Chapter 36: Back In Time P. 4: Darkness Uprising
"A Kunoichi?! Impossible!"
Impression struck the sand beast when the Kunoichi introduced herself to him. But her attention turned to the Ninja and the First Ninja, who were also impressed.
"That's right, boys. I'm the Kunoichi of 2033."
First Ninja was the first to speak. "Impossible. A female was never chosen to become a protector of our lands."
"Maybe she's the first in her timeline."
Randy was right. In the history of the Ninja there wasn't a single female chosen to become Norrisville's Kunoichi. Which meant Jennifer was the first chosen female in more than 8 centuries to become Norrisville's hero.
The First Ninja slowly walked closer to the female ninja with astonished eyes. "So you're the first female chosen to become one of us. It is an honor to meet you, young Kunoichi."
Jennifer laughed a little. "It's an honor to meet you too, First Ninja. I never thought I could be able to meet Norrisville's legend."
They both bowed to themselves Japanese style before the Time Controller took the chance to strike.
He punched the ground with a strong fist, and the ground below them began to shatter. The three Ninjas jumped out of the way before a portion of the ground in front of them lifted itself up.
"Ninja Ice Blast!"
The Kunoichi shot a large beam of ice at the sand monster, but the beast created a shield out of the ground, avoiding her attack. He crushed said shield when the ice hit it.
The Ninjas skidded backwards and stopped on a spot.
"Ninja Air Fist!"
Randy shot the air fist at the Time Controller, but the sandman shot a similar fist made of sand. Both powers collided and exploded in the impact, sending a large wave that blew the Ninjas off.
They quickly got to their feet and faced the monster.
"He's too powerful. How are we supposed to beat him?" Asked Randy.
"I don't know. I've never found his weak point before I imprisoned him in the sandglass. I just distracted him with an arrow."
That gave the Ninja an idea.
"That's it! We must make a frontal attack while you search for a new sandglass!"
"Ran, is it even possible to find a new one?" She asked. "You accidentally broke the first and only one I had, there couldn't be another one in these lands."
Randy rested a hand over Jennifer's shoulder. "Trust me, Jenn. We can find a new one."
"If you say so, Ran."
Before the Kunoichi could run, the First Ninja stopped her using his scarf. She was quickly pulled to him.
"First Ninj, I'm sorry, but I seriously have to find a sandglass right now."
First Ninja rested his hands over her shoulders. "The Time Controller is a powerful enemy. Beware every of his actions and do not surrender your heart to him."
Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"
With no more words spoken, the First Ninja scooped her up bridal-style and nicely threw her out of the battlefield. She was thrown to the air and landed perfectly on her feet. She then looked back at Randy and the First Ninja.
"You be careful, guys." She whispered.
Just then, she ran off.
...
The Time Controller launched a sphere of dark energy at First Ninja, but he jumped out of the way before the sphere hit the ground. First Ninja then summoned fire energy and launched a fire dragon at the monster, hitting him on the shoulder.
"Ninja chain sickle!"
The sickle chunked on that same shoulder, and the Ninja swung up to kick him in the head. He was caught off guard after that. The sandman caught him with a hand and threw him to the ground.
"Pain! A lot of pain!" He winced as he sat up.
First Ninja was about to interfere when he noticed the sandman disappeared. So he just went to help Randy stand up his feet.
"What the juice?! Where'd he go?"
"Probably he's posing another threat. We have to stop him before he gives harm to the Kunoichi."
"You're right. Let's go."
And so, the two Ninjas began their mission.
But they failed to notice where the sand creature actually went...
...
Jennifer ran everywhere searching for a new sandglass. She tried searching on some small stores, but couldn't find one. Her eyes sought everywhere for the item just like a kitten trying to catch a laser dot.
After many minutes of searching, she decided to walk and look on some other place.
"Man, is it so hard to find a honkin' sandglass so I can imprison that monster again? Jeez! This whole situation got me so desperate. And here I am talking to myself as always! One day my parents will sure take me to a psiquiatric hospital because they might think I lost my mind!"
She suddenly heard a noise and stopped talking. She slowly walked to the spot where she heard the sound, but saw nothing.
"Huh. I thought I heard something."
Before she knew it, the ground below her shook violently and a giant hand made of rocks trapped her.
"Aah! What the juice?! Let me go!"
A cold laughter made her become angry. She knew who caught her.
"How many times are you gonna' set surprise traps on me, time monster?!"
"Oh, you truly are a clever Kunoichi." Said the monster's voice.
In front of her appeared her enemy. She shot a furious stare at him as she struggled to break free from the hand that caught her.
"Your struggling efforts are useless, child."
"And your words won't make me give up!" Jennifer yelled at him. "I will stop you, Time Controller! I'll drain you back in the sandglass even if it means sacrificing all my power to save the world!"
The time walker just laughed at her words. "Nobody can stop a time walker! Not even that puny child who imprisoned me in that miserable artifact."
Jennifer got even more angry at the Time Controller.
"Well, I suppose that so called "puny child" was doing her best to save the day."
The hand made of rocks squeezed her up, making it difficult for her to breathe.
"That child was part of a prophecy I wanted to destroy! An ancient message that marked the end of my freedom!"
Jennifer wheezed a little. "What... prophecy... are you... talking about?"
Jennifer tried to remember the time when she locked the sand creature away in the Golden Sandglass. She remembered the mysterious paper that came to her long ago.
The hand squeezed her even more, interrupting her thoughts.
"Bring the girl to me, Kunoichi. We'll undo that prophecy together and destroy this universe!"
"In your dreams I will!" She thought.
A ring of flames surrounded the hand that kept her trapped and destroyed it, setting her free.
"Ninja Flame Arrow!"
The fire arrow flew at the sandman's chest, causing an explosion that sent the Kunoichi to the ground. She quickly got up and unsheathed her katana, preparing herself for a fight against her enemy.
"A Kunoichi never surrenders her heart to her enemies!"
The time walker summoned a sword out of his dark energy. The Kunoichi's words angered him.
Both rivals glanced at each other before they charged at each other with a battle cry.
"Ninja slice!"
They swung their swords at each other, making them clash. The Kunoichi tried to put more strength on her sword, knowing that the beast was bigger and stronger than her. She tried this many times as they fought with their swords.
Much was the force that they moved back and forth as their swords hit each other. It was a fight for who was the strongest. Jennifer tried her best with her sword. When she thought it was time to strike, she jumped backwards and made a back flip.
"Okay, Jenn. Focus on something..."
She was about to use one of her few powers before the Time Controller sent out a sand fist that roughly hit her and sent her skidding to the ground.
"Okay, he's becoming a bit aggressive now." She groaned.
But there was more than just the sand fist. Once she stood up, a shower of dark energy spheres came rushing at her. Immediately, she avoided each of the spheres, except one that struck her left shoulder.
The dark sphere sent an unbearable pain on her shoulder. She cried out for all the pain that she didn't noticed the Time Controller's next move.
The sand monster ran at her in such a rush. But on the last second, the Kunoichi shot out her right hand and braced herself. She expected to shoot ice from her palm, but instead she shot a slight green beam of light at the monster's chest.
Once the monster was out, Jennifer stood up and looked down at her hand.
"What the juice was that about?"
With no more words, she threw down a smokebomb and disappeared.
The time walker growled and disappeared as well.
...
By the meantime, Randy and the First Ninja ran up a mountain that was close to ancient Norrisville. There, they found the Time Controller and some of his clones standing. Once they saw them, they got into their fighting stances.
"At long last, I will get my revenge, and this world will suffer!"
"Give it up, sandman." Said Randy with a courageous voice. "The Kunoichi will stop you one way or another, and so will we!"
The sandman huffed. "Pathetic words from a weakling. That little brat will never succeed. The Time of Obscurity grows near, and all my power will unleash!"
"Yeah, yeah. Hey, one question, is that some sand falling from your legs?"
The sand beast actually believed what Randy said and looked down. This gave Randy the chance to strike. He threw a hot ball at the monster, and it exploded right in front of him. This made him become furious.
"Whoops! I didn't thought my ninja hot balls made you feel angry."
The beast growled with utter fury. "GET THEM!"
Just as he commanded, the sand clones engaged to attack the Ninjas.
Both warriors ran for it with their katanas in hand, and soon enough, a sword fight started.
"Ninja slice! Ninja slice! Ninja slice!"
Randy repeated those words as he sliced the sand clones one by one. He then decided to do things fast, so he caught three sand clones off-guard and sliced them all at once.
As for the First Ninja, five other clones charged at him, but he leaped at one of them and kicked him on the head. He moved on to the next clone and sliced him with just one swing. He did this move with the other three.
As they kept slicing the sand clones, more were being created, much to their dismay.
"What the juice?! There's more of those clones!"
Lots of sand clones surrounded them in a circle. At first Randy became a little stiffened by that, but then he just got over with that and prepared his stance.
"I'm ready when you are, First Ninj."
First Ninja nodded and also prepared to fight.
"DESTROY THOSE NINJAS!"
Once the real Time Controller yelled that, his clones ran in to attack the Ninjas like a million knights fighting for their lands. The Ninja and First Ninja took a good jump with their swords in the air. When they landed, they commenced an all-out was against the sand copy-cats.
One of the clones swung a dark energy sword at the First Ninja, but he deflected the monster's attack with his own sword and kicked the beast off, then sliced the oncoming one.
"Ninja block! Ninja block! Ninja block!"
Randy avoided so many attacks from some of the clones that were there. On the last time he blocked another attack, he grabbed one of the clones with his scarf, pulled the sand clone to him, and sliced it to pieces.
"Who's next?" He asked, defying his foes.
One of the clones ran full-speed towards Randy with a pair of clutched fists. Randy readied himself before he performed a spinning trick with his sword.
"Cut, cut, cut... and Ninja cut!"
At first the sand clone thought nothing happened, but then every part of his sandy body began tearing apart, until the clone became nothing but lifeless sand.
The rest of the clones also charged at the Ninja, but he just sliced each in a rapid sequence as they approached him.
100 sliced clones later...
Randy put his katana away and wiped off a sweat.
"Whew! Those sand clones seemed endless!"
The First Ninja, who had sliced 200 sand clones, also put his sword away and turned to Randy. "We have no time to waste. The Kunoichi might need us."
"You're right. Let's go."
Randy threw down a smokebomb and both Ninjas disappeared.
The real Time Controller was actually floating in the air, and saw everything. He saw the Ninjas, two powerful warriors, fighting against his now destroyed clones.
"Miserable life forms!" He spat. "How dare they challenge my creations and make them perish?"
All the sand he used to create his clones floated up to him. This transformed his size, making him bigger.
"Mighty earth, your power will be mine!"
Now he was a giant sandman with some muscular frame and a dark cape made out of his black magic.
His mission was to retrieve a Ninja mask so he could unleash the power he wanted to summon the Time of Obscurity.
His first objective was to get the Kunoichi.
...
"Ugh! Where's a sandglass when you need one?"
Her question was never answered as she searched for a new sandglass. It had been more than five minutes since she's been looking for one.
All of a sudden, a dark energy sphere came rushing at her. Her eyes widened so big before she jumped out of the way. The sphere exploded, causing just some slight damages to some objects in the area.
Jennifer knew who was planning to attack her, so she summoned her lightning powers to transform her suit into her lightning version of Ninja Rage.
"I know it's you, Time Controller! Why don't you show yourself and act like you're beat instead of being a shoob playing hide and seek?!"
Another dark sphere flew at her in response, but she made a sphere of her own and threw it at the dark sphere. Both powers exploded once they made contact with each other. Soon after, the Kunoichi heard evil laughter echoing in the wind.
"Ah, Kunoichi. Your powers are astonishing."
"Cut out the chatter, sandman! I'm here to stop you once and for all!"
More laughter was heard, and the sandman appeared in front of her, his dark cape flying behind him like a true villain.
"So you dare defy me, don't you?"
Jennifer summoned lightning in her palms. She was getting angry at the villain. However, the nefarious sandman could sense fear in her. He could even hear her vulnerable heart beating faster.
"You might be the most courageous Kunoichi, but your fear overwhelms you. And your vulnerable heart calls for dark energy."
"My friends will help me through that, sandman! And just because I'm afraid doesn't mean I'm not going to defeat you like that girl did back in her homeland!"
Now the sandman was getting angry. He threw another dark sphere at Jennifer, but she was too fast to be hit. Once she landed, she created an electric sphere and launched it at the sandman's chest. It blew up when it hit him, but didn't destroyed him.
Once he buolt himself, he gave an evil stare at the Kunoichi, who was standing on her fighting stance.
"Bring it on, monster!"
The sandman ran at Jennifer with such fury and a clutched fist. He swung his fist at Jennifer, but she avoided it and launched another lightning sphere at his shoulder, making him scream in pain and stumble backwards. He counter-attacked with a dark sphere, but Jennifer destroyed it with a lightning arrow.
The Time Controller knew Jennifer could easily destroy the dark spheres, so he made things difficult for her. In only a few seconds, a shower of dark spheres was created.
Jennifer trusted on her skills, and ran towards the Time Controller, sliding side by side at full speed due to her enhanced lightning power. Once she was close to him, she created another lightning bow and arrow and shot the arrow at him, but the sandman surprised her when he suddenly disappeared. The shower of dark energy stopped then.
"What the juice? Where'd he go?"
The Kunoichi became confused after her enemy disappeared. Her eyes looked everywhere, but there was no sight of the sandman. She made the lightning bow and arrow fade and stood still.
The monster was actually standing behind her with a sphere of dark energy floating above his hand.
"You're mine now, Kunoichi."
Jennifer gasped at his deadly, silent voice, and was about to attack him when he struck her with the dark sphere of power. He hit her straight in the chest. The surge of power was too much that she was sent flying in the air. She soon fell on her back and hit her head hard, causing her to black out. She also powered down to her normal suit.
With her unconscious, the Time Controller walked towards her and held her head. A cold smile formed in his sandy face.
"Finally, the Ninja mask will be mine!"
With his fingertips, he removed the mask off her head, and her suit began swirling out of her, revealing her true self. This surprised the time villain, as he never expected to see the girl who imprisoned him to become her timeline's Kunoichi.
"Impossible! The girl from that prophecy cannot be the Kunoichi!"
He stared at her unconscious body one more time.
"Rest assured, weakling. Tomorrow, the Time of Obscurity will rise, and I'll become the only one and invincible Ninja!"
He later disappeared away... with Jennifer's mask in hand.
...
By the meantime, the Ninja and the First Ninja were looking for their partner. They stopped on a spot when the First Ninja noticed something was wrong.
"What's wrong, First Ninj?"
The First Ninja didn't answered on that moment. Instead, he just looked around before they both noticed a girl lying on the ground.
"Is that... Jennifer?"
They both ran to see her closely. She was still unconscious. The First Ninja placed his head on her chest. He heard her steady heartbeat.
He let out a deep sigh in relief. "She's alright."
Randy also let out a sigh. "Thank cheese. But what happened to her?"
First Ninja was about to answer before Jennifer began to stir and moan.
"Guys? Why is it so cold?"
Randy gently helped her sit up and embraced her in a warm hug. His sapphire blue eyes stared at her tired, light brown eyes. "Jennifer, are you okay?"
She breathed out tiredly. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, and my shoulder feels kind of painful, but I'm okay."
"Jenn, what happened to you?"
They helped her stand up as she thought about what occurred recently. She became shocked in just one second when she realized what happened.
"No. No! The Time Controller was here!"
"Wait, what?!"
"He really was, and he... Oh my gosh! I'm really sorry if I kept you guys worried. I never thought this would happen and..."
The First Ninja stopped her from feeling distressed by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Calm, child. At least you're safe."
"I know, but..."
"Well, if that strange sandman disappeared, then we have to get ready. Who knows what could happen next?"
Right after he said that, he felt a sneeze coming up. Once he sneezed, an invisible burst of wind threw him up to the air and falling to the ground a few feet away from where they stood. Jennifer and the First Ninja saw that coming and ran to help him.
"Ran!"
Jennifer kneeled to him and helped him sit up. "What the juice was that about?!"
Randy, already on his feet, shrugged. "I don't know, but I wonder why my sneeze suddenly became, like, an invisible dynamite or something."
"Something not too similar to that happened to me." Replied Jennifer. "When I was about to throw another ice attack at the Time Controller, I shot some kind of green beam instead. I don't know how I did that, but it was so strange. It was like a power I've never had."
She soon realized what she just said in front of the First Ninja, as he never knew she was the Kunoichi. Now was the time to confess her secret.
"Yes, First Ninja, I'm the Kunoichi you just met. I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier." She said kind of sadly.
First Ninja never said a thing about that. He just sighed and stared at both kids.
"Both of you should come with me."
...
Now Randy, Jennifer and the First Ninja were on a silent, empty spot. Everything was so calm and soothing. The only sound they could hear was the howling wind.
On that moment, Randy and First Ninja already removed their masks off. Randy and Jennifer were sitting criss-cross next to each other, with their eyes closed, while the First Ninja stood in front of them.
Jennifer opened her eyes for a second, and stared at First Ninja. "So... what exactly are you going to teach us, First Ninja?"
"Meditation is not a lesson, it's a way of relaxing your body and clearing your mind. I will help you clear your minds and visualize your hidden abilities with help of your mind's eye."
"Mind's eye?" Randy asked. "The NinjaNomicon never told me something like that."
"Well, that sounds very interesting." Replied Jennifer with a smile, already interested. "So, what should we do with that? Is it like when people say "use your imagination" or something?"
"That is correct." First Ninja nodded.
"Then it's so simple! We just have to focus."
"Yes, but first you must allow yourself to relax. A mind cannot focus when the body is under certain bad emotions."
"How do you know about all this?"
First Ninja shushed her nicely as he sat down in front of the teens. Randy was already starting with the meditation. She saw as he slowly breathed in and out in great calm. Soon enough, she closed her eyes and began with the process.
"Take a deep breath. Let the tranquility take over your bodies."
Both Randy and Jennifer inhaled some fresh air through their noses, and slowly exhaled it out with their mouths. They did this respiration exercise for not longer than five minutes before their bodies were fully calm and their minds relaxed and cleared.
First Ninja saw the two younglings were doing good with their meditation. Now it was time to focus on their hidden powers.
"With your mind's eye, visualize your hidden abilities. Visualize its shape and color, feel its strength. Feel its energy flowing on your bodies, and leaving it."
Both teens began with the process. As for Randy, he first visualized himself sneezing and felt that huge burst of air lifting him off the ground. That was too much strength for a new ability, and he could feel it right now. He saw it as an invisible force of wind, and felt its energy flowing on his veins. He felt that same energy leaving his body right after that. He couldn't resist a smile, so he smiled.
As for Jennifer, she was having kind of a bad time trying to focus. She could tell she saw an invisible shield with some green light surrounding it, and the light made some sort of symbol. She couldn't feel it's power like it happened with Randy. Her mind was sort of filling itself with some memories of her past life back in her timeline. She couldn't concentrate well because of this, and less when they heard Howard and Plop Plop coming to see them. This interrupted the silence between the three, and later on, their meditation process ended and they opened their eyes.
"I can see it, but I can't feel it. Did you felt it, Randy?"
Randy just nodded. "It was awesome! I felt like I'd become one with the wind. How come you didn't felt anything?"
Jennifer shrugged. "I don't know, and I can't explain. My powers are different than yours, Ran."
Suddenly, Howard stood between the two teens, wanting to speak with Randy.
"Hey, Cunningham, instead of having a nice tea party with your girlfriend, why don't we just get that sandglass and go home? I can't wait to get my awesome grave punching on!"
"Howard, chillax. Once we beat the time monster then we'll go. And FYI, we were just meditating, and Jennifer's not my girlfriend."
"Well, why haven't you asked her?"
"Why do you think I should ask her? I know she likes me and I like her too, but sometimes I think Theresa is also on that line."
"Then I smell a love triangle."
"A what?"
"You know, it's some kind of weird love situation when two girls are in love with one same guy."
"If that is so then what should I do about that? Two different girls like me. One who is the best baton twirler in school and the other one who is a mysterious kid from the future that traveled twenty years back in time and is now the first Kunoichi in more than 800 years."
"I know, but I don't want to know what could happen between those two. Maybe they'll make the third World War."
Randy sighed and narrowed his eyes down. His best friend gave him some support.
"Listen, Cunningham. I don't know a thing about love advices, but as your best friend, I can suggest you choose the girl you really love... with your heart."
"Thanks, pal."
Randy took his eyes on Jennifer, who was talking with the First Ninja. He somehow felt butterflies filling his stomach.
"Once you feel ready, then tell her. And don't shoob things up like it happened in Valentine's."
Randy smiled. "You have my word."
...
Time passed slowly, and this time Jennifer was having an archery training course. First Ninja thought it might be better to teach her some archery lessons to defend herself even as the Kunoichi.
When Jennifer saw the bow and arrows in front of her she couldn't resist smiling. She picked up the bow and an arrow and pulled back. The bow was so big and a bit heavy for her, so she was having a hard time trying to pull back the arrow. She tried once more, but it wouldn't work. Normally, Jennifer wasn't as strong as she is when wearing the suit. So because of this, the First Ninja helped her with that. He held her hands and pulled the arrow back for her and aimed at a target that was set 5 feet away.
First Ninja stood back and gestured her to shoot. The arrow flew so fast and almost hit the center. Jennifer saw that and became excited.
Minutes later...
With help from the First Ninja, Jennifer did better than her first time with the bow and arrow. She could easily pull an arrow back and shoot it at some point closer to the bull's eye. It has been like that since she started. She groaned a bit, but decided to keep up, as Randy and Howard cheered her up. They were watching her shoot the arrows since the beginning of the training.
...
The sun was already falling on the horizon, and Jennifer was still training. It was getting hard for her as there was some wind blowing. She strung back a new arrow and aimed carefully. The wind became stronger each second. On the last second she aimed, she shot the arrow, hitting a corner of the circular target.
"Huh? But I aimed for the center!"
First Ninja came to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "You did good, Kunoichi. But training is over. Get some rest until tomorrow."
Jennifer smiled at him. "I will. Thanks."
She handed him the bow and arrow, and they all left the place to have their break of the day.
The next day...
Jennifer was taught with new ninja moves by the First Ninja. He and Jennifer practiced hard during their training battles. And sometimes she and Randy had to do that as well.
Later after that, Randy and Jennifer spent some time running together. This was so they could boost their running speed whenever they wear their suits. And they were doing great.
When they stopped, Jennifer had a strange feeling. She was easily getting tired just like back in her normal days. She never thought it was because of the dark energy inside her beating heart. So later on she ignored that strange feeling and continued training.
...
"My time grows near..."
True to what he said, the Time Controller knew it was time to cause chaos in the ancient city. He took Jennifer's mask in hand and raised it up in the air.
"With my dark powers and the abilities of a Ninja, I will become unstoppable!"
The sandman wore the mask on his face, and a dark wave of energy expanded everywhere.
...
After their short meditation time and Jennifer's personal training, the group decided to walk around the ancient city just to have a good time.
Jennifer, who was behind the boys, didn't seemed to have a good time. After a day and many hours of training, she couldn't help but feel exhausted. She tried to hide the tired expression away as she walked, but it failed when Randy took notice.
"You okay?"
"I'm good." She breathed. "Just... tired."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm just fine."
The group didn't seemed to pay attention to what they were saying, but their attention turned to a sudden burst that was heard.
"What was that?" Asked Plop Plop.
They stood silent for a while, figuring that out. Jennifer, who was getting scared, took Randy's hand. They looked at each other for a second before they heard another burst.
"Ah!" Gasped Jennifer, already feeling pain.
The dark energy inside her was growing, and she suddenly fell on Randy's arms. Knowing that something was wrong, the group turned to see her.
First Ninja touched her cheek. "She's pale and ice cold."
They were about to take action when they heard cold laughter. It was the Time Controller.
Because now he had the mask on, the group took a look at his suit. It was like Randy's suit, only that the sand villain had a lot of muscle and instead of having a scarf he had a red and black cape on his back. His suit also didn't had the 9 symbol on his chest.
"What the juice?! He's a Ninja too?!" Exclaimed Randy.
The dark sand ninja rised. And it was time for his power to unleash.
Author's note:
Here you have it! Chapter 36 is done! Looks like the Time Controller is about to create chaos, and Jennifer is in big trouble! And will Randy ask Jennifer to be his girlfriend? That will be revealed on the next chapter! The Back In Time saga hasn't ended yet. Part 5 will feature the big finale!
Anyways, your bruce-tastic reviews are always welcome!
Have a wonderful day and... SMOKEBOMB!