Training Adjustments and Planning
The turtles, Splinter, and the stars gathered at the turtle's lair. In the middle of the main chamber, the mutants discussed how they should approach Qin's stronghold and take him out. It was during this conversation that Leo suggested something that surprised everyone present.
"Guys. I believe the best way to fight Qin and his triad men as well as the killer assassins is, to study your mystical arts." Leo said.
"What!?" Everyone said.
"Leo, this knowledge isn't for everyone." Explained Ben. "No ordinary man can just magically control the elements with the scrolls."
"Not to mention they were kept secret for a damn good reason!" Added Jet.
"In the wrong hands they would bring chaos and destruction like with the water scroll right now!" Finished Maggie.
"I understand your concerns, everyone. But we are no stranger to mystical powers AND we even used such power to defeat a great evil once." Leo explained.
"You know what? I agree with Leo here. My brothers and I were taught ninja magic and whatnot to fight this ancient evil so I'm pretty sure I can handle Chinese magic training." Said Raph.
"Yeah! Wait till we tell you about the Ninja Tribunal! The founders of ninjutsu itself!" Mikey added.
"But that's a story for another time. I agree with Leo though. Qin and the Deathly Hazards are forces we don't fully understand so we need to at least learn the basics of your elemental Kung Fu." Said Donnie.
The Stars looked amongst themselves and silently came to agreement.
"You're right. We'll need every advantage." Said Ben.
Splinter closed his eyes and thought for a moment.
"My sons have a point, mystic warriors. A true ninja must always use any and all weapons and skills that are available to them to ensure success and victory on their missions." Splinter said.
"Then let's get started." Said Ben. "We'll ask our elders if you could borrow the scrolls to learn the techniques necessary to aid us in our fight."
"Sounds like a plan." Replied Leo with a smile before both sides bowed to each other.
For the next few days, the stars and ninjas practiced their mystic elemental powers. When the Kung Fu warriors asked their elders if the turtles could learn some of the skills and knowledge within, the relatives were hesitant at first, but eventually relented and granted permission after remembering the severity of the threat especially with the Deathly Hazards involved. The turtles agreed that they would learn the basics only, and prayed it would be enough.
(Que training montage!)
Mikey trained with Maggie in the art of pyromancy, and the young turtle was more than excited to shoot fireballs, yet Maggie reminded him to take the lessons seriously. Small sacks were placed far in front of Michaelangelo hanging from the ceiling at various heights. At first it was difficult for him as only small sputters of flame came out, but Mikey eventually got some of the basics right after focusing on what his drive was and looking deep inside himself, and finally shot orbs of flame at the targets. The party dude was excited that he was able to shoot fire but everyone had to constantly stop and remind him to not accidentally burn the place down.
Raph trained in earth powers with jet simply because he wanted to smash Spike to bits. The lessons were easier for the hothead because he was the most stubborn as well as the toughest of the turtles, and that was needed to master earth. Jet set up stacks of rectangular rocks for Raph to launch at dummies wearing body armor as well as larger ones set to resemble gangster brutes. Raph glowered and with a small growl, punched and kicked the rocks at the dummies, knocking them down. Just then, a sort of trap door opened on the floor in front of Raph and a large dummy with a hammer appeared out of it. But Raph immediately raised a rock wall between him and the dummy then the former pushed it back with the raised wall making the dummy fall. After the lessons were over, Jet and Raph were told to clean up the area.
Donnie enjoyed his lessons as well. He learned how to manipulate wooden constructs, how to break them apart into smaller pieces and to mend damages on broken parts of wooden objects such as his staff. Donnie knew the latter skill would come in handy as he remembered the few times his staff was broken in the past. The brainy turtle also learned how to treat poisons and infections via Sam's tutelage and nature scroll.
Leo and Ben decided to just train in weapons and hand to hand fighting since without the water scroll, it was near impossible for Ben to teach Leo some water techniques.
(End training montage)
Leo and Ben meanwhile discuss their ways of fighting.
"So Ben, what's the highest technique you hope to reach?" Asked Leo.
"To have no technique." Replied Ben.
"Hmm. Interesting." Leo said. "And your thoughts when facing an opponent?"
"There is no opponent." Ben answered.
"And why's that?" Leo asked.
"Because the word 'I' doesn't exist." Ben replied.
"Interesting philosophy, Ben." Leo remarked. "Tell me more."
"A good fight should be like a small play. But played seriously. A good martial artist doesn't become tense but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming, ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands I contract, when he contracts I expand. And when there's an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself." Ben explains while holding up a fist.
"Cool. That's how I feel whenever I go out fighting alongside my brothers. Whenever I strike down my enemies, it feels like I didn't swing my katana, THEY swung by themselves. And I always empty my mind in battle, never thinking, yet always cautious." Said Leo. "Though my brothers need some more work. Raph doesn't think but he's always too hasty for his own good. Donnie thinks a lot though and it's not good for him. And Mikey? He gets distracted a lot. Tends to fool around even in battle. But whenever he DOES get serious, he's a force to be reckoned with. To be honest though, even I'm not perfect,"
"You and your brothers may have flaws, my friend. But they are great warriors in their own right." Ben said with a smile.
"We sure are, Ben. We sure are." Said Leo.
Later, the mutants discussed how to best approach Qin Lao's place. Biggest problem was, no one knows where it is.
"Do you guys know where the triads hang out? Like their main headquarters?" Asked Donnie.
"No. We've been focusing on collecting scrolls and finding each other." Explained Ben.
"Not to mention we've been training for the grand finale." Added Jet.
"But once we felt that we're ready, we planned to interrogate some gangsters to reveal the location." Said Maggie.
"Then that's what we'll do." Said Leo. "We're gonna hunt down some thugs and force them to tell us where their boss is hiding out!"
"Excellent idea, Leonardo." Splinter said. "But you still need a plan to infiltrate the place once you find it."
"And even if you did, you still need a lot of luck." Said a voice at the entrance.
Everyone turned to see Ying, Bao, and Mei enter the lair.
"Auntie!?" Exclaimed Maggie.
"What are you guys doing here?" Asked Jet.
"Giving you all our blessings to go about your destinies." Explained Bao.
"This may be the fight of your lives, warriors. The Deathly Hazards and Qin have powers beyond imagining." Mei warned.
"You need everything at your disposal to best them." Said Ying.
"Don't worry auntie. We will succeed. We MUST succeed." Said Maggie.
"How is my uncle? Any updates?" Asked a concerned Ben.
"He's still fighting, Chen." Answered Bao.
"Ben. Donnie and Sam have been working on this." Mikey spoke up, pulling out a piece of wrapped blue cloth and approached the dragon.
Ben took the cloth, unwrapped it, and was shocked to see it was a pair of red nunchaku with golden dragon details.
"I remember how badass you handled one of my weapons when we first met. And since you lost your last weapon I wanted to give you something to replace it." Explained Mikey with a smile.
Ben smiled back.
"It's a wonderful gift. Thank you Michelangelo." Thanked Ben.
"So are we all ready?" Leo asked.
Everyone patted their weapons and nodded.
"Then let's go. I'll have April and Casey set up a medical area just in case." Leo said.
"Thank you, Leonardo. And be safe, my sons. Look after each other and your friends." Said Splinter.
"We will, master!" Said the turtles in unison as they left the lair.
"We know you fear for your sons, Master Splinter. We fear for our children all the time like we are doing now." Ying said.
"We can only pray they are up to the task." Mei said.
"Yet those four turtle warriors of yours are something else." Said Bao.
"You have no idea. They took down almost every foe they encountered. There are no others like my sons." Said Splinter.
"No. There is another." Said Ying.
Meanwhile in the Triad headquarters, Qin Lao was looking through the contents of the water scroll he had recently obtained. Ever since he had it, the crime lord had never been more excited and eager to increase his strength. But that excitement suddenly turned to anger when the doors opened to reveal three thugs, two of them quivering in fear.
"Why do you disturb me?" Asked Qin angrily.
"These two fucked up a robbery during their initiation night. Got one of our guys killed." Said one Thug wearing sunglasses.
"Please! It wasn't our fault!" Said one scared thug.
"Yeah! The cops got there too early. We'd be dead or booked if we didn't bounce!" Said the other one.
"Enough!" Yelled Qin. "Did you know that the human body is sixty percent water?"
"No. What's this have to do with this?" Asked one of the confused thugs.
Qin suddenly stretched out his hand and the gangster suddenly jerked and all the water in his body was literally torn from him, and he exploded almost immediately afterwards, shocking the other two gangsters! The crime lord then had the water freeze into razor sharp icicles and impaled the other one with them all over his body. The remaining thug looked up in absolute horror.
"When you have control over water, you have control over both life as well as death. Now clean this mess up and get out of my sight!" Commanded Qin before going back to studying the scroll.
Wow! This sure is a lot to take in!
The turtles learning the elements, Ben getting a new weapon. And his talk with Leo is based on Bruce Lee's talk with his master in the beginning of Enter the Dragon.
The Chinese elders spoke of "another" when it came to the ninja turtles. What did they mean? Stick around to find out!
And that was a horrific display of newfound power Qin showed! I hope the heroes are ready for this.
This is MergingEmperor7, bowing out.