Sora’s ninja team helped with a bucket brigade to put out fires, comfort small children, and recapture escaped livestock while Sora talked to Hinjo, the mayor of the village.
“I’m not sure what to do in this disaster, I only took over from my father last week after I escorted him to Retirement Village.” Hinjo passed a tan hand over his face. “It feels like all my mayor training didn’t prepare me for this. What should I do Ninja Master?”
Sora nodded as though she had all the answers.The mayor didn’t know her secret identity. That was part of the duty of being Ninja Master. “My ninjas are helping to restore order now. You should take stock of your losses and what supplies you need.”
“Hai! It will be done.” Hinjo inclined his head. “I don’t know what we would do without the ninjas to protect us.”
Sora watched Hinjo run off to give commands to villagers. She clenched her fists in anger, if only she had taken grandfather last week, like Hinjo did. She would make those dino-pirates pay with their lives.
One ninja approached her. “Ninja Master, Ninja 27 reporting.”
“Report.”
“We’ve put out the fires and rounded up the livestock. The children seem to not respond to being patted on the back while we say There, There. Should we use our weapons on them?”
Sora withheld a smirk. “No. Let their families take care of them. Station 12 ninjas in hidden positions about the village, and three on advance watch. Then send scouts east and west to see if there is any signs of the attackers.”
“Hai!” Ninja 27 ran off to relay her orders. That seemed to be all she did now. She longed for battle and the chance to prove herself, but first, she needed to be where the enemy was, not catching up as they left.
“Ninja Master!” it was Hinjo again.
“Hai?”
“We have cataloged our losses. They stole all our bedsheets, eggs, chocolate milk and two people are missing.”
“Who are the people?”
“One of them might just be late from taking her grandfather to Retirement Village, Sora went yesterday before the storm. But we know the pirates took Sora’s girlfriend Amiko. Sora will be so upset. You’ve got to rescue her.”
Sora clenched her fists tighter. “The seas will run red with their dino-blood if they hurt Amiko. This I swear.”
Hinjo cowered from the rage radiating from Sora, “I have faith in you, Ninja Master.”
A commotion from the beachfront interrupted Sora from more vengeance emoting. People were screaming again, some of the screams were robotic. She leaped to the rooftop of the nearest building and bounded to where the trouble was. It was easier to travel this way than among the general populace.
Soon, she arrived at a brawl. Two dino-pirates were fighting with her ninjas, and it wasn’t looking good for the ninjas. Five ninjas tried to tackle the long necked one. She was too strong. Three ninjas splayed out on the ground, their wires and servos falling out of their stomachs. Four remaining ninjas circled the tall, slender one, who wore a black coat and a green hat of some sort. That one smelled dangerous, he moved like a warrior.
Sora leaped down to the fight. She drew her sais. “This one is mine. You four, take down the big one.”
“Hi! These fighting machines of yours are fun!”
Sora lunged for the talking intruder, but he was too fast, circling with inhuman speed.
“Nice lunge. I’m Captain Raptor.”
Sora rolled forward and thrust up with both weapons, certain to skewer the speedy beast. He caught her sais in his own claws and pried them outward to tear them from her grip.
“Can we, uh, talk?”
Letting go of her weapons, her fists followed the captain’s thigh-line from her still kneeling position into a double-punch to the groin.
Captain Raptor dropped the sais and staggered back, doubled over as he guarded himself, “Oooh, that’s the end of peaceful negotiations, mammal.”
Sora picked up her fallen weapons and rose to a fighting stance. She was about to make the universal sign for come at me when Captain Raptor leaped at her, fury in his eye and long taloned hands and feet coming for her throat. The pair traded blows and parries and Sora dodged and circled, driven back by the onslaught of reptilian rage. Sora dropped a smoke bomb and used the distraction to move behind her attacker. She was about to plunge a blade into his spleen when his tail whipped and swept her off her feet. In a blink, he was upon her, his hands holding her arms down and his snout in her face. His teeth inches from her nose.
“Captain run! They got me!”
He flicked an eye toward Rhona, and saw the Ninja robots had her held down in a massive dog pile. He could run away, but last week’s movie night had taught the importance of family. Fast and Furry Nine, the final in the series with an explosive ending. He shook his head, and growled, “Release my ‘mate.”
Sora looked up at him, “So she’s your girlfriend. Where’s mine and you can have her back!”
“What?! No, she’s my crewmate. I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m between girlfriends right now.”
“You stole my girlfriend!”
“Rhoda’s your girlfriend?”
“Who? No! My girlfriend is Amiko. You took her.”
Captain Raptor jumped back, releasing Sora. “This is confusing. I don’t have anybody’s girlfriend. I’m trying to rescue one. Well kind of. She was taken. I think.”
“Your girlfriend was taken?”
“No. Gaah! Can we start over? I just want some food and somebody to point me in the direction of that egg-sucking son of a purple...”
“Enough! Release her.”
The Ninja robots got up off of Rhona and helped her up. “Hi, I’m Rhona! Who are you guys?”
They introduced themselves, then turned to their fallen brethren. “Oh, Great Spark! We have lost 14, 93 and 67! Hallowed be their numbers. Thy circuit done.”
Sora turned to the two dino-pirates and said, “Follow me.” while ignoring the ritual going on with the Ninjas. Captain Raptor looked abashed at the Ninjas and their fallen comrades, “Sorry guys, I didn’t know they were people. They didn’t say anything, they kind of popped out of the shadows.”
He turned and caught up to Sora, while Rhona stomped after him, the earth shaking with each ponderous step.
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