It was dawn. The bright orange sun was rising over the horizon. Near the mountains rested a large structure that was about ten stories high. The bottom level looked like a dojo.
About a half mile away, a black car with tinted windows had pulled over on the path. Four men got out, all of them Japanese. They wore all black business suits, with the exception of orange shirts under their coats. They noticed the building up ahead and started walking..
Inside the dojo, three men were together, all in their 40s. They were dressed in black ninja suits, but without masks.
Master Park was kicking a bag. He made several grunts and yells, attacking with hands and feet.
Masters Chenka and Kai stood a few feet away, in front of a counter top. They both were plunging their hands into a pot that was facing them. One pot held pebbles; the other was filled with steel bearings. They were repititiously taking jabs into their pots, going faster than before, and with more force..
Suddenly, thefour men in trenchcoats and orange shirts came in. The same men who had parked their car some distance away from this place. One of them picked up a clipboard near the door. "Ahh.. yes. Chenka, Kai, and Park. Very good!"
Park, the farthest away, stopped his bag training and turned around. "What do you want? No one is permitted to come without permission first.. and we have no one scheduled now."
Chenka stopped moving his hands in the pebbles. Kai stopped his actions as well. There was something about these.. guests. They were certainly not students, they didn't have that naive air about them.
Park looked, making eye contact with the men. No, they were not mere visitors, and they certainy were not lost tourists. They were.. killers!
One of the assassins held up his hand, three thin blades rested there, one between each finger. He looked at Park and threw the knives at him.
Park had no time.. in about a second's time, the blades were already in him, one in each vital spot: neck, eyes, head. He frantically tried to pull them all out, but it was too late. He bled profusely, falling to the floor with a thud. Dead.
This caused the other two to become enraged with thoughts of retribution. Kai ran at them, making loud sounds of rage.
But the second assassin attacked him first. Before the rushing warrior could throw a punch, the Tiger had put his left hand on the right side of Kai's neck and grabbed the windpipe with his right hand.
Kai struggled against the crushing grip, trying to pry the hands off him. But it was no use. It was like fighting a machine.
The killer pulled forward with the right hand, while holding the left hand firmly in place. There was a prolonged cracking sound; Kai screamed in torment. The trachea quickly came out, leaving the throat open, bleeding, with broken bone fragments sticking out of the skin. Then, he released his hold on the man.
Dead now, the man fell down, leaving lots of red liquid on the floor.
Chenka covered his mouth, feeling sick. Fearing for his life now, he backed up against the wall. Fear was in his eyes, terror filled his soul. He was alone now, against four of these men. He was trying to think of an escape route, but there didn't seem to be any way out.
They seemed to know what he was thinking, because they surrounded him then, barring him from any chance of leaving.
The fourth killer smiled. "Don't worry, Robert Chenka. We won't kill you today. We need you to deliver a message. Go to your Foot Clan Councilmen. Tell them what happened. They are now at war with the Sing Wah! The Tiger kills without mercy. Tell them!"
"Yes.." Chenka was scared out his mind. Even though they said he would live, he was still very much afraid. "Yes, sir. I will."
Kai's killer wiped his bloody hands on Chenka's uniform, pawing him, leaving the blood-marks on his kimono. Then he laughed. "Show them the bodies. We're going to destroy The Foot Clan organization at every level. Every dojo of theirs in any country.
they ALL die! We start in New York with Saki's group."
Chenka looked concerned, as well as afraid. "What? You mean, Oroku Saki?"
The first man nodded. "Yes.. the Shredder."
Chenka replied, "But.. but we haven't seen him in over twenty years! Not since the Council took him on personally, for advanced training. After that, he was sent to America, so we could have branch in New York.. and in time, it would spread out to the rest of the country."
The fourth man shrugged. "Well, that's about to be cut off. The Foot Clan will be wiped off the face of the Earth! Tell the Council everything we told you and show them this scene that took place. The Sing Wah are their worst enemy now! And don't disturb the bodies in any way. We want them to see it as it is, don't clean up anything, nothing!"
The first man leaned close, staring evilly into Chenka's eyes. "The tiger kills without mercy." Then he joined his three partners.
They walked out of the room then, leaving the terrified man to himself.
After about fifteen minutes had passed, Chenka mustered up enough courage to move again. He walked to the desk and picked up the phone, nervously dialing the number. "Hell-hello? Y-yes... uh.. yes, this is Master Robert.. Chenka. Something horrible has happened! Parks and Kai were both killed right in front of me! Their dead.. both dead. They just walked in.. and.. killed them!"
Chenka sighed, nodding in agreement to the person on the other line. "Yes.. sorry. You're right, we should call a meeting. They told me to say that.. the tiger kills without mercy." The man looked at the bodies, at the blood that was seeping into the floor. "I think I will need to see a Council member over here right away, to look at this. And, umm.. he may want to bring a barfbag and a mop."