Star League 4 (6 page)

My breath catches in my throat as I stare out at the sea of ninjas. There's no way we can escape now. Fuzen has won.

Speaking of Fuzen, I spot him standing at the back of the crowd on some kind of platform. His red sash flutters in the breeze, and I can make out the smug look on his face even from here.

‘Ah, Star League, so nice of you to finally join us!' he sneers. I feel a surge of anger. I don't know why he's come after the Star League, but if I ever get my hands on him I'm going to make him pay.

‘Ninja brothers and sisters,' he says, addressing the crowd. ‘These are the ones responsible for kidnapping your beloved Grandmistress Reika. Seize them!'

‘Wait!' Ari's voice is so strong and commanding that the ninjas freeze in their tracks. ‘The Star League aren't the ones who kidnapped Grandmistress Reika!'

‘Oh yeah?' jeers one ninja. ‘Then who was it?'

‘It was Fuzen!' says Ari, glaring at the redsashed ninja. Many of the heads before us turn to look at their Grandmaster, unsure who to believe. But most still seem unconvinced and look like they could attack us at any second.

‘Fuzen was the one who poisoned me, not Asuka. In fact, it was my clever sister who saved my life by slipping me the antidote.' Ari smiles at me. ‘Fuzen wanted me gone for good, but Asuka saved my life.'

The ninjas start to mutter among themselves, not sure what to believe.

‘Lies! It's all lies!' screeches Fuzen. ‘The girl poisoned her brother, and now he's covering for her!'

‘I've known Asuka since she was a baby,' comes a voice from the crowd, ‘and I know she would never hurt Ari.' I turn my head and see Gobu from the Shinzuka clan smiling at me. More ninjas are nodding in support.

‘Fuzen didn't know that Asuka slipped me the antidote,' says Ari. ‘He thought I was gone for good, so he said a lot of things around me that he probably shouldn't have. Little did he know I was awake and listening the whole time. You should never trust a ninja with your secrets.'

The crowd laughs. ‘Tell us what he said, Ari!' yells a voice.

Even from here I can see how jumpy Fuzen is. I wonder what he's got to hide – other than being a lying, kidnapping snake, I mean.

‘Our so-called Grandmaster Fuzen is not really a ninja at all. He has had ninja training, but he was not raised as a ninja. He's actually the head of an evil corporation whose aim is to take over
the world. The Star League are his enemy because they're trying to stop him, and since he couldn't get rid of them on his own he thought he could trick us into doing his dirty work,' says Ari through gritted teeth. ‘His real name isn't even Fuzen – it's Professor Pestilence.'

Most of the crowd don't recognise the name, but I stare in shocked silence at the rest of the Star League. Professor Pestilence? The same one behind all of the evil plots the Star League has unravelled? I clench my fists. This guy has definitely got to pay.

‘Get him!' I race through the crowd of ninjas towards Professor Pestilence with the rest of the Star League at my back.

Pestilence thought he could poison my brother and turn the ninjas against me? There's no way he's getting away with it this time. Now it's personal.

I keep my eyes on Professor Pestilence as I hurtle through the crowd. So far he's proven to be a master escape artist, so I'm not letting him out of my sight. His red sash flutters behind him as he turns and runs away, which helps to mark him out from the rest of the black-suited ninjas. He might as well be wearing a giant target on his back.

I bob and weave around the sea of bodies until I'm finally out in the open. I can hear the rest of the gang behind me, not able to keep up with me as I run through the forest. I know I should probably slow down and wait for them to catch up, but I can't let the professor get away again, not after he hurt Ari.

I leap over fallen tree trunks and skirt around
dangerous ditches. He's fast, but not as fast as me, and I start to gain on him. He keeps looking behind him, and I can tell by the look in his eyes that he knows I'm going to catch up with him any second. He skids to a stop and glares at me with his bright blue eyes.

‘It seems you've lost the rest of your team,' he says in a smug voice. I look around and realise that he's right. There's no sign of the rest of the Star League.

‘You don't need to worry about them, Pestilence, because I'm going to take you out myself!'

He laughs. ‘We'll see about that!' In the blink of an eye, he whips out a shuriken and throws it straight at my head. But I'm faster than that. I reach for the wooden bo on my back and smash the shuriken out of the way like a baseball.

Pestilence's eyes widen in surprise. He shakes his head and pulls out a very sharp-looking sword
from the sheath on his back. He hefts it in his hands, ready to swing at me.

Then I hear crashing through the trees behind me, and five figures emerge from the forest. I grin.

‘Just in time, guys.'

Jay cracks his knuckles, getting ready for a fight. Connor snarls and flexes his werewolf claws. Leigh closes her eyes and suddenly the forest seems alive with a hundred scuttling things ready to join in the battle. Roger pulls out a handful of deadly potions. Sam holds out his hands, which crackle with electricity.

The small part of Pestilence's face that I can see behind the mask goes deathly pale. He looks at each of us, then turns and runs again. We follow close behind as he runs down a slope and into the mouth of a cave hidden behind a row of bushes.

It's so dark in the cave that I can't see a thing. There's a scuffling sound just in front of me, but I can't tell if it's Pestilence or something else that has
decided to make this cave home. Then the scuffling turns into a deafening roar. It sounds like the whole cave is collapsing!

‘Sam, we need some light!' I yell. His flashlight eyes snap on, lighting up a figure just in front of me. His back is to me, but I can tell it's Pestilence from the red sash around his waist. He's staring at the mouth of a tunnel ahead of him that looks like it has just caved in.

‘This time there's nowhere to run, Pestilence!' I grab his shoulder and spin him around, but what I see makes me gasp out loud.

In the torchlight I can see that Pestilence's eyes are no longer bright blue, but are dark brown instead. Also, his face is covered in wrinkles. And he's not a he at all, he's a she!

I step back in surprise as I realise who's standing before me.

‘Grandmistress Reika!' I gasp. I look down and notice her hands and feet are tied. She tries to tell me something but her voice is muffled. I quickly cut the ties around her arms and legs, and she pulls down her ninja mask to reveal a gag. I help her untie it and she breathes a sigh of relief.

‘Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was going to be stuck in this cave forever! Thank you, children.'

I look around. ‘But where's Pestilence?'

‘Ah, that kidnapping rat,' spits Reika. ‘I'm afraid he's escaped.'

‘What? But how?'

Reika shakes her head. ‘These tunnels were designed by the original inhabitants of the Mori Mountain Fortress to be a last-ditch escape.' She points to the caved-in passageway. ‘Pestilence escaped through there and then tripped a mechanism that caused the tunnel to collapse. We're not going to be able to get through there in a hurry. He's long gone.'

‘Where does the tunnel lead to?' I ask desperately. ‘Maybe we can cut him off at the exit!'

Reika just sighs. ‘I'm sorry, young one. The exit is through the other side of the mountain. There's no way we'd get there in time. Which is a shame, because I'd sure like to make him pay for kidnapping me and keeping me here in the dark all this time!'

‘But… but …' I stammer. I can't believe
Pestilence got away. He was so close! Jay puts a hand on my shoulder.

‘I'm sorry, Asuka, you know we all wanted to catch him, but I think he's managed to escape this time.'

At first I don't want to believe it. After all the horrible stuff he's put us through I can't believe he got away again. But I try to push the thoughts from my mind and smile.

‘Well, there's always next time. The more we run into him, the more we'll learn about his secret identity. And besides, we managed to find Reika, which is what's really important.'

‘Indeed it is!' says Reika. ‘As a ninja I never thought I'd say this, but I'm sick of the dark! Get me out of here!'

We head out of the cave to find all the other ninjas gathered outside. At the front of the crowd are a group of ninjas with red cuffs. I freeze, wondering what Fuzen's ninjas are up to now, but
then I notice their wrists and ankles are tied. Ari steps forward and grins.

‘While you and your friends were off hunting down Pestilence, look who we caught trying to escape!'

‘Well, they won't be going anywhere any time soon,' cries Reika, pushing her way to the front.

The rest of the ninjas let out a tremendous cheer when they see their beloved Grandmistress safe and well, and everyone comes up to congratulate us. It's very different to when they were all trying to hunt us down!

‘Thanks to you and your friends, everything is back to normal,' says Ari with a grin. ‘I hate to say it, little sis, but with the skills you're learning working with the Star League, you may even be a better ninja than me one day!'

‘One day?' I ask with my hands on my hips. ‘Do I need to remind you that I saved your bacon today?'

Ari laughs, but then he gets a sad look in his eyes. ‘So now that the professor's plans have been
foiled I guess you'll have to get back to filming.'

‘That's right,' says Jay. ‘Sorry, Asuka, but Ben wants us back as soon as possible to finish
Attack of the Night Assassins
.'

I groan. After all this, the last thing I want to do is get back to work.

‘It's a shame I didn't get to spend more time with you. It seems like ages since we've just hung out,' says Ari. I nod sadly. Then an idea pops into my head.

‘Oh no, is that Professor Pestilence over there?' I ask, pointing to the trees.

The Star League all turn to look. ‘My scanners do not detect any life forms,' says Sam.

‘Yeah, I can't see anyone,' says Connor. ‘What are you talking about, Asuka?'

‘Hey! Asuka's gone!' shouts Leigh.

Their voices drift up through the branches of the tree I'm hiding in. I grin at Ari next to me.

‘So, big brother, what do you want to do with our night off?'