FicWad

Chapter Twenty Eight: Rat Nation

A group of shadowed figures moved forward, in an alternate universe of version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the fact they were skillfully trained in all defense arts, both magic and Muggle, they still were apprehensive about the person they were reporting to. Even if they trained for years, they doubted they could even come close of having the slimmest hope of defeating the Dark Emperor. They stepped forward, as the Dark Emperor, along with his second in command, his queen looked down at the ninjas with slight contempt as they bowed down, as several students at the school chatted happily, a vapid look in their eyes, not a care in the world. The Dark Emperor waved his hand and his assassins rose to their feet.

“Report,” prodded Nega-Harry calmly, as he looked at his employees.

“The inter-dimensional gateway is nearly repaired, it will be completely operational without the next hour,” commented one of the assassins as the Dark Emperor just nodded calmly, not showing any emotion, before he peered down upon the group.

“Just think, you’ll be able to get your revenge on your alternate universe counterpart for humiliating you the last time!” cried Nega-Ginny happily as the girl bounced up and down, but the Dark Emperor just frowned, shaking his head. He loved her, but there were times where she missed the point entirely.

“I do not do this out of revenge, but because of sympathy and because of the preservation of the world that we took so long to build,” stated Nega-Harry seriously. “By each passing day that world stagnates and is falling apart. The threats get larger and more dangerous, yet they would not have had a chance to rise had he used his power to contain. Yet, he feels that people should have freedom to do as they please, the same people who would turn around and destroy everything he holds dear given the reason. I tried to convince him that our way works, given how clean and peaceful this world is, but he refused to listen to reason. Now, for his own good, I’m going to take everyone on that world and make sure they are properly assimilated to live in the world that I built.”

“How are you going to manage to do that?” asked Nega-Ginny.

“By picking the face of that world clean and turning it into an exact duplicate of ours,” said Nega-Harry seriously. “With all the people out of the way, we’ll be able to do the charms necessary to blown that universe’s Earth completely out of orbit and replace it with an exact replication of our Earth. Then, we can work on restructuring the minds of the people in that world, before returning those who are salvageable back and sending others on a one way trip to the Realm of Darkness.”

Nega-Ginny shuddered at the thought of that place, she had never been there, but it was a horrid place to be sure from what she had heard, and the Dark Emperor had sent many there for a few minutes when they tried to rebel against their world. Needless to say, after they experienced the horrors within, they never rebelled again.

“Getting all the people off of that planet will take time, but thankfully all the technology I need to create a teleportation cannon is available in that other world,” continued Nega-Harry. “Once I get it constructed, I will summon all of my legions, who will help round up everyone on that planet before bringing them to me and then they will be teleported to the void. The only thing is to keep my alternate universe counterpart busy, as he has an unhealthy habit of being observant and ruining the best laid plans.”

He reached over and pulled out a metallic headband, before he nodded with a grin.

“Still, I have the perfect person, if you can call this guy that, for the job,” stated Nega-Harry, as he walked over past his ninjas, before leaving the room, to put the first phase of his plan into action.

Back in the lair, Harry was helping Don put the finishing touches on something. Mikey walked over, yawning, as he looked at what they were doing.

“This is a heck of a time to be building a radio, don’t you think we should be working on something that will help us against the Shredder?” asked Mikey.

“This, Mikey, is a high intensity magical detector,” said Harry. “It will pick up any high level signatures of magical energy, so it will tell us exactly when the five heralds will managed to complete the ritual necessary to resurrect their master.”

The detector began to hum and they smoke, causing Harry to tap it with his finger, causing the detector to stop, as Mikey looked curiously.

“Or at least it will be, once we can completely get it working,” stated Don in an irritated voice, but he continued to keep working, as Raph and Leo sat in the back of the lair.

“All we can do now is play the waiting game,” said Leo. “When the Shredder is resurrected, we’ll know and we can do everything we can to stop him.”

“Well, I think we will know, because of the screams of everyone in the city,” said Raph, as he looked around. “Still, what can we do when he’s resurrected?”

“I’ve told Alexandra to put the American Wizarding Government on full alert, but I don’t know how much help they’re be, as the Aurors aren’t exactly trained to fight ancient demon warlords,” said Harry seriously, as he continued to help Don work on the magic detector, hopefully he would complete it before the demon was resurrected.

Outside of a rundown warehouse, the figure of Nega-Harry appeared from the shadows, sneaking through, as he heard the chatter of several rats in the distance. This would have had to be the place, as he reached forward and casually pushed open the door of the rundown building. At that moment, Nega-Harry was greeted by loud, insane laughter, but the Dark Emperor would not be phased, as the Rat King moved forward, followed by his legions of rats.

“I am not who you think I am, but you will assist me in diverting his attention elsewhere,” said Nega-Harry calmly but the Rat King just responded by cackling madly, before he rushed towards the one whom he thought was Harry Potter. Naturally, Nega-Harry had a counter for this, so the twisted mirror reflection of the Boy-Who-Lived swerved behind his adversary. In a flash, the Rat King was flat on his stomach, the knees of the Dark Emperor driven into his back. The Rat King attempted to fight back, but his attack was blocked, as he gave a loud scream, as his adversary attempted to force the metallic headband on his head.

In an instant, several hundred rats moved forward, rushing forward, to protect their master. Naturally, the Dark Emperor had foreseen this attack as well, as he removed his wand before he jabbed it towards the rats. A slight sonic vibration spell had stopped the rats in their tracks. They stood before them, unable to move, completely stunned, as Nega-Harry stunned the Rat King with another blow to the back of the head. With his opponent down, it was easy to force the metallic headband around the head of the rodent.

“You will obey my will,” stated Nega-Harry firmly, as he jabbed his wand and the Rat King gave an anguished scream, as he attempted to block, but the waves of magic from the headband had buried themselves into his skull, overriding any impulses of free will. “Bow down to me if you understand that I am your master. That’s it, you know you must kneel down before the Dark Emperor.”

The Rat King’s knees buckled, as he bowed down to the much stronger will of the Dark Emperor, who nodded in approval, before he motioned for his new puppet to rise and face him, awaiting his order, a vapid, mindless look

“You are to act as you would normally, but you are to divert the attention of Harry Potter and his brothers as well, far away from the east side of the city,” ordered Nega-Harry calmly and the Rat King nodded in response, the beast indicating that he understood. “Under no circumstances should he get any clue that I am here, use any methods that your simple mind could think of to redirect his attention, do you understand me?”

The Rat King nodded, before Nega-Harry just waved him off, allowing the master of rodents and his legions of rats to walk off. With the power granted, the monster would have the power to control every rat in the state of New York, including one rodent in particular that would serve well in directing the attention of Harry and the Turtles away from his objective. A few hours, he would have all he needed and then the next phase of his plan could properly be put into action.

Back in the lair, Harry had just put the finishing touches on the magical detector, before he breathed a sigh of relief.

“There, I think I’ve got it configured properly, so it doesn’t go off at every little bit of magic,” said Harry as he breathed a sigh of relief before he pushed the magic detector off to the side. On the other side of the lair, Mikey was opening a cupboard to get a snack, but much to his displeasure, he saw two rats inside his bag of chips.

“Ah, get them out!” shouted Mikey as he attempted to pull the rats out, but the rats shot forward, making their way forward, they seemed to be squeaking madly. They moved over to Don’s computer and one began to chew on a wire.

“No, I just got that up and running!” shouted Don desperately, but Raph pulled out his weapon that was granted by the Ninja Tribunal.

“I’ll stop them,” said Raph firmly, as he raised the weapon over his head, the amulet around his neck lighting up, and circles of red magical energy circling around him. Raph sprung up and viciously slammed the weapon down onto the ground. A loud boom echoed the through the lair, but the rats managed to avoid the shot and Don screamed as his computer was blown to bits by Raph’s ill timed attack, but the rats scurried off into the sewers, as Don breathed heavily, but Raph had the decency to look sheepish.

“New rule, no use of the weapons we received during our training with the Tribunal inside the lair,” said Leo firmly, as the group nodded in agreement, but Raph just looked sullen.

“Just how good are these things going to be in stopping the Shredder, if they can’t do anything against a couple of little rats,” said Raph.

“Now, the smaller the target, the hard it is to hit,” said Harry, as all of a sudden, the lights in the lair began to flicker on and off for a few seconds, before the power went completely dead inside the lair.

“Great, who forgot to pay the power bill?” asked Mikey but Raph smacked Mikey across the back of the head.

“No one, Sherlock Shell For Brains, the power probably went out in the entire city,” said Raph. “Which isn’t exactly a good thing anyway.”

Master Splinter walked out into the lair, leaning on his walking stick, as he lit a candle. He opened his mouth, to inform his sons about the presence that he detected, but all of the sudden, he clapped his hand over his forehead.

“Join me, Splinter,” whispered a forceful voice in his head. “I am your master, your ruler, join us, join your fellow rodents.”

“Master Splinter, what’s wrong?” asked Leo in a concerned voice and Splinter just shook his head, attempting to clear the voice out of his head.

“Just a headache, the stress of the recent events must be getting to me, I need to lie down, I would highly recommend you five trying to investigate the power outage,” suggested Master Splinter and the others nodded, but Leo just looked at his sensei.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” asked Leo.

“I am fine Leonardo!” thundered Master Splinter, causing the five ninjas to back off, they had rarely seen their master this angry. “I am sorry, but this headache, it is making me rather temperamental, a few hours quiet is all I need, do come back once you’ve figured out the cause of these power outages.”

Without a word, the five left the lair, as Master Splinter walked toward his room. He could still hear slight mutters in his head, but he had tried to do everything within his power to block them out of his mind. Splinter had slid open the door of his room, as he placed his hands upon his temple.

“Join us, join us, Splinter, it is your destiny, you cannot fight it,” whispered the voice inside Splinter’s head. “JOIN US, SPLINTER!”

“No, I will not, who are you?” demanded Master Splinter, as he wondered if old age was getting to him, if he was going made.

“I am your master, the master of all rodents, you cannot fight your ruler,” muttered the voice inside Splinter’s head. “Join us.”

“I will not,” said Splinter shakily, but his will was breaking, there seemed to be something in this entity’s voice that was compelling Splinter to agree with everything he said. Splinter dropped to his knees, clutching his head. “OUT OF MY HEAD.”

“Stop resisting, it will be much easier if you follow the will of your master,” whispered the voice. “You will do everything I say, you will lay down your life for the continued rise of your master, we rats are destined to rule all, have all, and you will help us.”

“I will help you,” stated Splinter in a monotone voice, his will completely shattered and he had fallen under the spell of this mysterious and quite powerful force.

“Good, now you will go forth and attack the Turtles and Harry Potter,” ordered the voice forcefully, but through the mental fog, there was still some fight left in Splinter with the suggestion that he would attack his sons.

“I will not harm my family, you monster,” said Splinter, as he attempted to push through the mental fog, but the harder he pushed, the harder this mysterious force pushed back.

“The rats are all the family you need, Splinter,” replied the voice. “Do not deny your place in the natural order, you will serve your ultimate ruler, you will help finish off the one’s who wronged us, no matter if you consider them your sons or not.”

“Yes, master,” said Splinter in a dull, emotionless tone of voice, as he rose himself to his feet, walked forward, in a hypnotic state.

“Good, my loyal subject, you know your mission, keep them away from the east side of the city at all costs,” said the voice who was obviously very pleased that he had properly bent Splinter to his will.

“I will obey,” confirmed Splinter blandly as he walked forward, mindlessly, only guided by the will of the mysterious individual possessing him.

In the city, the Turtles and Harry climbed out of the manhole one by one. One of the first sights that greeted them were a downed power line. Harry moved forward and carefully levitated it off the ground, before he examined it closely, studying the power line intently.

“Not to make things worse, but it looks like someone or rather something chewed through this,” said Harry but at that moment, Leo’s eyes widened as a squealing sound of tires could be heard in the distance.

“LOOK OUT!” yelled Leo, as a car came barreling towards them. The car spiraled out of control, but thankfully for them, the entire group had a chance to leap out of the way. They watched as the car smashed against the telephone pole. The car burst into flames and Harry quickly moved over, shooting ice cold jets of water towards it, extinguishing the frames, before Leo and Raph wrenched the door open. A man exited the car and he breathed heavily as he took in the Turtles, before he screamed in terror, running off.

“I think he appreciates the rescue,” remarked Mikey with a shrug, but he stopped, along with the others, as a chattering sound could be heard from inside the car. “Hey guys, do you hear that, something’s chattering inside the car, sounds like its under the hood.”

Harry moved over, before he pried the hood from the car open. Once he had it opened, several dozen rats burst out of the card knocking Harry over onto his back, as the rats scurried and several more came from underneath the car. An entire swarm of rats were invading the city, causing the populace to scream, running in the next direction, before Harry motioned for the group to disappear into a building off to the side. They entered just in time

“Great, what’s with all the rats?” demanded Raph, as he looked from side to side, looking irritated.

“Haven’t seen these many rates since we fought that insane laughing madman, you know the one that tried to feed me to his pets?” asked Mikey and the others nodded, they remembered their encounter with that particular enemy all too well and Don suddenly looked very thoughtful before he turned to his brothers.

“What if he’s returned, to gain revenge on us?” asked Don, but the others were rather skeptical, after all they had seen him die, but yet they could say the same thing with other enemies in the past, that had come back to haunt them, but another chewing sound could be heard, causing the entire group to look around, and at that moment, dust began dropping, as the building began dropping down around their heads.

“Those rats, they completely chewed through the support beams!” yelled Raph angrily, but they had no time to hunt rodents, they needed to find a way out. Quickly Harry blasted a window, which allowed the group to quickly move out, before the entire building collapsed down. They turned around, towards a pile of a rubble. Several hundred rats burst from the rubble, climbing all over Raph, Mikey, Don, Leo, and Harry. The Turtles reached for their Tribunal granted weapons, but the rats had grabbed onto the weapons, before they carried them off in the distance, causing them to gasp in horror.

“C’mon, we can’t let them get away with our weapons!” yelled Raph, as they moved forward, but an entire swarm of rats had rose up, combining themselves into looking like one giant fifteen foot rat, as a glowing pair of red eyes could be seen, as the weapons were lying on the ground behind them. The combined entity of rats rose up, almost daring the Turtles to reclaim their weapons, as loud laughter echoed through the sky from all around them.

“It’s almost like they are acting as one, they have a hive mind of sorts,” theorized Don, but the super rodent had raised its paw into the ground. Harry dodged the attack, before he sprung up, delivering a kick. The foot cracked against the arm, sending several of the rodents flying smashing against the wall, but even more rodents rose out from out of the sewer vents, before they moved toward, combining into a demented looking sword weapon. A loud hiss, as the sword squirmed, before the giant construct rushed at the quintet of ninja. They dodged, and ducked around, as rats sprung right towards them, flying off the sword as it swung. It seemed like every rat in the city was going after them at a high speed. The group did there best to evade the attacks, as they saw their weapons in the distance. If only they could fight their way through, the weapons would be able to repel this attack.

“Guys, attack them at once, don’t let up, just fight through!” yelled Leo, and the others nodded, before the moved forward to the attack. Their vicious new enemy turn towards then, raising up the modified weapon. The sword stabbed down, causing several rats to smash into the ground. The five ninjas scattered, before Leo, Mikey, Don, and Raph grabbed their weapons. They moved in, to face off against the assimilated rat giant. Quickly, Leo swung his weapon forward, sending a large gust of fire. He singed right through the chest of super rat, causing several rats to fly backwards, burned to an absolutely crisp. “Keep fighting, don’t let up.”

Don raised his weapon and a loud high impact wind burst through the air. The wind cracked against the beast, knocking him down to the ground, also blowing out several windows, causing glass shattering on the back swing. Mikey dodged around at super speed, diverting the attacks of the super rodent, causing Raph to blast forward. A large sonic vibration broke the rat monster in half into too, but Harry was now on the job, before he came down, using his newly fine tuned mystic abilities to create an earthquake which bounced the rats high into the ground, causing them to fly in different directions. A loud inhumane groan echoed from high above, as the figure of the Rat King stood from above.

“Great, he really is back,” grumbled Raph as the others nodded. “Let’s make his home coming rather short lived.”

The Rat King sprung down to face off against the group, but he waved his hand, motioning towards the alleyway behind him and the hypnotized form of Master Splinter walked forward to face off against his sons. They stepped back, unsure, as the Rat King broke out into loud cackles, before he pointed towards the group, signaling for Splinter to attack. Harry, Raph, Don, Mikey, and Leo all stood still, unable to figure out what to do, almost frozen, paralyzed in absolute shock.

Across on the other side of the city at the Clearwater Scientific Research Center, two guards were on the outside of the building. They stood, keeping in front of the doors, holding their guns. The research facility had been breeched several times in the past, with thieves making off dangerous scientific achievements.

“Man, I’m glad we’re not on the other side of the city,” commented one of the guards to his fellow guard. “All those rats, it’s a mess, the power’s out and all that.”

“Good thing too, we have enough to worry about guarding this door, but no one is going to get past us, security’s airtight” bragged the second guard, as behind his back from the roof, Nega-Harry calmly climbed down from a rope, towards the door. Quietly, he pushed the door open, before he slipped through the door and closed it behind him, without the two guards even having the slightest idea that the Dark Emperor made his way into the front door and into the building, towards the main lab.

Nega-Harry leaned against the wall, submerged in the shadows, before he pulled a spray can. He reached forward and sprayed them. Sure enough, as he sensed, there was a laser grid security system down the hallway towards the main lab. Fortunately, anyone with more than a few brain cells could circumvent it with a bit of patience. Closing his eyes, the Dark Emperor leapt from one section of the floor to the next, hitting areas that did not have lasers intersected with absolutely precision. He landed on the other end of the lasers, after gracefully somersaulting over the final set of lasers. In an instant, the skilled ninja pushed the side door open and then entered the lab. Off to the side there was a vault, containing most of the components that he needed. The malevolent Boy-Who-Lived raised his wand and summoned the door. Controlling how much power he put into the charm, the door just opened as opposed to be ripping off.

A triumphant smile appeared on the face of the Dark Emperor as he crouched down, before he pulled out several components necessary for his plan. Carefully, he placed them in a magically expanded duffel bag. Tapping his wand, the components were replaced with useless duplicates. By the time they figured out of the change, it would be too late.

Closing the safe, Nega-Harry made his way towards the window, climbing out, before making his way down, slowly and quietly, leaving no indication that he had ever entered the lab.

Back on the other side of the city, Master Splinter sprung towards his sons. With one swift swing of his walking stick, he had knocked each and every one of them to the ground. They all crashed to the ground.

“What are we going to do?” asked Raph. “I mean, it’s not like we can fight Master Splinter…”

“No we can’t,” agreed Leo, as he pulled himself to his feet, before he just barely avoided an assault from his sensei. “Maybe we can talk to him, reason with him…”

“Reason with him?” demanded Raph quietly, before he lost his patience. “REASON WITH HIM?”

“Well, what else can we do,” said Don in pure desperation, as he just barely avoided another vicious attack from Splinter, as their possessed sensei moved over, a completely mad look in his eyes, as he moved over, before he grabbed Mikey around the head and flung him right into the others. The entire group crashed down to the ground, with a high impact blow. Splinter sprung up and Harry dodged a swing from the walking stick.

“Listen to me Master Splinter,” pleaded Harry as Splinter attempted to crack his son’s skull open once again, but Harry once again dodge. “I know you can fight this, it’s mind over matter, his will is not as strong as yours, you need to fight this.”

“Harry, I really don’t think he’s listening,” said Mikey darkly, and sure enough, Harry just crouched down to avoid the walking stick crashing right into his ribs. Another swing and the walking stick smashed against the side of a parked car. The car was completely dented and Harry pulled himself up, before he quickly reached forward, summoning the walking stick away from Master Splinter. The stick flew out of Splinter’s hand, but that was not enough to stop him. In an instant, a mad glint in his eyes, he rushed forward and sprung up, cracking Raph right in the chest, as the Rat King looked from high above, with a nod. Don reluctantly rushed forward, but he stopped, unsure what he could do without harming Splinter. Splinter reached behind him and grabbed Don’s arm. With a twist, Don winced, as Splinter flung him to the ground. The brainy terrapin hit the ground.

“Guys keep him busy, I’m going to pick up something from the house that might be able to help us,” said Harry quickly, before he sprung off without the word, trying to make it back to the Potter Residence as quickly as he could.

“Hey Harry, no problem, of course we’re keep our possessed sensei busy,” said Mikey in a sarcastic voice, but Splinter’s fist impacted his face. Mikey slid to the ground, as Leo dodged in front of Splinter. Splinter sprung into the air, but Leo just barely avoided the attack. Despite the fact that Splinter was many years older, he still never failed at making his sons look inept in training. Splinter moved forward and Leo just dodged out of the way, as the others got to their feet, as the Rat King gave a loud growl, before he directed Splinter in for another attack, prolonging the struggle of the turtles.

Back at the Potter Residence, Harry burst through the front door, where Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Hailey Sirius, Remus, and Lily were all sitting around.

“Harry what is it?” asked Ginny in a concerned voice. “Is it time?”

“No, Master Splinter, possessed, by that whacko who is obsessed with rats, need something from my room, love you, bye,” said Harry quickly as he burst through the door, before he ran up the stairs, and entered his room, where he rummaged through the drawer on his desk, before he removed an orb shaped object from his desk. It was one of the sonic devices that Bishop had used to draw out Master Splinter, so he could use the sensei’s DNA to create the super solider known as the Slayer. Harry had managed to fish this device that Bishop’s commandos had overlooked out of the sewers and was looking for a way to block out its effects using magic, but had abandoned the project due to a multitude of other things occupying his time. Still, with a bit of quick tweaking, Harry felt he could configure it to counteract the hold that the monster currently held on Master Splinter.

In the distance, in an empty, but still functional and moderately clean warehouse, Nega-Harry began fixing the components together. The teleporting cannon was beginning to take shape, as he inserted the high tech power cells into the cannon, before giving them a tap with his wand to amplify his power. On the side of the warehouse, the Dark Emperor spotted a spider. He aimed the cannon right towards the spider, before he pulled the trigger. A burst of light erupted from the cannon, locking onto the spider, before it was sucked through, pulled into the void.

“It works,” said Nega-Harry to himself in a triumphant voice. He would have to take it to the top of a high building so he could properly transport large groups of individuals into their destination.

The loud laughter of the Rat King echoed throughout the sky, as the four Turtles were down on the ground, battered and beaten with Master Splinter over there, the possessed mutated rat holding a pipe. They were too battered and beaten to move.

“Where are you Harry?” muttered Leo as Splinter raised the pipe in the hand, but a shuriken spun into the scene, slamming against the ground. Splinter looked up, seeing the source and seeing Harry from high above. Quickly, Splinter bounced up, climbing to the roof with a surprising amount of speed and agility. Harry dodged the attack of Splinter, before he put down the orb, activating it.

“GUYS SHIELD YOUR EARS!” yelled Harry to his brothers from above, before he jabbed the orb, placing a slight sound amplification spell. The sonic vibration echoed throughout the area, causing Splinter to drop to his knees. The other rats from below also were pained, as the Rat King yelled, attempting to get his subjects back into order, but they all dropped to the ground. Splinter also dropped, before Harry deactivated the orb.

The Rat King yelled and dove right at Harry, raising his hand into the air.

“Guys, get Master Splinter!” yelled Harry to his brothers, who shakily pulled themselves to their feet. Harry blocked the punch of the Rat King, before he ducked around. The Rat King dove at Harry but Harry leapt up and flung the Rat King over the side of the building. The monster held onto the ledge, before he sprung up and dove right towards Harry. Slowly, Harry dodged out of the way, and the Rat King smashed face first into the building. When he rose to his feet, the foot impacted his face, knocking the monster off the side of the building. This time, he was unable to hang on, but he managed to land firmly on the dumpster, before rearing his head back and giving an inhumane groan, before he looked up at Harry.

Harry blasted his adversary firmly with a banishing spell, causing it to crash against the wall. The monster rose to its feet and dove towards Harry, but the Boy-Who-Lived grabbed it around the arm and flung it forward. The monster rolled forward and landed firmly on its feet on the street, leaping from one car to the next. Harry followed in pursuit, there would be no way he was allowing that thing to run loose unchecked in the city. The maniac leaped over a fence, towards an abandoned mine shaft. Harry followed and before he sprung at his opponent. The Rat King swung a magically enhanced punch that parted Harry’s hair as he ducked, before he kicked the Rat King in the face. Another kick directly to the face had backed the monster up into the entrance of the mind shaft. Harry bent his knees before he sprang high into the air. Both of his feet impacted the Rat King across the top of the head. The Rat King crashed through the wood, several hundred feet below. He groaned loudly, as Harry managed to throw himself off to the side, before he rolled to his feet, as the mine shaft had caved in. Harry stepped back, peering down. He sensed no movement and he walked back, to rejoin the rest of his family.

Back at the Potter Residence, his brothers and Master Splinter were all resting from the battle with the Rat King, as Harry filled in everyone else on the recent events.

“The thing is, I don’t remember him being all that powerful,” commented Harry with a sigh, before he reached over and picked up the remote control, before he turned on the television, as the power had just been restored to the Potter Residence. “Something’s up.”

“What Harry?” asked Hermione curiously, but Harry had just lifted his hand to motion for her to be silent, along with the others, as he flipped to the local news.

“…and as mysterious as they have appeared, the plague of rats that infested the city have disappeared and we understand that power will be back on for several citizens soon across the city, as many have already been restored,” stated the newscaster before he seemed to be told something over his ear piece. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are just getting word that a strange vortex has been opened right behind the Statue of Liberty. We are trying to get video confirmation of it, stand by as the feed will switch in a few seconds.”

Sure enough, the images on the screen appeared with several figures flying into the city on broomsticks, dressed in ninja garb, wands in one hand and weapons in the other. Harry’s eyes widened, he knew what he was going on, and this time it was no mystical illusion, it was real this time, all too real.

“What is it Harry?” asked Ginny, with a frown, as Harry looked liked he had seen a ghost. “Harry?”

“Trouble,” remarked Harry darkly as he saw an entire army of magical ninja warriors flying around the city on broomsticks on the television screen from the vortex. Harry’s heart began to race as he realized he would have to face off against his most frustrating and perhaps greatest foe once again, the one that he worked so hard to conceal from his friends and his family.