I don't own TMNT or UY.
Xxxxx
I was woken up when my alarm started beeping loudly next to my futon. I rolled over and slapped it to turn the thing off. I forced myself to sit upright, knowing that if I didn't, I'd just fall asleep again. I gave a sigh as I rubbed my eyes, trying to will my body out of its sleep. I didn't get a lot of rest last night. Even going to bed early didn't help as I'd lain awake for quite a while, thinking eagerly about what we were going to do today, wondering how my competition would look and how best to counter certain attacks which I was already familiar with from my first brief involvement in the tournament. Eventually I must've dozed off, although I wasn't sure when. All I know was it was now just turning 4 am and it was time to be up again.
I sighed, pushing myself up properly and standing. I gathered my gear and tied my bandanna tight, slung my katana onto my shell and hurried to claim the bathroom before one of my brothers could get to it first.
I stopped to bid Master Splinter good morning as I passed him and he gave me a nod before going to make sure the other three were also getting up, cane in hand, ready to give any-one who thought about sleeping in a good rap across the head.
We had a rather uneventful breakfast seeing as it was a quick one. Each of us shovelling down a bowl of cereal before we gathered our stuff and left the lair, making sure it was properly locked and invisible to any-one who might be crazy enough to consider walking around the sewer a fun hobby.
We travelled quickly, Mikey and Raph shoving each other as we jogged along the tunnels in the direction of the alley, each trying to push the other into the sewer water. Donny trotted after them, his trademark duffle-bag slung over a shoulder. He was gripping the strap slightly and the bag appeared heavier than usual, but then he didn't bring a back-pack so I guessed he'd decided to just use the one bag instead of weighing himself down with two.
It wasn't long before we reached the man-hole underneath our target. I went first, pushing the heavy lid aside and checking if the coast was clear.
It was still far too early for morning traffic but being 'The City That Never Sleeps' it was always important to make sure we weren't running into anything unexpected when we left the sewers we knew so well and went top-side, even if the area we were stepping into was known-territory. Just because it was known territory didn't make it our territory.
There was no-one in sight so I took the last few steps of the ladder and left the tunnel, taking a further look around as Raph, Mikey, Donny and finally Master Splinter left the safety of the man-hole and stepped out after me.
We trotted over to our usual 'Portal wall' for lack of a better name and Master Splinter set about drawing the necessary symbols on the wall with a piece of chalk. I waited patiently for him to finish, watching closely as he drew and wrote. I was still aiming to learn the sequence by heart myself so I wouldn't have to rely on him or a memo written on a piece of paper if I ever needed to make the journey by myself. Raph was lookout, making sure no-one from the street was thinking about interrupting us.
Once all the symbols were drawn I stepped forward and recited the now familiar incantation. I had been the one to recite the mantra the first time we followed Master Splinter through the portal, if only because it had sounded vaguely familiar to me, but ever since then it seems I'd become the official reciter as this was the second time I was given the task of saying the words apart from that first rather impromptu mission.
The symbols glowed brightly, first blue, then a harsher white. The everlasting puddle in front of the wall snaked its way upward, defying all concepts of gravity and the watery threads twisted themselves together in spiral before the glowing doorway opened itself up in front of us.
As soon as it reached the appropriate size Master Splinter stepped through it. My brothers followed him. I stayed behind, watching their backs until they'd all gone through before I followed after them.
I've done all kinds of weird travelling in my life. From being yanked millions of miles across the universe to being sucked both backwards and forwards in time to being thrown into parallel dimensions against my will to willingly stepping into a different world. Depending on the situation and how you were being transported it was always a different experience. Donny once said he wondered if one's mental state had any effect on a portal seeing as he was still convinced portal-jumping had something to do with the vibration of atoms and wasn't necessarily a physical journey. I had no idea. As far as I can tell any kind of journey's experience somewhat relies on your mental state, but I didn't want to discourage him from thinking about it. There was no reason to squelch his curiosity unless he planned to do something rash which, granted, Donny seemed to do every now and then.
Portal-jumping to somewhere like the Nexus dimension isn't really an unpleasant experience. If anything it felt a bit like walking on a treadmill. I had a hunch that the actual act of walking was pointless, but it made it more comfortable for me as it meant stepping out of the portal on the other-side felt more natural whereas standing still and then suddenly finding yourself on solid ground again would probably make me stumble.
The light changed from the spinning, disorientating swirl to the stabilized glow of an early morning sky and I felt my feet touch rough ground.
The world of the Nexus Dimension sprawled out in front of me. Its mountains and forests in themselves were spectacular sights, but the almost fantastic ruined heads of statues that must've been hundreds of feet high at one time lying crumbled around the open field and the strange, spiracle rock formations of the country made it seem as if we'd completely left reality and stepped into an 80s style fantasy painting on the side of some-one's van. All we needed was a giant muscle-head for a hero and some buxom girl as a princess. I guess Raph could fill the role of the muscle-head.
"'The heck are you grinin' at?" Raph's voice interrupted my thoughts as we marched eagerly to large circular arena which dominated the landscape.
I hadn't been aware that I was smiling at my own thoughts and tried my best to suppress it. "Nothing. I was just wondering how the competition's looking this year."
"Shouldn't we like, be on our guard or something?" Mikey piped up, looking around skittishly. Now that we were actually at the Battle Nexus his confidence of being the 'Battle Nexus Champion' completely disappeared and he was starting to look nervous.
"What for?" Donny asked, looking around as well but more casually, adjusting his duffle-bag.
"Aren't we gonna get jumped for opening rounds or something?" He said, turning around and trotting backwards so he could look at the rest of us. "I mean it doesn't just start in the arena right? There's all that opening rounds stuff and... stuff."
I frowned and gave the landscape a suspicious glance, forgetting the beauty of the scenery for a moment.
Master Splinter made a sound of amusement, not slowing his step. "Until we announce out arrival we are not official entrants and will not be ambushed. Be at ease my sons, we are in no danger here."
I heard Raph make a small, irritable noise next to me but he said nothing, following after Master Splinter quickly. I didn't like that he had trouble trusting our Sensei's judgement but at the same time I could understand his cynicism. We've been here 3 times and all 3 times there most certainly was danger. I was hoping this would be the event to break that running streak of bad luck. Or 'Turtle luck' as Raph calls it.
"I dunno Sensei." Mikey said, slowing so he could fall in step next to Raph. "I think if some-one wanted to jump us they wouldn't really care about what the rules say."
"They would if they wanted to stay in the competition." Donny said. "If they're here during this event I don't think they'd do anything to get themselves disqualified so early."
"Yeah." I said, agreeing with Don. "And besides, we're a formidable group. If any-one tried anything we'd be able to keep them at bay until some-one official showed up."
"Well that's true yeah." Mikey said, a wide grin spreading on his face and he widened his stride to a slight march. "After all, they would be facing against the Battle Nexu-"
"You breathe one more word and I'm tyin' ya to a rock and leavin' you here!" Raph snapped at him.
"Oh really? Is that right? And then who'd get disqualified and sent home huh? Huh??" Mikey said, speeding up his march and trotting a broad semi-circle around Raph teasingly.
"Once they figure out how damn annoying ya are they'll give me the key to the city!" Raph retorted, swatting at him when he circled a little too close.
"I don't think the Battle Nexus is really a 'city' as such." Donny said thoughtfully, staring at the slowly growing arena in front of us, the Bagoda of the Ultimate Daimyo towering behind it with the even larger waterfall thundering beyond that, so far away it's gallons of water muted by sheer distance as well as the slowly growing roar of a crowd.
"Well they'd sure as hell give me somethin'!" Raph said, making another grab for Mikey and, being unsuccessful the second time, started following him threateningly, his arms at the ready to pounce him if he saw the chance.
Mikey noticed this and gave a tight yelp, twisting around out of his dancing and breaking into a faster jog in the direction of the large front gate. Raph speeded up after him.
I heard Don give a deep sigh behind me. "If any-one asks; we don't know them."
"Right." I agreed. "They're just some other 5 foot tall talking turtles wearing coloured ninja masks."
I heard master Splinter chuckle under his breath at this as he watched Raph and Mikey zig-zag across the path in front of us.
-----
Getting to the central plaza requires going through the Hall of Former Champions. This was something I both really enjoyed and really wish we could skip at the same time. On the one hand it made me happy to see the immortal stone face of my Master's Master, staring defiantly down at us in a readied stance. Seeing the stone counterpart of our Sensei next to him also filled me with a sense of pride I didn't quite understand. I think Mikey said it best when we arrived here the first time and were told what this place was all about: 'It's like finding out your dad is Superman.'
After Master Splinter came the rather disturbingly large statue of Mikey and this is where it kinda spoiled the mood. Not so much because my little brother was standing larger-than life in front of me, that I was fine with. Heck I was proud of it. Proud of him for cementing himself into the history of this tournament. But the problem is whenever we visit this place we have to endure Mikey running up to it and instantly pointing it out to us, as if we'd miss it otherwise. As if the whole 'Battle Nexus Champion' wasn't wearing my nerves already.
I didn't let it get to me too badly though. It was all part of the build up to the competition. My brothers and I had, for obvious reasons, never participated in things like school sport events or athletic contests. We'd seen them on TV in some form or another. Either as topics in an episode of a cartoon or a made-for-TV movie or real life events like the Olympics or even just your average Baseball, basketball or football match. We knew all about the suspense, tension, and finally the thrilling climax, but we only knew them as 'outsiders'. Actually being able to be part of a contest like this made me feel, on some level, like a kid again. We would watch stories about do-or-die contests like this on TV and, in our younger days, would pretend we were in a competition ourselves with made-up prizes.
They were important games, although we didn't realise it at the time. They made training and sparring with each other fun. They made us want to test our skills against each other and see who could beat who and by how much. But at the end of the day it was always just the four of us, competing endlessly against each other with no thunderous crowd to applaud our victories and no girl to tell us we were the greatest fighter even. No 'Eye of the Tiger' or 'You're the Best' playing in the background. Just us.
Back then that was fine and all we really needed. But to stand here now, and hear the screams of real people, see never-before-seen opponents making their way to the central plaza and know that you're not just a spectator, but you were part of this just lifted my spirits somehow. It was an unfamiliar sensation and even though it wasn't one to dominate my thinking or make me lose track of why we were there, I nevertheless welcomed it, along with Mikey's hyper-active excitement at seeing his own face beaming down at us.
It all blended together into a pool of excitement, anticipation, nervousness, caution, and a strange, underlying feeling of being accepted. There were mostly opponents here, but they weren't fighting us for who we were or where we came from. It was just a game.
Come to think of it though, that wasn't true. There were more than just opponents here.
I started looking around as we entered the main Plaza, trying to spot the white ears among the other faces.
----
"Don! Watch his buddy!" I called, twisting myself loose from the guy trying to lock my arms and subdue me before striking out first with the palm of my hand and then with a sweeping kick, knocking him flat.
Donny had been focusing on his own challenger and hadn't noticed his team-mate trying to flank him from the other side. However, once he heard my warning his position in the fray instantly changed and in one movement he'd placed himself in a better spot where he could face off against both of them without getting sideswiped.
To my right, I saw Mikey flip himself out of a roll. The sudden leap from being low to the ground to a sudden jump was unexpected and he managed to get a decent blow in with his nun-chucks while his opponent was adjusting himself to Mikey's changed position. Unpredictable and creative as always. Mikey knocked his opponent down before bouncing out of my peripheral vision, heading in the direction of Don who was currently stuck facing two foes at once.
Somewhere I could hear Raph's 'Kia's as he finished his own challenger.
The opening address by the Daimyo was done and we were currently facing against a rival team in our initiation round. They weren't complete newcomers to the arena, but they weren't seasoned warriors either. The Battle Nexus didn't do anything like skill-matching or anything since that would be completely counter-productive to what the whole tournament was about. It was just our good luck that we were facing some-one who hadn't won countless wars or who were decorated soldiers. They were putting up a good fight, but watching and sensing the movements and attacks of my brothers around me I knew that we had this thing in the bag.
I wasn't able to spot Usagi or his taller, cantankerous friend in the crowd during the opening ceremony. However, since this was just the welcoming speech the plaza was packed full and, being only 5'4", I had no hope of looking over some of the more gargantuan contestants. Especially when they pumped the air with a cheer at the Daimyo's blessing. Trying to spot a 5 foot rabbit or even a 6 foot Rhino was not going to happen right at that moment so I let it go and focused instead on the Daimyo's words, as well as the half-hidden figure of Master Splinter, sitting patiently and calmly next to him. I half imagined he was staring back but from such a distance there was no way of telling.
After the addressing speech we were immediately ushered to the surrounding fields to face a random opponent. Since this was just the preliminary round we were allowed to work as a team and, as such, face other competitors who also preferred working together. There wasn't even a discussion on whether or not we wanted to go solo. We just automatically moved as a group to our designated fighting ground where we met our challengers and, after the introductions and bows we faced off.
It didn't take long before the Gyoji appeared and declared the match over and officially proclaimed us the victors. Our opponents bowed and left, leaving us to return to the Battle Nexus and wait for the first rounds to begin.
Mikey was still hyped up on Adrenaline and was busy dancing around the rest of us, pausing every few moments to leave a few light taps on either my, Don or Raph's arm.
"No problem huh guys?! This is gonna be cake! Man I hope they start the next round like right now! I'm stoked! I mean I knew I'd improved but I didn't know I could clean house so quickly! Then again no surprise huh? I mean After all I am-!"
"Don't even say it!" Raph said loudly, spinning to stick his face dangerously close to Mikey's, causing him to yelp and freeze in place.
"Good job guys." I said, trying to defuse the situation. "But don't let it get to your head Mike. That was just the warm-up round and those guys weren't Grade-A fighters yet." I turned, facing all three of them as we walked back. "Keep up your guard guys."
"Don't worry so much Leo." Raph said, but for once he didn't seem to feel like belittling my advice. He backed off Mikey as we continued on our way. "We got this bro. We ain't kids."
"We're not all kids." Donny said, shooting Mikey a sideways smile.
"Hey! Who had to come and save your butt back there huh?!" Mikey said, trotting to the much safer side of Donatello and once again going into his bounce of a step, planting a soft punch against his arm. "Er.. Me! That's who!"
"The only reason you felt like coming over to me was because you didn't wanna help Raph try and take down the big guy!" Don retorted, grabbing onto Mikey's shell and giving him a playful shove.
"Yeah. Thanks for nuthin' guys. Glad ta know ya got my back." Raph said with mock annoyance.
"Aw, you're gonna have to learn how ta fight by yourself some day Raph! Especially since you're gonna have to do so in there!" He threw a thumb in the direction of the arena. "Of course, not that it's gonna help you cause eventually you'll have to face Me! The Battle Nexus Champion!"
The second the words left his mouth he spun around and broke into a sprint, running away. Just as well too because not a fraction of a second later Raph nearly pushed me over streaking after him, ready to plant Mike's face against the nearest wall.
"Jeez." Don put a hand on my shoulder, an instinctive reaction to make sure I was steady on my feet. "You think it's a good idea they get in a ring together? Raph might kill him."
"They've got that teleporting thing though." I laughed as we entered the large doors of the building before turning down a corridor heading in the direction of the Daimyo's viewing Balcony where Master Splinter was waiting.
"Yeah but I'm worried he might pummel Mikey to dust before they have a chance to teleport him away." Donny grinned back. Somewhere ahead of us I heard cries of mercy from Mike as Raph had evidently captured him and was now doing some well honed and practised tortures on him to make him pay for once again bringing up the 'B' word.
"We better go help him." Donny sighed.
I nodded but stopped. "D'you mind if I leave it to you? There's something I wanna do while I have time before the next match."
Donny gave me a confused stare before realization hit him and he gave a nod. "Alright but you owe me. And don't whine if you get back and Raph's managed to stuff Mikey in a fountain somewhere."
"Thanks Don." I gave him a smile before turning and walking back the way we'd come, heading for one of the more public corridors. If Usagi had managed to get beaten in the preliminary round I would've been seriously surprised.
-----
I wandered down what felt like the hundredth hallway, although in reality it was probably only the 8th or so. I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Usagi. Granted, the crowd was still pretty big and there was a chance that perhaps he hadn't completed his round yet but somehow it just didn't feel right to me.
'Stop it! You're jumping to conclusions and letting worry get the best of you!' I reprimanded myself silently.
I walked the length of the hallway, passing contestants who were laughing, retelling their matches to each other or complaining about an unfair loss. However none of them looked even remotely familiar to me.
I quickened my step, scanning the faces I passed and trying to catch glimpses past them at any-one who might be hidden from view behind a larger contestant or who might not be taking part in the boasting or whining of the others. Complaining wasn't Usagi's style, nor was showing off or gloating. Usagi was pretty humble and I knew that, although he was a bit of a 'people person', he probably wouldn't want to listen to people blowing their own horns.
I kept my eyes open for Gen though, who was both bigger than Usagi and easier to spot and who was also exactly the type to either complain about an unfair match or boast about a victory, even if it was just to find a way to make some money out of it.
I wasn't able to find either of them.
I blew a frustrated breath and turned a corner into a different hallway. This one led me to a set of smaller doors which led to the smaller buildings and market stalls outside the main bagoda and arena. I could hear the noise of people trying to cut deals, haggle over the price of trinkets and easy to carry foods as well as seller calling out their wares to passers by in a hope that they'd spend whatever currency they brought with them at their specific stall and not the one a few feet down who was selling the exact same merchandise. The preliminary battles had barely finished and already the small town surrounding the arena was thick with people, both contestants and those who were there to watch. You couldn't even see the other end of the street from where I stood.
I hesitated, standing in the doorway as I looked over the scene. There was a very good chance that if I went searching for my friends in there that I would either get lost, or get so caught up in the crowd and the twisting pathways that I would be late for the first round and get disqualified. Besides, I didn't have any sense of direction on where to go or if either of them were in the town at all. And even if they were they might simply be getting some food at one of the Inns or a restaurant or something and I wouldn't see them in the street anyway, and there is no earthly way I could check every building and be back in time.
It left a terribly bitter taste in my mouth, but I had to admit defeat and accept that if they were in the town I wasn't gonna find them. Time was getting short either way, and if I didn't run into them heading back the way I came to meet up with the others I wasn't going to see them at all until at least intermission.
I turned, giving the wall beside me a half-hearted thump with the side of my fist as I wandered back in the direction of the Daimyo's quarters.
I wondered rather dejectedly if perhaps Usagi was trying to find me as well and we were somehow missing each other because neither of us were standing still. This wasn't very far-fetched.
When I last saw him, I was going insane with worry. I was seeing him off as he was about to step back through a portal to a rough and vicious world where people killed each other over the pettiest things and honour and loyalty dictated the very way of life. I could live with this as my own life wasn't much safer and my enemies weren't any less, but he had come to our home completely exhausted, disorientated and badly shaken. Not only that but the only reason he even made the jump in the first place was because the only other alternative was, literally, death. Right after he gave me a long and elaborate retelling of the madness and bloodshed he'd just come from he went right back. Strapping segmented brass armour to himself that screamed nothing but violence to me before he turned and told me not to worry too much. Then he left through a portal to an unknown place and I haven't seen or heard from him since. It made my stomach turn just thinking about it.
'Then don't think about it.' My inner voice said to me. He'd been perfectly aware that I was worried about him and that I was afraid of what might happen to him that side of the world or universe or whatever you want to call it. The chances are high that he'd been running around this place just as much as me, trying to find me so he could fill me in on what happened after he left and went back to his own world so we could have a laugh about it.
I heard some raised voices ahead, Not that that was anything spectacular really, but these sounded like the voices of people who had more than yelling on their minds. I frowned, my train of thought derailed as I sped up to see what was going on.
I rounded the corner of the hallway just in time to see the Gyoji floating in front of two rather sizeable people who were glaring daggers at each other but who both seemed to be in the middle of turning and walking away. Probably a good thing too. They both looked to be part of different warrior races, much taller than any normal human being would grow back on Earth and both looking like they weighed half a ton. Something which, by the looks of them, could've been very possible.
Whatever argument had broken out between them had been defused though and they both turned and walked away, followed by their own set of groupies as the Gyoji stayed behind, looking back and forth between them to make sure neither of them had any sudden violent urges to get in the last word.
"What was that about?" I asked, walking over to the Gyoji.
The translucent referee of the Battle Nexus turned at the sound of my voice but relaxed when he recognized me. "Nothing for you to be concerned with Leonardo. Merely two contestants who are dissatisfied with the outcome of their preliminary match."
I sighed but nodded. No matter which dimension you're in, you're always gonna have sore losers.
"If you will excuse me, I have other duties to attend." the Gyoji said, moving to disappear and travel to wherever else he was needed.
"Hey! Could you wait a moment please?" I said as a thought struck me.
The Gyoji stopped and turned back to me. If I didn't know better I'd say he looked somewhat annoyed. "Is this very important Leonardo? There are still many combatants in the contest and I need to make sure no illegal actions are carried out among them."
"Yeah I know. I'm sorry." I said hurriedly. "It's just I've been searching this whole place for a friend of mine and I can't find him anywhere. I know it's not your job to play tracker but it's kind of important that I find him."
The words spilled out in a hurry. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted the Gyoji to do. He had more important things to do than to settle my growing paranoia, but I was getting desperate and my protective nature was starting to get the better of me.
"You don't have to go looking for him or anything." I added quickly, not wanting him to get insulted. "But I know you refereed the preliminary matches. I just wanna know if he won his match, or how he did or if..." If what? If he was still in one piece? "If he struggled." I ended rather pathetically.
"Well that depends on who you are talking about." The Gyoji said, sounding a little more patient at the news that I wasn't going to send him on a wild goose chase. "You have not told me the name of your friend."
"Huh? Oh yeah right!" I said, grateful for being listened to. "It's Usagi. Miyamoto Usagi."
"Ah yes. The Samurai from 2nd Earth." The Gyoji said. Knowing the important part Usagi'd played in more than one situation here at the Battle Nexus I wasn't surprised by the immediate recollection.
"Yeah." I nodded, relaxing a little.
The Gyoji thought for a few seconds before focusing back on me. "I am sorry Leonardo, but I do not recall Miyamoto entering in this year's events as either competitor or spectator. He seems to have chosen not to attend."
An ice cold stone dropped from my throat right down into my stomach.
"He's not here?" I asked, my voice feeling strangely tight.
The Gyoji gave a bow. "I do not believe so."
"What about Gen?!" I blurted out quickly. "Gennosuke!" I stammered, trying to remember the Rhino's family name but it escaped me. Gen was Usagi's best friend, or at least he claimed to be. He ought to know if anything happened to him.
"Murakami Gennosuke has also not entered this year's events." the Gyoji replied, sounding completely unfazed by my sudden change of mood. "Nor has any-one else from 2nd Earth if that helps."
I stared at him, wide-eyed. I dropped my gaze to the floor as terrible thoughts which I'd barricaded in the back of my mind for the past few months suddenly broke free and ran riot through my head.
"I am sorry I could not be of help Leonardo." the Gyoji said. He sounded sincere. "But I really must return to my official duties."
"Y.. ..yeah..." I heard my voice say. "Thank you."
The Gyoji folded in on himself, disappearing from the corridor.
I turned, walking back in the direction of the Daimyo's quarters, my brothers, and Master Splinter.
Usagi wasn't here.
I didn't really care if I'd had to go to the first match without seeing him if the Gyoji had told me he won his preliminary round. I could've waited until Intermission easily. I wouldn't even have minded if it took until the second day, or after the tournament, or even if I first caught a glimpse of him if we were somehow matched against each other again in the arena. If I had heard nothing else but 'He's decided to merely watch this year.' I would've been satisfied. I might've been disappointed and slightly annoyed but I could've lived with it.
But he wasn't here. And the question that kept spinning around my head was; 'Why not?'
Xxxxx
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