New info and stolen goods

After the battle with the Deathly Hazards, the heroes return to their respective homes.The turtles returned to their lair and told splinter everything about what happened.The old rat was shocked.

"This is most disturbing indeed." Said Splinter. "And you said they each have deadly powers?"

"Without a doubt, sensei." Leo confirmed. "I fought one who supposedly has abilities related to blood. I cut her deep multiple times, but her wounds bled very little and she slashed me across the plastron and tasted my blood which was then her wounds began to heal."

"And there's this one dude who can make himself and the rest of the team disappear in a puff of smoke, literally!" Mikey added. "Tricky bastard teleports like a magician and even surrounded me in smoke, managing to get cut a few times. But I eventually learned to focus and anticipate."

"And this one other dude was tough too. He popped out spikes out of his body and even shot some in my shoulder." Raph said as he pointed at his injured shoulder which was tended by Donnie who was carefully removing the thorns one at a time.

"Yeah, those guys meant serious business. And we barely got out alive even with the Stars with us." Donnie said.

"And I'm afraid we'll face them again, Don. We still don't even know who those assassins are, only that they come from China." Leo said.

"After I'm done treating Raph, I'll search online to find any information on the 'Deathly Hazards' ". Donnie said. "The Stars will do the same by consulting their relatives about them."

"Thank you Donatello." Said Splinter. "This is a grave matter indeed. I must meditate on this. We will discuss this further tomorrow." Splinter said as he retreated to his quarters.

Leo was standing with his arms crossed, deep in thought.

"I really hope we can find out more about our new enemies soon. And I feel we're gonna need something more than just skill and magic to survive another fight. Those elemental abilities the Stars had were a great, decisive advantage in the battle. If only we could have something like that. Or can we?"

The following night, at Lei's apartment, Ben was telling his uncle about the events of last night at the kitchen table. When the dragon mentioned the Deathly Hazards, Lei turned pale.

"Have you heard of these assassins, uncle?" Asked Ben.

"I have. They are considered urban legends all across Asia, yet they are as real as they are deadly." Lei said seriously. "Our order has encountered them several times, and very few survived. And you and your friends are lucky to have survived!"

"Indeed." Said Ben. "I fought one of them who's literally a corpse. I even struck him in the heart with an ice blade but he didn't even react. Even after I smashed a hole in his chest and kicked his head off, he merely got back up and reattached his head and regenerated his torso. He had a clawed chain which he used to grab my staff and caused it to wither and decompose until it broke into dust."

As Ben said that last part, his fists clenched.

"That weapon has been with me since childhood!" Said Ben. "It held a special place in my heart."

"I understand nephew, but now we must focus on more important matters." Reminded Lei. "You said the assassins were hired by Qin Lao himself?"

Ben nodded.

"Of course he would be mad enough to enlist them. And your opponent had the power of decay and was called the Rot, correct?" Lei asked.

"Yes, uncle." Answered Ben. "Do you have any idea who he is, or rather who he once was?"

Lei frowned in deadly seriousness.

"Legend has it that he used to be a kind and humble family man named Ho Yao. He had a happy life with his wife and children. Until one day, his family disappeared and Yao was seldom seen. And when he was, people noticed something was terrible off about him. He did not look scared for his family's safety, as he always had a blank, deathly, emotionless face. Yao did not even report them missing. That was when they decided to call the authorities. When they entered his home, they made a horrific, gruesome discovery. His wife and children were found brutally murdered, hung from chains in the living room in a severe state of decay. And Yao himself was casually sitting in his chair surrounded by them, staring with those dead eyes. He was later sentenced to death, and after his execution his body was taken to the morgue. But later that night, the body disappeared, but there were no signs of any theft. But there were disgusting tracks of footprints with traces of decomposition. Worse, several doctors and security guards were found dead in states of decay that same night. It is believed the gods cursed Ho Yao by spending eternity on earth as an undead corpse that will never stop decaying." Lei explained.

Ben was appalled and sickened by this.

"So this walking cadaver was once a murderer who was somehow resurrected as an undying monster?" Asked Ben.

"I'm afraid so, nephew." Replied Lei. "The rest of the Hazards have dark origins as well. The one that fought your friend Leonardo was said to be born with a strange genetic blood disorder who was unfortunately left to die by her family. But more on that later, hopefully. Right now you must go on patrol with your friends."

"Yes, sifu." Ben said as he got up and was about to go out the window when Lei called out.

"Leave your scroll here, though." Said Lei. "Wouldn't want it to get lost or stolen, correct?"

"You do have a point, uncle." Ben answered, then took out the scroll from his pocket and set it on the table.

"You may have mastered most of the techniques on it, but if Qin or anyone else were to have it, it would mean total domination and destruction." Said Lei.

"I understand. I'll see you later." Replied Ben before jumping out into the night.

After a few minutes, Lei decided to pour himself some tea. As he did, he became frightened that the Deathly Hazards had become involved in the Four Star's secret war against Qin. He and the rest of his organization know a lot about them, especially on how dangerous they are, though Lei himself, as well as Ying, Bao, and Mei never encountered them. Lei sipped his tea as he feared for his nephew and the others, and prayed the Hazards will not strike again tonight.

Then, smoke started to form in the room and the smoke alarm went off. Lei looked up alarmed and shocked as the cloud of smoke got bigger then suddenly dissipated, revealing Vapor and Bloodlust. Lei was horrified but quickly recovered from the shock and took one of his kitchen knives in a reverse grip.

"So this is where the dragon lives, huh? And I assume you're his master?" Asked Bloodlust in a mocking tone.

"The scroll, give it to us and we may let you live unscathed." Warned Vapor.

"I would rather die with honor than hand over power to evil!" Said Lei as he got into a combat stance.

Without a word, Bloodlust charged first, taking out her own blade and clashed with the old man. Lei held his own well, blocking and dodging every blade attack, even managing to punch and elbow the woman in the face. That's when Vapor suddenly appeared from behind and sliced Lei across his back with his karambit. Despite the sudden attack, Lei fought both assassins back to back. That was until Bloodlust cut the old man on his side, yet the latter was only enraged that he grabbed a nearby kettle and smashed it on the woman's head, stunning her then knocking her out with a tornado kick. Lei then turned to Vapor and locked blades with him for a moment until the former punched his stomach then grabbed his head and smashed it through the dinner table, knocking him unconscious.

"Children. You owe me a new kettle and table!" Said the unimpressed and angry sifu.

"And you owe me a scroll." Said an entirely new voice.

To Lei's horror, an elderly Asian man wearing a business suit walked into the room with a malicious smile on his face. It was someone who no one would want to meet. It was Qin Lao himself. The Triad boss looked over at the scroll and back at Lei.

"Such power shall never be yours, Qin. And I will fight you till my last breath to defend it!" Declared Lei.

"So be it." Replied Qin in a boring tone.

Lei tried to do a jumping roundhouse kick, but Qin simply ducked. Then the sifu tried to slash at him with his knife, but the crime lord grabbed the wrist and twisted it severely, making him scream in pain and drop the knife. Then Qin shattered one of Lei's knees making him drop down. Finally, the crime lord broke several ribs with a single punch and broke his nose with another, letting go of his twisted wrist at the same time, allowing him to fall to the ground. But the Triad boss wasn't finished just yet…

Qin stretched out his arm and a green aura surrounded Lei before the latter was being levitated above the ground! Qin proceeded to close his fist and Lei's body was slowly being crushed, breaking many of his bones! The Triad boss ended the torture by telekineticlly throwing him at nearby furniture.

"Pathetic." Said Qin as he went and took the water scroll.

By then, Vapor and Bloodlust regained consciousness just in time to watch their client thrash around the sifu. They looked in awe as they saw how he telekinetically threw and crushed the old sifu.

"That was amazing, boss! Didn't know you're a wizard." Commented Bloodlust.

"There is much you don't know about me, dear." Replied Qin. "But now I have what I want. Let us leave. There is nothing else to do here."

"Almost nothing, I want to teach both this old man as well as his dragon student a lesson on what happens when he fucks with the Deathly Hazards." Said Vapor. "And this is the first time I got my ass kicked by an old man. How embarrassing."

Vapor went to the kitchen and found some oil before pouring it all over the apartment.

He then removed his mask and took out a cigar to smoke. After a moment, the grey clad assassin threw the still lit cigar at the oil, starting a fire!

"When there is smoke, there is fire!" Vapor said as he looked at the spreading inferno.

Bloodlust looked at Qin.

"It's his calling card. We all got one." Explained the scarlet assassin. "Though mine is more messy."

"I would love to hear more back at headquarters." Qin said with a smirk before Vapor teleported them out of the burning area, leaving Lei for dead as he lays on the floor broken.

Meanwhile, not too far on the rooftops Ben and the rest of the Four Stars had just finished their patrol run. They were resting on one of the buildings.

"Man, you should have seen it, guys. This one crook was so terrified he literally pissed himself, hahaha! Didn't even have the balls to fire his gun." Gloated Jet.

"Hm, my perps thought I was a demon and tried to shoot me but I took them down with my taloned feet." Said Maggie.

"My baddies only had crowbars and pipes and knives and so my staff made quick work of them." Sam said. "What about you, Ben?"

"Nothing but a small group of thugs armed with handguns and knives and blunt weapons. I no longer have my weapon and I didn't use my powers, but it didn't hinder my chances one bit. So nothing much." The dragon said.

"Sucks that we didn't run into any Triads, though!" Complained Jet. "I was looking forward to busting their heads!"

"At least we didn't encounter the Deathly Hazards." Sam said. "Those assassins are dangerous. My mom could only tell me about some of them."

"Well my auntie said that some of them were criminals before they became what they are." Said Maggie.

"Well, I think we should discuss what we found out about them with the turtles and also see if they found any information. Especially on Spike. He hurt my turtle buddy Raph." Suggested Jet.

"Wise idea. Right now we should head home and-" Ben said before his eyes suddenly widened and saw flashes of a burning room and a dying Lei.

The dragon turned abruptly and looked pale and afraid. The others noticed this.

"Ben? What's wrong?" Asked Maggie.

"Something's happened at my home! Uncle.." Said Ben fearfully as he quickly took off, the others following.

When Ben and his friends made it to the former's home, they found it set ablaze much to their horror!

"UNCLE!!!" Yelled Ben before he ran and jumped through the window and into the burning apartment.

The whole place was burning and the area was filled with carbon monoxide. The dragon needed to find his beloved uncle fast. Ben sprayed water from his hands at nearby fires all the while calling out for Lei. Eventually he found the old man in the trashed and burning living room, broken, bloodied and unconscious. But miraculously he was still breathing. Ben doused any flames burning close to his injured uncle before rushing to him and picked him up bridal style and hurried out the window. The dragon jumped out the building and landed safely on the ground and laid his uncle on the ground away from the burning building just as sirens were being heard. Before Ben leaves his Lei to be found and treated by the approaching firemen and paramedics, Lei suddenly regains consciousness and grabs Ben's wrist and pulls the shocked dragon close to him.

"He took it!" Wheezed Lei, before coughing. "The scroll. Stolen!"

"What!? Who took it!?" Asked Ben frantically.

"Qin… Lao." Lei barely said before slipping back to unconsciousness.

"Uncle? Uncle, no! Please don't go!" Ben said frantically in tears.

Maggie swooped next to him as the sirens got closer.

"Ben, we need to go now! The authorities are almost here! The hospital will care for him." Maggie said.

Ben took one last quick look at his dying uncle before nodding at his lover before taking to the rooftops just as the paramedics and firefighters arrived.

Ben, in angry tears, was sprinting across rooftops for a minute before stopping. His worried friends caught up to him.

"Shit! What happened back there, Benny boy?" Asked Jet.

"Yeah, I've never seen you this upset." Sam said.

Ben didn't answer. Thunder suddenly clapped and began to rain. The dragon was panting and growling. He had already lost his father to the triads. And now he might just lose his uncle and teacher to those same monsters. The enraged dragon clenched his fists and he screamed and roared loudly into the stormy sky.

This was some intense and dark stuff.

The heroes agreed to research about the Deathly Hazards and we now know the backstory of one of them.

But now Lei, Ben's master, has been attacked by two of the assassins and none other than Qin Lao himself! The leader of the Triads.

Even worse, they have taken the water scroll.

Now Lei is badly injured. Will he survive? Stay tuned to find out.

Note: The part where Ben roars in anger and sadness is a reference to Raphael's scream of anguish when he and his brothers found out their lair is trashed and Splinter kidnapped in the original live action 1990 movie.

This is MergingEmperor7, bowing out.