TOONOPOLIS SHORT:
Anchihiiroo
by
Jeremy Rodden
Published by Portmanteau Press LLC, Chesapeake, VA
Smashwords Edition
This book is a work of fiction. Incidents, names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, or persons living or dead is coincidental.
Published by:
Portmanteau Press LLC
PO BOX 1411
Chesapeake, VA 23327
http://www.portmanteaupress.com/
Text Copyright © 2011 by Jeremy Rodden
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Portmanteau Press LLC.
ISBN: 978-0-9834253-0-4
Cover art and design by:
Cami Woodruff
http://www.camiwoodruff.com/
Cover lettering by:
Jennifer Bruck
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Praise For Toonopolis: Gemini,
Book One of the Toonopolis Files
“It has the fantastical quirkiness of Alice in Wonderland, the uniqueness of Willy Wonka, the magic of Never Never Land, along with a sprinkle of the darkness/gothic wonder from Tim Burton and the other-worldness of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, and then some. But at the same time it is an unparalled Tooniverse that is all its own.”
– Bookworm Castle (Read The Whole Review)
“What an incredible introduction to Jeremy Rodden’s work. This book seriously has it all: adventure, humour, twists and turns and characters that are loveable.”
– Back of the Book Reviews (Read The Whole Review)
“If you enjoy cartoons, world building, and fun adventures (like I do), this book is a great addition to your library.”
– Ann Charles, award-winning bestselling author of Nearly Departed in Deadwood
“The randomness of the characters brilliantly evokes Douglas Adams if he were force-fed Saturday morning cartoon culture. Make sure you pick this up ASAP, especially if you remember the days of sitting in front of the television with a bowl of cereal and throwing yourself into various magical lands.”
– George Sirois, author of Excelsior
“This is a book for everyone who accepts that as logical as they may think they are, there’s still a bit of the illogical rebellious Saturday morning slob in them. And really, it’s a book for all those people who aren’t like that because, by the end of it, they will be.”
– Book Bags and Cat Naps (Read The Whole Review)
Table of Contents
Part Zero: The Introduction
Part One: The Survivor
Part Two: The Prophecy
Part Three: The Mind Sensei
Part Four: The Body Sensei
Part Five: The Spirit Sensei
Part Six: The Revenge
Part Seven: The Shadow Man
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Toonopolis: Gemini Sample Chapters
Part Zero: The Introduction
I had to force my creator to change me into a villain. Only then did I become what I envisioned myself to be. I never wanted to be a hero. Some would agree with me that it doesn’t make sense that I was hailed as a hero in the first place.
Since a hero is what my creator wanted me to be, that’s what I became–against all logic. In other sections of Toonopolis, they referred to somebody like me as an anti-hero–a ‘good guy’ who doesn’t really possess the qualities that most people expect from a hero. In Animetown, I became known as Anchihiiroo. This is my story.
Part One: The Survivor
I don’t recall what my parents looked like. I was only about five years old when the great Ninja-Pirate War that had been spreading throughout Toonopolis found its way into the small villages surrounding the heart of Animetown. My hometown, Higeki, was amongst the first to feel the effects of a war that had nothing to do with us. Being a riverside village, the pirates felt it was a strategic location to capture in order to have a foothold into Animetown.
My parents were killed in the onslaught of the pirate invasion. They were simple folk that did not know how to protect themselves from seasoned warriors like these invaders. It took only a few of the scoundrels to break through the meager defenses of our home.
My mother had me hidden in a small cupboard under the stairs and told me to be silent, no matter what I heard. I could hear the screams of my mother and father as the pirates cut them down. Through the slits in the wooden door, I could also see the face of the one that struck the final blows. The pirate was an older pale-skinned man with long yellow hair. His green eyes were rounder than mine and showed no signs of mercy. His mouth was drawn into a smirk. I held in a scream.
I can’t remember my parents’ faces but I never relinquished the image of that man.
Once the pirates were finished ransacking our house, I snuck out through the back door and ran as fast as my five-year-old legs could carry me. I should have been frozen in fear by what I had seen, but a voice in my mind just told me to run. I luckily avoided the pirates during my escape and found my way to the dirt road that connected Higeki to the neighboring seaside village of Hiun.
I think I made it halfway before my little legs gave out and I fell to the side of the road in exhaustion. The internal voice that had told me to run fell asleep a few moments before I did.
# # #
I awoke in a comfortable bed and felt clean and safe. It took a moment to remember my parents and that terrible pirate’s smirking face. I screamed.
“Do not fear, young one,” came a calm voice beside my bed.
I turned and saw an elderly woman in a red silk kimono. She was old but she was pretty. She had soft, kind eyes that made me think of my grandmother. I looked into those eyes that were framed with wrinkles and began crying.
The woman took me into a matronly embrace and ran her hands through my shoulder-length black hair. “It is okay, child. You are safe now.” She pushed me slightly away from her so she could look into my face. “You are from Higeki, are you not?”
I simply nodded through my sobs.
“What is your name?”
“Y-y-yoshi,” I replied.
“Well, Yoshi–“
“Touji, we have a message regarding Higeki.” A deep male voice interrupted the woman. I looked over her shoulder at a strong-looking man in fisherman’s clothing.
“Quiet, Maebure, the child from Higeki is awake.” The rebuke from the gentle woman seemed to sting the large man, who bowed and backed out of the room. Touji slowly stood and patted me on the head. “I will be right back, Yoshi.”
I waited for Touji to exit the room before slowly sliding out of the bed. I wanted to hear about my village and the large fisherman seemed to have news so I crept to the door and pressed my ear to a small opening left by the old woman.
“–no survivors, Touji,” Maebure said.
I could hear the frown in Touji’s voice when she responded. “The pirates killed everyone? Surely some people must have fled?”
“The pirates were ruthless in chasing people down. They were waiting in the river for those that tried to flee
on their boats. If anyone else got away, we didn’t find them.”
“Then the boy is the only survivor from Higeki,” Touji said with a sigh.
“So it would seem. I have worse news, though.” Maebure looked scared. I thought it was very strange to see a man so grown and so large be scared. It wasn’t until later in life that I learned size and age have nothing to do with fear.
Touji guessed the news. “The pirates are not content with Higeki, are they?”
Maebure shook his head. “They are loading up spoils from Higeki and ships are already moving upriver towards Hiun.”
I heard the old woman sigh again. “We can only hope that the ninjas come to our defense in time.”
“Shouldn’t we try to evacuate?”
“If these pirates are as ruthless as you’ve described, it is useless. We cannot outrun them in our fishing vessels and there is nowhere for us to go if we flee by land.”
I must have been listening a little too eagerly to the conversation between the two adults because I lost my footing and fell face-first through the doorway. My body landed in a dust-cloud at their feet. Looking up at the old woman and the fisherman, I tried to give them a cute smile.
It didn’t work.
“Yoshi, were you listening to us?” Touji asked in a calm but stern voice. I nodded. I felt tears in my eyes again.
“Not to be cold in front of the boy, Touji, but what should we do?” Maebure asked.
Touji picked me up off the ground with more ease than I expected out of an old lady. I nestled my face into her neck as she talked to Maebure over my shoulder. “Take Yoshi to the orphanage and hide the children. We must prepare for the worst and hope the ninjas come to our aid in time.”
I pulled my head away from the old woman and glanced at Maebure. He made to argue with her but I could see that he knew it was pointless. He reached his arms out to me. I pulled back and hid my face in Touji’s shoulder.
“It’s okay, Yoshi.” I looked into Touji’s eyes. “Maebure will take you to play with the other children of Hiun. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” I knew she was just trying to make me feel better and it didn’t work at all.
I mumbled in agreement and allowed Maebure to take me into his strong arms. He held me with one arm as if I were weightless. It felt very safe to be held by such a strong man after everything I had seen.
We exited Touji’s home and I could feel the tense atmosphere in the village of Hiun. I knew right away that the villagers all were aware that the pirates were on their way. I watched as people frantically shuffled their families into their homes and barred their doors.
“Maebure,” I began, “will the ninjas save us?”
The large man looked at me and smiled. I knew it was insincere in the way that a child can sense such things. “Of course they will, Yoshi.”
I didn’t voice my doubt to him. We arrived at our destination: a small rectangular building with a soft glow coming from the inside. Maebure slid open the rice-paper door and placed me inside the entrance. I saw a few other children playing on the far end of the building. They looked a little older than me.
“Go play, Yoshi. Things will be okay.” The amount of doubt in his voice was obvious.
I continued to watch the other kids play and heard the door close behind me. The largest of the kids turned his attention to me after Maebure left. He did not look very friendly. I didn’t like the way he was staring at me. I really didn’t like it when he smiled at me.
“New kid,” he said. I guessed he was around eight or nine.
“Leave him alone, Ijimekko,” one of the other children said. The big kid snapped his head toward the one that spoke with such force that I was surprised it didn’t fall off. The one that tried to defend me shrank back against a wall.
Ijimekko looked back at me and I decided that I didn’t want to be there anymore. I opened the rice-paper door and, for the second time in as many days, I began to run. I don’t know if the big kid chased me because I never looked back.
I didn’t rest until I climbed a large hill that overlooked Hiun. A sakura orchard was spread across the top of the hill. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and smelled wonderful. I curled up at the base of one of the trees and tried to become smaller.
# # #
I must have fallen asleep because I woke up and it was nighttime. I simultaneously heard voices whispering next to me and pained screams coming from the village below. The pirates had started their attack on Hiun. I scanned the orchard to find the source of the nearby whispering.
“Kunoichi,” a male voice whispered, “we must respond. We cannot let the pirates gain another foothold into our territory.”
I saw two shadowed figures against the moon. The light was low and they were dressed in black, but by the way they stood I could tell they were ninjas. My heart rose. They had come to save us.
Then I heard the icy reply from the other ninja, a woman. “Burn them back to their boats.” She paused. “Then burn their boats.”
“What about Hiun’s villagers?”
“Probably already dead or close to it by now. Burn the village to the ground. All of you need practice on your Katon Jutsu anyway.”
“Kuno–“
“You have your orders, Naito,” the female ninja snapped. “We are not here to win popularity contests. We are trying to win a war and I have received word that Boreas is among the pirates. If we can kill their king, they will have no order. We have a chance to end this war tonight. If a few lives are lost along the way, so be it. Now go.”
I couldn’t believe what I heard the ninja lady saying. I thought the ninjas were coming to protect Hiun but all she cared about was ending the war and killing the pirate king. I curled into a smaller ball at the base of the tree but kept my eyes on the two figures. I saw the male ninja, Naito, bow to Kunoichi and swiftly retreat.
Kunoichi stood alone, her figure still outlined by the moon behind her. She sighed and turned her attention directly to me.
“I am sorry, child, but you observed too much,” she said with only a hint of actual apology in her tone. I saw the rapid motion of her hands before the large fireball hurtled towards my tree.
With the added light of the fireball, I could see the exposed portion of her face. Her skin was the same color as mine but it was her rare green eyes that stood out, jade gems that would never escape my memory. I closed my own eyes and prepared for the flames.
Part Two: The Prophecy
I awoke choking on water. This really confused me because the last memory I had before shutting my eyes was of a giant fireball heading toward me from the hands of a female ninja. I had no idea where the water came from but didn’t have too much time to think because I was actively drowning.
I opened my eyes to try to figure out where I was–aside from underwater. I could see charred remains of the beautiful sakura trees around me. It was clear that I hadn’t moved and that it was the water that came to me. I tried to kick my legs to make it to the surface of the water. My legs didn’t move. They were pinned under a fallen tree.
I learned in later training that panicking is the worst thing you can do when you are holding your breath. That would have been useful to my five year old self, who became frantic and used up the last of his oxygen in seconds.
I looked up at the surface and saw a small boat cutting a line in the water. A hand reached down and grabbed me by the collar. In seconds, I was freed and spitting out water on the bottom of the boat. I saw a few bald men looking down at me before my eyes rolled back into my head.
# # #
The déjà-vu I was feeling when I awoke was strong. I was beginning to think they my life was becoming a daily repetition of barely escaping death and waking shortly thereafter in a warm bed. The cycle had repeated itself as I woke up clean, dry, and apparently unharmed.
I gazed at my surroundings and saw an old Buddhist monk sweeping the wooden floor by my bedside. His head was shaved and he wore an orange robe overtop a longer white rob
e. He must have felt my gaze because he stopped sweeping to smile down at me.
“What happened?” I asked.
“What do you recall?” he answered with a question.
“I saw the ninjas. I thought they came to save us. She told them to burn the village to get the pirates. Then she tried to kill me.” I was nearly in tears by the end.
The monk sat on the bed next to me and placed his hand gently on my shoulder. He smelled of stinky tofu.
“Where did the water come from?” I asked.
“We were unsure until just now, young one. We thought the fire was from the pirates and the flooding from a destroyed dam.”
“The fire was the ninjas. I swear.”
“I believe you, child. You have no reason to lie.” He sighed. “It would seem the water was also ninjitsu.”
“Ninjitsu?” I interrupted.
“Ninja magic. They must have destroyed the dam upstream to make it seem like the pirates did it. So much innocent life has been wasted in this petty war.” The last line was mumbled and didn’t seem like it was directed at me.
“Where am I now?”
The monk stared off in the distance for a moment. I didn’t think he heard me but I waited patiently. I sat up. My legs hurt when I shifted them. I had forgotten about the fallen tree that pinned my legs while underwater.
“Suzaku Temple in the main section of Animetown. I am Bikkhu Soohei. We sought survivors in Higeki and Hiun after hearing word of the pirate attacks. We only found one.”
Anchihiiroo - Origin of an Antihero Page 1