"You're telling us that your sister, the one who sacrificed her life in order to save the world, and who is currently possessed by some kind of monster, is actually THE FIRST NINJA?!" Heidi exclaims as the others fanned Bash.
Red didn't get to reply as his sister quickly jumped into bed and pulled the covers over her. The door to her room opened, revealing her brothers, and Plop Plop.
"There she is. Safe and sound." Vision Plop Plop said.
"About time I make an appearance." Original Plop Plop said.
Hana pretended to sleep as her brother Cheng lightly stroked her hair.
"So-o-o-o, how did it go-o-o?" Vision Plop Plop asks.
"Oh it was great." One of the brothers replied, "The people were saved, the town was spared, and some show-off just appeared of nowhere and did our job for us."
"Yeah. He had no common sense whatsoever and risked his own life just to be some kind of hero." One brother added.
"He should've just left that monster to the professionals." Another brother added.
"Uh. Guys...Show-off. Right it front of you." Howard coughed, trying to point out how their words were negatively affecting their "sleeping" sister. But since they were just illusions...
"Okay. Just stop." As soon as Heidi said that, the scene immediately froze, "Rewind. How did she even get the suit in the first place?"
The scene changed once again. The brothers set off to fight another monster. Cheng briefly stops after noticing the depressed look in his sister's eyes.
"Do you really have to kill it?" She asks.
Cheng flashed her a comforting smile, "Tell you what? Since its your birthday, we won't kill it."
"But we are going to knock it out for the sake of the village." One brother emphasizes.
"Bring me a souvenir?" She asks, earning a wink from Cheng before he left with his brothers.
"Take care of her." He told Plop Plop on his way out.
"Hey. You're talking to the professional in Babysitting," Plop Plop bragged, "with the EAGLE EYE."
"Some eye." Debbie remarked as Vision Plop Plop snored in front of Hana's room. He managed to wake up once he heard footsteps.
"Oh hey. She, she's been quiet." He opened the door to Hana's room for her father. Just as he said, the young soon-to-be-warrior was fast asleep in bed.
"I know you wanted to join your brothers," He softly stroke her head, "but we just don't want you to get hurt at such a young age. Just wait a few more years, and you can finally relish the feeling of almost being mauled by a beast."
Randy's parents weren't quite sure of the last part, but they knew he was trying to protect his youngest child. So why do they have the schnasty feeling that something dread is about to happen?
The Head of the Family soon left the room, unaware of his daughter emerging from under the bed. Hana couldn't believe her decoy worked.
"Whoa, whoa. Didn't you hear what your dad said?" Heidi tried to stop her from jumping out of the window to no avail since she was just a vision.
The door to her room opened once again, revealing Plop Plop.
"Just making sure you're warm and cozy." He pulled the covers up the decoy before giving it a kiss, "Night."
"You were a bad babysitter." Red glared at the real Plop Plop who smiled sheepishly.
The scene changed once more. Hana ran to through the forest until she stopped and hid behind the trees. Her brothers stood before the bounded creature. Cheng approached it, sword raised before bringing it down... slicing off a piece of fur.
"Its your lucky day, Beast." Cheng said as he kept the fur under his shirt.
"It's also our sister's birthday." One of his brothers added.
Hana smiled, knowing her brothers kept their promise. She waited until they left and was out of sight. She emerged from the trees and approached the creature, still bounded. It was then she realized that it was the same creature that tried to capture the lion monster days ago.
Upon seeing her, the creature growled. Hana was taken aback by this but regained her composure, and brought out her sword. It was against everything she stood for, but she wants nothing more than to fight alongside her brothers.
The boys cheered, urging her to do it while the girls watched with anticipation and horror.
"Oh man. She's gonna do it!" Howard shrieks.
"Yeah! Kill it!" Bash screamed while giving Bucky a noogie.
Hana walked closer to the creature, not taking her eyes of its eyes. As Hana raises her sword, the creatures closes its eyes as if accepting its fate. Hana brought down her sword...
SLASH!
"She couldn't do it." Red said, gaining disappointed awes.
The creature opened its eyes in surprise and spreads out his wings. Hana fell on her knees in despair before it.
She couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it. Kill just to prove her worth? That was just being... selfish.
She was too busy chastising herself, that she didn't notice the creature looming in front of her, eyes narrowed and wings spread out.
"Thank you." He said before taking to the skies.
"You're... welcome?" Hana replied, confused, so were the group.
The scene changed again; Hana silently slipped inside her room, hid the decoy, and slipped into bed, just in time for her brothers to enter her room. Cheng carefully tucked the patch of fur under her hand along with a note before he and his brothers left to retire for the night.
After hearing her brothers leave her room, Hana got up and unfold the note;
We know you're too young, but we also know you're our sister. We couldn't ask for another.
Hana smiled a bit, but she felt sad knowing that she'll have to wait a few more years until she could join her brothers.
"She could've just killed that monster." Howard remarked.
"And she should have." Red was staring at a corner. The others followed his gaze and saw the monster standing right in front of the window.
Hana felt she was being watched, but when she looked at the window, the monster was gone. As soon as she went to sleep, the monster returned. It leered its eyes on the sleeping girl before taking into the air.
The scene changed to the next night. There were no monsters that night, so the siblings took the time to train. And by train, I mean "trying to out-goof one another".
"Try to top this!" One of the brothers (the, chubby one) carried a giant rock above his shoulders.
"Oh yeah?!" One of his brothers exclaimed, lifting a giant rock with a long table filled with food, "How..."
"Hey, hey, hey! Some of us are trying to eat here!" One of their brothers, who was seated on top of the table, spoke so fast even when his mouth was full.
The stronger brother blushed before settling him down to the ground. The fast-talking brother cocked an eyebrow at him before feeding his chubby brother.
"Come on! Throw it already!" Cheng called to the brother holding the ball.
"Just analyzing the perfect angle of trajectory, Brother Dear." He replied.
"Well you better make up your mind, or..." He didn't get to finish as the ball was flung to his face.
"Right on target." The thrower smirked.
"Yeah!" Another brother picked up the ball with his feet, kicked it around, and twirled a bit before kicking it high up into the air, and doing a dance.
The ball landed on top of the brother playing a triangle, knocking him out in the process. Another brother caught the ball with his mouth while crawling on all fours. The sight made him look like a wild animal.
"No! Bad boy! Spit it out!" Cheng scolded only for the ball to hit him on the face once more before it disappeared into the bushes.
"I got it!" Hana rushed over to the bushes in order to retrieve the ball. Once she did, she was met with a pair of glowing red eyes.
"Meet me at the center of the forest tonight." The monster she spared said, "That is, if you want to fight alongside your brothers."
With that last statement, the monster threw the ball at Hana's feet. Hana bent down to pick it up, but when she looked up, the monster was gone.
"Who were you talking to?"
Hana jumped in surprise. One of her brothers was hanging upside down with a skeptical brow
"Was it a boy?" He questioned further, interrupting his sister's reply, "Surely it can't be one of our brothers. Oh Hana..."
"Onii-san!" Hana groaned at her brother's exaggeration.
Suddenly, an explosion is heard, followed by smoke coming from the village. Immediately, the brothers dragged Hana to safety while they head out to take care of the disaster.
"Meet me at the center of the forest tonight. That is, if you want to fight alongside your brothers."
The monster's words echoed in Hana's head. A part of her didn't want to go. Another part of her argued that it maybe the chance she would get in order to finally prove to her father and her brothers that's she's ready.
"She's gonna go out is she?" Viceroy asks.
In response to his query, Hana once more brought out the decoy and slipped out through her window.
"She did." Everyone else replied simultaneously.
Hana ran through the woods until she came to the center of the forest.
"Didn't her father teach her not to sneak out late in the night and talk to dangerous monsters?" Melly scolded.
"Glad you accepted my invitation." Hana nearly jumped when the monster emerged from the shadows and circled around her, "You know, its not always I get rescued by those who tried to kill me and ruined my dinner. Thank you."
"I'm... sorry I ruined your, dinner." Hana blushed with a hint of disgust, "I just thought... well maybe... some monsters are, vegetarians?"
The group groaned in annoyance. However, they were surprised when the monster began to chuckle in amusement.
"You are one peculiar little warrior. And pure of heart too. Unlike your brothers." The monster whispered to himself the last words in disgust.
"They're not all bad." Unfortunately for him, she heard the last part, "They're just doing their job. Although, I just wish they would just talk to monsters and reason with them instead of killing them."
"Precisely!" The monster agreed, "You know its not easy getting along with others when they see you as a threat. Not many know this, but we monsters are quite fascinated with you humans. Such simple creatures, yet you manage to survive the toils life has to offer."
The group groaned in disgust. Really. Who'd believe that sort of crap? (Other than Julien)
"Then why attack us?" Hana asked.
The monster looked surprise at first, before sadly replying, "If others see you for something you're not, then you have no choice but to be the one thing they want you to be."
"That's not true." Hana protested, "You're a monster, but so far you haven't given me any clues of devouring me and such. So far you've been... understanding. Unlike my brothers. If I can only prove to everyone..."
"Oh but you can!" The monster interrupted before she could continue, "A simple thank you isn't enough. Which is why I wanted to give you the power you need in order to become the warrior you are truly meant to be."
"Don't say it." Heidi pleaded.
"How?" Hana asks.
"She said it." Howard and the teens groaned.
At that moment, a bird-like creature flew into the sky. On it back was Cheng who successfully steered the creature back into the ground.
"The Tengu's feathers store large amount of power." The monster explained, "Retrieve me some of its feathers, and I shall wove you a powerful suit that will increase your strength and abilities ten... no. Hundred-fold. Of course, you can wait another few years until..."
"I'll do it!" The creature smiled as the budding warrior excitedly rushed over to where she last saw the bird-like demon, "I'll finally get to fight alongside my brothers! I'll be back soon, Mr. Monster!"
"Please! Call me, The Omni." The Monster flashed a sinister smirk once she was out of sight.
Howard spitted out the water he was drinking in surprise. His friends followed suite.
"The OMNI?!"
"The Omni." Red and The Creep repeated with hate.
The scene somehow fast forwarded; The Omni was sleeping while hanging up-side-down on a branch only to be woken by the sound out loud footsteps and heavy breathing.
"I got them." Hana stopped to catch her breathe before bringing out a bundle of large, pure black feathers.
The Omni eyed the feathers with greed, flashing a devious smile before grabbing the feathers, "Good girl. I do hope you didn't take it hard on the poor thing."
"Oh he... didn't suffer much." Hana replied hesitantly.
"Come back tomorrow night. Then you can finally prove to your family what you're truly capable of." With that last statement, The Omni disappeared into the night, leaving an awestruck Hana.
"Don't listen to that shoob!" Howard protested even if she was just a vision.
"Yeah! Just seal him already!" Heidi added.
"How else did you think she sealed him in the first place?" Red asked. Everyone stared at him curiously.
The scene skipped to the next night.
"Mr. Omni?" Hana called. She suddenly turned around; the said creature was there, smiling at her while holding up a pure black mask, "That's, a nice mask."
"Try it on." The Omni coaxed, handing Hana the Mask.
As soon as Hana slipped it over her head, black tendrils appeared, wrapping themselves around her body, forming into a pure black suit that matched the mask.
Hana examined her new form before trying out a few moves. As what The Omni said, her strength and abilities increased; She was able to break large clusters of boulders with just one shove. She created an earthquake with just one step. She could also levitate, become invisible, control the elements, etc.
"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" Hana squealed as she hugged The Omni.
Boom!
"Well, there's your first mission." The Omni mused, "Go get it girl."
Immediately, Hana leaped towards the danger, eager to finally prove to her family what's she's capable of.
As soon as she was gone and out of ear-shot, The Omni let out a loud, evil, cackle.
"An ominous evil laugh." Julien hid behind Morgan in fear.
"That's never a good sign." Viceroy emphasized.
"It won't be long until I have that entire pathetic family under my control!" The Omni exclaimed while bringing out 9 identical masks. Unlike the first one, each mask have markings of different colors, "And without their precious, pestering protectors, I'll have an entire village and a feast that will keep me going, FOREVER!"
The Omni cackled once more, oblivious of the large eyes glaring at him in the darkness.
Red clenched his fist as he fought the urge to murder the beast that took his sister away from him. Yet deep inside, he knew it was his fault to begin with.
"So you didn't knew it was her behind the mask?" Theresa asked.
"We didn't," Red replied solemnly, "until that fateful night."
Once again, the scene fast forwarded to another night; The Black Ninja stood victorious on top of not one, but a hundred monsters. Everyone of the villagers cheered, while her brothers looked on with jealousy.
"Who does he think he is?" One of the brothers asked bitterly as they moved away from the crowd and went to a secluded section.
"Yeah. We could've handled all those monsters on our own if he hadn't budged in." Another brother agreed. Howard tried to call their attention, but since they were just visions, they went on with their discussion, unaware of the subject stealthily watching them from afar."
"If he wants to save millions of lives and be some sort of a hero, then he can find some other village 'cause this town's just not big for the 10 of us." Cheng proclaims as the other brothers nodded in agreement. They were too focused in their discussion, that they didn't notice the black cladded warrior leaving with tears in her eyes.
"Harsh, dude. Harsh." Howard and the others shook their heads in disappointment.
"We didn't even know it was her," Red defended, "until it was, too late."
As the brothers headed back home, they caught glimpse of a monster and began pursuing it. The chase led them into the woods. There, the monster stopped and turned to face the brothers with a familiar glare...
The brothers looked like they saw a ghost. It was just impossible. The Omni ate him. Hana said so. She saw it with her own eyes.
The lion monster continued to glare at the brothers, unfazed by their weapons. The brothers felt a strange guilt sensation inside of them, as if the beast knows they did something they themselves didn't even know.
The beast unfurled his wings before quickly moving behind the brothers. He moved his head, motioning them to move forward, which they did hesitantly.
"Oh they did it now." A voice suddenly chuckled from the other side. The brothers slightly peered through the large leaves, only to see a little part of the Omni that supposedly 'killed' the lion monster, "It won't be long until they become my devoted servants. Or their own sister's meal. Whichever comes first."
The brothers were confused with the last statement, until the Black Ninja came into view, tears in the warrior's eyes.
"What happened?" The Omni asked in fake concern, "Don't tell me you killed an innocent creature."
"I... I just thought..." The brothers where shocked upon hearing a feminine, yet familiar voice coming from the Ninja, "I thought I was helping them. I thought they didn't want me to come because they were trying to protect me. All along, they just didn't want me to... upstage them!"
The Omni went on with his ruse, patting the crying Ninja's back as a dark black aura began surrounding Hana.
"Hana!"
Both The Omni and Hana turned around in surprise as the brothers emerged from the shadows with guilty looks on their faces.
"Ooh! Busted!" Howard cried in glee at the horrified look of The Omni.
"Aww! You're gonna get it now, Shoob!" Bash high-fived Howard.
"Hana, we're sorry." Cheng said, "We only did it to protect you. But you were right; we were only thinking about ourselves, and after everything you've done for us..."
"You always have been the most talented," One brother said.
"the most fearless," another brother added.
"kindest,"
"wisest,"
"funniest,"
"wildest,"
"most loyal,"
"little sister"
"with the biggest heart we could ever ask for." All brothers said at once.
"We should've been there for you when you needed us the most." Cheng finished.
Silence befalls. None spoke a word (although Viceroy had Otto play some sad anticipating music). The Omni secretly gritted his fangs as Hana tried to process her brothers' words. She mustn't. She really mustn't. He had been waiting for this night. All his plans must not go to waste!
The brothers were trained to be prepared for everything, but nothing prepared them for what happened next; Hana tearfully embraced her brothers, happy that they finally accepted her for who she is. The brothers failed to hold back their own tears and returned the embrace.
The group couldn't hold back their own tears as well. Bash and Bucky cried the most tears that they ended up hugging each other in the process. Even Nicholas and Otto were shedding their own tears of slime and oil respectively.
Nothing could ruin this precious moment...
"HANA!"
Hana was caught off-guard when the Omni grabbed her in one of its claws, his glaring piercing eyes glowing red. He himself was caught by surprise when the Lion monster wrestled him to the ground, freeing Hana in the process.
"CREEP!" The Omni bellowed with rage.
The teens and adults were dumb trucked when they heard the name and turned their heads at their fedora-wearing companion. He just leered at The Omni in disgust.
"You had to ruin EVERYTHING!" The Omni bellowed, "It was all going smoothly; A pure-hearted warrior, neglected by her loving egocentric brothers, finds solace in a generous, and handsome, beast who gave her the power to become the being she is truly meant to be. All she had to do in return, was to let him bring her meddling brothers to their knees."
Hana was taken aback, "You were using me?"
"And I would've finally have made a meal out of your village if it weren't for that meddling CREEP!" Just when The Creep got the upper hand, The Omni used his tail to whip him into the ground before pinning him down, "You had to be grateful."
Just when The Omni was about to strike with his sharp-pointed tail, Hana came between them and blocked it with her sword.
"Typical Little Hana." The Omni hissed as the brothers joined in the fray, "Always saving innocent little monsters."
Suddenly, a big black screeching blur was heading straight for the Omni, "Don't tell me."
The Omni turned around but was knocked backwards by the striking Tengu. The bird demon landed on the ground and leered at the brothers before bowing his head at Hana. Together, the siblings and the monsters tied The Omni, rendering him unable to fight back. As the brothers cheered, Hana noticed the 9 masks the Omni dropped during his struggles and picked them up.
Just the sight of her made his blood boil. A large fog of black energy surrounded the Omni before exploding, causing damage to everything in its path. The siblings and monsters were thrown to the ground after feeling the impact of the explosion. They barely couldn't move a single bone in their body.
"You had so much promise." The explosion freed The Omni from his bonds. He leered at Hana, eyes glowing red, "Its a shame to let you go to waste. Now that I think about it, I guess it was a lot of trouble to go through just for a measly village. Why not, the entire world?"
The teens couldn't stop the visions of the terrible future flashing before their eyes; A dark world taken over by monsters, ruled by The Monstrous Omni.
The Beast cackled, not noticing the black-cladded warrior slowly but painfully getting back on her feet, a white aura surrounding her.
No one knows what happened next because time suddenly went fast forward. The Omni froze in shock, Hana's hand piercing through his chest.
"In, your, DREAMS." Hana hissed before a white aura surrounded the two.
The brothers tried to rush over to help their sister, but the light pushed them back. When the light died down, The Omni was gone and Hana fainted.
"HANA!"
The brothers rushed towards their sister. Cheng cradled her in his arms as he checked her hear beat; she was still alive. They were relieved of their worries when their sister slowly opened her eyes.
"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME LOCKED UP HERE FOREVER! THERE, WILL, BE, CHAOS!" The Omni's voice resonated from Hana as her eyes glowed red before she passed out, leaving her brother with horrified looks.
"We couldn't save her." Red mourned as the Tengu and Creep screeched and roared as they mourned for their friend, "We just couldn't."
The brothers each held a mask that The Omni created and slipped them over their heads. Immediately they were clad in black suits with different colored markings.
"We vowed to continue our sister's legacy and to never abuse the power of the masks." Red went on as the brothers placed their sleeping sister inside a coffin and sealed it with their powers, "Hana was not the only human he tried to bring to the dark side. We spent years protecting our home from the servants of The Omni, until I was the only one left. I knew I couldn't let anyone gain possession of the masks, so I hid them in the 8 corners of Norisville."
"And your mask?" Debbie asked.
"Norisville still needed its protectors," Red continued, "But even a warrior knows when to lay down his weapons."
Cheng took of his mask and handed it over to the Creep who transformed into a human. The once proud protector of Norisville gave him one last instruction to find a worthy candidate for the mask before having his memories erased by the NinjaNomicon.
"I was too consumed by my duty as a warrior that I forgot who I really was;" Red took off his mask, revealing his face, "a brother. I had everything; my father, my brothers, my sister, my friends... All gone, because of that one simple mistake. You, must not repeat what should have been prevented."
A strong wind blew, and the earth cracked. There emerged a familiar lesson;
Everyone makes mistakes. But the GREATEST mistake, is not admitting YOUR mistake.
Just by reading it made the group cringe. It was bad enough they witnessed a horrifying flashback. Howard reread the lesson, trying to make sense of it. And then...
"I know what to do." He proclaimed.
"Go." Cheng slipped on his mask, "Stop him before Chaos reigns supreme."
Howard nodded. He turned around and walked with determination, "How do we get out of here again?"
Suddenly, the ground broke, causing the group to fall.
"They're doomed." Plop Plop said bluntly, earning an annoyed look from his friend.
"Oh right. That."Howard groaned as the group woke up.
It took them a minute to notice the army of Robo Apes surrounding them. They parted, allowing a black cladded being to approach the group.
"Oki nasai, oki nasai." The Omni mocked, grinning maliciously.