Star League 4 (3 page)

The other ninja lets out a loud ‘Oof!' as I connect with him, then he smothers me in a hug.

‘Ari!' I yell in delight, hugging my big brother around the waist.

‘But how did you know it was me?' he asks, scratching his head.

I open my hand and show him the ammo I picked up from the ground. ‘Peas. You were shooting peas at me. No self-respecting ninja would use peas as ammo.'

Ari laughs. ‘I wasn't trying to hurt you, just get your attention.'

‘Well, you've got it now! It's good to see you, big brother.'

‘You too, little sis. How is the Star League treating you?'

I think about the others and how well we work together as a team. We've managed to bust up our fair share of evil schemes. ‘It's great, but it's also good to get away for a while.'

‘You always were a bit of a loner,' teases Ari. I slap him jokingly on the arm.

‘Come on,' I say. ‘We'd better get going or we're going to miss the whole meeting. You can fill me in on what's been happening with the rest of the clan on the way.'

Ari isn't just my older brother, he's also the head of my old ninja clan. As we walk, Ari tells me everything that's been going on, and I have to admit, it makes me a little homesick. But I shake my head and try not to think about it too much.

We keep heading through the trees until at last I start to see glimpses of a huge, grey building. I've never been here before, but I know exactly what it is from stories Ari has told me: it's the Mori
Mountain Fortress, a secret place for ninjas to gather.

We enter and take our seats in a big hall that is almost completely full of ninjas. I look around, trying to spot some familiar faces – which is hard to do when everyone is wearing black masks. I recognise a couple of ninjas that I've met in the past, but most of them wouldn't have a clue who I am. It's a nice change from fans screaming my name.

My gaze comes to rest at the front of the room, where a tall ninja stands. He wears a red sash around his waist, which makes him stand out in the sea of black.

‘Who's that?' I ask Ari.

Ari follows my gaze. ‘That's Grandmaster Fuzen. He took over when Grandmistress Reika went missing.' Ari leans closer and whispers in my ear. ‘Listen, Asuka, I don't trust him. I haven't spoken to anyone who actually knew him before he stepped up to take Reika's place. Be careful around Fuzen.'

I nod and watch as the figure on stage looks around the room. His bright blue eyes fall on me and he pauses. I stare back at him and his eyes narrow into a glare. What's this guy's problem? Finally he looks away and steps up to the front of the stage. He clears his throat and the room falls silent.

‘Greetings. I'm glad you could all be here today. Some of you have travelled great distances, and I promise my news will be well worth the journey.'

Fuzen peers around the room. ‘Somebody has kidnapped Grandmistress Reika and, thanks to my sources, I have found out who the kidnappers are. It is now our duty to hunt them down and destroy them.'

‘Who are they?' asks a ninja in the front row. ‘Tell us their identities so we can find them!'

Fuzen looks straight at me. ‘They go by the name of the Star League.'

I glance at Ari in shock. How does Fuzen know about the Star League? And why is he blaming us for kidnapping Grandmistress Reika?

‘Who are the Star League?' asks the ninja in the front row.

‘They are a secret criminal group,' says Fuzen. ‘From what we've been able to gather, the members are quite talented: there is an expert fighter, a werewolf, an animancer, a zombie, a robot and a ninja.'

There's a loud gasp around the room as he says the word ‘ninja'.

‘Who is it?' demands a ninja I recognise. I think her name is Kaori – I've trained with her once or twice, and she was always friendly. But now the
look on her face is furious. ‘Which one of the ninjas here is the traitor?'

Fuzen frowns in my direction and my heart races. If he exposes me here as a member of the Star League I'm toast! But luckily he glances away again.

‘Unfortunately we don't know the true identity of the ninja.'

Huh, that's strange. I wonder how he's managed to find out about the Star League without knowing my identity. I shake my head. I guess I just got lucky this time.

Ari stands up. ‘How do you know for sure that the Star League kidnapped Grandmistress Reika?'

Fuzen glares at him. ‘Because I said so.'

Ari holds his glare and doesn't back down. ‘That's not a good enough answer for me. Can we talk to your sources?'

‘No!' spits Fuzen. ‘How dare you talk back to your Grandmaster! Maybe you're the one who …'

Before he can finish, another ninja stands up.
‘I'm Gobu from the Shinzuka clan, and I agree with Ari Kuro. We don't really have any proof that this Star League did anything.'

‘You dare call me a liar?' roars Fuzen. ‘Why, I'll, I'll …'

Fuzen is interrupted as more ninjas leap to their feet in defence of Gobu and Ari. But there are also quite a few who believe Fuzen's lies about the Star League and want revenge.

‘We need to track them down and make them pay!'

‘But how do we know it was them? Where's the proof?'

‘We must obey Grandmaster Fuzen. Ninjas turning on ninjas is unacceptable!'

‘So let's get his sources out here. Who are they? Do they exist?'

Fuzen angrily waves his arms, trying to get everyone's attention, but it's Ari who finally gets them all to settle down.

‘Fellow ninjas! When we became ninjas we
vowed to live by a code and part of that code is to help innocents. We have no real proof that the Star League did this. To attack them without knowing for certain it was them would be against our code of honour.'

The other ninjas start nodding, then clapping, and soon they're cheering for Ari. A wave of relief washes over me. I knew I could rely on my big brother.

I watch as Fuzen gets angrier and angrier listening to Ari win over the crowd. Fuzen's eyes flicker to one corner of the room. He nods at somebody I can't see.

Then something whizzes right past me, and Ari grunts in pain. He starts to sway on his feet and his eyes roll back in his head. I reach out to catch him and he topples into my arms. I lower him to the ground and shake him by the shoulders.

‘Ari! Ari!' I shout. But there's no reply. He's out cold!

‘Ari!' I slap his face, trying to get him to come around, but he won't wake up. His skin is cold and clammy. Then I notice a tiny dart sticking out of Ari's leg and I remember Fuzen's signal. He must have poisoned him!

As a ninja I've trained long and hard in the use of poisons, and that also means learning the antidotes. I don't know the particular kind of poison Fuzen has used, so I'll just have to take a guess. I fumble in my pockets for a small bit of dried herb and place it in Ari's mouth. He doesn't wake up, but hopefully the herb will work against the poison.

‘Another ninja has been attacked!' shouts Fuzen. ‘Lock this place down, the ninja responsible
won't get away this time.'

‘Wait …' I want to tell everyone that Fuzen was the one who did it, but they're all so busy following his orders that nobody listens to me. Fuzen appears beside me and pulls the dart out of Ari's leg, then he sticks it in his pocket before anyone else can see what he's doing.

I rush at Fuzen. ‘You snake!' He blocks my attack and pushes me to the ground.

‘Restrain the girl,' he orders a couple of ninjas. They grab me so I can't move.

‘Ari Kuro has been stabbed with a poison dagger,' says Fuzen, his eyes darting around. ‘You three, get him to the sick bay immediately!' Three ninjas rush over and surround Ari. I notice that, unlike the rest of the ninjas, they have red cuffs on their sleeves that match Fuzen's sash.

Fuzen leans over and whispers to one of them. ‘We don't want him to wake up. Don't take him to the sick bay, hide him in the secret cell instead!'

The ninja nods, and my mouth falls open.

‘No!' I turn to the ninjas holding me. ‘You have to let me go, they're going to hurt my brother! Didn't you hear what Fuzen said?'

Both of them stare straight ahead, ignoring me, and it's only then that I notice the red cuffs on their uniforms. They must be working for Fuzen too!

I watch, completely helpless, as Ari is taken away.

‘Now we have proof that somebody is targeting ninjas,' says Fuzen. ‘We have seen it with our own eyes, and we know that the attacker is in this room. Who was sitting close enough to Ari to attack him with a poison dagger?'

Every pair of eyes in the room turns to me.

‘How could you think I'd attack my own brother?' I ask.

‘Jealousy, perhaps?' sneers Fuzen. ‘He's the head of the clan and you wanted his position?'

The crowd around me starts to mutter,
believing Fuzen's lies. I glance at the angry faces surrounding me and I've never felt more alone. I don't know which ninjas I can trust and which ones are Fuzen's spies. So much for wanting time by myself – I could really use the Star League's help right now!

There's still a chance I can contact them using the communicator, but first I'm going to have to escape a roomful of angry ninjas.

I throw my arms up and slip out of the grasp of the two ninjas holding me. Then I jump onto a table and sprint along the length of it, dodging the hands that reach out to grab me.

I leap off the end of the table and land nimbly on the back of another ninja. As she reaches up to grab me, I kick off and land with a thud against a wall, jamming my fingers into the large gaps in the bricks to keep from falling. Clinging on with just my fingertips, I climb over to a hanging tapestry. I use the tapestry as a rope and climb the wall to an
open window, pulling the tapestry up after me so nobody can follow.

As I step onto the window ledge, I peer down. Some ninjas have run outside to block my way at the bottom. I glance behind me and see that there are more ninjas waiting in the hall below. Which means there's only one way to go – up. I haul myself out of the window, feeling like I'm going to fall at any second, and climb onto the roof.

I've only got thirty seconds at the most before I'm joined by my so-called ninja friends, so I whip out the communicator Ben gave me. I flip open the star-shaped screen and jab the call button. It only rings once before it picks up, and Jay's face fills the screen.

‘Jay! I'm so glad to see you! Grandmaster Fuzen has poisoned Ari and the other ninjas think I did it! I need to rescue him but I can't do it alone.'

‘Don't worry, Asuka,' says Jay. ‘We'll …'

But before Jay can answer a black boot kicks
the communicator out of my hands and sends it flying halfway across the roof. Looks like I've got company!

The ninja kicks out at my head, but I block it with my arm and push away. My enemy spins around and that's when I notice the bright red sash around his waist.

‘Fuzen,' I growl.