Hamato Yoshi couldn't remember when he felt this exhausted or confused in his life. A few short hours ago, he had woken up, surrounded by his sons…..grown up sons…..crying and sobbing as though they were little boys again. Even though his mind had been clouded over with the fog of a deep, long sleep, he had held the boys close to him. His mind started to move, to turn with the images that lingered in his mind like an imprint.

A turtle yokai, or something like it, that claimed he was related to Yoshi himself, and…. he had guided Yoshi back to his body…..

And then an alarm went off. He was taken prisoner while his sons had fled. Dun had one of his cronies remove him from the wheelchair compound, effectively kidnapping him. The large man didn't touch him, even though he could do so easily, all he did was pace the entire length of the floor. His heeled shoes click-clacked on the polished tile floor while a fire roared in the large marble fireplace. There was another man with them, but his name escaped Yoshi's knowledge at the moment. The man feebly grabbed the handles of the, watching with tired blue eyes as Dunn's conversation was not going as he wanted to.

"And now they've turned back around, heading downtown! Why?! What could they possibly be up to?!" There was no reply, but he figured that it wasn't what Dun wanted to hear. The large man growled. "This makes no sense! Nothing they've done has made sense so far. They should be trying to rescue their father. They should be trying to free the rest of the clan to make an attack on us! Not…not take a stolen mech for a joyride through town."

"Mr. Dun. Contain yourself. They're only children."

Yoshi cut his eyes over to the stranger, keeping his face neutral.

"Do not underestimate the Hamatos, Bishop." Dun snarled at the man dressed all in black. "Those children have been trained by only the best tutors available since primary school, and they have mastered and surpassed anything that had been thrown at them. Even Bradford, the top martial arts world champion, knows to fear them."

"They are my sons, after all." Yoshi snarked, his voice tired and raspy from years of disuse. The two men growled angrily, shooting him glances that would surely have killed him if that could happen.

Yoshi didn't doubt that the men wanted to kill him. Only the probability of him being used as bait kept him from meeting his ancestors. Dun growled.

"You. What are your sons after!? What is their reasoning behind this…..this foolishness?"

A long dead fire burst to life inside of Yoshi as his tired eyes steeled and hardened, glancing upward to meet this large angry man. He inwardly cringed at the flecks of spittle that landed on his cheeks but kept his cool as he replied, "In case you were somehow unaware of the fact, I, unfortunately, was in a coma until recently. Alas, you would know better than I at the moment."

Dun, it seemed, could barely hold onto his rage. Growling and taking a step back, raising his fists as though he would strike someone down, only to clench and pull at his hair. Dun gave a frustrated snarl and turned away to face Bishop once more. "We cannot risk them enacting whatever plan they've set inro motion."

Yoshi watched as Dun snatched a map off the table, slamming it down on the table and jabbing a very large finger onto the paper.

"They're heading here, from all reports. Get more men here and here, and we need to get the tanks moving now. We can corner them if we hurry!"

Yoshi felt cold, the blanket that was draped over him, but a quick glance over at the man in the corner had him tensing.

"We already have all the men we can spare out there, and we're not going to pull any more from the warehouse siege." The dark-haired man said. There was a slight growl to the agent's voice as he said, "I will not risk the mutant escaping again!"

Was that what that creature was? The one in my dream? Yoshi asked himself, letting the conversation between Bishop and Dun fade into the background. Not some spiritual vision and the presence of a Yokai, but a creation of modern science? And he said…..he said that he was the pet turtle that I had bought for my boys, turned into something special…..he helped me get back.

Despite only knowing this turtle creature for only the briefest of moments, Yoshi hardened his resolve that should it come down to it, he would protect this strange being.

When Yoshi returned his thoughts back to the world outside his mind, the two men were arguing still. There was a brief pause in the heated debate, during which Yoshi tensed, sensing the shift in the air. Almost instinctively, his eyes went to the rafters.

There were some shadows up there, barely distinguishable from the larger shadows that wrapped the upper ceiling in darkness. Yoshi's eyes went wide in anticipation.

Not a second later, he heard a distinct battle cry: "COWABUNGAAA!"

Out of nowhere, his youngest son dropped down behind him, grabbing hold of the handles on the wheelchair and rolled him away, cackling all the while.

"Hi dad!" the young son declared as he dodged the guards that were trying to capture him.

"Oh, uh, hello Michelangelo." Yoshi managed to grit out while clutching the armrests tightly. His son maneuvered him towards the exit. He heard the rest of his sons behind him, throwing banter out at Dun, which only made him angry by the growls and snarls he let loose. There was a voice behind him, one that sounded very familiar They were almost to the exit, when Bishop shouted something, a lockdown procedure.

Red lights suddenly started to flash. Michelangelo gave a yelp of surprise as a metal wall slammed itself shut over their only exit. Yoshi gripped his chair tightly, gritting his teeth as the chair skittered to a stop. His young son turned him around to where he could see things better, and it appeared that his sons had rallied to come and rescue him.

And one person in this little four-person army…. his breath caught as he studied the shelled figure in front of him with wonder.

"Leonardo…."

That name rolled off his tongue, and was whispered in a bizarre reverence, as though he was indeed in the presence of a spirit from his homeland. The turtle glanced over at him, his blue eyes glowing with some sort of nervous energy. His stance….Yoshi could see that it was near perfect, but faltered for a fraction of a second when he exhaled and nodded.

"Um….hi. We're, uh, here to….to rescue you."

Yoshi couldn't speak, unsure of what to say to this statement. Finally he pushed out: "I….can see that. Thank you….my sons."

His appreciation had some effect on the turtle who was probably not much older than his own children. He was understandably confused, seeing how he was a former coma patient, awake for a few short hours.

The man in the dark glasses stood up, coldly and emotionlessly, gesturing to the group. "Ah, the renowned Hamato brothers, at last! So, you've come for your father after all. And I must thank you for bringing along some very important missing property of the EPF."

Yoshi felt that long-dormant fire become hotter and hotter. If only he wasn't wheelchair-bound, then he would have his family form a protective circle around Leonardo. Appearances be damned, Leonardo was a living being with a soul and heart.

No living creature belonged to anyone! Especially to that psychopath in front of them.

Yoshi saw it, briefly, before anyone else did. A flash of silver that was illuminated by the firelight, hitting the man in front of them square in the face. However, instead of the expected blood and brains to come flying out, only sparks of electricity appeared as Bishop collapsed to the ground. Yoshi blinked, and, seemingly as one, they all turned towards Raphael.

His son merely shrugged. "What? Mikey did tell you that was going to happen."

"I totally did, bro."

"Raphael…..!" Donatello groaned. "Noooo! Look Leo obviously had a traumatic history with Bishop, and he isn't going to be able to get any real sense of closure about that now."

"Oh. Uh, sorry Leo."

Yoshi smirked, feeling that while there were apparently major changes that took place while he was laid out, it seemed that his second oldest son was still very brash. Yoshi turned to watch Leonardo, watched closely the expression on his face as he turned towards the body.

There seemed to be some emotion on his face, an internal war raging inside of him before he pushed out, "No. It's…..it's fine."

"After all this is done, try kicking the body a few times. I find that somewhat helps.

Yoshi decided to speak up. "Raphael, my son….I see we are going to have some long discussions about the honorable treatment of our defeated foes."

There was a sound of someone clearing their throat and everyone turned towards Dun. Yoshi winced.

"Oooh, right. We still got him to take care of."

Donatello bristled angrily, assuming a fighting position and standing in front of the wheelchair bound master. "Dun! How can you betray us like this?! After all these years-"

"It was merely business, Donatello. I hope if I taught you anything in the years, I've been your guardian, it's that it's a dangerous world out there, filled with only wolves and sheep. The question is: are you a wolf, strong enough to take what you need to survive? Or are you mere sheep, to be herded by those stronger than you, until you're finally devoured?"

The internal fire that raged inside of Yoshi found fresh air, fanning the flames until it was a wildfire. He only cursed the fact that he was too weak to stand on his own, as he could only glare distastefully at the giant man and grounded out, "That is the purpose of the Hamato Clan, why we exist! We protected the sheep from wolves like you!"

"Yup! We're the third option: the guard dogs!"

Leave it to Michaelangelo to crack a joke like that, Yoshi thought with an internal smile.

But Dun wasn't finished with his sermon: "An organization with as much power and connections as the Hamato Clan needs to be led by someone willing to be ruthless, something willing to do what must be needed to make the company thrive. Not children and a cripple"

"Hm. From what we overheard, the EPF seems to have a pretty tight leash around your neck," Donatello observed dryly. "So…. who's the sheep and who's the wolf in that situation?"

Yoshi saw a shadow of darkness pass over Dun's face, a look of pure anger, hatred and rage.

"Oh…"" Dun growled lowly, "I'll remind the EPF just how useful I am."

"Surrender Dun!" Leonardo ordered, pointing his sword at the larger man. It seemed to finally click with Yoshi that the turtle was holding the swords with an expert grip, and his fighting stance was near perfect. The rest of his words were drowned out as Yoshi observed the family member they had lost. He found himself wondering…. just where did the young creature learn that skill?

"-ard way, or the easy way?" Raph was saying. Yoshi forced himself to refocus on the fight in front of him.

The large man loomed over them menacingly. "You Hamatos have no idea what you're dealing with, do you? Of why the EPF is so interested in finding your turtle pet?"

Yoshi could feel the anger, the rage coming off his sons, the need to protect their own radiating off them.

"Nobody," Donatello growled, almost as lowly as Dun, but there was a lot more emotion behind it, "is touch our brother."

Yoshi sat up, a feeling in the bottom of his stomach that felt…off. Something about this situation, the fight that was brewing…. none of it felt right.

"Be careful my sons." Yoshi warned them, his brow furrowing as he peered into the spiritual aura and saw something that alarmed him. Very much alarmed him. "There is something terribly wrong with his aura."

And much to all of their shock, Dun reached down and grabbed the massive wooden desk that sat next to him. With as much strength as it takes to lift a piece of paper, he lifted it above his head and declared, "And this is why I deserve to have the Hamato Clan! For the strong deserve to rule the weak!"

Everything exploded into chaos. Yoshi grabbed ahold of the arms of the wheelchair as Michaelangelo, as agile as a deer, leapt behind him and pushed him out of the way while his sons scattered in different directs as Dun tossed the desk forward. The wood shattered loudly behind them into a thousand million pieces. Yoshi heard Raphael say an explicit word, but he figured that they enough on their plate at the moment to worry about naughty words being said.

And, if he was being honest, there were a few going through his head at that moment.

"Impressive eh? I've become more then a mere human! It's why the EPF wants you so bad." Yoshi glanced over his shoulder to see Dun smiling hungrily at Leonardo, a truly horrendous smile that made his skin crawl. "They've discovered just how useful mutagen can be, what ian do in the right hands."

Donatello whispered something under his breath, asking Dun something that he couldn't hear over the thundering of his heart in his ears.

"They saw my true potential, and unlocked it!" He flexed, and Yoshi watched in wide-eyed shocked as the seams of the suit Dun was wearing ripped open, almost yelling in agony as the man's muscles finally burst forward. "I've become a god to rule over the mere mortals."

Donatello said the two words they all were thinking, "He's insane."

"We need to take him down fast." Leonardo said, taking charge immediately, "Whatever you do, do NOT let him hit you! He's too strong!"

"So, what's the plan?" There were flittering glances thrown between Leonardo and Donatello. Donatello looked over at Leonardo. The young creature smirked.

"You guys ever see sparrows on a hawk?" The air changed around the four of them smiled. "Mikey, push Dad behind the bar. He should be protected back there. This is going to require all four of us."

"On it!"

The fact that Leonardo called him 'Dad' was such a shock that it didn't process that Michaelangelo was rolling him behind a protective shelter. He called out a quick warning to be careful, cursing the weakness of his own body and inability to help.

X

Everything was chaos, so much so that it was hard for Yoshi to describe the fight that happened, that is….until Leonardo did something extraordinary. Tamashi no Ha, something that only the most advanced, most dedicated of the clan could do.

And only those in the Hamato clan could attempt it.

Yoshi was breathless, trying to figure out what was going on and then Leonardo said one word, one name that caught his breath and everything fell into place.

Splinter.

Of course.

"Wait…." Raphael's voice broke his thoughts. "Dad's pet rat?! He was mutated as well?"

And it clicked for everyone as well. Donatello was excitedly stating how of course Splinter was probably mutated, as he disappeared right when Leonardo did. Michaelangelo was excited at the prospect of more family. Yoshi, while his heart skipped a beat at the possibility of his old friend still being out there somewhere, the expression on Leonardo's face had his rising heart sinking once again.

"He…." Leonardo paused, as though searching for the right way to explain it, and Yoshi noticed the pain in his voice, in his words. "He got sick….and….uh, I….I tried…but….."

Yoshi wanted to reach out for this young soul, who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and take him into his embrace. To shield him from the world. Only…movement behind Leonardo caught his eye and before he even had a chance to call out a warning, something went flying and Leonardo went rigid.

Yoshi cried out, as did his sons when they saw Leonardo slap his arm and pull something off his arm.

It was a dart.

And probably figuring from the way he swayed, looking glassy eyed, it probably had a sedative.

"LEO!"

His children's warning came too late as a taser was driven into Leonardo's side. Yoshi could only watch in horror as Bishop rose to his feet, his face showing half metal. He couldn't move forward, couldn't stand properly, couldn't stay steady on his feet long enough to rush forward and protect his family.

He could only watch, helpless, an android Bishop gathered up Yoshi's unconscious son, drag him over the shattered window and onto a helicopter chopper. Yoshi could only hope that his vow, as well as the sons that remained behind, that he would find Leonardo. They would find Leonardo.

No matter how long it took.