[Leo656]

Furrlough Issue #48
NINJARA Part Two

We open at some sort of temple, as Ninjara tries to argue her way past a ninja acting as a doorman. Someone named Tetsu Kono is apparently looking to hire someone for a job, and Ninjara is prepared to offer her services... for a price. The ninja refuses to bring Ninjara to his master, calling her a thief and saying she has no honor. He follows with "Child. No Husband. Hirogeru Onna." To which Ninjara replies "WHAT did you call me?"

Any help on what the guy said to her? Apparently it was an insult, but I'm lost.

Regardless, Ninjara prepares to fight, reaching for her katana. "If you're trying to push my buttons, you've succeeded," she tells him, adding "Chimpoko No Atama!" Little help? Too much Japanese here for the Irish Polack.

The ninja's master interrupts and tells him to let Ninjara in. "Tetsu Kono. I am honored," she says. "However, you really should teach your help better manners." Tetsu Kono replies that he, too, is honored, and maintains that his servant was acting suitably for his job description. As he speaks, several black ninjas attack Ninjara.

Tetsu Kono speaks of his fondness for horticulture, telling her that he is a collector of rare and exotic flora. "I wish you to steal for me the seed of an orchid," he tells her. "It is the last seed of its kind. In fact, the seed is the only link to its genus. There are no living plants left. Its importance to me is immeasurable."

When he is done talking, Ninjara is standing over the fallen bodies of her ninja attackers. No torn clothes this time, but she looks rather top-heavy in a pretty nice shot that Ninjara fanboys will like a lot. She demands half her pay up front. "I never fail," she tells him. Tetsu Kono tells her the location of the laboratory where the seed is held. The seed is to the orchid known as the "gilgamesai." They briefly discuss the security at the lab, and Ninjara leaves. On her way out, she trades barbs with the ninja doorman. "Later, gejashiku." "Joro." he replies. What does it all mean?!?!

When she's gone, Tetsu Kono approaches the ninja. "Follow her, Ichiro," he whispers. "Discover her weakness... and bring it to me."

Ninjara is at a temple, talking to a monk. She offers to pay the temple to protect her daughter. "It is not necessary for you to pay for our services," he tells her. "You honor us simply by your prescence." Hmm, looks like Ninjara's pretty well-renowned wherever she is exactly. "Of course, we will accept your offering, nonetheless," he says. "We still have to eat."

Ninjara's daughter protests, asking why she can't go with her mother. "Because I'm working," Ninjara tells her. "Please, Moka," she says, the first time we see the child named, "we've been through this before."

"It's just that I want to be like you," the child tells her as they hug. "Be like me?" Ninjara thinks as she walks away, a tear in her eye. "God forbid."

We see Ninjara sitting cross-legged in the moonlight in front of what I guess is a shrine or something. She muses over being called the greatest theif in all Japan and how she's only doing it for the money, same as always. "But this is different," she thinks. "This money will buy us time. Time to follow the trail. To dissect the clue. The single clue I have to my husband's murderers." The plot thickens, I see...

"Mokoshan... I was the greatest theif in all Japan and yet I allowed them to steal you from me," she thinks. "Mokoshan, my dearest..." Looks like she stayed with that guy from the "Moon Eyes" saga in TMNTA after all. And apparently he knocked her up, to boot.

"Screw the lame irony," she thinks, holding up a tiny bauble with Japanese markings. "I want revenge." "Continued..."

Interesting story. Apparently Ninjara's back to being a thief, and we learn a lot about what's happened to her since her last appearance in the Archie comic.

Next, part three.