All the other ninjas removed their masks, following Emma’s mom's example. The only other familiar face she saw was her dad.

"What-? How-? Why-?" she stammered.

Emma’s mom laughed, "You know, I thought you would put up a fight..."

Emma rolled her eyes. Of course her mom would be sarcastic. Where else would Emma get the talent that she so prided herself in?

But still, she was confused. Her mother was on the evil ninjas’ side? Her mom seemed to notice her expression, because she quickly reassured her,

“No, of course not. We’re here to take you to training. You are a very powerful ninja after all.”

“But-? Why-? How-?” Emma stammered, “Why now of all times? Why when I was in school?”

Mom laughed, “Well, you just discovered your true identity. We wanted to take you to a protected facility before the Warriors found out. It would increase your chances of survival.”

All the gears were turning in Emma’s head. She had so many questions. She vaguely remembered seeing the word “warriors” in the carved rock she, Leslie, and Alice had seen in the museum. Leslie and Alice!

“What about Leslie and Alice?” she blurted out.

“Well,” Mom ensured, “they will be able to visit you once a month in the ninja school. But, they must keep silent about the school. Or else-”

“Or else what?” cried Emma, “I can’t leave them, Mom! I mean, once a month? Is that really enough to keep a good friendship going?”

Through all this drama, Leslie and Alice had been silent. With a pang, Emma realized they were already drifting apart. The “once-a-month” rule had been a joke. Even with them visiting every week, their friendship wouldn’t work out. She was an all-powerful ninja. They were simply 10th graders at a public high school.

“Alright,” she whispered, defeated, “I’ll go.”

“Good enough,” commented her mom, turning to the other ninjas. “Shall we go?”

“Wait!” interrupted Emma. “Before we go, you still owe me one thing.”

            Her mother looked amused, “And what is that one thing?”

            Emma thought for a moment and then inquired, “Whom am I training to fight? Who are the Warriors? And why am I fighting them?”

            “I’m so sorry I forgot to explain everything!” apologized her mom, “Well, for starters, the Warriors are our rival ninjas. They have ninjas just as powerful as ours, even one that is just as powerful as you. That’s the boy you are training to fight. The Warriors have had a vendetta against our ninjas for centuries, and have been sending attacks towards us. Our ninjas simply disregarded it, but over the past few decades, it has gotten worse and the attacks have become more frequent.

            “The Warriors have been interfering with us, causing chaos. They have wiped the memories of highly ranked ninjas and imprisoned many others. They have interfered with our power sources and almost destroyed our base. For all we know, the Warriors are planning to unleash their greatest ninja on our clan and destroy us. The only thing this means is war.

            “We are not happy about this fight. We would do anything to stop it. But it is not in our power to stop the Warriors. That’s why we have to train you. You have to be strong enough to even stand a chance against their greatest warrior, Jake Isop.”