Legend of the Kokoro
Episode #10: The Ronin Who Cried Wolf
By Dreamcatcher

Out somewhere in a dark creepy forest, a teenage girl
was running frantically through the woods blanketed
with fog. Her pale pink sundress was slightly
tattered, her makeup was smeared, and her short curly
brown hair was messed up, as though she had narrowly
escaped from some sort of an attack. The girl stopped
at a massive oak tree and leaned her back against it,
taking in several deep breaths of air as she slumped
down to the ground in exhaustion. Suddenly, a long
howl broke the eerie silence. A terrified look spread
over the teenage girl’s face as she quickly got up and
ran as fast as she could through the woods.

“Almost there,” the girl gasped when she saw a field
in the distance bathed in moonlight. At the end of the
field was a small house with a light left on. “I have
to make it to that house before it’s too late!” the
young girl told herself as she tried desperately to
pick up speed. Unfortunately, her foot got caught in a
gnarled old tree root and she fell face first to the
ground. As the teenage girl struggled to stand up, she
heard another loud howl; only it was much closer this
time. She turned her head towards the woods behind
her, but there was nothing in sight other than trees
and bushes.

When the teenage girl looked back at the field, she
gasped loudly when she saw a huge werewolf standing
there. The creature’s thick brown fur shimmered from
the light of the full moon. He was wearing the
severely torn remains of a pair of pants and a
T-shirt. “Steve, listen to me!” the girl pleaded as
she slowly crawled backwards away from the werewolf.
“It’s me, Amanda! Please, don’t do this!” The werewolf
ignored Amanda’s pleas as he moved closer to her, with
his mouth wide open and drool dripping from his long
sharp teeth. “No, Steve, don’t!” Amanda begged as she
continued backing up until her back ran into a tree.
Amanda let out a horrified scream as the huge werewolf
pounced on top of her with his razor-sharp claws
extended...

“EWW! I cannot watch this anymore!” Clara whimpered
out of fright as she buried her face into Cye’s
shoulder. “It’s okay, Clara,” Cye whispered
reassuringly as he wrapped his arm around Clara’s
shoulders. “The movie is almost over with, all right?”
Clara nodded her head slightly, her face still buried
in Cye’s shoulder. Cye looked to his right at Ryo,
Rita, Sage, and Sandra. Rita was holding Ryo’s hand
tightly as she quickly turned her head away from the
movie screen. Sage was slowly slipping his arm behind
Sandra’s chair, intending on wrapping his arm around
her shoulders. “Don’t even think about it!” Sandra
muttered sternly through clenched teeth. Surprised
that he got caught in the act, Sage quickly moved his
arm away.

Cye then looked over to his left, where Rowen, Roxie,
Kento, and Kim were sitting. By the looks on their
faces, Rowen and Roxie were obviously disgusted by
what they were watching. “Is this thing almost over,
Rowen?” Roxie asked. “I sure hope so. I don’t know how
much more of this I can stomach,” Rowen muttered out
loud. Cye was surprised to see that Kento and Kim were
not afraid or revolted by watching the werewolf
mutilate the teenage girl. The two friends were
munching away on their bags of popcorn as they watched
the movie. “That’s gotta hurt!” Kento remarked as the
werewolf ripped off one of the girl’s arms with his
bare teeth. “Yup, I’ll bet it does,” Kim muttered out
loud before stuffing a handful of popcorn in her
mouth...

“I don’t know ‘bout the rest of y’all, but I think
there ain’t nothin’ like a good monster movie to get
ya in the Halloween spirit,” Kim announced. “No doubt
about that, Kim,” Kento agreed as he steered the gold
van down the highway. “I don’t know how you two can
stand to watch that stuff! You didn’t even flinch!”
Cye remarked. “We must have a high tolerance for
horror movies,” Kim suggested. “Speaking of Halloween,
do you guys think you can stop by my house tomorrow a
few hours early?” Sage asked. “I need some help
decorating the dojo for my Halloween party.” “No
problem, Sage. We’ll help you out,” Cye agreed.

“How did you manage to talk your dad into letting you
have a party in the dojo, Sage?” Ryo asked curiously.
“Let me tell you, Ryo, it wasn’t easy!” Sage
confessed. “Mom helped me out a lot by saying that I’m
a responsible young man and I’m smart and reliable
enough not to let the party get out of hand.” “Then
you shouldn’t have invited me and Kim, Sage!” Kento
remarked jokingly with a big smirk on his face.
“Kento!” Sage complained. “He’s just messing with ya,
Sage! Get a sense of humor, why don’t ya?” Kim
retorted loudly. “What time do you want us to come
over?” Cye asked. “Around three o’clock is good,” Sage
replied. “With all of us working together, it’ll only
take about two or three hours to get the dojo ready.”

“Sounds good to me. You can count me in, Sage,” Rowen
agreed. “You can count me in, too,” Roxie added.
“We’ll all help you out, Sage. Right, everyone?” Ryo
asked. Rita, Sandra, Cye, Clara, and Kento all nodded
their heads in approval. “I’ll help out, too, but I
gotta leave around five,” Kim revealed. “What for?”
Kento asked curiously. “Gotta take my little brother
and sisters trick-or-treating tomorrow night,” Kim
announced. “But, Kim, you promised that you were going
to DJ for my party,” Sage complained. “Keep your shirt
on, Don Juan! I’ll be there! Look, the curfew for
trick-or-treaters tomorrow night is seven and your
party starts at eight,” Kim explained. “Chill, I’ll be
there on time.” “Okay, I’m sorry, Kim,” Sage
apologized.

“Where are we going?” Clara asked as she looked out
the window. “Unless you’re taking a different route,
Kento, I don’t think we’re heading back home yet.”
“We’re making a quick stop at a costume store first,
Clara,” Cye explained. “Sage, Rowen, and I are picking
up some costumes that we rented out for tomorrow
night.” “So, what are you three going to be?” Roxie
asked curiously. “You’ll see soon enough, Roxie. We’re
at the store now,” Rowen revealed as Kento pulled into
a parking lot in front of a warehouse. Hanging above
the door was a sign that read YOSH’S COSTUME RENTAL.

“This is the place,” Sage announced as Kento parked
the van. The ten friends got out of the van and
entered the store. Inside the store were several long
aisles with racks full of a variety of costumes, hats,
masks, and other accessories. “Mr. Yosh?” Sage called
out as he walked up the empty counter. “Hold on a
minute! I’ll be right there!” a man’s voice shouted
from a small room located right behind the counter. A
few moments later, an elderly man with gray hair, a
gray moustache, and glasses came out from the small
room and approached the counter. “Oh, hello, Sage,”
Mr. Yosh greeted. “You and your friends must be here
to pick up your costumes.”

“Yeah, we are, Mr. Yosh,” Sage replied. “I have them
stored in the back room. Just give me a few minutes to
get them,” Mr. Yosh revealed as he headed back to the
small room behind the counter. “Take your time, Mr.
Yosh. We’re in no hurry,” Rowen admitted. “Mr. Yosh
has an awful lot of costumes,” Sandra commented as she
looked around the store. “Why does he have so many?”
“Mr. Yosh gets most of his business from renting his
costumes to local theater productions and to schools
for school plays,” Cye replied. “His store is the only
costume rental place around here, so his business does
pretty good.”

“I’ve got them, boys!” Mr. Yosh announced as he
brought out six large packages from the small storage
room. Three of the boxes were rectangular, while the
other three were round hatboxes. “The boxes are
labeled with your names so you know which ones belong
to you,” Mr. Yosh explained as he placed the boxes on
top of the counter. Sage took the lid off of the
rectangular box marked with his name and took out a
long piece of green fabric. He held it up in front of
him, revealing that the green fabric was actually a
tunic decorated with silver trim along the edges and a
fancy silver cross embroidered on the front, the back,
and on the sleeves. “Oh, I see. That is the tunic of
the Three Musketeers,” Clara realized as Sage refolded
the tunic and carefully put it back in the box.

“That’s right, Clara. The three of us are going as the
Three Musketeers,” Cye admitted. “Not all of the
tunics are green, though. Mine is light blue, and
Rowen’s tunic for his costume is dark blue.” “Looks
like we got everything we need right here,” Sage
muttered out loud as he looked through his costume
box. “We have the tunics, the boots, the pants, the
shirts, the gloves, and the hats are in these boxes.”
Sage took off the lid to the hatbox labeled with his
name, revealing a tan wide-brimmed hat with a long
white feather tucked into it. “And to complete the
costumes, here are the prop swords that you
requested,” Mr. Yosh announced as he reached
underneath the counter and took out three realistic
swords in sheaths with fancy gold-colored handles.

“Thank you, Mr. Yosh,” Sage replied. He turned around
to face his nine friends. “While we’re still here,
does anyone need a costume for tomorrow night?” “No
thanks, Sage,” Roxie replied. “I’m all set,” Kento
replied. “Same here,” Kim added. “What about you,
Ryo?” Rita asked curiously. Ryo didn’t answer right
away. “I...don’t have a costume yet,” Ryo reluctantly
admitted as he stared down at the floor. “You don’t
have a costume, Ryo?” Sage asked out of surprise.
“You’re cutting it pretty close!” “If you wish, you
can look around here,” Mr. Yosh suggested. “As you can
see, I have plenty of costumes. Perhaps you’ll find
something that you’ll like.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ryo admitted. “Do you mind if we
leave our costumes here for now, Mr. Yosh?” Cye asked.
“We’ll get them after we’re done looking around.” “No
problem, boys. Take your time,” Mr. Yosh replied.
“Thanks, Mr. Yosh,” Sage replied as he and his friends
walked further into the store. “Man, there are so many
costumes here,” Ryo muttered out loud as he walked
down one of the several aisles of costumes. “It’s
gonna be hard to pick just one.” “Don’t worry, Ryo.
We’ll help you pick out something to wear for the
party,” Kento assured Ryo as he, Kim, Rita, Cye,
Clara, Sage, Sandra, Rowen, and Roxie followed Ryo
down the aisle.

Kim stopped when she saw something sparkling in one of
the racks. She parted some of the costumes and found
an outfit consisting of a black sequined jacket, black
pants, a black sequined hat, and a single white
sequined glove. “Here’s an idea for you, Ryo. How
about going as the King of Pop?” Kim suggested as she
took the costume off the rack to show it to Ryo. “King
of Pop? You mean Michael Jackson?” Ryo asked as he
turned around, along with the others. “And who else
would I be talking about?” Kim retorted. “I recognize
this outfit. It’s from when Michael Jackson performed
‘Billie Jean’ live for the first time. And I gotta
admit, Ryo, you kinda look like him…for a white boy. I
think you can pull it off.” Suddenly, Kento started to
burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny, Kento?” Cye asked curiously. “I’m
sorry. It’s just that I’m trying to picture Ryo
wearing something like that!” Kento barely got out in
between his laughter. Ryo could feel his cheeks
turning red from embarrassment. “I think I’ll pass on
that, Kim,” Ryo replied. “Okay, fine,” Kim muttered a
bit angrily as she put the costume back on the rack.
“Knock it off, Kento, or I’ll give you something to
laugh about!” Kento quickly stopped laughing when he
heard Kim’s threat. “What about this, Ryo?” Rita asked
as she pulled out a long black cape with a high
collar. “How about you go as a vampire? It’s one of
the classic movie monsters.” “That sounds like a good
idea, Rita,” Ryo agreed as he looked at the vampire
costume that Rita picked out...

“Where is that good-for-nothing Hardrock at?” Wildfire
asked Halo, Torrent, and Strata as he entered a dark
room, where the other evil Ronin clones were resting.
“Perhaps Hardrock is out doing something boneheaded,
which wouldn’t surprise me one little bit,” Torrent
suggested sarcastically. At that very moment, Hardrock
teleported into the dark room. “At least I’m doing
something, Torrent, instead of lying around here like
a lazy slug!” Hardrock retorted. “What did you call
me?” Torrent asked angrily as he stood up to face
Hardrock. “You heard me!” Hardrock muttered out loud,
which only made Torrent even angrier.

“You better chill out, you two, unless you want Dulcea
to intervene!” Halo warned Hardrock and Torrent. “If
Dulcea sees you two at each other’s throats, she’ll
know that she can no longer rely on you and destroy
you both,” Strata added. “I’m sure you two don’t want
that to happen, do you?” Torrent and Hardrock growled
angrily to themselves as they reluctantly backed away
from each other. “If you don’t mind me asking,
Hardrock, what have you been up to?” Wildfire asked.
“I’ve been preparing for tomorrow night,” Hardrock
replied. “And what’s so special about tomorrow night?”
Halo asked curiously. “Tomorrow is the Festival of the
Dead, All Hallows Eve, or as it’s most commonly known
on Earth: Halloween,” Hardrock explained.

“I see you’ve been doing your homework, Hardrock,”
Strata remarked. “I’ve heard about this Halloween that
you speak of. Way back in this planet’s history,
Halloween used to be a celebration of the fall harvest
and was supposedly the one day where the dead can walk
among the living. Nowadays, it’s just an excuse for
humans of all ages to masquerade about in silly
costumes for show. These humans also allow their
children to walk along the dark streets on their own,
collecting candy and treats from other humans that
they don’t even know. I honestly don’t see the point
of that. Humans can be so stupid with their ridiculous
traditions.”

“What are you planning on doing tomorrow, Hardrock?
Are you going to raise the dead?” Torrent asked with a
sarcastic laugh. The other Ronin clones, except for
Hardrock, snickered at Torrent’s remark. “And if you
can pull that off, see if you can bring back the Ronin
Warriors’ old enemy, Lord Talpa of the Nether World.
He would make a powerful ally, that is if you can
bring his spirit out of the Land of the Dead!” Halo
retorted with a sinister chuckle. “Very funny,”
Hardrock muttered angrily under his breath. “I have
something more important planned for tomorrow night.”
“And what is that, Hardrock?” Torrent asked
sarcastically.

“I’ve discovered that around this time of year, the
fears of young children are the strongest when it
comes to the supernatural,” Hardrock explained. “I
plan to tap into the children’s fear and gather this
dark energy for Lady Dulcea.” “And how do you plan on
doing that, Hardrock?” Wildfire asked curiously.
“You’ll have to scare them pretty badly in order to
make their Black Chi more powerful so you can absorb
it.” Before Hardrock could answer Wildfire’s question,
Torrent interrupted by retorting, “That should be easy
for Hardrock! With that ugly face, he can frighten
even the bravest child!” “Don’t start with me,
Torrent!” Hardrock threatened Torrent as he held up
his clenched fist in warning. “Back off, Torrent!”
Wildfire warned Torrent.

“Anyway, I plan on using one of these supernatural
creatures to frighten the children tomorrow.” “What do
you plan on using, Hardrock?” Halo asked. “The
legendary werewolf,” Hardrock announced. The other
Ronin clones laughed aloud at Hardrock’s suggestion.
“You must be joking, Hardrock. Werewolves don’t really
exist,” Strata pointed out. “I know that, Strata, but
I’ll take care of that. I recently captured the most
vicious wolf I could find up in the mountains,”
Hardrock revealed. “Devaki has the wolf in his lab
right now. He’s going to alter the wolf’s DNA to make
him into a werewolf that I’ll be able to control.”
“Good luck, Hardrock. You’re gonna need it!” Torrent
retorted. “Gee, thanks, Torrent,” Hardrock retorted
under his breath as he left the dark room...

“There, that should do it,” Ryo announced as he
unfolded another table. As soon as Ryo finished
setting it up, Rita covered the table with a black
paper tablecloth. “Put it over here, Ryo,” Cye
instructed, pointing at a space next to three more
tables, also covered with black tablecloths, that were
pushed against the wall. Ryo nodded as he pushed the
table in the empty space. While Ryo, Cye, and Rita
were setting up the tables for the party, Sage and
Rowen were busy near the entrance of the dojo. Sage
was propping a large dark gray coffin against the wall
by the entrance, while Rowen was crouched down,
plugging in a small black box on the opposite side.
Rowen pressed a red button on the box, and instantly,
the box projected a narrow blue laser beam across the
floor in front of the entrance.

“The motion detector is up and running, Sage,” Rowen
announced as he looked up at Sage. “We just need to
test it out to make sure it’s working properly.” Sage
looked outside the open entrance and could see Sandra
and Clara approaching the dojo. Sandra was carrying a
large cardboard box with bowls and platters, while
Clara was carrying two paper bags filled with an
assortment of snacks. “Looks like it’s about to be
taken care of, Rowen,” Sage whispered as he quickly
crept over to the other side of the entrance, so the
two girls wouldn’t see him. “What are you talking
about, Sage?” Rowen asked curiously. “Shh!” Sage
whispered as he kept his violet-gray eyes fixed on the
entrance.

“Hey, guys! We’re back!” Sandra announced as she and
Clara entered the dojo, unknowingly passing through
the laser beam for the motion detector. Suddenly, to
the girls’ surprise, the coffin next to the entrance
popped open, and a skeleton jumped out at them,
letting out a spooky evil cackle. “Ahh!” Sandra and
Clara screamed out of fright as the skeleton reached
for them with its thin bony fingers. “It definitely
works, Rowen!” Sage remarked with a laugh as he stood
up. Rowen turned off the motion detector, which caused
the fake skeleton to stop screaming and moving.
“Relax, girls. It’s just a prop we’re using for the
party,” Sage told Sandra and Clara as he approached
the fake skeleton, pushed it back into the coffin, and
closed the coffin door.

“Here, Clara. I’ll take those bags for you,” Cye
offered as he and Ryo approached Sage, Rowen, Sandra,
and Clara. “Thanks, Cye,” Clara replied as she handed
the bags to Cye. “Ryo, can you hold this for me?”
Sandra asked. “Sure, Sandra,” Ryo agreed as Sandra
handed him the box. “Thank you,” Sandra replied. She
turned around and smacked Sage upside the head. “Ow!
What was that for, Sandra?” Sage asked as he rubbed
the side of his head. “That’s for not warning us about
that little booby trap you had set for the door!”
Sandra shouted angrily. “Okay, I’m sorry, Sandra!”
Sage apologized. “That’s better,” Sandra replied.

“Come on, Sandra. Help us set the tables, okay?” Ryo
asked. “All right, I’m coming,” Sandra replied as she
followed Ryo, Cye, and Clara to the tables. “Sage,
what do you want us to do with this last table?” Cye
asked, pointing at an unfolded table propped against
the wall. “Put that one against the back wall next to
the wall socket,” Sage instructed. “Kim said she
needed a table near a wall socket for her DJ setup.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Ryo announced as he took the
unfolded table to the back of the dojo and unfolded
it. “Could someone help me with this, por favor?”
Roxie asked as she struggled to carry a large heavy
box into the dojo. “I got it, Roxie,” Rowen announced
as he took the box from Roxie. “Muchas gracias,
Rowen,” Roxie admitted.

“Did you get everything we need from the shed, Roxie?”
Sage asked as Rowen carried the box to the center of
the dojo and placed it down on the floor. “I checked
over all the items in the box, and it looks like
everything you asked for is in there,” Roxie replied
as she and Sage joined Rowen. “We have the black
lights, the strobe lights, artificial cobwebs, latex
tarantulas, and artificial dismembered body parts.”
“Yuck! Thanks for warning me, Roxie,” Rowen remarked
as he pulled out a bloody rubber hand from the box.
“Put the fake body parts aside, Rowen. We can use them
to decorate the tables before the guests arrive,” Sage
replied. “What do you want done with the rest of this
stuff?” Rowen asked curiously.

“We can put the cobwebs and tarantulas in the corners
and on the walls. And the lights, well...we can hang
them from the ceiling,” Sage suggested as he looked up
at the ceiling. “We’re going to need a ladder for that
part.” “If you want, I can get you the ladder I saw in
the shed when I was getting the decorations,” Roxie
suggested as she started to head back outside. “I’ll
help you with the ladder, Roxie,” Rowen announced as
he followed Roxie outside. “Where are Kim and Kento?”
Clara asked as she and Cye removed some bags of potato
chips and pretzels from the paper bags. “They should
have been here by now.”

“We’re right here, Clara,” Kim announced as she and
Kento slowly entered the dojo, carrying a large spin
table in between them. “Coming through! Watch your
backs!” Kento shouted as they carefully made their way
to the back of the dojo. “All right, Kento. Let it
down nice and easy,” Kim instructed Kento as they
carefully rested the spin table on top of the table.
“Do you need any help, guys?” Cye asked curiously.
“Ryo and I are finished setting up the tables.” “Sure,
Cye. We need some help getting the speakers and my
records out of Kento’s van,” Kim replied. “Records? I
hope you’re joking, Kim. Our parents used to listen to
records,” Sage remarked.

“My spin table only works with records, Sage,” Kim
explained. “CDs scratch up too easily. Besides, these
ain’t them old records that our parents used to listen
to way back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth! These
records have music that we listen to.” “Okay, if you
say so, Kim,” Sage replied as Kim left the dojo,
followed by Kento, Ryo, and Cye. A few minutes later,
Ryo and Cye came back in the dojo, each carrying a
large speaker. They were soon followed by Kento and
Kim, who were both carrying a large cardboard box full
of records. “Cye, that speaker you got goes on the
left, and Ryo, yours goes on the right,” Kim
instructed.

“Sure thing, Kim,” Ryo replied as he and Cye set up
the speakers on either side of the spin table. Kim set
down the box she was carrying on the floor and took
out a pair of cables that were resting on top of the
records. She took one cable, attached one end into the
back of the left speaker, and connected the other end
of the cable to the spin table. Kim grabbed the second
cable and used it to hook up the right speaker to her
spin table. “That oughta do it,” Kim muttered out loud
as she stood behind the setup and flipped a switch on
the spin table. Instantly, the speakers let out a loud
screeching noise. Ryo, Rita, Kento, Cye, Clara, Sage,
and Sandra quickly covered their ears to block out the
excruciating high-pitched noise.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Kim apologized as she flipped the
switch again, which turned off the speakers and
stopped the high-pitched noise coming from them.
“These old speakers always do that when I first turn
them on. At least I know I connected them right!”
“Those speakers aren’t going to be doing that all
night, are they?” Sage asked curiously. “Chill out,
Sage. It only happens when I first turn them on,” Kim
explained. “When I save up enough money, I’m gonna get
new ones. Does anyone have the time?” “It’s 4:45,
Kim,” Kento revealed after checking his watch. “Oh,
shit! I gotta go!” Kim announced as she got up and ran
to the door. “See y’all later!” “See ya, Kim!” Kento
shouted as he, Sage, Sandra, Ryo, Rita, Cye, and Clara
watched Kim leave the dojo...

“Let’s see...” Devaki muttered thoughtfully as he
picked up a vial containing a clear turquoise liquid.
“All I need is a few drops of this.” Devaki took a
medicine dropper and filled it with the turquoise
liquid. He held out the medicine dropper and gently
squeezed it, allowing a few drops of the liquid to
fall into a large beaker filled with a thick yellow
gel. As soon as the drops landed in the beaker, the
gel started to bubble as it changed from yellow to
olive green in color. “Excellent! The mutagen is
finished,” Devaki admitted proudly. He picked up a
syringe from the counter and filled it up with the
thick bubbling liquid. Devaki glanced over at a cage
on the other side of his laboratory, which held a
large chocolate brown wolf that was continually pacing
back and forth.

“Now, take it easy,” Devaki whispered as he slowly
walked over to the cage with the syringe filled with
mutagen. “I promise you that this won’t hurt…much.”
Devaki tried to stick the needle into the wolf’s
backside, but before he could, the wolf quickly turned
around and snapped at his hand with his sharp teeth.
“Stupid beast! He almost bit my hand off!” Devaki
muttered angrily. “Hardrock sure picked a lively one!”
“What’s taking you so long, Devaki?” Hardrock asked as
he entered Devaki’s laboratory. “It’s not my fault
that this stupid wolf of yours isn’t cooperating!”
Devaki shouted. “I have an idea. You distract the wolf
for me, Hardrock. That’ll give me the opportunity to
inject this mutagen into his body, which will mutate
his body into a werewolf, like you asked for.”

“Fine, Devaki,” Hardrock hesitantly agreed as he
approached the cage. “Come on, you stupid beast! Just
try and get me!” Hardrock taunted as he intentionally
rattled the steel bars to get the wolf’s attention
focused on him. The wolf turned around to face
Hardrock and growled angrily from deep within his
throat, baring his long white fangs threateningly.
Suddenly, the wolf let out a painful howl before he
collapsed in the cage. “What are you trying to do,
Devaki? Kill it?” Hardrock asked as he looked up at
Devaki, who was removing the empty syringe from the
wolf’s back. “Relax, Hardrock. It’s just a natural
reaction from the mutagen,” Devaki assured Hardrock.
“Are you sure this stuff is gonna work, Devaki?”
Hardrock asked.

“It will work, Hardrock,” Devaki told him. “The
mutagen I created has certain components in it that
will insure the desired results. This special mutagen
contains human DNA, since werewolves have the stature
of human beings, growth hormones and steroids to
ensure that he develops the necessary muscular build,
and a touch of concentrated Black Chi energy. Open the
cage and take the wolf out, Hardrock.” “What for?”
Hardrock asked curiously. “When the mutation starts,
the wolf’s size will increase dramatically. This cage
won’t be able to hold him once that happens,” Devaki
explained. “Fine,” Hardrock reluctantly agreed as he
opened the cage and dragged the unconscious wolf out
of the cage. As soon as Hardrock took the wolf out of
his cage, the wolf suddenly expanded in height and
build, with his four legs developing into slightly
humanoid arms and legs.

“Just one more thing, Hardrock,” Devaki announced as
he handed Hardrock a large black collar. “What is this
collar for, Devaki?” Hardrock asked. “This collar has
a special transmitter in it in case your new pet gets
out of line,” Devaki explained as Hardrock attached
the collar around the werewolf’s neck. “You’ll be able
to control the creature with this remote control.”  As
Devaki handed the small black remote control to
Hardrock, the newly mutated wolf growled weakly as he
slowly opened his eyes. “It’s coming to!” Devaki
gasped as the werewolf slowly stood up on his two
feet. The werewolf lifted his head up and growled
angrily as his golden yellow eyes glared at Devaki and
Hardrock.

“Quickly, Hardrock! Use the remote now!” Devaki
shouted when he saw the werewolf crouch down, getting
ready to attack them. Hardrock quickly pressed the
button on the small remote control just as the
werewolf leapt towards them. The werewolf let out a
painful wail as he fell to the ground. “What just
happened?” Hardrock asked. “The transmitter in the
collar just gave that mutated wolf a slight electric
shock,” Devaki explained. “That’ll teach that beast
who’s boss, don’t you agree, Hardrock?” “Definitely,”
Hardrock admitted with a sinister chuckle as he stared
at the werewolf...

“Kento, could you get the door for me?” Mrs. Fuan
asked, who was busy washing dishes in the kitchen.
“All right, Mom!” Kento shouted as he got up from the
living room couch, turned off the television, and
headed to the front door. He opened the door, and
standing there was Kim with her brother and sisters.
The twin girls were both dressed as identical witches
in black dresses and hats, except for the fact that
one of the girls’ costumes was decorated with green
trim and the other girl’s costumes had purple trim.
Kim’s little brother, Derrick, was wearing a white
baseball uniform with thin blue pinstripes and a blue
baseball cap.

“Trick or treat!” Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick
chorused simultaneously as they held out their bags.
“That all depends. What kind of trick do you three
have planned?” Kento asked curiously. Jasmine, Janice,
and Derrick looked at each other with puzzled looks on
their faces. “Hey! I’m just kidding!” Kento confessed
with a quick chuckle. “Come on in!” “We’re not
supposed to go into strangers’ houses,” the girl in
the green-and-black costume pointed out. “Kento’s no
stranger. Y’all met him before, remember?” Kim
reminded her sister. “She’s right,” the other girl in
the purple-and-black costume admitted. “First thing’s
first. I gotta know, who’s who?” Kento asked, pointing
at the twin witches. The two girls looked at each
other and smirked a little bit.

“I’m Jasmine, and this is Janice,” the girl in the
purple-and-black costume replied. “No, you’re not! I’m
Jasmine and you’re Janice!” the girl in the
green-and-black costume argued. “No, I’m Jasmine!” the
other girl shouted. “Kim, help me out here!” Kento
pleaded. “Girls, knock it off!” Kim shouted. The twin
girls instantly stopped their arguing. “Okay, let’s
set the record straight. The one in the green is
Jasmine, and the one in the purple is Janice,” Kim
revealed. “And I’m sure you’ll have no problem
figuring out which one’s Derrick, Kento.” “That’s an
easy one. How are you doing, buddy?” Kento asked.
“I-I’m okay,” Derrick whispered bashfully as he hid
behind Kim. “It’s okay, Derrick. You don’t have to be
scared of Kento,” Kim reassured her little brother.

“Kento, what’s going on?” Mrs. Fuan asked as she
approached the front door. “Hey, Mom. These are our
new neighbors that moved here a couple months ago,”
Kento explained. “That’s Kim, Jasmine, Janice, and
Derrick Ashe.” “Oh, what adorable costumes!” Mrs. Fuan
exclaimed as she looked over the outfits that Jasmine,
Janice, and Derrick were wearing. “Would you like to
come inside and have some homemade candy apples?” “Can
we, Kim, please?” Janice asked as she and her twin
sister looked up at Kim. “Sure, why not? But we better
be quick about it. You guys only have one and a half
hours left of trick-or-treating,” Kim reminded them.

“Right this way,” Mrs. Fuan instructed as she and
Kento led Kim, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick inside
their house. “Have a seat,” Mrs. Fuan insisted as the
six of them entered the kitchen. Sitting on the
kitchen table was a large platter with a dozen candy
apples on it. “Thanks, Mrs. Fuan,” Kim replied as she
and her brother and sisters sat down at the table and
took a candy apple from the platter, along with Kento.
“Kento, I think you should take it easy with those
candy apples. That’s your third one tonight!” Mrs.
Fuan pointed out. “Calm down, Mom!” Kento complained
as Kim tried to suppress her snickers. “You know you
always make too many candy apples for Halloween, and I
end up eating the leftover ones anyway.”

“I guess you’re right, Kento,” Mrs. Fuan reluctantly
agreed. She turned toward Kim, who was eating her
candy apple. “Kim, could I ask you a favor?” “Sure, I
guess. What is it?” Kim asked curiously. “When you go
back home, could you ask your mother to call me when
she gets the chance?” Mrs. Fuan asked. “I would like
to invite your family over for dinner sometime, and I
need to know when would be the best time to do this.”
“I’ll pass the message on to my ma, Mrs. Fuan,” Kim
replied. “Thank you, Kim. Excuse me for a minute,”
Mrs. Fuan announced as she left the kitchen. “Your
mom’s pretty nice, Kento,” Kim admitted. “Yeah, I
know. Hey, Kim, are you gonna tell what costume you’re
wearing for the party or what?” Kento asked curiously.

“Well, what are you wearing, Kento?” Kim asked. “I’ll
tell if you will.” “That’s not fair, Kim! I asked you
first!” Kento complained. “I ain’t spilling nothin’
about my costume until you tell me what you’re going
as,” Kim remarked. “Fine, Kim! I’m going as a
werewolf,” Kento revealed. “Now it’s your turn.” “You
ever watched ‘In Living Color?’ ” Kim asked. “You
kidding me? I watch that show every night! It’s
hilarious!” Kento openly confessed. “Why are you
asking?” “You know that character that Damon Waynes
plays: Homey D. Clown?” Kim asked. Kento nodded his
head in approval. “That’s what I’m going as: Homey D.
Clown,” Kim revealed. “That sounds pretty cool! I
can’t wait to see it!” Kento admitted.

“Kim, we’re done eating our candy apples,” Janice
announced as she, Jasmine, and Derrick showed Kim the
empty wood sticks in their hands. “All right, kids.
Let’s move out,” Kim told her brother and twin sisters
as the four of them, along with Kento, stood up and
threw away the sticks in the garbage can. “Tell your
mom thanks for the candy apples, Kento.” “You got it,
Kim. I’ll see you later at the party,” Kento replied
as he watched Kim, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick leave
the house. “Come on, pipsqueaks! On to the next
house!” Kim announced as she, Jasmine, Janice, and
Derrick walked down the street together.

A few minutes later, Kim and her brother and sisters
saw a little girl and a younger boy walking towards
them. The girl had straight brown hair and brown eyes,
and was wearing a pink princess costume with a
gold-colored crown encrusted with fake colorful
jewels. The little boy also had brown hair and brown
eyes like his older sister. He was wearing an army
green samurai costume made out of cardboard, with a
toy sword tucked into his belt. “Hey, it’s Britney!”
Jasmine exclaimed. “Yeah, she’s in our Math class,”
Janice told Kim. “And that’s Grant. He’s in some of my
classes at school,” Derrick confessed.

“Hi, Britney!” Jasmine and Janice exclaimed
simultaneously. “Hi, Jasmine! Hi, Janice!” Britney
greeted happily as she and her little brother
approached Kim, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick. “Hi,
Grant. That’s a cool costume!” Derrick confessed.
“Thanks, Derrick. My mom helped me make it,” Grant
admitted proudly as he adjusted his matching paper
samurai helmet.  “Come on, Grant. We should get
going,” Britney told her little brother. “Why do you
have to go so soon?” Jasmine asked curiously. “Well,
umm...we saw something back there...in the woods,”
Britney stuttered nervously. “What did you see?”
Janice asked. “We saw a real live werewolf!” Grant
whispered loudly. “A werewolf?” Derrick asked a bit
nervously. Both Britney and Grant nodded their heads.

“You sure you weren’t seeing things?” Kim asked
suspiciously. “No, we really saw it,” Britney
proclaimed. “The werewolf wasn’t the only weird thing
that happened to us,” Grant revealed. “What else
happened?” Jasmine and Janice asked simultaneously.
“After the werewolf showed up, this strange black
stuff came out of us,” Britney explained. “And there
was some strange man in the woods, too. He was wearing
a metal suit that was orange and gray,” Grant added.
Kim raised an eyebrow when she heard Grant’s
description of the strange man he saw. She knew who
Grant was talking about, but decided not to say
anything that would scare the kids.

“Well, we have to go now. It’s getting late,” Britney
announced as she took Grant’s hand and dragged him
down the street. “Bye, Derrick! See you at school!”
Grant shouted. “Bye, Grant!” Derrick shouted as he
waved to Grant. “See you later, Britney!” Jasmine and
Janice shouted simultaneously as they watched Britney
and Grant disappear out of sight. “Come on. Let’s move
out,” Kim announced. “Kim, do you think there’s really
a werewolf out there?” Derrick asked. “Look, you know
as well as I do that werewolves ain’t real,” Kim
assured Derrick. “But, Kim, Britney and Grant said
they saw a werewolf,” Janice pointed out.

“Look, your friends probably just ran into some
nutcase in a werewolf costume, whose stupid idea of
fun is scaring little kids like yourselves on
Halloween,” Kim replied. “Don’t worry ‘bout him. If he
shows his ugly hide around here, I’ll protect you.”
Suddenly, the group of four heard some rustling from a
cluster of bushes alongside the road. “W-What was
that?” Derrick asked out of fright as he cowered
behind Kim. “It’s probably just the wind, Derrick,”
Kim tried to convince her little brother. Just then, a
large hairy creature with a long bushy tail jumped out
from behind the bushes and landed in front of the
group. “AHH!” Janice and Jasmine screamed loudly out
of fright as they quickly joined Derrick behind Kim.

“Relax, guys. It’s just some bozo in a costume. I’ll
even prove it to you,” Kim boasted as she approached
the werewolf. “Listen up, buddy! I don’t know what
your game is, but you better knock it off or you’re
gonna regret meeting up with me!” The werewolf growled
in response as he pushed Kim hard, knocking her to the
ground. “Kim! Be careful!” Derrick shouted. “That does
it! Now I’m pissed!” Kim shouted loudly as she quickly
got up and punched the werewolf right in the nose. The
werewolf whimpered loudly like an injured puppy as he
covered his nose with his paws and retreated into the
woods. “That takes care of him. Come on, let’s get
going before that creep comes back,” Kim suggested as
she, Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick approached the next
house.

Meanwhile, unknown to the three of them, the werewolf
was still running through the woods. He soon stopped
running when he reached a small clearing bathed in
moonlight. The werewolf slowly raised his paw and
gently touched the tip of his nose, which was starting
to bleed and swell up. The werewolf whimpered slightly
out of pain as he quickly moved his paw away from his
sensitive nose. “What are you doing back here?”
Hardrock asked suspiciously as he stepped out of the
surrounding shadows into the moonlight. “Don’t tell me
you’re running away from a bunch of little kids!” The
werewolf growled a little bit as he hung his head
down.

“You are such a wuss! It’s hard to believe that you
were the most vicious wolf that I could find!”
Hardrock complained. He took out the small black
remote and pressed the button. The werewolf howled
loudly out of pain as he received yet another electric
shock from his collar. “That’s what you get for
wussing out on me!” Hardrock remarked sternly with a
sinister smirk. He then noticed the werewolf’s swollen
and bleeding nose. “What happened to your nose?”
Hardrock asked. The werewolf growled a bit, as though
he was trying to talk to Hardrock. “Some girl punched
you? Show me who did this to you,” Hardrock requested.
The werewolf nodded as he ran back towards the road,
followed by Hardrock.

Once they reached the side of the road, the werewolf
sniffed around a bit, trying to pick up the scent of
the girl who punched him. As soon as he picked up the
girl’s scent, the werewolf ran down the side of the
road, with Hardrock running after him. The werewolf
stopped running when he reached a white house. “Where
is this girl that punched you?” Hardrock whispered as
soon as he rejoined the werewolf. The werewolf growled
softly as he pointed at the lit front porch of the
house. Hardrock looked up and gasped slightly when he
recognized the teenage girl with the three kids. “It’s
that troublesome kokoro! Did she figure out my plan?
Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her!” Hardrock
remarked as he looked at the werewolf with a sinister
smirk on his face...

“See ya later, Ma!” Kim shouted before she left her
house. She was carrying a large plastic shopping bag,
which was holding her costume. “Kim, please don’t go!”
Derrick pleaded as he ran out onto the front porch,
along with Jasmine and Janice. “I gotta go to the
party, Derrick. I promised my friend, Sage, that I
would be the DJ,” Kim reminded her little brother.
“Besides, my stuff’s already there.” “But what about
the werewolf, Kim?” Jasmine asked. “Yeah, he’s still
out there,” Janice added. “Don’t worry about me. I can
handle myself,” Kim assured the three kids. “You saw
me take care of that stupid werewolf before. If he
even tries to go after me again, I’m gonna give him
more of the same, and you can count on that!”

“Okay, Kim. We’re sorry,” Jasmine apologized, while
Janice and Derrick nodded their heads in approval.
“It’s all right. I don’t blame ya for being worried
about me,” Kim admitted. “I gotta go now. See ya later
tonight, that is if you’re still awake by then.” “Bye,
Kim!” Jasmine, Janice, and Derrick shouted as they
waved goodbye to their older sister. Kim waved back to
them as she walked down the road towards Sage’s house.
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of them, but
I’m starting to wondering if that thing I saw earlier
was the real deal,” Kim muttered thoughtfully to
herself. “When I punched that so-called werewolf in
the nose, it felt more like I was punching a dog in
the snout instead of some jerk in a Halloween mask!”

Kim stopped walking for a moment, thinking over what
she had just said, and then shook her head in
disbelief. “Nah, it couldn’t be! Werewolves ain’t
real!” Kim told herself as she continued walking. “I
wonder if maybe Kento was behind all this. He did fess
up to having a werewolf costume. But, then again,
there’s no way Kento could have changed into his
costume so quickly!” All of a sudden, Kim heard a loud
howl coming from the woods in the distance. “Hell, no!
There’s no way I’m gonna end up like that wussy chick
in that monster movie!” Kim retorted under her breath
as she slightly quickened her pace...

“That should do it,” Rowen announced as he plugged in
the last strobe light into the extension cord. “Thanks
a lot, Rowen,” Sage admitted as Rowen climbed down the
ladder. “I’ll put this ladder away, then I’m going to
change into my costume,” Rowen told Sage as he folded
the ladder, picked it up, and carried it outside of
the dojo. “All right, Rowen,” Sage replied as he
adjusted the collar of his long-sleeved white shirt.
He was also wearing a pair of brown pants and
old-fashioned tan leather boots that went up to his
knees. Sage’s green tunic, along with his prop sword,
hat, and long tan leather gloves, were lying in a
chair next to the snack table.

Sage turned around and walked towards the snack table,
where Cye and Ryo were waiting for him. Cye was
wearing clothes identical to Sage, whereas Ryo was
wearing a white dress shirt, black pants, and black
shoes. “Ryo, can you pour the apple cider in the punch
bowl?” Sage asked. “Sure thing, Sage,” Ryo replied as
he opened one of two containers full of apple cider
and poured it into the large plastic punch bowl in
front of him. “What’s in the thermos, Cye?” Sage asked
curiously when he noticed the large black thermos on
the table. “This is a special drink I made just for
your party, Sage,” Cye revealed as he unscrewed the
lid for the thermos. “What is that stuff?” Ryo asked
as he and Sage watched Cye pour a thick red liquid
into a small plastic cup.

“I call this a blood elixir, for obvious reasons,” Cye
explained. “No kidding, Cye! It does look a lot like
blood!” Sage remarked. “I know it does. Care to give
it a taste?” Cye asked as he held out the cup to Sage.
“No way!” Sage refused. “Do you seriously think I
would have people drink real blood, Sage?” Cye asked
curiously, trying to suppress his snickers. “I know it
looks like blood, but that’s the idea, since this is a
Halloween party after all. It’s just a concentrated
cherry-flavored syrup, with some red food dye mixed in
for color.” “Okay, I trust you, Cye,” Sage admitted as
he took the cup from Cye and hesitantly took a small
sip of the red liquid. “So, what do you think, Sage?”
Cye asked curiously.

“This actually tastes pretty good!” Sage admitted.
“I’m sorry for doubting you, Cye.” “What the hell is
going on here?” Kim asked suspiciously as she entered
the dojo, followed by Rowen. “What are you talking
about, Kim?” Ryo asked curiously. “What kind of party
are you throwing here, Sage? Is this a secret
initiation for the occult?” Kim asked. Cye chuckled a
bit when he realized what Kim was talking about. “Calm
down, Kim. Sage is not drinking real blood! It’s a
cherry syrup I made for the party!” “Okay, if you say
so,” Kim replied. “I’m going to get changed into my
costume, guys. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Rowen
announced as he headed for the men’s room. “Later,
Rowen,” Kim replied. “Where’s everyone else at?”

“Rita, Sandra, Clara, and Roxie are still in the
girls’ room, getting changed in their costumes,” Sage
revealed. “What about Kento?” Kim asked curiously. “He
hasn’t arrived yet,” Cye replied. “Well, he better
show up soon. I need to talk to him about something,”
Kim muttered out loud. Suddenly, the four friends
heard the door to the dojo squeaking open. Ryo, Sage,
Cye, and Kim looked up and gasped when they saw a
werewolf’s head peering into the dojo, growling and
snarling at them. “Oh, great!” Kim muttered under her
breath. To Kim’s surprise, the werewolf chuckled
loudly in a familiar voice. “Nice one, Kento!” Cye
remarked with a quick laugh as Kento took off his
werewolf mask, revealing his grinning face.

“I sure got you guys good!” Kento boasted as he walked
into the dojo, carrying the mask in his hand. He was
also wearing an orange T-shirt underneath a light tan
sports jacket with dark brown sleeves, jeans,
sneakers, and a pair of rubber gloves resembling hairy
werewolf paws with long claws. “Yo didn’t scare us,
Kento! We were just a little startled, that’s all,”
Sage pointed out. “Sure you were,” Kento retorted
under his breath as he laid the rubber werewolf mask
on a chair by the door, along with the rubber gloves
he took off. “Hey, Kento? I need to talk to you,” Kim
announced as she approached Kento. “Sure, Kim. What
about?” Kento asked curiously. “Outside, Wolf Boy!”
Kim muttered out loud as she pushed Kento outside of
the dojo.

“Kim, what’s the big deal?” Kento asked as Kim closed
the dojo door behind them. “Look, Kento, something
very weird has been happening lately, and I need to
tell you about it,” Kim revealed. “Well, spill it
already, Kim! What’s going on?” Kento asked curiously.
“I ran into these two kids earlier when I took the
twins and Derrick trick-or-treating,” Kim explained.
“They said they saw a werewolf, and we also saw that
same werewolf ourselves.” “You gotta be kidding, Kim!
Werewolves aren’t real, you know that. You and those
kids probably just saw some joker in a werewolf
costume,” Kento suggested. “That’s what I thought,
Kento, that is until I remembered something that
Britney and Grant said,” Kim revealed. “What did they
say?” Kento asked curiously.

“Britney said that after the Big Bad Wolf scared her
and Grant, some black stuff came out of their bodies,”
Kim explained. “And her little brother, Grant, said
that he saw a strange man in the bushes wearing an
orange and gray metal suit. Sound familiar?”
“Definitely! That sounds like those kids saw my
twisted twin, Hardrock!” Kento muttered out loud. “And
that ‘black stuff’ must have been Black Chi! That jerk
has some nerve, picking on little kids. That’s about
as low as you can get!” “I definitely agree with that,
Kento!” Kim muttered angrily. “If I wasn’t there to
protect my brother and sisters, Hardrock and his pet
werewolf could’ve easily swiped some Black Chi from
them.” “Any idea where they’re at, Kim?” Kento asked.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they’re watching us right
now, Kento,” Kim reluctantly admitted. “I think they
followed me here. I did leave that werewolf a souvenir
with my fist!” “We better find them, Kim, and fast!”
Kento announced. “We gotta stop them before they go
after any more kids!” “I hear ya. Let’s do this!” Kim
agreed. Together, Kento and Kim slowly walked away
from the dojo, carefully looking around at the
surrounding darkness for anything suspicious. “Huh?”
Kim gasped. She could clearly see a pair of glowing
yellow eyes staring at her from the forest bordering
Sage’s backyard. “Yo, Kento! Over there!”

Kento turned around and saw the pair of glowing yellow
eyes that Kim was pointing at before they disappeared
into the darkness. “Come on, Kim! We better go check
it out!” Kento suggested. “What are we waiting for?
Let’s move out!” Kim shouted as the two friends headed
into the dark forest. “You scared, Kim?” Kento asked
curiously as he looked over at Kim. “Hell, no!” Kim
retorted loudly. “Maybe you should be scared!” a
familiar voice remarked with a sinister laugh. “It’s
him!” Kim muttered out loud. “Where are you hiding,
scumbag?” Kento shouted. “Much closer than you think,
Kento of Hardrock!” Hardrock announced as he stepped
out from behind a nearby tree, stepping into a patch
of pale moonlight.

“Why should we be afraid of you, Hardrock?” Kento
retorted. “Haven’t you two ever seen monster movies
before?” Hardrock asked sarcastically. “The monster
always ends up killing the innocent-looking couple.”
“Your armor must be on too tight! Monsters aren’t
real, especially movie monsters!” “And another thing,
Hardrock, what makes you think we’re a couple?” Kim
asked, catching Kento a bit off-guard. “Whatever! It
doesn’t matter to me anyway. My werewolf will tear you
both apart!” Hardrock boasted loudly as he snickered
evilly. Kento and Kim were a bit startled when they
heard a twig snap from somewhere behind them. The two
friends turned around and gasped loudly when they saw
the werewolf charging right at them.

“Kim, get out of the way!” Kento shouted as he pushed
Kim out of the path of the advancing werewolf. “Kento,
what the hell are you doing?” Kim remarked as she
landed on the ground. Her hazel eyes widened out of
shock as she watched Kento jump high up in the air,
barely avoiding the werewolf charging at him. “DAO
GI!” Kento shouted as he transformed into his orange
and white sub-armor. “Stupid werewolf! You missed
him!” Hardrock shouted angrily at the werewolf as
Kento landed on the ground. “You’re mine!” Kento
shouted as he charged towards Hardrock and the
werewolf.

“What are you waiting for? Get him!” Hardrock
commanded as he clutched the remote in his hand. The
werewolf reluctantly nodded his head as he ran towards
Kento. The two collided with each other, falling to
the ground. Kento tried to punch the werewolf, but the
werewolf repeatedly rolled around on the ground,
avoiding most of Kento’s blows. “This is a very
interesting match: man versus beast. My money’s on the
beast!” Hardrock retorted with a sinister chuckle.
“You forget about one thing, Hardhead: me!” Kim
retorted. “It’s Hardrock, kokoro!” Hardrock muttered
angrily as he glared at Kim with his orange eyes.

“There’s only one Hardrock around here, and guess
what? It sure as hell ain’t you!” Kim shouted as she
swung a fist at Hardrock’s face. Hardrock managed to
avoid Kim’s flying fist, but she ended up hitting his
hand, causing him to drop the remote. “NO!” Hardrock
shouted as he helplessly watched the remote land on a
rock, smashing it into pieces. Suddenly, the werewolf,
who was right on top of Kento, stopped attacking him.
“Huh?” Kento gasped, puzzling over why the werewolf
stopped fighting him. The werewolf turned his head and
growled angrily at Hardrock. “Don’t even think about
it!” Hardrock warned the werewolf, although he knew
that he no longer had control over the mutated
creature.

To everyone’s surprise, the werewolf got up and sped
towards Hardrock. The werewolf snapped at Hardrock
with his sharp fangs, which Hardrock barely avoided.
“I don’t get it. Why did that werewolf turn against
Hardrock?” Kento asked curiously as Kim helped him get
up. “I don’t know, Kento. Probably had something to do
with that remote I smashed,” Kim revealed. The two
friends looked up and watched as Hardrock kicked the
werewolf in the stomach, pushing the creature away
from him. The werewolf growled angrily as he crouched
down in an attack position. “I don’t think so, you
stupid beast!” Hardrock retorted as he teleported
away, just as the werewolf leapt at him. The werewolf
ended up crashing into the ground where Hardrock once
stood.

“Aww, man! He got away...again!” Kento complained.
“Forget about him, Kento! We got something more
important to take care of,” Kim remarked as she
pointed at the werewolf, who was peering at them from
behind a tree. All of a sudden, to Kento and Kim’s
surprise, the werewolf suddenly started to shrink,
returning to his original form. The chocolate brown
wolf looked up at Kento and Kim before he ran off into
the night. “That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever
seen,” Kim muttered out loud. “Yeah, and I thought
humans turned into werewolves, not the other way
around!” Kento remarked. “Come on, Kento! That wasn’t
a real werewolf!” Kim shouted. “Then how can you
explain what just happened, Kim?” Kento asked.

“Look, I’m not positive about this, but if that little
troll, Devaki, can make clones of you and your
friends, armor and all, then who says he can’t somehow
make a werewolf?” Kim asked. “I guess you got a point
there, Kim,” Kento reluctantly admitted. “Since there
nothing else we can do, we should head back,” Kim
suggested. “All right then. Let’s get this party
started!” Kento shouted as he changed out of his
sub-armor back into his costume. As soon as he
returned back into his regular clothes, Kento and Kim
walked through the forest back to Sage’s dojo...

“Hardrock! I wasn’t expecting you back so soon,”
Devaki admitted after Hardrock teleported into the
Dark Crystal room. “Unfortunately, I had no choice,”
Hardrock muttered angrily as he handed Devaki the
necklace with the Dark Crystal fragment. “Let’s see
what you collected from those annoying children so
far,” Devaki muttered out loud as he inserted the Dark
Crystal fragment into his small black device and
pressed the button. Instantly, the dark energy was
released and became absorbed into five Dark Crystals.
“Very impressive, Hardrock,” Devaki admitted. “You
have collected more Black Chi than either Wildfire or
Halo. It’s possible that since your targets were so
young, they had more Black Chi than the older humans
do.”

“Thank you, Devaki. I could have collected much more,
but that stupid kokoro of earth somehow discovered my
plan and even turned that werewolf against me!”
Hardrock muttered angrily. “I assume that the remote
for the werewolf’s collar was destroyed,” Devaki
theorized. “Exactly. With that creature running free,
he could come after me again, Devaki,” Hardrock
confessed. “I seriously doubt that, Hardrock,” Devaki
muttered out loud. “What do you mean?” Hardrock asked
curiously. “That creature won’t remain a werewolf for
long, Hardrock. I intentionally formulated a temporary
mutagen in case something like this happened,” Devaki
revealed. “Good thing you planned ahead!” Hardrock
admitted. “Next time, Hardrock, be more careful!”
Devaki warned Hardrock...

“Hey, Little Mermaid! Can I have this dance?” Kento,
who was in his full werewolf costume, asked a teenage
girl with long strawberry blonde hair in a mermaid
costume. “Dream on, Kento!” the girl retorted as she
moved through the crowd of dancing teenagers, all
dressed in a wide variety of costumes, to get away
from Kento. “How did she know it was me?” Kento asked
himself. “This stinks! Even with a disguise, I can’t
get a dance!” Through the eyeholes of his werewolf
mask, Kento looked around at the crowd of people. His
eyes focused on Kim, who seemed to be enjoying herself
at her spin table setup. “Well, at least she’s having
more fun than me!” Kento retorted under his breath as
he made his way through the crowd of people towards
the spin table.

“Excuse me! Coming through!” Kento shouted as he
squeezed his way through the crowded dojo. “Hey, Kim!”
Kento greeted as he stepped up to the spin table,
pulling off his werewolf mask. “Hey, Kento! Whassup!”
Kim replied. She was wearing a baggy clown costume
that was half red, half yellow, with a huge white
collar and cuffs with red trim, and three large
puffballs attached to the front: one red, one blue,
and one green. Kim was also wearing huge clown shoes
that were red and blue, a wig with curly bright red
hair and a large bald spot on top that matched her
skin color, a red clown’s nose, and red and white
makeup around her mouth. “Kim, your costume looks so
awesome!” Kento admitted.

“Thanks, Kento,” Kim replied. “You look so much like
Homey D. Clown, or should I say Homey ‘DJ’ Clown?”
Kento asked with a huge grin. “Very funny, Kento,” Kim
remarked. “I’ve seen you out on the dance floor. Not
having much luck with the ladies, eh?” Kento felt his
face turn red when he found out that Kim saw what
happened. “Not at all, Kim,” he reluctantly admitted.
“How are you holding out, Kim?” “I gotta say, I love
my job,” Kim boasted as she selected a record from her
collection and set it up on the second record player
that wasn’t in use. “There’s three reasons why I
prefer to be a DJ at a party: I didn’t need to mingle,
I don’t have to dance, and I’m also getting paid!”
“Hold on! You’re getting paid for this?” Kento asked
out of shock.

“Of course, I’m getting paid, Kento. I ain’t doing
this for free, unless it’s for my folks or my brother
and sisters,” Kim revealed. “The money’s going towards
some new speakers. These things don’t come cheap,
Kento.” “Okay, I get that. Would Miss Homey like some
apple cider?” Kento asked teasingly. “Sure thing, Wolf
Boy!” Kim retorted as she started to play the second
record while stopping the first one simultaneously.
Kento chuckled a little bit as he put on his werewolf
mask and cut through the crowd of people once again,
heading for the snack table. “Hey, Cye,” Kento greeted
as he passed Cye and Clara on the dance floor.

“Hey, Kento,” Cye replied, who was in his full
Musketeer costume, while Clara was dressed in an
elegant pale blue Victorian ball gown with a wide hoop
skirt. “I must say, Cye, you look so handsome in that
Musketeer costume,” Clara whispered. “Clara...” Cye
complained as his cheeks turned red out of
embarrassment. Kento shook his head in disbelief as he
finally reached the snack table. “Hey, Kento,” Ryo
greeted as he and Rita approached Kento. “What are you
doing?” “Just getting some apple cider for Kim, since
she’s got her hands full,” Kento explained as he
poured some apple cider in a plastic cup. He glanced
over at Rita, who was wearing a simple black peasant
dress with red trim. “And who are you supposed to be,
Rita?” Kento asked curiously.

“I’m one of Ryo’s victims,” Rita revealed a bit
jokingly as she pulled back her long black hair,
showing Kento the rubber bite marks glued to the side
of her neck with traces of fake blood. “Oh, I see. You
guys have been necking!” Kento remarked teasingly.
“Ryo must have really sunk his teeth into you, Rita!”
Rita giggled a bit at Kento’s joke. “Very funny,
Kento,” Ryo admitted with a quick chuckle. “Where is
everyone?” Kento asked curiously. “I saw Cye and Clara
on the floor, and it’s obvious where Kim is.” “Rowen
and Roxie are standing over there, by the entrance,”
Rita revealed as he pointed at Rowen and Roxie. Rowen
was in his full Musketeer costume as well, and Roxie
was wearing a dark blue and white flamenco dress with
an artificial white rose tucked into her hair.

“And Sage is out on the dance floor,” Ryo added. Kento
turned his head and looked out at Sage, who was
talking with some girls. “Being the center of
attention, as always. Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
Kento asked sarcastically. “What about Sandra? Where
is she?” “Right behind you, Kento,” Sandra announced
from behind him. Kento turned around and gasped a bit
when he saw Sandra in her costume for the first time.
She was wearing a long tattered white dress, which
almost matched her naturally pale skin, and a wig with
long messy white hair. “What are you, Sandra? A
ghost?” Kento asked curiously. “No, I’m a banshee,
Kento,” Sandra explained. “Banshees are spirits from
Irish folklore that would appear at night and let out
a terrible wail that killed anyone who heard it.”

“Yeah, I remember hearing about banshees before,
Sandra,” Kento admitted. “You know, I’m kinda
surprised that Dulcea or any of her Ronin clones tried
anything,” Ryo revealed. “It’s been almost a month
since Rita and I ran into Wildfire with that
necrophidius.” “Well, actually...Hardrock was up to no
good tonight,” Kento hesitantly confessed, catching
Ryo, Rita, and Sandra by surprise. “Hardrock? What
happened with him, Kento?” Ryo asked curiously. “I’ll
fill you guys in later. Right now, I gotta give this
to Kim,” Kento explained as he headed back onto the
dance floor with the cup of apple cider in his
hand...