Temple of the Gods - Andy McDermott [42]
‘Bye!’ Eddie shot him. The ninja slumped to the floor with a bullet hole in his chest and a distinctly surprised expression.
He turned to his other new opponents, ready to give them the same treatment if they were dumb enough to bring swords to a gunfight . . .
Donatello released one of his nunchaku’s handles, free hand whipping something from a bandolier across his chest. A flash of steel through the air – and Eddie yelled in pain as a throwing star thunked into his upper arm.
Another shuriken was already spinning at him, this one slashing through his sleeve as he dodged and brought up his gun—
Something heavy smashed into his hand, chain whipping around the Makarov. Raphael’s kusarigama, the ninja using his weapon like a metal lasso. He yanked it back. The gun was torn from Eddie’s stinging hand, flying over the remaining three ninjas and landing in the gallery as they rushed into the strongroom.
Takashi was already making a remarkably rapid exit for a man of his age, barking orders. Kojima pulled Nina with him, ignoring her protests. ‘Eddie!’ she cried, but the secretary practically scooped her up and ran after his boss.
Eddie reeled backwards as Michelangelo charged, his staff sweeping and stabbing. One metal-tipped end caught his forearm, sending another bolt of pain through the already wounded limb. He slammed against a display case. The glass cracked – and a moment later shattered as the kusarigama’s spiked ball hit it, Eddie barely jerking out of its way.
The man with the nunchaku was racing around the edge of the room, trying to flank him. If he didn’t find a way to fight back quickly, he would be attacked from three sides at once – and unlike the ninjas in martial arts movies, these didn’t seem inclined to stand back and wait patiently for their comrades to be dealt with one at a time.
The bo staff thrust again, this time hitting him in the sternum. Crackling agony spread through Eddie’s ribs. Gasping, he stumbled back – and collided with the samurai armour, tumbling to the floor amidst a clattering avalanche of ornate pieces of metal. Another intense stab of pain as the shuriken, still embedded in his arm, was driven deeper into the muscle.
And more of the lethal throwing stars were about to come his way, Michelangelo spinning his staff in one hand as his other went to his bandolier—
The armour’s elaborate breastplate was beside Eddie. He snatched it up and rolled to raise it like a shield. A shuriken flying straight at his head clanged off it.
Something else shot towards the armour – and punched right through it with a bang. Eddie flinched as the kusarigama’s razor-sharp sickle blade slammed to a stop inches from his face.
Raphael hauled on the weapon’s chain again, whisking the shield away.
Leaving himself briefly open to attack—
Eddie pulled the bloodied shuriken from his arm and hurled it. It hit the ninja in the throat with a solid chut and a crimson spray. He collapsed, twitching and gurgling.
Both remaining ninjas froze, exchanging glances as they reassessed their opponent. Eddie scrambled up. The pain in his chest made every breath hurt, and his arm was now damp with blood. He glimpsed his gun on the floor of the next room, but he would have to get past the staff-wielding Michelangelo to reach it.
And now Donatello was whirling his nunchaku from hand to hand as he advanced from the opposite direction.
Trapped—
‘Let me go!’ Nina yelled, striking at Kojima with her heels and elbows as he dragged her into Takashi’s office. ‘He’s my husband! I can talk to him, find out what’s going on!’
Takashi had no interest in debate. Instead he went to a cabinet and took out a sturdy impact-resistant case. He opened it, revealing that it was lined with foam rubber, inset with three recesses in the exact shape of the statues.
‘Put them in here!’ he ordered. Still holding the struggling Nina with one arm, Kojima tugged one of the statues from her grip as Takashi placed his own figurine in the case. ‘Dr Wilde, the statues