A/N: I'm excited for tonight's TF Prime episode. As for the Pheromone (for those of you who are reading it), I'm having a bit of trouble working out the kinks for the next chapter. PM me with any ideas you may have.
Chapter 27
ShadowStrike arrived at the Prime Minister's office building, standing on the building right in front of it. He watched as several people entered the building, either citizens looking to take their complaints to the PM or employees at the building (and possibly Foot Ninja in disguise). The ninja scanned the building with his eyes, searching for any entry point that wouldn't reveal his presence. He jumped to the next building, his gaze never leaving the building. He put any thought of Sunny in the back of his mind at the moment, knowing the girl was secure.
Deciding to take a closer look, ShadowStrike leapt onto the side of the building, avoiding any security. He looked in the windows and caught two employees against the wall, making out. He shook his head and began to lower himself. He hoped to find an entrance in the rear of the building so he could enter. He considered asking one of the employees for help, but decided against.
Most, if not all, of them were under the Shredder's employ, meaning that even they gave him the information, they would alert the others immediately. He thought about taking the information by force and just killing them, but chose not to. He didn't know who did what; he could kill an important engineer or something and his death wouldn't go unnoticed. No, he had to keep searching without drawing attention to himself. Moving swiftly through the darkness, he caught the sight of something.
Landing on the ledge, he saw a meek looking man being surrounded by what appeared to be a biker gang. The leader approached menacingly, "Now yer gonna tell us how to get in the building."
"So you can help yourselves to the valuable material inside and cost me my job," he shook his head frantically. "Forget it!"
"Now it looks like we're gonna have ta do dis the hard way," he pulled out and a started swinging. The man backed away in fear, only to run into the wall, shaking in fear. He threw the chain before tugging it forward, only for it to stop. The leader pulled again, thinking it was just caught on something before turning around. His eyes widened as he saw the other end of the chain being clutched by ShadowStrike.
"What the fuck are you?" he asked.
"A concerned citizen here to talk the Prime Minister about the trouble with gangs around here," he replied. "Let him go and we can all go home in one piece."
"Screw you," he said, pulling on the chain.
"I tried to be diplomatic," he sighed. He tugged the chain forward and impaled the gang leader on his sword. The man coughed up blood and the ninja yanked his blade from his gut. "Now have you goons here take you to the nearest hospital. If you manage to live from this experience, stay away from here." He pushed the man into the gang and they quickly darted out of the alley.
"Thank you," the man replied sheepishly. He tried to walk past the ninja, but he brought his arm to stop. The man sighed, "You want to know you to get into the building, don't you?"
"Preferably without being seen," he said.
"I can't," the man said with pleading eyes. "If you steal anything, I'll lose my job."
"I'm not here to steal anything," ShadowStrike replied. "I just have some 'business' to discuss with some people. I promise I won't steal anything." The man still looked unsure, "If you're that insecure than how about showing me a path that has no cameras. That way, you won't be seen even if I get caught."
The man sighed, "I might know a way in."
ShadowStrike Rising
Agent Fowler waited outside of General Bryce's office, having been summoned for a special assignment. The events of today were fresh in the agent's mind and made his blood boil. Having to escort Oroku Saki around the U.S., more importantly, the Autobot base was the most infuriating thing he'd ever been asked to do. He may have been a soldier, and a loyal one at that, but even he had his limits. If it wasn't for the fact that the President herself had asked him to do it, he would have downright refused.
He was glad that Saki would be leaving for Japan in the morning, without him having to oversee it all. One more moment in that man's presence and the agent would have lost total control, even if it cost him his job (or life). He still couldn't believe that bastard had Miko's parents under surveillance and ready to be killed on his order. He was even more worried that the man had come looking for Jack, but he had to put those thoughts aside as General Bryce summoned him. Entering the office, he saluted the general before taking his seat.
"Bill," he said. "I'd like to apologize for making escort Saki around against your will."
"I was just following orders sir," the man replied with a hint of bitterness. "Is that all?"
"No," Bryce replied. "I understand that you have been using our resources for something other than aiding the Autobots in the field." Fowler stiffened. For the past five months, he'd had the best investigators under his command searching for Jack, only to come up with zilch. "After 'reminding' them of the consequences of performing unauthorized missions, they told us about the children."
"General," Fowler began.
"It is one thing to involve civilians, Bill," the general interrupted. "But to involve children and then lose one of them? What is going on and don't give me anymore bullshit."
Fowler sighed, "After the termination of the Autobot, Cliffjumper, Arcee went to Jasper to blow off some steam. There, she encountered Jack Darby. Soon afterward, two Decepticon troopers attacked. Arcee was forced to bring Mr. Darby along and then encountered Rafael Esquivel. When they were to be retrieved the next day, Miko Nakadai saw them in their robot forms and the rest is history. Optimus Prime placed them under the 'Bots' direct protection and they've been doing a good job."
"That doesn't change the fact that they're children, Bill," General Bryce said. "If anything happens to them, what do we tell the next of kin?"
"That's not a problem with Mr. Darby," Fowler said. "Some time ago, his mother, June Darby, became aware of the Autobots presence. She is an adult and a nurse, so she can treat any injuries the kids might sustain, not that the 'Bots let them go into any dangerous situations, of course."
"And yet one of them is missing," the general raised an eyebrow.
"Jack Darby. But that has nothing to do with the 'Cons. There was an issue at the base and Mr. Darby ran away. Since then, we've been doing everything in our power to try and find him."
"With no luck? What if the Decepticons have captured him and are interrogating him for information?"
"From what I've heard from Prime, Megatron wouldn't pass up an opportunity to gloat about capturing Mr. Darby. Plus, as I'm sure you know, it's been five months. If Megatron had information regarding the Autobots' location, he would have already attacked by now."
"All right, Bill," Bryce said, seeming to relax at this news. "I won't tell the five stars about this, but I will have to inform the President. Now there's the matter of the assignment you were informed of. As you know, since your encounter with MECH and reports that Prime Minister Saki is working with them, our men have had a hard time trying to uncover any evidence. They Military Tribunal has decided to send in one agent to go to Japan and get any information on Saki that we can use to remove him from power and stop any of MECH's activities."
"And they've chosen me?" Fowler stated rather than asked.
"No, I did. I figured that after a day being Saki's whipping boy, you'd jump at the chance to be the one to knock him off his high horse."
Fowler smiled slightly, stood, and saluted, "It'd be an honor sir. I'll go to Japan in the morning and find out any information I can that might lead to the capture of MECH and the removal of Oroku Saki as Prime Minister." With that, he left the room.
ShadowStrike Rising
ShadowStrike the engineer for the Prime Minister's office building walked around back to find a secret entrance, marked by the Foot Ninja's symbol. According to the technician, this entrance was used for the Foot Clan's comings and goings for their meetings. Their meeting for tonight had been postponed until their master returned from his trip to the U.S. The engineer knew this as insurance in case Saki ever decided to "cut him loose".
"This is the only entrance without any cameras. The tunnels below run beneath sea level, so you can sneak in without being detected.
"Thanks," he said as he entered the tunnel, not bothering to turn back since the engineer had left as quickly as possible. He walked down the tunnel, a small light at the end growing bigger as he got closer. When he exited the tunnel, he found himself on a walkway, another one right across a gap. Water poured down to the side, falling into a swirling pit. He walked along the walkway, searching for an entrance to the upper levels.
He saw a bridge leading to the other side, but kept looking for any other passages, not wanting to be trapped by its confined space. ShadowStrike continued on, looking for any openings when a voice called out, "Welcome, brother." He turned to the bridge and from the shadows of the entrance across, Oni-Kage stepped out of the shadows.
"Oni-Kage," he remembered when the Shredder's daughter addressed him when they first met. It had been five months since then and the ninja had changed. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Does this mean you work for the Foot?"
"Not at all," he replied. "I have not been associated with them for years now. I am servant to no one now. But that is not why I have come here, brother."
"Brother? Since when are we related?"
"We are not," he replied flatly. "But our swords call to one another as if they were two long lost siblings. As their wielders, we are brothers."
"Touching," ShadowStrike replied. "I don't suppose you want to get out of my way, 'brother'?"
"I do not care about your reason for coming here," Oni-Kage said. "But now that I have you in my sights, we will duel. I can see that you have become stronger, your resolve sharper than ever." He grew Uramasa and took a Kendo stance.
"So be it," ShadowStrike drew Getsuga and took his own stance. The two men stood in silence, the falling of water being the only sound heard. The two men eyed each other intently, even from a distance. They gripped their swords tightly, loosing and replacing the grip repeatedly. During this time they remembered how their individual journeys led up to this moment.
ShadowStrike had trained with the Tribunal to get to this point, even if he wasn't aware of it. He traveled across Japan, hoping to find a peaceful life, only to find that he couldn't escape the darkness. He decided to strike back at the Shredder by ruining whatever plan he had brewing at this moment. Now he was here and all that stood in his way was Oni-Kage. This ninja seemed hell bent on fighting him in a duel and now he was about to get his wish.
Finally, they charged at each other, moving at inhuman speed to cross the gap that separated them. They met over the narrow bridge and clashed sword, the sound of their echoing throughout the area. Still in the air, they separated, landing on the bridge. They charged at each other and were locked in combat yet again. They slashed their blades together, moving with expert speed and precision.
Oni-Kage swung at ShadowStrike, who ducked under the blade and attempted to strike from behind. With his back turned, Oni-Kage adjusted Uramasa in his grip and blocked the attack. They remained locked in this position, eyes burning into each other.
"Get out of my way!" ShadowStrike demanded. "This battle has nothing to do with you!"
"Wrong," Oni-Kage replied calmly. "I have been waiting for one such as you to come along and now that you are here, I will finally be able to test my metal." They separated and continued to clash, moving from area to area as black blurs colliding with each other. Once again finding themselves at a distance, Oni-Kage's blade charged with a purple electricity and he launched an energy wave. ShadowStrike blocked it with his sword but was pushed back. He charged his own blade with a black, red outlined, energy and fired at Oni-Kage.
He dodged this with ease and continued the attack, both men keeping each other at bay with their attacks. This was what he had been waiting for, an opponent who could match his skill move for move. He knew from the moment Uramasa sensed his presence here that ShadowStrike had changed. He was more detached from his emotions, more willing to kill. That was what he had to be in order to walk out of this alive.
ShadowStrike continued to push Oni-Kage back with each one of his strikes, only for the ninja to fight back with equal force and push him back. They continued to clash blades, twirling them around as they made contact with one another. Finally, Oni-Kage managed to land the first cut on ShadowStrike, cutting his shoulder. The ninja reeled back and returned the blow by cutting Oni-Kage at the side. Their blades, still firmly in each other, they pulled back.
Their blood splattered on the ground below as it flowed from their wounds, both men panting slightly from the pain. They attacked again, Oni-Kage cutting along ShadowStrike's right arm. ShadowStrike ducked under and slashed the ninja's knees. They kept at this pace, clashing blades and slashing each other with great force. They found themselves separated again and were about to attack when Karai jumped from the shadows and blocked both their swords with her own.
"Sorry boys," she sneered. "Visiting hours in the office are over. You're going to have to go home and finish your little cat fight later."
"Be gone wench," Oni-Kage growled. "I warned your father what would happen should his ninja interfere."
"You never said anything about fighting ShadowStrike on Foot Ninja territory," she spat back. ShadowStrike jumped back and disappeared, knowing now was not the best time to fight either of them. Oni-Kage gave a growl and kicked Karai away.
"Tell your father that if he crosses me again, there will be hell to pay." With that, Oni-Kage vanished.
ShadowStrike Rising
A/N: Next time: ShadowStrike and Sunny deal with a gang war in Japan as Agent Fowler prepares to leave for the land of the Rising Sun.