Splinter spent months blanket training his four adopted sons. He didn’t enjoy it. In fact, he despised it but it was something that needed to be done. It was important that he made them obey early. If they failed to listen, they could get caught.
He sat them on the large blanket and told them, “Stay on the blanket.” If one of them ventured off, he would swat their leg, pace them back on the blanket, and then repeat, “Stay on the blanket.”
They would look up at him and he could see the confusion and hurt in their eyes. He wondered if they possessed the ability to comprehend what he wanted out of them but he stuck with it.
In time they all stayed on the blanket, though it took longer for some to grasp the concept. They would craw or toddle to the edge of the blanket, look at Splinter then turn and head back.
After that he started hiding from them and when they thought he wasn’t around, they would attempt to leave the blanket’s boundaries. Splinter would then appear, seemingly from nowhere and swat their tiny legs and place them back on the blanket.
In time, they learned to stay on the blanket. He could spend hours out of their sight and they would play within its borders. They would curl up together and fall asleep or stand on the blanket’s edge and cry out for him but they never left the blanket.
Satisfied that they would stay put, Splinter made sure they were fed and cleaned before placing them on the blanket to sleep then headed out for a scavenging run. The few supplies he managed to gather from his apartment and during their first winter were starting to dwindle and he needed to restock.
He knew he couldn’t be gone for long so he gathered things quickly and would sort through them back at the lair.
When he returned home, it was to the sound of Raphael crying at the blanket’s edge. He was covered in his own vomit and Splinter wasn’t sure if it was because he had become ill again or if it was because he had been crying for so long.
He abandoned the bags and picked up Raphael. He hurried him to the other room, where there was faucet where they got fresh water, and cleaned him off. Raphael’s hand stayed up next to his ear slit and Splinter could feel that he had developed yet another fever.
“I’m sorry, Raphael,” Splinter soothed. “I do not have the medicine that you need. Calm yourself or you will only make it worse.”
While he was focused on Raphael, the other three wandered from the blanket, lured by the bags that were dropped on the floor. Michelangelo found a teddy bear then hurried back to the blanket with his newly found treasure.
Donatello sucked his thumb as he sorted through another bag with his free hand. He found a tattered picture book and took it back to the blanket.
Leonardo rummaged through another bag, trying to quickly find something before Splinter returned. He found a silver device with three hexagons connected to each other. His eyes went wide and he pressed the middle hexagon.
The device left his hands and started to float in the air. A triangular pink light shot down to the floor from the bottom of the device. Leonardo looked through the light and saw a boy bunny, who looked to be about his same age.
The bunny stood on his wobbly feet and toddled over towards Leo. In his excitement, Leonardo surged forward and fell through the portal. They passed, just missing each other as they hurried to meet.
The bunny tripped over the clutter and landed on the cold hard floor. He immediately started to cry, unsure of what was happening. One moment he was in a warm field and the next he was in a smelly, cold cave.
Splinter rushed into the room. The cries were strange and he could not identify who they were coming from. When he saw the bunny boy, sprawled out on the floor, in front of a strange light, he sprinted across the room. Placing Raphael on the blanket, he then collected the crying bunny from the floor.
He looked through the portal and saw a samurai rabbit standing over Leonardo, swords drawn. His son was not crying but was looking up at the samurai in wonder. Splinter looked back at his sons and roared, “Stay on the blanket,” before he hurried through the portal.
The samurai’s attention shifted up to Splinter and his eyes held a mix of fear, confusion, and anger. He saw the sobbing boy in Splinter’s arms, “Jotaro! What do you want with my son, Demon?” The samurai spoke in an old Japanese dialect but Splinter was able to understand what he said. “You dare to switch my child with this kappa? I warn you, Demon, I am a skilled fighter.”
Splinter held up his hand, his eyes darting between Leonardo and the samurai. “It was an accident. I am here to return your son and collect mine.”
Slowly and carefully, Splinter placed the child in the grass and backed up. The samurai quickly sheathed his swords and knelt down, opening his arms. “Jotaro, come.”
As the little bunny toddled to his father, Splinter kneeled down and reached for Leonardo. “Come here, Leonardo.”
The turtle tot got up on unsure feet and managed to make his way to his father. Splinter wrapped his arms around his son, stood, and quickly turned to leave.
He paused mid stride and called out to the samurai, “May I ask you a question, Samurai?”
The rabbit paused and looked back at Splinter, “You may, Nezumi.”
“Are all the people of this world usagi, such as yourself?”
The samurai rabbit turned to look at Splinter and shook his head, “No. The people here are diverse. Why?”
Splinter looked down at Leonardo then through the portal at the three who were watching from the blanket. For a moment he considered pulling his sons through the portal and making a life in this world. A life in a world similar to Ancient Japan would, in part, be favorable to where they were but, looking back at the young warrior, Splinter could tell that it would have its own hardships and perils.
“No reason,” Splinter answered then bowed. “Again, I apologize for the mix up.”
The samurai bowed in response, “Safe travels, Nezumi.”
“Thank you,” Splinter replied as he turned around. “Safe travels to you as well, Samurai.”
He passed through the portal and placed Leonardo with the others before turning and, pulling a tanto from his sleeve, slashed through the device. It clattered to the floor in two even pieces as it sparked and flickered until it died.
Splinter placed the tanto back in his sleeve and looked down at his sons. “What did I tell you about staying on the blanket?”
Leo quickly hid behind his brothers, tucking his legs close to his chest. Splinter looked down at the broken device then back at his sons. He hated having to use a heavy hand with them but they had to learn to obey.
