Chapter 14: The Entity’s Last Stand…
Everyone at the lair, including…
There she was again…
It was Big Mom. She didn’t have a smile on her face. No… she looked insanely determined. April and Casey just looked insanely confused, as they didn’t know who she was. But when they looked at the others, they realised it wasn’t something they were going to be excited about.
“Why are you here…” Splinter said, looking away from her. Yuichi in the meantime looked extremely angry, but he felt like there was no need to scream at her. She already got what she deserved after all.
“Because of you… that thing…” Splinter said, his teeth were starting to grit.
“Stop Splinter… I know. I never wanted this to happen. My greed did this to us, and…”
“Get to the point,” Yuichi said angrily, though he tried to keep his voice under control. Big Mom had caused him so much pain and hardship. Still, when Leo stood there, holding his hand, he no longer felt he needed to lash out at her.
“I can make your mystic power go back to normal, Splinter, even after not using it for 18 years and growing older.”
Everyone started to look in awe at Splinter, but the rat responded insanely fast at what Big Mom said to him.
“NO! I WILL LOSE CONTROL, THAT POWER CANNOT BE USED AGAIN.”
“TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN, SPLINTER. I COULDN’T PROTECT THE ONE PERSON I CARED ABOUT THE MOST. DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!”
There was total silence… Everybody looked at Big Mom thinking the same thing.
“What happened to her?”
“Honestly Splinter, I cut half my savings from it to get one from the mystic drug barons. The other half is for my assistant, Gabe. He deserves to inherit everything from me. I want to make him fulfill his dream of his own business, helping people and yokai with his skills.”
“Why are you doing this for us?” Mikey asked. “You know fully well we also sabotaged…”
But he was interrupted immediately by the woman.
“Doesn’t matter anymore young man. Watching Gabe almost die for me and then be at the mercy of that thing. It made me realise what’s important in life. Splinter, I have made enough mistakes, and I need to do something to make it up.”
“Please stop.” Splinter said, tears in his eyes. He still felt that he had some feelings for the woman. And now, the characteristics that he used to love about her were showing themselves again.
Big Mom put her hand on his arm and started to speak again, slightly glancing at Leo and Yuichi. Seeing them together made her smile.
“Protect your family, and looking at those two, you should protect your future son-in-law as well. You love your children.”
Splinter just looked at his old lover. He didn’t know what to say or do. She, however, looked him deep in the eyes, their flame still sparked just a little bit. She then started to encourage Splinter to have more faith in himself.
“Before 18 years ago, you didn’t have a family… but you do now. You can control your power, Splinter. You have always used it to protect the people against criminals. Now, use it to protect your family.”
Big Mom then walked towards Yuichi, who was still looking angrily at the woman, but he did secretly respect that she was sacrificing what she used to think was her life’s goal, her money, for the greater good.
“I am sorry Yuichi. I should have never put you through all that, or even let you fight at my arena at such a young age. They were horrible things of me to do to you.”
Yuichi just looked at the woman, acknowledging her. But he was not going to forgive her. He would never forgive her. She destroyed his life in America, but… he did have a small bit of respect for her now, seeing as she did truly mean everything she said.
“What are you going to do?” Raph asked, hesitantly. He did want to know though, as did everyone. They all looked at Big Mom.
“I don’t know… I will just see what life brings me.”
Big Mom then walked outside the lair, and one last time she looked back at everyone. With tears in her eyes and a slight smile, she said one last thing.
“Good luck.”
The hidden city crystal cave
Three days later, the remaining turtles who could fight, Splinter, Yuichi and Draxum, were going to the location. They now had a clear plan of what to do and how to fight. Yuichi and Leo were walking slightly outside of the group. Once they saw Morris in the far, far distance, the final words before the confrontation came back. Everyone just walked forward silently… except the couple.
“Are you ready Yuichi? This is it.” As Leo said this, he didn’t get an answer straight away. Yuichi was slightly nervous. He wasn’t just facing an evil demon, he was facing a person who was hurt and manipulated. But…
“I am ready, only one last thing, Leo.”
“What is it?” Leo answered, his tone being a mix of determination and seriousness.
After a moment of hesitation, Yuichi answered…
”We might not make it out alive… or just one of us, we could lose one another.”
Leo gulped, he realised it too, but this is the first time he had heard it straight away from the one he…
“Everything went so fast Leo. Meeting each other, having fun, Morris… but. “
“Yuichi… I-” But Leo immediately got interrupted by Yuichi.
“I love you,” Yuichi said as he put a hand on Leo’s face. Both the guys’ faces were red at this point. They realised that this was the case, just like at the start when they first started showing affection towards one another.
“I love you too Yuichi,” Leo said, slightly smiling, his eyes watering, still determined about what’s to come. Then…
They kissed.
Everyone realised what was going on once they didn’t see Yuichi and Leo walk right next to them anymore. As they looked back, they just smiled. They wanted to let them have their moment together. Raph, Splinter and Mikey even shed a tear.
Then they started walking together again, all of them. Morris was waiting there, no lighting around him, nothing. It was the very end of the hidden city, there were only walls behind Morris, and next to them as well. It was like the dead end of a labyrinth, with Morris at the end of it.
“Don’t take a step forward yet,” Morris said, using sound waves to amplify his voice. Small amounts of energy starting to come from him.
Nobody on the team listened though, they were determined to end it once and for all. However… what Morris said next completely took the group aback.
“These three days, I have searched all throughout the demon’s mind and memories. I might have found a way to resolve this without fighting… so that I can still get my mother and father back and nobody of you or anyone else will get hurt.”
Total silence emerged. Nobody had expected this to happen, to be honest, even Draxum… He was an expert in mystic powers, but even he didn’t know what to say. They stopped instinctively, as they were quite curious about what was going to be said.
“What do you mean-” Draxum said, but immediately was interrupted.
“Just like the Kraang, the entity came from space… It wanted to help people, however.”
Silence… Everybody just listened to what was being said. Morris started continuing to talk.
“The blue flames from Yuichi were a creation of the entity itself. It was a blessing, so the Usagi family could be strong and help people. It is also the reason why it is so effective against demons and why this entity has to hide behind my soul.”
The remaining turtles’s and Yuichi’s eyes widened. Splinter and Draxum just stood there, closely observing what was about to happen.
“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT MY LINEAGE.” Yuichi yelled, angrily thinking that he was being taught something by Morris. Even though he was a manipulated man, he was the one who had killed his parents.
“The flames took a lot out of the entity. It was a power never created before, making him a lot weaker. This caused the people to go to war in the end…” Morris said. This made Yuichi lose it completely at what the man was saying.
“SO YOU ARE SAYING IT’S OUR FAULT,” Yuichi yelled at Morris, immediately taking his katana out and putting his blue flames around it.
“It’s nobody’s fault, Yuichi. Your family did what they thought was best. Unfortunately, the war happened, the spider was defeated and then it became hungry for revenge. I still think it’s mostly the monster’s fault. It had its own responsibility, and it shouldn’t have given blessings to everyone.”
Yuichi was just quiet, his eyes widened. What was Morris saying? The rabbit was perplexed. Was this really the case? Was his source of power of the entity as well?
“My will is much stronger than the demon’s. I can completely control him… no, his power is almost completely mine. Now that I can look inside its memories, I saw the truth, a way to end this.”
“WHAT TRUTH?! THAT YOU COMPLETELY DESTROYED A PART OF OUR CITY?” Leo yelled. But as he was about to yell more…
“The Usagi indeed used the flames for good. Then, centuries ago, war broke out for the spider’s power. The Usagi were the only ones able to damage the spider at that time. That thing can only get its full power back if we perform a ritual that will take Yuichi’s mystic powers away. He will still keep the power of loving a Hamato, but it can work!”
“YOU WENT TO SLEEP ONCE AND THEN THAT DEMON ALMOST KILLED OUR BROTHER, NO WAY,” Raph yelled, he was turning red just like his bandana. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. That this monster was trying to get his way again. Morris however, just looked sadly at the ground. He knew he shouldn’t have fallen asleep, but he wanted to truly rest for one last time.
Leo screamed, his face just like his brother. “WE WON’T TRUST A MASS MURDERER LIKE YOU.”
“He is telling the truth,” Mikey said… His eyes were closed and his voice was serious. “ I can feel that the mystic power was made from his own, now that you say it. It always confused me, making me unsure if it was even the case, but now that I see him again with Yuichi also here…I am sure now.”
Then he got interrupted by Splinter.
“But the spider is still there. Even if you were good Morris, the spider can still grow stronger and take your soul again…” Splinter calmly said, trying to reason with him.
Morris started to almost cry, his voice trembling. “Please, I beg you, Mother… Father… They are suffering inside that power. The power is making them build the creations. Even if I don’t create anything, it is torture for them. The entity doesn’t have the power to bring them back. But I can, because I have a human soul, controlling the demon because of my strong will. This can be resolved without conflict.”
“NO, YOU SURE DIDN’T HESITATE TO TAKE MINE 10 YEARS AGO!” Yuichi screamed. Leo started looking at Yuichi, realizing this might be a chance for them to end it all without anybody getting harmed… the one he wanted to spend his life with not getting harmed. Should he try to reason with everyone so nobody would come out unscaved? Morris was insanely powerful after all. Fighting him would be very dangerous and it would put his loved ones’ lives on the line again. Should they take this chance?
But Morris immediately started screaming back.
“PLEASE I BEG YOU, THIS IS THE ONLY WAY. WE CAN’T HAVE ANOTHER BLOODBAD, I-”
“It is too risky,” Draxum said, interrupting the screaming Morris, who was no longer using sound waves, but just using his own desperate voice. “That ritual can take a huge toll on the body, similar to what Donatello went through… sometimes even worse.” Hearing this made Leo decide that it wasn’t worth putting his loved one through that, seeing how Donnie literally was a husk of a person at this current time.
“And that mystic demon might take control again if its strength increases. We can’t do it,” Mikey added to the conversation, his demeanor being sad and worn down from all the screaming. The two opposing sides just looked at each other. He was about to say more when…
Morris closed his eyes, black-purple lighting started to appear all around him. Morris started saying what everyone knew was coming.
“Then it’s settled. We will fight for both our families… our loved ones. I will defeat the blue flame and the Hamato here, and get my family BACK.”
Immediately, massive amounts of energy appeared around the man, including him levitating. The entire other side got in formation. Splinter started channeling something huge. Everything was going to go down NOW. Raph and Splinter created the front line, with the other warriors on the back. Many vines were created by Draxum. He and Mikey stayed behind to support the frontline, while the loving couple went to the side, preparing to teleport to Morris to immediately thrust the katana inside his body.
But Morris stopped. His body fell to the ground.
“I can’t do it.”
Everyone was speechless at what Morris said. What was happening? Everyone just stopped and looked, the only thing they saw now was a miserable man who had suffered his whole life.
Morris finally had hope he didn’t have to hurt anyone anymore… His will started faltering.
“I can’t kill anymore. Families… Parents… Children…”
Everyone just looked at the man. But then they looked determined at each other and started to run towards him. However…
“Morris, sweetheart.”
“No…” the entire group except Draxum said, as the elf hadn’t been in his memories. It wasn’t the entity calling Morris, It was his mother… right? But Draxum saw it. The spider was creating soundwaves again.
“DO IT NOW, HE CAN’T BE ALLOWED TO-” Everybody got the message, and immediately went for the man in front of them. They were all extremely determined… but they also wanted it to be over.
“Even after everything you have done, you will always be our son.”
“Mother, please stop…” Morris said, looking at the ground, tears swelling in his eyes. The others were still running toward him. Leo started to create a portal for Yuichi to defeat Morris, but then…
“We just want the same as you Morris, to see you again. We miss you so much.”
Pure black lighting started to appear, massive amounts of it. It wasn’t purple this time around. Splinter was still channeling something, immediately screaming at the team to get back to him now. Yuichi saw what was happening and communicated to Leo to teleport everyone back behind Splinter, including himself. This wasn’t going to end well.
His ‘ mother’s ’ final words came out:
“We love you Morris.”
Morris started screaming, standing up in the process and then everyone saw it. In his shadow, the entity pulled its remaining strings. It had no more power and it started to disappear, crumble even. Everyone saw one horrifying detail.
When the demon vanished, it was smiling, using all of its power to manipulate ‘his vessel’, one… last… time…
The power was completely Morris’s own now, and as he created a massive laser of electricity and fire. The remaining turtles, Yuichi, Splinter and Draxum realised one horrifying thing.
Morris indeed had the same core values as them, the love for his family.
They were facing a grieving human. One who was full of guilt…
