Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello were sent out to search for Raphael and Tello once it was discovered that they were no longer in the lair. To make matters worse, Raph didn’t have his shell-cell on him and Donny hadn’t had the chance to register Tello’s T-phone so there was no way to track them. Splinter was beside himself with anger and worry.
As they searched they came across Hun and the Purple Dragons. Hun was beating one of his own, accusing him of stealing. Apparently there were several prescription pain pill bottles missing. The Turtles didn’t feel the need to intervene.
Leonardo wasn’t sure if it was a result of the mutation or if it was because he no longer had Shredder there to keep him under control, but Hun had become a mad man. True, it wasn’t the first time Hun had brutally attacked another. Hun had methodically dismembered Baxter Stockman until he was just a brain and an eyeball back before he had been mutated. However, he was taking more risks recently.
He made no attempt to stay hidden, showing no fear when he walked down the street. People would scatter at the sight of him and Leo was sure that Hun delighted in that fact. The Purple Dragons were armed with an assortment of Triceraton weaponry and a few of them were mutants as well. They were all well-known and used it to cause fear in the city.
The Foot soldiers who did not like the fact that Karai had turned the Foot away from crime defected and had joined Hun. So Hun not only had well-armed men following him but skilled ones as well. Fortunately the elite were not among the one who had defected.
Bishop, on the other hand, had his own agenda. True he fought against Hun but he was also still after the Turtles. Agents patrolled the streets and the sewers, looking for them. It was an obsession of the government agent. He wanted his super soldiers and he saw the Turtles as a way to get them.
The recent discovery of the fact that Donatello was a clone intended for breeding showed them that Bishop was willing to do anything to get what he wanted. Anything but ask the Turtles to join him.
The city was no longer safe, especially for the Turtles.
This was the reason why Splinter was beside himself with anger. Leo and the others had arrived back at the lair in time to hear Splinter release all of that anger. “What were you thinking?” he snapped.
“I guess Raph and Tello are back,” Mikey whispered as they stepped through the door. Leo nodded in response. It appeared that they had returned just after Raph and Tello.
“Tello wanted to go for a run to see if he could navigate the city,” Raph answered. “You know. To see what was the same and what was different.”
Master Splinter struck Raphael with his walking stick; something he hasn’t done in years. “Then you get your brothers to go with you. You don’t go off alone. What would you have done if you were attacked? You didn’t have your shell-cell with you. I have nearly lost you too many times already….”
“I’m sorry,” Raph said as he rubbed his arm. “I just wanted to help Tello feel better.” Dropping to his knees at Splinter’s feet, Raph kept his eyes on the ground. “I’m sorry. I keep screwing up.”
Splinter took a deep breath to settle his anger. “All I ask is that you do not go out alone. You know what Hun is capable of. I cannot bear the thought of losing one of you.”
“It won’t happen again,” Raph promised.
“See that it doesn’t,” Splinter replied. “Now,” he said as he turned and headed toward the dojo. His eyes fell on the others for a moment and Leo could see the relief in them. “Everyone to the dojo. Due to recent events, we have been lax in your training. It is time we remedy that. We also need to work on getting Tello integrated into the group. The five of you must learn to fight as a team.”
“Hai, Sensei,” the Turtles said in unison.
Tello helped Raph to stand and they followed after Splinter. “Sorry I got you into trouble,” Tello mumbled.
“I knew what I was doing.” Raph smiled at Tello and shrugged. “I get in trouble a lot. I just can’t seem to learn my lesson.”
Mikey rushed up behind them and rested his arms across their shoulders. “You two seem to be getting cozy.” A big grin flashed across his face and he wiggled his eye ridges.
“About as cozy as you and Leo,” Raph grumbled, pushing Mikey’s arm off.
Mikey’s grin widened. “Leo and I have sex.”
“Mikey!” Leo chided as Raph turned to look at him with a shocked expression.
Tello’s eyes went wide. “You do?”
“We don’t,” Leo clarified. “Mikey’s just trying to get a reaction out of us.”
“And I got it,” Mikey chuckled. “I wish I had had a camera to capture the looks on your faces.”
“Careful,” Donny warned. “We are about to start practice after all. You don’t want Leo mad at you when you two spar.”
“Leo’s not gonna hurt me,” Mikey purred. “He wuves me.” Leo’s hand came up and struck the back of Mikey’s head. “Ouch,” Mikey hissed, rubbing where Leo had struck. “Maybe not as much as I thought.”
“I don’t see how he puts up with you at all, knucklehead,” Raph chuckled as they entered the dojo. “I swear you’ve only gotten worse.”
“I guess you’re not the only one who can’t seem to learn his lesson,” Tello chuckled.
Mikey noticed the weapons that had once belonged to Tello’s brothers hanging on the wall. “Are you sure you want those in here?”
“I’ve got enough stuff to hold on to.” Tello shrugged. “It’d be better if they were used. It would be a shame for them to go to waste.” He walked over and grabbed his brother’s nunchakus off the wall and then offered them to Mikey. “You press the button here to activate the kusarigama and blade.”
Mikey stuck his nunchakus in his belt and reached for the ones in Tello’s hands. “A blade? That is awesome.”
“Be careful, Mikey,” Raph said, taking a step back. “There was a reason you didn’t get a bladed weapon.”
Mikey let out a sarcastic laugh. “I’ve gotten better since I was ten. You guys healed.” He pressed the button, causing the blade to pop out and the chain to drop. Mikey’s eyes lit up in excitement. “Oh, Master Splinter, you have to teach me how to use this. If I managed to win the Nexus Tournament with my simple nunchakus, I will be unstoppable with these.”
“I do not think that you would have it mastered in time for the next tournament,” Splinter said, taking the weapon from Michelangelo. “But if you are interested, I will teach you how to use this.”
“Yes,” Mikey silently cheered.
Tello turned and pulled his brother’s swords from the wall next. As he approached Leo, the turtle leader held up his hand. “No offence but I have a fond attachment to my own swords.”
“I understand that. However, I looked your swords over,” Tello said as he pulled the hidden blade from the handle. “I noticed yours don’t have this feature. I figured, if anything, I could help you add this to your existing blades.”
“That is a useful feature,” Leo nodded, taking the small blade from Tello. “I would be honored to carry a small trinket of your brother with me. I will not take his swords but if you would help me add this to mine, I would be grateful.”
“Anything special about your brother’s sai?” Raph asked, pointing to the wall.
Tello shook his head. “They’re the same as yours.”
“You might want to keep the extra set on you since you keep throwing yours in battle,” Leo teased.
It was Raph’s turn to let out the sarcastic laugh.
Donny walked up to Tello. “What about your bo?”
Holding his bo away from the others, Tello pressed a button on one end of the staff and a blade came out of the other end. “I made a few modifications,” he grinned. “I got tired of my bo getting broken all the time. Being the only one without a bladed weapon made things a little difficult when we were fighting the Kraang in their robot bodies. Running one through proved to be more effective than smacking it on the head.”
“May I,” Donny asked, extending his hand. With a slight nod, Tello handed his bo over. Donny twirled it in his hands to test the balance. “You managed to counter balance the added weight of the blade on one end.”
“It took some trial and error,” Tello admitted. “But I figured it out.”
“I like my simple bo,” Donny said, pressing the button to retract the blade. “I think the differences in our weapons say a lot about us. It’s nice to know that we are not exactly the same.”
“Yeah,” Tello agreed, accepting his bo back as Donny handed it over.
“Does it make being here harder or easier for you?” Raph asked.
Tello shrugged. “It keeps me from letting myself slip into a state of insanity where I make myself believe that you are the family I lost, like I did with my robots. I am able to separate who you are from who they were. So I guess, in a way, it helps to make it easier.”
“Let’s start training,” Splinter interrupted before they could continue down such a depressing topic. They all to turn towards him and bowed. Looking at Tello, Splinter added, “I will conduct my lessons as I usually do. It may be awkward for you at first but don’t let it discourage you. In time you will get the routine down and everything will fall into place.”
“I understand,” Tello nodded.
“Good,” Splinter said then turned to take his place to watch over their training. “We will start with some basic katas.”
Tello squared his shoulders and moved through the katas as Splinter called them out. He let his mind slip into the familiar pattern of movements. He had to admit that it felt good to train again.
