Traps

Nemo Farid:

"Something is wrong," I whisper. "Something is very wrong."

As I look at the building closely, Akio leans in from behind me.

"Nemo," he starts. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," I slowly answer. "But something is wrong."

While still looking at the closed store, I see Emica walking toward the boarded entrance.

"Hey," I shout. "Wait!"

Emica stopping, turns around to look at me. Running up to her, I jump between her and the store and spread out my arms.

"Don't get inside," I say.

"Why," Emica asks. "I thought you wanted those glass flowers back."

"I do," I reply. "But-"

Stopping and turning around to look at the store, I turn back to face Emica.

"I don't think you should go in there," I say. "At least, not alone. And also, I don't think you should go through the front entrance."

"Why," Emica asks again.

Trying to find the right answers, I pull in my arms and start playing with my hands.

"I can't explain," I answer, making circles. "It just...something isn't right."

As I say this, I see Akio floating behind Emica. He's looking at me with tilted eyebrows and a frown. He's pointing at Emica before pulling his arms in.

My head bounces up and down as I still try to find the right words or answers.

"Something is off," I go on. "Okay. Nevermind. Emica, please just listen to me. Don't go in there by yourself."

"If I can't go in there by myself, what am I supposed to do?"

"I'll go with you," I say nodding my head.

"What," Akio yells.

"What," Emica says.

"What," I think. "Why did I say that? What on Earth am I thinking?"

I look at Emica as she looks back at me. I nod my head for some reason while keeping my mouth shut.

"Don't say anything," I tell myself. "Don't say anything. Do not say anything."

I fight the urge to say anything but somehow, words slip out of my mouth.

"Suurrreee," I say. "Yeessss. I will go with you. Those glass flowers are my father's responsibility. If he doesn't get them back, he may get in trouble. Also, everyone thinks that Aki--the Green Emerald Ninja stole them but he is innocent, and I want to help prove that. Soooo, let's go."

Pointing to the back with my finger, I start leading the way. As I walk around the corner, heading for a possible back entrance, Akio appears beside me.

"What are you thinking," he yells.

"I don't know," I answer. "I panicked."

"You panicked," Akio repeats. "Nemo. We don't know anything about the girl who stole your father's flowers."

"They're the museum's flowers," I correct.

"What if she is dangerous," Akio asks. "Nemo, we need to switch. Now! Come on. Say the words! The noble dragon awakens."

"I can't say anything now. If I do and we switch, then Emica will see, and she know who your host is. And once she knows that, well, there goes the whole secret identity thing. No. I'm sorry Akio, but this time, it's the Red Rose Ninja and...me. Not you."

When Akio sighs, I take it as a sign that, while he hates the idea, Akio still agrees.

"Thank you," I say. Akio nods his head and smiles. Finally reaching the back of the store, I jump back. I almost fall but someone catches me in time.

"Are you okay," Emica asks.

My face feeling very hot, I clear my throat and push myself up.

"Yeah," I answer, standing back up. "Yeah! I'm okay."

"What happened?"

"That car."

I turn my eyes toward Akio. Akio turns to me and nods.

"It's the thief," I say. "Yeah. She's here."

Now turning my whole head, I eye a rusted back door.

"There," I say, pointing at it. I start walking to the door but Emica shoots out her hand and stops me.

"Let me go first," she orders. "After all."

Pulling her weapon, the stick with a chain, she swings the chain while carefully approaching the door. Grabbing the handle, Emica pulls and opens it.

"That open way too easy," I say, staying behind Emica as we enter the empty store. At least, it should be empty.

As Emica and I enter the store, I immediately see a light not too far away. It's hidden behind a bunch of abandoned metal shelves. The shelves themselves are dusty, but not rusty.

"There," I whisper, pointing at the light. "Be quiet. I think we have the element of surprise on our side."

Emica nods her head and leads the way. Staying a step behind her, we carefully tiptoe our way through the maze of shelves. We can hear a girl's voice as we get closer to the light.

"Yeah," the girl goes on. "Yeah. I got the flowers. I have them right here. I can bring them to you by tonight. Just make sure you have my money."

Through some cracks between the shelves, I can see the same girl from the museum. She is standing in front of a desk with a lamp turned on and all the glass flowers! She's on the phone right now, talking with someone. After ending the call, she dials another number.

"She's calling someone else," I think.

"Hey," the girl says, smiling. "It's me. Yeah. I miss you too. Listen, after work, what do you say you and me go for some ice cream? Okay? Okay. Yeah. I can't wait either."

As the girl is talking on the phone, I hear screaming and turn my head.

"Ahh," Emica screams. For some reason, Emica isn't the Red Rose Ninja anymore. Now, she's looking like the "White Rose Ninja".

Noon Encarnacion:

Emica screams and stumbles around as something falls right onto it. The something that fell looks like white paint.

"What in the world," I scream, flying back. Looking around, I see a dusty wire lying across the floor. Following the wire, I see how it goes from the floor, up along the wall, and to the ceiling where there's also a swinging bucket of paint.

"It's a trap? Emica fell into a trap? Wow. No offense to her but if she fell into an obvious trap like that, she's kind of a bad ninja."

"Ahh," Emica yells, dropping her chigiriki and wiping the paint from her eyes. Flying to her, I grab her shoulder.

"Emica," I say. "Calm down. Calm down! Just wipe it off! Just wipe it off."

Hearing another sound, I turn my head and see the thief looking at us.

"The Red Rose Ninja," she shouts. "How did you find me? Oh, nevermind!"

Turning around, the girl starts grabbing and throwing all the glass flowers into her shoulder bag. Once she has all of them, she runs.

"Hey," Nemo says, bursting out from behind the shelves. "Noo!"

Nemo starts running after the thief. It's like he's not even hesitating.

"Nemo," I shout, shooting out my hand but it's no use. I'm a ghost. I'm invisible. Nemo can't see me. Biting my tongue, I turn back to Emica and focus on calming her down.

Akio Hisashi:

"Nemo," I yell, flying after my host as he chases the thief with orange hair. "Stop! Even if you catch her, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Nemo answers, "But I can't let her get away. For you, and my father!"

Nemo keeps running. Even after the thief climbs up one shelf and jumps over three of them.

Despite panting and being out of breath, Nemo fights to keep the pace. He runs through the maze of shelves until finally, the thief reaches a wooden door. She opens it, runs inside, and slams it close.

Reaching the door a few seconds after her, Nemo grabs the door handle. Throwing it open and running inside, Nemo stops.

"What the--" he says, looking down. Looking down, I see Nemo's leg touching a thick wire that runs across the door.

"It's a tripwire," I yell. Looking around, I see something falling from the ceiling.