An alarm sounded. I looked up from my iPod where I had been playing a game.

"We've got an attack on sixth!" Danny shouted. I glanced over to the desk of monitors he sat at, Leith shooting up from her seat on the floor.

"Details, now!" she shouted, gathering teammates and weapons.

"It's the Purple Dragons again," Danny replied, gathering information from what seemed like gibberish to me. 'They're holding two people hostage. Trying to get something from the Jeweler again."

"Any guns?" Leith pulled Michelle to her feet and handed Rin her katana.

"Three. Two lookouts, and Fong has one. The rest just have basic weapons: sai, baseball bat, the works."

"We better be careful with Fong, then. Luna, bring your gun. But only shoot the legs." Luna nodded, twirling her pistol and sliding it into it's holster.

Leith looked over Danny's shoulder, assessing the situation. "Think they'll take a third hostage?" I set down my bo staff, knowing what was coming.

"I believe so. Looks like they're at a standoff." Danny pushed away from the desk and crabbed his tonfas.

"Good." She slid her tessens into her belt. "Rin, Alicia, stealth: take out the lookouts." The two girls nodded and raced to get the needed supplies as Leith continued. "Jaden." I looked up at her, strapping my fighting knives to my forearms and hiding them in my hoodie sleeves. "Bait."

I nodded, sucking in a deep breath. This would be the first time we had tried this tactic. I just hoped it would work.

We ran up the stairs and out the door of our base. It was in a small housing complex, the door seemingly leading to an unused apartment. Somehow Danny and Leith had orchestrated the setup of an entire base beneath the foundations. Of course, we had managed to get help from the complex owner. That hadn't been a problem, for he had the same connections as us. The exact same connections that brought us, the Green Kappas, together.

Once we were out on the street, Leith turned to face us once more. "Okay, everyone. We can do this. We've beaten them a hundred times, even if not with this tactic. We can do it again. Jaden, how much time do you need?" I quickly ran some possible scenes through my head. Thirty seconds might not be enough, but I didn't want to be overwhelmed by giving myself too much time. I held up three, then five fingers, then motioned forward.

"Thirty five seconds after you go in," Leith confirmed. I nodded. She looked around. "Good luck, Kappas." Everyone flipped up their hoods, pulled their bandanas over their mouths, and faded into the dark alleyways. Well, everyone except me.

I nervously flexed my wrists. feeling the cold of my knives up against my forearm. Tempered steel. I reminded myself. They won't break. At least not up against the lame weapons the Purple Dragons have. But still, lately they had been getting more and more formidable. Their ranks had swelled, along with the amount of weapons they had. Not to mention the quality of their fighters. I suspected they had a sponsor.

But worrying about all this wasn't going to get the job done. I made sure my bandanna was well tucked inside my hoodie, and that no part of my knives could be seen.

Then I set off to the Jeweler's.

I was pretty sure Alicia and Rin had already taken out the lookouts, for nobody stopped me on my way there. Finally, I reached the store. I paused at the corner of the building and took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I can do this, I thought and walked in.

"What do you mean you don't have it?!" Fong was holding the jeweler up by the collar of his shirt. "I saw it delivered here today!" he hissed.

The bell on the door rang with a 'ting-a-ling' as it shut behind me. Every head turned to face my way. Oh, gosh. There were a lot more Purple Dragons here than I expected. We wasted a couple of precious seconds by staring at each other, but one of them quickly stepped behind me and put me in a full nelson.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Fong questioned, turning towards me. He dropped the jeweler, who scrambled back to huddle with the couple in the corner.

I started to panic. The full nelson had trapped my arms, rendering my knives useless. I couldn't even activate them in this state, and the seconds were ticking away. My eyes widened and my breathing grew fast. This was not going as planned.

Fong let out a huff and stepped back over to the jeweler. My captor followed him, forcing me along. Fong pulled out his gun and pointed it at the couple. "Tell me where the gem is," he whispered menacingly, "or I will kill them."

Time was up.

Rin came in first. She crashed through one of the left windows, successfully drawing everyone's attention while the rest of the team streamed through the door.

Chaos ruled as Purple Dragons were defeated left and right. Cursing, my captor dropped one of my hands to grip his spiked baseball bat. quickly, I threw back my elbow, connecting with the side of his slithered to the floor, out cold.

I hurried over to the couple, motioning for them to stand and then shoving them back down as a pair of sai flew our way. My eyes scanned the room as they hit the wall, searching for a path out. Maybe if we went-

Someone yanked on the back of my hoodie. "Nobody move!" Cold metal was pressed to the side of my head, a circle shape directly on my temple. Gun. Fong had a gun.

The fighting stopped in seconds. Fong's hot breath ruffled my pale hair. "Make one step and I'll kill this kid!" I let out a breath. This was it. My chance to prove myself.

I glanced to the side, my eyes straining to get a glimpse of the gun. His safety was on, of course. He was bluffing, the coward. Just made it easier for me. I flexed my wrist as far back as it would go, loosening the leather straps and 'activating' my hand knife. Relishing the cold feeling of the steel sliding down my arm, I gripped it with three fingers.

With what must have seemed like lightning speed to the surprised people in the room, I sliced at Fong's thigh. He cursed in shock, dropping his gun and reaching to put me in a headlock. I ducked under his arm, pulling up behind him and tucking his left arm up in a half nelson, my knife stained red and sitting at his throat.

Leith grinned. "Good work, Jaden." She turned to the rest of the Purple Dragons. "Surrender. We mean business." They gulped, looking towards Fong. A drop of blood coalesced at the tip of my knife and fell off, adding to the effect. Weapons clattered to the ground left and right.

Leith stepped up to Fong, nearly close enough to touch noses. "Leave." She spoke quietly but forcefully, and he hurriedly nodded. She signaled me, and I let go. They hurried out the door, shooting looks of fear and anger back at us.

I heard a whizz, and a throwing star flew past my head, embedding in the wall beside me. It was a ninja's throwing star, one with a special symbol on it. The symbol of the Hamato clan.

I raced over to the window Rin had broken, the one the star came through. Looking up at the building beside us, I strained to see the rooftops. Several shelled figures gazed down at me before turning away and disappearing into the night. I longed to call after them. My throat hurt as I tried. Finally I stopped and turned back to the mess inside. It was no use trying. I was mute.

"Was it them?" Leith asked softly. I nodded, and she continued. "They left a message for you." She handed over the star, which had a paper taped to the middle. 'Thank you' it read in Japanese kanji. I looked back out through the window. Anytime, I whispered in my head.


A/N: This is based on the Green Kappas, a turtle gang founded by noodle2thedoodle on Tumblr! Two other OCs are featured in here besides mine: Rin (who belongs to morkie-doodles180), and Alicia (who belongs to Pixelocity).