The wind blows strongly against my face, forcing the sweat out of my eyes.

Fear quickly replaces it.

I'm 80 stories up on the roof of hi-tech skyscraper, only I'm surrounded by a decorative Japanese rock garden, complete with dojo and one of those fancy carp ponds whose name escapes me at the moment. There's a bunch of other authentic Japanese stuff I don't know around me, but I recognize it from all the anime I've watched.

I'm in the middle of Manhattan and feudal Japan at the same time.

To top it all off, a helicopter is landing 50 feet from me.

And, oh yeah, there's like 100 Foot ninjas here, all lined up near the helipad. Apparently there are several types of Foot, including some very scary-looking guys in large straw hats. It reminds me of that scene in Return of the Jedi when the emperor comes to the new Death Star.

So the guy in the helicopter must be the Emperor of the Hand.

Panic begins to set in, so I look over at Sato in a pathetic attempt to calm down.

She winks at me and then turns away to watch the chopper touch down.

I smile. I know she's got to be as nervous as I am, but she'll be damned if she's going to show it. I find myself liking her more and more each time I see her.

I glance at the rest of my class.

Takara's face is almost expressionless, but his eyes gleam with all too familiar arrogance. He simply stares ahead, stance relaxed.

God, I hate him.

I thought beating the crap out of him yesterday would get it out of my system, but that smug look on his face just makes me want to do it again. Of course, the fight was a lot more evenly matched than I would like to admit. To be honest, it could have gone either way.

I move on to Jesse. She, at least, looks a bit nervous.

Her eyes meet mine and I smile instinctively.

She gives me the barest hint of a grin and looks away.

That's Jesse. Always has to be the tough girl. She's a better fighter than Sato, but not nearly as agile. Still, I wouldn't mind having her at my back in a fight.

Theo and Shea are standing close to together, they don't look at me at all, but I can see the sweat forming on their brows. Theo's African-American and Shea's a white guy like me. They've been best buds since our group began training. Kind of like me and Billy before he got crippled. Both of them are standup guys, though. It'd be fine with me if either of them made the cut.

But the fact is, two of us aren't going on to the next level.

Master Yoshi explained everything to us this morning.

It's basically hide and seek, ninja style. We will have a 10 minute head start in which to disappear into the city, and then teams of Foot will attempt to track us down and capture us. We are allowed to fight back, although no weapons are to be used. The first two captured are out of luck. The rest of us pass.

None of us asked what happens to the ones who fail.

We really don't want to know.

A roar from the assembled Foot Clan members draws my attention to the helipad.

The doors have opened and a single man steps out.

He's covered head to toe in the scariest armor I've ever seen. Curved spikes are everywhere. Shoulders, forearms, shins. Hell, even his helmet has them.

I wouldn't even begin to know how to effectively attack him without slicing myself to ribbons. Not that I would in my most deranged and wildly insane thoughts ever consider such an attack.

Because this guy SCARES the living shit out of me.

I thought Hun was intimidating, but I now realize Hun's nothing. Hun's a frickin' teddy bear. Hun's a Cabbage Patch kid. He's the Easter Bunny. He's a puppy, wagging his tail and licking your face compared to this armored visage of death.

Who is striding purposefully towards us

right

this

very

second.

He stops exactly 10 feet in front of us and quickly takes us in.

I'm really wishing I had a mask, but trainee's aren't allowed those.

I swear his eyes are glowing underneath that helmet, which covers his entire face. They flickered over me for only a few seconds, but it seems to last a lifetime. I suddenly realized that I've been holding my breath. Probably for a very long time.

"Thank you, Master Shredder," Sensei Yoshi says gracefully, bowing with some flourish. We immediately follow his lead. "We are humbled by your presence for our exit exam."

"This had better not be a waste of my time, Yoshi. Your recruits have been somewhat disappointing as of late."

Sensai Yoshi's face reddens a bit at that remark, but he remains silent.

Even this guy's voice scares me.

"Introduce yourselves," The Shredder commands.

One by one, we step forward. Whatever the others say is a blur as my heart pounds. I'm fourth in line, and all to soon, it's my turn.

I step forward smartly, body practically on auto-pilot.

"Initiate Thomas Wilson, Master Shredder," I state as firmly as I can, bowing.

I'm about to return to the line when the Shredder does something he didn't do to any of the others. He asks me a question.

"Wilson?" The Shredder cocks his head slightly, "Hun's recruit?"

I nod, heart doing a rather impressive imitation of a jackhammer.

He looks back at Hun, who's standing in line near the four really scary ninjas.

"I hope he lives up to his reputation, Hun. I will look forward to his performance."

Shredder gestures for me to return to my place and I glance at Hun.

His eyes tell me everything I need to know.

If I mess up, he's gonna kill me himself.

---

The ground speeds towards me at a weird angle as I fall.

A few months ago, I'd have been screaming my head off, seconds away from becoming a chunky, red smear that some poor NYC sanitation worker would have had to clean up.

But not now.

I've got Foot training now.

Of course, that doesn't stop me from screaming my head off on the inside.

I utilize the techniques Master Yoshi painstakingly taught us and somehow manage to slow my fall enough to land on the roof of a nearby building several stories below Foot Headquarters.

I stumble a bit and roll rather haphazardly but quickly regain my footing and take off. The only thing on my mind right now is to put some distance between myself and my pursuers.

So I repeat the whole scared-out-of-my-mind-while-I-fall-to-my-apparent-death routine several more times until I finally pause a mere two stories above the street.

I take a few deep breaths and try to figure out my next move.

"What took you so long?"

I jump like a total rookie and spun into a defensive crouch.

Sato grins at me from a fire escape only ten feet above me on a neighboring building, "Slow poke."

I shake my head in disbelief.

"How the hell did you---?"

She drops gracefully to the roof and bows, "A true master never reveals her secrets."

An idea dawns on me.

"Hey, you wanna hook up?"

She tilts her head, giving me a strange look, and I realize what I just said.

"I mean, do you want to team up? Team up! You know, work together? They probably won't be expecting that!"

She smirks at my pathetic attempt to cover my Freudian slip, but then shakes her head, "Sorry, Tommy! Stealth is my specialty, and you'll only cramp my style."

She begins to run towards me.

"And since we all know you suck at stealth—"

She leaps gracefully over me.

"---you better get moving."

And disappears into the darkness below.

I swear and take off in another direction.

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Author's Note: Not feeling much love from you guys for Tommy. Leave a review if you're enjoying his adventure.