Nate, Katie, and their Yo-kai companions looked towards the path and after composing themselves, they walked forward to the red gate up ahead.
"Hey, Whisper? What's so special about these gates?"
"They're guarded by the Onis of Terror Time, Gargaros, Ogralus, and Orcanos."
The group stopped in their tracks, shocked.
"Wait, what?! The same onis that hunt for kids sneaking around after dark guard the gates?!"
Whisper nervously chuckled.
"Well, we were only caught in Terror Time once and considering the circumstances right now, I don't think they'll hold it against you."
Nate and Katie sighed as they and the rest of the group continued onward. As they walked, they saw some Yo-kai in the area. Some were too scared to even acknowledge the group walking by, a few were curious, but didn't say or do anything, and the rest just waved to the group with a smile. To pass the time until they got to the red gate, Whisper explained that there were areas below the bridge that sometimes had Yo-kai roaming around.
"There's three areas that I know of down there...hold on..."
Whisper pulled out his Yo-kai Pad and typed in something before nodding.
"The three areas are Hungry Pass, Liar Mountain, and Hooligan Road. To access them, you either need to fail the tests that the Onis give you or fall through specific holes that are in the fences along the bridge."
"What? There's no rope to get back up with?"
"There is, but I'm pretty sure that it would take you back to the gate that you had passed through to get to that area. You could always climb down the rope if you want to see the area before walking down the bridge."
On one hand, we can fight some Yo-kai and get stronger while seeing some new areas, but on the other hand, we don't want to waste a lot of time and there's a chance of us getting lost down there if we're not careful.
As they juggled with the thought of visiting the areas, they heard Whisper say,
"We're almost there, guys."
True to Whisper's words, they were closing in on the red gate and in front of it was Gargaros.
After we pass his trail, we'll just keep walking on the bridge and see what happens and if we don't see those areas, we don't see those areas. Besides, it's not like we won't come back and visit this place again...right?
They composed themselves and walked forward, stopping in front of him. To their surprise, Gargaros looked to be rather calm, unlike the first time they encountered him.
"We would like to pass through the gate, please."
"To pass through this gate, you must have a good heart. Have you helped those in need?"
"Yes, we have."
Gargaros stared at them for a few moments, then he disappeared and they heard an echoing voice say to them,
"You two do have good hearts. The energy from those you have helped is enough to convince me. You are free to pass by the red gate."
The group walked through the red gate and they continued onward, seeing a blue gate in the distance, which was their next destination.
*****
Meanwhile, in the throne room...
Mckraken was looking over a few papers with a scowl on his face.
Great...one of the threats to my leadership got away and is under the protection of some traitorous Yo-kai and if the report I got from Maddiman is true, there's two human kids that can see us and they're on their way to defeat me! It took me years to finally get the throne to myself and I'm not going to let some human kids take that away from me!
Mckraken tossed the papers to the side, which made them disappear in a puff of smoke, and he sighed with annoyance, but then an idea formed in his head.
I know! I'll make the kids fall into the area below the bridge! Sure, it'll just delay them, but if I can keep them away long enough, the invasion can still be launched!
*****
Back with the group, they were almost to the blue gate when they felt the bridge shaking. They held on to the rails to steady themselves before they could walk forward to a safer area, but the rails suddenly broke and even though Whisper and the other Yo-kai grabbed the kids to keep them from falling, it was in vain as the shaking got worse and the kids lost their balance, which made the whole group fall downwards. Thankfully, they landed safely on what looked like a giant cake and after looking around, they realized that this must be Hungry Pass, if the cake theme didn't already give it away.
"Okay, all we have to do is find the rope and we'll be back at the red gate, which unfortunately means that we have to walk all the way back to where we were before the bridge started shaking."
As they walked around, looking for the rope, the kids asked if the shaking was normal in the Yo-kai Realm. Whisper shook his head and said,
"This must have been a dirty trick created by Mckraken to delay us! We have to keep going forward and stop him if we want to keep our realms safe!"
The group walked through the cakey area, occasionally fighting some Yo-kai to be ready for battling Mckraken, until they found the rope. They climbed up the rope and found themselves at the red gate. They quickly rushed down to the blue gate, where Ogralus was waiting.
"We need to pass through the gate."
He looked at them and said,
"I cannot let children pass, so tell me the truth. Are you children?"
"We are children, but we need to pass through the gate, sir."
"I admire your honesty. In truth, I was only going to let you pass if you told the truth."
"You mean...?"
Ogralus nodded as he disappeared.
"You're free to pass through the blue gate."
As the group was about to cross through the blue gate, they felt the bridge shake slightly and looked towards the rope that would take them to the next area below the bridge.
Better safe than sorry.
They climbed down the rope and as their feet touched the rocky ground of the area that Whisper identified as Liar Mountain, they saw the rope shake violently. Nate and Katie took their hands off the rope and hoped that the rope didn't break off the bridge and leave them stranded on Liar Mountain. Whisper noticed their distress and reassured them that the rope wouldn't break. Nate and Katie sat down and looked over the area they were in while they waited for a sign that told them it was safe to go back up. They didn't really know what they had been expecting when they got there. Liar Mountain was just a mountain-like area that was dark due to being under a bridge. If it wasn't for the blue lights floating around, Nate and Katie doubted that they would've been able to see anything. There were Yo-kai hanging around, as expected, but there were also a few Yo-kai that looked odd. These Yo-kai looked like some of the Yo-kai that were hanging around Liar Mountain, except that they were completely white.
"Wait a minute...didn't we see Yo-kai like that in Draggie's crystal ball?"
"Yeah. They were in the same room as Mckraken when we saw him, which means that they have to be his followers! We're getting close to him if we're seeing his followers!"
None of them knew if they should be happy or scared that they were on the right track. On one hand, they were getting closer to hopefully delaying the invasion. On the other hand, these Yo-kai and Mckraken have been running their operation for a while and were probably as strong as the group, if not stronger.
It must be terrible for any Yo-kai that happen to be the same color as Mckraken's followers. If it wasn't for the fact that his followers appear to have glowing red eyes, Yo-kai like Whisper and Komasan would probably never be trusted unless they could prove that they were against Mckraken's ideals.
Nate and Katie looked at their Yo-kai companions, who were practicing fighting and Whisper was making sure that they didn't damage themselves too much and end up wasting their healing items before the big battle.
We haven't been with these guys for long, but to imagine not having them around feels strange. They've already made themselves a huge part of our lives...
"Ready to head back up?"
They were snapped out of their thoughts by Whisper, who was now gesturing towards the rope. They nodded, climbed back up to the blue gate, and started walking forward to the gate guarded by Orcanos.
*****
Meanwhile, with Mckraken...
Mckraken sent some of his followers to the part of the bridge that connected the gate that Orcanos guarded to the Lord's Gate.
If those kids expect to get to me, they'll have to go through my followers first!
Mckraken had a malicious smile on his face as he sat on the throne and patiently waited, either for his followers to defeat and capture the kids and the traitorous Yo-kai accompanying them or for the group to walk into the throne room themselves, allowing him to be the last thing that they'll ever face.
Once they're defeated, by my hand or otherwise, there'll be nothing to stop me from taking over these realms!
*****
The group walked up to Orcanos, the final gate guardian. He was very intimidating to the group, but not enough to scare them from their task. They patiently waited as he looked the group over.
"You have fought well to make it this far. The Lord's Gate is just beyond this gate, but be warned. Mckraken and his followers are not to be taken lightly."
Orcanos disappeared from the gate and the group went down the rope to Hooligan Road before the bridge could shake and mess up their balance. When their feet touched the ground, they released the rope and decided to look around at Hooligan Road and the first thing that hit them was how hot it was. The heat was very uncomfortable and the fact that there was lava or magma below the rocky paths made it clear that this was a volcano area. The Yo-kai in the area, both normal and Mckraken's followers, seemed to be used to the heat, but to Nate and Katie, this was unbearable and they were pretty sure that the Yo-kai Watch was the only thing keeping them from feeling the full effects of Hooligan Road's temperature.
"Can someone check and see if it's safe to climb back up? The heat's so unbearable down here."
Whisper mumbled,
"This is nothing. There's a much hotter place than Hooligan Road and if we ever find it, than you'll be wishing that you were back here...or maybe at home."
The kids considered asking Whisper what he was talking about, but then they realized that the rope hadn't been shaking since they got down here.
That's odd...the bridge would normally be shaking by now...did Mckraken give up already? No...from what we've heard about him, he's not going to give up just like that. He must have developed a better idea than just trying to throw us off balance so we would be delayed.
After Whisper went up to make sure that the bridge wasn't shaking and that it was safe to climb back up, the rest of the group climbed back up the rope and they passed through the black gate. They looked around as they noticed that the bridge was turning white as they walked towards the Lord's Gate. They saw more of Mckraken's followers as they walked, knowing that his followers were looking to pick a fight with them.
Well, if they want to fight us so badly, they can, but with the bonds between us and our Yo-kai, it'll be hard to defeat us.
*****
After fighting a few of Mckraken's followers, they found themselves at the Lord's Gate. There was an Eyepo, so they healed their Yo-kai, switched out Blandon for Venoct, and after he was summoned to the Lord's Gate with them, he said,
"This is it. We're going to face Mckraken, either stop or delay the invasion, and bring peace back to both realms."
"Is Lucas safe?"
"Yes, he's with Mr. Barton at the school. He's going to wait there until we come back."
The group braced themselves as they walked through the Lord's Gate and saw Mckraken sitting on the throne, waiting for them.