Fourteen years previously…

The front doors slammed shut, forever shutting out the best headmistress the orphanage had ever seen, and little Rori’s only friend in the world. Rori hid behind a large potted plant, listening to the last vibrations of those heavy doors: those doors that kept her from everything she had ever wanted.

Between her and those doors stood Mr. Z, who’d be taking up the position of headmaster. She’d never liked him. His thoughts were cold and sharp, calculated to turn anything and everything to his advantage. She could already see pieces of a plan coming together in his mind.

Mr. Z turned, his eyes quickly fixing on Rori. “Get out of there before you knock it down,” he snapped.

Glaring at him with every muscle in her childish face, she obeyed, hardly brushing a leaf on the plant.

Mr. Z nodded, a smirk crawling up his face. “That’s right. Now get back to training.”

Rori sulked away, hoping that someday she’d make him regret those words.

Back in the warehouse…

It was just the two of them. Rori, now the Telepathic Ninja, facing off against the tyrannous Mr. Z.

Mr. Z quickly regained his wits, donning his smirk and shoving his hands in his pockets. “I must say, Rori, I never expected to see you again. Not that it matters. You’re fifteen years too late.”

Ninja gave him a much developed scowl. She could hear his thoughts gloating over the movie reference, and she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging it. The only things she wanted him full of were bruises. She fought the impulse to run at him. Instead, she began to circle him. “You know they say ‘better late than never,’ but I think I got here just in time.”

“Do you?” Mr. Z said, his thoughts betraying both haughty disbelief and confusion. “Then let’s agree to disagree about that, as there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“Nah, I’d rather just be right and have done with it.”

And she lunged.

He dodged.

She crouched and went for a leg sweep, but he leapt neatly aside.

He dove to grapple her to the ground, but she rolled away.

She leapt at him, landing a kick to his side and a punch to his shoulder. He retaliated with a hard blow to her left shoulder, and another to her gut.

She fell to the ground, weezing. Her shoulder felt out of place. He stood over her with that slimy smirk of his. She clamped her eyes shut, both from the physical and visual pain of his victory.

“Like I said,” he said, “nothing you can do.”

She wished everything would just be silent.

But wishes don’t work like that.

A rapid popping sound filled the air, followed by grunting and clicking. Ninja took a good breath, then pushed it out.

Just breathe, she thought to herself. Just breathe.

Once she established her breathing, it occurred to her that Mr. Z had stopped talking, and lots of footsteps were filling the room. She opened her eyes and nearly forgot the pain in her shoulder.

Mr. Z was gaping in just as much astonishment at the kids who were walking about the room. Each of them were armed with two tasers, though many of the charges had already been expended. One of the kids had Mr. Z in handcuffs: a kid with huge sunglasses and a magnificent fake mustache.

“Spicy?” Ninja groaned through her teeth.

“That’s me. Your shoulder looks super out of whack by the way.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” Ninja wheezed. She sat up, and with some stretching and pulling, popped her arm back in place. The relief was immediate, though it still ached a bit. “So how’d you manage to lose the ninja kids?

Spicy shrugged. “Bubbles.”

“Ah, okay.” An image of many tasers firing flashed across Ninja’s mind, though in her state she wasn’t sure whether the thought was hers or Spicy’s. “That makes sense.”

Ninja called the loud man to get everything squared away. The SAOTJSOGB wanted to keep Mr. Z for his plots of overthrowing Wales and Britain, etc, and Ninja wasn’t inclined to disagree with them. The underage ninjas were excused and sent back to the States, where hopefully they’d have more luck at finding a home than Ninja had. Either way, Ninja made sure they were at least going into a good system.

They stood under the tree outside the airport. It was nearly time for Ninja to head off. She held out her hand to Spicy. “Thanks for the help, Spicy. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“No problem. Come back if there’s ever another evil plot against the world! Or maybe I’ll come to you next time!”

Ninja smiled. “Maybe.” A thought struck her. A memory of a little sister hanging on her arm, being pulled away…

She shook it off. She didn’t want to remember that, not now.

“See you around, Cumin Cake.”