The following night, the turtles stood at the requested address, staring up at the top of the building they were to scale to meet Oruku Saki, the Shredder.
"This is it, my brothers," Leonardo breathed. "Use your climbing claws, and go silently!"
They climbed, quiet, eerie as the inhuman creatures slinked up the side of the building without struggle. When they reached the top, Leonardo stepped forward.
"Shredder, we are here!"
Silence greeted them, without the slightest movement not caused by the wind. They watched quietly before Leonardo shouted again:
"Shredder! Face us!"
On a separate rooftop, clad in armor, Oruku Saki crouched, watching the foursome. "Who are these freakish fools?"
He shook his head, still not quite understanding why, after so long, this came back to haunt him. He killed Yoshi fifteen years ago.
It didn't matter. His men were in place, and the time was near for him to finish this business once and for all. Hamato Yoshi's name would never be spoken again.
"Shredder! Do you fear us?!"
The insolence of the young and confident.
Leaping catlike, Oruku Saki landed, perfectly balanced, on the edge of the building.
"I am here. Come face your doom! Foot, join me!"
He crouched, bladed gauntlets ready as a horde of masked ninjas flooded the rooftop, silent, eerily so, armed, and trained by the best: Saki himself. There were three at least to every turtle, but without faltering, the young turtles threw themselves into battle.
"These guys are good!" Donatello's bo staved off a nunchuck strike as he spun out of the way of a blade.
"Arrg! A bit too good!" Raphael grunted, brutally slashing at what appeared to be an exposed spot on a Foot ninja's torso, only to be skillfully deflected.
"But we are better!" Leonardo roared with the power of a lion as his twin blades danced, the most focused of Splinter's pupils shining in this display of ninja prowess.
It was moments later when the last Foot soldier fell.
"All your ninja have fallen, Shredder!"
"Yes…so I see…They were good men," Shredder mused, almost casually. "My best." His keen eyes took in the battered, bloody turtles. "I see too, that they have left their mark. But that was just students fighting students. Now you must face a teacher – a master." He spread his arms. "Come! One at a time, or all at once, I don't care. For only I will leave here alive."
Raphael leapt. "Me first!"
A dodge. A swipe. Blood spurted from green scales. A powerful kick.
"Hah! You left yourself wide open! You are much too slow."
Michelangelo barrel into his torso. Shredder reached casually and tossed him away, almost flicking. "Amateurs." Behind his metal helmet, a grim smile touched Oruku Saki's face. "Come, Kappa, your brothers have fallen. You are next!"
Leonardo was fast. Very fast. His blades sang as he moved, twin swords moving in sync, and Shredder's chest ripped open, two even gashes across his torso.
"Bah! Four fools!" Shredder staggered slightly, stance wide to maintain balance. Impossibly, he raised his arms to guard again, sliding into a defensive posture.
"He is too skilled for us to fight one-on-one, brothers! Remember Master Splinter's teachings – Use group tactics and hit from a distance!"
Shurikens winged towards the Shredder from four reptiles, the hidden blades slicing, too numerous and too random for him to deflect. Some proceeded past his armored forearms, tearing at his skin and clothes.
Raphael aimed his sais, grinning savagely. "Dodge these, Master!"
Shredder sailed through the air on a graceful arc, taking him overtop the thrown triple pronged blades as Raphael's knee swung into the ninja master's gut.
"Curse you! Ulp!"
Raphael's tri-fingered hand slammed up into Shredder's chin as Donatello's bo slammed into an exposed, oozing cut in Shredder's side, angling up to smash apart the Shredder's helmet.
"This is the end for you, Shredder!"
Oruku Saki's elbow swung back, cracking Donatello in the shell. Demasked, the Shredder's grim, blood-spattered countenance was now visible to all cold-blooded students.
"You are overly confident, fool."
Leonardo sprung before the Shredder, smiling. "Perhaps he is, Shredder." His blade sunk into Shredder's exposed, clawed abdomen, tip springing blood-stained through his back. He leaned close to him. "But perhaps not," he whispered.
He stood back, removing the sword. "Now you are beaten."
Shredder looked up at them with dark eyes blazing with hatred and disgrace. "So finish it, fools. I am helpless. Slay me now!"
"We turtles are not dogs without honor," Leonardo said grimly as his brothers gathered around him. He flipped the sword around, extending the handle to Saki. "Unlike you, Oruku Saki. I will grant you one chance to redeem your honor. Take this blade, and commit seppuku!"
"Never!" The beaten master roared despite his wounds. "If I must kill myself…." His voice grew steadily weaker. "I will...take…all of you…turtles…with me!" He reached into his belt, pulling out a small, cylindrical device. "This…thermite grenade…will wipe this rooftop clean of all life…including you!"
"No!"
The bo staff extended with serpent speed, striking the Shredder's hand, and then his jaw with considerable force, knocking him off balance.
And just like that, Shredder was falling, falling…off of the edge of the building, down to meet the pavement. He was still, in shock, unconscious or too proud, none of the ninja were sure. They stood over the edge, watching as he made contact with the street.
Silence in the night air of New York City.
"It's over, my brothers. Our mission is accomplished. Our master's master is avenged." Leonardo cleaned his sword, reverently putting it back in its sheath.
"I'm tired, Leo." Michelangelo looked up, snout to the moon, and Leonardo could see the oozing cuts, the large bruises his brother had taken in this, most important night.
"Yes…so are we all, Michelangelo. Let's go home."
"Uhh! I ache all over!"
"A hot bath would be nice…"
"And some tea."
The four brothers made it to street level, marching down the alley where Shredder's body had fallen. Armor was scattered, lying about the alley. Blood stained the floor, but it would be forgotten by morning, and one day, maybe Oruku Saki's body would be discovered.
They were the Teenage, Mutant, Ninja, Turtles. They strike hard and fade away into the night.
And tonight they have won.
The End.
Thanks so much for reading, guys! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please, if you liked it, let me know what you think in the comments below. Once again, I don't own Ninja Turtles, I wanted to spread the word on the original material. Thanks!