So, I know I said this chapter was gonna be long, looking at it now not so much. Although, it sure felt like it when I was writing it, probably because of all the research that went into it. So, if this chapter let's ya'll down, I apologize. Sorry peeps =(
"Why did you not kill him?"
The question was spoken calmly, but Tobias could sense the rage in Shredder's voice.
"Because killing him would have only made it harder for us to get away with the weapons. Wounding him took him out of the fight as well as his friends who had to tend to him. In their haste to heal him, they completely forgot about us." Tobias explained calmly.
Shredder glared at him, but said nothing for a few seconds. Tobias had made his point and it was a logical one.
"Very well, but next time you have a clear shot, do not hesitate to take it."
Tobias gave him the Cult salute. "As you wish."
"I have another job for you tonight." His eyes narrowed. "Without your partners. Instead, you will be going with Katie."
The doors opened behind him and he turned to see Katie walk in. She wore her typical jeans and biker jacket with her grey bandanna tied around her neck so she could pull it up to cover her lower face. Her green hair was tossed over her right shoulder and her lizard tail swished along on the ground behind her. She carried her crossbow in her right hand, a quiver of bolts hanging on her left hip. She smiled at him and he couldn't help but return it. They'd been introduced only a month ago and the thief had immediately hit it off with the Russian mercenaries. She was carefree and relaxed, but they all knew she was good at what she did.
"You two will be stealing a certain artifact from a museum for me." Shredder said as Katie stood beside Tobias.
"Why us?" Katie asked. "Not that I'm rejecting, but you have hordes of foot soldiers who could easily do this, not to mention a daughter who can do it just as well as us."
"However, I am sending you two."
"Yes sir." Katie replied, picking up on his note of finality.
"You have until nightfall to survey the museum. I want this done before dawn."
"Yes sir. What'll we be stealin'?" Katie asked.
"An old Japanese sword from the thirteenth century. It is called Shisha no ken." Tobias's head snapped up at that. "Yes, you know the sword I speak of. It is famous in both our cultures."
"Except its true name is Mech Mertvykh and it is not a Japanese sword. You mean to say that it is actually here in New York?"
Shredder nodded in reply.
"Hold up. What's so special about this sword?" Katie asked.
"It's made up of some of the hardest steel on earth. Practically invincible. It was made in Russia by a small group of blacksmiths hired by Batu Khan. A hundred years before, a falling star crashed into the Ural Mountains. Batu Khan sent out search parties to retrieve it so it could be examined. Deep inside, they found a type of metal they had never seen before. It took them nearly six years to make into a sword. It was then passed down through the Khans of the Golden Horde. When the Mongols were overthrown from Russia, the first tsar, Ivan III, took the sword and it was passed down through the tsars. During the English civil war, when Aleksy Mikhailovich broke off relations with England, he began sending delegations to Japan to set up trading. In 1670, Aleksy's son, Aleksy Alekseyevich, went with a delegation to Japan. He brought with him Mech Mertvykh to show off to the emperor and his court. He displayed its unique ability to them. That very night, someone broke into his room and slaughtered him, making off with the sword. The Japanese had hold of it for nearly two hundred seventy years. The tsars tried to hide this fact from their people, but they found out in 1917 when the monarch was abolished. At first, they tried to get it back from Japan during the First World War, but they didn't succeed until well after it was over in 1924. That is where the Cult stepped in. Feeling that the sword should not rest in the hands of government, as soon as it landed on Russian soil, the Cult 'relieved' the handlers of their cargo. It remained at our base in the General's office until 1992. We had a General, Phillip Andreyev, who became increasingly paranoid and selfish as the years went on. The members of the Cult began making plans to get rid of him. Andreyev heard of these plans and stole away from the base one night, taking the sword with him. His eldest son took over and he deployed teams of our best trackers and assassins, but they all came back empty handed. The sword has been lost to us ever since."
"Wait, if your father's the General and his half-brother was General before him, then Phillip was…" Katie began.
"My grandfather, yes. My father was only fifteen at the time. When his father left in shame and fear, he took on his mother's maiden name of Ryzhkov. My uncle kept the name. He once told me that 'it's not the sins of the father that fall upon the children, but the sins of the children that fall upon the father'. He wanted to be known for who he was rather than for who his father had been."
"How sweet." Shredder said, his voice flat. "Now then, I believe you have some surveying to do."
"Of course, sir." Tobias said, giving the Cult salute. Katie simply nodded in his direction before following Tobias out.
"Alright, I know this sword is like almost invincible." Katie said as soon as they were out of the building and heading across the rooftops, "but what aren't you tellin' me? What's this unique ability you mentioned?"
Tobias stopped in the middle of the roof they were on. Katie, caught off guard, slid to a halt a few paces in front of him. She turned around, feeling he was about to answer her question. Tobias glanced around them before coming to her side.
"In the legends, the sword caused death and destruction nearly wherever it went. The metal used to craft it is connected to Mir Mertvykh."
"Meaning?" Katie prompted.
Tobias looked at her, his face deadly serious. "The sword can literally raise the dead when stuck into the ground. Mech Mertvykh translates to 'sword of the dead' in English. It is not something to play around with."
"If Shredder gets his hands on it, you realize who he'll use it on first, right? Tobias, he's going to go after your brothers."
"I know. Which is why we cannot hand it over to him."
"Well," Katie said, looking up at the sky, "we've got nearly ten hours until nightfall. What do you plan on doing?"
"I don't know, but I am not doing it without Alyona and Andrei."
Katie nodded. "Then let's go get 'em."
Tobias smiled gratefully at her and they took off for the mercenaries' apartment.
Shisha no ken-Sword of the Dead
Mech Mertvykh-Sword of the Dead
Mir Mertvykh-World of the Dead