A full hour swiftly went by and the four brothers went from rooftop to rooftop, having the time of their lives and exploring the many parts of the city as much as they could.
"Yeah-ha!"
"Whoohoo!"
"Yippy! Ha ha!"
While Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo would practically throw themselves over to the next building they come across of and do some flips or somersaults to show off their moves, Leonardo would have himself scale to the highest point of each building they go on and then launch himself to the next rooftop, swiftly going on ahead of the group to have himself mentally remember where they've been and if the places they go to are considered safe to hang out or too noticeable for the humans to be able to see them.
Uh, aren't you forgetting something?
Instantly, Leo slammed the breaks on his speed and skidded to a stop near a ledge of the rooftop he was about to launch himself over to the next building across the street.
'My brothers are right behind me and can easily catch up,' he thought to himself. 'And even if I were to try and get away from them, which I'm not, they'll somehow be able to track me down and bring me back to the Lair to get me in trouble.'
No, that's not it. You're supposed to be playing and having fun with your brothers, not stand on the sideline and scope out the city.
Leo narrowed his eyes to what his conscience told him, while looking over the city and awaiting his brothers to catch up to him.
'You didn't tell me that I couldn't scope out the city, and besides, you also agreed that studying the many parts of New York would be a great idea in case I were to somehow leave the Pack and watch over my brothers from afar.'
That's not the point here! The point is, is that you're supposed to be bonding with your brothers and right now, you aren't bonding with them!
The blue-banded turtle scoffed at his conscience's words.
'Uh, I have been bonding with them.'
Yeah, like forty-five minutes ago! That's WAY too short to be enough time to build up your bond with your brothers!
Although, must admit, fifteen minutes' basically longest time Pup has been able to bond with Kins, without any interruption or any of Kins ending activity from boredom. Pup needs time to get used to spending more time with Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother, than average less than five minutes time Pup ever had with Kins.
Smiling at his instincts backing him up on his reason to why he ended his bonding-moment with his brothers so early, Leo gazed over the horizon of the taller buildings of New York City, while hearing the sound of feet skidding over the ground behind him and feeling the presence of his younger brothers standing beside him. As the feeling of the wind blew against their skin and making the tail of their masks wave in the air, Leo looked up at the dark-sky and stared at the stars, already catching a Constellation that he had read from a book that he can use to tell the time: The Big Dipper. It took him ten seconds to what position the Big Dipper was in and another seven seconds to also find the Polaris Star, which he was then was able to see that it was nearing to nine o'clock at night.
'Good thing that I've read about being able to tell the time by the sun, moon or stars.' He thought to himself, closing his eyes and feeling his headache starting to fade from the gentle touch of the wind cooling off his skin from all that running he just did with his brothers. 'Donnie ain't the only smart turtle in the family.'
Nevertheless, Donnie is still the smartest in the family, with either you or Father being second. And speaking of Father, he's probably getting worried and may want you four to return home at this very moment.
'Unfortunately, you have to ruin the mood and have me get my brothers to complain once I tell them the news.' Leo thought to himself, letting out a tiring sigh. 'Man, how many times have I been sighing for? I really need to stop doing that.' "All right, guys, it's getting late. We should probably head back home." Just as he predicted, his three brothers groaned and moaned on what their eldest-brother just told them, even though they knew he was right.
"Lame..." Mikey stated, as he turned away from the ledge and to follow his older-brothers. Just as Donnie was about to turn away, his eyes caught something that made him stop in his steps.
"Guys! Look at that!" He told his brothers, pointing to what just happened to gain his complete attention that was so important for the rest to see what it was: There, on the other side of the street, are two humans calmly walking on the sidewalk, most likely heading home after doing an activity together.
One of the two humans, was an average-looking middle aged man with red-hair and goatee. He also has blue-eyes, wears a brown-jacket with a grey undershirt, tan-pants and brown-shoes. Although, Leo had a feeling that it wasn't that human Donnie was pointing at. No, it was the second human walking beside him: A teenaged girl.
Like the man beside her, she has red-hair, which is in a ponytail, with a yellow headband on top of her head, and blue-eyes, which most likely means that the man beside her is her father. She is lean, with her height to be at least an inch or two shorter than Leo's own height. She has and wears brown-wristbands, a yellow and white shirt with a number five on it, a black t-shirt under the yellow-shirt from the black-sleeves showing, a black choker, jean-shorts with leggings under them, blue-and-yellow socks and black boots.
A human girl? That's what Omega-Brother Donatello wants Pup and Kins to see, is human girl? What is it about her that Omega-Brother wanted all Kins to see for selves?
"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Leo jerked his head back and turned to his second younger-brother, seeing a corner of his mouth having a drool hanging out of the corner-right of it and, from his strong hearing, he could hear Don's heart beating in an odd sort of pace.
Sounds like somebody has been bitten by the Love bug.
"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Raph asked, giving him an odd look that tells the genius turtle that whatever he's thinking is never going to happen the way he wants it.
"My point still stands." Donnie backed up, standing up tall and sounding as if he isn't going to take back what he said about that human girl. Leo, also feeling the same on what Raph's most likely thinking, also gave him a disprovable glare at his younger-brother and shook his head.
'That's just great: Our first time up on the surface and Donnie's fallen head over heels for some girl he just seen tonight, who he doesn't even know what her name is... Sensei's really going to love this, once we tell him the news that one of his four sons has a crush for a human.' Before he could even tell Donatello that he should forget about the girl and face the fact he won't get a chance with her, since they aren't human and would most likely freak her on seeing a humanoid-turtle jump out of nowhere, his strong hearing suddenly caught the sound of tires screeching and a car coming towards the road below them.
Glancing down, he saw a white-van coming to a stop in front of the two humans Donnie wanted them to see, who both look confused when the van just happened to stop them from crossing the road. On the right-side of the van, a human came out. He was slim, had black hair, wore a white tank top and blue-jeans. When the slim human came out, the doors at the back of the van sprang opened and four identical men in neat black suits and blank facial expressions hopped out of the car. Leo's eyes widen in shock when he saw those four men that just came out of the car and slowly making their way towards the father and daughter, with the father standing over his child to protect her if the strangers were to harm her and the daughter clinging onto her father's left-arm in fear the four men would separate them.
Rage build up inside of Leo's chest, his eyes narrowing with gaze of hatred held within his iris and his teeth clenching on having to hold in the snarl he so wanted to let out.
'It's them...' He snarled out in his thoughts, slowly reaching for his twin Katanas, Musashi and Kamiizumi, in order to prepare himself to fight.
Wait! Father's instructions were very clear. You four are to stay away from people... And bathrooms. This is not your problem and mustn't get involved into it. Leave now and let the humans take care of it!
His hands ceased themselves from reaching for his blades, surprised and a little startled on what he just heard. If his conscience were another person and had a body, Leo would've most likely be glaring at it.
'In case you don't know or have forgotten, those humans down there are the cause of us being humanoid-turtles, with me being a humanoid-wolf/turtle, fifteen years ago! We can't leave those two humans to have their lives ruined, all because Master Splinter doesn't want us to be seen by humans!'
Besides, running away isn't an option! Kins need help and, from looks of it, doesn't seem that any other humans are around to help!
"I'm gonna go down there and save them!" Donatello's voice broke through Leonardo's conversation with his instinct and conscience and, without any hesitation, launched himself off the rooftop and towards the shadows that was closest to one of the four men that stood guard over the back doors of the van. Immediately after the third eldest took in charge on going down to the street without coming up with a plan, Raphael and Michelangelo also leapt in the air and followed suit on attacking the four men from the shadows. Remaining in his spot on the roof, Leo observed the scene before him, while continuing on his little conversation with his conscience.
'Well, do you still think we should head back to the Lair, now? They're already down there, fighting, and doesn't seem they'll listen to me on heading back to the Lair.'
...Ugh... This is going to end badly and no doubt you four will be punished by Splinter after the battle ends, with a possibility that you four will be forbidden on coming back up to the surface for another year or so.
Discuss about punishment Alpha will be giving out, later. Right now, time to get down there and fight!
Smirking at his instincts ending their conversation and finally grabbing for Musashi and Kamiizumi, Leo launched himself in the air and towards one of the four men trying to grab for the girl. Before his hand could grab for her left-arm, Leo held out his right-foot towards the man's face and kicked him away from the teenaged girl. The blank-faced human was knocked against the wall of a building and fell to the ground, but has quickly collected himself off the sidewalk and stared at the eldest-turtle as if he were something old and unimpressed of. The turtle glared at the human before him, standing protectively over the human girl as if she were a member of his pack, while holding Musashi in the air next to his head on his right and Kamiizumi out and across his plastron.
"Don't even think about it," he growled out. Instead of talking back, the human simply cracked his knuckles and held them up against his chest, crouching himself down a bit to ready himself to charge.
Human has guts; not afraid of Pup's appearance, not getting a scratch or being stunned from kick in face and ready to take Pup down. This outta be interesting.
'Indeed. Let's see if he can still pick himself off the ground, once I break one or both of his legs.'
Wait a minute! You can't go seriously injuring him; he's a human! Father taught you four to fight in order to defend, not to purposely harm others or to kill your opponents, whether it be for reason or vengeance! Remember, you swore to Father that you would always follow Bushidō.
Leo tightened his grip onto his swords, knowing that his conscience was right about that, even if he hates to deny it.
'Fine, I won't break his legs. I'll just rough him and his gang up a bit until they get the message and leave.' He then turned his gaze towards the girl below him, who was staring up at him with fear and confusion on what was going on. "Grab your father and get out of here." He told the girl in a calm but demanding voice, then turned to stare at the human in front of him. "I have a little score to settle with you and your three friends fighting against my brothers, for what you four did to us, fifteen years ago." Just as he said those words and also couching a bit low to the ground to ready himself, Leo pushed his legs to put on burst of speed and charged towards his opponent.
The moment they collided with each other, the human delivered a punch in the chest to the turtle and sent him falling on his back and onto the street, stunning him a bit from feeling both the impact and force he just felt from the human.
'Okay, ow!' He thought to himself, shaking his head to get rid of whatever dizziness he was feeling in his head and quickly got up to his feet, only to then jump back in order to avoid being shoved against by Raph and his fight. Focusing his mind back to his own opponent, he heard the sound of rushing wind coming up from above him, which he immediately saw to be his opponent coming down with a powerful kick. Instinctively, Leo sheathed his swords away and forced himself to do a quick backflip, which he was able to avoid the kick and using his hands to spring him back, give his opponent a kick in the chest when the human stood up to his full height from the impact of his landing. As the human stumbled back, Leo then started to swiftly struck the human's limbs and chest, going for the pressure points to prevent his opponent from using his arms and to cripple him in temporarily pain.
However, as the eldest turtle jammed his fingers towards the pressure points he was taught to locate and use as in advantage to temporarily paralyze his opponent, he felt something off with the human and noticed he wasn't withering in pain as he should be at this moment. Immediately, he leapt away from his opponent, who almost slammed a powerful punch to the side of his head if he hadn't dodged, and kneeled to the ground to catch his breath a bit.
'What's going on? I hit the right areas to where his upper pressure points should be and applying the right amount of pressure to cause the damage, but he isn't showing the slightest sign on being in pain!'
Something else isn't right about this human. Not just him, but the rest of his colleague don't seem to act right at all.
'"Act right"? What do you mean by that?'
It's from the way they're moving or not making a sound: Like, when that one human fighting Raph got punched in the stomach and took a few steps away from the van, after tossing that girl's father into the van, he didn't gasp out a single breath like he should have if he's gotten the wind punched out of him or holding his stomach from the possible bruise that's going to form on him.
Leo's eyes widen from what his conscience just informed him about, as he slowly got to his feet and started clenching his hands to get rid of any damage to his sense of touch from the continuous jabbing to the body.
'Is that so?' He asked in his mind, as he unsheathed his swords and crossed the both of them in front of him to warn his opponent that he now means business.
Something else isn't right about humans; Omega-Brother Donatello whacked and jabbed Naginata Bō staff at opponent's chest, yet human didn't show any sign of feeling pain or hurting at all from impact... Almost like human's body are tougher than normal-human body should be.
'...In that case...' Motioning for his opponent to come at him, which the human did and ran charging towards the turtle, Leo launched himself in the air and brought down both his swords towards the human, who ceased his running and stared up at the blue-banded turtle.
What are you doing?! You're going to cut straight through him!
'I know that! I need to do a little test on him!' When he almost made it back to solid ground, the human held up his right-arm in the air, expecting it to block the two swords from coming down on top of him and to prevent them from cutting him... Which, after the Katanas had made contact with the arm shielding the human, it had not only blocked out the attack, but has also been able to withstand the turtle's weight and flung him aside, causing the turtle to land roughly onto the street on his left-side and to slowly get on his knees.
...What just happened?
'Something that I was expecting to happen from my hunch,' he thought to himself. 'There's no way that his arm, on its own, should be able to absorb the impact of my landing, not get a single scratch from my Katanas and to still be connected to the body.' Unfortunately, not only was the human able to stop his attack without injury, but was able to leave the turtle a little breathless, considering he used all of his strength from launching himself as high as he could in the air and was still exhausted on having to do the pressure points on him. Just as he thought his opponent was going to finish him off, the human turned his attention to where Donnie was trying to reassure the girl that they were here to help her and her father and slowly reached in with another of the human to grab her.
Too bad for Donatello wasn't getting any luck on befriending her, because when he and the girl were about to make a sort of connection, Mikey came up from behind while backing away from his opponent and accidentally whacked Donnie in the head with his Nunchaku. After getting whacked in the head, the genius turtle was then kicked in the plastron by one of the humans, which sent him and Mikey flying backwards and hitting against a couple of trash cans next to a staircase of a house. As Leo got to his feet, he heard the sound of the van being turned back on and turned to see the girl has tape covering her mouth before the back door of the van closed and the car began to drive away.
"They're getting away! They got the girl!" Donnie exclaimed, flipping over to grab his Naginata Bō staff that was left on the street when he kicked away and trying to get himself to run as fast as the van was going.
Don't let van get away! Go after it!
After sheathing his swords back into their sheaths on his back and knowing that his brothers will be alright on their own while catching up, Leo made haste and followed the speeding van. Already passing by Donatello in just a few seconds and turning a sharp corner to the right, the blue-banded turtle was able to track down which direction the van was going by memorizing the scent the human girl carried and in just about half a second, he caught sight of the van. Unfortunately, there were other cars passing by and the turtle knew he mustn't let other humans see him or he could cause a few damage to the area and injuries to the innocent people. Immediately, he climbed up on a street light pole and launched himself across the street to a rooftop.
'I won't be able to catch up to them on the street, but I might be able to catch up to them if I follow them above the building.' He thought to himself, following the scent of the human girl and her father, while leaping over buildings and using light poles as planks to help get him to the next building across the street.
Must hurry, Pup; Body's still tired from fight with opponent and running out of energy by overusing it during time exploring city!
'I know that, but I can't go any faster than I'm already running at this paste and I still don't know much of the city and its places!'
Yes, Pup can. Pup can go faster than speed Pup's already going. Omega-Brothers and Beta-Brother very much behind and Alpha not here to stop Pup from doing what Pup loves to do, which has always been blessing by making Pup go twice as fast than Pup can run in.
Cerulean/Sapphire-eyes widen when he realized what his instincts are telling him to do, which then made his heart thundered a bit faster from the thought of what he had loved to do but always has to force himself to stop when Master Splinter scolds him for not walking on just his feet like he was told to do.
Pup, know it's the only way to catch up to humans and from how low Pup's energy getting, will only have one shot to sprang up on foes from above.
Stopping himself on a rooftop to catch his breath a bit and watching the van veering to the left, Leo let out a deep breath and flexed his hands to warm them up.
'Alright, let's do this.'
Still hearing the sound of the van screeching and still being able to pick up the scent of the two humans, the blue-banded turtle pushed his body to run again and after taking five swift steps, he launched his body towards the next roof and made a perfect landing on all-four, which he then pushed his body to sprint-run on all-four. In just about ten seconds on running and leaping on all-four over the houses, buildings and streets, Leo found the van below him and was going a bit faster than the car he was chasing. His arms started to ache and his feet felt as if they were going to lose whatever strength he had left in them, but the turtle wasn't going to have his body fail on him, not when he has prey to take down and two innocent victims that needed his help. With his teeth bared from the thought of hunting those four men down and getting himself in the perfect position of the car by being a few inches ahead of it, he launched himself in the air and, by grabbing his short-sword, Kamiizumi, he positioned his body over the street and jabbed his blade on top of the van he landed on.
Perfect landing! Quickly, force open a hole and grab those two humans out of the vehicle!
However, just as he pulled Kamiizumi out of the van he forced his blade to dig into and was going to jab into the same spot to help him make a bigger cut into the car, he heard a sound that he recognized from one of his shows of Space Heroes show to his left.
Move, now!
Before he could take a step back, a blast was heard and suddenly felt a burning force of sensation at his left-shoulder. He let out a grunt from the harsh-burning spreading into his shoulder, already feeling warm-liquid blood surfacing from the wound and pooling underneath his arm. Turning to his left, he saw one of the four men aiming at looks to be some sort of blaster in a form of a gun at him and seeing the light building up at the opening of the weapon, the turtle forced himself to roll backwards and to grab for the top of the car when his body fell off of it, before any more of the blaster's attack could touch him. Because the van was now at his left, Leo was forced to use his left-hand to keep his grip on it until he puts Kamiizumi back into its sheath with his right, making the pain in his shoulder even more painful than it already was and for the wound to pour out even more blood from the stretching of his injury. Quickly switching hands before his left-hand slips its grip from being coated in his blood, the turtle kept a tight grip on the roof and tried to pull himself back to the top of the car.
No, don't pull yourself up! Let go of the vehicle, now!
'What? I can't do that! That small family needs my help and I can't abandon them!' He argued with his conscience, trying to urge his right-hand to pull his entire weight up and back on the van.
If you want to live long enough to help them, let go of the vehicle before you get blasted from that slim human to your right!
Hearing the sound of the blaster charging its attack from his right caught the turtle's attention, which he then turned and saw it was the slim human that came out of the van with those four lookalikes, aiming a blaster to what he assumes to be either his right-hand or his head.
Let go for now, Pup; still know and have girl and father's scent, along with Pup's blood coating vehicle. Will allow Pup to track down vehicle next time Pup and Kins come up to surface and look for the humans. For now, and unfortunately, Pup have to let foes go.
Clenching his hand on the edge of the van and peaking a quick glance at the logo of the car, in case he were to not be able to find their scent if the van gets washed from the scent it carries, Leo immediately let go of the car before the blaster released its attack and did a somersault or two on the street to decrease his chances on getting any more wounded than he already was. He soon found himself kneeling on the street and gasping for air, as he watch the van veer to the right and disappearing from his sight. Once it was gone and no longer heard the sound of screeching tires echoing through the air, the turtle slowly pushed his body to stand up, which he did staggered a bit from the overuse of his legs but still has enough energy to stand and be able to walk, as long as he doesn't push his body to run until he gets his energy back.
'Ung... Good thing it's already late and that there aren't any more humans coming out here, otherwise they would be freaking out on seeing an injured humanoid-turtle standing in the middle of the road.' He thought to himself, as he brought up his right-hand to his wounded-shoulder, wincing from having to put on pressure to it but knowing he needs to stop the bleeding. 'Damn it! Whatever those weapons of theirs are, it sure can leave a good wound to the body. I sure hope that the injury won't prevent me from using my arm in battle while it heals.'
You should considered yourself lucky that the weapon didn't break your humerus bone, or worse, blow your arm right off of your shoulder!
'Yeah, I should be grateful that I still have two arms.' Leo thought to himself, as he stared at the last spot he seen the van turn at and then slowly made his way to an alley to follow the scent of his brothers that was a few blocks away from his location, where he can also hear Mikey's screaming some nonsense about a human he was fighting has a brain in his chest.
Father isn't going to like what he's going to hear, once you and your brothers tell him about the news.
Back to the Lair...
"And so, your inability to work together not only allowed them all to get away, but has also gotten one of you seriously injured!" Splinter yelled at his sons, who was clearly mad and disappointed on hearing what his four sons just did while exploring the city. While keeping his head down and closing his eyes to see nothing but the darkness that had always helped calmed him down, Leo held in a groan of annoyance at his sensei's lecture, as if it were the same news that he's been told over and over again.
If Alpha should be mad at Pup or Kins, it be Omega-Brother Donatello; Omega-Brother went in, without thinking up plan or heeding Alpha's warning, and purposely blew cover because of some human girl Omega-Brother fell head over heels for. As for wound Pup gotten, it really isn't serious; just simple flesh wound Omega-Brother Donatello easily taken cared of by wrapping injury, though Pup could've taken care of the wound by self.
Even if the fault is all on Donnie, you and the rest of your brothers are also at fault for going into battle, when they should've left the humans alone but ended up making the situation much worse.
'And, once again, I have to take blame of my brothers and listen to another one of Sensei's lecture, again... What number does this add up to the list of "Taking the Blame and Responsibility for my Brothers" this time? I lost track at three hundred forty-seven.'
Three hundred sixty-two.
'Another three more of that, and then I'll have the numbers of sticking out for my brothers to the equivalent of a full-year in my fifteen years of being in this Clan as a humanoid-wolf/turtle.'
"Well, maybe if I didn't have two screw ups always getting in my way, I could've saved them! Besides, it was Donnie that went flying off on his own! How smart was that, Dork-a-tello?!" Raphael stated, glaring over his big brother and at his younger-brother, who glared back at the red-banded turtle.
"Well, it would've worked out great, if somebody hadn't hit me in the head with their Nunchucks!" Donnie exclaimed, turning his gaze and passing the blame over to their youngest brother.
"Well, none of this would've happened if..." Mikey turned to his left, realizing while in his panicking-state that nobody was kneeling over there, and without thinking, passed the blame over to the person in front of him. "Somebody hadn't trusted us to go up there in the first place!" Immediately, all the brothers, even Leo, lifted their heads up and stared in shock and worry towards their father.
'Did... Did Mikey just passed the blame towards Sensei?' Leo asked himself, not sure if he should be angry at his youngest brother for what he said... Or, actually take on his side and agree to him about their sensei trusting them to go up in the surface, even if the four of them were at fault on making him decide too quickly, all because they wanted to go up so badly and not be trapped underneath the city any longer.
Oh boy... Mikey's going to be in for it this time, isn't he?
Omega-Brother Michelangelo doesn't think before acts, especially when under pressure or when all negative attention are on self.
"Oh, geez." From the tone of his voice, it sounded like Mikey didn't really mean what he just said about his father, though it was already too late to take back what he just said. "Sensei, I didn't mean to..."
"No, Michelangelo. You are right." Splinter told his son, his face showing no signs of hurt to what his youngest child just said about him and looks like he really does agree to what he just said.
"I am?" Mikey asked, not sure if he should be happy or upset and worried that he was right about something.
"He is?" Raph and Donnie asked in unison, while Leo simply stared at his brother with confusion held within his eyes.
'How could Mikey be right about it being Sensei's fault? We were the ones to push Master Splinter into letting us go, and all because of our sad-faces we put up in order for him to make the decision.'
That may as well be true, but I don't think it was the decision on letting you go up to explore the city he meant is his fault; it's most likely about your fight with the four men he meant is his fault.
'Our fight? What was wrong with our fighting?'
If you're to recall on how those humans fought, at least one of them would go after one of your brothers, after he was able to bring down one of your siblings for at least a few seconds... Those four men fought as a team. You and your brothers, while you all have many strengths in battle, you all were taught to fight on your own and against one another. In other terms, Father never taught you four to fight together, as a team.
"You were not fully prepared for what was up there. I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team." Splinter explained to his sons, which made the three younger brothers felt ashamed of themselves for not realizing it and the eldest turtle surprised that his conscience already figured out what his sensei meant.
See? He's blaming himself for not being able to train you four to fight as a team.
"And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine... Perhaps in another year we can try again." The four brothers widen their eyes from their father's suggestion.
"Another year?!" Donnie exclaimed, clearly not liking what Splinter just said to them.
'This, I totally agree with Donnie on. Another year?!' Leo yelled in his mind, glaring at the back of Splinter's head but immediately lowering his head and glared at the floor. 'He can't be serious! We just told him, like a minute ago, that we screwed up in a fight and allowed two humans, a father and daughter, to get kidnapped by four men, who happened to be the cause of what we became fifteen years ago, and all he suggest us to do is forget about those innocent humans for a year?!'
He has his reasons for making a decision.
'Yeah? Well, this time, his decision isn't helping anybody! It's not helping those two humans, who most likely don't have a year to wait for us to save them. It's not helping my brothers, who all were truly happy for the first time since they wanted to go up to the surface. And lastly, it's not helping him, for he will be the cause of letting the two innocent people suffer in the hands of those identical humans, and he knows that!'
"Ha! Has everybody forgotten that people were kidnapped?" Donnie asked his brothers, who all clearly agreed to what he's saying and going through with it, even though the mess was sort of his fault for rushing into the battle without thinking up a plan. "They don't have a year! Sensei, we have to do something now!" Splinter glared down at his third child, seeing within his brownish-red eyes that his son had a crush on the human girl he had failed to rescued. "You weren't there, sensei. You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared. And she was counting on me..." The three brothers gave him glares of annoyance and confusion to what just said on that last part.
'You? Counting on just you, little brother? Geez, and I thought Raph would be the only one sounding as if he was trying to be the hero and save the day.' Leo thought to himself, not liking to hear that the genius turtle is still allowing his emotions to get in a way, all because he had a simple crush on the girl for the first time he laid eyes on her.
Omega-Brother Donatello will surely get Pup and Kins killed and likely leave Pup and Kins behind if human girl is all Omega Brother's going to be thinking about.
"Uh, us... To save her!" Donnie quickly corrected on what just let slip out without thinking, staring up at his Sensei to have him reconsider his suggestion on keeping them in the sewers for another year and preventing them from helping that family out.
Splinter lifted his gaze far out into space, then turned to the small shrine he built when he made the sewers his home after being mutated into a humanoid-rat and gazed at the small black-and-white picture that he has always kept with him ever since he left Japan... The only picture he has of himself as a human, his beloved wife, Tang Shen, and their beautiful baby girl, Miwa. Splinter knew that if Shen were alive to this very day and were to be in the conversation with them, no doubt she would've wanted Yoshi to let their sons go back to the surface and save that small family from those four men who turned them into humanoid-animals... And, that if Donnie truly has a crush for the girl, then they mustn't get in his way on winning her heart, even if he may never actually get a chance with her but may learn the difference between a crush and to truly be in love.
"Yes, you must save her." He told the turtles, his eyes now holding understanding that this was one of those moments of them gaining their wisdom from the mistake they just made. Leo, who was a little surprised, was happy to hear that their sensei is going to listen to reason and allow them to fix the mistake that they, mostly Donnie, made happen.
'It's almost like to this very day, Tang Shen's still here for Sensei and is helping him make the right choice and decision for us and how to fix our choice of action.'
Even in death, Alpha's mate still there for Alpha and forever be in heart to guide Alpha through the troubles Alpha still faces.
Now that Father is telling you four to save the human girl and her father, now we have another problem to discuss about: The Teamwork situation.
"We agree, Sensei, that we must save the human girl and her father, but we still have a problem." Leo told their sensei, still keeping his gaze to the ground and avoiding eye-contact with the humanoid-rat. "In that fight, we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine."
"Yeah, like that robot with the brain thingy." Mikey brought up once again, still claiming that he actually seen a human brain pop out of one of the four men's chest.
"Give a rest!" Raph told their youngest brother, tired on having to hear the orange-banded turtle's made up fairytale that he still say that it was true, when Raph and Donnie were trying to catch up to Leo on stopping that van.
However, while Raph and Donnie believe that Mikey was making something up and probably just saw something or imagined it happened, Leo could hear no lie coming out of his youngest brother's voice and, hearing his heart not beating in a frantic rhythm like it would do when trying to come up with a great lie, the blue-banded turtle chose to not doubt his brother's words and stay quiet for the time being.
If what Mikey just said was true, then perhaps that would explain part of the reason why those humans didn't respond or acted like humans would originally do.
'But the question is, were they actually humans to begin with or are they something much more than humans?' Leo wondered in his thoughts, having a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach that they're going to find some answers he's been wanting to find for a long time.
"If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a leader." Splinter told his sons, with three of his children having hopeful eyes on getting the chance to actually be a leader, while only one kept his gaze down and looks to be unimpressed on the thought of being leader.
'Oh boy, here comes the brawl on who wants to lead and why they should be leader.' Leo thought to himself, staying quiet and showing no signs of wanting to be in the conversation in the least.
"I should be the leader. I can kick all of your butts, no sweat or difficulty." Raph declared, keeping his head held high and having a cocky smile on his face for coming up with the best excuse to be leader.
"Hey, I'm smarter than all you guys put together. It should be me." Donnie butted in, giving his older-brother a challenging glare on coming up with another reason why the red-banded turtle should be the leader.
"No way! It should be me!" Mikey cried out, which made his two older-brothers stare at him in confusion on what his combat would be to why he should lead them. "I don't really have a reason. I just think it would be neat." Leo let out a quiet sigh.
'Of course, Mikey, you would think it would be "neat" to be leader. Just wait until you realize how much you need to really focus if you were to become the leader.' Then, not trying to grab anybody's or be in the center of attention, he got to his feet and calmly made his way out of the Dojo... Or, at least he tried to leave the Dojo.
"Hey, Leo, where do ya think you're going?" Raphael called out, stopping his big brother in his tracks on leaving.
"I think I'm heading for my room to prepare myself to head out soon, while you three and Master Splinter decides who should be leader." Leonardo answered calmly, turning his gaze to stare into the confuse and irritated look of his younger-brother. "Why? Is there a problem about me being prepared? On second thought, it shouldn't really be a problem to you, considering you're not given the mantle of Leadership."
"Not yet, I haven't been announced as leader." Raph backed up, still having that cocky smirk on his face and not seeing the confused look Splinter has on his face. He then took a few steps forward towards his eldest child, who had turned his gaze towards the shōji to leave the Dojo.
"Leonardo, do you wish to become leader?" The rat asked, which his question made the three other turtles wonder why their big brother hadn't said anything about wanting to be the leader of the team or why he should be leader. Leo narrowed his eyes at the shōji, not wanting to explain to his family of his reason why he didn't want to stick around to hear who was going to be leader, when he knew that it'll most likely be Raph.
'Why bother asking me that sort of question, when I obviously don't want to explain myself by leaving the conversation and heading for my room?' Leo asked himself in his thoughts, though he already knew that he has to answer his sensei's question when the question wasn't involved about his estrange behavior or him being more antisocial around the Hamato Clan. "Honestly, Sensei... No, I don't want to become leader." He answered, making his three brothers stunned by his words and Splinter surprised that his eldest didn't want what his three younger sons did.
"Dude, you don't want to be leader?" Michelangelo asked his brother, after using both his index-fingers to clear out his ears in case he had something in them that made him heard his big brother wrong. "How can you not want to become leader, bro? Being leader is, like, one of the most awesomeness thing to ever happen in your entire life!" Leo winced a bit from the volume his brother chose to speak in, making his right-ear have a little ringing going on in his hearing that'll probably last about a few minutes or so.
'To Mikey, everything he sees on TV or finds in the sewers, is "the most awesomeness thing" to ever happen in life.'
No matter what Kins ages are, to every pup, whatever find or hear from others will always capture interest until either get tired of it or no longer see it to reach interest.
"Well, that's your perspective on how you see Leadership to be, Mikey." Leo told his brother, glancing at the orange-band turtle with a certain tiredness his eyes held. "I, on the other hand, see no joy or anything positive of what being leader would bring to me and will have no interest on ever wanting to be the leader." He then turned back to face the shōji. "Now, if you don't mind on letting me go, I need to get something that will help us out on our mission." Without waiting for an answer from anybody of his family, he made his way towards the shōji and left the Dojo.
You do realize that you'll most likely be punished for leaving the Dojo, without Father's permission or say that you can leave.
'I know, and right now, I don't care if Sensei grounds me from going up to the surface for a whole moon after we save that family. As long as he heard on what I want him and the others to hear, then it doesn't really matter.'
Not only that, Alpha only asked Pup question and Pup have answer, meaning Pup not gone against Alpha's wishes or demands, since Alpha hasn't given Pup order to stay put within Training Room.
Rather than going to his own bedroom, however, Leo made his way to the bathroom. After locking the door behind him in case his brothers were to try and barge in, like they always do, he sat himself against the bathtub and in front of the toilet, waiting for his stomach to reject the two human-food slices he ate over an hour ago and for him to cough up whatever was left of the food in his stomach. Which, after sensing that its master is no longer holding in the food it was forced to hold on to for a full hour during their time above the surface, his stomach immediately brought up the food it had more than halfway digested it and made the turtle vomit the food into the toilet.
Over the past fifteen years as a humanoid-wolf/turtle, Leo found out that he can't eat as much his sensei and brothers can, and that he mustn't force himself to try and increase his appetite: If he were to be pressured too hard on eating any more than he can already handle or is forced to eat when he doesn't feel like eating, the distress can easily upset his stomach and then it'll try to get rid of the discomfort by forcing the turtle to vomit the food out of his body. And though he ate the two human-food slices by his choice, though a little more by his conscience wanting him to keep their bond strong and firm, he was both forced and pressured into eating the two slices by his brothers, which had also resorted of him to force his stomach to hold in the human-food until he allows his stomach to bring it up or when it finishes digesting it and have him go through some serious abdominal pain for a good hour or two.
After heaving up the food a couple of times to empty his stomach, Leo reached for a toilet-paper at his left to wipe away any bile that still lingers on his face and then flushed the toilet to rid away whatever his stomach brought up.
'Thank god that Donnie soundproofed the bathroom door and walls, or the guys and Sensei would be all over my shell if they think I've gotten sick again.' He thought to himself, as he quickly washed his hands and face to rid away the smell of his condition in case it still clung to the skin, then went into brushing his teeth for a good three minutes and swiftly left the bathroom to make his way to his bedroom. 'Alright, back to what I need to get for the mission.' He made his way towards a dresser at the far right of his room, where he would keep some valuable stuff that helps him kill the time away when he was either bored or don't feel like coming out of his room unless he needs to. At the bottom-third shelf of the dresser that he pulled open, were a few weaponry given to him from Master Splinter that Leo decides to store in his room, in case Mikey were to break into the Dojo and mess around with all of their weapons displayed within the room: Rope, a Yumi (bow) and a few arrows within a quiver, a miniature telescope that he found in the sewers a few years ago and a couple of shuriken.
Immediately catching sight of the shuriken, Leo snatched up three of them and placed them underneath his wrist wraps. He then grabbed for his miniature telescope and, after shifting his shoulders a bit to make an open gap between one of his shoulders and his shell, placed the mini-scope inside of his shell. It took him a while to get it right, but Leonardo has been able to figure out on how to store items inside his shell and to bring it out with ease, without causing any discomfort to either him or to his shell and when he's not hiding inside of his shell, despite turtles having their spines being connected to their shells.
You know that Donnie will flip if he finds out that you've been storing items inside your shell, and then we'll go off on the many reasons why you mustn't be doing that.
'Yeah, I know, but it's not like I'm going to be storing anything heavy, big or dangerous that'll cause harm to me.' Leo thought to himself, as he closed the dresser drawer back into its spot and getting to his feet as if he didn't grab anything out of his dresser and is going to come out empty-handed. 'Besides, since we're humanoid-turtles, only the bottom-half of our back and body is still connected to the shell, just as our plastrons are still connected to our chests and stomachs. So, even if the top-half of the shell still acting like it's connected to the top-half of our bodies whenever we bend over or back, we can easily pull away from it so that we can make a small-gap form between our shell and shoulders, without causing any discomfort or pain to ourselves or out shells. Anyway, since my miniature telescope isn't pulled out in its full length, then it won't bother me when I'm running or doing flips if my brothers and I are ever caught in another fight.'
He then went over to the small-dresser to his bed, where he pulled open a drawer that held plain sheets of paper and pencils that he secretly stolen from Donatello's Lab and after grabbing for one of each item held within the drawer, the blue-banded turtle quickly drew out the logo that he seen on the van that took the family away before he was forced to let it go. Thanks to his sharp mind on keeping track of events that had occurred, whether it be from distress or signs of danger, which he believes that the substance from the canister somehow enhanced his memories when it merged with the wolf fur, it took him no more than six minutes to draw out exactly how the logo appeared as. After getting a full look at the drawing he just did of the logo, did the turtle noticed something familiar about it.
'I know that I'd seen this logo somewhere before the van, but where?' Before he could try to find an answer to his problem by going through his memories, his door was swung open and Michelangelo quickly stepped into the room, startling the eldest turtle from the interruption caused by his baby brother.
"Leo, you need to come back to the Dojo!" The youngest brother hollered out, running towards his brother and slam a hand on the turtle's right-shoulder, forcing a startled yelp out of the eldest turtle and leap off of the bed and to, without warning, pin Mikey to the floor and glare him down. It took Leo a few seconds to see who was the culprit that had dared startle him from his trains of thought and quickly backed away from his stunned brother.
"Mikey?! How many times do I need to remind you to knock before coming into my room?" The eldest brother questioned, still keeping a glare at the youngest but reaching out to help his brother back to his feet. "Also, you know how much I don't like to be spooked or be jumped on without warning."
"But, Leo, this is urgent! Master Splinter told me to come and get you back to the Dojo; he made his decision on who's going to be leader of the team!" The news surprised the elder turtle, but quickly vanished when he felt like the information Mikey just gave to him shouldn't be that important if he left the Dojo.
"Mikey, I appreciate you coming here to tell me this, but I have no interest on having Master Splinter telling me who will be leader of our team when it should be pretty obvious that Raph will be leading the team." He told his brother, as he bent down to grab for the pencil and paper he temporarily discarded when he went to pin his brother to the floor and placed both items on top of his journal and sketchbook at the small-dresser next to his bed. "You can tell Sensei that I'll let Raph tell me about his new position as leader, and that I'll have no trouble or give any problems to Raph while he leads us." He then went to lay down on his bed and catch a few minutes of rest for his eyes, but Mikey grabbed for his injured-arm and made him winced a bit from the pressure closing in around his injury through the bandages Donnie had wrapped around the wound with.
"Sorry, bro, but Master Splinter told me to get you into the Dojo with us, no matter what the reason on why you won't come back to the Dojo and no excuses." Leonardo knew that whatever their sensei tells them to do and what not to do, they all have to treat his words as if they were the law, itself, on how they have to live in life. And right now, from the way Michelangelo just informed him on what Splinter wants the eldest turtle to do, he knew that he must respects the humanoid-rat's words and do as he say, even if the turtle is very reluctant to do so.
'Gotta do what Alpha tells me to do, even if it's something that I wish not to follow or respect.' He reminded himself, knowing that both his instincts and conscience will constantly remind him of his position in the Hamato Clan and he does as he's told by his sensei, and learns to accept the fact he's doing as he's told by Splinter for the sake of the family until he gets his chance on leaving for his freedom. He then brought his right-hand towards Mikey's hand that still held on to his injured left-arm and gently, but a little firmly, pulled it off of him. "Alright, Mikey, let's head back to the Dojo." He then stood to his feet, made his way out of his bedroom, alongside with his youngest brother, and the two silently made their way towards the shōji and reentered the Dojo. Now rejoined with their other two brothers and sensei, the two went back to their spots they both took in when they first came in and bowed in respect to the rat, with Mikey staring up at their father like Donatello and Raphael, while Leo keeping his gaze down to the floor.
"Thank you for rejoining us, Leonardo." Splinter greeted his eldest, though his eyes looked a little hurt that the blue-banded turtle still refuses to meet his gaze. "I know it may seem like I could've made a rash choice and decision on who to pick as leader in just mere minutes, but I assure you that my meditation had helped me make the right choice on who shall be leading the team." He then took in a deep breath, letting out a deep sigh as if it were the guilt he's been keeping in within his heart. "And so, after being in a deep meditation and thinking through of the matter at hand, I came up with an answer." Raph, Don and Mikey leaned in a bit closer, as if thinking Splinter would go quiet if he told them his answer, while Leo simply stayed quiet and awaited for the answer he believes it shall be.
'I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Raph.' He thought to himself, putting up a small sad-smile on his face that tells of his worry and feeling sorry for the red-banded turtle once he goes through the stress and hardship he will face as the leader of the team.
"The one who shall be leader of the team..." Leo then slowly closed his eyes.
'Here comes the answer...'
"...Will be Leonardo."
TBC
Just as I told you guys from the last chapter, I'm not very good with describing fights. Also, I'm having trouble translating some of the words to Japanese and I don't think Google Translate is translating them correctly. So, Don't be mad if some of the words translated into Japanese is incorrect.
A whole moon, means a whole month (though, that's what my sister told me).
R&R