Tales and RevelationsPart 2
Everyone began to listen closely as Sam prepared to tell his story of how he came to be. Like Jet, he looked uncomfortable. His mother noticed this.
"Son, you don't have to explain if you don't want to. I can tell for you." Said Mrs Mei.
"Thank you, mom. But I can handle this." Replied Sam.
"It all started over a month ago. I was walking with my uncle and older cousin through Central Park. We came across some suspicious looking lumberjacks that were eyeing us funny. They were cutting down some large trees and loading it on a truck. As we passed the truck, the rope holding the trees in place in the truck snapped, releasing the heavy wood and crushed us to death. I didn't return to life until a few days later, the night after my funeral. The black coffin I was entombed in merged with my body and I bursted out of my grave as the Black Tortoise. That's when my mother came in. She was already there, waiting for me to rise."
The Turtles and Splinter were stunned by Sam's origin story.
"Monsters! They just assassinated you outright?" Asked Leo.
"Yes. They did." Answered Sam grimly.
"Those lumberjacks must've been Triads in disguise. But why didn't they just kidnap and interrogate you for information or objects?" Asked Donnie.
"I can answer that." Mei spoke up. "Because they knew our family possessed something they wanted. But what they didn't know is WHO in our family had it. They believed my brother had it, but he always went out in daylight and never nighttime, so in order to get what he had, the Triads had to stage an accident in broad daylight and quickly search them. But of course, neither he, nor my nephew or son had it on them."
"That's true, mom." Said Sam.
"Couldn't they just search the home while you were away?" Asked Mikey.
"They did once. A few days before they killed me. But they didn't find anything. That's when the thugs assumed we carried it with us at all times." Explained Sam.
"And what did they want from your family, Mrs Mei?" Asked Splinter. "And who truly has it?"
Mrs Mei then pulled out a green scroll from her clothing. The Ninjas and the Stars except Sam had their eyes widened in shock.
"Is that the Guide of Flora!?" Asked Jet.
"Yup. As soon as my Kung fu training was complete, I was given the scroll to learn to use vegetation to my advantage in battle. And I learned quite a lot already." Explained Sam with a smile.
"Fascinating! That explains how you were able to fix your wooden spear." Said Donnie.
"And speaking of spears, Sam is the best when it comes to pole arms, whether be staff or spear, he's nearly unmatched." Explained Ben. "We used to spar each other a lot back in our school of kung fu with staffs. He even beat me a couple times."
"That I did, buddy." Said Sam.
Master Splinter held his chin in thought. And looked at the assembled Stars.
"It appears you four all seek vengeance on the ones who took your lives as well as the lives of your loved ones." The rat said.
"That's correct, sensei." Said Ben.
"You couldn't be more right." Maggie said.
"Ditto." Jet said.
Sam simply nodded.
"Then I must tell you that I am no stranger to vengeance myself. I too felt the same rage and anger you four do." Splinter said then looked at Ben and Lei. "Ben, remember how I told you of how me and my sons were mutated?"
"Yes, you did." Answered Ben.
"Well I did not tell you how I learned ninjutsu." Splinter said with a sigh.
"Sam, do you remember the Foot ninja you battled?" The rat asked.
"Yes." Answered the tortoise.
"My tale involved them. And it began with my master, Hamato Yoshi." Splinter explained.
The turtles were having somber looks as they know this story very well.
Many years ago, in New York, in the home of Hamato Yoshi.
A Japanese man in traditional clothing is practicing his martial arts in his dojo.
"You must know, my master was a ninja, of great power. One of the greatest masters of ninjutsu."
We then see a small rat in a cage nearby, mimicking his moves.
"I was his pet rat. And I learned ninjutsu by mimicking his moves. For many years, I was happy, we were, a family."
As master Yoshi and Splinter continued to practice, the door suddenly broke open and a group of Foot ninja led by a large muscular man in a blonde ponytail appeared.
"But that life ended when the Foot were sent to attack my master."
Yoshi fought off the ninjas nearly effortlessly, while Splinter watched from his caged growling. Yoshi eventually kicked one ninja into Splinters cage, breaking it, and setting the rat free.
"My master battled honorably."
All of a sudden, the large man, and several other Foot soldiers fired rope launchers and ensnared the ninjutsu master by his limbs.
"But through their dishonorable ways, the Foot ninja overpowered him."
The Foot activated the ropes, revealing them to be electrical, and shocked Yoshi into submission.
"Then their leader, the Shredder, entered."
An intimidating suit of armor with red eyes and a single pair of claws in his right hand walked in.
"They accused my master of working with their enemies. They wanted information."
Shredder gave the order to continue torturing Yoshi. And so the Foot continuously shocked him.
"They were relentless. But my master said only one thing."
"He who lives without honor, will end without honor!" Said Yoshi.
"This is a waste of time. Finish him!" Commanded Shredder as the large man took out a sword.
Seeing what is about to happen, Splinter quickly ran up and jumped onto the man's face, clawing at him.
"I tried to save my master, but my efforts were in vain. But I did leave my mark."
Hun pried Splinter off his face and threw the rodent out the window. Then cradled his painful scratch marks.
"Bah! I shall finish you myself!" Said Shredder as he walked over to Yoshi.
Splinter looked on from the window in horror as the evil Foot leader brought his claws down on Hamato Yoshi.
"The Shredder had taken my master Yoshi from me. From the world."
Splinter dropped from the window out of grief and onto the ground below.
"Not long after that, I found my sons."
Splinter shed a few tears and the turtles bowed their heads in sorrow. Ben and Jet looked shocked, Maggie covered her beak with her talons as tears fell from her eyes. Sam looked equally horrified. Their human elders also looked equally sad.
"We are so sorry for your loss." Said Lei.
"And who was their leader, this 'Shredder'?" Asked Ben.
"A cruel man named Oroku Saki. Only he was not a man, nor Oroku Saki was his true name. But rather an alien in disguise, named Ch'rell, who crash landed on earth hundreds of years ago. And took the name of the original shredder, an ancient and evil warlord, to gain respect and led the foot clan in a secret war against his own people, the Utroms. The latter recruited warriors who would lead them in their fight against Foot called the Guardians. My master Yoshi was one of them." Splinter explained.
"So is he still around? I'd like him to meet by earthly paws!" Said Jet.
"Don't worry about Shredder. We already took care of him a long time ago." Said Raph.
"After our final battle, he was sentenced to exile on an ice asteroid by his own people for his crimes." Leo explained. "We haven't heard from him since."
"Good riddance!" Maggie said and the others agreed.
Splinter then told of how he and his sons were mutated after they were accidentally swept into the sewers when a speeding truck almost hit a blind man and a green canister fell out of it and rolled into the sewers. The baby turtles fell into the sewers, followed by the green canister which broke open upon impact, releasing a glowing green ooze with covered the turtles bodies. Splinter felt pity and gathered them up in a coffee can, getting the ooze onto himself in the process. The next morning, they doubled in size, the ooze made them larger and more intelligent. The rat then explained how the turtles followed him everywhere except above ground as the humans would never understand, but was unprepared for what happened next. One of them spoke his name. Soon they were all speaking. Splinter then explained that not long after that he began to teach the turtles ninjutsu and taught them all he knew of this world. He finished by explaining how they got their names, and that he named them after famous renaissance artists after fishing out a book about the renaissance arts.
The Chinese audience were amazed.
"Named after famous artists, so cool." Commented Sam.
"Yeah. As a lover of art myself, enjoyed Leonardo's works. You should be proud of yourself, Leo." Said Maggie.
Leo smiled at the compliment.
"And it is wise to hide from the human world." Said Ying.
"And even wiser to teach your sons martial arts to defend themselves." Added Lei.
"But know I believe it is our turn to talk. We must explain who the Four Stars are. And what their destiny." Said Bao.
Everyone turned serious and listened carefully to the human elders.
"We are part of an ancient society of warriors and martial artists dedicated to protecting China from the underworld and other dark forces in the shadows. Our organization was formed during the later years of the original four stars. After the latter died, we began recruiting and training warriors against our sworn enemy." Lei began.
"That enemy, was the illegitimate children of the Emperor from the Qin dynasty. Two brothers, one sister. The eldest was Qin Lao. They craved power and domination, but they could not gain their father's throne for themselves as they are born illegitimately. So they decided to rule the world from the shadows and sought power." Ying continued.
"Legend has it that they sought great magic to gain immortality and become gods in their own twisted ways. They obtained forbidden knowledge in the dark arts deep in the secret catacombs of the imperial palace, where they learned to weaponize their own souls and extend their lifespans. They escaped from the empire with their newfound power, but craved more." Said Bao.
"Soon after their escape, they formed criminal organizations, one of which would eventually evolve into the infamous Triads. They later heard about the scrolls of the elements. The same ones the Four Stars possess now. And sought to use them to increase their power, but they did not like sharing power, even amongst family, so they went their separate ways during their crusades. As for the scrolls, they were created by mystical creatures from another world after they decided to share their powers with us. Our families were amongst the first who held them and used them." Said Mei.
"But when the first Four Stars died, and the emperor's children began hunting down the scrolls, we formed this secret society of warriors to defend them. And so the secret war began. Overtime, we had to send some of the scrolls away to places where they could not be found, while the rest were kept in our hands." Lei said.
"We have been doing this for centuries. We also had to wait for you four to be reborn." Added Ying.
"Wait, what do you mean by that, auntie?" Asked Maggie.
"What I meant is, you four were always fated to die and come back as mystic mutants. After the original Four Stars died, our families received a prophecy that the Four will one day be reincarnated and reborn to defeat the children of the Qing emperor and become the guardians of the world once again. When you four were born, our personal scientists and doctors who were also our mages detected mystical energies within you. That's when we knew you are the four stars reincarnated." Explained Ying.
"But in order to become what you are, you had to be dead first. It pains us all that all your dreams and livelihood were snatched away like that. But Qin had to be stopped, and we were losing. And we found you because some members of each of our families are psychically linked to each other and each of us saw visions of your deaths. That's how we were able to find you after your resurrection. I hope you can forgive us." Said Bao.
The Stars looked uneasy and uncomfortable with the revelation. The Azure Dragon himself closed his eyes and thought hard about it. He was upset he was never gonna have a normal life no matter what, upset that his family knew he was going to die and be reborn. But he was not angry at his uncle or the other elders. If anyone was to blame, it was the Triads. Ben opened his eyes.
"Uncle, I don't blame you for my fall and rise. I don't blame either of you. It is the Triads who are to blame. You may have foreseen our doom, but it was Qin's thugs who made it happen, who took our lives and our loved ones." Ben said.
The rest of the stars are enlightened by this truth. And chose to accept it.
"He's right, none of this is your fault. It was those gangsters." Said Maggie.
"Yeah. I don't blame you either. It's those Triad bastards who got to pay." Said Jet.
Sam simply nodded.
The human elders smiled at this.
"I am glad you forgive us." Mei said but then looked serious. "But there is one more thing you should know."
"What is that, mom?" Asked Sam.
"Prophecy says that you Four must face Qin in a final battle. But that only one of you can finish him. Remember, Qin Lao is an extremely powerful adversary, and elemental magic and martial arts skill will not be enough to end him. In order to defeat the crime lord, one of you must focus your chi past your limits, unlock your inner strength and look deep inside yourself. In doing so, you will unlock a power very few achieved." Explained Mei.
"Well, whoever gets the killing blow, I just want the bastard dead." Said Jet.
"And we will help you." Said Leo. "Remember this is our fight too."
"Yeah, the Big Apple isn't safe with the Chinese underworld in town. And they need to go." Said Mikey.
"No way anyone's getting in my way of some Triad ass whupping." Said Raph.
"Ditto!" Said Donnie.
"I will join you in this fight as well." Declared Splinter. "As well as help you unlock your inner strength."
The Four Stars and Elders smiled at this. They were getting the help they need. In order to take out Qin and his criminal empire once and for all.
Little did they know, the Stars are not the only ones who are getting help. Back in the office of Qin Lao. The man himself was sitting quietly in his desk deep in thought. His pager suddenly buzzed. The crime boss pressed the button.
"This better be good!" Said Qin.
"In fact it is, boss. The Deathly Hazards are here." Said the gangster on the other side.
"Perfect! Send them in." Commanded Qin.
"They are already on their way, boss." Replied the thug.
"Good. Thanks for the news." Said the crime boss before he turned off the pager.
Just then, a large puff of smoke appeared at the door. After a few moments it cleared, revealing seven intimidating looking individuals. Qin smiled evilly.
"Excellent! Ladies and gentleman, let's get down to business." Qin began.
So all has been revealed! Origins have been told. And an alliance has been formed to combat a common enemy.
But it looks like the enemy himself has got himself some help. Just who are the so called Deathly Hazards?
Find out in the upcoming chapters!
This is MergingEmperor7, bowing out.