The dragon ship was nearing the shoreline. The eight Acolytes were still wondering what this was all about.
Don and Mikey were sitting on the front deck with Adam. Farachi was at the head of the ship.
"What the shell have we gotten ourselves into?!" Mikey exclaimed.
"I've always wanted to see Japan. But, this isn't exactly what I had in mind." Don replied.
"Yeah, man. I don't think this place is in any tourist guides." Adam said.
The ship was getting closer to land. Leo and Raph had moved back to the window where they had come up from. Torra and Joy were there with them too.
"I don't know about you, but this stealth into the mystery is getting old real fast. This stinks, Leo." Raph complained. "Big time."
Leo noted Raph's complaint. He had a point. He was leaning on the window on his left knee. "Any movement from the Tribunal, Torra?" he asked.
Torra was sitting on the window. He looked downward. The Tribunal hadn't moved. "Nothing, kame." Torra said.
"Then I say, we go down there and make 'em move." Raph declared.
Leo stood up and said, "There's still so much we don't know about the Tribunal. About this threat they mentioned."
Raph put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "You gotta be kiddin' me! They kidnapped us! They set their little wooden soldiers on us, and they tried to make us take each other out! They're the threat, and you still wanna wait and see?" he demanded.
"Warriors! We have apparently arrived." Farachi announced.
The others all ran to see what they were going to see when they got off. At first glance, Mikey wasn't too impressed. He just saw a temple on the ground with a path heading inward to a cave. "This is it? I was expecting something a little more… cool."
Don looked up and saw there was more. He poked Mikey's shoulder and pointed up. Mikey looked up and he saw some dragons decorating the higher walls. Plus they were a staircase.
"Whoa. Now that's more like it!" Mikey declared.
"Acolytes." the soft voiced male said. They all turned to face the Tribunal. They sure had come up fast.
"You must disembark now." deep voice male said.
"The journey ahead is long and difficult." soft voice said. "And your burdens are great."
"Probably too great." deep voice said.
"Burden? What are you-?" Don was asking before something was pointed to behind his back. He looked over. "Oh." Don said. There was gear that was like camping gear, sleeping bags, canteens, a backpack, and so on. There were eight of them.
Each one of them got one when they got off the ship and began making the long trip up the staircase. They were all heavy.
Joy was leading the way. Raph was behind her. "What did they pack these things with? Bricks?" Raph asked sarcastically.
"No, bro. That's just your head." Mikey joked.
"Keep yapping, Mikey." Raph growled. "Just wait till we get to the top."
"Geez, are they always like this to each other?" Adam asked.
"No. Usually they're a lot more annoying." Leo replied.
It sure was being one long trek up this staircase with everything on their backs. The weight of it all made it seem even longer to get up there.
Leo looked over the side, wondering why the Tribunal hadn't gotten off the ship yet. "What do you think the Tribunal's doing down there?" he asked.
On the ship, the Tribunal all were gathered in a square.
Deep voice said, "All is in its place. Let the journey finally begin."
All four of them used their powers to begin to raise the ship right out of the water!
Leo was amazed at what he saw. "Whoa! Guys, look!"
The others stopped to see what was happening. Some clouds came over the mountain and the ship went right through them.
"No way!" Raph stated.
"Totally excellent. That's-" Mikey said.
"Awesome!" Adam finished for him.
The ship continued to rise far above their heads. "No one said there was an express elevator." Mikey stated. "Come on, that's not fair!"
"Turtle luck running true to form." Raph said and he marched on. They all had to continue on.
….
It had taken them most of the day to get to the top of the staircase. They were ready to get to their destination so they could get all this heavy camping gear off their backs. Soon, they had reached the top, and saw a place that resembled a small village behind a dragon wall, on an air island. A bridge was the entryway.
"I think I saw this place in bitter holes and nightmares." Mikey said fearfully.
"Save it, Mikey." Leo reprimanded Mikey.
The doors opened for them to enter. They all hesitated.
"Think they have a payphone in there? Master Splinter has got to be worried." Mikey stated.
"He wouldn't be the only one." Leo replied. He and the others proceeded to go inside. There was no other place to go to at the moment.
Once inside, they all chose a building to go into and went into it. When in there, they finally took off their accessories.
"Acolytes!" the deep voice spoke up. The Tribunal was in here. A light began to shine from the floor. "Behold: the Lap of the Gods. The Tribunal Monistary. Your new home."
Lights came on to illuminate the whole room. They were all astonished at the looks of this place.
"Sit! Time is short. An ancient evil that has been imprisoned for over a thousand years is threatening to return. You eight have been chosen to combat it." the deep voiced man stated.
The Tribunal all had thrones up on a higher area. There was a pool in front of their throne area, and eight sitting spots. The Acolytes all sat down.
"Our enemy can wreck utter destruction through both mystical and physical means. You must be ready to combat it on all fronts."
Then the soft voiced man rose. He put his hands together and did something, creating a magic ball. Then something happened. An amulet appeared on Farachi's neck, and so on with all of them. "These are the amulets of the Acolyte. They will aid you to focus and to amplify your inner power. Your chi." he explained.
They all examined the amulets. "Great. Now we get dog collars." Raph scoffed.
The soft voiced man continued, "Perception is not always truth. All you think you know, about this world, about yourselves, even about reality itself, all this and more, will be challenged. Here, in the Lap of the Gods, you will learn secrets that have not been shared for mellenia. Secrets known only by we, of the Ninja Tribunal."
He went on, "I am Kon-Shisho, Ninjistu Master of Spirit." His true form had long white hair, blue gray and red clothing, with some of them waving about. He had white glowing eyes.
"This is Juto-Shisho, Ninja Master of Weapons." Juto changed too. He had the dark blue colors. Now he had white and red clothing as well. His hair was black. His eyes glowed blue. He had been the deep voiced one.
The one in green, the only female, punched the floor as she changed. "Chikara-Shisho, Ninja Master of Strength." She wore all green clothing, with bandaged legs. Her eyes glowed green. Her hair was long and white. It was done up.
"And Hisomi-Shisho, Ninja Master of Stealth." He wore the golden clothes and golden eyes. He didn't speak. He was also bald. He was the biggest shisho of them all.
At least they all knew their names now.
"All things will be explained, in time. As for training, it begins now." Chikara took over. She put her hands together and made them kind of like a door.
The Acolytes were curious about what this meant. Then, a light shined from behind them. "Uh oh. Every time they do that ninja patty cake thing, it means trouble!" Raph pointed out. There was now a set of doors before them. Chikara then made a move with her hands to part, and the doors opened up.
They all had their weapons ready. "On your guard." Farachi said. Then Don stepped forward and led them in.
"Hey, guys. This looks like- YES!" Don shouted happily.
It was a whole library of books. Don knew he was going to love this part. The others walked inside and saw there was no threat. "This doesn't look like training to me. This looks more like-" Adam started to say, then Don finished for him, "studying."
Don went to go start looking around.
"Studying!" Mikey whined. "Aw, man! I don't suppose they have a comic book section." Raph and Adam gave him odd looks.
Everyone began to look through books all over the library. Leo and Don got some books and went to the table to read them. Mikey also had some and joined them. He found them too boring.
"Leo, this is incredible!" Don said with a big smile. This was one of his favorite things to do. He would have been a top A student if he had been able to go to public school. It was all in Japanese. He could read other languages rather fluently.
Leo was just as fascinated with the books too. "I know. Um, maybe you can translate this bit here for me?" he asked Don. He had come across something he couldn't read. Don looked it over carefully.
"Hmm. It's all about focus and energy, but physically manifesting it. It's like expressing your chi." Don was unaware of his amulet glowing and some purple marks appeared on his body. "Your own life energy through sheer force of will."
Leo saw it and was a little nervous about what happened to his brother. "Uh, Don?" he pointed and backed off a bit.
"All you have to do is… concentrate. Huh?" Don finally noticed and looked at the marks. They finally disappeared.
"Whoa!" Don and Leo said in unison. That sure was something. It had never happened before. Then they heard snoring. They both looked down at Mikey, who was fast asleep, and drowling on one of the books.
Mikey had always had a short attention span. They knew he would probably regret it later.
…
The next day, all the Acolytes were divided up for different tests. The Shishos tried to get their new students to take the training seriously and told them that the evil one would show no mercy to anyone or anything.
The turtles and their human friends tried to do their best at the tests, but they were new to some of these tests and had never done anything like this before. Especially since some of these tests were all done in a form of magic.
The Shishos were quite disappointed on the first few days of training. They began to wonder if the students they had selected were the right ones. If they couldn't do these tests to train them to become ultimate warriors to battle the great evil, what worth were they to them?
…
About a week later, one late morning, the Acolytes reported to the main hall, the Lap of the Gods. They were all still wore out from the training and were still trying to get woke up. They were all plenty sore too.
The lights came on. The Shishos started talking in cold voices.
"We had hoped for more, Acolytes." Chikara declared coldly.
"Their efforts are unimpressive. Perhaps, we were mistaken. Perhaps, they are hopeless." Kon stated, disappointedly.
"Perhaps they are weak!" Juto added on angrily. "Do you not understand what is at stake?!" he exclaimed to their students.
The Acolytes didn't like what they were hearing. They didn't want to be disappointments, but this was all new to them, and there was still much they didn't know or understand what this was about, or who or what this great evil was.
Then, a new voice spoke up, "How could they possibly understand what is at stake, when you have told them nothing?!" A shadow appeared at the entrance.
The Acolytes turned around to see who it was. The turtles recognized that voice.
The figure moved his hat away from his hidden face. "Master Splinter!" the turtles all gasped as their father had found them. It was a shock to see him, but a relief too. They were glad he was here.
Some Bushis started coming down off the shelves and surrounded Splinter. Splinter bared his teeth in anger at them.
"Protect Master Splinter!" Leo ordered, and he and his brothers jumped over to protect their father. The humans weren't sure what to do.
"Bring it on, block heads! I've been aching to break something all day!" Raph stated.
"Enough!" Kon yelled.
"The rodent is not permitted here, as it well knows." Juto stated.
"How did you come to find this monistary?" Chikara demanded.
They all heard some running footsteps behind them and turned to see an old man running up. The Ancient One was trying to catch his breath, then he smiled as innocently as a child and waved, giggling nervously.
Leo instantly recognized the Ancient One. His brothers didn't know who this was.
Three of the Tribunal sat down in defeat. Juto was still standing. "Pathetic." he said coldly.
The turtles were disappointed in their teachers. Adam came up behind them, "Dude, your sensei is a rat."
Splinter was in front of his sons. "Splinter, let us not make things harder than they need be. Your sons are safe. We should rest and then discuss this with a level head in the evening." the Ancient One ran up to Splinter and suggested his idea.
"There is no time for discussion, Young One." Chikara stated. "The crisis we prepare for is upon on us now."
Kon then got up and summoned a spell with his hands and got a magic ball from the water. A picture appeared in it. It was a black and red ship.
"The five heralds of the Dark One are coming. Heralds, with only one purpose; to reawaken their evil master." Chikara explained.
"They are after three artifacts. Ancient relics that will enable them to complete the Ritual of Resurrection. Two of the artifacts were stolen from us, and are already in the possession of their vile servants." Kon explained next.
The heralds all looked like elemental beings. Little did they know of who they really were, the original Foot Mystics.
The Acolytes were learning more and this wasn't good.
"If the Mystics complete the ritual, a terrible evil will be unleashed upon the world." Chikara stated. "This cannot be allowed!"
"You mentioned a third artifact. Where is it?" Leo asked, stepping forward.
"The third artifact is held safely here." Juto said.
"Then the Tribunal can continue to guard it, without my sons!" Splinter growled angrily.
"Do not test us, Rodent. Beseech your sons if you must. It does not change the outcome." Juto exclaimed.
"Master, is Randall with you?" Mikey asked curiously.
"No." Splinter replied.
Then the building began to shake and some pieces started to fall from the ceiling. "What the shell is that?!" Mikey yelled in fear.
"No! How could they have moved so quickly?" Kon demanded.
The shaking got worse and cracks started appearing on the walls, and debris was falling from the roof.
"The Monistary is under attack!" Juto declared.
"Acolytes! To your inner chambers! We will deal with the intruders ourselves!" Chikara ordered. The Tribunal withdrew their own weapons and tried to be prepared for battle.
Hisomi tried to hold the doors shut to prevent entry of this enemy. Chikara thought she would take a rooftop approach, but she was attacked and imprisoned into a smoky ball that had her unconscious.
Kon tried to free her, but he was attacked and held in the same way from the water attack.
Juto looked around warily, and a third came down from the roof. Juto tried throwing weapons at it, but they went right through it. Juto was knocked unconscious too and held prisoner.
The same thing happened to Hisomi as well, after it had broken through the doors.
"They got the Tribunal!" Leo exclaimed. All the Acolytes took out their weapons for defense. "It's just us now!"
"Yeah! Just us against what?" Raph demanded.
They all looked up at the roof and it finally caved in, and up at the top was a creature that had fire for wings and its face.
"Fools! They foretold the return of the Master. And now, they think they can stop it? The Master cannot be stopped!" He laughed evilly and roared. He formed a sword out of his own fire. "All who oppose the Master, will perish!"
"Master Splinter, what is that thing?" Leo asked.
"Hiyashy-archy, a fire demon!" Splinter exclaimed.
The demon went on to attack them all and destroying the building bit by bit.
Splinter pushed his sons away as debris came down on him and the Ancient One.
"Master Splinter!" Leo cried out. He went up to his brothers. "Turtles! Attack!" he ordered, and the turtles all attacked. The demon just hit them away like they were nothing. He also did the same to Adam and Torra.
"Torra's down too." Leo stated. "Mikey! Try to free the Tribunal!" he ordered Mikey.
"On it!" Mikey replied and ran for the thrones, but the demon went after him and sliced the walls up, making them come down on him.
Don and Leo gasped. "MIKEY!" Leo called out.
Joy then threw and wrapped her weapon around the demon's wrists, trying to disarm him. But he just pulled her into him. Her weapon dropped to the ground.
"Joy!" Furaji cried out. He tried to get her back. Adam had already been put down too. Torra was up and next to Faraji. They both defended themselves from the demon's powers as best they could.
It came for Don next. He tried the usual way first, but then realized he had his amulet and he might be able to do something different. This was a magical being. Why not fight him with magic?
"If I just concentrate." he said. The same marks appeared as before as he focused. "Maybe I can…" a glow came from his body. It fanned into a flame that blocked the demon's powers. It destroyed them coming at him.
When the marks disappeared, Don laughed, and looked back at Leo. "Did you see that? Leo, we have to-" the tail of the demon came down on him. It wasn't enough.
"NO!" Leo cried out in despair.
"We are all that remain. If we should fall…" Faraji declared.
"We'll make sure the shell that this thing falls with us!" Leo added.
They both ran to attack the fire demon, only to be blown out by fire. They were both defeated.
The monster laughed maniacally. "And it ends before it can even begin. Poor mortals. To think, they could stand a chance against the Master's powers." the demon stated greedily as he flew off into the night.
Down below, two of the turtles, Leo and Raph laid on the floor, badly injured. They were barely conscious.
"Raph? Raph, I'm sorry." Leo said. Raph groaned.
"We come all this way, and this is how it ends?" he winced in pain, closing his eyes.
"We weren't ready. How could we be? How could we fight this?" Leo asked in defeat.
Then a white light appeared in his vision, as well as the others.
Leo snapped awake in alarm, as did the others. "Leo?" Raph said. Leo looked at him. "What happened? We ain't sliced, diced, or fricacied." Raph exclaimed.
"What the shell?" Mikey wondered the same thing.
"Perception is not always truth. All you think you know, about this world, about yourselves, even about reality itself." Chikara explained.
"All that will be challenged, and more." Juto finished.
"The sooner you learn this, the sooner you will be ready to face the task ahead." Kon said.
All the Shishos gathered on the throne area. Then Hisomi threw a smoke bomb and they all disappeared.
Splinter and the Ancient One stood by the doorway. The rat growled at the Tribunal. He hated their deception in this.
The Acolytes all looked at each other, wondering what it was they needed to do. "So, let me get this straight." Mikey stated. "None of that was real?"
"Brilliant deduction, Shell-for-Brains." Raph mocked him.
"Oh, it was real alright. It was our first real lesson with the Tribunal. And I have a feeling, there's a lot more to learn." Leo declared.
And there would be.
They were all excused for the night to go eat, talk, and relax for the night, to let everything sink in.
While managing to eat dinner in the dining hall, Mikey asked his sensei, "Master Splinter, how come Randall didn't come with ya?" he stuffed a sandwich into his mouth.
Splinter didn't feel like eating, but he just wanted to be there for his sons, he had missed them. It had been quite the journey here.
"It was better if Randall stayed behind in New York, Michelangelo. Someone needed to help April and Casey. Someone had to tell them what had happened." Splinter explained.
The Ancient One was also introduced to Don, Mikey, and Raph.
"It's an honor to finally meet you." Don said with a smile, bowing to the old man.
"Leonardo told me much about you all." Ancient One said. He could see the turtles had all grown into fine, young warriors. Splinter had taught them well in learning to fight. The things they were learning here was just another level to become even better warriors. He had known them for a short while when they were little too, even though they didn't remember.
Leo still wanted to know more. So did Don. They just hoped that all this training would pay off in the end. But at the same time, it was for something that seemed so scary too. This would be the first time they would be dealing with some evil that was even far more powerful and dangerous than Bishop or the Utrom Shredder.
I couldn't help but think that when it came to Mikey's sleeping on that book, he was lucky he never had to go to public school. That would have been trouble for him. And his short attention span would have been something else to deal with too. An ADHD kid he would be.
When it came to dealing with the fire demon, he acted like the Master he mentioned. He was unbeatable. He might as well have been the Master the Tribunal mentioned instead. But then, the acolytes weren't ready to face him yet. I definitely don't blame Splinter for being mad at the Tribunal when they hadn't even told them the full story of what they would really be facing soon.