Summary: When Ellie's confidence dwindles during gymnastics, a mysterious yokai takes advantage of her weak will and possesses her body.
In Eastman High, the Lotus Ninjas, Irma, and Aaliyah stood in front of their canvas in art class. Their class objective is to be creative with their paintings.
Their female teacher began to walk around and examined her students working on their art. Her eyes lit up in amazement when she walked over to Ellie. Ellie's painting was an intergalactic princess standing on a balcony and staring at the stars.
"Oh wow." The teacher spoke.
"Oh, hey, Ms. Smith." Ellie said. "What do you think of my painting?"
"Ellie, your painting is outstanding. You should definitely consider joining the art club with your talent." The teacher replied.
Ms. Smith walked away.
"Yes." Ellie muttered with a smile as she did a fist pump.
Later on, the Lotus Ninjas, Irma, and Aaliyah strolled through the hallway.
"Do you hear what Ms. Smith said about my painting? You know, I've never even considered signing up for an art club until she mentioned it." Ellie said with a proud smile.
"Okay, Ellie. We heard the teacher said that nine minutes ago. You don't have to keep bragging about it." Ella said as she rolled her eyes.
"Knock it off, Ella." Lee said firmly.
"Of course not. It was good." Irma said with a smile.
"Yeah, you earned it." Aaliyah added.
"Let's not be late for Mr. Evans's class." Donna said. "We're supposed to get our test results today."
"Oh, joy." Ellie said sarcastically with an annoyed look on her face.
The Lotus Ninjas, Irma, and Aaliya arrived and took their seats just as their history teacher turned around with test result papers in his hands.
"Afternoon class. I managed to grade your quizzes and most of you showed some progress." The history teacher said.
The history teacher walked over to Ellie.
"Here you go, Ellie." The history teacher said as he placed the quiz paper on Ellie's desk. "Not your best, I'm afraid."
Ellie's eyes widened in shock. Her quiz paper was marked with a D in red marker.
The history teacher walked over to Donna.
"Donna, flawless, as always." The history teacher smiled as he handed the quiz paper to Donna.
"Thank you." Donna grinned.
The history teacher continued walking and passing out more quiz papers to the other students. Lee, Ella, and Aaliyah received B's on their quizzes while Irma received an A+ on her quiz.
"Hey, Ellie. Are you alright?" Lee asked, noticing the sad frown on Ellie's face.
"Yeah, you seem pretty down all of sudden." Irma said.
"Is it about your quiz grade?" Aaliyah questioned.
"I don't know." Ellie said. "I mean, yeah, I didn't do my best. But I guess...it's other things too. Dealing with kicking bad guy's butt and rehearsing for the talent show has got me kinda distracted."
"What else is new?" Ella remarked. "As if playing video games and reading comic books weren't distracting enough for you to study that quiz."
"Thanks for that keen note, Ella." Ellie retorted as she rolled her eyes.
"Ellie, don't get worked up about it." Donna said. "It's only a pop quiz."
"Let's face it. Besides painting, I'm no good at anything." Ellie said sadly.
From the window, a mysterious feminine yokai watched Ellie's self-doubt without a hint of being detected. The yokai has a wispy black ghostly body with flaming bobcut black hair, glowing green eyes, sharp teeth, claws and a ghostly tail.
"Looks like someone's not having a good day, and it's gonna get worse." The yokai said.
The yokai giggled naughtily.
In the auditorium, the Lotus Ninjas, Irma, and Aaliyah began stretching their limbs to rehearse their dance routine. They were wearing white tank tops and black shorts.
"Ok, from the top this time." Lee called out.
"Maybe you guys should do this without me." Ellie said with a frown. "I'll just mess it up."
"Come on, Ellie. Don't be like that. You have the skills. You just need a little more confidence." Donna assured.
"Okay, I'll give it a shot." Ellie said.
Aaliyah pressed the play button on the CD/radio boombox that started playing hip-hop music.
"Here we go." Aaliyah said.
Lee, Irma, and Donna started jerking her arms in an up and down and side-to-side motion at the center of the stage. They then rocked their hips and dropped to the floor in a full split. Ella and Aaliyah backflipped and performed a moonwalk while shaking her hips at the same time before twirling and dropping to the floor in a full split in front of Lee, Irma, and Donna.
"You're next, Ellie." Irma said as she and Donna turned their heads to Ellie.
"You can do it." Donna said.
Ellie took a deep breath. She performed a rapid spinning handstand and then flipped in the air to land in front of Ella and Aaliyah. But she unexpectedly tripped on the mat and accidentally tumbled into Ella and Aaliyah.
Lee got up and ran over to turn off the music on the radio just as Irma and Donna helped Ellie, Ella, and Aaliyah off the floor.
"Oh, I knew I'd mess it up!" Ellie groaned, crossing her arms with frustration.
"Alright, Ellie. Everyone makes mistakes." Donna said.
"Yeah, we'll just try again." Lee said with an encouraging smile. "Practice makes perfect."
"Oh, great. Just what we need. Three hours' worth of practice from Ms. Clumsy." Ella muttered as she rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Might as well get a crash helmet while I'm at it."
A wide-eyed Ellie overheard Ella's muttering. She looked at her older sisters and her friends with an angry face.
"No!" Ellie shouted angrily. "I'm not trying to try again! Ever! I'm done with this!"
With that, Ellie ran off.
"Did she just ditch us?" Ella asked.
"Gee, I wonder why." Lee retorted.
Donna, Irma, and Aaliyah gave Ella disapproving looks on their faces.
"What?" Ella countered as she crossed her arms.
Later that night, Ellie began outlining her sketch down in her sketchbook on her bed.
Ekron phased through the door and nuzzled lovingly against Ellie's cheek.
"Hey, Ekron." Ellie greeted. "Let me guess. You came to check on me?"
Ekron nodded in response.
"Aww, you're sweet." Ellie said. She closed her sketchbook and placed it on her drawer before turning to Ekron. "Get this. I painted the most amazing and awesome art ever and the teacher recommended that I sign up for an art club. But then, I failed the pop quiz in history and couldn't focus on my routine for the talent show. I got so mad at Ella for doubting me that I quit." She then let out a depressed sigh. "But maybe a good night's sleep might clear my thoughts for tomorrow."
Ekron formed two hands out of yellow energy and wrapped around Ellie in a soft hug with a sympathetic expression.
"Thanks, Ekron. I can always count on you to make me feel better." Ellie smiled as she hugged Ekron back.
Ekron released the hug and nuzzled Ellie's cheek before phasing out of Ellie's bedroom.
Just as Ellie was preparing herself to fall asleep, the wispy yokai slithered down the wall and slipped under the bed. She grew on the wall behind Ellie and showed herself from the shadow with a wicked smile on her smile. She slipped her arms inside Ellie's.
"Hey!" Ellie exclaimed. "What the heck?!"
The wispy yokai engulfed Ellie in a black bubble.
"What is this?" Ellie cried. "Help! Help!"
Ellie screamed as she began blasting her air magic against the force field with no success. Then, the force field infused into Ellie's skin, causing her to become stiff and collapse on the pillow. Ellie's eyes shot out with a wicked smile when she lifted herself up and examined her body.
"Yes! I'm inside a mystic's body!" The yokai said with an evil laugh.
Elsewhere, Ellie opened her eyes and looked around to find herself floating inside an endless dark void.
"Hello? Hello?" Ellie called out. "What the heck happened to me?"
"I took over your body, that's what." The wispy yokai replied as her face appeared in front of Ellie.
"Whoa, who are you?" Ellie demanded.
"I'm a Shakimono." The wispy yokai answered. "Don't worry. You're still here. I'm just inside your empty little head with you."
"Inside my head?!" Ellie exclaimed in shock. "How'd you do it?"
"You stopped believing in yourself, that's how." Shakimono explained. "You had no self-confidence. No defenses. Think of it as a hostile takeover for me. With you locked up inside your own subconscious, I can eliminate your precious sisters one by one. And with your magic, they don't know what hit them."
Shakimono laughed wickedly, leaving Ellie's eyes widened in shock.
The next day, three Lotus Ninjas, Irma, and Aaliyah stood outside at the school entrance. As they waited for Ellie, Donna tried calling her sister. But Ellie hasn't been answering her calls.
"She's not picking up. And I've been calling her phone three times." Donna announced.
"Do you think something's wrong?" Irma asked.
"Knowing her, she probably can't find either her music player and comic book to fuel her boredom during her free period." Ella replied.
"You were being too harsh on her yesterday, Ella." Lee said sternly.
"Yeah, you need to chill with the attitude." Aaliyah agreed as she crossed her arms.
"Whatever." Ella said, rolling her eyes. "Just watch. She'll be her old self again."
"Hey, look! There she is!" Irma cried out as she pointed her finger forward.
Donna, Lee, Aaliyah, and Ella followed Irma's finger as they saw Ellie walking up to them. Their faces went bewildered when their eyes caught the sight of Ellie's weird attire. Ellie was wearing a sleeveless pink dress with two white trims and tall pink boots.
"Hiya, girls." Shakimono-Ellie greeted with a wave. "Sorry I took so long."
"Ellie, you seem a little out of it." Donna said.
"And you don't even sound like you." Aaliyah added.
"I'm fine." Shakimono-Ellie replied. She started to clear her throat. "I've got a little sore in my throat, that's all."
"Whoa. You get dressed in the dark?" Ella questioned as she kept staring at her youngest sister's outfit. "I mean, since when do you like wearing a dress?"
"Who died and made you the fashion police, hot head?" Shakimono-Ellie snapped.
Ella looked stunned for a moment, but she quickly put on an angry face.
"Why you?!" Ella shouted.
"Chill, Ella." Aaliyah said. "And besides, you had it coming for belittling her yesterday."
"Girls, it's not me!" Ellie shouted desperately as she was banging her arms against an invisible shield inside her consciousness. "I'd never come out of my closet looking like that!" Her face went helpless. "Hello?"
"Maybe I didn't get enough sleep." Shakimono-Ellie said with a laugh. "Well, we better hurry. We don't want to be late for class."
Shakimono-Ellie walked off, leaving the girls even more surprised.
"Oh yeah. Something's definitely wrong with her." Irma said.
Sometime later, three Lotus Ninjas, Irma, and Aaliyah sat on the edge of the stage inside the auditorium during lunchtime.
"Ellie did what today in P.E.?" Lee exclaimed in surprise.
"She almost knocked two of the football jocks out." Aaliyah said. "And we weren't even playing dodgeball."
"She's never the type of girl to throw anything that hard." Ella added. "Normally, that high level of aggressiveness is my thing."
"Well, since she quitted the talent show, we're gonna have to come up with a new dance routine." Donna reminded.
"Who said anything about quitting?"
Donna, Ella, Lee, Irma, and Aaliyah spun around to see Ellie arriving on the stage. This time, she was badly dressed in a light pink off-the-shoulder top and white shorts.
"Uh, you did." Irma replied. "You said so yesterday."
"Oh, please. That was then, this is now. Now, let's get practicing." Shakimono-Ellie said. She looked over to Ella with a smirk. "And try not to mess it up."
"As if, Ms. High and Mighty!" Ella retorted.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Lee asked concernedly.
"Totally." Shakimono-Ellie replied. "I've never been better."
Shakimono-Ellie took out a compact mirror and glanced at it. Donna walked over to check her younger sister, but her eyes widened in surprise at what she just glimpsed. Her eyes glimpsed the sight of Shakimono's true face on her reflection.
"Well then, let's get started." Shakimono-Ellie said as she closed the compact mirror.
Shakimono-Ellie walked away, unaware that Donna was staring at her with a cautious face.
Back in the Crete Fortress, Donna looked at the display screen that was pulled up from her dark purple flash drive on her desk inside her lab.
"So many yokais, so many mysteries." Donna said. "But I know one of them has something to do with Ellie's personality adjustment."
"Something wrong, Donatella?"
Donna turned around to the sound of that familiar voice and saw Saldana standing close to her from behind.
"Oh, hey, mom." Donna said. "I'm strolling through the files because I think something's wrong with Ellie."
"What's the matter with Michelle? She isn't feeling well?" Saldana asked.
"Well, this morning, she said she was totally fine. But throughout the whole day, she was anything but fine." Donna explained. "Yesterday, she was completely depressed. Then, all of a sudden, she's super confident in a whole weird way and her clothes are completely disturbing. And on top of that, she was acting kind of rude. It's like she's becoming a whole other person."
"It's possible that Michelle is just going through a phase." Saldana assured. "Believe it or not, I was like that once when I was your age. Maybe I can take a look at your yokai drive."
"Sure." Donna said, handing her flash drive to Saldana. "I gotta get started on my algebra anyway."
Saldana nodded and walked out of Donna's lab. As she headed to the dojo, she stared at the flash drive with a suspicious face.
"I may not know a lot of yokais in my lifetime. But still, I think I'll research a certain yokai just in case." Saldana said.
Meanwhile, Shakimono stared at the reflection of a full-length mirror inside Ellie's bedroom.
"Ha, ha. I've got your sisters and friends completely fooled." Shakimono bragged. "I'll admit absorbing your depression has been delightful, but why take one mystic when I can take all four? Humans carry the essence of misery too, but mystics' misery is far more delicious."
At the same time, Ellie kept banging her arms against an invisible shield inside her consciousness.
"I've got to do something! I've..." Ellie shouted. She stopped for a moment and turned away with a discontent look on her face. "Aw, what am I saying? Even if I did something, I'd just mess it up like always."
"That's right. Keep feeding me your precious misery." Shakimono grinned. "Tomorrow, just after we perform our routine in the talent show, I'm gonna enjoy consuming the depression of the whole school."
In Eastman High, the talent show was set to begin. Several students and their relatives were sitting in their seats inside the auditorium. The first participant began playing his electric guitar in a punk rock attire. The crowd already started cheering for his rock and roll performance.
Meanwhile, Shakimono-Ellie was trying to fix her hair as Ella, Aaliyah, Lee, Irma, and Donna were preparing themselves inside the dressing room. Shakimono-Ellie wore a short-sleeved orange shirt, white shorts with orange trims, and white sneakers with orange soles and laces. Ella wore a short-sleeved red shirt, white shorts with red trims, and white sneakers with red soles and laces. Aaliyah wore a short-sleeved black shirt, white shorts with black trims, and white sneakers with black soles and laces. Lee wore a short-sleeved blue shirt, white shorts with blue trims, and white sneakers with blue soles and laces. Irma wore a short-sleeved lavender shirt, white shorts with lavender trims, and white sneakers with lavender soles and laces. And Donna wore a short-sleeved purple shirt, white shorts with purple trims, and white sneakers with purple soles and laces.
"Oh, hey, Ella. You have to be in position on that last move before I start the backflips or it'll totally throw me off balance." Shakimono-Ellie advised. "Remember that."
"I'll remember that when you remember to adjust your attitude." Ella threatened with an irritated face.
"Seriously, girl. You need to chill out with that temper of yours." Shakimono-Ellie said as she rolled her eyes. "It's nothing worth your effort."
Ella growled, but Aaliyah and Lee quickly grabbed her arms to prevent her from doing something she'll regret.
Donna walked over to Shakimono-Ellie. Her eyes glanced at the mirror, which quickly detected mystifying reflection from before. She took out her phone to snap a picture in secret and hid it away in her pocket just before Shakimono-Ellie noticed her presence.
"Is there something wrong?" Donna asked.
"No, nothing's wrong. I'm just fixing my lipstick, that's all." Shakimono-Ellie said with a sheepish laugh.
"If you say so." Donna said with a shrug.
Donna walked back to her sisters and her friends.
"Ok, it's official." Ella said. "Ellie's new attitude is getting on my nerves."
"Yeah, she's a lot of things, but rude and obnoxious ain't one of them." Irma agreed.
"We gotta find out what it is." Lee said.
"No worries." Donna said. She took out her phone and pulled up an image on the screen. "Check it out. Look at her reflection."
Ella, Aaliyah, Lee, and Irma looked at the image of the Shakimono's true face in the mirror.
"No way." Aaliyah gasped in surprise.
"A yokai has taken over her body!" Irma said.
"And we're going to need help." Lee said.
Aaliyah, Donna, Lee, Ella, and Irma quietly tiptoed past Shakimono-Ellie to the door, but Shakimono-Ellie noticed them sneaking off from the mirror and turned around to face them.
"Hey! Where's everybody going?" Shakimono-Ellie asked.
"Um, we're gonna go check on the crowd." Aaliyah replied with an anxious smile.
"See ya." Donna, Lee, Ellia, and Irma said with waves.
Aaliyah, Donna, Lee, Ella, and Irma immediately ran out of the dressing room.
"Heh, whatever." Shakimono-Ellie said as she rolled her eyes.
Shakimono-Ellie looked back at the mirror.
Lee, Donna, Ella, Aaliyah, and Irma arrived outside of the auditorium.
"We have to find mom and fast." Ella said.
"That won't be necessary."
Lee, Donna, Ella, Aaliyah, and Irma turned their heads to see Saldana already arriving towards them.
"I'm already here." Saldana said.
"Mother, thank goodness." Lee said in relief.
"We have an urgent emergency." Donna said. "A yokai has taken over Ellie's body. It was the reason why Ellie wasn't acting like herself."
"That yokai was called a Shakimono. For centuries, she sneaks themselves into humans and mystics and feeds on their misery, leaving them constantly depressed. Me and an old friend of mine had locked her away in a hidden pocket dimension." Saldana explained.
"But how do we extract her out of Ellie?" Irma asked.
"I managed to create a spell for that on the way here." Saldana replied. "It was designed for the four mystics. Unfortunately, without Michelle, I'm afraid you'll just have to do your best. Now, listen closely."
Back in the auditorium, more participants have already finished their performances that kept the crowd cheering with excitement.
"And now, the final contestants in this year's talent show!" A male teacher called out as he was holding the microphone in his hands. "The White Lotus!"
One by one, the Lotus Ninjas, Irma, and Aaliyah stroke poses within the shimmering puff of smoke on the stage.
"Hit it!" Aaliyah called out.
Once the Crunk & B song started playing, the White Lotus began to dance in hip-hop dance steps.
Lotus Ninjas: Ooh, uh
The way you look at me, I'm feelin' you, uh
I just can't help it, tryin' to keep it cool, uh
I can feel it in the beat, uh
When you do those things to me, uh
Don't let nothin' stop you
Move, ring the alarm
The club is jumpin' now
So get up
I said, "Lotus's on your radio
Everybody turn it up
Spicy just like hot sauce
Careful, you might burn it up
You can do the pop lock
Rag-top, don't stop
That's the way you gotta get
Get it, make your body rock
So get up
During their mid-performance, Lee, Irma, and Donna started jerking her arms in an up and down and side-to-side motion at the center of the stage. They then rocked their hips and dropped to the floor in a full split. Ella and Aaliyah backflipped and performed a moonwalk while shaking her hips at the same time before twirling and dropping to the floor in a full split in front of Lee, Irma, and Donna.
With a smile, Shakimono-Ellie performed a rapid spinning handstand and then flipped in the air to land halfway across the other girls, where she performed a windmill dance move.
"Now!" Irma shouted.
"Kanojo no karada kara jibun jishin o nukidasu!" Donna, Ella, and Lee casted.
A swirling purple, red, and blue orb of magical energy manifested above the girls. It zoomed towards the distracted Shakimono-Ellie, hitting her upon contact in a shimmering mist. Shakimono-Ellie stopped dancing and turned her annoyance to the girls.
"What the heck are you doing? You're ruining the act!" Shakimono-Ellie shouted.
"Oh, snap! The spell didn't work!" Aaliyah exclaimed.
"Mom's right. The three of us don't have enough power on our own." Donna said with a frown.
"And we can't do this without Ellie." Ella said.
"Ellie, if you can hear me, say the spell with us!" Lee called out.
Ellie heard Lee's voice and understood the plan within her consciousness.
"You got it, sis!" Ellie shouted with a nod.
Donna, Ella, and Lee focused on their magic again. This time, Ellie joined as she concentrated on her own magic.
"Kanojo no karada kara jibun jishin o nukidasu!" Donna, Ella, Lee, and Ellie casted.
A swirling purple, red, and blue orb of magical energy manifested above the girls. Shakimono-Ellie widened her eyes in shock, but she didn't have time to react. The energy orb zoomed towards the screaming Shakimono-Ellie, hitting her again in a shimmering mist. When the mist cleared, Ellie opened her mouth and expelled the wispy yokai right out in the air.
The students and their relatives exchanged confused faces for a moment, but they cheered and applauded for the White Lotus's spectacular performance.
"Ellie, you did it!" Aaliyah smiled.
"Thanks." Ellie smiled back. "It's good to be me again."
"Goodie for you." Shakimono said furiously. "Now prepare to be annihilated!"
"Oh, give it a rest anyway." Ellie retorted.
Just before Shakimono could prepare for a strike, Saldana's eyes glowed bright white from her seat. Her magic began to encase all over the wispy yokai and trap her in a white crystal. Saldana stealthily shrunk the crystalline Shakimono and sent it straight into her purse before anyone took notice with suspicion.
Ellie winked at Saldana as a thank you response.
"It's so good to have you back, sis." Ella smiled.
"You and me both." Ellie grinned. "Now, let's win that trophy."
Ellie performed a rapid spinning handstand and then flipped in the air to land in front of Ella and Aaliyah. This time, she landed a perfectly full split.
Ellie smiled and winked at the cheering crowd.
Shakimono – a wispy yokai
Kanojo no karada kara jibun jishin o nukidasu – Japanese for Extract yourself out of her body
Enjoy and review.