FicWad

Chapter Twenty Four: The Lap of the Gods:

In the lair, the Turtles were moving around furniture, with Harry off to the side, attempting to exactly pinpoint the location of the mystery Voldemort Horcrux in Albania. On the sofa that they were moving, Don was sitting on it, looking rather irritated as Leo and Raph held it up on either side, moving it around while Mikey supervised from the other end, attempting to get a neutral view from where it lined up in relation to the entertainment center on the other side of the lair.

“Okay guys, a little bit to the left, a little bit more, no wait a little bit to the right, keep going, that’s it, now set it down right now,” commented Mikey as Raph and Leo set it down with a grunt, before Raph turned around to look at Mikey.

“That was right where we started,” said Raph in a surly voice.

“Now that you mention it, that sofa does look a little crooked, so I guess it’s going to have to be moved a little bit more,” critiqued Mikey and Raph just groaned, glaring at Mikey.

“Guys, get up a let me help, this is driving me insane just sitting here while you’re moving furniture, especially when the furniture has me on it,” commented Don in an irritated tone of voice, as Raph and Leo moved furniture around. “Let me help you.”

“Sorry Don it’s just that….” started Leo before he took a deep breath as he thought about how to best break his reasons to Don. “It’s just that we don’t want you to have a relapse of your condition. As far as we know, the cure has worked, as it’s been several days, but still we don’t want to take any unnecessary chances. We know you’re feel fine, but still, it’s not worth the risk.

“Yeah, besides you weren’t exactly that pleasant to live around when you were a snarling monster,” added Raph as Mikey’s eyes bolted up, looking seriously towards his brother.

“Yeah, not saying you could control it, but it wasn’t all that pleasant when you tried to have my right foot for lunch,” stated Mikey, which prompted Don just screwed his eyes shut in despair, before he turned to his brothers, taking a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember anything, from the moment before I turned to the moment after I was cured, everything else is just a blank spot in my head, but I’m sorry for everything I did, if I hadn’t gotten infected, you would not have dealt with me,” said Don as he hung his head.

“Live and learn and besides, think of it this way, if you hadn’t gotten infected Don, we might have been pushed to work with Bishop and Stockman to help find a cure and thus the entire city will still be overrun with outbreak mutants,” commented Harry logically, as he just looked up from his work on the other end of the lair for a briefest moment.

“So see Don, there’s a silver lining to this cloud,” said Leo.

“I suppose you’re right but still, I feel perfectly fine, I hate being confined to the lair,” commented Don and at that moment, Harry triumphantly raised his hand up in the air, as he held up the piece of paper. When he saw the curious looks etched on the faces of his brothers, he decided he better let them on the source of his sudden burst of joy.

“I’ve cross linked all of the locations of Albania where there have been heavy concentrations of dark magical energy over recent years and I know where the Horcrux is now,” stated Harry as he held the map out for the others to see an area that had been marked with a small red circle in the center. “This is a well right in the center of a large village and there’s an inn close by that has been rumored to be a meeting place for Voldemort sympathizers in the country both before his first downfall and after. So a perfect spot to stash a piece of his soul as there will be people nearby that would send word of someone that might be against him was around the area.”

“Really, that’s great Harry,” praised Leo. “Wait, you’re sure that a Horcrux is right there, at that exact location.”

“Many of these reported fluctuations have been rather recent, some a bit earlier on, but most recent yes, and it’s too much of a coincidence to have this much dark magical energy coming from one area without it being a Horcrux,” stated Harry. “All I have to worry about is where the other Horcrux might be and then it’s time to return to deal with Voldemort..”

“You know, I just thought of something Harry,” stated Mikey.

“I thought I smelled something burning,” muttered Raph.

“Ha, ha, Raph,” said Mikey in a sarcastic tone of voice before he cleared his throat. “No seriously, what if old Voldemort has one of his Horcruxes right under his nose the entire time?”

“You know, Mikey does bring up a good point, Voldemort would like to make the Horcrux does not leave his sight does make sense, I mean, he could not keep track of six Horcruxes, but one would be very easy to do so,” hypothesized Don and Harry replied with a calm nod.

“You’re not the first person to bring up that point, and believe me, I think it’s rather possible, but without knowing what the Horcrux is and damn it, Voldemort’s at Hogwarts,” muttered Harry as he sprung up to start to pace and back and forth. “Given the high level of magic in the air at Hogwarts, it would mute any Horcruxes, very clever Tom…this could complicate things.”

“Yeah it could Harry, but listen, you’ve got four Horcruxes, soon to be five, so you’re well on your way to defeating Voldemort as it is,” stated Leo in a confident voice. “Right now, you can make plans to set out tomorrow, but since we’ve all been all cooped up, I suggest we go out, get some fresh air for a little bit.”

“You know good point, after hunting monsters the past three months, it might be good to go out without having to deal with any monsters,” added Raph but Harry looked severely skeptical.

“The Foot’s still out there, I don’t know what else…” started Harry but Mikey cut him off.

“C’mon Harry, what could happen?” asked Mikey and Harry did not want to even begin to list but he supposed it might do him some good to have some fun before he went after the Horcrux and eventually Voldemort.

On the roof top, the five brothers were on the roof top, goofing off, enjoying themselves, just pretty much having a good time with no regards of what’s come before and indeed, what would soon come in the future. There could be plenty of time in the not so distinct future to worry or reflect on what happened, but right now, Harry and The Turtles blocked that out of their minds, at least for a matter of moments.

Unfortunately, little did they know a quintet of stiff looking figures dressed in black cloaks with their faces obscured were peering across the street towards the Turtles and Harry, watching their every moment, stalking them, preparing to move into position to fulfill their mission, as it was all beginning to unravel at a remarkable rate and they were the only one’s who could correct it for their masters. They swooped off into the shadows, as they continued to follow the movement of their query.

Back in his room in the lair, Master Splinter was deep in meditation. At that moment, he heard footsteps that slightly broke his concentration as a figure walked from an underground cave that served as a bit of an emergency exit from the lair on the off chance they were attacked again. Splinter pulled himself up, leaning on his walking stick as he looked forward to see the rotund figure of the Ancient One wobbling towards the lair.

“Ancient One,” said Splinter in surprise, as he saw the sensei of his Master Yoshi. “What do I owe the pleasure to your visit?”

“Greetings Splinter-san,” commented the Ancient One as he looked around. “Do you know where your sons are?”

“I believe they are outside in the city, enjoying some fresh air for a couple of hours,” commented Master Splinter and with that, the Ancient One’s demeanor became very grave.

“No, I am too late, too wait,” gasped the Ancient One as he shook his head. “They will have them soon, it’s only a matter of time, I wish I had made it here sooner.”

“What is it, Ancient One?” asked Master Splinter. “Who would have them? Who has my sons? What do you know?”

“Perhaps it’s not still too late, perhaps we can still find them before the Ninja Tribunal comes,” said the Ancient One and with that, Splinter seemed to have aged about ten years, as he stooped over, clutching his walking stick, as his eyes widened at the ramifications of what the Ancient One had just told him. “Yes, Splinter-San, it has begun, sooner than we could have ever dreamed.”

“Then the dreams that Harry were having had the meaning we feared,” said Splinter and the Ancient One nodded grimly. “Then we must make preparations to find them.”

“No, it’s too late, by now, their agents have gotten to them and unless you know exactly where they are, they can never be found,” argued the Ancient One and if possible, Splinter’s expression became even more grave yet, as he sighed, he had hoped this would never come but based on the bits and pieces he had managed to find out from the Ancient One, his sons were in the gravest danger of their lives and given what they have been through, that was saying a whole lot.

On the roof, The Turtles and Harry were more than prepared to call it an evening, but in an instant, the figures swooped down from the roof, right in front of them, causing them to move backwards in surprise.

“What are those things?” demanded Mikey in awe.

“Not the Foot, but something tells me that what they are, they aren’t here to have a chat,” stated Harry as the stiff figures removed tonfa and began to clash them together, as they bowed before their adversaries and them moved forward to the attack.

Quickly, Raph used his Sais to block an attempted shot from his opponent, as Leo clashed his swords against the tonfa of his enemy. Don sprung up using his Bo Staff as the stiff opponent he clashed with swung the tonfa lightly and casually, as if it was seamless as breathing. Mikey spun his nunchucks and sprung up. The figure he fought did not move, in fact, Mikey crashed his nunchucks across the top of the head.

“Okay, something’s really wrong here,” commented Mikey, as his stiffened enemy did not even give any indication that Mikey had touched him, but did take a step back and bow, as Raph sprung around, aiming a kick, but he felt a pain as his foot struck something solid that most definitely was not human flesh.

“Yeah, you think,” grunted Raph, as he hopped around on one foot before he removed his Sais and flung them at his opponent, but they were caught. The enemy stepped backwards and motioned for Raph to pick his Sais back off. Moving forward suspiciously, Raph pulled his Sais off the ground, before he continued the fight.

On the other end, Harry sprung up and landed firmly behind his opponent, before he rushed forward, around his opponent, but the enemy remained immobile and rather passive. So, reaching into his sleeve, Harry decided to take a more offensive approach by flicking two shuriken at the enemy. They were sent right back at Harry with a swing from the tonfa and Harry had to dodge to avoid being struck. Moving around, Harry slid underneath an attack, before he sprung up and attempted to bring his foot down across the top of the head of his opponent. This did not work out too well, as Harry found himself bounced off, until he landed on the ground, before his wooden enemy stepped forward and swung the tonfa at Harry but Harry avoided the attack.

Meanwhile, Don held up his Bo Staff to block the tonfa shut. Another Bo Staff blocked the tonfa shots, before Don sprung up, but a second later, the stiff figure pivoted and faced off against the turtle, another class of wood against the wall. Leo rammed his shoulder into his opponent and became airborne, before the sword was impacted right into the mask The figure staggered backwards as Leo gasped, as his sword had impacted the top of the log, which was the faceless head of his opponent.

“Guys, they’re made of wood, that must be why we couldn’t touch it,” muttered Leo as the wooden figure’s log head began to heal, before it turned back into a battle stance, directed towards Leo. The wooden figure rushed forward and Leo dodged, but the wooden figure strengthened the power of its attacks, knocking Leo back and forth. Leo barely managed to block it with his katanas, as the wooden figure was slowly wearing Leo down. Finally Leo could barely hold his arms up and this was the opening that his stiff adversary needed, as the tonfa was raised up and impacted right onto the top of the head of Leo.

Raph forced his opponent back and moved forward, seeing Leo get struck down across the back of the head, but the wooden warrior that Raph fought moved forward, cracking the tonfa up against the head of Raph, dropping him down to the ground. On the other end, Mikey, Don, and Harry continued their battles, fully aware that their two brothers had been knocked out. Mikey aimed his nunchucks out, but his enemy crouched down, almost as if compacted. Mikey attempted to swing around, but the figure reached forward, removing Mikey’s weapons from his hands. Quickly both tonfa spun at the speed of light, both cracking against the chest of Mikey. With a thud, Mikey dropped to his knees and a shot against the back of the head completely dropped Mikey to the ground.

On the other end, Don moved forward, but the wooden warrior jabbed Don right in the chest. Don was dropped to the ground and the wooden warrior smashed the tonfa right in the face, which left Harry alone against all five of his opponents. Harry managed to deflect most of the shots, using a variety of magical attacks, before he sprung up onto his ledge. Two of the wooden warriors threw their tonfa hard, causing the ledge to crack from below Harry. Harry lost his balance, dropping to his knees, where two of the wooden warriors grabbed him by the arms. Before Harry could free himself, a third raised the tonfa and the next thing Harry knew, it was lights out for him.

With all four of the Turtles and Harry knocked unconscious, their adversaries grabbed them by the arms and began to drag them from the top of the buildings, to transport them to their masters without being seen by any wandering eyes. They had given a bit more of a struggle, but it just showed that they were worthy for the goals of the Ninja Tribunal.

Back in the lair, Master Splinter turned to the Ancient One in all seriousness etched on his face.

“Ancient One, I need you to take me to them immediately,” stated Splinter in a firm voice and the Ancient One became grave.

“I am afraid this impossible Splinter-san, they would not appreciate this,” replied the Ancient One and at that moment, a very frantic looking Ginny Weasley burst through the entrance of the lair.

“Harry’s in trouble,” said Ginny without bothering with formalities. “I know, it’s hard to explain, but someone’s snagged him, haven’t they?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so, Ginny,” confirmed Splinter. “Along with my other four sons, a group that’s…”

“Splinter-san, I doubt very much that she should be told, after all, the less who know of this crisis, the better,” stated the Ancient One in a very nervous voice, the fact that Splinter knew of a fair bit of what was going on was already pushing things.

“If it involves Harry I should know!” snapped Ginny, as she stood with her hands planted firmly on her hips, as she stared at both of the Ancient One and Master Splinter, the infamous Weasley temper was not pleasant to be on the receiving end of, even for two long studied masters of ninjitsu. “So, please tell me, or I’ll get the entire American Wizarding Government involved as I think they would know if something happened to one of their citizens.”

Splinter remained silent, he obviously knew that with the exception of Alexandra, the American Wizarding Government thought Harry to be dead, but given the look on the Ancient One’s face, he did not know this. While he did not wish to endanger anyone in this, the fact remains that Ginny would have found a way to follow them anyway, so it would be whether they knew where she was.

“It’s rather difficult to explain everything, in fact, there are certain aspects that remain a mystery even to me,” commented the Ancient One.

“Then take us to the Ninja Tribunal,” said Splinter and Ginny nodded in agreement, as the Ancient One nodded, before motioning for the two to follow them. He knew they would not approve, but the Ninja Tribunal would also be exposed if a hot tempered young girl who was obviously upset that her beloved had been kidnapped had done something to bring an entire magical government upon them.

Ginny kept a mirror at the ready. While she did not tell the others of her strong, persistent sense that something happened to Harry, she was ready to inform them once they had all been found.

In a dark dank cellar, Harry’s eyes began to open, as he gave his head a slight shake as he began to come back to his senses. Around him, he saw that the others were slowly waking up, they appeared to be what looked like the dungeon. Given that his common room for six years was in a dungeon, Harry felt he should be used to the dark and depressive atmosphere, but this seemed rather unnerving at any rate.

“Oh, my head, anyone know what happened?” grumbled Raph as he shook his head, he felt a bit dizzy.

“Well, it should be obviously, some wooden mannequins with tonfa knocked the snot out of us and brought us here,” stated Mikey as he looked around. “So does anyone know where here is?”

“Search me,” commented Don calmly, as he pulled himself up to his feet, surprised that they had not been tied down with any restraints.

“We need to find a way out of here, to find out what’s going on,” suggested Harry and at that moment, the door of the room opened as if on its own accord swung open, causing the quintet of ninjas to do a double take in shock at what had occurred.

“Okay that was convenient,” remarked Mikey calmly.

“A little too convenient if you ask me,” said Leo with a shake of his head, as he stepped towards the door. “Let’s go, but be careful, there’s something up here.”

Instantly, the group quickly, but cautiously, moved towards the door, one by one passing the doorway and into a long hallway, that seemed to stretch from several feet in all directions. The group walked down the hallway and after they traveled for several minutes, stopping as they saw a peculiar sight right in front of them. The weapons of the Turtles were floating in mid air right in front of them, contained in a field of what appeared to be pure white magical energy.

“Okay Harry, what do you make of this?” asked Leo and Harry leaned forward, studying the magic intently, it was not like anything he had ever seen, yet it did not seem to be of dark and dangerous orientations.

“I think it’s safe, take your weapons and see what happens,” suggested Harry and Leo, Don, Raph, and Mikey stepped forward one by one, as they grabbed the weapons from the field of magical energy. Nothing happened, as they were able to grab their weapons. As they stepped back, the field of magical energy disappeared and another new addition behind them prompted a double take in surprise.

“Uh, was that door there a minute ago?” asked Mikey and the others shook their heads, before they stepped forward. Raph raised his Sai, preparing to pick the lock of the door, but the door once again swung open on its own accord. “Okay, this is strange, doors appearing mysteriously, opening on their own accord…”

“Yeah, it’s like Hogwarts almost, but not quite, I’m getting a strange feeling about this place that I’m not quite liking, not at all” remarked Harry as they walked forward through the doorway, as they were in a room filled with mist.

“Okay, now what,” said Raph in an irritated voice, as the mist began to vanish around them, as they found themselves surrounded by glass cases, containing the same wooden warriors that they fought against earlier. Right in front of them, a large pedestal containing five chairs could be visible.

“Uh guys,” stated Don as he pointed, four of the chairs were occupied by imposing figures. They stepped forward a few inches to get a better look and they saw the individuals wore the armor of the Shredder, the very sight of this particular armor multiplied times four caused Harry’s blood to run cold.

“Welcome warriors, you have been chosen to deal with a matter of great importance,” stated one of the figures, a female.

“A matter that is great importance, that may put the entire world in danger,” continued the second of the Shredder like figures, a male.

“You may be the hope of all humanity, to go against one of the most dangerous evils the world has ever seen,” stated the third figure, another male, while the fourth figure remained silent, but he gave off a rather imposing aura.

“However, we can only train one of you, the greatest of you, the strongest of you, the one that will be able to deal with this threat head on,” remarked the first figure coldly.

“Therefore, you must combat each other, the last one living will gain the full training,” stated the second figure.

“May the best warrior win,” concluded the third figure as the fourth individual nodded, as the Turtles and Harry turned to each other-, with different expressions of shock etched upon the faces of the five brothers.

“They’re not serious are they?” asked Mikey in a confused voice.

“They sounded serious to me,” stated Harry.

“Well, I don’t know what to do, I doubt they’re going to let us out of here, unless we…” started Leo but Raph shook his head, cutting Leo off.

“I vote instead of attacking each other, we go after them, make them show us the door,” grunted Raph, and at that instant, the four Turtles jumped towards their mysterious kidnappers, weapons drawn, with Harry following closely behind. This mysterious quartet did not seem rather worried about the fact that five very angry, well trained ninjas were about to attack them. Rather they rose to their feet and clapped their hands once, causing the glass cases to open and several of the wooden warriors to move forward, to protect their masters.

“Not these things again,” stated Don as they turned their attention to the approaching figures. “Last time we got embarrassed by these things, out classed in every way.”

“Well, now’s time for a little retribution,” commented Raph, as he twirled his Sais between his hands and the figures moved forward, tonfa raised, ready to strike down their opponents.

“Halt,” commented one of the males of this group and the wooden warriors stalled, before they moved back towards their cases.

“You would attack us rather than do as we instruct?” stated the second male.

“Of course we would,” stated Harry firmly, as the others nodded by his side equally confident, but the group seemed to peer down towards the brothers.

“You have passed the first test then, all of you have proved worthy for training, at least at the moment,” stated the female member of the group mysteriously and at that instant, the surroundings in the entire room vanished, leaving a very stunned group alone.

“Okay, I don’t like this, what was that all about?” asked Mikey.

“This just keeps getting weirder and weirder by the moment,” stated Raph but a hissing sound was heard as a stairway appeared in the center of the room, leading to a wooden trap door in the ceiling above them.

“Something tells me we have move up through here,” said Leo and sure enough, they walked up the stairs towards the trap door. The trap door swung open, and the group climbed up through. Looking around, they were on a ship, in the middle of the ocean and it was heading towards a place that Harry recognized immediately.

“Japan,” muttered Harry calmly as they approached the edge of Japan from the ocean, peering over, as the ship suddenly stopped in front of the island.

“Warriors we have arrived,” stated a voice. “Please climb the hill to the temple at the top, but be warned, your burdens will be great as you approach your destination, so tread lightly young warriors.”

“What does he mean that our burdens will be greatly?” asked Mikey and suddenly, five large bags appeared in front of them, out of nowhere once again. Harry, Mikey, Leo, Raph, and Don began to hoist them up, struggling to do so despite their heavy strength and condition, as they exited the ship, before they made their way up.

“I don’t like this, we’re jumping when these people say jump, we don’t know exactly who they are or why they grabbed us,” stated Raph. “I say we find a way to get out of here.”

“Raph, we don’t know yet, and until we know, I suggest we play along, it will be easier for us to find something out if we play by our rules by now,” argued Leo and Raph just grunted, as they held their bags, struggling attempting to hold them up.

“Wait, that’s not fair!” shouted Mikey, as he saw the four figures shoot up towards the top of the mountain, levitating from the group, without having to climb, as they reached the temple on the top of the hill, as the group began to lug their baggage towards the top of the hill, the journey was long and winding, as they struggled up the mountain.

After almost an hour, they reached the top of the mountain, Mikey in particular nearly collapsing, but the other brothers also rather winded. The doors of the temple swung open allowing them entrance.

The Turtles and Harry walked open, and once again, this mysterious group stared down at them, calm and rather uncaring at any agony that the five warriors are going through.

“Okay, just who are you people anyway?” demanded Harry and the group stared at them, before a large burst of blinding white light flowing around the room around them, as the Shredder armor had vanished from around them, the group dressed in black robes, as they stared down at their chosen warriors, obviously they would not settle for a lack of an explanation for much longer, but introductions were in order.

“Con-Shishou, Master of Spirits,” stated one of the male figures as he rose up into the air, revealing several ghostly figures swirling in the air around Con as the Turtles and Harry looked at the mysterious warrior with a form of awe, despite their irritation of being taken off against their will.

“Juto-Shishou, Master of Weapons,” introduced the second of the male figures, and at that instant, several sharp, pointed weapons blasted towards the Turtles and Harry. The group prepared to shield themselves, but the weapons were drawn back before they pierced the group.

“Shikara-Shishou, Master of Strength,” stated the female figure as a large rock appeared in front of her and she leapt up, smashing her fist down upon it, breaking it into dust, effortlessly.

“And this is Hisomi-Shishou, Master of Stealth,” commented Juto, as he pointed to the large figure, and in an instant, he appeared to have vanished, before he appeared behind the Turtles. “Together, we are known as the Ninja Tribunal, alternatively known to some as the Tribunal of Japanese Mages.”

With that, Harry felt eight eyes on him and he vaguely remembered reading something about them in the History of Magic textbook, but they were regarded as a myth to most, but yet they were here in front of them right now.

“This temple is known as the Lap of the Gods,” explained Shakara. “Throughout the centuries, many have been taken here to be trained, acolytes to fight some of the largest, most dangerous threats in the world. Some acolytes broke under the pressure, while other preserved and became known as some of the greatest ninjitsu masters in the world.”

“The threat that you were brought here to combat is larger than anything you could imagine, anything that you have ever faced up to this date,” stated Con. “We need not remind you this threat is coming immediately and steps must be taken to combat it.”

“Combat it anyway you must, but you can do it without my sons,” stated Master Splinter firmly, as he walked into the temple, leaning on his walking stick as the Turtles and Harry looked pleased, and at that moment, Ginny rushed forward, warmly, wrapping her arms around Harry, kissing him, looking rather relieved, a gesture that Harry gladly returned.

“Harry, thank Merlin, you’re okay,” stated Ginny as they slowly broke about. “What’s going on here anyway?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” informed Harry, and Ginny turned to the group above, who did not look all that pleased with the two new arrivals having entered the Lap of the Gods.

“You are not permitted here,” said Con coldly. “Who showed you this place?”

At that moment, the Ancient One entered the room, sheepishly peering from behind a corner, like a three year old who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, as he walked into the temple, as the members of the Ninja Tribunal stared at them.

“You know the rules young one, others are not permitted to be here,” remarked Shakara calmly and the Ancient One stepped forward.

“Forgive me, revered ones, but you know that I have believed that this current action is playing with rather dangerous fire,” stated Ancient One and for a second, his eyes flickered towards Harry before he fixed them back towards the Ninja Tribunal, but they remained unblinking, unconcerned with the Ancient One’s warning.

“We shall be the one’s who worry of any ramifications that come, but right now there is little time to argue such things,” stated Con as he waved his head and a mirror appeared, showing an approaching ship. “The heralds of the dark one are heading towards us right at this moment, it has already begun.”

“What has already begun?” demanded Ginny but the Ninja Tribunal ignored her, causing her to reach to pull her wand out, she was beginning to lose her patience with these people but Harry grabbed her by the hand.

“Not now,” muttered Harry in her ear.

“Stay here if you must, but do not presume you have any right to say what we must do to train the new acolytes, for the oncoming storm,” said Shakara, as the group stood around. “Of course, if any of you wish to leave, than do so now.”

Harry and Ginny exchanged looks, both realizing that they should take this opportunity, and the others seemed to have the same thing and mind, but Con held up his hand which caused them to stall.

“Remember, if you do so, do know this that you will have failed to save the lives of countless and doomed the world with your cowardice,” stated Con coldly and this statement stopped everyone in their tracks. “Naturally, you all elected to stay, proving that we were not mistaken in you, at least not yet. Your training begins right now.”

At that moment, the group clapped and colored amulets began to appear around the necks of Leo, Don, Raph, Mikey, and Harry. This new addition was curious indeed, but Juto turned to them, to explain the significance of the amulets now around their neck.

“The amulets will allow you to perform greater feats of magic than you could ever imagine, yes all of you have the potential to do so,” stated Juto. “One obviously has a natural affinity towards this, but all of you do and these amulets will allow you to open the doors to the power, power that you will need to wield power to fight those beyond your wildest imaginings.”

A library materialized in front of them, with rows and rows of several books, that stretched for several feet in every direction, as the members of the Ninja Tribunal stared upon them.

“But first, the knowledge is needed to be able to have the means to utilized the tools that are needed for success,” stated Con. “Perhaps in time, this will be understood, if you are among the select few that have the mental abilities to comprehend what is above you…”

A large thunderous sound from above had caused Con to stop in his tracks. Another loud bang echoed from above.

“No, they can’t have reached this location already, no, it cannot have happened, not this soon,” commented Shikara and at that moment, the roof of the temple seemed to crack open, as intense heat began to fill the temple. It was like being in the inside of a pressure cooker, as the large figure that appeared to be a demonic looking dragon of sorts.

“Hayashi-Aki, a fire demon,” gasped Master Splinter in recognition, as the group looked up to the imposing beast, as it growled, sending hot fireballs everywhere, forcing them to duck in every direction.

“So this is the infamous Ninja Tribunal and their Acolytes,” hissed the fire demon angrily, as its eyes glowed a bright, vibrant red, before it circled around, causing a cyclone of red dust, that incinerated everything it touched, forcing the group to scatter from its attacks. Harry turned into a raven with a pop and flew upwards, in an attempt to get around the attack. At that second the raven turned to Harry, as it was on a ledge and Harry blasted an ice cold jet of water towards the demon, but it had little effect, before it dove at Harry, knocking him off his perch. Ginny rushed over and placed a cushioning charm on the ground, causing Harry’s fall to be softened. “Foolish human, your little magical defenses are not a match for my power.”

At that moment, the fire demon swooped around, in an instant, sending jets of fire.

“Attack, take it out!” yelled Leo, as the Turtles leap up, but the Hayashi-Aki blasted fire from its nostrils towards them, burning their weapons to a crisp, dropping them to the ground. Another blast viciously caused the Turtles to slam hard into the ground.

“Go, we shall hold off this monstrosity,” stated Shakara but the fire demon just laughed and a second later, lava blasted from the ground, encasing all four of the Tribunal members when it solidified, before the fire demon swooped down, causing the temple to shake around them, causing fire to shoot out of the ground, surrounding them. Harry and Ginny attempted to douse it by magically conjuring water, but unfortunately, there was no way to even do this, as the fire closed in on them, it looked to be the end, as the fire began to close in on them.

In an instant, the Turtles, Harry, Ginny, Master Splinter, and the Ancient One was standing in the center of the temple, which was completely unharmed, as they were and the Ninja Tribunal stood, also unharmed.

“This was your first lesson, with many more to come,” stated Shakara.

“All that you know about this world, about yourselves, even about reality itself, all that in more shall be challenged,” stated Con mysteriously.

“Your real training begins in the morning,” concluded Juto and at that point, the group walked off.

“So, just an illusion, I think,” stated Mikey.

“If that was fake, I can just imagine what a real threat is going to be like,” commented Leo.

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes, right now, I’m curious to see exactly what else is going on, I have a feeling they have not told us everything we needed to do,” concluded Harry, as they walked off as something appeared to guide them towards the chambers that they would spend the night.