Hamato Samurai

Episode 8: Never Say Xever

*This means a line is dramatic, emphasized, or in the background*

This time, we open in the lair of the evil Oroku Saki—the Shredder. He is staring out of the large window in his throne room, speaking to his henchmen, Chris Bradford and Xever, with much disappointment as they told him of Hamato Yoshi's (Splinter) disciples, the turtles.

"Hamato Yoshi's disciples are... turtles? And yet they managed to defeat you?!"

"Not just turtles..." Bradford spoke, kneeling down. "Man-sized turtles. Trained in ninjutsu. I almost had them!" He hangs his head in shame.

"Until you led us into their trap!" Xever chastised, kneeling next to him. "If you had let me take them down when I wanted..." "Then we'd never find Hamato!"

"Silence!" Shredder walked towards them ominously. "You were such a promising student..." he unsheathed his Tekko-kagi and held it to Bradford's face. "I expected much more from you."

"Sensei, give me another chance. I will not fail you again!" Bradford begged, scared out of his wits. He knew what Shredder was capable of, and he did not want to be on the receiving end.

Shredder sharpened his glare but lowered his weapon. "No... you won't. Xever, you are in charge." Oh, Bradford didn't like the sound of that.

"I won't take orders from this gutter trash!"

"Is that so?" Shredder's tone was unsettlingly calm as he unsheathed his Tekko-kagi again. "Unless... you want me to, Master."

"I have already put the word out on the street to watch for the turtles." Xever informed. "And when I find them, I'll peel them out of their shells and drop them at your feet."

Shredder narrowed his eyes as he turned his back and went to his throne. Bradford hated Xever; that was no secret, and the feeling was mutual, but they both would rather put up with each other than fall victim to Shredder's wrath. They left the room as Shredder watched, his constant expression of anger and wickedness permanently etched on his metal-covered face.

XXXXXXXX

April was walking towards Chinatown, with the turtles following her lead. Of course, they were sticking to the shadows, using their ninja stealth to make sure they stayed hidden. When April didn't see them behind her, she groaned, thinking they were falling behind.

"You guys wanna speed it up a little?"

"Are you saying turtles are slow?" Donnie asked indignantly from his hiding place. It turned out that he and his siblings were in front of April, so well hidden that even she didn't notice.

"That's a hurtful stereotype." Mikey followed.

"Trust us, April; we are better off keeping a low profile." Leo informed with seriousness. "We find people treat us better when they don't know we exist."

"Sorry," April said. "I'm just so excited to get you out of the sewer for a change."

"What're you talking about?" Raph asked. "We go out all the time."

"Yeah, but tonight, you're gonna do something besides punching people." Raph 'awwed' in disappointment. He loves punching people. "Don't worry. You're gonna love this noodle place I found."

"And you're sure we'll be welcome?" Donnie asked, nervously drumming his fingers.

"Oh, yeah." April reassured. "Mr. Murakami doesn't care what you look like. In fact, he won't even know what you look like; he's blind."

"Awesome!" Sam exclaimed. Raph smacked her on the shoulder, and she glared back at him. "Not the fact that he's blind! The fact that he won't know we're turtles!"