The turtles were tired and panted as they wandered to the top of the mountain. It had a walkable path, but it became steep as they were closer to the top.
"Guys, I think my legs don't work properly anymore." Mikey whined.
Leonardo looked up. "How long we need to walk to reach the top?" he asked.
"Less talk and more walk," Raph said. "We need to find that armor piece to stop the Foot clan from rebuilding the Shredder armor."
"I get it, but can't Leo use a portal to make this journey faster?" Mikey said who leaned on Raph catching his breath.
Leo face palmed. "Oh yeah, of course. That was pretty dumb of me." He stretched his arms out while he held on to the sword and he started to draw a circle in front of him. "C'mon, c'mon portal!" But nothing happened. He tried it again but not even a single spark appeared.
"Excuse me." Don cleared his throat. "If you guys remember, Hueso mentioned that mystical powers don't work here in the mountain." The purple one then grabbed his weapon and slammed the end of it to the ground. "But, technology does not count as mystical power." Don snorted. He tried to turn on his weapon, but nothing happened. Then he kept pushing the button many times until he started to curse on a gentlemanly level.
"I guess technology doesn't work either." Leo smirked. "By the way, why do we have to go to the top of the mountain again?"
"Hueso said there is a yokai living on the top of the mountain who knows everything. I hope this fella knows where to find the pieces so we can stop the Foot's plan!" Raph said with big enthusiasm.
"I hope our "knows everything" guy will be cooperative." Leo said.
"If not, then we go for the hard way." Raph smirked.
After a few minutes and whines, the turtles finally reached the top of the mountain. In the middle, there was a house made out of wood.
"Should we go in?" Leo asked.
"Of course we should." Raph said and gently pushed Leo to the side.
But after a few of their steps, black clouds started to block the beautiful view and sky.
"Umm, what is going on?" Mikey asked as he looked around nervously.
On the top of the wooden house's roof, a creature appeared. His upper body was animalistic, it looked like a crow with wings on his back and had no clothes to cover it, while his lower body was humanlike dressed in fancy traditional Japanese clothing, with a sword attached to it's side.
The turtles were shocked by the creature's sudden appearance. He looked down at the intruders.
"Who dares to come to a sacred place and disturb it's peace?!" The creature spoke with a harsh voice.
"Whoa whoa, chill there buddy!" Raph gasped. "We ain't disturbing anything, we are just looking for someone who knows a lot of information."
The creature's eyes narrowed at the turtles. "Who sent you here?"
"A friend of ours, Hueso." Leo said with a nervous smile. "He said we can find that person here somewhere. Are you the one?"
The crow scanned the turtles with his eyes, and the clouds moved away and the sky was clear once again.
"Then you are in the right place." The creature hid his wings behind his back. "I am the one you are seeking. My apologies for the dramatic entrance, but I don't get any random yokai visitors everyday. Or at all." He scratched his beak.
"Ah, okay, first, we aren't yokai. We are animals who mutated into this whole situation." Leo said while he waved his hand in front of his face. "Second, who are you, or what are you?"
"I am a tengu." The crow said, his eyebrows rose at the ignorant turtle. "I thought you may know that."
"A tengu?" Leo asked. "Excuse me, but tengus aren't supposed to be all human, wearing a mask that has a very long nose or something?"
"Well, you are half right." Don said. "What you pictured is a Daitengu or Hanatakatengu. But he is a Karasu-Tengu also known as a crow tengu, like you see in front of us."
"Spare me with your educations, Donnie" Leo said with a yawn. "So, what should we call you, tengu?"
"I have no name." The tengu answered. "But if a name is important to you, then just call me Tengu."
"Calling you by your species? A bit lame, but whatever." Leo said with a sassy tone.
"What about your names?" The crow looked down at the turtles.
"I am Raphael." Raph said and hit his chest. "This is Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello."
"We are named after Renaissance artists." Mikey yelled with a smile.
"I see." Tengu said. "And what information are you looking for, turtles?"
"We are looking for a piece from the Shredder armor." Raph said. "The Foot clan almost finished it and we want to stop them."
"The Shredder armor you say?" Tengu asked while he rubbed under his beak with his finger. "Such coincidence. I may know a lot of information, but I am also guarding one of it's piece. My duty is to protect it with my own life."
"Well, that is great and very amazing of you to do it, but we can handle it from now on." Don said.
"You mentioned the Foot almost finished the armor." The yokai said. "Why would I hand the armor piece over you in this crisis? It would be irresponsible and would doom us all."
"Because we are heroes, and that's what heroes do." Raph said loud and proud.
"If you consider yourselves as heroes, then why is the Shredder armor almost complete?" Tengu said and raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, you got us, we ain't perfect, but we are trying our best." Leo said.
"Trying your best is not enough to stop the evil." The yokai said with a harsh tone. He then jumped down from the rooftop. "But let's make a deal. I will consider giving the armor piece to you if you can defeat me in a battle."
"Defeat you? Alright, deal." Leo smirked.
"But I warn you." Tengu said and drew his sword. "I'm not an easy opponent to deal with."
"Leo, I must remind you that mystical powers are not working here." Don whispered.
"Hey, I know. But this sword can still do damage." Leo said proudly and drew out his sword.
Leo walked a bit forward and he picked up his fighting stance. Both the turtle and the yokai stared at each other, waiting for who shall strike first.
After a few seconds, Leo started to run towards the tengu and swung his sword at him. Tengu blocked it easily with his sword and kicked Leo away. The turtle lost his balance a bit but he regained it fast and this time he jumped up and tried to attack the tengu from above. The bird creature dodged and waited for Leo's next move.
Leo crouched down and tried to kick the tengu's legs out, but he jumped up and did a backflip then landed on his feet.
"I admire your agility, turtle." Tengu said.
"I hate to say this, but you aren't bad either." Leo complimented.
"Leo, we are here for the armor piece, not complimenting your opponent." Raph said.
"Okay, alright." Leo sighed.
Leo continued attacking the tengu but he successfully blocked or dodged them. The turtle then wanted to try out one of Lou Jitsu's move. He put his hands down on the ground, legs up and he started to rotate them like a windmill, giving multiple kicking attack at the tengu. However, the yokai still dodged and blocked them all, but the sudden fighting style change surprised him a bit. This move was pretty familiar to Tengu.
After the unsuccessful kicking combos, Leo lowered his body close to the ground and bent his legs.
"Hot soup!" Leo yelled and he landed a double kick hit on the tengu's torso.
Tengu backed up, eyes widen as he had flashbacks from his past.
"Where did you learn this move?" Tengu asked.
"Oh this?" Leo stood up, swiped away the dirt from his his legs. "I learned it from Lou Jitsu."
"Lou Jitsu?" The yokai was surprised. "How do you know him?"
"He is our father!" Mikey yelled from the back.
"Actually his DNA is running in our own." Don made it clear. "We were mutated by Baron Draxum who used Lou Jitsu's DNA."
"I see." Tengu nodded. "So that's why-"
"Whoa whoa wait, you know Lou Jitsu?" Leo interrupted Tengu.
"I'm not just know him, I was fighting against him." The yokai said and he had a full flashback. "I was participating in the Battle Nexus to test my skills. I was very disappointed because nobody was strong enough to even damage me seriously. But then, in the semi finals, Lou Jitsu was my opponent. I was surprised that a human could go this far and he was barely injured. Even his clothes were still clean and fresh. I didn't underestimate him, I went all out. Our battle was fierce. None of us held back. We punched and kicked each other the most painful way as we could. I was so happy and I saw him smiling too. We both enjoyed this fight, but only one of us could be the winner. In the end, he defeated me. I was lying there on the ground, all beat up. He walked close to me and helped me stand up. He said "You were the first one who ruined my clothes. Good job." then we both laughed."
The tengu looked up remembering these good memories. Then he continued.
"I watched his match in the finals, and he managed to win and be the champion of the Battle Nexus. I didn't regret losing to him at all. After the match, I wanted to congratulate him, but a mysterious person was speaking with him. I didn't see their face, it was covered by it's hood. They offered a piece of the Shredder armor to Lou Jitsu. They wanted to give that honor and responsibilitiy to protect it from evil. To my surprise, he rejected it. I thought he had a very good reason. With great power and skills he had, I thought he protect the World from a different way. And he left. Then the person saw me and stepped closer to me and he offered the piece to me. I gladly accepted it. It was an honor to protect the world from the evil."
Tengu then looked down, closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists.
"I was protecting the piece since then. Later, I found out why Lou Jitsu rejected the offer. He wanted to become a celebrity. A human, gifted with unnatural power, wasted all of his talents for fame and luxury life. I was very angry and disappointed."
"Uhh, yeah, we all make mistakes." Leo said. "But since he mutated into a rat and the Shredder armor is almost complete, he changed a lot."
"I doubt that." Tengu said.
"Okay, then don't believe us." Raph said. "What is more important now to stop the Foot clan."
The tengu scanned the turtles with narrowed eyes. He moved his hand out in front of him and moved it to the right.
"Umm, what are you doing?" Leo asked.
"I enabled the usage of your weapons' mystic powers." Tengu said. "If you want the armor piece, then defeat me. Attak all at once. Kill me if you must, but give it all you've got, or else the piece won't be yours."
"Whoa whoa, killing is not our thing, but we will gladly kick your butt to the ground." Raph said. "Alright team, let's do this!"
Raph grabbed his tonfas and smacked his fists together, creating two giant fists that glowed in red color. Don activated his staff and it turned into a giant hammer with rocket propulsion. Mikey activated his Kusari Fundo's special ability and Leo was ready to activate a portal for his brothers to bring them closer to Tengu.
"Portal, portal!" Leo swung his sword, making a portal for the first try. "Sweet!"
"Coming through!" Raph yelled and jumped into the portal.
Don jumped up and tried to slam down his weapon at the yokai. Tengu jumped back fast, using his wings and Don's weapon hit the ground, resulting in a moderate earthquake. As the tengu landed, the portal appeared behind him. Raph got out from the portal and tried to punch the bird creature for good. However, the yokai crouched down, making the turtle miss his punch and he kicked Raph away with a double kick, sending Raph flying into the rocks.
"Almost." The tengu stood up. "But not enough."
The string of the Kusari Fundo wrapped around Tengu's right leg.
"Got you!" Mikey yelled.
"Wrong." The yokai said and kicked up to the air with force, making Mikey fly close to him and he landed a punch on Mikey's torso.
Another portal appeared, this time above the tengu and Leo managed to sit on the yokai's shoulders. Before Leo could attack, the tengu was faster and slammed himself back down on the ground so that Leo got hit first.
As Tengu stood up, Don was already there and managed to kick the yokai off balance, but the tengu hit Don with his wings so he had time to get up fast and punch Don away.
"You got skills, but it's far from perfection." Tengu noted.
"Guys, we need to attack him together." Raph said as he crawled out from the debris.
"And how should we do it?" Leo asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"Just follow my lead!" Raph yelled and he ran towards the tengu, ready to do some punching combos.
The others gathered up and ran close to the yokai, trapping him in a circle. Raph started, but the tengu dodged his attacks, then Leo continued who managed to land a hit to the Tengu's side but most of the hits were blocked. Don tried to kick him, but Tengu ducked and the kick landed on Mikey.
The tengu had enough, he opened his wings creating a wind gust, making the turtles back up. He flew up and slammed his sword into the ground. The sword started to glow and it created and electric field on the ground that shook the turtles and made them lie down. Tengu landed down, picked up his sword and put it back in it's sheath.
"Four against one, and you still didn't have a chance." Tengu said. "If you can't defeat me, then how are you gonna save the world from the Shredder?"
"We need that piece." Raph grunted and slowly started to get up, all tired. "We promised to dad that we will get that piece and destroy it, so the Foot can't complete the armor. And I won't break my promise!"
Raph let out a loud shout and he used all of the tonfas mystic power to create a giant form of himself. The tengu looked up at the glowing red form and smiled. Raph's giant form jumped up and used both of his arms to slam down the tengu into the ground. At the moment of the impact, the ground shook heavily and dust covered the whole top of the mountain.
The other turtles sat up and coughed.
"What is going on?" Mikey asked.
The dust faded away and they could see the tengu, helding back the giant Raph form's fists with his arms. A crater formed beneath the tengu, clearly Raph's attack was very powerful, and even the yokai's clothes are damaged a lot.
"C'mon!" Raph yelled with clenched teeth.
The tengu slowly lifted up the giant form's fists, grabbed them and pulled down both of it next to him. He waited until Raph was close to and he landed a punch at Raph's chest, making the giant form disappear and making Raph down on the ground.
"You ruined my clothes." Tengu said.
Raph was too exhausted to say anything. But suddenly the yokai smiled and started to chuckle.
"Uhh, is he alright?" Leo asked.
"That was a great hit." The tengu helped Raph standing and left the armor piece in Raph's hand.
"Whoa, wait a minute. We lost. Why do you give it to us?" Raph asked in confusion.
"That is true." The bird creature nodded. "You are all young and clumsy. But in crucial situations, you showed me that you can do so much more. You have skills, you just need some motivation."
Raph looked down at the armor piece and smiled bright, almost shed a few tears.
"Thank you, Tengu. It means a lot to us and to our dad."
The yokai nodded. "If you meet your dad, tell him that an old crow sends his regards."
"Sure." Raph said and he walked to his brothers.
"Yes, we did it!" Mikey yelled.
"Can we go home now? I am super tired." Don whined.
"Of course, but it would be a long walk." Raph said.
"Or, I could use my portal power to send us back home." Leo said and he moved his sword in circles. "C'mon portal!"
It didn't work.
"Leo?" Don asked.
"Hold up, hold up, let me try again." Leo asked and swung his sword. "Portal!"
Even on second try, the portal didn't appear. Then Don tried to activate his weapon but it didn't work eaither.
"Our powers doesn't work again!" Mikey cried.
"This must be the tengu's thing." Raph said and turned around. "Hey Tengu, can you maybe-"
But the yokai was nowhere to be found.
"Are you kidding me? We have to walk all the way down from this mountain?" Leo whined.
"Alright guys, let's walk." Raph said and his brothers followed him with loud whines and groans.
The tengu appeared at the rooftop, watching the turtles walking away. A mysterious person appeared behind the yokai.
"Was it wise to give the armor piece to them?" They asked.
"I believe in them." The tengu said with a smile.
"What if they fail?"
"They won't. They have something inside them that is more powerful than anything."
The mysterious person smiled and put their hand on the tengu's right shoulder.
"We need to go." The mysterious person said.
"Yes." The bird creature nodded. "We are no longer belong to this world."
Both of them faded away and they hope that the new generation will do a better job protecting the world.
