Angel: Can I just say that it creeps me out Hoon Lee, who voiced Splinter in the 2012 series, is voicing the Shredder here? It feels so unnatural...but the animation here is where I think it shines in this finale, props to the animation department for this show.
The Shredder steps forward in the lair of the Foot Clan, now fully awakened once more. "Finally free after all these centuries...show me my Foot Clan!"
"So...it's just kind of the three of us at the moment," Foot Lieutenant replies awkwardly as Foot Brute rubs the back of his head. After what happened with the Shredder the first time, they lost most of their soldiers from the battle.
"But we have the will of THOUSANDS!" Foot Recruit looks up at him with a sadistic grin. "Tell us your bidding!" She's acting like a real teacher's pet...
Shredder walks right past her and she falls onto the ground. "To be truly unstoppable, I must destroy the one who defeated me...Karai. She is near..." He jumps through the underground lair and out into the open, landing in front of the Foot Shack. He roars as he rushes out to go find Karai...
The woman who manifested from the sword that was from the Twilight Realm is still unconscious on the floor.
"Think this lady who passed out on the ground is alright?" Raph wonders as Donnie examines her.
"She seems fine..." He waves it off.
"And you know this how?" Ann replies in a snarky tone, earning a blank look from him.
"Ann. That's my thing. Uh-uh."
Mikey leaps in front of them. "Guys! She needs our help," He gestures to her.
"We don't even know what's going on," Amy speaks up. "I think that when she does wake up, we need to get some answers."
"Yeah, because it's not every day that a woman comes from a freaking sword!" Lily holds up a finger.
The woman stirs and slowly gets up, and that's when they notice the symbol she has. Splinter gasps sharply at it.
"Rest," He tells her gently, slowly stepping up to show that he won't harm her. "You are safe...this is the home of Hamato Yoshi," He gestures to himself.
"Who?" Leo asks him in confusion.
"That is me, you dumb-dumb," Splinter hisses at his son.
"Were you not paying attention to any of his memories?" Amy raises a brow at the turtle. His confused look speaks for itself...
"Hamato Yoshi...I am Hamato Karai," She introduces herself and he gasps again upon hearing the name.
"My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great..." He takes a breath so that he can continue speaking. "Great-great-great-great-great grandma?!"
Mikey gasps at the revelation. "That means you're our great-great-great-"
Karai puts her hand on his mouth to shut him up. "Please. I have just endured 500 years of misery."
"Let's just say she's a distant relative of Splinter and move on," Amy states to Mikey.
"Hey, so Gram-Gram," Leo speaks up, "It is Gram-Gram, right? We thought we were getting a weapon from the Twilight Realm...and not a...you." He points at her, stating what everyone is thinking.
"I am the weapon," She elaborates while standing up, but is still a bit weak as she kneels. Splinter helps her and gestures for someone to get her a chair. Mikey slides a box over so that she can sit down. She places a hand on her forehead.
"But if you're the actual weapon...then why was there a sword in the Twilight Realm in the first place?" Lily asks slowly.
"...Many generations ago, Oruko Saki was the leader of a peaceful clan called the Foot. For years, our clan prospered...but there was a great darkness on the horizon."
Shadows flew up past the Earth.
"The Foot were attacked...and driven to the brink of destruction. When all hope seemed lost, Oruko Saki made a deal with a powerful oni."
This powerful oni...was a Kraang. It rose out of the water with a screech.
"This demon offered him a suit of dark armor that would make him invincible. But it came at a cost. The armor corrupted his soul, giving birth...to the Shredder. Who led the Foot down a path of evil. I had no choice but to rise up against it, starting a clan of my own...Hamato. No mortal weapon could defeat the Shredder, so I resolved to make the ultimate sacrifice, taking Shredder and myself to the Twilight Realm. The sword was what connected the Shredder and I, and why it was in the Realm with us," She opens an eye, gritting her teeth. "It was the only way to stop...my father."
All of them tense up at the news. "Hold up," Leo starts off. "Shredder is your dad?!"
"Indeed he is. So long as I was in the Twilight Realm, Shredder would never reach full strength," She explains to the five in front of her.
"That means..." Amy flinches, glancing to the others.
"So us bringing you back kind of...ruined everything?" Raph asks sheepishly. And this technically would make Shredder a member of the Hamato Clan if he wasn't possessed right now...and this makes Oroku Saki a member of Splinter's family as well since Karai is his daughter, and she's a distant relative of Splinter.
"Yes, it did," She has a sour tone at that sentence, looking up with a small smile. "Luckily, you have been trained in the traditional Hamato Ninpo."
They all blink in confusion, since...they don't even know what that is. Amy clears her throat, crossing her arms and giving a rat a narrowed look, giving him a cue to explain himself. Splinter quickly stands in front of them.
"Oh, uh, see, what had happened was-"
"YOU HAVEN'T TRAINED THEM?!" She shouts angrily and he looks towards the ground in shame. "Oh no..." She sits back down, panicking a little. "Oh no. By now Shredder is terrorizing the citizens of this village."
"Actually, the people of New York are safe in this orb," April holds it out for Karai to see, but something's different about it.
"Uh, did the orb always have that crack in it?" Ann points to it and April examines it, and the orb does indeed have a crack.
"Hey guys, was the crack in this thing always this big?" She rubs at the orb, and a human head pops out of it. Ann and Lily yelp, moving away from her. "Hey!" She slams it back inside.
"The people are leaking out," Draxum stands over her and Karai. "If we don't fix it, the whole city could fall victim to Shredder's wrath! O'Neil, Ann, and Lily, follow me!" He gestures for them to follow and they do so.
"Karai," Splinter speaks up to her. "I have failed to prepare my children for this moment," He then kneels in front of the woman out of respect. "I humbly ask you to teach them how to defeat the Shredder."
"I will..." Then she gets onto her feet. "But first I must rest."
"EVERYBODY OUT!" Splinter shouts at them.
"What?!" All the turtles protest, complaining like children.
"I wanna hang out with Gram-Gram!"
"Now!" Splinter hits the four on the head with his hand. Amy's not affected because she's mature, and she knows her boundaries. "Gram-Gram needs her quiet!" She just stares at them in shock and he turns to her with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
"It's alright. I'm pleased to meet my family...although I am wondering why you are a rat and four turtles."
"That is a long story that I'm sure no one has time for. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take them away so that you can rest," Amy states, earning more whining from the turtles. "SHUT UP! You heard the woman, now let's go!" She drags them all off by holding their masks. Karai giggles at the brunette.
"I see that the young lady has been disciplining them."
"...Amelia has had to shoulder great burdens in her life. Much like my mother, and other members of our family," Splinter explains slowly, and Karai has a sympathetic look. She looks up at the girl placing the turtles in bed. She can tell that Amy is in the same situation as other members that have had to watch for the Shredder.
"Please, before I rest...tell me more," Karai says to Splinter, gesturing to herself and he sighs slowly.
"She had difficulty opening up to others when my sons first met her. So...sheltered. It...reminded me of myself," He sags his shoulders, remembering that he shut himself off from doing anything with the Shredder, which was one of the biggest mistakes of his life. "She was a bit abrasive at first, but soon, she warmed up to our family. And then...she informed us of her past. When she was a child, Draxum caused an accident, and...she lost her two siblings." Karai's eyes widen at the information. "It made her mother gain an illness that confuses family members...as enemies. This meant she could no longer reconnect with her daughter. After her father took his own life, and most of her family abandoned her, Amelia was all alone to care for her mother...even if it meant being hurt doing so." Karai places a hand over her mouth in horror. "She was forced to work in their bakery on her own, with no one to help her...and Draxum's actions towards their passing caused her to have a hate for mutants. However, her early maternal instinct has helped my sons to a degree...and it means sometimes I don't have to punish them," He grins in amusement, frowning deeply. "Sometimes I wish fate hadn't been so cruel to her."
"...Her story breaks my heart," Karai places a hand on her heart. Being a concealed weapon for 500 years, she's obviously never heard anything just as bad. Amy must've felt so alone after several years... "After my rest, I wish to speak to her."
An eye pokes out of the cracked orb and April yelps, slamming the eye back in. The girls and Draxum are in the garage trying to fix it. "This leak is getting worse!" A hand pops out and Ann covers the crack this time. Then it's another head and Draxum covers it with both hands. A hand appears at the bottom and Lily covers it.
"This is gonna be harder than I thought," Ann sweats nervously.
Karai is resting on an armchair, a turtle hiding behind her. Donnie peeks behind the chair. "Ah ah...a sneeze!"
Her eyes open at the voice. "Oh, I'm so sorry, did I wake you? Well, now that you're up, may I interest you in a full tea service?!" Shelldon flies around the woman, alarming her.
"What dark magic is this?" She rubs a chin and Shelldon holds a teacup with two cups.
"Not magic," He corrects as the drone pours her some tea. "It's my tech."
"Oh, brilliant," She smiles, taking a cup.
"Gasp!" He holds his cheeks, golden light over him. "The approval of a parental figure I've so craved!"
"Hey!" Leo jumps and lands on his shell, breaking the moment. "Gram-Gram needs her sleep. And to help her, I shall read from my children's book, I love Gram-Gram and Gram-Gram loves me."
Donnie grabs him by his spider shell and brings the turtle over as an attempt to throttle him.
"Oh, hey Gram-Gram," Raph is suddenly doing one-armed push ups in front of them. "How can a big guy be so nimble, you ask? Classic Hamato dedication!"
Leo and Donnie both tackle him from behind. "I was here first!"
"I haven't met outside family before!" Leo exclaims as they argue.
"None of us have!"
"Hey Gram-Gram," She turns to Mikey on the floor while his older brothers fight. He's holding a piece of paper in his hands. "I painted a family portrait. I think it really captures our entire togetherness as a family..." As he's stating this, the three are wrestling each other. It's a picture of everyone, with Gram-Gram in the middle. Donnie and Draxum both have sour looks, and Karai is in the middle with a big smile. Amy has her arms on top of Donnie and Leo's heads with a soft smile, while Ann is sitting on Raph's neck with a wave. Lily has an arm wrapped around Mikey with a big smile. They flinch when she drops the paper, seeing her smile.
"Boys!" She looks to Splinter knocking away Mikey in alarm. "What are you doing?!" He kneels in front of Karai. "My apologies, Gram-Gram. I am so sorry I never taught my sons traditional Hamato discipline."
"You guys should know better than that," Amy frowns, hands on her hips as she steps up to them. "Shame on you!"
"But you have taught them many other things," She states, giving Shelldon her cup. He flies away and she looks back to him proudly. "Like the importance of family. From where I sit, Yoshi, you have made the clan proud."
"Thank you," He smiles softly at her, his sons behind him in awe.
"Amelia, is it?" She looks up at Amy, causing her to blink in surprise. She glances around and gestures to herself. "Yes. I understand that you have had to make sacrifices for your own family not unlike our own."
The turtles all turn around to her sadly, knowing exactly what she's talking about. Amy frowns at the reminder. "...That would be correct...yes. Draxum, who is a friend now," She makes that point clear in case Karai has negative feelings against him. "Wanted to make me his fighter, because he saw potential in me. But...doing that to me meant for him that my family should be gone..." She looks to the ground sadly.
"I have been made aware of your story. It must have been hard not having anyone to look to for guidance or support."
"Yeah...I did have Chewbacon, my pet pig, but...a majority of my extended family cut off ties with me, so I really didn't have any family members to talk to...and then I met the turtles when they saved me a few years later," She smiles gratefully at the turtles. "Even if we didn't get off on the right foot because of my reluctance to trust mutants," She cringes at the reminder of their first meeting.
"Yeah, she hated our guts!" Raph points to her. "But that didn't stop her from falling in love with Leo at first sight."
Amy smacks his finger away out of annoyance.
"For the record, he was a joke to me when I saw him, and I didn't have feelings for him until later," She rolls her eyes at him. "And while my siblings and my dad are gone, these guys remind me of what family is all about. It's not about how many members you have, but with the impact they have on each other."
"I'm pretty sure I made an impact on you when we first met you, pink-a-boo~"
She rolls her eyes at him. "Anyway...I'm sorry about your father. I guess having damaged pasts is what being in this family has in common..." Amy murmurs slowly. Even though she wasn't in the family as long as anyone else has, her life was arguably similar to Splinter's-at first. She didn't become a movie star or a Battle Nexus Champion (and she would never almost marry a villain like he did), but because of the turtles, she doesn't feel so alone with what she's gone through anymore. And the turtles couldn't help but feel that she was always a member of the Hamato family when they found out about her past...
Karai gestures for her to come forward and she does so.
"I wish to let you know...that the Hamato will always be there for you in times of need. Anatawa Hitorijanai." She pulls Amy in for a hug and the girl blinks in surprise. She then wraps her arms around the woman, blinking back happy tears. It had been so long since the unfortunate accident and the rapid changes in her life, that she almost forgot what a real hug from a supporter felt like.
"Thank you, Gram-Gram...you don't mind if I call you that, do you?"
"Not at all," Karai chuckles at the girl, pulling away.
"So you think we have a chance against the Shredder?" Splinter asks skeptically. Last time they dealt with him, they had to get Big Mama's help, and they all know how that turned out...
"Yes," She answers, folding up the paper and putting it inside her outfit. "With Hamato Ninpo." Her eyes glow green as the symbol glows the same, spinning around. "Our family's ancient technique that connects us to past generations." Other members appear around them as the room gets darker. "It gave me the strength to defeat the Shredder all those years ago..." She clutches her hands together. "As long as there are Hamato...there is hope," She creates an arrow on her right arm, feeling weak for some reason.
"Can you teach us how to tap into this inner power?" Raph asks as Splinter wraps her arm around his shoulder.
"Yes...let us begin." Before she can even start, she grips the left side of her chest, feeling tense. She gets a flash of the Shredder.
"Gram-Gram?" Amy asks in concern, and she can only look up with a pale face as she says these chilling words.
"He has found me."
A large shake occurs in the lair and they look up to see the ceiling crumbling. Karai glances over her shoulder to a tunnel entrance and Splinter looks around. The 7 are on alert as they stand together, ready for whatever comes their way. However, something crashes through the ceiling, leaving the room in a heap.
"Karai!"
She looks up in horror at the voice, seeing Shredder with the three Foot members. "I could sense you were here. Now I will consume your Hamato essence, and become truly invincible. Crush anyone who gets in my way."
"Attack!" Foot Lieutenant declares.
"Oh heck no! You are not storming in here uninvited just to get to her without a fight!" Amy shouts, clenching a fist.
"Protect Gram-Gram!" Raph shouts as the three Foot members charge. "She's our only chance to defeat Shredder!" The enemies clash while Leo and Amy get to Karai.
"Gram-Gram, we gotta get you out of here," He states, placing a hand on her shoulder. The Shredder snarls and races forward towards the trio. Mikey throws his chain and just when he gets close to the three, he gets captured in Mikey's whip. Leo swings his sword to make a portal and Amy whistles to Shredder, holding up a certain offensive finger. Leo glances at her and chuckles for her being so ballsy enough to do that. They fall through the portal.
"You demand the Shredder's attention..." He turns around to Mikey, and manages to break himself free from the mystic chain. He then knocks Raph and Donnie to the walls, and Mikey looks up at him in free, his chain in pieces. "You have it!"
Draxum moves his hands away from the glowing orb. More body parts pop out from the cracks, causing him to groan.
"It's no use! This crack can only be repaired by the most powerful magic!"
April yells and spins the orb around, fixing the cracks with tape. He looks at her work in awe as Ann and Lily grin.
"Good thinking, April," Lily tells her.
"Though it's kind of surprising that something simple like that could fix mystic cracks..." Ann murmurs to herself, glancing away.
"What is this sorcery?" Draxum pokes at the orb.
"Hi friends!" A familiar voice calls out behind them and they find that it's Todd. "I squeezed out and you didn't notice! Isn't that a funny story?"
Suddenly a crash comes through the wall, Foot Brute and Splinter sliding into the room. The rat had just kicked him into the garage, and he is now facing Foot Recruit.
"I can't believe you are back with these Foot clowns!" He shouts while dodging her attacks left and right. "You could be so much more than that!" He ducks his head from a spinning kick.
"I am loyal to the Foot, and Master Shredder!" She states furiously. "FOOT CLAN-!" She gets knocked away by a purple vine to the face.
"Rat, what is this?!" Draxum demands to him.
"We are under siege!" Splinter informs his former enemy.
"O'Neil, girls, get the orb to safety!" Draxum shouts and April nods at him.
"I gotcha, New York," She takes the orb, Ann and Lily taking defensive stances.
"We'll be your back-up in case they try to follow!"
"Thanks, girls, now come on!" She runs off down the tunnel, the two racing after her. The water splashes as they run into the sewers. Splinter goes to Draxum's side.
"We got this, right guys?" Todd pumps a fist.
"Could you please wait in the Tank, please?" Splinter asks in irritation.
"You betcha," Todd waddles away to the Turtle Tank, almost like a teddy bear.
Leo has taken them to Donnie's lab. "Shelldon," He calls out, the drone flying up to the couple. "We need you to protect Gram-Gram."
"Use all of the tech sci-fi turtle has to make sure she's safe," Amy warns him. "And I do mean ALL of it, no matter how much some of it annoys me to no end..."
He salutes to the two, syncing up to a shell. He then grows arms and legs to stand in front of Karai, sparking.
"Good drone," Amy nods in approval, turning to Karai. "We have to go and help our family against the Shredder, but you should be safe and sound in here."
Leo makes another portal, about to leave when he looks over to Karai. He then gasps and hugs the woman, and pulls Amy into it too. Karai returns the hug and they pull back to smile at her. She returns the sentiment, urging them to go and fight.
"Ames," He turns to her and holds her shoulders. "No matter what happens, I love you just the way you are."
She smiles and pecks his lips. "Thanks, Papi." Amy turns to Karai. "So...because we freed you...Shredder can sense you anywhere since you were both in the Twilight Realm?"
Karai nods her head. "It is a burden I wish I did not have to bear."
"Well, don't worry. We will protect you," Amy declares bravely.
"What do you think we'll see on the other side?" Leo asks her, holding her hand.
"I don't know...but our family's got this," She smiles confidently...
And then she takes it back when they step in, because the whole lair is in ruins! Everything is on fire and they look around in horror, hearing their family fighting against the Shredder. They almost couldn't even recognize the skate rink anymore...
"No," Amy murmurs in horror. Mikey lands nearby with smoke coming out where he landed. They both turn around to see the Shredder looming over Amy, a hand raised above her. She gasps sharply and Leo steps in front of her, attacking the demon.
"Get away from her!" He shouts defensively, and is sent backwards. He attempts to open a portal, but it disappears, and he gets onto his feet. Amy pulls out her axe.
"Look out!" She swings it at Shredder behind him, but he grabs her weapon.
"Enough of that!" He grabs Leo's sword too...and snaps both of them into pieces. "No more escape!"
"Our weapons!" They exclaim in horror and Shredder grabs Leo by the head, about to finish him off. Raph swoops in and knocks Shredder away from the two into a wall with his red mystic aura. Amy bends down to Leo, helping him up.
Shredder ends up in the arcade, rolling and sliding to a stop in front of a game. Raph, with his aura, elbows him into it, and then punches him at least three times. He then grabs the demon's shoulders as two more arms appear. They grab two arcade games and hit Shredder with them. Raph spins Shredder around, knocking down some more games before throwing him into the kitchen. He hits the cabinets and lands on his knees. As Raph runs over to him, he punches the shoulder, and grabs the back of the head. He slams it into a cabinet, before sensing Karai's presence again.
"Karai..." He jumps through the ceiling, leaving Raph behind. He lands in Donnie's lab, slowly getting onto his feet. "No more hiding, child..."
She tenses up at him and Shelldon prepares all of Donnie's tech. "Stay away from her! Booyakasha!" He leaps forward, with all of the objects flying towards the demon. However, with one strike, all of the tech explodes. The Shredder jumps through the smoke and Karai tries to challenge her Ninpo. She's still weak, however, and is unable to properly defend herself at the moment.
Raph suddenly pops in behind her in his aura, letting out a yell. He tackles Shredder through the entrance and they go flying into the skate rink. They fight as they fall towards the ground, with ultimately Raph landing on his back, causing a huge crash. Shredder literally rips the aura apart like a wild animal eating its prey before eventually reaching a frightened Raph. He then rips the rest off in pieces, which fall around him. Raph defends himself against Shredder's mouth with his tonfas in front of his body, but the Shredder breaks them.
"My tonfas!"
The Shredder looms over him, and then his arms fall off. He screeches in pain, and Raph pants heavily, someone coming in to save him. A boot slides to a stop and he falls to the floor. The others, who were already hit, and him look up to see Karai standing there. She's glowing green as her arrow has appeared, her symbol glowing.
"Get away from my family," She threatens viciously, sweat dripping down her face.
The Shredder lets out a roar, lunging his claws forward. She slides to the right, grabbing Donnie's titanium head as she slides further. She spins around as the head glows green and it turns into lightning. She lets out a yell as she throws it at the Shredder. It hits him in the arm, and her moves amaze the five.
"She's tapping into her Ninpo," Raph murmurs in realization.
"Not just to save the clan...but to save all of us," Amy glances to the others, Leo helping her to stand.
The Shredder releases some red pillars around Karai, but she spins around and they all turn green. She then throws her arm down and the tiny projectiles fall either around or at Shredder. She soars towards them with a fierce roar, arrow ready.
"The Twilight Realm has made you WEAK!" He deflects against her arrow and breaks it into pieces. She looks into his eyes as she falls. "But it has made me strong!" He thrusts his arms forward, holding her up by the top of her hair. The flames turn red. "You have failed! And now, your power will be mine..."
"If my power is what you seek..." She starts off defiantly. She places her hand on his chest. "Then have it!" He bursts into pieces, leaving behind only a green glow. She grasps it as a transparent green hand holds onto hers...and then a face appears.
"Daughter..."
"Father?" She gasps, and because of this distraction, the Shredder gains back control, knocking her back with a powerful blast. Tears fall from her eyes as she looks into the eyes of her horrified family. And that's the last thing she looks into...as she falls onto the floor, her eyes green.
"Anatawa...Hitorijanai..."
Tears well up in Raph's eyes and a cyclone of wind occurs.
"GRAM-GRAM!" Leo shouts at the top of his lungs, trying to reach her.
"No!" Raph pulls him back, the others around him. Donnie plants something to keep up the floor from caving in. "The Hamato must live on!" He pulls Leo into the darkness and the support breaks. The pipes in the garage all break as Draxum has captured the three Foot members. April, Ann, and Lily are all long gone as the five appear.
"Everybody in the Tank!" Raph points behind them.
"What happened to Karai?" Splinter turns to his family and as the water falls, Raph clenches a fist at her sacrifice, turning to him with teary eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Master Splinter, but...Karai..." Amy places her hands to her heart with a sad look. "As hard as she fought against him...she didn't..." She looks away, clenching her fists.
He gasps as she doesn't even have to finish her sentence. It seems that all hope is lost in defeating the Shredder...New York may be safe, but...their home is destroyed...their weapons are gone...and...Karai...Splinter slams down a fist as it feels like rain pouring down on them...
The walls crack and then there's a huge blast, knocking the heroes down. Splinter grits his teeth as he looks up at the demon stepping into the garage.
"Draxum, the children, they must escape!" The rat turns to him urgently. He nods in agreement; they've already had to lose a few allies just so they could get away. And with Karai gone, they certainly weren't going to take the risk of losing the five as well at the hands of the Shredder. Especially when they aren't even close to ready in defeating him.
"Get out of here!"
"We'll buy you time!"
"Are you crazy?!" Amy screams in alarm.
"We're not leaving without you two!" Raph looks at him pleadingly.
"Raphael, as long as there is Hamato, there is hope."
Tears quickly go away from his eyes as he enters the Tank with the others. "Todd...get us out of here."
Todd starts up the tank and the two look to the Shredder bravely. "For the children..."
"For our children," Splinter corrects in determination. The Shredder charges up, and the two charge towards him, with the water and the ceiling falling on them.
"No, NO! NOOOO!" Mikey shouts as the Tank drives away, with the rubble blocking the entrance...
