There was a reason why Howard watched the ninja's fights from a distance, and that was because, at times, they would become bloody battles rather than a beautifully executed sword dance.

After his declaration of being out of bombs, the ninja was quick in understanding that the large boy was unable to travel on the rafters without slipping every step, putting his life in danger. With the upper route out of question, he had no other choice than jump down and start a massive fight with both swords drawn.

On top of his perch, Howard watched in morbid fascination as the creatures moved together, creating a sea of dark fur and malevolent white eyes. When they jumped to attack, the demonic critters looked like raging waves that were ready to swallow their prey, but every time they did that, they were met with the metallic glint of a sword swinging too fast to be seen. The ninja himself was just one fluid movement after another, never stopping and using the momentum of a thrust or a slice to give strength to his next attack.

Minutes passed, the only sounds filling the corridor being that of the raging battle, until with one final lunge and slice, the last of the critters fell to the ground. The ninja didn't relax at first, but chose to adopt a ready position with his swords raised as he wildly turned his head left and right. Satisfied that no more demonic rats were approaching, he let his arms fall to his sides and closed his eyes.

"Are you ok?"

The sudden, uncertain voice made him look up at the boy still perched on the rafters. "Yeah," he replied with a small sigh. He swung his swords a bit to get rid of the inky blood and replaced them into his back pocket. "Come on, let's get going before more comes."

Howard looked down at the ground. It was hard to see because the wood was already dark by itself, but there were cut bodies everywhere and the stench of blood was nauseating. "There are more?" he asked, gulping and clenching the rafter he was sitting on. "I thought they were all here..."

"This is not the first group I fight," the ninja answered tiredly as he pushed dead rats around to free the floor directly under the other boy. "Third one, to be exact. It was supposed to be an easy job... blast a few rats and be back in time for lunch. Then... this!" A hand clad in black vaguely waved at the mass of dead critters to emphasize his last words. When the motion was over, the ninja looked at the beasts with a frown. "I never expected it to be such an invasion... I've been down here since early morning. After a while I was out of bombs and forced to move on the rafters to avoid conflict."

"Man, you have it really bad..." Howard said as he ungracefully jumped down to the ground. When he landed, his feet produced a small splashing sound and the boy grimaced upon seeing the inky blood splatter on his shoes. "This is..."

"Completely wonk?" the ninja finished for him, kicking a dead rat in frustration as he walked down the corridor. "This place has been overrun with these lesser demons for centuries now. They are like normal rats, only smarter. I wouldn't bother getting rid of them if it wasn't necessary..."

The stout boy looked at the ninja in confusion, then rushed to catch up with him. He decided to walk a few feet behind him so that if something popped out of a side corridor or a wall, he wouldn't get in the way. As they moved in silence, or rather, the ninja walked in silence while he caused a cacophony of sounds every time his foot landed on the floor, Howard couldn't help but look around trying to memorize each turn they were taking.

"So..." the boy cringed at how loud his voice sounded through the maze. He just hoped that he wasn't annoying the ninja. The last thing he wanted was to be left alone while hundreds, maybe thousands of those demonic rats were scurrying around hunting for fresh meat. "What is this place anyway? I doubt it's a basement where you store junk you don't want to throw away."

The warrior stopped and turned around to look at Howard with calculating eyes, thinking if he should reply truthfully or dismiss the question with a 'that's a secret you shouldn't be aware of'. But the large boy had already found his way into the underground tunnels, and the place wasn't a secret anymore to him.

"Can you promise me to not tell anyone?" he asked. He crossed his arms and stared right into the other's eyes, wanting to make sure that Howard would be telling him the truth, whatever it was. "It's already bad that you found this place. Think what would happen if everyone wanted to come down here to find me..."

And Howard understood why it was important that no one knew of the tunnels they were in. If a person, or more, decided to explore the place, the demonic rats would be feasting on them and the ninja would have to work overtime to save everyone. "I won't tell," he said with a nod, never taking his eyes off from the blue ones. "Although... I have to admit... it's gonna be hard to not tell. I mean, I'm here with you, the Ninja, and as much as terrifying those things are, this is a dream come true! People would do anything to be in my place!"

The ninja chuckled at the enthusiasm displayed by the other boy. "Aren't you worried of getting hurt?" he asked as he slowly took a rolled parchment as long as his arm out of his front pocket. The paper was yellowed by time and the edges were so torn and frayed that they had to be held together by adhesive tape.

Howard shrugged, a small frown on his face. "Yeah. Part of me wants to get out of this place as soon as possible," he said. "And be back in my room, playing Grave Puncher with a large plate of nachos in front of me."

There was the sound of old paper unfolding as the ninja spread the old scroll on the ground, revealing a complex maze of faded lines and ancient scribbles. "It might not look like it," he started to explain as he placed his sais onto each corner of the map to keep it unfolded. "But these tunnels were built before the city, and every time a new zone is built, new paths are dug. I'm not entirely sure why it looks like a maze, though. Something about keeping enemies lost and trapped within, but I never paid attention to that part of the story..."

The more he listened to the ninja, the more Howard saw him less like a hero and more like a normal boy of his same age. It was amusing to see how the masked warrior was muttering to himself like he would do during hours spent on homework. Deep down, the stout boy wondered what kind of life the ninja led when he wasn't fighting monsters and saving people.

One black finger pointed to a small staircase drawn near the center of the map, shaking Howard out of his thoughts. "I believe you came down from the residential district since I made sure all the other entrances are closed. Right now..." the ninja paused and pointed another zone of the map with his other finger. It wasn't on the other side of the maze, but at the same time it wasn't exactly close to where Howard had entered from. "...we're here."

Howard looked up from the map and observed the corridor they were in, trying to catch glimpse of any detail that could help him figure out their position on the map. "How do you know we're there?" he asked. The only difference he could see was that there were no dead rats around them. "There is no 'you are here' sign hanging on the walls..."

The ninja shrugged and replaced his sais into the back pocket of his suit. As he did that, the map rolled up on its own with a loud rustle and all the warrior had to do was to put it away. "I... don't know it myself..." he admitted. "I just do. I couldn't get lost in here even if I tried..."

"That must come in handy," Howard commented as he started to follow the ninja again. This time, however, he found himself walking side by side with him rather than behind him, and he really enjoyed that. Not because he was walking and talking with a hero, but because he was doing so with someone that wasn't making fun of him for his large built.

They spent perhaps over half a hour like that, talking about random things and exchanging opinions on something, finding out how little the ninja knew about everyday life. While he knew a lot about what he was pitted against in his fights, he was completely lacking on the knowledge of videogames, TV shows and a lot of things that were a must in the modern world.

"I'm serious, Ninja," Howard pressed, frantically waving his arms into the air. It was a good thing his loud voice wasn't attracting more of the demonic rats as they made their way back to the staircase leading to the residential district. "You have to play it! Grave Puncher was labeled as the best game! Game of the century even!"

The ninja watched in bemusement as the shorter boy started to rant about how good that game was. He shook his head and placed a hand onto the other's shoulder to calm him down. "I don't think I have time for that," he said, voice tinted with resignation. "Or anything that has nothing to do with what I do."

Howard stared for a moment, then crossed his arms and stopped to glare at the ninja. "And what do you do when you're not fighting some monster or robot?" he asked, his eyes narrowing with each word he said. "Sleep all the time?"

Not that he could blame him. If all of the ninja's fights were like the one he had seen earlier, he had all the rights in the world to spend more hours than normal to rest. What he doubted, however, was that the warrior would spend every single free moment sleeping and lolling about. His body was too fit for him to be lazy.

"I either train or meditate," was the reply. The ninja looked down at his hands and flexed them, a deep frown on his masked face. "Or try to remember. My... book... can only tell me about ninja stuff and give out cryptic advices. The rest is up to me to figure out."

Those were the only words he spoke before he resumed walking. Howard quickly caught up and tried to find words to voice his thoughts, occasionally glancing at his side to see if the ninja was angry with him. All he saw, however, was a sad and lonely kid that had a very big burden on his shoulders.

"It was... about two years ago," the ninja spoke softly, not knowing why he had suddenly started to blurt out his secrets to someone he had just met. Perhaps it was to relieve some of his frustration or reorder his own ideas. Or maybe because he just wanted someone to listen to him. "I don't remember any of it, but I was told that the robot I fought against blew up and knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I had no idea who I was or where I was."

Howard cringed and shivered. He could remember that happening. At the time it had been all over the news and videos and articles about it could still be found on the internet. The part that had made his blood run cold was when one of the teachers of the high school had picked the ninja in his arms and had carried him away. In that moment, the hero of Norrisville had appeared small and frail.

Howard was not sure if he should be feeling relieved or sad. True, having amnesia was a horrible thing, but at the same time there had been no permanent damage and a week later the ninja was back in action, destroying robots, returning monsters to normal and saving people.

"Man, that's shnasty..." he said, looking up at the ninja once again. "You don't even remember your name? Or how old are you? Nothing at all?"

At each question, the ninja shook his head. "Nothing. Name's still a mystery and I can only guess my own age," he paused and sighed in deject. "The only thing I'm sure of is that I am Ninja. It's kind of weird, because I know there were others before me, but I feel like they were... stand ins? One of them even returned the suit to me when I woke up from one year of coma..."

In that moment, Howard's brain decided to take a screeching halt and try to figure out what he had just heard. "Wait, you were in a coma for a year and someone else took your place? So there are more than one ninja? No one ever saw more than one of you running around."

The ninja shook his head once again. "That's because the suit I'm wearing is the only one in existence. Many could dress up in black and red and fight, but none of them would be able to withstand the attacks from those monsters like the suit's wearer can. That's why there is always only one ninja fighting."

Howard was flabbergasted, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to form words. Despite being a logical conclusion, no one had ever though that there could be different people behind the mask, taking turns to fight monsters or passing down the suit when they were too old to do so. "Well, that explain the 'eight hundred years' part of the story..."

Without realizing it, the two finally came to the staircase that led to the residential district above and stopped. Howard looked at it with an unhappy frown, then turned his attention back to the ninja and tried to smile as best as he could despite cringing at the idea of returning to his family and the boredom of their conversation.

"You've been down here for quite a while," the ninja spoke suddenly, breaking Howard's train of thoughts about his parents and sister. "If they ask, just tell them you were helping Cunningham's son in the basement."

"Cunningham?" Howard asked with a pensive frown. "Ain't that the lady's name? Wait, she's your mother?"

There was a quiet laugh and the ninja patted the large boy on the back. "No, she's just my doctor. But there are times that she sure acts like one," he replied in amusement. "Sooo... I'll be really happy if you don't tell her that the rat infestation is worse than we originally thought."

Howard nodded in understanding and moved towards the stairs. He was not sure what he should do to thank the ninja for having saved his life, or how he should part from him. He didn't want to appear cheesy or like the other fans that looked at the hero and not the person behind the mask. The ninja didn't deserve that kind of treatment from him. Sure, it was nice to be loved by all and be worshiped, but he knew that he needed to show his appreciation in a really meaningful way.

The half a hour spent talking with him came back and Howard remembered how hopelessly lost the ninja was when talking about videogames and fun in general. The confusion and wonder shown when he had described the latest games had made him laugh at the time. And then, as if to counter the lighthearted moments, there was the one where he had seen him as a sad and lonely soul.

Stopping right before his foot landed on the first step, he turned around and stared at the ninja. "This might sound weird, but do you have a phone?" he asked, hoping that his sudden outburst wasn't taken the wrong way.

His worries were cast aside when the ninja took a phone out of his belt and silently handed it to him. It was one of the latest models, black with red linings, and could be voice controlled into doing certain tasks. Very useful if the ninja needed to make a call and had no time to stop to dial the number.

"I hope you're not planning to spread my number around," the ninja's joking voice made Howard look up with a raised eyebrow. "It'd be annoying to receive calls from fans while I'm in the middle of a fight."

Howard slanted his eyes, his mind picturing the ninja fighting a huge robot when all of a sudden the ringing phone distracted him. The outcome of that scene was either him getting punched into the sky like a rocket or flattened to the ground like a pancake.

"Uh, no. That's... I'm not my sister!" he replied hastily as he shook his head to clear it from the images. He returned his attention back to the phone and started to fiddle with it. "Look, I don't know what I can do, but if you ever need something or just need to hang around someone that isn't trying to kill you..."

Without finishing his sentence, Howard returned the phone and motioned at it with his hand, showing that under the few numbers already listed there was a new one accompanied by the name of its owner. The ninja stared at it for a moment, then pocketed his phone and nodded in gratitude. "You better go," he said indicating the stairs with a motion of his head. "Or you might miss dinner."

At the mention of dinner, Howard's stomach grumbled loudly, but before departing he pointed a finger towards the ninja's face and glared. "Remember, Ninja" he whispered, trying to intimidate the other despite knowing it was impossible. "You, me, Grave Puncher, my house. You have to play that game."

The laughter that filled the corridor was somewhat liberating and Howard couldn't help but laugh alongside the ninja for a good few moments. "Fine, you win this time," the masked warrior crossed his arms and leaned against the wall to his right. "I can't promise anything, but I'll see what I can do between a giant robot and a fanged monster."

"Same thing," Howard replied, turning around and taking the first step on the stairs, knowing that if he lingered longer he wouldn't go back at all. Not even if there was a plate full of tacos waiting for him at the top. Hanging around with the ninja to talk about games and anything random they could think of had been the funniest thing he had done in a long while.

"Thanks, Howard."

The voice had been a whisper, barely audible, but Howard still heard it. He smiled and turned around to reply, only to find out that the ninja had disappeared without leaving any trace. Not even the characteristic red smoke of a Smoke Bomb. Howard's smile disappeared only for a second before he shook his head and climbed the stairs, chuckling to himself.

The day had turned out to be much better than he had originally thought it would be.

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A/N: Hopefully they aren't too OOC. It's hard to keep them with their original personalities when the story is AU.