Randy walked up to the two, still reeling slayers.
"Hey guys. How was my show?" Randy asked.
"Very Informative."
"So funny."
The two slayers said at the same time before looking at each other.
"Yeah, that too." Zenitsu said sheepishly.
"Glad it worked out. Apparently First has been planning this for like two months at this point." Randy shrugged, "Not quite as entertaining as preforming on stage but it's the next best thing."
"On stage?" Zenitsu questioned, "You've preformed on stage before?"
"Oh yeah! I'm in a band." Randy said proudly.
"Oh really. What do you play?" Zenitsu asked.
"I play the keytar! It's like a mix between a guitar and keyboard... er... piano, I guess." Randy explained, realizing that keytars probably haven't been invented yet, "Do you play anything?"
"I can play the shamisen, but I don't do it often." Zenitsu shrugged.
"Shamisen? What's that?"
"Oh right! It's sort of like a lute? That seems the most accurate." Zenitsu said in thought.
Giyuu stood awkwardly next to the two teenagers as they rambled on about music. First Ninja had vanished and while the Nomicon was technically everywhere, Giyuu was unsure if casual conversation was acceptable.
"What about you Giyuu?" Randy suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Giyuu responded with a confused look.
"Instruments." Zenitsu said plainly, "Do you play any?"
"Oh... no I don't." Giyuu answered.
"Aw man..." Randy sighed, "If you did, we totally could have started a band."
"You're already in a band." Zenitsu remarked, "Nobody needs two bands."
"I need two bands!" Randy says proudly.
Zenitsu rolled his eyes, "Good for you." Zenitsu turned his head to look at Giyuu, "How do we get out of here? I was supposed to be back at the Butterfly Mansion hours ago."
"We are usually forced out after we complete a task." Giyuu informed the young slayer next to him.
"So, we're just stuck here until your Ninja book decides we can leave?" Zenitsu huffed with frustration clear in his voice.
"Pretty much." Randy shrugged, "But this place is basically a free-range training ground. Did we promise to teach you anything? Because you definitely promised to teach me that cool voice thing and now's the perfect time to do it."
Zenitsu thought for a second, "Actually yeah. You did promise me something."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time that the Nomicon let them leave it was already dark.
Zenitsu groaned as he pushed himself off the floor, exhaustion clear in his voice, "Is that always what it's like...?"
Randy shrugged as he stood up casually.
"Don't just shrug at me! I want some kind of answer!" Zenitsu yelled at his friend who was much too calm about this.
Giyuu sighed as he lifted himself up, "The Nomicon only brings in our consciousness, not our bodies. Every time we enter the Nomicon results in our bodies collapsing."
"Ugh... It doesn't feel like it. I feel sore..." Zenitsu complained.
"Well jumping across trees for hours will do that for you." Randy mentioned as he stretched, "Man, I need a nap..."
"We have patrol." Giyuu said flatly, grabbing the Nomicon off the floor.
Randy groaned dramatically which made Zenitsu let out a chuckle, "Well thanks for teaching me but I've really got to get back to the Butterfly Mansion."
"Oh yeah. You were supposed to be back there, like, yesterday." Randy said casually as he walked around looking for his mask.
"Try not to avoid Kocho when you get there. It will only make things worse." Giyuu advised, wordlessly gesturing to Randy where their masks were.
Randy grabbed the two masks as Zenitsu nodded with acknowledgement.
"Wish me luck?" Zenitsu asked as he made his way to the door.
"Oh wait!" Randy called out before handing Zenitsu a pouch of rice and a bowl full of soup, "You should eat after all that training! Soup for the soul!"
Zenitsu smiled, a bit confused on how the soup was still hot, but thankful, nonetheless.
Randy made shooing motions with his hands, "Now go! You don't want to keep the Butterfly Lady waiting!"
Zenitsu, just now remembering the probably furious woman waiting for him, practically ran out of the Water Estate.
"I do not envy him right now" Randy sighed once Zenitsu got out of earshot, which took a few minutes, "Well let's go... The sooner we get this over with the sooner I can sleep."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patrol was normal.
A little quieter than normal, but otherwise normal.
Randy had suggested that they patrol a different area and it proved beneficial. While there were definitely less demons around than when the duo first started, it wasn't the bare forest they were exploring before.
And then they reached the vortex.
They weren't even going to check on it before but after Zenitsu told them about the robots, the stop was necessary. And truthfully, it was a miracle that no one else had seen it yet.
It was a giant black tear glowing an ominous red.
How has no one seen this?!
People can't be that oblivious, right? The vortex might not have grown since the first time the Ninjas saw it but that didn't change anything!
It was so clear and big and bright!
Randy had to squint in a similar way to a kid who spent too much time staring at the sun.
"How has no one noticed this?" Randy couldn't help but ask, "No one's said anything but it's so honkin' obvious!" Randy threw up his arms to prove his point.
Giyuu, who had looked down the moment his eyes started to hurt, thought for a second, "Maybe nobody else can see it."
Randy huffed in disbelief, "What the juice are you talking about?"
Giyuu paused, taken aback by the new term he hadn't heard Randy use yet before continuing, "It might be possible that only we can see it. We will have to bring Zenitsu to test my theory."
"So Zen is basically becoming our guinea pig now?"
Giyuu opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a whirring noise as multiple robots burst from the vortex, landing on the forest floor with a loud clang.
"Ho'boy..." Randy grumbled under his breath, "That sure is a lot of robots. How many you bet there are?"
"At least 15." Giyuu responded immediately.
"Welp." Randy spoke casually, popping the 'p' at the end, "Better deal with these before they start bothering people."
Giyuu nodded and the two Ninjas jumped into the trees to track down the robots.
The two Ninjas made it a game.
Well... Randy made it a game, Giyuu was unaware.
They split off and sliced robot after robot, counting each one they defeated.
"Alright, how many you got?" Randy asked once all the robots were dismantled.
"I got about... ten." Giyuu thought, "Maybe eleven."
"Yes!" Randy cheered, "I won! That means you have to make me mochi later!"
"Does it?" Giyuu asked skeptically, "And would you have you done if I won?"
"Obviously I would have made you mochi. Now can we please go home?"
"Yes, it seems like we're done for today." Giyuu agreed, seeing the sun shine bright in the sky.
Randy didn't waste any time as he started his way back to the Water Estate.