Finally, new chapter up! Sorry it took so long, I have this bad habit of screwing up computers and managed to do it again, losing most of this chapter in the process. So it's been rewritten. For those of you following 'It Had To Be Blue', I should have the epilogue up at some time over the weekend (I lost that too, must learn how to back up my work!). And if you're into my stuff, I have a new one-shot out called 'Alone', which is very angsty and not like anything else I've written before.
Incidentally, I have decided to lower the rating, I think I was playing it a little too safe with the 'M'. I may raise it again depending on what happens in later chapters. Hit the review button on your way out and let me know if you think it was the right decision, and what you thought of the new chapter!
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Mikey had been going insane trying to work out what to do. It was three days since he had spoken to the prisoner and he had barely been able to think of anything else. On several occasions he had thought of speaking to his brothers, but had decided against it - they still tended to think of him as the goofball, the naive one and they wouldn't take his concerns seriously. Even though he hadn't been especially prone to practical jokes in the last few years.
Staring at the ceiling had achieved nothing but further frustration and eventually he had decided to go see if anyone wanted to hang out. Not his brothers. He didn't think he could face them with the concerns he had floating around in his mind. Instead he had challenged Kino to a Mortal Kombat tournament, which the Foot ninja had eagerly accepted. They were still playing and shouting at the pixilised images on the screen two hours later and Mikey had finally managed to forget about the prisoner in favour of putting all his concentration into becoming Grand Supreme Champion Of All Time.
"Oh, you are SO dead!" Kino hammered on the buttons, trying desperately to force his character to escape a barrage of punches.
Doesn't look like that to me dude!" Mikey smirked, his entire attention on the screen. "Watch this - fatality!"
"No!" Kino tried again to make the unresponsive character fight back, cursing under his breath as on screen, blood began to fly - then a shout from outside distracted them both. Kino stood and went to look outside while Mikey watched curiously.
"What's going on?" asked Kino to someone Mikey couldn't see. The turtle dropped the keypad to the floor and stood, the euphoria he had felt at winning the game draining away and leaving only a bad feeling that something was amiss.
"What's happening?"
Kino turned back to Mikey, looking pale. "Yuriko's hurt. She went out with one of the others and she came back alone and she's bleeding all over the place. . . "
Mikey ran for the door, yanked it wide and raced down the corridor, Kino in hot persuit. It took them less than three minutes to reach the medical unit, where there were four kunoichi fussing around a prone figure on the bed. Mikey pushed past them, took a look at his friend and winced. A woman was holding a sodden piece of fabric to Yuriko's stomach but it was soaked with blood and Yuriko was gasping for every breath.
""Kino, go get the doc!"
""He's not here," said the kunoichi by the bed, eyes wide in panic. "Mari went looking for him, he's not anywhere. . ."
"Oh shit!" Mike grabbed the fabric from her and tried to stem the bleeding himself. "Go get Donnie."
"But. . ."
"Just GO!"
Both Kino and the kunoichi fled the room and Mikey looked around for something new to hold to the wound. Whatever the blood-soaked rag used to be, it was as good as useless now. "Hang on Yuri. You're gonna be fine, Donnie'll patch you right up, you'll be just fine. . ."
Yuriko opened her eyes. "You're babbling," she whispered, then coughed.
"Don't try to talk," said Mikey, spying a roll of gauze in the corner and grabbing it. Not substantial, but it would have to do. Why didn't he know anything about medicine? Why couldn't he have mastered some form of first aid in case something like this happened?
"I screwed up. . ."
"Stop trying to talk!" Mikey looked up at a woman stood nervously by the door. "What happened?"
"We're not sure - she just came back like this! It was supposed to be easy, there were two of them - she's been shot, I don't. . ."
There was a commotion further down the corridor and Donnie came bursting through the doors. Mikey might not have wanted to see his brothers that night but right then he had never been so glad to see anyone in his life.
"Oh my. . ." Donnie made his way to the bed and grabbed the gauze out of Mikey's hand, taking a look at the wound before meeting his brothers eyes and shaking his head. There was nothing that could be done for her.
But it wasn't in Donnie's nature just to give up.
"I need to know her blood type - you, go and check it out on the computer," he said, indicating to the woman by the door. "Mikey, kep applying pressure to the wound. Right, I'm gonna need. . ."
"No."
Both turtles turned to the door to see Master Saki standing there, arms folded as he surveyed the scene.
"Everyone, leave." Saki's voice brooked no argument and the remaining kunoichi silently exited. Don and Mikey exchanged looks but reluctantly made to follow them.
"Not you two."
Saki barely looked at them as he walked over to the bed and looked down at Yuriko. "What happened?"
"Master - he knew we were coming. . . had a gun and . . . killed the others. I'm sorry Master. . ."
Saki's expression didn't change. Mikey had kept hold of the compress when Sensei had told them to remain but he had a feeling it was a futile gesture. He wasn't going to let them even try to save her.
"I won't fail you again. . ."
"No. You won't." Saki raised his right hand high and Mikey felt a kind of helpless anger as he realised his Sensei had the claw that made up part of his armour covering his hand, the same claw that had given Mikey his scars. He bit down a yell and saw Donnie close his eyes as Master Saki buried the prongs in Yuriko's throat.
Saki went back to the door and glanced outside, a Foot ninja appearing from the shadows. "Get rid of this. And summon Leonardo. This insult cannot be tolerated."
The ninja bowed and vanished from sight, Saki turning back to the two horrified turtles. "There is no strength in compassion. She dishonoured the Clan and could not have been saved.You may leave now."
"Y-yes Sensei," said Donnie, remembering to bow before hurrying from the room. Mikey imitated his brother but his mind wasn't in the moment and he could only hope his Master didn't notice or didn't care. He kept seeing the flash as the light caught the twin blades, the weak spray of blood as the last of his friends life left her.
Kino was waiting for him at the end of the corridor and Mikey barely noticed as Donnie used the distraction to leave without him, not a word exchanged between them from the moment they left the med bay. It was obvious that Kino could read Mikey's expression; his face dropping.
"Is she. . . "
"Yeah." Mikey didn't bother with the whole story. He was too heartsick and beside, the whole thing made a kind of gruesome sense. Yuriko hadn't been going o live and Master Saki had put her out of her misery. If only he could convince himself that Sensei had done it for those reasons and not as some kind of lesson to those who would fail him. Making his way to his own room, Mikey sat on the bed, knees drawn up to his plastron, letting his thoughts go where they would instead of his usual habit of trying to convince himself that everything would work out for the best and that he needed to stay optimistic. He was sick of optimism. The worst always seemed to happen.
Conusion and sorrow were foremost in his mind, the sght of Yuriko's death mixing with the memories of the day he received his own scars, his Sensei's words overlapping with those of the prisoner. There seemed to be nothing that Master Saki wouldn't do to get his own way, maim, murder - and on top of that, it suddenly occured to him that killing the Foot would serve only to enrage Saki further and that if he had summoned Leo, then he might have plans to send his brother after a man capable of taking out two of the kunoichi. They had been young and pretty inexperienced, but if they had been taken out then the hit wasn't as simple as they had initially believed and Leo might be in trouble. For a few seconds Mike considered shadowing his brother but knew that Leo would be long gone by now. Shit. If something happened to Leo tonight, Mikey vowed he would kill Sensei himself.
It was about half an hour later that Raph burst into the room, still not having bothered to learn to knock. Mike barely noticed, too wrapped up in his own troubles to pay much attention.
"Mikey! Earth to Mikey!" Raph waved a three-fingered hand in front of his brothers face. "What's going on? Master Saki sent Leo out for something and Donnie locked himself in the lab and there's something going on with the Foot and you look like you just saw a ghost. . . Mike? What's wrong?"
"I hate him."
"Uh, who?"
"Saki. I fucking hate him."
Raph blinked at the venom obvious in Mikey's low voice. "What's been going on around here?"
Mikey sighed and glanced up at his brother, who was giving him a look of genuine concern. "Yuriko was out tonight and the guy got the drop on her - she's dead. I don't even know who else went out wth her, but they didn't come back. Saki sent Leo out to finish the job."
"He sent Leo?" Raph wasn't happy at the news for a number of reasons - he felt worried, sure, but Leo could handle himself. There was a flare of jealousy that Sensei had picked his brother for the job instead of him. But mostly he was confused. A death in the Clan was enough to get Mikey depressed, especially when it had been one of his friends, but why a screw-up by them had Mikey blaming Sensei didn't make sense. Mikey was a peacemaker, more likely to try to see Master Saki's side than condemn him for things. Even the day he got hurt, he refused to blame Sensei. Hostile Mikey was something new and unwelcome.
"Yeah, he sent Leo." Mikey stared into the mid-distance and paused for a moment. "Yuri wasn't dead when she got back here. Saki killed her. Because she screwed up."
Raph winced and rested a placating hand on his brothers shell. "She might have been dying anyway. . ."
"She was. I was there, me and Donnie, trying to save her. I mean, we knew there was no chance in hell, but we had to try. But Saki said she dishonoured the Clan."
A lesson from Sensei. Raph narrowed his eyes. No wonder Mike was so upset, he had always hated this kind of thing. It wasn't the first time that one of the Foot had been punished too harshly for a transgression as a lesson to the rest of them, but Raph never got used to it. He respected his Sensei, but every time something like this happened he could feel something inside him rebel. He didn't want to live in fear, didn't want any of them to have to have the constant knowledge that getting away with their lives might not be enough if their Sensei was displeased. But he knew better than to question Saki's motives.
It was times like this when he wondered if he should just blow town one night, how far he could get before the Foot stopped following. And if any of his brothers would be willing to come with him, if even asking them could mean an immediate report to Master Saki about his plans.
"That's not all. . ." Mikey hesitated, as if unsure of whether to go on. Raph tried to beat down his anger, but it was hard and getting harder every time he thought of the poor kid who died that night.
"What else?" Raph sat on the other end of the bed and forcibly restrained himself from pulling out his sun and moon daggers. Having them in his hands always seemed to focus him on the matters at hand. But that was only likely to get Mikey more worried and he might clam up altogether, wanting to keep the fragile peace that existed for them in the Clan. Damn, he hated having to show restraint. "What is it?"
Michelangelo rubbed the cheek where his scars ended and briefly wondered if he was making a mistake. But he had to tell someone what had happened in solitary, or he was going to lose his mind thinking about it. And he didn't have enough to lose any more. The weak joke couldn't make him smile.
"Mikey?"
With a sigh, Mikey stopped debating and told his brother everything.
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"We need Donnie's help," insisted Raph stubbornly. He had relaxed slightly when he heard Mikey's story. Some guy in high security knew their names and had decided to screw with him. It explained why Mikey was so agitated about recent events though; he would fall for anything and if it had been playing on his mind no wonder Yuriko's death and Saki's actions had hit him so hard.
Still, though he didn't want to admit it, something about Mikey's story had got him curious. Some guy they had no idea about down there who claimed to know something about their past. He had to speak to this person at least once, find out if he was just messing with Mikey's head or if he really did know anything about them. And he wouldn't put it past Master Saki to edit the truth about how they were really found - assuming they really were found and not just part of one of the odd experimens that their Sensei sanctioned on occasion. Raph had suspected as much from time to time but had rejected the idea - the four of them were too normal. Sensei would almost certainly have wanted them stronger or more agile or somthing, not just humanoid turtles.
But to get into the high security area without a reason, they would need help. They might be ninja but there were cameras all over that part of the buildnig and no places to hide easily. Mikey had managed it the one time through chance but Raph knew enough about the turtle luck not to rely on it happening again. They needed someone to come up with a way they could get to that corridor and the brother who always seemed to come up with something was Donnie. And Raph didn't think Leo would appove of sneaking around without Sensei's knowledge. Best if they didn't let him know what they were planning.
But Mikey was reluctant to entrust another brother with his secret, pointing out how distant Donnie had been of late and how he would probably scoff at the idea of a prisoner knowing anything about their past. Raph had his work cut out trying to talk him into going along with it, even when he conceded that it was the only way they would get near the prisoner undetected.
"He won't help us," said Mikey stubbornly when all his other arguments had run out.
"Don't know 'til we ask him," replied Raph, realising he was on the verge of winning. Mikey was close to just giving up and letting Raph take over.
"He might go and ask Master Saki. Then I'm in trouble."
"You know he won't, he wouldn't want you to catch any flack. Come on Mikey, we'll never find out if we don't get Don to help."
"Don't know why you care," muttered Mikey. "You think he's conning me."
"I want to know for sure. And so do you. Come on!" Raph went to the door and gave Mikey an expectant look. Mikey mentally threw in the towel, sighed and followed him off to Donnie's room.
On reflection, thought Raph, it had probably been the best time to tell Donnie about what Mikey saw in high security. Of the four brothers Donnie was the one who hated unnecessary violence the most, believing in fighting as a last resort and deliberate killing as reprehensible. He would never question his Sensei's motives out loud, but Raph thought that Donnie had cut himself off to justify Master Saki's actions in a way he could live with in solitude. If Donnie didn't like what Sensei had done it might just put him in the mood for a little rebellion.
"Donnie! Hey, Donnie!" Raph hammered on the door. "Open up!"
Just when he thought he was being ignored, Donnie opened the door and peered out. "What is it? I'm busy here!"
"You're gonna wanna hear this." Raph pushed his way past Don, followed by a reluctant Mikey.
Donnie listened to Mikey's words with growing incredulity. "Wait. You're telling me that some guy told you a story and you swallowed it? Mikey, we know the Foot killed everyone in the lab we were rescued from. And even if someone did survive, why would Master Saki keep him alive all these years? He's just messing with your head."
"I knew you wouldn't believe me." Mikey crossed his arms and glared. "But you weren't there, you didn't hear him."
"There's one way we can find out for sure," said Raph, spinning a dagger around a finger. "But we need you to do something creative to the cameras."
Donnie shook his head. "I can't just disable them, there's always someone in control and they'd notice that for sure."
"So there's nothing you can do?"
"I didn't say that." Donnie went over to his computer and began typing rapidly. "I've done this before a few times. I can adjust the cameras so that they show the footage from this time yesterday instead of today - there! See, it looks the same because no one ever goes there unless they need to but it's not what the cameras are seeing now, so we should - "
"Donnie, whatever!" Raph put the dagger away and made for the door, too impatient to wait any longer. "You two coming or what?"
"Well, I would like to know more about Mikey's prisoner," replied Donnie. "But we have to be careful that no one realises we've vanished from the cameras. And I daren't leave the loop on too long in case it's noticed."
"Sitck to the shadows, away from the cameras. Don't stay all night. Gotcha."
Mikey followed the pair, one thing bugging him. "So Donnie - why have you been messing with the cameras anyway? What do you do that you don't want Sensei knowing about, huh?"
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Leonardo watched the target as he threw cases into the back of an SUV. He had to go back into his house and make several trips becausse only one hand was being used for the cases, the other carrying a gun. Leo didn't know much about guns, disliking the weapon because it lacked the finesse of a true warriors tool, but he thought it was a mach 10, a semi-automatic. it would explain how the guy could take out two kunoichi before they could land a blow on him.
The background on the target was breif but adequate. He was a politician, single, no kids, no girlfriends. Several weeks ago he had been part of a vote that was related to prevention and punishment of gang activity in New York. Master Saki had wanted the vote to go in their favour and the target had no simple weaknesses. For others they convinced to see things their way it was easy; a few photos of the wife or kids and the realisation that they could have been shot with something other than a camera. Or other kinds of photos, the kind that no one with a career in the public eye would want to see in the tabloids. Fear was a powerful tool. So was greed, but it hadn't worked so well with this target, who had taken the bribe offered by the Foot and not done as they asked. Master Saki had ordered the target terminated, but what should have been a simple matter had gone to hell.
Silently, blending int othe shadows in the well-manicured driveway, Leo crept forward. The target had no idea he was there, but he was obviously on edge, expecting something, throwing looks around as if he was about to catch someone sneaking up on him. The gun was clutched tightly in his grasp and Leo half-expected to see the guy shoot himself in the leg. The house was far away from its neighbours and the nearest lit window was far up the street but Leo took no chances, not with somehting like this. This was important, a matter of personal pride and his clans honour.
The guy returned to the car with another case, threw it in and slammed the door. Just what Leo had been waiting for. Stealthily he made his way forward and was behind the target as he inserted the keys into the drivers side door.
"Boo."
The target gave a strangled yell and half-turned, raising the gun far too slowly to save himself. With a graceful motion, Leo pulled a double-bladed sword from its scabbard and swung at the guys neck, almost severing it with the force of the blow, neatly sidestepping the spray of blood from the severed artery. He was back in the shodows before the body hit the ground.
There was very little satisfaction in completing a job like this one. He was proud that it had gone off without a hitch and that he hadn't let down his Sensei by letting the guy slip away before retribution could be gained. And it was payback for the kunoichi of course. But Leo didn't enjoy the act of assassination itself. Felling opponants in battle carried more honour than waiting in the shadows for a guy whos idea of training was a half hour on the treadmill and some heavy duty time under the sunbed, even if he was armed and had killed. But assassination was a part of a ninjas life. This wasn't Feudal Japan, it was New York City and some of their work had to be more hidden than other parts.
The first thing he had to do was give a full report of the evenings events to his Sensei. After that, he would see if his brothers were still awake - there was no reason they shouldn't be, all of them preferred the night hours. After something like this he wanted to get back to normal, reassure himself that everything was right in his life. And if Mikey and Donnie had been unsuccessful trying to save Yuriko, as Sensei had told him, they might need some cheering up. Someone had once told him that the four of them needed to be there for each other always - who had that been? Probably Master Saki. It didn't matter anyway, Leo had always tried to look out for his brothers in his own way and he wanted to make sure they weren't too depressed. Raph might be out with the Dragons though.
If there was one decision of Master Saki's that Leo disapproved of, it was allowing Raph to run around with the Dragons. Raph needed to blow off steam from time to time but the Dragons were nothing but street thugs, useful to the Foot after a fashion but not indespensible. He thought Raph would be better served remaining in the skyscraper and training rather than hanging about with Hun. It was his opinion that if the four of them were to spend more time training together they could be a team as good as the Elite Guard and that would be an honour. But they had grown too far apart in recent years. Maybe it was time he pitched the idea to them, talk them into it.
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"Down here, right at the end." Mikey's voice was subdued.
"Jeez, are they saving on electric or something?" Raph muttered as he observed the dimmed lights.
"I suspect it's to inspire an oppressive atmosphere," said Donnie quietly. "It makes any of the Foot more wary and the prisoner less able to see what's going on."
Mikey walked up to the door and opened the hatch, hiding his trepidation behind casual cheer. "Hey dude! Remember me?"
Raph winced. "Nice one Mikey."
There was no noise from within the cell. One moment the hatch showed nothing but darkness, the next the three could see a pair of eyes, the whites eerily bright against the dim lighting.
"Michelangelo. You have returned, as I hoped you would - and brought your brothers."
"We were so quiet," murmered Donnie. "This guy must have some great hearing."
The gaze shifted from Mikey. "Donatello."
"Uh, yeah?"
"Always wanting to know more about the world. That is why you came here, yes?"
"We came down here for answers," said Raph belligerantly. Mikey had been right. There was something about the guy that made him want to know what he had to say. How could he know which was Donnie anyway? Mikey was easy enough to tell apart from them with the scars he bore, but there was nothing to differentiate the other two save their skin tones and it was surely too dark in the corridor to easily do that.
"Ah, Raphael. Always impatient." This followed by a rusty chuckle.
"And getting more impatient. How do you know who we are?"
"As I told Michelangelo, we have met, many years ago."
"So you were one of the guys in the lab?" Donnie got closer to the door, curiousity making him forget caution. "What were you experimenting on? And why?"
There was a sigh. "Donatello, the things you seem to have been told about your past are not true. There was no lab, no experiments."
Raph snarled. "So what are you telling us? And why should we believe you?"
The eyes within the hatch moved over the three of them and Donnie began to feel uncomfortable. There was something wrong. The guys face was too dark, no indication of skin tone at all.
"Your brother." The voice sharpened, sounding concerned. "Where is Leonardo?"
"He, uh, couldn't make it," said Mikey.
"You didn't tell him you were coming here." Was there disappointment in the voice? "You are brothers. You share a bond. You should be able to trust each other."
"He's not home." Raph kept his voice deliberately harsh. "Again, why should we listen to anythin gyou have to say?"
"I cannot prove my story. I can only ask you to listen to it and judge for yourself."
"We're listening," said Mikey, giving his brothers warning looks. He wanted to hear what the guy had to say even if the others thought it was bull.
There was silence from behind the door for a few moments before the voice began again. "I am Splinter."
Raph hoped his shock didn't show on his face. "Splinter?"
Another chuckle. "Maybe you do remember me after all Raphael."
Noticing the looks his brothers were giving him, Raph glared moodily at the floor. "Name just sounds familiar is all."
"Many years ago, I was a pet of my Master Yoshi. . ."
"Whoa, wait a moment. Pet?" Mikey again tried to get a better look at the prisoner. "You're a turtle? Like us?"
"No. I was his pet rat."
The three turtles tried to move away from the door without making it obvious. Donnie frowned thoughtfully. "You were mutated at the same time as us?"
"Please Donatello. Let me tell the story in my own way." There was a moments silence before the prisoner - Splinter - continued.
"My master was a great ninja, one of the greatest practiotioners of ninjitsu in many centuries. I learned ninjitsu from mimicking his moves. For many years I was happy. we were - a family. but that life ended when the Shredder sent his Foot ninja to attack my Master."
Donnie frowned. They all knew about Sensei's alter-ego but for some reason this other name - Yoshi - was familiar too. He just couldn't work out where he had heard it before.
"My master battled honourably, but through their dishonourable ways the Foot ninja overpowered him."
"Hey, we're Foot ninja too! You sayin we got no honour?"
"Raph!" Mikey glared at his brother. "Let him talk! You promised to listen!"
"Fine." Raph folded his arms and leant against a wall. "But if he says we got no honour again, I'm outta here."
Splinter waited a moment to see if there would be any further interruptions. There weren't. But Raphael was wrong if he thought the Foot had honour.
"Then the Shredder entered."
Splinter's voice shook with emotion as he recounted what had happened next. "They accused my Master of working for their enemies. They wanted information. They were relentless! But my Master said only one thing - 'He who lives without honour, will end without honour.' So the Shredder gave the order to finish him."
"I tried to save my Master, but my efforts were in vain - although I did leave my mark on his henchman. Then the Shredder struck, taking my Master Yoshi from me - from the world."
"What does that have to do with us?" asked Mikey.
"Apart from us being Foot ninja," added Raph, still offended by the crack abou their honour.
"For the first time I found myself alone, on the streets, wandering the sewers, scavanging for whatever I could find. I remember a day that started like any other but ended changing the course of many lives. I witnessed an accident; a young boy carried a glass jar with four pet infant turtles. An old blind man was crossing the street when he was almost run down by a large truck. A teenager ran to his aid, knocking the jar from the boys hands. The turtles were swept away into the sewer, in spite of the boys attempts to save them. As the truck swerved, a metal cannister bounced out of the back. It too was swept into the sewer and smashed open, revealing a glowing ooze which covered their bodies. I took pity, gathering them up in a coffee can. I took them to my burrow. The next morning I awoke to find the four had doubled in size! The ooze had affected their growth. It had changed me too, making me larger and more intelligent. They followed me everywhere, except above ground. I knew the people of the surface would not accept them. We are so . . . different."
"You're talking about us?" Mikey was enthralled in the tale.
"Yes. You and your brothers lived with me in the sewers. I was amazed by your dexterity, but even so, I was not prepared for what happened one day. Donatello spoke - my name! Soon you were all speaking. Intelligence followed soon after. Knowing the outside world can sometimes be a dangerous place, I scavanged at night for food while you slept and ensured that none of you ever went to the surface. But I was not careful enough and our lair was discovered. By the Shredder."
"So you're saying that Master Saki kidnapped the four of us and kept you locked up down here while he decided to raise us as his own?" Raph snorted in contempt. "That's some fairy story. Probably you cooked it up as some kinda half-assed revenge for your Master. Well, we're not buying. You're no mutant, you're just some guy who's gone crazy being down here too long."
"Raphael, so sceptical." Splinter's eyes were obscured temporarily as he raised a hand and offered it through the hatch. The three turtles gasped. The hand had nails too long and thick for any human and was covered in gnarled brown fur.
"He really is a rat!" exclaimed Mikey. "He's telling the truth!"
"Him being a mutant doesn't mean he's telling the truth," said Raph, but the words sounded hollow to his own ears. "He could have other reasons to turn us against Sensei."
"I have only one reason to instill distrust of the Shredder in you," replied Splinter, withdrawing his hands and once more resting his eyes on the three confused turtles. "My sons - it is time you knew who Oruku Saki really is. He is an evil man. Any endeavour he undertakes, he does for his own selfish gain. And that includes raising the four of you."