Chapter Thirty-Seven
A Plan
At the Foot Headquarters in his laboratory, Dr Arden was furious that the Venomous Five had been beaten by the Turtles and Mona.
"I designed you so you could face those freaks with no problems! And you failed on your mission!" he growled, his burnt skin wrinkling as he glowered at the dangerous reptiles.
"The turtles and the lizard lady are indeed strong, Master..." said the Komodo Dragon, "Strong and fast...the purple masked one caught us off guard...otherwise we would have brought them to you..."
Dr Arden growled as Donatello's face flashed through his mind.
"The brainy one...the one I had desired to work in my laboratory..."
"I spat on the orange masked one..." the cobra added trying to lighten the tone slightly "My venom caused a nasty sting..."
"It is more than likely the turtles and lizard will emerge again." said the Nile Monitor "We will not give up our rampaging...if it is to bring those shell backed slimes from the sewers."
"We will not give up on our tasks, master." said the Black Mamba.
"The Venomous Five do not give up!" the Gila Monster ended.
Dr Arden glared again and stared at his syringe fingers.
"No..." he said softly "You won't...I didn't create you for nothing...and you did coax them out of hiding..."
"We will do better, Master." the Komodo Dragon said "We swear on our loyalty to the Foot."
The other reptiles agreed.
"Very well..." said Dr Arden "You will continue scouring the city and coaxing those turtles and lizard lady out of hiding...in the meantime..." he looked towards the room where Izo Arashi still lay in his coma.
"I will keep an eye on our Master..."
The Venomous Five bowed and left the laboratory and Dr Arden walked into the room to check on his comatose master and leader.
The room was dark and the the only sounds heard were the heart monitor that still continued to bleep normally.
Standing next to his master's bed was the turtle clone, quietly looking at the machines and writing reports on a laptop nearby.
Dr Arden walked up to Arashi's head and stared at his master as he lay there.
"Weeks have gone by and you still remain in your dark quiet slumber." Dr Arden sighed sadly as he walked in.
"If only you could see the wonders I have created in your absence, I hope you would indeed be proud of me."
He looked away from Arashi for a few moments to muse.
"Those turtles will pay...they will suffer...they will all suffer at the hands of the Foot...feel pain by my syringes...become guinea pigs to my experiments..."
As he continued to muse and mutter to himself, a slight groan from the bed brought Dr Arden back down to earth, he looked towards Arashi and saw that his master was awakening!
"Master!" he cried in shock "You stir?" he checked the machines to make sure they were working properly and he looked again at his master who slowly opened his eyes groggily.
"Dr Arden..." he croaked "William..."
"I am here master..." Dr Arden replied as he stood next to his master's bed.
"What happened to me Doctor?" Arashi moaned as he tried to move.
"Those turtles..."Dr Arden growled "They escaped...The one known as Raphael stabbed you to the point of death with his sai...but I was able to heal your wounds with the healing serum...the brainy turtle Donatello, he outsmarted me...even with my syringe collar..."
"What...!" Arashi snarled as he tried again to move, but his body after weeks of stillness felt stiff and every-time he tried to move, it deemed impossible.
"Rest my Lord..." said Dr Arden "You have been in a coma for quite some time..."
"How long my good Doctor?" asked Arashi.
"Several weeks..." said Dr Arden "Over Four months to be exact."
Arashi growled.
"Those turtles..."
"I have been working hard to find them again my Master..." said Dr Arden and make them pay for what they did."
Arashi tried to move again, but he winced as his joints clicked as they started to move like a rusty bike being moved again after being still for so long.
"You will need some therapy to move again my lord..." said Dr Arden "I will send medics to help you...in your absence, I have been running the Headquarters."
"Good man..." said Arashi "You have never failed to serve me, William..."
"I have other things to show you my master..." Dr Arden said "But first...you need to recover..."
"I look forward to seeing what you have worked on, my good Doctor..." Arashi smirked.
Dr Arden smirked back, his burned skin wrinkling horribly as he did so.
Two Weeks Later...
Every thrust, every swing, it was like a breath of fresh air for him again. Donatello swung his bo staff over his head and did a few graceful leaps and flips before striking an invisible target.
Splinter stood nearby and watched his progress as he moved.
It hadn't been long since Donatello had recovered from his seizure and he was starting to feel back to health again.
The drugs seemed to have cleared out of his system and before long he was in the middle of the lair practising with his bo staff.
Also watching from the sidelines, Mona observed him as he spun his bo staff and thrust it in different directions before coming to a stop and placing the staff back on his shell before bowing to Splinter.
Raphael walked over and stood next to Mona as she continued to watch Donatello.
"I'm so glad Donatello's sort of back to being himself again..." said Mona "But I'm still worried..."
"I know babe." said Raphael "Donatello has been through a lot, after seeing him never give in to torture, he's not just the smartest turtle, but the bravest and most honourable."
"He put himself through a lot of pain." said Mona "Sometimes I wish I had found out sooner."
"Don't say that Mona." said Raphael placing his hands around her waist and nuzzling the back of her neck "Donatello didn't want to frighten you, especially when you were in the last few weeks of your pregnancy and when Pandora was born, he didn't want to distract you from her due to stress."
Mona sighed and rested her head against her partner's shoulders, she watched as Donatello walked away from the middle of the lair and over to the computer in the corner.
Mona wondered whether to go over and talk to him, she could hear Michelangelo watching the TV and Leonardo was walking around the lair with Pandora in his arms talking to her and bonding with her.
She felt privileged she had some wonderful attentive adopted brothers to help her and Raphael with Pandora, and all of them were more than overjoyed to help out with her.
There had been times where Michelangelo had wanted to do everything with Pandora, even change nappies, and sometimes it was hard to separate him from Pandora, as he doted so much on his niece.
Raphael said that even though it was great Michelangelo was so attentive there were times he worried Pandora would get closer to him rather than her own father.
"Don't be so silly baby." Mona had told him, "Pandora will always know you're her father, she just loves her Uncles too, I just hope she doesn't turn into Mikey, due to all the time he spends with her and how he talks to her."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Raphael confessed.
Watching her younger adopted brother work on the computer, Mona decided to go and talk to him.
She walked up behind Donatello and placed her hand on his shoulder.
Donatello jumped slightly but he relaxed as he saw Mona looking down at him.
"Are you ok Donny?" Mona asked.
"Yeah..." said Donatello softly turning back to the screen, he had the map of the Foot Headquarters up on the screen and was watching it intently.
"Don?" Mona asked, she could see his reflection in the computer screen and she knew deep down that his demons hadn't completely gone away.
"I can't rest Mona..." Donatello confessed "I can't...not while that freak doctor's still at work..."
"What are you proposing?" asked Mona.
"I want to make that Doctor pay..." Donatello said "He's done many terrible things...and after what we saw that night with the Venomous Five...I want to put a stop to him..."
Mona felt her throat tighten.
Hearing Donatello speak like that, she only knew too well how that felt, especially after her mutation those years ago.
She knew the feeling of vengeance and she did make those thugs who made her what she was now pay with their lives. Along with Donatello, she wanted to make Dr Arden pay for what he tried to do with her and Pandora.
"Donatello..." she said softly coaxing Donatello to turn around and face her.
Donatello looked up at Mona, her eyes flashed with determination and promise as she looked the brainy turtle in the eyes.
"I know how much this means to you...and I feel the same anger and frustration towards that monster after what he did to us...and he will pay the price...if not with death, but with any punishment we lay upon him..."
"I just don't want him to hurt you again!" said Donatello standing up and looking Mona in the eyes "I can't let him hurt you, Pandora, or the rest of the family again!"
"I know, Don..." said Mona softly "But you're not alone in this fight."
"Mona's right!" Raphael voice chimed in.
Donatello looked up and saw Raphael walking over spinning his sai "We're a family!"
"We fight this war together!" Donatello heard Leonardo's voice as he walked over with Pandora who was gurgling in his arms.
"Too right!" said Michelangelo hopping over and placing his arm around his older brother's shoulders "No way are you alone in this!"
"We are never alone in this fight." They all heard Splinter's voice "And we shall fight together and finish the fight together."
Donatello felt tears glisten in his eyes as he looked around at the members of his family huddled around him.
He felt a light start to shine within him, almost like a weakened firework being ignited and about to blow off into the sky before scattering it's beautiful lights and wow the crowd below.
He began to feel it get stronger and his mouth after being stuck in a frown for so long, showing nothing but pain and suffering suddenly break into a smile and he felt the need to hold his family close and appreciate the fact that they were with him to the end like they had vowed to.
"Listen Don..." said Leonardo in a serious voice "If we're going to confront Dr Aden and his Venomous Five freaks, then we work together."
"We will need each other if we're going to take those jokers down." said Michelangelo.
"I'm prepared to kick some venom butt!" Mona growled.
"Count me in!" added Raphael.
"Then let's get planning!" said Michelangelo.
Leonardo handed Pandora to Splinter as he gathered everyone around the computer and they began to work out a plan.
Looks like the turtles are ready to kick some Foot Ninja butt as well as some Venomous Five Butt! Wonder how they'll fair when they put the plan in action!
But no! Arashi did survive his wounds and he's awakened from his coma! What will the turtles and Mona's reaction be to see him alive again?
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for more!