Ninja turtles does not belong to me. It belongs to Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird … And anyone they sold the rights to.
Introduction to Season one: After fourteen years of living, hidden in the sewers and training in the ways of Ninjitsu: the new turtles are finally unleashed as their fathers leave them to be the guardians of New York.
The new turtles know of human corruption and have been exposed to it, but can they really handle the legacy their fathers leave for them?
They are left to deal with the rise of a new criminal organization: The NYC-Warlords, where the Foot, Purple Dragons and the Mob have banded together to be an especially heinous enemy. And Bishop, after more than a decade of silence has returned to torment his former creations.
The question is: Can this new breed of ninja turtles handle all of this whacked-up shit?
Episode One: Pilot
Leonardo voice-over: For fourteen years, they have been raised hidden, in silence. Their existences were known only by a chosen few and no one outside of our family circle knows about them.
Change was inevitable, we knew that the time would come when we would have to stop being their shields and let them rise up together against the world, without our help.
They were raised on the Code of Bushido, trained in the ways of Ninjitsu and Martial arts and from an early age were taught of the beauty of life, along with the corruption of the world above us. They were raised somewhat differently than my brothers and I: they are harder, darker in their own way. Because we knew what we had faced, we knew our hardships and knew that one day it we would have to pass it to them.
What I want to know is, did we pick a correct timing?
Scene one
Dragonface puffed out a mix of cigarette smoke and cold-breath as his men continued to load up the truck with stolen goods. He did not have much to worry about; the Vigilante seemed to have retired years ago, and over the years the 'ninja turtles' have been very low profile, even more low profile than before. They haven't stopped several of the Purple dragons heists and Dragonface took it as a sign that they just didn't care anymore. They probably retired too.
Dragonface put the cigarette back to his mouth, sucked in some of the tar and puffed out again, the smoke curling out of his mouth faded and disappeared into the cold night air of New York. He looked to one of the new recruits "Drop that, and Ill drop you." He threatened, the new recruit quickly put the crate into the truck carefully, sweating somewhat.
"Dragonface, we're done here." One of the lesser members told him, Dragonface nodded, he threw the cig down to the ground and stomped on it to take it out. Curling his trench coat closer to keep warm on a cold night like this, the Purple Dragon leader made his way to the front seat of the truck.
However, just as he was about to grip the handle of the door, there was a sharp shink and something pierced into the door. Dragonface's eyes widened when he realized what it was.
A shuriken. As in, a ninja star, only meaning one thing.
He was about to call for his men to retreat, but it was too late; another shuriken was thrown at the streetlight that provided light for them and the lights were out.
Dragonface could only grope around in the darkness as he heard the sound of his Purple dragons grunting in pain, steel cutting through air, and flesh hitting flesh.
The light flicked back on, Dragonface was standing in the middle of alley, the unconscious bodies of his cronies were lying on the ground, bruised, battered and bloody. Dragonface tried to flee, but at the foot of the alley stood a shadowy figure. He turned back to the other side of the alley, but a shadowy figure stood there too, he turned left and right, only to see more shadowy figures. He was boxed in.
He growled and took out of gun; he shot the ground repeatedly in warning.
"Bring it on freaks!" He shrieked as the figure at the foot of the alley approached him; it was on of the turtles and he didn't care which one it was, the turtles never changed, even after more than over a decade they still looked exactly the same. Young as ever, in fact.
He pointed his gun at the turtle in front of him just as they drew out a spear-like weapon. "You wouldn't! I'm Dragonface, leader of the Purple dragons! You freaks are nothing! I'll waste you here and now, I'll use your shells for bowls as I eat turtle soup and -!" Dragonface didn't get the chance to finish his sentence and never would; because right before he could, the blade of the spear effortlessly and swiftly sliced through his neck, and his head fell right off his neck and shoulders.
As a spray of blood erupted from his neck, his body fell to its knees and fell all the way onto the pavement, now a cold corpse. His head, with the eyes wide as if trying to see for the last time, rolled down the alley with a gory path following it.
The turtle stepped into the dim lighting of the streetlamp; revealing a stone-faced, jade-green muscular turtle wearing a white mask that framed dark-brown eyes and was holding a white-wrapped. Naginata, they were wearing white gear with black bindings tied around their wrist/shins that went up to the gear on their knees/elbow, they also had white wrist-guard. The turtle re-sheathed their weapon and looked to the corpse before saying something.
"Damn, that was annoying."
Scene two
The other shadowy figures stepped into the dim streetlight; there were, as expected, three of them. All of them were holding different weapons.
The figure that had come from the other end of the alley was a large, mint-green turtle that had bulky muscles and pale yellow eyes that towered over the other one, standing at seven-feet tall, this one had a razored set of shark-like teeth, there was a small missing chunk from the edge of their shell over one shoulder. This turtle wore a black mask, where the long mask-tails were dotted by metal studs. Their gear however, was magenta-colored, as was their belt and wrist-guards, this turtle was also the only one who wore shoulder-pads. The bindings were black. In hand, this turtle was brandishing magenta-wrapped butterfly swords.
The figure that had come from the left side of the alley was wearing a gray mask and had piercing icy-blue eyes. This turtle was not green like the other two; this one had yellowish-tan skin with a spiky black shell and a white plastron. Their gear, wrist-guards and belt were gray, but the bindings were white unlike the other two. In hand, this turtle had gray-wrapped twin chigiriki.
The last figure, the one that had come from the left side of the alley was a midnight-green turtle with wide copper eyes framed by a yellow mask that streaked brightly across their dark-toned skin. This turtle was the smallest; being shortest and long-limbed. The gear, wrist-guards and belt of this turtle were yellow, and their bindings were white. In hand, the turtle was brandishing yellow-wrapped twin tambo.
The turtle in the black mask snorted "That was too easy." This turtle had a deep, gruff and sort of scratchy voice along with a Jersey accent. The yellow-ish tan turtle just rolls their icy-blue eyes.
"Fighters aren't what they used to be." The stoney-faced, white-masked turtle said; this one had a somewhat effeminate voice, revealing them as female. She turned to the turtle in the yellow mask "Wouldn't you agree – take off the damn headphones!"
The turtle in the yellow mask, who was indeed wearing headphones, could not hear her and instead was shifting around a little with their eyes closed, apparently this one was jamming out to some music.
The one with the black mask smacked the dancing turtle upside the head, the midnight-green turtle yelped and took off the headphones.
"Oi!" The yellow-masked terrapin whined; this one had a somewhat high-pitched voice with an Australian accent. However, this turtle was actually male, which was just about as surprising as the black-masked turtle being female.
The black-masked turtle heard the music drifting from the headphones "What the shell are ya listening to?" She asked with a scowl.
"I want your bite, by Chris Crocker." The yellow-masked turtle squealed like an obnoxious fangirl "One day, I will marry Chris Crocker!"
The other turtles were stunned silent and they sent each other glances that seemed to send messages like 'is he serious?' or 'what do we do about this?'. Seeing that, the turtle pouted "What, is something wrong with a turtle wanting to marry an internet star?"
"Your horrible taste in music aside," The gray-masked turtle said, speaking up for the first time; this turtle also had a somewhat effeminate voice, but that was only because they were soft-spoken, this one was also indeed male "Chris Crocker is a guy."
The yellow-masked turtle looked at him strangely before brushing his statement off with a laugh "Good one, you almost got me! But Chris Crocker is obviously a girl, she's pretty!"
"Uh he's right," The white-masked turtle interjected "Chris Crockers a guy."
The yellow-masked turtle looked horrified. He slowly sank onto his knee's with his face draining of it's midnight-green complexion. "NOOOO!" He shrieked in mourning, his siblings winced at the loudness.
After he was done wailing, the turtle in the black mask rubber the place on the side of her head where her ears were supposed to be "Hey why don't'cha scream louda?" she growled "I'm pretty sure they didn't hear ya loud enough on the otha' side of Mississippi!" She shouted and smacked him upside the head again.
"Lay off, it's the guys first heartbreak." The white-masked turtle told the other female coldly.
"And with his taste in humans – the first of many." The gray-masked one commented.
"I was in love with a guy…" The yellow-masked turtle moaned miserably, the white-masked turtle patted him on the shell.
"It's okay little brother – we'll accept you no matter what sexuality you are." She said, relishing his reaction.
"I am STRAIGHT!" He blew up in her face.
"Like a question mark." The black-masked turtle mocked, earning her a glare from the yellow-masked other.
Scene three
Suddenly, they were bowing to the dark end of the alley as four other dark figures jumped from the rooftops and into the alley.
"Masters." They greeted in unison.
Out of the shadows stepped out four older turtles. Even at age thirty-five the turtles didn't look much different than they had as teenagers.
The first one, Leonardo; the cool, calm and collected leader. His skin was leaf-green and his eyes were light brown. He wore a blue mask and brown gear, however, he was also wearing a dark blue Japanese robe with lighter-blue kanji symbols decorating some places, the shirt and pant sleeves of the kimono were torn to be short. Leonardo wielded twin katana that were crossed in the sword-sheathe on the back of his shell.
The second one, Donatello; the quiet resident genius and basic second-in-command. His skin was olive-green and his eyes were neutral-brown. He sported a purple mask and brown gear, he also wore a white lab coat but that was it. Donatello wielded a Bo staff that was strapped to the back of his belt and concealed by his lab coat.
The third one was Raphael, the 'brooding loner'. His skin was dark-green and his eyes were reptilian-yellow. He had on a red mask with tattered mask tails and brown gear along with an unzipped leather jacket where the cuffs had metal spikes. Raphael wielded twin sai that were strapped to the front of his belt.
The last one was Michaelangelo the uh…. Former goofball and current (sort of) hard-ass. His skin was sea-green and his eyes were blue. He had an orange mask where it was stitched together around the area of his left eye and brown gear, but he also had on an open black trench coat. Compared to the other turtles, he had the most scars; they adorned his plastron, neck, and legs; most noticeable the slash-gouges on his shell and the dark-green slash scar ran down over the left side of his face. He had a pair of nunchaku strapped to the front of his belt.
"Well done Murasaki." Leonardo said to the turtle with the white mask, Murasaki (Known as Mura by her siblings) bowed respectfully.
"Not to shabby for ya first battle, Joan-Of-Ark." Raphael said to the turtle in the black mask, Joan-Of-Ark (Dubbed Jones or Jonnie by her siblings) grinned a shark-tooth grin and they bumped fists.
"Shakespeare…. You thought Chris Crocker was a woman?" Donatello said to the yellow-masked with a raised ridge, Shakespeare (cleverly nick-named Pierce) gave him a nervous smile as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"I proud of you, Sun Tzu." Michaelangelo said to the gray-masked turtle, Sun Tzu (alias; Sunni) nodded but did nothing else.
"We have picked a right time," Leonardo said to his brothers "they are ready to take on New York and its corruption system."
"They're a year younger than we were when we first started topside excursions." Donatello, his mate, reminded him.
"We were forced out." Michaelangelo reminded his genius brother "And even if all shell broke loose, we only ever really lost control when the Shredder was involved – they should have it easier if all they have to deal with are punks like them." He pointed at one of the unconscious Purple dragons.
"Yeah Don," Raphael added on "we kicked shell whereva' we went – our disciples here will make even easia' work outta the scumbags and bozo's of the big apple."
"There no one better to take our place, I guess." Donatello finally admitted. "I couldn't think of anyone better to entrust New York to."
The older, original turtles were leaving. Well, Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo were. Leonardo, along with Master Splinter (elderly, but still alive) were staying behind in New York.
The original ninja turtles have spent the past fourteen years keeping their children hidden, while raising and training them in silence. They had been raised differently than they had been; though they had been raised together and trained to be a team, they were trained by their own father rather than being trained by all of them. They were also taught first-hand the corruption and destruction of the world above them, even though they were aware of the beauty of the world and they valued life, they were still raised to be hard and cunning.
They were raised as actually ninja before them; like assassins. In a way, they were harder, colder and darker than their fathers, because their fathers were more aware of the ugliness and corruption of the world above them than Splinter was.
Yet the new turtles still followed by Bushido, no matter how much like ninja's they were. There was a simple code in their family: Preserve honor, protect your family at all costs, family is valued above everything else, work as a team, do not fight unless someone else starts it, kill if necessary. And then the rest is just following Bushido.
Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo were all now leaving to pursue their own lives – Leonardo was staying behind to finish the new turtles Ninjitsu training with the assistance of Master Splinter.
Michaelangelo's nineteen-year-old daughter, Moth, has been gone for three years; apparently, the Ninja Tribunal has kept a keen eye her ever since Michaelangelo adopted her and they offered her training which she readily accepted. Leonardo was offered training around the same time, but he declined because he was intent on training his daughter, Murasaki.
Donatello was heading for Mount Fuji – he had a base there and was excited on living in Japan because it was one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, April and Casey were opening a O'Neil tech branch into Tokyo and wanted Donatello to run it. He was, with the help of his pal Chaplin who was going to be the 'figure head' of Donatello's work.
Raphael wanted to go to Mexico…. Mostly because crime there was really high and the drug problem, so he would play vigilante as much as he wanted. Secretly though, he probably wanted to live there because of the sunlight.
Michaelangelo had, a few years ago, met up with the former acolyte Faraji and they talked. Somehow, after watching a documentary of people of Africa the orange-masked turtle got this idea to go to Africa and helping out the refugee camps. It was all planned out; with Faraji's help, he would introduce honor and Bishido to refugee camps while helping the people out. Michaelangelo's brother did not approve much of his decision but once he has an idea theres no point trying to talk him out of it.
Leonardo, again, was going to stay and finish the new turtles training, once he was done with their training he would then go to be trained by the Ninja Tribunal.
The new turtles weren't the only ones in this new generation – April and Casey, who ran O'Neil tech, had two children named August and Sid, who seemed to have both taken on the vigilante gig their father had: hockey masks, baseball bats and hockey sticks. Karai and Chaplin also had two children – Reiki and Ch'rell, trained ninja's like them, but brought up in the ways of the Foot, if a little less… Evil.
"I can't believe yo' leaving!" Jones said to Raphael, her father. "And to Mexico! I thought you hated Mexicans."
"I hate Mexican food, not Mexicans in general. 'Sides, dats where we lived when you were just a 'lil runt…. More of a 'lil runt anyways. " He mocked, the younger turtle crossed her arms.
"That 'little runt' is a foot talla' than you and almost twice yo' body mass." She mocked in return, he scowled but said nothing as she assed "What can I say fatha', maybe I wanna go back to Mexico."
"Not gonna happen." Raphael snorted "Your stayin' here in New York with ya siblings until ya grown up."
"How much more do I need to grow?"
Turning a blind eye to the two hotheads bickering, Donatello turned to his son Pierce "Now Shakespeare, you're going to share the lab with all of your siblings – and please don't blow it up while you're practicing 'magic': none of us want a repeat of the fourth of July two years ago."
"Let it go!" Pierce shouted obscurely and sulked off into a corner. "Will I ever live it down?" He moaned.
"Afraid not." Donatello assured his son as he patted the back of his shell.
"Will things change, father?" Sunni asked, a little on the negative side about their departure "Things changed whenever Moth left – a whole transition of power within our team and the pecking order was re-established."
"It wasn't that bad." Michaelangelo tried to brush off.
"Do I even have to remind you that Mura almost sliced Jonnie's shell off in an attempt to be taken seriously as leader?" Sunni brought up and shivered; that was three years ago back when they were eleven and Moth was sixteen, Moth had been their leader up to that point until she left. Mura, who was the 'oldest' personality-wise, was then declared leader, but Jonnie believed she would have been a better one and it started one shell of a (sometimes literally) bloody power struggle until Mura had had enough and put Jones in her place….. By violent means, it still amazed everyone that Jones wasn't missing her shell or head.
"Fair enough." Michaelangelo chuckled quietly, although that past situation was rarely ever taken light-heartedly – sure, they joke about it now, but back then Leonardo had seriously begun to believe he had raised his child to be genocidal. The number of meditation sessions he put Mura through…. It was miraculous that Mura hadn't become spiritually disconnected with her body.
"Things will change too much if you and your brothers go." Sunni continued – he did not want his father, and to a lesser extent his uncles, to leave. He had sulked for weeks when their sister Moth had left. Though he knew it was inevitable, Sunni did not like change. Nor did he want to inherit the responsibilities the turtles before them had bore; to 'protect' New York…. In his opinion, this should not be their job.
"I know what you're thinking," Michaelangelo said to him once the silence over their conversation settled "you think it shouldn't be out job to protect New York because we don't owe humans anything…." He trailed off before continuing "But when you're different, you don't have much of a choice….."
Sunni gnashed his teeth and looked to the ground, even as his father put his hands on both of his shoulders. But the young half-turtle managed to ask "How do you deal with the weight of New York on your shoulders?"
"Plant your feet." Was the coolly spoken reply from his father, but then the orange-masked turtle motioned towards Sunni's siblings "And it's a shared weight."
Sunni sighed "Not when you're the peace-maker….."
Michaelangelo sighed in sympathy "Heh; sometimes I wonder how Donnie didn't go insane with a position like that…."
Speaking of which; Donatello was busy trying to console Pierce over his… erm, broken heart.
"I can't believe I was drooling over a man." Pierce moaned as he sulked in a corner; his shell facing his genius father.
"It's okay Shakespeare." Donatello consoled, even though he was dying just a little bit inside and he was raking his brains to think of where he went wrong raising his son "It wouldn't have worked out anyways; tranny or not, I do not think any internet star – or human being for that matter – would be that freaky."
Hearing his yellow-masked son only sigh in misery, Donatello quickly added "Except maybe the people into the 'Furry' fandub." And immediately regretted his words, knowing that Pierce now had an idea as to where to find dates. He could tell as soon as the midnight-green turtle turned to him.
"Really?" Pierce squealed with his wide copper eyes shining with hope, if you listened hard enough you could hear the last screams of another little part of Donatello dying on the inside.
"Things are going to change." Mura announced to Leonardo as they watched parent interact with child. Mura met her fathers eyes "But will it be for the better, or worse?"
The blue-masked turtle swept his gaze across the two teams for a moment; after witnessing the fight between the turtles and those Purple dragons he knew they were more than ready. On their first mission they had taken the Purple dragons apart; with Dragonface dead and Hun having been dead for years, the Purple Dragons were now leaderless and would fall apart, they have already been falling apart over the years without Hun.
At the same time, however, this new generation of turtles were losing their shields and now they were really have to stand together; but alone in a way without their fathers.
"Perhaps it's neutral." He said finally.
The sound of police sirens was drawing near; the turtles did not need to announce it to each other; with a curt nod to each other, the eight ninjas disappeared into the shadows.
Scene four
Unbeknownst to the turtles, they were watched; across the street on a top building stood a hooded, heavily cloaked figure holding a pair of binoculars with the scope trained on the alley, but particularly fixed on Murasaki. The figure drew the binoculars away from their shadowed face, only then did the figures eyes showed: they were light brown and almost glowing, they were mostly empty except for the burning hatred as they watched Murasaki leave.
The figure drew the binoculars away from their face and turned to the party behind them: an Asian man surrounded by several young people of all sorts of races and ethnicity. The Asian man was dressed completely in black and had swords strapped to his waist.
The figure pointed into the alley "There they were," the figure told him coldly as they pointed a gloved hand to the alley. The figure had a cold, monotone voice that was low, hard to tell if they were male or female "Those turtles – I know you expected only four, but those other four are their offspring. I suggest you go after the older ones, the younger are much more dangerous."
"And how," the Asian man, who held a thick Chinese accent, inquired "would you know that?"
The figure ignored that question "The older ones are Martial arts masters," they continued "but unlike the younger ones, they are somewhat hesitant when it comes to the kill. Except for the orange one – I know for a fact that one is the most dangerous out of eight, not because of Martial art skill, because the blue one passes over him in that, but because he's… Well, a couple screws loose. There are so many unstable aspects of his mind: push him a little and say the wrong things, and he'll go genocidal on your ass, I can guarantee that. The blue one is dangerously skilled in Martial arts, but his weakness will always be his honor holding him back. And the purple one is kind of a pussy, too squeamish to kill, he's the one you don't need to worry about much; he's too kind-hearted for his own good."
"You seem to know a lot about these turtles." The Asian man realized, a little intrigued.
The cloaked figure shrugged "I am no Bounty Hunter. Bounty Hunters are nothing but belated, over-blow cash-whores who do no research, only sick their bloodhounds. I, am an assassin; I do my research." With that statement, the cloaked figure leapt over the edge of the building; the party hurried to the edge and looked down only to see the figure standing on a gargoyle.
"And another thing Stag," The figure told the Asian man 'Stag' "remember to keep in touch if you ever tangle with those new turtles, I crave the blood of their Honorable leader. Bishop sends his regards." And the figure disappeared, jumping into a nearby alley and their dark cloak blending the wearer in with the darkness. Leaving Stag and his party in confusion.
Scene five
"I wish you weren't leaving." Jones mumbled to her father as they continued down a sewer tunnel; Raphael had a pack slung over his shoulder and shell, he looked back at his student.
"Well I am." He said with a shrug, but he stopped and so did she "Joan-Of-Ark." He addressed.
"What is it, Master Raphael?" The mint-green turtle asked as her smaller father turned around and locked eyes with her seriously.
"Whenever you were born," he told her "you were the weakest. Sick as a dyin' dog and all that shit…" He trailed off "And then ya got sick again when you were a bit older because of that damn rat attack." Jones' mint-green skin crawled at the thought of rats. She hated rats, sometimes she even avoided Master Splinter because of that fact.
"You almost died." He continued "Shit, we got you a coffin and everything." Her father admitted and Jones' heart sank a little; that was a time in her life she did not like to relive. "You were sick for so long, ya couldn't train and ya almost missed the official 'ninja student' ceremony."
"Is there a point ta this sad story?" Jones snapped, pale yellow eyes flashing.
He put his hands up in submit "My point is," he stressed out "you were born the weakest – but you grew up to be the strongest."
She was stunned a little.
"And I'm not talkin' just physical strength, even though you got that ova' all of us." Raphael continued "I won't deny the fact that at some point you might be captured by some government scientist and be tortured – it's happened to us all – you'll last longa' than any of us, you won't tell no secrets to the bitter end. You'd soona' die than give our family secrets away. That's what makes you strong."
"Are you saying my siblings would give us away? !" She demanded, standing at her siblings defense.
"No," he said "let's go with it like this – Ya brotha' Shakespeare would not tell secrets, but he would not last as long as any of you, he'd probably die of pain first. Sun Tzu will say nothing, nothing at all and be blank until he'd die. Murasaki would lost longa' then them, in fact, she'd probably 'not give her tormentors the honor of taking her life' or some honorable shit like that and bite her own tongue off and die like that."
"Then what makes me different?"
"You'd give ya tormenta's hell." He chuckled "Let's face it, you'd struggle, yell, rant and cuss them out, make sarcastic remarks and talk smack about them until the end; you would let them affect you at all."
Now she understood, and his words somehow made her feel a bit stronger.
Jonnie knelt down in a bow "Thank you, Master Raphael… Father."
"Stay strong for us all." The red-masked turtle told her as she got up and surprised him in a hug – neither of the two were openly affectionate, even to family because their pride didn't allow them that. Nonetheless, he hugged back.
It lasted only a few seconds before the hug ended, and Raphael pulled away and pulled something out from under his belt "This is for you." He said and handed it to her.
Jones blinked – it looked like a dogtag necklace on a long metal chain, only the dogtag was in the shape of a turtle shell. Engraved on the tag was 'JOA-M-H' no doubt her initials.
They only met eyes one more times before nodding, then father and daughter departed.
Scene six
"Master Donatello, are you ashamed of me?" Pierce asked his father as they treaded down a sewer tunnel. His genius father turned to him in shock and disbelief.
"No! Why would you believe that?" Donatello demanded, then it dawned on him "What did your siblings tell you?"
"That me, and magic, are gay." Pierce sighed. Donatello appeared annoyed.
"That is not true; I admit you are a bit…. Eccentric, but you are a truly good turtle with a truly good heart. Your siblings really don't think that about you; they're just teasing because that's what siblings do." He reminded, Pierce nodded.
Silence for a moment.
"Father, what if they're right?" The yellow-masked turtle asked "They said that magic is stupid, theres no point to it and it disrupts my training. I…. I'm not as ninja-like as them, I want to be a magician."
Donatello sighed before looking his son in the eye seriously "Do not listen to them – there has always been debate whether or not magic exists. But illusion and deception do exist – and that's what it means to be a magician, magicians and ninjas are not that different. In fact, back in ancient times there were a type of ninja who could use 'magic'. They were called Shamans, or Shinobi."
Pierce's wide copper eyes widened more in surprise "Really?" He awed "Could I be one?"
Donatello thought for a moment "Yes – but you're going to need to research them – there are not many Shamans left and I highly doubt you'll be able to find a teacher anytime soon." He admitted, BUT Pierce didn't look downcast at all.
Pierce flung his arms around his father in a hug "Thanks Master Donatello! I feel better already, one day I'll be the greatest Shaman that ever lived! You'll be proud of me then." He solemnly swore.
"I already am." Donatello said as he hugged back before pulling away, he got out his dufflebag and reached in for something "Here, I have a present for you."
The copper-eyed turtle was practically bouncing on his feet as Don rached inside and pulled out a garment. He put it on his sons shoulders and shell and then put something else on his head. Pierce examined the garment with interest – a black cape/cloak with a yellow interior and several concealing pockets. On his head was a silk magicians hat – also black, but with a yellow stripe instead of white, and poker-symbol shaped shuriken poked out, the brim was wide.
"Now you can be a magician." Donatello told him "The material is specially-made micro-bead – it's fire and water proof. And I did some research on the cloaks that the Street Phantoms of 2105 used and used those as the design for this one."
"I can go through walls with this?" Pierce awed again as he took off the hat and put the hood on – it was a very concealing hood. "Walk through fire, and tread through water?"
"Uh huh." Donatello said, swelling up in pride a little over his work "It'll help you both as a ninja and a magician."
"Thank you Master Donatello!" Pierce thanked and again flung his arms over his father, in contrast to his siblings, Pierce was extremely affectionate. "This is the best present ever! I'll never take it off."
"I thought you'd say that." Donatello said "That's another reason it's micro-bead – it won't get dirty, dirt, sweat, grim and blood will just slide off."
"Does the same apply for the hat?" Pierce asked as he took off the hood and put the hat back on, he tapped the hat.
"Naw, it's just there to look cool."
"Awesome."
Scene seven
"First Moth now you." Sunni announced as he and his father Michaelangelo continued down a dry sewer tunnel "Back then, I used to sort of think that Moth would come back in a little while. But after some time I came to grips that she never would until her training was finished and that would take a long time. But you…. You never will come back except for visits and gatherings, will you?"
Michaelangelo stopped and shrugged "Only time will tell." He said plainly and coolly.
"With only Leonardo and Master Splinter around, how will we be controlled? It was hard enough to keep us in order with all four of you guys. Things were a bit out of hand when our old leader left. Now with you guys leaving, that's practically cutting our family in half."
Michaelangelo sighed before saying "My son; Master Splinter raised me and my brothers all on his own, I think he and Leo can deal with you guys on their own. After all, sensei dealt with me back then." He drew out 'me' with venom and Sunni caught it – it was no secret that for some reason his father hated how he acted when he was younger. He never knew why and they were never told.
"Why do you hate who you used to be?" Sunni asked softly, his orange-masked father tensed up a little.
"Because he was a bumbling fool." He snapped but then shook his head to shave off any anger he had. It was reactions like that, that let Sunni know that the stories of his father told by the rest of their family was true – that back when he was a teenager, he was basically the clown of the team. Something bad happened that changed him and the story was never told to them.
"Master Michaelangelo," Sunni addressed "only Moth knows about the story behind your altered psyche – she never told us, she only told me she knew because of all the times you had nightmares while we were growing up. Please father, tell me what happened. All I know is that it has to do with all those scars on you." He practically begged.
His blue-eyed father only grabbed his head as if a headache just hit him – one probably did. For the first time in his life, Sunni was seeing his fathers barriers break down while he was conscious. Mostly he had only seen his father vulnerable while he was having nightmares.
"You never wonder why I don't talk about it?" Michaelangelo hissed in a strained voice, scaring his son a little "Because – I don't want to relieve. Sun Tzu please understand I don't want to think about it anymore."
Hearing the hurt and panic on the edge of his fathers tone, Sun Tzu knew he had treaded in forbidden waters. "Father, I'm sorry." He said in apology.
Michaelangelo withdrew his hand from his head and sighed again "It's okay my son." He said and turned to him with a slight smile of reassurance "You were just curious – you were always so smart. 'cuz of that. You're a genius like Donnie."
"I'm not exactly tech-savvy." Sunni pointed out with a roll of his muscular shoulders. Though a genius on human standards, he was never much interested in technology like Donatello.
"That's because it is not your interest." Michaelangelo told him "You're not interested in machines – you're interested in life."
It was true – what made Sunni brilliant was that he always wanted the answer to questions. Mostly about life, meaning and the universe. Technology was cool and all and he could see why Donatello was so interested in it, but to the gray-masked turtle technology was cold and lifeless compared to the 'human computers' known as the mind, or the 'power outlet' known as life. Know-it-all of not, Sunni was the type who never wanted an unanswered question.
"I'll always love you," Michaelangelo continued "no matter how different you were. Different sort of runs in the family, I think different it kinda cool. So never let your tortoise-ness get you down. Being different is awesome."
Sunni couldn't help but smile at that statement. "I'll miss you father – visit as often as possible."
The sea-green older turtle grinned a trademark grin that was very rarely seen.
Scene eight
Murasaki and Leonardo sat across from one another on a mat – a lit white candle between them and the only light provided in the now dark room.
"The sewer is no longer our only world," Mura said to her father "we are now granted topside excursions – it is a big change to our lives. And the departure of your brothers is a big change too. The adjustment might be long and hard."
"Life is like a puddle," Leonardo told her " and we are the leaves that fall in. The wind is fate and it will often push a cluster of leaves apart and scatter them. Sometimes the wind of fate will push the leaves back together before pushing them apart again."
"And some leaves will fall under the water." Mura finished. "Fate is often a cruel mistress."
"Amen."
"But we; my siblings and I, will take it all and stride. The winds of fate has not yet pushed us four apart. It pushed the fifth away already, but that'll be it."
"Murasaki – there will be a time when fate will push you and your siblings apart."
"I'm aware of that Master Leonardo – but that day is not today and it will not happen any time soon."
"Can you sympathize with your siblings?"
"I'd be pretty lost too if you were to leave. Loss of central guidance. Lost, but not completely – I'd pull through in the end. Because one day, you won't be there for me to rely on."
"You're insightful for one so young, my child."
"I was raised by you, wasn't I?"
END of S1E01
No spoilers. You can get the next 'episode' next week when I get reviews!