Ryuki had explained to the others about what Horrors really were and they did not like the information.
"So…you actually killed a guy," Katara said, shaking with fear. Ryuki nodded in response.
"My cousin, Saeji-niisan, told me that once a person allows a Horror to possess them, they can no longer be considered human," Ryuki replied, sighing, "It took me a long time to wrap my mind around the idea, really, since the hosts still looked human but their souls had already been devoured. In a way, it would be considered mercy killing. I don't like it but somebody has to destroy Horrors or else more people will die."
"You weren't left with much of a choice, Ryuki," Aang said understandingly.
"Doesn't mean I have to like it. It's hard to forget they used to be human." He gazed down at the Keyblade he was holding, which he had named the 'Titan Key' according to the 'T' shaped keychain attached to it. He could summon it at will, be decided to keep it around for assurance. Aang had said it was amazing, along with Sokka and Katara. Toph was indifferent as she had touched it to feel what it looked like and only shrugged. To her, it was just a giant key.
"ALRIGHT, WHERE THE HECK ARE WE NOW!?" Sokka screamed as he led the group. Momo had been riding on his head before he flew off and landed on Ryuki, perching himself on the Knight's shoulder. The GAang were in a forest. They had walked all the way from the previous village and had ended up here.
"Sokka-san, may I see the map?" Ryuki offered and the Water Tribesman handed the map over to the Keyblade Master. Looking over the map, Ryuki quirked an eyebrow. "Ano…Sokka-san, I think you've been reading it the wrong way."
"What!?" Sokka exclaimed as he snatched the map away and looked at it, "No way! My navigation skills are perfect!" Ryuki carefully flipped the map over so that it was right side up, not upside down. "Oh." Katara glared and smacked Sokka up the head.
"You mean we've been walking around in circles because you were holding the map upside down!?" Katara snapped.
"Maybe the cactus juice hasn't really worn off," Sokka said, trying to make an excuse.
"Oh…blame the cactus juice! That excuse would've worked, like 2 days ago!" Katara shot back.
"Hey, I'm the warrior here!"
As the siblings bickered, Toph, Aang and Ryuki sat down on some rocks and sighed.
"Do they argue like this all the time?" Ryuki asked. Toph and Aang nodded. "Reminds me of Shadow and Pluto." Speaking about his old friends, how were they right now?
Shadow was looking over the results of Pluto's analysis with a stern expression on his face. This was just the evidence he needed to prove that Harker Tech had been stealing their ideas. Well, after they got Draco back, they would flush our the spy. He doubt Mortuary was the spy. Wouldn't be smart to be displaying that 'stolen' technology all around, the Timefire system that was coincidentally similar to Clock Up and now this Full Throttle system…Soon, very soon…
Suddenly, the room to his open swung open and Jinx ran in. She looked frantic. He turned to look at the pink haired witch.
"What's wrong?" he inquired.
"It's Brimstone," she answered. She then explained what happened.
After Katara and Sokka were done arguing, which took nearly 20 minutes, Ryuki was given the responsibility to lead them, much to Sokka's protests but Katara said, "Ryuki has his gear and a much better compass. He can get us to Ba Sing Se faster."
"Speaking of faster, why don't we fly on Dragblacker again?" Sokka asked.
"Because they draw power from me and I grow weaker if I keep summoning my monsters," Draco replied abruptly. He was holding the map open with both hands as his Keyblade was slung over his back. It just stuck there without a holster. Ryuki eyes were narrowed all around them. Ever since they stepped into this forest, he'd had an ominous feeling of evil washing over him. There was something here and it was anything but benevolent.
Momo's ears suddenly perked up as his eyes popped open. He looked around and whimpered before flying into Katara's arms. "What's wrong, Momo?"
"There's something here with us," Toph reported. "I can feel it. Stand perfectly still."
"I can hear it too," Ryuki added. Sokka drew his machete as Ryuki rolled up the map and put it in his belt before drawing the Titan's Key. His eyes narrowed as he got ready. The others tensed up for battle too. A nearby bush shook as if it was alive and Sokka pointed.
"There!" the warrior shouted. Suddenly, a black blur leapt out and tackled Ryuki to the ground. "It got Ryuki!" Ryuki was screaming as he thrashed around. "I'll save you, buddy!" Sokka yelled out a battle cry before he charged to attack the foul beast but then…
"Sokka-san, yamette (stop)!" Ryuki said as he sat up with the black creature in his hands. "It's okay."
"What…is…THAT…thing?" Sokka pointed.
"My pet," Ryuki smiled before he turned his attention towards the little black thing. "Brimstone, I've missed you!" The demonic pup barked happily before licking his master eagerly. "Hey! Cut that out!"
"Okay, so it's your pet," Sokka said, "But what is it?"
"He happens to be my pet dog from back home," Ryuki explained, putting Brimstone down. Katara and Aang looked scared at Brimstone's strange appearance. Brimstone looked like a small puppy, but with the absence of any fur and had red markings on its skin. It also had yellow eyes and small horns on its head along with a pointed tail. If one should ignore these abnormalities, Brimstone would look just like any normal dog.
"How did you get here, boy?" Ryuki asked. Sokka rolled his eyes.
"Oh, great, he's talking to dogs," Sokka said with a frown.
"Brimstone, meet Aang-san, Toph-san, Katara-san and Sokka-san. Oh, and not to mention Momo-chan," Ryuki told his pet dog and the demon puppy padded over to each of them. He sniffed Aang, Toph, Sokka (he growled at him for some reason), Momo (nearly attacked the lemur, thinking he was food) and finally Katara before he licked the girl's hand. Katara giggled.
"Aw…he's so cute," Katara picked the puppy up. "Aren't you, boy?" Brimstone barked in response.
Ryuki smiled. At least he knew he wasn't the only person in this world from his own world. But then, how did Brimstone get here. He looked up at the sky, even though it was being blocked by the trees, and said, "We better set up camp. It's going to get dark soon."
They did as told. Brimstone helped to dig up the fire pit as Toph collected the rocks to put around it and Sokka gathered the firewood. They also set up the tents and sleeping bags which were so generously rewarded to Aang and them for the Avatar's heroics. When the firewood had been placed in the pit, Ryuki snapped his fingers and they ignited. Now, they had a good campfire going on.
It was a good thing that they'd found a small stream so they had plenty of fish for dinner. Aang, being a vegetarian, ate some of the fruit and bread they had gotten from the villagers, another reward for the Avatar's heroics. Momo ate in his lap along with him.
After the fish had been cooked, Brimstone began feeding on a particularly large one as Ryuki enjoyed one as well. He gazed up into the night's sky. The stars were particularly bright. Thank goodness they found a good clearing to set up camp.
Ryuki's eyes then narrowed as his senses picked up something dark. There was something here in the forest with them.
"Hey, guys?" Ryuki began, "Didn't you notice that we haven't seen a single wild animal here? We didn't even see a bird or heard a cricket."
"You know, I noticed that too," Katara agreed. "We only found this fish and that was it."
"Me too," Toph answered, "Aside from the trees, and fish, the forest feels…dead."
Aang pondered. The forest was usually teaming with wildlife. Just why weren't there any animals here?
"Okay, you all are starting to creep me out here," Sokka said, unnerved by his friend's being so strange. Traveling with them for so long, he should've gotten used to this but then something even stranger would happen.
A vine, unnoticed by them, snaked across the ground and slithered over towards Brimstone. It moves so slow that it was barely noticeable, unless someone was looking for it. It then touched Brimstone…
And that was when Ryuki struck. Drawing the Keyblade, he slashed down on something behind Brimstone. The Kaiser puppy yelped in fear and immediately jumped into Katara's lap. "What's wrong, boy?" Katara asked, shocked by Ryuki's sudden action as well.
"What the heck are you doing!?" Sokka exclaimed, freaked out. Had Ryuki gone crazy. Ryuki picked up something wiggling. It was a worm, at least under the limited lighting, until all of them got a good look at it…It was a piece of vine and it was flailing around like a worm. Plants were not supposed to do that!
"I knew something was off about this place," Ryuki said before throwing the living vine into the fire. The vine actually made a screeching sound and this was followed by a ear-piercing shriek that echoed all around the forest around them.
"P-p-please t-t-tell me it was t-the w-w-wind," Sokka stuttered, freaked out by the shriek.
"I wish it was, Sokka," Aang said to him.
Brimstone turned aggressive and ran over to his master. He began growling, his eyes glowing bright yellow as the markings on his body glowed bright red. He bared his sharp teeth and snarled and growled.
"Everyone, keep your guard up," Ryuki instructed. Toph got ready along with Katara as Aang did with Sokka, the warrior holding a flaming torch. Ryuki's eyes narrowed as he attempted to pinpoint what it was and where it was.
At that very moment, IT struck!
It charged straight at them as a storm of vines came shooting out at the group. Aang acted quickly and blew them away as Toph sent them back with her Earthbending. Ryuki was slashing at the vines with his Keyblade, each slash cutting off the vines and making a screeching sound as they were cut off from the main body. Brimstone bit and clawed at them. The vines then withdrew themselves.
"Okay, this is just like the swamp again!" Sokka said, freaked out at what happened.
"Could it be forest spirits?" Katara asked.
"It doesn't feel like it," Aang replied.
"It's a spirit but not of the good kind," Ryuki said.
"And it's coming our way!" Toph shouted.
A large Venus flytrap appeared out of the ground and opened its jaws wide, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. It then dove at Sokka, who screamed. Ryuki grabbed it by its huge jaws, forcing them close. "You don't want to eat that! It's too sour!" Ryuki warned. He then pulled with all his super might and along with the large Venus flytrap, he pulled something else out of the ground.
The GAang screamed.
It was a large creature with black wood-like skin. The toes looked like plant roots. Its arms were large Venus flytraps connected, and on its back were a mess of vines. The face looked like a Japanese Noh mask and when it opened its mouth it let loose a shrill screeching sound, revealing rows of shark-like teeth.
'Aibou, this thing, it's a Horror!' Yaminekoryu reported. The Plant Horror pulled away its Venus flytrap arm and screeched at the group, lashing out with its vines.
"Everyone get back!" Ryuki shouted, gripping his Keyblade tightly. He slashed at the Horror and deflected the vines. "I'll take care of it!"
"No way!" Sokka objected, gripping his machete. "No plant is gonna get away with nearly eating me!"
"Would've gotten indigestion if it did," Toph quipped, bending several rock spikes and sending one flying at the Horror. It got stabbed in the chest area and screeached. It sent its vines flying but Katara used her bending to send ice discs flying, severing the vines. Blood splashed everywhere. Acting quickly, Ryuki activated a spell with the Keyblade and erected a barrier of psychic energy around him and his friends.
"Whatever you do, don't let the blood stain you!" Ryuki warned. "You don't want to know what will happen if you do!"
Aang used his staff to send a blast of air at the Horror, sending it staggering back but it dug its root-like feet into the ground to stabilize itself. It snapped with its Venus flytrap arms but got rocks in the jaws, courtesy of Toph.
Sokka threw his boomerang, hitting the thing in the face and making a crack in the mask. It sent vines at him and they entangled around him before raising him up.
"Sokka-san!" Ryuki screamed. He attempted to activate a fire spell but then stopped. They were in a forest and if he did that he'd cause the whole place to burn down and he couldn't risk using it without endangering Sokka.
Suddenly, someone shouted, "Final Vent! CALL OF THE HERD!" and several blurs jumped past the GAang and Ryuki. They attacked the Horror simultaneously and quickly, hitting it in the body and face. The blurs were Gazelle monsters, much to Ryuki's shock. He only knew one person who controlled such creatures.
Finally, a brown and black armored figure leapt up and smashed his knee into the Horror's mask, shattering it. The Horror let go of Sokka. Sokka's fall was broken by a cushion of air.
"Thanks, Aang," Sokka said. Aang nodded.
Ryuki eyes went wide and he said, "Mortuary…?"
Mortuary, the Zodiac Knight of Aries, Knight of Duplication, gave Ryuki a salute, "I knew I'd find you, kid." Ryuki smiled widely. "Now, let's finish this thing off!"
"Hai!" Ryuki nodded before sliding his deck into his summoned belt, "Sword Drive Form! Henshin!" The Blank Mode armor appeared on his body before being replaced by his Sword Drive Form and Yaminekoryu's personality superimposing on his own. He announced, "Ready or not, here I come!" The Titan's Key Keyblade also changed into the Red Peach Keyblade as Draco stood ready for battle.
Mortuary looked his friend up and down and whistled, "Nice new look."
"Well, look closely because I'm going to show you what I'm like at my climax!" Draco shouted as he dashed towards the Horror. With the mask gone, the Horror's true ugly face was revealed. "Heh, I liked you better with the mask!" The vines came flying at him but Draco swung the Red Peach to slice them apart. "Is that all you got!? Come on!"
Aang, Katara and Toph provided back up, using their bending to hit the Horror hard and fast with air, water/ice and earth. An air blade sliced the Horror's arms off as Toph created sink hole to trap the Horror while Katara hit it with ice balls.
Mortuary drew a card and slid it into his kneepad/card reader. "Strike Vent!" His Gazelle Stabber appeared on his arm and then he jumped up. "Take this!" He dove down on the Horror's chest and spun his drills into its chest. Black blood sputtered out as Mortuary drilled right through the wooden skin and out the other end. The Plant Horror screeched in agony.
"Time to make mulch out of you!" Draco announced as he slid a card into his Dragauntlet. "Mighty Vent!" The energy from the card went into his Keyblade and it glowed red. "Have a taste of my ultimate attack…EXTREME SLASH!" Draco leapt up and then came down on the Horror, "STRAIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE!" He sliced the Horror completely in half, straight down the middle before he did a spin and sliced it across the waist. With a final screech, the Horror exploded, leaving nothing of it remaining.
"Heh," Draco laughed before Mortuary walked over to him and through his helmet gave Draco a stare. "Hey, what are you looking at?"
"Sorry, I thought you were someone I knew," Mortuary said.
"It's still me, Craig." The Keyblade changed back into the Titan's Key as Draco turned back to normal.
Draco's armor vanished as did Mortuary's. Ryuki and Craig smiled at each other. "So, black hair?" Craig asked.
"I had to disguise myself somehow, Craig," Ryuki replied, "Red hair isn't exactly common in this world."
"I can see that," Craig nodded. "So, aren't you gonna introduce me to your new pals?"
"Ah, gomen!" Ryuki then introduced everyone, "Everyone, this is Craig. He's my best friend from back home."
"Hi," Craig waved.
"I'm Sokka."
"Call me Toph."
"Aang."
"Katara."
"And this is Momo," Ryuki said, pointing to the lemur who perched himself onto Craig's shoulder. "Craig, how did you find me? More importantly, how did you get here?"
"Well, when I heard fighting, I knew you couldn't be too far behind. And, as for how I got here," Mortuary pointed to his wrist, at the Full Throttle, "This baby took me here. I just followed the coordinated and, presto, I'm here!" A barking sound could be heard and Craig looked down curiously to see Brimstone, barking at him. Craig smirked, "And it looks like I brought along a stowaway too. I knew someone had jumped into the portal after me."
"Well, it's good to see you, Craig. I've missed you," Ryuki said.
"Yeah, me too, and so do the others. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when I bring you back!"
The GAang looked surprise. Ryuki was going to leave them?
"You're leaving us, Ryuki?" Katara asked. They were going to lose a new friend. They had only just met him.
Ryuki looked between Craig and his new friends. Sure he wanted to see everyone else, Jinx the most, but he couldn't just leave his new friends…could he?
What was he to do? That was a dilemma.
A/N: Should he stay or should he go? Kat's still on the loose and so is the Hyper Inzecter. Appa and Dragonzer also need to be rescued. Want to know what he decided. Stay tune for the next chapter to find out!
