Help from the Shadows (Open Novella Contest)

20 (Akino)

"Hello, it has been a while, everyone," the ex-Oni king looked at us as he stood beside Heppigenzu. My eyes widened as I scanned him, unable to believe that this was actually Rasen, the main antagonist of the fourth movie. 

He was now at Daidarabocchi's height, with a pair of sun yellow eyes now visible. Having shedded his old armour, he wasn't so muscular anymore, and he now had this light aura around him. His voice had changed too, going a bit high-pitched. 

"R-Rasen?..." Shutendouji was speechless.

Okay, to be fair, the ones who know him, including me and Uncle Chenhua, were also speechless.

But then we have the people who don't know about him.

Yame-chan was blinking, "Who's this?"

"I second that," Jorogumo nodded.

Keisuke tilted his head in confusion.

"Ah, you three have never met me before," Rasen squatted down a bit so that he could see them. "Greetings, I am the ex-Oni King Rasen."

Keisuke yelped out in shock.

"Who?" Yame-chan and Jorogumo looked even more confused now.

"He was the Onimaro trio's ex-boss until they decided to stick with Touma," I explained to them.

"Oh..." they chorused.

It was then that Rasen finally noticed Choiseung, Uncle Chenhua and I.

"Eh? Who are you?" he inquired curiously.

"Hi, I'm Kin Akino," I greeted.

"Ren Chenhua at your service," Uncle Chenhua replied.

"Kam Choiseung. It's a pleasure to meet you, Rasen-王 (おう, ou = King)," Choiseung introduced himself. 

"Ah, I have heard of you, Kam Choiseung," Rasen smiled softly. The 4 of us blinked. 

"You have?" Rau blinked. 

"Yes. You were the only non-fictioner who believed that I should be given a second chance despite everything," Rasen grinned. "In your words, 'He was only a pawn. If you guys could forgive Ubaune, Kanami, and Nurarihyon for what THEY did, why can't you forgive Rasen?'" 

Choiseung went red in the face hearing that. Rau snickered a bit, while Uncle Chenhua grinned. I just smiled. As expected from Choiseung....

"Though I am grateful you did," We all blinked. 

"After the Onimaro incident, I was hopeless and angry at those 3-" he pointed to Natsume, Touma and Akinori. "-for stopping me, but after I understood that I had been wrong, I fell into a pit that I thought I would never be able to climb out of. But then, someone told me of you and how you believed that I deserved a second chance. Of how no one wanted to agree with you, but you still did it." 

"That gave me a spark of hope and determination to live up to your expectations. With that, I began to reform myself under the sea, utilising the new powers I had gained from my self-purification for a year. Now, I can stand here as a reformed villain, and I have you to thank, Kam Choiseung. Thank you," he bowed. 

Choiseung smiled as he shook his head, "No, you were the one who did all that. I didn't have anything to do with your hard work. Like someone once said, 'your victory only came about because YOU trusted in YOURSELF.' That's why you shouldn't be thanking me." 

"R-Really?" Rasen looked up. Choiseung nodded. 

"...Thank you," Rasen smiled. 

"No worries," Choiseung grinned back at him. 

The rest of us smiled seeing this. 

But then, a maniacal giggle brought our attention back to our enemy, who was cackling like crazy. 

"Oh, this is priceless!" Mister Movien laughed. "3 villains teaming up with the protagonists to bring me down?! This is so unexpected! I just LOVE it!" 

Akinori shivered a bit, "Wow, that's just..." 

Touma nodded, shuddering, "Scary..." 

"Heh, fine then. Either way, you will never be able to bring me down!" he arrogantly smirked. 

"That's where you're wrong, Mister Movien!" Jorogumo shouted. Mister Movien blinked. 

Douketsu nodded, "Arrogance is a villain's downfall. All 4 of us have learnt that lesson." 

"We'll teach you this lesson the way it was taught to us!" Shutendouji agreed. 

"And that is through purification!" the 4 villains chorused. 

"Eh, bring it then!" he got into a fighting stance. 

The rest of us did the same. 

The gaming system appeared once more with Rau now controlling Uncle Chenhua, Yame-Chan, and Choiseung, while I got Jorogumo, Shutendouji, Douketsu, and Rasen. Touma and Akinori were put on reserve in case. 

Natsume blinked upon seeing that, "What's that?" 

"It's a gaming system used back in our place," I explained. "With this, we can keep track of their health, and help them bring down the enemy." 

"Oh..." the two siblings chorused in understanding. 

"Focus, Akino!" Rau chided me. 

I nodded, "Got it." 

We then turned to face Mister Movien, determination in our eyes. 

Don't worry Mister Movien! We will bring you back!