Darkness swarmed around him, burying him in the feeling of solitude. Sharp pricks echoed upon his body while his nerves cried out in agony. He was faintly aware that there was movement somewhere; that this black abyss wasn't truly that. He willed himself to move, twist, turn and take in his surroundings, but he could not.
"Alright, ninja," the word was spat out, distant in the back of his mind, strangely sounding mechanical and fake. The tone was filled with burning fury yet dripped with desire and anxiety. "I've waited a long time for this. Your revelation, your end, but you sit here whimpering like a small child. I would have thought the town hero would go out in a more dramatic way, not cowering in front of all the people you once protected."
Pressure was brought down onto his head, grasping at the object of disguise. The person speaking leaned forward, breath tickling his ear through the mask. "Pitiful."
And with that one word, he felt something yank up.
Chapter 1 – Thorn-Sharp Ideas
"Mr. Cunningham… Mr. Cunningham…? Randy!"
The addressed teenager shot up with wide eyes, looking around the room. Several pairs of eyes stared back at him and a few snickers resounded around the class. Randy cringed. This wasn't home like he'd been dreaming of.
"Thank you for joining us, Randy," Mr. Bannister called, standing at the chalk board with narrowed eyes. "Now, turn to page 97 of your textbook."
As the teacher turned back to the board, Randy absently flipped the pages of his book, his mind wandering to other matters. Lately he had been having strange dreams, the ones that make you shiver when you wake up. Then again he had been going to bed at god knows what hour and it could just be a result from lack of sleep. But then with that, the Nomicon had been pretty quiet. Was he doing a great job ninja-ing or…?
The amethyst-haired boy shrugged internally and glanced down at the words his English textbook held, scanning through them. The literary features of a story make sure that readers understand the universal message the author is trying to convey. When performing analysis one must be certain to be aware of the path that leads to one's success or all's success.Randy paused, mentally back-pedaling through the bolded words.
"Wait, what?"
"Mr. Cunningham, I propose that you listen if you want to hear what I'm saying instead of falling off a cliff into Dreamworld." Mr. Bannister's voice spoke from the front of the classroom.
The teen looked up, smiling sheepishly and rubbing his arm. "Oh, uh, yeah. I was just-"
"Does it look like I care enough for you to interrupt my teaching?"
"Oh…" Randy looked away from the teacher's irritated expression. "Sorry sir."
When the English teacher turned away, the boy's eyes once again returned to the text. …story makes sure that readers… Flustered, he jumped ahead a few words. …One must be certain to be aware of the path that the author's purpose and universal message is taking.
What? Randy thought, eyebrows scrunched up. But it… it was totally…
The bell rang and the students around his desk rushed by, merely a blur. He swore that the words had said something different, almost literally jumping off the page. Something about… success? And about the number one? Randy groaned and shut the hardback cover. Scooping his backpack up off the ground, the 14 year old slipped out the door, glancing at the book once more before heading to his next period.
"Alright, Viceroy." The sandpaper voice yelled out as the owner walked into the lab. "What have I created today to destroy the Ninja?"
The scientist rolled his eyes as he turned around in his chair. "I have-"
"I!" McFist interrupted, a grin plastered on his face. "You were saying?"
"-not created anything today. But I've been spit balling a few ideas that I think could have potential." Viceroy finished.
Hannibal's smile flipped and wrinkles became visible on his forehead. "You haven't made anything today?" He growled out through clenched teeth.
Viceroy flinched, walking over to his desk instead. "Well, maybe we're just going about this wrong? I mean how many times have you had to replace the Robo-Ape employees for the McFist Finger Foods division because of the ninja?"
"Ahh who cares! I have plenty of Robo-Ape replacements and I can get replacements for those replacements. We need something to destroy the Ninja now!"
"Sir," The scientist puffed as he picked up some blueprints from the table. "I think you're missing the point. Have you heard of the term, 'history repeats itself'?"
McFist crossed his arms, his face beginning to sprout irritated wrinkles. "What does this have to do with anything? History repeats itself meaning… uh… history is history."
"Clearly," Viceroy hissed through his teeth. "Let me break it down for you. History repeating itself means that things we've done before happen again and again in the present and future."
"Still not seeing the point."
"The point is that we've been repeating ourselves way too many times. We need a new approach to taking down the ninja. Robots and monsters aren't working, Hannibal."
McFist paced around, the idea finally striking his brain. "Hmm. Yes, I can see the potential. Alright how 'bout this," Raising his arms in the air, the man paused dramatically. "Ice cream that identifies who the Ninja is!"
Viceroy shook his head. "We've tried that before."
"Have not!"
"Well, I mean, remember the McKicks incident? That's close."
"Gah! Fine. What do you propose my new idea should be?"
Howard tapped his foot in irritation. NNS again, Cunningham! I can't believe you, he thought, his eyebrows creasing and a frown stuck to his face.
Finally done with waiting, the ginger walked into the MsFist-A-Plex and handed the minimum wage working teen his movie ticket.
"Theater five will be on your left," The boy replied with a slight voice crack. "Enjoy your movie."
Howard took the ticket stub back and padded through the lobby to the snack bar, grumbling to himself. Randy soooo owes me after this.
The 14 year old rolled his eyes silently, still not over the fact that he was being ditched. The line in front moved slowly and he looked down at his phone to check the time. It was 8:27 pm. The movie started in three minutes and he did enjoy watching the trailers. Enjoy as in judge each new film into categories he and Randy had made up, ranging from super-wonk-fetus movies and amazedingles-honkin-bruce-wet-your-pants films. Wondering what was going on, Howard slightly sidestepped, anxious to get to the judgment. He snorted when he spotted what the holdup was.
Typical. A Robo-Ape was malfunctioning, appearing to have had some soda splashed onto it. These events weren't uncommon since most of the town was run by the machines, but they were quite a nuisance when they occurred. Howard glanced behind him at the ticket stand. The teen boy that had greeted him swiftly opened the bottom of the stand and took out a box with a green button. Once pressed, the malfunctioning ape behind the counter was whisked away but several mechanical hands in the ceiling. As one ape went up, the arms lowered an identical worker before slipping back into the rafters with the ceiling closing after.
The grumpy teen growled and approached the bar for his turn to order. He hoped that Randy would have had far more than enough time to finish whatever he was doing and get here. He really did need some more people to hang out with, but seeing how it went with Bucky, it was a slim possibility that anyone would want to hang out, if not because of him then definitely Randy.
The boy purchased a bucket of popcorn (muttering that Randy should have bought it but he needed something to chomp on during the movie) and slipped out of the line towards the assigned theater. Howard juggled the popcorn in one hand as he reached the theater door and opened it, being cast into darkness. Noting that the trailers were already rolling with an irritated grunt, he took his seat and sat down before tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
It didn't surprise him that half way through the movie the screen swelled and burst, pieces of the fabric showering down all over the theater. It didn't surprise him when the Ninja came hurling out of the now open stage. Nothing surprised him yet. Yeah, not yet.
Ironically, Randy came flying into the seat next to Howard as the theater exploded into a form of organized chaos. Only in Norisville (and perhaps a town hosting certain ghosts) would there truly be an organized amount of chaos, but Howard nearly shrugged it off, deciding to turn to his best friend and chew him out.
"You're late." The brown-eyed boy grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
The Ninja sat, dazed, in the chair with his limbs sloppily thrown over the arm rests. "Yeah. Would you like me to apologize?"
Howard snorted. "Actually yes. And now we're going to have to be moved to another theater."
"Wow," Randy puffed, finally gaining a sense of direction and sitting up. "You're deciding to talk about this now?"
"Uh, when else am I supposed to talk about it?"
"I don't know, maybe after this fight?" The Ninja suggested. His eyes widened as a steel pole, presumably from the curtains that had hung over the movie screen, came hurtling towards the duo. He hastily snatched Howard with his scarf and bounded away towards the back row of seats. Howard grunted as the accessory tightened around his stomach, threatening to release the popcorn in him.
As they landed, the larger teen regained his annoyed posture after sucking in a breath of air. "Could you tell the monster that you have other priorities, like hanging out with your friend?"
Randy turned to his best friend, constantly glancing back at the monster. It had finally stepped out from the screen and was scanning the theater for his opponent. The warrior shoved Howard down below the chairs, eyes reflecting his sarcastic exasperation as he spoke. "Oh, yeah. Sure, Howard. Let me just stand up in front of this worm-snake-dragon thing and ask politely to postpone the rest of this fight because I need to go watch a movie. I'm sure it'll understand completely, maybe even hand me some money for snacks."
"See, that's what I'm talking about," the other boy replied. "You should really think these things out. There have to be other options besides fighting it head on."
The creature roared and flicked out its tail, sweeping across the theater and ripping the chairs from their positions. Unable to respond, Randy threw Howard a small glare and grabbed him by the waist. His mind slowed as he waited for the precise moment to dodge. Four columns away, two, one…
He leapt right as the wind from the attack swept over them and latched the scarf onto the exposed rafters inside of the screen. The two boys swung for half a second and then clumsily landed onto the wooden boards at the front of the theater. Howard shook out his head before pushing himself to his feet. "Look, I'm just saying."
"Okay, Howard. I get it," Randy huffed. He jumped away, trying to keep the monsters attention on him. "I'll try to be a little more consistent on hanging out with you."
The ginger nodded. "And…?"
"And I'll pay for your popcorn," At a glance at his friend, the teen growled. "And a family sized bag of McSquiddles."
"Deal."
With his friend finally satisfied, Randy refocused on the monster. He finally got a good look at it as it had been night outside and the theater had been dimmed. The creature was the length from the floor to about two to three feet below the ceiling. There were leathery, teal colored wings flapping around madly as it tried to unbalance its attacker with gusts of wind. It was shaped as a worm but, instead of brown, it was a foggy orange color, more of a muddy copper. The eyes arched up angrily from its head, void of pupils and glowing with dark crimson. Finally, jagged, perfect-icicle sharp teeth jutted out from around its lips with an amethyst tongue that was flicking out constantly.
Randy lunged for the creature in front of him before he drew his sword out. The air whistled around him as he aimed the blade for the tongue in hopes of making it recoil from the attack. However, it swiveled suddenly towards the suspended teen and raised a tattered wing up to intersect the attack. The Ninja collided with the shield with an ungraceful face plant, letting out a grunt of surprise from the strength of the impact. Vision swimming, Randy's head peeled away from the leathery surface, brain throbbing. He surveyed the damage, eyes growing to golf ball sized at the sight of the completely spotless wing. His sword had merely scratched the surface.
The monster began to buck under Randy, irked with the amount of extra weight balancing on its body. Questions still swarming in his mind, Ninja pushed off with a hard shove from the wing and propelled himself across the room. He summersaulted into his land before returning to his legs and staring at the enemy.
My sword couldn't cut through. The thought raced into his consciousness first, leading a handful of other ideas that caused a shudder to run down Randy's spine. The sword can cut through almost anything though. Unless it's a bulldozer? But it doesn't look like a bulldozer. Is it even a stanked person? Is it possibly really just some sick monster? Maybe the sorcerer created it, or it's from the Land of Shadows, or Viceroy finally figured out how to counter my attacks, or…?
Using his confusion as an advantage, the monster struck out with his tail with enough power to level a building. Razor like spikes littered the end, the points sticking out threateningly. Randy shook his mind of the conflicting thoughts swirling inside and attempted to leap away. Moving just slightly too slow, a barb flicked across the suit, penetrating through the material and busting through his skin. The teen gasped at the sudden pain in his shoulder and lightly grasped at it during his escape.
The monster hissed, as if it were warning the warrior to give up. Randy simply shot a scowl back and stuck a hand into the sash around his waist. Feeling for the objects, he pulled out three spheres that were painted black with red detailing and chucked them towards the monsters face. An explosion cast the room into a bright gold and allowed the boy a moment of warmth to curl in his chest from the success. The creature shied away from the blast and slithered into the shadows at the edge of the theater.
Randy took the opportunity to catch his breath and apply more pressure to his shoulder. Small drops of ruby trickled down through the suit, staining it into a sticky, warm, glistening black. But it wasn't long before the monster recuperated its mind and returned to snarling at the boy. It momentarily flicked its eyes across the room, the empty red orbs catching movement from the stage.
Howard was still in the room, attempting to escape.
Randy followed the creature's eyes and found the origin of interest. His own eyes hardened with realization of the monster's thought process. "Don't you dare." He barked.
An awkward grin twisted onto its penny colored face, the teeth turning it more into a grimace. Its tail lifted from the ground and pointed towards the ginger before it struck out forward, the air angrily whistling as it moved through the space. Randy tensed himself and forced power into his legs. He shot forward towards his friend.
Time seemed to slow. It was the Ninja's speed up against the monster's. For the first time, Howard realized the situation and scrambled backward, finally surprised as his mind raced for a solution.
Light from above danced across the edges of the spikes before bouncing off into another corner of darkness. Randy's own blade sported bright competing contenders, the various shades of yellow and white finding partners from both weapons as they cascaded towards the same target. Howard's muscles tightened until they strained from the effort and his eye lids slammed down in terror. His pupils had reflected his fate, his mouth releasing a shriek that would haunt even the stoutest of humans.
Numbness bombarded Randy's body as his eyes absorbed the scene. His defensive posture collapsed and he crashed onto the stage floor. A breath barely whispered into the room before his head snapped up towards his friend in horror.
Blood dribbled down onto the floor, creating a neat puddle beneath the 14 year old that had let out the scream. Howard's eyes were slightly glossed over from the realization of the event and the agony pounding down on his spine. The sudden increase in weight on his feeble legs caused him to dip. He attempted to catch himself before his knees buckled and sent him crashing into the wooden boards beneath, the tidy puddle from the blood splashing around into furious splotches. Randy tried to call out but his jaw was stuck like glue. His throat felt like sand paper. One thought rang out in his mind: What did I do?
The shimmering thorn claimed Howard's body and delicately stuck out of his spine, acting as though it had always been there.
(Author's Notes)
Yeah, I know right. How unfair is it for me to be completely inactive since May and then I suddenly post a new story when Dark Secrets isn't anywhere close to being finished. Shame on you Ty.
(If you're not wondering about my other story, Dark Secrets, you can skip this part of the Author's Notes.)
Well, I'm posting this anyway despite Dark Secrets. Truly, I am super sorry guys. I hit the one hundred foot wall of writers block and have been trying to get over it since May. Questions you may have:
1) Are you going to update Dark Secrets soon?
I'll be completely honest. I have no idea when it will be updated. I've been debating whether to continue from where it currently is (and what doesn't help is that I've already started chapter 3). I feel like I jumped into the plot way quicker than what I wanted and now the lazy side of my brain doesn't want to rewrite the first two chapters even if I wanted to. Maybe I can post a poll later and you guys can help me figure this out.
2) Does this mean Dark Secrets is cancelled?
Absolutely not! I know you all want to know what happens to Randy (I do as well!) and there are probably some/many plot holes that are in Dark Connections that I need to cover. I'd like to reread Dark Connections myself pretty soon to see what needs to be fixed. All in all, nope! Dark Secrets is still a go!
3) What have you been doing? Wasn't summer about to start right after you updated chapter 2?
Hehehe, yeah... Well again, that writers block was just a poopy little feller that got in the way. With that, June was pretty busy for me anyway. I went to Italy at the end of the month for two weeks (WHICH WAS AMAZEDINGLES. Holy cow, I wish I could go back. It was so beautiful and calming and the weather was super nice! And the food. The Foooooood. So wonderful and mouth watering. I want gelato now) and then my older sister was moving away in July. I really don't know guys, motivation just got away from me. I'm really sorry.
4) Could you maybe just... give us some hints on what happens to Randy? PLEASE?
Pfffft. No. I'm still the author who loves to keep you guys twirled up in my mind of confusion. My suggestion? Reread some of the last chapters of Dark Connections. There may be some stuff you missed? I don't know. :3 I really will try to update soon but definitely no promises. Also, once I update I don't know how frequent updates will be for the story. Sorry guys. Here, I won't be totally heartless. Here's a few sentences from Chapter 3 (but it may be changed so don't get hooked on anything yet:
If he (Randy) was honest with himself, he'd been feeling down a lot since… sometime several months ago. But every time he tried to think back to when it started, a sharp pain was sent through his skull. For that it wasn't worth it really, but Howard urged him to say what was wrong a lot. And each time Randy would excuse himself and go home.
That's all I got for you guys!
If you have any more questions, shoot me a PM and I will definitely talk to you about it! :)
Ok, hello again! Back to All for Nothing, yeah? X3
This story is for me to get my creative juices flowing again. I'm not sure how frequently this will be updated, but it's not going to be very long. I'm hoping I can get it to be around 5 or so chapters, and I really don't want it any longer than 10. So yeah!
If you're new to my twisted mind, welcome! And if you're a returning reader, hello again! I hope you're all ready for this story. *Insert smiling angry face emoticon because less than/greater than signs haven't worked for me on Fanfiction. com)
Reviews help keep my mind on updates if ya wanna just leave one here. It'd be cool. :3 Hope you enjoyed and will enjoy!
(Geeze that was a long Author's Note -_-)
