Hamato Samurai

Episode 13: I, Monster

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

In a dimly lit lab room swarming with rats stood the villainous Dr. Victor Falco, standing at the lab table, looking through a microscope.

"They all thought they could stop me." Falco said to the room. "The corporate fools who pulled my funding, the scientific community who shunned me..." He grabbed a strange cylinder with a warning label and pulled out a small vile of mutagen. What was this madman planning? "Those turtle brats who thought they got the last of my mutagen. But they were wrong. Even with this tiny amount and nothing but these disgusting sewer rats to experiment on, I have nearly recreated my psychic neurochemical."

He poured some mutagen into a petri dish and studied the reaction through the microscope. "And when I do, the shortsighted idiots who rejected me will tremble before the power and genius of Dr. Victor Falco!"

Unfortunately, all his insane plans were about to literally go up in smoke as, right above him, some rats were chewing through a live electrical wire. When it snapped, it swung down towards Falco and collided with his experiment, causing a fiery explosion. The fire burned part of Falco's face and scared the rats away. As they ran, Falco reached out desperately, as if he hoped they would come back and help him.

"NO! HELP ME! PLEASE! HELP!"

Shockingly, the neurochemical explosion did cause a chance in Falco. When he called for the rats, surprisingly, they obeyed him and returned to his side. His failed experiment gave him the power to mind-link with rats. He chuckled evilly when he realized it. This could be very bad.

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In the turtles' lair, they were all in the dojo preparing for another training session. This time, Splinter challenged his children to team up against him in order to test their skill level. Since Splinter is one of the greatest ninjas of his time, it was highly difficult to strike him, let alone beat him in a fight.

However, this time was different. Leo actually managed to throw a punch at Splinter and succeed in tagging him. His siblings couldn't believe their eyes. Of course, typical Leo. He let his guard down to apologize (for something he was supposed to do), and Splinter flipped him down.

"Oh, man. Leo's a goner." Donnie spoke.

"Oh no, he don't." Mikey followed.

"He's really gotta stop being such a boy scout." Sam muttered.

"Well done, Leonardo." Splinter praised. "But just when you had the advantage, you hesitated. And that made you vulnerable."

"Hai, Sensei." Leo grunted as he stood up.

"Now that is all for today." Splinter walked toward his bedroom. "Unless you'd care for a rematch?"

"No thanks."

"I'm good."

"Maybe later."

"Yeah, I think we're all set here." Raph finished. Splinter entered his bedroom and closed the door. With their father out of the room, Leo's siblings turned to him with much excitement. This was the first time any of them had ever laid a hand on Splinter during a spar.

"Leo. Not bad."

"Dude, I can't believe you actually tagged Sensei. That was epic." Donnie complimented.

"This hand punched Splinter." Mikey chimed in. "You know you can never wash this again."

"I gotta say, guys," Leo beamed. "It was all teamwork. We are definitely getting better."

"Think we might be catching up to Splinter?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, maybe soon we won't need him to train us at all." Mikey finished. However, unknown to them, Splinter heard their every word. He was proud of his children's progress, but he also dreaded the day they would not need him anymore.