[Draconta flies through the air. Below, Sukeyuay shouts as he plummets to his foreseen doom. After the shout, he realizes that the blade does not feel like grass. He looks at it and sees that it really is a feather.]
Yusuke Voiceover: Huh? What’s this? I didn’t know dragons had feathers. It seemed attached like it was his rather than a giant bird leaving it behind. If so than maybe it will have some special power. Might as well give it a shot before I’m road kill.
[Sukeyuay rolls in the air so his front faces the ground. He extends his arms with feather in one hand and closes his eyes. His head sags lower than his body then he swoops and shoots back upwards in the sky. Sukeyuay opens his eyes and sees he is levitating.]
Sukeyuay: WOO-HOO!!! [flies in a backwards loop] Check me out! I can fly!
[Sukeyuay chuckles as he experiments with his newfound freedom, concluding with flying off towards the ledge where the leaders await the new members.]
* * *
[Yokira, Okiya, Endoya, and Osuko are all curled up together sleeping in a room of their cave. One by one they start to wake up, stretch and untangle themselves from each other. Endoya rubs an eye and looks around.]
Endoya: Awww. Where has little Yoko disappeared to now?
Okiya: Does he really hate us so much now that he won’t spend any time with us?
Osuko: Fearless Leader is gone too; perhaps he’s teaching that twerp another lesson...
Yokira: [introverted] hmmm…
Osuko: Well…tomorrow we decide, and I say we should keep him here.
Okiya: Ah, yes. We have no reason to send him away so soon.
Remayolo: [walks into cavern] I see my lazy siblings are finally awake.
Endoya: Little Yoko isn’t with you after all?
Remayolo: He is somewhere about. In the meantime, I have thought of another tactic to restore the foxy spirit of our brother.
Okiya: Stupendous! I yearn for his true return.
Remayolo: Agreed. It has been hard to work around the limitations set up. [piercing glance at Yokira]
Yokira: It’s not my fault!
Osuko: So what is the plan?
[Remayolo kneels down and grabs a stick. The other fox demons gather around him as he starts to draw with the stick on the ground.]
Remayolo: Siblings, we are going to take a little trip. Our brother needs to remember the good times we have had. Now there is a mission I have devised that will leave him longing to return to his old form. However we will have to start small in order to build up to it, you all know how clumsy he is on these things.
Okiya: Ah, so we’ll start by infiltrating the Forgotten Fortress beyond the Worrisome Woods. We haven’t been back there since we were foxlings.
Endoya: And then we’ll work our way over to Den of Danger!
Osuko: But what is the big finale you have in mind?
Remayolo Oh, you’ll see, I will tell you all when we are ready so as not to trip over a pebble with our eye on the finish line.
[Kurama walks into the cavern. Yokira sees him and jumps up to embrace him.]
Yokira: Brother!
[The Okiya and Endoya also get up to welcome Kurama.]
Okiya: Oh, you seem so stuffed up in our little den.
Endoya: Yes, how would you like to go out with us? Remember the Worrisome Woods?
Kurama: I have no intention to join you in your endeavors.
Okiya: You do not wish to come along?
Endoya: Don’t be such a fraidy-cub!
Osuko: You’re skills really have grown weak haven’t they?
Kurama: [turns] I don’t have to deal with this. [leaves]
Yokira: [watches Kurama leave then turns on the others] What do you think you are doing? That’s the same behavior that drove him away in the first place!
Remayolo: Your time in the human world has skewed your perception.
Yokira: No. No it hasn’t! All your tantalizing caused him to run away where he was in a burglary by himself and wounded to the point of merging with a human just to survive! It’s your own fault he is like this now! [dashes off after Kurama]
* * *
[Draconta gives a final howl then swoops down to the ground. After landing, he curls up and resumes his slumber. Teen Koenma, Botan, and George sit on the tail with dizzy eyes.]
Botan: Eh…
George: Mommy…
[Back on the ledge with the prominent Zerka figures stands Marduk, Ehay, and a few of the other survivors from the initiation. Sukeyuay flies in and puts his feet out to land but the inertia from his upper body causes him to roll over until he stops.]
Ehay: Welcome back.
Sukeyuay: [rubbing sore bottom] Gee thanks.
Initiatory Demon: There will be a few stragglers, we’ll commence when they arrive.
Sukeyuay: Wow, for once I’m not the last.
Initiatory Demon: [emotionless] Congratulations.
[Sukeyuay gets up and limps over to Ehay.]
Sukeyuay: Whew! Either I’m exhausted from all this initiation or that feather really drained a lot out of me.
Ehay: That is of little surprise. Powers come with a cost, and the price usually comes from your energy. So you found a pretty little feather.
Sukeyuay: Yeah, I don’t know if I should wear it in a hat like Peter Pan or stick it in my nose like Dumbo.
[A few more join the group, totaling to 12 survivors.]
Ehay: You should stick it where it can be a tail feather to help your landings.
Sukeyuay: That’s not funny. That was my first time. [calms down] So what did you get?
Ehay: Shhh.
Demon #1: So Marduk, did you get the dragon’s blood?
Marduk: Hm. Just try to hurt me it won’t work!
[Demon #1 slashes at Marduk who doesn’t bother to block. The attack is ineffective.]
Demon #1: Wow! That’s impressive; I just got these two shiny scales. But they sure do give me some strange feelings.
Demon #2: Ha, I made it to Draconta’s head and hid in his mouth and chiseled out some of his smaller teeth. [holds up a sharp tooth between thumb and forefinger] With all the rows upon rows, he’ll never miss them!
Marduk: Very good, Ossaplam, those can make a painful weapon, but not enough to scratch me still!
[Risho approaches with a very smug and satisfied look on his face.]
Sukeyuay: [side note to Ehay] Wonder what he’s so happy about…
Initiatory Demon: Well, well. 13 of you survived, that is impressive.
Zerk: [stepping forward] Congratulations to all of you. Welcome to the brotherhood!
