Ch.16: Burning Victory

"Whoa," said Mikey unbelievingly, as his eyes widened with amaze.

His thoughts could barely keep themselves straight because, in the midst of all of this chaos, a miracle had decided to appear.

"Donnie, you are seeing the same thing too right?" the young turtle asked his purple-masked brother.

Don had just barely heard what Mikey had said, concerning the fact that he and Casey were still looking over the condition of April and Rockwell at the time, but his senses weren't blind to the miracle that had just occurred either.

Stunned silence was all the genius turtle could respond with, his logical brain short-circuiting at the sight of the visual impossibility of his two, long lost siblings suddenly standing there, both appearing to be alive and well.

Karai looked healthy and alert, way more determined and focused than when she passed, while Raphael stood by her side shining with new confidence, with a laser focus screaming that he had dealt with his darker issues, and was burning with the ferocity to protect his family in order to bring Kavaxas down.

Strong. Sturdy. Intense. Like Don and Mikey, Master Splinter and Leonardo also looked on at the two warriors with amaze.

Whatever horrors the pair must have gone through in order to make it back to the mortal world, it was clear that they had conquered their trials, and were more than ready to help battle and put an end to the chaos once and for all.


Kavaxas growled, eyes glaring at the new arrivals, sensing that the Lady Daimyo herself had something to do with this deed, which meant, unfortunately, that his plan to conquer the Nexus and the claim the Turnstone had failed, and that Wick's spirit, more than likely had been banished eternally and forevermore.

Even now, that he had finally broken free from his prison, Kavaxas knew that even with his renewed strength it would be foolish to try and conquer the Nexus again. Earth though, was a goal that he could still achieve.

Even with the added, pathetic threat of the Lady Daimyo's chosen ones, they were still mortal, while he was a almighty, demonic, dragon being.

All life would crumble before his flames, mystically aided or not.


Meanwhile, for both Raph and Karai, the two siblings took the extra time to breathe in the air around them once they flashed back to the mortal realm.

Aware of the stares they were receiving, they ignored them, concentrating on staying focused and standing ready, thoroughly prepared to bring Kavaxas down.

They had come back so that both their family and the entire world would survive. They would not fail wasting this second chance at life. Turning to nod at each other, both Raphael and Karai bent down, weapons pointed out towards Kavaxas, ran out at a sprint, and charged.

Nonplused, Kavaxas sent out another ring of black and green flame spread out along the ground which both ninjas skillfully jumped, tiny embers barely reaching the edges of their feet. Twisting and dodging through the string of fireballs that followed, Raphael aimed for Kavaxas's lower body, while Karai jumped up, slicing in with her katana from above.

Kavaxas saw the attacks coming however and winged out with a fiery swirl, disorienting his opponents as he turned in the air and swooped down, speeding towards Karai to deliver a counter-strike.

Fortunately, Karai was able to recover and shielded herself with her katana just before Kavaxas's claws could penetrate her flesh. The dragon growled, pushing forward in frustration, and opened his mouth to breathe out a stream of flame.

Before he could though, Raphael jumped in, interrupting his action, first with a harmless pelt of shuriken, and then digging his sais deep into Kavaxas's shoulders, making the demonic dragon scream out in pain.

Angry, Kavaxas's head did a complete 180 and breathed a plume of fire at Raphael.

"No!" Karai shouted, as the red-masked turtle barely managed to dodge out the way in time.

Shifting to her snake form, Karai quickly wrapped her body around Kavaxas and dung her fangs in, giving a speedy and venomous assist, poisoning the dragon with a deadly toxin that would hopefully get worse and worse over time.

As Kavaxas howled out in pain for the second time, by this point Splinter and the other turtles who had been watching this battle just recovered from the shock, and looked at each with agreement that it was time for them to enter the conflict as well.

Don, Mikey, and Splinter immediately went over to help Karai, while Leo went to help Raph, who was just now starting to recover from his recent meeting point on the ground.

Casey had been left in charge to watch over the injured April and the Mutanimals, while the turtles went out and fought. Tired and exhausted, this chaos would soon be ended, no matter what evil force stood in their way, ultimately the whole family would manage to bring it down.


"Ugh, thanks bro," grunted Raph, as Leo helped him up to his feet.

The red-masked turtle's gaze turned to where Kavaxas was battling with the rest of his family. Joy flooded in the turtle's heart, with a little worry mixed in too. Despite the dire situation, it was thrilling to see things somewhat return to norm.

Now all they had to do was finish taking out this jerk and things could finally return to peace.

"Raph" spoke Leo " I'm sorry,"

"Another time bro" said Raph, putting a hand on the eldest's shoulder " Now let's go give them a hand."

Nodding, Leo turned with his brother and rushed in, joining the fight.

Kavaxas wasn't amused anymore. Slowed down because of the venom, and ganged up now six to one, the odds of losing this battle had increased severely, and he would either die or be returned to his prisonous hole.

Dragons were mighty. Dragons ruled over all. They never lost to pointless mortals who didn't even deserve a chance to live on this Earth.

One last trick, though it was a deadly option, Kavaxas had nothing more to lose at this point.

Breathing deep, Kavaxas closed his eyes as Splinter and his family charged, and exploded with a fiery force, knocking all of the mutants with the force of the shockwave from the blast.

Confusion stained the air for a minute as everyone recovered, and opened their eyes a dark mass begin to take shape, sucking up the contamination of New York that had been left by the Oni, creating a whole new body for Kavaxas.

Glowing in shifting colors of black, green, and red flames a massive dragon now stood before the turtles ready to engulf the entire world with its might.

"Whoa," Raph thought, sharing his family's expressions of amaze as they gazed at the monstrosity that now stood before them.

The Lady Daimyo hadn't been kidding when stating just what a powerful being Kavaxas was. For a second, Raph's mind flashed back to what the Lady Daimyo had told them before she sent Karai and Raphael back to Earth.

"Kavaxas is strong. To conquer this creature will take more than physical might. It will take family, faith, and light that burns than both love and hope. You have passed your trials, awoken what was sealed. Believe in your new self and unleash the power within."

"Unleash the power within," Raph thought.

Kavaxas roared preparing to attack. A heartbeat, and in moment everything clicked.

Golden flames started to rise from Raphael, and spread out, touching everyone around him. Embers even reached Casey, April, and the Mutanimals causing them to glow as they looked up to witness the final moments of the battle.

No one knew what was going on. Raph wasn't even sure himself, but he knew that it felt right and continued to let the golden flames grow and burn.

"Fire Child," whispered the Lady Daimyo's voice as suddenly she too appeared on the field, hovering above Splinter and his family, absorbing the golden flames that Raphael had formed.

"No!" thought Kavaxas suddenly scared, as the Lady Daimyo prepared all of the golden energy for a final strike.

Denying that he was about to be defeated, Kavaxas shot out a red-white flame towards his enemies in hopes that they would die and burn, but his hopes sunk as his flames fizzled and his adversaries stood unharmed. The Lady Daimyo smiled and unleashed a bright, golden beam of light towards the dragon, leaving the last remains of the demon nothing but dust.

The flames faded as the sun started to rise, promising a new day for New York as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Chaos had been conquered and the beginning of a peaceful could begin and renew.

"It is over" said the Lady Daimyo, hovering down so she could address all of the warriors equally. " You have all done well my family. Conquering the darkness that I knew was soon to come."

"Family?" said Leo " What do you mean?"

Without a word the Lady Daimyo transformed, and there was a collective gasp at the ghost of a figure left in her place. Other than Karai and the Turtles, Splinter had to be the most speechless of them all.

"Tang Shen?" called out the rat, shaky with disbelief.

"Yes" said the spirit " When I died my soul traveled to the Nexus. The former Lady Daimyo trained me as her apprentice and I took over when her time was done. I've always been watching over my family, aware of the dark roads that lied ahead."

"Mother…" stumbled Karai " Why…?"

:"There are some things my child that you should not know about before they happen" interrupted Tang Shen, before walking up to embrace her daughter in a hug " I will love and cherish you always my precious Miwa."

Karai teared up as she held onto the hug for few seconds, not wanting to let go even as Tang Shen finally untangled herself to address the turtles and her husband once more.

"Yoshi has raised some fine sons" said Tang Shen " I love you all from the bottom of my heart."

With that said, all four turtles rushed in order to hug Tang Shen's spirit as well. Tears falling forth as they felt the desire Karai did, never wanting to let go of their mom.

Splinter gave his sons a moment before he stepped up and they parted, allowing him a clear path to get to his wife.

No words were exchanged as both husband and wife stared at each other for a moment before they leaned in and kissed, lasting only moments before Tang Shen spirit began to fade away and she had to return to the Nexus, the work of a Lady Daimyo never done.

Silence ensued as the sun rose higher, and everyone realized that they reluctantly had to all go back underneath the surface. There was much to discuss and ponder in the days to come.

New York needed time to recover. They all needed time to heal. Yet, no matter what, the one thing that felt secure, was that going forward, the future was looking bright.

The End


Author's Note: Finally the trilogy is done! That is the end of Mystic Flames. Thank you all for reading and for writing your reviews. Hope that you all enjoyed this very much. Thank you again.