Puppeteer (TMNT AU)

Chapter 3: Kitsune's curse

A.N: I wrote this one a bit more quickly, so yeah it's kind of choppy. Either way, hope you enjoy!

Splinter forced his fur to lie flat. Of course Leonardo would know if he lied, they knew each other very well. He told himself that it was for the safety of his sons, of all the humans and mutants that lived with them, he was lying to himself in believing this. "Tonight they will know the truth, I can no longer protect them, my love." He whispered, putting his face against the picture of Tang Shen, then setting it back down. He looked at the shoji, and prepared himself for the long night ahead.

"I'm not gonna hurt him, for the last time!" Leo yelled as loudly as possible without disturbing anyone. "You tried to attack him!" Venus argued. "Can we just get this over with?" Asked Leo. Venus rolled her eyes, but said no more. They then made their way to the dojo.

"Sister, is Leo right? I mean, you both said the same thing and-" "yes, Leo is right, but if father denies it tonight, then no matter what happens, I shall have his head." Karai interrupted Jennika. "Okay then..." Jenny said slowly. She really couldn't trust anyone, but what did it matter? They left their room and went to the dojo.

"You ever get that feeling that you're missing out on something and everyone else knows, but like they don't say anything?" Mikey asked Donnie. Raph groaned. "Seriously, for one night, please just shut your mouth Mikey?" Mikey made a sad face. "No, no puppy eyes. This is important, we only do this once a year. Please don't interrupt father this time." Donnie said. "Fine...but that means you clean my room for a week!" "Deal!" Donnie said, racing his brothers to the dojo.

Splinter could already hear the eager footsteps of his children, had his wife been here, perhaps he could've protected them. She wasn't here though, the door slid open, revealing six mutant turtles and one human.

"Come in, my children, for our sacred time of sharing." He said, trying to ignore Leo and Karai, they were going to need to work harder for praise now. His children dipped their heads and crouched down in front of him. "Now, as you all know, on this sacred night of the oldest child's birthday, we celebrate with a story and a test, to determine your level of ninjutsu, and to resolve matters between our family." Splinter started.

"So that this shall take no longer than needed, I will not be telling a long story," he heard protests from Mikey, but silenced him before continuing. "Instead, I will be revealing the truth about something that happened earlier today. While Mikey, Raph, and Donnie were not present for it, I am sure that they have caught on." Mikey lifted his hand. "Yes, Michelangelo?" "Father, what happened today?" He asked, curiosity in his voice.

"Leonardo and Karai got in a fight, they revealed emotions that they'd kept in for a very long time, and, as consequence, have caused a rumor to break out." Mikey nodded slowly. "As I was saying before, there is a truth to be told. I shall do it as best I can, starting from the beginning." He blew a black powder all around them, and from it three figures of smoke emerged.

"When the first fights broke out between me and my brother, we consulted one of the spirit elders, her name was Kitsune. She told us that she could help our fighting, but not forever. We agreed to this, but as you all know, Shredder attacked my home before I lived here, securing the future of us turning into what we are now." The two male figures of smoke, now back to back, drew out their swords. They turned around and leaped at each-other, and then the smoke spiraled.

"With the war ended, Shredder finally went to the afterlife, but at the cost of our truce. The deal had been that we would not kill each other, no matter what," a new, older figure came from the smoke, it was their father.

"With our promise broken, Kitsune gave me a choice; either I accepted death, like my brother, or I cursed myself. It was more noble to die, so I took the curse. But I didn't know the consequences." Two more smoke figures appeared. Karai as a baby, and their mother.

"Early on, I found out about this curse. The first sign, Karai would always tell me, after she did anything wrong, that there was a voice telling her to, and that she couldn't remember what she had done." The small figure of Karai grew taller, and two more appeared, Leo and Jennika.

"After my first son was born, Kitsune visited me in a dream, the second a final sign. She told me about the curse, she said it would affect the oldest of each gender, male and female, in other words, Karai and Leo. She told me that since I could not save our young daughter, she would give me fourteen years to save the son. But I failed," the smoke figures of Karai and Leo went to join Kitsune, who then vanished along with their mother and Jenny, leaving Splinter alone in the smoke.

"Now the curse has fallen on him. I know that you are all wondering what it is, and I will tell you. They will always have evil in them, it will never leave. She warned me that I wouldn't be able to save them, and that they would always be her puppets, bound to the darkness of evil for all eternity." All the smoke then faded, leaving the family in utter silence and shock.

"You never told us...we could've saved them!" Mikey yelled, crying. "We lost our sister and now we're gonna lose our brother, all because you broke a truce!" "My son, I am sorry, please-" "no. You're no father to me, not when you let this happen. You should've chosen death." Mikey said, walking out of the room, tears streaming down his face.

Splinter sighed. "I can no longer control your lives. You may all leave, and if you want to, it can be forever. But I will not allow Karai and Leo to go. They will stay...as prisoners!"

A.N: were you expecting that? Please comment, thanks for reading!