NEW LIFE : A SECOND CHANCE

"You know how ancient our history is. The historical records do not do justice to our esteemed history. There are even some historians who have labeled us as criminals simply because we did not have a strict code of martial ethics," Shifu began explaining.

"The historians were partially right. Our methods have always been to utlise what is best, no matter what, in order to ensure success. Being looked down upon by samurais was inevitable but, they have never disrespected us."

"However, there were those that did hate us. The ronins: Samurais who did not have a Master. A ronin was the lowest of the low and often became criminals. They hated us to the core because we, who were not as honorable as them, were more respected."

"But the ronin was practically weak and not a threat to us. Until the day one united them. He called himself, 'Ronin' as a symbol of who they were and that they would bear it with pride."

"Eventually, they were wiped out. Or so we thought. Sometimes, we hear stories about something and often, it is attributed to Ronin. We could not manage to pinpoint its accuracy so Ronin became the 'Boogie-man'."

"Anytime something bad which could not be explained happened, Ronin was blamed," Shifu said with another sigh, "Perhaps, it wasn't empty talk after all."

"So Ronin is a title that is passed down since ancient times, huh," Kyle summarised, "To poke at us because they're unhappy?"

"Who knows what goes on in their minds?" Shifu said, "We're no longer living in feudal times. So what is their grouse with us?"

"Perhaps, because ninjas still exist and samurais don't?"

Shifu scoffed, "I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason. We ninjas do not need a Master in order to survive. They did. With the fall of the system, all of the samurais became ronin. I guess their resentment went sky-high and they placed the blame on us instead."

"Got it, Dad," Kyle said. They talked a bit more and Shifu was excitedly talking about his two grandchildren that Thor and May have given him. He was living the happy, carefree life of a grandfather right now and Kyle was happy for him.

After hanging up, Kyle pinched the space between his eyebrows.

This was troublesome.

Going against a whole new hidden organisation that popped up?

There was no way he could do that.

He didn't have any beef with them, really. Just Donnie. Even if Donnie was acting on their orders, Kyle was no invincible superhero intending to destroy an entire organisation.

All he wanted, was revenge and to keep his kids safe.

If getting revenge meant his kids would be in danger, he definitely wouldn't continue on the path of destruction. After all, his kids and Stephan were off the radar already.

He gritted his teeth, remembering how Donnie had been when he had killed Kylie.

That debt still had to be paid.

However, it didn't mean that it had to be paid at the expense of his kids. Kyle could wait. He had, after all, waited 19 years for this.

What were another 10 years or so?

For now, his main plan is to get Xavier settled. Donnie was being used as a gun to do their work. The initial plan was to have him bring Xavier out of hiding and Kyle would step in to kill both of them if they didn't kill each other.

Now, however, perhaps he ought to stay out of it and pray that they did kill each other. If Ronin got wind of Kyle interfering, it could have a disastrous ripple effect on the entire Ninja Clan.

He thought about how happy Shifu was right now.

Kyle leaned forward, gripping the phone in frustration.

How nice it would be if this was like a novel, where you have happy endings and all loose ties dealt with. In real life, it's not like that and more often than not, you have to just suck it up.

Deal with the hand that you're dealt with.

Kyle heard Sayuri coming over but he didn't get up as yet. His mind and feelings were too much in chaos and he wanted to calm down first.

Sayuri didn't say a thing, but merely sat down on the sofa beside him and stroked his back.

After what seemed a long time, Kyle reached out and leaned on her.

"That bad?" Sayuri asked.

Kyle took a deep breath, "Perhaps."

He then told her everything that Shifu had told him, and his thoughts about the matter. Sayuri listened intently, not interrupting and waited until he finished before saying anything.

"Whatever your decision, I'm behind you," Sayuri said, "If you say we should eliminate Donnie, we will. If you say we can't, we won't. Don't stress yourself so much over this."

Kyle nodded.

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Donnie was sitting languidly in the office they had given him.

It wasn't bad, but he couldn't wait to get back.

After he dealt with Xavier.

He didn't like being stabbed in the back, and added to that, his man got killed.

Donnie had a few locals as his men in every country that his Master had a hand in, and the driver had been one of the longest with him. Not that anybody knew, though. Which made him the perfect spy.

He had a couple more, but none as effective as that driver since people tend to ignore drivers. They talked, they revealed secrets as they were being driven from one place to another. They left things in the car.

Donnie kicked the table in anger.

With so many of their operational bases being hit, they had to work hard to get it back up again. It would take ages to do so.

Worse, Master didn't let him kill Xavier as he was their contact point here. They didn't have a replacement yet.

So frustrating!!