The limo was being fixed as the Orokus talked with Tormo and his Terrorcon friends. “A shame,” sighed Tormo. “I had just figured out the market value of those…Corinthian leather seats, I believe they are.”
“What do you want?” grunted Oroku Saki.
“I sense we’re kindred spirits, you and I,” replied Tormo. “Oh, there are differences, like how we accomplish our goals, but we’re both entrepreneurs at heart. We see an opportunity and we grab it, yes?”
“And what opportunity, pray tell,” said Oroku Kumiko, “do your senny-senses tell you?”
“Well, let me give you a bit of backstory first,” answered Tormo. “In the past few days, my association has been running into a string of bad luck. Autobots and Decepticons working together, the races of my home, …and karate bug-men that use belts to summon their armor!”
“Kamen Riders?” asked Saki.
“That’s them! Thanks to this particular group of Kamen Riders, all our operations have been shut down!” Tormo snarled in annoyance…then calmed down. “But you have a quartet of four half-shelled juvenile delinquents, right? Which brings me to my little…proposition.”
“Continue,” directed Saki.
“Surrender Order to me and me and my guys will give you ninja weapons specifically designed to slay the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” Saki laughed at Tormo’s proposition.
“That’s just too rich,” he said. “One, Order is in my possession for a reason until I find Tengu no Ken. Two, what makes you think you can take on the turtles when you can’t even defeat mere children’s television superheroes from my homeland?” Tormo stood up quickly.
“There’s nothing childish about THESE particular ‘superheroes’!” he snapped. “Besides, like I said, I have ninja weapons specifically designed to target their…weakness.”
“That ‘pizza’ nonsense they have an obsession for?” scoffed Saki.
“Not that, something more…biological. Big Mama Joro, is there someone I can demonstrate this on? Someone that stumbled into mutagen like the Turtles?” Tormo pulled out a kunai.
“…Well, there IS one,” replied Kumiko. She used her natural mystic arts to open a portal and pull a humanoid cockroach through. “This one hasn’t paid me in a while.”
“B-B-B-BIG MAMA JORO!” squeaked the cockroach. “Look, Big Mama! I swear! I got the money! I just need to pay off-!” Tormo stabbed the guy in the heart. As he fell dying, the cockroach man lost many of his insectoid features until he was now a normal red-headed man…as normal as a corpse can be.
“The weapons are capable of deploying retromutagen into the body,” explained Tormo. “Dead or alive, makes no difference.”
“…Perhaps…we can use them for a further purpose,” said Saki. “If you want Order, I need a specific sword. Tengu no Ken, it’s called. The Sword of Tengu. Built with Yōkai mysticism, Utrom technology, and human ingenuity. My first ancestor, Oroku Sansho, was known to wield it on top of wearing the armor I wear as the Shredder. Using these weapons to make sure I’ll dine on turtle soup will be a bonus.”
“Ooh! That DOES sound more promising!” replied Tormo.
“But you must understand this,” continued Saki, “you are dealing with the Shredder and Big Mama Joro. Oroku Saki and Oroku Kumiko cannot be involved in this in any way.”
“Oh, trust me! The Orokus will be Mr. and Mrs. Clean!” assured Tormo. “Deal?” He held his hand out for a handshake.
“…Deal,” replied Saki as he shook Tormo’s hand.
Leonardo, Donatello, and Michaelangelo led Hiroki and his team to a part of New York’s sewer system that was once a subway station. “So you dudes are trying to save all the universes by stopping a guy that has some magic book that makes what he writes come true?” asked Michaelangelo.
“That’s the general gist of it, Michaelangelo,” replied Hiroki. “We need to find a woman that calls herself Order.”
“Erm, this Order woman,” interjected Donatello, “is she green and usually carries a crystal sphere?”
“That’s the one!” confirmed Jazz. “Dude, where is she?” The Turtles winced.
“In the hands of Oroku Saki and Oroku Kumiko,” replied Leonardo. “The Shredder and Big Mama Joro.”
“Okay, I have to ask, since Yōkai are a thing in this universe,” said Nightbird, “is Big Mama Joro a Jorōgumo?”
“Yes,” said Leonardo.
“Just to make sure I got my Japanese mythology right,” said Shockwave, “Jorōgumo is a shape-shifter that can turn from a beautiful woman to a giant spider that targets men that have no control over their lust, correct?”
“Bingo!” said Michaelangelo.
“…Well,” muttered Shockwave.
“Now, I have a question for you boys,” said Hiroki, “where are you taking us?”
“To our home,” replied Leonardo. “We need Master Splinter’s insight into all this.”
“Are you sure that’s a wise idea? Introducing Splinter to all of us?”
“We’re not introducing all of you,” replied Donatello, “just you, Hishikawa-san.”
“…Fair point,” conceded Hiroki. They entered the Lair and Leo pointed out a set of Japanese sliding doors.
“There’s the dojo,” he said. “Master Splinter’s usually in there either practicing or meditating.” Hiroki nodded.
A man-sized rat in Japanese clothes was kneeling in front of a makeshift altar with a photo of a young Japanese couple in traditional clothing and holding a baby in cloth. Incense was burning and the rat’s eyes were closed as he breathed slowly. His ears twitched as he heard a foot on the bamboo flooring. “…You hesitate to disturb me,” said the rat.
“This…seems too important,” replied Hiroki’s voice. “I am Hishikawa Hiroki. I presume you are Master Splinter?”
“That is what my sons have nicknamed me, yes,” replied the rat. “Though, if you wish for my original name…I am Hamato Yoshi.”
“A pleasure, Hamato-san,” said Hiroki as he bowed.
“Please, Hishikawa-san, sit,” directed Splinter. Hiroki knelt next to Splinter. “I sense there’s another issue?”
“Well, I’m afraid of rats, but a talking rat manages to calm down my fear,” admitted Hiroki.
“Not that,” said Splinter.
“…Yes, I’m dodging the question here. I came from another universe.” Splinter sighed as his ears flattened in annoyance and his eyes opened to reveal brown, human eyes instead of a rat’s usual black orbs. “I can understand your frustrations, given what your sons told me and my team about the renegade Utroms under Ch’Rell’s command, but this goes beyond what the ‘Demon’ Shredder had planned. A person is using a book called the Tome-.” Splinter gave Hiroki his full attention.
“THE Tome?” he asked. “How did he get that? The Utrom Queen assured me and my family that such a task was impossible.”
“This person tricked the guardians of the Tome into serving him and now he’s collecting the Sources of the Apocalypse and Flourishment as well as three powerful first-place prizes from a tournament known as the 3V2R. He plans on combining them with the Tome to literally rewrite reality into his image. We have the Apocalypse and four of the five Flourishment Sources secured and we came here to retrieve the last one.”
“Order.”
“Exactly, Hamato-san,” said Hiroki. “Your sons said that Order is in the tender mercies of the Shredder.”
“She is, sadly,” replied Splinter. “I will do what I can to assist you and your team.”
“…Just like that?” asked Hiroki.
“Surprised?”
“A little, yeah. I thought you’d want to test me or something.”
“Even if I did, you have already passed it. See, I overheard my sons talking outside the Lair and they intended to introduce me to yourself and your team slowly. I doubt you have anything devious on your mind. If you crept in here, I’d have been in a better position to do something about it.” Splinter could hear the gulp.
The team met in the garage, given the size of the Transformers. As they planned, Tom seemed distracted by something. “TOM!” called Hiroki. Tom snapped out of it.
“Yes, Hiroki?!” he said.
“I was asking what you thought of the plan to get Order out of the Shredder’s private palace,” said Hiroki, “but you seem distracted.”
“…Sorry, Hiroki,” sighed Tom. “It’s just…in most universes centered around the Turtles, they’re supposed to number four. …Where’s Raphael?” The Turtles winced.
“Dudes…you probably wanna stay sitting,” said Michaelangelo.
“It started like this…” began Leonardo.