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Chapter 11
Early morning at Buckingham Palace, it was a big activity around the whole palace to prepare for the weekend's big party. Hundreds of British nobility and foreign dignitaries would attend. None of the service staff knew why the queen had decided to arrange a party in the middle of the summer when no such party had been organized earlier at this time of year. The ballroom had been converted into a dining room for 200 of the most distinguished guests and everything had been refurbished so that it shone like the sun.
Queen Victoria the Third. An 85-year-old hedgehog sat in her study and talked with some of her close circle of family members and retainers. About the preparations and more. She was in a slightly irritated mood when some waiters had dropped some of the Chinese Ming porcelain on the floor. But she was now focused on something that she considered to be much more important and concerned an unsuspecting porcupine.
"It is now 10 years since my granddaughter Serena and her family left the country not to return. The incident that led to this still fills me with rage, partly against myself as I could have stopped it from happening. Because of this, we have not had any contact with the Porcupine family in 10 years, and my oldest great-grandchild, Lady Ashlen Monroe Porcupine".
"Five years ago, an attempt at reconciliation was made as we were all to attend their 20th anniversary wedding in the Caribbean. Had we gone a day earlier, we would have been on board when the yacht sank and the whole royal family had drowned. Which would mean that Lady Ashlen Monroe Porcupine would have become Queen of Great Britain now".
50 miles away, a newly awakened Ash felt strange tremors in her body.
"She is currently in the country on her property in Essex. She is invited to the party. The whole thing is one big welcome party in her honour. And since there will be many unmarried nobles and high-ranking people at the party, I hope she will catch the eye of someone. A lady of her rank and age should not be single".
"Your Majesty. The Countess of Essex will be received with all possible honours when she arrives. We keep in mind that she is recovering from gunshot wounds and will make sure that no one bumps into her. It has come in a request from her staff for personal bodyguards for her. It almost sounded like a requirement for her presence at the party".
"I guess that request came from Elsa Frost. As if the Royal Palace were not safe enough. But accept her request. Maximum of four, herself included".
"It will be done immediately, Your Majesty! All other preparations go according to plan. We are just waiting for some deliveries from Paris and Madrid."
"It is good! But keep in mind that she is the richest person in the world and used to only the best. Do not disappoint her. You can leave us now I want to discuss some things with my family."
Everyone else left the room and the queen was alone with her immediate family.
"We're the only family Lady Ashlen Monroe Porcupine has left, and she has not heard from any of us in 10 years. I can only guess that she is disappointed in all of us. After her family's death five years ago, she disappeared without a trace until 2 months ago and many thought she was dead. In addition, I have been told that she tried to commit suicide two months before she disappeared".
"We should have taken her in immediately after the accident. Elisabeth, you're her grandmother. I know you were completely devastated after your daughter's death, but your only grandchild needed you more. The same goes for you Charles. You're her grandfather. She was alone for three months and must have felt abandoned. We have all let down a family member and that could have led to disaster. She was almost murdered a month ago and has tried to take her own life 5 years ago. I can only say that if I were her, I would be very hurt and disappointed in all of us".
Lady Ashlen Monroe Porcupine had just eaten breakfast and was now sunbathing on her balcony with a glass of juice in hand. She looked out over her large garden where a few dozen gardeners worked with their tools. She wondered how someone could volunteer to work in a garden for a few thousand pounds a month. She would not do it for an hour for a million.
She looked out towards the driveway and saw a familiar gorilla step out of a car and come walking towards the entrance that lay under her balcony. She got up from the deck chair and limped to the railing.
"Johnny! are you coming to visit?"
Johnny heard a familiar voice above him and looked up. Ash stood by the railing and looked down at him from her balcony. He got the idea that maybe he should court her by singing under her balcony like in an old movie. But he did not want her to start laughing, he had second thoughts. He waved and continued walking towards the door where he met a white wolf and a larger polar bear. Elsa and Maya knew very well who Johnny was but as the overprotective parents they sometimes felt like they had decided to scare this possible suitor a little.
"But what have we here? You must be the new recruit we have been waiting for. Come with us. The training track is over here. We'll soon see what you're made of".
Elsa and Maya dragged away with the poor Johnny while Ash had gone into her bedroom and never noticed anything. After waiting for Johnny for a while, she began to suspect trouble and went downstairs with the help of her crutches and out the door. She followed a path into the forest where there was an obstacle course for training from which she heard sounds.
"9 minutes to get you around the entire course! What are you, a slacker? Do it again and it will take a maximum of five minutes this time or I will shoot you in the ass with this shotgun I loaded with coarse salt. Get started now! I do not have all day to deal with lazy recruits"!
"Elsa! What do you think you're doing?!"
Ash was right behind Elsa and she was angry. She stepped up to Elsa and grabbed the shotgun and aimed it at Elsa's tail.
"You can run through the obstacle course in three minutes or you are the one who gets coarse salt in the ass. The same goes for you Maya, this shotgun is double-barrelled. Start now"!
Ash sat down on a chair with the shotgun in her lap while Elsa and Maya started running the obstacle course. They knew that Ash was serious about her threat and hoped to be able to sit down to dinner. Johnny collapsed next to her on the ground.
"Hi Johnny! Sorry for these two idiots, catch your breath while I take care of them".
Ash looked at her wristwatch and saw that they ran the track in 3 minutes and 10 seconds. She forced them to do it again 4 times until they both collapsed on the ground of exhaustion. She fired the shotgun into the air and laid it on the ground. What she did not think of was how everyone nearby would react to a fired shot. She and Johnny marched towards the palace while a heavily armed group of bodyguards stormed the forest from the other direction. What they found there was Elsa and Maya completely exhausted and an empty shotgun.
"This was your idea! When I can move, I will snatch your tail and strangle you with it. Hope you have written your will, because you will need it. Oh! I have not been so exhausted in 10 years".
Elsa, who wanted to survive the day, hoped that she would recover before Maya did. She got to her feet and began to limp towards the palace to disappear from sight for a while. Maya did the same and followed her. A large number of confused bodyguards remained who could not find any threat except an empty shotgun.
"Elsa came back here! Do not think you will get away so easily. I'll have your tail as a scarf this winter, and make a hat out of your fur when I skinned you alive"
Elsa did not stop and managed to get to the palace first and slipped into her room and locked the door. She was hiding under the bed when she heard Maya try to break in the door. Luckily for her, the door was strong, and Maya was too tired to put all her strength behind the attempt. She soon gave up and went to her own bedroom and collapsed on the bed.
In Fort Leavenworth Kansas! 500 prisoners stood in the yard in front of an officer they had never seen before. All around were a couple of dozen heavily armed guards standing guard.
"My name is Lieutenant Colonel Savage! And I justify my name by being harsh and ruthless. You scum have all dishonoured our proud flag and I feel sick just looking at you. If I had to decide, you would all get a short drop with a sudden stop as the traitors you are!"
"But the government has decided on a new program where some of you may have the chance to join the army again or get your retirement privileges back. If you deserve it! And it is I who decides who deserves it".
"I do not care how long you have been here or what you have done. in my eyes you are now all scum. From now on, there will be 5 levels of rank between you. All start at 1 which is equal to useless. When you do well, you will be able to rise one level, which means more privileges. If you succeed in reaching level 5, you will be evaluated for service in the army, depending on what crime you have committed before and your age. Otherwise, you will receive rights to retirement money from the military when you are released. But now! This is a military base, and you should all behave like disciplined soldiers or you will be severely punished. You will now be divided into 10 groups with an officer as team leader. I want to see 50 push-ups from everyone in each group or the whole group will be punished".
Lance was divided into a group with many others and was forced to do push-ups. He barely managed 20 before collapsing on the ground. He soon had a certain lieutenant colonel over him.
Why are you lying here lazing around! your totally useless pile of shit! Get on your feet now! I know who you are! You're the one who almost got one of my colleagues murdered. You failed with the push-ups, which means that the whole group goes down to level 0. This means that all privileges are revoked. No TV, no visits or phone calls. Nothing! And they can thank you for that you useless pile of shit! No one else has failed, you are the only one of 500 who did".
"Now group 0, as you will be called until you do better, can start by scrubbing all the floors in the area while the other groups have lunch. Afterwards, we will see if there is anything left for you."
Lance looked at the others in the group who gave him angry looks. One of these was his cellmate who made strangling gestures towards him. He understood that the next few days would be painful if he survived. It ended with a group of prisoners using him as a rag in the gym.
Meanwhile, Becky was on a plane on her way back to London. She was in first class and was $ 100,000 richer than yesterday. With her was an unexpected gesture from a desperate president concerning Ash. A signed document that promoted Ash to the rank of colonel and gave her command of Fort Ice. It may not have been his best idea, but he was desperate to calm her down after the serious failure that the general had committed, and she would definitely find out about soon.
Becky wondered how she would bring everything to ash about what happened and how she would react. One thing was for sure. Elsa was going to go crazy.
The plane landed at Heathrow Airport and Becky managed to get a taxi that took her to the Porcupine Palace. There she met Elsa who, after avoiding Maya all day, now wondered where Becky had been all day. After hearing the whole story, she called the entire bodyguard during the night and put them in line in front of her and scolded them a lot. When it dawned on them what had happened, they became terrified.
"You useless idiots will now run two laps around the property as punishment for your mistakes!"
"But boss! The property is over 50,000 acres. It is over 30 miles in perimeter".
"Excellent! Start now or you will never be done with it".
Elsa was extra angry about something Ash had forced her to do earlier in the day. Someone would have to pay for her anguish. But she was also worried that someone had almost managed to kidnap Ash right under her nose. She decided it was time for drastic action that Ash would not know about yet or she would try to stop her. Elsa went into her room and called a number to Japan that Ash's father had given her once.
Somewhere in a small village in central Japan, an old raccoon was meditating in his garden when a young man approached him and bowed deeply.
"Kashira! The Porcupine family calls in our debt of honour. The last of the family is threatened with death".
"Finally! I was afraid they would never ask for our services, which would mean that the New Moon's ninja clan would be disgraced forever if the porcupine family was annihilated. As you know, we failed to protect the life of the British ambassador who was head of the family in 1880 and who hired our services. And in return, the whole clan swore an oath to protect the Porcupine family forever when they requested it. That was 140 years ago, and no one has called us until now, and now it's more important than ever. There is only one member of the family left alive".
"I want Tomoe, Chizu and you Shingen to take your teams to the UK within 24 hours. There you will meet a wolf named Elsa Frost. She will tell you what to do. This mission may take a long time, but it does not matter, our honour is at stake.
"Treat Lady Ashlen Monroe Porcupine as if she were your master. Because from now on she is. Understood!
"Yes Kashira! We will not let you down"!
"Make sure you do not! It would mean the end of our ancient clan if you did. We would all lose our honour and without honour we are not worthy to continue with our mission. No one would trust us anymore. We would have to dissolve the clan and live in disgrace or take our own lives with honour as in the good old days".
"Go now! I expect a report within a week on how things are going. Hopefully we can get some ninjas in her personal bodyguard permanently from now on. That would give the clan back some honour".
Earlier in the day Johnny and ash were alone in a room. Ash sat in an armchair while Johnny walked back and forth in front of the fireplace. Ash spoke.
"If I understood correctly, you want me to teach you to behave like a nobleman before the queen's party in three days. There is not much time to work with".
"I know Ash! But if I embarrass myself at the party, the queen will have my head cut off and serve it as a dessert".
"Thank you so much just the picture in my head I needed! I do not think you need to learn so much before the party more than table manners and dancing. At Nana's party, you stepped on my toes 73 times. Luckily, I had special shoes I have the perfect dance teacher for you and tomorrow we will shop. You cannot be in the Queen's palace dressed in a tattered suit".
Ash called in a group of female bodyguards and whispered something to them. The group left the room grinning to find Elsa. She snuck through the corridor so as not to wake Maya when a large group jumped on her and dragged her into a dressing room and forcibly dressed her in a dress and dancing shoes. A little later, a very annoyed Elsa stood in the ballroom in front of a terrified Johnny and a laughing Ash who had placed guards at all the doors with orders not to let Elsa or Johnny come out before she gave the order. Ash knew this would cost her dearly later but now it was worth it.
"Sometimes you need a little motivation. None of you will be let out of here until you can dance perfectly. Now I'm going to take a nap. See you in a few hours".
Ash left the room while Elsa glared at her and Johnny wondered what he had done to Ash to deserve this. Then he figured it out. Today was their anniversary for their first date and he had not courted her. He should have sung love songs under her balcony after all.
"If you step on my toes once, you will not have to worry about a royal party because the only thing you will go to is your own funeral".
Maya was sitting in an armchair in a corner with a mischievous smile. Now Elsa would have to pay. Humiliation was the worst thing she knew, and to wear a dress. Maya brought out a bag of chips and a bottle of soda and enjoyed the show. After Johnny surprisingly survived three hours of dancing with Elsa, Ash returned to the room.
"I see that everyone is alive so that means it must have worked. Now it's time for Lunch, and Johnny, you'll escort Elsa to the table as the gentleman you are. I will follow and make sure everything goes right. If you make a mistake, you can start the dance course again afterwards. Several dishes will be served, and the cutlery is arranged according to a certain pattern. Start from the outside and work your way inward for each dish served. Here is a list of good table manners that I printed from the Internet. Read it tonight and we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Today I will not be so strict at the meal".
They soon came to a dining room where a larger table was set. Ash sat down in a chair where a meal had already been set for her while Johnny with Elsa on his arm pushed out a chair for her and sat down next to her. Elsa wondered how she would get revenge on Ash. Colouring her spikes pink, was a good idea but quite difficult to implement. She would probably come up with something in the end.
Speaking of painting. Buster Moon had received an unpleasant surprise from Ash the same day. A painting company had been called in by the theatre's owner to repaint his office in all sorts of strange colours. Especially colours he did not like. The painters had been paid well and refused to leave his office before the job was done. Buster was frustrated and understood that this was the beginning of the ash revenge plan. He did not want to know what she would come up with next. Rosita and Meena got new equipment installed in their rehearsal rooms because they had not participated in the war against her. While Gunter had all his work clothes exchanged for well-chosen garments he would not like.
Buster sat outside his repainted office, wondering how much it would cost him to repaint everything and whether he should do it himself. Ash was out of the country and could not know what was going on in the theater if he easily repainted his office. And Ash never used the same tactic twice in a row. He needed his ally Gunter, but he had left on vacation and no one else in the group wanted to take up the fight with Ash. His planned singing competition would not irritate her much. A million dollars was nothing to her. But increasing the sum would look strange. No one would give more money than that for a singing competition and he would still have to handle thousands of participants. Well! He still led the war for the theater. Ash had been forced to take everything back and he still had the pictures of her. Nothing would make him give up his conviction to do the right thing. What he did not know was that Ash had already completed her next move.
The day before, Ash had made a call to an old friend who owned the casino in the same city as the Moon Theater.
"Hello Mr. Green! This is Lady Ashlen Monroe Porcupine. I'll call to claim the many services you owe me after rescuing you from prison many times when we went to the same school, and when I lent you a large sum of money. Now listen carefully. every week Buster Moon comes to your casino to play the same slot machine that is linked to the gigantic jackpot the chain you work with gives out. I want him to win that jackpot. Of course, I pay the entire winnings out of my own pocket, but I want you to arrange for him to win when he arrives tomorrow night. I know you can do it. If you do what I want, your debt to me is paid. If not, feel free to pay me the hundred million dollars you owe me with interest."
Ash got what she wanted and the next day Buster was inside the casino and approached the same slot machine he had been trying to win the jackpot for 10 years. He never spent more than $ 100 a week and that was enough for 10 attempts for $ 10 at a time. He pressed the button for the first spin and the machine started flashing and howling like crazy. The screen said he had won $ 71.2 million. For the first time in a long time, Buster fainted.
When Ash heard the story from Mr. Green, she laughed. It was worth more than $ 70 million to win the war against Buster, even if he would never know. Johnny had gone home for the day after lunch to study table manners and buy a large bouquet of roses for Ash for his mistake of missing their anniversary day. Becky had come in during dinner and Ash asked her where she had been all day when she got the answer and the document that promoted her to colonel she did not know if she would laugh or cry.
"Becky! Tomorrow, I want you to call the campaign leader for the opponent in the presidential election this fall and promise him a $ 500 million contribution to the campaign fund. On the condition that if they win the election, they will not find ways to make my life miserable for me. This document was the last thing I needed right now".
Ash went to bed in her big four-poster bed and soon fell asleep. Elsa has tripled the guard force at night and during the day called in reinforcements from porcupine Hall. Early the next morning a large group of Japanese people stood outside the property.
"This is the place where our new lord lives, I mean lady. Our clan has not had a ruler to follow for more than a hundred years. As you all probably know, our clan was unique when it came to ninjas. We were always faithful and served the shogun for 250 years. When he lost power, we lived as bodyguards for hire and spies for the government. 140 years ago, the British ambassador in Japan hired our services when he was threatened with death. But we failed for the first time in our clan's history and the ambassador was assassinated. To save the honour of our clan, all members swore an oath, and this oath applies within the clan forever. As long as the family we failed to protect requests it, we will serve them without question."
"This is the first time ever a retainer to the Porcupine family called on us to follow our promise. Lady Ashlen Monroe Porcupine ss the last of her family and for that reason our last chance to save the honour of our clan. Our orders are to ensure that she does not suffer any damage under our protection. It literally means that we should sacrifice our lives rather than her breaking a finger. She is of royal blood so we must treat her with the utmost respect. Treat her the same way our ancestors treated the shogun".
75 ninjas went through the open gate where they met up with Elsa who had brought them here. After receiving some instructions, the whole group walked towards the entrance to the palace where Ash was just about to walk out the door on her crutches. the 75 ninjas who received a detailed description of Ash and saw a young porcupine in a precious silk dress immediately threw himself on the ground in a kneeling position, with their heads against the ground.
Ash did not understand any of it! Why were there over 70 Asian animals in black clothes kneeling with their heads to the ground in front of her.
"Be greeted my lady! The New Moon clan signs up for service". Everyone said at the same time. Ash was confused and saw Elsa, who grinned with satisfaction at her reaction. Ash turned on Elsa angrily.
"Elsa! What have you come up with now"?
When the laughing Elsa had explained, Ash wanted to both bang her head against the wall and strangle Elsa at the same time. 75 fanatical ninjas. Why not a samurai army too? She turned and went back in without a word. Elsa told the group of ninjas to stand up and accompany her into the palace. The three leaders studied every detail they could see for possible threats and places they could hide if it was necessary to stay out of sight. Ash sat in her room and almost cried in frustration. She knew that Elsa would take revenge for yesterday. But this was too cruel. She could not do anything either as it was stated in Elsa's contract that she had the right to take all possible resources to keep Ash safe. The cost did not matter.
But Ash would soon learn that these 75 ninjas were ready to obey her in everything. Elsa might regret her call to Japan soon.
Queen Victoria III was pleased that all preparations were progressing and that the day after tomorrow, Ash would visit the palace for the first time in 10 years. She had searched through her jewellery collections for a suitable Tiara to wear to the party. It had become a bit of a battle between the porcupine family and the royal family what side could show off the with the finest set of jewels. Usually, tiaras were worn only by married women, but Ash was an exception. The Porcupine family's jewellery collections were legendary and could compete with the crown jewels.
A little later in the day, Johnny was on his way back to Ash with a larger bouquet of roses in one hand and a bag in the other. When he went up the stairs, he felt observed but could not see anyone. What he did not know was that he had 47 red laser dots on his back. He went in without being shot 47 times.
"Lord Greenwood has arrived at the building. According to the leaders, he is not a threat to our lady".
"That's a shame! I have not taken out a threat in over a year now".
"A ninja must be patient. It's not every day an assassin sneak in".
Ash stood on her balcony with binoculars. She saw all the hidden ninjas in the garden and sighed. She too was trained in many martial arts and to discover possible threats against her. What Elsa did not know was that Ash could speak fluent Japanese and many other languages. She had heard some ninjas discussing under her balcony and understood every word they said. Ash picked up a Paintball Sniper rifle with a scope and a range of 250 feet. She crawled down behind the railing on the balcony. She aimed at a ninja's butt and pressed the trigger on the rifle. A surprised ninja jumped when his ass was hit by a projectile. Soon, several ninjas had encountered the same thing, and all were scouting in different directions to try to find out where the enemy was. Meanwhile, Ash had put away her rifle and snuck back into her bedroom. She was not impressed.
"Ninjas huh! My scout group would do better".
Ash was unfair to the group of ninjas. Because she lived next to a military base, her father had hired one of the United States' best snipers to train her in various techniques since she was 8 years old. for 7 years every summer for a month she had learned to shoot, hide and everything that came with it, like surviving in nature. Ash was a fully trained sniper.
The ninja group was confused. Someone had shot several of them with paintball bullets and they could not find who. They wondered which super soldier could sneak up on 50 ninjas without being detected. They swore that they would find this person and acknowledge their respect. When they asked Elsa, she was surprised and could not understand who had done it, but when some of them saw Ash sitting on her balcony and polishing a paintball gun, many were embarrassed.