The Adventures of Scarlet Ninja and Rose Samurai (various/FFM)
Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2024 1:02 am
Chapter 1: A Trio of Trouble
It was a dark cloudy night and Scarlet Ninja, along with her partner, Rose Samurai, had been summoned by the Headquarters Of Girls To Investigate Evil to look into a disturbance at a local bank in Peril City.
"Looks like a robbery happening," Scarlet Ninja mentioned, peering down from the rooftop of a building nearby and noticing masked men loading bags of money into a van. She was dressed in her tight, black full-body jumpsuit zipped up through the front, a black face mask to cover her nose and mouth, and a belt on her waist to hold her kunai, shuriken, and rope. She had dark scarlet ribbons loosely tied on each of her forearms and one ribbon tied around her right thigh. Completing her outfit was a pair of knee-length black boots with a zipper on the side. Outside of her superhero job, Scarlet Ninja was better known as Natsuki Yamamoto, a 21-year-old student that attended Gray Gadget Academy. One would describe her as a 5 foot 8 female, with dark black hair that went down to her shoulders, a small nose, and normally a worried look on her face from having to keep up her grades.
"Then let's head down and have some fun, shall we?" Rose Samurai replied. She was dressed in her rosy-red tunic with long sleeves and light armor covering her back and chest. She also wore black stirrup leggings with black thigh-high boots. She wore a forehead protector on her head with a rose icon in the middle of it. She also had her trusty samurai sword and its sheath attached to her belt as part of her armor, along with rope to secure any baddies. Her mystical samurai sword was enchanted with an ice spirit, Yukiko, who was bound to her and shared a psychic and semi-limited physical link with her. During the day, Rose Samurai went by Mina Itsuki, a 23-year-old veterinarian that also worked as a part-time barista at Kitty Ears Cafe. She was taller than your average Asian female, 6 foot 1 in height, with long black hair usually tied in a high ponytail, a cute and dainty nose, and a bright smile on her face most of the time. Most of the time she lived her life carefree, but in times of battle, she could turn serious with sharp focus.
The two superheroines made their way down, catching the men by surprise after they had loaded another set of bags in their van.
"Stop right there, thieves!" Scarlet Ninja announced. "Shadowbind technique!"
She formed the hand seals to perform a ninjutsu that extended her shadow that wrapped around the two masked men, allowing Rose Samurai to properly bind them with rope.
Inside the bank, the villainess known as Ringmistress was commanding her band of thugs to secure the bank tellers and manager of the bank along with a few customers who happened to get caught up in the chaos. She wore a large top hat, a bright red tailcoat with gold trim, often red with gold trim and a waistcoat. On her legs, she wore jodhpurs and black riding boots to complete the outfit. She was equipped with an enchanted bullwhip, used to subdue anyone to obey her commands.
"Ringmistress, let these people go!" Rose Samurai ordered. "There's no need for them to be part of this."
"You know how much I like tying people up, though," Ringmistress laughed. "Just like I'll do to you once I capture you!"
Ringmistress cracked her whip and sent 3 of her goons to go after Scarlet Ninja and Rose Samurai. But Rose Samurai drew her sword, using a quick cutting motion to create an icy gust that knocked them backwards. Ringmistress countered by aiming her whip towards Rose Samurai, but she was able to tumble away. One of Ringmistress's men was able to grab Rose Samurai from behind, while another was able to land a punch to her face, stunning her.
Meanwhile, Scarlet Ninja had just roundhouse kicked one of the baddies while grabbing another and throwing him across the room.
"Shadow clone technique!" Scarlet Ninja called, summoning two clones of herself. "Go help Rose!"
The two clones then sprung into action, taking on the 2 thugs, so that Rose Samurai could focus back on Ringmistress. Ringmistress twirled her whip again and aimed it at Rose Samurai, but she was able to dodge and use her samurai sword to deflect any blows. Rose Samurai then stuck her blade into the ground, summoning her Ice Floor technique to try and trip up Ringmistress. Ringmistress ran to another part of the room to avoid the icy areas that Rose Samurai had summoned and decided to whip some of the hostages to use them as shields against Rose Samurai.
"Get her, my pets!" Ringmistress commanded, laughing to herself as she watched the bound hostages throw themselves at Rose Samurai.
Meanwhile, after dispatching a couple other thugs, Scarlet Ninja then noticed 2 lackeys carrying the bound bank manager outside, so she followed them to stop them from getting away with a hostage. She drew 2 shuriken from her belt and putting some of her shadow chi into them, she threw them at the 2 men, hitting them in non-vital areas to incapacitate them with her shadow energy.
"Thank you so much for stopping them!" the bank manager exclaimed.
"Sure thing, now let me get you untied," Scarlet Ninja replied.
After freeing the bank manager though, Scarlet Ninja began to feel faint.
"Hehehehe, what's wrong?" the bank manager, taunted, releasing a concealed canister that contained knockout gas. "You could use some rest after all your hard work."
"Who...are...you?" Scarlet Ninja mumbled, before passing out.
"They call me, Mimic Mime," the bank manager replied, changing his appearance to Scarlet Ninja. Mimic Mime then proceeded to restrain Scarlet Ninja, folding her arms behind her back such that her hands could touch her opposite elbows and tying her forearms together. Mimic Mime continued with the rope to bind her upper body, tying it around her arms and up and over her shoulders to secure the tie. Scarlet Ninja was then loaded into the van and had her ankles and knees bound before the back door was locked, with Ringmistress's men driving her away...
Back at the bank, Rose Samurai and the 2 Scarlet Ninja clones were trying to subdue Ringmistress after taking care of her remaining men.
"Enough of these games!" Ringmistress declared, spinning her whip around and landing massive blows on the 2 clones, causing them to dissipate back into thin air.
However, that distraction was enough for Rose Samurai to close distance for her special technique.
"Ice Prison Dash, you're finished." Rose Samurai said, closing her eyes and drawing her blade. With one quick strike, she struck her blade against Ringmistress's body, encasing her in a block of ice. "Now shatter!"
The ice around Ringmistress then shattered against her body, paralyzing her in a wave of cold.
"Time to put this whip to good use," Rose Samurai taunted, guiding Ringmistress's arms behind her back and tying her wrists with her own whip.
Just then, there were sirens outside the building and the authorities had arrived to take Ringmistress and her gang of thugs off to prison.
"Looks like you didn't need my help at all", a voice called out to Rose Samurai.
"Hehe, yeah, although your clones were helpful in keeping Ringmistress's goons at bay," Rose Samurai replied.
"Should we head back home then?"
"Definitely! You don't want to miss school tomorrow with your big test and all. Let's get some rest."
With that, Mimic Mime, taking the form of Scarlet Ninja, followed Rose Samurai as she led them back to their apartment they rented together. They took the outside fire escape stairs up to their 8th floor, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves.
"After you," Rose Samurai joked, opening up the window to climb into their apartment.
Mimic Mime followed through, walking into one of the bedrooms, wondering when would be a good opportunity to strike.
"Hey! Aren't you forgetting something, Natsuki?" Rose Samurai chided, as she removed her forehead protector and took off her body armor.
"Nnn-no, what's that?" Mimic Mime said nervously.
"Boots! Off! You're tracking dirt in my room!" Rose Samurai cried. As she said this, she unzipped her thigh-high boots from her legs, exposing the soft, pale skin of her feet, which contrasted sharply with the stirrups from her dark leggings.
Mimic Mime knew this wasn't possible, as it was part of the form he had taken when he shapeshifted into Scarlet Ninja.
"But I'm still...a bit chilly," Mimic Mime made up, thinking of an excuse.
"Then turn up the heat!" Rose Samurai countered, tiptoeing her way into the kitchen as she felt the cold floor beneath her bare feet. "Come to think of it, I guess it is a bit cold in here."
"Yes! Will do," Mimic Mime replied, cranking up the thermostat.
"Do you want a drink?" Rose Samurai asked as she had her head in the fridge."
"No thanks, Rose," Mimic Mime answered.
"Rose...? You never call me that," Rose Samurai said, looking puzzled. "You've been acting really strange since we've come back, what happened?"
"Nothing, I'm just feeling tired, that's all," Mimic Mime replied.
"Then let me help you there with those boots," Rose Samurai said, before throwing her drink at Mimic Mime and charging towards him. Mimic Mime swiftly moved out of the way and was able to release a knockout gas canister into the room.
"Who..are..you and what have you done with Natsuki?" Rose Samurai coughed, before succumbing to the gas and passing out.
That Natsuki, the real Scarlet Ninja, regained consciousness, finding she was unable to move her hands and feet as they were tied with tight ropes. However, she found herself bouncing up and down and deduced she was in the back of a vehicle being taken somewhere. As she looked around, she saw two of Ringmistress's henchmen napping in the back of the van, not too far away from her, along with her belt and equipment in their possession. She figured it best to save her strength and wait it out till they got to their destination.
Once the van stopped, the driver of the van opened up the back, yelling at his colleagues to wake up and bring Scarlet Ninja outside.
"Where am I?" Scarlet Ninja asked one of them, as she was slung over someone's shoulder.
"You'll see soon enough," one of the men replied. "Our boss wanted to bring you here herself to collect a bounty reward on your head, but looks like she wasn't able to make it. So we'll be claiming that reward instead and splitting it with Mimic Mime."
"Is that the one who did this to me?" Scarlet Ninja replied.
"Yeah, and he'll have your partner captured soon as well, so you won't get too lonely," the goon chuckled.
"I hope Mina is okay," Scarlet Ninja thought to herself. She found herself carried through a fish warehouse and taken into one of the back rooms where the ice was stored. There, she saw another hero who had been taken captive. He was taller than her in comparison, 6 foot 1, with black hair styled in a wolf cut mullet, dark brown eyes, and a small nose and mouth, similar to a music pop star. He was wearing a dark black tuxedo with a white domino mask, along with white gloves and shiny black shows. His arms had been chained together above his head that were linked to a large hook and his legs had been tied with chains as well. He appeared to have been beaten and bruised by a group of 3 strong henchmen that surrounded him.
"Tell us what you know about G.A.G.S.!" one of the men ordered.
"Never!" the masked man replied, earning himself yet another shot to the stomach from one of the thugs.
"I think that's Tuxedo Magician, the Japanese superhero from Guys Against Grueling Supervillains," Scarlet Ninja said to herself, before she was seated on a chair nearby and tied with more ropes binding her upper body to the chair back and her feet to the chair legs.
"You better have the right answers for them," the goon who carried her cautioned, before he and his companions from the van left the room.
"So, you must be Scarlet Ninja," one of the muscle-bound goons said, cupping Scarlet Ninja's chin with his meaty hand. "Tell you what, since you're such a cutie, if you give me the real identities of your teammates at H.O.G.T.I.E., we'll let you go."
"Sure," Scarlet Ninja replied. "Lean in closer and I'll whisper them them in your ear."
As the henchman bent down to place his ear near Scarlet Ninja, she hawked up a large spitball in her mouth and spit into the goon's ear.
"You bitch!" the henchman shouted, slapping Scarlet Ninja hard across the cheek.
"Leave her alone!" Tuxedo Magician yelled in response.
"You ain't got a say in the matter," one of the other thugs replied, punching Tuxedo Magician in the ribs, while the other elbowed him in the back.
"I think he likes you," the thug in front of Scarlet Ninja said, laughing. "Now tell me what I need to know."
"Eat dirt," Scarlet Ninja replied, prompting a hard punch to her stomach, causing her to gasp for breath.
"Looks like these two aren't talking, let's leave them to chill out for awhile to see if they change their minds," one of the men suggested. They decided to set the temperature of the room down to freezing and left Scarlet Ninja and Tuxedo Magician to struggle in their binds.
"I hope Mina's faring better than me right now," Scarlet Ninja said to herself, chattering her teeth as she shivered against the cold.
Back at their apartment, Rose Samurai shook the cobwebs out of her head and found herself lying face-down on the floor of her bedroom. As she tried to move, she found her wrists were crossed behind her back, tied together with a fair amount of rope, coiled around, in-between and over her wrists and cinched neatly with a double knot. She wiggled her fingers and was able to touch the stirrups on the soles of her barefeet, her ankles held together with more rope and connected to the ropes around her wrists.
As she arched her back to test her bonds, she lifted her head and saw an exact clone of herself talking on the phone.
"Yeah, send the van over now," her doppleganger said. "I've got her all wrapped up and ready to go...okay, see you soon."
"Where's Scarlet Ninja?" Rose Samurai proclaimed, continuing to writhe and strain against the ropes holding her. "And who are you?"
"You'll see her soon enough...but you may call me Mimic Mime. I hope you don't mind the precautions I've taken to ensure you cause no trouble."
"I must say, I didn't expect to spend my evening hogtied on the floor of my apartment," Rose Samurai replied, rolling onto her side to relieve the strain on her hands and feet.
"I didn't expect you and your friend to fall so easily," Mimic Mime answered. "There's someone who paid a lot of money to bring me and Ringmistress together to capture you two. It's too bad the cops got to her, but more spoils for me."
"Who paid you? And why does he want us so bad?"
"I only know him by the name, Power Stealer. As to why he wants you, I'll leave that for him to answer once I bring you to him."
Rose Samurai tried twisting her wrists to see if she could slip her hands free, but the ropes were too tight and didn't budge. She tried flexing her leg muscles and pulling with her feet to see if that would help, but that only caused more discomfort on her wrists. She had to think of something to get free before she was taken away. She noticed her samurai sword a couple of feet away from Mimic Mime.
"Oh no, please let me go, I'll do anything, I'll give you my samurai sword! Please, just let me go!" Rose Samurai pleaded.
"Ah yes, your samurai sword," Mimic Mime said, taking notice of it. "It has rather special powers, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it has these special characters inscribed on it," Rose Samurai said. "See for yourself."
Mimic Mime picked up the samurai sword, grabbing its hilt and pulled it from its sheath. Just then, a burst of cold air came out of the blade, enveloping Mimic Mime, causing him to drop the sword as he became encased in a block of ice.
"Hehe, sucker," Rose Samurai said, chuckling to herself. "Hey Yukiko, could use a little help hereee," she called in a sing-songy voice.
Her samurai sword glowed bright-blue and from the light, the sword transformed into a Japanese princess, with long dark hair, a beautiful face, and a pale complexion. She was dressed in a light blue kimono with wooden slippers.
"Konnichwa Mina-chan. Oh my! What happened to you?" Yukiko cried, expressing concern at the predicament of the wielder of her blade. "And why are there two of you in the room?"
"That person you froze is known as Mimic Mime and he took my form after he took me by surprise and put me in a hogtie," Rose Samurai replied. She rolled onto her stomach and tugged on the rope holding her hands and feet together just to prove her point. "Speaking of which, could you untie me?"
"Well," Yukiko laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "A please for starts would be nice."
"Pleaseeeeee?"
"Maybe, if you kissed my foot and let me come out to eat once in awhile," Yukiko demanded.
"Okay, okay, fine," Rose Samurai replied, rolling her eyes. She slithered and crawled as best as she could on her belly until she came in front of Yukiko's feet. Arching her back as best she could, she lifted her head to kiss the top of one of Yukiko's feet.
"Oooh, that feels so nice," Yukiko squealed, loving the attention.
"Can you please untie me now?" Rose Samurai deadpanned.
"Only because you've been so nice," Yukiko replied. She then bent down and worked on untying one of the knots near Rose Samurai's ankle ropes, realizing it was for the hogtie rope once her legs were able to fall back down to the floor.
"Thank you, all that backbending was killing me," Rose Samurai said in relief.
"No problem," Yukiko said, as she untied the ropes keeping Rose Samurai's feet bound together. From there, she helped Rose Samurai up to stand from the floor.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Rose Samurai quipped, wriggling her bound wrists towards Yukiko.
"You said you would feed me," Yukiko said, pouting. "I won't untie your hands until I get some food."
"Argh, you're such a p-" Rose Samurai stopped herself, knowing insults would get her nowhere with her spirit companion. "Princess. Let me get you something to eat."
Out of annoyance, she stomped her way into the kitchen barefoot and awkwardly opened the door of the fridge with her hands tied behind her back. She was able to pull out a container of fresh fruit salad for Yukiko. "Here you go, enjoy."
"Yay yummy treats!" Yukiko exclaimed happily, clapping her hands. "You know, you look kinda sexy when you're tied up," she continued, her mouth full of fruit.
"Could you hurry it up? I think Scarlet Ninja could be in trouble," Rose Samurai said in frustration. She began looking through the kitchen drawers for a pair of scissors to cut her hands free.
"Okay okay, I'm done, jeez, always in a rush," Yukiko said. She began to turn her attention on loosening the ropes from Rose Samurai's wrists. "That Mimic Mime guy sure was serious about tying you up, there's all these weird half knots and loops he did around your wrists, it's so hard," Yukiko said as a blue light started surrounding her. "Oh no, I think my time's up!"
"But you haven't finished untyi-" Rose Samurai said, as Yukiko transformed back into her samurai sword, landing blade first on the floor and sticking upward. "That's definitely gonna leave a mark...Natsuki's definitely gonna be upset about this."
Rose Samurai tried pulling her hands free, but the ropes still held firm from all the half knots that Mimic Mime had tied. Sighing, Rose Samurai knelt down on the floor with her back facing her blade, as she tried moving her wrists up and down to saw her way free. After a couple more minutes and effort, Rose Samurai had finally cut her hands free. She rubbed the circulation back into her wrists and proceeded to put on her boots and armor, as she carried her samurai sword with her to look for Scarlet Ninja. Outside her apartment, she noticed a white van pulling up, likely the men that Mimic Mime had called to bring her away. Staying hidden out of sight, she noticed the men come in and carry the block of ice holding Mimic Mime (who was still in her form) with them to the van. Just before they drove away, she placed herself on top of the van and used the ice powers of her sword to keep her there as the men drove away.
Back at the fish warehouse, Scarlet Ninja kept struggling against her bonds, not out of futility, but to keep warm from the freezing temperature that had been set for the room that she and Tuxedo Magician were trapped in. She looked over at Tuxedo Magician to see if he had made any progress at getting free, but the chains were too tight for him to loosen.
Just then, the door to the back room opened and a huge, bald burly figure walked in, wearing a gray scruffy weather and gray sweatpants.
"Hey Tuxedo Magician," the man said in a gruff voice. "Guess what time it is? Feeding time!"
He then placed his hand on Tuxedo Magician's chest and began to absorb his magic powers, causing immense pain for Tuxedo Magician.
"Stop it, you're hurting him!" Scarlet Ninja cried.
"Don't worry hun, you'll get your turn soon enough," the man replied.
"Power...Stealer...you won't get away with this, ahh!" Tuxedo Magician howled, feeling his power and life force drain out of him.
"I'll leave you with just enough to live," Power Stealer cackled. "Maybe you'll give away the names and locations of some of your friends in return for my kindness."
Scarlet Ninja doubled her efforts as she wriggled and writhed against her ropes holding her body to the chair. She tried carefully rocking the chair back and forth to see if she could slip one of the ropes holding her feet to the chair, but it was no use. She decided it was time to use one of her special techniques at the price of expending all her energy.
"Thanks for the power boost, Tuxedo Magician," Power Stealer said. He then turned his attention over to Scarlet Ninja. "Now to get a taste of some of your power."
"Think again, knucklehead," Scarlet Ninja replied. Her eyes began to glow bright red with a dark moon symbol for her irises. "Mind's Eye Technique: Shadow Realm!"
Power Stealer felt his body go limp as his mind was transported to the Shadow Realm.
"Where, where am I?" Power Stealer asked in fear.
"Your mind is trapped here in the shadows, where I have full control," Scarlet Ninja said, in an almost mischievous voice. She then commanded two shadows from the ground to appear and surround Power Stealer. "You're mine to command now."
Power Stealer felt the shadows slowly envelop his entire body, as he eventually replied, "Yes mistress. I will obey."
With that, Scarlet Ninja took hold of Power Stealer's physical form and began to undo the chains that held Tuxedo Magician.
"Don't touch me," Tuxedo Magician said.
"Shh, it's me, Scarlet Ninja, I took control of Power Stealer. I'll need your help in carrying my body out of here while I'm in control of him."
"Sure thing, thanks for your help," Tuxedo Magician replied, as he untied the ropes from the unconscious Scarlet Ninja's body and picked her up in his arms. "Now let's get out of here."
As they made their way outside, they saw Rose Samurai making quick work of a group of henchmen with her samurai sword, turning them all into blocks of ice.
Scarlet Ninja, in Power Stealer's form, turned to Tuxedo Magician, "I'm going to release my hold of Power Stealer now, can you make sure you restrain him thoroughly before I head back to my body?"
"If only I had my wand..."
"You mean these things I found?" Rose Samurai called out, holding up Scarlet Ninja's belt and equipment, and a long magician's stick.
Tuxedo Magician went to retrieve his wand and quickly conjured up a spell to mummify Power Stealer in ropes, as Scarlet Ninja gave up her mind control to head back to her body.
"I called the authorities to clean up the mess here," Rose Samurai mentioned to Tuxedo Magician. "Think you can stick around to explain things to them while I take Scarlet Ninja home?"
"Can do, now that I've got my wand back," Tuxedo Magician replied. He then looked over to Scarlet Ninja and flashed her a shy smile. "And thanks for saving me back there, Scarlet Ninja. I definitely owe you one."
Scarlet Ninja felt herself blush as she returned the smile. With Rose Samurai's help, she then vanished into the night as they both headed back to their apartment.
Once they got to the 8th floor of their apartment, Rose Samurai opened up the window, but looked at Scarlet Ninja quizzically.
"How do I know it's...you?" Rose Samurai asked.
"What are you talking about?" Scarlet Ninja replied hastily, as she unzipped her boots and entered barefoot into their apartment.
"Heh, never mind, welcome home, Natsuki-chan," Rose Samurai smiled.
It was a dark cloudy night and Scarlet Ninja, along with her partner, Rose Samurai, had been summoned by the Headquarters Of Girls To Investigate Evil to look into a disturbance at a local bank in Peril City.
"Looks like a robbery happening," Scarlet Ninja mentioned, peering down from the rooftop of a building nearby and noticing masked men loading bags of money into a van. She was dressed in her tight, black full-body jumpsuit zipped up through the front, a black face mask to cover her nose and mouth, and a belt on her waist to hold her kunai, shuriken, and rope. She had dark scarlet ribbons loosely tied on each of her forearms and one ribbon tied around her right thigh. Completing her outfit was a pair of knee-length black boots with a zipper on the side. Outside of her superhero job, Scarlet Ninja was better known as Natsuki Yamamoto, a 21-year-old student that attended Gray Gadget Academy. One would describe her as a 5 foot 8 female, with dark black hair that went down to her shoulders, a small nose, and normally a worried look on her face from having to keep up her grades.
"Then let's head down and have some fun, shall we?" Rose Samurai replied. She was dressed in her rosy-red tunic with long sleeves and light armor covering her back and chest. She also wore black stirrup leggings with black thigh-high boots. She wore a forehead protector on her head with a rose icon in the middle of it. She also had her trusty samurai sword and its sheath attached to her belt as part of her armor, along with rope to secure any baddies. Her mystical samurai sword was enchanted with an ice spirit, Yukiko, who was bound to her and shared a psychic and semi-limited physical link with her. During the day, Rose Samurai went by Mina Itsuki, a 23-year-old veterinarian that also worked as a part-time barista at Kitty Ears Cafe. She was taller than your average Asian female, 6 foot 1 in height, with long black hair usually tied in a high ponytail, a cute and dainty nose, and a bright smile on her face most of the time. Most of the time she lived her life carefree, but in times of battle, she could turn serious with sharp focus.
The two superheroines made their way down, catching the men by surprise after they had loaded another set of bags in their van.
"Stop right there, thieves!" Scarlet Ninja announced. "Shadowbind technique!"
She formed the hand seals to perform a ninjutsu that extended her shadow that wrapped around the two masked men, allowing Rose Samurai to properly bind them with rope.
Inside the bank, the villainess known as Ringmistress was commanding her band of thugs to secure the bank tellers and manager of the bank along with a few customers who happened to get caught up in the chaos. She wore a large top hat, a bright red tailcoat with gold trim, often red with gold trim and a waistcoat. On her legs, she wore jodhpurs and black riding boots to complete the outfit. She was equipped with an enchanted bullwhip, used to subdue anyone to obey her commands.
"Ringmistress, let these people go!" Rose Samurai ordered. "There's no need for them to be part of this."
"You know how much I like tying people up, though," Ringmistress laughed. "Just like I'll do to you once I capture you!"
Ringmistress cracked her whip and sent 3 of her goons to go after Scarlet Ninja and Rose Samurai. But Rose Samurai drew her sword, using a quick cutting motion to create an icy gust that knocked them backwards. Ringmistress countered by aiming her whip towards Rose Samurai, but she was able to tumble away. One of Ringmistress's men was able to grab Rose Samurai from behind, while another was able to land a punch to her face, stunning her.
Meanwhile, Scarlet Ninja had just roundhouse kicked one of the baddies while grabbing another and throwing him across the room.
"Shadow clone technique!" Scarlet Ninja called, summoning two clones of herself. "Go help Rose!"
The two clones then sprung into action, taking on the 2 thugs, so that Rose Samurai could focus back on Ringmistress. Ringmistress twirled her whip again and aimed it at Rose Samurai, but she was able to dodge and use her samurai sword to deflect any blows. Rose Samurai then stuck her blade into the ground, summoning her Ice Floor technique to try and trip up Ringmistress. Ringmistress ran to another part of the room to avoid the icy areas that Rose Samurai had summoned and decided to whip some of the hostages to use them as shields against Rose Samurai.
"Get her, my pets!" Ringmistress commanded, laughing to herself as she watched the bound hostages throw themselves at Rose Samurai.
Meanwhile, after dispatching a couple other thugs, Scarlet Ninja then noticed 2 lackeys carrying the bound bank manager outside, so she followed them to stop them from getting away with a hostage. She drew 2 shuriken from her belt and putting some of her shadow chi into them, she threw them at the 2 men, hitting them in non-vital areas to incapacitate them with her shadow energy.
"Thank you so much for stopping them!" the bank manager exclaimed.
"Sure thing, now let me get you untied," Scarlet Ninja replied.
After freeing the bank manager though, Scarlet Ninja began to feel faint.
"Hehehehe, what's wrong?" the bank manager, taunted, releasing a concealed canister that contained knockout gas. "You could use some rest after all your hard work."
"Who...are...you?" Scarlet Ninja mumbled, before passing out.
"They call me, Mimic Mime," the bank manager replied, changing his appearance to Scarlet Ninja. Mimic Mime then proceeded to restrain Scarlet Ninja, folding her arms behind her back such that her hands could touch her opposite elbows and tying her forearms together. Mimic Mime continued with the rope to bind her upper body, tying it around her arms and up and over her shoulders to secure the tie. Scarlet Ninja was then loaded into the van and had her ankles and knees bound before the back door was locked, with Ringmistress's men driving her away...
Back at the bank, Rose Samurai and the 2 Scarlet Ninja clones were trying to subdue Ringmistress after taking care of her remaining men.
"Enough of these games!" Ringmistress declared, spinning her whip around and landing massive blows on the 2 clones, causing them to dissipate back into thin air.
However, that distraction was enough for Rose Samurai to close distance for her special technique.
"Ice Prison Dash, you're finished." Rose Samurai said, closing her eyes and drawing her blade. With one quick strike, she struck her blade against Ringmistress's body, encasing her in a block of ice. "Now shatter!"
The ice around Ringmistress then shattered against her body, paralyzing her in a wave of cold.
"Time to put this whip to good use," Rose Samurai taunted, guiding Ringmistress's arms behind her back and tying her wrists with her own whip.
Just then, there were sirens outside the building and the authorities had arrived to take Ringmistress and her gang of thugs off to prison.
"Looks like you didn't need my help at all", a voice called out to Rose Samurai.
"Hehe, yeah, although your clones were helpful in keeping Ringmistress's goons at bay," Rose Samurai replied.
"Should we head back home then?"
"Definitely! You don't want to miss school tomorrow with your big test and all. Let's get some rest."
With that, Mimic Mime, taking the form of Scarlet Ninja, followed Rose Samurai as she led them back to their apartment they rented together. They took the outside fire escape stairs up to their 8th floor, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves.
"After you," Rose Samurai joked, opening up the window to climb into their apartment.
Mimic Mime followed through, walking into one of the bedrooms, wondering when would be a good opportunity to strike.
"Hey! Aren't you forgetting something, Natsuki?" Rose Samurai chided, as she removed her forehead protector and took off her body armor.
"Nnn-no, what's that?" Mimic Mime said nervously.
"Boots! Off! You're tracking dirt in my room!" Rose Samurai cried. As she said this, she unzipped her thigh-high boots from her legs, exposing the soft, pale skin of her feet, which contrasted sharply with the stirrups from her dark leggings.
Mimic Mime knew this wasn't possible, as it was part of the form he had taken when he shapeshifted into Scarlet Ninja.
"But I'm still...a bit chilly," Mimic Mime made up, thinking of an excuse.
"Then turn up the heat!" Rose Samurai countered, tiptoeing her way into the kitchen as she felt the cold floor beneath her bare feet. "Come to think of it, I guess it is a bit cold in here."
"Yes! Will do," Mimic Mime replied, cranking up the thermostat.
"Do you want a drink?" Rose Samurai asked as she had her head in the fridge."
"No thanks, Rose," Mimic Mime answered.
"Rose...? You never call me that," Rose Samurai said, looking puzzled. "You've been acting really strange since we've come back, what happened?"
"Nothing, I'm just feeling tired, that's all," Mimic Mime replied.
"Then let me help you there with those boots," Rose Samurai said, before throwing her drink at Mimic Mime and charging towards him. Mimic Mime swiftly moved out of the way and was able to release a knockout gas canister into the room.
"Who..are..you and what have you done with Natsuki?" Rose Samurai coughed, before succumbing to the gas and passing out.
That Natsuki, the real Scarlet Ninja, regained consciousness, finding she was unable to move her hands and feet as they were tied with tight ropes. However, she found herself bouncing up and down and deduced she was in the back of a vehicle being taken somewhere. As she looked around, she saw two of Ringmistress's henchmen napping in the back of the van, not too far away from her, along with her belt and equipment in their possession. She figured it best to save her strength and wait it out till they got to their destination.
Once the van stopped, the driver of the van opened up the back, yelling at his colleagues to wake up and bring Scarlet Ninja outside.
"Where am I?" Scarlet Ninja asked one of them, as she was slung over someone's shoulder.
"You'll see soon enough," one of the men replied. "Our boss wanted to bring you here herself to collect a bounty reward on your head, but looks like she wasn't able to make it. So we'll be claiming that reward instead and splitting it with Mimic Mime."
"Is that the one who did this to me?" Scarlet Ninja replied.
"Yeah, and he'll have your partner captured soon as well, so you won't get too lonely," the goon chuckled.
"I hope Mina is okay," Scarlet Ninja thought to herself. She found herself carried through a fish warehouse and taken into one of the back rooms where the ice was stored. There, she saw another hero who had been taken captive. He was taller than her in comparison, 6 foot 1, with black hair styled in a wolf cut mullet, dark brown eyes, and a small nose and mouth, similar to a music pop star. He was wearing a dark black tuxedo with a white domino mask, along with white gloves and shiny black shows. His arms had been chained together above his head that were linked to a large hook and his legs had been tied with chains as well. He appeared to have been beaten and bruised by a group of 3 strong henchmen that surrounded him.
"Tell us what you know about G.A.G.S.!" one of the men ordered.
"Never!" the masked man replied, earning himself yet another shot to the stomach from one of the thugs.
"I think that's Tuxedo Magician, the Japanese superhero from Guys Against Grueling Supervillains," Scarlet Ninja said to herself, before she was seated on a chair nearby and tied with more ropes binding her upper body to the chair back and her feet to the chair legs.
"You better have the right answers for them," the goon who carried her cautioned, before he and his companions from the van left the room.
"So, you must be Scarlet Ninja," one of the muscle-bound goons said, cupping Scarlet Ninja's chin with his meaty hand. "Tell you what, since you're such a cutie, if you give me the real identities of your teammates at H.O.G.T.I.E., we'll let you go."
"Sure," Scarlet Ninja replied. "Lean in closer and I'll whisper them them in your ear."
As the henchman bent down to place his ear near Scarlet Ninja, she hawked up a large spitball in her mouth and spit into the goon's ear.
"You bitch!" the henchman shouted, slapping Scarlet Ninja hard across the cheek.
"Leave her alone!" Tuxedo Magician yelled in response.
"You ain't got a say in the matter," one of the other thugs replied, punching Tuxedo Magician in the ribs, while the other elbowed him in the back.
"I think he likes you," the thug in front of Scarlet Ninja said, laughing. "Now tell me what I need to know."
"Eat dirt," Scarlet Ninja replied, prompting a hard punch to her stomach, causing her to gasp for breath.
"Looks like these two aren't talking, let's leave them to chill out for awhile to see if they change their minds," one of the men suggested. They decided to set the temperature of the room down to freezing and left Scarlet Ninja and Tuxedo Magician to struggle in their binds.
"I hope Mina's faring better than me right now," Scarlet Ninja said to herself, chattering her teeth as she shivered against the cold.
Back at their apartment, Rose Samurai shook the cobwebs out of her head and found herself lying face-down on the floor of her bedroom. As she tried to move, she found her wrists were crossed behind her back, tied together with a fair amount of rope, coiled around, in-between and over her wrists and cinched neatly with a double knot. She wiggled her fingers and was able to touch the stirrups on the soles of her barefeet, her ankles held together with more rope and connected to the ropes around her wrists.
As she arched her back to test her bonds, she lifted her head and saw an exact clone of herself talking on the phone.
"Yeah, send the van over now," her doppleganger said. "I've got her all wrapped up and ready to go...okay, see you soon."
"Where's Scarlet Ninja?" Rose Samurai proclaimed, continuing to writhe and strain against the ropes holding her. "And who are you?"
"You'll see her soon enough...but you may call me Mimic Mime. I hope you don't mind the precautions I've taken to ensure you cause no trouble."
"I must say, I didn't expect to spend my evening hogtied on the floor of my apartment," Rose Samurai replied, rolling onto her side to relieve the strain on her hands and feet.
"I didn't expect you and your friend to fall so easily," Mimic Mime answered. "There's someone who paid a lot of money to bring me and Ringmistress together to capture you two. It's too bad the cops got to her, but more spoils for me."
"Who paid you? And why does he want us so bad?"
"I only know him by the name, Power Stealer. As to why he wants you, I'll leave that for him to answer once I bring you to him."
Rose Samurai tried twisting her wrists to see if she could slip her hands free, but the ropes were too tight and didn't budge. She tried flexing her leg muscles and pulling with her feet to see if that would help, but that only caused more discomfort on her wrists. She had to think of something to get free before she was taken away. She noticed her samurai sword a couple of feet away from Mimic Mime.
"Oh no, please let me go, I'll do anything, I'll give you my samurai sword! Please, just let me go!" Rose Samurai pleaded.
"Ah yes, your samurai sword," Mimic Mime said, taking notice of it. "It has rather special powers, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it has these special characters inscribed on it," Rose Samurai said. "See for yourself."
Mimic Mime picked up the samurai sword, grabbing its hilt and pulled it from its sheath. Just then, a burst of cold air came out of the blade, enveloping Mimic Mime, causing him to drop the sword as he became encased in a block of ice.
"Hehe, sucker," Rose Samurai said, chuckling to herself. "Hey Yukiko, could use a little help hereee," she called in a sing-songy voice.
Her samurai sword glowed bright-blue and from the light, the sword transformed into a Japanese princess, with long dark hair, a beautiful face, and a pale complexion. She was dressed in a light blue kimono with wooden slippers.
"Konnichwa Mina-chan. Oh my! What happened to you?" Yukiko cried, expressing concern at the predicament of the wielder of her blade. "And why are there two of you in the room?"
"That person you froze is known as Mimic Mime and he took my form after he took me by surprise and put me in a hogtie," Rose Samurai replied. She rolled onto her stomach and tugged on the rope holding her hands and feet together just to prove her point. "Speaking of which, could you untie me?"
"Well," Yukiko laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "A please for starts would be nice."
"Pleaseeeeee?"
"Maybe, if you kissed my foot and let me come out to eat once in awhile," Yukiko demanded.
"Okay, okay, fine," Rose Samurai replied, rolling her eyes. She slithered and crawled as best as she could on her belly until she came in front of Yukiko's feet. Arching her back as best she could, she lifted her head to kiss the top of one of Yukiko's feet.
"Oooh, that feels so nice," Yukiko squealed, loving the attention.
"Can you please untie me now?" Rose Samurai deadpanned.
"Only because you've been so nice," Yukiko replied. She then bent down and worked on untying one of the knots near Rose Samurai's ankle ropes, realizing it was for the hogtie rope once her legs were able to fall back down to the floor.
"Thank you, all that backbending was killing me," Rose Samurai said in relief.
"No problem," Yukiko said, as she untied the ropes keeping Rose Samurai's feet bound together. From there, she helped Rose Samurai up to stand from the floor.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Rose Samurai quipped, wriggling her bound wrists towards Yukiko.
"You said you would feed me," Yukiko said, pouting. "I won't untie your hands until I get some food."
"Argh, you're such a p-" Rose Samurai stopped herself, knowing insults would get her nowhere with her spirit companion. "Princess. Let me get you something to eat."
Out of annoyance, she stomped her way into the kitchen barefoot and awkwardly opened the door of the fridge with her hands tied behind her back. She was able to pull out a container of fresh fruit salad for Yukiko. "Here you go, enjoy."
"Yay yummy treats!" Yukiko exclaimed happily, clapping her hands. "You know, you look kinda sexy when you're tied up," she continued, her mouth full of fruit.
"Could you hurry it up? I think Scarlet Ninja could be in trouble," Rose Samurai said in frustration. She began looking through the kitchen drawers for a pair of scissors to cut her hands free.
"Okay okay, I'm done, jeez, always in a rush," Yukiko said. She began to turn her attention on loosening the ropes from Rose Samurai's wrists. "That Mimic Mime guy sure was serious about tying you up, there's all these weird half knots and loops he did around your wrists, it's so hard," Yukiko said as a blue light started surrounding her. "Oh no, I think my time's up!"
"But you haven't finished untyi-" Rose Samurai said, as Yukiko transformed back into her samurai sword, landing blade first on the floor and sticking upward. "That's definitely gonna leave a mark...Natsuki's definitely gonna be upset about this."
Rose Samurai tried pulling her hands free, but the ropes still held firm from all the half knots that Mimic Mime had tied. Sighing, Rose Samurai knelt down on the floor with her back facing her blade, as she tried moving her wrists up and down to saw her way free. After a couple more minutes and effort, Rose Samurai had finally cut her hands free. She rubbed the circulation back into her wrists and proceeded to put on her boots and armor, as she carried her samurai sword with her to look for Scarlet Ninja. Outside her apartment, she noticed a white van pulling up, likely the men that Mimic Mime had called to bring her away. Staying hidden out of sight, she noticed the men come in and carry the block of ice holding Mimic Mime (who was still in her form) with them to the van. Just before they drove away, she placed herself on top of the van and used the ice powers of her sword to keep her there as the men drove away.
Back at the fish warehouse, Scarlet Ninja kept struggling against her bonds, not out of futility, but to keep warm from the freezing temperature that had been set for the room that she and Tuxedo Magician were trapped in. She looked over at Tuxedo Magician to see if he had made any progress at getting free, but the chains were too tight for him to loosen.
Just then, the door to the back room opened and a huge, bald burly figure walked in, wearing a gray scruffy weather and gray sweatpants.
"Hey Tuxedo Magician," the man said in a gruff voice. "Guess what time it is? Feeding time!"
He then placed his hand on Tuxedo Magician's chest and began to absorb his magic powers, causing immense pain for Tuxedo Magician.
"Stop it, you're hurting him!" Scarlet Ninja cried.
"Don't worry hun, you'll get your turn soon enough," the man replied.
"Power...Stealer...you won't get away with this, ahh!" Tuxedo Magician howled, feeling his power and life force drain out of him.
"I'll leave you with just enough to live," Power Stealer cackled. "Maybe you'll give away the names and locations of some of your friends in return for my kindness."
Scarlet Ninja doubled her efforts as she wriggled and writhed against her ropes holding her body to the chair. She tried carefully rocking the chair back and forth to see if she could slip one of the ropes holding her feet to the chair, but it was no use. She decided it was time to use one of her special techniques at the price of expending all her energy.
"Thanks for the power boost, Tuxedo Magician," Power Stealer said. He then turned his attention over to Scarlet Ninja. "Now to get a taste of some of your power."
"Think again, knucklehead," Scarlet Ninja replied. Her eyes began to glow bright red with a dark moon symbol for her irises. "Mind's Eye Technique: Shadow Realm!"
Power Stealer felt his body go limp as his mind was transported to the Shadow Realm.
"Where, where am I?" Power Stealer asked in fear.
"Your mind is trapped here in the shadows, where I have full control," Scarlet Ninja said, in an almost mischievous voice. She then commanded two shadows from the ground to appear and surround Power Stealer. "You're mine to command now."
Power Stealer felt the shadows slowly envelop his entire body, as he eventually replied, "Yes mistress. I will obey."
With that, Scarlet Ninja took hold of Power Stealer's physical form and began to undo the chains that held Tuxedo Magician.
"Don't touch me," Tuxedo Magician said.
"Shh, it's me, Scarlet Ninja, I took control of Power Stealer. I'll need your help in carrying my body out of here while I'm in control of him."
"Sure thing, thanks for your help," Tuxedo Magician replied, as he untied the ropes from the unconscious Scarlet Ninja's body and picked her up in his arms. "Now let's get out of here."
As they made their way outside, they saw Rose Samurai making quick work of a group of henchmen with her samurai sword, turning them all into blocks of ice.
Scarlet Ninja, in Power Stealer's form, turned to Tuxedo Magician, "I'm going to release my hold of Power Stealer now, can you make sure you restrain him thoroughly before I head back to my body?"
"If only I had my wand..."
"You mean these things I found?" Rose Samurai called out, holding up Scarlet Ninja's belt and equipment, and a long magician's stick.
Tuxedo Magician went to retrieve his wand and quickly conjured up a spell to mummify Power Stealer in ropes, as Scarlet Ninja gave up her mind control to head back to her body.
"I called the authorities to clean up the mess here," Rose Samurai mentioned to Tuxedo Magician. "Think you can stick around to explain things to them while I take Scarlet Ninja home?"
"Can do, now that I've got my wand back," Tuxedo Magician replied. He then looked over to Scarlet Ninja and flashed her a shy smile. "And thanks for saving me back there, Scarlet Ninja. I definitely owe you one."
Scarlet Ninja felt herself blush as she returned the smile. With Rose Samurai's help, she then vanished into the night as they both headed back to their apartment.
Once they got to the 8th floor of their apartment, Rose Samurai opened up the window, but looked at Scarlet Ninja quizzically.
"How do I know it's...you?" Rose Samurai asked.
"What are you talking about?" Scarlet Ninja replied hastily, as she unzipped her boots and entered barefoot into their apartment.
"Heh, never mind, welcome home, Natsuki-chan," Rose Samurai smiled.