Chapter 13: Tigerclaw's Vendetta.
Here's Chapter 13,
I'm sorry in advance if this chapter is a bit all over the place? but I think it does the job lol xD I hope you like the little bit I added of Daiki's past.
Note: This is based on the 2k12 series.
WARNING: 'Dyslexic Writer lol'.
Chapter 13
When she got the call from Mikey telling her to come down to the lair as soon as possible, April was quick to leave her aunt's apartment, arriving at the lair in less than ten minutes.
April ran past the turnstiles and entered the living room of the lair to see the Hamatos all gathered. She was overjoyed to also see that the Japanese boy who was literally on death's doorstep a week ago, was now up and looking much more livelier then ever. She wanted to go over and greet him and ask him how he was, but she quickly got the sense that he was troubled by something, as well as all the Hamato siblings and Splinter.
April took in a deep breath to calm herself for what she expected was going to be a rough conversation, "Uh, hey guys, everything alright?" She asked reluctantly. But the Hamatos remained silent, none of them wanting to share their recent discovery.
"I'm afraid we have found some rather unexpected news." Splinter spoke up and filled in for her, he then turnt his amber gaze over towards Daiki.
The human boy nodded and opened up the battered laptop next to him and began to explain to April, "Back when I was in the Foot, I updated my phone with some Kraang tech. To make it more compatible when hacking into their bases." He filled in.
"Using the Kraang materials I had inside of my phone, I was able to access the Kraang USB a bit more from where you left off. A lot of the files were unfortunately damaged. But I think I found what the Kraang are after..." The Hamatos nodded, and Daiki clicked the enter button on the keyboard. In seconds, the screen filled with multiple pictures of April, taken over the course of the last few months.
"They're after me?" April gasped out. The Kraang, the same alien freaks that took her dad. They were after her, watching and spying on her for months... "But, why? I don't understand?" April began to rant in shock.
"That, I'm afraid I couldn't work out." Daiki declared unfortunately, closing the laptop. "If I had a stronger processor then I might of been able to hack the damaged files further to see if there were any other files indicating why? But working with what I have..."
Leo nodded in understanding, "It's fine Daiki. You've done what you could."
The mahogany eyed boy started to tap his fingers nervously on the back of the laptop. "Well...?"
The Hamatos and April all glanced back at the stalling boy. "What?" Leo decided to ask sceptically.
Daiki turned to face him, "If we could get to my lab, I could grab my laptop along with Metalhead and some other things-"
Miwa and Raph snorted at the name the boy mentioned, "Who's Metalhead?" Miwa questioned.
"My robot. Mikey named him." Daiki added as said freckled turtle proudly pointed his thumb at himself with a mischievous smirk. "Metalhead happens to have a Kraang processor inside his head. Which, I could use too-"
"No." Leonardo said sternly.
Daiki raised an eyebrow at him, "Why not?"
"What if the Shredder is looking for you? Don't you think the first place he'll look is your old Foot lab?" Leo stated flatly.
The brunet waved him off casually, "First off, it was my lab, not a Foot lab. Secondly, he had no idea where it was. And thirdly, I was planning on going back there anyway? Half the stuff I brought with me from Japan is in that lab, so-"
"Sorry Daiki, but it's just too risky. Plus your still recovering?" Leonardo interrupted, gesturing to the boy.
Daiki rolled his mahogany eyes and let out an annoyed sigh, "But, Leonardo-"
"Morikawa," Splinter suddenly spoke up, snapping the boy into a more respectful manner, though his voice only carried worry. "Leonardo is right. It would be unwise of you to risk yourself while injured. This discussion is over." Splinter finished firmly but with concern held prominently in his voice.
"Hai, Splinter-san." Daiki bowed dejectedly, not wanting to argue with the ninja Master.
TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT
The following day, April made it her mission to get better at Ninjitsu, if the Kraang were indeed after her, she needed to get her ninja skills up a few notches.
So during the Hamato's usual morning training, April made an unannounced appearance, but was welcomed to join in. Sparring with Splinter for some one on one training, while the four Hamato siblings were left to spar amongst themselves.
Daiki, much to his boredom, was left to watch from under the tree. While he was still healing from his wounds. Splinter felt it was best if he didn't participate just yet. Though he was welcome to join them once he was better physically. Leaving him to sulk like the fifteen year old he was.
Miwa and Leonardo were locked in a fierce synchronised battle of Katana vs Tantō. With each strike they tried to make, they were always met by the others blade. They were perfectly matched in skill.
The two remaining turtles however, were the opposite to the two oldest Hamatos.
"What you gonna do?" Raphael boasted as he egged Michelangelo on, holding his sai up ready to strike. "What you gonna do? What you gonna do?"
Mikey looked at his brother nervously, and knowing that Raph was the toughest if his siblings in the room, made him all the more anxious.
Raph decided to launch himself into the air, flying towards Mikey, who ducked just at the right second. Grabbing Raph's arms midair and landing a hard kick to his plastron, before throwing him onto the ground.
"Booyakasha!" Mikey begins to brag. "Ha, you got faced! Thought you had me, but I played you like a trombone," Mikey said rubbing his fingers on Raph's earslits, making the red-clad turtle growl. The youngest turtle stood up and tried to imitate a trombone, but was grabbed by Raph from behind.
"Playtime's over, tough guy!" Raph remarks as he holds Mikey up in the air.
"Put me down! Enough! Uncle!" Mikey began yelling as he struggles to get out of the red-clad turtles hold.
"I don't see you tapping out," Raph remarks smugly.
"I...can't...move...my...arms," Mikey begins to flail uselessly around as Raph squeezes him harder.
"Then tap your horrible, disgusting middle toe!" Mikey lifts his left foot up and taps his middle toe. Now satisfied, Raph drops him onto the ground and walks away. Leaving Mikey to get up sadly.
"Don't worry, Stubby," Mikey says glaring at Raph. "You're not as horrible as he says!"
"Michelangelo," Splinter approaches him from behind. "Why did you give up so easily?"
"There was nothing I could do," Mikey states as if he were missing something.
Splinter hummed in thought, stroking his beard. "Morikawa,"
"Hai, Splinter-san?" Daiki inquired confused.
Splinter, always up for teaching lessons to his young pupils, turns to the brunet boy, "Do you think there was anything Michelangelo could of done?"
"Well, there's always something you can do in my opinion?" Daiki answered quite formally.
Splinter nodded, thankfully that the boy did learn some decent things from the Shredder after all. "Very well put." He commended before turning to face April and Mikey. "Observe. Raphael, kannuki jime!"
Raph stared at Splinter for a moment, before moving awkwardly behind the rat, wrapping his arms around his midsection, and then lifting him into the air. Though his sounds of struggling were clear as he tried to pick up the much taller and heavier rat.
"The key is to unbalance your opponent," Splinter explained to April, Mikey and even Daiki, who had walked over and sat beside the redhead.
"But, how?" Mikey asked curiously.
"However you can. For example…" Sensei then leant his head back and licked the top of Raph's head. Raph's eyes went wide as he completely stopped to process what had just happened. The emerald eyed turtle then shouted in disgust as he dropped Splinter, who was quick to turn and knock Raphael off his feet. The heavy set turtle landed hard in front of the three younger teens while the two oldest were laughing hysterically at the back of the dojo.
"Whoaaaa" Mikey breathed out in awe. April and Daiki were also stunned at the knocked out turtle, smirking as they found some humor in it.
"You see?" Sensei said to the three, "There is always a way." He then made a sound of disgust, "Ugh… and you need a bath," he added to Raph. Who simply groaned in pain.
TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT
The Hamatos were in the living room, trying to relax after their morning practice and breakfast. Their breakfast almost being ruined, as Leonardo decided to get out the toaster...
Raphael was busy feeding Spike some lettuce for the little tortoises breakfast, Michelangelo was seeing how many slices of pizza he could fit into his mouth at the same time, Leonardo was completely absorbed in an episode of Space Heros while Miwa sat to his right reading a book about murder mysteries, dressed in a comfy grey sweater and joggers.
Both April and Daiki were also sat in the pit, taking up one of the end corners of the couch, with the rundown laptop and what looked like beakers of dirty water next to them.
April had on her usual yellow top with her shorts and uggs on, while Daiki wore a oversized dark grey hoodie and black tracks and sneakers. The brunet's new clothes were thanks to the joint effort of Miwa and April going to the local malls while he was recovering.
The two younger humans of the group decided to work together on some Kraang projects. Sharing the information they had gathered over the months with the other. The two continued to discuss between themselves about something the others couldn't hear too well, as Leo's show played on, soon drowning out the little conversation to the two.
"The landing party is under attack by the digesters! We have to save them!" Crankshaw yells in fear, receiving a slap to the face soon after.
"If we keep bailing them out, they'll never learn to take care of themselves." Captain Ryan states heroically.
"But this is their first mission, and they don't even have weapons!" Crankshaw reminds the Captain in a panicked manner.
"Then they'd better learn fast." Ryan said, followed by the sounds of a women screaming in the distance, clearly being eaten. "Say, Doctor Mindstrong, weren't you in love with that one?"
Dr. Mindstrong looks away sadly, "I was, Captain."
"Well, it looks like you both learned a lesson today." Ryan states once more.
"We seriously need more channels..." Miwa noted with a sour expression as she flicked through the pages of her book.
"You can say that again." Raph agreed.
"Hey guys," the four Hamatos looked up from their activities and saw Daiki poking his head over the laptop. "I think me and April might have found something important?"
The four Hamatos were completely silent, staring at the two. After yesterday's news, could it get much worse? Leo was the one to speak up for them, "What is it you found?"
"Well," Daiki started, getting into his 'sciencey tone' as Mikey would say, "We were analyzing some sewage, and-"
Raphael snorted out loud cutting him off, "Who says you can't show a girl a good time?"
April rolled her eyes as Daiki glared at Raph. "Very funny, but you guys should probably see this." They all got up and walked over to the two at his tone.
"April and I were going through some of the files on the Kraang storage device," He placed a beaker filled with light green water infront of the Hamatos. "And we found out, that they're using a special process to change Earth's water, into Kraang water."
"And they've already started the process," April explained with a hint of fear, "We found a low concentration of Kraang chemicals in the sewage."
Raph looks at the beaker suspiciously, "And I take it that's a bad thing."
The mahogany eyed boy takes a pizza slice from Mikey's hand without warning. "Watch what happens when I dip a slice of Mikey's shrimp and sardine pizza into pure Kraang water," he says as he slowly dips the slice into the water. The pizza was fine for a second, until it started to disintegrate into a cloud of black smoke.
"Ahh! How do you sleep at night!?" Mikey yells through anger, his only reply back, were five eye rolls.
"Presumably, there's only a tiny bit in the water supply," Daiki said, tapping his chin in thought. "But, the concentration is increasing. Which means-"
"Every slice of pizza in New York will be destroyed?!" Mikey exclaimed in horror.
"Along with anyone who uses water," April added as if it were obvious, which it was.
Mikey shook his head in denial. "I don't wanna live in a world without pizza!"
Without warning, Mikey grabbed for the nearest pizza box, which just so happened to be what the jar of Kraang water was stood on, and snatched it up. The jar was knocked over, and flew towards April.
"Look out!" Daiki shouted, but it was too late. The jar fell and shattered, and the water fell onto April's arm.
The five teens screamed as April closed her eyes, preparing for the immense pain of her arm dissolving. But, after a moment, they all realized that nothing happened. April opened her eyes and stared down at her arm in shock. "Huh? What…"
"Nothing happened to you?" Daiki said in an equal amount of shock.
"Maybe it's 'cause she's not made outta pizza," Mikey proposed.
Just then, the laptop started to make a beeping noise, catching everyone's attention. "The scanner I set up has located the Kraang facility transforming the water supply, which is right here," Daiki points to the beeping blip in the middle of the water. "But that's on the bottom of the East River. How on earth do we get there?"
"Looks like a turtle only trip?" Leo states as he turns to the humans. "You guys cool with that?"
Miwa began to open her mouth, only to get cut off by an impatient Raph.
"They'll be fine, it's 'Bout time we got out of here!" Raph said raring to go. Followed by a thumbs up by Mikey as his mouth was once again full of pizza.
Leo nodded to his brothers and glanced toward his sister. "Miwa, you cool to watch Daiki while we're gone?"
"Hey! I don't need babysitting!" The fifteen year old whined.
Miwa snorted at him, "Sure thing, he ain't that hard to watch." She implied which made Daiki scowl harder at her, but she found it more amusing than intimidating.
"April, what are you up too now?" Miwa inquired.
April sighed to herself, "Unfortunately, I have an essay due. And I wouldn't mind a little human food?"
Mikey stopped trying to chew his four slices and turnt to her in confusion, "Pizza's human food?"
"Not the way you eat it." The blue eyed girl chuckled awkwardly.
"You can say that again..." Daiki says as he watches Mikey continue to swallow the four pizza slices whole and choke.
April smiled sympathetically, knowing fully well that Mikey can be quite disturbing to watch eat. "Daiki, why don't you come with me? I was thinking about going to Murakami's shop?"
Daiki was shocked at first by the invite, but he thought about, "I mean, I haven't seen Murakami-San in a while? So uh, sure. Better then eating more oats, right?" He shudders at the thought of more of Splinter's lukewarm oats...
"Wait, your still recovering though?" Leo reminded lightly, silently hating the idea of the boy going outside unattended. Over the last three days, Leo made it his silent duty to keep the boy out of trouble, and so far he'd been successful. Though Raphael would comment in private how much of a mother hen Leo was being towards the younger boy, Leo thought he was doing a great job.
"Don't worry, I'll go with them. We'll stick to the main streets, and avoid alleyways." Miwa reassured. "And if there's a problem, we'll ring the phone which Mikey still has, right?" She reminded her orange-clad brother.
"Sure do!" The freckled turtle announced, holding the phone out proudly. "Wait, is this thing waterproof?"
"Yes, it is." Daiki revealed proudly.
"Dude!! That's so cool! It's like a waterphone!" Mikey chirped happily holding the phone closer to him. "Oh! A turtle phone!!" He exclaims in realization. His baby blue eyes then lit up with the inspiration of a five year old as the perfect name came into his mind. "Bros! It's a T-phon-" he was stopped halfway by Raph's hand slapping over his mouth.
"Do not finish that sentence." The emerald eyed turtle told him dangerously as he began to drag the orange masked turtle away, followed closely by their leader in blue.
"Fine. We'll be back as soon as possible." Leo sighed as he watched his younger brother's antics, and ultimately gave in to letting Daiki out. "Miwa's in charge. Go for food, then head straight back here. Got it?"
"Will do." Miwa confirmed with a wave of her hand. April and Daiki also gave nods of agreement. And with that, the blue-clad turtle jumped the turnstiles, running to catch up with his two bickering brothers.
Daiki sighed quite loudly once he was sure the oldest turtle was gone. "He's quite the mother hen, huh?" Daiki joked tiredly with April and Miwa once Leo was out of earshot.
"You have no idea." Miwa said begrudgingly, as April chuckled with them.
TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT
Daiki wasn't a social person in the slightest, if he had to choose between a day out with multiple people or being alone inside a lab all day? The introvert in him would make that a very easy decision.
But spending almost three whole days down in the sewers, not including his time spent unconscious, were starting to take their toll on him. The constant need to get out and do something was driving him mad, and there was no form of distraction in the lair for him. He wanted to fix things around the their lair, but with the limited supplies and the Hamatos stopping him from leaving while injured, he was left to just sit on the couch and eat oats.
Leonardo had proven to be the hardest hurdle for Daiki to budge. As he constantly kept an eye on him, and Splinter wasn't much better himself with checking up on him every thirty minutes. So getting some fresh air and good food was the perfect excuse to finally get out of the sewers. Even if it was for an hour or so.
"I'm just saying!" April stated defensively, jogging Daiki back out of his train of thought and back to the two girls talking. Or bickering in this case. "You've been around those boys for too long, we need to get you back in touch with your feminine side." April appealed to the older girl with a pleading face.
Miwa chuckled at the redhead's antics, "If my feminine side includes beating the daylights out of people and explosives, then sure thing."
The blue eyed girl shock her head, accepting defeat. "Nevermind." She muttered to herself.
"So, Mr Popular. Who's been texting you no stop?" Miwa inquired from over Daiki's shoulder.
"Just Mikey sending updates on their mission." Daiki was quick to inform.
The black hair girl raised a brow. "Every two seconds?" Miwa asked intrigued.
*Beep*
"He sent a picture." Daiki added as he read the caption, 'Dude! We found the Loch Ness monster!!', Above the image. He then showed the two girls the photograph Michelangelo just sent him. It was a long necked looking creature with four fins, like that of a whale and a long tail to balance out it's neck. It really was the spitting image of the Loch Ness Monster.
April stared at the photo for a few seconds in shock, "Um, what the heck is that?"
Daiki hummed in thought as he inspected the photo, "Based on it's physiology, I'd say the Kraang brought it here from Dimension X."
April shuddered at the thought, "Well that's terrifying. Why didn't you just say it was the Loch Ness monster?"
"I like to be accurate." He answered her back simply with a shrug.
"Well, whatever it is. It's going to keep them occupied for a while." Miwa chuckles darkly to herself. Making Daiki and April slightly afraid of the black haired girl.
As the trio continued on too the shop, April began to look at her arm more frequently as they passed by the Theater. Making both the teen ninjas alarmingly more nervous.
"Hey, um. You okay?" Daiki questioned as he tried to inspect her arm from where he walked beside her.
The redhead smiled, "Yeah I'm ok, Daiki." She supplies for the boy, but upon seeing his sceptical face and frown she adds, "Really!" Reassuring him once more.
Daiki sighed at the stubborn girl, looking to Miwa for help. But the Asian girl just shrugged it off and walked up to the token machine outside the 24/7 noodle shop. "Ok then." He smiled back for his own reassurance. Completely unbeknown to him or the two girls that they had a feline eye, watching them from above on the rooftops...
TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT
Murakami-San was busy stirring away at a pot of Oden when he heard the door bell ring, telling him of incoming customers.
"Hi, Murakami-San!" April called cheerfully as Miwa also voiced a casual "Hey, Murakami-San." When coming in through the door.
Murakami smiled as the two came over to him, "April-Chan, Miwa-Chan! How are you?"
Daiki followed in closely behind them and also greeted the man. "Kon'nichiwa, Murakami-San. Genkidesu ka? 'How are you?'" Daiki bowed as he walked towards Murakami.
"Ah Daiki-Kun, I was wondering when I would see you again!" Murakami-San cheered as he patted the boy's shoulders in a friendly manner. "How have you been enjoying America so far, my friend?" He inquired kindly.
Daiki thought for a moment before answering, "Omoshiroi. 'Interesting.'" In a very conflicted tone.
Murakami-San laughed with the young boy. "Indeed it is. And you have made some good friends, I see?" He smirk as he went back behind the counter.
Daiki blushed and rubbed the back of his head as he followed the girls to the stolls at the counter. April and Miwa both placed down their tokens which happened to be the same.
The old man picked them up and rubbed a thumb over them. "Ah, pizza Gyoza!"
Miwa nodded, "Hai toioche. 'Yes please.'"
"Hai. Chou Oishi. 'Super delicious.'" April then replied to the old man.
Daiki look at her in surprise "Your japanese isn't half bad, April."
April went red slightly at the complainant. "Thanks, I've been working on it."
The brunet hummed. "I've never heard of a pizza Gyoza? Is it an American thing?"
April beamed at him. "Murakami invented it. You should give one a try." She smiled at him with bright blue eyes.
Daiki blushed and looked away awkwardly." Uh, sure thing." He finished by giving his token to the chef. Unaware of Miwa smirking at his red face.
The man once again rubbed it and let out a breath of acknowledgement. "Ah, back for more of my Oden?"
"Hai, Sore wa hontōniyokattadesu! 'It was really good!'" Daiki confirmed passionately. That Oden was the best thing he had tasted in years!
"Your lucky I have a pot brewing right as we speak." Murakami-San chuckled as he went to work on the teens orders.
"What's Oden?" April inquired.
"It's a type of nabemono. I used to have it alot in the winter seasons back in Japan." Daiki ramanised at the faded and distant memory in his mind.
At seeing the confused look on April's face, Miwa supplied for her, "Nabemono means one pot dish. Oden is sort of like a Japanese stew? With fish cakes in a fish and seaweed broth."
"Oh! Sounds good!" April exclaimed.
"It really is! Murakami-San adds his own twist to it and it's great! You should try some?" Daiki offers her excitedly. He couldn't remember the last time he was excited about food, or even eating with people.
April laughed at his enthusiasm. "Deal!"
TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT
As the three teens waited patiently for their food, a few sparse conversations popped up here and there. April and Miwa were already an unlikely group to be out by themselves, but now there was also a boy they knew little to nothing about. The only real connection between the three of them, was their connections to the turtles.
"So April, where did you learn Japanese from?" Daiki decided to try and spark a new conversation as their old one died down.
April perked up at this slightly. "I mainly picked up a few words here and there from the Hamatos." She grinned. "Your English is pretty good too, though I can't help but catch you slipping on some words?" She chuckled to herself as Daiki went a shade pinker.
"Huh? When?" He asked almost insulted. He was almost certain he was speaking fluent English towards them all.
"This morning when you were in the kitchen after practice yelling at Leo for almost setting the kitchen on fire?" April told him as she tried to stop herself from laughing. "You kept slipping in and out of Japanese as you yelled."
Miwa also started to laugh, "I believe your exact words were 'Tōsutā ga moete iru no wa nazedesu ka!' 'Why is the toaster burning!' Followed by a whole bunch of curses as you tried to stop him from putting the toaster in the sink."
Daiki tilted his head with a flustered expression his face. "Did I really?" He asked as he rubbed his neck awkwardly. "In my defence, the darn thing was still plugged in when he tried to 'put it out'." He filled in at the end.
April nodded, "Sometimes you will just start an entire conversation in Japanese without any warning." She told him, "But it's ok, as the Hamatos just reply back to you in English, which you don't seem to notice."
"I honestly don't." Daiki admitted "Well, I suppose you guys are lucky I didn't go into French or Russian then?" He suggested as a joke but saw April's stunned face and smirked.
"Um. How many languages do you know?" She asked afraid of the answer.
"Sixteen, including sign language too." He said smugly, but stopped and thought for a moment. "No. Seventeen. I know morse code aswell."
"How?!" She all but shouted at him in shock.
"When you have Bradford as a 'parental figure', you live a very mundane life. Unless of course, you count training non stop for seven days a week, fun?" He shrugged, "I had to entertain myself somehow, so I started to study alot."
Miwa had a dawn of realization and gave him a half smile. "Living with you is going to be an experience, huh?"
Daiki smirked "It will be if Leonardo sets that toaster on fire again." He added dangerously, to which all three of them burst into laughter.
As their conversation drew to a close, Murakami walked over to the counter the teens were sat at and presented the three dishes. Two perfectly made plates of pizza Gyoza with a small bowl of soy sauce on the side, and a bowl full of steaming hot Oden, freshly prepared by the kind old man today. "O tanoshimi kudasai. Please enjoy."
"Itadakimasu." Miwa and Daiki thanked at the same time with their hands in a pray motion towards their food.
"Itatakimas." April also joined in, before scooping up a dumpling with her chopsticks. "Now open!" She demanded as she held out her chopsticks in front of the boy.
Daiki was caught off guard as the sudden Gyoza was all but shoved in his face, "All right, all right." He agreed and opened his mouth tentatively. He popped it in and chewed for a few seconds with an unreadable face, until his mahogany eyes went wide and his expression changed from intrigued to one of pure love. "Mmm!!"
Miwa smirked at his reaction and grabbed one of her own Gyoza and popped it into her mouth. "Best dumpling ever."
He nods in content, if it were scientifically possible, Daiki would of said he's eyes were giant love hearts from pure happiness right now.
"I know, right?" April laughs at the brunet.
"Here, try the Oden." Daiki slides over his bowl and April grabs a spare spoon. Dipping it in and getting some broth with a fish cake on before slurping it up. "Whoa! That's so nice!" She said in astonishment.
"Right!" The mahogany eyed boy lite up, as he took his own spoon and began to dig in.
The three teens enjoyed their meal, talking about a variation of new topics and having a overall good time.
But Miwa soon found herself becoming bored. As the two younger teens started chattering away like an old married couple. On about Mathematics, then science, then studies of language and so forth. So the black haired girl soon lost all focus on them and their conversation for about the next half an hour, droning out the two entirely.
That was until April asked something that caught her off guard, the gossip girl in the redhead couldn't be held back for long...
Now that the two were more comfortable with each other, April asked her ever favourite question. "So Daiki, have you got a girlfriend?"
Daiki coughed on the fish cake he was eating, going red in the face. "Umm, I used too? But we broke up a few months ago." He stuttered out between coughs.
He was suddenly grabbed by the redhead and turnt around to face her. "Tell me everything!" She gasps and sits with her hands clasped in front of her like a child.
Miwa rolled her eyes at the two while stuffing some more gyoza into her mouth with a sour attitude.
Daiki blinked at April a few times before scratching his neck nervously. "Well, um. Her name was Shinigami Naruse. But I used to just call her Shini."
April nods sharply, with wide blue eyes. "We started offical dating when we were twelve. But I've known her since I was eight." Daiki added, not really sure what to say about his ex. "She was also a few months older than me, so for a while I called her Senpai, which annoyed the heck out of her." Daiki laughed at the memory only he could see of his ex. An annoyed Japanese girl crossing her arms at him and pouting. "Bradford used to say that Shini was a bad example for me and that I could do better. But I always felt like she really got me. And that she brought out a more, I don't know, 'fun' side to me?"
April became gloomy as Daiki reminisced about this girl. "So, why did you break up? You sounded like you were close?"
Daiki sighed dejectedly. "When Saki told me I was being sent over to America with Bradford, I didn't think we could work as a long-distance relationship. So we broke up just before I left." He looked away sadly and April frowned. She also happened to see a hint of something else pass by his eyes, guilt?
Nevertheless, a break up was hard on anyone. And April was sympathetic towards the younger boy. "Daiki, I'm so sorry that-"
Miwa suddenly barged inbetween the two of them, knocking them aside. "Well, that's enough dramatics for one day! We should be heading back now, Daiki." Miwa cut to the chase. She'd had enough of the lovey dovey junk and just wanted to go home and barth at this point.
"Yeah we should." Daiki stated with a nod. "April, how far do you live? We could walk you home?"
"Just a few blocks away?" April confirmed for him.
"That should be fine, right Miwa?" Daiki inquired.
The oldest girl groaned, "Fine. But let's get a move on!"
"Bye Murakami-San!" "Thanks Murakami-San." "Arigatō Murakami-San!", The blind man waved the three teens off as they left his shop and into the quiet streets of daytime New York.
TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT
Daiki picked up his phone at the cheery ringtone and familiar icon, "Moshi moshi?" He answered, walking closely beside Miwa and April as they continued on.
"Yo D! It's Mikey." The freckled turtle announced to him.
"I know it's you." Daiki said mentally face-palming.
"Oh, good. Well just to let you dudes know we're almost done here." He declared happily, "Also Leo wants to know what you guys are up too?" He added at the end.
"We're just taking April home, then we'll be heading back ourselves." The brunet informed him matter of factly.
"Roger that, D!" Mikey confirmed as he saluted him, though he couldn't physically see it, Daiki imagined it perfectly. "Over and out!" And with that the line went dead.
"Mikey?" Miwa inquired sarcastically.
"Mikey." The boy answered back simply.
The three made their way down the street a little more, coming up to a familiar part of town. For Daiki at least, as Miwa had only been here the once.
As soon as Daiki started to search around more with his observant eyes, the quicker he realized where he was. "Hey, my lab is just down this street!"
April looked around at the slightly rundown street, littered with abandoned warehouses and shops. "It is?" She asked sceptically.
"Hai!" Daiki announced happily, slowly starting to take the lead of the group. "Maybe we could get my laptop while we're here-"
"No." Miwa grabbed hold of his hood and pulled him back slightly.
Daiki groaned as she kept a firm hand on his hoodie. "But Miwa-"
"I said no." She stated firmly. "Leo made it clear that we were to stay away from your lab. And I'm not about to be lectured by the Captain Ryan wannabe just because you want your laptop!"
Daiki looked to the side awkwardly for a moment, "And my robot?" He tried his luck. But his answer back was a hard glare.
"Fine!" He all but huffed out as he walked slightly faster down the street followed by April laughing.
Miwa rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly to herself at the boy's attitude. If his attitude was a little more 'explosive', he could of rivaled Raphael in the 'sulking' department she thought to herself humorously. As she quickly caught up with the two others.
"So, you live after all, Cub!"
The bellowing voice from above froze them all in their tracks. Miwa recognised the harsh growl immediately, and began to draw her tantō blade from under her sweater. Standing guard of April as she nervously looked around for the person who spoke, while Daiki began to visibly pale at the voice. They followed the voice upwards, towards the rooftops and spotted their stalker.
Tigerclaw stood on the edge of the building, peering down at them as if they were nothing more than lowly ants. A black eye patch, now covering his left eyeless socket. But it did nothing to hide the long scar reaching from his eyebrow down to nose.
"Tigerclaw! Loving the new eye patch buddy!" Daiki joked out loud, accompanied with an extremely forced smile.
April froze at the familiar name. "Um. Tigerclaw? That's the guy who's eye you took out?" She asked carefully, hoping her observations were wrong.
Daiki turnt to her slowly, still wearing his 'smile' "Uh huh." He confirmed with a hint of fear in his eyes.
Miwa shuffled closer to the two younger teens, "And the one that practically killed him!" She reminded April firmly.
"Thanks for the reminder." Daiki remarked bitterly as he too got into a readying stance.
The six foot tiger then landed in front of them, baring his claws and pointed teeth as he stalked up to the three human teens. "You thought you could hide from me?" He questioned in a demanding manner.
Miwa was quick to put herself between the tiger and the two younger teens, pulling her tantō fully out. "Your gonna have to go through me if you want him, Cat!"
The tiger snarled at her overconfidence, "My Master has requested for all three of you, Girl."
"What?" The three teens called out dumbfounded.
He faced Miwa with his one piercing eye locked onto her, "He wants you, Gi. His long lost daughter, to return to him." He flickered his eye to the redhead next, "April O'Neil, for her connection to the aliens."
"And you, Cub." The tiger then smiled to Daiki in a sadistic way, "For your traitorous blood!" His claws extended outwards.
Knowing that out-running the tiger would be near to impossible, Miwa made a split-second decision. "You two go! I'll hold him off!" She yelled as she grabbed April's shoulders and pushed the redhead aside and out of the way, catching the tigers claws on her blade as he slammed into her.
But the tiger backed off, growling and pawing at his face as a small ball had hit him on the head, erupting into a thick purple smoke cloud that burned his senses.
"We're not leaving you here!" Daiki yelled as he grabbed the coughing Miwa's wrist and dragged her along the street with April leading their way.
April looked around desperately for somewhere they could hide out, but with little success. "Daiki! Where's your lab? We can hide in there!"
"The abandoned warehouse," He yelled back looking around frantically until his eyes came upon the familiar garage type doors. "There!" He pointed to the rundown building for the redhead, following her to the door.
The three teens bundled inside and slammed the doors shut. Allowing Daiki to lock it with a large bar of metal. April slid down the door with a relieved sigh as the two ninjas stood close by catching their breath.
The sound of a struggling cough beside him, made Daiki wince slightly in guilt. "S-sorry about the smoke bomb. I panicked." He rubbed his arm awkwardly as he watched Miwa catch her breath.
The older girl then punched his shoulder, sighing sympathetically. "Its fine. We're lucky you had those bombs on you."
Daiki grinned back at her, "Well, I like to be prepared for anything- What the heck happened in here?!"
The makeshift lab was completely trashed. Kraang parts that were previously worked on, were smashed and thrown around all over the place. Papers, journals and blueprints of unmade projects were torn and ripped up. And there were also burn and scorch marks on all the walls and desks. Along with piles of ash and long claw marks on almost every surface.
Daiki stared in pure horror at the sight of his second home. "My lab! Whoever did this-"
"Daiki, it's not important right now!" Miwa reminded him with a angry edge, now stood up and looking for another escape route from the lab.
Daiki sighed, examining all his smashed equipment and projects scattered and burnt around the lab, "Right, right." He replied seriously, mourning his dear lab would come at a later date.
"Do you think he knows where we are?" April voiced her concerns outloud as she crossed her arms around herself for a sense of protection.
"Hopefully not." Daiki answered back with a hint of fear himself. "Bradford was the only other Foot besides myself that knew where my lab was. Not even Saki knew."
"So it was Bradford that trashed all of your stuff?" Miwa asked slowly, not truly believe that herself.
Daiki was quiet for a moment as the realization hit him. "No..."
An excited sequence of 'bleeps' sounded from the corner, alerting the teens of the other presence in the lab. The bleep made Miwa go straight into a defensive stance while April also brought out her tessen and joined by the oldest Hamatos side awkwardly. Though the two watched on confused as Daiki perked up when he heard the sound and ran over towards it.
"Metalhead!" The brunet walked over to the corner of the room to a waist height robot hidden underneath a white sheet. He took the sheet off that hid his little friend from any intruders and marveled at him. "Did you hide yourself, buddy?"
The tiny turtle-bot blinked it's blue eye lights at the sudden light change, but upon seeing his master, he let out another bleep that sounded like a proud chirp as he pointed his thumb at himself.
"Clever." Daiki praised him, patting the robot on the head. The brunet couldn't help but notice the bright red foot insignia on Metalhead's chest plate and frowned, "I'll get this off you as soon as possible, buddy." Daiki promised his robot, though Metalhead was confused as to what his master was on about and simply tilted his head like a dog.
"This is your robot?" April asked in awe at the little machine.
"Sure is! I did some work on him recently, so he should hopefully be fully operational soon." Daiki said with a proud gleam in his eyes.
"Yeah, last time we saw him he wasn't exactly 'talkative?" Miwa added smugly, though she couldn't help but feel impressed by the little bot.
The turtle robot bleeped and brought his tiny hand out to politely shake April's, to which she chuckled and compiled. "How were you going to get this little guy to the lair, anyway?" The redhead asked.
"Like this." Daiki clicked a small button on the robots neck, and Metalhead turnt off and began to fold into a small silver and black box. "Travelling companion." Daiki joked as he walked over to a wooden trunk tucked away in the other corner.
He pulled out a key hidden in his hoodie pocket that neither of the two girls know he had, and unlocked the box. Carefully placing Metalhead inside the trunk before locking it back up again. "Alright, I just need this trunk, everything else is fine to leave."
"You sure?" Miwa asked for confirmation.
Daiki nodded, "Positive. But we need to think of a plan first, before-"
A loud thud sounded from behind the three and echoed around the small room. Large and forceful pounding then started to rumble the door, slowly breaking the hinges and metal beam.
"Are you kidding me?!" Daiki exclaimed.
The garage doors couldn't hold back the fury of the mutant outside any longer and gave way, busting the door frame and falling to the side.
The six foot tiger entered the warehouse and smirked at his trapped prey. "There you are, Cub."
"I knew you would come back for your toys eventually." Tigerclaw gloated, and Daiki narrowed his eyes in realization. The tiger then launched himself at the teens, sending them scattering in every direction to dodge his razor claws.
Miwa ducked as the tiger swung his paw above her and quickly grabbed at her tantō from under her sweater. Rolling to the side to avoid the mutant's ice gun as he pulled it out of his holster and fired rapidly. She then leapt at him and knocked away said gun with a kick before the rapid fire hit April.
Miwa got back up to defend against the next round of attacks, though luckily, it never came as Daiki threw a few shuriken at the tiger to distract him from behind the table while April threw her tessen at him from in front. The redhead was making use of all the training Splinter had taught her over the last few months. But even with that, Daiki's distraction, and Miwa going head on. The three of them were severely outnumbered. The brunet of the group threw a blinding powder bomb at the tiger while grabbing Miwa by the arm and dragging her next to him and April behind the table. The sounds of furious growls could be heard from behind them as the tiger blindly lashed around.
Miwa's eyes flickered to Daiki, who was sat with the wooden trunk near him, and waiting with a few more rounds of smoke bombs and shurikens in his hands. His breathing was heavier than normal, and Miwa realized it most of been because he exacerbated his wounds while running and dodging the tiger.
"We need to leave, now!" Miwa declared in a no nonsense tone. She started to try and think of a plan to get the two others out while she distracted Tigerclaw.
But Daiki shock his head roughly, "I need to get my stuff." He told her back with as much authority.
"What?!" Miwa asked sharply.
"Not without the trunk!" Daiki snapped back irritated.
Miwa grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard, "It's just a bunch of junk! It's not worth it-"
"I'm not leaving here without that trunk!!" Daiki yelled at her with a tone full of determination. He glared hard at her and it made April and Miwa both come to a halt momentarily at his outburst. Causing all three of them to be caught off guard when the cheerful ring tone decided to break their silence as Daiki's phone went off.
They snapped back into action as the tiger started to shoot at them once again with his ice gun. Creating large patches of frozen ice on the floor and walls as he shot around manically, his senses still recovering from the blinding powders. The teens split up as the tiger dove inbetween them blindly.
Daiki answered the phone quickly as he continued to move, "Not the best time, Mikey!!" He yelled to the obvious caller.
"Oh really, what's up?" The orange-clad turtle asked in a calm manner, making Daiki increasingly irritated as he dodged large icicles raining down next to him.
Daiki put on the must sarcastic tone he could muster before answering, "Oh you know, just trying not to get my head blown off!"
"Oh ok, I'll let Leo know." Mikey said back casually as the tone was completely missed on him.
"Why did I bother..." the brunet asked himself rhetorically.
"Yo Leo! D said he's busy trying not to die right now, Hey!-" The sounds of a scrap happening on the other side of the line were prominent as Mikey yelled for Leo to return his phone, along with the sounds of someone being hit.
"Daiki! Where are you three?!" Leo's urgent voice shouted down the line as he had clearly won the phone wrestle.
Daiki knew the leader in blue would chew him out for this later. "Um. My lab?"
"What!!" Leo's tone was clearly one of annoyed. "I told you-"
"I know! But Tigerclaw cornered us and we didn't exactly have a choice in the matter! Now what do you want!!" Daiki all but screamed down the line.
Leo groaned in anger on the other side, "We need a way to take out the facility."
"Why are you phoning me about that?" Daiki questioned.
"Coz your the smart one?" Mikey spoke up from the background.
Daiki slapped himself in the face, "Ughh fine! Tell me what's there that you think you'll be able to access- Agh!"
Tigerclaw managed to shoot the warehouse's lighting control panel just above Daiki's head in his blind rage, knocking the cover off and making a few wires come lose and fly around with the live electricity still running through them.
"Did losing your eye mess up your aim that badly?" Daiki quipped sarcastically from where he stood under the panel. With the phone still to his ear as he listened to Leo list off what he could see around him.
"You will be the last to take something from me, Cub!" Tigerclaw sneered with bared teeth as he marched towards the sound of Daiki's voice. Getting intersected last minute by Miwa.
"Huh. Daiki there's a sign next to a tank that has a picture of a Kraang in an explosion? You reckon that'll come in handy?" Leo asked as if it were too obvious.
Daiki nodded to the turtle in blue, even if he couldn't see him, "Yes, the chemical is highly explosive!"
"How does he know that?" Mikey could be heard asking in the background.
"Because it has a hydro-carbon on its outer ring." Daiki explained, though he knew that probably just went in one ear and out the other. "Now, find a Kraang blaster!" He instructed as he throw a shuriken at the tiger, knocking his aim off from April as the redhead prepared her tessen again.
"Got one, now what?" Leo confirmed.
"Do you think you can get the blaster open?" Daiki asked.
"Gladly," He heard Raph say confidently from the other side.
"Just be careful!" Daiki yelled down the line, scared for a few moments as the phone was silent.
"We're still alive, now what?" Leo stated in agitation.
"Now, I'm going to tell you how to shortout the power supply. Then leave it by the chemical tank. It'll over heat and the whole place will go 'boom!'" Daiki exaggerated with hand gestures. "You'll have thirty seconds to get out, got it?"
"Got it!" Leonardo confirmed once more, ready to blow the underwater base sky high. "Then we'll come for you guys."
Miwa's battle cry could be heard on Leo's side of the phone, as the kunoichi jumped on top of the tigers head and began to beat him rapidly.
"Um. I think we're good." Daiki muttered with fear at the mad girl, "We'll meet you back at the lair." He stated as he went ahead and told Leo the steps to repeat.
As Miwa continued to beat down the tiger, April had a chance to catch her breath and look at her surroundings. She glanced between the tiger, the live electricity box and the ever growing patches of ice on the floor. And all at once, an idea, and some wise words came into her head.
'The key is to unbalance your opponent.'
Just in time too, as the black haired girl was flipped off of Tigerclaw and thrown over the desk April was near. With the raging ball of fur closing in on her.
When the mutant walked straight passed her, in her crouched position April kicked out at the tiger, straight in the back of his knee, making him jerk forward to try and catch himself. Only not being able to see his full surroundings, he ended up stepping on one of the ice patches he created and lost contact with the floor.
Sending the large mutant crashing into the live electric box. He yelled as the high voltage shook his body, making him convulse and collapse onto the floor in a smokey heap. His harsh breathing was enough of a tell to say that the voltage wasn't strong enough to put him down for long. But nevertheless, he was out.
"Nice one!" Miwa commended the redhead with a shoulder punch.
April smirked back, "Thanks!"
"Good job April," Daiki added from where he was dragging his wooden trunk out of the lab in a hurried fashion. "Now let's bounce before the electricity blows!"
"Blows?!" The two girls yelled as they ran.
Grabbing the opposite sides of the wooden trunk as they helped Daiki pull the box out of the lab. Making their way down the street in record speed, to avoid the explosion which happened only moments later. Leaving only the burning remains of the lab behind them.
TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT
"And when he was distracted, I kicked him and sent him straight into the electric box!" April ecstatically repeated to the recently returned turtles and Splinter, putting enthusiast on her hand movements. "As soon as he was down, the three of us then bolted!"
The three turtle brothers sat with smiles just as proud as her own on their faces once she had finished.
"Nice work, April!"
"You rock!"
"Kick butt!"
Splinter flashed her a heart-warming smile. "Impressive, April. You used your training well, and you fulfilled the most important goal of the ninja: To come home alive."
"Thank you, Sensei." April said in acknowledgement.
Daiki couldn't help but smirk at the redhead's enthusiasm over her first takedown, but his smile soon faded as the dread began to shift to his stomach. Dread that he sensed the ninja Master was also feeling, because of his sudden flat laying ears.
April looked smugly over to the Hamato siblings. "Looks like I can take care of myself after all."
Splinter hummed in thought. "Yes. And no."
The Hamatos and April all stopped, taken aback by what Splinter said. "Tigerclaw has failed this time, yes. But if Shredder wants you, he will stop at nothing to find you. And with the Kraang after you as well, the wisest decision is for you to remain here in the sewer with us." Splinter told her carefully.
"What?!" April shouts in disbelief, "I can't stay down here. I mean, what about school, my friends, everything?" She slumps down on the couch dejectedly.
"April. If Saki knows about you, that's one of the worst positions you could possibly be in right now." Daiki tried to reason with her. "Not only that, but he wants you. And he will get you. Trust me on that." He finished grimly.
"April, Master Splinter and Daiki are right," Leo said. "Until we stop Shredder and the Kraang, this is the only place you're safe."
The blue eyed girl sighed sadly. "So once we stop them, I can have my life back?"
"Yes." Leo replied simply.
April realized then and there that she would only be able to return to her old life after they had defeated the Shredder, Foot Clan and Kraang once and for all. But they also needed to save her father and bring him back to safety. Then, and only then would she be able to live her life again...
The redhead then looked back up with a serious expression. "Let's get started.
TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT TMNT
Daiki stayed up late that night, lying down on the borrowed futon bed from Splinter holding his aching chest. He didn't want to bother any of the Hamatos for pain meds, having already been given so much from them, he felt he didn't truly deserve their kindness. He stared up blankly to the pipes in the ceiling of the room, as multiple thoughts ran through his mind.
Tigerclaw was after him, and the Shredder was also after him, wanting revenge for Daiki's dishonor to his Clan. He truly wasn't safe anymore. He sighed as his thoughts went to his guardian, hopefully Bradford wasn't being punished for his acts towards their Clan too badly.
But then again, it wasn't his Clan. Nor was it ever.
His clan, his birth clan, was here. Living in the sewers of New York. A mutant rat, with his human daughter and three turtle sons, were the last remaining Hamatos in the world. Daiki had to wonder if they knew they were the last Hamatos?
Except they weren't, he reminded himself. Daiki was also a Hamato. Distantly, yes. But he was still their blood, their relative. And they were...his family.
At that moment, he heard a soft knock at the door, "Ohairikudasai. 'Come in.'" Daiki said absentmindedly, forgetting that there was now a non Japanese speaking person in the lair.
The door creaked open, and he was greeted by a pair of amber eyes and a messy bun of black hair. "Your aware April doesn't know Japanese that well, right?" Miwa joked to the distracted boy.
"Miwa?" Daiki asked, practically jumping out of bed as she opened the door. "What are you doing here?"
The girl leaned up smugly on the door frame. "I feel like I'm owed an explanation."
Daiki raised a suspicious brow at her, "For what?"
She glanced around the room looking for her prize, "Mind telling me what was so important about that trunk there?" She jabbed her thumb in the direction of said wooden trunk sat in the corner of his room.
Daiki mulled it over for a second before ultimately giving in, and walking over to the trunk. "Well, In case you didn't catch on today, it was Tigerclaw who wreaked my lab." He filled in.
"I gathered as much." Miwa noted as she walked into the room and stood beside him.
"I know I shouldn't care so much about possessions." He grabbed the key out of his pocket once again, "Bradford told me that all the time. That's one of the reasons this stuff was in my lab to begin with..." he unlocked the box and opened the wooden lid. Revealing precious items that the boy had collected over the years.
Daiki's self-made laptop and Metalhead were the obvious and most recognizable ones. The other items consisted of framed photos of Daiki's family, including the one of the four Morikawa's outside their shop that April had shown them, and a few others of Daiki and his grandfather, his parents and even one of him and a girl who Miwa believed to be Shinigami. There were some video tapes towards the bottom of the box, pictures clearly drawn by a child, a black glasses case and a sheathed tantō blade with a black and purple leather handle. And what looked to be the remains of a once cuddly turtle toy, charred by ash and fire.
"Nokotte iru no wa kore dakedesu. 'This is all I have left.'" Daiki sighed wearily to the girl. "If I had left it back there. He would of destroyed it all."
"I hardly remember any of my past. The village, the mountains, my house... my parents." He picked up the small turtle toy and rubbed his thumb over it, staining it slightly black. "Everytime I try to look back, all I see is the fire..."
Miwa's brows softened, a rare emotion on the harden girl's face. But who was she kidding? She knew his burden all too well. As she began to rummage through a pocket in her sweatpants, she failed to notice the door being opened silently.
"I have this photo of my Mother." Miwa addressed as she pulled out a picture of a younger and much more human, Yoshi, with his arm around Tang Shen, both were looking at the camera happily in the photo, clearly content in life.
"I keep it close to me, as it's the only real way I'd ever see her." Miwa glanced over the photo with a heartfelt smile. "I know how you feel Daiki. Photos are a good way of preserving someone's memory, when you can't yourself." Miwa reassured him.
Mahogany eyes met amber ones in a understanding glance. "Thank you, Miwa." Daiki replied with a smile.
"No problem, Donnie." Miwa smirked as she lightly punched his shoulder.
"You too, huh?" Daiki said with a hint of humor.
Miwa shrugged her shoulders "It suits you." She remarked as she left Daiki's bedroom, closing the door up behind her.
As she turned to leave to her own bedroom, she was greeted to her father stood in the hallway. Realizing that he was probably there to check up on Daiki's wounds for the night.
Splinter didn't speak however, he simply smiled proudly and placed a loving paw on her cheek and on the photo still in her hand. Before walking into Daiki's room, and leaving her to sleep for the night.
Hope you all like that Chapter!
Reviews are appreciated greatly! :3
