(The Ninja fights to obtain the antidote for his master who has been poisoned by an extract of wolf's bane. The small images are of the poison and its antidote, a variety of bella donna, both highly poisonous. This is another extract from The Ninja and the Diplomat, forthcoming.)
Again
the ninja attempted to attack the Boss and again he was confronted by the woman
with sad eyes.
The two
champions knew then that they would have to square off against each other; the
ninja if he was to obtain the antidote from the Boss, the woman with sad eyes would
do whatever she had to to thwart him. Briefly they inspected each other and then
bowed before launching into the attack. The ninja faked a high kick and swung a
hard jab at the woman. She blocked his jab partially and pivoted as she
appeared to absorb the energy from that jab. From her pivot she emerged to kick
him viciously in the crotch.
***
Katya, where is that girl?
The boys have surrounded and attacked her.
What has she done now?
She did nothing, but they did not like it when she
beat Anton and Vasily. They thought together they could get her and pull her
pants down.
What? I know she is fast and strong but they are
each twice, three times, as big as she.
Anyway, she is getting a beating now.
We’ll see about that.
Twelve boys stood around kicking a young girl lying
on the ground. They were careful not to get too close as she kicked back and
already two of them were sitting by the side nursing bruises and perhaps broken
bones.
They were young teens in a special school for
gymnasts. Katya had begged her coach to let her learn what they boys were doing
as well as what the girls had to. The coach had laughed then grudging agreed to
let her try to climb the rope.
He was astonished at her strength. She pulled
herself up hand over hand as she had seen the boys do. She did not climb all
the way to the top on her first attempt or her second. But it took only weeks
for her strength to develop so that she climbed and kept a correct form as she
had observed the boys perform.
Eventually she learned all their floor exercises,
the pommel horse moves, the uneven bars routines and even the rings.
It’s something genetic, pronounced the team doctor.
Male pride provoked many instances of bullying.
Attempted bullying would be the more correct term, as no boy was able to defeat
her in a boxing match or a brawl. Those who tried to pair up against Katya
discovered her natural aptitude for dodging, squirming, kicking, lashing out
with elbows, fists, knees and head butts.
She outgrew her preteen grace and appeared less svelte
as her body showed more muscle than women gymnasts do. But she became an
awesome fighting machine. Her straight blond hair and sad grey eyes were her
best disguise.
***
The
ninja took the blow on his left thigh as he turned clockwise, spinning swiftly
round to lash a leg sweep. He barely connected before the blond began a
cartwheel that ended with her trying to stomp on his left leg. Moving more
swiftly than the eye could follow, the ninja had recovered and engaged the
woman in a furious series of kicks and blocks.
They
broke off only to return immediately with arms flailing, slashing and jabbing,
blocking and twisting. An opponent might appear to have an arm locked only to
kick or twist free. Neither combatant appeared to weaken or tire. Two or three times,
the force of the ninja’s strikes or jabs enabled him to hit his target despite
a block or deflecting move by the woman. Several times, her quickness and
flexibility, bending over backwards to a handspring resulted in her heel
reaching the ninja’s crotch or solar plexus just before he could parry the blow
or twist away.
The
ninja stepped back, appearing to slip and pivoted off his right arm on the
floor to lash his legs against his opponent’s hips. Though she certainly felt
the blow, she reacted instantly by swiveling her hips away to her left while
launching herself into a handspring to her right.
“They
are very good,” said Wang, more to his companion than to the Boss or the
Yakuza.
“On a
good day, I would not be sure of myself against either of them,” replied Li.
“But today, the ninja is distracted.”
“Enough
of this Boris,” declared Wang. “Would you please give him the antidote?”
“What
antidote?” responded the Boss.
“No
matter, Mr. Yamato,” offered Wang, addressing the Yakuza directly. “It would
appear that your alliance with the Boss has been terminated, but I do have the
antidote. I need, however, some information from you.”
“Ha,”
coughed the Yakuza. “You want to know where the other eleven nuclear devices
are headed. I shall never tell you!” He coughed again but it became a whoop and
then he convulsed.
“It is
a simple proposition, Mr. Yamato,” related Wang. “You have been poisoned by
what is called in your country torikabuto. Wolf’s bane is its common English
name. I don’t think it really has the power to ward off vampires as some
legends have it, but it does impair the ability of the heart and the lungs to
function properly. You will be dead in two hours without the antidote. So tell
me, where are those devices?”
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