FicWad

Chapter Six: Samurai Tourist

Harry walked into the bathroom, turning to the mirror but his reflection stared back at him with a sadistic grin and demonic glowing red eyes. Quickly, before Harry could move, his reflection reached his hands out of the mirror and wrapped them around Harry’s throat. Harry attempted to push his enemy away, but it continued to throttle him, forcing Harry to gasp for breath.

“Do not fight it, you must take the necessary path to save them,” hissed the mirror image, as Harry struggled to fight it off. “You have the power, but by not taking the necessary path, you will doom them to a slow, agonizing demise.”

“No,” replied Harry definitely as he attempted to push his enemy away but the scene quickly morphed into all of his friends and family huddled around, unable to move as a large gauntlet not unlike the one the Shredder used, illuminated in the same shade of green that the Killing Curse was known to swiped down at them. Harry attempted to rush over, but they seemed to get further and further away, and the next thing Harry knew, they were all on the ground, covered in blood, not moving, having been slain right before his very eyes.

“Failed once again, just as you’ve always failed,” taunted the mirror image who had reappeared as Harry turned and Harry stepped forward, but the mirror image had vanished right in thin air before Harry could even get close enough to it.

Harry turned and the next thing he knew, he was falling right through a veil. On the other side, he saw a pair of cold, blue, lifeless eyes, just before he fell right into an indescribable atmosphere of pure terror, the word “failure” whispered in his ear repeatedly as he began his slow descent.

Harry sat up in bed, his eyes widened in absolute horror and as if turned out, he was not the same one. Right beside him, Ginny had also abruptly woke up as well, an equally wide eyed look etched on her face as she turned to Harry.

“You saw it to, didn’t you?” asked Harry and Ginny nodded her head, looking about as confused as Harry was as she reached forward and grabbed Harry’s hand.

“It was confusing, I’ve never seen anything so vivid in my life,” whispered Ginny, as she looked up at Harry. “Do you have any idea what it means?”

“I have my ideas, but I don’t know if I’m correct,” replied Harry coolly, as he looked at Ginny for several more seconds, it was just a dream, a nightmare if that, brought on by stress most likely. “Don’t worry Ginny, I don’t think it has any meaning, it’s just fragments, they don’t even fit together, I’m sure if it’s nothing.”

“I hope you’re right Harry,” said Ginny, as she looked up at Harry, but his eyes held no clue to what he was thinking, it was always the blank, focused expression that he always held when training.

“I do too, Ginny,” muttered Harry as he leaned forward, wrapping his arm around her, and kissed, her, an action that Ginny eagerly returned, more to get her mind of the horrific scenes she saw. “Let’s try and get back to sleep, don’t know how much we’ll succeed, but we have to try.”

“Suppose so Harry, night, love you,” muttered Ginny sleepily, as she began to drift back into sleep in Harry’s arms, uneasily, but with the reassurance that perhaps it was fact a dream.

“Love you too,” said Harry before he fell back asleep, trying to push the visions that plagued him out of his mind, the word “failure” really eating a hole with him, but within time, Harry drifted back to sleep, the dream not plaguing him once again, with the belief that perhaps it was only a one time occurrence.

The next morning in the lair, Harry had decided to go down for some early morning practice, in a rather familiar surrounding that most of his training in life had taken place. His brothers had joined him for the first couple of hours, but after a while, Harry was left alone as they required a break. That was fine with Harry, as the amount of training he felt he had to undertake was something he did not recommend to anyone. Right now, Harry was battling a quartet of enchanted dummies, blind folded. The dummies threw spells at him every few seconds, it was random what direction the spells would come from and Harry needed to hone his skills, being able to block the attacks, without his line of sight and without magic.

A mild slicing spell was sent towards Harry, but Harry threw himself to the ground, rolling out of the way as the spell faded in mid air. Harry popped his head up but the same enchanted dummy sent another curse at him but Harry leapt out of the way, just barely avoiding a stunning spell as he was against another enchanted mannequin.

“Exactly how long has he been at it again?” asked Sirius, who was also down at the lair, interested in seeing what his godson was up to.

“About three and a half hours by my count,” replied Don as he watched a set of arrows fired at Harry, who used his weapon to deflect them, before he leapt over them, but the dummy spun around and shot a jet of fire at Harry but Harry dodged it, as another one of his opponents fired another spell.

“Well, if anything else, those things are interesting, how Harry’s enchanted them to attack him and no one else,” remarked Sirius, as indeed it was a high level piece of magic, well beyond most that Sirius had ever seen in his life.

“Yes, that’s the problem, Harry’s been working himself a lot recently and setting up something like that for training does seem to be a bit intense,” said Leo.

“Coming from you, considering how seriously you take your training, that says something,” remarked Raph before he watched Harry, who just barely avoided two of the dummies attacking him at the same time and the bolts of magical energy disappeared in mid air. “Ooh that was a close shot; I’m surprised Harry avoided that one.”

“So, Harry is taking his training more seriously, but hasn’t he always?” asked Mikey. “Even when he was seven years old, he still tried to put the most work into his training, tried to hang with us, despite he was way too young to last too long. I think Harry knows his limits better than anyone else, but it does seem he’s trying to push those limits a bit, doesn’t it?”

The others nodded, as they continued to watch Harry for a couple more minutes, as he dodged some more attacks, before he clapped his hands, cancelling both of the spells, before he removed his blindfold and stepped away.

“That could have gone better,” said Harry in a critical tone of voice, as he looked at the others.

“Now I don’t know much about what you were doing, but from what I saw, it looked great,” said Sirius and the others gave encouraging nods, but Harry obviously was not convinced of the fact that he actually did well.

“I did fine, but I can always do better,” replied Harry. “There were some flaws, I need to be perfect.”

“Yes, perfect, well what’s there left to shoot for when you become perfect, Harry?” demanded Raph.

“I’ll worry about that when the time comes,” said Harry shortly, as he turned slightly, preparing to think about how to better his strategy for his next training run, which he planned to go for another run through in a few moments.

“My sons, prepare yourselves, we have some company arriving shortly,” said Master Splinter, as he walked into the room, leaning on his walking stick as he leaned forward, to look forward and seconds later, the lair filled with a large vortex of blue, nearly blinding, light, as a portal opened up, as the Turtles, Harry, and Sirius stepped forward to investigate and at that moment, the form of their samurai rabbit friend, Miyamoto Usagi, emerged from the portal, to face the group before him.

“Usagi!” exclaimed the Turtles in unison, as Harry nodded politely in the background, as Usagi watched forward and stepped to the side to reveal the form of the gluttonous rhino bounty hunter and friend of Usagi, Gennosuke.

“Greetings Turtles,” said Gen as he looked at the group.

“And Gen,” replied Raph in a slightly irritated tone of voice.

“I must say, after your Christmas festivities, I was willing to see more of this world, no doubt many financial opportunities can be had in this strange land,” remarked Gen with a grunt, a greedy look in his eyes. “But right now I need to eat, so where do you keep the food around this place anyway?”

“As Gennosuke said, in his own unique way, your Christmas celebration was just a mere taste and it might be an interesting cultural experience to see more of your world,” inputted Usagi.

“Did you come here by way of the Battle Nexus?” asked Leo.

“No, Leonardo-San, a friend of my was able to perform a spell to open a portal and allow myself entry here, without making the triple through the Battle Nexus, making it a much more convenient journey,” answered Usagi as the others nodded.

“This evening may be as good of a time as any to show our guests the sights of the city,” suggested Master Splinter to the group. “But in the mean time, now should be an ideal opportunity to allow them to settle in, as no doubt their journey was a difficult one.”

“Yes, settle in, get some grub, it’s all good,” agreed Gen in a gluttonous voice, as he looked around.

“Well, I need to be going, what time should I tell the others to expect you back home, Harry?” asked Sirius as he turned to Harry.

“Don’t know, no sooner than later this evening, perhaps early tomorrow morning, providing that something doesn’t come up,” replied Harry with a shrug.

“Okay, will do Harry,” responded Sirius as he turned. “Good bye everyone, see you soon.”

Everyone waved Sirius, as he went off to do whatever he pleased. Harry did not expect for his godfather to stick around very long in one place, after all he had his freedom, he no longer had to be a fugitive of the law, he did not have to remain in hiding. Harry decided it might be a good opportunity to join the others when they gave their guests the tour of the city. After all, he could use a night to get out for a little bit with friends and family.

Later that evening, under the cover of darkness, Harry, slightly disguised due to the status of him being technically deceased in the Wizarding World, stuck his head out of a manhole, as he slid the cover off, to see that no one untrustworthy. When Harry had confirmed that the coast was in fact clear, he slid the manhole cover off and beckoned for the others to join them. One by one, Raph, Don, Mikey, Leo, Usagi, and Gen evacuated the manhole, the cover slid back on as they made their way into the city.

“Gentlemen, welcome to the night light, shall we explore the town,” remarked Mikey, as they walked into the city. New York was truly the city that never slept, as many were still out and about.

They moved on, as it turned out, there was a baseball game going on this evening. Due to the unique appearances of most of the individuals involved, they could not get in easily, but there was an area on a mounted hill, where they could watch the game from afar.

“So exactly how does this strange pastime work?” asked Usagi with mild interest as he watched the game.

“Well, two teams of players, many of them who are overplayed, play for nine innings,” explained Mikey. “One team is at bat and the other is in the field, they switch when one team strikes out three times. Whoever gets the most runs after the ninth inning wins, it’s kind of hard to explain.”

“And how does one receive one of these runs?” prompted Usagi.

“Well, you take a small wooden object called a baseball bat, and swing it, but you have to hit it, otherwise it’s a strike,” commented Raph, miming hitting a baseball with a baseball bat.

“Ah, it’s just like fighting an army of Neko ninjas, where you take your katana and…” stated Gen as he removed his katana and began swinging it around wildly, but Leo and Don had stopped him before he had gotten too out of control, to attract too much unwanted attention.

“Yeah, something like that,” said Leo slowly, as Gen put his katana away and they remained for a few more moments, before Harry looked around quite anxiously. It was obvious they had arrived rather late in the game and it was wrapping up, no doubt there was going to be many people out and about within a matter of moments.

“We need to keep moving, game’s going to be over soon,” muttered Harry and the others got Harry’s mention, as they walked off but it was not all that much of a disappointment all things considered. There was so much more to see and do, even at night and as quickly as they came, the group had moved off, continuing their tour of New York for the next several hours, seeing many historical landmarks on their way, before they climbed to the roof top at the end of the evening, to see an overview of the sit.

Even though he had lived there most of his life, Harry still was amazed, as when taking away the fairly large amount of criminal activity that tended to plague the city on most occasions, it was still the greatest city on Earth as far as Harry and many others were concerned. Indeed, it was a place that the Boy-Who-Lived was proud to call his home.

“So how does the Tortuga Brothers Big Apple tour rate so far, my samurai friends?” asked Mikey.

“I must say your city is so vibrant and bright, a contrast to our home if I may say so myself,” remarked Usagi, as he looked over in the city, a bit impressed and a bit overwhelmed if the truth would be told.

“Your city is so big and shiny, that’s a lot of buildings, just imagine all of the torches it would take to light them all,” responded Gen as he looked out in the city with wide eyes. “All those people, all the money to be had, it’s like paradise.”

“Yes, well, as good as your city is, it does make me long for the long open meadows of home, isn’t that right, Gennosuke?” asked Usagi but Gen looked on greedily, it was quite obvious that this place was right up his alley. “Uh Gen?”

“Yes, yes, of course,” replied the rhino, waving off his friend’s comments, snapping out of the dreams of acquiring untold of wealth in this strange and mysterious land.

“It’s best we get going, it’s been a long night,” yawned Leo, as the others nodded to agree, as they one by one climbed down from the rooftops, making their way back down to the sewers, to get some rest. Harry joined them, it was a much shorter trip then to the Potter Residence after all and in his current state of fatigue, it would be ill advised to apparate. He would get a few hours of sleep, do a bit of light training, and then bid everyone farewell before he departed back home.

It was early that next morning and Harry had already been training for several hours, he had began in the crack of dawn and had gotten involved in his training, the desire to become better, to never fail anyone again drove him to continue, even though he was beginning to become a bit fatigued and weary. Still, Harry refused to believe that he could afford to give up, he wanted to get a good hour or more of training in before everyone else had gotten out of bed.

“It’s been said a weapon can be ineffective in the hands of an under trained warrior, but I wonder what could be said about how effective it could be in an over trained one,” remarked a voice, and Harry spun around, to see that Usagi was standing there. “Ah, Harry-san, I see your reflexes have not faltered since your battle with Drako’s dark assassins in the Battle Nexus.”

“You’re up rather early Usagi-san,” replied Harry casually.

“I could say the same thing about you,” responded Usagi with a casual nod, as the samurai rabbit looked at Harry. “Since we’re both up, shall we spar?”

Harry nodded, he was always up for a challenge and from what he observed, the samurai rabbit seemed to be a challenge, as he was too accustomed with the fighting styles of his brothers, so he needed something different. Usagi removed his katana as Harry removed his weapon. They circled each other, before Harry swung his weapon upwards, but Usagi quickly dodged and Harry just barely turned around, blocking Usagi’s blow.

“Don’t hold anything back,” muttered Harry, as he crouched down, before he attempted to lightly jab forward, but Usagi blocked the attack. Another clang together as the two warriors stared down, before Harry attempted another attack but Usagi casually avoided the attempted attack and swept Harry’s leg out from underneath him. Harry sprang up to his feet and attempted to go for the attack but once again Usagi spun around, avoiding the attack, as Harry became frustrated, as the samurai seemed to be keeping him off balance with mostly defensive attacks, as the weapons clanged together, with both staring each other down.

“Your technique is good, but you put too much into each attack, it is causing you to slip up, a bit of ambition is good, but it’s causing you to overreach yourself, making your attempts to defend yourself sloppy,” replied Usagi but Harry attempted to attack but Usagi blocked it once again. “It would be an ideal solution for you not to strive for perfection, because it only leads to frustration and the frustration will eventually lead to sloppiness that will leave you open to a deadly attack.”

Harry paused and he knew exactly what was going on right now.

“Master Splinter put you up to this, didn’t he?” asked Harry as he attempted to move forward but Usagi blocked the attack once again, as he continued to circle his sparring partner.

“Perhaps, but judging by your demeanor, especially when you think no one is looking, it is obvious even to someone who has only met you a handful of times that something is amiss,” replied Usagi as he blocked another shot. “Past failures can be a tough mistress to overcome, especially when you think if you’ve been a bit better, a bit more skilled, perhaps you would have saved them in time, every waking moment you think about what you did not do and what you should have done.”

“No disrespect meant, Usagi, but how would you know what’s going through my mind?” asked Harry as he attempted to sneak another shot past his opponent but Usagi blocked the shot again.

“My master was slain right before my very eyes, by a vile assassin,” said Usagi calmly as he blocked the assault. “It’s not something I talk about much, yet I was there but I froze, and the next thing I knew, he was dead.”

A moment of uncomfortable silence, which was promptly broken when Mikey rushed out of his room, followed by the other three Turtles and Master Splinter.

“Guys, Gen’s gone!” exclaimed Mikey and the others responded by gasping in horror at the rhino being out alone in the big city.

In an alleyway downtown, another portal opened and exiting it was an assassin dressed in a blue cloak that resembled a humanoid warthog exiting the portal, stepping in the alley way and looking around.

“My lord, I have traced the sorcerer’s spell, they cannot be far now,” remarked the assassin as he looked into a scroll and a window of sorts opened on it, to reveal the sinister form of one of Miyamoto Usagi’s dangerous enemies, the villainous giant snake called Lord Hebi.

“Excellent work Kojima, the Assassins’ Guild once again does not disappoint on the quality of their employees,” replied Hebi in a hiss, as he looked at the warthog assassin very intently. “Remember, bring me the heads of Usagi, the bounty hunter, and the Kame warrior known as Leonardo. They shall pay for their meddling in our previous meeting.”

“As you wish, Lord Hebi,” responded Kojima, as he quietly snuck off, sniffing at the air, attempting to pick up the scent of his pray, secure in the knowledge that they could not be far from his current location.

As they went out into the city, on the rooftops, Usagi turned to the Turtles and Harry.

“Gennosuke could not have gotten too far but I doubt there is much need for concern, after all, he is able to take care of himself should a situation arise,” remarked Usagi, but the others shook their heads in disagreement.

“Usagi, we’re extremely difficult, this isn’t like your world, humanoid animals are not exactly the norm, ” replied Leo. “We kind of stick out in a crowd, that’s why we had to visit the city at night, people tend to run for cover when they see our unique appearance.”

“And that’s how we find Gen, just follow the sound of the shrieks,” inputted Mikey as he squinted his eyes to look out in the city. “Any of you have any luck yet?”

“No, but I suspect he can’t be far, after all, a large talking rhino is not exactly common, even in New York,” remarked Raph as he continued to look out in the city. “Nothing so far.”

“Keep looking,” prompted Leo as a loud shriek was heard from inside the city as they looked down in absolute horror, to see a crowd of horrified populace back off from Gen as he was down on the other end of the city. “Oh great, we would have to have a crowd.”

“I’ll get him shall I,” offered Don and Leo turned to him, with a nod, before he waved him over.

“Be discrete about it, we’ll set up a diversion, but you need to get him out of there before he causes even more of a disturbance that there already is,” cautioned Leo and Don nodded, before he crept off into the shadows, to discretely make his down to deal with the situation before it got rather ugly.

“I said I had gold,” protested Gen as the shopkeeper ran off in absolute terror, as a group had closed in to get a quicker look and at that time, a police officer walked in.

“Back everyone,” ordered the officer crisply before he turned to Gen, withdrawing his gun and pointing it at the large rhino samurai. “And you, whoever you are, you better come along quietly, come on, put your hands in the air where I can see, I have to take you in.”

Gen looked over the officer with amusement, taking in his appearance, before he snorted right at him.

“And what are you supposed to be little man, one of the shogun’s guards?” demanded Gen, folding his arms, as he stared at the officer, but the officer did not back off.

“Hands in the air and come quietly,” repeated the officer but a loud bang echoed from the alleyway off to the side.

Mikey was hanging from the side of a building on a ladder, as Raph whacked his Sai against a dumpster, causing a rattling sound to echo throughout the entire city.

“Help me, someone help me,” shrieked Mikey in a shrill girly voice, as Raph continued to whack his weapon off the dumpster in an attempt to get the attention away from Gen. “There’s a short ugly bald guy attacking me, he’s really ugly, help, someone save me from his ugliness.”

“You are such a mutant,” grumbled Raph as he looked at his brother in disgust, as footsteps indicated that the officer was rushing down the alley way, to investigate the source of the disturbance, as Raph climbed up behind Mikey, getting out of sight before the officer had made his way down the alley way, giving Don the diversionary tactic that he needed, sticking to the shadows, and grabbing Gen, before pulling him into the next alley way.

“What the…” stated Gen as he turned around, to see Don, Bo Staff drawn and staring down the rhino. “Oh it’s you.”

“What were you thinking going out in the middle of the day?” asked Don. “Surely you would have realized that there was a reason why we went out at night. Now, I’m taking you back to the lair, before any more damage is done, the others should join us soon.”

Gen just shrugged, he had seen enough of the city for now anyway, as he followed Don back towards the sewers, as Harry watched from above, ready to give them a warning should someone be following them.

“Looks like the coast is clear,” muttered Harry as he turned to the others, but at that moment, the smoke bomb dropped on the floor, cloaking them in a cloud of darkness. Harry groped around in the smoke, attempting to push it away with his magic, as Raph and Mikey pulled themselves up, coughing as the smoke engulfed the area around them.

“What’s with all this smoke?” grunted Raph, as the smoke cleared as the form of Kojima appeared from the smoke, to face Usagi, Leo, Harry, Raph, and Mikey.

“Kojima!” exclaimed Usagi, as he withdrew his katana, to face off against the infamous assassin.

“Ah, Miyamoto Usagi and the Kame Ninja I presume,” remarked Kojima, before he turned to the others. “Forgive the rudeness, but I’ve only come for these two.”

Kojima quickly flicked a set of bombs on the roof, right at the feet of Raph and Mikey.

“GUYS, MOVE!” yelled Leo urgently, but it was too late, as the roof had crumbled out from underneath Mikey and Raph, causing them to fall into the factory below, as Kojima looked at them.

“Now is the matter of collecting the gold that Lord Hebi has promised me,” said Kojima. “I’ll deal with the bounty hunter later. He’s the list, along with Lord Noriyuki.”

“Hebi, he’s hired the Assassins’ Guild!” exclaimed Usagi in a horrified tone of voice.

“None other,” replied Kojima with a bow, as he removed a Kusari-Gama, stalking his prey with a cold, calculating look etched upon his face.

“Tread lightly, Kojima is one of the most deadly and feared assassins, in my universe, a true master of weapons,” said Usagi slowly as Kojima whipped his chain off the ground but Usagi just barely managed to leap out of the way, but Kojima remained on the attack, before he flung a dagger at Leo, knocking his katanas out of his hand and Usagi was knocked out of commission for the time being by a pair of expertly flung shuriken. Harry rushed forward and aimed a kick at his opponent, but Kojima expertly caught Harry’s foot, before he gave Harry a slight push backwards, staggering the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry quickly pulled himself right back to his feet, before Kojima struck him right in the chest with a wooden staff. A loud crack echoed throughout the downtown area and Harry fell backwards, over the side of the building.

“No!” yelled Leo in a horrified voice as he saw his youngest brother plunge over the side of the building, to the pavement below, but Kojima whipped his chain, wrapping it around Leo’s arms and gave a yank, pulling Leo forward, right into a vicious punch. Leo managed to twist and pull himself free, but Kojima swung the sickle end of the Kusari-Gama down. Quickly Leo, used his katana to block the attack, but Kojima was relentless, swinging the sickle, snapping Leo’s sword. Kojima gave Leo a thunderous blow to the back of the neck and Leo was dropped down to the ground.

“Now this ends, it’s a shame, I expected more of a challenge than this,” grunted Kojima, as he raised his staff, a blade protruding out, as he prepared to jam it right into Leo’s throat.

Down below, Raph shook off the cobwebs, before he quickly pushed a piece of rubble that was over the top of Mikey’s chest.

“Come on Mikey, rise and shine, they need our help, we need to get back up there,” prompted Raph as he helped his brother up to his feet, Mikey wincing as he rose to his feet.

“I love being a turtle and all that, but that hurt like hell,” grumbled Mikey, as he took a few tentative steps forward, a bit sore from the fall he took.

“Well, you’re luck that your shell’s as thick as your skull,” commented Raph. “Now come on.”

Usagi rushed over, and blocked the attempt of the assassin to slit Leo’s throat with his katana. The rabbit strained to push Kojima backwards, but Kojima threw a powder at the ground, blinding Usagi temporarily, before Kojima propelled himself into the air. The punch came down right on the top Usagi’s head, knocking him down and Kojima raised the blade, standing on Leo’s chest to prevent him from rising up to his feet, but a pair of shuriken flung out of nowhere, sticking into Kojima’s staff. The shuriken blew up, causing Kojima to stagger backwards.

As the warthog assassin turned around, Harry’s foot was planted firmly in his face, backing him off. Another kick as Kojima was staggered back but Kojima grabbed Harry and flipped him to the ground. Harry dropped to the ground as Kojima raised his arms in victory.

“Stay down little warrior, you failed them, I always win,” taunted Kojima and Harry’s eyes narrowed angrily behind Kojima’s back at the word “failed” “No one can stop me, I am the greatest warrior that ever lived I am Ko…”

Kojima never finished his speech as Harry sprung up, almost as if an unexplainable darkness had rose up within him for the briefest second, blade extended and slashed right at the back of the warthog’s neck. The assassin stood before he thumped right to the ground, as Harry pulled his blade up, blood dripping from it, as the motionless form of Kojima laid right at his feet. Harry was astonished at the drastic step he took to defeat the dangerous assassin, but at the same time, he reasoned that it was necessary, as Kojima would have killed him, had the situation been reversed.

“Let’s go,” said Harry, as Usagi and Leo lifted up the form of Kojima, before dragging him back to the lair, both giving uneasy looks towards Harry, but nothing was said, as Raph and Mikey joined them, before they all headed back to the lair.

At the lair, the portal was opened, allowing Usagi and Gen to return back home, with Gen dragging the limp form of Kojima behind him.

“This is great, I bet there is a hefty price on this assassin’s head, imagine the gold I’ll collect when I turn his body in,” grunted Gen as he dragged Kojima.

“Yes, it is a shame our trip needs to be cut rather short, but this is a nice place to visit, but living here is another matter entirely,” added Usagi, with a bow towards the Turtles, Master Splinter, and Harry, who stood in the shadows slightly, an unreadable expression on his face.

“But perhaps someday I may have to make a return trip,” commented Gen. “I’ve heard of a place called Las Vegas, that sounds like a place that may be right up my alley.”

“Yeah, well don’t call us, we’ll call you,” remarked Mikey as he shooed Gen through the portal as Usagi turned to Harry.

“Also, Harry, farewell and remember, do not let your need to achieve perfection consume you, otherwise you’ll head down a dangerous path that you

“I appreciate your advice, but I know what I need to do,” said Harry in a testy tone of voice, before he turned to the others. “I really need to get home anyway, I’m well past due to arrive, if you know where to find me.”

Without another word, Harry walked off, leaving the others in the lair.

“This is about as far as the issue can be pressed at this moment, I had feared the defeat at the hands of Lord Voldemort, coupled with the deaths of Daphne and Theodore had pushed Harry to the edge, but it will long journey for Harry to get back to normal, one that he can only make on his own,” concluded Master Splinter in a tired voice, as he leaned on his walking stick, as they said their good byes, before the pair of samurais disappeared through the portal.

Just several hours later, Harry stood in the bathroom of the Potter Residence, staring at his own reflection, his face contorting.

“You truly are taunting me more than Voldemort, Shredder, or anyone else ever has,” muttered Harry, as he stared down his own reflection in the mirror. “I won’t let you defeat me, I’ll never become that, no matter what, no chance in hell.”

“Harry?” asked Ginny as she knocked on the door.

“I’m coming Ginny,” replied Harry as he exited the bathroom, and Ginny looked him over, a concerned expression on her face, Harry obviously had something on his mind, through the bond, Ginny could sense a bit of helplessness, something that was a foreign concept for Harry.

“Is there something wrong Harry?” asked Ginny in a concerned tone of voice but Harry just shook his head, but Ginny could tell that something was bothering Harry. “You know you can talk to me, love.”

“I know Ginny and I will if I feel I need to,” replied Harry as he grabbed her hand. “Right now everything’s fine, more than fine as I have a date tonight with the most beautiful girl in the world.”

“Still Harry, the same Harry I’ll always loved and will love,” muttered Ginny, as Harry’s eyes seemed to still light up at the prospect of spending time with her, no matter how much turmoil he went through and Ginny felt the same way. “Shall we go then, Harry.”

“Of course Ginny,” replied Harry with a smile, the first genuine one that Ginny had seen in a while, but then again, it was time they went out without anyone else to spend some time alone, but Ginny could see it, one day Harry would have to return to face him and while she’d be with him one hundred percent of the way, Ginny was not exactly looking forward to.