Chapter 65
Here's the next chapter! My last semester of college started this week so I'll probably try to update on Saturday!
"Guys, check this out. I think it's Snakeweed."
His brothers came over and stared at the strange sight.
"He must've been too damaged to fully regenerated himself."
"But how would he get down here?"
"Well, certain plants naturally grow or migrate to new areas in the event of bad soil or poor sunlight."
Mikey started poking at one of the vines.
"Think he knows we're here?"
The flowers all tensed up and released a purple spore into the air.
"Get back!" Leonardo shouted.
The boys inhaled a small bit of the spore and started coughing.
"I can't breathe."
"Calm down," Don said sitting down. "S-steady *cough* heart rate."
It was no use. Each turtle fell to the ground and blacked out.
The moment Michelangelo felt he was about to pass out, he bit the inside of his cheek hard. It didn't prevent him from blacking out, but the pain jostled him back.
The coughing didn't stop and it was clouding his judgment.
He grabbed his closest brother, Don, and started pulling them towards the exit. Once away from the vines, Mikey threw his shuriken to the nearest pipe to split it open and wash away the spores.
Clean water cascaded out of the opening and covered himself and Donatello.
The two brothers staggered over and pulled their brothers under the water. After their siblings had stopped coughing and cleared themselves of spores, all four mutants staggered back home.
Claire and Zoey rushed to the entrance of the Lair when they saw the boys.
"What happened?"
"I'll get Master Splinter!"
The boys went to the living room and sat down.
"My chest hurts..." Leo groaned as Hikaru came over to him.
"My sons," Master Splinter said coming over. "Are you all right?"
"It was Snakeweed, he's in his old lair," Raph said as Claire gave him a glass of water.
Donatello was deep in thought.
"Don-kun?" Zoey asked. "Are you okay?"
"Guys, I think we have an opportunity we've never had before. Snakeweed is at his most vulnerable state. If we create gas masks to protect us from the spores, we can take out the heart and destroy it."
Mikey glared at his brother.
"That isn't right! It's morally wrong! He can't hurt anyone right now!"
"But he has tried to kill us a few times before," Raphael said. "I say we go ahead and crush that heart."
Master Splinter contemplated before he spoke.
"There is an old saying "shut the door to catch the thief." While your enemy is healing, you cannot rush in without a course of action. You boys could take down a powerful foe but you must use strategy. Take the night to figure out what you all think is best."
Donatello looked over at the tracker.
"I think maybe we should go to the surface above Snakeweed's lair," he said standing up.
Feeling a little faint, he nearly fell to his knees until Zoey came by and caught his side.
"Are you okay? You guys look a little sick."
"We'll be fine. Maybe just some fresh air."
Claire went over to Raphael.
"Let me and Holly come with you guys. Just in case anything goes wrong, we can carry you one of you guys back"
On the surface, Donatello's tracker led the group into an abandoned building. There were three floors that had graffiti, holes, and various items strewn about from squatters.
"Let's split up and search," Leonardo said. "Claire and I will take the first floor, Zoey and Don take the second, and Mikey and Raph take the third."
Michelangelo looked down at a hole in the ceiling that connected the second floor to the third floor. Donatello was passing underneath it, moving pieces of debris off the floor.
"What the shell would they make that for?" Raph asked tilting his head.
On that floor of the building, there were still pieces of furniture, a bookshelf, pieces of a bed frame, and a dresser. There was a green light coming out of it.
"Jackpot!" Mikey said running over.
Inside the one drawer was a hoodie-wrapped canister of ooze.
"Guys, we found-"
"That's mine!"
The two turtles looked at the door and saw a homeless woman, wearing two tattered coats over an old dress that had missing front teeth.
The two turtles were embarrassed they didn't hear the woman come in but Leonardo was behind her and tried to calm her down.
"You're aliens!" she shouted swinging a piece of broken bed frame at the boys.
Donatello and Zoey heard the commotion and rushed upstairs.
The woman, in her hysterical state, was trying to avoid being touched by the turtles and began lashing out.
"Girls, stay back!" Leonardo shouted.
The woman, seeing normal humans, thought the only way to get rid of it was to open it and throw the contents of whatever the stuff was through the window.
However, Donatello was about to be in the way.
Zoey, knowing how dangerous it could be for a mutant to be mutated again, rushed forward and shoved him out of the way.
The ooze covered her front, hitting her in the face and her chest, where she had her arms crossed in front of her to shield herself.
Claire tried to get to Zoey as the young woman started screaming in pain, but Raphael held her back.
Zoey writhed on the floor, her skin becoming blue and hardening. Her body contorted and arched, ripping her clothes apart in the process.
Her facial features faded away to a blank blue face. No eyes, no nose, and no mouth.
Her fingers changed from skin and bones to hardened blue claws and an extra set of arms protruded several inches below her normal ones.
"Z-Zoey...?" Donatello whispered as the figure stood up.
The turtles, Claire, and the homeless woman watched in horror as the sides of Zoey's neck opened, like gills, as she inhaled air.
She turned, silently, and rushed forward. The boys were able to move out of the way in time, but the homeless woman wasn't. Zoey's 4 clawed hands gripped the woman's throat, puncturing holes in it in the process.
"Stop, Zoey!" Claire shouted trying to get her friend to snap out of it.
The new mutant strangled the life out of the woman before tossing Claire across the room.
"Claire!" Raphael shouted catching her before she hit the wall.
The gill-like appendages flared violently against Zoey's neck.
Raphael was angry and Donatello could tell.
"Guys, it's Zoey-"
"She killed that lady, Don," Leonardo said unsheathing his swords.
Raphael pulled out his sai after setting Claire down.
"She's too dangerous."
Donatello tried to block his brothers but Zoey went over and attacked him. The purple-masked turtle did his best to block, but was trying to think of what to do. Zoey's mutated form was violent, angry, and wanted nothing more than to rip everything apart. Her blood-stained claws clicked together each time she struck.
"Zoey-chan, it's me! Stop!"
The blue mutant used two hands to grab the staff and the other two to try and scratch the turtle.
"Don! Watch out for Saber's-"
"You're not giving my girlfriend a mutant name!" he screamed.
Zoey stepped back, her gills flapping for air.
The four brothers took fighting stances.
"Everyone," Leonardo started. "We know who this is, but she's too dangerous to be let loose. Take. Her. Down."
OC Fact Time! Holly has a secret obsession: Will & Grace. It is her favorite show and she owns every season on DVD. The only one who knows is her mother, who got her into the series.