It was beginning to become dusk in New York City, the sky cast in an oragne-crimson glow, with a slight streak of blue at the base of the horizon still visible.
In the center of an unused baskteball court in a back alley between a few buildings, there stood a tall, muscular Japanese man. He wore all black clothing, including a baseball cap and black leather trechcoat. Also noticable to the human eye was that he was holding a 3'10" long katana over his shoulder. The man seemed to stand there with a stance that spoke levels of his skill. And to top it off, the man was apparently waiting for something.
Yes. This man was a ninja. One of the very best. He was Zero, one of the "Great Four" of the 'UFE', the Ultimate Fighters Exhibition and the Teacher of Ayane Anno, aka 'The Mistress', while she was still under the persona of the 'Ninja Kitty'... Of course, that had all ended once he and his three friends were attacked by some uber-satsu-no-hado Ninja. One claiming to be the 'Great Death', the 'Daishi'.
Without moving, Zero simply muttered, "I must admit, you kids have some balls to dare to come back... I never expected you three to come here, after embezzeling all that money from my account."
"Ah, quit your @#$%in' bitchin' already!" Came a rather crass female voice. "We got you your @#$%in' money!"
Hearing that, Zero lifted his head and turned towards the source of the voice. He saw the three rats, and they were hefting quite a large iron pot with the image of a shammrock, a four-leaf clover on the side. He raised an eyebrow at the sight. "You three actually succeeded?"
"Of course we @#$%in' succeeded!" Lydia snapped. "We're you @#$%in' students, weren't we!?"
"You were my students," Zero said as he started walkinfg over towards the three rats. The three lycanthropes than moved out of the way to allow Zero to check out the gold. The ninja picked up a piece between his thumb and forefinger, as to inspect it thoroughly. "Hmm... Decent weight... Probably 18 or 24K... Maybe even 14K if it's purer than I think it is..."
"So we're like, paid up now, right?" Moisha asked with a bit of hope in her voice.
Zero 'hmm'ed for a moment or so. He than dropped the coin back onto the pile in the pot. He placed his hands at either handle of the pot of gold and lifted it up. He moved it up and down experimentally and narrowed his eyes. "You're a little short."
"@#$%!" Lydia snapped out. Grumbling, she snatched the small hip-pouch off of Romeo's waist, causing the blue-furred wererat to squeal like a little girl. Moisha then tossed it on top of Zero's pot of gold. "There! You @#$%in' happy now?"
Zero once more lifted the pot of gold into the air, moving it up and down. He then nodded his head. "This will do," Zero said as he began to turn to leave. However, he was surprised when another pouch of gold was thrown onto his pot. He turned his head to look questioningly at the wererat.
"Just paying off some interest," Lydia stated as she held her gaze with Zero's. "So that certain parties with 'interest' in us don't know we were here, all right?"
Smirking, Zero just nodded his head and continued to walk. There was a liqour store he knew of that he could cash this in at.
Moisha and Romeo looked at their teammate. "Lydia, did we have to give him so much?" Romeo asked.
"Yeah, like, we could'a used that cash, u'know?" Moisha added.
"Don't worry about it," Lydia stated in all seriousness. "Besides, we still got Moisha's cash pouch on hand, and we got another two @#$%in' pots of gold! We ain't goin' broke any time soon!"
"But we won't have it for long unless we start investing wisely..." Romeo said in a serious tone of voice.
"Which is why we're going into business for our @#$%in' selves!" Lydia snapped at Romeo. "Now you two, follow me! We got some @#$%in' work to do!"
"Er... The Rats of NIHM?" *Moisha and Romeo look at Lydia questioningly*
"I know! The Mice of Minsk!" *Moisha and Romeo look at Lydia questioningly*
"Ah... Ah... Mickey Mouse Club?" *Moisha and Romeo look at each other*
"I thought you hid the Disney tapes."
"I, like, thought you did, Romes."
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(Posted Thu, 11 Sep 2003 16:17)
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