Fun with Mary Sue
Chapter 09 – Ninjas, nuff said
…
"So this is how they've been getting in" said Furiko as she stared at the crack in the wall.
"Figures a bunch of rats would use a rat hole to get in" said Rhiannon waving her hand through the illusion to reveal the large sloping tunnel behind it.
"I wish we could have found this sooner" Furiko complained.
"We've all been pretty busy this year" said Harry sticking his head over the hole to get a better look.
Reminded of his presence Furiko looked decidedly pensive, "Harry you know I appreciate you coming down here but, I think Rhiannon and I should be good to handle this."
"Really?" Harry said giving her a searching eye that made her fidget like a nervous schoolgirl.
"It's just, well, I don't want you to get hurt" she confessed looking at him with dewy eyes.
"Well I don't want you to get hurt, so that makes us even" he said with a cocky grin.
Furiko looked ready to debate further if Rhiannon hadn't butted in, "can we just go already, there's ninja to kill and I'm getting bored."
"Must you really be so bloodthirsty?" Harry said with a disgusted look.
"I don't know must you really be such a sissy?" she shot back sarcastically.
"I wasn't aware not being a blood thirsty maniac made me a sissy" he countered angrily.
"Shows what you know then doesn't it, sissy."
Harry growled, Rhiannon growled, the two got right in each other's face.
"Call me sissy one more time and I'll put you over my knee and spank you" Harry threatened.
"I'd like to see you try" she snapped back.
"You're not so big I can't pipsqueak" he barked.
"Who're you calling pipsqueak sissy boy" she shouted back.
"Oh for Merlin's sake" cried Furiko, "let's just go already."
And with that she jumped down the pipe and vanished from sight.
The two looked after her with blank expressions.
"Well that certainly took longer than expected" said Harry calmly.
"She's gotten really stubborn this year, go figure" said Rhiannon with no sign of aggression.
"Shall we?"
"Why not?"
"Ladies first."
"Oh thank ye milord."
And with a hop skip and a jump Rhiannon disappeared down the pipe.
Harry shook his head, "cheeky little thing" he said before following after.
The tunnel was a long twisting slide as Rhiannon discovered and she shrieked with glee as she rode it down. The shriek took on a different tone when she saw the end coming up and the very long drop that followed.
"Aw crap aw crap aw crap" she chanted as she tried to find some purchase on the slippery tunnel.
She screamed as she shot out of the tunnel and then abruptly stopped when her momentum did the same.
"I got you" said Furiko with one hand firmly on her sword lodged in the wall and the other gripping the back of Rhiannon's pants.
"Thought I was in for a long drop there" she sighed with relief then paused, "wait, if you've got me who's gonna catch Harry?"
The answer of course was no one as the last Potter came shooting out of the tunnel like a radical rocket mere seconds after they heard him coming.
"Harry!" they both screamed.
Said Harry barely heard his name over the rushing of the wind. Being something of an adrenaline junky the free fall was hardly a terrifying experience for him, in fact it gave his plenty of time to have a look around.
The cavern was massive as evidence by the three story Japanese style castle at the far end and the village in front of it. Down in the village he could see dozens of people stopping what they were doing to look up at him. There were men and women and all of them were ninjas. You could tell because they all wore ninja outfits, just in different colors.
Harry thought it seemed kind of silly but then what did he know, he wasn't a ninja.
Though all that he saw did still beg the question, "Just how long have they been down here?"
Of course every ride must come to an end.
"Whoop, looks like the grounds commin up, better get my landing ready" he said to himself pulling out one of his cards.
[Blackwood Treent]
The people watching from below had a bit of a shock when the crazy man hurling towards them was suddenly blocked out by a brilliant light. They were further shocked when that brilliant light became a growing shadow. Most of them stopped being shocked and started being stunned when that shadow touched down like an angry meteor sending them all flying into or through the nearest solid object.
"Unbelievable" murmured Furiko as she watched the dust cloud rise.
"Now that is how you make an entrance" Rhiannon declared excitedly, "come on he's gonna start without us."
"You want me to drop you?" Furiko scolded trying not to do so despite the smaller girls squirming.
"Come on, the fight's already starting" she whined.
"Wait, what's that" said Furiko spotting a fast moving object headed their direction, "Is that a, Hippogriff?"
"It's Buckbeak" Rhiannon squealed.
The Hippogriff from their first Care of Magical Creatures class had been sentenced to death for putting Malfoy in his place. Harry had done the only thing he could to save him at the time. Now he was available whenever Harry needed him. It was a situation both had come to accept in a very short time. Especially in moments like this.
"Coming aboard" Rhiannon shouted as Buckbeak flew by below them.
There was a sudden drop in altitude as the hippogriff adjusted to their weight and then they were off, soaring over the village till they spotted their quarry. Harry was riding atop a giant tree person as it loped along toward the castle barely slowing down when the stray ninja would jump in its path or fling some manner of sharp pointy at it.
Harry stood braced against its branches shooting off the occasional fireball but otherwise allowing his mount to do the wrecking.
"Harry" Rhiannon shouted.
Harry looked up spotted them and waved. A few quick hand gestures said he'd meet them at the castle then he returned his attention to what he was doing. Following his instructions Buckbeak picked up altitude and made his course for the foot of the castle.
Furiko surveyed the area as they flew over with a growing sense of wrongness. Where was everyone? Apart from a few small pockets of attackers there was no one there. She'd been told there were supposed to be hundreds of them. Were they all in the castle? It was possible but it certainly didn't make much sense.
Buckbeak touched down at the bridge leading to the castle moments before Harry came thundering up on his woody mount.
"Well, I expected that to be much worse than it was" he said casually leaning against a branch.
To prove that the universe was in fact listening to the cocky little man the two nearest houses exploded as a pair of ninja riding two enormous cobras rose up through them.
"And now I feel stupid" he said realizing it was his fault for tempting fate.
"Finally, I was afraid I'd missed it all" said Rhiannon excitedly.
"Not to worry" said an unfamiliar voiced that drew everyone's attention, "we're just getting started."
Before them stood a ninja in blue, though unlike the others this one also wore several pieces of black colored armor and wore and especially ornate headband.
"Aokage" Furiko growled.
"Furiko-chan we've been waiting for you" the blue ninja said smugly.
"Who is we?" Rhiannon asked.
"Why don't you come inside and find out" he said with a wicked cackle and before any of them could move he vanished.
"Damn it. Come back here coward" Furiko shouted charging forward across the bridge.
"Uh should we, whoa!" Rhiannon exclaimed as a giant serpent tried to swallow her whole.
"Go" Harry shouted as his ride grappled with the other cobra, "I'll hold them here."
"You sure?"
"Positive" He shouted back charging up a lightning bolt and chucking it down the serpents throat.
Not needing any further prodding Rhiannon leapt once more over the striking snake then dashed after Furiko.
"We can handle this" Harry said mostly to himself, "but that doesn't mean we shouldn't even the odds a little bit" he continued pulling yet another card.
[Thrashing Black Treent]
The cobra was blinded by the flash of the summoning and regained its sight just in time to see the massive shape land with lethal force right square on its head. Of course since it was just a summon the blow didn't kill it simply dispelled it back to its own realm. The same could not be said for the ninja that had been riding on top of it.
"That's more like it" Harry said confidently, "let's wrap this up boys."
…
"What do you mean they're all gone?" Aokage shouted at his subordinate.
"There must have been a miscommunication sir" the lesser shinobi groveled, "Akakage took all the high level fighters and most of the Ashigaru out into the village through the hidden tunnels to meet the enemy."
"The enemy is already past the village. Furiko is in the castle and heading straight for us."
"What do we do sir?"
Aokage thought for a moment, "gather all the men left on this floor and bring them in here. We'll hold her here until Akakage realizes where the fight really is and joins us. Then we'll crush her between both our forces."
"Brilliant sir, it shouldn't take long for Master Akakage to realize where the fight is."
…
"Ya know Buckbeak, in hindsight I probably asked for this" said Harry as he and his three summons stared down the massive mob before them.
At the front stood a red clad ninja in the same sort of armor as the blue one Furiko had chased into the castle. Next to him was a pair of women in long sleeved white kimono splashed with red and white porcelain masks with wild black hair. On his other side was a ninja in black with white face paint and a look of deranged glee, like if the joke had put on black pajamas and dyed his hair black.
In the row behind them was another bunch of rather colorful looking characters and behind them were row upon row of cannon fodder in various colors. Harry wasn't sure how many of them there were but it didn't really matter, he was clearly outnumbered. So what else was new?
"You guys are a little late to the party" Harry said.
"The best people are always fashionable late" The red ninja replied.
"Nice comeback" Harry applauded, it was always nice to meet someone who could do proper banter.
The red ninja gave a little bow, "I am…" he started to say.
"Draco in Red pajamas" Harry cut in causing the unprepared shinobi to almost trip, "nah that's silly Draco would never wear that color. He's more a pink or baby blue sort of guy. Have you ever thought about wearing pink or baby blue?"
The red ninja glared at the rambling wizard "I am…" he started again.
"Stubby Boardman from the Hobgoblins. Oh my gosh, my godfather has all your albums."
"Would you shut up for two seconds?"
"Sorry" said Harry, "I get really awkward when I meet new people" he confessed bashfully.
The red ninja gave a derisive snort then started again, "I am Akakage, the Red Ninja, Scarlet Slasher, Crimson Curse, the Great Blood letter, Heir to the Red Wind school of Ninjutsu."
"Wow what a mouthful" Harry muttered, "Do you have to write down all of that every time you send someone a letter? And I thought Dumbledore had it bad."
"You… Impertinent little wretch" the Crimson Curse screamed.
"I've been called worse" said Harry with a dismissive wave.
It was hard to tell with the all covering outfit but Harry was pretty sure the ninja's face was probably red at that moment too. Or maybe purple, Vernon had always been good for a purple.
"I was going to simply allow you to stand aside but now" he said drawing his sword, "I will flay the flesh from your miserably body. I will grind your bones…"
"To make your bread" Harry offered.
The red ninja made several very angry sounds while looking like his head might just explode before shouting his command "Kill him!"
His subordinates surged forward followed more slowly by the ranks behind. Harry just grinned. It was stupid to provoke someone with an entire army behind him but really, what else was he going to do? Holding out his staff he began a transfiguration as his whole body, cloths and all, began to melt into a shiny silvery white color.
He'd learned a lot the previous year during his independent study of the animagus transformation. Not all of it involved learning how to turn into a fuzzy little flying rodent either. In fact it was probably the least useful thing he'd gotten out of the whole project. Learning how to turn himself into a titanium golem had so many more practical applications.
"Let's go boys."
…
"Curse you meddling little ack…" it was hard for him to finish his sentence with a sword at his throat.
"Enough small talk Aokage, I didn't come down here for you" said Furiko with her sword held under his chin as the blood of his subordinates dripped off the blade.
"Really Furiko I'm hurt" he managed to quip even with his head inches from decapitation.
"You'll be a lot worse than hurt if you don't tell me where he is" said Furiko with a look of deathly serious.
"You'll have to be more specific" he tried to be coy though rather failed as he was forced to stretch his neck to avoid having a blade shoved up the bottom of his jaw.
"You know who I mean, where is Akakage" she growled.
Aokage smiled. It was the smile of a man who knew he was dead but refused to quibble about it.
"Wherever you are not" he said.
"If that is all you have to say" her blade flashed "then I have no further use for you" she said.
Her blade clicked into its sheath just as his head hit the floor. His body followed moments later.
"Well, that was dramatic" said Rhiannon from her seat on top of the pile of bodies.
"He wasn't here" said Furiko "I was sure he'd be here."
"Maybe we just missed him" Rhiannon offered.
"No it wasn't just him. Aokage is just one of his subordinates. If he'd been here there should have been at least a half dozen others I didn't see."
"Well nothing we can do about it now" said Rhiannon being pragmatic "we should probably go see what Harry's been up to though."
"Harry!" Furiko shouted as she'd sort of forgotten about him in her single minded focus to capture Aokage.
Making a sharp turn toward the door she took one step and toppled over onto her face.
Rhiannon did her best not to snicker "you okay there Furiko?"
Furiko made a few weak attempts to pull herself along the floor "must, save, Harry."
Rhiannon shook her head and sighed "you are so lucky I'm your friend" said the energetic wolf girl as she pile her best friend onto her back and began the long agonizing trip down all the stairs they'd just come up.
…
"Hey girls, done already?" asked Harry as he saw them coming across the bridge.
"Hey Harry" Rhiannon greeted back "been waiting long?"
"Not terribly long" he said "made such a mess though I figured I'd tidy things up a little for the next people who decide to take up residence.
"Well that was nice, I guess" said Rhiannon as she set Furiko on the ground and took a look around.
The place was kind of a wreck, even more so than when they'd gone into the castle. Most of the houses had been partially if not wholly demolished. Buckbeak was trotting toward a pile of weapons with a small sword in his beak while the tree man Harry had ridden to the bridge was just finishing pushing something into the crevice under said bridge. And then there was a bigger meaner looking tree man sitting their smoking a pipe.
Rhiannon blinked, then once more "where'd he get the pipe?"
"One of them summoned this big toad that had it" said Harry.
"Ah" she nodded in understanding turning her attention fully to Harry which was the point at which she noticed something odd, "Harry were you aware there is a sword sticking out of your chest?"
"I was aware, yes" he replied.
Rhiannon nodded again "okay. Harry why is there a sword sticking out of your chest?"
"Because as it turns out one of them had a sword that could cut through titanium" he said.
"I see" she said with a sagely nod.
"Yeah imagine my surprise though I think he was probably more surprised when it didn't kill me, hard to tell what with the mask and all."
"Indeed. Would you like me to pull it out?"
"Would you really I'd so appreciate it. It's in a rather sensitive spot so I can't finish undoing the transfiguration till I can get it out and it just refuses to budge."
"Easy peasy" said Rhiannon grabbing the sword with both hand then jumping up to plant both feet on Harry's chest.
"So, what's with Furiko?" Harry asked as Rhiannon worked the sword out of his upper torso.
"She overdid it, that's all" said Rhiannon "I think she's moping a little too, didn't find who she was looking for."
"Who's that then?"
"Some, guy, whoa!" she exclaimed as the sword came free and she landed on her butt "named Akakage I think is what she said."
"Huh, funny name" said Harry as he transfigured the misshapen patch back into its proper form before reverting it to normal flesh.
"So, who stuck the sword in ya?" she asked as she examined the ninjato with the dark metal blade.
"Some guy in red pajama's" said Harry dismissively "had a whole bunch of names, I don't remember any of them though. You want that?"
"Nah" she said tossing him the short sword "not my style."
"Yeah, well we should probably get going. Those other schools are supposed to be here tomorrow."
"Start that stupid tournament" said Rhiannon sourly.
"You're just upset that you're too young to compete."
"I'd kick all their butts" she groused.
"I'm sure you would now grab Furiko and let's go, the sooner we find the hidden exit the sooner we can go to bed."
"How do you know there's a hidden exit?" she asked as she piggybacked the other girl again.
"I don't but if there isn't we've got a long climb ahead of us and I'd really rather not think about that right now."
Rhiannon nodded. That didn't really sound like all that much fun to her at the moment either.