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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 16: Dream a Little Dream of Me

It was almost dreamlike, unreal and light, like he would fly away into the endless abyss of the night. The entirety of the sensation seemed strangely familiar, yet he was unable to place it. The only true sign of the reality he was in came from what he saw and what he felt all around him.

The nightly air was thick and laced with a heaviness that rested at his chest. There were brief intervals of gentle breezes that carefully combed through shaggy, disheveled hair. Sadly, the airy waves did little to truly alleviate the foreboding sense of suffocation. Still, Randy appreciated the small comfort the breeze provided. It helped to calm his shot nerves, allowing him to think about more pressing matters at hand. Especially the ones that pertained to his current situation; Randall Cunningham was dead, or at least that was what he thought. But how else could he explain all of this--where he was, and the lack of remembrance as to how he got there?

Randy took a conscious step forward, before stopping to carefully eye his surroundings for, what he could only guess, was the uptenth time in the past several minutes. He was standing in the heart of what appeared to be a large village that practically screamed ‘ancient Japan’ with its charming and regal architecture. The large community itself appeared to be heavily inspired by Little Norrisville, but even then, Little Norrisville held a stronger sense of modernity compared to here, wherever that may be; it certainly wasn't from his time.

This had left Randy utterly confused, because how could he be somewhere other than his own time, and not remember how he has gotten there?

Maybe he really was dead.

Regardless, none of this coincided with Randy's memories of the day.

The young ninja continued to march on, having no other idea of what else he should do.

Admittedly, some parts of Randy's memories were choppy, but there was just enough to paint a clear enough picture in his mind.

He remembered Nomi and himself charging headfirst into a sea of monster students and freeing them from the Sorceress's influence, before they had found themselves being confronted by the Sorceress and Mac Antfee. He could still feel the deathly grip of Mac's hand on his throat; the man had come dangerously close to ending Randy's life, and then just like that, he had been torn away from Randy. A nightmarish form of his teacher had seemingly come from thin air, and like some scaly, runaway freight train, bulldozed Mac away. It had not only saved him from dying right then and there, but it had also lead to the brutal end of Nomi's former student.

At that point, Randy was on the verge of passing out, but had forced all of his strength in keeping himself awake long enough to calm Nomi back down to his human form. The redheaded teacher had immediately scooped Randy up, clutching the teen close to his chest as he fell into hysterics, being reduced to a sobbing mess.

Nomi had felt so warm and safe, despite the fact that he had just murdered someone, and Randy could taste the words of a confession on the tip of his tongue. Yet now, it was tasteless and lost in his mind. He could, however, feel a sense of regret, as if he had failed to let slip what he had wanted to say to Nomi.

Darkness had overcome him, but at some point he had become conscious again for a brief few seconds. Randy had found himself laying on a gurney inside a speeding ambulance, and Howard had been there, right beside him, screaming frantically into Randy's ears. However, the amethyst haired teen had been too dazed and confused to fully comprehend a single thing that Howard had said. Then he blacked out again.

Finally, the last time he had awoken, had been when he found himself in the midst of the ancient Japanese village, basking underneath the light of the starry sky and cradled by moonlight.

Once again the question entered his mind, "Where am I?”

There was no answer to his question, or at least not yet, he thought, correcting himself. Seeing as he wouldn't find answers on his own, he decided to focus on walking forward. As he studied his surroundings for any clues of his whereabouts, Randy silently hoped that he would be able to find someone with answers.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem possible, as he noted the lack of light coming from any of the buildings. It was safe to assume that the village occupants were sound asleep. Well, apparently except for one.

In the far off distance, Randy's blue eyes spotted a small, humble home atop a lone, grassy field. The little home seemed less luxurious compared to the other buildings and was surrounded by Japanese maples, a trail of lanterns led up to the front steps of the home. It was almost like something out of a videogame to Randy, and it was silently calling to him, begging him to come closer.

Randy could hardly register his feet moving towards the little home, until he was standing at its wooden door. Hesitantly, he raised a fist and, went to knock, but instead of his fist coming to contact with the door, his whole arm phased through it. His eyes began to widen.

The first thing that came to his mind was the dream Randy had had a few weeks back, back when he had first met Nomi.

“I’m dreaming?”

Randy could barely hide the shock and surprise from his voice; he wasn’t dead, afterall.

Tentatively, he stepped all the way through the door. A soft gasp escaped him, a strange sensation running through his body as he slipped through the door.

What he found inside was something he certainly had not expected to see.

A teen, perhaps around his age, sat at the very center of the room in a meditative position, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. The male bore light brown hair that was pulled into a high ponytail. A dirty, torn shroud rested over his shoulders, and underneath the shroud, the teen wore a traditional Japanese outfit, which mainly consisted of red, white and black. However, what really shocked Randy was what sat right in front of the teen: the Nomicon.

Randy stared wordlessly as the brunette teen opened his eyes, revealing eyes the same color as his hair.

He spoke in Japanese, yet Randy was able to understand his every word, as if he had spoken in English.

“Dear teacher, I may not know of your origins, nor do I fully understand your motives. I do, however, understand our common goal to rid this world of the Sorcerer. He killed my brothers, of whom helped defend our home to their dying breaths. I will do my part in doing the same, though I cannot do it alone. Will you teach me?”

The Nomicon seemed pleased with the boy’s answer, emitting a low buzzing hum.

The teen smiled and suddenly stood up, stretching his limbs, before picking up Nomi. The brunette left the room in silence.

At that, Randy snapped out of the awestruck stupor he had been in, and hastily followed after the two.

The whole world seemed to shift, and Randy had not noticed it, until he stepped into the room the teen had left to. There was only a single light source in the room, which came from a small lantern that sat idly on a wooden desk. Its owner, an old man, was quietly sitting beside said desk, with the Nomicon laying in front of him. He held a sad, tired expression as he spoke in a soft whisper.

"My time as the Ninja of the Norisu Village has long since been over, and peace has been since then achieved. I have completed my mission, old friend, and I believe it is soon time for you to choose another who must carry on the duty to protect our home. I am weak, ill; my time is quickly coming nearer.”

The Nomicon didn’t respond at first, but then red smoke seeped through his pages, and Nomi Conikos Norisu suddenly appeared. He sat on the edge of the desk, eyes red and puffy with large tears.

Randy was shocked to see his teacher so torn apart, and he had to refrain from going over to Nomi’s side to try to comfort him. The action would be in vain, of course. He was nothing more than a ghost here.

Nomi spoke, his voice shaky.

”I-I know, but I cannot abandon a friend. You have dedicated your whole life to carry on the duty, a burden, that I could not. You sought no wives. You bore no children. You have given up the chance to live a long, prosperous life. The least that I may do is spare the time for you until you pass.”

The old man chuckled softly.

"I am simply astounded by your sentimentalism. The tough and stern teacher, showing emotions? Shock! Has hell itself frozen over?!”

Randy half expected Nomi to be somewhat offended by the old man’s words, but instead was met by a snorting laugh.

“Or perhaps, my student has finally given me a reason to show emotion?”

The old man let out a resounding laugh, knowing full well that it was physically impossible to outwit and out sass his teacher.

Randy sensed this, and he found himself grinning. The forlorn mood in the room seemed to lift, and he quietly watched as the old man and Nomi hugged each other tightly. The amethyst haired teen shuddered. An odd sensation danced up his spine, like an icy hand, a gasp leaving his lips.

The room then seemed to warp, and he found himself standing outside, right before the little house. However, everything seemed different.

The comfy little home had become somewhat run-down. It was daylight, but deep, dark clouds hid away the sun. The air was chilling to the bone, and the entire atmosphere felt listless and depressing. Randy was standing beside Nomi, whose face was full of grievance. In his hands, Nomi clutched an elegant sword, its blade covered by a dark red sheath. The magical being wordlessly unsheath the katana, displaying a dark blade. Kanji symbols were eloquently inscribed on both handle and blade, which seemed to bear the semblance of the words ‘Goodbye, my friend.’

Nomi paused, before he suddenly plunged the great weapon into the earth. He clutched the handle tightly, hands shaking. Softly, the red haired ninja murmured out the words,

"You were a grand ninja, though you were an even greater friend.”

Nomi sat on his haunches and stared up at the home with a deep fondness, tears were beginning to form in his eyes, when another figure came to join him. A cowboy-hatted man carefully rested a hand on his back.

"Ya know, it is time for us to go.”

His voice held a thick southern accent.

Nomi simply nodded. The two glanced at the house once more, before taking their leave. It was not until the little house was a tiny speck in the distance that Nomi suddenly crumbled to the ground, onto his hands and knees. Loud, body wracking sobs left his lips, and his voice was hoarse as he shouted and screamed, cursing the unfairness of his life, because why him? He didn’t want to keep living in this miserable loop of existence, when all he could feel was pain and endless suffering.

“WHY ME!? I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE! I CAN’T! I DON’T WANT TO BE IMMORTAL ANYMORE!”

Randy rushed immediately at Nomi’s side, and he wrapped his arms around the sobbing teen into a loose hug. Any tighter, and he would simply phase through Nomi.

Even if Nomi could not feel any of this, it still brought Randy some comfort for himself. He buried a part of his face into Nomi’s back, tears beginning to form in his blue eyes.

The cowboy-hatted man noticed Nomi’s state, and instantly made his way towards the sobbing teen. He calmly lowered himself to Nomi’s level, and began to utter words of comfort.

“It’ll be okay…”

Randy peered over to the man, and furrowed his brows. The man’s words were slowly starting to slur, becoming more and more indecipherable. Suddenly, Nomi and the cowboy seemed far away, and the world was beginning to disappear and fade into a void of emptiness.

Randy began to panic. He ran, and tried to return back to Nomi, but the more he tried, the more far away they seemed until the dark swallowed them and himself whole.

…..

Nomi was thankful that Gene had given him the t-shirt and basketball shorts; it was unbelievably hot. Up until now, the days had been cool and wet thanks to the previous rains, but now the summer’s simmering heat had come back with a vengeful bite. However, there seemed to be only one down side to Nomi’s current apparel. The clothes did absolutely nothing to protect his arms and legs from the small thorns of the bush he was currently sitting in.

A pair of footsteps caught Nomi’s attention, but then they just as quickly faded off. Poking his head out of the bushes, Nomi was relieved to find that it wasn’t a doctor, just a regular person finishing up a smoke. The scent of the cigarette lingered in the air for a moment, eventually snuffing out.

It had taken Nomi nearly half an hour to get to the hospital, the only delays being caused by himself. He was still unsure if he was truly prepared to see his student, unsure if the teen was even alive. If he was, Randy would more than likely be in a less than good state of being.

It was after having taken another detour, this time through a park, that Nomi finally made his way to the hospital. He made sure to avoid any entrances, and stayed just beyond the hospital camera's line of sight. He also made it a point to stray away from any hospital personnel, such as the nurse who had spotted him earlier, and took to the side of the hospital. Then, Nomi had made a beeline for a nearby bush, the one he was now hiding in.

Nomi looked around to make sure there weren’t any other passerbyers, and after a moment of preparation, began scaling the hospital wall. He soon reached a window that was just a few levels above the ground. It seemed that no one had bothered to lock it, and it was never opened at any times, making the window a bit finicky. It took some fidgeting before Nomi was able to pry it open, and he wasted no time diving inside.

Nomi landed onto vinyl flooring in silence. Shooting a brief glance in the almost pitch black storage room, it seemed that no one else but Nomi was here.

Good. That made this all the more easier.

On a metal shelving rack, there was an old janitor’s jacket, a pair of musty looking pants and boots, and a black flipback hat. Nomi graciously took the items and slipped them on. Unsurprisingly, most of the clothes were far too big and baggy. Even the hat seemed to be a size too big, covering a portion of Nomi’s face. But he didn’t mind.

He sipped out of the dark room. Nobody seemed to notice or question him. More than likely, everyone was too busy to take a good look and see a kid wearing some old janitor outfit. Thanking every and any deity in existence that the disguise had worked, Nomi wordlessly made his way to one of the many help centers.

“Excuse me, I seem to have gotten very lost on my way to see a friend. His name is Randy Cunningham, do you know where his room is?”

The receptionist looked up from the computer and was a little startled by Nomi’s somewhat sudden appearance.

“Oh! Well of course! Just give me one second.”

Turning back to the computer beside him, he instantly began typing with incredible speed and accuracy. He turned back to Nomi with a slight smile.

"Randy Cunningham is two levels above us, room 503.”

Nomi nodded, muttering a soft,"thank you,” and was about to leave, when the receptionist called out to him.

“Wait, are you an unaccompanied minor?”

If the situation wasn’t so dire, Nomi would have laughed at the question; he was no average minor.

“Yes, I am.”

The man hummed, then turned his back to Nomi and began digging around his desk.

"Dahlia on the first floor should’ve given you one, really any of the other receptionists,” he seemed to find what he was looking for and placed it atop the desk as he continued. "Oh well, I guess they must’ve had their hands full. The recent monster attack at school left quite a number of people injured, thankfully no fatalities as far as I heard.”

Nomi thanked the male as he took the item (a sticker that labeled Nomi a minor) off of the receptionist’s desk. His chest swelled with absolute relief that no one else had died, and that Randy was clearly alive.

With that, Nomi bid the receptionist good bye, and ran towards the nearest elevator in sight. He nearly broke the elevator’s button, and was even tempted to ditch the elevator. It was going far too slow for Nomi’s tastes.

After a mere few seconds passed, he was most seriously considering his alternative plan, when there was a soft ding, signifying that the elevator had reached his floor. He stepped inside quickly.

The doors had barely opened and Nomi shouldered past, ignoring any eyes on him. Nomi simply didn’t care anymore. He hadn’t even noticed that he had zoomed past a disgruntled and exhausted Ms. Cunningham.

It wasn’t until Nomi spotted the room that he slowed down.

The anxiety and guilt from before almost instantaneously resurfaced, and Nomi seemed hesitant to venture further inside.

Was it too late to turn around?

“Yes, yes it is.”

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes as he stepped inside the hospital room. As Nomi reopened his eyes, he wasn’t all too surprised by the somewhat ordinary setup of the room. The walls were a sterile white, the air in the room stale, and the soft steady beeping of a heart monitor. The only thing that seem to stand in complete contrast to the room was the teen lying in the hospital bed. Randy.

Nomi’s heart nearly jolted out of his chest as he took in the state of his student. Bandages were dotted all over Randy’s face, some were even wrapped around the amethyst haired teen’s throat. There were wires and tubings all connected to Randy. From an arterial line to an endotracheal tube which went through Randy’s nose, allowing the teen to breath. It seemed that Mac Antfee had done more damage to Randy’s throat than what had been expected.

Edging closer to Randy’s bedside, Nomi was thankful to find that Randy was asleep, just as he had hoped back when he was at Gene’s. Running a hand through Randy’s hair, a sad smile gently graced his lips.

Without much thought, Nomi leaned down and pressed his lips against Randy’s forehead, and pulled away. As much as he wanted to savor this moment, Nomi was pressed for time. He already wasted a good deal of time working up the nerve to even come here in the first place.

Now he needed to hunt down the Sorceress, before she did anything with the mask.

Sighing, the redhead slipped away from his student, only pausing at the nearby window to look over at Randy once more. He hesitated, before finally forcing himself to leave.

What Nomi didn’t see was that his student’s eyes flickering open, wide and full of fear.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 16 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 15: The Taste of Failure

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM! DON'T EVEN COME NEAR HIM! IT'S YOUR FAULT, YOU STUPID BOOK!"

His entire body shuddered at the remembrance of Howard's cold, venomous words. He should have followed after Howard, should have made an effort to defend himself against his accusations, should have raced after the ambulance as it sped off with Randy inside. But he hadn't. Instead, Nomi had laid there, feeling sorry for himself. A part of him regretted his actions, but a larger part had no remorse at all.

He winced at his own train of thought. He simply couldn't help from scolding himself; it was more habit than anything. When you’re an 800-and-something-year-old Ninja Nomicon, you really don’t have time for mistakes, causing the redhead to become his own worst critic.

After staggering around dumbly for a few minutes, some part of Nomi's brain had reminded him that he still had an identity he needed to protect, so he clumsily made his way to a bush that was close to the school. There, he found his rather beat-up bag full of the clothes he had worn throughout most of the school day. Sluggishly, Nomi pulled out the thick blue hoodie. He made absolutely no effort to remove his suit, and took to simply tossing on the hoodie and then the pair of jeans, ignoring the uncomfortable pinch of his clothes.

The 800-year-old being felt completely disgusted with his current status of being drenched to the very bone with blood. Its pungent and irony scent violated his nostrils, and his dark, skin-tight Ninja suit underneath his "civilian clothes" stuck to his skin from all of the blood, sweat, and grime, as well as, the unbearable humidity that arose after the rain had slowed to a stop a short while ago. It was at that point he came to the painful conclusion that if he was seen, with his hood drawn over his head and apparent blood stains that had already begun to appear on the cheap material, it would lead to some uncomfortable questions.

He was a disgusting, iron-smelling, sticky mess, and every so often Nomi would wrinkle his nose out of pure revulsion and self-loathing, all the while barely refraining from gagging, or even straight up vomiting from how nauseated he was feeling in his current situation. The knowledge that most of the blood wasn’t his own only further caused the warped emotions that raged in his head to twist more violently.

At least Norrisville's streets were still mostly empty of people, which made it easier for Nomi to brush off any concerned comments that were thrown his way about his appearance. Even though his hoodie hid most of the damage, dried up blood covered his face and that had obviously raised questions.

And, after having offered the tenth half-assed excuse, Nomi had lost his patience and decided to take to the alleys as his travel route.

Thankfully, his new choice of transportation was entirely void of anyone other than a couple of alley cats, rats, and himself. Better yet, the alleys provided cool solace from the nearly unbearable humidity that had begun creeping in and dragging down the male’s already damp clothing.

It was refreshing to say the least, and as Nomi walked on, he suddenly froze as reality began to smack him, waking him from his trance-like shock.

Should he go to the hospital? Simply to make sure that Randy was okay?

However, before he could make his decision, the Sorceress's poisoned words suddenly echoed in his mind, cold laughter worming its way to his very core;

"The boy despises you. He wouldn't have to deal with any of this, had you not burdened him with your duty. You've ruined his life, and now he will die, because of your incompetence!"

Nomi grimaced at the thoughts, trying to push them away. If he wanted to see Randy, he would have to sneak inside, and take a quick look, but that would be it. Nothing more, and no less than a quick peek.

Looking around, Nomi chose the route that would take the most time to get to the hospital nearest to this area, and walked off silently. His mind began falling back into its numb trance so as to avoid thinking about the day's events.

It took several minutes before Nomi was barely coming into view of the hospital, and felt as if it took even longer to reach the building's main entrance. A tiny voice whispered that he looked as if he had just murdered someone, and another retaliated by daring anyone to stop him.

As he stood in front of the entrance, the automatic sliding doors slid open, as if inviting Nomi inside. Cool air blew out of the hospital, brushing against Nomi's clammy skin, providing relief from the hot air outside. It had nearly been enough to lure Nomi to step inside, however, it was not convincing enough.

Nomi quietly declined the doors' invitation to step through its opening.

Then suddenly, a voice spoke beside him, jolting the redhead.

"Hey there, is something wrong?"

A young, dark haired nurse had come out of the hospital after seeing Nomi, and the obviously horrid condition he was currently in.

Nomi immediately turned to her, his mouth fell open; he was completely at a loss for words. His heart was rapidly drumming against his chest and he hastily shook his head, stepping away from the nurse.

He could feel himself beginning to hyperventilate.

Seeing that Nomi was clearly frightened, the nurse made another attempt to reach out to Nomi, but he ducked away, turned around, and raced off.

"H-hey! Hey come back! You're hurt!"

But Nomi didn't hear any of it. He blindly raced back towards the city, back into the safe shelter of the alleys.

Nomi's eyes watered. Both Howard's and the Sorceress's voices attacked his mind, and the harsh words were joined by the memories of that day, the day before his coronation to becoming a ninja--the day Daiku had called him weak, pathetic, and useless.

His voice screeched angrily in his mind.

"Nomi is nothing more than a pathetic insult to our--my family's name! He will not take up the burden of being a ninja! He would only get in the way!"

The entire argument played over in Nomi's mind so vividly and clear, that for a moment, Nomi almost truly believed he was reliving the horrible fight between his brother Daiku, and their grandfather, Nobuyuki.

He could see it again, himself standing there, frozen in disbelief at his brother's words--Daiku seeing him--and then Nomi running away again.

A loud sob escaped Nomi, and he suddenly lurched over to the nearest wall and begun spilling his guts; the hot stomach acids poured out of his mouth, viciously burning his throat raw.

He continued to retch loudly, though after a while, nothing more would come out.

There was nothing left.

Nomi leaned weakly against the wall, his forehead pressing against the brick building, panting heavily, while trying to swallow down loud, body wracking sobs. A single, long strand of saliva hung from his lower lip.

It wasn’t fair. Why was it that every time he got attached to someone, they would turn around and end up hurt?!

The ancient being stayed there for what felt like hours, before he stood up on wobbly feet, and then began a lurching stumble forward. Nomi was too weak, and much too exhausted to continue these antics for much longer. He had pushed his body a lot more than he had ever done in years, and he desperately needed to find a place where he could rest and gather up his thoughts.

For a moment, Nomi contemplated crashing at Randy's room, but decided against it, in the case he were to somehow run into Randy's mother. If she hadn't already been alerted of her son's condition, she may question Nomi as to Randy's whereabouts, and would surely note the other’s current state. Those were certainly conversations that Nomi was in no mood--or had the energy--to participate in.

Instead, the small redhead took to simply finding a comfortable spot here in the alley to, at the very least, sit down and think.

However desperate Nomi was, he wasn't going to just sit down anywhere. Most of the alley was covered almost entirely of garbage, emaciated furniture--mainly consisting of an ugly green couch and lamp--, and random food wrappers. Grimacing, he chose to take a seat on the couch, ignoring the soft 'squelch' that came as soon as he sat down on it. At least he wasn’t getting any wetter than he already was.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and allowed his tense muscles to relax, his guard dropping slightly.

Five minutes hadn't even passed when a voice spoke out to Nomi, startling him.

"You okay there, kid?"

Nomi's eyes snapped wide open and he stared at the stranger, dazed and confused, before taking in what the man said.

The initial shock wore off and he frowned, bitterly snapping out,

"Depends on who is asking."

However, Nomi's frown softened ever so slightly once he recognized the stranger as 'Gene Levine', a harmless junkyard/exterminator dude. Randy and Howard had stopped into his shop a few times in the past, though Nomi himself never personally met the man until now.

Gene raised his gloved hands, as if in mock surrender.

"Whoa whoa kid, no need to get defensive. I was just wondering, since you're sitting out here in the alley, and you look pretty beat up. Your whole face is covered in blood. Do you need an ambulance 'o something?"

Nomi stared at him, unsure how to answer him. He was just so tired that he couldn't even come up with a believable excuse.

"Look uh, my shop's just a short walk from here. I can bring out my first aid kit, and ya could fix ya ‘self up real good if bringing in any authorities is an issue."

To Nomi's ever-growing surprise, he found himself accepting Gene's offer with a tentative nod of his head and proceeded to heave himself up. Perhaps it was the exhaustion that won him over, as well as the probability of finding a much more comfortable spot to rest. Either way, Nomi began to follow Gene, who started to babble on about his shop and his trouble finding any other customers aside from a select few.

A few minutes later, Nomi had begun to reconsider Gene's offer after all, when finally the two had arrived at his shop. The other really knew how to talk someone to near death...like Randy did...Nomi winced as a sharp pang shot through his chest, causing him to grip the clothing around it and inhale sharply. Gene remained oblivious to the ancient book’s pain.

For an exterminator's abode, the place was...decent...except for all the soaring junk piles, ripped apart and beaten robotic body parts, and exterminator equipment that lined the filthy dark brown shelves that desperately needed a good dusting, surrounded them, that is.

Without really saying much, Gene reached over to his counter and dragged out a large bean bag chair and tossed it in a far off corner of the shop.

"You can sit here kid, I'm gonna go grab that first aid kit. You need anything? All I really have until I pick up some groceries is: water, orange juice, and some coffee."

Nomi immediately grimaced at the word coffee, and then proceeded to decline the proposition entirely.

Gene shrugged.

"Okay, suit yourself."

Gene headed into the back area of his shop, beginning his search of the supposed first-aid kit. As he did so, Nomi flopped down onto the bean bag chair, allowing it to engulf him, before speaking out to the man.

"You were quite concerned over me being in the alley….." Nomi trailed off, and decided to ask Gene a different question. "What exactly were you doing in the alley?"

From somewhere in the backroom, the sounds of Gene rummaging around persisted, and the man hadn't made to answer Nomi's question, and for a moment, it seemed to Nomi that he hadn't heard.

However, just as it seemed that that would be the man's reply, Gene suddenly poked his head towards Nomi's direction.

"Hm? Oh! Well, like I said before, business hasn't exactly been booming here, so I don't have much money to uh, buy new products. I kinda have to look for items nowadays."

"Oh. I see."

With that, Gene disappeared once again, and the two didn't speak again until the green-jumpsuited man came back into the room. He was carrying a large, dirty first-aid kit.

"So, I found this old thing, but I can't say there's all too much, maybe some antibiotics, band-aids, bandage wrap, and maybe a few painkillers, but that's about it. Either way, I'm not exactly a doctor."

Nomi nodded.

"That's fine. Do you have a bucket, and a rag to clean my face with?"

"Yea, but I can't say that either of those things will be completely...err, sterile? Even the tap water ain't too clean either."

"I don't care."

The man simply nodded and went to retrieve the items, and quickly came back with a bucket filled with water, and the not-so-clean rag he had promised.

Nomi took the dirt grey bucket and scrap of clothing, and dunked the rag into the water before starting to scrub away at the blood around his face. Most of it was almost completely off when suddenly, Nomi hissed loudly as the rag touched the bridge of his nose.

Gene, who had been quietly watching the the small teen the entire time, let out a low whistle as he leaned down to Nomi's level, inspecting his nose before grimacing.

"Say there, you got a pretty nasty gash, kid. Did’ja get into a fight ‘o something?"

Nomi internally cringed.

"The uh, school, was attacked..."

Gene's eyes widened and he facepalmed.

"Oh gosh, you're right! It's been all over every news station around Norrisville! Heard it even made the worldwide news feed too! Pretty crazy stuff! It's the first time in years since anyone's seriously gotten hurt at the high school. It's certainly the first time anyone's died...Well, as far as I know anyways...Heck, no one even knows what exactly happened! That dude who used to own that Ninja camp--I think his name was Mac Antfee--he was the one that got killed! You know, I heard some people were even saying the Ninja did it, others say it was a monster. In my opinion, it was definitely a monster. The guy was torn to shreds! Say, did you see anything?"

All throughout Gene's rant, Nomi's eyes had widened in horror. People thought that the Ninja--Randy--did this?!

And Mac Antfee…

With Nomi’s silence, Gene realized that the kid sitting in front of him had seen some pretty nasty stuff.

The male shifted slightly, his excitement quickly slipping away and being replaced by a look of horror.

"Oh geeze...I-I'm sorry kid. You probably didn't know about any of this, and I probably scared you. Uh, let's change topics, yea? Say, what's your name? I don't think you ever told me with all the babbling I've been doing!"

For a moment, Nomi stared at the man unsurely. There was absolutely nothing to stop him from lying, and yet, he still found himself muttering out his name.

"Nomi. Nomi Conikos."

Gene himself seemed rather surprised that Nomi had answered.

"I, uh...well, my name is Gene Levine! So what exactly happened to you? You never told me. "

Nomi's face suddenly grew dark, and he eyed Gene coldly, body posture becoming rigid.

"It's nothing of your concern."

For a moment, it seemed that Gene was going to protest Nomi's answer, but one look at Nomi's venomous gaze had immediately extinguished any resistance on Gene's part. He concluded that it was best he not prod further anyways.

"Okay then...well, you can stay here and rest up a bit. You should really put a bandage on your nose."

"I will. And thank you."

"No problem."

Then the man walked off to his spot behind the counter, awaiting his next customer.

Finally left to his own devices, Nomi got to bandaging himself. He briefly wondered if he had gotten the gash on his nose from his fight with the Sorceress or maybe the struggle Mac had put up in his last moments.

A shudder passed through Nomi's entire body, and he hastily finished bandaging himself. Once done, Nomi allowed himself to sink back into the bean bag chair.

Try as the redhead might, his mind didn't allow him the soothing silence that sleep gave, choosing instead to assault his consciousness. It continuously slipped its way back to the day's events. Mac's murder quickly became a popular choice compared to the rest of the day’s events.

Nomi drew a shaky breath as he closed his eyes; the sounds of Mac's pained screams, the pitiful looks of plea the man gave, the blood and just everything. It was all just so vivid…

...Mac had stared up at him in horror, and had begun to beg for mercy, when Nomi pounced onto the pathetic, useless man, enjoying the feelings he got from hacking into his body. There was no remorse in the action, and the creature he had become enjoyed the feeling of tearing into his defenceless victim. Without a shred of humanity left within his body he felt a smirk tug itself onto the redhead’s face, body shuddering slightly with the pure giddiness he got from his kill. It was addicting, tearing into the human without any fear of what was to come or the pity the teacher once had.

He could hear the sickening, squelching 'pop' as he tore Mac's arm out of its socket, blood flowing out freely, going everywhere it possibly could. The magenta substance filled Nomi's mouth as he tasted blood, though who the liquid actually belonged to was a mystery. The man’s agonized screams shook within his mind, and the creature went on to mutilate Mac Antfee even more, enjoying the power and fear he had.

Nomi's jaws sank into his gut, brutally tearing out his intestines and allowing them to spill ungraciously onto the blood-stained floor. By then, Mac had almost completely passed out from the blood-loss and pain, but he still tried to fight off Nomi by weakly clawing at his face; that was how he gotten the gash on his nose. And with sickening satisfaction, Nomi had ripped out Mac's throat.

But it wasn’t enough...it simply wasn’t enough. He craved to kill, to dance in the gorgeous red paint that had spilled all over the floor and walls, staining everything in such a beautiful color. Why couldn’t everything be that beautiful? Why couldn’t it?

Then he had turned to Randy. There was absolute fear in his fading, broken eyes. He had been afraid that Nomi would do to him what he had done to Mac. The ancient creature watched in mock confusion as the boy dug around in his pocket for something, tear trails running through the dirt and blood on his puffy cheeks. There was almost nothing left of the boy, his body too broken to fully function. He held up a rather battered piece of paper and looked at the monster with sad eyes.

...

Nomi gasped loudly, the sound of his beating heart pounded away in his ears. The ninja desperately reached at his mouth. It was as if Mac's blood was gushing down his throat, intoxicating his senses. Nomi suddenly jolted up, his memory was jumbled, clashing horribly with the sudden jolt that brought awareness, and confusion swept through his mind. He completely forgot where he was.

His eyes became wild, and his breath came out in short pants,

“WHERE AM I?! WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE'S RANDY?!”

With business being so slow and closing time being so near, Gene had took to closing early and camped himself by his store counter. He'd been sipping on a nice cup of coffee and reading through the sports section of the daily newspaper when Nomi's outburst startled him, causing him to drop his mug, it shattering against the dirtied floor.

"H-hey kid--Nomi! Calm down!"

It was pointless. Gene's words went unheard. Nomi was already in a complete panic, and he was starting to hyperventilate.

Nomi's eyes scanned the room frantically for a possible weapon; hands itching to grab something, anything. The horrible feeling made the teen want to wretch again, his heart attempting to beat out of his chest, all the while keeping the male alive. Then suddenly, his gaze fell on Gene.

The man had cautiously made his way to Nomi, his hands low and close to his body.

"Hey, e-easy there. Remember me? I'm Gene--I found you in the alley? I brought you here to my shop."

"W-what?”

Nomi suddenly clutched at his throat, wheezing, before falling to his knees.

At that, Gene didn't hesitate to close the distance between himself and the teen. It quickly dawned to Gene that Nomi was hyperventilating and having a bad panic attack.

"Kid, l-look at me! Look at me and breathe!"

Nomi looked up at Gene, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Where's Randy!?...I...I want Randy, p-please!”

"I'm sorry kid, I don't know what you're saying! Please, just focus on what I told you to do. Breathe."

The man gently brushed against the boy in an attempt to calm him, only resulting in the male jumping, his dark eyes wide with terror. Nomi broke down in sobs, shaking his head.

"R-Randy!...Randy! I want...Randy! I want to...see him!"

Gene stared at Nomi helplessly.

"I don't--Nomi, breathe. Calm down. Whoever this Randy is, I'm sure he doesn't want to see you all broken down like this, right?"

At that moment, the wildness in Nomi's eyes came to a stop, every part of him had seemingly froze. Nomi didn't answer, having fallen silent.

He remembered where he was. A surgence of memories danced upon his mind, and he could suddenly recall everything that had transpired and led to his being here in Gene's shop. Nomi slouched, heart dropping to the pit of his stomach. Randy wasn't here, he was in the hospital, and Nomi had avoided going to see him.

The man was relieved as Nomi came to a standstill and seemed to seep back into his senses. Gene quickly closed any distance between the two, and placed a callused hand carefully on the redhead's shoulder.

"Listen ki--Nomi--I don't know you or your situation or whatever, but as an adult, I'm mighty concerned now. Please tell me what's going on. Who's Randy?"

Nomi trembled, shaking his head. He was about to speak, but Gene quickly cut in.

"Listen, if you're in some kind of trouble with the authorities or something, I won't snitch you out. But if you want to stay here, you have to let me help you. Now please tell me, who's Randy?"

Nomi cringed, he was still debating on whether or not he should tell Gene of his predicament. Despite all of the obvious risks, it would be nice to have someone listen to his problems…

The idea of being able to release all of his pent up guilt, anger and sadness was horribly tempting, and Nomi soon found himself beginning to cave in.

"Randy...I... he," he began, but then stopped.

Nomi needed to be absolutely careful, he couldn't reveal too much about himself, or of Randy, and put his identity at more risk than it already was. This also meant that he couldn't talk too much about what had happened at the school, especially, anything revolving Mac Antfee's gruesome demise.

Noting this, Nomi continued on, his words careful and calculative.

"Randy, is my partner. "

Gene's eyebrows shot up in disbelief, he seemed thoroughly surprised, though a grin was slowly starting to form on his face.

"Oh. This Randy, he uh, he's your boyfriend?"

He internally kicked himself, so much for being smart about this. Biting back a rather vulgar curse, he tried to correct Gene's accusation, his cheeks beginning to burn madly in embarrassment.

"N-no, Randy's--"

Gene waved a hand dismissively.

"Nah, kid you don't have to worry! I don't mind that you're gay! It's who you are!"

Oh my Tengu, this is absolutely humiliating.

"No, but he really--"

The jumpsuited man absolutely refused to listen, shaking his head.

"Nomi, you don't have to worry! I'm what you kids call an ‘ally’, or whatever. I promise!”

Nomi ran a hand through his hair, seeing that there was no way to change the man's mind and fix his mistake; he reluctantly gave in. "

“Fine. Y-yes, Randy is my...boyfriend."

What a cruel joke. These words rolled off of Nomi’s tongue as though it were natural- the truth. Nomi could start to feel himself zoning out.

Gene, unknown to this, suddenly rubbed his chin quizzically.

"So where is he?"

Nomi quickly snapped back into reality, he blinked up at Gene.

"Pardon?"

The man didn't hesitate to clarify himself.

"Randy. Where's Randy?"

Nomi's eyes widened. He didn't really have any other explanation for Randy's whereabouts, or at least ones that sounded even remotely legitimate. Which was ironic, considering how earlier he had been dishing out blatant lies as to why he was covered in blood, and yet now it was as though Nomi had forgotten how to speak. The redhead could only stutter out the truth pitifully.

"....he's at the hospital.”

Gene cocked a brow.

“If he's at the hospital, why aren't you there yourself?"

Nomi silently made a note to punch himself later. He should have thought all of this through.

The redhaired ninja grimaced.

"I...simply could not go."

Gene stared at Nomi skeptically, brows furrowed.

"And why’s that?"

Scratching the back of his neck, Nomi muttered a half-truth.

"I don't...really have medical papers or information here..."

To Gene, it was like a little lightbulb went off in his head.

"Oh. Oh. You’re an immigrant! So is that why you were in the alley? You hid in there, because you were afraid that…."

"S-sort of. I...I-I did something wrong, unforgivable really, and I didn't want Randy to get even more hurt than he already was."

The jumpsuited man's concern seemed to skyrocket.

In silent horror, he asked,

"What happened?"

Nomi looked away from the man, his heart constricting harshly, a sharp pain rose in his chest, momentarily stunning him speechless. Sucking in an uneasy breath, Nomi forced himself to continue.

"We were…. in our science class, when all these kids came running around the corner, screaming, and trying to evacuate to safety. Randy and I tried going down this hallway where there weren't a lot of people....we were ambushed, and I thought we could fight them off... I should've done more to protect him. He was being beaten right in front of me!"

Nomi paused, his whole body giving out a deathly shudder. Tears had begun to streak down his flushed cheeks, his breath becoming shaky again. It took nearly every ounce of energy Nomi had to refrain from breaking down. The mere thought of his broken student sent chills up his spine, and the thought of his student’s attempted murderer left a dark, brooding rage that coursed through Nomis veins. Yet, a deep wallowing guilt consumed his heart, and the heaviness of it all left a dull aching pain all throughout his tired body. He yearned for his student, to see Randy again. To see that he was alive.

As Nomi looked back over to Gene, the junkyard man was left entirely speechless, unsure of where to begin. A look of pure sympathy and understanding was written all over his face.

"How did you two get out?"

"The Ninja came and saved us in time, before we could get hurt even more."

That isn't a lie, thought Nomi.

Gene could only nod slowly as Nomi finished his explanation.

He had more questions for the teen, however, he could tell that Nomi was already emotionally spent, and not too mention his struggle for survival back at the school rendered the teen completely thrashed. More than likely, Nomi wanted to rest.

Still…

“Ya know, I can take ya to the hospital myself, and ya can go see Randy. I can pretend to be your ‘guardian’. I can sign us in, and you’re good! No one’s really gonna question us much after that, and ya won’t risk revealing that you’re an immigrant.”

Nomi considered the man’s words for a moment, but then shook his head.

“Thank you for the offer, but that won’t be necessary. I’ll rest here for the night, then leave in the morning.”

Aside from having to see his student, there was another issue at hand. The Sorceress had the Ninja mask in her possession, meaning that Norrisville was now completely vulnerable to the influence of the Sorcerer. Even with Nomi’s magic and strength, it didn’t matter, as Nomi himself was under an “influence” of the Sorcerer. This meant that Nomi’s visitation would have to be cut short, and he couldn’t have Gene escorting him to the hospital, lest he discover the whole truth of who Nomi really was, and essentially his connection to the Ninja and Randy.

On the plus side, Nomi wasn’t entirely planning to go during visitation hours. In fact, he was hoping to catch Randy asleep. That way, Randy wouldn’t be tempted to join his teacher in his search for the Ninja mask. And, truth be told, Nomi wasn’t sure he was fully ready to face his student after everything that had happened….

Gene scowled. He eyed Nomi skeptically.

”Kid, ya aren’t just saying that so ya can sneak out when my back is turned, right?”

The lie slipped between his teeth with subtle ease, a smile on Nomi’s lips.

“Of course not. I’m more than exhausted, and would rather sleep than overexert myself.”

Gene continued to eye Nomi unsurely, before nodding, clearly satisfied with Nomi’s answer. After an awkward moment of silence, Gene had excused himself with just as much awkwardness as the moment before, and went off in search of clean clothes that wasn’t covered in grime, dirt, and blood. Along with a pillow, and a (hopefully) clean blanket for Nomi to use. Shuffling past Nomi, he made his way to the large shelves of his shop and began to sift through each, tossing miscellaneous items all about him.

Nomi watched the man carefully, his false smile having long since disappeared, he returned to his previous spot on the old beanbag chair. He flopped down onto it, his body instantly sinking into the material like an anvil. He let out a breathy sigh. As much as Nomi enjoyed the idea of staying here in Gene’s shop for a day or two, the redhead could not bring himself to drag the man further into his problems. Gene didn’t need to know more than what Nomi already shared, and the last thing he wanted was for the man to get hurt or worse, dead. There was already one dead person, there was certainly no need to add to that body count.

Eventually, Gene returned with a surprisingly clean baby blanket, a musty old pillow, battered t-shirt, and a pair of black basketball shorts.

Nomi almost instantly sat back up and took the items out of his hands, offering a meek “thank you” in return.

Gene waved him off, grinning lightly. He bid Nomi good night, and a minor warning.

“And don’t think of sneaking off! Ya need your rest, or you’ll faint o’ somethin’!”

Nomi gave a false promise, then said his own goodnight to the jumpsuited man.

With that, Gene shut off the lights and locked up his store, promising to come back in the morning with some of his famous ‘1000 degree breakfast chili surprise’.

The moment the lights flickered off, Nomi went to changing out of his filthy clothes to the slightly less filthy clothes that Gene gave him. His body almost instantaneously thanked Nomi for the relief of being out of the gross, sticky mess of his ninja suit and civilian clothes. As Nomi placed the blanket on himself, he nearly whined aloud at how short it was, before curling up into a little ball, succeeding in covering himself a little more. Though he was extremely exhausted, and nearly knocked out right then and there, Nomi didn’t plan to extend his stay any further, and made plans to leave tonight. All he needed to do was wait a good hour at the most, until it was certain that Gene wasn’t up and about still. (The man lived right above his shop. Thankfully, his home is far too small to house more than one person, and he only had one bed and no couch anyways.) Nomi silently counted off in his mind, until finally, half an hour slipped past.

So he made his move, and was soon far away from the little shop.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 15 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 14: Blood Spilt

Red. It clouded his vision. A strong, bitter and sulfurous smell filled his nostrils to the point where it was almost suffocating. The entirety of this was unpleasant. What was this exactly? Nomi couldn't tell, in fact, he couldn't recall anything that had mounted up to whatever was going on. He had no idea where he was, nothing. It all was just a blur.

It kinda felt like swimming in the ocean, except, it felt even lighter, almost completely weightless, engulfed in a sea of red. It was almost calming, which is what surprised Nomi the most. Everything just felt calm and relaxing, despite the mild discomfort. That didn't seem to be right. Not at all.

Something was wrong, terribly wrong. But what? What was wrong? What unsettling and unsavory thing was transpiring? Nothing felt right, that deep peace Nomi felt had seemingly vanished, replaced by a sense of wrongness, like the world was being torn apart, piece by piece. That dull ache of discomfort itched at Nomi, the red that filled his senses suddenly made him feel weak, vulnerable, scared, and alone.

But why?

...

The hideous scream echoed loudly throughout the halls of Norrisville High, causing the school to tremble to its very foundation.

Both Randy and Howard looked to each other with wide, panicked gazes. Neither teen had an explanation as to what was making this blood curdling scream.

"Howard!"

"N-ninja what's going on?!"

"I-I don't know!"

The two stumbled about, unable to keep their balances. Randy crashed into an empty desk, as Howard tripped over a chair, before landing on top of the still unconscious body of Mac Antfee.

As the scream passed, a sharp, biting sting tore into Randy like billions of needles pricking his body mercilessly. He gripped the edge of the desk with one hand, in order to support himself, while the other gripped at his stomach. As he forced himself upright, a pained gasp escaped him, only muffled by the ninja mask.

"H-aah."

Randy could only squeeze his eyes shut as pain spread all throughout his body.

"N-ninja?!"

Howard's voice could barely be heard.

"Ninja, look at me--say something!"

Randy forced his eyes open, and stared up at Howard dazedly.

"H-Howard?"

The pain began to slowly subside, though it was still painful for Randy to move normally, his tummy extremely tender.

"Ninja, you're glowing!"

Randy blinked owlishly, his movements and thought process seeming slower than usual.

"What?"

"I said you're glowing! You're completely red!"

Randy nodded distractedly. He couldn't quite register what Howard had just said.

"Cunningham?"

In any normal circumstance, Howard would never use Randy's last name when he was wearing the suit, but this was certainly not a normal circumstance.

Randy stared at Howard in a daze. He hadn't even bothered to scold the chubby teen for using his name.

"Something's wrong...I-I have to find Nomi."

"Are you insane?! The book can take care of himself, just wait here!"

Randy hesitated, before shaking his head.

"No, I have to find him...Whatever just made that scream...Nomi might need my help."

Heatedly set on searching for Nomi, Randy pushed himself completely away from the desk, wobbling slightly.

"Well, what do I do with him?!"

Howard gestured to the unconscious Mac Antfee lying on the ground between them.

"Just...keep an eye on him. You hit him pretty hard, so I don't think he'll get up any time soon."

Howard scowled, before looking down at Mac, then reluctantly nodding.

"Fine, but hurry it up."

Randy nodded.

"Thanks, buddy."

Howard huffed as Randy charged ungracefully out of the room, using the wall as support.

Suddenly, the body lying in front of Howard began to stir.

...

For the most part, the school seemed entirely deserted. The halls were littered with papers, notebooks, pencils and bags. Clearly everyone had left in a hurry.

The further Randy walked, the more on edge he felt. He felt vulnerable, and with every creak and shudder the school gave, the more it unsettled him, making him even more paranoid about his surroundings. It almost tempted him to pull out his sword, however, he refrained from doing so. It wouldn’t make a difference anyway. Randy wouldn't be able to hold it, let alone use it.

As he ventured further down the hallway, he noticed how much more destroyed the classrooms were. Had he and Mac made this much of a mess? Randy glanced over a scorched piece of building and shook his head. No, no they hadn't.

Suddenly, before Randy could have a chance to even blink, a burst of colorful doodles flooded the hallway. They burned everything they touched, reducing them into nothing more than ashes.

Randy was unable to move away fast enough. He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting the burning sensation of fire to rip through his body and burn him to a crisp, but it never came.

Daring to open an eye, Randy found himself staring face to cover of what looked like a tiny, colorful doodle of Nomi in book form, complete with tiny stick figure arms and legs. For a moment, he stared at the little doodle dumbly, before it suddenly began to nuzzle Randy's cheek.

Randy froze in surprise, he wasn't sure what to do, so he allowed the act, which was soon added by other doodles that began rubbing themselves against his body.

A light feeling of warmth began to spread throughout his body, seeping into his very veins. Any pain Randy had previously felt slipped away, until there was no pain at all. He flexed his fingers curiously, still feeling no pain. The tiny doodles seemed to sense this as they all pulled away. The Nomicon doodle lingered for just a second longer, before it too floated past Randy, and finally fading away into nothing. He glanced down at his hands, and found that he was no longer covered in stank.

To Randy, the entire transaction was odd to say the least.

“What the juice just happened?”

Randy didn't have much time to ponder over it, before suddenly--

"Hello, nice wad."

Randy had barely managed to turn around before something smacked him hard against the side of his head. He was sent stumbling to the ground, stars dancing in his eyes. He could feel Mac's presence looming over him. Randy turned his head as best he could to look up at him. The man held a wicked smirk on his face. Randy saw a large wooden board in his hands.

Mac raised it again, before bringing it down upon Randy. Darkness overcame his vision.

...

A deep groan.

"Hmm, I think he's waking up. Good, I thought you killed the brat."

Randy shifted, his eyes beginning to adjust.

"Too bad, it would've made things easier. Ah well, fucking with him is gonna be even better."

His muscles ached, and his head stung.

"Uuugh..."

Randy moaned out. He turned his head to the side, and at first could only see a wall, but soon someone stepped into his view. Randy's eyes widened as the Sorceress stood before him. She gave him a smile that could rival the Cheshire cat's.

"Hmm, for such a puny little rat, you've caused quite a bit of trouble. I suppose I can't complain though, you being such a weakling made it easier for us. The Norisu brat wasn't all that much different either. Shame, I expected more of a fight from the worthless worm."

Randy began to tremble violently,

"W-what?"

The Sorceress's smile grew wider, but before she could utter another word, a deep growl resonated from somewhere Randy couldn't see. She began to giggle and coo.

"Oh, it seems he's quite the impatient one."

Randy swallowed. He tried craning his neck further to see what the witch was talking about, but to no avail. What was holding him down?

Randy felt added pressure on his back, and he let out a sharp gasp of pain.

"What, excited to see Teach?"

Oh. Right, Mac. Oh no, Howard! He'd told him to keep an eye on Mac! Did he do something to him?!

Randy began to squirm around vigorously.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"L-let me go! LET ME GO!"

Mac chuckled darkly. He lifted his foot from the small of Randy's back before viciously stomping down on him between his shoulder blades. Randy cried out.

"I believe it's time we ended this. No need to prolong this brat's time."

The Sorceress scowled, clearly more intent on finishing things up quickly. She knew that if the young ninja somehow managed to gain some form of upper hand, it would all be over, and their plans would go down the drain.

"Aw c'mon, I'm just getting started! I want this stupid fucker to pay. Let's just have a little fun with him. Besides, the 800 year old newspaper isn't gonna be any trouble, now that he's under your control. Besides, I have the mask."

“WAIT WHAT.”

Randy's eyes shot open, his pupils shrunk. No, it couldn't be!

The Sorceress eyed the purple haired teen tentatively. The idea was much too good to simply pass up. The ninja had been a thorn on her side for centuries. And now, the opportunity to make him pay was practically laid out in front of her. Even better, she had the right weapons for the job.

"Hmm, I guess we aren't in such a rush. And this could be the perfect chance to practice my control over the Nomicon."

Her eyes glistened wickedly as she spoke.

Meanwhile, Randy's heart was beating madly against his chest. He was in a full fledged panic. They know who he is, his secret identity exposed, and Nomi was sta--

Snap!

The Sorceress had snapped her bony fingers, and instantly a blur of black and red was at her side.

Mac Antfee removed his foot, lifting Randy by the scruff of his shirt, shoving him face to face with what had become of his teacher.

Nomi's body was long and slender, with short, muscular legs, each equipped with long red talons. His snout was long with two feelers on either side of his cherry red nose, and a small beard grew on his chin. On top of his head sat a set of antlers and a mop of long, red hair that ran from the top of his head and ended at the tuft on his tail. The entirety of Nomi's body was coated in impenetrable black scales, and a cream colored underbelly with the glowing red symbol of the Norisu Nine engrained at his chest.

"Nomi..."

His name was all that he could manage to muster.

The Sorceress cooed as she ran a sickly green hand against the smooth scales.

"Yes, he'll wreak havoc upon this pathetic town, and soon the world will be ours. Hellion, destroy this pitiful building."

"No, Nomi don't! NO!"

Nomi ignored Randy's pleas. He snarled, baring his large fangs, smoke pouring out of his mouth and nostrils. He then turned to the nearest wall, and without batting an eye, released a powerful torrent of colorful doodles that acted like flames, eating away at the wall and anything beyond that with ease. He then rammed his antlers against the smoldering room, destroying any surviving material, before moving on to the next room, all within a matter of seconds.

Randy could only watch on in horror, before he was promptly shoved against the wall, away from Nomi. He could just imagine Mac was grinning from ear to ear.

Randy squeezed his eyes tightly shut as Mac Antfee began to beat him. He was punched numerously against his head, before being thrown like a ragdoll against the cool tile. One of his eyes was swollen and black, blood leaking profusely from his nose.

"You were such a fucking pain in my ass, kid. You don't even deserve that mask. I'M the best ninja that old twink has ever taught. You're worthless compared to me! Do you hear that?! WORTHLESS! And I know you like him. It’s almost painful with how obvious it is. But you know what?"

Randy swallowed a sob as Mac kicked him in the stomach.

"He doesn't care about you. He just sees you as some poor kid who's stuck doing his dirty work."

Another swift kick, this time to Randy's ribs.

"You're nothing to him. You're just a replaceable pawn!"

Mac grabbed Randy by the throat, lifting him up high. He began to squeeze, barely allowing any air to pass through his lungs.

"He won't miss you, let alone love you. I almost feel sorry for ya. Too bad I'm gonna fucking kill you."

"N-Nomi!... NOMI!..NOMI HELP!...PLEASE-!" Randy rasped out desperately.

Mac snickered, he watched, utterly amused, before digging his nails harshly into Randy's neck, cutting off almost all air from his lungs, leaving the teen gasping.

"The book isn't gonna do a thing to help you now. He belongs to us now."

Randy's hands shot out and grabbed at Mac Antfee's hand, trying to pull it away, but it didn't budge.

The Sorceress watched the display, a sense of sickening satisfaction crossed her wrinkled face.

...

Nomi had gone far off down the hall, far away from the brutal beating of his student. He had already destroyed nearly a third of the nearby classes in less than a few minutes.

He could hear the sounds of a fight, and despite his mind being completely under the control of the Sorceress, some form of curiosity entered his mind, and he found himself twisting back around down the hall from where he'd previously come from.

Nomi couldn't quite place why he was so interested in the sounds of the skirmish, yet continued on, ignoring his previous orders to destroy.

It was odd, but even the idea of destroying things was actually quite foreign to Nomi. Why did everything feel so off? So wrong?

Nothing made sense.

Nomi marched on as he tried to make sense of everything, but it was as if something was preventing him from doing so. But what and why? He couldn't say.

"N-Nomi!"

Nomi froze.

"... NOMI!.."

Who was that? Why were they calling for him? They sounded familiar...

"NOMI HELP!...PLEASE-!"

This time, something snapped. It hit him like a ton of bricks, reality came pummeling down on Nomi. The deep red veil that had clouded his mind vanished. He remembered. The fight that had broken out between himself, Randy, the Sorceress, and Mac...the rage that led to him getting stanked.

A deep bubbling anger flared through his mind, and Nomi suddenly began to barrel his way down the ruins of the demolished hallway with no signs of stopping.

…

Mac watched as Randy struggled, slowly suffocating within the tips of his fingers. Just like the Sorceress, a swell of satisfaction puffed inside his chest.

Randy's mouth fell open as he despairingly tried to breathe in any air he could, but Mac did not allow him. He squeezed just enough to cut off all air supply to his lungs, and when the man relented enough to let him take a breath, it simply wasn't enough. Randy could feel his eyes beginning to roll backwards as the lack of air was causing him to slowly lose consciousness again.

He knew that it would be permanent this time.

Seconds passed, and Mac did not give Randy the relief of even a small amount of breath. His grip on Mac's hand weakened.

“This is it,” Randy thought, “this is where I'm gonna die.”

Just as Randy was about to pass out, a loud snarling roar startled Mac, causing him to release Randy's neck, just barely enough for the teen to breathe. And the man was almost instantaneously torn away from him.

Everyone, even the Sorceress, seemed shocked.

Mac was on the ground, utterly terrified as Nomi hovered over him, pinning him down with one large clawed hand, his long red talons threatening to pierce the skin on his chest.

Randy wheezed, as he took desperate gulps of air, coughing every few seconds. He laid there limply, his eyes closed and tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. Small sobs escaping him.

Mac squirmed underneath Nomi, staring up at the ancient being with a fearful gaze.

Nomi leaned down, a resonating growl erupted from his maw, and he bore his long fangs, clearly intent on using them.

The Sorceress, who had been watching the entire display, acted fast. She created a ball of pink energy and aimed it skillfully at Nomi, hitting him dead on, causing the dragon to rear up, releasing his hold on Mac. The ginger haired man wasted no time to scramble away. He reached behind him and pulled out the stank covered katana, the Sorceress joining his side.

"YOU FOOL! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN TO NOT HAVE LISTENED TO A WORD YOU SPAT OUT! THE NOMICON IS NO LONGER IN MY CONTROL!" The Sorceress snarled.

"Then get him back in your control!" Mac hissed back.

Before the Sorceress could retort, a large billow of colorful doodles smacked her, sending her flying down the end of the hall. She was out, cold.

Mac stared after her, in complete shock, before turning back around in front of him. That was a huge mistake.

Nomi's reptilian tail swung out at Mac like a whip, snatching his katana from his grip.

Randy watched quietly, having at some point managed to push himself into a slumped, sitting position against the wall. To him, it was like watching a scary movie, as the monster was being cornered, getting ready for the final stretch of the film.

Unfortunately this was no movie. This was real.

As Nomi lunged, Mac darted around the mouth full of teeth, just narrowly escaping by a hair. He hastily went for his katana, which sat an inch or two within the tips of his fingers. However, Nomi was quicker. Like a rubber band, Nomi snapped around faster than a whip, snapping his large jaws onto Mac's hand.

Mac Antfee hollered loudly in sheer pain, before being tossed into a pile of rubble.

Randy watched in silent horror as Nomi opened his bloody jaws, preparing to enlist a final blow, but just before he could, a pink blast hit him squarely in the jaw.

Nomi roared angrily, turning to the source of the offending blow. The Sorceress.

Nomi narrowed his eyes darkly, and was quickly upon her in seconds.

Having been unprepared for Nomi's speed, the Sorceress was useless in fighting off the redhead's devastating attacks.

Randy continued to watch, breathless, as Nomi unleashed ferocious attacks with brutal force and absolutely no mercy.

Suddenly, a deep grunt of pain caught his attention and instantly, fear swarmed his mind.

Mac was slowly getting back up onto shaky feet, one hand bleeding profusely, the other grasped at the glowing green katana tightly. He began to stagger towards Randy. A maniacal grin was stretching itself across his face, eyes wide and wild.

He began to laugh.

"I'm gonna finish what I started. And there's nothing he can do to save you now."

Randy pressed himself against the wall. He felt small, compared to Mac, as he loomed over him. Randy whimpered as Mac grabbed at his throat again, lifting him up high, his body pressed against the wall. Randy closed his eyes as Mac began to squeeze his neck again.

Mac chuckled softly as he slowly raised his katana, before plunging it straight into Randy's stomach.

Randy threw his head back, his mouth fell open as he let out an odd, strangled cry that quickly fell silent as Mac tightened his grip on Randy's neck, his dark grin only growing at the sight.

...

Howard moaned out pitifully, his face stung, and he was more than sure his nose was broken.

The last thing Howard could recall was Mac getting to his feet. Howard had tried to call for Randy to come back, before he felt a sharp cuff to his face that rendered him unconscious.

For how long was he out was a mystery that seemed like too much work to ponder. He simply hoped that Randy was okay. That way, when he saw him again, he could slap him, because holy cheese, he was left alone with that maniac!

Howard huffed in annoyance at the thought. He then pushed himself back to his feet, but only to be knocked back down again.

The entire school began to tremble, sounds of destruction radiated off throughout the halls. It was almost like an earthquake had hit.

Howard gripped at a desk and pushed himself up.

Random chips and pieces of the ceiling began to dust his hair, which he brushed off in aggravation. He turned to the rest of the room, and could tell that Mac was definitely long gone, and Randy still hadn't come back yet.

Wait.

“CUNNINGHAM!”

Randy wasn't back, the whole school was shaking, and oh my cheese there's some huge monster outside the room.

Howard froze at the sight of what looked to be a black dragon passing by. The large beast appeared to be in deep thought when--

"N-Nomi!"

The dragon paused, raising its head just slightly, before moving closer to the source of the voice.

Howard's heart skipped a beat. That had sounded like Randy.

"... NOMI!.."

It started to walk faster, ears perked up in alert.

"NOMI HELP!...PLEASE-!"

Then it started to run. The large dragon was a blur, and was gone in seconds.

Wait. Was that-? No, it couldn't be the book? Could it?

Howard decided he wasn't going to wait and find out, he had to go after it before it could get to Randy.

With that, Howard made his way into the hall.

...

The taste of iron intoxicated Randy's mouth. His lungs cried out for air, and the urge to vomit attacked his insides. It didn't help that a sword was literally hacking at him either, even more so when the sword wielder was twisting it around.

Randy could only squirm around weakly. He couldn't even call out to Nomi anymore.

"You know what, nice wad? You're absolutely pathetic. If ya had just given me the mask, I wouldn't have to kill you. But you just had to play the hero, huh?"

Randy could only squeeze his eyes shut as Mac continued to berate him. Tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Are you seriously fucking crying?"

Soft whimpers escaped Randy's bloody lips.

It wasn't the response that Mac had wanted. He slowly slid the the katana out of Randy's gut, and held it up to the teen's bloodied face. Randy squirmed, crying out.

"Look at it."

The young ninja didn't open his eyes.

The ex-ninja ninja scowled darkly at him, before violently shaking him.

"I SAID FUCKING LOOK AT IT!"

Randy whimpered, slowly opening his eyes and peering face to face to Mac's bloody sword. Tears blurred his vision, turning the sword into a smeared blob of red.

"You're so fucking useless, a waste of space. You're the shittiest ninja ever, a huge fuck up. I don't know what Teach saw in you. He must have been desperate."

Randy stifled out a sob.

…

The Sorceress hissed, as wall of colorful doodles nearly burnt her to a crisp. She raised a part of her shroud to shield herself as it passed. She had so far managed to evade most of the Nomicon's more vicious attacks, but just barely. She knew though, that eventually it wouldn't be long before the large dragon would manage to land a hit on her, and she would be thrown into another deadly foray. Thus far she's been on the defensive, and that quickly needed to change. She was already cornered against a wall, her magic useless against Nomi, and she was slowly running out of ideas. She needed to distract the beast.

Her eyes darted around until they landed onto her ticket of escape, the purple haired brat that Mac was currently torturing to death.

The Sorceress grinned darkly, and fell into her usual act of manipulation. Cooing, she narrowed her soulless yellow eyes, lips pursed,

"Poor, poor Nomicon. Do you really believe that you can have that little ninja as yours? You aren't human anymore, remember? Any form of humanity you show is simply an act you put up to fool everyone around you. Now, you've even managed to fool yourself. He will grow old, while you'll continue your miserable existence."

Nomi paused.

"Besides, the boy despises you. He wouldn't have to deal with any of this had you not burdened him with your duty. You've ruined his life, and now he will die, because of your incompetence! I'm sure Mac Antfee agrees, after all, he seems to be having quite a bit of fun torturing your little toy to death."

As the Sorceress said this, she lifted a bony hand and pointed at Mac and Randy, a wicked grin on her face.

Nomi hastily spun around, eyes immediately landing on the two. Mac holding Randy up by his throat, and a blood soaked sword in his other. A large gaping wound decorated Randy's gut and was gushing out large amounts of blood.

Nomi's eyes narrowed, he let out a blood curdling roar, and charged straight to Mac, completely forgetting about the Sorceress.

...

Mac sneered.

"Fucking weak. A damned pathetic, cock sucking brat."

Randy closed his eyes, his mouth fell open as strangled sobs left him.

"You and your fat fuck of a friend. Can't believe he wants you."

Randy's eyes shot open. He tried to mouth a 'what?' to Mac, but Mac simply rolled his eyes. He seemed bored, and even mildly disappointed.

"I think I'm just gonna wrap this up. You're such a damned crybaby, not even worth my time--"

A loud roar cut off the rest of Mac's sentence. He turned to where he guessed was the source, but immediately found himself being bulldozed away, releasing his grip on Randy.

The man's eyes were wide with fear, and his mouth wide open as a pained, gurgled cry escaped him. Nomi's antlers impaled right into his arm, ribs, thigh, and cheek, barely missing the temple.

With brutal ferocity, Nomi snapped his head in an effort to shake the man off, and once he did, Nomi began to violently tear into Mac Antfee. With no mercy, Nomi began to tear him to shreds, viciously tearing off an arm.

Randy laid where he was dropped, his own blood already pooling around him. He'd already lost a good amount before. It was a miracle he hadn't passed out yet.

He took in deep and heavy breaths, savoring each swallows of air he got. His vision, though blurred by his tears, and one eye swelled shut, it didn't completely hinder him from the the grizzly scene that was playing out before him.

Mac was shrieking loudly, painfully, as the sounds of his flesh being torn apart could be heard.

Randy shuddered at the sounds, disgusted.

His whole body ached, his face especially stung, but indescribable pain spread from his stomach. This entire moment seemed so unbelievable, like something from a nightmare.

Was this a nightmare? Wasn't he going to wake up and find himself in his own room?

The Sorceress, in all her centuries of existence, was actually mortified by Nomi's gruesome performance. She needed to leave now, unless she wanted to end up like Mac, but first, she needed to grab something, something important.

Making her way around the Nomicon in silence. She stopped by a seemingly insignificant pile of rubble, and pulled out the Ninja mask. Originally, the witch had been willing to hand it over to Mac, so long as he kept up with his end of the deal, which was to help her gain control of the Nomicon. Of course, that clearly wasn’t what was happening, and that being said, the Sorceress decided that this was her time to take her leave.

...

Nomi had made quick work of Mac. What was left of him was barely recognizable to anyone.

Randy stared weakly up at his teacher, and for the first time ever, he actually felt afraid of Nomi.

The older male slowly turned to him, his jaws dripping with Mac's blood, and he began to make his way towards Randy.

Not sure whether or not Nomi would attack him, Randy hastily reached into his pocket and fished out his wallet. With trembling hands he dug around and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

Nomi paused, watching in curiosity as Randy began to unfold it, before holding up the parchment. It was the painting of Nomi and his siblings.

Nomi blinked, he stepped closer. His voice was soft, almost gentle, but still came out as an inhuman rasp.

"RAnDy? ....bROtHerS AnD SisTeRs...HOw...?"

Nomi carefully pressed his nose against the ancient painting, sniffing it lightly. A purr emitted from his throat, and he laid his head on the bloody tile in front of Randy.

Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. What had he just done? Something unforgivable, sick, and brutal. It was wrong and selfish, worse, Randy had to witness it all, endure through it all.

The black dragon let out a shaky whimper, a puff of air escaped him, and with it so did the stank.

Randy watched as the red air slithered away, out of sight. He turned his gaze back to Nomi, and stared in silence as the older teen reverted back to his normal self.

"I'm so sorry. Randy, I...I'm so sorry..."

Tears rained down Nomi's cheeks as he continued to vainly blurt out undecipherable apologies. He buried his face into Randy's chest.

Randy smiled, he opened his mouth as if to say something. It was weak and soft.

"Nomi...I love... "

But just like that, he trailed off as his vision became black, and he finally passed out.

Nomi hadn't noticed that Randy had tried to speak, too stricken with grief and shame at his own, despicable actions.

He did, however, hear the sounds of distant vehicles, and more than likely they were police officers, ambulances, news vans...the usual group of vultures.

"What did you do?"

The voice startled Nomi, and he pulled away to find Howard standing only a few feet away from them.

"Howard--"

Nomi could hardly even get in Howard’s name, before Howard rushed over and harshly shoved Nomi away. The redhead didn't fight back as Howard began to berate and shout at him.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM YOU BASTARD?!"

Nomi's eyes widened slightly. Did Howard think that he...?

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM! DON'T EVEN COME NEAR HIM! IT'S YOUR FAULT YOU STUPID BOOK!"

Nomi winced, but otherwise didn't react. Howard glared at him murderously, before turning away and hastily lifting up his best friend's limp body. He shot Nomi another look as if he wanted to say something else, but decided against it, and ran off.

Nomi cringed as the sound of the school's front entrance slammed shut behind the chubby teen. After that, an unsettling quiet set in.

Nomi's eyes fell upon the painting of him and his siblings that Randy had dropped, and carefully took it into his hands. He clutched it closely, not daring to look at the faces of the people that he clearly disappointed.

He pondered how on earth Randy had come across it.

Nomi knew that he should probably go after Howard and Randy, at least to make sure his student made it to the hospital safely, but he didn't. The words of the Sorceress and Howard echoed through his mind, and he stayed, glued to the floor he was sitting on.

...

Hours passed by, before a gentle but firm hand placed itself onto Nomi's shoulder.

Nomi silently turned to the hands owner and he found himself staring up at a familiar face.

A man wearing a cowboy hat glanced down at him forlornly, his expression grave, yet at the same time, sympathetic.

It was Nomi's "uncle" Charlie. There was very little Nomi knew about the man, for one, his name wasn't Charlie. No one knew what it was, not even his parents knew. Two, Nomi and Charlie were certainly not related by blood, but he was a friend of Nomi's family, long before he had been born. Though the southern accented man was still a complete mystery, there was no doubt that he was an ally. How he came to be an ally was a long story, but for another

The point was, "Charlie" cared, and that was that.

Said man carefully kneeled on the ground, avoiding the pool of blood that Nomi was laying on, and wrapped his arms around Nomi. The redhead couldn't resist and returned the gesture, breaking down into loud sobs into the man's shoulder.

It had been centuries since the last time the two had actually embraced, let alone speak. Still, the blossoming familiarity pulled Nomi in and kept him there, until it overwhelmed him. Nomi pulled away and numbly got to his feet, brushing off any other forms of comfort the man offered.

"You gon' be okay?"

Charlie's deep southern voice strung against Nomi, and all the teen could do was shake his head, before walking off.

Charlie stood there, and watched as Nomi walked off, making no movements to stop him.

He simply nodded, and walked off to his own direction.

As Nomi walked off, he tried to ignore Mac's mutilated body, barely resisting the urge to vomit.

He clumsily hopped out a nearby window, and headed into town.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 14 #story repost #tw: blood #tw: death #tw: violent death #tw: gore

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 13: Picture Perfect

It was Tuesday morning. The sun was glistening brightly against the cerulean sky.

Randy let out a soft grunt as he slowly registered the sun's bright rays that cut through his green curtains, hitting him squarely in the face. The amethyst haired teen begrudgingly sat up, releasing himself from his cocoon of warm blankets. A deep sigh escaped his lips. Those curtains were absolutely useless.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Randy began to wonder where Nomi could be. From his perch atop his bed, Randy peered down at the carpeted floor and found Nomi seated still, in complete silence.

The human book was completely lost to the world around him, too enveloped in some peaceful, otherworldly trance to be even remotely bothered by the rays of sunlight that had previously violated Randy's eyes. The lines of Nomi's face were entirely relaxed, the most calmest Randy had ever seen. The redhead was meditating.

Now fully awake, a boyish grin began to etch itself into Randy's face as he stared at the unsuspecting ninja, and without a second thought, hopped off his bed.

Just as Randy's body left the bed, he realized his mistake, but it was too late. Randy had miscalculated the height of the bed from the ground, and unceremoniously face planted beside his teacher.

Nomi stifled a chuckle when he heard the 'thump' of Randy's less than graceful landing.

"Good morning. It’s about time you have awaken."

Randy groaned a pained "morning" as he pushed himself up off the ground sluggishly. He then sat himself in front of Nomi, who shot the younger teen a light smile to which Randy returned.

"You know, it is nearly ten in the morning." Nomi opened an eye.

Randy shrugged,"So?"

Nomi quirked a brow,"You missed breakfast."

"Well, why didn't you wake me up?"

Randy was never one to backsass (especially Nomi, the sass master), but his remark adorned as much sass as his teacher usually did.

Nomi noted this and smirked, closing his eye again.

"Because I thought it would be very rude of me to do so, and you looked much too peaceful to wake."

Randy pouted, not really sure how else to respond. He stood again on wobbly legs.

"I'm gonna go get breakfast, want anything?"

Nomi's smirk grew. He opened his eyes and stared up at Randy,

"Well, unlike you, I did wake up and already had a nice breakfast, so no, thank you."

Randy snorted.

"Are you just saying that, or did you actually eat?"

Nomi chuckled.

"You would've known had you been awake."

"Argh, forget it!"

Nomi laughed as his student stomped out of the room.

Randy huffed. He could still hear Nomi's laughter echo throughout the hall. As Randy reached the kitchen, he searched the room for an easy breakfast, and managed to scavenge a bag of chips and a juice box. Opening up the bag of chips, Randy began to chow down on the salty snack.

Randy grimaced as he ate. He much preferred his mother's pancakes or even Nomi's sushi, but Randy didn't feel like pestering the redhead to make him any, along with the fact that Randy wasn't in the mood to hear Nomi chastising him.

Instead, Randy considered asking his mother if she could possibly make him breakfast, that is, if she hasn't gone to work already. Ms. Cunningham's current work schedule was an unpredictable mess that was constantly changing, so it was difficult for Randy to tell if his mother was home or not.

He decided to look for her, but after a good fifteen minutes of poking his head in every one of his mother's typical hangouts, Randy had come up with nothing. There was no sign of Ruby Cunningham.

"Maybe she's in her study..."

Randy hesitated and debated with himself whether or not to continue seeking her.

Ms. Cunningham's study was the only place Ruby never allowed her son to even go near, and though she never explicitly stated why, Randy respected her request and since then never once thought to enter it. He supposed that his clumsy tendencies were the reason why he was "forbidden" to enter the room.

Randy's stomach suddenly growled loudly, reminding the teen of his purpose in searching for his mother. He continued to debate for another minute before his stomach growled again, but louder, and that settled it.

Randy hastily sought after his mother's study and very quickly found himself staring face to face with the burgundy, cherry wood door of Ms. Cunningham's study.

He awkwardly knocked on the door, but no answer came. He knocked again and once more there was no response.

With a nervous and doubtful hand, he reached out the cold, bronze colored door knob and clutched it tightly. He was practically shaking with how nervous he was; if his mother caught him right now she'd ground his sorry butt for an eternity.

Randy was truthfully doubtful that the door was even unlocked since his mother never did, especially, if she wasn't around.

Gripping it even tighter, Randy began to turn the knob and was shocked as the knob turned with ease, making a soft click to show the door was opened. He pushed it open enough for him to slink through, and immediately drank in the sight of the lowly lit room.

His mother's study was nothing Randy had ever imagined it'd look like. He expected a colorful room filled with lots of light and organized so well it'd look like something from an office building.

The room was an utter mess of paperwork and work files all cluttered around the room. On the left of Randy was a black wood desk with a fancy lamp (which was still on, and was also the source of light), more paperwork (including some orange files), and a photo of himself and his mother.

An old, beaten up computer chair sat snuggled against the desk.

In the center of the room was a loveseat the color of red wine, a coffee table was nestled beside it, and right underneath both furnishings was a red, shaggy carpet.

The walls of the room were bare save for a few photos that were hung upon it's dark red (or was it brown?) walls which made the room seem even darker than it probably was. The floor beneath Randy felt cool on the soles of his feet, and was the color of black obsidian.

All in all, the room was the exact opposite of what Randy had conceived it to have looked. It was messy, but home like, and bright colors were nonexistent.

No longer fearful and more curious than anything, Randy stepped further into the room, ignoring the little voice in his head that told him not to. He grinned widely and made his way to the desk and hopped onto the computer chair, before beginning to spin around in it. He held back the urge to giggle in utter delight as he spun around madly. He continued spinning until the room was nothing more than a dizzying blur, and then lifted his feet to let the chair slowly stop spinning on its own. Randy sunk back into the chair, feeling pleased with himself. He finally glanced at the cluttering mess on his mother's desk, his attention immediately taken by a very worn out and faded file.

Picking it up from the the pile (and being careful not to topple over the pile), Randy studied the file, noting that its corners were wrinkled and slightly bent, and its vibrancy was faded to a bland peach color.

Carefully, he fingered the opening before peeking inside.

Randy was a little disappointed to find that the file seemed to only contain papers. Still, he took the contents out of the package anyways and began to skim through them. Much to his surprise, there was more than just the expected boring reports. Instead it contained research reports, the legend of the Norisu Nine in suspiciously great detail, and archeological photos of miscellaneous artifacts from the ancient Norrisville village.

With renewed vigor, Randy grabbed all of the papers and sat himself onto the loveseat as he began to look through the pictures. He saw a few familiar items, such as: a silk kimono, a straw hat, a carp statue, and so forth. However, Randy's fingers stopped on two particular photos.

A portrait-sized painting that looked positively ancient with its edges singed and corners ever so slightly bent, sat snuggled against a photo of it that was equally as huge, but completely free of the damage the painting itself had endured and clearly suffered for centuries. Randy decidedly reached for the picture first, immediately studying it.

The picture depicted six figures, shortest at the front and tallest at the back. Two adults, two teens, and two children; four male and two female. All six figures bore happy smiles, hair of varying shades of reds and oranges, and adorned gorgeous black and red kimonos with the Norisu Nine symbol etched at the breast.

To Randy, he was sure that the group of six were all siblings, each had an uncanny likeness to the other for it to be otherwise. He found himself scrutinizing each figure, and noted specific features of each. Who he assumed to be the oldest sibling had golden eyes like that of a fox. His hair was a light orangish shade and was pulled up into a high ponytail, and he adorned an interesting neckpiece that rested on his broad shoulders.

The next figure stood right beside the young man, she was a beautiful young woman. She was nearly the same height as her brother, however, she didn't have her brother's golden eyes. Instead, she had two lovely pools of forest green and hair the color of a ripe cherry. It was pulled up into a half ponytail with a green silk ribbon with three little bells resting on the ribbon's knot.

Below the two were the teens, two boys. Randy looked to the taller of the two. Unlike the man or woman, the boy's hair was a dark shade of red, a lustrous burgundy, and was a shaggy mop compared to his elder siblings, and the teen's eyes were a rich green like that of fine emeralds.

Randy stared at the teen for a moment longer before turning to the shorter teen and his mouth nearly dropped to the floor. A pair of chestnut eyes stared straight back at him, its owner had hair only a shade darker than the oldest brother and a smile Randy had never seen before. Nomi. The teen looked exactly like Nomi, and yet he looked so different. The mischievous glint behind those eyes, a cheeky smile to match, and long hair tied up in a loose ponytail that draped lazily over his shoulder.

Randy's mouth snapped shut, his cheeks began to burn. Oh my cheese he's hot.

The young ninja quickly glanced away and down to the last of the six siblings. Twins, one boy and one girl.

The boy had golden eyes that were a tad bit darker than his eldest brother and his hair was almost completely black, and was bowl cut. He held a shy smile. It was the complete opposite to his sister on the right of him.

Her eyes were a soft shade of green with a drop of yellow mixed in, and a boisterous grin gracing her lips. Her hair was a dark red where half of it was pulled up into two buns tied up with red ribbon and bells, while the rest was let free, stopping at her shoulders.

These were Nomi's siblings, that was Nomi standing beside them. He looked almost exactly how he did now, so did that mean that this portrait was created right before the Sorcerer had attacked? Randy couldn't believe it, how different Nomi looked, how happy he looked. He looked like an actual teen, his actual age.

A lump formed in Randy's throat, and his heart sank. He turned back to the photo, turning it over in hopes of finding more information on it, but was disappointed to find it blank. Frowning, he placed the photo back inside the folder before carefully grasping at the actual portrait. He looked it over once again, his eyes falling to Nomi for a brief moment, before he turned it over, discovering a list of names scrawled in the very top of the portrait; each name being badly smeared yet still decipherable.

Daiku

Yui

Nomi

Naru

Ming

Mei

A slight pang of sadness spread through Randy's chest. They really were Nomi's siblings. A part of him had hoped it wasn't, knowing just how much Nomi would be hurting if he discovered this portrait...or would Nomi be happy?

Then suddenly, Randy had an array of questions. Why was all of this information in a folder in his mother's study? Why did his mother have this particular folder? What purpose did it serve and why? Randy swallowed dryly, he was starting to feel terrified of what the answers to his questions may be and what exactly they meant.

Randy carefully, yet hastily, began to fold the portrait before pulling out his wallet and safely tucking it away. He then reached for the folder, hiding it inside his shirt. He needed to show this to Nomi.

"Randy honey, are you awake?"

The purple haired teen jumped at the sudden calling of his name, and quickly scrambled out of the room, shutting the door behind him. "U-uh, yeah Mom, I'm awake!" Randy hastily left the hallway that led towards his mother's study room, and ran towards the living room in time as his mother came in carrying a small brown paper bag. Ruby jolted as Randy was suddenly before her.

"Oh! Well, I brought you a donut. I figured you'd be hungry." Randy nodded tentatively. "Oh, y-yeah. Thanks, Mom."

The woman smiled, but then began to look around.

"Hm, where's Nomi? There's a donut in there for him too." Randy ran a hand through his hair.

"I—err, he's upstairs." "Ah. Meditating?" "Yeah."

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 13 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 12: Hearts are Wild Creatures

The morning was dreary; the clouds that previously dispersed had returned with a vengeance, darkening the blue sky to a morbid gray. Rain poured from the heavens violently, and lighting lit up the sky in brilliant bursts of white light.

Having woken early, Nomi had begun sifting through Randy’s closet for half an hour, and had finally decided on a gray long sleeved shirt, faded jeans, and a large blue hoodie with a CARPS logo. All of which were extremely baggy, but very comfortable, and (hopefully) not attention grabbing. Nodding to himself, Nomi glanced towards the clock, and was satisfied to see it was 5:32 AM, meaning he had over two hours to himself.

Perfect.

Quickly changing into his clothes, he limped towards Randy’s door, but before Nomi could open it, he heard a tiny chirp. Looking down, he found it to be Takeshi, who stared up at him with eyes showing famishment. Nomi couldn’t help but chuckle at this.

”You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

Chirp!

Smirking, the short redhead picked up the demon bird into his hands, before making his way downstairs.

It wasn’t hard for Nomi to find the packets of oatmeal, which were in the cabinets, since when cleaning up the mess Takeshi had made, he had put back most of the food in their designated areas, and was able to memorize where everything was put.

Recalling what Randy had done with the McFist’s Cup-O-Noodles, Nomi grabbed a bowl, tearing open a packet of oatmeal, and pouring in all its contents. Adding a fair amount of water to the bowl, he carefully placed it in the microwave. Then suddenly he froze; there was a large variety of buttons, and he had no idea what to press. As he frantically looked over the buttons, his eyes landed on the ‘beverage’ option, and he decidedly pressed it.

The microwave came to life, to Nomi’s relief.

He watched the bowl slowly spin for about a minute or two, before he heard a chime like ‘ding’. As he took the bowl out, he was pleased to see that the oatmeal seemed perfectly cooked.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

Ignoring Nomi's warning, Takeshi happily dug into his breakfast, not in the least bit bothered by the scalding hot bowl of oats.

The Nomicon rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance, though the small smile that tugged at his lips said otherwise. As he leaned against the kitchen counter, Nomi considered making the house’s inhabitants breakfast. He hummed to himself for a moment.

It would be the least he could do for them, for having to put up with everything that had happened so far, he thought, before making his way to the fridge.

…

Ruby stirred at the sound of strange noises resounding outside her room. With a loud yawn, Ruby tossed her covers aside. She slipped on a comfy robe before making her way to her door. She opened it quietly, and cautiously poked her head out of the room.

She found Nomi, elbow deep in soapy water, washing dishes. Takeshi was perched on his shoulder.

It was a rather amusing sight to see.

Stepping out of her room, Ruby quietly greeted the redhead, who was oblivious to her presence. Having not expected the greeting, Nomi whirled around, wielding two “weapons”, a spatula and a pan, which still had bits of omelet inside it. However, as soon as he realized it was only Ms. Cunningham, he quickly lowered the utensils.

”M-Ms. Cunningham! I sincerely apologize for the mess I made! I shall clean it up immediately!”

Ruby blinked. Her green eyes scanned the room, before turning back to Nomi.

"What mess exactly?”

Nomi promptly closed his mouth, peered over his shoulder, and found that the kitchen wasn't as messy as he had thought it was. Turning back to Ms. Cunningham, he smiled shakily.

”O-oh. Ahem...would you like a cup of coffee?”

Ruby stifled a laugh. ”Yes, please."

Nomi grabbed a hand towel, drying his hands free of water and soap, then quickly sauntered over to the coffee machine. He grabbed a large mug, and carefully poured in the already prepared coffee.

“Would you like milk? Sugar? Or perhaps cream?”

Ruby shook her head as she took a seat by the kitchen counter.

”No, black is fine.”

Nodding, Nomi carefully placed the mug before her.

“Would you like some breakfast? I made tamagoyaki and miso soup.”

“Sure. I’m not feeling too keen on eating toast again. What is tamagoyaki, anyways?”

Chuckling, Nomi grabbed a bowl and plate, filling both with food, before serving it to Ruby.

”It’s a Japanese omelet,” he said before giving a respectful bow.

Ruby smiled.

"Ah, I see. Thank you."

She went to eating her delicious breakfast, the smile not once leaving her lips.

Nomi nodded, bearing his own smile whilst he prepared himself a cup of hot chocolate (he found that the coffee was much too bitter for his taste), and then sat himself next to her.

“You’re not going to serve yourself breakfast?”

Taking a sip from his hot chocolate, Nomi turned to Ruby, shaking his head.

“No, I’m not.”

Surprisingly, she didn't chide him for not grabbing himself breakfast, and the two sat in silence, until Ruby spoke up again.

”You’re quite the chef, Nomi. Did you have to cook for your family?”

“Thank you, and yes, quite often actually.”

“Who taught you how to cook?” As she said this, Ruby lifted the mug up to her lips, not minding the hot liquid burning her tongue.

“My eldest sister Yui did.”

She then lowered her mug, and stared down at it with a frown.

Nomi noticed this, and asked curiously, "Do you have siblings?"

Ruby's expression softened, though she kept her gaze down.

"A little sister. She's adopted, but still my little sister, nonetheless."

Nomi nodded understandingly. He took a sip of his hot chocolate and held a fond gaze.

"I had five siblings. Three brothers and two sisters. "

Ruby chuckled as her gaze flickered back up to Nomi.

"Sounds like a full house."

"It was."

"Were you all close?"

Nomi hummed.

"Particularly to my younger brother, Naru. We were both, ‘trouble makers’, in our time.”

Ruby laughed at this. It was somewhat hard to believe that the being who stood in front of her, who was in charge of training Norrisville's protectors, was once a 'trouble maker'. Nomi sensed this, and couldn't help but laugh himself.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"A little..."

Nomi grinned.

"So what is your sister's name?"

"Agatha. Agatha Cunningham."

"That's quite a lovely name."

"Thank you…” She trailed off for a moment, before uttering quietly, “I...haven't seen her for a while."

She actually hadn't seen the rest her family in years. Ever since Randy's birth, her parents had forced Ruby and her sister to cease any contact, though it didn't stop them from chatting on the phone from time to time. However, it only made Ruby miss her sister even more, and made her long for her companionship.

Nomi studied Ms. Cunningham carefully as she seemed a little, lost in her own world. He could see from her glazed over look, a deep pang of pain, longing, and loneliness. Something Nomi himself was used to seeing. With slight hesitance, Nomi placed a gentle hand on Ruby's shoulder, completely surprising her. Despite this, she all the same, greatly appreciated the gesture.

"Randy's the only family that I really have,” she whispered.

Pulling away slowly, Nomi thought for a moment and realized that, Randy was all he really had as well.

He was truly alone in the dark without him.

…

Randy grunted. He felt around him, finding that Nomi was no longer sleeping next to him. There was only an empty space on the mattress that Randy and Nomi had agreed to share, since Howard had sprawled himself entirely all over Randy’s own bed. Frowning softly, Randy rose up from his spot on the mattress, before making his way to his closet and throwing on his clothes lazily.

Suddenly he looked up at Howard, who was still sound asleep. A large mischievous smirk etched itself onto Randy’s face. Making haste, Randy went to his bathroom, taking a cup from the cupboard, and filling it to the brim with ice cold water. Using his ninja stealth, he quietly snuck to the top of his ladder. He loomed over Howard, grinning wickedly as he slowly tilted the cup.

…

“So Nomi, why did you choose of all people in Norrisville, my son to be the ninja? I-I don’t mean it in a bad way, but...I’m curious.”

Nomi chuckled breathlessly.

“To be honest, I've yet to find a reason why not. There are so many reasons why I did choose him, but the most important reason is, is himself. He is brave beyond reason, pure of heart, selfless, caring, quick thinking. He is everything a ninja should be.”

Ms. Cunningham smiled. She looked down at her now cold coffee and hummed in deep thought, then looked up at Nomi.

"You care deeply for Randy, don't you?"

Nomi could feel his shoulders stiffen, almost painfully. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t look at Ms. Cunningham when he said, "Well, of course."

Before Ms. Cunningham could speak again, Randy came racing down the stairs, laughing maniacally. Howard was on his tail, his stomping feet making squishing sounds.

“CUNNINGHAM!”

Randy peered over his shoulder, grinning boyishly. However, much to his misfortune, he ended up tripping over his own feet, and landed in front of his mother and teacher. Whom both of which, were staring down at him, clearly amused.

Nomi calmly turned back to Ms. Cunningham.

"On second thought, I have found a reason why not; he's quite immature."

Ruby smirked at the remark.

As a soaked Howard walked over to where Randy laid, he guffawed loudly. Randy glared darkly at him.

"Good morning you two," cheered Ms. Cunningham.

Randy turned to his mother as he rose up, rubbing his neck. He smiled sheepishly.

"M-morning Mom, N-Nomi."

After the brief morning madness between Randy and Howard, Nomi served them breakfast, after Howard changed into dry clothes that is, before Nomi had made his way to the living room, gym bag in arms.

Peering up from his food, Randy watched Nomi fiddle with something small in his hands.

"Hey dude...What're...You...Doing?" Randy asked in between chews.

"Making thread to finally sew that hole shut."

"Oh."

Without his eyes leaving Nomi, Randy watched as he pulled dozens of little black feathers apart, somehow threading them together to form one large strand of thread.

Taking his now empty plate to the sink, Randy sat himself next to Nomi.

"How come you didn't do this a few days back?"

"I didn't have enough feathers, and Takeshi likes to take his time preening himself."

At hearing his name, said demon bird looked over at the two and rolled his eyes, before returning to his preening.

Both Randy and Nomi snickered at this.

"Mind putting on the suit for a minute, Randy?"

Randy nodded. He raced upstairs, then came back holding his mask and backpack. Once the teen stood in front of his teacher, he slipped on the black and red mask.

To Howard and Nomi, Randy's transformation into the ninja was nothing short of normal. However, the same couldn’t be said for Ms. Cunningham, who watched in silent awe as dozens of black ribbons wrapped around him like tiny snakes. Her eyes were filled with wonder and pride. Nomi smiled at this, then got to work fixing the suit. He grabbed a needle from his gym bag, and then the black thread.

As Nomi worked, Randy fidgeted uncontrollably each time he felt the needle brush against his belly.

"Randy, stop moving, or else I'll accidentally prick you.”

"I can't help it, dude!"

Nomi rolled his eyes as he sewed the final bit of the hole closed.

"Finally!” Randy looked down and watched as the black stitching was absorbed into the suit, before completely disappearing. "Aha, so Bruce!"

"I think it's time to go to school, you three."

Randy looked over to his mother, nodding. He pulled off the mask, the black ribbons retracting into it, and then stuffed it into his backpack.

Before they left, Ms. Cunningham grabbed some pain killers, and handed them to Nomi. She insisted he kept them, in case his leg gave him any problems, unaware of what had happened the night before. Nomi gladly took them, and then they were off.

The drive to school was surprisingly pleasant, filled with idle chit chat, and good music. None of them were very worried about the day ahead, and the possibility of having separate classes.

Randy briefly glanced over at Nomi. He was staring out the window, his hands stuffed inside the large hoodie pockets. What had happened the night before worried Randy, but he didn't mention a word about it. He didn't want Nomi to have to suffer from whatever that was, again.

Turning away from him, he returned to the conversation with his mother and Howard.

It wasn't long before Ms. Cunningham was pulling up to the front of the school.

The three exited the small vehicle, and were met with the powerful torrent of rain. Nomi grimaced, pulling up the hood of his hoodie; he absolutely hated the rain, but only because of his book persona.

"Have a good day you guys,” Ms. Cunningham said, before driving off to work.

Upon entering the high school, their ears were filled with the usual gossip, and unsurprisingly, the main topic of every conversation was of the battle that took place there days ago between Randy, Nomi, and Bash. Pushing past the large crowds of students, they had reached an empty part of the main hallway when suddenly, the intercom came to life:

"Good morning Norrisville High! This is your Principal Slimovitz speaking! Now, today's schedules are going to change for some of you. That being said, all students are to report to their first period classes to receive new schedules. Thank you for listening, and have a great day, Norrisville High!"

Immediately, the large groups of students began to disperse at the loud blare of the bell, with Randy, Howard, and Nomi amongst them. Together they trudged through the hallways to their first period class. Looking around them, they found that parts of the school were still being rebuilt or cleaned. Robo apes were scampering here and there, picking up pieces of rubble, sweeping, and even cleaning the newly repaired windows.

Arriving to English class, Mr. Bannister had greeted the three with his usual hollering for about a minute or two before dismissing them to their seats. The middle aged man plopped back down onto his chair, and pulled out a large stack of papers.

"All right, you all know what's going on. When I call you, come up and grab your new schedules."

One by one, students rose up from their seats, grabbing what would be their permanent schedules for the rest of the year.

To be honest, Randy was starting to get teensy bit nervous. The last thing he wanted was to be separated from his bro, and his friend/crush.

Eventually, Nomi was called up, then Randy, and then finally Howard.

For the most part, Randy's and Howard's schedules were the same, though they no longer had poetry class, and Randy had Spanish 3rd whilst Howard had Social Studies, and vice versa during 4th.

For Nomi, however, his schedule was drastically changed, and he had a small inkling as to why. He stared down at the 5th period slot, 'Metal Workshop – S.Ward. Smith'.

It really wasn't all that hard to figure out who exactly changed his schedule.

The redhead sighed. At the least he still had English and Science class with Randy, and on an even better note, he could finally speak with Smith.

"This is so wonk, Cunningham! Our class fecta is ruined!" Howard whined.

Randy, not looking all too pleased with their schedules either, grunted, "I know dude, this is so anti-Bruce..."

There wasn’t much Nomi could do. Sure, he could probably use his magic to change back their classes, but that was too risky. It was bad enough he had used magic to enroll in Norrisville high. It just wasn’t worth the risk. Besides, Randy could survive two classes without Howard.

English went by in a blur for Nomi, who was too engrossed in his own thoughts on what to say and do when he could finally speak with Smith. The possible outcomes of it, and what it could mean for him, also clouded his thoughts.

When class ended, Randy stood by the doorway, eagerly waiting for him, Howard alongside Randy.

“Hey Nomi, want me and Howard to show you where your other classes are?”

Nomi shook his head with a chuckle.

”Randy, I’ve spent nearly my entire existence here. I think I’ll be fine on my own.”

“All right, see you at lunch dude...try not to get lost, Nomicool.”

Nomi rolled his eyes. ”I won’t.”

Then they parted ways.

...

School could be boring for some people, even more so when you already know everything about whatever it is your so called “teachers” are teaching.

For Nomi, this was the case, as the day was going agonizingly slow.

Spanish class was easy; he could speak it (and 6,499 other languages) fluently.

Social studies, well, he's lived for 800 years. That's more than a lifetime's worth of people. Exactly how much more social can you get? He even had Weinerman in that class, which wasn’t too bad, oddly enough.

And now here Nomi was, math. Even though he knew basically every type of math out there, he absolutely hated the subject with a burning passion. The teacher, a tall man of Punjabi descent, was an enthusiastic mathematician by the name of Budh. He had been able to keep Nomi somewhat interested, but now Nomi wanted nothing more than for the class to end.

Nomi suddenly slammed his face into his desk.

Yup, it sucks to know practically everything.

...

Randy doodled mindlessly. He knew absolutely nothing about the lesson that was going on in his Social studies class, and the teacher was a boring old woman who continued to drawl on and on about something Randy didn't particularly care about. God, he couldn't wait for this class to end. It was so boring not having Howard to talk to, or his Nomicon to shloomp into to talk to because he was bummed and his bro were in different classes. Heck, there hadn't even been a robot or monster attack!

Randy groaned. He wondered how Howard and Nomi were doing in their classes. Hopefully, a lot better than him.

...

Two figures stood atop a hill at the edge of the forest near the school, both wearing malicious grins.

"I hated that shit hole when I was a kid. Still hate it actually,” said Mac Antfee.

"Good, because soon, we shall lay waste to this pitiful place. It'll be quite a joyful sight to see those little worms squirm in fear," replied the Sorceress.

'And take back what's mine,' thought Mac Antfee.

The Sorceress put her bony hand on Mac Antfee’s shoulder:

"Come. I believe it's time we pay a visit to the ninja and his ally.”

"Gladly."

In the distance the final bell rang, signaling the end of school.

...

BRRRIIIINNG!

As the bell blared loudly throughout the halls of the school, Howard quickly gathered his things, and pushed past other students on his way out of Spanish class towards Social Studies to meet up with his bro and the book.

Howard felt a sense dread begin to pool in his stomach as he thought about the stupid book, but couldn’t quite explain why. He had never enjoyed seeing Randy’s teacher, as a book or human, but with the events that had transpired the night before still fresh in his mind, Howard couldn’t help but feel bad for the book. Seeing him, or really anyone in that kind of pain made him sick to his stomach, like the time he had eaten a gluten free doughnut—it just didn’t sit well.

Yes, at times Howard loathed the taller redhead, but at the same time he didn’t. Maybe it was because he was the only shred of a chance Randy had at defeating the Sorcerer.

After all, with the downfall of the Sorcerer came its benefit of not having his bro NNS-ing on him all the time.

Howard sighed. He honestly had no real reason to actually dislike Nomi. If anything, he was jealous, and maybe too protective of Randy...although, he'd never admit this to anyone, especially the book.

Oh god, if the book knew, Howard would definitely never hear the end of it.

Dropping the subject in his head, Howard continued to trek through the bustling halls of Norrisville high.

Unlike the other subjects, which had their own wings, Social Studies didn’t. Instead, the fairly small class was snuggled between some of the homeroom classes.

When Howard had finally arrived, he was thoroughly surprised to find his bro alone, and couldn’t help but wonder where the book was. But before Howard could say any words of greeting, Randy spotted him. The lanky teen gave him a toothy grin.

”Hey dude!”

“H-hey Cunningham, where’s the b—Nomi?”

Randy shrugged, ignoring the fact that Howard had called Nomi by his first name.

“I think he got lost.”

Randy was smirking as he said this.

Howard laughed, finding the idea of the all powerful being lost somewhere in Norrisville high quite hilarious. Randy also snickered.

“Heh, I think we should go look for him.”

Howard shrugged, grinning smugly.

“Whatever, dude.”

Thus the duo went in search of Nomi.

After finally finding the redhead, who was lost, but was completely denying it, the trio had made their way to the cafeteria. Once they grabbed their lunches, they sat at their usual table. As they ate, Howard returned to his previous thoughts.

If Howard had to be completely honest with himself, he was a little grateful to Nomi. He’d saved his bro’s life, more than once. Perhaps, wondered Howard, he should give Nomi a chance. He hadn’t exactly given him one anyways...

...and if there was a chance that there was something going on between him and Randy…

Howard clenched his jaw.

He would have to accept it. It'd at least make it easier on both parties, since he’d find out Randy’s feelings without having to admit his own. It’d save them a lot of heartache, though it would take some time for Howard to shake his feelings for Cunningham.

But maybe, it was best that way…

“Hey dude, you okay?”

Howard blinked, realizing he’d zoned out this entire time. Trying to keep his cool, he snorted a ”yeah”.

But Randy still cast him a worried look.

”You sure, dude?”

“I’m fine, Cunningham.”

As the two had chatted, Nomi silently studied Howard. Noticing this, Howard immediately began to make up some lame cover.

“I, uh, was just thinking if I can eat a gallon of McSquiddles in one minute.”

Completely buying his excuse, Randy retorted, ”I bet you honking can’t!”

Howard scoffed. ”Pfft, the cheese you can.”

”Wanna find out?”

At that moment, Nomi decidedly spoke up before the two teens could get into any trouble,

“And where exactly would you get a gallon’s worth of ‘McSquiddles’?”

They both let out an “Oh”, obviously not having thought this through.

Nomi rolled his eyes, amused.

…

“You sure you don’t want us to walk you?”

“I’m positive, Randy. Besides, I know where Smith’s class is.”

“All right. See ya at science.”

Randy started to walk away with Howard, but then Randy turned back to face Nomi again, and added, with a teasing smirk, “Try not to get lost again.”

”I did not get lost! I was simply taking my time!”

“Suuure, whatever you say, dude.”

Nomi huffed, crossing his arms.

”If you’ll excuse me, I have a class to get to, and I believe you do as well.”

Still grinning, Randy turned away and he and Howard walked off to PE. As soon as Randy was out of view, Nomi turned in the opposite direction and sprinted down the familiar hall to Smith's class, hoping to chat with the man before any of the other students arrived. He breathed an air of relief when he stood in front of Smith’s room. Quietly, he opened the door, and poked his head inside. He was bewildered to find that the old man was nowhere to be seen. Closing the door behind him, Nomi started to call out to Smith.

”Mr. Smith? S—”

Then suddenly, Nomi yelped in pain as something smacked him upside the head from behind.

“What in God’s name are you doing here, boy?!”

Nomi instantly spun around to find S. Ward Smith, ready to swing his cane at him again. Nomi brought up his hand to rub where Smith had smacked him and grumbled,

“Well hello to you too, old friend.”

“Don’t you sass me, answer my question, boy!”

Nomi winced. ”Well I’m, enrolled here.”

“Obviously! I saw that!”

“Um…” Nomi gave him a shaky grin, not wanting to point out the obvious joke.

Smith huffed. He pointed his walking cane dangerously close to Nomi’s nose, and gave him a look. Nomi instantly cleared his throat, wiping away any stupid grins.

“Enough of that, boy. Now tell me why you thought you should’ve enrolled here.”

Nomi sighed deeply. He looked down, unsure for a moment, before the words began to ease out of him.

”I had a dream that...that the Sorcerer is going to escape soon...and...at this point, the ninja is nowhere near ready to fight him...”

Smith became silent, deeply disturbed by this news, but he still held the suspicious frown.

”And that gives you reason to enroll? You could have just stayed in the ninja’s suit, or his bag. You never seemed to have a problem with that before, so why enroll now?”

Nomi rubbed his neck. ”U-uh…”

Smith scowled deeply. Seeing this, Nomi quickly spoke up again.

“Part of my mission is not to just train ninjas, but to protect them. This is the only guaranteed way that I can protect him, as I have mentioned before, he is nowhere near ready to fight the Sorcerer.”

Smith hummed, deep in thought, before leaving to his secret lair, and returning with two cups of tea, handing one to Nomi.

“I know there’s more you’re not telling me.”

Nomi shifted. Smith knew him well, and could tell when he was not telling the truth, or in this case, the whole truth.

“A-actually, that’s why I came here so early...I...wanted to talk to you about something, involving the ninja...this was more than a perfect opportunity to do so.”

“Oh?”

“Y-Yes…”

Nomi felt his throat beginning to close up, as he felt his face heat up, unsure how Smith would react to his feelings.

“Well boy? Spill it, we don’t have all day. My students are going to come in any second.”

And, as if on cue, a student walked into the classroom.

Nomi put the cup of tea down.

”I-I’ll talk to you after class…”

Smith let out a grunt, but didn’t push any further.

”Then take a seat. Class is about to begin.”

Taking a seat at the very back of the class, Nomi couldn't stop his mind from racing. He felt numb, and his heart kept beating faster and faster. Sighing shakily, he decided to try and force himself to stop thinking about the subject for the moment. He still didn't know how to explain his emotions to Smith. How could he? Smith wasn't his father, grandfather, or brother. Those were the only people he’d ever actually felt comfortable telling these sorts of things.

But they were dead.

He shook his head, and like most of the day, the human book ignored whatever else was going on around him, and time had passed by quicker than he could've anticipated, as the familiar sound of the bell broke his train of thought. Everyone quickly filed out of the classroom, except for Nomi, who stayed seated, twiddling his thumbs anxiously.

Smith closed the door, locking it. He cleared his throat, and turned to Nomi expectantly.

"Well?"

Nomi shifted uncomfortably. He still didn't know how to tell Smith, and once again his entire face heated up.

“Well...you see, I seem to be...very...emotionally attached, to the current ninja.”

Smith raised a brow. ”Emotionally attached?”

Nomi felt awkward. He looked down at the ground, completely embarrassed.

“I-I’m...in love, with the current ninja…”

“...oh...”

“I know I shouldn’t, I know it’s inappropriate. I know he won’t remember me once he retires from his ninja duties, but...I still can’t help how I feel, and it’s slowly devouring me. I do not know what I should do to quell these emotions.”

Smith sighed deeply, taking a large gulp of his cold tea.

”Our hearts are wild creatures, our ribs are its cages...sometimes we must set them free…”

“A-are you saying I should...tell him?”

“That’s up to you to tell him.”

Nomi shuddered, his heart fluttering with a strange sense of hope, and he felt even more anxious than he did trying to tell Smith of his emotions. Nomi wasn’t too sure he could look Randy in the eye and say how he truly felt.

Smith placed a gentle hand onto his friend’s shoulder, squeezing lightly.

Nomi sighed shakily.

”Thank you. I shall...consider your words very heavily.”

Smith nodded, wordlessly unlocking the door and gently nudging Nomi out of his classroom.

Nomi was silent, in deep thought, not caring that he was very late to science class. He was now stuck with one final question.

Should he, or should he not tell Randy?

These words, these doubts, and pleas swirled about in his mind mercilessly. He felt a sense of fear and helplessness, like a lost child in a lush forest. Slowly, he was drowning in his thoughts.

He scowled. Nomi Conikos Norisu was no coward, and most certainly no ‘child’. If Randy truly felt the same way, then he would gladly love him with all his heart.

If not, then he would just as gladly be there for him.

Taking more confident strides now, he hurried to Mrs. Driscoll’s classroom, with newfound bravado. When he entered the class, all eyes were immediately upon him. Mrs. Driscoll, who was explaining about the slowly expanding universe, turned to him and smiled.

“Nomi, there you are! Mr. Smith gave me a call and told me you’d be late. Go ahead and take a seat.”

Nomi blinked, mildly surprised, and did so. He sat near Randy and Howard, and suddenly, all that confidence was gone.

As Mrs. Driscoll returned to the lesson, Randy leaned towards Nomi, and whispered to him,

“Hey dude, did you get lost again?”

Of course Randy would tease him.

Rolling his eyes, Nomi retorted heatedly, ”No, I was simply talking with Mr. Smith.”

“About?”

“Nothing of your concern. Now pay attention."

Nomi mentally winced. He hadn’t meant to sound so harsh.

Randy, however, didn’t seem to have noticed or minded, and smirked before turning back to Mrs. Driscoll. Mrs. Driscoll continued to babble on about astronomy, with Mr. Driscoll occasionally making a comment from time to time.

Nomi found it absolutely disturbing that the middle aged woman had her husband’s skeleton with her. It was especially disturbing how she would actually kiss it—him.

Whatever. Point was, it was just all kinds of, as Randy would say, shnasty.

Zoning out the rest of the lesson, Nomi crossed his arms and laid his chin atop them. His thoughts reverted back to his conversation with Smith, and wondered what it’d be like between him and Randy if they became an item. His thoughts traveled back to the nice parts of his dream, and replayed them in his mind.

He couldn’t help but smile into his hoodie sleeve.

It'd be wonderful.

Nomi sighed. He imagined the scene in his mind, the delectable scent of the forest, the fresh breeze that blew through his hair, and Randy’s warm lips pressed against his, or his gentle fingers running through his hair. He had to stifle a deep groan from escaping him.

When the bell rang, Nomi nearly fell out of his seat, having not expected to be torn so violently from his pleasant daydreams. Grunting, he rose up, grabbing his things, and shuffled out of the room, followed by Randy and Howard, the younger boys unaware of Nomi's inner conflicts.

Just as they had made it outside the classroom, a shrill scream came from down the hall as a girl came rounding the corner, running from something a little further down the hall.

Everyone stood stock still as suddenly monster students poured out of the corner, flooding the hallway.

That’s when all hell broke loose.

...

Ms. Cunningham sighed. She currently was at work in her office, faxing papers, as usual. It was honestly the most boring job out there.

As she continued to fax away, she heard a light rap on her office door.

"Come in."

She hadn't bothered to see who it was, and instantly regretted not doing so.

"Hello, Ruby."

Pausing in her work, she spun around in her computer chair to find Viceroy by the door. He was looking down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs.

"Hello...Viceroy. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Uh, yes, well, I'm hoping you can. You see, I'm missing several files, and I think I might have accidentally given them to you."

Ruby stiffened at this.

"U-um, what exactly were they labeled as?"

"One of them was labeled SCF/B Plans, another was THE NINJA, and another was NORISU. There were a few more, but those are the ones that matter more."

Ruby blinked. She had been secretly snatching files in hopes that they would provide important or useful information, but she didn't recall a file labeled NORISU.

"No, I don't recall receiving any files like that."

"Oh...then I must've left them back at my apartment."

"Ah. Well, if I see them, I'll make sure to give them to you."

Viceroy nodded. He made to leave, but paused in his tracks.

"Ruby, you've been acting very different, almost immediately after you got promoted. Is something wrong?"

"I'm just...trying to get used to working in this position, Viceroy. Nothing more."

Viceroy paused for a moment, and seemed to want to say something more on the matter, but in the end seemed to decide against it.

"Have a good day then, Ruby."

The mad scientist left the room without another word.

Ruby let out a shuddering breath. That had been much too close for her liking.

Maybe it was time she showed the files to her son and his teacher, and quickly return them to Viceroy, or maybe just burn them.

...

Randy heaved deep and heavy breaths. After he and Nomi had saved the girl, a freshman by the name Jazmine Ackerman, they had ushered the students back inside the class, before sneaking away. And now here Randy, Nomi, and Howard were, taking cover by a fallen set of lockers.

"Ninja, do something!"

"Just give me a minute, I-I need to think."

Nomi, clad in his ninja suit and mask, shook his head.

"I'm afraid we'll have to act now. Focus on freeing the stanked students."

Randy nodded. "Okay. Howard, stay here. I don't want you to get caught in this."

"Ohoho, don't worry bud, I'm definitely staying right here."

Nomi rose to his feet.

"Come on. We have to go."

Without waiting for a response from Randy, Nomi charged towards the herds of monster students, katana in hand. He flipped from monster to monster, freeing students from left to right. Randy stood too and watched in awe and admiration as his teacher fought with flawless skill. He shook his head and broke off into a brisk sprint after Nomi, mimicking his movements.

It didn't take long for Randy to catch up to Nomi.

"So...after...we de-stank every...one...what next...?"

"We hope...that...that's the only issue to...solve."

"...Bruce."

It wasn't long before they had slashed and smashed through every monster student, freeing them from the Sorcerer's hold. Both Randy and Nomi were utterly drained. Randy slumped against a locker, panting.

"Please tell me that was all of them!"

Nomi nodded with a chuckle. "I believe so, Ninja."

Suddenly the two heard clapping. Their heads immediately snapped to a figure in a shadowy hall. A pair of eyes glistened brightly as the figure who was clapping revealed himself to be...

"M-Mac Antfee?! What the juice?!"

Randy could only stare at the ex-ninja, his thoughts beginning to spin in rapid circles.

Unfazed by his shock, Antfee smirked as he continued to clap.

"Now what a show that was! I see you've learned a thing or two, Johnny Nice Wad. And man, for an eight hundred year old geezer, you can still move, Teach’!"

Nomi gritted his teeth. Now he understood why the Sorcerer had stolen Mac Antfee's memories from him.

Randy’s voice was tense as he whispered to Nomi, "Is this why the Sorcerer took Mac's memories? And how does he know that Mac used to be the ninja?"

Nomi shook his head.

"I don't know, Ninja, but I suggest you keep your guard up."

"All right."

"What do you want, Mac?" Nomi hissed at him darkly. He had an unsettling feeling about this.

"What do you mean 'what do you want'? I just wanted to see my favorite teacher in the entire world, and take back my ninja mask."

At that, a green hue surrounded the ginger haired man, and as the light died away, it revealed Mac, in a faux green ninja suit that reeked of stank.

"No way, Mac! I'm not giving up the mask! You're outnumbered anyways. And you're fighting the Nomicon, and he could probably whoop your fruit loop ass by himself!"

Mac burst into laughter and nearly doubled over.

"Oh that's so cute! But here's the thing, Nice Wad...I'm not alone."

Without warning, a blast of pink magic came from the shadows Mac had been concealing himself in.

Nomi, having sensed the other presence, had readily dodged the blast. However, Randy wasn’t so lucky, and was sent hurtling backwards.

“NINJA!”

Randy slid down the hall a few feet, before swiftly getting back on his feet, only to get body slammed. He let out an 'oof!’, but quickly recovered to find the Sorceress gliding next to Mac Antfee. They were slowly stalking towards him.

"I'm fine, Nomicon!"

With the Sorceress at his side, this leveled out the playing field for Mac. He turned to the Sorceress, and whispered,

"I'll take that scrawny punk ninja; you can take the stupid book."

With a wicked grin, the Sorceress nodded. "By all means, yes."

With a snap of her bony fingers, a tiny army of monsters came to her side, and she barreled her way to Nomi, while Mac Antfee calmly made his way towards Randy, popping his knuckles.

Nomi, already anticipating the Sorceress, didn't hesitate to rush towards her. Pink blasts would singe the ground he walked on, but had yet to touch Nomi. He leapt over several snarling, hissing, and roaring monsters, delivering a powerful blow, but before he could reach the sinister woman, a monster tackled him away.

For a short minute, Nomi wrestled with a lion-like monster.

What made it so difficult to fight the Sorceress was not just her ability to take any man under her love spell, but because, unlike the Sorcerer, who with him you could simply destroy the victim’s valuable items and they would be free, you had to defeat the Sorceress, and thus would reverse her magic's effects.

Bringing his legs up, Nomi kicked the monster off of him, and rolled away as a harpy girl made to impale him with her long talons.

The Sorceress howled with laughter.

"This is the wretched little hellion that has given my Sorcerer such trouble? Hah, what a pathetic, insolent runt you are!"

Nomi growled as he fought off the other monsters. The Sorceress didn't seem too worried as Nomi defeated her minions and flounced toward her. Without hesitation, she lunged at him, her eyes glowing a pure white, catching Nomi off guard and capturing him with her hypnotizing gaze. She encircled him, whispering to him in a sickeningly sweet voice:

"My, my look how much you've grown, little warrior no more. Such a handsome young man you have grown to be...hmm, and what an even more handsome ninja. Why, I'm surprised you haven't had your way with the boy. After all, I can see those dark and lusty desires..." the Sorceress giggled. "My, my, indeed, you'd ruin the poor boy."

Nomi stood frozen, completely unable to move. He let out a shuddering breath as the Sorceress continued.

"Or have you had your fun with him? Is he your little yariman?"

Nomi instantly snapped out of her trance. The Sorceress's eyes widened in disbelief, but before she could react, she was punched and sent flying. Nomi snarled angrily, his hands suddenly enveloped in black feathers, and long red talons erupted from the tips of his fingers. This move was known as ‘Tengu claws’.

The Sorceress's surprised expression disappeared, and she grinned smugly.

"Yes, yes! Let your festered anger grow!"

Like a missile, Nomi was upon her in seconds, seething in rage, his normally deep brown eyes now a bleeding red. He pinned her against a locker with so much raw force that he dented it.

"How dare you, you putrid scum! I will send you back to the shadowlands where you'll live out your abhorrent days!"

The Sorceress's grin seemed to widen impossibly more.

"Perfect."

These words dumbfounded Nomi, whose grip had loosened slightly.

Using this as an opportunity to escape, she shot a blast of magic at Nomi's gut, causing him to slam against the wall. The Tengu claws vanished back to his regular hands.

Although he was quickly recovering from the brutal blow to the gut, Nomi found himself in a different, unbearable kind of pain. He hissed as red claws began to sprout from his fingertips again, much longer and sharper than before. His skin began to turn black as scales exploded all over his body. Nomi gasped. His heart sank at the terrible realization as red stank began to slowly envelope him. He let out a strangled cry, before he clutched his head. He could feel horns beginning to appear at the top of his head.

He had fallen for the Sorceress's trap. He had let his emotions get the better of him.

He screamed out in agony, but what had come out of him was not human.

...

Randy twisted away as Mac Antfee nearly impaled him with his green sword. After Mac had charged him, they fought for a while before taking the fight far away from where the Sorceress and Nomi were.

"Heh, would you look at that, Nice Wad grew a pair!"

“Yeah, unlike you!"

"Oh believe me, I have a pair."

Grabbing at his scarf, Mac threw Randy into an empty classroom.

"Can't believe I got replaced by a little shit head like you. I deserve that mask!"

"N-no you don't!" Randy rose onto shaky feet. "You never listened to Nomicon! You always did stupid things, and you'd wonk up big time! You stuffed a kid in a freezer instead of helping him just so you wouldn’t miss some stupid dance, and you honking SLICED off McFist's arm! YOU WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE THE NINJA!"

Mac stared at Randy. Randy stepped back, but suddenly Mac grabbed Randy by his throat and lifted him up, fuming. Mac readied his fist.

"You're going to regret that..."

But before Mac could deliver the final blow, something smacked him in the back of his head. He immediately dropped Randy, swaying and stumbling before he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Randy coughed bitterly, rubbing his tender neck, and looked up to see his savior. He had been half expecting Nomi to be standing over him, and was shocked to find Howard.

Howard huffed, clutching a chair, "Jeez, I can't even honking leave you out of my sight before you get yourself in these kinds of situations, Cunningham! You're lucky I hate being alone."

Randy grinned widely, but his mask hid it. He chuckled.

"Thanks, dude."

Before Howard could shoot another snidely remark, a scream pierced through the halls that sounded like nothing like either Randy or Howard have ever heard.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 12 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 11: When the Lights Fade Out

"I did it again! I don't understand why?! Why do I keep getting those s-stupid episodes?!"

A tall figure paced back and forth in a room similar to a living room, but was in fact, just a dojo with home furniture. Another figure simply stood and watched the other figure pacing.

"Mmhmhm? Mfhmmmhm?"

The pacing figure paused and answered angrily, "I know what the psychiatrist said, and I'm taking those shitty pills the doctor gave me, but none of it is working!"

The figure of Mac Antfee then continued in his pacing with gritted teeth.

Man-Gong, the other figure in the room, furrowed his brows. The chubby teen didn't dare say anything more to his boss; he was trekking on thin ice, and at any given moment, Mac Antfee could lash out at him.

Ever since Mac's visit with the Norrisville High kids, he had started to act strange. Also, he would get these horrible headaches, and these strange 'episodes'. He would claim strange things like, 'I deserved the mask!', 'I'm the true ninja!', or 'I'll get my revenge on that stupid book and everyone in Norrisville!'

Not only that, but when Man-Gong tried explaining to his boss of him being the Ninja, the man would simply scoff and say, "I'm not the Ninja! I never was! Heh, that'd be the day."

After weeks of this, Man-Gong had told Mac to go see help, which was why he was seeing a psychiatrist in the first place.

Now, he was taking pills for depression.

The only thing Mac's psychiatrist would say was, "Mac you were never the Ninja; please try to stay away from anything even remotely involving the Ninja, especially martial arts."

It was the only thing the woman would spew at him, and Mac was sick of it. He felt strange, like he was forgetting something huge. But what?

Finally after another couple of minutes of pacing, the ginger haired man stopped.

He sighed, rubbing his face before turning back to his companion.

"Sorry Man-Gong. It's just, I feel like I'm losing my grip on myself. I can barely remember anything, especially my high school years! Well, e-except all the stupid things I did."

Mac Antfee looked down at his feet before closing his eyes shut, and was surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He opened his eyes again, and looked up at Man-Gong with a sober expression,

"I-I just...I still can't believe I lost my best bud over some blondie named Marci. I even got his arm chopped off! I...I can barely remember anything else. God, why the hell did I push him in the Ninja's way?"

Man-Gong sighed softly before shrugging; he had given up trying to tell his boss the truth. What Mac had described wasn't how things went down that night, but his efforts to explain would only be in vain.

Besides, right now he was pretty unstable, so perhaps it was best not to mention it.

"You know, it isn't your fault."

Both Mac and Man-Gong jumped at the voice that resonated throughout the room. Their eyes looked around them, searching for the source of the unknown voice. They saw nothing, but just when they began to think that they had imagined the strange voice, it returned.

"Such a shame you lost your ninja camp. I'm sure you trained many young ninjas. Too bad that blasted Ninja ruined it for you, and you had to shut it down."

"What the-? Where are you? Who are you?!"

Mac Antfee frowned. The voice was familiar, but from where had he heard such a terrible voice? And what was that last bit about the Ninja?

Although, what was more important, however, was that someone had intruded into his home.

Suddenly, green smoke began to pour from all the vents surrounding he and Man-Gong, before a cackle filled the room. The strange smoke began to take form of a silhouette, and before them stood the Sorcerer.

Well, it wasn't really him, it was actually just a smoky projection of him.

Mac Antfee began to back away from the frightening figure. Whoever this man was (if he even was a man that is), he looked like something from a horror film.

"W-what do y-you want?! State your reason for breaking into my mansion!"

The Sorcerer smirked.

"Oh, but of course. My business is your business. I believe you have a couple of bones to pick with the Ninja?"

Mac visibly stiffened at this.

"What the hell? N-no I don't!"

The Sorcerer's wicked grin didn't go away at his reply; it only seemed to grow bigger.

"Are you sure? I do believe you just said you lost your 'best bud'. Whose fault is that?

"I-it was my fault, I pushed—"

"No, not even close. You see, the Ninja has a mind wipe ability. It can erase a person's memory of their entire life if need be. The Ninja made a mistake that you saw...I'll just have to bring back your memories."

The green being outstretched his arms, and green magic slithered from his fingertips and began to enter Mac's mind.

An overwhelming wave of pain hit Mac Antfee, causing him to fall to the floor. He cried out in pain and began to clutch his head. He tightly closed his eyes, screaming till his throat became raw.

For a brief moment, everything seemed to freeze. Mac stopped crying out in pain, and simply lay on the floor in a fetal position before a second later rising to his feet. He stood, swaying slightly. His eyes opened, glowing pure white. Then a familiar red symbol began to appear in the center of his eye where his pupils would have been; it was the symbol of the Norisu nine.

"I guess McFist is good for something after all,” said the Sorcerer as he watched Mac Antfee intently with his beady little eyes.

Not even a second later, Mac's eyes returned to normal, and the ex-ninja shook his head before turning towards the Sorcerer.

"Now, are you ready to talk business?"

The ginger smirked darkly.

"Lay it on me."

As he said this, a surge of green magic flashed briefly in his eyes.

Man-Gong, who witnessed everything that had just transpired, stumbled backwards in complete and utter fear.

Had his boss just made a deal with the devil?

…

"That thing is going to eat me!" shrieked Howard as Randy snickered at his bro. Howard was cowering behind Randy’s computer chair, in fear of the newly hatched Tengu.

"Aw dude, don't tell me you're scared of wittle baby Tengu?" As Randy said this, he outstretched his hands, holding out Takeshi, who cocked his head to one side, playing along with Randy's teasing.

"I-I just did! Now stay back! CUNNINGHAM DON'T YOU DARE COME ANY CLOSER YOU SHOOB!"

Nomi raised a brow, bemused by his student's and his friend's antics. Then he shook his head. As much as he enjoyed seeing the chubby teen terrified, it was time to go to bed. He quietly walked over to Randy and plucked Takeshi from his hands.

"I think it's time we go to bed. Tomorrow we have school, and Tengu knows what’s going to change."

The others nodded their heads in agreement.

"Okay, but I'm not sleeping next to that thing, or even in the same fucking room with it!"

Takeshi, who was happily preening himself atop of Nomi’s shoulder paused, and looked up at Howard and chirped, causing him to flinch.

Nomi snorted at the comment, and while petting Takeshi said, "I'll be watching Takeshi, so don't fret."

"I wasn't fretting, Chowder Head."

Before the two could break into another dispute, Randy quickly spoke up.

"Okay, so Big H and me are sleeping on my bed, and uh, you'll be sleeping on the mattress on the floor?"

Nomi waved a hand.

"As I said before, I'll be watching over Takeshi, so I probably won't even sleep tonight; the mattress is completely unnecessary."

Randy scowled, but he didn't bother to try to change Nomi's mind, and only nodded.

...

An hour passed since Randy and Howard had turned in to bed. Nomi was meditating, with Takeshi sleeping next to him on his cape.

Sometime ago Nomi had grabbed the MP3 player, and was currently listening to music.

It wasn't until in the middle of a song did the music suddenly stop.

For a while Nomi was confused, and he worried he had broken the gift Randy had given to him, but then quickly realized that the battery had died.

"I suppose all good things must come to an end sometimes,” he muttered before sighing to himself in the semi-silence of the night.

Nomi's ears perked up. He heard loud snoring, and then cat-like purring. He looked down to see what was making the noise when he saw it was only Takeshi. The little demon bird settled onto his lap.

"I guess I should at least take a quick nap. You won't run off and destroy the house again, will you?"

Takeshi chirped in response to Nomi.

"Fine. I'm only giving you one chance. Break my trust, and once we're done fixing the suit, I'm sending you straight back to the orb. Got it?"

Nomi rolled his eyes as the baby Tengu gave a sarcastic sounding chirp.

"G'night."

Then the two fell asleep, Nomi in a sitting position.

....

Randy couldn't sleep. He had woken up at some point in the night, and had laid there for Ninja knows how long. When he heard Nomi whispering, he peered from his bed down at the ground. It was indeed his teacher whispering, but not to himself. He seemed to be speaking to Takeshi.

Randy had only heard the last bits with the conversation ending with a "G'night".

Although it was enlightening to the young ninja, as it meant his teacher had decided to get some sleep, he wasn't happy that his teacher had decided to sleep sitting upright.

With cat-like physique, Randy hopped off his bed and landed onto the ground without making a sound. It was a good thing Randy had been sleeping closest to the ladder of his bed, as it made not disturbing his friends from their sleep extremely easy.

Using his recently learned ability, his nose vision, Randy "smelt" his way through his pitch black room, thankfully, without crashing into anything, and/or bumping into Nomi or Takeshi.

Randy's fingers had barely brushed against the cool metal of his closet doorknob, when a terrible gasping noise startled him. He whipped around fast, using his nose vision, he scanned his room.

He found Takeshi cowering behind his computer chair. The little bird was staring at something towards the right of Randy; he hissed, his little feathers ruffling up defensively.

Following Takeshi's gaze, Randy found Nomi.

The redhead was gasping, wheezing, and having violent coughing fits. His body trembled with terrible spasms as he stood up on quivering legs, eyes wide in terror.

Seeing what he was trying to do, Randy quickly rushed to his aid.

Randy began to panic as Nomi seemed to be having some sort of seizure. He tried to grab hold of his teacher, but before he could, Nomi had slipped away. He was now lost somewhere in his room, staggering about, and crashing into Randy's belongings.

And, in his drunken-like state, he broke the musical device Randy had given to him. Tiny cracking sounds were heard, but Randy didn't care. Whatever it was did not matter to him at the moment. He was too preoccupied with trying to grab Nomi's arm and trying to calm him down.

When he finally grabbed hold of him, Randy tried asking what was wrong,

"Nomi?! Nomi! What the juice is going on?! Nomi!"

His words fell on deaf ears as suddenly, Randy's entire room was filled with flashing green light from Nomi's amulet.

With incredible strength, Nomi shoved Randy away.

As Nomi continued to stumble around, he felt a terrible skull splitting headache, and couldn't even cry out as all the air in his lungs was seemingly non-existent.

This cold, icy touch intruded his mind, searching for something deep inside of him. It was like a giant hand had grabbed something deep within him, and began to yank, trying to tear away whatever it was it was searching for.

What frightened Nomi, besides the fact that it was tapping into each memory of each ninja, more specifically Mac Antfee's memories, was that, how had it even intruded his mind in the first place.

A deep sense of dread began to form in the pit of his stomach.

Could it be the Sorcerer? Had the sinister entity learned of his existence? If so, what else did he know? What else could he know, could take away from his mind? Clearly not the ninja-knowledge he possessed, because why on earth would he be stealing Mac's memories back for then?

These questions began to overwhelm Nomi, and the familiar urge to vomit was strong.

Before Randy could even have a chance to react, a powerful wave of green magic sent him hurtling towards his closet, leaving him in a slight daze.

Recovering quickly from his sudden airborne state, Randy raised his head up towards Nomi, and his eyes widened in both disbelief and awe.

Nomi currently levitated inches from the ground, his hair whipped around him as if he were in the center of a hurricane, his amulet glowed brightly, and his eyes were enveloped in a white light with Nomi’s familial symbol in the center of them, blaring a bright red.

At this point, the whole commotion had awoken Howard with a start, and he watched the whole ordeal from his spot on Randy's bed. He was mesmerized by this display of lights and Nomi who had seemingly caused this strange phenomenon.

Then just as this lightshow started, it ended, and all light vanished...

...including that of Nomi's amulet.

Both Randy and Howard screamed at the sudden blackout.

Too panicked, Randy couldn’t focus enough to use his nose vision, leaving him blind in the darkness of his room, and to stumble and guess where his light switch was.

He felt around the walls with desperation until his fingers brushed against it. Without missing a beat he quickly flicked it on.

Randy had done so in time to see as Nomi's eyes roll to the back of his head before they squeezed shut, then falling to his knees, and fainting.

Within seconds, Randy was at his side.

"N-Nomi? Nomi! Wake up! Dude, this isn't funny!"

All the color had instantly drained from Randy's face as he shook his teacher only for the redhead to remain motionless.

He whimpered, flipping Nomi onto his back, and began to inspect him.

Randy expected Nomi's amulet to be sparse of all light, but was relieved to see that it was glowing; albeit, very dimly. This was a relieving sight to see, however, his relief was short-lived when he noticed a small trickle of blood escape out of Nomi's slightly parted lips.

Randy paled impossibly more, and wondered, what was he supposed to do? If he did do something, could he make it worse?

He was at a loss of what to do, he realized, and usually when he was lost he would have asked the Ninja Nomicon for help, but said magic book wasn't a book.

He, a human, was lying right in front of him, possibly dying, and all Randy was doing was sitting there staring at him.

Randy felt like he was slowly sinking into quicksand, but knew he had to pull himself out of it now, because Nomi needed him.

For better, or for worse, Randy had no choice but to do something, anything, or else Nomi would die.

Closing his eyes tightly, and taking deep breaths, Randy got to work. Rising up to his feet, with a newly ignited sense of determination, Randy sprinted to his bathroom, returning with a towel in hand. With shaky hands Randy began to clean up all the blood, gently rubbing at the corner of Nomi’s lips and his cheeks.

Despite being The Ninja, Randy had never actually seen this much blood, and it frightened him more so knowing that the red liquid belonged to Nomi.

After Randy finished cleaning the blood, he grabbed Nomi by his armpits, and began to drag him carefully towards his loft bed. It wasn't surprising to Randy when he had difficulty trying to get his teacher to his bed. He weighed a lot before, and now being that he was unconscious, he was almost literal death weight.

Breathing heavily, Randy propped Nomi's limp body against his, and called out to Howard for help.

"H-How! Yo! I need your...help-! Grab...h-him by his...armpits!"

Snapping out his daze, Howard quickly reached over, grabbing hold of Nomi's upper body, as Randy swiftly ducked down grabbing his legs.

After minutes of struggling, (and scolding each other for nearly dropping Nomi) Randy and Howard had successfully gotten the unconscious redhead on top of Randy's bed.

Clambering up the steps of his ladder, Randy joined his friends atop his bed. He stared down at Nomi's eerily calm face, before shuddering.

Had he done the right thing? Was this all he could do? If so, would Nomi be okay? Or had he himself, made things immensely worse?

These questions festered in his mind, and all he could do to answer them is whimper fearfully.

All bravery and determination was gone, no longer coursing through his veins. And in its place, fear began to sprout in his heart.

Howard, who sat across from the two, was now unsure of what to say to comfort his best friend. He had been immersed in his own thoughts; mostly about how much Randy was caring for his teacher. It was obvious some sort of relationship had formed, and this left a bitter feeling deep inside of Howard. He was losing the silent battle for Randy, and he was going to allow it.

Or was he? Should he, confess his feelings? Would it change anything? Howard shifted uneasily. He still held a strong fear of rejection, but could he live the rest of his life not knowing the answer?

Glancing at his sad friend, Howard felt that right now was not the best time for that.

Then suddenly, a tiny chirp caught both teens' attentions, as Takeshi hopped up the steps of the ladder.

Reaching his hands out, Howard scooped up the little demon bird into his hands.

It was surprising to Randy, who up until this moment had been despairing, gave him a shaky smile. Takeshi had then noticed Nomi's unconscious state, and his mood instantly dampened.

Noticing his shift of emotions, Howard placed Takeshi onto his head before giving him gentle pats and rubs.

For a long time, nothing more happened. Nomi seemed fine, his amulet starting to glow brighter. No more blood trickled out of his mouth, and his chest rose up and down.

Despite this promising sign, out of impulse, Randy carefully lifted Nomi's head up, and gently slid his amulet off his neck before laying his head down onto his lap. Randy’s finger began to run through Nomi's red locks, rubbing his scalp, his blue eyes training onto the amulet in his hand.

Watching the action in silence, Howard scooted away from them, his jealousy beginning to spike. He watched Nomi with envious eyes, wishing he were him, at least for the moment.

Unknown to these thoughts, Randy kept to himself, and continued running his fingers through Nomi’s hair, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

This was an intense game of waiting that Randy was terrified of losing.

...

Nomi's eyes fluttered open. He quietly peered up at the familiar face hovering above him.

"There, there my son, rest now. You have fever."

He nodded before whimpering out meekly, "Mommy?"

"Hm?"

"My head hurts." His voice cracked as he said this.

To Nomi, the voice that passed through his lips was nearly unrecognizable. This voice was that of a five-year-old’s, not a fifteen-year old who has lived for eight-hundred and a half years. It had sounded so, innocent.

"I know. Your father, your brother, and I will go to the next village to retrieve the medicine in the ‘marrow. So rest my child. Rest."

This scene was unfamiliar to Nomi. This was a memory of long ago when he was a child. His parents and his brother Daiku would in the morning leave him in the care of his Grandfather and his other siblings to go retrieve the medicine for the terrible fever that had nearly killed him. Only his brother would return with the medicine, his mother and father to never again return.

It was among the many terrible memories that would plague his dreams, and yet at the moment, Nomi didn't care.

He relished the feeling of his mother's kind and gentle hands.

He stared up at her, his mother's hair matching his own, and was adorned with lovely cherry blossoms. Her long silky kimono sleeves draped over him, and her honey gold colored eyes stared down at him lovingly. It was so peaceful, and serene.

Nomi's eyes began to water both from the dull pain in his head, and the pain he felt in his heart. He missed his family so much, and all Nomi wished for was to wrap his arms around them one more time.

The lovely woman gently wiped the tears away.

"Do not cry. I promise you shall be better soon."

Then she began to sing.

"Time to sleep, time to lie down.

Sleep peacefully, good night. Time to sleep, time to lie down.

Let this child grow up to be a gentle person.

Thank you God, thank you for angels. Good night, sleep in silent peace."

The little lullaby had lulled Nomi back to a sleep he hadn't actually woken from.

...

It was small, but it was there, it had happened. Randy had felt the tiny movement of Nomi's body twitch. Still, this small action brought a great ray of hope, as Randy watched with teary and anxious eyes. He prayed that, at any given moment, Nomi's eyes would open, and he would be met with familiar chestnut brown eyes.

The unconscious redhead didn't disappoint. His hands twitched, his fingers flexed, and his lips closed together into a tight line.

This had been enough to alert them all. They watched as Nomi's face contorted into pain, before he began to sit up. He groaned, as his eyes finally opened to revealing how exhausted he was.

Before Nomi could even begin to process where he was, what had happened to him, he found himself being smooched in between two teens and a baby demon bird, and was met with a laugh.

Nomi had quickly found that the relieved and exasperated laugh had belonged to Randy.

Said teen, had tears streaming down his face.

Acknowledging these strong emotions, had left a calm veil upon Nomi's mind, and he didn't think twice on wrapping his arms around the two teens, along with Takeshi who had hopped onto his shoulder and nuzzled him.

After quickly composing themselves, questions were shot from left to right. Some of which, Nomi didn't know how to answer. How could he? He himself was trying to figure out what this all meant, what it could mean for all of Norrisville.

With the Sorcerer obviously now aware of his existence, not only was Nomi's life now possibly in danger (or that of the people's lives of Norrisville), but his and the ninja's identities could now be compromised.

Especially, since Mac Antfee's memories were no doubt restored. He was possibly an even greater threat towards Randy, who of course, was the current ninja. Mac knew not just the identity of the ninja, but was aware of Nomi's own existence as well.

Nomi’s heart began to beat sporadically, fear wrapped itself around him, and it surprised Nomi that when he spoke up his voice didn’t crack or break.

"You see Randy, I have no clue as to what the Sorcerer could want with Mac Antfee, what he's planning; if he's even planning anything with McFist. And the fact that the bastard knows I'm alive..."

Nomi trailed off. He frowned at himself, then glanced to see Randy's reaction to all the information he had given him, and thankfully it seemed Randy had understood the gravity of their situation (at least Nomi hoped so) before he continued.

"The Sorcerer will be out for my blood, after the ninja knowledge I possess, and if he succeeds in getting the knowledge, he will most likely kill me."

"And he might send Mac Antfee after me, and try to take the ninja mask too, huh?"

Nomi nodded, a bitter sigh leaving his lips.

"Yes, but we'll be prepared."

Howard shuddered at this new information, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Quickly cutting into their conversation, Howard yawned loudly, ”Can we talk about how royally cheesed you guys are tomorrow? I’m honking tired.”

Randy chuckled before nodding.

”Sorry Big H. Uh, me and Nomi are just going to clean my room up, then we’ll head downstairs, and let you sleep.”

It was clear with everything that happened, Nomi wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon tonight. Plus, Randy wanted some sort of excuse to not go to sleep.

Howard hesitated, but gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.

”Whatever you say dude, but I’m going to sleep.”

He buried himself deep into the sheets and turned away from Randy and Nomi.

Quietly going down the ladder, Randy and Nomi took in the scene before them. Randy’s room was an even bigger mess than it was before, and Nomi couldn’t help but wince at the realization that he had helped make his room messier.

He gingerly picked up Randy’s fallen lamp, plugged it in and flicked it on.

Not missing a beat, Randy walked to his room’s main light and flicked it off. The room was immediately lit up by a soft honey glow.

Limping to his black gym bag, Nomi dug around for the two halves of his bamboo flute, and took them into his hands. He studied them for a moment, before taking the broken pieces, and putting them together. Like tiny hands, the magical flute began to mend itself back together, and it wasn’t long before it was back to its old self.

Randy watched in awe, and murmured under his breath,”Super Bruce!”

That caused the redhead to glance up at him and smile.

As Randy began making his way towards his teacher, he stepped on something. Looking down to see what he had crushed, he found he had stepped on the already broken MP3 player. Nomi’s heart sank when he saw Randy pick up the broken device in his hands, because it was a gift Randy had given to him, and he all the same broke it. He watched Randy toss the now useless device.

After that, they worked into the twilight of the new day cleaning Randy’s room, and spoke in hushed whispers. It hadn’t gone amiss to Randy that Nomi was upset about the MP3 player, and decided to try cheering him up.

He smiled, and placed a hand on Nomi’s shoulder.

”Hey, it’s alright dude, I’m not mad or anything. I can ask my mom to get you a new one.”

Nomi shook his head, though he was grateful for the suggestion, it would be wrong to accept such an offer.

“Thank you Randy, but I don’t need a MP3 player. It isn’t a necessity, and I don’t want your mother spending money on someone other than you.”

Randy pouted, but said nothing more to convince the redhead to take up his offer, so he only nodded. However, he made a note to speak to his mother about this later.

The two returned to their work, saying nothing more to each other, and it wasn’t long before the room was so clean you could (for once) see the floor again.

Randy smirked at this.

”Hah, if my mum came in here right now, she’d have a heart attack from how clean my room is!”

Nomi’s eyes widened before he grabbed Randy’s sweater, and tossed it in the middle of the room.

Seeing this, Randy stifled a laugh that was threatening to escape him. He placed a hand on Nomi’s shoulder again.

“D-Dude...it’s a figure...of...speech—!”

Randy slapped a hand across his mouth, as more laughter tried to leave his lips.

Nomi’s face turned bright red in embarrassment.

“O-oh. I um, ahem, I see.”

Randy snickered.

”Heh, well let’s go talk downstairs. We don’t want to wake up How.”

…

As they seated themselves upon the plush black couch, Randy spoke up again.

“So Nomi, when’s your birthday?”

Nomi quirked a brow, giving him an ’are you serious’ look.

He snorted, ”Randy, I know what you’re thinking, and I’m not telling you my birth date.”

Randy grinned impishly.

”I don’t know what the juice you’re talking about! I’m just curious. Now, when’s your birthday dude?”

Sighing in defeat, Nomi closed his eyes, and hummed to himself.

”I’m not sure about the date, but I was born on the day of the Summer Carp Festival.”

“Whoa really?!”

“Yeah.”

“Dude that’s so Bruce!”

Nomi smiled.

”I suppose it’s rather interesting, but it isn’t really important. We still have a duty, and—”

“What?! Dude, it’s your honking birthday! Yea, I know we have a duty to protect Norrisville, but your birthday is just as important! Isn’t that something to celebrate? Plus it’s only one day, and it won’t kill you to have a little fun, will it?”

“Randy I’ve lived about eight hundred years without celebrating my birthday. I’m sure I can go another eight hundred years without.”

“But—!”

Nomi turned to Randy with a serious gaze that said ‘drop it’.

Randy’s shoulders sagged, his gaze fell, and he quickly decided to change the subject.

“Uh, err—hey Nomi, can I ask something else?”

For a moment, Nomi was hesitant, but then simply gave in, and nodded silently.

“Remember when I had that crazy dream about your final battle with the Sorcerer?”

“Mmhm.”

“Well, how the juice did I do that?”

Nomi paused briefly, trying to figure out the right words on how to explain this phenomenon without getting Randy too confused.

“You see Randy…as the current ninja, you can access the Ninja Nomicon with complete ease. Which also means, you can also very easily tap into my memories, though, I don’t think I’ve ever had a ninja gain such an ability until they’re junior level ninjas.”

“Whoa, that is straight up the cheese!”

“Yes, and it also means you’re doing a good job in your training.”

Randy grinned, and puffed out his chest, striking a superhero pose.

Nomi rolled his eyes.

”A ninja mustn't let pride get the better of him. Now, is there anything else you want to know?”

De-puffing his chest, Randy quickly turned back to Nomi.

”Actually, yeah, there is. You mentioned an evil ninja who wonked up the Ten-err Takeshi? I want to know about him.”

Nomi knitted his brows in thought. The story was a long one, and it was more complicated than anyone would ever imagine; he decidedly shortened it.

“Well...His name was Yashiro Nasir. He was a ninja during the 1800’s. He believed he could ‘train’ the Tengu into a weapon, but instead tainted its heart.”

Randy frowned softly. He had expected some long intricate story with life lessons and all that cheese, but had instead, received cecite bit of information.

“Is that really it?’

“No, but it’s far too long to tell in one night.”

“Can you at least tell me something else? I mean, I just expected some super Bruce—not that that wasn’t the cheese, just that—”

Nomi chuckled before nodding.

”Okay, I’ll tell you something else. I once gotten possessed by the Tengu when I was a small child.”

“What?! No honking way!”

“Yes honking way.”

“Whoa.”

“Is that Bruce enough for you?”

Randy rubbed his neck, a sheepish grin on his face.

”Heh, yea.”

Nomi smiled, his eyes half lidded. But then suddenly seemed unsure of something.

“Hey Randy? Is it okay if I asked you a question? After all, I’ve answered yours?”

This surprised Randy greatly, (and intrigued him) that an eight-hundred-year old being wanted to know something from him, and what could he want to know exactly was a mystery.

“Uh, yeah dude, go ahead, shoot!”

“I’m just curious, where’s your father?”

Instantly Randy’s gaze lowered, his eyes darkening with an unknown hatred.

This greatly surprised Nomi, who had thought he’d never see such an expression on his student.

He instantly regretted asking.

“Randy?”

“H-huh? Oh, him...he uh, h-he left. He left me and my mom when I was just a kid. I never really got to know the guy.”

Randy shrugged, his scowl deepening. He despised his father more than anything. Maybe even more than the Sorcerer.

Nomi noticed Randy’s mood change, and felt his own temper spike. Who, in all things wonderful and amazing, would leave (without so much as a second thought) Randy, if he, an eight hundred-year-old being, wanted nothing more than to stay. Nomi bit the inside of his cheek till he tasted blood, and finally noticed that while he had been brooding with himself Randy had been silent.

Suddenly, Nomi felt terrible for making these unhappy memories and emotions resurface.

“My apologies, Randy. I shouldn’t have asked such a personal question—”

“No, no it’s alright dude.” Randy grinned. ”Besides, we’re friends, it’s cool.”

Nomi’s brows knitted together, but all he could say was, ”If you say so.”

Randy turned away as he suddenly yawned.

”I’m pretty honking tired dude. We should...probably get some sleep.”

“It is rather late. I suppose we should turn in for the night.”

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 11 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 10: Takeshi

(A few days back...)

BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEEP!

Ruby let out a deep sigh. It was the usual business for her: faxing paper after paper for hours straight. It was beginning to get on her nerves

Just as she considered taking her break, a familiar face popped through her office door.

"Hello Ruby. Hope I didn't come in at the wrong time."

Ruby smiled. “No, not at all, Mr. Weinerman."

The tall portly man let out a bellowing laugh as he squeezed his way into the room, his enormous head nearly touching the ceiling.

"Well, I just came in to tell you we're having a meeting in ten minutes."

Ruby perked up at this. It was rare to have meetings at night unless they were extremely important.

"Oh! I'll be there soon sir. I'll just finish faxing these last couple of papers Viceroy set me."

Mr. Weinerman chuckled. "Well don't work yourself to death. Viceroy told me you haven't been feeling too well."

The southern man perked a brow and gave Ruby a look. She rubbed her arm, a sheepish smile etching itself upon her face.

"It's nothing really, just stress. I'm fine. Honest, Sir."

A large grin plastered itself upon Mr. Weinerman's face and he nodded.

"All right girly, but remember, if you really aren't feeling too well, tell me, all right? I'll send you home on a short vacation. You've always been a hard worker. You deserve a break once in a while."

"Thank you, Sir."

Mr. Weinerman shook his head, his bright blue eyes filled with a sort of fatherly fondness. "Good. Remember, the meeting is in ten."

"Yes, Sir."

As soon as the tall figure of Mr. Weinerman was out of the room, Ruby finally seated herself again. She eyed the papers with a slight hint of annoyance, and instead of faxing them, she decided to daydream.

Ruby had been more than relieved to know that Mr. Weinerman was no longer sick and had taken charge of the night shift instead of McFist. However, Viceroy had also decided to stay late this very night.

A small scowl found itself on her face before her face was calm again. She briefly wondered if things between her son and his teacher were okay, whatever tension there was, hopefully resolved.

Shaking her head, Ruby thought of Mr. Weinerman. The man was like a young version of Santa Claus. He even had a personality that fit the fictional man. His thick southern accent was the only major difference between the two. He was as tall as a bear, he had large hairy forearms, very light blonde hair, and the lightest blue eyes Ruby had ever seen. He even had a bushy beard and mustache.

Ruby smiled to herself as she thought of the older man. If it weren't for him and Mrs. Weinerman, surely she and Randy wouldn't be where they were today.

As Ruby continued to think about her past, a light rap on her office's door frame startled her. Turning her head towards where the noise resounded from, Ruby almost scowled when she saw it was Viceroy.

"Sorry if I startled you Ruby, but I came to tell you that you were going to be late to the meeting."

"Oh, sorry. I guess I lost track of time."

Ms. Cunningham left her office and followed Viceroy down the familiar long corridor. She took a quick glance at the large viewing room before looking back in front of her. They paused and entered an even larger room. Ruby could see a large table in the center of the room where many other employees were already seated.

Sadly, there were only two seats left...and they were right next to each other...

Ruby frowned.

Victory began to babble on, but Ruby paid no heed to him, and instead turned her attention to Mr. Weinerman, who stood at the front of the room, bearing his usual jolly grin.

"Well I know this is certainly out of the norm, but this meeting is important to us all." Mr. Weinerman paused. His gaze hardened as the employees spoke amongst each other before resuming. "If you haven't heard, the annual Summer Carp Festival and Ball are coming up. McFist and I will be hosting it this year. We want to impress our business allies..."

Ruby zoned out. She had heard of the Summer Carp Ball, and it was the usual buzz every year. It was just a bunch of rich people dining on fine h'orderves and drinking the strongest alcohol McFist could get his hands on. It was supposed to be a ball with dancing, but they barely lifted a foot at all. Though the ball wasn't all that great, the festival was certainly the gem of the evening as the streets were filled with booths of all kinds. Beautiful decor covered the main streets of Norrisville, carp themed respectively.

The festival itself was tradition dating back nearly one thousand years ago, with the ball as a recently added addition. Back when Ruby was a freshman, she had actually met Randy's father at the festival. It was certainly a bittersweet memory to her now, though.

Ruby snapped out of her reverie when she felt Viceroy rise from his seat. He stood, walked to the front of the room, and stood next Mr. Weinerman's taller form.

"This year McFist wants us employees to attend the ball. He also encourages all to bring their families."

With that Viceroy pulled out beautiful carp invitations to the ball itself. Ruby groaned while the rest of her coworkers let out whoops and cheers. With the meeting coming to an end, she walked back to her office, and not even a minute later Viceroy poked his head into her office and quickly stepped in.

"Hello again Ruby. Are you going to the SCB?"

Ruby thought for a moment, but shrugged. "I'm not sure. I have my son and his friend to take care of—"

"Well you can take your family, remember?"

"Oh, well, I suppose you're right..."

For a moment, they both stayed silent. Ruby’s skin prickled and crawled the longer Viceroy stood in front of her. A second later he spoke up again.

"Ruby, I know this may be inappropriate to ask, but...I was wondering, hoping that you would maybe, be my date to the ball? I'm sure your son and his friend would enjoy themselves at the festival, and—"

"I'm sorry Viceroy, but it is inappropriate."

Ruby's discomfort began to grow, and it became evident to Viceroy. The mad scientist scratched the back of his head.

"No, it's fine, I understand. Ruby, I'm sorry, but did I say or do something wro—"

"No. I just want to be with my son for once, Viceroy. Nothing personal. Now if you excuse me, I need to finish faxing these papers."

Taking this as a dismissal, Viceroy left the room without another word.

Glaring at the papers in front of her, Ruby grabbed a thick folder from the pile. She tore it open, pulled out a thick packet, and began to read it.

The title of the paper was "SCF/B Plans". As Ruby read through it, she nearly dropped the entire packet. She covered her mouth in shock.

What was inside was horrible.

Shoving back the packet of paper inside the folder quickly, Ruby stuffed it into her suitcase. Checking her phone's clock she was relieved to know that it was time to go home again.

As soon as she got home, she found the house silent, and Randy sleeping while Nomi was in his book form (she wasn't sure if he was asleep or not). Ruby furrowed her brows worriedly.

“I guess things didn’t go too well,” she thought to herself before leaving Randy's room.

The purple haired woman glanced at her suitcase. Maybe she should keep this to herself, at least until things died down a little. So for now, she'd do her own snooping around. Nodding to herself, Ruby turned in to her own room.

At least this job was good for something.

....

(Present)

Randy, Nomi, and Howard, shuffled around the dark halls of the empty school. Their only light source was Nomi's amulet, which lit at least five feet of the hallway in front of them.

They were relieved when they were finally by the main entrance of the school, and for a moment theology relished in the light provided by the moon and stars. Briskly climbing out of the same window they used to break in, Nomi lead them through the hauntingly empty and quiet streets of Norrisville.

His long cape flowed behind him, with a sense of quiet resolution. His eyes were hidden beneath the mask, but Randy caught a few glimpses of Nomi's brown eyes. His ninja-like suit blended into the shadows of the night, his ghostly appearance making goosebumps erupt all over Randy's body. Or was that just the cold air?

Randy shivered. The cold was starting to get to him. However, that wasn't what Randy was really worried about. His suit—its abilities were obviously weakened, and it made Randy feel all the more vulnerable. Would it stir trouble for him during an extremely dangerous battle? The stray robots and monsters weren't challenging to defeat, but what if he had an unexpected battle with the Sorcerer?

Ever since he had crossed Nomi's line, Randy didn't ask questions, he simply followed his teacher's instructions. Things were pretty awkward between them at the moment.

Randy shook his head when he felt another cool wind smack him, reminding him why he was even thinking of the suit in the first place, and he returned to his vain attempts to stay warm. He shivered again, and rubbed his arms vigorously.

Casting a small glance, Nomi noticed his student's discomfort. He paused in his walking, and began to rack his brain for what he should do. Coming to a decision, Nomi silently slipped his cape off his shoulders.

Truthfully, Nomi wasn't all that surprised by the suit's weakened abilities, or its inability to protect Randy from the abnormally cool summer night. Nomi and the suit were mentally connected by the amulet, and this gave the suit life. In other words, the suit could feel, both emotionally and physically.

Randy, who had been staring at the cement for the last couple of seconds, felt someone's gaze upon him. Lifting his head up, he was surprised to see Nomi standing in front of him.

Randy gave an involuntary shudder as Nomi outstretched his hand. In his hand, he held his cape. Randy's blue eyes flickered up to Nomi's, and though he couldn't exactly see them, he felt Nomi staring back at him.

With slight hesitance, Randy gently grasped the cape and breathed out a “thanks". He silently slipped on the cape, and almost instantly felt himself warm up. Nomi's body heat was still there, and Randy was grateful.

The cape now flowing gracefully behind him, Randy began to study the 'scroll' part of the cape. The images changed, from beautiful natural backgrounds, to spectacular images of mystical creatures, to images of paper cut outs of ancient warriors.

Nomi nodded to himself before continuing to lead them through the silent neighborhood.

Howard hadn't been paying any attention to the two, and hadn't witnessed what had just transpired moments ago. He was more than content with himself and the egg. He was, however, confused as to how he knew what to do to stop the egg from moving, but at the same time didn't really question it or really care.

Nomi wasn’t surprised that Howard had known what to do with the egg. Howard didn't know it, but he was connected to the Tengu. He had been since the day it had possessed him. Nomi knew first hand the side effects of being possessed by the Tengu, and it seemed that this was the case with Howard.

Then again, Nomi sometimes misjudged Howard's intentions.

Howard truly was more complex, and there was a deeper side of him. There were times where he was a despicable asshole, but other times he proved to truly care for others, just in his own special way.

Aside from Nomi's thoughts on Howard, the pudgy teen himself glanced at Randy and Nomi. He noticed something off about Cunningham and the shoob of a book.

As if on queue, both Randy looked up, and Nomi peered over his shoulder. The two caught each other's glances, and immediately turned away.

Howard raised a curious brow at this. How had he not noticed this earlier? It was pretty damn obvious something was up, but what exactly was the question.

Howard was more than correct. Nomi had begun to train Randy more vigorously as soon as he was able to fight again. He even taught him the hydro hand, as well as helping him finally master stealth, and many other powerful moves. It gave Randy fewer chances to question Nomi into telling him what had happened between them days ago.

After what felt like forever, the three had arrived at Randy's home. They more than welcomed the warmth of the house and the faint scent of cinnamon and maple syrup.

Randy had been more than relieved his mother hadn't arrived home yet. He would have been royally cheesed if she had.

When Randy and Howard finished raiding the fridge, they scurried upstairs. As soon as they were upstairs they peeled off their disguises, and Nomi, much to Howard's dismay, took the egg in his hands. He searched the room to see where Randy had tossed his cape. The egg had instantly come to life and tried to escape from Nomi's hands, but he kept a firm hold on it. Finally, his brown eyes landed on his cape which was laid atop Randy's computer chair.

"Randy, please bring me my cape."

Obliging to his teacher's words, Randy wordlessly went over to his computer chair and grabbed the cape before making his way back to Nomi.

"Good. Now roll it into a ball and make it into a nest."

With Howard's help, they made a makeshift nest for the egg. Nomi quickly inspected it then gave an approving nod. He frowned as the egg continued to struggle.

"Takeshi."

Almost instantly the egg ceased all movement as if recognizing Nomi's voice. Nomi chuckled softly at this, his slightly stern gaze softened and he stared at the egg lovingly. He gently placed the egg in the center of the nest.

The tender moment was interrupted when Howard spoke up.

"Now what? When's it going to hatch?"

"Soon."

It hadn't been long before Randy and Howard had lost interest of the egg, and begun to play video games. Nomi looked at Randy disapprovingly.

"Randy, you're not supposed to play video games, your mother told you not to. If she finds out about this, she'll be very upset."

Before Randy could answer, Howard spoke up heatedly.

"Yeah, but not unless you tell her."

He narrowed his eyes accusingly at Nomi, who in turn scoffed at him before turning towards Randy.

Randy simply shrugged, before continuing his current game with Howard. Nomi's eyes widened at this, but he shook his head. He gave a small huff before returning back to the Tengu egg.

From time to time, Nomi would look over at Howard and Randy as they enjoyed themselves with whatever game they were playing. He hated to admit it, but Nomi felt a little hurt that Randy had simply shrugged him off. Maybe a little more than he should.

After another ten or so minutes, Nomi finally had had enough of Randy's disobedience. He stood up from his spot, marched towards the TV, reached for the plug, and yanked it out.

"N-Nomi! That was so anti-Bruce!"

"Baka! Your mother said you couldn't play video games! You shouldn't disobey your mother!"

"But Nomi, my mom's not here! Come on, I just want to have some fun with Howard—"

"No Randy, listen to me! You could get into more trouble than you already are in! It's best not to take anymore risks—"

"You know what? Stop shoobing things up you stupid book!"

Both Randy and Nomi instantly stopped talking and turned to Howard. Nomi's gaze instantly darkened as Howard rose to his feet.

Randy felt himself begin to shrink as a nasty fight began to spark.

"Randy has responsibilities he needs to follow, and you obviously encourage him to take the wrong path. As the ninja, Randy must sacrifice a lot of things for the sake of others, whether he or you like it or not."

"So what?! You did a pretty shitty job at being the stupid ninja! Your entire family was fucking killed. How the hell do I know you won't let Cunningham get killed?!"

As soon as the words were uttered, not even a second later, they heard a feral growl. Neither Randy nor Howard could register it fast enough. Nomi tackled Howard and with brute strength slammed him to the ground. Howard tried in vain to fight back, push Nomi off, but nothing worked. Nomi's grip was like iron, unyielding.

Randy stood stock still. He and Howard stared wide eyed and fearful at Nomi. Nomi's brown eyes filled with hot tears that threatened to spill over, and he snarled every word he spoke.

"Don't you dare speak to me about my family in that way! My family's death is always on my mind. Every day, every miserable day, I mourn for them! Not a single day goes by without me blaming myself for their deaths, for my greatest failure. And, I care whether or not Randy will survive the oncoming battle. I train him so he could be prepared in case I fail again. I do fear of losing him, and that fear grows more and more as the final battle between him and I against McFist and the Sorcerer draws nearer and nearer." Nomi paused as he took deep shallow breaths. "You can insult me, call me stupid names, but if you drag my family into any little hissy fit of yours, or dare even utter the words that I would simply let Randy get killed, I will beat you to a bloody pulp."

Without even thinking twice, Nomi raised a fist and brought it down hard on Howard's face, giving him a bloody nose.

As Nomi glared at Howard, the tears he been trying so hard to keep from spilling over began to fall, but he simply wiped them away. He stood up, and turned to Randy, his gaze softening, but only slightly.

"Randy, don't disobey your mother. I'm only saying this for your own good. And I'm only telling you this once."

Nomi walked back over to the nest under Randy’s loft bed and began to meditate.

Staggering to his feet shakily, Howard walked to Randy's bathroom in shame, like a dog with its tail in between its legs.

Randy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. He looked over at the bathroom door, then at Nomi's back. Nomi could feel his gaze, but he ignored it. He felt too much raw anger in his system, and he wasn't too confident in himself to not take it out on anyone at the moment. Letting out a shaky sigh, he squeezed his eyes shut, taking deep breaths in order to calm himself.

Randy upon further thought, decided on the lesser of the two demons, and made his way to his bathroom. When he entered the bathroom, Randy found bloody toilet paper all over the place with Howard trying to stop his bloody nose by shoving up pieces of toilet paper up his nose.

"Fuck, I can't stop bleeding..." His voice was nasally, and Randy couldn't help but snicker at this. "Shut up!"

Randy rolled his eyes playfully. "Why'd you have to act like such a dick, dude?"

"Hey, he was being a major chowder head! Your mom wasn't even going to—"

"Big H, that was so not the cheese."

"So you're taking the book's side?"

"No dumbass. I'm not taking anyone's side, okay?"

"Whatever."

"Duuude," Randy whined, his voice holding exasperation.

"He started it," Howard grumbled.

"You continued it. Just say sorry or something."

For a while, Howard glared stubbornly at Randy's bathroom mirror before sighing in defeat.

"Alright, I guess I was being a chowder head too. And...I guess, I could say sorry."

Randy smiled at this, relieved that for once Howard actually listened to him. Quickly, Randy helped Howard with his nose, using up an entire roll of toilet paper.

"Uh, let me talk to Nomi first though, see how he's doing."

Howard nodded in agreement, and as he thought of the possibly murderously angry redhead, he shuddered. The book was really scary, and dangerously temperamental when it came to his family. Howard should have known better than to hit such a raw nerve.

Walking over to where Nomi sat, Randy cleared his throat to indicate his presence, and sat across from him. He mimicked Nomi, and began to meditate along with him.

"Hey uh, N-Nomi?"

"Hm?"

Randy stared down at his lap then at the egg. He didn't know what to say, but thankfully he didn't have to say anything. Nomi sighed deeply, and Randy looked up at him.

"I-I'm sorry I lost my temper." Nomi's expression was sober, and he looked emotionally drained.

Randy scooted a little closer to Nomi.

"Hey, I know Howard shouldn't have said that, and he's really sorry. It's just, we don't get to hang out a lot anymore. I-I mean, ninja duty is really important and stuff, but he's my bro."

"I'm not completely upset about what Howard said, Randy. I'm disappointed and hurt that you chose to disobey not just your mother, but me. Am I not your friend as well?"

There was a hint of hurt in Nomi's voice, which surprised both teens.

Randy felt guilt well up inside him, and he paused to think about his current situation, and came to only one conclusion.

He wrapped his lanky arms around Nomi.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. You're my friend too Nomi. You're really important to me."

Nomi shook his head, and didn't hesitate to bury his face into Randy's neck.

"I'm sorry as well. I suppose my actions were...a little irrational. I just really care about you Randy. I really do. You're...important to me too."

The feeling of Nomi's calloused lips and warm breath sent shivers up and down Randy's spine, but he ignored the foreign sensation. They pulled away, and stared at each other. Blue met brown, and the strange feeling from before returned.

Randy swallowed dryly. He tried to ignore the feeling and spoke up.

"H-hey Nomi?"

"Yes?"

Randy stared down at his lap again. His cheeks felt hot. "Um, a few days back..." Randy winced, his voice was shaky, and it was cracking.

"Randy I told you it’s fine. I'm not mad."

"N-no, I wasn't going to ask about that. It's just, I-I wanted to do something, but I uh, you...um..." Randy felt his face heat up completely, and he chickened out. "N-never mind."

Before Nomi could question Randy, the sound of the toilet flushing interrupted them as Howard stumbled clumsily out of Randy's bathroom.

"You might not want to go in there for a while."

Both Randy and Nomi looked at each other, then at Howard, and wrinkled their noses.

"Aw that is shnasty dude!"

Howard snorted and walked over to the two, but paused when he saw Nomi glaring at him. He rubbed his neck uneasily and sat himself by Randy.

"Is the book still mad?"

Nomi frowned at the word ‘book’. The nickname made him uncomfortable.

"Say sorry." As Randy said this, he looked at Nomi. "You too Nomi, for socking Howard."

Both teens seemed surprised by this proposition, and with defeated gazes, and through gritted teeth, the two muttered their apologies.

"My apologies."

"Sorry dude."

For a brief couple of minutes there was an awkward silence, but then Randy spoke up, not liking the silence that filled the room.

"So when is it going to hatch, Nomi?"

Giving a slight shrug of his shoulders, Nomi said quietly, "I don't know. Takeshi likes to take his time."

"The Tengu's name is Takeshi?" asked Howard.

Nomi nodded. "It was a name given to him by a past ninja, and the name sort of...stuck, I guess you could say."

"Cool."

Randy smiled a little to himself. The fact that Nomi and Howard were at least trying not to kill each other filled him with joy. Nomi had showed he was starting to accept Howard after the whole Mac Antfee and McStacle incidents. Now Randy hoped Howard would start doing the same.

....

After an exhausting day at work, Ruby had mustered up the strength to drive herself to the little diner at the corner of her work, and was more than eager to get something to eat before driving back home.

As Ruby seated herself by the counter, and felt someone else take a seat next to her. Looking up from her menu, she frowned when she saw it was Viceroy before returning to her menu.

Minutes ticked by, and it surprised Ruby that the man who sat next to her, hadn't uttered a single word to her. Did Viceroy finally understand that she was not comfortable with him around? That his very presence sent every hair on her body standing on end?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Stacy the waitress appeared in front of her.

"Hey there Ms. Cunningham. What would you like for the evening?"

"Uh, just a burger and a salad."

"And a cup of water, right?"

Ruby nodded, as Stacy wrote the order down in her tiny little notebook. "Alright, that'll be $7.25."

Ruby had grabbed her purse. She began to sort through her tiny purse, but when she finally had the correct amount of money Stacy already had some crumpled dollars in her hand. The dark haired woman counted the money in her hands, nodded, and then walked away.

Looking to her right, Ruby looked over to Viceroy. The dark skinned man looked as though he hadn't moved a muscle, his eyes moving across his own menu, and this confused Ruby. She looked around her to see if anyone else in the room could have paid for her food, but the only other person besides Ruby and Viceroy, were Stacy and the cooks themselves.

"Sorry, it's a habit."

Nearly leaping out of her skin, Ruby looked back towards Viceroy. He smiled at her. His eyes were sad, yet somehow held playfulness to them. Ruby didn't return this look and simply murmured, "It's fine."

Minutes ticked by before Stacy returned with Ruby's late night dinner, and finally took Viceroy's order. Happily digging into her food, Ruby suddenly paused when a familiar song played from the old radio that sat in front of her.

She instantly recognized the song that played. It was an old song she used to hear when she had been a teen. If she recalled correctly, it was called, "Dream a Little Dream of Me."

She smiled and began to hum and nod along with it.

"You know this song?"

Ruby froze, her cheeks turning a bright red. Had she really been that into the song? Despite herself she nodded.

"Yeah."

That was the last word Ruby had said to Viceroy, before she finished her meal and left the little diner. She could feel Viceroy's eyes staring at her with a pang of sadness.

.....

Upon arriving home, Ruby was met by Randy, Nomi, and Howard. They had quickly briefed her in about the Tengu, and begged her to allow them to keep the Tengu. After convincing Ms. Cunningham, Howard had to go home, leaving Randy, his mother, and Nomi to tend to the egg.

As Randy lay on the couch wrapped tightly in a blanket, he watched Nomi and the egg intently. It was quite a curious spectacle to see such a calm and tender gaze on Nomi's face. Nomi was usually serious, and he mostly held a stern look. This different look was a nice change from his scowls and frowns.

Sighing contently, Randy turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling of the living room. He could hear his mother rummaging around in the kitchen, obviously looking for something to feed him and Nomi.

Randy frowned, then suddenly sat up, grabbing his blanket, before sitting next to Nomi who sat on the carpet floor.

Nomi raised a brow at Randy's actions.

"Randy, go to sleep."

"Nope."

They stayed quiet again, that is, until Nomi suddenly let out a long yawn.

"Maybe you should go to sleep," said Randy.

"I can go weeks without it Randy."

For a brief couple of seconds a silence engulfed them.

"Hey Nomi? Do you think I can do it?"

"Do what?"

"Fight the Sorcerer, and win..."

Nomi paused in thought, then chuckled softly. "Of course you can Randy. I believe in you."

Cutting into their conversation quickly, Ms. Cunningham spoke up.

"Hey your dinner's ready. I uh, hope you guys don't mind eating PB & J's for dinner. I'll watch the egg while you guys eat."

The mention of the Sorcerer made her skin feel prickly and her throat dry.

The two teens rose to their feet and made their way to the counter where their sandwiches laid. The two sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying their meals.

Ruby furrowed her brows. She watched them with concern filled eyes from her spot by the nest. Things appeared fine now, but still, she couldn't help but worry.

As soon as the two finished their dinner, they relieved Ms. Cunningham from her egg watching duties.

"Since you're not going to sleep, and I'm not going to sleep..." Randy threw his blanket around their shoulders.

Nomi laughed breathlessly. "Fair enough."

Randy gave him a lopsided grin then turned back to the Tengu egg. He wasn't actually staring at it or really anything in particular. He furrowed his brows in deep thought.

Since he was in middle school, Randy had always questioned his sexuality. It became evident that he was most certainly not straight, but at the same time he wasn't too convinced he was gay either. He was very confused. He knew a hot girl when he saw one, but he also knew a handsome guy when he saw one.

Why was it so hard to find the answer to his problem? Which gender did he feel more attracted to?

Chancing a quick glance, Randy looked over at Nomi. The soft golden light from the kitchen casted brilliant shadows across the redhead's face, emphasizing his facial features. His brown eyes looked black as they stared wistfully at the egg in front of them.

Randy's heart skipped a beat, and he felt his cheeks reddening. He liked Nomi, maybe even loved him, but at the same time he was so unsure and afraid. When he had tried leaning forward to...kiss Nomi, the redhead had turned away, and it made Randy afraid to admit his feelings to him.

Randy had mixed emotions. When Nomi had denied his attempted kiss in silence, it was painful. He was disheartened, hurt, and he couldn't explain it. It was like a strange empty ache in his chest, like he could physically feel the pain he felt in his heart.

The thought of Nomi sent whirlwinds of emotions through his mind, and Randy could go on forever describing each emotion. However, there was one emotion that rose above all others.

Love.

Randy loved Nomi's fiery red hair, his chestnut brown eyes, his smile. The fact that he could totally kick anyone's ass, that he was the Brucest teacher ever, and not to mention his personality. He was caring, selfless, he was brave, strong, fierce, filled with hope, definitely smart, and that was just the things he could list off the top of his head.

Yes, there it was, the answer Randy had been needing to hear. Gender wasn't what mattered most to him, it was personality. Sure looks were good too, but it was nice to be around someone you enjoy being around, right?

Grinning boyishly to himself, Randy had caught Nomi's attention.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Heh, nothing dude."

Nomi didn't persist, but smiled tiredly. Randy let out a yawn before he rested his head on Nomi's shoulder, giving him a light nuzzle.

"You mind dude?"

Nomi rolled his eyes. “If it means you'll go to sleep, then no, go right ahead."

Randy smiled then murmured," G'night dude."

"Goodnight."

...

Once again, morning had come with its bright rays of light cutting through the windows of the Cunningham household. Ms. Cunningham had come into the living room, and wasn't surprised to find Randy and Nomi still asleep, however, she was surprised to find them in a sort of cuddling position.

Ruby smirked as she stifled a giggle. She gave a small knowing smile before making her way to the kitchen to prepare them breakfast. She was stuck in night shift again, which made her uneasy, but at the least she would be able to see her son during the day.

The smells of breakfast woke Randy and Nomi, who shot up faster than bullets to the counter. They ate their breakfasts as quickly as possible before leaving to train in the small forest, leaving Ms. Cunningham to watch the unhatched Tengu.

...

As the two entered the forest, they quickly changed out of their casual clothing. Randy slipped on the suit and welcomed the feeling of the familiar black and red ribbons wrapping around his body like a second skin. When his transformation was complete, and he was the ninja, he was more than surprised to see Nomi, in his usual ninja getup, slipping on the hand made Tengu mask.

As Randy watched, intrigued and touched, Nomi pulled out his bamboo flute. He placed his hands on one end of the flute as he extended it before he brought it down on his knee, snapping it in half. Holding the two pieces in his hand, Nomi quickly tossed one to Randy, who readily caught it.

"Alright. Let’s begin."

Thump! Thump! Woosh! Thud!

"Oof!"

Randy coughed bitterly as he rose from the forest floor. He gripped his half of the bamboo staff tightly and eyed Nomi, who twirled his piece of the staff mockingly. Nomi's amulet glistened brightly as adrenaline coursed through his veins. He let out an airy chuckle before making the "come at me" sign at Randy.

Glaring darkly at Nomi, Randy charged then swung at Nomi's torso. Reacting quickly, Nomi sidestepped the swing then brought down his staff, successfully hitting Randy in the back.

Randy fell to the ground on his stomach then hastily rolled away as Nomi, who loomed above him, raised his staff to swat at him again.

Barely avoiding the foray, Randy jumped to his feet and took on a defensive stance. Nomi mimicked him, and they danced around each other, standing on the tips of their toes. Nomi smirked as Randy charged at him, his staff out in front of him.

Lifting his staff he charged at Randy before slowing to a near stop and smacking Randy's staff out of his hands. He let out a sharp gasp as Nomi swung. On instinct, Randy blocked the oncoming attack, before he twisted the staff out of Nomi's hands. The redhead couldn't hide his surprise, and suddenly, he and Randy found themselves in a hand-to-hand combat.

Randy ducked as a fist came soaring at him, and instantaneously blocked a low kick aimed at his stomach. Each of Nomi's attacks were relentless and held a callous force behind them.

With impetuous speed, Nomi sweep kicked then pinned Randy into the hard ground, and shoved him harshly against a tree. Randy let out a pained grunt, but swiftly brought up a knee, and successfully hit Nomi where it really hurt.

Nomi let out a pained yowl and backed away from Randy. Taking this opportunity to strike, Randy rammed Nomi into the tree opposite from where they had stood. Another small cry escaped Nomi's lips. His still recovering leg was being crushed against the tree by Randy.

Realizing this, Randy quickly withdrew his assailment, and began to blurt out apologies. However, acting upon his own instincts, Nomi delivered a powerful roundhouse kick, giving Randy a close up with his foot, and sent the teen hurdling into a nearby bush.

"F-fuck Randy!"

Scrambling out of the bush, ignoring the pain in his head, Randy began to apologize.

"I'm sorry! Oh god I juiced up! Nomi are you okay?! I didn't mean to! I—"

"Randy! I'm okay...I'm fine."

Wincing, Nomi lifted his injured leg, stretched it out then retracted it, and continued to do so until the pain in his leg subsided. He panted softly, stifling pained grunts. Randy followed suit as if realizing how tired he was himself.

"Again."

Intent on grabbing his bamboo staff, Randy made to grab it, but was stopped by Nomi.

"Hand-to-hand combat is important, and I think we should focus on it, especially in the case where we don't have any weapons around us."

Randy sucked in a breath, then hesitantly nodded his head.

Standing opposite from each other, the two charged at the other in near perfect unison. Before colliding, Nomi slowed to a near stop. He leapt over Randy, grabbing him by his ninja scarf, and using the power of gravity, lifted Randy up as he fell. As the forest floor came closer and closer, Nomi brought Randy down in front of him and landed on his stomach.

Raising a fist, Nomi brought it down to Randy's chest. However, Randy had recovered quickly, and instinctively shot out his hand. He caught the fist, stopping Nomi's powerful punch, then threw it back at him. Not hesitating, he threw a kick at Nomi.

Reacting quickly, Nomi twisted sideways, leaving his student's leg simply hanging in mid air. Grabbing his student's leg, Nomi swung him around in a circle once, then with amazing strength, tossed him into a tree like a ragdoll.

As Randy smacked against the rough bark of the tree he slumped to the ground in defeat.

Nomi huffed at this. "Are you giving up? Don't give up Randy, keep fighting!"

Randy obliged. He began to rise, and instantly he could feel his legs protesting against the action. His muscles ached and burned, but he didn't dare show it. He wanted to prove how strong he was. Randy didn't want to look like a weak shoob.

Feeling fire fill him with determination, Randy charged and all but threw himself at Nomi. Punches and kicks were instantly thrown, either blocked or narrowly avoided. Randy's heart raced, and he made a mantra in his mind; breathe in and breathe out.

Breathe in.

Randy felt exhaustion beginning to get to him as he could barely keep up with Nomi's rapid punches and kicks. His muscles tensing and untensing, coiling and uncoiling. Randy's legs nearly gave out, he wanted to give in, but he knew he couldn't.

Breathe out.

Each punch and kick, on his side were becoming slower and weaker.

Breathe in.

Nomi's punches were getting faster, or was it just Randy who was getting slower?

Breathe out.

Suddenly, Randy could no longer keep up, as he was being beaten around, and was barely able to block or dodge. As he weaved under, Nomi threw a powerful kick to the side of his head.

Breathe in.

The world spun violently.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Randy's mantra was broken, and he began to breathe heavily and quickly. He tried to get up again, but couldn't. It was like a giant earthquake kept knocking him off his feet. A sense of dread came over him, and he wondered if this was a real battle between life and death even though he knew Nomi would never kill him.

Finally getting to his feet, Randy stumbled forward as he threw a punch. Nomi dodged and Randy's legs gave out. He began to fall when he felt Nomi's arms wrap around him tightly before he could touch the ground.

"Randy!"

A small groan escaped his lips, as he lifted his head up weakly. Randy looked up at Nomi, and was shocked to see two teachers instead of one. Both teens looked at each other in terror.

Randy squinted and strained to hear anything the redhead was saying. He could barely register it at all.

"Shit! Randy?! I-I didn't mean to hit you that hard!"

"I-it's okay...I know, you didn't mean it." Randy slurred as he tried to keep from falling again. He was completely out of it. With a weak hand, he tugged off his ninja mask.

The black and red ribbons retracted into the mask, and Nomi wrapped an arm around his waist before walking awkwardly over to his gym bag. Nomi sifted around the large bag until he found the familiar burlap sack containing the brightly colored leaves. With one hand propping Randy up, the other carefully opened the tiny sack pulling out a couple leaves.

"Randy, open your mouth."

Not even bothering to protest, he weakly opened his mouth allowing Nomi to stuff the leaves in his mouth.

"This time don't eat them."

"Why?"

"Because then they'll start growing in your stomach."

Randy jolted at this, but Nomi looked down at him and smirked.

"Baka, I'm kidding. Your stomach will digest them before they can even grow."

Randy rolled his eyes weakly. "Dick."

Snickering, Nomi ruffled his purple hair.

"I think that was enough training for one morn—er, afternoon."

He hobbled them over to where the bamboo staffs laid and simply stuffed them in the gym bag. He'd put his bamboo flute back together later.

After Randy was able to walk straight without Nomi's help, they made their way back his home. They chatted idly about anything that crossed their minds, playfully bumping shoulders and teasing each other. A few of Randy's neighbors were out and watched the two curiously. To them, Nomi was just another average teen.

However, when they got inside Randy's home, the pleasant air between them was suddenly gone. The house was a wreck.

The living room was covered with torn up pillows, the couch springs and cushions were jutting out in all directions, photo frames with shattered glass surrounding them on the carpet floor.

The kitchen was covered in different foods, large pieces of bread were all over the counter, the cabinet doors hung precariously on their hinges. Boxes of cereal and other boxed foods were raided, juice boxes were strewn about along with half eaten fruit carcasses. The chairs that were usually stationed by the counter were on the floor, one of them was ripped apart covered in various claw marks. The marvelous chandelier was on the floor in shambles.

Now on high alert, Randy slipped on the ninja mask while Nomi pulled out his samurai sword. They began to investigate the damage of the house. As they surveyed the room, it hit Randy, where was his mother?!

Before he could say a word, he heard splashing, and then a woman's scream. It pierced the suspenseful air in the living room, and the sound itself had come from the guest bathroom down the hallway next to the stairs.

"M-Mom?! MOM!"

Ignoring Nomi's shouts of protest, he raced down said hallway. He briskly pulled out his katana, gripping it tightly in his hands. His heart pounded against his chest painfully as he kicked open the bathroom door. At the sight in front of him, he nearly dropped his katana. Nomi had joined him not even a second later, and was surprised at what he saw.

Ms. Cunningham stood in front of the sink, bubbles nearly overflowing its rim, and something black and puffy squirmed in the soapy water.

"Randall Cunningham, why on earth did you kick down the door?!"

Randy's eyes widened, he sputtered out, "Y-you're okay?!"

"Oh, you're talking about the mess in the living room."

"What happened?!"

"Well this little guy got pretty hungry."

"H-huh?"

Suddenly, a tiny white face with blue markings, a red mane, and two little black dot eyes emerged from the bubbles. It chirped up at him innocently.

"I-is that the Tengu?!"

...

After Ms. Cunningham finished washing the baby demon bird, they had to work on cleaning up the mess while Takeshi slept.

They were on their hands and feet, scrubbing walls, sweeping shards of glass. It was late in the afternoon when they had finally finished. They were all covered in a thin layer of sweat, food stains, and so on.

Exhausted, the three sat on the now clean floor, and watched over the sleeping Takeshi. The little black puffball was snuggled in Nomi's cape.

In their peace, they were startled by the sound of the house phone going off. Rising to her feet, Ruby sauntered over it before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hello Ms. Cunningham?"

"Mr. Slimovitz?"

"Ah, hello Ms.Cunningham! Well I know this is a little last minute, but tomorrow there will be school! I know tomorrow's a Friday, but it's necessary that all students attend tomorrow as the schedules may be rearranged, and we don't want kids getting confused on Monday."

"Oh, well thank you for advising me. I'll make sure my son, and Nomi attend tomorrow."

"Great, goodbye then!"

"Goodbye Mr. Slimovitz."

As Ms. Cunningham hung up the phone, her son spoke up.

"Who was that?"

"Mr. Slimovitz. You and Nomi have school tomorrow."

Randy's perky mood instantly dulled. He groaned loudly.

"Do we have to go? Tomorrow's Friday."

"It's important. The schedules may be rearranged for some kids, so I think it's pretty important you and Nomi go."

"I guess you're right, but who's going to watch Takeshi?"

"Don't worry honey, I can watch over him."

Nomi stayed silent throughout their entire conversation. He was preoccupied with the idea of the schedule change. Would he and Randy have the misfortune of being in different classes?

He hoped not.

Then again, it could give him a chance to be able to speak with S. Ward Smith.

Ruby bit her lower lip. Maybe it was a good time as any to bring up the Summer Carp Festival and Ball.

"Oh, and that reminds me! We've also been invited to attend the Summer Carp Festival and Ball."

This caught Nomi's attention, and suddenly, an ache came over his heart. He had been born on the day of the festival. His family would always go together to the festival and celebrate his birthday. It was a day where no one argued, and they bonded together. Now, it was only a painful memory to Nomi.

"That is so Bruce! Me, Nomi, and Howard can hang out!"

Ms. Cunningham smiled uneasily.

“Yeah, but I'm sure Nomi might have some sort of uh, lesson for you to learn?"

Ruby looked over at Nomi who barely seemed to have noticed that he had just been acknowledged.

"Hm? No, I don't think I have a lesson in mind for that day." The red head gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. He seemed to not be really paying attention.

Randy fist pumped the air as he gave a boyish grin, oblivious to Nomi's behavior.

"Alright, well, I suppose you two can enjoy the rest of the day. I'll be in my room if you boys need me, okay?"

Randy nodded as his mother left to her room leaving him, Nomi, and Takeshi to themselves.

"So I guess we're going back to school tomorrow?" said Nomi.

"Hm? Oh, yeah! I hope we still have classes together."

Nomi nodded, and he and Randy enjoyed the rest of the day with Howard (who nearly fainted after seeing Takeshi) dropping by . The pudgy teen had decided on staying the night.

Tomorrow, everything was going to change.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 10 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 9: Tengu Feathers

Randy stared at Nomi's back, deep in thought. He wasn't sure for how long, but he knew the sky had darkened outside. The rain had gotten worse. He cringed at each flash of lighting and scooted closer to Nomi. Randy dove back into his previous thoughts; he had been wondering and worrying as to what had happened to Nomi. He felt confused, and he felt a sense of underlying fear for him. The thought of Nomi's scream made him shudder, and then suddenly he had the strangest urge. Randy had an urge to hug Nomi, he felt the need to. Maybe it was because it was something his mother would do whenever he felt down. Even now she still did so.

Randy wasn't sure if Nomi was even awake, or if he would be okay with it, or even how he would react to the gesture. Still...

Randy couldn't squish the feeling, the thought of wrapping his arms around him, embracing him. Maybe it was the fact of what Nomi had said earlier that stung and hit a nerve.

"I'm only going to be with you for three more years, Randy."

It hurt. Randy had grown so close to him. They had become friends. And if there was one thing Randy loved, it was that he loved his friends to death. They were one of the many things he cared for most.

Randy knew Nomi wasn't too fond of the idea of him having friends since it was a 'weight that the ninja could not carry', and all that ninja stuff. However, Randy felt determined to show Nomi that there was nothing bad about friendship. In fact, there were a lot of goods to it.

Thus feeling bold, courageous, and determined (as he usually was), Randy scooted as close as he could next to his roommate and wrapped his arms around his waist as gently as possible, and buried his face into his back.

Randy froze stiff and squeezed his eyes shut when he felt Nomi stir. Either Nomi had been awake the whole time, or he had just woken up.

Randy held his breath and waited to see what Nomi would do. He opened an eye and was surprised to see that Nomi hadn't done a thing.

In truth, Randy wasn't sure what to do now, and he suddenly felt slightly embarrassed, but he couldn't pull away now without alerting his teacher.

"God I am a baka," Randy thought to himself, as he gave up and decided to just go with it.

Yet it bothered Randy how calm Nomi was despite everything that had transpired. He didn't even seem to want to talk about it. What had scared him so badly? Randy desperately wanted to know, but he knew he would be crossing an invisible boundary.

Randy couldn't bear the thought of Nomi being upset because of him. Plus, it was the middle of the night now, or something, so now wasn't probably the right time to ask.

Letting out a puff of air, he snuggled closer to Nomi and fell asleep.

...

Morning had come and the silent pit-patter of rain woke Nomi. His mind still groggy from sleep, Nomi lifted a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes before yawning deeply. He groaned when he felt a terrible ache all over his body. Nomi tried to stretch, but stopped when he remembered Randy had his arms wrapped around his waist.

He peered over his shoulder again and found him half buried into his back and the thick blankets. Nomi drew short, shallow breaths as he tried to shift positions without waking Randy, and without causing himself too much pain. He sighed with relief when he successfully laid himself onto his back, and Nomi blinked away the dried tears and sweat from his eyes, and stared up at the ceiling.

He had subconsciously wrapped his right arm around Randy, pulling him slightly closer, while he laid his left arm across his sweaty forehead. Nomi stared tiredly at the barren wall above him. Despite it being plain and empty, Nomi stared up at it so intently it was as if he expected the answers to all his problems to suddenly appear. After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, Nomi smacked his chapped lips before licking them, then swallowed spit down his dry throat.

He eyed Randy and realized he had an arm looped around Randy as though they were...Nomi's thoughts trailed off, and he suddenly scowled at himself. Gently plucking off Randy's arms, he scooted away slightly (causing him much pain, I mean literal pain, not emotionally).

For a few moments, Nomi stared unsurely at Randy before suddenly a goofy grin etched itself onto Nomi's features. Randy's mouth hung slightly open, and he mumbled incoherent words. Nomi let out an airy laugh. It was rather typical of Randy. After months of being with Randy (as a book mind you), Nomi had easily become accustomed to his many interesting quirks. Nomi had noticed that Randy always seemed to talk to himself when sorting out problems, both ninja related and when he wasn’t in combat.

Every strange little thing about him made Nomi smile and laugh. Another thing about him, his smile. It was contagious, and before Nomi would know it he slowly found the corners of his lips twitch upward into his own little smile. Nomi's cheeks burned, the tips of his ears turned red, he found himself grinning even wider, and he hid his face in the blankets.

God, if his brother Naru had seen him he would have told Nomi that he was acting like a giddy little village girl. Nomi snickered at this, as his mind began to travel.

He found himself thinking of the dream he had the day before, and almost instantly the smile that had found itself on Nomi's face was quickly lost. Nomi wasn't sure as to what to make of the dream. His skin prickled, and he felt goose bumps erupt all over his body.

The silly romantic escapade sent his heart soaring, making it beat faster and faster; it was certainly something Nomi wouldn't mind having for the rest of his life. His entire face burned hotly, and he cursed under his breath.

A part of him wished for it so badly that it hurt, but another part of him refused it, didn't want to accept it.

He knew it was bad to think of Randy as anything more than a friend. For one thing, it would distract Randy from his more important duties as the ninja, and his even more important mission to prepare for his final battle with the Sorcerer, as he had warned Randy after he had successfully stopped the Sorcerer from obtaining the key to his escape not so long ago.

Those weren’t the only issues to take into consideration. Nomi was immortal. He was 800 and a half years old. He was sure Randy wouldn't exactly find that very attractive. Even then, Nomi was only going to be with Randy for three more years. Randy deserved to be with someone that would stay with him longer than that.

Randy would become another sad chapter in his tragic cliché life of immortal magical teacher, and Nomi couldn't possibly even think of hurting Randy in such a way.

Their relationship would seem meaningless, and it would shatter Randy. Forever scar his pure and honest heart. No, Nomi could never hurt Randy like that, no matter how strongly or deeply he felt for him.

Heck, Nomi wasn't even sure of Randy's preferences! He wasn't even sure of his own preferences or feelings for him!

Nomi thought of the dreadful nightmare that had sullied his beautiful glorious dream, his romantic escapade. His heart clenched tightly at the horrifying thought of Randy, slowly dying, draining away in his arms. The feeling of being unable to do anything but watch in terror. The thought made all the hairs on his neck stand on end, including the part when he began to turn into something...monstrous.

Nomi felt his feet turn cold, his thoughts clashed together. Oh son of a Tengu, Nomi felt terribly lost and confused. Either dream could come true, and at this point Nomi wasn't even sure which would and which wouldn't. What was he to do? Nomi bit his lower lip; he needed guidance, someone who could give him advice. Who? Who could possibly help him? Who was wiser than he, an 800 year old magical book?!

S. Ward Smith.

The name rolled off of Nomi's tongue faster than he could think it.

Nomi and the ninja's history with S. Ward Smith was a long one that dated back in the early 1970's, when for the first time in nearly a century, the ninja broke all of his weapons. In a very similar way to Randy, unfortunately. Nomi, though filled with 800 years of ninja-knowledge, was not a very good black smith. He didn't have the skill or crucial patience needed to be a good black smith, and he usually tended to burn himself. Nomi had panicked. Monsters began to run amuck, causing mayhem, making it extremely hard for the ninja to perform his duties since he had no weapons to fight with.

Now, Nomi never really had a problem with black smithing, since he would usually do it himself, but every single weapon?! He knew how to fix a few things, but every goddamned weapon!? Not only that, but they were in pieces, nearly like dust. Nomi couldn't do it, and he didn't know who to ask for help.

Luckily, the young ninja had come through when he remembered the estranged welding teacher at the high school. The dark skinned man went by the name Stone Ward Smith, or S. Ward Smith.

Nomi had learned a few things about Mr. S. Ward Smith: he was a good blacksmith, he was blind, and he was wise.

With his help, they were able to get the weapons fixed. They stopped all the stanked kids and were able to keep the Sorcerer at bay. The ninja also didn't have anymore setbacks after that, and definitely took better care of his weapons (after S. Ward Smith gave him a piece of his mind that is).

After the entire incident, Nomi had went to S. Ward Smith and all but begged for him to become an ally for the ninja and himself. S. Ward Smith was more than honored to do so and accepted. Nomi had helped him build a secret lair where S. Ward Smith could specifically black smith weapons for the ninja.

Since then, S. Ward Smith became one of Nomi’s and the ninja's greatest allies along with many others he later on came to need and meet. S. Ward Smith, wanting to keep the tradition of helping the ninja and Nomi, had even begun to train an apprentice to carry on his pact with them.

It had become tradition with S. Ward Smith being the first to start it. Quickly, the old man had become somewhat of a friend to Nomi whenever he felt he needed some help.

So from time to time before choosing a new ninja, and guardian/protector/bodyguard, Charles Daniels (the cowboy hat guy), picking him up and dropping him off to the new ninja, he would visit S. Ward Smith, or whenever he got the chance to sneak away.

They would usually catch up with each other, share a few stories, drink some tea, and then part their ways to carry on their duties. Yes, thought Nomi, he needed to see his old friend and ask for his help. Because once again, he desperately needed it.

Immersed in his thoughts, Nomi was quickly startled out of his reverie when he felt Randy stir again. He watched as he snuggled up against him with a somewhat cat-like essence, before wrapping his arms around him again.

Nomi raised a playful brow, then looked around him and saw Randy's clock, which read 9:00 am. It was time to wake up Nomi supposed, so he carefully nudged Randy.

Randy frowned in his sleep. He muttered something along the lines of "five more minutes" as Nomi continued to nudge Randy.

The younger teen pouted and snuggled impossibly closer to Nomi, and Nomi was sure his face had turned different shades of red.

"Randy..." Nomi cringed at how terrible his voice sounded. He cleared his throat before trying to speak again. "Randy, it's time to wake up now."

Randy didn't seem to hear or care, as he continued his slumber with a small smile now. Nomi was curious. A few seconds ago he had been frowning, but now he was smiling.

"You smell good."

Nomi perked up, and stared down at Randy in surprise.

"H-huh?"

"You're cuuu..." Randy slurred. He was blissfully unaware of the words leaving his lips, as this time he really was asleep and he didn't know he was talking in his sleep.

It dawned on to Nomi, and he felt himself foolish for thinking it was really Randy talking.

"I love you...Nomi."

Nomi jumped. He stared at Randy with sad eyes and shook his head slightly. He muttered quietly, "No, you don't."

Sighing, Nomi removed Randy's arms from his waist again, and shook him awake.

Randy's eyes shot open and he nearly decked his teacher's lower jaw.

"N-Nomi what the juice!?"

Nomi who was now sitting up turned to Randy with a slight smirk.

"It's late. It's already past 9:00, Randy.”

"Oh, well you didn't have to fucking scare me juiceless! That was so not Bruce dude."

Nomi rolled his eyes. "Well I tried to wake you, but I couldn't. In fact you started to talk in your sleep."

Randy snorted. "I don't talk in my sleep."

"Oh yes you did! You said I smelled good!"

Randy's cheeks turned red. "No I didn't!"

Nomi laughed as Randy turned away in fake anger. He ruffled Randy's hair, making his bed hair even worse.

"Hey!" Randy faced towards Nomi, and dove after him, giving him a noogie. Randy snickered at Nomi, whose hair looked as though he had walked through a hurricane. "Alright, we should probably get out of bed. So are we going to train?" Randy shifted and turned towards Nomi with an eager grin plastered onto his face.

Nomi hummed for a moment, then reached forward and lifted Randy's shirt up. Randy jumped in shock, but quickly calmed himself down. Nomi began inspecting the scar and nodded to himself.

The magic thread was from a dragon's mane. It helped any fatal or non fatal wounds heal faster than anything else. Nomi could have used the healing spell, but it wasn't meant for this type of injury. The spell brought things back to life, yes, but Mr. Driscoll, for example, didn't have any flesh on him when Randy had accidently reanimated him. This spell helped heal certain mundane injuries. It helped bring back energy, but it didn't always completely heal, especially not someone with Randy's injuries. Or even injuries like Nomi’s fractured leg.

"Well...I guess we can train, but all we'll be able to do is meditate."

Nomi, expecting Randy to complain, was shocked the teen hadn't even batted an eye as he nodded.

"Alright."

With ease Randy hopped off the bed and landed on his feet. With a spring in his step, he happily walked over to his dresser and began to pull out his clothes for the day, which consisted of dark sweats and a long sleeved tee with a Grave Puncher's logo.

Nomi found himself staring at him, his eyes never leaving his back.

"So are we going to train?"

"H-huh? Oh...yes, we are."

"Alright well come on dude, get off of your lazy butt!"

Nomi nodded and grasped his amulet which he had on through out the night. It was a miracle he had not suffocated himself. He tried to move to the edge of the bed, wincing as he swung his leg to the edge of the bed and struggled to even step on to the wooden ladder of Randy's bed.

Randy's grin went away.

"Hey, can you get up dude?"

Nomi chuckled breathlessly at the ironic question before nodding.

"Yes Randy, I can get up."

Nomi found the question ironic as he had asked a similar question yesterday.

With Randy's help, Nomi was able to climb down the wooden ladder onto the carpeted floor.

...

Much to Randy's surprise when he and Nomi had reached the bottom of the stairs, they had found Randy's mother humming her own cheery tune in the kitchen preparing them breakfast.

Though the delicious aroma was enough to make anyone's mouth water, Nomi's was as dry as a desert. The thought of eating made him queasy.

Ruby Cunningham peered over her shoulder and gave the two a kind smile.

"G'morning you two! I made you guys some pancakes!"

Randy was more than eager to eat the fluffy breakfast cakes. Nomi didn't show as much enthusiasm. Ruby began plating their breakfasts and Randy began to join his mother when Nomi walked up to Ms. Cunningham and bowed respectfully. He spoke in a quiet voice.

"Thank you Ms. Cunningham, but I'm not hungry."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Well from what Randy told me, you don't eat a lot."

Nomi rose quickly and gave a dark look to Randy who shrugged with a sly smirk upon his face.

"Yes, well, food is no longer a necessity for me, so thank you, but no thank you."

"Uh huh. I may not have any authority over you, but if you're going to stay in this house you are going to eat at least one pancake."

Nomi stared, speechless, but after a few moments of hesitation he bowed again.

"Y-yes ma'am."

Being that Nomi had been born in ancient times, he had been taught to give respect to his elders, especially women, so he didn’t argue with Randy’s mother.

...

Breakfast had passed with Nomi barely able to keep down the pancake, Randy happily digging into his stack of pancakes, and Ms. Cunningham reading the newspaper with her usual daily brew of coffee.

Suddenly out of the blue, Randy spoke up.

"Hey Mom, aren't you supposed to go to work?"

Ruby let out an annoyed huff. "Yes, but I said I couldn't go now, so I'm stuck with the night shift." The thought of being alone with Viceroy, McFist, and the horrendous creature called the Sorcerer made her skin crawl, and at night? The thought was unfathomable.

Randy suddenly grinned. "So does that mean you're going to be here all day?"

If there was one person Randy loved more than anyone in the world, it was his mom. She was like his best friend, except, well less wonky and grumpy like Howard was.

The scowl that had etched itself onto Ruby's face melted away, and she smiled.

"I guess I am, huh?"

Nomi stayed silent, deep in his own thoughts. He knew Randy's mother was working in McFist's company, which was extremely dangerous. However, Nomi couldn't blame the woman. After all, this job kept the two alive. Without it, Tengu knows what would happen to them, and Nomi could never picture Randy and his mother out in the streets.

Still, it bothered him. What if the Sorcerer were to find out Randy's identity? He could use Ruby as blackmail.

Nomi looked over at the two sitting next to him. They looked absolutely ecstatic that they were going to spend the entire day together. It was obvious the two never got to spend time like this together, and thus Nomi didn't dare voice his thoughts. He didn't want to sour their happy moods, and he found himself smiling fondly at Randy and Ms. Cunningham.

"Nomi? Nooomi?"

Nomi blinked and looked at Randy slightly dazed and confused.

"Hm?"

Randy shot him a curious and concerned look, but repeated himself. "I was asking if we were going to train now, dude?"

Nomi's scowl vanished and his face became calm again. He nodded.

Ruby cast a glance towards Nomi. Something was bothering him, she could feel it. But she didn't dare ask, whatever it was. It was something only he could decipher. This was his business and his business alone.

...

Ms. Cunningham plopped onto the plush black couch happily, a cup of hot chocolate in hand, and watched her son and his teacher sit in the center of the living room.

Though meditating wasn't exactly all exciting, nor action-packed, it was safe, and to Ruby that was enough action for one day anyways.

Nearly a good hour had passed with the house in complete and utter silence. Nomi had all but become dead to the world around. He focused on nothing, but at the same time everything and beyond. He felt as though he were slowly leaving his body (though technically his soul was in his amulet). It was strange and comforting. Meditating blocked away all the pain, the sufferings, the deaths, and time.

Then suddenly it was shattered like broken pieces of glass.

Randy's cell phone's blaring ringtone went off, startling everyone in the room. Nomi's eyes had snapped open widely, and Ms. Cunningham had nearly dropped her hot chocolate. Nomi gave Randy a dark glare which Randy replied with a sheepish grin.

"S-sorry dude!"

Nomi snorted and waved a hand dismissively. "Just answer it."

Randy quickly stood up on his wobbly chicken legs, pulled out his phone and answered it without even having to check who had interrupted his training.

"Hey bro what's up?"

"Cunningham, you gotta come over! I think I just unlocked some new bonus round in Grave Puncher! It's so honkin' Bruce!"

Randy's eyes lit up excitedly. "Whoa really!?"

"Yeah, now get your butt over here you shoob!"

Randy's smile faded away instantly. His blue eyes flickered over to Nomi. He had closed his eyes shut, but was no doubt listening in on his conversation with Howard.

He then looked over at his mother who gave him a look as if saying, 'no, you're training right now and you are still in trouble', so sighing sadly, he whispered almost mournfully," I-I can't dude. I'm...training—"

"Cunningham that's wonk. C'mon dude! It'll only be for an hour!"

"Dude, I can't. I'm still grounded remember? Plus, I can't blow off Nomi! He's supposed to be teaching me to be a Bruce ninja."

"Randy, c'mon, you can't leave Nomi waiting on you. He may be immortal, but that doesn't mean it's okay. Now hang up the phone mister."

"Whoa—wait, Cunningham, was that your mom!? Hold up, does she know-!?"

"Yeah, look dude, I have to go! M-maybe tomorrow?"

Randy cringed when he heard his bro groan in annoyance.

"You know what? Fine. Go hang with the book. See you tomorrow you chowder headed shoob."

"Bye. See you—"

Beep.

Before Randy could even finish his goodbye Howard had hung up on him. Randy let out a shaky sigh. He quickly stuffed his phone into his pocket and walked back over to where Nomi sat. Hurt didn't even begin to describe how horrible Randy now felt. He scratched the back of his neck and sat across Nomi again.

Nomi opened a brown eye and looked up at Randy, his eyes once again too glossy for either's liking, and Nomi felt his dislike for Howard grow. The entire aspect of friendship made Nomi uneasy, and it bothered him. He didn't really have any reason to truly despise Howard or protest his and Randy's slowly falling apart friendship.

However, once upon a time, there was a ninja who perhaps could've been the one to defeat the Sorcerer. Once upon a time, there was a jealous friend. The end of both stories, ended in death of one and hell for the other.

Nomi had had young ninjas on their first year killed before for 'friends', and Nomi couldn't risk any more deaths. It was rare for the ninjas to die, but more often than not shattered friendship was the cause for it. Which was why Nomi always warned the ninjas it was too risky, though they never really listened.

Going off track. Nomi was no fool, he knew full well of Howard's feelings towards Randy. He wasn't jealous if you're wondering, he supported a healthy and happy relationship for Randy. Even if he wouldn't be a part of it. Randy deserved so much, but Howard?

Nomi didn't trust him with Randy's life. Howard was selfish, rude, inconsiderate, and sometimes he didn't seem to understand Randy's choices when it involved his ninja duties.

Howard needed to understand the consequences of being the ninja's friend, and that Randy would not always be there. Randy had responsibilities that came with being the ninja whether he liked it or not.

Still, however, Nomi couldn't blame the pudgy teen. If he could, he would stay with Randy for as long as the teen had a breath in him, yet all the same, he didn't trust Howard. Randy did, but Randy trusted people maybe a little too easily, so Nomi felt the instinct to protect Randy overwhelm all other senses and thoughts. After all he could betray Randy, double cross him, sell him off to the Sorcerer, etc. etc. It would put everyone in danger, and Nomi couldn't bear the thought of Randy actually dying in his arms.

He didn't think he could even stand up again if anyone else got hurt. Nomi bit the inside of his cheek till he tasted blood. He needed to prevent all the things that happened in his dream from coming true.

Even if it meant sacrificing any chance of romance.

....

Howard glared angrily at his phone, tears threatening to spill out of his light brown eyes. He couldn't believe Cunningham would choose a stupid book over him! His bro! His bro, who he had known since kindergarten!

All stupid Cunningham ever talked about was about the ninja, ninja this, ninja that, ninja everything! Not to mention his annoying stupid lessons, and he was always NNS'ing or Nomiconing him!

Howard growled as he went back to the game in front of him. He gripped the remote controller angrily and pressed the colorful buttons, surprisingly not breaking them. He felt so mad, but at the same time he couldn't stay mad.

He loved his shoob of a bro, Cunningham. Sometimes it stung to know that he would prefer to hang with a book (even before they knew it, well, he, could turn into a human) than him. Not to mention how he so badly wanted to tell Cunningham how he felt, but as badly as he wanted to he didn't. There was always that small chance he'd get rejected, and the thought terrified him greatly so as to make sure no one had an inkling of his feelings for his bro, he made sure to be as much of an asshole as possible, be it Randy, or anyone else. It was a sort of defensive mechanism for him that slowly became a part of him. It actually worked more often then he thought it would, and he hated that. He wished he wasn’t rude, mean or grumpy.

Finally getting frustrated with the game, he threw down the small game controller. He brought up his knees as close as he could and hugged them tightly. Tears began to fall freely, and he couldn't stop them no matter how much he tried. They kept falling, just like how he was falling deeper in love with Cunningham. He so badly wanted to just yell it out loud and not be afraid that Cunningham would hate him.

He had been able to say all his feelings to his sister Heidi, who accepted him. She hadn't teased him, blackmailed him, or even made some sort of smart ass comment. Though it didn't seem like it, Howard and Heidi cared about each other more than they let on. They just fought a lot. Sure, they didn't always get along, but still they were siblings and siblings stuck together.

When Howard had come out to her she hadn't said anything, she didn't say one word. Howard had begun to panic, but...

Heidi Weinerman, the biggest bitch you'll probably ever meet, had hugged her baby brother in a tight embrace.

Howard sniffed and rubbed at his nose when it became all runny, tears still flowing without end.

"Howard, get down here and wash the dishes or I'm going to tell Mom!"

The sound of his sister's voice startled him out of his despairing thoughts, but he didn't bother to answer back. Instead he could already hear her angry footsteps coming up the stairs to his room. She had all but kicked the door open, and was about to yell her lungs out when she noticed Howard's teary eyes and runny nose.

"How? Howard, what's wrong?" Almost instantly her caring big sister mode came on and she quickly sat next to her brother.

Howard stared sadly at nothing in particular and answered with a coarse voice.

"The usual stuff."

Heidi furrowed her brows. “Baby bro...I told you—"

"I know, I know! B-but...I...R—Cunningham...there's this new guy, a-and he keeps taking him away. I can barely hang with him now!"

Heidi placed a finger on Howard's dry lips and gave him a encouraging smile. "How, what does this guy have that us Weinerman's don't?"

"Apparently everything good enough to get Cunningham's attention."

The older girl rolled her eyes playfully. "No you shoob, I'm being serious! Dandy—"

"—Randy—"

"—Sandy, would be crazy if he didn't see just how amazing you are. How, baby bro, you're perfect and Mandy doesn't see that just yet."

Howard stared up at his sister with slightly pink eyes filled with a newfound hope.

"Really? Do you think so?" he asked with as much wonder and naivety as a child in Whoopee World.

Heidi nodded. "Yes, really. Now stop being such a baby and help me watch the dishes, or Mom and Dad are going to take away your McFist pad again."

...

How long had he been here? How much longer could he stand it? When would he fall to insanity? Would he ever truly escape?

The Sorcerer knew not the answer to these questions that swirled aimlessly in his wicked mind. He thought of nothing in particular as he swirled a green ribbon of magic in his hand lazily.

All he wanted was to create sweet, sweet beautiful chaos. Perhaps ruin a couple hundred lives, destroy cities, take over the world. Was that so much? Couldn't he ruin a least a few lives?

Apparently no. The Sorcerer gritted his crooked-board-like teeth, the magic in his hands dissipating.

He had been so close to ruling the world, just one person's death away. The blasted Norisu had fought him and won...well, only one of them had defeated him. He mused that entire family of highly trained ninjas couldn't defeat him, but the little runt could.

Nomi Conikos Norisu. The Sorcerer frowned, deep green wrinkles nearly engulfed his white beady eyes. He had tamed his precious chaos into plain old harmony! Bah! Harmony without chaos. Life was far too simple, too peaceful! No excitement!

The Sorcerer looked down at his sleeping companion, the sewer rat. Wickedly, he snatched the poor thing up by its tail, startling it awake.

"Oh woe is me to forever be sealed in my prison of cement. To wallow in my defeat!"

In his hand the Sorcerer had thrown the poor rat around like a rag doll in his hands, not caring if he was hurting it.

The two idiots McFist and Viceroy were getting him nowhere. All of their idiotic plans and schemes were no match for the ninja.

He had been so close to grasping the key to his escape, but the ninja had stopped him! He could've been the ruler of earth by now if the clumsy rat hadn't spilled his cauldron filled with magic.

Weeks ago he had Ninja Nomicon in his grasp! He had been so close, but how could he not have been able to open it?!

The Sorcerer snarled. It couldn't be, could it? Did that wretched little hellion survive!? Could he be the ninja?! The Sorcerer began squeeze the poor rat.

"No! IMPOSSIBLE!"

In his tantrum he threw his rat companion at his 'window' to McFist's office. Forgetting his anger, the Sorcerer crawled over to his 'window' and stared curiously at the giant plasma TV McFist had left on. There was an apparent emergency.

When he realized it was an emergency broadcast he had instantly perked up and sat as close to his 'window' as he possibly could. He eagerly waited for the misery and misfortune of others. He hugged his thin sickly green legs tightly with a sinister grin plastered on his face.

He was, for the first time in centuries, in shock.

"It appears the ninja has an ally. We are unable to identify said ally, as they are moving faster than the cameras can capture. The recent footage we showed earlier from the local Game hole down a few blocks, reveals the ninja could possibly be injured, or even dead."

The dark skinned reporter showed a quick clip of the scene where the ally dove after the ninja.

"We aren't sure if they—hold up! I got word that the Sweet Tooth candy store caught the ninja and the ally rushing into the school! Good news for Norrisville as their hero has survived the fall!"

Another clip appeared this time. It showed the ally and the ninja limping to a broken window before diving inside.

"I'm Jenny Jones and we'll be right back after these messages."

The Sorcerer's jaw dropped as he stared at the screen. An ally? When the bloody hell did the ninja get an ally?

"So the ninja doesn't like to play fair...well, two can play that game."

His gaze darkened, and just as he was about to turn away again, his shockingly okay rat pointed to the TV. The Sorcerer followed its tiny finger and stared confused at the commercial.

"Hi! I'm Mac Antfee, the ex-owner of Ninja Camp! I can teach you to be a better-butt-kicking ninja than the ninja himself-! I-I mean person! Come over and see where all the s'plosion is at today! And we'll teach that good for nothing—I-I mean, totally cool ninja, how much of a good person we all are!" With that Mac Antfee proceeded to destroy blocks of cement with his fists.

The Sorcerer stared and rolled his eyes, but stopped. He eyed the commercial as it continued to blabber on.

"Hmm. He seems to know some form of martial arts."

He rubbed his chin. Perhaps this Mac Antfee could level the playing field? All he needed was a little dark magic. The Sorcerer gave a sinister look at his hands as he summoned powerful green magic and swirled it around again like he had been doing just a few minutes ago.

Yes, yes. This Mac Antfee could help him finally rid the world of the ninja and his apparent ally! Then he could get his hands on the Ninja Nomicon and deal with the Norisu who had been hiding under his nose for so long!

"Yes, victory will be mine! I'll soon rule the world!"

The Sorcerer's laughter boomed loudly, echoing throughout the cement walls of his cell. His rat companion joined him, but then stopped when the Sorcerer gave him a dark look.

Now all he had to do was get rid of the idiot McFist, but maybe not his assistant Viceroy. The dark skinned man could prove useful enough to keep alive. The Sorcerer smirked. He could almost see it now. The look upon McFist's face when he double crosses him, then ends him!

Then suddenly the commercials were over and the Sorcerer sat back in front of his 'window' and stared intently at the TV.

Soon, he thought, soon...

...

An entire hour passed with no more interruptions before Nomi suddenly stood up.

Randy opened his eyes and stared up in surprise at the outstretched hand in hovering in front of him.

"We're done with training today."

"Really?!"

Nomi chuckled. "Yes, Randy. Am I that repulsive?"

"What?! No! It's just—!"

"Randy I'm kidding."

"Oh."

Nomi smirked before he started making his way upstairs to Randy's room.

"H-hey! Nomi, where the juice are you going?!"

Nomi froze and looked over his shoulder hesitantly. "I'm going upstairs."

"What, come on, let's just hang for a bit dude! All we do when we chill is talk about ninja stuff. Come on, this'll be a chance for me to teach you some teen stuff!"

Nomi shook his head. "Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live."

"Huh?! Nomi, what'd I tell you about the riddles?! I can’t understand you."

"I mean go hang with your mother. You two need it."

Randy cocked his head to the side and stared up at Nomi with wide eyes. "Well, yeah, but...I don't want you to be up there all by yourself. You're my friend dude, it's cool."

Nomi bit his lower lip and scratched the back of his neck before turning around completely.

"I don't—"

"Nomi, we don't bite,” said Mrs. Cunningham, who had a bowl of popcorn in her arms. “Now come on, there's some good movies on!"

Nomi looked at her and nodded.

Randy shot him a slightly sheepish grin, though on the inside he was beyond happy that his mother had spoken up when she did.

....

Nomi sat as close as he could to the edge of the couch, away from the two, once again not wanting to ruin their happy moods. Throughout the entire time Randy and Ms. Cunningham were barely paying any attention to whatever film was on and were mostly chatting with each other. Occasionally dragging Nomi into the conversation.

Though Nomi wasn't really paying much attention to them, he was thinking when was the best time to visit his old friend, S. Ward Smith.

Ruby had noticed the noble red head's strange behavior since breakfast. He seemed distant and lost in deep thought. She looked over at her son who was oblivious to his teacher's behavior.

Ms. Cunningham hummed, then smiled. She knew exactly what was wrong.

After a few moments, she looked at her clock. Sadly, it was almost time to go work.

"Randy hon, I have to go soon, so let me make you guys some dinner."

Nomi perked up at this, and a small plan formed in his mind.

While Randy and Ms. Cunningham had begun preparing dinner, Nomi, not wanting to disturb them, had snuck away, or, well tried to. He had underestimated the two Cunninghams. With Randy's ninja training and Ruby's motherly instincts, he had been caught and captured, and was somewhat forced to eat by Ms. Cunningham.

Afterwards, Ms. Cunningham had left (reluctant of course), leaving Randy and Nomi to their own devices.

Sitting by the counter, Randy slurped up what was left in his juice box sucking it till it shriveled up, however, he didn't stop. Nomi smirked at his childish antics.

Randy's mood had risen, and his issue with Howard all but forgotten.

Randy suddenly spoke up with some unknown aggression, which was completely out of his character.

"What happened last night?"

Nomi blinked and turned towards Randy facing him fully, Randy mimicked him.

"What the juice Nomi! You scared me shitless!"

Nomi was surprised that Randy dare questioned him.

"Randy, it was nothing. Just...a bad dream."

Randy, unconvinced, leaned forward and got as close to Nomi as he could without bumping their heads together. Nomi didn't even flinch. He placed on his 'no emotion mask' and stared down Randy. There was a sudden air of tension. It bothered both Nomi and Randy.

"Dude, you woke up screaming, crying, and throwing up. If it were nothing that big, then I would believe you."

Nomi turned away. "It's nothing."

Randy groaned. Nomi was unyielding. He remembered his thoughts from the night before, and that determination returned.

"No, I want you to tell me!" Randy rose suddenly, nearly knocking the chair behind him over.

Nomi was actually a bit intimidated by Randy's dominance, but he didn't dare show it. He couldn't let Randy know. There was no way, not now at least, or maybe ever.

He stood up. Randy still towered over him, but Nomi showed him his own display of dominance. He hissed out the words.

"No. Now drop it Randy."

"Not until you tell me, dude!"

Nomi shook his head and proceeded to walk past Randy, when he was yanked backwards.

"Nomi please!"

Nomi looked up and was shocked that tears were starting to form in the corners of Randy's blue eyes. Nomi felt his heart shatter, the very thing he wanted to avoid, he had done.

"R-Randy..."

Randy looked down at his feet. He wiped away the tears that had begun to form and spoke up bitterly.

"Whatever then dude."

Nomi stood and he felt himself shrink.

"Randy, look at me, please?"

Randy ignored.

"Randy, look at me."

Randy didn't bother. He didn't even cast a look.

"Randy!"

Nomi felt his heart begin to beat fast, as he felt anger and shame. Anger at himself for being afraid to say what happened the night before, and shame for hurting Randy's feelings.

Hanging his head, he squeezed his eyes shut," I'm sorry okay!? Do you want to know what that dream was about?! FINE!"

Randy snapped his head up, shocked by the sudden outburst. Had he pushed his teacher too far? Had he hurt his friend? Did he make Nomi...mad?

"First off, we—"

Randy suddenly rose up and wrapped his arms tightly around Nomi, nearly engulfing him completely.

"N-no. I'm sorry, Nomi. Please don't be mad at me." Randy buried his face into his shoulder. He was embarrassed that he was crying. God, he must look like some big baby.

Nomi stood, shell shocked by the sudden turn of events. He stood stock still for a moment before he buried his own face into Randy's chest, tears flowing down his face as well.

"You shouldn't be—"

"No, I-"

"But I..."

The two pulled away after a moment, and stared at each other. A heartbeat later the two began to laugh. If someone had walked in on the two, they would've deemed them mad.

"Okay so we're both sorry? Are we uh, good?"

Nomi chuckled and before shaking his head no. Randy's eyes widened, but Nomi raised a hand.

"First, let me tell you about the dream."

Randy blinked and nodded, and the two sat back down on their original seats.

Nomi sighed. Was he really going to go through with this? He eyed Randy, when he remembered advice he had gotten from his father.

"Sometimes the greatest love, means sacrificing your own for others, my son."

"It was a terrible nightmare. We were in the Sorcerer's lair..."

Nomi had explained how Randy was slowly dying in his arms while the Sorcerer mocked them. How he encircled them, like some predator would do to its prey. How Randy died, how he tried to fight, but failed. And how he began turn into a monster...but not the last words he said to Randy. Not the "I'm so sorry...love" part. Not that.

Randy sat in silence and Nomi soon joined him. He reached out for Randy and grasped his hand.

"That's why I didn't want to tell you, Randy. If it were anything else, then I would."

Nomi looked up at Randy. The two stared at each other.

Randy felt himself wanting to lean forward, to do something. He had never kissed anyone. He'd had crushes and stuff and—whoa, whoa, whoa. Kiss? Why would he want to kiss...Randy's cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

Nomi had seen this, and he turned away.

"We should probably rest. Tomorrow we'll meditate again. I'll try helping you finish early so you can go hang out with Howard. You deserve it."

Randy stared, with his mouth hung open. He was speechless, what was he about to do?! Had Nomi just rejected him? Randy didn't dare ask. He simply nodded.

Nomi cringed on the inside. He could sense some sort sadness, or disappointment in Randy, but it was perhaps for the best.

....

Going upstairs, Nomi sat on Randy's bed and stared at the ninja mask and hummed.

Randy noticed, before he could say a word, the mask was suddenly tossed his way.

"Put it on."

Randy did so without question.

Black ribbons began to wrap around him, engulfing him in its magic. Before Nomi sat a very confused ninja. Nomi began to quietly inspect the ninja suit. He paused; there was a large gaping hole where Randy had been impaled.

Nomi cursed under his breathe.

"Dammit! We'll have to go see the Tengu."

Randy's eyes widened. "The T-Tengu? Why?!"

Nomi looked up. "The ninja suit has a hole in it."

"So? I think my mom has black thread—"

"Randy, this is a magic suit, not a costume. Using regular thread will turn the suit into a regular cheap Halloween knock-off,besides the suit is made of feathers,not regular thread."

"Yeah, but remember how hard it was to fight that thing?!"

"Randy, you must have faith in me. All will be well."

Randy silenced, then nodded.

"Okay dude, I'll trust you."

"We'll head over to the school at least three days before it reopens and classes start up again, okay?"

Randy nodded, before crawling underneath the blankets tiredly.

Nomi did so as well, but this time he turned back into a book. He missed the sad look Randy gave him before they both fell asleep.

....

The week went by fast with Randy and Nomi meditating, and Ms. Cunningham coming and going from work to home. Howard dropped by from time to time, whatever tension there was somehow resolved itself and none of them questioned it. There were some pretty nasty arguments between Nomi and Howard, or even Randy and Howard, but it was quickly resolved before it got any worse.

By the third day of the week (Wednesday), Randy was back on his feet, fighting a few stray monsters and robots. This time Nomi didn't interfere, though he did provide advice. Much to Randy's disdain, in riddles.

"The higher you climb the heavier you fall."

"A watched pot never boils."

"A burden one chooses is not felt."

You get the jist?

Soon it came down to breaking into the school to get the Tengu's black feathers for the ninja suit.

As Nomi began putting on his cape with his relic in its usual spot, he turned towards Randy and noticed he was...making something.

Randy was busily making something out of paper mache.

"Randy, what are you doing?"

"I'm making you a mask! Last time no one saw who you were, but we can’t risk someone seeing you this time."

Randy held up a well crafted paper mache mask. It was pure white, not counting a few blue markings underneath the eyes, and the cream colored beak. Yes, a beak. In fact, said beak looked exactly like...

"Is that a Tengu mask?"

Randy nodded eagerly. "Yeah. Pretty Bruce, eh?"

Nomi stared at it curiously. It was made very well actually, and Randy was right. He needed something to conceal his identity, and this mask was more than perfect.

Nomi gently grasped the mask. He touched the beak and saw that it was smooth to the touch, like white porcelain. The beak's details were very convincing as it had crevices to match the lines that ran down the actual demon bird's beak. The markings (though a bit off) were nearly exact, and looked correct on the mask.

Then Nomi noticed that the mask didn't have the red mane that surrounded the tengu's white face. He also noticed that there was a stretchy string to prevent the mask from falling off his face.

Nomi looked up and Randy who looked at him with an expectant gaze.

"Hey shoobs, hurry up!"

Both Randy and Nomi broke contact with each other at the sound of Howard's voice. Nomi snorted, rolling his eyes, he carefully put on the mask. His bangs were brushed back into spikes, making his hair look like the tengu's great red mane. It fit a little big on him, but Nomi wasn't complaining.

Howard marched upstairs and as soon as he saw Nomi, he nearly shrieked.

"The T-Tengu...!"

Randy snickered as Nomi removed the tengu mask, who was smirking.

Howard glared.

"Ass."

...

It was almost completely dark, except there were bright street lights, the stars were out, and there was a full moon. Howard had disguised himself with the horrible mask he had made to look like himself from the last time they had snuck out, and was bundled up for the cool night air. The rain had stopped and the sky was clear.

In the low light Randy's blue eyes glistened. He of course was disguised in his ninja suit. Sadly, he wasn't as well protected from the cold as Howard was. The gaping hole at his stomach seeped through the shirt he wore, and he shuddered when a cold breeze brushed against his belly.

He looked over at Nomi. He bore the tengu mask Randy had crafted for him. His usual spiky hair was even more so, being pushed back by the paper mache mask. He wore his majestic cape. From the cape Randy could see Japanese symbols changing to different images and such. It surprised Randy that he hadn't noticed it before.

The ninja clip glistened brightly, glowing with the life contained inside, and it caught Randy's attention. It flashed brightly providing them light when they were a good distance from the neighborhood.

They had to hurry. If Randy's mother came home and saw that he wasn't at home, she would ground him for life.

Then again, it was official ninja business, so maybe his mother wouldn't get mad? Or at least not as mad if it weren't official ninja busyness?

Randy, realizing they had stopped, looked at the building in front of him. It looked almost like the abandoned construction site at the edge of town fifteen minutes away from where they stood. The white building of the school casted a large shadow, the moon's light casting a soft blue glow. It was both serene and eerie all at once.

Making haste, the three teens jumped through a barren window. It lacked all glass: not a single piece stuck to the frame.

The three walked in silence. The halls were illuminated by the moon's light. It was frightening to both Randy and Howard. However, Nomi didn't seem to be bothered by the scene in front of him.

After a few minutes they found themselves in a large room where in the center lay the colorful tiles that made up the carps mural. Randy and Howard stood by the entrance of the room. The last time they had come in was when they dealt with the Tengu.

It wasn't that they were afraid. They simply never really went in the room in the first place.

Nomi calmly and quietly walked to the fish eye of the tile design carp. He began to mutter things. His eyes were unable to be seen as the mask hid them, making him look terrifying. Suddenly, Nomi pulled out an orb similar to the one stuck in the ground.

He continued to mutter words undecipherable to Howard. However, Randy understood the words as they were muttered in Japanese. Well, in Randy's mind, they were in English.

“Right now I need to burrow my head under my arms,

close my eyes and hide until this litany of fear subsides.

Let this parade of memories pass by, this charade of bravado

fall, this mockery of compassion drop it's walls,

to make the Tengu fold its wings, breathe its last,

cease feasting on the salmon stuck downstream

between boulders, slick sides gleaming as he wiggles

desperately toward forgiving, fertile waters, knowing

only that where he is not where he's meant to be.

He's far wiser than at one point-

Me.”

Randy watched as the eyes of the tile carp began to glow a bright blue. Nomi peered over his shoulder. His eyes were shining a bright white, the orb in his hand mimicked the orb in the ground. He gently plucked the carp eye from the ground and replaced it with the other orb in his hand.

Suddenly all light died away, except that of the moon's and the stars'.

Nomi stood still for a few moments, before walking towards Randy and Howard. The two teens, unsure of what to expect, backed away in fear. Nomi held out the orb to Randy. His own eyes shining in wonder, he picked up the orb and placed it in his hands. It was about the size of a softball at most.

He looked up at Nomi as he whispered cryptically, "It's time for its rebirth."

The words sent chills up and down Randy's spine, and Howard cowered behind him as well.

The small orb then began to vibrate and move, trying to roll out of Randy's hands. Randy, having not expected the sudden movement, began to try to stop the orb from falling to the ground for fear of breaking it.

"Nomi, what the juice?!"

Nomi smirked. "We're going to hatch the Tengu. It's time we washed away its evil. The past ninjas did wonderfully...all except one."

"M-Mac Antfee?"

Nomi shook his head. "No. It's a long story, but a past ninja had tainted the good in this bird's heart."

Nomi stared at the egg that kept moving in Randy's hands intently.

"Okay, but why is it moving so much?!"

Before either of the two could even blink, Howard took the egg from Randy's hands.

"Cause you're not holding it right, shoob."

With that Howard placed the egg on top of his head, and instantly the egg stopped moving.

Nomi raised a brow, but shrugged.

"I suppose that works."

The three proceeded home.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 9 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 8: Hot Chocolate, Pine Trees, and Mom

An entire hour passed with Ms. Cunningham checking on the two teens almost literally every ten minutes.

"Do you want me to change your bandages?"

"Are you hungry?"

"Do you need to use the restroom?"

As much as Randy tried to tell his mother to not worry, he realized it wasn't such a good idea. The woman had come in teary eyed the first time she checked up on them, and she fussed over them like crazy. It was obvious she was worried, and in truth, Randy wouldn't have it any other way.

"Uh, Mom, can you bring me another cup of hot chocolate?"

Ms. Cunningham quirked an eyebrow. "That was your fifth cup already!"

Randy grinned while Nomi stared at the empty cup in his hands, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

"Uh...actually, it's Nomi's fifth cup. I haven't finished my first one."

Nomi's cheeks reddened when the woman laughed. "Okay then, but take it easy. I don't want you to get a stomach ache."

Nomi nodded and shot the woman a shaky smile. "Thank you."

Ms. Cunningham snickered. "Alright, I'll be back in a bit then. I want you both to rest up a little, okay?"

The two teens nodded. Ms. Cunningham walked out of the room, taking Nomi's empty mug with her.

Once the purple haired woman was surely out of hearing range, Nomi spoke up quietly.

"She knows."

"Huh?"

Nomi turned to the purple haired teen with a serious look.

"Randy, your mom knows what's going on. She knows you're the ninja."

Randy's eyes widened. "What? H-how the juice did she find out?!"

Nomi turned away. He had an idea, but he couldn't confirm his suspicions on the matter, but still, it was obvious the woman knew Randy's secret. That had been confirmed with today's events. Still, it surprised him that Randy had had no idea his mother knew his secret. Nomi shook his head as Randy went into his 'panic mode'.

"Shit, shit, shit—I'm juiced, I'm juiced, I'm so fucking juiced—!!!"

Nomi suddenly pounced on Randy and stared down at him, looking annoyed.

"Will you stop panicking?!"

"My mom knows! OH MY NINJA WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!?"

"You're going to talk to her about it, Randy—"

Randy's eyes widened impossibly bigger as he stared incredulously at the red head. "NO! WHAT IF SHE GETS MAD?!"

Nomi groaned. "Randy, you're acting like a thirteen year old girl—"

"NO I'M NOT!" Randy screeched.

Finally having enough of his student’s 'panic mode', Nomi raised a hand and clamped it on the male’s lips and pinned him against the wall roughly. Randy instantly stopped talking and gasped at Nomi's suddenly aggressive behavior.

"Listen Randy, your mother isn't going to be mad at you. She's going to be one damn proud mother. I promise you, it's better you tell her."

It was obvious Randy was still terrified. I guess pinning him against the wall wasn’t the best choice.

Sighing deeply, Nomi pulled Randy into a slightly awkward embrace. He rested his chin on top of his head. Randy stiffened, slightly disturbed by the sudden shifts of emotion, however, he would be lying if he didn't admit that he liked the warm embrace. He relaxed as Nomi whispered softly to him,

"Randy, I know you're unsure about this, but I'm telling you this because it's the best way to go about things. Why would your mother be mad at you for being the ninja?"

Randy paused. He really couldn't think of any reason for his mother to be mad at him for being the ninja, the protector of Norrisville and the world.

All Randy could say was a silent "oh".

Nomi chuckled breathlessly as he pulled away.

"Baka."

Randy stared at his teacher with slight surprise before his eyes narrowed.

"I'm not an idiot!"

"I didn't know you knew Japanese..."

Randy snorted. "Dude what the juice are you talking about? That was ENGLISH."

Before Nomi could say more Ms. Cunningham came into the room.

“Sorry it took me so long. Mrs. Weinerman came by to bring me some of her olallieberry pie." She quietly handed Nomi the cup filled with the brown beverage.

"Thank you."

Ms. Cunningham nodded. "I'll come check up on you boys again soon, but first there's a piece of pie with my name on it."

"H-hey mom?"

Both Nomi and Ms. Cunningham turned to Randy. Nomi's breath hitched as he wondered...

Was Randy going to do it? Was he actually going to tell his mother that he knew that she knew about his secret?!

"Can I please, please have a piece of pie?" Randy leaned forward and gave his mother the 'puppy eyes' act.

Ms. Cunningham laughed, "No. I don't want you getting sick. It's bad enough I gave you two hot chocolate." She smirked and left the room.

Randy pouted. Ruby's laughter rang through the hallway and down the stairs.

Nomi turned to Randy, slightly miffed. "You're not going to tell her?"

Randy stared at his now cold cup of hot chocolate and sighed.

"Are you sure she won't get mad?" He peered up at his roommate with hopeful eyes.

"Truthfully, no, but I'm sure enough that it is a good idea."

Randy looked alarmed, but Nomi chuckled. "I'm kidding Randy! Yes, I'm positive things will work out. Just trust me."

Randy's blue eyes flickered over to his door. He stared at it wistfully.

"Should I go now?"

"Yes."

"Can you come with me?"

"No. This is something you must do alone. I won't be here forever."

"You're immortal."

"I'm only going to be with you for three more years Randy."

"Right..."

Nomi furrowed his brow. He could sense his friend's discomfort with the topic.

He hated it. He hated being ripped away from everybody he came to love. It was like he had found the person who brought back the light in his complicated existence, and just as he was able to grasp this light, he was suddenly thrown back into the darkness of loneliness. There was always that small part of him that resented his immortal self. He wished more than anything he could stay with Randy.

But that couldn’t happen.

Randy finally managed to get down the ladder of his bed and began making his way downstairs.

Nomi felt a wave of sadness clench his heart. He was getting way too close to him. He had already gotten closer to him than any of the other hundreds of ninjas in the past. There were some memorable ninjas, but Randy was by far the most memorable. Even if their time with each other would be short, it would at least be the greatest three damn years in all of Nomi's life.

And that was enough to bring a small smile back on Nomi's face.

...

As Randy tiptoed down the carpeted stairs, he peeked around the corner into the kitchen where his mother sat. She was enjoying her slice of pie, reading the newspaper. The funny thing was that one of Randy's memories as a child was that his mother used to absolutely hate reading the printed articles. She found them boring and uninteresting. Now it seemed it was all she ever really did on her spare time.

"M-mom?"

Ms. Cunningham nearly spat out the piece of pie in her mouth, quickly swallowing it as she turned to her son. He shuffled toward her, and a small memory flashed in her own mind.

Randy had been terrified of lightning to the point where he would burst into tears whenever he saw it. He would always ask her to pick him up, and she would always oblige, but as time went by, Randy lost his fear of lightning, and he grew up a little. Sadly though ,he grew a strange fear of chickens a little later on,but that was a another story for another time.

Shaking her head quietly, Ruby returned to earth.

"Honey, what the juices are you doing out of your bed?" Her voice was stern, but it harbored concern, as always. She quickly put down the paper and made sure to return back to reading the 'available jobs' section later.

Randy stared at his feet, wishing he had thought further ahead. "I want to talk to you about something."

Ms. Cunningham patted the seat next to her by the counter. "Well take a seat. What exactly do you want to talk about?"

Randy hesitated as he murmured, "The ninja."

Ms. Cunningham froze. Randy quietly made his way to the wooden chair by his mother and took a seat next to her. He looked up at her, trying to read her expression, but his mother gave nothing away. She was trying her damnedest to keep a straight face.

"What about the ninja exactly?"

"I know that you know who the ninja is."

Ruby sucked in a sharp breath. "Do I?"

Randy bit his bottom lip, unsure whether or not he could go through with this. "Well I think you do. Do you?"

For a brief moment, Ms. Cunningham seemed surprised by her son's sudden boldness, but at the same time admired it.

"Yes. I do."

The two stared at each other, both uncertain as to what should they say or do next, however, there was no need to. It was obvious there was a sort of silent understanding.

"Mom, I Randy Cunningham, am the ninja of Norrisville high."

A small smile etched itself onto Ruby's face as she slowly began to nod, before she lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around her son.

"I know. I always knew..." She buried her face into his purple hair and suddenly giggled. The two pulled away, tears streaming down both their faces. "Your hair smells like strawberries."

As if remembering that was so, Randy pouted. "Yeah, because you put it there, and it was the only freaking shampoo!"

The mother laughed. "Well you worried me so much, so call it revenge!" She stuck her tongue out playfully.

Randy couldn't help but laugh. He really couldn't get mad at his mother, not ever, even if she did give him super girly shampoo.

"So, are you going to tell me everything?"

Randy nodded, and that was the moment Ms. Cunningham learned more about her son than she ever thought she would, and his exciting but dangerous second life as the ninja.

...

Nomi could hear the hushed voices of the two Cunninghams. He really did want to go with Randy, but in his gut he knew that he had to let Randy do this on his own.

After finishing his cup of hot chocolate, he slipped underneath the slightly warm sheets and buried himself deeply into them to try to get rid of his own anxieties. He chuckled softly when he smelt the faint scent of the McCola they had spilt the other day, before sighing shakily.

He turned towards the wall behind him and stared at it silently. There was one problem Nomi had with sleeping, and that was his dreams. When he dreamed he would sometimes have dreams of the future, which was how he had found out that the Sorcerer was escaping. On rare occasions,however, the dreamed up predictions would never come true, and they would simply be just that, a dream.

Still, a part of him was wary of sleep. However,his body argued otherwise, having not used it so much in such a long time exhausted him, and a good nap would make him feel better.

He let out a long, loud yawn as his eyelids began to droop. It felt like weights were pulling them down, and too weak to fight back, he allowed the hands of sleep pull him deeper into sub consciousness. He fell into a deep sleep.

...

Randy smiled as his mother finally allowed him to have a slice of Mrs. Weinerman's olallieberry pie.

"You know you should go to sleep, rest up a bit?"

Randy nodded with a yawn. "Yeah, I'm pretty tired actually."

Ms. Cunningham smiled. "Good. I don't want my little ninja warrior to be tired in case some monster attacks—"

"M-moooom!" Randy felt his cheeks turn red. God, if Nomi heard that he would never hear the end of it,especially if he were to tell Howard.

Randy rose from his seat. Ms. Cunningham wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Haha, Randy honey, I'm just kidding. Don't take things so seriously!"

Randy grinned. "Okay, okay. Can I go to sleep now?"

"Yes, but I swear though if I see you on that computer, or even looking at a game controller, I seriously—"

Suddenly, the most blood curdling and chilling scream that either of the two had ever heard rung throughout the house.

*~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~*

The sweet scent of the pine trees wafted up Nomi's nose and he breathed it in. He walked quietly, the trees providing shade from the hot sun that was beating down on him. They casted a lovely shadow, and as they danced the shadows would move with them in their silent tango of the wind. It was breathtaking.

"Nomi! Hey Nomi!" Nomi's brown eyes flitted away from the sashaying pines and flickered them to a clearing.

Randy sat, leaning against a tree, where a ray of light cut through a taller pine tree. He sat eagerly awaiting Nomi, holding his keytar. However, Nomi wasn't paying much attention to the old looking keytar.

No. He was staring at Randy.

The teen certainly didn't look like a teen. He looked a little bit older than that. His slightly short purple bangs now nearly covered his bright blue eyes. Also, he looked less lanky; his shoulders were broader,and more built. He wore a black t-shirt with his family's symbol in red. There was, however, one thing that hadn't changed, and that was his dorky lopsided grin.

Nomi felt his heart skip a beat, his feet began moving without his willing them to, and his heart fluttered.

"Geez, I thought you wouldn't come."

"Of course I would."

Nomi's voice sounded deeper.

"Whatever dude. C'mon, let's get this jam section started. We have to meet Howard at Whoopee World, or Debbie and Theresa are going to throw a fit if we're late again."

Nomi chuckled. "Fine..."

In a few seconds music rang through the woods, as Nomi had pulled out his bamboo flute. When they finished they decided on playing a quick game of hide and seek. However, when Nomi and Randy stood up, Nomi froze. He stood taller than Randy, so much so that he could see over his head with ease.

Randy grinned up at him. "You going to hide or what dude?"

Nomi snapped out of his thoughts and darted off. He could hear Randy snickering at him.

A gust of wind trailed behind Nomi as he ran through the forest, and it felt wonderful. He felt like he was floating, weightless. It was like at any moment he would fly away. He closed his eyes and absorbed the cool breeze that whipped his long hair around.

Then suddenly,he was body slammed.

"Oof!"

Nomi peered up and instinctively rolled himself and his 'attacker' so that he was on top. He blinked when he saw it was Randy, who was of course laughing like a maniac.

"Dude you should have seen your face!"

Nomi felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment, however, he quickly found laughter begin to bubble out of himself and soon joined Randy, but then they suddenly stopped and stared at each other.

Brown met blue eyes, and for a moment Nomi swore his heart stopped beating for a solid three seconds. Randy leaned forward and crashed their lips together. Nomi nearly laughed as their noses smooshed together clumsily, one of his hands shot up and tilted Randy's head slightly. Their noses no longer pressed against each other, their lips began moving in sync. Of course,the two were both completely inexperienced.

Randy smiled into the kiss, and Nomi wondered if everything in the past was just a crazy dream and this was the real thing. He wanted it to be the real thing, he hoped for it.

They suddenly stood up, and neither could wipe the grins off of the other's face.

"Let's dance"

Randy blinked, before nodding excitedly.

His arms wrapped tightly around Nomi's neck, while Nomi's arms snaked around his slightly thinner waist, and the two began dancing along with the trees and their invisible music.

No words were spoken as the two danced, swaying side-to-side, never looking away from the other's eyes. They came to an almost complete stop. Their swaying slowed as Nomi leaned down and captured Randy's warm lips. The two found themselves stopping completely, even the trees seemed to stop and watch the two curiously.

Randy pulled them to the nearest tree. His fingers buried themselves into his red hair, and he tugged at the band that held his hair up in a messy ponytail. Nomi let a soft moan escape his lips, his heart began beating wildly in his chest. Randy chuckled softly, but it was muffled by Nomi's lips. Nomi rested his forehead against Randy's, his eyes closed, and he smiled. This moment felt so perfect, maybe too perfect.

And just like that everything changed.

The warmth of the sun disappeared, and an icy coldness creeped up on them. The sweet scent of the pines were quickly replaced by a horrendous smell like rotting flesh.

Nomi's eyes snapped open. Randy stared up at him with a fatigued gaze. Nomi began inspecting him. Large bleeding gashes covered his body, along with painful looking bruises. He looked back at Randy's face and realized he was his usual younger self.

Randy coughed, blood pouring out of his chapped lips. His face was pale, and he looked like a ghost. He let out a soft whimper, as he clung to Nomi desperately,causing them to fall to the ground again.

"N-Nomi...I can't...b-breathe..."

Nomi's eyes widened in horror as Randy's once vibrant beautiful ocean blue eyes dulled till they were nearly as grey as a storm cloud.

"Shh, shh y-you're going to be fine Randy, just stick with me. We'll get out of here soon. J-just stay with me!"

Randy tried nodding, but couldn't, so he simply whispered in a hoarse voice, "okay."

Before Nomi could begin to even form a plan, mad cackling echoed loudly in the cavernous lair of—

"T-the Sorcerer."

Nomi turned to look over his shoulder to see what Randy was looking at, and sure enough, the monster himself slithered out of the shadows. He grinned maliciously at the two.

"Hurts, doesn't it,Nom? Everyone you love gets hurt because of you, and only you."

Nomi gritted his teeth and turned away. He looked down at Randy as his eyes began to close.

"Randy please just—"

"Please don't leave me! It'll make things so much harder!" the Sorcerer mocked as he circled the two.

Nomi's eyes burned with anger, but he didn't dare leave Randy's side.

The Sorcerer laughed.

"Don't you get it? I won! You lost! I rule the world!"

The monster stood to his full height, his voice bouncing off every wall. The low green light of the stank casted an eerie glow, and frightening shadows that made the Sorcerer look even more horrifying.

Smirking, the Sorcerer slithered back into the shadows, making him nearly invisible to Nomi.

"Do you remember what they say? You either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain."

Randy suddenly wheezed out loudly,his body convulsing violently. "N-Nom...!" His voice trailed off, and he fell limply in Nomi's arms.

"Randy?! No! RANDY! YOU CAN'T DIE!"

Tears began to stream down Nomi's face as he shook Randy in a desperate attempt for him to get his student to wake up.

"O-oh god..."

Then suddenly Nomi was yanked away.

“AHH!"

The Sorcerer chuckled.

"You truly are worthless. I have all the ninja knowledge at my disposal. I don't need you! The only reason you're even considered valuable is because of the knowledge you possessed!"

Nomi turned to the Sorcerer, his anger boiling over and replacing the grief he felt in his shattered heart. He had nothing left to fight for, except Randy. Nomi unsheathed his samurai sword. The Japanese symbols glowed brightly on the sharp blade, matching Nomi's boiling rage.

"You sick bastard! I'll kill you!"

The Sorcerer's booming laughter filled the room. "You pathetic hellion there is nothing you can do now to stop me! You fear death,you fear of killing! I have won!"

Nomi snarled angrily as he charged at the Sorcerer. The green being smirked. He shot a powerful gust of red magic. Nomi dodged with ease and shot a Tengu fireball at him. However, instead of hitting him it dissipated into nothing.

"I told you." Nomi froze in shock as red stank appeared seemingly out of nowhere began to coil itself around him. He felt paralyzed with fear. The Sorcerer leaned down to Nomi's eye level, his Cheshire cat grin growing impossibly wider he whispered darkly into Nomi's ear. "Long live the Norisu. "

Nomi's eyes widened as the red stank began to enter his body, and he couldn't move, he couldn't get away. Pain sprouted all over his body as black scales began sprouting from his skin, red claws began protruding from his fingers painfully, and stag-like horns began sprouting from the top of his head.

"AHH!No please stop! AHH! PLEASE! H-HAHHHHHHH!"

"And so the hero turns into the villain!"

The Sorcerer laughed as Nomi withered,and convulsed in pain.

Nomi tried to block out the horrible sound, but he couldn't. It was all he could hear, besides his own screams of pain. Tears blurred his vision as he looked over to Randy's lifeless cold form.

"I-I'm so sorry Love..."

Then a terrible darkness enveloped Nomi like a giant blanket of nothingness.

...

Nomi sat up and screamed as loud as he could. He jumped out of Randy's bed and onto the carpeted floor, not caring that pain shot up his leg. He ran and swung Randy's bathroom door open and rushed to the sink. He barely made it before he suddenly vomited.

His body shook violently. Sweat rolled down the side of his face, mingling with the tears that streamed down his cheeks as he staggered around. Everything spun wildly, and he wasn't sure what was real and what was a dream. He could hear footsteps coming closer and closer.

He felt himself losing his balance, but just as he was about to fall, he felt a pair of arms catch him.

He felt like vomiting again, and pushed away whoever had caught him, and leaned against the sink and threw up violently. The hot stomach acids scorched his throat and nostrils until they were both raw. He could feel someone pulling his hair back, his bangs falling back in place no matter how much they tried to pull them back.

Ms. Cunningham had rushed downstairs to the medicine cabinet, grabbing every type of medicine she possibly could, and rushed back upstairs while Randy tried to keep Nomi from collapsing onto the floor. She came in just as Nomi finished. The teen was sobbing loudly, choking on his own vomit and rising to the sink weakly to get what was left in his stomach out.

Randy turned to his mother, eyes wide with fear. She felt herself start to freeze up, but quickly snapped out of it and gently nudged Randy away, beginning to try to help Nomi. It seemed like forever before the male had calmed down enough for the woman to be able to give him medicine for his stomach, the splitting headache, and his leg,which hurt like hell.

...

Ms. Cunningham was silently cleaning up the small mess in the sink. She laughed breathlessly.

"I told you to take it easy, Nomi."

The boy didn't reply as he sat on Randy's computer chair. He was still too overwhelmed with his own emotions to talk, and his throat hurt from all the vomiting he had done that it was just too painful to even try,anyways.

Randy stood, watching his teacher, immersed in his own thoughts. The scream made chills go up and down his spine, like some twisted waltz of despair. He wondered what had happened, what had made his friend react so violently ill.

However, Randy didn't dare ask; he wasn't sure if he would like to hear the answer anyways.

With a little help from Ms. Cunningham, Nomi was able to get up Randy's bed's ladder. Randy quietly followed after.

"Remember Randy, wake me up in case he can't stomach the medicine, okay? Don't try giving him medicine yourself."

Randy nodded before his mother left the room. He looked over at his clock, reading 4:57 PM, before he looked back at Nomi. Just as he was about to speak, Nomi flicked him on the forehead.

"OW! HEY! What the juice Nomi!?"

"Baka, y-you swallowed...leaves when I t-told you not to...." Nomi croaked out, wincing when he felt pain in his throat.

Randy blinked, bewildered by his roommate’s behavior. He was suddenly acting eerily calm about everything that just happened.

"S-sorry."

Nomi snorted, but as Randy studied him more closely, it was obvious he was actually pretty miffed.

"Did...t'ngs go...well?"

Randy nodded. "Yeah. I told her everything."

Nomi nodded as well. He looked more and more fatigued each time he moved his head.

"Let's go to sleep. You look pretty tired, dude."

"You look pretty worn out yourself." Nomi tried to clear his throat, but gave up when his throat felt even sorer than before.

...

Nomi wasn't sure how long he had been staring at the wall behind him, but he was sure it had been for a long time.

He was afraid to go back to sleep. He wasn't sure which was which. Which had been the prediction,and which had been the fake. Another thing about Nomi's dreams was that they weren't set in stone, so either way they could change at any moment or second, but that didn't bring Nomi much comfort.

The thing that stuck out like a sore thumb to him was his interaction with Randy. He had felt so happy, it all felt so natural. Not to mention the kiss. Nomi shuddered. A bubbly feeling rose from the pit of his stomach to his chest.

Deciding to drop the subject for the night, he had just made the decision of staying up the rest of the day and the entire night when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist lazily. He took a moment to absorb what was happening before he peered over his shoulder. Randy was clearly asleep and unaware of his actions. He had wrapped his lanky arms around Nomi's waist.

Just like a pebble falling into a pool of water creating ripples, the feeling spread through his body, and Nomi felt the pajama pants feel a little ticklish. His face turned different shades of red.

Was he getting too close to Randy? And if he was, was he developing feelings for him?

Too tired and exhausted to think about anything anymore, Nomi finally felt himself going back to sleep.

This time though, he had no dreams of bloody deaths or silly kisses.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 8 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 7: You Know What?

"Dude, I said I'm OKAY."

It had been the hundredth time that Howard had asked Randy if he was okay.

"Well then, stop acting like a chowder head."

"I'm not acting like a chowder head, you shoob!"

By then, Nomi had ignored the two as he quietly finished tending to his leg. The bandages only numbed the pain, but it was good enough.

Howard turned to the redhead and glared at him silently. He had decided not to even bother picking a fight with the book, as it was obvious he would most likely lose. Snorting, he turned his attention back to his bro, who was lying on his back, glowering angrily at the ceiling (it was actually kind of cute). Sighing with irritation, Howard apologized.

"Okay Cunningham, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you the biggest shoob in all of Norrisville, okay?"

Randy turned his head to Howard and smirked. "Alright, alright, don't get all sappy and stuff dude!"

Howard rolled his eyes.

Nomi siphoned a shaky sigh. “We need to go now before anyone comes back."

Both Randy and Howard looked at Nomi; they had forgotten he was in the room.

"Let’s see if you can walk."

Randy readied to lift himself off the desk, but stopped when horrible pain shot up his torso. He sucked in a painful breath before dropping back to the desk.

Nomi furrowed his brows. He walked up to Randy. Before he could offer to help, Randy swung his legs off the edge of the desk and tried to stand on his own feet. He winced when more pain spiked through his entire body. Staggering slightly, he took a few steps.

“Y-yeah, I think I can."

"Are you sure?"

Randy nodded. "Yeah dude, I'm sure."

While the two conversed, Howard had searched for Randy's discarded shirt. As soon as he found it, he cringed. There was a gaping hole where a ring of fresh blood surrounded it. Howard looked away from the shirt and tossed it to Randy.

With Nomi's help he was able to slide it on. Randy swallowed dryly, looking down at his bloody shirt. If his mother saw the wound, she would freak. (Also, he hoped Nomi wouldn't notice that he had just accidentally swallowed the now flavorless leaves.) There had been times where Randy had come home with bruises, and that alone had worried his mother immensely.

Knitting his brows in worry, he spoke up.

"H-hey, Nomi?"

"Yes?" He looked up as he was sliding his jeans back on.

"You think you can help me sneak into my room? I don't want my mom to freak out because of, uh, this..." Randy pointed to his bloodied shirt.

Nomi shook his head in agreement. "Okay. So that means we'll have to get to your house by foot then?"

Randy blinked as he thought for a brief second. "Yeah. I guess."

...

Both Randy and Nomi hobbled through the empty halls of the slowly collapsing school. Howard slowed his walking and began walking closer to Randy. He kept an eye on Nomi. That unsettling feeling he felt when the taller male gave him a dark look after he caught Howard staring at Randy's butt returned. It made Howard more uncomfortable than his dust allergy made him.

Howard had nearly tripped when the two suddenly stopped walking. Randy limped over to a shattered window and peered through while Nomi stood still, listening.

In the distance, they all could hear the oncoming sirens of both police cars and white hospital vans. News vans were trailing behind, no doubt.

It was clear to Nomi that at the slow pace they were going, it wouldn't be long before the police or the vultures of reporters stumbled upon them. They would look suspicious, and it would only cause them more trouble than they needed.

Though he had to take it easy on his leg, Nomi knew that it was dire that they got away from the school immediately, so without thinking twice, Nomi scooped up Randy in his arms, bridal style. Randy let out a surprised yelp, looking up at Nomi in shock and surprise, but didn't protest the action.

"We have to get out of here now, or we'll look suspicious. At this rate they'll find us easily. We'll just have to go through a different way." Nomi was biting back the urge to let out a groan from the pain in his leg. He quietly began his way to the opposite door at the other side of the school.

Howard looked through the window one last time before dashing after Nomi, who took off in an awkward jog.

"Slow down you shoob!"

Randy looked on behind them through the hard downpour as news vans quickly joined police cars and blaring white hospital vans.

They slowed down once they were nearly a block away.

Nomi let out a sigh. The rain had soaked through their clothes, and he was certain Randy's bandages were slowly becoming a pile of mush (if they weren't already). His leg hurt and he nearly dropped Randy more times than he would have liked, but he wasn't taking any chances of letting Randy walk on his own. They needed to get back to Randy's house before things got even worse.

Randy shivered. The rain soaked him to the bone, and it was freezing despite it being so close to summer. He could actually see his own breath. He made brief eye contact with Howard, who gave him a small smile, before Nomi took off on another spry jog.

Howard had tried to keep up with the fast ginger, but the rain made it extremely difficult, as it blurred his vision greatly. The only thing that kept Howard from getting lost in the torrent of rain was Randy's deep purple hair, and Nomi's fiery red one.

When the three neared Randy's home they realized it would be extremely difficult to get inside without the elder Cunningham noticing them. However, before they could make up some sort of plan, the front door swung open.

...

The house was silent. It had begun raining sometime after Randy and Nomi left for school. After much debating, she had called in sick, having a very awkward and reluctant conversation with Viceroy and McFist. At the very least she hadn't actually lied about being sick. She felt like hammers were pounding away in her head, and in all honesty, she wasn't in the mood or condition to deal with McFist or Viceroy. Really, she didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment.

Deciding to relax and just watch TV, Ruby had made herself a cup of herbal tea. She knew it would help her migraine, but the bitter taste was also something she had been craving.

Plopping down on the plush black couch (black, because Randy always spilled McCola on their old white one), Ruby flipped on the flat-screen TV. She frowned. The first thing that came up was the dreaded news channel. Quickly switching to a different channel, she was met with more news. Again she changed the channel to find even more news. Ruby's brows creased as she read the headline that was both above and below the TV.

"LIVE- 100 Foot Monster Nearly Destroys High School. Ninja possibly injured? New Ally? Sidekick? Stay Inside—"

Ruby didn't read the rest as she felt a nauseating feeling in her stomach.

A female reporter came on screen, wearing a practiced, fake smile.

"Hello, I'm Sandra Summers with today’s Action News! We're here live on the spot with Principal Slimovitz. Slimovitz, please explain what happened here?"

The usually enthusiastic, perky man looked utterly drained and exhausted, and he spoke in such a monotone voice that it made him seem like he was a completely different man altogether.

"Y-yes, hello everyone, and Sandra. Well, it's, uh, well, very hard to explain, but I was speaking to a student, who I won't name, and told them some very...upsetting news. It angered them, and they turned into a huge monster-bull-thing. Everyone is supposed to just get out of the ninja's way, but when the ninja didn't come, we all evacuated the school." The man rubbed his temples, letting out a shaky sigh. "From the looks of it though, the ninja obviously stopped the monster student, but it looks like school will be out for at least a week, since all the buildings are sort of crumbling."

The young woman nodded. For a brief moment seemed genuinely sorry for him.

“Thank you, Principal Slimovitz."

He nodded before breaking into sobs. He ran out of the screen and away from the scene.

Ruby's green eyes were wide as she watched intently. She felt a horrible, nagging feeling in her gut.

Sandra Summers turned back to the screen with a slightly shaky smile.

"I just received some very shocking news. It seems a local video game store just a few blocks away captured a small part of the battle. Since it was a few blocks away, the camera only captured a few things, but it includes the last part of the fight. Here it is."

Just like the news reporter had said, the video showed the ninja and his ally fighting the monster, which oddly resembled Bash Johnson and a bull. The ninja parted away from the large monster and began climbing the side of the school, while their ally tried to fight the monster.

Ruby flinched when she watched the ally wither in pain as the monster bent his leg in an unnatural way, before being tossed into the trees.

The monster made its way up to the roof, which surprisingly didn't collapse in on the school. The ninja was trying to stay away from the edges, then suddenly his ally appeared. For a brief moment they all stood still, before...

Ruby shrieked in horror as her son was impaled in the stomach and thrown over the roof.

As the ninja began plummeting to the earth below, someone dove off the roof after them. The video ended, and the reporter was back on screen.

She seemed to have tears in her eyes.

"We are still unsure if the ninja survived the fall as there are no bodies, and any blood or trace of the ninja or his ally has been washed away. This is reporter Sandra Summers of Early McNews, and we'll be back after these messages."

Once again she smiled, though this time, it seemed completely forced.

By then Ruby had switched off the TV. Her arm hung in the air with the remote still in hand. She began shaking violently as she fought the urge to break down into sobs again.

No. Her son needed her, and she had to be strong. She rose up, not caring that she dropped her cup of tea and spilled it all over the white carpeted floor. She raced to her room and grabbed her coat and the keys to her car.

She ran to the door, swung it open, and froze.

In front of her on the front lawn stood a soaking wet Nomi and Howard, Nomi was carrying Randy.

They all stared at her in shock, gawking at her, much like she was to them.

"Oh my god!" She screeched as she ushered the three inside. Nomi barely managed to put Randy on the ground before Ms. Cunningham wrapped her arms tightly around Randy's shorter form. She buried her face into his hair and cried softly murmuring in between them. "Oh my...baby boy...don't-...I'm...so glad you're okay!"

Randy stared up at his mother in a silent stupor as she pulled away at arms length. She looked down at him, and wiped away the tears that had streamed down her face.

"I-I was so worried! I saw the n-news report and—oh god, I was so scared!"

Both Nomi and Howard watched in silence, unsure of what to do. While Howard stood, feeling awkward, Nomi was immersed in his own thoughts.

The fact that Ms. Cunningham hadn’t acknowledged him left an empty ache inside him. He had lost his mother when he was only five. The last time he had heard his mother's voice was so long ago. He hadn't even become his grandfather's protégé when she had passed.

Nomi stared at his feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Finally, the woman looked down and froze, her eyes on the gaping hole in his shirt. Before Randy could begin to make an excuse, he stopped himself. He looked up and could see his mother's eyes starting to brim with tears.

"M-mom?"

Ms. Cunningham looked up at her son. His blue eyes stared up at her even brighter green ones.

"Randy..." She trailed off. This was proof, actual proof that her son truly was the Ninja, and yet...

Ruby didn't want to believe it. She couldn't.

She shook her head.

"Lift your shirt up."

Randy hesitated a bit before lifting it up gently, revealing the bandages that had miraculously stayed on. Ruby's breath hitched. She was relieved she didn't see blood on them, most likely because Nomi had carried him.

Nomi watched. He didn't dare try to interfere. He was even holding back Howard, who wanted to rush in and help Randy. He panicked a little when the woman asked for Randy to lift his shirt up, but still, he said or did nothing, just watched.

She inspected it before she began unwrapping it carefully with one hand, while her other hand shot up to cover her mouth as she audibly gasped. The wound was stitched up, and seemed to already be healing, which was strange. It looked like it was a week old, even though it was obvious that the incident happened not even an hour ago.

She touched it cautiously, and then looked over at Nomi. He held a stoic expression. She made a mental note to thank him later. Looking away, she let out a shaky sigh, then her eyes flickered back towards her son.

“I want you three to take a hot bath and then explain to me what happened, and I want the truth." Her voice had taken a stern turn.

All three teens stared at the woman wordlessly, surprised by her words. She raised a brow at the three.

"Well? Come on. I don't want you all to catch a cold. I'm surprised none of you have gotten hypothermia already."

...

After a little help from his mother, he was able to get inside the steaming bath tub. He sat down, allowing the water to help relax his stiff muscles. He let out a deep sigh. Relief replaced the ache he felt in his stomach.

His mind went to the fact that his mother was acting so...strange.

Was that the right word? Randy furrowed his brows, trying to connect two and two, but found it futile. He didn't understand his mother's strange behavior, and realizing he's been in the bathtub longer than he should of he began washing away all the grime and dirt from his body. He didn't even think about rubbing his wound with soap at all.

He wrinkled his nose when he realized his mother had given him her shampoo; it smelled like strawberries. It was obviously a sort of revenge for making her worry so much, and deciding not to bother his mother even more, he shrugged and scrubbed his hair with the strawberry scented shampoo. He rose up with a little difficulty, and tugged the plug, allowing the water to drain out before turning on the shower, and switching to the showerhead.

He allowed the slightly less warm water to rain down on him, washing away the sweet smelling soap. He had to admit it though, it didn't smell too bad. It was extremely girly, but still not bad.

Finally, stepping out of the shower, he began throwing on his clothes. It was his Grave Puncher pajamas. The soft polyester fiber pants felt like heaven on his legs, and the long-sleeved shirt felt a lot better than his other cold, bloody, soaking wet trademark one.

It was then that he realized he hadn't really thought of a good enough explanation. He stood for a brief moment.

They could say that they had been caught up in the battle, they got trapped and injured, but were able to escape before things got too hectic and came here. Perfect.

Before Randy left, he remembered that Nomi was going to shower. He walked over to the bath tub, rinsed it out with the shower head, and put the plug back in the drain, then proceeded to turn on the hot water till it nearly filled up the tub before switching it off.

Randy finally began to leave the bathroom when he bumped into Nomi, who had been standing outside the room.

"Sorry, dude."

Nomi chuckled softly. "It's okay."

Before Nomi could go inside Randy spoke up. "Hey Nomi?"

The redhead turned to Randy. Randy rubbed his neck, almost embarrassed. "Uh, thanks for saving my ass back there...and for carrying me."

Nomi blinked then nodded. He gave him a small smile, though it was partially forced. "You're welcome." He turned away and walked inside before locking the door shut.

As soon as Nomi shut the door, the smile was gone. He felt the guilt well up inside him overwhelmingly. If he hadn't sparked the fight with Bash, none of this would've happened.

Sighing deeply, he decided to just drop it for now.

After the quick bath, Nomi found a pair of pajamas, obviously meant for him, neatly folded on the sink counter, along with a towel. Nomi began slipping on the soft black polyester pants, and self consciously slipped on the grey long sleeved shirt.

Nomi stood in front of the mirror, inspecting his sleeping attire. It was obvious the black pants were Randy's, as they were a bit baggy. Randy was slightly taller than him, but the grey shirt had fit him, more or less.

He wondered what Randy had come up with. Perhaps a pretty lame excuse, like they were in the bathroom and they got locked inside, and would forget to explain as to how he had gotten the small wound on his stomach. Nomi snickered at the thought, though it was slightly bitter.

...

Both Randy and Nomi stood in front of Ms. Cunningham. Howard had been picked up by his parents after he had finished showering, thus leaving Randy and Nomi to deal with Ms. Cunningham by themselves.

She had her arms crossed as she stared down at them expectantly.

"So, care to tell me what happened?"

Both Nomi and Randy looked at each other a little uneasily. Nomi turned to the tall woman who was staring at them with a stern motherly gaze. Just as Nomi was about to make an excuse, Randy surprised him as he spoke up.

"We got caught in the fight. I-I was walking and this piece of wood stabbed me. Nomi and Howard took me to a room and tried helping me. The ninja came in helped me then left. We were stuck in the room until the ninja beat the monster, and Nomi, Howard and I came home—"

"Why didn't you call me!?"

"Our phones got wet. Mine didn't want to work, Howard's was dead, and Nomi doesn't have one, so—"

"So nothing! Y-you...oh never mind. You two are grounded! For your safety, until this all clears up."

Randy gaped at her in shock. Nomi looked to him then at his mother. The two seemed torn. Nomi frowned before speaking up.

"Ms. Cunningham, honestly it's my fault. I shouldn't have—"

"No, no. I'm sorry to the both of you. Randy, Nomi please go upstairs it's just too dangerous to go outside anyways."

Randy nodded, while Nomi stared at the woman uncertainly before nodding.

"Okay Mom."

Ms. Cunningham threw herself at her son, pulling him into a tight embrace, which Randy returned. Nomi smiled slightly. It was awkward for him really, but he was glad Randy and his mother had such a close relationship.

Randy silently made his way upstairs, but before Nomi could follow, someone stopped him. He turned to look at Ms. Cunningham as she breathed out a soft, "Thank you."

“You're welcome."

Randy hadn't seen the little exchange as he stumbled up the stairs until Nomi came and tried helping him, though he himself was having a little trouble.

As soon as the door closed, Ms. Cunningham ran to her room, and finally broke out into sobs. She flopped onto her bed and grabbed the nearest pillow on her bed and cried into it.

Should she tell Randy that she knew? That he didn't have to lie? That she understood, she just worried about him, but deep down she knew she couldn't. It was up to Randy if he wanted to tell her about his alter ego as the ninja.

...

Randy silently climbed up the ladder of his loft bed. Nomi threw his large gym bag onto Randy's bed as he climbed up after him. Nomi winced as soon as he put a little pressure on his leg. It was like fire had engulfed it. Still, he didn't pay it much heed as he sat across from Randy and began digging through the black bag.

Randy watched as his roommate sorted through his things and instantly looked worried. He began rummaging through the bag, throwing out a few school supplies, pulling out his suit and cape, neatly folding them, and a few other things.

Relieved, Nomi pulled out the MP3 player and was even more relieved to find that the rain hadn't ruined the little device. He looked over at his cape and plucked his relic from its usual spot at the chest, and turned it into an amulet and placed it around his neck.

Randy raised a brow when Nomi put one ear bud in his ear. Wasn't he going to scold him for getting himself hurt? Some big lesson he needed to learn? Randy's train of thought was broken when an extended hand offered him an ear bud. He looked up at Nomi, who gave him a soft chuckle.

"We'll talk in a minute. Just relax first."

It was as if he had read Randy's mind, but Randy didn't care as he grabbed the ear bud and placed it in his ear.

For a good hour and a half they had listened through the songs, this time in comfortable silence. It wasn't until Nomi spoke up did he finally turn it off.

Instantly, Randy removed the ear bud and sat anxious to hear what his teacher had to say.

"I'm sorry."

Randy blinked. "Huh?"

"I said I'm sorry. If I had better controlled my own emotions, Bash wouldn't have gotten stanked and none of this would've happened."

"What the honkin' juice are you talking about, Nomi!? I should be sorry. I got stabbed because I wasn't paying attention, and—"

"No, you did fine. We need to work on a few things, but you did a near flawless job, especially since Bash was at least one hundred feet tall, an extremely powerful adversary."

Randy shook his head. "Nomi, don't be such a chowder head. I told you, it wasn't your fault..."

Nomi sighed. "I suppose you should rest now, so I'll just—"

Randy quickly stopped him. "H-hey! Dude, your leg!"

Nomi raised a brow and looked at his leg. He had wrapped more bandages around his injured leg after his shower. "What?"

"You don't have to leave...you can sleep with me. I'm fine with that, and it's going to honkin' hurt like hell when you try to climb down."

Nomi looked at him dubiously as he ran a hand through his red locks. "A-are you sure?"

Randy nodded.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 7 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 6: You Could Call it Revenge

. Being that it was the end of the school day, Ms. Cunningham didn't hesitate to take the boys home.

"Alright Nomi, I expect you to be the more responsible one, so I want you to make sure Randy doesn't try to play video games, watch any TV, or sneak off to hang out with Howard, got it?"

The redhead nodded while the younger male pouted.

"Good. Now I'm just going to drop you guys off, grab a bite to eat then head back to work. I probably won't be home till eight tonight, so Randy, you better get an early start on your chores, got it? And don't forget your homework. Your grades are horrible.”

Randy nodded. "Okay Mom."

Ruby smiled. "Alright then."

They were home. Randy and Nomi quickly stumbled out of the car. Randy paused before going inside and waved goodbye to his mother.

With a deep sigh, Ms. Cunningham pulled out of the driveway and made her way to a small diner. To her surprise, her new coworker Viceroy was there. When he saw her, she gave him a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace. Ever since she had gotten promoted as his assistant, he would always ask her out to grab a cup of coffee, but she would always decline.

"Why, hello Ruby! What are you doing here?"

She hesitantly took a seat next to the dark skinned man.

He was nice and all, but ever since her husband, she hadn't been in the dating game. It was mostly for Randy's sake, though maybe it wasn't the best way to go about things.

"Oh, well, I just dropped my son off at home. I decided to go here for a quick bite to eat before going to work."

"Ah, I see. What's your son's name anyway?"

"Randy.” Ms. Cunningham looked down at her hands. “You know, he never gets into fights...but this time he did it for a good reason...”

She explained about the fight to Viceroy. He nearly spat out his coffee at hearing that her son had fought their boss's stepson. If his wife Marci was pissed off at her, she could easily get fired. All Marci had to do was say the word, and she’d be gone in a heartbeat.

"Y-your son actually tried to fight Bash?!"

"Oh don't worry, he and his friend won that little scrap." Ruby smirked. She couldn't help but brag a little, although she knew that she probably shouldn’t be.

"What did Bash do exactly? If you don't mind me asking?"

"Not at all. He tried to take something from my son's friend."

"Heh. Must be a special friend if he pulled that little stunt." Viceroy winked playfully.

Ms. Cunningham nearly burst into laughter. "Well, actually, it's not like that Viceroy. My son's friend is a he. His name is Nomi Conikos. Randy was just helping him get back his amulet."

Finally a waitress came over, taking Ruby's order of a burger, salad and a cup of water. "Will that be all?"

"Yes, that's all."

"That'll be $7.59."

Ruby began pulling out her small purse but Viceroy beat her to it. He whipped out his own wallet and pulled out some crumpled dollars and handed it to the waitress.

"Here you go, Stacey."

"Thanks."

She smiled and turned away before Ruby could protest. Ruby shot Viceroy a look, but he smiled.

"Please Ruby, spare me the looks. Carry on with the story, please?"

With a quiet huff she continued.

"Well, nothing too big happened after that. They both got a week's worth of detention, and I grounded them both."

"Hm...both? You mean Nomi too?"

"Yeah. He's staying with us for a while."

"Oh. Well, he may be a he, but who knows? Maybe your son is into guys."

Ruby snickered. "Well true, at this point it’s still hard to tell."

The waitress named Stacey came back with Ruby's lunch, and the two quietly finished their meals. As much as Ruby would hate to admit it, maybe it wouldn't hurt to go out with the sassy scientist.

...

As she drove to work, she pondered what exactly would her new job be. She had only been given a little paperwork, but no job description other than that she was Viceroy's new assistant.

She pulled up by the large company. With a sigh, she eyed a picture of her and Randy that she had been keeping in her car. He was five years old in the picture, and she was twenty.

Yes, she had gotten pregnant at fifteen. No one believed that she and her son could make it on their own, but here they were, still thriving.

She smiled as she grabbed her suitcase and finally entered the large building. She waved to the Robo Apes who gave her a small wave. After working with them for years, you get used to their presence.

"Hey Ruby, wait up! I need to show you your new workplace!"

The purple haired woman paused, waiting for the taller male to catch up. He smiled.

"I need to show you where it is. It’s pretty secretive."

Ruby raised a brow at 'secretive'. She wondered what he meant by that, but figured that she’d probably figure it out in a few minutes anyway. Either way, she knew Viceroy was trying to help and was perhaps over exaggerating things a little; he tended to do that sometimes. Well, at least as far as she knew.

The two quickly entered the small elevator. Viceroy began typing something on the control pad of the elevator. Ruby watched curiously. Before she could ask what he was typing, he stepped away and clutched the metal bar on his respective side, opposite of Ms. Cunningham's, and the elevator shot upward in a fast whoosh!

Desperately, Ruby clutched the metal bar on her side as she struggled to stand straight. In seconds the elevator came to a complete stop. Which shocked her. The usual pace of the elevator was a slow ride, up or down, but it felt like she had been on a rollercoaster. Quickly composing herself, she looked over at Viceroy. The man calmly typed something else, and to her even more shock, a voice came from the speaker above them in a corner.

"Password accepted."

The silver doors opened and a 'ding' was heard. Still calm, Viceroy walked out, then paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Well, c'mon Ruby. You don't want to be late on your first day working with me, now do you?"

Finally Ruby snapped out of her shock and nodded. She followed after Viceroy as he walked down a long row of doors. He stopped when he reached a specific door and opened it.

"Viceroy, where have you been?!"

Ruby nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice.

"Sir, I was just showing my new assistant where she's going to be working at."

"Well, hurry up! Get her caught up with everything then come back here. I'm having an important meeting with You-Know-Who!"

Viceroy winced upon his boss's yelling. "Yes, sir."

Viceroy quickly guided a very nervous Ruby inside. Of course, McFist didn't even bother to remember she was the mother of the boy who had beat up his stepson.

They walked around the bulky man and down another hallway before stopping by a small office near a lab.

"Well, here's where you'll be working from now on. We have a lounge three doors down, and if you need me, I'm in the room before this one."

Ruby nodded. "Thanks. By the way, what exactly do you do down here?"

Viceroy hesitated slightly before answering.

"Well, we just think of new inventions and such. Nothing for you to worry about. Now, all you'll be doing is just faxing papers here and there, and print out the blueprints that I'll be getting from other companies, nothing too fancy."

"Well it must be, since I got a hundred-thousand raise, plus early retirement benefits, and college benefits for my son."

Viceroy chuckled. "McFist was being generous."

Ruby snorted. "McFist or you?"

Viceroy gave her a sheepish smile. She giggled.

"Thank you."

He nodded. "I see you'll be doing fine. Remember, if you need anything, just look for me in the door before this one, okay?"

Ruby nodded. "Yes, of course!"

Viceroy was about to leave, but stopped. He looked over his shoulder, looking as though he was debating something in his head.

"Ruby...I know you're probably going to say no, but I have to ask. Can we go for a coffee together? After work?"

Ruby sighed. "I guess a cup of coffee wouldn't hurt."

Viceroy grinned. "Oh really?"

"Sure. Why not?"

The male left with a hop in his steps. Ruby smiled, shaking her head. She hadn’t dated since the incident with her ex-husband. He left her when their son was barely four, and she couldn't risk the same thing happening ever again. It would be too much for her to handle.

Still, going out for a cup of coffee with a coworker didn't mean she was going to have to marry the guy, so what made her say no all those other times before now?

Ruby frowned. She suddenly felt a sense of discomfort, like the walls were slowly closing in on her.

"What the hell is wrong with me?"

Shaking her head, she began doing something other than sitting there like some "shoob", as her son would say.

After twenty minutes of faxing papers, she caught a glimpse of the word "Ninja" on the label. Perhaps it wasn’t a very good idea to take a peek at the paper, but technically it was her business. Anything about her son was her business.

However, before she could even pick up the sheet of paper, her cell phone went off. She let out a surprised squeak, snapped on her touch screen phone and answered without checking who had called.

"Hello?"

"Mom, can I just hang out with Howard for at least one hour?"

Ruby frowned. "No Randy, you can’t. Where's Nomi?"

"Bathroom."

"Oh. Honey I'm at work, and either you take your punishment like a man, or you're stuck with no video games or TV for a month."

On the other line Ruby could hear her son groan. "Why?"

"Randy, I don't have time for this. I need to get back to work, okay? Bye."

"Bye."

Ending her brief conversation with her son, she glanced back at the paper sitting on her desk. It seemed to mock her, but she wouldn't give it the satisfaction of her curiosity, it was better that way. She didn't want to get into any trouble. Putting away her phone, she sat back down and continued her work.

About five hours later, as she was finishing faxing out the rest of the papers she heard yelling outside her door. Unable to help her curiosity this time, she stood up from her chair on shaky and sore legs and walked out her office. She was quickly met with the voices of McFist, Viceroy, and a chilling unknown voice. Biting her lip, she quietly walked down the long corridor of doors. She stopped by a door where she suspected the yelling was coming from, and opened the door just a crack.

It was dark, save for the light from the outside,shining inside the strange room. She realized it was a glass viewing room with stairs leading down the bottom floor. No one was inside, so she walked inside. She bent low just so her head was below the large viewing glass.

Taking a leap of faith, she stood up and was shocked to find her boss and coworker standing in front of the scariest being she had ever seen. He looked like a skeleton with green moldy skin clinging to his bones, as if desperate to stay on his body. His teeth looked as though they hadn't even heard of a toothbrush, and they stood against each other like rigid old boards. He wore a dirty old shroud that wrapped around him like a second skin with strange green, glass like orbs that latched onto his waist tightly. The most chilling thing about him was his eyes. They stared deeply into your core, as if he knew all your fears, your past, your mistakes, everything.

She began backing away, letting out a yelp when a booming voice shook the room she stood in.

"You pathetic morons! I have no use for the ninja! No, what I want is the Ninja Nomicon! Once we rid the ninja of this world, we can steal all the knowledge, and I will be invincible!"

"What about my part of the deal?! I won't help you anymore unless you give me what I want!"

The green being smirked wickedly. "Oh, you'll get what you want, but only if you succeed."

Viceroy stood awkwardly next to the bulkier man, but didn't dare make eye contact with the Sorcerer. He suddenly looked up at the viewing glass just above them, but found no one there, and if there was it would most likely have been a Robo-Ape. The robotic primates roamed around quite often, so it wouldn't be an oddity if one had come in.

Ruby was on her knees as she crawled away, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes. Once she was safely out of the room and in the hallway, she stood up and ran to her office.

She began gathering all her things and began to leave when out of nowhere, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She nearly screamed, but turned to find a concerned Viceroy.

"Ruby, are you alright? One of the other workers said they saw you crawling on the floor."

"I-I'm fine! I just need to go home! I-I think I’m just a little stressed. I probably just need some rest."

Viceroy looked at her for a second before nodding. "Did you finish faxing the papers?"

"Y-yes, I did. I guess faxing for five hours straight just got me all jumbled up!"

"Oh, should I drive you then? You don't seem well—"

"NO! No, I'm fine, I’m fine, I can drive myself home."

"Okay. So do you want to reschedule coffee tomorrow then?"

"I'm sorry, I can't. Something—it’s complicated."

Quickly grabbing her things and stuffing them into her suitcase, she darted out. Being near Viceroy suddenly made her feel sick.

As soon as Ruby was inside the safety of her car, she broke out into sobs. McFist and Viceroy were helping that monstrous being kill her baby boy!

"Oh my god. How can I keep working here?! But where else could I work at that would pay me enough to keep us going?!"

She knew she would have to keep working with them, at least until she found a new job.

She glanced back up at the photo of her and Randy and she sighed, knowing she had no other choice. Gripping the steering wheel, she started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

...

Randy huffed when his mother ended their conversation, and returned glumly to his McFist's Cup-O-Noodles. He looked over at Nomi, who was meditating with the MP3 player's music blaring loudly in his ears. He had refused the offer of food. Randy wondered what kind of music he was listening to. Walking over to the couch where he sat, Randy sat next to him.

"Yes?"

"Uh, I just wanted to know what music you were listening to?"

"Oh." Nomi opened his eyes and looked at Randy, as if thinking of what to do. He finally pulled out one of the ear buds and handed it quietly to Randy, who gladly took it.

The two teens went through every song in Randy's old MP3 player, more than once, but it didn't stop them from jamming to them. They even sung along to a few. Nomi had never felt so happy. For the first time in eight hundred years, he felt like a teen again. A normal one at that, and it made Nomi grin.

Both boys were so deeply wrapped in the music they hadn't even heard Ms. Cunningham come in. However, Nomi quickly snapped his head up and Randy did as well. They both saw Randy's mother's exhausted expression.

"It's pretty late you two. You two should go to bed soon."

She didn't bother waiting for a response and walked to her room in silence.

Randy stared after his mother, his brows knitted in worry.

Nomi quickly spoke up.

"She's right. It has gotten late. We should go to bed."

Nomi pulled out his ear bud as Randy turned back to him. Nomi plucked Randy's earbud, their faces inches away. Randy stiffened at how close the other male was. Nomi wasn't aware of this as he shut off the little device in his hand.

"Come on."

Nomi stood up and extended a hand to Randy, who took it. Quickly getting to his feet, Randy continued to stare after his mother's room with worry.

Randy continued to stare for a few more seconds before he felt a small tap on his shoulder,Nomi gave him a soft gaze before going upstairs. Randy quietly followed suit.

...

The next morning was quiet. Randy and Nomi ate their breakfast in silence while Ms. Cunningham read the newspaper and sipped her morning brew of coffee. Even the day seemed gloomy, as it was completely cloudy. The rain seemed like it would start pouring any minute.

As Randy glanced over at his mom, he spoke up.

"Uh, hey Mom? Me and Nomi are going to walk to school today, okay?"

The woman briefly put the paper down and nodded before returning to the article she had been reading a moment ago.

Randy stared, unsure of what else to say, but he felt a nudge on his arm. He looked over to find Nomi nudging his head towards the front door in a sign that they should leave now. Silently agreeing, Randy spoke again.

"Mom, me and Nomi are going to go to school now, okay?"

"Okay."

"Bye. Love you?"

"Love you too, hon."

He nodded, feeling hurt, and he and Nomi walked out the front door.

After ten minutes they met up with Howard at the corner of his block.

"Cunningham, why didn't you call me?! Hell, you didn't even answer my request on Grave Puncher's online to play!"

"I got grounded, dude."

"What?! What for?!"

"For kicking Bash's ass."

"Hold up, you didn't beat him up, the book did." Howard pointed a thumb towards Nomi, who didn't even blink, though on the inside he felt guilt well up inside him.

"Well, I helped."

"All you did was kick the shoob in the balls, not beat him up with ninja moves!" Howard glared at Nomi. "Aren't you supposed to help him?! You just got him into trouble!"

"Yes. I am deeply sorry, and I feel guilty because of it,” Nomi replied calmly. “And I did not ask for his help, he chose to help me."

"The juice you are! Now I can't hang with him for a week!"

Nomi snorted. "He never needed your bad influence in the first place."

That ended the conversation as Nomi walked past the two teens. However, Nomi froze as he stared at the scene in front of him. Both Randy and Howard froze too, staring in horror and disbelief.

Bash Johnson was stanked.

His monstrous form looked similar to a bull, and he stood at nearly 100 feet. His glowing yellow eyes burnt holes into them.

"Is that Bash?!"

The stanked boy snarled and charged into the school, intent on tearing it down.

Briskly putting on the mask, Randy leapt into action. Nomi watched, reaching into his bag, he grasped his sword tightly.

"Smoke bomb!"

The sulfurous red smoke cleared, revealing Randy in the ninja suit. He stared up at the humongous form of Bash. It was almost ridiculous how tall he was.

Bash stared down at him, his long lizard like tail waving before he let out a blood curdling roar that echoed loudly throughout the city, and suddenly he charged towards Randy, who was a mere couple dozen feet from him.

Randy quickly threw the end of his scarf to the flag pole and ran in the opposite direction of it, creating a tripper. One of Bash's huge legs got caught and he tripped, landing face first into a patch of dirt. Randy coughed; the little stunt had nearly choked him to death, but then a sudden and loud boom alerted them as it began to pour hard. The silent pit-patter was the only thing to be heard as Randy and Bash had a silent stare off. Lightning streaked across the dark sky. The school was free of any student or teacher as they fled for their lives.

Bash got on all fours and began pawing the dirt, growling deeply. Randy smirked as he pulled off his scarf, making it into a sort of cape. He waved it tauntingly at Bash, whose eyes widened before narrowing dangerously low. Kicking off the dirt, Bash burst into a sudden charge.

Randy pulled the scarf away as he sidestepped the direct attack and yelled aloud, "Ninja ¡Olé!"

He snickered when Bash crashed into some Douglass pine trees, effectively getting his horns stuck in the large tree trunks. For a moment, Randy couldn't help but laugh at how comical Bash looked. He stopped when glowing words suddenly appeared.

"Focus on the task at hand, or you'll lose a hand."

Randy rolled his eyes playfully.

"I don't even know what's stanked!"

Just as those words left his lips, Bash managed to free himself from his prison. The tiny necklace could barely be made out. It sat in one of his flaring nostrils.

"Oh, that is schnasty!"

"Ninja, I think you have other things to worry about!"

Randy snapped his head towards Nomi, who stood across the school with a cocked brow.

"Okay, okay!"

Randy raised his sword as Bash charged again, lowering his horns, nearly touching the grassy ground beneath. Randy took it as his chance as he leapt on top of his head.

As Bash stood again, his eyes widened before he lowered onto all fours again and began trying to shake Randy off of him.

"Ah!"

Randy nearly rolled off his back as he clung to one of his horns. Suddenly, Bash charged at the school, crushing Randy against the wall. Randy let out a gasp of pain as he was suddenly plucked off his head by the long tail, and was being constricted.

Nomi knew better than to try and help. He wasn't supposed to interfere. He was only a teacher, but he'd be damned if anything happened to Randy. Sucking in a sharp breath, he dove into some bushes and slipped into his suit and cape. He didn't have a mask, but no one was here anyway.

As Nomi changed into his ninja suit, Randy struggled to free himself. Pulling out a lightning ninja ball, he threw it at Bash's head. This was a huge mistake, as he too was electrocuted.

Thankfully he was freed. Landing on shaky feet, he quickly climbed up Bash's back, up to his head, and successfully plucked the cheap bling. He stood on top of his head with a victorious grin, though the mask hid it.

However, his victory was short lived as he was tossed up so high, Randy was above the clouds, and he dropped the necklace. As he began descending downward, he braced himself for the pain he was about to endure, as Bash's tail swung at him, sending him hurdling into the schools band room, and he painfully smacked into a white board. Randy felt pain shoot up in his arm, and he groaned pitifully.

"Oww."

Randy stood again and raced to the window in time to see Nomi perform an amazing back flip, kicking Bash's jaws closed. He performed powerful combos. He used moves from different forms of karate, from Aikido, Kendo, Judo, to Taekwondo. He moved using a hit and run tactic.

Nomi winced after kicking Bash in the jaw. It felt like he had kicked a giant boulder. But Nomi gritted his teeth and was relieved when Randy returned by his side.

"Mimic my movements."

Randy nodded.

"Got it."

As Bash lifted a large hoofed hand, Nomi and Randy ran their separate ways just as Bash brought down the large hoof where they had stood a second ago.

Though Nomi was fast, probably faster than most, Randy was faster because of the suit's enhanced abilities. Randy zigzagged around Bash's feet, Nomi raced around, smacking him here and there, and it confused Bash, who struggled to keep up with their fast movements. In anger and frustration, he swung his tail, smacking Nomi in the stomach.

"Shit! Nomi, where's the necklace?!"

Nomi coughed. "I saw you drop it on top of the school building. You go get it. I'll distract him.”

Randy nodded, quickly scraping the walls of the school.

Nomi turned to Bash, who already saw Randy climbing up the school.

"nO! ThIS ScHOoL iS GOiNg DoWn! I'Ll MaKE SlIMOvITz PaY!" Bash snarled and spoke in the strange gibberish all stanked victims spoke in.

It then dawned on to Nomi why Bash was a giant monster in the first place, and he suddenly felt his stomach drop, breaking his concentration, giving Bash a chance to attack. His tail wrapped around him and flung him a few feet away from him.

Nomi growled. He stood and raised his sword. The rain made everything slippery. Puddles of mud were already forming around them. Bash made to grab him again, but Nomi twisted away in a sideways flip, however, instead of stopping, Nomi continued flipping, and only staying on the floor for a brief second before soaring in the air.

Bash slammed his tail and tried to swat him in a desperate attempt to stop him.

"StOP iT! YoU'Re MAkiNG mE CoNFusED! AnD BAsH dOn'T LiKe beINg ConFUsEd!"

Bash slammed his fists on the ground, creating a miniature earthquake. The ground shook, throwing Nomi off balance. Randy, who was near the top, slipped and nearly plummeted to the wet earth below, but he managed to grasp the wall just a couple feet from the ground.

Bash grabbed Nomi’s leg with his tail and began waving him around, slamming him into the ground harshly. A nasty popping sound was heard, and Nomi let out a small cry. He tried to free himself, but before he could, he was thrown into the pine trees near by.

Only using pure instinct, Nomi twisted his body, propelling himself to an extended branch. He grasped it and swung himself onto it. It took every fiber in his body to not scream, as horrible pain shot up from his right leg. He looked up as Bash climbed to the roof. Remarkably, it didn't break. Sadly, Randy was still up there, and it was clear he hadn't found the stank covered necklace.

Nomi winced. Unlike Randy, who had the suit which took the blunt of each hit, his suit didn't which meant he felt, with full force, each blow inflicted on him. Nomi leapt from branch to branch until he was close enough to the ground to jump the rest of the way down. He quickly raced to the side of the building and began to try climbing it, but stopped when he felt more pain in his already injured leg.

Randy dodged each attack, but the roof wasn't big enough to hold the both of them. He had to zigzag between his feet in order not to be pushed off the roof, but it was getting harder and harder with each passing second.

Randy lost his footing as Bash's tail swept him from underneath. That's when Randy saw it. The necklace was caught in a vent, but just as Randy was about to grab it, a blue blur went past him. Bash's tail lifted the necklace up and placed it on his horn.

Bash lowered his head as Randy found himself too close to the edge of the roof. He swallowed as he looked over his shoulder. The ground was so far away. Staring down made him absolutely nauseous. He looked back at Bash, but then from the corner of his eye he saw Nomi, with a pained expression, as he slumped onto the already crowded rooftop.

The next few seconds seemed to tick by in hours rather than actual seconds. Randy and Nomi made brief eye contact. Bash charged, Randy jumped up, and Nomi raced towards him. Randy's fingers grasped the necklace, but the point of Bash's horn impaled him in his stomach and he was sent soaring over the edge of the roof as Bash lifted his head up. Randy quickly broke the chain, and the stank disappeared to where it had came from.

Howard, who had watched the whole battle, ran towards the building. He had his hands stretched out, intent on catching his best friend. However, Nomi had dove after Randy and quickly snatched him. He muttered under his words the "Earth Rap" and a large pillar of rock rose from the ground. Nomi quickly propelled them onto it, and looked up just in time to see all of the stank being released. He watched Bash stumble before dropping clumsily on the edge of the roof.

Turning away, Nomi looked down at Randy. There was a big red stain on the ninja suit on his stomach.

Nomi had lost ninjas before. From horrible poisonings, hitmen, gas explosions, you name it. That didn't mean it didn't hurt any less. Sometimes it hurt to know that even under his watchful eye, someone got hurt. Always.

Nomi stared down at the bloody wound and snapped out of his despairing thoughts when Randy spoke up, his voice slightly raspy.

"N-Nomi? Am I—"

"No, you aren't. You'll be fine."

The sudden fear in his heart vanished as he calmed himself, for once without his relic. Nomi reached into his scarf and pulled out a small burlap sack that fit easily in the palm of his hands. He pulled out three colorful little leaves that looked closely like mint. They were a deep blue, emerald green, and a purple amethyst. He handed them to Randy, who stared at them uncertainly.

"I promise it doesn't taste bad, and it's to help with the pain."

Randy silently nodded, lifting the mask slightly to stuff the leaves in his mouth.

"Just chew it. Don't swallow."

Randy nodded. The flavor of the leaves tasted similar to McSquiddles. He still felt horrible at first, but soon the pain in his stomach seemed nonexistent.

"Ninja, are you okay?!"

"I-I'm fine, fellow citizen!"

Nomi nearly rolled his eyes at Randy’s 'superhero voice'. "I need to take you somewhere to see how bad it is."

"The school?"

Nomi thought for a moment before nodding.

"Hey, can you yell 'smoke bomb' so Howard knows I'm okay?" Randy looked up at Nomi who gave him a small smile.

"No."

Randy rolled his eyes, although Nomi did use the smoke bomb to show that they left.

...

After laying Randy down on one of the few standing desks in the science room, Nomi removed the ninja mask and immediately began examining his wound. He was more than relieved to see that the wound wasn't big. In fact, it didn't even seem that Randy would need very many stitches. Nomi had grabbed Randy's gym bag, which had some of his own medical things. Although Nomi wasn't exactly a doctor, he had been in enough situations where drastic measures had to be taken.

Pulling out a needle and some special thread, he began his work. He first had to help Randy remove his bloody shirt, then he had to clean his wound with alcohol (much to Randy's dismay), then he had to calm Randy down enough to allow him to stitch his wound together.

"Randy, I promise it's only a few stitches, and it won't hurt. I promise."

Randy finally nodded, still chewing on the strange leaves as Nomi began the actual stitching. At first Randy was very squeamish, but gradually he relaxed as Nomi worked.

Eventually, Nomi finished and began wrapping bandages around most of his torso. He quietly treated a few other wounds he had on the rest of his body before tending to himself.

Nomi had only a few minor bruises and a small gash on his back. The biggest concern Nomi had was his leg. Randy watched as Nomi removed his jeans, standing in his boxers. He winced when he tried lifting his right leg out of the pants sleeve. It was terribly bruised and looked like hell went through it and back.

Though it looked pretty bad, Nomi was sure it wasn't broken. It hurt to move it, but he could move it, and at the most it was probably just fractured. He debated on what to do, and decided on wrapping it in a bandage. He’d have to go easy on it.

Just as Nomi began wrapping it, Howard burst through the door, panting heavily.

"Cunningham, are you okay?!”

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 6 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 5: Consequences

Despite the fact that this was his teacher he was running from, Randy couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. He had run downstairs before he realized that he had forgotten his ninja mask.

Randy groaned.

He knew he couldn't go back upstairs without running into Nomi, who would sit on him. What was he supposed to do?

Randy actually knew the answer, but he didn’t want to think about it.

He would have to sneak past his teacher.

"Twenty! I'm coming after you, Randy!"

He could hear the mocking in Nomi’s voice, but it only fueled his determination to try to get the ninja mask, when he remembered that he was still standing by the staircase. Without thinking, he darted into the large laundry hamper by the staircase. He buried himself deep in the clothes, wrinkling his nose when he smelled his dirty gym socks, and resisted the urge to gag.

"Oh god that is schnasty!"

Randy heard soft footsteps against the tile flooring near the kitchen. His breath hitched in his throat. The laundry hamper was only a couple feet away. Randy bit his lip as he took a daring peek from where he was hiding. His teacher was searching in the most obvious places.

"Hey! I'm not stupid! I would never hide there!" Randy was annoyed, but knew that he had to take advantage of this opportunity instead of mulling over being underestimated.

After a moment of debating with himself, Randy finally swallowed down the fear inside his chest and darted upstairs as quietly as he possibly could, then closed the door without a sound. He let out a shaky breath, adrenaline coursing through his body, and he suddenly felt a grin reach his face. This was actually kind of fun.

He looked around his room for the mask, quickly becoming frantic, but found it wasn't anywhere in the room, not even his backpack, where he usually stuffed it. Randy swore under his breath.

Nomi must have planned this from the beginning. He had his mask.

That meant that he just walked into his own death trap.

Indeed, Nomi had planned the little ploy to throw off Randy. After all, what if he couldn't reach the ninja mask at the moment? He had to learn to evade danger with or without the aid of the ninja suit's enhanced abilities.

Nomi smirked as he clutched the ninja mask in one of his sweater pockets. He had to admit it, he would have never guessed that Randy was hiding in the laundry basket. Maybe he was better than he thought.

Either way, Nomi knew Randy was trapped upstairs, and without the ninja mask, he was fair game.

Nomi calmly walked upstairs and opened the door to Randy's room only to find he wasn't there. He looked around, confused, as he walked toward the center of his room. He furrowed his brows.

What he didn't know was that Randy was on his bed, ready to bolt out the door. Just as Nomi moved toward his closet, Randy acted on his instincts, jumping off the bed and shoving Nomi into the closet and closing it.

"Why the honkin' juice did I just do that?!"

If Nomi hadn't been annoyed by Randy's childish antics, he was definitely pissed now.

He hadn't expected to be shoved into the closet. He had sensed Randy’s presence, but before he could even turn around, he had been shoved into the closet. What's worse is that he hit his head against the wall. He winced, knowing he would probably have a huge bruise on his forehead. He felt around the pocket of his jacket where the ninja mask was hidden and found that it wasn't there.

"That son of a Tengu."

Nomi smirked.

This was going be an interesting game of hide and sit-on-Randy's-sorry-ass-seek.

Randy stared down at his hand. He hadn't meant to grab the mask, but it had been poking out of Nomi's jacket, and Randy had to take the chance.

Now in his ninja suit, Randy raced downstairs, knowing Nomi probably wasn’t too happy about being shoved into a closet.

"Ninja conceal!"

Randy disappeared into the wall just as his teacher came downstairs, grumbling something along the lines of, "I'm gonna kill him".

Yeah, he REALLY shouldn't have pushed his teacher into that closet.

When Nomi was a couple feet from him, Randy reappeared, jumped up and clung to a low ceiling chandelier. It squeaked under his weight, causing his teacher to pause mid-step. Randy froze, not even daring to breathe. For a brief moment, the silence was the only thing to be heard. Nomi's back was facing Randy, yet he could almost see him narrowing his eyes dangerously low. After another few seconds passed, Nomi stood straight and continued walking around the house. When Randy's hand shot up to wipe at his forehead he found that he had been sweating nervously.

Uh oh.

Just like in any classic spy movie, a drop of sweat rolled off of Randy's nose and fell onto the white carpeted floor below.

Instantly Nomi whipped around and stared up at the chandelier, only to find nothing. It rocked lazily. Nomi eyed it suspiciously for another moment before walking into the living room area.

Randy poked his head out from underneath the sink. Luckily they had been close to the kitchen. If he hadn’t hidden when he did, for sure Nomi would have thrown him off the chandelier and sat on him, or worse.

Nomi turned back into a book.

Confusion and worry suddenly flooded Randy’s mind, and the fear of being sat on melted away. He rushed to where Nomi had stood just seconds ago, staring at the lifeless book.

"Hey, Nomi, I give up. C’mon dude, this isn't funny."

Randy hesitantly picked up the Nomicon and flipped through the pages, only to find them all blank.

What the juice was going on?!

Just as he began to panic, he was suddenly body slammed into the floor and was pinned like the way he had been fifteen minutes ago. Randy gasped in pain, temporarily paralyzed from the shock.

"The art of deception can be both helpful and dangerous depending on the user, Randy."

Randy looked up to see Nomi on top of him, staring down at him with a bemused look. Randy turned his head sideways to find the Ninja Nomicon, then frantically looked back at Nomi.

"What the—how the—what the juice?! I just saw you turn into a book!"

"Another nifty little trick I learned, Randy. As long as the relic is within my reach, I can leave the book. Kind of like a snail when it leaves its shell."

Randy stared up at Nomi with his mouth wide open in disbelief, until he realized he was getting crushed again. "Ack, Nomi...! You're crushing me...again!"

"And I’m going to continue to crush you until you push me off, like how you pushed me into the closet earlier." Nomi gave Randy a sly smirk as he sat on his stomach. "I think I'll meditate for a while. Hope you don't mind."

"NOMI!" Randy tried to make his teacher move in every way possible, but he was just too heavy.

An hour passed, and Randy was still struggling. He had never felt so frustrated in his entire life. He had even tried punching Nomi, and that still didn't work. Instead he had gotten punched back.

Randy grunted.

He had also tried twisting himself out underneath him, but that didn't work either. It only tuckered him out even more.

He peered up at Nomi, who was very calm about sitting on top of him, listening to the MP3 player Randy had given him earlier today.

Nomi had gotten bored a little ways back and had remembered the MP3 player in his pocket. He had a vague idea of what it was meant for after watching the more modern ninjas use these. At least he would have something to do while his student tried to knock him off his back. He was actually surprised that Randy was still trying. Nomi had expected him to "Call Uncle", yet here he was, his determination not wavering, though it was starting to show that he was getting tired, it still didn't seem to deter him much.

It took Nomi a few minutes to figure out how to put the earbuds in correctly. When he finally managed to get them to stay, he wondered how so many people managed to use these little cheap pieces of plastic without complaint. Nomi flipped through the hundreds of songs in the little device, and after a minute, he finally decided on one. It was called, "The Middle" by someone named, "Jimmy Eat World". Nomi stared at the song he had chosen unsurely. He wasn't exactly up-to-date in the music department. Hell, he wasn't up-to-date with bathrooms.

Still...

In a few minutes, Nomi realized he found his favorite song, and he even sang along to the song. He was so distracted by the catchy song that he hadn't even realized that Randy had formed a plan.

As Nomi was lost in his music, Randy was slowly readying himself to rise up with all his strength (well whatever was left of it that is), he silently counted off in his head...

One...

"It just take some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride. Everything, everything will be just fine..."

Two...

"Everything'll be alright, alright..."

Three...

"Hey! You know they're all the same-ahh!"

Randy stood up so abruptly with so much strength that he left his teacher sprawled on the floor. Nomi stared up in slight disbelief, then quickly shook his head and began to laugh. "Well, that was—"

"I'm done! I'm done with this bull shit. I'm going to hang out with Howard."

Randy glared at the ground as he harshly pushed past Nomi who had risen from the ground, but before Randy could take another step past Nomi he was yanked backwards.

Randy expected to see an angry teacher, but instead he saw a teen, and for a brief moment Randy forgot he was eight-hundred and a half years old. Nomi’s face was soft, almost apologetic, but then he frowned.

"Randy. Did I say training was over?"

Though Randy knew it was more of a rhetorical question, he still responded, "No..."

"Then why are you leaving?"

"I told you—I’m done, okay? I used to think being a ninja was honkin Bruce, but now it feels like a job!"

"Since when does being a ninja mean everything's all fun and games? Randy, you're frustrating yourself over nothing."

"I just, I don't know anymore, Nomi." Randy stared at the floor, ashamed of himself for his lack of control of his own emotions.

Nomi knitted his brows in uncertainty. He had never been the one to comfort others. He was always running around his village with his brother Naru, getting into some sort of trouble. His oldest sister Yui was always the one caring for him.

"No, I have to stop thinking of the past. It will do me no good," Nomi thought. He patted Randy’s shoulder (rather awkwardly) in a comforting gesture.

"You want to know why I chose you to be the ninja?"

"Why?"

"You don't just have a hero's heart. You have a quick thinking mind, compassion, patience, strength, you’re loyal, and you care about the welfare of other people, among other things. You were meant to be the ninja. And since when have you ever given up when things got difficult? Why would you give up? Isn't being the ninja...the cheese?"

Randy snickered.

"Randy, you came face to face with the Sorcerer, have come close to losing your secret identity, son of a Tengu Randy, you saved me from the Sorcerer when I couldn't save myself! Now you want to give up just because you got a little frustrated? If it were anyone else, I'm sure they wouldn't have lasted this long being the ninja!"

Randy smiled. "Really?"

Nomi nodded. "Yes. And while you've goofed up worse than any ninja, you always managed to fix everything, even if it means sacrificing something you want, like becoming popular. You even managed to keep your friend, despite the hardships and perils of being the ninja. You've done things even I wouldn't dare do for fear of failing."

Randy had never been told anything like that in his whole life. Not even his mother had ever made him feel this proud of himself. It felt good. Normally Howard would tell him to cheer up and be awesome, but Nomi was going just a little further. Randy grinned.

"Okay. What's next on our training?"

Nomi smiled.

After his small breakdown, Randy didn't even complain once as they trained vigorously. From another game of hide and I'm going-to-sit-on-your-sorry-ass-seek (with Randy doing the seeking and sitting this time), to bamboo sword fights (with Randy actually winning a few rounds), and so on. Another hour passed before the two finally took a well deserved break.

As Randy leaned against the kitchen counter with a bottle of water in his hand, he watched his teacher meditate with the MP3 player turned on. Randy chuckled. He found it rather amusing to see Nomi using modern technology. He expected him to resent it, but clearly that wasn’t the case.

"Hey Nomi?"

The redhead opened a lazy brown eye as he silently peered up at Randy. "Yes?"

"I wanted to ask about something."

"Is it going to make things awkward again?" Nomi grinned.

"No! I'm just curious about something. I want to know about Mac Antfee. I mean, what did he do to get expelled?"

Nomi’s face darkened. He turned off the blue MP3 player and pulled out his earbuds. "That bastard didn't deserve to be called the ninja."

Nomi closed his eyes. His memories of Mac Antfee were always on his mind. He had been one of the biggest mistakes Nomi had ever made in all his hundreds of years of choosing ninjas.

...

The night was young and the stars were out and glistening. Tonight seemed absolutely perfect.

Sadly, things aren't always what they seem.

As a seventeen-year-old, Mac Antfee jumped from building to building in an effort to escape the wrath of a stanked student. Said stanked student was none other than Hannibal McFist.

"YoU LiEd TO mE! yOu LieD! I HaTE yoU!" The words were all garbled and jitterish.

"Hannibal, stop! Someone will hear us! I said I'm sorry!"

Suddenly bright colorful words and tiny doodles floated around McFist's head:

WORDS ARE TOO EASY

"What do you want then?! Huh?! What?!"

"TeLL ScHoOL yOU ArE NINJA!" The booming voice echoed loudly across the sky like thunder, and Mac Antfee took a step back, his eyes wide.

"You know I can't do that man! I-I can't!"

The fight ended in horrible chaos. McFist lost his arm and had to get a prosthetic one, and his friendship with Mac Antfee was tarnished.

That night Mac Antfee didn't save the day. Instead he had shed an innocent boy's blood on the suit.

Nomi had had enough. Mac Antfee only made things worse. He never listened to a word he said, nothing.

"I am stripping you of the ninja mask. I hereby expel you of your duty as the ninja!”

"You can't do that! No! I'll get my revenge! You'll see! You'll all see!"

...

Nomi shook his head his eyes closed. "You see? Even I, the book filled with eight hundred and a half years of ninja knowledge, was fooled by his fake kindness. He thought his way was better. He cut McFist's arm off. It didn't have to end that way, but it did."

Randy stared in shock. "McFist and Antfee were friends?"

Nomi nodded. "Yes, they were. Like you and Howard."

"Oh.” Randy looked uncomfortable. “What did you do without the ninja?"

"I took the reigns of being the ninja. There was only a week of school left, so I simply had to choose a new ninja early once school finished." Nomi shrugged as he stared off into space.

"Why don't you stay being the ninja?"

Nomi winced. Without looking at Randy, he whispered softly, "It's...complicated, Randy. I wasn't meant to be a true ninja. I’m just a teacher."

Instantly, Randy's dream came back to him. The Sorcerer had said something about Nomi not meeting someone's expectations, his father and his brother. What was his name? He didn't catch his father's name, but he was sure they had mentioned his brother's. Dai? Dun? Darrek?

"Daiku."

At the mention of his brother's name, Nomi's brown eyes widened as his pupils shrunk. They flickered up at Randy. "What?"

The redhead had stood up and walked up to Randy. He looked almost...afraid? Angry? Panicked? Randy couldn't tell as Nomi questioned him.

“How do you know that name?”

"It was a dream..."

Instantly Nomi silenced as he stared at Randy.

"I had a dream about you, and the Sorcerer. There was fire, stanked villagers, we were standing at this place called "Ching's", a-and—you were sucked inside the Ninja Nomicon. You were screaming and—"

Randy couldn’t talk anymore. His face was flushed, his eyes a little too shiny. Nomi had stayed silent, staring at Randy, his own face clear of any emotion. It was clear that this was bothering Randy, which touched Nomi, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. It was very uncomfortable for Nomi to see Randy upset, especially since it was due to his past. Finally, after another minute of Randy trying to clam himself down, Nomi grabbed Randy's shoulder.

"Randy, look at me."

Randy did. Nomi swallowed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable by Randy's gaze. He looked away for a quick second before turning back to him.

"Randy, I want you to understand something, okay?"

Randy nodded.

"That happened seven-or-so hundred years ago. I'm fine, I'm alive. Also, my brother and I never understood each other. It was my mistake of being lazy and just terrible. I'm wiser now than before, but none of this is anything you should worry yourself about. Okay?"

"If you say so dude."

Nomi nodded. "Go hang out with Howard. I'll stay here and meditate."

Before Randy could protest, Nomi picked up the MP3 player and walked upstairs to Randy's room, shutting the door.

As Randy walked to Howard's house, he briefly wondered if Bash was going to tell on him and Nomi for kicking his ass in front of his friends and a live audience. Randy gulped, hoping his mother wasn't there to answer the phone, or else he'd be in big trouble for sure.

He knocked on the front door of Howard's home. Howard answered.

Instantly, the two ran upstairs and played the usual game they always played, "Grave Puncher". As the two played, they chatted idly.

"So what were you and the book doing?"

"Howard, he's not a book. And we were training, you know, ninja stuff."

Howard snorted. "Really? Ninja stuff? Like what?"

"Hide and seek, bamboo sword fighting, and he made do a couple laps around the block.”

"Pfft, hide and seek? What's the point in that?"

"It's supposed to help with stealth—haha! I win!"

Howard rolled his eyes. "You got lucky, Cunningham. So he's not a book? He's an actual person?" Howard turned to Randy with a skeptical look on his face.

"Yeah. You see, he was the first ninja, but got he trapped by the Sorcerer into the original Ninja Nomicon."

"Oh. Weird."

...

Nomi sighed deeply. He never liked talking about his past. It always exhausted him.

He climbed up the ladder of Randy's strange single bunk bed and plopped down with MP3 player in hand. The sound of music ran through Nomi's head as he listened to the songs Randy had on the little device. He wondered how Randy knew all these older songs. He couldn't have known about some of them since some of the songs were written way before he was born. Unless the MP3 player belonged to one of his parents.

Now that Nomi was thinking about Randy’s parents, he wondered where his father was. Neither Ms. Cunningham nor Randy ever mentioned the man, not once since Nomi had first entered the house as the Nomicon the week before school had started.

Finally turning off the MP3 player, he decided he might as well help clean up some of the messes he and Randy had made while training.

Pillows were strewn on the floor, curtains clung desperately on their hangers, and a few things were knocked out of place. Deciding to start with the putting the pillows back on the couch, Nomi got to work. Soon all that was left was to put the few things that had fallen back to where they once sat.

Nomi eyed an old photo of Randy, his mom, and his father? The redhead cocked his head to one side in bewilderment, and again the question came up, where was the man? Did they divorce? Did something happen to Randy's father? Nomi didn't know, but knew better than to ask. After all, he didn't like talking about his own past, so he figured that Randy probably didn't either.

With that, Nomi placed the photo above the small fireplace next to some other photos of Randy and his mom.

It was very quiet in the large house, and it bugged Nomi. As much as he loved peace and quiet, sometimes it did make him lonely. With nothing better to do, he decided on getting himself something to eat. His strange illness which had come over him in the morning was not much of a bother anymore, but he still needed to eat something at least three times a day. Picking out an apple, he could almost here Randy nagging at him to eat more and use the bathroom again.

Randy was a good guy. He was a little naive, but he still had a good heart.

Munching on his apple, he pulled out the lifeless shell of the Ninja Nomicon. The little trick he learned took a lot of practice, but once he perfected it, he realized just how useful it was. Still, sometimes he couldn't use it, like a couple weeks back when the Sorcerer had tried to pry him open, he couldn't do it. He had been afraid. The Sorcerer could have done anything to him to get the knowledge out of him. Anything.

Nomi swallowed thickly. Suddenly the sweet apple didn't taste as sweet as before. He threw it away and sat on the couch when the phone rang. He nearly jumped out of his skin and karate chopped it. After quickly composing himself, he walked over to the white phone and looked at it as if it were some sort of alien. How did it work anyway?

He picked it up hesitantly and pressed a green button.

"Hello? Ms. Cunningham? It's me Principal Slimovitz calling about your son. We seem to have a small issue involving him and two other students, so I'm calling to tell you if you can perhaps drop by tomorrow afternoon to chat about this problem? Hello? Ms. Cunningham?"

Nomi's eyes widened and he nearly kicked himself. How could he have been so stupid?! Now he'd gotten Randy in trouble because he couldn't defend himself, great!

Shaking his head, Nomi knew he had to talk to Randy, and hopefully they could figure a way to resolve this problem.

...

"Hey, dude, can I talk to you about something?" Randy asked.

"Are you just saying that so I can get distracted and lose?"

"No. Look, pause the game, this is serious, I'm being serious."

'You've been that way lately,' was what Howard wanted to say, but he bit his lip and decided against it. He paused the game and turned to his best friend.

"We're cool, right?"

"Huh? No shit Sherlock. Why? Am I supposed to be mad?"

"No, it's just, Nomi. He told me something."

Howard looked at him wearily. "Told you what?"

Inside Howard was panicking. What if he knew about his crush on Cunningham?! What if the stupid book had told him?!

"He told me that McFist and Mac Antfee were best friends. They got into some huge fight, and McFist got his arm chopped off. That's why Nomi expelled Mac Antfee in the first place.”

"Cunningham, let me expl—wait, what?" Howard almost blurted out his feelings about liking him just because Randy had wanted to tell him McFist and Mac Antfee were BFFS?! Seriously Cunningham?!

"Yeah. They were best friends, but McFist got stanked and they weren't friends anymore. I just want to know, we're cool, right?"

"Well, yeah dude, we're cool."

"No secrets?"

Howard hesitated, before nodding. "Yeah dude. No secrets."

Randy grinned. "Alright. Time for me to beat your high score!"

"Wha—Cunningham don't you dare!"

"Too late!"

"You shoob! It took me all day to get it that high!"

Randy snickered. "Hehe, I gotta go. Who knows what kind of trouble Nomi's gotten himself into?"

Howard's face instantly fell. "O-oh. Uh, yeah."

Of course Randy didn't notice. "Alright. See you tomorrow bro!"

"Yeah, sure."

As soon as Randy set foot inside his home he was met with a slightly panicky Nomi.

"Nomi? What's wrong?"

"Principal Slimovitz called. I think Bash told him that we beat him up!" Nomi felt ashamed that he had gotten Randy in trouble. His mother was surely going to throw him out!

"Well be fine! I-I think."

"Let's hope."

...

Randy stared out his window. He couldn't sleep. He knew he was going to be in a lot of trouble, especially with his mom.

He looked over at Nomi's sleeping figure. He looked almost calm, peaceful, but...

Randy shook his head vigorously. His dream was still so fresh in his mind. It had felt like he had been there for real, yet he knew he hadn't. That didn't stop the sound of Nomi's screams to creep up on his mind again. He shuddered, burying himself deeper into his blankets. They smelled strongly of the McCola he had spilt earlier. They had tried washing it, but the sweet smell still lingered. He’d have to put it in a washing machine.

Oh well.

Morning came.

Randy and Nomi sat at the small wooden table.

"Tell her now."

"I don't know if I can!"

"Tell her the truth, Randy. It'll be worse if you lie. Tell her what happened."

"Okay."

Randy looked over where his mother stood. She was reading the newspaper, sipping her freshly brewed coffee by the toaster, waiting for the toast to be done.

"Hey Mom?"

"Yes Randy?" She put down the paper and looked up at her son with her mug of coffee.

"Uh, the school called yesterday while you were at work."

"Oh? What did they say?"

"Well you see, there’s this kid named Bash Johnson. Yesterday in school he was picking on me, Nomi and Howard, but Howard wasn't part of it..."

"Part of what?" By then Ruby had put down her mug of unfinished coffee as she crossed her arms. "Randy, what happened?"

"He made fun of Nomi and then he tried to take something really important from him."

"What was this so called important thing?"

"My amulet, Ms. Cunningham. My mother and father gave it to me before they passed on." Nomi pulled out the glowing amulet and held it in his hand. He stared at it with sad eyes.

Both Ruby and Randy turned towards Nomi with wide eyes, but for different reasons.

"Oh! I-I had no idea you were an orphan Nomi! I'm sorry!"

"It's fine, but what Bash did wasn't. He tried to take it from and said hurtful things to me on our way to one of our classes."

"When Bash had it in his hand, I ran up to him and I kicked him," said Randy, purposely not telling his mother exactly where he had kicked him.

Ruby blinked.

"I did the rest. Randy did only that, so I understand if you want me to leave. I—"

Ruby raised a hand and Nomi instantly stopped talking. His grandfather would do the same thing whenever he had gotten in trouble and he didn't want to hear it.

"One thing. I am not going to throw you out, Nomi. Where would you go? Secondly, I understand how important that amulet of yours is."

She pointed to the glowing amulet. It looked very strange, but that didn't mean it didn't hold any value to its owner.

"I-I know, but I didn't have to react like that. I should have known better, but this amulet is what keeps me alive."

Randy nearly laughed at how literal that was. His mother gently picked the amulet and stared down at it with a sigh.

"Randy, you're grounded...well, both of you are. No computer or video games, or hanging out with Howard for a week. Got it?"

As Randy rose up to protest, Nomi slapped a hand on his mouth. "We'll take it."

"I wasn't giving you boys an option." Ruby smirked. She turned to the clock. "Well, c'mon. I better drop you boys off now."

...

The day went on without much trouble, besides the fact that Bucky got stanked twice. Which was just sad. Still, in the end, Bucky was simply upset since Bash threw his triangle instrument out one of the school's windows. Randy had to search the bushes of the school, but other than that, nothing too big happened.

School ended for the day, meaning it was time to face Principal Slimovitz, and most likely the McFists.

Ruby Cunningham arrived as soon as school ended, quickly walking to the older man's office. Randy and Nomi waited until she waved them over. Together they walked inside, and just like Randy had predicted, the McFists were there. Bash's mother Marci was glaring daggers at them. Ruby shot her her own death glare, and instantly the women looked away and back at Principal Slimovitz.

"Well, as you all know, a little issue came up. I'm not sure who to believe until I hear both sides of the story. Now I heard Bash's side, but now I need to hear your two's sides, okay? Uh, Mr. and Mrs. McFist, Bash, if you don't mind?"

The family left the room with a smug looking Bash. Principal Slimovitz sighed, almost relieved that they had left the room.

"Okay, now Randy, I know you're not that big of a trouble maker. You only get a few detentions here and there, but nothing big. And, well, Nomi, you're new here, but from your records, you're a straight A student, and you have absolutely no detentions or any other sort of disciplinary issue, so all I want to know is what Bash did to provoke you to "attack" him. From what he told me, you two walked up to him, told him some very inappropriate things, then proceeded to "knee him in the balls" and "beat the juices" out of him. So please tell me your side of the story so we can sort this out."

"Principal Slimovitz, Bash was the one who attacked us!"

"Oh? Please tell me more."

Nomi quickly cut in, knowing how bad Randy was at talking with teachers.

"Principal Slimovitz, Bash walked up to me and started calling me names because of my short stature. Then he tried taking a very important personal item of mine. Randy did knee him, but only so I could get my amulet back. I got it back, but Bash was going to punch Randy, so I had to do something. I fought back. Randy only kneed him. I was the one who really beat him up."

Ruby spoke up. “Mr. Slimovitz, my son and his friend aren't lying. They have the amulet, the item that Bash was trying to take. Nomi if you will?"

Nomi nodded. He pulled out the glowing necklace and handed it gently to the principal, who eyed it curiously.

"Well, what exact sentimental value does this amulet have to you, Mr. Conikos?"

"That amulet was given to me from my parents before they passed on in a car crash."

Principal Slimovitz nodded, humming to himself. "Well...I guess this was all in self defense...I suppose the most appropriate thing I can do is—"

"Not suspend us?"

Both Ms. Cunningham and Nomi had the urge to facepalm.

Principal Slimovitz nodded. "I'm not going to suspend you boys, but I still have to punish you two somehow, so you two will spend a week in detention. Agreed?"

All three of them nodded.

"What about Bash?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, he'll be the one getting into big trouble for lying, and for bullying you, Mr. Conikos." He gestured to Nomi.

"Thank you."

"Well, we're all done here. I'll be seeing you both tomorrow, and I expect to see you heading to detention."

Though Randy wasn't too crazy about getting a week of detention and not being able to hang with his bro, he was thankful that he didn't get suspended.

On the way out, Bash elbowed Nomi harshly, causing him to crash into a trash can. Randy turned to help Nomi up. They both glared up at Bash who smirked, unaware that he was the one in bigger trouble than them.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 5 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 4: Mommy Knows Best / School Dayz

Ka-chink! Slash! Screech!

The distinguishable sounds of battle echoed in Randy's ears. He stood in the middle of what was once a small Japanese village. Thick smoke oozed out of burning buildings and villagers ran frantically from the terrible scene, evacuating in an attempt to escape the wrath of the hot flames. Randy's blue eyes darted everywhere, trying to sort his head through this chaos.

"Hey, what’s going on?! Wait! Hey, hold up!—Dude, where—What the juice is going on?!"

The villagers scattered, leaving Randy to stand in the center of this hell. It was then when he looked down at his reflection through a broken piece of glass that he realized he was wearing his suit, but he didn’t remember turning into the ninja. He looked around frantically for an answer, his mind racing.

That was when he heard someone cackle madly. The twisted sound was deep and throaty. Following the sound with the suit's enhanced hearing, Randy ran down a narrow road. He slowed as the sound became clear. He backed up against a wall and slunk closer to the opening of the little road. He surveyed the area, but could see nothing through the black smoke. He felt around blindly, only managing to walk a few feet before he tripped. Picking up his tripper off the ground, he saw that it was an old sign covered with black soot. He wiped some of it away and found the sign was written in Japanese. However, as he stared at the sign, the symbols seemed familiar and its meaning came naturally to him as “Ching’s”. He could not read the rest of the sign however, as it was burnt away.

As he looked around, he saw that the smoke was clearing rapidly. His eyes widened when he realized where he stood. It looked to be a market square. There were empty stalls either burned down or burning down, their signs no longer readable and the vendors no longer there, but what really made Randy's heart pound was that the devil himself stood in the center of it all.

The Sorcerer.

Randy took a swift step back. The Sorcerer’s cackling returned.

"Oh, look what we have here. It’s the last of the weak Norisu. Come to vanquish me to the pits of hell?" The dark green figure smirked. "I am hell! Show yourself, coward! You'll have to at some point..."

Randy's breath hitched as he readied himself to face his enemy when he heard a soft gasp. He whipped his head around to find a battered and beaten Nomi, wearing the familiar ninja suit. His eyes were wide with fear as he trembled and finally revealed himself to the Sorcerer.

"I-I’m not the coward here, you are. And my family isn’t weak either—you are!”

“F-family!?” Randy sputtered.

Nomi ignored him.

Randy reached out to grab his teacher's arm, but his hand simply went through. He jumped back as if his hand had been burned.

It was beginning to dawn on him that nobody was aware that he was even here.

"Sorcerer, you will pay for the murders of the innocent people of this village!” Nomi continued, gaining a little more confidence. "My family may have fallen victim to your sorcery, but I shall not. I will defeat you and send you back to the pits of hell from once you came!"

"Ah, young Nomi Conikos Norisu. You were always short of your brother's expectations, even shorter than that of your father's." The Sorcerer smirked when Nomi visibly stiffened. He had found his weakness. "Such a shame that I have to kill you. You've certainly made my expectations.”

Nomi could not hide the look of bewilderment on his face.

“How about I offer you a deal? You join me, and I won’t kill you."

"Never! You’re nothing but a bloody murderer!”

Randy could only watch as the battle unfolded.

"So be it!" the Sorcerer sneered harshly. With a snap of his fingers, stanked villagers came charging out of the thick flames that now surrounded the three. There were over a dozen of them, yet amazingly Nomi got past them. He slashed and smashed various objects, somehow freeing them of the Sorcerer's magic. He seemed to be destroying their most prized possessions, at least judging by the villagers’ reactions.

Once he had managed to free them, all in record time, his attention returned to the Sorcerer. The citizens all laid on the ground in a daze before coming to and fleeing the scene.

Nomi didn’t notice them.

His eyes, which had been filled with fear, were now filled with fire, as he charged towards the Sorcerer with such a burning determination that if the place hadn’t already been on fire, it probably would have been now.

The tall figure of the Sorcerer began to shrink as his chaos was being tamed into harmony. He began shooting powerful gusts of green magical energy, but Nomi dodged each of them and the Sorcerer shrunk to the size of a normal person.

"NO! IMPOSSIBLE!"

Nomi leaped, tucking one foot out, successfully hitting the Sorcerer in the face. He raised his samurai sword, ready to throw the final hit, but at the last minute the powerful warlock blasted him hard in the stomach, throwing him off. Nomi slid across the dirt floor into the flames. He hissed in pain, gritting his teeth as the flames burned his shoulder. He crawled away. It seemed that he only got a second-degree burn.

He rose on shaky feet. Just as quickly as he got up he found himself on the ground again. He barely managed to roll away as a powerful blast of green magic came his way, just barely missing his head. Swiftly getting to his feet, he quickly realized he was surrounded by powerful green flames.

Randy watched helplessly from afar on the corner of 'Ching's'. He felt fear well up inside him when he couldn't see his teacher. He was very tempted to run in and try to help Nomi, but he knew that there was nothing he could do.

He was relieved to see Nomi stumble out of the flames, though he was obviously in worse shape than before. He had a horrible gash on his arm that was bleeding profusely. There were bruises forming on one side of his face, including a black eye and a busted lip, and there were scratches all over the rest of his body. The suit had rips where deep gashes were inflicted.

Randy could only imagine what had happened in just ten minutes, or, well, that's what it had felt like to Randy.

Nomi stumbled past Randy, going right through him. Intense chills ran up and down his spine. Randy quickly followed after his teacher as quietly as he could (he could practically hear his teacher scolding him for his loud footsteps), but Nomi didn't even seem to notice his ghost-like presence. His eyes were darting all around, searching for something. They finally came across the only building that wasn't on fire, and Nomi dove in through a window with Randy following suite.

Nomi sat down on the soot-tarnished floor. He hugged his knees and began to sob. Randy was disturbed by this new emotion from his teacher, but he didn’t move.

"I-I can't do this, Grandfather—I have failed! I truly am worthless, just like brother Daiku said! I'm unworthy of being a ninja!" Tears streamed down Nomi's face as he clutched something in his hand tightly. Randy found it was the relic, looking duller than usual. Randy could see that it was made out of wood. It wasn't like before, where he could see the life contained inside.

"My brave grandchild, you have not failed me. You must believe in the weapon inside the suit. You must believe in yourself as well. I know you can do this. You must believe."

Both Randy and Nomi looked around for the source of the voice, but there was no sign of anyone else in the room. It was almost as if they had just imagined the words that had been spoken. It creeped the juice out of Randy, however, Nomi thought otherwise as he stood up, wiping away his tears,

"Y-you're right, Grandfather. I-I won't fail you, not you, not our family! Not the villagers!"

With a newfound hope Nomi stood up, clutching the wooden carving of what looked like his relic before tucking it away in some unknown part of the suit. He grabbed an old book with red markings covering its borders. It looked like the Ninja Nomicon, but it was missing the glowing pieces. Without them it looked almost like a regular book. Nomi clutched the items tightly before unsheathing his samurai sword. He took a deep shaky breath as he finally put the book down, the lifeless relic still tucked away.

"Don't let your emotions get the better of you,” he muttered quietly to himself. “Think of the things that make you happy."

He boldly took a step outside where the Sorcerer waited for him with more stanked villagers. The villagers were hissing and snarling, waiting impatiently for the Sorcerer's command to kill the young ninja. There was a silent stare off before all hell broke loose.

Blasts of magic were shot in every direction as Nomi ducked, dodged and weaved past each blast with perfect ease. He ran his samurai sword through each stanked item, leaving more villagers in a daze. Some of the unstanked villagers stayed and watched the epic battle in amazement. The Sorcerer whipped out a lime green sword that reeked of stank. As Nomi and the Sorcerer were locked in a dangerous sword fight to the (possible) death, Randy watched and cheered for Nomi.

"That is honkin' awesome! Jump up Nomi! Slice him to shreds! Haha, nice sweep kick!" Randy made many more comments and cheers that were not heard.

It all came down to one thing. The point of Nomi's sword dangerously close to impaling the Sorcerer. All eyes were glued on Nomi as he stared down darkly at the trembling man underneath him.

No. He couldn't even be considered a man anymore. He was a monster.

Nomi's eyes narrowed to brown slits, his grip on his sword tightened. Why didn't he just get this over with? Why didn't he just—

Nomi raised his sword and brought it down on the ground, only millimeters away from the Sorcerer's head.

"I hereby banish you to the pits of our once prosperous village."

With that, Nomi held up a pair of shackles as he chanted incoherent words. The Sorcerer was absolutely terrified.

“NO!"

Just as a crack in the earth formed above the Sorcerer's head, the shackles wrapping around his body, he shot with what little magic he had at Nomi, just as he muttered the final words. Nomi was sent flying into the building where he had hidden the Ninja Nomicon. The Sorcerer fell through the gaping hole in the earth.

"NOMI!" Randy raced to the building, but stopped when a powerful light blinded him. He backed away in suit with the villagers who had stayed to watch the fight. They were all horrified.

Randy’s eyes tightly closed, he blindly ran into the building, unsure of what to expect. He finally opened his eyes when he realized the blinding light was gone, but instead of the blinding light, there was a green hue surrounding Nomi. Nomi clutched his chest as he wheezed and choked out gasps of pain. It was like he was suffocating and on fire at the same time. The wooden relic suddenly rolled out of his suit's tattered scarf. It was glowing and vibrating madly. Then the Ninja Nomicon flew out of its hiding spot and began flipping pages. Randy watched, horrified, as his teacher began to be sucked in the book. Nomi shrieked pure agony as he tried to claw away, digging his nails into the floor, but it was all in vain as he was being sucked away. However, the glowing carving suddenly burst to life as a black, red and white cape formed with it as the familiar clip at his chest. It wrapped tightly around Nomi as his screeches and shrieks of pain got impossibly louder. Randy found himself falling to his knees.

All he could hear was his teacher's screaming, as it began melding into a horrible blaring sound of—

BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP!

With a loud gasp Randy's eyes snapped wide open. He sat up pencil straight, the loud blaring of his alarm clock ringing in his ears as he looked around wildly, frantically.

"Shit!"

Finally, Randy's wide and teary eyes met with his teacher's. He stood awkwardly in the center of his room, holding his casual clothing with one arm and the other tugging the white towel wrapped around his waist in an effort to not drop it.

“Good morning,” Nomi said, completely indifferent that he was half naked. “I forgot my clothes when I went to shower.”

“It’s okay,” Randy said, trying to shake off the dream. He looked at Nomi, images of his agony still fresh in his mind, and blurted out without thinking, "I'm going to ask my mom if you can stay."

Nomi hesitantly nodded as he quietly walked to the bathroom. A silent click was heard as he locked the door.

Randy wiped furiously at the tears that had formed in the corner of his eyes. His mind raced and he felt queasy. The sound of Nomi’s screaming had terrified him, probably more than the Sorcerer himself ever could. Then his mind went back to the fact that he had understood what the old Japanese sign said, and the fact that Nomi's family was the famous Norisu Nine, which meant he had been the last survivor of the famous clan of ninjas. Randy, however, was confused as to what the Sorcerer had told Nomi about his brother.

Scratch that. He was confused about everything in that dream.

Suddenly a horrible gut wrenching sound was heard from the bathroom, snapping Randy out of his thoughts. He quickly raced to the door that led to his bathroom and pounded his fist against the door in a panic.

"Nomi?! A-are you okay!? Nomi!"

There was a brief pause before Randy’s roommate replied.

"I'm fine Randy. I just hit my foot against the sink."

Although skeptical, Randy thought it was best not to question his teacher.

...

The nausea hit him in one sudden wave. Nomi rushed to the sink and vomited what little he had in his stomach. His anxiety and thoughts from the previous nights came rushing in an overwhelming wave of hell.

Was he ready for school? Would he fit in? Would he stick out worse than a sore thumb? So many questions and thoughts ran through his head, and he felt the unbearable sickness once again.

“Nomi!? A-are you okay!? Nomi!”

Nomi grimaced. That kid really did have a heart. Nomi was glad that Randy was the ninja.

He told Randy that he was fine, making up some lame excuse about hitting his foot or something.

Damn it. This was the reason why Nomi didn't like to eat. After years of famine, suddenly eating food made him unbearably ill.

Unfortunately, and perhaps ironically, the only cure to his bizarre illness was eating more.

Nomi began cleaning away the small mess he had made in the sink. This was definitely a sign that needed to take better care of himself. He sighed deeply. He held the green relic tightly in his chest, rubbing it gently. Instantly, he felt better, calmer. He tugged at the tip of the relic, making a black chain appear. Both of the ends of the chains were attached to the relic, making it an amulet. He unzipped his borrowed sweater and hid the relic underneath his thick black turtleneck.

He finally opened the door to find his student dressed and ready to go. Randy handed him his gym bag, which was Nomi’s backpack for the time being. Nomi didn’t say anything, but he really didn’t want to put his ninja suit in that thing. Weren’t gym bags supposed to be sweaty?

"Sorry Nomi,” he said, as if reading Nomi's mind. “I don't have an extra backpack,”

"It's fine." He stuffed his suit inside. He looked up to find Randy staring down at him. "Yes?"

"Well, you look like a normal teenager, but you have to act like one too. A modern one too, not a teenager from 800 years ago. So I thought I'd give you this." Randy pulled out an old styled blue MP3 Player and handed it to Nomi, who took it with surprise. "While you teach me to be a totally Bruce ninja, I'm going to teach you to be like a teenager." He grinned.

Nomi shook his head in slight amusement. Randy was right.

"Well, thank you. I'll take you up on that offer. Will your fat friend be assist—"

"Ah-ah, don't use big words! It'll make you a nerd, and Bash Johnson, the school's asshole will juice you over. You also kind of have to use our slang."

Nomi rolled his eyes. The big fat chunk of meat wouldn't even last a minute against him. He'd have him sent to the hospital before the jerk could even look at him.

Still, he did at least consider the slang part. As stupid as it was, he knew it would help him blend in.

"Fine."

"Also, don't use riddles. People will look at you funny and get suspicious."

Nomi snorted. "You’re just saying that so I’ll stop telling you advice in riddles."

"Okay, it’s a little bit of both." Randy chuckled. Then he asked, "Uh, hey, Nomi?"

"Yes?" Nomi looked up from the gym bag as he hid the old MP3 player. It may have been a while since he was last in school, but he had the sense to know that if he was caught with it, he’d probably get it taken away.

"Do you consider me as a friend?"

Nomi considered him deeply. He never let himself get attached to any ninja, because every four years he was torn away, forgotten, then dropped off with a new ninja. It had been that way for seven or so hundred years, and yet, none had ever showed that they cared as much as Randy.

Although Nomi knew he would only be with the young teen for three more years, he could make enjoy it while it lasts, right?

"I suppose if you consider me a friend, then I am your friend."

Randy gave his newfound friend a lopsided grin, but before he could reply, Ms. Cunningham's voice cut through.

"Randy, Nomi are you boys up yet? It's almost time to go! You two better come down here! I made you guys some breakfast!"

Randy grinned slyly at Nomi, but much to his surprise, the male seemed desperate to eat.

"So you're going to ask your mother if I can stay?"

Randy nodded. "I have to, or things will get...complicated."

"Yes, I suppose things would get very complicated."

...

Ruby Cunningham knew her son like the back of her hand. She even knew his alter ego as the notorious Norrisville High Ninja. The mother had suspected something about a few months after her son had entered high school, but she hadn’t been sure until the ginger who called himself Nomi Conikos had showed at her front door. She knew down to the relic he wore that he wasn't exactly a normal teen. When she had asked him about the strange get up, he had simply said it was for religious reasons.

Of course, she knew that was bullshit.

Ruby wasn't stupid. She knew what was going on and that was why she had left in such a rush. In reality, she still had another hour before she actually had to leave for work.

It did sting to know that Randy was intending to keep his superhero life a secret, but Ruby understood.

As much as she was proud of her son, she was still worried. She couldn’t watch the news when there was an attack on the city—what if her baby boy got killed?

But Randy would always manage to make it home safe.

Plus, now that Nomi was here, she knew that he would protect her son.

That was why she agreed to allow Nomi to stay at their home for as long as he needed, no questions asked. Her son had been completely shocked that she agreed. She herself was a little surprised by how much faith she had in Nomi to protect Randy.

I guess you can call it mother's intuition, or something like that.

"Really?! He can stay?!"

"Yes, he can stay. Just as long as you keep up with your chores. I don't expect him to help you, but if he chooses to help you, that’s fine—I shouldn't find him doing all your chores though, okay?"

Randy nodded vigorously, grinning excitedly. “Thanks Mom!"

Ruby smiled, nodding. Nomi himself showed much gratitude to her kindness.

"Thank you, Ms. Cunningham. I promise to help around the house however I possibly can."

Both teens were surprised that Ms. Cunningham was allowing Nomi to stay, but were grateful all the same.

"Now eat up so I can drop you both off at school. I know it's a little early still, but I'm going to work soon, and McFist the butthead wants me there early now." The older woman rolled her eyes at the thought of her headache of a boss. "Mr. Weinerman has been sick for the last few days, so McFist is completely in charge." Ms. Cunningham sighed deeply as she handed the two boys plates of food.

It consisted of pancakes, eggs and sausage. It smelled absolutely amazing.

Nomi took a few hesitant bites, still weak in the stomach. Thankfully he was able to handle the food, and as he ate he realized he was starting to feel immensely better.

As soon as Nomi took his last bite of food, Randy dragged them outside, Nomi barely managing to grab his bag.

The drive to school was sooner than Nomi had hoped for. He watched the tall white building come into view, the American flag waving lazily. Ms. Cunningham slowed to an almost complete stop at the drop off zone. She smiled.

"Well, you two boys have fun now! Bye, Honey!"

"Uh, bye Mom."

As Nomi stared at the front door of the school, he absentmindedly grasped his amulet and rubbed it gently in an effort to keep himself calm. The two walked in the school to find very few students inside. Some of them shot curious glances at Nomi. A few girls giggled shyly when he turned to them, but Nomi simply snorted in annoyance, turning his head forward.

"Cunningham!"

The two boys turned to see a very unhappy Howard walking up to them.

"Dude, what the juice!"

"Shit! Howard, I'm really, really sorry!"

"You did it again,” he muttered, sulking. “You NNS’ed.”

Randy, having heard the little comment, gasped rather dramatically. "I. Did. Not. NNS!"

Howard rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you did!"

Nomi ignored their argument and looked around. The school was impressively larger than it had looked outside.

They reached the office.

"Randy, I think I need to speak with the Principal."

"No you're—oh, what was that, Nomi?"

"I said I need to talk to the Principal."

"Okay. His office is right here." Randy led the way to the small office of Principal Slimovitz.

The room was filled with photos from all the school years, including this one. It had sports trophies, and academic certificates, along with Slimovitz's bachelor's degree. The room smelled like a hospital room more than a school office. As Nomi entered with Randy (Howard decided to wait outside, since he was on the Principal's bad side), the Principal turned around on his chair with a cheerful smile.

"Well how can I help you two today?"

"I'm a foreign exchange student from Japan,” Nomi explained calmly. “I wish to attend this school."

"Well young man, you would need your parent's signatures, your files from your old school, and so on."

"You already have them."

"No, I—huh...!" Principal Slimovitz stared blankly. Randy looked around the room to see what he was staring at, but found nothing. He turned to his principal and was shocked to see his eyes glowing white before they changed back to the normal brown. The man blinked and shook his head. He typed something into the computer. A soft buzzing sound was heard from the printer as it printed a paper.

"Well, here you go Nomi! Sorry for the inconvenience! I completely forgot I had your papers transferred via McEmail!" Slimovitz handed Nomi the printed page, which held a schedule that was completely identical to Randy's and Howard's.

The two walked out.

"Wow Nomi! How did you do that?!”

"I added some fake memories. You see, I broke into the school a few days ago to add myself to the school data bank. That was before you and I formally met." Both Randy and Howard looked at each other before turning to Nomi.

"You said fake memories, right?" Howard asked.

"Yes. It's just a little trick I learned."

"That. Is. The. CHEESE!" The two teens bumped fists with wide grins.

Nomi looked curiously at the two younger teens as they joked around, their little argument apparently forgotten. They punched each other's arm playfully.

"Will you mind showing me to our first class?"

"Oh yeah. First up is English with Mr. Bannister. He's the one that gave me detention for being late."

Nomi nodded as they made their way to the large man's classroom.

Yes, Nomi knew who the man was. One of the more recent ninjas before Randy had had Nomi confiscated from the idiot ninja. Nomi had to wait until the end of the day before being given back, and that drawer was dark and scary as hell.

Yep, Nomi remembered that asshole very, very well.

The bell rang, signaling classes were going to begin shortly. Randy, Howard, and Nomi quickly ran to their first class. By the time they had gotten to the classroom, the entire class was already seated.

Mr. Bannister raised a brow. "So you clowns decide to show up, eh? GET TO YOUR ASSIGNED SEATS, PRONTO!"

Randy and Howard quickly darted to their seats in record time. Nomi however stood confidently in front of the man.

"I'm a new student."

Although Nomi's accent wasn't strong, he decided to mess with the teacher’s head and spoke with such a strong accent that it was barely understandable.

"What?"

"I'm new."

"What?!"

"I'm new."

"KID, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!"

"I said I'm new here." Nomi smirked. He had gotten under the man's skin quicker than he had expected.

Mr. Bannister gritted his teeth, obviously fighting the urge to snap at him.

"Introduce yourself."

Nomi smirked as he calmly walked to the front of the class.

"Halo. My nam is No-mi."

Nomi’s grin grew even wider when he saw that Mr. Bannister had turned a deep red, clearly very annoyed. The class seemed to have caught on with Nomi's little act, as they were barely able to stifle their laughter.

"I fwom Japun-"

"Alright, that's enough introducing. Go take your seat by Debbie Kang over there."

With that, Nomi sat next to Debbie, who sat nearly all the way in the back.

Mr. Bannister was practically steaming with anger.

The class suddenly burst into fits of laughter. It took several minutes until the teacher was finally able to silence them.

Debbie turned to Nomi.

"Hi! I'm Debbie! And well, I know you're name's Nomi, so yeah, hi! I heard you're from Japan right?”

Nomi nodded.

“Well, I'm a little Japanese, but I've never been there! How's it like!?"

"Uh, well, it certainly is very different from here."

"Really? How so?"

"For one thing, it's a lot less crowded."

In truth Nomi was only guessing, since when he had been mortal, the village he lived in was what was now known as Norrisville, so he had no idea how Japan even looked, although the village had been Japanese.

"Really? I'd thought it'd be more since the population over there is skyrocketing!"

"Uh, I lived in a small kind of village."

"Oh, I see. Hey, you know, you should sit with me and my friends at lunch. You seem too smart and cu-cool to be hanging with those two." Debbie gestured towards Randy and Howard.

Nomi frowned. "And what exactly is wrong with them? They’re my friends...well Randy at least. Not so much Howard." He rolled his eyes. In the short time they had known each other, they had formed a small frenemy relationship, so in Nomi’s opinion, they weren't really friends.

"Oh, uh, sorry. It’s just that those two can act like total shoobs."

Nomi raised a brow. "They aren't...Shoobs."

Nomi and Debbie stopped talking. Nomi didn't bother to pay much attention, since he probably knew more than all of the teachers in the school.

The day went by faster than they had anticipated, and before they knew it, it was time for lunch.

Nomi wrinkled his nose at the smell of the garbage that they called food. It looked rotten, slimy, and just plain out disgusting. He didn’t even know what it was.

He had hoped to be able to grab an apple or some fresh fruit, but apparently since Nomi was a new student and they had an exact number of apples for each student, they ran out before he could grab one.

Nomi stared down grumpily at the “food” as he sat next to Randy and across from Howard.

The two younger boys didn't seem to mind the food. Either they were starving and desperately in need for food, or they gave up trying to resent it.

"Uh, here dude, I don't want the apple."

Howard tossed his apple to Randy who gladly took it. Randy then noticed his teacher's disgusted expression. Nomi pushed the tray of food away, crossing his arms. Randy looked at the other apple before tossing it to his teacher, who instinctively caught it without even looking Randy's way. Nomi looked at his hand to see what he had caught and was surprised to see the apple. He looked at Randy who was eating his own food, chatting with Howard. He chuckled silently in amusement at Randy’s attempt to look sneaky.

"Thank you."

Randy turned and grinned sheepishly.

"We really need to practice your stealth," the redhead said before he dug happily into his apple.

Unbeknownst to him, Howard had seen the little exchange.

He had to admit to himself, he was a little jealous. Maybe even a little too jealous, but he kept the snappy comments to himself.

Suddenly, Debbie Kang appeared out of nowhere and sat next to Nomi.

"Uh, hi Debbie? Why are you sitting with us exactly?" asked Howard.

"Because I'm Nomi's friend and I can."

Nomi tried to avoid as much contact as possible with the young girl, who was clearly trying to grab his attention. She didn't even bother to hide the fact that she had a crush on Nomi.

"Hey Cunningham, emergency meeting in the bathroom, now!" Howard didn't wait for an answer as he dragged Randy to the bathroom.

"Okay, what the juice is it dude? Why are we having an emergency meeting?"

"Look, I think you're getting in too deep bro! Think about it!"

"Dude, I'll be fine! Nomi's going to teach me everything I need to know!" Randy looked around, then spoke in a quieter tone, “Dude, this is the bathroom, so we need to be vague about what we’re talking about in here in case somebody eavesdrops.”

Howard listened before continuing.

"Gah, Cunningham think about it! Look you're my bro, and I can't lose you!"

Seeing the sincerity in his best friend's eyes, which was so uncharacteristic of Howard, Randy knew he was serious.

"Look, everything is going to be fine—"

"Haha, fags!"

Randy glared at a closed stall. He punched it as hard as he could, causing the insulter to squeal quite unmanly-like.

With, that, their meeting was over and the two walked out of the bathroom.

Meanwhile,

“So uh, Nomi, uh, I know we just met and all, but...um, I was kind of wondering if you would like to hang out some time? You know, like on a date?"

Nomi blinked once, twice, four times before suddenly bursting into a fit of laughter.

"And what exactly is so funny!?" Debbie demanded.

"I’m sorry,” Nomi said, still snickering. “It’s just, well, you're barking up the wrong tree."

"W-what does that mean?"

"I'm gay."

Although Nomi wasn't actually sure if he was gay, he knew he wasn't too keen on dating. He had given up trying since he had become immortal. It just couldn’t work out. While he will forever stay biologically fifteen years old, they (well she in this case) will age and eventually die, and in truth, Nomi just couldn’t handle adding more complications to his already complicated life.

"O-oh, I-I didn’t know, I’m sor—"

"It's fine."

Just then, Randy and Howard returned from their apparent emergency meeting.

"Um, I'm gonna go. N-nice talking to you guys."

Debbie left with flushed cheeks as she sat with some other girls who questioned her.

"Geez! We leave you for like five minutes and you scare off Debbie!" Howard snorted.

Nomi shrugged. He took a bite out of his food, realizing that it actually wasn’t all that bad.

"She embarrassed herself."

"What did she do?"

It was surprising to Howard to hear that Debbie Kang's pride had been shattered, and he wondered what exactly did Randy’s teacher do to shatter it in just five minutes.

"She asked me out. I declined."

"Dang! Your first day and girls are already asking you out!"

"They're not really my preference."

"What, you into seniors?"

"No."

"Juniors?"

"No."

"College—"

"I'm just not interested in dating.”

"Oh. Alright then."

Lunch ended, the bell warning the remaining kids in the lunch room that they had five minutes to get to their next classroom.

The trio began walking to PE, but they were stopped by none other than Bash Johnson. He smirked down at them cockily.

"I knew I smelled fresh meat. I just didn't expect it to be a shrimp! Hah, hey guys come over here and look at this! Look at this little shrimp head!"

However, much to everyone's shock and surprise, Nomi said calmly, "Hey guys, look at that meat head!" Nomi pointed to the buff male, who stared at Nomi, flabbergasted.

"Oi, what the juice you say, shrimp?!"

Nomi ignored him as he tried to walk past Bash, but suddenly he was yanked backwards, nearly crashing into Randy.

"No one talks to me like that and gets away with it!" Bash glared down at Nomi, who glared back with as much venom.

"I don't want to hurt you, so—"

"Hah! Hurt me?” Bash scoffed. “You're nothing but a worthless little shrimp! Go back to Japan. No one wants you here!"

Nomi gritted his teeth, but knew better than to let his anger cloud his judgment.

"Move out of the way. We’re going to be late to our next class."

By then a crowd had formed, intrigued by Nomi’s bravery.

"Hah, like I'm gonna listen to a shrimp!" Bash shoved Nomi backwards, and suddenly the amulet slipped out of its hiding spot and hung around Nomi's neck in plain view. Nomi could barley hide his panic when Bash suddenly tore it off his neck. The big beast squeezed it in his hands, poking it, rubbing his dirty hands all over it. Nomi felt like he was getting crushed, then nearly suffocated when Bash gripped it tightly.

"Heh, what's this, huh? Some girly little necklace? It's mine now—"

Without even thinking about it, Randy ran up to Bash and brought his knee up the boy’s family jewels.

"GAH!"

Bash threw the amulet in the air. Nomi ran, leapt up and caught it. He rubbed it gently, heart racing at the sudden burst of adrenaline that was coursing through his veins. Bash recovered from the blow to the balls and threw an angry punch at Randy, who screwed his eyes shut, preparing for horrible skull splitting pain, but when nothing came he opened them.

Nomi had stopped the flying fist coming at Randy's head by catching it. He gripped the hand, squeezing tighter and tighter as he glared darkly at Bash who stared in disbelief.

"W-what!? How the—"

Nomi threw the fist back at Bash, causing him to smack himself. Using this as his chance, Nomi flipped over Bash. Bash turned around only to get punched right in the face. He stumbled backwards. Nomi charged again with a ferocious snarl. He stopped inches from Bash and back flipped, kicking the male in the jaw and then landing perfectly on his feet.

"Get out of my way." Although Nomi had said it calmly, his words still bled with raw anger.

Bash stared in fear and shock as Randy and Howard walked past him to PE, quickly followed by Nomi.

They had arrived just in the nick of time as Coach Green began taking attendance.

"New student, eh? Well then, I suppose in order to get you used to the way we run things here, I think we'll play some dodge ball!" The Brit grinned down at Nomi who returned a weak smile. However, a pained groan caught his attention as he turned to the source which was Bash, who had a bloody nose.

"OI! Bash, you're late—and you have a bloody nose! Uh, go to the bathroom and clean that up. I don't want blood on my newly waxed gym floor!" He shoed Bash off. "Well where was I—oh yes! You're lucky I have an extra gym uniform. Here you go. I'll give you your own locker tomorrow, so I hope you don't mind sharing today, Randy?"

Randy shook his head. "It's cool."

"Alright then. Off to the locker rooms!"

After they changed, the most epic dodgeball game in the history of this school began.

"Randy! Remember, the best way to avoid an attack is to avoid an attack!”

"Stop using riddles! Do you not remember what I told you?!"

Nomi face palmed. "USE THE BALL TO BLOCK THE ONES FLYING AT YOUR HEAD, IDIOT!"

The other students known as the 'NERDS' began following Nomi's advice. Some even managed to catch the balls, getting the 'COOL KIDZ' out with ease. Coach Green watched in complete shock as the 'NERDS' finally managed to defeat the 'COOL KIDZ'. The ‘NERDS’ cheered excitedly, taunting the ‘COOL KIDZ’.

"Well, that was certainly exciting! Probably the most well played dodgeball game I've ever seen!” Coach Green looked up at the clock on the wall. “Well, would you look at that. You kids have five minutes left, so off to the locker rooms with you."

The bell rang as kids cheered and thanked Nomi for the help. Even Howard was a little impressed.

The final class of the day had been with the widow Mrs. Driscoll, who had passed out a test in which Nomi had aced with ease, missing no questions. Mrs. Driscoll nearly had a heart attack from how shocked she was.

"T-this is impressive! A+ for you, Mr. Conikos!"

"Thank you."

School ended on a fairly good note. Randy and Nomi dropped off Howard at his house before walking back to Randy’s house.

"Hey Nomi?"

"Yes?"

"Um, I know your amulet holds your life essence and stuff, but you looked like you were in pain when Bash squeezed it in his hand. How is that possible?"

Nomi frowned, pulling out the relic thoughtfully.

"This relic isn’t just a part of me spiritually. It’s a part of me mentally and physically as well. For example, when you squeeze or do damage it, I feel it, but it feels much worse than the actual damage. It feels as if I am dying. When Bash was holding it, it was like he was suffocating me. It's one of the disadvantages of having to depend on the protection of your soul in a relic."

"Oh. Sounds rough, buddy."

Nomi shrugged. "Well, we better begin training—after you finish your homework."

...

Nomi meditated for an hour. He went through his memories, past ninjas, mistakes. Just as he was about to fall into a light sleep, Randy's voice jolted him back to reality.

“What was that?”

"I need your help."

Nomi opened one eye lazily. "With what, exactly?"

"This math question."

Nomi closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. He failed to see the sly grin of his student.

Nomi rose to his feet and sauntered over to where Randy was, underneath his single bunk bed. Randy grinned up at him.

"You see, I just keep forgetting what to do here."

Nomi looked at the math problem.

"Randy, all you have to do is carry the six, add it to the two, subtract the three and you get..." Nomi trailed off. He nearly face palmed when he realized what Randy nearly got him to say it.

Nomi shook his head. “You’re a child.”

Randy was too busy laughing to hear his comment. "Oh man, you totally walked into that one! Hah!"

"Well, I suppose I should have seen that one coming..."

Randy stopped laughing and stared at his teacher in slight surprise. He had expected him to get snappy with him, at least if the old geezer had gotten the joke anyway, but instead he was actually laughing.

"Let's get started on training. Warm ups first."

Randy expected a fist to come flying at him, so he readied himself to duck, but instead he found himself on the floor, his hands pinned above his head.

Nomi smirked as he sat painfully on Randy's stomach. Randy squirmed underneath him, grunting as he tried desperately to get him off his stomach, but to no avail.

Nomi weighed a lot more than he looked! Like a ton!

"Shit...Nomi! You're...heavy...as...fuck!"

Nomi was lost in thought as he made himself comfortable on Randy's stomach.

He never really zoned out, but when he did he was too far gone to be brought back so easily. His thoughts traveled to his sexual preference. It was a random thought that came to mind, but he couldn't help it. He was still holding the virgin card. And Nomi still had urges, but he had always managed to snuff them out.

Still, it was bad enough that he couldn't fall in love without hurting someone in the end, which really sucked.

"Hello?...Nomi?!...I need air!"

Finally being brought back to earth, he stood up with a smirk.

"Clearly we need to work on your strength sometime soon. Now, since your stealth skills are absolutely horrible, we're going to play a game of hide and seek. You're going to hide and I will seek you. I will give you twenty seconds to hide. Twenty...nineteen—"

"Wait, now?!"

"Unless you want me to sit on you again, then yes...twelve...eleven..."

Randy darted out of the room without a second thought.

Nomi smirked. He would give him an extra twenty seconds, just to be fair.

Although he knew he it was a bad idea to let himself get too attached to Randy, he might as well enjoy fucking with him while he could, right?

With that, Nomi went to go find a scared juiceless Randy.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 4 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 3: Awkward is the Word of the Day

“H-hey Howard. Our friend Nomi came by and we wanted you to come over and, uh, try out that new online version of Grave Puncher! You said the graphics were the cheese, so Nomi wants to play with us!" In a quick and desperate attempt for Howard not to raise any questions, Randy looped an arm around Nomi's neck and pulled him closer with a large nervous grin.

Of course, Nomi had to bite back the instinct to pull away, twist his arm behind his back and pin him to the ground like he had been taught to. He felt that they looked extremely stupid like this.

Fortunately, Howard had gotten the hint.

"Oh—yeah! I completely forgot! Heidi, I'm gonna go. Have fun cleaning the house while I bounce!"

Without waiting for her response, the three dashed out of the house in a blur while Heidi threw a tantrum.

...

"Alright Cunningham, who is this guy?"

The three slowed to a walk. Randy panted, trying to catch his breath as he replied in between inhales and exhales.

"It's...a really long...story...wait...my...room."

As they quietly walked to Randy's house, Howard stole glances at the red haired teen. He had to admit, the guy was pretty damn handsome.

Well, maybe not like Cunningham—

There he was again, thinking those strange, forbidden thoughts. He couldn't help it though. Love was a strange, morbid thing that blinded those with its sweet alluring song. And this was certainly no exception, as Howard found himself slowing just enough so he could stare at his friend's butt. When he looked up he realized he had been caught by their apparent new friend. His cheeks heated up, but the male simply looked away as if in deep thought.

There has never been a time where Randy was ever quiet. He was always chatting with Howard. He felt awkward, standing between the other boys, for some unknown reason, and it bugged Randy, so he decided to break the ice.

"So, Nomi, do you play any instruments? I m-mean, besides the flute?"

Howard turned to the other male who gave him a dark look, which unsettled him.

"Yes. My father taught us that music was as important as education. I learned on my own how to play most of the common instruments like the piano, violin, guitar, clarinet, and even the drums. I know a few pieces of certain songs, but the instrument I play most commonly, as you would have guessed, is the flute."

With that, the male pulled out the flute from his pocket and began to play the sweet, familiar melody. It created a calm, almost lazy atmosphere.

Howard felt an oddly natural sense of comfort.

Suddenly, Nomi stopped.

"Sorry. Got a little carried away." He muttered, but Randy stopped him.

"Nah dude, that was totally Bruce!!"

Howard simply nodded, still unsure of the stranger that walked with them. The redhead smiled before continuing to play the rest of the way to Randy's house.

...

As soon as Randy shut and locked the door to his room, he was almost literally mauled by Howard's questions.

"Okay Cunningham, who is this guy?!" The short chubby teen pointed at Nomi, who didn’t seem to care about what was going on.

"Howard, this is the Nomicon."

There was a moment of silence, before,

“WHAT?!”

"Yeah, it’s a long story. But apparently the Sorcerer is going to escape, which is why Nomi revealed his human persona to me and you. I guess it’s because he's going to fight the Sorcerer, while I take on Mcfist!" Randy had repeated the whole conversation between him and the human Nomicon in a single breath and was breathing heavily under his friend's stern look.

"Wow, you really are in deep now."

Randy groaned, flopping exhaustedly onto his bed and burying his face in his pillow. He screamed into it.

"Well, now that we're done with introducing each other, I'm going to meditate." With that, Nomi began to disappear into a smoky red mist before a book appeared where he had once been standing.

"Whoa-ho ho! That is the cheese!"

...

Time flew by and before the boys even realized it, the sun had gone down.

"Crud. Heidi is going to tell Mom that I’ve been out too late and get me grounded."

Randy barely heard his friend as he concentrated hard on the game in front of him. "Uh-huh. Have fun."

Howard grinned. "So, do you like ketchup and peanut butter sandwiches?"

"Duh."

"Are you in a porno?"

"I made it."

"Are you gay?"

"WHAT THE JUICE!?"

Howard nearly fell backwards as Randy stood up still, staring at the computer screen. "That’s not fair! I punched that grave to bits!" Randy turned to see his friend staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay then...oh, hey dude, it's almost nine. You better go or Heidi is going to get you grounded again."

Howard face palmed.

...

As Randy came back upstairs after walking Howard to the front door, he found the Nomicon was back to his human form. He was meditating in the middle of his room.

"Hey Nomi, my mom's gonna be here any minute, so you better hide again."

The redhead opened one eye lazily. "Okay. I guess I've done enough for today." He stood and stretched, but was cut off by the sound of Randy's stomach rumbling. He raised a brow.

"You haven't eaten?"

"Nope. I usually just eat an apple or something. Maybe chips I guess. My mom doesn't have time to cook. And I don’t know how to cook." Randy simply shrugged.

"Well then, I guess I can make you something really quick."

...

Randy watched in awe as Nomi sliced and diced a few vegetables in less than ten seconds, cook rice in record time, and slice a small salmon fillets into perfect slices.

Randy realized he was preparing him a small dish of sushi.

Suddenly, a small plate was pushed to him. On top was six salmon rolls sprinkled with sesame seeds. Nomi leaned casually against the opposite side of the kitchen counter from Randy. He watched him expectantly, almost eager to see what Randy thought of his cooking.

Realizing this, he picked up a roll and popped it into his mouth.

It tasted...amazing! Delicious! Flavorful! There was an endless amount of words that Randy could use to describe the little salmon rolls, but didn't care to say them aloud as he happily stuffed them into his mouth, barely remembering to swallow and thank the redhead.

"Wow! Thanks dude! It's really good!"

Nomi gave him a small smile. He was internally jumping up and down with pride. He smirked.

"Your first lesson is to close your mouth when eating." He gestured to his open mouth. The purple haired teen rolled his eyes before doing as his teacher had said.

Suddenly the sound of the doorknob jiggling caught both of their attentions. Nomi was just about to turn back into his book form when the front door slammed open to reveal an exhausted looking Ms. Cunningham.

"Oh! I had no idea you were spending the night, er—Nomi!"

Instantly he relaxed and gave a respectful bow. "Y-yes, I am, if that isn't too much trouble."

"Oh none at all! Hey, how come Howard isn't here, Randy?"

"Uh, he had to go home. Heidi busted him." It wasn't a complete lie at the very least.

"Hm. That's too bad." Just then, her green eyes landed on the single roll that sat innocently on the plate in front of Randy. Without question, she picked it up and put it in her mouth.

"Mmm. You’re not a bad cook, Nomi,” said Ms. Cunningham. “Well, I'm going to bed. Randy, you two better not stay up later than twelve or I swear I'll skin you alive, mister!" Ms. Cunningham made her way to her room.

The two looked at each other, even Nomi being alarmed, before darting upstairs. Unbeknownst to them, the woman poked her head out of her room and smirked before going back inside.

...

"That was inhuman dude, inhuman!"

Nomi nodded with wide eyes. How could she have known that he had made those rolls? He shook his head.

"That was...inhuman."

Randy laughed as he pulled out a blanket, pillow, and a large mattress. Nomi raised a curious brow.

"Uh Randy, you do realize I don't need a bed, right? I can just make myself a book again."

"No! I mean, no, you don't have to, dude. You made me food, so I wanted to return the favor. And besides, sometimes Mom checks in on me at night. She'll grow suspicious if she doesn't see you here asleep."

"Ah, I see."

Once again, Randy found himself searching in the sea of clothes for some comfortable pajamas for his teacher. He found a pair of shorts. He was about to continue searching for a shirt when Nomi stopped him.

"That's fine Randy. I usually sleep without a shirt."

"Oh. Okay." He handed Nomi the black pair of shorts.

...

Once again it was morning, and the powerful rays of the sun sliced through, hitting Randy's eyes. He groaned.

“I really need to get new curtains...”

He blinked and found that the extra mattress was gone, and only Nomi was left. He was sitting in the middle of his room...meditating.

A sly grin came upon Randy's face as he hopped to his feet with great stealth, marker in hand, but just as he was about to draw on him, Nomi spoke.

"Don't even think about it, Randy. Unless you want to be missing a few limbs."

Startled, Randy jumped and tossed the marker away. "What? I was just going to see if you were awake!"

"Well I am. Now let's get started on training."

Randy groaned. "Aw, come on Nomi, it's the weekend!"

"A ninja's duty is never not done just because it's the weekend, and besides, this will be fun. We're going to the woods to practice your stealth skills. Right now, you’re as stealthy as an elephant with four left feet."

"Hey! I have awesome stealth skills! I just haven't warmed up yet!"

"Alright then. Let's go to the woods and see just how ‘awesome’ your skills are."

"Fine."

...

The sweet scent of pine hit their noses the second they took a step into the small woods.

Randy dropped his gym bag, which was filled with bottles of water, a first aid kit, and his ninja mask. He reached inside, grabbing the said mask and briskly put it on, turning into the famous Norrisville High Ninja.

"Alright. So what are we doing first?"

In swift and quick movements, Nomi removed his casual clothing to reveal his ninja like suit. He pulled the strange black cape out of his gym bag and placed it on. The small green clip that rested on his chest glowed in the dim light of the forest. Randy was in awe.

"For one thing, we need to meditate for one hour—"

"Aw, that's so wonk, Nomicon!"

"It's necessary! You have to learn to be patient. A direct attack will only get you attacked—"

"Can you please stop using riddles? It's kind of unnecessary."

Nomi face palmed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Was this kid really that dumb? "Honestly Randy, are you seriously questioning me? I’m your teacher, you’re my student. I may be biologically your age, but that doesn't mean I’m a child like you. You have to listen to me. Now, I'm very patient, luckily for you. If not, I would have twisted you into a pretzel, or whatever it is you call it. So, without anymore interruptions, let us get on with the lesson, yes?"

“I’m not a child,” Randy muttered, before agreeing to let the lesson start.

They began to meditate. Sort of. Most of the time, Randy wouldn’t keep his mouth shut.

"Are we done yet?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"No."

"What about now?"

"No."

"Now?”

"Dammit, Randy! NO!" Nomi finally stood up. "You know what? Fine. Yes, we’re done.”

“YES!”

Nomi shook his head. “Let's begin with the warm ups."

Randy grinned. “So what are we—"

Suddenly a fist flew towards Randy. He managed to dodge it just in time. He snapped his head towards his teacher, who held a sly smirk.

"Now the real fun begins."

Randy gulped. Uh-oh. "Uh, hey Nomi, w-what are we doing?"

"Warm ups. When you successfully land a punch on me, we will begin the true lesson."

Randy's eyes widened in sudden fear as a barrage of fists came flying at him. The fists barely missed their target. Randy tried to desperately dodge, duck, and zip past each and every one of them.

"Oof!"

Randy fell on his butt. As he got punched in the stomach, he quickly got up and jumped away, barely escaping Nomi's deadly left hook. Finally, Randy boldly ducked and threw a punch, only for it to get blocked and thrown right back at his face. "Ouch!"

He looked up to see the deep concentration written all over his teacher's face.

“I have to break that concentration!”

With renewed energy, he bobbed and weaved under and over.

"You look like you're getting tired there." Randy teased. The two kept aiming and dodging punches. "Tired!?"

For a brief second, Nomi’s concentration seemed to drop so much that the left hook that was certain to have hit Randy missed and punched the tree behind him. Their noses were so close they could feel each other's heavy breathing.

Realization hit the two as Nomi had pinned Randy against the tree. It took Nomi a second too late before suddenly Randy's fist hit him hard in the chest, knocking him off balance.

"Gah!"

Nomi fell on his butt. He stared up in surprise before it melted into a smirk.

"Well, you caught me off guard. I guess you win. Now on with—"

"Ahaha! I got you! I just punched the ninja book! Haha! Wow!"

"That maybe true, but I did get you at least a dozen times."

Instantly, Randy's boasting ceased, and a pout replaced the victorious grin upon his face. Nomi chuckled at the quick change of demeanor on his student's face.

"Shall we begin the stealth lesson, Ninja?"

The mocking tone did not go unnoticed by Randy.

He bitterly replied, "Yes."

...

"Uh, where exactly am I?" Randy had been blindfolded.

"You see, Ninja, stealth has different aspects to it. Today we're going to practice sight and hearing. You will be blocking my attacks without knowing where I'll be coming from. After you, it will be I who will be blocking your attacks. Understood?"

"Yup."

Unknown to Randy, they were standing in a small clearing hidden and surrounded by tall pine trees. Nomi smirked as he pulled out his bamboo flute. He placed his hands on each end before pulling it, causing it to extend into a long wooden staff. Oh yes, this was going to be so Bruce.

There was a rustling sound in the bushes. A pause, then the sound rejuvenated in another area. Randy's left hand shot out, ready to block the oncoming attack, only to be hit on his right side.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a barrage of attacks came out of nowhere. He successfully blocked some of them, but most of the time he was getting smacked around like a ragdoll.

"Gah! Okay, time out! Time out!"

"There are no time outs, Cunningham. The Sorcerer is a relentless enemy and will be hell bent on killing you. Be happy that this is just training and not an actual battle."

"I don't care! Timeout!"

Nomi huffed as he finally ceased fire. Randy removed the blindfold.

"C'mon, I know the Sorcerer is all tough and shit, but seriously, do you have to beat me with a stick?!" He gestured to the long bamboo staff in Nomi’s hand.

"Well, what would you like me to do then? Throw rocks and boulders at your head? Because if you want—"

"NO! No way! I think I prefer the stick!" He snatched the staff from Nomi's hand. "Anyway, it's my turn!"

An entire hour passed with Randy swinging and flailing the stick at the other male. With ease, Nomi dodged each slow and exhausted swing.

"I...I almost got you that time..." Randy said, panting pathetically. "Almost..."

Finally, out of pure luck, and the fact that Nomi was getting bored, the end of the bamboo staff tapped his arm rather softly. Randy collapsed onto the forest floor with Nomi hovering over him with an amused and concerned look.

"Are you okay?" He almost felt guilty for tiring him out this much. Almost.

"Y-yeah..." Randy moaned pitifully.

Nomi sighed, almost relieved. "Well, that's enough training for one day."

"Wait, how are you not tired!?"

"I have a lot of endurance, something you human beings don’t have. Even with the ninja suit, it doesn't mean you have the endurance to go on forever. I guess we're going to have to fix that. Tomorrow we're going jogging around the entire block. Also, I'm technically a book. I don't need all the necessities you need."

"Like going to the bathroom?" Randy got up with the help of Nomi. Nomi gave him a curious look. It was obviously a question that has been on his mind for a while.

"Yes...I don't really need to go. I can hold it for...a hundred or so years."

Randy stared at him. Nomi shrugged as he picked up the gym bag, pulling out a bottle of water and tossing it to Randy, who barely managed to catch it. Nomi pulled out one for himself and began to chug it down. He wiped his mouth and let out a small sigh.

"But, there are things I still need. Like water."

Suddenly, a small rumble was heard. Both Randy and Nomi looked down at Nomi's stomach.

"And food...I don't really need it like going to the bathroom. I can go almost an entire one hundred years without a bite to eat."

"When was the last time you ate exactly?"

"Err, 1920? Yes, somewhere along that time."

"What the juice Nomi! Yeah, no shit you're hungry! C'mon, maybe Mom's home so she can make you something to eat!"

In truth, Nomi hadn't eaten since 1816, but he felt it wasn’t important to bring it up. Nomi was, however, surprised by Randy's concern for him. After all, the past ninjas who he had revealed himself to simply shrugged it off and didn't seem to care after he said he didn't need food or any of the other necessities. That didn't seem to matter to Randy as he pulled off the ninja mask, placing it in the old gym bag along with the bottle of water.

Nomi was actually touched by Randy's kindness.

Randy grasped Nomi's hand as they took off in a brisk jog and in less than a couple minutes they arrived back at his home.

"Crud! If my mom sees you in your ninja suit she's going to ask about it. You think you can take it off?"

But of course Randy wasn’t perfect.

Nomi rolled his eyes. “Why didn't you tell me in the forest?"

"Err, brain fart?"

"I can tell."

Sighing, Nomi dug out his casual clothes from his bag in Randy's other hand before going into some bushes to change. Randy rubbed his neck and turned away. About a minute later, Nomi came out of the large green shrubs, sporting his casual clothing and his ninja clothing in his arm. Leaves and twigs were poking out of his now messy hair. Randy stifled a laugh.

"What?"

"Your hair...” Randy said in between laughs. “...dude...your hair..."

Nomi blinked. With his free arm, he felt his hair, realizing the mess that was now in his hair. He furrowed his brow and plucked them all out of his hair. He walked past Randy, who couldn’t stop laughing.

"Oh god...I'm sorry!...Haha! Okay, okay I'll stop...” Randy snickered loudly. He was trying very hard to stop laughing, but it took a minute to get himself together again. “Okay, now I'm done." Randy wiped at a stray tear as he let out a sigh before opening the door and letting Nomi in.

As fate would have it, Randy's mom wasn't home.

"Hehe, whoops." He gave Nomi a small nervous shrug. Nomi gave him a dark look before plopping down onto a chair by the counter. His stomach growled, reminding the two why they had left the woods in the first place. Randy looked through the wooden cabinets before pulling out two Mcfist's Cup-O-Noodles. Nomi raised a brow before remembering that Mcfist owned literally everything besides the city and the people themselves in Norrisville.

He watched with curiosity as Randy opened one cup and poured water in from the distilled water machine. When he was done, he opened the black microwave and placed the cup in the center, typed on the control pad three minutes, and closed it shut. Instantly, the microwave came to life and began cooking the noodles, rotating it. Nomi watched in silent awe, but was caught off by Randy.

"So uh, Nomi?"

The redhead blinked and turned to Randy, who was eyeing something on his cape. It was the green ninja head shaped relic.

"Yes?" He watched as he rubbed his finger over it. He would never tell Randy, but as he rubbed the relic, Nomi felt it was soothing and strange, very strange.

"What is that thing?" He was oblivious to his teacher's emotions, never taking his eyes off the relic.

"It's my life essence. It binds me to the book and my other belongings, so when I turn into my human form I come out wearing clothes."

Randy nearly dropped the said relic, but before he could reply back a ding was heard, interrupting their suddenly awkward conversation.

"Uh, your soup is ready." Randy pulled out the cup, which was hot. The smell of the cooked noodles filled their nostrils. He placed the cup in front of Nomi before grabbing a fork and handing it to him.

Randy quickly went to work on his own soup, putting it into the microwave.

"Oh, careful with the soup, Nomi. It’s really hot."

Nomi could sense that Randy was slightly uncomfortable, but he didn’t say anything about it. "Thank you." He focused on the noodles, taking a hesitant bite, but soon finding that it was at least good and edible.

Silence. The two didn't say a word as Nomi silently ate his meal.

Ding!

The silence was over as the chime-like sound cut through the deep awkward silence. Randy walked over and pulled out his own noodles and began to eat it, not caring that it was burning his tongue. He paused and went to the fridge, pulling out some juice boxes, handing one to Nomi and one for himself before continuing to eat.

Nomi finally paused in his eating, swallowing before talking.

"You know, I understand why you were curious, and I apologize for not telling you in a more appropriate manner." His accent made his apology sound so formal.

"No, it’s fine."

The two looked at each other briefly before going into a fit of laughter. They were cut off by the familiar sound of the door knob jiggling slightly. Randy's mother stepped in, humming.

"Oh Randy, you won't believe it! I got promoted, and I got a raise! I'll be working less hours now too! I'm officially second-in-charge of Mcfist and Weinerman Industries! Isn't that great?" The tall woman opened her eyes and was surprised to see that Randy was not alone. "Oh, why hello again, Nomi! I think I'm going to have to make more cookies! Where's Howard, hon?"

"Uh he's at home. He got in trouble."

"Ah, I see. Heidi?"

"Yeah. And congrats on the promotion, Mom! That’s great!"

The woman smiled, blushing lightly. "Well, I don't mean to brag, but I'm just so happy! Now if you’ll excuse, me I have to finish some important paperwork. See you boys later!"

With that, she walked past them and darted into her room.

Once again they were left alone.

...

The night came and the two sat tiredly on the couch long after Randy convinced Nomi to go to the bathroom. I mean c'mon the guy holds his bathroom for up to a hundred years the poor guy probably needs to go.

"I'm going to call Howard to see if he's still alive. I haven't talked to him all day."

Nomi nodded as he turned his attention back to the TV. The movie was about zombies. Although Nomi thought it was a stupid idea for humans to come back to life after death, he still found the movie rather intriguing. Well, at least the characters were. Back then the tough, buff males were usually the heroes, and yet here was this movie. The hero was a scrawny male, and then there was this rather feisty female, and they were both fine on their own. They were looking for survivors, forming a large group, or family as they called it, thriving despite their slim chances of survival.

Nomi couldn't help but smile. “That's how life should be. That’s how it should always be.”

While Nomi continued to watch the movie, Randy chatted with Howard on the phone.

"So, Heidi didn't tell on you then?"

"Yeah. She said if I helped her with her stupid online show then she wouldn't say a word."

"What did she make you do exactly?"

Howard grumbled.

"I'm sorry, what?"

More grumbling.

"What?"

Another series of grumbles.

"Howard, c'mon dude, I can't—"

"I SAID SHE MADE ME WEAR A STUPID DIAPER FOR HER PARENTAL SEGMENT! GEEZ!"

By then, Randy had burst into laughter, dropping his phone before picking it back up. "Haha, okay. So can you come over, dude?"

Howard grumbled. "Yes. I'll be there in ten minutes."

Randy grinned. "Alright. Don't forget to change your diaper—"

"CUNNINGHAM!"

Randy burst into another fit of laughter as he hung up on Howard, who was yelling a loud string of swears. Nomi turned to him, having heard only fragments of the conversation.

"May I ask what is so funny?"

Randy finally calmed down enough to tell him. "Heh, Howard's sister made him wear a diaper on her online show."

"Oh, you mean that hideous creature you two call a girl?"

"Yep." Randy didn't even bother to hide the grin on his face.

After about ten minutes, Howard came in without even bothering to knock, startling the two and causing Nomi to nearly karate chop him in half. After a heated argument between Nomi and Howard, they finally sat back down onto the couch and enjoyed the rest of the movie.

"So, the book told me you got pwned in training," said Howard.

"I didn't get pwned!" Randy shot a glare at the redhead, who gave him an innocent look. "When did he tell you this!?"

"When you were in the bathroom. Dude, it took you an hour and a half to punch him? And two hours just to poke him with a stick? While he was blindfolded!"

"Hey, you try it and you tell me if it's easy!" Randy slumped in between the two with a pout on his face.

The night had carried on and soon the movie was over. Howard left, leaving Randy and Nomi asleep on the couch.

At around ten, Randy’s mother came in the living room to wake up the boys and to tell them to go to bed. They quietly obliged.

….

It was night again. That meant tomorrow they would be going to school.

It would be Nomi's first day of school in over eight hundred years.

Nomi sighed, staring at the ceiling. He was only a little uneasy. He knew school had changed a lot since the last time he went to one. But how much different could it be? He basically knew everything they were teaching in the school, since when he had nothing better to do, he snuck into libraries of the school and the school itself to read as many of the subjects as he could. School definitely wasn’t going to be that hard.

Nomi looked over the sleeping figure of Randy.

Nomi didn't need sleep. He could go weeks without it. Yet as he watched Randy sleep, he couldn’t help but think that it looked almost fun to sleep, or something.

Nomi felt an odd ache in his heart. Most of the time his situation just didn’t hit him. He had been so busy being the Nomicon, being the teacher of several teenage ninjas, and nothing more, that he was too busy to even think about his life.

Sometimes Nomi wished he could have everything back. His family, his friends, his home, just everything. At times like these, Nomi wished he wasn't the Nomicon. He wished he was his normal self again, Nomi Conikos Norisu, the middle child of the famous Norisu Nine. With his five other siblings, Mei the little butterfly, his youngest sister, Ming, his clever also his youngest brother, they were the troublesome twins as his family would say. His brother Naru, who was a year younger than him, was bold and was his best friend, sister Yui, who was one year older than him, was the caring and motherly one of them all, and his eldest brother Daiku, the brave warrior and the more loved and respected of his siblings.

“And I the pathetic excuse of a brother, ninja, and Norisu.”

He recalled the events that had destroyed his family. He had been arguing with his grandparents a lot before the fire. Their parents had died, making them the Norisu seven.

Daiki had argued that Nomi wasn't fit to be a true ninja. He claimed that he was too immature, lazy, stupid...the list went on.

The scene became even clearer to Nomi. His brother, who looked like an older version of him, with the exception of his ponytail and golden eyes, arguing with their grandfather, and him tearing up and running off. Then there was the fire that had engulfed the entire village. The one that had wiped out his entire family. There was also his struggle to find the ninja suit and the original Nomicon. Then he had found his grandfather, dying, his last words a request to defeat the Sorcerer and to not put on the Ninja suit and to instead keep on the one he had on.

Back then he had not known why, but now he understood.

After the whole battle and becoming immortalized (and kept alive because his family gave a piece of their soul to bind him together), he had tried to search for his family until he was told by the surviving villagers that they had all perished.

He had made it his mission to find a ninja to defend the new village, which later became what it is now.

Norrisville.

Nomi blinked away the tears and soon realized it was early morning. He sat up. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat. He got up, putting away his blankets, pillow and mattress back where they belonged before going to the bathroom to shower. Randy had showed him how it worked, since he wasn't all too familiar with the modern method of bathing. He stripped himself of the pair of shorts and boxers before stepping into the shower. Instantly, the warm water made him feel refreshed.

When he was done showering, he realized he hadn't grabbed his clothes for the day. Nomi stepped into Randy’s room.

The day before, Randy had washed his clothes for him in the washing machine and had left them neatly folded by his dresser. Nomi felt slightly self conscious, walking around in Randy’s room naked. At least he had thought to grab a towel so he had something to cover himself with.

The purple-haired teen was still asleep. Nomi eyed the alarm clock next to the computer. It read 6:59 AM.

"Oh shit."

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 3 #story repost

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etn-story-archive · 3 years

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Enter the Nomicon - Chapter 2: Meeting Nomi

The early rays of morning cut through Randy's dark green curtains, shining directly in his closed eyes.

"Ugh...five more minutes..." He buried himself deeper into his blankets. However, the soft melodious sound of a flute suddenly jolted him awake.

“What the?” Randy sat up, rubbing his blue eyes before looking around until he realized something. “Where's the Nomicon!?”

Quickly jumping to his feet and forgetting the sound of the flute, he began to search frantically for the book, but came up with nothing.

"Randy, honey, are you awake?"

The teen froze dead in his tracks. Had his mother found the Nomicon? Had she read it?! What if she knew he was the ninja!? Randy swallowed hard, being distracted by the flute. Who was playing that?

Realizing that he hadn't replied to his mother he yelled back, "Uh, yeah Mom, I'm up!"

"Oh, good! Honey, someone is here to visit you. They said they're a friend of yours! He said his name is...Nomi Conikos? Did I say that right? Yeah? Okay sorry there...so I was just going to tell you that I'm going to be gone for the day, so don't stay up too late okay? Just because it's the weekend doesn't mean you can, got it!?"

Randy nodded but stopped when he realized she couldn't see him. "Uh, yeah Mom, got it!" Who the heck was No-me Cone-y-koss?

"Alright then. I'll be on my way. Bye honey!” There was a short pause. “Oh, you should invite Howard over! I made cookies for you three!" She slammed the front door closed.

The flute instantly stopped. Randy listened to the sound of his mother's car speeding off the driveway before the flute continued its song.

Cautiously, Randy made his way to his door, grabbing the ninja mask out of his backpack before making his way downstairs. He was careful not to make a sound. He trekked down the stairs.

"I know you're there. I can hear you breathing."

Randy nearly jumped out of his own skin at the voice. After catching his breath, he relaxed, not letting his guard down. He walked down the last few steps, skipping the last one.

He poked his head out to see a thin boy wearing a strange cape. It was black with red markings that looked eerily familiar. On the inside of the cape it was similar to the color of an old scroll paper, and it covered him from the nose down, concealing his body from Randy's curious eyes. Another strange detail was that there was a strange glowing green clip of some sort that was shaped like the ninja's mask resting at his chest. The boy's hair was a dark reddish orange, his eyes a dark brown, and his skin was peachy. He held a frown as he stared at Randy.

"I don't bite." His voice held an accent that was extremely noticeable.

“He's Japanese,” thought Randy. He walked towards the redheaded teen, who pulled out a small flute made of bamboo and began playing it. So he was the one who was playing that thing.

“Who the juice is he!?”

Noticing Randy’s expression, the redhead quickly stopped playing the small flute, startling Randy out of his reverie in the process. "You seem confused."

Randy nodded. "Well duh! Who the juice are you—?!"

The other boy quickly silenced the taller of the two with a raised hand. "My name is Nomi-"

"No-mi what?" Randy interrupted him.

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Nomi Conikos, and you certainly are denser than I thought. Makes me question why I chose you to be the ninja."

That caught the teen's attention. "What!? I'm not the ninja! Pfft, I don't-" While he continued to babble (rather pathetically), Nomi raised a brow in slight annoyance and quickly cut him off.

"-Randy Cunningham, I know you're the ninja, and honestly, that was pretty pathetic. Do you honestly want to know who exactly I am, or more precisely, what I am?"

Catching the emphasis on the word, Randy felt himself stiffen, squeezing the ninja mask which he held tightly in his fisted hand. He nodded.

"You're missing the Nomicon, correct?" There was slight hint of annoyance as Randy winced before nodding. "Well let me relieve you of that worry..." He trailed off as if to add a more dramatic effect.

It worked, as Randy clutched the mask even tighter as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Nomi watched him calmly as he spoke;

"I am the Nomicon."

The news startled Randy so much that he nearly fell flat on his face, but he caught himself. Much to Nomi’s surprise, the taller male whooped. "Ohoho that is sooo totally BRUCE! I didn't know you could do that!"

Randy babbled and boasted on for a little longer, but Nomi’s hand shot out in a blur and landed on Randy's mouth, instantly shutting him up. Randy blinked in shock and surprise.

"Mfmmfph—!"

Nomi watched, amused, as Randy tried to remove his hand from his face. Finally after much a struggle, he removed his hand from his mouth. Rubbing his mouth, Randy glared at the human Nomicon.

"Okay, what was that for!?"

The other boy looked serious. "I can't let any other being apart from the ninja know what I am, who I am, and/or that I can change between forms on my own will." Nomi sighed. "But knowing you, you're going to tell your boyfriend about me. Am I right?"

Randy's face turned red. "Ewwww, dude, I am so not Howard's boyfriend! Secondly we're best friends! BROS! And lastly, duh, I'm gonna tell him! He already knows I'm the ninja."

The redhead frowned. “Yes, I know that. Rule number one is to never let anyone know your secret even if they are your, erm, bros."

Randy pouted, but then remembered yesterday’s incident with the robot mutt. “Hey, how come you didn't help me out when one of Mcfist's robots attacked me!? I was late to school and I had to go to detention!"

Nomi didn't seem fazed by the other teen's anger. "And if I hadn't, you would have been vulnerable, and you would have been thrown halfway across the city, and would most likely have died, so, you shouldn't be scolding me, you should be thanking me." He huffed.

At that Randy couldn't argue and once again pouted. "Fair enough. Hey, how come you never turned human before?"

Nomi's eyes widened before suddenly grabbing Randy's hand and yanking him back to his room. Quickly locking the door, he turned to Randy. In a swift yank he removed the strange cape, revealing a suit.

The suit black and it looked similar to the ninja's suit, but the markings were different. It was the only real difference between the two suits including that he didn't have a mask to conceal his identity like the ninja.

There was certainly more muscle than his cape revealed before. Randy blushed, lightly rubbing his arm. "Err, Nomicon—"

"Just call me Nomi."

"Uh, yeah N-Nomi, what the juice are you doing?!"

The other male seemed confused by his flustered expression. "Concealing my identity so I blend in. By the way, mind if I borrow some of your clothes?"

Randy's face turned a deeper scarlet as the other male began stripping out of his suit. "Y-yeah sure, but mind answering my question?"

The redhead paused before nodding. "Yes."

The two turned away from each other, Nomi removing the black and red suit, and Randy searching through his room for any clean clothes he had discarded somewhere. Finally, he came across a black turtleneck, a light green jacket, a fresh pair of boxers, blue jeans, socks and shoes. He quickly tossed them one by one to Nomi who caught them with ease.

As the redhead began throwing on the clothes, he began his explanation. "I rarely ever reveal my human persona. I only do so if something big is going to happen. I sense the sorcerer has become stronger and will escape soon if not now."

Randy blinked, forgetting the fact that the boy in front of him was still naked, standing only in the grey briefs he had tossed him just a second ago. "So? I'm the ninja. I'm supposed to kick his stanky butt back to where he came from!" With that he struck different common karate poses.

Nomi shook his head before sliding on the turtleneck. "No, I haven't taught you all you need to know to fight him. He is dangerous and being that I am the Nomicon, I know everything needed to fight him and win."

"Then teach me! I can learn it all before he escapes!"

Nomi began tying his shoes. "No ninja can master it all in the short time we have. Only one has."

Randy jumped excitedly. "WHO!?"

"Me."

Once again the Nomicon had left Randy absolutely speechless. He had come to a halt with his excited jumping. "Y-you? But you aren't. I mean you-"

Nomi let out a shaky breath, his back turned to him. "No. I mean...I was at first. I was the very first ninja, and the Nomicon's original creator. I had battled the sorcerer and won. I had imprisoned him myself...except..." The redhead stared at his feet before composing himself back to his serious self. "The bastard managed to fuse my soul with the book. I couldn’t be the ninja anymore...I’ve been choosing a new ninja every year since who was a freshman with a hero’s heart. Of course, back then you had to be at least fourteen years old with a hero’s heart. They not only have to protect Norrisville, they have to protect the world.” Nomi sighed, turning to face Randy. "I've been considered the Nomicon for eight-hundred and a half years. I guess you can't exactly consider myself human anymore." He chuckled bitterly before sucking in a sharp breath. "Which is why I'm here. You can't handle both Mcfist and the sorcerer. I will handle him while you handle Mcfist. The idiot isn't even worth my time. Honestly, I've seen puppies and kittens with more evil intentions than him."

Randy laughed. Nomi gave him a ghost of a smile before he furrowed his brows in thought.

"But Nomi, if I'm the ninja, don't you have to keep teaching me? Maybe you can teach me as much as you can. If you can't teach me everything, then I'll let you fight the sorcerer and I'll just get the benefit of knowledge.”

Randy's suggestion had broken Nomi's train of thought.

The sly grin on Randy's face said it all. A true hero’s heart. Nomi smirked. "Fine, but you either have to be home schooled, or you have to quit school. Or maybe I can go to school with you. I don’t care."

Randy grinned. “Well, Mom definitely doesn't have time to homeschool me, and I can't quit unless I want to get murdered by her, so you'll have to come with me. But how are we going to get you in?"

"I have special abilities that can help."

"Like what?"

"Just trust me," Nomi said. "Now come on. Knowing you, we're going to go to your friend's house to introduce me, so hurry up. We don't have time to lose." He grabbed Randy's old gym bag, stuffing his suit inside. Randy caught a glance at the long sword inside before they began making their way downstairs and out the front door.

...

As they walked, Randy was bombarding Nomi with millions of questions (in which he only answered with a 'yes' or a 'no').

“Hey Nomi?"

"Hm?"

"I saw your ninja sword, or whatever you call it..."

"Okay?"

"How come your sword is bigger than mine?"

Nomi smirked. Randy's face turned red as he quickly realized how wrong the question sounded.

"Well I didn't know you were the kinky type, let alone into men, Cunningham."

The look on Randy's face was beyond priceless.

Still smirking, Nomi chuckled. "Heh, just kidding. No, well I didn't create anything on the suit. I welded my 'long' sword."

At the emphasis of the word 'long', Randy felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "T-then who did?"

The redhead answered with a sense of pride. "My Grandfather Nobuyuki did. He was one of the greatest Sensei’s. He had taught me everything I know now, and so I wrote it all in a book, the Nomicon. My grandfather created the suit with the finest threads, created the strongest metals with titanium and diamonds, and bonded each item together with a magic more powerful than the sorcerer's."

"That is so totally Bruce!" Randy fangirled over the information, but felt a pang of sadness for Nomi.

It must have been terrible to be inside a book for eight hundred and a half years. What about his family? And friends? Heck, what about going to the bathroom? Did he just hold it in?

He didn't get the chance to ask as they had arrived at Howard's home.

Randy knocked on the door. The doorknob jiggled before Heidi, Howard's older sister, answered the door, not opening it all the way. Clicking her tongue, she looked over her shoulder and up the stairs, yelling at the top of her lungs, "Howard, your twig of a friend Dandy-"

"-Randy."

"-Andy is here!"

Howard answered. "I'll be down there in a second! Geez, don't get your panties in a twist!"

"SHUT UP HOWARD!" Heidi hissed. She turned back to Randy before opening the door all the way and was surprised to see Nomi. He stared at her unimpressed as she suddenly giggled girlishly.

"And who exactly are you? Come to see me?"

Nomi snorted. "My name is Nomi Conikos, and I didn't come to see you, you disgusting sea hag...oh wait, that's an insult to them. I didn't come to see your hideous face, especially since you just insulted my friend."

The girl stared utterly shocked. Randy was also shocked. It was certainly a feat to out-sass the fiery redhead and that was obvious when Heidi simply stared, trying fruitlessly to form words. Much to both teens' surprise, the girl let out a dreamy sigh.

"I love a guy who knows how to use their tongue."

Nomi rolled his eyes with a snort just as Howard came downstairs, oblivious to Nomi's insult to his sister.

"Who else did you say was here? I didn't hear-" Howard saw Nomi. The two made eye contact, Nomi's expression unfazed while Howard seemed confused. He looked over to Randy for answers.

#Enter the Nomicon #ETN #Chapter 2 #story repost

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