Rise of the Red Ninjas Read online

  First published by Allen & Unwin in 2017

  Copyright © Text, Marcus Emerson 2013

  Copyright © Illustrations, David Lee 2013

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

  Allen & Unwin

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  Crows Nest NSW 2065

  Australia

  Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

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  Web: www.allenandunwin.com

  A Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available

  from the National Library of Australia

  www.trove.nla.gov.au

  ISBN 9781760295578

  eISBN 9781952535796

  Cover design by Marcus Emerson and Sandra Nobes

  Text design by Sandra Nobes

  Cover and internal illustrations by David Lee

  Set by Sandra Nobes

  www.marcusemerson.com

  For my parents …

  For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Chase Cooper, and I’m in sixth grade at Buchanan School. Allow me to fill you in on some details of what’s happened since my first diary, but hang on tight ’cause this story starts with a bang.

  When I first started Buchanan, the social isolation I thought I’d experience never really happened. My cousin Zoe goes here too, so that’s been pretty helpful since she already knows everyone. She’s popular, though she would never call it that. Instead, I think she’d say she was just friends with everyone. And to be honest, I understand it – she’s way cooler than I gave her credit for when we were growing up. Currently, she’s the head of the cheerleading squad, first chair violin in Orchestra, the lead in the musical coming up in a few months, and has perfect grades. Yeah … she’s that kid.

  I think I would consider Brayden my best friend now. I met him on the second day of school during gym class. He’s got this weird obsession with werewolves and even introduces himself as a werewolf hunter. But lately his fixation on werewolves has started to bleed over into vampire territory as well. At this rate, I think it’ll expand to be an all-out ‘monster’ obsession by the end of the school year.

  Wyatt, the previous ninja leader, was expelled after stealing money from the student food drive at the beginning of the year. There’s been talk that he’s returning to Buchanan along with rumours that some had even seen him, but nothing has been confirmed. I don’t know about that though … how does someone get unexpelled?

  Carlyle, the pirate captain and Wyatt’s cousin, went unpunished because he technically didn’t do anything wrong. Convincing other students to give him their money so he could win the prize for the Dance ’Til Ya Drop competition wasn’t considered a crime even though it was a shady thing to do. The prize was that the winner could choose the new school mascot. He was going to change the mascot from the Wildcats to the Buccaneers, making his pirate invasion complete, but I stopped him. In doing so, I earned the opportunity to change the mascot myself. I still haven’t made a decision.

  Carlyle also had his classes switched, so we’re no longer in any of them together. Can’t say I was against the idea. Apparently all it took was his parents to request it, and it was done.

  After defeating Wyatt and Carlyle, it’s been weird because kids have put me on some kind of pedestal as the hero of Buchanan. Why’s it weird? Because I was honestly only doing what I thought was right.

  I know what you’re probably thinking …

  But Chase, if the school sees you as the hero, aren’t you one of the cool kids now?

  The answer is yes and no. Yes because everyone has an inkling of who I am, but no because nobody seems to care much. Honestly, I’d prefer it that way because I get to keep a low profile. Too much attention might tip everyone off to my ninja lifestyle.

  In the past week, I’ve also become pretty good friends with a girl named Faith. If you remember in my first diary, there was a moment where everyone was stepping forward admitting guilt in stealing the food drive money. Well, there was a cute red-haired girl that did it too – yeah, that was Faith.

  Last week, we were paired together as science lab partners. She’s one of the coolest girls I’ve ever met. She’s into comics, plays soccer and volleyball, loves cheesy horror movies from the ’90s, and has taken first place in the annual video game tournament two years in a row! You know what she said after she won? ‘Does anyone else hear those bells ringing? Because y’all just got schooled!’

  How awesome of a burn is that? I mean … y’know, she’s cool … for a girl.

  Oh, and she doesn’t know I’m the leader of a secret ninja clan that trains in the woods during gym class.

  I only mention Faith because the first hint of the red ninja uprising came before science class, when I was trying to get the nerve to talk to Faith. Although looking back, the appearance of red ninjas should’ve been obvious. Then again, isn’t everything obvious when looking back?

  ‘Would you quit messing around and go talk to her?’ Zoe snipped.

  I poked my head around the corner, pressing my face against the brick wall. Faith’s locker was only a few feet away, and it looked like she was almost done with it. ‘I don’t know about this … what if she laughs at me?’

  Zoe leaned back, hiding next to me. ‘Then at least it won’t be to your face.’

  Over the weekend, Zoe convinced me to write a note to Faith telling her that I thought she was cute. Faith was also on the cheerleading squad. Zoe told me Faith started talking about me all the time after we became science lab partners. Pretty cool, huh?

  So Zoe came up with this brilliant plan where I would finish the science homework not only for myself, but for Faith as well, and then when I gave her the portion she was going to turn in, I’d also sneak my note in there. She would find it later, and boom … whatever boom means. I only hope she checks it before turning it in otherwise the teacher’s gonna get an awkward note from a student.

  ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘I got this. You’re right. She’s not even gonna look at the note right now. What’ll probably happen is that she’ll look at it in science class … which is about five minutes away … and we’re lab partners … so what’ll actually happen is that she’ll read the note while I sweat buckets in the seat next to her. Then she’ll laugh at me. Yeah, this is a great idea.’

  Zoe laughed. ‘There’s only one way to find out!’ she yelled as she pushed me into clear view of Faith’s locker.

  My cousin’s shove caught me by surprise, and I stumbled into the hallway, barely missing the other students walking to class. I must’ve grunted loudly because Faith noticed me right away.

  ‘Hey,’ she said.

  I stood straight up and gave her a tight smile. ‘Huh? Oh, hey, I mean, are you talking to me? You talkin’ to me? I mean …’ I paused long enough to wonder what the heck was wrong with me. Did old school ninjas have this much trouble talking to girls? Finally, I let out a sigh. ‘Heeeeeey.’

  Faith smiled as she returned her attention to her locker, stacking notebooks at the bottom. ‘What’s up?’

  I guffawed like an idiot. ‘Not much, y’know … the skyyyyy.’

  At this point I think my brain was trying to sabotag
e me, which was fine because later on I’d just bang my head against a wall. That’ll show my brain who’s boss. Nobody tells me what to do! Not even my own brain!

  Glancing over her shoulder at me, she giggled. ‘Nice.’

  I quickly got to the point. Any more small talk and I think my hair would’ve fallen out. ‘So I got all our homework finished, yours and mine.’

  ‘You finished both parts of our homework?’ Faith asked, smiling through the few strands of red hair that fell on her cheeks.

  ‘Yeah, well I know how stressful it can be to have homework looming over your head,’ I said blankly, feeling an army of butterflies tearing around in my stomach.

  ‘You can say that again,’ Faith sighed.

  I shook my head and laughed, realising I had completely zoned out for a moment. OMG, did I just say something without realising it? I took a breath, and with a crack in my voice, I asked, ‘Say what again?’

  Faith narrowed her eyes at me as if I were crazy. ‘That not finishing your homework is stressful.’

  ‘Haha!’ I was so relieved about not saying something stupid that I laughed loudly and snorted. Smooth … that’s me.

  ‘Thanks for that,’ Faith said. ‘I actually completely forgot about it. Lucky too, since it’s due in about ten minutes. You’re a lifesaver!’

  As I pulled my book bag over my shoulder to get Faith’s portion of the homework (along with my note), I heard a noise coming from down the hall. I glanced over to see what it was, but because of the flurry of walking students, I couldn’t see anything.

  ‘Hey! Watch out!’ someone shouted from behind me.

  And this is where it gets crazy …

  Suddenly some kid came out of nowhere and jumped in front of me. He was moving so fast that it looked like a red blur. As he sailed through the air, I felt a tug at my book bag, and before I knew it, the kid had it in his hands.

  ‘Wait!’ I shouted. ‘Give that back!’

  Faith fell against her locker with a loud clang. ‘What just happened? Who was that?’

  There wasn’t time to answer. The kid had my backpack along with the note to Faith plus my ninja outfit. I had to take the outfit home to get washed because it was getting a little funky.

  Without hesitating, I started running after the backpack thief. It was almost impossible to run at full speed down the hallway because it was packed with other students, and I didn’t want to hurt anyone.

  I could see the bandit several feet ahead of me. He was wearing a bright red hooded sweatshirt, which made it easy to keep my eyes on him. What thief wears bright red?

  The kid turned the corner and glanced back at me, but his hood was up so I couldn’t see his face. My bag was swinging wildly as his sneakers squeaked against the linoleum flooring. Then the thief kicked his foot out at the brick wall, flipping himself into the air and over another group of students.

  Who was this guy?

  Dragging my hand along the wall, I leaned into it as I rounded the corner. My ninja training came in handy as I took the turn gracefully, hardly losing any speed. What my training didn’t teach me was how to avoid a collision with a water fountain.

  Pain shot through my body as I slammed into the metal tower. I remember spinning in a circle like an ice skater as I fell to the ground. My cheek slapped against the cold floor.

  ‘Hey, man,’ said a voice from above me. ‘What’s goin’ on? What’re you running from?’

  I looked up. It was Brayden. Wiping the spit off my lip, I started scanning the hallway for the kid in red. ‘Some noob took my backpack, and I was chasing him down here. Did you see anyone wearing a red hoodie run past you?’

  Brayden looked around at the other students walking by. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I didn’t see anyone running or anything. They took your backpack?’

  I nodded, kicking the metal water fountain. ‘Yeah. He turned the corner, like, half a second before I became mortal enemies with this fountain.’

  Brayden turned around, confused. ‘Serious? I was standing right here the whole time. Nobody in a red hoodie ran by.’

  Trying to catch my breath, I said, ‘That’s impossible.’

  ‘Maybe it was a ghost,’ Brayden said, excited.

  ‘Right,’ I replied sarcastically. ‘A ghost that haunts the hallways of Buchanan School, tormenting students and stealing backpacks. I know that’s the first thing I’d do if I were a ghost.’ As I stepped forward, I saw my book bag on the ground. It was leaning against a wall of lockers, open and upside down. Everything in it was spilled on the floor. The students walking to their next class were polite enough to avoid stepping on any of my stuff.

  ‘Great,’ I said.

  ‘Bummer,’ said Brayden as he started picking my junk up off the ground.

  Clenching my jaw, I felt my heart skip a beat – my ninja outfit! Dropping to my knees, I quickly grabbed the bag and reached my hand inside of it. Frantically, I scraped my fingers along the canvas, but found nothing.

  It was completely empty.

  Brayden tapped a stack of papers on the floor to even them out. ‘You didn’t see who it was?’

  I looked over my shoulder at the other students, hoping to see a red sweatshirt in the crowd. I never did. ‘No. I didn’t see his face. He just appeared out of nowhere too. I mean, one minute I was standing there talking to Faith, and then the next minute …’ This time it felt like my heart completely stopped. ‘… Faith.’

  Brayden squinted an eye at me. ‘One minute you were talking to Faith, and then the next minute Faith? Is Faith another word for something? Because you just lost me.’

  Panic stricken, I searched through all of my papers on the floor, throwing them out of the way. ‘Where is it? Where is it?’

  ‘Where’s what, dude?’ Brayden asked. ‘Now you’re just freakin’ me out.’

  ‘My science homework!’ I squealed.

  ‘There was something I had with my science homework that …’ I finally checked the last sheet of paper on the floor. Faith’s note was gone. ‘Gah!’ I shouted as I whipped my science textbook across the floor.

  ‘What is it?’

  I didn’t have the nerve to tell Brayden about the note so I didn’t. ‘My ninja outfit was in my bag! It’s gone,’ I said, raising my eyebrows. ‘That kid took it.’

  Just then, the bell rang, signalling the start of fifth period.

  ‘I’ll catch you after class,’ said Brayden. We didn’t have fifth period together. ‘We’ll figure out who that kid was, okay?’

  I tightened my lips into a fake smile. The knot in my stomach twisted a little more. ‘Sure, after class.’

  The hallways of Buchanan were suddenly silent. I could hear the sound of doors shutting as classes started. Picking up the rest of my stuff, I shoved it all into my bag and headed to fifth period … science class.

  Contents

  Begin reading

  Monday. Science class.

  Monday. The end of the school day.

  Tuesday. Before homeroom.

  Tuesday. Gym class.

  Tuesday. Right after lunch.

  Tuesday. Science class (like, 10 minutes later).

  Wednesday. Homeroom.

  Wednesday. Gym class.

  Wednesday. Lunch.

  Thursday. Homeroom.

  Thursday. Art Class.

  Thursday. Right after gym class and right before lunch.

  Friday. Homeroom.

  Friday. Towards the end of lunch.

  Friday. Right before the skate party.

  Friday. The skate party.

  Friday. Skating rink DJ booth.

  Friday. Skating rink dining area.

  ‘Chase, you’re late,’ Mrs Olsen said, standing at the front of the room.

  ‘Sorry,’ I said quietly. She was usually pretty cool if you simply apologised instead of making an excuse.

  She pressed her lips together and nodded. ‘Mmhmm. Just have a seat, and we’ll get started.’

  I set my bag on the long black desk. F
aith was already there with her textbook out. Zoe and her friend Emily were in the desk behind us. I took my seat and scooted a few inches away from Faith – I don’t know why exactly. Maybe I’m shyer than I care to admit?

  ‘I was beginning to think you were gonna skip!’ Faith joked.

  Zoe leaned forward. ‘Yeah right, this guy?’ she whispered, aiming her thumb at me. ‘He’s way too chicken to do something like that!’

  Pulling out my chair, I ignored Zoe’s comment and took a seat.

  Faith leaned closer and whispered quietly. ‘Good to see you have your bag back.’

  ‘Back?’ Zoe asked from behind. ‘Where’d it go?’

  Faith turned slightly, only enough that she could make eye contact with my cousin. ‘Some kid ran off with it right after lunch!’ Then she turned towards me. ‘That’s why you were late, huh?’

  I nodded, setting my science book on the desk. ‘Yeah, I chased the kid, but didn’t catch him. Lucky for me, he dropped my bag, but not before dumping it out on the floor.’

  ‘You mean this happened within the last ten or so minutes? After I pushed you … I mean, after you made your own decision to step into the hallway?’ Zoe asked, concerned. ‘I hope it wasn’t before … you know.’

  ‘Before what?’ Faith asked.

  ‘Nothing!’ I said hotly. ‘Before nothing.’

  Zoe understood as she folded her hands on her desk. I think she could tell that Faith was going to ask more questions so she quickly changed the subject. ‘And you didn’t pull any… ninja moves on him?’

  Emily snickered.

  I shot a look at Zoe with my eyes wide open. My brain was screaming at her to stay quiet, but on the outside, all I could do was blink in Morse code – it’d probably help if I knew Morse code.

  Faith laughed. ‘Yeah, right. Didya ninja-kick him in the face?’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘Ninjas don’t really do that.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Zoe asked. ‘I’m pretty sure ninjas kick faces. It’d be disappointing if they didn’t. I mean, all that training just to not face-kick a dude?’