Ninja Stars

I watched the trees pass us silently, a mixed blur between me and the glass. After a comforting silence, April reached down and twisted the knob of the radio. Olly Murs, I blame Hollywood’s upbeat chorus burst through the speakers, making me jump. April laughed and turned it down.

“Here I was, thinking ninja’s were never surprised,” She scoffed, tapping along to the beat, bouncing her red hair. She started to mouth to the words and grinned at me when she saw me looking. “Come on spy girl, you can sing Olly Murs right?”

I smirked at her. “He’s British; I think I know his songs.” She laughed at my answer and his next song came on. They were playing the entire album.

“So…how old are you? You look eighteen, but the boys and I are fifteen and sixteen, s-“

“Wait, boys?” I stared at her, my hands palm down on the dashboard. My inky black hair made a dark curtain between the window and I, but I could see April bite her lip in frustration. She coughed and nodded, a scared expression settling over her features when I slumped against the chair.

She turned a corner and started apologizing, over and over again, way to fast for me to even decipher the scrambled words. It was amusing when you thought about it, her face going as red as her hair.

After I said it didn't matter, she let out a long sigh. “Thank God, I thought you were going to karate chop them. Anyways, how old are you?” This red-headed girl was very animated, and should’ve gotten on my nerves, but I found it comforting.

With a smirk, I replied, “fourteen. I’ve stayed with Sensei Hamiki all my life. This is my first birthday away from home.” April nodded, and then her eyes widened.

Then came the squeal.

I jumped from my seat and narrowed my eyes from her, seeing the satisfied full grin stretched out like plastic across her face. Her one hand was on the steering wheel and the other was poised over her mouth in a shocked way. “It’s your birthday soon!?”

I put my finger in my ear and twisted it. “Yes, and I think I've gone deaf. I can’t hear you anymore-e…” I joked sarcastically, a small smile on my face. She didn't care, and her smile was bigger than a Cheshire cat’s.

Then it disappeared. “Uh, Onyx…did Sensei Hamiki explain that Sensei Splinter and his…students, live somewhere out of the ordinary?” she asked, and she started gnawing at a thumb nail, turning again around a round-about. Everyone drove on the wrong side of the road in America. I kept thinking we were going to crash.

I nodded my lips tight now, she’d asked me before. She asked me if I knew what it was, and I shook my head, letting it sit gently against the glass, arms crossed. She took my muteness as missing my Sensei, which it was, but I was here to represent him. I was here to represent his hard work to Sensei Splinter.

Suddenly, we stopped. The car was parked along the curb of the road and sat there. April started digging in her bag for something, and pulled out a union jack purse, a chain hanging down the side. She grinned at me and told me to wait a second whilst she ‘popped inside to get greasy pizza’s’ from an old pizza hut.

When she went into the shop, a grin as she greeted the cashier, I dug into my duffel bag. When I found what I was looking for, I slipped the dagger into the sole of my boot. My bladed fans went into the belt hidden under my shirt. A poised spider was my mark. My ninja stars were tucked into little pockets that I’d sown under my shirt sleeves, and the sharp edges of the stars were protected by thick leather. Then, something buzzed next to my hand.

A small, black device was tucked in among my jeans and tracksuits, for training, and screeched at the top of its lungs. A flip-up phone was suddenly in my hand when I found the screeching device and I flicked it up, putting it too my ear.

“Hello?”

I relaxed, knowing the voice anywhere. “Jon, thank God.” Jon chuckled on the end of the phone, and I could imagine him, tucked in his room at the academy, hacking at some website, while Oliver, his roommate and our friend, was down in the training room with the others.

“How are you, spider?”

I sighed. “I think we’re almost there. The girl, April, just nipped into a shop to get,” I craned my neck and my eyes widened. “Six bloody pizzas!”

“Cor!” exclaimed Jon. “How hungry is she?” I let out a chuckle at his response.

“Jon, do you know why I’m here?” I heard him sigh on the other end of the phone. April dug in her bag and pulled out a crisp note, sliding it across the counter.

“Really,” he said. “I’m trying to find out. I’m hacking and hacking their data banks, but I’m coming up short when I come anywhere near you. Firewalls everywhere, damn it. There are around seven thousand of us; it’s like a needle in a hay stack over here, spidey.”

He sounded exhausted. “It’s fine Jon. Thanks for the help. Talk to you soon, hacker.”

“You too, spidey.” He hung up and I shoved the phone in my bag, just as April came towards the door. She pushed it out, struggling with the pizzas. I jumped out of the car and grabbed four off of her, whilst she held the last two. She shoved them in the back and thanked me.

She started up the car again, rumbling down the road. “Only a little while now, don’t worry.” I merely nodded in response. The soft music of Taylor Swift floated through the speakers and it turned silence.

Soon, we turned down an alley, and parked the car in it. April pushed the car door open, grabbing the three pizzas. I stared at the small space, wondering where the bloody hell we were.

She turned to look at me, a smile on her face whilst she raised an eyebrow. “You want to sleep in my car, but don’t blame me when those hungry boys run at you for pizza.” She chuckled and I shot out the car, the duffel bag shoved over one shoulder and across my chest. I grabbed the pizzas and followed her down the alley. If she tried to kill me, I’d choke her.

Then, she looked down. She kicked aside the manhole and stared down it, flinching slightly. “Why’ve you opened it?” She sighed and gestured to the hole. It took me a few seconds before the penny dropped. I almost dropped the food. “They live down there!?” I asked outraged. She didn't answer, only slipped her feet down the hole and jumped. Her feet hit a wooden platform.

She looked up, covering her eyes. “You want to stay out there, or find somewhere to live?” with that, she continued the walk over the wooden platform down the sewer. I could smell the raw sewage from up here, a few feet above the green slime.

I huffed and sat on the edge, my legs dangling. “If I find the lochness monster, I’m going back to England.” Then, I slipped in the hole, angling the pizzas to slip through easily with me. The smell hit me first. I let out a howl of agonizing pain and my eyes watered. I’d never smelled anything like it. It was worse than Oliver’s farts.

April chuckled and gestured down the wooden walkway, putting a torch in my hand. It flickered a bit before a bright, solid light poured out of it. I flashed it around the dark tunnel, and almost vomited.

But, I only followed April down the wooden path. She started talking to me, and burst out laughing when I said that I’d blame her if I got eaten by Nessy. She started asking my favourite colour, my favourite books, weapons and what it was like to be in an academy. I answered each politely, a small smile plastered onto my face.

Suddenly, a hole appeared in front of us, but no sewage touched it. April kicked the wooden door and it burst open. I noticed that large planks had been nailed into the floorboards we currently stood on to stop the sewage and had been bent downwards so none of the nails pierced into anyone’s feet. April slipped into the hole and said it was okay for me to come down soon. I took a deep breath, and let myself fall through the hole.

The first thing I saw was April by a light, but only one was turned on above her head. The pizzas were on the floor beside her feet and she waited until my feet made contact with the floor when she climbed up and locked the small wooden hole. I looked around, seeing hardly anything but darkness.

“Why’s it so dark?” I asked April, when she landed beside me. I dropped my duffel bag on the floor and went to turn the light on, but April gently touched my arm. I could tell she was afraid I might flip her.

“The guys…don’t really want them on. They’ll let you turn them on when they’re ready.”

“What?”

“Don’t matter,” she said, flapping her hand as a gesture of giving no patience to it. “I’ll explain later.” With that, she picked up the pizzas. She told me to sit on the chair next to the door and she continued through the small corridor, looking in before turning on more lights, but purposely left some off. It showed the small corridor was only narrow and expanded to a large room. She smiled at me and disappeared to the kitchen through a door, leaving me in the room.

A low couch faced a large TV screen, a picture of a paused video of a star ship captain on the screen, hands locked with a weapon in his hands. I shrugged and saw a raised platform, beanbags thrown around on it carelessly. Another couch faced the TV, and scrambled Xbox controllers sat in front of it. Something metal was in the corner and it looked like a robot, but poorly made. Welding tools were at its feet.

Then, my ears tuned into something. Something I didn't like. I turned swiftly, facing the blackness, my hair whipping around. Something like an oblong flew at me. I flipped out of the way, seeing it slam into the wall behind me. A strangled sound of a gasp filled the room, but I didn't care. I grabbed the chain and yanked it hard. The other end of the nun-chucks flew at me, a curved dagger out of the end of it. I spiraled over it and landed on my feet, two ninja stars in my hands. I threw them into the darkness, my eyes blazing. This was how I was treated!? Footsteps pounded through the house when my rage took over.

“Who, in their bloody right mind throws nun-chucks out of the goddamn dark!?” I yelled, and started cursing under my breath. I ripped the curved dagger out of the wall and threw it on the floor, glaring at the darkness.

April ran out from the kitchen, eyes wide. “All I heard was swearing. Who did what? DONNIE!” she yelled through the house, accusing someone named ‘Donnie’ of throwing nun-chucks at me. Footsteps pounded into the room, and ragged breathing filled the stunned silence. April glared at the darkness. “Who did what?”

“Why’d you accuse me? I was working on something!” argued a voice, directed at April. I raised an eyebrow at her, but somehow, she could see through the darkness and to the person stood there. She dropped her hands onto her hips.

“Well, I thought you hit her with your staff! You’re the clumsiest out of us all!”

“Got you there, bro.” piped up a new voice, deeper than the other one. I heard the one who’d spoken before groan but stay quiet. April turned to me.

“Onyx, what happened?”

I glared down at the nun-chucks and picked them up, pulling both ends hard, which locked the chain and I shoved the curved dagger into its place in the wood. April sighed and glared into the dark, holding a hand out towards me. I dropped the chain in her hands and watched her toss the nun-chucks into the dark. They never touched the floor.

“Damn it Mikey, don’t play with them. You know-Mikey?” the new voice sounded confident but still young. “Mikey?” I heard someone get pushed over and I stood back, closer to the couch. Why the hell weren't they showing themselves?

“Ow, guys! Dude, why’d you push me over?” the voice sounded disappointed, but soon he laughed and I could hear him stand up. He sounded younger, younger than most of them and really animated, probably more animated than April, by the way he was apologizing quickly, faster than April had. I saw a smug smirk slide over her face.

His apologizing was cut short, when small steady footsteps paced behind me. I heard all four of them drop to the floor. I pretended to get to the floor, but found my dagger in the sole of my shoe, and itching to get one of the three daggers hidden in my left boot. I heard the one with the deep voice hiss at me.

The footsteps stopped in front of me, and I lowered myself to the floor. This person had a sense of power, that even April lowered her head too. I could feel their aura vibrating which made me feel less powerful than I had been a few minutes before, ready to pull out a dagger.

“Ah,” said the calm voice, a slight Japanese accent lining it. “Sensei Hamiki’s prodigy is here. Stand, young one.” I did as I was told and stood straight, like Sensei Hamiki had taught me. I felt the wise man take a step forward.

“Sensei,” said a voice, the second one which had spoken. “Are you sure?”

I heard Sensei Splinter chuckle. “I am comfortable with my appearance my sons, you should be too.” With those few words of wisdom, the wise man stepped out of the shadows. I didn't know what to expect of master Splinter. Sensei Hamiki had told me that Sensei Splinter and his four students were different from many. I didn't expect Sensei Splinter to be like this. He was dressed in a light coloured robe, a long sash wrapped around his waist. A long goatee, twisted, hung from his chin. His dark, yellow eyes burned into me and he only stared at me, waiting for a reaction. As he waited, his tail wrapped around his leg.

I only smiled and bowed to the man before me.

He seemed surprised when I bowed in respect, but he bowed in response, a small hint of a smile on his face. His nose twitched. His hand drifted towards the darkness of the room, where I saw April spearing a glance into the dark, a massive grin on her face and her shoulders shaking from the hidden laughter. “Welcome to my home, I’m sorry that my sons have not introduced themselves properly.” He narrowed his eyes into the darkness. April started giggling silently. Even though I couldn’t see them, I sent a smug smirk into the darkness. I heard all four of the boys stand up and one of them cough. As this happened, I slipped towards my duffel bag and hooked it onto my shoulder, sending a longing glance towards the six pizza boxes in the lit kitchen. “Uh, I’m Leo. Sorry about, Mikey. He’s deformed.” I chuckled and nodded at the darkness, feeling like a right prat.

“I am not! Raph said that last time!” argued the voice. I heard someone scoff.

“Whatever.” It was the one with the deep voice. “Raphael. Call me Raphie, I won’t bother making sure that Mikey’s dagger hurts you.” Mikey groaned and protested, until I heard a slap. I saw Sensei Splinter put two fingers on the bridge of his nose and close his eyes with a groan.

“Well,” said a shaky voice, and coughed a bit. “I’m Donnie. I’m the one April accused of hurting you. So…yeah, hi.” He said and I chuckled nodding at the darkness again, the smallest smile on my face. “And you already know Mikey.”

“Hi!” the over-energetic voice made me jump and April burst out laughing at my scared expression. I heard someone giggle. “S-sorry.”

I smiled. “Hiya Mikey. So…I guess I should go see my room?” I questioned, turning to Sensei Splinter. He nodded and sent a look towards the boys, hidden within the darkness. Someone trotted off downstairs, sounding like Donnie muttering as he left and April only grinned triumphantly. Sensei Splinter swept a hand towards a few steps to a small landing besides the beanbags.

Sensei Splinter walked forwards, expecting me to follow. I pulled the bag further up my shoulder. As Sensei Splinter stood on the first step, he leaned towards April. “Keep them in check please. I just cleaned.”

“But Se-”

“Go train, Leonardo.” He said, and I heard a squeak of surprise erupt from Leo, which made me giggle. As we past I looked into the darkness.

“You just got served by your Sensei!” I heard Sensei Splinter laugh down the hall and I heard Raph growl from beside Leo and I jumped the four steps and towards the wooden door. It was in the shape of a hole, with a metal dial, which was currently open. “Dude!” said an excited voice as I slipped into the room. “I like her!”