The Mutant Ninja Turtles
Donatello's Biography: Part 3
By B.C.
Donatello stopped typing as he heard Michelangelo and Raphael coming down the stairs. From his desk Donatello could hear both of them breathing heavily from sparing. Michelangelo headed towards his room and shouted something to Raphael, but Donatello couldn't hear what it was. Raphael replied "Hold on a sec." and then came closer to Donatello.
"How's it goin'?" Raphael asked.
"Actually it's going good. What's Mikey doing?" he asked as he heard the sound of objects being thrown about from Michelangelo room.
"He's gettin' dressed. He's gunna go to Aurilio's and get some pizza. You want anythin'?"
"Nah, I'm okay." Replied Donatello, now feeling a little more relaxed knowing that Michelangelo was leaving. It wasn't that Don didn't like Mikey, but he knew Mikey would make jokes about what he was doing, and he just wasn't up for it. Raphael took another moment to catch up on what Donatello had written.
"Nice but…I gotta question."
"Oh yeah?" asked Donatello.
"How da ya know what they said? I mean, we all heard Splinter's story a hundred times, but I don't remember Splinter gettin' inta dialogue."
"Oh that. Well, I got it from Splinters diary."
"Oh that's right. I almost forgot about that book. So, you mean you've read the whole thing?"
"Most of it. Leo read all of it."
"Yeah, he would." Raph said with a bit of a laugh.
"You should read it too. There are a lot of things that master Splinter never mentioned."
"Like what?"
"Like his father for example. Do you ever remember him even mentioning his father?" Raph shook his head. "Splinter's father's name was Hamato Genma. He owned a dojo in Japan, and he was known for his expertise in the martial arts. That's really where master Splinter got his reputation from. Genma's dojo was very big and he trained lots of students. Unfortunately, however, that would turn out to be his down fall. Genma didn't know, but many of his students became members of the Foot, and because they were so well taught in the martial arts they quickly rose to the top ranks and became some of the first leaders of the foot."
Raph looked a little stunned. This was new and important information to him, and he was quite intrigued.
"It wasn't long before the Foot realized that the greatest soldiers came from the Hamato dojo, so they sent a group of Foot soldiers to the dojo in hopes of persuading Genma to teach exclusively for the Foot. Genma, realizing that he had trained criminals, refused their offer and tried to kill them for their betrayal. Sadly, there were just too many. They killed Genma and burned the dojo.
"Where was Splinter?!"
"When this happened, master Splinter was only nineteen, and he was away at college when he heard the news."
"Dat's why he became a kage ninja for the Japanese government isn't it?"
"That's right. He wanted the case against the Foot. He wanted to get revenge for his father. Splinter once told me that his father, Genma, had a katana named kazuku no ha or the family's blade that his father gave to him in order to remind him of his priorities. In honor of his father Genma focused on his family and their well being, raising Yoshi and Kaori with love and respect. The blade also served as a symbol to our master Yoshi, to remind him of his priorities; revenge. Since he became a shadow ninja, he named his katana ka'ge no ha; shadows blade, and that is why Leo renamed the blade…"
"To hukushu no ha." Said Raphael. They both kind of paused as though to absorb what all had just been said. All these unknown motives and secrets thought Donatello. He thought it sad that they should discover this only after Splinter's passing. Raphael looking a little uneasy about the path of the conversation said "Well, I'll leave you to your typin'. Oh, do you want anythin' from Aurilio's?"
"Nah, I'm not that hungry."
"You sure?"
"Well…get me a large deep dish with all the veggies and don't forget the garlic bread."
"You got it. We'll be back in a few."
"Later!" said Donatello.
"Alright! Let's do this! I am so hungry!" Michelangelo said as he came booming out of his room dressed in a large coat and a 1920's style hat that always made Leo laugh, and they both left the room. Donatello breathed deep and cleared his mind once again, and began typing once more:
Master Yoshi laid there holding his breath for fear that the deep cut in his throat may tare. My days are done, he thought, I can't wait to see Kohaku again. Then suddenly he heard a noise coming from the door. He came back, Yoshi thought, he knows I'm alive and wants to finish me off. Yoshi gathered his strength for another blow, ready to strike until he heard a familiar voice.
"Yoshisan!" Dr. Tofu said as he knelled in front of Yoshi's blood covered body. "Don't move!" he whispered in Yoshi's ear. He then reached into his large black bag and began pulling everything out. He injected Yoshi with pain killers and sedatives, and then got a wide butter knife from the kitchen, heated it over the stove, and used it to cauterize the throat wound. The pain was so intense for Yoshi that he passed out.
It was still night when Yoshi woke up and he was no longer at home. Dr. Tofu was still bandaging and stitching him. Yoshi could not talk so he motioned for a pad and pen. After Dr. Tofu gave it to him, he asked in writing "Why did you show up with a black bag full of surgical tools?"
"Tang Shen called and asked if I could stop by and look at Kohaku's cut. She mentioned that it may need stitches so I thought I should just grab my black bag and head over" replied Dr, Tofu. Thank God Yoshi thought. He then told Dr. Tofu the whole story. Only a few hours had passed since Dr. Tofu found Yoshi at the house, and they both new if Shredder ever discovered Yoshi's survival he would come back. The hospital would not be safe and now that Dr Tofu had helped, Shredder may kill him as well. The two of them quickly devised a plan. Dr. Tofu new someone who worked at a near by medical research center. Dr. Tofu was going to call in a BIG favor. The man from the research cent and Dr. Tofu stole a cadaver and planted it at the dojo. Dr. Tofu, although not a dentist, switched teeth between Yoshi and the experimental body, so the dental records would match. Yoshi wondered if this was similar to what Shredder had done to fake his death. They then set Yoshi's dojo on fire and watched it burn to the ground. The thought crossed Yoshi's mind that in a way he had become his father. Only he had lost his son. By morning it was over.
According to the authorities Yoshi, Tang Shen, and Kohaku Hamato were all killed by a fire. Only Dr. Tofu, Miss. Akane Hibiki, and Jubei Tsunoda new the truth and they were all willing to help. Yoshi planned to stay out of sight and live underground until he regained his strength. Even though he left all his money to Dr. Tofu, he could not live with him for pride. Dr. Tofu rebuilt the dojo in honor of Tang Shen and Kohaku, and Yoshi was pleased by this, although, he dared not go there for the risk of Foot spies. Yoshi built a nice home directly under the dojo and patiently waited for his strength to return. But it never did.
The broken bones never healed right from lack of proper hospital care and Yoshi's voice never regained it's richness from the large scar that lay across his neck. He knew he would never be able to defeat Shredder in combat for he now needed a stick just to walk. This created a feeling of despair and helplessness in Yoshi. He soon became a hermit, and as the months went by he visited his friends less and less until he stopped surfacing altogether. They all worried about him, but they knew there was little they could do. This was Yoshi's curse. He would have to find a way to cope with it, so for a time Yoshi lived with the rats in the sewers. Oddly enough, in that he found a form of peace.
One day while looking for food in unexplored areas of the sewers, he stumbled upon four box shelled turtles that were covered in some green, almost glowing, slime. Yoshi picked them up with his hands that were cut and rough from the long months of crawling through the sewers, and took them to his underground home. He placed them in a small box and decided that they would be his new pets. Yoshi fed them and cleaned them. He noticed that the green slime that was almost glowing before had now disappeared. He decided it was not worth worrying about and laid down to rest. As he felt himself drifting into slumber, he began to ponder names for his new friends. Perhaps something European he thought just before he lost consciousness.
To be continued…
Author: I am terrible sorry for the delay of the third chapter. I would like to thank you for your reviews and questions, and I hope I answered some of them in this installment. Once again, if you read this please review whether your opinion is positive or negative for criticism is always welcome. Thank you again.