Author's Note: hey everyone! I am soo very sorry for the late update! although I promised to update faster if you review, but I ended up doing the opposite hehe... Um, personally, I don't like this chapter a lot but it was necessary to be here so bear with it! =P
Special thanks to Raphs Girl No.1 for supporting this story and to Amonraphoenix and Mensis Eclips for reviewing!
OK, so I originally intended for this chapter to be from Leo's P.O.V. along with flashbacks of what happened to Splinter. but i ended up writing from someone else's P.O.V. Guess who? Ya know... The guy in the shadows, the one who was totally stalking our two favorite turtles in chapter 3 remember? just to remind you that this story does NOT have a main OC character so the person here is someone you know!
Second reminder: the sentences written in Italics are "that guy's" memories okay?
OK, I'm done! REVIEW PLEAAASE. review and tell me this chapter was a mess!
Enjoy!
oh oh! I almost forgot!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE TURTLES! ( If i did, the whole story would be a tragic tearjerker )
Chapter 4. Exhaustion
Exhaustion. It is a specific form of human inadequacy in which the individual experiences an aversion to exertion and feels unable to carry on. Such feelings may be generated by muscular effort, pain, anxiety, fear or boredom. It is a state of extreme physical or mental fatigue. What happens when one is exhausted beyond words? What if he had mentally strained himself for too long? Would he keep on pushing forward or would he let it all go?
Exhausted. The mutant turtle was utterly and entirely exhausted. But, having an oppressive, eight hour training every morning, attending a series of stressful, but essential therapy sessions all day and finally, taking part in multiple life threatening missions late at night, had nothing to do with it.
His name was Takeo. Takeo, son of Ouroku Saki and future successor of the Saki enterprise. He, along with his brother, had been taken in and adopted by Saki at the age of two and ever since then, they had devoted their life into serving their father and master. They'd lived happily with their family for almost fourteen years until one fated night had changed everything as they were kidnapped, tortured and imprisoned by their enemies.
During that time, they'd been broken by their hands while being brainwashed to the point where their life was slowly forgotten and their memories became a haze. He, and his brother were luckily found and brought back home after betraying their father and serving the enemy for one year time.
Not long after returning home, the Saki enterprise had vanished from New York and had been in hide out in Japan for another year in order for the two of them to receive the treatment they needed. And so, after being brainwashed again, they had discovered about their true identities and were reunited with their family. Now, after one year of constant training and recovering, they were back. Back for revenge. He knew that nothing could stop them from getting even with the ones responsible for taking away one year of their life. A life which he had came to know only after being rescued. A life which he had no memories of.
He was kneeling on the floor, in an empty room with nothing but a Japanese table at the center. The whole area was dim; there was light coming from the five small candles that were flickering on the table. This place was what his master called "the confrontation room" but he had no clue to why he was summoned there. After all, he had done everything he was asked, without questioning a single order.
Takeo didn't like this room. He remembered the last time he was summoned there, the night when he did something horrible. The night he completely lost his conscious, his innocence...
"Who's there?" the foot soldier asked the figure standing in the shadows.
"Relax. It's just me." He answered, took a step forward and smirked at the soldier's reaction.
"M-master Takeo! My apologies… I wasn't informed you would be here tonight." the foot soldier explained and took a step aside.
"That's alright. Just make sure it won't happen again. Now tell my father I'm here." Takeo said in a dangerous voice. The soldier bowed and quickly knocked the door.
"Tell him to come in" A voice replied from behind the door.
Takeo took a deep breath and walked into the room. He Looked around and saw his father and older brother sitting around a round Japanese table at the center of the room.
"Ah, there you are Takeo. What took you so long?" Ouroku Saki asked and pointed to the place beside him as a sign for him to sit.
"I had to take care of some casualties. It took me longer than I expected" Takeo explained and went up to them. He sat down next to his brother and exchanged a confused look with him.
"So what's with the sudden gathering father? Is there something wrong?" Takeo asked impatiently.
"Not anything in particular." His father answered, looking amused. "But there is a certain task that I wanted Satoshi to accomplish and I thought it was best if you could be here to watch." He looked at Satoshi and smiled.
"Father what d-do you mean?" Satoshi asked in a low voice.
"Well, you two have been back for three months now, and although I see that you both are working very hard to get back to the life you had before, I can't help but notice that you Satoshi, unlike your brother, are not doing very well." Saki explained while looking at Satoshi with a strange smile creeping on his face. He snapped his fingers and suddenly two foot soldiers appeared dragging a teenage boy along. He and Satoshi stood up.
Takeo felt strange. A shiver crept down his spine. What was his father thinking? Surely it was not to…
"Now Satoshi, come here and prove your loyalty to me" Saki said and signaled the soldiers to bring the boy closer. Now that he was in front of them, Takeo could see the boy's features clearly. He was wearing a ragged T-shirt and torn up jeans; there were multiple bruises and scars on his face and arms; blood was also spilling from two large, but not lethal wounds on both of his knees. He was thin and from the looks of it, he probably hadn't eaten anything for a while. What Saki said next, brought Takeo's attention back to him.
"Kill him my son. Kill him and prove me that you have forgotten about your time with our enemies last year." Saki said as he put a hand on Satoshi's shoulder, encouraging him to move forward.
Takeo froze. Did their father really want this boy dead? Or was it just to test his brother's loyalty?
The boy was moping. Takeo could see small tears running down his cheek. He was just a kid. An innocent young boy.
"Bring my sword. I want my son to kill him with my own weapon" Saki ordered one of the soldiers that were guarding the boy. He returned in a few moments, carrying a double bladed sword with him. He bowed and handed it to their father.
Saki grabbed Satoshi's had who was then, starting to look pale and helped him wrap his fingers around its handle.
" F-father please… Is there another way for me to-" Satoshi was caught off by their father.
"No, there is no other way Satoshi. Now grab this sword and cut his head off now before I'm disappointed any further" Saki was now looking impatient.
"N-no!" Satoshi said.
At that moment, Takeo felt strange. It was as if a red curtain was being pulled in front of his eyes, making him confused.
"Do it!"
He couldn't think clearly; all he knew was that he had to help his brother. He had to relieve him from this burden.
"If you don't do it I'll take it as a betrayal to the family Satoshi!"
He moved forward; the red curtain was blocking his eyes and his mind. Darkness was taking over his heart.
"But I ca-"
Slash….
Tump…
Blood.
"TAKEO!"
That was the night Takeo lost his conscious. The night he murdered an innocent person in cold blood; he did it to save his older brother, He did it, so he would be the one to dirty his hands, to dirty his soul. After that night, his heart suddenly felt empty and the little compassion he had left was gone; it was gone and replaced by darkness and hatred.
And now there he was sitting the same room, in the same place for the second time. The sound of the door shook him back to reality. His father was wearing a black kimono that had a golden foot symbol at its back. Saki smirked and walked into the room; he gave Takeo a small nod and sat in front of him, at the table.
"How was your late training Takeo?" Saki asked in a calm voice.
If by "Late training" his father meant the goons he just killed an hour ago for betraying the Saki household, then it was just fine. Killing people had become an everyday routine for him months ago. But Takeo didn't tell him that.
"I didn't run into any problems father" He explained, hoping his father wouldn't ask further, especially about where he was last night.
"I see." Saki said and then he looked straight into Takeo's eyes; a smile was formed on his face.
"I've heard from my men that you've sneaked out with some of the speed ninjas last night and went to that building" Saki said accusingly, but the smile never left his face.
"Did you go there to see our enemies?" His father asked with an overly amused tone.
"I'm sorry father I-I just wanted to see the ones who almost destroyed me and my brother for myself." Takeo suddenly wished he hadn't brought the speed ninjas along; those bastards can't even keep their mouths shut. He would deal with them later but, now he was starting to fear whatever punishment his father had planed for him in that room.
Saki laughed and said "don't be scared son, your not here to receive a punishment; in fact, I summoned you here to tell you that it is time."
"Time for what father?" Takeo asked, still confused of his father's reaction.
"It is time for us to reveal ourselves publicly again. I'm going to announce my relationship to you and Satoshi for the first time in public tomorrow." Saki answered and stood up.
Takeo jumped up and asked "Father how could you? H-how could we reveal ourselves to the world while being tur-"
"Don't worry my son; your brother has already worked on a device that could transform you into humans temporarily" Saki caught off his words.
"But if we are to go public, then that means that we are informing our enemies of our return to New York"
Saki let out a long laugh and finally said "Exactly. We are going to have our revenge on those foolish creatures" he sounded somewhat evil.
"I'll leave you to clear your mind. Make sure to tell your brother what I told you." He then, walked towards the door but turned around mid way and said "Oh, and Takeo? We're appearing before the press tomorrow morning so, sleep early." He turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
Takeo couldn't speak. His mind was exploding. He had mentally strained himself for too long. Too long, only for the sake of an answer, a glimpse from his past. He had tried so hard to remember. To remember his life, a life before this, that is. His life before a year full of recovery, bone breaking trainings and ruthless killing. But no matter how hard he tried to feel something, something other than emptiness, he felt nothing. Nothing until last night; the night he had went to see the ones who kidnapped him and Satoshi last year. But the moment he saw their faces from behind the building, he felt strange. He felt a sudden rush of heat, of emotion and of love in his heart; but, it was gone as soon as it
came and Takeo was again left with a dark and hardened heart.
That feeling had left Takeo wondering. Wondering about the truth; were they really Orouku Saki's adopted sons? Were they somehow related to those creatures? Was there something they didn't know?
Takeo was exhausted. he was exhausted of the constant battle that took place in his mind every time he obeyed his father's orders. He was tired of thinking about the right and wrong. He just…wanted to let go.
...
From behind the shadows, in the confrontation room, Karai was looking at the turtle with a sad expression. She had listened to Saki's conversation with him the whole time. Her father was going too far with this game…
Was she going to stop him? Or was she going to watch exactly how far the game could go…
How was it? It was bad wasn't it? =,(
Oh, the names used for the two brothers ( I think you all know who they are LOL! their Mickey and Don DUH!) were chosen intentionally for their meaning.
SATOSHI (聡):Japanese name meaning " The wise one"
TAKEO (1-剛雄, 2-武雄): Japanese name meaning " Violent male warrior"
P.S I'm very sorry for turning the innocent and always cheerful Mickey to this cold, ruthless, well...MURDERER!
I won't update unless I get reviews! =)