aaaaaaaaaaaagggh!!!
excellent. he walks to the large bay windows that overlooks the city.
tell them i'm on my way down. he slowly lowers out of frame. cam pulls out wider revealing - winters office is an "elevator" of sorts that can ride up and down the front of the building, allowing him access to any floor of his tower without leaving his desk. wider - see the tower is a monolith in the middle of manhattan - complete with it's own front central park-ish gated entry. a true work of modern architecture.
miss o'neil. you are a vision. thirty days in a jungle, and beautiful as ever. he shakes her hand and double-cheek kisses her. casey's eyes widen - is this what his girlfriend does?
chris! how's it going? winters nearly crushes casey's hand in his grip.
so how was your trip?
it was a time long before the mayans, april. long before the aztecs and even the olmecs. it was a time of legends. a time of greatness. the true mother culture of central america. cool shots of yaotl. his armor, his stance, etc.
and for every culture they destroyed, they drank in all the magic and knowledge known to them.
then they came across a culture rich with science, magic and their own technology. a south american version of "atlantis".
as the army approached, yaotl used the knowledge they'd gained in black magic and sorcery. timing their attack with the alignment of the stars of kikin, they opened a portal to another world. on charging army - they stop dead in their tracks. front-lit by the os portal. don't know what to expect - on portal - a crackling electric circle opens to another dimension. suddenly - dozens of monsters explode out! creatures of all varieties. gnashing fangs. swiping claws.
they unleashed an army of monsters. n battlefield - men getting slaughtered . quick shots. intense.
the monsters knew no side - they destroyed the enemy.  as well as yaotl's own army. men who swore to spill their blood for his cause. yaotl had to do something to stop more from coming through.
in the end, there were no victors. and they were responsible for the eradication of the greatest culture that will never be known. the knowledge that was lost would never be found again.
oh no, miss o'neil. looks back to statue) like you said.  just a story. inters doesn't break his stare.
one of the girls will pay your fee on the way out.
you can come out now. ider - as we see four figures appear out of the smallest and darkest of shadows! the leader slinks forward - clearly a
your talents are commendable.
well, i guess i'm just special that way. winters walks over to his desk. the statue looms behind them.
so down to business - aside from the other reasons for your visit to america, are you interested in my offer we discussed?
i need the finely-tuned eyes and stealth of your foot ninja to.  monitor the city for me over the next few days. winters walks to his window. it's night. overlooks the city.
just keep your eyes peeled for anything.  strange.
what seems to be the problem? karai and six ninja are already there.
oooooooh.  it sets the foot off. they all grab their weapons, moving toward winters. karai flips forward, sword drawn and at winters throat! . as winters stands still.  and begins to laugh. slowly, the thumping of four sets of feet lumber out of the shadows. reveal themselves to be the four stone generals. they flank winters, who is just loving the theatricality of it all. the foot ninja leap back. winters remains confident and unmoving. generals smirk at karai and the foot.
i believe we made a deal, karai. i expect you to honor it. you do understand "honor", don't you? karai stews.  unblinking stare. of course she does.
so i don't care what part of "muscle for hire" you don't understand. i hired your muscle. now exercise the ones attached to your feet and.  . get back to work.
are we.  cool? the foot don't move. tense. karai finally nods. terse.
ninjas. no sense of humor. so how did we fare? corridor entrance - a hunched shape undulating in chains is wheeled into the light. winters approaches it - chained to a high-tech and uplit pallet on the floor. we can barely make it out as being the hairy creature from the i-beam fight.
so it begins.  it screams. fights it's restraints. tires. breathing heavily. winters approaches, safely inches away from his fanged maw. creature suddenly lunges forward! winters doesn't flinch. he merely grins at the creature.
were there any problems? aguila speaks in a gravelly, hardened voice. he towers over winters by a foot. clearly the leader of the four.
you see, now that's a good soldier. you two should compare notes. karai and aguila stare at each other. karai obviously not used to being handled like this.
oh, let's call it a scavenger hunt. i now have the power and know-how, but i need the speed and stealth of an organization such as your own. not to mention an organization that values discretion.
you see, i have nine more beasts like this that should be coming to town very soon. thirteen in all, to be exact. the four generals move the monster into a position on the floor ahead - into a disk on the floor. on ceiling - we see the top of a cage inserted over top, creating a cell.
instinct, mostly. they're animals at their core. and they recognize something familiar in the air.  in the stars.
what is it? winters doesn't turn around. stays in e-fg. cam adjusts to show the shape of general aguila in the doorway.
well, by all means then. let's finish it. on aguila - he squints. deep in thought and not sharing.
finally.  finally! on generals - they're still. emotionless. the light sequence gets to leo's cell.  it doesn't light up.
what? his mind reels. looks down at the cells. nothing. then it hits him like a ton of bricks. he turns to the generals.
what did you do?!
fascinating.
we were so close.  so close. winters collapses on the floor. head in hands.
this was our chance. we could have changed it all.
it was i who stood on that battlefield all those years ago. winters. yaotl looks out at the death and destruction. he looks shocked, surprised. a shadow falls over winters body. he looks up - it's a ceremonial shaman from their enemies' camp.
and we had to pay a price. the shaman makes hand gestures, chanting. winters is pulled up in the air, and in a crackle of red electricity, we see him become.  grayer. n generals - same electricity. different effect. they scream, slowly turned into stone. cracks form on their bodies, light shooting out of it.
we were cursed that day. my four comrades-in-arms were turned into stone.
my curse was to live.  forever. to feel the pain of losing love time and time again. of boredom. the pain.  of time. ack in present day. winters stops walking.
we were doomed to live this way until, as the shaman put it, "you corrected the mistakes of your past". that's what this is about. penance, miss o'neil. finally getting a chance to right our wrongs.
never. this was our opportunity! we were wrong! don't you understand?!
alright. we have more important things to do! on portal - a small demon makes its way out of the portal! winters runs and flips through the air and then clobbers it with his bare hands, sending it back down! he lands on the other side.
help me push the cells into the portal! splinter does as the two masters also manage to lay some smackdown on any emerging creature out of the portal.
look out! winters dives in and pushes the turtles out of way as the creature flies in and knocks the generals back into the portal! the cloud tendrils grab a hold of it and pull it back into the portal! on stars - the stars move out of alignment, ending the cycle. on portal - it begins to close. the generals struggle to get out, only now, we see they are human.  their curse broken.  and an eternity of pain and suffering ahead of them.
thank you. thank you from the bottom of my heart. you've made a very old man, very very happy.
	53:
the ghost of the jungle.
you're such a prima donna.
talk to me.
i thought you were going to meet me down here?
raphael! if bullying is the only way to argue your point, then perhaps you do not have much of a point to begin with.
so bored.  so bored.
heh-heh.  yeah. casey awkwardly places his arm over her shoulder as the cam rests and they walk into the distance. he pulls it back down. cam angles on wall - as we notice claw marks sliced into the concrete exterior of a building.
this is my.  friend, casey jones.
the gods be praised. on box - we finally see the statue - general aguila - a seven- foot towering wall of granite and obsidian. eagle warrior armor reflecting a south american design.  though not from a specific time period. winters rubs his hand over the stone.
you fall asleep! casey stops next to a podium holding a priceless-looking vase. as he speaks, he gestures very animatedly and dangerously close to the vase.
i see. so.  you're definitely not upset at me or anything, right?
raph! raph knows he has to go. reluctantly he enters the sewer. the lid closes as the alley is illuminated by police cherries.
what can i say? i'm a lover of animals. the disk rotates. wider we see that there are already some cells inserted on the large stone disk in the floor. filled by darkened silhouettes of creatures that we're probably glad
are you happy? i mean, with your life. with me. casey pauses a beat. tries to be upbeat.
you keep on playing with fire, little man, you might just get burnt.
the guys ever catch on?
bro. seriously.
raph? on raphael - he's got a dart in his shoulder, obsidian disks stuck in his shell, and has collapsed unconscious.
hey april.  how ya been?
le brrrraaaaaaapp! mikey walks to the fridge of leftover birthday cake.
we'll be right there.
get the.  frig offa me.
whoa. on raph's shell - two obsidian disks are wedged in his back with a tranquilizer dart. donnie wedges out the obsidian disk with pliers. lose on - disk. it's beautiful and deadly. don examines.
there's an engraving on it. looks.  south american. aztec? no. it's definitely not mayan. april swallows hard.
it's just a myth.  a legend.
it can't be.
what about it, april? you just finished working with the guy, right? does it make sense?
i spent my whole life running out of rooms ticked off at the world. i wish i could take most of `em back. sometimes, just takin' a breather is the best thing to do. on april - she's listening to casey.  maybe her man-boy is growing up. raph knows he can't win.
but i never said i was having fun. leo looks at the clock.
monay, monay, monay, monayyyy . monay! pov from water - steadicam shot, watching the man patrol under the light of the moon.
what? but raph doesn't feel like explaining. refuses defeat.
well, i gotta newsflash for ya - we got along just fine without you.
i was out, and did.  something.  something happened and i- arrrgh!!! raphael picks up a heavy weight and hurls is across the dojo. splinter is unfazed, but he won't take any more.
i know why you chose him now. i know that there's a reason why he's the better son and i'm not.
and i think i made things worse tonight. a whole lot worse.  i know you must be ashamed of me, father. raphael is lost in his guilt. splinter kneels in front of raph.
where's leo? raph and splinter share a look. raph has to tell the others.
thanks. almost awkward as casey leans forward and is about to kiss her.  then a musical tune plays on a car horn outside, interrupting them again.
but we can do this. leo, or no leo. not because of our individual strengths.  but because of how we function as a team.
you're welcome. mikey fights the most like jackie chan - comical maneuvers backed by solid-hitting blows. don uses his bo-staff in 1001 different ways, both offensively and defensively. casey is enjoying the hell out of it. high flying, adrenaline rush. he even catches april checking him out, and vice versa. april suddenly spots an opening to the front doors!
yesssssss!!!!
cool. they all run over. mikey runs to a cell.
raph can't take it any more. he draws his sais and thrusts them at winters. that gets his attention. winters looks up in awe at seeing the mutated freaks in front of him.
why raph, no solo act tonight? raph grins. they stand, backs to back.  finally as a team. they trust one another, and their efficiency shows. on portal - more tentacles begin to come out. more claws surround the surface edges. on tmnt - the music swells. the brothers act and think as one. the way they should. they way they will from now on. on splinter - as cam pushes in, he stands up. seeing his sons. as one. as brothers. he smiles.
oh gawd. i think he's in my n-n-
our training works in mysterious ways. but the answer that lies in all our questions.  is family. raph beams as he accepts the "badge". he excitedly stands up. splinter looks to the hallway where his eyes meet leo's. they exchange knowing smiles as splinter winks and we-
let's just say it's in good hands.