The group walked into the hospital, which had clearly seen better days. They weren't at all surprised to see a few Yo-kai hanging around the place since it was the perfect place for them.
"Hello there!"
They looked down to see a Leadoni holding a clipboard and smiling at them.
"Would you be interested in our free promtional check-up?"
They were hesistant to answer. It could be a trap, but they had a feeling that he wouldn't let them go any further if they didn't agree to it.
"Umm...sure."
He smiled and said,
"Excellent! Just head down this hallway to Examination Room 1 and I'll meet you there!"
The group walked down the hallway, suspicion growing in their minds as they found the poorly fixed sign above the doorway confirming that this was Examination Room 1 and entered. They weren't surprised to see the Leadoni from earlier in the room next to a stadiometer, although they were suprised that he was dragging Nate over to the stadiometer.
"I need to measure your height. Just stand there and no tiptoes!"
There was a hint of malice in his voice when Leadoni told Nate not to stand on his tiptoes, almost like he was threatening them. Not really wanting to make him mad, Nate just let him measure his height.
"Okay...4 feet and 6 1/2 inches for you..."
Nate stepped away from the stadiometer and Leadoni had Katie step up to it and he measured her height.
"4 feet and 7 1/2 inches for you...you're both around the average height for kids your age."
The Leadoni closed his eye and smiled, although the smile felt unnerving to them. Just then, an announcement came from somewhere in the hospital.
"Nate and Katie, please head to Examination Room 2."
"Well, you better listen to the announcement. One of my co-workers will meet you there."
As the group left to find Examination Room 2, they couldn't help but wonder about a few things.
"Why did he only have us tested? I would've thought that since he was a Yo-kai, he would've been a little concerned about making sure that you four got tested as well."
"Yeah, and we never told them our names, so how were they able to ask for us to go to Examination Room 2?"
"And how are they making the announcements?"
Whisper was silent as the group walked. Yes, Nate and Katie had valid questions, but something was bothering him. As the kids were being measured, he swore he heard the sound of someone writing. He knew it wasn't the Leadoni that had been measuring them since he didn't seem to bother writing down the heights after he called them out. Either he had a good memory or someone else was watching them and taking notes.
I want to tell them as soon as possible, but what if they think I'm just being paranoid? But if I'm right and I don't tell them my suspicions, they'll get mad at me for keeping it to myself and not getting them out of here when I had the chance.
As Whisper decided to just tell the group his suspicions, they had found Examination Room 2, which also had a poorly fixed sign above it. The only things inside the room was an eye chart and another Leadoni, except this one was wearing a monocle.
If there really is something bad about to happen, I don't want to tip off anyone that might be trying to make it happen. As soon as we're not being examined by anyone, I'm getting them out of here, mark my words!
The group walked in and the Leadoni, who was holding a pointer stick, just told them to identify what he was pointing at. He pointed it to a picture of a bunch of bananas, which Nate and Katie correctly identified.
"Correct! Both of your eyes are in perfect health!"
Before Nate or Katie could tell the Leadoni that an eye test required identifying more than one picture on the eye chart or what a normal eye chart looked like, another annoucement was made.
"Nate and Katie, please come to the X-ray room."
"Well, you better get going. Have a nice day!"
The group walked around Nocturne Hospital, looking for something to identify the X-ray room as Whisper grew more worried.
Okay, I definitely heard someone writing when we were in there and that Leadoni didn't have a clipboard in his hand. Someone's spying on us, but I don't know who or why.
*****
Meanwhile, outside of Nocturne Hospital...
After hearing the workers talk about locking the front doors so that their 'patients' wouldn't sneak out and worried that the group might be in trouble soon, the figure quickly sneaked inside Nocturne Hospital, staying out of sight as he watched the group go by. His eyes were on Whisper, who obviously looked worried about the group and the possible danger they could be in, but couldn't seem to convey it without fear of accidently drawing unwanted attention.
I will help you when the time comes, my dear friend. I just hope that time has been kind to you since our last meeting.
*****
They had managed to find the X-ray Room and they had just had an X-ray taken of their hearts. They were expecting to see a normal human heart, but what they saw was not what they had been expecting.
Were these X-ray machines modified for Yo-kai use and they were just too lazy to make the machine work for regular humans like us? It would at least explain why our hearts don't look normal!
While the things on the X-rays still maintained a normal heart-like shape, it was the fact that they had faces that completely threw them off. The Leadoni in charge of this room, who wore only a white lab coat, was looking at them with an expectant grin, waiting for them to say something.
"They look...great."
Nate and Katie both knew that was a total lie, but the way that Leadoni was looking at them while they were looking over the x-rays kinda scared them. It was like he was forcing them to say that the x-rays were right.
"Nate and Katie, please make your way to the director's office."
The group left the X-ray room and started looking for the director's room, however they were very reluctant to actually meet the hospital director.
*****
These kids are the perfect subjects for my next experiment! Not only are they able to see and communicate with Yo-kai, they also seem to be healthy from the results of the tests I had them do. I just need a little more information and I can start making preparations.
*****
After they finally managed to find the director's office, they were expecting to see another Yo-kai. So imagine their shock when they saw a normal human sitting at the director's desk and wearing a name tag with his name, Dr. Maddiman, in large letters.
"Have a seat, you two. I'm just going to ask you a few questions."
He gestured to two seats in front of his desk, which Nate and Katie sat down in.
"Have you two been sleeping well lately? Any headaches or nausea?"
"Yes, we've been sleeping well. No, we haven't been having any headaches or nausea."
"I see...and have you been seeing anything strange recently?"
"Umm...like what?"
"Well...Yo-kai for example."
That's oddly specific!
Nate and Katie looked at each other, then they asked,
"Why are you asking?"
The director seemed to freeze for a second, like he hadn't expected them to say that.
"Err...just curious."
When the director looked at a file that Nate and Katie had just noticed he was holding, they quickly glanced at Whisper. He slowly shook his head as he pointed to the hospital director and mouthed,
"Don't trust him."
The hospital director wrote something down on the file, looked up from it, and gave them the kind of smile you would see on someone trying to be charismatic, but lacking the charm that makes it work.
"Well, you two are in need of a change of heart anyway. Please meet me in the operating room."
The hospital director got up from his desk and to their surprise, he went towards the back of the room and disappeared instead of going through the same way they did. Whisper went over to investigate and saw a hole in the wall that lead towards the first floor.
"Okay, we have to get out of here. I was waiting until we were alone to tell you this in case someone was listening, but someone's been watching us and taking notes. I heard someone writing stuff down after each test and I'm not sure if the rest of you heard it or not."
Everyone nodded and confirmed that they had also heard what sounded like someone writing.
"What's with the whole 'change of heart' thing he was talking about and wanting to meet us in the operating room without mentioning calling our parents or something like that?"
"Nate, can you really come up with a good explaination to tell your parents why you were in an abandoned hospital?"
"Well, no. But wouldn't a doctor at least say something like that, considering we're minors and still in elementary school?"
Katie picked up the file left on the desk as Nate and Whisper were discussing the strangeness of the whole stitutation. She was curious about what was in there and her eyes widened as she read the papers. The rest of the group looked over the file and their fear grew larger. There was papers with basic information about each of them, with Nate and Katie's information circled in red with random comments about how they were perfect candiates for...something. The writing started to get unintelligible at that point.
"This can't be good. Let's leave before we get caught up in another fight again!"
Whisper nodded as he lead the way to what they hoped was their freedom.
*****
Blast that white Yo-kai! He just had to be suspicious of me and make things difficult! As soon as I trap those kids, I'll have my workers make quick work of him! Without that Yo-kai around to help them, there's no way they'll be able to defeat me!
*****
As the group descended downwards, they were careful not to attract attention to themselves as they sneaked towards the front doors, only to find them closed. They tried to open the doors, only to find them locked! Memories of the musuem flashed in their minds as they tried to open the doors again. This time, Whisper offered to see if he could open the door from the outside, but when he attempted to phase through the door, he bumped into it much like Nate or Katie would if they had attempted to it themselves.
"Oww..."
"Whisper? Are you okay?"
He nodded as he rubbed his head, then he noticed the two metallic gurneys heading towards them.
"Get up the stairs quickly!"
The group also noticed the gurneys and ran to the stairs as fast as they could to avoid being run over by them. The gurneys stopped by the stairs, blocking the doorway as the group huddled by each other on the stairs. They all had a sneaking suspicion that the gurneys were meant for Nate and Katie, but there was no way they were going to be trapped here.
"How do you feel about finding a way to the third floor? There was an open window up there and we can come down the vine wall."
No one else had a better idea, so they went upstairs, but they found the next flight of stairs was blocked by rubble. As they were about to look for another way up, they found another pair of metallic gurneys up on this floor as well.
"Okay...let's just keep calm and...run for your lives!"
The group started to run as the gurneys chased them around the second floor and the Yo-kai grabbed random pieces of rubble and threw them at the wheels of the gurneys in an attempt to stop them from chasing Nate and Katie. However, it was all in vain as Nate and Katie eventually fell onto the gurneys and were trapped as the gurneys flew down the stairs. The Yo-kai grabbed onto the gurneys, hoping to at least protect Nate and Katie from whatever was going to happen. However, as the gurneys headed towards the operating room, Whisper lost his grip on the gurney he was on and flew away from the group.
"Whisper!"
Nate, Katie, and the other three Yo-kai watched the doors close on Whisper, who had been trying to catch up to them. They heard him banging on the door as he promised to get them out, then the banging grew quiet. They hoped that he was alright and looking for a way to rescue them as they turned to their right to see two operating tables, a tray of operation tools, and the hospital director waiting for them.
"Now, if you two would just hop onto the operating table..."
Nate and Katie just stared at him.
"You're the Boss Yo-kai...aren't you?"
The hospital director just chuckled darkly.
"Well, well...you two are smarter than you look. I almost couldn't tell since you listen to that paranoid Yo-kai all the time."
"Hey! Don't insult our friend!"
The hospital director turned from a relatively normal human to what they assumed was a human like Yo-kai with one eye and what they had to assume was a mad doctor vibe to him that was connected to an IV.
"It doesn't really matter anyway. Once I defeat you, I'll take your hearts and put them to use in my experiments. But don't worry...I promise that you won't feel a thing!"
He brandished three scapels in one of his hands and said,
"Oh, and I wouldn't worry about that Yo-kai if I were you. My workers will make quick work out of him!"
*****
Whisper had stopped himself in mid-air and tried to catch up to the others, but the doors to the operating room closed in his face and he banged on the door after he found out that he wasn't able to phase through the door.
"Nate! Katie! I'll try to get you out of here!"
He could hear faint mumbles through the door and he looked around for anything he could use to break the door down with.
"Don't bother. There's nothing you can do to save them."
Whisper froze in place and turned around, seeing the three Leadoni that had been testing on Nate and Katie, except that they were now weilding make-shift weapons. Whisper looked around again and realized that the other Yo-kai the group had seen earlier had vanished.
"Weren't there other Yo-kai here?!"
"There were, but they were against us trapping those kids, so we just locked them away until the procedure was over. However, you won't be so lucky!"
Whisper flew out of the way of a Leadoni swinging a piece of wood at him, hearing it bang against the metal door. Whisper let out a sigh of relief as he picked up a piece of rubble and chucked it in the Leadoni's general direction.
Time to get rough.
*****
Nate and Katie could hear the fighting outside of the operating room and it filled them with the confidence they needed to battle. They summoned their other three Yo-kai friends to the battle and they engaged the fight against the mad doctor.
True, Whisper might not be here to help us with finding his weak points, but we can still find a way to beat him.
Filled with rage at Doctor Maddiman for threatening their friends, Jibanyan and the Koma Brothers put everything they got into the battle, even as Dr. Maddiman started to whittle their health away. They were switched out when they got poisoned by him, but the others still put up a good fight. As Nate and Katie cleaned the poison off of the three Yo-kai with a clean rag they had found and gave them some food to heal with, they were also listening to the battle outside, hoping that Whisper was okay.
*****
"Dang it! Keep still!"
Whisper dodged another attack from the Leadoni leader and smacked him with the paper fan in his hand. He had run out of rubble that he was able to lift and toss at the Leadoni and the rubble he threw either disappeared into purple smoke or broke into pieces that wouldn't do enough damage, so he had to start using the paper fan he had on his person for so long. Considering that the last time he had used it in battle was before his inprisonment in the Crank-a-kai, he was a little surprised to see that he was still pretty decent with it, although he felt that he needed more time before he could be in top form again.
I honestly wish that I had bothered to practice fighting with it beforehand in case this sort of thing happened, but it's too late now. I just have to hold them off until the door can open again.
Whisper was growing weary as the battle went on and he slipped up a few times as confirmed by the few scratches made by the Leadoni, but he couldn't let anyone else close to him get hurt ever again.
"You're going to have to rest eventually, Yo-kai."
Whisper knew they were right, but he couldn't afford to rest. If he stopped fighting...he shook his head. He didn't want to imagine it.
"You know, three against one isn't fair."
They turned to where the voice had come from and Whisper's jaw dropped when he saw a nekomata dressed as a samurai with a cresent moon on his helmet walk from the shadows and join Whisper's side. He drew his sword and pointed it at the three Leadoni.
"I really dislike an unfair fight, but the only reason I'm stepping up now is because it looked like he was handling you three pretty well. I'm just offering him some assisstance."
The nekomata turned to Whisper and said,
"How have you been lately?"
"Shogunyan, as much as I want to catch up with you, now's not a good time."
"Ah, right. Remind me after the battle."
The three Leadoni were in shock.
How does he know the legendary Shogunyan and why is Shogunyan so friendly towards him?!
Shogunyan patted Whisper's shoulder as he said to the Leadoni,
"He's an old friend of mine. We've been through a lot together and it seems fitting that our first meeting in so long involves a battle."
One of the Leadoni swung his piece of wood and Shogunyan easily blocked it and sliced it in half, the top part falling on the Leadoni's head.
"Honestly, that was just rude."
Shogunyan started to glow light blue and Whisper wisely floated away, having seen this happen before. Shogunyan took his sword and yelled out,
"Bonito Blade!"
The moment he yelled it, he started to slice at the Leadoni until they surrendered and disappeared into a puff of purple smoke, leaving a set of keys behind. Shogunyan stopped glowing as he fell to his knees, lacking energy.
"Sho? Are you alright?"
Shogunyan nodded as he watched Whisper pick up the fallen keys.
"It's time to rescue everyone!"
*****
"Noooo!"
Nate and Katie both noticed small hearts appearing around Dr. Maddiman earlier in the battle and it wasn't until they remembered his rant about how he was going to take their hearts that they had realized that the small, floating hearts were connected to Dr. Maddiman in a way. They popped the hearts with whatever they could find and when Dr. Maddiman attempted to heal himself, he was unable to because of the lack of hearts. It left him open to attack and they took advantage of it until he was defeated for good.
"H-how could I lose to mere children?!"
He coughed and fainted, but before he disappeared, he called out a name.
"Chairman Mckraken!"
When the purple smoke cleared, they heard the door to the operating room open and they saw Whisper covered with scratches as he floated into the room.
"Whisper!"
They rushed over to him and after he confirmed that he was fine, he introduced Shogunyan to the group.
"Guys, this is Shogunyan, an old friend of mine. We used to travel together a lot."
Shogunyan bowed to them.
"It's so nice to know that my friend is in good hands."
"Whisper, we should really do something about your scratches. I think there's something in one of these cabinets that might help, nya."
Jibanyan went to a random cabinet, placed his ear on it, and slowly opened it to reveal a Mirapo inside.
"Oh, thank Divine Paradise! I thought I was going to be stuck in there forever! That crazy doctor and his minions locked me in here to keep you from escaping, but looks who's laughing now!"
After helping Mirapo out of the cabinet, he walked to his normal post by the enterance of Nocturne Hospital and the group found stuff to help Whisper recover faster in the same cabinet. Getting Whisper to sit still was other issue as they discovered that he hated the sting of the disinfectant spray they had found.
"Let me go! Let me go! It stings so much!"
Whisper was actively struggling to escape their grip as they tried to wrap some bandages around his injuries.
"Why can't Whisper heal himself and why aren't we using any of our healing Yo-kai for this?"
Whisper stopped struggling and looked at the ground as he mumbled,
"I'm a Drain Attribute Yo-kai, so I heal in a...different way then the rest of the Yo-kai and you could use a healing Yo-kai on me, but I don't know why Jibanyan didn't think to do that."
"I wanted to take some petty revenge against the doctor for trying to kill you guys by stealing some of his stuff."
Jibanyan had a gleeful smirk on his face as he said that as Nate and Katie were able to finish wrapping the bandages around Whisper.
"Don't worry...as a Yo-kai, I'll be scratch-free by tomorrow!"
*****
They headed back to Shoten Temple by Mirapo because none of them felt like riding their bikes or walking there. They found Draggie and Nate and Katie asked him if he knew anyone by the name of Chairman Mckraken. Draggie nodded as he took his crystal ball off his head and it glowed purple, showing a meeting between a large squid Yo-kai and a group of Yo-kai that were completely white.
"My Yo-kai! The wait is over! It's time to get kraken and show these humans who's boss! We'll show them and the Yo-kai traitors that side with them that we're not squidding by taking our chance to octopi the Human Realm!"
There was a moment of silence between the group of white Yo-kai and the squid that the group assumed was Mckraken.
"Okay, so I'm still working on my puns. If any of you have any better ideas on how we can express our anger to the humans, just let me know...but now our time has come!"
He let loose an insane cackle as the group of white Yo-kai cheered. The crystal ball stopped glowing at that point, but that was all the group needed to know. There was something bad happening soon and they had to get ready to stop it at any cost...or they would if it wasn't starting to become evening. They decided to just head home for the night and they agreed on meeting somewhere tomorrow to make plans. After eating dinner, filling out their books, and getting ready for bed, the two kids fell asleep despite how nervous they were for tomorrow.
*****
Whisper sat on the rooftop of Nate's house and sighed softly. He saw Shogunyan next to him as they discussed what has happened since the last time they saw each other.
"If you don't mind me asking, does it still bother you?"
"Does what still bother me?"
"Whispocrates."
Whisper froze in place as memories flashed in his mind and he started to shake.
"S-sorry, I guess it still does bother you."
Whisper sighed softly as the flashbacks ended.
"Y-yeah..."
"Do you plan on telling them?"
"Of course I do! It's just...difficult."
"Hey, no rush."
Shogunyan handed Whisper his medal and said,
"Be sure to give that medal to them."
Whisper nodded as Shogunyan left and he went inside when he felt a drop of rain fall on his head and by the time he got back to Nate's room, it had started to pour.
"Hey, Whisper. What were you doing outside, nya?"
"Hmm? Oh, I was just remembering things, Jibanyan."
Whisper sat down and scratched the area between Jibanyan's ears, listening to him purr.
I want to tell them about my past at some point, but I don't know how they'll react. I mean, it would be better if I was the one that told them...
Whisper then remembered what they had seen in the crystal ball and shook his head.
I can't tell them right now. Not when our realms are in danger. Maybe in the future, when things have settled down, I'll tell them...but not right now.
Whisper laid down and after he watched Jibanyan get settled, he fell asleep with a smile.
At least life has been good for me so far.