The robot’s twitchy limp made their walk slower. Finally, #42 and Captain Raptor entered the cave, after a long hike through the jungle. Captain Raptor’s eyes narrowed to slits to adjust for the dimmer light. He saw a slumped figure on the floor, “Hey, 42, who’s this?”
“Master Shiro!” the Ninja hobbled over, “What have they done to you?”
The old man wheezed, “They just broke a couple of my ribs and beat me for a bit. I’ll be OK.”
“I know you would not have broken and revealed the secret to the Control Panel, Master.”
“No, to my shame, it was Sora who told the big one, so he would stop hurting me.”
“She broke her oath, and betrayed the Ninjas?”
Captain Raptor watched this exchange of blame Sora for everything, “Hey, maybe cut this Sora a break. Was she the mammal ninja I wrestled with after fighting some of you guys?”
“Yes, she was our new Ninja Master.”
“Well, I thought she took that pretty seriously. Sounds like she was in a tough bind and had to save the one who was being hurt.”
Shiro looked up at Captain Raptor, “You seem wise. You are not like the other ones.”
“I hope not. When I come to steal your chocolate milk or other valuables, my crew isn’t going to hurt villagers.”
“You are a pirate then?”
“Of course. It’s a pirate’s life for me. Now tell me about this Control Panel thingy.”
Captain Raptor rummaged around the cave while Shiro explained the process to transfer command via the smooth black obelisk. He hefted a piece of rusty iron rod he found. “I just want to say, I’m sorry about what happened to your ninjas when we fought. I didn’t know they were people.” He raised the rod and swung at the obelisk. The mysterious stone shattered, either locking in the ninja robots’ master or freeing them.
Read the next chapter here