episode 52 The crimson flame troupes

It is the third day of school, "Wreck", "Keti" and "Fey" are at the chemistry lab, "Wreck" is using a transmutation circle to do a lot of equivalent exchange just to get the crimson troupe fire ingot while "Keti" is meditating.

Wreck: you need to dive deeper and find the potential gate.

Fey: what are we going to do with the ingot?

Wreck: to a special place that is beyond human sight, we're not using it on a gear.

Fey: it sure looks like it costs a lot of cash to maintain one.

Wreck: it's going to be a surprise when you meet him, we're going south of Japan, to the island of Ohshima.

Keti: augh, I couldn't find it, there must be some other way I could do it.

Wreck: nope, that's the only way.

Keti: sometimes you sound like a pesky little vending machine that would give out little that we need, which is not enough to fill the hole.

"Seth" arrives with some snacks and drinks.

Seth: hi guys, I brought you some snacks…still busy with all this work?

Wreck: hi "Seth".

Fey: it looks like we're almost there, even so, "Keti" haven't awakened yet, she's struggling on finding the path.

Wreck: guys, I'm almost done.

Fey: come on "Keti", you can do this, we're counting on you.

Keti: thanks for the lecture, but I don't think it's helping that much.

Seth: have you tried the breathing technique? Most of us hunters use that method to boost our concentration.

Wreck: [acquired the ingot] there you go, I got the ingot.

The crimson troupe fire ingot is a flaming element, the faces look pitch black, the edges and corners glow in red, it is lighter like a piece of wood but tougher than diamond, "Seth" just keeps staring at it like he wants to forge it on his blaze gear.

Keti: [panic] are we going there now?

Wreck: it's too soon, there is a special place that only starts at sundown, so we better wait till it's dark.

Seth: looks like we have just about 4 hours.

Fey: aw, that's no fun.

Keti: why not try finishing all the home works and prepare for tomorrow?

Fey: but I don't wanna prepare for tomorrow.

Seth: looks like I'm stuck with looking after you guys, "Yarui" suspects that something is up with one of you and she's trying to figure out if you're the actual target that the demons are looking for.

Wreck: classified.

Fey: this is a secret mission to figure out what the demons are after, it's going to be a wonderful adventure.

They waited till it's sun down then traveled all the way to Ohshima Island, "Wreck" was leading them through the woods.

Keti: [terrified] umm "Wreck", could you please tell us what this special place actually is?

Wreck: that special place can only be seen by a belief.

Keti: like a "Yokai"?

Wreck: once you believe it you will see it, have you ever heard of the legend "Grimm Troupes"?

Seth: never heard of him.

Wreck: that's because his identity and info are nowhere on earth like literally, he only exists because of us "Skarvenians", to see it you must say that you believe in "Grimm Troupes".

Fey: I believe in "Grimm Troupes" …wait, [excited] is that a circus tent?

Keti: I don't see anything.

Wreck: you got to believe it first, they don't call them "Yokais" for nothing.

The moment they believed it they started to see a red circus tent with a crimson red flame lit on top, they all went inside and it is literally dark, the lights are off and there is no audience.

Keti: [terrified] I hate this, there's a chance for such jump scare to happen.

Wreck: [raise the ingot] as requested, one pure crimson troupe fire ingot, for mister "Grimm".

Grimm: [pop out of nowhere] as requested indeed, surely showing promises.

All of them got shocked by the appearance of "Grimm Troupes", he's wearing American style clothing, his eyes are same as a ghoul's eye, blood tear marks lining from his eyes to the bottom of his jaw, he pulls out his staff from his shirt, it glows in red.

Grimm: [smile] for what do I owe the pleasure bringing a contender to my existence?

Wreck: it was a sneaky move to have used a non-earthly language so that they won't get the ingot.

Keti: did he just say contender?

Grimm: [take the ingot] I do appreciate your comments but don't you think this is a bit too early? I mean you do have multiple days away before the raging "Guthera" would fall upon you.

Seth: [surprised] what? How did you know about that?

Grimm: oh, dear child, I know lots of things, without leaving this tent I can still see what is to happen.

Fey: does that mean you know what we came here for?

Grimm: I do have what you need, but it comes with a cost.

Keti: [surprised] what? But we already paid you--.

Grimm: no, no, no, no, no…this ingot…counts as a ticket, not a cash, you're gonna pay me with trials, and your trial has already begun, [grin] "Keti Yamazaki".

Seth: don't worry "Yamazaki", we got your back.

Wreck: actually, we can't do anything once we're in his chambers, "Keti" is gonna have to do it by herself.

Seth: [gasp] what? "Wreck", you giving up on a friend? Just like that?

Grimm: what he's trying to say is that I'm in control for now, I chose "Yamazaki" to be the contender because I know that you were the beginning.

Seth: well, I won't stand here and do nothing.

Wreck: "Seth", have faith in our friend, "Keti" got this, if you ever did something so idiotic as this…he'll kick us out in an instant, then he'll have her in his ultimate domain which is ridiculously infinite and unescapable for any man, are you willing to make that risk?

Seth: …but I can't just do nothing.

Grimm: but I can do something for you.

"Grimm" draws a circle around "Wreck", "Fey" and "Seth" so they can't interfere with the trials.

Grimm: now with that done, you got work to do.

Keti: you're holding them hostage while I do all your requests? You're not playing fair.

Grimm: hostages?! [chuckle] oh, no…I would kick you all out if you don't do what I ask of you, this will ruin everything and you're gonna have to try again…next month that is [laugh]…here's your first trial, my sheep…have run amok, you know what to do?

Keti: …fine, I'll bring you your sheep, how many are they?

Grimm: about 10 of them, or maybe they're 25, no offence, here [toss amulet] …with this amulet you can track them down, you can even capture them with it…now go.

"Keti" leaves the tent to go out searching for "Grimm's" beasts.

Wreck: [yell] you can do it, "Keti", don't lose hope.

Fey: are we just going to wait for "Keti" to come back?

Wreck: it's probably going to take hours before she could even get back here, the sheep he was talking about are actually skilled and talented "Yokais" than any other.

Seth: augh, now that's just playing dirty, how would you know that she's right for the job? You could have sent "Wreck" here.

Grimm: "Wreck"?! are you serious? [laugh] here's the thing, "Wreck" will end it so quickly which would be a bit of a problem, you see… capable shifter capable of shifting anything, if he were to do the trial would mean he'll be feeding you all while you just do nothing… like babies… "Wreck", could you do me a favor and teach "Fey" some "Ki" control?

Wreck: not a prob.

Fey: [excited] am I gonna be awakened, [inhale] am I gonna have my own gear?

Wreck: (man, she's energetic, no wonder she's that much excited, plus I also wonder what her gates look like).

"Keti" follows the amulet which leads her to the first "Yokai" which looks like a monkey but with bat ears for an eye.

Keti: [dull] that's some weird looking sheep, but I have to catch it.

Though catching a "Yokai" is way harder than she'd ever known, she had a hard time chasing it down over and over just to try capturing that "Yokai", suddenly she sat down and started thinking about how to catch it, meanwhile in the tent "Fey" is meditating, "Seth" is walking in circles and "Wreck" is just relaxing and waiting.

Seth: this is getting us nowhere, how much time have we got?

Wreck: uh, we have all the time till dawn, it's about 8 hours from now.

Seth: we're gonna sit here in this circle for 8 hours? And what about "Keti"? is she gonna be able to capture them all?

Wreck: depends on how skilled they are, I would say…4 to 6 hours?

Seth: this is bad, if she doesn't have enough time to complete all the quests then that means we came here for nothing.

"Fey" just got awakened, her aura bursts in red flames like she's literally on fire.

Wreck: oh, "Fey" just got her awakening, congrats.

Fey: yay…so how do I use it.

Wreck: I literally have no idea what your awakening is, but try doing something.

She touches "Wreck" then he gets ignited in her flames, he feels no burn but a power boost running through his veins.

Wreck: [excited] wooow, I feel like dancing right now, cause my heart is on fire.

Seth: [panic] "Wreck", you're literally on fire!

Wreck: this fire does not burn anything, it's a booster flame that doubles the strength and power, you got to try this.

Seth: yeah, no thank you, I'm just worried about what he's going to do once she's finished, but why did he want "Fey" to awaken her power?

Grimm: you question my attentions? I actually wanted to test something out, "Fey Fujimori" …try using your booster on the ingot.

"keti" out there is making a strategy to catch that "Yokai", she tried to play tea party by making dolls out of sticks and kettle made of wood by sculpturing it with a sharp rock, the "Yokai" came closer as it is confused on seeing a tea party, it came closer hoping that it would earn some tea not realizing that it was a trap, "Keti" caught her first "Yokai" and now she needs to capture 24 more of them, she starts strolling around the forest hoping to find some more.

Keti: this is gonna be a tough one, catching one took me half an hour to catch, maybe the next will be a bit easier.

As she reaches the next location of a "Yokai" she sees a lot of them, scary, horrific and disgusting as they can be, she has no choice but to catch them all, one giant "Yokai" has approached her from behind with the intentions to kill her, she snapped quickly and ran chasing them down, hopefully catching 3 to 4 was worth the trouble till she got cornered, she raises the amulet and the "Yokais" she captured gets released but under her control, they'll obey her as long as they are the captured ones, she used this opportunity to catch the giant "Yokai".

Keti: [surprised] so, they will obey once they're captured! If that's so, then this won't take much longer, would it.

She adventured around the island capturing all the "Yokais", it took her about 3 hours to catch them all, she then returns to the tent raising the amulet.

Wreck: [excited] guys, she did it, she captured them all.

Seth: alright, there you go…looks like it didn't take longer than I expected, she has done it all by herself.

Grimm: …no, you're wrong…she had company, I can smell a life form when it comes to hiding within its host…come out here and show yourself.

"Landy" the morph comes out in a fly from transforming into a beagle and barks.

Wreck: [shocked] "Landy"? that's my pet! I thought I told you not to come with me.

Keti: you're pet?

Seth: your "Familia" is a shape-shifter!?

Grimm: yeah, yeah, no need to be excited about any of this, a disobedient pet worrying for his master's allies seems so touching, don't you think? "Keti", I'll accept this trial as a success since "Wreck" never introduced his pet nor you have known that he was the one behind making your trial easy, with his ability of morphing to anything he was able to keep the wolves out of your way…now then…for your next trial, you'll be doing such prohibited surgery of all times.

"Grimm" brings out an adorable and cute little bunny tied on a table, a scalpel is stuck next to it, "Landy" runs all the way to "Wreck".

Grimm: for this next trial, you will cut open this bunny… [pull out the crimson troupe fire ingot] and you'll need to stuff it with this, you have till 6 AM dawn, [grin] you waste time you waste chance.

Wreck: ooh, that does look prohibited, no one would dare hurt such innocent creature as a bunny, it's the definition of being a monster.

Seth: you're crazy, why would you ask her to do that? You do it with all your contenders?

Grimm: keep talking, for those of pure hearts will never understand how much it is not wrong to choose people against a cute animal, this is the test of courage from where she should either sacrifice her allies…or give up to that thing.