The tigers and I have been fixing the apartment. Jackie was feeling depressed, so I let her rest. I snuck out and managed to find and bring back a couch, some beds, a TV, all that good stuff. "Looking good, guys. Pretty soon this place will feel like a real temporary home." April said.
"Well, technically, it is a home- nevermind." I said, stuttering on my words. "We just need a few more decorations. What do you think?" Michelangelo asked. I got shocked when I cleaned off a bunch of cobwebs. Must've been from Joltik. Only Joltik makes webs that can shock you. But it's thick enough to come from Galvantula.
"I got your back, man." Varian ripped the cobwebs from the corner without getting shocked. It's because he's a Ground type. "I think it looks good, I guess." Jackie muttered. "Are you okay?" I asked her. "I'm fine, I guess. It's just… For starters, the boys have been gone for a while." Jackie answered.
"She's got a point." Kijani said. Deciding to distract my thought with something else, I walked over to the basement to check up on Donatello. "How's your lab?" I asked him. "Kinda makeshift." He answered. "I know. This isn't the best, but it's all I got right now." I said. "Aw, it's okay. We appreciate your hospitality."
"Thanks. So, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?" I asked him. "Brewing a batch of retro-mutagen. Takes forever." He answered. "So you think you could mutate Kirby back?" I asked him. "Well, that's the plan. And everyone else who got mutated, including Karai."
I nodded. Then I heard voices from the living room. I trotted to the living room and saw that Leonardo, Raphael, and Casey have returned. I got a rub on the head from Casey as my tail began wagging. "Soo, how'd it go?" I asked. "Brush." Leonardo handed me the brush I use for my fur.
"And…" Raphael takes out a small stuffed animal from a box. It was green, covered in rainbow colored stripes, a scaly purple belly, purple wing membranes, and glittery purple eyes. My eyes dilated as I recognized it.
Cinder! My stuffed dragon!
He tossed it in the air, and I ran after it and caught it with my teeth. I loved this thing when I was a cub! I looked at them gratefully, my tail wagging like crazy. "I think you're more like a dog than a cat, I gotta say." Nyata said, smirking at my dog like demeanor. I dropped my stuffed dragon, "That's what I am. A large dog with stripes that roars. They look just like everyone else."
Nyata and Jackie shared a glance. "Works for me."
Soon enough, the place looks much better. I fixed the oven, so now Michelangelo can bake a pizza in it. "Uh, Is it just me, or does this place have a really old blood like smell?" Varian asked. "I had a lot of fights over territory when I stayed in here. Most of them were against sharp-toothed Pokemon like Mightyena and occasional Galarian Linoone." I explained.
"They must've been pretty bad if blood was shed." Kulu said. "I was usually outnumbered ten to one. So yeah, there might be a few blood stains around here."
"So, uh, if I may ask, how do we find Karai?" Gabby asked. "I don't know… But as far as all the chaos going on outside, the longer she's out there with everyone else, the more she'll risk losing her humanity." I answered, unsure.
"But I thought she already lost her-" Apollo covered her mouth. "We can help her by saving everyone else." Apollo said. I told the other tigers about Karai. They understood the problem, and are on board with it.
Gabby removes Apollo's paw from her mouth. "Uh, believe it or not, I scouted the area while you were out, and there were a bunch of Poison type Pokemon that had the guts to come back, most of them resembling snakes. That might help find Karai? Maybe?" She said. "Do you remember Zeke?"
"I do. Haven't seen him in ages. If he's still alive, we can see if he knows anything about her at the moment." I said. "I think we can find both of them! I've been updating my surveillance tech, and I'm just a few days off from finishing more retro-mutagen!" Donatello said. "Great! Let's go."
April goes to get up, but Leonardo stopped her. "Sorry, April, you and Casey have to stay here. Ninjas only." He said. "But I wanna trash some alien scum, too! And why do Blaze and his gang get to go when they're not even ninjas?" Casey said. I looked at Leonardo, wondering if he'd answer. He didn't. We just proceeded to leave.
We snuck around in an alley. I was being silly, sneaking around like a secret agent, making sure no one except my tigers are following us. I stopped when I bumped into Leonardo. He gave me a glare. I giggled sheepishly, "Sorry."
"Alright, team, this is the last place Master Splinter saw Karai." Leonardo said. My nose in the air, I inhale deeply to see if I can catch her scent. "Do you have her scent?" Leonardo asked me. "I'm not positive… But I do smell a snake." I answered. "I'm picking up trace amounts of mutagenized DNA." Donatello said, a tracker in his hands. "Scanning n- Whoa!"
A black snake sprang up out of nowhere and knocked Donatello's mutagen tracker out of his hands. It's a serpentine Pokémon that is scrunched up like an accordion. It is mostly black in color but has several markings on its body. It has yellow hexagon markings that run from its head to its tail, small yellow bumps where it touches the ground, and various purple scar-like marks. It has elongated red fangs that protrude from its upper jaw and fierce red eyes. Its tail is partially red and has a blade-like shape.
It's a Seviper. What I don't believe is that this thing is almost nine feet tall! "So, got a reason why you had to obstruct in the middle of our-" I didn't get to finish my sentence. The Seviper attacked me by wrapping his long body around me. "Whoa, hey, there's this new thing called personal spa- aaa…" The Seviper squeezed me to the point where I couldn't speak right.
"Like my new minion?" I heard as we saw Kazar stand in front of us. "No." I said, but it came out as a pained wheeze. "Where's the other guy?" Gabby asked. "Zeke?" Gabby nodded. "Ah, well you see… he's dead." Gabby's eyes widened, as did the rest of ours, except me. I felt like my eyes were gonna pop out with the force this Seviper is squeezing me.
"Yes, he failed me one too many times, so I had Lucifer here decapitate him with his tail." Kazar explained. "Decapitate? He chopped Zeke's head off?" Denali asked. Kazar nodded. "That's low, even for you." I said. "Oh, I can go lower." Kazar snapped his fingers, and Lucifer squeezed me tighter. Then he had the blade part of his tail up to my neck.
"Don't you dare!" Raphael said, reaching for his sais. "Oh, I dare. I want him dead, and I will do what I must to make sure that happens." Kazar growled. "Should've thanked me when you had the chance."
Lucifer glares at me with those piercing red eyes. He's using Glare. Glare paralyzes the target. Kazar obviously wants me to suffer, if he's making my most feared Poison type kill me. I mean, I'm not scared of Seviper, I just don't entirely like it. He's better than Arbok, so that's that.
"When I said I wanted a Poison type, I didn't want one that could kill you." Jackie commented. "Once Marcus is dead, you can have him." Kazar said. "Not gonna happen." Jackie spat. "Your call. Lucifer." He squeezes me as tight as he can. I'm gonna die from suffocation. Or cardiac arrest. Whichever comes first. Probably cardiac arrest.
The boys attacked Lucifer, but his hide was too tough. No sword can bust through a Seviper's skin. Not even my Blaziken's Blaze Kick to the face could deter the Seviper. Nor a scratch to the face, or a Sky Uppercut, which isn't very effective. "You got Fur Coat as an ability?" He asked. "Nope. Shed Skin." Kazar answered.
"This is not how Marcus dies." I said to myself. I'm paralyzed, being squeezed to death, and I can feel myself getting lightheaded, my vision fading. I can feel my heartbeat die down. Too much pressure. The last thing I could see was Nyata's worried face, and the last thing I heard was Kazar's laugh.
I literally saw my life flash before my eyes. This is how I die. We didn't even get close to finding Karai, and here I am. Being suffocated to death. Then I felt two sharp fangs jab into my neck. I couldn't feel any pain. My eyes involuntarily began to close. I waited for the sweet release of death to overtake me.
Until I heard a hiss nearby that wasn't from Lucifer.
A white and purple blur attacked Kazar, throwing him down on his stomach, then on his back. I felt Lucifer release me to attack the white blur, whatever it was. The pressure on my body was gone, but the immense pain and heavy paralysis was not. I couldn't feel anything.
At least I could breathe. I gasped for air."Is he okay?" Varian asked. "He's paralyzed, I think he suffered from cardiac arrest, and he's really badly poisoned." Donatello said, worried. "And here I thought you could only have one status condition." Kulu said.
I opened my eyes. I felt Apollo's paw hold my head up. "Are you okay?" He asked. "He almost died from suffocation, cardiac arrest, and poisoning! Does he look okay to you?!" Raphael shouted. "Hey, get off my case!" Apollo hissed. "Break it up!" Gabby spat.
"Should we bring him back to the apartment?" Denali asked Leonardo. He hesitated in answering. Then the same white blur came to my view. That face I thought I'd never see again.
Karai.
She saved my life.
"Marcccell?" She said. All I could do was stare. I couldn't feel anything. "So… You must be Karai." Kulu said. I heard the cry from a Druddigon, and then a red, yellow, and blue blur attacking Karai.
Karai and Kazar were having a fierce tussle, though Karai had the upper hand as far as speed went. And apparently Kazar consuming god knows how many Carbos doesn't count for much of anything. I heard the odd noise that sounded like two rocks smashing together, and a loud crunching sound, then a roar.
"Do you always make things worse?" Blaziken asked. "I know you do." Kazar spat. Blaziken scoffed, "I do not."
"Well, you couldn't protect your precious master from death, so-" Nyata used Ice Shard to drive him away. Then she picked me up and threw me over her back. "I'm gonna have to carry him." She said. "Wait… Eat this." She hands me a red, almost cherry-shaped berry. Not sure what it was, but hoping it'd help with one of my health conditions, I ate it. After a few seconds, I could feel my limbs again.
Gently, Nyata set me down. "How do you feel?" Nyata asked. "A little weak still, probably because I'm poisoned. But now that I can move, I feel better." I answered. "Now, shall we try to find Karai… again."
The tigers and I are on the ground, while the boys are on the rooftops. I had to stop my streak because there was a group of Kraang droids in front of us. "What's your plan to get past them?" Apollo asked me. "I'll use Smokescreen to distract them. That way, we can attack without them seeing us." I answered. "This is why you make such an awesome leader." Denali said. I grinned at Denali's compliment.
I coughed up a large, dark gray ball and threw it at the group of Kraang droids ahead of us, creating a massive, thick cloud of smoke. Then the eight of us took them all down. I used my nose to sniff out Karai. "I got her scent. She's in the warehouse."
"Good thing we have your nose. That Seviper busted my mutagen tracker." Donatello said. "My nose is a living mutagen tracker. Who needs technology?" I said as we entered the warehouse.
I don't have x-ray vision like Ivan does, so I can't tell if she's hiding, or where she is. I do, however, sense a presence here. Unfortunately, I don't think it's Karai. It has a demonic, almost devilish feeling to it. Wait, there's more than one. Two of them I think are above me. And one's behind me.
Oh. No.
I heard a gorilla-like roar, and I rolled out of the way of a Pangoro with the Dark type symbol on his left shoulder. Then I heard the cry from a Mandibuzz and got scratched by claws. Er, talons.
A silhouette of a cat appeared in front of me. The head revealed itself to be Kirā. The one guy I was hoping not to see. "Looking for someone?" Kirā asked. "None of your business who we're looking for." I retorted. "Ah, but it is. You are my nemesis, aren't you?" He drew out his claws. He's giving me that passive aggressiveness in his flirtatious voice, and I don't like it.
"Just get out of our way, and we won't have a problem." I spat, pushing him. Ah, but you already have a problem." Kirā said, pointing to something. Then I saw another group of Kraang coming our way. "Oh, come on!" Jackie spat. Kirā looks over my shoulder to see my little party of eight. "Ah, I see you brought actual reinforcements this time. But it won't change anything. I'm still gonna whip yer ass."
"Not if we whip yours first." Kulu commented. Kirā turned to the group of Kraang droids, gestured with a grunt, then the Kraang, Kirā, AND his entire acapella group were about to attack us. But then Karai came back and took the Kraang droids down. Not Kirā or his goons, but the Kraang droids.
"Uh," Karai cut me off by hissing in my face. "Hey, it's okay. It's me, fuzzyface, remember?" I probably shouldn't have used one of her little nicknames, but she's the only one who almost always called me that. She hissed in my face again. My ears flattened, ready to attack if I needed to. Not that I want to. She inched closer to my face before she nudged her nose on mine.
Must… boop… snoot… I touched her nose in an attempt to calm her down. I booped the snoot, I booped the snoot!
"Ignore the snake, take out the turtles and the cats!" Kirā roared. "Karai, you need to go. Now." I told her. She did NOT want to go. I had to think quick, because Kirā's group was closing in on us. I took out a piece of paper and handed it to her, "Here's the address. Now go! We'll hold them off!" I told her. She slithered off. Right after, Kirā's clan attacked.
I saw a Druddigon tackle her as she exited from the corner of my eye. Oh, I wanna kill Kazar SO bad.
I threw their Weavile away, back kicked their Zarude, then I was met with a large tail slammed on my back, then I was knocked into the wall. Oh, he has a Tyranitar now. Great.
He roared at me and charged. I was gonna attack with Mach Punch, but a thick, glowing green root sprouted from the floor, tripping the Tyranitar. That was Grass Knot. The heavier the opponent, the more powerful the move is. "You're welcome." Kulu said.
And just when I could get back up, a metal foot hit me in the face. Xever and Bradford. Like this fight couldn't get more annoying. "Miss me?" Xever asked. "Absolutely NOT." I answered, giving him a critical-hit Thunder Punch/Sky Uppercut combination. He was left paralyzed.
"You think you've won? Have a whiff of poison, pussycat! Feraligatr, Toxic!" A vibrant purple gas shot out of his mouth and hit me in the face. I covered my eyes, mouth, and nose, but his Feraligatr attacked me with Aqua Tail, not only dealing super effective damage, but causing me to inhale the Toxic in.
I roared as I painfully felt the poison wear me down. Toxic is a Poison type move that badly poisons the target. The damage taken from said poison worsens every turn, whereas normal poisoning has a fixed amount of damage taken.
"What is with you people and poisoning him?!" Apollo asked, but Xever and Braford were already gone. "Not good. I don't have any Antidotes on me, and the damage he takes from poison is just gonna get worse until he faints." Nyata said. "Full Heals? Lum Berries?" Denali asked.
"Nope. Any and all berries I had were pickpocketed when Kazar and that Seviper attacked." Nyata answered. "Well, isn't this a fine how do you do." I growled. "Can you stand?" Leonardo asked.
"Well, let's see," I propped myself so I could stand. "I feel like garbage, but I can stand, yeah." I answered. "Okay, let's go."
"Why are we here again?"
Right now, we're at the docks, and I'm not sure why. "I planted a whole bunch of spy roaches on Steranko during the fight. I'm pretty sure he ate most of them, but there's still one little guy left." Donatello said. "This is coming from someone who might also eat bugs," I fake vomit, pointing inside my mouth. Gabby nodded in agreement.
"Yep, they're here." Varian said. I saw Anton Zeck and Ivan Steranko. I find it weird how all these villains- oh, of COURSE Kazar's here! What was I saying? Oh, how all these villains are here at one place. It's weird, and I don't like it.
Kazar stands up to Shredder, "Where is Karai?" He asked. Kazar pointed to something behind him. Steranko roughly opened a door, pulling Karai with him. I'm assuming this was Kazar's doing.
"The deal is simple. If you get those two out of the city safe, you get the snake girl." Kazar said. Wait, seriously? They're using her for that? What kind of black-hearted assoles would do an inhumane thing like that?
Kazar.
And Shredder.
That's who.
"The thief who stole from me desires to make a deal." Shredder said to Kazar. "As ridiculous as it sounds, sir, you will have your daughter back. And with my help, so much more." Kazar replied. I do not like where this conversation is going. "I don't make deals. But perhaps this is worth the exception. Give me Karai, and you will leave this city alive."
I blasted a fireball from my mouth onto the dock, nearest to Kazar and Shredder's Bisharp, creating a dome-shaped explosion. Kazar was still standing, but Bisharp wasn't. He fainted. That was basically Inferno. His Special Defense stat sucks, really.
"How's about you let her go and we'll let all of you escape alive!" I said before roaring. My battle cry roar sent everyone into battle. The tigers after Kazar, the turtles after Shredder. I tended to Karai and cut her loose. "Karai, you have to go. Now." I told her. She nudged me. "Don't let them take you." I said. No response. "We'll be okay-" I felt Kazar's hand grab my tail. "Go!" I shouted. Karai left.
Kazar slammed me to the floor, then dragged me in a circle on the floor to trip and knock away some of the attacking tigers. He held me up to his face. "You may have won this time, but so long as I'm around, your life will be nothing short of a-"
He was cut off when claws were slashed across his face, his eye especially. He let me go, rubbing his eyes. I back kicked his stomach. "This ain't over, spiky." I growled. I turned to Shredder, "No! My daughter!" Shredder said. "She's not/She ain't your daughter!" Leonardo screamed, and I roared. "I raised her, cared for her. She is mine!"
Varian shot a streak of sand at Shredder's eyes. He yelled as he covered his eyes from the pain, ensuring our escape. "What happened back there? We had him!" Raphael said, enraged. "We'll get him. Just not now." I said.
I grunted in pain as I felt the poison deal a huge amount of damage on me. "Not now is right. You're poisoned." Nyata said, helping me stand up. "I have healing items back at the apartment."
"But what about Karai?" I asked, growing restless. I grunted again from the poison damage. "We're more concerned about you and your health right now." Leonardo said. "You shouldn't be-"
"We are." Gabby retorted. I shrunk a bit. "Sorry, I shouldn't have bursted like that." She said. "Let's just get you back to the apartment, then you can rest up before we go back out. Okay?"
I took a deep breath, trying not to shed a tear from the pain the poison is giving me. "Okay. But you have to promise me that we go back to finding Karai after I'm healed up."
Leonardo didn't hesitate in answering, "Promise."