= TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 2003 =
= THE SHREDDER STRIKES PART 2 =
The next evening, the turtles had gathered around of the entertainment zone to watch TV together.
Tonight there was a special basketball match on TV, and now that there was not any training exercise tonight, the turtles were determined to spend the whole night watching the match from the beginning to the end, and they didn't want to miss any detail of it. They had also ordered a quite lot of various types of pizza for the whole duration of the match, and along with it they had made about four bowls of popcorn and bought a lot of chili hot dogs, burgers and french fries, green milkshakes, Coca-Cola and beer.
The turtles loved watching the basketball matches. It was one of their favorite moments to spend time together as a family.
While watching the match, the turtles also used to make the bets on the winning basketball team with each other... using their food as a stakes.
There was only one rule in their betting: If one turtle loses the bet, he/she is forced to surrender the food they had put in the stake to the winner of the bet. And if they wanted more daring bet, the losers had to surrender his whole share of the food he had to the winner and thus leaving him starving throughout the match.
During of several hours, turtles watched the game eagerly and restlessly from the couch, making the bets on the basketball teams, comparing the players' skills to each others or boasting about how they could do it better, barking the referees as a one-sided zebras and letting out the loud encouragements, happy or teasing laughter, victorious cheers and groans of defeat.
"DEFEND! (Clap, clap, clap!)" the turtles cheered, clapping their hands together
"DEFEND! (Bang, bang, bang!)" the turtles cheered again, this time banging their fists to the table
"DEFEND! (Clap, clap, clap!)"
"DEFEND! (Bang, bang, bang!)"
"DEFEND! (Clap, clap, clap!)"
"DEFEND! (Bang, bang, bang!)"
"DEFEND! (Clap, clap, clap!)"
"DEFEND! (Bang, bang, bang!)"
"DEFEND! (Clap, clap, clap!)"
"DEFEND! (Bang, bang, bang!)"
However, only one turtle did not join with the others for watching the match: Leonardo. The turtle in blue merely sat in the armchair silently, having his thoughts completely in somewhere else than in the match.
Throughout the day, Leo has been deeply considering the invitation for a secret meeting he had received last night, of which he hasn't told anything to his brothers and sisters ... not even to Master Splinter.
Leo knew that going where he was invited posed a potential risks, but the temptation was too great to resist.
Mary eventually noticed that Leo was not enjoying of watching the match as much or not at all as the rest of them. That was surprise to her, because usually Leo always joined with great enthusiasm to watch the match with them. Now there was no sign of the enthusiasm in Leo's empty and unreadable faces.
"Leo? Are you okay?" Mary asked.
Leo didn't respond. Maybe because he didn't either heard her or he chose to ignore her, much to Mary's surprise and confusion.
"LEO?! HELLO! EARTH TO LEO?!" Mary called Leo once more, raising her voice this time, which successfully snapped the turtle in blue out of his thoughts.
"Wha... what?! Mary? What did you say?" Leo asked hastily in confusion.
The rest of the turtles turned their attentions from the match into Leo one by one; First Donnie, then Dom, then Arcee, then Raph, then Mikey and lastly Louie. The turtles curiously looked at the conversation between Leo and Mary... if you can even call it conversation
"I was asking, Leo, that are you alright?" Mary remarked.
"I'm fine, Mary." Leo assured softly before the turtle in blue turned away from his brothers and sisters to look absentmindedly at nothing in front of him.
"Are you sure?" the turtle in turquoise questioned. "You've been oddly quiet today."
"Yeah. Did the rat got your tongue?" Mikey joked in attempt to cheer him up, only to receive the slap to the back of his head from Dom.
"OW! What?!" Mikey exclaimed, rubbing his head.
Dom ignored his brother before he leaned forward, resting his elbows onto his knees as he turned towards Leo and opened his mouth to speak.
"Mary is right, Leo." Dom said calmly. "Is there something that is troubling you, bro?"
"Dom, I said I'm fine." Leo repeated himself, now slightly annoyed. " You guys do not need to worry about me."
"Are you sure, bro?" Dom questioned again. "You've been absorbed in your thoughts all day. You barely ate at breakfast. During the training at Dōjō, you almost paid no attention at Master Splinter's today's lessons at all. You've also barely acknowledged anybody's presence here, and now you're not enjoying the basketball match with us."
"Yeah." Raph said, agreeing with Dom. "So what gives, bro? Still upset of what Master Splinter told you yesterday?"
"Or are you feeling yourself ill?" Arcee questioned.
"Guys, I already told you, I'm fine!" Leo snapped as he suddenly stood up from the armchair. "And I mean it! Nothing's bothering me! And I repeat: Nothing!" Leo said loudly with frustration, dismissing all his brothers and sisters' concern for him totally..
"So, can you guys please leave me be?" Leo demanded
The others stared at their brother in silence, clearly surprised and even shocked by their brother's unexpected and unprecedented outburst.
"Leo?" Arcee said timidly.
"Geez! No need to go into Raph-mode or something." Mikey said, earning a scowl from the turtle in red in question.
"That doesn't sound like you, bro?" Mary remarked.
"So who are you and what have you done to our brother, Leonardo?" Louie deadpanned.
Leo snorted out of frustration again. "You know what, guys? I'm leaving! I need some air and space." the turtle in blue said, before he left from the entertainment area and stormed out from the Lair through of the open front door.
The other turtles were left completely puzzled as they followed Leo's going out of the Lair without looking back... or telling where he was going.
Mikey then broke the silence that lasted five minutes.
"Guys? Is it just me or has Leo been acting un-Leonardo-like all day? And I think you guys know what I mean with that "acting un-Leonardo-like all day", because he just did act very much un-Leonardo-like." Mikey said to the others.(1)
"You're telling me, bro. It's not like him to lose his temper that quickly nor to have an outbursts like that." Dom said with concern.
"Not to mention that he left from the Lair immediately afterwards... and yet on his own, without telling where he is going or when he will be back. That's definitely "un-Leonardo-like"." Donnie remarked.
"Yeah, he just acted like me." Raph muttered with his arms crossed, pointing out that he was usually the one to have these kinds of outbursts before storming out of the Lair to cool down. Raphael felt annoyed yet slightly threatened that Leo was seemingly taking his place as the team's and family's hot-headed and moody member.(1)
"Definitely acting like you, bro. I found in his "un-Leonardo-like" behavior something "Raphael-like" attitude." Louie said with the amused grin.(1)
Mikey scoffed at the idea. "Oh, great. That's just what we need: another you." the turtle in orange said sarcastically. "But "another me" would be a different story. That would be a good thing." Mikey said, pointing himself with the smirk, liking his own idea.(1)
"Two Raphaels?! No thanks!" Mary scoffed. "Even one grumpy turtle around is enough to put us through a lot."
"Yeah, but what about two Mikeys?!" Donnie said. "In that case I would need to double my efforts to keep two overly- and annoyingly curious little brothers' sticky hands off from what they are not allowed to touch, and severely tighten my ban on my laboratory when I'm working there!"
"Guys, knock it off!" Dom snapped. "This may be far from a joke!"
"I agree with Dom!" Arcee said, pausing for a second before she continued. "So what are we going to do about it?"
There was a silence amongst of the brothers and sisters - save for the sound of the match on TVs that were still on - during of which Mary was considering deeply about something in her mind, before the turtle in turquoise voiced out her thoughts.
"C'mon, guys. I think we should follow him, to make sure he doesn't get himself in a trouble. And at the same time, to find out why he has been behaving so... "un-Leonardo-like"." the turtle in turquoise suggested as she stood up from the couch and began to head towards the front door to go after Leo.
Arcee, Donnie and Dom immediately jumped up and rushed after their sister, all of them thinking that it would be best to go after their older brother to make sure that he's gonna be alright... whatever it was that was bothering him.
However, Louie, Raph and Mikey remained behind to sit on the couch, causing Donnie and Dom to stop and look at them.
"Are you guys coming or not?" Donnie called them.
"Do we have to? Leo is a big boy and the eldest of the eight of us. He can take care of himself with his "superior double-Katana"." Louie protested, trying to make an excuse so that they could all, or at least he, Raph and Mikey to stay in the lair to watch the match to the end.
"Guys! Now!" Dom said sternly, folding his arms and glaring strictly at his three brothers, silently demanding them to come, which reminded the three of them a quite lot of the way how Leo would address them whenever he took his leader mode.
Though not without snorting in annoyance, Raph relented and stood up from the couch and walked after the others.
"Now that's definitely "Leonardo-like" attitude." Mikey remarked before he followed the turtle in red's example.
After Raph and Mikey passed Dom and followed Donnie to the front door, Dom turned to look disapprovingly at the turtle in black, who was still sitting on the couch.
"Awww! We're going to miss the match!" Louie whined loudly in disappointment, but the turtle in black eventually relented, jumped up from the couch and followed the rest of his family out of the lair nonetheless.
###
The turtles emerged from the sewers to the surface and headed to the rooftops to look for their missing brother from the dark alleys and streets bellow. First, their search yielded no results and Leo was nowhere to be seen, but luckily it didn't take long before the turtles managed to locate their brother running in the street level.
"There! He's down there!" Arcee informed to her siblings as she was standing on the edge of the roof, next to the fire escape ladders.
The turtles gathered around of her to the edge and looked to the direction where Arcee was pointing at. Following her finger, they all saw Leo as the turtle in blue ran along the empty streets before he turned to the left and ran into an alleyway nearby.
"He seems to be in hurry to somewhere or something." Louie said, as the turtle in black crouched down to the edge of the rooftop. "Any ideas where he might be heading?"
"Well, he seems to be heading towards 16 South Boyle. That shouldn't be far. Only a block or two away from here." Donnie informed as an answer to Louie's question, picturing in his mind the quick path that led from their current location to that said address.
"How do you know that, Donnie?" Dom questioned.
"You sure that wasn't just some theory or the wild guess, bro?" Raph questioned suspiciously... with the hint of sarcasm.
"Oh, you with a little faith. Spend more time exploring NYC's maps for every detail, and you'll learn from outside to estimate the fastest and even the most secret routes to different addresses around the city." the turtle in purple shot back in annoyance.
"No thanks! You'll do fine." both Dom and Raph said in unison, clearly not interested to waste their time by studying the maps of NYC.
"16 South Boyle you say? Why he would go in there?" Mikey wondered, rubbing his left temple with his hand.
"Then let's find that out. Follow me!" Mary said before the turtle in turquoise, taking the lead of the group of green ninjas, jumped first off the edge of the roof and landed on the fire escape's railing bellow of them, before she jumped off it, went to the cross-shaped position and elegantly flipped over and over all the way down to the streets, till she landed after fourth-fifth flip on her feet to the streets, without even a slight sign of dizziness in her.
"Come on!" Mary called to the others still on the edge of the rooftop before she set out to run after her brother.
Without the hesitation, the turtles followed the turtle in turquoise's lead down from the rooftop and into the alleyway after Leo.
Going into the stealth mode, the turtles kept a safe distance away from their brother and moved in his wake within the shadows during his whole mysterious trip in order to avoid alerting Leo of their presence and avoiding being caught from following him.
Few times, however, they were getting a bit recklessly dangerously close to their older brother while gaining on him, and they were almost expecting him to at some point sense their presence, which would've prompted him to halt on his tracks and turn around to see that was he alone and that was someone out there following him.
However, much to their surprise, the turtle in blue didn't stopped even for brief moment to look behind of him to ensure that the coast was clear during of this whole trip. It looked as if that whether or not he was sensing the presence, he was simply ignoring it.
The turtles found that rather odd, because Leo has never before showed the signs of such a lack of caution.
The turtles, however, were unaware that they've been watched from above.
Jennika, masked with her ninja mask and crouching down on the corner of another rooftop, was observing the turtles from above as they followed Leo through the alleyways.
The kunoichi had also spotted Leonardo earlier running along the streets bellow, and even correctly quessing where the turtle in blue was heading to, which worried her.
Jennika looked around her to check that she herself was alone, before she revealed from beneath of her arm's black bandages the grey watch, which was similiar like the one with which her brother John had contacted with their mysterious employers several weeks back, and activated it.
"John? This is Jennika. I've spotted the turtles. They're out in the open again and heading towards 16 South Boyle." Jennika reported into her watch, before muffled instructions started to come from the other end of the line. After getting the instructions, Jennika nodded her masked head in agreement. "Roger that, brother. I'll meet you and your men there." the kunoinchi said before she deactivated the watch.
With that, Jennika pulled the bandages over the watch to hide it before she followed the turtles from above, running along and jumping over the gaps between the rooftops with the smooth agility, nearly soundless stealth and surprisingly fast pace, quickly catching up with the turtles but keeping her distance from them.
After some time of following and tracking, the turtles eventually arrived to Leo's apparent destination: An abandoned warehouse with the skylight on its rooftop.
Leo emerged from the shadows of the alleyway to the street and approached now with caution and stealth towards the building, heading towards its door in the street side. Once there, Leo looked around to ensure that no one was around to see him, before he opened the door and entered into the building, closing the door after him.
The rest of the turtles knew that they couldn't follow their brother inside of the building, so they decided to see whatever was gonna to happen inside from the rooftop and through the skylight. And so, they either climbed or leapt onto the building's shelter's roof and then used their Shuko-spikes to climb along the wall to the rooftop of the building.
Once there, they gathered around of the skylight and looked through of it inside of the building.
They noticed that the large hall-like room inside the warehouse was changed from the warehouse into a red-toned Dōjō with a large red rug on the floor and old-style Japanese torches in the each corner. There was also a black Byōbu in one corner of the room, and much to the turtles' surprise, they saw that into each one of that Byōbu's panels had been imprinted that very same blood-red three-toed ninja-symbol what those mysterious ninjas from their earlier encounters wore in their suits.
"That ninja-symbol again!" Arcee gasped in shock and disbelief.
"What goes around, comes around." Dom said, definitely disliking the fact that they're once again dealing with those same ninjas with that same dreaded symbol.
"Should have guessed that those ninja-dudes had something to do with Leo's today's odd behavior!" Raph snarled.
"But why Leo would go into their lair, as if he has been invited there?" Donnie questioned.
"SHH! Quiet, guys! Here Leo comes!" Mary snapped as Leo entered into the Dōjō.
Leo wandered around of the empty room for a moment... apparently calling for someone with "Anybody home?" style.
Leo then suddenly halted and looked shocked. No doubt he had just noticed the three-toed ninja-symbol imprinted in each panel of Byōbu. The turtle in blue seemed to be no at all happy to see that dreadful symbol again. Gritting his teeth in anger, he took immediately the battle-ready pose and looked around him, searching for any signs of the potential ambush set for him.
Suddenly, a large bunch of ninjas emerged out of the shadows, and even more appeared from the rafters before they jumped down. The ninjas, with their swords drawn out, immediately surrounded Leo in middle of the firm ring, preventing the turtle in blue from escaping.
The turtles at the skylight gasped after seeing their brother being ambushed and surrounded by the ninjas... as if this was a trap he had been lured into.
"Fourteen on one!" Donnie gasped.
The turtles instantly draw out their weapons and prepared to jump through the skylight to help their brother.
"That seems pretty unfair." Mikey replied with the Nunchucks in his hands
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go down there and get Leo out of here." Dom said to the others while taking out his Tonfas.
"No!" Raph said as he raised up his hand to signal the others to stand down, surprising the others with this sudden negative reply.
"What do you mean with "no"?" Dom demanded in disbelief.
"If Leo truly needs us, we're here. But let's see what this is all about?" the turtle in red added.
"But what if he can't beat them all alone?" Arcee questioned with the clear worry for their brother.
"If Leo's capable to beat all seven of us alone, he can take all of them down alone as well." Raph added.
"Raph's got a point there, you know." Louie said.
"Yeah. I mean, there's only fourteen of them." Mikey agreed with the clumsy explanation.
"You know, brother, that fourteen is two times seven, right?" Dom said rhetorically.
Ignoring both his brothers, Raph turned to see Arcee, who didn't seem to be very convinced enough by his assurance that Leo can handle all fourteen ninjas all by himself, given to how much effort it had took from them to defeat them during of their previous encounters with them. And even if they have improved much in skills and teamwork effort during of these past few months, these ninjas were still full of all kinds of dishonest tricks to bring their opponents down and even to kill them.
Seeing this, Raph put his hand comfortingly on his little sister's right shoulder, causing her to turn her attention briefly away from the situation below them to her brother in red
"Don't worry about him, sister. He'll be fine out there. Now we do nothing else but watch." Raph said reassuringly.
However, as Raph, Louie, Arcee, Mikey and Donnie watched Leo battling the ninjas through the skylight, Dom paid a quick look around in order to make sure that they're not ambushed as well... until he noticed that one of them was missing.
"Wait a second guys... where's Mary?" the turtle in white questioned.
The rest of the turtles immediately pulled their attention away from the fight that was going on inside of the warehouse, and looked around to the rooftop, searching for the turtle in turquoise with their eyes from this and from the roofs of neighboring buildings
Mikey then spoke next, gaining their attentions.
"Um... Did she just... went inside?" the turtle in orange questioned, as he pointed at the ventilation shaft that led from the rooftop inside of the building.
All of them turned to look at the ventilation shaft nearby and noticed that someone had opened its vent in apparent attempt to break into the building. Next thing that caught the turtles attention was Mary's Naginata that was lying on the roof, confirming Mikey's wild guess that Mary had sneaked away from the rest of the team and broke into the building through of ventilation system and was probably heading straight towards the Dōjō.
And they guessed right.
###
After seeing that Leo was about to get surrounded by fourteen ninjas inside of the warehouse, Mary had turned around to search for some way to get inside the building till she had laid her eyes on the roof's ventilation shaft nearby. Grasping to the opportunity when nobody else was looking, Mary had sneaked undetected away from the skylight and made the beeline to the ventilation shaft, where the turtle in turquoise had pried open the vent before she had crawled inside of the building, leaving her Naginata outside so that moving in the air ducts would be a lot of easier for her.
Mary kept crawling along the air ducts, heading towards the Dōjō, until she finally reached to the vent that led into the Dōjō. Mary then began to peek through of the vent's grates in order to see that what was going on in there.
She saw Leo still surrounded in the firm ring of the ninjas, whom kept approaching the turtle in blue with the swords in their hands.
Leo had unsheathed his Katanas and held his ground in his natural battle-ready stance... waiting for someone of these ninjas to make their move first.
One ninja then attacked Leo from behind, swinging his sword towards Leo's shell-back. However, the turtle in blue dodged the ninja's attack by making the sideways flip to his right, landing back on his feet outside of the ring of ninjas.
First three ninjas then moved in to attack, leaping up into the air and prepared to bring down their swords on Leo as they flew towards the turtle in blue. However, Leo dodged their attack by somersaulting forward, before the turtle in blue got back to his feet. Then he leaped back towards the ninjas, spun around and butterfly-kicked all three of them, knocking them off their feet and out cold to the ground at once.
Another three ninjas attacked next. One of them attempted to behead Leo with the horizontal slash, which Leo avoided by crouching down before he spun around and swept with his right leg the ninja's feet off from under, sending him on his stomach to the ground.
Leo quickly got back up as next two then charged at him together and with their swords raised up and they engaged Leo in the fierce two-on-one fight. Leo fended off few of their attacks from up and low with his swords, until the ninjas raised their swords over their heads and then brought them down on Leo together, but the turtle in blue quickly raised his own Katanas up and blocked the ninjas' attack. With their weapons locked together, Leo forcibly moved the ninjas swords out of the way before he jumped up and flipped forward into the space between the ninjas before the turtle in blue finished them off with the split-kick to their heads, knocking them both aside.
The first ninja he tripped over to the ground stood back up and attacked Leo once again, this time by attempting to split his head in half from behind. However, Leo put his Katanas into X and raised them up above of his head to block the ninja's attack. After the ninja's attack was blocked, Leo moved his opponent's sword aside as he spun around, moving behind of the ninja's back. The ninja tried to turn back to face the turtle in blue again, but was too late when Leo lifted his right leg up and kicked the ninja in the chest, sending him flying across the room. Majority of the remaining ninjas moved out of their flying comrade's way, but one of them couldn't get out of the way in time and took hit from his comrade that knocked him off his feet and sent him over to the ground the the thud.
Leo then turned his focus on the remaining half of the ninjas' group.
With three-six very fast swings of his Katanas, Leo quickly sliced the ninjas' own swords into pieces from the blades' tips and from the middle, disarming the remaining ninjas. Then Leo leapt up into the air and performed first a snap-kick, then a side-kick and finally a spin hook-kick: With the first kick, Leo sent one ninja flying against one of the room's pillars, knocking him out and down. With the second kick, Leo sent another ninja flying into another ninja, knocking them over to the ground. And with the final kick, Leo sent the last three ninjas flying to the other side of the room till they landed with the thud to the floor, knocked out cold.
Then there was only one ninja left.
The remaining ninja pulled his pair of Katana out of their sheaths and charged at Leo with his swords raised up in attempt to cause some damage on Leo, the turtle in blue crossed his arms before he charged into the counter-attack. Both Leo and the last ninja leaped into the air and met each other in the mid-air above of the middle of the red Dōjō, where the ninja brought his Katanas down on Leo at the same time as the turtle in blue uncrossed his arms and swung his Katanas forward and towards the ninja, swiftly severing the ninja's head clean off from his shoulders. Leo then hit on his feet to the floor at the other side of the Dōjō and the recently beheaded ninja did the same in the opposite side. Right after landing on his feet, the ninja's arms fell limp to his sides, dropping his clean-bladed swords, which had never even touched Leo before he was done, to the floor of the Dōjō, until his lifeless body dropped onto its knees. And as the ninja's knees hit the floor, the impact caused his head to drop off from his shoulder and roll over in the floor. The ninja then fell over to the ground, among of his defeated yet still living comrades.
Leo then turned around and observed his enemies, who were lying defeated (plus one dead) on the floor around his legs, groaning in pain.
Leo then heard sounds coming from behind of him, telling him that there was yet one more still standing, so the turtle in blue turned around to the sound's direction and took another battle-ready stance, aiming both of his swords at the next opponent.
There was a tall shadowy figure hiding in the shadows of the room. However, this one was unarmed and he seemed to have no any intention of attacking Leo. Instead, he was clapping his hands at him, having watched the whole battle from aside as if it was all just the show or test round... or both.
And when he spoke, his voice was deep, slightly throaty yet calm.
"Impressive. Very impressive." the man remarked. "My agents have said that you're good, but their description doesn't do you justice."
The man then walked out of the shadows, revealing himself as a man in his 30s-40s, with a clean dark blue hair and wearing a white robe and a gray vest over it, in which shoulders had been imprinted two blood-red three-toed ninja symbols in middle of the rings.
"Allow me to introduce you myself. My name is Oroku Saki, Eight generation master of Ninjutsu. And you are...?" the man named Oroku Saki said, asking for Leo's name.
Leo, seeing that this new man meant him no harm but remained cautious and suspicious nonetheless, stood down and sheathed his swords.
"Leonardo Splinterson." Leo said, introducing himself to Oroku Saki.(2)
Oroku Saki eyed Leo's appearance from the head to his two-toed legs carefully, before he started to walk towards Leo.
"Well, Leonardo Splinterson... as I said, I find your skills in combat as top-notch, though your... appearance... is very striking. Or is it..." Saki said, voicing his opinion about Leo's appearance, before he was about to ask if it was some kind of costume.
Leo saw that coming all too well.
"Don't let my appearance fool you. It's not a costume, although I know that's hard to believe." Leo explained, as Saki stopped next to him.
"Hmm. Much easier to believe than you might imagine." Saki told him, before he walked past Leo. "I have seen enough of this world to expect the extraordinary, and you are extraordinary. But I did not ask you here to flatter you. We have important matters to discuss." Saki explained, as he stopped to the another side of the Dōjō.
"Then I take it you were the one who sent me this note yesterday, didn't you?" Leo questioned, as he took Saki's note out from his belt's pocket.
"Yes." Saki confirmed.
Behind of the vent, Mary let out the silent gasp - that her head jumped slightly up in surprise - as everything dawned to her.
"Leo was invited to this meeting? And he told us nothing about it?" the turtle in turquoise whispered to herself in disbelief.
Saki then turned back to Leo.
"I felt it was urgent that we meet. There are some things you need to know." Saki said.
After Saki had said this, Leo immediately took a defiant attitude and raised his voice to demanding tone.
"I agree. There are definitely things I need to know, like why these ninjas - YOUR NINJAS - have been trying with no reason to break our heads, cut our throats and tear us apart for months now?!" Leo demanded, recalling all the previous times when Saki's ninjas have been trying to kill both him and his brothers and sisters ever since their very first and lethal encounter in that alley months ago.
Despite the turtle's defiant attitude and brief-lasting outburst, Saki remained calm. "That is exactly why we need to talk, Leonardo. For these past months we've been fighting each other, when we should actually be on the same side fighting against our true enemy.
"With all due respect, Master Saki, I want you to have a look of my scars." Leo said, showing Saki with his finger a various faded light green scars in his arms, shoulders and chest, including two particular ones, one of which was running from the right side of his forehead to his right cheek and the another one in his temple received from Tatsu back in the docks some weeks ago, and numerous other scratches, small cracks and dents in his shell.(3)
After showing them to Saki, Leo took a defiant attitude once again, folding his arms. "I think that these from your "boys'" received scars are enough to prove that you guys are the true enemy." the turtle in blue claimed accusingly.
Though Saki frowned in front of such of accusations Leo threw at him, he still maintained his composure.
"Hmm. I see. To you, nothing is clear now. But it will be after I've explained." Saki said.
"Without your knowing, you have been caught in middle of the war that is so much bigger than yourself. But you must know, that there is a force, a corrupted and evil force, that is out there right now working its insidious tentacles into every aspect of our world. It is an organization devoted to obtaining power through crime, political manipulation and corruption on a global level." Saki explained.(4)
###
Up in the rooftop of the building, the turtles had focused back to the meeting and conversation between of their brother and Saki. However, the guys had a bit problems of hearing anything through of the skylight's glass.
"What's he saying?" Donnie questioned.
"Something about onions, or maybe pepperoni and sausages in a deep-dish crust." Mikey suggested, rubbing his stomach and licking his lips when he thought about food, prompting Raph to smack him on the top of his head for his lack of focus.
"Ow! What?!" Mikey exclaimed.
"Seriously, bro?!" Dom lectured. "We're trying to listen what they're talking about down there and all you're thinking about is food."
"What you can do, bro? It's hard to hear through of the glass! Besides, I'm hungry!" Mikey complained.
"Hungry? You ate two whole pizzas, one whole bowl of popcorn, four chili Hot Dogs, three big burgers and drunk at least four-five milkshakes before we left. And don't dare to deny that, bro, 'cause I saw it." Louie remarked.
"Can you guys please be quiet?! The conversation continues down there!" Arcee snapped.
###
Leo was stunned by Saki's explanation.
"Whoa!" And all that has been happening under everybody's nose. Even the government's?" the turtle in blue said in awe.
"Exactly. A very few are aware of this evil threat's existence." Saki said, before turning to face the big three-toed symbol imprinted on the wall behind of him, with the steaming pot under it.
"Unfortunately, the only thing brave enough to stand against this evil force is me and my humble army of ninjas." Saki said, before turning back to Leo to explain more. "We have been standing against them for many centuries, and even now we stand alone against them, as did my master, his master before him and his master before. It has been my family's sacred code, blood-oath, tradition and destiny to fight for the side of good." Saki explained to Leo, as the turtle in blue stood still and listened patiently though still skeptical of everything Saki had told so far.
Saki then walked back to Leo. "I was hoping that you would find it in your heart to join me and fight against this evil. We could stand together."
"Well, I... I..." Leo stuttered, trying to find words to answer but he couldn't find any. All of this what he had just heard felt way too big for him to make his decision right away.
However, seeing this, Saki raised his hands up understandingly.
"I understand that you feel uncertain after hearing all of this. That why I would not ask you to decide here and now. Meditate upon what you have heard today and come again tomorrow night with your answer." Saki advised.
Leo bowed to Saki in respect, before the turtle in blue turned around to leave.
"Wait." Saki said, prompting Leo to stop and turn back to him to see that what he had yet to say.
"There is one more thing." Saki said, before he clapped his hands a couple of times as if he called someone out of the shadows.
It was then when Leo's old opponent, Tatsu, showed himself from the shadows, carrying in his hands the ceremonial blue pillow, on which was resting a finely crafted Katana (which guard was shaped into these ninjas' symbol's shape) in the black scabbard.
Leonardo and Tatsu exchanged the glances with each other, shooting the daggers from their eyes at one another. Leo was not pleased to meet face to face with his old opponent from their earlier encounters back in the museum, docks and the sewers, where he had relentlessly tried to kill him and his brothers and sisters. And in return, the scarred ninja himself held the grudge against the turtle in blue for cutting his right arm from above of his elbow... but more he held a grudge for his humiliating defeats at the hands of the turtles back in the South Street Seaport and the drainage junction.
However, even though Tatsu would have loved to hurt him so bad as a payback for his humiliating defeats, which Leo saw in his eyes, he was unwilling to offend his master's honor during of this important meeting, so he forced himself to remain composured in Leo's presence.
Tatsu, deciding to ignore Leo completely, knelt down before his master to show respect for him, before he stretched out the pillow and the sword to him.
Saki took the sword from the pillow and unsheathed it, showing Leo its shiny pure white blade.
"This sword has been in my family for three hundred years. It was crafted by the master Toshi Kurahawa in the 16th century. And, it is said that in the forging..." Saki explained, until Leo continued for him, knowing well the tale behind the blade's forging from heart.
"...Kurahawa folded the metal over 700 times to remove any impurities." Leo said with awe and respect towards the blade's maker.
Saki was impressed of Leo's knowledge of the blade's tale.
"Hmmm... yes. You truly are impressive, Leonardo." Saki said, before sheathing the sword again.
And then, much to Leo's surprise, Saki stretched out the sword to him, gesturing him to keep it. "It is for you to keep." Saki said.
Leo was instantly hesitant, believing himself unworthy to wield such of masterpiece.
"No... I can't. I'm not worthy for such of glorious weapon." the turtle in blue objected politely.
"Take it, Leonardo." Saki insisted, before handing the sword personally in Leo's hands. "Many do not have the great honor, or aren't worthy, of carrying such of glorious weapon. That's why I wish you to have it, as a token of my sincerity."
Saki then bowed to Leonardo to show his respect for the turtle.
"You may leave now... and I'll be waiting. Tomorrow night." Saki added finally, before the ninja master stepped into the shadows along with Tatsu... and mysteriously vanished, leaving the turtle in blue in middle of the Dōjō to hold the sword and think about everything he had just heard.
The turtles in the rooftop were puzzled as well.
"Gee. And I thought Master Splinter said 'never to take swords from strangers'." Mikey deadpanned.
The turtles then turned their attention to the ventilation shaft, as Mary hurriedly emerged out from the darkness of the air duct.
The turtles immediately hurried to their sister's aid and helped her out from the duct, before all six turtles surrounded the turtle in turquoise and started to ask the questions out of curiosity, wanting eagerly know what she had heard in there.
"Mary? What happened there? What did you find out?" Dom asked.
"Pretty much ... maybe too much!" Mary replied, before she picked up her Naginata from the roof and put it back on her shell-back.
"C'mon, guys. Leo just bout to leave the building and he is heading back to the Lair even as we speak. Maybe we can catch him before he reaches to the Lair. And when we do, we need to talk with him about this seriously, before he makes possibly the biggest mistake in his life." Mary said, and started to head back to the starting point, with his brothers and sisters right on her heels.
However, as the turtles on the rooftop of the warehouse left towards the starting point just before Leo himself exited out of the building and headed to the same direction and his brothers and sisters did, the ywere all unaware that they've been watched from afar by Jennika, who wasn't wearing her ninja mask at the moment.
The Kunoichi let out a disappointed sight when she watched the turtles leaving.
Soon after, three figures appeared from the shadows behind her back. They were the same mysterious figures in the dark blue jumpsuits, grey trenchcoats and with black glasses, including one with a blue hair tied into ponytail behind the back of his head and sideburns, whom Jennika had met in the dark alley few weeks ago.
John, the blue-haired one, walked then next to Jennika and stared down at the warehouse alongside his sister.
"He has left. Hasn't he?" John questioned.
"(Sigh) Yes, brother. He has... and so have the others." Jennika sighed.
John then turned to Jennika. "Did he gave him his answer already?" he demanded.
Jennika shook her head. "No, brother, he hasn't. Saki gave him until tomorrow night time to think about his offer before giving his answer. And worst of all, he seems to be seriously considering it." the kunoichi answered.
John frowned at these news. "Then we'd better report this back to the Council."
Jennika nodded to his brother, before they both turned to their bald-headed comrade, who lifted his right arm up and activated the purple hologram-screen that came out of his watch, showing the three mysterious Council members on the screen.
"Yes?" they all said in unision.
Jennika then turned to the council to tell them her report about the recent events. "Honored council members, Something I feared would happen has happened tonight. Saki has made a contact with the turtles and he has spoken with one of them, the one called Leonardo."
The council frowned angrily after hearing such of news.
"He has?" the woman asked.
"Yes." Jennika comfirmed. "He has offered him a chance to join him and stand by his side against us. However, we do not yet know the outcome. Saki has given him until tommorrow night time to think about his offer before giving his answer. And I'm afraid this Leonardo has started to seriously consider of taking his offer." Jennika finished.
"My lords." John then said, stepping forward to address the Council members after Jennika had given her report. "What are your orders about the turtles?"
Jennika turned to look at her brother worriedly, fearing that where this was about to go. She knew that if the things between the turtles and Saki would went to the point where the turtles' would actually pose a significant threat to them in Saki's name, her brother wouldn't hesitate to carry out the orders the Council has given about their fate, even if it was for the greater good. All she could do was hope that the turtles wouldn't join Saki's side. But given to how Leonardo seemed to be considering accepting Saki's offer seriously, that hope seemed to be futile.
Jennika then turned back to the Council in the hologram-screen to hear her masters' orders.
"Find out..." chubby one started.
"... what the turtles..." skinny one continued.
"... will do. If they..." the woman continued.
"... are all with Saki." chubby one continued
"We may be forced..." skinny one continued.
"... to do what is necessary..." the woman continued.
"... to kill them all." all three declared together.
The bald man then deactivated the communication and the hologram-screen went back into his watch. All four of them then stared down to the direction where the turtles had gone, determined to find out whether or not the turtles were going to join with Saki. And if they do, they will do what is necessary to eliminate the turtles' potential threat.
Jennika, however, was least as determined and more reluctant than her three colleaques to carry out such of order, even though it would be for the greater good if the turtles would in the end join forces with Saki. The kunoichi kept silently staring at where the turtles had gone, hoping beyond hope that the turtles, especially Leonardo, would make the wise decision to not accept Saki's offer... for their own good.
TO BE CONTINUED...
TRIVIA
1) = "Leonardo behaving "Un-Leonardo-Like" is at this point comical but later ominous reference to Leonardo's more closed, self-blaming, grumpier, angrier and rather aggressive behavior under his PTSD in the season 4."
2) = I decided to give the turtles their own surnames: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, Lorenzo and Domenico Splintersons and for Marietta and Artemisia Splintersdaughters, while Master Splinter's full name is still Hamato Splinter in my own version of the series.
Author's Note:I first planned to give the first name 'Hamato' to all the canon and my OC turtles, but I eventually decided against it in the favor of 'Splinterson'. Besides, I believe that Splinter himself (in both the canon storyline and my version of the series) decided to give Splinterson and Splintersdaugher as his children's family names instead of Hamato in order to protect them from the Shredder if they one day cross their paths with his. As you all know, Shredder knows the name of Hamato Yoshi and his role as the Utrom Guardian when they were at war in Japan, but he does not know the name of Splinter because he was an ordinary rat at the time, and that Hamato Yoshi gave Splinter his name after he arrived the United States. So, here, Oroku Saki doesn't recognize the name 'Splinter" from Leo's family name. But if Leo had told Saki that his whole name was "Hamato Leonardo", Saki would've assumed Leo and his family being somehow connected to the Utroms by Yoshi's first name, 'Hamato' alone, despite Hun's earlier report of the turtles' having no allegiance with the Utroms at all, and thus would've captured Leo for interrogations for the Utroms' hideout or even killed him where he was standing.
3) = Leo's mentioned scar "A faded scar that runs from the right side of his forehead to his right cheek." is adopted from his 2014 incarnation.
4) = I corrected Oroku Saki's mention of "battle" with the mention of "war", because the word "battle" sounds a bit incorrect reference to the conflict he has fought with the Utroms for a millennium.