Screening Shadows: Never Trust Air Ducts!
Chapter 2
Screening Shadows:
Never Trust Air Ducts!
At some school ground early in the morning…
“MOO Hew Hur! Magva Minos the name. And I’ll prove my worth to Magvamax. That promotion will be good as mine. So prepare to be eliminated.”
A mechanical minotaur crosses paths with three school girls.
"Ruka, hold my bag."
A girl in leather steps forward. She begins rushing forward at the monster.
“A frontal assault? My guns will blast you down. How very pitiful.”
Three gun barrels start shooting from the monster's head. Smoke was in the air, but the girl appeared instantly behind the minotaur.
“That would be you.”
“What?”
She delivers a single knockout chop to the back of the monster's head. The beast stumbled on the floor as she prepares a final attack.
“Wait! But my ten-minute backstory!"
“You suck!”
A blast gets delivered to the monster's face, blowing it to pieces. The girl turns back to her friends.
"Great job, Ran!"
“That’s the fourth one this week. This routine is starting to get really old.”
Ruka hands the bag back to Ran. Then, the sound of a school bell rings.
“Oh crap! We’re gonna be late again.”
The girls rush off to class. Meanwhile, back with Abotemous and the other guys…
“We positioned ourselves by East City. So what will be on the agenda today?”
A heavy storm suddenly bursts inside the base. Steffbird holds onto his hat while the rest take cover.
"Oh, what now? I thought we had 72 hours." Bamboo mumbled.
"No, it's not the conqueror; the energy pressure is different. It looks like we have more guests." Auroa said.
Electrical solid currents circle across the base. Two oversized silhouettes from the left and right appear before them. Two separate groups of foot soldiers accompany them from behind. Steffbird steps forward.
“And whom may ya be?” Steffbird wondered.
From the left was a demon on a floating carpet. A large turban covered the demon's head. To the right stood a spirit lord in a priest outfit. Seal tags are covered across his body.
“Hahaha! So those brothers haven't given you guys the boot yet? The name's Hysteria. I stand for all things beautiful.”
He pulls out a fan covering his face.
"And I am the Gorman King. We saw what you did. And as you know, news spread quickly."
“If I stand correct, you must be the competition opposed against Magval," Abotemous said. "What business you have here?"
They each pulled out a contract.
"We came to offer you a chance to join our ranks. But, unfortunately, we need new field tacticians."
Auroa was skeptical for a brief moment.
"How can we be sure you're not going to double-cross one another?" He wondered. "You're both from two separate factions."
"For now, we agreed to a temporary truce." Hysteria clarified. "To broaden our chances against Magvamax, we need as much support as possible."
“So it will not matter who you choose.” The Gorman King assured. “But we need your answer now.”
Two contracts rest on the table.
“Can we, like, have some time to think about it?” Bamboo wondered.
"No! We demand an answer right away!" The King shouted.
They found themselves in a tighter corner than before. Bamboo begins to panic, flailing his arms around.
“Whoah! Whoah! Give us ten at least.”
Abotemous opened the door to a cafeteria.
"Help yourself to some coffee and tea in the break room. We need to discuss this over for a bit. This is a team effort overall."
"Very well, you have ten minutes.” Hysteria snapped.
The two went into the break room while the six are left alone. Two contracts rest in front of them.
“Our role…This is as I feared.” Abotemous thought.
“Like what?” Bamboo wondered.
"We're… .we're nothing but a third party at this point. A third wheel!"
The rest stumbled for a brief second.
"WHAT?!" Bamboo snapped. "But we're a force to be reckoned with. So nobody can boss us around. Right...RIGHT?”
"As much I'd hate to admit. But, unfortunately, things are not in our favor at this time." Kabuki said. "Not only do we have the Magval to deal with but now these two."
The group continues to discuss matters in the room.
“The moment we support one, we'll likely be forced to fight the rest inevitably," Steffbird concluded.
“True…” Auroa nodded. “Though Magvamax failed to tell us his intentions. These groups clearly must be after something.”
“I say we fight them all. Get this over with.” Havok suggested.
Bamboo begins cowering in the corner.
“Wait…we can’t just do that. That will be suicidal.”
"Oh? Then do you have a better suggestion, brother?"
Bamboo tensely thinks. The six huddled up by the round table.
"Well, we can simply duke it out as Havok suggested. Have an old classic brawl. But if we do that, I feel we'll be missing out on something. As Auroa said, Magvamax refused to tell us his intentions.”
"What do you imply we do then, brother?"
A gut feeling kicks in.
“As crazy as this sounds...I think it wouldn't hurt if we side with all of them."
Kabuki fell off his chair.
“That will never work. Our base makes us a clear open target for an attack at any time.”
“Not if we all keep it a secret, just like how we fooled Katty with that illegal sumo wrestling story. We’ll simply play their game for now. Find out what they're after and report back anything interesting we find.”
The rest begin to reconsider.
“Damn it, I scorn to make mischief when it is not for my advantage, but this is an exception. As thar could very well be resting under our nose a treasure to plunder.” Steffbird nodded.
"Then, in the end, we'll ditch them all once they're down.” Bamboo snapped.
The door to the cafeteria opens moments later. Bamboo and the rest arrive to confront the two leaders. Hysteria is seen with his turban off. His hair holds a cup of tea by his lips.
"Woo, so have you decided?"
Bamboo slaps the two contracts down on the table—both with signatures on them.
“Since this is a temporary truce. We decided to support you both for now!”
“Splendid!” Hysteria clapped.
The two leaders take their leave from the base.
"We'll report to you shortly," Abotemous assured.
The following day after…
"It's hopeless! We're doomed, Alistor!"
"What now, Katty?"
Alistor wakes from bed eating breakfast. Katty begins packing his bag.
“This region’s currency is Tridals. Our money is no good here. We can’t afford to stay another night at a hotel.”
“What!? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
Moments later, the scene cuts to them waiting out West City High. Alistor looks over Tannen’s letter.
“It’s addressed from East City. If we can get there, Tannen would be able to help us out.”
"Let's just hope." Katty sighed. "If things are worst, we'll be forced to look for jobs."
The sound of the bell rings. Male students exit out from the school as the weekend approaches. Ken and the stooges rushed over to them.
“Sup guys! It’s finally Friday. What are you guys planning?”
Katty briefly explained their situation to them.
"East City, you say? We were just about to head there ourselves. It's a half-hour boat ride from here. They got some of the best dance clubs there. So we got you covered."
"Yeah, we'll be going to a disco tonight," Hoji said. "Bust out some moves on the dance floor."
And so Alistor and Katty follow them.
Somewhere in East City, Auroa arrives down on the scene behind some alley. With one wave from his hand, he takes the appearance of his human form.
"So, what will be the point of this mission?" Auroa wondered.
Opening up his makeup powder, he reports to Hysteria on a small screen.
“I have a new monster I wish for you to test on those students by East City High. I already sent over the data to you on the card.”
Auroa looks over the card depicting the monster.
“Any particular reason why we’re targeting an all-female school? A petty monster attack on some school seems sort of pointless.”
“There is some top secret information loaded into the school's computer servers that I am after. Also, I have beef with Ran and those girls."
“Ran? Who is she?” Auroa wondered.
Hysteria begins to elaborate.
"Ugh…Ran, I cannot stand her group. For all things beautiful, I refuse to accept what they are. I must purge all things that are not beautiful.”
“Ok then…”
Auroa’s eye rolled to the side.
“Well…stop standing there and get to work.”
The communication cuts off, so Auroa heads over to the school campus. He walks down an empty hall with lockers. He pulls out the card.
"Ok, Hystera Doll! Show us what you can do."
A headless black mannequin in a stripper's outfit emerged from the card.
“Hm?”
The monster first runs itself into a wall. Stumbling back up, it next smashes open a trophy cabinet. It goes to try on one of the trophies on its head.
“What the heck?”
The trophy falls off its head. Then, it goes on to try on a mascot head of a lion by the bin. Auroa responded with a whip, bringing the monster to a halt.
“Stop fooling around. We have a task at hand.”
Hystera Doll failed to speak back. Instead, it attempts a few hand signs; Auroa calls up Hysteria.
“Is this some kind of joke? Your monster can’t function or even speak.”
“Hold on!” Hysteria snapped. “I’m sending over the last bit of data now.”
From one touch of a button, the monster's body glowed from its neck. It received the uploaded data.
"Now, it should work!"
Hystera Doll makes a salute now once Auroa gives the orders.
“The computer lab should be down on the second room to the far right. Head over and retrieve the data your master needs. I’ll be waiting outside.”
The monster rushes off from the scene. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Alistor and company arrive in East City. Ken successfully leads them to Tannen's detective agency.
“This should be it!”
A closed sign rest on the door. Alistor goes to take a peek from a window.
"It's closed. It seems Tannen's not here at the moment."
"Sigh…just our luck. Well, Tannen's not here. So what should we do for the time being?" Katty wondered.
Ken stepped in.
"Why don't we hit the clubs for a bit? There's a good one down by the East Ibuki district. You know, bust some moves and drink some pop. I'm sure that can pass a good time."
“Whatever you say.” Alistor nodded.
The party heads downtown to the Ibuki district. An explosion commenced from a distance.
“What was that?” Katty said.
“It’s coming from the East High campus.” Ryo pointed.
“Another monster attack?” Ken slapped. “What the heck is Ran doing?”
The team rushes to the scene. Hystera Doll busted open the front doors of the school. Female students panic with smoke in the air. Auroa watched from across the sidewalk. As the smoke clears, he is left aghast by the monster.
“When I said to retrieve the data...I did not assume you would literally take a whole computer.”
An entire monitor rests over the monster's head as Ken readied his tonfas where his crew confronts it. Alistor and Katty pulled out their weapons as well.
“We’ll help you guys too.” Alistor nodded.
The monster places the computer down. Hystera Doll pulls out a lipstick blade. It bulldozes through the stooges easily to clash with Ken.
“Star Breaker!”
Alistor hits the monster from behind, forcing it to stumble a few steps back.
“Nova Rush!”
Katty pierces the demon, dealing a significant amount of damage. Finally, the monster collapses to pieces.
“Over already?”
“No! Not yet.” Alistor pointed.
Parts from Hystera Doll begin assaulting the party in midair. The stooges head for cover while Alistor and Katty were forced on the defensive.
“Where in the world is Ran?”
Ken blindly swings his weapon as the monster reformed itself. Finally, Hystera Doll strikes with its lipstick blade. It pressures Ken to a corner while his shades drop on the ground.
“I had just about enough.”
He slips some explosive dice from his sleeve, sending both of them back.
“Rapid Fury Flash!”
Ken delivers a series of blows, breaking the monster to pieces once again. But to his dismay, Hystera Doll reformed itself.
"Aw, come on! What's with this thing?" Ken shouted.
"Something's not right," Alistor said.
Panting for breath, Ken backs away, whereas the monster slowly approaches them. Blue flames immediately pierced the creature. It drops to the floor, burning out as no ashes are left behind.
“Huh? What was that?” Katty wondered.
From the fire, a woman in a uniform appeared before them. A patch covered one of her eyes. Flicking her short green hair, she gave back a calm look. A cool aura from the flames is felt across the campus. Ran and her friends arrived on the scene from behind.
“Ken! What are you guys doing here?” Ran asked.
Ken puts his shades back on.
“Cleaning your mess!” He shouted. “What the heck were you doing?”
“We were busy with swim practice.” She barked back. “Would it kill you for once to be polite? Jerk!!!”
Things continue to get ugly; a pointless argument escalates between the two in the background.
“Should we do something?” Katty wondered.
"Nah! This always happens when they cross." Hoji said.
"Yeah! Ran and Ken has been bitter rivals since their junior high days." Ozu added.
"It's best not to get involved," Ryo concluded. "This is normal for them, so you'll get used to it."
Alistor turns his attention towards the woman in uniform.
"Thanks for helping us. By the way, who are you?"
“The name's Ms. Kaida. I’m the field marshal in charge of all defenses for Lavendhite. I also own and personally operate this school. And I teach my girls to be the very best.”
Auroa watches tensely from the other side of the street. His eyes focused on the computer.
“Sigh…another fire channeler. It looks like I’ll have to intervene somehow. How should I avoid those two...”
Alistor and Katty still crossed his mind. Hysteria immediately contacts him.
“Argh… The blue flame Kaida is there? Fall back now!”
“Why is she a problem to engage?” Auroa wondered. “She doesn’t seem anything special to me.”
“Woo, she's not a cookie you want to mess with for a snack. She'll be the one taking a bite out of you!”
Auroa sarcastically rolled his eyes to the side.
“I had my share dealing with fire channelers before. I’m sure I can get Kaida to burn out.”
"Just retreat for now." Hysteria persisted. "Besides, our monster is not done just yet. We'll be back tonight."
“Fine!”
Auroa leaves the scene.
Hours later, down the club in the Ibuki district…
"Woo, this is our song! Let’s show them how it’s done.” Ryo said.
“You don’t have to say that again.” Ozu jumped.
The stooges helped themselves to the dance floor while Alistor chills with Ken by the booth. Disco plays in the background.
“So tell us about the enemy down here. What are we up against anyway?”
Alistor awaits an answer as Ken casually sips a glass of pop.
"The monster from today belongs to Hysteria. I can't comprehend his purpose, but he's a total diva. And the one from yesterday belonged to the Magvals."
“Wait. You mean to tell me there’s more than one threat in this region?” Alistor said.
“Yeah! We actually have five evil groups attacking at the moment.” Ken added.
Music continues to play. Alistor begins reflecting on all the past threats he and his party dealt with.
"Up to this point, we only fought against one threat at a time through the course of each mission. But five at the same time…."
“I know it sounds bad. But hey! On good days we don’t have to do much. Those guys are actually against one another. We don’t know what they’re after, but there have been skirmishes between them.”
“Tell me more.”
Ken begins elaborating on the table with a map.
"The easiest way to start would be with the three Magval brothers. They have their own personal army, but rumor has it there’s bad blood between them. They haven’t shown it quite just yet. The Conqueror Magvamax is the only one we’re concerned about. He’s the toughest of the three and is claimed to be invincible.”
“Invincible? What about his brothers?” Alistor wondered.
“Dai of the Earth and the Thunder Zyga? Not much is known about them. They rarely show their faces.”
The stooges continue to dance as Ken continued.
"Next up, we got the Gormans! The ghost faction that stirs up the night. They had been hard to catch lately. Then, finally, the Gorman King got an army of Yokai stored on a ghost ship."
“Yokai!?” Alistor muttered.
"Yep, Yokai! I don't know much about them. But your pal Tannen has the best knowledge when it comes to combating them. So he's got us covered."
Alistor took a relaxing breather.
“And last but not least is Hysteria. I already told you about him. Ran and the girls mainly deal with them.”
"So, how long have you guys been fighting them?" Alistor wondered.
"Since the day Magvamax tore this region in two. Been almost six years. And I'm already a junior at West City High. How time flies.”
"Wait that long!? You guys must be very young back then. How did you guys even learn to fight?"
Ken finishes his glass of pop.
"No sweat! It was hard at first, but we have thanks to your old man Sairori. He trained us real good."
Alistor was enlightened at the moment.
“You mean...”
"Yep! Just days after that Labyrinth appeared over your school, he left to help us out. He sort of regretted it at first, but everything worked out.” Ken concluded.
A sense of relief was in Alistor’s eye.
"I see…So you were looking out for Ken back then. Now I understand."
Katty watches the stooges from the corner. They attempt to woo some girls with their dance moves but get rejected.
“Sigh…I wish I weren’t single.”
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the middle of the open sea… A giant ghost ship materializes into the scene.
"Mah ha! Hysteria continues to amuse me to no end. So now, Captain, we are to one-up his failed attempt."
Captain Steffbird was by the Gorman King’s side. East City High is focused on their screen as the King presents a flask to him.
“Argh! What this?”
“This contains the soul of Tesso! A Yokai I captured during the days back.”
“Yokai?”
The monitor focused on the school's computer lab. The Gorman King hands the flask over to the Captain.
“I want you to head there and use this flask on any of the school's computers. Our Yokai, in turn, shall be reincarnated to do our bidding."
“Hmm...Aye... It still fathoms me why such intelligence would be stored at some school. What is this data we’re after anyway?”
A sharp look was on the Captain.
“Our opponent Magvamax already destroyed most of the military bases that tried protecting this data. Many have sacrificed themselves to keep it from our grasp. My spies have successfully traced its last whereabouts to this school. The last place a conqueror would ever look. The data we’re after contains the locations to the six gate keys needed to bring forth Heaven’s Pillar.”
“A pillar!? Is this some sort of treasure?”
The Gorman King refused to go into further details. Instead, he quickly dismisses Steffbird from the room.
"I'll explain later. Now go, Captain!”
“Aye!”
The Captain takes his leave from the ship as he arrives behind the school. Steffbird walks to a back door.
“Shimmery! It’s locked!”
The Captain picks open the lock with his sword. He enters the back door, making haste to the lab. Rows of computers are lined within the room as he pulls out the flask.
“Let’s see what you’re made of?”
Steffbird tosses the flask at a computer station. It shatters, the Yokai now taking possession of the object. A mouse monster formed before his very eyes.
“Mack Screen at your service!”
“Now be like one o' them newfangled pirates of the by-and-by n' illegally download off these school Jigga ma servers the data we need. Crack those lock codes by encrypting the double-helix circuit board with a proxy firewall...or...whatever it is ye damn hacky sackers do. I don't know. I got enough dignity left in me not to be doing things like stealing music off the internet when the item doesn't make a bloody lick of sense as is."
Wires eject from the monster's body. Then, it plugs itself into a group of monitors to begin searching.
Thirty minutes later…
“Nothing here! Next computer!”
Mack Screen moved to another group of monitors. Steffbird grew a bit weary waiting.
“Argh! This is taking forever. I’m going to quench my thirst a bit. Keep up the work.”
Steffbird saunters out of the room. He walks out the hall, taking a stroll past the gym. Girls are seen at swim practice by the pool.
Meanwhile, Alistor and the party exit from the club.
"I could use a snack about now," Ken said.
They head down to the convenience store located halfway across the street. Mack Screen meanwhile continues scanning through the computers back at the lab. Finally, the lights flick on, alerting the monster. A nerdy girl stood frozen in fear.
“Huh? You need something?”
“AHHHHHH!!!!!”
She runs, zipping past Steffbird occupied by a vending machine. The Captain inserts a coin into it.
“Aye! Let’s see which one sounds good.”
A select assortment of drinks was pictured on the buttons. D2 Energy was one of the options, but the moon splash tea piques his interest. The Captain presses the button. The machine makes a sound, but nothing drops out.
“Argh?”
Steffbird hit the machine a couple of times. Nothing continues to pop out.
“Stupid machine. I’ll just have to pick one up at the convenience store then.”
The Captain leaves off-campus, heading over to the store located across the street. Kabuki is seen making a late-night snack run.
"Man, that hit the spot."
Ken finishes a bag of chips. Alistor and the rest lean on the side with drinks on hand. Katty was first to notice the girl in distress.
“Are you ok? What’s the matter?”
“Monster! There’s a monster in the school's lab!”
Ken leaned back, not giving much of a care.
"Come on, Ken! We need to head over there." Katty said.
“Eh…Ran can handle it. It’s her school anyway.”
The stooges decide to follow Alistor and Katty along.
"Come on, Ken! This could be our chance to impress those girls." Ryo snapped.
"Aw, guys."
Ken reluctantly follows them to the scene.
Elsewhere in the girls’ locker room, the sound of shower water runs down. Steam fogs the glass as a silver-haired woman washes up with only her backside shown.
Mack Screen checks the last computer in the room.
“Not this one either. Must be in the next room.”
The monster makes its move through the ventilation pipes. Hysteria meanwhile watches from the other screen with Auroa.
"Ooh, I can't sit back and just watch while the Gormans take the prize." He snapped.
"Well, at least his monster seems the most practical," Auroa admits. "You plan to make a move then?"
The screen focuses back to the front of East City High. Hystera Doll reformed itself from the dirt left outside.
"Yes! Once Mack Screen uploads that information into its drives. Then, Hystera Doll will be ready to intercept."
Back at the school, Mack Screen continues thoroughly searching the computer in the next room.
“Rats not here either!”
“Hold it right there!”
Alistor and party arrive on the scene.
"Came to crash the party, eh? Well, I have no time for the likes of you. I got some big cheese to find!"
The monster fires a laser from its mouse arm. Alistor and party charged forward in response. Mack Screen leaps forward, phasing right through them.
“What the heck? Did he just pass through us?” Katty asked.
"We must be dealing with a Yokai," Ken said. "One of the Gorman's ghost lackeys.”
“Yeah! And the name's Mack Screen. I am the spirit Tesso brought back to this modern age. Now, if you excuse me!"
The monster leaves to the next room.
"Hey, get back here!"
Katty and the team give chase in the hall. The monster leads them to an enclosed room. They arrive inside, but it was nowhere to be seen.
"Now, where the heck are you hiding?"
The door shuts on them.
“What!? It’s locked.” Alistor shouted.
Mack Screen reappears from outside, barring the door with a metal rod.
“Heh heh heh. Now be good and hang tight.”
The monster leaves the scene while the door is banged on. Ken and the stooges attempt to force it open.
“It’s no use. We’re locked in.” Hoji said.
“I can’t believe that monster fooled us.” Ken slapped.
Alistor and Katty readied their weapons.
"We'll just have to break it down then," Katty said.
"No, wait! We can't just do that." Ken halted.
The two lowered their weapons.
“And why not?”
"We'll be fined if damage occurs on school property." One of the stooges explained. "Plus, we don't want to get on Ran's bad side."
The rest of the stooges nodded.
“You have to be kidding me.” Katty moped. “So what should we do then?”
"There are no windows in this room. So we'll have to escape through that vent up there." Ken pointed.
And so the party escapes through the vents on top.
"Now, where would that computer be?"
Mack Screen waltz back and forth in Ms. Kaida's office. The monster slips open a book by the bookcase revealing a hidden room. The computer confiscated from Hystera Doll lies in the corner.
“Bingo!”
Ken leads the way through the air ducts. The stooges follow along as Alistor and Katty tail from behind.
"Are we almost there, Ken?" Hoji asked. "It's getting rather stuffy in here."
“Yeah. My big body is feeling a tight squeeze already.” Ryo added. “My stomach is not feeling good.”
The duct begins shaking.
"Guys, keep it together! We'll pull through. Just a little further."
"I really need to go," Ryo mumbled. "I don't think I can hold it much any longer. Maybe if I just let some gas out."
Alistor and Katty eyed one another. Then, they backed away as the other two stooges struggle to pull back.
"Ryo, you better not." Ken pointed.
“Hold….it…in….”
He begins slipping some farts as Hoji and Ozu stumble, back hitting Katty and Alistor. The duct violently continues to shake.
“What are you guys doing? We’ll fall at this rate.” Alistor shouted.
“I can’t hold it!!!”
A loud fart bursts out as the entire duct collapsed below them. The whole party falls into a room as smoke in the air.
"You should have dropped some weight, Ryo. Where the heck are we anyway?" Ken wondered.
The smoke clears as they find themselves among groups of females covering themselves.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! PERVERTS!!!”
The party is in the women's changing room. They struggle to pull themselves back up while Ran and her friends were among them.
“Ran!? This is all just a big misunderstanding!” Ken muttered.
“PERVERT!!!”
She kicks him over the head. Ruka and the rest joined in to beat on the stooges. Alistor and Katty, however, are unfortunately caught within the crossfire.
“But there’s a monster that has to be stopped!” Katty added.
“LIAR!” Ruka yelled.
The two are forced to take cover. Ryo rushes to the nearest toilet regardless of the soap-buckets flying. Then, he shuts the door as he goes to take a dump.
“What do we do now?” Alistor wondered.
Feeling hopeless, there was not much they can do. Ran and the girls refused to hear them out. They continued to take their beating till a woman with silver hair walked in.
"That's enough, Ran!"
The scene quiets down; Alistor’s heart suddenly stopped the moment he laid eyes on her.
“Rena….”
Meanwhile, in the other room, Mack Screen successfully copies the data from the computer. A map with six marked spots loads into the monster's screen.
“Success! Time to bail!”
The monster leaves the room while Hystera Doll creeps out from the corner. Finally, Mack Screen comes back to the entrance of the school. Leather straps burst from the ground, taking it by surprise.
“Hey? What’s happening?”
Hystera Doll pins Mack Screen to the ground.
“Who are you?”
“That data is ours!”
Back inside, Kaida arrives to sort the situation in the changing room. A dark-haired girl enters the scene.
“It’s true! There really is a monster on campus. Two of them are actually fighting right now!”
“Let’s go then!” Ran jumped.
The stooges were in no condition to battle. Ken, Alistor, and Katty were the only ones who got back up.
“What should we do with them?” Ruka wondered.
"We'll think of some disciplinary measures later," Kaida said. "Let us head out!"
Rena leads the charge as Alistor tails her along. He begins having second thoughts.
"Has she been alive this whole time? No… it's just not possible."
They arrive on the scene between the two monsters struggling. Hystera Doll attempts to pull off the large drive lodged behind the monster's head.
“Hey! My drives aren’t removable.” Mack snapped.
Hysteria watches the embarrassing sight on the screen. Hysteria's monster fumbled on what to do. Mack Screen was on the floor tied up.
"Well, then we have to take the whole monster back by force. Bring Mack back here." Hysteria ordered.
Ran knocks the doll monster back with her tonfas. Hystera Doll pulls out its lipstick sword.
“Deevas attack!”
Purple foot soldiers arrived on the scene in numbers. They flailed their arms in the air with lipstick blades.
“What the heck are those?” Katty asked.
“Hysteria’s grunts!” Ruka said.
Rena stepped into the scene with her weapons.
“We’ll handle the small fries from here. Kaida! Ran! We’ll leave the rest to you.”
"Very well, Rena," Kaida muttered.
The party engages with the group of Deevas. Ran and Kaida face Hystera Doll.
“I thought I incinerated you to nothing today. Well, I’ll just have to bite you even harder.” Kaida said.
Kaida armed herself with a single tonfa while Ran wielded two. The monster clashes with them, but they easily overwhelm it with their teamwork.
“Sky Blossom Fury!”
Ran shatters the monster to pieces with her attack, but it still reformed within minutes.
"That thing just won't give up!" Ken muttered. "We already killed it twice today. So how are you supposed to beat it?"
"You have to destroy its true body," Kabuki responded.
Kabuki and Steffbird appear behind the scene on a bench. The Captain drinks his can of tea while Kabuki snacked on a bag of marshmallows.
“True body? What do you mean?” Ran wondered.
“You’ve been fighting a dummy this whole time. It’s all basic puppet master knowledge.”
Kabuki continues snacking on marshmallows.
“Its real body? Then where would it be?” Ken wondered.
“It normally wouldn’t be too far. Figure it yourself.”
Kabuki and Steffbird walk away from the scene as Ken and the rest have their heads down. Kaida focuses her eyes across the campus for anything out of the ordinary.
"Hmm, true body, you say?"
She spots a small, deformed doll floating in midair. Kaida then quickly summons a blue burning whip in her other hand.
“Dragon's Kiss!”
Her whip destroys the little Doll in one hit. Hystera Doll collapsed to the ground, exploding.
"And now it's your turn!" Ran pointed. "Wait, where did you go?"
Mack Screen was free from his bind. The monster makes a run from the scene.
“You’re not getting away!” Katty pointed.
"Have a screenshot!"
Mack Screen fires energy screens dispersing the entire party.
"Hey, get back here!" Ruka shouted.
“No can do! I’m already late for a dental appointment. My cheese tea is getting cold!”
Just as the monster leaves campus, an energy scythe hits it over the head.
“Aw rats! I gouda get going.”
Mack Screen spun one final time before exploding.
“Whose attack was that?” Katty wondered.
“Detective Tannen at your service!”
“About time you finally showed up. Good timing.”
Katty goes to catch up with Tannen. Alistor turns his attention to Rena, who was ready to head back.
“Rena!”
“Huh?”
He confronts her for the first time.
“Rena…Is it really you?” Alistor asked.
She was speechless for the moment as he waited for her response.
"Um, do I know you or something?"
"It's me, Alistor. Don't you remember?"
The scene was pleasant at first, but it soon took a cold turn.
"Sorry, but your name doesn't ring a bell. See ya later!"
Rena left the scene with Ran as his jaws dropped.
Returning to the ghost ship…
"Welcome back, Captain.”
“Aye! Old Mack tried but has failed us.”
Steffbird confronts the Gorman King.
"Hoo! Far from it, Captain. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Our Yokai already served its purpose."
The Gorman King presents a supercomputer behind the curtains. The data for the six gate keys are shown on his screen.
"As you can see, Mack's body was linked to our master mainframe. So the moment Mack got hold of the right computer, that data was already in our hands. This calls for celebration."
“Shiver me! Technology got us this far?”
A keen look was on the Captain.
"Argh har har! Mind if you spare a copy of the file for later reference."
"Bwa Ha Ha! Not a problem, Captain!”
The Gorman King laughs away with the Captain in the throne room. A ghostly girl peeps from the corner, watching them.
Hours later, back in East City…
"Thanks for bailing us out, Tannen!"
Ken and the stooges are released from a cell.
Alistor and Katty stood in a cell with their heads down. Then, finally, an officer clicks the key open, releasing them.
"Ok, you guys are free to go!"
“Thanks for bailing us!” Katty said.
“No problem! But you should be thanking him.” Tannen pointed. “I simply just gave a call. He had the bail money anyway.”
Bamboo had his arm crossed.
"Sigh… I didn't expect you both to get in an early mess. Well, the disciplinary committee will allow you guys to walk free. But you guys are banned from setting foot on the East High campus for a while. The same goes for Ken and his friends as well."
Alistor was heartbroken with Rena still on his mind.
“But Rena…”
They walk off into the busy streets.
"So, how is the investigation coming along?" Katty whispered. "You know that sumo wrestling tournament?”
"Oh, that?" Bamboo jumped. "Yeah, it's still coming along nicely. We got some good leads so far."
Alistor follows along with his head still down. Tannen goes to cheer him.
“Why the long face? The night is still young.”
“We don’t have a place to stay at the moment. We don’t have much money on us.” Alistor said.
"Fine, you guys can crash at the agency, but don't expect it to be permanent."
The scene fades off into the night sky.
Maigashi & Yuka – Skit 2
Bonus scene: Yuka learns to drive
Back with Maigashi on Korola…
"Ok, Yuka, we've gone over the basics before. I think you're ready. You've got this in the bag. Now get in there!"
Maigashi escorts her to a vehicle by a driving course. She enters the driver's seat as the doors closed. Then she took a glance at the steering wheel.
"Ok, Ding! She's ready!"
Mr. Ding entered the passenger seat. Holding the clipboard in his lap as the sound of a pencil tapping. Yuka continues to be fixated by the steering wheel.
“Hello? Anybody home? You can begin now.”
Yuka quickly became nervous. The sound of the pencil tapping begins ringing in her head.
“Right!”
Without hesitation, she inserts the key. She hits hard on the gas, starting the ignition and then the brake forcing Ding to bop his head back.
“What are you doing?”
She begins to panic, hitting the gas once more. The vehicle runs through a set of cones as Ding begins to mope. She then crashes the car through Ding's signpost, where the vehicle ends plowing itself into his office. She exits the vehicle casually—puffs of smoke in the air. Maigashi rushed to her side.
“Yuka! Are you ok?”
“Did I pass?”
A baffled look was on his face. Then, finally, Ding crawled out, barely still alive.
"I should have known you to be a bad influence…Sorry but Yuka fails."
The professor checked her off on his broken clipboard. A determined look was now in her eyes.
"Next time, I'll get it right. Just you wait. We'll be back next week."
“That’s the spirit!” Maigashi snapped.
"Nooo….please….. don't."
The scene ends with Ding moping on the floor.