"Whump"tober 2021

#1) Your Presence is NOT a Present- RC9GN

Whumptober promp #1- All trussed up and nowhere to go. Set in AU-ish S2 of Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja

'Well, this is honkin not bruce.' Randy squirmed against the metal ape pinning him down. "Come on man. Can't we just talk it out?"

Viceroy's face appeared on the robot's chest plate. "No Ninja, I don't think so. Robo Ape- plan Alpha Delta 1."

"You're definitely making up those call signs." Randy grunted. 'Come on, ninja star. Smoke bomb. Anything!' But the robot's hold had his arms in a vice grip behind his back. No amount of tugging allowed his fingers anywhere near his many pockets.

"So what if I am- he still knows what I mean."

Before Randy could ask what Viceroy meant, something heavy slammed into his head. Everything went black.

Something cold and wet jerked Randy awake. Spluttering he tried to catch his breath. Water dripped off his hair and rolled down his chin- that definitely was supposed to have a mask on it.

'What the cheese, what the cheese, what the cheese!' Randy lurched forward, only for something tight around his torso to throw him back. Blinking hard he looked down to see his entire torso wrapped in rope. For the first time he noticed a burning in his wrists. Small metal teeth of handcuffs, coarse rope fibers, and the stickiness of tape. 'Oh come on!' Viceroy was entirely too paranoid for his good. Speaking of...

Randy looked up. McFist stood in front of him, looking equal parts gleeful and constipated.

"Well Ninja, I certainly didn't expect one of Bash's friends to be behind the mask-"

"Uh correction, classmate, I wouldn't exactly say 'friends'-"

"Hey, he didn't ask you for a school diagram." Viceroy scolded.

A hard look settled over McFist' face. "Doesn't matter how old you are. You've been a thorn in my side for too long. With you gone, I can get the power I want."

'Well. I'm shoobed.'

"I have a deal with the Sorcerer to keep."

A chill ran down Randy's spine as McFist walked out of his line of vision. Here he was, helpless and de-masked with his sort of big nemesis threatening to take him to the biggest bad. So not bruce. He squirmed against the bindings, only to hiss in pain.

"I wouldn't do that," Viceroy grinned in smug satisfaction. "The more you struggle the tighter the knots and handcuffs become. My own invention."

Randy rolled his eyes on principle but it didn't convince the nausea building in his gut. He couldn't be taken to the Scorecer. Eight hundred years of the Ninja protecting Norrisville from that evil dude... all to end because of Randy?

Some of the fear must have shown on Randy's face because Viceroy smirked.

"Not so confident without your mask huh, Ninja?"

To be honest no, not really. Randy felt naked, exposed. His street clothes didn't house any of the cool ninja weapons, and his identity had been one more protection against this happening. The only small consolation was that he didn't really have a family to be threatened. Just a Howard- who'd managed to get himself on Viceroy and McFist's radar already. Randy bit back a groan.

Something beeped and a terrifying laugh rolled through the room.

The hair on Randy's neck stood on end. He shot a contorted look over his shoulder... only to come eye to eye with the giant leering face of the Sorcerer.

"Hello Ninja. I believe we have some catching up to do."

Red stank shot from the cylinder, enveloping Randy in a world of pain.

He screamed and screamed. Fire seared every cell of his body. It went for an eternity. Pain was all here was- maybe all there'd ever been. Randy's vision went black for the second time.

Agony pulsed with every heartbeat. Even thinking sent more throbbing through Randy's skull. He moaned. Taking a few shallow breaths Randy forced his eyes open. A sideways, blurry version of McFist's office greeted him. His neck protested violently when he tried to move his head to a less awkward angle. Ignoring it, Randy could finally see that his chair had been blown across the room and he had most of his weight on his right shoulder. Glass lay scattered about the floor, the Sorcerer's jagged communication tube the obvious culprit.

Surprisingly Randy didn't see McFist, Viceroy, or even the Sorcerer. Maybe even more surprising was the fact he'd become conscious. From the way the Sorcerer- and even McFist- talked, Randy hadn't expected to awaken in the land of the living.

Not that it would do him any good if someone came back to finish the job. Taking a deeper breath Randy felt grim determination roll over him. Mask or no mask he was the Ninja and he had a job to do.

Randy couldn't feel his right hand at all, which made him wonder how long he'd been on the floor, but his left hand still had some sensation. Feeling behind him as best he could, Randy's fingers found a shard of glass.

'This is gonna suck.' The angle killed his shoulders, but Randy set to work sawing at his bindings. Little by little the rope and tape gave way. If the slickening of the glass was any indication it wasn't just the rope and tape being cut. Something snapped and Randy could move his wrists a few inches laterally behind his back. The seriously not bruce handcuffs kept his wrists constrained, but those inches relieved some of the pressure on Randy's shoulders.

Now to get at the rope around his torso. The little extra mobility allowed Randy to reach the lowest strand of rope. Ignoring the trembling in his fingers Randy gripped the glass tighter and attacked the rope with gusto. Within a couple minutes the rope fell away beneath his fingers.

The cocoon surrounding Randy loosened and without the support he slumped forward, prone, on the ground. Glass poked his face and stomach. Gathering his strength, Randy pulled his knees under him. With a herculean effort he managed to get his torso upright.

His vision tilted dangerously. Randy closed his eyes and tried to focus on breathing. Small rivulets of blood trickled down from his forehead, arms, and stomach. Thankfully it didn't seem to be anything more than (a lot) of minor cuts. Though that many probably didn't help his dizziness. When the vertigo passed, Randy tested the handcuffs again. His right shoulder prickled as the blood began to flow into it, but still couldn't feel his right hand.

Even before becoming the Ninja Randy boasted moderate agility and flexibility. When he wore the mask it seemed to accentuate these features but he'd never tried 'ninja moves' in his civilian clothes. 'At least I already can't feel my arms.' Then without stopping to think any longer Randy let out every ounce of air he had and forced his arms down his back and towards his feet.

The extra strain burned like fire in Randy's shoulders. Pressing on Randy managed to loop his arms under his feet. With a yelp Randy threaded his feet through his arms and pulled them to a resting position on his stomach.

His whole body trembled. Electricity shot from his right shoulder to wrist- 'oh good I can feel again.- and his hips sent stabs of pain toward his feet.

Panting, and fighting back tears, Randy let himself lay there for another minute. Slowly, Randy sat upright. When he didn't pass out Randy counted that as a win. After another minute, Randy stood.

He needed to get rid of the handcuffs. He needed to find the Ninja mask. Most importantly he needed to finish the job given to him by his predecessors.

Randy glared at the door. Mask or no, he was the Ninja. The Sorcerer and McFist would be brought down if it was the last thing Randy did.