NOTE: There will probably be grammar mistakes which I will fix later.
The massive wheels of the monster truck completely crushed a skull as it continued to ride through the desert wasteland.
Shadow sat in the front with Kal while Donnie and Mikey sat in the back. "Think Pride will come after us?" she nervously asked the meerkat.
He focused on the road before him but slightly nodded. "Wouldn't doubt it. That's why I need to get you guys as far away from the canyon city as possible. Hopefully, we'll find this TCRI you've been talking about."
"I'm really worried about Chompy, guys," Mikey said with a concerned look. "He's still out there somewhere. He could die of heatstroke."
"Don't worry, Mikey," Donnie placed a robotic hand on Mikey's shoulder. "Chompy will be fine. Keep in mind that he is a space turtle from a planet made of lava. He loves this kind of environment. Besides, with that incredible nose of his, he should be able to pick up our scent and eventually find us."
"Yeah, I know, but-" Mikey's blue eyes popped out when he saw something in the passenger side mirror. "Uh, guys? They found us."
At this, Kal poked his head out and sure enough, he could see a group of more monster trucks following them in the distance. He instantly recognized the leading truck, the biggest one that had the steel lion face on the front bumper and exhausts that would occasionally shoot out massive flames. "Shoot," he cursed under his breath before he stomped on the gas pedal. "HANG ON!" The truck roared and screeched as it picked up speed, and all of the passengers were flung back into their seats by the impact.
Meanwhile, in the leading truck, Dominan Pride growled as he watched them speed off. He was now wearing an iron chest armor with shoulder pads and faulds. The muzzle was back on his face covering the scarred nose. He stood up from the passenger seat and through the sunroof, looking back at his blonde warriors.
"DO NOT LET THE TRAITOR GET AWAY!" he roared at them. "KILL HIM AND BRING THE PURE HUMAN AND THE HOLY CHALUPA TO ME, DEAD OR ALIVE!"
The warriors went into an uproar and hit their gas pedals, driving past Dominan's truck and catching up to Kal's.
When Kal saw the oncoming vehicles, he did a complete U-turn and was now facing them.
"What are you doing?!" Shadow screamed in horror.
Kal only smirked and shifted the gear in reverse. Everyone was nearly flung out of their seats as the truck drove backwards at full speed.
"You still wanna drive?" the meerkat looked over at the shocked teen next to her.
"Wha-I-I thought...seriously?" Shadow stuttered. "Drive backwards?"
"Yeah, it's easy," Kal pressed a button on the steering wheel and a chair with a large cannon attached to it popped out through an opening in the hood. "Just don't crash." He climbed through the sunroof and into the chair, preparing to fire.
Shadow cursed as she climbed into the driver's seat and took control of the wheel, but watched in awe as Kal fired his cannon at one of the pursuing trucks. A fiery ball aimed for the front left tire, obliterating it. The truck swerved a few times before it flipped over and crashed.
That was when the mutants in the other trucks starting firing at them with the their own guns. Shadow started to freak out and tried to dodge the oncoming bullets, several of which hit the front bumper. A few narrowly missed Kal by inches but he remained firm and continued to fire. He smirked triumphantly as he hit another truck but then yelled in pain as a bullet hit him in the shoulder.
"KAL!" Shadow screamed.
"I'm fine!" Kal shouted back as he gripped his bleeding shoulder with one hand while firing the cannon with the other. Two more trucks were hit, and soon only Pride's vehicle was left.
The king growled and leaned in from the backseat closer to the driver. "Activate the spear," he ordered. The driver nodded and pulled a level on the control console. The silver lion on the bumper opened its jaws and a large spear poked out. The driver pressed another button and the spear shot out from the lion's mouth toward the truck. It embedded itself deep in the front bumper and the console began to sizzle and smoke.
Shadow yelped as several sparks flew around her face. "This can't be good!"
Pride smiled under his muzzle and patted the driver's shoulder. "Reel them in."
The wire to which the speak was attached started to pull Kal's truck toward Pride's like a fish on a hook. No matter how hard Shadow pushed down on the gas pedal, the vehicle could not pull away and the wheels began to smoke from the friction. Kal hopped off his chair and crawled across the hood toward the wire, pulling out a knife from out of his back pocket. He frantically started to saw at the wire, but the blade could not cut through the steel.
"Hold on!" Donnie jumped up from the backseat and poked his head out through the opening in the roof. He aimed his right fist at Pride's truck and launched it like a rocket. Pride and his men screamed as the robot's hand flew straight toward them.
BOOM!
The truck exploded upon impact, and the hand flew straight back to Donnie and reattached itself to his arm. The robot Turtle nodded proudly as he sat back down. "And that takes care of that."
"Whoo! Donnie that was awesome!" Shadow cheered.
"Yeah, quick thinking there, Donbot!" Mikey slapped his brother on the shoulder.
Kal watched as the dust settled, and all that was left of Pride's truck was a burning pile of scrap metal. Convinced that the canyon king was now dead, he crawled back into the truck and Shadow scooted over to the passenger's seat, allowing him to take over the wheel once again. The meerkat hissed in pain from the bullet wound in his shoulder.
"Kal, we should head back and get that treated," Shadow suggested, concerned for her friend.
But Kal shook his head and gave her a pained grin. "Nah, I'll be good. What's more important right now is getting you guys to this TCRI." He shifted the gear back into drive and they resumed their journey.
...
About an hour later, they reached a mountain range that stretched a great ways across the desert. The meerkat sighed tiredly and put the vehicle in parking. "Well, we got a decision to make," he announced to the others. "We could either drive around the mountains, which would take about, say...two hours. Or we could try and drive through them, which will be extremely dangerous but we would get to our destination a lot faster."
Shadow, Mikey, and Donnie all looked at one another, thinking this over.
"What do you guys think?" Shadow asked the Turtles. "Drive through it?"
"Might as well," Donnie shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm getting a bad case of antsy pants in this car," Mikey fidgeted in his seat. "I can't sit for another two hours."
"Okay," Kal shifted the gear back into drive, "through the mountains it is. Gotta warn you, though, the roads are a little bumpy."
...
The dirt roads were extremely bumpy, and the entire truck rocked back and forth as it drove over rocks and boulders. The passengers groaned as they rocked along with the vehicle in their seats.
When they reached the peak and started to go down to the other side of the mountain, they could see what appeared to be two vehicles (though the second one looked more like an animal of some kind) in the far distance heading straight toward them.
"Oh, boy," Mikey mumbled. "Hope that's not Pride's reinforcements."
Donnie used his advanced vision to see who the drivers were, and his rabbit ears perked up as he instantly recognized them. "Guys! It's Leo and Raph! They're on their way over here!"
"What?!" Mikey smiled excitedly. "Are you serious?!"
...
Inside the tank, Raph could see that his T-phone on the passenger's seat was ringing, which could only mean one thing. He quickly picked it up and answered. "Donnie?"
Hey, guys! We can see you from up here!
"What?!" Raph looked up at the mountain ahead of them through the front window. "You guys are up in the mountains?!"
Yeah! We're on our way down!
About more than halfway down the mountain, the monster truck parked near a cliff for a moment and Shadow and the others hopped out to wave at Raph, Mira, and Leo, who were just below them at the base. Chompy was with them, too, alive and well, which made Mikey very happy.
"Chompy!" Mikey called out to him. "You're okay!"
Chompy roared to him in response, wagging his tail happily.
Kal noticed a familiar face down below and his heart instantly clenched. "...Mira...?"
Meanwhile, Mira couldn't quite make out the face of the stranger standing next to Shadow and the Turtles up on the cliff, but something about him felt familiar...
As Shadow continued to wave down at her friends, a large hand suddenly clamped on her mouth from behind and roughly dragged her away from the others. Her muffled screams were not unheard, though, as they all turned around.
To their horror, Dominan Pride, who was badly burnt but very much alive, was carrying Shadow under his arm and climbing back up the mountain. Most of his mane has been burnt off and his face was charred, giving him a frightening look.
"PRIDE!" Kal reached for his knife and ran after them. "LET HER GO!"
The lion glared down at him briefly before ripping some boulders from out of the dirt wall and hurling them down at the meerkat, who jumped out of the way in time. Pride continued his way up the mountain, while Shadow struggled and kicked his grasp. Kal and Mikey climbed up after him while Donnie called his brothers for help.
...
"Ow! Lemme go, you punk! I mean it! Lemme go!"
Shadow continued to fight and yell when Pride suddenly slammed her against a large boulder, holding her by the neck with one hand and choking her. He leaned in closer to her face, the nuzzle touching the tip of her nose.
"Once I consume your body," he snarled, "I will become immortal, and nothing will kill me." He pulled his other hand back and extended his claws. "I will start with your heart."
Shadow's eyes got misty with tears, both from the lack of oxygen and fear.
But then a large massive fist collided with Pride's cheek and the lion fell to the ground. Shadow coughed as she was released and was shocked to see Leo standing protectively in front of her.
After Pride regained his sense and stood back up, his red eyes widened at the sight of his old rival. Then he snarled and ripped his muzzle off, revealing the scar that used to be his nose. "Maximus Kong," he hissed, his long tail wagging wildly. "I've waited years for the day we would meet again and finish what we started," he pointed to his scar.
Leo vaguely remembered fighting this lion, and he was mortified to learn that he was the one who ripped his nose off. "Listen," he said in a calm but stern voice, "whatever happened between us, that's all in the past now. I'm not the same as I was when we last met. We can resolve things peacefully."
Intitally, Pride was surprised by Maximum Kong's peaceful approach, but then he snorted and threw his head back as he laughed. "I don't want to make peace with you! I want your blood!"
He roared as he charged at Leo and latched onto his face, scratching and punching him like a madman. But Leo was able to pull him off and hurled him against the boulder, which cracked the moment his body hit it.
The Turtle whipped his to where Shadow stood. "Get out of here, Shadow!" he yelled, pointing to the west. "The others are down that way!"
Shadow didn't want to leave him alone with that monster. "But-"
Just then Pride lunged right at her but Leo pinned him down before he could reach her. He struggled to keep the lion down and looked directly at Shadow. "GO!"
With great reluctance, she left the two warring mutants and went in the direction Leo instructed her to go.
Pride painfully elbowed Leo in the chest, and once the Turtle let go of him, he leapt over his shell and started to chase after Shadow. But then Leo grabbed him by the tail and flipped him onto his back.
The lion got back on his feet and the desert warlords engaged in combat, exchanging blows and kicks with such ferocity. Leo could feel the claws scratching every part of his body, but he continued to fight through the pain and broke several of Pride's ribs.
But Pride was just as stubborn and determined as Leo, and he picked up a large rock and chucked it at the Turtle's head. The blow caused Leo to fall to the ground disoriented, and Pride used the opportunity to pick up a nearby boulder. With all the strength he muster, he lifted the chunk of the mountain over his head and stomped over to Leo, who was still regaining his senses.
"Let's see what that shell of yours looks like on the inside," he grunted as he prepared to drop the boulder on Leo.
But then something sharp suddenly hit him in the back and he screamed as he let go of the boulder, which missed Leo by a few inches. He reached behind him and felt the handle of a knife, and with a hiss and grunt of pain he pulled it out. Growling furiously, he looked around for the one who dared to harm him.
Then something jumped onto his head and began to attack him, pulling at what remained of his mane and scratching his eyes. Roaring and howling in pain, he struggled to pyre the attacker off of him, unaware that he was heading straight for a cliff.
They both fell and rolled down the slope until they landed on another cliff. Pride felt the stranger let go of him and looked up to see Kal standing over him.
He snarled at the meerkat and lunged right at him. But Kal jumped right over him, kicking him in the head while in mid-air. Pride turned around and wildly swiped at him with his claws. But the meerkat was much too quick for him, which was a further insult to the king of the canyon city.
At one point, Kal reached for a bough of a dead tree that was lying on the ground and used it to whack Pride in the knees. The lion howled and fell to the ground, holding his injured knees. As Kal approached him, he secretly reached for the knife in his belt...
SLASH!
"AHH!" Kal yelled in pain and gripped his now bleeding side. He backed away as Pride limped toward him with the knife in his hand.
Pride's red eyes burned with fury and hatred as he madly swung his weapon at the meerkat. "I should never have spared your life, you traitorous piece of-!"
The ground suddenly gave away at his feet and he clung onto the precipice with his claws. He looked down fearfully at the bottom of the mountain and could feel his grip slipping. Kal walked over to the edge and stood over him, still holding his side.
Pride looked at him with pleading eyes and reached a hand out to him. "Kal, give me your hand! Save your king! Please!"
Kal just stared at him indifferently for a moment before he knelt down and took Pride's hand. The lion smiled hopefully as he felt himself being lifted.
But then Kal stopped and sneered in Pride's face. "It's as you said, my king," he whispered venomously, "there are two kinds of people in this world. There are the winners and there are the losers."
Pride's eyes slowly widened in realization and horror.
Kal pulled his other hand back and clenched it into a fist. "And the losers..."
BAM!
He punched Pride in the face with all his might and the king roared as he fell to his death. Dominan Pride was no longer.
Kal's ears twitched as he heard footsteps and turned to see Shadow walking toward him. She stood next to him and looked down to where Pride fell.
"Sheesh," Shadow mumbled. "Talk about a Disney death."
...
Shadow helped Kal back down the mountain to where the others waited, supporting him on her shoulder. Leo's wounds were being treated by Mikey, and she was relieved to see that the huge Turtle was alright.
Mira smiled as she watched Shadow climb back down and ran to her. "Shadow! You're okay! Thank the Green God-!" She froze and her eyes became large once she recognized the person Shadow was supporting. It couldn't be... "Kal...?" she whispered, her voice trembling a bit.
Kal smiled tiredly at his little sister, still a little woozy from the blood loss. "Hey...little sister."
With tears in her eyes, Mira ran to her brother and engulfed him a hug, but she didn't squeeze too hard and was careful with him seeing that he was injured. She affectionately nuzzled his cheek. "I thought you were dead," she whimpered, the tears now running freely in streams.
Kal sighed and hugged her closer to him. "I thought you were dead."
Mira gently pulled away and looked up at him with eyes full of hope. "What about our parents? And Kron?"
The older meerkat closed his eyes and shook his head somberly. "They didn't make it, Mira."
Mira's ears dropped and she wiped her tears away as she looked down at her feet.
"Hey," Kal gently lifted her chin and smiled warmly at her. "We still have each other, and we're together again. Our family can now rest in peace."
She smiled sadly and nodded, embracing him again. The others stood to the side and watched the heartwarming scene with smiles (although Donnie couldn't smile physically, his soul inside the robot body was smiling).
With both a bullet and a stab wound, Kal had no choice but to go back to the canyon city to receive medical treatment. After a night's rest, the gang packed up for the rest of the journey, although they unanimously agreed to let Chompy stay in the city, where'd he have plenty of food and water, until they'd get back from TCRI...if they ever find it. Mira volunteered to stay and look after him, that way she could spend more time with her brother.
Dominan Pride's former road warriors, now wearing red hair instead of blonde in honor of Kal the Killer, helped the Turtles load their stuff into the tank. Kal stood by and supervised them, bandages wrapped around his waist and over his left shoulder.
"Make sure they have plenty of water!" he ordered his men, who saluted him in response.
Shadow walked up to him and smirked with her arms crossed. "Well, I'll be. First gladiator and now king. That's quite a promotion."
Kal chuckled. "Well, this city needs a new leader, and apparently I was their first choice. I don't know if I have what it takes to be king, though," he said a bit worriedly.
"Of course you do! You're brave and noble, plus everyone in this entire city loves you. And more importantly, you love them and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. I'd say you're the perfect choice. You'll do great."
The meerkat smiled a little. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh? Oh, by the way, my first act as king is to ban all human meat. Never liked it, anyway."
"Good!" Shadow laughed.
Just then Mira appeared and smiled sadly up at Shadow. "I wish you could stay longer."
Shadow sighed softly and nodded. "Yeah, me too. I won't ever forget you guys."
Mira's ears dropped in a depressed manner. "How will I know for sure that you won't?"
"I promise I won't," Shadow assured, then she got an idea. She pulled her phone from out of her pocket and gestured for the two meerkats to come. "Here. Both of you stand on either side of me." They did as she said and she knelt down on the ground so that she'd be at their level. She held the phone out in front of her pressed on the camera app, activating the selfie mode. "Okay, smile!"
Snap.
"There, see?" Shadow handed the phone to Mira, who looked at the new photo of the three of them smiling. "That way I can always look back and remember our time together."
From afar off, Raph watched Shadow taking a selfie with Mira and smiled to himself. Maybe the kid wasn't so bad after all. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Leo standing next to him.
"We're about to head off, Raph," Leo told him.
Raph nodded and walked over to the trio, affectionally patting the top of Mira's head. "We gotta get going, kid."
"You guys will come back, right?" she asked him with concern.
"Sure we will," he softly said, grinning down at her. "We'll be back before you know it."
Chompy stood by and whimpered as he watched his friends prepare to leave, and Mikey scratched his snout in comfort. "Aw, don't worry, big guy," he cooed to the space turtle. "We'll come back for you. Just don't eat anybody while we're gone." Chompy purred and licked him in response, making the smaller Turtle chuckle.
Shadow gave Chompy one scratch and kiss on the nose. "See you, boy. At least now I know we'll need to get you a bigger dog house in twenty years." Chompy wagged his tail and affectionately nuzzled her with his snout.
As she stepped into the tank, she took one last look at the mutants of the canyon city and their new king, all of them waving at her. She smiled and waved back before she closed the door behind her.
The tank hissed as it started on its way, and the gang resumed their journey to the ruins of New York, where TCRI was hopefully waiting for them.
Next chapter is one of the biggest chapters yet: Shadow discovers the truth about her past! See you next time! :D