Yo-Kai Watch! Christmas in Springdale

Chapter 03: Cat's Outta The Bag

~ Springdale | Adam Household | Later That Day ~

With news of the powerful Yo-Kai Damona in possession of the Yo-Kai Heart, we later find Nate back home and in his bedroom with Whisper, Jibanyan and Frostynyan. He laid in his bed with arms crossed behind his head and staring up at the ceiling.

"What are we gonna do Whisper? I know how much Frostynyan wants to grant Frostina's wish, but….can we even HANDLE a Yo-Kai like this Damona?" Nate asked. Whisper floated towards him.

"You heard what I told you. Damona's power is in a league WELL within those of even the Legendary Yo-Kai. It would probably take more than summoning JIBANYAN to handle this mess." Whisper explained. Jibanyan groaned.

"Gee….glad you have SO MUCH faith in me, windbag." Jibanyan muttered, crossing his paws. Frostynyan hopped onto Nate's bed before taking a seat next to him.

"Listen….if this was all too much to ask you, you can just forget about me and go about your business. I don't want to get anyone involved in business that could get them seriously hurt. I mean, Damona IS the Oni Princess." he said. Nate turned to face Frostynyan, smiled and then rubbed the small cat's head.

"Hey. I told you before. I'm not the kind of guy who would turn my back on a Yo-Kai in need. That would probably make my other Yo-Kai friends not like me all that much." he chuckled. Frostynyan sniffled, wiping his nose.

"You really are a good person Nate." he said. Nate smiled back before turning back to the ceiling.

"However, the only problem we DO have is how to even get to Damona. If what Whisper said is true, I doubt she lives in the Yo-Kai Realm with everyone else." he said.

"Nya….even I haven't heard of her until now." Jibanyan added. Whisper quickly plucked out his Yo-Kai Pad and swiped across pages, back to the entry of Damona.

"Hmmm…..from all I can gather, her castle is found in the Oni Canyon, a place TEETHING with Oni class Yo-Kai. And let me tell you, from our experience with Gargaros, I'm a bit SCARED of going there." he explained, shuddering at the end. Jibanyan glanced up at Nate.

"Heh. Not like Nate would care at this point, right Nya-te?" he asked "We've been through all kinds of crazy and insanely scary situations for the sake of another Yo-Kai, right?" Nate nodded.

"You got that right Jibanyan. Heck, we even went back in time to stop a cranky old lady from ruining friendship between Yo-Kai and humans. If we've done THAT, Damona should be a breeze for us." he chuckled. Just then, an idea seemed to strike Nate.

"Oh! Speaking of which, I suddenly realized who can help us!" he added. The others seemed confused.

"Huh? Who are you talking about?" Whisper asked. Hopping off his bed with a smile, Nate approached his closet door and opened it, seeing Hidabat inside with his computer. The bat Yo-Kai glanced curiously at him.

"Hey, Hidabat, you're good with Yo-Kai Maps, right? I need a favor from you. Is that okay?" he asked.

~ Meanwhile at Katie's House ~

While all this is going on, we quickly switch from Nate's bedroom to that of Katie, the girl from Nate's class. She was seen sitting on her bed, holding onto a stuffed bear as she rocked slightly in place.

"You know? I wonder….if they were right?" she thought. In her mind, she flashbacked to her last conversation with some of the other girls from their school.

"Hey, what do you girls think is up with Nate?"

"Huh? You mean Nate Adams? The boy from our class?"

"Yeah. I mean, have you ever seen how he acts a lot of the time? He acts like a real loon, talking to imaginary people almost twenty-four seven. What a loon."

"I dunno. I….never saw Nate acting weirdly before. He seems….so regular to me."

"Huh? Then you HAVE to see what's up with Nate then. I think you'll understand if you ever see him talking to himself."

Flashing back, Katie glanced across the room at her clock. As she did, she thought back to when she saw Nate earlier, after he had found Frostynyan and spoke with the other Yo-Kai. Though she was secretly present, she could not see any of the Yo-Kai that Nate was with.

"Maybe….yeah. I'll try talking about it with him….next time I see him." she muttered.

~ The Next Day…. ~

The night passed on and it is now the next day as we find Nate, Whisper and Jibanyan together in the park.

"I STILL can't believe Hidabat actually found us the fastest route to Oni Canyon. What does that bat DO all day?!" Whisper asked. Nate chuckled.

"Even so, at least he gave us a hint as to which way to go. Now, all we gotta do is call a couple of our friends so we can get there." he said. Fishing in his pocket, Nate took out two Yo-Kai Medals. One was the medal of Mirapo and the other was Frostynyan, designed with the cat Yo-Kai's head emerging from a snowman.

"Good thing Frostynyan gave you his medal before he had to run his errands. This way, we don't have to go tracking him down nyow." Jibanyan said.

"Yeah. He said he had to get a few things before he'd come with us to see Damona." he said. But as all this was going on, we look back at the nearby tree, finding Katie secretly watching Nate. And just like last time, she couldn't see Whisper or Jibanyan.

"Yeah. There he goes again….talking to himself." she thought "But….why?" Just then, as she took a step closer to try and hear Nate better, she wound up stepping into crunchy snow. The sound caused her to jump and caught Nate's attention.

"Hmmm? Oh…..It's Katie." he said, looking a bit surprised. Katie remained frozen in place.

"Oh well. I guess it's better than just spying on him." she thought. Snapping out of her petrified state, Katie recomposed herself before approaching Nate.

"What's up Katie?" he asked "Running an errand for your mom or something?" Katie shook her head.

"N-Not really. I came out looking for you….to….to ask you something." she said. Nate gasped, blushing bright red, as Jibanyan and Whisper looked on with estatic looks on their faces.

"Y-Y-Yes Katie? W-What can I do for you?" Nate stuttered. But as he seemed to slowly be backing away, he felt someone stopping him. He looked back to see Whisper and Jibanyan pushing up against him with all their might.

"Don't be a coward Nate! Just TALK to the girl for pete sakes!" Whisper grunted. Nate looked back at Whisper.

"C-Cut it out Whisper! I can't help it if I'm n-nervous around Katie, can I?!" he whispered. Katie continued watching Nate's invisible struggle, unable to find the right words until she looked down. She saw what look like small footprints in the snow by Nate's shoes, evidence of Jibanyan.

"A-Anyway, Nate, I wanted to ask….are you crazy?" she asked. The three stopped dead in their tracks before looking to her.

"Say what?" Nate asked.

"I mean, a couple of other girls from school were talking to me about seeing you talking to yourself or doing these really bizarre things with people who WEREN'T there. I didn't know what they were talking about until, well, I saw you yesterday. So….I have to ask. What's up with you talking to nobody?" Katie asked. Nate froze again.

"Uhh….well, you see…..Katie…..there's a GOOD explanation for all this." he said. Katie then looked down at Nate's arm, seeing the Yo-Kai Watch.

"Oh yeah. Now that I remember, they always said you were doing it with THAT." she said, pointing to it. Nate looked down at his wrist.

"What? You mean the Yo-Kai Watch?" he asked. But when he realized he said "Yo-Kai", he quickly covered his mouth.

"I knew it! What's going on Nate Adams? What's a Yo-Kai? And what's with that reaction? Are you hiding something?!" she asked. Without another word, she reached for Nate's arm and grabbed hold of the watch. Nate gasped and tried to shake his arm free.

"W-Wait a minute Katie! Nagh! L-Let go!" he yelled. But Katie continued to struggle, attempting to pull the watch off him.

"Talk Nate! I won't let go….unless you do!" she groaned. However, without realizing it, Katie's fingers activated the Yo-Kai Lens, causing it to pop up. Nate and Katie both gasped as the beam emitted from the watch and, pointing at Whisper and Jibanyan, caused them to suddenly visualize.

"Uhhh….." Whisper muttered as Jibanyan remained motionless. Katie looked on silently at Jibanyan and Whisper before her eyes quickly shrank and she screamed in fright, falling to the ground in shock.

"W-W-W-W-What are THEY?! Some kind of…two tailed cat…..and….and a big fat marshmallow?!" Katie exclaimed. Whisper huffed, turning beet red.

"NOW SEE HERE Miss Katie! I am not, nor have I EVER been a "fat marshmallow"! I am a well respectable and extremely knowledgable Yo-Kai Butler named Whisper!" he announced.

"Oh sure. HERE we go again." Jibanyan sighed. Whisper growled.

"And what does THAT mean?!" he asked. Katie remained petrified, quivering in place.

"Wait…h-how do you know who I am?" she asked. Nate looked on between his Yo-Kai and Katie, still puzzled by what had happened.

"Oh boy. Guess I finally got some explaining to do." he thought.

TO BE CONTINUED…