alternated universe based on nick's tmnt.
New York welcomed him with a cold embrace. It wasn't the kind where he can shield himself with a tight snuggle of an old woolen coat. It was when he suddenly realized how much he lost, how much he regrets and how hopeless he felt.
Soft frost crunched beneath his weather-worn shoes as he walked. Everyone else was ignoring the dark coated man with shameless shoves and passive responses. He sulked beneath the snow-covered signs and the cheery lights of the Christmas season. The drab scene of Brooklyn streets.
Tightening his grip on a white paper bag, Yoshi took the route to Chinatown. Recognizing the streets gave him some comfort. He passed by the regular street vendors and people walking by in a position very similar to his; just struggling to get by. Wandering tourists were at a minimum in which he silently assumed that they were at home, surrounded by warmth of their families.
Family. The old, known spread of lips across his face made the worries diminish from every crease. He still had his and his heart nearly burst with an inner joy in an intensity no person can imagine. A sudden wave of relief took hold and it felt good.
With a newfound confidence in his step, Yoshi took to stride across a non-busy street and arrive at a neighborhood with tight brick dwellings. On his way he spotted a worn man, layered in old dirty clothing, trudging weakly through the snow. He sighed. A man reduced to nothing is the kind you see wandering around with no particular destination, roaming from town to town in hopes of obtaining something that does not exist. He was not this man.
Yoshi found himself digging into his pockets, his fingers tracing the surface of cold circular metal. With a quick graceful bow, he pressed a few coins onto the palm of the poor old man. He was gone before the baffled man could even muster a "God bless,"
His nose took in the warm, musty smell of the apartment building. Every step creaked and groaned with each step, he kept on going to the top floor. Reaching to the door numbered 84, he took no time to grab his keys and unlock the door, his free hand still holding on to the paper bag.
"Father!"
He was greeted by a force of two young boys, both no older than 5, who tried every inch of muscle to catch him by surprise and cling on to his clothes.
Yoshi was indeed surprised on how much he staggered by their weight.
"I must stop feeding you," he joked warmly. "Another pizza slice and you two will have outgrown me,"
"Can we have pizza for dinner tonight?" one of the boys asked.
"No," their father smiled.
The boys pouted, still their cheerful disposition shined.
"Where is your mother?" Yoshi asked, brushing off his coat of excess snow and hanging it on a wooden second-hand chair.
"She's with Raph," his oldest, Leonardo, answered, tone a little more serious. "They are in the bedroom,"
With a small nod of acknowledgment, Yoshi proceeded to the bedroom, or what they called the "bedroom". It was really just half of the studio sectioned off with hanging sheets of mismatched silk and linen; what was left of their mere possessions.
Pulling the curtain with a large white lotus print aside, Yoshi found his wife keeping vigil over a small pale boy lying peacefully on a large mat covered with colorful pillows and more sheets of old silk and linen. It pained him to see how much effort it took his second oldest son take a simple breath.
"How is our little warrior?" he whispered. He took off his shoes and kneeled across from her.
"Still fighting," she answered softly as she caressed her son's face. Her scarred right cheek came into view in the lowlight of bedroom.
Yoshi brought the crinkled paper bag into view. With her good eye, Tang Shen saw a brown bottle pulled up gently into view by strong hands with great interest.
"This will cure him?" she questioned.
"He must take this as directed," Yoshi explained. "Or else it will not help him,"
The bottle made a rattling noise as he handed his wife the medicine from across the mat. She took it and felt the smooth plastic finish. This cost nearly half of a week's pay. The small pills jumbled at her fingertips. Her son's life depended on this.
She had the sudden urge to cry, which she had noticed happen more often since the incident. Tang Shen reached for a piece of tissue that was lying near her son and gently dabbed her right eye. It slightly stung her scarred skin.
"Tang Shen?" Yoshi called out, worry lingering in his voice.
She waved her hand in front of her. "Don't mind me," she forced a chuckle and sniffed loudly. "I'm just... I'm just… thankful,"
Not convinced, Yoshi looked at her with sad eyes. "For the medicine?"
Tang Shen sighed and looked straight at her husband. "For everything," she answered with a small smile. "For the good that has passed, the bad that we fought, for our sons being alive,"
Yoshi took in his wife's words. Her thoughts have always affected him deeply. Yes, they should be grateful.
"And for you," she added. "You are a brave man Hamato Yoshi,"
He closed his eyes in deep reverence. He looked up again at his wife. "I feel the same," he answered. "You are a strong woman,"
The silent moment shared between the two was almost sacred. Whatever they have faced together just made the couple stronger.
"Mama?"
Their attention went immediately on the boy.
"What is it my sweet?" Tang Shen cooed.
"I'm thirsty," his voice was forced and cracked, yet Yoshi can tell a hidden strength that has grown since then.
Yoshi raised his hand up. "I will go,"
Tang Shen smiled before turning to Raph, who was half-awake. "Come, sit up. We have something to help you feel better,"
Yoshi pulled the curtain behind him and spotted the boys, sitting around cross-legged in front of their small TV. They watched attentively, never noticing their father walk a few paces towards the sink and pour a glass of water.
There was a small window over the kitchen sink, overlooking the lonely view of the building next to him. An unkempt alleyway stood in between, where in the spring time, stray cats, cockroaches and rats called it home. A rough balance of complex colorful graffiti and horrendous tagging dominated the brick walls. It was nothing like his home back in Japan. And yet, the only thing he was quite content with was a small bonsai tree growing on the window ledge. It made the whole scene a lot less overwhelming. He chuckled at the memory of his boys begging him for a bonsai tree not so long after they moved into the city. Promising they would care for it as if they were masters at bonsai training. A few tiny branches stuck unattractively at its sides. He made a mental note to mind the children about their duties, but was half-tempted to snap the branches himself by hand.
Just when he hesitated to reach for a particular branch that seemed to crawl out into the frozen window, he spotted a gang of suited men struggling to push a red-bearded man into a white beat-up van. Yoshi quickly wiped the frost from the glass and watched in horror how the bearded one resisted their force, but was slowly failing. Yoshi has been told about suited men like these. Mafiosos, he recalled.
"Don't ever mess with men like those," his grocer boss with a heavy Spanish accent would warn. He had just stopped Yoshi from intervening into a nasty brawl between a vicious suited man and another meek grocer. "Mess with 'em, they come mess with something you love most,"
Except these men weren't at all like the bully from the market. They seemed different. He just had to do something.
Carrying the cup to the bedroom, he immediately made his way outside right after he delivered the water. He quickly slipped his shoes on. Tang Shen noticed the peculiar way in which Yoshi started to act. She frowned.
"Where are you going?" she called.
"Out," was the last thing she heard him mumble before he pulled the curtain with excessive force behind him in a rush. She became startled at the sound of the front door closing harshly.
Briefly making sure that Raph had settled into the covers once more, she followed her husband out of the bedroom. She saw her other sons sitting peacefully on the floor, watching their favorite show.
"Where did your father go," she asked.
Leonardo shifted around to face her, although his focus was still on the show. He shrugged. "I don't know, he didn't tell us,"
Tiny palms resting on his cheeks, her youngest, Donnie, followed suit. He craned his neck towards her. "He didn't say good bye,"
Tang Shen groaned in frustration, she didn't say more. It just didn't feel right. The one day in which all three jobs granted him a day off and he decided to spend it outside doing spirits knows what.
Yoshi slipped through the emergency exit and pushed the heavy door open. He shivered as the icy chill swept him though his clothes, urging him to stay inside. He spotted the dark suited men pile on the poor red-bearded man, now collapsed on the cold floor from exhaustion. His white skin glowed bright red on his cheeks and nose as a blast of steam blew from his mouth. Yoshi saw him close his eyes in silent surrender…
The bearded man's blue eyes shot open as he felt a great weight escape his shoulders. He gasped loudly as he saw a head of his attacker land near him. The eyes twitched and sparks flew from the ears. To his horror, he noticed purple wires spring out from under the head.
The poor victim pulled himself up quickly. He managed to topple himself out of the way before a dark clothed figure flew past him, taking down two more of his attackers. Whimpering, he scooted himself back to the brick wall, not letting himself look away to what seemed like an old martial arts movie play out before him.
Yoshi took them down shamelessly. With the aid of a rusty metal pipe he managed to retrieve from the snow covered floor, he fought with much skill and power; it almost looked like if he were dancing. He had learned very quickly that these suited men had a weakness located on their abdomen. He stuck hard and bashed them against the wall. He found out that his suspicion of these dark suited men was right. These weren't men at all, they were just androids with fleshy brain-like creatures living in them. Yoshi scrunched his nose in disgust, seeing the aliens squeal like wounded pigs and crawl on the snow on their purple appendages. They retreated to their beat-up van.
The couple androids that remained standing finally spoke, "Kraang somehow underestimated the situation, let Kraang retreat and come back for the human known as Kirby O'Neil,"
They quickly got into the van and sped away into the darkness of the alley.
"Woah," the bearded man exhaled. He leaned on the trashcans, pulling himself up.
Yoshi saw him struggle and immediately rushed to his side. He pulled his arm upwards.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"I uh, well… I uh, seen better days I guess," he stammered, the shock taking a toll.
They heard the emergency door open. Both victim and hero snapped their heads towards the direction of the sound of metal crashing on bricks.
"Yoshi!" she cried. "Are you mad?!"
"Tang Shen!"
The bearded man was completely astonished. One moment he was attacked by strange men in strange suits then the next moment, a young Japanese woman wearing a heavy coat and a scar covering nearly half her face was yelling at his savior who apparently had Kung-Fu skills.
"Uh, hey," he decided to speak up. He voice shaking with fright rather than cold.
The lovely woman turned, her eyes piercing him like the cold on his skin.
He bowed awkwardly. "H-hello, I mean kone-itchiwah," he continued. "L-look I know it's not my place to say stuff… b-but please, take it easy… I mean he, uh, your husband, I presume… H-he saved my life!"
Tang Shen looked at him strangely, as if he were the same alien creature that crawled out from the stomach of the android. The bearded man gulped.
Her attention went to Yoshi and whispered harshly in her native language.
"I do not care if you saved the leader of this country," she hissed. "You had me worried! You cannot just leave me and my sons alone without any explanation of any cause!"
Yoshi looked up to the window of their lodging and managed to see four pairs of curious eyes looking down on him, observing his every move. The bearded man noticed this and looked towards that direction as well. He barely saw two young boys duck shyly from view.
"I did not mean harm," Yoshi explained calmly.
Tang Shen growled through the cold and frustration. "Sometimes, I do not know what causes me more pain," she said. "You or-"
"Can I say something?" he dared to speak up again.
Yoshi and Tang Shen looked at him, again he gulped.
"I just wanted to give my m-most sincere thanks," he looked down on the floor. "I could have… to be honest… I thought I was never going to see my daughter again,"
Tang Shen's look softened immediately. Yoshi sighed.
The bearded man shifted uncomfortably from side to side. "No one would have dared done what you just did,"
An icy breeze struck the group.
"Do you want to go inside and have something warm to drink?" Yoshi asked.
The bearded man brightened up a bit and raised a gloved hand up. "Oh don't worry, I uh, I have to go anyways," he smiled. "I'm late for a colleague meet-up… hey, at least I have a valid excuse!"
His hearty laughter echoed through the brick alleyway. It weakened slowly when he realized he was the only one laughing.
Tang Shen shivered and began to lightly palpitate her scar with her fingertips.
The man chuckled nervously. He quickly offered his hand, in which Yoshi awkwardly took. "I'm Kirby by the way," he smiled. "Professor Kirby O'Neil,"
"Hamato Yoshi," he responded. "My wife, Tang Shen,"
Kirby offered his hand to Tang Shen and shook it firmly.
"You have a nice family Mr. Yoshi," he said. "Like I said, I don't know how to thank you enough. I'm still trying to figure this out. I guess I'm going to contact the local police department… that is if they'll believe me,"
He reached for a card inside his snow-covered book bag. "If you need anything," he added. "Just call this number,"
Yoshi took the card and only recognized the numbers. He placed it in his pants-pocket.
Kirby adjusted his book bag across his shoulders. "Now I have to go kiss my daughter and tell her I love her… Not that I don't do it anyways but uh, I wouldn't have had the chance to do it today if it weren't for you,"
Yoshi smiled. "Take care Professor O'Neil,"
Kirby began walking away. "You too,"
Once he was out of sight, Tang Shen spoke up softly like a gentle breeze flowing through a mountain side.
"How did you know he had a daughter?"
"I didn't," was Yoshi's solemn response.
He slowly approached her, looking with pained eyes at every crease, every scar his young wife held. He placed one heavy hand on her shoulders and the other gently under her half-deformed chin.
Tang Shen bit her lip and found herself clinging onto Yoshi's jacket, taking in the smells of home that still lingered in the fabric. She wept quietly, taking herself back to where she wanted to forget.
Mama!
She turned to Raph and smiled sweetly, helping him to sit up to take his medicine.
"I hate taking medicine," he complained. "I hate pills. They look like bugs to me,"
Tang Shen found herself taking delight in her son's arguments; it was something that she sorely missed the past few weeks when he was bedridden. It showed that the fire within him had rekindled.
"Drink," she ordered, raising the cup to his lips.
Knowing he had no choice but to comply, Raph accepted the water. Only after he managed to grab the cup and quench himself.
"Honestly Raphael, I do not understand why you like to make everything so difficult," his poor mother remarked. "Open,"
Scrunching his nose, Raphael reluctantly opened his mouth. He even raised his tongue. Seeing there was no pill hidden in her son's fiery cavity, Tang Shen nodded her head in approval. Frowning, Raph closed his mouth
"Now I want you to rest a little while more," Tang Shen said as she patted the pillows and blankets.
"But I am so bored!" Raph whined. "Can I go outside, just for a little while?"
"No," Tang Shen replied, tucking Raph in. "You are still recovering,"
He groaned in frustration.
"What about those lovely picture books Leo brought home from the library?" Tang Shen offered. "Have you read them all?"
Raph immediately turned to stack of books in the corner, still standing untouched from the time they were placed.
He looked at his mother. "I don't like reading," he frowned.
Tang Shen sighed. "Well, continue with this negative energy and you'll never heal,"
"What negative energy?" Raph said with a small defiant humph!
"Right here!" she smirked, lightly tapping his neck. "All the fire that burns inside, comes out through the throat my little dragon,"
He giggled. "Stop!"
"And here is the pit!" she continued, gently poking his stomach. "Where you feed the hunger for strength,"
He laughed harder. "No! Stop!"
Tang Shen ignored her son's tearful pleas as she attacked him with merciless tickles. Raph laughed so hard he started to cough violently.
She stopped, immediately sitting him up. Raph continued coughing until he spat out greenish phlegm. He sighed and laid his head again on the pillows.
"Are you alright?" Tang Shen asked, unpleasant sharp pains growing in her stomach. She carefully wiped his mouth with a tissue
Raph nodded his head. Tang Shen marveled at the sight of his smile, so rare in occurrence and so bright. The gentle spread of lips calmed her nerves.
"I'm tired," he yawned.
"Sleep, child," she whispered, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Rest well,"
And for a moment, Tang Shen was back in Japan, back in her old home and her previous life. Yet, instead of gazing at the peaceful figure of her son, she saw a young girl just soothed to sleep by an ancient lullaby.
The tears made her scar sting.
She heard the front door open and close loudly. The noise was followed by a louder sound of her sons talking and laughing.
She pulled the curtain. "Hush!" she scolded. "Your brother is sleeping,"
Suppressing the last of their giggles, the boys threw themselves on the living area floor, feathers stuck onto their hair and woolen jackets. It was clear that they were chasing pigeons on the rooftops.
Tang Shen shook her head slightly in annoyance and went about her home duties. After she cleaned, fed her children and gave Raph his second dose, she welcomed the blissful moment of brief solitude as the three boys were sleeping on the mat, exhausted from their day of play. The evening skies darkened. The droning of daylight turned into livelier nightlife. Cities like the Big Apple turned up their artificial lights, creating a new type of day surrounded by a sea of darkness.
Her peace wasn't meant to last. Her eyes shot open as she heard the front door open and close, sending a small chill into the room. She sat up from the couch in the living area and spotted Yoshi , covered from head to toe in heavy clothing and specks of snow. He softly groaned, as he bent down to untie his shoes and left them at the door. Tang Shen approached him and grabbed the grocery bags from his arms.
She caught his eye and it pained her to see what worn-down man that took place of a once noble brave ninja. Tang Shen could not help but share his troubles.
"They promised us a chance," he softly mumbled to her, rubbing the back of his neck with a heavy callused palm. "But they also say beggars cannot be choosers,"
"Whatever we have," she whispered softly as psalm. "We shall overcome,"
Yoshi scoffed. "Sometimes I wish Saki did succeed,"
Tang Shen gasped. The words burned her more than Saki's fire. "Don't say that!" she nearly screamed. "Don't you ever say that Hamato Yoshi! You carry that burden in your heart and you just let it control you?! Think of the children!"
"I am!" Yoshi replied, a tone harsher than usual. "I am! I toil in this God forsaken country like a stray dog for you and the children! I go door to door in the streets working for a piece of bone! Yet no matter how trained I am or how loud I bark, I am treated no less than an alley rat!"
Tang Shen's lovely face burned with fury. Yet, seeing her husband broken down and trembling with an inner frustration, she sighed.
"The difference is the stray dog has no sense of dignity," Tang Shen replied, holding Yoshi's worn face so that he looked directly into her eyes. "And an alley rat does not care,"
Yoshi's eyes reddened. He looked downwards, not letting a single tear fall. He sniffed loudly.
"Oh my love," Tang Shen soothed. "How can you expect a wound to heal, when there is a splinter still buried inside?"
Yoshi's lower lip quivered and the frightened child within him shone. He broke into a bitter sob, clinging onto his wife's shirt like a guilty son. Tang Shen held onto him, carrying his weight with ease. She stood smoothing out his dark messy hair, sweaty and dirty from hard labor.
And there in the corner of the room, witnessing the sorrow and the love between them was young Leonardo. He hid himself between the linen curtains. It was the first time he saw his father cry.
"Come," Tang Shen sniffed, dabbing the tears from Yoshi's eyes with her sleeve. "You must eat and rest. Your next shift starts in a few hours,"
Yoshi managed a smile, knowing his secrets and worries are kept safely with his wife. He clasped her small hands and kissed them lovingly. She led him to the kitchen and served him a warm meal. Satisfied, Yoshi then retreated to the couch, for fear of waking the boys on the mat. He groaned as he settled himself on the itchy fabric of the secondhand furniture. Tang Shen gathered pillows and blankets.
She layered him in more sheets and kneeled down before him. She briefly pressed her lips against his, secretly longing for more intimate touches.
"How are the boys?" Yoshi whispered, his eyes slowly closing.
Tang Shen smirked. "They are stronger,"
"Especially Raphael?" Yoshi asked.
"Ah yes, he fights hard" Tang Shen replied. "You think he wasn't bedridden just a few days ago,"
"And Donatello?" Yoshi continued.
"He is only two and he speaks English better than the rest of us," Tang Shen beamed. "He is a bright one,"
"Leonardo?" Yoshi breathed, his eyes drowsily closing.
"You should be proud," Tang Shen smiled. "He has a special sense of duty to his brothers. You should be proud of all of them,"
Yoshi exhaled. "I am,"
"Sleep my love," Tang Shen whispered as she got up. "We will talk again in the morning,"
"Wait,"
Tang Shen felt her arm being tugged downwards. She turned and faced Yoshi. She listened attentively.
"Our sons," He spoke with seriousness in his voice. "Must adapt to their new country, but they must not forget who they are and where they came from,"
"Of course,"
"I want to train them in the art of ninjitsu. I need to teach what I know to them, as so they can pass this tradition to their children like my father did before me and his father before him," Yoshi stated.
Tang Shen bowed her head and took his thought in. "Yes," she started. "But at what time? I'm sorry Yoshi but you need to work! We have bills to pay and mouths to feed. Maybe we can talk about this in the near future,"
The light in Yoshi's eye faded, but it did not disappear. He thought about this for a moment until he came to a conclusion.
"You should train them,"
-"Me?" Tang Shen was genuinely surprised.
"My father took you in did he not?" Yoshi continued. "You trained expertly under him as I did. You are a ninja master as much as I am. You can train them,"
-"Yes, but I-"
"You are a great kunoichi. Our sons are very lucky. You can teach them the basics until I have a steady job and have time to train them the special skills,"
-"I'm so sorry Yoshi, but I can't!"
"What is holding you back?"
-"Our daughter!"
And it was that time the young couple was taken back in time, back to their beloved country when everything was perfect and happy. Cherry blossoms covered the ground like pink snow. The cool mountain breeze swept them quietly and rocked an old wooden cradle, sending their daughter into a peaceful slumber.
Yoshi held onto his wife tightly. He kissed her head many times. "I miss her too," he mumbled. "We must keep her memory alive in our hearts and in our sons,"
"I know, we must be strong," she agreed quietly.
And as the boys slept soundly on the mat, the wanderers from Japan, who came into the city with nothing, silenced themselves to a blissful silence and created new life.
note: extreme alternated universe i should say. honest reviews are always welcome, constructive critiques are a plus. if there is anything spelled wrong or culturally misinterpreted, please don't be shy and notify me! glad you read and i hope you enjoyed! cheers! (i also posted this same story in the 'teenage mutant ninja turtle' section... long story short, the website didn't let me edit the categories, bleh!)
unnecessary commentary: what i love about this series as a whole is the fact that there many interpretations to the same story. in the end, i firmly believe that every fan out there has their own idea on how the turtles came to be and it works! this is mine and i'm in no way of saying my version is best but i really find the "humanized" universes appealing. why? because i can relate! in many ways it is true when i say i put a little of myself into this story (but mind you this is a story written from the latino perspective). i understand where yoshi is coming from, arriving in strange new land with absolutely nothing! and i am not against single fathers but the reason why i decided to bring tang shen into the story because i felt that it needed a female voice and i'm trying not to be anyway sexist but you have to realize that the woman's way of thinking is a lot different from men. i thought it would be kind of interesting to have contrasting characters that have a way of balancing out things and soon start figuring out ways to raise teenage turtles! anyways, if you read this whole thing, thanks! feel free to send me your opinion on things, at least when it comes to 'humanizing' stuff (because i know a lot of fans are completely against it!) don't we need a new term to describe characters that were originally animals or some type of creatures and redesigned in art to look human? because if we say humanized, its saying we giving human-like qualities to creatures or inanimate objects... i'm i right... no? ah, oh well...