Chapter Text
The newly turned rat man ran through the rain filled streets of the hidden city, clutching the finger of that rat had bitten, he felt it pulse under his grip. Lou didn't really know how the whole blood flow thing worked now, if it changed at all. Lou swept into a nearby alley, leaning against a wall, seething. He looked around for a way to escape the downpour, finding a small cardboard box just a few paces down. He stared at the box, bracing himself and leaning off the wall, wobbling towards the box and falling into it. He groaned, sitting up, taking a good look at his hands, or well, what were supposed to be his hands. Staring down at the claws, he felt nothing but shame and humiliation. He was a prideful man who prioritized his career over his clan, his family, he left behind those poor innocent creatures with that monster, what was his name, Benny Drainum or something. Whoever he was, he was turning those turtles into monsters, and Lou failed to save them from that fire. He squeezed his eyelids closed, unable to even look at the pathetic excuse of a man he had become.
Lou opened his eyes and saw what must have been someone’s old tailcoat. It was red and worn, the ends of the tail becoming stings and on the edge of tearing entirely. It would have been a good baby blanket. Lou shook his head, for those turtles and the entire world's sake… he hoped they died in that fire, he hoped they would be spared of whatever that sheep man wanted to make of them. As Lou thought of these things, he took off his old jacket that is now, what? four years old he thought, taking it off and replacing it with the plain red one. He was no longer ‘Lou Jitsu’ and he was no longer ‘Hamato Yoshi’ . He didn't deserve those names, he pulled out some strange pieces of wood from his jacket, flicking them to the ground. He would name himself Splinter, just Splinter, no more, no less. It was what he deserved.
Splinter sighed as he looked at the jacket on him. It did serve a good purpose in hiding his identity, can't really have people figuring out he was from the Battle Nexus and sending him back to Big Mama. Shoving his claws in the jacket’s pockets, he began to slowly walk back into the street, looking up and down, seeing no Yokai wandering what he guessed was supposed to be a marketplace. He felt his stomach cry in hunger, shambling to one of the stands, we found one sad lonely piece of mysterious Yokai food. Splinter didn’t even care what it was, he needed something, anything. So he swallowed the bread-like item along with what was left of his pride, shivering with disgust. Even outside of it being unusual, it was stale and soggy from rain at the same time, no wonder it was left behind. In that respect, he was no different. Still hunched over, holding the tailcoat tight against his furry body for warmth, he walked deeper into the city, aimlessly walking.
After walking for a while, Splinter guessed that he had zoned out, because now he was in a more populated area of the hidden city. There were small groups of Yokai out walking and talking with each other, some heading into the illuminated buildings. The sight was strange to Splinter, these people that had paid to watch him fight as Lou Jitsu were out and just… existing. It was strange. He must have been staring, someone placed a hand on his shoulder, making him jump slightly. The person was a brown bunny Yokai, they had sharp eyes and looked like they were higher class in the city, with a sleek, well groomed suit and tie combo. Splinter shook his head, addressing the Yokai.
“Good evening, can I help you?” Splinter gave a very odd feeling grin. At that the Yokai nodded, taking his paw off Splinter’s shoulder, looking down to adjust his suit.
“I couldn't help but notice you look a little lost, however, that was not the only thing I noticed about you.” The bunny explained, looking back up at Splinter. At that, Splinter felt a shiver of fear crawl up his spine. No way someone already noticed who he was, was it how he talked? His hair? Something with his eyes? “I can’t help but shake the feeling that you’re good luck, you look like you have potential…” The Yokai interrupting Splinter’s train of thought caused Splinter to blink in surprise before dragging himself back to the present to talk with the Yokai.
“Okay, so what do you want?” Splinter asked hastily. The bunny huffed, opening his jacket and shuffling around with what Splinter guessed was an inside pocket.
“Well you see, me and a few clients I have are looking for a clean rat yokai for a short film we are working on, and since you seem to have some sort of talent, and you’re the most put together rat Yokai I could find, I’m offering you a deal” they handed Splinter a white card with some lettering that seemed to be like japanese calligraphy. ‘Miyamoto Studios’ ran across the card followed by a number and an address. “If you are interested, come to this address next Saturday. We can discuss more then.”
Splinter looked down at the card, he opened his mouth to ask more questions, but as soon as his gaze went back to the rabbit, they had vanished. He stared back at the card, the only proof that interaction wasn’t just a vivid hallucination.
“Maybe this is a sign…”
Clutching the card, Splinter walked further into the city, a new feeling flooding him, a feeling he couldn’t remember the last time having… Hope.
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The streets of New York, a place Splinter knew decently well. Now, Baron Draxum, the Yokai who mutated him four years ago, had been unleashing his mutations upon the city, having perfected the formula quicker than Splinter both anticipated and wished. This new one was some kind of octopus creature. Luckily, he had fought similar beasts back in his days of the Battle Nexus. But this was different, unlike the Battle Nexus, there were innocent civilians at risk in the nearby building and vehicles, meaning he couldn’t be careless.
After his utter failure to fight off Draxum and save those poor turtles, he had made it his life goal to stop the warring warrior scientist before he could hurt any more people. Unfortunately, the two were at a bit of a standstill, as if Draxum was waiting for something that would change everything and shift the war in his favor. Splinter didn’t have time to wonder what that might mean, when he wasn’t fighting Draxum’s forces by night, he was a parody of his former identity, now known as the star Rat Jitsu. He didn’t actually pick that name, his fighting and acting styles just reminded everyone so much of Lou Jitsu that the name just fell onto his lap. It was fitting in a way, a rat who was a copy of himself, yet somehow worse.
The creature let out a roar, tossing debris at the nimble rat man. Splinter used the flying vehicles and ripped sections of building to close the distance, balling his hand into a fist.
“Hot soup!” Yelling at the top of his lungs, he hit the octopus mutant with a powerful punch, knocking it backwards. While it was down, Splinter landed and then jumped back into the air to land a final kicking blow, finally defeating it. Dazed, the mutant crawled into the shadows of an alley, no doubt returning to Draxum.
Splinter stretched his back, despite the need to keep up his physical shape, he was getting too old for this. He was far past his prime. Before he could follow the train of thought that was fueled by self-pity, he felt a sharp pain hit the back of his head. No way, could it be? Had the octopus just been a distraction to slow him down?
Another hit.
Splinter looked around for the monster causing this, but there was no such beast or mutant. ‘
Another hit.
This hit was somehow harder. Finally his gaze went to someone he could have never expected. In front of him now was a little girl dressed in green and yellow, her hair pinned up in two puffy buns. Tears flooded her eyes, with one hand she threw rocks and with the other she held a… dog? cat? Pet-like creature that was definitely not natural in the human half of the world.
“Uhh…” Before he could say anything, a rock went flying and hit him right in his rat nose. Before he could react, the girl threw another rock at him, yelling two words.
“APRIL O'NEIL!!!”