Ch.13: Enemies and Foes
Xever felt like he could feel that he was drowning, which was ironic given his mutant state, since drowning never seemed to be a problem for a fish. Unless that is, you were drowning in blood.
Everywhere around him, blood and darkness twirled around Xever, mocking him with its evil tone. Then, suddenly, a light came, snapping him back into reality as he found himself waking up in the Underground lair.
At first, Xever was confused, glancing at the bandages that were wrapped around his body, covering the cuts on his skin. So many mutants, such unfamiliar surroundings, had one these few helped and stopped to ease his pain.
"Oh, good you're awake!" suddenly sounded a very familiar voice to Xever's ear.
Turning around, the mutant glanced to see Mondo Gecko coming towards him, arms out with a grin.
"Jason?" said Xever confused " Wha…Why are you here? Where are…,"
"It seems like the medicine has worked well," spoke out another voice.
Xever recognized this one too, and turned to glare at the rat.
"You! What are you doing here?"
"That I believe should be my question" said Master Splinter, kneeling down in front of the mutant fish " I discovered you bleeding and hurt, lying in the sewers, and brought you here to heal. Now I wonder, why this occurred."
Fishface sat silent, wondering if he should explain anything at all to his enemy. But thinking back to what happened back at the Shredder's lair once Splinter and the Turtles escaped, caused cold shivers to surge through his scales.
Growing up on the streets, Xever was no stranger to fear. He had to live with it almost every day of his life, and he learned to harness that power to intimidate others besides himself. Shredder had ruined that though, and now, fear was Xever's enemy once more.
Sighing in defeat, and figuring it wouldn't hurt to explain the truth, Fishface looked at Splinter and began to tell his tale.
"It was not long after you guys had left the lair" said Fishface " our first concern was to check on Shredder, and see how injured he'd become during your fight. He was unconscious for quite a good while, but when he awoke, that's when the troubles began…,"
(FlashBack)
"Master Shredder, are you okay?" asked Rahzar nervously as he looked towards his lord.
Shredder just stood silent, standing before his throne, his back turned towards his men. The final moments of the battle still rang clear through his mind.
Even though he was unconscious, Shredder could still remember the full extent of his power as he guided Raphael's final hand, and slain his own daughter, Karai.
Once again, Hamato Yoshi and his brood had managed to take something very special away from him. First it was Tang Shen, and now Karai. They would pay for it all in blood.
"Is he alright?" asked Rocksteady, quietly to the others.
"Don't know" said Bebop " think we should go poke him?"
"That would be a very unwise idea," said Tiger Claw.
"Agreed" said Rahzar, and then pushed Fishface forward " You do it!"
"What?" said Fishface shocked " Why me?"
"Because if you hadn't let Splinter escape in the first place" said Rahzar " none of this would have happened."
"You can't blame me for that!" said Fishface, glaring at the wolf " I told you…,"
"Enough!" interrupted Shredder, turning around and stopping the argument cold. His mutated face and gleering, yellow eyes continued to screech fear into the soul. " I had enough of your insolent babbling. All of you are useless to me. Barely worthy to kiss the ground in which I stand on."
"Master Shredder we…," started Rahzar, before his sentence ended with an 'Urk!'
Suddenly the mutant wolf was floating up a dozen feet above the ground, his chest cloaked in twisting, black shadows, gripping him like hands. Some of those shadows even twisted around his throat, squeezing what seemed to be every last breath.
Seeing no honor in Rahzar's death, Tiger Claw immediately jet-propelled near Shredder to convince his master to stop.
"Master Shredder please" begged the tiger " we only wish to serve you."
"Then serve me you shall" said Shredder, shooting shadows at Tiger Claw as well " Now, destroy!"
The shadows vanished around the two mutants, and when they were gone, Fishface, Rocksteady, and Bebop stood horrified by what had changed.
All of the emotion from Rahzar and Tiger Claw's face was completely drained. Their eyes were soulless, as if their will was not theirs anymore. Which the three mutants were quick to find out it wasn't as Rahzar and Tiger Claw charged.
While Rahzar charged after Fishface, Tiger Claw got busy hunting down Rocksteady and Bebop.
At first, Fishface tried to fight against Rahzar, but had very little luck in striking blows. Whatever Shredder had done, Rahzar's attack power and speed had been dangerously increased, making him more deadly than before.
Fishface cringed as multiple blows cut across his scales, spilling blood onto the floor.
There was no denying that he was on the losing end here. He had to escape, before Shredder's madness ended them all.
(End FlashBack)
"I can't remember what happened after that," Fishface told Splinter " But now you what to expect. Shredder is going to destroy us all."
Splinter just stood silent, stunned by Fishface's tale, and worried about the darkness in his old enemy.
To think that once, a long time ago, these two had been raised to be brothers, for only one to grow wicked and commit these horrid, evil things.
"Saki" Splinter thought to himself " you are even further away than the brother I used to know."
Shredder had to be stopped. The world needed to be saved. Splinter only hoped that things would turn out alright in the end.
Meanwhile, back in the Purple Dragon's lair, April couldn't believe what was happening right before her eyes as she watched as Casey and Nick dueled around to the death. This was the old friend Casey had told her about months ago? He certainly didn't seem like a friend anymore.
Terror lit up inside of April's eyes as she continued to watch the two boys fight, remembering what Casey said to her about accidently injuring Nick in the past. Obviously Nick still bore a grudge, looking the pay back the pain Casey had delivered to him long ago, even if it meant his former best friend's death.
Struggling to come up with a solution with her hands chained and a thug holding a blade to her throat, April gasped as Casey suddenly fell to the ground and nearly got stabbed as Nick lunged in to attack.
"Why isn't he fighting harder?" thought April, as she realized that Casey was holding back.
"Come on Case" mocked Nick " aren't you going to try to hurt me again? Send me back to the hospital where I belong?"
"You know that I didn't do that on purpose Nick!" said Casey, holding his stick " I didn't want to hurt you then, and I don't want now. Just let April go and let's end this! End this grudge once and for all!"
"The only way I'll end it" said Nick, charging to attack again " is with your blood!"
"No, no! Stop!" April screamed in her mind. She could no longer bear to witness this.
Former friends battling against each other. Casey holding back because he didn't want to cause hurt once more. And her sitting there, being helpless, it made April's mind fill up with rage.
In response to her turmoil, that's when her physic sense activated. A sense built into her by the Kraang, that see was still learning hard to control.
She had managed to control it to some degree, and was able to sense things out and sometimes enter another person's mind. But in terms of her emotional state, those powers were still out of control.
Compulsive, physic waves exited her brain whenever she was angry or afraid, knocking out everyone who had the unfortunate luck of being within her range. That's what happened to Casey and the Purple Dragons now.
Angry at Nick, and for all that he was doing to her friend, April's physic blast exploded out into a solid ring of energy, knocking out everyone that stood. Casey and Nick were blasted away from each other, weapons falling from their hands.
The thugs next to April were completely out cold, since they had the unfortunate luck being closer to the epicenter of the blast. Once her rage was over, April opened her eyes to see Casey moaning in the corner, slowly recovering from the shock.
"Casey, are you alright?" asked April concerned.
"I guess so" said Casey, looking towards his friend " Man, that was…,"
"Die!" suddenly growled a sinister voice.
"Look out!" shouted April.
Knowing immediately that he was in danger, Casey, without looking, quickly grabbed at one of the weapons that now lay scattered across the floor, and turned towards his opponent, thrusting his arm towards his gut.
A gasp choked through the air, as Casey looked to see Nick hovering over him, with a knife in his hand, and blood dripping through his teeth. His whole body, losing grip on the weapon that he held, as he looked unbelievably at his chest.
Casey followed his stare, and realized with horror what he had just done. The weapon he had blindly grabbed was sharp, and clearly not as merciful as his own. This had been one of the Purple Dragons weapons; a knife, meant to end April's life or his own.
Instead, it had ended Nick's, and Casey could barely think through the shock, as his former best friend collapsed dead to the ground. But before Nick passed on, his mouth managed to deliver some final words.
"Happy now Casey? You were always jealous weren't you? I bet you're glad you killed me."
"Kill them!" shouted Mozar commandingly to his troops " Destroy them all!"
Things were beginning to turn around in their great battle against the Kraang. The spineless slugs seemed to have grown a little backbone in the recent years, but the Triceratons were always more than ready for a fight. Even when the Earth forces joined in attempt to help their Kraang friends.
"Bring it on Kraang-slugs! We have the trump card you once used ready for our revenge" thought Mozar in his mind " If only we had managed to find the core, before Sergeant Zog contacted us to…"
"Commander Mozar" suddenly interrupted one of the Triceraton techs down below " we just got a response from the scout team sent out to locate Zog. The found him locked up inside some kind of government facility. He had just escaped, and asked them to wait for rescue until he brought someone special onboard."
"Someone special?" asked Mozar, curious.
"Yes Sir," responded the tech " They have Zog and are heading up to our location now."
"Good" said Mozar "When they arrive, bring them to me. Whatever Zog has found, I have a feeling it will be a crucial turn to our favor in this war."
Meanwhile, down below on the streets, Leo was worried about what he had last seen before he was forced to return to the others and continue to escape from Bishop's base.
Now, they were on the road, with his brothers and the Mutanimals crowded into the back of a van, while Kurtzman sat up front and drove, driving to a secret location where they could hopefully recover and then go take down the Kraang.
Leo looked to where Donnie and Mikey sat, noticing worry reflect in their own eyes, wondering about the brother they had supposedly lost to Zog.
Why had Zog taken Raph? Why were the Triceratons suddenly here to battle against the Kraang? What was Bishop's aim in locking them away from this fight?
Leo glared at Kurtzman, feeling with strong suspicion that the mysterious reporter secretly held all of the answers. He wouldn't have been there to rescue them from Bishop's base otherwise. But when those answers came, would Leo be prepared for the truth, or will the answer only mean more dreadful things to come?