A/N: Happy Halloween! Here's the final chapter of this Halloween story. Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.
In India, Judai's battle was heating up. Some of the monsters—namely Zoa, the pieces of the Gate Guardian, and Great Moth—had evolved rather than being destroyed.
As Judai gaped, the scientist said, "Did I mention I gave some of them the power to evolve? Sorry about that."
"Okay, that guy's a total idiot," Yubel said. "Why bring them to life in the first place!? Let alone power them up! What, he trying to form an army or something!?"
Fed up with all the surprises, Judai said, "I'm not even going to ask what you were doing. Any other details I should know?"
"I don't think so," the man answered. He was smiling slightly, as if he were proud of his creations but concerned about the trouble they were causing, too.
"Great. Then I'm gonna see what I can do to get rid of them."
"You do that. But you better hurry before they destroy the whole country." He grinned slightly, sweating.
"Yeah, no duh!" Judai answered, turning his attention back to the rampaging monsters.
Akiko burst into her niece's and nephew's bedroom and stared. There was a black cat with a forked tail standing on two feet and throwing fireballs at Haruko, who was holding a baseball bat. Two small children were cowering behind her—a little girl with black hair and a red-headed boy.
"I said get out of my way!" the nekomata screamed at Haruko.
"Oh, my freaking... Waru!?" Akiko said, looking at him in disbelief and betrayal.
The nekomata—Waru—stopped attacking. "Oh, crap."
That was all the confirmation Akiko needed. She lowered her head, trembling. "You...you're attacking...and I...to think that I actually..." She glared at the creature and bellowed, "YOU BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS, WARU!"
"Now, calm down, Akiko," Waru said, backing up. "It's not as bad as it looks, really!"
"You're attacking my best friend and my niece and nephew, and it's not as bad as it looks?" Akiko said, approaching him menacingly. "How is that possible, Waru?"
"Honest! I just want that statue! Is that too much to ask?"
"That depends. Why do you want it, Waru, and is that reason good enough to justify attacking Risa, Ryan, and Haruko?"
"Probably not," he answered. Getting down on all fours, he arched his back, saying, "Okay, fine!" Fireballs appeared around him. "If you're still not going to give it to me, then I'll just take it by force!"
Meanwhile, downstairs, Fubuki was freaking out. "My sister's out there with that thing! And the other one's already in here! We have no choice! Just do as he demands already!"
A burst of fire came out of the kids' room, blowing up a vase on the other side of that hallway.
The "police officer" heard the noise and said, "Oh, for crying out loud. Here I thought cats were good at stealth."
Asuka, held by the "man," took advantage of his momentary distraction. She kicked him hard in the shin.
"Ow!" he said, letting her go.
Now free from his grip, she ran for it.
"Hey!" the yokai called, chasing after her. "Get back here, you little brat!"
"Tenjoin-kun!" Manjoume said. "We have to save her!"
"Agreed!" said Johan. "Jim, O'Brien, Manjoume! Go get her! Everyone else, attack that nekomata!" He turned to Fuyuko and Natsuko and added, "You two get out of here, too. Protect that maneki neko!"
Natsuko, the maneki neko curled safely in his arms, was staring up the stairs, worrying about his kids and sister. He was also eternally grateful his wife had decided to go to a friend's party rather than his—now she wasn't in the line of fire.
Fuyuko grabbed his friend's arm, getting his attention, and the two headed for the back door of the mansion. Jim, O'Brien, and Manjoume headed out to help Asuka.
Waru came charging out of the kids' room, still shooting fireballs. He spotted the statue in Natsuko's arms and started chasing him and Fuyuko, yelling, "I want that maneki neko! Now give it!"
Johan grabbed the punch bowl and threw the contents on the nekomata as he ran passed him. The nekomata let out what could only be described as a roar before lunging at him.
"WARU!" Akiko bellowed, leaping over the railing of the staircase and smashing him upside the head with a toy guitar. She whacked him so hard that it broke on impact.
"Ow!" the nekomata said. He growled. "You'll pay for that!" he said, lunging at her next.
Outside, the yokai police officer growled as he ran after Asuka. "This is why I hate humans! They're all a pain! Come here, already!"
"Stop right there!" Manjoume called.
The yokai turned just in time to get hit in the gut by a silver dish that Manjoume had thrown.
Asuka turned. "Manjoume-kun! Jim! O'Brien!"
"Get away from her, ya mangy dingo!" Jim demanded.
"Excuse me!?" said the yokai, seemingly insulted.
"Don't worry, Tenjoin-kun! We're here now!"
"Oh, thank you!" she said, running over to them.
Karen growled at the yokai, who exited the human he was possessing in response. Just as they had suspected, it was the kitsune from earlier.
"Look, all we want is that dumb statue," the kitsune said, standing next to the unconscious police officer. "Is that really too much to ask? Besides, I don't really want it! He does!"
"What the heck's going on here!?" Asuka demanded, hiding behind Manjoume. She wasn't quite feeling like herself at the moment.
"And why does he want it?" Jim asked.
The kitsune sighed. "If I tell you, will you give it to us?"
"Maybe. Depends on your answer, mate."
Again, the kitsune sighed. "Fine. So a very unusual nekomata showed up at my home, asking me for help. It wasn't evil like the others of its kind and just wanted something destroyed that it claimed was taunting it. Something about black cats being bad luck? Anyway, I agreed, thinking it would be easy and, as usual, you unpredictable humans proved me wrong. Can't you modern humans ever make sense?" The kitsune shook his head, getting back on track. "Anyway. That statue is driving that cat crazy, so, if you'd just destroy it, it should calm down. Happy now?" he finished, slightly annoyed.
Everyone stared, stunned. Manjoume's mouth was agape.
Jim blinked. "What? That's all? Crikey, you should've just told us!"
"Does the word 'stealth' mean anything to you non-foxes?" the kitsune asked. "We never planned on exposing ourselves like this. This country doesn't believe in us, and we didn't want them hurting us with their amazing spirit-repelling powers. That dumb nekomata was supposed to go in, break that stupid maneki neko, and leave. But, as usual, cats are all idiots. It wasn't supposed to attack those humans, either. Me? You guys are all driving me nuts, so I lost my cool, okay? Now, if you could kindly destroy that ridiculous statue, I could go home and pretend this whole thing never happened."
"Alright," Jim said. "Suppose we'd best be finding Natsuko and Fuyuko, then."
Back inside, Hayato had flipped the table onto the nekomata when he went after Akiko. When the yokai recovered, he took flight, diving at Hayato with his teeth bared.
"Oh, man!" Hayato panicked.
Waru hissed.
"Hayato!" Johan cried.
Fuyuko and Natsuko stopped running. The blunette was about to help Hayato. That is, if another blunette hadn't beat him to the punch.
Panicked screams from the smallest member of the group, who was again conscious, echoed through the room. "AHH! ANOTHER ONE! I'M GONNA GET POSSESSED AGAIN! OH, PLEASE! HAVE MERCY, MISTER NEKO!"
"Huh?" Waru stopped, landing on all fours in front of Hayato, and looked at Sho. "Oh, no. He didn't!"
"Now!" Johan commanded.
He, Ryo, and Kenzan grabbed a black rug on the floor and pounced the yokai, trapping him.
"Hey! Let me go!"
"We did it, guys!" Johan said, holding down his end of the rug. "Nice work!"
"Alright, alright!" Jim said, entering the house with the others...and a golden kitsune. "Everyone, just calm down!"
"AHH!" Sho shrieked. "KITSUNE! IT'S AFTER ME! SAVE ME, ANIKI!"
"Kitsune!?" Waru asked from under the rug, still squirming. "You there!?"
"Jim! What's the meaning of this!?" Johan demanded.
"Jim, is there any reason you're with a kitsune?" Akiko asked. "I mean, crocodile's are one thing, but spirits that possess your friends are an entirely different story."
"There's a perfectly logical explanation for all of this," Jim answered calmly.
"HE'S POSSESSED, TOO!" Sho insisted, pointing at him. "THEY ALL ARE! ANIKI! WHERE ARE YOU!?"
"We're not possessed. This kitsune just told us what they want with Natsuko's figurine, that's all. It's harmless, really. But why don't I let Waru tell you?" Jim said. Looking at the rug, he added, "Waru?"
"Wait, what!?" the nekomata demanded.
"LIKE I'M FALLING FOR THAT!" Sho started. "YOU'RE—"
Manjoume walked over and whacked him upside the head again, knocking him out for the third time that night. "Sheesh," he muttered.
"It's okay, you idiot," the kitsune said to Waru. "They're mostly Japanese."
Waru managed to poke his head out from under the rug, looking surprised. "Really?" he said. "Okay, then." He looked at Natsuko and explained, "See, that maneki neko of yours is black like me, so we're kinda connected. But, in this country, that's not such a good thing. So I feel like that thing's making fun of me, being black, too, and I'd feel a lot better if it was gone."
So many things were wrong with that, Natsuko didn't even know where to begin—his cat knew that black cats were bad luck in America...and so he felt like the maneki neko, a good luck charm in Japan, was taunting him?
Needless to say, he stared for a moment before, still stunned, he said, "Okay?"
Akiko bopped the cat on the head. "Idiot! Why didn't you say something!?" Muttering, she added, "Since, clearly, you can do that now..."
"S-sorry..."
Johan, Ryo, and Kenzan let the cat go.
Akiko sighed. "It's fine. Nobody's hurt." Eying Sho, she muttered, "Just nuts." She turned to her brother and said, "Natsuko, break that stupid thing, would you? Or move to Egypt.* One or the other."
It took another moment for him to answer—he was still stunned. "O-okay?"
Since he was just standing there stupidly, holding the thing, Fuyuko snatched the maneki neko out of his arms and threw it on the ground, where it shattered. Waru's tail fused back together, leaving him as a normal bakeneko rather than a nekomata.
"Oh, thank you," he said. "I feel much better now!"
"So does that mean you're done attacking people, then?" Johan asked.
"I never wanted to in the first place," Waru answered. "But you guys were attacking us, so we had no choice! Right, Haruko?"
"W-well, I was scared!" she answered.
"You might have mentioned that earlier, Waru," Akiko said. "Then you and I wouldn't have had to go at it. And, people, please don't put ideas into Haruko's head! It's dangerous, trust me."
"Hey!" she protested.
"R-right," Waru said. "Sorry, Akiko."
The kitsune nodded. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've spent more than enough time with you humans. Farewell!" he said, leaping out the window.
"So now what?" Ryo asked Waru. "Are you going to start haunting them? Or..."
"T-that's not my style. But I will stay to protect them, though!" He looked at Akiko and asked, "Akiko, can I be you sometimes? When you're not here? Please?"
Akiko shrugged. "Go ahead. I don't care."
"Th-thank you. So, about Sho. Did that dumb fox really do what I'm afraid he did? 'Cause, if he did, you may want to get him looked at."
"I know," Ryo said, picking up his brother. "I was planning on it." He turned to Natsuko and said, "Thank you for such an exciting evening, Natsuko. Made me remember my old high school and how much fun that place was."
"S-sorry... Guess you're right," Natsuko said, rubbing the back of his head. "Weird crap does happen when Sho's around me."
"No," Ryo admitted. "Weirder 'crap' happens around his aniki more. Trust me, that guy's a magnet for trouble."
"Whew..." Judai looked around. "Is that all of them?"
"Looks like," Yubel answered.
"Oh. Thank you, young man!" the scientist said. "I thought for sure that my experiments were going to destroy everything! How can I ever repay you?"
"Don't worry about it," Judai said with a smile. "That's what I do. Just don't let that happen again, okay?"
"Hmm... Come to think of it, how did you stop them? And your eyes. Why were they bi-colored? And why are they brown now? You wouldn't mind if I studied you a little to find out, would you?"
"Uh, actually, I would."
"Oh, come on. Please?" he said, getting closer. Clearly he wasn't taking no for an answer.
Then, of course, the last thing Judai needed was heard—Rei. "Judai-sama! Hey!"
"Sorry, I gotta go, pal! Later!" Judai said, running off to get away from them both.
"Hey! Judai-sama! Wait up!" Rei called, running after him.
"Yeah! I want a sample of your blood!" the scientist called, joining the chase. "Come back here!"
"Well, anyway, we're off to the hospital," Ryo said to Natsuko. "Have fun explaining this one to your family." He eyed the kids, who were at the top of the stairs, crying.
"Don't worry," Akiko said, heading over to the kids. "I got this."
"Is Marufuji-senpai gonna be okay?" Kenzan asked.
"I don't know. Hopefully. Someday," Ryo answered, walking out.
"In that case, wait up!" Kenzan called, running after him.
"Yeah, I'm coming, too!" said Hayato as he followed them.
"Don't forget about me!" Johan said. "Later, guys! It's been fun!" He ran out after the others.
Manjoume humped. "That idiot. So, who thinks we should call Judai about that one?"
"Don't," Asuka said. "I highly doubt he'd take it very well. Besides, I think Sho's more likely to squeeze him to death than anyone. Let's just keep this one our little secret, okay?"
Everyone nodded, agreeing never to breathe a word of this to Judai.
"I'd...kinda like to pretend it never happened at all," Fubuki admitted.
"Agreed," said Ed.
Haruko stood there for a moment before saying, "I hate Halloween... AKI!"
"Come here, Haru!" Akiko called from the top of the stairs.
As Haruko ran over there. Fuyuko said, "Actually, this is pretty normal for one of Natsu's parties... Though, I'll admit, usually it's not quite this exciting..."
Fubuki's eyes widened. "What!?"
"Yeah. Though, usually, alcohol is involved, which is why Akiko banned it at this one. I guess she was hoping to avoid this sort of thing..."
"Which reminds me!" Akiko yelled down at them. "Next time, drink whatever you want, Natsu! I give!"
"Alright!" he said, pumping a fist in the air.
Fubuki just stared, stunned.
"Well, anyway, we better go check on Sho," Asuka said. "Coming, Manjoume?"
She dragged her stunned brother out, with Manjoume following behind.
"Natsuko!" Akiko called. "They're your kids! Help me out here!"
"Right! Coming, sis! Fuyuko, you do whatever you want."
The two of them headed up to help calm the kids—and Haruko—down.
"I think it's time I head home, too," Ed said. "What about you guys?"
"I've had enough for one night," O'Brien said.
"I think I'll stick around," Jim said, eying the blond woman at the top of the stairs. "Try and help with those kids, y'know?"
"Whatever. Later, Cook," Ed said, walking out with O'Brien.
Jim headed up the stairs to help with the kids.
Sho was in a mental hospital until May of the next year. When he was finally out, he called everyone a dozen times a day, still scared after what had happened. The only person he didn't call was Judai, simply because Ryo had convinced him that telling Judai about this could endanger him. Nobody knew how he got his hands on Misawa's number, Sho included. He hadn't fully calmed down and started feeling better until the day he saw Judai, almost a year after this whole fiasco.
Jim, on the other hand, got to know Akiko better, and the two were an item by January.
Judai ran into Rei—and other ridiculous messes like that thing in India—repeatedly.
Waru took on the form of a real cat when Akiko was visiting, appearing as her at other times unless somebody was looking for the cat. He became the family's guardian, unbeknownst the wife (who wasn't too happy about her statue) and they got a new maneki neko, white this time.
*The color black is good in Egypt.
