Chapter Thirty

Rocky hated going to the pizza parlor when he wasn't scheduled to work. Didn't even really like the idea of ordering pizza when he wasn't working, from having to be around it so much; seeing it from start to finish. Sometimes, even the smell of pizza got to him—and he couldn't quite understand everyone's obsession with the food—but the pizza parlor was the best place for him and his friends—old and new—to get together rot figure out what they were going to do about Harding.

And, if Rocky was going to tell Jason that he was the one being targeted, then it was probably a good idea that he was around his friends. There was strength in numbers, and, so far, things had only happened when it was just the two of them. And not even JJ would be stupid enough to attack them again in the same pizza parlor he'd attacked them before when they were young.

Rocky drummed his fingers on the table top, looking around the pizza parlor as they waited for everyone to arrive. Colt and Tum-Tum were already picking at the pizza they'd ordered for the table as they waited. For the first time in a long time, Tum-Tu wasn't inhaling the slices by himself. He picked at the pepperoni that sat on top of the slices, sliding them into his mouth every few times, but otherwise just picked.

They were really just as nervous as he was, about what they were going to tell their friends, or they were simply taking in the seriousness of what was going to happen.

"Are you sure?" Rocky looked over at Colt, lifting his eyebrows in question. Colt's eyebrows furrowed together in response. "Are you sure he's after Jason and not us?" Rocky nodded once more. "I don't get it."

"You will," Rocky replied. He scratched at his forehead. "It's just a theory, anyway." But he was so sure about it, that it wasn't just a theory. It was fact. There was a lot more going on than they originally thought. They only thing they had to figure out was how to keep everyone safe, and how to stop Harding once and for all.

If there was a way to stop him.

"What were you and grandpa talking about?" Tum-Tum asked quietly.

The sudden change in conversation topic made Rocky freeze. But only for a moment. He sucked in a deep breath and looked to the side before saying, "I'll tell you later." Which was the truth, he really would tell them later. It wasn't something he wanted to keep secret for a long time, it truly was starting to poison him. He looked at his grandfather with different eyes ever since he learned the truth, didn't like leaving the house at times, wondering if the time he went out to hang with friends or deal with Harding that it'd be the last time he saw his grandfather alive.

Not to mention all the pressure from school. He had to meet with the guidance counselor again, to give an idea of what it was he wanted to pursue. He had to make the choice soon. He had to determine if he was going to put his focus on UCLA or into Washington State. He could apply to both, could work toward both, there were people in the years before that applied to five, six, seven colleges just because they could and they wanted the choice, and they wanted to figure things out.

But how did you figure things out when your life was run for you?

Rocky's knees started to bob up and down, as it always did when he started to think about school, college, and what his parents wanted out of him. It'd started to happen a lot, lately. One minute he'd be minding his own business, working on some homework or editing a photo, and the next thing he knew, he was out of his body, his mind was buzzing, his hands were tingling, his chest felt tight and he wondered if it what it truly felt to die. He hadn't felt the intense sense of panic in a long time, not since the first few nights after things with Snyder had died down.

That's when he realized how close things had become; with men who wouldn't hesitate to shoot him. It took a while for the adrenaline of the adventure wore off. When he realized that he had real guns pointed at him the entire time, where Snyder really was going to turn the gun around on them and shoot, not only their grandfather, but maybe him and his brothers as well. He panicked and worried that something else was going to happen, that someone else may try to target them before the day even ended.

Then he saw his father, and how he was reacting to it. Sam had broken down, apologized to Jessica over and over again about how his job and his lifestyle had made it so that their boys were a target for someone who wanted to get back at him for doing his job. It made them paranoid, made it so that their parents looked after them at every second and every turn. They moved. Twice. Put in the best security system. Their mother came to school every day to make sure they were where they needed to be, drove them home, stayed at every practice.

And it was because of that, that Rocky made sure that he really honed how much he lived up to his ninja name. Had to take on the responsibility to protect his brothers even more than he had before. The therapy helped, having multiple sessions where they could talk as a family and by themselves, and after time it wasn't needed as much. They scaled back. The threats weren't as big.

We became too complacent, Rocky thought.

Colt frowned. "Rock," he started.

"I'll tell you later." Rocky flicked his gaze toward the door to the pizza shop as his friends started to file inside. They'd probably all came together, he realized; Emily, Jo, Jason, and Brett. Either that or Jason had, once again, bummed a ride. Rocky half expected to have a text on his phone saying Jason's car blew up on the way to the shop. And not just from Harding's influence either. "I promise."

"Nice to see that you saved us some pizza this time," Jo remarked as she sat down. She gave a small smile, steepling her fingers together. Though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. It was the first time, Rocky realized, that Jo seemed to be really taking in the seriousness of what was going on. Or had sensed it through the message he sent.

Jo had always been in tune to the feelings, emotions, senses, and auras of things around her. They'd seen it firsthand when they first met her, he'd seen her gentle spirit slowly sour as they watched the excavators move piles of trash and garbage all around her land. Saw it as she explained what was happening to her people, then saw her spirit come back the second they decided they were going to help her out. Jo took on the feelings of everyone around her, so much so that Rocky was surprised she was still able to be so strong due to it.

"I'm not very hungry," Tum-Tum replied.

"Uh-oh," Emily remarked quietly. "That's not a good thing." She pulled her hair back from her face with a headband and looked at each of the boys. "I'm assuming this is why you asked us to do some research before we all came here?"

Brett's eyes widened behind his glasses. "You all needed to do some research, too?"

"Okay." Jason held up his hands, ceasing all conversation and looked Rocky, Colt, and Tum-Tum directly. "What's going on? You guys are acting even weirder than usual. And believe me when I say you're already pretty weird."

Rocky took in a deep breath, hesitating for a moment. Took that moment to decide what was the best course of action to move forward. The truth was always better than a lie, but how much of it was best? Especially one they heard everything…

"Okay." Rocky focused on his best friend. "I think Harding is after you."

Jason snorted loudly. "That's a joke."

"I'm being serious.

"So am I. It's a joke." Jason leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms, sticking his hands in his armpits. He stared at Rocky for a long moment, who stared back at him. "Okay, Sam, I'll bite. What makes you think this guy is after me?"

"Which is totally crazy, by the way," Emily added.

"I thought so too," Colt agreed. He ran a hand through his hair. "Until he pointed out everything Tum and I hadn't thought of." He rolled his eyes. "Of course," he added under his breath. Rocky ignored the jab that came his way, used to it by that point. He'd come back to it later.

"It me a while to figure it out," Rocky said slowly. He gestured towards his brothers. "At first, I was convinced as everyone else that Harding and JJ were coming after us. For the same reason that Snyder had wanted to come after us in the first place—"

"—To get back at your dad?" Jason asked.

"He doesn't have anything to do with this," Rocky said patiently. "At first, we thought Harding wanted to get back at us simply to get back at us. For revenge, for having made it that he lost everything." He nodded to Jo. "If it weren't for us, Jo's dad would have been missing for who knows how long. Harding would've gotten away with dumping his illegal toxins. And then they may have retaliated against Jo, Selena, and Chief Roundcreek because of their protests and demanding to know what happened to Charlie."

"Well, we already knew about that," Colt said with a tinge of sarcasm to his tone. "Jos' already been arrested once. How do we know she, Cloud, and the rest of her tribe aren't just going to suddenly disappear."

"Because his money's in the media," Emily spoke up. She reached into her purse, that was hung off the side of her chair, and pulled out a few papers. She shifted through them before sliding them into the middle of the table, pushing the pans of pizza aside. She tapped at the articles with her fingertip. "There's been only small, very small articles about the protest and the arrests made outside of MedoCal. The only way things like that would be blacklisted would be if someone with a lot of money had a stake or a big payment in the company that's reporting the news. I could only find a few blogs posts and tiny news articles about it." She shrugged apologetically and Jo. "And, I hate to say it, but the minority angle doesn't help either."

Jo nodded in agreement. "It's the same issue we faced when trying to get to Harding the first time," she explained. "Because we're minorities, because we're first nation, people don't care. History has proved that."

"Which is what Harding was hoping," Rocky continued. "The less people cared about that," he lifted his fingers in apology to Jo, and kept going, "The less they're going to report on it now. Which worked. There was been almost no interest in MedoCal at all."

"Okayy…" Jason's eyes narrowed. The almost permanent smile on his face slowly faded. "What does that have to do with me?"

"The less there is for negative attention, the less people are going to look into it," Emily explained. "So MedoCcal could do what they want."

"Exactly," Rocky broke in. "So Harding had that in his pocket and knew how to work it. Which made it easier for him to start up MedoCal in the first place. But he needed investors." He pointed to Jason. "That's where your mom and dad come in."

"They invested in MedoCal?"

"We didn't realize that until you were talking to the Jacksons, explaining everything your mom and dad invest in. You mentioned startups and different longform businesses, so Colt asked Brett to look into it."

Brett let out a sigh, folding his arms. "That's where things got interesting," he explained. "I thought it was just your parents' investment into MedoCcal that was interesting. It was a big part as to why MedoCal was able to start up so quickly while Harding was in prison. But I hacked into the site and, well…" Brett trailed off, chewing his lower lip. "The Ninja Tournament that you guys entered, that MedoCal sponsored?" He shook his head. "It wasn't real."

Emily, Jo, Jason, Rocky, Colt, and Tum-Tum all reacted the same way, with wide eyes of shock. Rocky's heart hammered against his ribcage, hearing the knew. He hadn't known that, hadn't expected it, didn't even think it was a possibility. If the tournament was fake…how did their grandfather sign up for it? And, more importantly, did that mean that Tum-Tum's win wasn't real?

And his loss against Colt…

Rocky glanced toward Colt, who looked back at him, probably wondering the same thing. Thinking of what would happen if they were to really face off against each other.

"All the people who entered…some of them might've been real competitors, others were basically tricked, but a lot of them were hired. Harding used the money from the tournament to siphon into off-shore accounts as well as to put into MedoCal to throw off anyone who may have looked into things. The more he does that, the harder it would be to prove that it's his accounts that he'd putting the money into."

"You mean you can't find out?" Colt frowned.

Brett had been one of the people he'd never known to not be able to figure something out. He'd been part of the MGM—Mentally Gifted Minors—program since he'd bene tested in grade school. And, often, Colt was jealous of the things that Brett was able to do in his classes. Brett had a free period that anyone within the MGM had to use to study their own independent projects that matched their intellectual level.

It was what made him interested in computers in the first place, wondering how it worked from the pieces being put together to the different codes and diodes that spoke to each other to ultimately have a computer run. Not to mention understanding how websites and the internet worked from the inside out.

If Brett couldn't figure out where all the money was going, then they were surely sunk.

"I mean, I could," Brett said slowly. He scratched the back of his neck before adjusting his glasses. "But that might take more time than you'd think. It's not like I just type random codes into a computer and I can hack into an offshore account. Not to mention the legalities with it all."

"And that's why we asked all of you're here today," Rocky said. He took in a deep breath. "Because we need your help, if we're going to stop Harding and help Jason…then we need it." He held up his hands. "And we need the Jacksons, too."

"Yeah, we're going to train them in ninja," Tum-Tum agreed. "Their dad's name needs to be cleared, too, and they want to do whatever they can to help us out. They can get us into MedoCal, into their dad's stuff, and even after that, we think it's a good idea if they learn ninja. Grandpa does, too."

"So we just gather your information and you'll teach them how to fight?" Emily asked, rolling her eyes. "Great, well, if I get kidnapped again, at least I'll know a way to help."

"You're not going to get kidnapped again," Jason reassured her. "Because they're not after you, they're after me remember? Which, by the way," he wiggled a finger in the air. "You still haven't told me why you think they are."

"Because of your parents," Colt said bluntly. "We think he's trying to get as much money out of them as he can, and they've either refused, or they're using you as collateral." Jason lifted his eyebrows, but his defensive stance; raised shoulders, tightening of the jaw, slowly relaxed as he took in everything, they told him. "They watched us long enough to know who our friends are and knew the best way to get to us. The day at the ice cream parlor, they thought you would've been with Rocky that day because Rocky is always giving you a ride to school."

"And they recognized your car because of that," Rocky agreed. "Which is why they knew it was your car they were trying to run off the road." He looked his best friend in the eye. "They're going to keep working to get you until we, either, expose Harding, or they bleed your parents dry."

"Well, good luck with that." Jason spread his hands. "We don't know where my parents are at any given time."

"And that's why they're going after you," Brett remarked. "It makes good business sense. If there's a partnership that's been going on and one can't be found, the other has to take on the burden of the weight." Jason glared at him. "Look, it's not like anything is really going to you."

"Not while we're around," Colt added.

"Great. My own personal bodyguards." Jason slouched in his seat, resting his cheek in his palm.

Rocky studied him, trying to figure out what he was really feeling. Was he scared? Alarmed? Worried? Annoyed? He'd already been taken away from his home, but to know he had to be extra cautious? He shifted his gaze to Jo, who frowned as she looked at Jason as well, seeming to take on the energy he was radiating.

"They're just trying to help you, Jase," Emily said gently. She shook her head. "We all want to help you, and Jo, and the Jacksons…we all just want this to stop." She looked at Rocky. "And we'll help you anyway we can."

"You've already done all you can to help us," Rocky said gratefully. "Everything else is just…waiting for them to strike before we do."

"A ninja never strikes first, but he can defend himself," Tum-Tum agreed, saying the words of wisdom their grandfather had imparted on them since they first started their ninja training. It had been something Sam was always worried about, that they only did martial arts so they could learn how to fight. But martial arts was more than attacking anyone who bothered them, it was mainly about learning a connection between mind, body, and spirit and deescalating situations than being on the offense.

Emily opened her mouth to say something, stopped and shook her head. She reached out for a piece of pizza, her nose wrinkled, then she pushed it back toward Tum-Tum, who had picked off all the pepperoni and cheese from the top of the slices without anyone noticing. Tum-Tum's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the aftermath of his subconscious eating.

He blushed, lowering into his seat. "Sorry."

"It's alright, Tum, I'll just order another one for us." Emily glanced at Jason. "Or maybe two, one for us an done for him." She pushed back her seat and stalked up to the counter to put in an order.

Silence stretched over the table.

Jo got up and moved to the other side of the table to sit next to Rocky. He waited for her to speak. "Jason's going through it," she said. "But he can handle it. We can all handle it, you're asking us to do something that we never thought we'd have to do before."

"I know," Rocky agreed.

"And…I get the feeling that you're going to sideline Em when the going gets tough," Jo continued.

Rocky twisted his mouth to the side, hoping he wasn't too obvious about it. Emily had really helped, using her journalistic skills to figure things out about the media but…it was different. That wasn't going to help as things went forward. Brett had the knowledge to hack into, almost, everything. Jason was the one they were trying to protect, and Jo was the one who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer when it came to finding her father.

"Do you trsut her?" Jo asked.

"Yes," Rocky replied. Easily. Quickly. He trusted her with everything.

"And you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Differently." Jo noticed Rocky's immediately hesitation and titled her head to the side. She wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. Pressed forward with a firm, "How?"

Tingles in his fingertips. Rocky ran a hand over his mouth, then gave her a small smile. "You know, you're not helping."

"Or I am, and you don't want to admit it." Jo shrugged. "I'm not going to make you talk about something you don't want to talk about. But there's more than enough to reason for you to see that you can't do everything yourself."

"You're not the first person to tell me that," Rocky said. "Not recently, anyway."

"So how come you can't take that advice?"

Because he was getting mixed messages from everywhere. He didn't have to do everything on his own…and yet he was about to make one of the biggest decisions of his life, on his own. Of which would still affect everyone around him. Would affect him the greatest of all. Ninja things…he could handle, he could deal with that. It was mostly finding out some sort of injustice that he could correct within a few seconds of thought. With people and a skill set behind him that he'd been learning and honing for years.

Nothing could prepare him for what was coming up next.

Rocky didn't have an answer for her. But Jo didn't expect an answer, he knew that. She simply pressed a hand to his shoulder and went back to her seat. Conversation slowly started again, there was no need to discuss anything else. Jason knew the truth, there was nowhere for him to hide. He was already going staying with the Douglases, all they had to do was tell Sam of their suspicions and things could move on from there. They could live life normally until, sooner or later, Harding was taken down.

Though Rocky knew Harding wouldn't go down without a fight, and it wouldn't take long for him to strike.

It was just a matter of time.

"Rocky?"

Rocky lifted his eyebrows, turning to face Emily. She smiled gently. "You really do need to relax, you know," She said. "Everything's going to be fine." She nodded to Jason, who had his own pan of pizza in front of him and was already nibbling away at one slice, his appetite slowly coming back. Or, Rocky was sure, he was thinking it was probably going to be his last meal and he may as well make the best of it. "We don't know what's going to happen."

"I think our track record speaks for itself," Rocky reminded her.

"Okay…then we don't know what's going to happen until it does. I've seen you do this each time something good happens to you. You can't really enjoy it because you're waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"I'm just being realistic."

"You're being pessimistic."

"I'm planning ahead."

"And how far into the future do you want to plan?" Emily looked away for a minute, picking up her napkin and started to tear it into tiny pieces. He watched her movements, watched as she tore each piece into an even sized rip each time. "Do you have things set up for the next five years?"

Rocky ran a hand through his face, exasperated. Of course he did, it was already planned out for him. Within five years he'd be starting out his career with the police, moving up through the ranks like his father did, maybe even faster with a specialized degree. "I don't even know what I'm doing next month."

"How about I make it easier for you, then?" Emily stopped tearing the napkin apart and dropped her hands to her lap. "Do you want to go to the Homecoming dance with me?"

A/N: Wow, took me much longer than I meant to get back to this. But I hope you all enjoyed it. Plenty of action coming up now that everyone's got a part to play in how the boys are going to take down Harding. Whether or not they'll succeed as easily as they want, however...well, we'll see. Get ready to see the boys as ninja trainers!

Happy New Year and happy 2020!

Cheers

-Riley