Me: Hey guys! I've recently gotten involved in the Rise fandom! I've decided to make fanfic based on an AU I've been messing with! I hope you guys enjoy and leave behind some reviews! Now, que the story!
Draxum's Twins (Prologue)
Draxum hummed an old melody from when he was young - right before his world crumbled around him, and he was required to grow stronger than everyone else to compensate. He plucked a test tube from the holder resting upon the scarred table beside him and, pinching it between his clawed thumb and forefinger, he swirled it around, the bubbling liquid within sloshing against its sides. The liquid glowed a bright, menacing green, illuminating everything its man-made light touched.
It was almost too hard to believe that this ooze - even a tiny drop - could ensure his entire future.
Draxum stared at his personal creation, and he lowered his hand, gently replacing the small lab equipment back within its empty slot. His eyes scoured the rest of what was scattered across the table, taking in the various pieces of lab equipment he acquired over many years of hard work. Eventually, his gaze fell onto a large crystal ball-like orb sitting atop a pale brown pedestal, its glossy black surface glinting underneath the fluorescent lights of his laboratory.
Quietly, he waved his hand over the orb, the corners of his lips twitching upwards as a stream of cyan light burst free from underneath his palm. The light shone upwards in a vertical line and thousands of glowing particles spun and gathered before him, forming several squirming symbols within the air. A combination of letters and numbers written in his own language materialized into existence, and Draxum scanned them. These were his formulas that he painstakingly rewrote repeatedly till he felt it was absolute perfection; till he finally got the results that he desired. He extended a clawed hand towards the floating formulas - as if to caress his tireless work - but his fingertips passed through them, specks of cyan light spraying from them like the petals of a flower and into the surrounding area.
They flew past the numerous cages that lined the back walls of his laboratory, revealing the unnatural, twisted features of the animals inside. The creatures were test subjects that he snuck from the surface world - the disgusting human world - and he experimented upon them with the different versions of his ooze until he got the results that he wanted. The animals growled and wheezed within their new homes; some moaned on and off - whether they mourned the loss of their original bodies, or they couldn't handle the unrelenting agony that followed their forced transformation, Draxum didn't care. His creatures usually grew quiet after a few well-aimed doses of heavy-duty tranquilizers, after all.
The things he did to ensure the safety of his people.
He swiped a palm over the orb, the schematics to his formulas spinning in the air before being sucked into the mystical storage item. Leftover sparkles gradually dissipated around him, and he crossed his arms, leaning against the side of his table. He found his gaze wandering once again, and he took a quick look around his surroundings.
His laboratory was gigantic, a byproduct of several years of hard work, including pushing everyone else down to get to the top. Bright fluorescent lights swirled together to beam down from the high ceiling, bouncing off the metallic surfaces of his hand-made inventions that were scattered here and there. Amid his lab stood a towering structure, long tubes filled with his precious ooze hanging off the sides. A large cage - created from his very own vines - sat at the very bottom of the structure, four tiny pods jotting out of the tower, hovering just above it.
Draxum tapped the pointer finger of one hand along his bicep, impatience quickly building within his chest. Over an hour ago, he'd sent his newest minions out to grab something - more like someone - vital to completing the more exciting part of his long-awaited experiment. Although, if he were, to be honest, Draxum hardly expected them to succeed with the job that he tasked them with. The probability of them even coming close to getting what he needed - or coming back alive - was low, at best-
The doors of his laboratory abruptly swung open with such force that Draxum was sure there would be a large crack left upon the walls, and he pushed himself off the table to see who had arrived. To his surprise, two miniature-sized gargoyles flew into the room, loudly calling out his name. His eyes widened once he took note of the human - the one person who could very well help him achieve everything that he dreamt about since the day he heard the prophecy - that they each grasped in their tiny hands.
The man was none-other-than, the famous Lou Jitsu, as anyone could easily tell by his signature white jumpsuit and bright orange gloves and sunglasses. He sat cross-legged in the gargoyles' grasp, his eyes closed as he hummed some sort of mantra. Speechless, Draxum waved his hand, the purple vines that made up the entirety of the cage at the base of the tower of ooze retreating. The gargoyles wasted no time dumping Lou Jitsu inside, the man not even flinching.
They actually did it.
The two gargoyles were his newest companions; it was a fact that Draxum was still having a difficult time believing. These tiny creatures - barely bigger than his fists - were nothing like the tall, beef-cakey gargoyles that he had in mind. Even so, they'd proven themselves to be capable thus far. They'd even managed to saddle his pony, an action that left men three times their size without their limbs. But, to test their true capabilities as his future lackeys, he sent them off to bring him the elusive Lou Jitsu. It was a known fact that the man was heavily guarded by Big Mama and her goons, the spider yokai treating him like some prized puppet that only she could manipulate. The Battle Nexus had airtight security as a result; guards and security cameras lined each entrance. It was a literal death trap; a fact that Draxum was more than aware of. Yet, despite all the odds, his minions achieved the impossible and stole from Big Mama.
How-
"Impressive," he stated, breathlessly, peering into the cage. Lou Jitsu still sat in the same cross-legged position, humming with a thumb and pointer finger on each hand making a small circle. Despite his sudden change in location, the man seemed completely at ease. Without taking his eye off of the younger man, he acknowledged his minions. "Be on my shoulders first thing in the morning," he commanded, his eyes still firmly locked onto the man. "Oh, and enjoy your first night in your dog bed."
The gargoyles whooped behind him, excitedly, high-fiving each other. "Bow-stinkin-wow!"
Draxum twisted his head around in time to see them zoom out of the room, eager to claim their minor reward. That was one thing Draxum liked about the gargoyles' size; he didn't have to worry about finding somewhere to place them. That, and they seemed overly happy to sleep in an old dog bed.
Draxum was suddenly aware of a small shuffling sound and, when he turned around, he found Lou Jitsu struggling to stretch his arm through the bars of his cage. For a split second, the sheep yokai was afraid the man was trying to find a way to escape, but he quickly squashed that fear when he realized that he was reaching for a brown box left beside his cage. Draxum watched as Lou peeled back the flaps of the box, and he pulled out a baby turtle - specifically, a red-eared slider.
Lou brought the turtle closer to his face, delicately balancing it in the palm of his orange-gloved hands. "Well, aren't you cute?" He cooed in a Japanese accented voice, rubbing a thumb along the design on the turtle's shell. "I shall call you, Green!" He leaned over once more, and he plucked another turtle from the box. This time, Draxum recognized it as a snapping turtle. "And, I shall call you, Green#2! But," Lou furrowed his brow, staring at the two turtles within his hands. "How will I tell you two apart?"
Draxum stepped closer to the caged human, his steps slow and purposeful, and he swung his arms out. "Aw, the great Lou Jitsu." He may have a general hatred for all humans, especially with the weight of the prophecy hanging over his head like an anvil, but he knew better than to disrespect a fellow warrior. This simple man was famous for defeating every opponent that came his way, using unique moves that almost seemed too fast for the naked eye to behold. Draxum could still recall the days when he used to watch him perform in the Battle Nexus, proudly standing atop the unconscious bodies of his adversaries. It was then, at that moment, that he knew he needed that human to complete his experiment. "Your warrior prowess is legendary!"
Lou finally addressed him, the human turning away from the turtles in his hand to look at him. Draxum wondered if he'd even realized that he was in the same room as him. "My fighting days are behind me," he stated, firmly, bitterly. It sounded like a rehearsed phrase to Draxum; as if he'd said it over and over before. "I will never harm another creature."
As if to verify his statement, Lou Jitsu leaned his head down, puckering his lips to kiss the snapping turtle in his right hand. Draxum had chosen that particular turtle out of his interest in its sharp teeth and nature to bite at anything it declared to be a threat -
"Ow-!"
In this case, it was Lou Jitsu.
The man reeled back; his upper lip firmly clasped in the turtle's sharp teeth. They were locked in a small game of tug-of-war for a few seconds until the turtle gave up and released his lip. Lou Jitsu proceeded to suck upon his lip, glaring at the turtle. "Why you little-"
Draxum rose a brow, caressing his chin as he ignored the man's colorful curses. So, the rumors were true, then; Lou Jitsu really did stop fighting in the Battle Nexus. Many yokais assumed Big Mama stopped allowing her prized warrior fight because she wanted to use him to gain more profit by convincing people to pay more to get a sneak peek. That, or she'd worked the human to death.
Draxum chuckled, a smirk tugging at his lips. But this made things so much easier for him. If Lou Jitsu refused to fight, then that meant the human wouldn't even raise a finger to stop him from performing his experiment on him. With this in mind, Draxum stuck his hand out towards the cage, the vines shrinking back at his will. "Fighting will not be needed with your innate genetic gifts."
Lou tucked the two turtles closer to his chest, suspiciously eying Draxum from beyond his tinted sunglasses.
Draxum checked along his large tower of ooze, making sure each tubing was properly connected. Even though he could've asked his minions to help him out, he wanted to do this on his own. He started this - spent countless nights working himself to death to secure a future for his people - and he wanted to finish this on his own. Besides, he couldn't risk something going wrong in his plans now. And, from what he could tell of the gargoyles, they weren't exactly the smartest.
Satisfied everything was in order, he drifted over to the familiar cardboard box lying on the ground. Within the box, four different turtles blinked up at him, chirping happily at the sight of him. He wondered whether the simple minds of the helpless creatures were even capable of comprehending just what he was going to do to them. With a flick of his hand, a vine popped up from the ground, and he used it to tug a random turtle from the box - the red-eared slider, he noted.
"What are you doing with Green?"
Draxum craned his neck upwards at the sound of Lou Jitsu's (increasingly annoying) voice, strands of his long hair tickling his neck. Just above him, with his back pressed against the tower of ooze and his body strapped down to the floor of his cage, Lou Jitsu stared down at him, a scowl marring his tan face. Even though he appeared displeased, the man appeared unnaturally calm, if not concerned for the small turtle he held within his grasp. In fact, Lou Jitsu hadn't even put up an ounce of struggle when Draxum strung him up like some sort of insect; it was as if he no longer cared about what happened to himself.
All the better for Draxum.
A smirk slid across his lips, and Draxum ordered the vine to lower the baby turtle before him. Quietly, he held his hand out, palming facing upward, and the red-eared slider slowly stepped onto it.
"You've taken quite a liking to these turtles. Fascinating creatures," he murmured, more to himself than Lou Jitsu. He tapped a long claw against the surface of the turtle's blue-green shell, and the creature turned its head to look at him. Its black eyes sparkled in the light, and Draxum swore he could see some semblance of intelligence shining within. "Built for survival and defense, yet they are too slow to be effective to be fighters."
Several other vines gathered around him, and they each stole a baby turtle from the cardboard box. Draxum placed the red-eared slider back onto the vine still waiting patiently before him, and he jerked his head upwards. His vines willingly followed his silent command, and the plants rose into the air with the four turtles riding upon them. They paused right above Lou Jitsu's head, the human straining the muscles in his neck to see what was happening. One-by-one, the vines plopped the turtles into four bright yellow pods; first, the snapping turtle, then a softshell turtle, the red-eared slider, and a tiny box turtle. The turtles floated within the liquid inside the pods, their small bodies too weak to swim against the thick substance.
"Wait! Stop!" Lou Jitsu, for the first time since he'd been locked up, weakly tugged against his bindings, his eyes wide behind his sunglasses. "I will not let you turn these innocent creatures into horrible monsters!"
Draxum tuned him out; all the man ever did was babble complete and utter nonsense. It was blatantly obvious to him that Lou Jitsu was unlikely to follow up on his promise. Even a blind man could see that the once-powerful and mighty warrior that Draxum admired was nothing more than a shell of his former self; completely drained of his warrior spirit. Big Mama forced him to fight never-ending battles in the Battle Nexus until his desire to keep fighting dwindled away into nothingness. Instead, Draxum turned his attention on initiating the next - and most exciting - part of his experiment.
He crossed the room, slowly, wanting to drink in the moment. Eventually, he reached his destination; a big lever resting against the adjoining wall. Draxum closed his hand around the lever, the steel surface cold against his palm. He breathed in, steeling himself - for what, he wasn't 100% sure, and he pulled the lever downwards. His tower of ooze immediately began to glow and let out a mechanical whirr, the structure sucking the very energy out of his laboratory. The lights overhead flickered on and off, the ever-growing gleam from the machine coating the entirety of the room. Within the four pods, the turtles abruptly came alive, their tiny bodies writhing and twisting in unnatural ways as their DNA was forcibly intertwined with Lou Jitsu's. Dozens of sickly bubbles shrouded their figures, temporarily hiding their transformations from view. Suddenly, a bright white light swallowed the pods, and Draxum held his breath. After a few seconds, the light faded away, and Draxum was more than pleased to see that the turtles' forms had been altered. Their bodies were significantly larger than before, their features gradually becoming more human-like with each passing second.
Delightful laughter bubbled up into Draxum's chest, and he let it spill out of his mouth and into the surrounding air. He spread his arms to the side in utter joy, taking in the slow completion of his greatest experiment. Finally, after so many years of withering underneath the ignorant judgment of the Council as they sat atop their oblivious pedestals, he was going to accomplish something that could very well save all yokai kind. He could already see it forming before his very eyes; his experiments would storm the human world and forever alter the fate destined for their world. He could hardly contain his excitement any longer.
Unbeknownst to him, Lou Jitsu's struggles had yet to die down. In fact, the sight of the baby turtles silently screaming as their very being was being rewritten only helped to reignite the dying flame within him. Tensing his jaw, Lou Jitsu lowered his head to his chest, and he closed his eyes. "I know I said I would never fight again, but-" Gathering the strength that'd been lying dormant in his chest, he gave one strong tug against his bindings. The vines snapped, and he broke free. He karate-chopped through the bar-like vines of his cage, and he jumped through the hole he made. "HOT SOUP!"
Draxum's laughter broke off at the sound of the familiar battle cry; the warning shriek to all his opponents that'd always reverberated throughout the Battle Nexus in the midst of a fight. He dropped his arms to his sides, and he twirled around in time to receive a flying, sharp knee to the nose. The absolute force of the unexpected attack sent him flying sidewards into his precious tower of ooze. His back crashed into something pointy, knocking the very air from his lungs. Draxum slid to the metallic floor below him, nearly face nearly kissing the ground. For a few seconds, the world spun around him in dizzying circles, and it took him a moment to be able to draw in a complete breath. Above him, his machine groaned at the sudden torment, the structure quivering. As his vision cleared, he had a perfect view of his machine spitting his turtles out of a tube, the small creatures spinning out in front of him in a puddle of yellow goo. One look at them and Draxum could tell that the turtles were still premature.
Draxum growled, slamming his fist into the floor. With all inklings of happiness draining from his mind, he picked himself up and glared at the man. "What have you done!?"
He didn't give the man a chance to answer before he was rushing forward, pulling back his fist in preparation to strike Lou Jitsu. The retired warrior dropped into a battle stance, raising his orange-gloved fists before him and narrowing his eyes in determination behind his sunglasses. Draxum swung, and Lou Jitsu ducked underneath his arm. The man delivered an uppercut of his own at such an unexpected speed that Draxum narrowly dodged to the side in time. Even with his quick reaction, the absolute force behind the human's fist still sliced into his left cheek. He stumbled to the side, and he pressed his fingertips to his face. When he looked, Draxum was unimpressed to find his fingers stained with his own blood. He dropped his hand, and he glowered back at the man.
Lou Jitsu firmly stood a few feet away, his body still posed his infamous battle stance. If Draxum didn't know better, he would say that the human had a large air of smugness surrounding him. Although, he won't be completely surprised. Lou Jitsu was in his element, after all. Whether the man believed it or not, he was born to be a literal fighting machine and all that time without fighting must've left him itching for some sort of physical alteration. And, at any other time, Draxum would've been more than happy to give it to him. He'd always wanted to test Lou Jitsu's almost inhuman fighting capabilities but, now, all he wanted was to end this scrawny man's life.
He never did say he needed Lou Jitsu alive to complete his experiment.
Draxum rose his arms, and his vines shot up through the floor below him. The purple plants wiggled at his sides, and he sent them flying at Lou Jitsu. The man crossed his arms before his face, successfully blocking the first onslaught from completely tearing his body. Instead, they sliced into his limbs, eating at the pristine fabric of his jumpsuit and drawing small streams of red from his skin. The man dashed around the second wave of vines, and he headed towards Draxum. The sight angered the sheep yokai, even more, a growl slipping from in between his lips.
All his work was for nothing now.
Lou Jitsu spun on one high-topped heel, and he swung his leg in a sharp roundhouse kick. Draxum leaned back and narrowly avoided the attack, using one vine to tug on the ankle of the man's leg that was still planted on the ground. Lou Jitsu fell but he caught himself, slapping his palms flat against the ground. He twisted his entire body like a top, and the vine tore away from his ankle. He launched himself into the air, aiming to add some distance between him and Draxum.
All those years of constant planning useless.
Before Lou Jitsu's feet could even touch the ground, Draxum sent another small army of vines bursting from the floor and towards him.
All because of -
Lou Jitsu weaved his way through the vines, twisting and turning his body, gritting his teeth in response.
This stupid -
As the man became occupied with avoiding his vines, Draxum began making his way forward. Lou Jitsu may be renowned for his extraordinary physical strength and speed, but Draxum knew he had him when it came to strategy. The moment Lou Jitsu passed through the last of the vines, Draxum appeared before the man. The world around them suddenly shifted into a state of slow motion, and Draxum watched as Lou Jitsu's face slowly changed into an expression of surprise.
Human!
Draxum pulled his fist back, and he slammed it into Lou Jitsu's face. The punch collided into the tender flesh of the man's cheek, knocking his head back. Lou Jitsu went flying backward, but he caught himself in mid-air and landed squarely on his feet. From where the man stood, Draxum was pleased to see a bruise already starting to bloom across the left portion of his face. Even so, the hit seemed to barely have an effect on the human.
Lou Jitsu merely pushed his skewed sunglasses back onto the bridge of his note, ignoring the large crack that stretched across one of the lenses. He rubbed his thumb across the bottom of his nose, and he twisted his head to the side to spit out a bloody glob onto the ground. With that done, Lou Jitsu dropped back into his battle stance, fists returning to their clenched position before his face.
However, before either of them could move a muscle, an explosion sounded from the top of the tower of ooze behind Draxum, spraying debris. He whirled around to witness several more miniature multicolored explosions, lighting up each section of the tower. Draxum found himself frozen in absolute horror, his eyes unable to peel away from the sight of all his research essentially going up in flames.
"No!" He cried out, reaching out a hand. He was well aware of the fact that it was already too late to stop the explosions. "My ooze!"
Then, the entire world around them lit up in a brilliant flash of white.
Lou Jitsu shielded his face from the explosion, spare shrapnel biting into his body and the force sent him skidding back several feet. When he felt it was safe(ish), he lowered his arms, nearly breathing in a cloud of smoke. Before him, a massive fire swallowed the area where the weird sheep man - or yokai, as he knew they were called - once stood. He took a moment to process his current situation, a stray hand exploring the bruise he knew had to be forming on his cheek. The injury stung, but Lou Jitsu ignored it. He'd taken worse hits in the Battle Nexus, after all. Heck, he'd dished out worse -
Stop.
Lou Jitsu sighed, scrubbing a palm over his face.
He had other things to worry about now like -
He spun around, his narrowed eyes scouring through the thickening cloud of smoke developing within the room. As more of the strange tower-like structure exploded, the integrity of the room became increasingly destabilized, debris raining down from all around. He found his gaze wandering back to the wall of flames growing around the tower, a scowl marring his face.
The turtles.
He ran towards the flames, his shoes squeaking against the floor. He crossed his arms before his face like some sort of shield, and he jumped through the burning fire. The flames licked at his clothes - his body - before he burst out on the other side. He slid against the ground, and he coughed into the crook of his elbow to clear the smoke from his spasming lungs. He glanced around the area, and he found himself smiling at the sight before him. The turtles still laid in a puddle of yellow goo, the four of them pressing their trembling but still very much alive bodies against one another. In the midst of their pile, Green #1 peered up at him with a tiny smile, reaching out with what Lou Jitsu could only describe as grabby hands. His wide eyes ran over their larger transformed forms, taking in the unnatural human features they've developed since he'd last seen them.
He swallowed once, twice, at this, and he didn't even hesitate to scoop their shivering child-like bodies into his arms. He pressed them against his chest, feeling each of them grab onto the fabric of his jumpsuit. "I will save you, little turtles," he stated, firmly. He didn't know if he was promising that to them or to himself.
His ears suddenly caught the sound of guttural moaning, and he looked up. For the first time, Lou Jitsu took note of the hundreds of cages lining the back walls of the laboratory. Within each and every cage, ugly and deformed creatures peered pitifully down at him, moaning and groaning and crying out in absolute agony. Lou Jitsu could feel deep down in his empty gut that every single one of these poor beings was once normal animals that lived regular painless lives.
Lou Jitsu squared his jaw, and he surveyed the rest of the walls within the laboratory. His eyes fell upon a lever floating beside the cages, the gray metal shining orange in the flickering lights of the flames.
He wasn't able to save them from the cruel fate that had befallen them, but he could save them from an unfair death.
He crossed the room in a split second and, juggling the baby turtles who refused to let go of him, he wrapped his fingers around the cold handle of the lever. He tugged it downward and, in the same moment, the doors of every cage swung open with a loud whoosh. The unnatural creatures trudged out their tiny "homes", hissing as they stretched their long, gangly limbs. They eyed Lou Jitsu almost hungrily, and he found himself hugging the turtles closer to himself as if shielding them from view. He didn't want to fight these poor creatures if he could help it, especially with the turtles with him. Thankfully, before anything could happen, the creatures turned their attention to the roaring fire and the falling chunks of debris from above, and, then, they were scrambling to find the exit. The creatures shoved past him, recklessly, pushing their transformed bodies to the limit.
He should follow their lead.
He took one tiny step forward, and he instantly froze at the small squeak peeped from somewhere near his feet. He backed away a couple of steps, and he angled his head downward. A chubby gray rat sat on his haunches, his little pink nose sniffing the burning air around them. Lou Jitsu recognized the rude rodent as the rat that kept him company during his imprisonment within the Battle Nexus. The little creature had an annoying habit of biting and hissing at him at any chance he got, and Lou Jitsu had no idea what he could've done to anger such a spiteful creature. The rat must've hitched a ride with him when he was taken by those two strange and excessively talkative creatures.
After a moment of consideration, Lou Jitsu gingerly shuffled his small group of turtles into one arm, the tiny turtles - if he could even call them that anymore - mewed softly at the movement. With his one free arm, he lowered his hand to the rat, his palm facing upward.
"You too," he offered. As mean-spirited as the rat was, it didn't deserve to be left behind to burn to death. "My-"
Before he could finish the rest of his statement, the rat bared its yellowing teeth, and it bit down on his thumb.
"Ow!"
He desperately waved his hand in the air, the rat still firmly latched onto his hand. Lou Jitsu swore he could feel the rat's large, buck teeth digging into his skin even through his thick gloves. Eventually, the rat's grip loosened, and its small body hit the ground and rolled. It instantly popped to its feet, and it hissed at Lou Jitsu.
He hissed back, "Why you little-"
The rest of his phrase was abruptly cut off by another unexpected explosion from behind him, and he twisted around to eye the structure he'd been previously strapped down to. The massive tower shuddered under the combined force of the eruptions, and large glowing fissures raced up and down its sides, squirting acidic green ooze and debris. A familiar instinct pressed into his brain - one forged from years of fighting in and out of the Battle Nexus - and, reflexively, he angled himself over the turtles' frail bodies, pulling them close to him. He was distinctly aware of something shattering from above him, and he barely managed to take in one, two breaths before something hot splattered onto his back. He slowly straightened up, staring at the dribbles of bright green rolling down his shoulder and sticking his clothes to his tanned skin.
That's when the pain started.
Suddenly, his skin began to itch, the sensation increasingly spreading across the entirety of his body. Then, it was burning, burning, burning like he was being swallowed up by the sun itself, and he swore it was melting - peeling off. Before his very eyes, he witnessed the surface of his skin bubbling up, and his tan skin darkened into a bloated pink. An ever-present ache burrowed its way into his bones, and it grew and grew until they felt as if they were splintering into a million pieces. Shakily, Lou Jitsu raised his hand to his face, studying the trembling limb. His fingers stretched, bones crunching, until they broke through the fingertips of his orange gloves, unveiling his newly pink clawed fingers.
The pain rose like a tidal wave, and every inch of his body was encased in absolute agony. It was one of the worst sensations he ever experienced in his life, comparable only to the wound Big Mama inflicted upon his heart when she took advantage of his vulnerable love for her. Lou Jitsu's vision grew hazy, and his body swayed as if he was on a boat under the impossible weight of his transformation. He staggered forward, his legs suddenly unwilling to cooperate, and, when he looked down, he was helpless to stop his pink, elongated toes from bursting through the front of his platform shoes. His body finally had enough, and it failed him completely. Lou Jitsu went spiraling to the ground, and he had just enough awareness to note that the turtles went spinning out of his slack hands. His vision tunneled out as an ever-growing pressure burst within his head, and the last thing he registered was his cheek pressing against the cold floor.
He didn't know when he came to.
One second, he was drifting in blissful darkness, and the next, he was thrusted back into agonizing consciousness. His brain felt stuffed with several wads of cotton, and black and white spots coated his vision. Luckily, however, the grueling pain from earlier had dissipated enough that he could push it to the back of his mind.
Lou Jitsu awkwardly gathered his arms underneath himself, and he attempted to peel himself from the floor. It was difficult; his body barely responded to his commands. At some point, it seemed as if his bones had been completely liquified. He shakily climbed to his feet, his knees nearly buckling under the weight of his new body. His head entered a cloud of thickening smoke, and he could feel the remaining air in his lungs crackling. He coughed into his palm and, for the first time, he noticed what lacked in his hands. Lou Jitsu stared down at his vacant palms, clenching his aching hands into a fist.
"I-" His voice cracked, horribly, and he hacked, his lungs spasming. His tongue felt swollen in his much larger mouth, and it kept bumping against his newly formed buck teeth. "I have to get the turtles."
He froze, and he drew a trembling hand to his throat. His voice. It was still his, but now it was altered; his tone higher, almost borderline squeaky.
He shook his head, pushing the thought to the back of his mind. He had bigger things to worry about.
He forced himself to move, stiff and clumsy. He stepped forward, and he wobbled around, desperately looking through the piles of rubble for the turtles.
"Turtles," he croaked out, his voice just barely rising above the ongoing destruction around him. "Where are you?"
He knew it was pointless to call out to them; they were babies, after all-
His ears perked up - were they always on top of his head? - at a small chirping sound that resonated somewhere near him. He twisted on his heel and stumbled over to the source. Lou Jitsu weakly shoved his way through a mound of rubble, straining his ears. His newfound muscles stretched and popped at the abuse, and he ignored them in favor of rolling the chunks of rubble to the side. Tucked on the other side, two out of the four turtles were huddled in a small pile - the snapping turtle and the box turtle. Surprisingly, Lou Jitsu found that the snapping turtle was wrapped around the smaller turtle in an embrace, soothing him as the box turtle cried - in a somewhat human-like manner, Lou Jitsu noted.
"Green #2, Green #4," he whispered, happily.
The snapping turtle blinked up at him, his shiny eyes almost begging Lou Jitsu to do something. He reached his long fingers out, and he gently cupped the tiny turtles into his hands. The box turtle's wailing calmed down at the movement, and he was pleased to see neither turtle shied away from the sight of his new form. Lou Jitsu gathered them up into his arms and pressed them close tight, tight, tight until he could feel their tiny fingers grasping at the torn fabric of his jumpsuit.
2 down.
He picked up his head, and he stared out at the rest of the burning laboratory. All of the sheep yokai's inventions and weapons were sent aflame, and chunks of debris decorated the previously clean laboratory. His heart pumped madly within his ears, and he could practically count each second as the area grew closer and closer to blowing up. Lou Jitsu's eyes felt painfully dry from all the thinning air, and he blinked heavily to clear the burning tears from them.
2 more to go.
"Where are they?"
A small tug on the front of his jumpsuit tugged him back into reality. He peered down, and he started at the innocent gaze of the snapping turtle looking back at him. Green #2 smiled, and he pointed a tiny finger out into the middle of the lab. Lou Jitsu followed the digit and, when he squinted his eyes, he swore he could spot a small speck surrounded by crumbling rubble.
He smiled, gratefully, his jaw creaking at the action. "Thank you, little one."
Green #2 merely chirped happily in response, and he nestled in close to the sniffling box turtle. Lou Jitsu tucked them both close to his body, and he continued his slow, painful journey through the surrounding multi-colored flames. Blackening smoke, unrelentingly, hit him over and over in the face, forcing him to breathe carefully through his nose. As he closed in on the remaining turtles, he was more than pleased to see that they were in better shape than him - for now, at least. The softshell turtle and the red-eared slider were clinging onto one another, their own converted bodies still too large and awkward for their young minds to control. Their trembling forms were pressed against a chunk of what Lou Jitsu assumed was the roof, trying and failing to hide away from the growing flames around them. He staggered towards them, urging his legs to go faster. Green #1 seemed to sense his presence, and the red-eared slider peeled his face from the crook of the other turtle's neck to stare at him. From there, he extended a tiny hand, and he reached out towards Lou Jitsu with pleading eyes. Lou Jitsu raised his own hand out to the turtles, mere seconds away from gathering them up into his arms.
Then, he blinked.
One moment, the turtles were there, waiting for him to help them - to rescue them. The next, an explosion - the biggest one Lou Jitsu could recall - rocked the laboratory, nearly throwing him off his feet. Then, a giant chunk of debris descended from the crumbling roof, and it crashed to the ground - right where the turtles were. Lou Jitsu froze, and he forgot to breathe, the air in his lungs suddenly replaced a pound of lead. His knees shook and buckled, his infallible spirit waning. He collapsed upon his knees, the sharp sting that followed after small compared to the pain building in his chest. Green #2 and #4 squirmed in his arms - whether because of all the movement or all his current state of mind, who knows - and he tightened his grip on them, frightened they, too, might disappear if he didn't.
"No," he mumbled, his lips forming around the word, but no air coming out from behind it. "No!"
He crawled forward, crazed with increasing guilt and regret, and Lou Jitsu headed towards the debris. One-handed - because no way he was putting down now, he dug through all the stone and shrapnel, looking, and looking for those small turtles who haven't even been in this cruel world for long. His orange gloves tore at the continuous abuse, and his red blood - the only part of him that still seemed human - poured from the widening cuts in his pink skin.
Come on, come on, he chanted, mentally, over, and over until his mind was filled to the brim with the words. Come on, come on-
A small cascade of rubble fell away, and his heart felt as if it stopped beating within his chest. His watery eyes remained glued upon a thin river of red liquid leaking out of the remainder of the debris. And it wasn't his. The stones Lou Jitsu still clutched in his fist fell from his limp fingers and tumbled to the ground below. Unease and dread dribbled and mixed into a nauseating concoction within the pit of stomach, and he distinctly wondered if he was about to be sick.
He failed them.
He sat around on his butt, repeatedly telling himself that by refusing to fight anything - to fight his own destiny - he was suddenly saving everyone else. That, maybe, by sitting on the sidelines, everything would just magically fix itself. It was the same thing he told himself when he refused to listen to his grandfather; the same man who raised him while his mother went off to sacrifice her life for their family. And it was the only hope he had when Big Mama forced him to push his body and mind until he'd become numb to the pain he received and inflicted; that she would lose interest in him and throw him away.
Lou Jitsu scrubbed a weak hand over his sweaty face, ignoring the unnatural prickly fur he could feel all over.
The truth was, he'd been tired of constantly fighting - tired of constantly suffering in a life he'd never asked for. A life where his family's legacy was placed upon his shoulders, and he fell in love with an obviously flawed woman who ended up using him for profit.
Only now, this time, someone else besides him suffered because of his mistake.
The squirming turtles within his arms - the only two turtles, his mind reminded him, cruelly - pulled him back from the depths of his memories. They were openly wailing (maybe for their fallen brethren), big, fat tears rolling down their cheeks as they clung to him. Dazed, Lou Jitsu hushed them as best as he could, and he found his gaze wandering back to what was left of the rubble. A concerning lake of red gathered at the base of the debris, and it seemed to grow with each passing second.
Should he keep digging?
Lou Jitsu gulped, sickly.
The rubble would've crushed a regular human; even Lou Jitsu, himself, would've been heavily injured. Those turtles were just babies, tiny creatures that could easily fit in the palm of his hand. Now, buried under the weight of all that rubble, it was more than unlikely that the turtles were still alive.
And, he didn't know if he could face the consequences of his actions.
He held a bloody hand out towards the debris, thinking how the baby turtle did the same only moments ago. And, for the first time that he could remember in his life - not even when he packed his bags and left his family's legacy behind - he found himself hesitating. His thoughts were interrupted by the entire laboratory quivering underneath the force of another explosion, the entirety of the structure wheezing as its supports continued to disintegrate. Lou Jitsu flinched at the sound, clenching his fist tightly, and he made his mind up.
He pulled himself to his feet, his mind and body feeling impossibly heavy, and he staggered towards the opening in the laboratory created by the mutated animals. An anguished scream from behind made him freeze in his tracks, and he craned his neck over his shoulder.
Standing upon a writhing vine, Draxum stood high above the burning fire, a multitude of minor scratches covering his body. The flames - tinged a brilliant blue from all the combined chemicals - casted a flickering shadow over the sheep yokai's seething face, his eyes glowing a menacing orange. Despite the blatant countdown till the inevitable destruction of the laboratory, Lou Jitsu twisted sharply on his heel, rage fully dictating his actions coupled with the last two turtles quivering fearfully in his arms. For a split second, they stared each other down, two different types of hatred burning within each of their eyes. Then, the towering structure in the midst of the laboratory blew up, spreading out a cloud of smoke and fiery death. Draxum disappeared in the cloud, his angered expression burned within Lou Jitsu's mind, and he took that as his cue to leave.
Lou Jitsu turned his back to the flames, the heat uncomfortably caressing his back, and he rushed towards the doorway. As he crossed the threshold, he felt tears burning their way out and down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry, turtles."