Author's Note
Hello Universe! Palkia's here with Chapter 8! Sorry this took a while. I've been busy trying to update my other story as much as possible. However, I'm here to continue with the next chapter! Thank you to all those who favorited and followed this story! Let's get into it.
Here's the music list!
(1) Mission- Naruto Shippuden OST 1
(2) Afternoon of Konoha- Naruto OST 2
(3) Anun (Dark Clouds) - Naruto Shippuden OST 1
(4) Turn Over- Naruto OST 1
(5) Yogensha (Prophet) - Naruto Shippuden OST 2
(6) Despair- Naruto Shippuden OST 1
I do not own Naruto and I do not own TMNT.
Chapter 8
War of Demons
Ever since the incident with Murakami about a week ago, Leo began to train hard while he was "grounded." With the help of Shishigami, his ability to control his chakra became stronger as time passed.
Despite this, he still hadn't mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It would definitely take more time to get the hang of it. Having his chakra control was a good thing, but it was different when performing a more complicated jutsu like this than just the standard Transformation Jutsu.
Leo practiced as much as he could. Making clones out of chakra was hard to control. Sometimes he would put too little chakra into it, which resulted in a half dead clone. On the other hand, if the jinchuriki put too much chakra into it, the clone would just explode. He would of course, get frustrated at this, but then try again.
The recent stress placed upon him didn't help him either. Combine the daily training from Shishigami, as well as the extra training and surveillance from Splinter, his mind was constantly on the run when it came to dealing with multitasking.
Extra chores and training were placed onto his shoulders constantly. It wasn't easy with all of this happening in a week. Cooking the meals, cleaning the lair, more solo training with his Sensei, it was adding up and thus leaving him tired during the day.
His brothers couldn't help him, no matter how much they pleaded. Well, Raph didn't plea at all. It was more so the fact that Mikey didn't like Leo doing the cooking all the time and sometimes Donnie didn't want his older brother cleaning his lab. Yet Leo couldn't do anything about it, lest he'd have to answer to Splinter again.
Speaking of the rat master, it was clear to his brothers that their Sensei was especially hard on their older brother. It was easy to understand why. Having your son once again run away from you was something the ninja master never wanted to experience once more. With this, he at least could hopefully learn his lesson when it came to doing anything like that.
Yet Leo would still continue to sneak out at night while everyone was sleeping. The deer god could bring him to Talbot Peak via Reverse Summoning Jutsu. This in turn would allow Leo to get away undetected. There was no issue in being discovered with this method.
As the week went on, Leo felt himself getting stronger, both physically and mentally. Despite the workload, the stress, his family, the jinchuriki felt as if he improved significantly. Leo believed in himself more.
But that would be put to the test...today.
"Your strikes suck," Kurama spoke up in the back of his mind. The giant kitsune was clearly bored with the situation both he and the turtle were in.
'They...wouldn't be so...bad if you just...left me alone!' Leo thought angrily.
Currently, the blue masked turtle was in the middle of a spar with his younger brother, Raphael. It wasn't one out of anger for once. It was just merely practice. Yet every time Leonardo kicked or punched, he either missed or it got blocked. Was it because he was tired? Or was it because of stress? No, it was merely because the nine tailed fox was just in the mood for annoying him.
Another kick with his right leg, and Raph dodged. A punch with his right hand, and it was blocked. The turtle was becoming more and more frustrated as it went on. Left hand, blocked. Right hand, blocked. And then it seemed like both turtles sensed the other's determination to win.
'Feel his next movements,' the blue masked turtle told himself.
Raph then took the offensive, a barrage of fists coming at Leo. And with each attempted strike, the jinchuriki blocked them with ease. Yet Raph wouldn't let the pressure up, and the punches became more wild and unpredictable. Each time, Leo blocked them. It would seem that the spar would become a bigger fight soon. Until…
(1) "Check it out guys," a voice drove their attention away. It was Donnie. And for once, Leo was glad that his brother interrupted.
'Thank god, I thought this was going to go on longer. Or even worse, it could've become a fight between Raph and I,' Leo felt relieved.
Both turtles turned their head in the direction of their younger brother, who came in from the entrance to the dojo. He was carrying something. When Leo saw what it was, he became confused. Kurama, on the other hand, had a feeling on what the genius turtle had created.
'Are those...eggs?' Leo pondered.
"Ohhh I might have an idea regarding what those are," Kurama commented. "And if I'm correct, then I will start calling your brother a genius."
'Why the sudden decision? I thought you weren't that fond of them?'
"You'll see…"
'I don't like the sound of that.'
"We are about to take our Ninjitsu to a whole new level," Donnie explained. Leo did like to hear that.
If Donnie had created something (that apparently used eggs?) to thus further help their style of fighting, it was certainly a good thing. Yet, often when the genius turtle invented something, it would backfire. Of course, this time it had something to do with eggs, so it wouldn't backfire too much, would it?
"Cool," Leo answered.
It was then that the jinchuriki noticed that Raph was left wide open, currently occupied by the interest he had obtained when Donnie first started talking. His brother's head was turned in the direction of the purple masked turtle, no longer paying attention to Leo. He smirked, confidence now returning.
With a swift kick of the leg, Leo managed to sweep Raph off of his feet, causing him to fall to the ground. The red masked turtle groaned in agony, eyes closed. Donnie looked at him with concern for any pain he could possibly help relieve, but soon ignored Raph. Victory riddled Leo's face.
'Haha, yes! That's what you get for not paying attention!' he thought.
"Last night, I figured out how to make…" Donnie continued, now holding up one of the eggs. "Ninja smoke bombs!" He ended in excitement.
'He made smoke bombs...with eggs?!' Leo was certainly impressed by this. The fact that Donnie learned how to make something so advanced with just an egg surprised him.
"Your brother is now officially a genius," Kurama stated.
It was then that the purple masked turtle threw one of the eggs at the floor. Once it hit the ground, the egg exploded. There was a bright flash, then purple smoked bellowed out. And as quickly as the smoke appeared, it disappeared. As well as Donnie.
A second later, another flash was seen, catching the attention of both Raph and Leo. The two turtles turned around, once again seeing the purple smoke, and it then disappeared. Revealing a smiling Donnie.
"Whoa…" Leo and Raph echoed, looking at each other and then back to Donnie.
"Now to make 'em, I carefully…" he began. It was then that Leo inwardly sighed.
'Here we go again…' Leo thought. He found himself tuning out of Donnie's explanation. 'Through the good thing about this is that I don't have use the Body Flicker Technique* as much. Not that I really ever used it in a fight before.'
"You still could," the kitsune began. "Throw the egg, then use the Body Flicker Technique to escape faster. The smoke from your escape will combine with the Smoke Bomb, thus masking the white smoke."
'That's true,' the turtle thought. "If I could combine the two, not only will no one see me do it, but I'll have a much faster escape route and be able to travel a farther distance!'
"Blah, blah, science, blah! Do it again!" Raph exclaimed, then proceeded to push Leo off to the side.
'HEY!' the blue masked turtle mentally shouted.
"What I'm trying to tell you guys is that they take a long time to make," Donnie continued. "So use them sparingly."
Leo nodded. This was something that his brother made that was actually useful and didn't explode (unless thrown on purpose) so he would use them carefully. These new smoke bombs would definitely be used in the future. Having one to use to get away from an enemy would be crucial.
"I'm making breakfast!" he heard Mikey shout from the kitchen. "Who wants omelettes?" It was then the jinchuriki realized something.
'Oh no…' Leo inwardly groaned. 'Please don't tell me Don was stupid enough to leave them in the fridge?'
"Omelettes?" Donnie wondered, looking at one of the smoke bombs in his hand. "Mikey, DON'T!"
The eldest turtle sighed. '3, 2, 1…'
As on cue, purple smoke appeared, and when it finally dissipated, it revealed Michaelangelo, who was coughing. However, unlike the previous attempts Donnie had made with the smoke bombs, Mikey's face was covered in purple powder.
"Ugh, I think that was a rotten egg," Mikey commented, clearly somewhat suffering from the smell of the smoke. He was holding more of the smoke bombs.
Leo could help but chuckle at the sight, nearly bursting out into laughter. He even almost lost his balance, so he leaned onto Raph, smiling and chuckling at the sight. Yet his younger brother was slightly annoyed by this.
"I'm no longer calling your brother a genius," Kurama stated. But even the fox could help but laugh at how the youngest turtle was suffering.
"Those aren't eggs, Mikey," Donnie told him. "They're Ninja Smoke Bombs." Immediately after he said this, Mikey's eyes widened in excitement and in realization.
"Shut up," was all he said, and proceeded to throw a smoke bomb at the floor, disappearing.
'Ah...so much for Don's warning about not using them too much…' Leo inwardly sighed. The weird smell of the smoke was starting to irritate his senses.
"This…" Mikey began, appearing in the tree, then disappeared. "Is the best day…" he reappeared next to the tree, then disappeared again. "OF MY LIFE!" he exclaimed, now farther from the tree, and disappeared.
"Mikey, stop!" Donnie shouted, not wanting him to use any more of the smoke bombs after it took him hours to make them.
But the orange masked turtle only thought about it for a moment, then dropped another smoke bomb and disappeared again. Donnie groaned in disappointment.
"I swear if he uses that again…" Kurama groaned, his sense of smell being overloaded. "I will personally kill him!"
'Uhh, great to know…' Leo replied nervously.
"I love you man!" Mikey reappeared behind Donnie, putting his three fingered hands on his shoulders. Unfortunately for the purple masked turtle, Mikey kissed him on the cheek, which caused him to be severely annoyed.
"Seriously!" Mikey smiled. Donnie could only scowl at him. Leo on the other hand, rolled his eyes.
'Time to go get some fresh air,' he thought, desperately wanting to flush out his respiratory system from the smell of the smoke.
"Agreed. Do so before I faint."
"Guys!" Unfortunately for both of them, the sound of a frantic April was heard coming into the lair. Leo immediately became concerned.
'Something's wrong,' he noted. The turtle began to sense her emotions. 'She's terrified for some reason. Did something happen?' All four turtles came out of the dojo to meet her, just as April was sitting down on the couch.
"Guys, you'll never believe what happened to me," she breathed. April hugged her shoulders. Clearly distressed.
"Alright April," Donnie ended up coming over to her, checking her over. "Are you okay?" He checked her arms, seeing no injury whatsoever.
"I am being hunted…" she began. "By a GIANT PIGEON!" April grabbed Donnie after she said that. There was a moment of silence, then…
"Ha ha ha ha!" Raph laughed, leaning over and clutching his plasteron while he pointed at April. Leo and Mikey turned and glared at him. The red masked turtle stopped laughing.
"I can't be the only one who finds that funny," he commented.
"He has a terrible sense of humor," the kitsune deadpanned. Leo questioned this.
'And you don't?' he asked.
"Oh please, at least my humor isn't hard to find. Unlike yours which is like finding the One Piece." Sweat nearly dropped from the jinchuriki's head.
"It's not funny, Raph," Donnie retaliated. He stood up with her. "There's a creature out trying to hurt my April."
This in response, led to her looking at the purple masked turtle with a questioning look. Donnie immediately made up for what he said.
"Our April…" he said. "April…" Donnie gestured to her, smiling sheepishly.
"This is serious," Mikey stated, which confused Leo, until he realized his brother was holding up another smoke bomb. "I'd better get Splinter."
'The last thing I need now is for him to use another smoke bomb,' he inwardly groaned.
"We don't really need-" Leo began but by that point, Mikey threw a smoke bomb, causing more purple smoke to appear. The blue masked turtle began to cough as he inhaled some of it. However, in Mikey's place was Master Splinter.
"Michalengelo said you wanted to see me?" he asked.
Soon afterward, the girl told of her experience with the giant bird.
"His talons were razor sharp," April explained, raising her hands into the air. "He would've torn me into pieces. If he hadn't slammed into the glass."
"Ha ha ha ha hah!" Raph once again laughed, reading his comic book. In response, they all glared at him. "Really? Just me? Ack!"
Splinter hit the back of his head with the end of his jade cane.
"Raphael!" he scolded his son. "Clearly April is upset."
"Yeah dude, that's so insensitive," Mikey told Raph. He turned his attention to April. "Do you need a tissue?"
"I think I'm okay," she answered.
"I'll get you a tissue," Mikey answered, holding up yet another smoke bomb.
'Oh for the love of-'
The youngest turtle once again used the smoke bomb, disappearing again, leaving a surprised April. And as soon as he disappeared, another plume of purple smoke appeared, and so did Mikey, on the other side of April. Leo coughed again, the smoke irritating him.
"We don't have any tissues," he said. "Can I make you some soup?"
He held up another smoke bomb, but before he could use it, Donnie stopped him by grabbing his hand.
"Stop it!" Donnie scolded him. It was then Leo spoke up.
"Please Donnie. Can you at least change the powder so it's scent-free?" he asked.
"Can do Leo," the purple masked turtle said. He then turned to April. "Don't worry April. We won't let anything happen to you."
"Donnie's right," the jinchuriki spoke, standing up. "We're gonna set a trap for this, "pigeon-man" and make sure he doesn't bother you again."
"We are?" Kurama groaned.
'Yes, otherwise whatever this giant pigeon is could seriously harm her. It's most likely a mutant from her description. If it isn't dealt with, then who knows what could happen. It might come after us in the future. Or worse…'
"Like it could harm your girlfriend?" Kurama rolled his tongue at the last word. Leo blushed hard at that, and desperately tried to hide it.
'She's not my girlfriend!'
"Well, I know what we can use as bait," Donnie said.
"Bread crumbs!" Mikey spoke up. There was silence, as Donnie and Leo looked at him questioningly.
"Pigeons eat bread crumbs," Mikey explained.
"I meant April," Donnie answered.
Seconds later, the orange masked turtle stood protectively over the red-haired teen. "You're gonna let him eat April?!" he exclaimed. "I thought you liked her!"
"Yeah!" April said, ignoring the fact that Mikey referenced the fact that Donnie liked her in that way.
"Don't sweat it," Donnie reassured them. "We've got your back."
The four brothers looked at each other and nodded, fully prepared to go after this giant bird. They, as well as April, ran towards the turnstiles. But before they could head out, Splinter stopped them.
"Wait!" the rat master shouted. They turned around. "We do not yet know what you are facing. Perhaps you should study your enemy before confronting him."
"It's just a pigeon Sensei," Mikey answered. "We can handle it."
A feeling of uneasiness overcame Leonardo after he heard that from Mikey. The turtle didn't like where the conversation was heading. What his younger brother had said made them sound as if they were very overconfident. And the jinchuriki knew that he didn't like being called overconfident.
"What you know is dangerous to your enemy. What you think you know is dangerous to you," Splinter told them. "I fear that you are all becoming overconfident."
There it was. Leo gritted his teeth in agitation as he slightly turned away from Splinter so that he wouldn't see his frustration. He wanted to say something. Anything along the lines of how much extra training he had gotten from both his Sensei and Shishigami. Yet Leo knew that he couldn't say it, lest his secret come out.
But the fact that he had been grouped in with his brothers irked him greatly. Leo knew that his brothers became overconfident during the past few weeks, as a result of their past missions and how immediately afterward they were grounded by Splinter. The jinchuriki however, wasn't part of a few of them, so being grouped in with them made him angry.
"With all due respect Sensei, we've taken down giant spiders, plant creatures, alien creatures, and an army of ninjas." Donnie said, and both he and Mikey did a high three.
"Yeah boy!" Mikey said in excitement.
"Maybe we're not that overconfident Sensei," Raph stated. "Maybe we're just that good."
The three turtles then went off, as well as April, into the sewers. Leo groaned, having yet another bad feeling about the situation. He clenched his fist. Soon after, he ran after them as well. Leaving Splinter behind.
'I'm really hoping something bad doesn't happen…'
Yet Leo forgot how bad his luck was. (1!)
(2) An hour later, night time…
"Here I am, walking around in the big city," April spoke semi-suspiciously. At the moment, she was walking through an abandoned alleyway.
"All alone! Oh, I sure hope no crazy pigeon-man sneaks up on me! That would be the last thing I'd want!"
While it seemed like she was currently alone, in reality there were four mutant turtles watching her every move from the shadows. One of them wasn't exactly happy with the way April was currently acting as bait. Another one...well, he didn't seem to be real in the first place.
"What are you doing?" Donnie asked, who appeared behind April from behind a dumpster.
"You wanted me to be bait, I'm being bait!" April whispered, clearly upset.
"That's not how bait talks!" Donnie commented.
"How do you know how bait talks?" she asked, annoyed.
"I know that bait doesn't talk back," Donnie told her.
"Oooooo he got her there," Kurama chuckled.
"Oooooooo," both Mikey and Raph came out of their hiding spots.
"Oh no, you didn't," Mikey taunted, and both turtles returned to their hiding spots. Donnie returned to his as well. Then, Leo came out from inside a dumpster.
"Just try to act natural," he whispered. "Add in some sarcasm."
She nodded, and he disappeared back into the dumpster. When she turned around and walked away from it, a tiny bit of white smoke was seen emanating from it, but it was barely noticeable. "Leo" had disappeared.
Unbeknownst to the three other turtles, and to April herself, there was a small creature on top of a fire escape. A gray cat. It would've looked totally unsuspicious, if not for the fact that it had bright cobalt eyes.
"Your use of Shadow Clone Jutsu is becoming better," Kurama commented to the cat. Leo smiled, fangs flashing.
'I have to keep practicing,' he said to the fox. 'Otherwise my control over Shadow clones won't be great. I don't think I'll use it that often. Because if the clone disappears when I'm not around, I'll be in deep trouble.' He looked over at where April was.
"Here I am, acting natural," April said sarcastically. "Just, totally defenseless against any, I don't know, hideous mutant pigeon-guy who might happen upon me."
There was silence for a moment. That is, until Leo sensed something in the distance. He turned his cat head, and was met with disgust.
'Oh gods, what is that?!'
It appeared to be some sort of pigeon man, well sort of. It has the head of a pigeon, its lower body was like a human, and it apparently wore...jeans? Even its legs were lanky, and had talons at the end. And worse, some of its veins were showing, revealing mutagen that flowed through them.
"I wouldn't eat that thing even if I had the chance," Kurama spat in disgust.
To their surprise, the mutant bird flew into the air and proceeded to descend upon April, talons out.
"Ahhhhh!" she screamed. The teen was about to be grabbed, until it was electrically shocked. Donnie had managed to shock it. The bird mutant fell to the ground, groaning. It was then that Leo released the henge he was under, turning back into a mutant turtle without anyone noticing.
"Now!" he shouted.
Leo leaped off of the fire escape onto the mutant bird, Mikey and Raph following suit. They managed to pin him down.
"Ugh," Raph said in disgust. And to their surprise, the mutant pigeon began to speak.
"Ok! Ok!" he said, hitting his hand on the ground. "Uncle! Jeez Louise!" Donnie and April stood over him.
"And you said I wasn't good bait," she boasted. It was then that Leo got up.
"Start talking, pigeon-man," the jinchuriki stated.
"Pigeon-man? Really?" Kurama deadpanned. "You could've just not said that." Leo inwardly groaned.
'What else was I supposed to say?!'
"I have a name!" the mutant pigeon said.
"Yeah well, we just don't care what it is," Raph sarcastically stated.
"It's Pete!" the mutant pigeon, Pete, answered.
'I expected it to be more...extravagant? I guess.' Leo thought.
"Why were you trying to hurt April, Pete?' the blue masked turtle asked.
"I didn't wanna hurt her!" Pete exclaimed. "I was just bringing her a message! From her father!"
They all looked at him in surprise. A message from April's father? He had been missing for over a month by this point. And there was no lead onto where he currently was. Now, this pigeon, who apparently was named Pete, had a message from him?
"Let him up!" April said frantically, wanting to see the message. Mikey and Raph did so. Pete got up to face her.
"We were both guests of the Kraang," the pigeon mutant began. "They poured some ooze on me and turned me into this!"
"Oh, that must've been horrible," April felt sympathy for him. "Being turned into a pigeon."
"Actually I started out as a pigeon."
"Told you the bread crumbs would've worked," Mikey interrupted. This however, caught the attention of Pete, as he grabbed a hold of the orange masked turtle.
"You've got bread crumbs!?" he asked, full of excitement.
"Umm, my father?" April said impatiently.
"Oh right!" Pete said. (2!)
He handed her a phone, and the turtles came around to watch. There on the screen, was a video of Mr. O'Neil playing. He seemed very afraid. Leo could almost feel the fear coming from the device itself.
"Something terrible is about to happen," he began. "And I don't know what, but it's extremely important that you get out of the city as soon as soon as you can. Save yourself. Remember...I love you…" The message ended after this.
April hugged the phone in sadness. "I love you too daddy," she whispered.
Leo could feel her sadness tremendously. It almost made him act up as well. It didn't help that he was able to sense negative emotions such as this. The only thing he could do was ask Pete if he knew anything else.
"Do you have any idea what he is talking about?" Leo asked.
"I'm just the messenger," the pigeon mutant replied.
"We've got to get you out of the city," Donnie told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. The blue masked turtle was surprised to hear such words from his brother, as he was very protective over April.
"I'm not going anywhere without my dad," she replied.
"But you heard him. Something terrible is gonna happen," Donnie tried to convince her.
"Then we'd better hurry," April told him. There was no convincing her otherwise. It appeared to Leo that the teen was dead set on finding her father. And there was no way about it.
'She really wants to rescue her father…' Leo thought.
"She's determined, for a human…" Kurama commented. "Heh, you picked a good girl."
'Shut up!'
"Can you tell us where the Kraang are holding him?" he asked Pete.
"I can," Pete began. "But it's gonna cost you a lot of bread." Leo thought about it for a moment. Did Pete literally mean actual loaves?
"We're talking about...actual bread, right?" the turtle asked.
"Yep! Sourdough!"
"Done!"
It wasn't too hard to find where Kirby O'Neil was being held. Soon enough, they were on the roof of a very non suspicious looking building that didn't even scream or give any hint that the Kraang were there to begin with. The mutant pigeon left them after that, saying that he was too afraid to continue on with them. Nevertheless, they did end up paying him the sourdough that he asked for.
Once they got there, Donnie began working on opening up a ventilation shift. He was able to get it off with ease.
"Piece of cake!" he said, looking down the ventilation shaft as he pushed the cover aside.
"Let's do this!" April said. But before she could do anything else, Leo stopped her.
"We need you to wait here, April," Leo told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you crazy?" she said, pushing his hand off. "My dad's in there!"
"Along with who knows how many Kraang!" Leo mentioned. "This mission requires stealth, and mobility. Leave it to the pros."
'I hate to say it, but she wouldn't be able to do much in there,' the jinchuriki thought. 'April could even get kidnapped again for all we know! It's better if she stays up here while we handle the Kraang.'
But she scoffed at his response. "I can't just do nothing!" April said.
"You won't be doing nothing," he answered. Behind him, Raph gave him a rope. "We need you to lower this rope when we give you the signal."
April sighed, clearly complaining about not being able to do anything else. But, it was something, so she didn't complain anymore. And Leo was very thankful for that.
They jumped down into the building, and the jinchuriki saw once again the familiar metallic white and pink walls, as well as a bunch of other technology he didn't recognize. He landed with ease, moving out of the way before the Kraang saw him. Unfortunately, Mikey held onto the ledge too long and fell, alerting the alien.
Before it could shoot him, Raph jumped down, stabbing his sai into its metal body, causing it to fall to the floor before it could alert any other Kraang. The red masked turtle looked over at Leo, who currently had his hand to the floor, using his sensing abilities to find Mr. O'Neil.
'This way,' he thought, and gestured for his brothers to follow him.
They were about to turn the corner before Leo put his hand out in front of them, signalling to wait. He turned around, putting his finger in front of his mouth, and whispered a 'shh,' telling them to be quiet. The turtle did a somersault before getting behind the alien and slicing it in half. Then he signalled his brothers to follow again.
"Whatever's in there must be important," he heard Kurama say.
The fox was referring to a doorway that was approached by two Kraang, both with blasters. Silently, they came up behind them, and when the door opened, which revealed yet another Kraang, Leo knocked the first two out while Raph threw his sai at the third.
'Didn't I tell him that ninjas never throw their weapons?!' Leo thought angrily.
But before they could walk in, one of the aliens emerged from the metal bodies, screeching. In response, the blue masked turtle punched it quickly.
The door that just opened revealed what appeared to be some sort of control and information room. Raph and Mikey moved the Kraang out of the way that was inside. Donnie closed the door behind them so that they wouldn't be discovered.
"Donnie," he began. "Hack into the system and see if you can find out about the Kraangs' plot. Raph, you're with me. Mikey, stay with Donnie."
"Why do I always get stuck with Mikey," his brother complained.
'Oh, I really do not need this right now Donnie!' Leo thought.
"Hey," Mikey spoke up, which just irritated Leo more.
'Fine! If I have to be blatantly honest, I will be!'
"I don't want him!" he said. "And I'm in charge!"
"I thought you loved your brothers?" Kurama snickered at the fact that his jinchuriki decided to say something mean about his family.
'Not now!' he silently growled at the fox.
"Hey!" Mikey complained, but Leo ignored him.
"Well then have Raph take him!" Donnie said.
"Over my dead body," the red masked turtle said, arms crossed.
'Oh come on! Not you too!' Leo thought angrily. 'Why doesn't anyone just listen to me for once!'
"You know," Mikey began. "I'm starting to think nobody wants to be with me. Fine, I'll just go off on my own."
The jinchuriki had a feeling what his youngest brother was going to do, and covered his nose. Mikey threw a smoke bomb and disappeared. It was then Leo heard the sound of his brother struggling behind a door, which then opened, revealing Mikey had gone into a closet.
"Hehe, that's a closet," he said.
"Have fun, you two," Raph said, and both he and Leo walked out of the room, leaving Donnie and Mikey to their own devices.
Once they were out, Leo put his hand to the floor, sensing any energy, as well as emotions, that were around him. He figured out that the Kraang didn't exactly have emotions per say, and seemed to be just like robots. However, this made it easier to tell the difference between finding a human and a Kraang.
The jinchuriki then picked up on one emotion that was more prominent. It was one of semi fear, as well as sadness. Realizing it was Mr. O'Neil, the turtle gestured to his brother to follow, running across the hallway until they came upon a cell.
(3) "Mr. O'Neil?" Leo asked. "Are you in here?" The human got up and went to the viewing window, seeing the blue masked mutant outside.
"You're one of the turtles who rescued my daughter," he said. "Is she alright?"
"She's fine," the jinchuriki responded. Reluctantly, he continued on. "She's right outside."
"You mean she's still in the city?" he asked. "That girl is stubborn."
"Yeah, we've noticed," Leo answered, opening up the lock panel. He saw some wires inside and decided to mess with them.
"If I didn't know any better, she reminds me of my previous jinchuriki," Kurama spoke up. "The stubbornness and everything."
'You never really talked about her,' Leo commented. 'Was she that bad of a jinchuriki?'
"It's best not to know…"
'If she was that bad, then why do you keep bringing up the fact of how much April reminds you of her?' the turtle asked, still fiddling with the cords inside the lock.
"Maybe some other time Leonardo," the giant fox told him.
Unfortunately for Leo, he wasn't satisfied with this. Why wouldn't Kurama tell him anything? He could trust him. Was it something that sensitive? Or was the fox afraid of saying anything?
'You know you can tell me right?' the blue masked turtle told him. 'Your trust was placed in me. Do you not trust me enough to tell me?'
At this, he felt a pang of sadness within his heart. There were points in his life where Leo remembered Kurama wouldn't tell him everything. Of course, this was for his own good, and eventually told him when he was older. But there were times, such as when Kurama discussed something about his life, that Leo wanted to know about. Yet the fox wouldn't tell him.
The tailed beast felt the sadness within his jinchuriki's heart. In an instant, guilt washed over him. He didn't mean to hurt his feelings in this way. But, for Leonardo's safety, he couldn't say a word. Well...Kurama could say something.
"Her name...was Kus-"
"Since it's taking Leo forever to pick that lock…" he heard Raph behind him. And just like that, the sadness turned into unharbored anger.
"If you think you can do a better job, then go ahead!" Leo growled lowly, eyes somewhat flashing red. Raph then continued on what he was saying before.
"...then maybe you can tell us what the heck's the deal with the Kraang."
"They're aliens from another dimension," Mr. O'Neil began. "When they came here, they brought the mutagen with them." However this confused Leo.
"Why? What's the point of bringing something that turns people into monsters?" he has to ask. If that were the case, then why bring it into the dimension where Kurama was from?
"The mutagen doesn't work the way they thought it would," the human continued. "Apparently the physical laws of their universe are different than ours."
"That is true of my dimension," the kitsune spoke. "There are some things there that work differently than here." The realization came to Leo very quickly.
"So they're grabbing scientists to help them modify the ooze!" he answered. Yet they're was one thing that puzzled him.
'Why did they take April as well? It's not like they need her for anything. She's not a scientist.'
"Wow, you figured it out," Raph mocked from behind him. "How's that lock coming?" The blue masked turtle chose to ignore the comment.
"So what do they want to ooze to do?" Leo asked.
"I wish I knew," Mr. O'Neil replied. It was then Donnie and Mikey came running from around the corner.
"Leo! Raph! They've planted a mutagen bomb downtown. They're gonna use it to disperse ooze over half the city!" Donnie paused for a moment when he saw Mr. O'Neil.
"Oh hi, Mr. O'Neil. Your daughter's really nice." The human could only look at him in confusion.
"Okay, we have to disarm that bomb," Leo said. "If I could just get this stupid door open!" His frustration was beginning to come out.
"Have you tried this?" Mikey asked, pointing to a button on the wall. Unfortunately for the brothers, Mikey pushed it, causing an alarm to go off.
"NO!" all three said. Mikey laughed nervously at what he did.
"That's why no one wants to be with you!" Raph pointed at Mikey.
"Got it!" Leo finally managed to open the door. Mr. O'Neil came out from his cell. "Let's move!" He and Donnie led the human out.
By that time, more Kraang began to follow them, blasters firing. They reached the area where they had entered, hiding behind a bunch of wooden boxes.
"April! Now!" the blue masked turtle called. And the teen heard him, looking down at them.
"Dad!" she called, throwing the rope that she was given earlier down so that they could climb out.
Raph managed to kick a cylinder container at the robots, halting their fire at them for just a moment. One of their blasters went flying and landed in front of Mr. O'Neil. He had another idea than just escaping, and decided to go with it. He got out of Leo's hold.
"Mr. O'Neil, what are you doing!?" Leo called.
He proceeded to pick up the blaster and started firing at the Kraang. "Save my daughter," he told them. "Save the city!"
"Daddy no!" Sadly, April had heard him, and cried out.
"Go! Go!" Leo told his brothers. Donnie followed suit, as well as Mikey and Raph. But before they could climb up the rope, Donnie stopped him.
"We can't just leave him here!" the purple masked turtle said.
"We don't have a choice!" the jinchuriki growled. As much as he didn't want to leave the human behind, there was no other option. Otherwise they could get captured as well. Leo felt sadness overcome his soul, having no clue what to do.
All four of the turtles climbed up, leaving Mr. O'Neil down there with the Kraang. Eventually one of them managed to get a jump on the human, disabling his ability to fight. The robots pointed their guns at him.
"No!" April shouted, as he was led away. She backed away in horror, then proceeded to hug Donnie.
"We'll get him back April, I promise," Donnie reassured her.
"We've gotta go," Leo stated, beginning to run off. "April, head back to the lair. We'll take care of the bomb."
Yet in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think something else.
'I failed him...we were supposed to rescue him, and yet...I couldn't do anything…' (3!)
According to the plans that Donnie viewed while he and Mikey were in the control center, the mutagen bomb was on top of the Wolf Hotel building downtown. And boy, did it look easy to find. A giant container that practically took up almost all of the roof was on top, filled with mutagen. Yet no one seemed to notice it for some reason.
"How stupid can humans in this world be?" the fox asked, particularly to no one.
'You'd be surprised,' was all Leo could answer.
It was then that they decided to take a more stealth based approach before infiltrating the roof. Donnie managed to put together some arrows and attach little gunpowder filled sticks of dynamite in order to aim and fire at the unsuspecting Kraang. Unfortunately there were only three bows, so Leo decided to not use one.
"Kraang, in how many time units known as minutes will the device containing the mutagen that will be spread over the place known as New York, be detonated?" one of the aliens asked.
"Five," the one below the first one answered.
'Five minutes?! We don't have much time!' the turtle thought.
As soon as the second Kraang spoke, an arrow was fired into its head, and thus proceeded to explode. Raph fired one at the Kraang above, hitting the target perfectly. Donnie also managed to get some of the robots on the bomb, and Mikey took it a step further and climbed onto it, shooting any Kraang on top.
However, he didn't notice the Kraang above him, who aimed its gun and got ready to fire. Leo was there in an instant, coming from above and slicing the robot in half. That left all of the Kraang disarmed and disabled for the moment. The blue masked turtle jumped down to his brothers.
"Okay Donnie, it's up to you," he said.
The genius opened a panel that contained a bunch of wires, and they got nervous by their complexity. "Uh oh," the purple masked turtle freaked out.
"'Uh oh?' Donnie, you said you knew how to do this!" Leo said angrily.
"I didn't count on a design this complex Leo!" he said, putting down the panel.
"They're aliens from another dimension!" the jinchuriki retaliated. "What did you expect?! A big round ball with a lit fuse that said 'bomb'?"
"Hehehehe, HAHAHAHAH!" Kurama got a laugh out of that.
"No, but this-" Donnie began, but then was cut off by Raph, who then decided to push Leonardo to the ground.
"Ugh!" the blue masked turtle groaned, hitting the ground. Suddenly, there was a big pressure coming from the back of his head. A massive headache was beginning to form. The turtle clenched his head in agony.
'What's happening…' Leo inwardly moaned. 'It feels like...there's something out there...with strong negative emotions. I don't know...where it's coming from…'
"Your senses are overloading from those emotions," the fox pointed out. "Focus baka! You have to shove them aside! Focus Leonardo!"
He shook his head, trying to focus on something else. Then, the painful headache went away. Leo looked around, but saw no one nearby. He stood up, testing his mobility a little.
'What the heck was that?' he wondered. 'My senses haven't been overloaded ever since I was ten. But this can't be right. No human has that kind of negative energy. And I'm already used to the large amount of negative energy I can sense. So what-'
"I CANNOT WORK WITH ALL THIS PRESSURE!" he heard Donnie yell.
It was then that he felt two presences nearby. Leo looked up and his eyes widened. Standing above them on the framework that held the letters on top of the Wolf Building were Bradford and Xever, Shredder's top henchmen.
(4) "Donnie, you might want to speed it up! We've got company!" Leo yelled, taking out his katanas. Raph and Mikey soon saw the two henchmen, pulled out their weapons, and the three turtles raced off to fight them in order to protect Donnie.
Mikey threw a punch at Xever, but the man just dodged. Then, he lifted Mikey up and threw him to the side. Leo charged at Xever, trying to land a blow. But instead, he had to defend himself as the human tried to kick him in the head.
"You guys picked a really bad time for this!" the blue masked turtle stated. He then pushed Xever away.
"Oh sorry for the inconvenience," the human commented sarcastically. "When would you prefer to breathe your last breath?" He kicked, sending Leo back a little.
"If that thing goes off, it'll wipe us all out!" he growled, anger beginning to course through him.
On the other side, Bradford missed Raph while he swung his sword. "I'd rather perish with honor, than to live in shame!" he stated.
Leo then felt a kick to his stomach, as he noticed that Xever managed to kick both him and Mikey back. He dropped one of his swords, groaning in pain.
'Kurama, if you don't mind! Quickly!'
A tiny bit of red chakra that was barely noticeable to anyone's eyes appeared around his plasteron, healing his stomach area from the kick. Leo caught his breath picking up his other sword.
'Thanks!'
It was then that he noticed Mikey was cornered by Bradford. Silently, Leo came up from behind, ready to strike. But the human saw this, and pushed him back.
"Down to two wires," Leo heard Donnie murmur. "Which do I cut? Black or green?" his hand was shaking with the wire cutters.
"Go for the green!" Mikey yelled, then proceeded to be punched by Bradford.
"I swear, if he actually goes for that wire, I will take your body and kill him," Kurama stated.
The genius turtle contemplated immensely on which one to cut. The timer ticked faster and faster. His hand hovered over the black wire. But then, he changed his mind.
"Eh why not?" he said, and proceeded to cut the green wire.
"We're dead."
But to his surprise, the bomb shut down after Donnie had cut the green wire. He opened his eyes, surprised it didn't explode. He smiled in excitement, turning around to tell his brothers the good news.
"Guys! Guys!" Donnie shouted. "Mikey...was right about something!"
'You were saying?' Leo smirked.
Yet he was distracted long enough to get kicked in the plasteron, causing him to fall over in front of Mikey. It was then that Donnie joined the fight, landing on Bradford's head on one foot, then proceeded to knock him into a pole. After that, he ran over to help Raph.
This gave both turtles enough momentum to push the human back, with Mikey hitting Bradford with his nunchucks. The orange masked turtle then ducked, leaving room for Leo to come charging in and overwhelm him with his two katana. He was able to push Bradford back more, causing him to walk backwards onto a large cable and up onto the bomb.
One one side, Raph and Donnie were cornering Xever, while on the other Leo and Mikey were cornering Bradford. Then, the two henchmen ran into each other in the middle, surrounded on both sides by turtles.
"You are worthy adversaries, but the fight is ours," Leo commented, saying it in a "hero" tone. "Lay down your weapons!" He pointed his katana at Bradford.
"You could just throw them off the building, you know…" the kitsune mentioned.
'KURAMA!'
"What? It gets rid of them. They are your enemy, are they not?"
'Yeah, but it's not honorable to do that!'
"Tch! You and your 'honor.' I'd just kill them is what I do…"
"Never!" Xever said behind Bradford. Said human decided to bring up his sword.
"You don't have a choice," Leo told them. "You've lost."
"If I'm going down…" Bradford began. He then proceeded to look behind him at Xever, then to the tank of mutagen, then to his sword. "I'm taking you with me!"
'Oh no, he's not-!'
But Leo knew it was going to happen, so he stepped away quickly. Bradford plunged his sword into the tank of mutagen, causing the glass to break. Immediately, it gushed out onto the two humans, causing them to fall off of the rooftop, covered in mutagen. Whatever didn't hit them went onto the street below.
"That works too," the fox stated. But unlike Kurama, Leonardo was filled with fear. (4!)
'NO!' he thought in desperation.
Leo ran to the side of the building, mindful to not let any of the mutagen touch his body. He looked over, careful so that no humans would be able to see him. But the turtle could clearly see a large puddle of mutagen at the bottom of the building.
In response, Leo slammed his fist onto the side of the building, a slight audible *crack* was heard. It took a second for him to hear it, and he looked down, seeing that his fist had actually cracked some of the concrete. The turtle pulled his hand away immediately, hoping that his brothers wouldn't notice.
"So within the span of a few hours, we kicked the butts of the Kraang and Shredder's top henchmen, while defusing a bomb, and saving the city," he heard Donnie say.
"Yeah we're not overconfident," Raph commented.
"Dude, we're just that good, yo!" Mikey said.
'HOW CAN THEY BE CELEBRATING?!' was all Leo could think. 'We couldn't rescue April's father, Bradford and Xever are going to mutate into who knows what, the mutagen that came out from the bomb flew off the building and onto the ground below us and probably mutated other people, and-'
The pressure that was on his head earlier suddenly came back, forming another massive headache. Leo stumbled a little. He grabbed his head, eyes closing in pain. The pain was even stronger than before.
'It's back…' he thought. 'And it's right above us!'
Even though his eyes were closed, the turtle pulled out a shuriken and knew where to aim. This surprised his brothers, noticing his withdrawal of one of his weapons. Then, Leo threw it in the direction of the bomb, in which it flew to the top of it. The jinchuriki heard it hit something, most likely metal.
"Your skills are impressive," a deep voice answered.
Leo opened his eyes, now trying to no longer focus on the strong negative emotions. It was then that his eyes widened. For there on top of the disabled bomb was a man clad in armor and dark maroon garments, save for a few areas around his shoulders. On his arms were gauntlets, which appeared to be able to withdraw longer blades at will. But the most noticeable feature was the helmet that he wore on his head, the Kuro Kabuto.
He jumped down in front of the four turtles, blocking their means of escape. "But they will not save you," he finished.
'Oh god...that can't be him...why is he here!?'
(5) The Shredder himself.
Fear coursed through the jinchuriki's veins. This was the source of the pain he had experienced earlier. If one human could emanate that kind of emotions, then he was most certainly dangerous, even by his standards. If he was alone with the Shredder, there was a slight chance that Leo could take him on with his chakra abilities. But here, with his brothers, there was no chance.
"Oh man," Donnie said. It was clear that he was afraid as well. "Do you think that's...the Shredder?"
"Well it's definitely a Shredder," Raph answered, who Leo also noticed had fear masked in his response.
The man jumped down from the ledge, walking towards them. "There is undoubtedly a fascinating story in how my old nemesis came to teach ninjutsu to four mutant turtles. Perhaps I will let one of you live long enough to tell it."
Leo knew they had no other options other than to escape. He knew his brothers couldn't face the Shredder. At this point, he just had to protect them. And if the only thing they could do was escape, that's what they had to do.
"You're gonna have to catch us first!" Leo sneered. "Mikey." His youngest brother held up a smoke bomb.
"So long suckah!" Mikey boasted.
He then proceeded to throw the smoke bomb at the ground. Only...there was no smoke. Or rather, the only thing that came out of it was an actual egg yoke. Leo looked in horror. His brother had used up all of the smoke bombs! The three turtles turned to the youngest in fear.
"Oops," Mikey stated. "Alright, that one's on me…" he said the last part shakily.
Immediately, the Shredder unleashed his blades from his gauntlets, and charged towards them. Raph went first, dodging the first blow, sais clashing with the human's metal blades. The red masked turtle managed to avoid a kick, and noticed an opening. He jabbed his sai forward, only for it to be blocked. The two glared at each other for a moment, until the Shredder kicked Raph away, and into the "O" of the Wolf Building sign, electrocuting the turtle.
"Raph!" Leo called, very concerned for his brother, who was now on the ground, burnt.
While he was watching his brother fall to the ground, Shredder came towards him. Leo was able to dodge. He took the offensive, trying to hit the human with his katana. But this barely if at all worked, and the turtle soon had to turn to defensive postures, blocking attacks quickly. But he was then hit in the plasteron by a fist, sending him to the ground.
His katanas fell out of his hands to his side, but before Leo could grab them, Shredder kicked his plasteron again, right where the seal for Kurama was underneath his shell. His body was sent sliding across the rooftop, eyes closed and nearly losing consciousness.
"Leo!" he heard Donnie call him. The jinchuriki felt his brother place a hand on his shoulder, but it was gone afterward, as Donnie went to attack Shredder.
'I'm sorry...Kurama but...do you mind...healing me again…?'
Red chakra formed around his plasteron, healing the area that was injured in an instant. Leo got up slowly, checking to make sure it was okay. He nodded to himself, silently thanking his tailed beast friend. It was then that he noticed that Shredder was currently distracted by seeing Mikey go over the side of the building.
"Grab your katanas and sneak up on him!" Kurama mentioned.
The blue masked turtle did just that, quietly running forward and taking up his swords. However before he could land a major blow, Shredder managed to notice him in time, yet from the look in the human's eyes, he was quite surprised that the turtle was able to get up. This led him to hesitate, and Leo managed to get a blow on him. Donnie soon followed after him, managing to stun Shredder for a moment.
He jumped into the air, blades ready to swing downward. But he couldn't strike, as the Shredder caught him in the air and threw him aside. Leo immediately went into defensive mode, blocking attacks left and right. Then he noticed Donnie sneaking up behind Shredder, and proceeded to slam his Bo staff into the human. Yet this didn't work, and Donnie's staff snapped in half.
"Ahh!" the purple masked turtle cried out, as Shredder grabbed him and threw him aside onto Leo.
The jinchuriki took the brunt of the force, his swords flying off to the sides of him. Once they stopped moving, he checked his chest, feeling a bit of pain when he moved.
'Oh just great,' he thought. 'If one of my ribs is broken, then we're done for!'
Yes, Kurama could heal him, but it took a much longer time to heal broken bones than bruises and cuts. At least an hour. Now, they didn't have an hour. Not with the Shredder here. Speaking of which, the armored human stood over them, blades unsheathing from his gauntlet. He was about to strike, however at that moment, Raph came down from above, tackling Shredder and punching as hard as he could. These were to no avail, as he was thrown off.
Before Shredder could strike him, Mikey's Kusarigama chain came down and wrapped around the human's arm. The orange masked turtle jumped from where he was standing, which in turn pulled Shredder up. Once Mikey was low enough, he let go of the chain as it latched onto the metal frame.
"Urraahh!" Shredder cried out, as a popping sound from his arm was heard, possibly dislocated.
But this didn't stop him, as he sliced the chain in half with his gauntlet. Unfortunately that also led to the "W" in the sign being sliced, half of it falling to the ground. Mikey couldn't get out of the way in time, as the sign fell on him. All three turtles turned in horror as they saw their youngest brother disappear underneath it.
'MIKEY!' Leo thought desperately.
He, as well as Raph and Donnie, ran over to help their brother. Each of them got on one side, hands getting underneath and pulling upward. With their combined teamwork, they managed to lift it up enough for Mikey to crawl out. Sparks began to fly out of the destroyed sign, landing on Shredder, as well as Leo, who flinched every time a spark hit his body.
They were at a standstill. The blue masked turtle glanced at his brothers, now seeing the full extent of their injuries. All of them had bruises and very noticeable cuts. Mikey having bruises on his arms. Donnie had one on his head. Raph was struggling to stay up, after being electrocuted earlier.
At last the four turtles launched themselves at Shredder…
But the brothers were no match for him. He punched Raph aside. Kicked and punched Donnie. Then punched Mikey. The three of them hit the ground, losing consciousness.
'NO!' Leo thought it horror, as he saw the beaten and bloodied bodies of his brothers lying in front of him.
It was only Leonardo left standing in front of Shredder. Unfortunately, the human was much faster, and struck the turtle in the chest. Leo may have blocked some of it with his katana, but the blow still injured him, and thus made him fall onto his knees. He clenched his plasteron in pain, gritting his teeth.
Then, he was grabbed and pinned against the disabled bomb by Shredder. Leo groaned in agony, barely aware of his surroundings anymore. That is, until the human stabbed his blades into the metal, between Leonardo's neck. The turtle flinched in fear.
"Tell me where Splinter is and I promise your demise will be swift," Shredder spoke.
As he did, a hidden third blade emerged from his gauntlet, and came very close to touching his throat. Leo moved his head slightly to avoid the blade. When he did, he saw his brothers, gravely injured and unconscious.
'My brothers…no...they can't be...'
Something began to well up inside of him. Sadness. Fear. Horror. But most of all...Hatred. Hatred for the one in front of him who caused this much harm to his family. Hatred for all the pain that Shredder had caused his father in the past. His rage increased tenfold, letting it consume him.
And Leonardo broke.
His eyes widened, pupils becoming red and slitted. Whisker marks formed on his face. Leo's teeth became fangs. The ends of his fingers sprouted claws. And, worst of all, an eerie red chakra bubbled up from the seal on his stomach, covering him entirely. The chakra formed ears over his head, and a small, yet long tail formed.
Kurama knew what was happening, and he tried to stop it immediately.
"Oi! Oi! Baka! Stop taking my chakra!" the fox shouted. "You're going to go out of control at this rate!" But the turtle didn't hear him. He was too consumed by hatred and rage to pay attention. It was then that the nine-tailed fox was becoming concerned for his jinchuriki. The fox's eyes widened.
"Leonardo!" Kurama shouted. No answer. The fox was becoming very worried. This was bad. "LEONARDO!"
On the outside, the Shredder looked at the jinchuriki for the first time in such a long time since he felt it, fear. This wasn't no ordinary turtle. No, this was a demon in mortal form. He raised his other gauntlet in order to deliver the killing blow. Until, he heard ragged breathing behind him.
Thankfully, Leo heard it too, and the chakra cloak dissipated, as well as his markings. Shredder had dropped him, and he saw a horrific sight in front of him. A giant red fish, covered in mutagen.
"Help...me…!" the thing reached its arm towards them. Leo recognized that voice as Xever. He had mutated into a fish. Then, he noticed behind him was a rather large, mutant dog of the Inu variety. And the turtle had a feeling that was Bradford.
"What is this?!" Shredder asked.
But this was the chance that Leo was going to take to escape. He grabbed his three brothers and began to carry them away, despite his body protesting in pain. Leo had to get them out of here, otherwise they could remain unconscious for a while. Or worse...die.
"Xever? Bradford?" Shredder stated. By then, he turned around, and noticed that Leonardo, as well as his brothers, were gone from sight.
"NOOOOO!" (5!)
By that time, Leo was already in the sewers, carrying his brothers toward the lair. He knew no one was following him from him sensing the area around him. But that wasn't what concerned him the most.
He remembered. Remembered losing control of himself while his brothers remained unconscious. Shredder had seen his secret. Now, there was someone out there that knew.
Tears began to roll down his face. Leo cried quietly as his younger family members slept on. Because on that night, the turtle knew that he had let himself lose control, and he became a demon as a result.
(6) Somehow, he managed to carry his brothers home, where a very anxious April and Master Splinter were waiting. They helped treat their wounds first, as Leo insisted for them to help his brothers first. Once they were done, Master Splinter treated his eldest son.
As expected, the turtle had a broken rib. So he was now lying down on the couch, resting. Leo had a few lesser injuries, but other than the broken rib, there was nothing else serious. He would ask Kurama to help heal it slowly, so that way his family wouldn't notice.
The three younger turtles woke up a half an hour later, as Leo was recounting what had happened that night. From the failed attempt of rescuing Mr. O'Neil to their encounter with the Shredder. Of course, he left out the part of himself nearly going out of control. But the story remained true.
Each turtle looked down. Even April was hugging her knees, saddened by the fact that they couldn't rescue her father. Donnie was looking at her in concern. Farther away, Raph shoved the arcade machine to the side in anger, in which after he sat down in frustration. Leo sighed, as Splinter approached them.
"You were all very lucky," the rat master told them.
"Well, I think we define that word differently, Sensei," Raph stated.
"Few have ever faced the Shredder and survived," Master Splinter answered, explaining why they were lucky.
"He was just so fast," Mikey said.
"It was like he was everywhere at once," Donnie commented. Leo sighed, hating the words he was about to say.
"You were right about us being over confident, Sensei," Leo whispered, careful to not hurt his rib further. "There are just some things we're not ready for…"
Splinter rested his hand on Leonardo's shoulder. "Perhaps," he answered. Leo groaned as he felt his chest move. "Rest my son. Your injuries are graver than your brothers. You may rest now."
The turtle closed his eyes, entering his mindscape. He had to do something first before he could rest. Leo opened his eyes and found himself in front of the bars that held back Kurama. The fox saw him and came up to the bars. That was when he saw Leo kneeling in front of him, hands on the ground. Kurama was shocked.
"I'm sorry…" Leo whispered. Were those tears?
"I'm so, so sorry...I didn't mean to use your power. I didn't mean to take it! I just...I just…" He couldn't say anymore. The tears fell faster.
Suddenly, Kurama wrapped one of his orange tails around Leo. "It's okay kid," the fox said. "Just let it out…" And Leonardo wailed and cried like a lost child.
"I'm just glad that you did not lose yourself completely," Kurama continued. "But...he now knows something about you. Not quite everything, but he knows something…"
"But that no longer matters," Splinter was heard on the outside. "It is clear now that the Shredder is a problem that will not go away."
"The rat is correct. You will have to face him again in the future."
"So prepare yourselves, my sons," Splinter spoke.
"Shishigami and I will help you prepare for what's to come next," the fox said.
"Because as of this moment…"
"Because starting now…"
"We are at War." (6!)
Jutsu Corner
Body Flicker Technique: Smoke is used to mask a ninja's movement (It's not exactly teleportation, even though it's called Teleportation Jutsu, it's just like a smoke bomb. Flying Thunder God Technique is more so teleportation)
Author's Note
That's the end of chapter 8! Yee!
Sorry this took so long. I was working on this but I barely had time. Now that I'm forced to stay home for about three weeks because of the virus, I can now write! XD
Ahhh, Leo goes into Version 1 mode! Yes, it's only one tail for now, but he was able to do it! And not only that, but Shredder knows something. He doesn't know exactly what it is, but he knows something about it now! When I first envisioned this chapter, that scene was the first thing I thought of.
Speaking of which, this chapter comes from "The Gauntlet" episode, which is one of my favorite episodes. The turtles meet Shredder for the first time, and get defeated miserably. But they come back quickly of course.
Also, I've gone back and broken up the paragraphs in previous chapters. This is so that it's easier to read character dialogue. Hope that fixes issues.
Lastly, tell me what you guys think! I love reviews! They keep me going and let me know you guys enjoy this story!
Until next time, See Ya Universe!
Palkia