He Who Must Not Be Named doesn't hold the patent on dark wizardry. Not by a long shot. Far from the prying eyes of Muggle Japan exists a Dark Wizarding enclave known only as "The Foot". At one time The Foot was a formidable force in the upperclass echelons of the Eastern Wizarding World. From the outside they were the protectors of culture and protocol in "polite" society, and made their living by means of arbitration and diplomacy, but underneath the velvet glove was a steel hand which found far more profit in assassination and the selling of secrets.
It is said that their house of cards came crashing down upon them once news of Grindlewold's fall spread round the world, but that's not entirely the whole story. While it's true that many of their one great spy network were lost in The Great War, a significant chunk of those lost were killed by their fellow clansmen as the inner circle began taking steps to disappear into the shadows. For years the group continued to operate in exile, doling out secrets and training only the very best of the best in their ways. Absolute loyalty to the clan was an understood. Failure to toe the line was swiftly punished. Disputes between clansmen were few, and were often easily settled by duel.
Our story, like many, begins with a young man in love with a woman that he cannot have. What complicated matter further was that she returned his favor, but due to their respective stations within the organization they could not be together. Their fates were sealed the day they decide that their love of one another was greater than their duty to clan.
In spite of their best intentions, their plans were soon discovered in the most foul way imaginable by one once held in high esteem. Instead of her beloved waiting for her at their secret spot, she found herself faced with one of his brothers in arms. He forced himself upon her, and during their struggle the beloved arrived. In a red haze of rage he took the man's life.
The illicit affair, while damning, could have been dealt with. So too of the assault, but the punishment for the murder of a clansman is death. Knowing this, the man and woman fled together into the night.
This is the tale of how Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen arrived in New York City. For many years they lived quite happily in their self-imposed exile. Yoshi found a position teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at the newly formed Xavier Day School for Gifted Wizards and Witches, putting his years of training in the Darker Arts to good use. Shen, found her calling when she discovered the Brooklyn Home for Little Wanderers, a half-way house for magically gifted children who also found themselves exiled for circumstances beyond their control.
It was there that Shen met Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo. "They've started to arrive younger and younger," Shen's administrator had explained to her. "Take these four. Combined they've been in at least a dozen muggle foster homes before our location spells could even get a lock on them. Now they're so distrustful of adults that they mostly keep their own company."
And it was true; the four boys maintained their own isolation. When words were necessary they were spoken by Leonardo. Any physical contact was mediated by Raphael. They appeared to be well fed, though they never took dinner with the rest of the children. It was rumored that Michaelangelo made midnight raids on the cupboards. Any attempts to keep the four under lock and key were quickly thwarted by Donatello, who had an uncanny knack for all things mechanical. And this was without the added chaos that came with the uncontrollable wild magic of children.
Shen couldn't help but feel a kindred spirit with the boys, and so it became her personal mission to befriend them. The rest of the staff had thought her crazy, as all previous attempts to earn the boys' trust had failed in a rather spectacular way. Shen was merely polite, in a way that was so very different from what the boys had ever experienced before, and that's what piqued their interest. She bowed to them as she past them, making sure to avert her eyes so as to not offend, left special treats for them in random places in the pantry. Places that she was sure Michaelangelo would find extra challenging to get to. She would often sing as she worked, which grabbed Donatello's attention straight away. He'd never heard Japanese before, and wanted to know what the words meant.
Then one day Michaelangelo appeared at her side and simply said, "Hello." It was the first word anyone other than his brothers had ever heard him speak during his lengthy stay at the home. As Shen would tell the tale later to Yoshi, once the boy began to talk to her...he never stopped. From that day forward Shen became their personal tutor, and they followed her around like ducklings. Should one of the older children lash out at her in frustration, the four of them could be counted on to retaliate with all the means at their disposal. And given their resourcefulness, those means were quite extensive indeed.
It was only after asking their permission that Shen introduced them to Yoshi. And while the boys took to the quiet man as quickly as they had Shen, their behavior around him was so very much different than towards his wife. With Shen they were boys, laughing and playing. With Yoshi, they fell into a quiet, almost disciplined line. It wasn't that he was an unkind, or overtly stern, but rather they saw in the quiet even-tempered man was someone to respect. This was especially true of Leonardo, who appeared to crave his praise more than just about anything else.
Lengthy discussions were had on both sides, and it was unanimously that adoption proceedings were in order. While Yoshi and Shen made their way through the complex forms and procedures that constituted the Wizarding Adoption Process, Donatallo drew up a contract of his own for his brother’s to sign. It was only fair. Eventually the paperwork was finalized to the satisfaction of the Wizarding Commonwealth of the State of New York and the boys moved into the Hamato family flat just in time for the new family to spend their first Christmas together.
Life continued apace from that point on. There were a few bumps here and there, as is true of all families, but overall the Hamato Clan was a happy clan. Shen continued to work at the halfway house, the boys were enrolled in muggle school since they were not quite yet old enough to attend Xavier's where Yoshi continued to teach.
Things were going so well that Yoshi began to investigate the potential to relocate the family to a larger apartment, possibly even a house of their own. Instead of going through wizarding channels, he turned to a muggle real estate agency in hopes of finding a property that they could ward from the ground up. This proved to be grave mistake.
Hamato Yoshi and Shen may have freed themselves from past events, but there were forces in Japan that were not so easily distracted by the passage of time. Forces that were very patiently awaiting the day a Hamato Yoshi shaped blip would appear back on the grid. Wheels that had long been still were now set into motion.
Then, in the boys' 4th year at Xaviers' the unthinkable happened. It's was Thanksgiving break and the whole Hamato clan was out shopping for provisions for the traditional family feast when someone approached Leonardo.
"Excuse me, but are you Leonardo Hamato."
The serious boy turned, and nodded towards the stranger, who smiled back and then drew his wand.
"A first son for a first son," they said calmly, but before the man could finish the curse Yoshi was there, pushing Leonardo back. He yelled for his wife who instantly armed herself and attempted to corral the other three very confused teenage boys.
That's when the attack came, from all sides. At first they were repelling the attack quite well, but as time wore on the superior skills of their foes began to weaken their defenses. The distance between Yoshi and Leonardo from the rest of the family began to increase.
Yoshi called for Shen to leave them, but she would not hear of such a thing.
"Take this," she said ripping the delicate gold chain she wore around her neck and handing it to Michaelangelo, pressing the jade pendent that hung from it firmly into his hand. "Hold this tight, think of home. And do not, under any circumstances, let go of your brothers. Go!" The small boy paused, as if thinking the command over before complying. "Shen, we can help..." he began. "NOW!" Shen very rarely raised her voice, so when she did you knew she meant business. Michaelangelo grabbed his brothers, thought of home, and the portkey transported them there. With the other boys safely away Shen could focus her attention on the attackers still flanking Yoshi and Leonardo.
She was nearly to them when she heard it, the syllables that began the signature killing curse of the Foot. With all that she had she dove forward, knocking Leonardo down, and shielding him from the powerful green light aimed in his direction. He collapsed to the ground under the weight of his mother's now lifeless body. It was the sound of Leonardo's surprise that caught Yoshi's attention, and in the time it took him to turn around it was already too late. After uttering the same killing curse in the direction the first had come in, Yoshi ripped the silver chain from around his own neck, palmed the jade pendant it held, reached out for his son and wife, and disappeared.
The other three boys were prepared for anything when their brother, father, and mother appeared in the living room. Or...so they thought. Leonardo was bent over Shen's body, weeping. Yoshi merely stood there, face expressionless. Michaelangelo joined his brother on the floor, while Donatello and Raphael approached their father with questions. So many questions. First quietly asked, and then...when no answers came, loudly demanded. It was as if Yoshi couldn't see them, as if he had no idea his sons weren't even there.
"Leave us," he said finally in a voice devoid of feeling. "Take your brothers and go to your rooms until I have called for you." By this point Leonardo had regained his composure, which was convenient because Raphael was nearing the end of his. "I'm through takin' orders from you until you tell me what the fuck is going on!" he yelled, getting increasingly closer to his father as he did so.
Yoshi moved with a speed his sons had never seen him use before today. He grabbed Raphael's wrist, twisted it, and pinned it behind the boy's back. "You will go. And you will remain there until you are called." The man's voice was like ice. Raphael stood down, and fell back into line with his brothers...but it was very clear he was not happy with it.
Only after the boys had left the room did Yoshi let himself feel his grief. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground beside Shen. When the sobbing subsided Yoshi swore to do everything in his power to avenge her and protect his boys.
Once the proper arrangements had been made, and Shen's body had been relocated, Yoshi climbed the stairs to Leonardo's room knowing full well that he would find all four boys within. He told them everything. About his past, how he and Shen had come to live in New York, and why it was that Yoshi was a master at Defense Against the Dark Arts. He explained to them about how they were now all in danger, and would continue to be so until either the Foot was defeated, or until they themselves were killed. “As of this moment we are no longer a mere family, we are an army and they have declared war. There will be much more to discuss, and many plans must be made, but first we grieve.”
The Foot’s involvement in the death of Shen was kept quiet. Inciting panic would only further the group’s cause. The Hamato house was heavily warded, and so they would be safe there, but more secure routes to and from would need to be found. The boys would continue their studies at Xavier’s, and any free time they were to have would be severely restricted. Holidays and weekends became the property of Yoshi, who would utilize the time to perfect the boys’ defensive skills.
Each boy adjusted to their new reality in their own way. Donatello dove into his studies, surfacing only to dabble in his new hobby of technomancy. Raphael devoted his energies to more physical pursuits. When he wasn’t exercising, he was dueling. Leonardo spent hours each day practicing magical form and technique. Michaelangelo, true to his promise, spent most of his time trying to keep his brothers together. But even though he kept a watchful eye on all of them, not even he could have foreseen what was to come.
Soon enough it was Christmastime, and the boys had just finished the first half of their fifth year of school. As the Christmas Eve preparations were in full force Leonardo ducked out of the house. He and Donatello had spent much of the last year learning all they could about the Foot. Every article they could find about tactics they read, every treaty the clan brokered, and every scandal they were rumored to have had a hand in. With this knowledge Leonardo began to make a list of all of the places in Wizarding New York that a group such as this could operate. And on that fateful December night, he went off to hunt.
Leonardo didn’t have to wait long to find his quarry. On a rooftop overlooking the section of the city known as Hell’s Kitchen they found him. And try as he might to best them…he could not.
The rest of his family was just sitting down to dinner and wondering where Leonardo could have gotten off to, when he was unceremoniously thrown through the second floor window of their row house. There was barely enough time for his brothers and father to realize what was going on and react when the Foot clan descended upon the house in full force. They barely escaped with their lives, and probably would not have done even that were it not for the help of an old friend of Raphael’s from his muggle school days. Magic could be easily traced, but a hotwired yellow cab in New York is much harder to find. As they disappeared into the city they could do nothing but watch helplessly as their home burned to the ground. New York was no longer safe for them, so the headed north to a safehouse in western Massachusetts.
After the attack on Leonardo, and the subsequent fire at the Hamato household it was no longer possible to deny the rumor of Yoshi’s involvement with The Foot. In disgrace was let go from his position at Xavier’s and the boys, in turn, were asked not to return due to the high security risk their enrollment would cause. In fact the only place in the United States secure enough to admit them was the prestigious Arkham Academy for Wizards on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Yoshi became the lead witness in an ever growing investigation the Central Intelligence Ministry was waging against the Foot, and as a result was forced back underground.
Once again, because of circumstances outside of their control, the brothers found themselves displaced. It took weeks for Leonardo to heal from the attack, but the wounds on his pride showed no signs of knitting. Self denial and an unhealthy obsession with perfection monopolized his time. Raphael lashed out at anyone who dared to cross his path. Anger had all but consumed him, and there wasn’t a rule at the stodgy New England school that he wasn’t committed to breaking. Donatello seemed to leave the world all together, as he dove deeper and deeper into his books. As for Michaelangelo, he sought comfort where ever he could, whether that be in the arms of his similarly inclined classmates, or that of the exchange witches from the Salem Academy.
At the end of their one semester at Arkham it became abundantly clear to the administration that the boys were not good fit for the institution. In each boy’s file there were parchments after parchment listing their various infractions, not to mention numerous letters from angry parents. Leonardo and Raphael had been disciplined time after time for dueling. Raphael had a rather nasty reputation for breaking the wands of those he bested, and the fingers of those he didn’t. Donatello had worked out a loophole in the arithmancy which the school utilized to mass produce testing materials, allowing him to cipher the answers to the questions on every final exam to be given. In a fit of uncharacteristic rage, Leonardo leveled a foreign unforgivable curse at a boy well known for antagonizing Michaelangelo. As for Michaelangelo, he had most recently been discovered in the dormitory suites of Salem Academy after sneaking his way to a Inter-School End of the Semester dance he wasn’t old enough to attend.
An owl was sent to Yoshi that informed him his children were not going to be invited back to the school the following September, and that other educational arrangements would need to be made. Which was exactly the reason that all four boys were now seated in the Headmaster’s office, today was the day such arrangements were to be finalized. The boys had simmered down considerably once they learned of the news that their father had been contacted, though it was impossible to miss their disappointment when his handler arrived via flue.
A deal had been struck between the CIM and the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Magic. The boys would be transferred to Hogwarts until they reached the age of majority, with the hopes that somewhere in the next few years of captivity they might actually finish their education.
Raphael
Donatello
Leonardo
Michaelangelo
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