Andy Mcdermott - Temple of the Gods

Something heavy smashed into his hand, chain whipping around the Makarov. Raphael’s kusarigama , the ninja using his weapon like a metal lasso. He yanked it back. The gun was torn from Eddie’s stinging hand, flying over the remaining three ninjas and landing in the gallery as they rushed into the strongroom.

Takashi was already making a remarkably rapid exit for a man of his age, barking orders. Kojima pulled Nina with him, ignoring her protests. ‘Eddie!’ she cried, but the secretary practically scooped her up and ran after his boss.

Eddie reeled backwards as Michelangelo charged, his staff sweeping and stabbing. One metal-tipped end caught his forearm, sending another bolt of pain through the already wounded limb. He slammed against a display case. The glass cracked — and a moment later shattered as the kusarigama ’s spiked ball hit it, Eddie barely jerking out of its way.

The man with the nunchaku was racing around the edge of the room, trying to flank him. If he didn’t find a way to fight back quickly, he would be attacked from three sides at once — and unlike the ninjas in martial arts movies, these didn’t seem inclined to stand back and wait patiently for their comrades to be dealt with one at a time.

The bo staff thrust again, this time hitting him in the sternum. Crackling agony spread through Eddie’s ribs. Gasping, he stumbled back — and collided with the samurai armour, tumbling to the floor amidst a clattering avalanche of ornate pieces of metal. Another intense stab of pain as the shuriken , still embedded in his arm, was driven deeper into the muscle.

And more of the lethal throwing stars were about to come his way, Michelangelo spinning his staff in one hand as his other went to his bandolier—

The armour’s elaborate breastplate was beside Eddie. He snatched it up and rolled to raise it like a shield. A shuriken flying straight at his head clanged off it.

Something else shot towards the armour — and punched right through it with a bang. Eddie flinched as the kusarigama ’s razor-sharp sickle blade slammed to a stop inches from his face.

Raphael hauled on the weapon’s chain again, whisking the shield away.

Leaving himself briefly open to attack—

Eddie pulled the bloodied shuriken from his arm and hurled it. It hit the ninja in the throat with a solid chut and a crimson spray. He collapsed, twitching and gurgling.

Both remaining ninjas froze, exchanging glances as they reassessed their opponent. Eddie scrambled up. The pain in his chest made every breath hurt, and his arm was now damp with blood. He glimpsed his gun on the floor of the next room, but he would have to get past the staff-wielding Michelangelo to reach it.

And now Donatello was whirling his nunchaku from hand to hand as he advanced from the opposite direction.

Trapped—

‘Let me go !’ Nina yelled, striking at Kojima with her heels and elbows as he dragged her into Takashi’s office. ‘He’s my husband! I can talk to him, find out what’s going on!’

Takashi had no interest in debate. Instead he went to a cabinet and took out a sturdy impact-resistant case. He opened it, revealing that it was lined with foam rubber, inset with three recesses in the exact shape of the statues.

‘Put them in here!’ he ordered. Still holding the struggling Nina with one arm, Kojima tugged one of the statues from her grip as Takashi placed his own figurine in the case. ‘Dr Wilde, the statues must be kept from any harm. And so must you.’

‘You’re the one who should be worried about harm!’ Nina cried as she finally broke loose, giving Kojima a solid kick in the shins. He yelped. ‘Call off your — your ninjas,’ she said, not quite able to believe what she was saying. ‘I can get Eddie to—’

The door opened. She turned, hoping to see Eddie… but saw instead his most deadly enemy.

Alexander Stikes.

She backed away like a cat facing an aggressive dog. ‘What the hell is he doing here?’

The industrialist didn’t appear pleased to see him either. ‘I told you to wait until we were finished.’

‘Sorry,’ said Stikes with a sarcastic smile, ‘but the alarm going off was rather a clue that something was wrong.’ He turned to Nina. ‘A pleasure to see you again.’

‘No it goddamn isn’t,’ she growled. She addressed Takashi. ‘This son of a bitch tried to kill me!’

‘He is only here because he delivered the statues to me,’ said Takashi. But there was a flustered quality to his reply that made Nina suspect he was concealing the whole truth, if not outright lying. ‘Please, Dr Wilde, you and the statues must be protected.’ He pointed at the stone figure still in her hand. ‘Put it in the case. If necessary, we will use the escape capsule to get them — and you — safely out of the building.’

Nina glanced at the booth containing the spherical pod. ‘You’re not shooting me fifty storeys into the air in that thing.’

‘It is for your own safety,’ Takashi insisted as Kojima hobbled to her and took the last statue, then put it in the case and closed the lid.

‘I can look after myself.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Stikes. ‘I’ll take care of her.’

The malice behind his supercilious smirk was impossible for Nina to miss. She had seen it before, as his prisoner. As his victim , tortured for information with scorpion venom. Fear rose at the memory, her fight-or-flight instincts kicking in with a rush of adrenalin.

Fighting was out of the question. She knew she couldn’t win.

Which left—

She burst into motion, shoulder-barging Kojima aside and snatching up the case before sprinting through the doors.

‘Damn it!’ Stikes hissed as they slammed behind her. He reached into his jacket and drew a gun, a nickel-plated Jericho 941 automatic, and ran after her.

‘No!’ Takashi’s command made him freeze mid-stride. ‘Put your gun away. She is too valuable to the Group. She must not be hurt.’

The Englishman gave him a baleful look. ‘She must not be killed . That isn’t quite the same thing.’ He flicked off the Jericho’s safety. ‘Don’t worry, Mr Takashi. I’m a very good shot.’

Before Takashi could say anything further, he threw open the doors and rushed out after Nina.

Eddie’s gaze flicked back and forth between the two ninjas as they closed in. Donatello was still twirling his nunchaku with dangerous ease, trying to intimidate him into retreating — into range of Michelangelo’s poised staff.

His eyes moved to the exit — and the gun. If he could knock down or even distract one of the ninjas for as little as a second, he had a chance to round the other and reach the Makarov. But he would have to pick the perfect moment… and it wasn’t here yet. Both men needed to be closer, but not so close that they could make an unstoppable strike.

The ninjas knew what he was thinking. They exchanged another look, silently agreeing a plan of attack. Eddie stepped back. Even if they had figured out what he was about to do, he had no option left but to chance it.

The staff, though less showy, was more likely to fell him than the nunchaku . Donatello was his target, then. The ninja was still approaching, more cautiously. Another couple of feet.

One more step—

Eddie bumped into something. Caught off guard, he instinctively glanced at the obstruction — a display case containing a sword.

Donatello darted forward, the nunchaku whipping up at Eddie’s face. He raised his arms, taking a fierce crack to the elbow from the wooden handle—

The staff swung like a baseball bat, slamming across his stomach and pitching him backwards against the case. The whole thing toppled and fell, glass exploding beneath Eddie as he landed on top of it. Shards stabbed into his shoulders. He rolled sideways to get clear of the debris as the nunchaku lanced at his head. More glass splintered as it missed by barely an inch.