Hi everyone, thanks again for waiting. So, this is the chapter you've all been waiting for, and I've been wanting to write it since I've started this story. This is where our heroes face their most dangerous and personal threat yet. The action heats up here and now, so with that being said, let's get started.
The Super Shredder
Oroku Saki continued to lay bed-ridden, though his body remained still and idle, his hatred and rage festered like a volcano just waiting to erupt. It was an eerie quiet in his room, the only sounds being the various medical equipment he was hooked up to, including the IV that fed a steady stream of the special formula Stockman had been giving him.
"How are you feeling on thizzz fine day, Mazzzter Shredder?" Stockman-Fly asked as he walked in to check on him.
With a deep and heavy breath, he spoke. "I want… my strength back… Stockman. Give me… the rest… of the formula."
"Azzz your doctor and chief caregiver, I refuzzze!" Stockman-Fly insisted. "Thizzz isn't normal mutagen! I've worked painzzztakingly to find the proper mixture of mutagen and the Ice Queen'zzz blood, even though both are zzzupozzze to be incompatible with each other! If I forgo zzzaftey and juzzzt dmp it all into you… it could be disastrouzzz! You could mutate into zzzomething worzzze than a monster!"
With what strength he had, Saki reached out with his arm and gabbed Stockman by the throat, the formula that was already in his system had managed to repair the nerves at most, but that wasn't enough for him.
"Do it!" Saki demanded. "Or I will pluck off your limbs, until you are nothing left but a buzzing head!" He let go, allowing the frightened Stockman-Fly to stumble back.
"Oh, you're right, zzzir! Mutation it izzz! Who neeedzzz the slow and zzzafe approach anyway, right?" Stockman-Fly laughed nervously as he initiated the sequence, allowing the entire formula to enter Saki's veins and into his bloodstream.
"It's… it's working…" Saki could already feel it. "It's… finally…!" He suddenly gave a pain-induced scream, his eyes shooting open as his left eye glowed an eerie green and his right eye glowed a cyan blue.
"Master!" Stockman-Fly exclaimed as he saw Saki stand up and the transformation begin to take hole. His skin already feeling ice-cold, blades of metal and black ice began to creep out of his arms and all throughout his body. The pain ached his body as he tossed and turned on his bed before falling over to the side, instinctively grabbing the Kuro Kabuto, pulling it in close as it began to somehow transform and mutate with him.
Bebop and Rocksteady both came running in at the sound of the screaming, both of them as well as Stockman-Fly looked in borderline horror as the transformation was complete. What they saw, though they knew who it was, it was almost unrecognizable.
The physical body of Oroku Saki had grown significantly, his muscles now three times as large as they were before. His skin appeared to be frozen in various spots all across his body, some parts looking they were made almost entirely out of a metallic ice, like his right hand, left upper arm, the right side of his body and a long streaking patch across the left side of his chest, his right knee and left foot up this ankle. All across his body, various curved blades of steel pierced through his skin, on each of his hands were curved claws made out of black ice, as well as spikes of the same substance that shot from his shoulders and out of his back from his spine. His heart now appeared visible on his chest as it beat with a mixture of eerie green and cyan blue, both colors glowing through his veins. His own helmet, the Kuro Kabuto, which was once a sacred and undamaged symbol of the ancient Foot clan, now disfigured into something else as it covered his unrecognizable face. His right eye glowing a cyan blue color while his left glowed an eerie green.
He gave a loud and bone chilling roar, stomping on the ground as a large patch of black ice spread across the entire room, much to the shock of Stockman, Bebop, and Rocksteady. He then brought his powerful arms down on the ground to shatter the entire frozen wall and window in front of him, giving him a clear view of the forest below. On his left side, he could scarcely make out Arendelle, but that was not on his mind at the moment.
"M… Mazzzter…?" Stockman-Fly slowly approached him, unsure of what to do at the moment.
Before he could respond, he heard it again. The sound of a woman singing in his head, he then turned his head toward the sound was directing him.
"We go north."
Master Splinter rode a horse down a trail, further away from Arendelle, and he wasn't alone. Behind him was a double horse drawn carriage that carried Slash, Leatherhead, as well as Metalhead; Rockwell also rode on one of those horses. Pigeon Pete flew above them as Mondo Gecko scatted across the rocks on the side.
"Splinter, are you sure it was a good idea to leave the people behind like this?" Slash asked. "The Trolls are alright, but it's not like they're expert fighters or anything."
"I concur." Rockwell agreed. "If the Foot were to attack them again…"
"I do not believe they will." Splinter said, catching their attention.
"What, you think they gave up and went home?" Mondo asked.
"Those jerks don't seem like the type to quit." Pete said.
"No, it is not that they are giving up." Splinter explained. "But I do not believe they will target Arendelle because there is something else, they seek."
"You think they are going to the Enchanted Forest?" Leatherhead asked.
"Yes." Splinter confirmed.
"So why are we going now?" Slash asked. "Why didn't we just go up with the others?"
"Last night, I had a vision." Splinter began. "It was cold and dark; I battled the Shredder, and I was… struck down." That got everyone's attention. "But before I could awake, I heard a voice. The sound of a woman singing. No words were spoken, but I believe the message was clear."
"A woman singing?" Slash wondered.
"That is the sound Elsa claimed to hear before they went to the Forest." Leatherhead recalled.
"And now you hear it as well?" Rockwell asked Splinter.
"Yes." The rat master confirmed as their caravan came to a stop. Splinter pulled on the reigns to stop the horse he was riding on. The Mutanimals' carriage came to a stop as well before Mondo and Pete joined them. They all looked toward the massive wall of mist that separated the outside world from the Enchanted Forest.
"Whoa… That's a lot of fog." Pete said in awe.
"So awesome dude…" Mondo said in the same tone.
Splinter had a serious expression on his face. "Let us go." He stated before he walked toward the mist, with the Mutanimals close behind him.
Meanwhile; on the other side of the mist, Tiger Claw sat patiently on a large rock just before the misty wall alongside his comrades. Rahzar hung in a tree while Fishface just paced back and forth, the later getting on the former's nerves.
"Will you quit walking around like that, Xever?" Rahzar questioned irritably. "It's making me anxious!"
"You're anxious?!" Fishface questioned back. "In case you forgot, this whole forest is haunted! It's like every river, breeze of wind, and rock is out to kill us! Why are we even here anyway?!"
"The Master's treatment is finished." Tiger Claw responded. "Stockman contacted me a few hours ago and said that they were on their way."
"It's done already?" Fishface asked in surprise as Rahzar leapt down from the tree. "I thought his treatment was supposed to take a few more weeks or even a month."
"Mixing mutagen with the ice queen's blood is supposed to be a mess process, right?" Rahzar also questioned.
"Yes, that is what I heard, which is why I am also greatly concerned to hear it was completed earlier than expected." Tiger Claw admitted. Soon he picked up an odd yet familiar scent as he gazed toward the mist.
"You smell it too." Rahzar noted as he caught the scent as well.
"Yes, he is here." Tiger Claw confirmed as they and Fishface took a few steps back to clear the way, waiting at most another minute before they saw the mist in front of them begin to clear and certain individuals made their first steps into the Enchanted Forest. First was Rocksteady, followed by Bebop with Stockman-Fly hovering behind them. The six mutants made eye-contact but said nothing as the three newly arrivals began to clear the way for their master.
The newly mutated Shredder made his first steps into the Enchanted Forest, the mist falling back behind him, sealing all of them inside. With each step he took, a patch of black ice formed like a footprint. Rahzar, Fishface, and Tiger Claw were rendered speechless at the sight of their master.
"Master Shredder…!" Tiger Claw exclaimed in shock before turning to Stockman-Fly with a glare. "What have you done to him; you fool?!"
"This is what I desired!" Shredder spoke, his voice distorted in a mixture of sounds. One part sounded like he was drowning under water, the other sounded cold and scratchy. "With this new body, Splinter, his wretched Turtles, and that vile witch won't…" He groaned in pain as he held his head, prompting Rocksteady and Bebop to help him stand as Rahzar and Fishface also helped.
The second Fishface touched his skin, he immediately pulled his hand back. "Ugh! Just touching him… it's so cold it burns!"
"I told you, zzzir!" Stockman-Fly stated to the mutated Shredder. "The formula is unzzztable, and you uzzzed it all!"
"What?!" Rahzar and Tiger Claw both exclaimed at the same time.
"You cannot venture into unknown territory azzz you are now!" Stockman-Fly continued. "You need time for your body to adjuzzzt…!"
"Silence!" Shredder exclaimed. "I am better! Better than I've ever been!" He turned to his strongest servant. "Tiger Claw, tell me everything you've learned about this place! It has been calling me! I feel it in my bones!"
Though hesitant at first, Tiger Claw gave his report. "Master, this forest appears to be magical by nature. It is ruled and guarded by elemental spirits; the water and wind are alive, the flames move of their own will, and giants made of stone wander the ground."
"Yo that is freaky, dog!" Bebop stated.
"Dah, I smash spirits like the blueberries!" Rocksteady dismissed.
"You won't be saying that when a giant rock Godzilla tries to crush you like a blueberry." Fishface told the Russian rhino with an annoyed glare.
"The natives of the forest are called the Northuldra." Tiger Claw continued. "They, along with a group of Arendellian soldiers, have allied themselves with our enemies. They are not to be underestimated."
"Where are they? The Turtles and the witch?" Shredder questioned.
"Master; the Turtles, the Ice Queen, and the princess went further north toward the farthest edge of the forest." Rahzar reported. "Most of their allies are staying with the Northuldra, but Karai has gone north as well."
That got his attention. "Then we go further north. It is time to get reacquainted with old friends."
Meanwhile, the group consisting of Elsa, Leo, Raph, Mikey, Donnie, Anna, Karai, and Olaf had made their way to the most northern area of the region. April, Casey, Kristoff, Sven, and Shinigami thought it best to stay behind with the Northuldra and soldiers just in case the Foot were to attack the camp while they were away.
While most places in the Forest they've been to have been pleasant and even beautiful, this area almost seemed like a stark contrast by comparison. All the trees appeared to be dead, the ground was baren, almost as if it were impossible to sustain any life here. Elsa had insisted upon coming here, as this is where the voice had directed her, and they've put it off long enough. And while each of them trusted Elsa unequivocally, Leo and Anna especially, it was a little frustrating going in blind. But then again, it wasn't as if they hadn't done so in the past.
Elsa tried to sing out load in the same tone as the song she had been hearing, trying to call out to whoever was calling her, but she got no response. Suddenly, Olaf gave off a cry of his own, followed by Mikey, causing most of the group to jump. Both of them sounded more high-pitched and annoying, especially to Raph and Karai. As Elsa gave another call, Mikey and Olaf took a deep breath and prepared to sing again, only for Raph to clamp their mouths shut with both his hands.
"If either of you sing one more time, I'm gonna kick you all the way back to the camp!" Raph told them as he let go.
"Raph come on, they're just trying to help." Anna chastised.
"But seriously, can either of you hear that voice?" Karai questioned the duo.
"Nope." Mikey shook his head.
"No, I can't." Olaf replied, still smiling for some reason.
"So, there's no point in singing if you're not going to get anywhere with it." Karai told them.
"Yeah, see your point, Sis." Mikey said reluctantly.
"There's always a reason to sing!" Olaf began. "Because it's fun! Because it can cheer people up! Because it can lighten the mood!"
"Because it's annoying?" Raph questioned.
"Okay, okay, that's enough." Anna broke it off. As the group got back on track, Anna couldn't help but notice how barren everything was. "What happened here?"
Donnie inspected the ground a bit. "Maybe a forest fire… a pretty big one. Doesn't look like this place has grown anything in a long time, maybe even before the mist fell."
Leo heard all of that as he came up toward Elsa, taking out a telescope to look in the northernmost directions. "Looks like we're getting close to the edge of the forest, I'm starting to see the surrounding mist." He lowered his telescope to look at Elsa. "So, is whoever's calling you responding?"
Elsa gave another call but heard no response. "No. Have I mentioned how much I hate all this cryptic stuff?"
"That makes two of us." Leo said with a slight grin, lightening the mood a bit, and causing Elsa to smile slightly.
The group then heard a familiar whistle as the Wind Spirit nuzzled its way around each individual person in the group. "Hey, Gale's back." Olaf said before Gale went toward Leo and Elsa, causing them to chuckle as it circled around the two of them for a bit before flying further up the hill, directing their attention to a familiar flag that blew in Gale's breeze.
"What…?" Anna muttered as the group made their way closer, with Elsa up at the front. Once they made their way to the top, the Turtles, Olaf, and even Karai each looked with expressions surprise and confusion, while Elsa and Anna looked as if they had just seen a ghost.
At the bottom of the hill, resting in a shallow ravine, was the ruins of an Arendellian ship. It had a massive hole in the bottom of its haul, it's middle and bow masts were both broken down, the sails were torn to shreds, and all the windows were shattered with the wood rotting away.
"H… How can it be…?" Anna stuttered as she held onto her sister's arm.
"What is that…?" Mikey asked.
"I think that's an Arendellian ship." Donnie observed.
"That's not just any ship…" Elsa said in a shaky breath. "It's… Mother and Father's…"
That caught them by surprise. "What?" Karai questioned.
"I thought you said it went down in the Southern Sea." Raph said.
"But… this isn't the Southern Sea." Olaf noted.
"No… it isn't…" Anna confirmed before Elsa quickly made her way down to the wreckage, with everyone else following close behind.
Once they got a close look at it, Leo looked toward Elsa with an expression that mixed worry, concern, and sympathy before turning to everyone else. "Alright. Karai, you take the guys and check on the upper deck; everyone else and I will look inside. See if you can find anything."
Most of the group, save for the still-shocked Elsa and Anna nodded. Raph, Karai, Mikey, and Donnie then leapt toward the upper deck and climbed on top as Leo, Elsa, Anna, and Olaf made their way inside through the massive hole in the ship's haul.
Once on top, Karai and her brothers split to look in several different parts of the ship. Mikey peeked his head toward the first floor under the deck. "Hello?" He called out, but all he heard was the faint creaking of wood.
"Who are you calling to?" Raph questioned. "You really don't think anybody actually lives here?"
"Maybe the ship's haunted." Mikey said. "I mean, we are in an Enchanted Forest… so…?"
"Well, he wouldn't be wrong." Donnie admitted as he slid down the tipped deck toward the railing. "But I don't think it's haunted, at least I don't think so." He inspected the side of the ship, holding onto a piece of torn and worn-out rope.
Karai, meanwhile, made her way in what appeared to be the captain's quarters. Everything in there was an absolute wreck, molded and torn paper everywhere, the materials were also in a similar state of rotting and being torn up. She ran her hand along the side to feel there was a faint moisture there.
In the ship's underbelly; Leo, Elsa, Anna, and Olaf inspected the interior, finding it in the exact same sort of state one would expect; but it was none-the-less heart wrenching for the royal sisters. Leo noticed Elsa's expression and could only imagine what she was feeling right now. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" He asked with concern.
Elsa placed her hand on top of his and looked to him with an unsure expression in her eyes. "I… don't really know… Why… why is their ship here…? How is it here…?"
"It must have been washed in from the Dark Sea." Anna assumed as she turned over a few boxes.
"What were they doing in the Dark Sea?" Elsa questioned as she and Leo began their search with Olaf joining in.
"I don't know…" Anna confessed.
"Hey." They heard Raph's voice as they saw him, Mikey, Donnie, and Karai make their way down to them from the deck of the ship. "We looked all over the top, didn't find anything."
"There aren't any bodies, and anything useful is probably worn out after so long." Karai added. She noticed the heart-wrenching expressions on Elsa and Anna's faces. "I'm… I'm sorry."
"It's okay…" Anna tried to steel herself. "We… we have to find something."
"You think that song you keep hearing wanted us to come here?" Mikey asked.
"I can't see any other reason." Elsa answered.
"How did their ship get through the mist?" Olaf wondered. "I thought nobody could but us."
"Tiger Claw and the others were able to get through." Raph said with a slight hint of resentment. "But… I don't think it was the same way here." He finished in a more remorseful tone.
"Well… there aren't any lifeboats around." Donnie said. "Guessing when things got bad, they try to abandon ship. But… it doesn't look like there were any other survivors." Though they all knew that was the case, hearing the confirmation was no-less easy.
"There's gotta be something here." Anna said to the group before an idea came to mind. "Wait… wait, look around!"
"For what? Do you know something?" Leo asked as Anna began to search the area.
"Yeah. Every Arendellian ship has a… a compartment. Waterproof." She replied.
"Like a black box on an airplane." Donnie realized as the group joined Anna in the search. "That's clever."
"Although… it does make me wonder why they don't just make the whole ship waterproof." Olaf commented.
The group overturned everything they say, looking for any signs of a hidden compartment, pressing their hands against the walls, looking in the drawers and other storage areas . So far, they had come up empty. That is until Mikey kneeled down to the bottom of a seat, pressing his hand against it and opening a small compartment with a glass rod inside.
"Hey! Guys, I think I found it!" Mikey called to everyone as they quickly made their way toward him.
Leo quickly straightened up a box as Mikey opened the rod and pulled out two pieces of untouched and undamaged paper and laid them flat for everyone to see. The first one had a series of symbols written on it.
"What kind of language is this?" Karai wondered.
"Some of these symbols look like the ones we saw on the ruins just before we entered the Forest." Donnie recognized.
"So… what someone from the Northuldra wrote this?" Raph questioned.
"Maybe…" Donnie theorized. "I bet Yelena could translate it."
"Guys… look right here." Elsa pointed toward the upper left corner of the paper to find something written in English. "This is Mother's handwriting."
Anna then read it aloud. "'The end of the ice age, the river found but lost. Magic source. Elsa's source?'"
That really got their attention as Leo unrolled the second piece of paper. "It's a map." He identified the markings that was undoubtedly the ship's travel plan and destination. "Looks like they traveled this river north, around the Enchanted Forest's region, and tried to cross the Dark Sea and get to…" He stopped when he saw the intended destination.
"Ahtohallan." Elsa finished. "So… it is real."
"Wasn't that the magic river you told us about?" Olaf asked.
"The same one your grandfather was obsessed with?" Karai also asked. "Your world's source of magic?"
"It's also supposed to hold all the answers about the past." Anna added.
"Reinforcing my 'water has memories' theory." Olaf said.
"Not the time to play brainiac, Olaf." Raph told him.
Elsa's eyes widened in realization as she looked toward her hands. "Water has memories…" She made her way toward center of the floor and placed her hands down. She channeled her powers to all the moisture on the ground and all throughout the ship, drawing it out in the form of several tiny bubbles that hovered in the air, much to the group's surprise.
"Elsa… what… what are you doing?" Leo asked.
"I want to know what happened to them." She answered as she directed all the water droplets toward a single spot, which began to merge together and freeze into a solid shape.
"She's… she's using her powers to draw out all the water in the area, bringing it together and freezing it to give it solid shape." Donnie said in amazement. "Incredible."
However, that feeling died an ugly death as the ice sculpture began to look clearer, causing everyone to look in shock with Elsa and Anna almost in horror as they younger sister clung to her elder and they all heard the voices of the deceased in the air.
"Ahtohallan has the be the source of her magic."
"We keep going. For Elsa."
"The waves are too high!"
"Iduna!"
"Agnarr!"
The completed ice-sculpture was that of Agnarr and Iduna in their final moments, clinging to each other in acceptance of their fate as raging water surged around them. All the Turtles, Olaf, and even Karai looked in genuine sadness at the image, but that was nothing compared to the emotional turmoil that Anna and especially Elsa all felt right now.
Without warning, Elsa ran away and out of the haul of the ship, tears falling from her eyes.
"Elsa!" Leo called out as he and Anna followed her. The others looked in the direction their friends and siblings ran off to before glancing one more time to the ice sculpture of Agnarr and Iduna.
Elsa made her way to the top of the hill before stopping out of emotional exhaustion on a rock. Leo and Anna caught up to her as they could already hear her sobbing.
"It was me… they were looking for answers about me…"
"You are not responsible for their choices, Elsa." Anna tried to tell her sister.
"No… just their deaths!" She said in frustration as she tried to walk away, only for Leo to make his way in front of her.
"Elsa, no!" He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hey, look at me. Look at me, Elsa." She looked toward him, her eyes already red as he gave her a fierce, understanding, and comforting expression. "This wasn't your fault. You weren't the one who sent them there, you weren't the one who destroyed their ship. You did not kill them. It was their choice, not yours." He saw that she at least understood that, but it didn't seem to be helping. "Remember what Yelena said when we first came here? Why would nature reward a person with magic? Because of what your mother did! When everyone else was fighting, your mother saved your father, the life of an enemy! Her reward wasn't your magic, it was you! You are a gift, Elsa. You are a gift to your family, to your kingdom, to your friends… to me." That caused Elsa to look at him with emotional expressions. "Look at all the good you've done, and how much stronger you've become. You've saved your kingdom multiple times, heck you've even saved an entire galaxy! You've gone above and beyond what anyone could have expected of you, I doubt even the Spirits could have seen that! Look, I'm sorry about your parents; really, I am. But it was their choice, not yours. You have done so many great things, and I know you're capable of doing even greater. I believe in you Elsa. I love you."
Without another word, Elsa pulled Leo into a hug and cried into his shoulder. She cried tears of sorrow, frustration, joy, all the emotional turmoil she was in, she let out all at once as Leo embraced her back. Anna joined in and wrapped her arms around her sobbing sister.
Pretty soon, Raph, Mikey, Donnie, Karai, and Olaf walked up the hill, but once they saw what was going on they kept their distance out of respect. Olaf, however, was about to run up and join the hug, but Mikey quickly put a hand on his head to stop him and simply shook his head with a smile. Olaf didn't quite get it at first, but another look at the moment, and he understood, which caused him to smile as well.
After letting it all out, Elsa pulled away slightly from Leo and Anna, rubbing out the last of her tears. "Feeling better?" Anna asked.
"A little…" Elsa confirmed.
"Hey." Raph of all Turtles walked up first. "Listen, I didn't really know your folks but… if they were willing to cross pretty much the most dangerous sea in your world just to get some answers…" He smiled. "That was pretty badass of them."
"Yeah, really shows just how much they loved you." Karai added.
"We would have loved to have met them." Donnie said. "And I think they'd be proud of how well you've grown."
"And you ain't alone anymore." Mikey also said. "You got us now too. So give lil' bro Mikey a hug." He pulled Elsa into a surprise hug, which she returned with a laugh.
"Hey, I wanna hug too!" Olaf gave his own hug to both of them. "I also think your parents were amazing, Elsa."
She pulled away from them before looking to all of them. "Thank you… all of you. Not just for your words, but… for being part of my life."
"We're family, Elsa." Anna told her sister. "All of us. And that is never going to change."
"I know it won't." She said before getting serious. "And I know we're going to solve this."
"So, what's our next step?" Leo asked as they got back to the mission.
"Honeymaren said there was a fifth spirit." Elsa began. "A bridge between the magic of nature and us."
"A fifth spirit?" Karai wondered.
"So, what's the element this time?" Raph questioned. "Lightning? Metal?"
"I don't think it's that simple." Leo said. "I remember us talking about it, and how we were thinking, that this fifth spirit is supposed to represent life."
"Life? Is that really an element?" Olaf asked.
"Actually, there are certain myths and folklore that do depict life as an element." Donnie explained. "Sometimes known as 'quintessence'. The four elements together create the means for life to thrive."
"Fire to provide to warmth and light…" Karai began to list. "Earth from which food can grow… water to drink… air to breathe… it does kinda make sense."
"Dudes, all this fifth element talk is a lot like that one movie with Bruce Willis." Mikey said.
"Not now, Mikey." Raph lightly scolded.
"So where do we find this fifth spirit?" Anna asked.
"Let me take a guess. Ahtohallan?" Leo assumed.
"Yes." Elsa confirmed. "The fifth spirit is who's been calling me, and they're calling me to Ahtohallan."
"Are you sure?" Leo asked.
"Absolutely." Elsa replied.
"Alright, then we go to Ahtohallan." Anna said.
"One question: How?" Karai asked. "I mean… we can't exactly sail there." She spoke in a careful yet logical tone, hopping not to sound insensitive.
"You're right, traveling by boat isn't an option." Elsa understood that perfectly. "The Dark Sea is too treacherous."
"I mean we have survived worse environments." Donnie pointed out.
"Still don't think it's worth taking any chances." Elsa insisted.
"Oh, I got it!" Olaf raised his hand. "Why not fly across? I mean, Elsa can fly since she has her ice-wings, and she can conjure up some ice dragons for all of us to ride!"
"Hey, yeah!" Mikey agreed. "Oh, and other idea! We're pals with Neptune now! Maybe if we ask real nicely, he might let us cross the Dark Sea!"
"Makes sense." Leo said. "Master Splinter and the Mutanimals did tell us they were thinking the Water Spirit guarded Ahtohallan from the Dark Sea."
"We should also take what we found from the ship to the Northuldra, see if they can translate that ancient language." Donnie added.
"Alright, so let's head back to base, load up on supplies and get this ball rolling." Raph stated as it seemed like they had a solid plan.
"Looks like you folks have a plan." They all turned down to the bottom of the hill to see a certain trio of Foot mutants glaring up at them with evil smiles. "Too bad it won't get very far." Fishface grinned.
"Greetings, old friends." Tiger Claw sneered as Rahzar growled with anticipation.
"Ugh, you guys again?!" Raph glared as the heroes all slid down the hill to meet their enemies.
"So that's your parent's ship, huh?" Rahzar asked, earning a glare from Elsa and Anna. "I wonder if there are any bones left to chew on."
"You even think about desecrating that ship, and I'll send you to Hell myself!" Elsa exclaimed in rage as she generated an ice-katana in her hand. Everyone else drew their respective weapons as well, with even Anna drawing a sword, while Olaf hid behind Elsa.
Tiger Claw chuckled. "Amusing, but we are the least of your concerns now, little ones." He, Rahzar, and Fishface cleared the way for their master to reveal himself, slowly stepping out from above a hill and coming down to meet the heroes.
One look at his grotesque and horrifying body was enough for all of them to turn pale. Their eyes so wide, they were almost circular. Gasps were heard as their mouths hung open like perfect o's. None of them could believe who and what was now standing before them.
"Is… is that… please tell me that's not… him…" Anna stuttered, not even trying to hide the fear in her voice.
"Holy chalupa…" Mikey squealed.
"That's… that's gotta be another one of his freaky clone monsters… right?" Raph hoped, sounding uncharacteristically scared.
"No Raph… I… I think that really is him…" Donnie said in the same fearful tone.
"There's no mistake. It's definitely him." Leo said, trying to steal himself as he held his katanas, but he couldn't stop his hands from shaking.
"ThiswillallmakesensewhenImolder. ThiswillallmakesensewhenImolder. ThiswillallmakesensewhenImolder. ThiswillallmakesensewhenImolder." Olaf repeated to himself, cowering further behind Elsa, who looked in genuine horror.
"What… what in God's name… have you done to yourself…?!" She exclaimed toward their mutated enemy.
"You… You've become… everything you loathe… everything you hate! A mutant!" Karai also exclaimed to him.
The mutated Shredder stood before all of the heroes, glaring at each and every one of them. But when his eyes set on Karai, his expression softened as he spoke to her directly.
"My daughter… please! I did this for you! To destroy our enemy! The monster who took your mother's life! Hamato Yoshi!"
"Is he serious right now…?" Anna questioned, not believing the words that just came from his mouth, while everyone else looked with either a glare or a repulsed surprise.
"You're insane! You are the monster!" Karai exclaimed to him. "You've lied to yourself so much, you've come to believe an entire dream!"
"Silence!" The mutant Shredder exclaimed. "I was there! I saw what happened! The night he took your mother's life! I… saw it…. I…" He even seemed uncertain of what he was saying, and yet he still firmly believed it.
"He's even crazier than before…" Mikey said. "What do we do, Leo?"
"We take him down, obviously!" Leo stated as they all stood firm and ready to attack.
Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface were about to charge in, but the mutated Shredder held his hand back, stopping them. "No! They are mine!"
"Attack! Go!" Leo ordered as all seven of them, minus Olaf, went at him from all sides. Leo slashed with his katanas, Raph drove his sais into the Shredder's side, Donnie struck him with his staff while Mikey did the same with his nunchucks, Karai slashed repeatedly with her short blade, Anna struck him with her own sword, and even Elsa lashed past his other side with her ice-katana.
However, much to their shock and horror, the group saw that they hadn't even scratched him. The Shredder then attacked, far faster than one would expect for his massive stature. A fist into Leo's gut, a raised hand brought down onto Raph's shell, a kick to Anna's side, a back-hand to Mikey's front, and a knee into Donnie's chest. Karai and Elsa then went at him from both sides, but as the former attacked, Shredder grabbed her by her arms and slammed her on the ground before throwing her away. Elsa quickly shot her hand to create a large pile of snow to cushion Karai's impact before blasting a powerful ice-attack at the Shredder, encompassing him in what appeared to be a small glacier. However, the glacier cracked before it exploded, freeing the Shredder with a small roar before he turned his attention toward Elsa in particular.
"My turn." He waved his arms in opposite directions, creating a large circular wave of black icicles that shot out of the ground and stretched toward all the heroes, forcing them to dodge on instinct, excluding Olaf who got impaled, but that was nothing new to him.
Once the attack was stopped, the heroes all gasped at what had just happened.
"Did… did he just…?" Raph stuttered.
"Ice powers….?" Mikey also stuttered.
Donnie looked toward the icicles as he noticed how different it was from Elsa's own. "Black ice…?"
"That's…. that's not possible…" Leo stuttered as well. Anna, appeared to be just as speechless as everyone else before directing her gaze toward Elsa, who's own shock could not be described with mere words. It was almost as if her own heart stopped as she stared at the black ice before directing her gaze to who cast it.
"What… have… you… done…?"
"Your blood, combined with mutagen, and my own strength, have made me into something far more than you could ever hope to be." The Shredder said to her. "Your power is mine, and I will use it as it was always meant to be used!" He raised his fist before smashing it onto the ground, sending a massive wave of spikey-black ice blades across the ground and straight for the still-shocked ice queen.
"Elsa!" Olaf quickly tackled her out of the way just as the attack blasted through the hill that was behind her, tearing through it like a mound of dirt, before it continued and completely obliterated the wreckage that was once Agnarr and Iduna's ship, causing it to explode in a flurry of black ice and wood; much to everyone's surprise, and the horror of Anna and Elsa.
"No!" Anna exclaimed at seeing her mother and father's ship get destroyed so easily.
One piece of the wreckage that flew and landed less than an inch from Elsa and Olaf was the head of the ice sculpture of Agnarr before it shattered on the ground. Elsa slowly reached out and took a few of the pieces in her hand before they melted and faded away with what was left of the sculpture in front of her.
Her whole body filled with grief, sadness, and regret, before it was quickly replaced with pure rage. A blizzard began to form around her body as she channeled all her power and rage, standing up firm as she glared at the monster who not only destroyed her parent's resting place and memory, but violated her blood to turn himself into an even worse monster than before. All her friends and family looked toward her with concern, particularly Leo, Olaf, and Anna before she attacked.
With a powerful yell, Elsa blasted a powerful surge of her magic straight at the Shredder, who responded with a palm-thrust of his own, to cast an even more powerful 'blizzard attack' of his own, composed of black snow and ice, completely overpowering Elsa's own attack and blasting her away, sending her crashing through an old tree.
"Elsa!" Leo and Anna both exclaimed while Olaf gasped in pure shock, just as everyone else turned with a glare towards the Shredder before going on the attack again. However, the Shredder attacked as well, moving with such incredible speed and strength that the heroes didn't even known what hit them before they were struck down. Donnie, Raph, and Mikey were sent flying into several of the dead trees. Karai attacked next, transforming into her mutant-serpent form to lunge at the Shredder, wrapping her tail and lower body around his waist, lashing out at him with her fangs and snake arms. But his entire body suddenly felt incredibly cold, too cold for Karai to hang on any longer, leaving her own open for Shredder to grab her by the shoulders and slam her onto the ground repeatedly till she lost her mutant form and slipped into unconsciousness.
The Shredder then heard a yell as he saw Leo and Anna trying to rush him with their blades, but he merely swiped his arm to knock them both down. He then pinned Leo to the ground with one foot before glaring at him.
"Tell your master I have my daughter back! If he desires to see her one last time, come to the darkest mountains in this region!" He stated before stepping off.
The heroes recovered as they saw the mutated Shredder walk away slightly before reaching out with his hand to create a flurry of black ice and snow, which began to take shape. Before they knew it, everybody looked in shock to see a massive, long, winged Japanese dragon made entirely out of black ice. Everybody, even Olaf and especially Elsa, could not believe what they just saw. The Shredder, the captive Karai, and Rahzar, Fishface, and Tiger Claw mounted the black ice dragon as it gave a roar before taking to the skies and flying away.
"He can… even create his own ice monsters too…?" Raph questioned as the wounded heroes tried to pick themselves up and regroup.
"This… this can't be possible! I thought Elsa's magic and mutagen don't mix!" Anna stated.
"They shouldn't…" Donnie confirmed. "When Elsa was exposed to mutagen, she almost died."
"Somehow Shredder made it happen, and he has Karai." Leo stated.
"Well, we gotta go get her! Nobody gets left behind!" Mikey quickly stated before they all glanced towards Elsa, who slowly approached a cluster of razor-sharp black ice. They looked with concern, not having any idea what she must be feeling right now.
"This… this feels wrong." Olaf spoke aloud as he looked at his own reflection in the black ice. "This kind of magic is supposed to be beautiful and make people happy. But… this… this…"
"It's not natural." Elsa said as she waved her hand over the black ice, trying to make it dissipate, but it didn't. "I can't control it; not like I can control my power."
"It must have been the mutagen he used." Donnie guessed. "Maybe… corrupted it somehow."
"He said he wanted to meet Master Splinter… but… he's not here." Anna said. "He… stayed behind in Arendelle, right?"
Raph felt a buzz on his side as he pulled out his T-Phone before looking with a partially annoyed expression. "Just got a text from Casey. Three guesses as to who just showed up."
"Master Splinter?" Mikey questioned.
"Yep, with the Mutanimals too." Raph confirmed. "They're with the Northuldra."
"Then let's go." Elsa stated as she waved her hands to conjure up a trio of Ice Dragons before creating her own ice-wings. "We need to tell everyone what happened."
"Elsa… are… you… alright?" Anna asked with concern, upon seeing the look in her eyes.
"No, I'm not." Elsa confirmed herself. "But right now, we have to get Karai back, and we need help for that."
"She's right." Leo noticed Elsa's expression as well, but he also knew that getting reinforcements and rescuing their sister took priority. "Come on team, let's go." He mounted one of the Ice Dragons, offering a hand to Anna, which she took with some hesitance while glancing with concern to her elder sibling. Mikey and Olaf mounted the second while Raph and Donnie got on the third. The group then flew off to make their way back to the camp as soon as possible.
Northuldra Campsite
Splinter and the Mutanimals arrived just a short time ago and were already mingling with the Northuldra people as well as the old Arendellian soldiers. April, Casey, Sven, and even Shinigami took the time to talk with Slash and Leatherhead and catch up. Most of the kids seemed to gather around Metalhead, along with Pigeon Pete and Mondo Gecko who seemed the most playful "So, you've heard this voice, too?" Kristoff asked the rat master.
"I have." Splinter confirmed. "The mist allowed us to enter the forest, but we cannot leave."
"You're Master Splinter, correct?" Lieutenant Matias walked up to him. "Wow… you're a lot taller than I'd pictured." He quickly straightened himself up. "The Queen and Princess have told me much, it's an honor to meet you." He offered his hand to shake, which Splinter accepted.
"Thank you for helping to look after them, as well as my children." Splinter said with a smile of his own before Yelena walked up. "Where are they? I do not see them."
"The Turtles, the Queen and Princess, as well as that Karai girl went north." Yelena answered. "Elsa believes the voice she hears has been calling her there."
"Hey! I think I see them!" April said as she pointed toward the sky, with everyone seeing Elsa fly in with the ice dragons that everyone else rode on. The flyers quickly set down, Elsa's wings vanished as the Turtles, Anna, and Olaf stepped off; but their injuries were quickly noticed by their companions.
"Anna!" Kristoff was the first to run up to her and help her stand a bit straight as she limped slightly. Sven also came in and helped her up.
"What the heck happened to you guys?" Casey questioned.
"Shredder happened." Raph stated, causing everyone to gasp in surprise.
"What?!" The Mutanimals, April, Casey, Kristoff, Shinigami, and Sven all exclaimed. Even Mattias and Yelena looked toward each other in surprise.
"He's here?!" Kristoff questioned. "In the forest?!"
"And he's worse than ever…" Anna said with a gulp. "He used Mutagen…"
"He's turned into some kind of Super Shredder!" Mikey exclaimed. "He's got huge muscles and blades everywhere, like a buff cheese grader!"
"He even has his own ice powers now too!" Olaf revealed, which was an even bigger shock to the group. April and the others looked toward Elsa, who simply looked away with a look of violation and disgust clear across her face.
"But… that is impossible!" Rockwell said.
"Mutagen and magic aren't supposed to mix, we know. But somehow he made it work." Donnie said.
Shinigami quickly noticed how someone was missing from their group. "Where's Karai?!"
Leo's fists clenched before he answered. "He took her."
"Miwa…" Splinter looked with worry.
"He said he wanted to meet you, Sensei." Elsa told him. "In this Forest's 'darkest mountains."
That got Yelena's attention. "The only mountain range in this region. But even before the mist fell, nobody ever ventured there. The terrain is too rough, the mountains are practically twisted together. It's supposed to be impossible to venture through."
"Well that's where Shredder is right now, and where he took Karai." Leo stated.
"Then let us make haste." Splinter stated with a determined expression.
"April, Casey, Kristoff, Sven, and Shinigami; you guys ride with us." Elsa told them. "Slash, we need you, the Mutanimals to stay with Lieutenant Mattias and protect the Northuldra."
"Got it." Slash said with a nod.
"Wait, I insist on accompanying you." Mattias stepped up.
"No Lieutenant, you stay here." Elsa told him, before he could protest, she continued. "You have no idea what he's capable of, and we don't know for certain if he'll attack the Northuldra, but I do see him doing it. Which is why it's best you help the Mutanimals protect the people. Consider than an order."
With a sigh of reluctance, he accepted the task. "Yes, your highness."
"Olaf, you should stay here too." Anna told the little snowman, much to his confusion.
"Wha… but… I can…"
"Olaf, you saw what he's become. It's safer for you if you stay with everyone else, please." Anna said with a pleading expression.
Though he seemed saddened about being left behind, he was even more upset at how scared Anna appeared to be. If this would help her be less scared, then he would do that. "Alright."
"So, what are we waiting for?" Casey said as he slipped on his hockey mask. "Let's kick some Shredder-butt!"
The massive black ice dragon that Shredder and his cohorts rode on flew towards the range of mountains that stretched even above the forest canopy. It soon landed on the top of a smaller mountain where Stockman-Fly, Bebop, and Rocksteady awaited before those who rode it, as well as the captive and unconscious Karai that Tiger Claw carried over his shoulder, stepped off.
"Stockman, Zeck, Steranko, report." The Super Shredder stated.
"All izzz in readinezzz, Mazzzter Shredder." Stockman-Fly confirmed.
"Good. Keep an eye on them. Make sure they follow the plan." Super Shredder told them.
Elsa flew with her ice wings alongside the five Ice Dragons that carried the group consisting of Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Anna, April, Casey, Kristoff, Sven, and Shinigami. Elsa spotted a place to land in-between a set of mountains and made her descent with the Ice Dragons following them. Once the group landed, Elsa made her ice-wings vanish as well as the Ice Dragons she summoned as they looked down a long and narrow mountain pass.
"You think they're here?" Sven asked as April reached out with her psychic powers, further aided by her Aeon crystal.
"They're here alright. I can sense them." She confirmed.
"Stay vigilant. The Shredder is clearly bating us into a trap." Splinter said as the group made their way through the pass, sticking close together.
"Master Splinter, how did you even get through the mist?" Anna asked.
"Last night, I believe I heard the same voice Elsa has been hearing." Splinter revealed, getting all their attention, especially Elsa's.
"You heard it too?!" The Queen of Arendelle looked in surprise.
"Yes, briefly, but I did." Splinter confirmed.
"That's odd…" Donnie speculated. "You hear this weird song, and a day later the Shredder ends up in the Enchanted Forest."
"I'm still wondering how he even got here!" Leo stated.
"Probably the same way Tiger Claw and the others got through the mist. It must have been with Elsa's blood." Donnie assumed.
"I don't know dudes. This whole thing is feeling pretty crazy." Mikey said.
Kristoff's eyes widened. "Hey, you guys remember those three evils we're supposed to fight, right? Isn't one of them supposed to represent hate or something?"
"Hey, that's right." Sven confirmed. "An unrelenting hatred."
"You're thinking Shredder is supposed to represent the evil of hate?" Anna asked.
"It would make sense." Raph confirmed. "Hate and revenge are pretty much his whole identity at this point."
"Great, so any ideas on how to kill him?" Shinigami questioned irritably. "After everything he did to Karai, he deserves it."
"Totally agreed Shinigami." Mikey told her. "But don't go and let hate be all you're feeling, otherwise you'll end up like him."
"Alright, everyone focus, we're coming through the pass." Elsa told the group as they came to a stop before walking through the final part of the pass, stepping out into a large clearing to see something that made them all look in shock and even horror.
All around them were black ice sculptures that looked near identical to several photographs that both Yoshi and Saki shared. These included the two young men dressed in army gear, an ice sculpture of Tang Shen, one of baby Miwa, another of the image of Yoshi and Shen holding baby Miwa, and finally the ice sculpture of a helmetless and physically human Shredder gently holding a teenage Karai by the shoulders.
"What the…?" Kristoff looked around in shock.
"This… what is all this…?" Anna looked visibly disturbed like everyone else.
"This is all kinds of weird." Casey commented.
"Psycho is more like it." Leo said with mild disgust.
"Oh man… this is totally horror movie style right here!" Mikey exclaimed.
Elsa looked about as disturbed as everyone else before casting a glance towards Splinter, who looked as if he had seen a ghost himself.
"They say Hell is composed of fire and brimstone, but that is not true." The Super Shredder's voice echoed everywhere, causing the group to tense up as they drew what weapons they had and circled around each other. "In reality, the deepest pit of the inferno is actually cold and dark, and that place is reserved for traitors, a fitting place for a rat such as yourself! You betrayed me! You took Tang Shen away from me, and then you steal my daughter!"
"Show yourself Saki!" Splinter demanded.
"Yeah! Come out and fight us like a man!" Casey added.
Sven however picked up an odd scent in the air. "Hey, anybody smell something?"
"Yeah... what is that? It smells like rotten eggs!" Kristoff plugged his nose.
Casey however was the first to recognize it. "It's gas!"
Suddenly, a long trail of fire blazed through the pass the heroes just came out of before stretching all around them, setting the black ice sculptures on fire, and surrounding everyone in a massive ring of fire. And yet, the ice sculptures seemed incapable of melting from the heat, though it did seem to add a new level of horror and anxiety the group was feeling right now as the flames made the black ice sculptures look like something out of Hell.
"You turned her against me!" Super Shredder's voice continued to echo. "You brainwashed her! Karai is my daughter!"
"How many lives can you tell yourself Saki!?" Splinter called back to him right before they heard a familiar scream. The group turned to see a single and narrow path that led down into a darkened cave, the only source of light being trails of flames along the side.
"Just wait till I get free, Shredder!" They heard Karai's voice along with a snake-like hiss.
"Karai!" Shinigami called out.
"Miwa!" Splinter also called out as he was the first to run into the cave.
"Master Splinter, wait!" Elsa ran after him first.
"Elsa!" Anna tried to follow her sister with Leo right behind. However, just as the two already entered the cave; a massive tail slammed down on the wall just above the cavern entrance, causing a rockslide that cut off their path. Leo immediately pulled Anna back so she wouldn't get crushed, finding themselves separated from Splinter and Elsa.
The group found themselves staring up in clear fear at the sight of the black ice dragon that Super Shredder had created glaring down at them with a deadly growl. And it was not alone as Tiger Claw used his jetpack to hover down and land behind the group, with Rahzar and Fishface leaping from the rocks down to join them.
"Anyone else getting the ambush feeling?" Kristoff commented as they all drew their weapons.
Elsa was offered up a hand by Master Splinter, which she was quick to accept. "Are you alright?" He asked her.
"I'm fine." Elsa replied. "We need to keep going."
"No, I will handle this. You help the others." Splinter told her, much to her surprise.
"What?! But… Master Splinter…!" She tried to protest.
"He wants me, you have to go. If I fail to rescue Miwa, you and the others can instead." Splinter said.
"You… you haven't seen what he's become! You can fight him alone!" Elsa tried to plead.
"You let me worry about the Shredder." Splinter insisted. "I cannot allow you to risk your life for my sake. Now go. Leave me."
"NO!" Elsa shouted at the top of her lungs, surprising even Splinter before she looked to him with a desperate pleading in her eyes. "Before we met him… we found my parents' ship… or what was left of it. I… I know how my parents died and… I don't want to go through that again. He's far stronger than he ever was before, I know you can handle yourself but I… I just…" She couldn't finish right away, tears building up in her eyes. "I already lost one father… I don't want to lose another."
Splinter looked toward her with understanding. Even though she was able to find happiness, it was clear the loss of her birth parents still affected her, something he understood all too well. He still felt the loss of Tang Shen, and the initial loss of his daughter, that was why he was so set on rescuing Miwa now, not willing to lose his child again. It was clear Elsa felt the same way, and because of that, he placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him as he smiled before wrapping his arms around her.
Though caught off guard at first, Elsa returned the embrace as tight as she could, fearing he would vanish if she let go. This moment lasted a short while before they let go.
"Come, let's go." Splinter told her.
"Right." Elsa wiped the last of her tears away before steeling herself as the pair ran further into the cave.
It wasn't long before the two of them entered a large cavern to see several black ice-sculptures of Tang Shen on the ceiling, holding the struggling Karai up by her arms.
"Karai!" Elsa called upon seeing her friend in such a state.
"Father! Elsa! Get out! It's a trap!" She told them.
"We won't leave you!" Splinter stated.
"Behind you!" Karai warned them, causing the two to turn around and ready themselves for their approaching adversary, who dragged his claws along the cavern walls, more black ice spreading along the tunnel with each and every step he took before revealing himself to them. Though this was the second time Elsa saw him like this, it was no less intimidating than the first. Splinter appeared visually shocked and even horrified at what his adoptive brother had transformed himself into.
"Saki… what have you done?!"
"I have molded myself into perfection, rat man!" The Super Shredder stated. "Look upon me and know fear."
"You must be proud." Splinter said as he took a martial arts stance, while Elsa readied her magic beside him, slowly walking parallel to their enemy in a circle. "You are finally a monster both inside and out!"
"I wanted to see you fall." Super Shredder spoke to Splinter specifically, almost as if he had barley even noticed Elsa's presence. "Then finally, your brainwashing will disappear. And she will remember that it was I who raised her! It was I who made her who she is! I sacrificed everything for her, out of absolute love!"
"What would you know about love?" Elsa spoke to him with a glare. "This has all been for you, not her, and you know it. If you really loved Karai, you would respect her wishes; but instead, you kidnapped and brainwashed her! And now you turned yourself into this! Whatever little shred of humanity you may have had in the past… you just lost it."
"They're right." Karai spoke directly to the Shredder as well. "Your transformation into a monster is complete."
Those words from Karai, and even Elsa, appeared to strike him where it hurt, or rather where it would have hurt. Not even a second later, he sliced his claws toward his adversaries, forcing them to split apart before he went straight for Splinter, lashing out with his claws, which Splinter parried with his cane before striking him with a series of kicks to his face and having little-to-no effect on Super Shredder's form. He tried to strike him with his cane, sliding past him, but the Super Shredder lashed out with a punch to send Splinter flying and crashing to the wall.
Before Super Shredder could advance any farther, Elsa shot a series of ice-spikes along the ground that would have impaled a normal person, but Super Shredder crossed his arms to take the impact as the ice-spikes shattered against his body. He then shot his hand forward to blast his own set of black ice-spikes towards Elsa, which she tried to block with an ice-wall, but it ended up shattering and knocking her back. Splinter attacked from behind, but Super Shredder saw it coming as he caught Splinter's leg and threw him toward the recovering Elsa, knocking them both down. They barley even had a chance to recover as Super Shredder attacked again.
Back outside; the black ice dragon flew straight toward the fleeing heroes, landing hard on the ground and lashing out with its claws and teeth as they tried to run and get some distance.
"Okay, I gotta say that is pretty much the coolest thing I had ever seen!" Casey exclaimed with excitement.
"Geek out, later! Survive now!" Raph told him as they tried to rush the black ice dragon, Casey threw out several exploding pucks at the side of its face, getting its attention as Raph leapt up to try and impale its head, but his sais could barely break through the black ice surface. The black ice dragon then gave a roar as it took to the air again, reaching out with its claws to grab April as well as Casey and carry them up.
"April!" Donnie exclaimed.
"Casey!" Raph also shouted as both Turtles pulled out their grappling hooks, which ensared around the tail of the flying monster, pulling them both up, and screaming all the way.
Back on the ground, Kristoff slashed with his hatchets towards Fishface, who proved too quick and agile to even get a single hit in. He slid under Kristoff's next strike to kick him in the chest and send him flying into the air before leaping up to kick him down. However, right as Fishface landed, he was rammed in the back by a charging head-but from Sven, who snorted angrily towards him.
Fishface got up with a glare as he pulled out his butterfly knives. "I'm thinking of having reindeer legs for dinner tonight." He said before charging at him.
Meanwhile, Mikey avoided Rahzar's slash before leaping to try and lash out with a kick toward his mutant nemesis, but Rahzar caught his foot in his jaw before throwing him to the ground and pinning him down with his claws.
"I've always wanted to see a Turtle without its shell." Rahzar sneered.
"You wanna see me naked? Weirdo!" Mikey exclaimed.
However, before Rahzar could attack, his neck was ensared by the chained-pendulum wielded by Shinigami, who pulled it back to get Rahzar off Mikey, who pressed the advantage by delivering a double-kick with his feet to knock Rahzar back.
"Whoa, thanks Shinigami!" Mikey gave a thumbs up.
"No problem." She nodded back before they went on the attack.
At the same time; Leo was on the defensive of the relentless slashes of Tiger Claw's machete, parrying his katanas seemed to be all he could do as he found himself backed into a literal corner. However, Anna was quick to come to Leo's aid, brandishing her sword to block Tiger Claw's weapon and leaving him open for Leo to slash at him and knock him back. But Tiger Claw then drew both his pistols and shot at the pair, forcing them to separate and avoid the laser fire.
Leo threw a smoke bomb at Tiger Claw, which he intercepted with a laser from one of his pistols, creating a brief smokescreen around the mutant assassin, and allowing Leo and Anna a chance to get in close, swinging their respective blades as Tiger Claw was forced to use his own pistols to block and parry their strikes.
Back in the air; Raph and Donnie had managed to climb onto the neck of the black ice dragon that continued to fly around and shake them off. They were barley holding onto the thing, and not just because of the wild flying, but touching it alone felt painful.
"Ugh! What the hell is this thing made of?!" Raph exclaimed.
"Dude, get me down from here! This ain't cool anymore!" Casey shouted.
April reached out with her psychic powers, her Aeon crystal glowing as well as her eyes. She reached out to tap directly into the mind of the black ice dragon, and she could feel its only desire was to kill. Using her powers, she changed its single-minded and instinctive behavior from killing to crashing. This caused the black ice dragon to fly straight down toward the area where everyone else was, specifically the caved off entrance that separated them from Splinter and Elsa.
"EVERYONE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" April called to them as loud as she could.
Everyone, hero and villain, looked up in shock to see the black ice dragon on a literal crash course. They all screamed and tried to get as far away as possible as the black ice dragon crashed into the mountainside; causing it to shatter along with that part of the mountain. The resulting shockwave had managed to blow back Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface, sending all three tumbling down the nearest slope.
The heroes quickly recovered with groans as the dust began to settle. "Is everyone alright?!" Anna called to all her friends, with everyone giving a confirming groan or call of some kind as they tried to regroup.
"Maybe a little warning next time?" Kristoff told April.
"Sorry." She said as everyone looked towards what was left of the black ice dragon, now in shattered pieces along with the side of the mountain, thus opening a path for them to enter.
"Come on everyone, no time to waste! Let's go!" Leo led the entire group into the cave, hoping to catch up with Elsa and Splinter as quickly as possible.
Elsa raised several ice-walls, but they might as well be cardboard for the Super Shredder as he bulldozed his way through, easily closing the gap between him and Elsa to grab her by the face, slam her on the ground and throw her away before slamming his foot on the ground and sending a trail of black ice spikes towards Splinter, who was able avoid it, but not enough to get sliced along the back.
Splinter quickly recovered as Super Shredder got close and lashed at him with his claws. "You are deranged, Saki!" Splinter told him as he avoided all the attacks as best, he could. "But I can help you! We can end this fight!" He backed against the wall and shot toward the side to avoid the crushing blow as Super Shredder's fist punched through solid stone like tissue paper.
"Now that I am your master, you will do anything to stop this!" Super Shredder stated as Splinter leapt away, but right as he landed, Super Shredder stomped onto the ground to freeze the whole thing solid, causing Splinter to slip and Super Shredder closed the gap to punch Splinter away, grab him by the tail as he soared and slammed him on the ground repeatedly before throwing him away.
"Get away from him!" He heard Elsa's voice as she had conjured a pair of ice-skates to skate along the frozen ground, slicing past Shredder with her ice-katana, but a slice of his claws easily shattered her weapon. She scatted back to get some distance as he leapt after her.
"Do you envy me? Do you envy how much stronger I've made your power?" He told her as he closed the gap, but Elsa stomped on the ground to encase Super Shredder in a cluster of her own ice, but he easily broke out of it, the force sending her rolling across the ground. "You are barley a warrior, who spent her whole life hiding from her own strength. I trained my entire life to forge my body into the ultimate weapon! Your power in my hands has made me unstoppable!" He tried to bring his fist down toward her, but Elsa shot a blast of her magic to not only freeze his fist, but also cover his entire mask with ice, temporarily blinding him as she tried to pull herself away, coming closer to Splinter.
"We can't beat him like this…" She told him.
"Yes…" Splinter agreed as he pulled out a smoke bomb. "Stay close to me."
"It is time my revenge comes to fruition!" Super Shredder leapt at them, his black ice claws extended, but Splinter threw his smoke bomb toward his face. When the smoke cleared and he landed, both his enemies were gone, much to his raging frustration. "Cowards! Face me!" He called to them as he spotted another tunnel entrance at the far side of the cavern, where Elsa helped to carry Splinter away. He quickly made his way toward the tunnel and pursued them, leaving Karai to try and escape her bindings.
She converted her lower body into its serpent form before lashing out to shatter the black ice restraints, freeing her and allowing her to fall and land on the ground. "Don't worry, I'm on my way." She was about to run after her father and friend.
"Karai!" She heard Shinigami call her as she saw the rest of her friends and family enter the cavern.
"Where are Elsa and Splinter?" Leo asked urgently.
"Down that tunnel, Shredder went after them." Karai quickly replied.
"Well, we gotta go help them!" Anna exclaimed.
"Guys wait… he's just too powerful." Karai told all of them. "Splinter and Elsa together couldn't stop him!"
"What if she's right?" Donnie asked with worry. "I don't have access to my lab equipment so I can't cook up any retro mutagen."
"But we can't just do nothing!" Sven stated.
"We don't have to beat Shredder." Kristoff said. "Let's just get Splinter and Elsa and get out of here. We can come up with a plan once we're all safe."
"Hey, Casey Jones don't run from nobody!" Casey stated.
April tried to reach out again with her powers. "I can sense them… somewhere… deeper underground… I think I can track them."
"Great, then let's head down and kick some frozen-bladed-freak ass!" Raph said eagerly. Suddenly, however, the ground underneath them began to shake before a hand exploded out of the ground, followed by several more, at least twenty in total.
"What the hell?!" Leo exclaimed as they all saw in shock several living black ice sculptures emerge from the ground like zombies and face the group. They all resembled ninjas of the foot clan, each one wielding a katana or a spear.
"Oh man dudes… we got ice-ninja-zombies!" Mikey exclaimed in sheer terror.
The Super Shredder exited the tunnel as he found himself at the edge of a deep chasm that separated two large mountains. It was almost impossible to see the bottom of the chasm that was lined with dark fog, a series of stone 'islands' appearing at various spots around the gap. Super Shredder looked around and found neither Splinter nor Elsa in sight, which only fueled his rage even more.
"SPLINTER! ICE QUEEN!" He called out to them, his terrible voice echoing throughout the entire area. "I know you are here! Both of you!" He leapt from ledge, to ledge, toward a stone island as he continued to speak out. "It's not just muscle and blades the mutagen gave me, not even my own superior magic. I can hear you… I can smell you."
"Can you smell this?" He heard Elsa's voice call out as a swarm of ice birds flew all around him, blocking his field of vision as he tried to swat them all away. This seemed to have blind him enough as Elsa flew with her ice wings just behind him and threw out her arms to create a gigantic ice-fist to score a direct hit and send Super Shredder crashing toward the ledge on the left side of the chasm. He turned back only to find Elsa had vanished.
"So, you do not fear me." Super Shredder continued to speak aloud. "You were leading me into your own kind of trap."
"Stealth is the ninja's greatest weapon. Something you seem to have forgotten, Saki." He heard Splinter's voice said before Super Shredder looked upward to see several rocks and boulders falling along the mountainside toward him. He braced himself as he took the impact, but the intent didn't seem to be crushing him, but rather destroying the ledge he was standing on, causing him to fall.
However, he didn't fall very far as Super Shredder dug his claws into the rocky wall, halting his descent before he leapt high and climbed back onto the top of a large rocky island, one that was completely frozen over by Elsa and forcing him to lose his footing. Splinter and Elsa both appeared, each of their feet were lined with ice-skates Elsa conjured up as they swiftly moved around and above Super Shredder, striking him at every possible weak spot they could find; Splinter with his own hidden blade, and Elsa a set of short ice-knives. However, this didn't work for long as Splinter quickly grabbed Elsa by her wrist and Splinter by the throat, slammed them both together before throwing Elsa away and slamming Splinter onto the ground.
"A pity…" Splinter grunted. "Tang Shen… is no longer here… to see…" Super Shredder kicked him hard, cracking several ribs and knocking him close to the edge. "How evil… you truly have become." Super Shredder's only response was a roar as he continued to beat his enemy.
Leo sliced and decapitated one black ice-ninja before a second came in and attacked him. Donnie was in a similar position, using his staff to block the sword of the one he faced as Kristoff came to help to cut the black ice-ninja down with his hatchet before being kicked in the back by another.
"These guys are tough…" Kristoff commented as Donnie helped him up. The black ice-ninja was about to attack, but Sven charged it from behind and was able to break it in half.
"Back off from me, ice-zombie-ninja dude!" Mikey exclaimed as he leapt back to get some distance from two black ice-ninjas. Anna tried to provide aid as she sliced the arm off one with her sword, but it ended up kicking her down before both focused their attention on her; but Karai moved swiftly to decapitate both of them with her short blade.
Shinigami spun her pendulum around to shatter two black ice-ninjas that tried to attack her. Raph and Casey both ended up falling back closer toward her as five more appeared to surround them.
"We don't got time to deal with these things!" Raph stated. However, all five of their enemies were shattered as a certain tessen spun rapidly to burst and cut through each of their chests.
They all cast their gaze towards April, who telekinetically controlled her tesen with her powers before sending it out to swiftly and precisely execute each of the remaining black ice-ninjas in less than two seconds before her tessen quickly returned.
"I've got a fix on Splinter and Elsa!" April told the group. "Come on! I'll lead the way!"
'Elsa… please hang on!' Anna thought desperately as they followed April down the tunnel.
Super Shredder grabbed the flying Elsa by her leg before slamming her onto the ground, shattering her ice-wings and throwing her hard toward a ledge on the right side of the chasm. He then moved directly towards the weakened Splinter, grabbing him, and leaping to gain extra momentum and slam him hard into the wall on the ledge on the other side. Super Shredder then picked him up by the throat and pinned him to the wall.
"No…!" Elsa weakly tried to pick herself up, only for Super Shredder to briefly turn behind and shoot his hand forward to blast a black snowy flurry at her, almost completely encasing her in black ice, save for her face. She desperately tried to use her own magic to bust out as Super Shredder gave his full and undivided attention toward his hated enemy.
"Now… Finally… My nightmares of your proud, leering, loathsome face will finally end!"
"Finish me… yes." Splinter said in acceptance with a look of defiance still burning in his eyes. "But Miwa… will live on. My daughter…. Mine…!"
However, just before Super Shredder could strike, and just as Elsa had freed her upper body from her predicament, Super Shredder's right arm began to twitch and violently change shape, freezing from the inside while also burning to try and balance it out, causing him great internal pain as he was forced to let Splinter go.
"What…?" Elsa muttered, but decided to use this momentarily distraction to try and freeze over the black ice around her lower body and escape.
"What is happening… to me…?!" Super Shredder exclaimed in pain as he slammed his arm repeatedly into the wall to try and beat out the pain.
"Saki…" Splinter got his attention as Super Shredder turned to face him. "The mutagen… it cannot properly mix with Elsa's blood! Whatever you did to yourself… it is killing you!"
"Be silent, rat!" Super Shredder slashed his claws at him, but his movements were more sluggish than before, which Splinter was able to avoid as he leapt from the ledge to another stone island.
"Super Shredder's kicking Sensei's tail in!" They all heard Mikey's voice call out as all three of them, including the now freed Elsa, looked to see the rest of their friends arrive onto the scene, but they were too far away to immediately jump into action.
"Elsa!" Anna called to her sister.
"Father!" Karai also called out to Splinter.
"Come on! Let's go!" Leo told the group as they tried to make their way closer.
Splinter looked with relief to see his friends and family were alright, but also simultaneous worry for what his deranged enemy would do. So he leapt further back to another stone island to lure Super Shredder away.
"You must listen, Saki!" He tried to reason one last time, but Super Shredder simply leapt in pursuit like a rabid animal, forcing Splinter to retreat even further.
"I need nothing from you!"
"Elsa!" Leo ran towards her and helped her to her feet with Anna right behind.
"Are you alright?" Her younger sister asked.
"Forget about me! Sensei needs our help!" Elsa waved her hands to create a series of ice-bridges that extended from the entrance where most of the group still was, to as far out as she could. "Come on!"
Using the make-shift short cut, all the heroes ran as fast as they could to try and catch up with Splinter; but they didn't get very far as more black ice-ninjas slid down from the mountain walls and leapt to block their path.
"Oh no…" April looked in worry.
"Get out of our way!" Kristoff hacked one to pieces with his hatchet as at least two or even three dozen total frozen enemies appeared and attacked the heroes.
Splinter was thrown down toward a ledge that stuck out just below the seemingly bottomless chasm below. Super Shredder landed in front of him and quickly stomped down on his right leg, crushing it and keeping him from running away, causing Splinter's scream, which echoed throughout the chasm.
"You will die!" Super Shredder loomed over him. "And then all of your loved ones!"
Splinter glanced behind his enemy to see that his children and their friends were on the verge of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers, even Elsa had difficulty keeping up against the black ice-ninjas. When it comes to his family, their safety was far more important than his own. Even if he did die here, he would make sure to take this monster who was once his brother down with him.
Pulling out a hidden kunai, Splinter threw it to a small cluster of bombs that he had previously set up. Though he told Elsa it was for a smokescreen, it was not truly the case. The explosion was enough to shatter the ledge that both he and Super Shredder were on; much to everyone's horror.
"MASTER SPLINTER!" Elsa screamed as they saw him beginning to fall.
Super Shredder attempted to leap away, but Splinter grabbed him and pulled him down with him. "SAKI! WE DIE TOGETHER!" He yelled as they both vanished into the darkness below.
"FAHTER!" Karai screamed.
"NO!" Leo also screamed.
They didn't have time to cry or scream as more black ice-ninjas appeared, throwing icicles at them like a series of kunai and shurikens.
"Everybody move!" Raph ordered the retreat as the group ran back towards the entrance they came out of, using the ice-bridges Elsa made to get their faster. Once they were all across, Elsa waved her hand to cause the bridges to vanish, and several of the black ice-ninjas fell; but not all of them.
Once they made it into the tunnel; Kristoff, Sven, and Raph pushed a large boulder to seal off the exit and keep the pursuing enemy from getting any closer.
"That…. No… he can't be gone!" Anna said as tears filled her eyes. "He has to be alive! Right?!"
"That drop is at least a thousand feet down." Donnie said from observation alone. "Even he couldn't survive a fall like that."
"No way… just no damn way!" Kristoff slammed his fist against the wall in frustration.
"We… we don't have time to mourn…" Karai said as she tried to hold back her tears. "We have to keep going… for Splinter."
Before anybody could say anything however, the boulder suddenly exploded, knocking them all back. The heroes weakly pulled themselves up to see all the black ice-ninja being led by Stockman-Fly, Bebop, and Rocksteady.
"Ah sewer apples…!" Mikey cursed.
Done.
Now that was quite a chapter, huh? The heroes have found the wreckage that was once the ship belonging to Elsa and Anna's parents and learned they were heading to Ahtohallan. However, just as they had a plan, the Super Shredder decided to crash their party. He's even more dangerous now than before, even more so than in the cannon. In addition to his monstrous form, he now has black ice magic that is far more ruthless and deadly than even Elsa's power, he can even create his own living ice monsters as well; but it seems to be having a negative effect on his body as well.
It seems like Splinter has fallen, but is he down for the count? Don't forget that the Mutanimals are here now in the Enchanted Forest as well. Splinter was called to the Forest for a reason, and you will all learn what that reason is soon enough.
Things are going to get more intense as the battle against the Super Shredder and his forces continues in the next chapter. How will our heroes rebound from this? Find out next time on Frozen Turtles: Into the Unknown.
Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.