The violence in this chapter gets intense. A limited amount of blood will be shown, that's how.

By now, Splinter FINALLY decided to unground the boys. And on top of that, he gave me a sincere enough apology, of which I forgave him. He agreed with me when said I had every right to be mad at him. I felt good about myself. Now, we're sitting here, watching TV, Raphael's using the punch dummy, and Donatello's in his lab.

"Hey guys, ever notice how the cartoons we watch are kind of just like our missions?" Michelangelo asked. "In a way, yeah, kinda." I answered. Raphael, who is listening to this conversation, punches his punching dummy. "Speaking of missions, I know what our next one should be. Shredder," he answered, and I saw a picture of Shredder on the punching dummy. Nice way to vent out anger.

I blow out a breath from my mouth. "Why don't we take him down once and for all?" Raphael asked. "Because you've faced him before and still can't win for some apparent reason." I muttered under my breath. "Because of that impulsive, overemotional state right there." Leonardo answered with a grin.

"Who are you calling impulsive and overemotional?" Raphael screams, making me draw my lips back in a snarl and growl at him. He notices and calms down some. "Sorry." I make a trilling noise. "It's okay. I'm not thinking straight, either."

We hear a loud bang. I jumped, "Sweet heavenly Jesus." Donatello ran out of his lab. "Whoa! What was that? Did Raph finally blow a gasket? 'Cause I got spares," Donatello tells us. I snicker at this. Raphael gives me a look. I stick my tongue out.

A familiar gator mutant shows up. "Turtles. Marcus," Leatherhead said. I gasped. "Sweet mother of mutation, Leatherhead, what happened to you?!" We ran up to him. "Are you okay?" Leonardo asked. "Can't you see he's terrible? Look at his adorable yet tortured gator face," Michelangelo answered and Leatherhead nuzzles him. "Aww," Michelangelo replies.

"Michelangelo is right. I bring dire news. Slash and Rockwell have been captured by Tiger Claw," he explains. I growl. That low-down, no good, son of a no good. "Why?" I asked. "He said they could be of use to…'him,'" Leatherhead answers. Oh no…

"I'll give you one guess who him is," Raphael said. "Yeah, that guy who does the thing with the thing," Michelangelo remarks. I lean towards him. "Shredder," I told him. Wait, if Slash and Rockwell were captured… "So what about Pigeon Pete?" I asked and as if on cue, I hear laughing. Pigeon Pete flies into the lair.

"Oh, not Pigeon Pete," Raphael comments. "Wow. Now this is a secret lair," Pigeon Pete comments, looking around in awe. "Anyone but Pigeon Pete," Raphael said and I hit him in the shoulder. "A tire swing! Is that a real Space Heroes machine?" Pigeon Pete comments.

"If you ask me, the only thing this place needs is some bread," he said. "We got better than bread. Pizza crusts, brah," Michelangelo answers, holding up pizza crusts. Pete tries it, and he immediately loves it. "Oh, where have you been all my life?" Pigeon Pete asked.

"Why couldn't Tiger Claw take him instead?" Raphael complains. I roll my eyes, "Well, considering Slash trusts us more than anyone else, the Mutanimals are our friends, and we must rescue them," I tell them.

We stand on a rooftop near Shredder's lair. Raphael was about to jump down when Leonardo stopped him. "What are you doing?" Leonardo asked. "Going in all blade blazing, like we should have done weeks ago," Raphael answers in a 'duh' tone. I slap my forehead. "Not without a plan, you're not," I answer.

"We need a plan," Leonardo finishes. "You need a recon fly-by? I'm the birdman for the job. Pigeon Pete's a go!" Pigeon Pete exclaims, jumping off the building. Our eyes widen and a second later, he flies to Shredder's lair. I hear a door open and I look down to see Slash and Rockwell running. "Rockwell, we've got to move," Slash shouts.

"They escaped on their own?" Donatello asked. I look down at them. Something's not right… Foot Bots start to emerge from the lair, and we follow them. We quickly take out the robots. "Slash, are you okay?" Raphael asked. "Raphael," Slash said softly. "What did Shredder do to you?" I asked as they don't look healthy. "They don't look so good. We've got to get them back to the lair, guys," Donatello explains.

I handed Rockwell a bowl of soup. "Your escape was very fortuitous. Shredder is not one easily eluded," Splinter explains. I raise an eyebrow. How did they escape, anyway? They never really explained that… "Ah, we're just glad you two are okay," Raphael comments. "Are you sure? 'Cause something seems off about you two," Michelangelo answers, hanging upside down. I snicker. But Michelangelo does have a point.

"They did do something to us. Yes, it's all coming back now. We were being experimented on by Shredder," Rockwell explains. I gasp. I can relate, I was experimented on by the Kraang when Apollo and I were cubs. "Experimented on?" Donatello asked.

"He had these strange little worm creatures, and then…and then," Slash answers, holding his head. Must be a headache… "Dude, don't leave us hanging," Michelangelo replies. "Let me get you some water," Splinter said, getting up. Slash suddenly turns around and hits Splinter with his mace, knocking him to the floor.

"Splinter!" Raohael shouted. I turned to Slash and unsheath my claws. How could he? Is he not in the right mind again, like when he tried to destroy us? Not that it really matters or anything, because he wasn't in the right mind... "This can't be happening." Leatherhead said. "How could you, Slash?" Raphael replies as he, Leonardo, and I block his next attack. "Splinter must be destroyed!" Slash answers. I look into his eyes. Is he mind-controlled?

"You'll never hurt Sensei again," Leonardo said and we push him away from Splinter. "Leo, Marcus, check on Splinter," Donatello tells us. Leonardo and I nod and we run towards Splinter with Donatello. "Splinter?" I asked softly before we are lifted up. We all shouted and look to see Rockwell, his eyes white. "Rockwell's gone crazy too!" Donatello exclaims. Slash and Leatherhead start to fight. "Don't make me hurt you, Slash," Leatherhead said. "Don't make me laugh, monster," Slash answers.

Pigeon Pete tries to help Rockwell. "I don't know what's come over you, Doc, but snap out of it!" Pigeon Pete exclaims. Rockwell throws Pigeon Pete to the Space Heroes pinball machine. "Rockwell, why are you doing this?" Leonardo asked. Rockwell lifts up a few objects. "It is the will of the master," he answers, throwing the objects at us. The others get out of the way, but I dodge them with ease. I stand in front of Rockwell. "Rockwell, this isn't you!" I said before I'm hit with a mace and rendered unconscious.

Nyata's POV

Slash holds up Marcus by the scruff of his neck. "Shredder desires the tiger," he said. "Bud!" Leonardo exclaims. Raphael stands up. "I volunteer to go kick his butt right after I kick yours," he said, charging towards Slash. Slash throws a smoke bomb in Raphael's face, rendering him senseless. Raphael falls to the floor.

"Rockwell, fall back!" Slash orders. "Marcus!" I shouted, trying to get the door open. Leatherhead tries to get the door open by ramming into it while Michelangelo checks up on Splinter.

Leatherhead finally opens the door and they see the Party Wagon driving off. "They stole the Party Wagon!" Michelangelo exclaims. "The Shell-Raiser's fully operational. Let's go!" Donatello answers and they chase after the Party Wagon. "Donatello, slow 'em down," Leonardo orders. "Taking out the trash," Donatello answers, firing balls of trash at the Party Wagon, but Rockwell and Slash dodge them.

"Deploying battering ram," Leonardo tells everyone and he rams into the Party Wagon. "That's close enough, turtles," Rockwell said and he releases a trail of oil, causing the Shell-Raiser to crash. Slash and Rockwell get away with Marcus. Michelangelo groans from under Leatherhead.

"They got away with Marcus," he said. They all get out of the Shell-Raiser. "At least we know where they're going," Donatello explains. "Looks like we're going to do what you wanted after all, Raphael; take the fight to Shredder," I admit, narrowing my eyes.

Marcus's POV

I'm alive. I find themselves strapped to a table. Well now, this is interesting."I turn to see Slash and Rockwell standing next to me. "Slash, Rockwell!" I shout. They don't respond. I look around in fear. I hate being experimented on... "It's no use," I hear and I see Stockman-fly flying to me. "With my mind control serum coursing through their brains, resistance is futile," he explains.

"I knew they were mind-controlled," I whispered to myself. "You are aware that I'm capable of many things, yeah?" I asked him. "I am well aware of that. That is why they brought you here." Stockman-Fly answers. "I bet you didn't know I could do… this." I send psychic waves flying across the room. And these psychic waves caused Slash and Rockwell to spit out the brainworms.

After they figured out where they were, they saw Stockman-Fly and tried to attack him, but I stopped them, "Don't attack him." They look at me. "Trust me."

I grab Stockman-Fly by the waist with my tail and bring him up to my face. "Listen to me, bug breath. Take me if you want to. But you're gonna answer to me if you think you can just mind control my friends. Either you take me, or I will tear you apart. Painfully."

"And why would I want to take you?" He asked me. "In case you forgot, I'm the strongest, most powerful being in the world. I can surely defeat those terrapins easily. And if it means saving my friends, then I have no problem with that. Now, I'm telling you one last time before I tear you limb from limb. Take me, and me only. Or be destroyed by my hand."

Slash and Rockwell stare at me in awe at what I just said. They know. I'm willing to sacrifice myself to save them. "Very well," Stockman said. "I have a special worm just for you, anyway."

The worm is placed right in between my eyes and it proceeds to somehow enter my brain through the metal part of my head. Despite the pain being almost impossible to endure, the pain bad enough to make me cry, I refused to let my tears fall, and my only reaction was a wince and a grunt before I closed my eyes.

Nyata's POV

We burst in, seeing him about to deliver the final blow. "It's Marcus!" Michelangelo exclaims. "Do it man. End this," Leonardo told him. He didn't respond. "What's he waiting for?" Donatello asked.

Shredder laughs manically. "Marcus is now mine to control," he explains. "No escape for you, reptiles," Tiger Claw tells them. He then turns to Marcus with an evil grin. "Looks like I finally have my partner." He said, petting him. I clench my Razor Shell in my hand, growling.

"Bud?" Leonardo asked softly. Marcus narrows his eyes before making a storm of fire appear around him. We cover our eyes and when we open them, Marcus is now in his secondary mutation. Marcus stands next to Shredder. "Now, let us welcome you properly," Shredder said, sitting down. A circle of fire surrounds him. Leonardo attacks Shredder, but it's blocked by Marcus.

"Marcus, snap out of it, man! Shredder's the enemy," Leonardo answers. But Marcus just takes a fighting stance. "You are the enemy," Marcus said and charges towards Leonardo. "Let us see what my new servant can do," Shredder said, watching the fight.

Michelangelo was fighting Tiger Claw, who pulls out his ice guns. "Whoa! No fair with the ice guns!" Michelangelo exclaims. "Marcus's girlfriend has ice powers!" Tiger Claw stopped shooting. "Marcus has a girlfriend?" I threw an ice ball at his head. "Yeah, he does! Don't think about flirting with me!"

Meanwhile, the wolf tiger manages to keep everyone at a distance. They were all reluctant and hesitant to fight their best friend and brother. Leonardo jumps up to a statue. "Marcus, you've got to break Shredder's control. This isn't you. Where's your friendly fire?" Leonardo said to his furry brother, taking two weapons. "Don't be an idiot. There's nothing you can say, Leonardo," Marcus answers.

"Break free, you furball!" Leonardo exclaims and he sees Marcus twitch a bit. He then forms a plan. "Ah! I think I get it. You can't feel emotion because you're Shredder's puppet. As a matter of fact, I'll bet you like doing whatever Shredder tells you to. You probably love it," Leonardo replies and Marcus growls before viciously knocking Leonardo down to the floor.

"All we gotta do is insult him, right?" Raphael asked. Leonardo closes his eyes. "Hey Marcus, you smell like a sewer!" Michelangelo exclaims. He doesn't respond, not even a flinch. The others look at each other. "You're fatter than a sea cow," Donatello said. He simply blinks.

"Why isn't he insulted?" Pigeon Pete asked. Raphael smirks. "I got this. Hey Marcus, I bet you like being a slave," he shouts. He spat. "Wasn't that supposed to be an insult?" he asked and jumps down.

"I don't understand, he's supposed to be offended!" Rockwell shouts. Shredder laughs. "I see you have fulfilled your promise, Stockman," Shredder simply said. "Yes, master. My special brain worm prevents him from feeling all emotion," he explains. "No…" Leonardo whispers.

"Yes. Destroy them," Shredder orders Marcus. He yells and charges towards them. Leonardo blocks him with his sword. "Rockwell, blast the worm out of Marcus!" Donatello exclaims. Rockwell tries using his powers, but nothing. "I'm afraid I can't, Donatello. His head is made of metal, like a Raikou," he answers. "But we can't fight our brother!" Michelangelo exclaims.

Marcus takes out Pigeon Pete with one punch. "Pete!" Slash exclaims and turns to Marcus. "That's it! You're going down!" he shouts, charging towards him. He moves out of the way, grabs the mace out of his hands, and hits him in the face. "Slash!" Leatherhead yells and he grabs Marcus by his waist. "I do not want to hurt you, my friend," he said.

He pressure points him all over and kicks him to the floor. Rockwell uses his mind to throw weapons at him, but he roars, burning them. He rams Rockwell to the wall. Now it was the turtles and me standing.

"You can't defeat me," he said. "But you can't do this!" Donatello shouts. "Please! We love you!" Michelangelo exclaims. He scoffs. "Your mere words can't and won't do anything," he answers. Leonardo said nothing and closes his eyes. "Finish them," Shredder orders and he yells, charging at them. Raphael sweep kicks him, but he flies over them, growling at them.

"Bud…don't do this. This isn't you. Where's the guy who can make us smile? The one who can comfort us about anything? The one I love the most?" I said, whispering the last question. "We need you, dude," Michelangelo tells him. "Marcus…come back to us," Donatello whispers. He glares and attacks them.

Donatello throws stars at him, but he burns them all. Despite his efforts to keep his distance, Marcus snaps Donatello's staff, bites his arm, and throws him away. Donatello holds his slightly bleeding arm as Marcus closes in on him. Donatello does nothing except shake in fear.

"Booyakasha!" Marcus is suddenly bound by Michelangelo's kusarigama chain. Marcus uses his strength to break the chain. Michelangelo jumps up to attack him, but Marcus uses Fire Blast, sending the youngest turtle to the ground.

Half-driven by rage, Leonardo lands a hit on Marcus, slashing his shoulder. He roars out in pain. He turns to Leonardo. He scratches him across the plastron and punches him in the face. Hard.

Which left only Raphael and me.

He walks towards him. "Bud, I don't want to fight you," he said. "Stop calling me that," he answers. Raphael narrows his eyes. He didn't really want to do this…but he didn't have a choice now.

Raphael manages to slash his arm, leaving a scar. "Ah!" he exclaims, holding his arm in pain. Marcus smirks and pins him to the floor. I threw a mound of snow at his face. Marcus snaps his head towards me. "I'm not letting you hurt him." It took me a second to see that he was drooling. Jeez, he looks like a rabid dog.

I block a Hammer Arm with my normal arm. The two of us fought for a good while. I'm trying to block his arm again, but I'm losing myself. "Come on, babe. I know you're in there somewhere." I tell him. He just slams me to the floor with his tail. Then he swift kicks me to the wall. Raphael tries to attack him, but Marcus punches him in the stomach, knocking him backwards, and knocking the wind out of him. Marcus pins him down, growling.

"At last, I will have my revenge. Finish this," Shredder said. Marcus slowly leaned forward. When he got too close, Raphael shouted, "Stay back!" and punched him in the nose. He turned to him, growling. I jumped on him and covered his eyes. He thrashed around the room for a few seconds, before he slammed me into the wall.

I then formed a plan. I grabbed the side of his head and stared into his eyes. "Look into my eyes, baby!" Marcus doesn't move for the next few seconds. I half-expected him to bite my face off, but instead he roars, shaking his head. He starts retching like a cat. With Raphael rubbing his back, Marcus gags and spits out the worm. Leonardo squishes it. He groans, holding his head. "Bud?" Raphael asked, helping him up. He looks at him and smiles. "Whassup?" He whispers. Raphael shouts happily and hugs him. I joined the hug, my tail wagging.

"What?" Shredder asked. The three teams then get up, as does Shredder. "It is time I end this experiment," Shredder said. The three teams surround him. "Tigers, Turtles, and Mutanimals, get him!" Leonardo orders. One by one, each of the mutants are defeated by Shredder with only Marcus, Leonardo, and Raphael left. Marcus lands a powerful blow to his head, knocking his Kuro Kabuto right off.

Marcus and Shredder face off against each other. "You fool. You could have joined us and had all the power you could have ever wanted." Shredder said. "I already have all the power I want. Flames, muscles, and my friends and family." We all grin at this. "If you knew what that felt like, you'd understand."

As he was about to defeat Shredder, Slash and Leatherhead push down one of the statues on him. But we only have a moment of peace before Foot Bots surround them. Raphael prepares to fight, but Leonardo stops him. "Another time," Leonardo said and the turtles and Marcus throw down smoke bombs, giving us a getaway.

Slash stands before Splinter, a cup of tea in his hand. "I'm…sorry, Master Splinter. When I attacked, I could see everything that was happening, but I couldn't control my actions. Please, forgive me," Slash said. Splinter puts a hand on his shoulder.

"There is nothing to forgive, my friend. This was Shredder's doing. Your mind was not your own," Splinter answers. "Those worms must have programmed you two like sleeper agents," Donatello explains.

"Indeed, it was dreadful." Rockwell turns to me. "Marcus, I can't thank you enough for the selfless act you've done tonight," Rockwell answers. I shrugged. "No need to thank me. In a way, I learned from the best," I said, glancing at Leonardo. "Thanks." Leonardo said from behind me. He grabs me from behind and gives me a hug. Not expecting it, I returned it, anyway.

I sighed, "I'm the luckiest cat in the world."

"Why?" They asked, confused. "I have the best friends in the whole world," he said, and smiled. "Friends that would forgive me after everything I did, and acknowledge me for something brave I did." I huffed.

"I'm not just the luckiest cat - I'm the luckiest guy, ever. I love you guys." Hearing sniffles, I looked around to see all of them hiding their faces, trembling. "S-stupid...cat...!" Raphael said, and dove in to give me a big hug. "Why 'ya gotta keep sayin' that?!"

He sobbed. The other three joined in the hug, all of them crying and holding me tight. "S-sorry!" I said, blinking in surprise as they squished me. "We love you too," Donatello cried, rubbing his eyes. "We never got to say it, we were so scared - we love you too, bud,."

"More than there are moons in the sky," Leonardo laughed, nuzzling me. "Yeah!" Raphael agreed, snuggling him closer. "Some stupid mushy junk like that!"

"Aw, you guys," I sniffed, rubbing an eye. "S-stop crying, will ya...!" Laughing, they squeezed me tight, happily rocking back and forth. It didn't take long for Nyata to join the hug. "You're the best, bud," Raphael said. I smiled. "I know" I said before purring.