「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

20; Study To Kill

   Oroku Saki stroked his chin thoughtfully. The security footage rolled smoothly across the screen before him, giving him insight to all the techniques used in the previous fight that had taken place in his personal dojo. He recognized the amount of skill in each of the five Hamato team members, and could clearly decipher their personalities by the way they carried themselves.

It was interesting to him, for in all his years of experience he had never once thought to use each ninja's personality to his advantage. It had always been a one technique suits all sort of deal. But the more he studied his past battles with Hamato Yoshi's students, the more he understood how they were so strong together. They played off each other, for one man's strength is another's weakness. They had taken the time to determine who was best at what, and who needed improvement in which areas.

    "Wise," he muttered, both in spite and in admiration.

Jeff chose that moment to announce his presence. He dropped from the ceiling and somersaulted to his feet, immediately strutting up to his superior. He leaned over Saki's shoulder and peered at the video. "Find anything useful?"

    His lips quirked up at the corners. "I have."

    Jeff watched the footage a bit longer, then straightened up. "Interesting." He crossed his arms, gray shirt stretching around his biceps. "There's a clear difference between our men's skill level and theirs. It's like our ninjas don't have the same motivation. Or they don't have motivation at all."

"They have motivation," mumbled Saki. "But it doesn't reach past their desire to live."

    "Why wouldn't they want to serve you? They owe you, after all."

    The warlord shifted on his throne to face Jeff. "Think about it, Jeff. If I hadn't seen potential in you, given you special attention up to this time, and left you in the lower ranks of my clan, what would your opinion be of me?"

    Jeff looked down as he considered this. "I guess you'd seem kinda far off. I probably wouldn't care much about you because I wouldn't know you that well."

    "You would be forced to train every day in the same uniform as every other ninja, your origin unknown, and the person you are concealed beneath the lifestyle you'd be forced to live. You would know nothing except the things told to you. When you grew old enough to question your life, you would simply be told you owe your master a lifetime of debt for saving you off the streets, the same as every other masked ninja around you. The only reason you'd stay is because of the constant vigil kept over you day and night to make sure you never escape with the knowledge of what goes on inside this building."

Jeff placed his hands on his hips as he began to understand how his understudies must feel. "You're right! I'd probably hate you."

    "Yes, I'm sure you would," Shredder agreed. "And because of that fact, we must make some changes."

    "Changes to what? Our training style?"

    "Our training style, the living conditions–"

    "The living conditions are perfectly fine."

"The living space is perfectly fine."

Jeff threw his hands up. "Whatever."

    "I want gradual changes," decided he, "so none of them are overwhelmed. We'll start with something small."

    "Like what?"

He continued to stroke his chin as he ran through the options in his head. What would make them enjoy happy? What would help them to feel less like slaves, and more like people? "Let them speak."

"What?"

Saki glared in Jeff's direction. "You heard what I said. Let them interact with each other."

Slowly, Jeff nodded. "Okay. During mealtimes?"

"During all the time."

    "Shredder," Jeff dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "That's . . . that's gonna be a lot of voices," he said, looking up.

"Jeff, we will keep the same schedule. No ruckus after the day has ended, no distractions during training hours, and no speaking while on guard. I want them to know one another so they become bonded."

Jeff shrugged and turned to leave, commenting, "this is really random."

When he had gone, Oroku Saki nodded to himself, pleased with his new adjustments. "Yes, very random. But sometimes random is needed to keep order and control."

And so, over the next months of that year, what would be called random and unexpected of Shredder, was put into effect. Over time, the way things worked within that building changed dramatically. Relationships grew among the ninjas, providing a reason to stay and fight harder; for each other. The only family they had came to be fighting for the same cause.

It was an odd and new feeling to them, except for those who remembered small bits of childhood life before being taken in by the Shredder. They had a chance to hear other's voices, and speak of thoughts and ideas they had never voiced. Mealtimes were indeed noisier. But something about the feel of the whole building was different during that time.

Even their Leader, the great Shredder himself, felt it vibrating through the walls. It was no longer dark and dreary, filled with complete evil. Now it was lively. What were considered "evil intentions" were pushed to the side while they laid low and learned to live. The placed echoed with genuine laughter.

In the beginning, this had been merely a desperate tactic to try and gain his army's trust and make them better suited to fight his enemies. But as time went on, Shredder realized how wise he had been to make such a change. The attitude of everyone around him, and even himself, was lighter on the scale of darkness. No one yearned for intimacy anymore. No one craved freedom. Like before, they continued to go out often for training sessions and small missions, giving them insight into the world outside.

    This was definitely a plan worth keeping, and keep it Shredder would. For his sake, and for the sake of his ninjas.