Chapter 5: The Legends

A few hours after escaping the forest, Mike and Leeway found themselves in another town. They decided to stay and find disguises since they knew they were being hunted.

In the heart of a bustling city, Leeway and Mike found themselves on the run. Their breaths quickened as they darted through narrow alleys, seeking refuge from the relentless pursuit.

Leeway: "We need disguises; they're right behind us." pointing to four rookie bounty hunters chasing them.

Mike: "Why can't we just fight them again?"

Leeway: "We're too exposed. We can't attract too much attention."

Mike: "How about we go over there?" pointing to a random backyard.

Mike: "It's right through that crowd, and we can duck behind that house to see if there are clothes back there."

Leeway: "Sounds like trespassing and stealing, Mike."

Mike: "Well, it's either that or expose ourselves out here because I'm not letting four beginner bounty hunters capture me."

Leeway: "Fine, let's go."

Leeway and Mike darted through the heavy crowd, making the bounty hunters follow them. But by the time the hunters made it through, Mike and Leeway were nowhere to be seen.

Mike: "Okay, I think we lost them."

Leeway: "Yeah, we did, but there are no clothes back here. By the time we leave, they or even more hunters will notice us."

While Mike and Leeway talked among themselves, they didn't notice a young boy, age 15, sneaking up on them from his back door.

Boy: "HEY!"

Both: "AUHH!!!"

Mike: "How'd you not sense him, Leeway?"

Leeway: "Shut up, I wasn't focusing on him."

Boy: "Oh my gosh, it can't be; it's the two rogue ninjas."

Leeway: "Ah crap, you work for him, don't you?" Leeway says, getting ready to fight.

Boy: "Who? Oh, you mean Conquer Rai, don't you?"

Leeway: hm (says frustrated)

Mike: "How do you know about us?"

Boy: "Y'all's faces are all over the place. I guess after he heard what y'all did to his man in Pack Forest, he really wants your heads."

Mike: "How do we know you're not lying?"

Boy: "Come into my house; I'll show you everything, proof y'all can eat, and I can get y'all out of those clothes."

Leeway: "I don't know."

Boy: "Trust me, I'm a fan."

Leeway: "If you try anything, I will kill you. I don't care that you're a kid." Leeway says with straight seriousness

Boy: "Okay, fair."

Leeway and Mike followed this boy into his house; it was the only option they had. The hunters soon left, promising they'll be back. The boy gives them a change of clothes.

Leeway: "Nice house, kid."

Boy: "Thanks, y'all can call me Flip."

Mike: "Okay, Flip, thanks for the clothes and all, but you're a little small, so whose underwear am I wearing right now?"

Flip: "My dad's. He's out of town on some business, so y'all can stay here as long as you want."

Leeway: "Sweet; do you happen to have clippers, Flip?"

Flip: "Yeah, in the bathroom, under the sink."

Leeway: great, thanks; come on, Mike.

Mike: "What do you mean, come on?"

Leeway: "We're cutting our hair."

Mike: "We?"

Leeway: "Yes, Mikey, we; now come on."

Mike: "Ugh, my beautiful hair." Mike sadly walks to the bathroom.

After shaving their heads, all three of the boys go to eat some food but are cautious about it.

Flip: "My dad cooked before he left, so there's enough food for us all to eat tonight."

Leeway: "Will you mind if I check the food first?"

Flip: "Uh, sure?"

Leeway looks the food up and down, asking the boy for its ingredients and even made Flip taste it. He didn't find anything wrong with the food, so they ate.

Mike: "That was so good; I never want to eat fruit again."

Leeway: "You say that about everything."

Mike: "I mean, when you eat nothing but fruit for days straight, real food just tastes ten times better."

Leeway: "This is terrible."

Flip: "What? You don't like the food?"

Leeway: "No, the food's great. I'm talking about more people looking for us. We aren't ever going to get to where we need to go if we need to keep stopping to avoid or fight an enemy."

Flip: "How about y'all stay here for a couple of days? And when everyone drops their guard or stops looking for you, it'll be easier to travel."

Mike: "You would think, but these guys are persistent. Those bounty hunters have been chasing us for a whole hour before we reached here."

Flip: "Where are y'all headed, anyways?"

Leeway: "We'd rather not say. You never know who's listening."

Flip: "Okay, that's fine; it's getting kinda late. Bedtime?"

Leeway: "Sure, we'd like a room that can lock."

Flip: "Okay, my parents' room has a lock; y'all both can sleep in there."

Leeway: "And do you have some earplugs?"

Flip: "I think I might; for what?"

Leeway looks at Mike.

Leeway: "Trust me, I'll need them."

They all head off to bed, Leeway making sure the door is locked and nothing weird is in the room, being very cautious with every nook and cranny. Everything seemed good, and Leeway falls asleep along with Mike, who was knocked twenty minutes ago.

As Leeway sleeps, he has a dream, the same dream he had the night of the accident at their dojo. He's in a laboratory-type setting, and as he walks, he feels nothing but dread and despair. As he continues to walk, he sees a boy with dark blue eyes, short black hair, dark skin, and he's yelling for help, pleading. Leeway runs to the boy, but before he can reach him, Mike wakes him up.

Mike: "Leeway, come on, it's 12 PM."

Leeway: "Ugh, I slept terribly."

Mike: "Doesn't seem like it; you slept all morning."

Leeway: "I keep having this dream."

Mike: "Yeah, tell me about it later; we've got some restocking to do."

Leeway: "What do you mean?"

Mike: "We're running out of food for our trip, and there's some stuff we could use also; so get up, and let's go."

Leeway and Mike hit the town with their new haircuts and unrecognizable clothes.

Leeway: "You don't think those hunters are still around, do you?"

Mike: "I don't know, to be honest. Any of these people could be hunters; you never know. I mean, look at this place; beggars on the streets, abandoned houses. This town is so sad and poor."

Leeway: "Now that you mention it, you're kinda right. I wouldn't blame these people for trying to turn us in; they obviously need the money."

Leeway and Mike walked the streets of this impoverished town for at least an hour, gathering supplies and buying whatever they could with the money Flip lent them.

Leeway: "Okay, it ain't much, but it's what we need."

A man caught Mike's eye—an old man named Roger, looking fragile and struggling to get up after falling. Mike, being the helping hand he is, went to assist the old man.

Mike: "Are you okay, sir?" *he says while holding out his hand.*

Roger: "Yes, I'm good. Thanks for the help, young man. Say, you look new. I never noticed you before, and your friend, too. Y'all from around here?"

Leeway: *blurts in* "Ah, yes, sir, we're visiting our cousin Flip while his father's away."

Roger: "Oh, that's nice. Young Flip's a good boy. He should be visiting you, unless you two like old, beat-down towns like this one." *He said, letting out an old, worn-out laugh.*

Leeway: "Yeah, Flip has a pretty good house for what this place is."

Roger: "Yeah, he should; his dad's the mayor of this here town."

Mike: "The mayor? And he can't replace that old hospital over there or even fix this street lamp?"

Roger: "He would like to, but we have to give most of the money to these bandits that threaten us every month."

Leeway: "Wait, what? Why?"

Roger: "The bandits control our town's key resources, like access to trade routes and essential supplies. They demand a large portion of our town's income, leaving little left for infrastructure or public services."

Mike: "Wow, that's terrible."

Leeway: "When's the next time they'll be back?"

Roger: "They only come once a month, and we already paid them this month, so we're good for another three weeks."

Leeway: "Okay, it was nice meeting you, sir; we gotta head back now."

Roger: "Okay, thanks again, boys."

As Old Man Roger walked away, he remembered he never asked for their names, but when he turned back around to ask, they were already gone.

Leeway: "Why didn't you tell us your town was poor and being extorted like this, Flip?"

Flip: "Why would I? You don't even trust me, and it doesn't even seem like y'all's problem."

Mike: "He does have a point; you don't trust him."

Leeway: "Shut up; you can't blame me. Ever since we left our dojo, we've been hunted, trapped, beaten up, and nearly poisoned."

Mike: "He has a point."

Leeway made his way to the couch to think. As Leeway sat down, he heard a crunch sound. When he looked to see what it was, he saw a little book.

Leeway: "What's this?"

Flip: "My bad; I was reading that before y'all got back. A story my dad used to tell me ever since I was a kid. It's really a legend about this town."

Mike: "Oh? A legend?"

Flip: "Yes, it's about two ninjas who used to protect this town from thieves, murderers, and stop tragic crimes. The only thing is nobody knew who they were or why they were doing what they did. One day, they just vanished, and people never saw them again. This is why our town is like this now, and people just bully us. We need our legends back."

Leeway: "You don't need legends; y'all just need to man up."

Flip: "Last time someone tried to step up to them, their leader, Smasher, killed them."

Mike: "The guy must have been one tough soul. Rest in peace to them, though."

Flip: "Yeah, she was; it was my mom."

Leeway: "Their leader killed your mom?"

Flip: "Yes, but I don't like to talk about it."

Mike: "Okay, that's fine. We've got some food ready to eat."

After a long day, all three of them ate and headed off to bed. Leeway and Mike ended up staying for two more days, meeting new people and helping in any way they could. On their last day, they felt all better and decided it was time to leave, but something unexpected happened.

Flip: "Aw, do y'all have to go?"

Leeway: "Yes, we do. It's been nice, but your father's returning soon, and the people we were waiting for, I don't think, are showing up."

Flip: "My dad won't mind, please. One more day."

Mike: "Sorry, kid, but we've got important business. We've got to get this important dude," *pointing at Leeway* "to another important dude so they can do important things together and we can save our important people."

Flip: "Fine, but please come and visit."

Mike: "After this is all over, sure."

That's when they heard it, a loud but demanding voice.

Bandit: "WHERE ARE THEY! I know you people are hiding fugitives here."

Random: "What are you talking about? No people came here."

Bandit: "Why are you lying? Me and my crew followed them here until we lost them."

Leeway looked out the window.

Mike: "What's happening?"

Leeway: "Looks like those bandits from before came back looking for us."

Mike: "I told you they're persistent. Who are those other people? Did they go get friends?"

Flip looked out the window.

Flip: "Oh no, that's Smasher's crew. We already paid them this month; why are they here?"

Leeway: "Which one is Smasher?"

Flip: "The big guy with the mace."

Mike: "Oh, I see them."

Leeway: "Mike, follow me."

Leeway and Mike left, leaving Flip watching in terror as Smasher broke and threw everything, looking for Leeway and Mike.

Smasher: "If they don't come out, I'll smash and take every ounce of money y'all got to make up for this missing bounty."

Roger: "Smasher, we really haven't seen no one, I swear."

Smasher: "Shut the hell up, old man."

Smasher walked over to Roger and picked him up by his shirt.

Smasher: "I don't like being lied to, geezer."

Roger: "I swear, sir, only new people are Flip's cousins."

Smasher: "Who's Flip?"

Roger: "The mayor's kid. He's a good boy; leave him alone."

Smasher: "Shut up." *Throws old man Roger.*

Smasher walked over to Flip's house, and Flip ran and hid. As soon as Smasher knocked and noticed no one was going to answer, he swung his mace back and slammed it into the door. It didn't break the first time, so he did it again, breaking one of the hinges. As he swung it back for the final time, a rock was thrown at the back of his head.

Smasher: "Which one of you lowlifes dares to attack me?"

(No answer)

Smasher: "Maybe if I start killing, you guys will start telling the truth. Boys, shoot the old man."

As one of the men aimed at Roger, a figure jumped into the distressed crowd, taking down the shooter.

Ninja 1: "I threw it, you big lump of dumb."

What stood in front of all these people was a 6'1" figure in all black, face covered with a mask and hood. The only thing visible were his eyes.

Smasher: "What the? Get them! Don't just stand there."

As three men rushed him, another figure wearing the same attire, except in dark brown, jumped off the roof, drop-kicking two of them, leaving room for the other to be easily taken down by the one in black. The two mysterious men fought all the smashers' men.

With swift and calculated movements, the two mysterious figures engaged in a dance of combat against the horde of thugs led by Smasher. Their agility and skill left the assailants unfairly outmatched.

The figure in black, his eyes gleaming with determination, dodged blows effortlessly, striking with precision and efficiency. Meanwhile, his counterpart in dark brown moved with fluid grace, dispatching opponents with well-timed strikes and acrobatic maneuvers.

Ninja 1: "All your men are down. Leave now, or you will be next, Smasher."

Smasher: "Aw, it knows my name. Who do you think I am? I know about this legend of the two ninjas of this town. Sorry to tell you, boys, but it was a myth; you two are just playing dress-up."

Ninja 2: "Believe what you might. But your men lie at our feet. Retreat now and give these people back what's theirs, or suffer the same fate."

Smasher's laughter reverberated through the tense air as he readied himself for battle.

Smasher: "You think a couple of masked freaks can scare me? I'll crush you both like bugs!"

The two ninjas and Smasher rushed each other. As the battle reached its climax, the ninjas pressed their advantage, dodging attacks and delivering bruises to their enemies. Their attacks came faster and fiercer than ever before. With a final, decisive blow, they incapacitated Smasher, leaving him sprawled on the ground amidst his defeated cronies.

Ninja 1: "You should have listened. We're not just legends; we're a symbol of hope for this town and vow to protect it."

Ninja 2: "The legends live on."

After that overwhelming victory, the two ninjas waited until all the money was returned to the people and the unwelcome guests would never return. And when they finally completed what they came to do, they left, blessing the people of this town with hope.

Leeway: "That was awesome."

Mike: "Yes, we totally just became legends, man."

Leeway: "Yeah, I'm glad we could help out. I hope Flip doesn't mind we used sheets in his house to make these."

Mike: "He'll be fine."

Leeway and Mike left the town, leaving it with a little more hope than before. They adopted the identities of the two legendary ninjas. To help hide there identity