relax girl, you've still got your bra and panties. (thinking) Wow, that beats tubby, beardy little Arthur in his boxer shorts any day. She should definetly be the next Ghouls And Ghosts heroine.
Dhalsim- Don't mean to harrass you guys, but that little monster is spitting flames in my cave. He's just ruined my Persian rug. Do you mind being quick about destroying him please?
Raven- Look, we're getting to that. Keep your hair on... Oh right, sorry. You haven't got any hair.
Guy- Not like you've moved out of that yoga floating position at all to lend a hand.
A well timed Bushin Spin Kick from Guy drops him to the ground, and Raven jumps the winged demon before it can get up again. Dhalsim opens the book and uses an ancient spell to banish Red Arremer back to the demon world, causing him to disintegrate in a beam of bright light.
Asuka- That'll teach you to make my clothes disappear. Uhh, anyone got anything I can borrow?
Stryker- So is that it then. Is that our powerful demon?
Dhalsim- Not even close, that was just a minion. No, the real threat is back in the school, ressurecting your deceased friends to do god knows what. Take the Necronomicon and send her back to hell. But I want it back in good condition when you're done. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to enjoy this Dominican hash in peace.
Raven- Wait, you're not coming with us? A mystic backing us up would be really useful right now.
Dhalsim- I'm actually supposed to be on a day off today. You know, I liked you better as a girl Raven.
Guy- Look, he's never been female. Not even when him and Fuuma dressed up as Mature and Vice for a bet one time. Aw just foget it. Let's go kick some more netherworld arse.
Asuka- Guys, I can't really go demon busting in my bra and panties. Come on, someone must have a coat at least. (looks around hopeful, but no one has any spare clothes) A towel perhaps? Damn.
Dhalsim- Good luck on your mission. (smokes from his bong pipe) Ahh yeah, that's some good shit there...
Carrying the real Necronomicon, the five survivors leave Dhalsim's cave and head back to the demon infested school. Inside, Mizuki has succeeded in ressurecting the deceased ninjas and visitors from death, and is having fun manipulating her new zombies. An undead Hanzo is carrying a silver drinks tray, and serving her champagne, while an equally mindless Mai fans Mizuki with her own trademark weapon. Most of the others are also doing menial tasks for the benefit of the demonic priestess. Because of this, she has failed to see that the surviving ninjas and their friends are coming until they reach the coriddors.
Mizuki- Hanzo would you top my glass up just a... (looks into her crstal ball) DAMN! SHIT! It's them, Red Arremer must have failed! Gen-An, Drahmin, kill them all! Go! Slaughter them!
Gen-An- Why us? Why don't you get up off your butt, this is your evil scheme after all.
Mizuki- Dammit, do as I say! Or you'll find yourselves back in hell with the greatest hits of Daphne and Celeste for the next century!
Drahmin- "Gulp". Well, since you put it that way, we'd love to go out and murder them for you...
Mizuki- Besides, I'm enjoying myself far too much with the undead slaves. I've been stuck in the demon world for centuries, I need to pamper myself. Now you zombie Galford, come here and massage my back.
Gen-An and Drahmin do as they're ordered, on threat of shitty teenybopper music. They meet the heroes in the passage leading up to the main hall, and the two groups get ready to rumble, Asuka still stripped down to her underwear.
Drahmin- There they are. (seeing Asuka) And they've brought a stripper with them, how nice. Now remember. Mizuki wants their dead bodies in good enough condition for ressurection.
Gen-An- It's slice and dice time humans! (to Asuka) Ooh, cute teen jailbait, and what a body for someone so young. Maybe if I ask nicely, Mizuki will let me play with you after ... WAAAAHHHHHHH!
Asuka- DIE! I'm not taking any more crap from perverts, not from my possible Grandad Heihachi, NO ONE!
Asuka punches him hard, sending the mutant flying across the passage. Gen-An hits a wall on the other side, and is knocked unconcious.
Guy- What's that stink... (sees Drahmin, with the flies buzzing around his rotting corpse body) Oh, right. Well I'm not touching him. That's gross that is. When did you last shower, and what's with that green Scooby Doo mask?
Drahmin- RAAH! It's not a Scooby Doo mask! I'll beat your brains out boy! (swings his iron club at Guy)
Stryker- I'll deal with this one. This calls for some heavy duty firepower.
As no one wants to actually touch the rotting, fly ridden Drahmin, Stryker throws a grenade at him from a safe distance. Before the demonic duo can recover, Shiki reads from the same Necronomicon passage Dhalsim did to banish them back to the demon world. When they are disposed of, the five good guys burst into the main hall, where Mizuki is in the midst of a relaxing massage from Galford, while others obediently run around waiting on her hand and foot.
Raven- Fuck me, she's really living the high life here. Hanzo serving drinks, Mai fanning her, Strider feeding her chocolates, Kurenai holding up a TV with "At Home With Hinako" reruns, a massage from Galford...
Shiki- Guys, snap out of it! You're demeaning yourselves here! Galford, stop that massage, she's old and I bet she's got really bad cellulite! Shit, what has she done to you all?
Mizuki- They're dead girlie. They're my mindless toys now to play with as I see fit, obeying only me. And you'll be my latest additions. Well, maybe not the cop. Don't like him, he sucks and has no sense of style.
Guy- Mizuki, before we banish you back to hell, I'm kinda curious. Fuuma was trying to summon Morrigan as his escort for the night. How did he end up with an evil old lady like you instead?
Mizuki- Now there's a tale. As Morrigan was about to leave the demon world through magic, I saw my chance to escape and take my vengance on your world. So Iambushed her, left the demon world, and used my magic to damn that slutty succubus to a christian chastity program. Ha ha ha ha ha!
Stryker- That's it, you're evil villainess speech is wearing real thin! AIIIEEEE! Get off me you filthy...
As Stryker is about to shoot the priestess with his machine gun, her demonic pet dog appears and savages him. As the dog claws and bites violently at his body, Shiki uses her knives to skewer right through it's body, killing it for now at least. This sends the evil Shinto lady into a violent rage. Mizuki now has the mind controlled classmates and guests attack her enemies, which they do so en masse.
Mizuki- Kill them! Hurt them real bad! Beat them to death my mindless little puppets! Then after that you can all go back to pampering me, your Queen again. Won't that be fun?
Guy- How can we stop them!? ARGH! We can't kill them, they're already dead, plus they were our friends!
Shiki- Guys, I don't know how much longer we can last... AAAHH!
Mizuki- Yes, that's it! Finish them off! Beat 'em down, there's only five of them!
Our remaining heroes are getting pummelled pretty badly by the big group of zombies, while Mizuki watches, laughing. It all seems hopeless until Raven spots the glass container holding their souls. He and Shiki, still carrying the Necronomicon manage to break away from the brawl.
Raven- OWW, we're getting the crap beat out of us. What's this? Hey look, I can see Fuuma's soul trapped inside, and Taki's and Andy's and Ibuki's, everyone's soul is stuck in here. Shiki, got an idea! Find the bit in the Necronomicon about giving them their souls back, the rest of you keep the zombies busy!
Asuka- That's hardly fair, why do we have to get our butts kicked while you... (zombies pile in) AAAAHH!
Raven- Because I'm the man with the plan, and Shiki's got the magic book. OK, here goes. Ready Shiki!?
As Shiki flicks through the forbidden book, and their friends get battered by the relentless onslaught of the undead, Raven throws the container onto the floor. The glass shatters, freeing the trapped souls which now fly around the room. Using another of the Necronomicon's spells, Shiki is able to send each soul back to it's original body, ressurecting her friends and freeing them from Mizuki's control. Needless to say, the former zombie slaves are all VERY pissed off. Now they are free, they all join their friends in attacking their tormentor, all piling in at once to give her a good kicking
Mizuki- Get back, you're meant to be my slaves... Oh shit, you've got a Necronomicon! OWW! Why didn't someone tell me you had a real one!? AAAH! OUCH! Get off me you... AIIIEE! NOOOOOOO!
Shiki- Get her, kick the shit out of her! Keep going, I'm gonna send her back to hell now.
She reads what sounds like meaningless nonsense from the Necronomicon, but in reality it is very powerful meaningless nonsense. A much bigger, brighter light than those used to banish her minions engulfs Mizuki,and she slowly disintegrates, screaming in pain and anger until she disappears completely. The formerly dead good guys take this time to recover from their ordeal, and try and make sense of strange memories from their brief time as the demoness's puppets.
What will our ninjas in training come up against next during the course of their time at the Aya Uteo Ninjitsu Academy? Keep it under your hats, but they might just find themselves up against a rival Academy pretty soon. All will be revealed in the near future, but right now I need a rest. This one's turned out longer than I thought, which is why it's split into two parts. Hope you enjoyed it.
Note- The female "Raven" I was referring to was one of the drivers in Twisted Metal: Black. She was a rather cute goth chick who drove a hearse called Shadow.
Note 2- I took the title of this chapter from the song Army of Zombies by Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards.
Note 3- What, you want more?! I got nothing else for ya, go on, out! Nothing to see here! Move along!