Chapter 9 Part 2: Short Circuit → Morris’s Will
Morris’s mind
Morris woke up. His parents were gone, his pain was gone. He yelled for his parents, but they didn’t come. It was like they had disappeared.
At first, he thought they went away because of all the stress about him. The team saw that he had the best week of his life. Morris felt reawakened, with a new mystic power. He helped people in the hospital voluntarily, and it looked like he was turning his life around.
But after a month, he realized what had happened to his parents… They were gone.
For years, he begged the entity to give them back to him. The entity started to get angry at Morris, as it could not take his pleas anymore.
“You are still the same weak little boy, but it’s okay. I will give them back, on one condition.”
“I love them, I couldn’t think clearly because of my illness,” Morris said hopelessly. He started crying on his knees at this point, talking to the spider inside his mind.
“Then let me make it simple,” The entity said. “Find the Usagi family who are located in Japan. And hunt them down. Make sure that the entire bloodline is gone.”
The entity then showed Morris images of the Usagi family, who defeated him centuries ago.
Morris was too stunned to speak. As were the turtles and April. Splinter looked with an intense expression on his face towards Morris. Then… he looked towards Yuichi, who was fuming.
“Please young man, you can fight him.” Splinter yelled towards Morris.
Morris quietly looked down. “You… want me to kill people? Even if they are half-animal, they are still… ”
“Instead of blaming Humans and Yokai for their greed, they killed me instead. They must pay with their lives.”
Morris was about to say no when the entity spoke.
“Don’t bother trying to make the human bodies of your parents with your power. They won’t have a soul and they will never love someone like you. Even if you try, they will become animal-like monsters that aren’t the real people you once loved.”
Morris was quiet. Then, the entity added fuel to the fire. “I doubt your real parents ever would love you again with you selling them out to me.”
“Stop it!” Morris yelled angrily, almost screaming at himself in the mirror, but then guilt overcame him.
Everyone looked in shock at what was about to happen. Yuichi was the most shocked, he never thought that entity would be the one to manipulate so badly. The fact that Morris saw Yokai for the first time and did not think of them as less of a person… He never met a human like that until April.
“Isn’t there any other way?” Morris quietly asked.
“No, but I can make it easier for you, let me take over your will partially. You will only focus on the mission without distractions,” The entity spoke.
Leo tried to yell, but nothing came out. Everyone else tried to do the same… except Yuichi. He just looked in shock at the situation.
Morris stood up, and after a really long pause of thinking about what he did to his mother and father, he nodded…
“Do it.”
As the entity touched the soul again. Everyone stood behind Morris, watching it happen. Then something strange happened. His head turned, directly looking at the group with one eye fully purple. Everyone jumped and instantly panicked.
Donnie then stopped the experience and everyone was shocked and in panic about what had just happened.
Back at the lair
“Could they see us all this time?” Raph asked bewildered. He was shocked but still managed to talk to the group about what had just happened.
“What was that?” April, Leo and Mikey yelled, as they were mostly confused by Morris suddenly looking at them.
Splinter responded after reasserting himself, “It’s probably nothing noteworthy. Some weird memory manipulation thing… Donnie would probably have better wording for it.“
“I really don’t pa-pa,” Donnie said quietly, sweating from the fatigue. He subconsciously managed to create his staff, which had taken a lot of energy from him.
Yuichi spoke in a serious quiet voice. “Donatello, let’s do it one more time.” He wanted to see how far they could go, hoping to get a clue to defeat this… person.
Everyone looked in shock. Raph immediately went on the defensive. “You can’t use Donnie like that, haven’t you caused enough ruckus as it is?”
Unfortunately, after everything that had happened, Raph was also quick to take his fears out on Yuichi, since Morris was his enemy.
“Just give me a break,” Donnie whispered.
Everyone was shocked that Donnie was going to do this for Yuichi. He was always the one who didn’t get along with him, unlike the other brothers.
After everyone had asked Donnie if he was really sure, Yuichi wanted to be the only one this time to place his hand on Donnie’s shoulder, but Leo smiled slightly at Yuichi and put his hand on Donnie’s shoulder as well.
Leo wanted to support Yuichi through everything, even if the fight they had a week ago wasn’t resolved yet.
Then… they started their journey again.
Leo, Donnie and Yuichi with Morris
This time, they didn’t go to a black place at first. Yuichi was immediately in some sort of cave. Donnie and Leo were nowhere to be found.
“Donatello, Leonardo,” Yuichi yelled out. After yelling their name multiple times while walking through the cavern, he saw him… Morris
Donnie and Leo were able to see Yuichi, but for some reason they couldn’t hear him. It was like water was all around them and all they could see was Yuichi walking and yelling. When Leo saw Morris, he wondered if it was a good idea after all to let Yuichi enter Morris’s mind after all, now that he was on his own.
Morris was wounded. Yuichi did not know how badly the turtles had hurt the ‘young’ man, but he imagined he looked a lot worse right after their fight.
Yuichi and Leo did not realize it yet, except Donnie. This was not a memory…
This was in the present!
Morris was screaming. “I KILLED THEM ALL, WOMAN AND CHILDREN, KILLING ENTIRE FAMILIES JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR GRUDGE. ARE YOU HAPPY? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW THAT YOU ARE ALMOST DESTROYED?!”
Yuichi was staring. He could not understand what was happening. It was like the situation was getting blocked from his mind. Leo and Donnie could only hear Morris yelling. Leo tried to scream to Yuichi but he could not do anything. This was Yuichi’s moment. He was on his own now.
“And it’s not even by your arch enemy…” As Morris quietly spoke these words, the entity never responded. A moment of total silence appeared, lasting for around 2 to 3 minutes before Morris spoke again.
“Can I still see them again? Mother… Father… I miss you so much… You were always there for me… and now.”
After a long moment of silence something terrifying happened…
“You are watching aren’t you?” As Morris said this, Yuichi’s eyes widened. Donnie couldn’t believe what was happening.
Morris’s voice dropped, but after a 100 years of being possessed, he was different than before the spider took over. He sounded mad, broken. Even with his chronic pain, there somehow was life in him. Now… something was different.
“Tell me, rabbit. If you were in my shoes, would you have said no?”
Yuichi stepped back. His heart pounded. No… would he? He thought of his parents sacrificing himself, but he also thought of Morris’s past, the suffering he had witnessed.
Morris’s gaze was piercing Yuichi, almost looking directly into his soul.
“You… Can you see me?” Yuichi asked, his voice cracking.
Morris blinked slowly. “I’ve always felt you were there. But that was before my mission. Let me tell you something rabbit.”
Donnie and Leo were panicking at this point. Still submerged and invisible in the background, they tried again to scream, to force themselves into Yuichi’s point of view, but it was useless. The rules had changed.
Morris stood, shaking. The purple mystic energy burned under his skin.
“You’re not just watching anymore. I will get my family back, no matter what.”
And then… the cavern shook, everything becoming distorted in the process, Morris becoming a glowing shadow in the process. Donnie, Leo and Yuichi were shot back to reality, as they heard one… last… thing…
“I will finish my mission, to put an end to the blue flame. Even if I have to live for another 100 years, I will not let my family be tortured inside MY mystic power anymore.”
After the journey into Morris’s core, Yuichi and Donnie were on the brink of a panic attack, breathing heavily. Yuichi became emotional. “I need to go…” his voice trembling while he ran towards Leo’s room.
Leo tried to follow suit, but Raph stopped him, and pointed towards Donnie, who was visibly shaking. They decided to get him back into his room first, so he could rest.
Back at the lair
The lair was tense. Everyone, except Donnie and Yuichi, were gathered together after the latest battle. Donnie, who was still pale and recovering, went into his own room while Yuichi went into Leo’s room.
Leo told the ones who were with him everything that had happened during their… “trip”. Everyone was shocked. Leo, in a very serious tone, asked Raph, Mikey and April what to do to defeat Morris. A silence entered the room, as the team was not used to seeing Leo so serious since the Kraang invasion.
April started the conversation hesitantly. “Even if he is not possessed anymore, he is still a danger to this city and to Yuichi, we need to stop him.”
Leo nodded in agreement, while Mikey added into the conversation. “Possessed or not, you saw in his mind that he is still willing to go through with his plan. And what does that even mean? I mean the fact that his family is tortured inside his mystic power? Or the fact that killing Yuichi will bring them back? How?”
Everyone was silent.
April hesitated for a moment, then asked the most important question of them all. “I heard he can create anything he wants?”
Leo looked down at the floor and started speaking, “We don’t know the full extent of his power, but his mystic energy turns into laser beams, air blasts. He can create muscle and metal blades. Hell! He can even fly for some reason.”
Leo looked at the team and got more angry the second he started talking about Morris’s powers.
“We have faced many enemies, but they were never this versatile. He has an answer to everything we can do. Every attack we throw at him, he will just block and counterattack with one of his creations. “
Leo paused and started talking again, with a gleam demeanor. “I am sorry… I am at a loss for words, how are we supposed to deal with this guy?”
Raph scoffed. “It’s simple, we don’t.” Mikey and Leo were very confused by what Raph just said.
“What do you mean? “ Mikey asked.
Raph crossed his arms. “I’m sorry Leo, but we should let Yuichi handle this. It’s his fight.”
Leo stepped forward, jaw tight. “Raph, Morris nearly leveled part of New York. This isn’t just about Yuichi anymore, we’re also involved.” As Raph was about to say something, Leo interrupted him. “And besides, this guy hunted and murdered Yuichi’s family for over 100 years.”
Raph tried to say something, but Leo started to yell loudly at this point. “HAVE SOME EMPATHY TOWARDS HIM”
April spoke up: “Leo stop, that’s enough. This is not what we need right now…”
Raph interrupted April, very angrily towards Leo. “Empathy!? You recently yelled at him with his biggest insecurity, and look what happened.”
As Leo was about to intervene, Raph raised his voice. “Don’t talk to me about emotions. This is about you not being able to separate your feelings from your job. You care about him, fine. But don’t forget you’re the leader. You have to pick your fights, no… OUR fights, wisely.”
The words stung. Leo opened his mouth to argue but stopped. Raph walked away without another word. Mikey, who had been mostly quiet during the interaction, spoke up.
“Leo, I will talk with Raph, but… we need to find a way to compromise, we all went through so much already.”
Leo looked down, unsure what to do or say and glanced to his room, where Yuichi was in. April put a hand on Leo’s shoulder and started speaking quietly to the slider. “We will figure out a way to resolve this, but for now, comfort Yuichi, he is the one suffering the most through this.” Leo nodded and headed to his room.
Raph’s room
Later, in the quiet of his room, Raph sat on the edge of his bed, fists clenched. Mikey knocked softly and came in without waiting.
“You okay?” Mikey asked, gently.
“No,” Raph muttered. “I’m supposed to protect you guys. But everything’s changing, and I feel like I’m being left out of decision making. It is like I’m just there because I can become gigantic.”
Mikey sat beside him. “You’re more than that, Raph. You’ve always been more than that.”
Raph’s voice cracked. “Leo’s always putting himself in danger. And now Donnie, he even nearly burned out his powers.”
Raph looked at Mikey. “I can’t lose any of you, Mikey. And now, even after the fight they had, seeing that Leo cares so much for Yuichi… I am afraid he will be influenced by his emotions. We all saw the bond he and Yuichi shared. But what about us as a family?”
Tears rolled down his cheeks. Mikey, whose eyes were misty, pulled him into a hug.
“You’re not gonna lose us,” Mikey whispered. “We’re not doing this alone. We just have to figure out how to get through this… together.” Mikey then calmly sighed, tears swelling in his eyes. Regardless, with a smile on his face he started speaking again. “Leo has not been this happy since the Kraang invasion, until…”
Mikey’s smile then faded into a more serious look. “But I am scared too… I know Leo won’t choose anyone over one another, but him sacrificing himself again under pressure, it terrifies me too. And if Yuichi increases that… well… risk… then maybe.”
Mikey didn’t want to say it out loud, but he agreed with Raph on this topic. Just then, Donnie appeared in the doorway, leaning slightly on Splinter and April for support. His voice was weak but firm.
“We don’t have a choice,” Donnie said. Raph stood up as a reaction, confused. “You, out of all people, are protecting Yuichi?”
“Hear him out…” April said worriedly. The room went silent as a result.
Donnie started to speak up again: “Morris won’t stop with Yuichi.”
“What do you mean? I thought you hurt the entity inside him. Isn’t it gone?” Mikey asked.
Donnie shook his head. “No. I damaged it, but a piece of it remains. Still inside Morris, influencing him, I can hear it screeching. And now that we fought back, it’s not going to stop until the entire Hamato clan is gone too.” A heavy silence fell over the room. Everyone started sweating profusely.
Splinter started talking as well in a serious voice, his head looking down at the floor.
“Boys, I am afraid this is no longer just Yuichi’s burden. It is our family’s fight now too.”