The Ninja Story 15

"Hey kid, you comfy in there? You better be! 'Cause you'll be in there a long, long time..."

"Enjoy it while it lasts! Nyuck nyuck nyuck..."

"Look at that pathetic worm, he thinks he's so tough, playing the silent treatment on us! Haha! What a wimp!"

"Ahahaha! And that head! Look at that oblong head!"

"We should kick it!"

"Oh yell yeah!"

More terrible, annoying laughter, before they trouped out of the room of cells and shut the large door behind them.

Arnold was seated in the corner of a cell, his wrists bound by shackles as he sat in misery and fear, feeling powerless to even try to escape. As one to always look on the bright side, he felt all of that just slipping away. The only person who knew what happened to him was Helga, but she was either killed...despite the horrible thought that he tried to push out of his mind, or just as powerless. He didn't blame her, she was only nine years old and probably didn't even know where this place was. Not to mention far away.

Of course, he didn't blame her, nor expect anything.

More so, he was worried about her. He tried not to think of the idea of her having been killed, which he hoped and prayed was not the case. But what had happened to her? Where was she? Was she okay? His heart wrenched as he felt more powerless to know that he couldn't even save or protect her, as he promised he would.

I let her down. I made a promise to her that I would always be there for her, that I'd protect her, and now look. I can't believe this happened, I'm trapped here in a cell with maniacal ninjas and Helga is still out there possibly in trouble or...

He shook his head to rid himself of the horrid thoughts.

What else could he do? He was trapped, more trapped than the time he, Helga, Gerald, Phoebe, Harold and all those other people were trapped on the derailed, malfunctioning subway. Or even earlier, back on the train.

No. This was worse. Not only was he captured and trapped with no means of a possible escape, but it was in the middle of a strange dimension of sorts, where no one from back home could possibly get to, let alone knowing of it or his capture. Helga had been his only source of familiarity, security, and survival, and now she was possibly facing an impending, inescapable doom, just like he was.

Arnold sighed for the umpteenth time since he'd regained consciousness, thinking back to the last time he saw Helga, when he had been chasing after her in the forest after the incidents on the train, and were then ambushed by ninjas, who had effortlessly manhandled him and knocked him unconscious. Minutes before that, they had an argument, that had followed another passionate confession, and kiss, from Helga, which undoubtedly confirmed the truth behind her confession back on the FTi rooftop.

A blush tinted his cheeks, knowing now that any doubts he may have had about Helga's feelings were swept away. He could still feel her hands gripping him, in his hair and on his shoulders, her passionate confession, and then oh, her kiss. His second-third?-real kiss. Of course, technically his first kiss was during the school play, but it had been scripted, not quite done by free will. In a matter of speaking, of course.

It struck him then, the same question he'd been asking himself for a while when he bothered to think of it.

Did he love her back?

Either way, it was too late now. There was no way out of this. His heart sank, not just the loss of his full life ahead, his family, his friends, his unanswered question to the true whereabouts of his parents, and Helga...

Arnold sighed again, hanging his head. Hopeless.

"I'm sorry, Helga... There was nothing I could do. I wish I could get out of here and make sure you're okay."

BOOM!

"AH!" Arnold yelped in surprise, falling onto the floor on his back.

The wall outside his cell just EXPLODED, causing a violent tremor and the stone to fly in, creating plumes of dust, and in all, creating a large, gaping hole that led to the outside. Arnold sat back up, coughing away the dusty smoke, shocked, scared, and very surprised as to what had just happened. It wasn't until he then saw the shadowed silhouette of something, a human, coming in through the hole, hard to see through all the dusty smoke.

As it cleared, it revealed to be a tall young adult male, though mistakenly female for a fleeting moment, until the flat chest gave it away. He grinned, rather maniacally, and let out a breath.

"Works every time." He said, and then looked at him through the cell. He stared, studying him for a moment before realization came to his eyes. "Hey...you're Arnold, right?"

Now THAT was even more shocking.

Arnold gaped, unsure of how to respond to this. How did he know his name? Let alone that he was here? Did Helga make it? Was she all right? But wait, she probably didn't even know where he was! So many questions buzzed through his mind as he stared with surprise and shock at the taller blonde.

"Hey kid, are you mute or something? I asked you a question."

Realizing his mistake, Arnold shook his head. "Y-Yeah, sorry... Yes, I'm Arnold. Um...how did you know I was here? Or even who I am?"

"Your little girlfriend back there." The taller blonde replied, frowning a bit in thought. "Didn't catch her name, though. Blonde hair in pigtails, blue eyes, a pink dress, a bow on her head, one eyebrow and-"

"Helga?!" Arnold realized, standing up quickly. "Is she all right? Is she hurt? She isn't hurt, is she?"

"Relax kid, she's fine. A little injured but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed. She's with my partner, who's looking after her. Pretty lucky that we found her, let me tell you. She could've been dead."

Arnold gulped a bit and his face fell with worry. But he was immensely relieved to know that Helga was safe.

"Well, thanks for looking after her." He said softly. "Who are you, anyway?"

"The name's Deidara, but I won't be offended if you don't remember it." Said the older blonde. "Stand back, kid. I'm busting you out of here."

"Okay." Arnold did and stood back against the wall, far from the bars.

Reaching into his clay back, molding some clay into the shape of a bird, with the help of, he shockingly discovered, mouths on his palms! Live, real, working mouths with tongues and everything!

Placing the model on the bars, Deidara jumped back and muttered a word under his breath.

BOOM!

The walls and floor shook, as did the bars, which broke apart and fell down to the ground with a loud clang. The explosion wasn't as big or powerful as the first, but still enough to cause a tremor and break down the bars.

Unfortunately, it also alerted his captors.

"Hey! What the hell's going on down here?!"

"Kid, you better not be playing with firecrackers!"

"He's in chains, how could he?!"

The large door opened and in came four ninjas of the group, each wielding a weapon, ranging from a sword to nunchucks.

"Who the hell are you?!" Yelled one of them.

Deidara just smirked at them maniacally, unfazed by their sudden entrance. "Who I am won't concern you now. You should be more worried about something else."

"Oh, a wise guy, eh? Well boys, let's teach them a-"

"Oh my God! What is this weird thing?! Boss, there's something on me!"

"And on me! Oh dear God it's moving and crawling!"

"Get it off! Get it off!"

Spiders made of clay, were CRAWLING along the ninjas as if they were alive. The ninjas squirmed, yelling and screaming, which only went to prove that they were nothing but cowardly wimps. Watching in amazement and shock, Arnold blinked as he tried to make sense of the situation, glancing over at the former Akatsuki member questioningly.

Noticing, Deidara winked at him. "Just watch and learn." He made a hand seal.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The clay models all simultaneously exploded, much to Arnold's surprise, making him jump again as he just now witnessed people getting killed by explosions. Whoa!

The carcasses all fell to the ground, all of them dead from the explosions. Deidara gave a satisfied grin and then walked over to the fallen bodies, and picking up a ring of keys. He studied them, and then went over to Arnold in the cell. There were five keys, though he wasn't sure which one was the right key.

"How did you do that?" Arnold asked, amazed, as he held out his shackled wrists.

"I'll explain later. But for now, just know that it was a work of art." The taller blonde said, testing each key until finally, one of them worked and the lock clicked, freeing Arnold's wrists. "There. You're free now. C'mon, I'll get you out of here."

Rubbing his wrists for a moment, Arnold barely had time to register what was going on before more yells were heard from outside the room, which meant the others were alerted of what was occurring here. Deidara frowned, and then quickly grabbed Arnold's hand before practically dragging the younger boy out of the cell and out the big hole in the wall to get outside.

"Wait, how are we going to outrun them?"

"Let me handle it, kid."

Before Arnold could question further, another live, moving clay model of a bird flew out in front of them, and then expanded in size! At least the size of a mini van! Deidara looked behind him to see that more of the group's ninjas were coming out after them through the hole. He grabbed the smaller boy and leaped onto the bird's back, carefully securing Arnold in front of him. The bird spread its clay wings and lifted off the ground, rising high into the air and flying off into the horizon.

Arnold let out a surprised cry and tensed under the older blonde's protective grip to secure him, his eyes wide with shock as he now registered that they were FLYING on a GIANT CLAY BIRD. Flying! He'd dreamed many times of flying in a plane or on a kite, but in real life? It was absolutely terrifying.

"Relax kid, I've gotcha." Deidara assured him, and then produced a few more clay models in his free hand. He looked back down toward the fortress they had just escaped from, and sent them off flying. "Bombs away."

A few moments passed, and then the loud sounds of an explosion was heard behind them, with smoke and fire rising high into the air. Arnold looked back around, his eyes wide and letting out a whistle.

"Whoa." Was all he could say.

"Worked like a charm." Said the older blonde. "So hey, you okay, Arnold?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. They didn't hurt me much."

"Figured. Least I'm not bringing you back to your little girlfriend in pieces. She's a real firecracker."

"Girlfriend?!" Arnold exclaimed in surprise, and blushed a little bit. "W-Wait, you've got it all wrong. Helga's just my friend."

"Are you sure?" Deidara raised a brow, smirking a little. "She obviously has a thing for you. I may be crazy, but I'm not an idiot."

"W-Well....um...." The smaller boy blushed a little more. "N-Never mind that now, we're just friends."

"If you say so, kid."

With the dying smoke and fire far behind, they flew off into the horizon toward the designated destination...