Guest: I don't think I will use this as epilogue of the series. However, your suggestions may still give me some potential ideas for the alternate world and the dimension where I've been planning to have one of my OC-characters to be sent when we reach to Ultimate Drako Saga. So thanks for that.

Guest: Who would be Mary's love interest in time, that's yet to be planned. But I don't think that it'll be Traximus.

animegamefanatic: It was actually a pretty good idea to give both Donnie and Mary some peace in mind to their loss of Kirby, and I kinda wanted to give it up to Mikey to come up with an idea to have Donnie and Mary to take up drawing on the sketchbook so that they'd never forget Kirby or Roz, something what Arcee wholeheartedly supported.

It was a rather violent and pretty ominous thunderstorm that raged over New York City, with the thunder roaring angrily, lightnings flashing in the sky like the deadly whips, and the rain poured down from the thunderclouds.

In the city, Leo was running along the rooftops, jumping from rooftop to another.

"My name is Leonardo. And if I have learned anything from my past experiences in the situations like this, there are times in your life when you draw on everything you have."

As another lightning went off in the sky above him, the turtle in blue landed on one knee to another rooftop and drew out one is Katanas and held it forward with both hands. The rain water poured down his face as he gritted his teeth and growled angrily.

In front of him emerged out of the shadows the bunch of ten Foot Ninja, half of which carried the Ninja-to sword, while couple others wielded staves, the other couple the pair of Kamas each and the last one the Butterfly swords.

"Times when you reach down into the deepest part of yourself."

Leo stood up and prepared to face the ninjas despite being outnumbered.

"When you know you've gotta give it your all, because anything less won't get the job done."

Suddenly, the turtles old enemy and one of the Foot Clan's agents, Hun, showed up and walked past the couple of Foot Ninja, who moved aside, letting him past. Hun smirked at the opportunity of revenge from his couple last defeats in the hands of the turtles as the giant stared Leo down, who stared back at him, unfazed.

"It's in times like these that you find out who you really are."

Leo then held out his hand and dared the villain to come to him. And as another lightning flashed in the sky, Hun's smirk turned into a beastly frown as he accepted Leo's dare.

"That is, if you live long enough."

Growling angrily, Hun charged at Leo, who grabbed from his sword's hilt with both hands and jumped at Hun.

"YYYYYAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Leo shouted.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Hun roared.

The two were just about to clash each other in the battle to the death as more lightning struck violently against the sky, silhouetting them!

(The screen pulls away from New York City as the light beams ripple above the buildings, illuminating the four towering green letters that form the word TMNT.)
"TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES"

(The screen raises up and we see eight turtles standing on the edge of the building. First Leonardo, second Marietta, third Raphael who bent down, fourth Domenico, fifth Artemisia, sixth Lorenzo who was crouching down, seventh Donatello and eight Michelangelo. As the light beam passes them, all eight turtles leap off the edge.)
"TURTLES COUNT IT OFF"

(The screen then splits from right to left into four narrow screens.)
"ONE, TWO"
(In the first, Michelangelo is holding his Nunchucks over his head. In the second, Raphael is holding one of his Sais above his head while pointing the other downwards.)
"THREE, FOUR"
(In the third, Donatello is holding Bo-staff in front of him. In the fourth, Leonardo has crossed his arms over his chest while wielding his swords.)
(TURTLES!)

(Leonardo is seen fighting two Foot Ninja. He slices their staves in two with his swords before kicking the ninja on his right and then the one on his left away.)
"MUTANT CHAIN REACTION"
(TURTLES!)

(Donatello is seen driving a speedy vehicle down the sewer tunnel, before the turtle in purple smirks to the camera and holds a thumb up.)
"LIVIN' UNDERGROUND"
(TURTLES!)

(Raphael is seen jumping over the fence, landing on his hands. Then he pushes up and lands on his feet, crouched, before he kicks the screen black with his foot.)
"NINJUTSU ACTION"
(TURTLES!)

(Widely grinning Michelangelo is seen riding on the Battle Shell as it speeds down the street, while spinning his Nucnhaku wildly in the air.)
"IT'S A SHELL OF THE TOWN!"

(Michelangelo leaps off as the Battle Shell flies across the street. Then its back doors fly open and Raphael and Lorenzo jump out on the red and green bikes before skidding sideways to a stop.)

(In the alleyway, next to the blue truck, the eight turtles crouch down before leaping towards the camera, and Michelangelo kicks the screen black with his foot.)
"TURTLES COUNT IT OFF"

(The screen splits into two horizontal screen.)
(The upper screen shows Leonardo's narrowed gaze. The lower screen shows all eight turtles standing in front of Master Splinter.)
(Second one.)
(The lower screen shows Donatello's light frown. The upper screen shows Master Splinter swinging his staff down at two attacking Mousers, destroying them.)
("ONE!")
"LIVE BY THE CODE OF THE MARTIAL ARTS"

(Third one)
(The upper screen shows Raphael's deep frown. The lower screen shows Hun leading a silhouetted Purple Dragons from the ablaze background.)
(Fourth one.)
(The lower screen shows Michelangelo's the soft stare. The upper screen shows Hun sneering before he throws a punch at the camera.)
("TWO!")
"NEVER FIGHT UNLESS SOMEONE ELSE STARTS"

(April O'Neil winks at the camera as she pilots a helicopter past the Foot Tower, where Donatello and Domenico are fighting six Foot Ninja on the ledge until they're knocked off. Falling down, Domenico grabs to the rope hanging from the helicopter and catches Donatello's arm and they're both lifted up.)
("THREE!")
"ALWAYS STICK TOGETHER NO MATTER WHAT"

(In the dark alley, the eight turtles are standing shell-to-shell under the spotlight as they're surrounded by a dozens of heavily armed Foot Ninja that emerge from the darkness and leap down from the rooftops. The turtles fearlessly take their respective battle stances and prepare to face the ninjas.)
("FOUR!")
"IF ALL ELSE FAILS, THEN IT'S TIME TO KICK BUTT!"

(Screen rises up to the tall buildings.)
(Artemisia jumps from the left with her legs hooked under her, and spinning around, she slashes forward with her Tessenes.)
(Michelangelo then jumps from the right with the flip and smirks at the camera as he falls down, spinning his Nunchucks wildly.)

(Donatello jumps from the left, spinning his Bo-staff in his left hand over his head before he swings it down with both hands.)
(Marietta then jumps from the right, spinning her Naginata in the right hand, before turning around and slashes horizontally forward.)

(Domenico jumps from the left, spinning his Tonfas in his hands before thrusting first his right and then his left Tonfa forward.)
(Leonardo then jumps from the right with his Katanas crossed, before he pulls them aside and kicks his right foot down.)

(Raphael jumps from the left and crossed his arms in front of him before pulling them back, making his Sais flash.)
(Lorenzo then jumps from the right and slashes his left Butterfly sword horizontally forward and swings his right Butterfly sword down, slicing the air.)

(Angel Bridge then jumps from the left and throws a punch towards the screen with her left fist.)
(Casey Jones then jumps from the right and whacks the screen with his hockey stick.)

(Leonardo is seen landing onto one ninja, knocking him down.)
(Donatello is seen whacking with his Bo the second ninja off his feet.)
(Raphael is seen blocking the third ninja's kick with his left wrist.)
(Michelangelo is seen punching fourth in the face with his right fist.)
(Marietta is seen kicking the fifth in the chest.)
(Domenico is seen back-handing the sixth with his left hand's Tonfa)
(Lorenzo is seen blocking seventh's sword with his crossed swords.)
(Artemisia, surrounded by ninjas, is seen holding her Tessens horizontally open in her crossed arms.)
(Raphael is seen again, this time surrounded by several Foot, but he spins around and knocks them all away.)

(Cut to the wide shot.)
(Seven silhouettes of the turtles are seen running, jumping and flipping along the rooftops as the camera follows them. One of the turtles swings over them by the chain like Tarzan.)
(Then two narrower screens appear above and beneath of the rooftop screen, showing the repeating line of blue and purple masked faces above and the line of red and orange masked faces beneath, moving to the opposite direction.)
"I LOVE BEING' A..."
"I LOVE BEING' A..."
"I LOVE BEING' A TURTLE!"

(The turtles then land to the ground in front of the building. Leonardo in the middle, Donatello, Marietta and Domenico on his right and Michelangelo, Lorenzo and Artemisia on his left. All seven run towards the camera that moves through them between Leonardo's legs.)
"TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES!"

(Then, Raphael races over the building on the back of the bike and jumps off towards and past the camera.)
"TURTLES COUNT IT OFF:"

(The screen splits into four narrow screens again, this time from left to right.)
"FIVE, SIX"
(In the first, Marietta is pointing her Naginata at the camera. In the second, Lorenzo is holding Butterfly Swords upside down in his hand and horizontally in front of him.)
"SEVEN, EIGHT"
(In the third, Domenico is thrusting his Tonfa at the camera. In the fourth, Artemisia is holding one Tessen in front of her face, partially covering it, while other one is closed.)
(TURTLES!)

(Marietta is seen in a dead end, spinning her Naginata before she pulls it behind her shell and holds her left hand out as two arms holding a knife and a fire axe appear in the view.)
"AT NIGHTFALL, WE'RE COMING"
(TURTLES!)

(Lorenzo is seen crouching on the roof of a moving subway car that brings him closer to the screen. The turtle in black smirk at the camera before his face fills the screen.)
"FROM THE UNDERGROUND"
(TURTLES!)

(Domenico is seen stabbing the practice dummy with his Tonfas before spin-kicking the other dummy with his foot. Then he turns to whack the camera with his Tonfa.)
"BEWARE THE BADDIES!"
(TURTLES!)

(The screen pulls back to show Artemisia roller skating on the roof while being pursued by Foot. She looks at them over her shoulder, smirks, and picks up the pace as camera pans behind her.)
"CAUSE THE TURTLE TIME IS ON!"

(Artemisia skates towards the Large Foot Ninja who tries to strike her with the sword, but is caught by his wrists by the turtle in bink who turns around and flips him over her shoulder, throwing him face-first at the camera.)

(Artemisia then drops off the building as the screen pans down to a boarded doorway before the Battle Shell crashes through it, allowing the turtle in pink land onto its roof.)

(The screen then pans to the back of the truck as it is been pursued by two Foot Ninja on the bikes, until the back doors fly open and Lorenzo jumps out, landing onto his shell to the ground, somersaulting back to his feet and then diving towards the ninjas, knocking them both off the bikes as he flies towards the camera.)
"TURTLES COUNT IT OFF"

(The screen splits into two horizontal screens again.)
(The upper screen shows Marietta's light glare, while lower screen shows turtles in the snowy woods, staring at five silhouetted canine-like humanoids with the face paints: dark purple, light blue, crimson, silver and green.)
(Second one.)
(The lower screen shows Domenico's deep frown, while upper screen shows the silhouetted canine-like humanoid with dark purple face-paint, snarling while slashing a single Kama at two hunters, forcing them to back off.)
("FIVE!")
"WE'RE ALWAYS FIGHTING AGAINST EVIL!"

(Third one.)
(The upper screen shows Lorenzo's wide eyes, while the lower screen shows Jennika, with her mask off, standing on the edge of the rooftop, flanked by several Foot Ninja.)
(Fourth one.)
The lower screen shows Artemisia's soft stare, while the upper screen shows Jennika glaring at the camera before she wields two Katana to slice across the screen.)
("SIX!")
"WE'LL STRIKE HARD, AND VANISH INTO NIGHT"

(In the next shot, Donatello and Marietta are seen running along the roofs, the former jumping and the latter pole-vaulting over a gap. We then see Leonardo leading Raphael, Artemisia and Domenico forward at street level. Michelangelo is then seen zipping along the line and Lorenzo swinging by the chain in Tarzan-style after them.)
("SEVEN!")
"WE'RE ALWAYS THERE TO HAVE EACH OTHERS' SHELLS."

(In the next shot, we see all eight turtles standing under the spotlight in a dark space with their shells to the camera as it pulls away. They then turn to face the camera, drawing out their weapons and taking their individual stances, ready to face whoever is standing before them.)
("EIGHT!")
"WE'LL NEVER LEAVE OUR BUDDIES BEHIND!"

(First we see Baxter Stockman surrounded by dozens of Mousers. With the glare, Stockman points at the camera and the Mousers lunge forward, snarling viciously.)

(The camera pans to the right to show Tatsu. Backed up by Foot Ninja, the man pulls out a sword and raises it next to his face, pointing the tip at the camera with a dark glare.)

(Camera pans to the right again to show a strange and ugly goblin-like female creature floating in the air while grinning mischievously at the camera. The creature raises its hands up as the glowing supernatural light began to flow through them, as if magic.)

(Camera pans to the right once more to show William Dandelion with a cigar in his mouth. Backed up by several goons, Dandelion takes the cigar out of his mouth and points at the camera with the nasty sneer.)

(The screen pans back to the turtles, showing Donatello whacking several Mousers away with his staff.)
(Raphael lands onto one, crushing it, and stabs his Sais through the heads of other two Mousers.)
(Domenico strikes one Foot Ninja in the guts with his Tonfa, before turning around to whack the second ninja with his other Tonfa.)
(Artemisia slices the third Foot Ninja's staff in half with her Tessens before spin-kicking him away with her foot.)
(The goblin-creature flies over and strikes the turtles with the magical lightning bolts, until Artemisia pole-vaults upwards and kicks the creature away.)
(Three Dandelion mobsters charge at the turtles, but simultaneously first one on the left is kicked away by Michelangelo, the second one on the right is knocked down by Lorenzo, and the third in the middle is kicked away by Leonardo, who spins around before crossing his swords in front of his face.)

(Cut to the wide three-leveled shot. The sever level.)
(The silhouettes of two turtles are first seen running down the pipe: One turtle on foot while another one on the skateboard.)
"I LOVE BEING' A..."

(Screen pans up to the street level.)
(The silhouettes of three turtles are seen moving down the street: One running on foot, the second one riding on the bike and third one hopping along the driving and parked cars.)
(Then two narrower screens appear above and beneath of the street screen, showing the repeating line of turquoise and white masked faces above and the line of pink and black masked faces beneath, moving to the opposite direction.)
"I LOVE BEING' A..."

(Screen pans up to the rooftop level.)
(The silhouettes of two turtles are running and either jumping or pole-vaulting along the rooftops.)
"I LOVE BEING' A TURTLE!"

(Raphael, Leonardo, Domenico run on the street level, before Artemisia and Michelangelo jump out the manholes and Marietta and Donatello land down from the roofs to join them. All seven then: Raphael, Artemisia, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Marietta, Donatello and Domenico then run towards the camera that goes between Leonardo's legs again.)
"TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES!"

(The camera then pans upwards, showing Lorenzo jumping off the rooftop before throwing his chain away and then swings by it over the camera in Spiderman-style.)
"TURTLES COUNT IT OFF:"

(A small square screen then appears from the left, showing Leonardo's shadowy yet calm face. Another appears next to it from above, showing Donatello's shadowy yet determined face.)
"ONE! TWO!"

(Third appears from beneath, showing Michelangelo's shadowy goofy face. Then the fourth appears from the right, showing Raphael's shadowy yet fierce face with the gritted teeth.)
"THREE! FOUR!"

(A fifth square then screen then appears from the left, showing Marietta's shadowy calm face. Sixth then appears next to it from above, showing Domenico's shadowy yet deeply frowning face.)
"FIVE! SIX!"

(Seventh appears from beneath, showing Lorenzo's shadowy wildly smirking face. Then eighth appears from the right, showing Artemisia's shadowy yet determined face with the smile.)
"SEVEN! EIGHT!"
(TURTLES!)

(All eight turtles are seen jumping down from the Foot Tower. The weapons in hands, the turtles spin in a circle (First Leonardo, Marietta, Donatello, Domenico, Raphael, Lorenzo, Michelangelo and Artemisia) as they fall towards the camera)
"THERE'S NO ONE BETTER"
(TURTLES!)

(In the ledge of the tower, above the Foot symbol, the Shredder is seen staring down after them, as his black cape blows in the wind and the lightning flashes in the sky behind him. The camera moves close of his face, before he turns towards the camera and raises his left arm with the gauntlet armed with two sharp claws.)
"WATCH OUT FOR THE SHREDDER"
(TURTLES!)

(The turtles are seen standing in middle of the rooftop, with the weapons in hand. They briefly demonstrate their skills before taking their individual poses: Donatello stands in the middle, pointing his staff at the camera, while Raphael and Lorenzo stand on his right, Marietta and Michelangelo on his left and Domenico, Artemisia and Leonardo behind them.)
"THEY'RE LIKE NO OTHERS!"
(TURTLES!)

(The turtles are seen riding/skating on the various human equipment along the tunnel. Donatello is in the lead, wheeling past the camera with the foldaway bike.)
(Leonardo follows on foldaway kick scooter, hopping over the handlebar with his hands.)
(Marietta follows right behind on her roller skis, making the backward flip over the camera.)
(Domenico follows on the road bicycle, while giving the wave at the camera.)
(Raphael and Artemisia roller-skate along the wall of the tunnel with their roller blades and roller-skates.)
(Lorenzo skates after them with his longboard skateboard with the pair of rocket boosters.)
(Last but not least, Michelangelo skates up along the wall with his skateboard, before he jumps off and lands in front of the camera with the smirk before skating away.)
"THOSE TEENAGE SIBLINGS!"

(All turtles, first Donatello then Domenico, then Leonardo, then Marietta, then Raphael, then Lorenzo, then Michelangelo, and finally aftemisia, land onto the roof, weapons in hands.)
"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!"
"FIVE! SIX! SEVEN! EIGHT!"

(Either spinning or waving their weapons, the turtles then charge towards the camera, with turtle in blue taking the lead and slashing his swords forward.)
"TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES"

Then the logo of "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES" appears, with the silhouetted figures of the eight turtles with the glowing eyes behind of it.
"TURTLES! TURTLES!"

=Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003=
=The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1, Part 1=

The turtles have been hiding at April's from the Foot occupying the sewers around their Lair for second week now.

The sun of the early dawn started to rise over New York City, and beamed into April's apartment, that was left into a complete mess due to her mutant guests' lifestyles, with empty nacho and cookie bags, pizza boxes, Chinese food boxes, burger boxes, soda cups and the leftovers of the eaten foods lying all over the floor.

Master Splinter was sleeping on the armchair near the windows, while his children slept all around of the living room. Raph was sleeping on the floor in front of the couch while Dom was sleeping on the floor in the other end of the couch, having moved the desk out of the way. Mikey was sleeping on the couch and Donnie was sleeping on top of the couch's back. Louie was sleeping on the dinning table while both Mary and Arcee were sleeping on the pillows in front of the TV. The boys were snorring loudly while Mary and Arcee slept more quietly. And April, of course, was sleeping in his bedroom.

And as they kept sleeping, Donnie's left foot accidentally drifts down from the top of the couch and near Mikey's face, who took a sniff of it and grimaced.

"Oh, geez! What died?" he grunted, disgusted, before batting Donnie's foot away and buried his face into the pillow.

"Donnie forgot to wash his feet again." Dom mumbled in his sleep.

"That's what you get when the one doesn't take care of the foot hygiene." Arcee mumbed as she adjusted more comfortably in her pillow.

"Be quiet, guys. Trying to sleep." Donnie mumbled back in his sleep.

As the seven turtles continued to sleep, Splinter's eyes snapped open when his left ear twitched at the sound of the window being rolled up, by the courtesy of the only turtle around who wasn't sleeping.

Leonardo, who was standing by the window and looking out to the city.

"Your morning training, my son?" Splinter asked as he got up from the armchair and walked up to his eldest son, who turned to him.

"Yes, Sensei, while the city's still quiet." Leo answered.

Splinter couldn't help but smile proudly at his son for holding strictly up on his training sessions even if they were on the run from their home.

"Your discipline is commendable, Leonardo." Splinter commented. "Have a good run."

Leo nodded, and was just about to make his way through of the window to begin training exercise until Splinter spoke up again, making him stop in his tracks.

"But I trust that you are not thinking of going back to scout the Lair alone?" Splinter said.

Leo grimaced, as if his father had read his mind somehow and caught him up of having the side thoughts of paying a visit down in the sewers to check out their home while being on the training run, even though they hadn't even planned to organize a new patrol for that task yet, and probably not for a while.

Besides, that would be too much of Raphael-like behavior, going on the solo missions just like that, or even Lorenzo-like behavior, charging right into the danger without even thinking things through. Something what Splinter isn't expecting from his most reasonable, disciplined and responsible son.

Putting on a forced smile, Leo turned to his father to explain himself.

"Why would I do that?" he asked with the shrug, before clutching his fists in mild anger. "Just because the sewer tunnels are overrun with Foot Ninja, so we're forced to hide here at April's like cowards?"

"You ask a question that is not a question." Splinter said, sensing the growing frustration within his son before walking up to him. "If we are to succeed against our foes, we will need to act together, as a team, not as rash individuals. Isn't that exactly what you've always told your siblings?"

Leo sighed, because that's exactly what he keeps telling to his siblings as per of Splinter's teachings, while the rashness wasn't part of his characteristics like with Raph's.

"Yes, I know, Master Splinter." Leo said, turning to his father. "I'm just curious, though, about what Louie said last week: that why is the Foot still around even after the Shredder's been defeated?"

Splinter understood his son's curiosity over the matter, because ever since the Foot took over the sewers, the same question hadn't left from his mind either for a few past weeks, but instead of going to seek the answers for that, he preferred rather to wait for them to come to them themselves... somehow.

The old rat master touched his son's shoulder reassuringly. "Patience, my son." he said, before he walked back towards the armchair. "I have a feeling we will find that out, all too soon."

Leo, pondering his father's words about them finding out the reason of the Foot's presence soon enough, looked at his father and still sleeping siblings for a few seconds before he turned back towards the window.

By the time Splinter reached to the armchair, he turned to look back to the window and saw Leo already gone, with the curtains next to the open window flapping in the wind. He walked back to it and closed the window, before the old rat master walked back up to the armchair and sat down, beginning to mediate.

However, little did he know that Arcee, who had recently woken up but pretended to be still alseep, had been secretly eavesdropping on their conversation while peeking at them from under the pillow she had buried her face.

Of course she grew worried for Leo after the big brother left for his morning exercise, even if the Foot was still out there hunting for them.

"Be careful out there, Leo." she said in whisper before going back to sleep.

###

In the city, far from April's place, Leo ran along the rooftops to find the perfect spot where he could begin his training exercise without the risk of being seen by the citizens.

Keeping up his pace, he jumped from one rooftop onto another, then another, then another and then another.

But after about an hour or two, he had come across at least four spots in a row, but unfortunately none of them suited him as a training ground because he felt too exposed in those spots once the sun rose over the buildings and with it more and more people woke up in the nearby taller buildings. And so he continued his search.

However, after he jumped over another gap between the next two buildings on his path, he was unaware that there was a patrol of at least four Foot Ninja scouting the alley below. They looked up to the sky after one of them spotted Leo jumping over the gap between the buildings.

"There! That's one of those turtles!" one ninja said.

"After him!" another ninja, apparently the leader of this patrol, said and the ninjas jumped up.

Leo kept running along the roof as the Foot Ninja leaped onto the roof and gave the chase on him, Ninja-to swords in hands. The leader ran ahead of his men and raised his sword over his head to strike him.

Leo, however, turned his head slightly to his left after spotting the ninjas' shadows casted on the roof by the sunlight shining over the tops of the buildings behind him, making him aware of their presence.

As they approached the wall of the outbuilding just ahead, the Foot Ninja leader jumped at him, ready to strike. However, Leo suddenly stopped and hit the ground, causing the ninja to miss him and fly over him, before he crashed upside down against the outbuilding's wall.

"OHH!" he moaned as the impact knocking him out before he slid down to the roof.

Leo turned around and, gritting his teeth, growled angrily as the three other ninjas stopped right in front of him.

"Should've known you'd eventually come to search for us from the surface!" Leo snarled and pulled out one of his Katanas and stared the Foot Ninja down, as they spread out, cornering him against the wall while holding their swords up and ready.

One ninja even turned his sword slightly around to show Leo his reflection from its flat side before turning it back.

Leo then gasped upon hearing movement behind him and looked up, seeing four new Foot Ninja standing on top of the outbuilding, looking down at him with swords in hands.

He was surrounded, which made the turtle in blue growl as he realizing that it was an ambush!

Then he looked up and spotted the empty washing line not far above, and then he looked down at the downed leader, who had regained his consciousness and was slowly getting up from the floor, rubbing his head with his hand.

Coming up with an idea to escape from this trap before the ninjas could strike, he sprinted towards the downed leader and used him as a springboard, jumping up towards the washing line and grabbed to it with one hand before slicing it with his sword. Then he swung on it over the street below and across the several buildings before the turtle in blue dropped down onto the next one that stood in the other side of the street.

Leo turned around to look up at the seven ninjas in the other side who stared at him, momentarily stunned by his escape, before they quickly gave the chase after him.

Leo then stood up and ran away along the building before he jumped off it, hoping to loose the pursuers by hiding in the alleyways. He jumped down along the fire-escapes, landed on another washing line, and then flipped onto his feet to the ground.

However, before he could decide which way to go, he gasped in surprise, and then narrowed his eyes as he growled angrily at what he saw in front of him.

Out of the alleyways and from behind of some garbage bins came out four ninjas, two armed with Ninja-to swords, third with Kusarigama - with the chain and Butterfly sword linked to each other - and fourth with the sword, but appeared to be a barehanded.

And to make matters even worse, from behind several other garbage bins and from the shadows of other alleyway came three other ninjas, one armed with the Trident with the spearhead in other end, another one with the pair of Kamas, third with Katar-daggers and fourth with the Tekkō-kagi-claws.

Finding himself trapped again, Leo pulled out his other Katana and held both of his swords up as he prepared to meet the attackers from both sides. And he needed to deal with them quickly before the reinforcements would arrive.

The first two ninjas then lunged at him from both sides at the same time and swung their swords at him, which Leo met with his own. Then he ducked under the swing from the ninja on his right before clashing first his right and then his left Katana against his sword, before he dodged his head to the right and out of the range of the second ninja's sword on his left as he aimed at his head. Then he spun around and kicked with his right foot the first ninja in the head, knocking him head-first against the wall and out.

Then the ninja with the Katar-daggers lunged at him and, first crossing his arms before pulling them back, swung his weapons at Leo's head to decapitate him, though the turtle in blue ducked under them. But as he tried to swing his left Katar at him again, Leo turned his swords upside down in his hand and caught the ninja's arm wit hthe crossed hilts of his swords before he flipped the ninja over his head and sent him flying into the wall against which the ninja crashed upside down, knocking him out.

The ninja with the Trident then charged at him and tried to stab him with it, but Leo moved out of its way before sliced the Trident's head off with his left Katana before he swung his right over his head and down on the ninja, who blocked it with his weapon's haft. Leo, however, kicked the ninja in the guts with his left foot, knocking the ninja back, before he turned around and kicked the ninja with the Tekkō-kagi-claws, who was trying to attack him from behind while his focus was in the Trident-ninja, in the chest with his right foot, knocking him against the wall next to the knocked out Katar-ninja, though not hard enough to knock him out.

The second ninja with Ninja-to then attacked him from behind and swung his sword at Leo's head, but Leo ducked his head down, causing the ninja to miss him, though he ended up slicing off his bandana's tails. Leo then turned around and clashed the Ninja's sword with his left sword before he struck the sword off the ninja's hands with the powerful swing of his right sword. But before he could've finished the ninja off, the bare-handed ninja threw at him three Kunai knives from behind of his right shoulder, which Leo just barely dodged by leaning himself backwards. This, however, opened the room for the dual-Kama-wielding Ninja who jumped at him and kicked Leo in the face.

As Leo stumbled back from the impact of the ninja's kick, the ninja with the Gusarikama tossed the chain at his feet, wrapping it around his left foot, and pulled from it, causing Leo to fall onto his shell to the ground and lose a hold of one of his swords. The ninja then turned his Butterfly sword upside down in his hand while the second ninja swordsman picked his dropped sword up, and then they both lunged at Leo in attempt to stab him to death/split his head in two. However, Leo, after quickly freeing his foot from the chain, somersaulted backwards onto his hands just in time to catch the two ninjas with his feet before kicking them away while pushing himself off the ground and back on his feet.

Once back on his feet and one sword in hands, Leo turned to face the dual-Kama-ninja and blocked with his sword the swing at his head with the ninja's left Kama before he swung his right Kama at him. Its blade scratched Leo's left shoulder before stabbing him in the edge of his shell, causing Leo to grunt in stinging pain, before he snap-kicked the ninja back with his right foot, causing the ninja to loose his hold from his Kama as it remained stuck in Leo's shell, though the turtle in blue used his left hand to pull it off, dropping it to the ground, before he kicked up and caught with his left hand the first ninja swordsman's dropped Ninja-to in his hands to briefly replace his lost Katana.

Leo then charged at the ninja with one remaining Kama, who blocked Leo's swing with the Ninja-to before the turtle in blue sliced his Kama's handle off with his Katana, and then finished him off with the corkscrew kick in the head, knocking him down and out. Leo then slashed the Ninja-to at the Tekkō-kagi-claw-ninja on his left, who caught the blade in between the claws of his left Tekkō-kagi, who broke the blace with his right Tekkō-kagi. Unfazed, Leo kicked the ninja's right foot out from under him with his own right, causing the ninja to fall on one knee, before Leo kneed him in the face with his left knee, knocking him down and out.

The Trident-ninja then tried to stab Leo with his broken weapon's spearhead from behind, but Leo caught it with the broken Ninja-to before he turned out away and then, with the couple of spins with his weapon, swung his Katana down at the ninja from above, which the ninja blocked with his Trident, only for Leo to strike him in the forehead with the hilt of the Ninja-to, causing him to stumble back, before Leo kicked the ninja in the face with his right foot, sending him flying into some garbage cans which knocked him out.

Leo then turned to the last standing ninja and charged at him. The ninja pulled out a couple of Shuriken and threw them at Leo, one in the head and one in the stomach, but the turtle in blue deflected them by holding his Katana's and broken Ninja-to's blades horizontally in the way. The ninja then pulled out his own Ninja-to and then jumped at Leo, ready to strike him, and Leo jumped at him as well. The two met in the air and slashed their swords at each other before landing back to the ground opposite to each other. Leo was otherwise intact, save for the scratch in his right shoulder, while the ninja's Ninja-to's blade fell apart, and then the ninja himself fell onto his knees and then onto his stomach to the ground, with his head, cut clean off his shoulders, rolled away from the headless body, leaving Leo victorious.

After the fight was over, Leo dropped the Ninja-to - which broken blade was stained with the blood from the middle after being recently used to take the ninja's life - from his hands before he walked up to his other dropped Katana and bent down to pick it up.

But the moment he picked it up, there was a whistle of arrow in the air and then - THACK! - an arrow hit the ground right at the turtle in blue's feet.

"WOW!" Leo exclaimed in surprise and alarm and jumped back, before he looked up to where the arrow had came from.

There he saw a few Foot Ninja stationed up to the edge of the roof, armed with Yumi-bows loaded with arrows before the ninjas released the volley upon the turtle in blue.

Leo jumped to his left as two other arrows hit to the spot where he had been standing on, somersaulting along the ground as couple new arrows flew over his head, and then he jumped through the gap between the two upper and two lower arrows, before he dived behind some garbage cans for cover as new arrows hit them.

The ninjas kept firing the arrows down at cowering Leo, some of them bouncing off the wall or the garbage cans while some of them got stuck in them and to the ground around of them, giving Leo no chance to come out without risking of getting hit by the arrows.

THACK! THACK! THACK! THACK! THACK! THACK! THACK! THACK! THACK!

However, looking up to his right where he had came from, Leo noticed that the same seven ninjas from earlier flipped over the edge of the roof and started to descend the fire escapes down into the alley.

Leo knew it wasn't helping him to stay put, otherwise he'd end up surrounded again, but there was no other way out of the alley - since the side alleyways in this one led only int othe dead ends - except the one that led down to the streets, and that too carried the risk of him getting exposed to the public.

But it was the only option Leo had in this situation, and he relied on the fact that most of the people weren't yet on the move this early.

But for precaution, he quickly picked up an old and slightly torn bed sheet resting on top of the garbage cans and wrapped it around of himself - like a hooded poncho - to cover his identity before the turtle in blue bolted out of the alley and down to the street, putting as much of distance between himself and the ninja-occupied alley.

After running for some distance and believing he was far enough from the alley, Leo slowed down and began to walk at a steady pace along the street so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion among the citizens with his haste.

But still, Leo remained alert for another Foot ambush and looked around him to see where the next attack will come from.

And as he walked, like he had suspected, the streets were mostly empty at this hour, though there were still some cars driving down the streets and only a very few people walking here and there - likely the ones who were hurrying at work this early or then just on an early morning run.

The positive thing was that his disguise worked perfectly - at least for the time being - because the citizens did not pay any attention to him. Each was mostly after their own business, thus allowing Leo to walk freely on the street without further trouble.

A few blocks went past him, but no attack from the Foot came at his direction just yet.

However, after a while, Leo got a feeling that he was being followed, and guided by his instincts, he carefully peeked behind his shoulder to see whether he was right to suspect this or not.

His suspicions turned out to be correct, however, as he managed to detect two figures with the dark-blue cloaked hoods - which concealed their faces completely - following him at the same pace as he, while shoving and pushing quite rudely the people either walking past or going in the same direction as they did out of their way. And those people's complaints they threw at these guys already gave them in.(1)

Knowing that they were part of the Foot, Leo turned his head away to make it look that he hadn't noticed them - though it would be pretty obvious that they already knew he had - and quickened his pace.

However, he stopped when he noticed a couple other similiar hooded guys standing right on his way, making that four hooded Foot agents.

Gritting his teeth and growling through of them in anger of being once again ambushed, Leo stared the Foot agents in front of him down, while also keeping an eye on the first pair of Foot agents behind him, ready to act whenever they made the first move.

He didn't have to wait that long, because once the four hooded Foot agents had him surrounded, they pulled their cloaks out and revealed the loaded crossbows from under them before they raised them up and aimed the bolts at the turtle in blue... and then fired!

Leo hit the ground on all fours just in time before the bolts could hit him, causing them to fly over him and at the hooded Foot agents. The first pair dodged their comrades' bolts and so did the third from the second pair, but the fourth got hit in the abdomen by the stray bold.

"ARGH!" he gasped as he fell over to the ground, mortally wounded.

Tossing the bed sheed off his shoulders and pulling out his Katanas, Leo turned first to the first pair of Foot Agents who charged at him from behind, dropping their crossbows from their hands and drawing their swords out.

The first agent lunged at him and swung his sword at his head, but Leo blocked it with his left Katana as the agent flew to his other side, allowing Leo to focus to the second agent. First he blocked his sword with his right Katana and moved it aside, before he kneed the agent in the stomach, causing him to gasp in pain and bent over, until Leo struck him in the back of his head with his left Katana's hilt, knocking him down and out.

Then Leo turned to the remaining two agents who lunged at him. Leo blocked the first one's sword with his left Katana before he swung his right Katana at his feet, sweeping them from under with his blade's flat side and causing the agent to fall on his feet, caught by surprise, before Leo kicked him in the head with his right foot, causing him to fly back and crash headfirst into the window of a door of the car that suddenly and coincidentally drove past them - completely surprising the driver - which cracked the window from the impact and knocked the agent unconsciousness.

The fourth and last agent then swung his sword three times at Leo, aiming couple times at Leo's head and the third one in his left side, but Leo blocked each attack with his own Katanas with ease. And as the agent tried to stab him through, Leo turned his sword off its course with his left Katana he was holding upside down in his hand before he punched the agent in the face, knocking him back, before the turtle in blue kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying against the lamppost and knocking him out.

His cloak's hood fell off his head upon impact, revealing him as a Japanese hard-faced man with the black hair tied in the small ponytail and black bandana tied around his forehead, into which had been branded the sign of the Foot. He didn't wear the standard Foot Ninja suit, but the black shoes and pants, shirt and swat style leather vest, likely to move more freely in the public without arousing suspicion of his affiliation to the Foot Clan.(1)

After defeating them, Leo stood still, wary for another attack, while breathing heavily. Having to deal with at least four ambushes and barely escaping from them within less than half an hour had taken its tool even though Leo tried to be unfazed by it.

The only thing on his mind right now instead of a little tiredness was that he needed to be careful of new ambushes and get out of here before anymore Foot showed up.

Then, a couple of steps behind his shell - and a pretty loud ones - made his head jump up as his instincts took alarm. Believing it to be another attack, with an angry growl, Leo whipped around and held his swords up and ready to meet the attackers.

To Leo's surprise, however, he discovered that the cause of those footsteps was just a couple of early morning joggers, a man and a woman, who stood there staring in silent surprise at him standing amidst the knocked-out Foot agents, and one with a bolt stuck in his stomach. And upon seeing Leo's identity their eyes had widened and their mouths gaped in bewilderment.

Leo turning to them with his swords ready had caused the pair to jump back in fear, thinking that Leo was going to attack and mug them.

However, upon realizing his mistake, Leo immediately stood down to show them that he didn't mean them no harm and sheathed his left Katana, though he kept the other Katana in hands in case of another Foot attack.

Speaking of which, Leo couldn't afford of getting caught by the Foot when these joggers were around, because if they found them with him, they could in the worst case scenario even kill this pair as witnesses to their hunt for him without second thoughts and without mercy.

With that in mind, the turtle in blue bolted in the other direction, away from the joggers, and quickly vanished into the shadows of the next alley he found.

The joggers were puzzled of what they had just seen: a giant turtle that knocked those guys on the ground but wouldn't harm them at all before leaving the scene. But instead of trying to figure out that what was going on here and still shaken by what they had seen, they immediately turned around and ran to the direction where they had came from.

TO BE CONTINUED...

TRIVIA

1) = Foot agents, literally men in black suits - and often dark-blue cloaks - in the public whose only hint of belonging to the Foot Clan are their headbands with the Foot's insignia, which they can remove if necessary to conceal their affiliations, are a new type of Foot soldier I have created for my version of the story.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The second half of Leo's first encounter with the Foot during this episode is based on Leo's encounter with the Foot Ninja in the Leonardo #1 comic book.