A completely different loose idea, which Epsilon came up with today and I'm embellishing...
There is no coincidence. There is only ninja.
Ninja are sneaky. Why would they fight each other in the open?
So... We've got a protagonist who's saved from some horrid trap by someone he's never met before. That someone turns out to be a ninja whose clan is at war with another ninja clan, and Our Protagonist ("O.P.") almost took the hit that was intended for the ninja. Ninja are honorable, which is why the ninja saved O.P.
It turns out that this war has been going on for years, and O.P.'s parents are "collateral damage" casualties in the conflict. ("The car crash that killed your father? Caused by ninja. Your favorite coffee shop closing? Caused by ninja, because it was owned by another ninja clan. Rumors about the Illuminati? Spread by all ninja clans to cover our own actions.") This gives O.P. a reason to join the fight... but he isn't allowed to go public with it.
What's next?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
There is no coincidence. There is only ninja.
Ninja are sneaky. Why would they fight each other in the open?
So... We've got a protagonist who's saved from some horrid trap by someone he's never met before. That someone turns out to be a ninja whose clan is at war with another ninja clan, and Our Protagonist ("O.P.") almost took the hit that was intended for the ninja. Ninja are honorable, which is why the ninja saved O.P.
It turns out that this war has been going on for years, and O.P.'s parents are "collateral damage" casualties in the conflict. ("The car crash that killed your father? Caused by ninja. Your favorite coffee shop closing? Caused by ninja, because it was owned by another ninja clan. Rumors about the Illuminati? Spread by all ninja clans to cover our own actions.") This gives O.P. a reason to join the fight... but he isn't allowed to go public with it.
What's next?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012