Ch.6: Darkness Awakes
Back on Earth, silent tension seemed to fill the air as two souls looked out into the starlit night. It had been uncomfortable, staying trapped underground, especially when they knew that everyone else was doing their part to save the world.
Casey sighed as he looked over to Slash, who stood over by his side at the moment. Both parties had agreed, not long after the others left to confront Shredder, that they needed to go out and search for Raphael.
Raphael meant a lot to both him and Slash. They were best friends! But now he was gone, and they had no idea where he could possibly be.
Leo suspected that Raph could have somehow escaped to Earth, and Y'gythba seemed to confirm this fact, since she and Zeno had helped Raphael escape from the Triceratons. But if Raph was really back in New York, then where was he? That's what Casey and Slash intended to find out.
"Still no sign" sighed Casey " Do you think…that Raph is okay?"
"Of course he is" said Slash assuredly " He's the toughest guy I know."
"Yeah" said Casey " but I've been so worried about him before. The others too since they went to face off 'Ol Shredd-face!"
"Don't worry about it" said Slash " I'm sure they'll be fine,"
Silence seemed to grip the air for a few more seconds before Casey decided to speak again.
"Do you remember…" he asked hesitantly " what it was like when you were a turtle?"
Slash was shocked by that question.
"Why would you ask me that?"
"I don't know" said Casey " just curious, you know, if you still had the memories of when you were a pet? You remember the moment where you and Raph became friends? I know I'll never forget my first time."
"Speaking of which" said Slash " how did you meet Raph anyway?"
"Um, huh" stumbled Casey " We bumped into each other while I was fighting some thugs, fought for a bit before we became pals and stopped beating each other up."
"Ha!" laughed Slash " That's Raph alright. I do remember. Don't worry. If he's out there somewhere, we'll find him. And as for the others, I'm sure they're kicking Shredder's…,"
Bang!...sounded out an explosion interrupting Slash's words, and the turtle and the vigilante looked at each other with worry before turning over to the scene where smoke was rising in the sky.
That blast had sounded like it came from Shredder's hideout. They hoped Leo and the others were really okay.
Meanwhile, back inside of the Shredder's lair, Master Splinter was horrified as he watched a large, monstrous form, emerge from the dark ooze Shredder had been making Baxter Stockman create.
Its appearance was hideous, dripping from head to toe in black goo, its claws looked sharp, and its teeth shined as it roared. Horns and spikes raked down its back, and when it crawled out and stood, bursting through the ceiling, its tail lashed out, causing all present company to dodge, for this limb was nearly a skyscraper long.
Tearing his gaze from the foul beast's red eyes, Splinter focused in his glare on Saki.
"Shredder, what have you done?!"
The Shredder did not respond to this quip, and met his enemies eyes with a growl of his own.
"Your era is about to end. Tiger Claw, Bradford, now!"
With that said, the two mutants jumped out and attacked. Instantly, the turtles and their friends took on defensive positions and swung their blades as Tiger Claw and Rahzar charged.
Empowered by the darkness that they had been infected with by Saki, the two mutants proved to formidable foes.
Splinter could hardly keep his mind focused on the creature from the tank as the monster made its way out towards the city, while he was busy helping Fishface and sons conquer Shredder's goons. They needed to finish both Tiger Claw and Rahzar quickly, or else that horrendous monster would destroy New York.
Leatherhead snapped at Tiger Claw while Leo lunged in with his swords. Both attacks missed, and then Mikey and Donny has to dodge as Rahzar charged in, snapping at their shells. Fishface confronted the mutant dog, wielding a balisword in hand, while Tiger Claw got out his heat and freeze guns, beginning to blast at everyone through the air.
Splinter ransacked his brain for a strategy, anything that might help them win. He could hear the screams of millions of people echoing outside, and then was caught off guard when Baxter, Rocksteady, and Bebop suddenly entered the fight.
Under threat from Shredder after being caught trying to sneak away, the mutant trio engaged the enemy seeking to help Tiger Claw and Rahzar out.
The odds of this battle kept getting higher, and Splinter moved close to Rockwell, who was trying to use his mind to hold off the new assault.
Before Splinter could get to far however, darkness suddenly surrounded him, and giant arms grabbed him from behind. The claws and blades immediately revealed his captor, as Saki's dark voice whispered menacingly into his ear.
"Time to die, Yoshi,"
"No!" Splinter screamed, as Leo turned from his fight, just in time to see the two foes vanish and disappear.
"Sensei!" Leo screamed when Splinter was gone, transported to whatever dark place Shredder wanted him to.
"Splinter!" Donnie yelled, fighting off Baxter with his bo.
"We need to retreat" said Rockwell " Slash and Casey are calling for help regarding the monster. We have to go out there and stop it."
"Agreed" said Leo reluctantly " Everyone, let's go!"
Throwing down smoke bombs to disorient the opponents behind them, the turtles and their allies managed to blind their opponents and make their escape, rushing to Slash and Casey's aid to take down the terror Shredder had unleashed upon New York.
While running, Leo's thoughts drifted towards Splinter, wondering just where he and Shredder had gone.
Leo could only hope that in that place, his sensei would be able to escape and return to them alive.
