Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in.

A/N: Just another reload, pay it no mind.

35.

It was torrential downpour by the time they reached New York with only seven minutes to spare before midnight. Lightning flashed from time to time as Aireilei and Bima navigated their way through the tangled network of buildings and billboards. Nobody bothered to look down and check if anyone was around; there weren't any lights to reveal them with. The magnetic static from the storm was interfering with electrical signals so badly that every advertisement board was sizzled and downright shorted out. The only board that worked was, ironically, a Chinese restaurant called the Laughing Turtle. Currently, the sentence "Chow mien for two dollars" was running in green across the sign.

"And I am not laughing!" Mikey grumbled, nearly losing his seat as Aireieli dodged a previously unseen streetlight.

Leo grimaced as thunder boomed in the distance. "This storm is really strange," he confided to Mike. "It's like it's following us."

Aireilei checked herself before angling upward. "That's because it is. It's following Bima." Leo gave her a disbelieving look. She turned her head and frowned at him. "You should know by now that it's following her because it was created by her."

"WHAT?"

"Look at the soaked girl, she's brimming with power!" Don was already aware of this fact, since the growing blue-white glow coming off his transport's sparkling scales was blinding him. He blinked.

"I think the storm's been getting larger because we're getting closer to the others!" He grimaced as a bolt of lightning briefly lit the black sky before the only thing visible was Bima, who was currently giving off light like a light bulb.

"Do you think I'm happy to be a firefly right now?" Bima asked crossly, shaking herself and scattering globules of rain onto her already wet passenger.

Don sputtered and nearly bumped his head on his Bo staff in the process of spitting out excess water. "Hey, watch it! I should've been scrubbed clean five hours ago!" he complained.

"We won't need a shower for two weeks!" Mike joked. Aireilei jerked in her flight pattern, and had Leo not been holding onto his younger brother with his tail, he would've plummeted to the cold asphalt below. "Gee, having a bit of turbulence, pilot?"

She scowled. "If I hadn't done that, you would've been smacked off my back by a stoplight!"

Mikey's face was the picture of meekness. "Well, don't blame me! Blame the cops who put it there!" Leo gave him the warning grunt and he shut up. Don let out a piercing yell and painstakingly pointed out the Foot tower. Mike winced, not heeding Leo's squeeze. "We all know that Donnie'll never make it in the Opera house. OW!" Leo pinched his yellow ear. Hard.

"Mike, shush." If his brother had been able to see Mike's face, he would've added a punch to that pinch. "You're not making this any easier."

"And you guys are picking mercilessly on me, the poor wounded invalid!" he protested.

"Knock it off. That leg of yours doesn't bleed." The blue-clad turtle scratched absently at his soaked, bloody bandage on his arm.

The 'chuk-wielding brother crossed his arms, refusing to let Leo have the last word on the argument.. "Well, it itches."

"Will you guys shut your traps?" Bima growled through gritted teeth. "We're here! And Master Splinter's waiting to meet us."

Don spotted him with difficulty in the haziness of the helipad. "Sensei knows everything, it seems." The rat waved solemnly. "And yet, something doesn't seem right about this…"

Aireilei landed with a heavy grunt, jolting Mikey clear off her back. "Mikey, you need to cut back on the pizza!" The white dragon collapsed, making a show of panting like a racehorse. The turtle on the cement glared in mock anger back at her.

Leo slid down onto the ground beside Aireilei. "My butt hurts," he groaned softly. "Remind me to bring a pillow to sit on next time we fly. Splinter walked up to Bima. And the strange thing was, he didn't have his walking stick. And he was…naked?

"Where's your kimono, Sensei?" Don asked. The rat said nothing but only smiled maliciously. Then it dawned on him. "Oh shell!" Too late. He'd already reached out and touched the glowing silver-blue dragon. Bima looked like she was fighting him for a brief moment but then was absorbed into 'Splinter'. Leo unsheathed his swords as the laughing rat changed slowly into Tiquae.

"You're all fools!" he declared, eyes fluorescing rainbow. "Because now, this world is mine!" Leo heard cries of agony from the five dragons as Tiquae drew on their power. Growing until he was a superhuman at six feet tall, the man growled a possessed bear and rushed Mikey. In the span of five seconds, the turtles' triumph quickly turned into a battle for their lives.

Mikey was thrown over the edge of the building, shrieking at the top of his lungs, "I don't wanna kiss the pavement!" Aireilei jumped to save her friend as Leo charged at the superhuman Tiquae. Leaping up, he slashed downward with all his might in order to pierce Tiquae skin, but the effort of this left him lightheaded. Just as a giant fist was coming down to smash him, Don tackled him out of the way and went at Tiquae like a demon, whacking every which way with his staff.

Leo shook his head, snarled, and got to his feet. "We've got to find Raph! Where's Raph?" Howling maniacally, Don's opponent threw him straight into the wide-open arms of Raphael. Leo could've screamed for joy at that time, but he stopped the flood of emotions when Raph suddenly smashed Donnie to the ground. His eyes were blank and white.

Aireilei landed close by and put a shivering Mikey down. "He's being controlled," she announced as Leo watched in horror. Raph had his Sai out and was stabbing for Don's throat. Roaring, Mikey limped to his brother's aid and smacked Raph back with his nunchuks.

"Knock it off, bro!" he screamed as Raph charged. Don whacked his legs out from under him as a Sai went whistling by the place where Mike's head would've been. Mikey kicked up and sent Raph flying into the Japanese garden on the far side of the helipad.

Leo, meanwhile, was parrying and blocking every blow that came his way. "You're a monster!" he snarled.

Tiquae laughed. "And what are you going to do about it?" The blue-clad turtle made no answer but sheathed one katana, and let fly a tornado kick that sent Tiquae sprawling. Blood streamed from the man's mouth as he chuckled. "You don't have me beaten, Leonardo, not by a long shot!" Aireilei stepped up beside Leo, bow in hand, three arrows nocked. Eyes icy cold, she released her artillery barrage at the monstrous hulking man before her. The arrows simply bounced off.

She gritted her teeth. "Jhadie! No one can deflect those arrows, not even Pastey himself!"

"Then you should know that I'm not Pastey, my dear," Tiquae growled. He began glowing an iridescent black as Aireilei gasped in disbelief. He was changing. Huge ebony wings sprouted from his back as his height increased, foot by foot. Long talons burst from his shoes, muscular legs splitting his pants. (A/N: That didn't sound right. ;D) His laughs changed into incoherent roars as his neck began growing armored scales. His head began lengthening until it was the size of Aireilei. Red eyes glowed from underneath large eye ridges. Even the mind controlled Raphael stopped beating up on Mikey and Don to watch the horrific spectacle. A large black tail whipped around behind the monster as Tiquae's distinct personality faded into a simple creature that lived for death and destruction. He was now the size of a semi truck and still growing. Finally, all articles of clothing lay in tatters around the black dragon's feet as he bellowed a challenge to the heavens, crashing down upon his forepaws.

The result of his immense weight began shaking the very foundations of the Foot tower. And right in its path was Michelangelo. "My son! Look out!" A red and gray blur flashed past Leo and Aireilei. Mikey looked up in startled horror as the black dragon's jaws opened in preparation to snap the turtle up in one gulp, sharp serrated teeth glistening. Then he was tackled aside by Master Splinter, who was readily chomped on the tail. The mutant rat let out a subdued cry of pain as the monster lifted him clear of the cement helipad.

"Sensei! NO!" Leo charged at the dragon in rage, whipping out his other katana. Before he knew it, Aireilei had snatched him from the ground and was flying up to the dragon's face.

"Slash at its eyes, Leonardo!" she cried, angling toward its large jaws. Master Splinter dangled limply from its clenched teeth, his tail starting to break and gravity pulling him down. Leo landed on the dragon's snout, dashing toward its red eyes. Howling in fury, the turtle stabbed one sword at its right crimson orb, stopped by the armored eyelid. With a snarl, the dragon threw him off its face. He hit a tall building next to the crumbling Foot tower, and began falling. Aireilei had already busied herself with removing Master Splinter, so there was nothing she could do to rescue the unconscious turtle. "LEO!"

Time itself seemed to freeze as Raph streaked from Don and leapt off the Foot tower, tackling Leo and crashing through an office building window. The two crashed into a steel desk in the far corner, upsetting the neat stacks of paper on top. Leo groaned and rubbed his aching head as Raph collapsed on the carpet, exhausted. "Man, bro, you needa watch where you're goin'," he grunted.

His brother stared at him for a few seconds, then enveloped him in a crushing hug. "Raph! We were so worried about you!"

"Yeah yeah, just quit suffocatin' me already!" Raph forced Leo off him and found himself laughing at the tail he now had. "Didja get in a fight with Master Splinter's Japanese fans?"

Leo shot him a glare as he staggered to his feet. "No, this is what Kiyo's looks like." A boom of thunder, followed by an agonized scream ripped them back to their senses. "Get up, Raph, they need us!"

He shook his head ruefully. "I couldn't if I wanted to, Leo."

"And why's that?"

Raph pointed to a long jagged slash on his thigh, which was oozing blood at the moment, staining the floor with crimson. "When you were skydivin', I cut myself on the glass comin' through the window." Leo sucked in a hissing breath.

"Shell." He reached down and grabbed his wounded brother's arm, slinging it over his shoulder. "We're gonna have to make do." Together, they limped steadily toward the glass-strewn floor near the window, carefully watching their step.

Raph looked out the window only to be spattered by large drops of rain. "Now what, oh fearless leader? It's not like we can jump over there."

Leo examined the situation with a sigh. "And I'm in no shape to try. I'm still waiting for the world to stop spinning. Here, Raph, let's get that blood flow to stop." Raph hobbled with some difficulty to a nearby chair, profusely apologizing for whoever had to sit in it next. Leo reached behind Raph, carefully untying his bandanna. Just as he'd finished securing it around Raph's leg, Aireilei burst in the window, panting heavily.

"Guys, we need to do something about that monster!" she ground out.

"Working on it."

She hissed impatiently. "Don and Mikey are having a hard enough time distracting that thing from you and Master Splinter!"

Leo straightened when he heard the words 'Master Splinter'. "How is he?"

"Other than losing half his tail as an appetizer, he's doing fine."

Raph's eyes clouded. "What exactly was I doin' to Donnie?"

"Beating him to a bloody pulp." The turtle paled notably in the dark. "Now let's go!"

Leo cast a doubtful glance outside in the melee of raindrop versus raindrop. "Raph goes first." Aireilei, happy to see some progress, stepped over the shards of broken glass with ease and put her arm around Raph's shell. Clearly uncomfortable with the situation, the red-clad turtle made a face as he was lifted powerfully from his seat and flown out the window. Minutes later, the white dragon returned for Leo.

Now there they stood, all six of them ready to face the monstrous dragon; rat, turtles and white dragon. Aireilei yelled directions as the black dragon's ebony paw came crashing down, scattering the defenders. "Mikey, get behind his foreleg! Don, to the rear! Leo, stab his hind leg and don't let go! Splinter, you and I shall attack his front! And Raph, on top and slash the base of his skull!" Action exploded from everywhere. The dragon let out a howl of pain as Leo plunged his katana deep into its left hind leg, holding on for dear life as it tried to shake him off. Mike was going at its elbow like a madman, whacking it hard with his 'chuks and jumping back when the dragon would attempt to smack him away. Raph was completely in his element as he climbed the neck spikes up to its head. With a animal bellow, he stabbed a Sai into the tender part where skull meets spine. Don was smacking around with his Bo like there was no tomorrow, bruising the leg he was after. Aireilei was in the air, bow loaded with arrows, loosing them into its chest. Then, much to their dismay, it started to fly.

Everybody fell off to avoid getting hurt. Raph swore a bit before being silenced by a sharp glare from his rat master. "This isn't working," Aireilei announced half-heartedly as the dragon drew back its head. "Look out!" They dove in all directions to avoid a gout of fire that came licking down to incinerate them.

"Isn't there some magic technique that you can teach us?" Leo panted, wiping his bloody katana on his leg.

"Now that I think about it, yes, there is!" At that moment, you could've heard a pin drop. Crackling flames interrupted her train of thought, as they had to dodge again. "We'll need an uninjured vessel with which to do it, though." All eyes fell on Donatello.

"Me?" he stammered. "Why can't Raph do it?"

The aforementioned turtle slapped him on the shell. "Because, Donnie, it's your turn to play hero."

"Now Don. What I need you to do is connect tails with your brothers and I." Tentatively, the purple tail came forth. Leo's joined his, as did Raph's and Mikey's. Aireilei wrapped her tail around all four. "Now concentrate. I'll do the rest." A strange feeling of crowdedness began to take over Don's mental senses. Raph's personality melded with his own, making him a loose-cannon and a genius. Leo's strategic ways fused with his own. Mike's humor made him think of jokes with which to lighten the mood. And Aireilei gave him power.

When he snapped out of the daze, everyone but Splinter had vanished. Then he grinned Raph's trademark smirk. "Let the buttkickin' begin!"