Operation: MASKED, Part 16: Cheren's Inner Demon

Chapter 16: Cheren's Inner Demon

"Are you sure this will work?" Majora asked, their faces hidden in darkness.

"The bloodline has had it for generations. He has it stronger than anyone."

"Very well… I will give word to our agent. …But may I just say this plan is entirely cliché."

"Agreed."

Sector V Treehouse. Gee, I wonder which one.

Cheren found himself on the couch of Alternate Sector V's treehouse when he woke up. On the floor below him, he saw Panini tucked warmly in her sleeping bag, and Truman was laid back in the chair, seemingly bored as he stared up at the ceiling. "Oh, hey, Truman!" Cheren smiled, carefully stepping over Panini as he got up. "You sleep out here last night?"

"Harry figured you needed a watch guard." The blue-eyed boy replied. "So how was the Land of Fire?"

"Great! Being a ninja was awesome!" Cheren smirked, doing air-punches. "And Kellie was a fun person to hang out with."

"Careful." Truman smirked. "She's taken by Thomas. But don't tell him that."

"Hahah! Hey, you're my last partner, aren't you? And only one Giant to go! I can't wait till we get to Scotland!" Cheren said enthusiastically. "We're so close to beating Majora!"

"You sure seem excited. Why the change of attitude?"

"I've just been feeling really good! We're one world away from stopping Majora, and I can finally save Miyuki! And best of all… I'm not really worried what'll happen anymore. If Miyuki gets upset… it won't matter. I'll have saved this world. I'll just find another way to make her happy!"

"But would beating Majora be that simple? What exactly do you have to DO, anyway?"

"Hmm… well, Majora keeps the Giants at bay by spreading misery across the world. If I made people happy… Majora's power might be weakened, too."

"So you're going to go around and make people happy?"

"Eh heheh! I know it sounds kinda complicated when you put it like THAT… but, the Mask Man said that happiness is expressed through… masks. Or, somethin' like that. So… maybe the more masks I have, the greater my chances with Majora. So, I have to help people with masks."

"How do you plan to find them?"

"Good question. Maybe I'll- WHAH!" Fi jumped out of the sword suddenly, startling Cheren.

"Master Cheren, I have important information to report. I have analyzed the various masks you have collected across your travels, and it has enabled me to use my dowsing ability to search for people with masks."

"Oh! …Well, there's your answer!" Cheren exclaimed. "I guess until we leave, I can do some sidequests. In fact… I just remembered that Facilier wanted a new crystal ball." He thought aloud to himself. "And Naruto had a crystal ball in his office…" He snapped his fingers. "I'll be back, Truman. Make sure Panini doesn't worry." And with a wink, Cheren played the Song of Soaring on his flute and was warped away.

Almost immediately after, Truman heard the sound of the Irish girl's yawning and turned to see her waking up. "Oh. Well, you're up early."

"Ay can say the same about ya…" Panini replied groggily, rubbing her eyes. "Where's Cheren? Did he leave already?"

"Y-Yeah. Just doing backtrack stuff. Listen, you wanna go out and get him some ice cream? He only has one Giant left to save, so he'd probably like something nice to set off with."

"Yah! Sounds like a good plan. We'll buy him some cherry!" Panini smiled as she hopped to her feet and slipped her boots on.

"So that's where he got that name!" They both joined in laughter as they headed outside.

Village Hidden in the Leaves

Cheren reappeared at the owl statue in the Land of Fire and became his ninja form as he made his way to the Hokage's Residence. When he made it to Tsunade's office, the stern-faced woman looked at him with her usual frumpy aura. "Konohamaru—I mean…"

"Cheren." Cheren corrected.

"Right. Cheren. I never had a chance to thank you. We saw your girl friend dragging you through the streets. You okay?"

"Yeah, that just happens- hey, don't say girlfriend!! Anyway, remember when you told me if there was anything you could do to repay us?"

"Yeah?"

"You see that crystal ball there? I kind of need that."

"Oh, this old thing?" Tsunade looked at the crystal ball on her desk. "I think the old Hokage used it to see where people were. Kinda creepy. I guess you can have it… but will I give it to you?" She smirked.

"What do you mean?"

"If you're a ninja, you should try to take it from me, without me seeing you." Tsunade winked.

"Ahh. A catch. Well, I guess I'll just leave and-" Right away, Cheren swiftly flipped over in attempt to take the ball, but the muscular woman zipped in front of him and punched him away.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Tsunade smirked still.

"Hmph." Cheren glared. He glanced up and saw the ceiling had plenty of wooden beams above. "Just forget it. I'll find another one." And with those words, Cheren left.

But once outside, the ninja-child stealthily looked both ways before leaping onto the house's roof. He crawled toward the window which he eavesdropped through earlier and peeked his head down upside-down, seeing that Tsunade was intently watching the crystal ball. Cheren pulled up and tossed a kunai knife below the window. "Huh?" Tsunade looked over with confusion. When the Hokage walked over to check the window, Cheren quietly flipped into the other one, going above the wooden beams. While Tsunade was still distracted, Cheren crawled over above the crystal ball, dropped and hung upside-down by his feet, grabbed the ball, and pulled upward before Tsunade turned back.

When Tsunade walked to her desk to search for the missing ball, Cheren had swiftly flipped out the window. Back on the roof, the ninja held up the crystal ball in victory, letting it sparkle in the sun. He stashed it away for now and reverted to human form to play the Song of Soaring, then warped away.

Carnivilia

He returned once again to the land of carnivals, and after such a long time, returned to Facilier's fortune-telling tent. Along the way, he found a tiny hole in a barrel with a snake inside it, so he put his Cobra Mask on to speak to it. "I heard that Dr. Facilier getsss hisss crystal balls from Japan."

"Well, thanks for confirming this is the right ball." Cheren told it before entering Facilier's tent.

The Shadow Man was currently turning some cards in his fingers in boredom before he saw Cheren walk in. "WEEEELL, look who's back!" the African-French man grinned vibrantly. "The spirits told me you'd be arriving soon. What favor can As ask mah friends on the other side to do for ya?"

"Well, you can have them take this crystal ball off my hands."

Facilier gave a wide, excited gasp when Cheren presented the crystal ball. "It's…It's marvelous." He spoke softly, taking and examining the shining crystal. "Why, this…this belonged to the Hokage of Konohagakure!"

"Konohuwhuuuuhh?"

"The Village Hidden in the Leaves, if you're a short-minded. Still, a crystal ball this special don't come 'round this often. Ya done a good deed for this poor sinner, Boy. And for that, I keep my end of the deal." Facilier set the crystal ball on his desk as he began rummaging below his table. "Voila!" he presented the mask with the brown hood and the shadowed face. "My reward to you, the power to speak with the deeead. Enjoy it, kiddo."

You've got the Garo Mask! This is the mask of a ninja from an ancient, long-forgotten tribe of ninja warriors. If you wear it in the land where their kind has fallen, you may be able to speak with them.

"Thanks, Mr. Facilier." Cheren smiled. "Even in this universe, you're a pretty cool guy."

"Ah still don't see whatchu man, buuut… I 'preciate it, Kid!" Facilier grinned.

"Well, it was great to finally help him out." Cheren said as they exited the tent. "Okay, let's look around; Carnivilia has plenty of side missions, doesn't it." And as he thought, his sword started beeping when he aimed it around. He followed it through the park and arrived at one of those dunk-tank attractions, where you hit the target and make the person fall in the water. Unfortunately, the tank was completely empty.

Cheren also recognized the person who worked at the tank and went over to greet him. "Hey, Mr. Whitby! I didn't know you worked here!"

"'Mr. Whitby'? How do you know my name?" Lenny asked.

"Umm… instinct?" I keep forgetting, this isn't my normal universe. "So, what's the matter?"

"Sigh, my tank's been dried up for days and they're not sending my special shipment of water."

"If it's water you want, I might be able to help." Cheren said as he held up his S.Q.W.I.R.T..

"I don't think a squirt gun can fill that much. And just for the record, I don't want toxic water."

"Ahh… I see." Cheren understood. "I'll see you later, then."

Side Mission unlocked: Fill Lenny's dunk tank with water.

"Guess we can't do this, yet. I wonder where else we could look… hm, I guess we could try Tortuga again. (As long as we aren't going to that secret cave.)" With that, Cheren played the Song of Soaring and warped again.

Tortuga Island

When Cheren arrived on Tortuga, he used Fi's dowsing ability, and the sword beeped in the direction of Slag's Fleet. He made his way to the beginning of Tortuga Backpass and rode the floating sailboat to reach the fleet. His sword was aimed at what Cheren remembered to be Sprocket's botany lab, so he turned into Captain Slag to easily sneak past the guards. He entered Sprocket's room and saw the stove-like robot watering his plants just like the last time he saw him. "Arr, me plants be actin' really strange the other day and I don't know why…"

"AHOY thar, Sprocket!" Cheren exclaimed.

"GYAAAH!" Sprocket jumped in shock, flailing his arms and making water fling everywhere. "Oh, Captain! Where've ya been all this time?"

"That info be classified. Whatcha be doing here, Sprocky Old Boy?"

"Well, Captain… I've always 'ad a soft spot for plants. But none of the other crew members would understand… that's why Oi keep 'em in here. It feels so… girly."

"Girly? HAH! I seen fully-grown videogamers who warr more girly! Thar be nothin' wrong with your love in botany! I seen many o' interesting plant myself! This be quite a lab ye got here."

"Aww… thanks, Cap'n. I have nearly every species of plant. Of course, it's not perfect. There's one species I've been lookin' to get for many moons now. They be callin' it Ancient Flowers. But Oi've heard it's gone extinct in most parts of the world. During the old days, they used ta be everywhere. Oh, if I can just get me what passes for hands on one o' them…"

"Arrr! Fear thee not, Sprocky! For yer noble captain shall traverse to the ends of the earth in search of the plant you seek!"

"That'd be great o' you, Captain… but unless ye can go back in time, ye'll only be finding dead saplings."

Side Mission unlocked: Bring Sprocket the Ancient Flower.

Cheren left Sprocket alone and reverted to human form to think to himself. "Hmm, a plant that's gone extinct for centuries… this one might take awhile. Sigh… I guess I'll return to the treehouse for now. After I save the next Giant, I'll have a better chance at completing some of these sidequests." With that, he played the Song of Soaring again, and flew off to the treehouse.

Sector V Treehouse

When Cheren arrived back at the treehouse living room, he saw that each of the Sector V members; excluding Truman, oddly enough, were gathered around the couch, staring at something. "What's going on, you guys?" he asked, approaching the couch.

"There you are." Harry said. "Someone just left this on the couch."

Cheren walked around and saw the item left on the couch appeared to be some kind of small, black hood with bunny ears. Cheren picked up and examined the hood, and saw there was a small tag hanging from the hood. Cheren looked at the tag and noticed the black symbol of Majora's Mask.

Cheren gasped, totally stricken with horror. "It's… Panini."

"That?" Celeste asked.

"Majora must've snuck in here after I left… wait, where's Truman?? He was here before I left!"

"He left a note and said he went out to get us ice cream." Melissa replied.

"Grrr!" Cheren gritted his teeth. "I told him to watch her! Why'd he decide to run out now??"

"Hang on, hang on." Thomas spoke up. "If anyone broke in here, our alarms woulda went off."

"Did you make sure they were on last night?? Maybe Miyuki used her timebending to freeze the system!"

"Dude, calm down, you're overreacting." Melissa told him.

"Overreacting?? How can YOU all be so calm?! Just because we're not from the same world as you?? How'd you all feel if Celeste got taken and I didn't care?!"

"Dude, this might be the rootbeer talking, but, I think your hair is on fire-" Celeste tried to say.

"Forget about that!" Cheren yelled. "Majora's probably taken Panini's soul! We have to find where he's hiding! Fi, look at this tag. Can you trace where it came from?"

Fi jumped out of the sword on his order. "I have examined the tag ahead of time, Master. You are now able to use dowsing to track its origins."

"Good." Cheren sighed, his eyes looking more angry by the minute. "Let's go."

"Hang on." Thomas stopped him. "What if this is a trap? I mean… kidnapping the hero's girlfriend? How many times has someone done this?"

"She's NOT my girlfriend!" Cheren's eyes bore a deathly glare. "And if you don't wanna save her, that's fine by me. It's not like you guys do any more of the work that I do."

"Say what?" Celeste asked. "Dude, if it wasn't for us, you couldn't even get to the first dungeon."

"I'm still dizzy from all that spinning I had to do!" Kellie yelled.

"Also, you can't repeatedly go from big to small and back again several times without feeling woozy later." Melissa followed. "I mean, you're basically changing the volume of your stomach. It's sickening."

"If I was any stronger, I could've gotten everywhere on my own." Cheren said. "I guess it's my fault then… it's always been my fault. I should've been here to begin with, not running around looking for masks. But I'm not going to hold back with this anymore, and I don't need anybody slowing me down!" With those last words, Cheren stomped off to the hangar. The Sector V group said nothing and just watched him go, feeling there was no way to stop him.

"…You saw it, too, didn't you?" Celeste whispered to Harry.

"Yeah…" he nodded.

Sector V S.C.A.M.P.E.R. (Play the "Seer: Descend" theme from Homestuck.)

Cheren piloted the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. on his own, at the same time aiming his sword as it beeped in the direction of the tag's source. His eyes fixed tight on the skies ahead of him, determined to get to where the sword led. The whole way, he was feeling really angry. As if manipulating Miyuki to his side wasn't bad enough, Majora's already taken 3 of his operatives… and one of his villains. It only made it worse to know that those guys didn't care at all. He hated being even paired up with them, since they only slowed him down. He wishes he could've been stronger, so he could just venture to all those places on his own. If he was more competent, he wouldn't need them, and he could've stopped Majora from attacking anyone. The whole ordeal just made his blood boil. …The demonic blood within his veins.

He didn't really listen to what Celeste said earlier. Nor did he take the time to notice now. Indeed, his hair was on fire. And slowly, his shoulders and arms were beginning to alight as well. His whole form became darker, and his eyes brimmed with dark hatred. The sword began to beep faster as the giant stone castle island was coming into view. As his destination loomed closer, there was only one thing on his mind: killing Majora.

Stage 25: Giftalot Castle

Mission: Find Majora and recover Panini's soul.

Cheren came crashing through the walls of the castle, not taking the time to land properly at all. The Bokoblin in the hall took notice of him instantly, and they all raised their swords to fight him. But as Cheren stepped out of the wrecked S.C.A.M.P.E.R., there was something different about him. He now possessed a terrifying aura, one they haven't seen for a long time. The monsters trembled at the sight of Cheren, stepping through the burning wreckage as flames brimmed all over his darkened body. The would-be Hero of Time drew his sword, but the blade of evil's bane now carried a dark look similar to Cheren's. It barely even looked like a sacred sword now. It almost looked like… the Devil's.

The minute Cheren drew his blade, he zipped over to the nearest Bokoblin and slid by him as fast as lightning. The unfortunate monster only had a short time to comprehend what happened before his body was divided by the waist in two. The other Bokoblin roared and charged at the Demon Prince, but Cheren zipped around faster than they could keep up, slicing the lot of them to pieces, and making blood spill everywhere. He turned his eyes to another Bokoblin, who bravely ran up in attempt to slice him, but he stopped when Cheren zipped his sword upward, and the monster was cut into a perfect half.

Cheren leisurely walked down the hall as Miniblin were scampering his way. The simple monsters' only tactic of poking Cheren with pitchforks was foiled when he kicked the forks into their eyes, and beheaded the lot of them with a deadly spin attack. Cheren got to the end of the hallway and found some stairs, and as he trekked upward, a swarm of Fire and Ice Keese flapped down to bite him. While the Keese would either burn him or freeze him upon impact, Cheren grabbed and squeezed each one in his hands before throwing it to the ground. The rest of the Keese decided to fly away, but Cheren leapt up and sliced them to little, bloody pieces before moving on.

When Cheren got to the second hallway, he saw there were Moblin and Fatblin patrolling. He calmly approached the first Moblin from behind, pulled him over by the shoulder with his right hand, and stabbed him clear through the back. When the Moblin stopped screaming, Cheren pulled the blade out as the other monsters approached. The lot of Moblins tried to bat Cheren away with their spears, but the demonic child swiftly cut the spears in two in a flash. While the Moblin dumbly stared at their shortened spears, Cheren stabbed one through the face, sliced another one diagonally, sliced the upper half of the third one's head off, and stabbed the fourth in both eyes before just stabbing it.

The Fatblin who were currently approaching became absolutely terrified. They backed away slowly and kept their shields raised, but Cheren zipped over to the first one and sliced its metal (usually indestructible) shield and sliced its stomach open, letting blood spill out as it died. Two more Metal Shield Fatblin cautiously approached, and when one tried to stab Cheren with its spear, Cheren zipped behind it and pierced its backside with his sword. He raised his sword as the Fatblin remained stuck on the tip, and he twirled around before hurling the Fatblin at the other, knocking it down. Cheren glanced behind when a Sumoblin charged his way, and just when the monster thought he had him, a series of slashes zipped all across his face. When the sumo's vision cleared, he saw Cheren was behind him. He couldn't understand what happened before his body fell into several pieces.

With them out of the way, Cheren approached the second staircase, in which a group of Chuchu dripped from the ceiling and readied to pounce on him. If the Chu weren't already slow enough, Cheren walked up the stairs leaving tons of squished jelly all over the floors and walls. Cheren reached the third floor, and the hall was guarded by the armored demons known as Darknuts. The beasts approached Cheren without the slightest hesitation, feeling their armor was strong enough for them to defeat him. Normally, one would have to knock off parts of a Darknut's armor at a time to be able to deal damage. But Cheren stabbed the first one through various areas of its armor, finishing with a waist slice before it fell down.

The second Darknut approached Cheren and tried to hit him with a slow-paced sword strike, but as always, Cheren zipped behind it and forced himself into the Darknut's armor through the weak spot on its back. The Darknut looked around in confusion before its armor suddenly began shaking. It stopped when Cheren shot out of the back, and blood started leaking out between the parts of its armor. The other three Darknut just exchanged glances and fast-walked away from the demon child. Of course, Cheren didn't plan to let them slip away, so he zipped forward and waited till he was at a good angle to throw his sword and slice all three of them in one shot. He went to pull his sword from the wall before walking further.

Rather than another staircase, Cheren reached a large, empty room at the end of the hall. He approached a pedestal in the middle of the room and picked up a small, discarded tag with Majora's symbol, similar to what was on the Bunny Hood. (End song.)

"I'm sorry." Cheren looked up at a large TV above the other side of the room, showing Miyuki/Majora's image. "Were you expecting to finally catch me? I know how your little dowsing thing works, you know. But you can only track things of similar material. I made sure not to get my DNA on these things, and instead had my subordinates do the touching. But they weren't among the ones you've slayed. But how can you possibly live with yourself, Cheren, knowing you killed all those demons? Or have you finally decided that other lives mean nothing to you, as long as you get what you want?"

Cheren merely stayed silent, keeping a steady, deadly eye on the one on the screen.

"Well… no matter. It seems he was right. Triggering the Demon State is for those who seek their own destruction. It just cannot be controlled. And depending on the tragedy, one could be trapped that way forever. Like your great grandfather for example, when that pesky Shadow Queen died. I can't say I'm not glad. But I am truly thankful I wasn't the one responsible."

Cheren remained silent, still keeping his glare on Majora. It wasn't even clear if Cheren was hearing his words or not, and was merely thinking about his own things.

"Well… just for the fun of it… how about we give it a true test?"

Cheren glanced to his left and right when huge doors opened on both sides. A tall, golden knight was marching out of the left door, bearing a sword on its back, and holding a shield. From the right door, a silver knight was marching out, not wielding any weapons or defense. "These two are among the strongest Darknuts in the Underworld Army. Goldnut here is a master at swordplay, whereas Silvernut majors in simple martial arts. Their armor is next to impenetrable. Even the greatest of warriors would near death at the hands of these-"

Faster than their eyes could keep up, Cheren flipped above Silvernut and sliced him perfectly down the middle, and both halves fell apart. He glared at Goldnut, who raised his shield, but Cheren flipped above and behind his head and began chopping various portions of his body as he dropped down, leaving only his shoes left as he smashed them to pieces.

"Well then… you just shamed the entire Demon Army. But here's a monster that might just test your wits!" Cheren glanced to the room's entrance to find a seemingly ordinary black Darknut wearing a cape march in. "This one might seem like your run of the mill Darknut, but he's so much more on the inside! Defeat it if you can, but prepare to face terror like you have never imagined!"

"RrrrrrRRRAAAAAAHHH!" Cheren exploded in a burst of fire, feeling more angry than ever. Cheren swung his sword as the TV and sent an air slash that sliced it in two. Afterwards, he fixed his glare on the Darknut and slashed it across the armored chest, sending it flying through the air. The helmet came flying off as the armor fell apart, and Cheren gaped in total horror at what was underneath. Panini Drilovsky now lay unconscious with a bloody gash across her chest.

Cheren's face became frozen with shock as he approached the injured girl. He fell to his knees as the flames and dark aura around his body suddenly vanished. He dropped his sword and stared at his hands. Inside, he was panicking incredibly… and feeling more afraid than ever.