A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Your input is always welcome.
Chapter 45
The Arctic Circle was hailed as the coldest place on Earth due to its extreme temperatures. Snow blanketed the ice as harsh winds twirled, threatening to freeze. There was almost zero life save for the animals that were somehow able to brave the harsh conditions. And an even more dangerous predator stalked the area in search of his prey. The frozen waste suited its nature as it felt no remorse for the acts about to be committed.
ShadowStrike trudged through the snow as he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of moment. The ninja kept his hand on his sword, ready to draw it and strike down any who would attack them. Despite the cold temperature, the ninja was as warm as could be, thanks to the suit that protected him. And because of the rage that fueled him. The anger that fueled him was the anger being separated from his "daughter" (Yes, he wouldn't deny it anymore), Sunny.
The government had taken her from him because of their misguided sense of duty and now he was hurting. But he wouldn't let it his hurt show; he would express his hurt through his enemies as they came. He would relieve the anger that threatened to burst out of him at the slightest provocation. He laughed at the irony of this all; months ago, he'd anguished over killing a man for the first time. Now, it was all but second nature to him.
He'd strike down any who would stand between him and his mission to bring an end to MECH once and for all. It was because of them that all of this happened. They collaborated with the Shredder to get the Autobots for their experiments. Shedder had thrown him from the cliff and killed him, allowing the Thirteen to find and change him. Once he became ShadowStrike, everything changed; both for the better and the worse.
He wouldn't go over all the heartbreak he'd suffered these last six months; everyone knew pretty well what he'd gone through. All he had left was the mission; and the reason to take the mission. It wasn't honor, duty, or family; it was just anger. He knew it was wrong to feel this way, but he couldn't help it and he didn't want to at the moment. All he wanted was to get this over with.
Whatever deity had been listening that day answered his calls as a MECH soldier, covered in snow gear, jumped out and attacked. He wielded an ice pike and tried to drive it in the ninja's head. In one fluid motion, ShadowStrike dodge, kicked him into the ground and drove his kunai through the man's heart, having kept the metal knife out in the cold. He knew enough science to know that metal, skin, and cold don't mix well. He watched in with cold red eyes as the blood stained the white snow, turning it crimson.
Like paint on a canvas, the blood quickly melted the snow and froze in place, leaving a stain on an otherwise clean landscape. Once the mission was over with, there would be more red; of that, ShadowStrike was sure. He could hear the crunching of feet in snow as MECH agents moved to surround him. Drawing his sword at last, the ninja's masked eyes glowed, "Finally. Someone to hurt."
Without another warning, MECH agents swarmed him, nothing but any sharp tool they could find in their hands. In fluid motions that seemed impossible to perform, ShadowStrike began the massacre. He blocked two soldiers' attack and slashed through them, blood gushing out of their wounds. Another three attacked, only for two of them to meet the same fate and the third to have Getsuga driven into his body. Bones crunching against the metal blade, ShadowStrike removed his sword and allowed the man to fall into the snow.
Perhaps the comforting feel of snow against his skin would relieve the pain currently surging through him at the moment. More came and more fell. It was always the same pattern; they would attack and he would kill. It was almost boring compared to the Foot Clan and the Decepticons; they, at least, put up a fight. As ShadowStrike finished the last of them, two snow mobiles sped toward him.
He moved to dodge them, only for the hind passengers to jump to an equal height and knock him to the ground. Before him stood four MECH commandos, twin blades in each of their hands. Taking their stances, they waited for ShadowStrike to recover (how nice of them). Once he was back to his feet, he quickly engaged them. Blades clashed as he fought, getting a few cuts, but nothing major.
He managed to get into the center and slashed them all in one full swing, sending them to the ground. As he recovered, ShadowStrike was met by the sight of their bodies convulsing when they should be dead. Their muscles grew to inhuman sizes, tearing their uniforms and masks. Standing before ShadowStrike now were four hulking monsters. Their skin was red and their bodies were misshapen.
Their ribs protruded from their bodies and their faces were a set of six red eyes with snarling fangs. Their large claws looked like they could cut through Cybertronian armor like it was butter. ShadowStrike's eyes widened, both surprise and horror, at the creatures before him. Before he could react, one of them leaped on top of him, snarling wildly. They struggled wildly as ShadowStrike drove his kunai into the beast.
It wasn't long before the other beasts started to beat down on him as well, roaring like monsters as they did. The ninja could only do his best to cover himself in an attempt to relive the pain of their blows. Finally having enough, ShadowStrike he was long overdue to see the fruits of his Spirit training with the Tribunal. Charging his spirit energy, he unleashed a powerful shockwave of energy, sending the creatures back. As they recovered, ShadowStrike quickly slashed through them, causing gallons of blood to gush from them.
As they fell to the ground dead, ShadowStrike made a mental note to avoid any MECH commandos, not in the mood to deal with those things again. He decided to activate his commlink, "Raf, I just had a nasty encounter with MECH's latest experiments, how far am I from the underground entrance?"
"You're about ten feet from the entrance," Raf replied. "It should look like a tunnel. All you need to do is slide down."
"That's explains the pikes," he said to himself. Find the opening, ShadowStrike jumped in, sliding down the smooth ice into a massive cavern. "Looks like our intel was off," he said as he adjusted himself in the air. Now, he was gliding to avoid the ice pillars holding up the roof of the cave. Using the pillars to jump towards the entrance, ShadowStrike landed outside what appeared to be an ancient temple.
"I found the entrance, but it looks like some kind of old temple, possibly Mayan," he radioed back.
"Not surprising," Ratchet said. "I'm told your planet went through a multitude of evolutionary changers during its years. It makes sense that a temple built by ancient civilizations would be buried in the most unlikely of places."
"Duly noted, doc," the ninja replied.
"Don't call me 'doc'," he groaned from the other line.
"Whatever you say, Jeffery," ShadowStrike entered the ancient underground ruins, looking at the architecture. He watched as each picture told stories of warriors in black who slayed great evils in service of the world. Hailed as heroes, their identities were never revealed and etc. The ninja walked in silence until he reached the stairs. Thankfully, they were a short ways up, but that wasn't what caught ShadowStrike's attention.
On both sides of the stairs, strange glyphs marked the walls. They looked like what ancient societies called "Fiends", but these looked different. They were almost modern looking, as if they were from the future. As the ninja took a closer look, one of the glyphs' claws shot out of the wall and attacked. Reacting in the nick of time, ShadowStrike back flipped on to the stairs as four Fiends emerged from the walls.
"What the hell," ShadowStrike narrowed his eyes at the creatures as more appeared from the walls. Going up the stairs to get some breathing room, ShadowStrike drew his sword, blood still drying on its blade. The Cyber-Fiends attacked, their claws elongating to a dangerous length. One managed to get behind ShadowStrike and slashed his back, drawing blood. He was quickly dealt with as the ninja struggled against them.
He managed to cut down a few as they swarmed him. Electricity surged in their claws as they slashed at him. He managed to block each attack, but kept getting shocked as they closed in. One of them managed to drive his claw into the ninja's side, drawing more blood. Ignoring the pain and being thankful for the surprisingly warm temperature (no doubt thanks to some MECH heater), ShadowStrike managed to jump onto a gargoyle guarded the large door he just now noticed. As the Cyber-Fiends swarmed, ShadowStrike made a hand sign, "Ninpo: Art of the Piercing Wind!"
Several blades made of pure wind and air spun out from his aura. Proving just how "piercing" they were, the blades managed to slice through a portion that climbed up. Leaping off the gargoyle, ShadowStrike managed to drive his sword through two Fiends and cut down another four. Their numbers finally dwindled to where he could finally finish the rest of them with a simple attack. After dispatching with the last of them, he finally managed to get through the door before him.
ShadowStrike Rising
Aboard the aircraft carrier, the Autobots did all they could to keep themselves busy while they waited to hear word from Jack. Miko and Bulkhead had managed to get a television and were watching the latest monster truck rally, Bumblebee deciding to join them since Raf was busy. Raf and Ratchet were monitoring communications while going over some of the other experiments said to be in the facility. June, Arcee, and Optimus were discussing the issue of Jack's mental state. The nurse led the conversation, "He's been getting worse since Sunny left."
"I can't blame him," Arcee said. "If someone tried to separate me and him, I can't say I wouldn't get depressed or lose it." Seeing the awkward and embarrassed look on June's face, Arcee quickly added, "Sorry."
"Indeed, his separation from young Sunny has only further isolated Jack from the rest of us," Optimus spoke sadly. "She appeared to have been his only link to the humanity that has been slowly stolen from him. I will talk with both Agent Fowler and General Bryce about the issue and see if we cannot work out a compromise."
"At the very least, we could let Jack have access to Sunny, even if it's just on a weekend or sometime during the week," June suggested.
"I don't think that will be enough," Arcee said. "Jack may need Sunny, but she needs him too. She's lost what little family she had and she sees Jack as the only link to them. She may not want someone to take her father's place, but she's already accepted Jack without realizing it."
"Mizuki to Ratchet," Agent McCloud's voice came through the comms. "Do you read?"
"I read you, Mizuki," the medic replied. "Is there a problem?"
"A big problem," she said. "I went to the address of the foster family Sunny was sent to."
"Is she alright?" Raf asked, suddenly interested, as were the others. "They're not hurting her, are they?"
"I'm not sure. The family only applied because they weren't able to have a baby of their own… until two years ago. Someone hacked the files and put them back on the potential parents list in order to get to Sunny." Everyone was now listening with great intent as Mizuki began to explain everything.
ShadowStrike Rising
As he entered the large room, ShadowStrike looked around, admiring the design of the room. It's concrete material was old and decayed thanks to time and a large chandelier hung above the center. As he looked around, ShadowStrike came face to face with an African American scientist who was smirking at him, "Welcome, ShadowStrike. I am Dr. Baxter Stockman, leading scientist in all cybernetic advances."
"Are you one of MECH's cronies?" the ninja asked, reaching for his blade.
Stockman chuckled, "No, I assure you I am anything but. You see, I work with the Shredder as his chief of R & D. I look over whatever new things happen to land on my desk and decide if they're worth my time."
"Shredder's resident science nerd, then?"
"More like the engineer behind some of his most crowning achievements in the area of technological weaponry and equipment!" Stockman boasted. "There are few to none who even come close to my achievements!"
"I know a twelve-year-old who could give you a run for your money," ShadowStrike retorted, not in the mood to deal with this nut job at the moment. "I assume you let down this base's shielding so the government would detect it in the hopes they'd send me."
"So your mind thinks of more than just slicing through flesh, " Stockman clapped his hands together. "Yes, the Shredder wanted you hear because he thought you'd like to know about how well we're taking care of Sunny."
ShadowStrike's eyes widened as he drew his sword and took a stance, anger taking over him yet again. The Shredder had Sunny? How in the world did he get his claws on her? Fowler said she would be safe! "This is your only warning. If you're lying to me-"
"I assure you the Shredder never lies when it comes to gloating," Stockman beamed. "We've been taking good care of her, preparing her for our grand plan."
"If you so much as lay a hand on her, I'll-"
"Do nothing but watch!" Stockman bellowed. "No one can stop what's coming! Not you! Not the government! Not even your precious Autobots!"
"Let her go!" ShadowStrike roared, jumping to the air and preparing to slash Stockman in half, only for his sword to go through the man as if he weren't even there. He looked up to find a grinning Stockman; or rather, Stockman's hologram.
"Did you really think I would risk fighting you just to pass on a message?" the mad scientist laughed. "We'll see each other soon enough. If you survive, that is." Suddenly, the walls around ShadowStrike began rumbling, old debris falling from the ceiling. He didn't need to be told twice that the place was coming down. He'd already noticed a modern door in the ancient ruin as he came in. Darting for the door, he broke into a room filled with MECH agents, who quickly drew their weapons.
Not wanting to deal with them right now, ShadowStrike darted towards the nearest door, deciding to let the collapsing base deal with them. He ignored their chorus of cheers and boasts as he ran down the hall, reaching an elevator. Getting inside and climbing out through the roof, ShadowStrike quickly darted from one side to the other, moving up to the top floor. He crashed through a window, ignoring the painful feeling of the cold wind on his wounds. Noticing a large mountain, ShadowStrike drew out two kunai and started to climb up the mountain side.
The echoes of the explosion caused an avalanche, forcing ShadowStrike to dodge as much debris as possible. Reaching the top, he received a comm from Raf, "Jack, we have a problem! Sunny's been kidnapped!"
"I know," he replied. "The Shredder has her."
"What?"
"Tell Fowler to sort out his will by the time I get there," he replied as he headed in the direction of the ship.
ShadowStrike Rising
A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Next time: The military locates the Shredder. ShadowStrike goes to save Sunny, only to discover why the Shredder needed her.