Chapter 2
For 800 hundred years, Norrisville High has been protected by a ninja.
No one knows that every four years, a new warrior is chosen.
A freshman to fight the forces of evil.
I am the ninja!
I am…
"Randy Cunningham is the ninja?" Theresa Fowler whispered to herself as she stood alone in the school shed. Her thoughts were interrupted by, "Blandy Ninnerman is a singer?" as the school janitor let himself in the shed.
"Oh uh…" Theresa scratched her head awkwardly and headed out of the shed.
A resounding groan was heard within the walls of McFist's office, which was followed by a louder groan, then another, and then-
"Sir, would you please cut that out!" Viceroy exclaimed as he pulled up his metallic hood, "Sitting around here won't get us any closer to stealing the ninja's stuff."
McFist rolled over from his table, "Oh, Viceroy, who are we kidding? Without the Sorcerer, we don't have anything left to fight for. I know, maybe we can sponsor the ninja and bind him into a legal contract that'll let me use his stuff for…I don't know, a week?" This was possibly one of McFist's most horrible ideas, given the exasperated look that the brain in his hand had.
Viceroy rolled his eyes, "Oh sure, let's give the most beloved person in town a legally binding contract that forces him to basically become your puppet, I'm sure everyone will love that."
McFist's smile widened, mistaking the mad scientist's words as a sign of approval, "I know that they will."
Viceroy sighed, a deadpan expression on his face, "That was sarcasm sir."
"Gesundheit, Viceroy."
Viceroy knew that they'd need a miracle to stop the ninja, and McFist's plan was far from miraculous. If only there was some other way to help them obtain supernatural powers and dominion over the world, but what else could be done?
As if on que, a buzzer rang through the lab followed by the monotone voice of the female Robo-Ape, "Mister McFist, a sorceress is here to see you."
McFist reacted giddily, "Ooooh, Viceroy, did you finally give me that birthday surprise I've been asking for?" Viceroy pinched the bridge of his nose, "It's not even close to your birthday." His boss angrily responded, "IT'S CLOSE TO MY HEART!" Their argument was put on hold as the lab doors were blasted off with green energy familiar to both. "I-Is that the Sorcerer?" McFist remarked as he bore witness to a sudden display of power.
The figure exited from the smoke and began to laugh, "Oh please, the Sorcerer is my worse half, call me the Sorceress."
"T-The Sorceress?" Viceroy sacredly asked. The Sorceress nodded and began to speak, "I see that the Sorcerer neglected to share any information about me, hopefully we can engage in a much more beneficial partnership."
McFist's face brightened once he heard the term "partnership." He coughed and straightened his posture, "Ohoho, well the old deal with the Sorcerer was that I had to get him out and he would give me superpowers and allow me to control half the world."
The Sorceress turned towards McFist and closed the distance, "Half, you say?" she questioned threateningly. McFist audibly gulped and corrected himself, "Y-You know maybe like 75-25 split," he began to laugh nervously. The cloaked figure began to hum, "Did you get my beloved out of the cage that the ninja put him in?"
"Why, of course!" McFist braggingly affirmed, with Viceroy whispering, "Technically, it was the ninja that freed him." To which McFist screamed, "Well technically I was there so I freed him through association!"
The Sorceress tsked as she bore witness to the two's antics, "So, where is the Sorcerer now?"
The room fell silent.
McFist nudged Viceroy with his elbow, "Uh…Viceroy, why don't you tell our guest that piece of information?" Viceroy nudged back, "Why don't you be a good host and tell her yourself?" They continued nudging each other until the Sorceress released a ball of energy from her hands, "Behave yourselves, let's be adults, and calmly discuss what happened to my beloved."
After a deep breath and a slight cough, McFist finally spoke up, "Well, you see there was this man with fancy pants and he and the Sorcerer touched then he turned into fairy dust." His explanation caused Viceroy to facepalm, while the tiny brain in his arm displayed a panicked expression.
The Sorceress calmly took a seat in McFist's office, "I see," Viceroy and McFist looked at each other, not quite sure about what was going to happen. "Did you do everything in your power to ensure that the Sorcerer wouldn't be harmed?"
"…Well, if you mean that we just stood there like a bunch of shoobs? I guess- "McFist's poor explanation was cut off by a sudden ball of fire that was hurled near his head. McFist began to scream as there was fire on his hair, "Viceroy! Viceroy! Get the fire extinguisher!"
"It's a wonder that you managed to get anything done here, my beloved." The Sorceress bemused, "These incompetent apes have no power, if only I had been by your side. Nonetheless, I shall continue his work, and you shall aid me."
As McFist patted down the flames on his head, "So does that mean we're in a partnership?" He asked excitedly.
The Sorceress laughed, "I was thinking of 'under new management.' The McFist offices were filled with the screams of both Viceroy and McFist.
When Randy finally managed to get home, he was met with a bunch of messages from his best friend Howard, they were mostly messages asking about how his day was and when he was going to get home to finally finish Grave Punchers VI. Randy chuckled as he saw the numerous GIFs that Howard had sent, and put on his headphones to video call Howard.
"Hey buddy! How's that place treating you, have any brucing sunburns yet?"
"Brucing sunburns? Heck cheese I do Cunningham! Look at this one, it's the shape of a fist!"
"Oh, what the cheese! That's so bruce! Speaking of fists, are you ready to get your grave punch on!" Randy punched the air to emphasize his point but then noticed that Howard seemed a bit down, "What's wrong buddy?"
"Well…." Howard nervously extended his words, "My parents may or may not have taken away my laptop." Randy blew a raspberry jokingly, "Then use your spicy sister's laptop."
Howard rolled his eyes, "First off, disgusting Cunningham, I told you to never ever talk about my sister in that way again," Randy shrugged his shoulders in an arrogant manner as though to say, "What'cha going to do?" Howard continued, "And second, whose laptop do you think I'm using?!"
"Well, then no sweat right?"
"It would be if it wasn't for the fact that the signal here is wonk, I mean, I can't even finish downloading a single game here!" Howard groaned as the image quality went down on his end, "I still can't believe that McFist hasn't set up a high-speed network here!"
"I guess, we can just talk?"
"Talk about what? How you're being a total shoob over there, and how I'm being a totally bruce guy here?" Howard joked, as Randy was preparing a rebuttal, the voice of Howard's older sister rang through the room, "Hey, you shoob! I told you I was downloading a file for my blog! Stop chatting with Candy and give it back!"
"First of all, that's not even a name anymore, it's a snack. And second, It's Randy, it's always been Ran- "And then Randy was met with a "Connection Lost," notification on his screen. Randy sighed and laid on his bed, as the Nomicon started to glow frantically. "Oh geez, what now Nomicon?" The book opened and schloomped Randy into a world of ancient Ninja knowledge and doodles.
Randy landed gracefully in a village setting, "Huh, rustic, very classy Nomicon. So, what's up, finally going to tell me what's going on?"
A flood of information entered Randy's mind, and his voice began to speak out, "And so, the ninja managed to escape the Realm of Shadows, finding unlikely allies and ending the ancient conflict between the ninja and the Sorcerer. However, unbeknownst to the ninja, the unending conflict had protected his own realm, and now at its end, he has left it vulnerable to threats unknown and known."
Feminine laughter filled the area, and the village was suddenly covered with green mist, "What the juice?!" A cloaked figure appeared and began turning the villagers into monsters, as the screams of the innocent began to pervade his ears, Randy noted that the monsters were similar to the ones that the Sorcerer himself had unleashed, "I've already beaten the Sorcerer, so this must be the Sorceress…" The laughter only increased as Randy made his conclusion.
"Okay, okay, it might seem bad but hey I technically defeated the Sorcerer, right?" The world shook as though telling him that he was wrong. "Alright, I had some help with that, but at least it can't get any worse?" The world shook once again, but this time the ground cracked beneath his feet, and a screeching noise was heard from behind, as flames arose from the ground.
"It can't be," Randy tiredly said, "The Tengu!" The black bird began to move towards the Sorceress's forces will ill intent, "No, wait! Stop!" But it was too late, their collision resulted in the destruction of the village leaving nothing in its wake.
Randy closed his eyes, slowly clenched his fist, and asked, "How do I stop this?"
A doodle ninja appeared, and stood in the destroyed village. The ninja attempts to fight off some of the monsters now populating the area, "Oh yeah, go doodle ninja! What's this? Is he going to pull of some massive move that wipes them all out or something?" The doodle ninja was promptly beaten by an ever-increasing horde of monsters, "Oh geez, that is so wonk." The doodle ninja was however saved by the remaining villagers that banded together to help the ninja. The scene stopped as words began to form in front of Randy.
Never do alone, what must be done together.
"Uh-huh, pretty easy to understand, simple and to the point, I appreciate it. But, as it stands the only ally, I have is literally a thousand miles away from here, so I'm stuck doing it all on my own!" The villagers and the doodle ninja all collectively facepalmed, as Randy simply scratched the back of his head.
Normally at this point he'd get schloomped back out the Nomicon, but for some reason, the doodles all stood aside and made way for a familiar figure.
"Is that you, First Ninja?"
"It is." The first ninja bowed in front of Randy, and Randy did the same. "So, uh, it must be really serious for you to come here, huh?" The first ninja nodded and began to speak, "I have burdened you with a heavy weight ninja. And for that I must apologize." The first ninja began to kowtow in front of Randy, with the young man in question stopping him, "Hey come on now, I learned a lot from the best, and besides, you haven't even seen me flex my muscles yet."
The first ninja and Randy shared a laugh, the first ninja calmed down and added to his point, "There is no coincidence in the fact that there was an eight-hundred-year stalemate between the other ninjas and the Sorcerer," Randy said with a shocked expression. "Why wait for that long?" The first ninja chuckled and explained, "Because you made me trust in you," the ninja took a brief pause to correct himself, "You made me trust in the future, I knew that my strength alone couldn't prepare you for the threats that remained in the shadows, I needed the ninjas to hone and gather knowledge to fight the greatest battle that you would face." The first ninja raised his hands and the village area was wiped clean from the book, and suddenly nine orbs began to orbit him and Randy.
"The truth is Randy Cunningham is that the ancient ninja arts came from nine different realms," the first ninja stopped the orbiting spheres, and allowed Randy to see two familiar ones, and he pointed it out, "Hey, is that Earth? And that yellow one is the…uh…"
The first ninja crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "The Realm of Shadows," Randy expressed awe at that statement. "A time before I called myself a ninja, I was a part of a band of warriors, known as the 'Norisu Nine,' they were...my brothers," the first ninja said that last word with such sorrow that it concerned Randy, "Are you okay?"The first ninja dismissed his concern, "I'm fine, as you know my brothers and I spent years fighting the Sorcerer, we followed him to each realm, and every time we failed, he managed to create a new power ball borne from the strongest beings in each world."
"So, that's how he managed to create more?" Randy asked, the first ninja nodded. Randy deep in thought then pieced it together, "You and the Norisu Nine mastered the art of each world then? Like how there's a 'Forbidden Knowledge of the Shadow Warrior' section in the Nomicon?" The first ninja held a surprised expression that made Randy ask, "What?" The first ninja merely laughed and said, "Just didn't think you'd catch on that quick." Randy crossed his arms in defiance, "Hmph, me being the ninja that beat the Sorcerer isn't just for show, you know?"
The first ninja continued, "Each of my brothers learned and emulated the beings that inhabited the worlds, transformed them into the ninja arts. While the Sorcerer gained more power by taking it from the worlds' strongest inhabitants and storing them in his power balls," He took a brief pause and generated the image of several green orbs that were central to Randy's previous conflict, "The power balls had an unintended side effect however they each served as a seal that prevented the realms from connecting into each other, making it harder for the Sorcerer to jump between realms but now, without the Sorcerer to control the spheres, the walls between each realm are being torn. Allowing them to interact with each other once more." Randy saw that bridges were forming connecting the nine worlds, as though forming intersections, he could see various creatures crossing over causing chaos, while others created peace, "What can I do? No, what should I do?"
The first ninja closed his eyes in deliberation, "I cannot say, the worlds were originally designed to be connected to each other, but after years of being separated, I'm not sure what can be done."
The words and characters within the book began to swirl, and the first ninja began to speak once more, "Protect the nine realms from the Sorceress, prevent them from tearing each other apart and remember ninja, never do alone, what must be done together."
Randy got up with a sweat, "…Never do alone…what must be…What the juice Nomicon?! I know that I told you that I wanted to know what you were preparing me for, but I didn't expect the actual war of the worlds!" Randy groaned as he hit his bruised arm, "Oh, this would be so much easier if Howard was here." A statement that caused Randy to laugh to himself at the sheer silliness and absurdity at that thought, his best friend would've laughed at him for thinking it too.
Eventually, Randy laid down and raised his hand towards the ceiling, letting out a breath, "How am I supposed to save nine worlds?" Randy ruffled his hair in frustration, only to sigh in dejection, and pick up a game disc on the floor, "Eh, might as well not think too deeply on it. Time to play some Grave Punchers!"
A/N: Hey everyone, Somi here! And yes, it's a double chapter release. I've currently written around five chapters by now, but they're still in their early drafts. Full transparency here though, I am using Chat GPT to proofread the chapters (not applicable to the author's notes at the end), and it's mostly touch and go. Chat GPT is a good tool, emphasis on tool, it isn't a substitute for genuine skill (so says the hack writer).
Nonetheless, this isn't a debate on the utility of AI, but my own work on fiction regarding a children's TV show. Writing this chapter was fun, but challenging, as I introduce some of my own interpretations regarding the First Ninja and his brothers' history and lore regarding the concept of the Nine Realms. I will have to note that I probably won't be tackling anything concrete about the nine realms, as the show only ever introduced the Realm of Shadows as the only other world in RC9GN. And I'm not creative enough to make a single world that can fit into RC9GN's pre-established cannon much less seven others.
Though Ninja Cold Rage has been giving me ideas…maybe?
I also had a Howard cameo here, hopefully it feels right to some of you guys. It's really hard to write him because I feel like I'm about to cross the line between extremely annoying and whiny to hilarious. I quite like Howard's character as he feels like a genuine friend, and has some of the best comebacks in the show, but it's a pain to write him sometimes.
