THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! I put my head under my pillow, hoping that would block out the noise. I moaned and turned over. THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! I couldn’t take it anymore. I grumbled and sat up.

“Who has something to hammer first thing in the morning?!” I stuffed my feet into my shoes and marched towards the source of the racket.

I wasn’t the only one who’d woken up. My teammates were also heading towards the field behind the house. A red Japanese arch now stood in the middle of the field. Katherine was perched on the top, hammering the last piece into place. She jumped down, and her feet made a depression in the dirt. She brushed off her hands before pushing against the arch to ensure it was steady.

“What is that?” I asked.

“And why did you have to build it while I was getting my beauty sleep?” Spaz said.

Lily mimicked a fish for a moment with the way her mouth open and closed. “Didn’t you read the handbook? It’s a portal to the base.”

“What do we need a portal for? Don’t we just get on a plane?” I asked.

“The base isn’t on Earth,” Katherine replied.

“What do you mean it’s not on Earth?!”

“I knew you weren’t going to read that book,” Katherine muttered under her breath. “It’s on a planet we call Nibiru, hidden in the asteroid belt.”

She had to be joking. There was no way the ninja’s base was on another planet. Super powers were one thing, interplanetary travel was another. “A planet that far out wouldn’t be hospitable…” I said.

“Nibiru was terraformed using orbital mirrors,” Lily said.

I pointed to the invisible future. “But that kind of technology is decades away.”

“Just because the humans have some catching up to do, doesn’t mean we do,” Katherine said and put her mask on.

The fibers extended across her body. She wore the same conical hat I’d seen her commander wearing. Her shirt appeared to be solid green, but when she turned, I could see a hint of yellow and teal mixed in. It was folded over in the front like ours and trimmed with wide yellow bands bordered by purple strips, except for the sleeves. On one of the yellow bands, the same thing written on her sword’s scabbard was embroidered in black. She had a red belt, and from her pants downward her uniform matched ours.

She pulled the strap on her sword over her shoulder and let it hang from her back. “Masks on,” she said.

Once everyone was in uniform, Katherine faced the arch. It didn’t look like a portal; there was no wormhole or swirling thing of energy inside. She merely stepped through and disappeared.

Everyone jumped back.

“Where’d she go?!”

“Dude, she just vanished!”

“Alright, come on,” Hot Stuff said. “Next.”

One by one, the team went through. I expected a flash of light or noise, but there was nothing. I didn’t know what to expect when it was my turn to go. I squeezed my eyes shut and stepped through the threshold.

The instant I passed through the arch, my body got blown apart. All that remained was a bunch of scattered atoms. I didn’t know if I was alive or dead because I still had thoughts and feelings, just no physical form.

I watched the atoms that had once made up my body vibrate as if they were getting charged. Then they shot upwards into the sky. For some reason, I got pulled alongside them. The higher I went, the more speed I gained. The ground rushed away from me, then the continent, and then the entire Earth shrank out of my sight.

All around me was the vastness of space. Darkness above me, beside me, and below me; pierced through by little balls of light. I must’ve been crossing an enormous distance, but with nothing passing close by it seemed like I wasn’t moving at all. Out of nowhere, Mars came and went.

A second later I approached the asteroid belt. I started to worry. At the speed I was going, I was sure I’d hit one, but I zipped around the frozen rocks with ease.

Gravity tugged me towards something large. Then I saw it, the planet Katherine had described. Nuzzling it were asteroids and huge mirrors filled with blinding light. The world was breathtaking with its glistening seas, endless forests, and towering mountains. The surface was free of the gray city stains that covered the Earth.

The darkness of space faded away as I entered the alien planet’s atmosphere. A thick wall of rapidly churning clouds blocked my view of the surface. I flew into the storm and lightning flashed around me. Thunder rocked the air.

Finally, I broke through the clouds and plummeted towards a big blue blur. I wasn’t slowing down, whatever I was racing towards, I was going to hit hard. The atoms I’d been following reassembled beneath me. My conscious was sucked back into my body. Then everything went black…

Cold rain poured onto my face. I heard the roar of an ocean beneath me. I wobbled as I realized I was standing on something solid and a pair of gentle hands were guiding me forward. I opened my eyes and looked around.

The team was on a floating platform. An exact copy of the arch on Earth stood in the center. Hovering all around us were thousands of other platforms holding similar portals. Ninja were coming and going.

Far below us, an angry ocean battered against jagged cliffs. The continent looked like how I imagined the U.S would if California fell into the ocean. Past the cliffs, grassy hills and muddy patches covered the land. A wall of mountains more formidable than the Himalayas marked the distant horizon.

Between the cliffs and the mountains was a city surrounded by a scarlet wall. If New York, Hong Kong, and Tokyo combined, they would still only be a fraction of this city’s size. I figured this must’ve been the base.

I held the side of my head. I was dizzy and confused. My body felt uncomfortable. It had been so freeing to be outside of it, uncaged, able to fly, and soar at incredible speeds. Now I felt slow and cumbersome.

“We got everyone?!” Katherine said. “Okay, let’s move!”

She grabbed a flailing rope bridge that connected the platform to the land below. When she stepped onto it, her weight calmed its crazy movement, but just one good gust of wind would send her flying off. A hard bubble formed in my throat. I was going to have to cross that death trap.

“Just move fast,” Hot Stuff said.

I gripped the ropes on either side and balanced on the center rope. I went across as quickly as I could. The rain made the rope slick, and the wind made me waver. The rest of the team was hot on my heels.

Once on solid ground, Katherine led us across the hills towards the city. We walked for a long time; the base appeared closer than it was due to its size. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how many people lived within the wall.

After an hour of trekking, the gap between us and the city was finally closing. The only thing I could see now was the imposing red wall. It dwarfed everything around it, and its height seemed immeasurable, who knew how thick it was. I had to squint to see the tiny black flags waving at the top. If there were any people up there, they were too small to see. I couldn’t find a gate or door. In fact, there was no opening of any kind. How were we supposed to get in?

About a mile away from the wall, mud replaced the grass. Katherine came to a halt. Everyone looked around, wondering what we were supposed to do now. We shook as the ground beneath us started descending.

We were lowered into a dark elevator shaft. The only light came from above and the further down we went the less I could see. The rickety elevator seemed like it was going to break any second now. Its groans and creaks echoed all through the endless shaft.

“Hold your breath!”

“What?”

A plume of white gas came towards us. I coughed on whatever it was. My fingers and toes tingled before going numb. I started to see three of everything, and it felt like someone had stuffed cotton balls into my ears.

The elevator screeched to a stop. Between the darkness and my blurring vision, I had no idea what was going on. I heard the sound of a hundred boots headed straight for us and the ringing of swords getting unsheathed. I tried to take a defensive stance but almost fell over. I hoped we weren’t under attack.

“Identify!” a man said.

“Commander Katherine Carvosso.”

The tension in the air diffused. “Ah, first time bringing the kids?”

“Yep.”

My vision went in and out as my body fought to return to normal. I could barely make out the man in front of Katherine. His uniform was completely black, no white undershirt or white wrapped shins. He had a thin device in his hand; it looked like a glowing piece of glass.

“Alright, first timers, if you weren’t smart enough to hold your breath, you’ve been hit with a bit of numbing gas. It will wear off in a minute. I’m just going to tag you so the next time you come through, our sensors will be able to identify you,” the man said.

He came by each of us. When he got to me, he lifted my arm and pulled on my sleeve. I heard a high-pitched whine from his device then he moved on. I looked at my sleeve, fused to the fabric was a quarter sized silver pin with the squad number on it.

After everyone had been marked, we were allowed to pass through. We went down a long corridor with metal plated walls. The whole thing wreaked of wet dog. When we reached the end, we had to pass through two thick metal doors.

We stepped out into an underground city. All of the buildings looked the same; cubed shaped with hexagonal windows, and covered in grime and green fungus. Millions of rusty, leaking pipes ran across the ceiling. As for the ground, it was uneven and flooded with black water. Christmas lights and Asian lamps were strung all over the place to provide light alongside countless neon signs.

If the city wasn’t already strange enough, its inhabitants brought the place to a whole new level of weird. Now and then I’d spot a human, but for the most part, the crowds were made up of creatures. They came in every size, color, and mythological tale. Some were dressed in modern clothes while others looked like they just walked out of a time machine.

“What is this place?” I whispered to Hot Stuff.

“The people and the creatures that live on Nibiru aren’t allowed to go to Earth. They come here to buy the goods we bring in,” she said. “You can find just about anything down here.”

Katherine led us through a marketplace. Filling the streets were carts selling anything from sandals to Ahool bones. Storefronts surrounded us from all sides. One store had love seats displayed in the window. Inside, I could see a Yeti testing a reclining chair. Further down, a pet store was selling exotic animals like Jackalopes and unicorns.

“The best genie lamps sold here!” someone called. A lady tall enough to play professional basketball squeezed by me. She had blue skin and glittering gold clothes covered in jewels.

“How many bathrooms come with this model?” she asked.

I thought I walked onto a movie set. I waited to see camera equipment or people getting make-up applied on a dark side street. I gaped as a girl with eagle’s wings carrying tennis shoes walked by, and a Wendigo drinking a smoothie.

Once we passed the marketplace, we reached the edge of the underground city. We approached another set of big metal doors guarded by burly ninja. They checked our tags before opening the doors. Beyond them was a stairwell leading up to the surface. Although, at this point, it resembled a waterfall more than a staircase because of the rain.

When we reached the top, we were now on the inside of the colossal red wall and the base sprawled out before us. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Harukan,” Katherine said.

The city’s buildings were close together, making narrow and crooked streets. From what I could tell, when the ninja wanted to build something new, they didn’t demolish the old building; they simply built on top of it. Each skyscraper looked like one huge, dangerous hodge-podge. One building had a traditional Japanese structure on the bottom, with a medieval castle above it, and was topped by a modern apartment complex. Most of the buildings looked unstable, which caused them to droop forward and block out some of the light. Higher up the buildings were connected by walkways and courtyards. The entire city looked like an engineer’s nightmare, and the whole thing seemed ready to collapse.

Despite its size, ninja overcrowded the city. I couldn’t spot a single unmasked face. Some uniforms matched ours, others were blue, and some were gray. Those that weren’t in a uniform had traditional Japanese clothes, robes, and wooden slippers. There were ninja on bicycles, scooters, and in small futuristic versions of Fiats fighting their way through the confining streets.

As we made our way through, I noticed the streets were just as confused as the buildings. There was cobble stone one moment, cement the next, followed by dirt. Every street was packed. It didn’t help that there was clutter against the buildings like crates and dumpsters. Laundry hung overhead, as well as banners and more Asian lanterns. I could see people sitting on balconies with umbrellas talking to their neighbors.

The aroma of fried rice and stir fry hit my nose. We went past a handful of the weirdest restaurants I’d ever seen. The tables inside were hidden in cubicles with two-way mirror doors. When a server brought someone their food, they slid it right through the glass as if it wasn’t there. The TV’s displayed sporting events, but the participants were all ninja. On one TV, they were surfing the chaotic waves formed by a hurricane while avoiding a Kraken-like monster. On another was a crazy soccer game with ninja running at super speed, flipping over each other, and using martial art moves to steal the ball.

Our team boarded a shuttle, and it drove onto an elevated highway. I could see the city’s skyline better from there. Harukan was an odd place that seemed to exist in all time periods, yet at the same time, none of them.

The shuttle dropped us off in front of a wooden fence. Posters were plastered all over it. When I got closer to them, I saw that they were “Wanted” signs. Most of them had the same face—a gorgeous woman with deceptive amber eyes, and black hair pulled into the tightest bun that ever existed. She watched us with an icy, calculated hatred. Printed in dozens of languages were bold, red letters all saying one thing; ENEMY NUMBER ONE: GENEVIEVE FLORENCE.

“Hey, isn’t that the lady that wrote the handbook?” I asked.

Lily turned to the wall. Her brow furrowed. “Yeah, I think it is.

But why is she the most wanted—”

“Don’t fall behind you two,” Hot Stuff said.

We followed the fence around to a gate. There was a sign over it, but I couldn’t read the language. We entered a large training yard divided up by walking paths. There were sand pits, grass fields, and obstacle courses. The constant clap of training staffs striking together filled the air. Most of the people training were kids, probably between the ages of thirteen and nineteen.

Surrounding the yard were old Japanese style buildings. They were all connected by bridges and stacked on top of each other like a tower of pancakes. Some of the screen doors were cracked. I could see beds in one building and what looked like a torture chamber in another.

We took a tunnel that brought us to the other side of the compound. Now we faced a maze of elevated walkways, stairs, more tunnels, and courtyards. It reminded me of the cities in my dreams that had no sense to them.

Somehow, Katherine was able to find our destination. We entered an atrium made entirely of glass. I couldn’t see any support columns or beams that held the building up, nor the lines that separated the glass panels. It was like we were under one, big glass dome. Rain struck the top before sliding down the walls, making the outside world a total blur.

The atrium was overflowing with people. Most of them seemed our age. Some were talking and telling jokes; others were standing indifferently as they watched the room. A couple of commanders stood out of the sea of black with their colorful shirts. There were easily a thousand individuals in the crowd.

Our entrance didn’t go unnoticed. Everyone standing by the door turned to stare at us. A few people said hello to Katherine. Some waved to us, but mostly they whispered to each other as we passed. Tidbits of conversations drifted to my ears.

“It’s good to see you again, Violet.”

“Your arm is growing back nicely.”

“I just want the rain to stop.”

Suddenly, one discussion caught my attention.

“Dozens of camps have been burned to the ground. Almost every camp from California to Utah. Colorado is the latest state to be hit,” a man said. I paused mid-step and concentrated so I could listen more carefully.

“But they’ve never targeted so many children before,” a woman said.

“Yes, well, whoever it is they want this time, they’re not going to give up until they have them. I’ve never seen them like this. Every camp was trashed. They’d gone through everything and left no survivors.”

The woman made a disgusted sound. “To kill all of those children…that’s a new low, even for them.”

“We’re keeping squads posted to as many camps as possible, but we don’t have the resources to guard everywhere all the time.”

“We’re always spread thin.”

The man sighed. “Of course, we might have the numbers if people didn’t keep leaving. There’s a new Betrayal every other day now.”

“Mmmhmm, I heard that they’ve infested the Preservation Division, but good luck trying to sort out who’s with us and who’s not.”

“These are uncertain times my friend, very uncertain.”

“Well, you know what the cause of it is. Ever since she left, we’ve been a mess.”

The man spoke very quietly as if he didn’t want to say the words out loud. “Our best and brightest, now our worst nightmare.”

“And we still have no idea where she is. No sign of her anywhere in seventy years. We’re all holding our breath, waiting for the bomb to drop. When it comes, I’m telling you: we won’t be ready.”

I wondered what in the world they were talking about. Before I lost sight of my team, I started moving again and came up to Katherine’s side. “Who are these people?” I whispered.

“They’re the other squads in our legion,” she said.

“Hey, you made it!” A commander jumped out from behind someone and snatched Katherine up into a bear hug. She laughed and held onto her hat as the man slowly put her back onto her feet. She seemed equally happy to see him as he was to see her.

Now that he was standing still, I recognized him from Katherine’s memory. It was her old teammate, Argo. The only thing different about him was his commander’s uniform. He wore a white shirt trimmed with black and teal.

“Of course I made it, the ceremony is for us,” Katherine said.

“So, this is the team, huh?” He took a good look at everyone and nodded. “You’ve done well for yourself.” He patted Katherine’s shoulder. I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. This guy couldn’t keep his hands off of her, and she didn’t seem to mind.

“Everyone, this is Argo,” Katherine said. The others introduced themselves, but I was quiet.

His gaze fell on me when I hadn’t said anything. “And you are?” He offered me his hand. It took all of my restraint to shake it and not crush it.

“Kaine,” I said through my teeth.

A mischievous glimmer filled his eyes. “Ah, I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said. I looked to Katherine for an explanation. But before she could say anything, Argo wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me away from the others.

My face contorted. “Where are we going?”

“Oh, just to my office.” He snickered and let go of me now that we were out of Katherine’s sight. He folded his arms over his chest and glared at me. “I hear that you’ve shown quite a bit of interest in your commander. She told me that you wanted to be friends.” He sounded like a detective from an old black and white movie. “Is this true?”

“I-I, um.” I didn’t know if I was supposed to keep that a secret or not. “Is it a crime or something?”

“Of course not.” He clapped his hand a little harshly against my shoulder. “I just want to make sure you have her best interest at heart.”

Who did this guy think he was? Angry heat filled my cheeks. I was about to give him a piece of my mind when a woman approached us.

She wore a gray uniform. Her shirt had no sleeves and left her toned arms exposed. She wore a light gray headband with the symbol of medicine embroidered in red on the center. Her eyes were dreamy and exotic. She could’ve easily passed as an African princess.

“Leave him alone,” she said and put a hand on Argo’s arm.

“Besides, he looks harmless.” She winked at me.

“You must be Juniper,” I said.

She nodded once. “I’ll take this rude man back where he belongs.” She walked away, tugging Argo behind her. Then she stopped and looked back. “Congratulations by the way.”

It wasn’t easy trying to find my squad again, especially in a crowd of people wearing masks. Eventually, I spotted Katherine and walked up to her, relieved.

“Hey,” she said. “What was all that about?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I said.

“And there they are!”

My shoulders slumped. Another stranger was coming up to talk to us. Then my eyes grew wide as I realized it was our jonin coming towards us. It was the same stern woman I’d seen in Katherine’s memory. Everyone in the atrium stopped talking and took a knee.

“Jonin Ahana.” Katherine bowed her head. When I didn’t copy her, she punched my arm. I bent over, and the rest of the team followed. “It’s been a long time.”

“Indeed, it has,” Ahana said. “Have you gotten taller?”

“No, ma’am. You’ve gotten shorter,” Katherine said in all seriousness.

The two women stared each other down. They didn’t move, breathe, or blink for a full minute. I thought Ahana was going to order the legion to behead Katherine. Then amusement filled her eyes, and the both of them laughed. Ahana touched Katherine’s cheek.

“It’s good to see you,” she said. Suddenly, the warmth and happiness left her eyes. “So, this is the best you could bring me, is it?”

Ahana jabbed my chest, so I stood up tall. I bit my tongue to hold back a grunt. She looked at me from head to toe. I couldn’t help feeling that I was inadequate. I was glad when she turned to inspect the others. “You think you’re ready for duty?”

“Y-yes.”

“I think so.”

Ahana shook her head. “You can’t even answer a simple question properly. Is this what I can expect out of you on the battlefield?” She stopped in front of Lily. Their faces were an inch apart.

Lily fought to sound confident. “No, ma’am.”

Ahana turned to Katherine. “You’ve got a lot of work cut out for you, but if anyone is capable of turning this bunch into a worthy team, it’s you. You hear that, you lot? You’ve got one of the finest commanders in the legion, don’t you dare tarnish her legacy. Now if everyone’s ready, I’d like to begin the ceremony.” Ahana disappeared into the crowd.

“Well, she seems pleasant,” I whispered.

The crowd collectively came to their feet and surged like water towards the other end of the atrium. They gathered their umbrellas and went outside into a garden. We were the last ones to head out.

The rain had found a way to pour even harder than before. I felt like I was taking a cold shower, but my attention was quickly drawn towards the garden’s beauty. Surrounding us were blooming cherry blossom trees.

The crowd had formed an aisle for us to pass through. At the end was a pagoda-like pavilion where Ahana and a man sat on wooden chairs. The man had black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. His skin was dark tan, and he wore no mask. He dressed in a traditional kimono. He had a peaceful expression; the kind depicted on immortals who understood something a person learns only after living a long time.

When we reached the gap between the crowd and the pavilion, Katherine and Hot Stuff peeled away from us to stand with the multitude. Wolf led us up the pavilion’s stairs, and we kneeled on the last step. It became so quiet and still that I could hear the water dripping from our clothes.

Ahana came to her feet. “We are not gathered here today to celebrate a graduation. We are here to witness an adoption. You, our lost brothers and sisters, have at last found your way home. You have proven your identity, not by your abilities, but by your courage and your compassion. We are honored to give you our name. We open our home to you, we will share our secrets with you, our privilege, and our burden,” she said. “I find your commander’s judgment to be sound. Therefore, I have no reason to disagree with her decision. She believes you are ready to face all that this family will ask of you. If you think otherwise, now is the time to say so.”

I cringed. This was my last chance to back out. I felt like a man on his wedding day. I was sure that this was what I wanted, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to shut the door on all the other options.

Before I could say something stupid, my window of opportunity disappeared…forever.

“The ninja do not have an oath because so often people speak words they do not mean. You will prove your loyalty and commitment through the blood you are willing to spill. When you receive your sword, make an incision on your left hand. Once you do, you will be one of us.”

Ahana grabbed a box from the stack behind her chair. She went to Wolf first and opened the lid. Wolf’s hands were shaking as he pulled out a sword. The scabbard was a dark blue, the hilt wrapped in navy silk, and the cross guard was silver. It sang a metallic song when he unsheathed it. Engraved on the curving blade was a picture of a sea serpent in the waves.

Wolf removed his glove and cut his palm, a streak of crimson coated his hand. Ahana wrapped his palm in a red cloth. “May you serve with honor,” she said and helped Wolf to his feet.

She raised his hand so the crowd behind us could see. The sound of cheering and clapping drowned out the rain. Tears gathered in Wolf’s eyes. Weeks of effort and pain had all culminated into this one moment. Someone hauled him into the throng where he got swarmed with hugs and congratulations.

The crowd’s mood seemed to put us at ease. Kavi wasn’t so nervous to be the next one to cut his hand. As Ahana went down the line, I saw that each sword was made to fit the unique ability someone had. I was relieved that I’d finally figured out what my gift was. I didn’t have to worry about getting a generic sword.

Someone stepped in front of me and opened the last box. When I looked up, I was surprised to see the man presenting my sword instead of Ahana. I figured that meant something really special was in the box, but when I looked, I frowned.

The sword inside wasn’t new like the others; it was a hand-medown. The red silk on the hilt was faded and stained. The gold cross guard had been polished, but it was still badly worn. The scabbard was dented. The sword needed to be in a museum, not taken out on missions.

A little less than enthusiastic, I took it out of the box and unsheathed it. The blade was black with a gold dragon wrapping around it. At this point, I was just happy I couldn’t see any rust.

Ahana gasped in awe. “Sensei, you’re really going to let a boy use the Tatara?” He didn’t say anything to her but seemed to be waiting for my response. Was I supposed to be happy?

“You seem disappointed,” the man whispered.

I lowered my head and pictured the cool swords my teammates had received. “Why don’t I get a new sword?” I asked.

“You should be honored to hold this sword!” Ahana said, and the man held up his hand to silence her. She mumbled to herself.

“Sometimes old things are better than new things,” the man said. “This is the only weapon strong enough to withstand your fire.” I tried to look content and accept that the sword given to me was the best fit.

I took a deep breath. This was it, the big moment, from now on I would have a new life. No more getting teased at school. No more being invisible. I’d never have to see my mom crying over bills she couldn’t pay again.

I pressed my palm against the blade, and warm blood trickled down my arm. Ahana wrapped my hand and presented me to the crowd. I couldn’t resist smiling at the thunderous screaming.

There was no time for an after party. The squads had quickly dispersed. Katherine led us out of the rain and down a long tunnel. After twenty minutes we entered what looked like a deserted train station. It looked like something out of a horror movie; the tiles on the floor and the walls were grungy, the overhead lights flickered, and a man in a black cloak leaned against a dark corner—no doubt watching us.

As we waited, I stared at my sword. “Lily, do you know who that man was? The one who gave this to me?” I asked.

“Master Enki,” she said as if it should’ve been obvious. I felt my stomach drop. The guy who ran the entire organization had presented my sword to me, and I had complained. Then I wondered why he thought he had to hand it to me personally. Wasn’t he busier with more important things?

I heard a whistle, and a moment later, a sleek bullet train pulled into the station. The doors popped open with a hiss like a freshly opened soda. The interior was the opposite of the outside. Bolted to the carpeted floor were Victorian armchairs with velvet cushions, the walls had wood paneling, and old music played softly. Sitting in the back was a man dressed in an elegant suit. He was hiding his face behind a newspaper.

We fell into our seats as the train shot forward into an unlit tunnel. For a minute the windows were black until they flickered to life with images of passing countryside. As the darkness lit up, I saw the train entering another station. It seemed like we were going to zip right through, then abruptly the train screeched to a halt.

“You have arrived at Sakura Circle, location of the Exotic and Extinct Animal Zoo, the Jasmine Stadium, and the Ninja Network headquarters,” a cheerful voice announced. No one boarded the train. Once more we were whisked away into a tunnel.

“What sort of animals do they have at the zoo?” Lily asked.

“Oh, it’s a zoo for prehistoric animals,” Katherine said.

“Dinosaurs?!” Spaz asked. “Live ones?”

“Yeah.”

The images on the windows shut off and white light spilled into the tunnel. The train went up a steep ramp. This time we didn’t stop at another station, we pulled directly into a building. Katherine stood up.

“You have arrived at the Central Plaza, location of City Hall, the Courthouse, the Archive, and the divisions’ headquarter offices.”

When we exited the train, we found ourselves in a beautiful futuristic building. The floors were polished marble, and the walls were whiter than clouds. All around were steel columns and glass windows. Scattered along the corridor were openings into endless hallways. Signs marked each passageway; a few read Caution Hazardous Material; No Access Beyond this Point; Archives. Blending in seamlessly to the white dream-like building were ninja dressed head-to-toe in white uniforms. They carried folders, clipboards, and stacks of paper.

At the end of the grand hall, there was a wide staircase that had to be at least a good twenty flights of stairs. It brought us outside to a circular enclosure. Surrounding us were several enormous buildings. Each one was easily the size of the Burj Khalifa. We crossed to the building in front of us. Posted over the entrance was

PRESERVATION.

The interior was the opposite of the building we just came from. It had depressing gray concrete on every surface and no windows. Holographs littered the ceiling with the latest news. People stood around like turkeys in the rain staring upwards.

We moved to the fleet of elevators on the back wall. We were crammed in with a bunch of ninja in business attire. They all seemed glued to an electronic device. Someone was talking about the stock exchange while someone else was going on about the national security of some country I’d never heard of before.

The elevator stopped on various floors. People poured in, and they poured out. One floor was like an office, another looked like a call center, and one appeared to be a meeting hall. As the people with suits exited, people dressed like janitors, construction workers, and police officers stepped in.

We rode all the way to the basement level. By that time, there were only three other people in the elevator. The doors opened up to a warehouse drenched in fluorescent light. It looked like we’d just walked into a super store. Aisles seemed to stretch on forever. There were clothing racks a mile long.

A ninja with a dull look in his eyes wearing a blue vest that declared I CAN HELP on the back, wandered by with a cart full of discarded items. Mindlessly, he put things back on the shelves.

“Welcome to the Depot,” he said without bothering to look at us. “We strive to meet your every need.”

Katherine led us straight ahead through the sea of clothes. I saw military uniforms for every country, team mascot costumes, pizza delivery uniforms, kimonos, kilts, and ordinary street clothes from the modern day all the way back to ancient Egypt. Some clothes were stained and torn to look like they’d been used for years, while others looked brand new. It wasn’t just clothes, either; wigs, sunglasses, masks, and hats were sold as well.

We passed by a lady who dressed like she was going to hike Mount Everest, a man dressed as an African tribal leader, and a group of people in full biohazard outfits. Halloween stores wished they had this many options.

It took a while to cross, but once on the other side, confronting us was a maze of random items. Lamps and dressers surrounded rows of couches. Pianos and vacuums were buried in with tables and chairs. Wedged between everything were telescopes, plants, globes, pool noodles, umbrellas, refrigerators, and any other item I could think of and some I couldn’t.

“What is all this?” Wolf asked.

Spaz jumped onto a reclining chair. He flipped the lever, but instead of reclining the chair tossed him onto the floor. The butt cushion propped open, and a case of razor sharp knives rose up.

“Sweet!” Spaz said. He then proceeded to flip all of the reclining chairs’ levers. Each opened up differently, and each hid different weapons. Castile went to pick up a lamp, but the top popped off to reveal a spear hiding inside.

“Can no one here read the ‘Do Not Touch’ sign?!” another man in a blue vest said. Everyone stared at him. He had wild cave-man hair and wore a purple pointed hat. His name tag read: MERLIN. He pushed the secret cases back into the chairs and reconnected the top of the lamp to the base. “Now, what is it you people want?”

“We’re here for sword concealment,” Katherine said.

“I suggest a cloak would work well enough for most of you,” Merlin said. Katherine crossed her arms. “What? Did they stop wearing those, too?! I swear the humans are wearing less and less by the day! Next, I’ll be struggling to hide weapons in hose!” He turned around and led us through the piles and started mumbling to himself. “What did I do to deserve this? If I ever find Arthur, I swear I’ll kill him myself…ring his neck…cook his eyes.” “Is he really…?” I whispered to Katherine.

“Yes, unfortunately,” she said. “He’s one of our many celebrities. Elvis works in gardening because he used his siren-like ability to sell records.”

“Alright, let me see what I’ve got to work with,” Merlin said. He took Spaz’s sword. He turned it over. “Mmm…yes. You see the sword mimics the wielder, my little lord.” Merlin tapped the sword, and it morphed into a bird. It flew to Spaz and sat on his shoulder.

“How’d you do that?!” Spaz said. Merlin had a look of mischief in his eye and turned to Lily.

“You can’t turn it into thoughts,” Lily said. “…can you?”

“This is where you must be clever, for thoughts can be made physical. Watch.” Merlin shook Lily’s sword. One moment it was a weapon, the next it was a book. “I believe it is a diary.” When Lily opened the book, everyone’s thoughts were filling up the pages.

Castille’s sword turned into a stun gun. Kavi’s changed into a flashlight, although I don’t know what that had to do with his powers. I was the last one Merlin approached. I gave him my sword assuming he’d be able to change it into a lighter or something.

Merlin took the sword from me like it was a precious artifact.

“I never thought I’d live to see the day…” “What is it?” I asked.

“I’ve seen many great swords, my lord, swords that saved millions of lives; Excalibur, the Kusanagi, Durandal, Joyeuse, and the Honjo Masamune. Or, swords responsible for the worst destruction in history; the cursed blades of Muramasa. Of course, the swords are only as legendary as their wielders,” Merlin said. “It is very rare for a sword to have more than one owner and practically impossible for a legendary sword to be passed down.” He ran a finger down the dull side of the blade. “This sword once belonged to a master.”

“Really?”

“Indeed. My boy, this blade is responsible for sinking Atlantis, it buried Pompeii, and has summoned fire and brimstone to annihilate entire cities, nay, entire cultures. Its name, Tatara, means forge, and in a forge, things can be created, repurposed, or destroyed.” He returned the sword to me. “I can only wonder what it will accomplish in your hands.” I gulped. He gave a black cylindrical container used to carry maps and blueprints to me.

“Uh, what’s this for?” I asked.

“The oldest swords don’t have the ability to morph, but this ought to hide it just fine,” he said. “Alright, I’ve done my job. Off you go.” Merlin shooed us away.

Katherine led us to the electronics department. Surrounding it were walls of tvs and display cases filled with all kinds of gadgets. Katherine didn’t bother to look around. She went straight to the counter and talked to the ninja posted there. The man nodded and retrieved six boxes from the back. She handed one to each of us.

“You need to keep these with you at all times. Every ninja is considered on duty whether every hour of the day, no matter what you’re doing,” she said.

I pried my box open. Waiting inside was a black cell phone. It looked to be a few models ahead of the latest model. It was thin but durable, the screen was wide, and it had two cameras on it. I pressed the power button. The lock screen appeared with a lovely scenery of some mountains. When I pressed my thumb to the screen, a loading bar popped up. Once it was completed; the phone unlocked. “Welcome.” The phone chimed.

The home screen looked like any other phone. I could make calls and send messages. I opened an app that had an exclamation mark on it. When I pressed it, it opened up like a map and showed my location. Little blurbs would appear when something interesting happened nearby. For instance, there was an accident on the street twenty blocks away. Another app displayed wanted criminals and missing children. The numbers of my teammates were preprogrammed into the phone.

“So, if there’s like a trillion people on the planet, how do the ninja know when something goes wrong? That’s a lot of people to watch,” Spaz said.

“The ninja can tap into just about any type of camera there is; security, phone, computer, TV, and gaming system. There’s really nowhere people go without some sort of device. And for the more remote locations, we rely on satellite imagery,” Katherine said.

“So, basically, there’s no such thing as privacy,” I said.

She sighed. “The more we know, the better we can detect when things go wrong.”

“Yeah, but invading people’s privacy for safety’s sake…is that right? To me this sounds like we’re trying to play God, watching everybody and judging them. How do we know what’s right and wrong?”

“You’ve heard of the term ‘a necessary evil?’” she said. “I’m not a big fan of it, either. But what other options do we have?”

“I guess…It just sounds like if the wrong people got their hands on the system, a lot of bad things could happen. How do you know if the people monitoring everyone aren’t up to something bad?” I asked.

“We don’t.” She plucked a box off of the shelf next her and casually stared at the back. “It’s another reason why I don’t sleep at night. Sleeper agents in the ninja is one of my worst nightmares.” She put the box back onto the shelf. But it was partially crushed now from her squeezing it so tightly.

The rain had finally given up as we returned to the floating platforms. The sky was dark, and the nearby asteroids were lit up like mini moons. The raging ocean at the bottom of the cliffs had settled down. We stopped in front of a rope bridge.

“Spaz, this is you,” Katherine said.

Spaz shuffled forward. He exchanged long glances with Castile. He held up his fist and Castile touched it with his own, then he faced Katherine.

“We’re all going to be together again soon, right?” he asked. Katherine nodded. Spaz held his chin up high. “Good. I’ll miss you guys till then.” He waved and made his way across the bridge. Then he disappeared through the portal.

Castile was next. He gave me a hearty punch to the shoulder for a goodbye. I tried to return the gesture but he just chuckled like I tickled him. We moved on to another rope bridge.

“Lily,” Katherine said.

Lily hugged each of us goodbye. When she got to me, she whispered. “Be careful out there. And don’t burn anything.”

I laughed. “I’ll try.”

I knew the next portal was for me. Wolf and Kavi had decided earlier that they weren’t going back home. They were going to live on base now.

Kavi gave me a handshake. “I wish you good fortune until our next encounter my friend.”

“Thanks, you too—” Hot Stuff yanked me towards her and pulled me into a bear hug. She squeezed so tight, all the air in my lings was shoved out.

“You better text me,” she said.

“I will.” She let me go and I glanced at Wolf.

“Don’t do anything stupid. I’m looking forward to seeing how you’ll screw up our first team mission,” he said, not in his usual sour tone. This time he was being playful.

“Definitely not gonna miss you.” We both laughed.

I turned around, about to face my most dreaded goodbye but Katherine seemed to have disappeared. I tried to hide my disappointment as I climbed the rope bridge. To my surprise, she was waiting next to the portal.

I perked up. “Are you coming with me?”

She shook her head.

My shoulders fell. “Oh.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay? The apartment across from mine just opened up. I might actually get some sleep knowing you aren’t going to be ambushed in the middle of the night,” she said.

Now that the platforms had dried off and there was no wind trying to throw me into the ocean, I was able to notice the spectacular view of Harukan. It glowed with billions of spots of light. Everything around it was dark, untouched by civilization.

“It’s very tempting but…my mom would kill me if I told her I was moving out right now.”

She knocked on her conical hat. “Right, sometimes I have to remind myself you’re only seventeen. It’s really easy to forget when everyone I know looks the same age.”

“Yeah, we’re not all a hundred and ten like you.”

“Definitely not that old.”

“Well, how would I know when you refuse to tell me?”

“You don’t need to know. Just like you don’t need to know my real name.”

I took a step back. “Wait, what? Katherine isn’t your real name?”

“Of course not.” She giggled. “You really thought I would go around using my actual name?” I stared at her for a long minute. I couldn’t imagine her going by any other name.

“Great, one more thing I don’t know about you.”

She poked my shoulder. “Enjoy the mystery.”

“Gee, thanks.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I guess I better go…”

She lowered her head and nodded. “Probably.”

I didn’t know what amount of time apart I should be preparing myself for. I could chill a little knowing that I would see her again.

I dared to hug her.

At first, she was taken back to suddenly find herself in my arms. But then she relaxed and brought her arms around me. I buried my face into her shoulder and the silky waves of her hair. I tried not to be a creeper and sniff her, but she smelled so wonderful I couldn’t help it. She chuckled when she noticed what I was doing.

She let go and gave my arms a gentle squeeze. “I’m only one portal away, you know. You can see me whenever.”

I smiled. “I’ll hold you to that."

I stepped back towards the portal. I gave her a salute then braced myself as I crossed the threshold.