"Come on, come on!" My patience with this cage was lost, and nothing seemed to be working! In my cramped position, I tried again to wriggle my caught blade out of the wedge it was stuck on. If I could get it free, then I could pry open the trap.
I look up to see the Foot swarm my vision. They attempted to carry me somewhere but I buckled the cage so that they loose their grip on me. I hated feeling so trapped, so defenseless, but I had no time to be finicky about such minor discomforts. With more Foot ninja coming in, the more likely my family and I will be trapped here. And with such a swarm, I wasn't able to see the others.
Again, I tug and twirl the handle on my Ninjatō, trying to free it. All my attempts to do so only seem to backfire, making the blade be nicked and caught rather than loosening it. I could just make out the sound of metal being scraped against the ground, along with the sounds of my complaining brothers. I can only assume that they are trapped in the same cages as I am.
We weren't ignorant of them, we only got distracted by the fight and lost track of where they were. I don't know where Splinter is though, and the fact that I don't hear the song of steel tell me that he too was immobile.
Still, I tug and push at my awkward angle. I only needed a slight budge, only a slip! My wrist starts to cramp, but I payed it no mind. The Foot has finally lifted me up, taking me beside my brothers. All three are trapped, but with their cages securely closed. Mikey's eyes looked anime-ish, darting back and forth from one enemy to the next. Don was in a very uncomfortable position, with his neck bending almost unnaturally. Raph was closed to swearing aloud, he rocked his cage back and forth, too bad TigerClaw came to give his loudest captor a good shake.
They had me turned away from Shredder, but I could see Splinter now. He was trapped as well, his limbs being pulled in different directions with ropes. He tried to struggle, he tried to slice off his binding, but he soon was down on his knees.
A clanking sound came from behind me, not from unkempt armor, but from the sound of a metal boot hitting the concrete floor.
"Finally, the Hamato clan bows before the Shredder." His voice sounded just like last time. Crackly, like the fire that burnt his face, and as sharp as his weapons.
"Shredder, don't let your vengeance blind you! This mutation will do no good! Leave my daughter be!" Poor sensei, gaining his lost child after so long, only to loose her again in the hands of his once-brother.
"Karai will be left unharmed."
The sound of moving chains, what was he doing? Was he actually freeing her?
"This is a special batch of mutagen…"
Movment, Mikey's cage was the first to be moved. Baxmer Lockman seemed to be carrying us up to a platform at the edge of the mutagen vat.
"…specially made for your disciples!" Shredder finished.
Without further instructions, the deformed fly kicked a cage into the vat.
Time slowed, and moved too fast all at once. I knew I was screaming. I felt my blade snap short. I found myself free from the cage, looking over the edge for my brothers. I didn't register the bug being swatted away, I didn't glance at Splinter when he yelled in outrage, I didn't even phase at Karai's outcry. All I cared was finding my brothers in the green ooze.
Green, blue, bubbles, sparkles, a gigantic pool of liquid nebula barely showed my reflection. But there was no red, dark green, purple, or baby blue in that vat, I couldn't see the bottom. Their cages floated up, launching into the air and slamming on the floor below. I didn't flinch, they were empty anyways.
I barely noted Splinter next to me, searching the toxic pool just as I. A moment passed, then another. To me, it was quite. I felt a paw on my shoulder, pulling me away with a familiar, commanding noise. I jerked away, I didn't care about my well-being. I only wanted to see what became of my brothers.
Or more likely, what my brother become.
Some being launched itself upward. The creature was followed by another, and another. Three mutants slid out of the mutagen, none resembled the brothers I grew up with. There was no green on them. There was no shells, no hands, no limbs, nothing related to a turtle. Three serpents lifted their heads up, showing us the stolen eyes of the ones lost.
One snake bolted over the Foot, springing over their heads and snapping its tail at them. The second one tried to hide, backing up and being cornered. TigerClaw came to snag it, but the timid reptile suddenly lunged, opening its mouth to show two, large, and long fangs. The third was still slithering out of the vat, leaving the floor covered in its splotched hide. The first two dove into the tangle the third made, hiding within the brown scales.
The Foot gained enough sense to back away from the three, but Splinter and I remained on the platform. Three serpents lifted their heads up, showing me the eyes of my brothers. I saw silts in my brother's eyes, surrounded by reddish-brown, emerald green, and baby blue.
Against my will, I was lifted up once more. These hands though were gentle. Like a babe, Splinter held me close to his chest as I peered over his shoulder. The forms of the new mutants shrank, letting details fade the further away we became. I could no longer see their eyes, but my brothers followed us as Splinter carried me to the window we had all entered from.
I clung tighter to my father as my brothers looked back at me with something animalistic in their gaze.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles belong to Nickelodeon.
