Free Clash Of Worlds by Philip Mcclennan

star out of Alberto’s hand quickly without warning.
    Alberto cried out in pain. “What the hell are you doing?”
    “Stop crying,” James said coldly. He wasn’t pleased with Alberto, for it was he who had given the squads position away. He did sympathise with him a little, though, as he realised the blade cut right through to the bone.
    James wrapped up Alberto’s hand, which was now useless. “Stay behind us from now on, you’ll be no good to us in a fight.”
    The Italian nodded. Deep down he realised that he had messed up.
    The squad continued on west through the forest. They reached a stone path, which led out onto an opening on a cliff. The large stone tower the group had seen in the forest earlier was now clearly visible in its entirety. The tower stood several hundred feet tall and on closer examination had woodlands growth all over it. James spotted the entrance to the structure at the base of the cliff they stood on. He suddenly picked up on a rustling in the trees above his head, almost as if someone was watching him. The squad leader took out his gun, placed his silencer onto it and quickly fired a bullet up towards the tree’s top.
    A person in ninja attire quickly jumped out avoiding the bullet. The ninja landed right next to James and kicked the gun out of his hand before landing a punch to his stomach, which surprisingly sent James hurdling to the ground. James coughed on the floor clutching his stomach; the punch had clearly winded him. James was stunned; normally a punch from a regular person didn’t faze him at all. The rest of the squad, besides Alberto, advanced on and attacked the sole ninja. Sophie threw a knife in the ninja’s direction but he quickly kicked the knife whilst it was in mid air to divert it away. Cody had to duck out of the way to avoid having his head taken off by the knife. The ninja easily floored the remaining squad members. James picked himself up from the ground and launched a huge punch at speed towards the ninja’s head, utilizing his ability’s somewhat. The ninja causally caught James’ fist with his hand and began to laugh. I’ve heard that laugh before.
    The ninja removed his mask with his free hand revealing what James suspected. A young man with dark hair and brown eyes lay behind the mask. It was Chad, now twenty-two years old, a year older than James. Chad was a little taller than his friend and cut a slightly more muscular figure.
    “You took your time getting here didn’t you?” Chad said to James whilst glancing around at the other squad members.
    “Where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you. For that matter where is everyone else? Where are the full active members, and the rest of your squad and why are dressed like that?” James Demanded.
    “Slow down, one question at a time.” Chad did not enjoy a question overload at the best of times.
    James was very impatient however and just wanted to know what was going on. “We were meant to meet up with the other members at the beach but they weren’t there.”
    “Well you won’t find anyone out here expect those ninja types I’m sure you’ve bumped into already.” Chad deducted this fact by the condition of Alberto’s hand, which he had noticed whilst listening to James ramble on.
    “Come on Chad, what’s going on?”
    “All the other squads are in there,” said Chad, pointing over to the large stone tower that could be seen from the cliff the group were stood on. “They all got taken inside.”
    “Everyone?” James asked.
    “Yeah they were all rounded up by these ninja characters all over the island. I’m a little disappointed to be honest. I thought full members were meant to be tough.”
    “They are tough,” said Cody sounding very defensive. “These ninja’s fight in a style we’ve never seen before…”
    Chad interrupted Cody. “Or maybe this government group are not as good as they think they are…a bit like you!”
    “What?” Cody said, sounding even