Angel: Watch out for a reference to 2012 Amy here. Not gonna say what exactly, but it should be obvious when you read it *winks playfully* Also, SO MANY FEELS HERE!
It's a dark sky as the Tank drives down the dirt path. "How could you do that? How could you just drive away and leave them there?" Leo demands as they're staring at Raph's shell, angry with him for willingly dragging them away.
"What were you thinking?!" Amy shouts at him, fists clenched. "I mean, abandoning Draxum and Splinter at their insistence to the Shredder? And you didn't even try to pick a fight over it!"
"It's what Dad told us to! If we stayed, we would've gotten crushed by Shredder. As long as there are Hamato, there is a chance," He turns around to them.
"A chance to do what?" Mikey asks sadly.
"Our friends are who knows where," Amy counts off. "Shredder is still in the FREAKING lair, and now you've probably killed Splinter and Draxum all because YOU said to leave," She points at Raph furiously.
"I don't know! I didn't get to ask him that! And it's not my fault, Splinter and Draxum will be fine! Don't worry, I'm the big brother, the one who is the biggest. It's on me how to figure out how to stop the Shredder."
"How?!" Donnie exclaims at him. "We've got no weapons! No lair! No Sensei!"
"And no Gram-Gram..." Mikey frowns sadly before Raph could even speak, about to cry. Leo has the same expression and Donnie looks towards the ground. Amy sniffles, wiping her teary eyes with her arm. Leo turns to her and pulls her into a comforting hug. She rests her face into his shoulder. Raph looks at the saddened siblings, staying silent. It does seem like there was no way out of this...they have nothing and no one to help them.
"I know what'll turn those frowns upside down," Todd calls out from up front. "Lemon-"
"Do not say lemonade," Leo turns around with a glare as they're still frowning.
"Okay," Todd shrugs it off, turning back to the road. Raph heaves a sigh.
"Okay, I got this. All we need is a plan," Raph says, getting the others' attention. "One simple plan, that'll save Dad, save Draxum, stop Shredder, find our friends and prevent the destruction of all humanity."
"Yeah, that should be easy," Mikey rolls his eyes.
"Not!" Amy adds in, crossing her arms. Raph sighs again.
"Okay, I need someplace where I can concentrate, a sanctuary free of all distractions to focus on the dire task at hand."
"Welcome to the puppiest place on Earth!" Todd announces once they arrive back at his home. Only Mikey seems to be embracing the puppies as a big dog is sitting on Donnie, some are on Leo's shoulders, and one is on Raph's head. Amy looks down and recoils back.
"Eww! Dog poop on my shoe!"
Todd pops up behind her, holding a few puppies and holding one out to her. She blinks at him slowly.
"Strange..." Shredder speaks up back in the destroyed lair. "Nothing's changed. I feel no different. Destroying Karai should have given me her power!"
"You were trying to harness the Hamato essence? Just try again with this guy," Foot Brute suggests, gesturing to a chained up Splinter and Draxum. Shredder roars in the rat's face, and he moves away out of fear.
"Ah bup bup bup bup bup," Foot Lieutenant interrupts him. "You need him alive. Master Shredder, if I may," He holds up his phone, standing next to his master. "Let's consult the phone training video." He and Foot Brute made this video back before the current Foot Clan was even formed. It supposedly has every single answer for situations like this.
"Welcome to the Foot Clan, dudes!" He says on video, him and Foot Brute with big smiles and leis. "Are you ready to have a tubular time, serving the Shredder?" Foot Brute moves away, revealing a picture of Shredder over a surfer's face. Shredder peeks over his shoulder and he chuckles awkwardly.
"It's, uh...we should fast-forward...ah, here we go!"
"Congratulations!" Foot Brute starts off, now him and his partner wearing lab coats with a classroom setting. "You have caught yourself a Hamato!" He then takes a vial with green liquid inside.
"Step one: in order to extract the essence, you will need the ancient mystic compound known as Empyrean." The word overlays over their bodies in red. "This very rare and very valuable-"
And yet Foot Brute drops it onto the ground, breaking the vial.
Shredder moves away from the phone. "Where do I find this substance?"
"I've got Empyrean," Draxum speaks up, to Splinter's shock.
"DRAXUM!"
Shredder gets into his face as Draxum remains brave. He has a mischievous smirk on his face and the Shredder narrows his eyes. Since his information could be useful to him, he sets only Draxum free, to Splinter's ire.
"I cannot believe you are doing this. You turned your-!"
Draxum covers his mouth with a purple vine. "You knew this day was coming, rat! He hates me, I hate him. It's kind of our thing. And now...I win."
"Where is the Empyrean?" The Shredder demands him, not really seeming to care of the yokai's relationship with Splinter.
"Down there," Draxum points down where, past the rubble, is a portal. "In the Hidden City."
Back at the trailer, the others are sitting at a picnic. "Raph's thinking really hard," Mikey whispers to Leo. "I'm worried he's gonna hurt himself."
"I think the most he'll get is a brain cramp," Amy rolls her eyes at him.
"I can hear you," Raph has an annoyed look as several puppies are jumping around him.
"Oh, maybe we should try what Gram-Gram did and unlock our...what'd she call it?" Leo puts a fist to his cheek.
"The Hamato Ninpo!" Raph stands up in realization, grinning widely. "That's it! Our family's ancient ninja art that allows you to harness some crazy mystic energy!"
"But we need weapons for that, he said correctly and his family all agreed," Donnie points out.
"Raph," Amy stands up, walking over to Raph. "Raph, Raph, buddy. Listen to me. I don't know if you know this, but you're also forgetting another thing," She holds up a finger.
"What's that?"
"That we don't know how to use Ninpo!" She elaborates to his face and his eyes widen.
"Wait! Weapons! Let's do those!" He wasn't really worried about that one.
"Ugh," Amy groans, facepalming at this.
"I can make you some in my forge!" Todd suggests, waving a hand.
"Wait, you have a forge here?!" Amy exclaims at the capybara.
"Sure do! And I cleaned your boot for you-"
"Keep it," She holds up a hand, disgusted by the memory.
Underneath the home is his forge, and he slams his hammer down several times. A puppy with a mohawk activates the lava that falls into arrows. Todd is wearing overalls and a mask, showing off his somewhat muscular body. He continues forming the weapon in front of him, taking a puppy and using that to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
Once he's doing, he holds them up to the pouty and impatient turtles. "All done!" He slams down the cloth they're wrapped in.
The others gather around in excitement and awe.
"This is exactly what we need!" Todd removes the seal and they wait in anticipation.
"Omigosh, omigosh!"
He opens up the cloth and golden light comes from it, freaking them out...but it's just gardening tools. Specifically two small red rakes, one long purple hoe, two blue trowels, a pink shovel, and one long orange string.
"Todd, there are gardening tools," Mikey states as they're either baffled or disappointed. Raph slams his head into the table.
"Exactly! Historically speaking, the ninjas of Ancient Japan used gardening tools as their first weapons. But of course, you guys knew that, right? You're ninjas..."
Raph slams his face into the table again.
"We were expecting something a little more...modern," Amy informs their friend.
"Ames? Will you tell me the story of how you fell in love with me?" Leo looks at her pleadingly, clasping his hands together.
"What?! Why?" She asks in embarrassment, blushing deeply as the others are chortling playfully.
"Well, I've always been really curious, and you never really told me how," He rubs his chin. "If it helps, I knew that I liked you when I saw you with Mayhem! But you made it pretty clear it wasn't mutual at first, and you were being stubborn at first, cheeky monkey. Classic hate-turns-into-love story!"
"I...did," Her blush grows deeper as she crosses her arms. "And I was. But that's besides the point..."
"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" The turtles cheer, slamming their fists on the table.
"Alright!" She rubs a temple in defeat. "Um…well…dang it, this is gonna be awkward and hard to talk about," She pinches her nose. "I think it was when I called you to come and help me with my mom for the first time…it was around 3 in the morning and you came immediately. You didn't even use your sword, you just ran over without thinking about it. And…I was shaken up and…scared," She hugs herself.
The turtles all frown sadly. The red-eared slider remembers it well…he never saw her so afraid of anything, and yet she was crying and bleeding…she specifically called him because she needed someone to be there for her. And he guided her to being calm despite her protests.
"After we took care of her…you promised to stay with me all night," She smiles softly at Leo, a hand to her heart. "And the whole time, you didn't leave. I even laughed, something I never did whenever she lashed out. So…that was when I started to like you. But I mostly denied it, or I acted a bit nicer at times."
"You mean when you baked those brownies for me—"
"I did it because I liked you, yes," She giggles at Leo's shocked expression. "I'm surprised it took you a few months to ask me out after that. It was kind of a sign…even if I kept saying to myself that I didn't like you like that."
"I thought you just needed a friend!" Leo rubs his neck in embarrassment as his brothers laugh.
"At first. At least you had the balls to do it at all."
"Why didn't you just ask him?" Mikey wonders curiously.
"I had a reputation to hold up," She shrugs sheepishly. "Plus…I didn't know for a while whether or not I was just a conquest for him…until he told me why he liked me over the phone…"
Leo's eyes soften as he places a hand on top of hers, causing her to look up. She sees his gentle smile.
"I've loved you ever since I laid eyes on you. And I meant it that day when I told you what I like—love about you."
She blushes as red as Ann's hakama, earning two awws from Raph and Mikey.
"Scoff," Donnie calls out, interrupting the moment.
"Shut up," The couple glare at him.
"I'm just saying, it's too mushy for my-" Amy throws a shoe at his head. Leo hugs her and she returns it, smiling happily. Even though they're going through a rough time right now, they were glad that they have each other.
April, Lily, and Ann slide back into the lair, all of them wearing backpacks. The orb is safe, but they wanted to come back and help their friends. What they weren't expecting was a totally destroyed lair, with no one to be seen.
"Guys?" Ann looks around for them.
"This place is a total mess," Lily frowns in worry.
"I know, but-"
A groan interrupts April and they turn around to see green light coming from a pile of rubble. "Guys?! We're coming!" The girls rush over, taking the piece at the same time. Working together, they move the pieces around. "Karai!"
"Oh my gosh! What happened?!" Lily gasps sharply as they move around more debris.
"Stop," She holds out a hand. She looks to be in grave condition as she has scrapes everywhere, her Ninpo aura surrounding her body. "We don't have much time." She puts down her hand weakly.
"No, no! We gotta help you! T-Take you to a hospital!"
"I'm sure we can explain away...this..." Ann points to the green glow.
"And what about the guys-"
Karai lifts up April's chin, turning her so that she can look the woman in the eye. Ann and Lily pause, turning to her as well.
"I will not be able to finish this journey," She touches April's cheek, and her eyes widen. She realizes...that Karai doesn't have that much time. "Now you must teach the family."
"Us?!" Lily gestures to the three.
"How can we? We're not one...we're not one of you!"
"Oh, my children..." She opens her eyes with a gentle smile. She grabs a hold of April's hand, and the girl turns back to Karai. "You have always been one of us. And now...with this battle...your friends are now one of us as well."
The three smile softly, shedding a few tears. April grasps the hand, reaching out to Ann. She takes April's hand, and then she takes Lily's. Lily takes Karai's hand, and they're now all holding hands together. Karai's aura reaches the three.
"Whoa. Whoa, whoa!"
The three are lifted in the air.
"What's happening?!" Lily looks at herself.
"I don't like change!" Ann hugs herself a bit self-consciously. The green glow overtakes them, and suddenly, they've changed. Memories of the Hamato fill their brains as Karai closes her eyes, turning away. The girls slowly land on their feet, their eyes green. Karai fades away, clutching a piece of paper to her heart...when she's fully gone, the paper is revealed to be the same one Mikey gave to her.
"Find them. Find our family," She tells them and they take deep breaths, the glow fading. They open their eyes and smirk at each other. Their appearances have completely changed as they're now sharing Karai's Ninpo and her Ninpo training. April's hair is in a ponytail, wearing a short yellow hoodie that barely reaches her elbows. Her arms are covered by black sleeves that reach her hands. She has a green skirt over her pants. Lily's appearance is similar to a geisha as her hair is in two neat buns, her bangs curled around her face. She has a style of kimono for a top, which is in a sunshine yellow, the sleeves going to her wrists. She has a white obi behind her, and the skirt only goes to her knees, which pure white with pink blossom patterns on it. Ann is wearing a red hakama, but it does have some black hues, and it's just below the bust line. It has embroidered flowers on it, and her hair is in a bun, with a flower comb tucked away in it, but the flower is sticking out.
"Come on, Raph!" Raph chastises himself as he's holding his tools. "There are great weapons! Let's see what these babies can do!" They use them...to garden a whole patch and not train. Raph grunts in irritation, throwing the gardening tools, and they hit him in the face. "Nothing I'm doing is working!" He punches the scarecrow nearby out of frustration, taking deep breaths.
The four look at him in worry, sensing that this is more than just what they're going through right now...
"Guys!" A few voices call out and they turn to see the girls coming in on bikes. "Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys!"
"Girls?" Raph's eyes widen at them.
"Guys!"
Their bikes hit rocks, and they go flying off them. However, their eyes flash green, and they do a flip over their friends. They look at them in awe as they land in unison. They turn around to the five.
"Oh my gosh!" April holds her head. "You won't believe what happened! We went to the lair, which is totally destroyed, and found Karai, and she turned into light, and now we can hear her voice inside our heads!"
"Wanna say that one more time?" Donnie asks in confusion.
"Ugh, listen!" Ann groans at him.
"Karai! She did a Hamato glowy light thing, and now...I think she lives inside of us?"
The turtles all hug them. "Gram-Gram's alive?!" Leo asks happily.
"GRAM-GRAM!" Mikey shouts in April's ear, irritating her. "IT'S MIKEY! I MISS YOU!"
April puts her hand over his face in annoyance. "Gram-Gram would like you to let go, and never do that again," She pushes him off.
"And seriously, get off, you're crushing us," Ann looks up at them and Amy just chuckles.
"This is too amusing," She smirks, crossing her arms.
"Okay, new plan. Gram-Gram tells the girls to tell us what to do!" Raph points between the sky, the three girls, and the four. They then kneel in front of her. "Please, instruct us, Girls Gram-Gram Senseis."
"What a weird thing to say," Amy murmurs as they bow to them.
The girls press their hands together. "She wants us to teach you the art of Pinpo."
"Ninpo," Donnie corrects her.
"Nin...po..."
"Whatever that is," Ann glances away awkwardly.
"Yeah, girls, cool if you don't," Leo speaks up, "But do you still have that orb with all the people of New York in it?"
"Safe and sound!" The three state in unison as April holds it up, drops, and then picks it up again.
"Ha...safe and sound."
"I'll just take this..." Lily takes it from her for good measure.
"I hope Chewbacon is okay," Amy gives a slight look of worry.
"He'll be fine. I've seen him wrestle a bear. And he got out alive! He gets his strength from you," Leo places a hand on her shoulder. "So that means he trusts you to do what's right."
She stays silent, smiling up at him. "Thanks, Papi. I feel a little better knowing that."
They're now near a waterfall. "Karai says to access your inner power, you have to stay calm, and feel connected to each other," April instructs to him.
"This part is pretty crucial, so you have to stay focused," Ann continues the lesson.
"And that means staying focused," Lily opens an eye as Leo wobbles. Donnie and Mikey are the same, but Raph and Amy are not. The reason why the three are so nervous is because they're sitting on wooden planks on top of trees.
"Feeling too calm up here!"
"How can I feel connected when there's no Wi-Fi?!" Donnie retorts back.
"Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi," Amy grumbles underneath her breath. "This isn't exactly a situation where you can look up the answers."
"Should we hold hands?" Mikey holds Donnie's hand, only to get it slapped. "Ow!"
"No!" April covers her eyes. "You know, like connected in here," She pats her chest. "When you first open it, it'll feel like wow...and then you'll feel like ooh...you know?"
The three stare at her silently. "No, I don't know! That makes zero sense! Explain it differently!" Donnie gets into their faces.
"It's my first time having a weird ghost spirit in my head!"
"Yeah, why don't you try it and see what it's like?" Ann points a finger at his chest. Amy sighs, pinching her nose as Lily tries to look optimistic, but because of their fighting, it's really hard to do that...
"You sure Karai told you this?!"
"You can't just...!"
Raph has tuned out their arguing, getting flashbacks of the Shredder and their fight with him. Leaving Splinter behind, seeing Karai perish...her near death in front of them...He opens his eyes as he remembers her slight glimmer of hope in her eyes despite her situation...
"WILL YOU GUYS KNOCK IT OFF?!" His outburst gets everyone's attention and Amy stares at him in shock. There's dead silence as none of them had really ever seen this side of him before...he shouted in true Amy fashion. "We're running out of time! Everyone's depending on me!" His fists are gripped to the bone and his eyes slowly widen. He then starts crying, tears streaming down his face. "Why can't I do this? I'm failing you..." He holds his head in his hands.
His brothers all stare at him with open mouths, their faces full of sadness...even Donnie! Amy blinks sadly, looking at her hands as she sighs sadly. She's had her moments of doubt too...but in all her time, she never once saw Raph cry. And it's…unfortunately understandable that he'd be at his breaking point.
April, Ann, and Lily stare at him sympathetically. "Relax, big guy," April starts off, sitting in front of him. "What's going on?"
He lets out a deep breath. "It's on me to get the team ready to save Dad and fight the Shredder...but I don't know how."
April reaches out and a green hand touches his. "Anatawa Hitorijanai..."
His eyes widen at the voice and he looks up to see the ghost of Karai in front of him. "Gram-Gram...?" He tears up happily at the sight of her. He hugs her, sobbing.
"That phrase you just said...what does that mean? I heard Splinter's mom say that to him in one of his memories, and you said that too to Mellie."
"It means, you are not alone," She touches his heart. "Hamato Ninpo does not come from you alone. It comes from all who came before you," Other members of the Hamato, including Sho and Splinter's mother, appear behind him. "From your family. You have to trust your family..."
"It's not all on you, Raph," April continues explaining.
"We're here for each other," Ann speaks up.
"Trust that," Lily finishes for them.
"...I do trust my family!" He declares to the three.
"No...trust us the way we trust you. Remember the first time you unlocked your power?" Raph fell from the top of the building to save Amy and Leo in his aura.
"I caught Leo and Mellie when he fell, and she fell to try and save him."
They nod in confirmation. "Trust us."
He smiles gently as the sun rises. "Raph..." Mikey stands up along with the others. "It's gonna be okay. You'll figure this out." The other three smile.
"I know," He stands up, his mask flying next to him. "Cause I'm not alone! None of us are! We're here for each other. Always," He closes his eyes.
"Raph?" Donnie asks in concern and Raph steps backwards, falling off the board.
"Anatawa Hitorijanai..." Karai whispers softly.
The four are horrified as they run forward and something sparks in Raph. It happens again within him and as he falls, he's smiling, because he knows to trust them. Just like his family trusts him enough to come when they need him. The four jump after him.
"RAPH!"
The same spark happens within the four and suddenly, a Hamato symbol appears on their chests. It glows green and sparks, all four of them glowing in their colors. Flames surround Mikey as the symbols on his shell glow. Black arm guards manifest around Donnie's arms, and a blue swirl surrounds Leo. Amy's hair glows in pink as it lifts up above her head. In a pink pop, a new outfit appears on her, pink lights bursting from her arms and legs as her eyes glow. The symbol manifests onto her chest as tiny little ice diamonds appear around her body. All three of them have unlocked their Ninpo!
"Saving like a boss!" They shout in unison, as their lights form into a hand. Raph grins and takes it, and together, they pull him over to them. They smile at each other before landing in front of the waterfall. It's such a big splash that water flies past the trio of girls.
Raph slowly steps out as his eyes glow white, the symbol on his chest. He's unlocked his Ninpo as well as he opens his eyes, grinning. All of the turtles have black arm guards and knee pads, their shells in the same color. Somewhere on them, their colors glow, and the mask tails of Donnie and Mikey have gotten longer.
Amy slowly steps up behind them, ice forming with each step she takes. They turn around to her and Leo blinks in awe. She has a pink kosode like a miko, or a priestess, with the Hamato symbol on the right side of her top. She has a long, slightly pleated white skirt tied with a bow. The left side is longer on the left in white while a pink and blue layer on the right reaches her feet. She has pink kitten heels. Her hair is longer and thicker, to her heels with two shorter pigtails on each side of her head, all of them tied with flower crowns of star gazer lilies. She also has a pink ombre going on with her hair instead of her blonde parts of her hair. She has peach lipstick on with an icy blue eyeshadow.
"Uh huh!" April cheers at this as they dance. Leo takes Amy's hand and twirls her around, causing her to giggle. It almost reminded her of that dance they did in Times Square. "We did it! Joined the Ninpo!"
"You look so cool, my lady!" Leo pumps his fists as he examines her. "And if you were wondering, yes, pun intended."
"Ugh," She groans slightly, facepalming. "Why? But I feel so powerful," She lightly touches the smaller pigtails on the sides of her face. "And I have ice powers in my Ninpo!" She bounces up and down slightly, spinning around and her hair follows her movements. Ice crystals form around in a circle.
"Why is that, anyway? Don't you have lightning powers?" Lily rubs her chin.
"I don't know," Amy shrugs at her. "Maybe because in another dimension I had them or something like that."
"Wait, wait," Leo gasps at her, Ann, and Lily. "You three could totally be the Powerpuff Girls! Well, if we change the color scheme of Lily and Ann. You're all in Japanese style! Ames is totally Blossom, Lily is Bubbles, and Ann is Buttercup."
"Ooh! And I can be the fourth unofficial purple one named Bunny!" April waves a hand eagerly.
"It's not gonna happen, but it's good to dream," Amy smirks, hands on her hips. "And if we were really them, wouldn't I be Buttercup?"
"But you like pink, so you'd be a perfect Blossom!" Mikey smiles widely. "You look like an anime version of her, actually! So cute~"
"Plus I hate pink," Ann narrows her eyes.
"Hey, don't you guys have to save your family?" Todd speaks up, coming out of nowhere. Amy looks between the waterfall and him, wondering where he came from.
"H-How...never mind!"
"Yeah!" Raph declares as they all stand together, masks and hair flying. "And take out the Shredder!"
Speaking of the Shredder, Draxum has led him back to his lair. "Fetch me the Empyrean," Shredder demands of him as he tapes off the very same machine he was using to mutate others. And ever since his first fight with the turtles, Amy, April, and Mayhem, he hasn't returned here. It's still in the same ruins as it was since then. "It's time to harness the Hamato's energy.
Draxum silently presses a button with a clawed finger, starting up the large machine.
"Draxum! Don't do this," A tied up Splinter pleads with him.
"Quiet!" Draxum whips around to him. "You remember this place, don't you? It's where I turned you into what you are today...a lowly lab rat." His mouth opens in shock before he growls in anger. "Where I tried to create an army to protect the yokai...and where your own daughter gained her power. But now I realize the true threat to my people mentioned in the prophecy was...YOU!" He points not at Splinter, but to the Shredder. Three tiny orbs appear from his fingers and he throws them at the demon. A large robot emerges from the ground, shocking three out of four Foot members. Shredder does not seem fazed by this at all while his minions are scared. Shredder lets out a roar, and explosions occur throughout the lab. The ceiling crumbles and it falls around Foot Brute and Foot Lieutenant. Splinter pushes Foot Recruit out of the way before rocks could fall on her.
She has no time to react as Splinter is snatched by purple vines, brought over to Draxum. "I'm sorry I doubted you!"
"You better be. RUN!"
Before they can, Shredder appears before them with a loud screech. He grabs both of them with his hands, gripping them tightly.
The group are now standing over the portal to the Hidden City that Draxum pointed out earlier.
"Looks like Shredder took Pops and Draxum to the Hidden City. But how do we find them?"
"There's only one person I can think of who can pull this off," Donnie starts off confidently. "Someone super intelligent, someone who knows everything about the Hidden City, someone who would do anything for Papa."
"...Me/Big Mama!"
"Big Mama?!" Donnie exclaims in disbelief at their grinning faces. "Come on!"
"Listen, I don't like this anymore than you do," Amy points at him. "She's a total backstabbing, conniving, two-faced spider bitch who needs to get a dictionary, and if I didn't have any tolerance left in my body for you guys, I would've kicked her ass before we even started all this," She has a glare on her face, fists clenched. "But she's the only choice we have. Not to mention, you'd get us lost in 5 minutes flat. Remember what happened the last time we all went to the Hidden City? You and April got arrested after destroying Witch Town!"
"We all did except you and Mikey," Raph points at them. "And then you abandoned us, Mellie!"
"I came back," She rolls her eyes. "And I got you out! Anyway, let's go to the real source."
"Real source, you go to the Hidden City and get arrested for a change," Donnie grumbles underneath his breath before following after the others.
