The Search for Splinter

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Leonardo walked amidst a blooming, well-tended garden, his digits running over the flowers and branches that swayed in the wind around him. A neatly curated grass path led him through the natural beauty prospering by the hand of the unseen gardener. Dappled sunlight rolled over his skin as he passed beneath the holed shadows of the trees above. The calming birdsong never relented, only quietening a moment before returning to Leonardo’s hearing in full splendour.

Such a stunning place. And none of it real.

He couldn’t be sure of the time he spent in this realm. It felt like hours, but the astral plane’s concept of time did not synchronise with reality. Maybe hours had rolled past in the real world, but Leonardo’s experience told him to think only minutes had elapsed.

---

He opened his eyes, returning to the world of the flesh.

Standing from the cement floor, Leonardo stretched his limbs. Judging by their stiffness, it had been some time since he travelled to the astral realm. Odd. Perhaps the astral plane was different in this dimension. A pity he had returned empty handed.

His brothers had been busy in his absence. They resided in a large, circular lair, similar to their underground home in New York, before they were forced to move. Concrete stairs three or four steps down encircled the depression of the interior section of their lair. Raphael had been turning it into their training area, setting up wing chun wood dummies, a boxing bag, and a free weights area.

On the opposite side of the lair, light flashed through a doorway leading into another room. Leonardo surmised that was Donatello establishing his new laboratory, bringing in all sorts of computers and engineering machinery to satiate his desire for learning and construction.

Michelangelo, meanwhile, was finishing the final touches on a new common area. A large screen had been attached to the wall, no doubt by Donatello, while a number of smaller screens bordered it. Devices for DVD players, VHS players and gaming consoles huddled beneath them. Michelangelo stood up from pushing a three seater couch in front of the multimedia hub, wiping sweat from his brow.

Thankfully, this home and all the equipment were brand new, legally purchased by Donatello. He had saved quite a nest egg working for Peal Industries and used it to buy this underground lair and the objects that filled it. In New York, everything they had was scavenged or recycled, found through their efforts to keep the city safe or discarded in the storm sewers. It was surreal to live in something that hadn’t been abandoned or disused, and fill it with undamaged items.

Their lair had been unoccupied for some time, so his brothers had been working diligently on cleaning up the place and throwing out the garbage that littered it. Looking around, it seemed they had done an excellent job.

They discussed whether they wanted to live above ground, now that their presence no longer inspired fear in the general populace. In the end, they decided they preferred the isolation they were accustomed to, and chose their new home accordingly.

Michelangelo turned and saw his eldest brother.

“Hey, Leo!” Michelangelo called with a wave, walking over. “You’re back in the land of the living!”

“Wow, this place looks great!” Leonardo said.

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Raphael said, striking the punching bag a few times to ensure its stability. “How’d it go?”

Leonardo ignored the jab. “Not good. I still can’t find Master Splinter.”

Michelangelo’s countenance fell. “Oh.”

“Maybe you ain’t doin’ it right?” Raphael said.

“Feel free to take a look yourself,” Leonardo said.

Raphael scoffed. “You know sittin’ still and meditatin’ into some outer body experience ain’t my strong suit.”

Indeed, Leonardo and Splinter were the only two of the family proficient in the technique of astral projection. It took immense focus and mastery over one’s spirit to leave one’s body and enter the spiritual realm. His brothers trained in it still, but found the concepts difficult to grasp, most of all Raphael.

“Maybe Master Splinter is astral walking in a different place to you?” Michelangelo said.

“The truth is, Mikey, that I don’t know if he’s even astral walking,” Leonardo said. “It just makes sense to me that if we can’t find him physically, and he can’t find us physically, that he would resort to the astral realm, in case we both had the same idea.”

Donatello emerged from the doorway, shifting his goggles to sit on his forehead. “No luck, Leo?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Hey, why don’t you just make that tech that tracks mutant blood again, Don?” Raphael asked as his purple clad brother joined them. “We’d find Master Splinter in no time!”

Donatello shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Raph. Developing that technology in the first place almost doomed us all. I don’t want to risk it falling into the wrong hands again. Besides, it only theoretically works for Master Splinter. He was mutated by the ooze too, but the science behind the radar was based on our – or my – blood. I don’t have a sample of Master Splinter’s blood, so I couldn’t do tests to make sure it could be sensed. Plus, I’d have to start from scratch. I destroyed all of my notes, remember?”

Raphael growled. “We’ll we gotta do somethin’! Who knows where Master Splinter could be? He might be captured like Donnie was! Or worse.”

“Or maybe he isn’t even here yet,” Leonardo said. “Remember, we all arrived here at different times, even though we all teleported together. Donatello’s been here the longest, then you and I turned up about a month later, and then Mikey’s only been here a few days.”

“Don’t forget Karai!” Michelangelo chimed in. “We don’t know where she is either.”

Raphael groaned. “And that still don’t help the problem! What are we supposed to do? Hope Leo gets lucky when he has his little wakin’ dreams? It ain’t like a walkin’, talkin’ rat is gonna stir up a fuss in this city like it would back home!”

Leonardo couldn’t help but sympathise. Searching for his brothers for three months only to come up empty handed time and time again wore away his patience as well. Raphael had even less than he did.

“You know what? Let’s go looking for him.”

Raphael looked at him, cocking an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“Let’s go on patrol. We can set up the rest of the lair later on.”

Donatello stretched. “Sounds good to me! Moving servers and machines for hours really tightens up the muscles.”

“Yeah, a run across the rooftops would give us a good appetite too!” Michelangelo said.

Raphael smiled. “Huh. Can’t say I expected you to say that.”

“We all want to find Master Splinter, Raph,” Leonardo said. “Since my way didn’t work, we might as well try yours.”

Raphael nodded. Leonardo learned to savour the quiet moments where he and his hot headed brother agreed. It was seldom that it happened.

Gathering their weapons, the ninja turtles raced out of their lair and into the black of night.
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Splinter clasped the top of his cane as Donatello pressed the button on his teleportation device. A bright light enveloped his vision as the black and white hues of the Turtle Prime universe disappeared. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply and happy to be returning to their home.

He opened them. He stood on a sidewalk as people strode past him.

Instinct kicked in. Splinter dropped low to the ground and leapt into the nearest alley, melding into the shadows. Donatello’s teleportation device must have returned them above ground. He scanned the crowds, searching for his sons, but saw nothing. Not only that, but no one seemed scared or horrified of their presence.

What had happened to New York in their absence? Actually… where were his sons?

“Donatello! Leonardo! Raphael! Michelangelo!” Splinter called out.

A woman – a human woman – heard his cries as she strolled past and shot him a concerned glare.

“Excuse me sir, are you lost?” she said.

Splinter took a step back until he realised the question was directed at him. “I… no, I’m searching for my sons.”

“Oh, that’s no good,” she said, looking into the crowds around them. “What do they look like?”

“I apologise if this is an unusual question, madam,” Splinter said, “but are you not afraid of my appearance?”

The woman laughed. “This is Markov. There are all types here. Some of us might be human supremacists, but most of us aren’t.”

“Markov?” Splinter repeated. “I fear I have arrived in the wrong place.”

“Oh, so you are lost?”

“Not in a way that you will be able to help, kind stranger,” Splinter said. “Thank you for taking the time to speak to an old rat.”

The woman smiled and went on her way.

Markov. He had never heard of this place. Now that he looked around him, it definitely wasn’t New York, though it was obvious why he had mistaken it for such at first glance. Large, packed city blocks greeted the eye in all directions, the sidewalks choked with humanoids of all creeds and species, streets pumped full of vehicles… a future Earth, perhaps? Had Donatello accidentally teleported him forwards in time, rather than through the multiverse?

Leaping nimbly from one alley wall to the next, Splinter bounded up to the roofline of the buildings and peered over the edge. He figured that his green skinned turtle children would stand out among the throng that stampeded beneath him, but that was not the case. He called out their names again, hoping they would hear him. A few people looked up, apparently only responding to the loud noise, but none were his children.

Regardless of the location of this Markov, it was painfully obvious that Splinter had arrived by himself. He stepped back from the building’s edge and sat cross legged, placing his cane across his lap. His immediate concern was for his sons, but he had to work out where they were first.

However, that would have to wait.

Almost imperceptible footfalls met Splinter’s hearing. Three people by the sound of it, landing incredibly quietly. They advanced slowly on him, his back to their approach. He heard no weapons being drawn. Splinter tightened his grip on his cane and took a secretive breath.

Splinter planted his hands on the ground and spun, throwing a kick at the closest person, connecting with a jaw. The ninja master landed on his feet and bent down low, taking in those that had been behind him.

Ninjas dressed in black fell into fighting stances. The fighter that Splinter kicked recovered from the blow and fell into step with their team. Splinter spotted the katana handles peeking over their shoulders. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of them was a crimson, three pronged symbol emblazoned on their chests.

The symbol of the Foot clan.

Were they responsible for Splinter’s displacement to Markov, and the separation from his sons? Regardless of the answer, why had they not armed themselves? Why were there only three of them?

“Please, Master Splinter,” one of the ninjas said. “We don’t wish to engage in battle.”

“If you indeed speak the truth, then state your business,” Splinter said, refusing to lower his guard.

“We were told to find you and make contact.”

“For what purpose?”

“To give me some time to arrive, Master Splinter.”

A very familiar voice met the mutated rat’s ears. From his right, jumping over the alleyway from the next building, landed another nimble figure donned in black. Her face was not disguised, though Splinter didn’t need a visual to know who it was.

“Karai. So you have found yourself in this place also.”

Karai stepped forward, her eyes half lidded, her expression a blank slate. “As have you, Master Splinter. And without your ninja clan.”

“I see you do not bear that burden,” Splinter said, eyeing the Foot ninja. “I do not recall any Foot being with us before the teleportation took place.”

“There is much you do not know,” Karai said. “And much I would discuss with you. If you are willing to hear it.”

Karai was a difficult person to read. Her loyalty swayed between the Shredder and his Foot clan, and the honour that seemed intrinsic to her core. Which way she twisted at any given moment often fell to circumstance, Splinter believed. Never fully an enemy, yet never worthy of unqualified trust.

“Why should I not believe this is a ploy to capture me?” Splinter said. “You have always possessed questionable motives, Karai.”

“I cannot argue with that,” she said. “But I have no intentions of harming you. This Markov has, by necessity, created strange bedfellows for me. Some stranger than you might believe.”

“And what would you gain, by divulging such things to an old rat?”

Karai let the silence hang for a moment, concentrating her intense eyes on him.

“Splinter, it is not easy for me to say these words, but know I say them with honesty and integrity. I need your help.”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
The four ninja brothers stole across the Markov rooftops, cloaked in the familiar safety of night. The world continued beneath them, with the roads and even the sidewalks still heavily populated with people, the streetlights illuminating them below. Nothing would come of tonight’s excursion – Leonardo spent months traipsing the city searching for his lost brothers and found nothing – but they hadn’t rolled together since their separation. That probably meant less to Michelangelo, who had, from his point of view, only been gone for a day, but the rest of them who had spent months alone? The simple act of being together brought a great calmness and satisfaction to the turtle leader’s spirit.

Raphael took the lead, sprinting into a hop onto a roof ledge and leaping over an alleyway, landing effortlessly on the next building. Michelangelo trailed, injecting extra flips into his movements. Leonardo soared after, and Donatello landed in the rear.

“Come on, Donnie!” Raphael shouted back, staying only a few paces ahead of Michelangelo. “All that time in the lab made you slow, huh?”

“Oh, I’m just letting you take the early lead,” Donatello said back, whipping out his bo staff. He planted one end into the roof, catapulting himself ahead like a pole vaulter, landing just behind Raphael. “How do you like that?

“Hey! No fair!” Michelangelo said, removed from second place and trying to keep pace with the purple masked ninja.

Leonardo was happy to let the three battle it out for the winner. He was happy enough for them all to be reunited.

A silver glint zipped past his brothers. All three of them stopped instantly.

“What was that?” Leonardo asked.

A silver metal star stuck out of the rooftop.

Donatello plucked it out and inspected it. “A shuriken?”

Four black silhouettes clambered over the rooftop edge. Each withdrew a long katana from the sheaths hanging from their belts. They wore black entirely, save for the yellow eye pieces and red symbols emblazoned on their chests.

The insignia of the Foot clan.

The ninja turtles armed themselves, pressing their shells together, their backs defended from attacks.

“What are the Foot doing here?” Raphael asked.

“Do you think... the Shredder made it here?” Michelangelo asked.

“I doubt it,” Donatello said, his eyes focused on the enemies before them. “We saw him blow up!”

“Maybe he survived it somehow,” Leonardo said. “Ch’rell, I mean. He might have escaped his robot suit before it exploded, and he somehow transported here with us too?”

“Well someone’s orderin’ these bozos around. Ain’t coincidence we get attacked by ninja wearin’ the Foot symbol,” Raphael added.

“You’re right,” Leonardo said. “Let’s beat these guys and find out who they’re working for!”

“Right!” the brothers said in unison, taking off to face a Foot ninja each.

Leonardo dashed to his adversary, slashing both blades diagonally. The Foot ninja raised his katana to block, and the steel clashed. The Foot ninja kicked Leonardo in the chest, forcing him back, before following up with a strike at his neck. Leonardo parried the blade from its intended target and swept the legs from out beneath the Foot ninja. He crashed to the ground. Leonardo slammed a foot on the Foot’s chest and levelled his sword at the downed ninja’s throat.

“You,” Leonardo said, narrowing his eyes. “Who are you working for, Foot?”

“Leo!” Raphael shouted. “Mine got away from me!”

Leonardo looked over his shoulder as another Foot ninja charged over, katana ready to swing. From out of nowhere, Michelangelo barrelled into him, knocking him to the ground. The katana clanged noisily on the rooftop.

“Got him, bro!” Michelangelo said, getting to his feet. The Foot ninja he tackled lay sprawled out, unconscious. “I dealt with mine already!”

Leonardo heard several heavy thwacks of wood connecting with bone. Donatello’s voice followed soon after.

“I’m done too!”

Raphael grumbled. “Lucky.”

Leonardo’s brothers stood by his side, glaring at the Foot ninja beneath their leader’s heel.

“Please, spare me, Leonardo,” the Foot ninja said with a steely voice.

“Huh,” Raphael said. “They don’t normally talk.”

“I’ll spare you if you answer some questions,” Leonardo said.

“I came only to deliver a message,” the Foot ninja said.

“What was it? Turtles look better sliced and diced?” Michelangelo said.

“We had to fight you... to ensure it was you,” the ninja said. “This place is full of non-humans that could stand in for you.”

Donatello shrugged. “He’s got a point.”

“OK, so you know it’s us now,” Raphael said. “What do you wanna say?”

“Karai wants to speak to you urgently,” the ninja said. “Your master is with her. They have met and they wish to inform you of their discussion.”

Leonardo’s breath stilled in his lungs. “Master? You mean Master Splinter? He’s here?”

“Karai too?” Michelangelo said.

Raphael stuck his sai right in front of the downed Foot ninja’s eyes. “You better not be yankin’ us around here!”

“Easy Raph,” Donatello said, pulling his brother back.

“Where are they?” Leonardo said coldly, lightly pressing the tip of his ninjaken against the ninja’s throat.

“Hey, you too Leo!” Michelangelo said. “He’s working with us now!”

Leonardo scowled, processing Michelangelo’s statement, and lifted his foot. The Foot ninja scrambled to his feet. The other defeated ninjas rose as well and they fled the rooftop.

“Follow us.”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
The rooftop permitted a clear view all around them, the stars twinkling above, the cold night air blowing over their skin. There were a handful of Foot ninja around, but likely for the purposes of protection, should this meeting go against Karai’s plans. As far as Leonardo could tell, this wasn’t an ambush.

Leonardo checked on his brothers flanking either side of him. Donatello and Michelangelo stood firm but apprehensive. Raphael scowled, his fists balled, ready for action. For once, Leonardo felt his emotions were closer to mimicking Raphael’s. If Karai was playing with them, lying about knowing about where Master Splinter was...

“OK, we’re here,” Leonardo said, flatly. “Where is Master Splinter?”

Karai stared at Leonardo with the same unflinching intensity he often saw, yet there was a hint of vulnerability in her eyes. “Please understand that I didn’t capture your sensei. I sought to speak with him, on peaceful terms, knowing him to be the most rational and sensible of your clan.”

“Hey! Are you implyin’ we ain’t sensible?” Raphael shouted.

“You’re probably not the best person to argue against that,” Donatello said with a smirk, trying to break the tension.

“This isn’t a discussion, Karai,” Leonardo said, pointing at the Foot leader. “It’s a demand. Show us Master Splinter right now, or this meeting is over.”

From behind Karai, over the lip of the rooftop, Splinter flipped. He strode over to stand by Karai, cane tapping on the rooftop with each step, his face implacably unreadable as it ever was in situations like this. On the plus side, there was no sign of injury to him.

“Master Splinter!” Michelangelo cried out.

“You really are here,” Raphael said, both surprise and happiness in his tone.

“It’s so good to see you, sensei,” Donatello said.

Leonardo wasn’t so quick to respond with his emotions. “Master Splinter, I’m of course glad to see you’re unharmed, but...”

“Why am I with Karai, the leader of the Foot clan, and not my sons?” Splinter finished, bowing his head. “Because Karai has news that I doubt you would hear without my presence. And it deserves to be heard from her, not me.”

Leonardo frowned. Father loved to be cryptic. One of the quirks of an old ninja master, he supposed.

“You... want us to listen to her?” Raphael said.

“Did she not help us stop the Utrom Shredder from destroying all of the turtle multiverse?” Splinter said.

“Yeah, but... it’s Karai!” Michelangelo said. “She switches sides more often than Raphael blows his lid!”

“Heh, for once we agree,” Raphael said.

“Things have changed, my sons,” Splinter said. “And not for the better.” He lifted a clawed hand. “Please, Karai. Explain.”

“Very well,” Karai said, giving a curt nod. “I need your help.”

“Help? For what?” Donatello asked.

“Helpin’ the Foot? That don’t sit right with me,” Raphael said.

“Please, my sons!” Splinter said, tapping his cane for some silence. “Let her finish.”

Karai cleared her throat. “This will take some time to explain. Please be patient with me.”

Leonardo narrowed his eyes. He was picking up on something his brothers were not – Karai was being polite, deferring to Master Splinter, and her entire demeanour had softened. Whatever she had to say, it was serious.

“OK Karai,” Leonardo said. “Please, tell us.”

Karai took a deep breath. “I am aware, as are you turtles, that Donatello’s teleportation device did not send us home, but to this strange dimension. It also did not bring us here at the same time. Donatello, you have been here the longest of your brothers – I believe you appeared around four months ago? Leonardo was next, about three months ago. Raphael appeared two months prior to today, whereas Michelangelo and Splinter have shown up only recently.”

“I have been here longer than all of you,” she continued. “And I had much time to think about my past, and where my future was heading. I decided that I would no longer play second fiddle to anyone, including Shredder – assuming he still lives – and I sought to build my own ninja empire in this new dimension. However, training ninja from the scum that line Markov’s streets is a tall order, and very time consuming. I was not making up the numbers I had hoped. And then...”

Splinter nodded. “Please, continue.”

“Then, before Donatello showed up here, months before in fact... another arrived here. Both familiar and unfamiliar.”

“The Shredder.”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
“What?” all four turtles responded in unison.

“The Shredder is here as well? Didn’t he get destroyed by the Technodrome while we were in the Turtle Prime universe?” Leonardo asked.

“This is not Ch’rell,” Karai said. “Nor was it Tengu Shredder or Cyber Shredder. Nor the other two we encountered in the Turtle Prime universe.”

“Geez, don’t remind me how many Shredders there have been,” Donatello said, slapping his face.

“So, this is a Shredder we don’t know about?” Leonardo asked. “Or a Shredder from another turtle-verse?”

“The latter, I’m afraid,” Karai said. “One who calls himself Omega Shredder.”

“Omega?” Michelangelo said. “Man, that sounds so cool!”

“Unfortunately, it is anything but ‘cool’,” Karai said. “This Shredder arrived in Markov badly injured and on the verge of death, along with a platoon of his own Foot soldiers. They encountered me, and there must be a Karai in his universe, because he trusted me to help him. I didn’t want to – not at first – since I was resolved to no longer wear the yoke of another again. Especially another Oroku Saki.”

“But then I considered something. I brokered a deal – I would help heal him if he gave me temporary control of the Foot soldiers he brought with him while he was unable to lead.”

“And then you killed him with his own soldiers, right?” Raphael said, punching his palm.

Karai shook her head. “Part of the agreement was that his most trusted ninja would guard him day and night until he was fully healed. I could not easily end his life, even with the resources I had at my disposal.”

Donatello cocked an eyebrow, looking at the Foot ninja accompanying Karai. “Uh, if that’s so, don’t you want to keep that a secret from these guys guarding you?”

“These are not of Omega Shredder’s ilk,” Karai said, waving away the concern. “I still have continued to train my own Foot legion in earnest, using the excuse that the Foot will need to be strong and replenished with new initiates when Shredder is healed. Through this, I have been using his resources to train Foot loyal only to me. These are some of them.”

“Pretty sneaky,” Michelangelo said. “I like it!”

“So what’s the problem?” Leonardo said. “Why do you need us?”

“Because Omega Shredder has finally finished recuperating,” Karai said. “He has taken back control of his Foot ninja, leaving me with only a small number at my command. I cannot follow him. My honour refuses it. But right now, I have no choice. I fear that should I leave, he and his ninja will hunt me down and kill me.”

“Plus, from what I have seen of him so far, I fear he will be worse than even the Utrom Shredder. He is even stronger than him, too.”

“Ah, I see,” Raphael said. “You want us to do the dirty work for you and take him out so you can sit at the top of the Foot again, safe and sound, is that it?”

“Partially,” Karai said. “But it’s also in your best interests, too.”

“This new Shredder is more powerful than any of us can hope to tackle alone,” Splinter said. “I have seen footage of his capabilities. It is best that we ally with Karai to bring down this shared threat.”

“You really think so, Master Splinter?” Michelangelo said.

“I do,” Splinter confirmed.

The turtle brothers exchanged looks.

A new Shredder? Even when Ch’rell was accounted for, another bearing the infamous title eventually dredged itself out of hiding. Was this some intergalactic, spiritually bound curse, that the turtles would forever encounter Shredder, engaging in battle until one fell?

“Man, is there some sorta hive or nest or somethin’ that keeps churnin’ these Shredders out?” Raphael said to his brothers, echoing Leonardo’s thoughts. “Can’t get a minute of peace without a Shredder poppin’ out of the shadows.”

“It’s a Shredder,” Donatello said. “None of the ones we know about have been good guys.”

“By that logic, we don’t have much choice,” Leonardo said. “We can’t let a Shredder terrorise another dimension.”

“But Karai,” Michelangelo said. “I mean, we’ve worked with her before but... won’t she eventually turn on us? She’s only ever been an honourary good guy. Once she gets what she needs, bam!” Michelangelo clapped his hands. “Back to the bad guy.”

Leonardo chewed on that thought as he stared at Karai, then to their sensei. “Master Splinter is telling us to trust her. I think that’s all of the convincing we really need.”

“Yeah,” Raphael grumbled. “Much as I hate to admit it, Master Splinter’s knows what’s goin’ on better than us. He ain’t in the habit of bein’ wrong, neither.”

“Besides,” Donatello added, “if she steps out of line later on, we’ll just put her back in her place, like we always do!”

“All right then, it’s settled.” Leonardo turned from his brothers. “Master Splinter, Karai... what do we need to do?”

“Thank you, my sons,” Splinter said. “This is what Karai and I have discussed so far...”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
“So, you’ve only been here for a day, Master Splinter?” Michelangelo said.

“Less than that, my son,” the sensei replied. “Since the afternoon. It is strange that we all arrived at different times.”

Leonardo sat on a plump cushion. Legs crossed, palms together in front of his chest, he bowed his head and meditated. As he breathed deeply, clearing his mind, he couldn’t help but listen in to his family and their discussions. In truth, he wanted to hear it. Perhaps he should have just stopped with the meditation and joined them.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Donatello said. “My hypothesis is that the teleportation lens got cracked in all the fighting. Not enough to stop it from operating, but the flaw in the glass must have scrambled both our space and time coordinates. Luckily, the space coordinates must have been largely the same for all of us. Just not the time ones.”

Ah, Donatello. Always has an idea on why anything happens eventually.

“Yeah well, Karai sure found you quick,” Raphael said. “Considerin’ this was all random. She says she’s been here longer than even Donnie. Maybe she knows more about this teleportin’ ‘accident’ than she’s lettin’ on.”

And Raph. Quick to blame, quick to mistrust. Though who could fault him, for all we’ve been through with Karai.

“While I understand your wariness Raphael, I do not believe this to be true,” Splinter said, raising a finger. “If your brother could not have predicted any of our arrivals, I would think Karai could not as well.”

“Yeah,” Michelangelo said. “All the eggheads in the Foot are probably still in New York. And Karai might be a good ninja, but she isn’t a big techno-geek like Donnie is!”

Mikey, always with the levity, though he makes a good point. Probably just luck that Karai found-

Ugh,
focus Leonardo. You’re supposed to be clearing your mind. You’ll need it for whatever Karai has in store for us.

Karai had brought them to a deserted office building near the edge of Markov’s protective barrier. The light occasionally flickered from the aged fluorescent bulbs. Outside of the cushions provided by the Foot ninja, there was no other furniture in the room. The Foot ninja, four in total, stood alert in the room; two guarded the only door, while the remaining two stood against the large rectangular window set in the wall facing the road, the thick and dusty curtains drawn.

The safe house, one of a half dozen Karai possessed without Omega Shredders’ knowledge, provided a place to rest while they waited for her to return. During their rooftop discussion, she had been called to attend him. Wanting to prevent any arousal of suspicion, she directed her loyal Foot ninja to bring the turtles and Splinter there while she answered her summons.

Without the chance to discover what Master Splinter and Karai had talked about, and Splinter staying tight lipped until Karai’s return, Leonardo had meditated, trying to purge the worry and racing thoughts from his mind. A futile endeavour, it appeared.

Groaning, Leonardo stood and dragged his cushion over to join his family. They all sat in a circle on their cushions, with Master Splinter the focus at the apex.

“Done with the meditating, bro?” Michelangelo said. Waving his fingers, he added, “did you see any spooooky visions?”

Raphael slapped Michelangelo on the back of the head. “Enough clownin’ around, numbskull.”

“Ow!”

“No, I couldn’t concentrate,” Leonardo said, looking away. “All of this information... a new Shredder, working with Karai... and all on the back of Walter Peal... I’m having difficulty relaxing.”

“Heh, always was a problem for ya,” Raphael said.

“It is understandable, my son,” Splinter said. “You have already been through so much recently. I’m afraid that it is not time to rest yet, however.”

“I know, sensei,” Leonardo said. “I’m sure I’ll feel better when Karai gets here and everything’s out in the open.”

A series of irregular knocks sounded from the door. When they ceased, a Foot ninja unlocked it and in strode Karai. She held a round device with a glass top, its exterior black.

“Turtles, thank you for your patience,” Karai said, dipping in a half bow.

Splinter arose from his cushion and joined Karai as she placed the black device on the floor. She pressed a button and a holographic projection shot out of the glass top.

This is Omega Shredder.”

Many of the design elements of past Shredders applied to this image – the helmet, the spiked gauntlets and forearm guards. But unlike Ch’rell’s robotic exosuit, this Shredder didn’t wear armour all over his body, or even most of it. The only metal on him was his helmet, arms and legs. He wore simple black cloth on his chest and legs, with a vibrant red sash around his waist and cape on his back. Even his helmet didn’t fully cover his face; instead his facial features were concealed by a black cloth mask, revealing only his eyes.

“This?” Michelangelo said. “This is who we’re supposed to be worried about?”

“Yeah,” Raphael said. “He don’t look all that scary to me. Look at all those places that ain’t covered with steel! Prime stabbin’ points!”

“Is he human?” Leonardo said, noting the tan skin where the outfit didn’t cover.

“He is different to the Utrom Shredder in many ways,” Karai said. “One of them is that yes, he is indeed human. Another is his incredible evasiveness. He chooses to dress as a ninja, which grants him greater flexibility and speed than the metal body of Ch’rell. And you all remember that Ch’rell’s exosuit still moved faster than any human.”

“That’s a good point,” Michelangelo said. “Still, if we land a hit on him, it’ll hurt all the more!”

“Yes but please, realise that connecting with your blows will be far harder than you are used to,” Karai said. “I have also witnessed him punch through solid brick without being affected by it at all. His wrist mounted claws can tear through metal with ease. Despite being a human, his feats of strength are something to be concerned about. A single, well-aimed strike will be enough to knock most of you unconscious. Or worse.”

“Heh, I’d like to see him try!” Raphael said.

“Please my sons, take this seriously,” Splinter said tersely. “This Omega Shredder is no laughing matter.”

“Not only is he swift and strong,” Karai explained as the hologram changed to a Foot ninja, clad in black, “but his army of Foot ninja are as well. Your own skills often best the training of Utrom Shredder’s ninja but I believe you will find yourself at a greater disadvantage with Omega Shredder’s minions.”

“Noted,” Leonardo said. “Anything else?”

The hologram disappeared. “Yes. Omega Shredder is so known for two reasons. The first – he also knows about the multiverse, and that there are innumerable versions of you turtles throughout them. He has claimed on many occasions that he wishes to end every turtle in all dimensions – the Omega, or end, of your kind, as he puts it.”

“Poetic for a Shredder,” Donatello said.

“That’s what the Utrom Shredder wanted to do, too,” Michelangelo said.

“How’d he find out about the multiverse?” Leonardo asked.

“Well...” Karai started shyly, “he pieced it together after meeting me. I explained who I was, the adopted daughter of the Shredder in my universe. As I mentioned before, there was a Karai in his dimension as well. He asked if there were teenage mutant ninja turtles where I was from, and I confirmed it. From there, he realised if two sets of our worlds existed, there must be more.”

“So there must be different versions of us in his home dimension too,” Donatello said.

“Huh, so this Shredder’s got some brains,” Raphael said. “What’s the other reason he’s got such a goofy name?”

“I can’t say much about it, because I simply do not know,” Karai said. “I have not seen it in action. But I overheard one of his loyal ninja discussing some state or power that this Shredder wields. He called it his Omega state. Since his Foot didn’t know I was listening, I doubt it was a ruse.”

“Hey! I bet we can make him go Omega!” Michelangelo said. “I’m can be preeeeetty annoying when I want to be.”

“Got that right,” Raphael said.

“It does not seem like something you would want to experience,” Splinter said. “It would be best if we could avoid goading him into activating this Omega form of his.”

“Outside of these physical attributes,” Karai said, “and his lust for spilling turtle blood, he is a devious and heartless tactician. He will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, not unlike Ch’rell. Do not expect him to show mercy. I must stress that he is the most dangerous threat you have ever faced.”

Leonardo thought back to the time that the Utrom Shredder attempted to flee Earth in his spaceship hidden beneath his New York skyscraper. The turtles almost sacrificed their lives to stop him there, and would have if not for the timely arrival of the Utroms. And when Ch’rell returned, they almost fell to him again. It seemed almost like luck that the Technodrome laser initiated and obliterated him when it did.

If Karai of all people was hammering the point that Omega was more fearsome than Utrom...

The leader of the turtles stood and punched his palm. “We understand, Karai. We will be on guard.”

Raphael stood as well. “Yeah. We’ll strike swiftly. No mercy.”

“We won’t be fooled,” Donatello said as he rose. “No matter what plans he might concoct, we’ll be prepared.”

“I know I can be a bit of a bonehead sometimes,” Michelangelo said as he joined his brothers. “But I hear what you’re saying, Karai. We won’t underestimate him.”

Splinter nodded, a proud smile on his face.

“So what’s the plan now?” Leonardo said. He felt energised, shoulder to shoulder with his brothers, their confidence peaking. “How are we going to take him out?”

Splinter spoke this time. “While his Foot ninja are not great in number, they are still a small army. With their heightened training and strength, it would be smart for us to avoid them and save our strength for the Omega Shredder. Karai will draw him out where he will be exposed, and provide us with his location. In this way, we may only have to deal with a few guards instead of the entire Foot ninja force. The remainder of our attention and resources can then be concentrated on the Omega Shredder.”

“This ambush includes my own loyalist Foot,” Karai said. “And myself.”

“A good ol’ fashioned ninja ambush,” Raphael said. “I like it. When’s it goin’ down?”

Karai glanced at Splinter, who dipped his head.

“Tonight.”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
The wind whipped the loose ends of Leonardo’s mask about as he gripped the edge of the rooftop, peering down to the meeting place below. Two other Foot ninja crouched beside him, tensely waiting for the order to descend. They wore simple black outfits, but there was no indication they belonged to the Foot. They didn’t need to arouse the Shredder’s mistrust.

The building’s rooftop beneath them, where they stared so intently, was to be where Karai met with the Omega Shredder.

Leonardo’s heart raced, thumping in his chest. The calm before the battle was always the most nerve wracking, especially against a foe he had no knowledge of. The two Foot ninja by his side didn’t help matters either.

“Man, this thing is really uncomfortable!” Michelangelo’s voice said through a tightly fitted earpiece in Leonardo’s ear. “We only got holes for ears, you know!”

“Quit your whinin’, Mikey,” Raphael’s voice said next.

“I’ve got some ideas for our masks,” Donatello’s voice said. “When I get some downtime, I’ll put some nano mics and speakers into the masks so we won’t need to have this extra gear.”

“OK, enough chatter,” Leonardo said. “We need to be ready for Karai’s signal.”

His brothers perched on the three other rooftops that surrounded the meeting place below, each with their own Foot ninja to accompany them when they struck. Splinter watched nearby, staying silent over the comms. His role was to keep abreast of the situation, and pull the plug on the operation if things went sideways.

Four Foot ninja scaled the edge of the rooftop below, preceding the arrival of Karai. She stood calmly, her red headband waving in the wind.

“OK, Karai’s in position,” Donatello said. “Now we’re just waiting for the big guy.”

Leonardo felt a chill run through his bones. Something about this entire setup didn’t sit right with him. He looked around him, to the Foot ninja who stared unflinchingly at their leader below, as if he could just spy what put him at unease. This wasn’t the first time he worked with an enemy to achieve a common goal. So what unnerved him so much about this?

Should he voice his concern? But what would he even say? He was nervous? He had to put that aside. The mission needed laser focus.

“Be prepared, my sons,” Splinter said through the ear piece. “The Omega Shredder approaches.”

Leonardo sent his gaze to the rooftop below. A black clad figure bounded over the lip of the roof and landed, standing confidently as his red cape billowed in the breeze. His back was to Leonardo, but he would recognise that silver helmet and spiked armguards anywhere. His fingers tightened on the rooftop edging.

He was as Karai described him, wearing largely well fitted black cloth, only broken up by the red sash, red cape and silver armour. No Foot ninja flanked his sides – either he felt no danger from Karai, or he saw no need for extra protection.

“Master Shredder.” Karai addressed him, bowing at the waist, her voice connected to the comms as well. Her loyal ninja dropped to one knee and lowered their heads in a false gesture of reverence. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”

“I assume you have more information for me,” Omega Shredder said, his voice gravelly and menacing. “We only met mere hours ago.”

“Yes, Master Shredder,” Karai said. “I have confirmed that the turtles have indeed found each other again.”

Leonardo frowned, but Raphael voiced what they were all thinking. “What? Is she givin’ us away? Is she backstabbin’ us already?”

Was this the unease Leonardo experienced before Shredder arrived? Was Karai planning to betray them so quickly?

“Quiet, Raphael,” Splinter said. “This is part of the strategy.”

“She said she’d give us the signal to attack, not rat us out at the first opportunity she had!” Raphael said. “Uh, no offense, sensei.”

“Raphael, enough!” Splinter said. “You are breaking Karai’s focus. Trust in the plan.”

“That presents an opportunity,” Omega Shredder said, raising a hand and making it into a fist. “We can crush them all at the same time.”

Karai balled a hand, then stuck out her index finger. She formed a fist again and stuck out index and middle finger. “Indeed, Master. That is why I sought you out so soon.”

“That’s the signal,” one of the Foot ninja said.

Leonardo nodded, gripping the roof edge with his toes. His ninjaken blades slid cleanly from their back mounted sheathes. “Turtles, strike!”

He leapt into the abyss, plummeting like a stone, knees bent against his chest. The Foot ninja descended by his side, both wielding single katanas. His brothers were barely visible against the shadows, but he could make out their dimly lit forms along with their assigned Foot ninja converging on Shredder as well.

Raphael’s Foot hit the rooftop first, somersaulting and leaping into action. Omega Shredder turned, defenceless in the moment it took for him to realise what was transpiring. However, he still managed to block both katanas with his spiked armguards and kick the rebelling Foot away.

“What is this?” Omega Shredder said. “Rival ninja?”

Raphael was on his feet. He stabbed with his sai, but Shredder parried.

“You’re gettin’ demoted, Chrome Dome,” Raphael said. “To an office six feet underground!”

Donatello and Michelangelo joined the fray along with their Foot ninja, yet Shredder read each attack as if it approached him in slow motion. He weaved and deflected each attack, choosing to strike the Foot ninja first, laying each one out in a single hit.

Leonardo raised both swords in the air and slashed down as he reached the rooftop. Shredder spun and crossed his forearms over his face, catching the blades. In that moment, as Leonardo stared into the hateful eyes of the ninja master, he realised the pure strength the man possessed. Leonardo was stronger than a full grown human, able to knock them around with ease. But pressing his full might against this Shredder’s arms, unable to break his guard, he knew this foe was beyond human. Maybe even beyond a mutant turtle.

Sensing the power differential, Leonardo kicked off Omega Shredder’s chest, backflipping in the air and landing in a crouch. His designated Foot ninja rushed in after him but were quickly disarmed and knocked to the ground.

“Turtles!” Omega Shredder decried. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry, Master,” Karai said, taking a battle stance by the Foot clan leader. “They must have followed me. I didn’t even know they saw me.”

“Sloppy work, Karai,” Shredder barked. “Though at least this brings the opportunity to us.” He looked at the unconscious Foot ninja laying haphazardly around the rooftop. “It seems the turtles have some of their own disciples. Starting your own clan, you filthy freaks?”

Karai unsheathed her katana. “I will resolve to correct my mistake, Master.”

Omega Shredder fell into a fighting stance. “We will both correct your mistake.”

Leonardo lined up with his brothers.

“What is she doing?” Michelangelo whispered.

“Trust in the plan. That’s what Master Splinter said,” Leonardo said.

Though with every moment, as Karai stared them down beside Omega Shredder, he wondered if they hadn’t been played the entire time.
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Rage blazed in Omega Shredder’s eyes like Leonardo had never seen before. The robotic crimson eyes of Utrom Shredder were sinister and threatening, but only Ch’rell’s flesh eyes gave off any tangible fury. And even with the knowledge of how much Ch’rell hated Leonardo and his brothers, Omega Shredder displayed more hatred despite having never met them before.

Karai stared down the four ninja turtles, katana raised and ready for combat.

Leonardo felt the tenseness of his brothers without even looking at them. He shared it. He locked eyes with Karai, tightening his grip on the hilts of his swords.

“Uh… can someone please tell me this is all a big joke?” Michelangelo said, urgency in his voice.

Raphael snarled. “Why doesn’t anyone listen to me until it’s too late? I don’t say these things for fun, ya know!”

Donatello glanced at the unconscious Foot ninja strewn around them. “I’ve got to admit, I’m not feeling so confident about our plan any longer!”

“Nor should you, freaks,” Omega Shredder said. “I’m about to tear you all limb from limb.”

Leonardo hadn’t broken eye contact with Karai. Her countenance remained stern and unflinching, as if she knew the decision she had to make.

A decision that no one knew was coming.

Karai’s eyes snapped to the side. She twirled, her katana blade sweeping a silver arc in the moonlight, the steel slicing through Omega Shredder’s unprotected ribs.

Leonardo’s eyes widened as the shocked Shredder staggered to the side, slapping a hand on the enormous gash along his side. Red spilled through his fingers like crimson oil. Kneeling, his chest heaving, Omega Shredder looked up at Karai as she bounded into the air, katana held overhead.

Traitor,” Shredder whispered fiercely.

Showing no signs of injury, Omega Shredder raised his spiked armguard, catching the katana blade as Karai slashed. In the same movement, he drove the claws of his other arm towards Karai’s abdomen.

Karai pushed off the hilt of the katana, creating just enough space for Shredder’s wicked uppercut to miss her midsection. The blades continued upwards and made contact with the right side of Karai’s face.

The strike lifted the Foot ninja second in command off her feet. She crashed, limp and unmoving, beside Leonardo. Two long cuts ran up the right side of Karai’s cheek, bleeding slowly.

“Karai!” Leonardo cried out, dropping his ninjaken and kneeling by her. He pressed a finger to her throat. “She’s still alive.”

“Is that right?” Omega Shredder said, standing to his full height. Karai’s slash in the left side of his black tunic exposed the still oozing wound, the edges of the torn cloth stained darker by the dried blood. The fingers of his left hand were stained red. “I’ll have to do a better job this time.”

Leonardo grabbed his weapons and stood before the prone Karai. “You won’t be getting past us.”

His brothers lined up beside him.

“Must you heroes use the same old phrases every time?” Omega Shredder said, striding towards them. Despite the severity of his injury, he held himself as if the blade never touched his skin. Was that an act, or did it truly not bother him? “It makes these confrontations all the more vexing, to hear the same tired recycled cliches, over and over again.”

“Then let me take your eardrums out so you don’t have to worry ‘bout it no more!” Raphael said, flashing his sai.

The plan had failed. Karai was out cold, her Foot ninja were defeated easily, and Omega Shredder was on guard. Their entire strategy hinged on ambushing Shredder, to avoid this exact confrontation.

“Master Splinter,” Leonardo said, “what do we do?”

“I doubt Omega Shredder will simply let you escape,” Splinter’s voice responded through Leonardo’s earpiece. “However, engaging him in combat after enraging him is also not ideal.”

“We can’t fight, we can’t run… not a lot of other options other than those two!” Michelangelo said.

“I’m done dealing with you mutated freaks,” Omega Shredder said. “If you run, I will hunt you down. There is no hole dark enough, no sewer filthy enough, to hide from me. If you stay and fight, I will eviscerate you and hurl your entrails over the edge of this skyscraper like bloody confetti.”

“I am afraid you must face him, here and now,” Splinter said. “Target his wound, and perhaps you can disable him long enough to escape without him following your trail. But be careful. Omega Shredder will undoubtedly be prepared for such a strategy.”

Leonardo glanced at Karai, the thin fingers of blood crawling down her face. Even with a fresh surprise wound he still defeated her with a single strike.

“Well, it’s been nice knowing you guys!” Michelangelo said.

“We ain’t out yet, Mikey!” Raphael said. “We’re the teenage mutant ninja turtles! We ain’t ever out!”

“I think a balance of those two attitudes is best,” Donatello said. “Stay confident, but not too confident.”

Leonardo’s mind raced for a plan. Omega Shredder was simply too tough to tackle head-on, but he also managed to fend off attacks from angles he shouldn’t have perceived. Still, they had to stress him. The wound would eventually affect him. He was still human.

“Guys, compass formation!” Leonardo said.

Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo leapt into the air, landing at the other three corners of the rooftop. Omega Shredder let them, his burning gaze reserved for Leonardo and Karai on the floor behind him.

“Go!”

All four turtles converged on their interdimensional enemy from four different angles.

“Let us end this pathetic farce!” Omega Shredder bellowed.

Raphael and Donatello approached from the left and right, attacking simultaneously. Omega Shredder stepped away from Donatello’s bo swing, leaning towards Raphael and parrying his sai with his clawed armguards. In the same motion, he grabbed Raphael’s arm and hurled him into Donatello, sending them tumbling away in a mess of limbs.

Michelangelo, the fastest and swiftest of the turtles, snuck beneath an almost unpredictable backwards kick from Omega Shredder and swung his nunchuck. The wooden weapon slammed against the Foot master’s wound.

Leonardo narrowed his eyes as Shredder roared, releasing a furious retaliatory backswing that Michelangelo barely avoided. The enraged ninja followed up with a pinpoint accurate knee to Michelangelo’s midsection, doubling the turtle over as Leonardo stabbed both blades for the wound.

Before the orange clad turtle had hit the roof, Omega Shredder had already fixed his baleful gaze on Leonardo. His immense strength slammed Leonardo’s ninjaken from his hands, even when he prepared for the blow. The next moment, a kick like a battering ram ploughed into the ninja turtle’s chest. He saw the star studded sky trail through his vision before it went black.

Leonardo came to a moment later, gasping for air, his vision dulled. He pressed himself up and immediately collapsed, barely able to sense the coarse surface of the rooftop. Through blurred eyes he spotted Donatello and Raphael in a similar situation, moving feebly, trying and failing to climb to their feet. Michelangelo hugged his abdomen in the fetal position, eyes squeezed shut. Leonardo had lost track of Karai.

Omega Shredder’s heavy boots grew louder. Leonardo grasped for his swords, but they were far out of reach. The toe of the boot hooked beneath his chest and rolled Leonardo over onto his shell.

“I thought I’d leave you until last,” Omega Shredder growled. “But I did that once before. Now all I crave is to see your head separated from your shoulders.”

No!

A flash of black and silver soared between them, knocking Omega Shredder backwards.

Leonardo strained his eyes, focusing on the dark figure wielding Karai’s katana, standing guard.

“You…” Shredder seethed.

Master Splinter whipped his tail about. “You will not touch my sons, fiend!”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Once again, as if locked within an eternal cycle, Splinter faced down Shredder.

The name stalked Splinter and his family, reaching out of the shadows to strike at his heart at any moment. His sons, battered and unmoving except fevered jostling and heavy breathing, fell exceptionally fast to this monster. Splinter wasn’t sure he could compete with Omega Shredder after witnessing the brutal defeat of his ninja disciples. But even if he bought them only extra seconds to live and perhaps slink off to survive, it was worth his sacrifice.

“So… you deigned to claw your way out of the muck and do your own dirty work,” Omega Shredder said, slowly rising to his full height.

“I don’t know what Splinter exists in your dimension, but know that I will do everything within my power to keep my sons safe!” Splinter returned, gripping the katana tighter.

“Correction – existed,” Shredder said. He fell into a fighting stance. “He died by my hand. Just like you will!”

Omega Shredder dashed forward with inhuman speed. Splinter dropped his weight on his haunches to jump, but realised in that short time that Shredder would be upon him while his toes were still leaving the ground. Instead he rolled to the side, apparently subverting Shredder’s expectations as he followed through with a swift uppercut to the air. Splinter swung the katana at the wound that Karai had carved with the same tool minutes earlier, but a flash of silver parried the blade.

Splinter, already low to the ground, bounded over Shredder as the Foot leader attacked and guided the katana towards Shredder’s shoulder. As Shredder’s punch missed its target, he leaned into it, flattening his hand against the ground and propping his body up with it. He pushed off and drove a kick into the airborne Splinter.

The mutated rat softened the blow by awkwardly redirecting the katana, but Shredder’s power smashed the weapon from his clawed fingers. Splinter hit the ground and rolled to his feet, grasping his right wrist. It throbbed. He flexed the fingers. He wasn’t certain he could hold the katana in it any longer.

“Nimble,” Omega Shredder said. He picked up the katana and snapped the blade from its hilt. “You move with greater skill than your dimensional counterpart. But as you can plainly see, it won’t be enough.”

“You speak as if the battle has been decided,” Splinter said. “Only a fool claims victory prematurely.”

Shredder dropped the broken hilt and examined the katana blade. “The only fool here is the one who can’t – or won’t – accept that he’s horribly outclassed. But that’s par for the course for you, isn’t it? You may not be the Splinter of my universe... you’re more dignified, more intelligent, obviously more capable, but there is still a similar vein running through the both of you.”

Splinter’s eyes caught movement behind the looming Foot leader. Karai shuffled slowly to Leonardo, out of Shredder’s field of vision and perhaps deafened to her movements due to his arrogance. The two gashes along her cheek had stopped bleeding but dried blood caked that side of her face. She knelt by Leonardo and helped him to his knees.

On the other side of the rooftop, Donatello lifted Raphael to his feet. He grabbed Raphael’s arm and slung it over his shoulder, supporting his weight. Splinter witnessed the fury in Raphael's eyes, but the characteristic mindless anger of his son gave way to the gravity of the situation. Raphael soon pushed Donatello from him and headed over to Karai, limping quietly.

Donatello checked on Michelangelo. The youngest of the brothers lifted his head and looked to speak – it was rare that he didn’t – but Donatello pressed a finger to his lips. Michelangelo caught on and threw his weight upon his scientist brother much like Raphael had, except Michelangelo’s slumped form indicated he would not refuse the help.

Good, Splinter thought. They can still move. I need to keep his focus on me. They need time to escape.

“Oh? And what is that similar vein?” Splinter said.

“Your incomprehensible belief that I can be bested!” Omega Shredder yelled, hurling the katana blade at Splinter, spinning it like a shuriken.

Splinter hardened his brow. He had to ensure Shredder’s attention didn’t waver from him.

Taking a breath, Splinter stepped to the side and deftly placed his palms on the still moving katana blade, feeling the flow of the movement while grounding himself. He turned in place, his hands making constant contact with the blade’s spinning side as it orbited around him, and redirected the projectile back at Shredder. Immediately he sprinted forward.

He saw the split second of surprise in Omega Shredder’s eyes as the blade came roaring back at him. The Foot leader backhanded it, deflecting it from the rooftop and rotating into the black of night. Splinter had used that time to reach Shredder. Incredible reflexes still allowed Shredder to strike first, but Splinter was prepared. He leapt with the direction of the punch and over it, digging his nails into Shredder’s bicep and using him as an anchor point. He spun about and slammed both feet into Shredder’s helmet, adding the force of Shredder's own momentum to the blow.

Flipping off the strike, Splinter landed low to the ground as Omega Shredder stumbled back. Over his shoulder, Splinter spotted Leonardo peering over the edge of the rooftop, grasping a rope apparently belonging to Karai. His other sons had already vacated the area, presumably reaching the conclusion Splinter wished them to. Leonardo’s brow was furrowed.

Splinter gave his son a curt nod. Leonardo returned it and vanished from sight.

With his sons safe, Splinter experienced a moment of calm. No matter what happened next, his family lived.

Metal hit the rooftop. Splinter snapped his attention back to Omega Shredder.

His helmet lay discarded on the ground, revealing Shredder’s short, jet black hair. A scar ran down his left eye, from his brow to his cheek bone, the eye itself white and missing a pupil and iris. He seized the black cloth that covered his nose and mouth and yanked it down.

Splinter’s breath stilled in his lungs. He stumbled back, his thoughts immobilised by the wave of shock gripping him. The grimacing face glaring at him was all too familiar.

“It... it cannot be...” Splinter gasped.

Omega Shredder was Hamato Yoshi.

Splinter’s owner and master, killed by Utrom Shredder.
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
The punching bag swung almost horizontally, rattling on its chains. It raced back down only for Raphael to punch it back up. His two sai jutted out from the apex of the bag. Again and again Raphael pummelled the bag, the solid sand within bruising his knuckles, and yet the rage wouldn’t leave him. He gritted his teeth, lashing out without any relief.

“Raphael,” Donatello said, appearing in the doorway of Leonardo’s room. He limped over to the couch and dropped himself on it. “Maybe give that a rest? We all took a beating. You need to take it easy.”

As the punching bag came down again, Raphael pumped all of his fury into a final kick. The bag moved violently and tore in the centre, the sand spilling onto the floor.

You all took a beating,” Raphael said. “All that tin head did to me was throw me into you!”

“With a lot of force,” Donatello said. “I took it harder, but I know it hurt you too.”

His brainy brother was right. Without a focus for his anger, the throbbing pain in his shell grew obvious. Maybe he should take a rest. They weren’t in a rush to do anything yet, anyway. Raphael moved over to Donatello and collapsed beside him on the couch.

“It just… it burns me up!” Raphael said, fingers digging into the armrest. “We’re all sittin’ around here, lickin’ our wounds, while Master Splinter’s still out there! No, I can’t wait any more! Maybe you all have to sit around, but I can do somethin’ about -“

Raphael stood up quickly, but the pain flared angrily. It charged down his spine and through his limbs, forcing him back onto the couch.

Donatello placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Sorry Raph. Master Splinter bought us the time to get out and heal. We can’t do anything until we’re on the mend.”

“But Splinter…”

“Knowing your rat sensei, he will slip out of Omega Shedder’s clutches soon enough.”

Karai approached the turtle brothers. She had cleaned the dried blood from her cheek and laid two bandage strips over the incisions there. If she suffered at all from her injuries, she hid it extremely well.

It didn’t sit well with Raphael that Karai knew the location of their home, let alone being inside it. But his brothers made a salient point. They were all on the same team for now, and they couldn’t refuse help. Yet Raphael saw beyond this moment. What happened when Omega Shredder was defeated, and Karai set the turtles in her sights? She couldn’t be trusted.

“Yeah, alright Karai. Leo and Mikey – how are they doin’?” Raphael asked.

“Progressing,” Karai said, grabbing a chair and pulling it over to the couch before sitting. “Donatello oversaw their treatment. Leonardo is talking but not ready to move about just yet, despite his protestations. Michelangelo is still unconscious, I’m afraid.”

“I think Mikey might have taken the strongest hit,” Donatello said. “He managed to weave through a few of Shredder’s hits. That seemed to irritate him enough to really put some power in his next attacks.”

“Leonardo took a similar blow,” Karai said. “Though I agree, Michelangelo took the worst of it.”

Raphael punched the couch’s armrest. “Dammit! What are we supposed to do? Even at our best, when we thought we had the drop on Shredder, he pounded us into the concrete! Even if we all get better, he’ll just do it again! Plus Master Splinter-“

“Raphael, please, control yourself,” Karai said. “We must recover first, and then we can discuss strategies.”

“No!”

Raphael pushed himself to his feet. A wave of pain surged through him, but he steeled himself and moved over to the punching bag, now empty of sand. He tore his sai out of the fabric, and his vision flashed black at the pain. He dropped to one knee, breathing heavily, sweat beading on his face.

“Raph, don’t be ridiculous!” Donatello said. “Look at yourself! Even if you made it to Omega Shredder, what are you going to do? Collapse on top of him?”

“Don’s right, Raph.”

A different voice. Raphael looked to the doorway.

“Leo?”

The eldest turtle brother shuffled forward, an arm wrapped beneath his chest, slouching a little.

“Leonardo,” Karai said, standing. “You should still be lying down.”

“We’re mutants, Karai,” Leonardo said. “We heal faster than a regular human. Trust me, I’m well enough to be up.”

Raphael smirked. If there was anyone else in this family that rivalled him in stubborn pig-headedness, it was their fearless leader.

“At least be seated.” Karai directed Leonardo to her chair, and he sat.

“How are you feeling, bro?” Donatello said, as Raphael returned to the couch.

Leonardo grimaced suddenly, then smiled. “Sore. Actually, very sore. If I didn’t have this shell, I think that kick would have shattered my spine.”

“And that’s just from one hit. How can a stinkin’ human be so strong?” Raphael said.

“Maybe he’s a mutant like us,” Donatello theorised. “Or he’s unlocked some mystical ninja power? Or a really well disguised alien? Cybernetics? So many possibilities.”

Leonardo looked to Foot ninja in their hideout. “Karai, is there any way you can contact some of your clan and have them scout out the fight? Have them relay the status of our father? As you’ve all established, none of us are capable of doing it.”

“I had the same thought, Leonardo,” Karai said, folding her arms. “There are already some of my Foot ninja en route. Regardless of the situation, we will know more soon.”

“Well, that’s something, at least,” Leonardo said. “Thank you, Karai.”

Karai shook her head. “Think nothing of it. Truth be told, it is my interference that has lead to this undesirable outcome. It is the least I can do.”

“The least you can do is make sure we have a damn chance against the target before you set us on him!” Raphael said, his anger having bided its time until it found the moment to emerge. “We’re all laid out here while Master Splinter’s probably fightin’ for his life, and for what?”

“Raph, please,” Leonardo said, his voice haggard and tired. “The last thing we need to do is fling blame at each other.”

Karai walked away from the turtles, her back to them, and then stopped. “No, Leonardo. Your brother, while crass and without tact, is right. My miscalculations are solely to blame here.”

She turned, her brow furrowed, her eyes moving aimlessly around the floor. It reminded Raphael of when Donatello was stuck on some technical issue and was trying to solve it in his head.

“Raphael keeps searching for a way to defeat Omega Shredder,” Karai said. “There is no question – he must be defeated. And there is only one way I can think of that will have a chance.”

“What? How?” Donatello said.

Karai looked to Leonardo. “You and I need to talk. Privately.”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Splinter’s chest constricted. He laid eyes upon the face of Hamato Yoshi, the ninja who had raised and nurtured him, staring back at him with unbridled malice. The man who had given his life protecting the Utroms from Shredder… had become that evil in another dimension. There were few things that could paralyse Splinter, to mentally freeze him, and this was one of them.

“What are you staring at, vermin?” Yoshi said, baring his teeth.

“You… you cannot be Hamato Yoshi,” Splinter gasped, stepping backwards as if presented with a hungry lion. “You could never be the Shredder.”

“What is this nonsense you’re babbling?” Yoshi said, brandishing a claw guarded fist at the mutated rat. “Why does my identity stun you so?”

“You… your dimensional counterpart… he was not the Shredder. He died to the Shredder. He was my master.”

Yoshi frowned. “That would explain why you show some skill. What sort of feeble fool was I in this plane, though, to have died to another bearing my mantle?”

“The Hamato Yoshi I knew was a Guardian, protector of the alien Utroms,” Splinter said. “The Foot hunted the Utroms until their wicked master Shredder found my master. When he would not tell them where the Utrom lair was, the Shredder... ended him. His honour placed duty above his own life. A trait that has not been shared between dimensions, it seems.”

“What is an Utrom?” Omega Shredder asked.

Splinter regarded Yoshi with suspicion. “You… do not know the Utroms?”

“I own New York City and I have never encountered any creature with that name.”

Splinter furrowed his brow. “No Utroms? They were instrumental in our mutation. Then how did my sons and I come to be in your universe?”

The evil Hamato Yoshi lowered into a fighting stance. “You seek to distract me, rat. To waste time. No matter how much strength you recover, it will not be enough to best me!”

“No, wait!” Splinter said. “I wish to know what happened in your time! Aren’t you curious about our origins? With no Utroms, our circumstances must differ significantly from yours.”

“Utroms, serums, what difference does it make how you freaks of nature came about?” Yoshi growled. “All that matters is wiping your hideous kind off the face of the planet!”

“Serums?” Splinter said. “Please, tell me more!”

“Enough stalling, Saki!” Yoshi roared, charging forward. “It’s time to die!”

“Saki?” Oroku Saki?” Splinter said. “You think that is I?”

Splinter’s words finally had an impact. Yoshi stopped, confusion registering on his scarred face. He lowered his clawed hand and stared at Splinter with intense curiosity.

“You claim you are not Oroku Saki?” The confusion fled, replaced with rage. “You lie to me!”

“No, I swear it is true!” Splinter said. “I am, and have always been, Splinter. My master’s cherished pet rat.”

Omega Shredder glared, his pure white eye unsettling. “You… you are Splinter? The rat?” He paused, his furious gaze running up and down Splinter’s body. “How can I believe that?”

“To prove such a thing is difficult, but it is who I am,” Splinter said. “But please, you must clarify - are you saying that Splinter in your realm is the vile Oroku Saki? That is the identity of the Utrom who took the mantle of Shredder in our world.”

Yoshi laughed at that, throwing his head back. His unexpected mirth rattled Splinter more than his baleful gaze.

“What a cosmic joke! Oroku Saki wanted my title, but his skill could not compare to mine. And yet in another dimension, his name is stolen by an alien to parade about as me!” His laughter broke suddenly and he looked to Splinter. “Then you are truly my rat?”

Your rat,” Splinter noted. “I take it you had a pet rat in your universe, as my master did in mine. Yes, I am the rat known as Splinter, as I have said.”

Yoshi looked to the city skyline beyond the rooftop, drenched in blackness, punctuated by the twinkling lights of the skyscrapers. He seemed pensive, his attention broken for the first time since the battle began, a conflict rolling beneath his abruptly still surface.

“For the bond I shared with my Splinter… I will grant you your request,” Omega Shredder said. He strolled to the centre of the roof and sat cross legged, gesturing to Splinter. “Sit.”

The mutated rat took a quiet moment to evaluate Yoshi. He stared with a hard, unflinching gaze, but Splinter did not sense an ambush. To calm his frazzled nerves was difficult, but he brought himself under control with a few deep breaths, sharing eye contact with the evil doppelganger of his master, and sat across from him. The gap between them granted enough space for Splinter to roll out of a sudden attack, should it come.

“Before I tell my story, I would hear a quick summation of yours,” Yoshi said. “Explain how you came to be in this form. And those turtle freaks you name your sons.”

His sons. Splinter wondered how they fared upon escaping the rooftop. They were resilient and well trained – there was little reason to fear for their safety. While he was absent, he knew that his sons would worry about him, perhaps leaping to foolish and poorly planned action to save their master. But Splinter had to know about this Yoshi’s life. He simply couldn’t leave until he understood how his noble and venerable master could embody the evil that had hunted him and his children for years.

“It began with the Utroms,” Splinter said. “Small, pink aliens that crash landed on Earth in feudal Japan. Marooned, they fashioned robotic exosuits so that they could appear human and live in secret among them, while they waited for the technology level of the planet to advance to a point where they could repair their ship and return home.”

Yoshi listened, his eyes narrowed.

Splinter continued. “A prisoner of the Utroms, Ch’rell, escaped with an exosuit and appropriated an old Japanese legend of a powerful warrior known as Oroku Saki – the Shredder. He built the Foot clan and tried to exterminate the Utroms who imprisoned him, but the Utroms managed to hide from Ch’rell.”

Yoshi shook his head. “Oroku Saki was a Japanese legend? It is inconceivable that a single person could differ so greatly between dimensions.”

“I would have thought so, too,” Splinter said. “Until your helmet came off.”

“Keep going,” Yoshi said.

“During their centuries-long stay on Earth, the Utroms developed a transmat device. This allowed teleportation of matter over vast distances, and they planned to use it to return home. The transmat device, as a byproduct, created a green ooze. During transportation of this ooze, a truck swerved after almost hitting a blind man crossing the street. In the commotion, a young boy dropped a jar of four baby turtles, and a canister of the green ooze fell from the swerving truck. They both travelled down into the sewer, where the ooze coated the turtles. I, as an ordinary rat living on the streets, gave chase and also came in contact with the ooze. In a matter of hours, we began changing until we became what we are today.”

“We eventually grew capable of reason, like a human. I saw these young turtles that needed protection from a world that would not understand them and adopted them as my children. I taught them ninjutsu from the memories, now enhanced, of watching my master, Hamato Yoshi, performing his own training, so they could learn the way of secrecy and stealth, to stay hidden from the human world. I also trained them to fight, so as to give them the skills necessary to protect themselves, should it come to it.”

“Eventually we encountered the Shredder’s operations once my sons became teenagers, and though not fully ready, through many adventures, Ch’rell was finally thwarted. However, upon his defeat, we arrived on this planet and remain stranded.”

Yoshi regarded Splinter for a long moment, his blank eye reflecting the moonlight. “And Karai? What of her?”

“She was the leader of the Foot clan’s chapter in Japan,” Splinter said, “but was brought to New York City to assist the Shredder in defeating my sons. However, her strong adherence to honour has brought her ideals into conflict with her adoptive father many times, to the point where she is not always considered our enemy.”

“And this rooftop ambush was one of your tenuous alliances?” Yoshi said.

Splinter nodded.

“It is an absurd story,” Yoshi said. “But mine is no more sensible. And you speak with the confidence of history, of experience – this is no tale told on the fly.”

“No, it is not,” Splinter said, shaking his head. “It is a long and painful story. But the bonds I share with my sons make it all worthwhile.”

“So be it then, Splinter,” Yoshi said. “You have told your story. Now I shall tell mine.”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Leonardo walked into his room with Karai. She slid the door closed, her brow furrowed, her gaze stern. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t think he had ever seen her smile before. Was it that the austere discipline and training of the Foot had stripped even small moments of joy from ever showing on her face, or did she never feel enough of it to display to the world?

The Foot ninja strolled to the middle of Leonardo’s room, looking around solemnly at his furnishings. The walls held posters in the style of Japanese scrolls bearing kanji that Leonardo found inspiring. Honour. Control. Compassion. A wooden Wing Chun dummy stood in a corner, and a number of wooden blocks with notches sliced out of them were positioned near the turtle leader’s set of katanas, ninjaken and other bladed training weapons.

Leonardo found his bed and sat upon it, waiting for Karai to finish her silent inspection. It felt to the turtle that she was delaying the conversation. Whatever she brought him in here to talk about, she seemed reluctant to get down to brass tacks.

“Karai?” Leonardo asked. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

With her back to him, she sighed. “Yes. This is most challenging, what I must do. I am simply trying to savour the last few moments before I commit to it.”

Leonardo frowned. “Please, Karai. I realise what you want to say to me is difficult. But Master Splinter is still out there with Omega Shredder and we have no idea what the situation is. If you have a way to give us a chance against him, please, tell me what it is.”

Karai turned slowly, her hands held behind her back. She met Leonardo’s gaze.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Karai said, her face indicating she found no comedy in the subject. “We grow up. We train our entire lives, dedicated to honing our craft. We become weapons, controlled by tradition and authority, and obey our orders of when, where and who to strike. And yet life outside the clan challenges everything we were told to do. Nothing is as clear cut as we were led to believe, not if we follow our own logic. Sense and honour battle with duty to our masters... and even when I know what the correct path is, it still feels wrong to walk it.”

Leonardo didn’t know what to say. Karai was obviously waging a war against herself, but it wasn’t his place to interject into her personal life. If she didn’t want to explain, he wouldn’t force it. Yet he felt compelled to speak.

“Look, Karai, I know how it feels to be lost,” Leonardo said. “I once blamed myself for being too weak when we attacked the Utrom Shredder’s space ship. Do you remember? If the other Utroms hadn’t intervened, we all would’ve died. We were ready to sacrifice ourselves to stop Ch’rell. But I kept thinking that if I was just stronger, I could’ve protected everyone. I spent weeks, months, beating myself up for it, until I learned a simple truth. The truth was, and still is, we can’t always win, no matter how noble or right our goals might be. All we have to give is our best. If it isn’t enough, we must learn to be content with that.”

A softness rounded Karai’s eyes, but only momentarily.

“Alright, enough of these feelings,” Karai said, her cold demeanour returning. “Let’s get to the point. We are not strong enough collectively to defeat the Omega Shredder. But there is a technique I can teach you that will give you the best shot at stopping him.”

“A technique?” Leonardo said. “What technique? Wait, if it’s so powerful, why didn’t you use it against him?”

“This is not some pressure point strike or magic spell,” Karai said. “Well, not entirely. It requires likeminded souls to perform it in unison. And doing it in the middle of battle would be nearly impossible.”

Leonardo stood from his bed. “If we can’t use it in a fight-“

“I said it can’t be done in the middle of a battle,” Karai said. “It must be prepared beforehand.”

Leonardo crossed his arms over his chest. “Alright Karai. Enough of the evasiveness. If you’re going to tell me this secret technique, just tell me.”

Karai and Leonardo shared a hostile glance. The Foot ninja broke it first, sitting cross legged on the ground. “With me, Leonardo.”

The ninja turtle obeyed, and Karai continued. “This technique is taught only to the leaders of the Foot. By passing it onto you, I dishonour my clan immensely.”

“They never need to know,” Leonardo said. “If you help us beat Omega Shredder, I swear we will never reveal where we learned it.”

Karai shook her head. “It is not a matter of whether I am discovered or not. The very act of telling you is shameful enough, even if no other Foot discovers my treachery.”

Leonardo said no more. He knew how important her honour was to her. It was the very aspect of her being that brought her into conflict with the Utrom Shredder over and over again. Her words before – even when I know what the correct path is, it still feels wrong to walk it – became crystal clear.

“I will be blunt – even if you can perform the technique, because of the lack of time we have to practice it, you may not reach the competency required for it to be effective,” Karai said. “I am teaching it only to you because you are the only one of your brothers who I believe stands a chance.”

“Shouldn’t they listen in anyway?” Leonardo asked. “Even if they can’t perfect it, surely all of us having some understanding-“

Karai shook her head. “No. Only you. Besides, if you can do this, your brothers won’t need to understand it at all.”

“Alright, Karai. We’ll do it your way.”

“Good.” Karai placed her hands together in a prayer pose before her chest. “Imitate my movements.”

Leonardo did as he was asked. “OK, now what?”

“You know how to enter the astral plane, don’t you?” Karai asked.

Leonardo nodded. “My brothers do, too. Well, sort of. They’re still learning.”

“Precisely why I chose you. Now, I need you to watch me. Do not try to copy me yet. Just feel how I draw the energy of the astral realm to me.”

Karai took a deep breath, held it, and closed her eyes. A few moments drifted by uneventfully, and then a purplish-black light shone out of Karai’s skin. Leonardo fought the urge to jump back and instead did as he was instructed.

He watched as the light faded from Karai’s skin and instead hugged her body in a mesmerising aura, constantly moving like a flowing river. Leonardo couldn’t believe what he was sensing from her. He knew how to delve into the astral plane and become one with its otherworldly energies, allowing his spirit to temporary leave his body to wander its expanses, but Karai... she was drawing those energies into her own body.

Karai released her held breath. The same purplish-black energy poured from her lips, vanishing into wisps and embers and fading away. The aura dissipated as the last flecks of colour left her breath. She opened her eyes.

“Did you feel that, Leonardo?” she asked. “Could you understand how I siphoned the energy of the astral realm into my body?”

Leonardo frowned, thinking quickly. “I think so. Instead of submerging your consciousness into the astral plane, you touched its surface and pulled it back into your body.”

Karai gave a curt nod. “You are a quick study, Leonardo. It will take some practice, but we should hopefully have enough time for you to gain a rudimentary appreciation of the steps involved.”

“OK, I’m ready to try it,” Leonardo said, closing his eyes. A thought occurred to him, and he looked to Karai. “Wait. Once I absorb the cosmic energy... what do I do with it? I mean, how do I use it for this secret Foot technique?”

“I will direct you on how to use it when the time arrives,” Karai said. “For now, you must learn how to draw, hold and release the energy.”

Leonardo wanted to object, but his eye spotted a worn book resting on his meditation mat. The Art of War by Sun Tzu. A gift from Master Splinter.

“OK,” Leonardo said, closing his eyes. “It’s time to start.”

He drew in a breath and held it.

For Master Splinter.
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Splinter waited with steady breath and a steadier gaze for Hamato Yoshi, the Shredder, to begin his tale.

He still couldn’t believe the man he knew in his world could be so different in another. Did they share the same soul, and it was only chance that raised this Yoshi into a tyrant while Splinter’s master grew into a noble protector? Or did they only share the same DNA, and everything else about them was wildly dissimilar? Perhaps the story would shed light on that theory.

Yoshi laid his Shredder headgear to the side and placed his hands on his knees, never breaking eye contact with Splinter.

“I was, like many, born into unfortunate circumstances,” the Omega Shredder said. “I do not recall my parents. My earliest memory is fending for myself on the streets of Tokyo, wrestling a handful of change from another vagabond. I can only assume I was an orphan in the aftermath of the Second World War. However, I adapted quickly and well. I was scouted by the Foot clan when I was eleven and brought to their grounds to learn the ways of ninjutsu. All I had to do was swear fealty to the Foot and they would feed me, clothe me, home me and teach me skills that would benefit me forevermore. Of course, I seized it.”

Splinter listened intently. His Hamato Yoshi had a similar disadvantaged origin, but he was not headhunted by the Foot – instead the Ancient One had discovered him, a stern but wise ninjutsu master. Was this the point of divergence between the two?

“As I grew into adulthood, I yearned for nothing more than the mantle of the Shredder – the leader of the Foot clan. It is a transitory title and rank, not some foolish legend that one would ape. It demanded dedication, sacrifice, strength – and ruthlessness.”

“There were others like me, who saw the glistening helmet and spiked armguards, and desired nothing but to hold that rank. All of them paled in comparison to my strength and skill – except one.” Hamato Yoshi frowned. “Oroku Saki.

The venom in his words stood the fur up on the back of on Splinter’s neck. Such animosity for another.

“Around this time I had fallen for a beautiful warrior of the Foot. Her name was Tang Shen. She and I immediately connected and were quickly engaged. Tang Shen fell pregnant, and soon thereafter she gave birth to a girl, whom we named Karai. We also had a pet rat, whom Tang Shen named Splinter.”

Yoshi’s gaze told Splinter he had returned from the mists of his past. “He was a good rat. He was an excellent sounding board, when my advisors proved useless. I had never known it possible to form such a strong bond with an animal, no less a rodent, but it happened.”

“However, Saki not only coveted the title I was destined to claim, but also my paramour. Our rivalry soon became a vendetta. Looking back, it still surprises me how swiftly Oroku Saki stooped to such cowardice and dishonour.”

Yoshi paused for a moment, swallowing hard, his fingers digging into the fabric of his pants. His gaze drew harsher, filled with rage and malice, though Splinter knew it sprung from the memories, not the one he stared at.

“After rising above all other contenders, Saki and I battled for the right to become the Shredder. The loser would become the Shredder’s personal right hand man. I bested him, though I will admit the ferocity and vigour he displayed were greater than I expected. Yet I knew once I placed this helmet on my head that Saki wouldn’t – couldn’t – serve as my executor. His pride would never allow it. So he committed an act so vile, so dark, that it would change everything forever. An act, with hindsight, I should have prepared for.”

Splinter steeled himself for what was to come. While the Hamato Yoshis’ lives had changed paths much earlier, he sensed the next part of the story would uncover what locked the Omega Shredder into the man that sat before Splinter now.

“During the ceremony where I officially became the Shredder...” Yoshi paused and looked away momentarily. “... Oroku Saki had locked Tang Shen and Karai in our house and set it ablaze. By the time I could arrive and the flames were extinguished...”

Splinter bowed his head. “I understand.”

“Karai had, somehow, survived the fire,” Yoshi continued. “Once I was certain of her safety, I mobilised the entire Foot clan in hunting down the traitorous, honourless dog. Without Tang Shen and yes, even your dimensional counterpart, I grew cold. I would never allow such disrespect and arrogance in my presence ever again.”

Splinter thought to challenge that decision, but ultimately knew it was years, if not decades, too late. Such hardening of hearts seldom reverted, and this was certainly not the right time to make an attempt, at any rate.

“It took many years, but my agents tracked down the murderous craven hiding in New York City,” Yoshi said. “I immediately made it my new base of operations and initiated an intensive search of the city. During this time, my Foot scientists had been researching ways to draw the latent potential of humanity deep from within our genes to the surface. It was in an attempt to strengthen my Foot ninja beyond human limits, making even a single of my warriors capable of defeating scores of opponents in a single conflict.”

“The first successful batch of the serum was on route to another facility. However, as I understand it, the vehicle was involved in a collision and the entire stock was lost to the sewers. This is where Oroku Saki was hiding, living in squalor with pets of his own – four turtles. The serum contaminated them all, but had an interesting side effect. It made the DNA of the subject permeable, and any physical contact with another creature would pervert it in unnatural ways. So the story goes, the turtles were last handled by Saki, and thus became humanoid. Saki, in a small piece of poetic justice, had removed a rat from his den, and transformed into a being similar to yourself. However, as a last spiteful stab at my heart, he renamed himself Splinter.”

“Strange, indeed,” Splinter said. “It is almost as if the fates conspired to keep the major points of our shared lives the same.”

“The serum was successful in its main purpose, unfortunately,” Yoshi continued. “Both Saki and his mutant pets gained strength, agility and resiliency above and beyond a human’s capabilities. Once he realised his advantage, he and his turtle freaks initiated a guerrilla war on the Foot clan. My serum had turned against me, and soon my highly trained Foot ninja could not defeat them, even in large groups. The research on the serum had stalled, also. Whatever agent, whatever X factor that was in that original batch that created super-humans could not be replicated.”

Yoshi raised a fist. “But I devised a plan to end their damaging campaign permanently. I drew the turtle freaks into a false operation – they had expected to find me with Saki, but instead they were surrounded by my finest warriors, with my daughter Karai as their leader. During their distraction, I took another contingent of ninja to their sewer hideout and easily overpowered the rat-man. I shall never forget the unbridled joy of sinking my taloned fist through that bastard’s heart.”

“A reversal of my world, then,” Splinter said. “But the life lost switched.”

“What I didn’t count on was the reaction of his freaks,” Yoshi said. “Karai was informed of my victory, and told the turtles the bad news. This spurred them on, it seemed, and the Leonardo of my world decapitated my only daughter.”

Another parallel, Splinter thought. Though it was my Leonardo with the Utrom Shredder. Though it did not matter, since it was the head of the exo-suit that Ch’rell was piloting.

“With everything that mattered to me lost, I did something impulsive, reckless,” Yoshi said. “I needed the strength to combat the mutants myself, so I injected myself with the unfinished, unverified batch of serum that my Foot scientists had concocted. Fortunately for me, it worked with no side effects.”

Yoshi lifted a balled hand and slammed it against his knee. “The next time we met, I eviscerated the turtle freaks. Too quickly, in my rage – I couldn’t savour their deaths, as I did Oroku Saki’s. But I was successful. The battle drew me low also. My numerous wounds from the fight almost claimed me, but it seemed a quirk of fortune carried me and a team of my Foot ninja to this Markov, where the Karai of your dimension found me and saved me from death. From there, you know the story.”

Splinter nodded. The cycle of death and rivalry with the Foot seemed indelibly inscribed upon the multiverse. “Such a tale... it leaves me speechless.”

“So you can understand why I immediately attacked you and your turtle children, and why my rage peaked at Karai’s betrayal,” Yoshi said, standing.

Splinter rose to his feet also. “So then, with both of our histories revealed... what does that make us? Friends? Allies? Enemies? Or something else?”

“You allied with Karai, and you attempted to kill me,” Yoshi said, picking up his headgear and slotting it over his head.

“With the understanding that you were another Shredder walking in the footsteps of all the others that have threatened me and my sons!” Splinter objected.

“Regardless, Karai cannot be allowed to live,” Yoshi said, his voice echoing from within his metal mask. “She used me, didn’t she? She used the resources I provided her while I was healing to build her own clan. Her strike, if I weren’t so powerful, may have killed me.”

“I... no, we will not help you take Karai’s life,” Splinter said. “She only wished to be free of the yoke of the Foot’s master, and feared you would dominate her as her adoptive father once had.”

Omega Shredder pointed a finger at Splinter, the bladed armguards glistening in the moonlight. “You don’t have to lift a finger. Just tell me where she is right now, and I will end her myself.”

Splinter’s countenance hardened. “I do not know where she has fled, though I would not tell you even if I did!”

“Liar!” Yoshi roared, the rage clear and booming in his voice. “You allied with her! Wherever your freak sons scampered away to hide, she is undoubtedly with them! Now tell me, where is she?!

“I have told you already, I do not know!” Splinter bit back. He knew his sons owned a hideout somewhere in Markov, but he had not been in the city long enough to visit.

Omega Shredder approached slowly, his cape waving in the wind. “Do not mistake my intentions, Splinter. You may be the dimensional copy of my rat, but that is what you are – a copy. You are not my Splinter. Do not think to test me. If I must, I will beat the information out of you.”

Splinter watched the last chance of peace burn to cinders in Hamato Yoshi’s baleful gaze. He fell into a fighting stance, ready to continue their battle.

“As I recall, the battle paused after I had landed a decisive strike,” Splinter said, changing gears from a mediator to a well practiced ninjutsu master. “If anyone should be worried about defeat, it is you.”

Omega Shredder growled and broke into a sprint, cocking his fist.
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Something nudged Donatello in the shoulder. His eyes snapped open.

“Ugh... what is it?” Donatello said, sighing heavily. “I really need a rest.”

“Donnie, don’t ya think it’s been too long since Leo and Karai went into his room?” Raphael said, leaning towards him.

“Wha? How long has it been?”

“Pretty sure it’s been an hour,” Raphael said, folding his arms. “Maybe more. Definitely can’t be any less.”

Donatello brushed away his brother’s concerns away with a wave of his hand, settling his head into the back of the couch and closing his eyes. “If anything was wrong...” Donatello broke his sentence to yawn. “...he would yell out.”

Behind closed eyes Donatello heard his brother growl. “I’m gonna check on ‘em.” The pressure from the other side of the couch released as Raphael got up and walked off.

“Call me if you...”

“Don! Hey Don! You got to come see this!”

A different voice this time. Donatello opened his eyes. Michelangelo stood right over him, staring him in the face with a huge grin and wide eyes.

“Oh, Mikey!” Donatello said, sitting up and rubbing his face. “I just got finished with Raph. Now you have to wake me up, too?”

“Raph told me to let you sleep,” Michelangelo said. “I waited as long as I could.”

“Four and a half minutes,” Raphael called from Leonardo’s doorway. “Honestly, for Mikey that’s pretty patient.”

Donatello fought the soreness in his torso and raised himself to his feet. “What am I- hey, weren’t you recovering? Are you feeling better?”

Michelangelo winced. “It’s not so bad if I keep my mind off it. But whatever, I can’t stay in bed! You got to come see Leo!”

“OK, OK,” Donatello said, shuffling to the eldest brother’s room while Michelangelo sprinted there. “What’s so important that I can’t recover a bit longer?”

Michelangelo peered through the doorway. “Let’s just say with Leo around, we don’t need to buy a star for the top of the Christmas tree.”

Donatello shook his head at his brother’s nonsensical remark, stood in the doorway beside his two brothers, and his jaw dropped.

Leonardo sat in a meditative pose in the centre of his room, his skin radiating with purple light.

----

The sensation itched, like tiny fibreglass shards rolling up and down his skin from the inside. The astral energy wanted to be released, like air in a balloon – this wasn’t its natural state, and it fought hard to rectify it. Still, he drew on his training and his self discipline, enduring the discomfort. Karai told him he would acclimate to it – not now, but after many sessions of training – but it was critical he understood how to capture and tame the essence of the astral realm regardless of the physical distress. At least Karai told him no damage was being done to his body in the process. He hoped that was true.

“OK, now... imbue yourself,” Karai said from nearby.

If holding the energy was like keeping the air inside a balloon, absorbing it into a usable state was like inhaling that air all at once. Steeling himself, Leonardo pulled the power into him, mixing his chi with it. The discomfort vanished, replaced with a thrumming pressure within his body, as if the power was determined to explode out of him. As unsettlingly strange as it felt, Leonardo vastly preferred it to the previous stage.

“Hold... hold... good,” Karai said. “You can open your eyes Leonardo, but do not speak. The power will rush from your mouth, untrained as you are.”

The turtle leader did so. He looked over his skin. Tiny pinpricks of light no longer shone through his pores. Instead, a violet aura clung to his body.

His gaze snapped to the doorway. Donatello stood in the centre, gawking at him. Raphael peeked around the edge, a look of quiet frustration on his face. Michelangelo stared in awe.

“It seems your brothers have come to check up on you,” Karai said.

“Can... can we come in?” Michelangelo said.

Karai nodded. “Do not pester Leonardo too much. He is preparing for your rematch with Omega Shredder.”

Michelangelo cheered and ran in, sliding on his knees by Leonardo. The other two brothers walked in, still wearing the same countenances.

“Can I touch him?” Michelangelo said, his hand gradually reaching for Leonardo’s skin.

Karai slapped the hand away. “No.”

“Aw.”

“Just what is Leonardo doing, Karai?” Donatello asked.

“Yeah, we ain’t ever seen him glow before,” Raphael said.

“I assure you, he is in no danger,” Karai said. “He is learning to harness the energies of the astral realm.”

“Astral realm?” Raphael said. “Is that the place Leo keeps wantin’ to take us to when we meditate?”

Karai nodded. “As the most skilled of you four in the practice, I selected him to learn this technique.”

“And what technique might that be?” Donatello asked, folding his arms.

Karai gave Leonardo a long look, then met Donatello’s eyes. “I suppose we must move along. The technique is called astral merging.”

“Merging?” Michelangelo asked. “Like, in traffic?”

Raphael slapped his younger brother’s head. “You see any cars around here, bone head?”

“What will that let him do?” Donatello asked. “Doesn’t he already know how to merge with the astral realm? How is that going to help us?”

“Yeah,” Raphael said, gesturing at his sitting brother. “Besides, it don’t look like you’re teachin’ him much. He’s doin’ what he always has... 'cept he’s shiny.”

“Not merging with the astral realm,” Karai corrected, standing. “The technique involves absorbing the energies of the astral realm, becoming a miniature version of it, approximately speaking. From there, you three will merge with him.”

Leonardo sharply exhaled, violet cloud flowing from his mouth, as the light died from his skin. “Merging with me? Us? We... you didn’t tell me that was the end goal!”

“Me and him?” Michelangelo and Raphael said simultaneously, pointing at each other.

“Calm yourselves, turtles,” Karai said. “Yes. The technique will allow you to combine into a single ninja with all of your individual strengths. And quite possibly new ones.”

“No way am I doin’ anything like that!” Raphael said, turning around and crossing his arms.

Leonardo stood. This was what Karai was preparing him for the whole time? Fusing bodies and minds with his brothers? He was expecting some variant of a stored astral energy punch or magical blast.

“Karai, I don’t think that will work,” Leonardo said.

“You are a team, aren’t you?” Karai said. “What’s the big deal?”

“Uh, Karai?” Donatello said. “I don’t know if you ever had any brothers or sisters, but... well... it can be hard to get along sometimes.”

“I don’t wanna get mixed up with what goes on in Mikey’s head,” Raphael said. “That’s one door I wanna leave closed forever.”

“Yeah, I’m afraid Raph’s pigheadedness will rub off on me,” Michelangelo said. “I mean, do we all really want to be more like Raph?”

“Enough quarrelling,” Karai said. “It is unorthodox, true. But your strengths separated were not enough to defeat Omega Shredder. Now I do not know how powerful your merged form will be, but I have faith it will be enough to at least let you battle to a stalemate and save your beleaguered master. Who, by the way, has been fighting Omega Shredder for the last hour or so.”

Leonardo felt hope rise in his chest. “He’s alive? You’re sure?”

“My Foot reported a short time ago,” Karai said. “They stopped their battle momentarily before it began again. I cannot imagine your elderly father has enough stamina to continue the fight much longer.”

“OK!” Raphael said. “Well, what are we waitin’ for? We’re all back on our feet, so let’s get goin’, yeah?”

Leonardo frowned. “No, Raph.”

“Wha?”

“Karai’s right. Omega Shredder laid out everyone single one of us with one hit. We might be standing, but we’re still injured. If we go back out there, it’s only going to end one way.”

“But Master Splinter-“

“-needs help,” Leonardo said. “But we have to make sure the odds are not so stacked against us.”

“Are you sure about this, Leo?” Donatello said. “I mean, do we even know what will happen when we do this?”

“Do we really have a choice?” Leonardo said. “Look guys, I know this is weird and even a little scary-”

“Pfft,” Raphael said. “Who’s scared?”

“-and we don’t always get along-“

“Hey, I’m great at getting along,” Michelangelo said. “Raphael, on the other hand...”

“-but when the chips are down, and everything is on the line, something wakes up in all of us,” Leonardo said, spreading his arms. “There’s this... determination. We realise what really matters to us. The fighting, the bickering, the disagreements – in that moment, we know that all of that is meaningless compared to what we truly care about. And Master Splinter... well, I think we know how we all feel about him.”

Leonardo put his hand out, palm down, and looked around the room.

His brothers went quiet, thoughtful expressions etched into their faces.

“You’re right,” Donatello said, breaking the silence. “No matter what happens, we’ll stop at nothing to bring Master Splinter home.” He slapped his hand atop Leonardo’s.

“Yeah!” Michelangelo said, joining the hand pile. “Nothing can stop the green machine!”

The three looked at Raphael, who stared back at them with a cocked eyebrow. His shoulders sank. “Oh, all right.” He put his hand in as well. “But if I start talkin’ like Mikey after this, someone’s gonna pay.”

“On three,” Leonardo said. “One, two, three!”

“For Master Splinter!”

Karai looked at them as if they had sprouted another head. “Good. You’re all finally in agreement. Leonardo, please take your position once again and imbue the astral energies into your chi.”

As Leonardo sat down and began the process, he listened to Karai speaking with his brothers. “Once Leonardo is ready, you all must meditate as if you were about to enter the astral realm. However, instead of going there, you will focus upon Leonardo.”

Michelangelo scratched his head. “Uh... I don’t mean to ruin the whole plan, but none of us are really all that great at that.”

“That is of no concern,” Karai said. “The astral realm has no will of its own. Leonardo, however, does. As long as you enter the meditative state, Leonardo will be able to draw you to him. It will not require much effort on your part.”

Leonardo closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. Running his consciousness over the astral realm, he dragged the energies into his body. Karai must have noticed the light shining from his skin, because she directed him to imbue himself with the power, and he did.

“All right, Leonardo,” Karai said. “You are ready. Your brothers are, to a much lesser extent than you, entering the meditative state used to reach the astral realm. If you focus, you should sense them.”

Leonardo probed outwards, placing his brothers at the forefront of his mind... and there they were. Faint and almost invisible, he sensed their astral links halfway between their spirits and the realm they could not successfully reach. Leonardo beckoned to them wordlessly, and they heeded the call. Their forms grew more substantial the closer they drew to him, as if Leonardo’s stored energies flowed into and strengthened them.

Leonardo reached out his purple, translucent hand and his brothers grasped it at the same time.

---

The turtle brothers dissolved amid a sudden flash of indigo light bathing over their forms. Karai shielded her eyes from its brilliance. She had never seen an astral merge take place in person before; she only understood how to accomplish it. That wasn’t surprising, since most Foot leaders would hardly trust another ambitious member of the troop to meld with, but she always knew the power it held would be useful one day.

The luminance faded. Karai lowered her hands.

Wisps of purple light lifted from the single creature occupying the space where all four had once sat, as if it steamed with energy. The new turtle looked almost identical to Leonardo – or almost any of them, for that matter – though there were obvious differences.

The merging stood another foot taller than Leonardo. His skin was still green, but a much darker shade, closer to an army green but even deeper. The eye mask was not an amalgam of the brothers’ colours, but instead jet black, outlining his now glowing white eyes. Every weapon of the turtles featured somewhere on his body – Leonardo’s swords still crossed over his back; Donatello’s staff jutted directly upwards, in between the ninjaken; Michelangelo’s nunchucks clung to the sides of his body, beneath the belt; with Raphael’s sai strapped to the front.

The fusion of the four turtles shifted his gaze to Karai. She had never seen even Raphael look so determined, so intimidating.

“It looks like the astral merging was a success,” Karai said, straightening her back and fighting the apprehension this new being seemed to instill in her.

“Yes,” the fused turtle said, his voice largely Leonardo’s with each of his brothers echoing around it. “We – I – am ready to face Omega Shredder.”

He closed his eyes and crossed arms across his chest, balling his fists and slapping them against his shoulders. Black smoke poured from his skin, whirling around him and swiftly covering him. The self generated winds whipped the long, tapering ends of the black eye mask around behind his back.

Teleportation. Karai had never seen Leonardo or any of his brothers perform it, but she knew the technique from sight. How did the merged turtle know this? Was the astral merge process even more potent than she thought?

“Wait!” Karai called out. “What is your name?”

Only the turtle’s eyes were still visible.

“I am Kage.”

The last finger of smoke rushed over the fused turtle’s eyes. A pressurised pop from within blasted the black cloud away, and Kage was gone.
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Kage hurtled through a tunnel of black smoke spinning around him, his body moving through a vector outside of space-time at a fantastic speed. At the end, a bright light shone, despite him knowing that he was teleporting into an arena with a star swept sky.

He had only existed for a matter of moments, but Kage felt an invisible history to his life, as if he were far older than even the turtles that constituted him combined. There was no history, of course – any attempt to remember his past failed beyond the merging of the mutant brothers – but the weight of experience rested on his shoulders.

Was it the seriousness of Leonardo gifting him confidence and certainty of character? Was it Raphael’s pragmatism, accepting what he felt rather than overanalysing it? Or did the belief stem from none of them and was instead born of himself?

The fused turtle collided with the light and a new vista greeted him.

Splinter backflipped over a hook from Omega Shredder, landing a short distance away. His robe had been torn at the right shoulder. Grey fur matted with blood. However, that appeared to be the only injury Kage could identify.

The Foot leader paused a moment. A few bruises dotted his exposed arms, and the way he held himself indicated he had sustained a strong impact to his left ribs – Splinter likely took advantage of the wound created by Karai earlier.

Kage expected to see one of them defeated by now. It was a testament to both of their skill and endurance that the fight had not yet concluded.

Without a sound, Kage landed upon the rooftop. Neither of them noticed his presence.

“Tell me!” Omega Shredder bellowed. “Tell me where Karai is, you miserable rodent!”

“I... have told you... I do not know!” Splinter said, panting.

“This farce cannot continue much longer,” Omega Shredder said. “You are tiring. I am not. Soon enough, your body won’t react in time to dodge.”

Indeed, Splinter wore the telltale signs of exhaustion – heavy breathing, weak shuffling, bent spine. It was a battle for the old master just to stay standing, let alone fight. But both he and Kage knew that Omega Shredder would not stop until he got what he wanted. If Splinter fled, the Foot leader would be in hot pursuit.

It was time to test his abilities.

Reflexively, almost like breathing, once Kage had realised his intention to battle, a sai had already launched towards Omega Shredder, spinning like a pinwheel. The tip penetrated the Foot leader’s shoulder, the apparent shock making him stumble. He tore the weapon from his skin and whipped around, ignoring the thin line of blood trickling from the wound.

“Turtle...” he seethed, throwing the sai to the ground. “After all your master has done for you, buying time for you to escape, you spit in his face by returning?”

“Raphael, what are you doing here?” Splinter called out. “You must leave, now!”

“Ah yes, the hot headed one of your disciples,” Omega Shredder said. “At least your other sons had the sense to stay away.”

They can't tell who I am in the dark, Kage realised. They see a large turtle, they see a sai, and they assume we are Raphael.

“In a way... they didn’t,” Kage said, striding closer.

Shredder frowned. Kage took some pleasure in that. “Who is that?”

Splinter peered through the black of night, and yet he could discern already what the Foot leader could not. How he knew was beyond Kage's understanding, but Splinter held many skills and many secrets. “My sons?”

“Yes, sensei,” Kage said, reaching his master and kneeling. “I am the combination of all four of your students. I am Kage.”

Splinter’s eyes moved to the black eye mask. “Kage... shadow... a fitting title.”

Kage stood. “You no longer need to hold Omega Shredder here, sensei. I will defeat him, here and now.”

Omega Shredder laughed. “Amusing. But stuffing four weaklings into one body isn’t going to be enough!”

Kage faced his opponent. “Go, sensei. With you safe, I will be able to focus on the battle.”

The fused turtle expected his father to refuse, to warn him against his foolish decision. Instead, he felt a clawed hand touch his shell.

“Be well, my sons. I will see you again soon.”

Kage heard the wind rush past Splinter as he bounded off the roof.

“Do you think I’ll let him leave?!” Omega Shredder shouted, sprinting for the roof’s edge.

Snatching the bo staff from his back, Kage swept the weapon across Shredder’s feet, but the Foot ninja leapt over it, predicting it. Spinning around, Kage tossed the spinning staff at the same region, tangling his legs and bringing him down hard.

“Do you think we’ll let you leave?” Kage said, bending down and plucking the sai from the ground that had stabbed Shredder’s shoulder.

Omega Shredder flipped to his feet and snatched the bo staff, facing Kage. “I promise you, freak. This will be over as swiftly as before. I will not let your rodent father elude me.”

Kage slowly slid one of his ninjaken from its sheath, the sound ominous, while gripping the sai in the other hand.

“No Shredder reigns forever,” Kage said, his echoed voices hanging in the air. “You will die, here and now.”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Omega Shredder narrowed his eyes as clouds drifted lazily across the stars above him. Kage knew he would try to make this quick – Splinter was distancing himself more with every second, and Shredder wanted to know Karai’s location more than anything.

Which made him dangerous. Kage knew Splinter’s lack of knowledge on that subject. If Omega Shredder caught him and finally realised the truth... Splinter would be in a perilous situation.

“You put much faith into this merging of yours, turtle,” Shredder said, spinning Donatello’s bo staff before stopping it sharply in both hands. “But you haven’t even tasted my true power. Once I bring it to bear, I shall-“

Kage had heard every villainous boast before – at least, his constituent souls had - so listening through another was tedious, but one thing all four brothers learned from repeated exposure was that once the soliloquy began in earnest, a small and temporary window opened for an unguarded attack. He hurled his gripped sai point first and sprinted after it, a single sword in his right hand.

Omega Shredder saw the flash of metal in the moonlight and caught the sai with the shaft of the bo staff. As the three pronged weapon vibrated in the wood, Kage had closed the span between them. He grabbed the sai’s handle and with a forceful pull, tore the stolen staff from Omega Shredder’s hands and swung upwards with his blade.

Ever the inhuman warrior, Shredder let the bo staff go and wheeled backwards as the ninjaken’s steel sheared through the air where he stood a split moment before. Readied for battle, he strode forward with a threatening bladed punch as if he had expected the assault all along.

The shock of Omega Shredder’s recovery threw off Kage. The sword in his hand felt unusual, unnatural – the weighting of the long blade contrasted with the thin, sharp prong of a sai that he was accustomed to.

Wait, that wasn’t right, was it?

Snapping back to reality, Kage haphazardly slashed sideways at Shredder’s gauntleted arm, deflecting the blow awkwardly. Shredder backhanded Kage across the face, forcing the merged turtle to stumble backwards and lose the grip of his ninjaken.

“As I thought,” Omega Shredder said. “All bluster, no substance.”

What just happened? His thoughts... broke, somehow. A strange train of doubt and confusion railroaded through his head in that split second. The ninjaken were the trademark weapons of Leonardo, and as the one responsible for the fusion, granted that skill and knowledge to Kage. So why did it feel so alien out of the blue?

“You caught me off guard,” Kage said, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

“For all the fanfare of your new form, I would have thought I couldn’t surprise you,” Omega Shredder said, lifting the dropped sword from the rooftop and wielding it himself. He kicked the sai-imbedded bo staff out of Kage’s reach. “But I must admit... I appreciate you leaving your weapons all over the place for me.”

Oh man, this is not good.

Kage frowned. A separate voice spoke in his mind. And he knew instinctively who it was.

Michelangelo? Kage thought to himself.

Oh! Uh... should I be able to talk to y...me? Michelangelo said.

This is a little unexpected, a new voice responded. Donatello. It seems the astral energy isn’t binding us together as well as it should.

Huh, weird,
Raphael’s voice said. I’m myself in here, but I’m also makin’ up part of this Kage guy too? Got an explanation for that one, Leo?

...can’t say that I do,
Leonardo’s voice said. This is all new to me too.

Kage’s mind buzzed with the quantum presence of his component minds. They popped in and out of his psyche, both individually existing while collectively still binding to form his consciousness.

That must have been why the ninjaken felt different in his hand moments before – Raphael’s inner workings somehow imprinted over the top of Kage’s own, even if it was brief.

This wasn’t good. The astral power that glued the four turtles together was weakening. Kage felt his strength being sapped as his own mind faded and the other minds grew more firm and tangible.

I have an idea, Kage thought as he dropped to one knee. He fished out both of Michelangelo’s nunchucks, holding one in each hand. You all can feel it now too. I’m going to let go and you’ll finish this.

Omega Shredder barked laughter as he strode towards the kneeling turtle. “You’re giving up? This merging has scrambled your brains. I would love to draw out your suffering, but I have a rat to catch. I’ll make this clean and quick.”

The Foot clan leader took the sword in both hands and raised it above his head, towering over Kage like a black hooded executioner.

The minds assented to the plan. Kage let the remnants of the cosmic power binding the brothers’ spirits together disintegrate, threw the nunchucks upwards, and closed his eyes.

---

Kage’s focus bled directly into Leonardo as his body congealed from purple light. Without looking, he knew Michelangelo and Donatello had leapt into the air after the nunchucks, and Raphael materialised behind him. Leonardo withdrew the remaining sword from its sheath on his shell.

Omega Shredder’s eyes widened as the situation shifted quicker than he could register. Michelangelo and Donatello each snatched a nunchuck from the air and wrapped the chains around Shredder’s extended forearms, pulling him backwards with the force of their jump.

Leonardo grasped the handle in both hands, lifting the blade to his shoulder and levelling it at Shredder, and stabbed forward. With his arms bound by Michelangelo’s weapons, the sword pierced Omega Shredder’s chest and became lodged there.

The look of utter shock in Shredder’s eyes surprised even Leonardo. He himself found it difficult to believe that their sudden plan hadn’t been countered immediately. The Foot leader released the blade, the nunchucks still coiled around his arms, and placed a hand on the wound, his fingers quickly coating in slick red.

“H-how...”

“Just like every Shredder before you,” Raphael said, “you forgot who you were messin’ with!”

The red masked turtle roundhouse kicked Omega Shredder in the head, spinning his helmet backwards. Blind, the interdimensional ninja stumbled backwards until his heels clipped the edge of the rooftop. A second later, he toppled over, roaring as he sank into the deep, black maw of Markov’s streets.

All four turtles peered over the edge as Omega Shredder’s body disappeared from sight.

“Uh, Leo... I think Shredder took your sword with him,” Michelangelo said. “Oh, and my nunchucks too!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you up some more,” Donatello said.

A moment of stillness passed before Michelangelo broke it. “Did we get him this time? Like, is he really down this time?”

“I mean, it’s the Shredder,” Raphael said. “He ain’t one to stay down for the count. But fallin’ off a roof is a new one.”

“We were lucky,” Leonardo said. “The merging didn’t work properly, did it? Kage wasn’t complete, wasn’t whole. We shouldn’t have been able to talk with him.”

“Hey, is anyone else feeling a bit... woozy?” Donatello said.

“I... ooh,” Raphael said. “Wow, that’s... strong...”

Raphael and Donatello collapsed unceremoniously.

“Oh well, I didn’t want to be a bother...” Michelangelo said, “but if we’re all taking a nap...”

The youngest brother lowered himself to the ground and closed his eyes.

The unexpected toll of their merging stole away Leonardo’s stamina as well, pressing him to one knee as he battled to stay alert. He reached into his belt and took out his shell cell. “Karai? Splinter’s safe. Shredder’s gone. We might need... a lift...”

Leonardo dropped to the rooftop, his communications device falling from his fingers.
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
Karai stood as Leonardo laid back on the couch, standing on a lower spot of the descending, stair-like floors, their eyes meeting despite Leonardo’s elevation. Splinter sat on the other end of the long couch, his arm bandaged, while Michelangelo leaned over the top of the couch in the centre seat.

“You must have a better description than that,” Karai said, extending an arm out.

“It was quick,” Leonardo said. “All up, we were only merged for around four or five minutes. It’s difficult to convey in words what it felt like, especially when it was such a short lived and... unique experience.”

“I’d say it’s like... you know when you have a dream that you’re someone else, but you fully believe the dream?” Michelangelo offered. “It was like that. I was me, but I wasn’t me at the same time. Plus being in Kage’s head as myself too... that’s when things get a bit too Twilight-Zoney for me.”

“What was the power like?” Karai asked. Leonardo had rarely seen such interest in the young woman’s eyes.

“There wasn’t a huge surge in strength or anything,” Leonardo said. “Though in the earlier moments, everything felt much more honed and focused. Our minds were truly one for a time. Everything we – he – did was purposeful and expertly performed.”

“Yeah,” Michelangelo said. “I’m guessing that’s what it’s like to be Leo!”

“Fascinating,” Karai said. “But it didn’t endure? Why is that?”

Leonardo shrugged. “My lack of understanding, I think. The astral energy bled out of us much faster than I expected. Kage didn’t realise until the process was unravelling.”

“So with further training, you could hold it longer?”

“I’m fairly confident.”

Splinter placed a furry hand on his eldest son’s shoulder. “While I do not like the idea of my children returning to save me after I bought them the time they needed to escape, this Omega Shredder was a relentless and tireless foe. Without your aid, I do not know what would have become of me.”

“We couldn’t leave you there, sensei!” Michelangelo said. “I know you wouldn’t have wanted us to come back, but we aren’t very good at listening to you.”

Splinter gave Michelangelo a dark look. “Yes. Some more than others.”

“In any case,” Splinter continued, “it is a shame it had to end the way it did. I would like to think that my Hamato Yoshi was somewhere deep inside that man, but he would not come in time.”

“Yeah,” Leonardo said, looking at his feet. “It’s hard to believe your master in another dimension could be the Shredder.”

“Yeah, and that he killed us there too!” Michelangelo said. “Spooky.”

“Though in his universe, I was a mutated Oroku Saki,” Splinter said. “And I am nothing like him. Perhaps he only shared a name with my sensei.”

“From what we saw, I’d say that’s pretty accurate.”

Leonardo turned. The elevator doors slid open and out walked Raphael with four pizza boxes stacked in one upward facing palm. Donatello followed behind carrying a plastic bag.

“All right! Time to eat!” Michelangelo said, raising his arms in the air.

Donatello lifted his bag. “Got your sushi too, master.”

Splinter nodded appreciatively.

The mutant family soon sat around the dining table. All four brothers stuffed their face messily with pizza, leaving sauce and hot cheese on their lips, while Splinter ate each segment of sushi with chopsticks, slowly and refined.

It felt so good to eat. Maybe it had been the hours without food, or maybe the astral energy burned through calories at an accelerated rate, but Leonardo couldn’t force the steaming pizza down his throat fast enough. His brothers, by their actions, silently agreed.

Karai stood a short distance away, looking down into the epicentre of the turtles’ hideout.

“You sure you don’t want something, Karai?” Donatello asked, holding a slice in each hand. “It’s going fast!”

“No, I will be fine,” Karai said.

A thought occurred to Leonardo as his eyes briefly left the array of cheesy pizzas in front of him and focused on the Foot ninja.

“Hey Karai... what will you do now?”

Karai turned, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“Well, Omega Shredder is gone now. You have a regiment of Foot ninja who are loyal to you. You have no master anymore. What’s your plan?”

“I... I’m not sure,” Karai admitted. “My sole focus was on surviving the Omega Shredder.”

“I hope you ain’t thinkin’ of startin’ up our old feud again,” Raphael said, scowling.

Splinter laid his chopsticks down. “Raphael, if Karai meant you harm, she had ample opportunity to do so.”

“That’s true,” Donatello said, muffled by the masticated pizza ballooning his cheeks. “When we beat Omega Shredder, her Foot could have finished us off. Instead, she ordered them to bring us here.”

“Plus she taught Leo the secret Foot merging technique!” Michelangelo said, launching crumbs from his lips. “That’s not something you’d want your enemy knowing.”

“Yeah, but it ain’t like she had a lotta options,” Raphael said.

“I can understand your distrust of me, Raphael,” Karai said. “But you all have helped liberate me. I do not hold any ill will toward any of you.”

Splinter stood from the table. “Karai, if you need a place to stay, I’m sure my sons will offer you space here.”

Karai shook her head. “That is kind, Master Splinter, but I must discover my purpose alone.” She turned to the turtles. “Thank you for helping me. Truly. If we should meet again, I hope it is in better circumstances.”

Karai strode to the elevator and disappeared behind the sliding doors.

“Well, it’s nice to have Karai leaving and not swearing revenge on us for a change,” Donatello said.

“Do you really think we can trust her, Master Splinter?” Michelangelo asked.

“Karai has been through much suffering,” Splinter said, sitting down again. “I do not think we are a priority for her now. We may never be again.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Raphael said.

“I hope you’re right, sensei,” Leonardo said.

A quiet hung over the base as the cardboard pizza boxes were bereft of anything except grease stains and blobs of cold, solidified cheese.

“So Karai’s off to work out her next steps,” Michelangelo said. “What’re ours?”

“I... huh.” Leonardo’s focus over the last few months, much like Karai, had been on a singular goal. Now that their family was reunited, they needed new direction.

“For starters, we need to reforge our weapons,” Donatello said. “Leo’s down a ninjaken and Mikey’s got no nunchucks at all. But it’s a good opportunity to fine tune them with some tech that’ll make them even better!”

“You puttin’ that gadget wizardry in my sai too?” Raphael asked.

“It’s hard to improve on it, but I got ideas,” Donatello said, smiling.

“OK so we get our weapons, then what?” Michelangelo said.

“It would be good to return home,” Leonardo said. “But we don’t have any earthly idea on how to do that. Until we do, I say we help this world with its problem.”

“Oh, you mean...” Raphael said.

“The Unmade,” Donatello said. “I completely forgot about them!”

“Hey, maybe Don’s new weapons can slice the Unmade down even quicker!” Michelangelo said. “Can you put an uzi in mine?”

Raphael slapped Michelangelo’s head. “Ninjas don’t use guns, bonehead!”

“Aw, but it’d be so cool!” Michelangelo said.

“That is an honourable goal,” Splinter said. “I am sure you all can do much to help the people of Markov until we can return home. However, I think you all deserve some rest. We will consider how best to tackle the Unmade threat tomorrow.”

Leonardo smiled at the sight of his family, content and full of pizza, happy to be in each other’s presence once again. It was easy to forget how important such a simple thing could be.

“Sounds good, sensei.”
 

Jim Raynor

Maurice
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
48
Awards
1
Essence
€9,407
Coin
₡500
Tokens
5
World
Inverxe
Profile
Click Here
An hour earlier

Hamato Yoshi’s eyes fluttered open and met darkness.

Wind tore at his skin. Chains rattled around his biceps. Deep, aching pain burned in his chest.

The turtles. They beat him.

Yoshi grabbed his helmet and ripped it off.

His rapidly descending image appeared in the windows of the skyscraper by him. Below, the lights of Markov’s streets dimly shone through the gloom of night.

How did he lose? His power loomed large over these turtles. They were flimsy imitations of the turtles of his dimension, and he murdered them. Arrogance? Complacency?

No. He didn’t use his full strength. He toyed with them, busy soaking in the fury of Karai’s betrayal, demanding her location so he could extract revenge. Splinter would have died much faster if he wasn’t so singularly obsessed with Karai. Death of the turtles would have soon followed.

Right now, it mattered little. Leonardo’s ninjaken still protruded from his chest.

With an impassioned roar, Yoshi drove his claws into the skyscraper. Steel and glass splintered and sheared off the building as he gradually, painfully slowed down. The wounds and injuries of battle flared as his arms went taut, but enduring pain was second nature to him.

Soon enough Yoshi hung from the skyscraper with one arm’s clawed gauntlets firmly embedded in the structure. His chest rose and fell heavily as he wrapped the fingers of his free hand around the hilt of the sword in his chest and yanked it free. He released a thunderous bellow as the weapon ripped free of his flesh, spraying blood that soon vanished within the black of night. He hurled the ninjaken. It clattered onto the rooftop of a nearby building.

Yoshi felt beneath his cloth belt and pulled out a small round device. He pressed the red button on it – an emergency signal sent to his Foot ninja – and looked to the rooftop where the ninjaken landed.

This wouldn’t stand. He would bide his time, recovering and planning, and descend upon them all with naked hatred and vengeance. There would be no opportunity to retaliate. He would be a bolt of lightning out of the clear blue sky, striking them all down with the wrath of the gods.

He pressed his boots into the glass and launched off the skyscraper, the window splintering beneath his jump, and crashed awkwardly onto the rooftop below. Finally the exhaustion and pain claimed him as black shadows flipped onto the rooftop.

The Foot will rise… again.
 
Top