Chapter 52: The Kojima Brothers' Mettle Gear
Shredder used the stolen diary and the electronics to bring the Kojima Brothers back in a holographic state. "These three are the strongest ninja of all time," he gloated. "And thanks to the holographic technology, we can stop the Turtles and the Trainers in their tracks!" He used another device that made the Brothers vanish. "With their ninjitsu, the Turtles will not survive! Bebop, Rocksteady, I want you to place this holographic device to catch the Turtles and Trainers off-guard." He handed the device to Rocksteady.
"With pleasure, boss!" he accepted. "I have a good idea where to place it." He and Bebop left for their destination.
"Knowing those bozos, it'll be a miracle if they did," Shredder doubted. Back in the Lair, the Turtles, Trainers, Kazuo, Pete, Splinter and Mona Lisa gathered with sushi on plates. They all sat on the floor in a line on both sides.
"So, Shredder stole the diary of the Kojima Brothers from the Ninja Hall of Fame in Tokyo," Mona Lisa heard. "And some equipment from Acme Electronics." Donatello studied the findings.
"If I'm correct," he pondered. "What Shredder stole was hologram devices." To Splinter, Shredder's plot was familiar.
"This isn't the first time Shredder used holographic technology," he recalled. "He previously used it in an attempt to kidnap the President."
"Colleagues of mine were quick to stop it when the Turtles jumped in to scare Shredder away," Pete added. Kazuo seemed flabbergasted to the claims against Shredder.
"I cannot believe it," he gasped.
"Believe it, pal," Raphael remarked. "We believe it more than Pete actually working for the FBI."
"And about that," Pete spoke. "I have a week before I return to Washington and back to my superiors." Pikachu squeaked somberly about Pete leaving them.
"Hopefully, you can see us depart back to the Pokémon World before you head back to your bosses," Brock offered. Pete nodded to the wish.
"Back to the topic at hand," Ash spoke up. "Lieutenant Inspector, may I ask about this diary that was taken?"
"But of course," Kazuo offered. "The Diary of the Kojima Brothers is one that holds the secrets of the legendary brothers and pioneers of ninjitsu, masters of stealth and combat." This puzzled those around.
"Shredder's already a ninja," Mona Lisa pointed out. "Why would he need the secrets of ninja brothers?" Splinter decided to ask Kazuo.
"What would your input be about this?" he questioned.
"What we cannot worry about is the items missing," Kazuo sidestepped. "The real item is the one that is being pursued: the fusion reactor… but what for?" Donatello had an answer to that.
"Simple," he offered. "The power in the reactor can fry Manhattan like a shrimp tempura!" Kazuo became upset at the thought.
"Preposterous!" he denied. "I do not believe my- I mean this Shredder could not be so villainous as to inflame an entire city!"
"Hey, you've never had to deal with Shredder as much as we have," Brock reminded. Undeterred, Kazuo planned for Shredder's next attack.
"There is no doubt that he will be back tonight for the fusion reactor," he plotted. "With your help, we can stop him!" Ash shrugged his shoulders.
"It's another dangerous assignment," he muttered. "Or for us, another Tuesday." Splinter cleared her throat.
"Young Ash, let me offer you a piece of advice," he spoke, "The more numerous the strand, the stronger the rope." Ash and Pikachu seemed to understand the ordeal.
("I can understand that,") Pikachu squeaked. Kazuo hoisted the Mouse Pokémon from the ground.
"For something that is not human to understand human tongue," he muttered. "It is impressive that you can reply so applicably." Pikachu shrugged his shoulders with a cute squeak. Somewhere in the sewers, Bebop and Rocksteady were looking around the walls.
"According to da boss," Bebop started. "We need ta plant dis Holly gram gadget someplace where da Toitles and Trainas will come by." That's when Rocksteady saw a spot that seemed favorable.
"Here we are!" he voiced. The mutants stopped.
"Why here?"
"Dis is unda Vinnie's Pizzeria. Dey'll no doubt come by here."
"Oh, dat's not a bad idea." Then, voices.
"Come on, dudes!" voiced Michelangelo. Bebop and Rocksteady knew their time wasn't long.
"Uh oh," Bebop gulped. "It's da Toitles. We's gotta hide dat." Rocksteady soon found a hole in the sewer wall.
"Ova here," he pointed to. He placed the device before hitting the power button. The projection of the Kojima Brothers appearing. The trap set, Bebop and Rocksteady dashed to hiding. Kazuo and Pete joined the Turtles and Trainers wading down the sewers ankle-deep.
"How inconvenient!" complained Kazuo. He and Pete held flashlights. "Are American sewers always this soggy?"
"We don't mind," Donatello eased. "After all, we were raised in a fish tank."
"And these sewers are nothing compared to the one Pikachu, Misty, Tracey and I traveled," Ash added. "It was under Trovitopolis."
"Isn't that one of the cities in the Orange Islands?" wondered Brock.
("It is,") Pikachu confirmed. Suddenly, Michelangelo spotted the holograms of the Kojima Brothers.
"Holy guacamole!" he gawked. "Who are those dudes!?"
"The Kojima Brothers!" gasped Kazuo. "Ancient ninja warriors… but they have been dead for 300 years!"
"I never imagined Shredder as a necromancer," Pete joked.
"Still, they're in pretty good shape after so long," Raphael added.
"Shredder must have brought them here to keep us at bay," Leonardo believed as the Turtles and Trainers drew their weapons.
"DESTROY THE TURTLES!" the Kojima Brothers proclaimed.
"Lieutenant Saki, we'll take on these brothers," Leonardo urged. "You go on ahead and find Shredder." Kazuo knew his assignment.
"You are right," he accepted. "I will proceed and arrest him."
"Pete, you go with the lieutenant," Ash suggested. "Two agents should give Shredder double trouble."
"I'll keep an eye on him," Pete accepted before he and Kazuo left. The Turtles and Trainers charged at the Kojima Brothers. Back at the university, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady stood outside the security barrier. Shredder held jumper cables.
"I now have the equipment needed to override the security system!" he bragged as he handed the cables to Rocksteady. "Attach these to the fuse box."
"Ya got it, boss," Rocksteady agreed. He walked over and clamped the cables to the fuse box. "Cables in pl-AAAAAAAHHHHH!" He slipped and tumbled down the stairs that he climbed to reach the fuse box. Hitting the bottom, Shredder shook his head.
"After what Ash did to him some time ago, it's not the worst sight of Rocksteady in pain," he dismissed. "When he recovers, Bebop… you two will guard the entrance. I'll be getting the reactor started." Back at the sewers, the Turtles and Trainers struggled against the Kojima Brothers. Ash and Michelangelo fought one, Brock and Leonardo struggles against another and Donatello and Raphael had their backs to the wall on the last one.
"You'd think six-on-three would be easy!" grunted Ash as he deflected sword strikes.
"We might be in bigger trouble than before!" gulped Raphael as the shirtless one smashed a wall behind them. Back at the Lair, Splinter meditated before sensing a problem.
"I sense that my students are in danger," he picked up. Mona Lisa came to Splinter's room after hearing him.
"Did you say something?" she wondered.
"I did," Splinter realized. "I must help them!" Mona Lisa didn't want to wait for the Turtles to return, let alone her favorite.
"If Raphael's in trouble, I gotta help out as well," she decided before leaving. Back at the university, Shredder broke through the security barrier and reached a panel console which looked like it was surrounded by a magnet.
"Good news, Krang," he reported. "I have the fusion reactor."
"That is good news, as such that I can say that the Technodrome is ready to move out."
"And when I activate this, it will send an electromagnetic force that will pull the Technodrome out of Dimension X and right to Earth via a Trans-Dimensional portal."
"This is going to become the greatest day for all of us! I'm also detecting that it will land in the middle of Manhattan. So, why haven't you pressed it? Are you expecting an invitation?"
"From you…" Pressing the red button on the console, Shredder started the reactor as the magnet emitted a power that entered through the portal.
"Look out Earth! Here we come!" However, someone new stepped in.
"Oroku Saki, you are under arrest!" shouted Kazuo. Shredder seemed surprised.
"I know a few people who know my name," he believed as he saw Kazuo and Pete entering.
"Lieutenant Inspector Kazuo Saki of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police," Kazuo announced. "And I am here to take you in."
"Of course, my colleagues are also interested in having you as well," Pete added. Shredder seemed dumbfounded to Kazuo and Pete.
"Channel 6's cameraman?" he realized. "And you're with my baby brother? Are you here to capture a family reunion?" Pete seemed irked to Shredder's claim of him and Kazuo being brothers.
"Your brother is the one who usurped Hamato Yoshi?" he questioned.
"It is a burden, but one I can atone," Kazuo hoped as he approached. "Now, you can come along quietly, and no one will be harmed." Shredder began to suffer laughing fits, not thinking Kazuo had any gall to do anything to him.
"You!?" he cackled. "Harm me!?" His laugh caused irritation to someone else.
"Shredder!" shouted Krang. "What's taking so long!?" He turned to Pete. "And what about you? What would someone who hides behind a camera want?"
"You mean my moonlighting gig?" briefed Pete as he pulled out his badge. "Peter Rockman, FBI agent." Krang gawked to hearing of Pete's primary place of work.
"Oh… that must mean you work for the President," Shredder realized. "It doesn't matter when we come back over. Now that the fusion reactor started, the Technodrome is in operation to return to Earth!" Pete narrowed his eyes as Shredder seemed to offer his arms to Kazuo.
"You should be ashamed that you would be a cop, baby brother," Shredder taunted.
"Like how you disgraced the Saki family and the Foot Clan," Kazuo retorted.
"But if it makes you feel better, arrest me."
"That is why I'm-"
"It's a trap!" shouted Pete. Kazuo looked to Pete before Shredder snatched the handcuffs from Kazuo and kneed him in the gut. Shredder cuffed Kazuo to a large, curved pipe.
"I was never the nice boy our parents told you!" he mocked. Pete charged in, but Shredder flipped the agent onto the magnet at the base of his waist, his back bent at a 90-degree angle and looked stuck before Shredder placed a steel pipe around the stomach. He hung upside down and pinned.
"Eh, not the worst position I've been in."
"You're not in any pain?"
"No, I'm used to it."
"Well, even if you were, you won't need to feel anything. In five minutes, you and Kazuo will be destroyed." He maniacally laughed as he started the console. Back in the sewers, Splinter and Mona Lisa continued down the labyrinth.
"I sense a strange and familiar presence," Splinter believed. "We can only hope we are not too late." Before long, they heard clashing weapons.
"It's gotta be them!" believed Mona Lisa. "This way!" They found Brock, Pikachu and the Turtles struggling with the solid holograms. "Guys!" Brock and Raphael turned to see Splinter and Mona Lisa.
"Sensei, aren't we glad to see you!" grunted Raphael.
"What is going on!?" shouted Splinter. "Where is young Ash?"
"He was knocked into the water!" alerted Brock.
"Master, these Kojima Brothers aren't human!" cried Michelangelo.
"Master, what do we do?" asked Mona Lisa.
"These are indeed the legendary brothers of the Kurokuwashu Clan," Splinter studied. The brothers stopped fighting and addressed Splinter.
"That is correct," they acknowledged.
"But you have been dead for many decades… and I do not believe in ghosts.
"That is not necessary for you to believe in us. Thus, for you to be destroyed." The brothers charged at Splinter while he and Mona Lisa braced for the assault. Could the heroes defeat the legendary brothers? Could they stop Shredder in time, let alone know of the relationship with Kazuo? What about the Technodrome? Is Manhattan at the brink of destruction?
TO BE CONTINUED…
(I want to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day.)