Dark Waters

Chapter Twenty One: Ambush

Chapter Twenty One: Ambush 

  

The past. Nine years ago.

Rain poured hard on the streets of the city.

Leopard tried not to shiver as he knelt before the Dark Flame Grandmaster as he waited for him to give him his first assignment.

If he succeeds, he will no longer be a mere trainee and he will join his older sister Kara in the ranks of the Dark Flame ninjas. But if he fails...

Leopard shivered unconsciously.

It was unthinkable.

"Look at me, Leopard."  

Leopard raised head and saw merciless dark eyes peering at him through an armored suit.

The Dark Flame Grandmaster, his adopted father and master, stood before him, flanked by six Elites, and paying no attention to the heavy rain that poured all around them.

"This is your target," Kuraihi Natsu began as he handed the boy a picture.

It was the picture of a certain businessman who decided to break ties to the Grandmaster and had recently openly accused Natsu as having ties to the city's criminal underworld though nothing was proven when the authorities tried to investigate.

"He has a ring, gold signet ring in his right hand, my son. It contains valuable data that must not fall in the wrong hands. Retrieve it and bring it to me."

"As you command, Master." Leopard whispered timidly trying to be heard over the roaring rain. "But, Master?"

"Yes, Leopard?"

"And the man?"

There was a pause, and then the cold voice spoke once more. "He is not to survive this night."

***

The present.

They reached the ranch fairly quickly. Mikey was keeping an eye on their prisoner while Daniel assisted in setting up the device that will take them back home.

Leopard stood warily beside Rainier. Something was wrong. There were little alarm bells going off in the back of his skull. And after years and more than a little sweat and blood spent honing them, Leopard Kuraihi trusted his instincts.

It was too quiet. Leopard eyed the scrubby alien around them suspiciously. Rainier was doing the same.

"I don't like this," Rainier whispered at his twin. "Something just doesn't feel right."

"So you sense it too, huh?"

"Oh yeah."

If he'd been a ninja hired for espionage and a rescue mission... and he had been, many times... and his rescue target was prominent... Say, a high-ranking general...

Say he was a ninja who'd been hired by the government's secret ops, and offered all of the troops and support he wanted. And his Intel revealed that the prisoner target was well guarded, but also revealed that his enemies were handing sensitive info or tech that must not be damaged...

Say his target allowed himself to be captured by the terrorists to gain access to the tech, he's set up a dummy base, let his captors think they'd won, and lie in wait until the right time to capture the terrorists, and retrieve the data. Leopard closed his eyes, listening. Past the chatter of his companions, past the noise of the alien nature around them. He's hidden among those weird trees, probably under low brush... like that, a hundred yards to the northwest... He strained his ears.

He was rewarded with the soft 'click' of  someone sliding a silencer of a sniper gun.

"Get down!" Leopard lunged for Rainier, shoving the other ninja down, and winced as he felt the heat from the shot pass dangerously close to his back.

Panic erupted.

All of a sudden, laser fire rained from the trees and bushes, forcing them to grab the Teleportal device and take cover behind their transport.

"Well, can't say I wasn't expecting everything to go FURBAR-ed this fast." Leopard remarked.

"Damnit, Blanque! Tell your men to stand down!" Rainier shouted.

"Uh, Bro? I don't think that is an option anymore." Mikey remarked as he pointed to their captive who currently is running away with two Federation soldiers.

"Damnit!" Rainier swore. "Everyone, get aboard the ship!"

At that moment, a rocket hit the transport, forcing to duck and take cover.

"What now, Bro?" Mikey began.

"Shut up, I'm trying to think!" Rainier began and then glanced at Daniel and Professor Hamil. "Have you guys finished setting up that thingamajig of yours, Prof?"

"Why, yes. All we need is to activate it..." The droid began.

"Then activate it! Leo and I will try to cover you!" Rainier replied as he joined Leopard in throwing shurikins and explosives at the enemy. "Very well, activating it."

The droid activated the device. "Prepare to teleport. 3... 2... 1... Now!!!"

"Power UP!!!" Daniel shouted triumphantly, the Teleportal Device spluttering on for a moment, before sparking and going dead. "But... but!" Danny spluttered in disbelief.

"But what?" Rainier echoed Daniel in trepidation.

"But!?" Leopard echoed him.

"But!?!" Mikey shouted in terror.

"It's not working!" Professor Hamil shouted to Daniel.

Not getting any advice from the droid, Daniel kicked the device and suddenly it started powering up again.

"There!" Daniel shouted triumphantly.

"Stop them before they get away!" Blanque shouted at his men upon seeing the device get activated.

Suddenly a stray laser hit the glowing device, making it go out of control.

"Oh no, its going to overload, this device isn't built to take in this kind of punishment!" Daniel shouted in panic.

"What?!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Hit the ground!" Daniel shouted.

BOOM! The device exploded in a mixture of sparks and smoke.

"There goes our ticket home." Leopard muttered in disgust as they all took cover behind the wreckage. He glanced at Rainier. "What now, Mizu?"

Rainier looked at the droid helplessly, out of ideas.

"Rainier, you have to destroy me now before the Federation captures us." Professor Hamil urgently began.

"But..." Rainier began in panic. "I... can't!"

"You promised!" The Droid insisted. "You gave your word that if anything goes wrong, will erase my HDD process!"     

Shit. Rainier swore to himself. "I have no choice," he whispered and began to press the button.

"Guys, are we supposed to be glowing?" Mikey suddenly asked.

"What?" Rainier opens his eyes, and sure enough, all of them seem to be coated in a strange glow. "What the--?!" he began when all of a sudden, the world exploded in a bright white light.