Like Father Like Son [ROTTMNT]

Prologue: a Warrior Scientist's Musings

Draxum was many things. He was a warrior and a scientist, for one. He was also very very persistent.

It was almost funny, that anyone would possibly believe that he would change at the drop of a hat after so many years spent planning the best possible way to protect his people. It had taken countless hours, no, countless years to get to where he had, and one did not simply give up after that much hard work and effort just because someone said that they had an "easy way" out. No, Draxum knew his initial idea was the correct one, and he wasn't going to give up on that idea just yet. Certainly not because of some strange armor some humans offered him.

However, as for his original plans… He had to admit, it was something of a shock. Thirteen years of nothing... and then, quite suddenly, everywhere he turned he started to see them. His creations. His weapons. Or, at least, shadows of what could have been.

He knew it, deep down. It would have worked. Had Lou Jitsu not foolishly stopped his experiment just after it had started, his turtles would have been unstoppable. Instead, after only a mere moment in the ooze, he was left with... this. It was bad enough that it crossed his mind to wipe the slate clean and start over, but Lou Jitsu was no longer in the picture. Draxum wasn't sure if he was even alive anymore, never mind where he would be if he was.

And so that led him back to the turtles.

Was there something salvageable left among the four idiotic children he had seen fumbling about? There had to be. His life’s work couldn’t have just been reduced to a complete waste of time like that. But, ridiculous as the four turtles were, they were also dangerous to his plans. Together they covered each other’s blind spots, allowing each other to get in his way before creating an escape route. Somehow their perceived brotherly loyalty was a factor in why they were dangerous to Draxum… so it seemed he had to somehow break that factor.

Perhaps he could hit two birds with one stone, so to speak.

He wanted more weapons at his disposal, and also needed a way to break up those turtles. So, why not just… do some adjusting to one of the four? Finish making the turtle be what it was made to be? He could always pick the others off one by one, if the first one went well. And if it didn’t… well.

There’d only be three turtles left to deal with.

Draxum stood up, pacing back and forth as he rubbed his chin in thought. It was just a matter of which one to choose, then.

The one with the tendency to rush into things?

No, too attached, too willing to sacrifice himself for the other’s sake. If anything, he’d work best to pick the others off first and save him for later.

The one with technological capabilities?

Not what he was looking for. He wanted a real warrior… not some weaker subspecies that he tossed into the ooze with the others out of curiosity.

The smallest one?

Too soft and small. He wouldn’t hold up against the other three turtles in battle. Not to mention that he was surely too reckless and dumb to train any sense of stealth or planning into.

So that just left the snarky one. He wasn’t… a terrible choice. Sure, he was loud and obnoxious, but there were quick remedies for that. Ways to put him in his place. Not to mention, from what Draxum had observed, he not only had a lot of insecurities that Draxum could use to his advantage, the blue turtle’s odachi was also the main reason the turtles kept escaping his grasp, and he wasn't even that skilled with the weapon yet.

Draxum turned his head, eyeing the half-asleep gargoyles on his shoulders. “Huginn, Muninn,” he said.

Two sets of red eyes blinked at him, taking a full two seconds for the two to snap to attention.

“I have a job for you.”