Awesomess annoucement from Splinter.

Chapter 27: Big News

Later that morning, Splinter and Zuko were heading towards the kitchen, where they saw everyone in there. Everyone turned to their attention to both Splinter and Zuko and they can tell by the look of their faces that someone's gonna give them the big news. Zuko cleared his throat and told them, "Don't mean to intrude you, but me and Splinter have been talking and all and I finally found the purpose why he was here with his sons-to find his family history."

Everyone turned to each other and a few whispered murmurs were scattering around, thinking about Splinter having an actual family history. Leo turned to both of them and asked, "How do you know so much?"

"Well, I told him where we can actually find it, because I've been there before."

"Like where?"

"It's somewhere closer to here, but it's in the mountains, in a cavern with a temple inside of it where you can actually see and talk to your entire ancestors."

"Okay, this is weird." Mikey said, silently.

"Where is this place?" asked Donny.

"It's called the Spiritual Ancestory Caverns. It traces every part of your family history from China and Japan and sometimes even around the world."

"Are you certain that you'll take his word for it, master?" asked Leo.

"Leonardo, have I ever steered you all wrong?" asked Splinter.

"No, sensei."

"Just trust me and Zuko on this."

"Yes, sensei."

"So, where do we go?" asked Donny.

"We go next week."

"Why next week?"

"Well, we're here for three weeks and since this one is almost over, we thought why not go there before we leave another week."

"Okay, I think I get it now."

"Can I come along?" asked Ichi.

Splinter and Zuko turned to Ichi and saw that he was eager to learn everything about his family history as well. Splinter asked, "Do you want to go?"

"Yes, I do. See, my dad's ancestors are from Japan as well and I just want to know about my family as well." Ichi said.

"What happened to your parents?" asked Raph.

Ichi sighed heavily and knew that this question would come up somehow. He turned to the others, and then turned to Shifu to see if it was okay for him to know the real truth. Shifu stared at him and nodded his head as a well to say, 'tell them everything.' In a nervous sigh, Ichi slowly turned to the turtles and Splinter and explained everything.

He took a deep breath and answered, "They were killed."

"By who?" asked Leo.

Ichi swallowed hard and replied, with a hoarse whisper, "By me."

All of them gasped in shock and they couldn't believe what they were hearing. Splinter asked, "Why would you do something like that?"

"It's a long story, but it happened when I was younger. But it was a shadow version of me that burned them in flames. My shadow got furious and lost control and burned both my mom and dad. When I returned to my regular self, I soon to realize what I've just did and I can tell that my paws were in smoke from the fire I caused. Throughout my whole life, I viewed myself...as a monster."

Shifu turned to the others and said, "When Ichi gets mad and loses his control, he uses his fire power to destruction and burns or kills everything or everyone in sight."

"Why did you let him live with you?" asked Raph.

"Because I am willing to help Ichi with his problems and deal with his anger. When a battle rages on and he starts to lose all control, something inside of him tells him to 'stop', because he doesn't want to feel like a monster anymore. Every memory of that moment he killed his parents haunted him through his life and he doesn't want to go through another like like that again. He was an orphan, so we all care for him." Shifu explained.

Most of the turtles were surprised to see that Ichi couldn't be a cold-hearted killer, but just a person who has some issues from his past because of his powers. Leo looked at him and said, "Are you certain you can trust him?"

"We love Ichi."

Leo stood up, went into Ichi and looked into his blue eyes. He looked deeper into them and saw something-a lonely person who thinks he's a monster, but really isn't. Leo told him, "I know you're not a monster."

"You...you don't?" Ichi asked.

"Of course not. I don't see a monster inside of you anywhere."

He turned to the others and Splinter took a gander as well. He looked into his eyes and figures that he could never hurt anybody. He chuckled and patted his head and said, "You have some good in you."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"So, can I go with you guys...if that's okay with you?"

"Of course it is."

"Hey, little buddy. What was it like in Japan?" asked Mikey.

"Well, it's kinda awesome through I've lived there until I came to China."

"How long have you been in China."

"Kinda hard to say, but I'd say four or five years."

"Hey, guys. What's up?" asked Musaki.

"Well, how would you all like to see Splinter's family history next week?" asked Zuko.

"You have a family history? Oh, yeah. I forgot, you have most ancestors from China. Well sure, why not? It sounds cool."

"Think the others will be into it?"

"Yep. They might."

"Maybe I might see mine."

"Yours?" asked Raph.

"My dad's side is from Japan."

"Mine too!" Ichi exclaimed.

"Dude, this is gonna be awesome!"

"I know, right?"

Splinter sighed heavily and covered his and said, "Kids..."

"Teenagers..." Shifu said.

The next chapter is coming up with a real adventure! Stick around!