Note: Certain parts in this chapter refer to Tyroth Darkstorm's 'A Sister's Plight' and one of my earlier TMNT fics 'A Warrior's Journey'
Chapter Twenty-One
A Little Clearer?
The following evening, Mona awoke early and decided to head to the medical room to check on Jake and Callum.
After she had left her brothers to rest hours ago, she told the others of what Jake had told her and her adopted brothers and father were stunned.
Flashback
Mona couldn't stop the tears as they fell, just the thought of the fact that Callum had gone off the rails and that her mother was dead felt like a knife in her soul, and it stung worse than any of Cobra's venom.
Raphael had sat one side of the sofa with her and had one arm around her as well as one paw on her hands. Leonardo sat on the other side also with his hands on hers, Splinter was kneeling before her and Michelangelo and Donatello were sitting in silence with shock on their faces.
"Holy shell." Michelangelo said softly "That's got to hurt."
Donatello nodded.
"Horrible." he said "Poor Mona."
"None of this was your fault, my daughter." Splinter soothed as he wiped Mona's tears with his furry finger.
"I wish I could have done something..." Mona wept "Maybe I should have written a letter! Just like Sarah did when she found Mutopia!"
"But then that would be lying to them." Leonardo said as he stroked Mona's hair "And you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if that happened."
"Maybe it might have given them peace of mind!" Mona replied "But then again...I would have to give a reason why I wasn't coming back! But I couldn't say because of this!" she gestured to herself.
"There is no point on going back on the past, child." Splinter said "What is done is done."
Mona nodded yet tears still fell.
"We're here for you babe." Raphael soothed "All of us."
Leonardo squeezed Mona's hands comfortingly.
"We all are." said Splinter "You might have had a hard time, and you now know how things have been at home, but remember, you couldn't control that, none of this was your fault, it will hurt I know, but remember what you have here."
"Yeah!" Donatello said "You have us, your mate Raphael, not to mention a beautiful daughter!"
"Our little niece!" Michelangelo smiled.
"And April and Casey!" Donatello added.
"And all our friends in Mutopia." Leonardo included "You have such a close bond with Sephie!"
Mona looked up and gave a small smile.
"Yeah." she said "Yet, I still feel such pain."
"It'll stay for a while." Splinter said "But it will pass, just remember we are here for you."
End Flashback
Mona felt grateful to let her emotions out to her family, and they had listened to her and comforted her which made the pain easier to bear, but she still felt such sadness within her because of what Jake had to go through, and she only hoped they could talk more about what happened.
Entering the medical room, she saw Jake was fast asleep in the chair, and Callum was still laying on the medical bed hooked up to the different machines monitoring his heart and breathing.
Mona smiled softly at how cute Jake looked making her remember times when they had movie nights back home and he and Callum often curled up to her then they would fall asleep and they would have to be carried to bed by their dad.
As she walked over, she saw Jake open his eyes and blink, he wasn't wearing his glasses so everything was slightly blurred a few feet away.
"Huh?" he groaned "Where...where?" he grunted as he sat up in his chair and manoeuvred slightly causing his bones to click.
He then saw Mona standing before him and he almost jumped out of his skin.
"Hey Jake." Mona said softly "I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
Jake soon recognised Mona's voice and he began to remember where he was.
"Mona." he said, then felt around for his glasses to which he found them folded on his lap, having taken them off last night and placed them over his eyes to which the room became clear again.
"Good evening Jake." said Mona.
"It's evening?" Jake asked a little surprised before looking at his watch to which he saw it was 7.15pm.
"Being ninjas and sticking to the shadows, we're nocturnal." Mona said "It's easier for us to move around in the city when the sun's down, though we still have to be careful."
Jake said nothing as he adjusted his glasses then stretched, he was stiff from sleeping on the chair, then his stomach growled loudly making him blush.
"You hungry?" asked Mona "You want some breakfast?"
"That would be great, thanks!" Jake said quietly as he stood up and looked at Callum.
"Donatello will be up later to check on his progress." said Mona then sighed "I just hope the drugs have left his system by now." She then lead the way out of the medical room.
Jake shook his head and followed Mona to the kitchen dining area.
"Where are the others?" he asked as he looked around the lair, taking time to look again at his surroundings and where his sister now lived.
"They may not be up for another hour or so." said Mona "Same with the kids, so we can have some time to talk some more."
"Okay." said Jake, analysing the lair more then following his sister into the kitchen/dining area where Mona went to the counter and began to fill the kettle.
"You want some tea?" Mona asked "We got normal, or herb teas, sensei especially likes Jasmine Tea, although we do have coffee?"
"Coffee please." said Callum "Milk and two sugars please."
"No problem." said Mona as she set about making the coffee for Jake and made a herb tea for herself.
"We got some cereal, toast, pop tarts?" said Mona "I remember you used to love strawberry pop tarts on a Saturday Morning."
"Pop tarts sound good thanks." said Jake to which Mona placed some in the toaster and she set about making a fruit salad with Greek yoghurt for herself.
Before long she and Jake sat at the table, Mona with her herb tea and fruit salad and yoghurt whilst Jake had his coffee and munched on his pop tarts.
"Thanks sis." he said "After what happened yesterday, I can't believe you're doing this for me."
"You're my brother." Mona said "That's never going to change, and you weren't in your right state of mind like I said before, I just hope you feel a little clearer now since you've had some rest."
Jake sipped his coffee and peered at Mona over the rim of his mug.
"A little." he said softly "I still...well, I can't get my head around the fact that you..."
"I know." said Mona "I'm a mutant, and I've mated with another, and I have a child, so much happened in 11 years."
"I never imagined mutants existed." Jake said "After all the shows we used to watch together, especially on Saturday mornings."
"I know." Mona agreed "When I first met the turtles, I too was shocked, I never imagined any of it would be real, and there are more of us too."
"More of you?" asked Jake.
As Mona said the last part she almost kicked herself.
"Mona you idiot!" she scolded herself, "But then again, he is my brother, and even if he did tell anyone, no-one would believe him...unless someone who was associated with the Foot found out! But they're only in New York, as far as we know!"
"Mona?" Jake brought Mona back down to Earth "There's more of you?"
"Yes," said Mona "There are more mutants in the world, allies of ours, and there are enemies too."
Jake's eyes widened.
"Who are these allies?" he asked.
Mona bit her lip.
"It is a long story, brother." she said "It is best I tell you another time, when time is right."
Jake frowned slightly yet he nodded.
"But I will tell you of our enemies." said Mona "And when you speak of those shows the three of us used to watch on Saturday mornings and the villains we booed at, what me and the turtles face on a daily basis, is nothing like what we used to watch."
"What do you mean sis?" asked Jake, lowering his mug and temporarily forgetting about his pop tarts.
"What I've faced." Mona began "Is nothing compared to what others have seen or heard..."
"Mona?"
Both siblings practically jumped out of their skins as they saw Leonardo walk in, followed by Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo.
"Oh good morning." Mona said.
"Morning." Leonardo replied then looked at Jake.
"Hey." he said in an emotionless tone.
Jake nodded at him.
"Hey guys." he said yet the turtles didn't reply back, still obviously sore about several hours ago.
"What are you doing babe?" asked Raphael as he walked to the coffee machine.
"You're not telling him about our enemies are you?" asked Donatello.
"Yeah!" said Michelangelo "What gives?"
"Well." said Mona in a matter-of-fact voice "If he's going to stay here, at least he says until Callum's recovered, he should know!"
The turtles looked at each other in question then Leonardo was the first to speak.
"Mona's got a point." he said "Very well."
"Thanks Leo." said Mona then turned to Jake.
"Out there in New York, it's not just the Purple Dragons, other street thugs or common criminals we face." she said "There is a greater threat to us, and to our allies."
"Who?" asked Jake dreading the answer.
"The Foot." Mona replied "A powerful organised Criminal mafia, a group of warriors and assassins that was first formed 700 years ago in Japan."
"They first formed in Japan." Leonardo added "and now, they're are now powerful global organised crime ring who dabble in multiple illegal activities"
"such as drug smuggling and counterfeiting of money." Donatello cut in.
"Murder." Raphael said
"And theft and terrorism." Michelangelo ended.
"Jesus..." Jake breathed.
"Yeah!" said Michelangelo "Try that on for size!"
Mona glanced at Michelangelo and the youngest turtle shut his mouth.
Leonardo then spoke of the Foot and more of the origin of the dangerous Criminal Organisation including the Shredder and the Utroms and of the Shredder's first defeat before Mona came into the picture.
It was then Mona spoke of the rest of the story.
"After Shredder's disappearance, another took over, very much like any leader of a Crime Ring, there is always one that follows, his successor was Izo Arashi, though not the Shredder, he is just as evil and as merciless, no ounce of honour in him at all, he delights in power and the defeat of his enemies."
"He almost succeeded in killing me." Leonardo said softly placing his hand over a scar on his lower plastron, though over 9 years old, he still remembered how the blade had almost killed him.
Raphael placed a hand on his older brother's arm as he went pale, remembering how scared he was at almost loosing his brother then.
"And through Arashi's determination and loyalty," he said "He managed to find the Shredder and bring him back, and return him to his status as Leader of the Foot Clan!"
"And it's not even him we're most worried about." Donatello added with a shiver.
"Who?" asked Jake "Who could be worse than the Crime Lord? Apart from Shredder himself?"
Mona took a breath and sipped her tea before looking at Jake grimly.
"Dr William Arden." she said almost looking sickened at the sound of the evil Doctor's name "Izo Arashi's second in command and head scientist."
Donatello nodded.
"He's a genius." he said "A genius in Medical science and many more, but he's a monster, in more ways than one...he takes delight in torturing his victims, creating horrific experiments and mutations, and we were victims of it all..."
"What did he do?" asked Jake, he was starting to go pale.
"You don't want to know." Michelangelo said also going pale
"But I can say this...stuff that would make you think your nightmares are a comfort." Raphael said.
Mona stroked her skin as she remembered being a victim to Dr Arden's experiments, including when he used her DNA to make his serums, and the others he created.
"One of his experiments resulted in five new enemies." she said "And that's when I speak of the mutant enemies, the Venomous Five, or the V5 for short."
"Humanoid reptiles like us." said Leonardo "They consist of a Komodo Dragon, a Nile Monitor, Gila Monster, Black Mamba and a Golden Cobra."
"They're not the sharpest knives in the box." said Raphael "Especially Cobra, despite being a spitter she can't aim for shit!"
"They're dangerous." Leonardo added "Very dangerous with their claws, teeth, tails and venom combined with ninja skills."
Jake looked at the mutants then down at his coffee which had gone cold due to him listening to everything he was being told.
"Whoa..." he said "This is...jeez."
Mona looked at Jake again.
"I know," she said "And that is the other reason why I couldn't get in contact with you again." she sighed as she shivered at the thought "If my enemies, ever found out about you, they'd do such evil things, stuff I can't even imagine, I'd never forgive myself!"
As she said the last few words, she remembered when Tyroth's family had been kidnapped and used against him, and how Dr Arden had experimented on Jennifer and used her as a weapon against Tyroth, she couldn't imagine what Dr Arden would do to her brothers if he found out about them, especially since the evil doctor had such a grudge against her for his facial disfigurement.
"My children."
Everyone looked up and Michelangelo yelped as they saw Master Splinter standing in the entrance.
"Sensei!" all the mutants cried and instantly bowed in respect to their master.
"Good morning." the old rat replied as he walked into the kitchen area "I see you have been speaking with our guest."
"Good morning sir." Jake said bowing his head.
"Good morning to you too Jake." Splinter replied.
"We were just..." Leonardo began.
"I know." Splinter said "I was listening to everything outside."
The mutants looked a little uncomfortable when they heard that.
Doesn't miss a thing does our sensei." Michelangelo whispered to Donatello who nodded.
"I heard that." Splinter said making Michelangelo grin sheepishly.
"It is a good idea to make our guest aware of the dangers above," Splinter continued "Now he is aware of us, and we do have more tales to tell to him."
He walked over to the kettle and began to prepare his tea.
"But first," he said "Let us prepare some breakfast, we have a long day ahead of us."
"Sure thing sensei." said Raphael "My turn to cook."
"I'll still help!" Michelangelo offered.
"Leo and I will get the girls up." said Mona standing up from her seat to follow Leonardo to the girl's bedrooms.
"And I'll set the table." Donatello volunteered then looked at Jake.
"You want to help?" he asked.
"Okay, sure." said Jake standing up from his seat.
So Jake's learnt about his sister's enemies! Not pretty! And he still had more to learn! Stay tuned to find out more!