Ninja's Honor

By Nightflower

For information on Kayla (Cyber 338), click here. A fan character of Cybersix. To learn about this wonderful show, click here
Batman Beyond, Batman (c) of Warner Brothers, DC Comics and anyone else who holds rights to the respective shows. No infringement intended. Cybersix property of TMS, NOA, Carlos Trillo and Meglia and anyone else who holds rights to the series.

"Who is that?"
"One of the sensei's old students," said the person next to her, "I hear he's a millionaire."
"He and Sensei look pretty close."
"He's pretty cute for an old guy," grinned Matsuri.
Kayla playfully punched her on the shoulder. "Ow! Well he is!"
She continued to peer through the window, despite her friend's complaints. "They're laughing now. They seem very chummy. He looks foreign, like me. I wonder who he is."
"Now I remember who it is," said Ryuu, "It's Bruce Wayne. I remember father talking about him before. He trained with my father a long time ago... with a man called the Kyodai Ken. The other man got expelled or something... Bruce Wayne is supposed to be a very good fighter."
The teacher looked up and the man turned around. Matsuri swore in Japanese. "They've seen us!"
Matsuri and Ryuu began to crawl away. "Come on Kayla!"
"Hang on! I'll be right there! I just wanna hear what they're saying."
"You're going to get in trouble," muttered Matsuri, but she hurried away.

"She looks new."
"She is." The teacher put down his cup of tea. "She came to us full of anger and need for revenge. I did not want to take her, but I also saw potential in her. She beat my son in combat. Much calmer now, but very powerful. Not normal."
Bruce looked at her again. She ducked away.

She heard what her teacher said. Sighing, she inadvertently glanced at her pocket. Inside was a vial of green, glowing acid. She needed it to survive; because she was not human.
"You're right," she said softly, "I'm not normal."

"Ka-San, come in."
She froze, as she heard her sensei call her. "Ka-San? I can see you."
Damn! She stood up and walked in the building with as much dignity as she could muster.
"I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is-"
"Bruce Wayne," she finished. "I heard."
The old man raised an eyebrow and gave a shadow of a smile. "This is Kayla, the student I was telling you about. She is a foreigner like you."
"Ah. Pleased to meet you, Miss." He offered his hand. She stared at it, and glanced at him. He uneasily dropped it and coughed slightly.
"Ka-San is one of the fastest learning students I have ever trained. She only came months ago, but she is now at the same level as my son, who has been training all his life."
"Higher," she scoffed bluntly, uncomfortably shifting before the two men.
A look was exchanged. Finally, the sensei spoke. "You may go now."
She looked puzzled, but bowed and hastily left. "She's got quite a chip on her shoulder," remarked Bruce.
"Reminds you of someone from a long time ago, doesn't it?"

A few days later, she was walking to the temple for lunch. The mysterious stranger was gone, and the Sensei was away again. Ryuu was put in charge, much to her amusement.
"Ahh!"
A slight pinch on her neck. Frowning, she reached behind and found a small dart stuck to her neck.
"Ryuu, if this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny-"
The ground lurched underneath her. She felt dizzy and weak. She fell to the ground, and everything went black.
When she opened her eyes again, she was on the dirt path, alone. It was night. Slowly, she brought herself into a crouch, and slowly she stood up.
What happened to me?
"Kayla! Kayla!"
She turned to see Ryuu running to her, obviously worried. "Where were you? We had the students look all over for you!"
"I was.. I was..." she was confused. "I don't know."


TWENTY YEARS LATER

The container hissed open, clouds of steam blowing everywhere. An alarm went off.
"What's happening? The specimen is awakening!"
"She can't be. Her incubation is far from complete. She should be completely comatose!"
"She is conscious, see for yourself! Her brain waves just started..jumping! She's awake!"
She rubbed her eyes blindly and pushed herself out of the cold liquid. It was so cold.. and wet.. what was happening?
"Well do something! Stop her, stabilize her!"
She squinted, her vision blurry and unused. Her hands were covered with green goo, and she was completely naked.
"What?!"
She looked up. There were two men in black with tranquilizer shotguns. They were aimed at her.
Worry later about what's happening...I know a bad thing when I see one..
She turned around and kicked the guns out of their hands, then knocked their two heads together. Scientists were running everywhere, screaming, grabbing papers. She grabbed a lab coat and draped it over her body.
"I've got to get out of here," she thought, stumbling down. None of the scientists dared to try and stop her; they seemed to know about her strength.
She saw a cardboard box at the end of the hall. It had clothes and a katana. She had never seen the clothes before: a black suit, black gloves, black boots, black bands and a double belt. She grabbed them, crashed out of the lab and into the cool of the night.


"Quiet night," reported Terry, "Why do I have to be here again?"
"Because as Batman, you have to."
He sighed. "You know, one would think that on the night that nothing happens I can go out and try to have a social life. But noooo...I- hang on."
"What is it?"
It was nothing. Very slight. Just a shadow. It looked like a person... but it was jumping from building to building. No one could possibly do that. No one normal anyway.
The shadow was holding something, there was a definite blade...
"Curare," he growled and moved the plane in closer.

The stranger was fast, but not fast enough to outrun a high-powered machine. He was amazed at her grace and power... no creature on earth could leap that high, not even the well-trained assassin he fought before. She's grown stronger since they last met, he thought grimly.
He steered the plane so close it almost knocked her off the building, but she bent down in time. She was completely covered in a dark cloak but she had a sword. It had to be Curare.
"Terry, what's going on?"
"I got bad news for you. Curare's back."
He jumped out of the plane and rolled onto the building. She wasn't running away or moving, just watching him with intrigue. All her features were shadowed because the hood was pulled over her face. She started to back away, but he didn't let her. His rockets powered on and he blasted her into the wall.
"Ugh!"
She slammed against the wall but was unfazed. She firmly planted her feet on his stomach and kicked him away. Batman winced in pain and landed on the concrete. She ran in his direction, impossibly fast. He unwillingly raised his arms in a defensive position. She wasn't thinking about him however. She coiled back and launched herself above his head onto the next building and continued running. Batman turned his rockets on again and flew after her.
"You've got to see this; she's unbelievably strong, even for an assassin like her. I think she must have had some sort of genetic surgery, or steroids, or something."
"I am watching. Be careful."
"Aren't I always?"
Bruce did not respond.

Terry reached for his belt and pulled out a batarang. It sprang open and he hurled it at the woman. It sliced through the air and stuck firmly into the concrete- and it pinned her flowing cloak on the floor with it. As she tried to free herself, he swooped down and hit her in the face.
He landed and whirled around. Sword in hand, she cut off the portion of fabric trapped on the floor. She spun around and attacked him with her sword. Taken by surprise, he ducked in time. She struck and he dodged. She whipped around and kicked him off the building. He yelled as he was hurled towards the unforgiving ground far below. She leaped away and ran off without looking back.
His senses registered, and he turned his rockets back on. He zoomed onto the building, but she was gone already.
"Why can't she leave me alone?" he muttered.
"Terry?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"Come back. I want to show you something."


She panted, breathless, leaning on the building, unnoticed by the busy pedestrians. Everything seemed so strange, so new.. where was she? Somewhere in the United States, that was obvious enough. But where in that country was a city like this? Flying cars... strangely shaped buildings, and gadgets, the clothes and the music..
More importantly, when am I?
The last thing she remembered was walking to join her colleagues for lunch in the little dojo in Japan. She had been shot. Was I knocked out and taken to this place? Frozen in time? Oh man, what am I going to do?
All she had were the clothes on her back and the katana. She recognized the katana of course; it was her sensei's, one of his most prized possessions and forbidden to be used. Obviously, though, he would understand why she took it. If he was still around, though...
I wonder if I can contact someone.. anyone.. get my bearings..
Two teenagers stopped by her, watching something on a portable player. It looked like the local news for "Gotham City." Gotham City? She buried her face in her hands. This is just too much...
The teenagers laughed as they continued onwards. The boy took out a wallet and began counting his cash. Hmm...
She ran forward and grabbed his wallet. "Hey! Hey hey, come back here! She just took my wallet! Stop her!"
You can't stop me, buddy boy, not unless you were made by Von Reichter.
She ran faster, pushing people out of the way on the busy sidewalk. She opened the wallet and searched through its contents. Money, cards... I could use these..


"It was crazy! I mean, she nearly outran the batplane, a plane for God's sake! I could barely fight her last time, never mind all built up like that! Any idea what Curare did to herself?"
"It isn't Curare."
"What?" Terry sat down. "How do you know?"
Bruce paused the playback. "See that sword? It isn't Curare's trademark schmitar."
"Yeah, so? Maybe she got a new sword."
"Terry, her sword was specially sharpened with lasers, remember? Besides, I've seen that sword before a long time ago. It's a katana, made from Japan. It belonged to my Ninjitsu sensei.. but I have no idea what it's doing here."
"Weird."
"I see a lot of weird things in this business."
"No, I mean it's weird that you could remember such detail from so long ago. You must have a lot of time on your hands."
"..."


The computer was odd and unfamiliar, but it was powerful, and she figured her way around it without too much difficulty. It could even be accessed by voice commands.
She instructed it to contact the old academy, giving the address of the temple. She prayed that they were still there and in operation.
They were.
Wow.
The computer did not recognize her sensei's name, so she gave it Ryuu's. I hope I got the pronunciation right- his whole name was always hard for me to say.
She drummed her fingers nervously as the computer processed her request. She looked around. Nobody noticed her, or even cared about her. For once, she was glad that she had the opportunity to survive on her own in foreign countries, keep her wits about her; although the opportunity had come at such a heavy price...
I wonder if all this has happened because of Von Reichter... he was a genius after all and this is a pretty nice setup... maybe he won... and these are technos walking around me..
NO! In horror, she forced the thought out. Her vision could not possibly be the future surrounding her. It was too terrible. She prayed that he had been defeated, even though not by her, that he was gone and part of the past.
The screen blinked at her and she turned her attention back to her task.
"Ryuu?"

A middle-aged Japanese man appeared on the screen; although he was fit for a man his age, his hair was gray and his face was tired by years of hardship. She gasped. Was this her friend, the mischievous boy? How much time had passed? Why did she stay unchanged?
He squinted at her. "Who are you?"
"It's Kayla. Kayla Diedrich?"
"What? It can't be!"
"Look at me!" she snapped, folding back her hood, revealing her inhuman black eyes and scrappy black hair. "Have you forgotten what I look like?"
"It's impossible," he murmured, "Yet you look just like her.."
"I am her. Your friend."
He believed her. He leaned forward. "What happened to you?"
"I- I don't know. Last thing I remembered, you were seventeen, and now you're- well, old."
"Thanks," he said wryly, "You haven't changed a bit."
"That's kind of obvious. How much time has passed since you saw me last? When we were training under your father?"
"Twenty years."
It seared through her brain and she sat upright. Twenty years! She was right; she was in the future. It had something to do with the scientists.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. Everything. I'm so confused." She paused. "How's my teacher?"
"You mean, my father?" He looked away. "He died. I tried contacting you, but you move like a shadow."
She was about to say that she did not remember moving anywhere away from the dojo, but dismissed it. It was unimportant. "Oh."

His perception was unfazed, even after years of passing. "You have a sword on your side."
"Oh yeah." She unsheathed it and showed it to him. "It's Sensei's. I found it in a box in the-" She drifted off, unsure of what to say next. Knowledge was power, and since she had very little knowledge of where she was, she decided to say as little as possible; even to an old friend like Ryuu. Literally and figuratively, she thought sadly.
"That's incredible. I heard that Sensei gave it to you as a parting gift." He scanned for face for recognition, but it was a blank; she didn't remember that. He wisely said nothing and continued. "Do you remember Bruce Wayne?"
"The millionaire friend? Yes. From Gotham City." She looked around. "Actually, I'm in Gotham right now."
"Kayla. Ka-San. Orchid," he said using Sensei's name for her (Exotic and foreign like the flower but still requiring support to grow, the old man had explained), "The teacher is dead. As his former student, you must-"
"I understand."
Even amidst the chaos... in a harsh city in the future, she was a ninja. And she had a duty to fulfill.


"Sir, one of the units escaped. Cyber338-19 woke up prematurely and managed to leave the lab. Should we go after her?"
"Negative. I want this project terminated."
"Terminated?!"
"We are dealing with too many uncertainties. We don't know enough of the genetics to possibly control it, and now this has happened. I want all the units- all the remaining units- destroyed and any evidence to this project burned."
"But sir-"
"You have your orders!"


"I don't see anything out of the ordinary.. our visitor seems to have left."
"Never underestimate ninjas. They can make themselves as visible as the wind."
"...Right." Somehow, this girl seemed important to Bruce. The girl and the sword. He refused to say anything to Terry and Terry didn't bother pushing it. He just wanted to kick her butt and then go out with Dana. Of course, Dana was mad at him as usual and they were going through another rough spot. He hoped they got back together soon. He didn't blame her of course; but it wasn't fair. The only way to explain it to her was to reveal his secret, and he knew he couldn't do that.
Movement!
His eyes darted to the corner. Nothing. A bird maybe. Of course not.
He put on the stealth and moved invisibly across the city. Where are you, my little ninja?
He flew from a building and landed on a construction site. Still nothing. He seethed in frustration, but continued moving hidden by the suit's wonderful technology.
There she was! She was running like before, but without the cloak. She was wearing a tight-fitting black suit with the sword strapped to her back. Her face was covered with a black cloth, like the ninjas of years passed. She was moving very fast.

He flew after her and tackled her. But she was like water and slipped from his grasp. She didn't stop to fight though; she continued running and leaping on the buildings.
There was no way he could match her speed, so he took to the air again and flew over her. He veered and jumped down in front of her. She had anticipated it and unsheathed the katana.
"I haven't done anything wrong." It was the first time she spoke.
He snorted. "Gimme a break. No one who moves like that stays out of trouble."
She said nothing. Her eyes didn't even shift, but he knew she was planning to escape. A batarang slid out and he whipped it at her. She had anticipated that as well. She let loose a ninja star and knocked it off course. Both weapons hit the floor and stuck there.
She raised her gloved hand, as if to shoot something, but he body-slammed her into the ground. She crashed into the concrete and slid across the building, her head dangling above the storeys and traffic below. She kicked him off and away and he waved wildly as he began free-falling down. He grabbed her collar and dragged her down with him.

The two black figures tumbled and fell and broke through the glass of the museum below. Terry knew it well. He had fought the Stalker there. His eyes narrowed as the shards of glass flew around them.
She punched him and kicked him onto the floor. He hit the exhibit below with a loud thump. She gracefully landed on an elephant statue. "I don't have time to fight you. I have something to do."
"Oh right. You've got things to steal."
"I'm not a thief! If you just-"
A wire whipped past her while she was indignantly shouting at him. She looked around in surprise, completely tied up. Batman shot up and landed on the elephant statue cautiously. He slowly approached her.
She remained motionless until he was standing right in front of her. Then she kicked him square in the stomach so hard, he fell from the elephant's head onto the hard back. She jumped off the head, and slid down the sharp tusk, the friction cutting the ropes off. Freed, she continued falling and landed safely below the giant elephant. Batman was not deterred and swooped down after her. The two fought; she dodged a punch, he jumped over her low kick and gave her an upper-cut. She kicked him across the room. He crashed onto the wall, dazed, but ducked a stab from her katana. While she was trying to pull the katana from the wall, he hit her.

"Look! Batman's picking on a girl!"
He looked up to raucous laughter. There was a gang of young men and women, dressed in bright clothes and clown make-up, and brandishing chains. Jokerz.
She stood up beside him and wiped blood from her cheek.
"Well, gentlemen, it appears the Batman is busy tonight," said the leader to his hooting goons, "So we'll just quietly go about our way with our loot and not bother him."
He laughed loudly and slung a bag over his back. In it were vases and statues. His laughter was cut short by a batarang flying and pinning the bag onto the ground. "Hey!"
Batman bodychecked him into an African mannequin. The henchmen surrounded him, swinging their chains. Two, three, four...Eight. A little much but- Ungh! Someone struck him from behind. The gang hooted and sneered at him. A girl with a poufy dress and funny hat beaned him with their trademark spiked rubber chicken. She knocked him down. She was about to bean him again, but a katana sliced through the air and cut the chicken in half. "Huh?"

She didn't say anything else, because the ninja drop-kicked her in the face while Batman was trying to get up. She kicked another goon and knocked him into the guy's friend. Batman didn't have long to watch her, because a huge henchman growled and tried to ram him, but he grabbed his fists and flung the guy into some fake rocks. She kicked her katana up and grabbed it. A chain swung and wrapped around her katana and the clown tried to pull it away. She countered the move, by jerking back and swinging the guy into a pole.
Batman finished off two guys and then flew above the fight after the leader, who was quietly making his way out of the museum. "Going somewhere?"
The gang leader looked surprise, then snarled and grabbed a spear out of the hands of another African figure. He clumsily charged at Batman, who avoided the attack. He struck again, but Batman grabbed the spear and wrenched it out of his hands. He grabbed the jerk's shirt and punched him.
Batman let him fall and took his bag of stolen goods. He turned around to see the gang members groaning and lying on the floor. But the ninja was gone.
Visible as the wind...geez... Terry would have continued fuming, but he heard sirens. He quickly fled the place and left the Jokerz tied and ready for the police.

"I'm going to find her and finish the fight. That girl is dangerous; she moves faster than a cheetah!"
"Sounds like your ego was bruised."
"This isn't about me! This-"
"Ahem."
The two men looked up. There was a girl standing on top of the stairs leading into the cave.
"The door was open."
It was the ninja, still dressed in the black costume, and holding the katana.
'That's her!" Terry excitedly pointed to her. Then he realized that he was unmasked. "Oh no."
She walked over to the two of them. Terry growled and bared his fists, but she held up her hand. She faced Bruce silently, regarding him. Bruce looked surprised. He knew this girl..
She put her hands together and bowed. Then, with smiling eyes, she unwrapped the cloth masking her face, revealing who she was: the ninja, the cyber, the student. Bruce smiled with recognition.

"Greetings, Mr. Wayne." She held out the katana. "Our teacher's soul is at peace. He would want you to have this."
She stepped forward and placed the katana before him. He bowed and so did she. Terry watched confusedly.
"Thank you...Kayla, is it?" He raised his hand to shake hers, but she stood solemnly, so he brought it down again.
He picked up the katana. "You haven't aged a day."
"I've been told that." She smiled at him and began to walk away. Terry started after her, but Bruce grabbed his arm. "No, Terry. Let her go."
"But she-"
"It's all right."
Terry backed off. "I still don't understand."
"There are some things you never will. Consider this one of them."
Terry opened his mouth to say something and hastily shut it again. Instead he stood next to Bruce and watched the girl disappear from view.
Bruce sat silently, holding the katana. Terry glanced at him then turned back to the stairway. "Will she be back?"

"Who knows? She's a ninja. They have their own ways. But," he added as a bat flew over their heads; "I think she's going to stay."

Stories
Kayla
Cybersix