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Road Rovers, and others, are owned by WB.
Chapter 2:
Lap of the gods
A single boat journeys across the ocean blue. This boat was dragon themed in design, but it's cargo was truly something else. Inside were four mysterious helmeted creatures, four humanoid canines (each of different species), and four multi-colored turtles with four different weapons. While the eight journeyed to different spots above deck one of the four below deck was considering the situation before them, and if they have made the right call with these lot. "What the shell have we gotten ourselves into?" The orange turtle shouted while sitting on the edge of the boat watching the small waves crashing onto their vessel.
"I've always wanted to see Japan, but…this isn't exactly what I had in mind." The third oldest turtle said back to his brother as he sat to his left looking at the terrain ahead of them. There was a third, but he was standing up, leaning against the guardrail, and he was from the new four.
"Da. I am not thinking this is any tourist guides." The blue/white furred husky said to his two new friends. He knew that to be true since his guardian collected tourist guides as a hobby, promising the two of them would go see all of these locations - someday.
"I don't know about you, but this cruise into mystery is getting real old, real fast." A third turtle commented in anger while leaning against one of the various walls above deck. "This stinks Leo! Big Time!" The red masked warrior continued while looking at the three behind him, and made sure to stress 'stinks' and 'big time'. The oldest of the four just looked at him, but looked back down at a window that the Collie found once they all decided to explore the boat.
"Any movement from the Tribunal, Blitz?" Leonardo questioned since he would like some insight as to what was going on. The Doberman in question, who decided to sit on the window that viewed the four, looked down. As the canine did he saw what he had always seen: one gold/brown clocked figure, one silver clocked figure, one green clocked figure, and one blue clocked one: all sitting there.
"Noting yet, schildkröte." The German fighter said back while not taking his eyes off of the four. The latest piece of information did not go over well to the one that did not like this at all.
"Then I say we go down there and make `em move." Raphael said to the three while moving from the wall to the window - planning on jumping through and attacking. The last of the four could only stare at the angered one, and question,
'Why is he always angry?' Her thought was interrupted by the older, wiser turtle who already knew the others plan.
"There's still too much we don't know about the Tribunal. About this threat they mentioned." The swords-turtle commented with a balling up right fist; praying that the angered avenger would see that, but he knew better then that. The other took hold of his fellow turtle's right shoulder and went blunt.
"You got to be kidding me! They kidnapped us! They sicked their wooden soldiers on us, and tried to make us take each other out." He said after releasing his grip on the shoulder before pointing to the one he was talking to, and thumbed to himself before adding, "Their the threat! And you still wanna wait and see?" As he said that he thumbed behind him - showing that he meant the Tribunal, and also poked his brother just to emphasize a point.
'Maybe he's right. I mean my faith in human allies lately hasn't exactly been reliable.' The blue turtle thought before brought back due to the second leader's statement.
"Hey, guys, I'm guessing we're here." The Golden Retriever had decided to sit on the dragon figure head in a traditional canine sitting stance. The leader in question stood up, and leaped back to the deck since they seemed to have been docking. The first one to get to the side of the boat closest to the mountain they were near was Michelangelo who seemed disappointed at what he saw.
"This is it?" He questioned since he heard two sets of footsteps from behind him, and continued with, "I was expecting something a little more cool." What he saw was the dock and a bridge that connected it to a small opening in the mountain. Donatello soon joined the other three, and saw something else.
'Better let him in on what's further up.' The brainiac of the turtles thought before tapping the jokster's shoulder. He turned to the one poking him and then saw his fellow turtle pointing further up the mountain.
"OH! That's more like it!" He exclaimed as he saw a pair of stone dragons, on top of the other, with a staircase built in. By that time the other four got to where Hunter, Colleen, Michelangelo, and Donatello were, but no sooner then the other half came so too did the Tribunal.
"Acolytes." The blue cloaked warrior shouted causing all of them to turn from the mountain and face them.
"You must disembark now. The path ahead is long and difficult, and your burdens are great." The silver Tribunal member explained to them, and it went back to the brash, blue Tribunal member.
"Probably too great." He said bluntly; still believing that they had chosen poorly for defense. The term - burden - confused the team since as far as they knew the only thing they had was the gun shells down below.
"Burden? What are you…" The scientist of the four green ones questioned, but was interrupted when he saw the silver one point beyond them.
"Huh?" The chucker questioned as he and the other seven turned to face eight individual hiking packs.
"Oh." The big brained turtle commented while thinking. 'Considering they have those wooden soldiers, and have transported us somehow to this location I guess I shouldn't have put it past them that they had packs all set up to who ever they drafted.
"Well then, we better get a move on then. That mountain isn't going to climb itself." The martial artist of the canines said cheerily before picking up a pack, and headed off of the boat. The males nodded and followed her lead. No sooner then they got off of the ship then the short-tempered shell-head discovered something.
"Ugh! What did they pack these things with: bricks?" He questioned to the others as he followed the group of - Colleen, Donatello, Exile, Leonardo, Blitz, and Hunter. His comment did not go unnoticed since his favorite punching bag spoke.
"No, bro, that's just your head." His sentence had the same affect it always did: it ticked him off.
"Keep yappin Mikey. Soon as we get to the top…" He said in anger, but was cut off to hear what one of the canines thought of their behavior.
"Yeesh. Are your brother always like this to each other?" Exile questioned aloud to the two level headed reptiles. Both the student and the pioneer knew that this question was going to pop up sooner or later, and when it did they decided to answer them honestly.
"No, usually they're a lot more annoying." Leonardo answered back since he knew back when they were kids it was exceptionally worse. The eight humanoid creatures kept walking, but the New Yorkers leader had to stop and peer down after a while. "What do you think the Tribunal's doing down there?" He questioned aloud; wondering what it is that they were doing.
"All is in it's place. The wheel turns once more. Let the journey finally begin." The blue cloaked one said to the other three before he and the others pulled both of their hand from the cloak: palms facing up. With that said and their hand action done the water based vehicle began to go up without the aid of a geyser.
"Whoa. Guys, look." Leonardo said as he saw their ship flying up. There was some cloud coverage when the others stopped and looked to see too.
'What is he talking about?' Raph thought as he and the others looked over the edge, and only saw clouds beneath them.
"No Way!" The red one shouted in disbelief as he and the others saw the ship there were in fly through the clouds.
"Dude, that's…" Michelangelo started to speak as the vehicle passed them by. It was husky of the canines that finished the young turtle's comment.
"Awesome, da?" The optic specialist said and questioned as their ride past them by. When it past them and went higher up the youngest of the four ninja's shock wore off and his feeling of being cheated kicked in.
"Nobody said there was an express elevator. Come on that's not fair." He stated and the complained to the others. Instead of being angry of his brother's childish attitude Raphael just let it pass.
"Turtle luck running true to form." The often quick to anger fighter commented before adjusting his shoulder straps, turn, and continue to walk upward. As they were walking it was the American that had to point something out.
"Uh, Raph, what do you mean by 'Turtle luck' my team aren't turtles. Are they?" Hunter stated and the questioned. It was this that got the second oldest angry as he kept walking.
"Look, it's a figure of speech, mutt-face." He shouted back in anger. Again the female was worried of this berserk-er she detected from the turtle in question, but at the same time she could not help, but wonder how much fun it would be to test his limit. Eventually he and the others made it to the top of the mountain where they saw a dragon themed monastery before them.
"I think I saw this place in better homes and nightmares." The fourth turtle commented as they were walking on the stone bridge, trying to lighten up the serious mood in the air.
"Save it, Mikey." The field leader said even though that he did appreciate the effort. After they all finished the bridge a double door opened up slowly which forced the group to put up their guard.
"You think they have a pay phone in there? Master Splinter has to be worried." The youngest of the sewer dwellers said as he gazed into the darkness.
"He wouldn't be the only one." The oldest brother commented as he recalled the two loved ones mentioned to the canines, and could only guess that Hunter and Blitz did as well. Once they all entered the doors closed be hind them - trapping them inside.
'Why does it feel like I've been here?' The four green skinned warriors thought as they walked through the monastery; finding that they were unconsciously walking to one of the tallest buildings in the small area. Once they entered the area, and no sooner had they put their packs down on the buildings floor that they were greeted by a bright light and familiar voice.
"Acolytes!" The voice shouted and added, "Behold…" As the light at a far part of the floor began to glow and light up the whole room. "The Lap of the gods. The Tribunal monastery." The voice finished after the entire room was lit up.
"Whoa." They all gasped at the large room with dragon theme on the walls around them along with the pool that sat in front of their four guests.
"Sit. Time is short." The blue helmeted man command to the eight. Since they did not know what to expect they followed the order by sitting on the cushions around the small pool in the order of - Hunter, Blitz, Colleen, Exile, Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael. "An ancient evil imprisoned for over a thousand years threatens to return. You eight have been chosen to combat this threat." The man told them before they sat down.
'What is this enemy?' The blue masked teen thought as he listened to what else this Tribunal member had to say.
"Our enemy can wreak untold destruction through both physical and mystical means." The blue Tribunal member said to them while standing up from his chair. "You must be ready to combat it on all fronts." He explained to them while gazing at the lot with his blue eyes. The member one level higher then him on the cresent podeum was the next to stand, but he did not speak at first, but rather did several hand signs which caused circular objects to be brought on all eight necks.
"Whoa. This is new." The Retriever said as he looked at his white shirt and saw a bright yellow circle on it. The light faded to reveal a golden amulet.
"Hey, that's no fair. How come…" Blitz complained before feeling a tap on his left shoulder. He turned to see his female partner, who also had one, point at the Doberman's chest. "Oh, never mind." He muttered before seeing that the other five also had one.
"These are the amulets of the Acolytes. It will aid you to focus and amplify your inner power - your chi." The summoner of the medallions said to them as the final amulet was brought forth.
"Great, now we get dog collars." The angered one said aloud in a sarcastic tone.
"And what's wrong with dog collars, Raphy?" The collie questioned with a slightly angered tone since she did not like those that talked bad about something as meaningful as a dog collar.
"Perception is not always truth. All you think you know: about this world, about yourselves, even about reality itself; all of this will be challenged - here - in the lap of the gods. You will learn secrets not shared for a millennia. Secrets known only to we - of the Ninja Tribunal. " The silver member said to them while interrupting any further conversation between the two. As he spoke an image of the universe showed itself in the pool followed by an image of their current home. The image faded causing the eight to look up and see that all four helmeted ones were standing up. "I am Kon Shisho - Ninjitsu Master of Spirit." The silver one said after black smoke came out where the neck was, and after a spiraling affect of light blue spirits a man with silver hair with red, black, and silver outfit on.
'That was kind of cool.' The purple one thought after the display of power through the spiritual plane.
"This is Juto Shisho." The spiritualist said motioning over to the blue one. At that moment several chains burst out of the cloak which revealed, after they were recoiled back into a pair of long sleeves, a white and blue robbed man with a black and red hat while also wearing war paint on his face. "Ninjitsu Master of Weapons." Kon finished once his friend was fully revealed.
'Weapon specialist? Interesting.' The blue masked turtle thought as he saw the second one revealed to them. They all heard a 'HYAH!' followed by a bright green blast on the third chair.
"Chikara Shisho - Ninjitsu Master of Strength." Kon said unfazed by the show of power by the white haired, worn on traditional Japanese fashion, green outfitted woman.
'Another lady that may be a challenge.' The red masked one thought with an outer grin.
'It's good to see anther girl, and I'm sure she has managed to keep her blokes in check.' Colleen thought - grateful of seeing another female in the immediate area. The canine to her left could only stare at her in an almost passionate sort of way.
"And Hisomi Shisho - Ninjitsu Master of Stealth." Kon said to them, but unlike the others who had a fancy way of derobing before the others he simply threw it off like a cape.
'I'm sure I can make him laugh.' The orange one thought before listening to the humans before them.
"All things will be explained in time. As for training, it begins now!" The strength factor of the four said to them before hand signing to them. The group saw a bright light coming from behind them causing all of them to get up and face the bright light.
"Uh-Oh. Every time they do that Ninja Patty-Cake it means trouble." The brawler for the turtles said as he took out his sais. The others got their weapons out as well; getting ready to fight whatever it was that was on the other side. The woman behind them opened her hands with her palms facing her causing the big doors that were engrossed in the light to open.
"Get ready guys." Hunter warned them as he and Leo stood closest to the entrance. The tech-head of the turtles looked past the elbows of the two swordsmen and could make out a familiar sight.
"Hey, guys, it looks like…" The turtle said to them while forcing his way past the canine and his brother. "YES!" He exclaimed when the light finally dyed down revealing to them a gargantuan library. He and the others walked to the doorway to get a closer look. Seven of the eight did not know what to make of this since they were expecting something else entirely.
"I am not getting this. This is not looking like training. It looks more like…" Exile questioned to them as he entered the doorway while looking about, but it was the third child that finished the comment.
"Studying." He finished before setting off to read some of the books before him. As he did that the second oldest son of the rodent only snarled in anger.
'Great. Just what I don't need - another place Donnie can geek out over.' Raphael thought with a groan before hearing a commend from the family clown who verbally expressed his disappointment.
"Studying?! Aw, Man!" The orange one shouted in a complaining tone before adding hopefully, "I don't suppose they have a comic book section." The others only stared at him with different emotional expressions before moving on.
"I would not have predicted this." Hunter said to them after entering last. The group went into different spots: Exile, Blitz, Colleen, and Raphael were on two catwalks to check out some books on high shelves while Hunter leaned on one of the books stands reading the one he chose.
"Wow! Leo, this is incredible." Donatello exclaimed in excitement to the turtle sitting to his left on the table provided. The older one was excited to read all that these books had to offer, but was having trouble understanding one part.
"I know!" He said with a smile before continuing on, "Um, maybe you could translate this bit here for me." He questioned while pushing the book to the bookworm who leaned over to get a better look.
"Hmm?" The big-brained brother questioned while turning the book back two pages before answering. "It's all about focus and energy, but physically manifesting it. It's like expressing your chi - your own life energy, through sheer force of will." He explained not noticing what was happening to his shell, but the one that asked for help was.
"Uh, Don." The field leader said while pointing at the glowing turtle for a moment before lowering his hand.
"All you have to do is…concentrate." He continued before seeing the strange lines on his body. Said purple lines stayed on him for a moment before vanishing as quickly as they appeared.
"Whoa." The two of them said in complete awe over what had just happened. The duo then heard a loud snore on the table that they were using, but when they turned they saw that it was only their brother sleeping and using one of the several books provided as a pillow.
"Time for your true training." The Spirit Master said to them as he and the others stood in the doorway. In an instant the four chose one turtle and one dog before vanishing.
'What is this?' Exile thought as he blinked a few times and saw that he, Donatello, and Kon Shisho were outside with a pair of diagonally placed pillars with golden coil before them. Their teacher said nothing, but pointed to the items before them. They each got to one pillar and stood there when the master clapped the two of them began to climb.
"The dark one is clever and will strike when he finds you distracted." The silver haired man said as the long ribbons on his outfit blew in the winds current. In a swift motion he moved his hand from his hips, to the air with clenched fists, and then opened his hands. As he did that the coils turned out to be dragons who bucked the two off, grabbed them with their mouths, and dropped them at the foot of the current master. "Hmm?" He said in a studying sense.
'Where the shell are we?' Raphael questioned in his mind as he saw that he was with Blitz, outside on a cliff with a flaming bulls-eye in the sky. He then noticed the weapon specialist beside him who had, with a wave of the sleeve, given the two of them a bow and arrow.
'Pretty self explanatory.' The berserker biter thought before arming his weapon which the turtle did the same.
"Without hesitation. Without remorse. You must strike your enemy and strike true, or suffer." Juto Shisho said to them ending in a dark not as he pointed to the target above them. The two of them missed causing arrows to shoot at them through the target.
'You got to be kidding me. This guy does a girly scream like Mikey when something fun happens.' The aggressive one thought as he listened to the canine to his left screaming as the two of them turned around and ran from the arrows.
"Funny, I used to run faster than this." Hunter said aloud as he and Michelangelo were walking up a coiling mountain path.
"Run faster? You mean you have super speed or something. AWESOME!" The turtle questioned while struggling with the rock harness, two boulders held on a strong poll supported by the carriers neck, as they were going up the mountain.
"Yeah it is, but I guess it must be knocked out thanks to this weird place." The canine said back before the two of them fell down for a rest even though they were a foot away from their Shisho.
"Aw, do you tire? The dark one never tires! EVER!?" Chikara Shisho said in a soothing way at first but finished out of anger. To show her disdain for the two unable to finish their lesson she punched the side of the mountain twice causing a rock slide.
'Wow, he screams just like Blitz. Cool.' The Golden Retriever said as he heard his new friend's scream of panic. Back inside the monastery were the final two who were being trained by the tallest of the four.
'Thanks to Splinter and the Ancient One this should be a snap.' The final turtle thought as he and Colleen were walking on two individual tightropes over a pool of water. The two's end destination was Hisomi Shisho.
'Not good enough.' The tall Tribunal member thought before triggering the spring devices on his end of the two tightropes. Once the spring was sprung it sent them up a few feet and then they both landed in the pool.
'So much for that being easy.' The leader of the brothers thought. Before either the canine or the turtle knew what happened they were out of the pool, and standing with the others just outside of the Oratory.
"Well, bro, guess you flunked too." The comic contender commented as he saw the look of defeat on the oldest brother's face. He simply nodded before going into the Oratory with the others as well.
'Well, this is proving to be kind of a sticky wicket.' The Collie thought while stretching out her hip. The others were stretching as well before hearing the disaproval in one of their master's voices.
"We had hoped for more Acolytes." Chikara said aloud with her hands on her hips.
"Their efforts are unimpressive." The Spirit Master said to the others. There was a part of him that wished these eight were the ones to end this mission, but was still having his doubts. "Perhaps we were mistaken. Perhaps they are hopeless." He continued, but was interrupted by the weapon expert.
"PERHAPS THEY ARE WEAK!" He shouted in anger before questioning the eight below them, "Do you not understand what's at steak?!" The group did not know how to answer luckily another, new voice, knew what to say.
"How could they possibly understand what is at stake when you have told them nothing!" The voice shouted causing the eight to turn to the open door. The group saw a hat wearing figure at the door, and when the person rested the hat to the back of his head, thanks the string to the sides, revealing a gray furred rat humanoid.
"Master Splinter!" The four sons shouted in surprise while the canines just gawked at the latest humanoid. Their overall shock was worn off when the Mokusei-no-Bushi leaped from high on the walls, and circled around the intruder.
'They will soon learn why they call me Splinter.' The gray furred one thought as he saw the twenty soldiers around him who were all ready to stop him. In that moment in time the four knew what to do.
"Protect Master Splinter!" Leonardo commanded even though that he knew that it went without saying. The group unsheathed their weapons and leapt over to him - the sai specialist and the bo-staff expert were behind their father while the swords-turtle and the chucker were in front of their father.
"Bring it on, bock-heads. I've been aching to break something all day." The angered turtle shouted in anger as he was deciding which to attack first. He did not get the opportunity as their own master called them back.
"Enough." The spirit caller commanded causing all of their wooden soldiers to go back to stand-by mode. As they did such the turtles withdrew their weapons and their dad walked toward the powerful four.
"The rodent is not permitted here. As it well knows." The weapon based warrior commented as he watched the creature in question step forward. The four powerhouses were all curious over one thing, but it was the female that questioned it aloud.
"How did you come to find this monastery?" She questioned in a blunt fashion, rivaling Raphael's style.
'Chikara Shisho does have a point. How did Master Splinter find out?' The swords-turtle thought while sheathing one of his two katana. He did not answer, but they all heard some form of panting just beyond the door to their right.
'Uh, hi there.' The round human male thought after catching his breath and catching sight of the four that he feared the most. He wiggled the fingers on his right hand to show that he came in peace.
"Pathetic." Juto said aloud after his comrades sat down on their chairs - realizing that there was no danger to the two new people. The Tribunal knew however that the gray furred one held great anger toward them for a previous choice that they made.
'I knew that this wasn't going to be easy.' The elderly man thought as he gazed at the sewer dwelling brawler with worry.
"Comrades, your sensei…he's a rat." Exile commented while pointing to the creature in question.
"Brilliant observation, Hercule Hound." The second oldest turtle said in anger for that very minor announcement. Ancient One was about to walk over to his old friend until a shadow was cast over him. It took all the martial artist had NOT to attack since it was a quick friend/traveling buddy.
"Shag, over here, boy." Hunter called out to the white furred dog before them. In that instant said canine ran over the Ancient One to go say 'hi' to his team. The instant he got there he gave all four Rovers a big hug.
"I'm so happy your safe." He muttered to them through barking and whimpering. The turtles did not know what to make of that; out of instinct they would have asked their first teacher what that was all about, but by the look on his face he was not in the mood to talk.
"So, moth-boy, did that: crazy, loose cannon, total hot-head, unpredictable, totally reckless, uncountable force of nature mutt with you." The Doberman questioned the taller dog, and no sooner then he said all of that the group heard a loud snarling plus the sound of a hopping dolly.
"You know - despite the foaming at the mouth, he's pretty cute." Michelangelo commented once they all saw a Rottweiler in a straight jacket, muzzle, and hand cart. "Master Splinter can we…" The orange one questioned a traditional line, but was body-checked by the dog in question.
"Thanks, pal. You just saved me the trouble of doing it myself." The red turtle stated. After a few moments Donatello noticed something and decided to bring it up to the second latest dog to arrive.
"Excuse me, big guy, but do you know where the Ancient One is." He asked politely to the tall dog. It only a moment for the sheepdog to figure out what he meant before digging in his fur. After a few more moments he pulled out the character in question. 'How is that possible?' The genius turtle thought as he saw the second master walk over to the first.
'I am glad that nothing has happened while I was indisposed.' The old human thought before journeying over to the rat, who was still glaring daggers at the four. "Splinter, let us not make things harder than they need be. Your sons are safe. We should rest and discuss this with a level head in the evening." The old man said, praying that the evenly angered rodent would heed his advice, but it did not work.
"There is no time for discussion, young one." The strength member said aloud with crossed legs. At that moment one of the ten behind the two elderly men could only think of her comment.
'Young one?' The husky thought as he gazed at the old man and her radiant beauty. 'She just be saying that to be nice.' Exile thought before listening to the rest.
"The crisis we prepare for is upon us now." She explained while using her left hand to have her friend: Kon - Master of Spirit, to show them what she meant. He stood from his chair, and after a simple hand sign the member shot a blast at the pool before them. The blast caused a circle of that water to form in the air - showing them what she meant.
'That stuff always means trouble.' Raphael thought as he and the other gathered around the hovering puddle.
"The five heralds of the dark one are coming. Heralds with only one purpose - to reawaken their evil master." The female said to them as an evil in appearance and in feel boat appeared in the puddle.
"They are after three artifacts. Ancient relics which will allow them to complete a ritual of resurrection. Two of the artifacts were stolen from us, and are already in the possession of their vial servants." Kon continued where his fellow fighter left off. He gave them an image of the five heralds - each of them seem to hold a different theme, but one with a clawed club arm slashed before him severing the picture the spiritualist was holding till then.
'This isn't good.' Exile, Blitz, Raphael, and Donatello were thinking as one while they listening to some high pitched whimpering behind them.
"IF the mystics complete the ritual a terrible evil will be unleashed upon the world. THIS can not be allowed." The female fighter said to them once again in a sitting position. The leader of the brothers decided to find out something; something that would have been explained if the picture wasn't disconnected.
"You mentioned a third artifact - where is it?" The blue swordsman questioned after taking a few paces forward.
"The third artifact is hidden safely here - in the lap of the gods." Juto answered back while motioning to the four pillars behind them. That was all the rat needed to hear before he starting to speak again.
"Then the Tribunal can continue to guard it. Without my sons!" The father of the four said in anger and in defiance before turning around, taking one of Leonardo's arms, and one of Raphael's arms as he walked to the doorway.
"Don't test us, rodent." The blue/white robbed man said in quelled anger before continuing, "Babysit your sons if you must. It changes nothing." He added as he watched them walk away. The four teens saw the sad expression on the humanoid canines, but there was nothing they could do - their father never led them astray, and they knew he wasn't about to now. As they walked and the fourth stood up, after the collision, and was about to follow them, but something caught his eye.
"Huh?" He questioned aloud before looking down at a few pieces of ceiling fall. At first he thought of it as nothing, but soon after that the whole building began to shake. "What the shell is that?" He shouted for all: turtle, father, Tribunal, dogs, and old guy to hear him.
"No. Impossible. How could they have moved so quickly?" Kon said aloud after standing up and double sensed - making sure what he felt was true. As he did that brown to black smoke slowly came down through the dome over the four along through the base of the closed doors, which closed after the second dog entered.
"Yet another unexpected twist: bummer." The leader of the six dogs said as he and the others watched as their latest base began to crack up, and more smoke began to seep in. By that time the other three Tribunal members were standing - ready to greet this threat.
"The monastery is under attack." Their weapon Shisho said as he stared at the ceiling.
"Acolytes, to the inner chamber. We will deal with the intruders ourselves." The strength Shisho instructed them while summoning her weapon - a spiked club. Kon back flipped to the top of his chair and summed twin katana. Hisomi spun around once and called forth a pair of battle fans.
'Must keep door shut.' The silent one thought after appearing on their side of the door. He then opened his fans and pushed on the doors as best as he could. The group found that they could only watch as this was unfolding. The fearsome female took this moment to attack.
'Those cowards have to be above us.' She thought while leaping from one pillar to the next in an upward direction, but just as she was about to get to the door a stream of smoke shot at her: grabbed her by the waist, slammed her hard into one of the pillars, let her fall for a bit, and then sealed her in a ball of translucent smoke.
'Not this time.' Kon thought as he watched what happened before temporarily turning into a buzz saw, and severed the cord connected to the sphere. When he stopped spinning he saw that she was still caught, and he was about to suffer the same fate. Just as the spirit expert was about to try again smoke blasted through the pool, slamming him away from her and into a pillar. Juto watched as his second fighter was captured and hung above him.
'You will not get me.' The weapon specialist thought while throwing throwing stars from both sleeves to the sphere heading right for him. The attack did nothing to slow it down, so it crashed into and captured the third Tribunal member.
'This isn't good.' Leonardo thought as he stared at the three spheres hanging over the chairs, but his master had another thought running through his mind.
'They deserve far worse than that.' The rodent thought while praying that history did not repeat itself today. As the group gazed at the three captured warriors they were unaware that the fourth one was going to join them soon. As good as his physical strength was he could not stop the doors themselves to burst into splinters, and once they did he smashed into the stand of chairs before joining his friends.
"They got the Tribunal!" Leonardo said in alarm. It was then that the group unsheathed their weapons for the brawl ahead. "It's just us now." The brother's field leader said as he saw the others get set to attack who ever was responsible.
"Yeah. Just us against, what?" The second sibling questioned after taking out his sais while facing the four captured ones. To answer his question the dome finally gave way, but aside from displaying a full moon it also showed their assailant.
"Fools! They foretold the return of the Master. And now they think they can stop it. The Master can not be stopped. All who would stand in his way…WILL PERISH!" A red skinned with black exoskeleton said after a small evil laugh, and in the midst he displayed a flaming head and wings. Once he finished he displayed to them a black sword he summoned through a small flame that came from his mouth.
"Master, what is that thing?" The student of two questioned while gazing at their airborne adversary.
"Hayashi-Aki, a fire demon." The rat defined to his son as they stared it down, and vice-versa. He struck with one sword strike on his way down, but they were able to dodge. He then flew up, but as he did one of his wings touched the ceiling - burning it instantly.
"Master Splinter." Leo shouted after being pushed by his father figure, and then watched as more of the ceiling fell on him.
"Shag, Muzzle." Hunter said as he saw that his two friends were caught in the same collapse. Once that had occurred the dog and the turtle stared at one another before nodding at the thought to deal with the current monster.
"Turtles: ATTACK!" Leonardo shouted to the others with rage since he was seeking immediate payback. They leapt, and tried to get him in the air, but they failed - Michelangelo was backhanded by the demon's free hand, Donatello and Leonardo were slashed away from him, and the fourth: Raphael was caught in mid-leap, and then slammed into the floor.
"Leave my friends alone." Exile shouted while spinning around with his mace. Once he reached the right speed the husky through the medieval weapon at the fiend, and it struck his chest. The attack did nothing, and after a few seconds he released the ball from his chest with three times the speed.
"If my powers were working I'd so bite you in the buttocks for that." The Doberman announced to the enemy.
"Don't be weird boy." Their strength factor muttered out before falling into an unconscious state.
"But, I guess these will have to do." He added once he heard his old friend's line. The black furred one charged with sickles ready. He charged, but was easily dealt with in the same way the mace, and swordsman of the other team.
"Blitz is down too." The brave, blue swordsman said to the inventor after seeing the canine get slammed into a pillar: back first. The leader then came up with a plan; he only hoped that they could pull it off. "Mikey, try to free the Tribunal." He ordered to the youngest.
"I'm on it, Leo." He said back and raced over to the four in question. As he did the two dogs that were still only had one thought running through their heads.
'How can we stop it?' In truth they had handled cats before, but genetically altered ones: not demons. The chucker on the other hand was just about there until a tail slam stalled him.
'I knew this wasn't going to be easy.' The young one thought, but did not let a tail slam to the ground stop him. He jumped away from the sword swing coming down at him, waited through the shallow pool, back flipped from another sword strike, and landed on a chair.
'You won't survive this one.' The demon thought and slashed in a diagonal fashion. He saw that the turtle saw no damage to himself, but he did see that half of the back of the chair cut.
'Please no.' The youngest of four thought before looking up and saw that the four thick pillars had also been cut. 'Got to get away.' He thought after getting off of the chair, but that didn't happen.
"MIKEY!" The oldest shouted in desperation and in anger. It was then that the third dog tried her luck.
'Mr. Peppy-shell may not have been appealing, but he did not deserve that.' Colleen thought while spinning her archic weapon in a mace like fashion. She used her weapon to bind the enemy's arms, but the moment he felt the whip he used that to his advantage.
'Time to prove that cats are superior.' He thought before using a special talent his chest had. He pulled her up then used tendrils from his chest to pull her in before closing up the hole. The other four saw that and were even more angered to see that the only that remained of her was her weapon, but they had little time to think of that.
"Colleen." Hunter shouted as solid black tendrils were coming out of their enemy. He slashed at a few, but dodged three pronged assault. Blitz used that as a distraction to get in closer, and was even able to ward a few tendrils, but in the end he was taken as well.
'Got to save him.' Don thought while going after the captured canine. The smart turtle saw tendril from his rear so he took them, and stabbed a new one with his staff. The fighter then decided to try a new twist on the movie stunt he tried on the foot by spin kicking on the top of his staff when the captured tendril tried a new tactic of its own.
'Seems he learned from that mistake.' Leo thought as he recalled the first his sibling tried a similar stunt before slicing at some tendrils that were after him.
"If I concentrate maybe I can…" Donatello said to himself before tapping deeper into the ability he unknowingly activated in the library. A thick purple aura surrounded him, and when some of the tendrils tried to attack him they were all disintegrated. 'That was awesome.' Don thought once the aura disappeared, and he saw that there weren't anymore tendrils. "Did you see that? It worked." He said before a small laugh. The egghead then turned to his brother and added, "Leo, we have to…" But that was as far as he got.
"NO!" Leo shouted after seeing that the cat creature struck his third brother with his tail.
'A dog and a turtle - who shall be the next to fall?' He thought while growling triumphantly at them. The two stared down the demon swordsman, ready to make this their finest hour.
"Well, Leo, I guess we're it, but…if we should fall?" The Retriever said and questioned to the other since dealing with something like this was still new to him. His battling partner on the other hand was ready to do what ever it takes to take him down.
"Then we sure shell make sure this thing falls with us." He retorted before the two of them tried to attack. The second the two of them were in the air a massive flame attack struck them both. The blast was so intense that they were forced to fall before getting anywhere near their target.
"And so it ends before it has even begun. Poor mortals, to think that they could stand against the Master's power." The fire demon announced after a long evil laugh. He then flew off in spiral form to the stars, to report the good work that he has done. Unfortunately his foes were not as gone as he thought.
"Raph. Raph." The eldest said to the turtle in another crater, and heard a growl of aggravation, so he continued, "I'm sorry." That was all that he managed to say before gazing at the tore open ceiling.
"We come all this way, and this is how it ends." The angered one questioned to the wiser brother before feeling his beating begin to slow.
"We weren't ready. How could we be? How could we fight this?" He questioned before feeling a familiar sensation: the sensation of being woken in a startled fashion from a dream.
"Leo, what happened. We aint sliced, diced, or fricasseed." Raphael said after being woken up in the same way, and examined the room and himself to see that everything was fine.
"What the shell?" The rescuer of the Tribunal whispered as he and the others were seeing the same as Leo and Raph: an intact base, and themselves alive. The four saw that their students were confused, so they decided to repeat themselves just once more for the day.
"Perception is not always truth. All you think you know: about this world, about yourselves, even about reality itself…" The strength specialist said and let the others continue from there.
"All that will be challenged and more…" The weapon specialist said before standing up and joining the spirit and strength users.
"The sooner you learn this. The sooner you'll be ready to face the task ahead." The Spirit Master said to them as the silent and weapon users got up to their level. As soon as he said that the tallest threw down a smoke pellet, and they were gone.
'I do not like this.' Splinter thought after a short growl with Muzzle, Shag, and Ancient One around them. The eight before the four were still trying to wrap their minds around what had just happened.
'Normally I would say: 'I would not have predicted this' again, but I'm just too stunned right now.' Hunter thought as he sat on his cushion in traditional sitting dog style.
"So, let me get this straight - none of that was real?" The nunchuck enthusiast said while scratching his head with his right hand.
"Brilliant deduction Sherlock Shell-for-brains." The sais user said back in a sarcastic tone since his shock was the quickest to fade.
"Oh, it was real alright. Our first real lesson with the Tribunal, and I have a feeling there's a lot more to learn." The swords-turtle said back while emphasizing 'real' in his second sentence. The fellow Acolytes feared that the turtle was right, but after seeing how they dealt with the dream enemy they all knew that they needed this, so they went to their chambers - to rest for their next day of training.