The group's effort to back away and run was fruitless as their path was blocked by the Robo Apes.
"Howard Weinerman." The Omni leers at the chubby boy. Suddenly, the group was caught by surprise and confusion when The Omni began to laugh uncontrollably, "I'm sorry. Weinerman! That has got to be one of the funniest names in this century. I mean seriously; Weinerman. Cunningham. You. Blue boy. What's your last name?"
Bucky hesitated to reply but was too crept out to not to, "Hensletter."
"HENSLETTER!" The Omni continued to laugh, bringing tears to the triangle player.
"Hey!" Bash defended, "You can't..."
"Oh. Oh! And Bash!" The Omni cuts him off with another laugh, also bringing him to tears, "What is it with this century that's so hilarious?!"
"Sir?" The Sorcerer interrupted, "Your 10 o'clock?"
"Oh right." The Omni stopped laughing, "Where were we?"
"Yeah." The Creep stepped forward, eyes blazing, "Where were we?"
A flash of light engulfed The Creep, replacing The Guardian of The Ninja Mask with a giant lion with wings. The Monster roared before turning to Howard, "RUN."
The group were stunned for a moment, but they eventually sped off, leaving The Creep to deal with his past enemies.
"Oh look Cunningham. Your friends want to play Tag." The Omni said in a mocking tone. His cold gaze never left The Creep even when Stank'd Randy flew after his "friends", "Typical Creep. How long are you going to torture yourself like this? In debted to pathetic human. All because she spared your miserable, little life."
"Last I checked;" The Creep tackled The Omni to the ground, "you tried to eat me."
"Location?!" The Omni roared at McFist as he struggled to wrestle The Creep.
"One moment." The gazillionnaire turned to one of the Robo Apes who was holding the NinjaNomicon, "Location?!"
"Still searching." The Robo Ape replied.
The Omni grunted in frustration before continuing his battle with The Creep.
Howard fought the urge to turn around and look his stank'd best friend in the eye. He succeeded... mostly because he was too busy running in terror.
The group managed to turn a corner. Luckily for them, Stank'd Randy passed it. They sighed in relief, knowing they were safe... until a large black claw grabbed Howard, followed by tentacles grabbing the others.
Stank'd Randy growled at his best friend, never taking his four glaring eyes off him. Fear swelled up inside of Howard to the point of making him sweat. Truth be told, he was kinda, jealous of Randy. In a way, he's frustrated at him whenever he leaves him to fight a Robot or Monster. At the same time, he wished he had his own Ninja Mask to fight Monsters and/or Robots with. Back in the Fair, he was so jealous of Randy fighting with another Ninja that he said the one thing that probably got his best friend turned into a rampaging monster. He didn't mean it, but he was willing to make it right. And now was the time.
"Cunningham," He began, "I know we had our ups-and-downs with you being the Ninja and ditching me to do Ninja stuffs, but I just want you to know... that I forgive you. I know. I know. Its not easy to juggle Howard time with Ninja Time, but that's you. Mr. My-Life-Is-A-Total-Wonk-And-All. But if there's anything else you feel all bad about, you can always tell me, your most supportive best friend. And others. (The others glare at him) So come on. Let it all out!"
If anyone expects an emotional breakdown that would lead to Randy's de-stanking, then you're terribly mistaken.
Stank'd Randy let out a resonating roar at Howard before taking to the skies, still holding on to his catches.
"Maybe he's just flying out his frustrations before he could properly express his emotions!" Debbie rationalized.
The group could make out the forms of The Creep and The Omni as they took their battle into the sky.
"You spent your life rampaging through countless of villages," The Omni taunted as he casted multiple blasts at the Creep, "terrorizing those weak mortals. Many times have you been captured, yet you always managed to break free and devour those who dare challenged you. So much power. I just couldn't bear to let it go to waste. And then, she came. She set you free, and you spared her, all because of one silly little gesture."
"It wasn't just that." The Creep growled, remembering the time he was caged and Hana bandaged one of his paw. He was too busy reminiscing to notice a large black cloud surrounding The Omni.
Norisville was completely shrouded in chaos and darkness, all gathered up in a cloud of energy enough to fuel up a power-hungry being.
The Creep charged. The next thing he knew, he was blinded by a flash of darkness.
The dark cloud surrounding The Omni disappeared, revealing the trapped monster with three pairs of black wings reminiscing the wings of a bat, a dragonfly and a bird of prey respectively. The Omni remained indifferent as he blew away a tuff of dark orange fur.
Howard and the others remained speechless as Stank'd Randy flew down and released them in front of The Omni who looked rather pleased.
"Allow me." McFist grabbed Otto. The poor little robot struggled to get free as the gazillionaire furiously pressed random buttons before pressing one which surrounded the terrified human in a green dome.
"McFist, what are you thinking?!" Danny asked furiously.
"How could you work with that monster?!" Melly added.
"Hey, hey." McFist replied calmly, "I know this looks bad but someday after you're turned into monsters yourselves we can all look back at this and have a good laugh."
"Hannibal I should've said this a long, long time ago; Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Viceroy snapped.
"Says the guy who built rampaging robots." McFist reminded.
"That's because you told me to build those rampaging robots." Viceroy pointed out.
"Wait a second." Heidi interrupted, "You sent those robots to destroy us?"
"Not you. Just the Ninja." McFist defended.
"But the Ninja always saves the day." Bucky said, "Actually, there were times..."
"But he always makes up for them." Theresa added before sighing, "He's kind, sweet, so gallant..."
"And at least he doesn't team up with a bunch of chaos-obsessed shoobs just to take over the world." Debbie added.
"S'up." The Sorcerer replied.
McFist face turned redder every time the Ninja was mentioned, "Ninja this. Ninja that. Ninja, Ninja, NINJA! Seriously. I give everyone what they want. I make people happy. I'm the guy with the big bucks and everything. And they choose some shoob in magical pajamas over me?!"
This agitated Stank'd Randy who protested with a growl.
"Don't you growl at me!" The gazillionaire snapped at the black monster, "Even I was the better Ninja than you. Everyone thought so too, until you destroyed that medal I rightfully deserved!"
"Hold on. You were Lucius O'Thunderpunch?" Bucky asked in disbelief, "You broke my triangle!"
"Oh come on." McFist brush him off, "Any one can make a Ding-A-Ling."
Everyone just couldn't believe it; Their beloved gazillionaire is actually a total shoob. All those those times he showed generosity to the good people of Norisville was actually a total lie to mask the real greedy, power-hungry shoob he truly is.
"Our son may be just a kid, " Danny defended, "but at least he knew when to admit he was wrong and make up for his mistakes."
The others nodded in agreement, even Viceroy.
"Oh, FINE!" McFist snapped, "Who needs you?! I'm Hannibal McFist! I can get whatever I want, whenever I want."
"Oh you sure will." The Omni smirked.
McFist twitched uncomfortably when he felt something scurrying underneath his clothes. He gasped in surprise when Verminious emerged from his collar. The billionaire furiously tried to shake the rat off him, only to drop Otto in the process. The Rat jumped off the gazillionaire and pressed a button, causing the shield to disappear. He pressed the button again, causing the shield to reappear, only this time, McFist was inside it.
"Hey!" The gazillionaire protested as The Sorcerer picked up both Verminious and Otto before stroking the former's fur in satisfaction. The next thing everyone knew, Stank'd Randy grew tails. Tails in the form of various weapons.
"Oh McFist." The Omni shook hid head, "Have you ever wondered..."
The Omni was interrupted by an annoyed cough coming from the Sorcerer.
"Oh right." He apologized, "Your call."
"Have you ever wondered," The Sorcerer continued where The Omni left off, "why would a powerful being such as I even have the decency of granting you, a normal human being, such great powerful privilege?"
"Because..." McFist replied, "we had an agreement?"
"You, pathetic, weak, lazy excuse for a DOORMAT!" The Sorcerer bellowed, "Of all the McFists I have dealt in the past, you are by far the most..."
"Whoa! Hold on." Viceroy interrupted, "'Of all the McFists'? It almost sounds like,"
"I've been working alongside past generations of McFists for years." The Sorcerer finished, "And each one has been unbearable than their predecessors. But you, Hannibal McFist, are the worst one of them all. Seriously; you have the power and the most sophisticated of technology. Yet you couldn't even tell The Ninja's true identity even if its just right before your very eyes! And I thought your father was stupid. To sum up all of my frustrations towards you; I rather work with your brother."
He conjured at an image of Terry McFist in the bathtub. The gazillionnaire's older brother was playing with rubber duckies. The sight made The Sorcerer regretted his words and cried on The Sorceress' shoulder.
"Bu... But..." The gazillionaire was at lost for words, "But I thought we had, the same goal."
"THE SAME GOAL?!" The Sorcerer snapped, "I have spent my entire life, dedicating every minute in order to vanquish my greatest foe and all you do is bathe in your so-called glory! Its no wonder your own right-hand man left you for these miscreants!"
The group didn't have time to protest as they braced themselves for an explosion of full stanky rage...
"Okay. I'm good." The Sorcerer calmly said as he petted Verminious, his eyes twitching a bit.
"You know? He's right." Viceroy interrupted McFist before he could say anything, "The only reason you agreed to destroy the Ninja was so that everyone would love you more than they love him. And to be honest; I LIKE HIM TOO! Everyone does because he's the brucest, bravest and most selfless person in Norisville. Unlike you, Mr. I-Want-The-People-Who-I-Help-Turn-Into-Monsters-Love-Me. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I say you were the Ninja's Biggest Fan before you met these creeps."
McFist wanted to protest. He wanted to let go of all that rage boiling inside him. But he can't... due to the fact his eyes were swelling up with tears.
"I never even wanted him to go!" McFist bawled as he hugged his stuffed owl. The others could only watch in surprise as he cried a river of regret and desperation.
"Dude. That's just... sad." Bash remarked.
"Ah. Music to my ears." The Omni mused as he pressed Otto's button, creating a hole on the force field. He pulled Viceroy out before closing the hole,"Totally makes up for those sickening symphonies."
Viceroy was surprised when The Omni pulled him out. He was even more surprised when he was surrounded in green mist, turning him from a shabby, homeless person to a clean lab-coated inventor.
"Viceroy," The Sorcerer grinned as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "you know I like you."
"You, do?" Viceroy asked in surprise, taking a nervous glance at the others.
"Of course." The Sorcerer beamed, "You're the true Brains of the operation. Unlike that lazy boss of yours."
"It's not always we come across someone as talented as you." The Sorceress added.
"Well... I don't know what to say." Viceroy blushed.
"Then don't." The Omni held out his hand containing a brown sphere of energy, "With us by your side, you can finally become the Greatest Genius the world will ever know. Everyone will know your name. You can finally be the all mighty being you are truly meant to be. All you have to do, is accept."
"Me? The Greatest Genius? That's..." Viceroy was interrupted by McFist's constant crying. A part of him wanted to ignore the gazillionnaire. Besides; he's not his boss anymore. He can't tell him what to do.
Yet, another part of him felt it was wrong.
He repeatedly switched gazes, unsure what to do. Somehow this all felt familiar... like something that happened 800 years ago.
"In, your, dreams, you shady lunatic!" Once realization struck him, he snapped at the Omni to everyone's surprise, "And FYI; The only reason why Hana betrayed you was because you were a total shoob. She made the right choice choosing her brothers over you. Sure they acted like shoobs, not letting her go out and fight monsters, but at least they made up for it. And sure I was working with the laziest and shoobiest guy on earth, but he only did it because he felt unappreciated. And I made a big mistake not telling him that there's one guy that appreciates him for all the things he did for the people of Norisville, even if it was all for greed; me."
McFist just couldn't believe what he just heard; Viceroy actually stood up for him. Even after the times he blamed him for his failures and the times he took his genius for granted.
The inventor flashed his former boss an understanding smile. He returns it with a teary-eyed on.
"An you think he's lazy?" He snapped at the Sorcerer, "Well look who's talking Mr. I-Lie-To-People-Just-To-Destroy-The-Ninja-And-Rule-The-World-With-My-Creepy-Girlfriend."
"Excuse me?" The Sorceress glared.
The next thing they know, Verminious jumped on Viceroy's face. The inventor was too busy getting The Rat off him to notice the hole appearing on the force field. Before the hole could close up, The Rat jumped back into the hands of The Sorcerer, leaving Viceroy sprawled on the floor. It took him moments to realize that he was back in the dome along with the others.
"I hate that Rat." He glared. The Rat in return blew a raspberry at him.
The Omni patted Verminious before looking at the brown energy on his hand, "Well, no point letting this go to waste."
The Omni threw the orb of energy at a wedge of cheese before presenting it to Verminious. The Rat hungrily eyed the Stank'd cheese before quickly devouring it in seconds. Once the last bit of cheese was gone, the bulging Rat gave a satisfied burp.
Then the transformation began...
The group watched in disgust and horror as Verminious grew 10x his size. A tuff of black spiky hair emerged on his head and he gained fangs. A pair of black wings sprouted from his back and his tail gained spikes.
"Thank you, Your Omni-ence," Verminious bowed at his master.
"Okay that's just schnasty." Howard complained in disgust.
The Omni stroke Verminious' hair before bringing out the Ninja Mask, "Now. Who shall the next Ninja be?"
"You, stood up for me." McFist said as The Omni began fiddling with Otto.
"Well... I'm still mad at you." Viceroy remarked, causing McFist to frown, "But hey. You'd do the same for me."
The gazillionaire just smiled nervously, causing the others to glare at him.
"Close enough." Viceroy brought out a remote before pressing its button. Immediately, the shield disappeared, allowing the group to escape. As the group ran, Viceroy grabbed Otto while Howard grabbed the Mask and The NinjaNomicon from the distracted Omni and Robo Apes respectively.
The Omni snapped when the group escaped that he sent Stank'd Randy to go after them. The Stank'd Ninja managed to corner the group. Viceroy pushed a button on Otto, trapping Stank'd Randy in a force field.
"Let's see you get out of that." Viceroy smirked.
"What the juice just happened?" Viceroy asked in confusion.
The group screamed as Stank'd Randy, now with a giant bulging brain, held them in his tentacles. The monster shook the group in order to shut them up, causing a lot of things to fall out; Bucky's triangle, Theresa's twirl stick, Heidi's phone... including Otto, The NinjaNomicon and THE MASK!
"Were you really that crazy enough to think that we were just going to let you get away?" The Omni smirked as he caught Otto, The Mask and the book.
"Crazy? You're the one talking to a rat and playing dress-up." Debbie pointed out.
True to her words, The Omni found himself tying a bow on Verminious' neck to complete his formal attire. He withdrew his hands in disgust and handed the Ninja items to the Robo Apes while he fiddled with Otto until a screen popped out.
"Good luck cracking the password. Thanks to my quick thinking, I was able to utilize a program that's impossible to..." Viceroy seized taunting when Verminious typed in the correct password, allowing The Omni complete access to Otto, "Okay. Now I really hate that Rat."
"Master! We found it!" One of the Robo Apes cried, waving the NinjaNomicon.
The Omni snatched the book from the robot. Sure enough, the book was opened, revealing an old map of Norisville 800 years ago. The Omni touched the page and an image of a mask appeared on the page. He then pressed a button on Otto, revealing a holographic map of modern Norisville. He began comparing the two maps until he finally found what he was looking for.
"Time for school, children." He flashed a devious smile.
Howard screamed as Stank'd Randy flew into the sky with The Omni on his back. The Sorcerer and Sorceress followed them on the back of Verminious. The Robo Apes... well they're apes, so...
The group landed in Norisville High. Stank'd Randy bashed he way into the school until he reached their destination.
"This is it; the location of the Ninja Mask." The Omni grinned in delight as he jumped off Randy.
"The School Cafeteria?" Debbie asked in disbelief.
"Well the mask was hidden 800 years ago and things changed since then." Julien pointed out, prompting the others to nod in understanding.
The Omni commanded Stank'd Randy to dig. The monster did as he was told and began clawing the dirt.
"Seriously? After all that pep talk, you're still helping this shoob?" Howard asked in disbelief, "Come on, Cunningham, you're better than this. Don't let him get to you."
Stank'd Randy just growled at Howard as he continued to dig. Suddenly he stopped when his claw brushed against something metallic. He grabbed the object with his mouth, revealing it to be a black box before presenting it to his master.
The Omni dropped the book and Otto on the ground before greedily grabbing the box and quickly opening it. His eyes widened in surprise as he brought up the content of the box;
One of the Ninja Masks,
The mask was like Randy's mask. But instead of red, its markings were orange. Everyone stared at it in awe, as if it had an invisible force that was...
"No. No. NOOOO!" The Omni quickly and nervously placed the Mask back in the box, chained the box and handed it over to the confused Sorcerer, "Ugh! Its Flabby's Mask."
"Who?" McFist asked in confusion.
"Oh right. The fat one." The Sorcerer recalled, "He was always hungry. I swore he was even planning to eat me."
"Wow. You can tell by the mask. That's really... weird." Howard remarked before snapping, "Alright you Creepazoid! You got your mask. I want my best friend back!"
The Omni chuckled, "Don't you get it Weinerman? Your friend's gone! Unless he gets what he really wanted, he stays like that, FOREVER! And besides; There are still 7 more masks to go. Hopefully the next one won't be Eepy-Creepy's."
The Sorcerer and Sorceress shook in fear at the mention of the name.
"You know; I forgot to feed you." The Omni snapped his fingers.
Howard and the others found themselves getting closer to Stank'd Randy's head. To be precise... his mouth.
"Come on, Cunningham! We can work this out!" Howard screamed.
"Yeah! Just tell us what's bothering you and we can fix it!" Debbie added.
Stank'd Randy wasn't listening as he opened his mouth wide, revealing his sharp fangs.
"Sweetie, you know we can't help you if you can't help us!" Melly tried to talk some sense with her son but the only response she received was another roar.
The Omni cackled as he watched the chaotic scene unfurling in front of him. Soon he was joined by his loyal followers in cackling, including the Robo Apes.
"Viceroy, I just wanted you to know, that even after those times you failed to destroy the Ninja..." McFist tensed as he was inches away from becoming Monster food, "I just wanted to say... it was all my FAULT! I don't even know why people should worship a useless shoob like me! All I ever done was ruin people's lives! The Ninja is way better than me!"
"Hannibal I used your toothbrush to clean the Robo Apes' bottoms!" Viceroy replied back.
"I know!" McFist cried, "Ninja, I just wanted to let you know... that I'm... I'M..."
Then, the whole world became silent...