So...In these next two Assassin Areas we can see where Palladium would be seen as 'politically incorrect' today in that one of the Ninja Assassins disguises HIMSELF as a woman to lure a PC into a false sense of security and I'm saying this is a good thing, good of Palladium for recognizing inherent sex differences affect us (It's not even particularly relevant to this story since the Mutant in that encounter is female (And a child) I just realized in today's current climate of 'Trans-Mania' people seem to think any instance of crossdressing means a character is trans no matter what the context actually is)
After Rover left his Death Trap he walked up a set of stairs into the open air...In the middle of the courtyard was reed filled pond crossed by a small bridge on the other side of the bridge there was a doorway.
Perhaps the Young Wolf Mutant was so taken in by the picturesque location so exotic and enchanting to him that he forgot about his military training and the explicit warning that they would have to face death three times that he did not even stop to think as he was crossing the bridge that there might be someone under the water where even his canine sense of smell would not be able to detect them (And also in his obsession with his boxing training he had forgotten Leonardo's stories about ancient ninja techniques like breathing through reeds to stay underwater)
So when he reached the middle of the bridge he was completely taken by surprised when a ninja leapt out of the water wielding two swords a long one and a short one...With the longer of the two swords the Katana...The Ninja struck the Wolf Mutant on his left forearm which he had held up to protect his vitals...However his dense wolf pelt was also like armor making it really barely a scratch…
Also his lupine reflexes gave him the ability to recover quickly from his shock...He drew his broadsword and was ready to counterattack...However the Ninja would flee as soon as he faced any real opposition and drove back down into the water!
Rover waited with sword at the ready for the ninja to resurface...When he didn't Rover sighed admonishing himself for letting his guard down so foolishly and took one more look at the wound on his forearm before finally crossing the bridge to get to the doorway on the other side.
For Bacon Bit after leaving her Death Trap she found herself it a brightly lit hall she saw what initially appeared to be a woman wearing a formal Japanese gown, weeping softly on a bench 40 feet away at the end was a doorway that led to an upward staircase…
However like Dana Bacon Bit's rough upbringing had made her wary to any kind of treachery...Sensing something was fishy about all this the Mutant Piglet carefully took a whiff and immediately realized the scent from the weeping human 'That's no lady!' Bacon Bit realized she very quickly put together that a man disguised himself as a woman to lure anyone into a false sense of security...And still a bit stressed out from the prior Death Trap test the Little Sow was maybe a little too eager to take out her porcine aggression on anyone that was handy…
Taking out her spear (Her past being raised by the scientists who had been training her for time travel had taught her how to use a spear to prepare her for encounters with cavemen so that was the weapon she was accustomed to) Got her nice long spear out and began to proceed forward to spear way out in front of her...Her hooved feet on the hard floor made her approach not a secret and when the ninja disguised as a woman looked up from his handkerchief and saw the Mutant Piglet with spear at the ready and not fooled by the weeping woman act at all...Even though the Mutant Piglet was small she looked sturdily built and the expression on her face unnerved him as it seemed she was itching for a good fight...So he turned and fled as he had been armed with only a dagger hoping for an opponent to approach unprepared!
Bacon Bit snorted as he ran and turned tail...A little annoyed she didn't get to land any blows but realized it was probably better no fight actually took place so she trotted her merry way on her trotters to the exit…
Meanwhile Piston Hondo told Glass Joe of the legend his contact the Museum Curator in Japan had discovered among the ancient Ninja Land of Iga...That The White Ronin is one of many aliases for a Wicked Yokai that many believe to be the Ghost of a Wicked Wizard who sought to have the powers of God so through vile magics he learned to steal the life energy of his fellow human beings and even good Kami or spirits…
As Glass Joe hastily wrote down notes in his Native French he didn't wonder why supposedly 'Good' Beings like the Ninja Tribunal would be friends with what seemed like such a wicked fiend...As far as Glass Joe was concerned he wasn't so convinced that these Ninja Tribunal were that good themselves
"I wonder what Great Tiger would think of this…" Glass Joe murmured
Piston Hondo who was Great Tiger's closes friend in the WVBA thus new him better than the other Boxers said "He would be disgusted of course...Great Tiger got his powers the honest way, thought pure self-improvement...This White Ronin cheats by stealing it from others...Acting rather like a Kitsune and other Yokai who steal life energy which is probably where he learned it from...Speaking of Great Tiger…"Hondo remembered Great Tiger said he was going to check on something as an option but he hadn't called Hondo back since…
We'll probably see what Great Tiger was doing next chapter as well as what the Turtles are doing the two Mutant Student bits were a bit longer then the last ones since a little more happens in Rover's and Bacon Bit's encounters and also a clear pattern the more abusive the Mutant's upbringing the more wary they are to potential tricks and most of those kinds of pasts seem to be from female mutants but also another fact of life about the sexes women are just naturally more paranoid then men