Cat staggered, pain similar to that from before swirling in her gut and spreading through her body.
She fell to her hands and knees, biting her lip until blood dripped to the floor.
"Kitten? Kitten, what's wrong?"
"I-I…I d-don't know…" She forced out, and she heard a gasp as something cracked behind her.
"Caterina!"
Her skin rippled to scales again, but it didn't return to normal this time.
"Cat!" Don stated worriedly, touching the scar on her left shoulder.
It singed his fingers, and was glowing violently.
"Cat! Are you okay?" April asked worriedly, but Casey held her back.
"W-Would I b-be double o-over in p-pain if I-I was?" Cat asked jokingly, her voice wavering as she struggled to contain this force in her.
Leatherhead put a heavy hand on her right shoulder.
"Let it out, my friend…it will hurt less…"
"B-But…"
'I'm scared…'
"Trust me."
Hesitantly, her muscles relaxed, and something burst out of her shell, making shadows behind her.
"…Ow…"
"…Kitty…"
Looking up, her bleary vision sharpened as she recognized Mikey's voice.
"Interesting…" Bishop muttered.
Standing up, she nearly fell backwards from some extra weight.
"AH! What the shell-?"
She felt scales over her shoulder, and turned her head.
"…DAMN…"
Large, silver dragon wings, the scales tinted the green of her skin, were attached to her shoulder blades.
They were slender, but each was almost as big as she was, and the scales rattled.
"…Dr-Dragon wings?" Don asked.
"Heavy things, aren't they?" Cat muttered.
With a sharp breath, the wings folded behind her, and something else caught her eye…
"A tail? What other secret things do I have?"
The tail was long and thin, with spikes at the end.
"…Nice…"
She smirked.
"A new little trick for my arsenal…"
With a flick of the new appendage, it wound around a scalpel and threw it.
It hit the circular saw out of his hands, and Mikey kicked him away with a freed foot.
The straps were yanked loose, and he stood up as Cat went to guard him from any projectiles.
Raph and Leo jumped to fight Bishop as Cat's tail grabbed Mikey 'chucks and handed them to him.
Bishop didn't get hit once, and he jumped behind what seemed like a desk.
Casey swung at him with a baseball bat, but he hit some glass containers instead, shattering them.
Bishop blocked the next swing with a gas can, pushing Casey off and spraying him with the contents.
Raph and Leo were unfortunate enough to have the stuff sprayed in their faces as well.
Bishop caught Casey by surprise, using his bat to twist his arm around before grabbing a tazer and shocking him.
Casey fell unconscious, and April ran to his aid, Don defending her and fighting Bishop.
Don and Mikey worked well together, and Bishop was soon caught between the five turtles, Cat with fresh claws and new fangs ready for action.
The boys tried to hit him first, but Bishop was a quick, tricky fighter.
Cat pulled out her blades, running in, and knocked Leo's katana out of the man's hands.
He barely dodged her blows, and his own attacks kept missing.
Suddenly, Cat's style changed abruptly, and she placed a powerful kick to his chest.
He flew back, and Leatherhead caught him in his large arms.
But Bishop wasn't done, and he kicked an operation table horizontal in order to knock the air out of his captor.
"Bishop's got some quickness in him!" Mikey stated.
Cat growled, scales erect and rattling like wind chimes.
"Not for long…"
She went after him as he headed for the door, her blades almost touching…
Her senses suddenly screamed at her to move faster, to get to the professor, to get out of there…
It all made her head ring.
Cat was kicked in the stomach, sending her flying back.
Her wings opened on instinct, softening the fall on her shell, and her tail lashed at the ground in a fury, making deep marks.
"Kitten!"
Bishop jumped over a machine to the opening door.
"Until we meet again. And we will. You can count on it."
He ran out the door as Cat sat up, her wings slightly crushed from the fall.
"God damn Bishop…He's going down…" She growled, standing.
Her wings started to unbalance her, making her fight to stay upright, and she grabbed Raph's arm.
"Darn things are heavy…" She explained.
"We need to go…" She added.
"Yeah. We need to find the Fugitoid." Leo agreed.
"Then let's go." Mikey stated.
Everyone headed out into the hall.
"I KNOW the professor is somewhere in this rat maze…Sorry, Master Splinter…" Don stated.
"Maybe they moved him." April suggested.
The screens lining the hall suddenly turned green.
"Uh…maybe not…" Mikey muttered.
"What the…?" Cat muttered, wings folded against her shell.
Honeycutt's head appeared on the screens.
"Greetings to the peoples of Earth."
"It's the professor!" Don stated.
"To the warring nations that orbit above, I need you to listen to what I have to say! I am Professor Honeycutt, and not so very long ago, I tried to create an instantaneous transportation system called the Teleportal, a device intended to bring people together. An invention to be used for peace. But instead, it has become the prize in an insane, never-ending war. Now, I beg the Federation and Triceraton forces to hear me. The plans for the Teleportal are gone. It is because of ME that this insane war has come to this planet, and so, it is left to me to put things right! I have completely eradicated the technical specifications of the Teleportal device from my memory circuits."
He stopped talking, and they kept walking through the maze of hallways.
"Just how big IS this creepy underground garage?" Raph asked.
"It's gonna take FOREVER to find the professor!" Mikey agreed.
Don found a panel in the hallway, and made a beeline for it.
"Maybe not. Now that he's broadcasting, maybe I can hack into their system and trace where his signal's coming from!"
With some typing, something came up on a screen, showing a symbol that stated Honeycutt's location.
They headed for it, ready to bust Honeycutt free, when Cat's wings unfolded warily.
'Something bad is going to happen…'
The screens changed from green to red, and her scales rattled nervously, almost yelling in a shrill voice to move.
A faint explosion reached her strangely sensitive ears…
"GET DOWN!!"
Jumping, she used her wings to knock everyone onto their stomachs and shield them as the screens and such exploded with flying glass and smoke.
Once the explosions had died down, Cat got up on her hands and knees, glass sliding off her shell and wings.
Lifting her wings, she shook the glass off away from the others.
"You guys okay?"
"…I'm cold…"
Mikey pulled her wing over him like a blanket.
"Mikey…that's attached to me…"
"And it's WARM…"
"Get off!"
Shaking her wing, she freed herself and jumped away.
Cat sighed, looking around.
"Okay, I've seen enough Bond movies to know that when the base starts blowing up, we should leave!"
Cat stood up, and felt something move in one of her strangely folded wings.
"…Oh! Sorry, Raphie…These things have minds of their own…"
"We've got to get the Fugitoid! Hurry!" Don stated as he flipped to his feet.
Everyone followed him at a run, Cat nearing the front through her large wings caused drag as they refused to fold up again.
They reached a large door.
"This should be it." Don muttered.
"Allow me." Leatherhead said, forcing the doors open.
Cat smiled.
"Now THAT'S a gentleman."
They jumped through, knocking down some Federation troops.
"Professor?!" Don called.
"Donatello…help me…"
Cat's wings spread as Don pulled out his Bo.
"Cover for me, guys."
"I've got your shell, bro." Cat assured as the others jumped and attacked the soldiers.
Don jumped up to the table Honeycutt was lying on, and Cat followed, landing softly thanks to her wings.
"Professor!"
Strapping his Bo to his shell, Don grabbed the wires, ready to pull them out of the robots chest.
"Don't worry about me! Turn the power back on! Stop them from blocking my virus!"
"Professor, it's too dangerous!"
Cat shielded her brother and Honeycutt from the battle with her wings, ducking her head.
"Let's get you out of here!"
"No! Donatello, I know the risks, but it's the only way to stop this insane war once and for all! Please…Please help me!"
The two turtles shared a glance, and Cat gave a small, hesitant nod.
"…Alright, professor…"
Don ran to some screens and keyboards, and Cat had the pleasure of defeating some soldiers as he did so.
"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this…" Don muttered as the power started to hum.
Cat whirled around, her tail slicing some blasters apart before her fist met heads and stomachs.
"Just a few more seconds…" Don mumbled, typing faster.
Everything turned on.
"Go, professor!"
"Recommencing viral upload!"
April came to Don's side, and the screen he was near sparked.
"Move!" Cat ordered, hiding the two in her wings as it exploded.
'My wings are pretty tough…tougher than they look, at least…'
Everything started exploding, and Cat covered her head.
Once that ended, Cat unfolded her wings, turning and seeing Blanq.
"Why, hello there!"
Her new fangs made her smile seem more feral.
"I have a bit of karma to dish out…After our last little trip to D'Hoonib."
He panicked, backing up.
"Keep away from me! My troops will be here any second! You'll all be destroyed!"
Cat's new tail swung side to side lazily, like a content feline's, as Raph flipped Blanq over his shoulder, holding him down.
"Not today, Blanq…Not ever…"
The screens left returned to normal, and Don turned to Honeycutt.
"Professor, your virus has run its course! You did it!"
He walked up to the robot.
"The Federation and Triceraton fleets are completely…"
He paused, sensing something was wrong.
"…Professor? Professor?!"
…
"Greetings, I am Sal, servitore class robot. How may I be of service?"
Cat felt like the wind was knocked out of her at the purely robotic voice.
'Professor…'
Her wings drooped to the floor with her tail, scales rattling forlornly.
The robot repeated the last sentence as his voice died down and he shut off.
Silence filled the air, and the only sound was the rattling of her scales as she suppressed the urge to cry.
"…Professor…" Don muttered, almost disbelieving.
"No! H-He can't!"
Cat pulled him into a comforting hug, trying not to show her own welling tears.
"…I warned him…his…his robotic body was never meant to channel that kind of power…it…burned out on him…"
"…He knew, Donnie…" Cat replied.
"But…he did it anyway…"
She locked eyes with Raph.
"…He was a true hero…"
--
On the Triceraton home world, they walked into the mighty throne room, Traximus behind them.
The guards lining the red carpet and General Mozar seemed the only Triceraton present.
Traximus went up to Mozar, who held a blaster in hand.
Traximus accepted the blaster handed to him.
"Let this be a symbol of things to come. From this day forward, none shall sit upon the throne of the Triceratons!"
The throne was blasted to pieces, exploding.
"The senate shall be reinstated and the republic reborn."
Traximus threw down the blaster as he turned to the crowd.
"For too long has this senseless war cost us our honor and the lives of our finest soldiers! Let a new age begin!"
"Traximus, our forces have completed the rescue efforts. The Federation troops are being brought onto the home world as we speak." The Triceraton general informed.
"We will treat them as allies and our guests until we deliver them safely to the Federation…As our first gesture of peace."
"It will be done."
"There are but two prisoners I must keep under lock and key."
Cat smiled at the thought of the Prime Leader and the leader of the Federation in basically adjoining cells.
'Probably bad-mouthing each other, too…'
"Perhaps they will also find a way to make peace."
The smile on her face fell as they went to the funeral for Professor Honeycutt.
'At least he got his dream…There's peace…'
She looked down at the casket holding the robot body.
"…I guess we ought to say something…" Leo stated.
"…I don't know what to say…professor…I…I guess, mainly…I just want to say thanks…you were a good friend…"
Don stepped back, and the casket was shot into outer space.
"Not only will you live on in our hearts, but your noble sacrifice will endear forever…in the lasting gift of peace…"
Cat shuddered, pulling her brothers into a hug with her wings.
'Death always makes you realize what's really important…'
Her shoulders relaxed, and her scales rippled to green skin and her wings retreated under her shell, electricity healing the cracks and holes that were made as her claws and fangs receded.
'…I'll never forget you…friend…'
