Star League 4 (4 page)

Fuzen smirks at me. ‘I'm sorry, did I interrupt your conversation with the Star League?'

I glare at him. ‘You knew who I was all along, didn't you?'

He nods. ‘I was hoping the rest of the Star League would join you when you got my invitation so my ninjas could finish them off. But when I saw that you came alone I had to get creative.'

‘This was a trap? You hurt Ari just so I'd call the Star League?'

‘That's right,' he sneers. ‘And you fell for it.' Fuzen's eyes smirk at me through his ninja mask. Well, I'm going to wipe that smirk right off his face.

‘Why? What do you have against the Star League?' As I talk I slowly reach into my belt and
pull out a shuriken, hoping that Fuzen won't see it until it's too late.

‘I have my own reasons. The Star League are pests that I'm going to exterminate,' says Fuzen. I ready the shuriken behind my back.

‘I don't think so, Fuzen!' I fling the shuriken as hard as I can. It whizzes through the air, a flash of silver light spinning straight towards its target. Then something happens that I've never seen before.

Fuzen reaches out and plucks the shuriken from the air, just inches from his face. He crushes it in his hand, ignoring the sharp blades.

‘I will crush the Star League just like your pathetic toy here.'

I hate to admit it, but Fuzen is much stronger than me. It would be stupid to fight him on my own. Instead I turn and sprint across the roof, launching myself into a tree growing alongside. I drop to the ground and there's an angry shout
behind me as another group of ninjas spots me.

A couple of bright flashes whizz past my head as two shuriken just miss me and slice into a tree. No peas here, these guys are playing for real! I put on an extra burst of speed and weave between the trees because it's harder to hit a moving target.

The ninjas chasing me are fast, but I'm faster. Ari always said that even though I might not be as strong as other ninjas, I could easily beat them because of my lightning-quick reflexes. I feel a pang of worry as I think of Ari and wonder if he's okay. The thought of Fuzen poisoning him makes my blood boil, but I know there's nothing I can do now. I wouldn't stand a chance against so many ninjas.

I get further and further in front of the other ninjas until at last I've lost them. I dive under a large pile of fallen leaves, just in time to see the ninjas run right past me. I try to keep as still as possible, even though I'm pretty sure there's a
worm wriggling in my hair.

I wait under the pile of leaves for about half an hour. It's a long time to spend in such an itchy hiding spot, but I'd rather be sure the ninjas searching for me are a long way away. After this, I'll be a champion at hide and seek! When I finally think the coast is clear I pull myself out of the leaves.

Except I'm not alone. Just as I'm shaking the dirt from my clothes, I realise there's somebody behind me. I spin around to face the ninja, and my heart pounds.

Because it's not one ninja, it's a group of them, and they've surrounded me.

I size up the other ninjas. There are five of them and one of me – way too many for me to fight on my own. I'll just have to take out as many as I can and then try to escape in one piece. I grit my teeth and get into a defensive position.

One of the ninjas winks at me through the slit in his ninja hood. His eyes look familiar but I don't know why. Maybe this is an enemy clan I came up against in the past? I shift my weight and I'm about to attack when the ninja speaks.

‘What kind of greeting is that? I thought you'd be happy to see us!'

I recognise his voice straight away. ‘Jay!' I'm so stunned I can't even move. The others take off their hoods and I realise that the enemy ninjas are
actually the rest of the Star League in disguise!

I shake my head in disbelief. ‘How'd you get here so quickly?'

‘It just so happens that Beaumont Studios has its own helicopter,' says Connor. ‘We flew here in style.'

‘Correct,' says Sam. ‘And Jay's superior forward thinking prompted us to borrow these ninja costumes from the wardrobe department, just in case.'

‘I hope those costumes are shuriken-proof,' I say, ‘because we're going to be facing a fortress full of real ninjas.' I quickly fill them in on the situation.

‘Don't worry, Asuka. With all of us working together we'll get Ari back, no problem,' says Leigh with a smile.

I smile back, but something is worrying me. I'll never be able to rescue Ari by myself. With the Star League by my side I might just see my brother
again. But first they deserve to know the truth.

‘Listen, guys, maybe you should've stayed at home after all. Fuzen told me that the only reason he kidnapped Ari was to lure the rest of you here. It's a trap. You're what he's really after.'

The others stare at me. I'm actually holding my breath, wondering what their answer will be. I never thought I'd say this, but I don't want them to leave me by myself.

‘No duh,' says Roger.

‘We already figured out this was a trap ages ago,' says Leigh. ‘But that didn't stop us from coming.' Chu screeches in agreement.

‘We're part of a team,' says Jay. ‘And that means we work together, trap or no trap.'

I let out a big sigh of relief. ‘Well, I'm really glad you're here,' I say.

‘Okay, first things first,' says Jay. ‘We need a plan. It sounds like there are way too many for us to take on head to head, so we'll have to blend in
with them and sneak Ari out.'

I nod. ‘The ninja uniforms are a good start. Keep those hoods on and nobody will know your real identities.' We head off towards the Mori Mountain Fortress.

As we approach the fortress gate I see that it's guarded by two ninjas and I start to worry. Suddenly I'm not so sure the ninja costumes will fool anyone. I think about how we're going to get found out and imprisoned. I'll never be able to help Ari then.

‘Stop right there!' shouts one of the guards. ‘Identify yourselves!' My instincts take over, and I'm about to start a fight when Jay's voice stops me.

‘We're here on Fuzen's orders,' he says, loud and confident. ‘He told us to come back here and search for the traitor ninja. He thinks she might try to sneak back into the fortress.'

The guards look at each other, and I think at any moment we're going to get sprung.
Then they step aside.

‘Very well, you may enter.'

As we pass through the gates and into the fortress I breathe a huge sigh of relief. But it's not over yet.

We search through room after room for the secret cell where Fuzen took Ari, but there's no sign of it. After what feels like the hundredth room, Roger throws up his hands in frustration.

‘We've been searching forever! This place feels like a maze.'

‘It is a ninja hideout,' I say, ‘so I guess it's designed to be confusing. But please don't give up. We've got to find my brother!'

‘Roger's right,' says Jay. ‘We are spending too long searching for Ari.'

I stare at Jay, open-mouthed. If Jay wants to give up and go home, as the leader it's his decision. But I can't believe he'd leave Ari behind like that.
I'm about to tell him off when he grins.

‘Don't worry, we're not leaving Ari behind,' he says, practically reading my mind. ‘We've just got to change our tactics. I've got a plan but it's dangerous, especially for you, Asuka.'

‘I don't care,' I tell him. ‘Anything to get my brother back.'

Jay nods. ‘Great. First the rest of us need to get rid of these ninja costumes.'

Roger's eyes almost pop out of his head. ‘What? Are you crazy? If we get spotted out of these costumes we'll get caught!'

‘That's exactly what we want,' says Jay.

‘Er, I hate to agree with Roger, but have you thought this plan through?' asks Connor.

Jay nods. ‘We're never going to find this secret cell on our own. We need a guide. If we can get captured by Fuzen's ninja spies, hopefully they'll take us to where they're holding Ari. While they're capturing us, Asuka can stay hidden and follow us
to the cell. If she can surprise Fuzen's spies and set us free, we can rescue Ari.'

Jay turns to me. ‘Do you think you can do it? It's pretty risky. If you get caught we're all done for.'

‘Piece of cake,' I say, flipping my ninja hood up so only my eyes are showing.

While the others are busy changing down to their regular clothes underneath their ninja disguises, I start to prepare myself for sneaking into the room. I reach into a pouch inside my uniform and pull out my pair of ashiko, which are spiked claws that slip on over my shoes and help me to climb walls. Just as I've finished putting on the ashiko, I hear voices coming from a passageway to my left. I sneak up and peer around the corner. I count eight ninjas heading towards us and they all have the red cuffs that mark them out as Fuzen's ninja spies.

‘Look out, we've got company!' I hiss.

‘Good,' says Jay. ‘Everyone except Asuka make
a lot of noise and follow my lead.'

I run over to a wall and start to climb. The large gaps in the stone make it easy to get a grip, and the ashiko let me climb almost as easily as if I was walking on the ground. I climb up to the very top of the wall and hide in the shadows near the ceiling.

‘Gee, these ninjas sure are stupid!' says Jay in a loud voice.

‘We've been wandering around for ages and they still haven't caught us!' cries Leigh. Chu screeches loudly in agreement.

‘Yes, their intellectual capacity seems to be severely damaged,' drones Sam.

‘Forget about ninjas, more like DIM-jas,' says Roger. ‘Get it?'

‘That's a terrible joke. It's not even funny,' says Connor crossly.

‘Yeah? I'd like to see you do better!' fumes Roger.

‘What about nin-JERKS?' asks Connor.

‘That's far worse! You wouldn't know funny if it bit you on the …'

Roger trails off as Fuzen's ninjas burst into the hallway.

‘It's those kids the boss was after!' yells one. ‘Get 'em!'

The Star League don't fight back as the ninjas take some rope and tie their hands behind their backs. Fuzen's ninjas keep a careful lookout as they lead their prisoners down the hall, but they don't notice me as I follow silently behind like a spider.

I try not to think about everything that can go wrong now that Jay, Connor, Roger, Leigh and Sam are in the hands of the enemy. Fuzen could crush them like bugs.

I put my head down and keep climbing. It's all up to me now.